38- Highway to Hell
Bound by Scales- Highway to Hell
Point of View: ???
When I first woke up, the first thing I saw was… well, the fact that where I ended up was almost the exact equivalent of what looked like Arizona. Only with less Cacti and more… well, nothing much to be precise. It took several moments in order for me to actually see properly because of how freaking bright the sun was and yet… wait… what exactly did happen leading up to this?
Come on… think… First, my son and one of his friends go missing almost a year ago… then, my wife came up with the idea of going to one of those convention… things to try to honor him. I was the only one who decided not to dress up and… well, we were having a fun time to say the least. But it was just as we were leaving that… well, I noticed something that Tina wanted from a rather strange looking vendor. So, I purchased it from them and…
Yeah, that’s right. It was after that when I blacked out… So, what the hell exactly happened during then and-
“Aww… this little guy’s so god... damn... CUTE!!!”
Wait… Did I just-? YOINK!!
Before I personally could react or pretty much do anything, I felt a pair of hands grab hold of me and pull me into some kind of chokehold. For a moment, it was a bit of a struggle in order to try and breath. But whoever just grabbed me soon held me out and turned me around-.
No way… Is that… my niece?! What the hell is Tina doing right here? And more importantly… why is she bigger than me? “You are going to make just the most badass pet dragon EVER!!! Now, what should I call you?”
At that moment now was when I began to try and speak… and also break free of my niece’s own hold on me. Both were unsuccessful. One, I was still trying to catch my breath after she almost forced all the air out of me with her death hug from hell. Two, when I tried to escape, she was too quick with her hands and soon caught me only mere seconds after I was lose. Just please, for the love of all things holy-.
“I’m going to name you…”
Axl… PLEASE call me Axl! That’s my name!!
“Syrup!! Since you’re just as sticky as Maple Syrup on pancake, huggabutt!!” Okay, if this is some kind of nightmare, please wake me up by any means necessary! Matter of fact, why is she treating me like a small creature. I’m supposed to be her uncle-!! “Oooh! Let’s get you all cleaned up, mister! Kenny’s really going to be surprised when I show him your fine ass later.”
Hold up… Did she just say- FWOOOSH!!! Okay, how the hell does she have a hose!? Matter of fact, why does she have a trailer in the middle of this god forsaken place?! Personally, my brain has so many questions right now that I feel like I just want to scream!!! I had only ran into my niece Tina for like five seconds and then she adopts me as her pet, hoses me down to give me a bath and now is drying me with a towel!!
“Aww, you just look perfect!!” She told me now as she… Wait, is that a Mirror? Finally, I get the chance to see what I look like-
Now was when I finally got the chance to actually say something. And with everything going on right now, this was the best kind of response I can think of. “...... WHAT THE F**KING HELL!!?”
“Aw DAAAMN!! I never knew you can speak, girl!” Tina, seriously!? That’s how you respond?!! Matter of fact, why is my voice sounding different? “Now, I’m no trainer, but I think we can get you to do some cool tricks before Kenny shows up. Maybe even dress you up in something SEXY!”
Noooo god!! No god, please no… No!! NO!! “NOOOOOO!!!!!”
Point of View: Ken
From the moment that Torgue decided that we didn’t need to sign any legal waivers and blew up the machine for it, we made our way towards the center of this crater that Torgue just happened to build around. Normally, if this were actually the same Campaign of Carnage that Aaron and I were familiar with and played Co-op together on, then this would be the part where we went to grab ourselves a vehicle and run some psycho’s over like it was Mad Max. However, with this being Equestria and not Pandora, we did not have that sort of luxury and instead had to make our way over to the Arena on foot. Which, would’ve been fine… if we didn’t have to hear my uncle shouting at us on full blast the whole time AND hear his voice from what looked like PA systems that were set up throughout the ground. I mean, I get that he set this whole thing up in the first place… but doing all of this? He must have some big ego.
As we entered the small town like area in front of the arena, that was when we heard something from Torgue that was… more or less… important. Mostly because we were having to handle a lot of griffons, ponies that didn’t look too friendly and a few dragons who looked to have come because they were greedy enough to go after the loot that was in the vault. Still, Torgue continued to talk while we were busy fighting. “Right now, you’re ranked fiftieth in the BADASS LEADERBOARDS!! Which puts you beside somepony’s grandma! But ahead of some guy she gummed to death, IT TOOK SEVERAL HOURS!!!”
