by Max Jager
The giant balls of ice were almost upon them, but he did not flinch even for a moment.
He took in an incredibly deep breath, and once he took in as much air as he could, he clenched his fists as he bellowed in the direction of the comets of ice headed their way, releasing a massive blast of fire from his mouth that spanned a wide area. The blast enveloped each and every comet of ice, and his subordinates watched in awe as they quickly began to melt.
"Whoa!"
"He's melting them away!"
The blast was so large that it even attracted the attention of various civilians in the rest of Lax.
"What the hell is that?" one man reacted in shock.
"What in the world is happening?" reacted another.
"Don't tell me that's Prey?" inquired a woman as she crossed her arms, "Hasn't he done enough damage to this place?"
Meanwhile, Mary and the others ran into the city of Lax, and gasped when they noticed the fire in the sky.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Brayne in shock, "What the hell is that?"
"I don't know," responded Abe, "but it must be where the Landians are."
"We have to hurry," said Rachel, "Bandit's probably already there, and if he's fighting an enemy who wields fire…"
"Bandit…" said Mary with concern, "Be safe…"
Once he finished melting the comets of ice headed for the plaza, Victor panted as sweat dripped down his face.
Meanwhile, his subordinates looked at him in shock.
"Whoa!"
"Unbelievable!"
"He did it!"
The men began to cheer for their leader, but stopped when he gave them a deadly glare that conveyed his murderous intent all too well.
"Silence!" he commanded, to their surprise, "I don't want to hear it! About half of you tried to run away from your 'doom', and now you're cheering after I've saved you. How dare you! Who are you to leave my side? Do you not realize what I have done for you? Are you unaware of the risks I have taken, the fights I have fought, and the troubles I have dealt with, all for your sake, as well as mine? I worked so hard to make our dreams of power come true, yet after everything I have done for you, half of you had the nerve to attempt to leave my side! Well, I have no interest in looking out for people who won't support me, so let me make myself clear! You all should know by now that my senses are heightened to an extent far greater than most. I am fully aware of each and every person who just attempted to leave my side, and I promise you, I will end each and every one of those people's lives as slowly and painfully as conceivably possible!"
Some of the men who tried to run away from the plaza gulped nervously as he continued.
"Lucky for you, a different matter must be taken care of before your punishment. This whole time, a threat has been watching us, waiting for us to take notice of him."
The Landians gasped in surprise as he raised his hand.
"This will be your only chance to redeem yourselves, scum!" he exclaimed as he pointed his finger towards the front of the plaza, "If you try to run away from him, I'll make you suffer four times as much as I had initially intended."
Not entirely aware of whom Victor was referring to, all of the Landians looked towards the front of the plaza, and saw a man watching them from atop the gates of the plaza while smoking a cigar. The man exhaled a puff of smoke from his mouth before he spoke.
"So…you finally noticed me…" he said irritably as he glared at the men, "Now…remind me…"
"…who did you say you were going to rape?"
The man took off his sun cap and sunglasses, and when he did so, most of the Landians gasped in utter shock, and some of their jaws nearly dropped to the ground.
Chrono's eyes practically popped out of his head, and he yelped like a little girl as he took a step back in surprise.
"H… His hair…" he stammered.
"It's the reddest hair I've ever seen!"
Uprising
About four hundred of the Landians yelled in fear when they realized that the smoking man was Bandit Lane.
"Remember my promise," said Victor sternly.
Upon hearing his words, the Landians who had tried to flee earlier suddenly had the urge to stand and fight against their red-haired enemy, and quickly picked up any arms they could.
Victor leapt high into the air, and balled up his fists as he yelled.
"Bandit Lane!"
Bandit grunted as he observed the man who had just leapt into the air.
"Yeah, what?" he asked irritably.
He squinted to get a better look at the man, and gasped in surprise when he realized he knew who he was.
"Wait a minute… You're the one who tried to take over the Land of Power when my friends and I were there about four or five months ago! So this is where you decided to come when they kicked you guys out, eh? Well, I've got news for you, Prey! You won't be here much longer! I don't know what made you think it was a good idea to come here, but you're about to get your ass kicked out!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself!" asserted Victor, "I have no intention of going anywhere! I worked too hard to get to this point, and I will not let you undo everything I have done! You're not as powerful as you think…and I'm about to prove it!"
While still in the air, he took in an incredibly deep breath, and while he did so, Bandit took his cigar out of his smoke and threw it high into the air.
After taking the deepest breath he possibly could, Victor bellowed in Bandit's direction, sending a huge ball of fire flying his way.
