When lightning strikes...

by FrostTheWolf

Strike 27- Second Chances

When Lightning Strikes- Second Chances

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Unknown Location

The Unicorn named Lauren Order was filing some paperwork in her office late into the night as the Moon shined brightly through the window that she had in the back of her office. It was a few hours until midnight, but with her position in Celestia’s cabinet, her job was very important. Not to mention trying to keep the Suicide Squad under wraps after news of their existence almost surfaced to life recently. Not to mention having to deal with some… newcomers that were just as insane as they were destructive.

A knock on the door to her office soon caught her attention as she looked up from the Manila folder that she was analyzing. “Who is it?” She asked, cautious about if it was some sort of intruder that might’ve infiltrated through the security checkpoint at the front of the building.

“You wanted to see me, Ms. Order?” A voice from the other side of the door said, calming the Unicorn’s earlier suspicions as she set down the folder.

“Yes, Mr. Walker. Please come in.” Lauren had earlier requested for the Lawbringer that called himself McCree to come to her office as he took a seat. The reason for this was so that she could explain to him some recent changes going on and also review with him the assigning of partners for when the members of the squad are not working in huge groups. “I am to believe that you know the reason as to why you are here?”

“Is it to go over the previous mission?” He asked.

“Well, your previous mission was a success, but no. That’s not why you are here,” Lauren explained, using her magic to turn her computer screen. “You will have two new members to your team, but the difference this time around is that these two aren’t Equestrian. They’re humans that lost their sanity and are just flat out destructive. In fact, destruction is the only thing that satisfies these two… so, they will be on future missions that require a demolitions squad or explosives.”

The screen showed two men. Both of them shirtless, but one looked skinny and covered in smoke while the other one was huge in size. The smaller one of the two had a mechanical leg While the other individual used a spiked tire as a shoulderpad and was seen holding what looked like a meathook. Changing images, Lauren now focused on the smaller one as she began to explain who this person was.

“We don’t know who or what his real name is for the current moment. But, we’re are just going to call him by what he calls himself; Junkrat. As you can tell by his Frag Grenade launcher and by the explosives on his shoulders, he’s highly dangerous. We were originally going to have him locked up in a maximum security facility with his accomplice. He was arrested on multiple counts of Arson and Explosives charges, Over one million bits in property damage and armed robbery.” Lauren gave McCree the details as he listened in on the information she had for him. “Known to be obsessed with explosives and always wanting to “cause mayhem”.”

“Joy. How are you going to keep someone like that in line?” McCree questioned as he rubbed his chin with his mechanical arm. “He doesn’t seem like the kind of person to be taking orders so kindly.”

“We already have that covered with these two. There are explosives inside both of them and for Junkrat, he’s a walking bomb. If either one were to go rogue, we press a button and then, they’re dealt with in a fiery explosion. Ironic because he also said that if he were to die, he wanted to go down in a blaze of glory.” She then used her magic to have the image change again to the second individual, whose face couldn’t be seen because of the mask hiding it.

“His accomplice, on the other hand, is not like Junkrat. We’re calling him Roadhog because of the tattoo on his chest and also because of his proficiency with motorcycles and machines. He was arrested because of Extortion, Armed Robbery, Kidnapping and multiple counts of theft. Not to mention willing to use violence as a way to get what he wants.” Lauren soon turned the screen back around, looking back at McCree as she explained to him that both of them would soon be in the field with the rest of them. “Now, there’s another thing I want to talk to you about and that’s the discussion of assigning you a partner.”

McCree now raised an eyebrow, looking back at the Unicorn. “Partner?”

“Of course. We never allow for the team to run missions on their own, so instead, we have each team member be assigned a partner to back them up. In fact, your partner should be coming soon.” With a knock on the door, McCree turned around as he heard Lauren tell the individual behind the door to come on in.

A white Earth pony mare with a dark red mane and a cutie mark of a paint brush. Her mane and tail looked as if they hadn’t been kept in her life, and her dark blue eyes held no interest in anything but Lauren, “I’m here, what’s wrong? I haven’t done anything yet.”

Lauren chuckled a small bit, looking at the mare. “I know. I called you for a different purpose, Ms. Anarchy.”

Anarchy turned her head sideways, and noticed McCree. “Who’s this guy?”

“This is Brandon Walker, but he is known as McCree. You two are going to be partners.” That small bit actually surprised the both of them as they looked at one another before looking back at Lauren Order.

“What!? Partner? I don’t need a partner, especially one I’ve never met before!” Anarchy growled.

