Begin Chapter Two.
Officially subtitled:”Celestial P.I. and the Case of the Absent Academic”
“Has anypony seen Twilight Sparkle?”
This was a question many of the castle’s staff found themselves subjected to, from none other than the Princess herself. And regrettably, to her at least, the answer was always the same.
“No, Princess.”
“Sorry, your Highness.”
“Have you checked the library, your Highness?”
She had, for that matter. It had been the first place she’d checked.
After Twilight had failed to appear for a scheduled cup of tea, Celestia had immediately begun to worry. The unicorn was so well-organized, and so admired her… nothing but a catastrophic threat to society would cause her to miss this meeting. Celestia continued to trot down the palace corridors, asking any she came upon for the librarian’s whereabouts.
Internally, Celestia gave a frustrated sigh. This investigation shtick, figuring out what was happening… it didn’t really suit her. Celestia was used to being the one who made things happen in the first place- always aware, always ready to advance. Investigating the unknown, and all that this entailed, was much more Luna’s department. She could imagine it now… And so can I.
Inspector Luna paced through the moody darkened castle corridors, looking rather sharp in her detective outfit. Her deerstalker shaded over her eyes, and she took a quick puff of her pipe. Then she doubled over in coughing and wheezing, exhaling puffs of smoke. She took a glance at her pipe before she tossed it away. “Never again,” she muttered.
Turning to the opossum on her shoulder, she asked, “Dr. Tiberius. What do you think of the crime scene?”
The opossum gave a series of unintelligible chitteres. Luna nodded in response. “Yes, yes, I think you might be right. But how are we to be sure that the Elements were kidnapped, per say?” Another indiscernible reply. “Well, Tiberius, I would agree with you, were it not for one simple fact.” Chitter chitter. “What fact is this, you ask? Why, it’s elementary, my dear Tiberius.”
Celestia broke from her daydream as she saw Fancy Pants turn around the corner, escorted by a small squadron of guards. “Excuse me, Fancy Pants?” The princess asked.
“Yes, my lady?” Fancy replied.
“Have you seen Twilight Sparkle recently? I can’t seem to find her anywhere.”
Fancy gave a look of disappointment. “No, my lady. I regret to inform you that I haven’t seen the young unicorn for quite some time.”
“I see,” Celestia sighed.
Fancy put a hoof to his chin. “Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve seen any of her friends either. Where could they all have gotten off to?”
“Err- I saw them,” one of the guards peeped up. He shied away a bit when everypony else turned to look at him, but continued anyways. “It was, um, while I was on my way to relieve the prior shift, and I saw all six of the mares walking down the street. Since security is so tight and all, we’re supposed to ask most everypony we see where they’re heading off to, so I asked the Elements where they were going. They said they wanted to pay Cadence a visit.”
“Hmm…” Celestia said.
-----
A knock resounded throughout Shining Armor’s apartment. The stallion stirred a little, before he slowly began to rise from his bed, yawning. A pink hoof placed itself on his shoulder. “Go back to sleep, honey,” Cadence said. “I’ll get it.” Shining didn’t argue, preferring instead to roll back over and return to his slumber.
Another loud knock came from the door. Cadence gave a small sigh as she opened the door, but her eyes quickly filled with shock as she realized who her guest was. “Aunt Celestia?” she asked. “Please, come in. What are you doing here?”
“I’m searching for my student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia replied as she ducked to fit her large figure through the small doorway. “I was told she had come by here. Do you know of her whereabouts?”
“Twilight, eh?” Cadence asked. “Her friends and her came by the other day, yeah. Or is it she and her friends… never mind. Anyways, we all sat down for a cup of tea. Shining was out on one of his patrols, so we all sat down and talked. It was a good time.”
“Did you happen to see where Twilight went?” Celestia asked.
“Mmm… yes. She had some sort of errand to run for some literary thing, and she needed a paper stretcher. So, whatever sort of place has a thing like that, it’s probably where she went,” replied Cadence.
“Err- thank you, Cadence,” Celestia said. “I, um… I need to find Twilight. I’ll be going now.”
“Alright, then. Bye auntie!” Cadence called as Celestia turned to leave. “Good luck finding the paper stretcher!” As the door closed behind the princess, Cadence gave a small grin. “You know- if it existed.”
