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Comic#307: Conquered At LastIt was a day like most others. Making sure people didn't get mugged, picking up trash, helping old ladies cross the street, those sorts of things. The Red Razor exhaled deeply, a few beads of sweat coming down his head as he stood on top of a building, looking down at the citizens he loved and protected, smiling proudly at his accomplishments and happy that everyone seemed safe.

Everyone but him, of course! A burst of fire broadsided him, knocking him completely off the six-story building and slamming into a pile of garbage bags in an alleyway. The trash broke his fall, but the stench broke his will to smell ever again. Shaking his head, Razor looked up with a scowl to the top of a building and saw a smirking Blaziken standing there, hands resting on his hips. He jumped down, landing gracefully a few feet in front of the Scizor. "Up to no good as usual, Conqueror," Razor spat out. "Why do you always have to do things like this? You know-"

Crimson growled and slammed a fire-covered fist against the brick walls of the alleyway, charring it black and forming cracks at the point of impact. "Shut up, fight now!"

Razor stood up slowly, wiping himself of dirt and smelly slime. "Said like a true barbarian," he shook his head with genuine pity, and slashed at the air with a wing, a sharp blade of wind flying and making impact against the Conqueror's body. It forced the fighting bird to grunt painfully and knocked him a step back, but he immediately countered with an Ember, the fireballs being spat from his mouth and flying towards Razor.

The Scizor jumped up, avoiding it fairly easily, and slashed the air again. The Crimson Conqueror spread his legs, flexed his arms, and summoned an intense amount of energy. Right before he would've been hit, he shot his arms forward, palms opened. "Flamethrower!" A massive beam of fire roared forward, using the blade as fuel for the flames. Razor widened his eyes and gasped. It was impossible to leap out of the way, and all the metal bug could do was shield himself with his arms. Despite the guard, it burned him quite effectively. The bug landed, coughing and waving his arms to clear the smoke, but the fighting bird was gone.

"Behind you!"

When Red Razor spun around, prepared to strike with his claws, but Crimson Conqueror was already prepared. A syringe filled with an orange fluid stabbed into Razor, piercing into a vulnerable crevice in his natural armor, and the contents injected into him. Razor still managed a hard smack into his rival's head, knocking him down on his back and the syringe out. He held the wound, a tiny trickle of blood and orange showing.

"What did you do?" Razor demanded with a yell.

Leaning up and laughing sinisterly, the bird shook his head. "Oh, nothing much. Just a little something I picked up from Dr. Biomorph."

"You mean stole!" The Red Razor shook his head and looked at the bird with anger and confusion. "I thought you wanted to be a hero. How can you use someone as evil as him for your gain? It only justifies that human's actions!"

The Blaziken shrugged and stood back up. "It doesn't matter where I got it from if I can put it to good use. Besides, after I take the place of being the best hero, I'll put a stop to him myself, and all without you getting the credit!"

"If all you care about getting is credit, you'll never be a hero, even if you do take my place!" Razor defiantly stopped his foot down, and tried charging up energy for a special attack in his claws, but nothing seemed to come. It was like he couldn't focus his energy into any single spot to use it... He tried again, and still nothing.

Crimson smirked. "Just sit back and watch me prove you wrong!" Crimson sprinted forward, jumped and spun in the air, slamming a blazing foot into his most hated one's chest, knocking him back with a painful burn that'll probably be sore for days.

He walked up to the scizor's body, nudging him with his foot a few times, testing it. He even kicked him fairly hard once in the side. "I did it..." Crimson said to himself quietly, and began to laugh, his arms raised up in the air. "I finally did it!" Reaching down and grabbing the knocked out bug, then pulled him over his shoulder.

The next moment Red Razor could crack his eyes open, the first thing he noticed was a horrible pounding headache, and his vision was blurry. The other natural senses seemed intact, as he could tell his arms and legs were spread out, cuffed to metal bed posts. The creaky bed had a TV set comfortably centered and in front of it, turned on to a news station in front of him.

