//------------------------------// // Detox // Story: He's a Vampire // by Gormless Wheaton //------------------------------// "Run for your lives!" A changeling shrieked. "Run for your lives!" I cackled and hurled a bolt of lightning after them. The tide of gangsters and other riff-raff were utterly unprepared for my arrival, and for the titanic force with which I swung my fists, to say nothing of my invulnerability. The cramped and packed space meant each swing scythed down handfuls of guys, all while spears, axes, knives, and bolts hit me but did nothing. Bodies were piling fast and then being thrown either by my own strength or with telekinesis. The stairway proved insufficient to support the sheer number of thugs trying to retreat, many of whom crashed against the equally large number of thugs who hadn't gotten the memo of the danger above. A growing number of low-lives chose to jump, and a surprising number of them managed to keep running once they hit the ground. The hallway was clear, and a few more bolts of lightning scared off the last of the would-be attackers who dove from our floor to the street below. I could hear them regrouping below, but we had a moment, so I returned to the apartment. "Hey-" And was met with screaming. "Dear Celestia!" "Brutal." "I'm gonna be sick.." "What?" I looked around the room at everyone before looking down. "Oh." I was covered in blood up to my elbows and all over my vest and pants. I was probably more frustrated by the boat situation than I realized. A small cloth drifted up to my face. "May I take it the enemy has been chased off?" Blueblood asked without looking directly at me and with a hoof to his mouth. I took the cloth and compared it to the mess all over me. "They ran down to the street, but I don't think they're gone for good," I cleaned off my hands, and looked at Calaeno and the other wounded. "How're you guys holding up?" Calaeno gestured meekly with her hand but was noticeably paler even through her feathers, while Hasty and the others were plainly worse off. The pony himself just lay quietly breathing with his eyes closed. Capper rubbed the wrapping on his leg. "Don't suppose you've got any medical magic, huh?" He asked with a weak grin, which failed when I shook my head, but then I hummed in thought. "Be right back," I turned to mist and rushed out the door. Racing out into the air, I flowed down to the crowd of toughs which was much smaller than I expected. The rest were hauling ass down the street. Only about fifteen were still present, gathered in a circle. "So what's the plan, Lot?" One of the ponies asked the diamond dog who seemed to be in charge. "Nothing worked on that monster!" "I saw that idiot! But like I said, I have an idea," Lot the dog replied. I formed just behind him, drawing looks of terror from the rest. "I'm sure you do, but let's hear mine first." He snarled and whipped around. "Who asked-" I grabbed him by the throat and mesmerized him. The others tried to run to no avail, and in short order, I had another gang of miscreants under my spell. "Alright, show of paws and hooves: who knows anything about first aid?" Two dogs and a unicorn responded. "Great, you three follow me." I snapped my fingers, and we hurried back to the second floor. "Peter wh- LOOK OUT!" One of the pirates yelled once she saw us reach their floor, before hurling a knife at one of my guys which I caught with magic. "Nice catch boss!" One of them cheered. I ran to the door and gently ushered the confused bird back inside with the others, who also stood bewildered. I gestured for them to clear a path and then waved in my boys. "I got these guys under a spell," I explained, holding up a hand before another fight erupted. "These three can help, or so they say." "Sure can!" The unicorn chirped. "Anything you say, boss!" I swept my arms in a presenting gesture with a smile. The group shared a look before one of the guards shook her head. "Loopy vampire," she looked up at me with a firm stare. "The extra hooves are great, but what we really need are medical supplies and contact with the princess!" I snapped my fingers and nodded. "Gotcha!" I turned and lifted the unicorn by the scruff of his neck. "You know where to get supplies close by?" "Sure do! Just around the corner as a matter of fact," he said with a smile. "Great! You three go get as much as you can carry and get it back here," I ordered and dropped him. The three saluted and took off out the door, and I pointed at the guardsmare. "I'll find Twilight and the rest and be right back." She nodded "Thank you, Peter." "Best of luck, Master!" "Don't be too long!" Capper demanded. I gave him a thumbs up and flowed outside again and returned to the gang, where I reformed. "Anyone else shows up, you tell them Calaeno and the rest escaped," I ordered before sending my Evil Eye out after Quilt. Then, an explosion echoed out further west in the city. "That's not Hop's house," Dusty whispered as the girls peeked around the newsstand they hid behind. They'd