-Equus, Airship Mauled, Dream Catcher Realm, Fizzle-
“I swear I’m going to go back to being Tempest Shadow at this rate.” Saying this as I watched ridiculousness going on, I couldn’t help but have a migraine despite the fact that I was already asleep.
Jade was swinging around on a vine and unloading an automatic crossbow at Luna who was wearing a full set of Nightmare Moon armor and chasing her down with a lance. There was also a cherufe giving Jade support fire and Nightmare Moon was being assisted by a roc.
“Eh, have you tried asking Pique and Niche to help with the situation?” Gallus asked as he sat watching with the two storm creatures that were residents of Airship Mauled, mostly because they watched out for me and were good local guards for the citizenry.
My two big fluffy ape like, white furred, part-time bodyguards were fairly kind and my most loyal supporters among the storm creatures. They look like they found all of this mostly amusing. It was still going to take a little while to get some Storm Creatures okay for being allowed into Twilight’s school of friendship. The education system for the storm creatures was still being updated by my wandering companion, that sugar guzzling hedgehog Grubber. At least we brought up the standard of living for what are essentially my people since I’m Storm Queen by conquest, being decent at lightning magic helped the image far too much.
Said storm creatures were simply just sitting on a picnic blanket and eating dream food.
“Help, or make thing worse?” Noting my moderately displeased tone, Gallus shrugged.
Both Luna and Jade were basically at each other’s throats in an over the top violent and volatile manner and I didn’t have an idea of who I should be helping. At least they couldn’t seriously maim each other.
Jade certainly got a few good hits in the waking world and was wearing down Luna’s resolve through constant unending pranking with support from various people… also pies… lots and lots of horribly flavored or scented, still edible, pies. Did not know that durian pie was a thing or that it would knock an alicorn out cold from the smell of it impacting them in the face when you don’t cover that up in the baking process, good to know if I ever had to actively fight an alicorn… again.
Luna was still a goddess of thestrals, night and dreams though, she could control the moon in a pinch if something happens with Twilight. So she arguably had more of an advantage here than anywhere else… except Jade has an imaginatively chaotic mind and was actually balancing out Luna’s dream walker abilities with pure unabashed chaotic absurdity.
I wish I could call Jade the biggest jerk among Abyssinian kind, but there were actually worse than my designated snuggle kitty. I’d like to think that I actually have one of the good ones, ‘LIKE TO’.
“Well we’re all dreaming right?” Yeah, wasn’t going to ever get used to hearing Pique, much less Niche, not speaking in Storm Creature. “Why don’t we just dream up ways to stop the both of them while we’re under the effects of the dream catcher?”
“That would require us all to have the ability to concentrate our minds collectively enough to beat those two, we’d have to overpower the both of them with collectively focusing on one thing.” Gallus was scratching at the underside of his beak in thought. “Also you owe me more combat training if I can solve all this in ten minutes or less.”
“Granted… if, you can do it. If you do it in five, I’ll teach you some tricks you won’t get in the academy.” If there was one things I knew about griffons, they loved a bargain or a challenge. Gallus already knows I tested him in many ways. This was one of them. “Might even fast track you through it.”
If he can actually handle Jade, which to be fair most royal guards can’t and I’m still receiving numerous reports about Zampony related incidents, he should be given a quick pass through royal guard training.
If Gallus actually manages to succeed in figuring out ways to stop Jade’s shenanigans cold with anything resembling a form of consistency, then he would be declared an immediate member.
-Earth, Saint Canard, Darkwing’s Lair, Ocellus-
“Thanks for helping me with the bathroom Ocellus.” Smolder muttered with a slightly red face as I placed her down and made my way to the seat in front of the computer and checked on the severity of the situations around the city.
“I will always try to do what I can for you Smolder.” The arboretum was area currently on fire and I still haven’t heard from Drake or Gosalyn. There were no firefighters to put it out either with the city in lockdown and thugs ruling the streets. All the citizens were staying as safe as they could be and the police station was one of the few hold outs that the moles were pinning down.
“This Quiverwing Quack calling base, we’re in a slightly sticky situation, but we’ll figure a way out of it if you can’t send us any help. Arrow Assistant found us and got us out of being pinned down at least, he’s helping us with the larger problem now.” Quiverwing was, thankfully enough, reporting in. “Our team is not too bad off injury wise so far, but we’re having problems fighting living trees. Said trees are now attacking us while on fire… great. What’s the situations with the other teams?”
