Bandit's Revenge

by Max Jager

  "Is that so?" asked Bandit skeptically, "Then tell me… What is this new life goal of yours? To destroy this land and everyone in it? To be sentenced to life in prison? To be killed by the protectors of this land?"

  Red rolled his eyes, and took a deep breath before he spoke.

  "Look," scoffed Red irritably, "I know this all must seem…well…crazy to you…but do not be so overdramatic. My goal is one that will change the Ice Lands forever, one that will change it for the better… My goal is something this land desperately needs to have come to fruition… My goal is…"

  "…to become the ruler of the Ice Lands."

  Completely unamused by his brother's statement, Bandit looked at Red fiercely as he took a few steps forward.

  "That statement…is pretty difficult for me to believe…considering you've leveled a good part of this land's capital."

  Red scoffed as he crossed his arms.

  "You can think what you want…" he said as he averted his eyes from Bandit's angry eyes.

  Bandit sighed as he crossed his own arms.

  "Look at me," he asserted.

  Despite Bandit's demand, however, Red continued to look away from him, and Bandit gritted his teeth as he shook his head.

  "Look at me, Red!" he yelled furiously.

  Red slowly looked at Bandit, and slight tears filled his eyes as he did so.

  "What the hell is the matter with you?" asked Bandit with a no-nonsense tone of voice, "You always had this…cold and cynical disposition about you, but…this…? Why…? Why are you acting like this?"

  Instead of answering him, Red remained silent as he looked at Bandit with apathy and shook his head. Despite his silence, however, Bandit knew exactly what he was thinking, and looked at him with sadness as he spoke.

  "Y… You... You…can't be…serious…" he began emotionally as he closed his eyes, "C… Crim, it… It has been…seven…years…since that happened…"

  Red grunted before he responded.

  "That matters not to me," he said bitterly, which made Bandit look at him with even greater sadness, "Oh, I wish I could let go of what happened…but the past won't let me move on…and considering the fact you felt the need to change your last name from "Blood" to "Lane"…it seems you can't quite move past what happened either."

  Red gritted his teeth in slight anger as Bandit shook his head at him in disappointment.

  "Don't… Do not even think about judging me," he asserted fiercely and emotionally, "Do not try to act like you're any better than me! After all…this…whole…thing…is all…your…fault!"

  Bandit shook his head, gritted his teeth and closed his eyes before he yelled.

  "What I did…does not…justify your actions!"

  "I don't care!" yelled Red, "You know, I almost wish you had died that night…! If you had…everything would be different."

  Teary-eyed, Bandit took a deep breath before he spoke.

  "Fine…" he began irritably as he shook his head, "Fine! You know what? You're right! It's all…my fault! So act like it! I'm the one who hurt you, not this city! I am the one who did that, so go after me, hurt me, not…this land!"

  Red gulped in slight guilt as Bandit continued.

  "Wha…? What is it that you really want?" asked Bandit with exasperation, "Do you… Do you want to…kill me…? Make me suffer? Make me wish I was dead? Is that it…? Go ahead…"

  Red avoided eye contact with Bandit as he guiltily gulped once more.

  "If it will make you stop this…pursuit of yours…then do it…" continued Bandit, defeated, "If it will make you stop all of this nonsense, then do it…please!Just…stop…please… Stop hurting this land…"

  Irritated by his brother's words, Red wiped the slight tears in his eyes away, and crossed his arms as he cleared his throat and looked at his brother with contempt.

  "Wow…" he said sarcastically, "Aren't you noble…? Putting your life on the line like that… If only I cared. Mistakes were made in the past, Bandit, and…people got hurt, but do not delude yourself into thinking revenge is my goal here, Car…although I will admit…that was my initial intention way back when… Despite whatever fantasies are going on in your head…I am not here for you, little brother… I'm here for this land… You are not the only one who cares about it."

  Bandit took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he gave Red the sternest look he possibly could.

  "I'm not going to argue with you because I know you're stubborn and arrogant, so just tell me one thing… Is there anything…anything at all…I could say…to make you drop your pursuit of this…insane goal of yours? Is there anything…I can say…to make you act like…like my…my brother again…?"

  Red gulped as he simply stood there and looked at his brother with indifference, but Bandit knew that his inaction was his brother's way of giving him an answer.

  Seeing Red

  The brothers began to walk towards each other, and Bandit spoke as he cracked his knuckles.

  "Fine…" he began, "Let's pretend for now that you really do want to make the Ice Lands a better place. The Ice Lands are not a perfect place to live, and I'll be the first person to admit that. The way things work here could use some improvement, but…not like this…Red…I hope you realize…that our mother would be horrified by what you've done today."

  This remark instantly caused Red to look at his brother with a look of shock and awe.

