//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18- Those Who Fight 
// Story: inFAMOUS: Second Storm 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 18- Those Who Fight




        “A-aunt Lucy!?” Upon those words leaving his mouth, the woman that Shawn knew as his Aunt gasped in shock when she realized who was talking to her. The man, who she called Cole, was really confused by what was happening, looking at her with a puzzled look on his face, but not stopping the electricity channeling through his arms. 

        “Kuo, you know this kid?” He asked her. The only response she had was a nod of the head and a few words to follow up to his question.

        “Yes Cole, he’s my nephew.” The ice conduit told him and in response, he stopped channeling his powers. “Shawn? My god, what are you doing here?”

        “I… I don’t know.” He replied, honestly. “A lot of things have been happening since you died seven years ago and things have been hard for me too…”

        “How-?” Kuo’s question was interrupted when she saw Shawn’s powers radiate from his hands. Her eyes widened. “Oh my god… You’re a conduit? B-but I thought the RFI killed all the conduits when we stopped the beast.”

        “A lot can change in seven years,” Cole mumbled. “So you’re Kuo’s nephew? I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. Name’s-.”

        “Cole,” Shawn interjected. “As in Cole McGrath?”

        “Well, I’m surprised that some people still remembered me after I died.” The Electric man sighed, taking a seat on a nearby brick wall. Shawn himself was stoked. He could not believe that he was actually talking to the Patron Saint of New Marais. He had heard a lot about him in the media and did a research report on him back in Middle School. Now, he was actually talking to him. It felt like he was meeting a hero and for that, he was honored.

        “Hey Shawn, can I ask you something?” Kuo soon asked, catching his attention. He nodded his head, but what she asked was something that he was not prepared for. “How are your parents doing?”

        He fell silent. Standing there for a couple of minutes. He couldn’t think of what to say to not make the moral blow that he was going to say any less painful. “T-t-they’re……… gone.” He tried to hold back a couple of tears that streamed down his face, trying his best to not break down and remain brave. “I… couldn’t save them.” Kuo and Cole were both shocked to hear this from him. But the ice conduit wanted to know more. She wanted to know who killed her beloved sister and she wants to know now. She walked closer, trying to comfort her nephew.

        “How did something like this happen?” She asked him. Calm, but with a sense of seriousness. She wanted to know what happened. She wanted to know who would do this to her beloved sister. Her sister's husband. But most importantly, to Shawn. The Snow conduit was hesitant. He did not know how to tell them something like this. But then, he realized something. This was almost like having to explain the DUP to Celestia and Luna. But he now had to do more than just explain about the DUP this time. 

        He had to explain everything.

        Shawn began with explaining the chaos that occurred days after the ‘New Marais Incident’ and how most of the nation was left in fear of conduits as a few of them showed up in different locations across the US. He told them about Augustine and how she formed the DUP, her intentions for what she wanted to use it for and what occurred seven years later that lead to her fall. After letting both of them soak that in, Shawn then explained the present events. How he had been helping Celestia and Luna, meeting Zeke, and going to Seattle. But the most horrid part involved Roman. 

        “W-when I saw mom and dad for the last time, it was only briefly until that Wire bastard killed them in cold blood. I saw then as he used his powers to snap their necks and throw them aside like garbage… And there wasn’t anything I could do to save them. I tried to fight him, but it was a losing fight… What makes it worse…… He said they deserved to die.” Shawn stopped to regain his composure, “After that fight though, I woke up to find myself not dead and in New Marais with a new ally and new ways to demonstrate my powers… But I don’t know if that will be enough to stop him for what he did. Make him pay for all the lives he stole.”

        Kuo herself was at a lost for words. Cole was too. Even though he knew what it felt like to lose a loved one, this pain went deeper then that. A lot deeper. What Shawn lost was two people he truly cared for as much as they cared for him. Cole himself was the first to try and speak.

        “Shawn, I’m sorry to hear about that… I’ve felt your pain before,” He sighed. “There was a woman I loved back in Empire City. Her name was Trish. She helped take care of people like your mother did. Like me, I was saddened and angry at the person who killed her. But remember something… Don’t let your feelings affect your decisions. They can cause you to do things that will come back haunt you later.”

