Moira and Pommy slept soundly through the rest of the night, but Bomberman forced himself to keep an eye half-open for anything that might dare to sneak up on them. Morning arrived without a fuss, but it confirmed something that Bomberman had suspected since they first stepped out of the elevator: they were on a platform that was essentially a lone little island in the middle of the ocean. Their single chance of escape—a wooden bridge connecting a brick walkway to the platform—had collapsed, leaving the trio very much stranded.

"Huh." Bomberman snorted. "No wonder the people of Nereid didn't bother with boarding up this entrance. It doesn't even go anywhere."

Moira smirked and made her way past Bomberman. "You give up too easy." She knelt at the edge of the platform and pressed a glowing hand to the water. "Wave Frost!"

Like lightning, a jagged path of solid ice sliced across the surface of the water, providing a brand new bridge for them to tread upon.

Bomberman's mouth dropped open. "Holy..." he started. "That is safe, right?"

Moira pouted. "What, don't you trust me?" she mock-whined. "Come on, I dealt pretty well with those losers back there, didn't I?"

"Pommy agrees!" Pommy said, hopping and down beside Moira. "Pommy thinks Moira is cool!"

Bomberman tested the ice with the toe of his sneaker. Though the makeshift path was narrow, the ice seemed solid enough, and the surface was dull, indicating that it wouldn't be dangerously slippery. "Looks good to me." He laughed. "You've been a great help so far, Moira. Leading us out of Nereid, covering our tracks, and now this...I can't thank you enough. I might just make you stay with me 'til we get out of this black hole."

Moira blushed slightly and turned away.

Bomberman blinked. "Er...well...let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

They did just that, inching along the ice and then following the long walkway to a large, rectangular box of a building surrounded by a collection of marble sea creatures on either side of it. Three small fountains, bubbling serenely, greeted them as they entered. The beginnings of lacy frost were splashed across the pale blue walls.

Pommy shivered. "Myu, is it just Pommy, or is it cold in here?"

"Not just you." Bomberman rubbed his arms. "It was fine outside! Why's it so cold now? This place isn't new enough for central air-conditioning!"

"It's magical," Moira said, holding out a hand. "Or supernatural. But I can't imagine why."

"Someone must've wanted to make sure Christmas came this year," Bomberman muttered.

Unpleasant as it was, they had nowhere else to go except deeper into the cold. The three of them trudged past another set of fountains and then started down a steep set of white stairs. The temperature seemed to drop with every step below ground level; it wasn't long before Bomberman's breath began coming out in faint, fluffy puffs of white. He noticed Moira shaking rather violently in her thin tunic and leggings, so he took off his sweatshirt and tried to offer it to her.

"You really are crazy," Moira snickered through chattering teeth. "You're wearing just that shirt underneath and you're still giving me your sweatshirt?"

Bomberman shrugged. "Why not? I've been through worse. Anyway, I'm sure we'll reach a warmer place soon."

"If it doesn't get any warmer soon, Pommy will be a Pommysicle," Pommy complained.

Moira shook her head. "It's fine. I'm usually used to this kind of temperature—it's just that living in Nereid for so long has lowered my tolerance a bit." She grinned. "That stupid brother of mine liked to turn up the air conditioner at home all the time. When you're living with someone as stubborn as he is, you learn to get used to their quirks."

Bomberman finally just put his sweatshirt back on. "Well, if you're sure, you can at least carry Pommy. He's light and might be able to provide some warmth for you if he isn't already a walking blob of mochi ice cream."

Moira leaned over to take said creature into her arms. She petted Pommy reassuringly on the head, and Pommy let out a contented "myuuuu."

The floor at the bottom of the stairwell featured a swirly mosaic of an ocean landscape, outlined in silver. Across that same floor was a set of heavy-looking double doors of stone. "Looks like we might be getting somewhere," Bomberman said. He walked to the doors and, with a grunt, shoved them open with both hands.

CR-REAK!

Bomberman held up an arm just as a blast of frigid air hit his face. So much for reaching a warmer place, he thought, shivering.

