//------------------------------// // Ch.17- The Monster Within // Story: The Monster Within // by Uberdeathninja //------------------------------// Minutes passed as the two super-beings stood and waited, glaring at each other with hatred so intense, it was almost visible. One born of the intricate structure and brutal power of nature, and the other of the evil and fears of psychosis and darkness, and only one victor would walk away. Boreas snarled as Hallowed circled, looking for an opening to strike at. Then, The fight began. Boreas lunged first, tackling into the giant, twisted ghost, and pinning him into the ground. Citizens cleared the way as this happened, but many could not escape their grapple, and were trampled beneath the wrestling behemoths. Once Boreas had Hallowed pinned, He tried to reach for the demon's eye, but Hallowed would not be killed so easily. As Boreas leaned in to grip the eye with his mouth, a long, red, blood-covered tongue shot out from the mouth-like socket, and slipped down Boreas's throat, choking him. Hallowed cackled evilly as Boreas fell backward, grasping his neck as Hallowed's Tongue writhed in his throat, blocking his airway. Hallowed, now free from Boreas's grasp, floated up slowly and prepared to end this little squabble. However, Boreas suddenly got up, grabbed Hollowed's tongue, and yanked as hard as he could, ripping the tongue out of Hallowed's "mouth". Then, Boreas pulled it out of his own throat, and cast it aside in disgust. Hallowed, shocked and in severe pain from this turn of events, grasped his face as profuse amounts of blood flowed from his mouth-like eye socket. Suddenly, Boreas roared again and proceeded to ram into the giant, white ball of evil while he was disoriented, causing Hallowed to fly backwards, into several buildings and the central fountain before skidding to a halt. As Hallowed got up, Ponies screamed and fled as Boreas crashed toward the injured demon, then picked him up, and threw him into a large restaurant, causing the building to explode into a cloud of tables, silverware, and foodstuff. As Boreas advanced, Hallowed suddenly launched a disembodied hand outward, hitting Boreas's neck with great force, and launching him backwards. Luckily for Boreas, his spikes stopped his slide before he hit any buildings. Boreas recovered from the attack, but grasped at his bruised throat. Those hands may have seemed ethereal, but they were very solid. As he stumbled back into fighting stance, Hallowed charged right at him, a brand new tongue trailing behind him as he shot toward the giant reptile. Boreas, seeing no room to dodge without causing unnecessary damage, shifted his stance, and raised his shoulder in front of himself in preparation of his favorite move: The Death Block. Once his stance was ready, Hallowed slammed into Boreas with terminal force, but Boreas did not budge. Instead, Hallowed stopped, then fell over, dazed from the impact. As Hallowed fell, Boreas lifted him into the air, and threw him into the ground. As he reached again for Hallowed's eye, his only weak spot, Hallowed wrapped his tongue around Boreas's hand and arm, pulling him into the abyss from whence it came. Boreas pulled back, but Hallowed was too strong. Hallowed laughed as Boreas continued to be pulled toward the abyss that held his eye. Boreas struggled and pulled, but the tongue would not tear or break. Then, Boreas made a desperate grab for Hallowed's eye, causing Hallowed to panic and throw Boreas to the side, into several buildings and many bystanders, annihilating both. Stained with soil and the blood of innocent civilians, Boreas was thrown into a fiery rage, his already- red eyes glowing with internal fire, and his roar sounding more bestial than usual. The thing that once was Boreas charged Hallowed, who couldn't even flinch before The beast's fist made contact with Hallowed's "face", sending him flying, and he landed squarely in an intersection, causing a crater to form as the demon hit the ground. Then, without another moment, Boreas lunged once more at Hallowed, grabbing at the fallen aberration, and he proceeded to hoist Hallowed into the air once more, and he then piledrived Hallowed into the ground head-first, throwing the beast further into a daze. Then, eager to finish the fight, Boreas charged his fist for one last, brutal punch, one sure to end the fell demon of chaos forever. However, before Boreas could fully throw his punch, Hallowed then snapped out of his stupor, and caught Boreas trying to end him. So, in response, the demon then sank into the ground before Boreas's fist made contact, and the resulting punch simply impacted the bare ground, obliterating the entire block with a solid 'BOOM!!!'