Round 7: Abandoned Skyscrapers
Opponents: 8
One hundred stories up. Maybe I should just jump and end it all... No! That is the demon talking! Dear Faust, make it go away!
This was it. The last fight before salvation. It was happening on the most dangerous battleground, fittingly enough.
For her first move, Twilight broke through a giant glass pane and landed in the interior of a gray, empty building whose original purpose was long forgotten. Grabbing a few weapons, she then exited via another window, sailing through the air and landing on another skyscraper. Using a gas can, she managed to score a bullseye on the semi truck, only for it to retaliate with a freeze missile.
Breaking free, she raised a shield a few moments before the big black machine charged at her. Retreating, she drove up and off a metal mesh ramp, overcome with the unnerving sensation of negative g-forces. Landing, she picked up a missile... but instead received a notice that her weapon bay was full. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? She wasn’t sure. But at least, she found out, she could still grab MG upgrades.
Driving through the hollowed out fuselage of an airplane, Twilight ended up next to the hollow building where she had started the battle. Briefly butting heads with the hot rod, she tried to take an airborne shortcut to one of the lower rooftop, but her car nosedived and crash-landed, and then a red + appeared on her radar very close by.
With no other option, Twilight braced.
The screaming projectile’s impact knocked Brimstone back onto its wheels, but also knocked its health status into the red zone. She had to act fast. Retracing her route through the airplane, the empty building and across the ramp led her to the repair station. A few bullets later, a large billboard was transformed into a makeshift road between two of the skyscrapers. Darting across the new ramp and through the airplane, Twilight came face-to-face with the semi truck, which stopped to aim long enough to be destroyed by two power missiles and a shower of mega gun fire.
Grabbing a repair pickup, Twilight bursted through one of the tall building’s windows, but she was suddenly torched by the car-tank hybrid’s flamethrower, which set her car alight. Making matters worse, she had no turbo. With little other option, she fled, launching a few homing missiles behind her to discourage the thing from chasing her. Exiting the building, she turned left and broke open a pile of crates to uncover a repair pickup.
U-turning and heading around the corner, the evangelist spotted the bright illumination of the hybrid’s flamethrower; acting fast, she raised a shield before charging in and emptying her entire stock of mega gun bullets into it, followed by a couple of gas cans. She then raced across a metal mesh bridge connected to a rooftop with a crane swinging a wrecking ball back and forth, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a freeze missile.
Moments later, the culprit raced by: the hot rod. Breaking the freeze, Twilight continued on past the wrecking ball, turned right and drove onto a repair station. She followed the hot rod to the next rooftop over, landing a few shots on it while entering the plane fuselage. Quickly moving out of range when it attacked with its electrical surge, Twilight was momentarily pushed off the ground by a shockwave released by the two-wheeled contraption.
Exiting the plane, she turned around, raised a shield and attacked the contraption with a gas can and a power missile, the shield protecting her when her opponent created two shockwaves in quick succession. Retreating and heading for the empty building, Twilight jumped through the hole in the ceiling, but then was suddenly pushed across the gap and onto solid ground by another shockwave from the contraption.
Not wasting valuable time sitting still in shock, Twilight dashed away and jumped onto an old cathedral. Snagging a repair pickup, she dropped down onto a rooftop with several satellite towers, turned right, grabbed another repair pickup and landed on a rooftop with a motionless crane—the exact one that was landed on after exiting the hollow building—where she launched a Suicide Bomber at the taxi.
“Repent!”
Twilight raised a shield as the taxi returned fire. Turning around to keep it in her sights, she launched two gas cans and quickly followed them with a fire missile. Putting some distance between herself and the yellow car, she rear-fired another fire missile, then set her sights on the contraption, taking it out with a few fire missiles. The taxi attempted to flee, but entered Twilight’s line of fire long enough to also be hit with multiple fire missiles, itself being reduced to fire and scrap in the process.
Breaking open two nearby stacks of crates netted Twilight two fire missiles and a zoomy. Picking up an MG upgrade, she raced off of the mesh ramp to escape from the ice cream truck. After landing, she grabbed two health pickups, U-turned and waited for an opponent to come into range... the ice cream truck. Twilight fired off the zoomy.
