//------------------------------// // Battle Part 2 // Story: Soldier in Equestria // by robberrito //------------------------------// Saxton Hale came down hard, driving his feet down toward the ground where Merasmus was. The wizard barely dodged the human bullet, jumping to the side as Hale zoomed past him. He turned around and watched as the Aussie formed a huge crater where he once was. He watched Saxton Hale walk out of the massive crater without a scratch. His jaw was dropped as his brain failed to comprehend a human with this much power. Saxton merely chuckled, "Mate, I don't like the way you've been messing with my business lately. I think it's time..." Saxton Hale slammed his foot into the ground, causing the sand around him to jump up into the air in response. Using this force, Saxton launched himself toward the wizard at speeds higher than any normal man could ever even hope to travel at, becoming a blur in the eyes of every observer. Saxton Hale cracked a smile as he clenched his fist and reeled it back behind his head, ready to make a fine paste of the man who had caused a halt in a once good business. “TO FILE A LAWSUIT!” Before Merasmus could even react, Saxton slammed his fist into the wizard’s face. Blood splattered in the air as Merasmus's once recognizable face was now completely demolished. If it were not for his magical abilities, Merasmus would have most definitely died. Merasmus's whole body shot through the sky, spiraling out of control as only the air itself slowed his rise. Once he reached the peak of his temporary flight, he came crashing down, turning into a fiery meteor as he tumbled through the atmosphere of the earth. As he approached the ground, the mercenaries observing the scene winced as the wizard smashed into the ground, creating a massive crater where sand and dirt once was. Still shocked at the utter beatdown of the wizard, they turned to Saxton Hale as he chuckled, clapping his hands while looking at the destruction he had caused. "Alright, boys, I want my business up and running as soon as possible. Go on, pick that bastard up. I'll be waiting at the base while you boys get him over there." He pointed to the wizard in the crater, who was barely alive at this point, and began to command the mercenaries once more, "Go on! Pick 'em up. We don't got all day, now do we?" The mercenaries immediately sprung into action, running toward the crater and jumping down. Once they were down, they decided to get a good look at Merasmus. The Blue Soldier laughed, "Hahahaha! That's what you get you, magical mischief maker! I haven't seen such a fine ass-whooping on someone in a while! Even less on someone who's deserved it! Too bad I didn't do it." The BLU Engineer called out, earning everyone's attention, "Alright boys! Am Ah gonna have to pick him up or what? C'mon and help me." Everyone got to work quickly, moving to each side of Merasmus and crouching down, putting their hands around the sides of the massive wizard. On a countdown from 3, they lifted Merasmus up into the air and began to carry him out of the hole. Although the team was strong, Merasmus was also pretty huge, so the team began to pant and sweat as they got to the van. Finally getting to the van, they dropped him down. The RED Heavy breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down on the sand. He breathed in and out heavily for several seconds before looking back up. When he did, he noticed something was wrong with their plan. "Um, how do we transport?" The BLU Engineer, still red in the face, turned to the RED Heavy. He scrunched his face at the Heavy's statement, "Huh?" The RED Heavy pointed to the van, "Is too big for inside van. Where do we put him?" The BLU Engineer stared at the van, finally realizing that the RED Heavy was right. He groaned, "Ah shucks. Well, looks like we'll have to improvise." The Engineer began to walk around the van, observing spots on the van where he could possibly put Merasmus. After doing this, he came back to Heavy. "Alright, I've got a spot, but we'll need some rope." The Heavy cocked his eyebrow at that statement. "Rope? Why need rope? Oh, you're going to put on roof? How do that? He might crush van or we are seen." The Engineer shrugged his shoulders at Heavy, "Well, it's either that or nothing. Now, get off your rear end, and let's get him up there." Shortly after this interaction, he called out to everyone else, "Alright boys! Merasmus won't fit inside the van so it looks like we're going to have to put him on the roof of the van! C'mon, let's get him up there!" The teams released a collective groan at that moment. --- A being floated in the void, shaking in violent fury at the recent turn of events at the Badlands. "WHY, WHY, WHY?! THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! HOW COULD HALE HAVE INTERVENED? I THOUGHT I HAD THAT COVERED! AHHHHHH!" It writhed in agony as its situation was now made infinitely more difficult thanks to the loss of its ally. After it had calmed down enough to not be thrashing about, it thought about its situation. "It's ok, it's ok, it's ok. I have enough power to do this myself. The snowball has already been pushed off the ledge, and soon enough I will finally be able to show these foals what Equestria should truly look like! My power is infinite, not even the stars could stand up to me! Soon, Celestia, Luna, your reign will come to a short end. You will be my playthings for all eternity! Hahahahaha!" --- At that moment, Soldier felt something. It was small, but it reeked of the same magic of Merasmus. He looked up, and toward a city on the side of a mountain. It was beautiful, to say the least, but he knew at that moment that it held a dark secret.