Many greetings to you.
I am one of JAGOW'S elite. I am the furious and powerful warrior, Frost Tiger. My brother, Fire Leo, is currently on vacation, while I have the task of looking after a special object…half of Six Majin! I have the lower half and my brother has the upper half. He is quite lucky, for he buried it inside volcanic lava several days ago and NOBODY will be able to get it out except for my brother and me! Just like nobody will able to get MY half of Six Majin except for my brother and I.
But enough of that. It is boring, guarding a big hulk of machinery. Still, I managed to find ways to pass the time. I have composed several haikus, that focus on my brother, the snow…and my boredom. I have MANY a haiku devoted to boredom. Want to-no? Fine. In any case…I really wish that there were something for me to do. You can only explore the wilderness of ice and snow so many times.
Still, I miss my brother…he is good company. I miss his artwork and his love of mysteries. I miss sparring with him. I miss building sculptures of fire and ice, comparing each other's work. And most of all, I miss just seeing him. We have not really seen each other for a week, although we have communicated via vid-screen. But it is not the same thing as actually seeing him, curse it all!
Anyhow, I have recently found something interesting…a blip on the radar screen. It appears that Dynamic Nick has managed to reach the Yukon area, and that he's within five miles of me. Well he will not be staying here much longer.
I have ways of dealing with uninvited guests…heh heh heh…wa ha ha!
"I'm cold." "Shut up! I know, dammit!" "Well can't you go any faster?" "NO! The snow is hard to trudge though, Fire Leo! So shut up and walk!" "I can't believe that my fire went out so quickly…" "Well, deal with it." "I am. I'm griping." "Deal with it in a CONSTRUCTIVE way."
They had reached the icy north, leaving the job of lugging Six Majin's upper half to some of Fire Leo's Metal Leo robots, who had fallen WAY behind. Right now, both Fire Leo and Dynamic Nick were walking through a heavy snowfall, as large flakes continued to pour from the sky. Fire Leo's burning head had long been extinguished, and Nick had gotten cranky. He'd bundled up, with four layers…but he was still cold.
"I don't believe this. An undershirt, a t-shirt, a sweater AND a thick winter coat, and it's still not enough! AND I'm wearing flannel-lined jeans and snowpants, with big thick socks and sweaters. And my gloves, geez! Two big thick pair of gloves that do NOTHING. This sucks, being out here…" "Well, my body heat is usually in the thousands, and even I'M cold." "How cold do you feel?" "It's very, VERY nippy." "Yeah, well I feel like I've been covered in ice cubes!"
They trudged on, though it was hard to see through all of the snow. There were no trees around, and no plants or animals of any kind. However, they COULD make out a mountain close by. There MIGHT be a cave.
"How close do you think we are to the mountain?" "Two miles, perhaps!" They had to shout now, the wind was picking up. "I think we had best hurry!" "You don't need to tell ME!" Nick and Fire Leo doubled their efforts, and, groaning and shivering, ran as best they could through the blizzard.
They finally reached the mountain, and were facing a sheer rock wall that seemed to reach to the heavens. "So we climb?" "We climb. You can go first, Fire Leo." "No, you can go first." "Okay, then…" Nick grabbed onto a ledge and hoisted himself up. Then he jumped and grabbed onto another ledge, pulling himself up. And so it went, on and on. He kept hoisting himself up onto ledges…until…
"HEY! I found a cave up here! Come on!" Fire Leo grinned, and jumped up. Now HE was climbing the ledges, and soon he was at Nick's level. Nick pointed to a large cave opening. "Look! Let's get inside." They ran inside, and immediately slipped on ice…careening through the cave, screaming. "YAAAAAAA!" Nick shouted, flailing wildly. "Hold on!" Fire Leo said, and dug his claws into the ice, grabbing onto Nick with his other hand. It worked, and they stopped with a halt. The two carefully stood up. Nick looked around. "Can't you melt the ice?" "No…I need to be around a source of heat in order for my power to work." "Hmm…maybe…just maybe…"
Nick took up his transformation pose. "Time to ROCK! HENSHIN!" He was Dynamic once again. He quickly used MACH SPEED to rub his hands together, and in a few minutes, they were burning fiercely. "Nice! Now try!" Fire Leo nodded appreciatively and spread out his hands. In a moment, a bright, fiery aura surrounded him. And then, the ice began to melt, and melt…and then it was water…and then it had melted away into steam, which dissipated into the air. Nick scraped out a small hole in the ground, and put some rocks around it. Then Fire Leo brought up fire in the pit, and the two sat around the flames, just warming up.
