Canaan Club - 40. Chapter 40

Rafe swaggered toward the stage, making sure every step was poised and loud with assurance.

Ahead of him was a mask of coolness, an icy tint in those emerald eyes. He didn’t know what the problem was, but something told him it was personal.

Very personal.

“The missing prodigal son,” Dylan spoke blandly as they now stood before each other.

Rafe snorted. “You’re gonna get all chatty with me of all people?”

“I have a bone to pick with you, yes.”

He knew it.

“Really?” he gave her a once-over. “I barely know you, but if last more than thirty seconds, I’ll let you break a few.”

The Apollo responded with narrowed eyes.

“Begin!”

Not a breath was wasted.

Dylan gestured at Rafe with a finger gun, giving the latter the signal to simply tilt his head to the right and avoid a thin ray of light. The projectile exploded in brilliant fashion behind him, the heat caressing his back like warm hands.

He grinned prior to zipping away, narrowly dodging several more beams.

Rafe sprinted, ducked, and rolled out of the way in graceful succession in his evasion, arching around his opponent until he was on the other side of the ring.

“Nimble little rat,” the Pratwith fighter sneered. “Is that how fast you ran from your responsibilities?”

Rafe’s face fell, and it took a good couple of seconds to restrain the anger that boiled in his gut. This might be a play to get him to lash out. “And that’s any of your fucking business because…?”

“Do you know how many lives you’ve altered since you left, huh?”

It was no mystery to him. He was the heir, for God’s sake! And the Gold family had a very prominent position in the legacy hierarchy. Probably number one on the totem pole, though, not without nefarious schemes cooked up by his piece-of-shit father.

“So?” Rafe shrugged, and he felt a little heartless doing so. “Of course, the old bastard was gonna blow a gasket over me and snap a few necks, but those guys are just as bad for keeping kids like me there. The gold doesn’t look so shiny anymore, doesn’t it?”

“You have no idea.”

Whatever. He didn’t have time to placate this chick’s feelings. He charged again, and Dylan let loose. However, instead of narrow lasers, small spheres of concentrated light were launched, intent on tripping the Hermes superhuman up.

The blond wouldn’t allow that. His arms swung to and fro, effortlessly deflecting each and every bullet-like energy ball in his path as he glided toward the Apollo. And when he reached her, he reared his right arm back before throwing it forward, going for a hard jab. The punch connected with her chest, but the blond knew not to celebrate just yet. Almost immediately, a burning sensation spread across his knuckles, feeling the skin superheat to boiling temperatures.

“Didn’t know you hated me that much,” he smirked nonetheless.

The scalding didn’t stop Rafe from attacking further, planting his other fist into Dylan’s stomach, who winced at the contact but nothing more. Rafe followed up with an elbow to the cheek, a knee to her solar plexus, and a double axe handle to the head.

All of these attacks, and she barely lets out a grunt of pain. More like annoyance.

Despite himself, Rafe grinned. Either she was extremely durable, or he wasn’t hitting hard enough. Yeah, definitely the latter.

“Typical of you Golds not to care about anything but yourselves,” Dylan scoffed. “Do you know what you’ve caused when you bailed?”

Rafe rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, taking a few steps back in case the girl wanted to try to sneak one in. “What did the motherfucker do this time?”

“You do know the families that work under the Chromium Guard, right? Not only your friend Sloane’s folks but mine, the Hallaces, as well. And your father paid a hefty amount to get you back. We thought he was being generous, but we should have known that it was actually a threat if we failed.”

That was their first mistake, then – trusting the monster. Nothing his father did was generous. It was only disguised as such.

“You were searching for me?” he rose a brow. “But he found me. I just got a call from him not too long ago.”

Dylan’s fists tightened as her green eyes flashed white, fury overtaking her for the first time today. “You were gone for months this time, Gold! Which meant that you were a missing person, but then, we found out you were in Ironward. Of course, you had to be there. The Coat has jurisdiction over most of the Earth except…”

“Except Ironward. You found me, but you either got turned away or-”

She nodded. “We got scared.”

The second mistake – they showed weakness.

“And my father saw it fit to punish you because of it. He wasn’t angry at any of you. He just needed a target to take his rage out on. Trust me. I know how he likes to play his sadistic, little games.”