“That’s why I’m calling you two here now.” Lauren spoke up, showing her authority in her voice. “Given how dangerous the circumstances are if we were to send one of you on your own on a mission, you would attract attention immediately. The same goes for McCree because of his reputation with being a bounty hunter for the last seven years, which is considered illegal. If it were me, I would have to pair you up with someone like Deadeye or worse than him. Be thankful that I’m not going to reconsider my decision. Both of you are dismissed.”

“Yes ma’am,” Anarchy sighed, “Thank you.” She turned to leave. Only for McCree to soon follow suite and actually be walking next to her.

“There something you want?” She asked in minor annoyance.

McCree shook his head. “No, miss. I was just thinking that I want to get the chance to know you a little better if we talked for a bit.”

Anarchy sighed, “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“Well, maybe to start, just some basic information about one another. I would ask about family but…… it’s a sore subject for me.”

“Sore for me too,” Anarchy said, “I guess I’ll start with I have paint manipulation, turning into it, creating it, etc, etc. Got levitation like a Unicorn blah, blah… Crimes I’ve been told that I did are murder, arson, theft, corporate espionage, attempted hacking of national secrets, tagging property and some more…”

“Well, before I even got any reputation here, I previously thought I was dead.” McCree grunted. “Back in my own world, I tried committing suicide since my wife was already dead and the stress of trying to raise my son was taking a tole on me. When I woke up though, I found myself alive, in the middle of a barren desert… and with this.” At the ending of that sentence, Anarchy was finally able to see the Mechanical arm that was hidden underneath the red cloth he had around his neck.

Anarchy felt nervous as she looked it over, “I… Looks bad…” Feeling stupid, Anarchy chuckled nervously, “I mean, uh, sorry. Things, uh, happen...”

“It’s alright, Miss Anarchy.” He replied. “I’ve been able to get by for the last seven years by hunting criminals with bounties on their heads, even though my methods of getting them gave me the reputation of an outlaw. I used the bits on food and anything to help me get by… Then, Lauren had me be here… because she said she found my son.”

“That’s tough,” Anarchy felt a tinge of pain at that last part. “I understand, family things.”

“Yes… Even though I missed him dearly… I don’t think I can be able to get myself to face him after everything I said and did in my old life. Hell, from the news, he’s a hero in… Maretropolis I think? Deadeye even said that he encountered him on the last mission I was on.” He sighed, taking out a small locket that contained an old family photo of him and his young son at the age of four. “Do you think he would even want to listen to what I have to say to him?”

Anarchy shrugged, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen a father son relationship like that, but I’d say it’s a fifty/fifty chance on either.”

“Well, it’s a chance I’d take if I can see my son again…” McCree turned to go down another hallway, just as they approached the door to the temporary room that he was staying in. “Would you like to come in and continue our conversation? Maybe have a drink?” He offered to the earth pony as he held the door open.

“Guess I could,” She replied as she trotted in and sat down on a chair. The human placed his hat and utility belt down that carried his gun and other cylinder devices that looked strange to the Mare. He walked over to the rooms kitchen, but before getting anything, he asked Anarchy another question.

“Do you have a preference to what you would like to drink?”

“Something sweet would be nice,” She replied. McCree looked in the refrigerator and got some options.

“Juice okay with you? Or do you want something a little stronger than that?”

“I know you shared your story, but that doesn’t mean I’d get drunk around you. I- I mean, yes, juice would be fine.”

McCree nodded, pouring two glasses of Orange Juice before putting the juice carton back in the fridge. “I just wanted to know. Last time I asked if someone wanted juice, my wife and I were just dating and she wanted me to make her a Mojito.” He soon came over with both glasses and set them on the table.

“But I’m not your wife,” Anarchy chuckled, “It’s okay, some- Uh, what’s a Mojito?”

“It’s a cocktail from where I’m from. One with White Rum, Mint, Lime, sugar and soda water.” McCree explained, lifting his glass a little. “So when I heard you say something sweet, I was considering making one, but wanted to ask you first.”

“Weird…” A multi colored aura enveloped her glass and she lifted it to her mouth as a smirk played at her lips, “Any questions for me?”

“Well, I told you about my struggles with family… What are yours exactly?” He asked her. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it-.”

“I’m fine,” Her smirk turned sickly dark, “Remember the murder charges? Well, that was mostly mine. Got tired of my husband, so I off’d the bastard. Had a child, but nurses said she didn’t make it.”

“Didn’t make it?” McCree asked. “Did they say why?”

“Said she had a birth defect and died an hour after I had her.”