That part wasn’t really the important part… but what came next sure was. “Also, YOU’RE GONNA NEED A SPONSOR… FOR MOTHERF**KING LEGAL REASONS!!! GET TO THE ARENA AND WE’LL SET YOU UP WITH ONE!!”
“So wait… you need a sponsor to compete? Where exactly are you three going to find one in a place like this?” Twilight asked us.
“Yeah, ah’m not sure ah can help there…” Applejack added on. “Ah think ah’ll just leave this to you. Gonna go check on Pinkis and see how she’s doing with Candy right now.” With that, we heard Applejack walking away in the background while fighting off any crazed maniacs that were trying to kill us already. Fortunately though, there seemed to be someone nearby that… didn’t seem to be caught up in all the madness. And he seemed to be trying to make contact with us.
“Ironhide’s talking to you baby!! I’m impressed with how you three are handling yourselves out there. I hear that you need a sponsor… and just so it happens, I need a new student. Come find me at the arena, just follow the succulent smell of success!!”
In fact, around the time we heard this, we happen to notice that this guy was actually talking to someone that looked to be a reporter on all of this. The guy was a minotaur with a big set of what looked to be iron gloves on his hands and also what looked like the bottom part of a cage covering his mouth. “Um… I’m not really getting a good vibe from this guy… from the way he was talking earlier to his appearance…” Twilight then added… which was something that I could honestly agree on right now.
Which was proven furthermore by what happened while being interviewed. “Ironhide, what would you say to those who’ve accused you of cheating? Of rigging fights in order to gain your number one ranking?”
“Haha… Well, Pagey… I guess I would have to do this…” Without warning, one of the gauntlets that the minotaur had turned out to have a hidden arm cannon as he shot the reporter point blank. And while the pony was struggling to get up, he proceeded to pummel the living sh*t out of him until they were nothing more than a bloody pulp, all while he was still speaking. “And then I tell them to NEVER! CALL!! ME! A! CHEATER!!! … And you can quote me on that.” By the time he noticed us, that was when he moved the hooves that he had for feet away from the reporter.
All while Shayne mimicked her voice so it would sound like that from Mortal Kombat. “Brutality…”
“Was that really necessary?” Aaron asked her. But before she could be able to speak up, that’s when the nearby minotaur soon spoke up.
“Hey, over here newbie…” Okay, first off… Don’t call me newbie. If this guy really did see how we handled ourselves out there, he should at least show us a little bit of respect. Instead though, he got straight into what he was proposing to us. “Here’s what Ironhide’s offering, Chickadee. Ironhide will sponsor you. Ironhide will take you under his muscly wing and we will open that vault together. I’ve already set up your first fight in the arena while I was waiting on you. Go in there and show them that Ironhide and your terrible trio are a force to be reckoned with.”
“Ugh… Just hearing him speak in third person alone makes me think of an even more obnoxious Trixie.” Twilight’s comment really did not help things out right now. After all, this was our only option if we were to-
“IS IT JUST ME OR DOES IT SEEM LIKE THIS GUY’S GONNA BETRAY THE F*CK OUTTA YOU!?!”
Ignoring that though, I did manage to ask this guy a question. “So… Mr. Ironhide? What exactly did you set up in the arena for us? Just out of curiosity.”
“Well, normally, matches are just against a single opponent… but since there’s more than one of you, I though… eh,” He said, all while shrugging his shoulders and making his voice sound a lot more serious. “Instead you’re going to be fighting a few dozen chumps called the ‘Horde of Horrors’,” Hold up, did he just say few dozen!? Is this guy wanting to get us killed? “Now, I could kick their asses with both pecs tied around my back. But you may want to take it easy.”
“Yeah… ‘Easy’ isn’t really our kind of thing.” Shayne remarked, before Aurox used one of her talons to knock the top of her head as we made our way towards the entrance. Upon entering, we saw a holographic banner being projected from the overhang in front of the main gate with it saying ‘Terrifying Trio vs. The Horde of Horrors’ like it was a main event boxing match you would order on Pay-per-view. And just as the gates opened, we heard the host once more act as if he were the voice of god as what he said next was booming all around the arena.
“Ladies and Gentlemen- I MEAN GENTLECOLTS, F*CK!” After hearing him clear his throat, Torgue then tried to do over what he was saying. “LADIES AND GENTLE COLTS… IT LOOKS LIKE OUR NEXT BATCH OF COMBATANTS HAS ARRIVED!! DOES THIS TRIO OF TERROR HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE THE APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION ROUND?!” I think the answer by now was already obvious enough but- “I think we all know the answer.”
