You and Grey Rebl stare each other down, both of you giving the other a look that could kill. Yours filled with determination, his full of madness. You both begin to circle each other, neither of you making a move to attack the other. Soon a few seconds pass and it looks like he might attack, so you decide to boast to him.
Grey Rebl's Comment
"I am the Crimson Vengeance! And I'm very, very angry with you guys!"
"Hah! Bet you I'm angrier!"
"Bet you you're not!"
"No! I am!"
"Buck you, janitor sprinkles, I am!"
"Oh now you've done it! I'll show how I angry I can be as I. Wipe. You. Clean!
"Grrrr!
"Hrrrr!
Grey Rebl grabs a mop out from his janitor station, and you quickly take out your Boomstick. The two of you continue to glare and growl at each other before Grey Rebl stops and...
The Rutherford's Comment
He begins to crazily twirls his mop with both hooves. He has some fancy moves.
You and Grey Rebl start to charge at one another in the middle of the room. You use your Boomstick like a melee weapon. The next thing you know, you both are clashing in a melee fight that looks so epic! If only you were using real sharp weapons.
You and Grey take turns dodging and slashing, blocking and poking, and it doesn't look like it's gonna end for awhile. This stalemate doesn't look like it'll end...until...
Grey Rebl's Comment
While in a middle of a stalemate, Grey suddenly lays his mop onto your staff by your hooves and twists with a grunt. It effectively disarms you, sending the staff tumbling to the side. Before you can switch to your hooves, Grey roars!
...And slams a bucket over your head!
“H-hey! I’m no buckethead!” you voice echoes from within.
“Pun not intended!” Grey shouts back, and proceeds to brutally smash his mop onto the bucket! The bucket rings, disorienting you. Again and again, Grey’s mop slams onto your sides, occasionally hitting you in the head/bucket to get you back down again. Whenever you try to strike back or try to get the bucket off, you’re rewarded with either a dodge or a sweep from bitter end of the mop.
Suddenly, Selena shouts at you to duck, and you do.
And it’s just in time for Grey’s mop to clip the top of the bucket and, naturally, come off from the recoil.
The moment you have your sights on him, you snarl and tackle him to the ground. You try for a headbutt, but you are warded off as Grey holds his mop with both of his hooves, pushing it up against your throat.
“Grk!”
When you can’t take anymore, you back off. So, instead, you shout, “GET OVER HERE!” and shoot your shadow whip right at him, hoping to perform a certain maneuver...only to get thwarted by a second mop!
“WHERE DO KEEP GETTING ALL THIS STUFF?” you shout.
“ONLY THE JANITOR KNOWS!” the crazy janitor shouts back, throwing a bucket of soapy water of all things!
Of course, you can only retaliate in kind.
“Would you kindly burn, bucker?!”
The ensuing reaction causes a light mist to erupt everywhere. You flinch, realizing that mist is filled with soap, burning your eyes! Turns out that wasn’t the best idea. Closing your eyes breathing through your mask filtration, you instead try to sense his killing intent. Your ear flickers; you can hear his growling voice somewhere. A burst of emotion sweeps over your senses, and you lash out immediately with a Falcon Punch---
“Gotcha, bitc---Grruk!”
Only for you to be violently rammed with a freaking janitor's cart out of nowhere!
"Welcome to my world, jackass!" And the cart is still moving, accelerating even!
"Urrrgh!" you yell as the cart digs into your chest, desperately clinging to the front as you do not want the cart to run you over if your fall off.
Of course, Grey Rebl isn’t so kind. Hooves clank on the cart as you realize that Grey is expertly riding on top of it, using his telekinesis to move it along! When you peer up, you squeal at the bucket of what you assume to be chlorine hovering over your.
“Here! Have some!” he shouts over the wind, and dumps the liquid over you. Immediately, you fall over the cart and get trampled. However, you fail to notice the approaching wall, crashing and slamming along with cart with a violent clank and thud between metal and your body as Grey simply hops out of the way.
You cough hysterically, panting for air. However, Grey takes the initiative and smacks your head with a thwack! You groan, briefly considering the massive concussion and headache you’ll have to suffer after the fight. No, it only gets worse.
Grey grabs your head forcefully and wraps something wet around your hurting head: A wet towel---the same towel that he wiped the black Erised muck off with! When you open your eyes, you confirm that by the inky black consuming your vision. Instantly, your body locks up as the voices of Erised intensifies. Oh, the black! You struggle, swinging your limbs fruitlessly as you slowly start to lose control before you shout, with whatever remaining air you have, a half-hearted “Fus Ro Dah!” It is weak, but it is enough. It pries off the crazy janitor as you head butt him with whatever motor ability you have available to finish the job.
You immediately gasp! Upon the wet towel’s removal, you feel the sweet relief of air for a scant second...only for Grey to jam a bar of soap into your mouth…or he tries to.
"Chill on thi-Hey!” he shouts as the soap mashes against your mask"
“Forgot the mask didn’t ya?!” you shout as you uppercut the janitor away from you. He flies through the air and lands back in the puddle of Erised muck from before.
You glare over at Grey Rebl, who just chuckles at you before he...
Takes out a wet rag and wipes himself off of the black muck that originally made up Erised. It sounds disgusting as the muck just sloshed from the wet towel he used to wipe it off.
"Seriously? We're in a middle of a fight!" you say irritated.
Grey retorts, "Yeah? Well, I like to be sanitized before doing anymore flank kicking."
"...You'll just get dirty anyways."
"Tch! Didn't think you'd understand. Oh well." He then pulls his hat away, revealing his mane---his grey mane. He cranks his head side by side, loosening his neck with a few pops. With sudden burst of killing intent, he points another deadly mop right at you. "I'll just make you."
You swear you see his eyes start to glow red.
You gulp at this, but his eyes soon go back to normal before he says,
"Well this was fun, but you are clearly out of my league,” he says in a condescending manner, causing your eye to twitch. “So I'm just gonna let some lower peons handle you."
You look at him suspiciously as you ask,
"What do you mean? You and I are the only ones here."
Grey Rebl smiles evilly before he says,
"You'd think that, but..."
Kersey's Comment
"You see it's just you, and me, and my MINIONS!"
As soon as he says this two minotaurs appear next to him, as well as plenty of other crazies and goons that must have been hiding in the shadows. You glare at the surrounding ponies and creatures and are about to say something....when you get team-clotheslined through a wall, and then are picked up by some unicorn’s magic and are thrown through some of the wrecked weapon machines.
You climb out of the machine rubble to see the two minotaurs staring down at you. You start to think you're in trouble when you hear,
"Hey, you found my booze yet?"
Looking up, you see Doctor Quacksalver wobbling around. How the heck did he get down here?
"WHO DARES INTERRUPT US?!"
The minotaurs roar as they whirl around and throw a punch... only for both fists to get intercepted by Quacksalver's hoof who doesn't even flinch.
"Whoa! This looks like a serious case of grumpus-violentus. Better sedate the patients before it spreads."
With his hoof still effortlessly holding the Minotaurs struggling fists, Quacksalver takes out his "Burknomic Scapel" (i.e. a hammer) from his lab coat pocket with his other hoof, jumps up, and hits the Minotaurs with an arcing swing that hits the first minotaur under the chin and the second in the head with the "scapel" with enough force to knock both minotaurs unconscious.
Daaaaaang! Who knew Quacksalver could kick flank! you think with your jaw dropped.
To be fair, he did manage to render you unconscious with one blow.
“Now…what was I doing again? Oh yes. Do you have my booze?” he says obliviously.
Grey just rolls his eyes at this. “Doctor! You’re interfering with my mopping!” he yells.
“Oh, my mistake! But I need it for patient evaluation.”
“Well then, take care of these you Quack..." Grey Rebl says as he uses his mop to flick up a lever opening a door revealing more lunatics with various improvised weapons.
"The syndrome is spreading!" Quacksalver declares, "I need to perform an Oldboy-ectomy STAT!"
With that he charges into the hallway full of lunatics and proceeds to "treat" them.
“OK, it’s official, do not give Quacksalver booze.”
However he misses a few and they managed to surrounded you with Grey Rebl in the middle of them all. He looks at you cockily, when suddenly…
Master of Shadow's Comment
One of the crazy henchmen spits his gum out onto the ground.
Grey freezes in place as his eyes wander slowly to the stallion and back to the gum on the ground and back.
“One moment please,” he says to you, before proceeding to wrap the mop handle around the pony’s neck and start choking him out.
“NOOOOO LIIIITTTTEEEERRRRIIIINNNNGGG!!!” he screams as the poor peon is violently choked.
As their boss chokes out their team mate, the others decide to rush at you. Frustrated, you call out.
Grey Rebl's Comment
"Sorry, but I don't have the time to deal with you guys. Let me show you my...my...WHERE IS MY LUNA PLUSHIE?!"
Well, so much for that idea.
MEANWHILE OUTSIDE WITH NIGHTSHADE AND AQUA
"Hmmm," Nightshade mutters as she looks at the gathering Royal Guards before her, "Should I use it?"
"What is it, Nightshade?" Aqua asks, nervous of the growing number of forces. “Got an idea?”
"Well...I have a knock-out plushie that I took from Daddy."
"What? Woahwoahwoah wait! That’s actually pretty useful, but how come I haven’t seen it all this?!"
"...it lets me visit mommy whenever I wanted to. It ends up being used up most of the time, and Daddy doesn't seem to use it much. So, I took it."
"Uh, and you didn’t think to return it to him since he’s probably in mortal danger right now?" Aqua asks, not quite sure what the kid meant.
Nightshade blinks innocently.
"Nah, I'm sure he's fine. Here come the guards to talk to you," she points out.
Aqua turns and sees the leader of the response unit coming towards her.
She lets out a sigh before saying,
"Here goes nothing."
BACK WITH YOU
Kichi's Comment
"Die, Die, Die!!!" Shouts one of the crazy ponies as he begins to throw fireballs from his hoof.