"Lay there and watch me become a star," a recognizable voice whispered into his ears. Razor turned his head, now seeing his rival there. Even beyond the blur, the trademark smirk was easily visible. "I'm going to make you sit there and go through what I do every day, watching me get all the credit and having everyone adore me!"

Razor closed his eyes tightly, fighting off the pain enough to make a short reply. "You don't know what it means to be loved. That's why you're like this... I'm sorry, Crimson."

"What the hell are you spouting?!" The Conqueror slapped the bondaged bug hard, which emphasized the pain of the headache enough to cause him to yelp in pain. "The people will love me. They will! They will..." he repeated to himself several times, walking over to the door of the house, opening it and leaving.

The Red Razor would learn what it's like to be jealous in every cell of his body, just like the Crimson Conqueror had to feel every day of his life!

308: Imitation The Crimson Conqueror 101: A Crimson Dawn

A reporter stood behind a van, talking into his microphone and talking to a camera. "I'm here live on the scene, and it appears there is a bank robbery in progress! Nearby police responded after initial gunshots caused people to flee for their lives and call for help. They are awaiting for backup, as they cannot get near the entrance without being shot at. We can only hope help arrives before it is too-"

Right in front of the camera and behind where the reporter stood, probably intentionally, a fiery blazing blur rushed forward to the bank, leaving the pavement behind him scorched black.

Looking over his shoulder to make sure the camera was locked on him, The Crimson Conqueror smirked, and jumped through the door, busting it off its hinges. Two gunmen respectively held an old lady and a young adult male as shields while firing their submachine guns, and several people were laying face-down on the ground along the floor, near the walls. At least currently, none of them appeared to be hurt.

Barely a second later, a barrage of bullets rained down at him, but seemingly without effort, the fiery bird danced left and right and dodged every single one, all while making his way forward. He jumped in the air, slamming a flaming foot into the one with the elderly woman. The man flung the gun in the air, which Crimson expertly caught with one hand, the other grabbing the lady and pushing he down and behind him safely. Before the second shooter could get another round off, our new hero shot him in the arm a single time, knocking the gun out of his hand. Immediately, the man bolted for the door, and the rest of the hostages, getting the idea, ran out.

"It's a Blaziken, he came in and saved us!" some of them yelled as they ran out, and the police rushed in. By then, Conqueror had already tossed the gun aside, not wanting to make himself seem like the enemy. Good guys can't be seen using guns!

Camera crews surrounded the outside of the building shortly after police arrested and detained the suspects, asked questions and investigated the bank. The Crimson Conqueror stood in front of the building, smiling happily and laughing with the cameras, answering everything they asked him.

"What made you do it?" "Why did you save humans when many of them oppose equal protection laws for Pokemon co-existence?" "Do you think the police could have handled it without you?" "Where was The Red Razor when we needed him?" "Are you a hero?"

"Now, now, one question at a time!" he held up his hands, having the smuggest look on his face before he could wipe it clean to answer. "I did it because it was the right thing to do, of course. It's that simple. Nothing else was on my mind when I did it, and if I hadn't done it, more people might've been hurt. The police and The Red Razor were being too slow. Now, tell the world of The Crimson Conqueror, and watch as I continue the good work!" With that, he leaped up, jumping over the crowds of journalists, reporters and cameras, and ran off into the dawn of a new world. A world which he will help create.

Newspapers and TVs were within hours flooded with stories about Crimson, much to his delight. Not only the bank heist intervention, but practically everything! Where ever a kid was sad that he didn't have enough money to buy a piece of candy, our hero was there to lend a generous hand. Whenever someone was about to get a parking ticket, Conqueror lifted the cars and moved them to the next nearest safe parking spot and left an apologetic note with directs in its place! He was the talk of the world, the star of the show. He finally had everything he wanted.

Red Razor, having nothing better to do, laid there cuffed to the bed. He was still just as sick as he had been before, if not worse. "Ugh, I hope this stuff passes over soon..." he swallowed hard, trying not to puke. It's not like it'd get cleaned up anytime soon if he did. Also, the bug was starting to get a bit thirsty and hungry. Did Crimson intend to let him die of thirst as he was forced to watch the heroic deeds?

