Collision Code

by SSJRandomMaster

Act 4 Chapter 18

Act IV: Climactic Collisions
Chapter 18: Borrowed Power
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In hindsight, Corey supposed he’d not known what pain actually was. Excluding when Kurama cornered him while he wasn’t at his peak, Corey had some form of recourse in most of the fights he’d been in since this had all started. However, he was now one arm short and a horn so fractured he could no longer use magic unless he wanted to hurt himself. Norma was dragging things out on purpose, he could feel.

Norma landed a hard left punch to his face, causing him to stumble back off-balance for a couple of steps. Corey was barely able to right himself when she moved again, raising his good arm in preparation. However, he soon found there was no way he could protect himself from the punches she continued to throw at him. For every punch he managed to swat away, another hit its mark. Just blocking didn’t work; one arm was not enough to cover his bases.

Another punch impacted his face, and while Corey tried to recover from that, he felt a foot slam into his torso yet again, knocking him flat on his back. Corey coughed, trying to rise up one more time. This time, though, Norma wasn’t letting him. She stomped on his bad arm, and as Corey’s eyes widened from pain, she sat right down on his chest.

“Where did your powers come from?” Norma’s fists crashed against his face again and again, left, right, left, right… “How could you have possibly gotten this far? You didn’t come from this world! Even they could have only taught you so much!”

Even if Corey could answer, he doubted Norma would have wanted to hear it.

“You didn’t take the strength for yourself! You couldn’t possibly have been born with it!” Norma shouted, continuing to punch away for what felt like forever. Finally, though, she finished, standing up again. She grabbed on to the collar of Corey’s shirt, lifting him up slowly. Corey lifted his good arm to try to wrench her hold free, but it was no use.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter in the end,” said Norma, looking at his rapidly swelling face, “You’re no longer able to use magic, are you?”

Corey, trying to shake off the pain and her grip, tried kicking, but she defended with a barrier. She didn’t even seem disturbed by his struggles now, continuing to look upon him with a slowly growing smirk.

“I do have to wonder… where are all your friends?” asked Norma, “Could it be that unlike you, they realized their place and fled? Or perhaps… have they succumbed to whatever injuries were inflicted during their battles?”

Corey swung up his left leg, but this time, she blocked it herself. Norma’s smirk slowly faded.

“You’re a persistent one, but it’s time I ended this,” Norma said, and for that instant, Corey felt her grip on his shirt tighten. Her other hand came up, striking Corey in the stomach. She was deliberately holding back, though; the impact spell she used just knocked Corey away. He rolled once, landing on his back once more.

Corey coughed again. “I can’t just… lie here…”

As he struggled once again to get back on his feet, Norma suddenly shouted.

“Just stop standing! You have already been beaten!” Norma leapt up, but she didn’t stay in the air long. The next thing Corey knew, he felt a harsh, painful impact just below his right knee, and it took all his willpower to avoid screaming as he felt another pop. He fell to the floor once more, now also one leg short.

Norma glowered down at him, even as he propped himself up on his arms.

“This isn’t as fun as I would have hoped…” She began to walk over to him again, “I’m not hearing any screams.”

Corey tried to retort, but before he could, he was once again forced to the floor the rest of the way. Norma’s foot came down hard, right on his ribcage. She stood just like that for a long while. Both could only glare at one another for a few solid moments.

“This… isn’t over,” Corey said, “I may not be able to fight anymore, but—“

Norma stomped down again, and Corey coughed. “Then stop posturing like you still have a chance.”

Again, her foot applied pressure to Corey’s ribs, and with each stomp, Corey felt his pain increase to unbearable levels.

“There… is still… a chance! There were eight of us—“

“And all it takes is one to stop you all—me,” Norma stomped down yet again, “Accept your defeat!” Again. “Stop your fruitless resistance!” Again. “This fight… no, this war, is as good as over!”

Corey could feel the searing pain, which almost felt as if it was coming from the center of his chest and radiating out to every part of his body. His leg and arm throbbed, the injuries still fresh. He could hardly feel anything on his face other than raw pain. He could hold it no longer. When Norma’s foot crashed down on his chest once more, Corey finally started screaming.

