Bando’s Journey pt.5

Bando couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was conflicted and had thoughts run through his head, his father attacked the person he sees as a father.

"H-How..?" Asked Bando with a sour tone.

"Tch." Bando's Father replied

"Father.. How are you alive?" I- I saw the house get burned down. A- and- and."

Bando stumbled to get any words out but his senses heightened as he saw his father jump towards him. Bando naturally powered his right arm and parried his father's fist.

"What are y-"

Bando's father wasted no time and attacked once again, he crouched and grabbed Bando's legs, spun him around, and released him, throwing him out of the cave. Bando's father chased after him. Kevib stayed on the ground bleeding out, he focused all of his energy on his wound to stop the bleeding. He laid back and put all of his trust into Bando to win.

Bando landed on a tree branch and took a moment to recollect his thoughts.

"WAIT FATH-"

Bando closed his eyes to blink but when he opened them he was on the floor and his left cheeks had a burning sensation and hurt tremendously, Bando spit out saliva and turned to get up, he looked behind him and saw his father tower over him. His father crouched and held a finger towards Bando. Bando's survival instincts kicked in and he got up lighting fast ignoring all the pain in his body.

"Why are you attacking me?" Asked Bando.

"Be quiet." Replied his father.

Bando's Dad lunged and threw a punch but not before Bando could raise his arms and block it. The punch knocked Bando back a few meters but he stood strong. He peeked over his fists with an angry look. First he put Kevib in a critical condition and now he's attacking Bando. Bando didn't feel anything for his father after so many years being spent with Kevib. Bando couldn't feel anything but rage for what his father did to Kevib.

"Father. No. You're not my father.. Ken. Why did you do that to Kevib." Asked Bando.

"I thought a 2 versus 1 would be a little unfair. So I took out the win condition." Laughed Ken

"Why the hell are you even here."

"Heard a few millimeters of that pool water goes for a fortune, its healing properties would bring doctors and the health industry down. And with so much of it, I can monopolize it and industries will be at my feet to pay for this stuff."

"You're doing it for the money? You don't even care about helping people with it."

'I don't give a shit what people do with it." I just want to be rich. Imagine all the things I can buy with all the money I will get."

Bando steamed with even more rage, he rushed towards Ken but because he was blinded by rage, his movements were sloppy and were easily read. Ken put his arm up and guided Bandos fist towards the ground and kneed Bando in the stomach. Bando reacted quickly and grabbed his knee and flipped him over, while in mid air, bando thrusted his fist into Ken's stomach driving him into the ground. Ken punched Bando in the face to get him off and upper cut Bando to make distance. Ken held his stomach in pain and watched as Bando got up without any struggle, Bando's breathing became heavier and heavier until it completely stopped.

He let out one last heavy breath and his body started to glow blue. He had one goal and one goal in mind, to kill Ken. Bando bent his feet and shot into the direction of Ken leaving a huge gust of wind behind. Ken, still holding his stomach, looked up to see Bando's fist in his face. Ken flew back and recovered. He wiped the blood off his lip and prepared for a counter attack. Something was wrong, he didn't see Bando anywhere. He felt a rush of wind approach from behind but Ken was already too late to react and was kicked into a tree. Ken broke the tree and the next one that came and the next. Ken flew into a cliff wall, he hit it so hard the entire cliff collapsed on top of him.

Bando approached the rubble and heard laughter coming from within. The rubble moved a little then exploded in an explosion, from the explosion came Ken who punched Bando into the trees. Ken laughed and laughed as if he'd lost it.

He continuously punched, then chased Bando. Ken eventually stopped and watched Bando crash land in front of him.

"YOU DAMN BRAT!" Yelled Ken. "IF ONLY YOU STAYED DEAD I WOULDN'T HAVE TO BEAT YOU LIKE THIS, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE HOUSE WITH YOUR MOTHER, YOU BOTH WERE SUPPOSED TO BURN. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH GUILT I FELT FOR DOING IT. AND NOW SEEING YOU HERE, I HAVE TO INSTEAD KILL YOU WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS. I JUST WANTED TO RESTART MY LIFE, GET A NEW WIFE AND GET A NEW KID, LEAVE MY OLD LIFE BEHIND."

