by Max Jager
"I don't give a shit what you have to say," said Bandit as he cracked his knuckles, "All I know is…"
He balled up his fists as he charged as his older brother.
"I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Not Fast Enough
Red looked at his little brother indifferently as he crossed his arms.
Fool, he thought, Does he really think he can keep up with my speed?
Bandit tried to punch him in the face, but Red swiftly ducked to evade the punch.
Having effortlessly dodge his brother's blow, Red thought he was fast enough to strike Bandit in the stomach, but was surprised to see Bandit's knee move towards his face.
He's fast, he thought, but…
He swerved to the side to avoid Bandit's blow, and quickly pointed his finger at him.
…now it's over!
He was about to fire a bolt of lightning from his fingertip and end their battle in the blink of an eye, but something completely unexpected happened next.
He had swerved to the side and pointed his finger at Bandit almost at the speed of sound, yet before he knew it, Bandit's fist slammed right into his face, and he grunted in pain as he was sent flying across the room.
He hit the wall so hard he crashed right through it, and Bandit cracked his neck as he watched Red slowly stand up.
It's a good thing Noran isn't here, thought Bandit, Not only is he actually stronger than both Red and myself, but he actually seems to have a lot of martial arts training, not to mention many more years of experience than both of us. If he was here, this fight would be over before it even began.
Bleeding from his nose, Red grunted as he looked at Bandit angrily from the corner of his eye.
"I don't give a shit how powerful you think you are," said Bandit, "I don't have time to fight with you. Just tell me where the girl is!"
Once he stood upright, Red wiped the blood from his nose as he spoke.
"You are really trying my patience…" he said with rising anger.
Bandit balled up his fists as he yelled.
"Well that's just too damn bad! Now, tell me where the girl is! Now!"
He has clearly been training ever since we fought, thought Red, Noran was right. He's so fast, and he's not even concentrating the Manna within his body for a boost of power. I underestimated him. But…
He suddenly disappeared from Bandit's sight, and reappeared right behind him just as quickly.
…that won't happen again!
Bandit sensed that Red was behind him, and quickly turned around to punch him in the face. As soon as he turned around, however, he saw that Red was pointing his finger right at his head. Red fired a bolt of lightning at him from his fingertip, and Bandit yelled as he narrowly managed to dodge it by swerving to the side.
Red did not give him the freedom to plan his next move, though. He immediately pointed his finger at his brother again, and Bandit yelled once more as he ducked and barely evaded another lightning bolt Red fired at him.
Red blurred at him, and tried to punch him in the face, but Bandit quickly swerved to the side, and shot several needles of ice from his fingertips and at Red. Red performed a backflip to dodge the needles, however, and blurred up to Bandit with the intention of kicking him in the stomach.
Bandit jumped back as quickly as he could to avoid the kick, and they both jumped forward and threw a punch at each other. Their punches collided, and when they did, the collision produced a small shockwave. Red glared at him, and Bandit yelled as they tried to punch each other again. Their blows clashed once again, however, and a shockwave was produced like before.
The two quickly jumped away from each other, and panted heavily in order to catch their breath. Red's nose still throbbed in pain, while Bandit's cumulative injuries were starting to wear down on him.
Damn it! he thought, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!
He groaned as he held his ribs in pain, and fell to his knees as he felt a sudden wave of pain radiate throughout his entire body.
Shit!
"You put up a good fight," said Red, "You were beaten and tortured, yet you somehow still had the ability to keep up with me. I'll admit it… I'm impressed."
"Don't be," spat Bandit as he looked up at his older brother irritably, "I'm just getting warmed up."
Red suddenly disappeared from where he stood, and Bandit gritted his teeth as soon as he did so.
Here we go again!
Red suddenly reappeared right behind him, and tried to knock him out with a blow to the head, but Bandit quickly jumped forward to dodge his attack. He created a spear of ice just as quickly, and grunted as he threw it at Red before he even landed on the ground. Unfortunately, Red evaded the spear by performing a somersault, and quickly disappeared from where he stood.
Bandit gritted his teeth as he landed on the ground. He could not see Red, but he could hear his incredibly rapid footsteps.
He's so fucking fast!
Red suddenly reappeared right in front of him, and grunted as he tried to punch Bandit in the face. Bandit quickly swerved to the side to dodge the punch, but as soon as he did so, Red disappeared once again, and reappeared right behind him. Despite his brother's unparalleled speed, Bandit managed to avoid the lightning bolt his brother fired at the back of his head by ducking, and yelled as he turned around and tried to punch him in the stomach.
