W.T.F. Chapter 1

[Prelude]

The snow was lightly falling as Julius Fang walked from his car up the stone path that had thankfully been not fully covered yet. He had gone to his girlfriend, Sarah's, house and yet now, as he stood before the front door, he felt more afraid than ever. After a minute of pondering, too distracted to be bothered by the cold, he slowly reached out and gave the door a few knocks. Even though his thick coat kept him warm, Julius was shivering as he waited, but he wouldn't have to wait long before the door opened and Sarah stood there. Her vibrant, piercing, blue eyes cut into him like a thousand ice shards and froze him where he stood, unable to speak, but at least the shivering had stopped. Her beauty awed him every time they met, from her long, jet-black hair looking as smooth and perfect as fine silk, to her wonderfully fair skin and smooth features that Julius swore was the envy of angels. It made him wonder how he'd been so lucky to be with her in the first place, but it made him all the more sure about what he had come here for.
"Julius? Is everything alright? I didn't get a call from you..." Sarah stated as she looked Julius over with some concern, and breaking him out of his thoughts finally.
"S-sarah... yes, I was hoping to surprise you this time. Would you care to join me on a walk through the park?" Julius asked, trying to not to look too nervous. Sarah smiled after a few moments and looked out, taking note of the gentle snow fall, and deciding to not care about it.
"Sure. Just let me get my coat on," she replies and closes the door slowly. A few minutes later, she opens the door to come out, closing it behind her, as she steps out and gives Julius a hug. He returns it and takes her hand as they start to walk off together.

Thankfully, the park was not far from Sarah's house, but during the walk there, nothing was said between them but the loving looks they gave each other, merely enjoying one another's company. The park was empty of all other occupants and quiet, save the mild howling of the winter winds and gentle buzzing of a nearby streetlamp. The sun was on it's way down, casting an almost magical haze across the field of snow covered ground and trees. By the streetlamp was one of the park benches and it was there that the two headed for, Julius brushing off some of the snow, before they both took a seat. It remained quiet for another couple of minutes as the watched the snow fall, until Julius started to speak up.
"Sarah... I-" he stopped and got up from the bench to turn and kneel before her. Taking one of her hands in both of his, he looks up into her eyes and continues, "I love you, more than anything... You've helped me by restoring my purpose and saving me. But... I can't imagine having a purpose, a life, without you. You've always been so kind, beyond what I deserve. So it is with a humble heart... devoted to you... that I ask." He takes one hand and puts it inside the front of his coat to grab out a small, shining, diamond ring.
"Will you marry me?"



"Yes."
....................................

[Chapter 1]

"Alright, this one here. That one over there..." Julius softly spoke to himself as he arranged a collection of trophies above the fireplace. Sarah watched him a bit from having come around the corner of the room and carrying their young baby boy. She smiled, finding it amusing how he played with his old science awards. The baby moved in her arms a little and her smile fell.
"Julius..." she says and walked in, getting his attention.
"Ah, yes, my loves?" he replies with a smile, turning to receive them both in his arms, but noticing her look.
"What will we do about the SBI? They won't forget what you've done, and now that we have this place..." she trails off, looking down at the baby in her arms as Julius wraps his arms around them.
"I know, but I want to make life as good and peaceful for the both of you. I don't want him growing up afraid of an evil tyrant and his army," Julius says and gently brushes a hand over the baby's cheek. Sarah hands the baby carefully over to Julius and kisses his cheek.
"But they are real, and they need to be stopped. We can't hide forever..." she almost whispers and gives him another kiss before looking down at the baby, "He can't run forever."
"I know, I-... I'll figure something out. Keeping us hidden has kept me a little preoccupied, but I have a few ideas. I promise I'll do something," Julius reassures her, "For you and... White." Sarah smiles up at Julius and caresses his cheek with a hand.
"I'm glad you're getting used to his name. I'm going to go into town and pick up some groceries and the new dishes," she says and starts to move towards the front door, grabbing a coat first.
"Wait, let me go. You stay here with White and relax," Julius offers, keeping his concern more hidden again and walking over to hand off White.
"You've done so much already, Julius. It's been a while since I went for a drive and I've like to get out for a little," Sarah replies as she puts the coat on and smiles at her boys. Knowing better than to try to convince her otherwise, Julius gives her a kiss on the head, which she returns by kissing his cheek, then White's head.
"Be careful..." Julius says as he watches her open and head out the front door. Sarah looks back with her sweetest smile and says, "I will. Goodbye." With that, she closes the door and leaves. Julius carries White over to the couch and sits down.
"If you grow up as stubborn as her, I'm gonna really be in trouble," he says down to White, who giggles a little and reaches up for Julius.

