⬛️[Alpha] V.2

"Ugh…"

Alfie woke up with a heavy weight on his head; the headache felt like the worst one he had ever experienced.

He looked around and noticed he was still in the woods. The sudden realization of the horror situation that had happened jolted him off the ground as he looked around cautiously.

The dark, scary house he remembered wasn't there. The woods stayed silent and serene compared to the heavy and ominous pressure he had felt a while ago.

He saw his bike on the ground a few feet away from him as he stood at the exact spot he had fallen earlier.

"Was that…just a dream?"

It was possible that he had just gone unconscious after being thrown off his bike, but the situation he had gone through felt too real.

"Screw it, let's get out of the creepy woods first."

On his bike, Alfie took one final look around the area before riding off. After a while, he got off his bike and walked it.

After some time had passed since he left, the space in a specific area started to crack, like broken glass all over, and a bald figure wearing golden-like robes walked out.

The bald figure looked around the area with an observant look before turning towards the path Alfie had left in with a thoughtful expression.

After a while, the bald figure gave a sigh before taking a step and the space in front of her shattered into broken glass again, disappearing completely from the area.

Alfie, on the other hand, made his way out of the woods after a good while and saw something he didn't expect.

Two groups fighting each other just a bit away from the woods.

He recognized one of these groups as the Claremont group that had been chasing him just some time ago.

On the other hand, he noticed a few familiar faces in the other group, especially the one fighting at the front named Arnold, Timmy's older brother.

He was pretty cool, though just like most white people around the town, he was racist, but he knew how to hold it back to just verbal racism.

So, the better kind of racism.

The Claremont crew outnumbered the Morris crew, but it didn't stop Arnold and his crew from getting into a fight against the Claremont crew who were in the wrong turf.

What he noticed was Rolo, also in the fight against the Claremont crew.

"Hahaha, so the little jit went to get backup, not a bad choice." Alfie was satisfied as he had similar plans to Rolo.

Or maybe he just trained him to think like him. Alfie nodded as his nose stretched like Pinocchio.

*Thud*

"Heya, Rolo!"

Alfie appeared with a kick to Rolo's opponent's ribs.

He didn't have to hold back, as not only were these opponents older, but if anyone got hurt, then Arnold and his crew could take all the blame if the police showed up.

"Alfie!" Rolo beamed in joy and relief.

"Worried about me, were ya?"

"Alfie, there you are. Thought you'd have already got your behind handed to you," Arnold chimed out a few people away.

"Hey Arnie, thanks for the backup. And by these Claremont idiots? No way, one day I'm gonna kick all their asses!" Alfie stated.

"Language."

'Of course, racism is openly allowed, but profanity is frowned upon,' Alfie thought amusedly.

*Thump*

Not paying attention, Arnold was struck as he fell on his behind from one of the Claremont boys.

But another of the Morris boys easily took over and scuffled for him.

"You boys are on the wrong turf. You better run back to your little town before you get it," Arnold stood back up and said as if he hadn't just gotten his ass handed to him.

"Speak for yourself, Arnold, you're outnumbered here," the Claremont kid in the lead responded without fear. He even had a provoking grin on his face.

"We're not worried about it. Are you sure that's what you want?"

Sean, the Claremont kid who led his crew here, turned to Alfie. "You Morris punks started this. We're not moving till we see some of you bloodied."

One of the Claremont boys walked to the side before staring Alfie down. It seemed obvious he had a bone to pick with him.

Alfie knew immediately. "You're Roman's brother, aren't you?"

"I'm gonna get you for what you did," Roland fumed, seeing how casually Alfie acted.

"Try it, punk!"

"Screw it," Arnold chuckled. Seeing how Alfie didn't back down even from a guy a few years older than him, kind of put a fire in his chest, pumping him to fight.

Just when the fight started, Roland made his way towards Alfie, but the situation turned unexpected.

"Ahhhhh!"

Both the Claremont and Morris crew turned to Alfie, who held Rolo tightly before running off, away from the group fight.

"Alfie!!?" Arnold suddenly shouted, the fire disappearing.

"Sorry, Arnie. If I don't get home by the time my momma comes back, she'll beat me up worse than these Claremont pussies!!" Alfie managed to convey before completely disappearing with Rolo.

The words still stuck around loud enough for the two groups to hear it clearly.

••••••••

By the time morning came, Alfie lay on his bed awake, with dark circles under his eyes from the fact that he couldn't get any sleep.

"What…the hell is going on?" He sat up exhaustingly.

No matter how tired or exhausted he got, he couldn't get a wink of sleep, which he should've been able to, especially when he was chased through a neighborhood and the woods.

He should've been knocked out the moment he got home, but no matter how long he closed his eyes or emptied his thoughts, sleep never came, only drowsiness.

The door to his room suddenly opened.

Alfie turned to his father, Doris, who peeked in before frowning as he saw his son's state of sleeplessness.

"You…" Doris walked into the room, stood right in front of Alfie's bed, bringing his heavy pressured frown. "Did you sneak out of the house again last night?"

"Wha—no, no, dad. I just couldn't sleep for some reason…"

Doris stood there disapprovingly, obviously not believing Alfie's words.

There were too many times where Doris and Nina found Alfie's bed empty during midnight or past that. At first, Doris worried for his safety.

But after seeing how much trouble Alfie caused during his time out of the house, he understood that the majority of the problems in the neighborhood were due to Alfie; he was part of the problem.

