//------------------------------// // Mining Operations // Story: The War of Champions // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Deep beneath the surface of the planet, down in its depths, was a facility where hundreds of ponies were hard at work mining the precious minerals for their queen. The materials needed to supply them with their suits were only found in this one mine, so a large number of guards had been posted to make sure nothing 'funny' went on. The sounds of drills tearing through the rocks and the whirring of machinery drowned out any other sounds in the area, which was fortunate for a group of three saboteurs because one of them was cursing as loud as he could. "Mother fucking sonnova bitch!" Ryan roared as he hopped around with his hands wrapped around his foot, seething in pain and rage while Trixie threw up an invisibility spell to make sure that they hadn't been seen. "Will you shut up?! Do you WANT them to know that we're here?" she half-yelled at him while she checked to make sure that none of the guards were looking at them, but to her relief the sounds of the drills within the hole had drowned out his words. "Well, excuse me for reacting the way I should to a thousand pound monster crushing my foot with his boot!" Ryan snarled back with a glare at Bubbles, whose groan of apology was drowned out as well. The pain (along with any other feeling in his foot) eventually left, leaving him to crouch down with Trixie behind their cover, watching the patterns of the guards as they moved. "So, have you figured out when we can move, because trying to sneak past all of those guards with this titan is going to be rough." "Again, I will simply use an invisibility spell for him. Do I need to remind you of the plan every time, since you can't seem to remember anything for five minutes?" Trixie growled back with a big yawn, shaking her head and blinking twice. "I got it, I got it. You're the diversion, I'm the demo man and he's the chaos," Ryan grumbled. "How about you try to stay awake this time? Luna didn't like it when you fell asleep during her presentation." Trixie opened her mouth to argue but both of them were silenced when Bubbles rose out from behind his cover and walked forward, both of them about to yell at him before they realized that the guards were no longer around. A quick glance showed that they had run off to investigate a fire that had been started, presumably by Bubbles, which left their entrance into the quarry open. "Remember, we're looking for the main power generator, the thing that keeps this whole place running," Trixie reminded the group as they reached the building, using a flash of azure to open the door and allow the group enter the hallway on the other side, although Bubbles needed some help getting in. "And whatever you do, do NOT cause it to overload. We want it off, not bringing down this cavern. Black Adam will hunt us relentlessly if we cause the deaths of any innocents, and honestly I wouldn't blame him." "Well, this room looks important," Ryan muttered while the three of them walked out of their hallway onto a catwalk above what looked to be a loading area, where a number of crates were being placed onto carts. "Seems that this is where they ship out the material to make those annoying suits. We should trash the place." "And get ourselves caught? No, we ignore this and move on to our main objective," Trixie argued, yet all she got in response was a laugh from Ryan. "Last time I checked, Batmare was the only one who could order me around, and last time I checked, she wasn't here," Ryan muttered while he pulled an explosive out of his bag and began to move towards the crates. Trixie grabbed him with her magic and yanked him back, getting him to snarl at her while they began to bicker. Mr. Bubbles, deciding that he had enough of their arguing, smacked them both in the back of their heads with his hand and drill. Unfortunately, Ryan was standing nearest to Bubbles' right side, so he took a drill to the back of the head instead of a hand. Trixie flashed Bubbles a look while Ryan held the back of his head and swore, before the massive daddy vaulted himself over the catwalk and onto the ground, where the impact of his landing gained every pony's attention. "Crap! What is that thing?!" one of the ponies yelled, Trixie slamming a hoof into her face as she was certain that panic was about to ensue. But then Bubbles lifted his left hand and what seemed like a blast of winter shot forth, consuming all of the ponies with the ice. With the ponies frozen in their tracks, Bubbles waved up to the two on the catwalk, who both gave each other a look before they jumped down to join him. "Crud, don't remember the Big Daddies being able to use plasmid," Ryan muttered to himself as he looked around at the ice age, before Trixie grabbed his ear with her magic and yanked him down to her level. "Explain." "Okay, let go. Grr, in the Bioshock Universe there's these things called plasmids that allow people to use fire, ice and a number of other powers," Ryan explained as he rubbed his ear. "However, Big Daddies aren't supposed to be able to use them, but