Canaan Club - 27. Chapter 27

Daeran confused himself.

The thought crossed his mind multiple times since he decided to try out for Combat. In fact, he was usually confused. Bewildered and panicked and just scared straight out of his mind. At least, it’s been that way lately. Ironward brought up a lot of dirty laundry in the closet where he thought he had shoved into the deepest, darkest corners. Though, he couldn’t help the relief that settled at the prospect of having something to… beat the crap out of.

There was somewhere in his brain that said that he should be feeling shame for that. Fighting and hurting others. Two things he hated he was good at, but since the scuffle with Zoel, he had to put a cap on that.

It was time to let his “beasts” out.

And right now, he was going to charge headfirst into the-

“Here I come, little sheep!” the black, bipedal, and impressively built panther, navy strips running down his shoulders, galloped across the empty, sandy landscape they were transported to.

Ah, shit.

“Um, okay,” he muttered as he got down into what he assumed was a fighting stance.

Why the hell did he say that? That wasn’t meant to be answered!

Before another one of his inner turmoils can exacerbate, the werebeing suddenly vanished from view. Sprinted toward Daeran then zipped out of existence as if he was teleported back home. Poof.

“Goddammit!” he cursed himself, running a hand over his cropped head. “This is what I get for not paying attention.”

Now, he was gonna embarrass himself on camera by getting the shit kicked out of his ass.

Oh, god.

This was on camera. Dammit! Maybe he should get on his knees and beg the big guy to go easy on him-

SsShHh! PaY aTtEnTiOn!

Daeran flinched, and his hand immediately went to the cross on his necklace, but he shut his mind up and clued himself into his surroundings. Always popping in at the most random of times when life and death weren’t involved.

Papat! Papat! Papat! Papat!

The faint scampering of his enemy surrounded him at all angles.

Getting closer.

Then farther.

Closer again.

Then back.

What the hell is he playing at?

Out of the corner of his left eye, the dark figure he was watching for finally sprouted from… somewhere and soared high into the orange sky, a fuchsia ball of magical energy encompassing his paw.

“Eat this!” Ulius shouted before firing the spell.

Daeran leaped out of harm’s way, covering his eyes as the magic struck the ground, and the spot he was just at was coated in some kind of gelatinous, metal substance.

Yeah, no thanks, he thought with a grimace.

“Stay still!” the panther shifter aimed another beam of purplish red magic at the airborne first-year.

Daeran outstretched his right arm and crooked his index finger as if beckoning the void space beside him. However, it was he that moved, his body zipping out of the trajectory of the magic blast. It exploded behind him, and a second later, the sand that was uprooted transformed into bone particles.

His opponent wasn’t the only one who could use magic.

“Keep your eye on the birdie!” the werebeing screamed again, launching another attack.

Okay. Seriously, where was he getting these cheesy villain pre-attack declarations? And who the hell says that? Daeran reached the ground and hopped out of the way prior to the beam landing, narrowly avoiding being turned into a swarm of bees.

“You fool!” Another torrent of transmutation magic. Birds this time.

God. If only he could get close enough to cold-clock the overgrown mammal in the muzzle. Those one-liners didn’t make him cooler!

He jumped to dodge the gazillionth wave of fuchsia that would have melted him – completely ignoring the no-killing rule, my god – when Ulius suddenly teleported behind him.

“Watch your six!” he said, broadcasting his position, which gave Daeran ample time to crook his left index finger and have himself whiz out of the way. The panther snarled. “You’re a nimble, little rodent, aren’t you!?”

“Well, if you keep quiet, maybe you can catch me,” Daeran shot back, annoyance lacing his tone for the first time in a while.

Ulius just snickered, trying hard to play the evil bad guy. “You may be quick on your toes, but do you have the speed to dodge this? Octo-whips!”

The panther thrust a palm forward, and a barrage of blue streams of light discharged.

One – lame.

Two – Water wisps would have been a better name. It was just pressurized water fired off like bullets. He was calling it that when he could do it with his own magic.

Despite the speed of the liquid missiles, it was rather simple to evade. Daeran touched ground once more and started a series of backflips, each one just barely missing as he somersaulted backward. Now that that was done, he could-

“I’m not done yet!” Ulius bellowed before swiping his hands forward.

The smaller first-year groaned. “Christ, what now?”