“I’m sorry for your loss… What did you name her?”

“... Drift…” Anarchy sighed, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“I’m sorry. I overstepped my boundaries with that one,” He apologized. “My wife died shortly after my son was born. She went into cardiac arrest and… lost too much blood. I was holding my son, Lance in my arms when this happened and… I just can’t forget the last words she told me before she was lost to me forever…”

“Enough of the sap, the past is the past and onto the future we go!” Anarchy said. McCree nodded his head in agreement as he smiled. Lifting his glass, he proposed a toast.

“To putting the past behind us?”

“To putting the past behind us.” They clicked their glasses together and took a sip. “Wait, I don’t have a place to sleep…”

“That’s alright. You can stay here.” McCree offered to her. “It’s nice to have some company and someone to talk to. I haven’t had that in such a long time.”

A confident smile appeared on Anarchy’s face, “I think we’ll be good partners, McCree.”

“I believe so too, Anarchy.”

---

Centrail City

It was some time before the Azure Striker named Lance returned to Centrail City and in that amount of time, too many things had taken place. While spending time in Max’s world, all three of them found out that because of her fight with Celestia, a curse was placed on Seph that prevented her from having children. Of course, Seph herself took it very hard on herself and Lance had offered to stay behind so he could be there to support her. But Max told him that he had his responsibilities back in Centrail City and that those could now be ignored.

Now, he was in the city, looking over all the information that was collected about Equilis and the “Puppets” that he encountered when rescuing Scootaloo. The only information that he had was an old cell phone, data from the hideout that held the young pegasus and local surveillance. Not exactly a good start in his book, but at least it was something.

“How do you think the CMC are doing? Or the Detective’s?” Aurora asked from Lance’s communicator.

“Well, The Detectives have the same information on this case as they do. Not only that, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders are trying to be more careful now after the incident with Scootaloo’s disappearance.” The Adept told her as he looked at the phone again. “The one thing I’m trying to piece together is where this other location is. We already missed them at the first one and we can’t mess up with this place because it’s the only other option we have.”

“Well, we could check the database of that Marionette project. Maybe, since these whackos are the next generation of them, maybe an old base from the project is being used.” Aurora suggested.

“You bring up a good point. But how many facilities did the Marionette Project have though?” Lance brought up the question. “If a project like that is compromised, wouldn’t they have a sub-lab to fall back to?”

“Hmm… I’m checking,” After a minute, Aurora laughed, “Most of it’s redacted, but I was able to get a group of places… Well, a number. Seven. Out of those seven, five were decommissioned, and three of those were torn down. Only two bases were left untouched and unused, but I have no idea where they are or what they were called.”

“Do these bases have GPS coordinates?” He then asked, “If so, then we can use that to find the locations of the two that remain.”

“Yes, but they are restricted… Heavily.”

“How heavily are we talking about here?” Lance then wondered and asked. “Nothing you can’t handle I hope…”

“I can handle it, but I’ll need a stronger computer.”

“Could the CmC’s main system work?” The Adept asked as he walked over to the console of their main computer.

“Yes,” Aurora nodded.

“Alright, let me get you plugged in and run the search. I’m going to get ready.” He told her, setting his communicator down and plugging it in with a USB cable. For him, he took the chance to prepare both of his guns, his energy blade and any other gadgets he would need. During that time, he had everything that he needed, including the band that Kat had placed on him that restrained his powers. He thought it would be necessary to have, even though Equilis wasn’t a Displaced.

“Processing…” Aurora droned. It took three minutes until she came back, “Sorry, I couldn’t acces Weird Al… Wait, sorry, wrong thing… I got the GPS locations, and the closest is a military base a few miles up north. It’s also apparently where they held the Marionette’s.”

“Which two of the bases has been active with any kind of activity? Even though the Military base is likely, we don’t know if they’re using one of the bases as a decoy.”

“It’s a GPS tracking device with a small amount of information, not an activity tracker. And the other one appears to be in another country…”

Now Lance felt like he was getting somewhere. “Get ready, I’m unplugging you from the system. We got a location. Now let’s go stop that maniac.” He pulled the small cable, making sure that Aurora was safely back in before unplugging it fully. With the coordinates in hand, he used Instant Transmission to teleport himself to where the location was. About 100 feet away from the prime target. If the facilities were well protected, then precautions must be taken. “Aurora, what can you see?”

“Seems the base itself isn’t well secured other than a few hot spots and the outside… Why don’t we call backup?” Aurora cleared her throat, “I mean, what use is a team when you don’t use ‘em?”

