Explosions and shrapnel roared past Shining Armor's head as he staggered into the entrance of the Crystal Palace, silently begging for forgiveness as he shut out the sounds of his comrades falling in battle outside while the doors slammed shut behind him. With tears staining his eyes and pain throbbing in his shoulder, he sprinted as best he could into the palace, blocking out everything that had happened so that he could complete Cadence's request...her last request.
He made sure to close his eyes whenever he ran by a window, not wanting to see the fires that consumed the buildings of the Crystal Empire nor the stone reapers that claimed life after life with ruthless efficiency. And then there were the Royal Guard, the brave mares and stallions that were out in the fire and death trying to save as many as they could, while he was racing through the halls like a coward. He knew that he would consider himself a coward for the rest of his life...a life that would most likely come to an end soon.
'But Cadence feared a day like this may come,' he thought, trying to push back the black thoughts as he reached a door that was heavily guarded with spells and enchantments. 'At least this part of the Palace hasn't fallen yet. Of course, not even those bastards could get in here, these enchantments could keep out even Celestia...dear Faust why? No, can't focus on them. Need to get in.'
He pressed his horn against the door, closing his eyes with a small sob as the magic that shielded the room fell. He used to be one of only two ponies in the whole empire that was able to get in...and now he was the only one left. He threw the door open the second the spell faded, slamming it shut behind him and reactivating the barrier before turning towards what the room held. A single mirror.
"The Mirror of Reality," he whispered to himself, able to forget the pain and war that was waging outside for just a moment while he gazed upon the mirror's beauty. Then he shook himself free of his shock before racing to the mirror, incanting the forbidden words that Cadence had told him long ago. His reflection in the mirror began to swirl, rotating faster and faster until soon there was only the vortex.
'Got to make this quick,' Shining thought as he pulled out his only piece of parchment, his horn glowing as he stabbed himself slightly with his knife to draw blood. He then began to write with the tip of his knife, speeding up his words when he heard the sounds of something starting to pound away on the door. The enchantments held strong and gave Shining enough time to finish his message, which he rolled up and tossed into the mirror...before he heard the voice of the pony he hated with all of his heart.
"Well of course you didn't make it through you idiots, look at the magic on that thing! Not even I would be able to break through that shield, and I have centuries of experience with magic!" With a cold heart yet burning eyes, Shining turned towards the door, taking the knife in his hoof to free up his horn, knowing that he would be needing both in a moment.
"However, you can see that while the door is heavily enchanted, the wall next to it..." Shining refused to flinch as the wall exploded and crystal flew by his head, narrowing his eyes when a dark pony with a sinister smile on his face waltzed into the room, flanked by two giant gargoyles that barely managed to squeeze in the hole behind him. "Ah, Shining Armor. I wondered where you had scurried off to."
"Sombra," Shining whispered with such wrath and venom that Sombra let out a small whistle.
"I'm impressed, pony. I didn't know you were capable of such hate," Sombra laughed with a smile.
"Hate? After all you did to me, my home, my FAMILY...you believe that I only hate you? "Shining seethed with absolute fury, yet all Sombra did in response was raise an eyebrow. "You attacked my home...you waged war against Canterlot and Ponyville...aided by Tirek and Chrysalis during the middle of a day of fun and relaxation...and then you kill my wife...my Cadence...when she tried to stop you. I don't hate you Sombra...there isn't a word that exists that describes how much I loath you!"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute...that spell I hit Cadence in the back with actually killed her?!" Sombra asked with a laugh, smiling with victory despite the sheer fury that Shining glared at him. "Wow, I can't believe that she went down so easily! I must be better than I thought to kill a princesses so easily."
"You dare speak of her like she was nothing?! I swear I'll-"
"Oh give it a rest, Shining, this battle is already over, here and across Equestria," Sombra cut him off with a low voice, all mirth and joy gone from his face while he coldly stared down the guard. "This age of friendship and harmony that you and your wife loved to preach about? It's over. It dies with you; it died with your sister and it died with those two fools who thought themselves untouchable up in Canterlot."
