//------------------------------// // One of Cap's friends might be flattered // Story: Six wishes for six elements // by Malcolm Merlyn //------------------------------// "How was it?" Raynor asked Cap as he came back with Armin who looked like he had just spent a few years running nonstop. "It wasn't bad..." Steve said slowly. Hell, in less that 20 minutes, he covered more ground while he wasn't trying than Armin did in the entire morning. They really had a lot to work on. "Well, that's nice to hear." Jim replied. "You see here? So the Cerestia... Celestia? I dunno. Anyways, so one of the rulers here gave me this here dossier on what we're dealing with. A bit more specific anyways... but disclaimer, they're not TOO accurate." The massive book itself looked like it could be used as bludgeoning tool as Jim had to go grab a table and set it down. The large piece of text was too heavy even for a big guy in his prime. The subject of this huge book that probably weighed enough to beat someone to death with? Dragons. "Alright. So reading from this, I can tell you that the average dragon is about 4 meters tall and 8 meters wide. That's a full body length by the way. But I don't think size actually matters in this case when we finish my um... new toy." Jim said as he gestured at a MASSIVE hole that had been dug in the ground. Courtesy of several high yield "controlled" explosions. "But you see, I think Sanya mentioned it earlier, when dragons breathe fire, they aren't actually breathing fire. They're talking fire." "Can you explain that a bit more in detail?" Cap asked. "Now, this ain't consistent with all dragons, but the ancient dragon language was actually made by Feynaltdrog. So the guy's been around for a pretty damn long time. The story is that he was skilled with magic and being a dragon so managed to put those two together creating an entire language in the process. What happens is that to breath fire, dragons have to say words, along with anything that's magic related on their end. God... this sounds like I am reading a fantasy story book." "It probably is considering the fact we're in a Saturday morning cartoon." Slade commented. "But continue." "So the dragon language is pretty damn complex, and we being mere human cannot learn it. Even if we learn the words, there's no way we can learn the magic behind it. Actually, from anyone's understanding, only dragons can actually learn this language to it's full potential. We can understand it, read it, speak in it and all that, but if I said the words "Yol, toor, shul." I wouldn't be burning anyone alive." "Okay. But enough of that, I want to know about the dragons. Weaknesses we can exploit, the things we need to be aware of." Slade said impatiently. "Then straight to the point. Most dragons are huge as we can tell and are pretty big badasses. They're weaknesses involve magic, something we don't have except in Sanya's case and a whole lot of firepower, which we all have." "Really? Is that the best way?" "Yeah... their scales are armored enough to stop bullets. Your bullets at least." "Just the regular kind." Slade replied. "I do have some alternatives." "Alright then. So I suppose we'll need a ton of explosions to kill a dragon?" Rogers asked. "Not a ton? I think two rockets from that rocket launcher Sanya carries around would rip a dragon in two. But there are some larger variants but nothing that's to big for us to handle. Now, the doctor is going to want this so have a look at it." [1 hour later.] "Archimedes 2! Stop turning ze page! I have to read ze book you know!" Medic cried irritated as he tried to make head and toe of the book. "Ooooh... interesting..." "Is everything okay doctor?" Sanya asked as she glanced over his shoulder. "It's fascinating! I have been in ze wrong profession! I need magic! Tons and tons of magic!" "May I ask why?" "Because... as a man of science... I cannot vaste zis opportunity to improve my machines! Ze medi-gun! Vat could it do vith a little... upgrade?" "So...." "Gah... I vill get it myself though. Zere is a tree not far from here und a zebra... or somefing lives zere. I vill pay her a visit to learn more..." No comment. But whatever he was planning, hopefully "learning more" didn't equate to any bloody messes. Speaking of bloody messes. "28 changelings. Dead, every single one of them received fatal blows that have either shattered their skulls and various bones within their bodies." The doctor said giving an autopsy. "And let me guess..." Twilight frowned. "It's the human called "Slade Wilson" that's behind this?" "They don't call him Deathstroke for no reason." Spike said jokingly, receiving a death glare from Twilight. "Spike, it's not funny." "I know, I know. But the guy is so awesome! He beat up 28 changelings with his bare hands!" "Well. Actually 26." The doctor said as the guards continued to clean up the mess. "26 of them were murdered by him, while one of them died from being thrown against a wall. Due to some... residue... of magic, we can infer it was Litvyak who killed it. Another changeling, a larger variant was killed via decapitation. We bagged the body already however." "By Celestia..." "Look on the bright side, he saved 13 ponies working at the library." Spike said. "They guy can't be all that bad!" "No. He didn't." Luna said as she came out of nowhere, causing Spike to jump. "Sanya did, I was watching. Spike... Slade Wilson is called Deathstroke on his world because he is the most expert assassin and murderer there. He is a killer Spike, not a role model, and definitely not a hero." "Then... why did we bring him over?" "As much as we hate to say this, sometimes, we have to get our hooves dirty. At least Wilson is willing to do that." "So... you want minerals? More minerals?" Slade asked as Raynor came back from storage with a peculiar looking machine. "Yeah. I need a ton. And by a ton, I mean like 40 tons." Raynor replied. "Take that statement literally." "Why so much?" "It'll be quite the BIG surprise." Raynor grinned as he got to work. "It's going to take weeks to finish actually, because we lack the true facilities to build what I am planning. Now, I heard there's this thing called the Rainbow Fall's exchange or something... I dunno. We got a ton of spare parts, so can you please try and get me some minerals?" "Yeah sure. I take it you're building a machine of some kind?" "I am. I am probably going to need a fuel source as well but we'll worry about that later. Right now I need the minerals." "I'll see what I can get you... hey kid. You up now?" Slade asked as Sanya emerged to take a look at the massive hole which Raynor was going in. "What's he doing?" Sanya asked curiously as she watched Raynor descend into the hole with his SCV. "He's building something and he wants me to go and buy some parts for him... I guess I'll do it. I got nothing better to do." "What about trying to get a translator?" Sanya asked. "Don't we still need it after we were listening to..." "Yeah... I'll take a train or something tomorrow. The only other place is like a few days worth of walking." Slade replied as he grabbed the spare parts and threw them into the van. "Jim?" Sanya asked over the din of an SCV beginning to make it's construction. "Yeah what kid?" Raynor asked as he stopped for a moment. "I was wondering... can we get a piano?" "A piano? I guess it wouldn't hurt.. sure. Go with Slade." "Alright then." Sanya said as she walked over to Slade to tell her of her want for a keyboard. The man frowned for a moment, but stopped when Sanya gave him this look. "Alright kid. Let's grab a piano." Slade said as his mouth gave a hint of a grin. "Just play me a piece when we get it, okay?" "Okay. I promise." "Very well then." Slade said. "So... piano, and 40 tons of minerals." He looked back for the moment at all the things he had. A single duffel bag containing about 400,000 dollars, a few hundred pounds of spare parts, and a silver haired girl giving him a pair of puppy eyes that really bothered him more than it should have.