“Hey, Man, You alright?”, War Heart heard the voice of young male. War Heart looked up to see something with pale skin that stood on two legs, he held out his hand, offering to help War Heart up. War Heart took his hand and got up.
“Where am I?”, War Heart asked as he took in his surroundings.
“Well, I’d assume you’re down on your luck, the guy that probably mugged you took your clothes too.”, The young man took off his dark green coat and handed it to War Heart. The young man was slender and pale, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. War Heart took the jacket and tied it around his waist.
“Thank you, but where am I, really?”, War Heart asked him once again.
“Wow, that guy must have really hit you hard. You’re in Unex City.”
“Unex? Is that far from Canterlot?”
“Wow, you really got to lay down. I’ll take you back to my place and get you patched up there.”, He motioned for War Heart to follow him. War Heart walked wearily following the young man. The passed by an alley to see a man on the ground being kicked and stomped on by three other men. War Heart stopped at the entrance of the alley, watching the men brutally beat on the poor soul. The young man stopped to see if War Heart was following, he noticed War Heart was watching the man get mugged.
“Hey, dude, we gotta go.”, he called to War Heart, who ignored him and began to walk down the alley towards the three men. One of them stopped kicking at their victim when he noticed War Heart approaching, “Yo, get back if ya know what’s good for ya!”, the man walked a few steps towards War Heart. As War Heart got within reach of the other man, the man took a swing at him, landing his full force punch into War Heart’s gut. His smile turned to a look of despair as he realised his mistake of punching a man that was seven feet tall and looked to be about two hundred fifty pounds of muscle. War Heart did not even flinch at the punch and grabbed the mugger by the collar and lifted him clear off the ground, “I want you to stop hurting others… Got it?”, War Heart explained slowly.
“Screw you, man!”, the mugger shouted as he spit in War Heart’s face. War Heart flinched for a second that gave the mugger he was holding a death glare, then threw him into the wall, knocking the mugger unconscious on contact. War Heart walked over to the two muggers who just witnessed an example of War Heart’s power. They started to back away and run further into the alley, jumping a chain link fence and disappearing into the night. War Heart looked to the beaten man on the ground, “Are you alright?”, War Heart asked as the man backed up into the wall, a look of fear in his eyes. War Heat turned to the entrance of the alley and walked away, stretching out his wings slightly as he walked, then folding them back into place. The young man just motioned for War Heart to hurry up, they both ran along the deserted streets to small one-storey house that was a little rough around the edges. The young man unlocked the front door and opened it. Him and War Heart walked into a small hallway.
“Hey, Chris, I’m home.”, The young man shouted down the hall.
Another young man’s voice came down the hall, “Cool, did you bring anything back?”
“Yep.”
“Really?”, a young man that was pale, tall, and slicked back brown hair came down the hall. He sighed as he saw War Heart then spoke with a Scottish accent, “Kacey, I told ye that ye can’t bring homeless people here all the time, remember?”, He spoke to the young man who gave War Heart his jacket.
“Dude, he’s cool, he stopped a mugging earlier. Plus, we got jobs that we can use him for.”
“I don’t even know where I am, who says I’ll help you?”, War Heart interjected.
“Well, here in Unex, everyone always looks out for themselves. I’m one of those people that help people out when they need me to. Like taking out gangs and such. You look like you could make sure Chris here doesn’t get himself killed out there.”, Kacey explained to War Heart.
“So… You’re like heroes?”, War Heart tried to make sense of the situation.
“Well, we kind of are, we have had some rotten luck getting started.”, Kacey scratched the back of his head.
“I guess I can’t break my oath now.”, War Heart said to himself.
“See? He’s exactly what we need: big, tough, and noble.”, Kacey said to Chris, who was sizing War Heart up.
“Fine, we’ll show him the ropes tomorrow, but right now, get him some clothes.”, Chris told Kacey and turned around and head down the hall again. Kacey motioned War Heart into a room that was riddled with dirty clothes and dishes, pointing to a closet, “Take whatever you need and get some rest, we have work to do tomorrow.”
War Heart entered the room and opened the closet to many replicas of one type of jeans and plain black T-shirts. He put on a pair of jeans and a shirt, throwing the coat on the floor. He looked on the floor at the mattress, then went over and laid down on it, falling asleep, hoping he’ll wake up in the hospital at Canterlot.
War Heart opened his eyes to the light coming in from the boarded up window, squinting, he got out of bed. He walked over to the bathroom and looked at the mirror, noticing he kept his same hair colour: red and green. He walked into the hallway and headed into the living room where he saw Kacey with a laptop, “Hey, man, didn’t catch your name.”, Kacey stated, not even looking up from his computer.
“War Heart.”, he replied, Kacey looked at him with an eye brow raised.
“Pretty rad name.”, Kacey said, looking back to his computer.
“What are you doing?”, War Heart asked.
“I’m hacking the signals that phone calls and texts go along, so I can find out where we can find a gang meeting. If we find a place where there is a deal going on , we can seize their funds and use it to better prepare ourselves for future operations.”