You manage to evade them only to see another of the crazy ponies with a black jacket sitting down and watching the fire balls nonchalantly, before deftly dodging them.
"Wow, Sick dodge you psycho,” you congratulate, before using bucking bronco and launching him.
You are then struck from behind by a metal ball of some kind, so you turn around and see a few crazies/experiments of ponies looking like Neightendo characters.
One is a pony wearing a green hat, another has a red hat with a pokeball as a cutie mark, one is an oversized pony in pink that starts shoving stuff in his mouth.
“OK, getting a weird case of déjà vu here…but why?” you ask aloud as you whip out your air shot gun and shoot the pink blob into the other two.
These appear to be the doppelgangers of those we fought in the otherworld.
You flash back to your brief skirmish with Luna’s videogame army and shudder.
“Well they’re no more frightening here,” you say as you powerslam another crazy.
You are then are hit in the back by a pony wearing a gas mask, with a flamethrower on his back. Followed by a pony in a lab coat kicking you.
“Oh sure, the Pyro and the Medic, why the buck not?!” you roar as you push out two shadow whips and fling the ponies off of you.
“I’ve had it with you mother bucking cosplayers in this motherbucking asylum!” you shout
You then look back up to a smirking Grey Rebl as he leans on his mop over the unconscious form of the pony that spat the gum out.
“I don’t know, I think they’re quite endearing,” he quips.
“Alright, enough of the minion bullspit! I still owe you one for the cart and bleach!”
“Oh if you insist,” the janitor smirks, his braces showing and you both rush each other.
You start dodging his mop swings, and even are able to get a few quick jabs on his nose and body, but he changes up tactics and starts going for speed.
SnapDrakeGame's Comment
Though you were confident going into the second fight (I mean, come on, name one pony who could look threatening with that dental work! Even Sombra would be hard pressed to pull off that look), the battle has quickly spiraled out of control. Gray Rebel is ridiculously quick and his reflexes are almost ninja-esque; he'd probably snag a fly out of the air with his bare hoof, and then drown it in a vat of bleach. You've always been more about power than speed, but he just weaves between your Falcon Punches and retaliates with very Zebra-esque whacks. Also, something you noticed before, that is no normal mop. The whacks are hard and leave a mark so you deduce that the cleaning implement has to be reinforced by titanium or something, a hit from it feels like being struck by a blunt bull.
You duck under one of his swipes, jump out of the way of a second, and in turn he dodges one of your blasts of plasma. You charge at him, hoping to catch him off-guard, but he sticks the mop in the ground and vaults over you, sweeps your legs out from under you and swings his mop like a golf club, launching you across the room. You crash into a pile of defunct weaponry; thinking quickly, you hurl everything within hoof's reach at him, though to little effect.
"Did you really expect that to help you?" Grey taunts.
"A little," you shrug back. "I mean, I made a mess. Look at it. It really needs to be cleaned up."
"Ye gods, you're right!" the pony screams. With a sweep of his mop, he swats the mess away, into the garbage bin.
Is he really that OCD?
"Well, glad that's taken care of." Without another word, he grabs some sort of canister from his belt and chucks it at you. The thing explodes in a spray of chemicals.
"Yaah!" you scream, as some of the stuff gets in your eyes, "Cleaning detergent! It burns, it burns! What’s up with you and my eyes?!"
Grey Rebel rushes forward, striking you multiple times with his mop. Trying to ignore the fact that it feels like fire ants are gnawing on your corneas, you try to juke and jive, but you get hit to the ground, right next to your…
“Not enough blood to clean, need some of yours,” he says with a swing when,
*CLACK*
You have recovered your Boomstick, and you block his attack, before striking him in the face, knocking him back a bit. You crack his lip, and then he really gets excited.
“Oh boy…”
You start countering his staff attacks by blocking with your Boomstick. When that inevitably fails again, you settle for just slamming the thing on the ground, blasting Grey back with the shock wave. Logically speaking, the smartest thing to do here is to follow up with your fastest attack and hope he can't dodge.
Leaping forwards, you cry, "No-Shadow Kick!" Your leg darts out like a striking viper, nailing Grey several times while he's still in midair. Then, out of nowhere, his forelegs clap together and grab your leg in the middle of the attack, before he tackles you to the ground.
"Oooh boy," he grins, "I am going to mop the floor with you." With a growl, you throw him off of you; he twists in midair, landing on his hooves, before rushing at you, mop raised. You raise the Boomstick to block, but with a powerful swing he tears the staff from your grasp, AGAIN! It clatters across the floor, and slides out of your reach. He then lays into you with a series of blows so quick you can't even tell which direction they’re coming from, each landing like a piece of space debris crashing into a satellite. With a final hit, he sends you tumbling backwards; you manage to steady yourself, still a little dizzied by his raw speed, when your hoof catches a bar of soap and you're flung head over heels again. Grey Rebl catches you, bringing you into a head lock.
"Mmm," he murmurs, staring at your outfit. "This calls for complete sterilization!" He spins around and dunks your head into his bucket of soapy water,
"Mmmpllggggfff!" you blunder, struggling to get some leverage. "Pffffflemmmmmmmmp!"
"What was that, boy? I can't hear you over all this sanitation!"
Finally, your hooves find solid purchase on the ground. With a heave, you break Grey Rebl's hold, flipping him over your head like a wrestler and slamming him into the ground.
"I said, you forgot about the bucking mask again. Would you kindly TELEKINESIS?!" Snagging him in your telekinetic grip, you fling the janitor all over the place, slamming him into walls, benches, tables, the ceiling, the floor, the ceiling again, more walls. Finally, you kick the bucket into the air and then telekinectically hurl it at Grey. It knocks him to the floor, drenching his janitor uniform.
"Would you kindly FREEZE!" you scream, as the Power Glove encases Grey in a hunk of frigid ice. Galloping towards him, you bring your fist back, before striking the frozen lunatic with as much strength as you can muster.
"Falcon... PUNCH!!!" The ice shatters around him as he's tossed backwards, slamming into a wall so hard that he makes a decently-sized dent.
Grey Rebel pries himself from the wall, panting a little.
"Alright, you've had your fun, but I'm afraid this is the last time we'll be meeting like this, my friend." The janitor does an acrobatic pirouette, somersaulting through the air to land by some huge object covered by a loose tarp. With a flourish, he tears the tarp off, revealing an enormous and incredibly threatening laser.
"Allow me to introduce you to the Spotmaster 3000!" With another leap, he's on top of the laser, pointing out various components. "Notice! The microwave-powered laser particle beam. Notice! The laser-guided high-pressure water cannon. And notice! The special metal alloy ingeniously combined with state-of-the-art cleansing materials. I call it Steel Wool! And it comes with a laser! Any last words?"
"Eh, I've survived worse," you reply. "Besides, can't I just dodge out of the way?" You attempt to do just that, but you step on another bar of soap and flip over, lying prone on the ground. "Oh buck," you mutter as the laser lights up.
"Power on!" Grey cries, and a green laser shoots out from the cannon, one which you only barely block with your shield spell. "Water cannon, on!" he continues, and your shield is suddenly assaulted with a powerful torrent of water. Seeing you holding strong, Grey mutters, "No effect. Steel Wool laser on!" The laser strikes your shield and you almost buckle under the power, though you manage to stay strong.
The room is aglow with the power of the Spotmaster 3000, a strobing green light, and Grey Rebl seems insistently more dumbfounded that you're still holding out against the weapon's power.
"Okay, you asked for it," he growls. "It may end life as we know it, but I am crossing the beams!" In a blatant violation of the laws of physics, the three beams twist together to bore into your shield like a drill, with the side effect of filling the air with a hideous noise.
"More power!" Grey screams, and you feel the shield begin to wear thing. "More power!" he cries again. "More power!" You can't hold on.
You can feel something inside yourself begin to give. "Maximum power!" The shield fails and the whole world is engulfed in a fiery blaze of green...
You open your eyes. You stand up. You smell like roses and strawberries. Your clothes are light and fresh and beneath them, your carapace shines to a polished finish.
"You know, this actually isn't that bad."
"I know, right?" Grey says. "Most ponies, they don't understand the value of sanitation, but once they actually give it a try they realize-" he's cut off as you grab him with your shadow whip and fling him across the room, slamming his face into a wall. He pulls back and you see one of his braces appears to be hanging.
However this appears to only make him madder as he...
Erised the ink-moth's Comment
Charges at you with duel mop scythe's! Your eyes widen in surprise as you turn around and begin to duck and weave through a gauntlet of now defunct mechanical equipment and half-assembled weapons. Picking up your boomstick on the fly, you try to avoid his attacks, because even with a hardened shell and healing factor helping you out, Grey's relentless and hits like a damn truck, even more impressive considering he's just a regular pony.
Hate is powerful. It fuels you, consumes you, makes you strong. Give in to your hate... give in to-
I do not have time for this! you mentally shout.
You've found maybe one advantage against him so far; Grey might be able to dish out a ton of hurt, but he sure as heck can't take it. You managed to land a few hits during your fight so far. He might have tried to hide it under a sadistic sneer, but you can tell it hurt a LOT. You've just gotta open up some more opportunities, knock him out before he finishes whittling you down.
*Th-wack*
You yelp and jump to higher ground as something wacks your forelegs. Then you see Grey emerging from beneath the machinery, his face and mane covered in grease and looking like something out of a Neighponese horror movie. But again, his braces just kill the image.
"Just look at the mess we're making. It's going to take forever to clean this up," he says mournfully before his eyes snap onto you again. With nothing more than a feral growl, he pounces at you again.
You stumble backwards, dodging not only the end of his broom but also his hooves as both wood and flesh break apart the metal conveyor belt underneath you.
Finally you stumble on a roller, and grey wastes no time in preparing a finishing blow. Desperately you grab onto whatever's nearest object and use it to shield yourself.
