Collision Code

by SSJRandomMaster

Act 2 Chapter 15

Act II: Collision Course
Chapter 15: Sudden Breakthrough
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There was a sudden moment of pause. The four manikins—one damaged, its side broken off from an earlier attack, each leapt away from Corey, one whose forearm was still crumbling after their opponent unexpectedly crushed its hand.

Corey’s body stopped emitting runes at this point. He slowly rose to his full height. Anyone close enough to see him would have noticed he had undergone a slight change. Corey was a little taller now, and his arms, at least, had bulked up significantly.

“I’m not letting you through…” Corey mumbled, his eyes fierce.

Then, he lurched forward, going after the one whose hand he had crushed. In one swift moment, he brought his arm forward. Unlike before, he didn’t bother casting that impact spell. His arm still carried quite a bit of physical force; it impacted his target’s chest so hard his fist wound up buried within the surface, cracks appearing around the immediate impact area. The glow on the manikin flickered for a moment, during which Corey removed his fist.

The manikin whose side was missing moved in, aiming to kick at him. Corey turned his head, ducking down underneath the kick to the left, bringing up his right fist into the back of its knee. This time, his arm went through the much thinner leg. Using his momentum from the uppercut, Corey dragged the manikin off of its remaining foot, throwing it into his other opponent. On impact, the leg of the improvised weapon snapped off, causing the two manikins to fall to the ground on top of each other. His hands free, Corey closed his eyes, focusing, his horn lighting up in a green hue.

The other two manikins quickly leapt in, aiming to cut him off. Abruptly, a shield appeared around Corey and the two damaged manikins, keeping the other two manikins from attacking, as well as off-balancing them. The shield vanished soon after, but Corey already gave himself plenty of time to prepare his move.

With a strong yell, he buried his fist into the two manikins with another power punch. This time, his forearm glowed with runes. His fist disappeared into the legless manikin’s back. As soon as the runes finished travelling into the new wound, a forceful shockwave exploded outwards, causing a small crater in the ground at Corey’s feet and blowing both of the damaged manikins away. The one whose side and leg had been earlier damaged almost vanished from the force of the shockwave, chunks of it flying in all directions. The one with an indentation in its chest had its torso blown out, its glow shutting down for good. Corey fell forward, having off-balanced himself slightly with his own attack.

“What’s he doing…” one of the guards questioned, more stunned than impressed that the pony who had just seconds before been beaten down by four assailants just took down two of them in rapid succession.

“He’s turned this thing on his head!” Another observed.

“Well then, who are we to be outdone by someone as green as him!?” said another in response, hearing the second guy.

“He…is green…” said a fourth, clearly not getting it.

Corey, still down on one knee, looked down at his handiwork, almost stunned at what he had just done. However, his face quickly adopted a serious scowl once more. From the corner of his eye, he could make out a shape trying to lay him out: a manikin’s foot. His torso moved, allowing him to block the attack with both arms crossed above his head. From this position, he focused magic into his horn. The manikin tried to increase the force he was pushing down on Corey’s arms with. For a few moments, Corey felt himself start to bend under the force.

All at once, Corey shifted his weight straight upward, his horn still glowing as he rose upward, flipping over his opponent. This seemed like bad timing, however; his other opponent came up behind him, ready to strike—

Corey heard an impact from behind him, the manikin’s punch flying past the right side of his head. From the corner of his eye, he could just make out a blunt object of some kind falling on his right.

“Get him!” a slightly distant voice shouted; probably one of the guards, considering the voice was male.

Quickly, Corey brought up his left fist and made contact, turning slightly to see that he had struck a manikin in the face with a solid punch, causing the manikin’s head to crack slightly. While it staggered off-balance, Corey turned his attention to the downed manikin. It was getting back up.

It never got the chance, though. With less than three yards between the two, Corey’s laser didn’t miss. The green light travelled from his horn straight between the manikin’s eyes, searing a giant hole in its face and through its head, only exploding when it hit the ground behind him. The manikin stopped abruptly mid-action, the glow in its body fading out as it flopped back over, lying still.

Turning around again, Corey clenched his right fist. The manikin, its head cracked, quickly tried to reach out at him, punching at him. Corey moved his head, his hand once more glowing. His fist made impact with the manikin’s body, and once again, a shockwave of force exploded in the direction of his punch, causing the torso and head to detonate. The arms went flying in opposite directions and the legs fell backwards.