followed Candy down three whole rows of city blocks and then west, and while Dusty had pointed out that was the direction of Hop's apartment block, the building across the street that the vampire had flowed into didn't look like any other residence despite being the same shape. All its windows were sealed tight, and the doors were reinforced and made of metal, with symbols printed on them Twilight recognized. "That must be his lab. Those're hazardous chemical signs," she said, looking up at the second story where the vampire had fled and the teams of guards on each story's exterior deck, some of whom near the ground floor were ponies in police uniforms. "How do we get in?" Cozy asked, scanning the street and adjusting her scarf under her coat. "Yeah," Quilt asked through a mouthful of the cheese she sat eating. Sunbeam's ears flicked at the sight. "Can I have some?" Twilight turned to the group before Sunbeam got an answer. "Do you think you girls can find someplace to hide?" The four of them blinked and looked at her. "What do you mean? You going in alone?" Sunbeam tilted her head. Twilight considered the building again. "It's just-" A scream pierced the air, drawing their attention back to the second floor just in time to see a lime-green magic beam blast a hole in the wall, out of which the changeling queen herself shot out followed by a handful of creatures, including an earth pony in a red coat and a pegasus in a sash. The creatures leaped after her, but she spread her wings and went skyward, so only the pegasus was able to pursue her, the rest falling straight to the ground. "That's Hop!" Dusty squeaked, pointing at the pony in the coat as he fell and landed head-first on the ground. The girls winced at the sight but then flinched when he rolled to his hooves and shuddered and hissed, a series of actions the others followed. "Commodore? What in the world-" The group dog-piled the officer who approached them and to the girls' horror began biting and gnawing at him. "Back, you worm!" Chrysalis roared firing a beam at the pegasus and blasting him straight to the ground which cratered under the impact. The police split between trying to help their fellow and tending to the pegasus. "Mayor Stalwart?" Dusty whimpered as the pegasus slowly rolled over and shuddered before leaping up and latching onto one of the officers who screamed horribly as he was thrashed to the ground and began to grow pale. "What the Tartarus?!" One of the others screamed as Hop and the others stood and charged them. The guards on the upper levels looked on in shock but made no move to help them. "Ghouls," Quilt said quietly. "Did Candy do this?" Twilight looked up at Chrysalis before she vanished over the rooftops. She scowled and snapped her wings. "Look!" Sunbeam cried, drawing everyone's attention to the hole in the wall, where a crimson fog rolled out and rapidly sunk to the ground. More and more spilled out, more like a living creature crawling than anything, and then seemed to stand up straight reaching almost to the third floor. It now had an unmistakable shape to it, that of a biped with wispy claws and a narrow, skull-like face with two glowing yellow eyes. "Fleeces Tuft," Quilt squeaked. The fog monster brought one of its claws up and swept it down over the police who were fighting for their lives, then dragged it back up and onto the guards above. Everyone the fog consumed sat still and then shook for a moment, but the moment the fog slipped away the ghouls let them be. The reason why became apparent, as those touched by the fog began to hiss and froth, clearly having become ghouls themselves, before attacking the unturned. "Dear Celestia," Sunbeam whimpered, holding a hoof to her mouth. Twilight scowled again and turned to Dusty. "Which way to Hop's house?" Dusty looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Wha?" She glanced for a moment at the fog again but did a double-take. "What's it doing?" The girls focused on the fog monster, which seemed to be narrowing its eyes if those points of light were actually its eyes. Twilight's coat bristled, and she blanched. "The Evil Eye. It's him." The fog monster looked directly at the girls' hiding place and seemed to smile, before rolling towards them. Twilight was faster, however, and warped them away. "What the heck did you mean by that?!" Quilt shrieked once they were a distance away, though they could still faintly see the fog monster down the road. "It's Candy, the vampire. I felt his Evil Eye just now, looking for me specifically. I've felt it a few times since we got here, but I only just pieced together what the feeling is," Twilight replied with a frustrated groan. "Things have just been so hectic, I didn't have a chance to think about it. I'm so sorry." She hung her head and grimaced before taking a cleansing breath. The others shared a look before staring down the road. "How the heck did he.." "Hey!" Peter said, suddenly popping up behind them. The girls shrieked, and Twilight charged her hooves with