by Max Jager
He gritted his teeth, and watched as his little brother charged at him with incredible ferocity, more ferocity than he had ever seen in his brother's face. Bandit looked completely prepared to end him, so Red did his best to shake off the pain that radiated throughout his body, and began to charge at his little brother. Within seconds, the two were right in front of each other, and both of them screamed viciously as they each threw a punch at the other person.
In this moment, both of them were thinking the same thing.
This ends now!
The End of It All
Bandit punched Red right in the face with incomparable and relentless force, and Red stumbled back as his blood sprayed into the air.
Unfortunately, his attack did not disorient Red for long, and Red screamed as he punched Bandit in the nose mercilessly, causing Bandit to grunt in pain as his own blood splattered out of his body.
This did not deter Bandit, however, and Bandit grunted as he punched Red in the chest.
Unfortunately, Red managed to recover from this attack fairly quickly, and counterattacked by punching his little brother twice in the face, causing a massive amount of his blood to spill onto the ground.
God damn it! thought Bandit as he quickly balled up his fists.
Red tried to punch him in the stomach, but Bandit swerved to evade the kick, grabbed onto Red's leg, lifted him into the air, and yelled as he slammed him onto the ground so hard, a crater formed under his body. Bandit tried to stomp on his head right after, but Red quickly rolled away before he could, and grunted as he immediately stood back up.
Despite Red's quick thinking, however, Bandit managed to knock Red down with a low spinning sweep kick, but before Red could hit the ground, he grabbed onto his head, picked him up, and slammed his body onto the ground four times, before getting directly on top of him, and pinning him down by pressing his foot against one of Red's shoulders.
He balled up his fists as he glared at Red with such a powerful intent to kill.
"I can't believe it!" he yelled as he began to punch Red in the face, causing his blood to splatter onto the ground with every blow, "I can't believe I actually wished you were still alive!"
After having punched him in the face ten times, he was about to punch him in the face for the eleventh time, when a bloody Red quickly balled up the fist of his free arm, and punched him in the nose unbelievably hard, causing a large amount of his blood to fly into the air. He proceeded to knock Bandit off him, quickly got on top of him, and began returning Bandit's brutality by repeatedly punching him in the face the same way Bandit had to him, this time causing Bandit's blood to splatter onto the ground with every blow.
"Yeah?" he yelled furiously, "I can't believe I didn't kill you sooner!"
After having been punched in the face ten times, Bandit, whose face was now bloody and swollen, quickly grabbed onto his brother's neck, and grunted as he forced Red off him. Red grabbed Bandit's neck in retaliation, but this did not stop Bandit from getting back on his feet.
"I can't stand you!" yelled Bandit as he glared at his older brother.
He got back on his feet in a matter of seconds, but as soon as he did, Red, who was gasping for breath, punched Bandit across the face twice, causing a large amount of his blood to spray out of his face. He proceeded to punch him in the nose with a powerful blow, breaking it instantly.
Bandit yelled in excruciating pain, but the pain did not stop him from grabbing Red's outstretched fist. He pulled Red towards him, and yelled as he knocked him several yards back with a fierce kick to the stomach that made him grunt in great pain.
Red coughed up blood as he watched his little brother charge at him, and angrily gritted his teeth as he trembled in pain.
N… No… Not…yet…
Red blurred at his brother and tried to strike him, but Bandit yelled as he fiercely punched him across the face before his attack could connect.
Red managed to recover from the attack relatively quickly, however, and fiercely kicked him in the stomach.
Bandit tried to jab him, but Red evaded his attack, and proceeded to punch him twice across the face.
When he tried to punch him a third time, however, Bandit parried his blow and jabbed him in the throat, causing Red to cry out as he clutched his neck and fell to his knees in pain.
I…should be able to take more damage than this…! My strength… My power… It's… It's fading…and even more quickly than before…!
He yelled as he charged at Bandit with a clenched fist, and threw a punch at his stomach.
His blow literally did absolutely nothing to faze Bandit, who withstood his attack with inconceivable ease.
Bandit jabbed him in the stomach, and sent him flying several yards away.
Red screamed in pain as he slid across the ground, and panted heavily as he struggled to stand up.
This…cannot…be happening…! Not…now…! I will not…lose…to him!
Bandit clenched his fists furiously as he charged at his brother with eyes filled with hatred.
"You're not a god!" he screamed, "And you're not the God either! You know, when we first fought the day you invaded Lax, I wanted to kill you, but after Ruby's death, I decided I would try a different way because I didn't want there to be any more death. What a fool I was! When I extended an olive branch to you, you knocked it from my hand without a second thought! I had more faith in you back then, but now, I see you for who you really are! You're irredeemable! You are just a bastard…who can't get over the past! You're a delusional piece of shit, and your plans for the Ice Lands are a bunch of bullshit! They always were!"