But soon, only Fire Leo needed warming up. Nick was grinning. "Why are you so happy?" asked Fire Leo. "I'm not cold at all! I'm warm! In fact…I'm burning up! I gotta get these coats and stuff off!" He quickly discarded them, and was now in his full Dynamic attire. "So the suit makes you warm. I wish I had one." "Well at least we've got a fire going."
Suddenly the mountain shook. The cave began to get jiggy with it, and Fire Leo and Nick were bouncing around on the hard ground, shouting and yelling. Then, a strange sound…like…like…
"An avalanche! Oh shit! We gotta get deeper into the cave!" Nick began crawling towards the end, and Fire Leo followed. Ten seconds later, the avalanche hit the cave, causing the whole thing to shake with one last big shudder that almost snapped Nick's head back. The entrance became blocked by snow and ice, meaning one thing: They were trapped.
"We're stuck in here!" "No way! I'll just whip up a fire, and then-crud. The fire went out." "I'll make another fire, and punch our way out!" Nick ran over to the entrance, which was blocked off, and used MACH SPEED again. Now that his hands were flaming, he could break through the ice that blocked their way out!
Unfortunately…the flames went out in a few moments. Nick held his hands up, eyebrows raised. "The hell? What's going on here?" Fire Leo rubbed his chin. "There might not be enough oxygen in this cave for the flame to last." "Not much oxygen in here? But that means that…oh shit." Nick walked back, shaken. "We're gonna suffocate and die in this cave?" he asked Fire Leo. The inferno lord nodded. "That appears to be the case." "Shiiiiit. This sucks out loud."
Fire Leo nodded. "Let us conserve our energy. Sit." Nick sat down, and the two sat next to each other, trying to think of a way out. Seconds, minutes, hours passed. They began to get colder and colder, and their breaths became ragged as the oxygen was slowly used up. Nick was looking around, desperately searching for a way out. Fire Leo was rocking on his heels, in the process of losing his mind.
"Oh, I'm going to crack up any minute now. I'm going to crack up, I can feel it, I'm going to crack up…"
Suddenly the cave began to shake. "Oh, not again!" Nick said. "This is it! I'm cracking up!" screamed Fire Leo, who began to rock himself in a fetal position, wailing and moaning. Nick whacked him on his back. "Keep it together man! We'll get through th-WOAH!"
Suddenly a deep chasm opened in the middle of the cave. Nick cautiously walked over to it and peered down. "Hmm…wow." He said. "Looks like it goes a long way down…let's check it out!" Fire Leo instantly bounded in, not wanting to stick around. "Cannonbaaaaallll!" he shouted. "Wait for meeeeee!" Nick said as he also jumped in. The two fell down the chasm and onto a natural slide of sorts, made of ice. Soon they were riding down towards a beautiful looking cavern with lovely icicles that hung from the celing. They finally sloped down onto the cavern ground, and picked themselves up. "This place looks familiar…" Nick said.
"It should. It is my brother's cavern." "Frost Tiger's pad? Cool. But where's the lower half of Six Majin?" Fire Leo looked around, and shrugged. "I do not know. It SHOULD be here." he said. Nick rolled his eyes and kicked at the ground. "Great. We have no idea where either your brother OR-what the?" He looked up. Something had caught his attention when he rolled his eyes, and that something was none other than the lower half of Six Majin, frozen in ice and buried ABOVE them! "Pretty slick." Nick said. "Now how are we going to get it OUT of there?"
Fire Leo chuckled. "Leave that to me!" he said. He prepared to fire a flaming blast at the lower half of Six Majin's frozen prison when someone spoke.
"Do not touch that thing. It is my duty to guard. You cannot have it." A swift, sleek form suddenly sprang from the ground itself, snarling. It took up a fighting position, and growled deeply. The sabretooth tiger that stood on two legs had snow-white fur, with icicles rising from it's head, just like it's brother had flames continuously rising. But the icicles seemed to be crackling as they rose up, and instead of growing taller, their ends were always breaking off into little sparkles of ice. The sabretooth tiger also had long and sharp claws made of ice, and was wearing a dark blue vest that wasn't made to be buttoned or closed at all. It showed off his large muscles. He had sharp fangs made of ice too, and piercing blue eyes.
