A half destroyed house stood quietly upon a snowy hill, near the outskirts of a village filled with members of the Ice Legion. Inside that house was a young man of great stature, staring calmly at a far away castle as he leaned against the corner of the house that had one of its sides blown open. A minute or so passed before one of the soldiers from the village walked inside, though he paid them no mind until a folder was dropped onto a nearby table. He finally looked over to see a frozen version of Yellowjacket standing next to him.

“Hrm? What’s that?”

“This is all the information we were given on the boy you wanted to learn about. Our man on the inside says he’ll try to get closer for the time being to find out more.”

A wide smile crossed his face as he turned his whole body to walk over to her, revealing that his right arm was entirely missing. In addition to this, a good portion of the right side of his face was scarred with burns, with eye being covered with a black eyepatch. He quickly resolved one of his issues however, as he generated an arm of ice with enough mass to match his real one, even mimicking its shape fairly well too. He then began to flip through the pages, reading each of the documents carefully and silently for a minute before closing the folder and pulling out a picture.

“Hmm! Now this is interesting! This boy has some real potential!” The man exclaimed.

“Potential to be a pain in the ass. With skills like his, we’ll be killing the same guys three times over before we can push up anywhere so long as Hypo’s there.”

“And yet, that’s what makes me excited…this is the next generation we’ll be facing! He’s going to be part of the ones who will carry the flag of the new king!”

“He’s going to be a challenge every step of the way, so before you start getting your head in the clouds, think about how you’re going to deal with him.”

“You know, ‘deal with him’ sounds an awful lot like ‘kill him’ when you say it like that.” He said, mildly concerned.

“We'd be back to square one if we killed the kid now, all I want you to do is to make sure he isn’t a massive problem.”

“In that case, I’ve got it all figured out! This operation is as good as done already!” He proudly stated, crossing his arms with a smug look.

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“...Sometimes, I start to understand why Riptide worries about you. Like a father giving his son the keys for the first time, honestly.”

“Hmm? Am I hearing words of doubt? Or is the coldhearted Yellowjacket finally starting to show a little care for me?” He asked, entertained.

“Enough. You know your job. Get in, raise hell, don’t die, and do NOT kill Hypo.”

“I’ll do you one better! I won’t even fire a shot at him! That’s how good I am!”

“This must be some special treatment I’m seeing here, seeing as you nearly gunned down the last target we wanted to capture.”

“Uh! That was, err…different! He was a threat!”

“I think it’s because he wasn’t a kid.”

“Um…yeah, busted.”

“Listen…all I’m saying is be careful. That big brother-knight mentality is going to get you killed. Especially in a battle like this.”

“...It’s not a mentality. It’s just who I am. It might be stupid, it might be risky, it might be why I get killed…but I don’t really care. I’m a proud knight of a glorious and righteous kingdom that will soon come, and I will fight every day to make that happen faster. I am Bulkhead, scourge of the corrupt and the traitorous and the worthless. Eirgan and his mercenary dogs are no match for me, because I know I am backed by faith in a cause worth dying for, while their lives have as much value as the coin that pigman is willing to spare. My belief in myself, as well as everyone who fights alongside me is real. I’ve given too much in the way of life and limb to let anyone call what I feel simple overconfidence. We will win.” He proclaimed, leaving Yellowjacket to ponder his words for a second. The moment of respite was dispelled rather quickly though, when the serious look on Bulkhead’s face gave way to a small grin.

“Sounded cool, di’nit?”

Yellowjacket didn’t answer, now just looking somewhat unamused.

“In the end, all it really comes down to is having a tough body and a little sense of the battle to survive combat, so…you can count on me for that one!” He promised, flexing his arms with pride and vigor. “Now then, let’s get a move on! Destiny is calling our name!” He shouted, pointing to the castle in the distance. With that, Bulkhead walked through the giant hole with Yellowjacket quietly in tow as she grabbed the folder and taking one more look at the photo.

It was a simple photo of a cheery Hypo standing in front of his truck, holding out his arm just as Iggy had landed on it, with an additional image taken of Shiver as she exited the hotel.

“Riptide had better have been right about you…”