“WeSt! wEsT! WeSt! wEsT! WeSt! wEsT-”

“Alright! Alright! I get it!”

Enflamed pebbles – tiny rocks of fiery death – showered his area, and Daeran was back to bouncing in reverse. He was on roll until he hit a dead end.

Wait. That wasn’t right.

Looking back, he had rammed his back into a saguaro cactus – those ones that looked like trees – but for some reason, it didn’t have any spines. Whatever planet they were on, it was not Earth.

Thank the gods and oh shit. He was glad he didn’t have to deal with tiny, sharp pricks in his back for the next month, but those uber miniature meteorites were right on him. Panicking, Daeran clasped his hands and summoned a bit more of the magical energy in him. Just enough to create a shield around his form as the stones rained upon him like deadly precipitation.

It didn’t take long for it to end, and Daeran unclasped-

“BiG! bIg!”

Never mind! He put in more power, making the shield even larger in half a second. There was a surprised grunt above him, and the first-year jumped in fright before moving his eyes skyward…

…and paled when he found Ulius’ outstretched talons poking at the strands of his hair.

“Damn your sense of peril!” the black panther cursed.

Daeran released a shaky breath as he glared at his opponent. “I mean, you are trying to tear me to ribbons. You realize a knockout counts as a win, right? Not murder!”

“I am the predator, and you are the prey. There is no other combat style I operate on than that. Which means that you won’t be the one winning here today. Oculo flare!”

Fuck.

Boom!

Everything went white, then red, then sand as a force drove Daeran into the ground. It was like a punch to the chest, and it hurt, but luckily, the shield absorbed most of the explosion. This damn, oversized cat and his variety of killer magical spells. He hurriedly crawled his way out of the pile of sand before he could suffocate, spitting out a mouthful as he breathed in.

There went his barrier.

And that unfortunately allowed for now… four Ulius’ to barrel towards him, growling furiously.

“Nowhere to run, rodent!”

“Goddammit!” Daeran couldn’t help but curse again. Of course, the guy would know a multiplication spell.

However, he didn’t let that deter him. The first-year shockingly engaged in hand-to-hand with each of them, fending off a couple before spinning around to deal with the other two. See? When he wasn’t scared straight and ridden with endless nerves, he was a pretty decent fighter.

Uncle Declan, I hope you're watching this from wherever you are, Daeran spoke to his long-departed teacher. I hope I’m not fucking up too bad.

Declan Davidson was pretty much one of the only people he had left after everything in town went to shit. And before he died, he had them shipped off to Ironward. And here was Daeran now, fighting off a homicidal black cat with magical spells for days. There was a lot about this situation that reminded him of home.

Which wasn’t really home anymore, was it-

“LEfT!”

Oh, right. In order to cancel out the multiplication spell, the real copy had to be struck. Daeran swiftly maneuvered out of the path of a scratch before sweeping his hand in the aforementioned direction, feeling a whole lot of real as he backhanded the true Ulius. He followed up with a fist to the cheek, finally getting the chance to stick it to the dumb, one-lining bastard.

Ulius went skidding back, spitting out a wad of blood before frowning at the fellow first-year. “Well, this is a surprise. I never expected you to be adept in combat. I’ve seen you here and there with your little friends, always in the background, skittish, and sullen. But here you are, forcing me to use my special technique.”

Daeran couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “I’m glad I caught your attention.”

“I admit, you are lithe and light-footed. An escape artist. Those of the enchanted Neo-Panth clan reign supreme in mixing their offense with speed, but nobody’s dodged so many of my moves before as you have. You are no normal mage.”

“You wanna cookie?”

Ulius chuckled at the sarcastic retort. “But tell me. Are you spry enough to dodge this!?”

The black panther lowered his stance and growled, his muscles flexing and bulging as an amethyst aura began to surround him. Daeran’s face twitched, feeling esoteric energy around his opponent shift and change.

“Uh, you’ll have to tell me what I’m running away from-”

One second, Daeran was staring in confusion, but then next, his eyes were forcibly pried open, and every nerve in his body abruptly froze. He clenched his teeth and tried to move, but it was useless. An invisible influence had a tight hold over him.

“A-A p-paralysis spell!” the trapped first-year stammered, his face starting to redden at the strain of trying to speak. “D-Didn’t s-see that one c-coming!”

