The world yielded to the cold of the far north and snow drifted from the gray clouds. The Hawk Walker stationed itself in the center of an open field, dwarfed by snow-capped mountains.
To its left, a small village was in the midst of an evacuation due to recent tremors that rippled through the region… And most importantly, for what could happen in the next couple of minutes.
Rod and Alf remained within the Walker's control room. They focused on illuminated screens that analyzed data from their patrol drones.
"It appears the Ice Giant is making his way here as we speak. A little behind schedule. Have to fix that next time," Alf stated.
"How long till he gets here?" the Gun Hero responded.
"Calculations suggest 3 minutes."
Rod's gaze snapped to the front camera screen, where a tall shadow loomed larger with every passing second in the distance. His breath hitched, and that normally never happened.
"Affirmative. This Ice Giant is exactly five hundred meters tall," the machine continued.
"Five hundred meters…"
Rod let out a soft whistle. He'd never faced a Giant of such proportions, but he knew what its size implied: The taller they were, the stronger they became, and the higher their destructive potential escalated.
"Okay, so the plan is to reason with him, right?"
Alf's lenses glanced at Rod and returned to the screens.
"If everything else fails, resort to lethal methods. Keep in mind that I need the brain parasite intact. Avoid direct contact with the skull."
"That's the last resort, right?"
"Affirmative."
Rod focused on the screens again. He could clearly discern the red glow in the Giant's eyes and the many jagged ice spikes protruding from its body. It was almost time…
Some hallways away from them, Catra, Lofo, and Oliver stood by a large ceiling window in the cafeteria. Their faces were completely enchanted by what was behind the glass. The ice-covered head of the Giant filled their entire field of vision. It truly did put into perspective the kind of threat a "Hero Level" warrior would face.
"That's one tall son of a gun," Oliver murmured.
"He really is," Lofo agreed.
The boy's gaze shifted to Catra. It didn't take long to notice that her light brown eyes were fearful.
Her father had to stop "THAT"? Seeing him fight was not a luxury she normally experienced in person, especially against a threat of such power… The simple idea of watching him get hurt caused her to tremble a little. Lofo noticed.
The boy quickly took her hand and gently squeezed it.
"He's gonna be fine. He's your father," he said with false confidence.
The comforting warmth of his touch slowly steadied Catra's heart, even though he himself was not truly calm.
He hadn't seen the Gun Hero brawl in a long time... Did Rod still possess the power? The ruthless will it takes to beat something so devastatingly powerful? No one knew for sure…
Back in the control room of the Walker, the air had thickened. Rod paced in circles before his fingers instinctively found the bio-metallic interlink on his arm. With a surge of mana, the gun Elena gave him when they married materialized in his palm.
This subtle change was registered by Alf, and he let out a soft chuckle.
"The A-17 pistol, with a few modifications I made. I did not think you would keep it," he stated with surprise.
Rod softly laughed at the comment.
"What can I say, you are one of the great ones after all. Designing a weapon that can absorb my excess mana and store it for a large attack was genius."
"THE great one, if you would."
"The only great thing you have is your ego, and it's gonna get you in trouble."
He playfully bumped Alf's shoulder.
"Well, genius does make up for some things. Enough about that, we have to focus. In less than 2 minutes the giant will be in front."
"Alright. How are the civilians in the town?"
"Still evacuating. I sent some of my spare tech bodies from Naya to help. It is still a slow progress… even with the 5-hour head start."
The Hero paused and weighed their course of action.
"That's not good. If I gotta fight an Ice Giant that big, the only place safe is here… How many people can this Walker hold?"
"Approximately 80."
"Maybe we're gonna have to do the classic 1, 2, 3, Be Whoop Eh."
Alf's optical lenses flickered and offered a nod.
"Of course… that could work. Just measure your strength to the correct level, or you might accidentally kill someone there. Still, I will try to protect them with a Concord Spell."
On the metallic outside of the Hawk Walker, a spherical piece of metal split open and revealed a rifle shaped "Spell Shooter". It was loaded with a Concord Spell—a powerful defensive enchantment that granted extra resistance to organic matter.
The weapon rotated smoothly until it had the distant town in its sight. It shot a beam of luminous mana that struck the far left side of the town, bathing it in a majestic glow.
