by Max Jager
He slowly began to crawl in the opposite direction from where Rodney was, and groaned in pain as he placed his hand over his ribs. Rodney had managed to break one, and the pain was too great for his little body to bear.
But he knew he had to keep moving, no matter what. Otherwise, Rodney would get up and make him experience pain even more unbearable than a broken rib.
He crawled for twenty seconds before a fist suddenly made contact with his face. He screamed in pain as he crashed down onto his stomach, and as he panted in pain, he looked up at his tall, strong tormentor from the corner of his eye.
Rodney was not completely unharmed; Bandit had managed to give him a black eye. But Rodney was a lot tougher than most people his age. Kids all over school feared him, even the ones who were both older and taller than him. That was because they all knew Rodney had a psychotic nature about him, one that took over him at unpredictable moments, and they all knew that if they were around during such moments, they would most assuredly pay the highest price.
If only Bandit had not been around during one of his moments.
"I'll admit it…" grimaced Rodney as he placed one of his hands over his eye, "You're strong… You're probably the strongest runt I've ever come across… But in the end…I win… Just give it up, kid… It's over… The best man won…"
Despite Rodney's words, however, Bandit proceeded to crawl away from him, making Rodney chuckle in amusement.
"Okay, kid…" he said, "You asked for it."
Rodney punched Bandit in the head once more, and Bandit yelped in pain as he crashed to the ground. He panted heavily as Rodney placed his foot directly on his head.
"You're finished, kid," said Rodney confidently.
He smirked with such incredible arrogance at what he thought to be his greatest victory, but that smirk went away as soon as he looked at Bandit's hand, which was closed in a fist, except for his middle finger.
No one had ever extended such an obscene gesture towards Rodney, and this made him absolutely furious. Angered that this kid had the nerve to disrespect him to such an extent, he firmly pressed his foot down on Bandit's head, causing Bandit to experience an immense amount of pain.
Bandit was now more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. His heart pounded out of his chest, and he feared just how hard Rodney intended to crush his skull into the ground. He wanted to cry for his mother's tender embrace, he wanted to scream for his father or his brother to come save him and beat the bully up, but as the seconds passed, he realized that he was truly alone, that no one was going to come save him, specifically because no one knew where they were. Rodney had dragged him into a part of the forest where most people never went. If Rodney were to actually kill him, which was what his bully seemed to be trying to do, the odds that anyone would find his body were incredibly slim.
And that was when it hit him. This was no longer just a fight between him and a school bully. This was a life and death battle, and considering how much he loved his life, his family, and his friends, he wanted to make sure he lived through this battle no matter what he had to do.
So he did what he had to do. He did not want to do it; he did not want to do it at all, but he knew in his heart that there was only one way he could make sure he could live and be with the ones he loved once again.
The boy created an arrow of ice in his hand as quickly as he could, and Rodney watched in surprise as Bandit quickly raised his fist and thrust the arrow towards the leg he had on Bandit's head. Rodney saw the attack coming, but he was too slow to pull his foot away, and he screamed in pain when Bandit stabbed him in the leg with the arrow.
He reached for his leg as he tumbled to the ground, while Bandit stood up as quickly as he could. Truly terrified that, somehow, someway, Rodney would try to kill him if he had the chance, he quickly created two arrows of ice, one in each hand, and raised them over Rodney's head. Rodney screamed in fear when he realized what Bandit was about to do, but he was in no position to save himself.
Bandit stabbed Rodney in the nose with one arrow, and stabbed him in the mouth with the other. He did not stop there, though. He was sincerely horrified by the thought of Rodney pressing his foot down against his skull again, so he yanked both arrows out of Rodney's face, and proceeded to stab Rodney's face yet again. He screamed in terror as he continuously stabbed Rodney in the face, and every time he yanked the arrows from Rodney's face, Rodney's blood splattered on his face and clothing.
He stabbed him ten times, but he did not stop.
He stabbed him twenty times, but he still did not stop.
He stabbed him thirty times, but he was not even close to stopping.
He had never been more afraid of anything or anyone in his entire life, and the only thing that ran through his mind was making sure Rodney could never get up and hurt him ever again.
"Bandit!" a voice suddenly yelled.
Scared that the person calling his name was yet another bully who had come to try to kill him, Bandit immediately threw one of his arrows in the direction of the voice. When he looked up to see who it was, however, he saw that it was his older brother who had called him. Thankfully, his brother had been fast enough to dodge the arrow he had thrown at him.
As he looked at his precious older brother, tears quickly filled his eyes when he realized just what he had done. He looked down at Rodney's face, and was completely horrified by what he saw.
Red Blood ran over to him as quickly as he could, and wrapped his arms around his brother as tight as he possible could.