Ulius was smug in his gait as he ambled over to his enemy. “No. You did not. Finally in one spot. Now to make up for all those missed opportunities.”

“N-No killing!”

He had to warn him. The beast had been gunning for his heart the entire fight, and now he had the chance to just simply rip it out in one go if he wanted to.

Though, that’s not what happened. The panther crossed his arms before nine more Ulius’ appeared. Now Daeran was paralyzed, helpless, and surrounded. On second thought, maybe instant death didn’t sound so bad after all. He couldn’t make the offer in time, regrettably, before the claw of panther copies lunged for the boy and began a round of punches and kicks.

Pain surged through Daeran’s body as he was pummeled. A fist there. A kick here. An elbow in the stomach. The strikes forced him to stumble, but when he thought he had regained the ability to move, it was to no avail. He was a sculpture being battered into shape.

That, and his guts were rumbling uncomfortably. Heat threatening to make him pass out.

“Don’t worry. I shall show you a fate worse than death!”

Blood leaked from his nose and the corner of his mouth as he tried to bend at least one of his fingers. “C-Come on! Dammit!”

The Ulius’ scoffed simultaneously. “Your efforts are futile, rodent! You’re strong, but nobody has ever broken out of my Insto-palsy before. You’re doomed from here on out!”

Dear lord. Ten of them and he was an even bigger loudmouth than ever before. Just knock him out now and be done with it.

“S-Shit name!” Daeran bit out.

“LeT mE oUt! lEt Me OuT!”

He couldn’t do that. If he did, how could he stop? It always felt good, but it was a momentary high. And the downtime was always the worst. Daeran remembered the first time he let it happen…

“Can’t take any more, mage?” the Ulius copies spoke in unison. “Well, I’ll see to it I end this now!”

“God, just sh-shut up!” Daeran spat as he tasted iron on his tongue.

The panthers responded by tightening their fists again. For a moment, Daeran thought he was about to be bombarded with another round of knuckle sandwiches and cat claws. However, the fear in him grew when each pair of hands began to glow with scorching, red-orange energy.

He was about to be incinerated!

“For dust you are, and to dust, you shall return!”

Daeran wasn’t given the chance to beg, plead, or curse Ulius’ name before one copy fired after another. They all met their target, and the frozen first-year was enveloped in a sizzling burst of magical flames. Throughout it all, each shifter clone dawned a sinister, satisfied smirk.

The aftermath left a sandy crater and an absent Daeran, the fumes of ash and smoke clearing up and not an anxious, cross-bearing freshman in sight.

Ulius snorted as if it was obvious it had come to this, uncaring of the likely prospect that he had just murdered a fellow student. “Looks like the better magic wielder has remained-”

Then, the rumbling started.

The clones scoured the desert dunes for the source. The entire land was quaking now. Their heads swiveled to and fro for another minute before a colossal funnel of pink and black energy erupted from the crater and spiraled into the atmosphere like a tornado. The once-orange sky was now a dimly-lit, ominous maroon as if whatever baleful force that had exploded into existence was enshrouding the planet in its evil.

Ulius was understandably trembling and fearful, each clone gawking up into the air. “W-What!? What is this… what is this… power!?”

No sooner did he sputter out his shock, than a figure obscured by darkness appear within the tower of shadow-like energy. It suddenly rushed out, speeding toward the clones like a bullet. No copy had any time before the figure speared through them completely, leaving huge holes where their chests should be. There was no blood or guts, but replica panthers did gasp a dying breath before their image sizzled out into nothing.

The real Ulius watched on in bewilderment and horror as each of his duplicates were wiped out of reality by the menacing specter.

“Impossible!” he shuddered as he took a step back. “This dark magic. Is it… is it witchcraft or…? No. it couldn’t be, could it?”

But before he could assess the dilemma anymore, the figure, having just finished off the last copy, steered toward him. He could do no more but stand in terror as it extended a black hand. This time, it was Ulius who found himself unable to move. He choked and struggled as an unseen force wrapped around his windpipe in his vice-like grip and wrenched him up into the air.

The dark figure didn’t waste a second, dashing at the exposed panther and embedded its arm into the panther’s stomach, sinking it deep to its elbow. Globs of bile and blood gushed out from the beast’s mouth, his eyes bulging out in agony. The incredible weight behind the attack then suddenly propelled the panther away, sending him gliding through the sky and nearly out of view – a dot slowly falling to the ground.

