There was a time when he was young when Max used to be bullied a lot. He was around the age of fourteen when he realised that he actually wasn't friendly. He always has rash with others around him and bossed them around. When he was thirteen, Max realised no one ever loved him. His own parents had discarded him when he was born, after all.
He always felt lonely, cooped up in a room. He used to stare out the windows. He was fairly weak compared to the others in his class. His adoptive parents had worked hard to finally get him into a school with their hard earned money. Max wanted to quit school as soon as he realised the kind of atmosphere they had, but he persevered cause he didn't want to waste the money they had spent on him.
Day by day the bullying increased, but Max held in his anger. He wanted to hurt them all for ruining his life. But he couldn't. He was way too weak.
But when he was fifteen, he found salvation. In the form of a beautiful girl named Vaishaali. She was an angel amidst the terror filled bullies. She genuinely didn't care that Max was an orphan and always smiled with him. And Max began to open up with her.
One fine day after school...Vaishaali came out of nowhere and asked him out, saying she loves him. Max was flabbergasted and immediately folded under pressure. He said yes, yet he feared that it was some kind of prank created by those who hate him. But each and every second he spent with her, each and every day, each and every week...he realised she didn't care. She actually loved him and wanted to be with him.
Max remembered how fast his heart had started beating when they kissed for the first time. There was no way that she was acting and she reassured him everytime.
Once his bullies caught whiff of the news that the most beautiful girl in school was dating the dork and immediately wanted to go at him. As soon as they found him, they decided to abuse him verbally. When Vaishaali realised what was occurring she immeidately came to Max's side. A fist fight broke out and Max was punched in the face. The bully laughed at him and called him uncool. Vaishaali slapped the BULLY and immediately came to Max's rescue. The bullies were completely overwhelmed seeing her loyalty to him. They tried spewing nonsense that she was just pranking him, But Max knew that was false. Vaishaali stayed close to him and loved him dearly. She tended to his wounds and consoled him.
Max was afraid that she would realise that he sucked and leave him...but she never did. She went on dates with him and always told him that she loved him. And yet, he felt humiliated. He was hurt in front of her...and if he wasn't strong enough...they would hurt her too. He knew if they tried hurting her, he wouldn't be able to stop it, and that killed him on the inside. Max was alone. He didn't want her to get hurt. He had to fight if that ever happened.
And that's when his older brother met him. David Mercurius Steefan found him crying behind the garage and immediately questioned him. Max initalliy didn't want to open up, but David forced it out of him. Alicia was angry that he didn't come to her despite him gaining some wounds. She treated him quite aggressively, but there was love from both of them.
Max cried on his older sisters lap that night as she brushed his hair. After all he was still a kid to her. And a major crybaby.
The next morning, he woke up to Dave standing above him wearing gym clothes.
Max: What..?
David: Get up..
It was 5 A.M. and a Sunday. They had no school and Max had a plan to meet Vaishaali in her house that day. So seeing Dave wake him up was surprising. They both shared a room with their younger brother too, but he was fast asleep.
Dave took him out to the park jogging, working up the stamina he should've had. Max was tired upon reaching, but Dave was not waiting.
David: Don't you want to get stronger to protect those whom you love..?
Max, sweating heavily from their jog, nodded.
David: Now tell me this...do you want to learn this to take revenge or to protect her..?
Max thought about it for a second.
Max: To take revenge obviously!
Max smiled looking at the nasty side eye David gave him. But David knew his younger brother was joking and sighed.
Max: Fine...I just want to protect what is mine. I'm not a hero...I don't wanna save everyone. Just my own people. That's it. I don't care about the world.
David laughed at his statement.
David: I know you say that...and it's somewhat true brother. But we all know that you will still protect a complete stranger if they are in trouble. You were always a hero...
Max was confused on why he would say that. But he smiled. David rarely complimented someone.
David: But, that doesn't mean you aren't weak. So....are you ready to train?
Max saluted at his suggestion. Despite what he looked like, David was training himself in martial arts from a young age. Max could've gone to him asking him to stop the bullying, but he felt it was not cool and lame. And David understanding that didn't want to interfere, so he decided to train Max.
Max: Hes, sire!!
And thus, began their training.
Max eventually became fairly decent at his fighting since it was just an year or so of training, but David mentioned that he was indeed a fast learner. Even Vaishaali used to accompany them to their training spot a few times and watched her boyfriend learn. Max never got the chance to fight his bullies, but he absolutely destroyed his opponents during their inter school tournaments, their bullies in audience. Max won that year and it ended in Vaishaali kissing him in front of the whole school, proving that she loves him to everyone in audience. Max was happy that day, and even the bullies never messed with him from that day.
Vaishaali was his source of strength, and the one who helped him master his strength was the sibling he was closest to. His older brother, David Mercurius Steefan.
****
David stood at the door questioning why there were multiple strangers in their door.
David: Who the hell are you guys??? Sachika???
Sachika answered in a plain tone.
Sachika: Don't worry...they are all friends.
David sighed. He lowered the load on his upper body to the ground and spoke.
David: Thank God. There were rumors in town that the monster had come early this year..and..
He finally looked up to see that of the five strangers in his house, four of them faced one person in between them. This fifth person had tears in his eyes looking at David. He had long black hair with a white patch, and blue eyes.
But there was no way in hell he wouldn't recognize the face of his younger brother who was a crybaby.
David: M-Max..??