-----
“Yaaa!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she blasted towards the great pile of collapsed rocks that presumably blocked the entrance. She slammed into the barrier at full speed, and predictably bounced off the blockade. On the ground, Applejack gave the rocks several powerful kicks, to no avail. Twilight sat in the middle of the small cavern, her horn aglow as she magically searched for a way out. As her light went out, she gave a defeated sigh, and slumped over.
“It’s useless,” she moaned. “Everything about this place is the perfect prison. It’s almost completely sealed off from the outer world. We can’t teleport out, we can’t break out, and no pony can trace us.”
“Oh come on, silly,” Pinkie said. “There’s no way we’ll be stuck down here forever. It doesn’t work like that.”
“Yeah, Twilight. Keep your spirits up,” Fluttershy added. “I’m sure Princess Celestia will handle the problem.”
“Princess Celestia doesn’t even know there’s a problem,” Twilight sighed. “As far as she knows, Cadence is still just her sweet niece. She’ll never suspect this sort of thing.”
-----
The waiters of the Skystar Cafe were quite surprised to see a princess at their door. Nonetheless, they provided the biggest table they could and went off to brew the best coffee they could possibly brew, leaving Celestia alone to think.
Her frustration had grown ever since her contact with Cadence, after which she’d set off to find a shop at which she could obtain a paper stretcher, and ask if Twilight had come through. She quickly discovered that none of the likely candidates possessed such an item; on further inspection it appeared that the paper stretcher didn’t actually exist. As such, Celestia was left alone and without any leads. Desperate, she’d attempted a magical tracing spell, only to be shocked to discover that Twilight failed to appear even on that. It was as if she’d simply vanished off the face of the planet.
And so sat Celestia in a little cafe, nowhere closer to finding Twilight Sparkle then when she’d started. She gave a great sigh and laid her head on the table. Nothing but a convenient act of providence would save her now.
“Hey,” a pony at another table piped up, addressing their companion. “I saw the Elements of Harmony coming by the other day.”
“Uh huh. Sure you did,” their companion replied, skeptically.
“No, seriously. They were walking by just outside the cafe. I think they were saying something about confronting a great evil, too.”
“OK, now I know you’re messing with me.”
“No, it’s true, I swear! I’m just wondering why they’d call Princess Cadenza evil.”
Celestia was out the door five seconds later. The staff were disheartened by this, until they realized she’d left a very generous tip…
-----
“Aunt Celestia? Again, and so soon?” Cadence asked as she let the Princess again into her apartment. She turned to her kitchen counter, where a pot of water was bubbling “Would you like some tea, auntie?”
“And how am I to know you won’t poison it, Cadence?” Celestia growled. Cadence froze, and slowly turned around.
“Why all this hostility, Celestia?” Cadence asked.
“You know exactly what I’m referring to,” Celestia replied, as she loomed threateningly over the smaller alicorn. “Twilight Sparkle and her friends came to your apartment, accusing you of foul play… and then they disappeared. You will take me to them. Now.”
Cadence gave her aunt an innocent smile, before with a flash of green she blasted Celestia through the apartment wall and across the street.
Celestia slammed into a building opposite the apartment, to the shock and fear of every pony present. The alicorn climbed from the dent she’d made, and glared at Cadence as she emerged from her broken apartment.
“What. Is that all the great Princess Celestia can do?” Cadence challenged. Celestia gave a furious growl, spreading her wings before she blasted off towards the pink pony. Cadence gave a sinister smile, before launching forwards to meet her opponent.
-----
“1’m sorry, M1ndfang,” Nitram cried as Serket dragged him through the dark Canterlot alleyways. “Look, 1 made a mist8ke not tell1ng you and all, 8ut 1 th1nk you’re m1sunderstand1ng the s1tuat1on here.”
“Pssssssssh. What’s to misunderstand?” Serket growled. “You’ve 8een sneaking off all this time to see your… pony girlfriend. Meeting up in cafes and all. It m8kes sense, 8ecause you’re a pushover and she’s a pushover. Go ahead, forget all I’ve ever done for you and go kiss a horse. Leave me 8ehind, Nitram, 8ecause I guess I’m just not good enough for you!”
Nitram struggled free of Serket’s grip. He rose to his feet, but Serket grabbed him and slammed him against the alleyway wall. Nitram’s eyes widened in terror as Serket gave the troll a furious glare. “s-s-SERKET,” he pleaded. “i-iT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. i AM NOT IN A QUADRANT WITH FLUTTERSHY, nOR ANY OF HER SPECIES!”
