by Max Jager
He was surprised, for despite the beating Rachel had given him in her monstrous state, he looked completely fine.
H… How…? How is he unhurt…? She sent him…flying out of the land itself… How…? How is he even alive…?
What Bandit did not realize was that when Rachel had sent Red flying out of the land, he had landed in the Desert Sands, where he wandered on the verge of death for quite some time before he fell into an underground temple, and incidentally stumbled upon something he had desired to obtain years ago…
…something he had killed all but one member of the War clan for…
something…so remarkably powerful…
…it provided him with a heightened ability to use Manna, making him seemingly all-powerful.
The Manna Ascending.
Bandit gritted his teeth as he looked at Rachel, who looked at him with absolute terror.
He could tell that Red had beaten her half to death, for she had bruises all over her body.
"Yes…" said Red, "Now…we can begin."
"I know I betrayed you…" began Bandit, "I killed our mother…and that is something…completely unforgivable… You have every right to be angry with me…but only me…not her… Let her go, Red… She has nothing to do with this."
Red's nose flared intensely as he glared at Bandit furiously.
"She has nothing to do with this?" he asked with rising anger, "She has nothing to do with this? She has everything to do with this! She is the reason you killed our mother! Don't you understand?"
Bandit remained silent, and gulped nervously as his brother continued.
"Bandit…I understand why you killed our mother…but why? Why the hell…did you kill her for Rachel?"
Furious, he threw Rachel to the ground, and pointed his index finger at her as he spoke.
"After everything our mother did for us…did for you… All the meals she made…the bruises she tended to…the love and warmth she provided us…!"
Bandit closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he bitterly remembered all that his mother had done for him.
"I understand…" continued Red, "…that she wanted you to kill her, that she wanted you to save Rachel, but if it had been me, I would have done everything in my power to save our mother, regardless of whatever she intended to do! But you… You put her down, you took her out, you put Rachel's safety above our mother's well-being and murdered her! How do you live with yourself?"
Bandit shook his head, and opened his eyes before he spoke.
"You say you understand," he said as he balled up his fists, "but you don't… Not even a little."
"What?" asked Red seriously, "What don't I understand? Tell me. You think you can justify our mother's murder? You think Rachel's life is more important than hers was?"
"No!" yelled Bandit angrily, "Damn it, Red! No… I don't think that… I know I can't completely justify my actions…but I also know how much our mother cared for Rachel. She loved her just as much as she loved Scarlet, her own daughter."
Slight tears filled Rachel's eyes as she remembered just how much Bandit's mother had cared for her.
"If I had allowed our mother to kill her… If I had allowed our mother to harm someone she loved as though she was her own daughter…it would have dishonored her name…and her memory."
Red looked at Bandit bitterly as he spoke.
"Why…? I would have killed our mother in a heartbeat if she had threatened to take you or Scarlet's life, make no mistake…but Rachel's… Rachel...is not one of us…and she never was…so I don't see how you can be okay with choosing her life over our mother's… Tell me something, Bandit…if you found yourself in that position all over again…if you found yourself in the position where you had to choose between your family and Rachel…"
"…who would you choose?"
Bandit remained silent, but Red got his answer when Bandit shook his head as he looked down at the floor.
Heartbroken, Red gritted his teeth in sadness as he looked at Bandit bitterly.
"Fine," he said as he closed his eyes, "If that's how it is…"
Red fired a bolt of lightning from his fingertip at Rachel, and Rachel screamed in pain when she was electrocuted.
Bandit's eyes widened in fear, and he was about to run to her when Red pointed his other index finger at him.
"I wouldn't be so quick to act if I were you," suggested Red with a voice filled with hatred, "This is how it all started… With Rachel, you, and your family…"
"And this is how it's all going to end."
Bandit looked at Red in confusion as he continued.
"I already told you…that I cannot and will not allow Rachel to live. Her inner power presents too much of a threat to me. Here's the thing, Car… I'm going to kill her no matter what…but I want to see what you do."
"You have three options. The first is that you can stand there and watch me kill her."
Rachel gulped as she looked at him in horror.
Bandit gritted his teeth in anger as he balled up his fists.
"I won't-!"
"The second…" interrupted Red, "is that you can kill her with your own hands. If you do…I will never fight with you again, and I will provide you with anything and everything you could possibly want in this world using my godly power."
Bandit trembled in anger as he glared at his psychotic older brother.
"What the hell?" he yelled, "There's no way I would-!"