The room they'd just entered seemed more like a cavernous icebox than a room—a cavernous and completely empty icebox. Compared to this, the ground-level floor above them was a sauna. Menacing icicles hung like monster teeth from the high, frozen ceiling, even around the open spots where sunlight shone down on them. Bomberman thought the floor was frozen over as well, but on closer inspection, he saw that it was just made up of shiny blue tiles. Not that it really made a difference in the whole scheme of things what it was. "Well, there you have it, folks," he said. "This was once a giant refrigerator for the ancient civilizations of this planet."

"Myu!" Pommy jumped out of Moira's arms and stomped over to Bomberman. "Bomberman said it'd be warmer soon! Does this look like warmer to Bomberman? Huh? Does it? Does it?"

Bomberman glared. "Do I look like a fortune teller?" he snapped. "Let's just get out of here as fast as we can."

WHOOOSSHH!

Another blast of cold wind, this time laced with snowflakes, swirled around the trio, halting them in their tracks for the moment.

"Aaah!" Moira hugged herself tightly against the freezing gales.

"Yeek!" Pommy covered himself the best he could with his hands and ears. "Wh-what just happened?"

Bomberman wiped the melting snowflakes from his face with a trembling hand and looked.

An intimidating figure of a man, bulky and armored, stood before the three of them. His ocean-blue hair stuck out like icicles on top and flowed down the back of his neck like a waterfall. "So you're the ones who are interfering with Master Rukifellth's plans," he said. His roughly square face smiled nastily as he approached them, his armor clinking with his movement. "I am the Sovereign Ice Lord of Aquanet, the Lord of the Frozen Wastes. For your actions, you will answer to me."

Bomberman noticed uneasily that the Sovereign Ice Lord sported a rather large and unfriendly-looking gun on his right arm. He tried not to think of what was meant by "answering" to this man.

"N-no..." came Moira's unbelieving voice. "Behemos?"

Bomberman turned around. Moira's eyes were wide and shining; her hands covered up her open-mouthed surprise.

The Sovereign Ice Lord—apparently also known as "Behemos"—regarded Moira curiously. "What are you staring at, girl?" he asked.

Moira blinked...then stamped her foot in annoyance. "What do you mean, 'what am I staring at'?" she snapped. "Idiot! It's me, Moira!" She put her hands on her hips. "You know...your sister?"

Behemos stared. So did Bomberman.

"What the hell are you doing here, Bem?" Moira barreled on, her fists clenched. "What's all this crap about being the 'Sovereign Ice Lord' and taking over Nereid and whatnot? Hell, how'd you even pull all that off anyway? Never mind, tell me later when I beat the living ice cubes out of you for being a total moron. Auntie Kel's been worried to death and back about you! She can barely pay the monthly rent without your paycheck to help her, and you know that! And the guys have been falling apart back home—I can't be your stand-in forever! What in this goddessforsaken solar system possessed you to—"

"I have never seen you before in my life," Behemos calmly uttered.

Moira paused in her tirade. She stared at Behemos, processing his words. Her fists dropped to her side...then promptly rose back up again. "You jerk!" she yelled, stomping up to him. "I work my ass off for two years under an ungrateful old crone to try and figure out where the hell you've been all this time, and you want to play mind games with me?"

"Moira!" Bomberman shouted. "Look out—!"

Too late. Behemos' right arm swung around and slammed into the side of Moira's head.

WHAM!

Moira was tossed aside like a ragdoll, landing hard and skidding painfully across the tiled floor.

"Oh, no!" Pommy cried.

"You're a minor annoyance, nothing more," Behemos said, brushing off his gun. "You're not the one I want, so I suggest you stay out of the way if you want to live."

Bomberman and Pommy quickly rushed over to Moira's side. "Moira, are you okay?" Bomberman asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"He...he wasn't like this...b-before..." Moira murmured ever so quietly, not moving a muscle. Her eyelids started to droop. "I d-don't know what...what happened. He started to change...before he left...th-three years...ago..."

"Dammit!" Bomberman shook her gently. "Stay awake, will you?"

Moira passed out.

Bomberman grit his teeth and inspected her. She was breathing fine; at least the blow hadn't snapped her neck like Bomberman thought it would. But there was a nasty-looking gash on her left cheek. He remembered the medicinal gel that Lilith had given him, and he quickly took it out of one of his jean pockets to apply it to the wound. "It'll be okay," he whispered. "Just hang in there." He handed the medicinal tin to Pommy. "Keep this safe for me, will you?"