Inside the town and amid the chaos, machines strikingly similar to Alf aided the evacuation. Those robots stood no chance against a normal Ice Giant, let alone the monster that was now entering the field. Even still, their assistance was crucial for the safety of everyone there.
Once the giant's right foot slammed into the ground, the entire Hawk Walker shuddered violently. Such shaking was strong enough that a woman in the town was nearly struck by a piece of splintered wood. Luckily, her husband pulled her to safety.
They looked at each other with worry. Then, glowing green particles—the visible effect of the Concord Spell—were absorbed by their bodies. They didn't let the beauty of magic stop them though. Both continued running towards their evacuation points.
From that point onward, they would be a lot tougher, even if they didn't realize it… Such is the effect of the Concord incantation.
Back inside the control room, Rod and Alf watched the spell's effects on the monitor.
"You still get your spells from Spellex?" The Hero asked.
He returned the pistol to his interlink.
"We have not changed since the Havoc chemical incident. They do good work with their magic."
"I guess relations with the elves are doing good?"
"Kind of. We have been getting pushback on the SkyEye project, but Alex has been keeping them at peace with her speeches. Before you got here, she was actually doing one for the Elf kingdom and some news networks."
The Hero knew Alex was a force of nature. The immense political pressure she faced must be an unbearable burden… It reminded him of Lofo.
"Man… she's gonna kill us once she notices Lofo's with us."
"It is time. Get into position," Alf interrupted.
Their eyes met in a silent exchange prior to leaving the control room.
Rod headed towards the main exit of the Walker and was met by Lofo, Oliver, and Catra already gathered in the main lobby. They approached him with mixed feelings.
"Is it time to see the legendary Gun Hero in action?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah… I'll show you my amazing bargaining skills in the flesh."
"I can't wait to learn something from you again, Mister Winger!" Lofo followed up.
"Guys, guys, it won't go past the negotiation! You have nothing to worry about."
He then glanced at Catra and noticed the fear she was trying to hide. She always did that when it came to showing emotion, at least with him. That specific posture always meant "worry". He never pressured her about it. Though, that day needed to be different.
Rod walked closer and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry I screamed at you, kiddo," he softly said.
"Wha- NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR THAT! You're about to face someone 3,000 times your size! We can't be joking around!"
"If you have time to get mad, you have time to calm down," he responded, gently stroking her hair.
The girl pulled away and embarrassment crept up on her face. It intensified after hearing Oliver and Lofo chuckling.
"D-dad! Stop! Not in front of them!"
"Only if you call me daddy."
"DAD!"
"See? Now you're more calm," he laughed and playfully threatened to pet her hair again.
Suddenly, Alf's voice erupted from the speakers.
"Rod! Stop messing around and head to your position!"
The Hero's view snapped to the ceiling glass and noticed how the Ice Giant's silhouette was now only a few hundred meters away. No wonder Catra was scared. From her view, it looked like an impossible enemy to beat.
The man looked back at his daughter and smirked.
"Come on, kiddo. Have some faith in your old man."
She just looked at him and her anger was slowly replaced by dread. Everything happening compelled her to remember a conversation from their hunting trip. The one with Alf.
"You… you're not going to kill him, right?" she finally asked.
Her question hung in the air. Rod didn't know how to respond. The reality of his mission pressed in and caused him to accept a single truth. He needed to lie again…
"Of course not. You know I would never do something like that," he casually said.
The man turned towards the exit door, adjusted his cowboy hat, and walked away.
She couldn't help but look at the empty space where he used to be. Her heart was heavy with an anxiety that could no longer be suppressed, something Lofo immediately tried helping with. Oliver saw the boy comforting her when he started walking away.
"I know how this all ends anyway," he whispered.
Rod's powerful boots crunched through a thick layer of snow on the exterior of the Hawk Walker. He was met by a body so large, its height seemed to defy comprehension.
He activated the communication earpiece while moving.
"Gonna head to the top of the Walker so we can begin."
"You are permitted to go," the machine responded with an invisible smirk.
"I don't need your permission…" the Gun Hero whispered.
In less than a second, he jumped towards a rock and leaped again, landing on top of the vehicle.
He got into position and looked at his enemy.
