Epilogue: Know They Did1,309 words

Wrath: Timeless Truths Told

Stable Zero interior
Sublevel 1

Rice knew he was close. The problem was, so were they- so was Dan. They really were a lot alike, and that is what they both hated, which made them even more alike. Dan had hated it first, which is what he would say if that was ever brought it up, but now, Rice hated it, too. But now, there was one key way, one key similarity between the two angry individuals that he could use. Now, it was about to pay off.

"Sire!" One of his dog soldiers burst through the door to the main laboratory. A breach of protocol he could afford time to neither reprimand nor admonish. "They have found us, my lord. Dan and his army has arrived."

"Take care of it," was Rice's terse reply.

The dog removed his helmet, ears low. "But... sire, please. There are too few of us and their weapons are-"

"Fight them," Rice ordered. "I don't care what it takes. Use your guns, use knives, use your bare teeth if you have to. Stall them, stop them, drag them by their ankles, I don't care, just don't let them reach the lab!!"

Lips quivering, possibly on the verge of tears, the dog returned his helmet to his head. He held his rifle closely and hustled off to meet the enemy. The dog had no inclination that he would survive.

The dogs were loyal to Rice. He had found them in squalor, used his science to lift them up, taught them to build underground farms and craft medicine. They all loved him, nearly worshipped him, but he was driven by one thing and one thing only: revenge. Revenge and setting things right. Had his motivations even been simple selfish greed like so many others, he might have felt a modicum of respect for those that served him. But Rice felt only rage.

Now, as the final cards of the game began to be played, they stared at a losing hand. Only in this final moment did the dogs question their loyalty. They reached an answer with their backs to the wall.

Rice didn't care. Even as his last followers wavered, he didn't. Not from his mission, not from his goal, not from his hatred. It was all he had.

In front of Rice, the thing he had been working on for the past few months, was nearly ready. Tied in to the very foundation of the moon's core, was a blue police call box. Of course, that's only how it appeared on the outside- it was much bigger on the inside, he had found. And now, that Dan had done the impossible, Rice was going to do the impossible to undo what had been done. He was going to have his son back.

The door to the TARDIS opened.

"I can't believe you used ACTUAL combs when I told you NOT to," Dan snarled.

"I can't believe it worked," Cap remarked.

"After everything that's happened, I don't think anything's unbelievable any more," Phoenix added. They were about to all engage in a hearty, best friend laugh when Dan interrupted, yelling-

"I can't believe you're all STILL STANDING AROUND HERE TALKING ABOUT IT," Dan yelled. Then, he pointed. "You."

"Me," Dollars said.

"Blow open the door. Now."

"One door breach, coming up," the ODST said. Jake silently moved to assist his friend. The two marines were a good team; Dollars being the loud explosive one, Jake being the whisper-quiet one. Jake's footsteps didn't even seem to make much noise compared to Dollars.

As the marines placed the explosive pack on the door to the moon base, Dan turned to the stormtroopers. Their helmets made them all look the same, which Dan both approved of and hated.

"Vice Grip is in there somewhere. So are my friends."

"OUR friends," Phoenix corrected. And for once, Dan allowed it. Because Phoenix was his friend.

"Our friends," Dan repeated. "And probably a bunch of other crazy gizmos and freaky sci-fi weirdo gadgets. High-tech nerd stuff. Traps, defenses, all of it will be in there. The walls might not even be safe and he knows we're coming. We're basically walking into a trap."

"Which is why you're making them go in first," Redfield said.

"Which is why I'm making you go in first," Dan confirmed. "And Redfield is going to lead you."

"Try again."

"And Stevie is going to lead you," Dan said. "We don't know what is in there or where exactly our friends are." Dan approached the platoon of stormtroopers. He got right up in their faces. "Find our friends. Find Vice Grip. Bring him to me. Alive."

"Sir, yes sir," the trooper replied.

"Charge set!" Dollars ran around the corner. The charge exploded, a puff of smoke expanding outward in the vacuum of space.

"GO GO GO!" Dan shouted. And the stormtroopers charged. Right into the door.

"Damn. SPACE MONKEY!" Dan shouted. Dollars did not know Dan was referring to him, but then Dan went right up to him and that made it pretty clear.

Dollars shrugged. "The charge must not've been strong enough! It's not my fault; I'm not exactly equipped to breach a bomb shelter."

"THEN WHO IN THE HELL IS?! You people are supposed to be SOLDIERS that fight WARS in SPACE. Well, here's the war, we're in the space so WHY IS THERE A FRAGGING PROBLEM?!"

"Dan-" they all began arguing. "It's not as easy as-"

*shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrr-BOOOM* The bunker entrance exploded. The door, the entryway, all had been taken off and now there was only a gaping hole in its wake when the dust cleared.

"You're welcome," Barro said.

"CHAAAAARGE!!" Dan shouted. And the stormtroopers rushed into the moon base. Dan stomped his way down the stairs to join them, Phoenix, Cap and Redfield in tow.

The words STABLE 0 were painted in bold on the walls. They realized that was what they were in; another Stable-Tec Stable, only this one was on the moon. It had the same layout, same material had been used, the only difference was that this one wasn't on Equestria. They reached the first intersection, the inevitable branching corridors of the Stable that stretched deeper into the base.

Dan stood in the center of this intersection. Fists balled, seething, his friends were right behind him, waiting for him to lead. This was the final confrontation. It had to be.

Or so he thought.

"Find him. Whatever it takes," Dan told them. "Find him."

Author's Note:

Sorry, another short one. Trying to wrap this up but things have been busy again.

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Booster Spice

Booster Spice #1 · Nov 8th, 2020 · · ·

Uhuh, Rice has really lost it. One Paradox coming up because he is too lost to realise just how easy it is to solve any problem non paradoxically with the resources available. With time travel, the trick isnt to bring a person back from death, its to bait and switch with a substitute before the moment of gurenteed death. As one option. They even made at least one film about it?

Shaped nuclear charge beats nuclear proof bunker. Who knew?