//------------------------------// // 58. The Fenrir Mercenaries // Story: Spider in Equestria // by DarkSpider //------------------------------// Taking a large bite off his sandwich, the costumed human peered at the prison gates through his binoculars. Swallowing the food in his mouth, he frowned and rolled his eyes at the sight of a couple of Thunderbolt members trying to break into the prison a third time. Similar to the other two attempts made earlier, the gang members were immediately spotted and taken down by the prison guards. “Well, it seems like we can’t break in through the sides of the prison either.” He said, catching the attention of his teammates. “Another group of Thunderbolts tried to break into the prison again. This time by cutting through the fence.” He took another bite and continued speaking, his words a bit muffled due to the food in his mouth. “Unfortunately for them, there were a couple of pegasi guards that spotted them from above.”  Valor frowned at Kaito, glaring at him in annoyance. “First off, don't talk with your mouth full, you’ll choke.” Putting on the silver colored guard helmet, she made sure to move her hair through the gap of the helmet, letting her red, curly hair flow out. Once the helmet was on properly, Valor turned on the armor’s charm, causing it to change the color of her white fur into a light blue, and changing the color of her mane to a darker shade of blue. Satisfied that the armor’s charm worked, she continued scolding her partner. “Second, we were never going to try to enter through the sides anyways.” Making her way towards him, she grabbed the binoculars and looked around the prison, taking in every single detail of the building and its surroundings. “Those Thunderbolts are making a mess of things. They’re increasing security and patrols.” She sighed, and gave Kaito back the binoculars. “So much for going in from above.” “I could teleport us inside?” Garm offered, tightening the straps of his gauntlets. “It’d cost me though. If a fight breaks out, I’ll be more limited.” Kaito shook his head. “It's best we don’t teleport inside, we don’t want to risk you being low on energy if one of the heroes happen to come.”  Valor nodded. “Agreed. Besides, the light show might alert the guards inside.” Humming in thought, Valor turned back towards the prison and frowned. Crouching down, she waved Kaito over. “Hey, pass me the binoculars really quick.” Upon being given the item, she peered at the prison’s front gate, watching as several guardsmen walked in and out of the prison with no issue. She stared at the guards for a few seconds longer before a smirk formed. “I think I have an idea.” Kaito smiled, leaning forwards in interest. “Oh? Care to fill us in?” Handing him back the binoculars, she sat down on the grass and pulled out a notebook, writing down her plans onto the pages. “I will, just as soon as I’m done ironing out the details.”  Nodding, the remaining duo decided to spend their remaining time to rest, seeing no point in doing anything else that could waste energy. The diamond dog hummed, his ears twitching as he overheard the yelling and screaming from the now caught Thunderbolt members. “Those idiots are too loud.” He growled, “They’re like pups, always yapping and seeking attention. Idiots don’t realize that it was all the noise they made that got them into trouble in the first place.” “Yeah, they don’t seem to be the brightest bunch.” Kaito said, “Wondering if that extends to Shocker too? He’s their leader after all.” Garm snorted. “For his sake I hope not. However, given how we’re here to break him out of prison, it's likely that he’s no better than them.” “Well that’s not really fair. Unlike these guys, Shocker wasn’t taken down by a normal.” Kaito added, wagging his finger. “From what I found, he was actually causing a bit of chaos since the authorities couldn’t do anything to him. He’s only here cause of the Spider.” Garm tisked. “It's like I said, they’re like pups, always yapping. It was because of Shocker making so much noise that the Spider came to Manehatten and dealt with him.” The diamond dog shook his head. “And with the reputation of his gang, I don’t have much hope for this guy’s intelligence.” “I think I got it!” Valor called out, startling the two. She then turned towards Kaito with an excited grin. “Kaito, do you have your holowatch with you?” Raising an eyebrow, he pulled the watch out of one of his pouches. “Yeah, why?” Smirking, she pointed towards the elderly diamond dog. “Because you’re giving it to Garm for the mission.” Seeing the confused expressions of her teammates, she closed the notebook and jumped up from the ground. “Alright then! Listen up boys, because I’m only going to say this once!” Kaito groaned, glaring at the now blue pegasus behind his mask. “This is never going to work.” He hissed. Quickly putting away the bandana that covered her face, she smirked at the human behind her. “Of course it will work, I was a member of the Royal Guard before joining you remember?” Valor said, trying to put him at ease. Raising an arm, she patted him on the back. “Just trust me and play along.” She turned back to the large, burly, white earth pony walking besides them. “That goes for you too Sköll!” The disguised diamond dog only grunted. The trio continued walking towards the front gate with Valor leading them, the mare gripping the briefcase in her hands tightly. The trio ignored the looks they received from the prison guards and only stopped once the guard stationed at the entrance raised his hand.  “Halt! You’re in a restricted area, state your business now.” Taking a step forward, Valor gave the guardsman a short bow. “Good evening, we’re here to conduct the investigation on Shocker. As stated in the letter that you received, the Spider will be joining us as he is currently the one who was most in contact with the suspect.” She said, gesturing towards Kaito. “We are in a hurry, and would like to begin immediately.” The guard raised an eyebrow. “A letter? The warden never told us about any letter.” Valor tilted her head. “Are you sure? We sent the letter twice just in case the first one got lost in the mail.”  The guardsman shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry, but none of us were informed of any official investigation taking place tonight. I’m afraid I can’t let you in without a word from the warden.”  Valor frowned, and took out her old badge, flashing it to the guardsman. “I must insist that you let us through. We were sent all the way from Canterlot, and Princess Celestia is expecting results.” Tucking the badge away, she gave the guard a pleading look. “At the very least can we talk to the warden to settle the matter?” The guard frowned, feeling his resistance crumble. “I… suppose I can contact the warden.” He smiled sheepishly. “I wouldn’t want you to have come all this way for nothing.” Stepping aside he opened the front gate and began guiding them towards the prison’s front door. Valor snuck a quick look towards her human partner and gave him a smug grin. The villainous spider scowled and crossed his arms, ignoring her smug grin. Once they were inside the prison, the guard walked in front of them and gave a short bow. “Please wait here while I go get the warden. If you need anything, please just let the other guards know.” He said, gesturing towards the two guards stationed near them. Seeing that no one was going to say anything, he nodded and walked off. Kaito began to grumble, crossing his arms as he stared off to where the guard walked off to. “I can’t believe that guard just let us walk in here, or that he accepted your lie so easily.”  “Keep your voice down.” Garm growled as he turned towards the two stone faced guardsmen near them. “We aren’t alone, and we aren’t in the clear yet.” Before Kaito could respond to the diamond dog, the three of them picked up the echoing sound of a number of ponies walking towards them, and judging by the sound of echoing, it was more than two ponies making their way towards them. The trio stood on edge, Garm slowly inching his hand towards the mechanical club on his belt.  The echoing hoofsteps stopped once the group of guards reached the trio, standing at front was a tall, brown furred, earth pony stallion, he had a strong chin and his white mane was cut short. His most unique feature was his eyes, his left eye colored brown while his right was a dull green. The prison guard didn’t wear any of the standard royal guard armor like the rest. Instead he wore a plain grey officer’s uniform and a pair of black pants.  The stoic stallion looked between the three and nodded, clearing his throat to bring everyone’s attention back to him. “My name is Stone Tower, I am the Warden of Ryker’s Island.” He stepped forward, briefly causing the three to stiffen before surprising them with a bow. “Let me be the first to welcome you to my prison. I have heard from Front Line that you were sent by the princess to conduct an investigation on Shocker.” Valor nodded, stepping up and showing off her badge. “Thank you for taking the time to speak with us Tower, I am Sergeant Gleaming Shield.” She stepped aside and gestured towards the two behind her. “These two with me are Officer Brick and the Spider. The Spider was sent with us as he is currently the one with the most knowledge on the criminal Shocker.” The Warden hummed, nodding along with what she said. “Yes I suppose it does make sense.” He looked at Kaito and frowned. “So you’re the Spider? I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be so…” He mulled over his words, trying to think of the proper words. “Scrawny.” Kaito crossed his arms, trying his best to not appear offended. Tower chuckled, having seen through the facade. “I don’t mean to offend you Lieutenant Dark, I just expected someone of your reputation to be a bit… muscular and well built. Guess cameras really do add a few pounds.” The trio’s eyes widened at the new bit info as Garm gripped the handle of the club more tightly. Before anyone else could say something, the warden continued. “I have to say though, is the costume new? I’ve never seen you in the papers with that before.” To Valor’s surprise, Kaito didn’t flinch or stutter when responding to the warden’s question. “Indeed it is, thank you for noticing.” He joked, chuckling a bit. “My normal costume got a bit too damaged in the last fight I was in, so I had to bring this old thing for the investigation while the normal was getting patched up.” Kaito raised his arm and scratched his head. “I know the colors are a bit edgy and make me look villainous, but I was hoping I could maybe intimidate Shocker with it, it does have a bit of a menacing look to it, don’t you think?” Tower nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes at the costume a bit. “Indeed it does…” He looked between the three and raised an eyebrow. “Seems to me that one of your usual companions isn’t here today.” He said slowly. “I’m assuming the Hammer of the Guard is too busy up in Canterlot?” The warden asked, his tone sounding almost suspicious.  Valor silently cursed, not believing their bad luck, too much unknown information was now making itself known. Kaito however, continued onward, his voice never wavering. “Ah yes, unfortunately the princesses wanted them to train some of the newer members of the Solar Guard, so they were unfortunately unable to join us.” Valor was once again surprised at how quickly Kaito was able to come up with an excuse, and even though Tower hadn’t revealed the gender of the new unknown, he was successfully able to speak around it with his chosen words. The warden winced at that. “I see. Lets just hope they survive the night then.” He joked, chuckling lightly. He then clasped his hands, making Valor and Garm jump slightly. “Well then, before I can let you into the facility, would you mind doing me a favor?” He asked, smiling. Kaito nodded. “Of course, if it's within my power, I’ll do my best to complete it.” “That's certainly good to hear.” Tower said, his smile widening to the point where his teeth can be seen. “Now, can you remove your mask for me?” The trio stiffened, Garm took a step back, ready to attack the guards in front of him, Valor felt her throat tightened as she nervously turned to look back at Kaito, trying to gauge his reaction.  