        Shawn nodded, thanking him for the advice. Kuo too had some advice for him too. That even though there weren’t here in the real world, his parents and she still loved him. For everything he is and everything he can accomplish. And that he should not forget it no matter what. The snow conduit saw value to those words. Because he was unsure if he would ever be able to hear them again. This seemed like an experience that only came around once. And like an old Eminem verse, ‘You only have one shot’.

        “Make me proud, Shawn.” She told him, shortly before the boy disappeared into the mist that surrounded the town and back into reality. “Make us all proud.”



New Marais

        As Shawn was waking up, he began to notice a couple of things as his vision was beginning to return to him. First and foremost, he wasn’t in a rocking boat or some kind of hospital. Instead, he was in the storage unit he found earlier during his fight with Tirek. How he got here was a mystery, but it wasn’t as important right now as it was to find Sunset. Which, of course lead to the second thing he noticed. A woman with fire like hair inspecting the contraption that was in front of him. It was powered by a blast core and also looked to have shackles to hang people up like scarecrows… Creepy.

        The lady soon turned around, noticing him moving around and proceeded to stop what she was doing and rush over to him. “Shawn! You’re awake!! Are you alright?” The snow conduit nodded his head for a brief moment, trying to focus his strength on getting up before answering her question.

        “N-never… better.” He chuckled, gaining a better grip on his balance. “How long was I out?”

        “About three hours or so…” Sunset told him. He was about to rush out, but she stopped him. “Don’t worry, I already took care of Tirek. He’s back in Tartarus and is dried up of all the energy he stole.”

        Shawn coughed a little as a smile was seen on his face. “T-that’s good… I’m guessing though that we’re not quite done here though.”

        “What makes you say that?” The mirror conduit asked him.

        “Well, if we were done, I would be laying down on something more… comfortable than a concrete floor,” he deadpanned. Sunset giggled a little at his observations as he placed his jacket back on from it’s resting place on a nearby shelf. “So, what exactly do we need to do? Because something tells me it involves that thingamajig with the blast core in it.”

        “You’re…… right actually,” she told him. “Look, we only got one shot at this and you need something that will give you the ability to catch Roman by surprise.” She soon pointed at the contraption, walking towards it. “And this is going to help you with that.”

        “Okay… and what the hell is this exactly?”

        “Well… according to these old notes by a Dr. Sebastian Wolfe,” Sunset told him, tossing a packet of scientific notes. “This is a power transfer device.”

        “Whoa whoa whoa… Power… Transfer?”

        “Yes. It allows one conduits powers to be transferred into another. According to Sara, some people found leftover parts of the original one and rebuilt it for in case there’s another national emergency like what happened with Empire City,” She explained. “The transfer only works one way. So, someone is going to play the role of the giver and the other needs to play the role of the receiver.”

        “Good god, that just sounds wrong in so many ways…” Shawn snickered. “But wait… Did Sara actually allow us to use this?” Sunset herself nodding her head as she placed the restraints on herself and he did the same. “And how the hell are you planning to do this?”

        “Simple… You need this more than me, so, I’m giving you mine.”

        “What wha-? ARGH!!” Before Shawn can say anything, his heart began to race as he felt like he was being stabbed with a million knives. But these things weren’t knives. They were instead shard of mirror fragments from Sunset that were melting into his skin. Ever inch of him was in pain and for a moment, he felt like he was on fire. Shawn couldn’t tell what was happening as his hearing was cut off like someone had set off a flash bomb by his feet. The conduit felt himself collapse to the floor. Weak and drained from exhaustion. His vision was slowly returning to him as he saw Sunset slowly stagger to her feet, soon offering a hand for Shawn to grab so she could help him to his feet. All he could ask was just a few simple words as it took him a while for him to be back to normal.

        “D-did it work?”

        Sunset’s reply… was just a simple nod of the head. Indeed it did work, but that wasn’t what made her eyes widen when she turned her head to the left. When Shawn turned, all he say a purple blur of light and someone hitting Sunset. His vision was slowly coming back to him as he tried to put himself in between their attacker and the Mirror conduit was what surprised him.

        “T-twilight!?”

        “S-shawn!?!” She stammered. “S-sunset!?!! What the hay is going on here?!”

