When lightning strikes...

by FrostTheWolf


Strike 59- Can't Escape...

When Lightning Strikes- Can’t Escape...


QUILL Base

        “Hola Amigo, it’s been a while.” Sombra greeted the Azure Striker outside his base, dropping her cloak that was hiding herself. “I was wanting to get the chance to speak to you when you had the time.” Of course, she took some extra precautions while she was waiting. Going as far as to disable any form of outdoor security in order to not trip any potential alarms. Plus… she happened to know a few things that he didn’t know at the time.

        “Yes it has… but it seems a bit reckless of you to be meeting me out in the open where my team is inside.” The Adept recalled, thinking that someone from inside would notice what’s going on from there and come out of there immediately.

        “Are they though?” Sombra questioned. “Because according to the communication feed inside your own base, Vixen went to see her father, the one you called Sparkler decided to go check on her parents after a particular… incident in Manehattan and right now, the only person inside is your friend, who’s busy having a nap.” That was followed by Sombra projecting three screens to him. Each one verifying everything that she said just now. “I believe with that in mind, the reckless one would be you since you have no backup.”

        “So much for probably being able to hold down the fort while I’m gone…” He thought to himself, letting out a deep sigh before folding his arms and then asking Sombra a question.“And what makes you suggest that I would try anything?”

        “Come on amigo… I believe there’s a way for us to work together. Especially since this is about a little problem your team is coming across,” She snickered in response. “But if that’s not going to convince you… then I can always let my new amiga have fun with you~. She is quite a Railgun, from what I heard.”

        That last statement though… triggered a memory inside of his head. “Wait… you have Roach’s daughter?”

        “Yeah…” Misaka walked out of… well, nowhere. Lance felt her electromagnetic field, and it was strong. Almost as strong as his septima… if not stronger. Which startled him at first before he had to calm himself down.

        But… it left Sombra a bit surprised at one thing as she looked back at both of them. “I gotta say, Amigo… How do you know about my new friend here being the daughter of Roach?”

        “That’s… a lot to explain,” Lance replied, before he began to go a little bit in depth about his meeting with Roach. Even explaining as far as to why he was meeting him in the first place. But there was one detail near the end of his explanation that didn’t set in well for Sombra’s new friend. “When I met him… and before he could try and tell me about something I’m looking into… He told me that he wanted me to look after his daughter, but never told me her name. All he said was… and I quote… ‘She’s quite the Railgun’. Then I was coming back here and then was greeted by you two.”

        “Ya veo…” Sombra muttered to herself for a moment, before looking to Misaka for a moment. “What do you think about that, Misaka?”

        “Dad was always the cryptic type. And yeah, Railgun is my ‘Gunvolt’.” Misaka stated. “Now, business. I don’t need protection.”

        “And I think you demonstrated that clearly…” Lance told her in response. “Besides, I think Sombra made the right choice with having her be with you.”

        “Gracias, amigo…” Sombra smirked, before thinking about something for a moment. “So… You mentioned that you are having some kind of problem with some ponies that just disappear? Like ‘poof’ before disappearing into smoke?” Lance could only nod at that for a moment, before wondering what she meant. “I may have something… but I would like to talk this over with Misaka first before we make any offers.”

        “Feel free to take as much time as you need.” He insisted, which lead to Sombra walking a few feet away and having Misaka follow her before Lance decided to rest against a wall.

        “So… Here’s what I was thinking…” Sombra began to talk to Misaka. “I have the information they need and also know where to find out more… but in exchange, they need to do something for us. Did I mention to you that Suicide Squad run by the pony named Lauren Order?”

        “Yeah,” Misaka said, expressing only boredom. “Twice.”

        “Well, she has one of my friends in there with a bomb strapped to her neck,” Sombra recalled, remembering her encounter with Astra before. “If we are to even offer this to Lance, then he needs to provide us with two things… first, a contraption to disable that bomb… and second, security access to where your father is being held at. That way, we can find him and come up with a plan for you to kill that Hijo de Puta.”

        “And one other thing… But that’s for me to know, and you two to find out.” Misaka said smirking. Leaving Sombra to raise an eyebrow at first, before ultimately sighing and nod her head in affirmation. Shortly before the two of them decided to walk back over.

