Earth, year 2019, Rogue City

Bang!

A wooden ruler smashed down in front of the young teenager’s eyes, causing him to fall from his chair. Seeing him fall, everyone in his class laughed; it was a common occurrence. While on the ground, the teenager glared.

“Mr. Delano, is my class not challenging enough for you?” The teacher scolded.

“Yes, you managed to figure it out, Mrs. Robert. No wonder you’re a teacher.” The teenager remarked.

As Lefu climbed back into his chair, a wet wad of paper nailed him dead center on his forehead. He peeled it off and looked at who shot it. The culprit was Ted Block, heir to Smash Entertainment, the corporation at the top of the entertainment industry.

Lefu just glanced over at Ted before closing his eyes, thinking about how childish and idiotic the other boy was. A look of irritation fell over Ted's face, as he realized that his plan had failed to spark a reaction. Pulling out his phone, he quickly typed out a few words before hitting send.

Ding!~Ding!~

The last bell of the day went off and Lefu quickly grabbed his books and left quietly; it was pointless to stay behind to receive a scolding from Mrs. Robert. Dashing out the backdoor, Lefu raced towards the nearby farmer’s market where Old Mino was selling strawberries -- his favorite.

He first met Mino a few years ago after being beaten by twenty or so thugs and the kind old man with lush white hair and a deep tan had approached him, offering to bandage him up. After bandaging him, he gave Lefu some of his strawberries as a snack, which caused him to get addicted instantly.

After running a few blocks, he spotted the market, as well as the old man sitting behind a booth with sweet, juicy strawberries that tasted just like heaven next to him. Smiling, he began jogging up to the old man.

“Young Lefu, I had a feeling you’d be stopping by today so I brought a few extra -- just for you,” The old man said with a smile.

“You’re the best, Old Mino.” Lefu said as he opened the box and grabbed a strawberry.

‘Yummy~’ Lefu thought as he slowly savored the taste which was like heaven on earth, as the juicy and tingling sensation washed over his taste buds, causing Lefu to moan in delight. Seeing the young man in front of him enjoying his strawberries put the biggest smile on Mino’s face. Before him was the reason he still farmed at the age of seventy-seven.

“Ah, how much do I owe you?” Lefu said as he reached into his pocket for his wallet.

“Since I know you enjoy them, I’ll give you three boxes for five dollars.” Mino said as he received a five dollar bill in his hand.

“You’re the best.” Lefu said, knowing that the third box was free. Quickly grabbing his three boxes and saying a few words of farewell, he quickly left the market and headed towards his family gym.

With his house in sight and strawberries in hand, Lefu found himself in a good mood. As he stood at the crosswalk waiting for the green light, he heard the screech of tires behind him. Turning his head, Lefu managed to see a speeding BMW heading straight for him, its right tire blown out.

Bang! The sound of twisting metal and camera snapping pictures filled the street, as many nearby residents rushed out investigation the source. Littering the ground was broken glass and shards of metal that had fallen.

Lying atop the totaled car, Lefu moaned in pain as his left side took a direct hit. He tried to jump over the car to minimize the impact, but his timing was off seeing as, his left side clipped the windshield. His head smashed into the roof. Sliding off the car, Lefu’s consciousness began to waver and his thought pattern was scrambled. After trying to stand his eyesight blurred as everything turned black.

From the backseat of the BMW, a middle-aged man wearing a black Italian suit and sunglasses stepped out. Taking a look at the teenager he crashed into, the man sighed as he recognized the uniform the boy was wearing. The boy went to the same school as his daughter.

Climbing out of the BMW, the driver was littered in cuts, but he ignored them as it was only small scratches. Located above the driver’s left eye was a cut that was bleeding profoundly, yet he didn’t complain while he wiped away his blood.

“Maybe my daughter knows him from school,” the man muttered to the driver, as his gaze fixed on the top floor of a building over three hundred meters away. “But first, we should catch that sniper who shot out our tire.”

Three hundred meters away, the sniper suddenly felt a chill as he quickly packed up and left. He sprinted down the stairs and out the backdoor before hopping into a waiting van where three masked men were waiting.

“Is it done?” A man wearing a clown mask asked while holding a pistol.

“He didn’t die, but he should be severely wounded,” the sniper reported.

“In that case the mission is complete. Let’s leave.” Another man in a pig mask said to the driver that was clad in a hockey mask.

As the driver stomped on the gas, the van shot forward. The vehicle exited the alleyway and slipped into traffic. After driving for a few hours, the van pulled into an abandoned warehouse.

Climbing out of the van, the four men lined up and faced a man wearing an Italian suit with his face hidden in the shadows. Something about the man’s presence felt off even to these hired killers. Feeling chills going down their spines, the men shivered but couldn’t pinpoint the cause..

The man wearing the clown mask stepped forward. “We’ve done what you requested. Where’s our money?” he said in a confident tone but slight tone of fear escape.

“Did you now? From what I gathered from my sources, that man is still alive and the boy still unconscious, so how is it complete?” The man in an Italian suit said in a chilly voice.

The man in the hockey mask trembled. “Sir, we have done what young master Ted asked of us. He just told us to harm the boy.”

“Oh, my mistake. It seems we received different orders,” the man said warmly, expelling the eeriness instantaneously.

Yet the men sensed that something was still slightly off. Even after a quick glance around, the feeling only increased. There were three cars, yet why could they only see the man in a suit? Out of the corner of the sniper’s eye, he spotted a piece of cloth stained with dark blood.

“Who are you and where’s the person who usually drops the cash?” the sniper nervously demanded.

“He couldn’t make it as he’s currently being detained by the Rouge City Police department. As for who I am, that’s easy. The name is Zurie, Kevin Zurie, CEO of Primrose Corporation.”

Upon hearing the name, a sense of helplessness overcame the men. They had heard the rumors: anyone who went against Primrose were either never heard from again or put on death row.

“Why are you here, sir?” The man in a pig mask inquired as his voice quivered in fear.

“Arresting four men who attempted to assassinate me and a high schooler.” Kevin replied. He snapped his fingers, signaling a SWAT team to rush in and surround the four.

“It was nice meeting you gentlemen, but if you’ll excuse me, I need to get home and attend to some business,” he declared as he climbed into a new BMW and drove off.

Meanwhile, the unconscious Lefu found himself conflicted looking at a sentence that materialized inside his mind. Outside of worrying that he was dying, he now has to worry about hallucination and possible brain damage. Well, worrying over it won’t solve the issue for him as the sentence read:

[Welcome to the Omni-System.]