You hear the whir of an engine and the sound of wood being cleanly chewed through. Looking up you see Grey's broom in pieces. Then you notice what's in your hooves.
"N-no way..." you mutter. In your hooves is a metal chainsaw leg attachment. It looks like the one...Pinkamena had...
You don't have much time to ponder over this though, as Grey floats all the little pieces of his broom before him and into place. With a muted flash his weapon is whole again and brimming with a magic glow. You're about to chew it up again with the chainsaw, but he effortlessly swats it away before pummeling you with the cleaning end.
"This is my cleaning device! There are many like it but this one's mine! Without me my cleaning device is nothing, without my cleaning device... I'll have to mop the floor with you instead!"
"Mmmmrrrrpphhhhffglll!" you scream as the filthy end of the mop smothers and strangles your face with it's tentacle-like fibers. You break free from the mop and knock Grey Rebl away with a solid punch to the ribs, and you know he feels it. But you don't have long to rest as he charges at you with a mop spear ready to stab!
BrownDog's Comment
Dodging the attack from the insane janitor, you again realize just how incredibly fast he is. You can hardly get a bead on him with your projectiles, and when he gets close, he hits hard.
You decide you need to slow him down, so you come up with a solution.
You grapple to the gargoyles above, far from the reach of his mop.
"OI! Get down here!" he yells as he pulls out a grenade launcher.
"EEP!" you squeak as you grapple to another gargoyle, the one you were just on turning into dust.
He keeps firing a weapon up at you, destroying several of them. But once you get to a secluded one and have a second to breathe, you take our your Electric Flesh Tonic and down it.
Immediately, sparks start running through your body, causing your hair to stand on end. Again, rewriting your dna is not a pleasant experience, and you scream in pain and fall to the floor.
Grey immediately sets upon your form, but it’s all part of your plan.
You get out one of the bottle of booze that you took from Quacksalver and pour the contents over you.
“Stupid idea 737 is ago!” you cry out as you grab hold of Grey. A moment of shock reads on his face as you say,
“Would You Kindly Buzz Off?!” and you send the lighting coursing through the both of you.
Oh it still doesn’t feel good, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the times when you shocked yourself in the Delta suit. Your Electric Flesh dampens the pain, he on the other hand.
“GGGGRRRAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!” he cries out as he is shocked.
You hold on for as long as you can, but he eventually blasts you back and starts panting and slumping to the floor, smoke lines coming off his coat, and patches of burnt black hair line his silver mane.
“Oh you cheeky little bucker. I actually felt that,” he says with a sadistic smile.
Now you know for sure you've hurt the bucker. As he gets up, you even notice that his movements aren't nearly as fast.
Stupid Idea 737, Success
Although his strength hasn’t lessened any, as evidenced by the smack of his mop into your ribs.
"AGH!" you yell.
"Don't celebrate just yet!" he screams and brings up the grenade launcher, pointing it at you.
Thinking quickly you throw up your shield, and are blown back into the Plasmid room's open door, striking the wall, and spilling a few, causing a small fire.
He appears in the doorway, chuckles and throws in a plasma grenade, and closes the door.
“BUCK!!!” you yell as you look for a way out. An explosion in here is going to be huge.
Taking the unstable case off your back, you reach in and pull out…
“A Gravity Hammer?! Okay, fine, save me!” you yell as you pound the side wall. The hammer makes a sizable hold before it fades out in a red pulse.
You look back and see the grenade reach its peak,
You throw up a combo magic and ice shield as you back towards the hole, and the explosion sets off, throwing you through the hole painfully widening it, as you are tossed through several rooms as the explosion rocks the warehouse.
After rolling for who knows how long, you groggily look up and see cracks forming in the ceiling and a giant blue misty cloud coming from what was once the Plasmid Room.
“Sweet Luna, that psycho almost blew me up,” you gasp in surprise.
“I’m not done yet!” comes his voice as you look towards him holding another weapon, and you realize you’re on a shooting range.
“Oh Come On!”
Outside with Aqua and Nightshade Again
“So the crazies are running the asylum and have an arsenal of weapons supplied by these Knights?” asks an incredulous response guard.
“Yes! They’re trying to lead you and the princesses into a trap!” Aqua screeches.
“If they’re stupid enough to call out Princess Celestia herself, then they clearly don’t know who they’re messing with.”
“Yes they do! We’ve been taking down these buckers for the last couple of months, and in that time I’ve seen the arsenal they’re packing. You guys won’t be ready!” Aqua growls.
“Ma’am, if there are Crimson Knights in there, we have a duty to…wait, what do you mean you’ve been taking them down?”
“Oh for, I’m Aqua the bounty hunter! You know, partner of The Crimson Vengeance?”
The guard’s faces all pale at this.
“Wait, you’re THE Aqua?”
“Buck yeah she is!” Nightshade chimes in. “And right now, she’s trying to warn you dumbflanks from doing anything stupid, while the Awesome Crimson Vengeance is inside trying to take them down!”
Some of the guards wince at being chewed out by a child, but a few of them get worried looks.
“Wait, the Crimson Vengeance is in there alone?! And he’s surrounded by armed mental patients and two Crimson Knight Leaders?”
“Yes!”
“Then surely we have to give him some back up right?!” a guard declares.
“Yes, but we can’t go in there like a guard would, they’re expecting that!” Aqua shouts, getting them to focus on her again.
“Then what are we supposed to do Ms. Aqua?” they ask deferring to her.
Aqua is a bit taken aback by the tone shift they take with her, becoming more subservient, but at that time, a large explosion is heard and felt by them.
Turning around they see a massive Blue Mushroom cloud exit out of the ground, and the front of the asylum begins to crack as the ground swells.
Suddenly, much of the front crumbles, revealing…
A whole lot of inmates poised and waiting, like they were just waiting for the guards to come through the doors.
Amidst the army of crazies, a pale changeling angrily shouts,
“Damnit Grey!”
The guards see this as both sides stare at each other over the hoofball field distance.
“Orders Ma’am?” the head guard asks Aqua.
Taking out her whip, Aqua yells.
“OK, we don’t play by their rules. Fight them in the open only when they attack and keep them pushed back to the asylum. Don’t enter it yourself. Unicorns keep spamming magic, and don’t kill anyone, they’re being mind controlled by one of the Knights, they’re just pawns. We’ll hold the line here at this gate! And someone go for reinforcements!” she yells to the small response team of about 40.
A pegasus guard nods and flies back to town.
“And if they get close, kick ‘em in the nards!” Nightshade declares.
The response unit nods, and form a defensive position at the entrance gates, as they stare down the horde of crazies.
Aqua creates some blockades of ice, and declares.
“Hurry up CV…”
NEAR THE RUBBLE
Erised the ink-moth's Comment
An Erised clone shoves his way out of the rubble, out from under the two inmates he used as shields. Around are several others emerging, each looking in tandem at the force of guards gathered outside the asylum. But there are at least a few clones that didn't survive, as evidenced by the giant splatters of ink-blood under sections of wall.
Darn it. I only made a few dozen clones to begin with. Better pull most of them back for now.
While one clone stays behind to witness the force of guards begin their march down the hill, for some reason spearheaded by a blue-garbed mare and a little filly, the rest withdraw to start preparing the later waves and protect the office.
What an unfortunate mess that bounty hunter has caused. Grey is distracted with him, and the grunts are all trapped down there with the bulk of our weapons. Erised sends out a thought, directing a few clones to try to unlock the elevators to the lower levels and get them back in the fight, but the power is out and they don't work. Stupid lockdown system. Well if it's not the all-out bloodbath I wanted, at least I can turn this into a siege; those pathetic guards will need to fight room to room... hallway to hallway... spilling blood for every inch they want to retake. And when they think victory is theirs... THEN I'LL FINALLY-
"You need to chill out buddy," comes an inebriated voice, interupting Erised's mental rant.
The pale changeling looks to his left and sees a Doctor Quacksalver, holding a dented and bloody hammer, with a few cuts and bruises over his face, and ripped clothes.
"Mmm hmm, I can see it all in your face. You've got stereotyipicitis. Pretty soon you'll be laughing maniacally and taunting the heroes while they work out a way to foil your plans."
Erised narrows his eyes at the 'Doctor'. "Didn't I fire you, you quack?"
"I don't know did you? That's what another you said down the hallway there after I had to crawl through the air vents," he says pointing back towards the way he came, and there is an entire section of crazies all bonked and knocked out on the floor. There's even a large black stain amidst them.
"Then again when I went Old Boy on the other you, he kind of exploded..."
Erised's eye twitches at that.
"Why the buck would you do that?! ? That was one of my clones! Those don't grow on trees you know?!" he growls.
"I can't find my booze, and I have achy breaky heartus!" he slurs, before noticing a few of the patients milling around.
"More Old Boy Times!" he yells as he starts bonking more patients, causing them to yell and charge outside at the guards.
"NO! Don't fight them in the open you idiots!" Erised shouts, but a majority of them are already outside in the courtyard getting magic spammed by the guards.
Erised facehooves at this as Quacksalver continues to indiscriminately bonk patients over the head.
"You've got to be kidding me...Okay, it's alright. There's still more patients, the guards will still bleed...they have to!"
MEANWHILE BACK WITH YOU
Kersey's Comment
Grey Rebl's Comment
As you run and juke and jive on the firing range, you find a surviving BFG 9000 and a RYNO V!
"Ha hah!" you proclaim triumphantly as you grab both weapons (holding the RYNO V while levitating the BFG 9000 above you with your horn magic)
"EAT ROCKETS MOTHERBUCKER!"
"Oh shi-"
With a Rambony roar you proceed to unleash a barrage of rockets at the janitor as the minigun/rocket launcher blares Tchaikopony's Overture. When the rockets run out, you drop the RYNO on the ground, drop the BFG 9000 into your hooves, and declare,
"SAY HELLO TO MY NOT-SO-LITTLE FRIEND!"