Dodging as the truck sent a flurry of missiles in her direction, the evangelist raced through the hollow plane to get out of her opponent’s line of fire. Exiting, she grabbed a much-needed turbo refill, turned around and pounced on the ice cream truck when it too exited the plane. Burning off a full third of her mega gun ammo attempting to strike, she stopped her target with a freeze missile, and hit with her remaining MG rounds, a gas can, a power missile and finally a Suicide Bomber.
“Repent!”
*Boom!*
That was one step closer, but she was left badly wounded and in peril. Twilight jumped into the hollow building, but was hit when she exited, pushing her car even closer to the edge. Driving off the metal ramp, she continued her search for repair pickups; driving to what she now realized was the broken-off nose of the wrecked plane turned up an MG upgrade and a satellite, but nothing to heal her damaged machine.
A trip through the plane fuselage refilled her car’s turbo, but a scan of the rooftop it exited on revealed no repair pickups. She was starting to panic. Dropping into the hollow building again, an all-too-familiar scream sounded, so Twilight stopped, raised a shield and braced. After impact, she headed for the exit.
Then a repair pickup spawned in front of her. She raced for it like a pony lost in the desert would toward a jug of fresh water. Exiting the hollow building, she looped around across the wrecking ball rooftop and through the airplane, then tried to strike the SUV with the satellite, but missed. With her car still in bad shape, Twilight smartly retreated into the hollow building, but turned left after exiting; to her relief, another repair pickup had spawned next to the outside edge.
U-turning, she darted up and off the mesh ramp and through the plane fuselage; another U-turn after the exit directed her to a repair pick-up hovering above the plane wreck, and she grabbed it out of midair with some help from her turbo. Heading back into the airplane, she rushed to the next rooftop up and started to unload her supply of fire missiles in the direction of the sports car, ending by charging forward while firing her mega gun.
Another one down. Driving into and out of the hollow building, she grabbed an MG upgrade, turned right to jump off the mesh ramp and fired two ricochets at the car-tank hybrid when she landed, but both missed. She then tried four Suicide Bombers in succession, but she couldn’t tell if the latter three hit; however, a closer inspection upon driving by revealed that they did, leaving the hybrid thing hanging on by a thread.
Taking cover in the airplane, Twilight turned around with the intent of finishing off her opponent, but changed plans and reversed when the SUV rushed her. Exiting the fuselage, she raised a shield and opened fire, taking the SUV down to about half health and emptying her entire stock of mega gun ammo. In her continued attempts to strike, she threw a Suicide Bomber way off the mark, then turned around in time to witness large bolts of electricity from the hot rod hit and destroy the hybrid.
With the hot rod and the SUV holding each other’s attention, Twilight used the distraction to enter the hollow building, then picked up a zoomy and a turbo refill. A blip on her radar started moving her way. She pulled up the zoomy and waited... then fired it at the vehicle that emerged—the SUV—and successfully got all ten missiles to hit their mark. Pulling up a shield when the opposing vehicle got close, she chipped away with her machine gun, then used their close proximity to hit with a Suicide Bomber.
*Boom!*
She crossed the bridge to the wrecking ball rooftop—taking care to avoid the swinging wrecking ball itself—and fired off the single ricochet she had stocked up, wanting to make room in her weapon bay for other items. The airplane nose rooftop gave Twilight a fire missile, gas can, zoomy and MG upgrade. She used up a few of her homing missiles to make room for more fire missiles, which she picked up in the plane fuselage.
A search of the hollow building rooftop turned up a few more weapons, and informed her that the repair station had shut down. Her car’s status was in the yellow, while the hot rod’s was in the red; she held the advantage there, but still couldn’t afford to be reckless. Entering the hollow building to put distance between herself and her final opponent, Twilight snatched up a few more weapons, then whipped around and activated a shield as the hot rod jumped down from a higher rooftop and attacked with a mega gun. But its driver failed to dodge the Suicide Bomber thrown its way.
“Repent!”
*Boom!*
...She had done it.
She had won!
All of this sank in as she drove to the rooftop of a large, circular skyscraper, where she would be transported to Calypso’s lair.
But then, a helicopter emerged.
“You are in violation of Midtown City Code 4432!” The pilot said. “Step out of your vehicle and surrender peacefully!”
“Time’s up!”
Round 8: Warhawk’s Rooftop
Opponents: 1
So this is to be my Armageddon? The law demands that I surrender... But I only answer to a higher power.