  "What…did you say?" he asked with rising anger, "My actions would horrify her? My actions would horrify her? Don't start spouting nonsense, you little bastard! My actions are completely admirable! I'm going to make this land a better place to live, so that what happened that day will never happen again!"

  Red grew even more upset when Bandit shook his head once more.

  "You…little…shit…" he said with rising anger, "That…is going to be the last time you shake your head at me! I didn't want to have to fight you, Bandit, but you are practically begging me to hurt you with the way you're acting!"

  "Are you kidding me?" asked Bandit, infuriated, "You're the one acting like a complete sociopath!"

  Shut up…! thought Red, who was now trembling with anger.

  "Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?" continued Bandit, "God? You don't even come close! Hell, the only God you could pass for at this point is the God of Bullshit!"

  "Shut up!" yelled Red as he charged at Bandit.

  "Make me!" shouted Bandit as he did the same.

  The two men ran at each other with great intensity, and yelled as they tried to punch each other, but their blows clashed, creating a small shockwave that shook the debris around them. Undeterred, they tried to punch each other once more, but their blows collided yet again, and an even more powerful shockwave was produced as a result.

  Red tried to punch Bandit in the neck, but Bandit managed to parry his punch. He tried to kick Red in the stomach in retaliation, but Red jumped back to evade the blow. Red tried to punch him in the face afterwards, but Bandit ducked before his fist could strike him. The two spun around and tried to deliver a roundhouse kick to the other's stomach, but their blows collided, and they grunted as they jumped away from each other.

  Bandit tried to hit his brother with a front kick, but Red swerved to the right to dodge it. He tried to strike him with a butterfly kick directly afterwards, but Red quickly swerved to the side to evade this attack as well.

  Red went on the offensive and tried to knock Bandit down with a sweep kick, but Bandit jumped to dodge it, and tried to kick him in the head. Unfortunately, Red managed to dodge the kick, and proceeded to punch him in the stomach, knocking him a few feet back.

  "You bastard!" yelled Bandit as he charged at his brother furiously.

  He tried to strike him with a hook kick, but Red ducked to evade it. He then tried to strike him with a sweep kick, but Red jumped back to evade that as well.

  Damn it! thought Bandit angrily, Why can't I hit him?

  He was really starting to get up
set about being unable to hit his brother, but he managed to keep himself relatively calm about it, and continued his pursuit of the goal. He quickly jumped at Red with a clenched fist, and tried to punch him right in his face. Unfortunately, Red dodged most of the attack by swerving to the side, but Bandit did manage to graze his ear, causing Red to gasp in surprise.

  That was close, thought Red as he gritted his teeth, but that's not going to happen again!

  He tried to kick Bandit in the stomach, but Bandit blocked his kick with a kick of his own.

  Bandit tried to hit him in the head, but he ducked to avoid the blow.

  Red tried to punch him in the stomach, but Bandit quickly parried the attack to the side.

  Bandit jumped back to gain some distance between them, but Red quickly blurred at him to make sure none was gained.

  You're not going anywhere! he thought as he glared at Bandit.

  Bandit aimed to kick his brother in the stomach, but Red smoothly swerved to evade the blow.

  Red tried to punch him in the jaw, but Bandit flawlessly parried the punch down. He proceeded to try and punch him in the nose, but Bandit parried this attack too. He then tried to punch Bandit in the neck, but Bandit ducked to avoid the blow. He tried to kick him in the stomach, but Bandit parried his kick to the side, and punched him in the face, causing Red to grunt in slight pain.

  Red tried to kick him in the head with a roundhouse kick, but he ducked to evade it. He tried to kick him again, but Bandit grabbed his foot and leg, and grunted as he picked him up and threw him on the ground with a loud thud.

  Red grunted in pain, but he had no time to dwell on it. Bandit lifted his foot up and tried to stomp on his head, but he quickly rolled out of the way, got back on his feet, and aimed to punch him in the stomach, only for Bandit to block the punch with his hand. Bandit tried to counterattack with a kick to the stomach, but Red jumped back to dodge the blow, and aimed to punch him in the face in retaliation. Bandit parried his blow to the right, however, and tried to deliver an uppercut to his jaw. Red swiftly swerved to evade the blow, and when Bandit tried to punch him across the face, he grabbed his hand, and pulled Bandit towards him, causing Bandit to grunt as he lost his balance a bit. Red yelled as he gave him a fierce punch to the face that sent him flying several yards away, and Bandit grunted as blood dripped from his mouth.

  Son of a bitch!

  He quickly and angrily wiped the blood away, and tried to hit Red with a side kick, only for Red to dodge it by swerving to the side. Red proceeded to kick him hard in the face with a front kick, and Bandit's blood flew in the air as he stumbled back a few feet.

