Note: This happens the next day after the last chapter.
this chapter is not based on any mlp episodes.
More of the mercenaries are gone, great... just great. Miss Pauling thinks gloomy, things for her is just getting better...
Keeping the war going now will be almost impossible and worse, the cameras watching the remaining mercenaries have revealed that some of them are showing signs of awareness of the connection. Something she really hopes she never is going to tell them. Miss Pauling stops her scooter right beside RED base, and about to head inside but stops when she realizes that the mostly remaining team hadn't been joking that half of their base had been blown to pieces. Miss Pauling stare a few seconds of the great sign of destruction- or rather the lack of burn marks. The damage is very, well clean. No bombs could've done that. Perhaps the prisoner can explain what the hell he used against the base and why he decides to wipe half a team out.
She heads inside, hoping that the second part of the report has been wrong. Engineer meets up with her at the door.
"Glad you could come this soon, miss."
Miss Pauling nods, this hasn't been her first time traveling half a country over a single night. Doing it for the mercenaries is her first, though. Last time she did this was because Scout was being stupid and tried setting up some sort of date or something. She's not sure but must admit the fight with that bread monster was sort of worth it. "Medic hasn't killed him?" She asks Engineer
Engineer shifts on his spot. "Well, not yet; been a few close calls, but-" He takes off his goggles, a sign she recognizes that he is going to be serious about something. "-that's the least of our problems. Soldier is starting to act weirder than usual."
"Weirder how?" Miss Pauling asks wary, Soldier has always been a very loose cannon when it comes to being crazy, the only one who could beat him was Pyro but the Firebug isn't here at the moment, so Soldier has taken the spot as the crazy mercenary.
Engineer gestures her to follow, they find Soldier marching around with a very blissful look on his face. Miss Pauling cannot see anything wrong with that. "I don't see anything wrong." For her it means that Soldier won't try kill everyone with his patriotic paranoia.
"He said the president hired him and he has been chosen to guard some town." Engineer says and after have made sure Soldier is out of hearing range, he adds seriously. "And that's without the pony nonsense, said that town he is protecting is filled with hippie poines. Before that, he thought he was a unicorn."
Okay, that is rather weird, Pyro was the one suppose to be talking about that kind of stuff. "Has he been wearing Pyro's goggles lately?"
"Nope, but Spy says he got affected when the other Soldier got— what was it again?" Engineer asks out loud in wonder.
"He got an anvil, a cart filled with hay and a piano dropped onto his head." Spy replies, appearing beside them. Startling both Engineer and Miss Pauling. With former saying highly annoyed. "Stop doing that!"
Spy smirks, it does drop when Miss Pauling asks frowning. "How do you know that?"
"I see and hear what my counterpart has been doing through my dreams." Spy replies, tapping lightly between his eyes. "He didn't see it happen but the Doc's counterpart made sure to tell everyone about it." And of course about that hydra that almost ate him. Must say his counterpart ended up in a weird place, but he also understands why BLU Spy has gotten lazy finding a way back. "While in my waking hours I occasionally deal with his more extreme emotions. Quite curious I must admit, never experienced such things at the War Games." And it is starting to make him think they are more than just clones to one another. Throughout these months, seeing and feeling what BLU Spy has been through, RED Spy here begins theorize they are strongly connected. How he is still unsure about.
Oh no, Spy is getting a bit too close to the truth for comfort. "When did it start?" Miss Pauling asks, doing a very good job hiding her worry about what she is hearing.
"About a week after his disappearance, these episodes sensing his emotions and see what he has been doing through my dreams has gotten stronger over time." Spy replies and is certain that everyone except Scout and Heavy is having the same episodes from their counterparts as him. Demo did mention he got a very sudden and powerful urge to visit his mother for no apparent reason, and Soldier... well, it sure was hilarious watching him suffer the after effects from his counterpart's knockout. Speaking of these emotion episodes. "Tell me, Miss Pauling, do you happen to know why I can feel the BLU Spy's emotions?" Not that he complains, but he does wish these moments of bliss belongs to him and not the BLU Spy.