“What exactly could they be able to do? We’re too far away from the city and there isn’t any cell reception in here. They must be using some kind of device to jam my communications. Any suggestions on how to play this? We could bust through the door again, but I think that they might be expecting us this time around after our last stunt.”

“I see six lifeforms and a bunch of ‘bots, but I don’t think these are like the last batch. Three are in the mess hall, another is in one of the bedrooms, another is walking around the back, and the last is in the administrator's office.” Aurora listed, “Conclusion: Sneak into robot control room at center of base and shut down security, continue to Equilis - most likely the one in the office - and deal with any resistance. Me and Lumen stay in control room and reprogram security to attack Puppets. Probability of success: 67%.”

Lumen, at the mentioning of her name, soon woke up from her sleep, yawning. “Did someone call my name?”

“Yeah. It’s time to get to work.” Lance told him. He took a few minutes to explain the plan to her before she was on board with it. However, she would prefer to be able to have the security used to contact the Detectives instead of harming the Puppets. The Breezie believed that anypony would follow somepony if they believed in their message. They just needed to expose Equilis.

With the mission starting, Lance made his way to the back of the facility, climbing the chain link fence before sneaking through the door that was left open. “Aurora, I need some directions.” He whispered.

A purple line appeared, directing him to an open window. A warning flashed in his vision saying there was a pony in the room to the left. Taking precautions, he hid low and behind a corner, switching to his Naga clip as he waited for whoever was there to pass. “Who is it?” He asked Aurora mentally.

“Enemy designation: Psycho. Currently inside and to the next room, assumed focused on some form of schoolwork.”

Lance raised an eyebrow at the part of her doing schoolwork, but soon found a way to get around her. Underneath his current location was the latch to an air vent, which was big enough to fit him. Slowly, he crawled through the vents to avoid the presence of the Unicorn. However, he waited for the door to open on it’s own as in came Steelwing. “Sparks, it’s time to eat. Better hurry up before it’s gone.”

“I’m working,” Psycho said, “Mind holding a spot for me? I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Yeah, but you better hurry. We don’t want you to miss out on your meal like Bomb Voyage did last week.” Lance used the small conversation between them as the chance to sneak away through the door that was left Ajar.

“Aurora, it seems that the Puppets are gathering to eat dinner or something. I just spotted Steelwing talking to Psycho about it… How far away is the control room from the mess hall?”

“It isn’t that far, tenth room up ahead we’ll arrive. Then five rooms after that is the control room.”

Taking her advice, the Adept pressed on, following the directions that he had given her as they passed the mess hall and went to the control room. He had to avoid the robots at all costs in order to not set off any alarms and soon, he found the door labeled “Control Room”.

“Aurora. That door needs a passcode in order for me to get in.” He told her, “Can you override the door?”

Aurora jumped out of Lance’s communicator and faded into the door. A couple seconds later, Aurora possessed Lance’s bracer once more. “2, 1, 8, 5, 9. Five digit password in older bases take longer to process.” the door opened quickly, with two security drones on the other side. They pointed their gun at Lance, ready to fire. Lance was two quick for them, shocking both of them with electricity and overloading their systems before they fell to the floor.

“Alright, we’re here,” Lance smirked as he closed the door, locking it so no one just sneaked in on them. “Aurora, Lumen. Let’s begin with phase 2.”

“Understood,” Aurora said as she possessed the main computer. “Shutting down security and locking in Puppets, synchronizing Lance’s communicator to this mainframe, and calling Centrail City police department. Require Lumen to accept everything I do.”

“Got it.” Lumen said, saluting Aurora.

“Okay, Aurora. Send me a blueprint of the second floor… also… does this building have a speaker system? To announce things to the Puppets.”

“Indeed, I shall link control of that to your bracer.” Aurora said.

“Thanks Aurora.” He said as he looked up and pulled down the emergency ladder from above them. “Keep doing your best. Make sure that the speaker system can also connect to the police. They would probably like to hear what Equilis has to say.”

“I’ll record everything.” Aurora affirmed. With that, Lance quickly climbed up the ladder and appeared on the second floor balcony. Scanning his surroundings, he noticed another door to enter, but was unsure if this was the door to Equilis’ office or just another hallway. That was until Aurora contacted him again.

“I’ve given you the blueprints, and I should tell you this… Don’t go in there, it’s just a nursery.”

“Wait a second? Nursery? Why would a operation like this have a nursery?” He asked. “Something about it doesn’t add up. Are there security cameras in there?”

“Yes, there are camera's everywhere.” Aurora responded.

