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// Strike 41- Whispers in my head 
// Story: When lightning strikes... 
// by FrostTheWolf 
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When Lightning Strikes- Whispers in my head




Power Pony HQ

        It was only a few hours before Sunrise and around now, the sidekick named Humdrum could not sleep. It wasn’t because of all the things that were going on right now with his friends and fellow heroes that were either still at the main headquarters or in various cities across Equestria… But more likely what was going on right now. He was hearing various noises coming from the control room and with each passing minute, he was concerned about the possibility of the HQ getting hacked into since if that were going on right now, the defenses were not going off like he had programmed them too. It was driving him crazy and by the time he finally decided to do something about it, what he found surprised him.

        “Cody?” He said, noticing the human working away at the computer console in the control room. “You look… different.” When the dragon said that, he was referring to the new set of gear that he was seeing him wear. No longer was he wearing the bulky jacket and clothes anymore, but this time his new gear looked more like a flight suit that Zapp or any other pegasus pony would wear.

        “Oh, good morning Humdrum… I didn’t expect you there.” He said, almost pulling out his weapon until he realized that it was Humdrum that had just entered the room and not someone that was trying to break into the base.

        “Cody, what are you doing? It’s four o’clock in the morning.” Humdrum pointed out to him as he walked over to where the human was.

        “Well, I had finally gotten around to making some necessary modifications to my equipment and right now, Aurora is helping me with an important piece of my new gear set.”

        “Hang on, Aurora’s here too? I thought she was with Lance.” Humdrum mentioned, causing Cody to point at the computer screen… and the tiny pony like sprite on the monitor.

        “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” He suggested, turning back to the monitor before speaking up. “Hey Aurora, we got ourselves a visitor.”

        “Oh, hey…” Aurora said, focused on her work. “I downloaded myself here while Lance sleeps… Or whatever he’s doing…”

        “O… kay. So what are you guys working on exactly? Well, besides your new… look.” Humdrum asked as he looked back at Cody before returning his gaze to the computer screen.

        “Well, remember how Lance has Lumen to help him in combat for when he’s in tight situations?” Cody posed the question for the dragon, reminding him of how Lance was able to recover so quickly after the attack on the base by the purple mare. “Well, Aurora and I are creating an AI companion for me to use that’ll assist me in similar cases… It was originally hard at first, but Aurora was able to find a backup copy of the code for one of the original Sandy AI’s that was created by Gadget when Stopwatch was still leading the team.”

        “How exactly were you able to find a backup copy? I would think that most of the Sandy AI’s have deteriorated, been stolen, destroyed or have now turned into a crazy robot mare that Lance ran into when checking on M.I.S.T. in New Yoke.” Humdrum asked. His question was valid and with everything that had been happening as of late, if any mistakes happened here, they would have two Sandi AI’s on the loose doing who knows what.

        “That may be true, but after some digging, we found some things that may surprise you,” Copen mentioned as he pressed a few keyboard commands. “I’ll let Aurora explain the details to you. She may be more experienced in this field than I am so I’ll let her tell you how we came across it in the first place.”

        “I’ve been doing a lot of… Questionable things, looking through Gadget’s personal stuff and found a lot of code for making Sandy in the process. I’ve already begun digital construction, but I’m having trouble with parental blocks.” Aurora said.

        “Hang on, why would an AI need parental blocks?” Humdrum then asked Aurora, partially confused by that last statement that she had told the two of them.

        “Well, from what Aurora told me, when an AI is first created, they’re born in a child stage and mature over time… So you wouldn’t want them to be exposed to some subject matters because, like a filly or a foal, they wouldn’t exactly understand.” Cody explained, remembering all the time that he had to learn about internet safety back before displacement. “Aurora, have you tried placing a safesearch function on there or something?”

        “No! I mean there’s a parental guidance on the supercomputer! I can look up my… uh… I can’t use the codes I added. Y’know, to make the AI not Sandy like? And have more personality?” Aurora said.

        “Well, let’s focus on one thing at a time and not overthink things. Perhaps with Humdrum here, he can somehow pitch in and assist me out here while you’re working on everything inside the mainframe. Two heads are better than one.” Cody suggested as he had Humdrum take up a seat.

        “I have no head…” Aurora said in a deadpanned tone before mentioning something else. “And most things are running in the background. I need better wi-fi too on top of that.”

        “It’s a figure of speech… Plus we are using the HQ’s own wi-fi, which is one of the best private networks in the entire city,” Cody added to that, giving her some additional instructions on top of that to help Aurora out now that Humdrum was going to help them. “Just tell us what we need to do and we can do whatever we can to assist you from out here.”