"Must be a glitch in the respawn machine." Miss Pauling lies and knows she has to report this to the Administrator as soon as possible. Especially when Spy is the one having it, he is smart and it's only in a matter of time before he starts nosing around. "I will get some of our engineers to look at it."
Engineer frowns and feels quite offended by Miss Pauling for not asking him to look at this. "I could look at it, would save you a lot—"
"No, this is out of your field Engie." Miss Pauling stops the Texan, ignoring his offended stare, but the last thing she needs is Engineer figuring out the secret the respawn holds. Turning to Spy. "Until then, I will have to take you off the matches." The connection between the two will be strongest right after a respawn. Spy nods but from the look in his eyes, Miss Pauling knows she has to keep an extra good eye on him. He will try and follow her that's for sure. "Now, your prisoner?" She asks in desperate attempt getting out from this very thin on ice topic.
Engineer leads her to the room most often used for clarification on missions, on the door is a piece of paper with the word 'interrogation' slapped on, from the handwriting, Miss Pauling knows Soldier wrote this. Going inside Miss Pauling is relived and yet shocked finding REDs prisoner alive. There is no doubt about it who this is: the Director, but how can he be alive? She shot him twice in the chest and buried him. Maybe it is someone disguised as him? No, the disguise would've faded the moment Medic started poking at him. Could it then be someone just looking awfully like him? It has to be, for she is certain the Director is rotting in that mine she buried him in.
"Doc, Miss Pauling is here." Engineer declares. Medic turns away from the barely conscious and very bloody prisoner, giving the shocked Miss Pauling a smile. "Ah, so good you could come. This man is quite an interesting specimen."
"How?" She asks, still shocked finding the Director here. By Medic's request, she steps over to the chest open man, then to the bullets Medic shows her. "I pulled these out from his chest, one of them are from our Sniper- he's gone now. And these," Pointing at two bullets she recognizes as she had been the one who put them into him. That proves it who this is, even though she cannot believe her own eyes. "I found one of them luged into his heart, extreme healing saved his life, but," The doctor turns his gaze to the man. "Either he has run out of that healing power or he can only activate it under certain circumstances. He almost died on us when I poked a bit at him."
"You mean when you took out his heart." Engineer remarks from his spot.
"I put it back, and I am glad I did." Medic objects as if they are merely talking about a vase misplacement and returns the bullets back onto the medical table. He takes out a scalpel from the same table and cuts into the Director's arm, letting some sort of black ooze flow out. He steps back, allowing Miss Pauling to see this strange wonder. "Most of his blood has this oily substance in it and it is not oil, its something I have never seen before." He explains, excited to figure out this mystery.
Before he is going to mess around with the Director's organs again and possibly kills him. "I would need to speak with him first, so be kind to put him back together, Medic." Miss Pauling tells him calmly. Medic rolls his eyes but does as asked. After about ten minutes from the healing medigun, the Director is fully patched up and conscious again.
"Get this mental sicko away from me!" He screams, struggling against the strapping and when that fails he cries out loud. "The police- no the entire world is going to hear about this!"
Yup, that's him alright... "Mister Director, I am sorry about your current state, but could you tell me what the last you remember?" He shoots her a glare, declaring. "That this man— who should be in a prison from what he did during the war was you cutting my chest open like he did to those people in Aus—"
"Mention that place and I will truly show you what I did." Medic sneers, holding his bonesaw up to the man's face.
Before the Director can say something there will get him killed, Miss Pauling steps in between. "Medic, what about you take a walk? Engie, go with him." Engineer is smart enough to listen and guides Medic out from the room, leaving her alone with the man. Miss Pauling sighs, that was a close call. Turning to the strapped in man. "Now, tell me what you remember after the interview with me in the mine."
Turns out he didn't even remember that part, in fact: "Your Nazi must've knocked me out and done experiments on me all this time." He proposes which Miss Pauling knows is not true, after the BLU Spy head incident, the Administrator has put up extra cameras around the infirmary and all the two Medics have been doing was putting all kind of weird organs into the other team members. But since this is the Director, Miss Pauling knows that trying to correct him and telling him the truth will just end up with a big headache, so she asks him instead. "What about—" But before she can finish her question, Soldier suddenly barges into the room.