"I am Frost Tiger." It said. "I am JAGOW's samurai. You won't defeat me." He was speaking to Nick, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his own flesh and blood was standing right next to the dynamic hero. "Uh, yeah…could you stop speaking in haikus and talk like a NORMAL person?" Nick asked. "Fine then, but you shall not win against me anyway, haikus or not."
Fire Leo suddenly stepped forward. "Brother, don't. We want your half of Six Majin." "Brother, you…you…" Frost Tiger looked a bit like someone had just hit him in the face. "You betrayed the cause!" "I was working for the wrong side." Frost Tiger clucked his tongue. "Why did you switch so soon?" Fire Leo put his paws on his hips. "Brother, we don't have time for this. Just hand over the lower half of Six Majin. Please."
Frost Tiger shook his head. "I think not. It's my duty to guard it, and guard it I will. Why did you change your loyalty?" "Nick made me realize that what I did as a general of JAGOW was wrong. We have hurt a lot of innocents trying to obey our master's wishes, and Nick showed me that that was wrong." Frost Tiger was silent.
"And…he tried saved my life."
Frost Tiger's eyes widened. "WHAT? He tried saved your life? But…but he is one of Viewitful Joe's allies! Why would he save you? He…he should have killed you!" "Look, I'm not like Joe and the others. I'm different." Frost Tiger raised his eyebrow. "Really?" "I thought he was going to fall into lava and die, so I grabbed his paw before he could fall in, but he ended up falling in anyway…"
Frost Tiger nodded, smiling in a rather ominous way. "And my brother can withstand the temperature of lava. So you DID try to save his life. As pointless as it was, that was also noble. I admire your noble soul." "It was just the right thing to do." Nick said, shrugging. Frost Tiger waved a single claw in the air. "Uh-uh…it's more than that. Even though your actions were not necessary, they still say a lot about you. What you did was more than the right thing. It was quite noble…but also stupid, and not just stupid because your heroics weren't needed, it was stupid because now he and I shall double-team and destroy you."
Nick took a step back, a little bit surprised. Frost Tiger looked at Fire Leo, holding out his clawed paw. "Brother, let's finish him off."
Fire Leo looked at his brother…and turned away.
"No." he said. "I'm through with killing people."
Frost Tiger's eyes widened in shock…for all of five seconds. Then he growled angrily, and his eyes became feral. "If you will not aid me, then you are an enemy!" He suddenly jumped on his brother, punching Fire Leo in the face over and over. "Death to all traitors!" Frost Tiger said. Fire Leo did nothing to stop the abuse, he simply took it over and over. Nick gaped, watching the scene in horror and fascination.
"Geez, this is just like the arguments me and my bro sometimes have."
Suddenly things got dangerous. Frost Tiger raised his clawed paw. "Farewell, brother. No traitors can live. That is the way of JAGOW, and as a samurai, I am obliged to do whatever my master orders. I cannot disobey the master, that is what a soldier and a samurai does. " Fire Leo did nothing but watch as the claws twitched, glinting in the light of the cavern. "Farewell, brother…" Fire Leo said, and he closed his eyes. Frost Tiger's claws thrust down…
KABLAM!
Fist met face, and Frost Tiger went flying through the air, slamming into the wall of the cavern. He fell to the ground, groaning, rubbing his sore face. Nick blew white fur off of his fist, and took up a battle pose. "What ever happened to brotherly love?" He asked. Frost Tiger leapt to his feet, baring his teeth. "How dare you! You little upstart!" "I wasn't just gonna stand her and let you kill my new friend."
Silence.
"Fuh…friend?" Frost Tiger managed to get out. "Yeah, he's my new friend." Nick said. "Something wrong with that?" Frost Tiger began to laugh over and over. "What's so freaking funny?" Nick asked. "You're so hopelessly naïve. Enemies can NEVER be friends." Fire Leo stood up, brushing himself off. "Nick…" "I know. I'm gonna have to fight him. Listen Frost Tiger, you and I both know that we have conflicting views. So why don't we settle it the way we know you want to settle it…let's talk with our fists!"