"He's… way bigger than I expected…"
"Remember, if it comes down to it, use lethal force."
Suddenly, Alf's amplified voice erupted from speakers directly beside the hero. It forced his hands to clamp over his ears.
"You did that on purpose!" he exclaimed.
"Ice Giant Nomu, we have come from the capital of Grand North to make a peaceful negotiation," the machine's words boomed across the snow-covered plains.
Alf was using more than enough speakers for the Ice giant to hear. Thus, his large head looked down and his red eyes focused on the smaller Hawk Walker.
"We are here to tell you that your tribe will now be able to enter the northern Celeste islands and will be permitted to live there. We only ask for you to turn back and return to your home. May I remind you this is a forbidden zone for creatures of your height."
Rod studied the beast more closely as Alf attempted to reason with the giant. He'd read Ice Giant physiology lore for a mission long forgotten, and now was time to test that knowledge.
The man's gaze traced patterns of deep blue covering the giant's massive skin, taking some seconds to appreciate its beauty.
Then he saw it. A face. Another Giant's face—twisted, mutilated, and imprisoned within the transparent ice. This made his eyes widen in dread. He saw another, and another, and another. A mosaic of frozen faces.
"Oh no… Alf?" he asked through the earpiece.
"Yes?"
"Alf… Nomu is the tribe's leader, right? And he's possessed by a magical parasite?"
"Affirmative. Are you done asking questions? I cannot spare any more processing power, and I am in the middle of something, as you can see."
Rod's focus met the giant's red eyes.
"Alf… I think he killed his tribe…"
"What?"
"Look at the heads all over his body. He absorbed his people. That only happens to dead ice, and it would also explain why he's so big."
The machine scanned the giant's body once more, this time with high-definition infrared cameras inside the hover drones. The digital readings confirmed Rod's deduction. There were signs of denser ice from consumed organic mass...
"... We have ice farms here and would like to preserve-" Alf continued through the speakers before abruptly halting, "Never mind. Leader Nomu, you are under arrest for the murder of innocent Ice Giants."
After his voice boomed, the Giant slowly smiled and his red eyes pulsed even brighter. With sudden intent, his huge body moved. He lifted a leg with the intention of stomping the Hawk Walker into oblivion.
"I guess we do have to resort to violence," the Hero said.
He activated his power.
"You can't let his foot land on us. I ran simulations, and the Walker will most likely survive the impact, but not the town… Even with the Concord spell," Alf explained.
Rod already knew that. He prepared for the confrontation by stretching a little.
"Gotcha, just stop the stomp."
The Ice Giant's leg reached its peak height, and began its descent. The monstrous foot was two hundred meters from the vehicle when Rod jumped. He was so fast the snow around him seemed to vaporize into mist.
His plan was to strike the ice of the giant's foot with the full force of his body, stopping it dead in its tracks. Yet, that would not come to pass. Rod's body hit the foot, and while he clearly slowed its descent, he didn't stop it.
Rod had severely underestimated the sheer force the giant was exerting and was now being pushed down by its momentum. This continued until it slammed with a grinding impact into the top of the Hawk Walker… Miraculously though, it generated no shockwaves… no cracks…
Catra and Lofo squeezed their eyes shut and braced for impact inside of the vehicle. They hesitantly opened them after a few seconds of nothing… and saw something unreal.
People would describe it as a sight of beauty: a brilliant golden light contrasted with the falling snow, shining through the transparent glass. It was Rod. His body was pressed onto the glass ceiling. His hands were visibly separating his body from the Walker itself, using himself like a shield to stop the giant's foot.
In truth, he was absorbing every single ounce of kinetic energy from the attack.
Rod's strained face glanced at his daughter's wide-eyed wonder.
That expression pressed a phantom memory through his mind: her younger self used to make that face every time he'd used his powers. And for some reason, his mind superimposed that innocent child's face over her own.
"HEY! WANNA SEE SOMETHING COOL?" he suddenly asked in a lighthearted tone.
Rod's mana erupted from his body and slowly overpowered the weight with a slow effort. In what felt like an impossible instant, he was now standing fully upright and holding the giant's foot with a single hand.
"I guess it's showtime," he groaned.
Rod pushed the giant foot upward and sent its weight sprawling through the air. The battle had begun.