"Prisoner not talking?! Don't worry I'll make him talk!" And before Miss Pauling can stop him, Soldier punches the Directer hard over the head, knocking him out.
"Soldier!" She cries furies at the interruption "I didn't tell you—oh never mind." It wasn't like she was getting anywhere anyway. With a sigh she turns to the slowly returning to conscious man, he looks at her. "He doesn't remember... anything." Miss Pauling stops herself, taken by surprise that the Director's eye color has changed. Instead of black, they are now purple. And he isn't screaming at Soldier either, in fact: he seems more annoyed. Wait what? It might be a stupid idea but it's not like the Director is going to leave here alive. "Soldier, hit him again."
"Yes, sir!" Soldier salutes and hits the Director but as he goes for the second hit the Director sends Soldier a death glare. "Hit me again and you will dearly regret it." He threatens with a slow but very superior tone. Soldier hesitates, sensing he is somehow talking to a superior officer so he does the smart choice of backing down.
With that nuisance over, the man then turns his now bright purple eyes over to the woman, as if for the first time seeing her. "And who you might be little lady?"
Miss Pauling doesn't answer, too taken aback by the sudden personality change in this man. Only when she realizes she was asked a question, she replies him. "Miss Pauling, and you are?"
"Ignis, Soldier of the Solar clan."
Ignis? That's the Latin name for fire. And he is a soldier? No, the Director has never been in the army, less alone a clan with the Latin name of the sun. Is this really the Director? "Um, Mister Ignis, do you know where you are?"
The man looks around for a moment before he turns back to her with a calm: "Looks like a base of some sort— which reminds me. What side are you on: North or South?"
Miss Pauling blinks of that question. "I am not sure what you mean."
Ignis sighs and explains while trying to get his strapping loose "I would like to know if you are confederates or not. Would prefer not beating down people I chose to side with."
Confederates? As in the American civil war? But... that was over one hundred years ago! "Are you talking about the civil war of America? The one to free the slaves?" Ignis nods to then ask her confused. "What? Am I missing something?"
"...That was a hundred years ago."
"Wow, what have I been doing all that time?" Ignis ponders out loud, not at all bothered that he should be a hundred years old. He checks his bindings again and finds what he is looking for. "So, which side won?"
But Miss Pauling did not answer him, instead, she leaves the room and asks the sulking Medic. "Did he have any trace of Australium in him?" Medic blinks, but she really does not have time for this. "Yes or no, Medic."
"No, besides from the black ooze in his blood, there is nothing special about him." Medic replies.
She begs to differ. "Wrong, he just told me he is a hundred years old." She tells him and Engineer, both men get their own form of surprise. Engineer's jaw drops while Medic looks like he really wants to cut the Director- or Ignis up again.
"Actually, I am four thousand years old, give or take a few hundred." Ignis explains while leaving the room, caressing his bit sour hands. Soldier doesn't try and stop him, still thinking Ignis as a higher officer.
Ignis eyes the men and notices the startled look they give him, he shrugs. "What? You learn how to get free from such strappings after have been tortured a couple of times." Everyone in RED base except Miss Pauling and Soldier aims a weapon at him. Ignis is not impressed, though. He rolls his eyes. "Come now, if I was out to harm you I would've done it by now."
"Fuck you man!" Scout snaps at this man, like the rest, he still remembers what happened yesterday. "You burned some of our team members to a crisp!"
"I did not." Ignis objects offended by such a statement, crossing his arms. "I used a teleportation spell on them. They are fine, startled perhaps, but fine."
Hold up, this man is the cause of half the mercenaries getting taken away? Now that she thinks about it, BLU Spy did disappear only a few days after the interview. And with the perpetrator revealed Miss Pauling do sure hope this will be her stroke of luck. "Good, so could you now bring them back?" She asks the very different in attitude Director, but it seems this is not her lucky day.
"Sorry little miss, but they will have to ask one over there." Ignis replies and thinks he may owe these humans an explanation. "I can only transport people with my fire magic when I can see them. I cannot bring those I transported back, but something must've gotten wrong." His purple eyes land on Engineer, clearly remembering throwing a transportation spell at that one. "You should've been transported by my spell."
