//------------------------------// // XX. Reckoning (unedited) // Story: Replicated Wanderer // by QuartzScale //------------------------------// It took a while to find the right room. Diamond Shard fidgeted every few seconds whenever we locked eyes. It was… awkward to say the least but we managed to find the room easily enough. I knocked on the door; two loud punch like knocks and tapping with my middle, pointer, ring then pinky; signaling that I was there. “Oh… it's you. Did you… Diamond Shard!?” Flint cried out as he pulled the filly from my grasp holding her gently against his chest. “Diode was… taken care of.” I muttered under my breath. “Was he like me? Willing to go to whatever lengths to win?” Flint asked back clearly remembering his own attempts. His hooves shaking slightly as the small filly tried to pat his chest in a loving gesture. She instead flailed about hitting him in the jaw. It wasn't hard but he understood the gesture all the same. “Yeah. Yeah he was. He won't be a problem… anymore.” I sighed as I crossed my arms closing my eyes in thought. He didn't say anything leading me inside where all the ponies were sitting on random cushions and the mattress, if you can call it that, resting somewhat comfortably. “Repairs are complete, sir. Arm motors are fully functional once again. The moon had also risen in the intervening time. The three of us warrant caution against Corundum. If he still hadn't sent the last of his troops after you then something is wrong.” Nana informed me. Harpuia and Fefnir added their acknowledgment as well. ‘Can you all lock on to his thaumic signature? I may need to keep track of him if he tries to run.’ I quietly thought as I went to all the captives and ripped off their collars and manacles. I'm pretty sure that seeing someone rip through metal would be shocking. I was lucky it was. Several of the ponies that had been in a daze were jostled awake by the act appearing lucid once more. “Flint. When I head out to get Corundum, are you capable of getting the guard to stand down?” I called out to the now pacified general. “Yeah… probably. Most of the guards were more receptive of me if only because I sent their families to safety before you came. They'll probably stand down if I tell them to.” Flint admitted stopping several glares from the captives who were lucid enough to do so. I also noticed a slight reverence when they looked to me. I suppose this might be a thing… which I hoped I could dissuade them from doing. Though for now I needed to use it for the greater good. Well, the better to not lynch anyone. “All she of you listen to me. I'm going to take out Corundum. You are to follow Flint’s instruction to get out of this alive. I know several of you want to enact justice but don't. I already have his punishment ready for when it needs to be done. Understood!” I shouted out causing a few of them to curl their ears. There was several mumbles but everypony gave their ascent. I went to the door looked my over all the ponies once again before I closed the door behind me. “Charge!” Hurricane shouted as several of his troops went into battle against whatever forces were left of the Crystal Empire. There were only three assassin golems thralled amongst the masses of regular guards. Even the regular guards looked exhausted and several were burnt by what appeared to be electrical shocks. It was close to a rout as the regular pony guards took down the exhausted forces of the Crystal Empire. The Assassin golems made their move at that point sweeping into the earth pony regiments. Thanks to a few strengthening spells the golems didn't outright murder the group but several ponies were taken out in the scuffle. Platinum led the unicorns fire focusing their shattering spells while the pegasi and earth ponies held them off. Within minutes three golems fell and allowed the other ponies to check their wounded. There were twenty deaths in a mixture of both races with only a few unicorns wounded because of their tenacity. It was bittersweet at the moment since the wounded were still out in the snow. With a certain amount of gusto all the wounded were transported back within the city limits and a few homes were designated as medical centers. Puddinghead organized each house down to which name went where and in alphabetical order of how delicious their name sounded. Hurricane made no attempt to understand and merely let her handle things while he prepared the procession for the dead. Second Stand dove down weaving through the enemy troops with his wing blades. They had been dulled down so as to just knock the exhausted troops unconscious rather than kill. The assassin golems had been troublesome at the very least since several of his unicorn troops didn't heed orders well throwing themselves into the fray. The last golem was only taken down through sheer luck of Second crash landing through the head. The unicorns of his troop were hit the worst. Messages from Commander Hurricane immediately forced him to get all wounded back into the city limits. It was at that point Second noticed something far off at the palace. A large procession of ponies were evacuating through the back entrances… until a giant blue fireball shot past them blocking their escape. Second