//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen // Story: Clipped Wings // by Desrium //------------------------------// Chapter Eighteen What does it mean to be good? What does it mean to be evil? Getting back to street level entailed jumping off the side of a building, landing hard on a fire escape and then jumping off from there to the ground. Falcon Wing, being as nimble as he was, did so effortlessly. He tore across the streets, galloping towards where he had seen the marred gryphon disappear to. The hooded colt was expecting nothing less than a trap. After all, something as well versed in stealth as the Shadow Sweep would not show itself without reason. It wanted Falcon Wing to chase and chase he did; for pretty soon he intended to turn the tables on the murderous ghoul. He would have his answers soon enough. Falcon Wing's nostrils flared as he ran, pulling in air where his mouth was otherwise occupied, Klaxon's pistol held firmly in his jaws. His eyes scoured the skies and patches of darkness as he went, looking for the telltale glow of dead eyes that retained their predatory gaze. The red colt stopped running at the all too convenient sound of fluttering wings to his right and when he looked for its source, he saw the black blur round the corner of an alley and out onto the opposite street, the timing of it all garnering Falcon Wing's suspicions. "The fucker was waiting for me! Trying to bait me!" Falcon Wing thought in disbelief. Suddenly he was not so ashamed of his previous efforts. The Shadow Sweep was no better at subtlety than he was... ...which, as Falcon Wing quickly realized, was most likely intentional. Everything was a mind game. Everything could not be taken for face value. Falcon Wing was being too forward -- in trying to force the Shadow Sweep's... claw, he was blundering into their clutches. "Well two can play this game, Sweepy," mused the hooded pegasus, easing his way into the darkness of the passage, hunkered down low to the ground and blending in. "Think like a shadow; be the darkness." The blackened gryphon allowed their self to drop noiselessly onto the ground, head cocking around in a fittingly avian manner. It's skin was nothing short of patchwork and with every jerking motion, Falcon Wing spied the dark colored muscles -almost as black as its flesh- flexing, bulging and shrinking. Streaks had formed in what remained of the ghoul's plumage from where its bodily fluids were expunged readily and dried. Fleshy, hanging growths draped from underneath its beak like numerous dewlaps. Some were rancid looking sacks of puss and ichor that danced about with each movement. The Shadow Sweep was nothing short of revolting to behold. "I smell you, boy," said the ghoul gravely, their voice revealing them to be male where their features failed to denote gender. The voice was a disconcerting blend of a rasp and croak. "You may smell me, but you can't see me, can you?" Falcon Wing thought as he circled around the gryphon, slinking around the alley swiftly and silently, dispersing his trail, making it impossible for the gryphon to hone in on a single spot. "That same stench you left at Evecera's camp... or should I say, what little the hydra spared..." "Oooooh, I fucking called this..." "I imagined you being a smug little bastard, using her work to level everything she accomplished... spitting on the achievements of a great pony..." continued the gryphon. Now he was busy monitoring his surroundings, quick glances every which way, desperately trying to spot the tiniest bit of movement to betray the wingless pegasus. Falcon Wing's enchanted coat did well to undermine those efforts. "Who's the Shadow Sweep now?" Falcon Wing thought, smirking wryly, then realized what having such a title implicated. "Sure as hell isn't me..." Falcon Wing cautiously pressed a hoof to Cocoa's radio, activating its signal. No words were to be spoken over the channel. The Shadow Sweep stiffened up and Falcon Wing heard a high pitched whine accompanied by static emanate from somewhere within the gryphon's flesh. The radio had somehow fused into his body. It was how the Shadow Sweep was able to act against the Baltimare Guard so easily. The gryphon had been exposed to unholy amounts of magical radiation and taint... The Shadow Sweep let out a hoarse sounding squawk and spread his ruined wings. Falcon Wing fired wildly, desperately wishing he had the aid of S.A.T.S to guide his bullets. Splashes of black spilled onto the floor and walls where bullets tore through the ghoul's body, yet the creature continued his ascent, beating his wings with more power than Falcon Wing would have thought possible and rocketing up into the night. "Fuck!" he snarled through the grip of the pistol and charged after the gryphon. He had to keep the trail. He had to! He followed the whining static, his natural speed allowing him to keep pace with the gryphon as he attempted to circle the many buildings of Baltimare. It was underneath the halo of light a street lamp provided he saw the Shadow Sweep climb straight into the air, disappearing from sight, the static fading from audible range all too suddenly. Falcon Wing skidded to a halt and reared up, looking into the sky, trying to spot the gryphon -- Falcon Wing threw himself into a roll across the red bricked road, the eagle-headed ghoul skimming over where he once stood, claws swiping at where his neck would have been seconds prior. The crackling tune of his radio followed in the Shadow Sweep's wake. The gryphon banked around in an arc and doubled back on himself, talons splayed ahead of him. He was coming down on where Falcon laid extremely fast. The red colt was agile, but not even he could escape from the pass unharmed. The