CH20: THE COLD FLAME GANG IS BORN

It was the last day of school for the students and they couldn't feel any happier than they were. The whole week had been extremely wild for them, starting from the appearance of the Four Armed Gang to the blood testing that happened yesterday. Some of the students had managed to convince their parents in switching schools since they didn't feel safe any more. One particular boy who benefited from this whole thing was Max Lin, who was currently on his way to school. By this time already, he had already gotten used to waking up earlier than he used to. Since the system granted his body special skills, walking to school wasn't much of a hustle to him. In fact, he decided to start running to school, hoping to increase his agility and stamina and it was finally paying off.

*Ding*

[Daily Quest complete. 10EXP earned]

EXP 240/300

[Level:8]

[HEALTH 50/50]

[ENERGY 10/50]

[STATE: NORMAL]

BASE STATS

STRENGTH 8

AGILITY 6

STAMINA 6

SKILLS: [FIRE ARMS]

[FIRE WALK]

Max had gotten up extra early today, it was so early that the sun was barely out yet, even though the system said he had completed the daily quest. His reason for getting up extra early was to meet up with Rin at her warehouse. When he got there, he saw Phoenix's car parked by the side of the street. The warehouse doors were open and men in construction uniforms were coming in and out with building materials. Max walked up to Rin and asked, " Hey, what's going on here?"

" This guy says that he's going to spruce up the warehouse to make it more fit for us. He's added a bar, a pool table area and a lounge. He's even hired some people to be working here."

"Wow," Max said. " I guess he's taking this more seriously than we are. Come on, let's head to school. It's a Friday after all." Max and Rin walked to school together, making small talk about their future business. On their way to school, they saw Pharaoh's fleet of cars pass by them. There were three cars in total and Pharaoh was standing on his car that was in the middle. It was different from the one he came in at the beginning of the week. It was a double-cabin pick-up track with four tires at the back. It's color was the same as his gold-ish skin and for some reason, he was shirtless. Pharaoh and Max's eyes met for a second as his fleet passed by and Pharaoh couldn't help but feel a little startled by the boy.

" I have a strange feeling about those two." He said to himself.

" For a mutant, he really is stupid to be riding on a car shirtless with this cold weather." Rin teased.

" Yeah, let's get this school business over with. We have some business to take care of later."

As Max was walking and going through his system, he noticed the gang progress bar fill up a little.

[Progress 20/100]

[Gang members 5] Inadequate.

[Name, *unknown*]

" Hmm, looks like there's some progress but I wonder what name we're going to give ourselves."

" How about the fire rangers?" Rin suggested.

" Nah. It sounds to cliche. Let's discuss this with the others." Max and Rin got to school and found CJ and Sue waiting for them. The three of them had refrained from telling CJ about Phoenix because they didn't know how he would react.

" Hey Max. My dad said I can have a sleep over at your place tonight so we can go through the gang staff and financing." CJ said but he noticed a weird vibe coming off of Max and Rin. " Hmm, are you two...dating?"

" WHAT...NO!!!" They yelled at the same time. Sue breathed out a breath of relief while CJ laughed on. The school bell rung, starting the final day of school for the week end. Miss Xin didn't show up again so the school principle hired the sub to take her place. She was slightly older than Miss Xin but her methods were a little better compared to Xin's.

After the first half of the day, the students were given an hour long break time. Max and his friends were at the school roof top, discussing more about their gang.

" So guys. I was wondering what are gang name should be?" Max asked.

" We can call ourselves the fire crackers, no wait...the flame gang. Oh, wait. I got it, the flamios." CJ suggested.

" Flamios!! Don't you think that's a weird name?"

" Yeah. I regretted saying it after it left my mouth."

" How about,the cold flame?" Max suggested. His friends agreed with the name and he even going a notification from the system. *Ding*

[THE COLD FLAME. That has a nice ring to it. There's a lot you have to do if you want your gang to be accepted by the members of Raid Town.]

{Skill, cold flame will be available at level 20]

Max wondered what the cold flame skill was but that was something he would check out when he reached level twenty. Their lunch break was over and the students returned to their classes. The rest of the afternoon was quiet and peaceful but one thing was off. The Four Armed Gang fleet of cars were leaving the town, everyone except Pharaoh. He set a stool on the middle of the road that led cars to Raid Town. Once again, the students, teachers and residents of Raid Town were afraid. Whatever the mutant man was planning, it wasn't going to be good.

The school day came to an end and Max,Sue,Rin and CJ rushed to their warehouse. Harvey had taken KC back home since she was still serving her punishment. When they arrived, they couldn't believe their eyes. What was once a rugged iron-sheet warehouse was now a beautiful building with fancy glasses and red neon lights. The outside was decorated with red lilies and fire poppies. The inside was decorated with red lights all over. What was once a rusty warehouse was turned into a red themed club. The corner that once acted as Rin's room was turned into a pool corner with four pool tables. On the right side of the building was a bar decorated with a bar counter made from the finest wood money could buy. Their were seats covered with red leather and their was a man working the place, even though there was no one.

The middle of the room was replaced with a dance floor, having screens on the floor that would change color. Their was a DJ corner at the extreme back, giving plenty of room for dancing. The left corner closer to the door had lovely purple and red chairs for tired or drunks customers to relax from.

" Oh damn. I didn't know you guys had the money for this." CJ said.

" Actually, it was Phoenix who did this." Max replied.

" Who's that?" Just then, Phoenix came from the corner and offered his hand to CJ . " Hey, CJ. My name is Phoenix Cheng, the guy responsible for all of this."

CJ looked at the man in disgust and said, " OH HELL NO. Max, we can't trust this guy. How do we know he won't back stab us?"

" Don't worry man. He's with us for real. Let's head inside." Max told CJ everything he knew about Phoenix and he even told him about his fire mutant powers. CJ was eased up a little but he wasn't fully comfortable with it. Phoenix interrupted their talk and said, " This will be the base for out gang. I was hoping you guy had a name already."

" From now on, we are the cold flames." Max proudly said.

" It's settled. The Cold Flames Gang is born with Max Lin being our leader."

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