PART I: DEATH MATCH
One Week Ago
Faultline, Paragon City
Red-Havok sat alone in his studio apartment. Downtime like this was so rare for the hero. That's why he settled in Faultline. For all the beauty the restoration had brought back it was still a dangerous place to live. Red figured that if he ever needed a place to relax and call home, this was it, and if the downtime was too much there was always something to do nearby. But today, his home was being used for its intended purpose. Rest. Much needed rest, the hero thought.
He and a group of his former allies had been tasked by Longbow to once again try to bring down the super villain
Phanto. Havok genuinely hated Phanto. Such a nuisance of an enemy, but that nuisance slowly grew into a high-class threat pulling stunt after evil stunt, each more deadly than the last. Red wanted to bring Phanto down, perhaps more than any villain he had ever faced.
When he was approached by Longbow Agent Slate, Red was hesitant. He had effectively burnt his bridges with Longbow by working with Orthrus Inc., a fact cemented even more so when The Infiltrators were ordered to assault
Strongwall Penitentiary. But Agent Slate’s intentions were not to take down The Infiltrators, but Phanto – and he brought proof of those intentions with
Xanatos.
Xanatos was a well known hero to everyone. Red and his brother had personally served under his leadership while they were in The Defenders of Paragon, but that was years ago, and seemed more like a lifetime. Regardless, the bright yellow costume was an inspiring sight, even to a seasoned hero like Red-Havok.
Slate explained of a tournament held annually by the villain underground. Longbow usually turned a blind eye to it. “No harm in villains beating up villains.” they said. But this year was different. The prize offered to the winner would be a weapon. Not just any weapon, but a Dark Matter weapon, believed to be a piece of The Mass Eradicator, which The Infiltrators thought destroyed. Phanto was the man supplying this prize, no doubt, to purely cause chaos in Paragon - his usual modus operandi.
The heroes accepted the mission and entered the tournament disguised as villains to try and not only win the weapon, but also deal with Phanto – once and for all. Among those who qualified were many fearsome villains, all known to the heroes as very dangerous threats. This task would not be an easy one, as proven when
Johnny Turbo was defeated in the first round by
Baron Blitzman. Red couldn’t believe that Johnny had lost. It seemed very surreal, and almost untrue. He had known Johnny for years. Where he was once an arrogant and inexperienced hero, JT had evolved into an even more arrogant, but very competent hero of Paragon. Red couldn’t help but think of his own fight. Would he lose again to the villain he was paired with?
Red’s communicator started to beep, signaling an incoming call. It broke his concentration. He answered the call
“Havok.”
“Red man… it’s me. JT.”
“Johnny?”
“I can’t believe I lost man. Especially to that geezer.”
“Turbo, you and Nimbus both had a prior run-in with Blitzman. Nimbus told me himself it wasn’t easy…” Red was interrupted.
“HE’S AN OLD MAN RED! AN OLD ***** MAN! HOW! HOW! HOW DID I LOSE?!”
“Calm down Johnny…” Red said in a reassuring voice.
“I suck.”
“Come on Turbo. You know that isn’t true.”
“Then why did I lose?”
Red signed. He needed JT to get it together. There was still a lot he could do as far as intelligence and recon went.
“Only one of us can win. Sooner or later all of us will lose Johnny. There are still other things you can do. You’re personable. You can get information.”
“Can I come over?” Johnny asked
Red was hesitant to say yes, especially after the last time JT stopped by. Reluctantly, he agreed.
“Fine. I suppose.”
“Okay, open up.”
Red was dumbfounded.
“You’re here already?”
“Yeah man.”
“I know you’re fast JT, but that’s pretty fast.”
“I’ve been here since I lost man.”
“What?”
“Just been lying here in the hallway, waiting for you to come home. Obviously you don’t use your god damn front door.”
“You could have contacted me if you wanted to talk.” Red tried to reason
“That’s what I’m doing now…”
“Twelve hours of lying in the hallway later?”
“Open up man.”
“Right.”
Red opened the door to find Johnny. He looked bad. Tired, a ripped costume and what seemed to be dried ‘Chef Boyardee’ sauce on the corners of his mouth.
“You don’t look well Turbo…” Red said, trying to be as nice as possible.
“Let’s play some games buddy.” JT quipped with some excitement
“That’s why you’re here? Games?”
“Yeah man. This is my home away from home.”
“No it isn’t.”
“Yeah it is man. Now where is it?” JT asked, eagerly
Red buried his face in the palm of his hand and said
“Over there, in the closet.”
Johnny dance-walked to the closet and opened it.
“What the hell man. It’s still in the box!”
“I told you, while I appreciated the gesture, getting me an xbox for Christmas wasn’t practical. I’ll never use it.”
“******** dude. You using it now.”
“If this is going to make you happy, I guess…”
“It will man. Let’s go, Gears of War.”
Using his superspeed, Johnny hooked the console up in mere seconds.
“You got a ******** TV Red.”
“…”
They began to play the game. It started off as a co-op campaign play through. The played solid, for hours and finished the game’s story in a single sitting.
“Death match?” JT asked with a smile.
“Sure.”
They started a death match. JT got the drop on Red, killing him.
“HA! Mister military can’t use a gun properly.”
Red focused, and played hard. He took the next kill, and the next, and the next. JT was getting upset.
“**** you! Using your military ****!”
Red thought back to Johnny when he was defeated by Blitzman. Back to when he opened his door to find Turbo in his defeated state. This game wasn’t about Red. It was about JT. No matter how ridiculous it was, it could be a tool to instill confidence back into his friend. Red took a dive and let JT kill him, convincingly. JT swore. Red let the match go back and fourth, allowing Johnny to really focus and play smart. Red decided to sink to JT’s level with his next plan.
“Okay Turbo. Next kill is it.”
“What do you mean?” Johnny asked.
“Next kill decides the champion. The number one hero. The ultimate Gears master. Next kill separates the men from the boys.”
“You’re on!”
Johnny had bought it, hook line and sinker. Red didn’t make it easy on him. He made JT work for his victory. Finally after an epic hard fought 10 minutes, JT had done it. He was the champion.
“OHHHHHHH! WHAT NOW! WHAAAT NOW MAN! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I AM THE MOTHA***** MAN! DA CHAMP!”
“Nice match Johnny. You’re right, you’re the man. But you always were. This match didn’t change anything.”
“You mean that?”
“I’ve known you for a long time Johnny. You’ve never pulled the sad sack routine in the past. Why do it now? You’re better than that.”
Johnny tried to hide his smile.
“I should go Red.”
“Where are you off to?”
“Back to the island. Maybe I can try and dig up some info on Phanto, like you said.”
“That’s a great idea. Let me know how it goes.”
“I will. You fight tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be cheering for you Red.”
“Thanks Johnny. Hopefully I won’t need it.”
Johnny left Red’s apartment. After all that, Red’s thoughts rushed back to him. The tournament. Tomorrow Red would face
Ripjaw. A creature who, during their first encounter, nearly killed Red. Did he have a chance at winning this time? He had to do whatever it took, but Ripjaw would not be an easy defeat. Red figured he should get some rest before the undoubtedly tough fight. As he began to finally drift off, his communicator once again sounded. He saw the call was from Johnny.
“What?”
“I beat you at Gears.”
Red hung up and went back to sleep.
((I love the costume!))