"Myu?" Pommy held up the circular container with both hands. "O-okay. Pommy will take care of it." He wrinkled his nose. "It smells funny, though."

"It's medicine that works. That means it has to taste bad...or smell bad in this case."

"What? That makes no sense to Pommy!"

"Hey, if it's good enough for the professionals, it's good enough for me."

"Well, Pommy thinks Bomberman's logic sucks and cannot be found."

"Oh, come on, marshmallow, is this really the time to be debating my rhetorical tactics? Just hold on to the damn thing!"

Behemos watched this exchange with an amused expression. "You're an interesting pair," he said, chuckling. "Tell me, before you die...what's your name?"

Bomberman stood up slowly and let out a breath. "My name is Bomberman," he said, turning around, "but unfortunately for you, I'm not planning on dying today."

"Is that so?" Behemos snorted. "Well, you have defeated a fellow Astral Knight already. I suppose it could very well be that I shall be the one to go instead. Not that I expect it, of course."

Bomberman held out his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Listen, I don't want to fight you or kill you," he said. "I'm only interested in getting out of here alive."

"Really?" Behemos stepped forward, and his footstep echoed around the room. "That's a simple enough matter to negotiate. All you need to do is give up your Fire Stone, and I'll let you and your companions go without another scratch."

"No dice. I need it for my own reasons." Bomberman crossed his arms. "Why are you so interested in it, anyway? Its powers can only be used by my own kind."

Behemos narrowed his eyes. "Do you know of the true power of the Elementals?"

Bomberman blinked. "Uh, no, not really. That's kind of why I was asking you about the Fire Stone in the first place."

"If you are ignorant to the power of the Elementals," Behemos said, aiming his gun, "you have no business wasting its potential on your insignificant life." A frigid wind rose up around him, and the hum of charging machinery whirred in the air. "Ice Crusher!"

Bomberman gritted his teeth. "Crap!" He quickly picked up Moira and Pommy (who clung confusedly to Moira's leg) and tried to make a break for it—

FWAAAMM!

A sharp, cold blast exploded right at Bomberman's heels, sending him flying through the air.

"Unngh!" He landed hard on the floor, almost crushing Moira and Pommy beneath his weight. Another icy explosion sent him scrambling for cover once again. Not even a minute into the fight and there was already an urgent situation: getting Moira and Pommy to a safe enough spot so he could concentrate on dealing with Behemos. Unfortunately, the entire place was devoid of anything to hide behind, consisting entirely of flat floor area. Bomberman gritted his teeth and produced a bomb from his place on the ground, then flung it just as Behemos unleashed another frozen blast from his gun.

­KA-BOOM!

The collision of two opposing elements produced a steam cloud in the air, thick enough to give Bomberman the time he needed to drop Moira and a quivering Pommy off in a corner and then make a break for the opposite end of the room to draw Behemos' attention.

"What's this?" Behemos asked once the steam had lifted. "Are we running away already?"

Bomberman's eye twitched as he skidded to a stop halfway through and whirled around. "Don't the words 'collateral-freaking-damage' mean anything to you?" he growled. He formed two bombs in his hands and hurled them. "YAAAH!"

The first explosive missed Behemos, landing a short distance behind him; the second he had to guard against with his arms crossed in front of his face, where it exploded. "Nnngh!" he groaned, sliding backwards a few inches.

Taking advantage of Behemos' moment of distraction, Bomberman quickly pulled out his remote to switch from automatic mode to manual—

FWEEEM!

A blue laser zapped the device right out of his hands before he could do anything.

"Ack!" Bomberman dove forward to catch the remote before it hit the ground...and found it completely encased in a solid block of ice. "Aw, no..."

Behemos' laughter pounded in his ears. "Sorry, little man!" he cackled. "Thanks to Baelfael's fight, we know how you do things in your little world. Unfortunately"—and the magically chilly winds swirled around him again—"this isn't your little world anymore!"

"Little man"? Bomberman thought with some annoyance and a bit of surprise. Whatever happened to your lordly airs, "big man"?

"Wave Frost!"

