So, it took a while, but I managed to track down where the grunts carted Sparky off to: An abandoned warehouse surrounded by other abandoned warehouses. I’m seriously starting to wonder just how much of Chicagoat’s gone to shit if they can’t keep their harbor-trade up and running for more than a few years, honestly. Either that or the business was booming enough to justify abandoning all these big ol’ buildings for some nicer ones. But that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the fact I know where he is now, and now I want some answers.
Specifically, I want to know just how many of us there are: How many ponies are hiding themselves because they too are unnatural freaks that nopony could ever love? Am I really as alone as I thought I was?
I don’t know, but what I do know is that I’m willing to risk my life… Again… to find out. Besides, its not like they’ve got anything that I can’t get out of, if need be. Sure, Blinking might hurt as bad as the sun is hot, but I’d be lying if I hadn’t thought about how useful it could be if I actually used it more often…
Anyway, I happen to be lucky enough to find a hole in the roof of what appears to be The Knight’s headquarters and slip inside undetected: I’m pretty good at being stealthy when I want to be… Though Sparky’s hammer makes it a little harder than normal. Seems the grunts that took him didn’t think to take his weapon with him, which I honestly don’t understand: The thing is freaking neat! I mean, how often do you find an authentic, usable maul made in today’s modern age? Not to mention the fact that it seems to be capable of holding quite a bit of electricity, if the shock it gave my mouth when I first tried to pick it up was any indication. (Note to self, electrical discharge to the teeth bucking hurts, avoid at all costs.) Also, it’d probably be a pretty good bargaining tool if I needed one: The thing seemed to be custom made for him, so obviously it’s got some kind of value to him, right?
So, after getting in I immediately set to silently gliding around the place, using the ventilation system for getting from room to room rather than the doors so I can better avoid getting seen and stuff, and eventually I come to a large room with a bunch of ponies and a few griffons in it. Most importantly, a griffon talking at a pony that looks highly familiar tied to a chair.
“Found you,” I comment, smiling slightly, “And you’re not dead yet, so that’s good…” I watch as the griffon slugs Sparky in his jaw. “Though you might not stay that way if I don’t do something… But what?”
No immediate plan jumps to the forefront of my mind, so I opt to lay there in that dusty vent and watch, hoping to all that the sun shines on that I can figure something out before Sparky does something stupid and gets himself gutted. Imagine my surprise when not even five minutes later he headbutts his captor in the beak and gets rewarded with a fireball getting hurled at him! Seems even griffons can be unnatural freaks of magic too!
...
I’m not sure why that excites me so much…
...
Anyway, Sparky doesn’t take this sitting down and uses the fireball to free himself from the chair that he was tied to so he doesn’t have to sit down anymore and proceeds to beat the ever-loving-shit out of everypony in hooves reach after it becomes clear he’s locked inside. Unfortunately this doesn’t last long before the griffon (Who’s apparently named “Gustave le Grand,” of all things, not to mention the leader of the gang that owns this place) stuns Sparky long enough for his grunts to pin him down so he can dish the blue pegasus out any way he wants.
Which is when I decide its my turn to be incredibly stupid and Blink down there behind Gustave without any kind of plan.
Luckily the adrenaline along with the immediate threat of death seems to dampen the pain of my trip, so I can still stand and stuff, but unluckily now I’ve got the attention of a room full of angry ponies and and griffons, including one very angry, flaming griffon-leader-guy. Did I mention he’s kinda on fire right now, he was so mad? I’m not sure how I’m able to even stand in the same room as him without freaking out, let alone when his burning gaze is directed at me, but for some reason I feel…
Excited.
And I’ve no idea why.
“And just what do you want?!” Gustave snaps, drawing me out of my internal musings at my sudden disregard for my own safety, “Can’t you see I’m busy?!”
For the life of me, I don’t know how this plan suddenly manifests itself in my brain when he says that, but I’m not going to complain. Now really isn’t the time to question gifts from above.
“Yeah, you’re busy about to steal my kill. Kindly stop that.”
… Wat?
“What?” From anger to confusion, Gustave’s face contorts for a brief moment, before going to mildly annoyed. “What are you talking about?!”
“You’re about to steal my kill, Gustave. I don’t think you really want to do that.”
