//------------------------------// // Drekzone Part 3 // Story: Other Wanderings // by ed2481 //------------------------------// “Well, here it is, my home in this little hell hole of ours,” Glen told Ethan as she lead him to a small featureless room with a single double bunk bed and a toilet. Ethan looked around the room for a moment and then nodded. “Alright, I’ve lived in worse.” “So have I,” Glen agreed. “Heck this is better than most places in the wasteland, sides for the whole ‘got to fight in a insane tournament almost every day’ bit,” she added. “Yeah, about that,” Ethan said as he walked over to the bed and tossed himself onto the clearly unused top bunk. “Why the hell does the talking penis need us here?” “Heck if I know,” she replied with a shrug. “Money is my best guess with those fancy clothes of his.” “Probably,” Ethan mused with a frown. “By the way, how in the hell do I have fans out there in the audience? I’ve only been here a day... and I know that I’m amazing, but I’m not that amazing.” Glen shrugged her shoulders again. “Don’t know, but you’re not the only one who had sudden ‘fans’ popping up before,” she informed him. “Others have found themselves having other people call out their names or have the announcer call out facts from their past. How Drek does it, prfft, fuck if I know.” Ethan frowned but nodded. “Oh well, I guess I can’t complain about having fans, and more importantly fan girls, everyone needs fan girls,” he said. “Enjoy them while ya can,” Glen said. “Fame here doesn’t last long unless you’re one of the top gladiators.” “And you think I won’t be?” the man asked her playfully. “Meh, maybe up to the gladiators who got fifty to seventy wins...but the top ones have at least over a three hundred, or five,” she said. “And those guys are basically a death sentence if you have enough wins to challenge them.” “Trust me little mare, I’m more than capable of surviving a death sentence,” Ethan replied, chuckling. “Speaking of which, how many wins do you have?” “About a hundred or so,” she replied. “Got the scars and gruft to prove it,” she added with a small sense of pride. “Probably the only pony to make it this far...and hopefully I’ll get far enough to win out of this hell hole, or least to get to a better one.” “Right...” Ethan frowned for a moment. “You do know that there’s probably no way out of this right, and anything that the suit wearing dick says is a lie, right?” "Probably,” she agreed with a small sigh. “But it’s the best hope to look for in this dark pit of ours...and at least it keeps me breathing another day.” She got on the bottom bunk and laid down on it. “And that’s almost the best thing to fight for down here in this tournament.” Ethan nodded and tapped his Pip-Boy and a new sound filled the air. It was dark and eerie yet full of joy and hope despite the sadness that filled every note. The mare’s ears perked up and her head glanced at the top bunk. “What is that?” she asked. “An old friend,” Ethan answered simply. “She never gave up hope... even in death she inspires it through the music she loved.” Glen frowned a bit. “Well...it’s nice music...” she replied, not truly knowing how to reply to something like that. Ethan chuckled, his mood changing a bit. “It is, isn’t it?” “Yeah...never heard anything like it before,” the pony stated. “It’s kind of...enchanting,” she added. “I always listen to it when I’m depressed,” Ethan said. “It makes me... happy.” The two faded into silence as the sound of the violin played softly in their ears. A magnificent white alicorn with a long brown mane stood on a barren planet, her features set in a frustrated grimace. Yet another dead end. Faust paced back and forth, growing more and more frustrated with every passing second. Ethan had for all intents and purposes disappeared. She’d been searching for the past week and there was not a single thread of real evidence to be found anywhere. All she’d found were fake trails and decoys set up to infuriate her, and it was working. Faust spotted a nearby boulder jutting up out of the scenery not twenty feet away from her and she sent her red glasslike blade, Shatterglass, flying at it. The sword sliced straight through the solid rock, which then split and fragmented into a million different pieces of rubble. It didn’t help anything, but it made Faust feel marginally less likely to do it to the next person she saw, so that was a plus. How Did Wanda let this happen? Faust silently fumed. Ethan is living on her world, under her protection, and she should have at least some idea of what happened to him! It was true, the Divine of the Wasteland should have been able to give her at least a hint of what had happened but no. Instead, someone had somehow managed to steal Ethan been without the Divine Court even noticing until she’d been contacted by her daughter. Faust spotted another boulder and it too met the fate of its brother. He wasn’t in the Void, she was sure of that much, voidlings and their Lords left a trace behind in the form of void energy. Not only that, but it was impossible for Ethan to have even have alerted their attention in the first place. Another frustrated grunt later and yet another