CHAPTER
12
"Ahhh...come
on you pathetic scrap! I barely laid a finger on you!"
Red smiled evilly being pleased with himself and how
easily he defeated his twin. Being the evil sunofabitch
that he was he kicked Iceman's motionless body across
the field several feet. Red cackled as he lifted his
boot and punted the Blue Eskimo about 20 some feet and
into another tree. Red was almost having too much fun
with this as he laughed the most hideous, vile, and
insane laugh that could put Dr. Wily's to shame.
Iceman now lay face down as if nothing had happened.
But Red still wasn't done with his play toy. "Oh boy...now
let's see what happens when I do....THIS!!" Red's eyes
started to glow as a weird aura appeared around Iceman's
body. Using his telekinetic powers, the Evil being raised
Iceman high into the air between two sets of trees.
After floating in the air for several seconds Iceman's
body started spinning rapidly and then suddenly was
forced head first into one of the trees. Then back at
the tree on the other side. Iceman then became a pinball
as he ricocheted off trees and then was slammed into
the ground.
"AGAIN!!"
Red mocked openly as he repeated the process. As much
fun as the reddish duplicate was having, Iceman's unconscious
state forced him not to feel any sort of damage that
was being caused. However, if this kept up, there'd
be hardly anything left of the robot to call 'Iceman'
Iceman lay in a vast white world full of dreams and
lost souls. Lost from reality Iceman starts to breathe
slowly until his chest starts moving to normal paces.
Whispering voices soon are heard as the whiteness around
the Eskimo starts to take form. The voices at first,
could barley be made out. Upon further listening the
voices started to become clearer and they soon were
able to tell them apart from one another.
"Is
he going to be okay?" A voice asked. Several others
could be heard in the background.
"He's
taken a lot of damage, I donno if we can save him."
Another voice sprouted out.
Several figures suddenly appeared. Shadows at first.
Four of them. They floated around the white field and
soon circled the slowly breathing Iceman, who apparently
was barley holding on to life itself. The shadows surrounded
the Eskimo and held out their hands and joined into
one.
"He's
a fighter, I should know. I worked with him after all."
Rob, the original Slash Beast appeared from the shadows.
Then the other figures suddenly became recognizable.
It was the remnants of the X-Force. Spirits of the once
proud team. The whole team's timeline was destroyed
by Red, and know they only live as visions in Iceman's
dream. However, this was a special dream.
"Poor,
poor little guy. So much at stake. It's all up to him."
Cyber Peacock put a firm, soft hand on Iceman's forehead.
"So,
can we do it? Give him our powers?" Slash Beast asked
with worry.
"Yeah,
and the powers of our old Comrades, Ben, Shadow Blade,
Forte-Chan and Gary's Split Mushroom identity. Even
though they still 'live' in other forms in the year
20XX, their power still lies in here with us." Frost
Walrus spoke.
"It
won't be enough Rob." Storm Owl spoke again looking
down upon Iceman's body. "Red is to powerful. We are
going to have to give him the power of our Perfect forms
as well."
"But
with that much power...it could..." Frost Walrus tried
to finish his sentence but was cut off by Rob.
"Overwhelm
him. I know, but it's our only choice. Plus I have full
confidence in the little guy." Rob smiled.
"He's
got qualities of a true warrior. We owe him greatly."
Tobias, the resident Storm Owl sputtered.
That was all that was said as the four figures merged
their power into one. The Combined might of the once
powerful X-Force, and their super Perfect forums. The
X-Force Spirits suddenly went back to the shadows as
a weird light suddenly appeared over Iceman. The light
was warm. It was calm. Peaceful. Healing. Iceman's eyes
blinked suddenly, but he still did not awaken.
"Go
Iceman! You now have our strength. Go! Wake up now!"
One of the X-Force stated. However Iceman did not budge.
Was the damage to great?
"Get
up Gary! The world is counting on you! Get on your feet!"
Another voice spoke.
Gary however didn't move a muscle.
Rob this time was the one who spoke. "GET UP NOW, OR
I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF GARY! GET UPPPPPPPP!
The voice echoed slowly away as Gary regained conscience
and sat upright suddenly as Red was about to deliver
another strong kick to his front side. Gary out of some
strange instinct caught Red's foot and ripped it straight
out of evil one's socket. A surprised Red had little
time to see Iceman's fist implanted straight into his
face. And unlike the last time Red was punched, this
time...it hurt.
