When Lightning Strikes- Into the Lion’s den
Canterlot
The calm quiet evening skies would normally be a perfect opportunity for nobles or members of royalty to relax. Unwind from the stress of the day. However, that wasn’t the case for Prince Shining Armor. After he met with Lauren Order, one of the top prosecutors in Celestia’s Day Court, she allowed him to have a glimpse at her rehabilitation program. One that she called Task Force X. However, it was not like what she had told him when she first mentioned it to him.
These were violent criminals. Ones that would normally be locked up inside the Zero Zone or another maximum security prison. So why was she trying to collect them. Out of some of the ones he seen, a lot of them were what he considered as “insane”. Just how was a prosecutor suppose to be able to handle all of them? Then there were some of the field reports that he had seen from Maretropolis. Where certain suspects matched the descriptions of the inmates at the rehabilitation facility. Just why would they been seen by witnesses though is unknown.
“Shining?” He soon turned around, looking at his wife, Princess Cadence. “Are you okay? It looks like something is troubling you.”
He shrugged a little, waving it off with his hoof. “I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all.”
“Honey, you’ve been acting strange ever since Ms. Order allowed you to her facility.” She pointed out to her. “Can you please tell me what’s going on?” If it was one thing with Cadence, it was that she could tell when something was bothering her husband. So, instead of lying to her, the Stallion first casted a soundproofing spell around the room before filling her in on everything he had witnessed. From Lauren’s facility to its inmates and the suspicion that he had involving some of the inmates being seen as witnesses of a few violent crimes. During the whole time, Cadence was surprised. But she knew that something had to be done. Thankfully, Shining told her the details of the facility and where he thought that the location was.
Because while Shining was asleep, the princess of love used it as her chance to depart. Heading to the back of the room, she placed her hoof on the wall as a small silver line that glowed scanned her hoof. Soon, the dresser where she kept her clothes turned around, revealing a mask, suit, quiver of arrows and a perfectly forged bow. For Cadence had a secret. Before she met her husband, the Alicorn was known by the identity of the “Amorous Archer”, a hero who used her magic and bow to bring justice to criminals in Canterlot and Maretropolis. However, when she became a princess, she had to hang up her suit and bow in order to take on the roles and responsibilities that came with her position. However, with all the criminal activity that had recently transpired, she had been teased and tempted over and over again to finally brush the dust off of her equipment and get back in the field. And now… Now seemed liked the best time to get back in the game. She had a location, her equipment, and a distinct knowledge of where she would be headed.
What’s the worst thing that could happen?
Meanwhile…
“Okay… I believe that should hopefully do the trick.” Lance spoke as he set his gun back on the table he had out in the training room. The Azure Striker, after some recent encounters with villains such as the Purple Mare, Roach and Eve, had decided to try and test with some new bolt clip prototypes while he let Aurora rest in his communicator. He had Spike earlier begin research on what was required to cast the Soul Force Trap spell that Roach had told him about, but had not heard any information about it within the last hour.
His new clip modifications were based on two things. The first being the original properties of some Sumeragi weapons they seized when Lee and Twilight first arrived. Second was based on his clips and the Energy Properties inside Dullahan. He was trying to see if there was a way to combine the two and the results… paid off. His tinkering led to the creation of a new clips that had the energy based capabilities of Dullahan. But on contact, the projectile could weaken enemy shields and hit from long ranges. In a way, it reminded Lance of the Carbine from the Halo series.
However, his tests soon had caused Aurora to stir from her slumber.
“What’s up...?”
“Oh hey,” Lance addressed, putting his weapon down for a second to look at the filly. “I was just testing a new bolt clip I came up with while tinkering with my weapons. Sorry if I woke you up.”
“It’s okay… I’ll watch.”
Lance nodded his head, until a small beep went off on his communicator, forcing him to have to holster his weapons and tools. “Well, looks like Spike must be done with finding what we need.”
“And that is…” Aurora asked expectantly.
“A specific item we need in order for a spell to be cast on me. One that can weaken the Purple Mare.” The Adept told her as they left the training room and made their way down the hallway.
“Okay… What spell?”
“Soul Force Trap… Do you know of her powers Aurora? You ran the only time I encountered her.” He pointed out.
“Yeah… She’s foalnapped me twice, but let me go after I stabbed a hook in her shoulder.”
“And you know that she controls spirits that possess objects like you can right?”
“Yeah, that’s how I couldn’t escape.” The filly tilted her digital head, “What are you getting at?”
“This… may be hard to take in so bear with me… I visited Roach in the Zero Zone and-.”
“What!?” She yelled, rage causing the bracer to vibrate. “He banished my dad!”
“Aurora, I didn’t have any other choice. The guards at the facility told me that he knew a lot of things about the prisoners in the Zero Zone before they escaped, so right now, I’m only using him for information. I’m not intending to be best friends with him because I’m still planning on killing him to bring your dad back. But, he was the one who told me of the way to defeat the Purple Mare.” He tried to tell her, doing his best to calm down the young filly. “It’s the spirits she controls.”
Aurora stayed quiet for a bit. “He made a deal with you, didn’t he?”
“He would provide information as long as I don’t harm him. Plus, right now, Max placed the band that I had on in Kat’s world, nullifying his powers. But there was one… other thing that he gave me as part of the agreement,” He told her, putting his hand in his pocket as he pulled it out for Aurora to see. “The eye he stole from your father. Not the best of gifts to give honestly… I’m guessing you are still wondering why?”
“I want to know what you had to give him. He always has an end game.”
“Strangely enough, a visit. Ten minutes at least, three times a week. Apparently, he’s getting lonely.” He told her as he turned around a corner. “What he told me though was that the Purple Mare’s powers are like your possession abilities, but different. Spirits can’t possess living beings because they would get trapped inside the body of the target they are trying to get and fade away in there. The spell I’m researching is supposedly trying to pull those spirits in like a magnet and when they fade away, the Purple Mare’s abilities weaken.”
Aurora didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry Aurora… I didn’t think it through properly… After what happened… I didn’t want myself to feel weak or unable to protect you and the people I care for the most. I promised to bring your father back and I will be able to bring him back. Even if it kills me.”
“... I never said I wanted that…”
“I hate myself for even going through with it… I should’ve thought about it more before actually talking to him. If I could go back into the past and change my decision, I would. But I can’t… And now I feel like I betrayed you and your father because of what I did.”
“Just… See what Spike has…” Lance nodded as he approached the room.
“We make a great team Aurora… I don’t want my actions and choices to cause everything to fall apart.” He told her, shortly before walking inside. “I’m here Spike. What’s up?”
“Well, I found out about what your spell requires, but the item itself is very… what’s the word… rare.” He replied back, handing a tablet for Lance to observe as the dragon tried to press a few keys. “For the spell, you need the energy inside a Soulstone. It’s a rare stone that allows it’s user to interact with the spiritual plane. Recently though, a huge shipment of them has been purchased, but with the attack by the Purple Mare, I can’t seem to track down where that shipment is headed.”
