by Max Jager
"We all have different ways of…dealing with loss," she said, "We… We've all lost things…people that we…cared about…people that we loved…but…losing a parent…a mother…as…we all have…is one of the most…difficult losses for a person to face…and now…Bandit has lost…two mothers… What's worse is that…after what happened to his…birth mother…he is fragile…deep down…despite all of his strength and power… I've known him since his birth mother's death… I knew him even before her death…over seven years ago…so I know…that Bandit was…never particularly good at dealing with loss…"
Just like…his damn brother… she thought bitterly.
"Despite our…desire to…be there for him…there's nothing we can do for him… Nothing we can do to truly take away his pain… Nothing…and he knows that…so…let's just give him some more time…to be alone…"
Mary closed her eyes and sighed before he spoke.
"Okay…" she said bitterly, "…but this doesn't make feel any less worried about him… He has been gone for too long now… It's almost like he has exiled himself from everything…and no one knows if he's okay… If he doesn't show himself soon…I think we should try to find him…"
"We'll find Bandit," said Abe as he put his hand on her shoulder, "but…let's not be too hasty… Grief affects everyone differently…and for different periods of time… We'll give him until tomorrow…and if he doesn't show up then…"
"…we'll begin our search…"
Tears filled Mary's eyes as she sniffled once more.
Bandit… Where are you…?
"Hey…" they heard a voice say to them.
The three turned around to see who was speaking to them, and saw that it was Brayne. He held a handkerchief in his hand, and when he saw tears stream down Mary's face, he handed it to her.
"Here…" he said as he did so.
Mary slowly took the handkerchief from him, and wiped her eyes and face with it.
"Thank you…" she sniffled, "…Where have you been…?"
Brayne scratched the back of his head as he responded.
"Uh… It… It doesn't really matter…" he said awkwardly.
Of course, it was not at all hard to figure out where he had been, for his breath smelled strongly of alcohol. His friends knew, however, that this was his way of dealing with loss, and they knew he rarely ever became intoxicated as a result of his drinking, so they decided not to acknowledge his action, and let him be.
"Uh…where's Bandit?" he asked as he placed his hands in his pockets.
Rachel shrugged as she responded solemnly.
"…We don't know…"
Brayne took a deep breath and sighed before he spoke.
"Ah, well…whatever," he said in a tone of voice that sounded almost passive, "If he wants to be alone, then there's…nothing we can do. It's not like we can force him to be happy, right?"
The others noticed his odd behavior concerning Bandit, but before they could process it, he asked them a question.
"I assume you all are trying to find him…anyway?"
"We were gonna give him until tomorrow," said Abe as he closed his eyes.
"But it's not that simple…is it?" asked Rachel.
"We wouldn't even know where to start," said Mary, "As long as he has been gone…he could have very well just up and left the Ice Lands altogether…"
Brayne crossed his arms as he spoke.
"No…" he said calmly as he furrowed his eyebrows, "I don't think he'd go that far. He wouldn't leave this place, and he most certainly wouldn't leave it while it's in its present condition… Anyway, try not to worry too much about him, okay? He's a strong guy. He'll be fine."
Again, the others looked at him in surprise because of his behavior, and the girls actually gasped in disbelief this time.
"How…?" asked Mary in shock, "…How can you…be so…relaxed about this…?"
Brayne sighed as he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting smile.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "Perhaps I am being a bit too calm, but…after a lot of reflection…I don't see too much of a point in being…overly concerned about him."
Rachel looked at him in awe, and gritted her teeth in slight irritation. She was about to say something, but Brayne cut her off as he looked at her.
"Calm down, Rachel," he said sternly, "Do not misconstrue my behavior. I am worried about Bandit just as much as you. Unlike you, however, I remember just who it is we're talking about here. It's Bandit, Rachel. Bandit;the guy you've known for the past twelve years? The guy who took down Zor all on his own? The guy who took out the vast majority of the Landian invaders by himself? The guy who went on a hellish three year mission just to give all the money he received to Ruby to make her happy?"
Rachel looked at him in confusion at first, but slowly began to realize what he was getting at in his own weird way. Brayne smiled at her as her eyes widened in realization.
"Now you remember, right?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "This is Bandit Lane we're talking about! Bandit! He's hurt and he's grieving, which is exactly what one would expect from him, but come on! What makes you think for a second…that he's going to let what happened to Ruby destroy him?"
Both Abe and Mary gasped when they too realized what he was getting at.