He mercilessly kicked Red right in his face, knocking him several yards away.
"What kind of god would do the things you have done? You claimed you wanted to protect the Ice Lands from future danger, but the one person who has put it in the most danger it has ever been in is you! I don't think you give a shit about the people of the Ice Lands! You just want rule anything and everything you can! You're not a god! You are just a jackass…who thinks he's a god! You are just a power-hungry son of a bitch!"
Red clenched his fists as he desperately struggled to stand up.
He trembled for several seconds, but ultimately, he did not have the strength, and sighed in exhaustion as he fell to his knees.
He panted heavily as he tried once again to stand up, but continued to tremble as sweat dripped down his face.
No…! I can't let myself lose to…this pathetic excuse for a brother…! For a son!
Bandit gritted his teeth as he kicked Red in the face once more, sending him flying a quarter of a mile away.
Bleeding from his nose and mouth, Red grunted in pain as he landed on his head, and groaned as he got on his knees and trembled intensely as he desperately struggled to stand up and perform one last attack.
I…am…the god…of this…world…!
He tightened his fists as he released as much Manna as he possibly could from his body.
He concentrated the Manna in his body so intensely that his veins began to glow crimson red.
He mustered up all the strength he could to stand up, and yelled as he blurred right at his little brother.
He no longer had the strength to perform any more of his supernatural abilities, so when he closed in on Bandit, he kicked him in the stomach with all his might.
But Bandit did not budge an inch.
Realistically, Red had been one of the most powerful beings in the entire world a half an hour ago, but now, all his might was not even enough to make Bandit grunt in pain.
Bandit gritted his teeth in fury as he grabbed the leg Red had used to kick him, and Red gasped in pain when Bandit quickly began to freeze it solid. Unfortunately for Red, his awkward position and lack of power left him completely unable to defend himself.
Once Bandit froze his older brother's leg completely, he mercilessly pulled it, and Red screamed in extreme pain as his frozen leg was separated from the rest of his body in an instant.
He looked at his missing appendage in complete shock and awe, but before he could react further, Bandit grabbed him by his head, swung him around, and threw him several yards away.
Bandit glared at his older brother with the intent to kill as he gritted his teeth and angrily balled up his fists.
Red's eyes widened in fear when he saw his brother's veins begin to glow dark blue.
"You're unforgivable…" said Bandit as he walked towards his brother.
His entire body trembled with immense rage as he did so.
"You killed Ruby…!"
He kicked Red in the face, and Red grunted in an unbelievable amount of pain as he fell on his back.
"…and threatened to kill everyone I love…!"
He stomped on Red's ribs, and Red, once again, grunted in insurmountable pain, for a number of them had been broken so easily.
"…but…that's not even the worst part…" continued Bandit with widened eyes, "No…"
He glared at Red with more fury than ever before as he picked his helpless brother up by his neck.
"…Worst…"
He gritted his teeth as he raised his hand into the air and made a fist.
"…of all…"
He tightened his fist as much as he could, and Red watched in fear as it began to shake with incomparable fury.
"…you became the bastard you are today!"
Fueled by immense hatred, Bandit gritted his teeth as he swung his fist at his brother with completely uninhibited wrath, and delivered a truly devastating blow to Red's stomach, causing Red to throw up a massive amount of blood as he was sent flying half a mile away.
As his Manna radiated from his body at an extremely powerful concentration, Bandit panted heavily as he watched as his older brother slowly try to stand up.
As soon as Red did so, however, he fell to his knee and threw up more blood.
Shit…! thought Red in agony.
Elsewhere, Rachel panted heavily as she walked towards the area where she swore Bandit was.
Despite her injuries, she had been trying to follow him ever since he had left her in his old family home.
She knew how angry Bandit was at his brother, but she also knew that she had to stop him from killing Red. She knew she had to at least try to stop him from killing his brother.
For despite everything they had been through...
…they were still brothers.
After having walked several blocks, she leaned on the wall of a building and sweated as she caught her breath.
Car…mine…don't…
She heard a loud stomp on the ground, and quickly raised her head in surprise.
For a quarter of a mile away from where she leaned, she could see Bandit glowing with multi-colored energy. She watched as Bandit clenched his fists so tight, they began to bleed.
"Red!" he screamed wrathfully as he blurred at his brother with blinding rage.
