Tales of the Mad Lands
A large city stood on top of a mountain where a couple of explosions were appearing. The clear light of day shined on a large hand shaped building that was being constructed. Heroes of all shapes and sizes were seen going through the city fighting evil one way or another.
It all started two weeks after Gar left P.O.I.N.T. to strike out on his own. P.O.I.N.T. had started growing larger and larger, and more heroes started joining not just to learn but to also teach. The number of villains back in those days was easily three times what we have today, and they had the strength and power to stand on their own. I was one of the rising star heroes of that time, and I felt like I could take on the world.
Carol appeared jumping out of an explosion wearing her a sleeveless silver colored suit. Her hair was long and wild and in her eyes was a strong and bendable fury. She stared at a large bomb shaped sumo wrestler man with a lit fuse on top of its head.
"Yo, Bomber, get ready to taste my special knuckle sandwich." said Carol
"SilverSpark, I hardly recognized you without the rest of your team. Who were the usual chumps that always had your back? Oh, yeah, that LaserBlast and El-Bow." said the villain
Carol tightened her fist as she jumped straight into the sumo wrestler's face and landed a powerful knee to the face. She then grabbed the head from the fuse to get behind the Bomber's head and began to punch the villains face.
Let's just say I was on edge.
Carol continued to punch the large villain forcing him back down to the ground with his face nearly turned to mush. Right at that very moment police cars and a point vehicle arrive at the scene in time to take the villain away. After the Bomber is taken away, Carol returned to the new P.O.I.N.T. headquarters where Fox Tail, and the rest of the team were waiting for her.
"Hey Fox, you wanted to see me?" asked Carol
"Yes SilverSpark, please take a seat. Listen, Spark, you feeling alright?" asked Fox Tail as Carol was sitting
"Never better, in fact I should go back out on patrol." said Carol trying to leave
"Carol. You aren't fine, look the whole team took a big hit with El-Bow leaving right after Laser Blast's death. You were very close to both of them, that's why you need time to mourn." said Fox Tail
"I don't need to rest, we still have to find those power orbs and who created them. You can't bench me now." said Carol
"That's the second reason I call you in. Two days ago we intercepted a transmission from this negative level 12 villain. Her name is the Countess, she specializes on high level tech and she always sells it to the highest bidder. According to the information we got she's planning on selling similar orbs to some war lords." said Fox Tail as she showed Carol pictures of the Countess selling tech to other villains.
Carol narrowed her eyes knowing where this was going.
"Who is she selling them to and where is the exchange going to take place?" asked Carol
"Have ever heard of the Mad Lands? It is a place where only the strong survive, there is no law, hot shot heroes or villains that go there come out with an inch of their life. It is one of the most dangerous places in the entire world along side the Gourmet World and the Dark Continent." explained Fox Tail
"I get the picture, I wanna go there and get those orbs back." said Carol
"Alright, I see talking to you won't solve anything. You'll go to the Mad Lands by plane, once you reach the access point you will meet our contact there. He'll help you around the territory and help you against the dangers of the Mad Lands." said Fox Tail
After that meeting I went to the Mad Lands, I needed to finish this. In a way I was only looking for an excuse to get away from it all, and before I knew it I was heading straight to the most dangerous place in the world.
I arrived at the Mad Lands a couple days of travel and I instantly saw why the lands were called Mad. Any and all buildings in that place were brought down to old ruins, the skies were covered with thunderous clouds with red lightning and the people that lived there were as brutal as the land they lived in.
Carol parachuted down into the Mad Lands seeing first hand how the world was so much different from what she had previously believed. She landed down on the ground and began looking for the contact P.O.I.N.T. had told her about. Once she climbed to the top of the hill she spotted a small group of people running into the ruins of a town being chased by a large tank and a group of people riding in motor bikes. Carol rushed over to stop the scavengers and entered the scene with a kick to one's face. Carol then landed in front of the Mad Landers ready to kick their butts.
"I am SilverSpark, and if you know what's good for you, you'll leave them alone." said Carol expecting the scavengers to tremble in fear.
The scavengers took a good look at Carol and then they began to laugh at her bold words. Before Carol could set them straight, a lone figure appeared from a top of the ruins of a building. The figure jumped down from the top of the building and calmly walked up to the scavengers. One of the scavengers charged in with a sword, but the figure shattered the sword with the back of his hand and then with the same hand palmed the man knocking the air out of his lungs. A second scavenger tried his luck but was met with a right punch shattering his jaw.
The tank soon joined in the fight and it was aimed directly at Carol who was flabbergasted at the figure's skill and power. Just as the cannon fired did Carol realize the danger she was in but was only able to cover herself in defense. She heard the explosion and felt the heat of the projectile but she was unharmed. She opened her eyes and saw that the figure had stepped between her and the tank.
Carol now had a better look at the figure that had saved her and saw that it was a tall muscular man, and in his chest he had scars that formed the shape of the Big Dipper constellation. This man was none other than Kenshiro. A man that she had only heard in rumors.
Just then Ken rushed towards the tank and punched through the glass knocking out the man inside. Then a powerful blue aura flared around him as he began unleashing a storm of punches and kicks onto the tank. The onslaught was so brutal that the tank and everyone inside was beaten to the point of blowing up. And it did.
Ken calmly walked away as all the other scavengers laid down on the floor or fled in fear. He then spotted Carol.
"Are you alright?" asked Ken
"Yeah, I am. My name is Ca-I mean SilverSpark." said Carol
And that was the very same day that I met Ken. I was amazed not only by his strength but by how he kept himself composed in the face of such brutality. He was the contact that P.O.I.N.T. had within the Mad Lands.
