CHAPTER 56: DEATH SENTENCE, PART 2
Hellwood is a city capable of making anyone crazy. From the most stable family men with a happy life to the most desperate and deprived individuals on the face of the Earth, there is an edge for every man, woman, and child to fall off of, and Hellwood is the place where that edge is found.
Buckley Lloyd, the white knight of Hillwood known as Valiance, has been pushed far over his. Losing the last pieces of his family that his life had to offer, his isolated and crippling mind finally broke under the pressure he faced daily as his days against the eternal enemy of crime and evil.
Trying to make sense of all the tragedy around him, he has come to the conclusion that no one in Hellwood is worth saving anymore, and has began killing as many people as he can on the island city. With the exception of any form of children, still adhering to his one moral line drawn from his experience as a father, he has left no one spared in the wake of his wrath.
For the past 24 hours, Valiance has kept up this mission strongly, leaving many bodies left behind in his campaign of killing. Coming to a brief stop in a smaller section of Hellwood, Valiance has again laid waste to a small community that once resided here, but he has also found someone else catch up with him:
Arnold Shortman, the Green Eye.
With the sociopathic spectacle of bodies laid across the ground polluting his eyes, the Green Eye's main source of disgust is not with the deaths, as troubling as they are. Instead, he feels contempt for what Valiance has become, and how low he has stooped to turn back to his ways of killing.
Below that contempt, however, there is also a degree of sympathy that still resides in him, true to his good nature and golden heart. Keeping to that kind nature that still made up his core, the Green Eye slowly approached the heavily-armed Valiance, hoping to bring him back down to reason again.
With the two lives of hostages in his hold, that kind nature is what he needs to rely on most to save their lives.
"Hey Arnold." Valiance said.
"Valiance. Buckley. What have you done?" Green Eye asked.
"Heh. Isn't it obvious? If you've come after me like this now, you already know."
"But why? Why are you doing this now, killing so many people?"
"Why don't you take a look in my head, find out for yourself?"
Following through with the idea, the Green Eye began prodding into Valiance's heart and mind, in search of the answer to his question.
Upon trying to analyze his thoughts and emotions, however, he experienced a roadblock in the process, feeling his own telepathic reach blocked by an unknown factor. Recognizing this familiar sort of mental roadblock, he was reminded of the same barrier that he experienced from Baise-Moi, giving him cause that he knows something of her.
For now, however, he has more pressing matters to focus on, leading him back to the current conversation between himself and Valiance. Seeing the Green Eye struggle to read his thoughts, Valiance gave an amused scoff under his helmet, laughing off the efforts of his ally turned enemy.
"Can't read me, can you? Turns out I found a little trick to keep away those powers of yours: Ectoranium. It emits a certain kind of radiation that blocks many supernatural elements, like those mind powers of yours. Found mostly in space and extremely rare here, but Vlad Masters and VladCo had some good info on where to find it. I nabbed just a little for myself, put it in my helmet to make sure you wouldn't go snooping around where you weren't wanted." Valiance said.
"What's the point of this, Buckley? Have you learned nothing at all even to this point?!" Green Eye asked.
"Oh, I've learned plenty, but nothing I didn't already know. I know how you always want to go the Mr. Rogers route, trying to help as many people as you can without ending a single life. But some people should die, that's a knowledge everyone seems to have but you."
"Like who? People scared and trying to find someplace where they can be safe? Say what you will about Nazis or anyone else we've fought, but the people that come to them, the people that you've been killing, aren't in line with their ideology. They just want somewhere where they can be safe and survive. Are those the people that 'should' die to you? Do they deserve to die?"
"Nadine didn't deserve to die, but she's dead now. What does that say about your moral code? I tried my best to save her, but I couldn't bring her home. She was the last excuse of family I had left, she was my daughter's best friend. When I found her, the things that the Jolly Olly Man did to her... There wasn't anything left of her at all, she said... her limbs all gone... chunks of flesh gone... could barely even speak with her tongue gone... It was awful to see..."
Taking in the gruesome image from Valiance's description, the Green Eye swallowed a feeling of disgust, trying to keep his composure.
"I'm sorry that we lost Nadine like that. She was a great friend and didn't deserve that at all. But killing is not going to bring her back." Green Eye said.
"Maybe not... but it'll take away a lot more enemies away and keep them from hurting any more innocents. Unlike the rest of the team, Nadine began seeing that belief more clearly, and she managed to take out the entirety of The Farm before she died." Valiance said.
"What?! But... how did she-?"
"Her Arthopod Influencer. She called in plenty of bugs to kill everyone there, just like a biblical plague. She killed all those motherfuckers. I couldn't be more proud of her for it."
"Buckley... You heard what I just said. Not everyone there was a monster. They were looking for shelter and a home."
Angered by the Green Eye's unmoving moral stance, Valiance's gravelly voice finally raised in rage.
"Just 'looking for a shelter and home'? And they thought that a country full of cannibals was an acceptable option?! To kill other people and eat their fucking bodies like cattle?! Exactly how desperate and scared do you have to be to even contemplate something like that?!" Valiance screamed.
"People are making hard choices everywhere, Buckley! We're supposed to be the better example, to give people a better place to go! You're destroying everything that example is supposed to be by doing this! You can't just give in like this! YOU CAN'T JUST GIVE IN!" Green Eye shouted.
"I DIDN'T GIVE IN! YOU DID! I SEE THE TRUTH NOW! NO ONE ON THIS ISLAND CAN BE SAVED! EVERYONE'S DAMNED ON THIS ISLAND FOR A REASON! WE WERE LEFT BEHIND AND LEFT FOR DEAD BECAUSE WE'RE NOT PEOPLE WORTH SAVING! NO ONE HERE IS WORTH OF LIFE! EVERYONE HERE IS GUILTY! THE CRIME IS LIFE..."