wisely decided not to go charging into danger this day… especially with his wings sore as they were from the crash. Granite Striker wasn't having the best of luck dealing with his front. While the ponies were just as exhausted as the rest, the assassin golems were more vicious than the others. It didn't help that his pegasi forces didn't exactly want to listen to some random ground pounder even at the command of Hurricane. They had rushed in for their glory run only to be stopped by the golems clipping more than a few wings. Granite took point as he and his earth pony troops toppled each golem with precision placed spell work and earth pony ingenuity. It helped that the golems were focused on trying to kill the pegasi. It didn't make it any easier though. When they finally broke through shattering the enemy to bits they got one of their still able flyers to deliver a message to Hurricane. When word got back the troops moved enemy or otherwise back into city limits ready to treat them as was ordered by the three leaders. The dead were placed aside out of the snow so as to not get buried within the flurry of ice and snow. The living needed to be treated and the dead would have to wait. Numbers were coming in… numbers of those who fell in battle. Hurricane scowled as he looked over the numbers noting that they were far above the acceptable deviation. Of the three hundred soldiers he was able to scramble together, being the best of the best, only thirty eight were killed in battle. An assortment of unicorns from Second Stand, several pegasi from Granite Striker, and earth ponies from Hurricane’s own group. It was too evenly matched and left a little confusion on his muzzle. ‘How did we get that lucky…?’ Hurricane looked over the wounded which was far far higher than he liked. They would run out of supplies before they treated everypony… “Commander, when we take the palace I think I can unlock the reserves we’ve kept in the palace.” Concerto called out as she assisted Platinum in bandaging up some of the troops. The worry alleviated off of his back, Hurricane meandered through the fallen making note of all the Crystal Guards. Every single one of them looked like a puppy that had been kicked repeatedly. Morale was low and their battle prowess was barely able to keep the Equestrian Guards from sweeping through them. Corundum, most likely, had them lousily trained. Each was barely better than a foal flailing around a wooden spoon most of the time. Golems had become a deep part of their military might and when they finally faltered and fell it cost them everything. X had proven good to his word as well… striking down well over what they could originally handle. All that was left was to get ready to deal with Corundum… “Puddinghead I’m heading out to make certain that Corundum is taken care of.” Hurricane evenly stated as he hefted his lance. “Be careful Hurricane… we should leave it to X to handle the brunt of it.” Puddinghead evenly warned getting Platinum to come over. “She’s right Hurricane. We can’t have you fall until we’ve gotten those two ready.” Platinum muttered leveling a steely glare on the stallion. “I’m not letting him handle that problem alone. He has all but admitted that he has never killed. As far as I’m concerned it’s like leaving a foal to do a stallion’s job. Nopony deserves that kind of burden. I’ve had to deal with it for more than fifty years… if he’s a reploid, as he called it, then he’s going to be dealing with it for far longer.” Hurricane growled out as he ordered several unicorns to place enchantments on the lance in question. “Hurricane, as much as I understand where you’re coming from, don’t make things more difficult. There is far more at stake if something happens to you.” Puddinghead frowned at what he was about to do. “Just be careful then…” Platinum harshly sighed as Hurricane nodded and flew along the cityline towards the palace. “Damn fool… gonna get himself killed one of these days.” Puddinghead hissed as she kept the rest of the troops down and out of following the Commander. It took me at least half an hour to figure out where to go. The moon shining from the windows recharged my special weapons up to full… though it didn’t help that my energy was low. The Microfusion reactor in my body had been used to handle the repairs and while it was mitigated by the solar radiation, I was low on both. The Solar battery was at sixty percent, while the Microfusion reactor was at fifty percent due to all the repairs that were being done over the course of my encounters. My eyes caught sight of several troops leaving the palace through a back entrance from the window of the fourth floor. I didn’t think I had climbed that far up. “Well… this is gonna be something then…” I groaned as I backed up a bit. Charging up my buster, I dashed through the window shattering it in one go as I fell onto the unsuspecting crowd of ponies firing a level three shot upon them. The blue fireball arced slightly stopping them from retreating further away from the palace. “Corundum!” I shouted out as one earth pony wearing a necklace made from the severed remains of unicorns took sight of me. The other ponies looked fearful the moment I touched down on the ground. “You… look at