Red was sent spinning backwards as a cloud of dust ran
up in the tracks that were made in the ground as Red
slid back. The powerful droid however caught his footing
and stood upright, even with one foot missing. "That
hurt....you pathetic weasel. Where did you get that
strength?" Red coughed up a small amount of glowing
white coolant which was oddly different than ordinary
robots. When the coolant hit the ground, it burned a
whole right through it like acid.
Gary on the other hand was shocked himself as he got
to his feet with very little difficulty. His wounds
fully healed, dents disappeared. He also felt a power
that he never felt before. It was rushing through his
veins. Gary looked at his new trophy that sat comfortably
in his hand. He even tossed it a few feet into the air
and caught it. "Well, what do we have here....need a
hand....errr foot Red?" Gary smirked happily. He wasn't
sure where he got this sudden power boost, but he was
very happy to receive it.
"Don't
get to cocky their Blue. It doesn't matter how much
energy you absorb. I'll just try nastier tricks." Red's
eyes glowed again as Red's foot reformed back into place.
At the same time the same aura surrounded Gary's body.
Gary had little time to figure out what it was when
he was already lifted straight into the air. Again Gary
was smashed into the first object Red could find. This
time a ragged boulder. Gary cried out in agony as Red
crashed him into a nearby tree. Red again was having
a fun time using Iceman as a battling ram.
Victory was shot out though when Gary used Cyber Peacock's
teleporting power to escape Red's hold on him. This
surprised both Gary and Red as Gary appeared some distance
away from Red.
"Got
some new tricks yourself eh?" Red smirked to an already
disappearing Iceman. "What the!?" Red mumbled as he
was suddenly kicked in the back by Iceman using Magma
Dragoon's Fire Kick. The kick caught Red by surprise,
but only for a moment as he sprung backwards and gave
Iceman a left hook to the stomach.
The both of them reared back in pain. Red couldn't believe
that Iceman was so strong. How was it possible? Well
now it was time to take the kiddy gloves off. Red roared
out as a strange vapor surrounded him.
"Now
the real battle starts..." Red coughed up strange balls
of black clouds and a strange creepy feeling crept over
Iceman. A sweat drop dripped down from the side of his
face. "The real battle....shit. I don't like the sound
of this." Gary stood ready for whatever Red was bringing
out.
Only this time, he really was bringing something out.
Four black clouds started floating around Red. After
a few seconds they escaped Red's shield of eerie vapor
and started to take form. It looked as though Red was
really putting a lot of energy into this so called 'move'.
Iceman took note that Red might be weakened after this
attack. But what was this attack? What was he calling
upon?
"Souls
of the dead! I call upon thee!" Red's voice suddenly
spoke as Gary jumped in surprise to hear his voice echo
across the field. "I offer you my power so you shall
live again! Live again!" Red finally concluded.
The black clouds, now bigger than before started to
mutate and take shape. Gary was almost afraid to see
what evil beings Red had brought to life. What did he
do? The forms in front of him didn't look to friendly.
And finally after moments of mutating and changing,
he caught eye of his biggest fear yet.
The four clouds formed into hideous mutations of Pulzar
Beetle, Thunderman, Torchman, and Double. Of which died
at one point or another. Torchman died in the big temporal
explosion in the Antarctic when the Mechanical Maniacs
were in the other Dimension. Double died when the X-Force’s
time line collapsed. Pulzar and Thunderman were just
recent deaths.
Red was the eater of souls. It made sense now that he
could conquer up the dead and revive them in some hideous
transformation. But how powerful could they be? The
same as the originals? If so, Gary has his work cut
out for him.
"Destroy
him!" Red commanded immediately as the four zombies
surrounded Iceman quickly. Their bodies covered in black,
body limbs larger than others, glowing red eyes. It
was a scary sight indeed. The Zombie of Pulzar was the
first to attack as he nabbed his claw into Gary and
sent him rolling into Torchman Zombie's clutches. Torchman
grasped Gary from behind and held him still for the
upcoming Thunderman Zombie who in turn sent a surge
of electricity through his body.
In Pain Gary teleported from Zombie Torchman's grasp
and appeared above Red. Red looked up just in time to
see a big blue boot to the face. Gary laughed. "You
may have some new 'friends', but my fight is with you!!"