"Yeah, you transported my clone" Engineer tells him dryly, not lowering his gun in case this fire user decides to try the same with him.
Clone? "What is a clone?" Ignis asks this is the first time he has heard that word.
"A clone is an organism or in our case a person who is completely identical to one another." Medic explains the man, said man turns to him, still looking quite confused. "You mean like a twin?" The man asks and Medic replies with a nod.
Hm, well that does explain a bit, he guesses. Still way over his head though. "Alright, still bit weird and that's saying a lot since I have seen a lot in my time here." Ignis points out, stroking his hand through his hair. There he realizes that his hair, heck his body is covered in dark magic; making it look very weird. "Ah shoot... whatever happened I must've gotten into one heck of a fight with a shadow creature. Ugh, I'm soiled in dark magic." He winches at this knowledge, does explains his large lack of memories. Looking around, he spots something he can use. "Mind I use this?" and with a flick of his hand, the small spark in Spy's cigarette burst into a bigger flame, startling the masked man into a fit of French curses. Ignoring that one, Ignis makes the flames surround him with some much-needed healing fire. Perhaps he should've warned them, for the whole team starts shooting at him. "At ease!" He calls and uses a quick levitation spell to force their weapons down, giving him enough time to dismiss the healing flames and is glad he now looks a bit more like his old self. "I'm not going to kill you! Sheesh, you humans are so jumpy." He snorts and puts a small spell over his flaming hair, making it look like normal human red hair.
Getting over the shock of the sudden fire and loss of weapons by some magic from this one, the team slowly calms down, sensing attacking this one won't work anyway.
Miss Pauling is more shocked seeing this man control fire with his mind and now looking like someone on her age with flaming red hair and somewhat strongly yet still thinly build. "What are you?" She asks.
"An alicorn." Spy replies, much to everyone shock, except Ignis, he is more pleasured surprised. "Yeah, how did you know?"
"My clone mentioned it." Spy says slowly, and has to asks for this new and very strong connection to BLU Spy is starting to unnerve him. "Mister alicorn, do you teleportation spells create weird links to others clone?"
"Didn't happen when I teleported a pair of twins." Ignis replies and titles his head for the only time such a connection happen. "It only happens to split souls, but that is some nasty business." Noticing the sudden tension in the room, Ignis looks around to figure out why. "What? Are you going to try to kill me again?" He asks annoyed of these humans constantly trying to kill him.
"No, not you." Medic turns to Miss Pauling there shift uncomfortably on her spot. "But perhaps someone else."
"Is our soul split?" Heavy asks from his spot, giving the Administrator's assistance a firm look which does make her the more nervous.
For the first time in her life, Miss Pauling is afraid around these people. She knew she should've shot this Ignis the moment he said he was thousand years old. "Of course not." She lies as she had been forbidden to tell them this truth about their current situation, and she might've gotten away with the explanation that they are simply clones if not for Ignis meddling.
"One moment." The alicorn says and puts a hand on Spy's shoulder, showing the man how it feels to get startled. Ignis uses a quick spell and can tell this world's bearer of the Pillars: "Your souls are split. Not as messy as the last one I witness, but still, this is bad news."
"Holy crap!" Scout gasps and probably voices what everyone is thinking. "Our clones are the missing half of our souls!"
"What harm does a split soul cause?" Medic asks this Ignis, for so far it hasn't bothered them at all having only half of a soul. It's only after the disappearance of their counterparts there has steamed up this strange occurrence. Like him suddenly just accepting that RED Demo's sword has a head thirsty spirit inside, it was very weird since he has tried figure that mystery out ever since Demo got that sword.
"And how come I am sensing and having dreams of what the other half of my soul is going through?" Spy asks, knowing that BLU Spy is part of him makes him really reconsider of not wanting him back. He wants his soul back, he wants to be whole again.
"I do not know about the second question." Ignis admits as there could be so many factors about that part and none he is smart on. But he does know what happens if a soul is split for too long. "Getting your soul split causes a lot of trouble. For starters, your lives get greatly decreased—" everyone in the room gasps hearing this and ponders how long they would have before their cut lives have reached their end. "— then there is the longing to be whole again, the longer the soul is split, the worse the longing will become. The last case of a split soul I witness, that poor sod was only a shell of his former self; I presume it was because he had been driving insane at the longing for his second half."