"Crim!" cried Bandit, "He was going to-!"
Red placed his hand on the back of his brother's head as he closed his eyes in sadness.
"Oh, Car…" he said, heartbroken by his brother's destroyed innocence, "It's alright… You're alright… I'm here…"
"Crim…" stammered Bandit as he closed his eyes and wept.
Red held his crying little brother for several minutes, before he hid Rodney's mutilated body in some bushes, yanked his little brother's ice arrows from Rodney's leg and face, and carried him home after burying the arrows deep in the ground so no one would ever find evidence of what Bandit had done.
He had wanted so badly to make sure his little brother was strong enough to defend himself from bullies, but now he just wanted to cradle him in his arms, tell him he loved him, and make all of his hurt and pain go away.
Because there is little pain greater than seeing one's little sibling completely destroyed.
September 12, 1854
Thirteen years later, a sweaty, teary-eyed Bandit Lane gritted his teeth as he hissed in pain. His once loving and caring older brother had recently branded him on the chest with the letter 'M', and not long after, Red had decided to punish him a bit more by slashing part of his stomach and chest with a knife, actions that would end up leaving permanent scars upon his body.
Red had left the room for a moment, so he had decided to use the opportunity to continue to stretch out the chains that bound him. He had managed to stretch them out a bit, and would have most assuredly freed himself had he had more time, but before he knew it, Red walked through the door with a bottle of Icelandic rum in hand.
"How are you doing, Car?" he asked as he walked over to his little brother.
Unwilling to make it obvious to Red that he had in fact weakened the chains a bit, Bandit stopped struggling when he saw him, and simply trembled as he averted his eyes from his torturous older brother.
Red sighed as he opened the bottle of rum and took a swig of it.
"My apologies," he said indifferently, "I know I told you before that I…wasn't here to seek vengeance on you…but when Noran told me he had contained you here, I…"
As he looked at the broken demeanor of his younger brother, he realized that he had quite possibly gone too far. He had wanted his little brother to suffer, but the look on Bandit's face reminded him a bit of the way Bandit had looked after killing Rodney, and even though he did not show it, he hated seeing that look on his
brother's face. He gulped in guilt, and slight tears filled his eyes as he averted his eyes from Bandit and put the rum down on the floor beside him.
"I… I'm…."
…sorry…
He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but he could not quite bring himself to actually say it. Just like seven years ago, he wanted to hate his brother, to detest him, to despise his entire being…but he just could not bring himself to look at his brother with that complete and utter hatred, even after everything he thought Bandit had done.
It was a cycle with him. He wanted to kill his emotions so badly because experiencing them made him feel so much worse, but somehow, his emotions always found a way to creep back to the surface. It had been like that for the past seven years, and to his dismay, nothing about that cycle had changed or gone away.
Unwilling to allow himself to think about how much pain and hurt his little brother probably felt, Red tried to make conversation.
"You're tougher than I thought you would be, you know," he began.
A small smile grew on his face, but it was not a smile of malice or an unsettling smirk.
Rather, it was a smile of genuine pride.
"It's no wonder those mercenaries allowed you to join them on that years long mission of theirs," he continued as he looked at his brother from the corner of his eye, "You have shown great courage…power…and conviction…all of which are…very notable qualities… Of course…that's not who you really are on the inside, is it?"
Bandit glared at his older brother as Red continued.
"The entire land looks to you as a hero…but you and I both know that's not what you are."
Bandit gulped as Red knelt down and looked directly into his eyes.
"No…" continued Red, "You and I both know…that you are someone…something…much darker than that… In fact…I think it's safe to say that…you're a bit like me…"
Bandit trembled in insurmountable pain, but after hearing that, he found the strength to look at Red with incredible disgust. He could not believe Red had just compared him to his psychopathic self.
"We both…put on a front for the public eye," said Red, "We do our best to act as close to normal as possible…but the men we really are…"
Bandit closed his eyes as he listened to what he thought was the complete nonsense that flowed out of his brother's mouth.
"…those men are kept hidden deep within ourselves…because we don't want them to reveal themselves to this harsh, judgmental world…"
Red took another swig of his rum before he spoke.
"That's why you try so hard to make yourself look like a hero," he said as he put the rum down beside him, "You can't cope with the evil you've committed, so in order to prevent yourself from thinking you're a piece of shit, you do as much good as you can so others can tell you you're the kind of person you so desperately want to be…a savior…when the reality is…you're the devil."
Bandit blinked back the tears in his eyes as he spoke.
"W-W-Where's the other guy?" he stammered.
Red smiled as he looked at his brother's face.