YES! SPLATTER HIM ALL OVER THE ASYLUM WHILE HE'S WEAK!
Bugze wait!
You then unleash as massive ball of green plasma that obliterates the area Grey Rebl is standing in.
Fortunately, before any regret can kick in, the smoke clears and it reveals Grey Rebl unharmed and messily downing a can labeled Bonk! Atomic Punch while glowing and vibrating.
"Blah! Always hated that 'Blutonium Berry' flavor," he says tossing away the can, "Supposedly, this stuff'll liquefy your esophagus after just one can. But, y'know- it's also very handy when you feel like... not getting blown up."
"That's not very fair!" you whine.
"Listen motherbucker..." Grey Rebl says getting out and twirling another mop, "I never play fair."
Angry, you rush him now that his ranged weapons are gone and try to hit him with a barrage of moves,
"Shoryuken! Falcon Punch! Falcon Kick! No Shadow Kick! PSYCHO CRUSHER! Uh... eye pok- *thwack* OW!"
But none of them are having any effect before Grey Rebl starts wailing on you with his mop again.
Fortunately, thanks to what you're guessing is a combination of the lighting hug and a sugar crash, you notice that Grey Rebl's starting to move more sluggishly.
"Guess all that sugar's coming back to bite ya in the flank!" you taunt.
Says the bug who eats junk food and candy for every meal. Selena quips.
Not every meal, only every OTHER meal, you quip back as you look to Grey and yell,
"Would you kindly Mix-It-Up?!"
With this you activate the "Mix-Up Smash" function on the Power Glove and quickly set the dials to "Bucking Bronco" and "Incinerate!" as you easily dodge Grey Rebl's more sluggish mop swings.
"I don't care how slow I get, I'll still clean the floor of your blood!"
"Oh Would You Kindly GO INTO BUCKING ORBIT?!" you declare as you point the open Power Glove at him, causing a geyser of lava to erupt below Grey Rebl and launch him through the ceiling...
[b]OUTSIDE
We see Guards and Inmates fighting in the courtyard in a rather large brawl, but they are holding the line, not entering the Asylum. As Aqua uses her waterbending to whip an inmate with a pipe wrench away from her, and Nightshade Falcon Kicks the nards of a Minotaur in a tutu, she ask-yells to Nightshade.
"What's taking CV so long?! What could he possibly be do-?"
*CRASH*
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
They, a few guards, and even a few inmates turn at the sound of screaming and see a pony in a torn-up janitor outfit getting launched through the Aslyum roof and high into the air.
"That! That's what he's doing," Nightshade replies.
BACK WITH YOU
"Looks like team Crimson Knight is blasting off ag- Wait, he's coming back dow- Hey, a trampoline!"
Focus you fool.
Ignoring Selena's glib, you run over to a nearby trampoline and start moving it into position. When you think it's just right and you see Grey Rebl begin his descent through the hole you sent him through, you use your grappling hook to grapple onto a broken piece of ceiling, drop down towards the trampoline, and bounce off it, launching yourself through the warehouse ceiling, and into the Asylum proper. As he falls back through the ceiling, you meet him halfway
"Oh son of a-"
and strike him while declaring "SHORYUKEN!".
Your spinning rising hoof smashes into Grey Rebl's falling jaw with a mighty *CRACK* as his jawbone shatters under your hoof and sends him flying backwards through the hall, knocking over a gathered group of inmates, and embedding the unconscious Crimson janitor into a wall.
After performing a superhero landing you quip, "Cleanup on aisle crazy!"
And as his head slumps while embedded in the wall, you can't help but feel accomplished.
"What now buckface? What now? That's what you get for all the mop whacks! In fact!" you race up to his unconscious form, pick up his mop and burn it.
You laugh maniacally as the cleaning instrument turns to ashes, and you shove them into his mouth.
"Choke on that Clean Freak."
You then begin to search him and you pull out a can of the soda you saw him drink earlier.
"Could come in handy," you declare.
1 can of "Bonk! Atomic Punch Cherry Fission" (Gives you brief invincibility, but will make you lethargic and slow afterwards)
added to Inventory
When this is all over, I better check how much stuff I have left in my Inventory...
With that, you look down the hallways of the asylum and hear the sounds of battle.
"Oh crud, the guards have shown up! I've got to make sure they don't get overwhelmed!" you declare. You decide you'll help out then come back for him, but you then take one look back at Grey
“Remind me to never mess with crazy janitors ever again. Like, ever.” You then turn and get ready to gallop towards the battle you hear, when suddenly you hear.
"Oh no need to worry about that bounty hunter..."
You stop dead in your tracks. A wave of killing intent thunders behind, causing you to freeze in terror. Then, there is laughter, LAYERED and hysterical laughter. It is ripe with madness.
You hear Grey stumble out of the wall and back to his hooves, a sickening crunch can be heard from one of his broken legs, but he is laughing. However, it isn’t Grey who is the only one laughing, it seems. You know. You've heard that type of laughing before and, along with your personal trauma, you can hear that same laughter echoing in your mind. The same voice you have been hearing ever since you ate that mucky soup at lunch. The same voice you hear when a certain pale changeling bursts into that same black muck. And it is laughing right now unison with Grey.
You turn around.
“...Erised?”
The sight that beholds you isn't Erised. It's Grey Rebl, or rather, someling puppeteering his body. His eyes are pure black, and the voice he speaks is duel.
"Poor stupid Grey. Even you had to eat sometime," Erised declares through Grey's mouth.
"Dude! That's sick, get out of there!" you yell at the sickening sight.
"Oh no can do, this flesh has a little bit more fight left," he says while ash mixed with drool falls out of the pony's mouth.
"And you are not going to ruin the bloodbath I've waited so long for! True Heroism must be shown to that Fat Flanked False Goddess!"
"Don't make me laugh!" you declare. "Grey's already down, and not even your mind control is going to fix that! It's just you and me!"
"You're right about one thing, Grey is pretty out of it, but you are wrong. It isn't just you and me, It's you and me..."
"And Me," comes another Erised voice.
"And Me," comes another.
"And Me," another chimes as you look around the hallways and doors, and you see about 7 Erised Clones smirking at you. The possessed Grey says,
"You'll be learning the hard way what it means to be a TRUE hero..."
The line is being held outside, but they could probably still use your help, and you have 7 and half of the other Knight you've been chasing closing in on you.
It's pretty terrifying their laughter, the same laughter you can hear in the back of your head, but you decide to put on some bravado.
"Oh I see, Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right. Here I am, Stuck in the middle with you..." you sing as you get ready.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
As you look to the Erised clones and the mind controlled Grey, you think to yourself:
Bugze: Ok, Selena, Sombra, what do we know about Erised and his clones?
Selena: "They seem to be made from his blood. And his blood seems to be responsible for mind controlling the inmates."
Sombra: "They also seem to be like a glass cannon to me. Granted we have yet to see any actually attack, but they seem to fall apart after a hit or two. My theory is that you should be able to beat them quickly if you either use your ranged attacks, or pull them in close and follow up with powerful hit."
Bugze: That is good to know Sombra, but how are you so aware with everything going on?
Sombra: "Since She is keeping his vile blood at bay, I have been free to observe and think. Especially since the medication wore off during the fight with the crazy janitor. By the way I suggest getting one of the mops. It can serve as an impromptu weapon and could allow for a decent disguise later on."
Selena: That is actually quite a good plan.
Sombra: Did you actually think I took over the Crystal Empire on raw strength and magic alone? I am a strategist. I observed the Empire for years, making trips there to learn the layout and opposition. And until we figure out a way to get me and her each a new body, and her keeping me from taking control, I may as well offer some assistance to ensure that we survive."
Selena: "Has anyone else wondered why we have not been attacked yet?"
At this, you realized that you have been singing the song you started last chapter and all the clones (and Grey) are listening and bobbing their heads along to the song. As you finish, one of the clones ask you to perform Friday. As you and every other clone glare at him, the other clones all jump at him and leave a black smear on the ground.
Bugze: Well that's one down. Several more to go.
7576120
What, this could work. Selena says.
What? you think dodging another clone.
Normally I'd discipline you for perverted thoughts, but seeing how these clones are infecting you with their blood, the best course of action would be to quickly expel the blood.
So... you WANT me to think perverted thoughts?
Within. Reason. she stresses
Okay. Fluttershy's lingerie shoot *spurt* "Happy ending" massage with Aloe. *spurt* Threesome with Octavia and Vinyl. *spurt* Selena in catmare's- *GONG*
"Gah!" you say reeling from that gong which fortunately causes you to dodge another clone, I thought you wanted me to think perverted thoughts?!
I said within reason you massive pervert.
Fortunately Erised decides he's wasting too many clones with this tactic (and is getting kinda jealous/ashamed at your thoughts) and just has them attack you as normal.
=================
Suddenly you're blindsided by hot sauce.
"I'M BLINDED!!!" you yell.
"What the- Oh great..." Erised says as he facehooves.
"I knew you'd ketchup to me sooner or later. How I relished this meeting." says a unicorn wearing a straitjacket full of condiment packets while levitating a pair of ketchup and mustard bottles.
"Dang it! Who let him into the kitchen again!" Erised yells in annoyance as all his clones shrug.
"You, the genocidal Hooded Offender, vs me; the conceptual CONDIMENT CONQUERER!!!"
"That's not the Hooded Offender you delusional Adam Western-reject, that's just some bounty hunter!" Erised says as you're still wiping hot sauce out of your eyes.
"Come Hooded Offender. Let's see if you can cut the mustard-"
"SHUT UP!" You and Erised yell as you both team-punch the delusional unicorn in the gut, knocking him over.
====================
During the fight, your can of Bonk! Atomic Punch, Cherry Fission falls out of your Inventory and somehow Nightshade finds it.
