Republic of Heroes
Table of Contents
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 END ExtraChapter 26
Just as they exited the restaurant, a thrown vehicle suddenly passed through their front view, fleeing bystanders were visibly sighted, screaming at the top of their lungs as they ran in fear of their lives from a peculiar supervillain rampaging around the streets of Tokyo.
Roads and buildings were destroyed, crushed, and collapsed by the monstrous villain who smashes everything in his sight, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. As citizens continued running in panic for their lives, the sound of explosions and crashing noise rang throughout the air.
Looking to their right was a nine-foot-tall, muscular man covered entirely by ice armor while his eyes glowed bright blue; his whole body was made out of glacier if he wasn't already frozen solid in the first place. He was scanning around the destroyed area, searching for his next target.
Icecold, as he calls himself, wanting to take revenge on the very people who bullied him throughout his life, having taken countless amounts of abuse and torment that eventually drove him insane with murderous intent, resulted in him lashing out violently in an act of pure wrath, having killed many of his innocent victims and brutally attacked those who stood in his way.
To him, these humans were no better than the monsters that created him, and they deserved to die, their blood painted and dried on his hands. This is his goal in life, and that's what he'll continue doing until his dying breath.
"Shit," Carter quietly said to his companions, "what should we do?" His mind raced in his head as he frantically wondered what to do next, wondering if his butler or Yumi would suggest any possible plans, only for him to remember that neither one of them are geniuses when it comes to this type of situation.
"We kill him," a maddening grin spread across her face as the pink maid excitedly declared, clearly delighted to murder a supervillain in the name of her beloved. "If this supervillain has the death wish of attacking you, then I'm more than glad to grant him the idea of what it means to die." Her cheerful tone of voice went eerie for the young man; ready to commit murder at moment's notice.
"What? No!" He said in a horrified gasp, unable to comprehend the pinkette's actions of attempting to kill someone despite the person's murderous spree, "No one has to die here, Yumi." Carter quickly responded in urgency, shaking his head. "There must be another way of peacefully escalating the situation," the commissioner suggested in an attempt to resolve this conflict in a non-violent manner.
His butler, however, pointed out the villain's oncoming approach: "Master Carter, it appears that we've been spotted by that villain, and he is currently making his way in our direction." He alerted everyone to the enemy's presence, who's growing larger and closer. "Now that he has seen us, perhaps the use of violence is necessary in this particular circumstance, as much as I myself don't like resorting to such primitive ways in settling conflicts," he said with a slight tinge of regret and disappointment in his words.
"If it isn't the billionaire, Randolph Carter," Icecold's echoing steps marched forward until he was now standing in front of his targets, eyes peering down at the young man while towering above them; the villain was gigantic in size compared to everyone else in their surroundings as his entire body radiated powerful chill and coldness, freezing the concrete around his feet with every step.
Yumi pulled out a knife from her skirt, Sebastian withdrew a semi-automatic handgun in one of his pockets, and Carter's pupils widened in shock and confusion, having to witness his trusted allies pull out their own weapons without his knowledge. He didn't even know the butler had a weapon to begin with.
His trusted servants took a step, shielding their master encase if there is any trouble; having to place themselves in harm's way if things were to get ugly, "weakling..." The villain murmured, his low, deep, and hoarse voice uttering, "Hiding behind slaves as you should be, Randolph Carter." His breathing came out in loud, heavy puffs as his cold mist poured out of his icy mouth.
Sebastian's expression was serious; unlike his usual calm demeanor, he wasn't smiling or grinning anymore. "The police are likely coming on their way; you might want to surrender yourself and end this pointless rampage of yours," he calmly advised, placing his finger against the trigger, prepared to shoot at the slightest movement of the villain.
Her eyes were squinted into thin lines, staring at the menacing giant in front of them, smiling ever so widely at this threat: "Oh, I highly doubt the police will be arriving any time soon, since you will be dead when I'm through you," threatening Icecold, to which the supervillain snorted.
