Dancing In The Shadows

by Bluecatcinema

The Dark Messiah

Tension reached sky-high, as Nero slowly approached Deathgaze. Physically, he resembled an older Echo, but with a darker coat, slightly longer and unkempt mane, and a four-winged bat Cutie Mark.

"Well, well, well..." Nero sneered, "Look who decided to come out of his little rat hole. How long has it been? Thirty years?"

"Forty." Deathgaze declared coldly. "Hard to forget about the guy who had me ran out of town."

"Oh, please, as if cowards like you need reason to run away. Bats rhymes with rats for a reason you know." Nero chuckled darkly.

"Ah, how I have missed your racism." Deathgaze sighed sarcastically. "From the day we first met, I knew you were an awful stallion... but this... this is a low, even for you."

"As if you can talk, you miserable freak." Nero snarled. "I was faithful to my harlot of a wife... you're the one who made the mistake of sleeping with a married mare!"

"Hmph, maybe if you weren't so sexually incompentent, she wouldn't had come to me." Deathgaze snarked.

"What?!" Nero spat.

"Ooh, burn!" Wave snickered. "What's the matter, ugly? You as bed in bed as you are at fightin'?"

"How dare you." Nero glared at Deathgaze. "You ruined my marriage! You tainted my wife!"

"I did no such thing." Deathgaze declared. "She was feeling lonely, and I provided her with comfort."

"Lonely?" Nero scowled.

"Yes, lonely." Deathgaze nodded. "She told me how you were always so cold and distant, never having time for her. Is it any wonder she sought solace in the arms of another stallion?"

"I made time for her!" Nero spat. "But apparently, it wasn't enough. That ungrateful harlot..."

"Don't talk about her like that." Deathgaze growled. "She was a beautiful, kind, loving mare. I never knew a mare like her, before or since."

"And that gave you the right to take her affections from me?" Nero snarled.

"I didn't 'take' anything." Deathgaze retorted. "It was freely given."

At the same time, Echo was still trying the process the fact that Deathgaze, the pony who had inspired him to study the use of dark magic for good, had been his biological father all along.

'How can this be?' Echo thought. 'All the times I saw him before, I never guessed. And he never told me... why?'

"It doesn't matter anyway!" Nero roared. "She's dead now, because of what your monstrous offspring did!"

"Only because you drove him to do it." Deathgaze remarked. "Your hatred brought about that suffering, and it's driven you to commit the most horrific atrocities ever since. But no more. I came here today to put an end to your twisted goals."

"How did you even know we were all here?" Nero snarled. "How could you possibly know we were attacking the Shadow Stalkers, or even that your son was among their number?"

"Oh, I had a... reliable informant." Deathgaze shrugged. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm going to stop you before you kill every Nightcrawler here."

"And I would love to see you try." Nero smirked. "After all the misery and pain your actions brought upon me, it'll be a pleasure to make you writhe in agony, like the worm you are..."

"What about the misery you inflicted upon my sons?" Deathgaze snarled. "Your abuse destroyed Synchro, reduced him to a wounded animal, lashing out at the world around him, until he finally perished, at his own brother's hooves no less. Your actions brought all that pain and misery upon not only him, but all the ponies he hurt during his misguided crusade."

"That little monster nearly killed me." Nero spat. "I regret not being able to pay him back in kind. But now you're here, and I can take out all my frustrations on you. I'll make you suffer worse than your brat ever did."

"Big words." Deathgaze smirked. "Let's see if you can back them up."

"With pleasure," Nero sneered.

The two charged at each other, locking horns in an epic tussle, Nero's strength against Deathgaze's skill. Deathgaze dodged Nero's blows, and shot back with smoke plumes, knocking him back.

"Gah!" Nero roared. "Your demon gifts won't save you!"

"And your hate won't save you." Deathgaze retorted.

Meanwhile, Echo knelt on the ground, motionless, still traumatized by the loss of his family. Even his biological father's surprise appearance hadn't been able to pull him out of the murky depths of misery for long. Artorias, finally managing to shake off his attackers, rushed over.

"Echo, snap out of it!" He yelled. "You're our leader, remember? We need you!"

"No..." Echo muttered. "I failed them... I'll no doubt fail you and the others, too..."

"Don't talk like that!" Artorias yelled, smacking away a mercenary who got too close. "I feel your pain. I just lost my family too. But we can't fall to pieces. Not now!"

At the same time, the rest of the Pack were still locked in combat with Fury.

"Come on." Fury declared, swinging his spears. "Is that the best you have?"

"Not even close." Wave snorted. He let out another scream, but Fury dodged it.

"I hope so." Fury sneered. "Because what you have right now is pitiful."

"Why, you...." Wave leapt at Fury, but was knocked out of the air midleap.

"Case in point." Fury smirked.

Suddenly, a burst of wind (courtesy of Willow) pushed Fury away. Nano and Moana rushed to Wave's side.

"Featherbag's pretty tough." Wave snarled.

"What we need here is some good, old-fashioned strategy." Nano declared. "First thing I learned back in my army days; A strong opponent is no match for a good team play."

"I'm up for that." Moana nodded. "Willow?"

"I always do well when part of an ensemble." Willow smiled.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Wave asked.

