Back outside of the cave, Quantum Tech, Zebota and Shrapnel continued to wait for any bandits that might try to set up an ambush for their comrades. Nopony was coming out, and they were starting to get bored.
“<sigh> They must be having quite an easy time in there…” Quantum said.
“I’d say you and I earned this respite after being trapped beneath the earth in those dangerous ruins.” Zebota said. Shrapnel nudged his master and grunted. “I did not mean such a thing, my friend.”
“What did he say?” Quantum asked.
“He warns us to not forget to think of the others apart from our own welfare.” Zebota answered.
Quantum giggled. “Good boy, Shrapnel.” Shrapnel huffed.
“He says not to patronize him.” Zebota said. His annoyed tone and expression seemed to mirror his statement.
“Er….You do realize that you say things like that to him as well, correct?” Quantum asked.
Zebota rolled his eyes. “It is…..a force of habit…..yes.”
Quantum giggled. “Whatever you say, Zebota.” Suddenly, a trio of the bandits came running out of the cave, and the two foals and timberwolf reacted. “I think not, you scoundrels!”
What Quantum failed to notice was that they gruesomely bleeding and looked like they had just woken up from a horrific nightmare. “P-P-Please!! DON’T KILL US!!” One of them pled. They collapsed to the ground trying to control their bleeding.
Quantum noticed their state and gasped. She got out of her mech and rushed to them with a first aid kit in tow. “Quantum Tech, are you a fool!? This must be a trick!” Zebota warned. He kept his guard up.
Quantum turned to him and pointed to the bandits’ terrible wounds. “Do they look like they’re in any condition whatsoever to pull any stunts!? Surely they didn’t do this to themselves for that sake!”
One of the bandits looked up at Zebota with pleading eyes. “Yeah! We didn’t! It was that filly!” she said. She then noticed Shrapnel and silently panicked. “U-U-Umm….”
Zebota looked up at his monster, and then back at her and smiled. “Do not worry, ponyfolk. He is tame.” Shrapnel grunted as if to greet them.
The bandits just looked at them and each other with confused expressions. “Man, zebras are weird…” one of them said.
Zebota glared at them and shook his head. “Ponyfolk…” he muttered to himself. “I will just pretend I did not hear that and decide to heed your claim.”
Quantum wasted no time patching up their wounds. “<sigh> If only Greensprout were here…” she muttered. Zebota eventually decided to help after assessing that they were indeed not a threat. “What happened down there? Who is this filly?”
“That bat-s*** insane pegasus filly with the bow! You with here!?” one of the bandits answered.
Quantum and Zebota looked at each other in shock when they immediately realized who they meant. “Bullseye!” They said simultaneously.
“Quantum Tech, stay here and tend to them. I must go to the others. They surely must be trying to stop her.” Zebota said.
Quantum nodded. “Ok. Be careful down there.”
“Yer gonna find yourself at a fork that branched into three paths. She’s down the one on the right.” One of the bandits explained.
“Thank you.” Zebota said. “Do not think to try anything of malicious intent, or I will not hesitate to antagonize you again.” He warned. He drew his tomahawk and charged into the tunnel.
The bandits then looked at Quantum tech, who had a guilty expression on her face as she patched the last of their wounds. “I’m so sorry, all of you. We never meant for this to happen. We only wanted to confront you about the train you pillaged that resulted in its conductor’s death.”
“Oh….that……Yeah…I think I know how the geezer felt just before he kicked the bucket.” One of them said.
*****
Fire Fight, Shadow Shroud and Kickback ran down the middle tunnel ready for what they might encounter. It was a pretty long trip, so they presumed that it must’ve led to the middle of their lair where their boss probably waited. Along the way, they felt a little tremor rush through the earth around them that nearly caused them to trip.
“Well, Turf War didn’t waste any time, huh?” Shroud said.
“He never does, and neither will we!” Fire Fight said.
“Sound n’ Fury are ready to start talkin’!” Kickback said. About a moment or so after the tremor, they finally found the end of the tunnel, and just as they suspected, before them was the inner sanctum. Much of it was a little messy, likely due to the sudden quake. It was littered with not only trash and debris, but also bandits.
“The hell was that shaker just now? Is this an earthquake zone or somethin’?” one of them said.
“It shouldn’t be. We aren’t close to any fault lines.”
“Quit worryin’ about some damn quake, and clean this up!” A mare commanded. She was a rather big and burly mare that looked to be in her mid-thirties and had a very serious, yet devious look on her face.
“Y-Yes, Rocky Mountain, ma’am!” another of them stammered.
She was clearly a mare to be feared, but the Battle Foals feared nopony. The foals hid behind some rocks at the entrance to observe them. “Shroud?” Fire Fight said.
Shadow Shroud smirked and donned her mask. “You needn’t ask.” She silently leapt into the shadows of the chamber and awaited the perfect time to strike.
It was then that Air Slash and Crazylocks suddenly appeared. “Oh! Hey, guys! I guess you’re done on your end?” Fire Fight asked.
“That is correct.” Air Slash said. “Greensprout went to aid the others. Perhaps we should wait for them before engaging the enemy?”
“That ain’t a bad move, partner.” Kickback said. “Matter of fact, why don’t go help ‘em? We can tackle one place at a time now.”