“Why?” Aurora asked.
“I think somehow, somepony messed with the algorithm in the database and all I’m getting now are user errors. I remember that I have backup files of the servers, but replacing everything could take almost three days at most. And if I’m correct, you don’t have three days.”
“No. The Purple Mare knows that the HQ has been weakened and I believe she will come back to finish what she started. We’ll need to be ready beforehand.” The Adept told him.
“I’ll help,” Aurora said hopping out of Lance’s bracer, “I can fix it in an hour.”
“That can work. I was going to suggest if you wanted to stay with Humdrum for a little while and just talk to me through Comms.” Lance told her. Soon, thanks to Aurora’s assistance, Humdrum was able to get the maps feature working on the monitor.
“It looks like the shipment is heading to a… rehabilitation facility? That’s… odd,” The drake spoke, scrolling down on the current page. “Okay, this just keeps getting weirder the more I read it. The facility is owned by a mare named Lauren Order-.”
“Law and Order?”
“No, Lauren Order.” Spike clarified, pulling up the image of the pony he was referring to. “She’s one of the head prosecutors of the Canterlot Day court. Nicknamed The Iron Madame because of her fierce personality and courtroom tactics. hasn’t lost a single case involving massive criminal cases like murder and terrorist attacks.”
“Why the hay does she have a rehabribatation?” Aurora said and failed at pronouncing the word.
“Rehabilitation,” The Adept clarified. “It means trying to have criminals learn the errors of their ways and wipe themselves clean of their life of crime. I still wonder why she would have that. With her being a lawyer, I think this pony would more likely want vicious criminals to be locked up for life.”
“Same here,” Spike replied, before noticing two dots on the screen. “Okay, what are those?”
“Wait a second… those are the signals from my tracer bolts!” The adept spoke. “I came up with Tracer bolts in order to give off a signal that allows me to find their location. I only fired two of them though. One of them against Deadeye and the other one at the Motorcycle of Junkrat and Roadhog.” The adept then analyzed their locations, only to find that they were inside the perimeters of the facility they were analyzing. “Something about this place seems fishy.”
“What are you thinking, Lance?” Spike asked him.
“I think I need to pay a visit. You two can stay on comms, I’m only going to take a look around and see what I can find.” He told them. “Heck, if I could get a couple of soulstones, it will not only help with the spell, but maybe we can run some tests on them and see what other things they could be used for.”
“Okay, but if anypony finds out, I’m going to tell them that it was your idea.” Spike retorted. Lance though, just smiled as he left the two of them to get back to fixing the system. As he made his way up to the roof though, and Lumen was awake again, something else was waiting for him.
“Well… this is an unexpected surprise.” He said. “Hello again… Gremmy.”
“Hello…..forgetful idiot.” Gremmy said as he let Eto jump off his back.
“Warn me the next you’re going to do that next time.” Eto said before glaring at Lance.
“Hello to you as well. Care to tell me why you dropped by unannounced?”
“Lance, who are these people?” Lumen asked, flying by his shoulder as he looked at them.
“To put it briefly, they’re displaced,” Lance told the Breezie, pointing a finger at Gremmy. “That’s Gremmy, the one responsible for having a Frying Pan drop on my head and the other one is Eto, who is keeping an eye on Kaoru. Speaking of which, Most of the power ponies have agreed with me on not seeing her as a criminal though. However… things have escalated.”
“My patient is drawing thin boy. We gave a month and a few days to have the meeting set, and right now I’m about a few seconds away from wrecking this place….but seeing Gremmy is here I won’t be attack your base… yet.”
“So this meeting is strictly for business? I see… Umm… I have a question.”
“What’s your question boy?”
“Who’s the girl with the taco’s right behind the two of you?”
“Oh her? That’s Sonata… you know I don’t even know how she even got here?”
“I think I might know, but I’ll say she’s just like Deadpool only different.” Gremmy said patting Sonata on the head.
Lance chuckled to himself upon hearing that. “So you replace Chimichangas with Taco’s and you get her? That makes sense… Anyways, you said that you wanted to set up a meeting? Well, I have nothing scheduled three days from now. Is there any specific details I should know about? Oh and we’re not meeting in New Yoke. There’s a Mitochondria outbreak there.”
“I know, Chrysalis was over there taking care of some… personal business.”
“I understand… Speaking of business, we should set up our meeting. Three days from now, right here, at sundown. Just us or do you want the whole team to be a part of it. Because we’ve recently acquired some new… members.” Lance sighed at the last part, playing a recording that he had on his wrist from earlier this afternoon.
“So, that is your report?”
“Yes…”
“You killed a so called Vaccine Man…”
“Dead.”
“And you rescued a filly who was looking for her parents?”
“With the big swirly eyes.”
“*sighs*… You really need to let us know when you’re going out into town.”
“And you need to get some more muffins in here!!!”
“That… is Derpy… the second Derpy… Also known as One Punch Mare.”
“That would explain what we saw on the news today. Also, as I said to you before, we are holding the meeting tonight.”
“Alright… Just one small thing to note, the rest of the team is not here. They have to deal with the new wave of criminals that some jackass broke out of the Zero Zone.” the Adept informed them. “I suggested that if you wanted to meet with the team, we needed to schedule a better night. Hell, I was almost killed two nights ago because of a freaking villain that broke out of solitary confinement.”
“You had about a month to get this meeting ready, and so far placed a girl that you gave your word to help. But instead you placed on the side burner and went on to do your own-.”
“Technically… It’s been twenty seven days. A month is thirty. You either are seeing things wrong or one of your team mates messed up the calendar.”
“Oh yeah, I remember using the calendar as a placemat on Taco Tuesday!” Sonata recalled, causing Gremmy and Eto to look at her.
“.....Listen boy.” Gremmy said as he caused the building he was on to shake. “I don’t really care what time is was or date, but seeing how you didn’t make any time to see Kaoru she’s pretty getting stressful to the point where she can’t go outside normally.”
“That bold of you given the fact that you two are acting like her parents and not letting her come here to say it herself. Listen, I’ve already convinced all of the power ponies to believe me and the entire police department. However, I can’t do everything for her. She needs to be brave enough to where she can appear in public and catch the attention of the people… If the police department is right, someone is going to try and attack the Mayor when she’s giving a speech tomorrow. Since it’s an international event, she doesn’t want the power ponies to be there to cause tensions between countries… However, that doesn’t mean that Kaoru couldn’t step in and save her. It’ll be a nationally televised event. If she pulls this off, it’ll allow the city to see who she truly is.”
“Yeah that might work… if you can get from out of hiding inside her room after what happen to her last night.” Eto said.
“Last night? What the hell happened then?” Lumen asked. “We weren’t told of anything that happened last night.”
“Because you busy with other stuff like you always are, anyway Kaoru was attacked on a mission last night by some monster named Carnage Kabuto. It was… one sided fight seeing how she came back a bloody mess.”