        “Fine, import any useful files from the Sandy program, then do an update, then add some programming to connect this AI to your stuff specifically, and finally build a digital body.” Aurora listed off. “I’ve already done just about everything else.” Cody nodded, asking Humdrum to hand him a USB cable so he could plug in his equipment and allow Aurora to access it. He plugged in what appeared to be a small pod, a communications bracer similar to Lances, but fit to his armor and lastly, his blaster. If all of this was going to work, then he needed to make sure that the AI they were creating had a link to all the important pieces of his gear that it needed access too. 

        “Aurora, I just plugged in my equipment so the AI can be connected to it. Humdrum’s looking through the files of the Sandy program to see what kind of source code we could find. I’m beginning the algorithm for creating the body.” He informed her, hitting the enter key on the keyboard so the sequence can be initialized.

        “Great. I’m gonna run diagnostics after we’re done.” Aurora said. “It’s kinda weird… Making a ‘Sandy’. She was my nanny while dad and the others were on missions.”

        “Now that you mention it, it does seem weird… We should give it a different name since the AI is based on the original Sandy’s code, but isn’t actually a Sandy in particular,” Humdrum then suggested as he sent the last of the files that were required to Aurora. “Any particular ideas?”

        That was when Cody interjected and spoke up so they could hear him. “Now that you mention it… I had one, but how I came up with the name may sound… silly.” That just got Humdrum to stare at Aurora for a minute before eventually looking back at him, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow in the process.

        “Well shoot man, it’s your AI. Go ahead and say what you’re thinking about.” Humdrum replied back.

        “I was thinking Lola.” The human then replied. “Strangely enough, the first thing I thought of when I was thinking on Lumen was her Anthem abilities and when Aurora mentioned how Sandy was her nanny, I thought of the name Lola since nannies would sometimes since lullaby’s to foals and fillies to try and have them fall asleep. So… Lola.” He then turned to Aurora and then asked her a question. “What do you think, Aurora? Does Lola sound like a good idea?”

        “Sounds humany… Whatever, I’m a filly after all. Not like I’d name anything good.” Aurora stated.

        “Hey, you’ll learn more as you get older. Now, how’s the body coming along?” He then asked, wanting to check on Aurora’s progress with the state of the creation process. If all went according to plan, then the AI would be ready to sync with his equipment and gear to do some test runs with it before they could get back out in the field. All his gadgets from before were reconstructed from the ground up and he wanted to make sure that they were successfully tested before going immediately into the field.

        “The 3d model is complete. Here’s an image.” Aurora popped up the model for Lola.





        “That looks perfect. You’re awesome at this Aurora!” He complimented her as he pressed a few more keys. “Alright, begin the final phase for the creation sequence Aurora. Let’s see if all our hard work is going to finally pay off.”

        “Voice boxes… Done! Downloading!” Aurora stated. The data of the AI soon began to take a physical form as Cody cuffed both of his hands and provided a place for the AI to form as it woke up for the first time. It looked for a little bit at him, nervously as it also looked at Aurora on screen.

        “W-where am I?” It then asked, followed by a question that was directed towards Cody. “Are you my daddy?”

        “Well… That’s… Different…” Aurora said, stunned. The AI soon moved it’s head, looking around frantically before saying something else that caught Aurora by surprise. 

        “Mommy? I just heard you. Where are you, Mommy?” The little AI the size of a breezie soon said in a small panic. This in turn caused Humdrum to try to keep control of himself from laughing his head off as Cody looked back at Aurora before turning his gaze to Lola, who was looking at him with a face that looked like she was on the verge of crying. “Daddy, I just heard Mommy, where is she? Please Daddy, I want to see mommy!”

        “I wonder if this is what Lance has to go through when living with Max.” Cody mentally thought to himself as he tried to calm her down. “It’s okay, Lola… There’s no need to cry. It’s gonna be okay.”

        “I-I’m right here!” Aurora said in a panic. She hated it when others cried and she had no body.

        “Mommy!!” She said, now relieved as she stood up, almost tripping inside of Cody’s hands. That only caused the human to look back at Aurora before she looked back at the two of them. “Yay! The whole family is here… including Uncle Spike!!” That small statement… caused Humdrum to stop laughing and in the process, was stuck on trying to process what was happening.

        “Aurora… What was that one thing you were having trouble specifically?” Cody then posed the question for her as she then realized what he was talking about.

        “Parental… Guidance… Uh oh…” Aurora gulped.

