//------------------------------// // Broken Weapons // Story: Eljunbyro // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// "Hrrrnngh-Yaaaugh!" Crimson's entire body spun as he brought his hammer down again on Shell. Shell wordlessly deflected, spun his taser-staff, and slashed at Crimson's hooves. Crimson jumped the swing, landed heavily, and slammed his weapon down against the floor. The entire fire-lit cliff shook as Shell backtrotted from the advancing warrior of Franzington. Gradually, Crimson inched the Prime Enforcer back towards the last few cluster of parked managliders. A line of soldiers watched anxiously, training their mana rifles on the ensuing battle, waiting for a moment for Crimson to expose himself. "Rrrrgh!" Crimson uppercutted at Shell. Shell hopped back from the blow, landing beside his fellow guards. The stallions made to fire their rifles, but Shell held up a hoof, stopping them. Twirling his staff, he dove back into the fray, advancing on Crimson and forcing the mercenary back towards the canyon wall. Crimson panted, sweating as he had to constantly deflect Shell's lightning-quick jabs. He let go of his hammer, choosing instead to grab it telekinetically as his four hooves braced hard against the cliff's surface. He held his ground, snarling as he kept Shell and the Prime Enforcer's weapon at bay. "I don't know how you got to my stallions, but you've done all the damage you're ever going to do!" Crimson spat. "What would you know of doing damage, deserter?" Shell jerked his weight to the left, yanking Crimson's hammer out of the way. He made a forward jab, swift-as-lighting. His taser slashed across Crimson's face, spilling blood. "Gaaaugh!" Crimson bellowed, stumbling back as he drank his own juices. "Captain!" Eagle Eye shouted fervently from his own fight several feet away. "I see you're well-acquainted with pain," Shell hissed, marching menacingly towards him while dragging his sparkling staff. "Allow me introduce you to defeat." Eye flaring, he spun and slashed the double-edged weapon at Crimson once more. Crimson deflected again, weakly this time, as he stumbled away from Shell's violent advance. "And the pain that comes with it!" Shell snarled with each furious swing. "And the death!" He grazed Crimson's flank, shredded his armor open, and spilled more blood from the muscular stallion's shoulder. "All the agonizing sacrifices of loyalty!" He uppercutted Crimson's chin with the middle of the staff and pressed him hard against the wall. Leaning in, her snarled, "And then you will know—as I do—that defeat is the same as victory." He spun, bucked Crimson's skull, and slashed hard at his left side with the taser. "Gaaah-haaugh!" Crimson fell to his joints, leaning on his hammer as blood poured from his side. Shell loomed above him, levitating the staff as he grumbled, "We are all weapons, you sanctimonious pile of cowardly meat. Those who've ever worked for the Queen were dead long before they picked up a sword." "Crimson!" Eagle Eye squeaked, his face awash with sweat and tears. Surrounded by advancing guards, he shoved against two of them with a burst of energy. "Nnngh!" Holding his breath, the petite soldier ducked their swings and slashed in a circle with his floating sword. Blood littered the cliff's surface in a glittering spray. Several soldiers yelped and clutched their limbs as Eagle Eye jumped over them and galloped towards the scene. "Hang on!" A heavy shadow stood directly in Eagle Eye's way. Eagle Eye slid to a stop, gasping. Josho's eyes were thin as he cracked his limbs. "That's as far as you go, kid." Gritting his teeth, Eagle Eye squatted low, raised his sword and shield, and charged Josho. Josho jerked right, unsheathed a taser from his left shoulder holster, and slashed at him. Eagle Eye grunted, jumped, dodged the blow, and landed his hooves on Josho's flank. "Ooof—!" Josho stumbled. Eagle Eye bounced off, kicked against the canyon wall, and soared his lithe body towards Crimson and Shell. In midair, however, he lurched—his body caught in a telekinetic field. He flailed and struggled as Josho floated the petite mercenary towards him. As the obese enforcer prepared to lock Eagle Eye into a leghold from behind, the lavender unicorn gnashed his teeth and flung his shield blindly over