"Bandit Lane is a man with indomitable will, a man who does not give up, even in the face of tragedy. Like us, he is not particularly good at dealing with loss. In fact, I know he has an extremely difficult time dealing with loss. But he is a man who realizes that there is a time for everything. There's a time for sadness, there's a time for loneliness…and then, there comes a time when a man must pick himself back up and fight back, and Bandit knows all of this. I may not know where he is, what he was doing all this time, or what he's planning to do in the future, but there are things I do know."
"He will mourn for Ruby, and quite hard, I might add, and he may never fully mentally recover from the events of that day, but Bandit Lane will not allow his sadness to keep him from living his life, and from doing what he thinks is right."
The others looked at him in awe as he finished his monologue with a small smile.
"I don't know when he'll make his move or if he is still in mourning, but mark my words…"
"Bandit Lane, our friend, will not rest until Red Blood and his men have all been taken down."
Meanwhile, in the city of Reppo, a disconcerted Bandit Lane walked through the streets with his hands in his pockets as he thought.
Damn it! he thought as he gritted his teeth bitterly, I've run every scenario I can think of through my mind, yet I can only think of one plan that could possibly work!
He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes as he continued to think.
Red's ability to control and manipulate lightning is flawless… He's a natural with his abilities… He and Brayne have the same lightning power, yet it would seem Red surpasses Brayne by quite a bit. His speed and strength are great also, and the same goes for his endurance. I possess greater physical strength than him, but…
Shit, I can't possibly think that makes us equal! I survived our fight that day, but I'm no fool. I know I shouldn't have been able to match him, to hold my own against him so long, if at all. At full power, he destroyed Lax, and soon after, he defeated Rachel, Brayne, and Abe, all of whom are either just as strong as or stronger than me. Yet, even after all that…he still managed to beat me…
There is only one weakness I have potentially identified in him. When I first saw him, he was on the ground, clutching his chest and vomiting blood. He had just taken out my friends, and even though they barely hurt him, he was so badly injured. Additionally, after firing…firing...
He was about to recall how Red had been severely weakened after he had fired the final lightning attack he had produced during their fight, but he, unfortunately for him, remembered for a moment what that final lightning attack had taken from him.
He tried to hold back his tears as he quickly shook his head and tried to reorganiz
e his thoughts.
…after firing that last lightning attack at me, he collapsed, as though my previous ear-grazing blow had been too much for him. Of course, that could not have possibly been the case. I may be physically stronger than him, but I know Red. After all those years of training, there's no way in hell that attack would have done him in. This could mean his use of that final attack was too much for his body to handle… This is all just mere conjecture, but…if I had to guess…from the looks of it, if Red uses too much of his power during any given time period, his body will suffer more and more, gradually incapacitating him until he ultimately can't function. But…if that's how it is, how can anyone here face him in battle?
We could make him waste his energy taking pawns out, but there are so few people here that could possibly hope to survive his attacks. He'd more than likely end up killing any pawn we used, and that's not a risk I'm willing to take. There also wouldn't be a point in me and my friends taking him on by ourselves, considering he took them out so damn easily.
This isn't good. Considering what he did to me and my friends when he wasn't at full power, he'd probably annihilate all of us at full power. Damn it! Somehow, I have to figure out a way to level the playing field… Otherwise…he'll end up ruling over the Ice Lands as long as he lives, and I can't allow that to happen!
He continued to walk down the street for seven more minutes, when he saw a truly disturbing sight that made him gasp in utter shock.
A middle-aged woman was on the ground, weeping as she cradled her fifteen year old daughter, who, for some reason, seemed to be completely devoid of life.
Whoa… he thought as he looked at the daughter's lifeless eyes, What the…? What the hell happened to her…?
Concerned as to what was going on with the two, he walked over to them, and placed his hand on the mother's shoulder. As soon as he did that, however, she nearly jumped out of her skin, and began screaming at him.
"No!" she shrieked, "Not again! You won't take my…"
It took a moment for the woman to realize who he was, and she slowly put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes upon realizing that she and her daughter were not in any danger.
"Oh, God…" she sighed in relief, "Bandit… It's just you…"
"Are you alright?" he asked with concern, "What happened? You're daughter… She… She doesn't look good."
The woman took a deep breath before she responded.
"She…" she began emotionally, "She was…"
More tears filled her eyes as she struggled to say what she wanted to say.
"Deflowered…" she continued painfully, causing Bandit to gasp in surprise, "She and her sister…were taken from the house last night by some perverted bastard…! I tried to fight him…but…he knocked me out cold… I… I wasn't… I couldn't do anything! I didn't wake up until a half hour ago…and when I did, I ran out of the house to search for them…and…I found this precious girl of mine…lying here…motionless…and unable to speak… I… I asked her what happened…but she did not respond…yet…in that moment…I knew… For what else…could any man…possibly do…to put an innocent girl…in this kind of state…if not that…?"
