BIRTH AND CREATION - DIFFERENT ENOUGH TO BE THE SAME
CHAPTER 1 : BEFORE IT BEGAN
"HELL'S ANGELS? ARE YOU FUCKING MAD!?" I yell at Johnny "The Blade" Carl, leader of The Dead Skulls Motorcycle Club.
Balled-headed, with a huge bushy beard, he's massive in both height and weight, and always wears a vest because his humungous muscles are just too big for shirts. Of course the vest is leather, with our logo on the back - a skull with two blades piercing through it, dripping in blood - and completes the outfit with black leather pants and combat boots.
"SHUT IT, RIDER. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, YOU CAN KISS YOUR CUT GOODBYE!" he yells back at me.
Yeah, I'm Max Rider, the only anthro in the group., I'm a wolf. I have grey fur and a tail, with a silver streak from my head to tail-tip. I'm wearing my usual black leather jacket, white T‑shirt, dark blue jeans, black leather combat boots and studded leather fingerless gauntlets. Pretty smooth, huh?
I'm also the vice-president of the Club. I try to keep my brothers alive, and try to talk sense into Johnny, but it seems he's not budging this time.
"WE'RE DOING IT, LIKE IT OR NOT, AND YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" he yells again.
Sighing in defeat, I grab my guns and blades - a 44 Magnum revolver, a Desert Eagle and two Katanas - I strap on my holsters and sheaths and we all follow the boss to our bikes. I kick-start my chopper and man, it sounds beautiful, like an AC Cobra on two wheels.
We ride for two hours before we approach the valley with the abandoned warehouse their drugs operation is run from. We cut our engines and lights on top of the hill and freewheel down so we don't alert any guards. We park and get off our bikes and Johnny says, "when we get in there, let me do the talking. And I hope to fuck Vincent ain't in there, especially for your sake, Max".
To be honest, I was hoping the same thing.
We enter the warehouse and their boss is sitting at a table, looking as though he was waiting for us. Johnny looked back at us and didn't need to say a word for us to understand what he meant - follow, but don't do anything stupid!
Johnny sits down confidently and says with a smirk, "okay Dev, here's how it's going to work. You and your fairy crew are going to leave the downtown district and all the drugs and cash go to me. Understand?
"Ha-ha! You really think you can just walk into my clubhouse and take over?" Dev snarls.
Johnny leans back casually, hands behind his head and smiles, "that's the plan Tinkerbelle".
Dev throws me a look and chuckles, then clicks his fingers and calls out, "Vincent!". A guys walks in the room, in full purple, holding a shotgun in his right hand and a spanner in his left.
"Yeah boss?" I was always surprised at the high pitch of his voice and again I thought, must be from Jersey.
"Why don't you take dog-boy over here for a walk?" Dev says, with an evil grin.
"Sure thing, boss". Vincent gestures for me to follow him, which I casually do, not revealing an ounce of the dread I feel in my gut.
He leads me out and away from the warehouse into the dark. We keep walking in absolute silence until suddenly, without warning, Vincent chuckles, spins around and screams "OPEN SEASON, BITCH!" and unloads every shell of his shotgun into me.
I hit the ground hard, full of buckshot and blood. How I wasn't dead right then, I have no idea.
I hear Vincent laugh, and though my vision is blurred, I see him, a purple haze walking past me, and away.
The last thing I hear as I close my eyes are sirens, gunshots and running boots. Then everything was silent, and dark.