his head. The disc slammed square into Josho's face. He grunted, stumbling backwards. The telekinetic field dissipated. Eagle Eye landed on his belly. He tried to get up— Josho tackled him, slamming him up against the canyon wall. Eagle Eye slashed the sword backwards, but Josho caught it with the hilt of his floating taser. He twisted Eagle Eye's magical grip of his weapons and suplexed the mercenary hard to the floor. Not wasting a second, Eagle Eye bucked the weight of the stallion off, rolled to the side, and prepared his sword and shield. Josho evened out in time to deflect a wave of merciless jabs and slashes from the little pony. "Aaaaaaugh!" Eagle shouted for good measure, thrusting and swinging his blade repeatedly while keeping his sword raised. In a fitful gasp, he glanced aside to see Crimson struggling against Shell's advances. Just then, Josho loomed into view, wielding his taser up high. "Stand down!" Josho's bearded muzzle was too pitiable to form a scowl. "You're outnumbered!" "And you're fat!" Eagle Eye suddenly dashed forward, headbutting. Not expecting that, Josho sidetrotted, but it was too late. Eagle Eye's sharp little horn slashed at his left leg. "Graaaugh!" Josho winced. Eyes flaring, he uppercutted Eagle Eye with the hilt of his taser, jerked aside, and unsheathed a manarifle. Pumping the crystalline shotgun, he aimed it at Eagle Eye's body. Gasping, Eagle Eye curled up and hid his body behind his shield. The gunshot echoed across the ravine, kicking up dust and ash. Eagle Eye's body was propelled towards the cliff's edge, but Josho had anticipated it. In a burst of telekinesis, he grabbed Eagle Eye and yanked him like a yo-yo back towards the cliff's surface. "Ooof!" Eagle Eye grunted, dropping his sword and shield as he landed belly-first against the ground. Before he could get up— "Grrgh!" Josho stood on top of him and pressed his knees into Eagle Eye's back. The mercenary yelped and writhed as Josho forced the unicorn's limbs beneath the two of them, utterly pinning the petite stallion in place. "I said... stay down!" Taking a deep breath, Josho pumped his gun and aimed it against Eagle's hapless skull as he looked up at the other fight. "Enforcer—" "Nnngh!" Shell was currently bucking Crimson across the face. "Augh!" Crimson spun from the blow, teetering towards the ravine's edge. He hobbled on bleeding legs, but nevertheless twirled in time to raise his floating hammer against Shell's advances. Shell slashed and swung his sparkling blades, further knocking Crimson off balance. Josho gritted his teeth and spat, "Enforcer! It's over! These two have lost! We still have a target on the loose!" Crimson shouted with sudden strength and shoved Shell back. He stood, panting, levitating the hammer menacingly between them as he summoned a smirk from the depths of his aching being. "D-did you hear that?" He sneered. "Rainbow Dash isn't yours. You tried and you tried so hard... and still she g-got away..." "Only to come straight back to me, you mean," Shell calmly retorted. Crimson blinked, his features sagging. Shell breathed and said, "I have something she wants more than life and prosperity." He twirled the staff and paced across from his foe. "I have her friends—such pathetic things for a monster to afford. Don't you think so?" A pale sheen fell across Crimson's face. Far away, Eagle Eye was likewise grimacing. "No..." Shell shook his head. "I suppose you don't think. Not at all." He stabbed one end of his staff into the earth and gestured with his hoof. "You simply fight. So do it, soldier." His one eye narrowed. "Fight..." Crimson blinked, trembling. His lips melted into a hardened frown. "C-Captain..." Eagle Eye whimpered, tearing. "Enforcer!" Josho shouted. "They're prisoners of the Confederacy! They deserve to be put on trial—" "Rgggh—" Crimson floated the hammer into the crook of his hoof and came swinging at Shell. "—Raaaaugh!" All Shell had to do was squint. A bolt of blue light flew from his horn and absorbed itself into the muscular stallion's massive hammer. Crimson's weapon lit up like a candle. When it exploded, it took his right hoof with it. "Haaaauckt!" Crimson bellowed, stumbling back against the cliff's edge and clutching his bleeding stub. His face and body contorted in pain. "Hrnnngh-gaaugh!" Eagle