Pointing his arm-mounted gun to one of the male prisoner, Valiance prepared to fire a bullet in his head, all to the horror of the Green Eye before he could stop him.
"...THE SENTENCE IS DEATH!" Valiance shouted.
Shooting a bullet into the head of his prisoner as intended, Valiance sent his brains flying out of his head, splattering against the wall with chunks of his skull following. Watching her male counterpart be gunned down before her eyes, the female prisoner screamed in terror, knowing she would soon be next.
"NO!" Green Eye screamed.
Throwing a kick to Valiance's arm, the Green Eye knocked it out of the way of firing another shot into the remaining prisoner, following with a kick to his enemy's head. Jumping himself up into the air, the Green Eye spun around in a 360 degree spin, sending a roundhouse kick to Valiance's chest and pushing him away from his defenseless prisoner.
With Valiance unable to fire on the female prisoner, the Green Eye grabbed her and began moving her out of the convenience store, out to the streets and taking her as far away from the white knight as he could. Though his efforts to keep back Valiance had removed him from sight for but a moment, it was not enough to give him enough time to get the prisoner out of harm's way.
Briefly catching up with his targets, Valiance began firing at the fleeing subjects without focus, managing to land a bullet in the Green Eye's leg, sending him toppling down to the ground and unable to escort the prisoner any longer. The prisoner took notice of her escort's state of affairs, causing her to stop and try to pick the Green Eye back on his feet again, but he refused any help.
"NO, NO! JUST RUN! RUN!" Green Eye shouted.
Pushed away by the Green Eye, the prisoner continued running down the streets with haste, regrettably leaving him behind to escape Valiance and his wrath. However, as fast as she tried to flee from his gun, her efforts did not manage to save herself from the killer white knight.
Taking a grenade from off his suit, Valiance pulled the pin and tossed it towards the fleeing prisoner, landing the explosive just behind her feet. Having landed the weapon as close to the target as he did, the grenade's detonation killed the prisoner instantly; the shockwave of the blast and shrapnel sending her falling dead to the ground.
Watching the person he tried to save fall dead right before his eyes so quickly and crudely, all the Green Eye can do now is shout in pain at what he sees.
"No... No... NO!" Green Eye shouted.
As the Green Eye struggled to pick himself up off the ground, all he could manage with the bullet hole in his leg was to turn himself over, now facing Valiance as he looked back at him. Taking note of his bleeding leg, remembering how it should have healed by this point in time, Valiance realized what this meant for his enemy.
"Don't heal anymore, huh? Perfect. I always wanted to do this." Valiance said.
As Valiance aimed his arm-mounted gun to his enemy, the Green Eye closed his eyes with a sharp exhale, knowing that this moment could spell his fate.
"The crime is life... the sentence is-" Valiance began to say.
Before he was able to finish his mantra, Valiance soon and suddenly felt a truncheon placed up against his neck, choking him from an enemy holding him from behind. Looking over his shoulder to see the enemy, the one restraining him back was revealed to be Baise-Moi, coming to the rescue of her self-proclaimed lover.
"Hurry! Flee, my love! I can't hold him forever!" Baise-Moi shouted.
Making what use of his leg that he still possessed, the Green Eye complied quickly with Baise-Moi's demand, picking himself up off the ground and quickly running for cover to heal himself. As soon as the Green Eye was out of sight, Baise-Moi released her hold on Valiance, sending a kick to his back in order to keep his attention.
Keeping his focus on Baise-Moi just as the femme fatale had intended, Valiance struck up a conversation with her, demanding answers to her actions.
"You?! I give you everything you need to be who you are now, and this is how you repay me?!" Valiance asked.
Taking cover behind a building's wall, the Green Eye leaned himself up against it to relax from the previous encounter of violence and rest his injured leg, trying to catch his breath and reevaluate the situation he was stuck in. With the pain of his leg missing muscle and tissue from the bullet wound, it appeared that he would not be moving from this spot anytime soon yet.
While taking refuge against the wall, the man without pain managed to catch ear of the conversation beginning between Valiance and Baise-Moi, gaining his interest when hearing of some connection between these two individuals during his month-long coma. Keeping his attention away from his leg, the Green Eye continued to listen in on the two arguing.
"I will not let you harm Arnold. You know how important he is to me." Baise-Moi said.
Realizing that Baise-Moi would be next in line in the wrath of Valiance, the Green Eye returned his attention back to his leg, where he sought to heal his wound to aide her before her untimely death. Taking one last deep breath, the Green Eye submersed himself in pure concentration, focusing all his energy towards healing his bullet wound.
"I don't care. I'm only focused on one thing: Killing everyone on this goddamn island. Your boyfriend's got to go." Valiance said.
Never needing to manually direct his energies to any specific wound before, the task was a challenging one and a discovery process to achieve all in itself; the pain of the wound itself crippling his efficiency and the pressure of needing to save Baise-Moi making him slip in his focus. On top of it all, his powers were still crippled by his lack of willpower and faith, making him need to focus what little he had here and now.
"Over my dead body, he will, Valiance!" Baise-Moi said.
Finally, after doing so, the Green Eye's efforts began to pay off in his task. The bleeding of his wound began slowing to a halt, the bullet embedded in his leg had been pushed out, and the muscle and flesh began closing in on itself, closing the wound that once was present in his leg.
"How right you are. I did say everyone on this island. That means you gotta go, too." Valiance said.
Having healed himself enough to continue the fight against Valiance, the Green Eye began heading back to fight with his enemy.
As Baise-Moi stood against the towering Valiance, the white knight aimed his arm-mounted machine gun at the femme fatale, preparing to end her life without remorse.