        “Something tells me we’re going to be in for a VERY long morning.” He told her as the human then looked at Humdrum. “Humdrum, can you get some coffee brewing… I have a feeling that both of us are going to need it.”

        “Uh… I can’t have coffee.” Aurora said, only causing him to facepalm himself. Yep, this was definitely going to be a long morning.



Meanwhile...

        The first thing that McCree had woken up to this morning was the sound of gunfire. His mind had immediately thought that somehow, somepony had broken into the facility and began to shoot up the place. Which meant that whoever it was would possibly be coming for him and Anarchy next. Shifting over and getting out of bed, he proceeded to put on his clothes, grab his belt and load the bullets that needed to be in the revolver’s chamber before holstering his weapon. But as he was doing that though, his partner was slowly beginning to wake up.

        “What the buck’s going on…?” His partner, Anarchy, groaned as she groggily woke up.

        “I’m hearing gunshots downstairs… Even with security not going off, it could likely mean that someone has broken in here and began shooting up the guards.” McCree informed her quickly in a whisper like tone so they could not alert whoever was doing the shooting. “We need to get down there and find out who the hell is causing that racket and what the hell is going on. Because I rather not wake up to the sound of a bullet going through my skull… again.”

        “Okay.” Anarchy replied, fully awake and in serious mode. McCree had been noticing her lack of immaturity in her around him. It was a nice change of pace with her former ‘whatever’ personality in dangerous situations.

        The mare slithered out of her bed in her paint form, and reformed in quick succession. McCree slowly went to the door, checking to make sure that there wasn’t anything on the other side before proceeding. With an all clear, both of them were up and out the door… and can get a better idea of where the shots were coming from.

        “The gunshots are coming from the armory,” He whispered to Anarchy as they slowly moved forward… only to hear something else along with the sounds of gunfire and what appeared to be rockets blowing up. “Is it just me… or am I hearing music?”

        “Not just you…” Anarchy said, her ears folding onto the back of her head in concern.

        “Wanna join me, come and play. But I might shoot you, in your face…”

        “Okay, that definitely sounds concerning…” McCree said to himself, remembering something that could be helpful to them right around now. The Armory had three doorways, one on the west side of the compound and south side that served as a main entrance and an entrance for the employees while the door on the east corridor was to be used as an emergency exit. “And damn, I can’t see anything from this angle… Anarchy, can you see if you can access the guard entrance and get a better view of who the hell is causing all that racket?”

        “Come on, shoot faster, Just a little bit of energy! I wanna try something fun right now, I guess some people call it anarchy!”

        “Roger.” Anarchy said, before running to the other entrance. It took a little bit for her to see what was going on because of all the smoke in the room and the noise from the music. But when both of them began to die down, the mare was able to have a good view of who exactly was causing all this chaos and left the entire shooting gallery covered in bullet holes.

        And right now… it was talking to it’s rocket launcher like it was an actual person.

        “Can we retire now?” A pale human female asked as if she was pretending to be a male. “No! We just started, Fishy! I haven’t even used a minigun yet!” She added normally.

        “Who the tartarus is that…?” Anarchy asked herself in a whisper.

        “But we can plant a garden and live out in the country!” She said to herself. “Hmm… Nah.”

        “Okay, she’s crazier that Anti.” Anarchy whispered, before heading back to McCree to inform him. “Hey, looks like another human. This one’s crazy.”

        “Yeah but… oddly enough, it feels like I’ve seen her somewhere before.” He replied back to her, looking again and noticing something different this time. “Anarchy, I’m not sure how this person got in, but if she thinks that blowing stuff up and shooting the crap out of people is fun to her, then we may have a problem… Unless if she’s here for the same reason Junkrat and Roadhog are… Where’s Lauren Order?”

        “I don’t know, I just woke up. But if I knew, I’d say in her office.” Anarchy shrugged.

        “Well, unless if she says otherwise about this… Jinx… then we should take this as a possible threat…” Just as he said that though, he looked back at her to see that she was aiming her rocket launcher straight at the door they were hiding behind. “Oh sh*t, get back-!!” Just as he said that though, the crazy human fired at the door, blasting it off of the hinges as it sent McCree and Anarchy skidding backwards. All while she was treating it like it was her grand entrance.

        “Honey, I’m home!” She screamed at the top of her lunges. She then spoke as she played with the launcher, “That wasn’t nice! The door was unlocked! I don’t care, I’m being a badass. But- No… No sweetie, momma’s busy.” McCree was going to draw his weapon, but then heard another voice that stopped him.