Then the smile slowly spread across Sombra's face as he looked Shining up and down, a small chuckle escaping his lips as an idea came to him. "So all that's left is to figure out a way to deal with you. Now I could just leave and let these two tear you limb from limb, but I'm a fair, mad tyrant, so I'll make this interesting. We fight. You and me. And if I win, you'll get to see your wife and sister again. But if you manage to win...hell, you'll get to kill me! So it's really a win-win for you? What do you say, Shining?"
Sombra's words had barely escaped his lips before Shining hurled himself at Sombra with a cry that was devoid of sanity. Sombra barely managed to erect a shield to block Shining's knife, eyes wide while Shining screamed with unholy fury as he slammed the blade against the barrier again and again. With another bellow he shattered the knife against the magic shield, yet the shards had barely begun to fall before he unleashed all of his fury into the magical barrier with one magical blast.
"Not bad kid, you're a lot more of a challenge when your entire family's dead!" Sombra laughed while he slipped into the shadows and weaved behind Shining, popping out of the darkness and blasting Shining in the back with a dark bolt that hurled him to the floor. "Oh, didn't I tell you? We made sure to target your family and the families of the Ambassadors of Harmony as well. Because if being a damn thorn in my side runs in the family, then we'll burn the bush down before those thorns can grow. I'm sure you understand."
Shining slowly rose to his hooves, every fiber of his body trembling with hate as he slowly looked back to where Sombra stood smirking at him. With all of the concentration he could muster he conjured a blade of light from his horn, saluting Sombra before taking up a fighting stance. Sombra raised an eyebrow before he chuckled and conjured a blade as black as night, twirling his blade.
The two stared each other down before Shining let out an unholy scream and hurled himself at Sombra, who chuckled with madness as he swung his blade at Shining. The two swords of light and darkness collided, good and evil colliding for a brief moment...before Sombra's blade shattered and he was hurled backwards. He struck the wall and slid down with surprise written on his face before Shining's blade placed itself at his throat, getting Sombra to slowly lift his eyes up to the black eyes of the stallion.
"For my family," he whispered before lifting his sword over his head...and crying out in pain as a burst of green fire struck him in the back. He collapsed to the floor as the sword vanished in a flash, struggling to see through the tears in his eyes at the flaming maw of the gargoyle that had shot him.
"Well then Shining, I guess you lose," Sombra chuckled as he rose back to his hooves, using his magic to lift Shining up and smile into the stallion's face. "Your rage just wasn't enough to slay an evil tyrant like me."
"But...you said..." Shining stammered out weakly, before his eyes shrunk as Sombra plunged a black blade right into the heart of Shining Armor.
"Evil," Sombra reminded Shining as he removed his blade, watching with a smile when the light faded from Shining's eyes. Yet once the light faded, Sombra's smile fell and he tossed the body away with a careless air, having lost interest in the Captain of the Guard. "Come on you two idiots, let's head up to the balcony. I want to see what crystal looks like when it burns."
"But boss, I thought you've burned crystals before?" one of the gargoyles asked. Sombra glanced back at him before his horn flashed and the stone creature shattered into millions of pieces.
"You have anything stupid you want to say?" Sombra asked the other one, which shut its mouth and held both hands over it. "Ah, you must be the one I put the brains in. I wondered what I did with them." With that remark Sombra walked out of the room, leaving the body of one of the noblest ponies that had ever lived...and a mirror that had just finished sending its message, a message that Sombra could have stopped had he bothered to check it.
/ \
//A\\
/// \\\
Men and women raced back and forth through the gray hallways, each of them trying to keep up with their tasks under the pressure that came with being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, but for the man that walked through the crowd of agents, he found that he was simply happy to be back among friends...or those agents on the Helicarrier that he knew to be friends.
