The Legends of Wolfe

Chapter 15 - A Pack of Friends

Striking a sand-filled blue punching bag, Rose Chat caused the training material to split in half, leaking said sand all over the ground of the private room. Rose Chat rubbed her hand, seeming to feel a bit put off by this power. Knightmask was lifting weights with a robotic spotter, who made sure the weights didn’t hurt the fighter during his trainer. Rose Chat’s face was covered in sweat, feeling a stinging in her fist.

“Monsieur Knightmask, how were you able to get all of this fantaisie équipement all to yourself?” Rose Chat asked the armored fighter, taking a rest on a metal chair, wiping the sweat from her head and tail.

“Well, thanks to coming from a family of champions and nobles, we gained quite a lot of money in the past many years from winning tournaments and operating businesses.” Knightmask answered, putting the weights back on their hold.

“Wait, what enterprises are you a part of, Monsieur Knightmask?” Rose Chat asked, now stretching her arms, which felt a bit stronger. Rose Chat smiled at this, feeling the muscles that were now growing stronger and stronger.

“All of the Knightmask family members who don’t want to be fighters all take up a large business located in the United Kingdom,” Knightmask replied, cleaning and shining his armor from the match he had fought just that day. “For example, one of my uncles, named Charles, owns a biscuit factory, and they’re now the largest-selling biscuit company in all of the United Kingdom.”

“That’s so amazing! And I love biscuits, especially chocolat ones! Those are magnifique and I love popping them into my mouth!” Rose Chat swooned, her tail swishing back and forth.

“Perhaps, after the Battle Olympics finish, I’ll give you a personal tour of the facility, and you can have many samples.” Knightmask offered Rose Chat, putting his now shiny knight armor back onto his body.

“Oh, I’d love that! Thank you so much, Knightmask!” Rose Chat replied, thanking Knightmask. Her blush was a bit redder than normal, which made the armored hero smile.

That same afternoon, in the hotel’s free gym, Angel, Lifen Fong, and Frankie watched as Nick Wolfe was sparring against Purple, testing new moves against each other. Purple attempted to launch a jab at Nick Wolfe, though the half wolf was quickly able to dodge past the attack, knocking Purple to the ground with a kick to her right leg.
“Ah! That was a strong kick!” Purple yelped as she quickly got back up, with her and Nick Wolfe both taking the starting position.

“Well, when you fight Knightmask, he’ll be using harder kicks then I am.” Nick Wolfe replied, his body seem to bob back and forth, like a machine turning back and forth.

Nick Wolfe attacked first, elbowing Purple in the gut, though Purple countered by grabbing his waist, flipping his body and performing a back drop. Nick Wolfe lifted himself with his thumbs, jumping up and reversing the move onto Purple. Tapping out, Nick Wolfe let go of Purple, helping her off the ground.

“That was amazing! Can you show us more moves, big brother?” Lifen Fong asked Nick Wolfe, her monkey tail swishing around excitedly.

“Of course! I’ve been working on incorporating some Mixed Martial Arts moves into my fighting style.” Nick Wolfe replied as he began to hang up a punching bag.

“Mixed Martial Arts? What’s that?” Frankie inquired, looking at Angel, who didn’t seem to know either.

“Mixed Martial Arts is a combination of boxing, kickboxing, muay-thai, jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, wrestling, taekwondo, capoeira, submission grappling and wushu sanshou,” Nick Wolfe began to explain to the both of the panda siblings. “Because it’s a combination of so many forms of fighting, it's considered one of the most versatile forms of martial arts. Here, I’ll show you a move.”

Nick Wolfe slowly approached the cheap, red punching bag, taking a deep breath in and out as he did so. Raising his foot, Nick Wolfe struck the bag with a crane kick, seeming to split the punching bag open. Angel and Frankie gasped as sand began to spill out of the punching bag, landing on the floor in a small pile.

“That was an amazing crane kick!” Purple gasped, with Angel, Frankie, Lifen Fong, and Purple all clapping.

“Thank you! I really can’t wait to use these in battle!” Nick Wolfe declared, seeming to glow with an aura of confidence.

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty tired. I’m gonna go back to my room.” Purple yawned as she walked out of the gym.

“Well, I’m done with training for now, but I’m really excited for tomorrow!” Nick Wolfe sighed, preparing to leave as well. Angel tugged on Nick Wolfe’s shoulder, which made him look at the cyborg panda.

“Hey Wolfe, I discovered a little local diner called Top’s Burgers near the hotel,” Angel began to tell Nick Wolfe, tapping her fingers with a nervous tone. “Are you interested in having dinner with me tonight?”

“Oh, I’d love to have dinner with you tonight, Angel.” Nick Wolfe replied, accepting the cyborg panda’s invitation.

“Thank you so much, Wolfe!” Angel gushed as she hugged Nick Wolfe, nuzzling his face, making Nick Wolfe blush heavily.

Making their way to Top’s Burgers, Nick Wolfe and Angel took their seats. Top’s Burgers was more of an artisan style restaurant, with lots of wooden furniture and even a small bar with odd drink combinations. Nick Wolfe was served a piping hot cup of green tea, while Angel was served a hybrid drink known as the Cherry Sundae, which was a mixture of cherry and vanilla soda.

“So Angel, what kind of burger you thinking about having tonight?”

“Well, I think that the Breakfast Burger sounds like a really good choice.”