"Amusing, your quite amusing," his fingers flexed, slowly closing them into fists. "Are you really going to sacrifice your own pathetic lives for this weakling? How very laughable of you, because I am more than ready to put my fists through the both of you and turn you into ice sculptures; of course, it's up to you if you are willing to die for a worthless parasite like him."
After deciding there was no way his friends were going to peacefully resolve this, Carter had no choice but to intervene in the conversation, "Why are you doing this?" He calmly tried to reason with the hostile supervillain, "Did I somehow offend you or something?" His eyes stared at the gigantic monster in front of him, seeing the ice giant's eyes narrow and then widen for a split second, hissing through his teeth.
"Do not think I have forgotten of what society has done to me, Randolph Carter," he spoke with a growl of disdain, remembering his painful childhood filled with bullying and abuse. "I've suffered a lot of indignities, pain, and humiliation at the hands of these lesser beings, calling me a freak because of what I look like!" He screamed madly as his mouth gaped open, allowing his sharp teeth to show.
Patting their shoulders and giving them a messaging look to allow him to properly speak face-to-face with this deranged criminal, his friends obliged to his wishes as the commissioner took a step forward, taking out a cigar and then a lighter to light it up, putting the burning tobacco in between his teeth before inhaling it into his lungs.
A puff of smoke came out of his mouth, blowing it to his face as the young man remained composed in the face of danger. "You are ready to kill me, and I'm aware of that, but hear me out first before you do it, because this is exactly what you want, isn't it?" He asked, to which the supervillain grunted at his answer, "Tell me, how does causing chaos and destruction make you feel better in any way?"
His thick ice arm extended towards him, pointing directly at richest man in all of Japan, "Your nothing but a coward!" Huffing angrily as his other hand clenched even tighter, "hiding behind your mindless servants like dogs! Even as you stand, you can't even face me straight in the eye; admit it, you're nothing but a spineless worm." The ice giant laughed viciously at this.
However, Carter stood firm and steadfast against this declaration: "Actually, you are correct with that assumption." His words seemed to catch the giant off guard as his expression briefly flickered with confusion: "But what about you? What does all of this make you feel? Is it any better to kill hundreds of innocent people, or perhaps you're even satisfied with having all of that power?"
"Power?" The ice villain repeated incredulously, "This is nothing but a curse!" A sense of doubt formed within his mind as he reflected on what he had done: "All I want is revenge, nothing else, and I am no different than these mindless cretins who only see me as a freak show or monster!" He said as he look away in shame from his own words.
Carter took another puff of the cigarette, blowing the smoke away from his mouth. "That is no excuse to destroy and cause destruction wherever you go; you may not see the consequences of your actions yet, but once you do, all of it will come back to you tenfold. Is that what you really want to happen in your future life?" His words struck a chord within the supervillain, causing the person's eyes to waver in uncertainty.
"I mean," the commissioner continued, seeing the signs of weakness within him, "you're not really a monster or freak to me; you just look like normal guy, or maybe I'm just hallucinating all of this; what do you think?" He sarcastically quipped in the end, still finding it strange that he's talking to posthumans who can outright kill him without much trouble.
Despite his sarcasm, Icecold was lost in his thoughts, doubting his life and reasons to murder and destroy. He was ready to lash out and strike, only to hesitate and freeze when he glared at the young man, seeing that he had a good point to all of this. "Whats your point?" Squinting his eyes in suspicion, unsure of the young man's motive,
Smirking at this development, Carter looked at him straight in the eye and said, "Maybe the reason why everyone despises and rejects you is because of your attitude and actions; instead of finding some help from those who are sharing the same pain as you do," reasoning with the giant by stating his honest opinion, "Come on, think about it; would you prefer to suffer alone or with others?"