To his surprise, the Apollo shook her head. “If you know your pops so well, you know he didn’t get his own hands dirty.”

“What? He tricked you into a trap or something?”

He was getting antsy again, his body itching for the fight to continue. Man, why couldn’t she complain to him after the match?

So, after replying with that question, he went on the move. He bolted forth once more with heightened speed while cocking his burnt right fist back.

However, just several feet from reaching her, Rafe promptly froze. Dylan blinked in confusion, and in that infinitesimal window of time, the blond smirked before his eyes sparked red. With a battle cry, Rafe fired twin lasers directly at his foe’s right shoulder.

That got a gasp out of her, but the two charged forces colliding with each other got a detonation to the face. Rafe hissed through gritted teeth as he was flung back by a sudden explosion. Still, he pushed himself upward, ignoring the intense heat burrowing through his uniform and licking at his skin.

When the dust settled, Dylan stood stationary, a seemingly unaffected expression on her face, but the scorched wound left open by a tear in her shirt betrayed that notion.

Rafe grinned. “Like that?”

“I’m not sure, but I feel like this would’ve been a similar experience to what my family went through after being picked off like cattle by your brother,” she spat coldly.

And as if she had ice powers, Rafe’s insides froze over.

Sloedale didn’t have it in him to take a life. At least, not the Dale he knew before he left.

No.

There was one sibling who was eager to please good ol’ Pops.

“Gabriel.”

He spat the name as it soured his tongue like spoiled food.

It was as if Rafe had pulled a trigger.

Dylan swiftly extended both arms this time and started launching beams of light like a machine gun. With renewed vigor, Rafe moved fast, starting another round of eluding her attacks. And as he sidestepped and flew around the ring, that lock in his mind was unlatched again. His movements became like water, the task at hand abruptly becoming effortless as he neared the Apollo even when the shots came at him much faster.

Front-flipping multiple times over one particularly large blast, Rafe was on Dylan and unleashed a barrage of fists and feet that had the latter backpedaling while she reciprocated. A kick caught him in the jaw, and Rafe was sent flying back, losing the ground he had gained. Dylan sailed after him, but just as she was about to dish out another punt, the boy vanished.

She blinked and looked around her. “Where did he-”

For a split second, she stopped but immediately moved when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The twin lasers aimed at her back missed, their target reappearing at their launcher’s left. He let off another set only to have it evaded once more. A third time proved no luck.

Suddenly, a sense of danger going off in his head had him quickly spinning around, silver eyes red and ready to blast. At the same time, Dylan floated behind him and pointed a hand into his face.

Though, nothing else happened.

The duo was at a standstill. A heated standoff that reminded Rafe so much of those old cowboy movies he used to show Andre that he couldn’t help but snigger.

“I bet this is what fighting that monster would have been like if my folks had a chance to prepare,” Dylan taunted.

Rafe’s smile only stretched into something vicious. “No. He doesn’t fight. He plays dirty. He’s cowardly scum for what he did to your guys. Is he why you’re here?”

“In hiding. Just like you. Who would think to look for an orphan Coat child at a mage-oriented school?”

Dylan moved first, going in with a kick instead of a blast. Rafe blocked and made to punch, but the Pratwith fighter ducked and threw her other foot into the equation.

BACK!

Rafe did just that, allowing his body to just… move on its own. It was like a signal. Some kind of danger sense that gave him the opportunity to flip back in midair before catapulting upward and striking a knee into Dylan’s gut. Said girl heaved, shoving herself back to gain some distance.

Rafe followed, not about to give her any more time, but was met with a wall of punches. He was instantly on the defensive, parrying the blows before an elbow caught him in the back of his head, pushing him to the stage floor.

ROLL!

There it was again. That voiceless voice led the way, and Rafe followed suit. He pushed up from the ground and narrowly avoided a crushing stomp from Dylan, spinning in the air before gracefully landing on his feet.

“He’ll get his,” he said.

Dylan quirked an eyebrow, doubt in her gaze. “Will he now? Your old man was able to cover up the story by digging dirt up on my parents’ past. They might not have had been the squeakiest clean of records, but they were still… my mom and dad.”

