• Published 18th Apr 2012
  • 7,352 Views, 871 Comments

The Moment No Pony was Waiting For (A Death Battle Parody) - TundraStanza



Think about it like Death Battle, only with less death and more hyperactive dialogue. It all started with a fateful encounter between Deadpool and Pinkie Pie. It turned into something bigger.

  • ...
34
 871
 7,352

PreviousChapters Next
Deception Infection

Advisory: Please set "Formatting" to "Dark" to allow colored text to be legible.

A/N: I can't do a massacre scene justice quite like the real show's Carnage from Marvel vs. Lucy from Elfen Lied. That doesn't mean I won't try.
Spoiler Alert to anyone that has yet to see footage from the Prototype games.
Properties in this chapter belong to Hasbro, DEATH BATTLE channel, and Radical Entertainment.
---

The Moment No Pony was Waiting For

(A Death Battle Parody)

Ugh, dude. Don't talk over the phone with food in your mouth. That's disgusting.

Shape-shifting: the power to alter one's own physical structure and appearance. It's used to confuse enemies, sow seeds of mistrust, or make it seem as if the user disappeared without a trace.

Alex Mercer from the Prototype games...

... and Chrysalis, former queen of Equestria's changeling hive.

He's W and I'm B.

And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle.

~~~Death Battle~~~

-Alexander J. Mercer; formerly a human identity
-A sample of the BLACKLIGHT virus
-Multiple powers: Regeneration, shape-shifting, absorbing living creatures and gaining their memories, incredible physical strength, speed, heightened jumps, blade arms, claws, shield arm, thermal vision, "Infected" vision
-Devastators: (critical mass moves when he is near death) Tendril Barrage (impaling tendrils in all directions), Groundspike Graveyard (erupting spikes on the ground surrounding him), Critical Pain (single beam of hardened biomass to severely damage one target)
-Has defeated several other monsters that were hosts of BLACKLIGHT; infiltrated an attempt to nuke a city and piloted a helicopter to move the bomb to the Atlantic Ocean
-Morally unstable; became the main villain in the sequel

When you think of New York City, what's the first thing that comes to mind? The Statue of Liberty? The Stock Exchange? An 8 million population?

Traffic, petty theft, 9/11, thin-crust pizza and a beer...

Seriously?

Hey, you asked!

Well, for this analysis, Manhattan is also the focal point of a viral outbreak called "Blacklight". Upon exposure and spreading, this virus turns its victims into violent, mutated monsters. Although its first discovery was back in the year 1969, there was a sample a bit more recently found and experimented with in the early 2000s. Enter Gentek: a company that looked at biological warfare and was the start of a rogue employee's story, Alexander J. Mercer.

Just call him Alex. Everybody else does. Well, except for the military who seem to have him confused for the father of the Olympian gods for some reason.

Alex Mercer woke up one day in the morgue of Gentek. He broke out and managed to escape. Unfortunately, his mind was a bit scattered and his memories weren't entirely there. In a sort of gift-curse kind of way, the very virus he and Gentek were looking into latched onto him, rebuilding his body from the dead bio-mass. Though, maybe "living" isn't the best way to describe him anymore.

But hey! Living or not, the Blacklight gave him some pretty cool new powers. His strength, speed, and durability sky-rocketed. He can run up walls, leap over tall buildings, and throw around cars and ventilation boxes into helicopters to make them explode.

More importantly, the virus gave Alex abilities beyond super-human. He can absorb other living creatures to regenerate himself, copy the memories of the people he has absorbed, and shape-shift to look and sound like those very people. Copying memories also allows him to know exactly how to operate certain weapons and vehicles, like rocket launchers and tanks.

When he gets enough fills of people and mutants, he can alter his arms into wolverine claws, a sort of skin shield, and even blades. Plus if he gets really raged, he can unleash Devastators like a barrage of tendrils that destroys almost everything around him, a small-scale earthquake, and a freaking beam attack made of bio-mass! Where do I get this virus? I want the kind of illness that lets me do all that and have the excuse to stay home on sick leave.

Well, don't get too excited. Here's a bit of a spoiler alert! As it turns out, the current thing that's using Alex Mercer's name and face isn't actually Alex at all. When the original Alex escaped with a sample of the Blacklight virus, he set it off and died in the process. Part of the virus used Alex's body to build itself up and it only thinks it remembers being Alex, which is why parts of his memories are still missing.

Wait, so... if somebody gets infected and they still manage to look like the person, it's just the virus pretending to be that person?

Exactly.

Well, shoot. Scratch another item off my great ideas list.

You keep a list of your oddly convenient ideas?

What? Don't you?

Moving on... Mercer has picked up a couple vision powers: thermal and "Infected". He can switch his eyes to specifically find traces of heat or other organisms that are infected with the Blacklight virus.

For a virus that was so good at pretending to be a person that it even tricked itself, Alex is a pretty cool guy. He managed to take down one of the virus queens Elizabeth Greene, and he saved New York from being the target of a nuclear bombing from the U.S. military.

Unfortunately, that's about as far as his good deeds go. Three years after the outbreak was allegedly quelled, he unleashed it again. He would fully and willingly infect a new target that would rise up and destroy him. So, his sense of morality is a bit dodgy.

Bummer.

"I'm the reason behind all of this. They call me a killer, a monster, a terrorist. I'm all of these things."