        “So, here’s the offer… We’ll be able to provide the information that you want and also provide the best course of action for it, but in exchange, you need to do two things for us,” Sombra cleared her throat as she began to explain. “For one of these things, it relates to what we have to tell you… but the other thing is that you need to get us access to the security network of the Zero Zone. Just drop down a transmitter the size of a bit and you would be set.” Personally, Lance was a little surprised to hear about something like this from the both of them. Then again though, he did not have a lot of options when it came to this kind of thing, so he shouldn’t be able to complain about it.

        However… before he could be able to say anything, that was when he heard a loud ringing from his communicator. An emergency distress signal.

        “Lance… We need you back inside now!” Katy yelled over the speaker, just as Lance looked back at Sombra.

        “Don’t worry, amigo… Think it over,” Sombra told him before turning around and beginning to walk away with Misaka right next to her. “We’ll be back when things are… less chaotic.”

        “Ironically, it’s never less chaotic… ever…” The Adept thought to himself before making his way back inside. Slamming the door behind him and looking around for a moment as he tried to find where his team… or more importantly… where Katy was. But before he could even begin looking, that’s when he felt something off.

        It was familiar… but not in a good way. And when he went into the combat training room in order to look for Katy, the presence was getting much stronger, heavier even. Like it was right… behind him. “I’d figure you come eventually… Hit.” But before he could turn around to face the assassin, he found nothing there.

        “That’s strange… I feel him, but I can’t see him… Unless-” Before he could even finish he thought, the adept felt tremendous pain in his chest and was sent crashing into one of the training dummies. “Of course… How could I forget… Time Skip.

        “I should have figured you’d be here of all places… But at the moment, I’m not after you adept. Where is the girl?” Hit demanded as he approached him.

        “Why would I tell you?” Lance asked through grit teeth as he looked back at him. Analyzing the room as he was speaking. “And also… wasn’t it me that you had the hit on? So why go after her?”

        “I honestly don’t care about you… As for the girl, I was hired to bring her in, dead or alive. She has something that my client is interested in and has hired me to get it. If you wish to stay alive, I suggest you tell me what I need to know, otherwise… You’ll be experiencing pain unimaginable.” Hit said as he pulled his hand out of his pocket and formed a fist. “Last chance.”

        However… all Lance did was grin for a moment as he looked directly at him. “What gave you the implication that I was alone?” Before Hit even realized what was going on, he felt a crushing weight from behind him as Vixen struck him in the back with the force of an elephant and sent him flying through a wall.

        “Geez, I come home from checking on Papa and then I find a bald guy trying to kill you…” Saffron Masala replied back. “What’s his deal?”

        “Assassin… Can skip time… Thought he was after me, but he’s after Katy now…” He said, before applying Galvanic Patch. “Send an SOS to all hero teams. Code Red… and make sure that Katy is somewhere safe.”

        “You got it,” Vixen nodded as she rushed to the computer room. Locking herself inside as she began to make the transmission. As for Lance, he placed one of his hands on the floor and began to concentrate. Channeling the electricity in the floor to prepare himself for what was to come next.

        “I am surprised… I didn’t expect a surprise attack from that female… Who is she?” Hit said as got up from the rubble and walked up to the adept.

        “None of your business… You pick a fight with one member of QUILL, you pick a fight with everyone.” The Adept boldly stated. For a moment, Hit disappeared and reappeared in front of him with his hands in his pockets.

        “I prefer to not fight with you, especially if it prevents me from killing you, my previous attack missed your heart on purpose, which would have killed you. I will only ask you one last time… Where is the girl?” Hit asked, glaring at the adept.

        “I don’t know… I just got back here and when I left, she was taking a nap. I don’t know where she it right now,” The adept told him in response, still holding his ground as he looked back at him. “But you don’t care what my response is… do you?”

        “No I do not.” He replied as he struck him in the throat, before jabbing him twice in the stomach before kicking him to the ground. “Stay down if you value your life… Katy is my only Objective.” He replied before vanishing from Lance’s view only to find the locked door to be torn off with ease as the assassin left.

        “How… the hell does he know about Katy?” He thought to himself, coughing before trying to get up as he heard more of the base getting torn up to shreds. As Lance tried to get up, he soon heard Katy scream. Forcing him to try and get up as he stumbled out of the training room. Only to see Hit holding onto her.

        “Farewell… Let us hope our paths do not cross again.” Hit said as he pulled out a ring and placed on his right index finger, before opening a portal and proceeding to enter inside of it, taking Katy with him. Or so he thought.