War Heart was dumb-founded, not having a clue what he was talking about. Kacey then decided to dumb it down a little, “Go where I say, take the money and bring it here.”
“Okay then.”, War Heart pretended to understand.
“Oh, take this.”, Kacey grabbed a handgun from the coffee table beside him and threw it to War Heart. The gun fell into his hands, he stared at it in wonder, “What’s this?”
“You’re kidding me, right?”, Kacey raised an eyebrow at War Heart. Kacey’s face turned to an expression of surprise, then to one of curiosity, “Where are you from?”
“Equestria.”
“Sounds like a place from a little kid show… I’ve never heard of it before.”
“It’s pretty far from here… I guess.”
“Right, well Chris is waiting for you outside. He’s gonna bring you somewhere to stop a drug deal and seize their funds. Just listen to him and you’ll be fine.”
“Alright…”, War Heart put the handgun down on the couch and left. He opened the door to find Chris leaning against the wall, “Good, you’re up. Let’s go.”, Chris led War Heart to his car: an old beater with chipped dark green paint. They both sat inside and took off. They drove for about a half hour before parking near some old brick buildings with an alley way going in between them. They both walked down the alley and a man in a dark green suit walked out of the shadows, he was tan and average in height. His smile revealed a silver tooth, “Looks like you took the bait…”, he said as three guys came from behind him, armed with bats and pipes. Four more came from the entrance behind War Heart and Chris. All of them wearing hoods of dark green with a logo that read ‘Blunt Heads’, with a marijuana leaf behind it.
“Didn’t you know that playin’ hero gets you hurt?”, the man in the suit snapped his fingers, the three thugs walked forward, towards War Heart and Chris.
Chris got into a readied position, while War Heart turned to the four that came from the entrance of the alley. War Heart walked towards them, his red eyes fixed upon them with a stare that could kill. His sheer size was intimidating as he approached them. One of the thugs actually had the nerve to strike, swing his baseball bat at War Heart, closing his eyes as he swung. The thug felt the bat hit something and looked to see what he hit. War Heart stood there, bat in left hand. War Heart wound back and threw a punch into the thug’s face, knocking him out cold. War Heart tossed the bat aside and glared at the other three thugs who were cowering. Chris was fighting the other thugs, using a sort of martial arts to take each one down, usually breaking limbs as he took them down. At this point the man in the green suit was backing away slowly, seeing this was a bad idea. War Heart had taken care of the four thugs on his side, and Chris finished up with the other three, only the suit remained. War Heart and Chris approached the cornered man.
“Whoa, man, chill, I jus’ doin’ what I’m told!”, the suited man tried to plea for forgiveness.
“Well, maybe ye wouldn’t mind if we take your cash?”, Chris said in his usual accent. The man reached into his coat and threw down a brown leather wallet, “Take it, just leave me alone!”, the man said in a fearful tone. Chris wound back to punch the man in the suit out, finding himself stopped by a powerful force. War Heart had his arm in his grasp, shaking his head, “He’s given up, leave him.”, War Heart said, trying to keep Chris from losing his head. Chris pulled away from War Heart and picked up the wallet. Him and War Heart walked out of the alley, “Hey, thanks for stopping me. I really lost my head back there.”, Chris said to War Heart as they got back in the car, War Heart nodding in acknowledgement. Chris picked up his cell phone, “It was a trap, the blunts set us up.”, Chris spoke into the device while War Heart waited. A voice came from the device, not loud enough for War Heart to hear.
“Okay, where to now? … Unex hospital? Got it.”, He hung up the phone and drove off.
“Looks like a black market sale of organs is going down, we’re to get this guy into the car and drive away“, Chris showed War Heart a picture of a bald man with a goatee. War Heart nodded and stayed quiet.
They arrived at the hospital, they waited for about fifteen minutes, parked outside the entrance. The bald man walked out of the hospital, dressed in a red suit. Chris spoke up, “Okay, grab that guy and walk him over here to the car and put him in the back seat. War Heart nodded and got out of the car. He walked over towards the bald man, who froze as he saw War Heart, he turned to run, with briefcase in hand. War Heart sprinted after him, Chris following them both in the car. War Heart caught up with the man in seconds due to his better physical condition. He lifted the bald man into the air, “You’re coming with us.”, War Heart said as he opened the door to the car and tossed him inside. The three drove off, War Heart and the bald man in the back seat. Chris spoke up, “Okay, Ghoul, where’s your cash?”
“I’m not giving you anything.”, he said in a Romanian accent.
“If you don’t hand it over, I’ll let my buddy back there smash your face in the pavement.”, Chris threatened the man in all seriousness. The bald man looked up at War Heart, who stared back with his red eyes fixed on him. The man panicked as he opened his briefcase, within it was a decent amount of twenty dollar bills. He closed it and put it on the floor, “It’s yours, now please let me go…”
War Heart looked at the reflection of Chris in the rear view mirror, “Toss him out.”, Chris said as he pulled over. War Heart opened the door and threw the bald man out. The car drove off again.