“New information is that officers of Saint Canard’s TOON division are being targeted like Pom, but not as aggressively and Negaduck only has lesser bounties posted on them. Maui and Launchpad have rescued Stegmutt from being drowned. After they are done with wrapping up the situation in the beachfront and knocking out that pillar, they’ll be searching for Tanya Trunk who has been reported captured by either the Tuskernini or Flaps gangs.” I was back to keeping track of everything happening after that short bathroom break, I am so glad that my people don’t produce much biological waste and find uses for anything we produce. “Pom’s team has run off Quackerjack from the theme park and they stopped a hidden bomb placed by Negaduck. They’ve rescued the hostages there and said hostages are now laying low. Sneeze Master is now assisting Pom’s team along with several members of TOON division. Said members are Fall-apart, Jitters and Fawn. At least I think Pom’s team has a good handle on currently solving the problem with Ammonia Pines sieging Saint Canard’s hospital, they’ve taken out her main vehicle and are about to take the fight to them. Also can I just say that Tactical Officer Observation Network is a much better use of the letters? It seems more in line with what they do.”
“Well tell them to keep up the good work. We ran into Bushroot here, but something is off about him… for one it’s like he can’t communicate with plants directly and is acting like a pale imitation of himself by doing it indirectly. There hasn’t been any detection of dimensional portal opening anywhere near Saint Canard right?” Asked Quiverwing as she exerted herself doing something. “Aside from that we have Morgana, but she’s been badly poisoned. We’ll rush her to hospital after we’re done here, hopefully Pom’s team will be done by then.”
“No, no anomalous dimensional gateways opening Quiverwing.” I brought up the dossiers on Liquidator, Quackerjack, Megavolt and Bushroot. Out of all of them, Quackerjack looked like the most approachable at least. “Aside from that, Liquidator did show some anomalous reactions to some chemical based artillery we have posted outside the city. Ms. Bunny Shuttle of Big Hero Six is unable to do more than supporting artillery fire from where she is, but she’s been devastatingly helpful with knocking out the water patrol boats driven by the Steel Beak’s Eggheads around the city and she’s also supported Launchpad and Maui quite well on the beachfront. From the chemical reactions involved, it was like Liquidator wasn’t made of water like his dossier says he is, there was an unusual fluid reaction as he turned into colorful crystal. I hope you don’t mind, but have him marked down as detained. Quackerjack seemed to be mostly within lines of his projected nature of being a colorful individual. I’m guessing Megavolt is at the power station near the fourth pillar. I’m seeing some odd movements from the moles, eggheads and other outliers in the city. Don’t know what it means yet, but there seems to be some interference coming from the power station and its drawing a lot of power and pushing it through several locations throughout the city. Steel Beak, Moliarty and a number of other possible villains still haven’t made their presences personally known yet, so we might not know what someone might be capable of if we don’t have any information on them or what they are currently doing, if anything at all. Do you need anything?”
“Yeah, tell them to prep a room for Morgana at the hospital, we’ve got her in the Rat Catcher at least, but she’s in no condition to do any fighting. Otherwise Arrow Assistant has brought me plenty of ammo and I’m good to keep going.” I heard the sound of several things toppling over in a series of thunderous crashes. “TIMBER! Oh yeah, you see Honker, I told you we’d survive that. Huh, oh… right, Quiverwing out!”
So much going on and little time to coordinate it all. At least coordinating and multitasking was something I was decent at.
“Dormarch, tell the people at the hospital to prepare a ward for the hero known as Morgana Macawber.” I wasn’t like an oracle and could predict what would happen, that’s why I have Smolder as a second pair of eyes helping me watch the various screens showing various live scenes throughout the city. “She’s been poisoned, but I don’t know with what. I suggest they prepare for at least a plant based poisoning.”
-Saint Canard Beachfront, Maui-
“With the eggheads detained in a blobs of sticky goo, we’re good to move forward as soon as we figure out how to destroy that pillar supporting that sun blocking cover.” I rubbed at the bottom of my beak, my beetle blaster at the ready in case reinforcements or anything else came. It had been suspiciously effective against liquidator before we trapped him, something supernatural was itching at my mind about this and I believed that my Cold Shadow side was trying to tell me something.
“Can I help? You guys did save me after all.” Asked Stegmutt innocently. The stegosaur biped wasn’t exactly the brightest bulb in the box of dark colored crayons, but at least he was friendly and could tell right from wrong… most of the time. He at least knew Eggheads were bad guys.
“Well… we need a way to destroy that pillar Stegmutt.” Launchpad had been a great companion the entire time, didn’t even need to turn into Cold Shadow. Though I might have to do so soon, as there were an army of thugs running through the city and we’re already bruised and moderately battered.
“Oh, I know how to do that! I’ll just do the same thing I do whenever I ask someone what I should do, they always tell me the same thing.” The childlike demeanor certainly didn’t match his fearsome presence as Stegmutt stomped up to the pillar and put both his hands on it, then pulled back his face. “Use my head!”