magic and bucked him. "Mm." "Peter?!" Twilight exclaimed when they finally turned and registered who it was. "Mm." He replied, slowly falling to his hands and knees. "How'd you get back on land?!" Quilt cried, abandoning her cheese to wrap her forelegs around his neck. "Mm." He replied, curling up on the ground. "Why'd you sneak up on us?!" Cozy snarled, threatening him with her cutie-fix which he weakly held a hand up against. "Mhm," he took a deep breath and sighed. "Sorry." The girls shared a look before Twilight helped him to his feet. "So, how'd you get back on land?" She asked once he was upright. He cleared his throat and sighed again. "Yeah, figured out I could teleport to what my Evil Eye sees," before she could express surprise at that, they noticed his bloody form and exclaimed in disgust. "What happened out there?" Quilt gagged. Peter blinked at their revulsion and looked down. "Actually, this happened once I made landfall," he countered with a smile. Twilight rolled her eyes and shot him with a spell that made all the blood vanish. "Hey, thanks." "Remind me to teach you that spell if you're going to make a habit of that. But what did you even do?" He nodded and pointed back down the street. "I helped Calaeno and the rest. I got a couple of guys mesmerized and getting them first aid stuff, and they asked me to check in on you," he met a perplexed stare from Dusty and smiled again. "Peter Harlow, friend of the princess here." "Okay," Dusty said meekly. He held his smile for a moment before looking up. "The fuck is that?" The girls looked back and saw to their horror, the fog monster was rolling towards them. Twilight growled and turned towards it. "I think that fog is Candy, though I'm not sure how he managed to grow that huge. In any case, it's not just poison now, it's some kind of accelerated vampiric contagion. It's turning every creature it makes contact with into ghouls!" "Hop and Mayor Stalward already got transformed," Dusty squeaked. "Fucking asshole," Peter hissed in response. "What do we do about that?" Twilight hummed at the sight of what seemed to be a growing swarm of ghouls scurrying around Candy, taking note of the rain still falling and how it faintly cut through the monster's shape. "I got it! If we can get to whatever Hop used to control the weather, we can let the sunlight purge the ghouls!" She turned to Peter. "Then we can use wind magic to push his fog around!" "Like over the water?" Peter offered. "That'll probably take him down, or at least neutralize him so we can get rid of him." "Or we can pin him and slice him up!" Cozy said, pulling her coat back over her knife and wagging her eyebrows. "You're way too excited about that thing," Quilt said with a shudder before gnawing another chunk from her cheese wheel. "He's a little too big for that, but we can decide how to destroy him once we deal with the potential horde of monsters running the streets," Twilight declared and turned toward the fog monster. "We need to find whatever Hop used to control the weather first." She looked up at Peter. "Think those guys you said you've got would know where it is?" It turned out they did. Hop kept a magic amulet in his apartment, under constant watch. If it had a name, none of my guys knew it, since Hop himself hadn't cared to read up on it, only that it could keep the region stormy and let him whip up a gale to drive off anyone he didn't like. "So what's the plan?" Calaeno huffed as her wound was being properly dressed. Twilight looked severely at me. "I'm going to try and get the amulet. Peter, I want you to try and thin the ghouls before they hurt anypony else," she turned to Cozy and Sunbeam. "And I want you two to try and keep them from advancing this way." Twilight turned to my mesmerized gang. "Do you know where Hop kept ponies or other creatures he didn't like?" "Oh yeah, up at the police station," the unicorn stitching Calaeno replied. Twilight sighed in relief. "That's near where I'm going, so chances are we'll be able to keep those monsters from hurting anypony Hop locked up," she turned back to Cozy. "Cozy, please let Peter take your knife for a little bit." Cozy wilted and whined. "Bu' whyyyy?" She cried, drawing and cradling it. "It'll let him quickly cut down the ghouls," Twilight explained, magically drawing my stakes from my belt. "You'll have all these as a precaution, but with your warding totems, you and Sunbeam will be fine." Cozy and Sunbeam shared a look. "Warding totems?" Sunbeam repeated. Cozy exclaimed in realization. "Oh! You mean our cutie-fix-" She stopped dead with her mouth wide open before clamping it shut and glaring at me. I folded my arms and smiled. I leered anxiously at the faerie iron blade. Even though the grip was ordinary wood and it didn't hurt to hold, it still felt like I was balancing something scalding hot in my hand and if I let it slip it would sear my skin off. Every little movement I made with it produced a high-pitched whine in my ears, and even under the dark clouds, it had