boulder was shattered. “Dammit!” she shouted, her voice echoing out over the empty planet. “Having a bit of an anger issue I see,” a old cheery male voice spoke out. Faust turned to see an old caucasian with neck long white hair and a very neatly trimmed beard wearing a green suit with gold trimmings. His right hand was resting on a sliver white cane that was crowned by a diamond the size of his palm and his fingers were causally tapping on it. “You should speak to a counselor about that, and it so happens I know one of the best in the multiverse,” the man continued to said with a wide smile. “Thank you Diz, but no,” Faust replied with a slight snort. “I’m perfectly fine. Any news on your end?” Diz let out a small sigh and shook his head. “No, not yet, but give little old Vexy another week or so and she’ll find out exactly where your friend was taken to,” the man replied. “Also, I go by the name Simon now.” Faust frowned. “I quite liked Diz,” Faust said with a small frown, then she shrugged. “But I suppose I can adjust... and thank you my friend... this entire situation is very irritating.” “Don’t mention it,” Simon said. “What’s the point in leading a multiverse organization if I’m not going to use them for reason like this.” “True,” Faust agreed with a small frown. “Well... I had best get back to tracking now; have to make sure that all of these leads are false... let me know if you find anything.” A small concerned frown formed on her face. “Also... how is Wisty doing?” Simon smiled softly. “She’s doing great. She and her new bonded are doing wonderfully together,” he replied. “Good... she deserves that,” Faust replied, a small smile appearing on her face before she gave him a slight nod of her head and vanishing. The man smiled a bit more before he too vanished in a flash of bright light. Ethan let out a chuckle as he paired aside a downwards slash from a fully armored ‘man’s’ halberd and then lashed out with his red blade, dragging the incredibly sharp point across the front of the armour and drawing several droplets of blood from where the tip encountered skin. He withdrew it, and dodged another swing before bowing to the audience and back handedly blocking yet another slash. The crowd cheered at the theatrics and Ethan chuckled again as he sidestepped the man’s next slash. This was Ethan’s first match of the day, and so far it was going well. “Come on clunky, you’ve got to have more skill than that,” Ethan taunted, swinging away from the next blow. “Seriously, why are you even here?” The armored man didn’t answer, only swinging his halberd around, causing it to shoot a bolt of lightning, which hit Ethan square in the chest. Ethan stumbled back, caught off guard by the sudden bolt of lightning, then he grinned. “Oh, so that’s why you’re here,” the man said with a chuckle. “Well then tin man, let’s play.” Ethan darted forwards and ducked beneath the halberd's swing, dodging a blast of magic as he did so and delivering a long slash to the armoured man’s stomach. It sliced through the metal and caused a splash of blood to fall to the ground. Sadly, the man didn’t seem all that affected and twirled his halberd around, hitting Ethan in the side with the hard wooden shaft. Ethan was knocked to the side and rolled to his feet, coming up with the Blackhawk in his hand. The gun exploded and a bullet slammed into the knight’s armored helm. The man’s head reeled back, but it straightened up showing red liquid running down, but he still stood. The armored man slammed the butt of his halberd into the arena metal floor, creating a large shockwave of electricity. Ethan jittered in place for a moment as the electricity ran over him but he shook it off. “You’re boring, you know that tin man?” Ethan asked the man rhetorically. With a frown Ethan holstered his gun and charged at the other man, closing the distance between the two of them and bringing his red blade slashing through its arm, or would have if the shaft of the halberd hadn't effortlessly moved to intercept it. The armored man quickly retaliated by shoving Ethan’s blade up out of the way, following it with swing at the man’s stomach. Ethan grunted as the blade bounced off of his armour and let out a small snarl as he brought his blade at the man vertically, landing a heavy slash across the armoured man’s chest. It created a small gash, bringing more blood out, but again the man seemed to be ignoring his wounds. The armored man lept back, and then gave a ruthless assault of attempts to pierce the tip of his halberd into Ethan at speeds abnormal to a human. Unfortunately for the armoured man, Ethan managed to deflect the blows, and then followed it by bringing his sword slashing through the man’s main hand, dismembering him. The hand flew off in a shower of red blood and sparks....wait, sparks? Instead of seeing flesh and bones popping out of the man’s arm, it was an array of wires and a metal joint. As that happened, the halberd fell to the ground as well. “Oh, so you’re a robot,” Ethan deadpanned. “That explains things,” he added before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a trio of pulse grenades which he then threw in a clump at the ground beneath