Gary roared.
"To
bad." Red grabbed Gary's foot and tossed him back into
the zombie ring. Gary landed roughly by Pulzar who lifted
its foot and stomped Gary into the ground. Zombie Pulzar
put all his weight into the crushing foot and attempted
to squeeze the Eskimo into Yorkshire pudding. For a
second it looked like the battle was won, until the
large beetle was suddenly lifted into the air by Iceman.
"Wow...All
this strength!" Gary murmured with happiness as he tossed
the black beetle into Zombie Thunderman. With the combined
might of the X-Force's strength, it seemed Gary's power
was limitless. Without letting his enemy catch a breather
Gary stomped his own foot into the ground while facing
Zombie Torchman.
Ice Pillars sprouted up quickly and made their way with
amazing strength towards the approaching fired up zombie.
The Ice Pillars skewered right through Zombie Torchman,
and he split in half. Soon his body evaporated into
clouds. Gary started to enjoy this. One down, three
to go.
Zombie Double blasted Gary from behind which sent him
sprouting forwards a ways. A disgruntled Gary turned
back and shot out a beam of icy blue lasers which connected
quickly to Zombie Double and froze him in a case of
ice.
Red stood back from the fight a ways to replenish whatever
energy he used to conquer up his new minions. It took
some power to use the attack, and Red was getting quite
frustrated on how easily the new powered up Iceman was
bringing down his nasty weapons. The Zombiefied versions
of Pulzar, Thunderman, Torchman, and Double were supposed
to be as strong if not stronger than the originals themselves.
And Red was incredibly surprised on how Iceman could
take on all four of them at the same time. That must
have been some power lift.
Zombie Pulzar was hurled again into Zombie Thunderman
as he was powering up an electric attack. Interrupted
by the weight of Pulzar, Zombie Thunderman ended up
electrocuting himself and Zombie Pulzar. And unlike
the real Pulzar, Zombie Pulzar was damaged by the attack.
Satisfied with the outcome of that move Gary turned
his attentions back to Zombie Double which unfortunately
had already broke free from his Icy Prison. The zombiefied
version of Double got into a firing frenzy as he simply
sat back and unloaded a heavy burn of plasma blasts
at the retreating Eskimo.
Gary found himself running, ducking, and jumping through
shots of super heated plasma blasts. This was getting
ridiculous. Gary barley had time to fire his own shots
by doing all this dodging. Gary groaned then snapped
into an idea. Gary noticed that he was using X-Force
attacks before. Is this where he got the sudden power?
From the old X-Force? But aren't they dead? The little
guy didn't have time to think about how the X-Force
could physically give him their strength. He had other
worries at the moment.
If Gary's theory proved correct then he could create
a copy of himself using Split Mushroom's Soul Body.
And his theory was correct. An exact duplicate of Iceman
appeared before him. Gary grinned at the awesomeness
of this. The Soul Body Iceman stuck out its tongue at
the Zombie Double and gave him the middle finger. Steam
came pouring out from the Double Clone as he fired up
a huge cannon shot and pulverized the Iceman Clone.
However this distraction was enough for Iceman to come
up from behind and rip Zombie Double into pieces with
Slash Beast's Twin Slasher. Zombie Double vanished into
a whip of clouds shortly after the attack.
It was then something bad happened to Gary. A zip of
unstable power zipped through Gary's body and the Blue
Eskimo dropped to his knees in pain. What was going
on? This was totally unexpected. Neither did Gary know
that the power given to him was way too much for his
little body to withstand. He was very unstable, and
if he wasn't careful of what power he was releasing,
his body would be overwhelmed and self-destruct. The
agonizing pain passed as fast as it came, but just as
Gary was to recover, Zombie Pulzar clutched the Eskimo
into its claws. Gary groaned at the crushing power of
the monsters pincers. Even worse were the electric jolts
being sent to the claws by Zombie Thunderman, who was
still half crushed by Pulzar's weight.
The pain was dreadful, but Gary quickly spawned a Blueish
white Saber which was a combination of Frost Walrus
and Cyber Peacock and slashed right through Zombie Pulzar's
Claws. Before Gary hit the ground he did a back stab
and full circle slash that left Pulzar in pieces of
his own. As Gary landed smoothly to the ground, Zombie
Pulzar faded into the black shadows as clouds.