        “I see that you decided to make your presence known, Ms. Jinx…” Turning around, McCree and Anarchy could see Lauren Order trotting into the room and looking at all three of them. But mostly looking straight at Jinx.

        “It’s just Jinx, Laura.” Jinx said, then tossed her rocket launcher onto Anarchy. “Where’s the vending machine, I wanna snickers. You're not yourself when you’re craving snickers.”

        “I tried giving you that last night, yet you're still the same way this morning.” Lauren pointed out. “Besides… do you think that it’s a good idea to drop your stuff onto your teammates like they’re your servants? Because it isn’t for your… talents with weapons and explosives, I can still trigger the bomb in your neck.” The unicorn now held out what looked like a tablet that had a mugshot of Jinx sticking her tongue out and acting all silly… all while the word ARMED was lit up in red capital letters.

        “Ooohh~! Red button!” Jinx said, attempting to push it.

        “You touch that and you die… besides… I believe that you may know about one of your new… associates, Mr. Walker.” Lauren then told her.

        “Could you clarify on what exactly you mean, Ms. Order. I’m not quite understanding how I am related in all of this.” The gunslinger told her as he holstered his pistol and looked back at the mare. “I mean, only a few minutes ago, Anarchy and I found her turning the entire shooting range into a mess of bullet holes while singing about destruction and shooting people in the face. Are you saying that there’s more to her than that?”

        “Hey! No, you’re pretty much right.” Jinx shrugged.

        “Allow me,” Lauren Order sighed as she looked at Jinx for a moment. “Aster…”

        “Yeah...?” Jinx suddenly did a one eighty and her voice went low. Something caused McCree to look at the girl with a raised eyebrow as she watched the mare speak again. This time, what was said though surprised both him and Anarchy.

        “Would you care to share to us how you know Lance Walker…” The Mare then said, causing McCree to be a little bit on edge at the mentioning of his son.

        “I… Only remember… Bits and pieces… But we were friends. Very close…” Jinx said, then gripped her head. “Ugh… My head hurts… I don’t wanna remember!”

        “Are you sure it’s a good idea to have her on our team? She looks like she needs to be in an asylum.” Anarchy said, her eyes narrowing her eyes at the pale human who started laughing uncontrollably.

        “That’s what I was originally told… but I still believe that there is still some good in her… You may come back now, Jinx.” The mare said briefly before the human was back to normal. “I always have a reason for bringing on new members and fortunately enough, I figured out how it’ll work… Out of the main members of the Suicide Squad, there are two groups. One for Order… and one for Chaos. It’ll help with any mission that may require more than the usual team of five that are needed… Which also brings me to something I need to mention.”

        “And that is?” McCree asked, looking back at Anarchy for a moment before returning her gaze to Lauren Order.

        “Once everyone is awake… We have a job to do in Sun Fransokyo… and it’s going to require two teams like I mentioned before. Don’t worry though… You’re not going to be on the same team as Jinx… Because her job on this mission is going to be a lot different from the one that you two are going to do.”

        Anarchy looked to McCree worriedly. “How different?”

        “Let’s just say that what you are going to do does not involve the first thing that Junkrat would say when he wakes up in the morning.” Lauren sighed, only to hear the same squad member she just said yell off the top of his lungs.

        “Ah, it is a perfect day FOR SOME MAYHEM!!!”



        “And that’s how I made Sparkler faint by burping the alphabet.” Ash said, finishing her story about annoying her lifelong friend. The ninth story. During her first day in the Puppets. Halfway through, said day. During their first meeting. “Ah… She made me forget where my stuffed animal was for that, but it was worth it.”

        “Right… Would you like anything to drink this morning? Glass of water?” Hiro then asked her as he offered to get mare a beverage from the fridge in the kitchen.

        “Yeah, thanks.” Ash nodded. Hiro got a cold glass of water for her as he set it on the table for her. Just as she was about to drink it, Lance soon came into the room and sat down right next to them.

        “Hey… Mind if I join you guys?”

        “Nah, I don’t mind.” Ash said, before sipping her water. “This cult is weird… Vinyl’s taking that Octavia thing hard.”

        “Yeah… Wait, how do you know about that-?” Lance then asked before remembering something. “Let me guess, Aurora told you?”

        “Mostly. That and Vinyl isn’t acting normal.” Ash replied. “Hey Hiro, you got a phone? I wanna talk to a friend.” That surprised Lance for a moment as he looked back at Ash for a moment. He didn’t want to question her and ask who it was, all because it would sound like he would be intruding on her privacy.

