Chapter 75
December 9th 12 A.B.
Three hours after Equine Championship Tournament
Star Chaser stood before his Sensei, a sneer on his face as he waited to be scowled for losing the tournament.
Kal just stared at him, his goggles reflecting the royal colt back at himself.
“I have trained you personally,” the stallion finally said, walking around the royal colt. “I even gave you an Ego that is sought after by all, an Ego that allows you to become unstoppable. And you still found a way to lose.”
Not wanting to accept the blame, he glared at his Sensei, “I only lost because-”
“Shut up,” Kal snapped, stalking around him. “The Protagonist Ego allows you to always come out on top, but ONLY IF YOU USE IT!”
“... I-I was using it,” Star Chaser stammered, losing his confidence as Kal ripped off his goggles and stared intensely into his eyes.
“NO, you have NOT been using it. The only time you’ve used it so far was that night everything fell apart! Since then, you’ve just been letting it go to waste!”
“But, I thought I was using it! I mean I won the fights all three to nothing till I fought Spark!” he protested, his brain reeling as he tried to figure out what to say next.
But Kal just shook his head, “I don’t think you actually know how to use your Ego. You’ve just been fighting and letting it activate on its own. You’re supposed to be the one in control, not the Ego!”
Doing his best to compose himself, he took a breath and exhaled loudly. “Okay, Sensei. Then show me how to use my Ego.”
“Should I?” Kal asked, standing over the royal colt, eyes portraying an emotion that Star Chaser couldn’t understand. “Bow to me, dedicate yourself to me, and I’ll turn you into the most fearsome creature to exist.”
This did not sit well with Star Chaser, but after watching Spark beat him and get all the praise, he was feeling a bit sour. “I bow to no one, but I will stand by you,” he stated, holding the gaze of Kal.
A grin slid onto the stallion's face as he slammed a hoof down on his shoulder. “That’s why I like you, Star Chaser.” He then turned and opened his pocket dimension, pulling out a few items. “You were resistant to Ollie’s mind manipulation, yet you still listened and did as you were told.”
“Because I’m the best,” he said back, getting a raised eyebrow in response.
“If you are to dedicate yourself to me, then we’re going to bond. Then, I will reveal the truth to you,” Kal stated, holding a strange device between them. “Just know, bonding with me will take your useless pony magic away from you. Because what you will get in return will be so much more valuable: Absolute control of your Ego.”
“Do it,” was all Star Chaser said as he stood tall before his Sensei.
“That’s my boy,” Kal said with an almost sinister smile as he hit the button, causing thread to shoot out of the device and attach to both of them. Their souls were pulled from their bodies and smashed together, becoming one. Then with a flash, they flew back into their bodies.
“Wow,” he muttered, watching as Kal put the device away and smiled down at him.
“You are now one of us, kid,” he said, his body flashing as he took on his real base form. “Now, let’s get started.”
ooo000<^>000ooo
September 14th 21 A.B.
“Plus four,” the gruff stallion said as he put a card down on the pile in the middle of the table.
The stallion on his left grunted and pulled four cards from the deck, then slapped down a green five.
The stallion to his left put down a green three and smirked, “Uno.”
“Shut up, Markus, you have two cards there, not one,” another stallion growled, watching as the stallion in question frowned and realized he had two cards left, not one.
“Plus four,” the next one said.
“Plus four.”
“Plus four.”
“Plus four.”
Markus blinked and slammed a hoof down on the table, “Hey! That’s not how this game works, you can’t just keep stacking plus fours and passing it along!”
“Yeah it is! I’ve been playing this game since I was a kid, that’s how we’ve always done it!”
“The official rules-”
“Fuck the official rules!”
“GUYS!” a stallion not at the table snapped, as he sat on a couch watching TV. “Shut the fuck up, you’re upsetting our guest.”
All of the ponies in the room looked over to the three tied up ponies who sat huddled up in a corner.
“So what?” one of the stallions at the table asked, spitting some tobacco into a cup, “Let them be upset.”
“I don’t care what they think, as long as they rich parents pay the ransom, then I’ll be a happy man.”
“If they don’t, then oh well,” one said, winking at them, causing the three ponies to shrink further into their corner.
“Stop harassing them, we need them to listen to us, not fight us,” the one on the couch growled.