How I’m able to say this without breaking a sweat or cracking any kind or smirk astounds me, but my face stays neutral. Calm. Collected. Turns out I should really pick up poker, because with a face like this I’d probably make a fortune.
“And why would I not want to kill this little prick, eh?” Seems my air of calm is starting to unnerve the griffon, as his fire isn’t burning as brightly.
“Because then I’d probably go after you instead: If I can’t take him I’ll just have to take the next best thing.”
“Me?” He points to himself, now looking more confused.
“Exactly. Can’t take revenge out on him then I’ll take it out on the one that denied me my kill.”
“You think you’d be able to take me out?” Oops, might’ve hit a nerve there, he’s angrier again.
“Think? I know.” Shut up, mouth.
“You shut your mouth, pony! Do you know who you’re talking to?!” Yeah listen to him, mouth, stop talking.
“Gustave le Grand, leader of The Grand Knights and apparent wielder of fire. It’s good to finally meet you in person, big fan of what you’ve done to the place.” Seriously, why won’t you stop tal- What? Did you just compliment him? Bad mouth! Ba-
“So you’ve heard of me,” At this Gustave smiles a bit, taking a step closer. “And you know what I can do.” Another step, Blinky’s starting to itch again. “So what makes you think you stand a chance against me?”
Oooooh, now I know why you said those things. Good job mouth, nice way to turn up the drama.
“This.”
Pain. Pain. Pain. Painpainpainpain, agony and pain… Pain.
Now I’m right next to Gustave, specifically right in front of him, with my teeth grit and Sparky’s hammer pressed up underneath his chin, eyes glaring into his. It seems my sudden Blink into his face startled him enough to put out his fire, as I can’t feel the heat of the flames trying to eat me alive, so that’s a plus. Also seems that he’s now afraid for his life, which may or may not be a good thing… Oh, and now I’m feeling a little lightheaded, and the world seems grayer than normal… Strange.
“I happen to be a freak, just like you, Gustave.” I growl into his face, ignoring the pounding in head, “But unlike you, I don’t have to worry about dodging arrows and fists, or weather or not my fireballs miss or are blocked. All I have to do is think a little thought and I’m right in your blind spot, ready to strike you down before you even know I’m there.” I have to repress a shudder at just how dark my voice sounds, lest I ruin the effect. Sure, I’ve had some dark thoughts, but threatening somepony, or griffon, as the case may be, like that? Way outside my comfort zone.
And I like it.
Which honestly scares the buck outta me. If push comes to shove and I have to kill somepony, I really hope it isn’t near as enjoyable as bucking with their heads, otherwise I’ll be public enemy number one in no time.
“W-what do you want?” The cat-bird before me manages to stutter out, my performance having scared him much more than it scared me.
“I thought it was clear.” I whisper back, my voice still as calm as ever, “I want him.” I glance over at Sparky, who happens trembling with barely contained rage as Gustave’s goons continue to pin him to the floor. Its a wonder he hasn’t said anything since I’ve shown up, actually. “The question is, what’s your price?”
“M-my price?” Confused Gustave is confused, which gets a snort of amusement from me.
“Yes, your price. Currently he’s in your possession, and I’ve just broken into your headquarters. If I were to kill him and just take my leave, you’d probably put a price on my head so large even Mare-Do-Well might consider coming after me. I obviously don’t want that, and neither do you: I’d probably come back and use Sparky’s maul, it’s his by the way, to smash your skull in. I don’t think you’d like that either.
“So, the question stands, how can we both get what we want out of this? How can I get to take his pathetic life without you coming after me when I’m done? What do you want?”
…
I really don’t know where I’m coming up with this stuff, or how I can be this good at acting, but for whatever the reason, I’m really hoping that next time I check my flank I’ll understand everything. That’d make this all worth it.
“W-what do I want..?” Gustave stutters for a moment, before a slow smile starts to spread across his beak and he dares to slide the head of Sparky’s hammer away from his throat, chuckling a bit. “Y-you’re proposing doing business with me?” He chuckles again, his smile breaking into a grin as he takes a careful step back, “Boy, I like your style, breaking in here and threatening me like this, shows you’ve got guts. Willing to do whatever necessary to get the job done.”
