Disclaimer: Bark the Polar Bear © Sega/Archie Comics
Mia the Cat © Blank the Snivy
Chapter Thirty Five
Sideshow: Rage of the Motherland
[Well this should keep my attention for a while before I get back to the main attraction.]
Bark looked around at the frightened mob of soldiers and was able to count at least two dozen of them surrounding him. The soldiers in riot gear were merely cannon fodder compared to the mechanical might of the Spartan and Bark knew he would be able to cut through them with ease. He tightened his grip around his ice sickles [I just realized that was a pun] and waited for one of them to make the first move.
A few adrenaline fuelled seconds passed before the mob made their move. Three of them came charging forward with their batons raised ready to bludgeon the bear to death but that only gave Bark an opening. The bear quickly lowered his body and spun around rapidly as he cut through the soldiers with a wet slicing sound. All three of the soldiers stood in place with their batons raised above their heads as the large gashes in their bodies began to leak blood onto the ground before they themselves fell.
Everything seemed to slow down around Bark as his senses heightened before he turned to the left and charged. Bark kept his body low to the ground and looked up at the scared face of a soldier through his riot gear helmet before the bear unleashed a barrage of slashes. Every move that Bark made cut into something due to the crowd being so compacted together and the bear could feel his sickles slicing through Kevlar, riot shields, flesh and bones. Soldiers to the left and right of the assassin met their end as the bear powered through the crowd before he came to a stop, leaving a bloody trail of mutilated soldiers behind him.
[And that only took out a fraction of them.]
Another soldier behind Bark charged with his riot shield positioned to ram into him but before he could even get close the bear twirled around and delivered a powerful kick to the shield with a dull thud that sent the guard sailing backwards through the crowd. A thud was heard as he crashed into the wall but Bark paid it no mind before he stabbed both of his sickles into the ground and focused some of his powers.
Before any of the surrounding warriors could do anything the floor underneath them became frigid and only seconds later large spikes of ice shot out of the ground around Bark. The enemies surrounding Bark were lifted off the ground as their bodies were horribly impaled by the small glaciers while the remaining guards looked on in total disgust. Bark then stood up straight before kicking one of the ice stalagmites in front of him with a loud snap as it broke. The spike then flew forward along with the body it had impaled and crashed into the remaining soldiers before the tip of the projectile stabbed into the wall.
The crowd around him was thinning rapidly and the Spartan knew he'd have to take action soon. He looked down at his partner and ran a scan to see that he was losing blood fast through the holes in his chest at a deadly rate. The Spartan bowed his head in remembrance, deeming his Spartan ally the only one worth mourning over before looking at Bark who was busy cutting through the mob.
As Bark gut another soldier with his sickle the Spartan charged through the crowd, recklessly pushing and shoving others aside before raising his weapon up and aiming at the bear through the sea of riot gear. The armored soldier then squeezed the trigger of his weapon which sent a steady stream of three super heated bullets towards the bear. Each bullet flew in a precise line between the heads of the other soldiers as they approached their destination.
Bark's senses were incredibly sharp though and he heard the Spartan readying his weapon seconds before he grabbed a random guard in the crowd and brought him in front of the bullet's path. The soldier's riot gear equipment was no match for the trio of super heated bullets and the projectiles broke through the shield with a crack before hitting him in the body. Thankfully his body along with the armor managed to stop all of the bullets making him an excellent living [Well used to be living] shield.
"Bastard!" cursed the Spartan angrily through his mask as Bark threw the dead body towards the mob. The Spartan then aimed at Bark again before the bear threw down a large snowball down onto the ground.
A loud poof filled the air before snow enshrouded the entire area. The Spartan's view was obscured and once he switched over to his thermal imaging the only thing he could see was a sea of colorful red splotches on an azure background. The rest of the soldiers were in a state of panic as they flailed around in the snowstorm, their sight so obscured that they couldn't even see past their noses. Bark was in his element though and he knew that soon enough it would just be him and the Spartan.
