//------------------------------// // Episode 22: Caught in the Crosshairs // Story: EoH Evolution: Season 1 // by Bahamut0 //------------------------------// Night Terror scowled as he stared into his vision orb. "Time and again I have sent my warriors against the Elements. And time and again those 'heroes' have decimated my vengeance." Night Terror slammed his fist against his throne! "First Burst Stream aided with the defeat of Nightmare Moon! Then his friend was the one who snapped the Element of Generosity out of my enchantment! Can nothing go as I desire?!" Night Terror fumed as his fingers turned to claws and the throne arms began to crumble! "There just might be my lord." A figure dressed like a gunslinger replied as he strolled into the throne room. "Didn't you have a traitor that you literally marked for death?" "Ah. Dark Reticle. Our greatest marksman." Night Terror said with a smirk. "I take it you are eager for a chance to pursue a target?" He then chuckled darkly. "I want Dark Ice either dead by your bullets, or clingling to life while I end him myself. Take care that he not escape your targeting sights." Dark Reticle chuckled. "Don't worry." He then tapped one of the caster pistols at his side. "There's not a target alive that can escape once I've locked onto them. Dark Ice is as good as dead." Night Terror opened a portal, and Dark Reticle stepped through. No matter where he runs, he can't hide. I always hit my mark. Dark Reticle stepped out of the portal. It had led him to Dark Ice's location. At that moment's Dark Ice's mind was in a state of panic. I can't go to Ace or back home to Cloudsdale. I'm literally marked for death with this seal. Ice frowned as he looked at the seal he'd been branded with since deserting the Nightmare Forces. The lake's rippling reflection mirroring the troubled state of Dark Ice's mind. Night Terror said he wouldn't stop until my betrayal was answered for with my blood. So why hasn't he sicked his whole army on me yet? Is this some sort of sick game to him? Watching me squirm and panic until the very bitter end? He could have just ended me when I stepped in to save Ace! It was then that Ice caught a glimpse of something flying right at him! Dark Ice rolled out of the way of a magic blast! However, the blast soon skidded to a halt before circling back at Ice once more! "What the-?!" Dark Reticle chuckled to himself as his slung his rifle across his back. No need to chase down my targets when my bullets do it for me. Run all you like traitor. It won't stop until it hits you. And if it doesn't end you... Dark Reticle patted one of the caster pistols on his side. I've got plenty more bullets with your name on it. Dark Ice was frantically dodging the bullet as it relentlessly pursued him. Better take this to the air! If I get far enough, maybe it'll short out! Dark Ice spread his wings, and took to the sky! Flying as fast as he could and keeping a constant watch behind him for the bullet. So far so good. Maybe I should have taken up my brother's offer. Here's hoping I can still open a portal to Ace! Dark Ice reached out his hand, and a dark portal opened up. "Yes!" However, Ice's celebration was short-lived. When he was mere inches away from the portal, the bullet pursuing him shot up from beneath him suddenly, and ripped right through his wing! "AGH!" Dark Mist faltered for a moment, and in his desperation to escape he flapped as hard as he could with his good wing to reach the portal! "You can't hide from me." Dark Reticle said with a smirk as he pulled out an item from his coat pocket. It looked like some sort of positioning device. "Even if my tracer bullet didn't finish you off, it still did its job. I know where you're headed. Now all I gotta do is follow you. From here, it's just a waiting game." Dark Reticle opened up a portal to the same location as Ice's portal. Unityville Arctic Ace was on his way home from Twilight's library. His latest aqcuisition being a book of various magic items in Unity known in legend. However, he soon came upon an unexpected sight when a portal appeared above his head and his brother Dark Ice fell out of it! "Ice!" Ace flew up to catch his brother, and immediately noticed the wound in Ice's wing. "Oh man...Sit tight Ice!" Ace rushed over to the hospital, and got Ice checked in before things could get any worse. Sure enough, both the Element of Heroism and Elements of Harmony arrived after Ace sent them all a message of Ice's arrival and condition. However, some of the group were less than thrilled to hear of Dark Ice's return. "I don't get this Ace." Rainbow Dash said with a frown as she folded her arms and wings. "I get that your bro went and defected from the Nightmare Forces. But does that really make up for the times he tried to waste you AND us? He attacked all of Unityville!" "Easy there Rainbow." Applejack cautioned. "Ice is