Carm's pupils shrunk to the widths of needle points,
His vision virtually went colorless.
The All - Stars could cheat.
Insult the very creators of the machines they drove.
Deny his efforts to save lives.
Shout that tanks were feminine.
But,
To kill.
Kill someone.
KILL SOMEONE THAT HE LOVED?!?
Even if Yukari wasn't dead, or simply ducked out of instinct.
They put someones life on the line.
They were no longer competitors.
No longer pretenders,
No longer faceless goons.
None of those.
THEY WERE A THREAT.
AS IN, AN ESTABLISHED FORCE, THAT COULD KILL.
The adrenaline took over, seeming to play his body like a puppet.
Carm's mind seemed to fall into a black hole, just falling.
Time going in slow motion....
The heat of the flames disappeared.
A cold breeze scraped its icy fingers across his back and down his spine.
The melting theme park disappeared.
The fire gave way to snow.
The ground turned to pale white.
Thick, soupy mud covered the ground underneath his tank.
The Japanese signs dissolved....
Carm started coming to.
He wasn't in the theme park anymore.
Dead, spindly trees everywhere.
Snow as far the eye could see,
Cruel temperatures.
The ambience of wind filled his ears,
A slight moment of peace....
Then the engine of his T29 worked its way in, its grumbling and droning noises removing the softness of the windy ambience.
And then.
*SNAP
He finally regained his senses.
"Hey you! Tanker!" A gruff voice shouted.
Carm immediately shifted his head to look at who said that.
"We got the village surrounded! But it's swarming with Kraut armor! We don't have any anti tank weapons!" He said, his tone becoming more distressed.
Carm looked down into the tank,
The crew seemed fine,
With the exception that Yukari was unconscious and leaned up on the turret wall.
Carm's heart skipped a beat.
"No! We need medical attention immediately!!" He shouted.
But the soldier was already gone....
Carm didn't know what to do.....
He just sat in denial...
No!
No!
No!
He was back.
Back at the battle of the bulge.....
Carm looked forwards,
A giant tank loomed in front of his.
Dappled in huge, pitch black German crosses.....
Carm detected the threat immediately.
——————————
Hiroku just looked down, ready to join his friend.
Carm just stared at her,
Like not even doing anything, just staring,
Completely frozen....
Almost haunting.
"Comon snake, move already! Do something!" She said.
The T29 just sat there.
Just idling.
—————————
"Sir! That enemy tank is looking right at us!" Dan shouted.
Carm didn't respond,
He looked over his shoulder,
Carm was looking straight, almost like he was asleep with his eyes open.
"Ah #&#$! Now's not the time for another one of these!" He cussed to himself.
——————————
When the incident occurred, Carm was so unbelievably pressured to protect his crew, especially Yukari,
Even if it was just the slightest amount of pain, like a bruise or something, the adrenaline starting pumping like whatever it was, was trying to kill her or something.
Also, the haunting nightmares could still occur, but none of which were half as vivid as what Carm was going through.
——————————
Hiroku loaded her main gun,
*KA-CHUNK
Well,
This was going to end too fast,
"Utei!" She shouted.
————————
Carm zoomed his sight in on the German tank.
The commander stuck its head out.
He shouted at loud volume.
"Reverse." He simply said.
————————
"Reverse." Carm said.
Dan instantly obliged.
The T29 zoomed backwards.
A shell ricocheted off the angled hull.
—————————
Hiroku stared in disbelief.
"How did he dodge that?! Fire again!!" She hissed.
"Get those other tanks up here! Crush them already!!" She shouted.
She yanked out her tablet,
NO SIGNAL it said in big red letters.
She angrily threw the tablet on the ground in rage, snapping the screen open.
————————
Two M26 Pershings arrived.
Carm's adrenaline level tripled.
"TARGET! TIGER ONE!" Carm shouted
Tiger I?
Those were Pershings!
"Agh whatever!" Gary shouted to himself.
"On!"
"FIIIIRREEE!!" Carm shouted, his voice descending into a scared scream.
"On the way!!"
—————————
The snake then proceeded to come to life.