Bomberman's eyes widened as giant spikes of ice shot up from the ground and roared towards him, and he flipped out of the way. He wondered briefly whether this attack was the same one that Moira had used earlier to create that frozen bridge, but he abandoned that thought in favor of trying to crack the ice around his precious remote by smacking it on the ground. No luck—the ice was thick as a brick. He'd have to break through it later when he wasn't so occupied. At least it was still on automatic mode. Bomberman reared back for a hopefully successful pass. "Hey, creampuff!" he shouted. "Catch!" And he flung the remote in a perfect arc across the room.

"Myu?" Pommy looked up.

BONK!

The remote landed square on Pommy's head before clattering to the ground.

"Myuuu..." Pommy toppled onto his side, dazed.

Bomberman sighed and smacked a cold palm to his face. "I hate my life."

"Frozen Shards!" A barrage of deadly sharp ice crystals exploded from Behemos' gun in rapid succession.

P-P-P-POW!

"Aaagh!" Caught off guard, Bomberman was bombarded with more than a few of the icy bullets. He shivered as tiny painful jolts of cold shot through his body, and attempted to buy himself time to recover by tossing three bombs at Behemos.

BOOM! BOOM! KA-BOOM!

But the damage had been done. Bomberman's aim was wildly off, allowing Behemos to escape Bomberman's attacks with barely a scratch. "Come on!" he complained. "Baelfael was defeated by this? The nerd really did screw up!"

Bomberman scowled as he tried to shake off the last bits of cold from his bloodstream, but he couldn't help but be disheartened by the fact that Baelfael had really been right. There were knights waiting for him that were definitely stronger than Baelfael, and now here he was fighting one of them. It was still too early to truly gauge the extent of Behemos' abilities, but it was obvious that he was much larger than Baelfael, so direct hand-to-hand combat was out of the question unless Bomberman was desperate enough to risk having his bones shattered. There was the possible consolation that Bomberman's primary element of fire technically overpowered Behemos' ice element, but Bomberman had a feeling that such a thing wouldn't be as much of a deciding factor here as it was normally assumed to be.

Behemos tapped his foot impatiently. "Hey, are you going to fight, or should I just make a snowman out of you?" he sneered.

"You won't be such a jolly happy soul when I'm through with you, Frosty!" Bomberman charged a superbomb and tossed it at Behemos.

Behemos jumped back to avoid it, then jumped to the side to avoid another. He ducked a third, sidestepped the fourth...and realized he was surrounded by a fence of super-explosives. "Oh, sh—!"

KA-BLAAAMM!

The superbombs went off in quick succession, each one fueled by the one before it.

Bomberman refrained from celebrating, remembering what had happened the last time he thought he'd landed a good hit on his opponent. Instead, he tossed four more regular bombs at Behemos, counting on the remnants of the superbombs' dying flames to explode them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Behemos stumbled to the ground through the smoke, not quite melted but definitely burned. A piece of his arm guard broke off and clattered on the tile. "Ugh..." He shook his head and grimaced. "Not bad. So maybe Baelfael didn't mess up as badly as I originally thought." He half-smiled, half-winced as he got to his feet. "Excuse the irony, but it looks like I'll have to turn up the heat." He raised his right arm in the air, and the gun suddenly glowed bright blue. "Diamond Crusher!"

Bomberman slid into a defensive stance, readying himself to dodge the attack.

Behemos smirked at him...then turned to aim at Moira's still-unconscious form on the other side.

The now fully-recovered Pommy yelped. "Yeek!"

Bomberman panicked. "NO!"

Behemos threw his head back and laughed.

Pommy's eyes darted from side to side, desperately wondering whether to flee or guard Moira.

Bomberman sprinted madly, his feet stomping furiously against the pale blue tile.

The gun hummed louder.

Bomberman made a last-ditch leap.

The gun went off with a nearly sonic bang.

P-POWW!

"AAAUGGH!" The chilling blast slammed Bomberman hard into the corner, dumping him on top of Moira again. But he couldn't even bring himself to move this time; the force of the attack plus the subsequent collision with the wall had knocked him three-fourths out of his mind. As he lay on his back, struggling to move, all he could see were spots in front of his eyes and icy spikes that decorated the ceiling of the room...

"B-Bomberman!" Pommy squeaked. "Bomberman, get up! You're crushing Moira!"

"I w-would if I c-could!" Bomberman hissed through clenched teeth.