"There you go again," he said, "Always trying to play the role of the hero… Do not worry… The girl is safe…for now. I told Noran not to do anything to her…because she has a greater role to play in my plans for you. I wouldn't concern yourself with her if I were you. Believe it or not, you are in the more vulnerable position. Here's what is going to happen: you are going to agree to never come after me or my associates ever again. Once you do…I will let you go."
Bandit scoffed before he responded.
"Like hell you are."
"I will," said Red, "I don't want to kill you, Bandit. I need you…alive. I want you to live on…and spend the rest of your days living with the shame I have branded upon your chest."
Bandit scoffed as he shook his head.
"Centuries ago…" he began, "…criminals in the Ice Lands were…branded with the first letter of whatever crime they committed…so that they would live on with the shame of what they'd done for the rest of their life."
Bandit bared his teeth as he looked at Red like a wild animal.
"This 'M' on my chest… It's supposed to stand for murder, right?"
Red blinked rapidly before he responded.
"Yes…"
Bandit trembled in anger as he looked at his older brother furiously.
"You…fucking…shit," he spat, "Everyone I ever murdered…had to die…so that innocent people could live… But this 'M' isn't meant to stand for the murder of all of those people…is it?"
Red averted his eyes from Bandit as he responded.
"No…"
Bandit glared at his brother as he clenched his fists tighter than he ever had before.
"You're such a bastard… You tortured me…because of her murder…because I murdered someone you care about…and who cared about you…"
Bandit trembled in immense fury as he began to scream.
"You…little…shit…! Do you have any idea how much I didn't want to kill her? Do you have any idea how much it hurt me, how much it still hurts me, to think about what I did? But I had to do it! I had to kill her! Otherwise, countless other people would have died! She would have killed every single person in the entire land!"
"And how dare you torture me because of that! You're mad because I took the life of someone who gave a damn about you? You've taken the life of countless people who ever gave a damn about you! You were a fucking prodigy growing up! You were the smartest guy in your class, and your skill with your abilities was unparalleled! Everyone in this land praised you, had high hopes for you, and wanted nothing but the best for you, yet here you are, seven years later, and you've taken the lives of over five hundred of those people! Don't even get me started on the people you killed who actually loved you! Our father and Rachel's parents, for example! Then there are the innocent people you killed during the seven years you weren't even here! You murdered nearly every single member of the War clan! Those were all innocent people! Yet I'm the one who's being tortured, and who has been branded with this stupid ass 'M'?"
Red's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at Bandit in shock as he spoke.
"The…War clan…? How…? Wha…? What are you-?"
"Oh, shut up!" yelled Bandit as he shook his head, "Who the fuck else would ever kill off an entire clan of innocent people? Hell, who knows how many more innocent people you've killed? You say the man you really are is hidden deep within yourself. You're so fucking delusional! I've seen that man! I'm very familiar with that man! I know that man even better than I know my fucking name, and let me tell you something, Crim! That so-called man isn't a man at all! That 'man' that you claim is hidden away from the world has always been alive and well! He's an emotionally stunted psychopath who is completely incapable of dealing with loss and who somehow, somehow always thinks of a reason to hurt or kill people!"
Enraged beyond belief, Red punched Bandit across the face, and grabbed him by his neck. His glared at his little brother with immense wrath as he spoke.
"Don't act like you know me!" he demanded.
"Why not?" asked Bandit irritably, "You've been acting like you know me! But the truth is, you don't know me! You don't know me at all! Because if you really knew me, if you really knew the kind of man I am, you would know that you should never…ever…get so close to me."
Red was not the only one of them who was enraged beyond belief. Bandit was absolutely pissed off by the entire situation, and his anger gave him the strength to rip one of his arms free from the chains that bound him.
Red noticed this, but he was too late to do anything about it, and he yelled in pain when Bandit punched him right in the nose and sent him flying several yards away.
Red held his nose as he screamed in pain, while Bandit used the opportunity to completely free himself from his bondage. Now that one of his arms was free, he quickly undid the chains that bound his feet. Afterwards, he stood up and frantically tried to undo the
chains that bound his other arm to the chair.
Come on! he thought, Come on!
He worked as fast as he possibly could to free his left arm from the chains, but he was not fast enough. He could see Red trying to stand up from the corner of his eye, and he knew that he did not get himself free by the time Red stood upright, he would find himself in the same position he had just gotten himself out of.
Desperate to make sure that did not happen, he did something unprecedented. He balled up the fist of the one arm he had freed, and punched the chair several times until it completely broke apart, finally freeing his other arm from the chains that had bound it to the chair.
"If you really knew me," began Red as he stood upright, "You would know that I am not afraid of you. I was weakened the last time we fought, but now, I'm as strong as ever. I am more powerful than you can possibly imagine, and you will give up now if you know what's good for you."