“Are you going to explain what we’re doing to me?”, War Heart asked.
“Well, the guys in green were Blunt Heads, they own the drug trafficking ring in Unex. The guy we just ripped off was part of ‘The Coven’, they kidnap and kill people to drain their blood and remove their organs and set up a deal with the hospitals to sell them that stuff. Then there is the last and worst gang in Unex: The Damned. They do just about anything: Rape, assault, murder, robbery, you name it, they’ve done it. They are all just a stain on the already filthy concept of humanity.”, Chris explained to War Heart in a serious tone.
War Heart looked shocked, “What kind of people could lead such organizations?”
“Well from the Blunt Heads, is their leader Jacob Bruintall. He grew up in Unex and made a living pushing drugs he made as a chemist, he pumps himself with drugs to make him pretty much superhuman. Then there is Vladimir Roman: This guy is pretty weird in the fact he’s obsessed with vampires. He’s never seen outside during the day, rumours even tell that he drinks some of the blood that they get out of their victims. The last, but certainly not the least is the leader of the Damned: DeadBeast, nobody knows his name. He wears makeup to make dark circles around his eyes and make his face totally white. His teeth are all sharpened and his face and scalp are pierced. This guy is a real freak show but is accounted for over six hundred counts of murder, two hundred counts of rape, and four hundred fifty counts of armed robbery.”
War Heart’s mouth was agape, “How can one live in such a world?”
“Because we have no choice. That’s why me and my friend Kacey are trying to work against the gangs and make the world better, one shot at a time.”, Chris replied. He drove back to the house, they both got out of the car and head inside with their spoils.
Kacey was sitting on the couch with his laptop still. He looked up to see his two friends walk in the room and drop a briefcase on the old wooden coffee table in the middle of the living room. He looked at the briefcase for a moment in utter silence, then looked to Chris, “Are you f***ing crazy?”
“What?”, Chris replied in a victimized tone.
“We can’t use this anywhere, it’s stolen money and, even worse, belonged to the Coven and they probably have it marked and will be searching for it, did you at least kill the guy you took it from?”
“Jeez, the big guy wouldn’t let me!”, Chris gestured to War Heart.
“Why the hell not?”, Kacey questioned War Heart.
“It didn’t feel necessary…”, War Heart was firm in his position on the matter. There was a silence after that last statement. Kacey held his head in his hands, trying to think of a way to take care of the money.
“Ye know, the blood pit makes bets all the time. Why not have our lad here have a shot and we bet on him?”, Chris suggested.
“As much as I hate to resort to gambling… Fine, take him down there.”, He looked at War Heart, “Don’t worry, the people you’ll be up against are almost all in the for the blood, plus it’s an underworld thing so they are all criminals.”
“So what am I doing?”, War Heart was confused about what was going on.
“You are going to enter some bare knuckle boxing matches so we can get rid of this money. You really must be from some crazy fantasy universe if you’ve never even heard of blood sports.”, Kacey shook his head at the idea that War Heart was clueless about so much, “Just get in the ring, beat the guy until he stops moving, got it?”
“I guess.”, War Heart said, sounding uncertain. Chris took some money out of the briefcase and put it in his pockets, “Let’s go, boyo.”, Chris said with a smile on his face. They got in the car and drove down to the more derelict part of the industrial district. There were many rusted and run-down buildings. They came to a place where there was loud heavy metal music blasting and a crowd of people in a circle around two fighters. There was a platform that stood six feet above the crowd. A pale man who wore a tight leather sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and black canvas shoes. He also had red hair that was put into a Mohawk. He watched over the crowd as am overlord watched over his minions, giving off an indication that he was the boss here. Chris told War Heart to stay put while he went to talk to the guy in charge. War Heart stayed put as he watched Chris go up and talk to the man, then the man looked at War Heart and stroked his beard in thought, then nodded at Chris. Chris then went back to War Heart, “Okay so Marcus is gonna let ye fight, but the rules are different, seeing as you’re such a big fellow.”
“What are the rules?”, War Heart asked curiously.
“Well, it goes until either to take down every fighter, or until you black out. If you make it through this, you’ll get us our money cleaned.”
War Heart thought for a second, “Okay… I’ll do it.”
“’atta boy!”, Chris looked to the pale man and gave a thumbs up. The pale man nodded, then rose his hands to indicate that he needed silence. The roar of the crowd died within seconds as all eyes were on the man on the stand.
“It seems we got ourselves a new challenger for me blood pit. He says he wants to take on a lot of us. Five grand to the one who lands the knockout blow!”, the crowd cheered at the announcement, the air brimming with excitement and bloodlust. War Heart approached the center, Chris right behind him, the crowd clearing the way to the center where three men stood, all looking like they have had their fair shares of hits to the face. War Heart stood in a neutral position, arms hanging at his sides, he had a look of determination.
“Let the pits be filled!”, the pale man screamed as he hit a steel pot with a small mallet, indicating the fight has begun.
