POV: Adrian Priest

I stomped my way down the road just hoping someone would mess with me. Unfortunately everyone around was too quick witted to get in my way, and so I stomped my way home.

“Ma! I'm home!” I shouted as I slammed the front door. I was greeted by silence as I shouted again, “Ma?”

I explored the living room and kitchen, finding nothing. I went to the cereal cabinet and got a box of corn puffs. I had been too angry during lunch to eat. So I popped the box open and poured puffs directly into my mouth.

After that I called out again. This time up the stairs. Still nothing. I started to get nervous. I scanned the kitchen and found a note I overlooked before. It was from Mom and read:

Adrian,

Will be back before midnight.

Your mother,

Mom

My first thought was of Ambrose. I wasn't meant to pick him up today, but Mom would have gotten a message to me if that had changed. Surely she would. So where was Ambrose?

I headed out through the back door and had my worries answered by the sight of Ambrose in the backyard. He was kneeling in the grass looking at something, and with him was the fairy girl he met at school. Lily. They had become close friends in the few weeks they’ve known each other being the only demi-human in their class. It sickened me to my stomach, but Ambrose was his own man. If he wanted a fairy as a friend then that was on him, and I wasn’t going to turn my back on my little brother. No way, no how. Especially since I didn’t have any room to talk now.

“Adrian,” he called out to me and waved me over, “Come see this.”

I put on my best grin and strided over to them, “What ya got Ambrose?”

“Look Adrian!” Ambrose pointed into the grass to where an armored bug was crawling through the grass, “It’s a beetle! It bit me!”

He raised a hand to show a reddish mark. It was slowly, but visibly healing. The demon blood we shared aiding in his recovery.

“It only bit you because you keep harassing it!” Lily yelled as Ambrose kept trying to poke it.

“I just wanted to see how well it fights, Lily. I read once how beetles are the strongest bugs in the world. Ouch!” Ambrose went on until the beetle bit down on his finger. Lily cried in panic. I roared in laughter.

“Ha! You got to be careful where you pick fights, little brother.” I continued laughing, “Even the smallest critters can pack a punch.”

“Ambrose, you're bleeding!” Lily cried out and I looked down to see a small line of blood coming from Ambrose's finger. I also saw it was painful to Ambrose.

“Alright. Let me have a go.” I say kneeling and pinching the beetle off of him. More blood came as it released itself and tried to snap at me. I held it up to the sky, “Tough little bastard, ain't it. Bet it thinks it could take me.”

“Ha. Idiot!” Ambrose chuckled.

“It's not an idiot!” Lily shouted, drawing our attention, “It's just a bug. Don't hurt it! Please don't!”

“Yeah, Adrian. Don't hurt it.” Ambrose said. He turned on me quickly enough. I guess I couldn't blame him. Agreeing with the pretty girl and all. Even considering.

“Alright, alright. I won't,” I assured them, “but you know the old saying. The bigger they are.”

“The harder they fall.” Ambrose finished.

“Yep, well, there's a second half to that saying. The lighter they are,” I whined up my arm and aimed to the southwest where I knew the town gave way to the flora, “the further they fly!”

I launched the beetle away into the sky and out of sight. Lily gasped as it disappeared. Ambrose also gasped but followed up with a punch to my hip.

“Adrian! Why would you do that!?” He asked and I laughed.

“Don't worry. It's the best of both worlds. It got an honest fight. One it could win and more importantly survive.”

“How do you know that!?” Ambrose shouted.

“Because it's small. Small things like bugs don't suffer under their own weight. They don’t have enough. The more mass you have, the more of a danger you become to yourself. Sure you can hit your enemies harder, but any mistake you make hits you harder too. You understand?”

“I guess.” Ambrose said uncommittedly, “and it was kind of cool.”

“Yeah it was.” I slapped his back and headed back inside, “Let's clean up those battle wounds.”

“Awesome. Can Lily come in?” Ambrose asked.

I reflexively clenched my fist as I called back with a cheer, “Of course she can.”

They both followed me inside and into the kitchen. I got the first aid box and set it down on the table.

“Now, do you want old fashion iodine, or the new age fancy stuff,” I said showing the options.

“Iodine!” Ambrose said immediately with a flex of his arm, “The burn means it's working!”

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“Damn straight!” I agreed, closing the box with the iodine disinfectant. I set a towel and poured. Ambrose winced at first, but handled it all pretty well. With the cuts clean and disinfected they healed in second. His demon blood really was getting stronger these days. “Alright. All set to heal. Don't forget to rest, little brother.”

“Rest is for the weak. I want to go to The Arcade and show Lily Battle Brawl.”

“Rest is important, Ambrose.” I said firmly, “So let's put The Arcade off until tomorrow. Anything happened in school today?”

“No.” Ambrose answered too quickly. Clearly something had happened in school today.

“Nothing? You sure?”

“Nothing I couldn't handle.” Ambrose scowled, “Someone said something mean to Lily, and I made him put his words back in his mouth.”

“Damn! Really! How bad was it?”

“Not bad enough for him to choke on his words.”

“They called me a dirty dust pixie.” Said Lily. Her eyes downtrodden.

“Well,” I rolled my shoulders, “those sound like fighting words to me. Ambrose didn't get in trouble for stuffing them back down the jerk's throat, did he?”

“No, sir.” Lily mumbled, “None of the teachers knew it happened.”

I gritted my teeth. Nobody in Virginia hated fairies more than me, but having one in my home paying me respect reminded me that one is supposed to have respect for themselves. Even if they are a dirty dust pixie.

“Mr Adrian,” Lily started off as if she was about to sob now, “Why do you hate fairies?”

I sighed.