He claps his claws together, looking relieved now that things have taken a turn for the better in his eyes. He’s no stranger to threatening rivals like I just did to get what he wants out of them, it seems, and by doing what I did I may have earned his respect… Too bad I’m only toying with him. Just need to get close to Sparky for this gambit to be over.
“Yes, I can see you doing well in The Knights,” he continues, “Though you’ll have to learn your place.. But once you do, we’ll be able to get things done! Mulia won’t know what hit her!”
Hold the phone, he thinks I’m here to be recruited..? Dumbass… But I let him think that anyway. Its not like that’s going to matter soon enough. Not once Sparky gets his maul.
“Glad you see things my way, Gustave.”
“Boy, I’m glad you showed up when you did: We were just about to kill our only way to take her out quickly!” He laughs, clapping me on the shoulder after I transfer the hammer to one of my wings, utterly jolly that things worked out for him in the end. “By the way, what’s your name, eh? Can’t keep calling you ‘boy’ if you’re going to be one of my lieutenants, now can I?”
This guy is seriously jumping the gun, thinking I’m leadership material. Still, makes things easier on my end.
“Call me ‘Blank,’ Gustave.” I reply, gesturing to my still blank-flank with a bit of a hole in my heart. Seems my special talent isn’t improv after all, which kinda sucks; Now I really don’t know where this sudden ability to act on the spot came from.
“Very well… Blank,” He begins, eyebrow quirked at my lack of a mark and choice of name; as far as he remembered ponies didn’t like not having one. He shrugs it off though; there’s an exception to every rule. “Welcome to The Grand Knights.” He rubs my shoulder like a father might do to a son they’re proud of. “Your first task is to squash that annoying blue pegasus over there like the bug he is.”
I look to the “bug” in question, who is doing his best to give the guys pinning him a hard time, getting increasingly violent as I slowly trot closer with a small smirk on my muzzle. He fell for my bluff too, it seems. Now all I have to do is place enough doubt in his mind he won’t kill me as soon as he gets the chance.
“I’ll get you for this, wretch,” He growls at me, trying to lift his head so he can spit it in my face once I’m close enough to him, “You won’t be able to do me in, and I’ll find you after you run.”
I glance at the griffon that’s holding his head down.
“Let go of his head, I want to be able to say what I want in his face, not to the top of his skull.” The goon in question responds with a nod, letting Sparky’s head up, which he immediately tries to slam into mine. Too bad for him I was about a pace away, so all he accomplishes is swinging his head upwards so fast he might have given himself a little whiplash.
“Stop.” To my surprise, he does, looking at me with a glare that would make a cockatice back down. I simply quirk an eyebrow at him.
“Do you really think you’re going to get out of this one, Theo?” He snorts when I use his name, which I had literally just remembered after looking into those fearless teal eyes of his. “Because if you do, you’re going to be disappointed.” I bring my face a little closer to his, my gaze boring into his, “And once you get to the next life, do yourself a favor: Don’t chase random stallions down alleyways flailing a hammer around, they might take offense to that.” I can see him getting ready to spit in my face as a last act of defiance, so I take a step back. “Pin his head again.”
WHAM!
The griffon was more than happy to comply, slamming the pegasi’s head back to the ground so hard his eyes roll around in their sockets. I politely wait for them to stop before I lean down and whisper my last bit into his ear, the part that will hopefully stay his hoof when push comes to shove.
“And just so you know; you’re about to owe me big time.”
I take a step back and look down at him, smirking at the confused look his face takes and decide to go the extra mile and wink at him. Cue small spark of realization before he covers it with an angry scowl and more struggling. I can’t help but chuckle at this; he actually caught on! Seems he’s smarter than he looks. Gustave, on the other hoof, looks incredibly confused as I start to trot back his way.
“What? Is that it?” He’s starting to get a little upset again, “I told you to kill him, not make him angry!”
“Relax, Gustave,” I chuckle at him, unable to contain my mirth at the fact everything’s still going according to plan, “Just some mind games before the final blow, I find it’s fun to mess with them before the end.”
Seriously, how bucked up am I that I can say with a genuine grin?!