"We need to get those spears away from him." Nano declared. "And we'll do it one at a time. On my mark..."

"Sorry, but debate club is over." Fury snarled. "Get the point?"

"Scatter!" Nano yelled.

The Pack members rushed off in different directions.

"Trying to surround me?" Fury smirked. "That won't work."

"Wanna bet?" Wave charged Fury. As the Griffon swung his spear, Wave veered off at the last second, then let loose with a sonic scream that knocked the spear out of his talon.

"What the-?" Fury gaped.

Taking advantage of his confusion, Mona fired a stream of water, knocking away the spear Fury held in his rear paw.

"That's enough!" Fury yelled. As he raised his final spear, a small yet power gust of wind blew it out of his talon. "...You think that'll be enough to stop me?"

"It is today." An armored Nano came from behind.

Fury dodged Nano's first blow, but Nano flipped over his back as he counterattacked. As Fury turned to face him, Nano struck him hard, knocking him out.

"Got 'im." Wave smirked.

"Excellent performance, my friends." Willow smiled.

"We showed him." Moana nodded.

"I don't know..." Nano frowned. "He seemed a little slow on that last turn. Like he actually wanted me to hit him."

"Yeah, right." Wave snorted. "Why would he even want that?"

"A good question." Wilow mused.

As the battle between Deathgaze and Nero continued, Scalphunter decided to get in on the action.

After Deathgaze flung Nero across the chamber with a smoke burst, the Thestral gave a scoff.

"Is that the best you have?" He taunted his foe. "I expected more from the great slayer of Nightcrawlers."

"Hey, freako!" Scalphunter advanced on Deathgaze. "Try me on for size!"

"And who might you be?" Deathgaze glared.

"Oh, I'm just a lowly bounty hunter..." Scalphunter shrugged. "But I know who you are... the damn Dark Messiah... one of the strongest Nightcrawlers to have ever lived."

"For Faust's sake... I don't know who came up with that name, but I assure you, I am no messiah." Deathgaze growled. "I am but a wayward traveller who hates murderers like yourself."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you." Scalphunter pulled out another knife, "I've heard the stories. I'll have you know, I've been looking for you for many years. Both me and an old friend of mine. Yet somehow you managed to elude me. And now, you come straight to me."

"And what exactly do you want with me?" Deathgaze asked.

"Oh, let's just say that I had something cookin' back home, and your corpse will make for a great ingredient for it, not to mention your head will give me my biggest bounty ever." Scalphunter chuckled. "It's oh so perfect."

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Deathgaze retorted. "My head doesn't come off so easy."

"Wanna bet?" Scalphunter readied another knife.

Scalphunter charged at Deathgaze with a battle cry... only for the Thestral to simply grab him by the throat and hold him high.

"Gak!" Scalphunter choked.

"You may want to consider another line of work." Deathgaze snorted.

Deathgaze threw Scalphunter aside.

"Ow..." The psychotic stallion whimpered weakly before fainting.

"'Lowly bounty hunter', indeed..." Deathgaze sneered.

"Hey!"

Deathgaze turned, just in time for Nero to slug him hard in the face. The Thestral let out a small groan as his shattered lenses dropped to the ground, covering his eyes.

"How do you like me now, you buckin' piece of crap?!" Nero roared, as Deathgaze stumbled. "I never understood why you wore those sunglasses. Who do you think you are, Horatio Maine?"

The Thestral peeked under his hoof covering his face at his broken lenses... and then, placing the same hoof down, he glanced at Nero with a murderous glare.

"Big mistake, motherbucker..." Deathgaze glared at Nero, as his eyes went crazy with not purple, but black wisps. "Those were my favorite sunglasses..."

"Whoa, what is that?" Wave gaped. "I didn't know those things came in different colors!"

"Neither did I." Willow declared.

"What's happening to him?" Nano asked.

"This is either really good, or really bad." Moana surmised.

"Just be glad he's on our side." Artorias frowned.

"What the..." Nero took a step back in fear. "Black wisps? This can't..." He glanced at his comrades, "Soldiers, forget about the other Nightcrawlers! Take out this one! Now!"

The mercenaries obeyed, forgetting about the pack and charging Deathgaze en masse. But even their great numbers didn't seem to phase the Thestral.

"You want to know why I wear shades, Nero?" Deathgaze declared, turning to face the oncoming mercenaries. "...Observe."

In the blink of an eye, Deathgaze rushed over to the mercenaries. Before they could react, he grabbed the leg of one, and snapped it clean in half.

"Ahhh!" The mercenary gasped.

Deathgaze followed up by punching the stallion in the guts. As the thug doubled over, he flung him across the chamber.

"You'll pay for that..." Another mercenary scowled.

The mercenary lunged at Deathgaze, who punched him hard enough to break his neck. The mercenary fell to the ground, dead.

"Consider that a warning." Deathgaze snarled. "Back off, before you get hurt."

The mercenaries ignored his warning, lashing at him in full force. Sighing lightly, Deathgaze used his superior strength and speed to utterly crush them. He slammed his elbow on the head of one, thrust another up to the ceiling with his smoke (flattening him), and grabbed another, flying him up, then piledriving him into the dirt.