Despite that, Bandit remained as calm as could be. He took in a deep breath of his own, and bellowed in the direction of the fireball headed his way, releasing a massive amount of icy air.
When the air came into contact with the fireball, the fireball began to freeze, and the Landians said as much as they watched the altercation unfold between their adversary and their leader.
"No way…"
"That fireball is massive! There's no way he can freeze it before it hits him!"
To their surprise, however, he did manage to freeze the fireball solid right before it could come within ten yards of where he stood, and the Landians gasped in surprise when he caught the frozen fireball.
"Holy shit!"
"He froze fire!"
"He's holding it in his hands, too!"
Impressive…thought Victor as he landed on the ground, I shouldn't have expected anything less.
Bandit grunted as he struggled to hold the humungous ball of frozen fire over his head.
Man… he thought as he set the object down in front of him, This was heavier than I thought it would be…
Perfect…he thought as he smirked mischievously.
He lifted his leg, yelled as he delivered a powerful kick to the frozen ball of fire, and watched the Landians scream in terror as the gargantuan object headed in their direction at an uncomfortably fast speed.
Oh shit! thought the men closest to the frozen fireball, I didn't think I'd die like this!
Victor gritted his teeth in anger as he watched a few hundred of his men get run over by the frozen ball of fire that, ironically, would not have existed had he not helped create it.
Damn…you! he thought as he trembled in anger and balled up his fists, You damn child!
He ran towards the fireball, and when he got close to it, he made sure his feet were firmly planted on the ground, put his arms out in front of him, and prepared to stop it in its tracks. He grunted when the fireball came into contact with him. It pushed him back a bit, but nevertheless, he managed to make it stop moving, and proceeded to melt it by blowing blue fire on it.
Damn this kid! he thought as he melted the fireball, I shouldn't have to use blue fire against a little shit like him… Doing so takes a considerable amount of energy…but I have to get rid of this frozen weapon immediately… I can't allow him to use it to take out any more of my men!
He panted once he finished melting the frozen ball of fire, and looked around to see how many of his men had been take
n out.
Unfortunately for him, about three hundred of his men had been eliminated by Bandit's attack.
"That was insane!" yelled the remaining men.
"He's seriously not messing around!"
"This guy's a monster!"
Bandit grunted as he caught the cigar he had thrown into the air earlier, and placed it back in his mouth.
Looks like that worked out even better than I had hoped, he thought as he exhaled a puff of smoke from his mouth, I'd say I took out around three hundred or so of his men.
He closed his eyes as he cracked his knuckles.
Now it's time for the rest.
He crossed his arms, and as he stood there, his body became enveloped in an icy blue aura.
"Shit!" exclaimed the Landians.
"He's about to do something else!"
"Somebody stop him!"
Oh, no, you don't! thought Victor as he glared at Bandit.
He took in an incredibly deep breath, and once he took in as much air as he could, he clenched his fists as he bellowed in Bandit's direction, releasing a massive blast of fire from his mouth that spanned a wide area.
Right before it could strike Bandit, however, Bandit suddenly disappeared from where he stood.
What the…? thought Victor as he quickly stopped breathing fire, He… He's gone!
He gasped as he looked left and right for his enemy.
Where did he go? he thought as he frantically looked for his adversary,How did he do that? Could it be…?
He grew slightly nervous as he continued to think.
I've only heard of a few people with the power gene who can concentrate the Manna energy within their body to such a degree that it becomes visible… What are the odds that he'd be one of those few?
He continued to look around for where his enemy might be, when he sensed that something was coming at him from above. He quickly looked up, and watched in surprise as a gargantuan ball of ice fell towards the entire plaza at such great speed, he did not have time to try to catch it or to melt it.
Shit! he thought as he leapt as far out of the way as possible.
Unfortunately, he had been only one of one hundred men to sense the attack coming, so when the giant ball of ice struck the plaza, the rest of the Landians besides Victor and his quickest allies, who managed to leap just outside the plaza, took the full brunt of the attack, and were crushed and killed instantly. The attack was so powerful that it left a crater in the plaza, and it struck the plaza so quickly, not one of the unsuspecting Landians had the time to even scream when the massive construct of ice fell upon them.
Victor and the other men who managed to jump outside the gates of the plaza grunted as huge chunks of ice chipped off the larger ball of ice and struck them ruthlessly. Some of the chunks were quite large, and some were sharp, so the majority of the men who survived the giant ball of ice were injured when more dangerous chunks of ice crashed into or impaled them.
Victor grunted as a huge chunk of ice struck him right in his stomach, and coughed up blood as he landed on the ground with a heavy thud.