"You must be from P.O.I.N.T., please follow me. We have a lot to do. I'm-" said Ken
"Kenshiro the legendary Fist of the North Star. You're a legend that very few know of." said Carol with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Right, that's me. Please, this way." said Ken as he began walking away.
Carol snapped from her amazement and followed Ken from behind. And thus their mission began.
For weeks and then months we traveled the land seeking the Countess. Through those times, I saw just how harsh life could be and how much people need a hero to help them. We tracked down people that smuggled weapons and artifacts into the Mad Lands and found leads to some of the war lords that the Countess was planning on selling the orbs. Many had been hurt by these people and the Countess was profiting from all of this.
Carol and Ken laid on top of a hill looking down upon the remains of a large stadium and saw a large group of men wearing armored suits and guns and the Countess herself were waiting for the buyers.
"There she is. The woman we've been searching." said Ken as he gave the binoculars to Carol
"So she is. Why don't we go down there and get the answers we want. She should suffer our retribution." said Carol
"Our retribution, or yours? Carol, for the short time that I've known you, I can tell that you are filled with rage and are looking for a way to take it out. Sometimes things are out of our control." said Ken as he looked at Carol
Carol looked down in slight shame but tried to understand what Ken was saying. But now she couldn't let go of this rage. She needed someone to use as a punching bag. And the Countess and her cronies seemed to fit the bill just right.
"We should go down there and intercept the weapons that she's selling the warlords. That way they'll never get their hands on them, then we can capture her as the warlords leave." said Ken
"Good idea." said Carol
Both Carol and Ken slowly made their way down to the stadium. They used the terrain to their advantage and were able to keep their presence hidden from the enemy guards. Things were going according to plan at the moment but the closer they got to the stadium the more they could hear the Countess talk. Ken and Carol now stood right behind the large container. There they had a perfect spot to eavesdrop on where the Countess was standing.
"These warlords are going to make me rich, I just know it." said the Countess with sick grin
The Countess walked up to a large containment unit and opened it. A bright light came out from the containment unit as the Countess kept that sick grin on her face. She grabbed a red colored orb with her hand and then placed it inside her side arm, a hand pistol.
"I cannot believe how much these valuable things were just up for grabs even considering everything they are capable of. Sadly after some dumb do-gooder blew himself up or something the producer got cold feet. Oh, well, a loss for them its a win for me." said the Countess aiming her pistol at nothing.
Every word that came out of the Countess' mouth let like knives to Carol as it had been her former lover Laser Blast the unfortunate hero to be blown up by these orbs. Tears began to build up on Carol's eyes as she could hear the Countess laughing at her assumed score. Carol couldn't take it and just as the Countess was about to sing about her victory, Carol jumped out from her hiding spot and punched the Countess square in the face.
As soon as Carol did that, all hell broke loose. The guards began firing at both Carol and Ken, and that forced the heroes to fight back against the incoming fire. Ken used his extensive martial arts knowledge to block and snatch the incoming projectiles with relative ease, as he fought his way through the guards. Carol, on the other hand, had to dodge the attacks as best as she could but at the same time she focused solely on crushing the Countess.
"You are going to tell me everything you know about these damn orbs now." demanded Carol to the Countess
"Oh sure I'll do that after I do this!" replied the Countess as she fired at Carol
The rounds from the Countess' pistol managed to scratched Carol lightly but Carol didn't care. All she wanted was for someone to pay. In the midst of combat Carol began to re-live her moments with P.O.I.N.T. and how happy she felt during those days. But all that did was caused her to begin crying.
I was so angry that I lost myself at that time and it nearly cost me dearly.
Just as Carol cut the distance between her and the Countess she received a shot to the side but that didn't deterred from giving the Countess a punch to knock her out. Carol fell to her knees as everything went quiet, and all other guards laid down on the ground beaten. Carol then spotted Ken walking up to her with a worry in his eyes.
"Are you alright?" asked Ken with worry
"Yeah, I think I am. Sorry for jumping the gun." said Carol
"Don't worry." said Ken
Just as they were getting up the Countess pulled out her gun and fired at them.
"Look out!" said Carol pushing Ken out of the way from the shot
The shot landed directly on the containment units triggering the orbs. The triggering of the orbs caused an explosion that sent everyone back. The explosion quickly expanded destroying the stadium. Ken and Carol made it out of the stadium and the explosion.
Hours later Carol awoke and found herself in the old shack that she and Ken had found earlier. She found herself in pain and covered in bandages. On top of her there was a long black trench coat jacket. She could feel pain all over her body as she slowly got up.
Carol walked out of the shack covered on herself with the jacket. She spotted Ken in front of a fire.
"Hey." said Carol
"Hey, you should stay in bed, you got the worst from the explosion." said Ken averting his eyes from the barely dressed woman.
"I'm fine really. Again, sorry for all the mess I put you through." said Carol as she sat down next to Ken
After all the craziness that we had been through over the last couple of months we had become very close and in that moment all we did was get closer. And amongst the stars and in the most dangerous places of the world that's what we did.
Present...
Island at the Red Sea...
"A week later I was picked up by P.O.I.N.T. and the rest you already now. And that's how I met your dad." finished Carol telling her story to the group as they all sat around a camp fire.
All throughout the story everyone stayed wide eyed, but the most affected by the story were both K.O. and Ken. They looked like they had seen a ghost and their spirits were floating out of their mouths.