        “Why the hay were you attacking us!?” Sunset shot back.

        “I thought you kidnapped Shawn!! Celestia saw you take him after he passed out against Roman-.”

        “Back up, Twilight.” Shawn interjected, rising to his feet and with powers in hand. “To clarify, Sunset saved my life and if it weren’t for her, I would have been dead!” The two of them had to take the next hour in order to explain everything to Twilight from Sunset’s actions, the mirror to Canterlot High breaking apart and the confrontation with Tirek. Catching her all the way up to just a few minutes ago where they used the power transfer device. 

        “So… did the power transfer actually work?” Twilight then asked, now all caught up to speed and folding her arms.

        “That… we still need to test. I made sure to follow all the steps accurately in order to pull it off, but the only way we know for sure is that if we provide Shawn a test.” Sunset told her friend, taking a hand mirror from a nearby shelf and smashing it. Soon, the broken shards on the floor began to dance upward towards the snow conduit’s outstretched hand. 

        “It worked.” Sunset cheered. Shawn himself began to flex his fingers as the pieces of mirror moved in between his fingers. He grinned as he looked at Sunset.

        “Alright, this is pretty damn awesome, I have to admit.” He told her, “Now, what do we do next?”

        “First… We need to gather everypony and explain everything.” Sunset said, turning to Shawn. “This includes the small group of escapees that were snuck out of that DUP encampment you were held in by Augustine.”

        “Wait… Augustine? I thought she was the one who locked you up.”

        “Roman did.” Shawn clarified for the confused conduit. “Augustine has had enough of the DUP and now wants to have it be gone for good. With Roman in power, she believes that his injustices have gone too far and that he abused his power while in charge.”

        “I think we can all agree on that,” The Mirror conduit replied. “Next, we get you guys home. Despite being Conduits, we can’t get ourselves involved in a fight that wasn’t our fight to begin with. That’s where Delsin and the others can work with you.”

        “Sunset, it’s their choice whether to stay and fight or not,” Twilight told her. “We should let the others decide for themselves.”

        “Fair enough. Lastly, we need to make sure Roman is taken down and the rest of his empire falls with it.”

        “I’m all up for that,” The Snow Conduit grinned, cracking his knuckles. “Time to make that bastard pay for everything he’s done.”

        “Right. But before we get there, we need to assemble everyone.” Twilight told both conduits. “Just like the Avengers.”

        That… got Shawn to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, how exactly do you know about that?”

        “I found a few comic books in the old hiding place in Seattle. When I was bored with reading a few other books, I looked at them just to pass the time.”

        “Or to cure you of your boredom-.” Sunset chuckled a little, causing Twilight to over react. It made Shawn laugh a little though, before having them redirect her attention to the task at hand. The Snow Conduit remembered where the hideout was from what Augustine told him before they hatched their plan a few nights ago and had Twilight focus on trying to contact them. One of the new powers that she had acquired recently while Shawn was in New Marais was Telepathy, and she was using it to talk to both Celestia and Luna.

        “Well, she’s quite talented.”

        “Who’s quite talented?” Shawn heard the voice ask in the back of his head, his eyes widening upon realizing who was talking to him.

        “Shining? I’m quite surprised to hear from you. I honestly thought that Discord or Cadence would be the one talking to me right now.” He told him, 

        “They’re right now back in Canterlot, trying to run Day Court with Celestia being absent.” He told Shawn, sighing a little. “Back to my question…”

        “Oh right… I was referring to Twilight-.”

        “Wait, is she with you!?” He asked. The conduit can tell that he was immediately shocked by hearing about his lost little sister. 

        “Hang on just a minute,” Shawn told Shining. “Sunset, can I talk to Twilight for a minute before we regroup with everyone else?” She nodded, waiting until Twilight was done with arranging the plans with Celestia and Luna before the two of them stepped outside to where it was just themselves… Well, almost.

        “Shawn? Is there something you need to ask me?”

        “Actually, it’s the opposite… There’s something I need to tell you… Ever had the time where you feel like there are voices inside your head?”

        “Quite a lot, yes.” She replied. “Why do you ask?”

        “Well… on the night that I fought Roman… something happened in Equestria. Something that has allowed me to talk to a few of the Equestrians back in your world… and I think one of them wants to say hello.” Taking a deep breath, Shawn relaxed himself. “Your turn, Shining.”