“Why are you all doing this?” one of the mares asked suddenly, leaning away from her two fellow hostages. “If you’d of asked, my parents would have-”
“Stop Daisy, these are bronies, they don’t care about logic,” another of the hostages said, glaring at the stallions in the room as they smiled at them.
“How about you three just shut up and face that corner?” a stallion called out, getting a few laughs from the others.
The phone on the table in front of the couch began to ring, causing the one in front of it to smile widely, “Sounds like we might finally have a catch!”
Clearing his throat, he used his magic to lift the phone and hit the answer button. “Yes?”
No response came as he held the phone to his ear. So he hung up, mumbling. But as soon as he hung up, the phone began to ring again.
“Finally come to your senses?” he said with a cocky laugh as he answered, but again, no one responded.
This time, the caller ended the call and called back immediately.
“What the fuck are they doing?!” one of the stallions asked in annoyance.
The stallion holding the phone growled as he answered it, “Stop playing around! If you don’t speak right now, I will start hurting the mares!”
“I would advise against that,” a voice said as they hung up on him again, only to call back immediately.
With a snort of frustration, the stallion dropped the phone and began walking towards the mares as it rang behind him.
“Screw it! We’re removing something from them and sending it to the parents!” he yelled, causing the three mares to start screaming.
Suddenly, with no warning, the wall behind the card players exploded inward as a pony crashed through it. Everyone jumped up and rushed away from the pony as they stood up, smiling at them all.
“Found you,” he said, eyes twitching to the ringing phone. With a flick of his wrist, he hit the end call button on his own hoof mounted phone, standing up tall before the very confused stallions.
“Who the fuck are you?!” the one who had been using the phone yelled out, pointing a hoof mounted pistol at the new arrival.
“Champion,” the stallion said with a wide grin as he placed a hoof on his chest. “Hero of Equestria.”
“Oh, it’s just that one guy with all the connections and money, the one who is pretending to be Superman or some shit,” one of the stallions said, getting a few of the others to laugh as they all raised their guns on the costumed stallion before them.
“I will say this once: let them-” Champion started to say, but was cut off by the leader.
“Dumb move, wannabe Superman,” he said as he looked to one of his men. “Get the hostages ready to go, we’re moving after we deal with him.”
The stallion nodded and ran over to the three mares, dragging them to their hooves.
Champion frowned at being ignored, so he took a step forward, “Do not-”
They all opened fire at once, firing small arms and a few rifles at him. A rocket launcher was even fired at him, pissing everyone off as the room filled with smoke. They continued to fire for a few more seconds till the smoke got too thick to see through.
“Jason you retard! Why’d you use the fucking RPG?!” one of them yelled, slapping the offender upside the head.
“Because I never get to use the RPG!” the one named Jason yelled back, wacking his friend with the weapon.
“Come on, let’s get moving,” the leader said as he stepped forward. But a purple glow began to emit from the area where the hole was.
“What is-” one began, but a laser like beam flashed across the room as it cut through four of the stallions immediately, cutting them in half at varying angles.
“Holy shit!” the leader yelped as the sound of two wings flaring could be heard, and the entire room was cleared of smoke as two powerful wings flapped hard.
As the smoke cleared, they saw the stallion was still standing there, not a scratch on him as his eyes glowed purple. “Always straight to shooting me,” he said with a smirk. “WHich is good, because now everything I do can be justified as self defense.”
“Oh fuck this,” the leader said as he turned and went to fire again. But a beam hit his hoof and melted it all the way to the elbow. He stumbled back in shock as he looked at his melting stump.
With a chuckle, Champion started to move towards them, but the sound of his phone ringing got his attention. With a groan, he hit accept and held it up to his ear. “Yes, sir?”
“Star Chaser, why aren’t you in my office like I asked?” came Kal’s voice, causing Champion to frown.
“I’m dealing with something, sir. I’ll be there soon,” he assured him, watching as the stallions before him slowly inched towards the exit. But he held up his hoof and shook it at them, his eyes still glowing purple.
“Are you playing superhero again?” Kal asked, a tone of annoyance in his voice. “I didn’t help you achieve your ultimate form just so you could go play childish games! I did it so you can be a formable pawn in MY game. Where are you right now?”
“... Manehattan, sir,” he replied, his eye twitching.
“That’ll take you five minutes to fly from, so I expect you by then,” Kal said as he hung up, not giving Champion time to respond.
