A Long Way to Fall

by Cinders of War

Chapter 64: Reactions

Mahogany Wood walked into his brother’s office, a stern look written all over his face as he walked through the automatic glass doors.

His brother sat at his desk, busily monitoring his computer screen. He looked up at his brother and straightened his lab coat.

“Timber,” Mahogany greeted as he stopped next to him. “What’s the situation?”

“It’s the Apple, Mahogany,” Timber pointed at the screen. “It’s... reacting to something.”

The screen displayed footage of one of the security cameras of the artifact, sitting on its pedestal and surrounded by bulletproof glass and laser beams to prevent theft or destruction. Everything looked surprisingly normal; it wasn’t what Mahogany had been expecting to see at all when his meeting with Principal Cobalt had been interrupted.

Only one thing was odd about the whole picture. The Apple was radiating light like a heartbeat. Beams of warm, buttery light shot out like scanners, bathing the walls in gold. The entire picture was vibrating, as if the artifact were either shaking violently, or emitting noise.

Then a crack formed on the screen. Noise it was, like singing.

“What is going on?” Mahogany Wood slammed a fist on the desk. “Get a team down there. Find out what’s going on!”

Timber picked up his phone and dialed in a number. “This is Timber. Something weird is going on with the artifact. Get down there and find out what’s happening.”

The scientist got up and grabbed his goggles before heading out of his office. “I’ll figure this out, brother.”

Mahogany continued to look at the screen as Timber left, the light from the Apple continued to hum and beat as though it were a living thing. Whatever was happening, Mahogany hoped it was just a minor bug and not something that would render his plans obsolete.

---

“Please, please, please!” Velvet begged as she sat before the Assassin Mentor. “Teach me how to fight! Teach me how to save the world like my sister did! Please!”

“I cannot do that.” Steel Shine shook her head for the fourth time. “The life of an Assassin is a dangerous one. I will not bring a child into this war.”

“Oh, please! Let me help!” Velvet made her face as sympathetic as she could. “I know you’ve all been having it hard lately, so please! Let me help you change all that. I know I can do this! Please, oh please!”

Steel Shine looked to Star Lance for support. Her lieutenant, who was the one that normally looked to her for advice, simply scrunched up his face and shrugged.

The Mentor sighed and lowered her head. “Very well, Velvet Breeze. I shall allow you to train, but under one condition.”

Velvet’s face lit up and she hopped up to her feet. “Yes! Whatever you say, Mentor!”

“I want you to learn from Pierce Network,” the Mentor crossed her arms. “He’ll teach you how to use the baton. A non-lethal weapon.”

Velvet didn’t mind. Any way she could make herself useful was fine by her. “Sure!”

“I’ll get Pierce right away,” Star Lance said, heading out the door.

---

Wolfgang returned to the killer’s hideout after another long day of killing. Today, he only managed to kill one Assassin, which sickened him. It wasn’t enough. So before heading back, he proceeded to a small corner of town and broke into a few homes.

Tomorrow, the news was probably going to be covering a string of murders in that small sector of Manehattan.

“Pressure Point, I’m hoooome!” Wolfgang sang as he threw his knife into a chair.

No one answered, so Wolfgang simply shrugged and headed for the refrigerator and got himself a can of beer, cracking it open before returning to his chair. He sat down with a heavy thud and pulled his knife from the chair.

“Kill, kill, kill…” he muttered to himself. “Just gotta make sure I kill everything. Ha! Just you wait Assassins. Wolfgang’s coming for you all.” He chugged down a portion of his drink.

Without warning, a knife tore through the air and impaled his can right out of his hand, spilling beer all over the floor.

“What the hay?!” the killer turned his head as Pressure Point waltzed in, a smug grin on her face. “What gives?”

“Nothing really…” she said, dropping the smile in an instant. She flipped back a portion of her purple hair and balled a fist. “Just wanted to try something new.”

“And what might that be?”