“Yes. It’s clearly yes-!” Twilight tried speaking again… only for her words to be heard on deaf ears… well, except for ours.
“MAAAAAAAAAAAYBE!!!!!”
“ …… Ken, how in the name of Celestia does this guy function?” The Alicorn then asked, her question being directed at me even though both Aaron and Shayne could also hear her.
“I… honestly don’t know, Twilight… I really don’t.” However, that did not help things… until Shayne soon spoke up.
“Think about it like if you replaced Torgue with Pinkie Pie… Just don’t question it.”
It took Twilight several moments in order to take that thought into consideration, all the while we were making our way towards the center of the arena so we can be able to get this fight started and out of the way. “Fair point actually… That logic already applies to Tina and… well, that one pair of Displaced that came into town.”
“You mean the Crazy Witch and that Lich that Torgue referred to as an undead pirate?” Obviously by that, she meant Orendi and Asphyxious… they really do have a habit of not really making good first impressions. And if they just happened to show up here and now of all times, all hell will surely break loose.
Speaking of which… “THE RULES ARE SIMPLE. USE THE SPECIFIED LOOT THAT YOU HAVE AND KILL EVERYBODY!! THE LAST ONE STANDING IS A BONAFIDE BADASS!!”
“Wait, Wha-?”
“IT’S THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!! The Horde of Horrors Vs the Terrifying Trio!! FIGHT!!!”
“Alright!! Aurox, commence asskicking!!” The moment that the bell sounded off, she and Aurox leaped into the fray. Tearing apart any crazed competitor who thought that she could somehow be stopped. The arena itself was circular and had a bunch of crates, broken down carriages and other obstacles that the three of us could implement for cover. However… there was something that I noticed when I began fighting a few of these guys. More specifically… what they were using for weapons.
They weren’t using crossbows or anything like that… those were Firearms. More specifically, Torgue Manufactured Firearms. Now why the hell would some of these ponies have guns made by this guy? “You might’ve obviously noticed by now that everyone here is trying to kill you. Torgue personnel included!! YOUR WELCOME! I didn’t want any of you getting bored, so I was like ‘F*CK IT! Give everybody guns’!! We may have lost half our workforce in only two days, but WHO GIVES A F*CK!?!” Oh, gee thanks. NOW you tell us that? And just when the thought of fighting a few dozen lunatics was already problematic right now.
Yet, there was one upside to this. That being that even though they had guns, most of them probably weren’t so quick on the draw when it came to using it. Not to mention that I had my right arm, which could just as easily yank the guys out of their grip and Aurox’s claws could easily break them apart if he got close to them. Though, there was one thing that I couldn’t keep track of at the moment… and that was how many we had left to face. Though… the mare that was watching these events play out probably might have an answer for us. “Twilight, is there any way that you can tell just how many of them we need to handle?”
“Well… the screen that some ponies are seeing from the stands is that you’re on the first wave. Chances are that if that Ironhide guy said that you’re going to handle a few dozen, there may be a dozen of them per round…” However, when Twilight was saying this, she was sounding rather unsure about it. All the while I heard another voice nearby.
“Hey Twi, ah’m back. What did I…?” I heard Applejack speak up now, who seemed to have returned from seeing how Pinkis was doing. “What in tarnations is going on-?”
At that part was when I had my hand cannon out and shot down a pony that was trying to shoot at Shayne and Aurox from up on the rafters as the buzzer sounded off around the arena. “If you’re still alive, grab some ammo! If not, THIS MESSAGE IS IRRELEVANT!!”
“Welcome back Applejack…” I groaned for a moment as I conjured a blade in my right hand and held my hand cannon in the other. “Do you want the long answer or the short one?”
“How about the answer that explains what happened since ah left like… twenty minutes ago?” The earth pony asked. Yet, before I can say anything to add to that, that was when we all heard Torgue speak again.
“Those three are tearing through waves like a fat kid in a cookie store! NOW I WANT COOKIES!!!” That was followed by another buzzer as more enemies emerged from numerous spots in the arena. “NEXT WAVE, BITCHES!!”