"Oooo, soda." she says as she runs between a Royal Guardsman's legs, grabs the can, and skims the contents,
"Bonk Atomic energy... Cherry flavored... fulla radiation..." *GASP* (In Neighponese) "Contains several hundred times the daily recommended allowance of sugar!!! MINE!"
And proceeds to down the entire can before you can stop her. When she finishes the drink, she suddenly starts vibrating rapidly as she drops the can and declares,
"INFINITE FALCON NUTSHOTS!!!"
"Oh buc-*wham* eeeeeee!" you say
And Nightshade proceeds to zip around the battlefield and Asylum in a blur, Falcon Kicking EVERYPONY (Crimson Knights, Inmates, Royal Guards, clones (which all explode upon being nut-shotted), even you) in the nards.
"*wham* Owwwww!"
"*wham* WHY ME?!"
"*wham* Another sacrifice to the Freudian gods!"
"*wham* I don't have nards and that still hurt!"
"Let's go little blur! You and me! I'm the prince of pickles, the sultan of sauce! You don't stand a chance! You hea-*wham* My tabas-balls!"
"It appears everypony is breaking out with a sudden epidemic of Testis-Agra- *wham wham wham* Ow. [collapses]"
Yeeessss little overlord. Murder all their testicles. Ensure they can never have heirs to rise against me... Sombra druggedly cheers
Fortunately, due to her alicorn metabolism the effects don't last very long and at the end of the 8 seconds she collapses asleep from the massive sugar crash, causing you to quickly rush over and tuck her away in the Inventory while the real Erised is still recovering from the nutshot.
"Guess it's just you and me now." you say to the still-downed Erised.
"How the buck did you recover from that so fast?!" Erised proclaims, still cradling his broken nards.
"Eh, she's my daughter. I'm more-or-less used to it." you shrug.
====================
Soon Erised starts flying around (changeling, remember?) and knocking you around, but when he knocks you into the air you remember your anti-air counter.
You stretch both your front hooves out and began to spin in midair and one of your arms catches Erised in your Power Glove before tucking the changeling into a headlock and... rocketing straight up without touching the ground to change direction.
"SSSSSTAAAALIOOOOOOONGRAAAAD!" you began as you continue to spin upward to the utter bewilderment of any creature watching, shooting upwards through the hole in the ceiling you made with Grey Rebl. When you reach the height of your assent, you begin to spin in place as you tossed the pale changeling spinning above your head and then catch him again this time with the changeling's rear limbs tucked under your front limbs and placing your back hooves on the changeling's front limbs so that your foe was looking straight down.
"Oh buck..." Erised wimpers, but you don't hear (or care) as the two of you begin to spin towards the ground at incredible speeds while you yelled out,
"BBBBBBBLLLLLLIIIIIIIZZZZZAAAAAAARRRDDDD!"
And slam him into the ground head-spinning-first with enough force to cause a shockwave that collapses the nearby broken walls. When you jump back from the attack, you see that the Erised has been embedded into the ground with only the area above his waist sticking/twitching out of the floor.
=====================
SAVE FOR END OF ARC
Upon being defeated, Erised weak-fully pulls out a small box and spitefully says, "If I can't have them..."
He presses the red button on the box, self-destructing all the weapons he and his inmates created,
"Noling will..."
"Ms. Aqua," The same pegasus she sent to get reinforcements flew down beside her." I have notified the guards at the nearest town and they have also sent a guard to get some more in Canterlot."
"Great." Aqua says as she whips a pony away. "With enough of us, we can over power them easily."
The guard nods. "By the way, who is that filly?" He says, pointing to Nightshade.
"She's... the Crimson Vengeance's assistant." Aqua replies.
"And don't take me lightly." Nightshade says before falcon kicking another stallion in the nards, which made the guard wince. "I may be small, but whoever gets in our way will get a falcon kick right to 'em!" She says as she pulls out her dark cannon and starts shooting rapidly.
"U-understood." He says.
Meanwhile In Canterlot
Princess Celestia is talking to one of her accountants when one of her guards runs up to her with a screeching halt. "Yes?" She asks.
"Your highness! Crimson Knights have control of the Arkhay Asylum near Tall Tale!"
"I was already informed of this lieutenant, and I have already sent a squad to deal with it as well as getting myself ready to catch up with them."
"No! We have figured out something worse!"
Princess Celestia was now all-ears.
"They have brainwashed all the innocent but crazy ponies there. Furthermore, it was supposed to be a huge trap for you."
Celestia looks like she's in deep thought as the guard continues. "We have received this information from a guard who was at the Asylum but stopped by none other than one of the bounty hunters who stopped all the other Knight leaders, Aqua. And as we speak, the Crimson Vengence is fighting in the Asylum while Aqua and the guards are trying their best to subdue the brainwashed innocents. Or so I've been told."
"Hm..." Celestia stares at the guard. "It seems this is a much more serious matter than I originally thought. I will have more squads accompany me when I head there. Thank you for giving me this information, you should get yourself and your squad ready as well."
The guard bows and salutes before running off.
"Sister..."
Celestia slightly gasps and turns to see her sister. "Luna? You should be asleep."
"Dear sister, are you sure you're ready to head out yourself?" Luna asks.
"Luna? What are you-" Celestia realizes what she's saying before sighing to herself. "Luna, I can assure you that I have calmed down enough to head out beside my guards. You don't have to worry Luna."
"I trust you Celestia... but be careful."
"I will." Celestia says then walks off.
"For both yourself and your actions..." Luna whispers to herself before heading to her own quarters.
Outside with the guards...
"Okay Nightshade" Aqua starts "I need you to...."
As Aqua looks over to where Nightshade was you can see here and about five of the guards fast asleep in a pile with a plushie of Princess Luna on top.
"Ooookaaaayyy?" Aqua says "You three get them out of fighting range and keep them safe. The rest of you keep setting up the defensive line."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
After defeating all the clones
You breathe heavily as that fight took more out of you than you thought. Suddenly your here a sloshing noise behind you. When you turn around, you find all of the clone's remains are gathering into a giant vaguely pony shaped piled of blood.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The shotgun should be kept as a non-lethal ranged weapon for Bugze. I don't really remember him ever getting a non-lethal ranged weapon in the series.
"Whoa whoa whoa... whoa." you hold up your hooves as the Eriseds encroach. "I get that your evil and all, but you're not seriously going to use your buddy to fight me are you? I beat him to a pulp! I'm surprised you can even make him walk in that condition!"
The Eriseds just laugh at you, a hollow, echoing laugh.
Suddenly Grey in right on top of you, shoving you back and grabbing at your throat, his strength somehow even more impressive than before. Yet even as you hold him away, you can hear his bones cracking under the strain of his movements.
"That's where I hold the advantage." Erised's words ooze out of Grey's mouth. "His body isn't mine, so I don't have to hold back. I can keep him fighting to the very end without having him slow down even a bit. You'd better be careful one wrong hit could be the one that kills him."
You hoof freezes right as you were about to punch the possessed unicorn off you.
"Bugze, dodge!"
Your eyes widen and you jump back right as a spray of ink-blood flies by. You snap your head towards the clone still dribbling the leftovers of its blood vomit, smirking at you as the others continue to circle.
"Hah!" Erised chuckles. "Just like with that traitorous Doctor Nettle, you don't have the stones to take a life, even when your own life is on the line. Quite noble for a soldier of fortune. But we all have that blackness in our hearts. You'll find it sooner or later."
"Who says I haven't already!" You shout and charge at a trio of clones grouped up, "Falcon PUNCH!"
They swiftly dodge out of the way, but you just got done fighting Grey. Compared to that, these clones might as well be moving in slow motion. "Would you kindly Buck Off!" you send a blast of Bucking Bronko their way and send them into the air.
Before you can finish them while they're vulnerable, Grey jumps on your back and starts to wrestle you away. "Then why do you not embrace it like so many others have done? Isn't that the way?"
"Because I don't want to!" you roll, causing Grey to lose his grip on your face and fall to the floor. You then whip out your air shotgun and blow him away as he's recovering. "Maybe I know how bad I can be! Maybe I've seen what I'm like when I lose control, and I don't ever want to again! And maybe I work every day to do better!"
The clones switch to faster blood-based attacks, and you slide behind some convenient barrels as blood bullets pepper the wall behind you. "So you're in denial then! You can't fight the evil inside yourself forever." they say in unison.
You kick one of the barrels at them, flattening one of the clones and leaving you an opening to stab the other with your Boomstick. Pitch black gore covers you, and you feel Erised's influence exerting itself, slowing your movements and making your vision blurry.
While you try to avoid the rest of the clones closing in on you and spewing more ink-blood, Selena starts purging your system. And this time you're able to help her out.
"Okay... happy thoughts... happy thoughts." you think to yourself, "What are some happy thoughts?"
[Fluttershy cosplaying as Bayonetta]
*Spurt* "No! Bad Bug! I don't need those kinds of happy thoughts right now!"
"You shameless pervert!." you hear Erised's words slowly fade away. Apparently giving yourself a massive nosebleed drained enough of Erised's blood to free you. You feel woozy though. Let's just hope you don't have to do that again.
*Splash!*
"Oh come on!" you yell as one of the Erised clones suicides all over you.
"You should keep your thought on your surroundings, and not what's going on inside your head." he chastises. "Someone like me might take that opportunity to land a free hit."
"Hey! You don't know me! You don't know what goes on in my brain!" you counter.
"Oh how I wish that were true." Erised sighs.
===
Will add more in a while.
As the clones and mind controlled grey circle you, they appear as if they are about to pounce, when a loud yell can be heard which distracts them enough for ender to charge through one of them with a large sheild and spear knocking a few clones into the others.
Ender: hey bounty guy, heard you needed backup
Bugze: I never said that but glad for the help
Ender: don't worry I got your ba-
His sentence is interrupted as 3 of the clones that were hit by ender, then tackle him and start a brawl with him in the next room, leaving you to deal with the rest of the clones, minus 3 clones of course.