you. You’re… PERFECT! A golem capable of being more than it should. The very pinnacle of what I am after.” Corundum gushed over me… though he remained a fair distance away from me making certain to keep several guards in front of him. “You idiots! Try and stop him!” “Stop!” It was all I could get out as the ponies immediately dogpiled me in an attempt to slow me down while his small procession led him away. Taking no chances I started to fling ponies from my back as more came out. Several unicorns tried to grab me in their magical field… only to burn out from magical overload. Magic didn’t affect me in any meaningful way unless they were sufficiently powerful. Even then Starswirl on his own could barely lift me an inch even straining himself. I switched to Electric Spark and starting to charge up which caused a lot of ponies to start screaming the order to retreat. I fired, releasing a wave of electricity that knocked every guard that had tried to stop me and the ones that were getting ready to jump me away. The few that were flying or jumping at the time slammed into the buildings that surrounded their escape route. The ones close by were left on the ground paralyzed and shivering as the electricity coursed through them. Meanwhile, Corundum had stopped running… and watched everything that happened… everything that could happen. It was marvelous to his eyes and he wanted it. He wanted it to show the world what it meant to be the pinnacle of evolution. The very thing his so called father had scoffed at that moment. The very thing that cost him his life. Corundum chuckled as he started to trot back the crystal on his neck glowing an ominous red color. “Sir! You need to get out of here!” One of his guards called out. He wound up getting picked up by his neck and hurled directly through a building. “It’s mine. That golem will be mine. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Everything I have ever dreamed of.” Corundum mumbled under his breath as he trotted forward… every single unicorn horn around his neck glowing that same ominous color.as the crystal on his neck. I had finally flung the last of the guards away down one of the alleys. The streets were filled with groaning bodies while I could finally chase after Corundum. I didn’t need to go that far though. “Corundum… as a Maverick Hunter, I urge you to surrender now. I shall take you into custody where you will serve your sentence for as long as you live, regardless of how long that would be.” I leveled my buster at him keeping it fully charged. Unlike Geode, Flint and Diode he had no fancy golem suit or the powers of a chaos being shoved into him. If he was a pure magic user then I would be highly immune to any attack he might try. “A reasonable offer, I’m sure. But allow me a counter offer. Give me your body to start my revolution and I promise not to kill the ponies who dared try to fight against me.” Corundum smiled as he finished those words. I didn’t and fired my buster to punctuate my answer. He took exception to my answer as a shield appeared around him. The plasma washed over it and broke the shield… but did little more. “Sir. We have problems. The thaumic sensor was showing levels that almost reached Discord levels of power. They were certainly stronger than Star Swirl’s attempts to attack us but they are coming from multiple sources.” Nana quickly warned me as she showed me thirteen different magical sources. All converged around Corundum’s neck. My eyes focused on him once more and there were twelve horns draped around his neck each covered by a different gem and glowing a combined color of blood red and whatever said gem was. The thirteenth mark was coming from behind his head and lower on his back… most likely where the spine connected the head to the body. ‘Levels?’ I quickly thought as I charged up again as he suddenly started to float off the ground. “Each horn is releasing five hundred joules of energy. At six thousand joules total that would barely phase you, sir. But remember… magic is cumulative. He is releasing over seventy two thousand joules of energy. It took sixteen thousand just to lift you four inches.” Nana rattled off as I looked at the now floating pony. “Great… he can fly.” I muttered under my breath. The Falcon Armor was still an hour away from fully materializing and I would have the chance to switch before he could disrupt and corrupt it. “Maverick Hunter X! You shall be the crown jewel for my new empire! The very basis for everything I have ever wanted! My revolution will sweep all of Equus and show Faust that she was wrong with everything she had ever done! Golems are the future!” Corundum screamed out as he dove down below towards me. I immediately rolled off to the side as he gouged out part of the streets with his magic. As he flew straight up I followed by climbing the side of the buildings with my dashes. It was close as I immediately jumped a top of him causing him to lose control of his ascent. The shield surrounding him was thin enough that I could hold on to him but do little more. Corundum shook around trying to jostle me from his body as I reared back a fist and tried to punch him. The shock of my punch meeting the shield barely left a mark. The second left a dent and the third