Dashing around the center of the rooftop, Twilight noticed purple electrical bolts surrounding the helicopter: a shield. But how could she disable it? When she took cover in an empty structure to avoid a barrage of missiles from the helicopter, a potential answer arrived in the form of a tanker truck that bore a striking resemblance to Minion’s. She yelped and opened fire with her mega gun when the tanker charged at her while unleashing a stream of flames from its top-mounted cannon, but her attack literally stopped it in its tracks, leaving it badly damaged and without any wheels or weapons.
Getting an idea, she took it out for good when the helicopter flew overhead, causing the shield to flicker and spark erratically.
Okay, she had a fighting chance, just like she did against Minion! She could win this! But it wouldn’t be easy... something that Warhawk reminded her of by assaulting her with another barrage of missiles. Undeterred, she attacked—and quickly disabled—a second tanker that entered the fray, then dashed across the roof to the second cover structure and grabbed a repair pickup inside of it.
Rushing back to the first structure, the helicopter dove down, and Twilight blew up the tanker, damaging the shield a second time. It didn’t take long for a third tanker to take the place of its blown-up brethren, but like the two before it, it also didn’t take long before it was disabled and used as a makeshift bomb.
The helicopter’s shield flickered, then vanished.
At last, she could finally, truly fight Warhawk. Just like Minion, he wasn’t invincible! She could take him, she knew she could!
Entering the open, Twilight rushed across the rooftop while the ‘copter starting shooting a volley of missiles at her, and took cover to wait out the remainder of the attack. When the explosions stopped, Warhawk swooped down and steered to the structure’s open end to get a clear shot at Twilight, allowing her to do the same and strike with a fire missile.
Passing over, Warhawk doubled back and Twilight launched three more fire missiles at it... but then, the helicopter dove straight for her. She raised a shield and frantically backpedaled, but failed to get out of the way in time; the shield prevented the impact from inflicting any damage, but she was still pushed out from behind her cover.
Moving fast, Twilight snatched up a turbo refill and a repair pickup, then took cover as her opponent opened fire. Taking the time to cycle through her weapon inventory, she realized that fire and homing missiles were literally the only things on hoof that would be able to damage her airborne adversary.
But this contest had taught her how to use the cards dealt to her. When Warhawk moved into a position to line up a shot at her, she attacked with a couple of missiles, but was then forced to dodge something that looked like a giant red ricochet. As the helicopter moved back into Twilight’s line of fire, it was hit by three more missiles before stopping in place to unleash a barrage of firepower.
Twilight made a gamble by exiting her cover to rush across No Pony’s Land, and she took a hit in the process; however, the gamble paid off in the form of a repair pickup that had spawned in the other structure. When Warhawk took aim again, its ground-bound opponent brought the big black helicopter’s status down into the red zone.
She hurried out into the open, raising a shield for protection while she rushed for the other structure. But then, she miscalculated her trajectory and crashed into the side... and the shield then wore off. Twilight was suddenly forced onto the defensive as Warhawk opened fire.
Hurrying back behind cover, she waited until Warhawk moved to take a clear shot, then launched her remaining stock of missiles, engulfing the helicopter in explosions and sending the pilot plummeting to the ground far below.
The contest was mercifully at an end.
I had triumphed over The Darkness!
I visited Calypso; it was time for him to prove my innocence and clear my name!
And yet, he seemed hesitant.
“I made no promise to clear your name,” he said. “I only promised to show you the truth.”
And the truth, he said...
Was that the demon wasn’t real!
The voice inside me was a figment of my imagination! It was all in my mind!
The exorcism? It wasn’t an exorcism at all; it was a baptism!
It was Judgement Day in that church, and I was the Angel of Death!
The truth had been delivered indeed, but not by Faust, but by Calypso! He was right: I was, as they say, insane!
My whole life, I’d been trying to silence that voice; I even performed rituals to show my loyalty to Faust in hopes that She would save me!
Bracing through the pain, Twilight used nails to impale herself on a wall, in the middle of cross painted on the surface.
But nothing worked.
A mare cannot hide from herself; there is only one path before her...
Hefting herself into a bipedal stance with assistance from her magic, Twilight—standing on a building’s roof—spread her forelegs wide, seemingly embracing the land before her...
Then tilted forward and fell off the edge.
There was a *splat* followed by the klaxon of a car alarm.