"Flank him!" Another mercenary ordered, as a trio of spear wielding mercenaries charged at him. However, in a instant, he vanished in a puff of smoke, appearing at the opposite side of the room.

"No offense boys, but you're more than a little outclassed." Deathgaze declared.

"Take this, scum!" One mercenary yelled, as he and four others fired their crossbows at him.

"Gladly..." Deathgaze smirked as he held up a hoof. "Guard!" Instantly, a clear electrified barrier materialized, disintegrating the bolts.

"Wha..." The soldiers gaped, before Deathgaze appeared behind the mercenaries.

"My turn." Deathgaze grinned evilly.

Deathgaze dispatched the archers in rapid, efficient fashion. He snapped the neck of the first one, constricted two others with his smoke streams, choking them to death, used his barrier to knock another away, electrocuting him, and then punched the last one in the chest, so hard that it had stopped his heart.

"Did you see that?" Another mercenary gasped.

"He's a monster!" One of his comrades yelled, sounding almost like a whimper.

"Kill it!" A third roared.

"Better than you have tried." Deathgaze said coldly.

"Surround him." One mercenary ordered. "He can't hit all of us at once!"

"Can't I?" Deathgaze smirked, as the mercenaries encircled him.

Deathgaze gathered all his energies together, smoke swirling around him. Suddenly, he leapt up like a rocket, bursting through the ceiling and high into the sky. At the apex of his rise, he gives a devilish grin and descended, dropping out of the sky like a meteor. He slammed down into the chamber's floor, creating an explosive shockwave that blasted the mercenaries away, their singed bodies dropping to the ground.

Everypony in the vicinity gaped at such raw power.

"Holy buck!" Wave gaped. "Did you see that?"

"More like felt it." Nano declared.

"Such power..." Willow declared.

"Amazing..." Moana's jaw dropped.

"The Dark Messiah... the legends are true..." Artorias murmured, awed by the spectacle.

The force of the impact shook Fury back to consciousness. He surveyed the devastation with shock.

"What in the world?" Fury gasped.

"Impossible..." Nero muttered, stepping back in legitimate fear. "This can't be happening..."

"Do the smart thing, Nero." Deathgaze declared, as the dust cleared. "Surrender. Give up this mad quest of yours."

"Give up?" Nero spat. "And admit a freak like you is my superior? Never!"

"Fine." Deathgaze shrugged. "Continue your fool's errand. But I won't be going easy on you."

"Raarrgh!" Nero charged his hated enemy.

Once again, the two were locked in combat. But Deathgaze's mysterious power boost gave him a major advantage. What few blows Nero inflicted did little damage, with his attacks amounting no more than slaps to the black-wispy eyes Thestral. On the other hoof, every one of Deathgaze's was devastating.

"Why won't you fall?!" Nero slugged Deathgaze in the face.

"Not today." Deathgaze snarled. He let out a punch that knocked Nero back several feet.

"Damn you!" Nero roared, charging him again. He started punching Deathgaze over and over. "Die!"

With one particularly mighty blow, Deathgaze knocked Nero to the ground. He moved in, ready to finish him...

"Wait." Deathgaze stopped, as his nose and ears twitched. "I sense.... dark magic. That of a Berserker... Echo?" He shook his head. "Can't be... he lost that power long ago."

"What?" Nero groaned, "What are you saying?"

"But there's no denying it..." Deathgaze continued, ignoring Nero's words. "I can sense the essence of Berserker..." He then turned to Nero. "Emanating from... you."

"What?" Nero scowled as he stood back up. "From me? That's..." He gasped in pain. "...Ridiculous!"

"No... it's true..." Deathgaze insisted. "But that would mean... You're a Nightcrawler."

"Lies!" Nero spat. "I'm not one of you mongrel monsters! I'm normal!"

"Are you?" Deathgaze appraised. "By removing my sunglasses, you had removed my inhibitor. My strength has been amplified to that of a full-grown dragon, yet you were barely able to withstand them, when you should be a bloody pulp."

"Inhibitor...?" Nero struggled to make sense of his foe's words. "No, you're trying to confuse me! I'm not a Nightcrawler!"

"That would explain your abilities." Deathgaze mused, "Your abnormal strength and durability, the ability to 'smell' dark magic... it all makes sense now."

"No, it's doesn't!" Nero snarled. "I am not one of you!"

"...Actually..."

Nero and Deathgaze glanced towards Scalphunter, badly bruised from Deathgaze's chucking.

"You kinda are... a Nightcrawler." Scalphunter weakly admitted.

"What?! What are you talking about?" Nero asked.

"What the..." Echo gaped, briefly snapping out of his misery.

"Impossible." Artorias frowned.

"No way!" Wave gasped.

"He's one of us?" Nano asked. "Seriously?"

"What a twist." Willow remarked. "Almost like something Shakesprint would write..."

"But... how?" Moana asked.

"This can't be right." One of the surviving mercenaries scowled.

"It's gotta be a mistake." A second shook his head.

"Otherwise, that would mean we've been working for one of those freaks all along..." Another spat.

"Explain!" Nero demanded of Scalphunter.

