Day Two

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
#19 Ganondorf, #18 Link & #03 Blink vs #04 Retane & #06 Jack Frost

The pair of wounded warriors had barely had the time to celebrate their victory when they heard the footsteps of the woman smacking against the soil outside the blown-out front wall of the clinic. Link and Ganondorf walked over where the wall had once been and watched as the girl maneuvered through the marines’ fortifications. From the look on her face, she had been trying to escape from something. She made it all the way up to the pair before she realized that they were even there.

“Who are you?” Ganondorf demanded as he and link started to scan the forest around the clinic for any sign of movement. At this point in the game, they both knew that neither of them could ill-afford another confrontation with anything more threatening than another walking corpse.

“Blink,” the girl replied as she looked over her shoulder. “I think I was trailed on my way here, but I can’t be certain.”

Before either the Gerudo or Hylian could press her for more information, they both saw the movement in the woods. A green-skinned warrior with a poleax and a much younger man emerged. The moment they saw the wounded trio, the two new arrivals dashed into the sea of twisted steel and stone.

Link shouldered the rocket launcher and fired a missile that threw up steel and dirt when it hit an empty patch of dirt. Even the recoil of the launcher seemed almost too much for the fallen hero to manage, as he was nearly knocked by when it shuddered in his grip. Ganondorf saw his ally falter and dropped back to make sure the Hylian didn’t collapse.

“We’ve got this. Just keep the pressure on them,” Ganondorf muttered as he reached into his bag and retrieved Wilson. In the scuffles of the previous day, no one had walked away with the sphere, and the Gerudo planned to give it an admirable send off. As Retane’s head popped up, Ganondorf swung back and hurtled the sphere. The namekian let out a grunt as the ball hit him in the shoulder and knocked him off balance. Jack turned around and then stopped in his steps.

“Don’t you stop running! Use it and destroy them, like we agreed to!”

The guardian nodded, his eyes glancing at the organism latched to his back. The orgosynth flared up as Jack Frost let out a grunt and fell to his knees. His eyes turned to Retane, and while his smashed up jaw couldn’t form the words, the namekian could read the expression on his face – “What is happening?” Jack Frost then shook his head and shoved himself up to a vertical position. Retane caught a look of the horrifying shade of red in the boy’s eyes and knew that something was wrong. The Malefactor seemed to twitch against the young man’s back, and as Retane watched, a part of Jack was lost forever. The guardian’s veins went black as something started to corrupt him from the inside out.

With a growl, Jack Frost leapt up over the twisted heap of metal and charged the pair. The namekian was close at his heels when the guardian threw up an ice shield to absorb the impact of an oncoming rocket. When that dust settled, Jack came barreling forward, running on all fours like a manic animal.

Ganondorf fell back as the white-haired boy lunged at him. With a grunt, he swung with his good arm and managed to knock his opponent to the ground. A few feet away, Blink ducked under the blade of a poleax. The woman than lashed out with the arrow she’d ripped from her own shoulder. She managed to catch Retane in the thigh and tear through part of his muscles. The namekian let out a roar and swung a foot up into her chest, knocking her back far enough for him to get in a clean swing with his glaive, catching her in the gut and ripping through clothes and skin alike.

The magenta mutant fell back and looked over to see that the white-haired boy had the other two on the defensive. She wouldn’t be safe here, and she wasn’t in a position to fight… not yet. Revenge would have to wait. For now, Claire Ferguson did the smart thing and vanished into a portal.

Retane turned and rushed into the fight brewing between Jack and the two other warriors. The guardian, infused as he was by the strength of the Malefactor, had the others on the defensive, but they were skilled warriors fighting a young man driven rabid by something Retane didn’t understand. The namekian dashed forward and swung the blade at Ganondorf, and the Gerudo leapt backwards out of the way.

A few feet away, Link saw his ally fall and thought it was the end. The Hylian’s eyes went wide as he tried to bring up the Rocket Launcher, but before he could find the trigger, Jack caught him in the side of the head. Before Link could right his balance, he felt a hand tear through his chest and rip at his heart. Words tried to escape the Hylian’s throat, but they were lost to the blood gurgling down his chin. His eyes turned to meet Ganondorf’s. Something like a smile spread across Link’s face as death washed over him.

Before death took him into its embrace, Link managed to choke out a few more words to his rival-turned-partner. “See you in the next life, Ganondorf… “

The Hylian hit the ground just as the Gerudo was finding the egg in his bag. As Retane and Jack Frost watched, Ganondorf held out the artefact and willed the monster inside into existence. The massive silver dragon erupted into existence and sent its master’s foes backwards with a flap of its might wings. With his body screaming in agony, the Gerudo could barely pull himself up onto the back of the Rathalos as it took to the sky, tearing apart yet more of the clinic as it took to the skies.

“Damn it,” Retane rasped as he watched the Gerudo escape them. “We’ll find them,” he muttered as his gaze moved to Jack. The guardian had yet to relax from his orgosynth-infused state. Even worse, it seemed as if the blackness had spread. “Let go of it, Jack.” Retane barked as his ally started to walked toward him. The look on Jack’s face was not his normal expression.

No… It was almost as if Retane was looking at his own reflection. The Malefactor had the boy now.

“Fight,” Retane said—his voice almost a plea as Jack ran at him. The Jade Fiend did what he had to do—he pinned the wooden end of the glaive into the ground and pulled the other one down in front of him as Jack lunged at him. A monstrous scream escaped the corrupted boy’s throat as he writhed against the blade impaled through his chest. One of his hands even tore at Retane’s face, ripping through his right eye. Despite the punishment, the namekian remained strong as the orgosynth’s strength slowly started to wither. After a few minutes, Retane heard a soft, frail whisper barely audible from the boy’s mangled jaw.

“R-retane?”

The namekian looked to see the boy’s eyes had returned to normal, even if they were already starting to look glassy. “Hey, Jack.”

“Did we win?” Jack whispered.

“Yea, you killed that guy. It was amazing to watch.”

Jack Frost smiled as blood started to dribble out the sides of his mouth. His next words were like the whisper of a ghost. “Told you I wasn’t just a sidekick…”

The boy slumped forward, his head falling onto Retane’s shoulder.

[spoiler]

#18 Link DEAD
#06 Jack Frost DEAD

29 Primes Remain

Jack Frost rolled ‘1’

Blink has a shallow cut across her tummy – Minor Injury (+2 Damage)
Retane has a cut in his thigh and is blind in one eye – Major Injury (+8 Damage)

Blink used Tier 0 Super Move Teleportation Energy (-1 SP)
Ganondorf used his Egg, which will reactivate in 24 IC hours.

The Rocket Launcher, Wilson, and the Cellphone are there for Retane
The Malefactor is there for Retane[/spoiler]