Chapter 2: Kian Taylor Origins Part 2

Kian's POV(continued)

"What's going to happen?" I asked my Dad nervously. "Is he really going to expel me?"

Dad chuckled. "Over my dead body."

"But he's really persuasive!"

"I don't think he'll find it easy against me. I am a Casino owner, persuading people is something I do every day!"

Dad was the owner of a Casino Club near our house. I don't remember the name of it but it was very successful! I mean couldn't you tell, my Dad drove a Mercedes and my Mum drove a BMW. Those cars did not come cheap!

"Red De-I mean Mr Taylor."

I turned to where I heard the voice and saw Mr Ren standing there. My dad gave him a friendly smile. Dad and Mr Ren got along with him in our parents' evening during school. It was a double-edged sword because dad would always make sure I did my homework on time or he would bad mouth me to Mr Ren if I didn't do my work properly.

"Hey Rennan," Dad waved. "Are you here to defend Kian too?"

Mr Ren nodded. "Exactly. That fool Gears is gathering everything up, scrounging for scraps to try and plead his case."

"I don't think he needs that much," I said while rubbing the back of my head. "I did get in a lot of fights."

"There's nothing wrong with defending yourself." Dad placed a hand on my head. "If your mum was here, there would be no contest between her and this principle of yours!"

What did he mean by that? My Mum was a secondary school teacher near our school and as such, she taught me how to read and write and always made sure I understood something properly. What I'm trying to say is that she was a pretty good teacher and mum too!

Dad turned around impatiently. "So, where is he?"

"I'm right here."

I heard footsteps and turned to see Mr Gears walking along the hallway, his business suit stretched over his potbelly of his. "If you would be so kind as to step inside my office, we can discuss it from there."

"No thanks, I'm pretty busy so we'll talk here," Dad replied sharply. "First of all, you're not going to expel my son."

"But you have to understand," Mr Gears laughed weakly. "Kiannen...he has been getting into many fights all throughout his years and it's affecting his education especially against his fellow peers."

"I don't buy it."

I turned to my right to see Mr Rennan speak up for me. "I've been his teacher and he's never fallen behind on his education, and he was only defending himself from another student. If anything why aren't you trying to expel that student?"

"...You have to understand, he's not supposed to fight!" Mr Gears raised his voice. "We can't have him in the class."

"So, let me get this straight...if something were to happen to him, you, this principle of this school would rather he get hurt rather than defend himself?" Dad raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, that would be appreciated. I can't have you hurting my star pupil." Mr Gears smiled wickedly.

Dad clenched his hand and stepped forward, his 6ft 5in height making him that intimidating to his opponent. "Look, Mr Gears! I don't know what you have against him but my son isn't going to get expelled! He's been a good student, he's not hurt anyone or gone against the rules. If you insist on this, I'll take this to court!"

"Oh-uh-heh..um..." Mr Gears stuttered. He fidgeted in place before he suddenly stopped. I didn't know why and he now glared at me, his nervousness was all gone in an instant. He smiled wickedly and before I could even think, he surged towards me, leaving a dent in the floor brandishing a needle out of nowhere.

CLANG!

Dad placed his forearm and his watch blocked the sharp needle from sinking into my face. I jumped back, away from this. Rennan moved in front of me which left me more confused.

"Who are you?!" Dad questioned Mr Gears.

"You've been slipping in your retirement haven't you, Red Devil?!" Mr Gears laughed.

A drop of sweat rolled down Dad's face. "H-how do you know that name?!"

"That doesn't matter!" Mr Gears cackled. "My task was to kill that pathetic child of yours!". He swung his left arm, brandishing a second needle and aimed it towards my Dad's neck.

"Dad no!" A chill ran up my spine as I saw it made contact with his neck. Instead of hurting him and to my delight, the needle shattered into dust the moment it made contact, leaving Mr Gears wide-eyed.

"H-How?!" he questioned. "They were my sharpest needles!"

Dad grit his teeth and broke the needle in front of his right arm. "You made a mistake whoever you are. The moment you chose to hurt my son, it's what sealed your fate!" He pulled back his right hand and punched Mr Gears in the stomach and sent him tumbling through the corridors and into the other side.

"W-what was that?!" I asked Mr Ren and Dad.

"What the hell?!" Rennan questioned what happened in front of him. "Something like that was inside here?!"

"How could have I let this go under my nose?!" Dad came over to me and pulled me into a hug. "You doing okay Kian?"

"Yeah, I am. But what about?-"

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I clamped my hands around my ears with how loud that sound was. I looked to see where it was coming from and I had to swear that my imagination went way too out of control.

