Chapter XX: Wrath of the Spider Queen
Chapter XX
The Wrath of the Spider Queen
The next morning the spectators resumed their seats as they waited for the test to continue. The six girls, Mac and Spike took their seats beside their friends and waited. Dash was still rolling what happened last night in her head. The three Princesses sat beside Crow. Soon the teams started to make their way onto the field. Crow stood up and summoned a microphone.
“Good morning everyone.” He said with a smile. “We will continue with the second test. The rules are simple. Two students will fight one on one until either one gives up or is knocked out. There will also be a proctor to monitor the two fighters and in the event one is unable to continue then they will step in and stop the match.” Crow said as he adjusted his glasses. “If any other student interferes with the match, then it will be considered forfeit.”
“I should also mention that the combatants will fight as individuals and will not bring down their team’s chances of failing as a whole.” Several sighs of relief escaped some of the students. “Now lets get the show on the road.” The magical screen from the day before. Several names flew by before they stopped.
Rouge Nightshade
vs
Ace O’Spades
Cobalt gulped and looked at his girlfriend who sighed. The students left the two combatants on the field. Crimson and his team made their way up to an observation platform with the other teams. Rouge and the man locked gazes.
“I may be a gentleman, but don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because your a girl.” He said as he pulled out his blades.
“Wouldn’t dream of it pretty boy.” The woman said as she withdrew her pistol crossbows. The two took a pose and waited. Silence fell over crowd. Crow cleared his throat.
“Begin!” Rouge let loose a barrage of purple magical arrows. Ace withdrew a card with an iron shield imprinted on it. The card glowed and a massive iron slab appeared before him. The arrows stuck in the metal and fizzled away.
“What kind of magic was that?” Twilight asked.
“Its card magic.” Crow stated.
“Card magic?” Dash asked.
“Ace sealed certain types of magic into those cards of his. All he has to do is funnel his own strength into them and they will appear. Like that shield.” Twilight’s eyes boggled at the magic. “Ace has also trapped monsters within the cards and can summon them.”
“So like how Crimson can summon his dog?” Pinkie asked.
“Sort of. It uses less magic and the card holder can use the cards for almost anything.” Crow said turning his attention back to the match. Ace withdrew five cards and threw them at the woman. Rouge dodged them with a backflip and fired off a few more arrows. Ace charged at the woman with his blades drawn.
Rouge let loose another barrage of arrows. The man held up a card with three green arrows on it. The man’s speed increased to the point where he was a blur. Rouge attempted to guard herself but felt an iron wrapped fist collide with her stomach. The woman coughed up blood and was sent flying back three feet. She slowly got to her feet and panted.
This illusion spell is taking too much energy. She snapped her fingers and her disguise shattered. Several members in the crowd gasped as they saw her appearance. The woman sighed and focused on the man.
“Looks like she’s getting serious.” Ivy said. Rogue cracked her neck and looked at the man. She switched her crossbows to their dagger form and tightly gripped them. Ace cocked an eyebrow and pulled out a few more cards.
“Finally getting down to business then?” He asked. The woman nodded and charged forward. All the man saw was a purple blur. She’s fast! Rouge started to attack using her finger tips before landing a final kick to the man. Ace jumped back and panted heavily. The man felt his left arm go numb.
“Forgot about that gentle palm of yours.” He said as he got up. “However,” He said as he snapped his fingers. A light came from beneath the woman’s feet and exploded. “you activated my trap card.” He said as the card in his hand vanished. Rouge grunted in pain as she got to her feet. Ace pulled out a few more cards. A large manticore came out of one and charged at the woman. Rouge defended herself as the beast tried to swipe her. The woman spat a web from her mouth and trapped the manticore.
Rouge placed her palm on the ground and the area was filled with purple light. A purple spider the size of a train car then appeared in a cloud of smoke. Rouge then put the back end of her daggers together. As she pulled them apart a metal bar held them together forming a staff like weapon. The mage stood on the spider’s back and focused on the man.
“Enough warm up.” She said as she and the spider charged forwards. The spider shot a web thread as Rouge attacked the man. Ace raised his blades and defended against the woman’s attacks. Crow grinned as he saw the two exchange blows.
“I’ve never seen her move that fast.” Pinkie said.