~~~Death Battle~~~

-Changeling, old royalty
-Larger size than the average changeling
-Powers: Shape-shifting, levitation, magic beams, mind control, wall-climbing, flight, singing in someone else's voice with perfect pitch
-Intelligence: Capable of conjuring convoluted collaborations
-Has overpowered pony princesses on more than one occasion
-Fails to learn from hindsight; carries petty grudges; reluctant to adapt; arrogant
-Was overthrown by power unleashed by her own hive

If you were looking at Equestria for the first time, it's forgivable to think that everything looks cheery and colorful. It's a magical world filled with ponies that can levitate objects, control their weather, and grow plants exponentially. What could possibly threaten this land of peace and friendship?

How about all kinds of stuff? Shadowy monsters made of negative emotions, ghost horses that can freeze you solid, a dragon-horse creature that can basically break the rules of reality with a snap, and magic-proof mole creatures are just a tip of the iceberg!

Among the problems that the ponies have had to deal with, there exists Chrysalis: Former Queen of the Changelings. Initially introduced during the wedding ceremony between Twilight Sparkle's brother and the Princess of Love, the changelings used to be a terrifying force. These insect-like equines were capable of altering their appearance to blend in with ponies and feed on their love magic.

That sounds just like my ex-wife. When she was done with me, I felt like I could never love again.

Er... no. It's not like that. Remember that friendship is a literal source of power in Equestria? Well, the same goes for all of the other emotions, including love. Anyway, Chrysalis had slightly more powers than the rest of her hive. In addition to shape-shifting, wall-crawling, and using her head like a mid-weight battering ram, Chrysalis can shoot beams of magic than can mess with a victim's mind or vaporize objects into ashes.

Apparently, she knows how to improvise an opera while using her disguise's voice. For a while, she replaced the love princess and fed off Shining Armor, forcing him to make the protective shield around all of Canterlot City weaker. She also managed to manipulate the emotions of Twilight's friends, making them abandon her before sending her into the pits of hell! ... Oh. No wait, she sent Twilight into an underground mining tunnel where the real Princess Cadance was trapped. My bad. I get those two mixed up a lot.

Despite her strengths and cunning, Chrysalis can also be a bit short-sighted. When she gains a short-term victory, she often loses because she doesn't keep her guard up. After draining Shining Armor entirely, she lost when he and Cadance combined their magic of love and shield to expel her entire invasion force out of Canterlot. When she thought she had victory over Equestria by trapping all of the princesses and the main cast, she underestimated the charisma of Starlight Glimmer and the pure-hearted Thorax. This inspired the rest of the hive to destroy Chrysalis's diablo ex machina. Finally, she put too much of her essence in six mediocre clones of the Main Six ponies. She couldn't predict them betraying her and ultimately destroying themselves.