“Hmm…Yeah, that might not be a bad plan. Better to save to the big boss for last.” Fire Fight said. He looked up at a specific point in the shadows across the room from where they were and motioned for something to come over. A familiar pair of amethyst eyes then shined from darkness and noticeably nodded at him before vanishing. Seconds later, Shadow Shroud reappeared before them. “Hey.”
“What is it?” Shroud asked.
“Air Slash and Crazylocks cleared their end, and Greensprout went to help the others. We’re gonna go too so we’ll have more horsepower for big girl over there.” Fire Fight explained.
“Oh? Hmm…Fair enough.” Shroud said.
“I’m surprised you were able to detect her presence so easily.” Air Slash said.
Fire Fight shrugged. “I guess I’m used to her by now.” He said. Shroud gave him a devious smile. “Alright. Let’s hope they’re not having too much-”
“BOSS!! BOSS!!!!! HEEEEEELLLLLP!!!!!!”
The foals suddenly heard somepony scream from within the tunnel they just came through and looked into it. Galloping their way was a little group of the bandits who seemed rather terrified of something. They readied themselves to fight the thugs, but they ran right past them without giving them any attention. “Hey! You’re supposed to say ‘bonjour’ whenever you run screaming past somepony!” Crazylocks blurted.
“GET BACK HERE SO I CAN MAKE ARROWHEADS FROM YOUR BONES!!!!” Bullseye suddenly soared right past them with an arrow nocked back to her bow and the devil’s wrath on her face. It was then that the foals noticed that there was a trail of blood drops where the bandits ran, and that’s when they assumed the worst.
“Oh, crap…” Fire Fight said. Not even a second later, Turf War, Spiral Galaxy, Greensprout and Zebota appeared by them.
“BULLSEYE, PLEASE STOP!!!” Greensprout pled.
“Huh!? WHAT THE HELL!?!?” Rocky Mountain exclaimed. The bandits that ran in collapsed to the ground in front of her, and everypony was shocked and appalled when they saw horrible wounds lining their bodies. Their bleeding was like a series of red waterfalls that drenched their coats, and their expressions were that of little foals trapped in an unending nightmare, especially when they looked back at Bullseye. “WHAT’S GOING ON!? WHO’S THE KID!?”
“RRRRRRAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!” Bullseye just fired her arrow at a torch hanging on the wall, and it caused the torch to fall into a small cluster of barrels marked ‘flammable’.
“OH, F***!!!” Rocky Mountain exclaimed.
“NOOOOO!!!!” Fire Fight shouted. He ran out from their cover to try and suppress the inevitable inferno, but all anypony could do was brace themselves until mere seconds later….
<BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!>
The first barrel that exploded sent others surrounding it flying in all directions, and they exploded afterwards on impact from hitting a wall, or in mid-air when their contents were agitated enough. Everypony found themselves in a daze in what was now a near blazing-hot room due to the blasts. A lone bandit who had a particularly strong psyche managed to regain his senses much quicker than the rest. While he was still a little woozy, he was able to look around albeit with his vision fading in and out. There were some flames burning in piles of debris and destroyed wooden furniture, and smoke filled the room. His biggest concern was the mad filly with the bow……….
………………………………………………………………………………………………“GIMME YOUR NECK!!!!!!!!!” Bullseye suddenly appeared by the bandit when his vision randomly stabilized and slammed herself into him while jamming an arrow into his mouth. Her left eye seemed to shine its devilish crimson from underneath her mane. She then ripped it right out, tearing the bandit’s gums to shreds in the process; he screamed in horrible agony.
She then nocked an arrow onto her bow and took aim at him, but she was suddenly struck by somepony ramming into her, and she was knocked off-balance. “BULLSEYE, THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” When Bullseye looked up, she saw that it was Fire Fight, and he was holding her down with quite the unhappy expression on his face.
Bullseye glared and snarled at him like a wild dog clashing with an animal trapper. “OUTTA THE WAY, F***FACE!!!” She firmly swung her bow at him, hitting him right in the eye, and causing him to loosen his grip.
“AH, S- uh…CRAP!” Fire Fight exclaimed. “Man, Turf War’s starting to rub off on me.” He thought to himself. He tried to regain his grip on Bullseye, but she slipped right out of his hooves. He could hear her laughing sadistically as she flew away.
“Hehehehehe……HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!! PAAAAIIIIIIINNNNN!!! WONDERFUL PAAAAIIIINNNNN!!!!!!” Bullseye managed to flap her wings so hard, that she managed to clear the much of the smoke filling the room away, revealing all but the bandit’s leader cowering in fear if they weren’t already badly wounded from Bullseye’s rampage. She nocked an arrow back and readied it to fire, but she was suddenly struck unexpectedly by a bolt of magic. “AIIEE!!! M***********!!!” She dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks.
When she looked up, she saw Spiral Galaxy’s horn flickering as she glared down at her. “How’s that for pain, huh?” she scoffed. Greensprout went around healing the wounded bandits and her comrades, giving her sincerest apologies as she did. Shadow Shroud and Zebota went and apprehended Bullseye.
“What the hell’s going on!? Who’re all o’ you foals, and what’s the deal with this little Blood Cupid!?” Rocky Mountain demanded. Fire Fight took a deep breath and mustered his courage. He’d been planning to fight these marauders, but it things took a turn for the worst, and it looked like any fighting was going to have to wait until they dealt with their mutual problem first….