With a sigh, he looked at the stallions, who all looked scared as their leader continued to roll around screaming on the ground.
“Looks like we’re cutting this short,” he said as his eyes began to glow brighter. “So…”
The beam flew from his eyes and swept over all of the stallions before him, cutting them down as they tried to flee for the door.
Once they were dead, he rubbed his eyes and waved a hoof at the pile of bodies. “Ladies, you’re free to go.”
He didn’t hear anyone moving, so he looked up, scanning the bodies. “Ah, oops,” he muttered, seeing the three mares were cut to pieces with the stallions. “Oh well.”
With a massive boom, he launched himself into the air and rocketed across the sky at a speed that parted the clouds. The building from which he’d launched himself from collapsed in the background, as he had been on the eighteenth floor and the force of his take off was too much for the building to handle.
In only four minutes, he arrived in New Ponyville and landed right outside the mansion.
Grunting in annoyance, he approached the front door, but he could already hear Kal talking on the other side of the building, thanks to his Ego enhanced hearing.
“Star Chaser, grab the packages at the front door,” Kal said from his office, knowing Champion could hear him.
He kicked the boxes through the front door as he walked by them, grumbling to himself as he did so.
Upon stepping into the house, he sensed Domitor staring at him from the top of the stairs.
The young colt stared at him, looking like he wanted to ask a question, but Champion just glared up at him and walked through a door. He found the kid to be nothing more than an annoyance.
As he entered Kal’s office, the stallion turned and looked at him, “Now that you’re finally here, Star Chaser-”
“Champion,” he interrupted, glaring at the other stallion. “I’ve told you I go by Champion now.”
“And I told you I don’t play make believe,” Kal said back in a mocking tone. “Star Chaser, I need you to go to the Eternal Plains again and kill another target.”
“Who this time?” Champion asked, eye twitching with irritation at his own request being ignored, again.
Kal chuckled and tossed a packet over to him. “Just another little enemy of mine. Kill them and bring me their head as proof, you know the drill.”
He nodded as he looked through the packet, then looked back at his boss. “When are we going to actually deal with the problems here?”
“In time,” Kal said back, smiling to himself. “I have a plan in motion as we speak. Just do as you’re told and leave the rest to me.”
Champion eyed his boss, “I think we should-” he stopped himself as he heard Kal’s heart start to beat faster, indicating his rising anger. “Nevermind, I’m on it.”
“Good boy,” Kal said, his heart rate returning to normal. “Hop to it.”
ooo000<^>000ooo
“Good job tonight, Shayla,” Scamp said as she tossed a towel to her daughter.
Shayla smiled at the praise as she caught the towel and began to wipe the sweat from her face. “Thanks, mama.”
As her daughter dried off, Scamp walked over to the trophy case, smiling at all the first place trophies her Dojo had won over the years. Most of them were actually won by her daughter in the last three years.
Most impressive was the World Martial Arts Championship she’d just won the month before. It was the only tournament that was open to all species of the world, and is considered the hardest to win. No age restrictions either, so she was fighting against full grown adults.
Scamp turned to her daughter, a proud smile on her face.
Shayla looked at her mother and raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing,” Scamp chuckled, walking over and ruffling her mane. “Just admiring my little badass.”
“Mama,” she whined, stepping away from her mother and fixing her mane.
As she fixed her mane, her mother frowned as she saw the tattoo on the front of her chest on top of one of her scales. “I still hate that you got that thing.”
“It’s cool, mama,” she said back, tossing the towel aside.
“But why that one? I thought Goku or Vegeta was your favorite?” Scamp asked, causing her daughter to smile brightly.
“They were when I was younger, but this guy right here,” she said, patting the tattoo, “is my spirit animal. Perfect Cell, the coolest character in all of media.”
“If you say so, sweetie,” Scamp chuckled, heading for her office. “I’m still not sure how you even raised enough money to buy that, to be honest.”
Shayla smiled sheepishly, as she did not want to admit she asked Kal to pay for it. Her mother had a deep hatred for the guy, and Shayla could easily see why. The guy was a creep and an asshole, but he at least was easy to manipulate and get free shit out of.
She stepped up to the mirror and flexed her muscles, smirking at herself. “One sexy mofo right there.”
With a little twirl, she spun around and then dove forward, rolling and coming to a stop right in front of a chair that held all of her personal belongings. She flipped on her Pit Viper’s, courtesy of Reinhardt, and picked up her band, using it to put her mane back up in a ponytail.
