//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: Crescendo // Story: Mare-Do-Well: Genesis // by PaddedCell //------------------------------// MANEHATTAN STREETS, 20 MINUTES LATER The dark shape of Mare-Do-Well swooped through the night air over Manehattan, the glow of neon and streetlamps reflecting off her bodysuit and extended mechanical wings as she soared. Inside the mask, she brought up a digital map of the city. The apartments which had been under the ownership of Octavia in the estate agents' logbook flared up on the map, marked out specifically. She glided down inbetween the buildings, nearing the first apartment within a few minutes.The hero dive-bombed down through the window of the apartment, folding her wings inward to become a streamlined bullet as she burst through the glass of the nearest window. Inside, the place was a mess. Obviously Octavia had simply kept the apartment for this purpose, as no specific decor besides some graffiti of musical notation and sheet music on the bare walls existed in the place. In the centre of the room was the shaken, bruised form of Vinyl Scratch. The blue-maned DJ was chained down to a table, an elaborate machine hanging over her from a frame on the ceiling. A spinning record disc buzzed away on a mechanical arm, slowly lowering toward her abdomen. Mare-Do-Well was quick to act, diving forward in an attempt to shatter the dangerous spinning disc with a punch. However, she realised after attempting to do so once that the 'record' was actually a sharp metal disc which had simply been painted over in order to become an ironic tool of execution. Waking from a troubled, drug-induced sleep, Vinyl let out a scream of terror as she realised her predicament. The spinning disc lowered another centimeter. Mare-Do-Well's glowing blue eyes scanned the room, searching for a shut-off switch. After a few minutes of searching, she realised the answer had been there all along. The wires connecting the spinning disc's machine to the power grid for the apartment building had been stuck to the wall, thinned down and painted over. They had been disguised as bars of sheet music upon the wall. She dashed over to the disguised wires, following the wire from the machinery along to the wall. fitting a grappling claw into the hoof-cannon, she used the sharp claw to slash at the wires. With a sparking crackle and a clunk, the power was cut off from the disc machine. The power cut released the chains binding Vinyl to the table, freeing the frightened mare. Mare-Do-Well bucked the apartment door open. "Get out of here, you'll be safe now." She spoke tonelessly, dashing out of the door ahead of Vinyl. The DJ gave a hushed 'thank you' as she followed out slowly. Exiting the apartment and sprinting out onto the city street, Mare-Do-Well unfolded her wings again. Firing up the propulsion system, she kicked off into the air. Darting across the sky, she made her way toward the other apartment building on her digital map. As she flew, however, a sound caught her attention. The loud clatter of gunfire came all too late for her to alter course, and she felt the searing-hot pinpricks of pain as 3 bullets punched into her side, another puncturing a hole in one of her mechanical wings. Spiralling down to the ground, Mare-Do-Well attempted to brace for the impact, wrapping her cloak around her body and pulling her hooves close. She smashed into the hard pavement of a backstreet, a few audible cracks echoing around along with the harsh thud. The tendrils of dark unconsciousness grasped at her vision, blotting it out to blackness. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" A raspy voice called out, cackling darkly. Mare-Do-Well felt herself being lifted to her feet limply, pain shooting across her body as broken bones and wounded flesh were moved unwillingly. She blearily opened her dim eyes, and her vision faded into a hazy focus. A shadowy figure stood before her in the alley, standing just out of sight in the darkness. Around her stood henchmen in combat vests and blaclavas of some kind. Four of them clutched long range single-action service rifles, and Mare-Do-Well assumed they had been her attackers. "So.. How's your 'ead doing, miss? A little painful, I'd guess." The voice spoke, malice clear in its intonation. The darkness was lit for a moment by a bright orange glare, and the smell of smoke began to drift across the air. "Well, I suppose this little meetin' is only fair.." It spoke, the pony behind the voice stepping forward out of the cloud of putrid cigar smoke, like a demon emerging from the smoky depths of some