Rachel could not see Red anywhere, but she quickly realized that Bandit had knocked him quite a ways away. With that thought in the back of her mind, she opened her mouth and screamed as loudly as she possibly could.
"Bandit!"
Shocked to hear her voice, Bandit gasped as he stopped in his tracks, and looked back to see her resting against the wall of the building next to her.
Upon seeing her, he became much calmer. He unclenched his fists and gradually lost the scowl that had been on his face just seconds before.
"You can't kill him!" she exclaimed sadly, "I know he has done a lot of bad things…too many bad things…but…he's still your brother! You told me you regretted not being able to save him from his darkness! It's not too late! Look at him! He's powerless! He no longer poses a threat to anyone! So please…for your own sake…save him now!"
Surprised by her words, Bandit gasped as he continued to listen to her.
"He's your brother, and like brothers, you've fought with him all this time, but now, the fight is over! Make up with him! Make things go back to the way they were seven years ago! Get your brother back!"
Bandit remained silent for a moment, and Rachel watched with concern as he stood motionless. After a few seconds of silence, however, he slowly clenched his fists, and Rachel watched as his entire body began to tremble with fury.
"He killed Ruby…" he said softly, "...he killed your parents…he tried to kill Abe, and he has killed countless other people…including Abe's family…"
Rachel gasped in horror, for she had not previously known that Red had been the one who killed the War clan, who had taken Abe precious family away from him.
Tears filled her eyes when she realized in her heart what Bandit was going to do.
"I no longer have a brother…" said Bandit bitterly, "This ends now… All of it…"
He blurred at Red once again, and Rachel closed her eyes as he did so, for she no longer knew whether or not Red should be allowed to live.
Where They Go From Here
Bandit quickly came within seven hundred feet of his defeated older brother, when he suddenly tripped over himself.
He yelled as he crashed face-first to the ground and skidded towards Red.
As he did so, he suddenly felt all of the power he had felt earlier disappear from his body in a matter of seconds, and a barely conscious Red watched as the energy surrounding both Bandit's and his own body disappeared, while the veins in both of their bodies returned to their normal color and ceased glowing.
The Manna World had finally robbed Red of all of his Manna, but upon absorbing all of his brother's power, Bandit's body had become so incredulously oversaturated with Manna that the power gene and the cells in his body lost the ability to contain it, and, in an unexpected turn of events, caused all of the Manna in Bandit's body to flow out of him in an instant.
Now, like everyone else, Bandit lacked the ability to wield Manna.
And just like that, the mystical energy that was Manna completely disappeared from the world.
Bandit began to breathe heavily, and he suddenly yelled as a sharp pain shot through his entire body.
Oh, great…thought Red irritably, Now side effects are kicking in. Unfortunately…I can't do much of anything in this state. His blows were too…powerful… But…
Red grunted in extreme pain as he struggled to move towards Bandit.
Lucky for him, Bandit was experiencing so much anguish; he was paying little attention to his brother.
No… thought Bandit in agony, …No…!
Suddenly, he gave a grimace of pain, and clutched his chest as he threw up blood.
No… he thought as he hissed in pain.
The pain he felt radiating throughout his body was massive and incomparable. He could not move without feeling great suffering and torment, but upon realizing that his brother was crawling towards him, he knew he could not afford to die, at least, not yet.
"Surrender," he demanded as he crawled towards his brother, "It's…over…!"
Despite the great pain he himself felt coursing throughout his body, Red could not help but chuckle as he rolled his brother onto his back.
"You're right…" he said tiredly as he got on top of his brother, "It is over…"
Bandit gritted his teeth, and tried to punch Red off him, but Red pinned his arm down to prevent him from attacking him, and grabbed Bandit's throat with his other hand. In retaliation, Bandit grabbed his brother's hand and struggled to pull it off his throat.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that his basic physical strength was much greater than Red's, he was in too much pain to utilize it to its fullest.
He grunted in pain as his brother coughed.
"I defeated you during our first fight in that prison long ago…" said Red as Bandit struggled to stay conscious, "and now I have defeated you once again... I will always be stronger than you, Bandit… I will always be better than you, and you know why… I have great things I hope to accomplish in this world… My will to live far surpasses yours, and we both know why…"
"I'
ll admit it, Car… You've done great things for the people of this world… In some ways…I suppose you…really are a hero…but despite everything you've done for this world…despite all that you have accomplished…you don't deserve to live… You and I both know you've debated with yourself constantly whether or not you deserve to live…and the truth is…you don't…and you know you don't…not after everything you've done to the ones you love the most… So close your eyes, Car…and don't fight back… I will do this as quickly as I can…and then I will destroy everyone…and everything you have ever loved…"