Zombie Thunderman powered up his fists and sent an electric
spray at the Blue Warrior. Only to have them entirely
blocked by Gary's new Ice Saber which he used moments
before to defeat Pulzar's dreaded Zombie. Zombie Thunderman
had limited time to compute what attack to use next
to subdue Icy as he too felt the Ice Saber crackle right
through is body. Zombie Thunderman instantly froze as
he fell into pieces and soon evaporated into dust. But
before he was gone, Gary swore on his death list that
he heard Thunderman say in Edward's calm voice.
"Go
get 'im, Gary"
The Zombies were gone. And unfortunately so was Red.
Gary smacked himself over the head. He didn't pay any
attention to the main baddie of the battle. Red used
the distractions of the clones to hide himself. Red
now was on the attack advantage. There was no telling
what other horrors he can unleash now.
Then it happened again. A pain in his right arm where
he held his new found Saber started to cramp dramatically.
Again Gary couldn't describe where it was coming from,
but it really hurt. It felt as though the power inside
of him was trying to break out. As if it was trapped
inside a small enclosed area. It wanted to break free.
And Gary's little body was holding it in. Gary cried
out in pain again only this time was from Red. Red appeared
from a black portal and slashed into Ice's backside
with a Fire Saber of his own.
Gary fell forward onto the ground. Saber flying from
his hands. He could hear Red cackling that ugly, disgusting
laugh from behind. Gary tried to rise to his feet, but
Red's foot was holding him down.
"You
know Blue, you put up one hell of a fight. I can't say
that I didn't enjoy your little spur of resistance.
It was quite....." Red pause for a minute as if thinking
of the right word. "Entertaining." He concluded. Again
Red started laughing uncontrollably and Iceman started
to get annoyed by it. Why was it that evil villains
always felt the need to laugh so loudly and stupidly.
"What
the heck is so damn funny now!" Iceman growled.
Gary again tried to get up but felt Red's foot pushing
him down again. "But unfortunately all that work, was
in vein Blue. Good bye." Red lifted his Red glowing
fire saber into the air and was ready to slash right
through Gary's armored body. But he soon found out that
Gary still had his teleportation powers and vanished
just before Red sliced into his body. Red's saber cut
into the field and small flames burst from the saber’s
effects, But Gary was gone.
"Damn
it!! No more of this crap!" Red swore with feet stamping
angrily into the ground. Seconds later Gary appeared
standing over his own Blue Saber and quickly brought
it to his hands. Gary slashed the Saber in a small pose
with little ice crystals glittering in its wake.
"How
good are you at Sword Fighting Reddo?" Gary asked his
reddish double.
"Better
than you..." He groaned in frustration at Iceman as
he charged full throttle towards Iceman's waiting Saber.
The two Sabers clashed and small bursts of fire and
ice came whistling off them every time they collided.
Red was good at sword fighting by surprise to Iceman.
It seemed the both of them were about equal in strength
and skill. Gary was fairly impressed, but Red was annoyed.
He didn't think that Iceman would be such a formidable
opponent. Red had plans, and he didn't expect anyone
to get in his way.
Red slashed upwards towards Iceman's noggin, in hopes
to slash off his very head, but Gary blocked the move
with blue light reflecting off his face. Red's irritated
face rivaled that of Iceman's peaceful one. The two
exchanged blows for quite sometime until Iceman's worst
fear happened. The pain returned. The power inside him
was too much for him to bear. Again Ice fell to his
knees in pain. Lowering his defenses.
Red slashed down towards Gary, but Gary used what's
left of his strength at the moment to block Red's oncoming
tactic. Gary slashed into Red's body, but only to find
that the Iced blade shattered upon Red's armor. All
of Iceman's strength has apparently left him open for
a few seconds.
Red slashed again into Iceman's left hand, Gary could
feel his hand being severed clean from the rest of his
body. Gritting his teeth slowly to numb the pain, Gary
watched as his limb hit the floor, clattering next to
his feet.
Energy suddenly welled in Gary's body and in a great
show of concentration to break through the pain, Gary
forced his body to change. Where his hand was once now
was plasma cannon, but it wasn't merely an ordinary
cannon, this cannon was linked to the great power of
the X-Forces combined and culminated powers. Gary's
systems were overloading from the surge of power this
united force was granting him, and the little Eskimo
knew that this was the best way to alleviate the pain,
and stop Red.