"The crime is life... the sentence is-!" Valiance began to say.
Before able to finish his line and fire his shot, the Green Eye threw his staff down to the mounted weapon, smashing it under the impact of his weapon. With his firearm destroyed quickly and suddenly without warning, Valiance turned to see who had smashed the weapon, finding the person he most suspected looking back at him.
Placing his staff to the ground, the Green Eye jumped in the air and landed a kick to Valiance's chest, lifting his kick up in a pole vault. Having gained enough momentum in his attack, he successfully managed to push Valiance back away from attacking Baise-Moi once again, heading up to the femme fatale to plan his next strategy.
"He's tough, but he's slow and bulky with that suit." Green Eye said.
"You take one side, I take another?" Baise-Moi asked.
"Yep."
"Très bien."
Following his plan as agreed upon, the Green Eye and Baise-Moi each took a side against Valiance, keeping him occupied on both the front and back. With an enemy on each side, and little in the way of movement to utilize himself against both opponents at once, the fight quickly turned unfair for Valiance.
Trying to keep his focus on one target in front of him, the target to his back would beat him from behind, punching and kicking at his head and legs. Turning to face the target at his back, he would be forced to turn his back on his current target, leaving them able to strike from behind just as their counterpart had done.
Stuck in this game of back-and-forth between his enemies in a fistfight, it was clear that he would not make progress in a fight like this, and his defeat was only imminent at this point. No longer able to rely on his fists in this battle, Valiance resorted back to his one remaining firearm on his other arm.
Turning back to the Green Eye, Valiance fired another shot into the man without pain, this time landing a shot into his shoulder, but nonetheless taking him out of the question for just a moment. Free to focus back on one target at a time, Valiance returned his attention back to Baise-Moi, grabbing a hold of her and pressing her up against a wall.
Aiming his remaining arm-mounted gun at her face, Baise-Moi pushed the weapon out of her way, sparing herself from a rapid-fire unloading of bullets flying from the mounted gun. Struggling to keep the mounted machine gun back, her hold on the arm began to slow and weaken, making the weapon slowly reach her face once again.
To prevent that outcome from happening, Baise-Moi grabbed at the pin of one of the grenades mounted on Valiance's suit, pulling it and activating the grenade. Recognizing the sudden threat that he had been burdened with, Valiance lost all awareness of the enemy he was currently struggling with; the initial shock of the activated grenade breaking his concentration.
Sliding down between his legs, Baise-Moi evaded the explosion before it occurred, leaving Valiance to take the full force of the blast. Still facing the wall, placing little space between himself and the explosion, the blast was completely centered and focused on Valiance, blowing him down to the ground.
With Valiance downed from the explosion, Baise-Moi rushed to the Green Eye and lifted him up, putting the man without pain back on his feet. Seeing the downed Valiance laying flat on the ground following the explosion, a sense of dread began to overcome him, fearing for the life of the man inside the suit.
"You... You killed him." Green Eye said.
"I had no choice, my love. He would have killed us and many more if I had not stopped him." Baise-Moi said.
"No. No! Don't you get it? I've been fighting like this him to prove him wrong! You just proved his point!"
"Indeed she did." Valiance said.
Picking himself up off the ground, Valiance cracked his neck and returned his attention to the two superheroes. The Green Eye and Baise-Moi looked at his suit where the explosion had hit, taking note of heavy armor underneath the decor and seeing how he managed to survive the blast.
His helmet was blasted open just enough to reveal a crack that showed an eye, which focused solely on the Green Eye.
"This isn't going to bring back Nadine or anyone else, Buckley." Green Eye said.
"I don't care. This isn't about bringing anyone back or saving any lives. It's about proving a point, just like you said. We've been fighting on and on like this for a long while, how about we settle that score once and for all?" Valiance asked.
"You will have to settle that with me first, connard." Baise-Moi added.
"STAY OUT OF THIS!"
Stepping in with her billy club to prepare an attack on Valiance, the white knight pulled a knife from his suit, throwing it towards Baise-Moi, stabbing her in the side and sending her falling to the ground. Careful to protect the wounded Baise-Moi, the Green Eye gently set her down, tending to her wound.
"Baise-Moi! Are you okay? Baise-Moi!" Green Eye asked.
"Don't worry about her. I didn't hit anything important. You should worry about me right now." Valiance said.
Recognizing that the wound was not fatal, and having Baise-Moi's approving hand laying on his shoulder, the Green Eye set her down to focus on Valiance.
"You say you want to prove a point to me about your saintly 'no-killing' bullshit. You want to prove to me that your way is the high road and my way only leads to worse results. You want to make me believe that? Here's your chance. Put down that stupid stick and fight me, face-to-face. Come on. Face me." Valiance said.
A moment of time passed for the Green Eye, with that same timespan running longer in the inner space of his mind. Realizing what a brute that Valiance had become, he knew that the only way that he could be beaten would be a pure and primal fistfight, leading to one or the other going down.
The task of finally convincing him of the correct moral position was a different story, but damn near impossible now.
Still, the only option that the Green Eye had now was to play into the game presented to him. Dropping his staff to the ground, he accepted Valiance's offer.
With one opponent left with nothing but his bare fists, the other prepared to make the battle a more even match. Taking what weapons remained off his damaged battle suit, Valiance dropped knives, guns, and explosives to the ground, abandoning them with no more use for the instruments.
Removing the weapons, Valiance began disconnecting the helmet from his suit, allowing himself to face the Green Eye man-to-man.
"No masks." Valiance said.
Reaching to his green harlequin mask, the Green Eye removed it from his face, allowing himself and Valiance to fight in a more personal manner.
"No masks." Green Eye said.