Norma’s face split into a wicked grin. “Yes, that’s it… More! Scream! Wail! Howl!” With each word, she kept right on stomping, adding to Corey’s pain, “Let me hear more!”

On and on this went for what felt like hours. Corey’s voice once again began to give out a little, and only then did Norma finally stopped.

“Much better… much more refreshing…” Norma said, allowing Corey to finally catch his breath. Even that was painful, though; she had been stomping on his chest for a while, “But it’s nearly over now.”

Norma finally took her foot off his chest, and lifted her opposite foot, kicking Corey square in the back with a lot of force, enough to throw him to the nearest wall. Corey bounced off the wall with his back, and laid down flat on his stomach, still somehow conscious. By now, one of his eyes was closed, and the rest of his face was swollen in places he didn’t quite know he had. His horn, however, was still attached, but still cracked beyond repair.

“Now then…” Norma said, “There are a few other loose ends I should probably tie up first. Your turn is coming soon, though…”

She slowly lifted her hands, and Corey, willing himself to turn his head, saw three more screens appear. He could see Storm Claw, laid out and unconscious. Kronos was also laid out, but his condition seemed pretty unclear. Slayer was still out cold as well; he hadn’t even tried to move since Corey had left him lying there.

“Storm Claw, the Warmonger…” said Norma as she looked up towards his screen, “It seems that your experience didn’t get you far enough in this battle, hm? You fared little better than Lyon did, in the end…”

“Kronos…” Norma turned to his screen next, “I wonder, are you alive now? I hope you enjoyed that battle, for it will be your last.”

“And, of course, Slayer,” Norma said, “I can finally see why this one gave you so much trouble. You, however, gave me some of the best entertainment I’ve seen. Only Kurama exceeded you, at least until I came into the picture… I wonder…”

There were a few long moments of contemplative silence, before Norma smirked once more, lifting both of her hands, which began to glow crimson with all the runes that swirled off them.

“However, the entertainment and the work you three have done today won’t be enough to spare you,” Norma said, “Die!”

Corey’s eyes widened, and he looked up to the screen as Norma’s fingers snapped, the runes flying off and vanishing. Nearly at the same time, Kronos, Slayer, and Storm Claw suddenly lurched in spite of their respective situations. They remained in that position for a few seconds before flopping back down to the ground. For a few seconds, Corey stared emptily in disbelief.

“Why…” Corey croaked, his voice still slightly hoarse, “How… They were the ones that got you this far… Even the ones that didn’t make it to this stage. They let you bide your time until we were forced into a corner...”

“Don’t go showing pity to them now. As they were, they were useless to me,” Norma said, “I never intended to share any of this with the likes of them, anyway. At the very start, I had all my pawns branded with a curse of mine, one they weren’t aware of until after our first meeting. From there, all I had to do was cast a spell, and in a moment, their hearts would explode. Compared to being stuffed back in Tartarus again, it’s a much less painful way of going about things, wouldn’t you agree?”

“No…” Corey shook his head.

“Being in a prison like that rots one’s sanity,” Norma continued, waving her arms to dispel her screens one more time, “You could see it in the eyes of those you went up against, didn’t you?”

“I could see it, alright, but you wouldn’t know what the inside of Tartarus was like,” Corey kept looking at Norma, managing to prop himself up on his good arm despite his pain, “As I recall, you were kept in a private stasis for eons, your very existence erased from any official records. Compared to some of the others, I’d even wager you got off lightly.”

“Then tell me one more thing before the end,” Norma said, “Why do something as unseemly as stick any creature in the bowels of that hell?”

“Because they literally can’t function in society even if they tried,” Corey said, “No, it’s more than that. Not only can they not function in society, said lack of functioning… infringes on the rights of others, in a way that cannot be ignored. Slayer went after heads of state in his time… Lyon was a danger to everyone… Kurama feasted upon the suffering of others, attacking them in the one place they couldn’t defend themselves or be defended…

“The other prisoners showed signs of similar psychosis. And you… Norma. You traded your own countrymen for your own power, your own,” Corey managed to drag himself a bit further up, leaning heavily on his good arm to look at Norma, “Gratification! You all forfeited the right to live among others through your actions! Tartarus… that place is meant for the absolute worst of the worst, and no one else!”