a glow that was almost distracting. I took a deep breath and looked ahead. Candy was making his way towards us, looking like a thirty-foot-tall crimson grim reaper with dozens of chattering and biting monsters all around him. "You ready?" Twilight asked. I nodded, and she spread her wings. "Let's move." We both shot forward, flying as fast as her wings and my.. whatever it was would let us move. As we raced towards them, Candy and his ghouls lurched forward and sped towards us as well. At least until he saw me. The ghouls kept their pace, but Candy stopped and swirled in place until he was upright again, staring at us. Staring at me. I gripped the knife with both hands as we closed with the ghouls and I swear I saw his fog shudder. Then right as the first monster was close enough to pounce at us, Twilight teleported and I swung. The ghoul pony in the red coat hit the ground in two pieces before I even realized I'd made contact. The knife had cut through his face and then body like a hot knife in soft butter. Candy definitely shuddered that time. Three more ghouls were on me, and again as I swung I felt no resistance and they fell to pieces. The horde kept coming, and I flew straight up before reaching down with my magic and yanking a handful of them into the air after me, mostly those who had jumped up at me and then flew down dragging the knife with me and scything them apart. I landed amid the horde, and they all leaped at me. A quick spin with all my might ended their assault in an instant. I looked around and realized how many I'd sliced apart. They weren't dead but were all lying in the street writhing and hissing quietly. The last six were running away towards.. "OH shit," I yelled and raced after them, teleporting to cut them off before they got to the diamond dog who had opened his window to see what was happening. I cut left and right and then turned to the dog once the ghouls were down, pointing the knife right at him. "Close it." He blinked and slowly, deliberately, slid his window shut before pulling the blinds down. I sighed and turned to face the fog. Candy was just floating there, studying me. I brought the knife up and pointed it at him. "Make it easy on yourself. Change back and surrender," I demanded. "Fuck you, bitch," he replied in an echoing faint voice. I flinched. "We can talk while mist?" He tilted his head. At first, I thought he was confused by my question. But then I realized he was looking at the window behind me. Because he smiled and then shot backward away from me and towards a different housing block. Before I could process what he was doing, he was already slipping through the cracks of their windows and doors. I sucked air through my teeth and huffed out a growl before racing at him and taking a swing, which he avoided by forming a hole in his fog around me causing me to fly through and slam into the wall. "Fucker!" I rolled to my feet standing on the wall just in time to hear the telltale sounds of ghouls from inside. I looked up at him. "What the hell are you doing?!" "Spreading the misery," he hissed back, his head slithering down to meet me at eye level. "Sweetheart thinks I just need someone to help me work through my fucked up headspace, but I don't care anymore. I'd rather-" I teleported into his face and swept the knife around me, drawing a wide gash all through his head. He rushed away with a shrieking wail, dragging all the fog with him, spiraling through the air like a whirlwind, and then back west. I landed and was about to take off after him, when my Evil Eye went off and I turned to mist as a trio of ghouls tried to tackle me, with more scrambling down the hall towards me. Twilight flew over the city towards the block Candy's lab had been, since apparently it was only one row south of Hop's dwelling. As she banked right and dove towards the street, she saw what must have been the town hall, but all around it were buildings identical to each other. Luckily, a gathering of Hop's ponies and other creatures, and the police were gathered out front. "Any clue what she's doing up there?" A larger police stallion asked one of the pirates. "No clue, but she shot Wats when he tried to kick her out!" The police pony snorted and looked at another officer. "Head down to the lab. Mayor Stalwart was supposed to be back by now," the officer saluted before his superior addressed the rest. "The rest of you come with me. Queen or no, she can't just-" It was at that moment that Twilight landed nearby. "Excuse me!" She said as she trotted up. The pirates and police all shared a look before giving her their attention. "Well, well, well!" The police stallion chortled as they surrounded Twilight. "Look who it is." "Hello!" Twilight chirped. "Can you show me which-" "We got you now," an Abyssinian declared with a laugh. "What?" Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked around her. The stallion snorted and stepped up to her. "Nowhere for you to hide this time," he snapped out his wings and sneered in her face. She blinked and then jolted. "Oh! You misunderstood," she waved her hoof at the group. "I wasn't running because I was scared. This whole time, I've only seen one creature with anti-magic equipment, after all." They all shared a look, but before the stallion could say anything, her horn dimly glowed and a chill shot through the air. "I was running because I couldn't handle you all and keep my team and friends safe. It's just not logistically feasible," she turned back to the stallion with a flat glare. The air became charged, and the Abyssinian's fur stood on end. "They aren't as in sync with me as the girls are, even though they're all plenty talented." She stepped closer to the stallion who stammered and tried to retort. "Plus, we didn't come here for mindless violence against a bunch of street toughs like you. You made that decision for us," she said with a dangerous tone, matching the pressure that now bore down on the gang. Then she smiled. "But they're safe now, so I don't have to worry and can give you all the attention you want! Also, if you didn't hear, your vampire just killed Hop. So he's not paying you guys anymore." She frowned and effortlessly pulled the stallion closer with her magic. "So anything that's about to happen is on your time." Pinkie idly pawed at the salt circle's edge while Rarity finished arranging the blankets and pillows their friends had set inside with her. "Can you still hear him?" Fluttershy asked. Pinkie shook her head, earning a relieved sigh from the yellow pegasus. "What the heck was he even saying?" Rainbow asked as she sat on the comfy pile to Rarity's annoyance. Pinkie shrugged and rolled onto her back. "He was just ranting, it didn't make any sense!" She waved her hoof through the air, before going limp. "I was just saying he should let us help him.." "And I believe that is precisely why he reacted this way," Celestia replied as she stepped into Pinkie's room. While all her friends stood and bowed, Pinkie just weakly waved. "Heya, princess," she greeted sadly, before looking up at the alicorn. "What'dja mean by that?" Celestia laid down outside the circle nearest to Pinkie. "As I told you, he has forgotten so much of what it is to be happy that all he is left with is his grief and what empty vices or habits he embraced in life to quell that grief," she looked to the window as she spoke with a distant, somber expression. "For a time, they must have served just fine so long as he took to them in excess. But then he made a critical error." She looked at Pinkie with sorrow in her eyes, causing the pony to roll over to meet her gaze. "He chose to bind his mind with the Element of Laughter herself. In the face of your indomitable joy and eagerness to spread that joy to others, he was ceaselessly and helplessly barraged with what he has lost, and what he is reduced to," she took a long, shuddering breath and looked to the window again. "And that has destroyed him, at last." "He couldn't stop me, so I'm after your friend again. Ain't that grand? ... Nothing to say? No 'pick me up' to hurl my way? How 'bout a joke? Nothing? Huh? Hey. D'jya finally give up? Bitch. Don't fucking ignore me now." "Welp! Here we are, your Majesty!" The officer declared, gesturing down the hall. Unlike the other buildings Twilight had seen in Shang-hay, this one only had one door on the right side of the hallway, which was broken inwards. "How else can I help you?" She shot the officer a glare, causing him to sweat. "Why's it open?" He nervously laughed in response. "Chrysalis and her changelings just broke in. Not sure why," he smiled and chuckled. "We, uh, were going to confront her before you, uh, well.." Twilight furrowed her brow but walked to the door. "Good luck then!" He called before scrambling back below. Twilight looked through the door frame and huffed at what she saw. While every dwelling she'd seen was just cold and miserable, Hop's apartment, which was expanded to fill up the entire floor and the one above it, was finely carpeted, decorated with golden and gem-encrusted furniture, and seemed to have either magical or mechanical air conditioning. A fact the host of changelings lounging inside, leering at her, seemed to be enjoying to the fullest. Her coat bristled and she snapped her wings, before stepping over the threshold, getting a better look at the place. What would have been a set of apartments above this one was now a loft that wrapped around the room, where more changelings glared down at her. There was a private bar, a wall dedicated to weapons, a painting of Hop himself which was smashed to the ground, and a luxurious cloud bed at the far end of the room, upon which Chrysalis rested, toying with a glowing amulet in the shape of a lightning bolt. "Well, well, little Twilight Sparkle, finally right where I want her," the queen tittered, her attention solely on the amulet. The changelings around them laughed as well while Twilight approached Chrysalis. "What in the world happened back there?" Twilight asked, causing