Yet, even with their busy schedules and multiple assignments that they had to do, every single one of those agents turned and either saluted or nodded to the man in the red, white and blue when he walked by. And he saluted or nodded in kind, to each and every one of the brave men and women on the home base of S.H.I.E.L.D., while some of the agents tried to flag him down. Captain America had been called off his "guaranteed" three days leave to come back to the base.
'So that means either Fury has somehow managed to doom the world or the world is doomed and Fury wants me to stop it,' Steve thought to himself as he entered an elevator and slowly began to go down, resting his back against the wall of the elevator. He felt a slight bit of pressure as he leaned back, assuring him that his most trusted comrade still had his back.
The elevator doors to the deck of the Helicarrier slid open and the Captain stepped out of the elevator, walking straight for the man in the black suit with the pistol strapped to his chest at the end of the room. The Cap narrowed his eyes slightly when the light beaming in through the windows got in his eyes, hating how Fury always seemed to love standing with his back to the light.
"You're three minutes late," Nick Fury said with a growl as he turned around to face the Captain, his one good eye narrowed.
"Sorry I'm late. Had to help put out a fire," Captain America responded, yet his response only made Fury's eye narrow further.
"I hate it when I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not," Fury grumbled. "So how was your day off yesterday?"
"Making small talk, Fury? This must really be big then," Cap deduced, getting a snicker from Fury while he reached into a pocket and pulled out a small piece of parchment.
"Our resident hocus-pocus expert found this floating in his room when he returned to his house," Fury explained as he handed the parchment to Captain America, whose eyes narrowed as he began to read what was written on it. "Yeah, he didn't like it either. But he felt a strange magic coming off of that, a magic that even he himself hasn't seen before--magic that belonged to a whole other reality. And to remind you, his name is Strange."
"Seems like there's someone out there that needs help...an entire nation if I'm reading this right," Steve said as he finished the message, handing it back to Fury who pocketed it before crossing his arms behind his back and turning around to face the windows. "Yet, you're hesitant to send an Avenger or Shield agents out there to help? Fury-"
"Don't try and lecture me, Captain. You've fallen into plenty of traps because of a faulty plea for help," Fury reminded the Captain with a snarl. "We'll send a probe there and see what the situation is. If they really do need our help, whoever they are, then we'll send in the Avengers or some agents. But not until-"
"Many more have been killed," Captain America finished for Fury, who turned to face the Cap with his name flashing in his eyes. "Fake or real, that is a cry for help--a desperate cry for help, Fury, if their message is able to go across multiverses to get here. And I don't care who sent it and I don't care if it's a trap, the Avengers don't ignore cries for help. And I sure as hell don't. Now let's stop wasting time and get these guys the help they need."
"I really hate working with you sometimes, you know that?" Fury sighed before reaching back into his pocket and pulling out two items, one of which was a stone that had numerous strange markings engraved in it. The other was an earpiece that Cap knew was meant for him. "This is a dimensional stone. The good doc made one for us when he found out which reality the paper came from. It should be able to take you to wherever in hell this place is."
"Well, if it does take me to hell, there are more than a few people there that I would like to have words with," Cap joked as he took the stone and earpiece, able to feel the power radiating off of the stone. "How do I get it to work?"
"Just place it on the ground and stand on the circle it makes. Simple." Steve nodded before following Fury's instructions, eyes narrowing slightly when the stone created a circle of a crimson red near his feet. "You really want to go in alone? Not even going to take another hero or metahuman with you?"
"Which metahumans do you have that can get here in five minutes?" Captain America asked, his face telling Fury that he wasn't going to wait longer.
"Let me see...the only one that we have on hand is Wade," Fury replied when he pulled up a list.
'Oh please, let me go with him! I want to see this magical land of ponies.'
"Sorry, but I have doubts about taking Deadpool into a situation like this," Captain America replied with a shake of his head. "He's good to have when I want my enemies confused. I'll leave him out of this one.
'Aw, why are you so mean?'