        “T-twilight? Can you hear me?”

        The Magic conduit’s eyes soon lit up upon hearing the voice of her older brother. “S-shining? Shining, is that you?”

        “It is, Twily. I’m talking to you mentally right now.”

        “B-but… how is this possible?” She soon asked, looking back at Shawn like she was expecting for him to have the answers she was looking for. Only to give her a small shrug. Soon, both questions that the two conduits had were being answered by the captain of the guard.

        “Discord was able to see what was going on and made a projection of it by using his chaos magic and a high level scrying spell. However, it was Pinkie who found out that we could to anyone that we see through the projection. Cadance, Discord and I have been trying to keep things organized while Celestia and Luna have been gone and we’ve been trying to help out Shawn with his travels. I-i’m just glad you are okay.” He told both of them. With the last line being for his sister. “Shawn?”

        “Yes, Shining?”

        “Make sure Twily comes back in one piece, okay. Make sure she’s safe.”

        Shawn nodded a little when he looked back at Twilight. “I swear I will.”

        “Thank you, Shawn. You have my eternal gratitude.”

        With that, it served as a cue for the two of them to meet back up with Sunset Shimmer as they left behind the town of New Marais.



Seattle

        Back in the hideout where Celestia was, a few of the conduits there were… antsy to say the least. For the past two days, after what happened with Luna and the others, Celestia had advised for any of the Equestrians that were with her to stay in the hideout to keep a low profile. But now that Twilight had left and had found Shawn, things have changed. She was walking back into the main room where everyone else was after having to excuse herself for a few moments.

        The first one to ask a question was Delsin, since he was the first person to notice her return. “Hey there. Are you okay? You looked like you were having some kind of headache a few moments ago.”

        “Not quite, my friend.” Celestia insisted as all the others in the room gathered around her. Except for Fetch since she was out trying to get food for the hideout. “That was Twilight. She had discovered that one of her new powers was Telepathy. She told me that she found Shawn in a town called New Marais-.”

        The mentioning of the town almost caused Zeke to choke on his drink as he harshly swallowed the contents inside what was left of an old beer can. “New Marais? How did he get all the way out there? I’ve been there before during the incident when my buddy Cole was alive, but since then I’ve been traveling all across the country.”

        “Could it be with this Sunset Shimmer that you mentioned before, Celestia?” Rarity asked her, receiving a slight nod from the Solar Conduit, unaware of Fetch just walking in the door a few minutes ago. “What else do we know besides that? For all we know, those wretched mongrels could still be holding Luna and the others hostage.”

        “That… is not the case. I was talking with Luna as well when we were speaking to Twilight. My sister said that a woman and another conduit went turncoat against Roman and brought them to a hiding place not far from there.” She told them. “Oddly though, these same people were the ones that were seen with Shawn when he left Seattle.” All of them remembered that. A few hours after they left, Delsin, Fetch, and Twilight went around town asking civilians about whether they had any information on when Shawn left. All they got was that he left with two other people aboard a DUP Cargo plane just as Celia attacked the group. Fortunately, because of Shawn’s ice on her hands, Celia was apprehended sometime later by Sheriff Douglas. Chrysalis’ though, remained at large and the information that they tried to get from Celia was minimal at best. But she did tell them about who was the woman. And this confirmed it.

        “So let me get this straight… Based on what we know, are you saying that it’s possible that Augustine, the one who founded the DUP, was actually helping Shawn? Why would she go against the organization that she helped build?” Delsin asked. “I get that the original mission behind the DUP was to keep the conduits safe by keeping them inside Curdan Cay, but why turn against it?”

        “Maybe she saw that Roman has gone too far?” Eugene interjected. “If you think about the dictators from World War II, absolute power can corrupt someone and make them think that they can get away with almost anything. Even spying on others and murder.”

        “What about the one other one that’s with her?” Fetch interjected. “Last time I remember her, she wasn’t as quick to try to make friends with anyone she meets.”

        “Maybe it’s someone who agrees with her?” Spike proposed.

        “Maybe, but right now, there’s a lot of things we don’t know about.” Delsin reminded him before turning to Celestia. “Speaking of which, why were you talking to Twilight?” 