Bandit Lane… he thought irritably as he looked up at Bandit, who was falling to the ground in a controlled manner, He is really trying my patience…!
Most of his men yelled in pain as they crashed to the ground. The few who had not been struck by any ice were four of his strongest allies, Keith, Aivu, Caesar, and Pator. All four of them managed to safely land on the ground, and looked up at Bandit Lane in shock.
He just took most of us out with that one attack! they thought, dumbfounded that any one person in the Ice Lands could defeat their allies so easily.
Bandit grunted when he safely landed a few yards away from Victor, and Victor gasped as he glared at him with murderous intent.
"You're finished," he said as he began to walk towards Victor.
Victor grunted as he watched Bandit walk towards him.
Damn it! he thought, frustrated, I didn't think he'd be this…powerful!
Keith and the others gasped as they watched Bandit walk towards Victor.
"Stop him!" yelled Keith as he pointed at Bandit.
"Hey, Bandit!" yelled a voice.
Bandit's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked to his side to see Brayne, Abe, and the others running towards him with smiles on their faces.
"Bandit!" exclaimed Mary as she waved at her friend, "Why did I get the feeling you'd do something outrageous?"
Bandit rubbed his head as he smiled.
"Hey, guys!" he exclaimed happily, "It's about time you showed up!"
"Those must be his allies," said Aivu irritably, "Let's take care of them first!"
"After them!" yelled Caesar as he and his allies charged at the four.
Brayne and the others gasped when they noticed Victor's allies coming for them, but they quickly got over their initial surprise and prepared to finish them off. Brayne enveloped his fist in electricity, Mary brought a dagger out from her pocket, Rachel increased the muscle mass of her right arm, and Abe pulled his sword out of its scabbard.
"Go to hell!" yelled the four as they closed in on Victor's allies.
Keith yelled as Brayne punched him across the face so hard he broke his neck…
Aivu screamed when Mary slashed his throat with her dagger…
Caesar grunted when Rachel punched him right across his face…
…and Pator yowled when Abe slashed him across his abdomen, causing his entrails to spill out onto the ground.
The rest of Victor's men yelled in shock as they watched their four strongest remaining allies fall right in front of them.
"What?" they shouted, "They took each of them out with only one blow! Holy shit!"
They were so scared of the four's power that even though they had the strength to attempt to stand and fight them, none of them had the conviction to do so, even though they had Victor's threat hanging over their heads.
It's… It's not worth it… they thought as they sweated in fear, There are only four of them, but…it doesn't even make a difference…! Either they'll kill us…or he will…!
Bandit exhaled a puff of smoke from his mouth as his friends, who correctly assumed that the rest of Victor's men were not foolish enough to face them, ran over to greet him.
"Hey, man!" greeted Brayne as he shook Bandit's hand.
"Hey, Brayne!" he exclaimed, "Long time no see!"
Abe patted him on the back, and the two chuckled as they smiled at each other.
"Bandit!" exclaimed Mary as she ran over to Bandit and gave him a big hug.
"Hey, Mary," he greeted with a calm smile, "I missed you."
Mary giggled as she squeezed Bandit even tighter.
"I missed you, too!"
When she let go of him, he smiled as his eyes focused on Rachel, who looked at him with a calm smile.
"Hey," he said as he walked towards her, a wide smile growing on his face.
"Hey," she said as she walked towards him with raised eyebrows, "Looks like you've grown a small goatee since we last met."
"Thanks," he said with a chuckle as he hugged her, "I missed you."
Rachel felt slightly uncomfortable with his embrace at first, but she quickly relaxed, and returned it.
The two hugged for about fifteen seconds, when they were interrupted.
"Uh, Bandit," said Mary worriedly, "I think we've got a problem."
Surprised, Bandit let go of Rachel, and the two looked in the same direction Mary and the others were looking.
"You did a good job dealing with my men, child…but your luck is about to run out. You utilize the enduring power of ice, but I have the ability to wield its polar opposite, and to a high degree."
Bandit, Rachel, and Brayne gasped in surprise, while Abe simply looked at the object of their observation irritably.
Victor Prey had managed to stand up, and as of now, his body and clothing were completely engulfed in blue flames.
"You're about to meet your end."
The Brave and the Bold
Bandit analyzed Victor's body as he continued to speak.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten who gave you that large burn you have on your stomach," he said, causing Bandit to hold his stomach as he remembered what Victor had done to him months before, "You should know better than to try to fight me again. The only reason I was defeated before was because you and a number of Landians back home risked their lives striking me while I was in this state. Surely you wouldn't be stupid enough to do the same thing, would you?"