“When Changelings use their illusion magic it eats up a lot of their power.” Crow stated. “Now that she’s ditched her disguise, Rouge can focus all of her magic on her opponent.” Dash bit her lip and sighed. Crow raised an eyebrow at the flyer. “I realize that some of you may not be comfortable around Changelings, but Rouge is different than the ones that attacked Canterlot.”
“You mean she’s part of the Republic?” Cadence asked.
“I didn’t say that.” Crow said with a sigh. The two warriors were panting heavily.
“You’re good Rouge.” Ace then withdrew the entire deck. “Time for some fifty-two pickup.” He threw the cards into the air and they started circling the man. He launched several at the mage. Rouge flapped her wings and quickly took flight. Ace held out a card with a pair of white wings on it. The man jumped and a pair quickly sprouted from his back.
The man held up another card and his speed increased. Rouge blinked and felt a fist collide with her face. Rouge grunted in pain. The man vanished from sight and re appeared behind her. A swift kick made the woman’s back crack. A barrage of kicks and punches then hit the Changeling with incredible force.
On the observation platform, Cobalt was gripping the hand rain hard enough to crush it like clay. Crimson put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a nod.
“Rouge is tough. She can handle him easily.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Cobalt said. The two mages looked at him in confusion. “You know that Rouge and I covered a shopping center in a rock slide right?”
“Yeah, you were hired to take down a mountain troll right?” Ivy said.
“Yeah, we took care of that easily, but the troll pushed Rouge over the edge and she changed.”
“Changed?” Crimson asked.
“Yeah, after I managed to calm her down she was back to her normal self.” He said with a gulp. If she goes into that form again, I’m worried that we’ll lose her to madness.” The two gulped and turned their attention back to the fight. After the last punch, the Changeling fell towards the dirt. As she landed on her feet the warrior appeared to her right and gave a swift roundhouse kick to her stomach. The woman flew back a good ten feet before hitting the dirt.
This isn’t good. My body can’t handle this kind of damage. She thought as she sat up. At this rate it’ll be Griffonia all over again. A thought then came to her. Rouge looked up to see Cobalt looking at her with a concerned look on his face. Rouge looked at her opponent who had a cocky grin on his face.
“What a disappointment. I thought you were part of the Changeling Principality?” The woman’s eyes shrank. “Guess now I know why there’s so few of you left.” The woman frowned and grunted at the man. “I expected a bigger fight, but I guess you’ve already used up most of you strength looks like you can’t do much without that blue moron around.” Rouge’s eye twitched. “Time for the coup de grace.” A small shiver then ran down the man’s spine.
“I’m not done just yet you gnat.” A purple aura then covered the woman’s body and started to change. “I’ll show you what I can really do.” The woman’s body was then wrapped in a dark cocoon of magic. Cobalt gulped and was shaking.
“What is she doing?” Twilight asked. Crow bit his lip and sighed. “What’s the Changeling Principality?” Crow looked at Celestia and sighed.
“Honestly Tia what are you teaching your student?” He said with a sigh. “I would have thought that you’d cover the history of the Changelings. Especially after the mishap at Cadence’s wedding.”
“I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Not necessary?” Crow gasped at the words. He calmed down and let out a sigh before turning towards Twilight. “You see, currently there are two major Changeling powers; The Republic and Empire.” He said in a flat tone. “The Principality was the original ruling force before the Chrysalis took it over and turned it into an empire. After seeing how badly things were with the current power, a resistance was formed in hopes to see things back to the way they were. That resistance became the Republic.”
“Why couldn’t the Principality or whatever fight back?” Dash asked. Crow sighed.
“The first order given by the Empress was the extermination of the Principality.” The group all gasped. Even Cadence and Luna looked surprised. “Rouge is one of the few surviving members of the genocide.”
“S-Seriously?” Twilight asked. Crow nodded. The girls felt a few tears form in their eyes.
“Unfortunately yes.”
“How can you tell if she’s part of this Principality?” Cadence asked.
“Its obvious if you know what to look for.” He said with a sigh. “Tell me, how many Changelings have you seen with butterfly wings?” The girls all thought for a moment and realized all the changelings they had seen had dragonfly like wings. “Those who belonged to the Principality also have a special ability.”
“Special ability?” Dash asked. The group felt an odd pressure coming from the mage. The girls gasped as they saw her wings vanish and four arms sprout from her back. Her outfit also changed to purple armor. A helmet with mandibles wrapped around her head and the woman had a pair of large fangs.
