//------------------------------// // The Crazy Thing About The Behemoth // Story: Jokers Wild // by blowngasket //------------------------------// Chapter 14: The Crazy Thing About The Behemoth "Shit.." Perry said at the fast approaching foot ready to crush him and Fluttershy. At this point there was little that he could do, as most options ended bad anyways. He decided to at least try and save Fluttershy, as tossing her away from the giant foot would keep her safe for now. As he was about to make his move, he was tackled hard by a blur, and sent flying away from the impact zone. The foot hitting the ground cracked it, possibly shaking all of Ponyville. Lights in buildings turned on and screams and yelling could be heard almost everywhere. Perry looked up from where he landed, Fluttershy still safe in his arms, and noticed a heavily breathing Rainbow Dash. "You... ok?" she asked between breaths. Perry nodded quickly and handed her Fluttershy without a moments hesitation. "Rainbow, what I am about to tell you is important. Take her to your friends, and have Twilight contact Celestia immediately. Tell her to send backup for a code five emergency, and use the code name Pierriot in the letter. Can you do that?" Perry looked at the slow moving but overly dangerous beast. "Umm Celestia, Pierriot, backup. Got it...are you really going to stay behind and try and fight this thing?" she asked, concerned for her friends well being. "I hear you, Dash. Sounds absolutely crazy to me too... Once you give Twi the message, I need you to help evacuate Ponyville. To be fair, I don't know how long I can hold this thing off, or even if I can..." Perry said to her. "Don't do anything stupid you hear me!" she said as she got ready to fly off. "If you do anything to make her cry, so help me..." she warned him, but still maintained her serious look. Perry nodded towards Rainbow, and with that, she took off like a bolt of lightning. Perry shifted his eyes at the overwhelming beast, attempting to discover something of use. "Slow moving, but could obviously crush the entire town in the night," Perry needed to do his best to slow it down further. He started to chant, preparing a spell. "Hold down that which soars. Bind down to the land in which we walk. Give way to all that resides, granting an everlasting stability. Cast out all who seek to defile the simple law and back onto the rock of origin," he raised his hand, aiming his technique at the beast. "Gravity Field!" a dome of a light purple energy surrounded the giant, as its movements were slowed down considerably. The spell wasn't nearly as powerful as its modified for destruction version, but that wasn't meant to hold down others as it was to crush them, and with the size of this thing, that would just be a small inconvenience for it anyways. Perry maintained his magic hold on the field, using as much control as he could manage to forcibly increase the gravity around the beast, slowing its movement. Overall, it was still mobile, just much slower. Perry wasn't sure what else he could do, so he waited and hoped for help to arrive. ---------- ---------- ---------- "Are you sure that's everything, Rainbow?" Twilight checked with her heavily breathing friend as she rested. "Yes...code five...send backup for Pierriot...evacuate..." Rainbow said to Twilight quickly, her adrenaline on full steam as she twitched about nervously. People in the background were panicking and screaming at the sight of the beast, which could be easily seen from several miles away. Twilight watched as a purple field surrounded the beast. Years of practice and way too many books had given Twilight the experience to identify the field as a gravity field. Not wanting to sit back when she could help, she started to run towards the beast herself. "Go tell Spike to write the letter and send it! Perry can't last much longer trying to hold a field like that! Then get Spike and Fluttershy to safety. Everyone else, start evacuating!" all of Twilights friends nodded, and each of them went on to do their assigned task. Twilight ran as fast as she could, thankful that most of the people were at Pinkie's party. She secretly had thanked Pinkie for her random event, it's presence making it easier to get the people together and away. Twilight ran as fast as she could towards the monster and the field, preparing to cast the same spell herself. Twilight waited until she was next to a very surprised Perry, then began to chant. "Hold down that which soars. Bind down to the land in which we walk. Give way to all that resides, granting an everlasting stability. Cast out all who seek to defile the simple law and back onto the rock of origin!" her own field overlapped with Perry's, the beast letting out a wail as the force of gravity on him grew exponentially. "Twilight...I would say what the hell do you think you're doing...but I am actually really glad to see you. You get my message?" he asked, trying not to let up on the spell. "Yes...Rainbow should be with Spike now sending the message..." the ground shook hard, causing the two to wobble, but remain focused as the beast managed another step towards them. It was obviously very unhappy with being held down, but was no where near stopping. "Good," Perry having more time to focus, had come it with a plan of action. It was a very bad idea and stupid at it's best, but it was a still a plan. "Actually, I have a new plan and I need a good support caster right now..." Perry said to Twilight, making sure she was listening. Her head turned towards him and he knew he had her undivided attention. "On my mark, release the