Icecold was more shocked by this, taking a step back from this revelation, "but I—" He shut his mouth, thinking deeply about the question he was given and having to reevaluate his life and himself altogether based on what he had heard from this billionaire.
Satisfied by his words entering the head of his target, "You see, not all of mankind is cruel or evil; some of them are genuinely nice and compassionate; take me for example; I don't despise you for being what you are," he puffed out his cigarette, "so all of that hatred of yours is just one big waste of time and effort for something that you can fix, because if you keep this up, the world will come after you sooner or later."
Finally, the supervillain calmed himself down and considered everything he had just said, knowing that what Carter is saying is true and that everything he has done so far is nothing more than a selfish desire that is meaningless in the end. "What have I done?" He looked down in shame, placing his hand on his head out of shock.
Seeing the situation being successfully solved without anyone dying, Yumi and Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief as they put away their weapons, awaiting their master's orders until he decided to reach out, wanting to console the lost soul that had been driven to madness by the cruelty of those around him.
"You can start fixing it by turning yourself in and talking things out with your new friends over there; trust me, the people working there are nice, caring, helpful, and welcoming; they won't judge you over what you are or hate you because of it," he proposed to the villain in extending his hand out to him, it's not too late to turn your life around," convincing the conflicted ice giant to surrender.
It took the villain several seconds to weigh the option of whether or not to follow or defy Carter, eventually deciding to accept the man's proposal as he reached his own hand, shaking it as Icecold's crystallized lips cracked in a genuine smile. "I don't know if I could believe myself enough right now," he said, apologizing in a regretful tone as his deep gratitude was shown towards the billionaire, even though this whole minute of conversation ended with a peaceful conclusion.
For all of Icecold's life since he was a child, his desire for revenge had been ingrained in his brain to the point where he became completely consumed by his hatred and anguish over what people had done to him, never knowing friendship or love, and had planned to commit a city-wide attack when he learned how to control his powers, as he was more than ready to die with his vengeful beliefs.
Carter nodded with a smile, throwing the cigar on the floor before stepping on it. "Good to know you have a change of heart," he said with a chuckle, patting the villain on the arm. "The Miskatonic Institution, a prison camp for the mentally insane and posthumans like yourself, is the perfect place for you to start fresh," he joked lightly, earning a couple of snickers from the villain.
"The Miskatonic Institution?"
The villain asked in surprise, having heard rumors of such a place existing in Japan, "would they be okay with having me surrender peacefully? I'm not going to be experimented with or anything like that, right?" He had doubts about going there and had to assume the worst.
The young man shook his head. "You'll be fine, trust me." His confidence reassured the villain, who hesitantly gave his words. "I promise, you will like it over there, and no one will abuse you or anything; they treat their prisoners kindly and respect them if they were human beings," he stated, knowing what Icecold was talking about.
With that said, the situation was settled as the commissioner told him where the coordinates were before the supervillain walked away in these destroyed streets, finally seeing that what he was doing was wrong and having a chance of making things right; meanwhile, the people who were hiding from the ice giant slowly left their hiding spots, crowding themselves around the trio.
And something unexpected happened. They cheered, their eyes gleaming with excitement as their voices applauded the commissioner of his heroic deeds for having saved them from the clutches by maniacal supervillain, chanting his name.
"Carter! Carter! Carter!"
His servants were surprised but smiled at hearing their master's name being chanted by the people. He was was internally freaking out, embarrassed of being praised, his main intention wasn't to save them but to simply go home safely.
But for once in his life, he never felt happy about the applause and love he was receiving from these people; all he could do was nod as this sensation overwhelmed him greatly, leaving him speechless about the circumstances he was experiencing, truly bewildered to be alive even though this may be a temporary moment.
He smiled, his eyes widening as tears began flowing down his cheeks, causing Yumi and Sebastian to be startled by this, while Carter wiped away the tears with a sleeve, composing himself before addressing the public with a gentle wave.
Perhaps it's not so bad to play hero for once.
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