The thump of his body landing could be barely perceived.

And just as fast as it emerged, the darkness vanished, disappearing like puffs of smoke while some of it receded into the partially-healed skin of Daeran.

The first-year blinked owlishly for several moments before heaving out a deep sigh.

“Fuck…”

The next second, he was back in the War Field, the throbbing of his wounds strangely fading into a dull ache. Was it healing tech as well as a teleporter?

“Winner is mage Daeran Davidson of year one!”

Daeran’s body bunched up tight when Coach Sarabi’s voice piped up from beside him. At least, he kept in that girly squeal of his.

“Dude!” Joe exclaimed as he and Rafe ran up to him. “You just…!”

“I, uh, think I won.” And was still a little dazed.

Honestly, the whole thing came to him in static images. He was paralyzed. Then everything went bright. Then black. And now, he was declared the winner. He peered down at his cross.

Uncle Declan, I think the cogs in your invention are malfunctioning.

“Yeah, yeah, but still, bro!” his roommate patted him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

In his peripheral, he noticed a quivering shape wobble away from the three. Judging by the traumatized expression on their face, it had to be Ulius. A non-shifted Ulius. Like his peers, the panther wizard was scrawny and of average height. With brown skin, disheveled black hair, and bronze eyes, he didn’t stand out as much. He was frazzled no doubt, and when he caught Daeran’s eye, he flinched back and scampered off, the metaphorical tail tucked nicely between his legs.

Daeran wanted to feel bad, but there was little room for someone who just tried to deep-fry him.

“That bastard tried to kill you,” Rafe scowled at Ulius’ retreating back. “Like really kill you. He deserved that last hit. Maybe through his whole fucking torso.”

Joe nodded in agreement. “He deserved every bit of that, but… what exactly was that?”

“I… I’m not sure. I mean,” Daeran scratched his head, his head currently in shambles. “I really don’t know. It hasn’t happened like that before.”

“What do you-”

“Up next, first-year Hermes superhuman Rafe Gold versus…” Coach Sarabi cut him off, eyes flitting across his clipboard.

“Looks like you’re up.”

The blond rolled the sleeves of his flannel jacket up to his elbows. “About time.”

“…first-year Ares superhuman Joe Sloane!”

The trio blinked in surprise.

“And looks like I’m up, too,” Joe locked pensive eyes with his superhuman friend. “Well, this is unexpected.”

The shock wore off Rafe almost immediately, and an eager grin graced his face as he encouragingly slapped the noirette’s back.

“Well, don’t back out now. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to duke it out with you, and now’s a perfect time. I’m not patient enough to wait for Hallsworth to come up with something during T&S.”

Joe was stunned into a short-lived silence until he was smirking as well, gazing back at his buddy with a challenge in his violet eyes. It wasn’t like they haven’t come to blows before. It was just another sparring match in the books. “You’re right, bro. I’m actually pretty excited, too. Just like old times?”

“You got it,” Rafe nodded.

The two, side by side, sauntered over to the teleporter, ready to do battle against their comrade.

“I’ll root for you both,” Daeran called as he watched them zip to a new location.

A contest between friends. Why couldn’t he have gotten that lucky?

-POI-

Andre stiffened, shocked to see the two contestants up on one of the big screens, he nearly dropped his twinkie. He and the others say on one of the floating bleachers, giving them neck strain-free view of the battles. Of all the coincidences…

“Ooh! This is gonna be good,” Rudy bounced in his seat excitedly. “My money’s Rafe. The broody ones are always the biggest and baddest ones.”

“No way. Joe’s got this in the bag,” one of the other humans responded. “He has that whole ‘main character’ energy going on for him.”

As they argued, Lindsay, sat next to the omé, leaned over and said, “I can honestly say I didn’t see that one coming.”

Andre made a noise in agreement. “You can say that again.”

“But I think I know who you want to root for.”

The teasing tone brought a light blush to his cheeks. “Both of them, of course.”

“But the one you have your eyes on is…”

“Come on…”

“R-A-” Lindsay began to spell out.

“It’s Rafe, yeah?” Rudy turned to grin up at the young wolf. “You guys are like glue, it makes the others look like third wheels. You wouldn’t happen to be… you know…”

Andre blinked. “What?”