She was once again taken off guard when he spoke. “Of course, I see no problem with that.” Raising his hands, he grabbed the bottom half of his black mask and began peeling it off, showing off his peach colored skin. Once the mask was removed completely, he looked up at the warden and gave him a smirk. “Tell me, am I as handsome as you thought I’d be?” He joked, his sharp, brown eyes narrowed as he chuckled at his joke.  Tower’s eyes widened in surprise, squinting, he looked closely at the human’s smooth face. Not finding anything there, he looked up at his brown messy hair. Letting out a defeated sigh, he bowed. “Forgive me Lieutenant Dark for being suspicious of you. I can tell now that you must really be the Spider.” He apologized, the guards behind him bowing as well, catching Valor and Garm off guard. Tower then stood up straight, giving the human his full attention. “Recently the Thunderbolts have been attempting to release their leader, and with each failed attempt they only get bolder and craftier, I had to make sure it really was you.” Kaito waved his waved hand, dismissing the apology. “It's fine, you have nothing to be sorry for, rather I commend you for taking your job seriously.” He gave the warden a salute. “It's good to see someone in charge taking initiative.”  The warden smiled and returned the salute. “Thank you for understanding.” With a small cough his face then returned to stoic visage seen before. “That said, I heard from Front Line that you sent us a letter about the investigation earlier?” Valor nodded. “Right, we sent you two letters, one in case the first one got lost in the mail. With the case being so important we felt the need of being cautious.” Tower hummed. “I see, unfortunately I haven’t received any letters as of this time.” He sighed. “That said, I’m afraid protocol dictates that I cannot allow you to begin your investigation without any sort of oficial proof.” “What? After all that?” Garm cried out, looking rather annoyed.  Tower shot him an annoyed look and continued. “I’m sorry, but my hands are tied.” Valor gritted her teeth and looked down. Seeing the briefcase she held in her hands, she looked up and gave the warden a pleading expression. “Please Warden, if you just give me a chance to brief you on the investigation, I’m sure you’ll change your mind.” She brought the briefcase up to show it to the warden. “Please, this investigation is absolutely vital.” Tower sighed, lowering his head as he debated on her request. Dropping his shoulders, he raised his head and gave her a tired look. “Fine, if it's really that important, I’m willing to hear you out.” Valor smiled, bowing in gratitude. “Thank you.” She looked around and gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but can I request that we talk about this in your office? The details of this case are not meant to be heard by just anyone.” She looked back at the two with her. “Lieutenant Dark and Officer Brick will stay here, if you don’t think what I have to say is enough, then we’ll go.” The warden raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t Lieutenant Dark your superior? Shouldn’t he be holding the debriefing?” Kaito cleared his throat. “Well, while that would normally be the case, I am confident in my subordinate’s ability to inform you of the details. Besides, there is a chance my appearance will agitate the inmates, and that could clue in Shocker about us being here.” Tower hummed, letting out a sigh, he gave the three a single nod. “Very well then.” He turned around, and waved his hand at Valor, gesturing at her to follow. “Follow me then, the two of you can wait here. Front Line?” The guard saluted, giving the warden his full attention. “Why don’t you keep the Lieutenant and his friend company, I’ll try to get back as soon as I can.”  Valor quickly turned back to Kaito and whispered to him. “You have ten minutes.” As soon as she said that, she quickly made her way to the warden’s side, following him to his office. Kaito smirked. “Five minutes is all I need.” He boasted, making Garm snort. Once the two were out of sight, he sighed, stretching his arms. Putting on his mask, he glanced at all the guards stationed near him. “Sooo…” He started, catching everyone’s attention. “I don’t suppose one of you would be willing to point me towards Shocker now, would ya?” Front Line raised an eyebrow, glancing back at the guards next to him. “Umm… Sorry Lieutenant, but we’re not allowed to do anything without the Warden’s say so.” Kaito sighed, shaking his head. “I was afraid of that.” Behind him, Garm let out a small chuckle. Acting fast, he sprayed Front Line with his webs, completely covering him with webs and leaving him stuck to the wall. Before the other guards could fight back, Garm smacked the closest guard with his club, knocking the guard out cold. The other three guards backed up, their eyes wide with confusion and anger. “Just what do you think you’re doing?!” One of them yelled. “Even if you were sent by the princesses, do you think they would stand for this?!” Kaito scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t think so, but really who cares what they think.” He announced, shocking the three. “Besides it's not like I’m a member of their little boy scouts.” Extending his wrist, he webbed two of the guards onto the floor, trapping them. “Let me clue you in just who I really am!” Crossing his arms, Kaito leaned back and raised his head, as if to look down on them. “You’re looking at Equestria’s future ruler! The bane to heroes everywhere! The greatest villain this world’s ever known!” He yelled out, spreading his arms out widely. “I am the Scarlet Spider!” Kaito let out a loud laugh, filling the room with his laughter.  