//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: The Escape // Story: Daring Do and the Empire of the Crystal Skull // by Amethyst_Dawn //------------------------------// Daring looked on disappointedly as Bonbon walked over to join the group of soldiers, all of them keeping their guns trained on her. “Have any last words, Daring Do?” Caballeron asked, perched on top of the metal box. Daring let her eyes dart across her enemies as she reached into her vest pocket: “When I set out to do things, they always get done…” She produced a small grenade, causing one of the soldiers’ eyes to widen as he looked down to an empty pouch on his belt. She pulled the pin and threw the explosive into the air, effectively panicking- and distracting -all who were present. Thanks to a well-timed shot from the weapon Bonbon had seized, the grenade blew in midair. When they all returned their attention to Daring Do, she was already on the run: ducking behind some crates just in time to dodge the torrent of bullets they sent after her. “Spread out!” Col. Dawn shouted at the soldiers as he took to the air. “Don’t let her get away!” Two soldiers ran around the pile that Daring ran behind, just in time to notice her clambering to the top. They let their guns loose: splintering crates and leaving dents in the rafters above. One of the bullets barely missed Daring’s flesh, yet split the rope that had bound her wings down, allowing her to flex them once more. She was about to take off when another three shot straight through her left wing, grounding her as flecks of blood flew around her. She groaned at the pain, and looked up in time to see Caballeron and his goons driving off in the horseless carriages, hoping to escape with the coffin. She ran back, quickly snagging the rope which had bound her a moment earlier, and ran across the mountains of crates as bullets whizzed around her. She swung her forehoof back, and snapped it forward: whipping the rope around one of the rafters above them. She held on, and put her entire momentum into the swing, aiming directly for Cabalerron: only to have her rear hooves barely scrape the rear of the vehicle. Her pupils shrank as she reversed direction, crashing through the glass shielding of the trailer directly behind her: causing the entire cabin to become misshapen, and shocking the two occupants she had landed between. She shook the glass of like it was baking powder, and stared irritably at the car ahead. “Damn, I thought I was closer!” She grunted. She snapped both her forehooves out to her sides, knocking the soldiers out before they could react, immediately before shoving them both out the doors and taking the wheel of the construct. She planted her hoof firmly on the gas in hopes to catch up with the Doctor and the crate as they sped along the alleys, until Daring sped up, and rammed the back of Caballeron’s truck: forcing him to look back in surprise. He had done so just in time to see her leap from the driver’s seat, run across the hood of the truck, and throw herself onto his chariot. He was about to grab her when she lashed out and struck him: knocking him out of the vehicle, and into a large crate. Smiling at her success, she turned sharply, turning the side of a particularly large crate to splinters as she smashed through it. She drove on, not realizing what she had just uncovered. For, within lied the skeletal remains of a large creature: whose tail clutched a golden cane decorated with an Alicorn’s head in its fingers. After a brief moment of relief, there came a violent noise like a strangled goose from behind her. She swiveled her head over her shoulder, and instantly sped up when she saw the huge truck barreling along behind her. Only to discover herself trapped between the truck, and the silver beetle that was carrying both Col. Dawn, and Bonbon. Bonbon, seeing the situation they were in, glanced over to the determined Colonel. “Colonel, stop yourself here, you’re not going to win this.” Col. Dawn just gave her a glare that demanded her to never question him again. To which she shook her head, grabbed the first handles she saw, and muttered. “You don’t know Daring…” The beetle was headed directly for Daring in the front, while the truck loomed behind her. Thinking fast, she looked up, estimated her strength, and leapt out of the cab with her good wing beating viciously: giving her just enough of a boost to cling onto the rafters of the warehouse. The Colonel’s pupils shrank as his prized beetle collided head-on with his boss’ own vehicle. Only to be met moments later by the speeding truck: resulting in a mass of bent metal, burst rubber, and bruised flesh. Bonbon lifted what she could of the fractured roof off of herself, and then flinched as Dawn pounded his way out. As soon as he had heaved himself from the wreckage, Bonbon shot him a dark glare: “Any more bright ideas here, Black?” In one swift move: Dawn tossed her from the wreckage, and into a pile of crates, quietly snarling as he threw his eyes towards the devious Daring Do. Daring hoisted herself