“Then what were you doing with her alone in a cafe? At night? I’m not an idiot, Toreador, though maybe you are!”
“OK,” Nitram said. “So, th1s 1s go1ng to sound l1ke 1 just m8de 1t up, but 1 swear 1t’s the truth. Fluttershy and 1 both th1nk that the trolls and the pon1es are perfectly capable of gett1ng along, so we meet up when we can and d1scuss how we can m8ke it happen.”
Mindfang gave Nitram a dumbfounded look. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. 1t’s the honest truth,” Nitram replied.
“And what a8out that wedding invit8tion?” Serket asked.
“Err… 1 honestly don’t know what the deal w1th that 1s. May8e she just thought 1’d enjoy 1t or someth1ng…”
“Oh Nitram, are you honestly so naive?” Serket cried. “She’s trying to set you up on a d8! She’s thinking that the two of you will go to the wedding and there’ll 8e love in the air or some sappy shit, and then she’ll kiss you under the mistletoe.”
“You’re m1x1ng your metaphors there, Serket,” Nitram pointed out. “And 8es1des, that can’t 8e true. You must be m1sread1ng the s1tuat1on.”
“Nope. It’s true as can 8e,” Serket replied. “Though, what sort of girl has a d8 at someone else’s wedding?”
Nitram’s breathing accelerated as he turned away from his matesprit. “oH. oH NO. i DID NOT SEE THIS COMING! i THOUGHT WE WERE JUST FRIENDS!”
“Wow, Nitram. You really are that naive,” Serket observed. “I almost feel like 8eing your m8sprit is actually just me taking advantage of your young, impressiona8le mind. I honestly feel kind of-”
Serket didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence, as Nitram, in a panic, flung himself forwards, wrapping his arms around Serket as his lips found hers and he kissed her. Serket’s eyes widened in surprised, and then sank into a deep, content passion. Her arms found his back as their kiss continued into the night.
-----
“Ugh. Remind me never to sleep in an alleyway again,” Serket muttered as she pulled herself from the cold ground. She glanced down at Nitram, still slumbering away. “Hey, Nitram. W8ke up!” Serket called, reaching down to shake the troll awake. Nitram’s eyes flew open, and his legs clanked as he got to his feet.
“Ergh. What t1me 1s 1t?” he muttered.
“L8 in the day… and yet still too early,” Serket replied. “Alright, Toreador, I’ve 8een thinking. You can go to this wedding thing if you want and see your ‘friend,’ 8ut I’m coming along. To make sure you 8ehave.”
“Ugh. Alr1ght, Serket,” Nitram agreed, perhaps not yet fully awake. “Now, what say we head back to the lab and go back to sleep?”
“W8.” Serket pointed up into the bright sky, where it appeared that two blurs of pink and white were zooming across the blue horizon, as if locked in deadly combat…
-----
Her eyes narrowed in focus, Celestia spun away from several bursts of lime green magic. She responded with a gold beam of her own, which Cadence nimbly avoided. The pink alicorn zoomed towards Celestia, front hooves outstretched as she collided with the Solar Princess in midair. Cadence rammed into Celestia, driving her through the sky. Celestia grimaced in pain, before snagging the alicorn with her telekinesis. With furious power, she hurled Cadence back down towards Canterlot. Cadence fell towards the city, before her wings sprang out, slowing her descent until she hovered in the air. She stayed still a second too long, however, and Celestia slammed into her with ludicrous speed and stupendous power. The Princess rammed her niece through the sky. A tower, one of Canterlot’s tallest, loomed ahead; Celestia flung her adversary at it. Cadence crashed through the structure, leaving shattered holes through either side, portals through which Celestia pursued her niece.
Cadence hovered outside the tower, injured but not out. Celestia fired another ray of scorching heat, which Cadence maneuvered around. The pink alicorn’s horn lit with her green magic- seconds later, a series of brilliant green explosions surrounded the Princess of the Sun, blasting her with intense energy. Celestia peered through the smoke, searching for her adversary. She glanced up, and caught sight of Cadence firing an enormous beam of lime.