The next hour seemed to drag on for Julius. He took care of White, finished organizing his trophies, and tried to keep himself busy while waiting. He had just put White to bed when he heard a knock at the door. Relieved, Julius rushed over and opened the door. His stomach shot up into his throat at the sight of a tall man dressed in a black suit, red tie, and wearing darkened, black shades. Julius nearly fell back as the man grinned, but caught himself and tightened his grip on the door, readying to slam it shut.
"W-who are you?" Julius asked, a deep worry starting to rise in him. The other man just took a deep, slow breath and let out an equally unsettlingly relaxed sigh.
"Julius A. Fang," the man started and gave the gesture of tipping a hat that wasn't there, "You've got quite the reputation. You may call me... Agent."
"A-agent? Who are you? What do you want? I can call the cops!" Julius threatened, starting to get angry as well.
"Mmm, see, no you won't. Even after I tell you what I came here for. You worked hard to keep anyone from finding you. Wasn't enough to stop me, of course, but I doubt you'd start reaching out to society now," Agent explains with an eerie calm and confidence that strikes Julius to his core. He knew where or whom this man had come from...
"Mr. Sm-" Julius was silenced by Agent suddenly holding a pistol to his lips. The shining, silver tip is tapped against Julius's lips as Agent softly shushes him and starts to chuckle and grin again.
"Now now, let's not use him name so loosely, alright? Show the boss the respect he deserves," Agent says and quickly and quietly puts the pistol away as smoothly as he had drawn it, "But don't worry, he didn't send me here to kill you. He just wanted me to deliver a message and make sure you weren't doing anything you weren't supposed to. Like... thinking you get to get away with what you've done." Agent shoved Julius to the side and forced himself into the house, looking around slowly. For that brief moment, Julius was glad Sarah wasn't there, but just for a moment.
"You went and thought you could have a life for yourself, but the boss, you see... he wants you to suffer, not die... yet. Could have made it easier on yourself, Fang. Could have just crawled into a hole and rot for the rest of your life. I would have just come by and let you be, but you went and made me have to go kill the pretty girl," Julius felt like his heart stopped at Agents words and he began to shake.
"N-no," Julius weakly cracked.
"Oh yes~ No wifey for the traitor. Only a sad, little, miserable life," Agent says as he approaches Julius and looms over him mockingly, "That's what you get~ But it looks like you handled the rest yourself pretty well. No friends, no real job, no other contacts, no attempts to spill your guts... Looks like I can-" In just that moment, White let out a little cry from the other room.
"NO!" Julius shouts in fury and reaches into Agent's suit for his gun. Agent quickly turned his attention to Julius and the moment he grabbed Julius's wrist, Julius pulled the trigger. The shot was deafening, and for a moment, Julius wasn't sure who had been hit, but as his ears stopped ringing and his vision cleared a bit, he watched as this "Agent" slumped to the ground, blood spreading quickly across the white of his suit as he lay there, dead. Julius looked at the black handled, shining, smoking pistol in his hand and quickly dropped it. He didn't care about the blood splattered on him, or the large stain forming on the carpet. Even the confused, scared crying of White seemed distant as Julius slid down the wall, dropped his head into his hands, and let out a sorrowful, angry shout as he started crying the hardest he ever had.
It took several long minute before Julius gathered himself up enough to stand, hearing White's cries, and start making his way into the bedroom. He nearly stumbled a few times, and forgot to close the front door, but he made it to White's crib and, as gently as he could, scooped White into his arms to try to calm him.
"My son..." Julius stares at White through the continuous stream of tears, "I'll keep you safe... I WILL protect you from him. I'm so sorry..." White eventually quieted down, more curious than anything, but Julius continued to hold him for a long while. Eventually, he set White down and went to begin cleaning up, setting a mission in his heart to protect and prepare White as best he could for the dangers that would be coming for both of them.