War Heart stepped forward towards the center of the ring, the other three fighters set up in fighting poses beginning to circle him like sharks that smelled the fragrance of spilt blood. War Heart made no move as they circled him, attacking first wasn’t how he did things. One of the men screamed as he ran at War Heart from behind, reminding War Heart of his fight in the jungles and how they attacked from behind. War Heart clenched his fist and spun around, swinging his fist into the face of the man that ran at him, sending a spurt of saliva and blood through the air as the fighter bowled over. War Heart shifted his position into a battle stance, getting ready for the next attack. The fighter shook his head before standing up, swaying a bit and then steadying himself afterwards. Another fighter ran at War Heart, also screaming as he swung at him. War Heart took the hit, which didn’t impact him too badly. War Heart turned to face the fighter, towering over him. The fighter started taking shots at War Heart’s gut, alternating between his left and rights hands. War Heart waited for a few seconds before quickly bringing up his knee into the fighter’s chest, knocking the wind out of him. The other two fighters both jumped on War Heart’s back and begin to punch his spine, War Heart was brought to his knee from the sudden weight on him. War Heart spun around again, swinging his elbow behind him, knocking one of the fighters loose. War Heart then reached back and grabbed the arm of the other fighter, throwing him to the ground with brutal force, knocking the wind out of that fighter as well. The fighter that War Heart had elbowed came back and went around to War Heart’s front to send a fist directly into War Heart’s face. War Heart was wide-eyed as he recoiled from the impact, then his face grew to one of rage as he slowly stood up and shot his gaze on the one who just struck him, sending fear into him and rattling the fighter’s nerves. War Heart wound back and sent his fist into the fighter’s face, a disturbing crack sound came from his face as blood sprayed out of the fighter’s now-shattered nose. The fighter hit the ground coughing up blood that was seeping from his nose, he crawled to the edge of the ring, indicating he was finished. There were two fighters left, one came behind War Heart and threw his fist into War Heart’s kidney, causing him to cringe in pain from the unexpected blow. War Heart turned in one fluid motion, forcing is clenched fist into the face of the fighter, causing more blood to spurt from his face as well as a tooth. The fighter laid on the ground immobilized and unconscious. The last fighter walked to edge of the ring, breathing heavily, showing that he was done. War Heart was the only one standing in the ring, the man on the stand clapped slowly in applause before saying, “Round Two!”
Four new guys entered the ring, all ready to take on War Heart, who was looking at them with rage. All the fighters charged at him, War Heart just walked towards them slowly. The first to reach him ended up with War Heart’s fist flying into his face, putting him down. The second jumped at War Heart, dropkicking War Heart in the chest, knocking War Heart backwards onto the ground. The other two ran up two War Heart and began to take shots at his face. The crowd roared with excitement as War Heart was getting beaten. War Heart tried to cover himself with his arms, in an attempt to block. Chris watched as he got beaten, pacing back and forth unsure of what the outcome will be. War Heart began to fade out, the darkness soon took him. He opened his eyes to see the Hermit, “What are you doing here, Hermit?”, War Heart asked in disbelief.
“Making sure you don’t get yourself killed. Get back in there, summon the dark part of you that dragon blood revealed and I can assure you that you will become invincible.”, the hermit explained in a serious tone.
“I suppose, to help others… I can do it, this one time…”, War Heart was looking down and then looked up to see a blinding light, forcing him to close his eyes again.
He opened his eyes once more, only seconds had passed. He slowly stood up to the surprise of the fighter in the center of the ring. War Heart looked down on him with a burning hatred and bloodlust in his eyes, a look that would inspire one to believe they were to be murdered in the most terrible ways possible. War Heart let out a War Cry before running to one of the three fighters, quickly punching him in the face and knocking him unconscious with a splatter of blood. He dashed over to the next one, kicking him in the chest with extreme power, sending him flying back a few feet and hitting the ground unable to breathe properly. War Heart closed in on the last one and grabbed the poor bastard by the throat, holding him up and screaming into his face, then throwing him into the ground. All three of the leftover fighters were out. Some bystanders dragged them out of the ring and even more fighters came in to the ring to face War Heart. He turned to them as the man on the stand shouted, “Round Three! Final Round!”, there was a total of seven fighters, all seasoned with scars.
“Sudden Death!”, The man on the stand screamed as the fighters took out bats, chains, boards of wood. Chris looked up and the man as if he’d been betrayed, with the man only looking own at him and grinning.
