4 Years Later
Dock town afternoons were chockfull of noises that got every busybody rolling.
The purposeful and purposeless chatter of workers and neighbors.
The drumming of wood as the residents moved down the waterfront boardwalk.
The rushing waters as boats sailed to and from the harbor.
But what really livened up the day was the sounds of brawling. Thwack! Fwoosh! Zoom! The spectacle that accompanied these noises was a sight to behold. It was not often the populace of Outville Piers got to watch a thirteen-year-old kid duke it out with three robots. However, over the year, since there wasn't much for the youth to do in the harbor, it became one of the few entertaining things others tuned into to alleviate the boredom.
"Let's go, Rafe!"
"Rip them apart!"
That's exactly what happened as Rafe sprinted upon the water like a stone skipping across the lake to lodge a foot into an automaton in the guise of a middle-aged veteran male with a missile launcher for a right arm. The boy swiftly wrapped his hands around the wrinkled metal neck and twisted hard, his feet digging into the bots midsection. Soon, the head was separated from the body, cogs flying out and wires twitching as their last spark died out. The bot spazzed out before going utterly still. The crowd, mostly made up of teenagers and stay-at-home adults, went wild.
Rafe's toes touched the surface of the ocean before he made a mad dash to a nearby small patch of bedrock. Ignoring the audience to lock eyes with the man a few feet beside them, massive, muscled legs dangling over the boardwalk's edge. He was a lumberjack of a man with his dark red hair in a combover and a bushy beard. He nodded in approval.
Rafe shrugged back in response right as a whistling noise resounded behind him. He spun around to catch a small missile with his bare hands, twirling around to pitch it like a baseball before it exploded. The second robot made an appearance, this one a thirty-something-year-old woman who also had a launcher arm. It dropped out of the sky, its jet-powered feet giving it speed and its regular arm poised above its head like a hammer. The boy snorted at this before crouching low, swinging his fist up in an uppercut the moment the bot got close. The duo's clash made the very air vibrate and the plot of land split in half.
Over with the man Rafe acknowledged, one of the dock workers, a dark-skinned woman in a neon vest and a yellow hard hat came to stand next to him, watching the kid at work.
"Jesus, Watson. What do you feed that kid?"
Beau Watson smirked, keeping his eyes on the fight as he replied. "Not my doing, Liza. The little imp takes care of himself. Expected since he comes from my mate's side of the world."
Liza nodded, then gaped when she witnessed the third robot, a dark-haired female, fire another missile at Rafe, who was still facing the second automaton. The boy threw a flurry of punches into the lighter woman-bot's stomach, nearly causing it to trip and plunge into the sea below. However, instead of the ocean, Rafe punched up, punting it off the bedrock so he can face the other way, grab the umpteenth missile launched at him today, and toss it back. With more energy put into the throw, the projectile traveled back to its home at twice its original speed, giving the third automaton no time to move. The resulting detonation was like fireworks. Rafe's ears twitched before jumping away from the split bedrock to avoid a spray of bullets, the second bot's left arm having transformed into a machine gun.
"What type is he?" Liza asked. "Zeus? Apollo?"
Not too long ago, scientists found it rather simple to just look at a superhuman's current and latent abilities and assign them to the closest Olympian god of ancient Greek mythology with similar powers. Water-centric superhumans almost always were allotted Poseidon and those who controlled plants were named Demeter supers. So on and so forth.
"Hermes," Beau answered. "He's a Gold, which explains the beheading and such. Toby nearly shat himself when he showed up at our door four years ago. He thought they sent him to snuff us out."
Liza blinked at that. "A child?"
"Over there, the kids are just as dangerous. Some may say even more than the grownups."
"And I can attest to that," a voice said from behind the two. A tall, dark brown-haired, and athletically lean-built man in a tank top and basketball shorts strolled over, a shaker bottle filled with some fuchsia concoction in hand. "I'm just a regular, ol' human, but I do know that the supers have it a lot worse. At the Coat, you're inducted in from the age of five. Well, for girls. For boys, it's four."
Beau turned to the guy and grinned. "Nah. You just sat in your ivory, or, should I say, your iron tower, and played with your toy guns like a spoiled heir to the throne."
Tobias Irons pouted, pointing at Beau with the shaker bottle. "Hey! Some of those guns are beyond their time and my idea. You know, the idea that saved your furry ass numerous times in the past. Remember that?"
"I still did most of the work, but thanks for the assist all those times, babe."
Liza smiled in amusement as the two lovers argued, momentarily looking between the couple before turning back to Rafe. Amazingly, the boy was now dueling the two lady bots at the same time, trading fist for fist in a violent reign of hooks and blocks. Rafe zipped between the mechanical duo. When he took a hit, he gave two more at double times the speed. The crowd of residents next to them jumped and hooted in excitement.