“Oh, are you talking about the monster that Derpy punched at the harbor a few hours ago. Yeah, he’s dead.” Lumen said to them, catching their attention rather quickly.
“My point is after that fight.... she hasn’t been the same.” Eto said with a look of depression on her face. “Took Adagio two days to get her back to her...somewhat normal self.”
“ … Because of the band… Did you even remember to give her the key to take it off or did Taco Girl take it as a keepsake?” Lance asked, noticing her fiddling with it between her fingers. “And that… answers my question… Look, I can’t help you two with everything. You two are trying to suck me dry like vampires. And not the Twilight kind since they’re complete BS. Listen… life can knock you down sometimes, but it depends on you if you want to get back up again. I don’t have the answer to every problem you try to come at me with… For one thing, why can’t you just talk to Lotus? Isn’t she Gremmy’s boss and the one who keeps him… in line?”
“*Sigh* Look we tried to talk to her about that, but whenever certain ponies try to talk to her see just shuts down and-.”
“Then let me talk to her, dammit!” Lance snapped, stopping Eto mid sentence and causing her eyes to widen. “She’ll be wanting to talk to a real human being that knows about what she’s going through more than ponies who think they know.”
“Okay one, you don’t yell at a lady.” Gremmy said as he tossed Sonata a button “And two, Sonata if you would.”
“First off Gremmy, hearing excuses doesn’t solve anything. Second, I’m giving you my time to help her not because you’re telling me too, but because I care for Kaoru. You wouldn’t know anything about it because you don’t act like you care for anyone but yourself.”
Gremmy said nothing, but pulled out a key. “Mental lock one… unlock.” He said as the key disappeared into dust.
“Oh sh*t. Sonata, Lotus. Get him out of here while I cool Gremmy down!” Eto said as Sonata and Lotus rushed over and teleported Lance off the roof, and into Power Pony HQ. As they appeared inside the kitchen, all they heard from above them was a sound of an explosion.
“Remind me to send him the bill for damages later,” Lumen said, noticing Lotus. “So you must be Lotus? It’s nice to meet a fellow Breezie like yourself.”
“Yep, Lotus the name. I take it you must be Lance’s boss?”
“No actually, we’re partners.” Lumen told her. “I help him with missions and stuff. His hair makes a good place to sleep too.”
“Says the one who sleeps any chance she gets.” The Adept retorted.
“Hey!!”
“Reminds me of Gremmy. Speaking of that.” Lotus said as she press the button that Gremmy gave to Sonata, as a pan fell towards Lance’s head. But this time, Lance actually caught it by the handle and set it on the nearby stove, catching them by surprise.
“I don’t fall for the same trick twice.” He told her, “Speaking of which, where’s Kaoru? We might have a limited amount of time before Gremmy gets back here and I rather not have him leave a burning path of destruction in his wake once he gets here.”
“I’ll lead you Kaoru under two conditions.” Lotus said, as she flew in front of Lance. “One, you apologize for what you said about Gremmy. He may be a *** at time, but that doesn’t mean he’s heartless bastard as you think is and I will not have you speak ill of a man who’s a hero and a soon to be father in this world.”
“Woah, back up… Father? Oh sh*t, I didn’t realize that.” Lance replied. “Sorry Lotus… I just don’t really like people with that kind of attitude. I will apologize… Hang on though… who’s the wife?”
“Oh a sweet little mare named Night Glider, I have to say Kat was right they do make an adorable pair when you think about it.”
“Remind me to have Max and Seph get the chance to meet them… Hell, maybe invite you and them to the wedding… What am I saying? I’m getting distracted again. Lotus, I’ll will apologize in a minute. This conversation is distracting me from helping Kaoru.”
“Good, and condition two.” Lotus facial expression changed from happy to bloodlust in a matter of second. “NEVER PISS HIM OFF LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!”
“Sorry, it’s hard to keep myself calm around him.” Lance replied, turning around to Sonata. “Care to lead the way to Kaoru?”
“Okay follow me please.” Lotus said as she turned back to normal. “You know you should be lucky that I came along with Gremmy.”
“I am completely actually. I actually feel like I owe you guys something because you really pulled me out of a pickle there.” He told her, not knowing that they were passing the door to Touka’s room. They walked a few doors down to where Kaoru’s room was suppose to be. On the front though was a sign saying KEEP OUT in bold lettering.
“I guess this is it?”
“Moondancer is inside with her for comfort, so try not to piss them off like you did with Gremmy.” Lance nodded his head, thinking that the possibility of that happening was next to impossible as Kaoru and Gremmy were two totally different people with opposite personalities. Maybe he’ll get along easier with them if he just remained calm and composed.
“HEY KAORU! IT’S ME SONATA! CAN I COME IN WITH A FRIEND?!” Sonata asked as she banged on her door. There was a moment of silence as the door opened up to her and Lance. “Okay, let’s go in.”
“Ladies first.”
“Wouldn’t that be you seeing how you have a ponytail, and have a girly figure?”
“No. That would be you because I don’t sound feminine. Plus, I was being nice.”
“Oh okay.” Sonata said as she entered the room, only to be sent flying out. “I think she’s busy!” she yelled as she crashed into Adagio and Aria.
“O… kay.” He replied, slowly knocking and opening the door carefully, looking at Kaoru for the first time in weeks. She looked way different than before and her hair was a mixture of Black and white. “Umm… Am I interrupting anything?”
“Go away.” Kaoru shouted, using Moondancer as a shield.
“Please… I’m not here to harm you. Lotus told me what happened and I just wanted to talk. I’m not here to hurt you and your… friend.”
“I said GO AWAY!”
Calmly, Lance closed the door behind him. “Kaoru, please… calm down. There’s nothing to be scared of.”
“Calm down? WHY THE **** SHOULD I CALM DOWN?!” Kaoru yelled as she point a quinque in the form of a sword at Lance. “After all the sh*t I been through the past two to three weeks being attacked by the police, different groups of heroes, some of the power ponies, the police department, and the mutant kabuto beetle man thing. Why should I calm down?”
“Because Carnage Kabuto is dead and the Police Department and Power Ponies no longer see you as a threat anymore… They’re trying to welcome you with open arms, Kaoru.” He told him, looking at her. “You’ve been cleared of all wrongdoings you might have done. Including what happened when I first met you. Everything is a clean slate now… You’ve been given the chance to start anew.”
“You really think that would change anything?!” Kaoru yelled as she tackled him to the ground. “You don’t get it do you? Even if I’m free from what I did everyone will still come after me, no matter what. And you…… you’re really pissing me off for not helping me.”