As several of them came towards me, I had to quickly defend myself… along with explain to Applejack what lead up to this piece by piece. “Found a guy who said he would sponsor us…” Slash with a sword to some guy’s chest. “They arranged a fight for us in the arena…” Kicked another maniac into a carriage before Aurox devoured them while sending another one back a few feet as Aaron slammed the ground with his left hand and his ‘Lightning Flash’ attack. “Instead of one on one, it’s three vs several dozen…” Parried an attack from a pony who tried to hit me with some buzzsaw axe. “And Torgue’s rhetoric is not helping the situation.” One more shot had a pony that was on fire fall down in a blaze of glory.
However, it was then that another voice soon happened to chime in. Yet… they didn’t seem amused at all. “Holy crap! Are you seriously still fighting these idiots? You’re going to have to pick up the pace if you want to be Ironhide’s partner.”
“Yeah, not helping here!!” Aaron snapped, just as he punched somepony with his right gauntlet and sent them into a box of lit TNT, causing them to explode.
“THAT WAS BRUTAL!! WHERE’S THE REF!?!”
“You’re not helping either!!” I heard Aaron snap at Torgue, gritting his teeth in the process as I myself switched weapons now. I think that since Aaron and Shayne were continually defeating everyone so far with hand to hand combat that I should follow suite, equipping one of the first dragon arms that I got from the Dragon Lands, Norok, on my hands as the fiery gauntlets began to pulse with energy. Smirking, I began to let the flames channel around my fists, attacking the first few enemies I saw. Using the pulse that was in my right arm to pull some unsuspecting enemy towards me before smacking them in the face with a burning fist.
This process continued for a few more moments, along with Torgue’s commentary and Ironhide’s stupid remarks on how we were sloppy or taking up too much time. Honestly, that minotaur was really getting on my nerves at this point to the point that if he happened to be nearby watching us, I wanted to send one of these maniacs directly at his face and see if he liked it when we treated him the same way. And truth be told, I really wanted to do that… except of course, there were other more important priorities that we needed to tackle. “IT’S THE FINAL WAVE! DON’T DIE NOW!!” If that was suppose to be what Torgue would call ‘encouragement’, than it could use a little bit of work.
“Ah wouldn’t exactly be a fan of this… sport, but we’re still rooting for you! Keep it up!!” Well, at least AJ was a bit more encouraging than Torgue was right now as we were handling the last of them. Aaron and I coordinated with Shayne in order to send the last few of them towards the center of the arena, where Aurox can emerge from the center and devour the last few of them in a tag team attack.
With the sound of a loud gong, the djinn emerged from a fiery explosion as he released all of his rage and burned the last few ones alive. Which really got the crowd excited as we heard the ringing sounds of a bell go off everywhere. “DING DING DING!!! THAT’S THE END OF THE FIGHT AND WITH IT, THE LAST THREE REMAINING LEAP THEIR WAY UP TO RANK FIVE ON THE TORGUE BADASS LEADERBOARDS!!! BOOYAH!!!”
It was only moments after we heard Torgue’s announcement that we soon heard two things. One, my ECHO device beep as it showed that I had gained some form of currency… and the second being our sponsor. “Haha! Well done. I’m proud of how you handled yourself out there. I’ve sent a chest with some supplies out to the center of the arena with some supplies you would need. Pft… Ironhide thinks this will be the start of a beautiful relationship.”
Okay… if he didn’t so ominous before, then that definitely raised a red flag. But, Shayne didn’t really think that. “Hey, if this really is supplies, then perhaps it can help us-”
“Shayne, wait-!” However, before Aaron… or even Aurox could get her to stop, she had already proceeded to open the chest. Much to her surprise, but not to ours, there was nothing inside of there and instead, it let our a dark green gas that soon filled up the arena incredibly fast.
And to that… we heard Ironhide laughing his head off. “Pahahaha!! You think that I’m going to share the treasure that’s inside that vault with a group of no name punks?! I’m the greatest fighter who ever lived. I will open that vault myself… and you-” My knees began to weaken as I dropped to the ground. Vision getting rather blurry as I heard Aaron and Shayne also drop to the ground. “-will get the hell out of my arena!! That sound you hear is the arena filling up with Harmstrong Gas. I’ve turned off the cameras, just breath deep and pass out. Like a good little coward.”
Everything soon went black as my face soon hit the ground and lost sense of everything around me.
Point of View: Applejack
“Consarnit!! I knew that guy was up to no good!!!” I snapped in frustration. Twilight and I could not be able to see anything through the scrying orb that was being used for Twilight’s remote observation spell. This guy had the nerve to do that to mah coltfriend and right now, I was trying to not knock anything over in frustration.