The Green Eye threw his fists up to his face, ready to defend himself in their battle, but Valiance made no such efforts to protect himself. Instead, he let his arms hand limp, allowing his enemy to make the first strike. Eager to make his attack, the Green Eye began throwing his fists to Valiance's face, drawing first blood.
Throwing his fists straight to Valiance's face, landing hard, white knuckles against flesh and skull, the Green Eye expected his enemy to take the hits and start to falter in his stand, but found him doing no such thing. Instead, taking the hits in stride, Valiance began laughing at the attacks, as if they were little more than childish slaps.
His next punch was caught in the hand of Valiance, unable to take it out of his vice-grip hold. Utilizing his own metal fists against the Green Eye, Valiance landed two punches to his side, followed by a back-hand punch and headbutt to his face, more than returning the attack to his opponent.
"You don't seem to get it. You keep saying that I don't have to be a killer, that there's some kind of better way. That's not who I am. That's not what I do. I am Valiance." Valiance said.
Keeping his hold on the Green Eye, Valiance began spinning him in the air and tossed him towards an abandoned car, smashing him against the door and denting the metal in on itself where he impacted with it. Slowly picking himself up off the ground, the Green Eye stood on his feet again, just in time to see Valiance leisurely coming back towards him.
Raising his fists up again, the Green Eye threw another punch to his enemy, only to have his blow evaded and have multiple more thrown to his chest and head, subsequently sending him back towards the ground again. Valiance watched his enemy crawl along as he tried to pick himself back up again, continuing to fight him as slowly as he wished.
"I am the lethal protector of Hillwood. I am its white knight that it needs to save it from itself. To save Hillwood from itself, there's only one way I can accomplish that: By killing any rat-bastard that tries to eat away at this city." Valiance said.
Getting himself back up off the ground again, the Green Eye threw another punch to Valiance's face, once again yielding no results from his attack or even a reaction from his opponent. While managing to swat away Valiance's retaliatory punches, he once again only managed to present himself as a punching bag, taking in his hits without much in the way of his self-defense.
"That's who I am. You can't take that away from me. I've lost my daughter. I've lost my wife. I've lost my daughter's best friend. I even lost the goddamn team all because of you. You've taken everything away from me already. I won't let you take away Valiance. I am Valiance. Because if I'm not... THEN I'M NOTHING!" Valiance shouted.
Grabbing the Green Eye off the ground once again, Valiance lifted his body up into the air, preparing to drop it down on his knee.
"AND I WILL NOT BE NOTHING!" Valiance shouted.
Dropping the Green Eye on his knee, Valiance drove a devastating blow to his back, loudly cracking it and sending him rolling down on the ground in pain from his injury. Still persistent to fight back against his enemy, the Green Eye slowly placed himself back on his feet again, taking hold of a small wooden beam on the ground to help himself up once again.
Standing on his feet again, the Green Eye utilized that same wood beam to swing a weapon at Valiance, missing with the first throw. Making a second throw, the Green Eye missed again, only managing to hit the back window of a car. Making a third throw, the Green Eye managed to make a hit with Valiance, but only to his forearm, shattering the beam against it and destroying his weapon.
Leaving the Green Eye defenseless again, Valiance threw a back-handed punch to his face, grabbing him again to continue his attack onward. Dragging him to the abandoned car once again, Valiance drove the Green Eye's head through one of its windows, quickly followed by the other window.
Concluding this attack, Valiance threw the Green Eye to the ground once again, leaving him to fester in pain at his excessive punishment and violence he had been subjected to. Nonetheless, despite all the suffering he was enduring under his opponent's attacks, the Green Eye was not giving in to the battle.
Struggling in the effort he may have been, but the Green Eye still managed to pick himself up back on his feet once again, keeping his fists up to Valiance. Watching his enemy continue to persevere against the unbeatable opponent that was himself, Valiance gave a laugh, beginning to assume some sadomasochistic tendencies out of his enemy.
As Valiance stood and laughed, the Green Eye took a look into his mental state, no longer having a barrier of Ectoranium between himself and his target's mind. Behind the facade of painlessness and numbness that his mental state was showing, he could see that Valiance was indeed being harmed by his attacks, even if he was not willing to show anything for it.
Having this fact in mind, the Green Eye was more than ready to continue the fight and knew he would win.
"What's the deal here? You know you're not going to win against me. You know this is pointless. You're going to die if you keep fighting like this. Why keep on?" Valiance asked.
"Because it's the right thing to do." Green Eye said.
Letting his pain start to guide him and clear his mind against his enemy, whatever sort of internal drawbacks that were withholding him in the battle, the Green Eye no longer kept with him. Instead, his patience with Valiance had come to an end, and any semblance of mercy that was still in him.
With Valiance marching up to him once again, the Green Eye approached him once again, intent on putting him down at last. Valiance had thrown a punch of his own to his opponent, but the Green Eye dodged it with ease, landing another punch to the white knight's face, followed by more subsequent punches.
Ending his series of punches with a jumping roundhouse kick to his head, the Green Eye pushed Valiance back, with his enemy beginning to show a bloody nose.
Dodging another strike from Valiance and catching his arm in the air, the Green Eye threw punches to his stomach, hitting through what remained of the armor and drew many breaths out of the white knight. Pushing him further back with a headbutt, the Green Eye jumped into the air and threw a drop-kick to his face, further knocking Valiance back and falling to the ground himself, but not before standing up again with a kip-up.
Falling back beside a series of metal pipes, Valiance picked one up to use as a weapon, carrying out that purpose very quickly on the Green Eye. Managing to knock him down to the ground with a strike to his face, Valiance prepared to run him through with the pipe, ending his life at last.
Dodging the strikes that came his way, the Green Eye grabbed hold of the pipe following one strike, holding it firmly and keeping that hold on when throwing another kick towards Valiance, relieving him of his weapon. Driving the pipe into the ground, the Green Eye landed a pole-vaulting kick into his chest, putting distance between the two once again.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Green Eye shouted.
