Chapter 4

With their captain down, the other Croablins swarm Bane with spears and swords. However, Bane evades all of them by simply propelling himself up. The Croablins looked back at him in shock.

“ What is up with his body?!!” someone asks in confusion. Bane hovers over them with steam coming from under his feet.

“ He is a Furmite. Their bodies are able to generate steam!!” Pecho shouted.

“What?!!”

Bane looks down at them, grinning, and then he flies down to a nearby rock. He then extends his index finger in the position of a gun, concentrates, and then fires a thin stream of steam at the group of Croablins.

“ Steam Gun!”

The steam flies through the air like a bullet and pierces through one of the Croablin’s chest, who was not ready to dodge. The Croablin looks at the hole in his chest where his heart used to be in shock. He coughs up some blood before his body collapses on the floor. The Croablins look at their fallen brethren in shock and surprise. None of them could utter a word for a minute.

“D-Da—DAMN YOU, YOU BASTARD!!”

The Croablins draw out bazookas and fire some rocket missiles at Bane. Bane, grinning with delight, fires back with another attack.

“ Viper Line!”

Bane releases a large quantity of steam from his fist. The steam pushes back the missiles and anyone else caught in its crossfire, creating a huge explosion. The Croablins scream in pain as the steam hits their body.

“OWW SHIT, IT’S SO HOT!!!”

This guy is just too strong, Pecho thought as he ran for cover.

“ Ha Ha! You guys should just hand it over now and get it over with!” Bane yells, but before he could gloat, someone jumps out of the water behind Bane and tries to attack him.

“ NOW YOU DIE!!”

Captain Krunch tries to chomp Bane in half with his sharp, razor teeth, but Bane swiftly evades. Captain Krunch then swipes at him using his right arm, sending Bane flying to the wall in the same way he was earlier. However, to his shock and amazement, Bane simply got back up like nothing happened.

“ Not bad.” He says, while twisting his neck.

Impossible, Captain Krunch thought. That should’ve been enough to kill him.

Bane points at Captain Krunch and then fires a Steam Gun at him. However, unlike before, all this did was knock him back.

Hmm, this guy’s hide is tougher than the other ones, Bane thought.

The Croablins rush towards their captain with fear and anxiety in their eyes.

“ Oh no, captain, are you all right?!?”

“ Yeah, what do we do now, Boss? He is too strong!”

But Captain Krunch didn’t answer them as he was heavily panting.

This can’t be. He is the strongest man in the galaxy!!

Timmy thought as he took a look at his captain intensely. From the time he was born, all he had ever heard was Captain Krunch’s legendary strength that scared off anyone that challenged him. His might was absolute, but all Timmy could see now was a feeble, old man. The possibility of someone beating him never crossed his mind, until today.

“Damn it! This is all Pecho’s fault! He’s the reason this guy is here!” Timmy shouted in frustration

“Yeah, where did he go? Pechoooo!!!!” someone else shouted. The Croablins scanned the environment for him, but Pecho was nowhere to be found. However, Captain Krunch, still grunting and panting, slowly gets up on his feet.

Have I really gotten this old?

“ Guess…there’s no other choice…bring it out…the Cracker Ball.” He orders while heavily panting

“ The Cracker Ball?”

“Yes”

“ But Captain, think about the hide–"

“ JUST DO IT!” Captain Krunch barked.

The Croablins, fearing their captain, reluctantly followed the command and rolled out a cannon, but instead of inserting a black ball, they instead put a red, crackling ball in it. Captain Krunch looks at Bane in delight.

“ Well, Furmite, looks like this is the end of the road for you. This is a Cracker Ball and it is said that it could wipe out an entire country with one shot. You won’t be able to block this.”

“ Really?”

“ That’s right, I would’ve asked if you had any last words, but I got things to attend to, so now, it’s TIME TO DIE!!!” Captain Krunch yelled, firing the cannon at Bane. SWOOSH. The ball zips through the air like a bullet, leaving behind a trail like a comet before colliding with Bane’s open hands as he attempts to block it. Captain Krunch smiles as he watches Bane struggling with the ball.

“This… is…nothing!” Bane shouts, as the momentum of the attack slowly pushes him back, but through mustering up all the strength in his body, he claps the ball in his hands and redirects it up to the ceiling. BOOM. The ball ascends to the sky and detonates, causing the ground to violently shake. Captain Krunch looks at the ceiling in shock. But…But how? He thought.

Bane smiles at the defeated faces of the Croablins and Captain Krunch.

“ Guess you have run out of tricks.” He says

Moving at blistering speed like a jet, Bane rushes at Captain Krunch, his body glowing bright, red hot with the momentum.

“ Now take this. Steampunk!”

Bane, maniacally laughing into the shocked face of Captain Krunch, rams into his stomach like a train. BAMM. Captain Krunch eyes widens as he coughs blood and his body ignites in flames. Bane sends Captain Krunch flying into the water and the impact of his crash shakes the entire swamp.

“ WOAH!!” The Croablins scream as the ground shakes

“ Captain Krunch, NO!!”

The Croablins rush to check on their fallen boss, tears falling down their eyes.

“Please, just stop!! Here…. Just take it and leave us alone!!”

The Croablins hand Bane a treasure chest with the Titan’s Core and some gold in it. Bane looks through it and then grins, deciding to leave now that he is satisfied. As he walked back to his ship, all Bane could think about was how great the day went.