Shadow Sweep's talons were as sharp as a well maintained blade. When Falcon rolled to his feet and sidestepped, the gryphon held out an arm, the claws scoring across his chest then over his side. Luckily for the flightless pegasus, Scissor Snip's addition to his barding spared him the full extent of the damage. Rather than sustaining a rather grievous and most likely fatal wound to his heart, the talon tips hit his concealed chest piece and shoulder guards. Only the lower, exposed portions of his foreleg were wounded, three gashes running across its outer side. "Thank you, Alana!" Falcon thought, ignoring the sharp pain and ensuing bleeding. He had endured much more anguish than what three small cuts could bring. That was not to say this fight would not result in more severe consequences. The gryphon reared with his wings flared, coming to a landing a few yards away from Falcon Wing and then spinning around to face the colt. He was leaning heavily on the side where the ghoul's claws sliced into his leg, wincing. "You disappoint me, pony," the Shadow Sweep growled with that sandpaper-voice of his, "after seeing what you did in the bog, I have been expecting you to come after myself one day. I thought you had realized what Evecera was trying to do with her experiments... but such lackluster performance proves otherwise. What kind of Wastelander can't handle a few wee cuts?" "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but I'm the type of Wastelander that knows how to look pathetic, and you're buying it!" Falcon Wing retorted mentally, eying the gryphon as he approached confidently, arrogantly. Was this horrible mess of a creature acting in such a way when he took the lives of those other children? Falcon Wing laid his gun down -- something he was not comfortable doing at all, but he had his own personal interests to tend to. "If you're going to kill me --" "No my little pony, not if -- when," said the ghoul who then started chuckling, the expression on his decayed face becoming distinctly malicious. "... Before you kill me," Falcon Wing corrected himself, "could you tell me why? Why would you go after foals, colts and fillies?" "Am I really to answer the questions of the fool who practically threw their self at me?" the Shadow Sweep replied then stopped walking, tapping a talon against his beak. "I suppose so, dead ponies tell no tales, after all" he said, the corners of his beak curving as much they could to form a smirk. Falcon Wing dropped into an unbalanced kneel before the gryphon at that, playing up his ruse... making sure his gun was in easy reach. "You see, Evecera was always a gifted little unicorn... one who thoroughly enjoyed the science of magic... unrestricted," started the Shadow Sweep. Falcon Wing couldn't stand the pompous tone he spoke in; it was bad enough that his voice was dry and gravelly without his arrogance coursing out of his beak like the black sludge dribbling out of the bullet holes in his body. The black gryphon paid no mind to the sound of his internal radio -- paid no mind to the fact Falcon Wing was a beacon to the gryphon's location. He clearly thought his task with the red pegasus would be over and done with long before the officers appeared. He must have been intending to leave the remains out in the open for all to see when they arrived. "I was a subject of her... interest due to my unique condition, you see. Before long, her passion became finding a way to reverse the effects of taint and radiation... a way to curing being a ghoul," The Shadow Sweep's expression flashed to that of anger in an instant. "Do you know how many other ghouls could have benefited from her work!? But now she's dead, and everything she researched has been reduced to rubble!" He growled with a simmering fury then continued on, "She was experimenting with what she called 'spontaneous biological generation'... she said that was the key to repairing the damage of radiation and taint..." "The hybridization project..." Falcon Wing realized. "That... doesn't explain the killings" the hooded colt said, pretending to struggle with his words. "Evecera believed magic was a science, that potions and serums could be brewed based on what she claimed were natural laws... I recognize her penchant for her work, but that does not mean I agreed with her views. I believed in the sacraments of old... that the magics needed to repair myself needed to be potent... powerful. The magics that come with Blood Rituals" "That's sick!" Falcon Wing blurted out, scooping his gun up in his mouth seconds later and aiming. This monster took the lives of ponies yet to live so that they could restore himself!? Before Falcon knew it, the gryphon had beat his wings and was now closing the distance between them in a low gliding dash. Falcon Wing jumped and hooked his forelegs around the ghoul's neck, avoiding his talons and swinging around onto his back where he held on tightly. He was about to start firing into the gryphon's head when the ghoul shot off into the air, banking towards an alleyway. Falcon was slammed into the wall of the building at speed. Dazed, he let go of the 10 millimeter pistol and was dislodged from the Shadow Sweep as he flew through the passage. He tumbled to the sidewalk, a thirty foot fall. He landed hard on his side facing the building and felt a sharp pain run through his body. He had broken several bones from the impact and subsequent fall. A thump was audible from behind him as the gryphon ghoul landed. "Honestly, did you think I would fall for such a pitifully obvious pretense? But if you acted like you were hurt now... it wouldn't be an act... would it?" said the ghoul, who then began laughing cruelly. "... Fuck..." Falcon Wing mumbled to himself.