"Guess you're doing this alone then?" Fury said with a shrug as Cap fitted the earpiece in before pulling his mask over his face, a smile crossing his lips as he did so.
"I never go in alone, Fury. Not as long as I got this," Captain America replied as he reached back and removed his shield, fitting it over his left arm before taking in a deep breath. "And besides, I've got you on comms in case you get lonely and want to talk."
"Was that an attempt at humor?" Fury asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, I'm still learning about this strange world you call the twenty first century," Steve replied with a smile before he took a step into the circle, his vision beginning to blur the moment he did so. "And don't worry Fury, I'll save this world before you know it."
"Or you'll avenge it. According to the message there may not be anybody left to save," Fury reminded him. Yet even in the vortex that was making the Captain phase in and out of their reality, he could see the Captain smile at him.
"I'll save them. And don't look so worried, Fury. It's just saving a doomed world from the forces of evil. Just like any other day."
A blinding flash of light then went off, causing everyone on the Helicarrier to shield their eyes. Alarms blared, the ship shuddered for a moment and for a brief second no one was capable of seeing anything. When the light finally died down, Fury found that the Cap was gone...yet the stone was still laying on the deck.
"I hope you're right about this Steve," Fury muttered as he picked the rock up, the engravings on the side still as red as blood. "Because I have a bad feeling about this one."
Oh shit! This stories out! And that description!
Time for the theme:
The fun never seems to end around here.
I like this. If there's anyone who can rally hope in a world where it all seems lost, It's Steve Rogers. He may not be the strongest of the Marvel Universe, but his leadership is impeccable, and he won't back from a fight no matter how much the odds are stacked against him. I can't wait to see him rally whoever's left against the three tyrants, and show them why you do not mess with the Red White and Blue. Go Captain America!
That whole scene with Shining Armor, I think, deserves this music here:
Not usually into Avengers, or Marvel stuff in general, but this one looks really, really interesting.
So have a Fave and Follow on it.
And The First Avenger himself is going in?
Why do I just get the feeling that Sombra and Company are gonna just so horribly screwed when he gets there?
Oh, and Fury?
Stick a sock in it.
I haven't liked you since Marvel got stupid and changed your race from what it's always been.
(Not racist; just sayin'. I grew up reading the original Sgt. Fury and the Howlin' Commandos comics in the 60s.)
Also, AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!
dude i luve youor work you get al the yays allof them
6527713 tare ar sapos to be like 500
6527698
Though I like to think of myself as liking both Marvel and DC equally, even though I really wish DC would step it up and become as popular as Marvel in order for competition to make the Marvel Cinematic Universe better, I agree and really do hate Affirmative Action Facelifts of popular characters to meet a bullshit diversity quota... and I'm a minority in America. However, to Black Nick Fury's credit, he was originally from the Ultimate Comic Universe and not the main, 616 comic continuity and in the 616 continuity, Black Nick Fury was original Nick Fury's bastard son and they didn't magically dip original Nick Fury in tea. Plus, the films borrow a lot from the Ultimate Universe anyways. It's still stupid and unfair, like nixing Ant-Man and Wasp when the two WERE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE AVENGERS AND WERE THERE EVEN BEFORE CAP, but it's one of the lesser sins committed by the writers and editors of Marvel.
Also, of course Sombra and the rest are doomed!
Don't you know what happens when Captain America throws his mighty shield!?
cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/34514330.jpg
6527717
What are you saying?
6527732 I GOT IT
6527717 there are supposed to be like 500
6527713 dude, I love your work, you get all the yays, all of them
ME: My work... here is done.
Wow, Captain America against a whole nation by himself, im pretty sure he did this already but still Wow.
Also, now that you mentioned Deadpool, people will nag you about a fic starring him......including me.
6527726 GOD BLESS IT!!!!!! encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDM_DHmR8BpYVL4rQFpFoOWUT3bAI1ZLKUTw3R5mRoc3P3USoGXQ
6527789
Same here. I was expecting that minor guest appearance, but now that you made him have that guest appearance I WANT HIM IN A FIC BY YOU, NOW!