“Patch me into the camera’s in that nursery. There must be something going on in there that Equilis doesn’t want us to know.” Lance told her. He pulled up the small screen on his wrist as Aurora began to connect him to the same feed that she was seeing.

What he saw disgusted him. Cradle tipped over, black sludge covered the floor, small pony skeletons were held up by some kind of magic that made each one look like a trophy, and the words ‘ABANDON’ were written in blood on the wall. This was just too cruel. But then, he remembered what happened when Psycho snapped at him after he mentioned Derpy Hooves.

How she said her mother abandoned her.

“Dear god. This is a brainwashing room. Aurora, get any possible footage recorded here and save it for the detectives. Equilis has got a LOT to answer for.”

“Got it,” Aurora replied, “Equilis’ office is two hallways down and to the left.” Following her directions, He moved down the hallway as she instructed, but before entering the door, he pressed the button needed to capture the audio and play it throughout the entire base.

“Here we go… Aurora, what does it look like in there?”

“I think he’s waiting for you…”

Waiting? That didn’t make sense at all. Something told him that this was somehow a setup. “Aurora, before I go in… What is Equilis capable of?”

“From what daddy told me, Equilis has the power to poison anyone he touches, control his density and turn into mist. He’s pretty strong.”

“Thanks… Preparing to breach in three… Two… One.” With lightning in his feet, he kicked the door in as he drawed his weapon and pointed it at the pony in the room.

Equilis sat behind his desk, glaring at Lance. “You think that you can walk on in here and shut down my security and I wouldn’t notice? Tacky…”

“I’m glad to have caught your attention. Now, I have some questions that need answers and I want you to answer them now.” Lance snarled. “Why did you set this whole thing up? What’s the reason for everything you are doing?”

Sighing, Equilis stood up from his seat, “I’ll humor you. I can guess you’re familiar of a government project known as the ‘Marionette’?”

“Partially. Care to fill me in?” The Adept retorted.

“The Marionette Project was a Black Ops division created by Versatile. Made for the sole purpose of doing the nasty jobs nopony else could do. They stole thirty children with a special gene that, combined with a rare chemical, triggers a genetic mutation. They would then train them from foalhood and eliminate the weakest links by pitting them against one another. By the end, only five would do the bidding of the project. With me so far?”

“Yeah… You’re one of those five?”

He nodded, “Me, Joking, The Purple Mare, Cupcake and Lash were the five. We did hundreds of missions that you’d have nightmares of. Unfortunately, the program was shut down due to a reporter getting information about it. A mare named Lauren Order shut the program down, but Versatile couldn’t let any more information get out to the public… So they tried to cut off all loose ends. I’m still on the run.” Equilis trotted up to Lance, “To get our revenge, we took thirty children and did the same that happened to us. Poor Lash couldn’t handle it, so he committed suicide. And now we’re in the present.”

“So the Puppets… Psycho, Ash, Weep, Steelwing and Bomb Voyage… They’re the five that survived from this batch… You had them kill other ponies from a young age to see who would be useful to you to use as pawns. This team you put together is to try to finish what the Marionette Project could not do on it’s own.”

Equilis sighed, “Yes… I guess you’re right...”

“What about the nursery? And the writing on the wall?”

“The skeletons were failures, the weakest links. On the wall? I think that was a dying failure calling out to their parents.”

“To make them think they were abandoned… Even though they weren’t. You stole them from their parents.”

“I did to them what Project Marionette did to me.” Equilis sighed, “But now you know too much… It was fun chatting about this though, therapeutic in a way.”

“Heh… Now I have a question for you Equilis… Do you honestly think that I am the only one who heard what you had to say?”

Equilis frowned, “What- No… No! You couldn’t have!”

Lance smirked, showing his bracer. “While we were talking, I was recording everything you said and blasting it out on all police channels and throughout this facility. Now, even the ones who you tried to raise as soldiers know of your deceit.”

Equilis screamed as he lunged at Lance, “They were going to be perfect! They were going to be gods!” Lance used instant transmission to get behind him and switched clips on his weapon to Vasuki as he fired off a shot. The bolt deflected off of a wall and hit Equilis in the lower back and right shoulder.

“They were going to be convicted killers. You stole their lives from them to try to make your personal weapons. That is just too cruel and must be stopped!”

“They would have given me justice!” Equilis shouted as he turned into mist and flew at the Adept. Thinking that the pony was going to charge in at him and increase density once he was close, The Azure Striker began to emit electricity from his entire body in a FlashField to protect himself. Equilis was shocked away from him and turned back into a pony. “Will this nightmare never end…” Equilis had tears in his eyes as he backed up next to a sealed window.