Celestia, sent flying towards the ground by the force of the attack, slammed into the Canterlot road, cracking the stone beneath. As Cadence alighted lightly to the street a couple meters away, Celestia gritted her teeth as she slowly returned to her hooves. “You… are not my niece,” she groaned.
“Hmph. Looks like the cat’s out of the bag,” Cadence replied, pursing her lips into an evil grin. She took a breath, and her body shimmered with green magic. Seconds later, an altogether different creature stood where Cadence had seconds before. Tall and imposing, with insectile wings and a tangled mane, and piercing green eyes that held nothing but cruelty. “I am Chrysalis,” she announced. “Queen of the changelings. And if I’m revealed, my associates may as well follow.” She turned upwards, and released a blast of green towards the sky. Like a firework, it exploded high above the city, a message to all those who lay within, disguised and evasive, to reveal themselves.
Throughout the city, ponies became engulfed in green flames, revealing the black carapaces below. The townsponies’ screams echoed through the streets and districts of the town as the changelings wrecked havoc through Canterlot. Ponies on the streets buckled under blasts of green magic. Insects dragged the subjugated ponies away, broke through buildings, leaving destruction in their wake. They charged through the streets, an infestation of malign invaders. Several took to the skies, pursuing fleeing pegasi, while others subdued the ponies confined to the ground.
Members of the Canterlot royal court, politicians and princes, found themselves swarmed by intruding changelings, and quickly fell to the horde. Professors, researchers, found the Canterlot Royal Academy abuzz with the beating of insect wings and flew into a panic as anarchy spread through the campus. Shining Armor was nowhere to be seen; his subordinates, colonels and captains, found themselves overwhelmed as a third of their soldiers stripped away their disguises, and more poured from the skies, slaughtering the guards en masse and spilling blood through the chaotic streets.
And Nitram and Serket watched all this from the shadows of the alley. Nitram glanced in shock and terror at the brutal takeover unfolding, while Serket’s face became twisted in an expression of anger. Nitram turned to his matesprit. “...Holy sh1t.”
Mindfang turned to her sylladex, retrieving her headset. “Time to call in 8ackup.”
-----
Vantas turned away from the chaos unfolding on the monitor and to his wristwatch-communicator-thing. “Serket?” he asked. “Where are you? What’ve you been doing? Is Nitram with you?” Serket responded with a reply, barely audible through his watch. “You’re doing what? You should get over there. Shit’s going down in Canterlot.” Another series of murmurs. “What’re you… oh.” Vantas glanced up from his watch, and at his friends, staring awestruck at the anarchy unfolding through the viewport. Then he turned back to his crustacean-shaped communicator. “Serket, I’m putting you on speaker crab.”
-----
As the great shield bubble cracked and fell to pieces, he watched, through the green binoculars, as with a flash the twelve trolls appeared in Canterlot, and he smiled. Despite what he’d told his queen, he’d been secretly hoping for these twelve to make a reappearance. His revenge would be served cold and sweet, and every single one of them would pay. He glanced behind him, at the squad of elite he’d specifically trained for this job. He nodded. They nodded back, before they spread their wings and took to the air. Confident they’d serve their purpose, he let his gaze wander away from the Doomed Gods, and towards the road where the Black and White queen confronted each other, and wondered if the Black King would have to finish the job.
-----
“Holy shit.” Vantas stared dumbly over Canterlot, and the skies above. “I mean, I knew the changelings were sort of carapacians, but… holy shit.”
The skies swarmed with huge black and green battleships, each surrounded by clouds of insects. Smaller dropships circled the air, lower to the ground, dispensing changelings like cheap candy. Enormous chess-mechs, black siege titans with glowing green eyes and tripedal deconstructors with cannons mounted on their arms, crawled throughout the streets, occasionally stopping to crush a building or blast a group of ponies.
The sight was one barely words could describe. What must’ve been hundreds of thousands of bugs had invaded Canterlot, running rampant through the streets, operating machinery, blotting out the sun.
Vantas took a second to glance at his allies, who exhibited most of the same emotions as him: surprise, shock, even a bit of anger. Before long several turned and met his gaze. It was another couple moments before one spoke.
“Um… Vantas?” Nitram asked. “Where do we beg1n?”
Vantas considered the question for several minutes. “Well… only one thing to do,” he finally answered. “We kill as many changelings as we can until we find Jack Noir. He’s obviously the one behind this whole thing…”
“R34lly, V4nt4s? Th4t’s th3 b3st you c4n com3 up w1th?” Pyrope groaned.