“Well, a lot of people say a lot of bad stuff about fairies, but in all honesty,” I sat down and smiled at the fairykin girl, “I’m just a big mean jerk.”

That seemed to help her in some way because she managed to at least fake a smile.

“Yeah, and you don’t even have to worry about that.” Ambrose said flexing his “wounded” arm, “Because you’re super cool. Way cooler than any other mook. Mundane, fairy, or even demon.”

“Thank you Ambrose.” Lily’s smile grew and stretched over to Ambrose and me. We were all smiling and laughing now.

Ambrose suggested showing Lily the Battle Star Card Game and we started to go for our decks but before we could get a game going the doorbell rang. We weren’t expecting anyone or anything. So I had no reason to be cautious as I answered the door and was greeted by a sledge hammer like headbutt.

I fell back and was downed by the shock of the blow. As I recovered, the hammer skulled creature that attacked me strided into the house. It was large and vicious looking. A massive bulk outlined by powerful muscles and hard scaly skin. I knew the creature wasn’t magic in any way from how it crossed the threshold with no problem. As it flexed out its claw I recognized what it was. It was the same alien species as my classmate Vlad. A ludoyashay.

I hopped up to my feet and leaped up to deliver an uppercut to its jaw. A direct blow that did little as it uppercutted me before I could land, sending me into the living room.

“Adrian!” I heard Ambrose cry from the kitchen.

“Protect the girl! Get out of here!” I yelled back as I got my footing. The ludoyashay rushed forward and swung a claw at me. I blocked with my arm, my leather jacket protecting me with its magic, but it could do nothing for the next swipe that came under my ribs and launched me across the room into the wall.

“Think to protect others first. A good trait to have.” The ludoyashay said. He seemed familiar somehow, but the only alien I knew personally was Vlad himself, so I had little to go off of. “The school did well picking you for New Blood Tournament.”

“How do you know about that?” I asked, getting to my feet again and readying for another go, “And why are you attacking me in my own home?”

“I asked the same thing.” Came the voice of Vlad himself from behind the attacker. “Raz said something about testing your metal.”

“Vlad! What are you doing here?” I shouted. Seeing him reminded me of where I knew this Raz from. He was Vlad's older brother, and a top notch brawler too. I gritted my teeth and continued to shout, “What is the meaning of this!?”

“Sorry Adrian.” Vlad gave me a sympathetic smile, “Raz asked me where you lived. I swear I didn't know he was going to do all this.”

“Enough talk!” Raz said and leapt at me. I ducked under and readied a jab to counter his next swipe, but instead he continued his forward movement and entered a spin move that resulted in his tail hitting my blind side sending me flying again. “You lack foresight. You have no hope of winning if this is best performance you have.”

“Bite me! You scaly fuck!” I rushed forward for a sucker punch only to be met with the ironclad force of Raz's sharp teeth biting my arm. He whipped me into a wall, then down into the floor, and then another whip up into the air flying. Before I finished the arc he jumped up to grapple me into a body slam that would have broken a mundane spine. I coughed, “You fucking-”

He grabbed my ankle and slammed me again into the wall. He wasn't giving me any time to react. I could only barely act in time to grab his foot as it came down on my face in a stomping attack.

“I am willing to bet a day's wage that the fairykin they partnered you with would have fair just fine against me.” Raz said, leaning over to put more weight down on me. “You're doing down right pathetic.”

“Bite! Me!” I gritted my teeth and used his weight to twist his foot and throw him off of me. I leaped up to follow up and finally got another solid hit in only to be met with a near instant recovery from Raz who countered with a failed grappling attempt. We locked our fists together and stared each other down. Here, I could tell our raw strength was about even and here I could tell I couldn’t win. He outpaced me in every other field. I growled as I pushed with all my demonic might, “Of course a fairy would do better! They would use their trickery and gile to get the edge! But I'm not like that! I'm not a slimy, sneaky, shiftless, pixie dust shaking waste!”

“Hey guys.” Vlad spoke up but we weren't paying attention.

“Oh, you think you’re so much better than iron shy?” Raz smiled with his razor teeth.

“Raz!” Vlad called again.

“I know I am!” I shouted, “I actually have honor and dignity!”

“Adrian!” Vlad once again.

“So what? The faekin are being second class to you then?” Raz asked and shifted. He started to overpower me. Apparently we weren't even matched in raw power.

“Hey! Stop fighting you two!”

“Second class? They don’t even deserve to be in the race!” I started to reach deep into myself and draw on my deeper nature. I could smell the sulfur before Vlad stepped up and between us.

“Cut it out!” Vlad's tone was serious, “You have an audience.”

He pointed over to Ambrose who was protecting Lily behind him. Her eyes lined with tears.

She sniffled, “I need… I need the restroom.”

She turned and headed up the stairs. Ambrose calling after her.

I just stood there in the now destroyed living room. Too angry to even think. I huffed a slow breath, “What do you want?”

Raz rubbed the back of his neck, “Apologies. I didn't mean to sour the evening.”

“What do you want!?” I shouted.

“Right.” Raz cleared his throat and took a towering stance, “I come to train you. For New Blood Tournament.”

“You think I need training?” I asked.

“Da. And so do you.” He looked down at me, “You know how strong you are, and you know how strong world is. Other schools will send their best, and you will need to be better. So I will train you.”

I was at my limit. My anger was so overwhelming I could sigh and huff out, “Whatever.”

“Da. Good.” Raz accepted my acceptance, “Tomorrow, after dismissal, gymnasium.”

And with that he turned and started to the front door. Vlad gave an apology and followed. Ambrose had headed up to check on Lily I guess. So I just flopped on the couch and looked around at the destruction. Mom was going to be pissed.