Frost Tiger licked one of his claws menacingly. "I thought you would never ask. In the grand scheme of my master, I am merely a soldier with a title, and as such, I will do what he asks. I shall rip you apart, and separate your head from your shoulders. I will then present the head to my lady." "My lady? Ooh, you've got a girlfriend? Cool." "No, I don't." "Well then who-"
Nick didn't get to finish the question. Frost Tiger leapt at him, claws extended, ready to tear Nick apart. Nick somersaulted back, and landed deftly on his hands, then on his feet with another good flip. Frost Tiger grinned. "Ah, so the fight should be good!" He walked over to a stereo made of ice, and pressed a button. His theme music began to play.
Frost Tiger bowed. "May your death be honorable, soldier for the forces of good." Nick bowed, then shrugged, and took up a battle pose. "I hope it will be…but you won't get to see it. I think it's time I brought the thaw to this place!"
BGM: Blizzard Hazard (Frozen Beast Frost Tiger's Theme)
Frost Tiger rushed at him, claws stretched out. Nick jumped into the air, activating SLOW and slamming down with ZOOM. Nick's feet slammed into Frost Tiger's back, and the big sabretooth went down hard.
Nick laughed and jumped off, but a moment later Frost Tiger kicked out with his leg, and Nick fell to the hard, icy floor. He groaned in pain and staggered up. Frost Tiger grinned. "You're out of your element." "Big schmuck. I can still beat your butt!" Nick said, rushing towards Frost Tiger…
Or rather…ATTEMPTING to rush towards Frost Tiger.
He was just running in place, the ice was that slippery. Nick looked down and saw that he wasn't moving anywhere, and the second he stopped, he fell to the floor AGAIN! He moaned and put his hand to his knees, rubbing them hard. "Owie! Man, I'm gonna feel that in the morning!"
"We all fall down…like toy soldiers!" Fire Leo cracked. Frost Tiger rolled his eyes and took up another battle pose. "Stop moaning. Fight me."
Nick gave Frost Tiger a nasty look and jumped up. "Bring it!" He shouted. The icy samurai happily obliged, rushing forward and jumping into the air. He arched both his clawed paws back, aiming to slice Nick in two, but Nick had a plan! He waited…waited…the claws arched down…
SLOW! ZOOM!
Nick did a somersault kick, knocking Frost Tiger in the face and avoiding the claws. The well-placed kick sent Frost Tiger flying through the air, and he collided with an icicle, sending it plummeting to the ground. He stood back up, dusting ice off.
"Ha! So you can still fight. But I can move freely on ice with these little paws of mine…their claws have excellent traction. What do you have? Smooth spandex! You don't stand a…heh-heh…snowball's chance in hell!"
Nick grudgingly shrugged. "I suppose my odds look bad…but I'll just try harder." "You truly, honestly think you can defeat me?" "Yes. I have to. I have to save my family and my best friend." "They mean that much to you?" "Yes."
Frost Tiger was silent. Then he bowed again. "Huh?" Nick was mystified. The samurai stood back up, flexing his claws. "After I kill you, I shall deliver your body to your loved ones, so that they can see you one last time before they die. At the very least, die knowing that your family will soon join you."
He rushed at Nick, but instead of trying to claw him, he slid on his knees, claws extended. Nick jumped up, but after the samurai passed underneath him, Frost Tiger jumped up as well, and striking Nick across the back before the teen could dodge.
Nick screamed, and blood poured onto the icy floor. Nick fell to the ground, bleeding badly. He staggered up, spitting a bit. "You…won't…beat me!" He shouted. He stood his ground, cracking his knuckles.
"I'll defeat you! Even if…even if I break all my bones in the process!" Frost Tiger sighed. "You will not survive. Now just die, and be at peace." He jumped up at the wall and kicked off it, heading right towards Nick's head, aiming to cut it off…but Nick had a plan!
He jumped up and activated SLOW, kicking off of Frost Tiger's chest as the general lunged for him. Nick flew back, and grabbed onto the snowy wall. He grinned, and raised a fist. "Now…MACH SPEED, BEEYOOOTCH!"
He punched the wall over and over again, and soon his fist was burning. He then kicked off the wall, arching his fist back. "Come on! I'm just burning with youthful fire!" Frost Tiger snarled and leapt at Nick, drawing a clawed paw back. Fire Leo bit his lip as the two warriors collided…
SCHOWCK!
SCHLIP!