        “Yeah, here. Just don’t take too long. BAYMAX would get on someone’s case on the health problems with talking on the phone too much. Yeah, trust me, Neon had to learn the hard way.” He informed her.

        “Thanks. Sparkler’s been having it tough at the Power Ponies Divisions HQ.” Ash stated, then went to the phone. While that was going on, Lance himself had a glass of water as well while trying to sort out all the things going on inside his head. Especially with what Time had told him when he mentioned the Countess. He wasn’t quite sure about what would be going on, but he had to be prepared nonetheless and could not let his guard down.

        “Hiro, I’m going to have to go meet someone today in order to ask them about something that may help us with tracking down the Countess,” He then said after finishing his glass. “Can you and Ash do me a favor and try to find out about if there are any kind of ties between her, this Cult of Corrode and also where they might be next?”

        “We’ll try our best. The Countess has been doing everything she can to not leave any kind of trail behind for us to track. Though, I think Honeycomb can help us with making sure we do find something.” He said, causing Lance to nod his head… and also raise an eyebrow for a moment.

        “Wait, who’s Honeycomb?”

        “She’s one of our friends that helps with coming up with gadgets for the team as well as a skilled computer expert. She goes by the codename “Hornet” when out in the field.” Hiro briefly explained. “If any leads do come up, we’ll tell you as soon as possible.” Lance briefly thanked him as he placed his glass in the sink and looked back at Hiro. Ash was still on the phone, but Lance made sure to also have Hiro tell her where he would be. Now he had to go pay a visit to a particular… friend to get some answers.



        “Good to see you Lance… Wish I was feeling better though.” Roach said in his cell. He was laying on the bed, paling. “Your wife forgot to free the shackle… Heh...”

        “Well, she doesn’t exactly have the most amount of trust in you. You are in a prison for a reason,” Lance pointed out to him as he got closer to him. “I wanted to talk to you about some… conflicting reports of a case regarding an individual that had spent some time in this facility.” From his back pocket, he unfolded a photograph of the countess on the first day the incidents in Sun Fransokyo were happening. “We’ve been trying to track her down recently, but when I mentioned it to Time Spinner on the side, he thought that she was dead. I thought you would be able to shed some light on the subject.”

        “It’s not hard to see, Gunvolt.” Roach said, placing his hands behind his head. “She’s dead. Gone. Left in the dust with people that aren’t remembered like Faithless and Comet Tail… And walking again, as those fools are. The Cult of Corrode’s leader invented a chemical that’d keep someone alive, even without blood, a heart… Etcetera.” That was news to him. Still, he needed to understand a bit more.

        “Who's this leader… and where can I find them?”

        “I assume you’ve heard the Cult referring to an ‘LH’, have you not?” Roach asked, smirking like he knew something… Well he obviously did. Lance thought it over, trying to recall if any of the ponies from the mansion had said anything like that before having to get out of there pre-emptively. “LH is what they call their leader… Lemon Heart. She’s the physical leader. I pity the poor child.”

        “We didn’t hear anything about a Lemon Heart. The only names I did here were Black Widow, Shadowmere and the two sisters of Octavia Melody named Symphony and Fiddle,” Lance told him before following up on a specific detail that stood out to him, “But can you explain a little more on physical leader? I’m not quite sure if I understand what that means.”

        “Corrode is dead. Well, kind of. His body was destroyed a long time ago, but his essence lives on. The physical leader is the mortal tasked with leading the cult in his absence.” Roach explained. That made a small amount of sense… but then again, some of the audio footage that they had gotten thanks to Vinyl still confused him.

        “Is this cult known for any… extreme practices?” He then asked, just for clarification.

        “You’re talking about a cult that worships a world ending demon… They aren’t exactly the nicest of creatures.” Roach said with a bit of amusement in his voice. “But I have to admit, they’re not all in the group for the same reason. Like the Melody triplets…”

        “You know about Octavia and her sisters?” Lance then asked upon hearing this new detail.

        “Yeah. Filly was being groomed as a host last time I saw her.” Roach said nonchalantly. Now this made Lance curious a little… and wanted to follow up with another question.

        “Would you expect her and Symphony to torture Octavia?” The Adept asked her, providing Roach the “audio” of when they had to give Octavia her punishment for staying out late one night.