E: dam should've mind controlled him sooner, no matter, time to deal with you, bounty hunter
In other news: Princess Celestia Is Very Persuasive (if anybody recognizes the meme).
=-=-=
“While not true body possession, it’s still quite an effective use of my personal hivemind. The hivemind is what allows me to control my clones and mind-controlled forces, and with such organized efficiency.” Erised then brags, “My own personal drones: Fancy, yes? And I’m not even a changeling queen!
“However, for Grey, it’s different. You see, our unfaithful pal here has a problem that I’m sure you've noticed by now: Despite his brutal prowess, he’s so, so weak. One of the weakest of the Generals, in fact. Which is why I decided to arrange something...special for the poor unicorn.”
“Special?” You say apprehensively, “You’re putting your mind-control on your own ally! That’s just...wrong!”
“Hah! Don’t make me laugh. If it suits him, Grey would’ve left the Crimson Knights if he has the chance! He’s no reliable ally, perhaps my most hated ally...but certainly an effective guard dog.”
You’re eyes widen at the term. Guard Dog. Is that what the pony amounts to to Erised?
“I hate him and his disloyalty, he hates my guts and my preaching. I bring him intruders to beat up, he gleefully sates his thirst for blood. And when he loses consciousness---I force him awake, he gets to keep on fighting until he dies!” He then says happily, “A mutual relationship if I do say so myself!”
Startled at the confession, you take a step back. “Cut the bullspit, that’s nothing but Parasitism!” You angrily retort back.
The possessed Grey cruelly smirks back. “Ah, yet it’s symbiosis all the same. It’s the same thing I’m going to use against Celestia.”
“Okay, what’s your problem against Celestia?!” You shout.
Instead of an answer, the clones shoots forward, as the possessed body shouts back, “Think fast!”
-=-=-=-
(With Aqua and Nightshade)
Within the Asylum itself, Tartarus breaks loose. The walls explodes. The ceiling collapses! Guards pours in in a formation, utterly prepared for anything and anything. Ropes from the holes from the ceiling drops down, letting in another group of guards, colorized differently from the rest, especially in uniform. They land with practiced rolls, standing up immediately back to back, weapons pointed around them as they greet…
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Er, this is SWAT Team Alpha. It’s clear,” one of the special-uniformed guards says.
Another replies exasperatedly. “Oh come one! I thought we can catch em’ by surprise. We even got the formation and the maneuver down pat!”
Aqua, coming from the broken walls, face hoofs. “It’s literally an all-out swarming strategy with the only good factor being the surprise. What part of super-powered crazies do you not understand?! Seriously, are all of you in guard just to look cool?”
The ensuing silence and the nervous shuffling says it all.
These are the nearest set of guards, which are in the vicinity of the Arkhay Asylum’s local town/city, who are available to induce immediate action due to the threat letter. Considering that these are the same guards who are supposed to be the last line of security against runaway patients, who is said to almost always succeed in escaping, this says a lot.
Then again, under Aqua’s leadership, they are actually doing an effective job. They’re pretty good at listening when you give them the chance. In fact, in combat, they’ve been capable of pushing back the crazies. Perhaps too easily. Something is up. And judging by their wincing looks by her scolding, Aqua can’t help but let it go for now.
Aqua just sighs. “Never mind then. Let’s just finish the job. Nightshade? Wanna help clean up?”
“Are you kidding? Of bucking course!”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
“Mm. It doesn’t seem like anyone is here,” Nightshade says, eyes closed.
As a student of Maud, an earthbender, Aqua has taken to give a crash course on Earth Sense. With an ability like that, routing out any of the remaining patients and subduing them would be easy. She didn’t think Nightshade would instantly learn, though. To her surprise, the filly is a savant. While the water bender knows her stuff, the degree of which she masters the technique is astonishing.
Oh, Aqua is so going to have fun with the filly.
Nightshade looks pointedly at Aqua. “Now what? Are we helping daddy now?”
“Mmm...I don’t think so. There’s something fishy about this...Who knows? We might end up walking in an ambush.”
Nightshade then hums in thought. However, she then lights up, as though an idea came to her. “Then why don’t we help him by not helping him?”
This causes the mare to frown. “Uh, kid, you’re not making any sense.” She then raises a brow, almost a bit annoyed. “Beside, I don’t need a reminder of what we’ve been doing this entire time.”
“Daddy says that Erised is doing all the mind-control, right? Why not beat up the source? That way, we don’t have to be so bored!“
Aqua then smiles. “I like what you think. But one problem: Where would he be? He can be with CV for all we know.”
The two just sits there, humming in thought.
“Knowing CV’s luck, Erised would act like a supervillain who would sit on some high place, laughing. Typical mastermind behavior.” Aqua listlessly points out.
A few seconds ticks by, and revelations dawns on them. The two looks at each other, a sense of urgency and excitement getting to them.
“We need a map! Guards! We’re avoiding the source of the noise! We’ll just be in CV’s way. We’re going somewhere else!” She then adds, “Oh! And somepony start clogging some toilets and sinks!”
-=-=-=-=
“We’re here, Ms. Aqua. What do we do now?” Asks a guard.
“Wait out here and hide out. You’ll be our back line in case the crazies come. Nightshade will warn you. You’ll also be the reinforcement when it gets messy. Now then…”
The door into Erised’s office slams open.
“End of the line Erised! You're under...arrest?” Aqua trails off in shock from the sight in front of her. “What the buck?”
Erised, in his chair, simply leans back, sighing blissfully. “Oh no no no! Continue. Just say your piece as I enjoy my massage. Would you kindly go lower? There--good, that’s the spot.”
In the dimly lit room, there’s Quack Salver giving Erised a massage. Of course, Aqua just feels a bit cheated yet confused by the scene. She can appreciate the Asylum’s lacking in sense in a later date.
“Are you serious? Another changeling? Ugh, pretty ugly too. Might need to get those scars checked.” Aqua deadpans.
“A bratty mouth, I see,” Erised droll. “It seems that introductions are in order. I am Erised the Ink Moth, formerly a senior soldier of Queen Chrysalis’ army and currently a General of the Crimson Knights. At your service.”
“Charmed,” Aqua says sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she takes a threatening hoof forward, “Look, I’ve already have some bad experiences enough with just two changelings previously. Let’s make this quick.”
“Oh really now?” Erised and his pale chitin rumbles with dark laughter. The hollow and dead song of a voice replies with a rather chilling preposition: “Before you do, would you care for a decent and mature conversation?”
“Now that would be a good idea!” Quack Salver suddenly pipes in. “A conversation will supplement the therapy session greatly!”
“Nope! No talking! We’re fighting, right here and right now!” She lunges forward, a water whip at the ready. At this, Quack Salver frowns.
Before the fake doctor can open his mouth to respond, Erised simply claps his hooves. “Very well then. Sleep, you quack. The massage is over.” The doctor limps, his eyes rolls up, and then he collapses.
Suddenly, the large, viewtiful window behind him explodes into shards of glass as a pair of guards swoops into the room.
Aqua flinches back, ceasing their charge. Just as the guards land, they point their weapons forward.
“What the--what are you guys doin--” She stops upon the sight of black ink. The mind-control had taken root. “When did this happen?!”
“Your first mistake is letting yourself inside. Besides the ink I've been slipping in during the fighting, I have...astute control of the happenings in this facility. Getting some of your ponies to clog the ink-filled sinks only sped up the process. Gaining a hold of your own forces was easy,” Erised answers boredly. “There is not much blood as I’d liked...yet, but I’ll make do. ”
Behind the mare, she hears the rapid clopping of hooves and clanging of armor. However, she has a feeling that it is not the sound of reinforcements. Judging by the black ink blots on their uniform, the Royal Guard are under mind-control, that much is obvious. They enter and surround Aqua, pointing their weapons so that there’s way else but through. She sees their strained expressions and the perspiration running down their brows. It turns out they’re still conscious, trying their best to fight Erised’s influence.
“Although I must criticize the Royal Guard: So much skill, yet so little independence. They were so very easy to control that I wonder if they even have any free will at all. Didn’t have to break their minds.” He shrugs uncaringly, as though he's talking about the weather. “I suppose it has something to do with Celestia’s doctrine about following orders and maintaining a stoic peace of mind.”
“Hmmph!” Aqua retorts arrogantly, smiling regardless of the situation. “You think a few extra bodies are going to prevent me from beating you? Sorry, but I’ve been flooding the bathroom nearby.” To prove her point, a puddle of water begins to leak out from the hallway behind her, messing up the pristine cleaning. “With enough water, beating you would be with just a tidal wave. Easy.”
“...Ah, Grey Rebl may have something to say to that,” Erised says casually, somewhat sullen. “Poor Grey.”
“Oh?” The mare smirks victoriously. “Ready to give up?”
“No. Don't count on it, waterbender.” To her surprise, the changeling smirks back as, suddenly, one of the guards leaps forward, causing Aqua to instinctively retaliate with a water whip.
Green flames of magic envelopes the guard, revealing a copy of Erised. The copy went black and explodes in ink, and right on Aqua.
“Ugh! Gross!” Before she starts to lock up. She can’t move. “Grrph!”
At that moment, Erised bursts into laughs. Laughs and laughs and laughs, increasing in volume. He even does a little jig. “Oooh! Yes! Checkmate! Ahaha!” Aqua can only struggle to regain control of her body as the effects of the black ink seeps in, his voice echoing in her mind. When he pauses to take a breath, he gasps, “You know, I used to fear waterbenders. They can practically sense any kind of water when given enough skill. However, it’s to my surprise that they can’t tell the difference between a real-living pony and a mass of blood!”
Still in a fit of chuckles, Erised reach out to a microphone to the side and speaks to it, “Crimson Vengeance~, I would suggest that you’d stop resisting unless you want me to kills your friends.”
“Oh come on! What’s with me, changelings, and being the hostage!?”
-=-=--=
(Back to main battle)
Things are going well for you, but in the moment you hear the announcement from the intact loudspeakers, you freeze.