gravity field and make a run for the open fields. We need to prevent as much damage as possible, and between the shaking and the gravity, I don't think the structures will hold much longer anyways.". "Are you crazy?!" she yelled at Perry. "You actually want to let that thing chase us?!" "Yes," he simply said to Twilight, who's eye twitched slightly. "Trust me, I know what I am doing." "Yeah, been meaning to ask...how in the blazes did this happen and how do you know such powerful magic?" she asked him. "Can we please talk about that later when we are 'not' in mortal danger!" he yelled at her. She flinched, nodded quickly as she realized he was right. "I am preparing to break off the gravity spell. You will need to go at it double-time while I get ready..." "Ready for what?" she asked, though getting herself ready to increase her output. "Something I am seriously going to regret in the morning..." he sighed as she looked at him, worried that he was going to do something extremely foolish and stupid. She was right. "Proliferation apon ourselves, granting the feeble a chance..." "Perry!" Twilight yelled towards him. "You are not going to use what I think you are, are you?!" Perry ignored her as he continued to chant. "Send the power to ring destruction onto thyself, giving even the weak the power of the strong..." "Darn it, Perry! Don't use that spell! It could kill you!" Twilight yelled, trying her best to hold her concentration, but was faltering as the beast was gaining speed. "AUGMENTATION!" he finished. Twilight knew that spell herself, having studied many kinds of magic. This one was forbidden to be used, though. Instead of directing mana, it forced it inwards towards the caster, turning its energy into raw physical power. The effect was evident as Perry's body twitched, and grew out slightly, screaming in what sounded like pure agony as his body struggled to withhold the magical energy. Finally settling down, he yelled out to Twilight. "Release the field," she did so, and as she did, he picked her up and dashed towards the open fields. The beast started as well, gaining momentum from its own movements chasing after them. Perry wasn't fond of the use of augment either, but in order for him to be able to run quickly with Twilight, he needed the physical boost it offered. It wasn't the first time he had to use it, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. He knew the risk, the effects, and the outcome of using it. He also knew his own limit, and knew when he had to stop. "Perry, what were you thinking?!" she yelled at him as they ran. He ignored her, trying to focus on preventing the magic inside him now from shredding his entire body apart. Twilight could only watch, now. It was obvious that he was overclocking himself to keep them away from the monster giving them chase., Twilight, not being nearly as athletic as her friends, would not be able to keep up with Perry going at half speed normally. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Perry's voice. "Twilight, gravity field!" he said as he ran through the fields with the behemoth right behind him. She nodded and quickly recasted the spell. She concentrated it around the leg it was about to raise, and activated it. It was caught by surprise, and from its momentum, tripped and fell, sliding at full speed at the two. Perry maintained his speed, but running out of steam quickly. He was at his limit, and knew that any further would definitely kill him. Even so, Twilight was strong, and he could leave the rest to her, at least until help would arrive. The monster had finally come to a stop. Perry stopped running as well, and released the mana stored in his body. He put Twilight down, and fell to his knees. Twilight tried to help him up, but he quickly raised his hand, holding it in front of her, coughing heavily. Between his coughs he managed to speak. "You...keep that... monster from getting... up, I am counting on you..." he let out a violent cough, blood dripping down from the bottom of his mask. Twilight started to panic, but she wasn't going to let his actions go to waste. She focused the gravity field again over the monster, forcing it down into the ground with as much magical force as she could possibly manage. Perry could only watch with blurry eyes as she managed a much stronger magical output then he ever could. Twilight truly was deserving the title of Element of Magic. She was obviously struggling, but her efforts were effective, as the flailing giant couldn't get its bearings together to rise up. Perry needed this time to rest, but she wasn't going to be able to manage it long. Taking a deep breath, he slowly started to stand, moving next to Twilight. "Twilight...let me help..." he said to her, still breathing heavily. "Perry, I can handle this!" Twilight yelled, still under the stress of maintaining enough gravitational force for holding it down. "You can't focus mana in your current state. If you do, the shock could kill you," Twilight said to him. "Don't worry, if I let you get killed, Fluttershy would never speak to me. Take a breather, Perry. I will be able to handle this," she spoke, almost with a cocky tone in her voice. Perry wanted to disagree, but she was right, and backup would be on the way. He hoped she could handle it, and decided to rest. Arguing with her never ended well for him anyways. He slowly slipped into unconsciousness, falling gracefully towards the ground. Twilight knew the worst of the side effects for augment were over, but being alone now made the task so much more frustrating. How long could she hold this thing down before