Lastly," interrupted Red yet again, "your third and final option…is that you can try to stop me from killing her, but I suggest you keep something in mind, Car… When you fail to save her, I will kill her…and when her body lies dead in your arms…and when her blood spills all over this floor…I will kill you, and then I will proceed to destroy every single person and thing in this world that you ever loved…including our little sister."
Slight tears filled Rachel's eyes when she realized just how far gone Red had become, and when she realized that, regardless of what Bandit decided, she would die in all three scenarios.
Bandit looked at his older brother with complete and utter sadness.
He could not believe, and never could have imagined, that his brother, his own brother, would ever threaten him in such a way.
He shook his head in insurmountable astonishment, and slight tears filled his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Why…?" he asked sadly, "Why would you…ever…do that…?"
Red cracked his neck and looked at Bandit with more indifference than he had ever looked at anyone before he responded with the three most powerful words Bandit would ever hear him say.
"I hate you."
Saddened beyond belief, Bandit remained silent as he closed his eyes and shook his head, and Red watched apathetically as tears ran down his little brother's cheeks.
Bandit could not believe how cruel and insane his brother had become, how far he had fallen into the depths of darkness, and how much it hurt him to hear those three words come out of his older brother's mouth.
But after a moment of silence, he slowly created a spear of ice, and Rachel's eyes widened in complete surprise and disbelief when he took aim at her.
She was completely and utterly shocked by his actions, but upon realizing something, something in particular, she took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, internally accepting whatever would happen next.
Bandit gritted his teeth as he hurled the spear at Rachel, and Red watched as it flew at her with great speed.
Yes… he thought as he lowered both of his hands, I have only dreamed of this moment for so long… Finally…he makes the right choice…and puts his relationship with his family over her… Finally…
…this is the end of it all…!
The spear came within inches of Rachel's face when suddenly, two hands took hold of it, and kept it from impaling her.
Instead, the man who possessed the hands, Bandit Lane, who was enveloped in an icy blue aura, swung the spear around and struck Red across the face wit
h it so hard; he went flying across the room.
Red hit the wall with a thud, and grunted in only slight pain.
He had been so focused on the spear; he had paid absolutely no attention to Bandit himself.
Rachel sighed in relief upon realizing she had not met her maker, and quickly looked up at Bandit.
She gasped when she saw what Bandit had done, not to Red, but to himself.
Red grunted in anger as he looked up at his little brother, and like Rachel, he gasped in shock when he saw what Bandit had done to himself.
Not long ago, Red apprehended Abe because he wanted Abe to tell him the function of a crystal weapon the War family had created long ago. He had kept the weapon on his person during that entire day, but when Rachel attacked him that day, the weapon had fallen out of his pocket, and had remained in the Ice Lands when she sent him flying to the Desert Sands. Red had not known what had happened to the weapon, but now…
…it was in Bandit's hand, and Bandit had jammed the sharp end of the glowing, mystical crystal into his chest.
Shit! thought Red, Don't tell me…!
As the energy in the crystal quickly flowed into Bandit's body, Bandit yelled as the veins in his head and neck bulged. He gritted his teeth and screamed as his body began to glow with multi-colored energy, and Rachel gasped when she quickly began to notice a change in her body.
What the…? My Manna… It's…vanishing…! What is going on?
The ground beneath his feet began to shake, and both Red and Rachel looked around in shock as the building shook.
Bandit's eyes began to glow dark red, and he screamed in pain as he yanked the weapon out of his chest.
"Are you out of your mind?" exclaimed Rachel fearfully, "You don't know what that thing is going to do to you! Why the hell would you do that?"
Bandit was too busy screaming to respond, and had begun sweating massively.
Red looked at his little brother indifferently as he spoke.
"Fool… You're clever…but you're a fool nonetheless. With that action…you've just sealed the fate of everything and everyone you love."
Despite his threat, however, Red was surprised when he saw ice begin to cover Bandit's entire body. He gasped and sweated as he watched his little brother glare at him with a more powerful intent to kill than he had ever seen in his entire life. His eyes widened in surprise when, like Rachel, he began to feel the immense power of his own Manna decrease, and gritted his teeth when he realized just what the hell was happening.
That weapon…! It's draining the Manna of all of the people in the entire world…into him…! All of that power…is forcing itself into his body! With power like that…he is now the only person capable of defeating me! I'll have to defeat him fast in order to make the effects of the weapon cease. Otherwise…
…he'll drain all of the Manna the Manna Ascending has provided me from my body, making him the only person in the world with power!