War Heart screamed again, his race turned red as his eyes. His fury could be felt in his voice as it was a herald of death for those who meant him harm. Two fighters with bats ran over at him. War Heart swung his fist into the chest of one, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor. The second swung his bat at War Heart’s gut, connecting the blow, forcing War Heart to recoil. As War Heart recovered, he took the other bat and swung low towards the other fighter, connecting the bat with the guy’s leg. A loud cracking sound came from the fighter’s leg as the bone pierced the skin on his thigh, which was followed by a scream of pain. Two more fighters ran at War Heart, armed with a chain and a plank of wood. War Heart threw the bat at the fighter with the chain, connecting the aluminum bat with the chain-wielding fighter’s nose. The chain-wielder dropped to the ground, holding his face. The other fighter ran over and cracked the board off of War Hearts leg, smiling briefly before looking up at the unamused giant that was War Heart. War Heart kicked him over, then kicked him again in the gut. The fighter writhed in pain, curling up into a little ball of agony. The last three fighters, all wielding baseball bats of aluminum, charged at War Heart. War Heart grabbed his most recent victim by the leg and swung him in a circle, smashing him into two of the other fighters and releasing after the impact, leaving the three into a crumpled mess of pain. The last fighter still charged at War Heart, about to swing at War Heart until he was stopped by the giant grabbing his weapon. War Heart pulled the bat away and threw it aside. War Heart kicked him in the chest and forced him to the floor. War Heart began to repeatedly punch the last fighter in the face, screaming as he did so, until the last fighter stopped trying to block. War Heart stood up with blood dripping from his knuckles. He turned to Marcus, the man on the stand who looked down approvingly, “Looks like we have a winner!”, Chris ran to War Heart.
“Nice work there, you’re a natural!”, Chris complimented as he pat War Heart on the back. War Heart said nothing and went back to the car, sitting inside, ashamed of what he let himself become. Chris collected the money from Marcus, shook his hand and went back to the car. “We made some decent cash today, War Heart. Here’s your cut.”, He handed some bills to War Heart.
“What do I do with these?”, War Heart asked.
“Well I don’t know, ye buy whatever ye want. Clothes, games, electronics, food, whatever. I could take you to see Malcolm if ye want something more black market.”
“I think I’ll just hold it for now, until I figure out some things first at least.”
“Okay, suit yourself.”, Chris replied as he drove off back home.
War Heart and Chris walked back into their run down home, Kacey waiting in the living room as usual, “Hey, War Heart, you apparently made the news since the other night. ‘Angel saves man’s life.’”, Kacey pointed to an article with a particularly inaccurate drawing of an angel. War Heart did not show a face of pride, but more of confusion, “What’s an angel?”, he asked.
“Well according to some old myths and religious stuff, they were holy beings of good that worked for some sort of deity.”, Kacey explained, now getting the idea that War Heart was obviously not of this world.
“How does that mean that they were talking about our boy War Heart? It’s not like the man can fly or nothin’”, Chris commented, thinking that the witness was probably crazy or high.
“Well, Chris, War Heart here, has wings.”, Kacey had an uninterested look about him, not even looking up from his laptop.
“No way, that’s impossible.”, Chris scoffed at the idea and looked at War Heart, assuming that he was in on the joke. War Heart’s face was serious as he locked eyes with Chris. War Heart lifted the back of his shirt up and let his wings unfold slightly, making sure he didn’t break anything in the room.
“I thought I was just seeing things when I saw you come out of the alley, take note that I was very intoxicated at the time and it was dark as well, this is why I didn’t comment on it earlier for fear that I may be losing my mind.”, Kacey explained his conundrum to the others in the room. Chris poked the black feathered wings on War Heart, “Can ye fly?”, Chris asked.
“I don’t know, I haven’t tried.”, War Heart replied shrugging.
“Probably not a good idea right now anyway. We still have the Coven on our backs and no power to hide behind. We’d need some muscle and respect from the powers that be in the city.”, Kacey explained matter-of-factly, still not looking up from his computer.
“The man’s right, we need to get our names out there, pull off something to get respect. One thing they respect is strength, and to prove that, we got to issue a public challenge to one of the gangs.”, Chris was trying to throw an idea on the table, hoping Kacey would come up with a way to pull it off.
“I have a way for you to do that, but you will have to see Carls first and get some stuff. The money in the briefcase will be fine, leave the money from the blood pit here, Carls can hold that Coven money due to his deals with them, they won’t get suspicious.”, Kacey gave them their instructions, to Chris’ delight that his vague idea was made into a plan once more.
“All right, Kace, we’ll go there, but then what?”, Chris asked, clueless.
“I’ve intercepted a flurry of text messages all referring to a big rally for the gangs where they’ll be recruiting. It’s near the college, must be ripe with young idiots looking for some colours to throw on and make them think that they’re part of something ‘cool’ or something, retards, but necessary retards that we will need for our cause. Show up there, kill the gang lieutenants and announce your presence and that you’re looking for recruits, got it?”, Kacey looked at the other two, who were having trouble keeping up. Kacey rubbed his eyes, tired of having to deal with incompetence, “Go to the college, kill gangsters, recruit young people, comprende?”
“Got it.”, Chris said, winking at Kacey and giving him a thumbs up. Kacey rolled his eyes and went back to his laptop, tapping away at his keyboard. Chris pat War Heart on the shoulder, “Let’s go!”, Chris walked out the door and got into the car with War Heart. Chris put the car in gear and drove off again, putting on some Irish punk music. It was a good half hour before they stopped in front of an old warehouse. Chris picked up the briefcase full of money and walked up to the rusted metal door. He knocked three times and waited. After about a minute, a slit in the door opened at about eye level.
