Chapter 14
Bending the Rules
Vinyl Scratch sat under the giant tree in the meadow, faced with a difficult choice. She could go home or stay here, and the odds seemed to be stacked in favor of the former. But then again, could this man truly be trusted?
That was the biggest concern for her. She had had previous encounters with the Captain's lackeys, and not once did they offer such a delectable deal.
Amon stood a few feet away, facing the opposite direction with his arms folded behind his back. He seemed confident in the choice Vinyl would make. But other than that, his intentions were shrouded in mystery, much like himself for most of this story.
"It is a difficult choice Ms. Scratch," Amon said, startling the pony. "I do not blame you for taking so long to decide."
"I just don't know..." Vinyl muttered.
"I understand. However, my time here is limited, and I need an answer." Amon turned around and took a few steps closer to the unicorn.
Vinyl looked up, connecting eyes with him through his mask... and her spectacles.
"... I guess... I..." Vinyl started, looking down at the grass.
"Yes?" Amon prodded, knowing exactly what choice she had made.
"HHHHHMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!EXCLAMATIONPOINT!!!"
The two turned quickly to the direction of the annoying sound to see the group of misfits rushing toward them at a slightly impressive speed.
"Guys?" Vinyl asked, rising to her hooves and taking a few steps away from the masked man. "What are you doing here?"
"Vinyl!" Sephiroth called out, almost reaching that 'worried' emotion he had heard so much about. "Don't listen to that man!"
"What?" Vinyl asked with a glance back at Amon. "Why not?"
"Because I don't like him." GLaDOS said, resting on the amp pushed by the Pyro.
"And he smells weird." Yakko added.
"This isn't the time guys!" Sephiroth scolded as they reached Vinyl and the man. "You can't honestly trust this guy Vinyl. He's working for Captain Planet!"
"I know... but he said..." Vinyl started "He said he could get me home."
"And you believe him?" Yakko asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well..." Vinyl looked back and forth from Amon to her friends.
"Ms. Scratch, do you think that you'll make it through this ordeal alive?" Amon questioned. "You may have made it this far, but trust me when I say you can't win against Captain Planet."
The seven... 'people' just stood by the enormous tree. No one spoke, and no one moved.
Suddenly, Sephiroth took a step forward and placed his hand on Vinyl's back. "We've gotten through everything else we supposedly couldn't make it through."
"Hmmph! Hmm hmmph mm." The Pyro stated, making stupid hand gestures. "Hmmph mm mmph hmmph hmm hmm hmmph mm. hmmph hmm!"
Amon stared at the Pyro... not sure what he had just heard.
"He said that we managed to beat Leeroy back in the City of Gold." Sephiroth clarified.
"Yeah. And we escaped the robot menace in Haven City." Yakko said, placing his hands on his hips. "Even beating that psycho Diaboromon.
"Not to mention the Not-so-great-and-less-than-powerful-Tristan." GLaDOS added from her perch.
"And that insane Doctor Robotnik. We've made it through everything that, according to your Captain, should have killed us." Sephiroth said, placing his hand on his hilt. "I don't know that much about teamwork, but if it hadn't been for all of us, we couldn't have come this far. And we aren't going to stop now."
Vinyl Scratch, inspired by her friend's words, trotted to the back of the group and retrieved her trusty bass cannon. She turned to the others and whispered, "Thanks guys."
"Hmmph hmm hmmph mm hmm." The Pyro said with a thumbs up.
"I hear you..." Vinyl paused. "I don't understand you, but I'm assuming it's something good."
"Basically he said let's get this guy." Sephiroth hurriedly translated, never taking his eyes off of the masked man. The six teammates took their fighting stances and readied for their next encounter. Sephiroth drew his masamune and pointed it at Amon. "Your move."
"Oh well." Amon shook his head and sighed. "I had hoped things would turn out differently."
"Yeah well tough luck!" Vinyl said, her horn glowing with magic.
"You could have said your farewells to all of your friends back in Equestria before their demise." Amon said with a smirk behind his mask. "What a shame."
"Huh?" Vinyl questioned questioningly. "What are you talking about?"
Amon looked upward and chuckled. "Oh that's right. You don't know."
"Know what?"
"Well, somewhere out there is Equestria. Living peacefully without a care in the universe. But... very soon, Captain Planet's Fabulous Planet Portion Extractor, or... CPFPPE as he likes to call it, will reach your home... and tear it apart."
"WHAT?!" Vinyl yelled, her horn fizzling from a mix of fear and anger.