It leaped forwards, bounding into a Pershing.
Smashing its tracks open and probably hurting the crew.
Carm didn't care, to his knowledge they were all faceless kraut demons sent by Hitler to murder him and everyone he loved
"Turret traverse left!" Carm shouted
"MOVE!!" He shouted.
The turret swung to the side, the Pershing firing and ricocheting off of the mantlet.
*KA-BANNNNNNNG
The shell slid right through the armor, demolishing it instantly.
This whole process lasted under five seconds....
Carm didn't even bother,
"PANTHER! Traverse right!" Carm shouted
——————————
The 1940's era building was dappled with Dutch lettering lied ahead,
The German Panther laid on the other side,
With the intent to kill.
The T5E1 Barrel lined up,
Smashing straight through the brick and windows of the building, and coming out on the other side,
Going through the side like nothing.
The Panther exploded into flames, the ammunition cooking off...
Crewmembers piled out, screaming and on fire, rolling on the ground and snow, trying to put themselves out.
Before a blast of heat, and the turret flying a hundred feet into the air,
Another engine noise,
A Jagdtiger exposed it upper front plate, and terrifyingly large gun.
"LOAD APCR!!" Carm shouted.
——————————
The T29 spun around on a dime,
Smashing the T28 with a shell, that passed right through its front.
Hiroku yelled in rage, tossing her radio mic in front of her.
"Fire again :$@#%-$!" She yelled, screeching profanity.
It took her crew twelve seconds to reload, and in that time he destroyed FOUR tanks.
BANNNNNG
The 120mm gun fired.
The T29 spun around, almost instantly, using its mantlet almost like a ping-pong paddle, deflecting her 120mm round,
She growled, in upset anger.
Carm's figure got out of his hatch, peeking his head out,
But this time, he had a heavy gasmask on,
The fire in the background giving off a giant orange hue.
The inky smoke, not ten meters above their heads,
Hiroku almost faltered in her breathing,
The theme park!
The Fire!
The synchronized breathing, playing on repeat in her head,
the mechanical rhythm of a machine being the only way that a person could breathe.
The lanes piercing her eyes.
Not an ounce of humanity left....
The dream,
The dream was coming TRUE!!
————————
A King Tiger shell hit the mantlet,
Jostling Carm back in his seat,
The crunching noise of the giant metal shell smashing the mantlet, enough to crack your eardrums open.
The sheer intolerable screech was joined by the whole tank shaking like it was in an earthquake.
Carm smashed his head on the side wall, denting his M1 helmet,
His vision flashed white.
He reemerged, still in his tank.
He looked out the periscope immediately, not bothering to get a feel of his surroundings.
The vision outside was inky black, the horizon was dappled with the light of a massive fire.
Destroyed, burning tanks lay near his.
But not bearing the German cross, but the light blue and white All-Stars emblem.
He then looked down at his crew,
One of the loaders was shouting his lungs out at him.
"Sir! Sir!" He yelled,
Carm's ears were still ringing.
And then, immediately, it was like he was sucked into reality.
"Sir are you alright!?" Lon shouted at his face.
"Argh... where am I?.... He said drowsily.
Lonnie backed away slightly.
Carm then shook his head
He was in a battle against the All-Stars.
"Tank! directly to our front!" Carm shouted.
Seeing that Carm had come to, Lon returned to his station.
An M26 Pershing showed its front,
It fired with a relatively quiet sound,
And then missed, and ran away as fast as possible.
"Is that our spy?...." Carm said sheepishly.
"No, she got taken out a long time ago!" Ralph yelled on the intercom.
"Then kill it!!" Carm shouted.
He went to stick his head out of the cupola,
But as soon as he opened it, black smoke started coming in.
There was a smoke cloud, hovering over the battlefield,
Every single building around his tank, was either on fire, or burned out.
Carm took out his M5 assault gas mask, and slid it on,
Putting the air tank on to give him a fresh supply of oxygen, so he won't choke from the smoke.
The second he did however,
The All-Stars were nowhere to be found.
"Perhaps the scare tactics worked...." Carm said to himself.