But it was around then that Twilight and I also heard someone new show up from behind us. “Uh… Girls? Am I interrupting anything?” We both turned around to notice that it was Rainbow Dash, although parts of her fur looked to have been a bit covered in smoke and soot. So… it lead to me thinking two things. One, she either volunteered to clean out somepony’s chimney… or… well, ah couldn’t think of a second thing right now honestly.
“We were watching how Ken, Aaron and Shayne were doing in that event that Torgue had set up… Why, are… you okay?” Twilight asked. She had probably noticed a few of the things that I had noticed too as the pegasus soon let out a deep sigh.
“Yeah just…… Practice for the Wonderbolts was cancelled because the weather team had an emergency,” She told us. “There was a wildfire that was tearing through part of the Griffon Kingdom uncontrollably and threatening homes, so we needed to put out the fire and also make sure civilians were evacuated because some of their homes were threatened.”
“Oh dear Celestia, are they okay?” Twilight gasped, just as shocked as I was when I heard that too.
“Yeah, we got the fire out… but it was after we put it out that I found something that… was unsettling.” She proceeded to take something out from the saddlebag that she had set down, but what she put down was rather… odd at first. It was a few light green colored feathers, some of them with smoke on it like the smoke that was on Rainbow’s wings right now.
“Feathers?” Twilight asked.
“I found these in the aftermath of the fire. There were only a few, but I swear that I’ve seen them before…” She told us. “Not to mention that it may be possible that… no, that just sounds crazy.”
Now was when I decided to add to the conversation. “What sounds crazy?”
“Well… at first I thought that since Tianhuo had the chance to talk with the Princess before going back to her homeland that this may have been an accident, but she doesn’t have feathers… plus, the weather patrol did not have any form of unusual weather in that region of the Griffon Kingdom either…” I… honestly could not tell what in the world she was talking about. But it seemed that Twilight certainly had some kind of understanding based on her reaction.
“Wait… You think that somepony did this… on purpose?” Twilight’s question was followed by Rainbow nodding her head, which surprised both of us. “Who do you think would do such a thing.”
It took a moment for Rainbow to try to compose herself, but she then tried to tell us the answer to our question. “Li-”
“WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CAMERA FEED? WHY DO I HEAR GAS?! DID SOMEPONY DRAG THE COMBATANTS AWAY!?! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON!!!” When we looked at the scrying orb, we didn’t see anything clear up, so we just decided to ignore it as Rainbow took a deep breath.
“I’m certain it’s Lightning Dust.”
That… startled both Twilight and I. That was for sure. “W-what? How could you be so certain?! Those could be anypony’s feathers! Hay, it could be Ze-”
“Fluttershy’s brother had nothing to do with it. Besides, she and I were the ones helping him and he was thankful for it,” Rainbow reminded both of us while also interjecting so Twilight couldn’t finish her sentence. “Remember, Lighting Dust was kicked out of the academy because she put your lives at risk and was stripped of her chances at being a wonderbolt. If anything, she may be angry at me.”
“But how would she be able to set something on fire?” I then asked her, recalling something from the numerous amount of times that I had seen pegasi use their weather magic. “From what I understand, Pegasi can’t use any form of magic like Unicorns or Alicorns could, so how would it be possible for her to do that?”
Dash just sighed a little bit, shaking her head. “That’s the part that even I’m confused on… I don’t know what to say AJ.” It was as she brushed a bit of the smoke off on her wings that she soon noticed something. “Oh, that orb thingy you have just lit up or something. I think I can see Aaron now.”
That lead to both Twilight and I turning back towards the scrying orb and realize that things were coming back into focus now. Just as Ken looked to be finally regaining consciousness.
Point of View: Ken
Ugh… man, that hurt like a b*tch. Being knocked out with gas was one thing… yet, falling on the ground with your face hitting the solid floor was something else. Even my face was in pain as I finally was able to get up. Same could be said for Aaron and Shayne as I had also was seeing them wake up… though, Aurox looked… rather unmoved.
“You awake, sleeping beauty?” The Djinn grumbled, trying to mess with us in the process.
“A-aurox?” Shayne asked, noticing to see the Guanyota that was above her. “Aurox, where the hell are we?”