Corey slowly pulled his arm back, looking to his fist and the muscles on his arm that were still swollen.

Runic magic has let me push my physical strength beyond what I usually have, but how long can I keep it up? Corey thought.

Just then, he heard the sound of what vaguely sounded like a brick breaking, on his left. He looked over, seeing a guard slamming a hammer down on a downed manikin, its head shattering under the weight of the impact. As he looked around, he realized everyone else was fighting back once more.

“Is this…” Corey began, seeing Twilight shooting off yet another laser through a manikin. The archer that had always been over at Rarity’s side was firing off more enchanted arrows, making his mark and blowing up another one. Rarity managed to land a decent hit as well, managing to get a creature through the arm to protect another guard, who quickly doubled back.

Corey shook his head, suddenly feeling his muscles flare in pain.

No time to think about it now! Corey thought, We’ve got the advantage, at least in morale…and these things aren’t unlimited in number! Press the attack while you can, Corey!
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The frontlines had assembled for one reason: to prevent the incoming attack from reaching Ponyville. And at first, they succeeded in their goal. But, due to a scenario they had not anticipated, most of the frontlines was now on the sidelines. John, who had up until now been thought killed off, had taken it upon himself to fight along against the new enemy that had just appeared.

The enemy in question was one of the escaped prisoners, a massive, powerful lion by the name of Lyon. On his own, the lion had proven more than a match for every single member of the frontlines. His hide was strong enough to endure the sharpest blade, and his physical power alone capable of shattering Shining Armor’s shields. Up until now, hope that someone could match such a monster was slim to none. But now, another surprise was in play.

John and Lyon appeared to be evenly matched.

Though Lyon had at least two feet on him, John didn’t allow it to make much of a difference. Hovering mere feet off the ground, the dragon rushed the lion with one fist pulled back. Once he was in range, John threw a punch with all of his force. Lyon was able to react, raising both of his arms for a cross block. This block, however, did not hide the fact there was force behind the punch; Lyon skidded back a few inches.

After the punch had connected, Lyon retailiated. He brought back one of his massive fists down on John before he could get away. Unable to dodge, John quickly raised both of his hands, catching the punch with them. The punch pushed him down to solid ground, the ground cratering the moment his feet made contact with it. John struggled with the sheer power his opponent had, making a small observation.

It’s like a building’s pushing on my hands! John thought to himself, grunting from the force. The weight left in an instant, however; Lyon’s fist rose from John’s palms. However, before John could react, he saw something else coming towards him: one of Lyon’s massive legs heading for him. Unable to react in time, John found himself being struck hard in the chest with enough force that he was sent flying back.

John recovered quickly, planting his feet on the ground so that he could skid to a stop. After doing so, John placed a hand on his chest. For the first time since John arrived in Ponyville, he felt a sensation that seemed to elude him.

Pain… John thought, recognizing it, Falling so far didn’t do it; a rock falling on me and knocking my lights out didn’t register…but just one kick…?

“No doubt about it,” John mumbled to himself, rising to his feet, “This guy’s dangerous…”

Getting into a readied stance, John watched as Lyon rushed him again. The lion let out another power punch towards the dragon. John turned his body slightly, putting up a guard against the attack. The force behind the punch still caused John to lose ground, his clawed feet unable to find any traction—at least, until he remembered his feet were clawed.

Digging his foot claws into the ground, John managed to gain traction and more importantly, his footing and stop Lyon from pushing him. John then moved his arms over, shifting Lyon’s arm outwards. Lyon tried to pull his arm back, only to find John had a firm grip on his wrist. John turned his body further and managed to lift Lyon up off the ground and flip him over. Only then did John let go.

John decided to not waste any time and launch himself high in the air, making sure he was directly above the lion. Once he was high enough, he launched himself downwards, both hands held out as he prepared to smash down on him. Lyon was quick to recover, however. Lyon rolled away to avoid the attack. Without Lyon on the receiving end, John crashed into the ground, leaving a large crater.

“Alright!” John said, digging his claws into the earth, “Try to dodge this, then!” John pulled up with all of his force, ripping a large chunk of dirt from the ground. With a roar, John tossed the chunk towards Lyon, who was just getting up himself.

