Atlas awoke to Apollo's face. He was startled for a brief second then the memories of the previous night came rushing back toward him.
"This is bloody deja vu." he groaned as he sat upright, clutching his head.
"What's wrong with you, huh? Your body was already so exhausted and you tried to cultivate Divine Energy?" Apollo yelled, waging his fingers angrily. He appeared extremely frustrated.
"I thought it would heal me…" Atlas murmured as a last resort, causing the god to sigh in defeat.
"Look, Atlas, I know I haven't been of much help and many things haven't been explained but still. You have to know your own boundaries, otherwise, you'd be no different from a walking bomb."
Atlas fell into deep thought at Apollo's words and nodded after a while.
"I'll try my best."
"Good. However, all that aside, we need to get going!"
Apollo yelled as he seemed to recall something important. He threw a set of clothes at Atlas and began to leave the room.
Atlas looked over at the black tracksuit and asked puzzledly. "Where are we going?"
"You're going to become the God of Organized Crime. I think it's time you started acting like him."
The god slammed the door as he said that. Atlas then turned to stare at the black pair of shorts and the red shirt disdainfully. His lips twisted downwards in a hateful scowl. They were clothes that Apollo had obviously bought for him.
"What a horrid colour."
He took a shower and put on the clothes in the span of a few minutes, then went to meet Apollo.
"Are you ready?" the god asked, sizing Atlas up.
"I think so."
"Get some cash. We're going to need it."
Atlas nodded and did what he was told. As soon as he got back to Apollo, they were on their way.
"So, are you going to tell me what we're doing?" he asked as they passed through familiar streets.
He was back in his old neighbourhood.
'I actually thought I would put this place behind me. It looks like fate has many other bullshit opinions.' the teenager thought staring at the dilapidated streets and buildings around them.
"What would you do if you were the leader of a start-up gang?" The god asked, kicking a pebble with a happy expression.
Atlas answered quickly as he already thought of it before.
"Establish dominance over other smaller gangs in the area and acquire funds."
"Bingo." Apollo pointed excitedly and continued. "So that's what we're going to do."
Atlas was a bit confused and didn't hesitate to voice it out.
"Oakcliff has a low crime rate, and the security is really high. How are we supposed to establish a foothold in this kind of place?"
The god listened to Atlas' query and responded after a second of thought.
"Wrong. This place has a lot of big and dangerous gangs. As long as you have working eyes then it should be easy to spot them out. Most of them are headed by creatures who have taken an interest in forming gangs. My father even has one as well!"
As Apollo said that, Atlas took the time to look around his surroundings. There were a lot of shady figures in dark alleys. Some were even in the open. He could tell from one look that they were strange individuals.
At least half of these people were covered with tattoos and Atlas could identify a lot of them as gang tattoos.
"What was wrong with my eyes before?" he muttered to himself and cleaned his eyes rapidly.
Apollo laughed and shook his head.
"You were probably still stuck up in making money that you didn't notice them. However, that wouldn't have lasted forever. Eventually, the money you were making in a month wouldn't be able to cover certain expenses and you would have had to make contacts with some of these gangs. You were already halfway to that point too."
Atlas was quiet at the god's words and only took the time to reflect until they finally reached their destination. It was a small rundown cafe in between two large buildings. The cafe's broken neon sign was on the ground, slightly blocking the entrance, making it even more obscure.
"This will be the base of operations for now," Apollo muttered as he tried to push the sign out of their way.
Atlas helped him and easily pushed the sign out of the way.
"You really don't work out, do you?" he disdainfully looked at Apollo then pushed the door open first.
"I'm not the God of War. What do you expect from me?"
Atlas ignored the whining god and took in the appearance of the cafe's interior. Contrary to the outside's appearance, the inside looked very much like a small palace. It had several expensive pieces of furniture, a small pool, bookshelves and a bar.
He looked back at Apollo with conflicted expressions.
'If he tried to help me and mom, then we wouldn't have had to suffer for so long.'
As he thought that, his mind blanked out for a second, but he regained his clarity a moment after.
'No. I wouldn't have accepted anybody's charity.'
Atlas instantly noticed the group of heads in the corner of the room and small whispers following their movements.
"Those club members?"
"That's right," Apollo answered as soon as he covered the cafe up and closed the doors. "They are the members of the club who wanted to help you."
As soon as he said that, the club members got up from their seats and went to meet them.
"Hello." the first to speak was Clyde, who had been very vocal the last time Atlas met him.
The other three members didn't speak and only waved.
"Why do they want to help me?" Atlas was immediately distrusting as he stared at the individuals with considerably weak presences.
Clyde was the first one to step forward.
"Because you can help us cast off the shackles of discrimination and oppression."
"How would I need your help, though?" Atlas grew increasingly more and more puzzled each time they spoke.
"On one hand to help you achieve godhood. On the other hand, to cleanse the madness that runs in your blood."
"Currently, you have about two years before you go completely mad."
****
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