“Well spoken…” That voice from much earlier suddenly said. Norma glared towards her torso, but didn’t say anything. Her gaze fell back on Corey soon enough.

“You may well have a point…” Norma said, “Not that it matters. All of this was mine alone to start with. I have already taken it back. The only thing left to do is crush the insects that wish to wander into my path.”

She began to walk to the wall closest to her, opposite Corey’s position. She faced him, smirking. Corey realized shortly what she intended, and tried to rise. His right leg violently protested the act of moving, though, and Corey quickly fell the rest of the way to the floor.

“Which means the only thing left for you to do, Corey, is to die!” she shouted, crouching low and slamming her rune-covered hand to the wall. The wall began to shift, and soon a spike was heading straight for Corey’s position. At the rate it was moving, and from how sharp it was—never mind the spike being aimed for his neck area—the attack would kill him!

Move, body… move! Corey thought, I can’t die, not--!

A magenta blast glided in from nowhere, the size of it around the size of a pony’s torso. The blast struck the spike before it could impact the prone Corey, blowing the pointy end off and causing a trail of cracks to flow through the pillar, causing it to crumble. Norma’s hand raised, her eyes opening in surprise. Both Corey and Norma turned their sights towards the origin of the blast. From there, each standing tall and ready for battle, were Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony.

“Everyone,” Corey wheezed out upon seeing them.

“This is it, girls! No matter what happens now, we do this together!” Twilight called out, the others instantly charging towards Norma. She stared at the lot as they ran towards her; Norma’s surprise soon gave way to amusement.

“Very well then,” Norma said, with runes flaring, “Come now, entertain me one final time!”

With her speed, Rainbow Dash was first to reach Norma. Her body became a blur in an instant as she managed to swerve around Norma until she was behind her. From Norma’s blind spot, Rainbow brought her leg up in preparation for a kick. In the moment before she could strike, however, Norma stomped her foot on the ground. Runes traveled behind her and a wall shot out from the ground, blocking Rainbow’s kick.

Rainbow’s eyes opened in surprise just as Norma appeared around her, magic charged into her palm. She reached out for Rainbow, coming within centimeters of contact, only to be stopped short by a lasso around her body, pinning her arms to her sides.

“Keep on your guard, RD!” called out Applejack as she pulled the lasso with all her might. At first, Norma tried to resist, but in the time she turned towards Applejack, she’d forgotten about Rainbow. As such, she was struck in the side, causing her to lose her balance and be dragged away.

Norma scowled as Applejack pulled her towards her, dragging Norma’s body across the ground. Not wanting that, Norma grabbed hold of the rope and sent a surge of runes down the length of the lasso. Once they reached the other end, they activated, spikes extending out of it and impaling Applejack’s hands. As Applejack let go, Norma finally managed to correct herself and glared towards the farmer. Norma probably took hold of the lasso herself and began to manipulate it. The rope soon came alive and began to coil around Applejack.

She saw that she was surrounded, the spiked rope preventing her escape all around. Applejack didn’t have time to react. Fortunately, someone was able to do so for her. Her body began to glow just as the coiled rope began their bind around Applejack’s body. Though she flinched in anticipation of pain, there was none to be had. Finally opening her eyes, she saw the magenta glow around her body, and turned to see Twilight working her magic. Twilight sighed in relief to have made it in time, then unleashed the magic around Applejack, causing the rope to tear to pieces.

Freed, Applejack charged towards Norma. Norma already began to prepare her next spell, but before she could cast it, Norma heard a pop and something wrapped itself tightly around her, binding her arms to her sides.

“What!?” Norma quickly looked down to see multicolored bindings, a chuckle from Pinkie giving away who was the cause of it. Unable to break through the bindings in time, Norma was struck in the stomach and began to skid backwards on her heels. After a few feet, she righted herself, her gaze never wavering as another charged for her.