“Who said I didn’t help you. I was the one who helped clear your name. I was the one who gave Gremmy the band so he could have you be human again. I did everything I can do to show to them that you aren’t the person they think you are… Now that you have a clean slate, your actions affect how you are seen… And there is something that might help you.” Carefully, Lance retold everything that he told Gremmy to Kaoru and Moondancer. Every single detail. That way, she would know that there was indeed, a chance for her to be seen for not the monster she had become, but for her heroism in saving another one’s life. But one thing that he noticed that Kaoru expressed was the fact that she felt alone. That no one cared for her… He was about to prove her wrong.
“Kaoru, everything I did up to this point I had done not because Eto or someone else told me too, but because I cared for you as a person. Sure, life might knock you down at times. But it’s how you respond and how you get back up on your feet that makes the real difference.”
“N-No, I’m not going out.” The girl said as she crawled under her covers. “I’ll go out for killing criminals, but I’m not going out for stuff like that.”
“Do you realize that when I told you this, I mean it as a massive swarm of criminals will storm the building and be taking hostages?”
“Let the league handle it for all I care. I’m not going to it and I’m sure as hell not going to get myself killed again.”
“The league wants you to do it… Or they’ll probably give the job to Sonata… Which reminds me…” Lance told her, pulling out a string with a metal piece attached to it. “Sonata meant to give this to you, but forgot. It’s the key to release the band off of your wrist. Meaning you will have full access to your powers. You aren’t a monster, Kaoru. You’re a friend to me… And friends help each other.”
“Just leave me alone dammit! I don’t need help from a guy who only stood at the sideline and watch!”
“Look… I’ve been helping you because I did it out of the generosity of my heart. But if you don’t want my help anymore… Prove it to me. Eto and Gremmy still think that you’re a child trying to learn how to walk for the first time. Prove to me that you don’t need my help by doing this. If all goes well, it’ll tell me that you can take care of yourself and that Eto doesn’t need my assistance anymore.” He told her, looking at Moondancer before looking at Kaoru again. “Prove to them that you are the strong and brave Ghoul that I remember from a few months back. Show them what you are capable of.”
“If you haven’t notice idiot, I’M NOT A GHOUL ANYMORE!” Kaoru yelled as she pushed Lance out of her room with the help of Moondancer. “Now stay out of my room and stay out of my life. I don’t need help from someone who thinks he help just by standing on the sidelines while the other did the work for him.” With that she slammed the door in front of Lance. Not before he grabbed it and her slam caused a portion of the door to break.
“Do you honestly think I left you on the Goddamn sidelines? You have no idea what I did. What I had to put up with, or the amount of times I almost DIED to keep my promise.” He stopped, rolling up his sleeve on the arm that so long ago, she had bitten. It had more scars now. Scars from fights, near death and everything else.
“I thought you would change if I let you be human again… Now I realize that was one of the biggest mistakes I have done. I’m sorry, Kaoru. But you left me no choice.” Taking the key he was still holding, his blinding speed had the key pop the band that was on Kaoru’s wrist off of her as it fell to the floor. He picked them up, giving them to Moondancer. “Please… look out for her. She may not want to hear it, but I care for her like a daughter. Please watch her.”
“... If you want to know what happen to her, go ask Adagio and she’ll tell you the damage caused to her. But I will keep her safe for you.” Moondancer said as she wrapped her kagune around the broken human.
“Thank you… Before I go though…” He told her, his arm still exposed. “Let her eat. If she does, some clarity might return to her.”
“She’s not a ghoul anymore remember?”
“... You don’t get how the band works.” Lance told her. “She isn’t a ghoul as long as it stays on. When it’s off, she becomes a ghoul again. The band is used to nullify her powers, but when it’s removed, her powers return. I’m guessing Gremmy didn’t tell you that?”
“*Sigh* Just go talk to Adagio and you’ll know what I mean.” Moondancer said as she turn her attention back at Kaoru. Lance sighed, closing the door before going into his pocket and leaving his token on the doorknob with a message for her. As he turned around though, he was surprised to see that the woman Moondancer mentioned was behind him. And proceeded to slap him in the face.
“Hm, odd? I figure my hoof would be stunned when I did that.” Adagio said.
“It would only work if I’m channeling my powers. I’m not right now because I’m trying to not cause any turmoil… Wait… were you snooping on our conversation?”
“Well I am the league's medical doctor after all, and I was gonna check on Kaoru until you came. So you wanna know what Moondancer was talking about?”
“Let me guess… Uncontrollable rage… suicidal tendencies… Sonata trying to force her to eat tacos?” Lance sighed, realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere. “Well, this might be surprising… but Kaoru is a ghoul again. I took off the band on her wrist so her powers could fully return to her.”
“Sure you did, but it didn’t.”
“Hang on… it?” The Azure Striker asked. “The band only nullify’s a Displaced’s powers when the user is wearing it. When it is taken off, their powers return to the owner. Are you telling me that there’s something that I don’t know about?” The Adept was asking her this because he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t missing anything important.
“Let me tell the damage of Kaoru when she was fighting that mutant beetle.” Adagio said as a digital screen appeared showing Kaoru’s destroyed body. “When Moondancer was able to get her and Kaoru here. Half her body and almost vital organs were destroyed, and for some reason while fighting him she couldn’t recover from his punches.”
“Well, that only proves something else… The band must not be on when she fights.” he told her. “It nullifies her rapid healing abilities. That’s why she couldn’t recover as quickly.”
“You don’t understand, she wasn’t wearing the band that Gremmy got from you.”
That, caught Lance's attention. “She wasn’t…? Wait… have you scanned her for an x-ray yet.” He asked, thinking of something that came to mind. “Kabuto might be dead, but there’s something that doesn’t add up… and I have a feeling of what it might be…”
“Can I please finish before you rudely interrupted me?”
“Oh, my apologies. Continue.”
“Thank you. Now as I was saying, by the time she got here, Kaoru was nothing but torso and an arm. So I did the best I could to try to patch her, but due to the mutated cells in Kabuto’s body, it prevented her from recovering. So I had to do the alternative.”
“Alternative?” He asked.
“I used some of the energy from the band to make certain parts of her body that were vital and needed to replace quickly. So after two days of surgery I was able to fix Kaoru back up, but I had to remove the kagune from her along with her reproductive organs, and have to replace pieces of her brain that couldn’t recover.”
“ …… Damn… this is not good.” he looked at her. “The band was not suppose to be used for those purposes. Now, you’re preventing her from ever being able to fight again…”
“So let me get this straight.” Adagio said as she gave Lance a death gaze. “You would rather you have just let Kaoru die?”
“Not if you give her a cure. My blood can cure those remedies.” He told her. “I have advanced healing. It can remove the poison from Kabuto. All you need to do is get that band out of her.”
“If you were here two days ago then it would’ve help, but seeing how you were busy-.”
“Don’t you god damn lecture me about what I do. I’m trying to help your comrade and you are just trying to delay me helping her.” He shot back. “Now, do you want Kaoru to be back on her feet or still moping in her room? If you let me do this… I won’t even tell Gremmy how you abused the gift that I gave him.”