6527698 You do know that the character never actually changed, right?
Black Nick Fury is exactly the same as white Nick Fury, except they color him in a little darker.
6527725 My point exactly.
Yep.
And they get their hides handed to them, that's what!
6527829 I'll take your word for it, as I haven't picked up a Marvel comic (except for Conan, the Marvel/Epic Elfquest color reprints, and similar back issues) since the late/mid 90s. I have no interest in them.
Well, that's one way to look at it, I guess.
Me, I look at it in the same vein as what whoever did that dumb Wild, Wild West movie when they used Wil Smith as the Affirmative Action version of Jim West.
I'm sorry, but that doesn't sit well with me.
People posting Cap's theme songs but they all forgot this one:
Or this precious gem:
6527829
You do realize that cuts both ways, right, and that if you can't get the writers and editors to care about the small things meant only as publicity stunts to please lefties and to give Affirmative Action facelifts meant to culturally appropriate already popular characters for whatever minority groups strikes your fancy, that it means you have no right to complain when they make big changes, right? Like turning Thor, power house of masculinity that he is, into a chick or turning the Martian Manhunter, whose backstory is already epic as it is, into just something grown from a petri dish in Area 51 like what Dave Goyer wants to do for the DC Cinematic Universe. Granted, with Thor, they eventually revealed that it was long forgotten supporting Thor cast member, Jane Foster, but considering both Marvel's and DC's propensity for PC style political publicity stunts, not to mention their regular publicity stunts, it was more reasonable to suspect Marvel for completely screwing the pooch like they usually do, and even though they did something that sort of made sense when they turned Thor into a woman, it's still quite pooch screwing. I mean, crap, if they can't keep the small details right, what magical energy field that surrounds us, and binds us, and penetrates us do you think will stop them from making EXTREME, with 90's Kid voice, changes?
Heck, even when they do a straight up legacy character that's a minority to a previous hero with the same name that's actually good, like Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle, they usually manage to make said previous hero with the same name go down like a punk in a brutally graphic way like they did with Ted Kord in Infinite Crises and give every indication that the new guy is just a way of lecturing folks about the evils of straight, cisgendered, white patriarchy. They managed to largely avoid this with Jaime, but shit, I don't blame the folks who never wasted their money on his solo-runs, as the odds the comic would actually be good and not be some trite lecture on a pedestrian and banal worldview that my College professors would give me were like betting on a horse with all its legs broken.
Furthermore, changing a popular white hero's race, especially with regards to more popular mediums like film or tv, only serves to keep back the plethora of minority heroes that began their existence as minority heroes and are good and fine all on their own, despite pop culture not giving them their due. If you want to give minority heroes their chance to shine, then use those, and if you're going to use a minority legacy character, establish the original character first! Use Black Panther, Static Shock, Warmachine, Steel, Black Lightning, Cyborg, Falcon, and anyone whose been patiently waiting for decades like those guys first, damn it.
Or, if you find done of those character adequate, make your own minority hero and then make a popular movie or tv show about him, her, or whatever the hell Bruce Jenner thinks he is. Don't try and take the easy and lazy way out and change an established hero, hoping to ride on his, her, or its success that was laid down by people far more thoughtful and hard working than you.
6527971
I didn't forget, I just wanted to give someone, like you, the opportunity to post that one because I felt I was being unfair with the number of music posts I was outputting.
Goddammit. Deadpool would've fit right in too....meh, he'll find a way there, I'm sure.
6528091
So long as Dr. Who isn't involved, I agree.
If Captain America was voiced, what would he sound like?
6528192
Try it like he sounds in Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
6528192
Sweet Luna above, YES! I've been waiting for this, and I just know it'll be another of the endless masterpieces of yours, Onomonopia!
Dude seriously, you write faster than I can read... Still haven't finished the last two...
