Max opened his eyes, his lungs aching. The air around him was cold, the ventilation in the room hitting him on the face.

  His entire body ached, but surprisingly, his injuries felt superficial. Someone had wrapped gauze around his ribs, a little half-assed but just enough to keep him standing.

  He used what little strength he had to push himself upwards, his mind spinning.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Jackson said.

  That voice immediately woke him up. Max jumped to his feet, ready to throw a punch.

  Two sets of hands wrapped around his arms, pinning him to the wall.

  Puk to his right, and Kirishima to his left. They both had devilish grins painted on their faces.

  “Woah, slow down there. I just want to talk,” Jackson muttered, his eyes staring coldly.

  They were in a maintenance room by the look of it. The light was dim, and the entire room seemed trashed.

  “About what?” Max whispered, his arms unable to move. “You already embarrassed me twice, and left Croc in the hospital.”

  “Oh, how dare you. Firstly, that incident happened because you decided to trespass into my territory. Also, I pulled back on Croc. If it wasn’t for me, you would have visited Croc at a funeral rather than a hospital,” Jackson explained.

  “You’re proud of that?!” Max spat, his voice cracking as he released those words from his mouth.

  Jackson chuckled, ignoring him. “Secondly, you decided to attack my boys. That was all on you.”

  “Okay, I get it. What’s your fucking point?” Max cursed. He wanted this to be over with.

  What’s the worst they could do? Beat him up again?

  “Relax. I’m here to offer you a deal,” Jackson proposed, crossing his arms. “You of all people were quiet your first two years here, but all of a sudden you want to act out. For some reason, you and Croc have decided to oppose the simple rules that I’ve laid out. So, I’ll give you what you want. This way I can ensure you keep your mouth shut, and you get what you want. So listen up. Since you want your own gang at this school, I propose a battle. If you can show me that you can get together a gang stronger than mine by the end of the semester, I’ll allow you to. And since you want this so bad, if you don’t prove to me that you can, you get expelled.”

  Max froze.

  Expelled? Is this really worth it?

  “Deal,” he stated.

  Jackson smiled. “Very well. Prove to me that you can defeat me and my three best members, and you can reign the school. Otherwise, you’re gone.”

  With that, he signaled for Puk and Kirishima to release Max.

  As the three of them exited the room, Jackson paused, turning back with a smirk. “See you around, Max. Clock’s ticking.”

  One month. That’s all I get to pull together a gang that’s strong enough to beat Jackson and his top three…or I’m out for good.

  The rest of the day felt like a blur. He was assigned to clean up the classroom since he had struck first.

  Luckily since he struck a deal with Jackson, he faced no punishment.

  I guess Jackson wanted to make sure I don't have any excuses. Smart.

  Max took the same route home, as he always did. He exited the school through the main entrance and took a right, and then a left after two blocks. In fifteen minutes, he was home.

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  But today, he was distracted.

  As he passed the entrance of the school, something caught his attention by the garden. It was taken care of by a group of students who cared.

  Beside the garden was a small hut that housed tools used to take care of it.

  Three men were standing around a student who was leaving school, blocking his path. The men crossed the school’s gates and dragged him into the hut.

  They wore all black suits with shades planted on their eyes.

  Max hesitated, then shook his head.

  I have other things to worry about. This is pointless.

  Crashing sounds echoed from the hut.

  Damn it. Is there anyone else here that can notice this?

  Max looked around, hoping someone else would notice.

  Nobody did.

  Max rushed towards the hut, his hands forming into fists.

  He swung the hut’s door open, revealing the student curled up on the floor, blood seeping from his forehead.

  “What are you doing?” Max confronted them.

  The three men snapped their bodies to look at him.

  And then Max saw it.

  The globe insignia stitched on the right side of their suits—the Miramundo Gang.

  Miramundo? What the hell are they doing here?

  “Fuck do you want kid? This is none of your business,” one of them said.

  “I know, and, believe me, every fiber of my body is telling me to run away,” Max muttered.

  “But…I just can’t.”

  The same man took his shades off and stuffed them in his pocket.

  He sighed and took a step forward. “Deal with him. I got this one.”

  Max took a step forward, confident. That was shot down with a kick straight to his chest that sent him flying backwards onto the garden.

  He landed with a soft crunch on his back, destroying the student’s hard work on some roses.

  The hut’s door shut in front of Max as he stood up, the man stanced guarding it.

  “Listen, kid. Just walk away while you still can,” the man threatened.

  “Oh, I totally would!” Max laughed it off.

  He rushed forward, planning to pin the man on his back.

  The man swung quickly, much faster than Max imagined.

  But he dodged it, slipping underneath it and gripping the man by his arm. With all his strength, Max pulled on the arm, expecting the man to buckle to the ground in pain.

  The man stood firm, his arm withstanding the force of Max’s strength.

  He panicked, releasing the grip for half a second. That’s all the man needed as he slipped out of Max’s grip.

  A fist slammed into Max’s gut. Another. Then one cracked against his jaw, stars exploding in his vision. He staggered backward. This guy was on another level.

  The man remained stationed in front of the hut’s door. He grinned as he stood showing no sign of moving.

  Okay, then. I’ll force you.

  Max shook off the punches, readjusting his center of balance. No time to think, he had to end this fast.

  Then he tried again with a new goal in mind. He began throwing erratic punches. Some landing, some blocked. The man remained standing, blocking and dodging the punches thrown.

  Max’s breathing slowed, seeing everything play out in front of him. On the last punch, he feinted forcing the man to throw up his guard.

  Max’s leg smashed into the man’s thigh, tipping him on his left side. Gritting his teeth, Max yanked the man’s left arm with everything he had.

  For a second, the man stood still, but then his balance broke, and he crashed hard on the cement floor, his head leaking a crimson red.

  Max let out a deep sigh. “Tough bastard.”

  Without wasting a second, he swung the hut’s door open.

  Max froze, his jaw dropping to the floor.

  The student inside was on his feet, moving with precision all throughout the hut. One of the men was on the floor, his eye bleeding.

  Max blinked, following the student with ease. Was this kid a fighter?

  The other man was trying to follow the student’s movements, but he was too fast for him to keep up.

  The student moved from one end of the hut to the other, using his off foot as a pivot point allowing him to move so quickly.

  In a lightning fast moment, the student jumped up in the air and dropped his foot on the man’s head. He instantly dropped to the ground, the student standing over him.

  “About time,” the student muttered, wiping blood off himself.