Lautaro slammed the door behind him and sat down. The entire day was a rush. Even he could wished his day was less chaotic. But in the same manner he wanted to know more.
He wanted to know if there was really a mind controlling mole under the ground, puppeteering everbody to go insane. He wanted to know why being the ruler of a highschool gang was so important. Why did everyone go crazy when he won? It's normal to have a few cheers and all, but an entire paparazzi?
To get his mind off of things he wanted to watch something on the television. Even though it might hurt their electrical bills, Lautaro hadn't watched anything in 3 months. He reached out for the remote but even before his hand could touch it. The screen flashed on.
Lautaro jumped away at it and wielded the remote as a weapons, he half expected a mind controlling ray from a mind controlling mole to come out of the television but instead it was labelled as an emergency broadcast.
It read.
"In the North, South, East and West district a new ruler has arisen. We welcome Lautaro's Sanchéz as the new leader of the North Highschool."
Lautaro eyes glanced a deep black. He tried focusing to break out of a mind hexing but there was none. They knew who he was and it was broadcasted all over. He didn't even know the limit of the broadcast. What if it was the entire world? What would happen then; would people from all over try killing him and his mother? He couldn't let that happen. If anything he'd take 10 years for him to complete his First Major Adaptation rather than to let that happen.
He still had morals no matter what world of evolution he was in. They would always be there. He had borrowed this kid's body for almost a week now. And when he comes back he'll be alone with a dead mother and no idea what happened. He couldn't do that, not to anyone and especially not to another Lautaro.
He kept reading the broadcast, wanting to gather more information he increased the volume of the television.
"In a battle of chaos and balance. Lautaro came victorious in his battle with Macell Burnkey. Macell charged at a wall with Lautaro in full grasp but Lautaro managed to break himself free and defeat Macell with the kicks of true king."
The broadcast sounded so epic that it almost distracted Lautaro from the situation at hand. What now? Would he become a deluxe gangster? The one's who hold guns sideways for better aim? He just wanted this quest to be done and over with, give his mom a safe place to live together and be free of her addiction and he wanted to clear Salvey's name.
He sighed and watched as the television described him.
"The questions now is, who will volunteer for the conquest of Lautaro? Will he keep Macell in his gang? Is he going to be a world famous gangster? Now for the time you have all been waiting for..."
There was a major drumroll before it said and read.
"Lautaro Sanchéz's name has been blessed by a higher up. This usually does not happen, I give my congratulations to Lautaro Sanchéz for such potential to be bestowed a name from the higher ups. His name is the Chaos Magician! What a fantastic name granted by the higher ups, it perfectly matches his fighting style and ego. It captivates how his life is an array of chaos but even still he is a wizard at controlling it, it shows how-"
Lautaro turned the television off after the glazing got too much.
Then Lautaro felt it now. He was being watched, maybe he always was after challenging Macell. Or maybe after he saved Salvey in that dark alleyway. Or maybe he was being watched since even before that. All he knew now was that he was being monitored like a lab experiment and there was nothing he could, would and should do about it. This was life now.
Suddenly his privacy felt a little less private. His breath felt as if it was clutched by extremely shady men with leather gloves. He breathed in slowly and out even slower.
"RING, RING, RING, RING!"
Their old telephone was ringing. How? Lautaro didn't know, he felt as if he didn't know a lot of things in that moment but he knew who was calling.
He walked over, feigning bravery as much as he could. He picked up the phone expecting to hear a voice changer on full effect, instead he heard a sort of familiar voice.
"Do not fret Chaos Magician. Your mother is safe. You will be escorted to a guarded house and will receive monthly payments of 200,000 dollars. Along with that your guarded house will come with 3 maids, an indoor and outdoor pool, a dojo and working electronics. Though I fail to understand how you will get accustomed to them if you call a primitive dump like this, home."
"Harvest."
Lautaro said seriously.
"Ah, I forgot to tell you this but. We do not call each other our real names over the phone or in text messages. We call each other the names we were granted to avoid suspicion. Call me Son of Demeter. If your primitive mind does not know what that means I'll gladly explain it to you-"
"I know what Son of Demeter means Son of Demeter. And why do we even have to avoid suspicion fron the cops anyway? You just broadcasted a whole bunch of me."
"Saying our bestowed names is like a command, once said it scrambles police systems and makes it harder to catch us."
Lautaro almost chuckled in disbelief.
"Police still exist?"
"Unfortunately that is the case. In a world run by gang some still think heroism is the way to go."
'So this world is run by gangs. What a sad world.'
Lautaro thought in pity, for the people who have to live here and for the police who still keep doing to right thing.
Lautaro turned on his expensive tongue again.
"Riddle me this. In a world run by gangs why not use guns?"