“No need!” Lyon roared, pulling back one fist. Letting out a feral bellow, Lyon punched the chunk into pieces. However, as Lyon began to go back to a ready pose, he noticed something had reached him. John had flown using the chunk as cover; Lyon was caught by surprise. John quickly used the force of his own strength and the speed of his flight to deliver a powerful punch to the lion’s face.

Lyon’s body fell back from the punch, but John was not done with him yet. John landed square on the lion’s chest, continuing his assault.

This is it! John thought, If I can knock him out now, we’ll have won!

John, encouraged by this thought, quickly began to rapidly deliver punch after punch to the lion’s head, trying to watch for him to lose consciousness between each punch.

“Look at ‘im go!” Applejack shouted, watching the fight go on along with everypony else that was still conscious, “John’s got him on the ropes now!”

“Hit him once for Rainbow, Johnny!” Pinkie Pie shouted, holding the same level of excitement. Yet, despite all the cheer around him, Shining remained stoic; an unreadable expression on his face, he studied the scene before him.

This doesn’t make sense, Shining thought, Yes, John may match him in terms of physical strength, but how is he going toe-to-toe with a seasoned killer from the depths of Tartarus? From what I’ve been told, from what I’ve seen, John isn’t that trained. He’s just making things up as he goes. While it’s worked for him so far, it also means John has no discipline in his fighting style. Someone like Lyon should have skill that would tip the scales in his favor, but nothing’s being shown. But why?

Shining thought about this further, and something hit him.

Oh no… Shining thought, but before he could voice his concern, John’s attack was halted.

John threw out one more punch, but Lyon grabbed on to his arm. Though Lyon had been punched in the face several times, he didn’t even look like he was starting to bruise. Lyon’s eyes opened, piercing into John’s. John could see something different in those wild, soulless eyes, but John couldn’t place it.

“Finally…” Lyon snarled. Before John could even begin to react, Lyon’s head impacted with his body with enough force to send him spiraling away from the lion. John was able to right himself quickly, his head slightly spinning from the damage he’d suffered. He shook his head to snap himself out of it, but the moment he did, he noticed Lyon was right on him again.

John’s first instinct was to fly, to try to get some distance between them so he could think of another move to bail him out. But as he took the sky, he found he wouldn’t get far. Before he could get out of reach, Lyon had grabbed on to his arm, arresting his escape velocity.

“No more running,” Lyon roared, slamming John’s body on the ground with enough force to cause him to bounce. The impact knocked the wind out of John for a moment; long enough to keep him from putting up a guard. Lyon let out another powerful attack, landing another strong punch to John’s chest which caused him to fly back, crashing through a tree.

John coughed as he rolled on the ground, pushing himself off of it so that he could right himself quickly. That last attack hurt, and it hurt a lot. John was at a complete loss.

Up until now, I’ve been matching him blow for blow, he thought, Now I’m being thrown around like I’m nothing…what’s changed!?

“He’s regaining his edge,” Shining answered, not to John, but to someone else on the sidelines who’d asked the question.

“What d’you mean?” asked Applejack.

“Prisoners in Tartarus aren’t just allowed to move about as they please,” Shining explained, “They’re locked up in cages, so that they can be better contained. Because of this, prisoners often go years without moving very much. Those who are combat savvy can suffer from that. In time, their skills grow dull, and their combat ability will diminish. Although Lyon is powerful, he was no exception.

“John was only able to match him thus far because Lyon probably wasn’t training himself enough to regain his full combat ability,” Shining continued, “But fighting someone who could match him in strength has caused him to slowly regain all that skill he lost.”

“So the longer this drags on…” Applejack trailed off.

“The less likely we’ll walk away from this…”
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At first, their situation had slowly become utterly hopeless. The seemingly uncountable numbers of manikins, with their unbelievable durability and strength, seemed ready to overwhelm the fighting forces in the park. However, with the group’s second wind, the manikins began to crumble almost one after another. Now, anyone with fingers could count how many were left. And they could count it on one hand.

Twilight evaded an attack from one, her horn alight with a magenta hue as she leapt backwards with the assistance from her wings. The manikin quickly looked over to her, moving for another attack. However, Twilight was ready, and in a split second, a magenta light blasted forth from her horn through the manikin’s chest. The glow in the manikin died down, and a quick follow-up shot ensured it stayed that way, her opponent starting to crumble to ash from the second attack.

Quickly, she surveyed the area. The number of manikins was far less overwhelming now; in fact, by her count, she could see three, and all of them were being tied up.