she too lost consciousness? It didn't take all that long, no more than five minutes for the field to slowly lose its effectiveness. The beast was gaining its strength back, almost pulling itself up. Twilight let out a surge into the field to push it back down, but that was as much as she had left in her tank. The field slowly started to disappear, and she fell to her knees, panting heavily. It was all over for her, her magical energy officially on empty. She watched as the beast got up and made his way toward them, moving slowly as to avoid anymore tricks like before. Before it could make it halfway, it stopped, a magical aura starting to take hold of it. It started to flail around as the aura held it in place. Twilight looked around in surprise, trying to find the one casting the spell. She smiled happily as she looked at her mentor, Princess Celestia. She walked towards her student gracefully, and gently rubbed her shoulder. "You did a good job, Twilight. You can rest now. Me and Luna will handle it from here," Celestia told Twilight. "Luna is here as well?" Twilight asked. Celestia pointed over to where Perry was, Luna standing over him with a smile on her face. "So the mighty is still just a man in the end," Luna laughed slightly, staring over Perry's unconscious body. "I ...can still hear you, Princess Luna," a voice came from the downed Perry. Luna jumped back slightly as he slowly got back to his feet. "You're...not very nice to me, Luna. It makes me sad..." he said, laughing lightly despite what he said. "Luna, enough fooling around, there is still a castle sized monster to deal with," Celestia said to her sister, who nodded in return. Luna walked to Celestia's side, and grabbed her hand, as they focused a spell together. Without the need for an incantation, they cast a spell, not directed at the beast, but at Perry. His body glowed from the gentle white energy encircling it, his muscle pain and fatigue fading away quickly. He never felt better than he did now, but he looked at Celestia and Luna, puzzled. "Why help me up? Surely you could handle it by yourselves," Perry said to the Princesses. "Our magic doesn't fair well against evil creations like this. Artificial creatures can't be swayed or calmed in the way that living beings could," Twilight gasped slightly as she figured it out. This wasn't a biological creature, but one manufactured from earth and dark magic. "A golem, right?" she asked Celestia. She nodded, and looked towards Luna. "Luna, take Twilight and leave this area," Luna nodded and picked Twilight up. "Don't worry, young Twilight. Our sister knows what she is doing, so have faith in her," Luna told Twilight as she started to fly off, carrying her to a safe location. Perry and Celestia smiled as they were far enough now. "Pierriot, I hereby release your limiter, deal destruction to thy enemies," Celestia said to Perry, as he could only smile. This wasn't a real living being, so there was no reason to regret it now. Not that he would, but it would be one less thing on his conscience for brutally and utterly destroying without a shred of empathy. He removed his mask and stared at the behemoth. "As you command, my Princess," he laughed, staring at the target with glee. "It's been awhile since I have been able to use this. I do hope you are ready to contain the fallout..." Perry said to Celestia. "Last time. Luna almost failed. I am sure that this will be different..." "Remember, Perry. Ponyville is close by, so only go long enough to finish off the golem," he nodded, his red eye starting to give a sickening glow. "Darkness everlasting..." Perry began to cast a spell. "Void where no light is allowed to tread. Lost in time and space, the origin of all and the end of existence. Howls and echoes silenced and faces lost to eternal nothingness," his body started to glow with a dark aura, collecting a massive amount of ambient mana from within the darkness that resided in the world. Celestia knew about this spell, choosing to stand behind him, and started charging the spell she would need to go along with it to prevent the possibility of a national catastrophe. "Missing amongst the stars, and searching for the creator, I invoke thee, come to my aid and rid thy foes from this plane..." Celestia prepared herself as Perry finished the spell "Black Hole's Desolation!" using the dark mana he had been collecting, Perry focused it into a small orb, no bigger than a marble. He held out his hand, the orb following it as it moved. Pointing his hand towards the golem, Perry focused energy into the palm and launched the orb at a slow pace towards the monster. He stayed still, his blue eye closed as his red eye focused on the orb. "Spatial distortion is low. No anomalies present to disrupt or prematurely activate the black hole," Perry told Celestia, who watched in a small twinge of terror at what she was beholding. Perry's potential at time and space magic was nearly unrivaled and the vast potential behind it made the impossibly long incantations worth it.,at least when paired with a good support magic user. When paired with a Princess? "Preparing to remove my hold of the beast," Celestia said to Perry, who nodded. The field around the beast gave way, allowing it to stand. But it was too late as the orb made its way towards the middle of its back. In one swift motion, Perry closed his hand as Celestia erected a barrier around the entire beast. The orb stopped, and just like that, there was nothing but black where it stopped. The beast was far from fine though, as bits of it were being ripped off of it, almost like it was