“Interrupt me again and I’ll have Arima kick you out. Now as I was saying, while you were busy trying to clear her name. Granted you’re blood is quite interesting on the healing aspect, but organs are already placed inside her and unless you want her to die by having me remove them, then I suggest instead of trying to fix my hard work I suggest you try finding someone that can help her cope with a being brought back from the dead, and getting the sh*t beat out of you like rag doll.”
That conversation though, had Lance realize something. Nothing had to be removed… It just had to be reversed. “The bands don’t need to be removed… They’re metal right?”
“Once her body is recovered I’ll be removing the bands.”
“I’m leaving the medical work to you… But I highly suggest you quicken her recovery. There’s a narrow window of opportunity that she needs to make and if she can’t make it… Then her depression would get worse… Moondancer can fill you in on those details.” Lance told her. “Oh… and I’m sorry for cutting you off again and getting mad. I just get real frustrated when I can’t help anyone…”
“I’ll let it pass this one time lightning boy. As for Kaoru it’ll take more than a few hours of her to recover. Right now, she’s going through the healing phase, than we have to help her get back to physical strength normally for her body to get used to being normal, and during that time we need to help her cope with her near death experience. Unlike you who’s used to something like that Kaoru isn’t, and rushing things like this won’t help.”
“...... I’m not used to it.” He told her, catching her attention. “I was in the same position as her. When that happened to her, I almost was killed as well. You may not think of it, but I had to cope as well. Cope from the feeling of not being able to protect those I cared for. There’s a way to do it, but it involves the league seeing her more than just a member of an organization… You need to see her as family.” Lance sighed, narrowing down a bit as he placed his two front fingers on her forehead. Normally, doing this would have him see the memories of those he touched. But instead, the process was reversed. Adagio was seeing the memories of what happened to Lance. But not just seeing them. Feeling them. Putting her in the same position he once was until she came back to reality.
“You may not think that I’ve been through some of these experiences because we’re on opposite sides of the law, but as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” He soon turned around, walking back to where Lotus would be… Until he was unsuspectedly yanked into Touka’s room as the door slammed behind him.
“Well what do we have here?” Touka said wrapping her kagune around him. “The Azure Striker, here in our base, and injured no less.”
“That would be because you pulled me by the neck.” He clarified. “And for clarification, Gremmy needed my help with Kaoru so he had me talk to her. Hopefully, things work out… I’m still going to have to apologize to him.”
“Not to be a **** or anything, after hearing your so called talk I don’t think that did anything to help. I believe it takes a woman’s touch to help her with what happen to her… no pun intended.”
“Try telling that to Sonata. She was thrown into two of your teammates.”
“A Displaced Female, not a pony simpleton.” Touka deadpanned. The way that she was acting was really starting to give Lance flashbacks to Max and Seph. The tone. The way she spoke. Everything. Especially with the way she yanked him into there.
“ …… Right… I’m guessing there’s a reason why you yanked me in here?” He asked, looking around and noticing something on her open laptop. A sound file titled “Lance and Max’s fun”. That… caught his attention really quickly as he looked back at her. “How the hell did you get something like this?”
“Sonata left a small speaker device on you while you weren’t looking. Have to say, even though she’s not that bright she does one hell of a job placing stuff on people.”
“That might explain why I found chips in my pocket the following morning,” He murmured to himself. “Still though, why exactly are you snooping on us… Are you jealous?”
“Maybe, who knows, but I will say that I want a piece of Max’s boy candy.”
Lance smirked a little, looking back at her. “Well… I’m guessing you don’t know that I’m in an open relationship… heh, I got some extra time on my hands.”
It only took a little while for Lance to be able to finally be able to get back with Lotus after Kaoru yanked him by surprise. But the first person to talk wasn’t her though, or Lumen. But instead, it was the filly that was helping him with Comms. He had turned it off shortly after speaking with Gremmy. But it wasn’t until later that he turned it back on again to the sound of both dragon and filly yelling at him.
“Lance! What have you been doing!?” Aurora asked rhetorically.
“Sorry Aurora… I had to take a slight detour and help some… acquaintances.” Lance told her. “I’ll be making my way over to the facility shortly.”
“Hurry up, we don’t have much time for fun. Purple Mare just broke into the Thingamajig and destroyed it as well as stole Sandy.”
That… definitely made Lance hurry up. Everything that occurred after that, including the apology to Gremmy was just a blur as he raced out of there and used instant transmission to teleport himself to the roof of the facility. Turning around, he found a door that had a security lock mechanism on the front. “Aurora, patch me into the network. I’m going in.”
A few seconds later, Aurora said, “You’re in, Lance.”
“Thanks!” He told him, before quietly creeping in through the door. Activating a headset he kept on him, the Adept worked his way down to the second floor. Looking for a map, he soon came across a field plan of the entire facility.
“Okay guys, I found two possible locations. One is a storage room and the other is Lauren Order’s office. Which one seems to be the closest to where I’m at right now?”
“Head to her office,” Spike replied back. “The storage unit is just below it, so you can drop in shortly afterwards.”
“Well, that’s convenient.” Following the dragon's words, he made his way to the office of Lauren Order, only to find another security panel. Aurora assisted him with the override and soon, the Adept was inside. The immediate thing that he saw to the right was a cardboard box that was partially glowing. Soon, he opened it up and found his target.
“Jackpot.”
Taking a few crystals, he slipped them into his jacket before turning around. He was going to leave… If it weren’t for a Manila folder he found in the trash can. Taking it out, he soon gasped at what was labeled at the front of it.
PROJECT: MARIONETTE- SUBJECT: EQUILIS
“Holy crap… Aurora… You aren’t going to believe what I found in here.”
“What?” The filly asked.
“Lauren Order has a subject file here on the Marionette Project. Specifically, Equilis. How the hell does she have something like this?”
Aurora was quiet until she asked, “Spike? Any ideas why Order has it?”
“I don’t know… Bring that file back with you Lance. There must be some clues inside that can tell us what is going on.” Lance nodded, placing the folder with the crystals in his jacket.
“Okay, I believe I got everything I need. Making my exit now.” He told them, working his way back up the stairs. However, before he could transport himself back to HQ, a clicking sound was heard and caused him to freeze in his tracks.
“Don’t… move…”
Lance paused, slowly turning around. Looking at the one pointing a gun at him. Eyes widening. “Dad?” Soon, the mare that he saw only a couple of days before appeared next to him, forming from a puddle of paint.
“Boo!” She whispered into his ear, smirking devilishly.
“Anarchy… Now is not the time for pranks.” McCree told her, refocusing his attention on the Adept in front of him. “Who are you?”
“Wha-?”
“You look like my son, but I have no way of proving that you are. Tell me your name now.” He snarled, looking at him with an intent to kill. Lance sighed, taking a deep breath.
“My name is Lance Walker. Son of Brandon and Tiffany Walker, Nephew of Silvia Jiris and Cousin of Sean Jiris. Sixteen years old.”
Those few words alone, caused McCree to drop his gun. “Holy sh*t.”