"You see, it started back at the explosion..." Scalphunter began. "When they brought you in, you were knocking on Death's door. You had a gaping hole where your guts and intestines should be, and you were burnt to a crisp. Life support was doing little to keep you going. That's when I stepped in. You see, I used to work for this company a while back that was doing studies on Nightcrawlers, and when it was bought out by my now current employers, they entrusted me with their last project... a serum that could artifically recreate the Tenebros gene with a normal pony."

"Wait... you mean, you could make anypony a Nightcrawler?" Deathgaze frowned, "Why?!"

"For military purposes, you silly goose." Scalphunter sniggered. "Unfortunately, the serum hadn't been perfected and no matter how many times I changed and tested the formula, I got no results, not even my ol' friend could figure it out... although he left halfway through..."

"...Sterling..." Echo whispered.

"What does this have to do with me?!" Nero snarled.

"I was getting to that." Scalphunter glared. "So in the end, the project ended up being scrapped, and I only had one dosage of the serum left. And I was wondering what to do with it. Then I found your sorry little butt in the hospital when I was offing some coma patient who'd made the wrong folks mad. My project was dead, and I was curious as to what would happen I injected a dead guy with the serum... and lo and behold, when I gave you the juice, your body regenerated, bringing you back from the dead, and I could feel the dark magic coming off you. You are the first ever 'artificial' Nightcrawler ever made."

The surviving mercenaries gasped in horror and revulsion, as did the Pack.

"He made him into one of us?" Artorias grimaced.

"I didn't think that was even possible..." Nano frowned.

"And after all the bile he spewed about us." Willow remarked. "Such irony..."

"More like hypocrisy." Wave spat.

"No, this can't be happening..." Nero breathed heavily, as he screamed. "You made me into a freak!"

"Hey, I was just as shocked as you are!" Scalphunter shrugged. "I had no idea what would happen... all I did different that time was add a little sour juice!"

"But you knew..." Nero snarled. "You knew about my origins, all this time, and you never told me?!"

"The higher-ups figured it was best not to say anything." Scalphunter shrugged. "Didn't want you losing your motivation, and forgetting whose side you were on. Besides, your code name was 'Frankensteed'. It was fitting!"

"I... this..." Nero spluttered. "This can't be..."

As Nero struggled to digest this revelation, he realised the remaining mercenaries were all glaring hatefully at him.

"What are you all staring at?" He spat. "Get after them!"

"Who are you to give us orders, scum?" One mercenary asked.

"What was that?!" Nero snarled.

"You heard him." Another mercenary spat. "All this time, you were one of them. Another filthy Nightcrawler."

"No." Nero spat. "I was never one of them, never! I don't have wisps coming from my eyes!"

"Um, actually, I can explain that." Scalphunter pointed out. "Apparently, wisps comes from a pony's inner magic, and since you are artificial, it..." Nero gave him a vicious death glare. "I will shut up now."

"We were hunting Nightcrawlers all this time, and there was one right under our noses." A third mercenary scowled.

"I can't believe I didn't see it until now." A fourth mercenary declared. "It was so obvious."

"Enough of this!" Nero yelled. "I'm still the one in charge here, and I order you to fulfil your mission."

"That's just what we intend to do." A fifth mercenary smirked, as he and the others drew their weapons, and advanced on Nero.

"You traitors..." Nero spat. "You dare turn against me?"

"Like we'd keep working for a mongrel genetic joke like you." A sixth mercenary sneered. "You can die along with the rest."

"Come on, then." Nero scowled. "Do your worst!"

The mercenaries charged at their former leader. However, they were no match for Nero's fury.

"This is what I do to traitors!" He beat a Unicorn to the ground, broke off his horn, and stabbed him with it.

"Monster!" A Pegasus flew at Nero.

"Traitor!" Nero caught the Pegasus mid-dive, then grabbed his wings, breaking them.

"Yahhhh!" The Pegasus screeched.

Nero followed up by kicking the Pegasus' head until it was a bloody pulp.

More mercenaries leapt on them, but he disposed of them just as brutally. He snapped the neck of one, broke the back of another, and slit the throat of a third with his own knife. The Pack, Scalphunter and Fury could only look on in silent horror.

Before long, Nero's work was done. He was surrounded by the corpses of his once-loyal troops, a savage grin on his face.

"Now for you..." Nero growled an inequine growl at Scalphunter.

"Buck this." Scalphunter snorted, secretly horrified by Nero's rage. "No money is worth gettin' myself killed! I'm outta here!"

"For once, you have the right idea." Fury declared, following Scalphunter as he fled the scene.

"You dare abandon me?!" Nero snarled. "Fine!" He turned to the pack. "I can take care of these mongrels myself."

"You killed your own troops." Artorias snarled.

"I knew you were low, but this is unbelievable." Deathgaze spat.

"Those traitorous fools got what they deserved."

"Now it's your turn!" Nero pointed his hoof at Deathgaze.

"Bring it on." Deathgaze growled

Nero charged towards Deathgaze. Seconds before striking, Nero suddenly screamed in horror and agony.

"AHHHHH!" He screeched. Looking down, he realized two sharp spires of microcrystals had impaled him. Slowly, he turned around, seeing Echo behind him, his face contorted with anger. "You..."

"Echo..." Deathgaze frowned.