Lance now drew out his second gun and aimed both of them at his opponent. “I’m giving you one last chance to give yourself up. Resist and I will use lethal force on you.” He snarled, waiting for Equilis to make a move as he tried to get closer.

“Never stopping… Never ending… Never… Never...” Equilis’ eyes turned red, and black tar drizzled down his eyes, “Tool… Plaything… Used… Nothing but a broken stallion… One escape…” Equilis started convulsing, crying and knelt.

“The Hell?” The Adept spoke briefly. “Aurora, what the hell is going on with Equilis? It looks like he’s crying out… Tar.”

Aurora didn’t respond. The only this that did happen was Equilis screaming in agony. He turned around and jumped out of the window and fell…

“Aurora, he just jumped out the window! I’m going after him!” Lance yelled, hopping out of the window. “What’s the detective’s ETA?”

“Two minutes, they’re c-coming as fast as they c-can…” Aurora said, punctuated by a sickening splat. Equilis hit the ground, with Lance using his FlashField to slow his own descent.

“Okay, stay there. I need to verify something…” Lance said, trying to get closer to Equilis as he looked at the stallion on the floor. He had a feeling that he wasn’t dead. That this was a trick to throw him off guard. But he wasn’t sure. Nevertheless, he remained cautious.

It only took one look to see that Equilis’ head was split open, eyes staring at nothing. The red eyes remained, and the tar continued to ooze out of his eyes. Lance was just glad all of Equilis’ insides were inside. “Aurora… Equilis is dead.” He told her, just as the police were arriving at the front of the facility. Lance turned to see Detective Whooves and Captain Spitfire gallop over to where he was.

“Lance!! Are you okay? What happened?!” The captain asked before looking at the dead stallion on the ground. “Is that-?”

“Equilis? Yes.” He told her, noticing Lumen flying back to him and Aurora returning to his communicator. “He went crazy and then jumped out the second story window, falling to his death… But there’s something that still bugs me…”

“What?” Aurora asked shakily.

“Look at his eyes,” The Adept pointed out. “That’s not blood at all. It looks and smells like Tar.”

“Goddess, that’s disgusting.” Lumen replied, disgusted by what she was seeing.

“I think it’s the same substance as what we found in the nursery.” Aurora added.

“Possible. Spitfire, can you have a forensics team run some tests to find out what the hell this stuff is?” He asked. “There’s still one thing that the Detective and I need to do…” Lance soon was walking alongside Detective Whooves and his wife Derpy. Leading them into the facility. The first thing that he noticed was that one of the five Puppets was gone. Four of them remained.

“Why did you bring us in here?” Derpy asked.

“Ms. Hooves… Did you once have a daughter?” Lance saw Psycho shaking, eyes wide and slowly trotting backwards. “It’s okay… There’s nothing for you to fear Sparkler. ”

Derpy’s eyes widened and her husband gasped. Derpy crept closer, tears in her eyes… “S-sparkler? I-is that you?”

Sparkler just stared wide eyed at her mother, tears welling up in her eyes. She tried to speak, but couldn’t find any words. Finally, she nodded once, whimpering.

“Oh my…” Derpy soon broke down, hugging her daughter as tears began to pour down her face. “You have no idea how long I’ve missed you, my little Sparky.” Lance himself looked back at the other ponies in the room, watching them to see what they were going to do. Ash seemed focused on Sparkler and Derpy’s reunion, holding her chest as if it would explode, Weep seemed depressed sitting in a corner, probably rethinking her life, Steelwing doing the same thing. Lance then decided to sit down next to Ash.

“Hey…”

“Shh!” Ash harshly shushed, tearing up over her friends reunion. Lance saw this and then soon realized something. It was unfair for Sparkler to see her family again and not let anypony else see there parents. So, he walked over to the detective, telling him that he wanted to help these four. Once they were calm though, Steelwing posed a question.

“W-what happens now…?”

All the Azure Striker did was just sigh. “Well… for one thing… we’re going to give all four of you a second chance…”

“R-really…?” Sparkler asked, holding onto Derpy for dear life.

“Th-that’d be real kind o-of y-you…” Weep said coming out of her corner.

“All four of you deserve to be back with your family and use what you are capable of now in order to help those that can’t help themselves.” Lance smiled, looking at each of them. “It may take some time, but we will try to find your relatives and help all four of you with what you have been through. I honestly can’t think of the horrors you might have been exposed to, but I believe it’s time to put the past behind us.” Looking at all of them, he soon went over to Ash and kneeled down. “Are you ready to take the next step?”