Ace gulped as he looked at the woman. Rouge dug her foot into the ground and ran forwards. Three fists then slammed into the man’s chest. Rouge felt his ribs crack. One hand grabbed him by the throat and threw him up in the sky. She crouched making a small crater form under her feet. She jumped up above the man still in mid air. Rouge slammed her six fists into the man’s gut sending him flying down towards the ground.
The man quickly got to his feet and looked above to see the woman rocketing towards him. He dodged the Changeling and shot out six cards from his circle. Before they reached halfway they were shot down by six bolts of purple magic. The man gulped as he saw the woman holding six pistol crossbows. A seventh card then shot forwards and severed one of the arms. The card user granted himself a small moment of victory. His smirk was wiped away as he saw the hand grow back in it's rightful place. Dash gulped as she saw the heavily armored woman.
“The members of the Principality have this trick for changing their bodies and regenerating lost limbs.” Crow stated. “That must be Rouge’s form.” He said as he sat back. “Now the real question is if she can control it.”
“Control it?” Twilight asked.
“From what Rouge has told me and some researching, while in that form her body uses and absorbs massive amounts of magical energy. That constant process of absorbing and spending can make a person become un-balanced.” He said with a sigh. “She also said that it won’t last for very long.”
Back on the field the purple mage was panting heavily as she dropped to one knee. Rouge coughed up a small mouthful of blood. The extra arms on her back faded and her wings grew back. Ace smirked as he looked at the woman’s state.
“So that little trick of yours only lasts for five minutes eh?” He said with a sigh. “Time to wrap this up.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out another deck of cards. The cards then flew up in a circular formation. “Tell you what Rouge, I’ll make you a bet.” He said as he held up two cards between his pointer and middle finger. “I’ll end this match with one hand.”
Rouge’s eyes shrank as he threw the card in the center of the circle and a ball of yellow energy formed in the center. “Its been fun Rouge, but this is the end.” He said as he threw the second card in. The ball shrank and turned into a massive beam. Rouge tried to move but her body was wrapped in pain.
The woman’s eyes shrank as she saw the beam coming right for her. The mage was then met with a blinding explosion. The crowd gasped as they saw the figure of the woman vanish inside the explosion. As the dust settled Ace walked over and peered down into the three foot deep crater that his spell had created and saw the woman lying there motionless.
Crimson and Ivy were struggling to restrain the blue flyer. Ace sighed and shook his head. “Sorry but this is as far as you go and that idiot boyfriend of yours is next.” For the woman, time seemed to slow and she felt herself drifting into darkness.
“Giving up so soon?” A voice called out to her.
“It...couldn’t be...master?” She said in a weak voice.
“Are you going to just lie there and admit defeat? After you’ve come so far you’re just going to give up?” Rouge opened her eyes to see the patch of scorched dirt in front of her.
“Since Rouge Nightshade cannot continue-” Crow was cut off as he saw the young mage stand. Ace’s eyes shrank and he frowned at the Changeling.
“Hey Ace.” Rouge said in a dark tone. “No one, I repeat, no one calls Cobalt an idiot except for me!” At those words the stadium started to shake and the ground started to crack. The stands were shaking violently and purple aura was seeping out of the woman’s body. Ace took a step back from the woman.
“What? Her magic power was all gone! Where is this coming from?” The feeling in the air made him feel sick. The man dropped to one knee and felt his stomach churn. What is this magic? Its foul and sick. In the distance he swore he heard a horse neighing. The entire area was filled with white light.
Ace opened his eyes and felt a massive wave of fear wash over him as he looked at the woman who was now wearing a long purple cloak with an odd mask over face. The Changeling was sitting on a white horse. Her left hand held a bow. As the card user looked at the weapon he saw that it was marble white and appeared to be made out of bone.
“Strife. The first of the four held a bow and rode across the land on a white horse. Taking down all who opposed.” The woman said in a deep tone. She raised her bow and aimed right for the man. Ace threw another card in the center of the spinning circle of cards. Another massive beam shot at the woman. Rouge raised the bow and shot one purple arrow that cut the beam down the middle.
Ace looked at the woman in fear. His legs were trembling and he was barely standing on his feet. Rouge lightly kicked the horse who stood on its back legs before galloping towards the man. Ace started to panic and threw five cards into the circle. Ivory gulped as she saw the maneuver.