I guess this one can. Only makes him that much more useful." Bubbles flashed his eyes from green to yellow at them before he smashed his drill into one of the crates, looking down at the minerals and material within before snapping his fingers and setting the items ablaze. "Well, I suppose we're going with your plan. Torch the place," Trixie said as she lit her horn ablaze, but she cast a quick glance at Ryan to see that he had averted his gaze away from the fire and was using his hand to cover up the side of his face that was closest to the flames. "You guys go ahead and do that, I'm going to go locate that power thing," he said in a slightly panicked voice while he rushed to the door. Trixie raised an eyebrow at him before shrugging with a yawn and helping Bubbles destroy the rest of the crates. "Now then, what should we do with them?" Trixie asked Mr. Bubbles while she looked around at all the ice ponies, some of whom were already beginning to thaw from the fire. Bubbles let out a moan as he lifted his left hand, producing a bubbly green bubble in it. He looked down at the green bubbles and seemed to sigh before he blasted each of the ponies in the face with the items. He then used his fire to thaw the ponies out, but to Trixie's surprise they did not attack or scream, only stood still and stared ahead. "Rrrrrrr," he groaned as he pointed towards the exit, the ponies nodding before they all left the building without another word. Trixie cast a curious glance at Bubbles as he looked down and stared at the bubbly goop in his hands. "That's a mind control plasmid, isn't it?" she asked Mr. Bubbles, who let out a sad moan in reply while he closed his hand and forced the ball of green to vanish. "And you had that used on you before, haven't you?" Another sad moan confirmed her theory, yet at the same time it also increased her curiosity of the metal titan. "Come on, let's go find Ryan before he goes and does something stupid." --===---====-- "You went and did something stupid!" Trixie shrieked at Ryan as the three of them hid behind a massive crystal that was absorbing the shots from the armored ponies across the quarry from them. "You literally engaged the entire guard here, and instead of attacking them you flipped them off! What in the infernal Tartarus were you thinking?" "Less blaming, more fighting!" Ryan yelled as he rolled out from behind the cover and sprinted across the quarry dodging shots, while taking shots of his own with his pistol. He rolled behind a rock to protect himself from the hail of gunfire, swearing slightly as he checked to make sure he hadn't been hit. Bubbles stood up again and fired a snowstorm of ice upon his foes, but to his mild shock the armor that the ponies wore protected them from the elements, giving them ample time to shoot him in the face. He roared with pain as the rounds slammed into his armor, yet he was fortunate enough that the spells that enhanced it kept them from penetrating. Those same spells didn't stop his eyes from turning red or his drill from revving up to full speed. With a roar, he charged out from behind his cover and hurled himself at the ponies, taking the shots that bounced off his armor as he closed the distance. The guards screamed in fear as the red-eyed monster ran up to them and slammed the side of his spinning drill into the side of one of them, sending him spinning across the ground and putting his life bar into the yellow. "RRRRRRR!" he roared and swung his drill into the leg of one of the guards, tearing it from his body, causing all of the guards to scream in fear when the guard's life bar went into the deep red. The crimson eyes then rested upon the other guard members, and Bubbles began to march forwards until a pulse of energy caught him in the face, slowing his movements to a crawl. "Shit, now he's in trouble," Ryan growled as he leapt out from behind his cover and let a number of smoke pellets fly from his hands, creating a dark cloud of smoke that enveloped the sight of all of the guards. Ryan, while unable to see as well, was able to tell their position within the smoke because of the lights that came from their suits and guns, giving him a very clear picture as to where he needed to attack. He leapt over the reticle of one of the guns and landed on the back of a very surprised guard, who quickly fell to a golden baton strike to the helmet. "Yo, Trixie, if you can hear me get Bubbles out of there! The effect should wear off any second now!" "Alright, just try not to do anything else stupid," Trixie growled as she picked up Bubbles with an effort, seeing the effects beginning to wear off of him while she dragged him back to her. Ryan continued his assault within the smokescreen, tossing down more pellets when the smoke began to clear. A knee-baton combo brought down another guard, while a number of rounds to a helmet put a pony to sleep as well. Ryan made sure to keep a close eye on the bars on their backs, not wanting to use lethal force unless he ran out of options. He jammed his baton into his left hand, supercharging his fist with the same electricity that ran through the baton and giving him the