Angel pointed to the regular Breakfast Burger on the menu with her cyborg hand, smiling at Nick Wolfe. Nick Wolfe took a look at the Breakfast Burger, which was a normal type of burger but with a fried egg and two pieces of bacon on top, along with being served with hash browns and a few orange slices.

“That looks really delicious, Angel! I’ll have the Katsu Sandwich, I guess, that sounds like the best thing here.” Nick Wolfe told Angel, showing her the Katsu Sandwich, which was a breast of Chicken Katsu served on a hamburger bun with lettuce and a slice of cheddar cheese.

“Oh, I’ve heard of Chicken Katsu before, it’s one of the few Japanese foods I’ve ever had before.”

“Really? I suppose that when we get back home, we’ll have a feast, I’m sure that you’re going to love everything.”

However, unlike the warm happiness that Nick Wolfe and Angel felt while they dined, at a special motel, Weiss was sitting by herself. Meditating in thought in a cold shower, Weiss was completely still, crossing her legs and twitching her fingers. Every ice cold drop of water on her body slipped down, though it felt like someone was caressing her body. Weiss craved this feeling, as even the cold water felt somewhat warm to her. Thinking back to her childhood, she did feel warm once.

“Weiss, I’d like you to meet our newest student who will be living with us, his name is Cerberus Knight.” Greta introduced the young Cerberus Knight to her daughter. The robotic being was standing behind Greta’s leg, wearing a nervous expression.

“Oh, Hello there Cerberus-”

“Weiss, do not talk to him! He’s not a person, he’s a weapon, like you, and weapons don’t speak unless spoken to!” Greta snarled, slapping Weiss across her face, using her claws as well. This left a scratched, bloody mark on Weiss’s cheek, which made Weiss cry and run off from her mother.

A few hours later, young Weiss had bandaged up the scratch caused by her mother, and hoped that the bleeding would stop soon. From the corner of her eye, Weiss saw young Cerberus Knight approaching her, quietly and gently. Weiss seemed a bit intimidated by the robotic child, though she did calm down as Cerberus Knight sat next to her.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to introduce myself, I’m Cerberus Knight.” Cerberus Knight introduced himself to Weiss, holding out his hand.

“Well, I’m Weiss,” Weiss introduced herself to Cerberus Knight, shaking his hand which felt as cold as his her own hand. “I guess you’re going to be living and training here.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to like it here.” Cerberus Knight sighed, looking down. Weiss saw this change in Cerberus Knight’s expression, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we have each other.” Weiss told the robotic boy, trying to give the warmest smile she could muster. Cerberus Knight hugged the young demoness, the two seeming at peace for the moment.

Turning off the shower, Weiss breathed deeply, the last of the drops of water on her body seeming to slide down her legs. Covering herself with one of the motel towels, Weiss looked at the reflection that starred in her mirror, clearing away the smudging fog. Facing her was a cold stare, though her expression changed to one of sorrow. Placing her hand on the mirror, Weiss just sighed and went to put on her clean clothes.

However, even the basic act of getting dressed was interrupted by yelling that came from the other side of the door. Getting the last of her clothes on, Weiss stepped out of the bathroom and saw Sukhoi Man packing his suitcases. Greta had her normal bitchy attitude on, filing her claws with a long, pink nail filer. Every movement on the nail filer seemed to bother Weiss, like nails on a chalkboard.

“Hurry up, you’re supposed to leave NOW! Get the hell out of my motel!” Greta snarled at Sukhoi Man, throwing the nail filer at the back of his head.

“Back off, bitch! I’m going as fast as I can!” Sukhoi Man snapped at the demoness, shoving her away as he packed.

“What the hell is going on here?” Weiss questioned both Sukhoi Man and her mother, seeming more irate than usual.

“Your horrid bitch of a mother is kicking me out, I’m going back to Ukraine.” Sukhoi Man replied very bluntly, grabbing his bags and preparing to leave. Weiss’s eyes widened at this, blocking his path.

“Please, you can’t go now! We need you here for the rest of the Battle Olympics!” Weiss insisted, pleading to the Ukrainian warrior. Now her eyes weren’t cold, but now wet and sad.

“Greta, bad girl! You know the rules of this family and the house that we all live in,” Greta strictly reminded her demoness daughter, kicking her in the shin. “If you lose a fight, you lose your right to live with us, which means you can only become weaker.”

“I’m really sorry that I have to leave now, Weiss,” Sukhoi Man apologized to the cold demoness, giving her a look of sadness as he walked out the door. “I’ll be back in my home country, and I’ll try and make sure we see each other again.”

Weiss, though her ankle stung like a scorpion’s sting, ran up to her room, screaming into her pillow. However, Weiss refused to cry or shed a single tear, only smacking her bed with her fists and feet. Her eyes changed, turning from a shade of blue to a deep red, and her horns got a bit longer than usual. As she felt the rage building up, Weiss turned around and saw Cerberus Knight standing behind her.

“Go away, Cerberus! I just want to be alone!” Weiss yelled at Cerberus Knight, whatever makeup she was wearing was now smudging.

“I know how you feel, Weiss,” Cerberus Knight told Weiss as he began to walk out of the room, as per Weiss’s request. “I’m always here for you, Weiss, just so you know.”

As Cerberus Knight closed the door, Weiss rolled on the bed, looking up at the fan that spun above her. Covering her face with the pillow, Weiss tried to sleep, trying to tune out the memories and the screaming and the hurt that all flowed back to her as everything went to black, fading out into sleep.