//------------------------------// // Ramsgate // Story: The Slayer 6 // by MrAquino //------------------------------// The lone Slayer, as he was called, stood by Marcus Boehr, a much bigger man with a long brown beard, shorter hair, and in a leather jacket with a scarf around his neck. As the new Creatures looked around the zeppelin, seeing some of the interior and all the isles they pass by, the Slayer had told Marcus what had happened. "So, these… kids," Marcus spoke. "You think we do have what we need to help them get back home?" "I'm not so sure." The Slayer answered. "But if not, at least we have some new potential Slayers a bit." "Wait… you think they can be Slayers? Aren't they... well… too young?" "We have a lot of young faces, Marcus. Each one of us has what it takes to save our home. Though I haven't seen much, they have a lot of potential." "I just hope Kat will be ok with this, slayer." "Who's Kat?" Silverstream asked, standing between the two. Both humans jumped back, with Marcus causing the zeppelin to veer off a bit, but was saved before it could crash onto any flying debris. "Don't do that! I'm the best Bosun in Ramsgate, and I'd like to stay that way until someone else can surpass me. But to answer your question, Miss, Kat was THE Slayer, the best of the best, and trains new Slayers practically every day." "She sounds tough." Smolder commented. "Indeed, she is, but don't let that intimidate you; she's more laid back than you'd expect. And not just because she's sending everyone out to slay behemoths." "Slay behemoths?" Ocellus asked. "I'm sorry, but what's going on here? We're new here, and I think we should know what's happening." "Ah, well, if you are that curious, to make a long story short, the Shattered Isles came to be as it was now when the behemoths arrived, which devour our source of energy, Aether. For every behemoth we defeat, we colonize over there, a way to keep some space in Ramsgate." "Ramsgate?" Gallus asked. "We like rams; sturdy, make our homes in tough environments, and will knock down any who trespass our home. And speaking of Ramsgate, you'll see it about… now!" The clouds cleared away, and in the distance was the largest floating island. In the front, connected to some smaller islands, were various docks with other zeppelins, some leaving and others returning, with said docks connecting to a large town. Though small, there were other people below, some with green & white hoodies, but the rest in different and unique armor with equally diverse weapons on either their back or that were holstered on their sides. Both humans walked out, with the other creatures hesitantly following. "Before we enter, care to tell me how you landed here?" "Oh, that?" Ocellus asked "Um… to make it short for you, we were doing a project, and one thing led to another, and we winded up with… uh… what's your name, sir?" "My name?" The Slayer asked. "It's-" "What the hell is this!?" A woman's voice yelled. Marching rapidly towards them on the dock was a dark skinned woman with short, darker hair, and in some armor that covered her shoulders and torso. "Slayer, did you just bring behemoths over!? Did Dr. Priyana set you up for this!?" "No ma'am!" The Slayer saluted.  "Relax, Kat," Marcus replied reassuringly. "These aren't behemoths." "Not behemoths?" She asked. "Have you lost your mind!? Give me one reason why I shouldn't skin them here." "Um, miss?" Sandbar began, "We didn't mean to frighten you. We just landed here and-" The woman's eyes widened as if she saw a ghost. "... Marcus… catch me." She fainted on the spot, with Marcus quickly catching her before she hit the ground. He looked at the group and gave a sheepish smile. "Give her a few hours." He only replied, "Slayer, care to lead our guests around Ramsgate a bit? Perhaps Arkan Drew might know what to do." "Yes, sir." The Slayer answered, letting Marcus walk ahead with the fainted woman in his arms. "Come on, stick with me and-" he looked back to see the creatures were all gone. "... Oh crap." The various other Slayers that were in town just stayed in place and watched as weird creatures entered their city and started to interact with their important figures. Under a very flamboyant stand, Ocellus stood with an equally flamboyantly dressed, dark skinned man, who took a very close look at her. "I must say, I am IN LOVE with your unique looks, Miss Ocellus!" He spoke. Ocellus blushed.  "Oh you! But I've been born like this. What do you do around here, if I can ask?" "Why, my dear, I allow every Slayer here to look FABULOUS!!! Protection is one thing, but everyone needs to look their best while out there." "Oh? And the mirror?" "That's mostly for Slayers who wish to change their appearance… usually a different type or color, but I've yet to figure out how they change their faces and… well… sex." "Ooh! They're Changelings like me!?" "... Changelings, dear?" In a flash of blue flame, Ocellus turned into the man, complete with his purple suit. "I too can change myself into anyone and anything." "... Oh...my… goodness… I'M SO FABULOUS LOOKING!!!" "Ocellus! What are you doing!?" The Slayer yelled, running to and grabbing the changed Changeling. "I'm so sorry, Gregio! I'll give you some platinum to make up for this-" "Sorry!? Oh no! I insist! She should stay for a while longer." "Um… yeah,sorry, but we've gotta go." Ocellus turned back into her original self as the slayer took her away. "Come back soon!" Right down the pathway, across the town center, Gallus flew over the head of a man in, what appeared to be, very high tech looking armor, with a helmet that didn't expose his face. "So… why are you called "The middleman", as the rest of these Slayers call you?" "It is just a title." The masked figure answered, not showing much emotion in his voice. "Right, and what do you do?" "I upgrade amps." "... And?" "That's it." "... And how do you upgrade amps?" "Take two lesser amps and merge them together to make one stronger amp. Takes me a while, but for the right price, I can make them immediately." "... Right… and what's with the armor? Does that serve any purpose, or is that just meant to make you look cool?" "Gallus!" The Slayer yelled, approaching the griffon with the Changeling in his arms. "Please, Mr. Middleman, I apologise if Gallus made you angry." “No need. If anything, he was curious about my services.” The masked man replied.  "Come on you, we gotta get the others. Where are they?" "The others went into the market."  In the near front of the market, on the right side, Yona sat by as a fairly large, white bearded man wearing an apron showed off a hammer. "Ooh! Yona LOVE the hammer!" Yona spoke, her eyes beaming.  "Haha! Wils loves your enthusiasm, fair Yona. Of course, this is a recruiting hammer,so it's not so strong." "There other stronger hammers!? Yona wanna see them!!!" "Wils wants to, but alas, you need the ingredients, and rams, for me to make them." The Slayer walked by the stand, quickly grabbing Yona by her horn and dragging her along. "No! Yona want to chat with friend!" "Later." The slayer scowled. "Farewell, Yona!" Wils waved back."May we meet each other again soon!" Right in a stand on the right side, a man in uniform stood still with a tired look as Silverstream poked the side of his head with one of her claws. "Please, stop." He quietly begged, trying to keep his composure. "Hehe! You remind me of my uncle!" Silverstream commented, still poking the side of his head. "I’ve spent years at the academy, and yet, they never taught me how to handle children." "Ooh! What's this?" Silverstream quickly jumped into the back of the store and showed him a weird device. '"Those are Ostian repeaters, my creation." "And this?" She pulled out a small box. He immediately jumped back with a yelp.  "Drop that!!! That's a grenade!"  "A what?" She dropped the grenade after pulling a pin out. Everyone nearby screamed loudly and ran away in a panic. The Slayer that found her and her friends quickly ran in and threw the grenade into the sky. It exploded into the air. He quickly picked up the man Silverstream was terrorizing. "Mr. Janek, sir," He spoke. "I'm so sorry for that, and-" "Keep her away from me!" Janek interrupted. "Of all the things, why didn't I get the dragon!?" "Dragon?" The group looked back, seeing Smolder standing right by a built redhead woman. "Well, it's like what I've said before," the redhead spoke. "Nothing can protect you from stupid." "Tell me about it." Smolder replied. The Slayer walked over to them. "She wasn't giving you a hard time, Morya?" He asked. "No. Far from it, actually. Smolder helped add fire to my stand… and she likes my tortoise." Smolder simply shrugged. "Hey, it reminds me of Professor Dash's Tortoise." "... I'll ask later." The Slayer spoke before looking at the group. "Let's see here… wait, where's Sandbar?"  "Right here." Sandbar's voice was heard. He trotted over to the group, having a huge blush and smile across his face. "Where did you go?"  "Oh, I met this pirate woman who calls herself "Lady Luck", and she took me in to the back, giving me a huge hug, and-" "Ahem!" The voice of an uppity sounding man spoke. Standing nearby was an elderly looking man wearing a pair of glasses, and was dressed up rather nicely. The Slayer walked to him, taking a deep breath. "Arkan Drew," he began. "Look, I know it's weird, but I can explain everything." "Let me guess; during one of your hunts, a portal opened, all of these creatures dropped in, and though they're new, they're trying to find a way back home?" "... You can say that." Gallus replied. "Right…” Arkan sighed as he adjusted his glasses, “Well, as much as I would like to help, I have no idea where they came from, or even what to do first." "Please, sir," Ocelus began. "We came from Equestria, and we REALLY need to get home! I don't want King Thorax and the hive to worry about where I've been!" "Ahem!" The others cleared their throats. "... I mean, where we've been." "Well, I'm sorry, but this is a huge ordeal that I'm not sure I can help immediately with." Arkan sighed, “Though... there is the theory that the incident that brought you here is connected to the Aether, somehow.” "What do we need to do!?" Gallus asked. "We're ready to do anything!" “You may have the attitude, but you lack the equipment,” Arkan remarked, before looking to the Slayer, “Slayer, would it be right to assume that they already met Moyra and Wils?” ".. Pretty much." The Slayer answered. "At least the yak and dragon did." “Then the only suggestion I can really give is to make sure they have the proper equipment before going out into the field,” the aethersmith replied, “Doing so should give me enough time to construct a set of lanterns for all of them.” "Wait, field? Lanterns?" Smolder asked. "What choo talkin' 'bout?" The Slayer rolled his eyes. "Well, I kinda figured this would happen." He spoke. "Seems you're all going to become Slayers before you can get home." The Creatures all looked surprised at the fact… until Yona's tail started wagging. "Yona going to smash monsters!?” the yak asked. "Can Yona use hammer!?" "I… don't see why not." Yona immediately ran to Wils. "YONA WANT HAMMER!!! YONA WANT HAMMER!!!" "... I suggest the rest of you follow suit. Until Kat wakes up… if she does, that is. Wils should teach you how each weapon is used." “Come on, it can’t be that hard to use a weapon now,” Gallus said… before looking back at the Slayer and raising an eyebrow, “Can it?” "Can I use this?" Silverstream asked, holding an Ostian repeater. "Yes," the Slayer answered. "But you need a second one as well." "Oh, then I'm good." She pulled out a second Ostian repeater. Sandbar looked at his hooves. "Um… I don't think I can carry anything with these." He spoke. "Perhaps I should-" "Then perhaps I can help." A very calm, almost translucent sounding, female voice spoke. Sitting, and levitating in the air, was a woman whose left arm was all but gone, and in it's place was metal pieces that vaguely resembled a large arm. "Uh… were you there the whole time?" "For once, I wasn't. Had to do some other form of business. But where are my manners; I am called the Scarred master, and I may have a way to aid you, young colt." Sandbar looked at the others, a bit nervous looking. "Oh please, don't be so nervous. Afterall, I already know that you were with Lady Luck and she allowed you to-" "I'm coming over!" Sandbar quickly trotted over to the floating woman. Though her face was covered by a scarf, she inspected his front hooves.  "Hmm… yes, I'm certain my Aether Strikers will aid you on your journey, young one." "Um… Aether Strikers?" A pair of gauntlets appeared right in front of the Colt's face. "Yes, the weapon of choice for any Slayer who wishes to be close and personal to any behemoth." "That… doesn't exactly sound helpful." "Perhaps to you, but my tools allow you to unleash your inner strength and aid your allies in rapid strikes with equal force behind them. And unless you can carry weapons with your hooves, this is your best bet and not become live bait." “Well, if all else fails, punch it?” Gallus shrugged, only to get stared down by Sandbar as the gauntlets fit on his hooves, “Okay, I’ll stop.” Yona ran back wearing a