Is this what he is going through now? The longing? How long until these small emotion episodes will get so intense that he will lose his mind? He fears the answers. "How does a split soul mend itself?" Spy asks, everyone in the room turn to the ancient man but to their horror: "I don't know." Ignis says with a helpless shrug.
"Well, I'm not going to sit around while half of my soul is on the other side of the battlefield." Scout declares and would've run off but is stopped by Miss Pauling's words. "Don't bother Scout, you will kill one another."
"Miss Pauling knows about this." Heavy rumbles, he steps over to her and demands what is everyone's mind. "Tell us why."
Feeling there is no way around this, Miss Pauling sighs. "Haven't you taken notice you're feeling extreme hated towards your counterparts?" She eyes every single of the remaining REDs several of them are exchanging glances with one another. "I do not know the cause, perhaps it's an after-effect of the soul split. All I know is that this loath you feel towards your counterpart makes you fight and your need to—as Ignis said it; become whole. It has made you stay close to one another without knowing why. That is why you always return after leave, and that is why we have to bring those Ignis transported back: before you start losing it." She eyes said man there caused all of this, but he is no help by saying:
"Or I could just teleport you over to my world."
Miss Pauling opens her mouth and tells him he should not as this war is halting enough as it is, before she can though, Scout opens his mouth."Uh, why did you transport half of the teams anyway?" Everyone turns to the alicorn in a quiet agreement of their confusions.
Ignis has to take a moment to remember why. "You all for some reason carry the Pillars of Virtue. Don't ask me which, I can only sense them because I was once a bearer of one of them: Bravery or Courage, take your pick. But I lost the right to that when the Beings of Darkness corrupted me, hence to my former appearance." Gesturing at himself for them to get the picture. "I was commanded to go here and retrieve the lost Pillars. It took me longer than wanted but I found them: in you." Gesturing at all the mercenaries.
"So that's why you snatched Sniper?" Scout asks and Engineer adds with his own question. "And the BLU Engineer and Medic?"
Ignis crosses his arms, he is starting to get a bit annoyed by this interrogation vibe he is getting, but he guesses it can't be helped. "As I said; you all have a Pillar of Virtue inside of you. There is something to it I am sure."
"Wait, you kidnapped them on a hunch?" Miss Pauling asks in disbelief, more so when this ancient human shrugs like a child not realizing he is in deep trouble. "When you say it like that..."
Quote to her face-palming. "Oh my god, how can a millennia old being like you do such a thoughtless act?"
Ignis can't help but laugh at this. "What can I say? Immortals like me do— as you say it, human mistakes as well."
"You're immortal?!" Miss Pauling gasps utterly shocked getting this new fact.
"All celestial alicorns are immortal." Said immortal says as if it's no big deal, it isn't for him anyway. But even though he won't die of old age, he can still die of hunger. "And this immortal is starving, do you have anything to eat? No meat, if you please." And leaves the dumbfounded humans in search for something to eat.
Heavy is the first to recover from this shocking newsflash about their new... guest. "Say to Administrator we need talk." He tells Miss Pauling hard before leaving to aid their new immortal guest finding food in their kitchen.
"I agree with Heavy." Spy says as he fears he is the one who most has to worry since BLU Spy— the other half of his soul has been gone the longest and thus he has the bigger chance of losing his mind first.
Okay, this before annoying situation is getting serious. So unless she wants these men on her bad side and shoots her the next time she visits them. "I'll get a hold on her right away." Miss Pauling says and hurries over to call the Administrator, worried how much trouble she will be in from how Ignis told the RED team about the truth to why BLU team looks like them.
To be honest, the Administrator wasn't happy about this new development and at evening, the remaining of RED team along with Ignis can get a chat with the woman. Ignis did ruin the serious moment by showing an almost childish wonder when seeing the transportable television the Administrator uses to communicate with the mercenaries.
"So, is this human magic or what?" Ignis asks in a wonder of the object strapped to the messager and has a grouchy woman inside. "For even with my magic, I can't make myself THAT small."
Helen is not amused by this one bit,"Of someone who is a thousand years old, you aren't very smart are you?"