power to deliver a lightning fist into another guard's face. "Alright, enough of this game boys! Switch to the heavy stuff!" a guard yelled out through the smoke, turning Ryan's attention to where a large number of red spheres appeared in the darkness. "Oh, fuck me!" he yelled as he hurled himself to the ground while the waves of contact energy flew over his head, annihilating whatever was standing behind him, which happened to be the walls of the quarry. "Shit, they have access to the other weapons as well? Then it's time for me to finish this mission and make a hasty retreat!" Ryan sheathed his baton with one hand while he reached into his magic bag of tricks with the other, pulling out a small sphere that had a blue 'X' in its center. He rolled out of the smoke and spied the power generator on the other side of the quarry. "Come on tee-ball skills, don't fail me now!" he cried out as he took aim and hurled the explosive with all of his might, sending the sphere in a perfect arc over the ponies and right onto the center of the machine. The explosion that followed the impact hurled all to the ground and was followed by even more explosions as the generator began to overload. "You moron! You overloaded it!" Trixie screamed over the sounds of the whole place being blown apart by the force of the explosion. "The one thing that you WEREN'T supposed to do and you went and did it! Sweet, merciful Faust, just how dumb can one human be?!" "Just shut up and run!" Ryan yelled as he sprinted by her, Trixie roaring with rage as she sprinted next to him as well. But both of them came to a stop when they realized that Bubbles wasn't with them, and when they turned back to find him they spotted him staring at the unconscious guards laying on the ground. "Hurry the hell up Bubbles or we'll all be buried alive! And I am fairly certain that is NOT how I want to die!" "Come on Bubbles! In my...yawn...state not even my magic could hold up this much debris!" Trixie yelled at him, shrieking when a rock landed next to her. Bubbles looked back at them for a moment before his eyes flashed a crimson red and he charged forward to where the unconscious guards were, gathering them together as the rubble crashed down around him. Ryan and Trixie both took a step towards him before the ceiling began to fall down around them, forcing the both of them to sprint to the exit as fast as they could, with Trixie placing a barrier around them to prevent any stray rocks from killing them. The guards that weren't down ran with them, the only thought going through all of their minds was to escape alive. "We should go back for them!" Trixie yelled over the sounds of falling rubble and screams of the ponies, using her magic to shield those who were running for the exit as well. "We can't just leave them in there!" "If we go back we're dead as well! Big Daddies are tough! He'll live!" Ryan called out as he vaulted over a torn down wall and sprinted towards the light at the end of the tunnel. The ponies and the humans just barely burst out into the light as the cave collapsed completely behind them, leaving the group to pant with relief before all were looking at each other with narrowed eyes. "By order of the Queen, you are--" "No," Trixie said and she caused the ground to erupt under their hooves and slammed the remaining guards in between two large chunks of stone. All of them slid to the dirt with yellow and red bars when she lowered the rocks again. The workers ran for their lives at the display of strength, while Ryan and Trixie turned their attention back to the mass of rubble that was before them, both of them feeling sorrow grip at their hearts. "So...he's dead, isn't he?" "Dunno. I generally don't believe someone's dead until I see a body," Ryan said, yet there was none of his usual attitude in his voice. They both looked at the rubble, wondering where to start before Ryan narrowed his eyes as he spotted something. "Hey, is it just me or do you see light coming from those rocks over--" Ryan never finished his sentence as an explosion of pure, white light erupted from within the center of the debris, causing the two to cover their eyes while the rocks around them were incinerated by the light. When they could both see again, they were flabbergasted by the sight that awaited their eyes. All of the tons of rocks that had buried Mr. Bubbles were blown away, and the Big Daddy was now walking towards them holding the guards in his arms. His eyes flashed green when he spotted them, and he began to march towards them, giving Ryan just enough time to speak his thoughts. "Okay: what the fuck? There is no way he should have been able to do that," Ryan muttered as he shook his head. "Survive it? Sure, but he shouldn't have been able to...there's no way." Bubbles let out a moan as he reached the two, spotting the pile of unconscious guards, and adding his guards to the pile as well before heading over to Ryan and Trixie. "Mr. Bubbles?" Trixie asked the Big Daddy as he looked up at the morning sun, taking his attention away from the ball of light and to the two who stood before him. "How did you get out of there? You were buried