Two of them were currently dodging blue shots from Rarity. She was still more or less close to the two guards that had, for whatever reason, remained close to her side since the battle took off. Or at least, one of them was still there, readying another arrow that he was enchanting, his horn alight with an orange hue.

The manikins were easily evading Rarity’s shots, the mare in question seeming to show signs of fatigue. It was clear she wasn’t quite used to using the spell as she had been for so long, but she had to keep it up. Eventually, due to their dodging, the two wound up a bit too far apart, and that was when the sword-wielding guard that had kept himself so close to Rarity finally showed himself.

“Got you!” shouted the earth pony, leaping out and managing to stab his blade into the ground, managing to slam it through the manikin’s foot, pinning it. At that point, he shouted to the guard wielding the bow and arrow. “Now, Straight Shot!”

“Got it!” the arrow-wielding guard said, letting one fly. The manikin struggled, only succeeding in pivoting around trying to get free. The arrow struck it dead-center in the back, and a couple of seconds later, the manikin found itself without a torso. Its legs remained standing, the foot still pinned by the blade.

The other manikin had taken the time to try to rush off, but Twilight was already on top of it, letting a laser fly. Though she missed her initial target, the laser still managed to hit it through the lower leg, slowing it down long enough for Rarity to take notice.

“You won’t be entering Ponyville today!” she said, letting one last shot go with a huff, making her mark through the torso of the manikin from the side, effectively taking it out once and for all. The manikin crumpled to the ground, defeated, its glow fading fast.

“Is that all of them?” asked one of the guards.

“Hyarrgghhh!!!” shouted a masculine grunt from across the park. All heads turned to see Corey, both of his hands locked around the closed fist of a cracked manikin.

Corey’s eye twitched slightly, his arms doing the same after another tick. Quickly, he shoved the manikin’s arm aside, throwing out a punch as soon as his hands were free. His punch landed, cracking the manikin’s torso even more. Immediately following this attack was another, a kick into the creature’s side that cracked it even more. By now, the manikin took another swipe at Corey, who leaned back, his horn lighting up.

Gotta make this count… thought Corey, aiming at the manikin. His foot slipped as he went to stop leaning back, but not before he managed to shoot off one last laser, managing to hit the manikin where it was already damaged, changing the deep cracks on the manikin’s torso into a break, defeating it then and there.

Corey fell backwards onto his hands, his knees bent. He didn’t stay in that position for long, immediately rolling to his left to avoid the debris from the manikin as it fell at him. With a heavy sigh, Corey stood back up, and, his body briefly glowing once more, his muscles contracted back to their previous size. As soon as he did, something hit Corey hard: a feeling that as of Shining Armor’s involvement in his life had become incredibly familiar.

I’m a bit afraid to move right now… Corey thought, taking in the feeling of soreness that went from his shoulders to his ankles. It felt like a large amount of pins and needles were dancing on every fiber of his muscles. Corey stood, his arms at his sides, straightened up to his full height. His arms twitched once, once only.

What the hell happened out front, though? Corey’s thoughts returned to the game plan, trying to move his head, but his neck protested the attempt to look over slightly to where he thought the frontlines were. The plan was for us to pick off the stragglers, not take on the whole un—

His introspection was cut short by the sensation of all those pins and needles suddenly digging into his biceps, and digging deep.

“Corey, you did—“ Twilight said, congratulating him. Somehow, she had given him a hug from behind without him realizing it. Normally, Corey might have frozen and blushed from the reaction that a female was hugging him, but his body wasn’t the most receptive of much of anything right now. Twilight couldn’t even finish her sentence.

Corey let out a loud scream of pain, his eyes bugging out and his arms lifting up as he yelled. Immediately, Twilight pulled her arms away, concerned, as one hand went to her chin. Corey doubled over, falling down onto his knees, which elicited—ironically—a much more subdued grunt.

“Are you alright?’ Twilight asked, “I didn’t think that they…roughed you up that bad.”

“It’s not that…” Corey said, one hand slowly dragging across its opposite arm. He could feel his muscles twitching, “I think with what I did…I think I pushed my body too hard. I started feeling the burn before, but it finally hit me all at once…” He let out another groan, shrinking down a bit as his body continued to rage at him for pushing it so hard.