“Wait, isn’t that going to…” Before I could say anything else Stegmutt slammed his face into the pillar. To my surprise, and after an outrageously loud cracking noise that I thought was the poor dinosaur’s skull fracturing, the pillar suddenly had a huge crack in and it then rapidly fell apart. “Hurt?”
“Did I do good?” Stegmutt asked a second later, his head looking perfectly fine after having reducing the entire pillar stretching into the sky into a pile of small rocks, pebbles and sand with one blow.
“Yes Stegmutt, you did great.” Despite two pillars being down, that unusual sun blocking canopy stayed erected over the city.
The thin film spreading over the city like a barrier was apparently rigidly in place, I’m betting all the pillars needed to be destroyed and the film will rip apart afterwards without a pillar to anchor it in place.
“This is Maui calling Ocellus, moving to search for Tanya Trunk.” Our lead was not going to be reliable mentally, but I hoped that at least Stegmutt could hopefully remember which way the villains were going when they grabbed Tanya. I had a hunch that Flaps wanted Tanya for different reasons than Tuskernini. “Still no information on who’s doing what or why, but I’m betting something big is happening and that scaring the army of moles back underground with sunlight will be the least of our worries soon enough. However, I can tell you what they were doing here at the beach. Quick question, can you look up if Tanya has a restraining order against Flaps the criminal clown?”
-Saint Canard Hospital, Pom-
“Okay, go!” I charged out and Shanty joined up with me, as we charged the barely standing eggheads, but Ammonia was moving to meet me. The police officers still taking part in the defenses opened fire to make sure the eggheads that were down, stayed down with painful injuries. “Cover my back and take them down Cut-Lass!”
“Aye-aye, Captain!” Shanty was playing up her theme it seemed, one of the grunge covered eggheads pulled his weapon and tried to fire it only to be electrocuted by the energy weapon sending him into a spasm and making him fall over.
Shanty ran past me and launched a flying buck into one of the bigger egghead’s faces as he was trying to reorient, he went down hard. They were too disoriented to really put up much of a fight, much less able to do much with the police incapacitating them all in rapid succession.
“You idiot, you’re weapons were not meant to be used while covered in raw sewage, ugh stupid cheap science tech!” Ammonia yelled before twirling her mop and slinging its end for me as I approached. Ducking under it, I took a few steps back as the ground started to sizzle from some of the specks of fluid coming off it. Ammonia pulled something from her skirt and tossed it down, Bubbles erupted around her as she held her mop out of the bubbling frothy mess. I waited to see what would come of it. When the bubbles swiftly disappeared, Pine was now completely clean somehow. “There, now I can actually concentrate on fighting you without having to worry about my body being covered in that horrible grime!”
She then focused on me and lunged forward with an overhead swing, I quickly grabbed the Dolly’s helmet and caught the mops head on it. I swung the skateboard around and smacked her in the side making her stumble backwards, something made my ears twitched.
I leaned back and the fist of a lanky egghead passed by my face, I slammed the helmet into his chin and then tossed it upwards towards where Dolly was. The helmet didn’t come back down so she probably caught it, I pulled on the strap, grabbed the skateboard with both hooves and swung it upwards into the egghead’s gut making him collapsed forward as the board knocked the air out of him and then I flipped it around and blocked a thrust of the mop from Ammonia that made me trot back a few steps.
“Can’t get good help these days, not with cleaning up after themselves and not with crime!” Ammonia tried to swing for me. I quick took the board up on my left foreleg. I block and threw my right hoof into her gut that making her gasp and almost double over, she quickly backed away. “Always thought filthy barnyard animals like you had some kick, now if only you were as strong as you were dirty.”
“Hey, I showered this morning and I have multiple medical issues thank you very much!” I kicked for her left knee with my left hind leg only for her to twirl her mop and deflect my kick with its shaft.
“So you’re just a little bit cleaner than a dirt mongering farmer you lousy Ireland accented bent!” Several rapid twirls and random swings had me leaning back and dodging backwards, avoiding the splatters or sprays of liquid particles coming off the end of the mop that could possibly get unwanted chemicals into my eyes.
“Unfortunately for you, I’m not fighting alone. Now!” I pointed in a direction, she turned to see Shanty still off fighting the eggheads, she was currently beating the tar out of them without doing slash attacks. She was bouncing around in a dizzying fast and acrobatic manner while nailing them with bucks and blunt hoof strikes at odd angles and poses.
The thugs that were still capable of fighting back were going down quickly and Sneeze Master had joined the melee too. There were only about five guys left standing, so it wouldn’t be too hard for them to deal with. The eggheads were on the backfoot ever since their vechicle was taken out.