Fluttershy—no, Fluttercruel, was flying at her top speed with her mace held up high, her intent clear to the earth pony. Just as Fluttercruel was close enough, she brought her arms down with all her might, slamming her mace down over Norma’s head. The metal made contact, Norma’s head pitched downwards…but Norma still stood. Norma looked up again, her head glowing with runes—she’d shielded herself from the damage.

Fluttercruel took a step back as Norma glared at her, the bindings around her body finally coming undone as she asserted control over them. Fluttercruel jumped back, taking to the sky just as Norma retaliated. The confetti bands quickly gave chase, their ends spiraling into tips that cut through the air and towards Fluttercruel. Through some tight maneuvering Fluttercruel managed to avoid being hit directly, she still didn’t escape unscathed. Slight cuts were opening up on her body the longer she stayed in range—with her blood now flowing and seeing she was in a bind, Fluttercruel retreated from range.

“Flying away, little canary?” Norma mocked, “Even after all this, you are still nothing more than—“

Norma’s words stopped when she noticed the shadow looming around her and growing larger. Without looking up she quickly jumped out of its range, just as a palm crafted of solid stone slammed onto the floor. Norma looked to the palm as it rose from the ground, returning to the one who controlled it, Rarity.

“I don’t take kindly to those who foulmouth my friends,” beside Rarity floated two hands made of stone, most likely repurpose from material in the castle. As they bobbed in the air, they mimicked the unicorn’s hand movements.

“Oh, I’ll do more than that, I assure you,” Norma said with a wicked grin. Rarity charged towards her, one hand already drawn back in preparation. Norma did the same, intrigued by what she was capable of. Her hands glowing in preparation for Rarity’s attack, prepared for when she finally threw the first punch. The stone fist flew towards Norma, its mass and weight very clear from the previous display. Norma was ready, however, bringing both hands forward and deflecting it aside.

Rarity’s arm, in turn, lurched from the stone fist’s connection with her hand, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t expect that. That was why she had her follow-up ready for when it did, her open palm already swiping towards Norma. Norma barely had the time to prepare the magic this time. Rarity’s stone hand had collided with her own and began pushing her aside. Norma stood her ground, pushing back as much as her legs would allow. Just as it finally stopped, Norma grabbed hold of the stone hand, her runes beginning to shine through the stone and breaking Rarity’s connection to it.

But breaking the connection wasn’t all Norma did; Norma had managed to connect the arm to her own magic. Rarity only looked in shock as the stone hand that was once hers began to reshape itself into a hand more suited for Norma’s personality.

“Quite the impressive spell you’ve created here,” Norma said, flexing her fingers to see her new stone fist do the same, “It may come in handy in the near future.”

Rarity simply scowled in response, bringing one arm back and throwing another punch. This time, however, Norma did not have a hard time stopping it. She made her own stone hand take hold of Rarity’s and hold on tight. Try as she might, Rarity couldn’t pull herself free.

With Norma’s focus on one, another took advantage, and teleported behind her. Norma noticed the magenta-colored flash of light and looked over her shoulder to see Twilight’s glowing horn. Her magic flared as Twilight fired her spell, a large orb of magic quickly splitting into three as they spiraled towards Norma. With a grunt, Norm released her hold on Rarity’s stone fist and swiped her stone hand aside, smashing it into Twilight’s attack. The stone fist managed to block the attack, but its structure was badly damaged.

This attack was followed by Rarity seizing her chance as well, throwing one final attack. With little option, Norma decided to meet it head on, both fists slamming into each other, but Norma’s was far too damaged to withstand the impact and shattered. This allowed Rarity’s to slam into the ground in front of Norma and the shockwave knocking her on her back. She winced from the fall, but managed to open her eyes to see Rainbow and Applejack dropping down on her.