Over the next few years, White grew into an intelligent, quiet, reserved boy, that caused very little trouble aside from one thing. He had never been outside. In fact, he barely knew what outside was. From his father's teachings and the nature documentaries he got to occasionally watch, White was left with a desire to experience the outdoors, especially fascinated by animals. When White turned ten, Julius finally gave into White's begging and complaints, but he'd have to follow strict rules. White agreed and Julius took him out for the first time, and to the zoo of all places, making it one of White's most memorable moments. He loved seeing all the creatures, but the crowds of peoples, strangers, and fear of dangers that Julius warned him about made it so that White never asked to go out again, unless it was to the zoo, every now and then. As he continued to grow, White began to get more and more lonely, with Julius spending most of his time in the lab in the basement, when he wasn't teaching White. Julius thought of a solution to solve this, and on White's twelfth birthday, he returned home after some errands with an extra large box that he carried carefully. White could tell it was clearly heavy as he watched Julius bring it in and set it in the middle of the family room.
"White, I have a wonderful surprise for you," Julius says as he waves White over.
"What's that?" White asks, approaching the box cautiously.
"Surprise!" a boy shouts cheerily as he sprung up and out of the box. White let out a short scream and fell back.
"You got me a person?" White asks with a grunt as he sat up and gave a small frown.
"No... a brother," Julius smiles and helps White back up, "This is Randy. I've adopted him, and now you both have someone that can always be there for you."
"But I have you," White protests, making Julius smile sadly a bit.
"I know, but you know I get busy. You two get to know each other. I'll go make us some food, alright?" he says and gives White a light hug before getting up and heading to the kitchen. White and Randy look at each other, eyes meeting and staring at each other in both awkward and different ways. Randy climbed out of the box a bit clumsily and walked right up to White before comparing their height with a hand.
"Aw, shoot! You're taller than me... ah well. How old are you?" Randy asks, showing a far more outgoing personality than White was ever used to. He noticed how White had jet black hair, unlike Julius's brown, and piercing blue, sharper eyes that looked nothing like the man that had adopted him. White's gaze only grew sharper as he glared at Randy, unsure if he even liked this new person that invaded his home.
"I just turned twelve..." White replies, watching and observing Randy.
"You're half a year younger too!? Ahhh, man!" Randy says and puts his hands on his hips as he shakes his head, "Anyway, my name's Randy!" White flinches as Randy holds out a hand to shake and grins happily.
"White..." White says as he slowly takes Randy's hand and shakes it.
"White? What do you mean?" Randy asks.
"White Fang," White replies flatly, making Randy give a most confused look for a few moments.
"Wait, your name is literally White? That's so weird, but cool!" Randy says with another large grin, "I like you." White gave a small smile and started to like Randy too.