Contrary to the intentions of the whole scheme, Razor was not jealous in the slightest. In fact, he smiled happily at the TV. Maybe it was for selfish reasons and he didn't really know what being a true hero was, but regardless, Crimson Conqueror was doing good things and helping a lot of people, and it made Razor proud and happy. Just at that thought, the television showed the Blaziken catching a falling baby who climbed out of a window, and returning it to the mother.

The truth of Razor's feelings would probably piss Crimson off if he knew.

...

In the exact same spot where Crimson had taken advantage of the surprise attack against his hated rival, he stood there, laughing down at the city, a sadistic smile covering his beak. "It's everything I always imagined it to be. Being a hero is amazing!"

He kicked a loose brick down to the ground, watching it shatter on impact. "Just like that brick, I will destroy the memory you ever had on people, Red Razor," the bird said the name with a particular hatred. "They already prefer my company over yours, and wonder where you've been all this time. You are needed, but not missed, for I am more than adequate to take your place." Then, he spat out a few fireballs into the air, which burned themselves out after a few moments. "You will learn to accept me as your superior!"

309: Narcissistic Perfection The Crimson Conqueror 102: Bow Down to Me!

It was all more than he had ever hoped for. Crimson loved the attention so much that he began to whistle to anyone he saw nearby with a camera, let them take his picture or a video, and ask them to follow him, even when they would follow him into danger. He'll protect them, he said - and he did. More than once, he took a bruise or cut to shield someone, and he'd always give his token smirk to the camera as it happened. "Don't worry, I'm fine!," he'd say, and then rush forward to save the citizens from bad guys.

It was so fucking awesome that he completely forgot he had even tied Red Razor up and hadn't gone back to let him drink or eat anything. In fact, it'd been a couple days now. Razor was still alive and not in immediate danger, but he was very exhausted and sleeping a lot to reserve his energy - and the poison hadn't worn off at all.

"God, this is so much fun! I, I never want to give this up!" he smiled to himself as he leaped from a building top to the next building, the setting sun gleaming down on his feathers, making the mix of blood and sweat from all his work glisten in the light. "Not ever!"

Just as he landed, he noticed a very silver mountain stood in the horizon. A silver mountain that swayed with the wind back and forth and moved closer every second.

"That's no mountain..." he scowled, staring up at a giant metal flying snake thing. "What the hell is that?" the bird asked, tilting his head and squinting an eye.

"And as you can see, our hero never gives up! He's still at work, and most reports when taken together indicate that he could have only slept for at most five hours each day the pa- AAaah!" the newsman was cut off from his own scream as the low-flying helicopter above narrowly dodged the raging steel tail flinging at them. It flew away right after to a safer distance.

A few pathetic fireballs flew through the air, smashing into the Steelix. It mostly felt like wearing a coat that had been taken right out of the clothes drier, almost comfortingly warm. "Hmmm, that was nice," the Pokemon laughed, and screamed down in his monstrous voice. "Thank you!" The metal monster wrapped his tail around some rocky rubble and threw it at the Conqueror, smacking into his chin and knocking him down.

He spat out blood and jumped back up. "What the? He looks metallic, he should be weak to fire!" The bird flexed and summoned a massive amount of energy. No way would he be embarrassed on camera or to the watching crowds - not in front of his fans!

"I don't know who you are, but you don't mess with my city while I'm here. Around here, I'm the boss. I'll teach you like a good dog to get on your knees and worship." He held out an open palm at the Steelix, and then closed it into a fist. "Fire Blast!" Just as the words left his beak, the Steelix's mid-section glew red, and he looked down at himself in mild curiously.

A large reddish orange explosion filled the air, completely hiding the Pokemon inside of the fire. Once the blaze died down, it was replaced with smoke, and the Steelix fell over, coming right down over the Blaziken. "Hah, take that! That's right, fall right down to me," he mocked, keeping his fist ready and coating it in a thick flame, ready to give that metalhead a good punch.