simple green outfit that looked pretty tight on her, but with a huge hammer on her back. "Yona prepared for smashing!" She spoke. "Friends should go to Yona's new friend and get ready themselves!" "Eh, might as well." Smolder shrugged. Her, Gallus, and Ocellus approached Wills' stand. "Ahoy!" He wholeheartedly spoke. " Your friend was excited to get the last hammer I had available for today." "Eh, it's a giant hammer, no real thought to it besides smashing things." "You may think that, and she may not listen, but her hammer has four concussive blasts that can propel any Slayer further and interrupt any behemoth attacking." "Wait, she can fire stuff from her hammer?" Ocellus asked.  “So, like if Professor Pinkie’s Party Cannon was put into a hammer?” Gallus then asked, before looking to Smolder and Ocellus, “Should we be concerned?” "Uh… what weapons do you got?" Smolder asked, trying to ignore the thought of Yona propelling herself into someone on accident. "Just three last weapons, but all unique from each other." Wills answered, pulling out an equally huge axe. "First available is an axe. A heavy weapon, similar to the hammer, but instead of knocking behemoths off their feet, the axe does a lot of damage to those behemoths. And if you wish to remain at a distant, then toss this at those behemoths for a chance to deal more damage to, and hopefully, cut off a piece from those Behemoths." "... Any takers?" Gallus asked. There was a brief pause before Smolder sighed, picking up the huge weapon. "While I'm sure I'll be a bit slow with this thing, I think doing more damage to those beats will help." "And help you cut off the pieces needed to help make new weapons and armor." "Uh… what other stuff do you have?" Gallus asked. In response, Wils pulled out a sword. "A sword; The perfect well-rounded weapon in speed, damage, and mobility. Get enough charge into it, and you'll be doing extra damage to those behemoths, be faster, and unleash aether waves with each swing." “Works for me.” Gallus picked up the blade. Ocellus stood on the bottom. "Guess that means I'm going to have what's leftover. But please, I'd like to know what I'll be getting." Wills nodded and pulled out what appeared to be a spear. "Finally, the Warpike, a great weapon to wound behemoths with rapid succession. Stabbing and slicing are it's bread and butter, and just like bread and butter, it's best to mix the two together. And just like the hammer, the more you hit a behemoth and not get hit, you'll fire a powerful aether mortar." "Ooh! That sounds great." Ocellus picked up the Warpike. "Thank you very much!" "No problem. I am very happy to help any Slayer, new and old, be prepared for their next hunt. Without my weapons, no Slayer will have a successful hunt." "And without my armor, no slayer will be alive!" Moyra shouted from the other side, giving Gallus his matching armor set with the others. "Yes, your craft is also important!" All the young creatures had on matching clothes, with the only main difference being what the size of their clothes, and the weapons they had equipped. "Anyone else feel funny wearing these?" Sandbar asked. "Why? Because you're naked all the time?" Smolder remarked.  "Yona like new clothes!" The yak spoke.  "Yeah, well don't get used to them." Their Slayer replied. "That's just armor for beginners. Soon, you'll have much better armor that not only serves a function, but makes you look cooler." "Sweet. Now I can look even more awesome than I am already." Gallus said.  "So… where do we start?" Silverstream asked. "Normally, it's with the Embermane, but for now, you'll be hunting a lesser gnasher." "Um… a gnasher sir?" Ocellus asked. "Well, I hope you can teach us well, sir." Sandbar added. "Because we-" "You'll be on your own." The Slayer walked away. "Wait, what!?" Smolder yelled. "The best way for you all to learn is to jump into the deep end… and I've gotta do some heroic patrols myself. I just needed the tail of that Embermane to upgrade my chainblade." He sprinted away, leaving the six alone. "... How do we find this… lesser gnasher?" Yona asked. "Leave that to me." Marcus spoke from behind them, making them jump. "Sorry about that, had to put Kat in her room. She may be awake by the time you return from your first hunt."  "Oi! I need more tonics here!" A random Slayer yelled near the center. "... Uh, give me a few minutes, and we'll be in the air in no time."