Raising his new plasma cannon, Gary focused the energy
into a single gigantic blast. A blast so immense and
powerful that there was little before to that it could
be compared to. And this blast hit Red full on, it had
happened so fast that Red had no time to create a counter-measure
and the only thing he could do was roar in what Gary
hoped was pain and anguish. This was a relief for normally
Red's voice was so soft and passive you couldn't tell
if he WAS feeling pain.
Gary's strength and determination returned to him shortly
after he saw the blast connect, however he put much
into the shot and was feeling drained, but it was worth
it. Quickly getting to his feet Gary again noticed his
missing hand. It would put him at a distinct disadvantage,
he knew. Daring a glance in Red's direction, Gary noticed
plumes of smoke, and destruction. Not even the forest
surrounding their battle survived, nothing but shattered
bits and charred bark remained along with a few rocks
and stones. It looked a lot like the hole where Pulzar's
comet had hit. Gary couldn't believe that one blast,
however much power he put into it, could do such damage.
It was then Gary saw a flash of light coming from the
smoke. He didn't know what to make of it at first, but
then found out shortly that Red was up to something
else. Without much hesitation Gary ran towards the source
of the problem. He couldn't see much with all the smoke
near by but soon enough he was able to make out Red
working on some other tactic.
"You're...just
in time Blue!" Red muttered weakly as he drew energy
from his body. "I'm afraid that you've wasted your time
here....trying to stop me." Red started blabbing. He
tried to muster a wicked laugh, but ended up choking
on his own acidic blood.
"What
are you mouthing off about Red! Spill it!" Gary yelled
loudly.
"Remember
how the X-Force was destroyed?" Red sputtered then continued.
"Hah! That's true power there..." Red again started
to cough. Red's body was badly dented. The blast must
have badly weakened the god-like robot. Ice cracked
a small smile at it, but noticed that Red still had
one final tactic planned. Could Gary stop it...?
Red's glowing essence got stronger as the light shining
above him got deeply brighter. The entire area around
them started to flash about wildly. Gary had a bad feeling.
What was he gonna do. Surly he wasn't going to. Red's
next words confirmed it alright.
"Neo
Dragoon really didn't destroy their timeline....it was
me the whole time. I fueled him with enough strength!"
Red laughed hoarsely again as if he didn't care what
he sounded like. "Now...it seems that you've screwed
my plans for this world...so if I can't have it! Nobody
can!" Red roared loudly as the light became so bright
that Gary had to nearly shield his eyes.
Red was going to destroy this timeline as well. Gary
could not believe it. How could he stop him from doing
this?
"Don't
even try to stop this move Blue! not even the combined
effort of the X-Force stopped this move from wreaking
their timeline!" Red mocked. Red was weak from the blast,
but he still had enough strength to destroy reality?
Man...Red really was powerful. Red started to chant
some sort of scroll spell and Gary knew then that he
had to act quickly.
The Eskimo attempted to teleport behind Red in order
to catch him off guard, but Red was on him. Red's body
surrounded in a fire Aura and as Iceman attempted to
punch his backside, he only got burned. Gary mouthed
in anger and tried another approach. Red's chanting
continued and the light surrounding the battered forest
got thicker. Gary could feel the entire area shaking.
Iceman came charging Red from the front side with mallet
by his side. Red however shot off a blast to destroy
it. Only to find out that it was only a clone. Gary
using his Soul Body again came from the left side and
fired off Frost Walrus's Ice Towers to skewer Red's
Aura. The Ice Towers shattered harmlessly off the Aura.
Red's chanting continued.
Gary shot off his trademark Ice Slashers. They quickly
faded into nothing off the Aura. Gary then tried Jet
Stingray’s Ground Hunter. Again, nothing. Iceman was
getting very worried. Something had to get passed that
annoying Aura. Red prepared himself for just the right
moment. But Gary had to keep trying. The very existence
of this time-line counted on it!
The Blue Eskimo ignited his feet on fire and tried a
Magma Dragoon kick onto the Aura. Unfortunately the
fire fueled the Aura even more and knocked Gary back
a few ways. "Okay...fire doesn't work. Ice melts right
off. Let's try Water then!" Gary thought through the
elements one at a time as he tried a Jet Stingray water-based
attack. The Water fizzled and evaporated over the Aura.