“I didn’t run away for no reason. It might seem glamorous being a part of a legacy family, but I have the scars to prove otherwise. I’m here to get stronger, and one day, sometime in the next decade, that whole place, including my bastard father and his shitty son, is going straight back to hell. You can count on it.”

“You seriously believe you can take it all down? The Coat of Wolframite itself?”

It was an incredulous thought. Rafe already knew this. But if there was anyone there who had the goddamned resolve to make a change, it was him.

“I think I’m better than I was yesterday, so I can only imagine what that’ll look like during my last year.”

Dylan was silent.

Then, a small smile.

Without a word, she jumped into the air, and the Hermes followed.

Rafe felt his energy bubble, a fiery ocean of torrid power rising to the surface. As if in response to a silent call, Dylan splayed her limbs out, and her form was soon encased in a blazing illumination that had the crowd wincing back and covering their eyes. Rafe didn’t look away, staring right into the silhouette of his opponent’s figure with a smile.

“You could always join me, you know. I bet you want your pound of flesh, too.”

“Such wild, impossible aspirations, Gold,” she shouted.

The blond chuckled. “Nothing’s impossible, Hallace.”

And, as if a starting pistol had gone off, so did the two superhumans.

In a flash, their special attacks were launched. Rafe’s crimson lasers combined into one, broad stream and Dylan’s double-handed torrent of golden radiance, two emissions of bio-soul energy approaching each other in a mixed lighting of red and yellow. And when the two attacks met head-on, a sphere of orange took over, rapidly expanding and crackling with lighting streaks of raw rust and marigold.

It was an astonishing sight, but like all truly beautiful things, it came to an eruptive end. Like a thunderous clap, the orange ball of energy ballooned before transmogrifying into an invisible shockwave that had the audience blown back into their seats. A hurricane of wind, rock, and grass whipped around and showered the students and coaches below, some having to punch and leap out of certain large pieces of debris.

Soon enough, it was silent.

-POI-

Just how many times was his best friend going to shock him?

Honestly, it was one of the many reasons why Andre admired Rafe so much. Even when they first met six years ago, the superhuman always had this… air around him. Like he could do anything he put his mind to. Not like Andre. The orphan omega child who lived on the outskirts of the all-powerful Graybite Tribe, either forgotten or used as a doormat for the higher-ups.

The minute they literally ran into each other, Andre was hooked. Albeit Rafe was a little abrasive, having been taught to look down on anything non-human, the omé wouldn’t give up. Of course, he got him to melt somewhat after a few more run-ins.

Rafe was… amazing. Simply amazing.

And the others were realizing it as well, in awe as they recovered from the shockwave. Andre was glad he was on break to see this moment. It was like watching a big event in history come to life, and he was, in some way, a part of it.

“Did… Did that really just happen?” a guy on their team gawked. “Just how strong is that guy?”

Joe was on the balls of his feet with excitement. “That was awesome! He could blow up this entire arena if he wanted to.”

“Guess we know who’s gonna be team captain after this,” the omé heard another teammate from the Team Two and Five section mutter.

Somehow, the duo was still in the ring – the heavily damaged and leveled ring, he might add – picking themselves up after that huge explosion. Their uniforms surprisingly remained intact. Andre only had eyes for Rafe, whose shirt lost its sleeves to show off patches of pink and strips of red, and gained a hole for each pant leg, revealing bruised knees.

Still, he stood proud and ready for more.

Like he said. Amazing.

Dylan wasn’t too bad herself, with some scrapes here and a few burn marks there. Though, the glimmer in her eyes had shifted. What was once a dull flame had been relit into a roaring, excited beacon of fire. Andre knew that look. He’s seen it on his friend’s face whenever faced with an opponent on his level.

A white light began to envelop Dylan’s shape, flaring into a shimmering light golden aura that had him and the others looking away until it dimmed down to bearable levels a moment later.

“I’m not going to hold back anymore,” the white-haired girl stated. “I advise you to follow my lead.”

Rafe wound his arms back, loosening the muscles in his shoulders. “Don’t you worry about that. It’s just not going to be as flashy as that.”

The Apollo hummed but didn’t respond any further as she lifted her hand, palm directed in her opponent’s direction.

Nothing happened for several seconds, and Andre wondered if she was waiting for Rafe to make the first move.