the robot’s feet. All three went off, causing the robot to jitter a bit....however it still stood. The armored robot just ‘glared’ at Ethan before it’s right foot kicked the halberd into the air where it caught it in its left hand, twirling it around a bit before taking a fighting stance. “Yeah, fuck that,” Ethan said snarkily as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a green grenade. The man sprinted at the robot, the robot doing the same. Ethan smirked at the game of ‘chicken’ and, instead of moving to the side, simply tackled the robot, surprisingly knocking it onto its back. Ethan then pulled the pin on the grenade, and shoved it deep into the gash he’d created on its chest before leaping clear. The grenade went off, causing a shower of blood like goo, and twisted metal to rain down around the man. Ethan stood there for a second, then grinned at the audience, giving them another bow. He then walked over to the decimated robot, whose entire upper half was blown clear off, and slammed his sword into its crotch. “AND WE HAVE A WINNER! THE CRAZY SON OF A BITCH IS VICTORIOUS! THE ARMOURED HALBERD IS DEAD; I’D LIKE TO SEE IT ADAPT TO THAT!” Ethan withdrew the sword from the robot’s crotch and in a single motion brought it up to salute the crowd. The crowd for their part, let out a thunderous roar of approval making the man grin. He spotted a particularly beautiful alien woman, whose skin was blue and had a pair of long almost tentacle like growths growing out of her skull, in the crowd and winked at her. The alien blushed, and turned away while several of her ‘girl friends’ twittered or gave her jealous glances. Hmm... I wonder how Cassie would take me bringing a blue skinned alien to our bed... have to ask once I get out of this shit hole, Ethan mused to himself as he gave the group a wave. “EXIT THE ARENA ETHAN AND REST, YOU’VE EARNED IT!” the voice of the announcer added, interrupting any more crowd/Ethan interaction. Ethan chuckled and gave the crowd one last bow, and then walked over to the lift as they began to chant his name. Ethan went through the same motions as he had the previous day putting away his equipment back where he’d gotten it, though this time, he pulled a toy car out of his pocket and held it up. “Mind if I take this with me?” he inquired. “I’m sorry, but competitors aren’t allowed to bring anything back to their living quarters,” the synthesised female voice stated. “Aww, but it’s just a toy car,” Ethan pouted. “It’s not like I can do anything with it.” I’m sorry, but competitors aren’t allowed to bring anything back to their living quarters,” the voice stated again. “You’re no fun,” Ethan replied with a sigh as he stuck the car back into his duster pocket before getting scanned and allowed to exit the room. He stepped onto another lift which presently took him back to the main room where he found Glen waiting for him. The mare smiled as the man entered. “Nice job taking the Armored Halberd down,” she said. “Never knew the silent tin man was a robot, though it makes sense now when you think about it.” “Thanks,” Ethan nodded with a shrug. “He wasn’t too difficult but he was way more advanced then the robots I’m used too.” “Still, not bad for your second round,” Glen said. “Keep this up and you’ll be doing off-world matches in no time.” “Sounds fun,” Ethan stated with a slight sigh. The two walked over to the table that they’d effectively claimed as their own the previous day, and sat down. “By the way, how do you fight without any hands or magic? I mean, I know that Applejack can knock down a house... but that doesn’t work against people with guns,” he asked her. “Well duh,” the mare said with a small chuckle. “I got a battlesaddle fitted with a .45 machine gun and my most valuable find in the wastes, a magic energy rifle,” she told the man. “And to add to that, I got some custom made shoes that have a pair of spikes in them to give my kicks more bite to them.” “Ah... what’s a battlesaddle?” the man inquired with a raised eyebrow. “They’re saddles...with guns on them,” she explained, a small confused look form on her face at the question. “Makes sense,” Ethan said with a shrug before he tapped his pip-boy and the sound of ‘Jingle Jangle Jingle’ began to play. Glen’s ears perked up to the song. “Heh, you sure have a lot of songs on that Pip-Buck of yours,” she said. “Firstly; it’s Pip-Boy, and secondly, of course I do,” Ethan replied with a slight chuckle. “I’ve been a lot of places and I spend most of my time either traveling or killing people... so it’s nice to have music.” “I’ll say,” Glen agreed. “I used to carry a portable radio before to listen to PON-3, but it kept getting busted in every other fire fight I got into.” “Yeah, I’m just glad I’ve got my Pip-Boy; he’s the only one that’s been with me through everything,” Ethan said, tapping the supercomputer affectionately. “I could’ve got my own on the few times I’ve ran across a few dead Stable dwellers, but I could never could get the Pip-Bucks off,” Glen commented with a small shrug. “If they’re anything like my Pip-Boy, then you’d need a lot of tools to do it, so I’m not surprised,” Ethan said with a slight nod. “By the