Besides him, Garm shook his head at his actions. His head perked up at seeing the remaining guard slowly inch away from them, leaping forward, he clubbed the guard besides the head, knocking him unconscious. “Hey future leader! Why don’t you spend less time goofing off, and more time focusing on the mission?” The diamond dog growled, shutting off the holowatch and getting rid of the earth pony disguise. Kaito flinched at his words, nodding slowly. “Err… right.” Turning towards the struggling form of Front Line, he made his way towards the bound guard, placing a hand next to his head. “So Front Line, why don’t you do your future king a favor and tell me where Shocker is?” “I’d never tell you anything imposter!” The guard scowled.  Kaito sighed, pulling his arm back and flicking his wrist, causing a large metal stinger to pop out of his wrist. Smiling, he brought the stinger closer to guard, placing it just on top of his throat. “Why don’t you try again?” Front Line gulped, looking between the stinger and the villain. “H-he’s at cell block B! C-cell number 27!” He stammered, trying to pull his head away from the dangerous looking stinger. He smiled. “Your king thanks you.” Retracting his stinger back into his body, he pulled his fist back and punched the guard at his temple, leaving him slipping in and out of consciousness. “So Cell Block C, number 27.” He repeated, turning back towards Garm. “See? I can be focused.” The diamond dog shook his head, ignoring his leader’s words. The two began to run off deeper into the prison, attacking any guard they happened to pass by on the way.  The duo ran in and out numerous cell blocks, ignoring the shouts of the prisoners as they tried to find the correct block. Garm snarled, getting annoyed at the constant shouting from the guards and prisoners, turning towards his partner he let out a loud bark. “Kaito! This is taking too long! The entire prison must know what we’re trying to do now!” “Shut up!” He yelled back, his frustration getting the better of him. Looking around, he spotted a map at the end of the room and ran towards it, trying his best to find the area that Shocker was locked in. “Just keep the guards distracted while I try to read this map!” Snorting, the diamond dog turned back towards the group of guards running towards them, all of them were brandishing their weapons. Raising his right arm, he looked carefully at the trio of large golden rings wrapped around it. Letting out a sigh, Garm got down at all fours as he glared at his opponents. “You better hope no heroes come along later.” He growled, putting his club between his jaws as he leapt forward. “MMMFFP! MMFMM!” His speech was muffled and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared, only to reappear behind the rest of the guards, his club on his claws. The guards all stumbled before falling forward, all of them feeling a sharp pain on the back of their head and promptly passed out. Garm breathed heavily, two of the rings on his right arm began glowing brightly before disappearing, leaving him with only one ring on his right arm, and three more rings on his left. He stumbled a bit when Kaito ran towards him, patting him on the shoulder and then continuing to run. “Found where they’re holding Shocker! Let’s go!” The dog nodded, getting back down on all fours and running towards him, easily being able to keep up with his speed. Kaito looked down besides him, watching as Garm use his large claws to gain more speed. Moving his head back to look at the fallen guards, he frowned. “How much energy did you lose?” Garm growled. “Too much, we won’t be able to teleport out of here. Not if we want to be ready in case a hero arrives, and not all four of us.” He tisked. “Guess we’ll have to find a different means to escape.” It didn’t take long before the duo reached their destination, spotting a few guards patrolling the area, Kaito nodded at Garm, tilted his head towards the guards. “Take care of them while I find Shocker.” While the diamond dog leapt towards the guardsmen, Kaito ran up the metal stairs, tossing any guards that got in his way off the railings. He stopped suddenly in front of a single occupied cell, spotting a confused brown earth pony with a yellow mane. Kaito smirked behind his mask and gave the confused inmate a bow. “Well if it isn’t Shocker, I have to admit, it was quite the hassle to find you. Thank your lucky stars, because as of today, you are a free pony!” He cried, popping out his wrist and cutting the bars of the cell, leaving him an opening big enough for the prisoner to crawl out of.  Kaito’s eyes widened as his spider senses went off, forcing him to duck an incoming punch from the now freed prisoner. Going off a second time, he jumped away from Shocker, creating some distance between them.  The earth pony gritted his teeth. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing here Spider, but if you think I’m thanking you for freeing me, you have another thing coming!” He yelled, running towards Kaito and throwing another punch. Kaito quickly caught the incoming fist and held him there. “Now, now, Shocker, you shouldn’t be so hasty now! Just take a closer look at me and you’ll see I’m not the Spider.” He quickly caught the other fist and growled. “Listen here oaf! I’m not the Spider! I’m the Scarlet Spider!” He pushed him away and quickly gestured towards the costume. “Look! We look completely different, heck I bet we sound different too!” The earth pony slowly lowered his fist in confusion, really looking at the man who saved him. Seeing that he was now pacified, Kaito quickly struck a pose that had him crossing his arms and covering his left eye with his right hand. “I see that you have finally come to your senses. Rejoice peon, for I, the Scarlet Spider, was contracted by the one you know as the Kingpin to come and free you!” Seeing his eyes widen, Kaito laughed. “You truly are fortunate to have such a caring employer.” Shocker crossed his arms, scoffing. “‘Caring’, yeah right.” He shook his head and then gave Kaito a shaky grin. “So you’re here to break me out then?” Seeing him nod, he chuckled. “Excellent, so what are we waiting for? Let’s get out of here!” Kaito raised his arm up and waved his finger, as if to scold him. “Not so fast my friend, we still need to find a way out of here.”  Shocker’s jaw dropped. “You mean to tell me you’re stuck here too?!” He groaned and facepalmed. “What kind of idiot are you?!”  Scowling, Kaito flicked the pony’s nose, causing Shocker to step back and glare. “I’m not stuck here, you are. Thing is, we can’t exactly use the escape method I was planning to use anymore, so we’ll have to come up with a new plan to escape.” Shocker nodded, impatiently looking back and forth. “Alright then, any ideas?” Kaito looked around the cell block, watching Garm toss around multiple guardsmen as numerous prisoners cheered and hissed. Watching the prisoners, he smiled as a plan began to form in his head. “Yeah I think I have one.” He turned back towards Shocker. “What do you say about getting some revenge on the guards?” Shocker grinned.  The door to warden’s office slammed wide open, revealing a panicked guard. “Sir! The prisoners have all escaped! There’s a riot goin on!” The warden slammed his hands on his desk, causing a few papers to fly off his desk. “WHAT?!” He yelled. “How did this happen?! Who’s responsible for this?!” Valor sighed in relief, her shoulders drooping as she got up from her seat. “That’s my que. Took him long enough.” She quickly grabbed the shock baton attached to her belt and jabbed it at the warden’s stomach. Tower cried out in pain as he was electrocuted, leaving the shock baton there for a few more seconds, she let the pony drop to the floor unconscious. Valor raised an eyebrow. “Huh, that actually worked. Doubt it works as well on pegasi.” She commented turning towards the cowering guard. “Sorry bud, but I have a job to do.” The guard cried out in pain as he too was electrocuted. All around the prison complex prisoners rampaged. Many of them were making their way to the exit, desperate to free themselves, a few of them had stayed behind to free others, while a noticeable portion of them stayed behind to destroy the prison and attack the guards in an act of revenge. Shocker let out a booming laugh, a lead pipe was in his hands as he smashed some of the objects in front of him. The earth pony patted the costumed human in the back. “You’re alright Scarlet! Much better than that other Spider! If you’re ever in Manehattan again, drinks are on me!” Garm snorted, continuing to run ahead. “I doubt twig here can handle liquor.”  Kaito sputtered, feeling rather offended. “Hey, you don’t know that!” He glared at Garm, moving past all of the rampaging prisoners, focusing on the task at hand. Noticing a group of prisoners crowding around something, he stopped, ignoring Shocker’s shouts. Moving his head, he tried to get a good look at what the prisoners were surrounding, only being able to spot a blue mane between them. Figuring that they were surrounding a single guard, Kaito stepped in, pushing away the pony closest to him so he could get a better look. Just as he was about to shout at the prisoners, he stopped, noticing the silver armor of the guard.  Valor scowled, glaring at the prisoners around her, two of them were already on the ground twitching. “Took you long enough.” She said, glancing at Kaito before jabbing another earth pony with her shock baton. “Can you kindly tell these idiots to buzz off? They don’t seem to get that I’m not actually a guard.”  Kaito nodded, standing between her and the rest of the prisoners. “She’s right.” He said, crossing his arms as he glared at the thugs. “Valkyrie here is with me, and if you want to get out of this prison then I suggest you stop wasting time with the guards before the heroes show up and catch us all!” The thugs all took a step back, glancing at each other before nodding and taking off. Seeing the thugs run off, he looked back at Valor and nodded. “Thanks for keeping the warden distracted. I assume he didn’t give you too much trouble?” Valor shook her head. “Nope, he was quite the gentlecolt, at least until you broke all the prisoners out.” She then smirked, and playfully punched his shoulder. “By the way, it took you seven minutes to break him out, not five.” Kaito rolled his eyes. Before he could say anything, both Garm and Shocker ran up to him, the earth pony taking a step back when he spotted Valor. Raising a hand, Kaito stopped Shocker from attacking his partner. “She’s with us.” Valor turned towards the earth pony next to him. “You must be Shocker, I’m Valkyrie.” She tossed him the briefcase in her hands and watched him open it. “Your boss hired us to free you.” Shocker’s eyes widened, a laugh escaping his mouth as he took out his mask. “Yeah, your partner told me all about it.” Putting on the mask, he took out his two gauntlets and put them on. Clenching the mechanical fist, he grinned. “It feels good to be back. So are we going to sit here all day or what?” Valor raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to put on the rest of your costume?”  “I will, after we get out of here.” Garm hummed, glancing at the earth pony in surprise. “A smart choice, the longer we wait, the more we risk the heroes arriving.”  The four of them then took off towards the exit, pushing past any of the prisoners that were in the way. The four slammed open the prison’s door just in time to see a group of guards try to block off their way to the front door.  Smirking behind his mask, Shocker jumped forward, raising his two gauntlets and smashing them onto the ground in front of the guardsmen, creating a massive shockwave that blew away everything next to him. Picking himself up from the ground, Shocker took a step back and stared at his gauntlets. “Whoa, a little stronger than I remember.” He said, chuckling at the end. “The Tinkerer upgraded your gauntlets’ power. Said you’ll need them if you meet up with the Spider again.” Valor said, catching up to him. He stared at his gauntlets for a second longer before clenching them. Throwing his clenched fist into the air, he laughed. “The Spider better watch out! Because the next time we meet, I’m going to squish him like a bug!” “Sorry boys, but there isn’t going to be a next time!” The four of them didn’t have to wonder who had spoken up for too long, as an orange and blue blur quickly came in swinging from a web, kicking Shocker back onto the ground. Spreading her wings, the costumed vigilante landed softly on the ground, glaring at the villains. The three mercenaries tensed up, recognizing just who had attacked Shocker.  The elderly dog growled, gripping his mechanical club tightly. “We took too long.” Valor pressed down on the button of her baton, the weapon on her hand then hummed to life, the forked end sparking wildly. “I was hoping to be out of here before any of those heroes arrived.” Smiling behind his mask, Kaito couldn’t help but feel excited about seeing the vigilante. He was a villain after all, and what's a villain without a hero around to try and stop them? “Now now, there isn’t any need to panic. We were bound to run into the heroes sooner or later.” He said, standing in front of the two. “Besides, it's not like we weren’t prepared in case this happened. And in case you forgot, including Shocker, there’s four of us.” Kaito then glared, smirking behind his mask. “And just one of her.” The two mercenaries nodded slowly, their confidence slowly rising as they glared at their opponent. Standing in front of the mercenaries, was Manehatten’s newest hero, Toxin. Lightning raised an eyebrow, her "mask" matching the expression as she crossed her arms. "Well, isn't this something. A copycat, a guard pony, and a large wolf guy along with the loud dumbass." "Anything to know about these guys?" Lightning mentally asked Toxin. "Only one I recognize is the lookalike. If memories serves, he has similar powers as daddy, albeit not as good, and metal spikes from his wrists." "Works for me." Lightning then cracked her knuckles. "So, is there a reason you 3 are here? Or do I need to deal with more pests than expected?" “Why I’m not sure what you mean.” Kaito said, shrugging. “We’re just trying to help. Shocker’s friends and family were so worried for him, and being the bleeding heart I am, I simply had to reunite them.” "Wow. And I thought that Element Of Honesty mare I heard about sucked at lying," Lightning said, laughing. "Please. The cops did a background check on the guy when he got locked up the first time. He has no family who gives a damn about him and his only "friends" are a bunch of idiots in his gang. So I'll make this simple. Either you all turn yourselves in right now." She then took a fighting stance. "Or I beat the shit out of you till you break. Your choice." Kaito hummed, tapping his chin as if he was honestly thinking about her offer. “A tempting offer, really. But here’s a better one.” Grabbing the shock baton attached to his belt, he turned the weapon on, causing the forked end of the weapon to cackle with electricity. “We all know about your weakness to electricity, and the true nature of your powers. So why don’t you step aside, or else that symbiote of yours finds a new home with our employer.” Lightning raised an eyebrow again. "So you know about her." Lightning shrugged. "Meh. I never was one who did the smart thing. Though you aren't very bright yourself if you think we'll run off because of a stick." She immediately shot a web at Kaito's baton, pulled it from Kaito's hand and caught it herself before snapping it on the wall. "So, I'm just gonna guess that you selected the second option." Kaito stared at the destroyed baton in horror. Grinding his teeth, he glared at the bonded duo. “What’s the big idea?!” He shouted, clenching his fist. “Do you have any idea how much that will cost to replace?!” Shaking his head, he pushed the thought aside, trying to focus on the mare in front of him. “Guess you’ll have to pay us back with that symbiote of yours. I hope you aren’t too attached.” Reaching into his belt, he took out a small black blaster, a transparent glass along the hand grip showed off the glowing blue battery. “Fenrir! Attack!” He shouted, pulling the trigger of his weapon and firing off multiple bolts of energy at her. Leaping towards her right, the hero dodged the incoming bolts with ease. Without wasting a single second, Lightning quickly darted towards Kaito, pulling her fist back as she prepared to punch him. She suddenly pulled back, avoiding the incoming fist from Kaito. Leaning to her left, she dodged another punch from him before throwing one of her own. Feeling his spider-sense go off, Kaito quickly jumped back, avoiding her punch. Besides him, Garm let out a vicious growl, leaping towards the hero and managing to tackle her to the ground.  Pulling his arm back, Garm slashed Lightning across the face with his claws. He snarled as he continued the savage attack two more times before being thrown back by her. The hero clenched her teeth as she quickly got up and leapt backwards, trying to distance herself from the villainous trio.  