the final punch landed atoms apponent face down of the floor. max cheered in delight as the count finished leaving atom victorious once more. strong arms lifted him up and swung him round in a victory turn, before setting him down and pulling him towards atom. charlie called atom to the corner and max ajusted his setting to shadow mode, leading him out of the ring while charlie collected the money. waiting patiently in the corridor, max glanced up at atom, admiring the the bots glowing eyes. he owed that robot alot. atom had been the one that saved his life and brought him and his dad together. he owed atom alot and their wasn't a day when he wasn't grateful.
max snapped out of his daze when a pair of hands grabbed him from behind and he was lifted onto charlies shoulder. "nice fight kid" charlie said "you did good". "thanks dad" max said, squeezing charlies hand "how much did we get"? "$1500. not bad huh"? max grinned down at charlie with a smile that would shame a cheshire cat as he nodded his head in aggrement. charlie slipped max down to the floor and wrapped a arm around his shoulder. "lets get atom to the truck. he could probably do with a couple of repairs".
max and charlie strolled across the car park with atom clumping along behind them, blue eyes lighting up the dark empty car park. they reached the truck and lowerd the ramp and charlie lead atom inside and plugged him into the charger. max placed his arms and legs into the holders so they wouldnt be damaged when the drove and lept out the back onto the concrete floor. charlie followed,shutting the ramp. "lets go kid. i dont know about you but im beat, although the 11 year old alarm i had this morning didnt really help" charlie groaned with a mock glare. max just sniggerd at him, clearly not really feeling or caring about the sarcasm radiating off the glare. "yeah yeah, whatever".
charlie sighed in defeat. cheeky brat. then he looked down at max, who was grinning up at him. my cheeky brat. "so max, your birthdays coming up. what would you like to do"? "dunno dad. maybe we could practice boxing? just you and me"? charlie grinned "i dont see why..." "well aint that just precious"? someone yelled. max and charlie whirled around to see ricky standing 2 metres away. two other guys that looked like they would take a bottle of beer and a pack of cheap cigarettes as payment for an assassination stood by his side. charlie casually pushed max behind him. regardless of the fact that ricky never did the dirty work himself and that his helpers looked as dumb as a post, he didnt want them to see max. he could tell that ricky was ticked even though he got his money back. finn had told him what had happend after they left the fight with zeus. serves him right. that ass nearly hurt max and i nearly lost him again.
ricky laughed again at charlies actions. "aww protectin' your boy are we kenton. well ain't we just the perfect daddy." max tighted his grip on charlies wrist and a growl formed at the back of charlies throat. "what the hell do you want ricky"? ricky laughed again. "now now, charlie boy. im just catchin' up with old freinds. thought ya' would have missed me". ricky glanced past charlie and peered at max. "well ya' kids grown charlie boy. gonna get bigger than you i reckon". max tensed and charlie pushed him further behind his back. "you keep him out of this ricky now what the hell do you want"? "I want" ricky paused, smirking for a moment, "revenge. I lost everythin' that mattered the most ta' me. so now im gonna take the thing that matters the most ta you. boys grab the kid".
rickys goons advanced on charlie and max. charlie was faster. a strong punch landed square on one of the goons faces, sending him tumbling to the floor. charlie turned, boxer and father instincts in overdrive, grabbed max and ran, max sprinting beside him. the floor pounded behind them as ricky and his goons chased after them. (yeah yeah, i know. deja vue and all that) "max run" charlie yelled, trying to encourage him to go faster. max willed his legs to move but the floor was coverd in large stones and bricks, making running without tripping practically impossible.
charlie kept going. the same words were running like a mantra in his head. keep running, keep running, dont let them get max, keep- suddenly his thought was cut off as a large stone hit the back of his head and sent him tumbling to the ground. max tumbled after him. rickys goons ran forward. one grabbed max and held him off the ground in a vise like grip, rendering his struggling usless. charlie tried to get up and reach him but was pulled down by the other goon with ricky landing cheap kicks to his stomache to keep him there (again!)
max was kicking hard at the mans knees and thighs in a bitter attempt to get free but the goon smacked him on the head with his fist and max had to stop moving in an attempt not to bite his tougne off, forceing him to watch helplessly as ricky kicked his fathers rib cage again and again to keep him down on the floor. charlie's nose was bleeding furiously and he was sporting a nasty cut on his forehead. he wasn't yelping in pain (max knew he was to proud for that) but the groans of agoney that escaped his lips told max that his torso was gonna be sporting some pretty nasty bruises after this.
ricky stopped to catch his breath and pulled away to admire his work. "you boxers never were much cop at runnin' were ya'"? he taunted, with a smug as grin. he then walked over to max and grabbed his chin, tilting his face upwards. max scrunched up his face. he could smell old acholol and stale cigarettes on his breath "yer comin' with me kid".
"ricky leave him" charlie spluttered out, attempting to crawl to max. his effort proved fruitless however as rickys goons simply kicked him backwards into the dirt. ricky laughed, still gripping max by the shoulders. "sorry charlie boy? couldn' quite catch that". "asshole"! max spat out, yerning himself a strong squeeze from ricky that made him yelp in pain. "watch yer' mouth kid" ricky snapped "or i'll break yer' damn shoulder".
charlie POV
his ribs felt like they were on fire and he knew he was bleeding but he couldnt bring himself to think about the pain. all he could focus on was the fact that his child was in danger. ricky was going to hurt max! he couldnt let that happen! he tried to crawl to them but rickys goons held him back, determined to keep him down in the dirt. he heard max insult ricky and couldnt help but grin a little. in danger and still staying strong. thats my boy! the victory was short lived however as he heard max yelp in pain and ricky threaten him further harm. "ricky you touch him and i'll kill you".
"relax kenton. i ain't gonna touch im' yet." ricky sneered. "but..." he peered into max's face "if ya' try ta' follow me then ill be goin' back on that statement. this is justice fa' me charlie boy. ya' took all i had from me after that dumb bot ya' found won that damn fight. dont even have a decent cigarette ta' smoke no more".
normal POV
ricky paused and grasped max's face. charlie tried to struggle again but it only resulted in another kick in the ribs from rickys goons. ricky peered deep into max's eyes, causing max to nearly gag. rickys breath stank of cheap tobacco. he peered at charlie and wished that someone would see them. he may have been a brave kid but right now he was scared and he wanted his dad to hold him and chase those fears away. charlies arms may have been tough due to years of muscle build up but thay were warm and secure and they made him feel safe.
ricky continued on with his monologe (for the record, i know its cliche but it fits in with the situation. im just hoping i can type this without punching my laptop screen!) "then i started to think. maybe ill take out ma' anger on tha' person that cost me all that. problem is kenton, i cant hurt you pysically. did that last time and it did nothin'. so now tha' only way i can get to ya'... is ta' take your boy". "NO" max yelled, causing charlie to try and struggle again to reach him. ricky, finally having enough with his goons being unable to hold him down, kicked charlie hard in the head. charlie groaned in pain as he hit the dirt once more and black spots lined his vision. the last thing he saw before the world went black was max being carried away.
hiya. madeofmagic here. i am so sorry i havn't updated recently. thank you to the person that commented on my story, i really do appriciate the reveiws. i am also sorry to anyone that doesnt have an account and wasn't able to comment. i know how frustrating it is to want to tell some one to update and not be able to. i will try and update more as the christmas holidays are now coming, so i will have more time to do so. hope to see you guys later :)