And that’s all the opportunity Erised needs as he bombards with the explosion of two of his clones.
Erised begins to laugh hysterically though Grey’s voice as he says, “I don’t know how you’re resisting, but I know even you can’t take so much! Now, be caged in the blood of sins! Become subservient!”
Grey’s possessed body steps forward, touching the growing pool of black ink. As though through water bending, the ink entangles your form, exposing it to even further. You can hear the muffled cries of Selena in your mind.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
(Erised’s Speech Prologue)
Back in the office, Erised smiles condescendingly at the group. “I win. You are no under my control, Crimson Vengeance.”
Aqua and the conscious guards can only look on him in shock and disbelief.
“N-no!” Aqua utters.
“Oh yes!” Erised chuckles darkly, spinning around his chair animatedly before he starts to speak through the microphone. “Now then, you asked previously why I hate Celestia so much? Well, here’s a story for you then. At first, I didn’t hate her so much. I’ve come to tolerate her and her ways. After all, I must respect her ability to keep a thousand years of peace despite her...lack of initiative. No, it was only until recent news came to me that I’ve jump started this entire operation. You’d surprised by what you can find with a reliable network of Stained Shields and a few bribes. This may interest you as well.”
He leans in and, in a ghastly whisper, he finishes, “She’s setting forth plans to reform Discord.”
-=-=-=--=-=-=-
(A speech inspired by Lord Seagal’s answer about the best mind-control plot)
That ceases your struggles, it strikes you dumb. You choke. Reforming Discord? Memories from the Applewood incident return to you, the epiphany of what Discord had been talking about bearing you down. They’re giving him a chance of redemption? That crazy guy?!
Through Grey’s shattered mouth, Erised laughs at your reaction. Yet, Erised, voice still comes through the loudspeaker.
“I know right?! Discord reformed! Hah! You and I both know that that is nothing more than scenario set up for failure! The Spirit of Chaos and the ultimate trickster would never be so readily obedient! In fact, I’m sure they have a reform spell at the ready, all so that they wouldn’t have to deal with the trouble of fighting him again! I know, because it’s the same concept that I’m using to defeat you right now!
“And you know what’s the best part? They might not use iy. Instead, they took him to the Elements of Harmony and have them say, ‘Discord? Would you kindly not incite chaotic destruction upon us and conform to the magic of friendship?’ Hah hah! I bet there can only be pity in Discord’s heart!”
Suddenly, Erised’s tone went dark and serious. “That’s what it comes down to, these three words: Would you kindly? To demonstrate my point...Stand up.”
To your horror, you are compelled to obey as you stand up.
“Look left, would you kindly?” You did. “Look right, then down, then right again.” And you did without hesitation. “On your haunches. Back your fours. Now walk in a circle. Oh! Stay in the puddle of my ink. In fact, would you kindly roll over?” By each command, you follow to the letter. It makes you sick.
“Now do you understand? I have the same power that the Royal Governmet holds, and yet, unlike me, they don’t even use it! So simple! So easy...It drives me crazy! Would you kindly lay on your back!”
When you do, you realize the intent as Grey’s possessed body moves towards with a mop in his telekinetic grip. You can’t help but gulp as the body approaches.
“What next? The changelings and the hive? Will she start reforming us then? Help us? No. Nonono!”
He lifts the mop up and slams it down on you, and then again. And again. And again and again and again and again...
“No, the changelings can't be saved. Not Chrysalis *thwack!*, not the hive *thwack!*, not me *thwack*, not anyling!”
...until finally, with a final golf ball swing, he throws your body out towards a pile of debris. With quick command, you are led back into the black puddle.
“Ugh!” You grunt. You fall into a heap, Erised’s voice, inside and outside, buzzing hellishly into your psyche as you cough from the dust. Selena tries her best to thwart control, and she’s getting steadily better as the blows come, but it isn’t going to help when you’re movements keep on losing coordination, especially with the black much being reapplied on each hit.
At this point, Erised is at the point of hysterics. “Justice shouldn’t be about making peace talks. A true hero would go in the face of evil and smother it! With this power, I’ll rectify what Celestia did wrong! With this army, I can bring justice down on ALL criminals as I assimilate them into my Arsenal. This what I will do. This is what Burned Flagg would do! And most of all, this is what the Hooded Offender would do! Celestia will be punished for her cowardice!”
Then, laughter. Erised laughs, but someway and somehow he’s joined by another.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(Turn Around: Aqua’s Bloodbending)
To Erised’s utter bewilderment, Aqua is laughing. She’s laughing so hard, that tears are brimming around her eyelids.
“W-what’s so funny?! Answer me!” Erised demands.
“Hehe--! Snrk! Celestia’s a coward huh?” Aqua says rhetorically. “Well, says the coward who can’t spill the blood himself! Look around me! You have the guards do the deed instead! Seriously, you’re such a hypocrite! The biggest coward of them all! Ahaha!”
“Youuu! I’ll show you who a coward is!” Finally, he leaves his desk and moves forward, snatching a pen and lifting it up menacingly. “This’ll teach yo--” He freezes before he can jam the pen into her. “W-wha?!”
Aqua just smiles tauntingly. “Normally, I need to move to do my Bloodbending. But since I can’t, I needed you to be in near touching distance. Thanks for falling for the taunt, by the way.”
“Grrrr! You can’t do this! You can’t! Let go of me!” Erised shouts, and his eyes begins glowing, pouring power into his mind control, if only to get himself released.
Aqua visibly struggles, a few beads of sweat rolling down the side of her face. “W-woah there, tiger! You sure have a tight hold in ya. Didn’t think it’ll be this, erk, hard...Hey, CV!” She strains out towards the microphone, but is certain that you can hear her. “Do him in on the other side for me! I’ll cover my end!”
“Hah!” Erised laughs through the struggle. “I’ve learned my lesson since the Canterlot Wedding. Even if you usurp my original mind, as long as there other’s being possessed, the hivemind will still continue running, my voice still imprinted into their very minds. The guards in my possession will still have the urge to kill you, the inmates will run rampant, and even you will be a part of the collection! And most of all, your precious Crimson Vengeance will be under my subconscious control by then. It’s too late!”
To his surprise, the water bending unicorn just chuckles. “Sorry, sweetie, but I know for certain that my good friend CV is just too crazy for you to control. Bad luck for you, bud. Now then...Nightshade! The plushie!”
“Surprise motherbucker!”
Nightshade, who has been missing through the entire ordeal, makes her entrance, and knocks everyone else upon sight of the plushie. Immediately, everyone collapses, falling into a heap. The only sound in the room left is the sound of snores. Well, except for one.
A hangover takes over Quack Salver as he groans, getting up from his drunken stupor. When he stands up and takes in the few of some many ponies, and so many black splotches, he gasps. “My goodness! The disease has already been spreading! I must get the spare leeches quickly!” He then hurries out of the room, defeating anyone left in his path.
-=-=-=-=-=-=
(Selena’s Take over)
“Grr! No matter.” Grey’s expressions calms down as the body schools its sights on you. “I’ll just take over your body and clean up myself.”
“I don’t think so.”
To his astonishment, you effortlessly exit the puddle of black ink, as if there’s no effect by his influence whatsoever. Eyes wide, Grey’s possessed body stumbles back along with his remaining clones, looking at you as though you are not suppose to have exist. Well, it’s not you exactly.
“W-what?! How can this be?!”
“The bug and I have been discussing while you’ve been preaching.” Selena says. “It has come to the interesting conclusion that, if you’re opting to possess this body, then you most certainly won't be able posses this one for it has already been possessed. Honestly, it’s embarrassing that I’ve been having such a hard time against such weak mind-control magic. Something that I’ll rectify soon enough.”
“Hehe,” despite himself, Erised chuckles through the body he’s holding. “So you were just a puppet? Are you telling that, I, Erised the Ink Moth, as the master of puppets...I’m being beaten...by one?! You’ve thwarted my plans so much thus far! I refuse to believe that I’m being beaten by my own tricks!”
“Don’t put me down on your level, because unlike you and Grey, WE are doing this mutually and by choice. We trust each other more than anything.”
“So what?! Think that trust is going to save you?! My magic won’t be bested in this manner!”
“...No, it is us who are going to save you.”
7578246
As Gray try to take another plan, he is surprised when he feel another presence fighting his control.
"It's useless, I have your mind and your body, even if somehow your friend is helping, she will be too busy to help you." Say Gray Rebel but then a dark laugh begin to sound around.
"The only problem is that she is not the only that live in his head, and if someone is going to be the owner of this body, will be me! Say Sombra and Gray suddenly feel a shiver and the dark pressence
"You think you are the best? You think that you have plans for everything? You are nothing compared to me! I am King Sombra! You are only a flea compared to me! your stupid control techniques are too basic for me!" Shout Sombra with a mad laugh
"No! That is not possible! How is this possible? King Sombra was defeated in the Crystal Empire! This was not in my plans" Mutter worried Gray
Inside Bugzee head, it seemed to be a draw to who could take control, between Bugzee, Sombra and Gray fighting to try and take it, meanwhile outside Bugzee body was still without moving, waiting for the winner inside his head to take control, except Bugzee was not really sure if he wanted to really do something as he was still in shock about the notice of Celestia trying to reform Discord.
"Could that be true? Could Celestia really think of doing that?" Asked Bugzee to himself
He begin to worry about Fluttershy and how could that monster treat her, he did not have too many good memories of him, the first time they meet, it was a fight with a overpowered enemy that did not take him seriously and when he discovered what his counterpart in the other reality did as he tried to take the Nightmare, even when he was in the good side, he was very creepy, because of that, he did not know if he really wanted him to be free and try to 'reform'.
--------------
Hope it's not too bad Gray, any problem and I edit, but I just tought that you forgot about Kingsley and what better chance to take control that when Selena is outside and someone is already taking control?