Twilight looked to Corey, not sure what to tell him. On one hand, she wanted to say something about how he dipped into his reserves and managed to come up with another runic spell seemingly on the spot; something that she felt he could be proud of. However, at the same time, she could clearly tell he overexerted himself; probably unavoidable given the circumstances…

“Princess,” said one of the guards, walking up to her, “Are you injured?”

“No more than everypony else here…” Twilight said, “I should be alright…”

“What happened out there?” asked another guard that was nearby, “We wound up having to fight off what felt like an entire attack force, and we weren’t prepared for that!”

“Some of us should go out there and see what happened…” Twilight observed, “I don’t think they would have come through like that unless there was a reason for it…”

“I’ll—“ Corey tried to stand, but his legs merely twitched when he tried to move them. Twilight set her hands down to his shoulders, and felt the muscles underneath throbbing from their overuse.

“No, it’s alright,” Twilight said.

“You put in work today,” said the guard, “More than you could have been asked to. Now let us finish the job we were put here to do…”

“Could you guys see what happened out there?” Twilight said, biting her lip as she glanced out to where she knew her brother and friends were.

“No problem,” said the guard, immediately shouting out to the others there, “Hey, everypony! If you’re still able to move, follow me out to the outskirts!”

There were some grumbles of pain, but those were lost in shouts of agreement. The guards began to, one-by-one, march towards the guard, who himself began to lead the group away.

“Thank you,” said Twilight.

“Please, don’t thank us,” one of the guards said as he passed, “It’s not over just yet!”

With that, the remaining plainclothes guards began to make their way in the direction of the frontlines, leaving the remaining ponies in the park behind. Twilight soon turned her head to Corey. His eyes were closed, his palms resting on the ground.

“C’mon,” Twilight said, “We should pull back a little.” Her horn lit up a bit. Corey soon felt a slightly familiar force gently tugging him upward, helping him to stand. As soon as his feet made unaided contact with the ground, Corey felt himself stagger, only to be once again supported by Twilight, this time, physically.

“Alright,” Corey said, “Lead the way…”
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John did all he could to fight back. But as the battle dragged on, Lyon got the upper hand. They were just about equal in strength; there was no doubt in his mind about that. However, there seemed to be a key factor to this that John was slowly coming to terms with. No matter how he tried to twist it to make it acceptable, a base fact was becoming unmistakably clear to him.

He’s better than me… thought John. And no matter how he tried to fight back, it only became clearer with each rebuffed attempt.

John had managed to land a couple more hits since the balance shifted to Lyon’s favor, but John’s attacks didn’t seem to harm Lyon for long. Now, John stood panting heavily, clearly having taken a savage beating; bruises all over his body. Lyon stared down at him, not even winded.

“You were stronger than I thought, dragon,” Lyon said, “But in the end, you were still no match for me.”

“Hey now,” John panted, “Battle’s not…over yet…I’m still standing!”

“Not for long…” snarled Lyon, charging towards John. Though John’s stamina was low and he was in pain from constant attack, he wasn’t about to back down. John braced himself, charging forward again, letting his wings increase his speed. Lyon threw a punch, John barely able to dodge, the massive fist brushing his face as it soared by. John quickly threw a hard punch into Lyon’s stomach, Lyon twitching slightly from the impact. However, he did not double over.

Instead, he brought down both his fists on John, causing him to land hard on the ground. But John wasn’t good to let himself be stopped, not yet. John quickly kicked off the ground as hard as he could, bringing up his fist to land another hard blow just under Lyon’s chin. This time, Lyon’s head pitched upwards from the force, but it didn’t last long. Lyon recovered, grabbing John by the leg with one hand, and slamming him hard on the ground.

John let out a grunt from his back making contact with the ground and tried to roll away, but Lyon hadn’t let go of him. John saw Lyon had cocked one fist back, his face only inches from John’s own.

“I remember you put me in a situation like this. Tell me, do you think you can hold up?” Lyon asked. John couldn’t move, but he had a highly appropriate retort on hand.

John spat right in Lyon’s face with only a single moment of hesitation. Snarling, Lyon raised his hand and brought down his fist on the dragon. Though John managed to put up a block, it did not change the fact it was a powerful hit, enough to break the ground around him. And Lyon was not about to stop there. Again and again, Lyon brought down his fists onto the pinned dragon, each punch causing the ground beneath him to crack further.