Behemos laughed again. "You're quick, buddy," he said, blowing away some frosty smoke from his gun. "But not quick enough, apparently."

Bomberman growled, shivering. That asshole! he thought. He knew I was going to try and save Moira!

"I do have to wonder what she is to you, that you'd so stupidly risk your neck to protect her," Behemos began casually, pacing the floor as Bomberman was slowly dragged off Moira's body by a frantic but determined Pommy. "A passing acquaintance? Partner-in-crime? Friend? More than a friend?" He stopped pacing and shot Bomberman a grin that was anything but amiable. "You do realize that if it's the last option, you will have to answer to me."

Bomberman snorted as he finally righted himself again. "So much for not knowing she was your sister, eh?"

Behemos blinked, suddenly confused. "What?"

"HAH!" Bomberman sprang into action with a toss of a bomb.

BOOM!

It nailed Behemos right in the chest, pushing him back one step.

BOOM!

Another hit.

Another step back.

BOOM!

And another.

BOOM!

And another.

Bomberman made his way bit by bit away from Moira and Pommy as he continued to pelt Behemos with bombs. Getting himself and Behemos as far away from Moira and Pommy as possible was the priority at the moment. Once that was done, then he could figure out what to do about Behemos.

Smoke filled the air as bomb after bomb exploded. After his umpteenth throw, Bomberman paused for a break, resting his palms on his knees and panting heavily. He winced at how sharp the cold air seemed in his lungs now, and mused that it probably hadn't been a good idea to keep up such a constant assault, especially considering his already less-than-ideal condition. He wondered just how much damage he'd dealt in that amount of time. If it was substantial, Bomberman hoped that Behemos would be willing to consider surrender...if he was still alive after all that, that is.

The haze faded away. Sunlight once again glinted in the icy dungeon. And now Bomberman could see the scorched form of Behemos kneeling weakly in the middle of the floor. He appeared to be breathing heavily; a good part of his armor was either missing, cracked, or melted. He tried to raise a knee to stand, but failed, sliding back down into a slouched sitting position.

Bomberman took a few tentative steps forward. "Like I said," he began, "I don't want to kill you, and I don't want to fight anymore. Will you let us go?"

Behemos shuddered. At first, Bomberman thought he was in pain, and his instinct told him to go and help him. It took him a few moments to realize that the half-dead man was laughing.

"You toss a few fireworks at me and you think you've got it made?" Behemos finally made it back up to a standing position, but his posture was noticeably hunched and his voice hoarse. "I don't think so, buddy. You're running with the big guys now, so you damn well better play like them." He lifted his gun and aimed. "Ice Storm!"

SHRAAA-BAAMM!

Bomberman's vision suddenly exploded in white as a snowstorm blasted him full in the face, sending him flying backwards into the wall again.

SLAM!

He slid to the cold ground, disoriented.

KA-SHHRAAASSSH!

Icicles suddenly rained on him from above, having been shaken loose by the impact of his body against the wall.

"Aaggh!" Bomberman flailed at them furiously.

An ominous humming alerted him to the charging of Behemos' gun, and Bomberman scrambled out of the way just as another hit landed where he had once been. BLAAMMM!

That gun, Bomberman thought, charging a superbomb. I have to destroy that gun, or at least disable it!

"Frozen Shards!"

Bomberman grit his teeth and hurled the superbomb, wincing at the effort.

P-P-P-P-POW!

KA-BOOM!

Steam rose up from the clash of elemental powers.

Behemos wasn't fazed. "Ice Crusher!"

FWEEEEM!

Bomberman dodged by rolling to the side. He evaded a second Ice Crusher by diving forward. No sooner had he gotten back up than he was met by more frozen bullets.

Dammit, he's going to nail me at this distance! Bomberman realized. His shoulders and back throbbed painfully from having smashed into a hard surface one too many times. And there's no guarantee that I can get a hit on that thing from here. I need to get closer! He swallowed. But how am I going to do that without getting myself killed?

"You look a little steamed, Bomberman!" Behemos gleefully called, readying yet another attack. "Don't worry, I'm sure this'll cool you down! Diamond Crusher!"

Bomberman turned to make a run for it...and spotted the mess of icicles that had fallen on him.

He froze for a brief moment in thought.

His eyes traveled up towards the ceiling.

Behemos' gun glowed.

VMMMMM!

