‘Seven…No, eight of them…”, he thought to himself. “Three from the West and five comin’ in from the East.”

He shoved another magazine into his gun, ensuring another seven bullets would find themselves displaced somewhere soon, preferably in the bodies of his attackers. Whoever they were, they were good. He didn’t even hear them coming until he heard them take the safeties off their AKs. They didn’t even start firing until Ben shot first.

“Pros…Dammit. They probably want me alive, though. Good news for me. Puts them with a handicap.”

Ben stuck his hands upward and out the window, firing two shots into the snowy outside of his abode, causing the approaching soldiers to once again seek cover behind the short stone wall Ben had constructed around his cabin a few years ago. Ben stood up and looked up and over the window ledge, spying the head of one unlucky soldier.

“Sloppy.”, was all he said as he sent his third bullet into the top of the man’s head. The snow beyond the wall absorbed the red like a dry sponge under a running faucet.

Gunfire erupted once again from the opposite side, the West side, of his cabin, accompanied by a grenade through the shattered glass window.

“Shit!, Ben yelled as he ran, not away from the small object, but towards it, and in one continuous movement he leapt, rolled over it, picked it up, and tossed it right back out the window it entered. The satisfying “aaugh!”, followed seconds later by a large “boom” caused Ben to say “six”, as vaporized snow, permafrost, and a misty red substance wafted in through the window.

Still, he was running low on ammo. He had only one other clip after his current one was emptied, and by now the soldiers had abandoned their “take him alive” parameter. They’d be after his blood now.

He could hear them shouting directions to each other outside, though they were most likely to fake him out. Ben opted to stay put and listen to the noise around him.

Suddenly, he aimed downwards, straight into the floor, and fired two rounds into it. The .50 caliber slugs passed straight through, with at least one taking a detour through a man’s chest as he was attempting to sneak in and get the drop on Ben via the disposal door. Ben’s cabin, after all, was raised three feet off the ground to help avoid water damage in the extremely short Canadian summer. The man shuffled for a few seconds and his final, strained breaths made it to Ben’s ears.

Ben popped the slide back on his gun and ejected the last spent round.

“Nine more rounds left, then I’m dry. Make ‘em count.”

He could hear the remaining five soldiers scurrying about in the snow and finding new vantage points, as well as…fighting?

Sure enough, they almost sounded like they were fighting each other. A few stray shots rang out, but didn’t go anywhere near Ben’s cabin, and he could have sworn he heard a few ricochet off of metal. The frequency of the scuffling dying out, Ben poked his head upwards and peeked out of the broken window he was taking cover under. He glanced to the left and right instinctively, gazing upon the defeated bodies of the soldiers he was fighting only seconds ago.

Standing over them was an odd pair that he could scarcely believe he was seeing again.

“Well, hello there, Mr. Fireman!”, the distant yet familiar figure of Iceman waved with an energy Ben wasn’t used to seeing in the people he barely saw on his trips to the nearest village for supplies. The hulking figure of Gutsman framed the small cold weather survivalist, gently laying down the unconscious body of the last trooper.

* * * *

“Something tells me you being here and these guys-“, as Ben kicked the corpse of a fallen soldier he had shot himself-“are related, huh?”

“Ha, that’s our Fireman; even in retirement he’s still picking up on these things.”, Iceman confirmed as he removed his mask and goggles.

Shrugging off the comment, Ben went right into the heart of the matter: “Who the hell are they?”

“Don’t know.”, Gutsman answered.

“But you knew they’d come after me?”, Ben raised his brow.

“These guys have come after me, Erik here, and Bombman. When they attacked Dallas with Pulsar, I managed to beat ‘em down, but they died before I got any info out of ‘em. None of the soldiers we’ve talked to so far have given us any good leads. They’re all just goons.”

“Pulsar? These guys had something like that working for them? I don’t like the sound of this at all. That thing was supposed to be destroyed ages ago…”

“’Fraid so. Whoever they are, they’ve got some serious connections.”

“…And you’ve already talked to Bombman, you say?”

“Yeah. He’s back home with Roll already.”

“…God damn it.”, Ben spat.