Amidst the confusion Bark began the slaughter before quickly dashing through all the soldiers whilst slashing precisely at the vulnerable soldiers. Some of the guards with rifles actually decided to shoot randomly in any direction out of fear and that didn't help them either as they met their end by Bark's icy blade. The Spartan however decided to make the best of the situation and quickly exited the snowstorm in order to launch another attack.
Meanwhile back inside of the frigid chaos, Bark continued the slaughter and if one were to look closely they would see blood being spilled amongst the heavy white snowfall. The bear dragged his sickles through the abdomens of the soldiers, slicing through their shields like paper and cutting through appendages like wood while horrified screams filled the air. From the sidelines the Spartan watched the snow cloud tactfully as severed body parts flew out of it.
The Spartan then brought his gun up before sliding a grenade into the underbarrel launcher and aiming it at the snow cloud. He knew that if he told the guards to get out of the way that Bark would do the same so the armored soldier kept quite as he readied his weapon and without warning he shot the grenade at the cloud. The grenade then whistled through the air for a split second before making contact with the ground, causing a large explosion to blow away the snow and any nearby soldiers, leaving them in a bloody pulp.
Once the dust and blood mist had faded away the Spartan quickly scanned the area for any traces of Bark before the data came back telling him there was nothing living amongst the pile of mutilated remains. The Spartan then snickered a bit, glad about a job well done before turning around and walking towards his dead partner laying on the ground. He wanted to make sure that his partner was buried correctly compared to the other dead soldiers behind him since he deemed them unworthy of a proper warrior's death.
Before he could get too far his audio sensors picked up the sound of movement from behind him, making him look over his shoulder to see Bark pushing dead bodies off of himself and getting up. As the bear got to his feet and stretched the Spartan noticed the immense amount of blood staining Bark's white fur along with a few new burns from the explosion before the assassin stared the soldier down.
[He just killed all of his allies, and he called me the bastard.]
"I'm not one to talk much during a fight but why be so heartless as to kill all of your allies in one fell swoop?" asked Bark seriously as the tension in the hall increased.
The Spartan chuckled a bit under his mask, his back still turned to Bark. "Those guys? Useless pieces of garbage that G.U.N. had to get rid of which is why they're here!" explained the armored soldier with a laugh. "My partner and I were the cream of the crop in our squads, leading our peers, stalwart in the face of evil." said the soldier, reminiscing a bit on the days he was revered as the best. "We were so good that we were chosen to be in this Spartan Project and after completing numerous tests we qualified for one of these magnificent suits." he said as he raised his open hand and looked at his clenched fist.
"I loved the power and precision it gave me! And along with the rest of the qualifiers we were given suits and sentenced to different posts." growled the Spartan as he began to remember what had happened. "And then it happened! I was sent to this dump as security ordinance for the highly dangerous criminals!" he yelled since he couldn't contain his anger. "Forced to live in the cold, working with uncaring soldiers who have run away from the war efforts and watching over insane criminals who're too confined to put up a fight!" he said before turning around and looking at Bark.
"But you!" he said pointing at Bark while laughing a bit. "You brought some of the life back into me! You've reminded me exactly why I joined G.U.N.!" yelled the armored soldier cockily. "So I could rid the world of shit stains like you and fight the fucking good fight!" he said almost madly, his body shaking a bit from the adrenaline and rage. "So come on! I call you out by name! The Bloodstained Snow! Winter's Fury! Rage of the Motherland! Bark the -god damned- Polar Bear! Fight me!" he yelled before raising his assault rifle and unleashing a torrent of fire upon the bear.
[What a pretentious dick.]
Seconds before the Spartan even pulled the trigger Bark stomped his foot down onto the blood covered ground. As the bullets flew through the air the blood on the ground quickly shot up and froze into a thick red wall. All of the bullets slammed into the barrier, creating a large crack on it but leaving Bark untouched. With all of the dead bodies on the ground Bark was able to make a pretty thick wall using all of their blood and there was definitely enough to launch a counterattack.
