by Max Jager
Red broke his neck in one swift motion, and when Sar's body dropped to the ground, Scarlet watched in horror as Red proceeded to spit on Sar's body.
"Fool…" he said as he looked at Sar uneasily, "Who does he think is going to kill me? I am the most powerful being in this land, and as soon as War tells me what the weapon does…I will become the most powerful person in this world. No one can defeat me…"
"No one."
Out of Time
Red sighed as he buried his face in his hands.
Damn it, Sar… he thought as he closed his eyes and shook his head.
He was doing his best not to show it, but the reality of what he had just done was beginning to sink into his mind, and he did not like the reality of what just happened, not in the slightest.
He slowly pulled his hands from his face, and Scarlet watched as he gritted his teeth and balled up his fists in great anger. He focused his eyes on her, and Scarlet's eyes widened in surprise.
"C… Red…?" she asked as he walked up to her.
The reality of what was going on was sinking into Red's mind faster than he could handle. He was truly distraught that Sar, who he had actually possessed some small measure of respect for, would say such cruel, insensitive things about him, and would betray him the way he did.
To make things worse, he remembered how his own father, another person he had once cared for, had said such things to him before he killed him.
"Hey…" said Scarlet as she looked at her brother, who was now visibly disturbed by what he had done to Sar, "Red…look at me…"
She touched his face, and he looked at her with slight tears in his eyes as she spoke.
"It's gonna be okay," she said tenderly, "Just…take it easy…"
Worried about what he might do to her, his precious little sister, Red slowly backed away from her as he spoke.
"I have to go…"
"Go where?" asked Scarlet, confused.
She had always been able to read Red, but she had never seen him so visibly distraught. He looked as though he truly did not know what to do anymore.
"I…need to go get the Cosmic Sword back."
"Red…you know you can't," she said with concern, "We found that out the hard way, remember? Besides, we don't even know where in the ocean he threw it."
Red looked at her with suspicion as she continued.
"The best thing you can do is go and make sure your men don't leave Virtue," she suggested as he walked up to her.
He raised an eyebrow as he spoke.
"Why?" he asked with rising anger, confusing her, "Why would you suggest I do that? So you can take the weapon for yourself and kill me with it? Or so you can free Abe?"
"What?" she asked as she pushed him back, "Why would I do that, Red? Just…try to calm down…"
"Don't…touch me, Scarlet…" said Red as he closed his eyes and attempted to control himself.
"Okay, Red," she said without letting go of him, "Just take it easy-."
Red suddenly grabbed her neck, and she yelled as he slowly lifted her into the air with both of his hands.
"I said…don't…touch…me!" he asserted as his sister gasped for breath.
He held her in the air for fifteen seconds, and Scarlet groaned as she began to lose consciousness.
She had not wanted to hurt him before, but upon realizing she had no other option, she kicked him in the stomach.
To her surprise, this action of hers actually managed to bring him to his senses a bit, and he let go of her, causing her to fall to the ground with a thud.
He watched as she held her neck and panted heavily, and looked at his hands in shock when he realized that he had just choked his beloved little sister, whom he had taken care of for the past seven years of his life. Upon realizing that he really was beginning to lose his grasp on reality, he began to tremble as he stepped away from her and sat down on a chair.
"I…" he began as he looked at his shaking hand, "…I-I'm sorry, Scar… I-I'm sorry… I-I-I don't know what came over me…"
Scarlet slowly stood up as she spoke to him.
"It's…alright, Red…" she began, "…It's not you… It's your mental illness… It's getting worse…"
"Why…is this…happening…?" he asked, frightened by his actions towards her, "Why now…?"
"I'm not sure," replied Scarlet as she placed her tender hands on his cheeks, "You told me before Dad treated you in a similar way the last time you saw him… It's possible that…Sar's words triggered something…unstable…within you… I really…don't know, Crim…but I do know one thing, Red… You are not alone…"
Red looked at his sister with guilt and pain, and closed his eyes as she kissed his forehead.
"Listen to me, Red…" she began as he looked away from her, ashamed of what he had almost done to her, "Go outside, get your men back to their posts, and come back here so we can think of a plan to deal with Bandit once and for all."
Red looked at his sister for a moment, and as he looked at the strength in her eyes, he realized that he could trust her, and nodded his head as he stood up and walked towards the door.
"I'll…be back…" he said without looking at her.