“Eat this!” He yelled before firing the beam. The ray was easily four times bigger. Rouge stuck out her right hand and halted the beam in place. She’s blocking my card beam with her bare hand? The woman charged forward with the beam still in her palm. No, she’s absorbing it! No one can absorb that much power! As the woman closed in, several bolts of magic hit the circle of cards and burned them to piles of ash.
The woman got off her horse and slowly walked towards the man who randomly started throwing cards at her. Faster than anyone’s eyes could track the cars were shot down by magical arrows. The woman’s right hand was glowing as she made it into a fist. The ground around her body started to tremble. Ace tried to get to his feet and flee, but was stopped when he realized that he was right up against the wall.
Rouge raised her fist and slammed it into the wall beside his head. A massive crack creeped up the side. Ace turned his head to see that the hole went straight through the wall.
“Sorry. All this magic is hard to control.” She said as her fist started to glow again. “I won’t miss this-”
“I surrender!” He yelled. The woman looked at him in shock. “I yield.” Rouge backed off the man. Crow gulped and got to his feet.
“Since Ace O’Spades has withdrawn the winner is-” He stopped as the purple mage’s mask cracked along with her bow. The horse was then enveloped in white flames. The mask shattered completely and Rouge dropped to the ground. Silence fell over the crowd. Ace leaned against the wall and gulped. “I stand corrected. Since Rouge is unable to keep fighting the result is a draw since Ace had just admitted defeat.” At the verdict Cobalt, Ivy and Crimson jumped down from the observation deck beside their comrade.
“Rouge? Rouge speak to me!” Cobalt yelled as he lightly slapped the girl’s cheek. Rouge struggled to keep her eyes open and chuckled.
“To think I even tried that.” She said with a cough. “Your stupidity must be rubbing off on me.” She said with a faint laugh. Cobalt cried and held the woman’s body close to his. A group of people wearing white uniforms hurried to their side. They laid a stretcher beside her.
“I’m going to have to ask all of you to step back. We’ll take it from here.”
“Okay gently now.” One of them said as they picked the girl up from the ground and placed her on the stretcher. Cobalt put his hand on the doctor’s shoulder and looked at him with tears in his eyes.
“Please save her.”
“I’ll do everything within my power.” He said as he looked at the girl. “Besides she’s tough. She’ll be fine.” Cobalt sighed and started to go after them before Ivy tapped him on the shoulder.
“Um Cobalt, you’re up.” Cobalt looked at the board and grunted.
Cobalt Striker
vs
Carter O’Connell
The blue flyer grunted and stamped his foot. “I’ll look after Rouge.” Crimson said as he ran after the medics. Ivy gulped as she felt his blue aura radiating from his body.
“Tell Crimson I’ll be there in seven minutes.”
“Are you-”
“Seven minutes.” Ivy gulped as she looked into his deep blue eyes that were filled with rage. Across the field a man with dark brown hair jumped down and cracked his neck. Ivy flew up to the observation platform and waited. Ace was helped off the field by the medics. Cobalt removed his broad sword and pointed it at the mage. “Seven minutes is all the time I have to play with you.”
Up in the stands the six girls all gulped and watched as the red mage followed the medics. Twilight looked up and saw something that caught her eye. Four shrouded figures standing on the far wall looking at the medics. The one in the pale shroud looked towards her. Twilight blinked and the four shrouds were gone.
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Woo!!! Now for Cobalts battle. Very few grammatical errors. Onward with more.
Prepare to witness a serious ass-kicking.
i literally just got done rereading this fic, and now i get to read a new chapter.....
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/063/491/my_trap_card.jpg
i am very satisfied.....now to see what the next horseman will do
Saw that coming a mile away.
So now we find out that Rouge is a rare(extinct)breed of Changelings(interesting), of course I was expecting some drama here. I guess maybe next time.(don't half ass it.)
Needs moar lapdances... But in all seriousness daaaaang this is awesome, keep it up
heh...i thought of dandy man..from hellsing abridged.
3486562 You got it!
I'm expecting Crimzon at one point to just use the bloody Witch/Genie Hunter, cause Wynaut?
The card magic sounds like YuGioh.
He can summon monsters, spells, and when he said "you've activated my trap card", that was the final nail-in-the-coffin for me to believe it has to be somewhat based on Yugioh
Easy Wesker
Elise VS Twisted Fate...
4165739
Where's Chris when you need him?