KLONDIKE, CP Army Headquarters – Welcome back to another edition of Short Stories. In Part V of Operation Frost, the Resistance battle Sabertooth in the ruins of the Molten Arsenal. Meanwhile, Prima Morgana arrives to give the Resistance a warning about the war. What will happen during the showdown with Sabertooth? What will Morgana come down to say to the Resistance?
“Multiple reports are coming from Thermal, claiming that Alderam has escaped the Molten Arsenal’s prison. This update comes from Sensei, a member of the Resistance. It has been confirmed that Sabertooth is confronting the Resistance army after being notified of an arrest warrant placed on him. He has hereby refused to turn himself in. We do not have any further information on this situation. We will release updates as they come.”
“I don’t know who you think you are,” Alderam said. “But you and your leader made a big mistake invading my home.” Alderam glanced at the brute with fury. His fists started slowly clenching, and softly shaking with the building tension inside of him. “And who are you to dare stand upon me, silly boy?” Sabertooth leaned down and barked at the Card-Jitsu master. Nothing could bring the acrimony out of Alderam. His fists were shaking more and his breathing intensified with short but threatening, audacious breaths. “This is only the beginning, Alderam,” Sabertooth chuckled evilly seeing the Card-Jitsu warrior getting worked up from his presence. “I’m backed by seven others now that you exterminated Tusk, you and that grandpa Sensei who hasn’t retired after I-stopped-counting-how-many years, and-”
Alderam interrupted the Frozen Strikers member. “I get it,” he mumbled. “You’re no match for our Resistance, Sabertooth. You never will be.” Alderam had a flash of anger in his eyes. Pulling out his card deck, he maintained the cards near. “You want to play rough with the grizzly bear? Let’s get rough!” Sabertooth roared, jumping from his stance to throw a punch at the Card-Jitsu master. Alderam made a beeline straight towards the brute, pulling out his Fire card to perform a Thunder Burn. His fist was devoured by a flame as he cast the card and immediately crashed his forearm with Sabertooth’s, clenching a fist with the card in hand.
Alderam managed to get the first hit, a great advantage to a Card Jitsu master’s technique. The flames struck the brute’s face after the punch. Alderam performed another move, a Magma Bombardment, and slammed the ground. The impact released a ring of fire that captured the two inside. Sabertooth roared in laughter after seeing this. “So, you want a fight to the death? I am going to savor every moment of your torture!” Alderam didn’t back down with his attacks, switching from the Fire Card to the Ice Card. He performed a Frozen Thorn Strike, summoning a wave of floating thorns covered in ice to attack Sabertooth.
Meanwhile, the Resistance army did its best to hold off the oncoming robot soldiers as they came. Fighter jets soared through the air, sending in every bit of support they could. The roar of the engines grew louder as it continued, and the ambiance of bullets flying and bursting detonations continued around everyone. Alderam’s anger seemed to heighten more as the battle against Sabertooth continued. That was until it reached a darkening point. One that an individual with as much wisdom as Sensei couldn’t describe. A derogatory transformation when emotion takes over a Card-Jitsu master. “We must stop Alderam!” Sensei warned. “If he persists in letting sentiment get the better of him, he’ll shift into something we haven’t seen in forever. He’s calling dark energy with it building up!”
Sabertooth was moving too quickly to notice a dark violet aura beginning to form around Alderam as he rapidly used his Cards. The giant brute leaped to grab a fighter jet’s wing mid-air and hurled it towards the Card-Jitsu warrior, who used his Ice Card to block it from hitting the Resistance army. The ring of fire that surrounded the two fizzled into smoke, giving the two contestants more room to fight. However, things had reached a boiling point for Alderam’s unexplainable emotion when Sabertooth had done something nobody expected: he attacked Lotus as they were shooting hot sauce rockets at him and damaged their jetpack into malfunctioning, causing a hurtful crash.
Alderam turned around and saw Lotus fall to the ground after Sabertooth damaged their jetpack, badly injured from the landing. Combat medics surrounded them while Sabertooth hooted in pleasure. “How pleasant of you to finally introduce me to this pathetic group of misfits that you call a ‘resistance,'” the villain smirked. “I expected much more of a better fight out of you. But your efforts are worthless. And so is the self-pity that you feel for everybody. This explains that you’re too nice of a person to even recognize when people are lying to you. Nobody ever loved you, Alderam. Accept it.” However, Alderam stood there. He didn’t respond to Sabertooth’s words, but the mysterious aura grew larger around him.
Sensei knew what was happening. What was becoming of Alderam because his emotional state had skyrocketed to a dangerous extent. Now it had transformed the Card-Jitsu warrior into an alter ego of what he was. Alderam’s appearance grew as dark as a silhouette. His eyes were glowing a blinding white without any pupil or iris. “Maybe you should look at yourself before telling people they’re not loved,” he growled softly. Sabertooth and the surrounding members of the Resistance gasped in shock. “How dare you defy my truth!” Sabertooth responded, slamming his fists on the ground. Alderam slowly turned around to reveal himself to the brute. Everyone was in shock at what Alderam had become. According to scriptures that told the history of Card-Jitsu, it was a transformation referred to as Corruption. It occurred when a Card-Jitsu master allowed emotion to take over so much that it triggers a source of negative energy that therefore sets off the transformation. Alderam didn’t look like what people remember of him. He was Corrupted.