"Not until you lie dead at my feet." Valiance said.
Taking notice of his environment, the Green Eye noticed a tow truck behind Valiance, with its hook hanging right above his head. Having an idea to defeat him at last and the means to carry out that idea, he began gripping the pipe in his hand tighter, ready to use it to end the fight.
Throwing it to controls of the tow truck's hook, the Green Eye hit his target with precise accuracy, while also confusing Valiance of his intentions.
"You missed." Valiance said.
"I wasn't aiming for you." Green Eye said.
Beginning to hear metal creak above his head, Valiance looked up to see what was causing the sound, only to have a large metal hook and hydraulics coming down and collapsing over top of him. Unable to move under the heavy amount of metal that piled over him, it was clear that Valiance was no longer fit to continue the fight.
Standing over his defeated enemy, the Green Eye noticed that Valiance was in no way taking this news lightly; still struggling to get out of his mess.
"Why?! Why are you still fighting on like this?! What is the point?! Why can't you just kill people who should die?!" Valiance shouted.
"Because it's not right." Green Eye said.
"But how?! Why do you keep doing this?!"
"Why don't you kill children?"
"What?! What do you mean, 'why don't I kill children'? Are you insane?!"
"You said that everyone on this island deserves to die, but you haven't killed children, going against your own ideology. Why?"
"Because... they were still innocent. Not like those cannibal kids that we killed in The Farm, it was too late for them. The others... they hadn't done wrong yet. They still had a chance to better themselves. They had a chance to be better people."
"Keep that in mind. I have something I want to show you."
Kneeling down to Valiance, the Green Eye placed his hands over his head, beginning to use his powers to continue his point.
"Wait... what are you doing?" Valiance asked.
"The Freak found a power that changes the way you see reality. I don't know if I can replicate it, but maybe I can help you see the world my way." Green Eye said.
Unsure of the change that would come about him from the Green Eye's powers, Valiance faltered in nervousness, fearing that he would be changed into some completely different person as a result of his interference. Little changed in the way of his perception of sight at first, but, upon seeing the masses of bodies that he left behind, he suddenly realized what the Green Eye had done to him.
"Look. Look at what you've done." Green Eye said.
Opening his eyes in horror at the death that he had caused, the bodies that laid behind no longer appeared as adults, but instead as children. They all appeared as if they had never grown to be adults, yet still bloody and mutilated after the violence he had infliced upon them.
Coming to the realization at last of the Green Eye's moral code, Valiance began weeping at the sight of carnage he left behind.
"Everyone's like a child down to their core. We all make mistakes and we never know what we're doing. We just do what we think is best and we always assume we're in the right. We all try to look up to others to find an example to follow to be somebody better. No one ever really grows up." Green Eye said.
Still continuing to cry, Valiance had nothing to say of the misdeeds he had committed, staying silent in regret of his actions. Feeling overwhelming guilt come over himself from the deaths that laid on his hands, all the blood which he had spilled, there was nothing left of Buckley Lloyd that could find pride or courage or will to continue going on his way.
Looking back up at the snowy sky, Buckley Lloyd went completely silent; his mind shutting itself down and his body going limp. Although his body continued to live and function as normal, all will and reason to live had left him completely, leaving him to lay down comatose and unmoving.
Putting down his opponent non-lethally and humanely as always, the Green Eye gave a sigh of relief, knowing that he had ended Valiance's killing spree without resorting to the same tactics that his opponent had enacted and keep to his own moral code. Now, having dealt with one individual in his way, there was one more to tend to.
Walking up to the resting place of Baise-Moi, the Green Eye prepared to extend his help to the fallen femme fatale.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. If you're feeling alright, I don't suppose you can help me carry him back to base? I've got some question to ask-" Green Eye began to ask.
Moving back to the resting place of Baise-Moi, the Green Eye returned to find not the French-tongued femme fatale, but instead a collection of blood in the snow as well as the knife that was once embedded in her. The pool of blood also had a trail of more drops of blood running down the alleyways, leading the Green Eye along its path.
Trying to follow the path of blood drops back to Baise-Moi, the Green Eye was eventually just led to a dead end in the alleyway; the trail of blood coming to a stop and him coming to a stop with it. Observing the surroundings, there was no sign of the femme fatale anywhere, leaving him unknowing to her identity again, especially with the clue that her and Valiance share a connection.
Letting out a grunt of frustration, the Green Eye instead put his focus back on the task of taking Buckley Lloyd home.
Somewhere deeper into the heart of the Aryan Nation, the massacre left behind in the wake of Valiance is well-known, and brewing deeper consequences soon to come within. With the racial identity of Valiance still unknown, the rumor that he is a non-white spreads with the counter that he is simply a race traitor, but both lead to the same negative consequence nonetheless.
This is not on the mind of a few citizens of the Aryan Nation, in its stead the promise of profit and money. The border of the province of the Aryan Nation is a moat littered with dead bodies of many colors, but rarely any white; a grave message to those who would try to cross their borders for shelter or profit.
These few citizens of the Aryan Nation take advantage of these bodies to search for unclaimed gold or jewelry, taking the last belongings of the deceased for themselves. From taking wedding rings and necklaces to digging gold fillings out of teeth, these scavengers search for whatever profit they can make off of death.
"Will you hurry up? This is taking too damn long." One scavenger asked.
"What? You afraid if we don't rob these dead niggers fast enough, they're gonna run away?" The lead scavenger asked.
"No, I just can't stand the smell. Niggers are already brown like shit, I don't have to take actually smell the shit from their dead bodies, too."
"Fine, fine. I'm going as fast as I can. Not finding a lot here."