        Because just as Hit thought that he was in the clear… the portal he had brought someone else through. “Oh my… who said that belonged to you, naughty boy?” In an instant, Hit was thrown into a nearby cliffside as Katy flew up into the air. Before being caught singlehandedly by the one who intervened.

        “Huh… who are you?” Katy asked.

        “Oh… Why I think he can answer that…” The woman said, before looking to Lance as she let him down. “In the meantime… allow for me to deal with the one who decided to beat my son to a ravage pulp.”

        “M-mom?” Lance soon realized upon hearing the all too familiar voice. “What are you doing here?”

        “M-Mom?!” Katy shouted before passing out from the shock of this news. Allowing Lance to catch her moments afterwards as the umbra witch looked back at the adept.

        “You make sure she’s safe… I’ll deal with him.” And with that, she was off. Lance, upon hearing that, looked to Vixen, who was still able to stand as he told her two simple commands.

        “Cancel the SOS… but lock down the base. I’m not taking any chances if Hit finds a way to come back.”


        Surprised by this sudden attack, Hit pulled himself off the wall and began to dust himself off before seeing the female warrior approach him, but he merely stepped to the side as she landed on her hands and tried to strike him, but what he didn’t know was that there was a gun attached to her foot and it fired off a few rounds, cutting his left cheek before evading the others.

        “You have a lot of nerve interfering with my work… If you value your life, then I suggest you stand down and return the girl to me immediately.” He ordered as he glared at the woman as he pulled his hands out of his pockets..

        “How brutishly rude… and I thought that some assassins like you would be more of a gentleman… And you have a lot of nerve for threatening those I hold dear…” The woman glared defiantly.

        “An assassin isn’t supposed to be a gentleman, he’s supposed to be a killer… But I suppose I’ll play along and at least give a proper greeting. I’m the assassin Hit… Now it is your turn to introduce yourself.” He replied.

        “Well, since you so kindly asked, my name is Ceraza… or Bayonetta, whichever you prefer…” She said, before moving her legs in a particular stride. “Take it in… because it will be the last name you’ll hear.”

        “Is that so?” He asked, before vanishing from her sight and striking her forehead, sending her stumbling backwards. “I believe it is the reverse.”

        “Oh really now?” The woman grinned. And in the blink of an eye, she was right in his face. Hit attempted to strike her, but the woman gracefully dodged to the left and when she landed back on her feet, Hit felt a rapid series of blows and attacks around his chest as the sheer force of it caused him to lose his breath briefly as he was thrown backwards. “Clearly, you don’t know who you are fighting… Neither an Angel, nor a demon… and yet, you make the stupidest choice ever…”

        “If that truly was the best you could do, then this fight is already over.” Hit replied as he vanished from her view once again using his time skip, and struck her multiple times in the chest and quickly tripped her up from her legs before kicking her into the wall of the canyon. “Surrender now… before I kill you.”

        “Really now?” The woman then asked. “You think your silly time trick will win? Boy… you have no idea who you’re f*cking with.”

        “I’m no boy… I have lived for over a thousand years and I have more experience then any mortal man. I don’t think you comprehend what your truly dealing with. It takes a lot more then using simple tricks and gadgets to win a fight.” Hit replied before grabbing her from her shirt and headbutted her and punching her chest twice as hard.

        “You’re not the only one who’s that old… and it’s rather rude of you to be grabbing the chest of a lady...” The woman smirked. That… was when Hit began to notice something. The threads of her clothes began to wrap around him fiercely, making it impossible for him to let go as he could not hold on. “You’ve never fought an Umbra Witch before… have you?”

        “No… But consider this my first time now.” He said as his body was surrounded by a dark purple aura as he shouted to the top of his lungs and managed to free himself from Bayonetta’s clothing and leaped away from her. Before he could do anything, heard a voice call out to him. “But I-” He muttered to himself, confusing Bayonetta.

        “He’s distracted… Good. Now’s my chance-” She thought to herself. Before hearing the assassin say something else.

        “It seems that we’ll have to continue this battle another day… For I am needed elsewhere now. Take care Lady Bayonetta, until we meet again.” He said, winking at her before opening a portal and walking in. Then, the hairs began to subside as she looked back as the mess around her.

        “And just when I thought things were not going to get interesting anytime soon,” Bayonetta sighed to herself, before beginning to make her way back to where her son was at right now. “But at least it gives us time to prepare.”