Eye was too busy screaming to produce a name. Josho blinked, his jaw dropped. Shell calmly marched towards the bleeding mercenary. His nostrils flared as he came within a whisper's range. "You don't have to thank me for dismantling you." Then, with a single tap of his metal prosthetic, he pushed the anguished pony over the edge. Crimson's blood-soaked body plunged into the depths of Sapphire Ravine. Eagle Eye spasmed, his irises shrinking as he buried his face into the earth and sobbed uncontrollably. Josho gazed down into the canyon, gulping hard. He looked from the mournful pony beneath him to Shell. The Prime Enforcer was taking a deep, meditative breath, his body shadowed by the flames of Foxtaur above. After a few seconds, he gazed towards his surviving fellow officers. "There's nothing more I hate than a coward." Josho was dead silent. "Well... maybe there's one thing." Shell calmly picked up his taser staff, disarmed it, and sheathed it into his uniform. "And if we have any hope of ensnaring her, then we need to return before it's too late." He trotted towards the parked managliders—but paused. Shuffling about, he turned towards Josho, calmly blinking. "Well, what are you waiting for? Toss him over as well." Josho did a double-take. He glanced from Shell to the stallion in his grasp and then back. "Wh-what?" "Is there too much liquor between your ears, soldier?" Shell droned. "I gave you an order." "Prime Enforcer..." Josho's voice was low, almost a dull base tone. "He was only following his superior's commands. He deserves to be put on trial just as much as the unicorn who helped us." He gulped, his breath taking on a piercing, sober edge. "Just as much as the one you just slew!" "I do not weep for the fools who murder themselves with their own mistakes." Shell pointed. "I am only telling you this once more—send him to the abyss." Josho blinked at that. After a deep breath, he spat in into the dirt and soil beneath him and grunted, "No." Eagle Eye twitched, his tear-stained face looking up with a quivering mouth. Shell merely stared, his body evening out to face Josho directly. "Would you mind repeating that?" "I said shove it up your Queen-hole!" Josho growled, standing up and clutching Eagle Eye's limp form closely. "There's something seriously wrong with you, ya friggin' psycho!" "I am the sword of our ruler—" "Yeah, and I'm her sparkling corkscrew! I get it!" Josho leaned forward and growled, "But I've made a life slaying heartless Xonans! Not my own flesh and blood!" "He is a traitor—" "Why? Cuz he betrayed decency?! Cry me a cruddy river!" Josho frowned. "You're breaking every rule of war in the book. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd go over a Prime Enforcer's head, but—buddy—you're asking for it!" Shell blinked calmly at him. He took a deep breath. "Very well. If you're so desperate to protect the filth..." He turned away and marched towards the managliders. "Then protect him—" "Good! Cuz I've got a good mind to take that smug face of yours and rub it all over your—" Shell's horn strobed. At first, it felt like a cyclonic burst of wind. Josho and Eagle Eye gasped as they both found themselve flipping skyward. Their weapons followed them—along with a whole chunk of Ledomaritan earth. Several guards jumped back, flinching as the Prime Enforcer's telekinesis swept up several boulders and two abandoned managliders with the blind toss. Josho gasped, almost vomiting as he and Eagle Eye spiraled towards the raging rapids below. Eagle Eye's howling scream disappeared in a burst of thunder, brought upon by Josho's shimmering horn as the two of them were engulfed in the cascading spray of rocks. Then the ravine below exploded from the chunk of clifface impacting with the river, and all was the murmur of burning forest once again. Trembling, the soldiers watched as Shell marched calmly past them. He didn't gaze at any of their faces; he kept his one eye forward as he silently mounted a managlider, throttled it to life, and soared towards the smoldering sky. With a hoof, he gestured towards the others to follow. They did so—reluctantly at first—but soon the air screamed with the rumbling engines as the surviving officers began their return trip to the Steel Wing, leaving the bloody site behind.