Red parried his punch, but Bandit proceeded to try to punch him over and over again, forcing Red to parry punch after punch.
His punches are getting faster by the second! he thought after ten seconds of parrying Bandit's punches, This needs to end! I have to end this right now!
When Bandit threw his fortieth punch, Red grunted as he caught his brother's fist in his left hand, and pointed his finger at Bandit's head with his right hand. As soon as he fired a bolt of lightning from his finger, however, Bandit shoved his hand away from his face, causing the bolt of lightning initially meant for his head to hit the wall behind him.
He yanked his fist from Red's grasp, and jumped back in order to gain some distance between them.
Red grunted as he looked at his brother irritably.
He redirected my lightning bolt attack! He's keeping up with me so easily!
Bandit simply glared at him as Red nervously gritted his teeth.
How could he become this…good in just a month? Was he training every day and night?
Bandit cracked his knuckles as he looked at his brother.
Shit, he thought, It looks like I'm gonna have to use that. I didn't want to have to do this because my body can't handle this level of Manna concentration quite yet…but…my body isn't the most important thing right now. I still have to save that girl…which means…
…I have no choice but to kick things up a notch!
He cracked his neck as he glared at his brother angrily.
I will not allow anyone else to die!
An icy blue aura gradually began to envelop his body, and Red gritted his teeth as he watched Bandit encase his arms and upper body in ice.
Shit! he thought, Now he's gonna concentrate his Manna? He was already so strong before doing that. How strong is he gonna be now?
"You're…finished," said Bandit gruffly.
Red scoffed before he spoke.
"What did you say? Don't say stupid shit like that, you idiot!"
Bandit shook his head as he balled up his fists.
"Prepare yourself, Red…because I'm about to kick your ass all over the place!"
"Shut up!"
"Make me!"
Red suddenly disappeared, and reappeared right behind Bandit in an instant, but before he could strike Bandit, Bandit instantly turned around and kicked him in the face, sending him crashing through the wall and outside of the building itself.
The men who Noran had positioned outside the compound gasped in shock at the sound Red's body made when he crashed through the wall, and they turned to look in the direction of the sound. They all gasped when they
saw Red lying on the ground, blood running down his face.
"What the…?" began one man.
"Is that…?"
"It is!"
"It's Red!"
"He's bleeding! He's actually bleeding!"
"What the hell is going on?"
Red grunted as he stood up as quickly as he possibly could, and groaned as he held his head.
Shit…! He…knocked me right through the wall again… Bandit!
He looked through the hole in the wall to see Bandit, but when he did, he gasped in shock, for there was no one in the room.
What the…? Where did he…?
He grunted in pain when Bandit suddenly reappeared right in front of him and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying fifteen yards away.
Red stood up as quickly as he could, but Bandit knocked him down with another kick to the head, before he immediately jumped back to gain some distance between them.
Red slowly raised his head to look at Bandit, but once again, when he looked in the direction he thought Bandit was, Bandit was nowhere to be found.
Impossible! Now, he's moving so fast I can't even see him! I can't even hear his footsteps!
Bandit suddenly reappeared behind him, and Red yelled when his brother kicked him in the head yet again, knocking him thirty-five yards away. Red managed to land on his feet this time, but before he could even begin to plan his next course of action, Bandit suddenly reappeared in front of him, and punched him in the stomach so hard, he went flying into the air.
Bandit was not finished yet, though.
He jumped into the air after his brother, and Red yelled in pain when Bandit punched him in the face so hard, he went flying a quarter of a mile into the air.
Red was in so much pain at this point. No one had ever managed to injure him so badly, and in such a short amount of time.
Unfortunately for him, his torment was still not quite over.
Before he knew it, Bandit reappeared directly above his head, and Bandit yelled as he punched Red in the face so quickly and with such force, a crater was created as soon as Red crashed to the ground.
Bleeding all over his head, Red gritted his teeth and trembled massively as he tried to stand up.
Damn it…! How…?
How the hell can this be happening?
He raised his head to see if he could identify where Bandit was, but as soon as he did so, Bandit suddenly appeared before him and punched him in the face, sending him flying sixty yards away.
Red managed to land on his feet, but now he was more scared than he had ever been in his entire life.
So…much…power…! He might even be moving at the speed of sound! This is impossible! No one can become so strong in just a month of training, no matter how much one trains! What is he? Just what kind of monster is he?