In the place of Mr Gears now stood a tall human-like creature. Eyes as red as blood, charred black skin and at the ends of his limbs were not fingers but thousands of needles.

Rennan's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "What is that thing?!"

"I WILL KILL YOUR SON, RED DEVIL. I SWEAR IT ON MY LIFE," The monster roared.

"I-is that Mr Gears?!" I gasped. "What happened to him?!"

Dad ignored me and talked to the now present monster. "You touch even a single strand of hair, I will tear those limbs you have." He inhaled sharply. "FIRE RELEASE: FLAMETHROWER."

A stream of red fire poured out of his mouth and lit up the corridor, forcing the monster to guard against the attack.

"Kian," Dad turned to me sharply. "Go home!"

"Red Devil, should I escort him there?" Mr Ren asked him. Before Dad could answer, however, out of the corner of my eye, a stream of needles appeared through the fire and headed towards. I thought they would have skewered me but somehow they stopped dead and fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Guess not." Mr Ren had his hand thrust out and dropped it.

"Kian, go home now!" Dad yelled. "You're putting your life in danger if you stay here!"

"What about you guys?!" I asked Dad and Mr Ren. "Are you going to be okay?"

Dad smiled at me. "We'll be just fine. Now go home!"

I nodded and without looking back, I ran out of the school corridor and through the door into the sunshine of the outside leaving my parent and teacher to fight that thing.


Sometime later…

I didn't know how long I was running for but I went as far as I could before I ran out of breath.

What happened there? Mr Gears transformed into that thing and wanted to kill me for some reason? Maybe he was annoyed at how many fights that I was in. He did always liked Varahard more than me.

After a while of heavy breathing, I stopped and leaned against a wall along the streets, my legs tired after I ran for so long. I looked back to where I came from, hoping that my dad and Mr Rennan was right when they said they could hold that thing off. I looked around myself seeing people go about their business. It was around 4PM so parents were picking up their kids from school.

"Kian?"

I sharply turned to see that Harry and Violet were just across the street from me. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked me. "Did it go well?"

"Um, it got complicated." I scratched the back of my head. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were going to visit you at home," Violet explained. "To celebrate you not getting expelled you know?"

"Speaking of which," Harry looked around. "Where's your dad?"

At that exact moment, I heard another roaring sound and turned to see the same monster as before landing a few feet away from us. Its red eyes scanned the terrified people around us.

"FINALLY!" he looked straight at me. "I FOUND YOU!"

"W-What the hell is that?!" Harry stuttered

"That's Mr Gears!" I pointed at it. "He transformed into that when Dad was trying to defend me. I thought my Dad and Mr Ren would have stopped him!"

The monster heard me and cackled loudly. "THEY WERE SO WEAK. SO EASY TO SLAUGHTER. NOW, I SHALL DO THE SAME TO YOU!"

"N-no, that's not true!" I yelled back. "You're lying!"

"THEN ANSWER ME THIS: WHY ARE THEY NOT HERE?!" The monster roared back. I glanced around the crowd to see them looking terrified, frozen stiff at the sight of the thing. "NOW THAT THEY CAN'T STOP ME, I SHALL FINISH MY GOAL AND THEN SLAUGHTER THIS PLANET!"

While he laughed and hurt the people around us, I froze up in fear.

What could I do? I was powerless against that thing in front of me. And if that thing killed Dad and Rennan, what could I, an ADHD diagnosed 11-year-old have done?

"...Kaliel, your father isn't dead. Do not believe his lies..."

"What?"

"Huh?" Harry asked me. "You say something?"

"No, I thought-Never mind." I couldn't figure out who said that but that voice felt oddly familiar like I had known this voice from before I was born. I felt I could trust this voice so that's what I did.

I looked back at the monster and knew that if it wasn't dealt with, these people would die. So, I had to get his attention

"H-hey Porcupine!" I stuttered out. "L-look over here!"

The monster looked at me with peculiar eyes, throwing away an injured person covered in blood.

"Leave these innocent people alone, if you want to kill me then come at me!" I stood steadfast and confident on the outside. On the inside, however, I was not. I was trying to not shiver at the prospect of having to face my own death at just 11 years old.

The monster laughed wickedly. "YOU'RE MAKING THIS SO MUCH EASIER FOR ME. AFTER THIS IS DONE, I CAN CALL MYSELF THE PERSON WHO KILLED THE RED DEVIL, REBELLION AND THE CHILD! MY MASTER WILL BE SO PROUD!"