“Well, excuse me, princess!” Vantas cried “In case you hadn’t notice, the changeling invasion is perhaps something a bit bigger then we can handle. Look at all this shit! What would you have us do?”
“1’d… 4lr1ght th3n, f1n3,” Pyrope admitted. “Br34k th1ngs t1ll w3 w1n. L3t’s go do th4t.”
“I’m glad you agree,” Vantas said. “Now we’ve done enough arguing. We’ve got an invasion to stop.” He turned away from the trolls and took a step into the street. Suddenly, a jet of green slammed Vantas in the back. He toppled over from the blast, hitting the ground, unconscious. The trolls barely had time to react when two changelings landed on either side of Vantas’s body. Their horns lit up green, and a lime-colored sphere of magic encircled Vantas, sinking slowly away into the ground, taking the Threshecutioner with it. Seconds later, Vantas was gone, trapped in the caves beneath the city above.
“Hey. Trolls.” Maryam and Pyrope, followed shortly by their allies, whipped their heads in the direction of the voice, and found themselves faced with a large, smoothly dressed changeling at the forefront of a squad of roughly fifty of the insects. He brushed a speck of dust off his stylish black hat, and adjusted the red diamond pinned to his suit. “Hive Lord Noir sends his regards.”
And then the squad attacked.
-----
A blast of green threw Celestia through a storefront window. The glass shattered around her; she landed inside and got to her hooves just as Chrysalis soared in through the broken window. The changeling queen fired another burst of magic, but with a flash Celestia teleported behind her. Chrysalis turned, only to receive an alicorn punch to the face. She stumbled back from the blow, and Celestia followed with two more strikes, and a two-hoofed buck that sent Chrysalis flying through the wall, back into the street.
Chrysalis stumbled back to her hooves as Celestia darted towards her. The queen dodged out of the way of the princess’s charge, before sending another blast of magic in the princess’s direction. Celestia hastily erected a shield to absorb the attack, before dispelling it just as quickly. She shot several more bolts of magic at Chrysalis, who dodged everyone, slowly backing up. Celestia stepped forwards, but was struck in the back with another magic blast. She glanced backwards, spotting a small group of changelings hovering behind her. Seconds later, the changelings were no more.
Celestia glanced back towards her opponent, and was struck blind by Chrysalis’s hoof. She stumbled back as Chrysalis made to follow through with her advantage. Celestia’s eyes narrowed, and the sunlight pouring from the sky seemed to intensify. It wrapped itself around her foreleg, before the yellow shimmer extended into a golden hammer. Celestia swung the warhammer, bashing Chrysalis away. The changeling queen flew through the air, before crashing to the street. She glanced up, and quickly leapt back to avoid another of Celestia’s strikes; the princess’s hammer missed her and instead sent shards of asphalt flying.
Celestia’s gaze grew harder still. Her horn lit, and to Chrysalis’s surprise, flames leapt from the street around her, trapping her in a circle of fire. Chrysalis shied away from the flames, before she took a deep breath and spit a stream of green resin, extinguishing the fire. Turning back to Celestia, she gave an enraged scowl and fired a blast of green magic at the Princess. Celestia responded with a gold burst of her own, and the two magic beams collided between the two combatants.
The two alicorns, the princess and the queen, each trying to outdo the other as each of their magic attacks collided with the other. Chrysalis gave a harsh growl, and her green beam lurched forwards, Celestia wincing back. A cloud crossed over the sun, darkening the square. “You can’t stop this!” Chrysalis grins. “The invasion has already begun, Celestia. Even if you kill me here, you can’t stop it all by your lonesome.”
Celestia stumbled back as Chrysalis’s beam pushed even farther towards her. For a second, her eyes filled with worry- then they hardened yet again. “No,” she whispered. With a burst of wind, the sun’s glow once again filled the sky, illuminating the grand battle taking place. “No! I am Celestia, Goddess of the Sun, ruler of Equestria!” Her expression burned with fury as Chrysalis’s beam suddenly stopped growing closer, then slowly, Celestia began to push the blast back. “Even if I have to tear through every single changeling in your entire army, I will protect my little ponies!” Chrysalis took a step back, squinting her eyes as Celestia began to glow, like a radiant star. “It seems you never learned, Chrysalis. You cannot defeat the Knight of Light!” With a blast of sound, Celestia’s beam widened, growing exponentially in power as it cut through Chrysalis’s feeble magic, and Chrysalis held a leg in front of her eyes, shielding them from the harsh light and knowing full well that they’d be no help against what would come next.