Chrysalis to finally look at her. "What happened to the vampire?" Chrysalis hummed and flipped the amulet in her magic. "He went mad, I think. Not sure why," she rolled onto her back and sneered at Twilight. "But he fused with some horrid concoction in his lab and tried to attack me. ME!" She draped her foreleg over her eyes and moaned. Twilight sat at the foot of the bed. "What did he even say? Were you two fighting or what?" Chrysalis growled and rolled upright. "The sea rat and I were demanding an explanation for why he poisoned our loyal soldiers instead of fighting you," she jabbed a hoof at Twilight and rolled it in the air. "He complained about getting hurt by some sheep you had with you." "That'd be Cozy," Twilight nodded and hummed. "He must not be used to getting injured." She glanced up at Chrysalis and the amulet. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to see you here. What's up with that?" She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Are you also helping Adam?" Chrysalis huffed dismissively. "I never met Adam, only heard of him. That traitorous alchemist and I made a pact instead. I would offer my changelings to their purposes, and they would help me build a new hive. The alchemist even suggested he could produce a potion that could feed us like love does." "And I'm certain you planned to keep up your end of the bargain," Twilight accused, earning a subdued laugh from the changeling. "You know me so well~" she sneered and lowered her horn, drifting the amulet right into Twilight's face. "Truthfully, I had intended to disrupt that little sea rat's amulet and let the sun deal with them, which I suspect you're aiming to do as well." "He's turning everypony into ghouls out there, so yes," Chrysalis yanked the amulet back, despite the fact Twilight's eyes stayed locked on her. "Well, maybe I'll hold to it until he's turned you and those fools you brought with you to ghouls too, hm?" Chrysalis bore a toothy smile but frowned when Twilight shrugged. "If you think that's best, but I'm not in any danger of that," she raised an eyebrow. "Your changelings are though." Chrysalis sat up and scowled. "What do you mean?" Twilight smiled at her. "Alicorns can't be changed, since vampirism is a form of arcane apotheosis, which they've already endured," she squinted and looked upwards in thought. "Which I think is similar to what you went through when you became a Queen." She looked at Chrysalis expectantly, but she held her scowl. "Anyhow, since you and I, if I'm right about you, are already changed his contagion won't be able to affect us, just like it can't affect a vampire," she gestured to the changelings in the room. "But all of them are still at risk. So you should really consider giving me the amulet now." She looked dead at Chrysalis with a subdued glare. Chrysalis met her stare for a moment before laughing. "Oh, please! If Candy, or Franklin, or whatever he's calling himself were after us, I'd know!" Twilight nodded and smiled again. "Right! Cause ascended creatures can feel when the Evil Eye is on them!" She stood and leaned towards Chrysalis. "But not when it's on other creatures, unfortunately for you." She turned and looked at the changelings around her. "If any of you want to live, you should run away now," Chrysalis snarled, but the changelings laughed. "Run away?! Don't make me laugh!" "You heard the queen! He can't do anything to us!" "You and the traitor Thorax are finished!" "I tried," Twilight shrugged and vanished in a flash of light. Chrysalis balked and rose with a hiss. "Where-" "GET BACK HERE!" The apartment was suddenly consumed as huge amounts of crimson fog roared into the room, swirling over the entire floor and then racing out the front door. Chrysalis coughed and hacked and shook her head, before looking up to see her changelings writhing and hissing, before they turned to leer at her. Her mouth hung open and her eyes darted left and right as they slowly shuddered and began buzzing their wings. "Clever girl." Twilight circled above the apartment as Candy's mist roared out and then up at her, the entire mass taking on the shape of a gnawing angry skull. She took a breath and then shot down into the mouth of the mass before unleashing an explosive burst of magic that blasted him apart. "BITCH!" He boomed around her as she flew straight back down, teleporting to cut the distance. Already, green blasts of magic were tearing through the walls, and once she was level with one of the upper-floor windows, she blasted her way in and flew straight at Chrysalis, who was still on the bed and firing beams wildly at the changeling ghouls around her. Instead of tackling her, Twilight blasted her in the face and rolled over her as she lurched, catching the amulet off the bed in her magic and then sliding to a halt on the floor. "YOU!" Chrysalis roared and she used the momentum of Twilight's attack to lunge at her. Twilight teleported past her, causing the queen to slam into a quartet of ghouls who immediately