Rolling backwards, she returned to her position before the mirror and gave herself finger guns.
“When you’re done admiring yourself, I need help cleaning the Dojo,” Scamp called to her as she brought out some cleaning supplies.
Shayla let out an annoyed groan, but didn’t protest as she walked over to help her mother.
ooo000<^>000ooo
Domitor watched as Champion left the building, his cape flowing behind him. While he thought he was cool, especially with the costume and powers, he hated that his father treated him more like a son than he did him.
Growling a bit, he turned and walked for his room, but stopped when he saw his mother laying on a couch in the hallway, just staring up at the ceiling.
She never did anything outside of what his father asked her to do. When he tried asking her why, she just responded with ‘depression’ and shut down when he tried to ask her further questions. At least she tried to show compassion towards him, unlike his father.
Walking past her, he grunted at her, and she just glanced at him, not responding in any way.
Continuing down the hall towards his room, he saw some of the others in their rooms, doing various activities. Some work out in some way or another, and others perform their hobbies.
In his honest opinion, he hated all of them. Parents included… well maybe not so much hate for his mother, but she still didn’t stop his father when he’d get mad. Well, she tried once, a long time ago, but he took her away for a few weeks. And when she came back, she’d barely look at him.
Finally making it to his room he stepped in and closed the door. Walking over to his computer, he prepared to perform one of his only joys in life; drawing. Which is how he got his cutie mark, a paintbrush and a digital pen crossed to form an X.
His father had been very annoyed when he’d learned what his special talent was, but thankfully didn’t stop him. Probably because he just didn’t care enough to do so.
Domitor just sighed as he grabbed his drawing tablet and took the digital pen in his wing tip. He then began to absentmindedly draw a picture of himself dressed as some kind of comic book protagonist.
He let out a happy sigh as he continued to draw, watching the picture slowly coming together.
Then he heard the horrible sound of his father’s distinctive hoof steps as he approached his room. Quickly, he turned off the tablet and flew from his chair, landing in his bed just as the door opened.
“Did you forget something,” Kal asked, eyes locked on his son, who was pretending to read a comic book.
He looked up, eyes wide as he tried desperately to recall if he’d forgotten to do anything his father had asked.
“... No, father,” he finally said, hoping that was the right answer.
“Good, I thought you’d forgotten to lead class tonight at the Dojo,” Kal said, his tone implying he was very unhappy.
“Oh…” Domitor muttered, then he shrank into the bed as he realized he had indeed forgotten he’d been asked to do that. “I-I for-”
“I know,” Kal said, walking in and opening his pocket dimension. “I’ve been to lax with you. You’re starting to think you can do whatever you want.”
“Dad, wait, I’m-”
“Careful with what you say next,” Kal said in a dangerous tone as he started throwing Domitor’s possessions into the pocket dimension. As he picked up the drawing tablet and computer, the colt began to tremble with suppressed anger. But he knew better than to voice his opinion.
“Going forward, no more of this ‘recreational’ nonsense. I want you practicing your techniques and exercises as much as possible. Shayla has been winning championships while all you’ve been doing is FUCKING OFF!” he exploded out of nowhere, throwing the chair at his terrified son.
Domitor yelped as he was struck in the side, and flipped out of bed, whimpering as he grabbed his side. He may be very durable thanks to his father employing all kinds of magic and runes on him, but his father was still strong enough to hurt him.
“Get to the Dojo. NOW!” Kal bellowed, stomping out of the room, leaving nothing but furniture and clothes for the poor colt.
Coughing loudly, the now injured colt forced himself to stand up and staggered into the hallway, heading for the stairs.
As he passed his mother, she looked at him with sad eyes, but said nothing since Kal was still in the area.
With a sneer, he stomped past his mother, hissing in pain with each step, and descended the stairs.
Upon stepping outside the mansion, he tried to take to the air, but his wing wouldn’t do as he wanted, as it appeared to have been damaged by the chair.
Rage replaced his sadness and he took off running, heading for the Dojo. He hated everyone. They were all against him. All of them.
Champion’s and Shayla’s faces flashed in his mind, causing him to yell in frustration. His father never mistreated them the way he did him. His own SON! He even talks to Champion like he was his son!
Maybe if he did something great enough, his father would actually love him…