        “Because we’re having everyone group up here.” Celestia explained. “That way, all questions can be answered and we can make a plan of how to move forward.”

        That got Fetch thinking for a minute before suggesting something. “Hey, with all the conduits that might be showing up, wouldn’t we be like a small army? If we can find where Roman is, then we can go knock on the front door and introduce ourselves-.” Soon, a bright light went off in the room as three people stepped forth. Those three being Shawn, Twilight and Sunset. And Shawn had heard Fetch’s recent comment.

        “Sorry for dropping by unannounced, but that is not the best idea.” He told her. “It’s their choice whether or not to fight and we should let them choose if they want to get involved or not.” Everyone soon looked towards him as he just smiled a little while looking back at them. All with mixed expressions. Before he could say anything though, Zeke took the empty can he had and used it to hit him on the forehead.

        “OWW! What was that for?!”

        “That was for making me worried sick about you!” He told him. “What would your parents think if you got yourself killed doing something reckless-.” His tone changed upon seeing the change in Shawn’s expression. From cheerful to cold. 

        “Shawn? What’s wrong?”

        “My parents… are gone… Roman killed them. In front of me.” He told him, looking back at him. “But I’m not letting my feelings cloud my actions. I’m going to make him pay for all the things he’s done… A friend of yours taught me that.”

        That, got Zeke curious. “Who?”

        “I think you already know the answer to that one.” Shawn told him, turning his attention elsewhere as he got to start talking with everyone else. For a moment though, when Shawn was resting on the couch, Zeke thought that he was looking at Cole for a minute before redirecting his attention again.

        Soon though, Luna and the others had arrived safely, along with the unexpected arrivals of some Conduits such as Augustine, Trixie, and Breaker. After some explaining and trying to prevent Fetch from attacking Augustine, they were able to communicate with one another peacefully without having anyone attack each other. Though, now came the hard part of planning what to do. The plan involved catching everyone up to speed on current events, trying to have Celestia and Luna bring some ponies home. Not to mention trying to break into Curdan Cay, since that was Roman’s central base of operations, but a head on attack could be useless because of the facilities defenses. It wasn’t until Shawn pointed out that it depended on who would stay before they could form a plan.

        “Someone who has capabilities of bringing them home should stay behind to bring everypony back when we’ve stopped Roman.” Twilight told them, remembering Celestia and Luna’s spell along with Sunset’s powers. “Other than that, how else should we do it.”

        “Well, if I may,” Augustine interjected. “We should have two teams. One here and one going to Curdan Cay. I have an idea on how to expose Roman’s wrongdoings, but it requires someone with a lot of technical skills. And the soldiers of the DUP might be onto us once we begin the process.” The Concrete conjurer took a deep breath before speaking again, pulling out something that was in her pocket.

        “Roman keeps audio logs of everything that he does, almost like a personal journal. Not just that, but in the same place where he keeps those logs is any recordings of operations such as the one where he captured Luna and the others from Shawn’s home and what happened at the airport. If we make that information go public…”

        “Then we can have evidence against him… How though?”

        “I thought the same thing. But I believe the firewall that protects all this information can be easily conjured by Eugene.” Augustine insisted, looking at him for a brief moment. “However, it means that we need a few conduits to pay attention and hold off any of Roman’s men that come this way. While they are distracted with them, Shawn can easily slip through Curdan Cay during that timeframe. Weather conditions call for a high chance of snow with it’s location in the mountains.”

        “Which means I can sneak in.” Shawn smiled, but then noticed something. “However, going in alone will be suicide. Plus, I don’t know my way around the place.”

        “We got your back man,” Delsin told him. “I’ve been in there a couple of times already, but Fetch remember the place like the back of her hand. Maybe she can help… That is, if she wants to though.”

        “I rather not be going back to that hellhole of a prison. Kicking some ass here would be my forte.” She retorted, gritting her teeth.

        “I can go with you,” Breaker offered. “I’ve been there a few times before. Plus, my DUP clearance can help you bypass security measures.”

        “Okay, besides Breaker and I, who else is going? Because my guess is that Fetch and Delsin are having to provide ground support for Eugene.”