“Yeah, who be dis’?”, a man from within spoke in a strange accent.
“Oi, it’s Chris, lemme in Carls.”, Chris stood back a few feet and showed the briefcase full of money to the door. The slit quickly closed, Chris motioned for War Heart to come over. War Heart jogged over to Chris and they both waited for the door to open. A series of clicks and the sound of metal sliding against metal could be heard from the other side of the door. The door opened and out stepped a man that looked like was of Jamaican descent, “Chris, been some time, mon, who dis’ big boy?”, his voice was deeper than one would figure for his size. He wasn’t very big, or muscular. His hair was done up in dreadlocks, he wore a head band in tie dye colours and circular purple sunglasses. He took a drag from his cigar that smelled a bit funny. His eyes were reddened from the smoke. He wore no shirt that revealed a nipple piercing that was a silver ring with a skull that wore a top hat attached. His cargo pants were a tan colour like sands on a beach.
“This is War Heart, fella from outta town. We’re goin’ start a little war at the college.”, Chris smirked after his last statement. Carls smirked back.
“Den it looks like you need some bang for da party.”, Carls motioned them to come inside. They walked inside to a room that had many samples of guns and other weapons like bats, knives, chainsaw, and many others. War Heart wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do and just looked around in confusion. Carls looked at him with an eyebrow raised and finally exhaled the smoke from his drag from earlier, “Sometin’ wrong, mon?”
War Heart snapped to attention and looked at Carls, “I just have never done this before…”, War Heart admitted, somewhat mystified by the ridiculous amounts of weapons in the room.
“Relax, mon, dun worry, be happy. I’ll let ya ‘ave a freebie since it be ya first time ‘n’ stuff ‘n’ tings.”, Carls walked over to War Heart and sniffed in his direction, nodded and walked over to a table with some bladed weapons on it, he lifted a large sword with many runes inscribed into the three foot long steel blade. The design gave it a real artsy look to it, the handle was a foot long and made to look like the torso of a dragon made of ebony; the hand guard was made to look like a dragon’s head with the blade coming out the mouth; the pommel had what looked like a ruby that was held in place by the dragon’s table. Carls walked to War Heart and handed him the sword.
“Here, mon, dis be your blade.”, Carls said smirking at him. War Heart took the sword with a raised eyebrow.
“I got a replica from dat dragon slaya movie, sometimes da crazies like dat stuff.”, Carls justified his possession of such a wacky weapon. Chris walked over dragging two bullet-proof vests, an assault rifle, a shotgun, and a variety of belts to hold all the things needed (ammo and whatnot.) They put on all their gear while Carls counted the money in the briefcase from his leather chair on one end of the room. The shotgun was small enough for War Heart to be able to wield it with one hand. Chris had a pistol holstered on both of his thighs, his main weapon being his assault rifle. They were all suited up and ready to start their war.
“dun forget, dun worry, be happy!”, Carls shouted to them as they left the building. They got into the car and drove towards the college. War Heart was getting nervous, not knowing what he would be capable of should he get out of control with the shotgun in his hands. He began to sweat somewhat, closing his eyes. He returned to the blackness again.
“Back again? You sure are an uncertain one, are you?”, The Hermit spoke again to him.
“I don’t know if it’s right to use the blood. I can’t control myself, what if I hurt the wrong people?”
“Well, in the jungle, even one of concrete, there is no right or wrong, just points of view. You are the most evil thing to another, just like you consider them to be evil. Use the blood, and you will have immense power, but to use it well, you must understand the nature of the beast. There is no nobility, no good, no bad, it’s you, your pack, and everything else. The more you use the blood, the more you will understand things.”
War Heart awoke startled as Chris woke him up, “Hey, we’re here.”, Chris said as he got out of the car and walked towards the stands with the gangs’ colours showing. The Coven, disguising their gang as a ‘Vampire Role-playing Club’ the BluntHeads disguising theirs as a ‘Gardening and Chemistry Club’.
“Okay, War Heart, lets do this.”, Chris said as he slowly walked towards the booths, the gang members noticing him and recognizing the familiar face of Christopher the CrimButcher, renowned for killing over fifty criminals with his bare hands, and even more with firearms, a legendary hatred from a legendary man. The members of the coven and BluntHeads watched in fear as the vigilante approached with his homicidal grin. War Heart was following close behind him, brandishing his sword, a serious look on his face. The gang members numbered about a dozen from each gang.
“All righty, War Heart, will you take The BluntHeads, or The Coven?”, Chris asked him, making sure he was loud enough for the other gangs to hear.
“I’m thinking I’ll tear any apart that decide to stay here and fight.”, War Heart declared as he cracked his neck.