"Though the CPFPPE won't reach its destination for a few days, Dr. Robotnik's army should be there any time to wipe the planet clean."
"But we defeated the doctor!" Vinyl yelled, ready to arm her bass cannon.
"That you did." Amon agreed. "But Captain Planet is still in command."
"That's it!" Vinyl exclaimed, using her magic to lift her remaining vinyls into the air, she launched them at Amon with a furious grunt. "I'm gonna destroy this creep if it's the last thing I do!"
The discs flew at the man with tremendous speed, and yet he didn't move a muscle. He just stared at the oncoming assault with a blank expression behind his mask, or so we assume. *shrug*
Finally, when the discs were not but five feet away from Amon, he leapt into action, performing a fancy spinning spiral flip in the air, narrowly avoiding all of the projectiles. He stuck the landing, placing one hand on the grass below to balance, while the other hand was raised above, his index and middle fingers extended outward. He raised his face toward the group, their faces shocked, stunned, and all manner of upset. "Is that the best you can do?" He egged on, a possible smile behind his white mask.
His taunting angered Vinyl further, as she gritted her teeth audibly. "You're really starting to tick me off!"
"An angry pony?" Amon asked, standing up. "I can't say that entirely frightens me. To be completely honest, I was expecting more of a challenge from the 'champions' I've heard so much about."
Enraged, Vinyl Scratch began to charge at Amon, forgetting all about her magic and just relying on brute force. She didn't get too far though, as Sephiroth quickly teleported in front of her, halting her forward progress.
Too angry to think, Vinyl tried to get past him. "Out of my way! This freak's gonna taste my hooves!" She yelled.
"Calm down Vinyl!" Sephiroth said, blocking her as best as he could. "Can't you see you're playing into his hands?"
"What do you mean?" Vinyl asked, though not entirely invested in the answer.
"There's something off about this guy." Sephiroth said, looking back at Amon as he just stood there, hands behind his back. "He isn't like the others. If we're gonna win this, we have to stay calm and think... that means you too Pyro."
The Pyro shrugged at Sephiroth, confused as to why Sephiroth would think he would just blindly charge at their opponent.
"That stance he is in..." GLaDOS started, obviously analyzing a butt-load of data. "I would not recommend letting him get too close to your bodies. He is using a stance favoring pressure point combat."
"Well well, someone has done their homework." Amon said with a small, slightly disappointed chuckle. "I kind of preferred you hadn't though."
"So, how do we fight him then?" Yakko asked, assuming a hesitant battle stance. "Should I get an anvil ready?"
"I don't think that would do much good." Sephiroth reasoned. "We've seen how quick his reactions are. The only way to fight him is to play his game."
"Hmmph?" The Pyro interrupted. "Hmm mmph mm mmph hmm!"
"Relax." The angel assured. "You haven't seen all I can do yet." He changed his gaze from his nearly muted teammate, to his mysterious adversary. With his enormous blade still drawn, he cracked a devilish smile as he opened his single wing and charged Amon at a blinding speed.
"Ah. Finally, a challenge." Amon said excitedly, as he ran at Sephiroth, preparing for the impact.
Sephiroth lunged his sword thingy at Amon to impale him. Before the tip of the sword thingy reached him however, Amon knocked the weapon off its course with two fingers, touching the sword's side with just enough force so that it missed.
"What?!" Sephiroth questioned, as he saw his blade slide right beside his target, and the target's fist becoming increasingly close to his face.
Before Amon's fist socked him in the jaw, Sephiroth accumulated his mana and teleported behind him. Amon anticipated that move however, and quickly swept his leg behind him, tripping Sephiroth.
"Predictable." The masked man said, bringing two fingers down on the falling angel's left shoulder. "You're too slow."
"Ahh!" Sephiroth cried out, as he lost much of his feeling in his left arm. The angel hit the ground, and Amon's fingers dug further into the pressure point in his shoulder. He could barely feel his arm, let alone make it move. Before any more damage could be done, Sephiroth held his palm directly at Amon's face. As energy began to build in his right arm, he let loose a large ball of fire, knocking the man back.
He landed with a thud near the tree and quickly rose to his feet. "Now that's more like it." he taunted, returning to his fighting stance.
The other five ran over to their wounded leader, concerned about what had happened. "Sephy! Are you alright?!" Vinyl asked, helping him to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, trying to move his injured arm. It only turned slightly and he couldn't lift it at all. "Give the potato a medal. She was right about not getting close."
"I'll take a slice of cake instead." GLaDOS bargained. "Also, I have an idea."