But she wouldn’t allow that, so before they could get any closer, Norma slammed her fists onto the ground and caused two pillars to shoot out. Rainbow managed to dodge hers but Applejack lacked the mobility and was struck on the chest. As such, the pillar pushed her upwards until he back made contact with the ceiling. Applejack let out a grunt of pain as she tried to move free but the pillar continued to apply pressure. The ceiling behind her began to crack and Applejack began to worry just how long she had until she blacked out from the pressure.

Fortunately for her, she didn’t have to find out. Fluttercruel flew over and smashed the pillar with her mace, freeing Applejack. With no weight pushing her back up, Applejack began to free fall, her eyes alight with rage.

“Let me borrow that!” she called out. Fluttercruel tossed her the mace as she fell. Applejack’s hand closed around the handle hard enough that the veins in her hands bulged out. Norma simply chuckled, her body glowing again as she prepared her defenses.

“If she couldn’t harm me with that, what makes you think—“ the sudden surge of pain in the side of her head was enough to shut Norma up. Applejack was still much stronger than Fluttercruel, and Norma’s defenses were not prepared for the strength of such an attack. Norma staggered aside, a small gash now open on the side of her head from the blow.

“You bitch!” Norma hissed at having her face injured.

“Takes one to know one,” said Fluttercruel who dropped down on Norma and forced her on the ground.

“Hold on tight, girl!” Applejack didn’t waste a step and charged once again, intent on delivering one more devastating blow. But Norma was not going to allow it to happen again—once was bad enough. With her body glowing, Norma managed to unleash a strong pulse of magic that not only knocked Fluttercruel off her back, but also knock Applejack away. Though she managed to land on her feet, Applejack’s knees still buckled slightly from the weight of the landing.

Dammit… nowhere near where I want to be… Even if the creatures were not as strong as the other prisoners, their sheer numbers were a different story. With all that she’d fought, Applejack—and for that matter, probably the others—were nowhere near their top form. But from the looks of it, Norma was not in the same boat as they were. But Applejack wouldn’t let herself quit now, so Applejack rose to her feet once again.

“Seems you’re reaching your limits,” said Norma. Even with their numbers, Norma could feel it. Each were pushing themselves past their collective exhaustion. As the battle continued to rage on, the stress on their bodies would only continue to build up until they collapse.

Whether or not they were willing to let it happen was up for debate, however. They’d all come too far just to let it all end now.

So once more, they made their charge, Rarity blasting Norma from a distance while the others drew in closer. Fluttercruel swung her mace, only for it to be avoided. Norma then delivered a hard kick to her side. Rainbow then flew into Norma, ramming into her with great speed, but Norma held on. Grabbing hold of Rainbow she then flipped the pegasus and slammed her on the ground. This was followed by Norma bringing her foot down. Luckily, though, Rainbow managed to roll out of the way just in time.

Norma then noticed someone had closed in beside her. Quickly turning, she saw who it was—Pinkie. Norma paused for a moment, the pink party pony simply standing there with a smile on her face.

“And just what do you have in store for me?” she wondered.

Pinkie did not say a word in response, simply raising her hand and revealing what she was holding: a joy buzzer.

Norma stared at the foal’s toy in Pinkie’s hand with amusement, which soon changed to outright laughter. “And just what could a little trinket like that possibly—“

Pinkie suddenly slammed her palm on Norma’s chest, the button on the buzzer being pressed down. And in that moment, Norma felt several hundred volts of electricity flow through her. Needless to say, it hurt, and Norma’s body went stiff from the voltage flowing through her. It was the perfect opening for Rarity, who managed to blast Norma with a direct hit.

“Never thought I’d see a joy buzzer do that,” said Rarity. Pinkie stared down at it with a disapproving expression. Though the times called for something like that, seeing something she made cause direct harm to another living creature was still a hard sight, no matter how much it was deserved. But she had no time to dwell on it. Norma was already standing up once more.

“Well now, you’re all just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Norma chuckled, “Sadly, it’s all for naught.”

Norma’s body began to glow once again, any wounds that they’d managed to give her seemingly fading away. Even the gash on her face had healed up, the only evidence it was there at all some dried blood on the side of her head.

“Anything you can do to me may as well be a scrape compared to my healing ability. And as you are, none of you have the punch needed to deal any real damage.”