dogpiled onto her. "NO!" Chrysalis screamed as they pinned her, though they were unable to do her any lasting harm. Twilight bounced on the cloud bed and shot straight up in the air giving the angry fog that was Candy a perfect view of her as he charged in through the window. He flew straight at her and then she teleported again. The fog swirled and boiled, blinding everyone in the room. Outside, at street level, Twilight was already racing back to where she'd left Peter. She spared a glance back and saw Candy was already after her again, denying her a chance to deal with the magic of the amulet. Fortunately, as she suspected, he was, for whatever reason, focused on her. So, except for the changelings, he wasn't turning anyone else. Ghouls are a pain in the ass and Candy is a fucking prick. Half the building had been turned and come out to play, with the other half doing the wise thing and keeping their doors locked. A couple of Abyssinian chaps were still pretty agile despite being undead and managed to put up enough of a fight by dodging and weaving that the ones I'd already sliced up were able to reform. This led to my getting dog-piled a second ago, and one of them wrestling the knife out of my hand. As with Boss so long ago, they couldn't hurt me, but the sheer number meant they could match my strength. This'd be a problem for past me. Current me turned into mist and slipped between them, before reforming and shooting the pile with fire and lightning. That kept them distracted and stunned just long enough for me to see the knife and take it back with my magic. I hovered in place, contemplating what to do about the pile of living anger. "There he is!" I looked up and saw a gaggle of changelings buzzing above me. They zoomed down and surrounded me from a safe distance. "Let's see how tough you are in an open space!" "You serious?" Before they could answer, I popped up in one's face and mesmerized them when they jolted back. The rest attacked all at once, colliding with each other when I teleported me and my changeling to the rooftop next to us. I patted my changeling on the head as we watched the cluster fall to the ground. "You guys ain't too bright, huh?" "The queen likes it that way," they responded, humming as the ghouls finally recovered and attacked the changelings below. "Stay here," I ordered, earning a chitter in response before leaping down and gliding towards the scuffle. "Peter!" I stopped in mid-air and turned to see Twilight race around the corner toward me, with a funky little lightning bolt amulet in her magical grip. Then the fog exploded out after her. I changed course and zoomed past Twilight, which caused Candy to try and lurch away but it was too late and I sliced him again. He bellowed in pain and flowed away. "Keep him off me! I need a sec to break the amulet!" Twilight yelled as she flew up to the roof where I'd left my changeling. "Hello!" I heard them greet her. There was a pause. "Did Peter get you?" "Yep!" "Okay." I threatened Candy with the knife, and he swirled a good twenty feet back, before returning to his full height. We held our standoff for a moment before he shuddered again and began to shrink. I drifted down to the ground, thinking he was changing back to his human form, but then saw he was vanishing up some kind of narrow water outlet where the street met the sidewalk. "Got it!" Twilight yelled and a dull boom echoed, followed by a ripple through the air. "Get to cover! I'm breaking the clouds!" I turned to mist and flowed up to her side. "He just ducked into some kind of sewage thing, I think." I tried to say. But nothing came out, revealing talking as mist was a Candy thing. Twilight just nodded at me and focused. Her horn lit up and then blasted the clouds, which rippled with purple lightning for a moment, before bursting apart, letting the evening sun roll out over the city. In the smoking wreckage of Calaeno's ship, ignored by friend and foe alike once the hunt had been declared, there was a stir. Slowly, the ruined roof of what was the cabin cracked and fell to the side. A series of coughs and groans followed it. More ruined timber was pushed off and finally, a stubby clawed hand breached the open air. Slowly, Verko dragged himself up, rubbing his head, then stumbling over and rolling down the pile of wreckage to the street below. "Geez'a'loo..." he whimpered. He winced and reached up, plucking a chunk of wood that had stabbed him out of his shoulder, rubbing the wound as it healed. Then he blinked and looked at his hands. "I'm alive.." He smiled and climbed to his feet, clenching his fists, and punching them both in the air as the rain rolled down his face. "I'M ALIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!" His cheer echoed out, but was overtaken by the boom of the clouds peeling back and then by the roar of the sunlight incinerating him where he stood. For a brief moment, an ashen statue in the form of Verko stood erect in an artistic, happy, victorious pose before crumbling to nothing.