*****
One quick group huddle later, the six heroes spread out to put GLaDOS' plan into motion. As they all ran opposite directions to get a better position, Amon couldn't help but wonder what they were planning.
"I really hope this works..." Yakko said nervously with Sephiroth standing right behind him.
"It will." Sephiroth said, trying to assure himself as much as his small companion.
With his right arm, Sephiroth grabbed hold of Yakko's back, and launched him high above Amon.
The masked man directed his attention upward and chuckled.
When he was right above Amon, Yakko reached into the plot and pulled out three large black anvils, and then dropped them all, raining metal down onto the opponent.
"Clever move." Amon said, preparing to move out of the way. "But I thought you would have learned by now. Projectiles won't do you any good."
As the anvils drew closer to crushing Amon, he leapt out of the way. The huge metal blocks forcefully hit the ground, sinking into the soft dirt below.
The masked mystery man landed, sliding back a bit. But before he could relax, Sephiroth approached him from behind, his right hand glowing with more red energy. "Just try and dodge this!"
Amon, turned just in time to see the big red ball of flames heading right at him, and he jumped out of the way again. "Working as a team I see." Amon said, the fire barely singeing his robes. "But as I just stated, projectiles won't do you any-"
Before he could finish his sentence, another masked man jumped from behind, a Chinese bar sign raised in his hands.
Amon probably looked very worried at this point, as he was in mid dodge from the fire and had no way of avoiding the oncoming strike.
*BADINK*
The Pyro slammed his neon annihilator into Amon's face, sending him flying in the opposite direction.
"Gotcha!" Vinyl exclaimed, her horn glowing with blue energy. The magic surrounded and encased Amon as he flew through the air, and stopped him from hitting the ground.
"What is this?" He struggled to say against the magic. "It can't be... but then, if it was... I could resist it..."
"I don't know what you're babbling about, but I hope you're ready for a close encounter with that tree over there!" Vinyl Scratch shouted, as a second layer of magic surrounded her horn, increasing her power.
With all the strength she could muster, she forced Amon into the tree at speeds that would kill a normal man. With a loud crack, Vinyl released her magical grip on him, letting him fall to the ground. Sweat dripped from her brow and she breathed heavily. Using that much magic had taken a lot out of her.
Amon stayed on the ground for a few seconds before slowly rising back to his feet. Between having his face smashed by the Pyro and being slammed against a tree trunk, his mask had been shattered and now laid in pieces at his feet. "It would seem that I underestimated you," He began to chuckle menacingly. "But no longer. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."
With his mask destroyed, the six could see his face. Amon peeled back his hood revealing his short brown hair and his grayish-blue eyes. His face was long and bore a sinister smile. He extended his arms at the six, his teeth now bared. "My name is Noatak. And this is where your story ends."
Without warning, the heroes lost all control of their bodies. The pain seared throughout them as they cried in agony. It was as if the very blood within them had turned against them. Except for GLaDOS and Latisha, who in fact have no blood. That still didn't make them particularly useful in the current scenario, but... meh.
"If I wanted to, I could kill all of you with one fell swoop." Noatak muttered. He raised his hands higher, lifting them into the air as they struggled against this overpowering attack. "But I'd rather play with my food first."
"What... is... this..." Sephiroth other-word-for-'struggled' to say.
"Do you like it?" Noatak asked, already knowing the answer. "It's called blood bending. My father taught it to me when I was merely a boy. And it's only become stronger since then." He tightened his grip, harming the helpless heroes further.
"It does no good to fight it," He approached them, then lowered Vinyl Scratch down to him. "I'll only make it worse."
"V-Vinyl...!" Yakko tried to reach out to her, but it was impossible for him to move at all.
"Normally, I can resist blood bending. But your magic seems to be a completely different technique." He said, slowly running his hand through Vinyl's mane. "And I don't think I like it."
"Don't... touch... me...!" Vinyl warned, fighting as hard as she could. Her horn began to glow dimly, but she was unable to focus underneath the excruciating pain.
"Still fighting back?" Noatak asked, walking behind her. "I have a solution for that." Using his right hand to maintain his control over the heroes, he placed his left thumb on Vinyl Scratch's forehead just above her horn.
"What... are... you...?" Vinyl began.
"Doing? Simple. I don't like your magic." Noatak laughed a bit, "So I'm taking it away..."
With that said, Noatak used all of his bending abilities and began cutting out Vinyl's magic.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" The unicorn screamed, as she felt an incredible amount of pain in her head.
"Vinyl!" Sephiroth called out against Noatak's attack. He could only watch helplessly as his friend's magic was stripped from her.