“Honestly, it was the only place that I could be able to drag you three out of there before someone else got to you first,” The djinn told us. “This leads to a back entrance out of the arena. I had to improvise since you ignored me when I was trying to tell you it was a trap.”
“Sorry…” The teen replied, unamused by all of this as she facepalmed herself. “I just got a bit impulsive. Thanks big guy.”
“What the hay is going on?” Wait… was that Rainbow Dash? Did she join up with Applejack and Twilight while we were knocked out? I honestly couldn’t think on it. But soon, that was when Aaron decided to speak in response to hearing his marefriend.
“Well, we trusted some big head honcho with being a sponsor for this tournament and then he ended up backstabbing all three of us… Fantastic…” He grumbled as both of his death weapons took on their pony forms. “Now what do we do? And more importantly, how do we get out of here?” That was… a rather good question, I had to admit. Though, we soon got an answer from somepony that was watching us as we all listened.
“Um… it looks like some of the doors there are sealed off… though, I can see a what looks like some kind of crawlspace on the other end of the room from the scrying orb here.” Twilight told us. However, there was one flaw to that plan. A rather big flaw to it actually. Aurox himself couldn’t exactly fit in something that small. And if he tried, he would probably tear down the whole building in the process.
“Hunh… Well, that gives me the chance to try something new.” Wait, what now? That had me look at Shayne for a moment with a look of confusion on his face as she looked back at Aurox. “Aurox?”
Aurox sighed for a moment… before actually disappearing from sight. Which… honestly surprised both Aaron and I. Whenever Aurox would disappear from sight and go into stealth, Shayne would also do so. But not in this case. “What just happened?”
“I had Aurox go incognito for a minute,” Shayne replied back with a smirk on her face. “It’s something that we’ve been working on so that way I don’t scare the living crap out of people with Aurox being out all the time. Plus, it allows me to move a bit more quickly.” Without warning though, she soon began to run to a nearby stairwell and usher for us to follow her. “Come on! That vault’s not going to open itself with that douche still being here.”
She made a valid point there. So, Aaron and I soon followed her, ignoring all the rhetoric that was going on right now with Torgue being the announcer. But as we stepped outside, that was when the backstabber soon offered his side of the store. And one that was definitely far from the truth.
“Let me educate you, Torgue. Those punks. ran. away! They found out that they needed to fight me, Ironhide, to become the top fighter in this tournament and all three of them soon ran off like cowards!”
“Aw hell no!!!” Shayne angrily snapped once she heard that. “That’s far from what actually happened, asshole!!” Yet, it didn’t stop Torgue from ‘officially’ labeling us as cowards for the tournament. At first, I was pissed. Especially because I would think that someone that was my uncle would know not to believe a punk-ass like that guy.
Though… next thing I know, Torgue was directly contacting my ECHO as he was now directly talking to all of us. “Okay, it’s straight up DAWG TIME! I KNOW YOU AIN’T ACTUALLY A COWARD, BUT F*CK DID THAT TWIST ENDING MAKE FOR SOME GOOD TV!” Seriously? You did that just to make the ending more dramatic?
“Do you have… like anything to say that actually would be helpful right now?” A very irritated Shayne then asked.
“AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DO YOU ANGSTY PUNK ASS TEEN. IF YOU THREE STILL WANNA BE IN THE TOURNAMENT, YOU’RE GOING TO NEED A NEW SPONSOR AND GET SOME BACKUP!! GET TO THE BEATDOWN!!” With that, my ECHO had a new marking on the map that was directly north of the arena, leading us to proceed in that direction. And for Aaron to ask me a question along the way.
“What do you think Torgue means by backup?”
“Honestly… I don’t really know…” I told him in response. “The only likely possibility would be that if one of the Displaced I asked to help out with this happened to end up in the same place we’re going… but again, it’s a possibility.”
Aaron himself… seemed fine with hearing that. Shayne however, seemed a bit confused. “Wait, you asked some displaced for help with this? Who exactly?”
“Well, Asphyxious was one, but given how it seems like crazy sh*t just happens all the time over in his world, he’s unlikely to come,” I mentioned, before adding a few more names to that list. “Then there’s Gregar, a displaced I met some time ago who considers me like a brother… and if all else fails, I sent a request to Hunter and his companions.”
“Wow… I’m not sure if I should be surprised by those choices… or concerned by how much chaos they’ll cause,” She replied back. “Also, are you sure calling for Hunter and them is a good idea? Berserker was really pissed at you for the stunt you pulled the last time around when we visited their world.”