"I'll be waiting," she said as she watched him leave the room.
Scarlet closed her eyes and took a deep breath, when she suddenly heard a noise. She quickly opened her eyes, and saw her brother standing before her, but not the one who just left. No, the one who stood before her was…
…her other brother.
"Scarlet…" said Bandit as he looked at his sister in awe.
He had not seen her in seven years, and he could not believe how much she had grown, how beautiful and mature looking she had become.
Scarlet looked at him in complete shock, but a smile slowly grew on her face as she walked towards him.
"C…C… Bandit…!"
She practically jumped on him, and closed her eyes as she gave him a warm embrace.
Tears began to form in both of their eyes, and he smiled even more when she kissed him on the cheek.
He had dreamed for years of seeing her again, of hugging her again, and now he finally could.
"I… I missed you…so much…" she said sadly.
Bandit effectively returned her embrace as he responded.
"Believe me, Scarlet…" he began tearfully, "…You were in my thoughts…every day…"
Her eyelids fluttered in happiness as she hugged her brother even tighter, and a tear ran down both of their cheeks as they silently reconnected.
Seven years without seeing each other had been far too long for both of them, and now, neither of them wanted this moment to end, for in that moment, it was almost like they had no worries or troubles at all. It was just…
…them…
Sadly, they both knew that their moment could not last forever.
"You're a hero," said Scarlet as she looked into her brother's eyes.
Bandit blushed slightly, for he had never imagined that his sister would call him that after…what happened all those years ago. But then he realized…
…Red may not have actually told her what happened.
Realizing this possibility, he awkwardly cleared his throat before he spoke.
"I… Uh… Thank you, Scarlet…"
They let go of each other before he spoke.
"Where's Red?" he asked.
"He went outside to keep his men from leaving the city," replied Scarlet, "Listen…I'm glad I finally got to see you, but…I don't think Red will be as sentimental…"
"I know…" sighed Bandit, "but I want to talk to him anyway… I need to talk to him… He's my brother…and…even after everything we've been through…I…I want to…I want to help him…save him…from the darkness in his heart… I can't let him continue to go down this path…"
"I feel the same," said Scarlet, "which is why…I'm going to free Abe."
To her surprise, Bandit speechlessly looked at her in confusion for several seconds.
"…Huh
…?"
"Isn't he the reason you came here…?" she asked, confused by his reaction.
Bandit blinked several times before he responded.
"Wait a minute… Abe's…here…?"
His eyes widened in surprise as she nodded her head.
"Well, what the hell is he doing here?"
Scarlet raised her eyebrow as she spoke.
"You…didn't know…?"
"No!" he exclaimed, "I came here to talk to you and Red! Why is Abe here?"
"Red…captured him," she said, "I… I thought you knew…"
Bandit buried his face in his hands for a few seconds, and shook his head before he spoke.
"Scarlet…why is Abe here?"
"Red has a weapon the War family created, and he captured Abe so Abe could tell him what it does."
Bandit furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about her words.
"Abe…isn't going to tell Red anything," he said.
"I know," said Scarlet, "That's why…Red had him…"
Scarlet looked at him without finishing her sentence, and he looked at her in confusion as a result.
"What?" he asked, "Had him…?"
Scarlet raised her eyebrow, and after a few seconds of thinking, Bandit's eyes widened when he realized what she was trying to avoid saying.
"Really?" he asked in disbelief, "Torture? He had Abe tortured?"
He sucked his teeth as he ran his hands through his hair.
What the hell? Red… He really is out of his damn mind…
"Scarlet," he began, "We need to go get Abe right now."
"I know," she said as she grabbed his hand and began to pull him towards the door, "Follow me."
Outside, Red's men were almost at the main gate, when a bolt of lightning suddenly rained down in the area right in front of it.
"Whoa!" one of them yelled in shock.
"What the…?" exclaimed another.
"Where did that come from?" asked a third, "It's not even cloudy!"
The men frantically spoke amongst themselves, when Red suddenly appeared in front of the main gate and pointed both of his index fingers at them.
"Here's the deal!" he yelled as they looked at him in shock and awe, "You lot are not going anywhere! I don't know who told you that you could leave, but you can't! Take one more step, and I promise you, I will put you all down!"
All of his men stopped in their tracks and looked at him in terror as he continued.
"Now tell me…"
"...who told you that you could leave?"