~Dollars.
Well you got to feel sorry for the Sombra now, this is the guy who has fought gods and won. Hope to see referenced when Cap threw his shield at Osborn at the end of Dark Rein. Onto the best hero in all of comics Captain America!
Well sombra, you just lost the war. Red, white and blue is gonna make you black, blue and red all over, along with the rest of ya.
as for shining armor and the elements of harmony... by grabthar's hammer, by the suns of warvan, you shall be avenged.
Totally irrelevant, but let's see if I can do this from memory, shall we?
Oh Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But Oh heart! heart! heart!
Oh the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Oh Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
6529004
There will be another (hopefully) tomorrow.
6528534
I know, right? Shit, this past week, I finally finished A Heart So Cold, That Zangief Fic Whose Name I Forgot but whose plot and characterization was unforgettable, How to Ponify Your Dragon, and JUST TODAY finished the Emerald Torch and yet I STILL never got around to reading Her Father's Daughter and For Her Mistakes even though I've literally read EVERYTHING else he's ever written! What is that I have against Scootaloo Batmare and Trixie atoning for her past sins!?
And now we're gonna have to read his Captain America fic AND his Samurai Jack fic!? We'll never get done with his bibliography at this rate!
6528603
"Well you got to feel sorry for the Sombra now, this is the guy who has fought gods and won.
Dirty, smelly, pagan gods, admittedly. Furthermore, I'm fairly certain that if said gods (I'm assuming you mean Loki or Thor or some other of the numerous Marvel deities) were serious and weren't held back by plot instigated stupidity, Cap would have been reduced to a plasma made out of fundamental particles that haven't been seen since the big bang. Cap, even his peak (comic book) human self from mainstream 616 continuity, is tough, but even his stronger incarnations like the Ultimate Universe version and the Marvel Cinematic Universe version aren't THAT tough.
"Hope to see referenced when Cap threw his shield at Osborn at the end of Dark Rein."
Man, who the fuck likes to even THINK about that period in 616 history, let alone reference it?
"Onto the best hero in all of comics Captain America!"
Well, since comics are a MEDIUM and not a genre, I'm fairly certain out of every comic ever, which would include East-Asian comics like Manga (Japan), Manhua (China), and Manhwa (South Korea) and Franco-Belgian comics and etc... I'm fairly certain you kind find greater heroes than Cap, though he's certainly up there. If by comics, you mean, the superhero genre in the comic book medium, which tends to dominate that medium in the same way shitty cop, lawyer, firefighter, medical, spy dramas, comedies, and etc dominate tv, then the pool rapidly shrinks to the point where what you said becomes more accurate, but he still has a lot of competition to contend with.
Still, against the Commie/NAZI scum of FiM, The Cap is far more hero for them to handle...
Well...
Him and McBane.
6529004
It involves Samurai Jack.
SAMURAI.
MUTHAFUCKIN.
JACK.
6529004
Also, quit being such a baby. This premise is probably the most interesting spin Onomon has ever written so far, and considering how much ground he's covered, that's saying a lot.
In fact... now that I think about... HIS SAMURAI JACK FIC IS GOING TO HAVE JACK TRAVELING THE WORLD AND NOT RYU!
6529011
"Well sombra, you just lost the war. Red, white and blue is gonna make you black, blue and red all over, along with the rest of ya."
Okay, this guy just won the comment section. No joke, Onomon. Please give this guy his platinum, gold, silver, bronze, and diamond crown, please. The LOLs were worth it.
"as for shining armor and the elements of harmony... by grabthar's hammer, by the suns of warvan, you shall be avenged."
Is that a reference to WarCraft 3, by chance, and do you hope this story, since it features a war veteran like Cap, will partially become like reading a strategy game, as I do?
6529032
I'm more partial to The Charge of the Light Brigade, myself.