Gary couldn't believe his eyes.
"Alright...Electricity
then." Gary used Web Spiders Lightning Web to snare
the burning Aura. It snapped around it, but seemed to
have no effect. Soon the Web died out and Red still
continued his chanting.
Gary fell to the ground in tears. "I can't stop him....I've....I’ve
failed..." Gary lowered his head in shame. He didn't
know what else to do. Nothing in his power could stop
Red now. Nothing.
Red snickered as he watched Iceman cry. He had won.
Nothing Gary had could stop him now. Red was almost
done with his chanting. Just a bit more to go and he
could start over again in the past.
Gary was too weak to fire out another Mega-Blast like
he did before. The only way to let that power out again
was to....
Wait...
Gary thought for a minute, then thought of other possible
solutions. Not being able to think of any Gary finally
concluded with himself.
"There's
no other way..." He said quietly. If he was to attempt
such a feet, he needed to act now. It would take a few
to access all the power he had left. He knew he just
barley had enough. But unfortunately using all this
power with his instable body would take great risk.
And more than likely something terrible would happen.
It would cost him terribly. But there was no other way.
Red had to be stopped. The world wouldn't survive if
he was ruler. Gary knew what he had to do. The little
Eskimo clenched his hands together and gritted his teeth.
His body started to vibrate. Slowly at first, then faster
and faster. All the power in his body started to cause
pain again. Gary clenched in agony. The power wants
out now. And Gary was going to let it out. Somehow.
He knew if he could focus all this raw power and trap
it into some sort of shield or vortex, everything inside
would be destroyed. So he had to make sure that Red
was inside this....shield. He had to get closer. A light
bulb flashed in his head suddenly. Using the Soul Body,
he made multiple versions of himself which attacked
Red with various attacks. Red grinned nastily. It seemed
his copy was getting desperate. Not so.
Gary needed the cover.
Using the teleportation technique, he was able to get
behind his nemesis. Clouds gathered overhead as Red's
spell grew closer to completion. Red spotted him and
did nothing, thinking no matter what Ice could do was
futile. Smiling he continued his ritual. Gary could
see whiteness sprouting from slightly above his predecessor’s
head. The whiteness. The same whiteness that had destroyed
21XX, the X-Force's timeline.
Red thought he saw desperation in Gary's eyes.
He was mistaken it was resignation.
Gary's Soul Bodies were no longer needed now as they
winked out of existence one by one.
Ice didn't know how to channel his power into a vortex
of his own, but he didn't have to. He had a vortex right
here. Red's own reality-destroying whiteness. He channeled
his own power into the whiteness and battled Red for
control. Red's eyes widened and his chant stopped in
mid sentence. He hadn't expected this.
With his concentration lost Ice was in control of this
massive vortex of power. He added his own power into
it controlling it beyond his own experience. Was it
the X-Force who guided him? Was it Edward's lost soul
giving him a final helping hand? Or perhaps he was reading
some part of Red's own experience through their mental
link? It didn't really matter.
Red, still in his fiery shield whirled about. "What
do you think you're doing!?" shouted the madman. He
fought back by pouring his own energy into the vortex.
The whiteness grew, but it was not of Red's doing. Ice
was in total control for now the X-Force's power was
added to the last of Red's. It was too powerful for
the demon to take back.
In desperation Red launched himself at Blue! He had
poured the last of his great power into that, but he
still had some left. He was planning to return to a
previous timeline least the whiteness consume him as
well, but now he focused all his hate into destroying
his damned successor.
"I'll
kill you!" shouted the evil-eyed Eskimo.
Ice gave no response.
"You
bastard! How can you control that!? It took me decades
- centuries! - to perfect that technique! How can you
do it!?" Red clawed at Gary's eyes, but Gary was too
focused to lose control this easily. Maintaining the
vortex was too important to lose control now. In the
end it required very little knowledge to control the
vortex Red had started. All he had to really do was
narrow it a bit.
Red continued to scratch away at Ice's skin when Ice
reacted. Diverting a bit of concentration he sent the
vortex into both of them bringing mountains of pain
upon both Light robots. Red reared back from Iceman
as the pain was deathly overwhelming. What had the blue
Eskimo done? How did he do this? These questions and
more filled his head as the pain increased.