I charged forward, ignoring what was going on behind me. I didn't know how I was going to defeat this monster but I couldn't just stand back and let this monster continue to hurt people. Partly because of why I exactly wanted to be a superhero.


Around August 2002…

I was sulking in my garden, mainly because I was shouted at by the principal of getting into another fight. Still treating Varahad like he was better than me. I kicked around a ball and when it got too far brought it back with my telekinetic power.

I kicked the ball harder than I did before and it ended up in the back of our large garden, ending up further than I could bring it back from. I sighed as I went to pick it up. I had a headache and my Mum had warned me that I shouldn't use my telekinesis when I had that.

I was angry, maybe even a lot more than normal and as I reached for the ball and noticed a pin-prick on my finger, seeing a spider the size of a pea bite it for a second.

I reacted sharply, holding the little spider with my telekinetic strength which was barely an effort since it was so tiny. With one move I could and would have crushed it turning it into nothing but insect goop, giving in to my rage and anger.

"Kian, what are you doing?!"

I turned to see Dad looking at me and then the insect. "Kian, don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're going to do?!"

"But Dad, it bit me!" I replied back.

"Kian, you're not human. Even a bite from a Black Widow Spider wouldn't be enough to kill you. Put that spider down." Dad crossed his arms.

"Can I just take it out on this one spider?!" I asked him. "I mean it's just one spider. I'm not going to do anything more?"

Dad shook his head sternly, his onyx eyes filling with seriousness. "Kian, if you want to be a hero, that's not how you do it. You kill one innocent insect, someone powerful because you're angry at something, you'll go down a slippery slope. I know you're angry and trust me, I am too with what happened in school."

Dad continued. "What I'm trying to say is that once you decide to take your anger out on someone who didn't cause it, you cross a line you can never come back from. Because if you think about it, isn't a hero supposed to save innocent lives and not kill them?"

Dad was right.

I was just so close to killing that Spider, all because I was stronger than it. I then realised that in a manner of speaking that I was the Spider and Varahad me. He would tower over and hurt me just because he thought he could. And it shocked me just how close I was to him, someone who I despised with my every edge.

I dropped the hand that held the spider, letting it walk free. "Dad. I'm sorry, I s-should have told you about it."

Dad sighed and hugged me, holding my head close to his chest. "It's okay, Kian. I'm here to help you. I'm your father." He ran a hand through my hair. "Now come on, let's go see that football game you want to see."

"Dad?" I asked him. "Can't you stop Varahad? I mean you have super strength right?"

"I do, but it's not that simple," he replied. "Just because you have powers, doesn't mean you should use it to hurt people. Understand?"

"Why?" I asked him. "Mum said the same thing! I mean, if I had super strength, I would do the same!"

Dad laughed. "You could but we have superpowers for a reason, we use it to defend others, to save their lives. That's why we have these powers, and that's why we'll use them for. "


The words rang in my ears as I ran ahead.

This what superpowers were for, to save the lives of innocent people! I was powerless against Varahard, unable to show my powers while these people are powerless against this monster. I wasn't going to let the same thing happen to them!

The monster brought his needle filled hand on the top of my head and I instinctively raised my left hand and used my telekinesis to stop it. My feet buckled under the tremendous weight forcing me to try and concentrate all my mental powers into stopping him.

"SO WEAK, STOP RESISTING AND DIE!" The monster sneered and cackled wickedly. "YOUR NOTHING BUT AN ABOMINATION! YOU'LL NEVER BE A SUPERHERO LIKE THIS!" The monster laughed wickedly, putting more and more weight against my raised left hand

"...Is that so?..."

The monster stopped laughing and looked...terrified? It hesitated as he stepped back. "N-NO, T-THIS CANNOT BE! MY L-L-LORD I THOUGHT YOU-"

The voice I heard laughed at him. "...A word of advice: DO. NOT. TOUCH. MY. FUTURE VESSEL! Kaliel, destroy this creature! Let your burning rage be your fuel. I'll help you as much as I can…."

Just like the voice said, the needle filled arm started to rise up against the will of the monster above me. His red eyes were filled with horror as he shifted his gaze between me and his rising arm. I started to stand up and I clenched my right hand, feeling a comforting warmth running through it.

The monster looked terrified now. He tried to use his other hand to stab me in the chest only for it to suddenly go off course and leave him wide open. I couldn't help but smile. "Who's a superhero now?!"

I brought my arm back and with a huge roar, punched him straight in his black charred chest, feeling an enormous amount of energy pulsate through my right arm as I connected.

I would have admired what I had done, had I not passed out afterwards. The last thing I saw was the monster flying into the sky and slowly shrink as it rose into higher and higher.