"You killed them..." Echo snarled. "My wife! My son! My brother! You took them all from me!"

Echo pulled out the spires forcefully. Nero toppled to the ground in abject agony, coughing up blood.

"And now I'm going to kill you!" Echo roared. With a raise of the hoof, spires bursting from the ground, impaling Nero once again. With another raised hoof, he generated more spires, as they constantly dissipated, only to be replaced by even more spires. It was a vicious attack just like Synchro's own from many years back. But Synchro's rage fell ill in comparison to Echo's own, as he stabbed his shard ever deeper into his hated enemy's body, punctuating each stab with a primal snarl. "Die! Die! Die!"

Horrified, Artorias and Deathgaze rushed over.

"Echo, stop!" Artorias yelled.

"That's enough, son!" Deathgaze insisted.

They both grabbed Echo's hooves.

"Let me go!" Echo roared. "I have to end this!"

"Normally, I'd agree with you!" Artorias declared, "But you already got him! Look at him!"

Artorias wasn't wrong; Nero was a bloody, shattered mess. His body was now being held up by the many spires that impaled nearly every part of his body, his blood pooling below him.

"N-not...a-again..." Nero choked, somehow able to put together words.

"Just let the poor bucker die, knowing that he is the one thing he hates the most." Deathgaze frowned.

"No! That's not enough for me!" Echo snarled. "I have to end this! And end this now!"

"What will that do? Will that bring your wife and foal back?" Deathgaze prompted.

"Well... it..." Echo tried to reason with his father, but was unable to come up with a response.

Echo stood there, processing the truth of that question... as he slowly fell to his knees. Tears struck his eyes as he let out a harrowing snarl, breaking down into coherent sobs.

"They're gone!" Echo wept. "They're both gone! It's not fair! It's not buckin' fair!"

"Not just them." Wave sighed. "Elatha and Snow, too."

"It's such a shame." Nano sighed. "They were all so innocent."

"And now we'll never see them again...." Moana started bawling, leaning on Willow for comfort.

"Why can't tragedy just stay in the theatre?" Willow sniffed.

"I'm all alone...again..." Echo whimpered, "Why must everypony I loved die..." He then snarled, "What did I do wrong to deserve this?!"

"Nothing." Artorias declared. "It just seems to be a Nightcrawler's lot in life to suffer."

"I'm sorry, my boy." Deathgaze tried to comfort him, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "I can't imagine what you're going through..."

"...No..." Echo simply brush the hoof off, much to Deathgaze's shock, as the Thestral glared venomously at his father. "No, you can't. Because you left your own sons behind. You let us suffer at the hoof of this bucker! Did we ever cross your mind?! Was our mother only a one night stand to you?! Did any of us ever matter to you?!"

"Echo, stop." Artorias told him. "You can't take to your own father like-"

"Actually, he can." Deathgaze sighed. "I deserved that. I made a lot of bad choices... some of which I wish I could take back. But I swear, I have to live with those regrets every day, and it hurts... it hurts like none other..."

"Please... spare me your meaningless woes." Echo growled, though it sounded like a plead. "You'll never know my pain... you don't know a thing about what it means to be a father... Arcane was only born not even a day, and I never got the chance to hold him..." The pain in his heart worsened. "And Sunset... the way she smiled at him... I'll never get to see that smile again." He then screeched, "All because of that prejudiced, hypocritical monster!" He pointed at Nero.

Deathgaze stood there, letting the words sink in.

"You have every right to be angry with me, son." Deathgaze sighed. "Maybe if I had been faster, I could have done something. Or maybe if I had done something back then... but there is nothing I could do to change what I did." He then glanced at Echo sympathetically. "I may have never been there for you or Synchro... but I'm here for you now..."

The older Thestral wrapped his hooves around Echo. Echo stiffened, and was about to yell at him to let go... but his father's caring embrace dampened the rage in his heart, and opened the floodgates of his sorrow. Echo started to cry.

"Why?!" He wept. "Why did this have to happen?!"

"I'm sorry, Echo." Deathgaze patted him on the shoulder. "I truly am..."

"What am I going to do now?" Echo sobbed. "I've lost my loving wife, and my beautiful son... I can almost hear him crying out for me..."

Suddenly, the muffled sound of a foal crying filtered through the air, louder than ever.

Echo's ears twitched. That was definitely not in his head.

"Wait, I hear it too..." Artorias declared.

"So do I." Deathgaze nodded.

"That sounds like... Arcane..." Echo realized, wiping his tears, "But how..."

Focusing his hearing, Echo pinpoint that the sound was coming from under the pile of rubble that had buried his family.

"Under there!" He gasped. "They're still alive!"

"Elatha?" Artorias gasped. "Snow?"

"Only one way to find out." Deathgaze declared.

"Come on, gang!" Wave urged. "Let's pitch in!"

Deathgaze, Echo and the Pack focused all their efforts on removing the dirt and stone that had collapsed the tunnel. As they pushed away the rubble, they saw that the others were okay. They were clustered together in a bubble that had Sunset's signature magic color.

"Echo." Sunset smiled, dissipating the bubble.

"Sunset... oh, Faust." Echo smiled tearfully, hugging her. "You're alive!"