“McCree, we don’t have time for gawking!” Anarchy said, turning her arm into a white blade.
“Anarchy, stand down… This boy here is my son.” He told her. “He’s family. Now… why exactly are you here?”
“I needed a Soulstone to defeat someone who almost killed me.”
“Wha-? YOU ALMOST DIED!?!”
“Comes with a job.” Lance sighed.
Suddenly, red sirens went off. Anarchy pulled her hoof from the panic button. “Sorry, no snoops.”
“I was going to take my leave anyways… Better hurry and get back to Drift and the others.” Lance said, shortly before teleporting himself off of the rooftop, leaving both McCree and Anarchy there… stunned. McCree was stunned because he didn’t know that his son could teleport. Anarchy though… was surprised for a different reason.
“D-Drift…?” She shook her head, “We can’t let him get away, I saw him with a document.”
“What document?” McCree asked. “All I saw him with was the stones. Plus, the documents would be in the archives room. Not in the office where we saw him come out of.”
“I thought…” She sighed, “He had to have taken something! Why was he here!?”
“Not sure, but something tells me Lance couldn’t have gotten far. He looked exhausted when we saw him.” The Lawbringer said, turning to her. “Go get some rest. I’ll tell Curse, Choke and Blackout that they have something they can chase.”
“Okay, Aurora. I got everything.” The Adept told his partner through his communicator before looking around him. “There’s one small problem though. I need to recharge my energy and right now, I’m stuck in a field miles from that facility… And I think I somehow attracted company.”
“Uh… Look around and find some kind of landmark. Maybe you can get help.” Aurora said. The Adept looked around, soon noticing a wooden sign not far from his location.
“Okay… I found a sign with some directions… Paradise Tower… half a mile from here.” He told Aurora. “Never heard of that place before. Any idea what it is?”
“Uh, no… It sound familiar though. I heard a news report that told ponies to steer clear of that area… Good thing you aren’t a pony!”
“Sounds like a good place to lay low. I’m sending the soulstones to you along with the file I picked up.” He told her, using his ki to teleport the items to Spike at the base, keeping two of the three Soulstones to himself as he hurried through the branches and the trees. “I’m going to take cover until whoever is chasing me gets bored.” Around now though, was when he looked up to see what this Paradise Tower actually was. A silver shack made out of metal… That was a Tower?
“Weird…” Lance thought, only to hear some commotion come from behind him. He heard three voices and they were talking to each other, looking for him.
Seeing that there was no time to stick around, Lance ran towards the tower and closed the door behind him. Inside was a button labeled ‘Down’. Looking at the button, he approached it carefully and then pushed it. “Down? The hell does that mean?”
His question was answered when the stone slab he though was in front of him turned out to be a set of elevator doors. “Oh… So that’s what that is.” Soon, he stepped inside as the doors closed behind him.
Immediately, the lights went on. Illuminating the area in a weak glow. A hologram of a green mare appeared with a familiar voice.
“Welcome to the op-opening day of the Pararararadise Tower Memorial Museum-m-m. My name is S-Sandy-y, and I will be your tour guide for th-this fine d-d-day.”
Lance was initially shocked at seeing Sandy. But the one thing he noticed was that this one didn’t seem to notice him. The AI must’ve been reprogrammed to serve as a tour guide. “Hello.” He said briefly, to test the theory he had involving her being reprogrammed as he waited for a response.
Instead of responding, the image of her faded and the projector short circuited with sparks flying. The farther he went down, the more static he heard from his communicator. So, in the best interest, he shut it off as the elevator slowed down and the doors soon opened.
The area was desolate, only a few pieces of paper here and there. A desk with dust all over it, and a steel door behind that was everything else. Another hologram appeared of Sandy.
“This place was once a lab used by Dr. Igneous Rock, also known as Delirious. He was an evil scientist who wanted to test the limits of what a pony can do. He was stopped by the Power Ponies, and their team was formed soon after. We decided to repurpose this place to give everypony a chance to see the great wonder of the deceased Stopwatch and the team he left behind. The lower levels are off limits to children and are for adults with a strong stomach.”
“Something tells me that down there, I might find out something important.” He told himself. Proceeding forward, he kept his hands by the holsters of his weapons as he cautiously proceeded to the steel door. Carefully, he pushed it open and stepped through.
This section’s lights turned on, and a dozen mementos from the past that Lance had never seen before were lined up on separate ends. Another hologram appeared.
“This sections are trinkets that the Power Ponies donated to-to-to this museum. Things they collected fro-from past villains like Fantasy, Anti-Zapp, and even Hybrid.”
“Hybrid?”
This time, Sandy responded. “Hybrid: An experimental clone that was a hybrid of all the Power Ponies founding members excluding Stopwatch. She was captured and turned into the Zero Zone and was considered a fierce foe with all the powers of the team.”
This made Lance think of Discord, power wise. Multiple Powers in one body. “I see. Please continue.”
“She fought the Power Ponies on three occasions, and could morph into any of her DNA templates. She was created by the same ponies as Echolight, Blaster, Saddle Breaker, Fili-Minute, Marevelence, and Dullness.” It finished, having Lance think of the same ponies that had been released early because of Nova. He continued to walk farther down the halls, until a sound caught his attention. It sounded like movement. But other than him, there was no one else unless the ones that were chasing him made there way down here.
“How many are here in attendance?” He asked, thinking that a question relating to the exhibit might give him an answer he was looking for.
“One.” Came the reply.
“Maybe they’re cloaking themselves.” He told himself. “Let me know if anything changes. Let’s proceed.” He spoke out loud, continuing to walk forward.
“Shutdown AI, password delta-one.” A male voice said. Lance looked around and spotted two red eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Lance turned around, lightning being emitted from his arms. “I could ask you the same thing. Who are you?” He shot back, resisting temptation to draw his gun.
“This is my base,” He said before coming out into the light. His grey hooves clopped on the floor, red eyes glowing, and he was wearing a cloak, shielding his face. “I’m the Grim Reaper...”
“Very funny-”
A Scythe appeared out of the shadows, as well as a Sword, “It wasn’t a joke… I am the Grim Reaper.”
“And just when I thought Masked Matterhorn was the oddest of names.” He mumbled to himself. However, his words were still heard by the pony in front of him.
“How do you know about lady Matterhorn?”
“I’m on the Power Ponies. She’s my teammate.” Lance told the individual. “I’m known as Gunvolt.”
“Never heard of you…” Grim said, “And I don’t take kindly to strangers in my abode. I’ve had enough of heroes…”
“You must be the reason why this place has been haunted for an entire year… You’ve locked yourself in here, didn’t you?”
The stallion chuckled, “It’s only been a year? I thought it’d been over twenty…” Grim tilted his head, “Are you here to clear me out?”
“No… I stumbled upon here by accident… Now I know how much Twilight and the others cared for Time…” Then, it hit him. If Grim here locked himself in here, there needed to be a reason. “Why did you lock yourself in here? Was Stopwatch important to you?”