  Red jumped at him, and tried to punch him in the nose, but Bandit parried the punch down, and backed up to gain some distance from him. Once again, Red would not allow this, however, and jumped at him with the intention of hitting him with an uppercut. Luckily, Bandit jumped back to dodge the attack, and when Red tried to trip him up with a sweep kick, he jumped into the air to dodge it, and counterattacked by punching him right in the face with a powerful blow, causing Red to yell in pain as he went flying forty yards away.

  Disoriented, Red grunted as he fell on his back, and closed his eyes in pain. Unfortunately for him, when he opened them a moment later, Bandit was directly above him with a clenched fist. He quickly got back on his feet and jumped back to evade his punch, and he gasped in slight surprise when Bandit's fist hit the ground, for his punch had been powerful enough to create a fist-sized crater in the ground.

  I really have to be wary of his physical blows, he thought, slightly disconcerted, If he hits me too many times…he'll get the upper hand for sure. Damn it! To think I'm the one who set him on the path to becoming so strong!

  He scoffed as he shook his head.

  I didn't want to have to use any more of my powers…but…at this rate, I won't get very far unless I do…

  He jumped at Bandit and tried to punch him in the face, but Bandit jumped back to evade the punch. Bandit tried to punch him in the neck, but Red jumped back to dodge the attack, and raised his hands into the air, causing Bandit to look at him in confusion.

  What the…?

  Bandit thought about Red's intentions for a moment, and gasped when he quickly remembered Red's full power.

  Oh, shit! he thought when he realized what Red was attempting to do, He wouldn't dare…!

  He jumped at him and tried to punch him in the nose, but Red quickly swerved to evade the punch, and Bandit gritted his teeth when he heard lightning crackle above him.

  Three bolts of lightning rained down on him in rapid succession, but to Red's complete surprise, he managed to dodge them all relatively quickly.

  What the…? thought Red in shock as he gasped.

  He summoned four more lightning bolts from the sky to strike Bandit, but Bandit evaded each and every one of them, and Red yelled in pain when he punched him twice in the face, and knocked him into the air with an uppercut.

  Damn it! he thought irritably, How the hell can he dodge lightning so easily?

  The lightning may be fast, thought Bandit as he created a staff of ice and held it firmly in his hand, but I've dealt with things just as fast before, like Zor's Cosmic Sword attacks. This is nothing compared to that!

  Red gasped when Bandit jumped into the air after him.

  He's not on the ground anymore! he thought as his eyes widened in realization, Now he won't be able to dodge!

  He grunted as he quickly sent one more lightning bolt flying down at Bandit, and Bandit yelled in great pain when the lightning struck him.

  Shit! thought Bandit as he accidentally let go of his staff.

  He managed to land back on the ground safely, but as he tried to recover from Red's attack, Red caught his ice staff, and as soon as Red landed on the ground, Red swung the weapon at Bandit's face, and struck him hard in the nose, causing him to yell in pain as he slid back fifteen yards.

  He shouldn't be able to recover from that so easily, he thought as he watched Bandit hold his bleeding nose.

  To his surprise, however, Bandit would not go down so easily. He watched as Bandit slowly created another staff of ice and held it firmly in his hand, and gasped in surprise when his body became enveloped in an icy blue aura.

  What the…? he thought, confused, He can do that?

  Bandit gritted his teeth as he cracked his neck, and blurred at Red with eyes filled with rage.

  Shit, thought Red as he broke the ice staff he held in two with his bare hands, turning them into makeshift fighting sticks, He won't go down so easily, will he?

  He took a firm stance as Bandit closed in on him.

  Oh well, he thought irritably, It's his funeral!

  March 24, 1847

  In Reppo Central Prison, in a special cell separated from all the other cells, a man with crimson hair looked at the unconscious inhabitants of the cell with insurmountable contempt.

  The inhabitants who had hair almost as red as his own.

  The two inhabitants were a middle-aged man and a young teenage boy. Both of them had been brutally beaten by the man with the blood red hair, but while the middle-aged man lied dead with a crushed skull, the boy lied unconscious with a countless number of welts and bruises all over his skin.

  Look at you…thought the man as he looked at the son, You're so young…yet you had the capacity…the audacity…to do what you did… I should kill you…right now…

  The man pointed his finger at the son as he continued to think.

  …You're completely helpless… It would be…so…simple…!

  He trembled as he looked at the son with hurt in his eyes. He desperately wanted to do something, something to make his pain go away, something to eliminate his hurt, his anguish, his suffering and agony. But deep down, he knew he could not do what he had considered only moments before, and he sighed as he lowered his hand.

  If only you were…someone else… If you were…I would do anything…give everything…to hurt you right now…in this moment… But
I can't do anything to you… Nothing at all… For as much as I'd like to kill you…I'm afraid…for whatever reason…I still care about you…I suppose…we've been through too much together…for me to end you so easily…