Ace's family. Was he really supposed to just turn him away? Besides. Is it really fair of you to go an' chew out Ice over what he's done when Rarity's been through something so similar?" Rarity looked at the ground in shame, and Inferno Flare put one of his wings around her. "Applejack's right. But if we got Rarity to return to normal, maybe Ace can do the same for Dark Ice." "Actually...you might be right on the mark with that." Ace said. "Inferno. When you were battling Nightmare Rarity...did you notice anything odd about the wounds you inflicted on her? Was there anything coming out of them?" "Come to think of it, yeah. There was!" Inferno replied. "When I got in a slash, there wasn't any nightmare essence leaking out of her wounds. Actually, it was just the opposite. Light was coming out of where I'd hit Rarity while she was taken over. But what's that got to do with this?" Ace narrowed his eyes. "Because in all the fight's I've had with Ice, I always noticed light came from his wounds whenever I landed a hit on him." Ace looked through the window to Dark Ice's room. "Maybe the reason that the Duelist Arms were so effective against the Nightmare Forces is because they were evil to the core. All of the Nightmare Warriors we've fought so far lived to spread fear and inflict pain. But Ice and Rarity? They were simply afraid of losing what they had. The people they care about. Even good people can do bad things that they don't mean..." The whole group remained in silent reflection over Ace's words. "Well you're the Element of Wisdom for a reason Ace." Burst Stream said. Breaking the silence. "You said that Night Terror spilled why Ice joined the Nightmare Forces in the first place. Now he's defected from them, and chances are they're gonna be hunting him down. And I think that wound you saw earlier confirms that. But that brings up a new issue." Steel Edge nodded. "Yeah. Since Ice is now in the location of all their enemies, the Nightmare Forces aren't going to tone down their attacks. Let's not forget that Night Terror has it out for the girls since they were the ones to revive the Elements of Harmony. And he's also got a grudge against you too Burst. Couple that with Dark Ice defecting and coming here, and there's a target on Unityville that's impossible to miss." "Yeah. I know. And that puts everyone at risk." Burst said with a sigh. "But we can't just throw Ice to the wolves to save our own skins. It's not fair to him or Ace." Tyrannus shrugged. "Then why don't we just fight harder? We've all noticed our last couple of battles against the Nightmare Forces were tougher than previous fights. Maybe we should all step up our training a bit." "You'd be wise to do that." Dark Ice said as he exited his treatment room. His injured wing wrapped in a bandage. "Night Terror's been saving up his deadlier warriors. And right now, he's running pretty low on them. Only two are left standing so far. Not to mention he's still got plenty of disposable grunts he can sick on you all." Twilight furrowed her brow in curiosity. "If he has so much, why doesn't he just mount an all-out assault with his entire army?" "Because he didn't want to waste all of his best warriors and leave himself as the last one standing." Ice responded flatly. "And considering I've gotten shot down, he's sent his marksman after me. Dark Reticle. I'm literally marked for death. So if you don't mind, I'll be going now. I saw you all talking about the issue of me sticking around here. So I'll make it easy on you. I'll leave." "I don't think that's gonna matter Ice." Ace suggested. "You forget. Night Terror's got it out for the Elements of Harmony. Even if you leave, there's still a target on this place." Suddenly the sounds of firing rang through the town! "Me and my big mouth..." Ace groaned as he and the other Elements of Heroism summoned their Duelist Arms. The second they arrived on the scene, they spotted Dark Reticle twirling around one of his caster pistols. "Well, well. I figured you'd all show up if I started making a mess of your home." Dark Reticle directed his gaze at the Elements of Heroism. "Name's Dark Reticle. And you're harboring a traitor. Just fork him over, and I'll be on my way." Burst scowled at Dark Reticle. "We're not handing over Ice. So it looks like we're gonna have trouble." Burst fired one of his blaster! Striking Dark Reticle right in the chest! "Well. I guess there's no point in witholding my true intent. I was simply to destroy Dark Ice." Dark Reticle then smiled viciously. "But who's to say my efforts for eliminating Lord Night Terror's most hated enemy won't be rewarded?!" Dark Reticle then readied both of his caster pistols, and fired all over the place! The Elements of Heroism were confused as to why Dark Reticle was firing all over the place. The answer struck them immediately as all the blasts Dark Reticle had fired all