“But now, how do you plan to-” I answer his question before he can finish it by raising a hoof towards his beak and rearing back on my hind legs, taking Sparky’s hammer out from my wings with my other hoof at the same time.
“With his own weapon of course.” I grin at the griffon, “Makes it more ironic.”
Gustave grins at that, “Aaaah, I understand.” He then turns his attention to the still struggling Theo while adjust my hold on the weapon, gripping it tightly with both hooves. Then, once I’m ready, I charge at the restrained pegasus with a roar, causing his eyes to open up wide before he winces as I start to bring it down, giving in to the itch in my brain at the same time-
PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!
In order to smash Gustave right in between the wings before either of us can open our eyes. Predictably the griffon collapses, screaming in pain, and his entire gang freezes up. Literally, all of them stop whatever it is they’re doing to stare at me, mouths agape. Meanwhile, I fall to back down to three hooves (one still being needed to hold the weapon), eyes clamped shut and teeth grit. My head’s pounding even harder now, and now my blood feels like its on fire. I have to force my jaw open to pant my breaths out several seconds later, the act of which hurts more than it should. When I finally open my eyes to look at what I’ve done, the first thing I notice isn’t the fact I’ve crushed Gustave’s back… Its the fact everythings gone gray.
Barely registering the broken griffon underneath me, my attention shifts to who I had done this for, causing my gaze to shift upward in search of him. He’s still pinned under the fallen leader’s goons, but he isn’t struggling anymore, he’s grinning. Weather its at me or the fact Gustave is either dead or dying underneath me, I’m not sure, but I don’t really care. All I care about is getting his hammer back to him so he can buck up the rest of this gang and get us out of here. Problem is, I can’t seem to move from this spot: My muscles have frozen up. So, in what is quite possibly the single most stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life beyond chasing those taffy clouds in Manehatten, I force myself to rear up on my hind legs and scratch that insatiable itch one last time, Blinking to directly in front of Theo and his captors, smashing the largest one in the jaw as soon as I can.
This causes all of them to scramble away from me, terrified that I might be after them next, which of course means Theo’s now free to move around. He immediately exercises this right and stands up, looking me in the face as I fall to three hooves again, doing everything I can too keep from collapsing then and there.
“I-I think..” I begin, trying to get out this stupid one-liner that had just appeared in my thoughts and wouldn’t go away, “That this is yours…” With that I unceremoniously drop his maul in front him, letting the hoof that had been holding it fall to the ground as well to try and steady myself.
“G-give ‘em Tatarus..” I finish, finally meeting his gaze, wondering why his face is a flat gray rather than blue.
He corrects this by punching the consciousness clean out of me.
-|--< ( - ) >--|- -|--< ( - ) >--|- -|--< ( - ) >--|- -|--< ( - ) >--|- -|--< ( - ) >--|- -|--< ( - ) >--|- -|--< ( - ) >--|-
I just couldn’t believe it. The stallion that I tried to kill that very same day just saved my life. Not only that, he took out the wretch too. There were too many questions that were swarming my mind. Why did he save my life. Also, how did he flash so many times? Last time I checked, Flashers could only teleport once every five to seven minutes, yet he did it four times within that timeframe. Such a feat should be impossible. It was something I was gonna have to talk to Garden about.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang started to back away a bit as I retrieved my trusty weapon from the ground. Oh, it felt good to hold it again. The stored energy within it alone was making me feel great. I turned my gaze upon the goons who recoiled under my glare.
“Anypony who gives a shit about their safety better clear out now!”
This didn’t need to be repeated as they all scrambled over each other to the locked door. While they were busy flailing with the lock, I looked down at my savior again. The questions about why he saved me were still floating around my mind. They were interrupted when I heard a small grunt come from nearby. It seemed the blow Gustave received wasn’t enough to kill him. Bastard was tougher than he looked. While he did survive the impact, it also appeared that his back was broken and he was left out cold. He certainly wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
I place Ginger and my maul on my back and grabbed Gustave by his tail. I dragged his sorry ass back to the door the grunts managed to finally open and scurry away through. Once outside, I placed Ginger on the ground and tossed Gustave a short distance away. This seemed to be enough to wake up the abomination as he flailed his head around frantically searching for his crew.