As Garm got back up, Valor darted towards the hero, taking out a second baton and switching it on. The ex-guardmare delivered quick jabs aimed at the hero’s stomach. Unfortunately for her, the hero was too fast for her to land the blows, as Lightning combined her natural reflexes with her spider-sense to dodge the attacks. Spinning around Lightning’s punch, Valor gripped her second baton and jabbed her side, causing Lightning to scream out in pain for a brief second before she jumped away from the mercenary.  The bonded hero was given no time to rest however as a bright flash of green light went off behind her. Before her senses could warn her, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head, causing her to drop to the floor. Looking back to what hit her, she saw the elderly dog standing over her, a smirk on his face. Raising his foot, the dog tried to stomp on her back, only for Lightning to quickly roll away. Jumping back onto her feet, she quickly slugged the dog across his face, causing him to stumble backwards. Taking advantage of the new opportunity, Lightning quickly stepped forward, and using all of her strength, she landed another blow onto Garm’s stomach, hoping her super strength would be enough to put the dog out of the fight.  Her eyes widened in shock when the dog’s entire body was suddenly covered in a golden aura, which cracked and broke apart, causing the rings on him to phase out of his arms and scatter in random directions.  Garm’s eyes shot wide open as he began to panic. Turning towards his partners, he called out towards them. “Ka- Scarlet! Valkyrie! I can’t lose those rings!”  The two nodded, darting towards the hero to buy their ally time. Figuring that the rings were important, Lightning darted towards the closest one to her, just as she was about to grab it, a string of web from Kaito pulled her arm back. Kaito grinned behind his mask. “Why officer, I would’ve thought someone like you knew better than to take something that doesn’t belong to you.” Before Lightning could respond, she was pulled away from the fallen rings, being dragged towards Kaito by his webs. Gritting her teeth, Lightning Dust flexed her hands, sharpening them into claws. Using her new claws, she cut the webs that were dragging her back, freeing herself. Feeling her spider-sense go off again, she quickly rolled to her side, avoiding the large metal gauntlet that slammed onto the ground she was at earlier. Jumping back onto her feet, she took a step back and glared at the escaped prisoner.  Shocker smirked, slamming his fist into his open palm. “Didn’t forget about me did you?” The pair let out a growl. "That's it!" A moment later, the mask split into a mouth as multiple tendrils shot out from their back and grabbed Kaito, Shocker, and Valor by the torso before squeezing them very tight and slamming all three of them into the floor and ceiling a couple of times. "You and your friends are really annoying us, toothpick." They said to the masked human. "Can't say I didn't warn you." Kaito gritted his teeth. “Why does everyone keep fixating on how thin I am? I can’t be that scrawny!” He hissed to himself, his annoyance briefly overriding the pain. Looking around for the diamond dog, he spotted Garm a few feet away grabbing the last ring. “Hey Sköll! Anytime you're ready, feel free to join us!” The diamond dog ignored his partner’s cries, quickly counting them all to make sure he had them all equipped. Satisfied, he turned back towards his struggling teammates, darting his head around as he struggled to find an opening. “Scarlet! I can’t blast her when you’re all so close to her, you’ll be caught in the explosion!” “Oh well I’m sorry!” Kaito yelled out, yelping when Toxin squeezed him again. “But we can’t exactly help it right now!” He gritted out, thrashing around as he tried to free himself. Valor scowled, struggling to keep her eyes opened as she glanced at Garm. “Sköll! You have to get mad!” She let out a cry as she was thrown into the ceiling again. “Don’t worry about us! Just get mad!” "Mad?" Toxin muttered in Lightning's head. "No… Can't be talking about that…" Before Lightning can ask what she meant, the diamond dog threw his club to the side, the echoing clanging of the metal club hitting the wall catching her attention. Garm scowled as he tried once again to find an opening, not wanting to rely on the monster once more. Not being able to successfully think up a way to free his team without hurting them, he let out a shaky sigh.  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” He growled, his breathing becoming strained. Quickly taking off his spiked gauntlets, he bent over, his mouth curling into a snarl as his body began to bulge. Growling in discomfort, the diamond dog’s growing body ripped apart the vest he wore, his spiked collar snapping as his body became too big for it. The grey fur covering his body stiffened, becoming almost like spikes as they turned into a dull bronze color.  The diamond dog stumbled backwards, growling and snarling to himself as his body continued to grow. Letting out a roar, he slammed his overgrown claws onto the ground as if to vent his anger. Now at 9 feet tall, the giant diamond dog towered over everyone in the room, the giant had to slouch down to stop his head from hitting the ceiling.  