homed in on them! Ace managed to raise his shield to block most of the shots, but this made his back vulnerable! A few of the blasts striking Ace's back! The others weren't having better luck either as they tried to duck behind cover or outrun the volley of blasts that were sent after them! But to no avail. Dark Ice was watching the fight from the hospital window, and clenched his fist. This is all my fault. And again, Ace is caught right in the middle of it. Not this time... Dark Ice rushed out of the hospital. "Reticle! I'm right here!" Dark Reticle noticed Ice, and sneered. But before he could fire a single shot, a charged blast from Burst's blasters knocked him to the ground! "ICE!" Burst called out. "We've gotta move this fight out of here!" Both Burst Stream and Dark Ice made a break for the Everfree Forest. Dark Reticle scowled as he slowly rose from the ground. "You can't run or hide from my sights..." Dark Reticle growled as he warped to the Everfree Forest. Perching himself in a tree as he readied his tracer shot rifle. Meanwhile, Burst and Ice hit the dirt as soon as they thought they were out of danger. "Here's hoping that Dark Reticle decided to chase after us." Burst said as he surveyed the area. Only to get shot in the arm from a blast that curved around one of the trees! "AH!" The shot had only grazed him, but it was enough to make Burst fall to the ground. "How did he make that shot curve around the tree?! I thought that was a trick he could only do with his pistols!" "Reticle uses literal magic bullets." Dark Ice answered as he gestrued to his injured wing. "They won't stop until they hit you. I should know." Dark Mist then looked about. Sweat beginning to drip down his face. "Why doesn't he just finish us off right now? He could do it. He knows he could..." Burst blinked. "Ice? Are you scared?" "Am I scared? Am I scared?!" Dark Ice growled. "I'm literally marked for death! I almost killed one of my brothers on multiple occasions! And now I'm being hunted like a dog! Yes! I'm scared! Don't tell me you're not dammit!" Burst chuckled. "Honestly? I'm pretty terrified. Everytime I pick up my Duelist Arms, I know there's a chance that me, one of my friends, or all of us might not come out in one piece. But letting that fear stop me isn't going to help anyone. Standing around because you're too afraid to screw up only makes things worse for the people you want to help." Burst then got an idea. "Stay down. I'm gonna do something stupid." Burst Stream stood up, and called out to Dark Reticle! "RETICLE! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! AND I KNOW YOU CAN PICK US OFF WHENEVER YOU WANT! BUT ISN'T THIS A LITTLE BORING?" Dark Reticle smirked. "Truth be told, waiting around for my bullets to hit their target is quite tiresome. But it's effective." "But when's the last time you got to let loose? Have a real challenge?" Burst called out. "I've got a proposition for you. The two of us one-on-one. An old school shoot-out." Dark Reticle chuckled as he teleported right in front of Burst and Ice. "Well then. You've got yourself a deal. Our showdown's at sunset. Don't be late for your funeral." And with that, Dark Reticle teleported away. "You know he's probably going to have some trick up his sleeve, right?" Dark Ice asked nervously. "I should know. I tried to drive a wedge between you and the others." Burst smiled. "I know. Which is why I've got a little surprise for Dark Reticle when he whips out his cheat." Sure enough, sunset came. Burst and Dark Reticle were standing across from each other. Each one poised to reach for their pistols. "Ready when you are." "I'm on your turf. Just give the go ahead." Dark Reticle said with a smirk. Burst steeled his gaze. "DRAW!" Burst whipped out his blaster, but Dark Reticle threw off his coat! A mini gatling was attached to Dark Reticle's chest! Dark Reticle opened fire, and Burst fell to the ground! The whole crowd gasped in shock! "Lord Night Terror will reward me handsomely. Not only did I capture the traitor, but I als-GAAAUUGH!" A charged blast ripped right through Dark Reticle's chest! Through the hole, Burst Stream could be seen standing! "But...how?!" Burst smiled, and tapped against his chest. A clinging sound could be heard. "Plot armor. Activates when it's most convenient." Dark Reticle didn't have any time to respond before he disintegrated. "Well. Now you're not being hunted like a wild animal anymore." Ace said as he put a hand on Ice's shoulder. "So...you'll stay with us, right?" Dark Ice shrugged. "Yeah. But only because I need a place to crash." Ace chuckled. "Yup. You're your old self again alright." Burst soon approached the two. "Not to sound like a downer, but we'd better start stepping up our training. Ice said there's only two Nightmare Warriors left. And something tells me they'll be the ones Night Terror was saving as trump cards."