Beside him, Sam, ever the disapproving one of her brother’s actions, shook her head in exasperation. “Please, Rudy, don’t pry.”

“It’s not prying. I just wanna if their-”

Seeing where it was going, Lindsay pointed a finger at the blond human. “Shut your trap, you little perv.”

“Bow chicka wow wow!” Rudy did a little jig in his seat.

That was when it hit Andre.

“Oh.” His blush mutated into a full-on red face.

He’s joked about being mated with Rafe before, but those were just jokes. To hear other people realize their closeness and call them out on it is just surreal.

“Stop!” Sam smacked Rudy’s shoulder before turning to the flushed wolf apologetically. “I’m so sorry he’s like this.”

“No, it’s fine,” Andre shook his head, trying to diminish the embarrassing color on his face. “We’re just best friends. We met when we were seven years old. Funny enough, we were both running away from home when we literally ran into each other.”

He could remember it like it was yesterday. Jarekid and his cronies were throwing their weight around, so Andre ran out of tribe bounds to get away from any more public humiliation. When they collided with each other, he honestly thought that the alphason had magically conjured a brick wall to stop him.

Instead, he had come face to face with a tall, blond, steel-eyed, and angry kid with a bruise on his cheek.

“That must’ve hurt.”

Andre chuckled. “Right. After that, he came to visit me as often as he could, and those visits only became more frequent up until now. Now, we’re just beside each other.”

“Love at first sight,” Rudy joshed, making the omé blush again.

Sam briefly put a hand over her brother’s mouth. “Quiet until the match is over.”

“Oh, come on, sis. I can still cheer, right?”

Before she could scold him more, Rafe and Joe decided to begin their match, blasting off toward each other like cannon balls.

“And we’re off to the races, boys!” Rudy announced.

There was a prompt hush that came over the audience when Rafe and Joe slammed their forearms together, and it was akin to a clap of thunder. Joe made the next move, swinging his right foot out, to which Rafe swiftly evaded by planting a hand on the noirette’s ankle and maneuvering himself over it as if jumping over a hurdle. The blond retaliated with the same move, swiping at the Ares’ head. Of course, he ducked under it, but the Hermes wasn’t finished yet.

Rafe twirled about, building up momentum to thrust a punch at the crouched form. Joe quickly caught it, pulled the other in, and attempted to succeed where Rafe failed. Another miss as the latter easily pulled out of Joe’s hold and backflipped away. Once there was a comfortable gap, he immediately erased it by charging forward, a bullet that nearly broke the sound barrier. There was a tiny smirk on Joe’s face before he prepared his punch, rearing back slowly as Rafe flew closer.

Within an inch from each other, they let loose their attacks, knuckles meeting knuckles as they clashed, creating another sonic boom and depressing the stone floor of the uninhabited, dark terrain they were in.

No words have been spoken. Andre knew that from the many times he’s watched them spar when they were younger and the noirette was still around. These two were in the zone when they fought each other. Joe typically quipped his way through a battle, but when it came to being serious, there was a change in his combat style.

“Impressive stuff,” Lindsay nodded, amazement in her expression. “They seem pretty experienced. I mean, they have to be if you guys were giving Zoel and his jerks a hard time.”

“Those guys are from the Coat, right?” Rudy, leaned back in his seat while sipping a drink from a plastic cup, spoke. “Then, of course, they’d be good at fighting. The Gold family operates with superhuman and genetic stuff. And most superhumans today are either hunters or soldiers.”

“Yeah,” replied Andre. “The Sloane’s aren’t one of the twelve legacies, but they work closely with one of the other families. The Sylvesters, I think.”

At that, Lindsay balked at the omé, recognizing the name. “Like the Sylvester’s Stallions? Them? Now, I’m actually kind of shocked Joe came out as a good egg in all that mess.”

That was understandable. Based on the stories Rafe had been telling him, the Coat may have seemed altruistic on the outside, but they were pretty brutal and ruthless behind the veil.

“He and Rafe knew each other before me, so he might have had an influence on him.”

That teasing smirk came back on her face. “I bet Rafe would argue that that influence might’ve been you.”