Then, the smoke finally cleared, and the Steelix was staring right down at the fire bird, mouth open in both a big smile and a prepared chomp. He wasn't falling, he was purposely coming down to bite Crimson in half!

While he jumped back and avoided death, the crashing metalmon destroyed the building and sent plenty of debris flying into Conqueror. While he laid down underneath some rubble, the Steelix shook himself clean of the dust.

"I really hate doing this," the metal one said. "It makes my sheen less sparkly in the sun. Your fire helps, though. Reflects real nice on me, actually." As if knowing exactly where the Blaziken was, he raised his tail, and smashed it down over the bird repeatedly, until the rubble that was on him had been pounded into dust. Each time, Crimson yelled in pain, until he spat out a few fireballs at the boss guy's face. It didn't hurt him, but it made it hard to see for a few seconds, which was all he needed to leap up and run behind a building for cover.

The Steelix growled. "You can't hide from Davion! Come here, you damn stupid bird!"

"Davion," he whispered to himself while a small stream of blood trickled down his chin from his mouth. Crimson was bruised all over and looked like he wasn't in very good shape, but he was the hero now. He had to act tough. But... but it was too much for him. This was a serious fight, he had been trying his hardest the whole time and the Pokemon seemed to ignore his own weakness.

Cursing to himself after a moment's hesitation, he ran deeper into the city's alleyways and made his escape, avoiding cameras if he could. No one would see him cowarding away if he had any say in it.

Red Razor opened his eyes, waking back up at the rustling noise. "Hnn? Water?" A huge splash of water rained down on his face, fully waking him up.

"Better?" Crimson Conqueror asked mockingly and threw the blue bucket to the side, then returned to jostling the key into the cuffs, freeing his arch nemesis.

Razor licked himself, trying to seriously get as much out of that water as he could. "What's been happening? I haven't been awake." He now noticed the TV was off, too, so he couldn't watch the 24 hour news channel to find out.

"Shut up and come with me," the bird hissed and grabbed the groggy-like metal bug, forcing him to wobble out of the house and into the world.

310: Pick Your Antidote The Crimson Conqueror 103: Unconquerable Valor

"You need what?" the human smiled sinisterly, leaning back in his seat, head rested in his hands behind himself. The man's glasses gleaned, an old computer sat on a desk in front of him, and numerous bubbling vials sat all around.

Crimson slammed a fist down on a table. "You heard me! Gimme a damn antidote and anything else useful you have, unless you want the whole city turned to rubble - which if I need to remind you, would include you!"

Red Razor's head was still pretty fuzzy. The ground seemed to spin, and he was having trouble following the conversation.

Dr. Biomorph scratched his chin, thinking deeply. "Weeeell, maybe. Under one little condition." The Blaziken growled and flame covered his clenched fists, but the human raised his hands in protest, "Don't worry, it's not big."

After reaching for a couple syringes, one with a blue liquid and one with neon red, he handed them to the bird. "The blue one should undo the Power drain and let your... 'friend' regain his abilities."

"He's NOT my friend!" It almost seemed like Crimson was going to stab Biomorph to death with the syringes for a second. A scoff. "Whatever. Anyways, the red one is my little treat. I need to test its effects. It'll give you a large boost in your energy output, but there may be side effects. I created it by mixing X Special with a bit of my own custom ingredients."

"...Side effects?" Conqueror looked up inquisitively.

"Oh, you know," the doctor waved off non-nonchalantly. "Just a little death and the like."

"Death?!" This time, he threw the red syringe down. "You can't be serious. Should I just kill you right now? It'd save me a lot of trouble!"

"Now, now," Dr. Biomorph tried to calm his 'patient'. "You want to be some big shot hero, right? Use it as a last resort then. You'll be remembered forever if you give your life to save others. They might even build statues of you."

Growling, the bird picked up the red substance and kept it hidden under some of his feathers. A last resort... Then he stabbed the blue syringe into the half-zombified metal bug and injected him. Moments later, his basic consciousness came back intact.