Ignis shoots the woman inside this object a glare. "Listen lady, last time I was in control of my own mind, you humans gun couldn't fire more than once and you sure hell didn't have machines like the microwave. So my apologies if I a bit out of date as of late."
"And out of touch."Helen remarks, and after a long inhale of her cigarette."You have been causing me a lot of trouble with your reckless behavior." She points out and while on that topic."So I would ask you return my mercenaries back so we can return back to the war."
"Can't do that, I have to be there in person to teleport someone else and since I am still on a mission and kinda stuck here myself. I can't go back to fetch them for you, so..." Ignis on purpose trails off, letting this very unlikable woman figure out herself that her mercenaries will have to spend a bit more time in his world.
Speaking about coming here. "How did you end up here?" Engineer asks this very old but very young looking man.
"Dragon magic mixed with my own." Ignis replies simply, noticing the odd look everyone except that woman gives him. "... I forgot to check if this world had any dragons. Turns out: you only have them in legends."
Scout just can't help but laugh how stupid this seemly immortal man is. "Man, you're dumb." To then shooting Spy a glare when that snake remarks back. "Says the idiot who tried jumping over an active sentry gun." And said immortal laughs much to Scout's annoyance.
But in all seriousness. "I'm a soldier, I never thought I would be the one going here, but one of my people's scholars. But it was desperate times, my people were in a war with disharmony in itself— I sure hope everyone is alright..." He muses, for sure a lot can change in two thousand years.
"If rest is strong as Ignis, then your people will be fine." Heavy ensures the man, Ignis sends him a thankful glance but he did not really look convinced.
Helen honestly doesn't give a darn about that man's people, all she cares about is getting her hired guns back so she can return back to this staged war."You owe me soldiers Ignis. And if you cannot bring those you took back, then you will have to fight in their place."
Ignis can't help but chuckle at this woman thinking she has the hand over him. "And what will you do if I refuse? You have nothing over me and your remaining soldiers already have seen what I can do." He has fought armies bigger than this bunch and although their weapons have become better, they can still not hold on a burning piece of metal.
But Helen has other plans with this one, according to the video she got from his first attack: Ignis is a one-man army with a ridiculous soft heart. Something she will use against him."I doubt you will refuse my offer mister alicorn. If you do not fight, then half of their souls will perish—"
"What?! You going to kill us?!" Scout exclaims horrified which quickly turns into anger. "Fuck you lady!"
"We're not going down without a fight!" Soldier declares loudly.
"I certainly hope so."Helen replies somewhat gleeful she managed to rattle these morons."A new and bigger army of robots are attacking and—" She flicks a button outside the screen, the REDs flinches feeling a small pain going through their bodies, unaware that the BLU team felt the same."Your respawn is down."
"WHAT?!" The whole team shouts horrified more so when the alarm goes off followed by the Administrator calling out for both teams. "The robots are attacking, protect Mann co!" With her adding to the RED team new visitor. "Don't bother sending them all to wherever you have been sending them. Their integrated hatred will make them kill each other before they get the chance to figure out how to become whole again."
"As much I hate to agree with her... she's right." Spy says, he has more than once tried to converse with his BLU counterpart, but it always ended up with them fighting and one of them going through respawn.
Speaking of them wanting to kill their counterparts. "Scout and Heavy, your counterpart is still around; so you better stay clear of them." Engineer says and pulls Medic over to his workshop. "And we better find a way keeping everyone alive." Medic agrees and follows Engineer so the two can brainstorm ideas to their now lack of respawn.
The rest reluctantly moves out to defend this place and mainly themselves against the army of robots. Ignis follows but does stop to tell the smirking woman on the screen. "You are one evil woman."
"Don't flatter me."Helen replies of what she considers a compliment. Trashing her cigarette, she tells her assistance."Return back to headquarters Miss Pauling, I have a few missions for you."
"Yes, ma'am." Miss Pauling nods and leaves along with the messenger, she does feel a bit bad for the mercenaries but has long learned to push such emotions aside; her loyalty does fully belong to Helen. She drives away from the battlefield, listing to the sound of bombs going off and bullets getting fired against the robots send by some unknown enemy.