He gritted his teeth in anger as he charged at Bandit, but Bandit blurred at him, and mercilessly punched him in the face so hard, he went flying right out of the house.
Damn it! he thought as he grunted in pain.
Bandit cracked his knuckles as he spoke to Rachel, who was still looking at him with complete shock.
"Stay here, Rachel," he said without looking at her, "I don't need you getting caught in the middle of this."
Rachel looked at Bandit with concern as she furrowed her eyebrows.
"What are you going to do…?" she asked, knowing how much he had regretted not settling things with his brother when he thought Red was dead.
Bandit remained silent, however, and proceeded to blur out of the house and after his older brother.
The ultimate battle had finally begun, and unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the fate of the world rested entirely on the victor. The only question was…
…who would it be?
All Because of You
In a small room in the mercenary guild, Bandit and his friends stood in a circle as they spoke.
"He has Rachel," he said through gritted teeth, "I don't have a choice to but face him one last time."
"We have to help you," said Mary with great concern.
"No, Red was very clear. If I don't go alone…he'll kill Rachel in the most unimaginable way possible."
"You have no way of facing him," asserted Brayne anxiously, "His power is comparable to that of a god's. You don't stand a cha-."
"I know that!" yelled Bandit with frustration.
He buried his face in his hands as he spoke.
"I know that…but what else am I supposed to do?"
Brayne looked at Bandit sympathetically as he continued.
"Every time we've faced off, he has found a way to defeat me! I can't beat him, I can't capture him, and I can't even begin to know how on Earth I'm supposed to get Rachel away from him, but I don't have a choice, damn it! I can't do anything to him, but I have no choice but to do what he says!"
Bandit sighed in exasperation, massively stressed by the present situation.
Abe closed his eyes and shook his head, attracting the attention of the others.
"What?" asked Bandit hopelessly as he shrugged his shoulders.
Abe took a deep breath and sighed before he spoke.
"You don't stand a ghost of a chance of beating Red," he said matter-of-factly, "If you fight him…you will die… That is…if what I'm about to give you doesn't kill you first."
Confused, Bandit and the others watched as Abe brought a vermillion crystal out of his pocket.
The same vermillion crystal that possessed power so unknown, Red tortured him for information about it.
That vermillion crystal.
"This…" began Abe, "is the Manna World…a powerful weapon capable of extracting all of the Manna in the entire world and condensing it into a single vessel. Upon doing so, it sends out a signal that will deactivate the power genes of everyone on the planet, effectively robbing all of humanity of the ability to use Manna."
Bandit and the others gasped in surprise as he continued.
"Not too long ago, the War family created this device with the hopes of defeating the United Army in the Great War. Taking away their power would have ensured their victory. However, before the family had the chance to use it, the Treaty of Boocs was developed, rendering the weapon unnecessary. Despite that, however, members of the War family were ostracized by the rest of Twilight Valley after the war because people feared their power. Hurt and upset, certain members of the War family began secretly planning a coup, and intended to use the weapon to control the land, along with the rest of the world. Knowing just how dangerous it would be for anyone to become so powerful, and realizing that such a weapon should never have been created for any reason whatsoever, my grandfather hid the weapon away so no one would ever find it… Unfortunately…it would seem…someone did…"
Abe handed the Manna World to Bandit as he continued to speak.
"This…is the only thing that would enable you to save Rachel," he said, "This…is the only weapon that would allow you to save this world from Red's wrath…but…considering what happened to Rachel when she transformed back then…if your body absorbs all of that Manna…"
Bandit's mouth opened in slight surprise as he looked down at the floor.
"…I'll…die…"
"That's not a guarantee," said Abe, "The truth is…I don't know what could happen to you. It's not like the weapon was designed to kill the vessel. It all depends on the person… You could die…you could live…or you could end up in a coma… The thing is, Bandit…this device will give you divine power…but it may come at a terrible cost…"
Bandit looked at one of the most powerful weapons in the entire universe sullenly as he spoke.
"He wants to kill Rachel…" he said with anguish as he gripped the weapon tight, "He has left me no choice…"
"I have to use this… I have to end this once and for all…"
Bandit balled u
p his fists as he flew towards Red, and grunted as he punched him across the face with such a powerful blow, Red grunted in pain as he was sent flying far away.
In the mercenary guild, Thea looked at Bandit emotionally before she embraced him.
"Good luck, Bandit," she said as she squeezed him tight.
Bandit smiled a small smile as he silently returned her embrace.