hellish underworld. "I always do get the last laugh when it comes to my enemies.. And their fates." The grim, malicious figure of the Baron emerged from the smoky dark, smirking. His overcoat flapped in the mild wind as he stepped closer, pulling the hero's chin upward forcefully with a hoof to lock eyes with her. "You didn't think I'd let you go after humiliatin' me like that, did you? Eh?" He snarled viciously, then backed away. "Boys.. Positions." He grinned as he spoke, stepping back further. Four of the rifle-ponies stepped up in a row to form a firing squad as the two henchmen holding Mare-Do-Well up pinned her to the wall behind her with a hoof each, her arms held up by her sides. She stood on her painful hind hooves, staring her executioners in the face. "On my mark, boys! Ready arms!" The Baron bellowed. The firing squad loaded up their guns, checking them and readying them to fire. "Take aim!" The Baron called again. The firing squad pulled up their weapons into position, crouching and aiming the service rifles at the hero's abdomen. Mare-Do-Well silently planned as the Baron blew out another cloud of smoke and gave the final order. "Goodbye, miss. FIRE!" His voice roared out. The firing squad pulled their triggers, the weapons thundering into life. As four bullets sailed through the air toward Mare-Do-Well, she yanked both of her captors' hooves toward each other, ignoring the painful strain on her own limbs. The two henchmen who had been holding her against the wall were pulled toward eachother in front of her - and into the paths of the bullets. Both henchmen were hit with two bullets each, crumpling to the floor. The Baron's eyes widened with fear as the hero, suit flecked with splatters of blood rose to her feet, wounded but triumphant. "How.." He muttered, shock in his voice. The firing squad began trying to hastily reload, in a full-blown panic by now. In a flash of motion, Mare-Do-Well loaded a smoke bomb into her hoof-cannon and fired it down into the middle of the group of henchmen. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" The Baron yelled, his voice echoing around the smoke-obscured backstreet. The sounds of heavy thumps, loud cracks and yells of pain echoed around, accompanying his shouting. The smoke cleared. Mare-Do-Well stood her ground in the middle of the backstreet, the unconscious bodies of the remaining henchmen and firing squad members littered about her on the floor. The Baron felt a cold wave of dread sink over him as the blood-stained, grim hero stepped closer. He crumpled to the ground, raising his hooves above his head protectively. "Please.. Please don't hurt me.." He whimpered, shuddering violently. "Please.." The hero looked down on him with harsh, glowing blue eyes. She slammed a hoof to his collar, raising him up against the wall. His overcoat slipped off, his anorexic frame revealed in the dim light of the streetlamps all around. His cigar dropped from his quivering lip as she began wrapping a metallic cable around him tightly, binding him. She stepped back when he was properly tied up. "I'll deal with you another time." Mare-Do-Well uttered coldly, firing a distress flare up into the air from her hoof-cannon to alert the police. She rushed into an alley nearby, making sure that there were no windows around, then caught her breath, crumpling to the ground. Her body ached with pain, her mind was numb with exhaustion, and now.. She was a murderer. The two henchmen she had thrown in front of her to save her life had both sustained two gunshot wounds each, and so it was extremely unlikely that both had survived the ordeal. Behind the mask, Scootaloo wanted to leave this whole mess behind. She wanted to go home and relax, clean the blood off of her suit, destroy the Lair and any connections with this occupation, and just live a normal life. Staring up at the sky, she found her spirit returning. Her life as a Pegasus pony had always revolved around her and Rainbow Dash. Her mentor, her friend, and the closest thing to a sister she had ever had the honour of looking up to. Rainbow Dash didn't quit. Rainbow Dash had been a hero to the end, and had died in the line of duty. Scootaloo was alive today because of her hero's sacrifice - and she'd be damned if she didn't save Sweetie Belle as Rainbow Dash had saved her.. Even if it meant giving her life in the process. Pulling herself to her feet, determined and redoubled in strength despite the pain coursing through her, she fitted a grappling claw into the hoof-cannon. Mare-Do-Well reeled herself up onto the rooftops above to make her way toward the other targeted apartment once again. 