“Care to wager on that?”

The ground began to rumble, as though massive steps were being made. From the distance, everyone saw something making its charge towards Norma. She turned around and instantly saw the size of her opposition. Using her magic, she formed a shield around herself, only to watch it be smashed to pieces. This was followed by a strong tail swipe which knocked her to the far off wall.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up!” called out Rainbow as she flew up next to John. The latter rubbed the back of his head and let out a sigh.

‘Sorry, didn’t want to waste too much stamina getting here, so I walked, but it looks like you all held your own pretty well without me,” John then turned to one of their members who was still unable to stand, against the far wall…

“You look like hell, Corey,” John noted.

“Look who’s…talking…” Corey coughed a bit, John merely chuckling in response. He turned his sights to Norma, the others gathering beside him. Norma counted them all. Twilight was close to Corey, and the others stood by her, ready to battle.

“Finally,” Norma said, “After all this time, we all finally meet face to face. No messages, no projections, flesh and blood. This is what we all wanted, is it not, to finally settle this game, to finally face the one who started it all?”

If ever there was a time when they’d agreed with Norma, that was the moment. Everything they’d done since the game’s start had lead up to that moment, and it had finally arrived. From the looks of it, everyone had the same, singular goal in mind. That was what they’d always held on to their hearts, to give it their all, to see it through to the end and finally end the game once and for all. The same could be said for Norma, her hands glowing with magic as her smile grew wider. It had all lead to this, the pinnacle of the entertainment she craved.

“The final battle, the ever looming question of who shall win, the uncertainty that floats around us!” Norma’s magic flared, its strength felt by all those around her. But they weren’t fazed—they knew she had power and they were prepared for it. So with both sides ready, there was only one thing left to say.

“Take her down!”

On command, everyone charged towards Norma. Norma’s first move was to break them apart, slamming her fists into the ground and sending out a shockwave. Everyone split up to avoid it, but never looked away from Norma. Two of them, however, continued their charge, John and Rainbow closing in on Norma side-by-side.

Rainbow threw a kick towards Norma’s head, Norma able to duck in time to avoid it. She then turned to John who was preparing his own attack. Just as he brought his fists down, Norma manipulated the floor and formed a wall around her. John’s fists had little trouble smashing through, but Norma had a moment of concealment which she used to dive away from him. John turned to her again, but it was too late. Norma created two pillars of stone which shot towards him. John put up his guard as the pillar hit him, the stone pushing him away as a result.

The others pressed forward, each charging towards Norma, hoping to make even the slightest bit of difference in the battle. And with everyone else fighting, Corey could only watch, and it did not sit well with him.

Twilight heard something shifting behind her, and she turned—sure enough, there he was, trying to stand up.

“Corey, no!” Twilight said, placing her hands on his shoulders, but he still tried to rise. Even though he was in so much pain, all but broken, he didn’t want to stay down.

“I… I have to try…” Corey said, “Everyone… everyone is fighting so—“ Corey coughed hard, immediately falling the rest of the way to the ground again, letting out a muffled curse as he faceplanted. He just couldn’t accept this—that he had reached his limits, unable to do anything but watch his friends put themselves in harm’s way. This wasn’t what he wanted—he wanted to fight by them. That’s what he’d spent the last month pushing himself so hard for.

“You have to believe in them, Corey, you’ve done more than enough already! Now, it’s our turn! Just watch, we’ll show you what we can do together!”

Corey did trust them, there was no doubt about that. But that only made it harder for him to have to sit on the sidelines and watch, to be able to do nothing. From the looks of it, though, Corey hardly had a choice in the matter, no matter how much he wished otherwise.

So, watch on, he did. With every action, every attack, and every counter, Corey watched carefully. Deep in his mind, Corey couldn’t help but wonder.

If there existed even the slightest chance of it… was there a way for him to rejoin the fight?

Author's Note:

I am not sure what else I can say at this point, really, in the author's notes that I haven't already said before.

Comments

[ShadowLight96]

I sense a last ditch power up for cory coming on.