“I like yer thinking’ boy.”, Chris replied as he clicked the safety off on his assault rifle. The other gang members all took out their own weapons, ranging from bats and knives to pistols and Uzi’s. Chris and War Heart looked at each other, Chris still smiling, War Heart a little wide-eyed. They both dashed to the side in opposite directions, Chris taking cover behind other clubs’ booths made of wood, not perfect cover but sufficient to last for a little while. War Heart ran towards a bench of stone, kicking it over and laying down behind it for cover. A flurry of bullets flew around and past them, a deafening roar of gunfire echoing off the buildings. Chris was firing from behind his cover, winging a few Coven goons by spraying bullets at them blindly.
“Hey, War Heart, don’t let me steal the show now!”, Chris yelled to him, laughing somewhat. War Heart nodded, then propped up the stone bench using it as a makeshift shield and began to charge at the BluntHeads. The goons began to panic at War Heart’s inhuman strength, losing morale quickly as he approached, some of the members wielding bats and knives charged towards him. War Heart collided with one of the five stupid enough not to dive out of the way, throwing down the stone bench and crushing him. He had his sword in hand and waited for them to make the first move. One of the Blunts lunged at him wielding a butterfly knife, jabbing war Heart in the side, only to be stopped by a bullet proof vest. War Heart grabbed the Blunt’s arm and twisted violently, breaking the arm and throwing him into another Blunt goon. One of the three left swung at War Heart with an aluminum bat, hitting War Heart in the knee which forced him to the ground. War Heart swung his sword in a moment of panic and cleaved through the man who struck him. War Heart looked to see the damage, he cut into the man’s neck, leaving a shocked expression on the goon’s face. War Heart heard an advance on him from behind and quickly grabbed his shotgun, swinging around and blasting the Blunt in the chest, blowing him back as bits of buck shot tore through his chest. Yet another Blunt advanced on War Heart, this one wielded a machete. War Heart spun to face his attacker, parrying this machete with his sword. War Heart kicked forward and knocked back the Blunt then slashed open his chest while he tried to maintain balance. War Heart smirked for a second before feeling a powerful force hit him in the gut. A Blunt stood there with pistol drawn. War Heart’s heart pounded for what to him seemed like forever but was really only an instant. He looked up at the one who just shot him with a ravenous look in his eye. War heart bolted at the blunt, throwing down his weapons as he charged. The Blunt panicked and attempted to run, leaving his comrades. War Heart leaped into the gathering of six blunts, all of the armed with guns but no ammo left, they only had their fists to depend on. War Heart grabbed one by the neck and lifted him into the air, then slammed his face into the pavement, painting the ground with blood. He grabbed another on by the collar and threw him into the floor, knocking the wind out of him before War Heart raised his leg and brought his foot down onto the Blunt’s head, causing it to splatter into a bloody mess from the force. The other four all jumped onto War Heart at the same time, trying to overwhelm him. War Heart threw himself backwards onto the ground, crushing them beneath him. Three were unconscious from hitting their heads, one was only disoriented, trying to sit up. War Heart got up and grabbed him by the hair then grabbed a pistol from the ground. Holding it by the barrel, he proceeded to repeatedly bash the face of the Blunt who could not do anything against the powerful force that was War Heart’s wrath as his face began to crack and break, becoming more brutalised with each blow until he ceased to live. War Heart threw the gun aside and looked to the one that was running away, almost half a block away. War Heart threw off the bullet-proof vest and spread his wings. He jumped and took flight, soaring towards the unlucky Blunt. War Heart’s victim looked back to see a silhouette gliding towards him, and beginning to overtake him. The Blunt tripped and fell to the ground terrified of what was to come, he was in tears knowing this was his end. He shut his eyes and curled up into a ball, waiting for his end. He heard a thump, he felt the impact on the pavement. Seconds passed, he looked up to see War Heart, staring down at him with those sanguine eyes, judging him. The Blunt quickly unzipped his hoodie and threw it aside, “Yo, man, I’m done. It’s cool, I’m going home.”, he said hurriedly and began sprinting away shirtless. War Heart just stared at him, then turned back and flew back to the college, the fighting had stopped and Chris was surrounded by a large group of young people that one would assume were part of the college.
“We’re an organization that is dedicated to taking the city back from the gangs that act like they own the place. Anyone wanting to sign up talk to me or me friend there.”, Chris pointed to War Heart, who was still shirtless and had his wings spread. The crowd looked at him in awe, mystified by the fact he had wings. A random young man from the crowd shouted, “What do you guys call yourselves?”
War Heart looked down and thought for a second then looked to the crowd, “We are ‘The Last Heroes’”, War Heart announced. He looked towards the city of skyscrapers and spoke to himself, “Unex City, Here I am…”
It has been a few days since the heroes came back from the land of dragons. Twilight Sparkle had been told by Orion about Barridamus. She surveyed her library for all she could on the ancient dragon, but she had no luck in finding anything in all her library. She decided that she would need to go to the Canterlot archives and search for this. It was dawn, the sky was a bright orange from the sunrise. She went to her dragon assistant, Spike. She awoke him in a gentle manner, nudging for him to awaken so she could send her letter to Celestia, which held a request to gain entry into the Canterlot archives.