"Wh... what-" Razor began, wondering why he was in Dr. Biomorph's lab. "Why!-"

"Nope, shut up again!" Crimson demanded, grabbing his rival and dragging him out the door. "We have a world to save first."

"But it's Dr. Freaking Biomorph, the most wanted mad scien...tist... e...ver..." The voices faded away as they both made their way back outside with Conqueror explaining the situation in a hasty manner. Davion was rampaging as a Davion generally does, smashing his body into buildings for fun and asking them why they crumbled so easily. "Why do buildings not speak back like me? I'm made of metal and stone, the same as them. What pathetic objects..."

A sharp burst of wind smacked into Davion's head. He would've thought it was a regular breeze if not for the extra stinging sensation. "Huh?" the Steelix turned his head, looking at a bruised Blaziken and an angry-looking Scizor. "You're interrupting my cleansing yet again, bird. I'll eat your friend right before your eyes, and then you right after."

"Living long enough to see Red Razor die? That's a relief," the bird laughed. "Unfortunately, if I allowed you to do that, you'd be famous for taking down my rival. No one does that but me."

"Your support is much appreciated, Crimson," Red Razor thanked enthusiastically. "Come, let us work together as two heroes should and take down this beast!"

The ground began to shake violently when Davion slammed his tail againt the ground, knocking them both on their knees. The Scizor used his wings and hovered above the ground safely, but his ally wasn't so mobile. Taking advantage of the moment, he slashed an X-Scissor into the air, and it flung to Davion, seeming to have no effect as the monster screamed and rushed forward. Razor was able to glide out of the way, but Conqueror was still on his knees last time anyone saw him, right where the Steelix landed!

"Crimson!" the bug cried out, looking around frantically.

There he was! He leaped out at the last second, and spat out an Ember at Davion. The bird was panting heavily; he definitely had given it his all before he went to get Razor for help, he seemed totally worn out now. Davion slammed again and again, trying to hit the annoying Blaziken who kept dodging his body slams at the last moment. At least he got to decimate the landscape the whole time!

"Wow, look at those two team up and attack that crazy Steelix! The Red Razor has finally returned, and he's-" The Steelix flew up suddenly, charging right towards the helicopter crew. They were the same ones from before, too.

A slash of wind slammed into Davion's head, but it did nothing. "Damn it," Razor muttered. But then a large fireball shot near Davion's head right before he impacted the helicopter, and it got dangerously close to the humans they needed to protect. The human flying machine narrowly dodged both the angry Pokemon and the flames.

"Watch your aim!" Razor yelled down at Crimson, who seemed to be ignoring him, continuing to spit up fireballs, each of them nearly hitting the newscopter, flying in between them and the Steelix until the humans got too scared to stay and Davion came back down, raging like before. "You chase away my prey! They're much easier to munch on than you, damn it!"

More dodging and more attacking at range ensued. Even if it didn't seem like it did much, Red Razor kept attacking at a safe distance over and over with ranged moves. Occasionally, Davion would send rocks flying to that stupid floating bug, but he would dodge them or catch them in his claws, crushing them into pieces before continuing to attack. It began to wear the Steelix down, which showed in his panting. Having fireballs constantly firing in his vision didn't help. He felt more tired from all the effort than the actual damage he took, though.

It was now that a large blanket of smoke was visible in the background. Razor looked there, and saw a massive fire had broken out in the city. It didn't look like any humans were around anymore, though, so they must've already evacuated for the fire.

"Urgh-aaah!" The Blaziken was hit hard directly in his chest with a boulder that Davion had summoned. He laid there unmoving, and the Steelix was going in for the kill strike!

"No!" Razor jolted forward through the air, slamming his Iron Head into Davion, intercepting him and knocking him aside, crashing the evil metal monster into a burning building. It was apparently a pretty good hit.

After pushing the rock off his momentary ally, Razor lifted the Conqueror's head. "Crimson! Wake up, please say something!"

After coughing up blood, Crimson cracked open his eyes. "Under my left elbow..." Razor looked confused, but felt around there until he found a red liquid-filled medical syringe. "Inject me..."