One scavenger reached into the back pocket of a dead body's pants, taking the wallet out of it and opening it, checking for cash and finding a small amount inside.
"Hey! I found some cash!" The scavenger said.
"What the hell's good cash out here, moron? That's only backed by the United States government. Hellwood's no longer part of the United States!" The lead scavenger said.
"Well, yeah, but if we actually manage to get out of here, we can bring the money back with us and maybe make it big back on the mainland and-"
Before the scavenger could finish his sentence, he took notice of a family photograph inside, pulling out to show the full view. In the photograph was former Sunset Arms boarder Barry Ronaldson, alongside his grandson, Marquis Ronaldson, as well as his own wife and child.
Recognizing the individual of Marquis Ronaldson and the status he held in the adjacent province, the scavenger recognized what this could mean for his land.
"Hey, you guys! I found something the fuhrer's gonna like!" The scavenger said.
TALES FROM THE HARD SIDE:
"MAN AND MONKEYMAN"
In the war between the Green Eye and the Freak, the Hillwood Heroes and the confederates of evil that the Freak has aligned himself with, there are many caught in the crossfire of the battle of Hellwood, and others on the sidelines with their own troubles. Though it is between the fight of the heroes and villains that decide fate of the island, there is and always will be many others that suffer in the streets of Hellwood.
Though the Green Eye is the most well-known superhero in the city of Hillwood as well as the world, he is not the first superhero in existence, nor even the first in Hillwood itself; no more than Elvis Presley was new to the genre of rock-and-roll, only the first to make it well-known and popular.
That title belongs to the individual known as Monkeyman, an urban legend of Hillwood thought of as a 'mystery wrapped in an enigma'. The first urban defender of his kind in Hillwood, his good deeds against the crime element of Hillwood has brought safety and security to many, paving the way for the Green Eye to make his debut.
But our subject for this tale is not Monkeyman just yet, but instead a young man by the name of Iggy. Once thought of as the most popular kid in school, that title had quickly slipped away from him following the discovery of a pair of bunny-themed pajamas, and his ostracization from others following his cruel treatment of Arnold Shortman after the discovery.
Hated by others for the rest of his days in primary school, he had mostly lived in and out of different places and different jobs, struggling to get by. Following the Fall of Hillwood, what passed as a normal life for Iggy had eventually come to an end, forced into the streets as a solitary man, not unlike many homeless of Hillwood of the past.
Like many of those homeless before, these desperate souls have sought to stand together, grouping their own community to make by with what they have to share, and share whatever they have for better or worse. Iggy is not like the others, choosing instead to stay alone.
Holding onto whatever remnants of his childhood he had left, Iggy held tight his bunny pajamas, gripping it in a fetal position to try to go back to better days of his life. Trying to extend a kind hand to Iggy, one fellow homeless man, an individual named Al, shared a sampling of food with him, a fresh carrot, hoping to bring him into the group.
"Hey, Iggy. We had some food sent to us by the Sunset Arms. All fresh-grown vegetables. Hungry?" Al asked.
Iggy did not seem to notice him, instead keeping his focus on the pajamas.
"Hey, Iggy? You hear me? We got some food, man. Fresh-grown and all. You gotta be hungry, right?" Al asked.
"What's the point?" Iggy asked.
"What?"
"Why am I still here? Everybody hates me. I made a bad mistake that cost me everything in life. Lots of people died when Hillwood was destroyed. Why couldn't I have gone? Why am I still here, just to keep suffering? All because of these stupid goddamn pajamas?!"
Throwing the pajamas against the wall, Iggy placed his head between his hands, rocking back and forth in a fit. Still acting kind to the distraught Iggy, Al sat beside his friend and laid a caring arm over his shoulders, extending a level of kindness that could be seen only between the closest of brothers, but towards two strangers who could not be more different.
"Hey, Iggy. Whatever you did back then, it don't matter a bit to us. You think we all chose to come here? We came here because we got nowhere else left to go. We don't judge here. All we got is each other here. We're willing to open up to you if you open up to us, Iggy. We're all brothers here." Al said.
Iggy seemed to take enough solace in Al's words to calm down; his breath slowing down and his rocking slowing down.
"I... I don't know, Al. I still messed up pretty big. I didn't do what I-" Iggy began to say.
Before Iggy could finish his sentence, the sound of gunfire filled the air, bringing with it screams and terror with it. Recognizing the terror once again as it came, Al and Iggy quickly began fleeing away from the scene, hoping that they would find solace to the invaders that returned to their alleyways.
Sadly, they did not find any such shelter, instead only coming into contact with more of these invaders. These gunmen invading their alleyways were the crime element known as the Agni Kais; an organization of criminals full of strictly Japanese-Americans and wearing all-red clothing.
Having the homeless men and women cornered into one spot, the leader of the Agni Kais spoke towards the captured homeless, making his demands.
"You listen here! This turf now Agni Kai turf! You give us half of your food, and we let you live!" The leader shouted.
Not swayed by the threat given in a heavy Japanese accent, one homeless man spoke his protest to the gunmen, throwing a rock towards the Agni Kais.
"Fuck you, Japs! Leave us alone!" The homeless man shouted.
Throwing a rock towards the Agni Kais, the homeless man did not manage to draw blood with his strike, but instead managed only to anger them to fire their weapons on him, filling his body with lead and sending him falling to the ground. Watching one of their brothers die like a dog so cruelly and quickly, the other homeless individuals shouted and cried over the carnage, not wishing to anger the Agni Kais further.
"We try again. You pay us half your food, or you join your friend! Pay up now!" The leader shouted.
Starting to reach to their stash of food, the homeless begrudgingly began handing off their food supply, satisfying the leader of the Agni Kais and leading him to smile.