Meanwhile, Rafe and Joe were exchanging fists. It was then broken when the blond superhuman suddenly dipped under the left jab, launching a right hook of his own. It struck the noirette Ares in the chest, forcing the breath out of him and sliding back across the ground and kicking up dirt and rock.

“Nice one!” Joe complimented as he recovered. “Now, try this!”

The Ares widened his stance before unleashing a scarlet aura that inflamed his entire body. The energy then condensed and took shape, forming into a stack of thin, large shuriken that he held by their handles in the center.

The trademark ability of the Sloane family and the Ares-type superhuman – weapon materialization. A formidable skill and why they nicknamed him “Blacksmith.” He could very well create an arsenal of armaments in the blink of an eye.

Without a wasted moment, the noirette pitched the bladed stars at his opponent, each one separating until seven individual shurikens were hurtling toward the blond. Rafe crossed his arms in a guarding position as they happened upon him. He hissed as he felt the edges slice away into his arms, shoulders, and the sides of his torso. So, before any more of them could make their mark, Rafe released a sudden bellow, a loud scream that tore out of his throat and blasted the air around him. The floor around him cracked while the shurikens were scattered elsewhere. Joe was flung off his feet, and it took a while to regain his wits and stop himself in midair.

“Pull out whatever you want outta your ass,” Rafe taunted. “It won’t work on me.”

“Your funeral, bro,” Joe grinned mischievously as he raised his right arm, the red power wrapping around it until it structured itself into a new weapon above his hand. And in the Ares’ grip was now a double-sided battle axe.

“So, he could just conjure up any kind of weapon, right?” Lindsay asked, to which Andre nodded and answered.

“As long as it’s within his realm of imagination, yeah. Though, the energy it takes to make it depends on the size of the weapon.”

She shook her head. “Overpowered.”

“So, we are gonna see some body parts fly,” Rudy leaned forward excitedly.

Joe pivoted the large blade, aiming for Rafe’s chest, but the latter grabbed ahold of it, palming the sides tightly. He pushed it to the side as he swung his right leg out in a side kick, going for his opponent’s temple, but the move was blocked when a metal shield promptly appeared over Joe’s left arm. That didn’t put off the Hermes one bit, keeping up the onslaught by throwing out a sequence of hooks and jabs. The noirette superhuman took cover, parrying each strike with his metallic barrier.

“You’re not gonna get anywhere doing that,” Joe exclaimed before lashing out with his axe, targeting Rafe’s side.

The blond, sensing danger, halted the move by pushing his wrist against the other’s forearm, however, he was not quick enough to see the right foot that suddenly implanted itself in his abdomen. He grunted as he was booted away. Seconds before he could skid painfully across the ground on his back, he shook his head, forcing the ache in his stomach out of his mind, before flipping back and placing a hand on the ground to break his fall.

The slight disruption in the air before him, a little whoosh, was the only warning he got before Joe was immediately upon him, attempting to batter the Hermes with his shield, although Rafe was sharp enough to carry the weight of his legs forward into a horizontal position, allowing him to duck under the attack until he was completely parallel with the Ares. Joe tried to ground-pound him, driving both axe and shield down, but Rafe rolled away from the plunge just in time.

Andre grinned.

He didn’t know if Rafe noticed, but it was happening again. The thing that clicked in his mind that allowed him to adjust to his foe’s style of fighting. He was receiving and dishing out double the power. Joe was going to have to pull out something new for that window of opportunity.

The Hermes darted forth, nearly a blur as he set for a roundhouse kick. Joe barely thwarted the damage it would have done to his shoulder, putting up his shield just in time. The force shoved him back a few meters.

“Holy crap!” Joe blinked in surprise even as he lunged forward, swerving his battle axe in trying to catch the blond, but Rafe kept sidestepping assault. “You’re getting better. How are you doing it?”

The Hermes superhuman moved out of the way once more before latching onto the handle with his left hand, ceasing Joe’s unsuccessful stabbing. “Dunno, but you’re not gonna get a one-up on me anymore with this thing.”

Without wasting another second, Rafe slammed his right fist into the noirette’s shield over and over, never giving his opponent the time to counter. It was when the metal began to splinter that Joe found his chance. He thrust forward with the axe, expectedly missing the blond.

However, the unexpected came when he strangely let go of his weapon, letting it fly past Rafe’s shoulder, who blinked in confusion. That moment of puzzlement cost him as Joe cashed in on it by uppercutting him in his gut.