"What the hell is this stuff?!" Razor asked, yelling. Davion was beginning to recover and move the rubble off of himself. He seemed even more pissed, too. "Is this from Dr. Biomorph?! I can't let you take anything he gives!"

Conqueror laughed. "It's another poison, but it gives a temporary strength boost. I was going to use it to kill you if we won, but there's no time to make another decision..."

"No, I won't do it," Razor bluntly stated, and almost crushed the contents in his claw right there.

"We can't beat him in our current state!" Crimson barked back. "Look at us and the city! People are dying!" The bug stopped himself, not crushing the poison, but not giving it either, until his rival continued. "...All I've ever wanted was to surpass you and be loved by everyone. I've had that, for a moment. Please, give it to me. We won't win otherwise."

Razor was shaking his head, a tear coming down his cheek. "Bug, let me die with honor."

"Noooo!~" the metal red insect screamed, shoving the syringe into Crimson and pushing the contents into him.

A red burst of energy knocked the bug off his feet, and the Blaziken stood up, glowing in a visible red aura. He looked over to Davion, who was finally free.

"You two idiotic pathetic life forms! You're not even an Onix! At least then I could under-" a flaming fist smashed into Davion's jaw, silencing him.

"Shut up." Another Earthquake was used, making the Blaziken unable to stay on his feet, falling to his knees again. "Razor, keep him from shaking the ground! I can't finish this if you don't!" 'And hurry, it feels like my skin's burning right off!,' he mentally screamed.

The Red Razor nodded. "On it!" He flew up, smashing his Metal Claw into the Steelix, knocking him back down and stopping the earthquake for now. A second later, Crimson was standing in front of Davion's face, arms crossed.

Davion tried to bite Crimson, but his jaws were grabbed in mid-air by the bird's hands, holding him there quite firmly.

"I wish I had enough time to prove to him how much better I am," Crimson said, more to himself than to Davion. Blood was trickling down from most of his pores. Dr. Biomorph probably wasn't going to get the field test he wanted now that there were no cameras to catch this heroic moment. "Too bad. I suppose finishing you off will have to suffice."

"Finish me? Why you arroga-!"

A blindingly bright flame erupted over the bird's body. "This is it! Overheat!" Like a bomb, the flames exploded over the whole area in a huge radius. The force of the blast knocked Razor out of the way, and he flew the rest of the distance safely. Davion was probably not so lucky, and the rubble was turned to ash in a whole block.

Six hours later...

The following investigations found no bodies. Amazingly, no one had died, but they couldn't find The Crimson Conqueror's or Davion's bodies. Razor assumed they had been burned to ash, or perhaps they escaped using the smokescreen that was blown in the air as cover.

But the thing was that since no one could find Crimson, and he had been seen running away as Davion chased him, every headline in the news attributed Davion's defeat to The Red Razor, saying he had been seen trying to push Davion away from the camera crew while Crimson had frantically tried shooting at him and almost hitting the helicopter, ineffectively fleeing and barely able to keep himself from being crushed, and finally exploding in a last ditch effort, after which false reports claimed Razor finished the job and Davion was gone.

Walking around the charred rubble, The Red Razor watched the cleanup effort and early rebuilding of this section of the city unfold. The fire had been pretty big and had spread over time, so he had walked the whole path after it had been put out, making sure everyone was okay.

What's this?...

Reaching down, Razor picked up a red feather that had been sticking out from under some rubble. "Odd, we weren't near here during the fight... This is where the fire started. Wait... Wait..."

A flashback to the helicopter showed it narrowly moving out of the way of the fireballs after Crimson cursed when Razor's Razor Wind had no effect on moving Davion, and the bird had been carefully watching Davion rush to him, timing his dodges perfectly, and hadn't actually been straining to move himself.

"It all makes sense now... You scared the humans into flying away and started the fire before you came to get me, so that you could lure Davion close to it after the humans evacuated. You protected the humans, even though it might cost you some of the credit for the work," Razor explained, whispering to himself. He let go of the feather, watching it fly away in the wind. "Maybe you know what it takes to be a hero after all."