"So then, what's the kid's deal?" Liza asked. "Did his family ship him out or something?"
Toby sauntered over and sat by his mate as he responded. "Rafe said they kicked him out. Apparently, they found a piece of paper in his room explaining how he was going to destroy the entire Coat of Wolframite. Papa Gold wasn't too happy about that, so they sent their heir out on his ass with one dollar in hand and a beating in mind."
Beau pursed his lips in a grimace. "Kid said he was out on the streets for six months before stumbling in our neighborhood."
The dock worker winced.
Everyone in the world knew that the Coat of Wolframite Corporation, the largest human-based organization on not only Earth but the entire solar system, was a tough environment to live and breathe for the last three hundred years. Though, it seemed that the real tribulations were covered up by altruism and innovation.
"Damn. You've been keeping him all this time?" Liza wondered.
"For the last year, yeah," Toby answered her. "Before that, he'd come back for an hour visit until he had to go back, the early days usually ending in us trying to persuade him to stay. Then, out of the blue, all our convincing paid off because he decided to never go back again."
"We were fine with not having any kids for ourselves," a proud smile lit up Beau's bearded face, "but the imp's practically like a son to me now, so I guess I gotta keep him. It still feels a bit strange for a lycan like me to raise a human. A superhuman, no less."
Toby rolled his eyes as he leaned his head against his mate's broad shoulder. "Sure, but that means you were human once, too. I bet Rafe reminds you of the good old days, huh?"
The lycan chuckled heartily while he wrapped a burly arm around the other and pulled him tight against his side, pecking the brunette on the cheek. "Nah. Werewolf for life, baby."
The fight appeared to be drawing to its conclusion, indicated by Rafe shoving his arm inside and through the thirty-something-year-old woman's chest, electricity crackling as he latched onto the edge of the hole he made and wrenched upward. The automaton was ripped in two, metal parts scattering into the ocean and the halves following after.
The noirette robot's face held no reaction to the destruction of its comrade, its only response was to transform its regular arm into a giant hawkbill knife.
Rafe, who was hopping to keep above the water surface, tsked in disappointment. "That won't help you."
He charged, his speed creating large waves. The last bot moved forward as well to meet Rafe in the middle. It swung and swung in perfect arcs, but the superhuman teen was too fast, nonchalantly dodging and skipping across the water. Finally having enough, Rafe straightened and stiffened his fingers before chopping at the bot's knife arm, slicing through its mechanical limb clean. He then grabbed it out of the air and implanted the entire weapon into the automaton's forehead. Like the rest, it spasmed for a bit prior to stilling completely.
As his audience exploded into hollers and praise, Rafe hurried toward the split rock to catch his breath, inspecting his surroundings, metal body parts floating in the water.
Beau nodded, impressed, while Toby clapped. Liza was stunned, but only for a minute as something came back to mind.
"Hold on. You said he had a written plan to destroy the Wolframite empire. That includes Irons, which includes you," she pointed at Toby. "Concerns? Questions?"
Toby searched around them as if looking for eavesdroppers before speaking. "Don't tell anybody this, but if I could get rid of Wolframite for good, I'd have done it by now. I dunno. Corrupt corporate groups just don't do it for me these days."
Before the conversation could continue, Rafe landed back on the boardwalk behind them. His fan group began to surround him, squawking like birds in their eagerness and curiosity. He didn't hide his scowl, obviously uncomfortable with the attention and grabby hands picking at his battle marks. Ignoring them the best he could, he trudged up to Beau and Toby with an expectant look.
"So? How was that?"
When he spoke, the crowd thankfully hushed up, their eyes moving over to the big lycan.
Beau got up from his seat and pulled Toby up with him, the two clasping hands together.
"You beat your time, wasting about thirty thousand bucks in ten minutes," Beau smirked at his mate, who shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, "but it's still a plus."
Rafe quirked an eyebrow, waiting for more. "But?"
"But that speed of yours limits your attention span for that brief amount of time. It could have saved you a few less punches to the face if you stopped using your superspeed to move a couple of inches to the left."
"Plus, that's a lot of spare stamina you could be using for other moves," Toby added, getting surprised and confused looks from his mate and foster son. "Yeah. I've been paying attention during your last sparring session. You never know. Maybe I'm a late bloomer or something."
"Twenty years overdue?" Beau laughed. "Puberty's hit you way too late, baby."
"Different age for everyone, love."
Rafe's face drew up in defiance, opening his mouth to express a rebuttal, but let it drop in a groan. Even with the encouragement behind him, disappointment and impatience swirled in his stomach. He knew he was strong but being strong wasn't enough, it seemed. He needed to be perfect.