Grim growled, “Leave me alone… You’ve made your point you know about Twilight… And Stop was my friend…”
That’s when Lance realized something. Grim here was just like Twilight Mist and the others in New Yoke. They didn’t know the truth about Time. He thought he was dead along with Gadget. “You speak of him as if he was dead…”
“Aren’t we all? One day, everypony I knew from the team will be dead… Sooner or later…” Grim sighed.
“Then you must be mistaken… I know the truth about your friend… and I’m planning on bringing him and his companions back.” Lance told him. Noticing that when he looked at his communicator, there was no more static as he turned it back on. “Aurora… Can you hear me?”
“Yeah! Oh, I read up about the Paradise Tower. It’s apparently haunted by some kind of monster. There were even a few deaths!”
“Thanks for the input.” Lance sighed, ending the call. “I apologize about that… Now, where was I-?”
“You were leaving…” Grim growled. It sounded more animalistic than a pony would.
“That’s not it. Stopwatch isn’t dead. He’s alive, but banished. Because of Roach.”
Grim started giggling. It was low at first, but gradually turned into laughter and the full blown cackling.
“You think I’m trying to be funny?” Lance told him, unclipping his blue jacket to reveal the white one that he was wearing underneath. The one that Time gave him. “Roach banished him from this world. He gave me this-.”
Grim slashed at Lance with his scythe. The hood fell to reveal black veins and white mane. A twitch in his right eye told the Azure Striker that this pony wasn’t well.
“Death comes to all. Whether we like it or not… Hehe… Stopwatch taught me that!” He swiped again, barely missing Lance, “Twilight’s gonna die! Everypony will die and I won’t!!”
Lance though, smirked. “There are also those that cheat death. See for yourself!!” With that, his two front fingers reached Grim’s forehead, letting loose a wave of energy as the pony in front of him began to see things he couldn’t understand. What was the truth. The truth he didn’t believe.
But Reaper slammed his hoof into Lance’s chest, sending him flying. “I don’t care… What’s the one thing a pony can’t escape? Death… I am no exception. My friend, my family, will all die… But I can’t…”
Lance just staggered. But, surprisingly, Grim saw him grinning… “I get it now… You can’t die… because you already have. You’re no reaper… You’re undead. Great… this is worse than the Purple Mare trying to beat the living hell out of me.”
Reaper sent a barrage of spikes towards Lance, as well as summoning a bow with black arrows. The Adept dodging the spikes and using his powers to block the arrows. However, something was making Lances skin crawl. Like whoever he was talking about… was close.
Before Reaper could continue his attack, a sword went through his chest. He cried out in pain, dark red blood dripped down his chest.
“Hey Lance! I was wondering where this moron was…” The Purple Mare said. Lance’s response was putting himself in front of Reaper, stopping her from moving any closer.
“Don’t… you dare… step any closer.” He growled in a threatening tone.
“Or what? You’ll call me names again? Call me a bad mother or a psycho?” Purple giggled.
Lance smirked. “Try me.”
“Why are you protecting him? He’s unkillable by me, I’ve only slowed him down.”
“True… But the same can’t be said about you.” He told her.
“Wow, I’m so scared…” She yawned, “Blaster, say hi…” Just then, a small explosion went off near Lance. “She’s got a sniper rifle trained on you. I heard you visited Roach, so I’m not taking any chances. Whatever he told you isn’t good for me.”
“Actually, he told me the opposite. He gave me only one piece. I had to figure out the rest on my own.” He told her, standing there. “But, I’m a little curious about something… How much of a moron do you think I really am?”
“I’ve seen worse. Maybe under average in most regards, but above in others.” Purple said, eyes narrowed.
“Heh… I wonder though… How long would it take for Blaster to realize that her position has been given away and the moment she fired her gun, a signal was sent to HQ. Meaning that she might have… other problems to deal with.” Within seconds, the cyborg’s position was compromised as electricity crackled through the air and another explosion went off. When the smoke cleared, another pony stood amongst them.
“I’m here!!” A voice cried off as one more teleported in by Lance’s side.
“Zapp and I came here as quickly as we could.” Twilight spoke, turning around only for her to look shocked. “G-grim?”
Blaster landed next to the Purple Mare, holding her disconnected left foreleg in her right. But there was a sudden explosion and three mares landed on the other side.
“Oh buck!” Blaster yelped, “They weren’t with the escapees!”
Lance narrowed his eyes, seeing them. “I know exactly what they are,” He said, noticing the patched on their clothes. “They’re suicide squad. Twilight, take Grim and get him out of here. Beforehand, cast that spell on me.” Looking back at the Purple Mare, he let the mare cast the spell as he was coated in an aquamarine glow. “Be careful though, Grim is unstable. Extreme caution is advised.”
“Got it.” She said, before looking back at him. “Don’t die on us tonight.”
“I won’t.” he affirmed her as the Alicorn teleported them out of there. “Now… looks like we have ourselves a mexican standoff… Who has the guts to make the first move?”
“Well, I was hoping to fight Matterhorn, but I guess you’ll do.” Said the lead mare. Her eyes were teaming with dark magic, “My name is Curse, villain turned hero turned villain and turned into a Squaddie. Pleasure is yours, Lance Walker.”
“Choke, that’s all I’m saying…” Said a Pegasus with an orange coat and mane.
“And… Oh…” Said the last mare, looking at Zapp, “... Sister…”
“Anti-Zapp!” Screamed Blaster as she charged her turrets and charged the Pegasus.
“And that is the first move.” Lance sighed. “Zapp, do whatever you can to stop them. However, don’t attack Purple Mare. She’s mine.”
“Got it. Need to deal with Anti-me first, but Ms. Violent is all yours.”
Purple Mare called two of her spirits, and Curse jumped one and used her magic to somehow shove it back into the Marionette. It didn’t last long, though, as it came right back out.
“Oh my gosh, this is getting ridiculous…” Said Purple as Curse shot bolt after bolt of dark magic towards Purple. However, Curse did not see Lance whip out his gun and blast her with his new Carbine Clip. Pushing the mare into a nearby exhibit. Before looking back at the Purple Mare.
She smirked, “I thought we were having a threesome!”
Lance rolled his eyes. “Your sexual humor is not my forte.”
“I’m hurt… So you’d never do me?” Her smile never faltered.
“Not if you were going to snap the neck of our child.”
That time she frowned, and growled. Three more spirits came out of her, adding her total of souls to five. “You don’t know me… I’d never hurt Aurora.”
“Try saying that to her after she stabbed you with a meathook.”
Two of her spirits swiftly rushed Lance and tried to posses him, only for them to be pulled in and disappeared like they were sucked out of the air with a vacuum. With a hand, Lance pointed it at the other three and the light that surrounded him soon had the same effect happen to them.
“No! Please no! Anything but that! I need them!” Blood shot out of her nose mixed with black tar.