Unknown Location…

I stood on an empty beach, clear blue water in front of me stretching for what looked like miles beyond the horizon. The sand was soft and it reminded me of the holiday's our family and I would take. A gentle breeze of air was fresh and cool and relaxing as it washed over my face.

I looked around this beach but I almost jumped back in surprise when I found myself looking at a row of people, each one different. The one closest to me phased in and out of existence. He was surrounded by a green light, hiding features like his hair, face and height and what he was wearing

I waved but he didn't seem to have noticed me. I looked ahead and saw that a woman to the right of him with scarlet red hair, long enough to brush past her shoulders. She looked to have been dressed up in what looked like super sleek armour, more suited to running rather than prolonged fighting. Her green eyes seemed to twinkle with power as she stared at the horizon in from of me.

Some part of me somehow knew this red-haired woman in front of me but I had no clue where I saw her. I ignored this and looked ahead, seeing how there was too many people to count."

"Finally glad to meet you."

"Who's there?!"

I turned to see a man with coppery skin-a few shades darker than mine and sea-green eyes. His hair was messy and was he dressed...in a toga? I stepped back in surprise. "Uh, who are you and where am I?!"

"You're in the Origin Point, it's where this all began," the man replied. "It's different for everyone, it takes the form of your most relaxing environment." he smiled warmly. "You must still have traces of the fragment within you."

"What?!" I asked with a blank face. "What are you on about?"

He chuckled softly. "This is just the beginning. We'll talk again, once you've fully inherited this power that's meant for you."

"Nothing's making sense?!" I shouted. "What Power?!"


"KIAN...KIAN!"

I gasped as I sat upright suddenly. I looked around and saw my Dad, Harry and Violet looking at me with concerned eyes. "W-w-What happened?"

"You don't remember what happened?!" Harry asked me.

I rubbed the back of my hair. "Was I supposed to?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone with an injury and I suddenly remembered what had happened. "Wait, are the-"

"We took care of them. All of them are healed and in recovery." Dad explained. "Rennan is going around making sure that no one can remember what happened."

I nodded. "Wait, does Harry and Violet-"

"We already know," Harry explained. "We kinda promised that we wouldn't tell anyone."

"And I've known since as far as I can remember." Violet jumped in. "You did well out there, Kian. I can't believe that you would put your life at risk like that! That was very heroic of you!"

"Uh, thanks?" I replied. "What exactly did I do? I can't remember."

"Right, passing out." Dad sighed. He proceeded to explain what happened, me punching that monster into the outer atmosphere. "Whatever you did, it left quite the bit of damage."

He gestured around and I saw that we were in the middle of a 10ft wide, 1ft deep crater. "I was going to teach you how to reinforce your body but I guess you already learned that huh?"

"Reinforcement?" I asked him.

Dad pointed to my right arm which was filled with red lines. "It's my...Superpower, I can reinforce parts of my body to increase my strength, speed and endurance. I wasn't in a rush to teach you but guess baptism by fire worked for you today." he warmly patted my head.

The red lines faded from my hand and I winced at the soreness left behind. "OW OW! IT hurts!"

Violet noticed this and placed her hands on my right arm immediately taking me by surprise. "Hold still Kian."

"Violet, what are you doing?" Harry asked. "Shouldn't we get him some moisturiser or something?"

"That's not going the solution to this Harry," Violet answer. "My ability-my Superpower is to heal people depending on the amount of solar energy I have, it's called Healing Light."

"So, what, you're a plant?" Harry asked with a little grin

"Yes, now shut up and let me heal Kian," Violet said. She closed her eyes and her palms lit up with golden yellow light, covering my hand with soothing light. Once the light stopped, the soreness was all but gone from my right hand.

"Thanks, Violet!" I moved my arm up and down. "I owe you one!"

"Think nothing of it. You saved all of us here, it's the least I could do for you." She smiled and ran her hand through my hair which I didn't mind.

"Yeah, if you hadn't rushed in, I don't think anyone would be here anymore," Harry added. "Guess Varahard was wrong huh?"

"He always was," Violet explained. "I wish he was here to see it."

"Yeah!" Harry agreed. "He would never mess with Kian after he saw what happened!"

While Violet and Harry talked amongst themselves, I got up and walked over to where Rennan was. He held a small pen-like device and flashed a light on a crowd and then turned to me. "Hey Kian, what's up?"

"Rennan, what was that?" I pointed to the device in his hands.

"Oh, this." He twirled it in his hands. "Well, when humans see something that they're not supposed to see, we use this to remove their memories of that event, it helps keep this side secret."