Ken lowered his voice and slumped. "I couldn't make your mother happy enough. I found a suicide note hidden in her drawer, she was bound to do it soon. I couldn't live with her feeling like that, I blamed myself for how she felt. I didn't think I was good enough. Something twisted and beautiful forged inside me, I planned to kill her myself without her knowing it was me. But I couldn't bear to think of actually doing it. So I thought of burning the house down with her in it, so I didn't have to see her dead body. If i wasn't making her happy, I could give her what she wanted. I also couldn't leave a kid without a mother so I planned for you to also burn in the house. I only imagine what she felt when she saw the house being eaten by fire. Maybe she was happy when she saw the fire, hopefully she did. I can only imagine the amount of guilt I lifted from her shoulders. But the past never dies, I see you here now and instead of being delighted that my son is alive. I feel nothing but hatred. I was in a dark place, even tried killing myself too, the guilt was too much to handle. But I eventually got over it. I absolutely hate for you to have to make me go through that again when I kill you now."

Ken walked over to Bando and summoned the same knife he pierced Kevib with. He drove it straight into Bando's chest, piercing through Bando's invisible armor. Bando screamed in pain and wailed. Ken looked down on Bando and a lightbulb lit in his head. He stood up and decided to leave Bando to bleed to death.

Ken walked away leaving Bando on the floor to die. After a few seconds he saw a beam of light come out of his forehead. Ken wondered what it was but before he could even conjure a second thought everything went black. Ken fell to the floor and his body became lifeless. Behind him stood Bando slouched and bleeding.

Bando had punched the air in front of him so hard the pressure compressed itself into a beam of air and pierced Ken's brain. Bando felt a weight off his shoulders knowing he avenged his mom's killer, but not his father's as he was the killer. Bando took the knife out of his chest and stood there for a second. He walked back towards the cave to help Kevib. He entered the waterfall and saw Kevib's almost lifeless body on the floor next to the pool.

"Bando." Coughed Kevib. "Amazing timing."

Bando ran up to Bando ignoring the pain in his chest.

"What can I do to help! Please tell me!" Cried Bando.

"There's nothing You can do." Said kevib. "Years ago when I first encountered this pool, I also saw something that'll bring me to my lowest, I saw two people. One a young boy standing and the other was me lying on the ground. I then proceeded to trip and fall into the pool. One test tube of this stuff can heal someone of anything, but being doused in it gives you immortality. There were many times where I have died but miraculously healed to full health. But unfortunately, the knife that he hit me with had anti healing properties. The knife went straight through my lung. I only have so much longer before respiratory failure and I die. But I don't have any idea how that'll work. If i won't be able to heal. But I guess we'll find out. The pool was right, this is the lowest part of my life, seeing you so sad because i'm injured… really makes me sad, haha."

Bando got on his knees and cried. He was trying to think of solutions to help Kevib but nothing came up.

"I want you to do a favor for me." Asked Kevib. "Take some of this water, and sell it. Use the money to live a comfortable life. My original plan of passing down a legacy was just fake. You were just a kid, I was also a kid once, I wanted to see how excited you would get to have something cool like that happen. But because you were Bando, you didn't look too excited hahaha. I want you to take this." Bando hands him a marble.

"My soul from this body will eventually transfer to the marble, I want you to throw the marble with my soul in it into the pool. But only when you think it is necessary. I will be reborn as an infant but without any memories and without my immortality.

I want my soul to experience life again. I know because of my immortality I should have experienced life and traveled everywhere but I felt like I had an obligation to protect this pool from any ill minded person who could use the immortality for evil. Will you do that for me?"

"Of course." Said Bando with tears coming down his face and snot coming down his nose.

"You look like how you would cry when you couldn't take the training anymore when you were younger haha! Take some of the water and get out of here. Break the entrance of the cave so nobody but you knows where this cave is. I don't want to hear another word from you. We'll meet again if you keep your end of the deal. Now go."

Bando took a small cup and filled it with the water, all while he was sniffing constantly to keep the snot from leaking even more. He exited the cave and looked back one last time at Kevib. Kevib saw the light of the outside fade which meant Bando had destroyed the entrance. Kevib laid there and thought about all he's been through. A few minutes go by and Kevib feels his breath start to fade, it gets to a point where he can no longer breathe.

Normally, he would've died but because he's immortal he feels everything. He feels like he is drowning and suffocating at the same time. He digs his nails into his face hoping the pain on his face would overpower his suffocation but it fails. Kevib struggled, he thrashed around in pain, he felt as if he was being crushed by his own body. He felt this for years even when his body was just muscle and bone, he felt when the grass and sprouts grew into his skeleton and the pain was immense, Kevib was mute and bottled all the pain as he couldn't scream.

Eventually his skeleton was completely overtaken by vegetation, pulled, and broken apart. The universe pitied Kevib and finally ripped his consciousness into nothingness. Kevib felt nothing.