So Ink fights dirty...He gonna buck up by threatening Nightshade as a last ditch attempt to win.
The inmates charging outside the asylum have slowly dwindled in number as the royal guard held their ground. Then, just as the few that remain visible retreat back into Arkhay, the pegasus from before arrives with reinforcements, and it's time to push into the main building. Red backup generator lights illuminate the halls, and multiple security gates bar the way forward.
The guards catch up to a few of the stragglers from before, and Aqua has to keep them focused on the mission at hoof. "Wait! Don't split off from the group!" she yells after them as several break away to chase down the stray inmates.
"I think you've got bigger problems little pony." comes Erised's voice. Aqua looks up to see Erised grinning down at them from an upper level. "But fortunately for you, I'm a gracious host..." as he says this the lights of the asylum flicker and dim, and the sound of heavy door latches being released rings out. "Royal Guards of Equestria, welcome to my abode... welcome to your death."
In the blink of an eye the room erupts into something out of Tartarus, inmates start not only charging through the open gateways, but bursting through the walls, clawing their way out of the stonework. These ponies look possessed and in pain, with some black substance dripping from their eyes and mouth.
"Form up everypony! We can take them if we-" while Aqua shouts her commands, a barrage of fireballs flies over her head, causing her to double-take at the inmates.
Plasmids. Erised infused these ones with plasmids. They're burping fire, spitting acid, shivering from the ice forming over their coats and screaming like they're being boiled alive as they blindly smash themselves against the phalanx of guards.
Aqua ducks under an assortment of power blasts, noticing how many guards are having less luck than her in that regard. "Shields up! Unicorns what are you doing? Shields up now!"
Upon being reminded, several unicorn guards group up and start casting a group barrier spell to block any incoming fire. They're just about to get it fully formed when a huge *BOOM* sounds, and the floor explodes at their hooves!
"AAAHH!"
When the smoke clears and the ringing in everypony's ears fades out, there's only a massive crumbling hole in the floor, with most of the guards around it having been scattered or fallen through to the lower level. Through the chaos the inmates never even flinched in their assault, and they're pouncing down on the disoriented guard force.
Aqua whips her head up to the source and grits her teeth.
Erised just stares listlessly down from behind the barrel of a cannon before walking casually away, chuckling to himself as the so-called heroes continue to meet their doom.
Still caught up in shock at what just happened, Aqua gets blindsided and tackled by an ice splicer-pony. The chilling touch of the other mare's skin starts feeling like frostbite as the two tumble and try to get on top of the other.
Aqua finally manages to get free from the mare's ice grasp, but feels her hind legs fail to find purchase, and she stumbles back towards the hole Erised made with that stupid cannon.
The icy-splicer stumbles towards her as she tries to pull herself up and grabs her hooves. "Go Gandalf," she screams crazily, "go and defeat the Balrog!" before throwing Aqua off the edge and into the darkness below.
"Crap crap crap crap!" Aqua screams as she flails her legs and water whips to catch on something... anything. But there's nothing, and she plunges into the icy coldness of the water below.
"Wait..." Water.
...
The guards are fighting a losing battle. Without their impromptu commander to guide them, they've been forced to come up with a strategy themselves. And well...
"EVERYPONY FOR THEMSELVES!" one guard screams in a panic before running off down a random hallway, abandoning his fellows.
The herd instinct picks up enough momentum for that to seem like a good idea, and soon the guards are fighting against a tide of splicer-ponies as individuals, or small divided groups. Needless to say, they're easily overwhelmed.
Meanwhile the guard who started it all smirks to himself before a ripple of black washes over him, and the Erised clone ditches the golden armor he stole in the fighting.
"Tck. Undisciplined idiots, all of them."
...
All the progress made into the asylum is quickly being overwritten, and guards are being set upon left and right, beaten into submission or just plain beaten. Some guards fled deeper into Arkhay, and didn't come back; victims of more inmates or just huddled up in fear somehwere, nopony knew. Even thouse who managed to flee back to the entrance found themselves surrounded, and the way out blocked by two collapsed floor's worth of rubble.
But just as the guards started to think all hope was lost for them, they heard a sound. The pipes lining the walls started to shake... then burst with water that looked like it was alive! The tendrils snaked through the air, lashing out at the inmates before snap-freezing into thick icy restraints.
It wasn't enough to last long against plasmid powers, and soon the splicer-ponies started to melt through their restraints, or for those with ice powers, just absorb it. But it was enough for the guards to finally take back the initiative and either knock out or restrain the downed splicers.
Once the splicers were down for the count, the remaining water in the room coalesced into the shape of Aqua, who addressed the guards.
"Blmmbblmm! Blbb-bl mmmb mlbble blm!" Water Aqua ordered, pointing a watery hoof back into the asylum.
"Uhh... what?" one of the guards asked.
Water Aqua facehoofed with a splash.
...
With Aqua's waterbending, it was easy enough to get the splicers under control. When it was done, she emerged from the flooded basement, dripping wet and exhausted.
"Whew. I haven't tried to control that much water in along time." she pants as the guards still well enough to stand gather around her.
"Ma'am, we've just got word that our specialists are in position and ready to breach the next area. What do we do?" one of the guards tells her.
Aqua looks to the guards that were wounded in the last confrontation, then to the captured inmates that had since been stuffed into one cell like packaged carrots. "You boys have had enough action for one day." she decides, "Stay here and watch over the wounded and the prisoners."
With relieved sighs, they nod and agree to stay behind.
"What about me?" Nightshade asks as she hops up to Aqua. "I'm coming too right?"
Aqua rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. "I dunno kid. This place is pretty crazy, even for a crazy house. There's no telling what we might run into, and CV would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you. Maybe just sit back and let the big ponies handle this?"
Nightshade pouts. "But I did great back there! I must've kicked like a hundred ponies in the nards!"
At this, several of the guards wince, knowing they were the victim of some 'friendly fire' from the filly.
"I'm more stallion than any of these pansy guards!" she declares.
Aqua winces, considering everything. "Okay." she finally relents. "But stay close to me. Got it?"
"Got it."
...
"Got it."
===
Might add more if I've got time.
During the fight, you let your will and determination flow forth.
You tell Erised,
"I don't care what your idealogy is, or how insane you two are. You are going down, on MY terms, not yours!"
"Oh you will will you?"
"Yes! And once I'm done with you, all I have left is Mindseye!"
"Mindeseye?" he asks confused.
"Yeah, the final Knight leader."
"Um, Mindseye hasn't been with us for over a year."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah, the pansy couldn't take the true power and heroism of the Hooded Offender in Fillydelphia and left. Good riddance to him anyway."
"Oh...Well in that case, I'm ending your whole organization tonight!"
You use your dark magic on two of the clones, destroying them immediately. When you try it on a third, your left eye starts to pound in pain so you decide not to until a later fight.
Expand this if you can for me, very busy right now.
For the end (Possibly)
7574671
In a moment the battlefield is silenced, all staring in horror at massacre created. You feel a cold numbness ebbing through veins, you feel Selena's own horror at what this baster has done, you feel Sombra's (surprising) outrage at the pure cruelty of his betrayal. You look down the maniacal knight and gritting your teeth ask "Why, WHY?" He laughs "HAHAHAHA! Look at you," he whispers "You delude yourself into Believing that you might be a hero when you were nothing more than her majesty's court jester, a failure of bug. I didn't do this, you did, all this because of you. Do it, kill me, you want to, right? Then go ahead and do it."
And for one scary moment, you raise your hoof, as if he still has hold over your mind, but no, This is YOU.
It would be easy You think. Just one punch, just one more hit and no one would have to live in fear of him again. He DESERVES to die for all of this, for all the LIVES he took. No one would blame you, you could lie, passed it off saying you had no choice, no one would give a damn.
An image of a black monster in front of a grave flashes before your eyes
No one
Two pink mares broken by all they had lost.
No one except...
A town that will never hear the sounds joy or life ever again.
CRASH You slam your hoof into the rubble next to Erised's head and look straight into his eyes. "No, I WILL NOT kill, because THAT is kind, that is easy, and that. is. too. quick. You are going to pay for both everything you did and everyone you hurt because they deserve REAL justice and one day, yes, I'll be at the block, but until then I will never stoop to that level."
He laughs at you, "I suppose fools will believe even the most idiotic of things," He turns to Celestia, "BEHOLD, tyrant this is the start of your end. with the powers of the light and darkness, our lord, the TRUE god of this world shall be reborn again. ALL HAIL THE COMING OF THE SLAYER!"
You hope it's your imagination but you swear those words sent shivers down even Sombra's and Celestia's spines.
You practically drop on the bench in the train station, exhausted from the days events, surprisingly despite being a very scary few feet away from you, you managed to get through a small conversation with Celestia (who gave a bonus X000 on the bounty for all the hard work you had to go through) you divided the bits and moved here. Despite the extra cash there's a solemn atmosphere.
"So, what now?" Aqua breaks the silence.
"Now, well, I guess me and Nightshade go back home to Ponyville, BST should have gone long enough for him to return safely with his daughter, and you go back to whatever you had going on before." you reply while Nightshade snuggles up to you, asleep.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"Well," She begins taking a seat next to you, "It's a good that what I had going on before was helping a now good friend of mine and his daughter against a mysterious organization while working a odd job, because it sounds like I might be doing that again."
You raise an eyebrow, looking at her, "The Ponyville Spa or the farm could always use a talented water-bender like yourself."
She smirks and raises a hoof, "Partners?"
"Partners." You reply shaking on it before she decides to sleep herself.
I'm concerned by this 'Slayer' there was no mention of such a pony a thousand years ago. Selena says
I too admit to having no knowledge, nor seeing any mention of him in my own studies. Sombra speaks up.
Well whoever he is, we'll take him down, you look over your two sleeping companions, thinking about the journey you had and all the ponies waiting for in Ponyville, Because now, this time, we have friends, who'll be there right along side us.