• Published 12th Apr 2016
  • 22,260 Views, 13,301 Comments

Three More Things! - Tatsurou



Uncle Chan tries to balance running an antique shop, fighting demons, and being a Chi Wizard with being a loving Uncle to his nephew, his somewhat removed niece...and three little ponies who drive him straight up the wall.

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Molten Wrath

After successfully managing to retrieve the Rabbit Talisman from Tohru - and discovering its magic of super speed in the process - Jackie knew exactly what he had to do next. Having seen the girls flying out after the boat on Cumulo but not return, he quickly realized he could use the Rabbit Talisman to race across the surface of the ocean, moving fast enough that surface tension provided enough pressure for him to run without sinking. He wasn't entirely certain how the physics of that worked, especially when magic was involved, but it worked, and that was enough for him.

When he caught up to the boat, he found Jade and Apple Bloom pacing back and forth on the deck looking queasy and terrified. They both let out startled gasps when he zipped up over the side of the boat to stop right in front of them. "Hello!" he greeted warmly.

"Jackie!" they both wailed out, clinging to him, tears in their eyes.

Jackie blinked in surprise, but quickly knelt down to pat them on their backs. "It's alright," he said reassuringly. "I'm here, and I got the Talisman. Now we can save the tortoise." He glanced around curiously, noticing the absences. "Now where's-"

"Forget Aesop!" Apple Bloom wailed out. "That creepy Nibbler guy's gonna eat Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!"

Jackie felt himself go cold all over as fear settled into his heart. "What? But...why? Why would he eat-"

"We...we saw it on the cameras from the bridge," Jade chocked out between terrified sobs. "He...he somehow knew what they were...and he talked about tasting unicorn and pegasus! A feast of mythical proportions!"

Jackie closed his eyes as he felt something else flow through his veins besides the fear. Unnoticed to him, the white glow of the Rabbit Talisman took on a reddish tinge.

Seeing that, Apple Bloom backed up worriedly. "J...Jackie? What-"

"Stay here," he said firmly, looking Jade and Apple Bloom right in the eyes. "I mean it." The normal kindness and gentleness in his voice was gone, replaced by a hard edge that sent both girls scooting back in surprise. Turning, he zipped off.

As he moved, his mind raced, desperately trying to outrun his magically enhanced feet. He remembered every lesson in martial arts he'd gotten from Uncle, every lesson in discipline about controlling his temper, how dangerous it was - to him and others - to lose control. He heard Uncle's frequent remonstrances from when he was younger.

"Aiyah! Jackie, martial arts is not about power," Uncle insisted. "Turn body into secret weapon, yes, but not one to be used willy-nilly! You must be cautious and controlled. One more thing! That temper of yours will destroy you if you let it! You are like volcano, always about to erupt! Be dormant! The earth shake is more controlled than the eruption, and does not harm the mountain's peak."

Jackie knew how true the words were. The anger and bitterness that had built up in his life from how hard he had to work to overcome the cards he'd been dealt - he tried not to think of the reason why it was Uncle who had all but raised him - was always seething just beneath his gentleness, his kindness. He knew exactly how easily he could go from being a calm, controlled, good influence for Jade and the others to being a true monster.

But when he reached the kitchen of the ship, what he saw blasted all thoughts of self control out of his mind. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were bound and gagged on the counter, a cork stuck on Sweetie's horn, terror in both their eyes as the chef raised the cleaver.

The cold fear, the cool calm, and any trace of self control was erased by the eruption of pure molten wrath. The chef didn't even know what hit him when a clenched fist slammed into his solar plexus at somewhere above 200 miles an hour, knocking the wind out of him and audibly cracking the base of his sternum. The only reason Jackie's fist didn't go completely through the man was because Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were both watching, and enough of Jackie's rational self was still in control to not want them to see him commit murder. The impact was still enough to send the chef flying back through the kitchen. Before he reached the opposite wall, Jackie was behind him, having untied the fillies and catching the chef by his neck and squeezing, his eyes burning as he glowered into the man's terrified gaze.

"Where's. Your. Boss?"


Dr. Carl Nibor was startled out of his calm reverie of classical music as a foot slammed at high speed into his gut, striking hard enough to shatter the antique wooden chair beneath him and send him flying back into the grill in front of the fireplace. "W-what-?"

Lunging forward, Jackie grabbed Carl by his throat and slammed him against the wall, his eyes boring into him. "The only reason your chef is still alive is because my nieces, the ones he was going to cook for you to eat, were watching," he growled out. "Nobody is watching now. A call has already gone out to my friend, Captain Black, to bring government agents to bring you in. If by the time he's here I tell him my only way of keeping my nieces safe was to kill you, he'll sweep the whole thing under the rug...no matter what condition your body's in by the time he gets here, as long as you're already dead."

For all his suave, debonair behavior before, it seemed Carl Nibor had all the courage of a gerbil. "Please, no!" he cried out, desperately cowering behind his arms. "I'll do anything, just don't hurt me!"

Jackie stared down at the one who had put such fear into his nieces that the four were now cuddled under Aesop clinging to each other for comfort. It would be so easy. Just one strike, and he'd pay for everything he'd ever done. Just kick the grate aside and plunge him into the fire, and he'd suffer as he deserved to suffer, as he would have made them suffer. It would be so easy...

Too easy...

"When Captain Black gets here, you are going to tell him everything," Jackie growled out. "Everything you've ever done that could even remotely be considered illegal. And you'd best hope it's enough to get you life in a maximum security prison." He leaned in close, close enough that even with human nostrils he could smell the man's fear. "Because if I ever come across you again..."

Carl's eyes rolled up into his head as he slumped into terrified unconsciousness.

Jackie stared down at the man for a time, then let him drop limply from his grip. Desperately, he struggled do draw in calming breaths, to reign in his anger. So close...he'd come so close to crossing that line...he'd wanted to cross it, just to make him suffer...

Staggering into the next room, he curled up in the corner and wept silently. And that's exactly where Captain Black found him half an hour later when the team arrived to take Dr. Carl Nibor into custody and bring the rest - including Aesop - safely home.

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