A few years passed, and White and Randy were now fifteen and had become good friends and brothers. In fact, the two felt closer to each other than their father, who had been spending more and more time in the basement lab. They both loved Julius, but White often wondered why his father grew more and more distant. The few times they did see him, he was going out to run errands or fix something if repairs were needed. Neither of them had been allowed out of the house the whole time either, and while White was rather used to this, it was hard for Randy and created the only point of conflict between the two of them. Randy would try to tempt White to sneak out, but he'd never give the slightest sign of budging, insisting they follow the rules, much to Randy's disappointment. However, in the afternoon of a autumn day, Julius staggered up the stairs from the basement and called for White and Randy. Both of them rushed over, but White was the first to come to Julius's side and help him stand.
"Father, are you ok?" White asks with a gentle concerned tone. Julius nods and pats White's head before gently pushing him off.
"This... is important. I need both of you to come with me. Now," Julius says and turns to head back down the stairs. White and Randy looked to each other, both wearing their looks of concern. They were never allowed to enter the lab. That had been one of the strictest rules Julius had set, almost more severely than refusing to let them outside. If he was letting them in, White knew something probably very bad was happening. Randy was less held back by hesitation and gave White a pat on the shoulder before heading down first after Julius and White follows him a moment after.
Upon reaching the bottom, Julius left the entrance to the lab open as he entered and the boys followed, instantly awed by the intricate, messy, and professional bio-genetic lab Julius had set up. At least, White recognized some of what was in there, lying around, or what some of the machines even were, but a good majority of it was well above his knowledge.
"What the heck is this place?" Randy asks, knowing far less about the set ups in the lab, but knowing it was something "science-y".
"Look... I'm sorry. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, both of you, but this is important. It's been my life's work ever since..." Julius stops as he looks at White, having to take a moment before continuing, "Ever since you, White. There are things I've never told you about, mostly about my past." He sits down and grabs a pair of syringes off a desk before holding them up for White and Randy to see.
"I know you were a scientist..." White states as he eyes the syringe that was filled with a disturbing, yellow mixture that almost seemed to glow in the reflections of the lab's lights.
"What I was... is irrelevant. What I did cost me almost everything and angered a very bad man. He's the reason we've been hiding. He's the reason... your mother isn't with us anymore," Julius tried to keep his voice from cracking at the last part and cleared his throat, "I made a promise then that I would do everything I could to protect you, but... all I had was this." Julius raises the syringes for emphases and sets one down before waving White over. White obeyed, walking over but growing stiff as Julius took his arm and rolled up his sleeve. White stared wide eyed as Julius didn't even hesitate to inject him with the syringe and empty the whole thing into his arm. It felt like a cold fire shot through his skin for just a brief moment, giving him goosebumps almost everywhere in an instant.
"Father...?" White asked, looking at Julius with a little fear, but the calmness in his father's tired eyes calmed him down.
"It's taken me years to reinvent a fraction of what I created before you were even born. That's how powerful... how dangerous he is. When I worked with him, or for him, he gave me the resources to build something amazing and wonderful. After I learned his true intentions, I destroyed it. I didn't want to-," Julius explains and lets White go before waving Randy over, "-but I had to. I escaped right after and thought I could lose him. His reach extended much farther than I thought, and it's only been because of our hiding that he hasn't come after us yet, but that won't last forever."
"So what's all this for? How is a shot gonna help us if mister angry pants is hunting us?" Randy asks as Julius injects the second syringe in his arm.
"His name is Mr. Smith," Julius says, his grip on Randy's arm getting so tight that Randy winces, making Julius quickly release his arm entirely in surprise and regret of his reaction, "He's not to be taken lightly... These 'shots' will provide you with everything you'll need to survive... without me."
"What?! Why? We can run away from this Mr. Smith together! We'll stay in hiding!" White protests, but Julius places a hand on his shoulder to help calm him down.
"He doesn't know about you two yet, and hopefully now, he never will," Julius says, slowly sounding more and more tired. Defiantly, White pulls away from Julius and does something he'd never done before... growls.
White places a hand on his neck, the growl having not been just some imitation, but a legit, inhuman growl. He felt a sudden heaviness throughout his whole body and his head started to feel a bit feverish. The heat White felt went from feverish right to on fire and he let out a shout as he held the sides of his head and shut his eyes. Randy placed a hand on his own chest as he started feeling a bit off and looked to Julius.
"What the heck is going on?!" he demands, getting a bit dizzy as his head starts to hurt and burn with an inner fire.
"I know it doesn't feel pleasant, but you will be alright," Julius says and slumps back in his seat. White falls to his knees as the heat courses through him intensely, distracting him from the changes that were going on. Randy was barely able to stand himself, but manages to brace and stay up as his body began to change as well. Julius watched as White's ears grew longer and pointed, shifting every second and growing white fur across them. Soon, White had a pair of wolf ears that even moved to a higher position on his head. His features sharpened a bit, White's whole body becoming stronger, from his bones to muscles. Randy's changes were similar, though a minute or two behind White's and his ears got brown fur. They both grew a long, full wolf tail, and by then, their heads were clearing and the burning becoming like a candle's flame being carried away into the distance. That pain was replaced by an odd, almost nauseating feeling as even their organs and insides were being effected and changed. However, even that seemed to pass as quickly as it came, being replaced with a refreshing wave of some tingling sense that had both of them feeling stronger than they ever had. White slowly gets up and looks down at himself, noticing few physical changes besides the tail, ears, and the sharp teeth he could feel with his tongue. What he could tell was more different was the new, enhanced senses firing up for what felt like the first time, from vision, smell, hearing, and even taste. Randy pants as he finally is able to relax and also look at himself, letting out an almost comical whimper as he grabs his new tail and stares at it.
"Well... it seems to have still effected your physical appearance more than I thought it would, but it was necessary to work. How do you-" Julius gets cut off by Randy shouting.
"What the heck have you done to us!?" Randy explodes, his patience having worn out and the surge of new instincts coursing through him.
"I know it's a lot to process," Julius starts and coughs, "I've giving you a genetic alteration to enhance your bodies. I chose to base the enhancements off wolves because- well... in all honesty, your mother, White. She was always fond of them, and it was her idea to give you your name. I'm sorry if the changes might be a little distorting at times. You'll get used to them eventually. If you need to run, hide, even out in the wild, or anything to get away from Smith and the SBI, these alterations will help you. You're not bound by common human limitations anymore, and you'll find it much harder to receive any serious injuries with a reinforced skeletal structure."
"Why aren't you changing too?" White askes, walking over, and kneeling before Julius, who smiles at the care he saw in White's eyes. He knew White had already figured it out, based off the look he was given.
"Someone had to be the test subject. None of the individual tests were lethal, but they weren't made to stack," Julius explains, "Or more so our bodies can only handle so many. My genetic structure is failing." Randy looked away now, more so in sorrow than anger, but feeling both at the news.
"Can't you... undo this?" White asks, grabbing onto his father's knee.
"If I had more time... maybe," Julius answers honestly and puts his hand on White's hand. His strength seemed to be draining right before White and Julius even seemed to be aging faster. He already looked a good 15 years older than he was and his hair was starting to gray.
"Teach me. Maybe I can make something," White says and lowers his head.
"It's probably for the best this all ends with me... everything I've made... you two are the only good I've ever done. Please look out for each other," Julius says as White scrambled for an idea or something he could do. Randy couldn't face Julius and was too disheartened to even say anything. Julius had a harder time staying awake and couldn't instruct them much more, his eyes closing. It was then that they heard a knock at the door, and both of them had their fur rise as they looked towards the basement door with wide eyes.