“Spike, I need you to send this letter.”, Twilight spoke with urgency but in a hushed voice.
“What time is it?”, The baby dragon wearily asked.
“That’s not important, I just need you to wake up for a minute to send this letter.”
“Fine…”
“Thank you, Spike.”, Twilight levitated the letter over to Spike, who inhaled, then sent forth a puff of green flame that engulfed the letter and sent it away in a poof of smoke.
“I need to gather some things, I’ll be leaving Ponyville for a while.”, Twilight said as she put on her saddlebags, looking back at the baby dragon who already fell back into his slumber. She smiled and rolled her eyes before leaving the library. Twilight decided that she should tell all her friends that she was leaving to Canterlot so they wouldn’t think she disappeared or anything. Twilight’s first stop was Sweet Apple Acres, to see AppleJack and Orion. She trotted up to the front door and knocked. A large red stallion with orange mane answered, “Eeyup?”
“Big Macintosh, is Applejack here?”
“Eeyup…”, he motioned for Twilight to come inside and led her their dining room/ kitchen area. Applejack and Orion were sitting at the table eating apple pancakes, an idea they got from War Heart’s original dish.
“How’s it goin’, Sugarcube?”, Applejack greeted Twilight.
“Yes, what are you doing here?”, Orion asked curiously.
“Well, I came over to tell you that I’ll be leaving Ponyville for a while.”
Applejack seemed rather shocked, “Yer leavin’, why?”
“It’s only for a week or so Applejack, sorry I left out that detail.”
“Ya gave me a scare there for a second. Have fun in… Where you goin’?”
“Canterlot. I need to look in the Archives for something that wasn’t in the library.”
“Oh, well then have fun readin’, Twilight.”
“I hope I will, Bye, Orion, Bye, Applejack.”, Twilight left the house and walked towards Ponyville, heading towards Sugar Cube Corner. Rainbow Dash, who was laying down on a cloud above, spotted Twilight, wondering what she was doing out so early.
“Hey, Twi!”, Rainbow Dash shouted.
Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash, “Oh, Hi, Rainbow.”
Rainbow Dash flew down beside Twilight, “What are you doing out so early?”
“I was going to say farewell to you and my other friends and tell you guys I was going to Canterlot.”
Rainbow Dash responded to this as Applejack did, “Why are you going back to Canterlot!?”
“I’ll only be gone for a week or so, I’m not leaving forever.”
“Oh, okay then.”
“Actually, Dash, could you tell anypony that asks where I am, that I am in Canterlot, I have a train to catch.”
“Sure, Twi, no problem.”
“Thanks, Dash.”, Twilight said as she ran towards the train station. Taking the first train to Canterlot.
Twilight got off the train in Canterlot and walked towards the castle. Upon her a arrival, Princess Celestia was waiting there to greet her, “Hello, my faithful student.”, Celestia greeted in her usual regal and enchanting voice.
“Hello, Princess, did you receive my letter?”, Twilight was hopeful that she would be allowed into the archives.
“Yes, I’m giving you full access to them. Just be careful, the place is old and almost nopony goes in there anymore.”
“I’ll be careful, Princess.”, Twilight trotted inside the castle and into the courtyard. She then walked up to a door that was old and wooden, it creaked open into a dark and musty room. Twilight coughed from the dust in the air. She opened the door more and tried to let the room air out. She used her magic to create an air current to speed things along. After playing house keeper for about a half hour, Twilight made the room tolerable to stand in. She used the glow of her horn to let her see the titles of the books she peaked at. Eventually she found a book on the ancient dragon lord Barridamus. The book stated that he was called the galaxy dragon, or the eternal dragon. Apparently, he was one of the first dragons and his breath attack was strange in that it was not an element that anypony was familiar with, that it seemed to alter gravity itself.
“Okay, well this is no help… I was hoping that it would let me know what it was and how it works…”, Twilight continued to pull books off the shelves until one she noticed was much lighter than it should be. She looked at the title which read, “Science: For Dummies”, Twilight opened the book to see the center of it cut out, with a peculiar device in the center of the cut out. The device was an unpainted iron cube with a purple half-sphere button on top of it. Twilight levitated it out of the book and placed it on the floor in the middle of the room, “What’s this?”, Twilight wondered as she looked at it in curiosity. She walked over to the device and pressed the button. A green holographic set of words popped up above the device. Twilight read the words aloud, “’I have no hope of learning what I need. I call upon you to help with my great deed’?”, Twilight’s eyebrow raised. The words disappeared as the device unfolded, the button glowed purple and metallic arms spread out and began to rotate and glow with energy. Twilight stepped back, unsure what she had just done. Arcs of electricity crackled through the air above the device. A sudden blast of light forced Twilight to look away from the device momentarily before she looked back to see a stallion earth pony standing there with a dark grey coat, a vest, goggles, and a purple mane.
“Did somebody say, Deus Ex Machina!?”