        “Totally. They’ve got an artifact that acts like a dagger but has no permanent effects. It’s a torture device meant to keep the victim alive. The cult use it to… “bring out the demon”, in their sacrifices. Or hosts. She’s probably their secret weapon and they’re ripping her up, increasing her body’s tolerance of pain. You see, the artifact adjusts so that you’ll always get a new form of agony, meaning you can’t get used to the pain of multiple stabs.”

        “Because each one isn’t the same as the first…” The Adept thought to himself, now beginning to think something over in his head. “Good lord, I feel bad for Vinyl… Roach… If you are a part of this cult… you’re forced to be there? You can’t leave?”

        “Pretty much. Their enforcers torture any retaliation into submission. A mare named Shadowmere heads this division…” Roach smirked, knowing Lance knew who he was talking about.

        “Trust me… We’ve met.” Lance sighed, but getting back to the topic at hand. “And now that you mention this… I got a really bad feeling that someone is going to reach their boiling point… and when it does happen, the results aren’t going to be good… First though… I need to find the Countess, that’s step one.”

        “Oh, she’s living at her old orphanage in that city.” Roach stated, beaming. “Man it feels good to be the hero.”

        “Next… is there anything specific that the Cult is searching for. Any reasons behind the Countesses string of attacks and robberies?” Lance then asked, trying to find a way to piece it all together and form a gameplan inside his head.

        “What were they again?” Roach asked.

        “Robbed a couple of banks, a Sapphire Shores concert and a charity fundraiser for a non- profit organization that used to belong to her.” Lance labeled them out. “The cops weren’t able to get footage of the incident since the crooks used an EMP to disable security footage at the banks. The concert was broadcasted live around the world and the charity was a private fundraiser.”

        “Well it sounds like personal reasons… Although… Can you show me the names of the banks?” Roach asked. Lance nodded, going into the manila folder of all the Countess related incidents and pulling out the shortlist of the banks that were hit. 

        “Hmm… Uh oh…” Roach tapped his chin. “This is troubling. One of the banks that was hit has a special key that belonged to the owner of a history museum. He stored a key in there a month ago to an exhibit of an artifact that an unknown cult used to activate a demon in a host… Like Octavia.” Now Lance realized why… and he needed to do something.

        “How long would I have in order to prevent this from happening?”

        “I dunno. Depends on-” Roach was cut off as his TV blared a news report.

        “-A hostage situation at the Sun Fransokyo museum, where super powered criminals are holding employees and funders hostage-” Roach turned the TV off.

        “Better go, hero boy.” Roach stated, smirking. Lance himself had no time to lose and immediately teleported out of the facility to a building nearby the Sun Fransokyo museum. He had activated his communications band and was already working on dialing Hiro and the others when he heard gunshots from the opposite end of the city. When he did sync up with Hiro, the news was not great.

        “Hiro, what’s going on?”

        “What’s going on is that we got a hostage situation at the mall and a couple of maniacs on the other side of the city going on a rampage,” Hiro informed Lance as he had connected Cody into the same call in order to communicate with them. “Lance, the Countess is the one holding the hostages at the museum…”

        “Hiro, what’s going on is more than a hostage situation. I just figured out why the countess was robbing the banks.” Lance told him as the connection with Cody came through. “Cody, are you there?”

        “Yeah I’m heading to you, what’s going on?”

        “We got a major situation happening right now and there’s a lot more at stake than just those hostages… Where’s Aurora? I just cracked the code on what the Cult of Corrode is going after.” Seconds after Lance had asked that question, he soon heard Aurora loud and clear on the line.

        “What!? Can’t you let a mother teach her foal!?” Aurora screamed on the other end. That had Lance sigh a little and then lead to Cody having to chime in on her part.

        “It’s a lot to explain…”

        “Well, we got a big problem. The Countess is taking hostages in the Museum… and I know why… She wants to awaken a demon-.”

        “Nice dramatic pause.” Aurora complimented, unaffected by the demon part.

        “Aurora, this is bad. If we don’t stop this and that demon gets loose, thousands of ponies are going to die and I am NOT letting that happen.” Lance said back to her as he went across the rooftops. “Especially because of the fact that the host of this demon is Octavia. They’re trying to bring it out of her so the Countess can control it.”

        “Wait, Coloratura’s with the cult? Plot twist!” Aurora stated.

        “That’s not even the tip of the iceberg. Remember Reaper back at HQ and how he’s undead? Well, it seems as if the Cult of Corrode is responsible for that happening to him. And not just him, but also the Countess.” The Adept told him. “Cody, I need you to scan the outsides of the building and look for ways to infiltrate the building. Hiro, get your team ready on standby for if we need backup. Those two junkers that are causing trouble will likely run into the heroes association, so let’s have all hands/hooves on deck for this.”