/////24 Hours Earlier/////

The figure of a tall man stood hunched over the body of a killed deer. Blood spilled across the metal floor as the robe and bandage-wrapped man dug into the prey's flesh, eating at it with his bare hands and teeth, ravaging it like any beast. He was stopped by the sound of a buzzer echoing across the vast, square, metal room that seemed more like a holding cell than anything. A hidden door opens up along one of the walls, letting a pair of adult grizzly bears curiously enter the room. It was clear they weren't happy from having been caged up as well, plus the smell of food was all they needed to roar and start charging at the man. With absolute calm, the man rose up and slowly pulled out a pair of katana that had been stabbed into the deer when he slayed it. He managed to clean off one of the blades on his robes before having to duck and lean out of the way of one of the bears swiping a paw a him, then swiftly slicing off half it's arm with the still dirtied blade. As the injured bear roared out in pain and tumbled, the man moved towards the second bear's charge and ducked under it as it leaped at him. Rather than pouncing on it's prey, the second bear found itself hurling through the air after the robe wrapped figure redirected it with a powerful strike. Shortly after it hit the ground, one of the katana's flew into it's neck, spearing the whole way through and killing it almost instantly. The man rushed by the first bear as it was struggling to get up and took it's head off with another single swipe. He then walked over to retrieve his other blade, just as another hidden door opened on the other side of the room. A barrage of gunfire shot out from the shadows, coming from a large robotic machine that slowly rolled out into the room. On one of it's "arms" was a mounted machine gun, pouring ammo out the side as it constantly fired at the man, and failed to hit him. The carcasses of the bears were torn up as the defense drone tried it's best to shoot the man who was blitzing around the room and dodging the gunfire at incredible speeds. He ran along the walls and floor, changing up his pace and direction so much, the drone could not keep up. Finally, it halted for just a moment, to reload, and in the blink of an eye the figure was before the machine, leaped up, and sliced off both "arms" of the drone. Circuits fried, mechanical fluids spilled, as the figure let out such a fury of attacks on his way back down, that both the drone and his weapons were shattered when his feet touched the ground again. All that remained in his grasps were busted shards on the hilts, which he dropped as he stood fully straight and looked up, where he knew his "keeper" was watching him.
On the other side of a one way, reinforced view screen, another tall, imposing figure of a man gave an unseen smile before returning to what was a normal, deep frown, on his grizzled, intimidating face, half hidden by the brim of his black fedora.
"Well done," came the deep, calm, but intimidatingly powerful voice of the man behind the view screen, played across the room over some sort of com system, "Do you think you are ready?"
"If you say I am, sir," the robed figured replied in a slightly less deep and little more raspy voice, carrying an almost beastly edge to it. A few moments pass in silence before the keeper speaks again, "And what if I want to know what you think? You've trained for so long and so hard and have come a long way, but I will not use you until I am sure you are ready to be my weapon."
"I am ready, sir," the figure replied and got down on one knee before lowering his head.
"Julius believed you'd never be anything more than an uncontrollable monster. Hard to believe it's been so long, hmm?" the keeper said with a slight amusement growing in his tone, "I think it's time for a little reunion. We'll get you some better swords too. Ones you shouldn't break so easily..." The coms shut off the the keeper rises from his seat before turning towards the others in the room.
"Most people are sent to the grave, but my damned partner always has to complicate things. Prep Grave for transport and ready his 'gift'," he says and pats one of two men dressed in black suits on the shoulder as he passes by them, almost twice as wide as them and towering at least a foot above them. He was his own beast of a man, hands large enough to grip someone's entire head. His great, broad shoulders and large muscles gave him his intimidating stature, as well as his large, squared jaw that gave an ever displeased expression when relaxed. Folding his hands behind his back, the man left the room and the two he had passed looked at each other.
"I'm glad he chose you to handle this," the one on the left said with a slight grin.
"Do you really want me to report to the boss that you just stood and watched as his most valuable asset is handled?" the one on the right replied cool and calmly.
"Fine," the first one said with an irritated sigh, "But if that 'thing' kills me, I hope Mr. Smith feeds you to him."