made it deeper. Before I could keep up my assault he flew back down and scraped me into the building tearing through the stonework as I fought to stay on. Unfortunately he managed to clip me upon a shoddy metal sign above a small shop knocking me back to the ground. The gyroscopic rebalancer made it so I landed back on my feet skidding to a halt as Corundum tried to regain control. He looked slightly winded from the punches even if they didn’t make contact directly with him. I remembered taking four punches just to break the shield Star Swirl and Mistmane created together. At over four times the strength it would take sixteen punches in succession just to break through… give or take two punches. “Hardly a scratch on you! It’s true you are wonderful X!” Corundum called out from above as he started to charge a magical sphere above his head. “Shut up!” I cried back and fired a plasma shot up at him. The pink helix swirling energy hit the magical sphere dissipating it and knocking him off course. He tried again only this time he flitted around while I fired fruitlessly up. Switching to Homing Torpedo I waited till the last second as his thaumic levels shot up once again before releasing the homing projectile. Thinking he could simply dodge them left him unprepared as five explosions impacted against his shield knocking him into one of the buildings. The magic around him faltered slightly and one of the horns shattered from the strain. Corundum stopped trying to create large explosive spheres of magic choosing to fire off beams of arcane energy. I dashed around using the environment to my advantage using the signs and any other small adornments on the buildings to knock the beam off course. I was about to reach the roof once again… only for Corundum to appear in front of me and shoot the arcane beam point blank. The force knocked me back to the ground and created a large divot through the street twenty feet long. My armor was now sparking at strange intervals and Nana quickly put the holographic representation of my energy levels. In game terms… he had knocked my health by a quarter through one attack. Clenching my fist I got out of the divot and dashed back on the ground. He merely laughed as he continued his onslaught of beams. Switching to Chameleon Sting I charged up and used it to my advantage to get to the roof. The beams sailed through me harmlessly causing Corundum to pause. As I reached the roof he still hadn’t moved shocked from my ability. I charged up again and dashed into him switching weapons at the last minute to Electric Spark. He attempted another beam… only for the wave of electricity to fry through the magic absorbing the potential energy and knocking him back to the ground. Four horns short circuited and the gems shattered leaving them as useless as the first I broke. “X, you truly hold the potential to change the world. When you are mine I shall make sure to use it to it’s true potential.” Corundum smugly stated no longer raising his voice… a calm authoritative tone overtaking his normal demeanor, at least, the demeanor I have seen. “You’re insane Corundum if you think I’ll let you win!” I answered back switching to Storm Tornado. Renewed vigor filled Corundum’s eyes as he elected to go for pure speed. No longer firing beams of magic and with less power to draw on at this point he flew forward. I jumped from the building to the next roof as he effortlessly drilled through the roof creating a large gash… that leveled the building when he was done with it. I immediately kept running as I went back to ground. He came barreling through the street cockily spinning as he rushed through the ground creating a large furrow through it. I waited with bated breath. Forty feet… twenty feet… at ten feet I jumped above him and released Storm Tornado, creating the large cyclone that grabbed Corundum smacking him against the ground over and over again until he tumbled out dizzy and missing two more unicorn horns with gems attacked. With seven gems lost Corundum dazedly stumbled around as I switched back to my buster. He regained composure quickly while I fired a barrage of uncharged shots to keep the pressure up. The shield around him was barely holding. Five horns with only five hundred joules of energy behind them. He was barely higher than Star Swirl’s highest recorded feat at this point. He still managed to get himself back into the air. “I will not be defeated like this… I can’t. The world depends on me making it better than it was. X you have to join me! It’s the only way to make it better!” Corundum foamed at the muzzle, lost was the stoic countenance he delivered to his guards, and now was the true face of madness. It was too bad that all the guards around us were unconscious from the battle going overhead. “Corundum! Give up now! This is your last warning!” I shouted up towards him only to note that my motion sensor was going off… something was coming. “I will never give up!” Corundum shouted as he started to ominously glow once more. Before he could do anything else a lance shot out from behind him attempting to impale him through the lower back. The shield held up until the lance’s magic took effect charging electricity into it and through Corundum. Fire ignited from the