disintegrating. It continued to suck in the golem, pulling it off the ground itself, despite its size. Perry and Celestia remained in complete focus, for if either of them faltered at their task, the hole could go out of control and start to pull everything into it. The interior of the barrier had started to go black, a side effect of the black hole absorbing even light into it. Perry remained focused, even smiling that sick satisfying smile of the killer he was. Celestia could see why Luna could be unnerved by him. The way he smiled he could have very well have been getting off on his actions. "Preparing to close the hole. Ready the barrier for the gravitational backlash," Perry told Celestia. She focused all of her energy into the barrier, getting ready for the hole to close. "Ready! Do it now!" she yelled. Perry closed the hole. Immediately, the closing had created a flux of energy as gravity returned to normal within the area. The barrier expanded slightly, but for the most part it held itself well. Lowering it once the area had returned to normal, Celestia and Perry seen exactly what they had hoped for. Nothing. Even the ground around the area was gone, leaving a gaping crater where it all stood. They both took a seat, breathing heavily. "Perry, you are amazing. Terrifying, but amazing..." Celestia said to Perry. He gave a simple thumbs up and a smile. "It was more fun...knowing I wasn't killing anything...Wouldn't have changed anything...but I would prefer to not use this one on living beings if I can help it..." Perry said, Celestia looked at him with a bit of shock. "Look at that, the great mighty psycho has developed a soft spot," she grinned towards him. "The way you say that makes it almost seem like this was your goal...and don't get all cute with me or I'll have to kill you too," Perry chuckled, picking his mask up. They stared at each other for a few minutes before both of them broke into laughter. "Maybe it was one of my goals," Celestia told him as they were calming down from the laughter. "By the way, I was wondering what the reason for leaving one eye open was. Is it some kind of focus technique?" she looked at Perry. He simply smiled and put his mask back on. "No. It is just meant to make me look like a bad ass," he said, causing Celestia to burst into laughter once again. "What? I can look like a bad ass if I want to, can't I?" "Fine, you can be a, as you say, bad ass. That display was truly impressive to be deserving of such titles," she told Perry as she nodded. "Offer to teach you it still stands," he told her. Celestia smiled and shook her head. "It is an interesting offer, but there are some spells I would prefer die with there creator, no offense," Perry chuckled and looked at her. "None taken. It is a rather gruesome spell, I suppose. I am sure that could easily cause a cataclysmic disaster...but it's so much fun!" Perry said jumping up and down excitedly. They rested for a bit, Perry telling Celestia what had occurred before the golem was sent to them. She looked down at the mention of the dark figure. "That is the real reason I have asked you to stay here, Perry," he looked at her, shocked slightly. "I did not want to deceive you, but if I had sent you here like any of your missions, you would have never let yourself be seen, and never had a chance to make all the friends you have. It was something I felt you needed, so if you wish to be mad at me, I can understand," Perry sat there in silence, Celestia nervous at what he was actually thinking. He turned towards her. "It's alright Celestia, I should be thanking you," Perry said quietly, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I have truly met wonderful people, and even more so someone who gives me something to fight for rather than just myself. I truly am grateful, but..." he started to chuckle. "You ever lie like that again, and I will have to sneak into your room while you're sleeping..." she looked at him, with a bit of concern. "...and take pictures of you. The presses would love to see that. Don't even think I am not capable!" "I'll put you on the moon..." she dryly said to him, giving him a blank stare. He laughed at her comment, believing her but still it wouldn't stop him. "Right, I'll just have to be on my best behavior then, won't I?" Perry said sarcastically. As a person, Celestia enjoyed talking with Perry, because he was the only one she knew that didn't treat her like anything special, and that gave her a bit of comfort. A group of girls and a younger boy made there way to the chatting Celestia and Perry, staring in awe at the crater where the beast used to be. Rainbow still had an unconscious Fluttershy in her arms, enabling Perry to give a small sigh of relief. Twilight and Spike approached, Twilight unable to speak while looking at the huge hole in the ground. Spike walked up to Perry. "What happened to the monster," Perry and Celestia gave each other a slight nod. Both of them turned to the group. "Nothing happened," they said at the same time. They both started to laugh at their joke. Luna, who caught on quickly, sighed at how bad it was. The rest of them gave a puzzled look, only causing Celestia and Perry to laugh harder. It was a good day overall to Perry as he thought back on the days events. It had a rocky start, an interesting middle, and one hell of an evening, but overall things went as well as could be expected. Minus the several broken down houses and pissed townsfolk, but you can't make an omelette without causing some property damage. Perry at least thought that is what the saying was, but trivial facts, not important.