"Like from Men in Black?"

Rennan nodded. "Ours came first actually but sure." His happy expression dropped/ "I'm sorry for not protecting you, I should have been able to sense that something was up with him. I failed your parents."

"Failed my parents? What are you talking about?"

Rennan wiped the hair from his eyes. "When I was younger, I used to train under your parents. They taught me most of what I know and when they retired, they asked me to look after you," Rennan explained.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it," I replied. "If my parents couldn't figure it out then you shouldn't feel bad."

"Yeah, well, at least that's all over now."

"What was he? I know he's an alien, so what kind of alien was he?"

Rennan pursed his lips before speaking. "Something I have no idea about. Your dad knows though, so you should ask him."

"Ask me what?"

Both of us turned to see my Dad waiting for us to finish our conversation. He had his hands in his pockets while the wind rippled through his jet black hair. "No, really, what were you going to ask me?"

"Dad, what kind of alien was that?" I asked him

"Oh." Dad's face went through a few expressions. "Whatever it was, it somehow managed to track you down and fit perfectly in the staff without your teacher noticing. It was...challenging to fight him without causing major damage to the school."

"What happened back there?" I asked him. "It said he killed both of you."

Rennan laughed out loud. "Ha, it wishes! He gave us the slip and we took a few minutes to figure out where he went. That's all that happened. "

"But we can't make excuses," Dad cleared his throat. "If Kian hadn't done what he did, we would have had to deal with a lot of casualties. Remember when you said you wanted to be a hero?"

"Yeah?"

"This was the first step you took today. You must have been nervous right? Scared? Couldn't stop shaking?!"

I nodded

"You put that all aside and saved so many lives today. Well done!" Dad smiled warmly and hugged me tightly. "You'll make a fine hero when you're old enough. Eden will accept you with open arms."

I was ecstatic at his praise and I would have hugged him tighter had he not pulled me away. He then turned to Rennan. "Rennan, can you deal with the paperwork?"

Rennan nodded. "Of course I will. You have this whole situation dealt with right?"

Dad nodded. "I'll make sure all the children are returned home safely."


A few hours later

I was in my living room while my Mum held me tightly. "I am so glad that you're okay!" she repeated while she ran her hands all over my face and body. "I don't know what I would if I lost you!"

"Mum it's okay, I'm here aren't I?" I replied.

She nodded and wiped a tear off her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just I-I get so emotional when it comes to this. I remember you being such a cute baby, and 12 years later, you saved so many people. You grow up so fast!"

"Mum, stop!" I blushed under her praise. "I just got lucky, if I didn't reinforce my body I wouldn't have been able to do that."

"But you did do that. Take what happened at face value Kian," Mum explained. "Now what do you want for dinner?"

"You're going to cook?" I asked her.

"Of course not, I'm going to order something!" she explained. "Pizza, Chinese?"

"A pizza please," I replied. "But what I really want is to go to this hero school."

"Don't worry about that, that's already been dealt with. You just have to be patient okay?" she said. "But I guess being patient isn't one of your strong suits is it?"

I shook my head. "It's always like that, I have to find something to do I guess."

"Well, you have a lot of time to do that. So, just enjoy the rest of the summer, Kian."

I nodded and carried on with the rest of the evening, wondering when I would go to this hero high school.

While I was in bed, I began to wonder what that voice was, the one that felt oddly comforting and trustworthy. I could have asked Dad about it later so I didn't give it any further thought.


I think I was dreaming but I could have sworn that I was awake.

I found myself in my living room with my parents in mid-conversation. "...At least we know why that man-that creature had against Kian." Dad had his hands in his hair. "I thought we protected the school from them!"

Mum was sitting next to Dad, her hands comforting his shoulders. "And you're sure that he's gone?"

"Rennan and I arrived just as Kian punched him out into the sky," Dad explained. "He's got quite the right hook."

"And what about-"

Dad chuckled. "He did his job, giving him a helping hand at the right moment. He's got a bizarre interest in him now, well, he has ever since he was born."

Mum sighed. "So has my one. Speaking of which, do you think we should tell him about this, after being attacked in school and especially with what happened, don't you think he has the right to know?"

Dad placed a hand on Mum's shoulder. "Of course he has the right to know about his-our...history. But right now, he's a kid. The time will come when he learns about all of this but he should enjoy his childhood first, he's not going to get a second chance at it."

Mum sighed. "I suppose you're right. But if something like that happens again, an attack that endangers his life, we are telling him the full story. Agreed?"

Dad lightly grinned. "Of course."