But then, he did make the first move, only it wasn’t to attack. There was a flash of light, but accompanying that was the distressing sound of his blond friend barking in pain. The omé tensed in worry at the sight of him being flung back by some seemingly invisible force, the fabric around his chest turning dark brown from intense heat.

Rafe’s senses came back to him in midair, flipping before shoving himself down to the ground and clutching at his sweltering chest.

“What was that?” Joe asked the question they were all thinking aloud. “I didn’t even see her attack. Did you?”

“No. Was it an invisible attack?” Daeran was concerned.

Landon, however, appeared solemn, a grim frown on his normally lax features. “No. I saw it for a split millisecond. It was too, too fast.”

Uh, oh.

Dylan struck again, quickly flinging her left hand out. The force wasn’t as strong as the initial one, so Rafe only stumbled back a few steps when he felt a sting in his shoulder, though, it was no less painful.

Her right hand went back up. The blond bent on one knee as the spot above his right knee was hit, making the hole tear bigger.

Lift. Stomach. He lurched.

Lift. Left bicep. He staggered back.

Lift. Right cheek. He tipped backward.

“You can’t seem to dodge. My attacks are now coming at you at light speed. You won’t be able to adapt as quickly.”

Each shot made him pushed him back closer and closer to the edge of the ring, unable to avoid the imperceptible blasts.

No way, Andre thought in panic. No way can he lose. He’s gonna figure a way outta this.

He just had to. He always followed Rafe because he seemed to know what to do, and usually, that involved his fists, but it got him and Andre out of sticky situations before.

So, he put his trepidations aside and believed in his friend.

Even when a particular blast propelled the blond superhuman toward one of the corner pillars, the crumbling thing breaking off and falling into a slanted position only elevated by the edges of the leftover bottom, he still believed.

“I’m afraid this is where it ends, Gold.”

The Apollo sauntered up to the struggling superhuman. When she got close, Rafe suddenly sprung up, boosted by an unexpected burst of energy, and attempted a roundhouse kick at the girl’s head, but it was easily blocked with a hand grabbing onto his ankle.

But still…

“It’s…” Rafe coughed. “It’s not over, yet.”

Dylan just nodded. “Then do try to come back from this.”

Her free hand was thrust toward his chest again.

Flash.

Boom!

…he believed in his friend.

-POI-

…wake up…

Rafe felt himself float through space. An empty sea of hot and cold brushing across his skin.

Was he dead?

That was a big no-no, right? Which meant he won. Too bad he wasn’t alive to-

Wake up…

His arms hurt. Fuck that. His whole body hurt like hell. Wasn’t death supposed to be painless? Or maybe he was already in hell. Fitting. He knew he was destined for the underworld after all he’d-

Wake up!

Hell sure was a long way down. He could still warm air skirt past the burns across his arms. He hated to leave everyone behind-

Wake up!!

And Andre. God, no. No! He couldn’t leave his best friend behind. He was still in danger. As long as his bastard of an old man was still alive, his boy was still in danger-

WAKE UP!!!

His mind screamed as his eyes flew open, meeting a blue and white sky. Just in his peripheral was a broken stage. A girl watched him, calm and serene. However, underneath that collected expression, there was a glint of disappointment.

He was falling out of bounds. Which meant that there was still time to…

MOVE!

And in a blink of an eye, Rafe stopped himself in midair and darted back into the ring right in front of Dylan, whose face was in the middle of shock. Before she could fully realize what just transpired, Rafe vanished again, his flight abilities working overtime as he sped around his opponent. Moving this fast was overwhelming, to say the least. The area around him froze and blurred, and the colors sharpened so drastically, it hurt quite a bit to look at.

Even so, Rafe focused on one person. He took advantage of Dylan’s confusion, zipping right beside her to deliver a swift jab to the face, knocking her to the side. Frustrated, she lifted a hand for a light attack, but the blond was whizzing by so fast, she couldn’t get a proper lock-on.

“Behind you!”

She fell for it. Dylan swung around, giving Rafe her back. He kindly planted a foot on it. The white-haired fighter went flying until she landed flat on her face.

“You’ve-You’ve developed this far?” she gaped, utterly dumbfounded, as she pushed up on her elbows. “How potent can your adaptation ability get?”

Rafe was still moving even as he answered. “Not sure. Didn’t know what it was until now.”