She nodded, “Y-yes…”

Lance smiled, “Welcome to the team then. I have contacts with the power ponies in Maretropolis. Meaning that I can help you four become official members of the team.”

Ash’s mouth hung open, Sparkler started shaking, Weep shied away mumbling something about not being good enough, and Steel stared, dumbfounded.

“All of you are well skilled and good enough to be able to join. You can either come with Detective Whooves and I to Maretropolis or stay in Centrail City to work with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But ALL four of you deserve this chance.” He told them, getting ready to leave the room with Derpy and her family. “You ready to put the past behind you and start a new life?”

“You know it!” Ash cried out, “We are finally able to get away from this horror fest! Awesome!”

Lumen herself was smiling when hearing that. “I agree!! Hip Hip… HOORAY!!”

---

Within the week that followed, the former members of the Puppets were accepted to be part of the Power Ponies. Weep and Steelwing stayed in the hometown of Centrail City and became part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders under the supervision of Captain Spitfire and the rest of the Centrail Police Department. Sparkler and Ash went back to Maretropolis with Lance, Derpy, and Detective Whooves and also were welcomes with open arms into the Power Ponies and the Police Department’s Powers Division. They were even thrown a massive “Welcome To Maretropolis” party by Filli-Second upon their arrival at Power Pony HQ and even gave them a lot of gifts to celebrate any birthdays they might’ve missed.

Now though, Lance had something special in mind for Ash. “Ash, there is somepony I would like for you to meet. Follow me please.” The two of them continued to walk as the Pony followed Lance through the portal that was linked to below Max’s throne. As they entered and walked upstairs, the Adept soon called out. “Max! Seph! I’m back!!”

“Lancie!” Max said as she jumped from her throne onto his back.

“Why hey there, beautiful.” Lance playfully told her. “I got someone I would like for you and Seph to meet.”

“Oh?” She turned to look at the pony next to him. “Please tell me you didn’t adopt her, our family’s big enough as it is.”

“No, it isn’t that. I’m her Mentor.” Lance replied, giving Ash the opportunity to introduce herself.

“I-I’m Ash, pleasure to m-meet you.” The teen thrust out her hoof shakily.

Max smiled and knelt down to shake her hoof. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too,” Max said. She gave the young mare a thoughtful look before continuing, “How good are you with foals?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been around a kid before.” Ash shifted nervously.

“You know, catching a criminal is much easier than catching a foal. I believe Golden Spark, Light Sweet, and Rainbow Dash are playing hide and seek over in the west wing.”

“I’ll go… Try.” Ash tilted her head, “Where is the west wing?”

Sol came over then and said with a smile, “I can show you where they are. I’ll need to tell them that you are okay to play with.”

“Okay,” Ash said as she trotted over to Sol. “Lead on… Miss...?”

“No Miss, just Sol.” The thestral said, turning towards the door to the throne room. Lance chuckled a little as he watched them move down the hall.

“So, what do you think of her?”

Max smiled and wrapped an arm around Lance, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I think I’ll have a hard time not thinking of her as my daughter. Oh, just so you know. Don’t. Panic. The giant fire-breathing dragon is Seph’s trainer.”

“Wait wha-?”

“Seph wanted someone she could really train with, so Murphy sent word to Barbaroi about that.”

“I think you told me about Murphy, but who is Barbaroi? Matter of fact, where are they?” The Adept asked, looking around trying to find out where she was. He was curious to see who or what this dragon was like.

“The other side of the mountain for the night. Barbaroi is the dragon of the Hunt and was the first ever dragon to exist along with his mate.”

“Well, I guess we don’t need to worry about them for a while… How are you holding up? You know? With the baby?” The Adept asked her, wondering how everything was going along with Max’s pregnancy. Then, something came up… “You know… We haven’t actually thought of a name for our child yet. Want to take a few minutes to decide? I know that Seph would want to do it with us… but she’s… occupied.”

Max blinked, then smacked her forehead. “We’ve known our child has been a boy for the past month and we haven’t thought of giving him a name. We’re off to such a great start as parents.”

“Hey, we’re new to this. We can make mistakes,” Lance replied. “Got any ideas off of the top of your head?”

“Well, why don’t you give him his first name and I’ll give him his middle name?”

“That seems fair,” The Adept took a few minutes to think on it. “Why not Lyall? It’s an old scottish name that means “Wolf”. Does that sound good?”