“If I can’t get you with my axe, then let’s try my fist! How’s it feel!?”

Andre himself flinched at the impact. Joe was beginning to catch on. He couldn’t make more weapons if he wanted to hit Rafe again with that much force.

Rafe coughed, and sputtered, but worked through his airless lungs as he clutched the wrist of the arm in his stomach, throwing the Ares over his head. He massaged his wounded area, giving his friend an approving smirk.

“You nearly punched out my ribs. You’re not messing around anymore, aren’t you?”

“I think it’s time we ended this, yeah?” Joe lifted his shield-arm.

“Yeah,” Rafe clenched his right fist as tight as he could. “And I know just the way to do it.”

For a second, there was a bolt of gold lightning that crackled around the Hermes’ hand as he pushed more power into it.

“Did anyone just see what I just saw?” Rudy squinted his eyes at the screen, confirming that Andre wasn’t hallucinating anything.

Was that Rafe’s bio-soul energy? Or could it be… magic?

Rafe made his move, zipping across the landscape for the noirette, who braced himself with his shield in a tense crouch. More of the bright sparks flashed over his knuckles, a miniature lightning storm sizzling across the surface.

The collision was explosive. Not in the sense that there was an inferno of flames and ashes everywhere, but there was a shockwave that might have very well been the sound barrier breaking. A fierce wind emanated from the point of contact even as Rafe’s arm shattered the shield in its entirety. A small piece of metal was able to maintain itself and protect Joe from a broken hand. Though, he was jolted back a yard.

The Ares superhuman hissed in pain, clutching at his forearm as the manifested shield dissipated back into red sparkles.

“Christ, man. I think you dislocated my shoulder.”

Rafe snorted unapologetically. “That was for my ribs earlier. And this is for the match!”

The blond’s expression abruptly shifted from smug to furious as his eyes blazed red. An instant later, he fired twin lasers at the Ares. Just a single thought that made him mad was enough to summon the power easily. Launching the attack was like expelling that negative image from his brain.

“You’re getting pretty good at using that,” Joe complimented. “But I’ve dealt with this kind of move before.”

The Ares winded a hand back, waiting until the lasers were upon him, and slapped them upward. The beams disappeared within the night sky. The noirette watched them go, but a rush of wind behind him told him that might have been a mistake.

“That was only a distraction,” Rafe grinned, having dashed at high speeds behind his friend.

Joe, in a panic, sent a backward hook kick, but the Hermes had already anticipated the desperate attack, bending back before delivering a foot to the Ares’ chest, forcing out bile. The blond didn’t stop there, pushing up his other leg and punting him under the chin. Joe went flying, and as he did, Rafe clamped the same fist that broke the other superhuman’s shield, and those sparks that were generated before appeared once again. They were more prominent and violent this time around.

With blinding speed, Rafe shot off the ground, a crater forming across his liftoff point as he tore through the atmosphere after his opponent. It was too late for Joe to come out of the shock and pain before the blond was before him, throwing his heavy, powered punch into the noirette’s abdomen and sending him plummeting toward the ground like a meteorite.

His landing was an eruption of earth and dirt. Rafe remained in the air as he observed for any more movements. When the debris cleared, Joe was lying unconscious in the terrain’s indentation, defeated.

“Where’s my money, Garrett?” Rudy asked his friend flatly.

“Damn,” Garrett sighed in disappointment before digging his WardNav out of his backpack. He tapped on it for a bit, and when he was done, some 8-bit video game music sounded out of Rudy’s WardNav – his notification ringtone. Hearing it, a superior smirk split his face as he turned it on finding the transfer of a hundred coins into his account.

Digital coins were the school’s current method of currency. No physical money. They all started off with a thousand the moment they obtained their devices at the Crystal Grotto.

“Looks like your boy won,” Lindsay smiled teasingly at Andre, who shrugged.

“They’re both my friends, but I may, just may, have been secretly rooting for Rafe.”

“I knew it. We should have shaken on it for money,” she cursed as she glared enviously at Rudy, who was too busy gloating at being a hundred coins richer.

The omé laughed. “Then, I would’ve never told you that anyway.”