/////Now/////

White gets up and moves towards the stairs, his new wolf ears folding back. Julius gathers himself as much as he can and struggles to open drawer beside him.
"White no... Be careful. Whoever that is-"
"I won't let anyone hurt you," White cuts Julius off and rushes upstairs quietly, followed by Randy. Once they make it back to the main level, Randy rushes off to the kitchen for a knife as White cautiously approaches the door. He moves towards one of the front windows and takes a careful peek out, but can't see the front door or any sign of anyone having come up or having been around. White approaches the door as Randy comes out of the kitchen with a pair of knives and tries to partially hide behind one of the walls.
"White, are you sure about this?" Randy asks, his tail swishing in nervousness. White didn't reply as he just waited and listened, trying to sense anyone on the other side. White started to wonder if there had actually been anyone, when another knock came, slightly more aggressive, making Randy jump and clutch the knives tighter. White's tail was still, his ears folded back, his eyes narrowed as he stood near motionless. He didn't even know why nor care that he hadn't ever even been in a fight. This was his new instincts working, and they were ready to attack. In a quick move, he unlocked and opened the door fully, letting out a growl that was almost immediately cut short.
Before them stood a figure dressed in red and white garments that looked like some kind of ninja, except the supposed man was so large and well built that one would think he stood out too much to possibly be one. His face was fully covered and wrapped too, save for nearly glowing yellow eyes with dark backgrounds and pupils almost as slits. This was no man...
"Get down!" Julius shouts, snapping White out of his frozen state and making him duck down just as Julius shoots at the figure with the silver gun he had kept from years ago. In an instant, the figure drew a golden katana and swiped it down, stopping short of hitting White, but splitting the fired bullet in two and sending the fragments into the nearby walls. Julius stares with wide eyes, then staggers and collapses onto the top of the stairs.
"Dad," White whispers under his breath and looks back at Julius before turning his attention up at the blade held above his head. Then he looked past that sharp edge and into those rather unsettling yellow eyes staring back.
"You... are the son of Fang?" the figure asks and returns his weapon to it's sheath on his back. White did not reply or move.
"Interesting," he continues and looks over at Randy, who drops his knives instantly in fear and in hope to not be targeted.
"Who are you?" White asks after a few moments.
"I am Grave. A creation of your father. I am here to help," the man replies and pulls off his mask, revealing an actually rather good looking face, though strained with an intensity and seriousness that both aged him a little and made him look more dangerous. His thick, medium-length hair was an oily black and as wild and spikey as the feral look in his eyes. Hesitantly, White steps aside and lets Grave walk in and over to Julius. He knew he couldn't stop this "Grave" anyway.
"What are you doing?" White asks and motions for Randy to stay back as Grave kneels by Julius.
"Your father is dead," Grave says with no gentleness and rises back up, "I came here to warn Fang, but I was too late." Grave looks over as he hears White fall to his knees and fighting back tears. Randy leans against one of the walls and hangs his head as the waves of emotions take more of a toll on his with each passing minute.
"Perhaps... I have not failed entirely. The SBI does not know of your existence. I owed Julius Fang a debt I can not longer repay, directly. Are you both sons of Fang?" Grave asks.
"Yes..." White says with baring teeth and a struggle to keep from crying or shouting out in anger, not sure which he felt like. Randy was, and both White and Grave looked over as Randy let out a sorrowful wolf howl that surprised them. Then after a moment to realize how he felt, White lowered his head before lifting it and letting out a more powerful howl that clearly carried his anger and sadness. It was more relieving than he thought it'd be and he found himself staring into Grave's eyes, that met his, again. He could almost see a hint of understanding in that intense gaze, but it was only for a few moments, but enough that White's instincts told him that he could trust this newcomer's intentions weren't to harm them.
"Gather only what you need. We are leaving," Grave states and puts on his mask, "I will take care of the body." White's pupils shrink at that and Randy speaks up, "We? What's got you thinking we're suddenly all pals here? 'We' don't even know what you are! 'We' don't have any reason to follow you! Don't you touch our father!"
"Will... you give him a proper burial?" White asks and stands up.
"I will," Grave replies flatly.
"W-...white!? You can't be going along with this. He just killed dad!" Randy growls, and White hold up a hand at him.
"He did not. Father was dying. Nothing could stop it..." he says to Randy before looking up at Grave again, "Why do we have to leave?"
"The SBI won't take long to realize I deceived them and track me here. I will take both of you to a safe place where they won't find you until you are ready," Grave explains.
"Ready? Ready for what?" Randy asks and crosses his arms.
"In time. Go gather what you must and bring it out to your father's car. If the SBI come now, I will not be able to protect you. We must hurry," Grave says and starts to pick up Julius's body. Randy growls more at this, but White looks at him and shakes his head.
"Come on, Randy. Let's... let's go. There's nothing left for us here..." White says and walks over to hug his brother, but is blocked by Randy shoving him to the side a bit.
"Nothing here? This is our home!" Randy says angrily, "I can't believe you're ok with this!"
"I'm... I'm not... but home is where your family is. It's just you and me now. As long as we stick together, that will be where our home is," White says. Randy puts a hand on White's shoulder and gives him a rather unamused face before saying, "Fine, but please don't start being cheesier than dad. I'll trust you though, little bro." White blushed a little and gave a slight nod.
As Grave began wrapping Julius's body in a blanket that had been on the couch, White and Randy took off to gather some of their things from their room and some food. They would have liked to take more, but Grave reminded them to only take what was necessary. After a brief argument over a few small treasured keepsakes that Grave allowed, White and Randy joined Grave as he carried Julius's body out and into the trunk of the car in the driveway. White and Randy sat in the backseat, and Grave took the front and began to drive them away from the house. It had been so long since either of them even stepped outside. Now, they were watching as their home, and White's only known world, was growing further and further away. Then, while it was still within view, the house exploded brilliantly, lighting up the evening sky.
"What the heck!?" Randy shouted as White stared with wide, horrified eyes.
"I couldn't leave Fang's work behind intact. It was the easiest way to keep his formula and research from being found," Grave explains and keeps driving casually, as if he had been doing so for years.
"You really have no heart, do you!" Randy spits out, turning around, and punches the car door.
"I thought your home was wherever the two of you were," Grave says without a hint of teasing, but it made Randy even more riled up as if he had. That comment did grab White's attention and he turned back around to sitting normally again.
"Shut up!" Randy shouts and kicks the back of the seat. Grave just had to look back once to silence him and prevent Randy from ever doing that again. White rubs his brother's shoulder and pulls him into a light hug. Randy keeps his arms crossed and stays like that for a long while as all remain quite from then on.