tip and the visage of an old pegasus stallion flapped down from the scene before us. “Commander Hurricane… I take it you couldn’t wait for the good news then?” I dashed over giving a sloppy salute… mostly because I was tired and my armor was still sparking at random intervals. “X, I thought I told you he was to be executed.” Hurricane leveled at me before turning back to watch Corundum spaz around while being electrocuted and ignited from the lance. “I promised the pillars I would try their way before. At this point I think I’ve prepared myself to follow through on… the other plan. He’s not listening and I don’t think he’s gonna be much more of a problem now that you’ve done that.” I pointed at his lance while I looked on. The thaumic sensor picked up that several more gems had shattered… the last unicorn horns were down… but the one on his neck, while not pushing off magic, was still there. “Why isn’t he falling X?” Hurricane muttered as he took a few steps back allowing me to take point. “I don’t know…” I quietly changed pink to Rolling Shield and charged up. I didn’t trust what was going on. Corundum floated in midair, burned and convulsing from the lighting, he remained stationary. The thaumic sensor shot up once more as the crystal at the top of his spine seemed to activate. Corundum let out a piercing shriek as his flesh started to rend and twist from his body. It drooped down elongating his limbs into ghastly caricatures of a praying mantis claw. His face developed a rictus elongating out and becoming more deformed. The gem on his back sunk into whatever his body was made of and reappeared on his chest. Several crystal panels appeared within his body giving it more form. He was almost the size of a windigo, but he wasn’t one. “I thought they were all lies…” Hurricane growled under his breath. “What is it?” I asked as I was ready to release a shield around us. “An Umbrum… the ponies of the darkness. Evil incarnates who feed off of hatred like the windigos… but prefer to slaughter everyone and live off the hatred that seeps into the land itself. They aren’t supposed to exist… but legends always have a way to appear true.”  Hurricane scraped his lance against the ground ready to make a stand. “Stay still Hurricane. Let it make the first move.” I warned him as he noticed I was glowing. He understood what it meant and gave me a shaky nod. Neither of us wanted to fight against this monster… but we didn’t have much of a choice. “You will die Hurricane! X shall be my vessel!” Corundum shouted out as a beam of energy formed in his mouth. I immediately released the charge creating a shield around the two of us and allowed Fefnir to amplify it with his ability. The shield was now a deep purple color. The beam impacted against the shield holding up to the onslaught as Hurricane was forced to turn his eyes away. This went on for far too long as the shield started to give way… cracking from the continued force. I picked up Hurricane who balked at my handling… up until I dashed out of the way of the beam as it cracked the shield and tore a hole into the ground that was glowing red hot from the amount of energy used to shoot it. I tossed hurricane down an alley which he took to with flying gusto as I dashed around the ground leading Corundum around. I was the target regardless of what Corundum wanted to do and I made sure to keep it that way. Hurricane came around from behind using the lance to strike at one of the crystal plates. When he noticed I had Storm Tornado charged up and Fefnir connected to overclock the weapon. As he turned to attack I released the tornado… only it was coated in white energy and was far stronger than it needed to be, tearing the ground below me as well. Corundum screamed even louder than he did while he was transformed back into his original form. The energy contained within the tornado exploded outward tearing bits of him away… but it wasn’t enough to fully destroy him. Hurricane dove before he could be laser beamed to death and immediately rushed through the alleys. I took the distraction to get to the roof as Corundum floated back north following Hurricane’s path. ‘Fefnir… unlock the limiter in my buster and unlock the second one I keep on my left hand as well.’ I informed Fefnir as I readied my jump. I would have only one chance to do this. Most people assume that all Megamen of all games have only one buster in their arm. That… is not the case. All of them have except for those in the Battle Network and Star Force series have two. For the most part it is never used due to the strain it causes on the body. Unfortunately… Corundum is not a foe I can just pepper shots into and hope he explodes from all the damage he takes. He is not a reploid. He will not explode if shot enough times. As he turned to notice me my left hand also changed into a buster as well. I pointed them both as Corundum as he charged up another barrage of beams… his maw wide open. Once I reached fourth charge level I released the trigger sending two helix streams of energy at him. Corundum released his own arcane beam. As the two met in midair the streams connected and enveloped each other drilling through the beam into Corundum. He tried to hold it back… only for his own beam to dissipate