The perfect fighter.
A large, calloused hand placed itself on his shoulder. Rafe looked up to Beau, who smiled softly at him.
"Guts, little imp. Guts."
Their mantra whenever he was feeling down on himself.
The blond sighed again. "Guts."
He spun around and headed to the house he had been living in for the past year. He was eager for another go, but patience was another virtue Beau wanted to nail into his head. It had been nice here in Outville Piers, but he knew reality would come crashing down soon, and patience was proving to be something hard to find. That went for Rafe and the place he came from. They wouldn't let him go for long.
-POI-
Beau and Toby's cabin was a self-made, two-story wooden structure located in an isolated part of Outville Piers dock, complete with a shed and an underwater bunker for storage. They were far from the crazy, misanthropic couple who hissed and snarled at anyone who happened to stumble into their little space. Since they've made this place their own some twenty years ago, they've been nothing but friendly with the locals. Though, with Toby being a major component of the Coat of Wolframite Corporation, he and his mate had a few reservations. Rafe was lucky he found himself here by accident.
After training, Rafe went about his usual routine. He healed up using some special light blue soap. He had asked Beau what the substance was, figuring it wasn't a product made by the Coat. However, the lycan would dance around the question, saying that if Rafe knew what it was made out of, he probably wouldn't use it anymore. The blond stopped asking a while later.
A subsequent shower later, Rafe donned a simple t-shirt and black shorts before heading downstairs for dinner, his hair still wet and dripping. That would have never been allowed back at the Coat, the Gold family's propensity for extravagant outward appearances and superficial surface quality a high priority in public or private. However, Beau and Toby were way cooler than that. Hell, Beau sometimes came back home bruised and bleeding all over the carpet, his exercises over at a nearby wolf tribe much more arduous than Rafe's.
"So, you're missing," Toby said from the kitchen, cooking up a buffet.
Rafe raised an eyebrow as he walked over to the dinner table. "You just realized that after the past year?"
"No, kid," he chuckled. "I mean the Coat. Or rather, your family. I don't know why it took them so long, but they finally went to report a missing persons case on you."
Beau came in, a lit cigarette between his lips. "They want him back?"
Rafe felt his insides freeze.
He knew. He knew the day was coming. But now? So suddenly? Just like that, it felt like all that training and those robot-destroying sessions were for nothing, still feeling as weak as the day he was kicked out four years back. He decided to stay in Outville Piers when he promised himself the next time he went back, he'd be stronger than ever. He should have known that that was only fantasy talking.
"It's the Golds. There's no room for any glitches in their matrix. They're too vain," Toby turned around and smiled apologetically at the blond boy. "No offense, bud."
"It's alright," Rafe blew out a shaky breath. "I knew this wouldn't last forever anyway."
Beau sat next to Rafe at the table, reaching over to ruffle his blond hair. "Well, nobody was saying anything about that. We knew you might convince yourself that you had to go back, so we have a few contingency plans ready."
Toby hummed in agreement as he turned off the stove, then began to fix the food onto plates. "I've been paying several important people to keep your current whereabouts a secret. To be honest, I'm a little surprised I haven't been caught yet. The guys down at the joint are snakes."
Rafe blinked in surprise before shaking his head. Now he felt like a charity case. Rafe always felt guilty for taking up as much space as he did whenever he visited. Now, he was, at last, feeling worse about it, his last moments at the Coat overriding any fault he might have felt when he decided to permanently intrude in their lives.
"You don't have to do that. Wasting all that money on me. I'll just go back-"
"Seriously?" the Irons CEO gave him a look of disbelief, then smirked. "See, that's one trait all you Golds have no matter what. You all are so used to being the top-reigning families that you think our numbers in the bank account look like a mere phone bill. I'm the freakin' CEO of Ironclad Wolves, Raf. It's like giving out quarters to me. Don't worry about it."
Rafe scowled at him. "I never even used their money."
He wasn't offended about what Toby said about the Gold family because it was basically true, but rather that he was lumped in with them.
"A thirteen-year-old unruly kid rebelling against his rich family not big on spending money?" Toby chuckled and nodded slowly. "Sure."
"Whatever," Rafe huffed in annoyance as he sat back in his seat.
Beau hid his mouth behind his hand for a second to take his cigarette out, obviously trying to conceal an amused smile, before playfully admonishing his mate. "Alright, quit teasing him. We don't want you to go, little imp. Far from it. But the well is running a bit dry on the current plan's lifespan."
"Then, what's the next one?"
"I'm assuming you stopped going to school when you took up residence here with us. What grade were you in then?"