Through the night and well into the next day, Grave drove non-stop until they reached a larger, coastal city. White wasn't sure where they were but the land was clearly different, as was the weather. It was currently raining as Grave drove into the city, but White did manage to catch the sign that displayed the city's name.
"Starfire City? Where is that?" White asks and looks to Randy, who shrugs and gestures at Grave as he says, "Ask the big, crazy guy that brought us here." White looks back out the window and watches as they drive through town, eventually coming to an older harbor and stopping in a section of warehouses. Grave parks the car behind the first one and gets out.
"Stay here and don't be seen," he says firmly and closes the door, disappearing within a few blinks.
"Aw come on... I hate this guy," Randy complains and slumps back in the seat as his ears droop a bit, "What are we even doing here?"
"Do you smell that?" White asks as he looks down over at the docks.
"Sorry. These changes have really been something," Randy says and White just gives him a scolding glare.
"No. Out there. It smells... like food. Fish, I think, but so... good," White says and starts to crack the door open. It shuts with a hard shove as Grave comes out of nowhere, making both of them jump. After a cold glare, Grave opens the door fully and stands aside, leaving White looking a bit confused.
"This one will do. Go inside, lock the door behind you, and stay put and quiet until I return," Grave says and pulls out one of his katana, aiming it at White then Randy, "Don't let anyone know you are there..." He sheaths his weapon again and walks around to get in the drivers seat. White climbs out of the car and rushes to the backdoor of the warehouse. It looked untampered, but when he went to use the handle, it was surprisingly unlocked. Randy caught up to him and they went inside, looking back as Grave took off with the car and their father's body. White closes the door behind Randy and locks it, letting out a sigh. He faced Randy, who was already looking around the clearly abandoned and somewhat trashed warehouse. There was crates, old machinery, worn shelves and storage, and a vast sort of piping network that ran all the way up to the second level. White joined Randy as they made their way into the center of the vast structure, taking it all in and wondering what they were doing there.
"This is crazy. I mean, for all we know, he could have just abandoned us here with the rest of this garbage," Randy huffs and kicks a corner of one of the crates.
"I don't think so," White says and starts walking over to a connecting room that had a missing door and large wall opening beside it. Randy sighs in irritation and grabs White's arm.
"Why are you siding with him?" he asks and stares White in the eyes. White's steady gaze holds against Randy's, but neither of them seem to be willing to budge. Finally, White's expression softens some and he replies, "I don't know what to do, but I think we can trust him. He could have killed us already, but hasn't. What choice do we have? At least with him we stand a better chance at surviving."
"So we're gonna live hiding in a junkheap!? We'd be better off back at home," Randy says and lets go of White before crossing his arms.
"It's a warehouse and it can be... cleaned up," White corrects and turns away, heading again to the other room.
"It's an abandoned piece of s-"
"We are staying," White says more aggressively and stops, turning to give Randy a sharp look. A glint of that same wildness that Grave had showed in his eyes, making Randy a bit surprised and then surrender with a sigh.
"Let's... explore. Maybe we'll find something," White adds after calming down and realizing the look he had given. This seemed to cheer Randy up a bit and he gave a small grin as he raced towards some metal stairs to the second level.
"Fine, but if I find anything worth money, I'm keeping it to myself!" Randy says down as he quickly runs up before White could even tell him to be careful.

