Chapter Nine: Punchin' Punks >:D

"really?"

"oh shut up and punch 'em already."

-lightningblazer

-beta wolf.

as the punks started toward them, neither Beta nor lightningblazer showed any fear, but mostly in part due to the fact that they had drawn dualswords and a scythe respectively.
that shocked the punk's leader, a skunk among weasels.
"what?! ar'choo earthies 'sposed t'be 'elpless?!"
Beta sneered "what? and get beat up by some wothless punks? dream on."
lightningblazer pointed his swords at the weasels, who readied their baseball bats.
the skunk however, wasn't as eager as his crew.
"w-wait... 'ey got blades... mebee we bet'ah run 'eh?..."
the weasels just sneered and rushed the duo.

a simple flick of the scythe's staff and a bludgeoning from the grips of the swords to the foreheads of the giants easily brought down all eight weasels, then the blades were pointed at the skunk
"take your juvinile behaviour elsewhere."

they all ran off and sped away in the ute, and the duo sheathed and concealed their weapons.
"c'mon, LB, we better go."

the duo once again flew off, unaware that they were being watched.
in a nearby tree sat ian, completely shocked at what he'd seen.
(how the...? who were those guys...?)

---

once back at the library on gentiki, ian poured over hundreds of books, searching for some mention of the power he'd seen them using, but found nothing.
amelia sat beside him, concerned "hey, calm down... maybe if they're new, they won't be in these."
he sighed, and set the book down "good point... but seriously, they were two non-giants, and they took down Eight giants with ease... that just screams abnormal..."
amelia offered the compendium of holy and unholy creatures "try this"
nodding in thanks, he thought about what he'd seen, and the tome flipped over it's pages and landed on an article marked "non-mystical"

the title read "the punished precursor"
amelia frowned "it's not a hereafter thing?"
"seems not..." ian comented, and began to read the description aloud.
"he who gave his life twice over for his comrades in the battle where he died twice.
his nonmortal body was destroyed first, followed by his mortal coil and soul, but afterwards, his nonmortal body rebuilt itself, retaining his consiousness and memories from before it's destrucion.
he believes he has to protect his allies and comrades, as well as his successor, and is determined to do so, but whenever he gets close to the spiritually aware, or sensory beings or devices, he causes a distress, his mere presence an abomination to the unprepared, now without his soul, he is highly dangerous.
as he is essentially a clone of his original self, he goes by the name 'Beta Wolf', and his true identity is that of a well known hero on Xlenari.
travelling with an old friend, he seeks a reunion with his sucessor, but knows he cannot come within three meters, let alone touch him.
it is a predicament, as this would magnify his successor's power and reveal his true self.
however, this may damage his nonmortal body, damage his last physical prescence on this side of reality.
this scares him, as there is no afterlife for the artificial such as he."

amelia gasped "no... died twice?... Beta Wolf?..."
ian put his hands over his mouth "he... DID look like him..."
the article in the book suddenly lit up with white flames, an image burning into the frame allocated on the page.
captioned "Beta wolf" was an adolescent wolf wearing a long dark, hooded cloak.
with the addition of a large scythe in his paws, he looked a lot like a lupine Grim Reaper.
amelia seemed to think so as well, because she commented "damn, looks like 'Doggie Death', doesn't he?"
ian chuckled, 'doggie death' was a children's comic book superhero that looked like the grim reaper as a schnauzer.
"yes, i suppose he does"

ian was soon flying in the sky, tracking the duo in the middle of the night.
over an earpiece, he spoke to amelia.
"i just don't understand, what's this 'successor' it goes on about?"
""dunno. all i can tell is that they're related somehow.""
"how related?"
""just related.""
"what? like... his son?"
""not exactly... but close. it doesn't say straight out, and it's clearly more complex than being a part of his family... it's weird.""
his ears started to get a dull squealing in them.
"agh..."
""are you okay?""
"i think..." ian groaned "i think he's close..."
the line started to go static
""st-y s-f-""

he turned off the earpiece, and sighed.
he followed the trail to an old warehouse just outside of a city on rezii, a small island state of virada, and as he got closer, the high tone entered a crescendo.
the squealing high-pitch tone in his ears intensified to a painful falsetto, as if to warn him of the structure's inhabitant.
he grabbed the door, and the reverb shook through his arm, and he jerked it away.
inside, he could sense someone, a living being, and they weren't alone.
if he were to describe it, it would be that amidst the grey background of the world, a soul was a brght white light, and people looked like white silhouettes... but the other one that was inside... against the grey, he looked like a horrible, black void, like a whirlpool leading down into the depths of the deepest abyss.
empty.
soulless.
the idea that something could live without a soul, it was unbelievable.
the dark entity approached the doors, and they swung open, releasing a deafening screech from the inside.
he clamped his hands to his ears, and doubled over in agony, it felt like someone had put a power drill in each ear, and they were clashing and grinding inside his head.
the dark one seemed to gasp in fright at the sight of him.
"Ian!"
in an instant, the screech dulled into a Diminuendo, then into a quiet cadenza, and then gone completely.
ian looked up to find a face he'd believed he'd never see again looking back at him.
a brown furred, lupine face, full of surprise, and the only oddity he could pick about his appearance was that the bright emerald-green eyes he remembered fondly were replaced with vibrant ruby-red ones.
"nine... ninety nine...?"
the wolf shook his head "no," he frowned "not exactly."
"then... who are you?"
"that's complicated, but for now, call me 'Beta', okay?"

the wolf helped him to stand and dabbed at his ears with a hankerchief, revealing a small amount of blood on it. "i hope your hearing isn't damaged, 'cause i bet deafening an angel is a sin or something." he joked.
ian chuckled lightly "i can hear fine, so the next thing i wanna hear is an explanation."

"alright..." the wolf sighed "let me start from the beginning-- err... the end... argh, i mean when i died."

(Next Chapter: Beta's History)