Red had attempted to teleport himself from the field,
but found even more pain as he tried to use any of his
powers. Gary himself went through overwhelming agony.
He didn't think about much while this was going on.
But he was happy that he had finally stopped Red. There
was no escape from this trap. None at all.
The Energy Vortex continued bringing pain within the
two souls trapped within its hellish blaze. Red seemed
to be experiencing more pain than that of Gary. Gary
stared cringing, and biting his teeth in torture at
his double....until something happened...something that
seemed impossible. Something that almost made Gary forget
he was in pain and agony. Red's inner glow was weakening.
As if the Vortex was removing part of the demon. But
nothing surprised Iceman more...than what happened next.
Red looked into Iceman's eyes. What was Blood shot and
devil looking had vanished. It was like looking into
a mirror. Red looked just like Iceman. In every way
possible. Only visible different colored garments could
you tell them apart. Red smiled at Iceman...as if he
was freed from a mind control chip. Iceman didn't know
what to think. He screamed a silent bow of pain, though
nothing came from his mouth.
A voice struck his head. "Touch my hand.." Iceman looked
towards the source. Red was communicating with him.
Harried voice gone. As if Red had suffered through an
Exorcism, his face looked caring, and good. Again pain
struck Iceman's inner thigh. He tried to scream...but
once again, his voice shut out. "Touch my hand! " The
calm, sincere voice echoed again. Only this time...much
more demanding. Iceman without thought reached for Red's
hand. The pain was too much to bear. Only when the two
gauntlets touched did the pain seemed to slowly depart.
"Touch my hand....and the pain will go away..." Red
was now face to face with Iceman.
They interlocked each other for what seemed like an
eternity. All pain and sounds brushed out from them.
The two staring each other in mixed emotions. Iceman
was first to speak...and his voice this time came out.
"How did you do that..." Iceman though hearing his voice
shot himself a disgruntled look. Was that what he said?
In front of his arch nemesis. Red's eyes now full of
innocence gave Gary a warm feeling. "You freed my spirit.
My anger and power has left me." Red spoke as if this
was a good thing. "What...?" Gary spoke again. Confused.
Was this the same Red that he fought just moments ago.
Red stared into Iceman's blue eyes. Iceman stared back
into Red's. It was then he understood. Understood the
real story behind his clone. This Iceman was filled
with too much emotion. Much more than any robot in existence.
Iceman could feel the emotions...as if they parted through
him.
Hate....
Lust....
Despair...
Sorrow....
It was the last one that struck Iceman the most. He
could almost feel what Red once was. Cause he himself
had once suffered such a feat. Only Iceman's limited
emotions kept him at bay.
Rejection.
It was Iceman's eyes that turned angry and demon-like.
But only for a short while. Red was rejected. Rejected
by every possible source. Even by his own father. Dr.
Light. A failed creation, mishap. Mistake. Iceman without
noticing crutched his hand in anger. Small flashbacks
of Red being mocked, and teased by everyone around him.
Judging him by his inability to function like any other
robot. Red becoming angrier. Filling with even more
hate. The last few images blinked. The Red that Dr.
Light once knew was no more. Iceman knew now what the
cause was. Emotion. Massive amounts.
Iceman's expression turned back to normal. Red continuing
to share comfort for him. They smiled. A tear leaked
from one side of Gary's eye. "I'm sorry...." Was all
that came out. Red nodded as if all the past was forgotten.
"It's time to say goodbye...." Red's smile changed to
a sad expression. Just as Iceman was getting close to
his double, the vortex was seeping in. Crushing all
matter within. They both will be destroyed.
"I'm
sorry....too Iceman." Red followed. "My rein of terror
is gone. Your world is safe." Another tear fell. Only
this time, by Red. Iceman smiled. Intense heat was surrounding
the duo. Iceman's armor was melting. As if he was dumped
into a Lava pool. His armored features vanishing. Turning
into liquid. But he felt no pain. Still holding onto
Red, who was also melting away. The two smiled to each
other, until then their faces were gone. One thought
went through Iceman's head before he was completely
wiped out. "All he wanted....was a friend." And that
was it. The vortex could hold no longer. The vortex
imploded, taking everything inside, with it. Leaving
absolutely no trace of either character.
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