Austin had always been considered a pretty wild child. His parents didn't mind what he did, nor did they care about his grades, as long as he was healthy. They saw other kids getting into fights and thought it was normal, so they didn't worry too much. Austin rarely returned badly beaten because most of the time, he was the one doing the beating. Even when he did come home with a few marks, he never needed to go hospital.
Given his disposition, it was no surprise that at some point he would join a gang to make some income. When the opportunity came up with Gary, everything fell into place for him. The excitement he felt was similar to when he rose to the top of his school, becoming the best among his peers. Now, as part of the Howlers, they were rising up, striving to be the best gang compared to all the others.
However, Austin was only seventeen years old. Although he looked older due to his frame and face, he would still be in school if he hadn't dropped out to join the Howlers. As he stood outside the gates of a school, he couldn't help but feel a strange mix of nostalgia and unfamiliarity. The rusty bars and slightly bent frame of the gate would be moved aside when school opened and closed.
The outer walls of the school were relatively dirty, and even the graffiti on the outside walls was visible. It reminded Austin of some strange memories. Back in school, when he fought for the top position, he had been ambushed on the rooftop by the current top dog and his crew. There were six of them in total.
It was one of Austin's toughest fights, but he emerged victorious, beating all of them. Blood trickled from the corner of his head as he stood there, huffing and panting.
"I never knew you would try to play this dirty," Austin said. "Anyway, this school belongs to me now. If you try any c.r.a.p like that again, I will make sure your life is h.e.l.l."
After somewhat recovering, the others eventually left, and Austin stayed on the school rooftop, looking out at the rest of the school and the entire city. The sound of the door opening behind him made a creak. He turned his head, expecting more students, but to his surprise, it was a teacher.
"Oh, I guess you were the one who dealt with those boys before," the teacher said, reaching out for a cigarette from his jacket. Teachers weren't allowed to smoke on campus, which was why he had come to the roof, away from the prying eyes of the other teachers.
"What was that?" the teacher said, taking a puff from his cigarette. "The battle for who's the school's top? I mean, you must be pretty strong if you managed to take those guys down. What's your plan?"
"To take out the other schools next," Austin replied, not looking at the teacher.
"I see. Well, with your strength, you might be able to do that. But I think it's pretty pointless. You know, the schools in this city are nothing like the schools in Tier 4 cities" the teacher commented. "I used to be from there and managed to escape that h.e.l.lhole."
"Let me tell you, if you fought for the top position at one of the schools in a Tier 4 city, then being the top in this no-name Tier 3 town is useless to have."
-----
Austin didn't pay much attention to the teacher's words back then. He never thought he would leave a Tier 3 city, but now that he was here, his interest had certainly been piqued.
"I mean, if Gary is here for some training, then there's no harm in me doing the same thing," Austin thought. "Besides, they say the stronger you are in your human form, the stronger you are as an Altered, so this will go well."
-----
Gary received his new phone from the shop worker, and everything seemed to be going well. However, a major issue soon arose. Gary hadn't saved his contacts to the SIM card but on the phone itself.
The shopkeeper logged into his accounts, hoping there would be some sort of backup, but Gary always skipped everything and disabled many of the phone's features.
"Maybe it came from my days when I was running away from the Underdogs. I would disable most things in case there was a way to find me," Gary thought. "So even though I now have a new phone, I still don't have Austin's number."
"c.r.a.p... at times like this, I wish I still had that burner phone," Gary muttered to himself.
During his time when he was being chased by the Underdogs, Kai had given him a separate phone to contact him on, but that was no longer needed. It looked like Gary would have to leave the shop and come up with another solution.
As he exited the shop, Elijah had just put his phone away.
"Oh, are you all done? Where are you planning on going now?" "I'm really not s-"
"Hey, you two!" A strange man covered in jewellery around his neck Elijah asked.
"I'm really not s-"
"Hey, you two!" A strange man covered in jewellery around his neck and some in his teeth approached them. "Wow, I've never seen two people look so strong before. I bet you guys are good at lifting things, right?"
"I guess," Gary answered the shady man who was even wearing sungla.s.ses to cover his eyes.
"Well, I have a job offer for the two of you at one of the factories. They're looking for workers, and I think you two would be a perfect fit... and they pay a really good starting bonus, the best in the city!" the man excitedly said.
This could be it. This could be Gary's way into the factory and finding his path to those beyond.
*****
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