Bomberman looked over his shoulder.

The gun fired.

KA-POWW!

Bomberman jumped to the side.

He conjured a bomb and flung it in Behemos' direction, aiming high.

BOOM!

It struck gold.

KA-SHRAAASSH!

More icy stalactites poured onto the playing field.

"Graaagh!" Behemos tried to bat them away the best he could, sending them flying in all directions. As the frozen frenzy died down, he shook the icy pieces from his shoulders...and was suddenly aware of Bomberman charging at him with a bomb in hand. Behemos stepped back and prepared to fire—

Bomberman hurled the bomb.

BOOM!

Behemos cried out and jolted back as the bomb exploded by his left shoulder. His eye twitched in pain.

Bomberman barreled in with a ready fist. "HYAAAH!"

BAM!

Behemos jerked as Bomberman's knuckles buried into his right cheekbone. He snarled and retaliated with a fist of his own.

Bomberman dropped down to avoid it, then stuck out a leg to catch Behemos behind his knees.

Behemos' legs buckled. His skull hit the floor. CRASH!

Bomberman prepared to land a hit on Behemos' gun—

WHAM!

Behemos flung a foot out to kick Bomberman in the face.

Bomberman stumbled backwards and slid across the ground, his cheek pulsing in pain. The coppery taste of blood seeped into his tongue. His fingers curled around a large icicle lying nearby, and on a whim he brought it up against his cheek.

Behemos managed to pull himself to a semi-kneeling position. He shakily lifted his gun. "D-Diamond Crusher!"

Bomberman stared as the gun glowed its menacing blue.

VMM-MMMM!

Only half-conscious of what he was doing, he got to his feet...

Turned around...

And ran at Behemos at full speed.

Behemos smirked at him as the gun whirred to life. "It's your funeral, not mine!"

Bomberman performed a slide-kick...slid towards Behemos...and jammed the icicle he'd been holding right into the barrel of the gun. "HAAAH!"

The gun glowed bright.

And then brighter.

And then it sparked.

Heavily.

Bomberman scrambled to his feet again and made a break for the other side of the room.

Behemos' eyes went wide. "Wh-what the hell—?"

KA-BLAM!

The gun exploded.

"AAAUUGH!" Behemos fell back, clutching at his arm. The explosion had blown off the last of the armor on his right arm and had left a considerable amount of heavily blistered skin in the process of doing so. "What the hell j-just happened?"

Bomberman took a breath and swallowed the blood that had been pooling in his mouth. "You don't have your weapon anymore, Behemos," he said quietly. "Let's stop this."

"Don't take pity on me, you pathetic little bastard!" Behemos thundered, standing up even though he was clearly in pain doing so. He slipped off what remained of the gun and tossed it aside before sneering at Bomberman. "You're an idiot if you think I'm helpless without this thing!" He threw out both hands. "Crystal Beam!"

Bomberman wasn't fast enough to even turn around.

FWEEEMM!

BLAM!

Bomberman looked down...and found that both of his feet were now securely frozen to the floor.

"Damn!" he swore, trying to yank himself free. Damn, damn, damn!

"Hahaha!" Behemos lifted his hands high above his head. They glowed blinding blue, bitter cold winds circling them in a miniature ice storm. "Nice try, but no cigar! I'll be seeing you in the underworld!" He prepared to launch his attack. "Blizzard Dragon!"

"Aqua Spread!"

SPLAASSSH!

Behemos was suddenly doused in a torrent of cold water. "Aaaugh!" he grunted, shaking the water drops the best that he could from his hair. He tried to wipe the liquid from his face...and found he couldn't.

His eyes glanced upwards.

His hands were securely frozen in a large chunk of ice.

Behemos' eyes narrowed. "What the hell?"

Bomberman's head snapped up. There in the corner, weakly supporting herself on one elbow with her other hand outstretched, was Moira. "Moira?" he said. "When did you...?"

Moira didn't look at him. She lowered her hand...then lowered her head. "Do...what you have to do," she whispered.

Bomberman stared. "What? B-but—"

"Do it!" Moira clenched her eyes shut. "Please!"