"How the heck did you all survive?" Wave gaped.

"It was close, but Sunset saved us just in the nick of time." Elatha smiled. "She put up this forcefield to keep us from getting crushed and from the blast. But we couldn't move out from under all that rubble."

"Good thing you dug us out." Sunset declared. "Arcane was getting a little claustrophobic."

Out in the open again, Arcane gurgled happily.

"Elatha, Snow..." Artorias smiled, as he wrapped his claws around his sister and Snow. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you. You two mean the world to me..."

"Thanks, uncle Arty." Snow grinned. "We love you too."

"More than you can imagine." Elatha smiled.

"Girl, you had me so worried..." Wave told Elatha.

"We were all worried." Moana admitted.

"Verily." Willow nodded.

"We thought we'd never see you again." Nano added.

"Well, looks like you thought wrong." Elatha grinned.

"So... what did we miss?" Sunset smiled...before she noticed the battlefield. "Holy... seriously, what happened?"

"Um, well, for starters..." Echo stepped back, wiping his eyes of his tears once more. "Sunset, you remember the sunglasses wearing Thestral?"

"Yeah..." Sunset nodded.

"Well..." Echo indicated Deathgaze, "As it turns out, this is he... Deathgaze, my father."

"Your father?!" Sunset gasped, as she turned to Deathgaze, "This is him?!"

"A pleasure, miss." Deathgaze smiled. "I've heard a lot about you, but this is my first time seeing you up close."

"Wow...but where did you come from?" Sunset asked.

"Let's just say Deathgaze came just in the nick of time and helped us out of a tight spot." Artorias declared.

"Helped us?" Wave gaped. "Dude, he decimated everypony here! I mean, once the glasses were knocked off, he was like an alicorn on crack! And don't get me started on the black wisps!"

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Nano asked. "Wisps are usually purple for a Nightcrawler."

"That's... not really important right now." Deathgaze shrugged. "Besides, let's not mar this happy miracle with such pointless information."

"Yeah. you're probably right." Wave smiled. "We oughta be celebratin'!"

Sunset soon noticed Nero's body, brutally impaled and bloody.

"Oh my Faust..." Sunset gaped, as she noticed the microcrystals, "Echo...did you..."

"...Yes." Echo admitted shamefully, "I didn't mean to... but..." Another tear dropped from his eyes. "I really thought I lost you both... and Nero was an-"

"Nero?!" Sunset gaped. "You mean as in your dead step-father?!"

"The very same." Echo nodded. "He was the one leading the attackers and one of his cohorts, this creepy stallion, explained that he brought him back with some Nightcrawler making serum, and..." He sighed. "Look, all that matters now is that he can't hurt anyone anymore."

"You're right, Echo." Sunset hugged him. "Well, partly right. What really matters is that we're together again."

"That goes without saying." Echo grinned. He looked at Arcane. "I thought I'd never see you again, my darling boy."

Arcane reached out, placing his hoof on Echo's.

"Sunset, am I to assume that the foal you carry... is my grandchild?" Deathgaze asked.

"Yeah..." Sunset said a bit awkwardly, still shocked that she was face to face with her husband's father, before smiling warmly. "His name is Arcane. And I'm sure he'd love to meet his grandfather."

"Hello, little fella." Deathgaze tickled Arcane's tummy. "I'm your grampa."

Arcane giggled.

"Such a bright boy." Deathgaze smiled, "Takes after his father."

"Thank you." Echo nodded with a small smlie, "But something tells me I owe that to you."

Suddenly, there was a knocking sound on the other side of the rubble.

"Hello?" Aether's voice declared. "Is anypony there?"

"Aether!" Artorias smiled.

The pack tore down the remaining rocks, revealing a slightly battered Aether, who had only just got out of the way in time.

"Good to see you're still in one piece." Elatha smiled.

"You too." Aether nodded. "When the ceiling caved in, I thought..." Aether suddenly trailed off, as he show Deathgaze talking with Echo and Sunset. "What the..."

"Yep, that's your Dark Messiah right there." Wave chuckled.

"Guess you were right all along, huh?" Elatha smiled.

"Talk about having to eat crow..." Nano chuckled.

Aether paid them no mind. Instead, he glanced intently at Deathgaze.

"So, what having you been doing all this time?" Sunset asked.

"Oh, just doing some heroic deeds." Deathgaze shrugged. "Righting wrongs, saving lives... For some reason, when I see an injustice, I just can't help but step in and make it right."

"So you're where I get it from." Echo chuckled. "I have half a mind to sock you for that..."

The group laughed (with the odd exception of Aether). As soon the laughs subsided as their attention turn back to Nero's body.

"So... what are we going to do about this guy?" Wave grimaced. "It's kinda gruesome to look at."

"We should at least get him and his former cronies out of here." Echo declared. "Is there a place we can put them? They at least deserve a proper burial. Most of them, at least..."

"I know somewhere we could put them." Artorias declared. "It's an old ravine, where nopony ever goes. Should do the trick."

"Then let's get to it." Willow declared.

"Before they start stinkin' up the joint." Wave gagged.

Suddenly, Nero's body began twitching.

"What the..." Echo whispered.

Even more suddenly, Nero's head rose up as he let out a bloodcurdling roar.