“Enjoy your nap Gustave? I sure hope not. You’re about to experience a much deeper one here soon.”
He was unable to stand but moved a talon in front of himself, igniting it as he did so. It didn’t stay lit very long as I smashed it under my hammer. He let out a shriek of pain before examining the bloodied, flattened claw.
“What? What is it that you want? I can get you anything. Just name it. There is no price to high.”
“What do I want?” I lifted him up by his feathers and peered right into his fearful eyes. “I want every last wretch, freak, and abomination like you to be gone from this world once and for all! Nothing but death is meant for your kind!”
“But you are just like me!”
I pressed my face right into his like I had done earlier.
“Trust me, I know full well about that. But I told you earlier that I would take care of that at a later date.”
“But why? Why do you hate what you are?”
“Oh I have my reasons Gustave!”
MOMMA!!
“And those reasons alone are enough to justify what I’m about to do.”
“Wh-What exactly are you going to do?”
I don’t think he needed to ask, he probably already knew the answer. I dropped his head back to the ground before responding.
“Let me put it this way. If you have any regrets in your life, then you have five seconds to come to peace with them.” I then walked a short distance away back to where Ginger was still sleeping. A giant cumulonimbus cloud started to roll in. Gustave looked to the sky as the cloud began to block out the sun.
“Starting now. Five.”
The skies overhead let loose a titanic crack of thunder. With one hoof, I raised my weapon above my head.
“Four.”
Even more fear shot through Gustave as he witnessed a bolt fall from the sky and onto my hammer. The decorative runes began to glow with a yellow light and electricity began to dance across it’s surface.
“Three.”
I brought my hammer down before myself and gripped the handle harder. My eyes began to glow a bit and the electricity started jumping over my flesh as well. Gustave tried to crawl away with his good talon, not wanting to face the stallion before him.
“Two.”
I slowly walked towards him. It was obvious that more than five seconds have passed since the start, but I was pretty sure that was the least of Gustave’s worries. Whatever hope he had left was more than likely extinguished when I stomped a hoof down on his tail, halting his retreat. He cringed in pain as he felt the residual energy from the storm electrocute him. He turned over to see me holding my hammer above my head, ready to bring it down on him.
“One.”
I plunged my weapon into his core and released a blinding flash of light. With what little I could see, Gustave let out a silent shriek as his silhouette faded from existence. Once I could properly see again, all that was left of the griffin was nothing more than a pile of ash resting at the bottom of a crater.
“See you in Tartarus you filthy wretch.” I said after spitting in his ‘grave’.
I turned back to Ginger who was still sound asleep. While I didn’t want to admit it, he was right, I did owe him big time. I picked him up from the ground and threw him on my back. Not a moment later, Garden flashed in front of me looking positively livid.
“Theo! What the buck happened?! I leave you alone for a few hours to go drinking and you suddenly vanish! You wouldn’t pick up your headset and that bar was completely trashed!”
It seems I lost my headset sometime in the process of chasing Ginger. It would have been very helpful earlier.
“Garden, not now.”
“Oh no, you are not going just ignore me here Theo! I searched high and low for you! The only reason I found you is because of your storm! Who the buck did you need to kill that you had to summon that?!”
“Gustave Le Grand of The Grand Knights. He was a class B Scorcher. He also almost took my life.”
“Well you wouldn’t of had that problem if you didn’t go off by yourself!” She then finally noticed the sleeping stallion on my back. “And who the buck is this?!”
“Gingersnap. A class C Flasher.”
“Hold on a sec.” She brought an ear to his side and noticed he still had a heartbeat. She took a few steps back. “Since when do you show mercy Theo? Your policy was always to kill any and all beings of Chaos. Buck, I’m sure you would kill me if the boss had allowed it.”
I gave her a mild glare at her last comment.
“You are not wrong, but you are not right either. In any case, I spared him because I owe him.”
“Why do you owe him? Did you lose another bet or something?”
“He is the one who saved my life.”
This seemed to be enough to silence her for a moment. After walking a short distance, I broke the silence.
“Quick question, how often are you and other Flashers able to teleport again?”
“About once every seven minutes, give or take. Why?”
“I think this guy just broke a rule or two.”