. Boreas stood where his momentum had thrown him, and then looked around for his adversary, but could not find him... that is, until Hallowed swiped his fists toward Boreas for a sucker punch of his own, hitting Boreas solidly in his back, and throwing him to the ground. But before the demon could finally destroy Boreas for good, the colossal reptile arched its back once more, launching its volley of spines into Hallowed's face, and causing the demon to grab its new wounds, roaring in pain, shock, and anger as it reeled back from shock. Boreas, now seeing his chance, then got up, preparing for one last death punch, one to finally end the battle, right here, right now. But as the human-turned-monster's mighty fist sailed through the air, aimed squarely at Hallowed's eye, the demon then simply glared at Boreas for a moment, only a moment, before flinging itself into the ground, and fleeing from the fight, gravely wounded, both in body and pride. Boreas's fist, though, sailed clear over where Hallowed vanished, and then made contact with another building, completely annihilating the large shop in a flashy display of light, fire, and burning chunks of wood, stone, and plaster. Boreas looked back to where the demon had fled him with glaring, hateful eyes, for the prey he sought now had escaped him, making him the second to do so in his long record of perfect hunts. And so, unable to contain his anger at the cowardly abomination's action, Boreas roared his anger and dismay to the heavens, the flames in his eyes glowing brighter and more intense as his rage grew, until, at last, his energy finally fled him as well, and the colossal reptile collapsed to his knees, panting, before finally becoming human once more, though he was, in fact, no less pissed in the slightest. Finally,the Mane Six approached the ruins of the whole town square, which the two monsters, in their epic clash to what should have been the death, simply eradicated it a fit of fire, fury, and pieces of street and building everywhere. Twilight checked for survivors from the burnt, crushed ruins, but other than those who had successfully escaped, she found none. "Nopony... it seems... nopony else made it." Twilight announced somberly, and everyone in the vicinity first looked to the ruins, and then, almost cautiously, at Boreas, who seemed absolutely mortified at the raw destruction he had just wreaked. "Boreas..." Started Luna, who could not finish her sentence. Boreas looked about, but all eyes were on him, especially Celestia's. But though he seemed to want to say something, he simply could not: after all, what could he say to alleviate the death and carnage he had just wrought upon this poor town? Before he could think of such a thing, though, Celestia stepped forward, and interrupted his thoughts, speaking over the murmuring crowd with as much conviction and wrath as she could muster in her voice. "Enough! Once was enough, Damien, but this is too far. You've taken a crucial job into your own jurisdiction, and ended up wrecking the whole town and killing hundreds of innocents in your wake, and without even destroying your intended target!" Celestia scolded, causing the other ponies to cringe. "It is clear you cannot cope in a civilized environment, and now you leave me no choice. Damien, you are to leave this place, go back to your forest, and never return." Celestia demanded, hatred in her eyes. The ponies murmured among themselves, and tears welled up in Luna's eyes. "Boreas..." Luna repeated, but Celestia interrupted her. "Luna, You've seen what humans do, and what this one is capable of. Stop living in candy land for once and accept it: There's no hope for him. He's a monster, and you can't change that." Celestia chided. Nopony raised an argument, and Damien lowered his head in shame. Clouds filled the night sky, and rain began to fall, washing away the blood as Celestia turned to Boreas. "Go away, and never come back. If I ever see you again, Damien, I will destroy you." Celestia threatened, but Boreas just stood there, stoic and uncaring, as he leered at Celestia with utmost contempt, and once again, he spoke. "You act like you have the power to remove me, worm." Borias growled, causing everyone, even Luna, to gasp in shock, and Boreas then walked up to Celestia, stunned from his response, and glared at her, eye to eye, challenge her authority in the most basic manner. Celestia, however, did not back down, and instead, she glared right back at him, the heat from her body evaporating the rain as it fell on her, and she issued her command one last time. "I... said... leave." Celestia growled, causing the citizenry to flinch, but Boreas stood still as a statue, and in response, growled back. "And I said... no." Boreas replied, and Celestia focused her glaring, hate-filled eyes into his stoic, hazel ones, and after an intense, minute-long staring contest, she replied, her voice full of contempt, and her breath radiating with the full heat of her anger, as if she would begin breathing fire at any moment: "You... have no right... to defy me, Damien! I warn you one last time; leave, or die!" Celestia hissed, and Damien stared at her for a moment, but seeing no reason to argue further, he looked at last to Luna, and despite his blank expression, she knew just what he was implying: He was going, but not for the reason Celestia believed. "Fine, Celestia. You can have your way. But I will be back for you, one day. Count on it." Boreas growled simply, shocking all in the area, and without another word, Boreas turned, and as he was about to walk, Celestia called back to him, taunting him once more, just to salt the wounds she thought she saw. "You can try all you want, Damien. But you will not win. Not now, not ever." Celestia called, but Boreas ultimately ignored her, and walked off, to complete his task: He was going hunting.