//------------------------------// // Chapter XXIV // Story: Papa Gehrman // by SolidArc5542 //------------------------------// Gehrman could only shake his head in disappointment as he watched Gascoigne dash towards him, his speed almost matching that of his most prized students. But Gascoigne was not one of his most prized students. No, far from it. When he killed, Gehrman always prayed for his victims to be freed from the never-ending nightmare of being a beast. After all, beasts were once man. Taking a quick step back, the First Hunter quickly dashed behind Gascoigne. Gascoigne, wanting to finish off the First Hunter as quickly as possible, jumped off the ground and, while still in midair—turned around and smashed his axe down upon Gehrman… or so he thought. Gehrman, almost seeing through Gascoigne’s moves, had already taken another step back. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Gascoigne jumped upwards and extended his axe into its second form and slashed down, hoping that this extended form would beat the hunter. Gehrman, actually surprised Gascoigne was able to pull off such a move, rolled to the side, knowing he would not have been able to dodge this attack. “That was an excellent move, hunter Gascoigne,” he said, nodding his head as a way of giving him a compliment. “If only you could use those skills of yours for a greater good.” He said, shaking his head. Ignoring the First Hunter completely, Gascoigne dashed towards him with his extended axe, wanting to impale the hunter with the tip of his halberd-shaped axe. When he noticed Gehrman was about to take another sidestep, he quickly retracted his extended axe, changing it back into its normal trick weapon form. He turned his head to Gehrman, smirking as he pulled his arm backwards and slashed at the hunter with all of his might. ‘Dammit,’ Gascoigne thought to himself. ‘For an old man, he still moves as if he is only in his mid-forties. I’ve got to give him credit for that.’ “Take out your weapon and face me in combat you spineless coward!” Gascoigne ordered the First Hunter, releasing a continuous onslaught of slashes and stabs at him. “You are not even fighting back! I am your prey, as you are mine!” he said, lowering his axe to catch his breath. “So, come and cut me down, hunter of beasts.” Gehrman said nothing as he glared at the hunter. ‘His blood has gone bad,’ the voice of Formless Oedon echoed through Gehrman’s mind. ‘You cannot keep evading his attacks forever. You must make a move.’ ‘I will not kill him,’ Gehrman replied in thoughts. ‘I have shed enough innocent blood.’ ‘Innocent,’ Oedon laughed. ‘He is not innocent, far from it. Why not ask him about his wife and daughters. That might actually knock some sense into him.’ “Hunter!” Gehrman shouted at Gascoigne. “What is your goal? What do you have your eyes set upon to start from the bottom again? To hunt, to kill, when you could live in peace. There are no beasts here, no more hunts. You can be free at last.” “I would rather hunt for all eternity, just to see my family once more,” Gascoigne replied as he charged at Gehrman once more. Jumping upwards, Gascoigne slammed his axe I to the concrete, making it crack underneath the sheer force of power. Removing the axe out of the concrete, Gascoigne looked up at Gehrman, who, in return, looked down at him with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. Tightening the grip around his axe, Gascoigne got up, slashing at Gehrman as pieces of concrete and dirt flew into Gehrman’s face. Stumbling backwards as he blinked and rubbed his eyes furiously, trying to get the dirt out of his eyes, Gehrman did not notice Gascoigne come up behind him. Lifting up his leg, he kicked the First Hunter forward, sending him tumbling to the ground, face first into the concrete. Running towards the hunter, Gascoigne raised his arm and was about to slash down at Gehrman again, but was stopped when Gehrman rolled on his back and kicked him in the gut with his peg leg, sending the Church hunter stumbling backwards as the air left his body with such speed that he almost lost his balance. Shaking his head and regaining his posture, Gascoigne watched in amusement as Gehrman pushed himself off the concrete. “I will pound you into the ground, old man,” Gascoigne said in a grim tone, walking towards the hunter as he grabbed hold of his Blunderbuss. Aiming the firearm at the First Hunter, he pulled the trigger, sending a barrage of scattershot Quicksilver bullets at him. Rolling to the side, Gehrman let out a sigh as he looked down at his sheathed trick weapon. Should he attack? Should he finish it right here and now? No. He was done killing. “Too proud to show your true face, eh?” Gascoigne asked as he reloaded his Blunderbuss. “Well, I will make sure that you won’t regret that decision. I will end your misery and send you back to where you came from.” ‘End his misery, hunter,’ Oedon said to Gehrman. ‘He is suffering, but he does not realize it yet. He does not know of the fate that has befallen his family.’ ‘Killing him will mean that I am no better than I was before. I trained men to be become killers. I will not become a killer myself again. I will never be able to put my past behind me, but I can at least try to stop him from going down a similar path.’ ‘You will find out that his path and yours are two completely different things.’ Shaking his head, Gehrman looked at Gascoigne, who had already began to dash towards him again, “It is time to stop! End this madness at once, Gascoigne! It is over! The hunt is over!” Gascoigne, ignoring the First Hunter’s pleas, extended his axe once more and ran towards him. Using the tip of his axe as a spear, Gascoigne attempted to impale the First Hunter again, but was again too slow as Gehrman simply sidestepped. Turning his head to face the First Hunter, Gascoigne fired his Blunderbuss at him, and, only moments later, retracted his extended axe and returned it into its normal state. He threw the axe at Gehrman, who had already rolled out of the way of his Blunderbuss’ shot. The axe managed to knick a few locks of Gehrman’s hair, but nothing more than that. Watching as the axe made impact with the concrete, Gehrman noticed too late that Gascoigne was rushing towards him. Tackling the First Hunter to the ground, Gascoigne raised his fist and he began punching down at the First Hunter. Gehrman, shielding his face with his arms, tried to get away from underneath Gascoigne. But the Church hunter proved to be a bit too heavy for him to simply wiggle his way out of. Gritting his teeth, Gehrman used his right hand to land several successful hits on Gascoigne’s face. After a few more powerful hit, Gehrman finally felt Gascoigne’s weight had begun to shift. Taking this opportunity, Gehrman brought legs to his stomach and kicked the hunter off him. “Gehrman, what are ya doin’?!” Applejack asked as she watched the man who Gehrman was fighting had already begun to stand up. “Are ya not defending yourself for a reason?” ‘Oh, Applejack,’ Gehrman thought to himself as he looked at Gascoigne. ‘If only you knew.’ Cadance and Shining Armor could only look down at the scene in utter shock as they watched Gascoigne dash towards Gehrman for – what they thought to be—the fifth time. Whatever was going on in Gehrman’s mind, one thing was sure: He was not going to fight back. This, however, got the concerns of both the royal couple. Why was he not fighting back? This… thing. Gascoigne. He had hurt her. He had hurt Cadance, and almost killed her. So why was he not fighting back. “I don’t get it,” Cadance said, turning to her husband. “The one who attacked me, Gascoigne, seems to be doing his best to land a hit on Gehrman. But Gehrman on the other hand is not even trying to defend himself. All he is doing sidestepping and rolling out of Gascoigne’s attacks. We saw him carrying his blade when he ran down to face Gascoigne. So why is he not using it to defend himself, or stop Gascoigne’s attacks?” “I wish I knew the answer,” Shining replied with a sigh, shaking his head as he looked down at Gehrman, who had already rolled away from another one of Gascoigne’s ‘jump and smash’ attacks. “That guy… Gascoigne, was it? Well, he seems to be fighting with the intention to… kill. But Gehrman is not fighting that way. The way I see it, is that he is trying to tire Gascoigne. Have him use up all of his energy, so that he can disarm and prevent him from brining harm to anypony else.” “But still,” Cadance trailed off, “What if Gehrman’s timing is off? What if he gets hit?” she asked, turning to her husband once more with a look of angst on her face. “Gehrman might be trying to tire Gascoigne, but that constant dodging of his is going to take a toll on his stamina as well. It might not be long before Gehrman gets hit.” “I don’t think so,” Shining retorted. “From my point of view Gehrman is way more experienced than Gascoigne. Meaning he can probably end this fight with one swift blow.” “Then why isn’t he?” Cadance asked. “Why isn’t he ending it with one swift blow? Is he scared? Or is it something we don’t even know off.” “We don’t know the history between those two. Perhaps they’re old friends?” Shining replied, shrugging. “Either way,” he said, “I just hope Twilight will return with the Crystal Heart as soon as possible. With Gehrman having his hooves full with Gascoigne, Sombra will have a free passage to the Empire.” “From all this action I almost forgot we have two sources of evil we have to worry about,” Cadance said in a joking manner, trying to lighten up the mood. “Yeah,” Shining replied. “But it does make you wonder: Who is the evilest? Sombra, or Gascoigne?” ‘It all depends on what is coursing through their veins.’ Cadance’s eyes widened when she heard that voice again. “Where are you?! Show yourself!” she demanded. “Cadance, honey, is everything alright?” Shining asked, clearly shocked by his wife’s sudden outburst. “I’m f-fine,” Cadance replied with a small blush on her face. ‘No need for words, child. Just think what you want to say.’ ‘Alright. Who are you and why are you in my head?’ Cadance thought. ‘I already told you that, child. Your husband asked who is the most evil, did he not? Well, I have yet to see this Sombra’s true power. But I doubt it is as strong as to what Gascoigne has coursing through his veins. There is nothing on par with power with the Old Blood. My blood. Our blood.’ Oedon replied. ‘Our blood?’ Cadance thought in confusion. ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘You will find out soon enough.’ Gehrman felt some sweat drip down his forehead as he watched as Gascoigne took another run at him. Rolling into the hunter, Gehrman tackled him to the ground. Grabbing hold of Gascoigne’s abdomen, he threw the hunter onto the concrete. Shaking his head, Gehrman stood firm as he watched as Gascoigne got off the ground. Straightening his back, Gascoigne breathed out a heavy sigh. He was not enjoying this. He needed to do something, otherwise he would surely collapse because of his lack of stamina. Looking down at his coat’s pouch, he nodded to himself. He was going to give it one more try. Should he not be able to kill Gehrman with this next attack, then he would use his last resort. A last resort he had been keeping with him for a very long time. Running towards Gehrman with his axe held high, Gascoigne fired his Blunderbuss at the hunter. Watching as Gehrman rolled aside, Gascoigne jumped upwards and extended his axe mid-air and slammed down at the First Hunter. ‘This is it,’ he thought to himself. ‘In the name of the Healing Church, Vicar Laurence, and Chief Ludwig, I end your life, Gehrman.’ Gascoigne closed his eyes as he felt his axe slash down. He noticed there was a slight resistance before it collided with the concrete flooring of the Crystal Empire. Landing on his feet, Gascoigne opened his eyes, smirking as he had hit his target… or so he thought. Looking down at the creature he had hit, his eyes were filled with confusion as the small creature looked up at him with fear-filled eyes, clutching the wound Gascoigne had made with his axe. Gehrman looked at Gascoigne, then at the creature he had hit. His eyes widened in shock when he finally saw who Gascoigne had slashed down upon. “Young Spike, no.”