“Giving you a good beating!” Pressure Point, like a trained boxer, threw a right hook into Wolfgang’s cheek, flinging him off his chair and onto the hard ground.

“Hey, hey, what was that for?!” the blue haired killer rubbed at his face. The skin below was already turning a purplish red.

Pressure Point shrugged and got another fist ready. “Nothing really. It’s just that you’re inexperienced and unpredictable.” She directed another punch to his already wounded face.

Wolfgang reached behind his shirt and pulled out one of his switchblades. With a flick, he extended the blade and slashed out at Pressure’s face. She leaned back to avoid it and lashed out with a kick at the hand which had taken a bullet earlier. There was a crunch as boot connected with bone. Wolfgang gasped and spat blood as Pressure Point jabbed him in the jaw twice more before flooring him with a vicious uppercut.

The killer crawled back against the wall and retrieved one of his fallen blades. “Are you crazy?! I’ll kill you for this!”

“Probably,” Pressure said. “But not today.”

Wolfgang shifted his body uncomfortably as he dealt with the pain. Pressure Point had hit him really hard and it was starting to get to him. He slowly pushed himself up, rising to his feet with a groan.

“We’ll see about that, Pressure.” The killer spat out a wad of spit mixed with some blood and approached her warily with the dagger.

Pressure placed her hands behind her back and grinned. Wolfgang bared his teeth as he slid to her, the dagger following his hand as he thrusted forward. The female killer ducked and weaved in and out of his strikes, her hands still behind her back.

“Stay still!” Wolfgang snarled and grabbed her arm with his other hand. “Ha!”

Pressure grabbed ahold of the same arm and tossed the killer back behind her, dragging his face along the floor before flipping him over, sending him rolling into the table, overturning it with a crash. Before he could get up, Wolfgang felt himself being dragged back before a series of powerful blows smashed down against the sides of his head. He could do nothing more as Pressure Point flipped him over and planted her fists down into his face, hitting him so hard that his mouth and nose became a bloody mess, with a few teeth falling out and onto the floor.

“P-P-Preshurr… P-Poincht…” Wolfgang spurted through a broken mouth. He feebly reached up to grab her face, but his strength had left him. He dropped his arm back to the ground and breathed what he could through his injured nose. “W-why…?”

“You deserve it… Wolfey.” Pressure Point got up and cracked at her knuckles before patting down her hair and attire. Wolfgang’s head rang; it sounded like two women were talking at once to his beaten head. “You’ve caused me quite a lot of trouble lately, and this is the best way to repay you.”

Finished with everything she wanted to say, Pressure Point grinned at the wolfish man and waved before heading out the door, slamming it behind her.

Wolfgang lay on the cold hard ground, looking up at the black ceiling. At least he wasn’t dead. He still had a chance to get even with the other killer. He tried to get up, but he just didn’t have enough strength to do anything but lie there, moaning in pain.

That crazy woman… I’ll be sure to give her some when I get up.

Wolfgang knew it was going to be a while before he could even muster enough strength to leave the room. After that, he would probably still have to see a doctor or at least someone with medical experience about his face. He felt as if a steamroller had gone right over it.

There was nothing more he could do at the moment. The killer finally sighed and resigned himself to stare at the ceiling for the next couple of hours.

It was going to be a long wait.

Author's Note:

Kinda more buildup again, y'all, but things are going to go down again, huh?

Comments

[Jaxxon Markus Citadel]

The Apple is reacting, just like the Sword did with Sunset! That means that there's an Equestrian close by, and the only other one that comes to mind is...

[Marcthelightspark2004]

8880638
LONG LIVE THE KING!!!!

[Marcthelightspark2004]

“I want you to learn from Pierce Network,” the Mentor crossed her arms. “He’ll teach you how to use the baton. A non-lethal weapon.”

Pierce Network? This is gonna be fuuuuny.

[MoonlightRift]

Oh lord he's coming lmao