[I know it's creepy, but I always did somehow fight better with frozen blood.]
Bark took a big step forward a primal roar escaping his lips before delivering a barrage of punches at the wall in front of him. Each strike made a large spiked projectile to shoot out of the other side and sail towards the Spartan. The armored warrior easily dodged each of the spikes and before he could bring his weapon up to shoot the wall the entire thing surged forward suddenly. With little time to react the soldier did the only thing he could and just fired continuously into the blood wall hoping to break it.
All of the bullets rammed into the wall, shattering it with a loud crack and making all of the bloody frozen bits fly around the soldier. Before the Spartan could focus through the frozen bloody chunks, a white blur filled his vision as Bark charged him. The polar bear quickly caught one of the frozen bits of blood in his hand and morphed it into a short dagger before he started to slash precisely at the soldier.
Acting on mechanically increased reflexes the Spartan quickly jumped back out of the way but managed to sustain a few cuts from the assault. The warrior growled a bit through his mask as he started to bring his gun up to point before Bark kicked another chunk of frozen blood at him. As the bloody chunk made contact with Bark's foot it shifted into another spike before flying towards the soldier.
The soldier quickly readjusted his aim onto the incoming projectile within nanoseconds before firing a trio of shots. Bullets met ice and the frozen blood spike exploded in midair creating a red mist before the Spartan adjusted his aim back onto the polar bear.
Now everything was going to hell as the two went at it one on one and as the bear saw the gun aimed on him he quickly charged the Spartan again before swatting the gun's barrel away from his face. Bark then quickly close in and stabbed his knife into the soldier's stomach before a loud crack sounded as the knife broke through the armor.
A loud yell of pain sounded as the Spartan felt the dagger pierce his armor and shred through his flesh. But before Bark could do more damage the Spartan quickly jumped back, the dagger still lodged into his lower abdomen and leaking freshly spilt blood. Warnings flashed in his helmet notifying him of the serious injury and that his armor was administering heavy amounts of painkillers into him. If the wound went untreated, he'd probably bleed out and the Spartan knew it. There was no time to be worrying about the wound and the warrior brought his gun up one final time before unleashing a torrent of bullets down the hall at the bear.
The Spartan's sight was so blurred by the pain and the heavy loss of blood that not even his mechanically aided aim could help him. Bark quickly weaved around each of the bullets with a bit of difficulty, but it was still easier since the warrior was losing it.
There was little time before Bark closed the distance between himself and the soldier, but once there the bear brought his own fist back. Bark's own blood quickly formed a large spiked gauntlet around his hand before he sent it sailing forward at the Spartan's face
Time slowed all around the soldier and behind his mask he was smiling despite the pain. He could clearly see the warnings lighting up in his visor telling him about heavy bleeding, loss of munitions and his armor becoming more and more strained, but he didn't care. The soldier continued to smile behind his mask during the brief lapse in time and even chuckled a bit as he saw the incoming fist. There was no moment of hesitation, no fear, no anger, nothing, only bliss and even Bark could sense it.
[That moment in a warrior's life where he could just feel his inevitable death coming for him with nothing he could do to stop it at all. That's the moment you realize all of the goods and the bads in your life and just smile. You smile because you know you did an extraordinary in your own eyes.]
A loud crack filled the air as the bloody ice fist smashed through the Spartan's visor, caving in his skull into a gory mess and launching his body across the hall before skidding to a halt. Bark stood there on the end of the hall, panting slightly as he looked at his dead enemy before his inner ear communicator broke the silence.
"Hey, I've got him, heading to the rendezvous point now." said Mia in a serious tone as the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. "You've got one helluva package here though I must say." she then commented with a slight giggle.
"Yeah, yeah I know," grunted Bark at the mention of the person they were rescuing. "Just keep him in line and I'll meet you there, is everything alright back there though? I can always come down there and help you out if you want." suggested Bark as he tried to wipe some of the blood off out of his fur.