Abe looked up to see his mother frozen in place as the man positioned himself behind her.
"Close your eyes, kid…" sighed the red-haired man as he knelt down and put Mila in a chokehold, just as he had done to her other son.
"No…" begged a broken Abe as he shook his head.
He watched as the man tightened his grip on Mila's neck…
"No…"
…he watched as the man looked away from him…
"No…!"
…and he watched as the man took the life of the last person in the world he had truly loved.
"No!"
Abe's eyes widened when he suddenly awoke from his nightmare. Unlike before, where he restrained himself from screaming out his mother's name, he uncontrollably screamed her name this time as tears fell from his eyes.
God! he thought as he slowly sat up, Can't I go one week without having this nightmare?
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down, when the door to his prison suddenly opened.
He looked towards the door in surprise, but found relief when he saw that it was Bandit, along with some redheaded woman he had never seen before, but who looked vaguely familiar.
"Bandit!" he whispered.
"I'm here," said Bandit reassuringly, "I'll get you out of here."
Scarlet looked at a hook positioned a few yards away from Abe's cell. She had expected to see something on it, but there was nothing there.
"Oh, damn it!" she exclaimed, "The key isn't here!"
"Keep your voice down," suggested Bandit worriedly, "and don't panic. We don't need a key."
Bandit grabbed the bars of the cell that imprisoned Abe, and grunted as he slowly began to pull them apart.
"Whoa…" said Scarlet, surprised at just how much stronger her brother had become over the course of seven years.
"Now isn't the time to be impressed," said Bandit as he continued to push the bars apart.
He continued to pull the bars farther apart until he created a hole large enough for Abe to climb through, but Abe shook his head as he spoke.
"Sorry, Bandit, you'll have to pull the bars far enough apart so I can walk through them," he said, "I won't be able to climb through that hole without experiencing massive pain."
Bandit grabbed hold of the bars once again, and grunted as he began to pull them even farther apart.
"You have to hurry," whispered Scarlet as she watched the door to the room, "It's over if Red comes back and sees this."
"I'm…doing…what…I…can…" said Bandit as he gritted his teeth.
After thirty more seconds of pulling, he finally managed to create an opening large enough for Abe to walk through.
"Can you walk okay?" he asked as he watched Abe stand up.
"Not particularly…" said Abe as he hobbled towards the opening, "You'll have to support me on our way out."
Abe went through the opening, and grunted in pain as he put one of his hands on Bandit's shoulder.
"Just get on my back," suggested Bandit, "It'll be easier for me to get us out of here that way."
Abe looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she spoke.
"On your…back?" he repeated, appalled by the idea.
Bandit sighed as he gave Abe a look that told him this was not the time to be embarrassed. Abe took a deep breath as he reluctantly climbed onto Bandit's back, and Bandit and Scarlet quickly made their way to the door.
"There's a secret tunnel you guys can go through so no one sees you escape the compound," said Scarlet, "It's in the room adjacent to this one. I'll show it to you."
The three quickly went out of the prison room, but as soon as they set foot in the hallway, they stopped in their tracks.
Red and a few of his men stood before them, and Red gave them the most intimidating scowl they had ever seen. He was not happy to see Abe out of his cell, he was even less happy to see his younger brother, and he was not at all happy to see that his sister, despite the kind words she had spoken to him earlier, had appeared to betray him.
Scarlet backed away in shock as Red glared at her.
"…And to think I trusted you…" he said with a raised eyebrow.
Bandit scanned Red's body, and noticed that he had a golden longsword strapped to his waist.
The same golden longsword Zor had used against him in Vast Expanse.
That golden longsword.
Red took notice of where Bandit's attention was directed, and slowly pulled the sword out of its sheath as he looked him in the eye.
"What are you looking at, Car?" he asked mockingly as he pointed the sword at his chest, "This?"
Red looked at him indifferently, while Bandit gave him the sternest look in the world.
…Shit…
The Truth
Moments later, a bleeding Bandit Lane, Abe War, and Scarlet Blood were back in the prison room, the place they had just tried to escape from. The men that had been with Red when the two groups had met in the hallway watched silently as Bandit and Scarlet helplessly hovered in the air. They had no idea how Red was doing it, or when he learned to use such power, but they stayed quiet all the same. Red was already in the most horrible mood possible, and they most certainly did not want to incur his wrath.