up onto the rafters, and booked it through them: leaping nimbly from beam to beam. More soldiers clambered onto the boxes, and unleashed a maelstrom of bullets after her, giving her a strange sense of Deja-Vu as they either ricocheted off of the rafters beneath her, or impaled the ceiling above. Dawn himself drew a smaller weapon, and blasted away at her. A few bullets grazed her, making her flinch, but she wasn’t about to let them know that they got close to hitting her. Dawn’s gun started clicking after twenty careful shots, its bullets spent in his rage. Throwing it aside, he cried for a ceasefire as he flew into the air after her. Daring was almost to her destination: the window at the edge of the building, when all the shooting stopped. Out of nervous reflex, Daring looked back only just too late to dodge the fuming Colonel. He rammed into her full speed: forcing both her and him out the window, and into the air. They both landed in a heap onto a skylight in the ground, with Dawn pinning Daring to the glass. He drew back his hoof for a vicious blow, only to have her duck, making him strike the glass strong enough to make it shatter, and dump them both onto a small suspended platform below. Dawn struggled to get to his hooves as the shattered glass sprinkled around them, but he suddenly felt something cold and hard wrap around his chest. Daring tightened the chains around his midriff, and kicked him in the stomach, forcing him off the platform. With a yank: the officer was now dangling by the chain, with several cracked ribs, and the excess links weighing him down. It took all of his wingpower not to suffocate on the noose. Daring ran to the other side of the dais, and jumped off in time to catch a large, swinging wire. She glided over to the wall: hanging onto the rubber cord with her forehooves, before pushing herself off with her hind legs. She swung back, and bucked the unwary Colonel through another window: bringing the chain with him. She grunted as she landed on some other sort of chariot underneath. 'How many types of pony-less chariots are there on this base?!' She scoffed inwardly. With a groan of agony, Dawn crashed onto a large control panel, bringing out several sparks that burned his flesh, and placing a giant dent throughout the mechanism. He rolled onto the floor with a thud, and gave a disgusted groan, not noticing the countdown that he had started. 10… 9… 8… Daring slipped on a small puddle of her own blood, and fell back-first onto the chariot, grunting as she slowly tried to stand on her hooves. Suddenly, a loud clink to her side caused her to look back to the observation room she had thrown Col. Dawn through, only to see him holding the chain while standing wearily in the broken window. A large section of his left side looked dented, and blood ran in a small stream from his snarling lips. He curled the chain around his hoof, and lashed out again: striking the floor of the cart in between Daring’s hind legs. When she saw the wounded officer prepping for a more accurate strike, Daring Do scuttled backwards before Dawn could swing the chain again. Instead of aiming for her with his next strike, however, Dawn flung the links forward like a spear: grazing her ear and impaling the wall behind her. He pulled back on it: hoping to gain a boost as he jumped forward with his hind leg extended, ready to deliver a fierce kick to his adversary. Daring caught the intention in time to dodge the majority of the blow, yet he still managed to severely clip her jaw as she ducked: sending jolts of pain shooting through it, and knocking her onto her rear. The missed blow, however, also knocked him off-balance: sending him sprawling on the floor. He felt a loose rib grow uncomfortably close to his stomach as he stood, and charged the mare again. Daring took what little of the chain she could, and swung randomly. The officer cried in pain as a blunt gathering of links struck his cheek, throwing him onto the back of the cart. 3… 2… 1… At that moment, several Loshads rushed in, with Bonbon trailing behind. Bonbon noticed the cylinders on the back of the cart rearranging, however, and ducked behind the corner as the others charged out: only to have them be met by the blaze of the rocket’s tail. When the vehicle launched itself, Daring was thrown back beside the Colonel as it sped up: locking them in place. The construct flew out of the tunnel along a great track, its speed greater than anything poor Dawn had experienced beforehoof. As the G-forces built up, and the thrusters pushed them across miles of open desert in seconds, Dawn felt himself growing very weary. Soon, his eyes rolled up into his head, and he passed out pathetically. Daring looked over to the unconscious pony as they slowed to a stop, before dizzily stumbling out into the sierra to her left. “Amateur…” she muttered hoarsely, ducking behind a dune as the remaining Loshads drove up to the car, picking up their defeated leader. Unsteadily, she started to make her way through the desert, heading east in hopes of finding Appleoosa.