Nick landed agilely on the floor. Frost Tiger touched down as well, spinning around. Nick suddenly got on one knee, grabbing his stomach. "Ohh…" "You fought well, but-ARGH!" Frost Tiger suddenly grabbed his stomach, it was burning hot! Nick whipped around, and took his hand away from his stomach…
A little tear on the costume. Nothing more.
"Looks like I win." Nick said, as Frost Tiger collapsed on the ground. He walked over and pointed his still flaming finger at Frost Tiger.
"Give up?"
"I…I concede this fight to you. The better soldier won."
"Nah…the better WARRIOR won."
"What's the difference?"
Nick smiled. "My step-mom told me this. A soldier gives his body up to fight for a lord, a country, or a master. But a warrior fights for what he believes is right. He fights for a true cause, not some unknown master."
(Music ends.)
Frost Tiger stood up, brushing himself off.
"Well? Are you going to let us take your half of Six Majin?"
Frost Tiger was silent for a long time…then he spoke. "Allow me." He raised a hand to the icy ceiling, and the ice began to fall down, and soon, Six Majin began to come lower and lower. "RUN!" Fire Leo said, and both lion and hero ran for the side, taking shelter. They watched as the lower half of Six Majin fell to the ground, coming down with a loud THUD.
"It is yours." Frost Tiger said. Nick smiled, and walked up to it, rubbing the metallic legs. "Awesome!" Nick said. "Now I can head back to the others, and I can find my family!" Frost Tiger smiled…warmly. "Yes. But…but me and my brother will stay here." Nick turned to face Fire Leo and Frost Tiger. "Really? You don't wanna come with me? The other guys will be really grateful to find out how you helped."
But Fire Leo simply wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulder and smiled a big, fanged grin. "No. We've…we've got some serious catching-up to do, don't we?" "True, true." Nick smiled. "Well then…okay, I'll respect your wishes, but…how are we gonna get the lower half of-"
Frost Tiger suddenly closed his eyes and raised his paw to the air. An icy patch of ice suddenly collapsed, revealing a large hole in the ground. "That tunnel ends at the front of the mountain, where the UPPER half of Six Majin is." Nick nodded. "Okay, now to lug it over there!"
Nick, Frost Tiger and Fire Leo pushed, pushed and PUSHED, and slowly but surely, the lower half slid towards the hole, and a few minutes later it was sliding down the tunnel. Nick turned and held out his hand to both the brothers. "Thanks again." He said. Frost Tiger smiled, and shook Nick's hand, as did Fire Leo. "You're a good person." Frost Tiger said. "I hope you find your family and best friend." Nick nodded. "Well, sayonara!" He jumped into the tunnel and slid on down with a "Yaaaahoooooooo!"
The two brothers watched him slide down and then looked at each other. "Well?" "Well what?" "What do you want to do?"
Fire Leo rubbed his chin. "Hmm…oh, I know! Staring contest! Starts…NOW!"
Nick slid down the tunnel, which twisted left, right, and then down, down, doooooowwwwwnnnn…
Nick suddenly shot out of a hole, landing just in front of the large hulk that was Six Majin's lower half. The Metal Leos were there with the upper half of Six Majin. "Now…how to get them together?"
Suddenly he had an idea. "Maybe if I call out…"
He raised his palm to the sky, and called out "LET'S RIDE, SIX MAJIN!"
Nothing at first…and then…
The two halves of Six Majin suddenly began to shake violently, and then they shot into the air, spinning around each other. Nick watched in awe as the two halves suddenly aligned, and then slammed together, forming the full Six Majin. Six Majin punched the air, and struck a pose, slowly hovering to the ground, it's red armor glinting despite the lack of sunlight.
Nick grinned broadly. "That is so freaking COOOOL!" He shouted, jumping up and down. "Awesome! Awesome! So awesome!" Six Majin just shrugged. "Hey, Six Majin? Can you let me in?" Nick called out. Six Majin held out his hand, and Nick jumped up into it. Six Majin lifted Nick up to his helmet, and a hatch opened up. Nick eagerly climbed in, and went down a ladder to the bottom, where the controls were located. They looked a lot like Six Machine's, so Nick would have no problem. Nick took the throttle, and flipped a switch that read "Take off".
"Let's ride, Six Majin!" Nick yelled heroically, and the large robot flew up into the air, turning to the south and taking off through the air with a large roar of engines.