"That's better. Keep at it, we want half of-" The leader began to say.
Hearing sound of cluttering in the corner of the alleyway, the Agni Kais and their leader turned to the source of the sound, only to see nothing more than a rattling trash can settling back into place. Not convinced that the incident was as small as it appeared, the leader sent an Agni Kai gunman to investigate.
"You! Look over there!" The leader said.
Walking over to the alleyway to investigate the clattering trashcan, the approaching Agni Kai did not find the source of the sound, but instead received a punch in the face, being sent to the ground. Noticing their foot soldier sent to the ground so quickly, the rest of the Agni Kais opened fire in the hallway, hoping to hit the unknown threat.
Emptying the magazines of their weapons, the Agni Kais stopped to reload their weapons, preparing to keep fighting at the unknown enemy that awaited them in the alleyway. Hearing the sound of a voice come above their heads, the Agni Kais soon realized that their threat was no longer in the alleyway, but on the rooftops and ready to strike, taking the form of one man.
Jumping down from the roof, the figure began heading towards them, revealed in the moonlight to be Hillwood's first superhero:
Monkeyman.
"Beware, evildoers! You now face the wrath of... MONKEYMAN!" Monkeyman shouted.
Landing atop two Agni Kais, Monkeyman began punching his way through the armed criminals, fighting his way through them with speed and ease. The homeless, watching the superhero in action before their eyes, were entranced by the action, elated to see a caped defender come to their aide.
All were in awe at the act, but none so much as Iggy. For the first time in his life, watching a hero in action, the troubles and woes in his life seemed to be nil, and all he could think about was continuing to watch Monkeyman in action, taking down villain after villain.
Soon, the Agni Kais were left as beaten masses on the ground, all struggling to pick themselves up again. Approaching the leader of the Agni Kais, Monkeyman lifted him into the air, knocking aside his weapon as he tried to pull it out onto him. Placing the leader against a wall, Monkeyman made his final demands to the leader.
"No! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" The leader pleaded.
"I'm not gonna kill you. I want you to-Monkeyman-do me a favor. Tell your leader these streets are under my protection. I never want to-Monkeyman-see you here again." Monkeyman said.
"Who are you?!"
"I'm Monkeyman."
Throwing the leader aside, the Agni Kais soon began departing from the alleyways, leaving those behind in peace. Having been freed from the assault and treatened takeover by the Agni Kais, those left behind cheered in celebration, giving their praises to Monkeyman.
Once again, watching everyone give their praises to Monkeyman, Iggy began to find himself more intrigued, wishing to know more of this Monkeyman character.
For now, the homeless instead put their attention on their fallen brother, shot dead by the Agni Kais. All shared a sense of loss from his death, and a few shed some tears. Stepping over to pay his respects with the others, Monkeyman lowered his head in sadness, regretful that he could not save his life in time.
The body of the fallen homeless man was buried and a funeral was held in his memory, with the service attended by Monkeyman as well as everyone in the alleyway. Having saved everyone in the alleyway, there was no more reason for Monkeyman to remain in the alleyway, and he decided to make his departure.
"I am sorry for your loss, but I've got-Monkeyman-to move on now. There's plenty more people that need my help now." Monkeyman said.
The homeless jeered in protest of Monkeyman's announcement, all begging him to stay.
"You can't leave! We need you here!" One homeless person said.
"We need a hero! Please stay with us!" Another homeless person said.
"We'll give you our food! You can have all the bananas you want!" A different homeless person said.
"I'm sorry, but there are lots more people just like -Monkeyman-yourselves that I need to help. If you ever need my help again, all you have to do-Monkeyman-is say my name, and I'll help you." Monkeyman said.
Though the departure was not a pleasant one, the homeless nonetheless were at least able to give out thankful farewells, hoping to see him again. Not able to let him leave so soon, Iggy quietly slipped past the rest of the homeless, trying to follow Monkeyman to join him.
Catching up to the superhero, Iggy managed to draw his attention for one last conversation.
"Monkeyman! Wait!" Iggy shouted.
"Hmm? Yes, what is it?" Monkeyman asked.
"Please, take me with you and show me how to be a hero. I want to be popular and loved like you."
"Oh, no. That's not the attitude to have for being a superhero. If that's the way you-Monkeyman-see it, then there's nothing I can do to help you."
Monkeyman prepared to depart again, but Iggy was not willing to let him go so easily, desperately in need of his help.
"No, wait, wait! I didn't mean it like that! Please, I was hated a lot of my life, and people still hate me now. I don't want to be hated anymore. People always love superheroes and look up to them. I just want to be somebody loved again." Iggy pleaded.
Monkeyman was touched by Iggy's desperate plea, but ultimately not moved by his words. Rather than offer to take him along or give him any proper training, Monkeyman instead decided to extend some advice to him, hoping it would sway him in the right direction to justice.
"Okay, I'll tell you what. If you want to-Monkeyman-be a superhero, then there's 3 specific rules you have to follow. 3 prime directives that I follow as my personal 'creedo'. If you follow those rules and you find you can-Monkeyman-keep doing it, then you'll be a hero, easy. Can you do that?" Monkeyman asked.
"Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm." Iggy nodded.
"Alright. There are 3-Monkeyman-rules to follow: 1, Protect the weak and downtrodden. 2, Serve for the good of all. 3, Be kind to all creatures. Follow those rules, and you'll-Monkeyman-be a hero."
"Okay. I will. Thank you, Monkeyman."
Nodding to reciprocate the thanks, Monkeyman moved on to the next place where he was needed, searching for more souls to save in the damned city of Hellwood. Having been gifted Monkeyman's 3 prime directives, Iggy took them to heart to follow and train and better himself.