Back at QUILL

        “So… mind explaining to me who that was?” Vixen asked Lance as he set Katy down on the bed in his room. “Or for that matter why he’s going after Katy?”

        The Adept let out a small sigh, before looking back towards her. “He was someone that Katy and I had met before QUILL was formed and before I met you. His name is Hit and he’s an assassin. Someone who once was an ally of Katy and I… but now he’s an enemy. However, why he’s going after Katy is something that even confuses me. Because originally, I thought that he would be going after me.”

        “How would you know that?” The unicorn then asked him.

        “Because he told me in person. It was the last thing he said to me before we parted ways…” The Adept assured her. “Which is why it’s puzzling that he’s going for Katy instead of me… He’s not one to say much, so he didn’t really give off any clues to go on.”

        “That may be true, but there’s one thing that you said earlier that concerns me…” Vixen replied back to him. “You said he can ‘skip time’. How the hay does something like that work?”

        “He manipulates time to accelerate himself forward and sometimes makes it look like he’s not moving at all,” Lance recalled, before rubbing his forehead and looking back at Katy. “Ugh… The whole thing is just making my brain hurt… I’m not even sure if there’s a way to counter such a technique. Meaning that he’ll just keep on going after us like this.”

        “Great…” The unicorn sighed as she used her magic to try and clean up some of the debris. “So what exactly is the plan now?”

        “Ugh… What happened?” Katy asked as she rubbed her head.

        “Hit attacked, almost got away with you… then my mother saved you and when you found out about her, you fainted…” Lance summed it up for her, shortly before noticing a familiar face enter the room. “Speak of the devil…”

        “Well, that was rather… short lived.” The voice of the woman who saved Katy before came on in to join the three of them as she looked at Katy.

        “Y-You’re Lance’s mother?” Katy stuttered when she asked.

        The lady turned to her, before nodding her head as she adjusted her glasses. “Why yes… but mostly I am called either Ceraza or Bayonetta. Whichever you prefer…” The umbra witch introduced herself before brushing some dust off her clothes. “I’m sorry… am I interrupting something?”

        “No, I was just filling Katy in on what happened before you arrived,” the adept added, shortly before thinking of something. “What happened? Did you fight Hit?”

        “Why yes, but our bout was very short lived,” Bayonetta replied back. “I was expecting for our bout to be rather long and drawn out~. Unfortunately though, he ran off like a coward. Saying he had ‘other business to attend too’.”

        “Hit is anything but a coward… I’ve known Hit when I was a medic back in the other realm. He wouldn’t run away. He’d always finish a fight, meaning that whoever hired him… called him back.” Katy explained as she tried to sit up, but fell back down screaming.

        “Easy, easy,” Lance told her, catching her and trying to help her out. “You’ve been through a lot. Take some time to rest a little first.”

        “No… I can’t… Hit’s after me… And I need to know who hired him?!” She said, struggling to get up as she grabbed onto Lance’s shoulder, but her arm began to crack as she fell back down on the bed screaming.

        “What the hell?” Lance said upon noticing the condition of Katy’s arm. “Vixen, get the medkit. Now!” Vixen immediately nodded, taking off to get the medical kit and bring it back so Lance can be able to bandage her up. “Jesus christ, what did Hit do to you?”

        “I-It wasn’t just Hit… That’s what I’m trying to tell you… His client… He was here for a moment before he attacked me… Then Hit went off saying ‘I had something important and I was being recruited…’ But I don’t know who it was. Everything hurts…”

        “Katy please… just rest… Moving around is just going to make things worse right now…” Lance told her, almost in a way where he was pleading for her to listen. But… that was when a question emerged from one of the others in the room.

        That being Vixen herself. “Hey Lance… you met Katy on some weird Displaced trip thing or something right?”

        “Yeah… It’s-”

        “-A long story, I get that,” She replied back before getting to her main point. “Can you possibly think of anypony from back then who was originally an enemy of yours that still might be alive somehow? Like anyone?”

        “That… is hard…” The adept said aloud, before he began thinking. He knew for certain that particular creatures that he had faced before, including the Beast King and Cobalion were already dead for certain. Zamasu was not the kind of person to be relying on allies and all the other enemies were dead-.

        Then… something hit him. “Katy… can I ask you something?”

        “W-What is it?” She asked.

        “Remember when you first got your body… and after the Beast King was destroyed?” He asked, getting a small nod from her before asking one more question. “Wasn’t there someone else that was also there too?”

