//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Shield's Birthday Blitz // by Shieldheart204 //------------------------------// Cherry blocked the buzzsaw strike from the cyborc, slamming the butt of her scythe against the monster’s face. The blow pushed it back, growling through its metal jaw as it tried to regain balance. But she never let him. Cherry dropped her weapon and flapped her wings, delivering a jab against the right of the orc’s jaw. The orc rolled back a few paces, slamming its gun into the ground to slow itself down. “Could you please do better? I don’t want to finish too fast. It’s embarrassing.” she said with a sly grin. “Come on, get up. I know you aren’t dead yet.” She grabbed her weapon and waited. The orc stood up quicker than she had anticipated, firing a burst of explosive rivets. Most projectiles whizzed past her, promptly exploding behind her. The last rivet managed to touch her chest, rocketing her back. “Now that’s more like it.” The orc charged, firing its weapon until the click of an empty chamber made it swing its buzzsaw. Cherry rolled out of the way and fixed her minigun to her left arm. “I wonder how many bullets it will take to get to your heart.” She squeezed the trigger and allowed the barrels to whirl for a second before a near steady stream of bullets erupted. She gripped her weapon tightly with both hands, trying her best to control the wild stream of bullets. The orc tanked the hits, placing its buzzsaw arm in between the bullets and itself. Soon Cherry’s gun hissed, dispelling heat to both sides. She cursed, letting the gun fall off her arm. “You are lucky I don’t have any liquid nitrogen.” The orc replied with a growl, reloading its weapon in the process. “So, still think you can kill me?” she asked. The orc’s response was a barrage of rivets. Cherry grinned and grabbed her scythe, slashing most projectiles before they could get near to her. But despite her skill, three bolts managed pass through. One bolt missed its mark, while the other two landed on her chest. The explosions pushed her back a little, and caused her barrier necklace to crack. “You still have to do better than that.” As if it accepted her challenge, the orc powered up its buzzsaw and swung at her. Cherry jumped back, managing a thin cut on her opponent’s left arm. She ducked the follow-up strike and retaliated with a swipe at the thighs. The blade managed to cut through both armor and flesh, stopping at the bone. She pulled the weapon, cracking the bones as it freed itself. The orc cried in pain, pointing its arm ar Cherry and firing. She let her instincts dodge as many bolts as possible, but one managed to hit her just below the shoulder. The rivet exploded, sending her arm flying into the air. The stump dripped electricity, exposing a few stray wires. “Do you have any idea how much that arm cost me?” The separated limb stiffened, and the fingers fused into a fine blade. She stepped aside as a bullet took away her right leg. It took her less than an instant to adjust to the loss of her second limb. She glided toward her former arm, grabbed it by the elbow and yelled: “Here keep this!” and she threw the makeshift javelin. The weapon soared through the air and impaled itself against the orc’s head, turning it into thin air. “I guess that souvenier wasn’t in your budget.” “Kind of disappointing that you babies couldn’t get any trophies.” Thunder Storm said as he walked toward her. “Looks like I’ve won the challenge.” He threw the disembodied head at her. The force of an ogre’s head was enough to set her off balance, making her land on her backside. “Think you could help me carry my limbs back to the base?” Cherry asked with a smile and an extended hand. “This battle really cost me an arm and a leg…” they let a second go by before bursting out laughing. “Sure thing.” Thunder met her hand and lifted her up. “You know, sometimes I believe you actually do this on purpose.” He grabbed her limbs and began trotting back toward the house. “Lightning to Caliban, we need the repair room and blowtorch ready. We’ve got a cripple.” “You do realize that you probably scared four women right?” Cherry asked, flapping her wings to keep herself from falling. “Don’t you feel bad for them? It’s hurting your chances of scoring.” “My chances were somewhere below one percent with them, so I thought that I might as well try to give ‘em a taste of our daily routine.” he chuckled. “Those girls should have stepped down when they had a chance.” .oOo. Shield eyed his opponent closely, circling around with Riot covering his body. “You sure you don’t want to call for backup? Most duels tend to end really fast.” The orc merely growled. “Last chance, get buddies or get lost. Once I start I won’t stop until you are a smear in my armor.” This time it chuckled, showing rows of rotten