        “I can stay behind and lend a hand,” Vinyl offered. “I’m sure that my sound abilities can be helpful in a pinch.” The snow conduit was surprised by the DJ offering her assistance, but nevertheless, he accepted it. Every bit helps after all.

        Some time later, the amount of Equestrians who wanted to stay and who wanted to fight was almost 50/50. Sunset stayed so she could help create a gateway back to Equestria when the fighting was over. Doughy too decided to help with Vinyl on the front lines and fight along with Trixie and Lyra. The royal sisters, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Soarin though all decided that their highest priority was to get back home. While everyone was deciding though, Shawn decided to step outside for a breath of fresh air. Only to turn around and see a familiar face.

        “Hello again, Snow Angel.”

        Shawn at first almost got into a defensive stance. Until he looked at who he was seeing. A woman in torn clothes, was tired to the bone and looked to be almost drained of everything she had. But he remembered the voice.

        “Chrysalis… Dear god, what happened to you?”

        “N-none of your *cough* business.” She spat, almost tripping.

        “None of my business? You look horrible! No offense intended…”

        “Pfft… none taken,” She groaned. “I may have powers, but because of being here, I’m cut off from a primary food source for changelings. And it gets worse every time I transform.” Around then was what Shawn realized immediately what she was talking about as he stared at her.

        “Love.”

        “Exactly, child.” She grinned, surprised to see that the snow conduit understood what she was talking about. “I just wish… I was back home… there’s no love here. Just other emotions. Jealousy, hate, pride… Nothing that could help me.” Shawn just listened as she continued to ramble. But, then he began to think of something. He wasn’t going to stand around and be helpless. Not anymore.

        “What can I do?”

        “W-what?”

        “What can I do to help you?” He clarified. “You dying on me is not an option, and neither is leaving you helpless. I want to help you…”

        “Y-you do? Why?”

        The snow conduit looked back at her. “I believe everyone deserves in second chances. Even you. Now, I want you to tell me how I can help. If I know what to do, it’ll be easier for me to help you the best I can.” The conduit looked at him a little as she was leaning against a wall. She turned away for a minute, looking around. If Shawn was paying attention a little closely, he would notice the apparent blush on her face. Calming herself down, she then looked back at the snow conduit. Her green eyes focused on his blue ones. 

        “ …… L-love can take form in maybe things… Including objects… D-do you have a picture or something?” It was then that Shawn realized that and took out his wallet. Fiddling through a few things, he soon pulled out a family photograph of him and his parents, handing it to her. 

        “Can this work?”

        Chrysalis herself was surprised that the boy was actually willing to give up one of his own possessions to help someone like her. From her brief experience, she saw that these humans or whatever they were called were consumed by greed or had no emotions whatsoever. Shawn was different though. Willing to help her without a second though. No strings attached or anything. She took hold of the photograph, draining the love that was encased inside the image as it crumpled away. She had enough strength to stand now. But the queen had a question for him.

        “Why?”

        The Snow Conduit looked back at her, puzzled. “I thought I already answered that-.”

        “No. I mean, why the photograph? Didn’t it have a lot of value to you?”

        He nodded, but then did something that surprised the queen. He smiled. “I don’t need a picture to know that my parents will always be with me in spirit. Plus, right now is when I need to tell you that you need to make a really tough choice.”

        She raised an eyebrow, looking back in confusion. “I beg your pardon? What choice?”

        “Well… all of the other Equestrian conduits are just inside the door in which I came out of. You’re outnumbered thirteen to one. So, you have three choices. One, stand here and don’t do anything. Two, try talking to them and convincing them to send you back home without giving them a reason two. Or option three.”

        “What’s option three?”

        “I’m glad you asked. You see, some Equestrians are staying behind to fight an onslaught of DUP troops that will be arriving within the hour.” He told her, noticing her reaction when he mentioned DUP. “Option number three is simple. Join the fight and give Celestia a reason for bringing you back to your hive. Show to her that you can be seen not as an enemy, but as a comrade. I’m going to leave you to make that decision.”

        As he began to walk away, Chrysalis rasped out one last question. “What are you going to be doing?!”

        “I’m going to Curdan Cay. It’s time begin breaking down the walls and finish this fight.”




End Chapter 18