Ah right… almost forgot about that… but I did make sure that in Hunter’s message that I apologized to him for what happened, but I think that’s not going to try and stop Berserker from attempting to rip Chroma out of me. It was about the time that Shayne had mentioned that in which we had finally reached the entrance to what Torgue called ‘The Beatdown’... and at first glance, Twilight and the other ponies that were watching us were very much surprised at how a small inner city like this could be built in just a short amount of time from my uncle originally announcing this tournament.
“Hey, uh… quick question… what are a few vending machines doing over there?” Rainbow’s question had us notice that not far from the entrance were a set of vending machines. Three to be precise. One served snacks, the second served drinks… while the third one was an almost golden like vending machine that replicated the same color of the tokens that we earned after our arena fight.
“From first glance… I think that third one is a vending machine where you spent the tokens you gained earlier… and it possibly may be the reason for all the weapons everypony is carrying.” We heard Twilight speak up. It would make some sort of sense… because in the original campaign of carnage in Borderlands 2, Vault Hunters would get Torgue Tokens from completing missions and what not, then trading those tokens in for weapons, class mods and other Torgue branded merchandise. Given the circumstances, it was likely that the same case applied here.
Just as when we finally got a break from all the noise… that’s when Torgue noticed we were in the Beatdown. And began to tell us what to do next. “Alright, you made it! Here’s the lowdown for you peeps!!” It was at that moment that we heard him clear his throat and began to speak so loud, that the text coming off my ECHO was in all caps. “THE NUMBER FOUR RANKED BADASS LIVES OUT HERE! HIS NAME’S PYRO PEPPER AND HE… HUGE COINCIDENCE… KIDNAPPED ONE OF THE FREELANCE SPONSOR’S OUT HERE A DAY AGO. YOU SHOULD GO KILL HIM AND MEET HIM BUT NOT IN THAT ORDER!!!”
I personally think that was a bit obvious, but it didn’t stop us from going forward. Going forward though, there was two annoyances that we had to handle hearing that really irritated me. First was the fact that some of these lunatics were hiding within some of the broken down carriages and train cars here in order to ambush those who did not anticipate it.
Then, there was Ironhide trying to twist the truth again. Going as far as to say that he treated us like children and said that we ran away like cowards even after everything he did for us. Which, was complete BS. Though, at least Torgue was able to say something encouraging after all of that crap. “EVEN WITH THE WHOLE COWARD THING, YOU’RE STILL RANKED NUMBER FIVE ON THE TORGUE BADASS LEADERBOARDS AND IRONHIDE’S NUMBER ONE!! YOU JUST GOTTA KILL YOUR WAY UP THE LIST AND THEN YOU CAN WHIP OUT YOUR HEROISM AND SLAP IRONHIDE IN THE FACE WITH IT!!”
“Damn straight!” Aaron proudly declared. Even though I personally thought the same thing and wanted to also take down Ironhide, Shayne seemed a bit more focused on trying to probe Torgue for answers. Even though it wasn’t really working out.
As we made our way through this derelict inner city though, Aaron took the opportunity at certain points to try and pick up any of the weapons that were dropped by some of these maniacs. Sure, most of them were useless, but given the fact that he had been mostly using a pair of gauntlets to defend himself and not anything to fight from a distance, it seemed fine for him to use it.
Though, it was by the time that he decided on what weapons to use that we reached our destination… and the name of the location sounded like a direct Reference to a certain music group from the 1960’s. “Sergeant Pepper’s bar? Seriously?”
“What, do they have a Lonely Hearts Club Band too?” Shayne snickered, which lead to me facepalming myself. Just as we heard someone completely different.
“Ohohohoho, it’s the three little cowards!! You’re gonna burn! BURN burn burn!! Flamey bits, burning sky! Come fire walk with me, fire talk with me!”
That… had Shayne shiver for a minute as she looked back at us. “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” As we walked to the entrance of the bar, we continued to hear this guy continue to creep us out with what he was saying. Not before Torgue butted in.
“YOU’LL KILL PYRO PEPPER’S ASS AT SOME POINT, BUT ONLY AFTER YOU-”
“Let me guess… Find out where he stashed that sponsor because we won’t rise up the leaderboards?” I asked… which left Torgue rather silent. “Sorry, did I steal your thunder? Because it sounded like you were repeating what you said earlier.”