teeth. “Okay, but don’t cry for mommy once  I’m strangling you with your intestines.” “Your insults will do nothing but make your death all the more satisfying.” The orc replied with casual disdain. “I am Omega, and I plan on bringing My Lord seven heads.” The orc spun its axes. “And yours is going to be the one I serve in a golden platter, alone.” With a sickening crunch, the orc pulverized one of its teeth and swallowed. “Now, prepare to face your end.” “Take a number and wait for your turn rookie.” Shield snapped as he swung Riot. Omega blocked it, striking Shield’s ribs with his other axe. Shield retreated his sword and went for a thrust, but the orc simply dodged out of the way. Two strikes missed their mark as Shield rolled out of the way. His instincts moved him back, a flurry of axes attempting to slice thin air. He charged once more, this time using his pommel to disorient his target. Following the successful blow he thrusted almost immediately, the sword bounced off the plate armor. Shield dropped it and pulled out his pistols, meeting the axes at every turn. Shield occasionally pulled the triggers, mostly missing as an axe pulled the guns away from their target. Shield backed up, using his pistols to keep himself just out of range. The orc seemed to be able to predict most bullet paths, swatting them like flies. The few shots that made it through bounced off its armor. “Shit. Guess I’m gonna need a bit more punch for this.” He let Ash get pushed to his left, delivering two successful roundhouse kicks to the orc’s face. He thought he felt the cracking of bone, but a quick glance at his opponent dismissed it. With a howl of rage the Omega charged, wildly swinging its axes. The few blows that Shield failed to block were immediately absorbed by the barriers. They crackled, visibly dissipating around the commissioner as he ducked under an axe. He fired another barrage, but none of the bullets found their mark. “This might just be harder than I thought.” Shield murmured as he deflected another strike. He rolled away from the orc and pulled out his falchion. With the same outward swing he pushed an axe back, and then the other one. With a chest begging to have a sword plunged Shield decided to coat his sword in magic and thrust forward. The steel easily cut through the plate armor, earning a shout of pain from the orc. Shield cartwheeled back, dodging a series of blows. He raised his forearm to stop another blow, delivering two kicks to the flanks. The Omega elbowed Shield, following with two swipes from its axes. Both strikes bounced off the armor, and were met with a sword to the gut. It took a step back and howled in rage. “You will pay for that, swine!” Shield smirked: “Do you take credit cards? Or cold, hard cash? Hey, think I can get a First Blood discount?” The orc answered with another howl and a charge. Shield teleported himself a meter away with his pistol drawn. “Sorry, despite having its own bank, blood is not an accepted currency.” The orc approached him and swung its axes together. The blow destroyed his barriers and sent him into the ground. “How you are still alive is beyond me, but I will fix it!” it snarled. With a roar it swung again, driving one axe against his left shoulder and the other one bouncing off his right arm. Shield grimaced, but quickly fired two bullets at its stomach. Once they made contact with the armor, the bolts exploded, sending shrapnel deep into its stomach. Shield chuckled, holstering Ash and pulling his falchion away. “C’mon, that was just round two.” Shield replied. “Now lets begin round three!” The orc swung again, letting its axe get stuck in Shield’s crossguard. Shield fired two bolts, none of which managed to hit. Omega swung its spare axe, but it was blocked by Snow. With a kick to Shield’s chest the orc backed away. It sprinted against the commissioner, lowered its head and hugged him by the stomach. “Hey I don’t swing that way!” was all Shield could say before he was slammed into the ground head-first. The barriers cracked away as Shield freed himself from the grip. He stepped back, raising his falchion to the guarding stance. The orc began with a newfound vigor, swinging wildly from every direction. Shield met most strikes, deflecting half and pushing a few away and ducking under others. The strikes that did make it through were against his chest, letting the dragonscale resist the blows. One of the attacks managed to graze his left leg, slicing through  the tough denim and leaving a thin cut. Shield grimaced again, firing Snow until it hissed. The bullets stuck to the plate armor, glowing faintly. “You do realize that many have tried to kill me don’t you?” Shield asked, Omega nodded. “So what makes you so special?” “I am destined to be your executioner. The Lord demands your death, and I am his faithful servant.” Omega quickly cleaved a war axe to Shield’s right ear, missing it by a few millimeters. Shield dropped immediately, eyes still open. “I really wanted to leave your head undamaged.” Omega tuned its ears to the high-pitched scream coming from the top of the house.  “Amusing that despite who you are there is still someone who cares for your well being.” Then a thunderous boom filled the quiet sky. The Omega moved its left arm into view, but it couldn’t see it. Instead it saw a stump, charred and smelted. It looked into the distance, and saw a little girl in the distance. “What do we have here?” “A ten year old  girl capable of blasting your arm off from long range.” a voice, gushing with anger, replied from behind it. The orc turned around  and saw Shield Heart wiping the blood from his face. “And you really should stop turning your back on opponents.” “But… I cleaved your head with a hexed axe.” The Omega replied, raising its axe to defend itself. “No one could have survived that…” “I’m so thick-skulled that I can’t learn how to stay dead.” the blonde replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “Now, how about you tell me about this Lord that wants my head?” He pulled out Snow and blasted the axe away. “Never! I refuse to betray Him! I would rather suffer a long and painful death!” “Come on, it’s my birthday! I’m sure your Great Lord of Darkness could understand the codes of birthday etiquette.” The orc looked at him quizzically. “Okay so I just made that up, but come on! I beat you fair and square!” “You were dead not two seconds ago! It was because of that little bi…” the orc was whipped by the pistol. “Think about your answer for this: Who wants to kill us Commissioners? Is it Count Pearl Lance? Also, who are your other targets?” Shield pressed the barrel of his gun against the orc’s temple. “I’ll give you a few seconds.” The orc surprised him with a cackle. “You think that my Lord is interested in your egotistical group of misfits? No. My mission is to kill all six Elements, and you. And even though I have failed today I will return and with an army worthy of invading your precious capital.” Shield’s earpiece suddenly came to life “Agent Ponyville, this is Caliban, how copy?” It was definitely Crystal’s voice. “Solid copy Caliban, what have you got for me?” “Agent Appleoosa just called, they had an assassin pay them a visit. There were no casualties or injuries.” “Interesting, where’s the rest of the party?” “Agents Vanhoover, Dodge and Hollow are accounted for. Lightning is helping repair Dodge, and I have all four VIPS here. I’m still looking for Baby Bear.” “Baby Bear is with me. I’m going to go pay the other VIP a visit, something tells me we should be there by now. Have Hollow give me sniper cover.” “Copy that Ponyville, I’ll patch you through to Hollow. Anything else?” “Negative, I’m just mopping up the last dude.” he pulled the trigger and watched as his opponent evaporated from his sight. “So as it turns out I don’t get to take home a trophy.” he turned to look at his sister and yelled. “You got anything for my headache?” Hawk Eye stopped, pulled out a small syringe from her satchel and opened the rifle’s chamber. with two quick motions she loaded the shot and fired and the commissioner’s neck. Soon, he could feel the migraine melt away as the painkillers kicked in.   His earpiece suddenly burst to life: “Hollow to Papa Bear, how copy?” he spun on his heels and noticed two silhouettes on the balcony. “Solid copy Hollow, who’s the spotter?” “VIP M. No, I’m talking about the bloody dog. Of course I’m talking about you!” Moon said, the last two sentences clearly not directed at him. “Can you see the target?” “Yep, I’m running thermals now… Fuck, Papa, I can’t get a clear reading. There’s too many signals.. She runs a what?” soon, she descended into an incoherent mess of curses. “Calm down and focus Hollow. Can you see anything that could help us?” “Ugh, give me a moment PB I’m running magic scans. Fuck… Shield, there’s someone at the door. Let me try something…” Shield had less than a second to gaze at the bolt of energy that soared from the balcony. It made no sound other than a faint paft . The pellet disintegrated against the wood, leaving barely a dent. “I think I’m gonna need to switch ammo.” “No shit.” Shield replied. “Actually scratch that, Hawk and I will engage. You just worry about telling me what the hell our friend is doing.” “You sure, it’ll only take a sec to get the ammo. Also, I’m not liking that head wound you’ve got.” “You mean this?” he replied casually as he tapped the wound, still fresh from the Omega’s strike. “C’mon, it’s just a scratch.” “Yeah, right. Last time you said that Bone Saw had to toss you in a kolto tank for a week.” “You’re never gonna let me live that one down are you?” “Not until you do something more stupid.”