“What? There’s no one…” She turned back into a leaping double hoof blow to the face. This staggered her and gave her a black eye on top of making her cry out in pain. “Gah that’s a dirty tactic for a hero!”
“Like you trying to constantly blind me with chemicals in a possibly permanent manner isn’t? Also, I have never called myself a hero!” I retorted as I rolled to the side as she slashed her mop downwards at me sending a splash of caustic fluids at the ground. What I was hiding with my seeming cowardice, was that Dolly was very much in position and was waiting for my real cue to go. “At least if I hurt you there’s a hospital you can go to in a timely manner where you’ll get immediate aid. Can you surrender, please?”
Never!” She tried to spear me with mop in her right hand and I ducked to the side, she swung it outwards and low for my legs.
I hopped over the swing and slung the skateboard around to the left for the right side of Ammonia’s face and she deflected it, I spun backwards with the deflection and whipped the board around and let it fly. Ammonia easily dodged it.
“Is that the best you got?” Ammonia stated haughtily while wielding her mop at me threateningly and pouring a chemical on it. “You just lost your weapon!”
“I wouldn’t be talking like I’m victorious when there are more police and heroes around you than goons active in the given area.” I grinned brightly as I saw movement high up and the shape of a shadowy canine building up speed. “Also the skateboard was never my weapon, I just borrow it from the owner from time to time.”
“Does it look like I care whose weapon it is!” She brought the mop back and over her left shoulder and I waited.
When she swung for me, I moved into her swing and turned my upper body while raising my front legs up in a defensive boxer stance and then I locked my body in place.
The shaft of the mop struck me with plenty of force to rock me slightly and I smiled as the head of the mop snapped off and then slapped against the street where it started melting through the pavement. The pavement underneath me cracked slightly, making me wonder how strong this Ammonia Pine person was.
“How does a lightweight like you stay standing after blow like that!” Ammonia seemed surprised, not knowing one of my greatest combat strengths was my defensive abilities. Did no one do their research on what Tobias knew about me? Maybe he didn’t tell them anything and maybe the villains of Saint Canard really weren’t aware of my full capabilities. “Also my mop was reinforced with metal, there’s no way it should have actually broken so easily like that, what is your wool made of? Steel?”
“I take care of my wool and it takes care of me.” I once again considered what my strength in combat would be like when I wasn’t a walking mess of problems.
Shanty had offensive abilities down, wished she’d pick up more defensive abilities than being able to simply block things with her hoof slashes. Trusted her to deal with people who had bladed weapons at the very least.
Dolly was aggressive and scrappy, good equipment, but not great on the offensive on her own physically… at least up until she gained her ability to alter momentum.
Her momentum powers would make up for any shortcomings in her size or physical capabilities, but they were best used when going downwards. Why? Because she can barely halt her downward momentum for gliding, but when she increased her downward momentum…
Dolly came streaking down like a silent meteor at an angle towards the back of Ammonia Pine’s back, I hopped back as she slammed into the large chicken lady. After bouncing off sideways in an impossible curving arc, at a speed most absurd to anyone who followed the rules of normal physics, she then proceeded to ram the nose of her board into the back of an escaping guy’s left knee and pivoted the board so the rear end hit the back of the right.
Ammonia slamming into the street face first, as hard as she did, had left her immediately unconscious with a painfully mashed and bloodied face from the momentum Dolly imparted on her before taking down the last egghead trying to flee the area.
“Okay people, make sure these guys are tied up or at least detained in a way they can’t bother anyone for at least a year.” I ordered with a sigh of relief, that hadn’t been too hard.
“Pom over here, this guy tried to call for backup!” Dolly called out waving the communication device my way.
“Is that a dog?” The voice said on the other end. “Ammonia doesn’t do mangy flea bitten mutts.”
“You’d be right about it being a dog, but she is quite clean when she lets me keep her that way. She’s also my partner whoever you are.” I said as I took the device from Dolly. “I would also like to state that Ammonia Pine is no longer currently capable of conscious thought. So please do try and send her some reinforcements so we can speed things up.”
“No thanks, not willing to waste more resources than we have to, I was actually hoping she’d get caught by someone today.” The voice didn’t seem worried we had caught one of the named criminals working with them.
“I’m Leap Lamb, who am I talking to here and can you please give yourself up?” I was asking nicely here, the less people I had to fight the better.
“No can do Leapy, your currently talking to Steel Beak and while I would like the bounty on you to fill out FOWL’s currently meager coffers… Ammonia was no pushover and I can hardly trust Negaduck to not put a chainsaw through my back at an inopportune moment trying to collect on it.” He sounded a little… afraid… of me? “Never liked Ammonia anyway. We’re already losing too much to you heroes as it is, so I think we’re better off earning some real money with a few quick smash and grabs. So see you never, hopefully!”