He circled the Apollo, his newly-improved speed causing translucent images to appear around her.

“You’re a newbie,” she snorted, straightening herself. “Just because you’re now capable of this doesn't mean you know how to control it properly nor know the intricacies.”

More afterimages emerged, but Dylan was looking calmer by the second.

“Besides, not only can I use light, but I can see things move at light speed, too. Which means…”

She hammered her fist back…

…and connected with Rafe’s shoulder, shunting him away from her.

“You’re out of luck.”

The Hermes hit the ground on his shoulder, eliciting a sharp hiss. However, a short laugh burst out from him while he struggled to stand up. “I-I’d say ‘good guess’, but you cheated.”

“You being suddenly fast enough to get the moves on me screams ‘hacks.’ If anyone has cheat codes, it’s you.”

“Touché.”

A beat of quietness went by, the crowd cheering for one or the other.

“So, you seem to be on your last beat,” the Apollo looked over her opponent’s beaten form, taking slow, heavy breaths herself. “Should I just carry you out of the ring to make sure?”

Rafe wiped the blood and sweat from his forehead. “You think I’m finished? Think again. I know you’re on your last leg, too. You just hide it better than me.”

Dylan smiled again. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind. “Perceptive.”

“I’m gonna win this battle with my last move. So get ready!”

And before Dylan can respond, the blond launched himself into the sky, racing way beyond the colosseum’s upper limits and into the sky.

“So, we’re ending it with this then. Okay, then.”

The Apollo clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she pushed out all the remaining energy within her, instantly generating a dome of solar power around her.

Up in the stratosphere, Rafe breathed in deep, once again impelling forth the red-hot strength outward, lighting up his figure in an erratic, scarlet aura that blew away nearby clouds.

This was it.

With one last inhale, the Hermes superhuman shot down, a fiery, destructive comet to him, and a streak of crimson lightning to others.

The dome around Dylan had grown bigger, nearly encompassing the entire ring. Teammates and the opposing side alike had to step back. In fact, the majority were clearing the area. They really were letting them go all out. No other reason but killing to hold back.

Rafe let out a roar as he drew closer.

Dylan shouted as he unleashed a pillar of radiant, golden flames.

Light slammed into an orb of red energy, lighting the stage once more in strobes of orange. Rafe struggled against the blast he collided with, feeling as if every cell in his body was on fire.

Just need… to… cut through!

“Give it up!” Dylan’s voice echoed through the cacophony. “There’s no way you can push back against all of this power!”

The blond gritted his teeth so hard it felt like they were going to crack. “I-I… don’t… need to!”

Rafe hurriedly focused his energy, honing it into a sharp, heated blade around him that cut through the ocean of power surrounding him. He grinned when he felt himself begin to dip. Inching closer and closer to the unnerved girl.

Dylan was screaming at this point, pouring every ounce of light into her attack. Rafe just kept whetting and whetting. Rocks, small and large, were uprooted from the ground. The grass disintegrated near the focal point of the collision. It was pure chaos.

Rafe growled, then bellowed.

Red and gold burst.

The resulting detonation completely obliterated the stage. Luckily, everyone had cleared out, for what was left of the ring was a crater that practically reached the others. The two other matches had paused to gape at the extensive mushroom cloud that hung above the whole arena, dark clouds of smoke, dust, and rock fragments. The crowd had been stunned into silence.

Had a first-year battle ever been this… astonishing?

It took a bit of time for the smoke to clear, but when it did, it was as if the world was waiting in suspense for the results.

It was quiet.

Then, there was a cough.

And a shirtless Rafe crawled out from under the remains of a corner pole, patches of burn marks littered all over his face and body. One pant leg was torn from the thigh, but miraculously, the other still only had a hole in the knee portion.

He looked half-dead.

Though, the same could not be said for his foe. Just behind him, Dylan lay sprawled and face up on the ground, white hair splayed around her head like a halo. Only it was tainted red, blood leaking from a nasty wound on her temple.

She was alive but out cold.

The zebra announcer, somehow composed and completely unfazed by what just occurred, made it known. “Dylan Hallace is unable to continue! Rafe Gold of Ironward wins by an explosive knockout!”

Of all times, a little joke came to him right before the world went dark.

“Like… fucking butter…”

Lights out.