“Ergh…Not this again. Are you two still holding on to that stupid grudge after all these years?! What’s it going to take?”, Gary shouted as he kicked the snow at his feet.

“Look, it’s his deal. He’s the one that wants to hold that grudge. I don’t know why, but he’s totally obsessed with it, at least from what I remember. Knowing him, he probably still clings to it after a decade. Besides…It was his little “stunt” in Sao Paolo that sealed the deal for us, as you’ll recall.”, Ben reminded.

“I don’t care. I really don’t. It’s been ten years already. We have more important crap to worry about now.”, Gary snarled, angered that Ben was just as adamant about prolonging his feud with Bombman as Bombman was.

“…I suppose now you want me to come home?”

“That’s the plan. Unless you want to hang around here some more and get killed.”, Gary offered.

“No…The neighborhood’s gone downhill anyways.”, Ben stated dryly in the empty, lonely air of the tundra. “Been meaning to move.”

* * * *

As Ben once again emerged from the warm glow of teleportation after nearly a decade, he had realized how much of Japan he had forgotten. How beautiful and peaceful the undeveloped countryside was outside of the city of Okayama. He had to wonder how Dr Light managed to keep the land around his modest-sized lab and abode devoid of neighbors. Perhaps he really did own all of this land like the Tetsu Roku had all whispered amongst themselves. Perhaps none of the locals dared to be near the birthplace of the dreaded “Sinister Six”.

It was still a wonderful place to be. In stark contrast to the cold, desolate plains of ice he had exiled himself to, Ben was almost in awe at the sight of dense forestry and rolling hills. The fireflies that flittered in the waning daylight seemed to welcome him home at last, and even the rather ominous view of the Light Lab in front of him made him smile. Almost.

Then he saw Rich throwing up his guts all over the outside of the entrance to the lab.

“Aww *glargh*…Hell yeah, forgot how friggin’ strong this shit was!” as he tossed down the empty glass bottle of fine sake.

“So…This is what the ‘great’ Bombman has reduced himself to? A useless drunk? That’s a stretch…”, Ben quipped.

“I see Canada treated you well, loser. You always were the spoiled one.”

“The hell I was. You don’t see me crawling out of a bottle just because I didn’t get my way, now do you?”

“I wouldn’t be drowning myself in this garbage if it wasn’t for you in the first place! Now-“

“Enough!!” Gutsman boomed with an authoritative stomp. “We have work to do.”

“What he said.”, Gary nodded to the two and ushered them into the lab.

Fireman and Bombman eyed each other distrustfully before Rich smugly curtsied to allow Fireman entrance before him. Brushing it off, Ben grimmaced at Rich before brushing past him and walking inside the lab. “We’ll finish this soon enough.”, he whispered as he walked by.

“You bet your ass we will…”, Bombman promised. “We’re just getting started.”

Chapter Seven Extra Content: Ben Hellstrom

Human Identity: Ben Hellstrom
Original Name: Fireman
Serial No: DLNO-RE-007
Specialized In: HAZMAT Operations
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 175 LBS
Current Location: Yukon Tundra, Canada

Fireman assumed the human name of "Ben Hellstrom" shortly after leaving the other Tetsu Roku members. Unlike most of the other S6 members, Ben knew what he wanted out of life- solitude. He set out to the Canadian wilderness and built his own home far away from nosy human beings. But, somewhere in the back of his mind, Fireman was always looking forward to the day he'd inevitably return to action.

Ben has always been a silent character, rarely speaking during the time of the Tetsu Roku, and even less in his time alone. He never spoke against the leader of the team, and always completed his missions with ruthless precision. Perhaps due to his opposite nature to that of the eccentric Bombman, the two have formed a distinct rivalry, which turned into pure hatred of one another towards the end of of the Tetsu Roku's days.

Fireman wasn't used as often as Gutsman or Bombman, and was mostly called to action when extreme radiation exposure was an issue, as his armor was purpose-built for those conditions. He also boasted considerable skill in melee and gun fighting, which was put to even less use, unfortunately. Even still, he was extraordinarily powerful in the field.

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