The dog’s large red eyes narrowed as it stared at the hero in front of it, glancing at who the hero had trapped in her tendrils, it growled. “You hurt Sköll’s friends? You hurt Red?!” His voice was now much deeper, his words almost coming out as growls. “Sköll will smash you!” He roared, slamming his giant fist onto the floor under him, filling it with cracks and causing bricks to fly up in the air. Lightning immediately jumped away from the transformed diamond dog and landed a few feet above ground on a nearby wall, Toxin immediately retreating her tendrils back into her and reverting the mask back to normal since all their anger changed to panic. "Toxin, you have any advice?" "Golden rings, red eyes, anger… This can be one of 2 things. And none of which is good for us." "Then what do we do?!" Toxin stayed silent for a moment before sighing in Lightning's mind. "I'm sorry." Immediately after that, Lightning suddenly felt her arm thrust out and her body swinging away from the criminals without her control. Sköll roared, leaping after them, the mutated canine looked around for the two. Not being able to spot the fleeing hero, he let out one more roar as a warning, the walls and ceiling vibrating from the intensity of the roar. “Puny pony.” Snorting, the giant diamond dog turned back, making his way towards the three villains.  Shocker crawled away from the giant dog, his eyes wide in panic. “W-” He broke into a series of coughs, using one of his hands to clench his stomach, still feeling the pain of Toxin’s tendrils. “What in Tartarus is that?!” He yelled.  The giant dog used his massive claw to push the prisoner away, ignoring his protest. Crouching, Sköll looked down at the coughing human. “Red.” It growled, catching the attention of the human. “Red okay?” Kaito coughed a few more times, giving the massive dog a thumbs up. “I’m good, I’m good.” He shakingly got up, crouching down to cough a few more times. “You’re a good dog Sköll, thanks.” Taking a deep breath, he turned towards Valor. “Val, how are you doing?” “I’m fine.” She said, gritting her teeth. “Definitely going to feel that in the morning.” Getting up, she turned towards the giant dog and smiled. “Thank you Sköll, you did good.” Sköll nodded, turning towards Shocker, his red eyes narrowing. “Who’s he?” Kaito raised his hand, getting in between the two. “He’s a friend, and we’re here to break him out. Right now we need to get out of here, can you help us?” As Kaito talked to the diamond dog, Valor grimaced, trying her best to pick up Garm’s discarded items. Sköll hummed, looking between the three for a second before nodding. Reaching over, he picked up Kaito, setting him down on top of his shoulders. Picking up the other two, he set them down on his back and got down on all fours. “Where does Sköll go?”  Kaito grinned, “Just go forward, I’ll tell you when to stop.”  Nodding, the diamond began running, when he reached the exit, the giant dog simply ran through the wall, breaking the wall and causing bricks to fly everywhere. Sköll continued to run past all of the prisoners running around the facility and guards, he ignored the cries of protest from both sides as he continued to run on all fours. The searchlights from the watchtowers were no longer able to track the giant’s form as he continued running. His fur glowed slightly, as bronze dust began to peel off of it. By the time his bronze colored fur turned back to normal, the four criminals had already left the island.  Thrashing around, the short yellow pegasus pony scowled at the guardsmen in front of him. His legs kicked the air wildly as he tried to free himself. “Hey let us go!”  Besides him, a large green earth pony growled, trying his best to toss the group of guards restraining him. “Yeah! You can’t treat us this way! We have rights!”  Tower sighed, resting a hand on his stomach where the false guard attacked him earlier. Glaring at the two Thunderbolts he scowled. “How many more escapees did we catch?” Stone Wall looked down on the list and frowned. The earth pony guardsman sighed and shook his head. “Only about twenty of them sir.” Tower scowled. “Damnit.” He cursed, turning around as he glared at the empty cages of the cell block. “Just put those idiots back into their cells.” Turning to one of the other free guards, he waved one of them over. “How many of our men did we recover?”  “About half of everypony stationed here sir.” The pegasus guard grimaced. “Though I have to add, a good number of the guards we found were beaten pretty badly, most of them unconscious. The ones who were fine have been sent out in teams to try to recover the escapees and to try to find any more guards who are in need of help.” The warden cursed, slamming his fist onto the wall. “The Spider played us for fools.” He growled, clenching his fist. “Just how has he been working with the Thunderbolts.” Tower shook his head. “No, Shocker is an idiot. If anything it's more likely that the Thunderbolts have been working for him.” He grimaced and shook his head again. “This whole thing doesn’t make any sense.” The warden paced around the room, his expression shifting through stoic and anger as he continued to try to make sense of the problem he was facing. He stopped suddenly, turning his head towards an empty prison cell. Cautiously moving towards the cell, his eyes narrowed when he spotted an odd shadow crawling against the wall.  Turning back, he waved towards one of the guards. “Stone Wall, tell me. Do you see that?” He asked, pointing at the flat shadow crawling around every flat surface in the room. Stone Wall stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as he tried to get a better look at the strange shadow. “Yeah… what is that?” He questioned, stepping into the cage. As if sensing the pony was in the same room with it, the shadow crawled towards him, stopping as soon as it was in front of him.  Suddenly the shadow began pulling itself off the ground, causing the two ponies to take a step back in surprise. The creature's body was pitch black and small, with two small antennas that hung limply in front of its face. Raising its head, the creature’s beady yellow eyes stared at the two guards in front of it. Crouching, the shadow leapt towards Stone Wall, its claws reaching for him.