Bandit suddenly reappeared before him, and Red looked at him in shock, surprised that Bandit had actually stopped moving and was making himself visible to him. He quickly pointed his finger at Bandit, but before he could even try to fire a lightning bolt at him, Bandit suddenly appeared inches away from him, and he grunted when Bandit punched him in the face.
"Wait!" he yelled as he put his hand up to stop Bandit from attacking him again, "Car, sto-!"
Bandit had absolutely no interest in hearing anything Red had to say, however, so he punched him in the throat midsentence, causing him to hold his throat in pain.
"I…never wanted to fight you," said Bandit sternly.
Red scoffed before he spoke.
"Really?" he asked tiredly, "I…never would have known…"
He groaned in pain as he rubbed his throat, for Bandit had punched it pretty hard.
"You…almost fractured my larynx…"
Bandit furrowed his eyebrows as he looked into his brother's eyes with slight sadness.
"Please, Red" continued Bandit, ignoring his brother's complaint, "Let me be there for you… I… I'm…sorry I did what I did…but…Red…I want to make things right…"
Red frowned with deep, immeasurable anger, but after several seconds, he smiled slightly as he shook his head.
"You…just don't listen…do you? I told you this before… What was it I said…? 'You'll give up now if you know what's good for you'."
A shot was suddenly fired in the area, and Bandit's eyes widened as he screamed in pain. He felt immense pain in his leg, and Red watched as his brother fell to his knees. He looked up ahead to see what happened, and saw that one of Noran's men held a hunting rifle, and had it pointed at Bandit.
Realizing that his brother had just been shot in the leg, Red put his hand up as he spoke to the man.
"Enough," he commanded, "That's enough…"
Bandit groaned in pain as the icy blue aura that surrounded his body slowly disappeared, and Red knelt beside his brother's head as Bandit spoke.
"Don't…do this…Red…"
Red wiped some blood off his face as he spoke.
"Don't…do what, Car? Kill you? Like you killed her?"
Bandit gritted his teeth as he shook his head, and Red looked into his brother's eyes as he continued.
"Don't worry, Car… I won't kill you…"
Bandit closed his eyes as he sighed in relief, but while he did so, Red balled up his fist and punched him hard in his temple, knocking him out.
"But just because I won't kill you…"
"…doesn't mean I won't make you suffer."
Through the Gates of Hell
"You put up a good fight, Bandit, but…but in the end…I am the victor of this battle… Goodbye, Car… We won't be seeing each other again."
Red threw his ball of lightning right at Bandit, and Bandit closed his eyes, unwilling to watch the source of his demise fall upon him.
Bandit braced himself for Red's final blow, but after fifteen seconds of doing so, he noticed something strange.
He was still alive.
He groaned as he slowly raised his head to see what was going on in front of him, and noticed that Red was flat on his stomach, having doubled over from the pain of using that last attack.
Before Bandit could think more about what had happened to his brother, he noticed a pair of legs standing before him.
The person standing in front of him grunted in pain before they spoke.
"Bandit…" she said, "…Are you… Are you…alright…?"
Bandit slowly looked up to see who was speaking to him, and his eyes widened when he saw that the woman was an adult female with ruby red hair.
"…R… Ruby…?" he asked, surprised by her presence, for the last time he had seen her, she had been unconscious, "Wha…? What are you…doing here…? Red's down… Did you…? How did you…?"
He gasped when he noticed that there was blood in her hair, and gritted his teeth nervously as he looked down at her abdomen.
His eyes widened with inconceivable shock when he realized that her upper body had blood all over it, and when he looked down at the ground, he gasped when he saw that she was standing in a large and growing pool of blood.
He looked at her in complete horror as she slowly turned around to face him, revealing that Red's lightning attack had singed most of her shirt, and had given her horrible third degree burns all over her upper body.
His heart skipped a beat when he fully realized that she had protected him from Red's attack by stepping in front of him and allowing it to strike her with all its fury.
Ruby grunted as blood dripped from her mouth, and panted weakly as she looked at her son with eyes slowly losing their life.
Bandit yelled in pain when he was suddenly slapped awake by a strong, rugged hand, and he panted heavily as he looked left and right. He saw that he was in a dark room that had only a single light bulb as its source of light, in addition to a single window positioned on the left side of the room, and his eyes widened when he saw the woman Wake Noran had abducted lying a few feet away from where he sat. His eyes widened even more when he saw Wake Noran standing in one of the dark corne
rs of the room.
"It's about time you woke up, kid," he said as he walked towards him, "I can't have you dying on me just yet."