And now she's basically the bikkhe of some ancient evil goat called Gromit or something.

You mean Grogar?

Sure, whatever.

Still, one must be wary of tackling Chrysalis head-on. Because the fallen queen doesn't play fair. Her underhanded strategies and thirst for vengeance may pull the rug out from under her enemies.

"What a lovely yet absolutely ridiculous sentiment."

~~~Death Battle~~~

Alright, the combatants are set. Let's settle this debate once and for all.

It's time for a Death Battle!

~~~Death Battle~~~

The transition gates open up to a mostly white background. Pencils quickly draw several lines all over the page. Eventually, colors start to fill in the finished shapes. When the drawing utensils are completely removed, it looks like half of the finished city is of Manhattan architecture. The rest resembles the brighter colors of Canterlot.

A dark smog cloud covers the grittier city buildings. Over the buildings with more curves, it's a clear night sky. This is an example of juxtaposition, a paradox, or the animators screwing with everyone. The jury is still out on that one.

Creeping along the midnight streets is an old changeling of tall stature. She occasionally glances around wildly, but there seems to be no ponies to catch her. On the other end of the street, it turns into more defined roads with sidewalks. Some of the cars are flipped over on their sides and/or broken down.

A man hiding his face in the shade of his hoodie jogs up before sliding to a stop. "What the *eff* are you supposed to be?"

"Pretty sure that's my line." The changeling mare gives this creature a stink eye. "Also, you nearly ran me over, not that you could."

"Lady, I'm really not in the mood." He clenches his fists. "I'm dealing with enough *ess* as it is."

"Do you have any idea whom you're talking to?!" A vessel bulges under her shell.

"Don't know; don't care." He walks around her. "Get out of my way... or you'll regret it."

The changeling flaps her wings and zips in front of the biped. "You just messed with the wrong queen, buster."

He clenches his jaw. "I told you to *eff* off nicely."

Let's see how he likes this! Chrysalis fires a green, jagged beam of magic. It collides with Alex Mercer's head. He groans in a low voice as the green magic seems to fill his head. Chrysalis chuckles at the sight.

"Tch, you're not the first bikkhe to *eff* with my mind."

Chrysalis gasps. "What?!"

Alex yells as a red glow in himself drives out the green glow. With a grunt, he holds out his arms with his elbows bent. A trail of dark red travels down his arms. In that moment, his hands transform into large claws. He runs forward and slashes his claws around.

Chrysalis keeps her wings buzzing, dodging left and right as best as she can. Her eyes shake a little in the slow-motion camera. Her opponent's claws manage to snag tiny scratches on her cheek and chest area. She flies up higher to gain some altitude. A circle of green flames surrounds her as she dives down toward her enemy.

Red lines ripple through Alex's arms. The claws shift to more bulky limbs. His makeshift shields go up just in time for the charging changeling to ram into them. Both changeling and virus-man give a battle cry as they push for space.

Alex's shield splits up into two arm blades, slicing across Chrysalis's torso in the process.

"Oh, feather this!" Chrysalis holds a hoof against the wound while flying up and away.

Mercer hunches over while grunting and growling. Black and red lines channel around his entire body. In a moment of quiet yet vibrant visuals, he unleashes his Tendril Barrage. Long, thin appendages of bio-mass shoot out in several different directions away from him at once. One of these tendrils latches onto a hole in the changeling's left hind hoof.

Chrysalis gasps as her flight path and momentum is instantly reversed. All of Alex's tendrils pull back toward him. When they all get within about one foot's distance, there is a deafening explosion all around him. The road underneath his feet crumbles. Several buildings crack just from the shock wave of his finisher.

The fallen queen finds herself hurled head over tail while spinning out of control. She crashes into a window of a distant skyscraper. After a few seconds, Alex runs over to that same skyscraper and hops along the outside. Chrysalis's back collides with a window of the opposite wall. She ends up sliding along the roof of a shorter building behind her.