And then, as suddenly as Celestia had began her assault, she stopped. A shooting pain, spread through her chest, a coldness that had speared deep into her eternal warmth. She looked down, at the tip of the blade protruding from her chest. She looked behind her, at the large Changeling with the scar over his eyes.
“Erk… you know… this will not stop me… nothing will,” Celestia choked.
“Maybe,” Hive Lord Noir replied. “But I think you have other things to worry about now.”
There was a flash of green, and then everything was black…
-----
Chaos descended upon the trolls. Changelings poured from every direction, green lasers shooting across the streets and insects slowly surrounding the Doomed Gods even as they fought desperately to resist the black tide. Pyrope swung her cane, slicing and walloping any bugs within reach, as Maryam did the same to her side. Makara repelled the swarms with his twirling clubs, and his green slime pies. Zahhak crushed the insects in his bare fists, as Leijon sunk her claws into several of the attacking bugs. Serket took to the air, cutting through swaths of changelings with her power, while on the ground Nitram impaled the insects upon the long point of his lance.
Megido raised her hand, catching a small clump of changelings in a red time field and freezing them where they stood. Captor stepped up, removing his eyewear as with a jolt he released his blazing psionics and vaporized the immobilized insects. He turned, and gave Megido a grin. She smiled back. Suddenly, Megido let out a cry of surprise as a large changeling swooped down and tackled her to the ground. Captor ran forwards to help, but Megido reacted quicker. Seizing the changeling with her telekinesis, she flung the bug back into the alleyway, crushing it against the passage’s brick walls. She turned, and got back to her feet, only to be blown back again, this time by a blast of green magic. Megido slid along the ground, but quickly returned to her feet. She spotted the changeling who’d hit her, well dressed, his diamond insignia the only bit of color in his attire. “Diamonds Droog, I assume?” she asked.
“Close. Drone Director. Not that it matters much to a dead girl walking.”
“That description is more accurate than you can possibly imagine,” Megido replied. Then she gave a snap of her fingers, encasing the Director in another pulsing time trap.
For a couple seconds.
“You do know there’s a spell that negates those tricks, right?” Diamonds asked. Megido didn’t have time to finish as with another burst of green the Drone Director blasted her across the street. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.
“Megido!” Captor cried. He rushed towards DD, but found his way blocked as a swarm of insects rushed in front of him, forming a massive wall between their boss and his attacker. Captor’s expression soured as he reached out psionically and scattered the bugs with his telekinesis. He again made to attack the Director, but was stopped as a bolt of magic blasted him to the ground. He got to his feet, glancing behind him. Another group of changelings hovered before him, their horns aglow with green as they charged their attacks. The squad fired their lasers as Captor raised his hand- the green magic beams slowed, before stopping all forward momentum completely. A bead of sweat rolled down Captor’s brow as his psychic powers struggled to hold the attacks at bay.
“Hey. Hadean Batterer,” Diamonds called. “Finish the job.” Captor caught sight of a massive, hulking changeling charging his way. His hands fully occupied, Captor again lit his eyes, charging for a couple seconds before releasing another burst of twin psionic blasts. To his surprise, HB froze as the lasers approached him. He fished around in his tightly fitting attire, before extracting an article that made Captor’s eyes widen in concern: a mirror. His lasers, reflected off the glass, barreled into him, blasting him to the ground, his mind reeling into darkness.
Makara continued flinging his gooey pastries at the changelings. He took a step towards another group, filling his arms with another load of soper confectionary, but found his foot stuck in something altogether different. He glanced down at the resin encasing his foot. “What the motherfuck is this? It ain’t any of my slime.” Those were his last words before a changeling struck him swiftly on the back of the head, and he kneeled over, unconscious.