From afar, Rafe and an awakened Joe were teleported back to the War Field, looking better than they had before they came back. The only sign of a fight being their torn clothing. They shook hands, commending each other on a battle well fought before waving Daeran over. Joe wrapped an arm around his roommate before lifting off and heading toward the floating bleachers Andre and the humans sat in, Rafe following close behind.

“You have definitely gotten stronger since we last had a scuffle,” the young wolf heard Joe say to Rafe. “Hell, I thought I was gonna puke my guts out with that last punch.”

The blond superhuman sneered playfully back at the noirette. “Just a little revenge for the fist you buried in my stomach earlier.”

“Yeah, I was kind of asking for it, wasn’t I? And you, Daer. You’re nothing to scoff at either, bro.”

Daeran looked the other way, flushing at the praise. “Well, my uncle Declan taught me everything I know, so…”

The group spent half an hour talking, spectating the other fights, and making bets. On the last couple of rounds, they decided to hike out of there. With all their matches out of the way, and Rudy getting richer by the minute, there was no other reason to stay.

“Hey, y’all!” a familiar voice called to them before they reached the edge of the War Field.

Cain casually ambled up to them, thumbs in his pocket and a smile on his face.

“’Sup, dork,” Lindsay nodded at him. “You need something?”

“Just stoppin’ by to congrats on wins and getting through tryouts in one piece. Your grueling journey is done for now.”

“Thanks,” Rafe replied, reaching out for a handshake. “Though, it wasn’t too bad.”

The alpha wolf gladly reciprocated, lavender eyes glimmering with respect. “Saw you dominatin’ out there, macho blond. You could give a couple of my teammates a run for their money if you keep it up like that.”

“They should worry. Soon, I’ll be getting my hands dirty with them next.”

“Name the place, and I’ll bring the popcorn. Can’t wait to see how that’ll go down.”

He shook his head wistfully, amused by the thought of the first-year trouncing a bunch of professional fighters.

“Anyway, you’ll get to see the results in about three days, so you don’t have to stay here for the others to finish up. I’m sincerely hopin’ all y’all will get on that list. The minor leagues have been lacking in strength and discipline as of late, and we could really use potential like yours on those teams.”

“I have a good feeling they’ll see it,” Lindsay spoke confidently. “They’d be stupid not to see the talent.”

“Cross our fingers.” Cain did just that.

A sudden thought occurred to Andre and stepped up to the bigger wolf, leaning his head back subconsciously to show his neck in reverence. “Oh, excuse me, Alpha, but I noticed that Zoel wasn’t here today. We found him in the chapel-”

The alpha’s expression dimmed at the name, his friendly smile pursing into a slight frown. “Oh, yeah. Him. He’s busy moanin’ and groanin’ over a hangover back at the house. Too busy suffering to be pullin’ anyone of your legs. He didn’t do anything stupid to you last night, did he, pup?”

“Ah, no. We just dropped him off at your place. Just wanted to know if he was okay, sir.”

“Not really,” Rafe and Lindsay chimed in simultaneously.

Joe, Daeran, and the other humans shook their heads silently, agreeing with them, but the omega did not pay them any mind.

Cain’s face softened as he stared down at Andre. “Thanks for that. I’ll make sure to get him to write a thank-you note for being concerned when you had no reason to be.”

Most would think it was because Zoel was Andre’s superior. It was how it worked in a werewolf tribe. The higher the rank, the higher their priority was including health and wellbeing, and omegas and any lesser wolves had to obey and preserve. However, Zoel wasn’t a part of Andre’s tribe, so he didn’t feel the need to protect the gamma jerk. If it had been Jarekid, then the omé might have gotten defensive.

“Good luck to y’all!” Cain waved them off as he turned around and headed back to his club on the sidelines.

When he was out of hearing range, Rafe immediately turned to Andre with a stern scowl. “You-”

“I know, I know, but I had to ask. It’s more so that I don’t want us to get in trouble if he spins a story to make us look bad.”

The blond thought about it momentarily before sighing. Joe and Daeran shrugged, silently assenting.

“An acceptable excuse,” he let it go.

Andre beamed. “Thank you. What do you say we go looking for Frodd and cheer him up? He didn’t look so good when he walked away earlier.”

They all agreed, and the omé led the way.

“Now that I’ve got money in the bank, how much do you think it’ll take to buy his happiness,” Rudy couldn’t help but ask.

Sam thumped him on the back of his head.