Not good, John thought to himself as he blocked each strike. I can’t keep this up…and if my guard gets broken, I’d be knocked out or worse in just one attack…I’ve got to get out of this! But how? Ugh—He’s got me pinned! And no matter what I do, nothing seems to phase him…if he didn’t have to breathe, I’d say—

John’s thoughts trailed off.

Breathe…that’s it! John thought. Just one problem…I can’t do anything while I’m pinned like this!

John gazed through the small gap in his guard. Lyon was bearing down on him for one more hit. But before he could, a violet light came into view from his right—a laser shot, that struck Lyon on the side of his head. Lyon halted, flinching as both of his eyes closed. John saw his opening.

Now or never! John immediately dropped his guard and grabbed on to Lyon’s arm. Calling on all the strength left in his reserves, John forced Lyon off-balance, causing the lion to hit the ground face-first. With Lyon no longer bearing down his weight on John, the dragon was finally able to get up from the ground. Quickly, John moved, jumping on to Lyon’s back just as he was getting back up. John wrapped one arm around Lyon’s neck and locking it into place for a chokehold.

“What the!?” Lyon roared, John having a firm hold on him.

“You may be a better fighter than me, but how well can you fight when you can’t breathe?” John asked, a smirk on his face.

“As if I’d let—urk!” Lyon choked, John tightening his grip around his neck. But even though John was making every effort to cut off his air supply, Lyon was not prepared to give in. He could reach John and began taking shots at John. But no matter how hard Lyon hit him, John did not let go.

“Fight all you want! I won’t let go until you’ve blacked out!” John’s words resonated through Lyon’s mind.

“As strong as you are, even you have your weaknesses…”

Lyon suddenly began thrashing about in rage. John kept his grip on the whole time. Yet, despite the fact John was still holding on tight, Lyon managed to choke out another roar.

“No! I won’t be beaten like this! Not…again…!” Lyon’s strength was slowly starting to fail him, the corners of his vision darkening.

“What a pity…” As he faded, Lyon began to hear a very familiar voice in his mind, “After all of your talk about this dragon, he still managed to beat you. Disappointing. I expected far better of you, Lyon…”

“N…no!” Lyon wheezed, “I can still…win…!”

“Who are you…talking to…” John strained, his focus breaking for only a moment. Lyon was too distracted by whatever it was to take notice.

“It’s far too late for that. Your forces have been defeated and you’re not too far from defeat yourself,” The female voice mocked him, “It’s time to run back to your master, with your tail between your legs…”

“But…” Lyon snarled.

John suddenly felt Lyon flinch in pain, and not from the chokehold.

“That was not a request!” The voice called to Lyon again, Lyon feeling a sharp flash of pain in his chest. Lyon moved despite John’s best effort, one of his hands pressed to his chest, the other going into his loincloth and withdrawing something…a small, glowing stone that had a red light to it.

“Hear me, Dragon!” roared Lyon, the glow spreading across his body, “You will suffer for this humiliation!”

Before John could respond, there was a bright flash of light from just underneath him. John landed chest-first on the ground with a sharp grunt.

“What the…?” John looked around. All he could see were the members of the frontlines…and more guards who seemed to be coming to their aid. But they weren’t fast enough.

“Where’d he go!?”
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A short time later, everypony regrouped in the library. Other than Rainbow Dash sporting a bandage wrapped around her head, everyone didn’t seem to have suffered any major injuries. Everyone seemed down on themselves as Shining finished telling the group what exactly had happened on his end during the skirmish.

“So he was strong enough to keep you guys on the ropes…” Twilight said, putting one finger to her chin, her eyes wide, “Just what are we dealing with? He had you all thinking he’d…and then, on top of that, John couldn’t even touch him when he remembered his fighting skills…”

“I know…” Shining said, “We held up well given the odds, but we need to make sure we’re ready, because we’re going to have to face him again…”

“But how!?” Rainbow said, just before she pressed one hand to the back of her head, the outburst reminding her of the injury she’d suffered.

“Easy, Rainbow, take it easy,” Applejack said, “But she’s got a point. That lion was tough…and on top of that, we don’t even know what else they got up their sleeve.”

“There’s just one thing I don’t get,” Shining said, “He vanished. I didn’t quite see what he did, but before I knew it, he’d vanished in a red light, and John fell onto the ground…”

“The escaped prisoners have some level of organization,” Twilight observed, “A fact that worries me.”