way, is there anything to do here other than fight to the death, eat, and sit in these chairs and talk? Not that I don’t like the talking bit but...” “Watch others fight to the death,” Glen stated with a small chuckle. “But there a few things to do...there’s a gym, running track and other exercises thing, and there’s also the room with a view of space. Other than that...nah, not much.” “That’s... stupid,” Ethan muttered. “It means that a bunch of restless killers have nothing to do but exercise or look at space... how hasn’t there been a mass rebellion yet? You can’t keep that many bored killers in one place without something to do...” “Well, having shackles that can disintegrate us if we do rebel helps,” the mare said, holding her right hoof up. “Other than that, everyone fights at least one to three rounds per day. So either you spend your energy defending your life or are dead.” “Ah,” the man said, tapping his chin. “Still, you’d think that there would be a virtual library or something.” “Pfft, maybe if you’re Drek’s personal toy, other than that, why waste the space?” the mare scoffed. Ethan shrugged. “Sorry, just shooting the shit. I get bored easy sometimes... and I see that happening a lot here,” he said. “Meh, you get used to it,” Glen said with a shrug. “Breakfast is here by the way,” she informed him. Ethan looked behind him to see a robot hovering with a plate of the same slop as the day before. He grabbed it, and brought it down between them, along with a spoon for himself. He began to eat, and nodded for her to as well. “Like I said yesterday, I don’t need much,” he added, before she could protest. The mare nodded her head and began to chow down on one half of the pan. They ate in silence, the only sound coming from the two the sound of Ethan’s music and their eating. Once they were done, Ethan pushed the tray to the side and frowned at Glen for a moment. “Glen, why do you always keep your mane over your other eye?” he inquired with a raised eyebrow. “Because that’s how I like to wear it,” she simply replied, rather quickly. “Mhm,” Ethan said skeptically. “You didn’t lose it, did you?” “Hmm?” the mare questioned. “Sparky lost hers,” Ethan said with a shrug. “So I’d find it ironic if you did too.” “Lost what?” Glen asked, clearly acting like she didn’t know what Ethan meant. “Her eye,” Ethan said, poking his eye. Glen’s left eye shifted right and left before she let out a sigh. “Remember what I said about how I was part of a failed attempt to escape? Well...” she lifted her right hoof to brush some of her mane back to show an empty eye socket. “This was my ‘punishment’ instead of death.” She lowered her hoof back down and shook her head a bit to adjust her mane. “Ah... sorry,” Ethan said with a slight sigh. “Remind me to get you a replacement when I get us out of here.” “Nah, I’m fine, I’ve got used to it a month or so after I lost it,” she replied. “Besides, I still don’t see how you plan on escaping this hell hole.” “Oh ye of little faith,” Ethan smirked. “I’ll figure some way out. This kind of shit is my bread and butter.” “Hmph, you act like this happens to you a lot,” the mare remarked. “Well... let’s see,” Ethan mused. “First was when I had to fight my way out of Raven Rock half naked, I already told you about that. Then I got taken to the Pitt where I was forced to fight my way to freedom from inside an arena... then came Point Lookout, I got grabbed and almost raped by giant mutated fucks.... after that I was abducted and probed by aliens before I broke out and took over their ship, I still have it...” the man trailed off for a moment. “After that, I met my wife when we woke up strapped to a log and were sent over a waterfall... then it’s a bit of a blur because it happened so much... and then I went to Equestria with Twilight and got kidnapped and tortured by Blueblood and then got him changed into a mare, I could go on, but I think you get the point,” he explained with a shrug. Glen stared at the man with a baffled look. “Wow...that...is a lot...” she said with a dumbfound tone. “Yep,” Ethan answered with a chuckle. “See why I’m so chill about this?” “Yeah...I can see why,” the mare said with a small shake of her head. “Besides, I’m friends with four demigoddesses, along with Tia and Lulu’s mother who’s supposedly even more powerful,” He added. “We’ll be out of here within two weeks, or less.” “We’ll see,” Glen said. Her ears perked up a bit as she turn to see a robot hovering next to them. “Competitors, Ethan Smith, and Glen Stonecutter, please report to the lift to begin your next match,” it said with a monton and sexless voice. “Together, or apart?” Ethan asked it. “Together, your next match is a two on two match,” it replied. “Please report to the lift now, thank you and good luck.” It turned and flew away, leaving the mare and the man alone. “Well...this is interesting,” Glen muttered. “Looks like we get to team kill some poor fuckers,” Ethan said with a chuckle as he got up from his seat. “Try not to slow me down, kay Glen?” he asked her jokingly. “Pfft, please, try to not slow me down,” the mare replied back with a wide grin. Ethan chuckled and together they walked over to the lift.