"RAAAARRRRGGHHHH!!"

To their horror, Nero's body began moving, even though the shards would had render his limbs immobile, as he snapped the part of the spires his limbs were snagged on. The microcrystals, having lost their structure, fell apart, leaving only the broken shards that were embedded in Nero's body, as the bigot fell to the floor in a bloody heap, only to pick himself back up, though barely.

"How can he still be standing after all that?" Nano gaped.

"Yeah, he's filled with holes!" Moana whimpered.

Nero was indeed something that was hard to look at. He was a walking mass of bruises, cuts and open wounds. He could barely stand upright, and was breathing heavily. By all rights, he should have been dead. Despite all this, Nero managed to maintain a scornful gaze, as he was about to let out another roar... only to throw up a bit of blood.

"You... you mongrels...." Nero struggled to speak. "You ruined everything. I hate you all!"

"Give it up, Nero." Deathgaze spat. "I don't know how you're still alive, but you can't win. Not in the state you're in."

"You think I'll just give up?" Nero spat. "I refuse to die before all of you!"

"And how do you plan to pull that off?" Artorias said scornfully.

"I... will... kill you..." Nero snarled.

"No, you won't." Echo declared. "It's over."

"RARRRRGGGGHHHHH!" Nero roared again, his voice growing unnaturally deep.

"Um, is it just me... or is he getting bigger?" Willow gulped.

With each growl, his body indeed began expanding, his muscles swelling and contorting, and his wounds mending, though not cleanly. Sunset was forcefully reminded of Echo's own Berserker transformation.

"Oh, buck!" Wave yelled.

"What's happening to him?" Nano gaped.

"He truly is a monster..." Willow grimaced.

"By Faust..." Moana whispered.

"It shouldn't be possible..." Echo mused. "Not unless... Oh no."

"You don't think..." Artorias gasped.

"The Berserker..." Aether gasped from behind everypony.

"Of course..." Deathgaze noted, unaware of the old stallion. "Nero's powers must had been that of an 'advanced' Nightcrawler. I heard that advanced Berserkers could retain the strengths of their beast form, while maintaining control of their mind... but if they were to suffer grave injuries... this would be their second wind..."

"What's... happening to me?" He groaned. "What have I become?" He looked upon the Pack. "You..." Nero snarled, his eyes glaring hate at everypony. "You vile, monstrous abominations! Look at what you've done to me! I'm a monster!"

"You were already a monster, Nero." Deathgaze said coldly. "But now, it's plain for all to see."

"I'll kill you!" Nero yelled. "I'll kill all of you!"

"Sunset, Elatha, Snow, stand back!" Echo urged.

"You don't have to tell us twice." Sunset nodded.

"Good luck, everypony." Elatha declared.

"Get that ugly jerk!" Snow yelled.

"You know it." Wave smirked.

"That goes double for you, too." Artorias glanced at Aether. "Keep them safe."

"Of course." Aether nodded. "I'm sure our new friend can provide ample assistance. More than you think..." He added under his breath.

The hulking Nero charged at the Pack. Willow and Moana unleashed their powers in tandems, creating a whirpool to push him back. To their horror, Nero managed to withstand the assault, pushing against it, and slowly inching forward.

"Is that the best you can do?" Nero spat. He lifted up his hooves, then slammed them down, creating a shockwave that tore up the ground, and sent Moana flying.

"Moana!" Willow yelled. He flew up to catch her, but her momentum pushed them both into the wall. They both crashed to the floor.

"Pathetic." Nero sneered.

"You filth!" Nano rushed over, armoring up. He swung his hooves at Nero's face. He struck him three time, with no apparant damage. "Fall, you rotten-"

Nero caught his next punch.

"That's enough of that." He declared. He lifted Nano up and slammed against the ground, over and over.

Even Nano's armor couldn't compensate for such force. He soon hung limp.

"Time to open this can." Nero cackled.

"NO WAY!" Wave let out a sonic wave.

"Ahhh!" Nero dropped Nano, shaking his head viciously of the ringing. "You striped fool!"

Nero kicked Nano over to Wave, knocking him down.

A wave of crystals struck Nero in the chest, but barely phased him.

"You..." He glared at Echo.

Echo threw up a massive crystal shield, but Nero shattered it, sending him flying. Artorias tried to hold Nero off with his flame, but it only made him angrier. The Bereserker swatted Artorias out of the sky. Deathgaze rammed into his chest, but only succeeded in stumbling him.

"Pest!" Nero swatted him away.

As the Nightcrawlers regrouped, Nero roared in savage fury.

"You will all die here!" he spat.

"We have to stop him!" Artorias snarled.

"Our only chance is to work together." Deathgaze declared. "Are you with me, son?"

"Yes." Echo nodded. "I'll see if I can siphon off some of his surplus magic. You and Artorias keep him busy."

"Consider it done." Artorias nodded.

Deathgaze and Artorias rushed out to meet Nero.

"Forgot about me already?" Deathgaze taunted.

"Hardly." Nero scowled. "I'm going to kill you slowly."

"You can't kill what you can't see!" Deathgaze fired off a plume of smoke, directly at Nero's face.