So instead of worrying about his son, he just hoped he didn't do something incredibly stupid that even they couldn't get him out of the situation.

*Pahk*

"Agh!"

Alfie held his forehead as the metallic finger of a 1920's mechanic suddenly flicked it.

"Don't make your mother worry," Doris said before proceeding out of the door, but not before telling him to come down for breakfast.

Alfie fell back onto his bed, hoping to suddenly find himself falling asleep, but it never came.

He wiggled around for the perfect and comfortable position, but nothing worked. Just as he felt a bit of comfort, his door was busted in more aggressively than before.

He knew exactly who would cause such commotion in the house, despite her being the "fair" lady of the era.

"Alfred! Up, up! Up you go into the bathroom!" Nina, Alfie's mother, rushed him as she basically dragged him out of bed.

No matter which universe or era a kid his age is in, they all know one thing in common: Mothers are the stone thrown into a calm pond.

The more active a mother is throughout the day, like Nina, the more their child can't taste the sweetness of peace and calm.

As long as Nina stayed busy, she made sure Alfie did too, no matter how small the chores were.

Which is why Alfie enjoyed spending time outside most of the time.

"Mom, let me sleep for a little longer. I haven't had a wink of slee—"

"Pahk"

"Shitt!"

*PAHK*

"Language, now up you go," Nina urged.

Alfie watched as the spatula in her hand still had the remnants of eggs on it.

'What the heck!'

Alfie ran towards the bathroom, his drowsiness slapped out of him due to the magical spatula.

Soon enough, he sat down at the dining table, where the table was filled with a typical American breakfast style.

To make it even more typical, Doris turned the pages of the New York Daily News newspaper, focused on the happenings around the city without much focus on the food in front of him other than the steaming coffee he constantly sipped on.

His mother, Nina, made herself busy in the kitchen despite wearing her own nurse uniform, ready for work.

Usually at this time, she would be at work, but her recent promotion gave her a chance to be around in the mornings with her husband and child.

So she had enjoyed it so far, meaning Alfie had to be present there for her to fully enjoy her time before going to work.

"Hah!" Doris suddenly scoffed. "What nonsense!"

"What is, darling?" Nina questioned without turning back from her cooking, and Alfie also turned to the newspaper he read in interest.

"These darn bulls," he said with scorn in his tone. "It's bad enough that they don't speak about the Maggia's activities, but now they want to put the blame on some individuals completely unrelated to those scoundrels."

"Did something happen again?" Nina asked with a sigh. She felt that the world had become a bit too dangerous for the common people.

"The crimes happening around the state have spiked, but no statements were made about the Maggia's involvement. Complete rubbish."

Alfie listened in as a brow rose. He understood the term "Bull," which refers to police officers…but Maggia? What the heck is that?

As Doris folded his papers and left them on the side of the table, he proceeded to focus on his food.

Alfie leaned in to understand the situation, but just as he was about to take hold of the papers…

*Pah*

"I've told you time and again, Alfie, don't touch my papers," Doris spoke with no room to argue.

Alfie rubbed his numb hand. Sometimes he hated being treated like the kid he was.

Ever since Alfie "learned" to read, they made sure to keep the newspapers away from him, no doubt to separate him from the real worries of the world.

"What's a Maggia?" He suddenly asked, but the question was more towards his mother, who might give an explanation more than his father would.

"Nothing for you to be concerned about," Doris turned towards him with a frown, as if warning him not to ask.

"Just as your father said, Alfred, leave such things to the adults," Nina cleared out the gas stove before carrying a few more plates of eggs and sausages to the table and making herself comfortable. "Think nothing of it."

"How goes the little tournament you started?" Doris asked, changing the subject.

"Great, now tell me about the Maggia. What is that?" Alfie asked with a frown of his own.

"…"

Nina, who was just about to put a piece of sausage into her mouth, paused, a combination of disbelief and disapproval aimed towards Alfie.

"Boy, did you not hear me tell you to drop it?" Doris questioned with his grave tone.

"Stop treating me like a kid! Stop hiding things from me and tell me!"

Raising Alfie, she never had as many troubles as the other mothers spoke of. In fact, she had quite an easy time raising Alfie compared to what she had seen with other parents.

Alfie grew up quite obedient and compliant towards both Doris and Nina. Even now, despite all the ruckus he causes outside with his little gang, whenever he's at home, he is always diligent.

He's never talked back to them, and whenever they tell him to do something, he will do so. But usually, he is very intuitive and would do something before they even asked or told him to.

So seeing Alfie with that behavior gave them quite the shock.

Which made them wonder…

Have they been taking it for granted?

Maybe?

Has he been hanging out with the wrong crowd recently?

No, Alfie IS the wrong crowd, around his age at least.

Alfie, on the other hand, suddenly snapped out of his rebellious expression.

'What the fuck?!' His face showed surprise. 'Did I just act like a spoiled little shitt?!'

*Ktrrrr*

Doris jumped up as his chair forcefully slid back and fell, his face furious.

"W-wait—agh!!"

Doris's big arms suddenly grabbed onto Alfie before he picked him up and walked towards one of the rooms.

"Wait, dad, I was just kidding!!" Alfie's words fell on deaf ears.

"Shitt!"

He didn't want to go through a humiliating beating. He never liked it, considering he was an adult himself in a child's body.

"Language!"

"Mom, he's going to strangle me. I'm not worried about profanities!"