It was a couple hours later before Grave returned, coming in through a window on the second level, and dropping down to see White and Randy sitting very bored on some old, foldable chairs. They didn't even flinch when he came down.
"There's absolutely nothing here..." Randy groans and slumps forward.
"There's everything I will need to train you," Grave says, getting both of them to look up at him with interest. He pulls off his mask and holds up the gun Julius had. White gripped his seat tighter, nervous about that weapon and not fond of what it reminded him of.
"From this point on, you will spend every day following my every instruction. If you try to run away, I will catch you before you even leave this building. I hope you will come to see me as your master, as I will see you as my apprentices, despite the discipline you will go through. The SBI is a powerful organization but not invincible. I believe you two can become the weapons that will bring their undoing," Grave starts to explain and gives the gun a little shake, "If you do not desire to help end the work and evil of the man who caused your mother's death and lead to your father's, I will let you leave... once you can land a hit on me. You have my word on this. You may chose to stay and continue training after that, of course, and you may chose any weapon to aid you in attempting to land the hit." After saying this, Grave drops the gun and let's it hit the cool, concrete floor. Randy took only a moment to leap from his seat and try grabbing the gun, which Grave easily kicks away with little effort, making Randy land on his face, empty handed.
"Pathetic, but I will not try to stop you again..." Grave says and starts to walk off, "Both of you will start by running laps from one end of this room to the other. We will start with a hundred laps, as fast as you can." Randy growls and pushes himself up, crawling over to the gun. White watches, wide eyed, as Randy grabs the gun, gets up, and takes aim at Grave, who was facing completely away. He fires the gun, and in the blink of an eye, Grave had his weapon drawn and was facing Randy, the bullet being deflected just enough to miss Grave's hair. Randy looked shocked, from both Graves incredible speed, but also at the feeling of having fired a gun for the first time. He looked down at the gun in his now shaking hand, seeing the smoke rising from the tip and eyeing the shell that dropped to the floor.
"Is that all?" Grave asks and keeps his stance. Randy looks back at Grave and tears up as he takes aim again.
"Who the hell are you!?!?" Randy shouts and fires the gun multiple times, Grave blocking, cutting, and deflecting each one, until the magazine was empty and Randy was left pulling the trigger over and over with just empty clicks sounding. Grave approaches calmly and cuts the front half of the pistol off in one swipe. He then lunges in a knocks Randy back with an arm shove to his torso. White now stands up and Grave points the tip of his blade at White's face.
"You have a long way to go to even have a chance of leaving... get running," Grave speaks with a more commanding yet still controlled and held back tone. Knowing neither of them had any chance against Grave, White goes over to Randy and helps him up before giving him a slight nudge as White begins running the laps. With a discouraged sigh, Randy follows, running after him. Grave puts away his weapon and watches them, thinking to himself and hoping they would be receptive to the hard regiment he had planned. He was fairly confident in their abilities and together they would be able to overcome the hardships through supporting one another. It may be a bit cruel, but he hoped in preparing Julius's sons for the battles ahead, he would in part repay his creator for what Julius had done.
Grave closed his eyes and could see the memory as clearly as if he was there. The piles of bodies lying around him, the destruction and devastation he had caused, and subdued and disabled from the frenzy, the two figures of his creators standing before him. The larger, Mr. Smith, ordering Grave's destruction immediately, but the shorter, who's gentle eyes Grave could see gazing down at him, refusing to let him just be destroyed. Though being locked up for years, and later put through many painful and brutal "tests", Grave knew he only had this second chance at life because of Julius Fang. He opened his eyes only once the boys had finished their laps and were panting, exhausted messes.
"Get a drink, then go again," he commands uncompromisingly, "Hydration is important after all."


[To Be Continued]