School? How was school going to fix any of this, he wanted to spit, but he bit his tongue. Before, he was an average student at Galena Charter School, a small but high-status elementary institute for the "talented" and "gifted," aka the one's with parents with enough money in their pockets to donate to the place to keep it going. For a superhuman like Rafe, he was part-time, the rest of his time spent being battered and shaped into a productive weapon for the Coat.
"I'm supposed to be a seventh-grader now, I think."
"Ah! Perfect! We'll have the maximum amount of time on figuring out our options," Beau said while he snatched a plate of steak from Toby's hand and immediately began digging in.
"What do you mean?" Rafe asked. "You guys sending me to a boarding school or something? Won't that just give the Coat a whole buttload of chances to catch me?"
Beau was still shoveling meat into his mouth, and the boy sneered in disgust and impatience as his lycan foster father swallowed loudly. He dutifully ignored the pork chop placed in front of him.
Finally, the redheaded wolf addressed him. "It is a boarding school but trust me when I say that the people there hold so much power that not even the C.O.W will get you from there."
Rafe frowned.
A system that held more clout than the freaking Coat of Wolframite? A three-hundred-year-old establishment that has had influence over pretty much everything?
Impossible.
"That has to be a joke. Nothing's more powerful than the Coat and I'm not trying to sound like I'm better or anything because I'm not. Nobody's ever gone against the twelve families and lived long after. They have eyes like… over the entire galaxy."
"But do they have eyes over the whole universe?" Beau retorted.
"What?"
Over a year ago, Rafe would have said yes. But he escaped and hasn't been forced back yet, so now he had doubts.
"Ever heard of Ironward Academy?" the lycan asked.
Rafe could only shrug and start eating his pork chops. Based on the first name alone, he would have assumed it was just another faction of the Coat, but he knew he'd be wrong.
"No!?" Beau looked between the young boy and his mate. "How sheltered were you humans in the C.O.W?"
It was Toby's turn to shrug as he ate his grilled steak and asparagus. "They hid us from the world pretty damn well. I never even knew the arcane existed until I was eighteen."
"They did a phenomenal job then because 'arcane' is an outdated term," the lycan pointed out. "We call ourselves 'magi' now. Which is who you'll be surrounded by at Ironward," he turned to Rafe. "It's a pretty huge place on some remote island. With so many species and creatures attending and working there, the school security is bound to be the best in the universe."
"Again, it's a boarding school, so you'll have to live on campus," Toby mentioned, "but you can always come back here whenever you want. I mean, someone as fast as you can make the trip several times a day."
His kind smile made Rafe blush, still not used to such warmth from adults. The ones he knew back home only saw children as tools for either destruction or amusement.
"We won't force you to go, though. It's your choice, imp," Beau told him as the two waited on his answer.
Rafe slowly chewed on a piece of pork as he mulled over his choices. Right now, he was seeing more pluses than negatives. A place where his real family couldn't touch him even with the knowledge of his location sounded like a pipe dream. However, this wasn't the world he was used to dealing with. Magic was real and it could do anything beyond what the Coat might think up.
However, there was one, glaring con that superseded all those pros.
"I'll go-"
"On what condition?" Toby cut him off.
Rafe glowered at him. "I was getting to that, you dick."
That made the Irons CEO laugh aloud. "I knew it. Sorry. Had to."
"Hush up over there," Beau pointed at him, his lips curled upward.
Rafe blew out a breath and went on. "I want Andre to go with me."
"Your friend, Andre?" Beau scratched at his hairy chin. "I don't know, imp. Graybite doesn't treat their omés all that well. Old traditions still hold up weight over there. Strict surveillance. Arranged matings. The omegas aren't even given last names."
All that, but it didn't seem like Andre even wanted to leave the place. It was where he lived all his life, which was understandable, but Rafe wanted his wolf friend to realize that there was a difference between a residence and a home.
"Well, then, we'll just sneak him out," Rafe stood up from his seat, anger fusing with determination. "You said the people at Ironward can't be touched, right?"
"Yeah, but the next school year doesn't start until a couple of months," Beau said.
"His tribe never treated him right, anyway. I've been trying to get him out of there, but he says he has to stay."
"Sound familiar?" Toby teased.
It took Rafe a moment, but when he got it, instead of snarking back, he just shrugged. "We're friends. So what?"
The two mates gave each other a knowing grin, confusing the young superhuman as he glanced between them.
"What?"
"Nothing," the lycan waved him off as he started eating again. "We'll tell you when you're older. For now, though, I need to wash up on my charming skills because the Graybite's Alpha can smell falsehoods that you haven't even thought about."
"Magic?" Toby inquired.
"Nope. Just a really good nose."