She clenches her fangs and hisses in pain. Her wings look completely crumpled up. There is green dripping out of multiple spots along her shell. She tries to stand, but one of her hooves isn't bending right. She stares in anger at the man calmly walking toward her. He picks her up by the throat.

"This could have been avoided." His hoodie hides his eyes from the camera's view.

Chrysalis suddenly smiles and her horn glows green. "You're already dead."

"What?!" Alex faces a beam of nothing but green magic. "AAAAAAAAH-"

The humanoid crumbles to black dust and collects into a neat pile on the roof. Although in pain, Chrysalis stands there and chuckles. She erupts into a cackling as out of her mind as she has ever been. Holding her head high as she laughs, she doesn't notice the small trails of dark red tendrils worming their way out of the dust pile.

"I am the rightful queen of the changelings!" Chrysalis stomps once for emphasis. "I never lose!"

She attempts to shake her wings enough to fly away. But they're still a bit too injured to wiggle without hurting. She grunts as she prepares to start crawling along the roof. Her legs don't respond. She attempts to jump with all four at once. There is still no movement.

"What is the meaning of- Guh?!"

A fleshy blade is jammed through her skull. Trails of bio-mass engulf her legs. The Blacklight virus quickly covers her back, tail, and wings. Finally, the infected tissue absorbs her entire face and horn. This blob of bio-mass slowly reshapes itself into something else, something familiar.

Alex Mercer pulls the extra limbs into himself and exhales.

"Really, Chrysalis?" He moves a hand for emphasis. "If I'm seeing your memories right, you've got a long record of losses. Tch."

He molds the flesh around him again. When he's done, he's a dead ringer for a perfectly healthy changeling queen.

"Maybe I'll take a shot at *eff*ing up Equestria instead. Heh heh heh." He uses his new wings to fly off screen.

K.O.!

~~~Death Battle~~~

Jeepers freaking crisps! What a way to go...

The Prototype series is certainly more willing to push into bloody territory than the My Little Pony franchise. Anyway, both of these characters were capable of shape-shifting. But that didn't necessarily mean that they could both use this effectively in a combat scenario.

Chrysalis can copy other creature's looks and voices, but she doesn't really use blades, claws, earthquakes, or a flipping mass of tendrils that pull victims toward the center before blowing everything up!

And while Chrysalis can fly while Alex Mercer usually can't, he makes up for it with his speed, strength, and enhanced jumping. He also has far more combat experience than Chrysalis. Her only enemies that she has directly fought were magical ponies. Alex has fought a bunch of different mutants, several U.S. armed military forces, and even some of the earlier virus hosts from which he then promptly absorbed all of their memories.

You'd think a queen would know how to overtake some guy that looks like a regular homeless man. But she kind of fell from her royal position when she underestimated her regular subjects. Meanwhile, Alex has been fighting overwhelming odds right from the start.

Additionally, there's the issue that Alex Mercer can't die normally in his current state. The only things truly human about him are his memories and drive that guide his end-goals. We've seen him survive situations that would certainly count as lethal to normal organisms, yet he managed to pull himself together and kill a crow to regenerate himself. Simply ripping him to pieces is not enough to end him for good.

The only weaknesses that enemies have figured out how to use were an anti-virus specifically designed to counter him and a nuclear bomb. But he doesn't even need inhabitable air to survive. He just needs some source of flesh to hang on. And come on! Do you really think Chrysalis would have enough time to create an anti-virus? No! She's too busy with how great she thinks she is and how inferior everyone else is.

Overall, Chrysalis had a small advantage of flight and powers of magic manipulation. But Alex Mercer's strength, speed, adaptability, unpredictable powers, and battle experience brought him the win.

In the end, Chrysalis found herself inside another man.

The winner is Alex Mercer.

~~~Death Battle~~~

---

Author's Note:

As a side note, Chrysalis tends to use shape-shifting only when she's under cover. When she's already in battle, she fight as herself.

PreviousChapters Next