“You may need them, but they don’t need you.” Lance growled. “They deserve to be set free. To go to heaven. Not bound here to the earth like you force them too.”
Her eye twitched, “They were the only… Things keeping me… Going…” She collapsed, crying out blood and tar mixed with tears. Lance walked over to the fallen mare who was trying to stay balanced, placing his hand on her forehead as his energy glowed brighter.
“I release thee from what binds you to the earth… You may now go in peace.”
A mirthful chuckle escaped her lips, “You have no… Idea, do you…?”
“I do. But let me tell you something… Remember when I told the Masked Matterhorn to cast that spell on me? You probably did since you were there… But I’ll let you in on something… Remember what I said about Roach?”
She nodded feebly.
“Well,” Lance told her, taking out a Soulstone and placing it on her forehead. Before putting his glowing hand on it, he said two words as it’s magic caused the soulstone to overflow and burst. “I lied. What he told me was exactly the small piece I needed to solve the puzzle that you are. Goodbye… Rest in peace.”
A sudden pain entered his hand, and he saw the stone was gone. Purple’s eyes died, her final breath being, “Aurora… I’m sorry…” And she was gone. The stone lay fifty feet away, broken as the souls of the children disappeared into the night.
Blaster looked in his general direction and screamed, “No!” She hovered over to the lifeless body and glared at the Adept, “You bucking bastard! Now I really know what heroes haVE BECOME-!!!”
Before she could finish, Lance’s gaze met hers as he soon teleported himself to the nearby ledge. “You don’t know a damn thing about her… She gave away her own daughter… KILLED children for fun… It wasn’t me that did the final blow. The Spell was suppose to have her trapped in the stone… someone knocked it out of my hand.”
“This isn’t a movie!” Blaster backed up, “I’ve killed… So are you gonna trap my soul in a stone?”
“No…” He told her softly, teleporting behind her and placing his fingers on her forehead. “I’m going to have you see the truth.”
The memories of Purple Mare ran through Blaster’s head. After it was done, Blaster pulled out a turret and shot Lance in the stomach, sending him flying. “Stay away from me!”
“Nice try…” He told her, showing his second jacket underneath and the body armor under that. “But I’m not that easy to kill. Listen Blaster…”
“Stay away!” She hovered away and bumped into a mare Lance didn’t see before.
“BLASTER!! BEHIND YOU!!!”
Anti-Zapp placed her hoof on Blaster, and before the cyborg clone could even flinch, all of her energy was drained in one go. Blaster screamed in fear and pain, but ended up collapsing on the floor.
The black Pegasus shrugged, “Sorry, nothing personal RD, I’m just doing what I’m told.”
And with that, Anti unleashed the drained power into Blaster’s head, shocking her body and causing her turrets to explode. She flew over to the others and Curse teleported them away. Lance ran over to her, trying to see what he could do to help her. The mare was weak and from what he could see, a small gauge of her energy running low. “Zapp, back up a second. I’m not sure if this will work, but I am not going to try and let her die on my watch.” With it, he had his electricity run through his hands at the highest amount he could and placed it near where the cyborgs heart would be. Trying to do his best to jump start it. Soon, his hands felt something that he wanted to feel… A pulse.
“S-she’s alive!”
“W-where am-m I…?” Blaster croaked.
“You’re okay, Blaster… We haven’t gone anywhere. But you need medical attention-.”
“Who’s Blaster?”
That stunned Lance. Looking at Zapp, he motioned for her to come closer. “Zapp, we got a problem… Blaster’s lost her memories.”
“W-what?” She gasped, looking at the pony lying on the ground, who fell unconscious a few seconds later. The adept soon patched himself into Aurora, trying to contact her.
“Aurora, we got a situation.”
“What?” The filly asked. Lance could not tell her what happened with the Purple Mare just yet… or be brutal and say I killed your mother just now! So, instead, he made it brief.
“The fight’s over. Purple Mare has been defeated, but we have a situation. Anti-Zapp was here and she wrecked Blaster. She can’t remember who she is anymore.”
“I’m already confused, but I’ll contact the others. Can you teleport her here? I’ll call an ambulance wherever-.”
“I’m teleporting us to you. Call Sparkler though. I might need her to take a look at Blaster. Since she’s a Telepath, she might be able to help mend Blaster’s mind.” The Adept told her, picking up the unconscious mare like a child that had fallen asleep. Within seconds, the Adept used the last of his strength to teleport them to the control room, where Spike had a stretcher laid out to lay Blaster down on as Zapp followed him, leaving Aurora and Lance by themselves.
“Well… This isn’t confusing at all…” Aurora said sarcastically, “We’ve beat Purple Mare in record time, Blaster was there for some reason, and Anti-Zapp is back. She was supposed to be locked up though…”
“Let me guess… Zero Zone?” Lance sighed. “Something tells me that all the trouble we’re going to be facing is coming from there specifically… But, I think I know why Blaster was there.”
Aurora was confused for a bit, until Lance began to explain. “Think of it. If one member of the Power Ponies was alone, it would give her a chance to ambush them. If she killed me, she would use it to send a message to Rainbow. Now though, she’s in an even worse state. Anti-Zapp even blew off her shoulder cannons.”
“Okay… I’m still confused though. Last I checked, the Zero Zone still had Anti.” Aurora said, “A lot of inmates are still there in the new facility.”
“Is that what the report says… Because last I looked when I was there, only Roach was there.” He told her, before catching himself. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to bring him up.”
“Yeah, that was the only one there yesterday. They had two more shipments that weren’t interrupted.”
“Right, let’s not worry too much about it right now… Hey… umm… do you mind if I join you? You know… in the spiritual plane.” He told her, tossing the other soulstone he had aside. “I’m sorry for upsetting you earlier and… well… I wanted to make it up to you… Are you up for a movie?”
Aurora looked nervous, “Sorry, I can’t… My spiritual plane has been wonky for the past few days and I’ve been scared to go in there. I’m not in control, but I guess it’s because I don’t have a body.”
Lance raised an eyebrow while taking off his jacket and setting it on a nearby desk chair. “What if I was with you? You don’t need to be scared if I’m with you…”
“I… Don’t want to be there right now. It may have been my safe haven before, but ever since Equinox- I mean Equilis died, things are… Stressful…”
One piece of that sentence caught Lance’s attention. Something wasn’t right. “Hold up… what was that you said? Ever since…”
Static started to appear, and Aurora began to panic, “Not th-th-th-th-this agaaaaaain!”
“Aurora? Aurora, stay calm-!” Lance tried to tell her, but his pleas were on deaf ears as the static became more and more frequent. He saw Aurora freaking out, grabbing her head and screaming. But then, her face looked to have peeled off and what was behind it was what Lance did not expect to see at all right around now.
“Y-y-y-you’re pisssssssssssing me-me off more a-an-and more, Walkkkker.”
Equinox. He was back. And he was more angrier than before.
End Strike 34