The Card-Jitsu warrior stared dead at Sabertooth. “You’re going to regret ever touching my home, you poor excuse of a being on this wretched Earth,” Corrupted Alderam spoke to the villain. “Curse you, and curse your idiotic bunch of other deviates like you attiring in Halloween costumes to overrun the island. Have at you, Sabertooth!” Then, the warrior charged toward Sabertooth but was unable to be seen because of the enhanced super-speed he had been granted. Sabertooth was violently being swung around as Corrupted Alderam struck him with a larger variety of attacks with his Cards. This was overkill. Alderam was using more power than he needed to take down Sabertooth. All the Resistance needed was to capture him. But with this form, Alderam was going further.
Nobody could stop this Corrupted warrior. He just kept attacking Sabertooth, who was soon losing his strength and morale to even keep up. Alderam should’ve been stopped before he did any further damage. perhaps it could’ve been because of all the emotion he had been unable to protect his home. No matter what it was, this transformation was unprovoked. Alderam finally came into sight, after attacking with such light-speed movements, and stood a distance from Sabertooth. The Resistance members couldn’t do anything but watch. “This is the end, Sabertooth!” Corrupted Alderam cried before making a beeline towards the brute who was already fallen.
But then, something caught him by surprise. A mysterious portal opened with a silhouette present in the shape in front of Alderam. As he sprinted, he felt a wave of shock catch him as he slipped against the hard ground and fell, kicking up the rock. The figure got closer and stepped through the ring, showing itself to be an unexpected guest on the battlefield. The leader of the Frozen Strikers was finally confronting Alderam after months of defeating him. She wore the armor of an archangel, floating with golden-yellow wings. Alongside her, two guards wearing masks also stepped through with long spears made with a glamouring dandelion, a darker shade compared to the leader’s wings. It was Prima Morgana.
She approached Alderam, getting back up after falling. “Many months later after your grand defeat and this is how you become?” She questions the Card-Jitsu warrior, still in the Corrupted transformation. “I must say, silly boy, I’m very disappointed in how you’ve allowed yourself to achieve this emotion after millennia of believing it couldn’t be achieved again.” Alderam’s fists unclenched slowly, and his anger began to slowly turn into sorrow, not only for himself but to Sensei, the art of Card- Jitsu, and Sabertooth for the unprovoked violence he inflicted. He didn’t know what to say in response.
“Regardless, I have arrived to warn you of a certain future if you continue this war. You will not win,” Prima Morgana continued. Why was the leader of the Frozen Strikers focused more on the war instead of Alderam having earned the Corrupted form? “That is why I offer you a sign of truce. Give up the key to the Dojo’s secret lair that holds all the power of Card-Jitsu and the war will stop. But continue destroying my greatest soldiers and you will have no idea what sort of hell I am capable of bringing. War has a price, Alderam. Think about it.” As Prima talked, Alderam’s transformation had begun to disappear. He was now back to his normal form, the one people could recognize. Not the monster that was uncontrollable and manipulated.
“You have a matter of three days to make up your mind. But ignore my request and I’ll unleash the doomsday plan. Your choice,” she finished before leaving back into the portal that opened behind her. The guards soon followed behind her, and the portal closed. Nobody had the heart to ask questions about what happened. Alderam felt disappointed in himself. Sabertooth looked up and stared at the Card-Jitsu warrior before backing away from him. “Just get him away from me, he’s crazy!” He stuttered. Some of the Resistance leaders came behind him and handcuffed him, waiting for the escorts to bring him to the Correctional Penitentiary for War Criminals. As for Alderam, Dr. Gary walked to him and gave him words that gave him a bigger shock. “I don’t know what any of that came from, but that was completely unprovoked and reckless.”
“I’m very sorry Alderam, but we can’t allow your monstrous behavior to be associated with the Resistance leadership,” Dr. Gary sighed, a sour face growing attached. “Therefore, I’m letting you go.” Alderam was speechless. He didn’t know what to say to the news. He wanted to apologize and ask for forgiveness, but it seemed as if there was no room for that. He was no longer permitted to help lead the war against the Frozen Strikers. “If you throw away that lad, then I’m going too!” A voice called from the crowd. Lotus revealed themselves to have said that phrase. “Alderam did nothing wrong. He got you what y’all wanted and this is how you treat him? Nuh-uh, that’s not how I fly.” Lotus shook her head, giving a thumbs-down sign. “I’m going with this guy. Until you guys realize that getting rid of your greatest leader is the worst mistake you’re making, we’re outta here.” They got up and walked next to Alderam.
“Come on hun,” Lotus insisted, attaching a harness to Alderam with a chain attached to their jetpack. “Let’s get out of here. Hold on tight.” Alderam grabbed onto their shoulder and the jetpack’s handle on the side and they took off, leaving the Resistance after both being released from their positions. Lotus was right: getting rid of Alderam was their worst mistake.
End of Part V.