        “Yes… It was him… but there’s no way he could be able to move that fast or do anything this clever, but maybe it is… I don’t know, my head is just spinning and my arm hurts so much.” She cried as she tried to fight through the pain, it hurt everyone that she was in this state.

        That last part… was the final piece he needed to solve the puzzle. Shortly before he decided to do something big as he placed his hands on her shoulders. Activating ‘Galvanic Renewal’, he began to try and calm her down while healing her as he finally said the name of who he thought was the one responsible. “Yellow Radio… This is definitely his doing.”

        “Yellow what now?” Vixen asked.

        “Yellow Radio… He was another displaced that resembled that of a yellow carnival jester,” The Adept explained to the unicorn and the witch while continuing to heal Katy. “His powers are mostly focused on disorientating his foes with illusions, with one attack making his victims think that they’re spinning in circles… If he’s involved, then he’s really wanting to make me pay for what I did the last two times I encountered him.”

        “And pray tell, what did you do to piss off such a clown?” Bayonetta then asked.

        “The first time around, I trashed his research facility, after stealing his files. Trying to find an exploit in a series of monstrous machines that were specifically used in killing displaced,” Lance soon told her. “The second time was when he kidnapped Katy and had her in this form now… however, at the time, we were unsure of where exactly he wandered off too… and part of me thought that he died when his ship crashed.”

        “Excellent work… you were almost correct.” A deep voice spoke before Bayonetta, Vixen and Lance were sent flying back towards the wall by a flash of blue lightning. “But you forgot about one thing… A Speedster who worked with him.” A man in a black suit with a lighting bolt on his chest with devil like horns, held Katy by her throat.

        “And just when I thought I was beginning to feel like a f*cking celebrity in this world.” Bayonetta cursed.

        “Didn’t think to check the entire facility? As for you Lance Walker… Yellow Radio sends his regards.” Zoom said as he dropped an orb like object on the ground and disappeared, taking Katy with him.

        “Son of a-!” Lance snapped, wanting to take off before finding himself in an empty corridor. “Dammit… Damn it all…” In his mind, he could only remember the one thing that Suicune told him to do before his passing… and that was to keep Katy safe. And with what just happened, he felt like he screwed up the only job that he had been given.

        “Well… what do we have here?” Bayonetta asked, walking over to the orb that was lying on the ground.

        “Let me look at it… It looks magical in nature,” The unicorn insisted, before picking it up with her magic. “Now… what would happen if…” Before she could process anything, a small turn of the orb caused it to activate unintentionally, revealing a small hologram of the jester himself.

        “Well, Well, Well, if it isn’t my dear old friend Lance Walker! How have you been, having a fun time with the Beast Kings wife?~ Eh~ Hahahaha!” Yellow Radio laughed.

        “She’s not his and you know it, asshole.” An angered Lance snapped.

        “Oh, wait and before you say anything this is a pre-recorded message, so if your monologuing to me right now then… I have to say your a real moron. Now where was I? Oh, right… Now it’s true that she was meant to be wedded to that mindless beast at the time, but you must understand that her mind was so unique that I had add a little something there in case the Beast King backed out… another suitor at the time asked me to make him wife if it meant I could continue living, gotta make a living somehow.”

        “Wow… I have to agree, this guy is an asshole.” Vixen added.

         “So here’s the deal kid… I’ll give Exuberant Witness back, BUT you have to offer one of your female friends over to me in exchange. This orb also acts as a communicator but you can only call me once and it better be a yes if you don’t want your pretty girlfriend to be torn to pieces again and made to be a new bride now do you? You have two hours to respond… don’t keep me waiting.” He explained before laughing as the message ended.

        “Brilliant… So now what am I going to do?” Lance thought to himself, looking back at Bayonetta and Vixen. “If we don’t do something, Katy’s a goner…”

        “But what are we going to do? We don’t have much of a team here… I mean, we have Cody, myself and you… but what else?” Saffron now nervously asked.

        “Who’s Cody?” Bayonetta asked.

        “Friend of mine, member of the team…” That… had Lance thinking for a moment before stepping outside to catch his breath. It was then though that, while he was outside… he soon thought of something and began to use his communicator.

        “... Sombra, I need some assistance… I’ll take your offer, if you can help me with something first…”

        “Pfft… All you had to do was ask, amigo.


End Strike 59