"Even if we wanted to we could not. Most of the knowledge of guns has been discarded and burned to ash. The ones who run this place think that if you don't fight with your body then you are not worthy of breath."
"One more question Son of Demeter. Why are some many people that excited about highschool gangs?"
"You play football, right?"
"Yes."
"Think of highschool gangs as an academy a place to nurture the player before they go professional. And as to why so many people were chasing you. I'll have to put you on hold."
Lautaro wanted to speak his mind but he was cut off. The automated voice then said.
"You are now being put on hold."
After another minute of it saying it said something new.
"Did you know if you get a picture, video or any other sort of evidence of a gang fights and pictures of the victor. You will gain 10,000 dollars as a cash prize!"
After the voice said that then it yapped about the amount of photos and the quality will vary with how much cash you will receive. So he wasn't getting chased around because he was just that handsome or because the people were crazy, which they still were, but he was getting chased around because of money.
It's always money. Not mind controlling moles but money. He still refused to believe that a mind controlling mole did not play a part in their craziness. Then he heard Harvest's voice over the voice over the phone again.
"We will also provide you with a manual on this life and I am forced to say this with enthusiasm but, congratulations Lautaro on your victory over Macell. Welcome to the Saga of the Four Directions. We wish you the best."
"That's an amazing band name. How fun would that be, me, you and the rest of guys in the other highschools just sing out instead of fighting it out."
Lautaro could see the look on Harvest's face a look of "is this guy stupid?", yet Harvest said nothing except for a simple.
"Goodbye, Lautaro."
Just like that the call ended and frankly. The call was reassuring. He was going to be in a safe home and protected and he was granted money for fighting. He was set for the highschool gang life. For the life of the Saga of the Four Directions. Now that was tuff.
***
His mother came back with an indifferent expression. He wanted to say something, anything but the words never even had a to be formed. She spoke before him.
"I'm not mad at you, I'm just worried. You can beat the strongest person in the world in a fight, I know you can. It's just that are willing to sacrifice yourself to this life? The more you gain strength the more your mind will crumble, I've seen it happen before. Lautaro are you strong enough to not let that happen to you?"
Lautaro eyes turned a soft yellow.
"I promise mom. I promise, i'm strong enough."
His mom gave him a silent nod and started packing her things.
"After years of not having a job because of everyone having a gang affiliation, I thought my son would know better."
She said silently but in a joking tone.
"I thought I would know better as well. But it turns out I didn't."
There was a brief silence before Lautaro said.
"I'd never let my mind break. That I promise. Nothing will ever break my mind no matter how hard it tries."
His mom smiled, a bright warm smile.
"That's my son."
Soon enough they had finished packing and when they left the house they saw a shady black limousine waiting for them. And f course they entered the shady black limousine.
They were met with a man in a business suit and dark sunglasses. The national illegal car driver attire. The drive was not that long. They still lived in the area and they still lived close enough to the school.
The first thing Lautaro did was run around the house and drop his bags upstairs. Once that was does he inspected the entire house, out of curiosity and of privacy. The house was absolutely epic. It had everything Harvest promised and more.
The pool was filled with clean water, without the use of chlorine. The beds were well made and to his liking and the basement was bigger than the entire house. It had a gym, dojo and an obstacle course. Lautaro tilted his head in confusion when he stepped into the basement.
The cupboards were filled with healthy food and other supplements. He was surprised with a custom watch when he opened a random drawer while getting the new drawer smell, the watch read.
"Welcome Chaos Magician, this is a custom made watch made to monitor your health and can help track your subordinates and enemies. Congratulations on defeat The Machine of Perfection and gaining command of the North."
So Macell's granted name was the Machine of Perfection. Whoever game him that name had an imagination.
After discovering everything about the house. He unpacked his little clothes and asked for and given a phone. The first number he added was his mother's then Salvey's.
Salvey texted first giving his congratulations then telling him about his choices.
"You can choose to keep the Machine of Perfection on your team or not. I suggest you do but keep him at bay. He is a very strong subordinate but it makes the possibility of betrayal even more possible. I suggest you start gathering people for your team after this weekend."
Lautaro nodded approvingly at his intelligence and texted back.
"Got it Golden Boy. And just for clarity, do I have to call my minions by a nickname or by their real names?"
Salvey took a while to respond but then answered.
"Most "minions" don't have given nicknames. You can ask the higher ups to give them one but most of the time if they don't prove themselves then they don't get one. The police wouldn't waste their time catching the small fry so it's up to you."
"Got it. Thanks for the help. See you on Monday."
There was a thumps up emoji.
Lautaro stared at his phone and checked for bugs or cameras. But there were none. It was actually true. He had a phone all to himself. He lay on his bed and blinked. And just like that he fell asleep.