        “Wow, we’re a bucking comic book!” Aurora said, groaning. “Okay, I’m coming. Sorry sweetie, mommy's gotta go for a bit. I’ll be back.”

        Aurora then transferred into Lance’s bracer, just as the Adept made it to the roof of the building. Using his electricity to override the electric lock on the roof, the Adept began to make his way downstairs and then halted by what appeared to be a security room.

        “Aurora, can you get control of the camera’s and find out where they are?” He whispered. “I need to know where the relic is and where they are. If it’s possible, we can intercept that thing before they even reach it.”

        “As long as it’s wi- Uh… As long as I have direct access to it.” Aurora had to correct herself. Lance placed his hand on the wall that was adjacent to the computer inside, allowing the spirit to slip into the machine and access the feeds that were rolling.

        “What’s it look like?” Aurora asked.

        “I’m not sure, but it should have it’s own separate exhibit. Look for anything related to ancient cultures.” The Adept advised her.

        “Lance… Do you realize that this is a security monitor, and that everything is labeled by numbers?” Aurora asked him annoyed. “I don’t tell you how to do your job.”

        “And sometimes, things blindside you… Did you check the main entrance where the Countess may be? She probably told her lackeys to go find it and where it might be. I’ll go on ahead, you guide me.”

        “Found it. There’s a plaque that reads ‘Dagger of Peace’. And since the cult’s all about, you know… Killing for peace.”

        “And just when I thought that the group has too many members with stabby tendencies… Just direct me to the room and I’ll do my best to take care of the rest-.” Lance was going to finish, but then he heard some movement on the floor above him and com chatter from Cody outside.

        “Lance, we got a problem… There’s a third party here and you’re not going to like who it is.” Cody told him from outside.

        “Surprise me.”

        “It’s those two lackeys from the Suicide Squad that you and Ash encountered with Radiance. It’s your father and Anarchy.” Lance cursed at that. The timing was not the best and whatever they were here for could affect him being able to get to the artifact.

        “Why the hell are they here?”

        “I honestly have no idea, but they got a sniper outside watching them along with a new new member wreaking havoc with the Junkers.” His friend told him as he got his equipment ready. “Should I-.”

        “Just stay on standby and DO NOT engage. One shot and those hostages in there will be the first to die. Contact Hiro and check to see if he can bring one more member for support,” The Adept said as he took a right and went to a nearby corridor. Before stopping to hear something that Aurora was telling him.

        “Uh, Lance? I think you’ve already got backup…” Aurora contacted Lance. “There’s someone taking out the goons.” She sent Lance an image of the pony in question and Lance just grinned at the sight of it.

        “Well speak of the devil, that’s the one that Hiro was telling me about this morning,” He sighed. “That’s Honeycomb, Codename: Hornet. And with that, we have one less job to worry about… Let’s get back to what we were doing before-.”

        “Lance, we have a situation.” This time, it was Hiro talking. “I was briefing the team on what was going on and when Vinyl saw that Octavia was one of the captives, she bolted!”

        “Wait… Oh crap! If Melody’s one of the captives, who knows what other hostages are other cultists!” Aurora panicked. The Adept soon ran to the next door and kicked it down, running along an overhang to try and reach the exhibit in time before any catastrophes would ensue. Looking down from the railing, he leaped on down and got to the doors of the exhibit, barging through then as he made it. 

        Two of the Countess’ personal minions held Octavia and Hornet at gunpoint. Oddly enough, Hornet looked like a ponified Honey Lemon from BH6. Lance himself had his weapon drawn and aimed at them. “Drop your weapons and release them now!”

        The Countess herself rounded the corner, an insane grin on her face. “Why if it isn’t the Mistress’ lackey, the Azure Striker… I’ve been waiting for us to meet on my terms… Too bad the ditcher isn’t with you-.”

        It was then that two shots went off, hitting both of the lackeys point blank in the head as Lance turned to see a familiar face… that was staring down both the Countess and himself. “Heh… it’s high noon already…”

        “It’s midnight…”

        “Still ain’t going to prevent me from putting my next shot right between your eyes,” McCree snickered. “Now either we can do this the easy way or the hard way… You’re choice lady.”

        Lance then drew his second pistol. “Like bullets aren’t going to work on a mare that’s already dead… Isn’t that right, Coloratura…?” This was not going to end well with the current situation… and his father bolting in just made it even worse.

        “That mare’s dead. I’m only the Countess.” She said, visibly angered.