For the next few days, Iggy put himself under intense physical training, making himself do 100 push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups a day, making himself fit to face any opponent. Shadowboxing against a wall with an outline of a human being to train himself to hit any weak points, he trained his punches for aim and accuracy and his knuckles to take hitting hard targets.
In between his physical training, Iggy began doing small and odd jobs for the many brothers and sisters in his alleyway, hoping to gain their love and respect as a human being. Trying to stay true to the 3 prime directives, he made many lives much better with his hard work, but found little of what he was truly searching for.
Trying almost too hard to seek love and popularity as Monkeyman had, Iggy's efforts were beginning to be seen as disingenuous, leading many to reject his help and push him away, even in a place where all are accepted equally. Wearing out the welcome he once had, Iggy was once again alone and hated, save for the occasional offering of food from Al.
Cowering into a corner of the alleyway, there he remained for quite some time.
Until this particular time, however, when the Agni Kais had made their return. Coming out of his corner for the first time in a while, Iggy looked out to see chaos and mayhem in the alleyway that he once was a part of. The people were rounded up as one once again, and many more were shot and killed in efforts to escape.
Unable to sit aside while people were being terrorized and dying, Iggy carefully thought over what to do about this affair, not sure whether to leave at last or simply stay and sit out the terror as it unfolded. Remaining in doubt and question, the anxiety building in him pressured him more and more to make a decision.
Reaching for his old bunny pajamas, he finally made his decision.
Rounding up the homeless living in the alley, the Agni Kais had returned to take what they believed to be theirs, with the leader making his announcements yet again. Even more angered and enraged from the interference of Monkeyman from the last time, he was not going to accept anything less than his death and their capturing of this turf.
"We here for Monkeyman! You bring him out, or we shoot you one by one per minute! We want him now!" The leader said.
"Y-You can't bring him here like that! He only comes ever so often! He hasn't been here in a while, he might not come at all!" One homeless man pleaded.
"Fine. You be the first to die."
Pointing his gun to the head of the homeless man, the leader of the Agni Kais prepared to pull the trigger, much to the horror of the other homeless surrounded in the group. Before able to shoot him in the head, however, the sound of a voice called on the Agni Kais, taking their attention away from the homeless.
"Beware, evildoers!" The voice shouted.
Instinctively, the Agni Kais looked up to the voice, all believing it to be Monkeyman as they planned for.
"Look! We brought the Monkeyman!" One Agni Kai shouted.
The leader of the Agni Kais, taking notice of a pair of bunny ears in the shape of the figure, begged to differ on the identity of the voice.
"No. Not him. Monkeyman has no ears." The leader said.
Jumping down from the rooftop, the figure was revealed in the moonlight at last, showing a new superhero to defend the alleyways. This superhero was clad in a white and pink pair of bunny pajamas, paired with a cape and a 'B' written across the chest, declaring his name to be...
"You now face the wrath of... BUNNYMAN!" Iggy shouted.
Landing atop two Agni Kais just as Monkeyman had done before, Bunnyman had made his attack on the invaders, defending the alleyways from their games of territory and stealing their 'tribute' of food from hungry mouths. Making good use of himself, Bunnyman made his strike on the Agni Kais, making good use of his physical training.
Beating down many with punch after punch, knocking aside firearms and weapons that came his way, Bunnyman seemed all but unstoppable to the Agni Kais; just as formidable as Monkeyman himself. The leader of the Agni Kais recognized this out of his opponent, and was not so eager to join his comrades in defeat.
Taking one hostage at gunpoint, the leader of the Agni Kais stood off against Bunnyman, threatening to shoot his hostage if he was armed.
"You let me go! I shoot this person if not!" The leader said.
Unswayed by the hostage situation, Bunnyman ran towards the leader of the Agni Kais, preparing to attack and save the hostage from his hold. Reacting to the rushing enemy, the leader of the Agni Kais fired not on the hostage, but instead pointed his handgun at Bunnyman and started firing, landing several shots in him.
Despite the fatal shots landed in Bunnyman, he was not ready to stop until he had downed the leader of the Agni Kais. Pinning the leader against a wall, Bunnyman landed punch after punch into the enemy, sparing none of his strength to ensure that his opponent would go down.
The beating rendered the leader unconscious, but Bunnyman was soon to join him. Having accumulated many bullet holes from his gun, the wounds started to bleed out heavily, drenching his costume and draining his bodily heat. Facing back at the homeless one last time, Bunnyman gave his final goodbyes.
"I hope... I finally was able to be... your hero." Bunnyman choked.
Succumbing to his wounds, Bunnyman fell to the ground, still bleeding out the last of his blood supply into the pavement.
Bunnyman is dead.
Walking up to this new but fallen hero, the homeless pulled back his pajama hoodie to reveal his face, showing it to be the last person they expected.
"Iggy? Iggy did this?" One homeless man asked.
"I can't believe it. I never knew he really had some good in him." Another homeless man said.
"I knew it. He was a good kid at heart." Al said.
"I agree. I had him wrong." Monkeyman said.
All turning to the more well-known superhero, the homeless made room for him to step through, allowing him to observe the fallen hero. Stepping to the deceased Bunnyman, Monkeyman recognized him as the man named Iggy who had approached him once before, and seeing the results of his efforts.
A sense of pride came over him, as well as a sense of sorrow from his loss.
A funeral was held for those that died that night, each getting their respects and tribute, but a lot of praise went towards their new hero that gave their life to save theirs: Bunnyman, formerly known as Iggy to many in the alleyway. Monkeyman gave his respects to the hero as well, proud to see him making a change for the better for his alleyway and people.
"He said that he wished he finally could be our hero." Al said.
"Was he?" Monkeyman asked.
"Yes. I think he was."
[Soundtrack Cue: The Rolling Stones - Monkey Man; Plays Out]