"Rah!" Nero waved the smoke away. "Why you..."

A stream of flame caught Nero in the face midsentence.

"Ahhh!" Nero roared.

"I don't know about you, but I'm just getting warmed up." Artorias smirked.

"Miserable freak!" Nero tried to stomp on him. "That speedy Nightcrawler put up a better show than this!"

"Speedy...?" Artorias frowned while dodging, before realizing. "Quicksilver... you killed him?"

"Just as I will kill you!" Nero spat, bringing down another hoof.

Artorias took to the air. He fired a plume of flame at Nero's side, causing him stumble. At the same time, Deathgaze rammed into Nero's leg, his eyes wisping like crazy, unbalancing him. The hulking brute fell flat on his face.

"How's it feel to be down in the dirt with your fellow vermin?" Deathgaze taunted him.

"I'm not one of you!!" Nero bellowed. He swung his hooves wildly.

One swing clipped Artorias' wing, knocking him out of the sky. Deathgaze used his teleportation to catch him.

"He's so powerful." Artorias remarked. "Most powerful foe I've ever faced..."

"Just keep it up a little longer." Deathgaze whispered. "Echo's almost in position."

Echo snuck up behind Nero, who advanced on Deathgaze and Artorias.

"I'll kill you both!" Nero snarled.

Nero slammed a hoof down, but Artorias took flight again, and Deathgaze teleported.

"You can't run forever!" Nero spat. "Sooner or later, you'll tire out!"

Suddenly, Nero felt something crawling up his back legs. Looking back, he Echo, his crystals flowing.

"Get those things off me, you-" Nero started.

Deathgaze rammed into Nero's face.

"Ugh!" Nero groaned.

"Eyes forward, bucker!" Artorias unleashed another fire blast.

"You miserable... little..." Nero groaned, his magic being drained by Echo's crystals. "No... stop..."

Nero tried to scape the crystals off him, but Artorias and Deathgaze struck his hooves, repelling them. He started to shrink, reducing to only twice his original size.

"Your power trip's coming to an end, Nero." Echo declared. "Now! Finish him!"

"Gladly." Artorias nodded. He leapt at Nero, slashing him with his claws.

"Argh!" Nero yelled. "You savage be-"

"More where that came from!" Deathgaze divebombed into his face.

His power fading, Nero was pummeled by the two of them. But he still put up a good fight, knocking Artorias away with a backhoof, and headbutting Deathgaze as he swooped at him.

"You've been blowing smoke long enough." Deathgaze declared. "Time for a taste of your own medicine!"

Deathgaze fired a plume of smoke down Nero's nostrils and mouth, choking.

"Gahk..." Nero choked, dropping to his knees.

"Arty, you're up." Deathgaze declared, keeping up his own assault. "End this."

"Gladly." Artorias nodded.

Artorias rushed over, one claw glowing. Though half-blinded by the smoke, Nero knew what was coming.

"No..." He wheezed.

"Yes." Artorias declared. "This is for every Nightcrawler you've ever hurt. This is for Quicksilver."

Artorias thrust his claw forward to enact his touch of death. Nero however grasped the claw, struggling to keep it away, but his strength was weakening.

"You can't... do this..." Nero grunted. "To me..."

"Can't I?" Artorias smirked.

Artorias placed the claw against Nero's heart, as black cracks appeared around it. Nero began choking, as the spell began to take hold, but he still held on, as he barely manages to pry the claw off a little bit.

"Oh no, you don't..." Artorias snarled. He clenched his fist, charging all his claws with the same dark energy, then started punching him over and over in the same spot.

"Gahhh!" Nero roared.

Artorias kept on punching, making the cracks wider and wider, until they covered his whole chest.

"Kuhhhh..." Nero gasped, before collapsing to the floor, his eyes fading.

"And stay dead, you worthless buck." Artorias growled, as he spat on the corpse.

"We did it." Echo smiled, the flow of dark magic ceasing. "It's over." He glanced down at the lifeless body of what was once his stepfather. "Goodbye, Nero. Rot in Tartarus."

"My thoughts exactly." Deathgaze nodded.

Elsewhere...

Nero's eyes suddenly flickered open. He was in an area filled with fog, and his body had returned to its normal state.

"Where...?" He frowned. "How...?"

"Hello, 'father'."

Nero turned to see Synchro, his wings returned to him.

"You?!" Nero spat. "But you're..."

"Yes, I am." Synchro smiled. "What do you think that means for you?"

"...Oh no." Nero gasped.

"Oh, yes." Synchro smirked. "And I'm here to 'escort' you to your new home."

Synchro spread his wings, sending out streams of dark crystals that eveloped Nero.

"No!" Nero yelled. "Stop!"

"Can't do that, 'pop'." Synchro smirked. "I've left this business unfinished long enough. Have fun where where you're going."

The crystals started pulling Nero down below the fog, where scorching flames resided.

"You can't do this to meeee!" He screeched, as his head vanished beneath the fog.

"Vengeance is sweet." Synchro smiled. "Enjoy your eternity of suffering, Nero. You've earned it..."

Comments

[danick]

Oh yeah Nero has been send it tô the tartarus pit

[Vakama95096]

It's finally over

[00RaiserGundam]

Nice.