before he could. The Buster shots connected against Corundum tearing into him and carrying him off north as the magic that seemed to be in my body added to the power behind the shots. The sudden force from the shot sent me down into the ground… where I skid along my back before coming to a stop. I actually felt pain… why? “Master X! Systems are compromised at this point. We need to take it easy otherwise we might not be able to keep fighting anymore.” Harpuia warned me as several readings came up within my vision. I forced myself up. “We need to check on Corundum and stop him in case that wasn’t enough.” I muttered out as I stood back on my feet… only to fall to one knee. Solar Battery was keeping at twenty percent and Microfusion was at thirty. “Stand down X. We can’t kill Umbrums… they’re nigh invincible as far as we know.” Hurricane growled out panting heavily from all the flying he was forced to do. Parts of his wings had iced over slightly. “I managed to hurt him… I need to get out there before he gets back. If he gets back right now I can’t go another round with him at this point.” I replied curtly forcing myself back on my feet. Even as my legs sparked I focused one step at a time. “I’ll get the guards ready and send word to Star Swirl to get him and his companions up here to help. They know magic better than any of us.” Hurricane started… and looked at me. “I don’t like this X but you are right. Keep that… thing busy. He spat out. “As best I can… flat ground is not ideal when fighting a flying enemy.” I mumbled back trying to keep a light tone… I couldn’t. Willpower was keeping me going at this point and I couldn’t keep this up if I had to fight any longer than this. “Get going X… We’ll be behind you when we regroup. We can’t let this chance go by.” Hurricane stated as he took off… flying slower than before towards the southern parts of the city. Corundum was flung through the air slamming down into the snow tearing away at the crystal pieces that made up his body and forced back into a pony like body. The crystal that made up his heart had been chipped and cracked slightly leaving him unable to use much of his magic except to protect himself. As he came to a rest his entire torso was a bloody mess and several bones were visible. The only reason he could keep moving was the darkness pouring out of the wounds keeping the warmth within. His eyes trailed around looking for anything that would seem familiar… and surprisingly they did. Before his eyes was the crystal he found when he was younger. When he got lost from the expeditionary that his father led into the frozen wastes. “Help me you blasted crystal! I did what you asked now help me!” Corundum yelled at the crystal. It merely shimmered and glistened in the pale moonlight. “I did what you asked but it wasn’t enough for my vision. The vessels were destroyed by another… a golem far stronger, smarter and more aware than all the others!” “You should have been more careful… I know what you really tried to do. Traitor! I saw you using that mare’s body for your own use! I gave you the power to transcend into one of us as one more step towards your goal and this is how you repay us! You will receive no help. You will receive no sanctuary. You will die for your treacherous actions against my brethren!” The voice from the crystal rumbled. “Another shall take your place. One more worthy than you. My own son will be the saviour of our race and you… you will be the fool who forsook us.” “No! I’ve been loyal! I made the vessels! I did!” Corundum shouted out. “I don’t care! You have been nothing but a disappointment.” The crystal rumbled once more… before sinking back into the snow disappearing from sight. Corundum looked at the spot once more before he lost it. Blubbering on the spot he attempted to dig the crystal back up… to no avail. Corundum had lost this battle… the power he would have gotten… but his own plan would live on. Golems would be the evolution of this world… his plans were assured. It was cold. I didn’t notice. I couldn’t notice since most of my sensors were lowered. All I knew was the general direction Corundum flew. Nana, Harpuia and Fefnir remained offline for the moment since they also took energy. Corundum needed to be taken care of before it got any worse than that. Looking over my life so far… I would have to admit I was happy for it. I lost a family and a life but in return I got a new life and actual purpose. I wasn’t being led in any direction and my choices almost felt as if they mattered in the long run. It helped that I was something that I liked and was able to figure out how things worked. It wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops with everything I’ve seen… but as I looked back on it I would admit it was enjoyable. Still could have done without the flesh balloons popping. That was weird… and really god damn gross. My sensors blinked once as I finally found Corundum’s unique thaumic signature. It was less than sixty feet ahead of me. I was lucky that Nana completed the feature during the fight. I didn’t want to have to comb the entirety of the frozen wasteland before me for one pony. I was ready to handle what I was tasked to do. Corundum, unfortunately, will have to be terminated.