Bomberman gulped and shook his head. No... One death was already one too many for him. No! he repeated in his mind. No, no, no! I can still fix things! There's still a chance for—

Behemos growled. "I've had just enough of you, girl," he spat. He grunted and jerked his arms, breaking them free from the ice. SHHRRAAKK! He shook out the remaining bits from his arms. "I'll freeze you to your bones before I beat you to your bones!"

Moira's eyes opened again. She slowly gazed up in terror and shock at the looming figure of Behemos coming ever so closer to her.

Pommy gasped and buried his face in her arm.

Behemos held out a glowing hand. "Crystal B—"

There was no second-guessing for Bomberman now.

BOOM!

A bomb slammed into Behemos' back.

He wheezed...and teetered forward...

BOOM!

A second bomb blew Behemos' feet right out from under him.

He crashed to the ground.

WHAM!

He lay there in a battered heap, slightly curled up.

Bomberman drew a breath.

Moira held a breath.

Moments passed.

Behemos began to stir once more...

KA-BOOM!

And a superbomb silenced him for good.

Behemos—or what was left of him—went limp, blood starting to pool on the floor around him.

Pommy let out a breath.

Moira hung her head.

Bomberman lowered his outstretched arm, only now realizing what he'd just done. He began to shake rather violently—and he suspected it wasn't just from the cold. He tried to steady himself the best he could, and bent over to pound a fist on the ice encasing his legs. With a few good hits, he was able to crack the ice enough so that he could break free by wiggling each of his legs. With that done, he approached Behemos, intending to check if the Astral Knight was really dead. He knelt down beside Behemos to check for a pulse.

To Bomberman's horror, as soon as he touched Behemos' wrist, Behemos' body froze over and then crumbled to a fine, snowy powder. He instantly drew back, revolted.

"Myu...?" Pommy trotted over to join Bomberman. He trudged fearlessly through the powder and sniffed at a small mound in the middle of the mess. He swept the powder off to reveal a small gemstone shaped like a teardrop. "What's this?" he asked, picking it up.

Bomberman slowly reached over and took the stone from Pommy, brushing the last bits of white off it. The stone was the same brilliant blue as the sky and glimmered with an aura that Bomberman couldn't identify. He half-expected the stone to suddenly blow up in his hand and freeze him solid. He half-wished it would. Bomberman clasped the stone tightly in his hand, and he felt it give off a faint pulse of cold, like a heartbeat.

A soft sigh reminded Bomberman of the other person present in the room. He quickly made his way over to Moira, who had pulled herself up to a sitting position. "Are you...are you all right?" he asked. "You're not hurt too badly?"

Moira gave him a small smile, though her eyes wavered slightly. "I'm fine." She took Bomberman's hand and got to her feet. "I'll live." She sniffled and wiped her sleeve across her eyes. "I'll...l-live..."

Bomberman bit his lip and resisted the urge to smack himself in the face right then and there. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. "L-listen," he began. "I'm...really sorry about all this...you know."

Moira nodded absently, staring obliquely past Bomberman.

Bomberman swallowed and willed his blood to pump through his veins again. "I didn't mean to...that is, I didn't want to..." He sighed, realizing his words were failing him more than usual. "H-here," he said, holding out the gem he'd just found. "You can have this."

Moira stole a brief glance at it. "I don't want it," she said.

"But this is...this is from...that is to say, wasn't that your—?"

"He wasn't my brother!" Moira insisted, her choked voice attesting to a withheld truth. "He...he wasn't my brother," she repeated quietly. "Bem would...n-never...hurt me..." She closed her eyes and hugged herself loosely. Tears spilled out from beneath her eyelashes. "He would never...even think about it..."

There was a silence broken only by a sudden crash of ocean waves outside. Bomberman finally just pocketed the gem, feeling it would be wrong somehow to leave it behind. He walked over and picked up his still-frozen remote, gazing forlornly at it. Water dripped between his fingers as the ice began to gradually melt from the heat of his hand. It dripped...and dripped...and dripped...

"B-Bomberman?" came Pommy's timid voice. "Is Bomberman oka—"

Bomberman spun around and hurled the remote into the wall.

KA-KKRASSH!

The ice around the remote shattered into pieces upon impact.

The remote itself landed safely on the tiled floor. CLUNK!

Moira and Pommy looked up at Bomberman wide-eyed.

Bomberman rested a fist on the wall and grit his teeth.

Two deaths...too many...