10 MINUTES LATER Limping, Mare-Do-Well finally crossed from the low roof of one building, swinging with the grappling claw over to the wall of the marked apartment building and beginning the perilous climb up the vertical surface, the grappling claw reeling her upward slowly. After a few slip-ups, she finally made it up to the window of the designated apartment, punching the window inward with a hoof and climbing inside shakily. The interior of this apartment was similar to the last; bare walls, dusty surfaces and rotting furniture. In the centre of the apartment was a cage-like object holding Sweetie Belle in a standing position on her hind hooves. The cage was locked tightly around her, and another disturbing piece of machinery stood in front of her. A rusty iron frame of some sort was clamped over her neck, a sharp metal spike inserted through a hole in the frame. When the timer on the mechanism wound down to zero, the metal spike would be rammed into the young mare's throat, causing fatal damage to her windpipe. The hero checked the timer. Thirty-four seconds and counting. Sweetie Belle's panicked, strangled whines echoed around the apartment as the timer ticked down, and Mare-Do-Well checked all sides of the machine for a way to stop it. She panicked as the timer ticked down, beeping softly with each wasted second.. Twenty-one.. Twenty.. Nineteen.. Eighteen.. Mare-Do-Well began slamming her hooves into the device with all her strength. The metal dented a little, the frame bending inward slightly. Minimal damage. Fifteen.. Fourteen.. Thirteen.. Twelve.. There was no emergency release switch. Ten.. Nine.. Eight.. No exposed wiring or weak spot in the machinery. Five.. Four..Three.. Nothing. Two.. One. The beeping halted, and Mare-Do-Well froze up in horrified silence as a rending creak started up in the machinery, a green light blinking into life on its side. Sweetie Belle let out a strangled, throaty scream. Nothing happened. The machine didn't activate, the spike wasn't rammed into the young mare's windpipe, and her throat wasn't reduced to a bloody pulp through which beautiful singing would never flow again. The young mare passed out as the cage holding her unlocked and snapped open, her body slumping to the ground. Dazed and confused, Mare-Do-Well stared all around the room. A few moments later, the exterior wall of the apartment exploded inward, shards of glass and smashed-up pieces of concrete showering the room. She wrapped her cape around herself, shielding herself from the blast and debris. As the smoke cleared, the building opposite came into view. An open bay window, an armoured gang member carrying a rocket launcher of some kind, and the orchestrator of the piece herself, Octavia. She stared on, a discordant smile on her face, eyes wide. "So we finally meet, hero.. How has it been for you?.. Running these little mazes I gave you?" She called from across the gap. Her words echoed around the blocks of apartments, drifting on the air as the sounds of police sirens grew louder. "Why did you kidnap these hostages in order to further your operation? Why did you set this entire operation up?!" Mare-Do-Well coldly requested, yelling to Octavia. "Revenge. Revenge against the world, you know? The ones who did me wrong.. The ones who scorned me for my failures." She spoke out unevenly, her voice shaky. "Ijust wanted.. To hurt them. To make them feel what I felt." She shook her head vigorously then, as if shaking out all her memories of her past. "And I'll start the killing.. With you." She said, nodding to the gang member. The masked pony raised the rocket launcher on his shoulder, crouching to take aim. Mare-Do-Well was quick to act, swinging her forehoof up and aiming the hoof-cannon. She fired the grappling claw without its cable, directly at the rocket launcher's barrel. The metal claw sailed through the air, finding its mark and slamming into the weapon's barrel. The rocket ignited, exploding into an all-consuming fireball. The inferno flared up around Octavia and her gang member, the flames and shards of metal flung out in all directions. As the opposite apartment building was consumed by the volatile fireball, the structure began to falter. The interior walls crumbled and smashed, and the building leaned over, crashing into the opposite building. The last thing which Mare-Do-Well saw was the opposite building falling toward her, the crumbling structure falling apart as it came. "Goodbye, Sweetie Belle." She breathed, as the room around her collapsed down on to her head, and then all the world went black.