“Okay. Now... His last name’s going to be Walker... hmm...” Max gained a thoughtful look for a few moments before she continued, “How about Arthas? Lyall Arthas Walker.”

“Heh… I like it. One question though… Was it your intention to make his initials spell out “LAW”?”

Max smiled and gave his cheek a kiss. “Maybe...”

“Oh god, you are clever. That’s one of the many reasons why I love you.” Lance chuckled, kissing her back.

“I’d have to be in order to run a kingdom.” Max pulled Lance forward a bit and gestured to the door. “I think I can take a break and spend some time with family over lunch.”

The Adept smiled, liking the sounds of that. “Did you have something specific in mind for the meal, my dear?”

“No, but I had thought you’d be back sooner than a week. I know I know, big responsibilities and all that.” She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder again. “At least I’m almost fully recovered from all that magic I did in Shalltear’s universe.”

“Ah yes, I was beginning to wonder how she was doing. Anything new with our… daughter?”

“Haven’t heard anything yet. I’m actually considering turning off my main Token until I give birth.”

“Hmm… That could be a good idea… But I’m curious as to why you would want to turn it off?” During the moment that he asked, Max could see him fiddling around with an object that looked like a stone of sorts with an engraving in the center of it.

“Twice as I travelled through the void, my pregnancy was accelerated. I don’t want to get to a universe in the middle of a fight and double over because I went into labor.”

“You… make a good point.” He replied, now tossing the stone he held in the air before catching it again. This peaked Max’s curiosity.

“Okay, what is that? If it’s a token, whose is it?”

“Ah right,” Lance sighed. “Remember when you called me to the infirmary when you first found out you were pregnant? Well, before I came to see you, I was seeing Sun for the first time since I got Displaced and I also met this guy named Nicko. He’s actually kind of awesome, wields a rare and strong magic and another Draconequus named Eris travels with him. The Rune Slayer’s mark I’m holding is his token.” Looking at the token, he thought something through before giving it to Max. “Trust me, I think you might like him.”

“Okay, I’ll summon him so he can meet the family around dinner time.” She set the token in her bag before going back to leaning a bit on Lance. “Oh yeah, a bit belatedly but the kids and I managed to pull Seph out of her funk. We learned how Sol planned on giving Aurora a body after Seph had a match with her and Mun.”

“Well, that was sudden.” He replied. “Does Aurora know about that or is it a surprise?”

“I don’t know if it’s supposed to be a secret, but Sol’s growing her new body in herself.”

“Wow… So she’s going through a pregnancy like you are?” Lance asked. “I didn’t think that could happen to Zenith’s. But hey, maybe she could explain more to us over lunch.” He paused for a minute, then spoke again once he realized something. “Oh and word of warning, when you invite Nicko, don’t be shocked when Eris tells you that she is Discord’s daughter.”

“With how many universes are out there, I kinda figured I’d run into someone who’d say that.” Max opened the door to the dining room and held it for the Adept. He thanked her kindly as the two of them walked inside.

“Yeah, but the circumstances of how we met would make anyone’s head spin. Besides Sun’s Discord and Eris, the one who summoned us was a Displaced Draconequus named Loki.” He said. “You should’ve seen Sun’s Celestia react to the site of not one, but three Draconequus in front of her.”

“Heh, that would’ve been fun to see.” Max groaned as she sat down in a chair. “Damn, I might love the fact that I’m carrying our son, but this is putting a lot of strain on my lower back.”

“Would you like me to get a cushion for your back then?” The Adept offered.

“No, I’ll just need a massage tonight when we head to bed.”

“Anything for you, darling.” Lance smiled. He wasn’t quite sure if Max was teasing or something else. But what he did know was that his family had a bright future ahead of them.

---

End Strike 27

Author's Note:

And with that, we conclude the trip to Centrail City. More will come in time, but right now, I have a big crossover in the works with Of Magic and Machines. Also, I got plans for future stories and chapters for some stories in the works. I just need to get things organized.

As for this story, I was going to roll with an idea that Bronyparasite suggested to me some time ago. What it is though, I won't tell you... But what I do plan on is some chapters that are mostly focused on McCree and Anarchy. And yes, they are being shipped. AnarCree.

Oh and here's an explanation on the two new "idiots" in the Suicide Squad

Comments

[OmegaRuby]

Junkrat and Roadhog for the suicide squad...can some pick up that phone? Cause I fucking called it!!!

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Wonder what in the Emperor's name was the stuff leaking from Equilis was...

[DarkSpider]

Are there going to be anymore people from Overwatch?

[FrostTheWolf]

7561027 that's too be determined at this stage