Ampora twirled his wand, blasting holes in the clouds of changelings hovering around him. At his back, Peixes swung her trident, stabbing at any insect she could reach. She lunged forwards to impale another of the bugs when a small, stubby changeling tossed an unassuming little black box at the troll’s feet. Peixes glanced curiously at the box, before she noticed a strange ticking emulating from it. Panicked, she leapt backwards. She wasn’t quick enough. The resulting explosion blasted her away, and she hit the road hard as the Combustible Detonator had a short, gleeful victory dance.
“Peixes!” Ampora cried, turning to assist his fallen friend. This proved to be a mistake, as behind him, a score of changelings that had been held back by Ampora’s relentless fire now rushed forwards unimpeded and piled upon the vulnerable seadweller.
Diamonds turned away from the seadwellers, as his focus shifted to Zahhak and Leijon, who were tag teaming their way through the endless streams of changelings set upon them, slashing and pulverizing the enemy with no sign of tiring. He turned to the diamond pinned to his suit, and activated the special communications charm cast upon it. “We’re gonna need some backup,” he said. Taking another glance at Zahhak, he added, “And send in a siege titan,” posing it as an order.
No sooner had the order left his lips when a massive hulking fortress bulldozed through a nearby building- the dark siege titan, it’s eyes glowing green, it’s four arms menacingly poised to attack, and archers set upon the battlements atop its head. One of the archers readied his bow, and took aim at the young Huntress as she sliced through the neck of a nearby changeling, spilling green ichor over the streets. The arrow soared through the air- it missed Leijon but struck through her olive jacket, and pinned the girl by her garment to the road. Leijon, currently in mid pounce, was caught in the air by her jacket and slammed into the ground. She’d barely returned to her feet when a squad of changelings pounced upon her, burying her beneath their collective weight.
Quickly enough, the changeling pile was sent flying as Zahhak landed a destructive punch to its center, blasting the changelings away. Zahhak glanced down at the already-unconscious Nepeta, his eyes narrowing beneath his sunglasses in anger. He spun around, turning to face the enormous siege titan. He growled, spreading his wings, as he zoomed towards the enormous mech. The archers atop the titan, panicked, sent arrow after arrow at the incoming enemy, and were shocked to find the projectiles simply deflect off their aggressor’s well-muscled body. Zahhak slammed into the titan, with pure brute force, and knocked the enormous machine off balance. It tipped over, and toppled to the ground. Immediately, it went to work with the task of picking itself up again, but Zahhak wouldn’t let it. Zipping towards one of the structure’s enormous arms, Zahhak seized hold of the appendage. Then, placing his feet on the ground to increase his traction, he pulled. Sweat poured down his face and he felt his muscles strain with the enormous object as, with a roar of rage and an enormous feat of strength, Zahhak tore the arm from the siege titan’s arm sockets, before tossing the hulking appendage away. He gave several deep breaths, attempting to recover his energy.
Suddenly, another of the titan’s arms came down on him, as the mech was getting to its feet. Zahhak, spotting the limb’s approach, held out his hands and caught it. Immediately, he felt his arms ache with the effort of holding up the huge arm, the collective burden of ripping away one of the great appendages and holding back another shooting through his muscles. His legs threatened to buckle under the strain as he heard the cogs and gears of the great mech grinding slowly, laboring to crush the troll and failing at their duty.
Without warning, the arm rose away, and Zahhak was so relieved that he failed to notice another arm behind him, quickly swinging towards him. Seconds later, it slammed into him, and blasted the troll away. He flew straight through a brick wall and skidded to a stop inside the building, unconscious.
Maryam’s eyes filled with worry at the sight of her friends’ defeats, and then shot towards the massive swarm of changelings gathering around her and Pyrope. “Pyrope,” she called. “I Don’t Believe This Is A Confrontation We Will Win.”
“Do3sn’t m4tt3r,” Pyrope growled back. “W3 just focus on t4k1ng 4s m4ny bugs down 4s w3 c4n.”
“I Couldn’t Have Put It Better,” Maryam replied as she raised her chainsaw.
“4gr33d,” Pyrope finished, readying her cane. Completely in sync, the two rushed into the cloud of enemies before them, and green stained the asphalt until finally sheer numbers became completely overwhelming.
And then there were two. The Page of Breath, backing closer towards the Thief of Light as she looked out over her fallen friends and the massive, unending swarms of changelings that had brought them down, and that now turned their full attention upon her, and suddenly she found her mind beset by the unfamiliar emotions of fear and panic. “...F8ck.”
End of Chapter Two