"We're fine, just meet us there, but sorry to say this but ummmmmm," trailed off Mia before a loud thud could be heard on the other side of the hall at the elevator. The metal doors of the elevator shook a bit once, making Bark a bit curious. The doors then shook again before a large dent was made from the other side. "every lunatic down here should be making their way up there by now. But they're really more focused on escaping rather than fighting, so you should be okay." she said before a pair of brown burly hands managed to stick between the gap in the elevator door and try and pry it open.
Bark spit out a gob of saliva and blood before smirking a bit. "You sure?" he asked before a large ape in an orange prison jumpsuit pried both of the doors open. As soon as the simian did so a green blur of speed raced passed him and blasted by Bark. Even though the blur was fast he did double take a bit since he thought he saw a green hedgehog that looked nearly the same as a famous blue hero.
The gorilla then walked forward slowly, eyeing Bark closely before stopping in front of him. The gorilla was a good head taller than Bark, but the polar bear still stood his ground.
"I'm assuming that you and your cat friend started this little outburst?" asked the gorilla in a deep serious tone as he looked right at Bark.
"Yes, what of it?" replied Bark seriously as the two continued to stare off.
The gorilla then nodded with respect that even surprised Bark a bit. "Thank you, sir." answered the gorilla respectfully before glancing over his shoulder as a few more prisoners ran out. Most of them made their ways towards the exits instead of fighting Bark like Mia had said. "You should get out of here now, the maniacs might try to fight you and I know for sure that G.U.N. called in for reinforcements, so it'd be the wiser choice." explained the simian before walking off. "Until we meet again, Bark the Polar Bear." he said.
Bark looked at the ape curiously as he went off, wondering how he knew his name, but quickly shrugged it off. The sound of maniacal laughing could be heard as the rest of the dangerous inmates made their way for freedom and like them, Bark also made his leave.
The bear turned around and started to walk away, ready to leave the frigid hell.
Two Hours Later
The sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air filled Bark's ears as he approached the black infantry chopper. White snow was blown into his face from the chopper but Bark didn't mind much. He was back outside, a few miles away from the prison and in a large clearing just covered in a blanket of snow. The smell of fuel filled the bear's nostrils as he got closer to the chopper and Bark couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of a job well done.
Bark's fur was still covered in blood along with the burns from the fight he had with the Spartan. The bear looked like he had just committed a mass murder and ironically enough he actually did. As he got closer to the chopper he could see Mia waiting for him.
"You look like shit." laughed the cat as she stood on the loading ramp of the chopper.
[Well she shouldn't be talking.]
Mia didn't look any better compared to Bark either since her coat had been nearly torn to shreds and her some of her white fur was covered in soot and ash along with a few cuts. Her prosthetic arm was a bit charred along with a few dents and fried circuits and her real hand was also a bit cut up.
"Right back at you." said Bark as he stood in the entrance of the helicopter and looked deeper inside to see a large brown bear in an orange jumpsuit laying down with a bottle of vodka in hand. "Where the hell did he find a bottle?" the polar bear then asked curiously.
The feline giggled as she looked back at the brown bear. "He said he looted it, after that I didn't dare ask more." she answered with a shrug before heading deeper into the chopper. Bark then entered the helicopter and strapped into one of the seats before relaxing a bit.
"Yeah, let's go home."
Hey I'm managing to keep some good time here! Well back to the 'Sideshows' but at least the next one is Mia's fun time sneaking around during a war between dangerous prisoners and guards! Well this was fun to write since I wanted to portray Bark as a burly badass XD But anyways another chapter down yay!
Oh and I have a poll up on my profile. It's a hypothetical question of what character you'd want me to write about! Fun right! So please! The more people who vote the better! Hell, even though the question's hypothetical I might just make it happen! *wink wink* Also, all of the characters on that list in my poll are real in the Archie Comics, so if you're curious just go ahead and check 'em out before you vote. Some of them have pretty small parts though but I find them interesting and I might be able to flesh them out more! So please PLEASE vote!