under a mountain's worth of rubble." Bubbles let out a moan as he pointed to his shoulder, but all that got was looks of confusion from the two. "We need to head back. Banner and Batmare will not be happy about this," Ryan grumbled, figuring that meant more yelling at him. Trixie nodded with a sigh and started up her teleportation spell, causing them to vanish in a flash of azure light a moment later when the spell finished. S=H=A=Z=A=M "So let me get this straight. All we asked you to do on this mission was to sneak into the tunnels, find the quarry and destroy the power source to the magical tools WITHOUT causing it to overload...and the very first thing you do when you get there is make the damned thing overload?" Batmare asked with a scowl, causing both Trixie and Bubbles to lower their gazes slightly while Ryan shrugged. The three had returned to the base and were reporting their actions to Luna and their teammates, none of whom looked at all pleased with how the plan had fallen apart. "Okay, whose fault was it?" Trixie pointed at Ryan as Mr. Bubbles lifted the human up by the back of his jacket and pointed his drill at him, getting Ryan to roll his eyes with a growl. "Thanks for backing me up there. This is such a great team." "It's your own fault," Billy snapped at him, getting Ryan to flip him off. "You were told not to overload the machine and you threw a bomb at it. I still don't understand how you can act like this isn't your fault." Ryan opened his mouth to give Billy a smart reply, when Banner stood up from his bed and walked over to the still-suspended in the air human, giving him a very cold glare before muttering, "Strike one. However, you deserve my thanks," Banner said in a much kinder tone when he looked up at the Big Daddy that held Ryan up, Bubbles dropping Ryan a moment later with a moan. "If you hadn't gone back in there, many would have lost their lives. I am glad that you are fighting alongside us." "That's something I wanted to ask you, Trixie, what happened in there?" Batmare asked, noticing the azure unicorn yawn again despite the situation. "You should have been able to hold up some of that rock with relative ease, yet according to your report, you didn't even try. What's the matter?" "It is nothing too horrible, I just have not slept well in over a month," Trixie replied with another exhausted yawn as she dragged herself over to her bed, collapsing on it a moment later. Batmare walked over to check on her friend, leaving Banner to give the team a talk. "Well, even if the plan didn't go the way we wanted it to, we still managed to get the same results," Banner said, bringing the discussion back on track. "With the destruction of the mine, their ability to make armor and replenish their weaponry will be limited. However, Batmare and I have been in discussion and we have decided that you all haven't exactly been working well together. This morning was another great example of that." "Hold on," Ryan began from the floor, sitting up and giving Banner a glare. "Please tell me that you're honestly about to say what I think you're about to say." "That's right Ryan," Banner said with a cold smile to the human, while he looked around at all of the members of the team. "Later today I'm going to help you learn to fight as a team. Luna has shown me an area where we could do so without worry of Adam and helped me to prepare the...field activities. So, get some rest now and meet me by the forest clearing around three. And if you don't show up, then you get to train with the Hulk." 'I hope they like flaming boulders.' "He says he hopes you like flaming boulders. So take a breather, get your gear together and get ready to learn how to work together." Banner made sure he was glaring at Ryan when he said that, getting 'the bird' from him in response. S=H=A=Z=A=M "Finally, it is complete," Tinker giggled to himself as he picked up a small box that made clicking sounds, while an arrow on the top began to point itself one way, never straying away from that location even when he turned the box. "The radiation that the beast holds within it was definitely gamma radiation, which made being able to track it a very easy proposition." The pony allowed his six mechanical limbs to lift him into the air, following the arrow as he left his underground laboratory with his observational tools within his bag. 'There is plenty that I wish to know about. How do you transform from a human to that scientific nirvana? How do you have such strength that can hold the God of Lightning without the aid of magic? What would happen if the two of you were to become separate from each other?' These were the thoughts Tinker teased to himself as he reached his flying carriage hidden in one of the towers, scowling slightly when he looked down at the statue of Black Adam in the front of the castle. 'If I tell Adam where you are hiding, then that fool will destroy you without so much as a second thought. But you are far too valuable a specimen to kill,' he thought to himself with a small giggle as he teased the idea of what the Hulk held within his body. 'I must find out how you work...the both of you.'