Also:
6529146
Not if your opinion doesn't follow a logical form or if it contains false premises, as yours does. Still, at you're bright enough to realize that this is shaping up to be among Onomon's finest works from the first chapter alone.
Still, it feels like I'm forgetting something...
Oh yes!
6529151
6529090
No, there are no greater heroes then Cap in my opinion. If I had to summon any hero across all comics, yes including all you mentioned, Cap would be my first choice. It is not about power, it is about the whole package. Cap is one of only two heroes who when all would seem lost I fully believe would find a way to win, the other is Batman.
You can have your opinion but even in the 616 universe Cap is the boss. Wish I could remember the issue but one time when Cap was thought dead and they where giving him a funeral the hero Hercules said on Olympus courage was measured by Captain America. Think about that even physical God in that universe gave the guy props.
6529136 Try this one on for size:
Now each of us from time to time, has gazed upon the sea
And watched the warships pulling out, to keep this country free.
And most of us have read a book, or heard a lusty tale,
About the men who sail these ships, through lightning, wind and hail.
But there’s a place within each ship, that legends fails to reach.
It’s down below the waterline, and it takes a living toll
A hot metal living hell that sailors call the “hole.”
It houses engines run by steam that makes the shafts go round,
A place of fire and noise and heat that beats your spirit down,
Are of molded gods without remorse, are nightmares in a dream.
Whose threat that from the fires roar is like living doubt,
That any minute would with scorn escape and crush you out.
Where turbines scream like tortured souls alone and lost in hell,
As ordered from above somewhere, they answer every bell.
The men who keep the fires lit and make the engines run,
Are strangers to the world of light, they rarely see the sun.
They have no time for man nor God, no tolerance for fear,
Their aspect pays no living thing the tribute of a tear.
For there’s not much that men can do that these men haven’t done,
Beneath the decks deep in the hole to make the engines run.
And every hour of every day they keep the watch in hell,
For if the fires ever fail, their ship’s a useless shell.
When ships converge to have a war upon an angry sea,
The men below just grimly smile at what their fate might be.
They’re locked in below like men foredoomed, who hear no battle cry,
It’s well assumed that if they’re hit, the men below will die.
For every day’s a war down there, when gauges all read red,
Twelve hundred pounds of heated steam can kill you mighty dead.
So if you ever write their songs, or try to tell their tale,
The very words should make you hear a fired furnace’s wail.
And people as a general rule, don’t hear of these men of steel,
So little’s heard about the place that sailors call the “hole.”
But I can sing about this place and try to make you see,
The hardened life of men down there, cause one of them is me.
I’ve seen these sweat soaked heroes fight in superheated air,
To keep their ship alive and right though no one knows they’re there.
And thus they’ll fight for ages on, till warships sail no more
Amid the boiler’s mighty heat, and turbines hellish roar.
So when you see a ship pull out to meet a warlike foe,
Remember faintly if you can, the men who sail below
And I was forced to memorize Oh Captain, My Captain in 11th Grade English.
6529140
Yep
6529124
Not Warcraft. It's from a movie called Galaxy Quest. It's a spoof of Star Trek. The character saying that quote is the parallel of Spock. The movie is about the actors accidentally going on a real space adventure. Here's a taste:
are you going to use the blank flank CMC or the ones with the canon cutie marks?
Well sombra and co are fucked. Best give in now.
6529247
No spoilers
6529124 actually, it's a reference to a Sci-fi comedy movie called Galaxy Quest, as Puzzle Piece said. But it be cool if events did play out like a strategy game. But it would probably be difficult to write it in that way.
"Oh Captain, My Captain" I have such a history with that poem. So much that I shall give this a read based on that itself.
Awesome, looking forward to more.
What? You just included Deadpool in this just to say to say that he wasn't going to be in it? How could you tease me like that?! Also, Dazzler is totally part of SHIELD you know. She could have totally been there in less than 5 minutes. Ooh! What about Doctor Strange himself? That would be interesting, don't you think? Who could win between Tirek and Doctor Strange?