Bandit looked at the woman solemnly as the woman cradled her catatonic daughter closer to her body.
"Why did he have to do this?" she asked as she wept, "Why couldn't he have just…just…killed her…?"
Bandit began to tremble when he heard the woman say those words. He slowly balled up his fists, and gritted his teeth as he closed his eyes.
"At least…if he had killed her…she…she wouldn't have to suffer like this…!" cried the woman.
Bandit's breath rate increased rapidly, and his blood practically boiled as did everything he could to keep himself from exploding with anger.
"Where…?" he asked gruffly as he opened his eyes, "Where is the man who did this…?"
The woman wiped her eyes as she responded.
"I myself…don't know for sure…but my daughters are not…the only ones who have been taken by this man… Others have noticed…that every time he…flees with his victims…he heads west….towards the forest…but…even though we know where he goes…we can't do anything… He threatens to kill anyone who follows him…and… considering that the few people who have tried to…follow him…never come back…we can only assume…he…makes good on his threats… There's…really…nothing we can do…so…we've all just…sort of…given up…"
She looked up at him, and gasped when she took notice of the great scowl on his face, and the veins in his neck and forehead that pulsed in a most unsettling manner.
Bandit gasped when he noticed that she was looking at him in fear. Realizing that his face was frightening her, he relaxed his face as he looked at her, and put his hand on her shoulder.
"…Don't worry," he said as he looked into her eyes, "I'll get your other daughter back."
The woman gasped as she watched him begin to walk west.
"Wha…? What are you…?"
Her eyes slowly widened in surprise as she realized what he intended to do.
"Wait!" she screamed, "You're not going to face him, are you?"
He did not respond to her, yet this non-response told her exactly what his answer was.
"W… Will you be okay? I mean, I know you're strong and everything, but-."
"Don't worry about me," he interrupted, "I'll be fine. I've dealt with worse situations before. Focus on your daughter. She needs your attention more than I do. Get someone to help you take her to a hospital. I'll meet you back here later today…but on the off chance I don't show up, contact the mercenary guild and tell them where I am."
He turned to look at her from the corner of his eye, and took notice of her look of concern.
"I'm going to save your daughter," he assured her, "I promise."
Red… he thought as he closed his eyes, This guy better not have anything to do with you…
Broken Ice
On the west side of the Ice Lands, a large, wooden house sat in the middle of a frosted forest. The area was once a popular place to ice fish, and the house used to act as a place where people could put their belongings when they went ice fishing.
But no longer.
For quite some time, the house had armed guards standing around it, protecting the perverted criminal mastermind who now permanently resided in it.
Wake Noran, a tall, muscular man who lacked his right ear, grunted as he held a young woman who wore nothing but an oversized shirt, and who was bound by strong chains wrapped around her arms. She had a small piece of rope wrapped around her mouth so any sound she made would be muffled, and thus, distract him less. He wanted what he wanted, and he did not want her screams of terror to get in the way of his satisfaction.
He threw the woman onto the bed, and the woman kicked and screamed muffled screams, doing her best to free herself from her condition. The man sighed as he held her down.
"Damn it, woman!" he barked, "Stop…struggling so much!I'm not going to hurt you…"
"…much…"
The woman did not cease struggling, however, so the man sighed again as he balled up his fist and punched her in the face, causing the woman to quickly pass out.
Now that she was immobilized, Wake let go of her and mumbled to himself as he walked towards the window. He looked outside for a brief moment, and smiled when he saw his muscular henchmen patrolling his home.
Now I can finally have some peace and quiet, he thought with a smile as he walked towards the bed and looked at his unconscious prize.
He was about to take off his pants, when he groaned in pain. He clutched his stomach, and looked at it with disconcertion.
Oh…God… he thought as he quickly ran out of the room and down the hallway, I need to use the damn bathroom, now!
Meanwhile, outside of the compound, six of the men he had positioned in the back of the house engaged in conversation.
"Man," said one man, "I hate doing this all day!"
Two
of his associates looked at him with fear, and put their index fingers to their lips to tell him to keep quiet.
"Shut up, man," said one of the silencers, "Do you want Noran to hear you?"
"Please," said the outspoken man, "What's he gonna do?"
"Oh, I don't know," said the second silencer sarcastically, "Break your face? Burn off your skin? Cut your tongue out of your head? You know? The exact same things he has been doing to all of the guys who get on his bad side?"
"Whatever," scoffed the man, "Why do all of us even have to guard this place?"
"I know, right?" asked a fourth man, "These weapons are as high tech as they come. Hell! I had never even heard of a…of a…"