        “Bullsh*t… You’re still you, yet your heart no longer beats. I know somepony who's the exact same way and not himself anymore. And it does not make what you’re doing right. Stop this now… Or this will hurt…” Lance, upon saying that, then noticed one of the guns that his father had… was now drawn at him.

        “I don’t know whatcha planning, son… But if it gets in the way of what I have to do… Then you will be the next one in an early grave.” McCree snarled, one gun drawn at both the Countess and the Adept. “That dagger is my objective… Hand it over missy… or I will put a bullet through your skull.”

        “Eh, I’ll die either way. If I succeed, if I fail, if I refuse… And It’s not like I have it yet.” She said, motioning to the display case. However, as Lance looked at them, he could hear hoofsteps. Turning, he saw Vinyl racing over to them… and that’s when all three of them heard the glass case in the back of the room shatter.

        “Badunkidork.” Cloud Kicker said from behind the case as she took her rifle and fired a shot. Unfortunately for the Countess, it entered her throat.

        She toppled to the floor, her dark blood barely dripping.

        Octavia looked at Vinyl, eyes wide and confused. “V-Vinyl?”

        “T-tavi! Are you okay?!” Vinyl said, worried about her friends safety. “I-i came as quickly as I-.” But the mare stopped once she saw the look on Octavia’s face. Her eyes were wide, staring at the unicorn like she had just betrayed her… like she had broken a promise. “Tavi?”

        But it only got worse… “You used me…”

        “T-tavi? What are you talking about? Why would I-?!” Vinyl said, trying to speak, but it didn’t help. The mare did not want to hear what her friend had to say.

        Octavia’s irises shrank and rage filled her voice. “You lied to me!”

        “Octavia, please! Why would I do that?! You’re my friend!! I care for you-!!” The Unicorn pleaded, but to no avail. The earth pony was right next to the display case now, having backed up.

        “I was a fool… How could I be so stupid!? You needed me to get close to my family! You even tried to-” Octavia started to tear up. “You tried to get into our house, you’re the reason I was punished…”

        Vinyl’s eyes were tearing up at this point. “Tavi… I… I’m s-sorry… I care about you! We were roommates dammit!! You’re the sister I never had because the rest of my family does not give two sh*t’s about me… But… you did… You were the only one who cared about me… and I cared so much about you… You’re important to me, Tavi… and I would rather die than see you go through this pain ever again!!!”

        Octavia glared. “You never once reached out to me since college… Heh, the voices were right…” Octavia began grinning. “I hate you!”

        “Dammit Tavi, I TRIED WRITING TO YOU EVER SINCE WE GRADUATED!! I wanted to get back in touch with you ever since then. Never once have you replied back to the hundreds of letters I sent… Dammit Tavi, I LOVED YOU! Now… this isn’t you… Please… just stop…”

        “The voices… Whispers in my head… Heh…” Octavia chuckled, lost in madness. She grabbed the dagger from Cloud Kicker, then cut her cheek, which healed almost instantly. Her eyes changed to red, and her grin turned sharper. McCree’s first instinct was to shoot her the second that happened… But unfortunately to him… his shots had little effect on her now.

        “T-tavi…?” Vinyl asked, now seeing the monstrosity that was beginning to take form.

        “There is no ‘Tavi’... Only Shabris the Damned.” The husk of Octavia said, her grin turning sinister. To Lance, this was bad. Like WAY bad… They needed to get out of there now. But the howl they soon heard threw everyone out of the room as the walls were torn away with ease. McCree was thrown onto the overhang above them while Vinyl was launched into a stone statue at the end of the hall, knocked out cold by the impact.

        “Oh sh*t……” Lance cursed to himself. “This is BAD!”

        Octavia, or Shabris, let out a dark chuckle. “Your world shall burn! I have minions to awaken-”

        While he was boasting though, a circle of magic soon popped out from the ceiling as an oversized turquoise heel smashed onto Shabris’ head. That… was followed by the sounds of someone walking in and the sound of high heels against the floor. “Starting the party without me? That is rather rude of a demon like yourself…”

        “Oh, hello witch. Looks like the families back together- oh, wait, I forgot your sister and you had a fight. I hope Maya’s okay~” That lead to the demon getting a shot in the face as Bayonetta’s eyes narrowed. “Learn… To take a joke… B*tch!”

        “Well, looks like someone’s been rather naughty… and rather rude… and I don’t like pets who disrespect their masters…” She snarled, her left eye glowing now as she turned to Lance. “Well boy… Let’s see if you can keep up…”




End Strike 41