The room fell silent for a moment. Everyone already knew they had no choice but to be a part of the game, but things looked pretty bleak. The discussion continued onward; no one knew what to make of the end of the fight, but one thing was becoming clear, one thing that two others in the library had begun to realize to some extent as well…
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Upstairs in the bedroom, Corey laid out on his bed, flat on his back. His body was still reeling from the effects of his newest spell. There were bandages wrapped around his torso and arms, and a few patches on his face and head. Any attempt he made to move resulted in a sharp surge of pain through his muscles.

Not too far from him was John, leaning against a nearby wall. His body wasn’t as badly beaten as Corey. At least, John didn’t have any visible bandages on him. If he did, they’d have been under his sweater. He did have clear bruises in a couple of exposed spots.

Other than the barely-audible chatter from the other room, there was silence. Both were still processing what had happened that day. John finally moved, whirling around and punching the wall he was leaning on. Though John held back, his fist still cracked the wood. At the noise, Corey moved; though he couldn’t move his neck, he could move his eyes towards where he knew John was.

“John…?” Corey asked.

“Was this the best we could do?” John asked out loud, “Even after everything we did, all the prep time, all the training, was that all we could do?!”

“We still managed to win,” said Corey in response, “It could have been worse than what it was.” John turned his back to Corey now, taking in a deep breath.

“But that’s it, Corey,” John sighed, “It will get worse…he’ll be back, I know it, and when he does…” He exhaled once more, “I got lucky today. But I know he won’t fall for the same trick twice. The next time we meet….I don’t think I’ll stand a chance…”

The room fell silent again for a short time. Corey wasn’t sure how to weigh in at first.

“No one’s expecting you to face him alone,” Corey said at last, “We’re all prepared to help you if you need it.”

“How?” John asked, turning to face Corey, “No one else can risk getting near him, much less put up a fight against him.” Sighing again, John turned his head away, “There’s no way around it. I have to be the one to fight him, alone.”

If it had been any other day, Corey might have said something about the irony of the situation. His focus, however, was on something else.

“There’s always another way, John,” Corey said, “Especially here in this world.”

John didn’t respond to Corey straight away. Letting out another sigh, he made his way towards the door. As John reached the door and began to open it, he finally found words.

“Sorry, Corey, but I can’t see one,” he said, walking through the door and closing it behind him, leaving Corey alone in the room with his thoughts. And his thoughts were pointed back towards earlier; the battle he was in.

There is another way. There always is, Corey repeated, reliving a key moment from his battle in his head, And I think I might’ve found it…

Author's Note:

And that's how we end there. What else can I say, really?

Comments

[Seeking Dusk]

Prisoners from Tartarus. Seriously. You guys did awesomely, considering what you were up against. And a Nemean Lion. Greek Kryptonian Lion (minus the flight.) My only complaint is that John seemed to have forgot his fire breath.

[Old Diggy]

Do neither of them know anything about Greek Mythology? He just happens to be a huge golden lion with the name Nemean Lyon, anybody who know's a little bit about Greek Mythology Creatures would at least have that thought pass through their mind and after fighting him they'd definitely have figured that out considering everything else is out of Greek Mytho's.

[DestinyQuill]

I want to see Corey do his training while super-juicing his muscles, unless the benefits would fade afterwards due to affecting a magic-based form.
Also, Rainbow needs to get John into her jujitsu or karate or whatever. He needs training... and as far as I remember, he only got training in flight... why did he say he went through training?

[amiamera]

Greycait pointed this out but John is an idiot. I thought you were just having him forget because he was human and when you started to do the bit about breath and breathe, I was thinking, "Finally he'll remember he can breathe fire." Nope, he goes for a choke hold. Considering the story starts with him getting in trouble because he accidentally breathed fire. I find the lack of fire breathing in the last two major fights with him, a HUGE oversight. The least you could do is show the golems are fire immune or he's worried about starting a forest fire. Give me something or you're giving us a major plot hole that makes the character look like an idiot.

[fullemp]

Amiamera, Lyon's hide is tough enough to get hit by laser, a bolder, and a sword without taking damage. It would not be much of a stretch of the imagination that it could also withstand fire. The choke hold makes most sense in the situation.

[AstralFlare42]

6135229
He wasn't trying to hurt his skin. He could still squeeze lyon's neck.

[AstralFlare42]

Did John forget about Greek mythology? Think about Lyon's full name.