“FAIR ENOUGH!!” We heard Torgue respond, while also hearing Applejack and everypony else that was watching trying to figure out more on who exactly was this ‘Pyro Pepper’. Speaking of which…
“It’s the Cowards!! Oh, I’m burning up inside-!!”
“That’s what she said!!” Seriously Aaron? You say something stupid like that now of all times. “Sorry, I wanted to do that to see how he would react.”
“You want a sponsor, yes? I have a warm one. But you must daaaaaaaance. First, start some trouble here in the Beatdown and then I’ll give her to you. Get to the Battle Board. Go, now, before the flames rise!!!!”
“Okay, seriously, I think I’ve heard about this guy before somewhere. I just can’t put a hoof on it-!” Twilight then spoke up to us. However, we heard another one of Torgue’s outbursts that didn’t quite help out with her thought process. Mostly because of how obvious it was.
“HIS GIMMICK IS THAT HE REALLY LIKES FIRE!!!” Thanks for that, Captain Obvious.
By the time we got inside, we found something that looked… kind of like this ‘battle board’ for a moment that Pepper was talking about. But just to make sure, I pulled out my ECHO to verify.
‘Objective complete. Burn baby, burn.’ Well that was something… hang on, what’s that new notification that just showed up on here. ‘New Objective, Bar Room Blitz.’
“Uh Ken… what are you going to do in there?” Applejack asked. Honestly, I wasn’t sure… but I had to take in a deep breath and just sigh.
“Applejack, if the kids are nearby, don’t have them watch this…” I warned. I noticed Aaron preparing to fight with what looked like a Torgue ‘Pocket Rocket’ while Shayne had Aurox finally come out now as the Djinn stretched out it’s knuckles. “Matter of fact, don’t have Twilight watch either.”
“Wait, wha-?”
“GET READY TO GRAB A BEER AND KICK SOME REAR!! BECAUSE IT’S TIME FOR A BEATDOWN BAR BRAWL!! JUST PICK A FIGHT WITH THE DRUNKS AND STAY ALIVE!!”
Well… at least none of us are charging in recklessly-
“Oh HELL YES!! Time to wipe the floor with these Assholes!!!”
Oh my god, Shayne and Aurox just ran in. Not only that, but the moment that they went all Leeroy Jenkins on this, it started the countdown clock… and all the blood wretched screaming that came along with it. Aaron and I honestly had no idea where to start with this, given that Shayne jumped in without letting us come up with some kind of plan, but after a while, things got a lot weirder with Torgue commentating on the bar fight.
“THIS FIGHT REMINDS ME OF MY DAD. ALCOHOLISM DESTROYS FAMILIES!!!!”
“Was that… something personal or-?”
“Twilight, don’t… just don’t ask.” I groaned, before conjuring Hawkmoon and beginning to open fire on some of the patrons in the bar. Yet, as time passed and things began to wind down… that’s when things got weird.
“Uh Shayne… You got something clinging to your arm.”
“I have what?” The teen asked, before realizing what it was and holding it by one of her hands. “Oh… f*ck me…”
“Shayne!! HELP ME WITH MY FINANCES!!!” Wait… was that Orendi just now? Then if she’s here… than someone else may not be too far behind-.
“Taste oblivion!” Before I could even realize who exactly was behind me, I quickly turned around and shot whatever was there point blank in the head. Only for the bullet to ricochet and then hit one of the maniacs that was already dead on the floor.
Then, I realized who exactly did I shoot. “What the fu-? Asphyxious?”
“Dude, you shot me in the face!” Asphyxious replied sounding stunned.
“Okay… before you start…” I tried to tell him, but that wasn’t really helping out now. Especially since I was beginning to smell the scent of alcohol all over him.
“You shot me in the face!? I thought we were friends!”
“Okay… before you start…” I told him, however, it wasn’t really working out with him because of how pissed off he was. “Would you care for me to explain?!”
“Wait I know you… why is there three of you?” Asphyxious asked looking a little closer at me. Okay, was he seriously seeing Aaron and Shayne as two other versions of me? Was that how badly drunk he was right now? “Oh look it Orendi, hi orendi!” He waved at her before shooting another bandit. “… RD did it.”
“No, I didn’t” We heard Rainbow tell us… even though Asphyxious can’t hear her.
“YOU CAN’T SLICE WHAT I CAN’T SEE!!!” Okay… well, looks like desperate times call for desperate measure. So, taking the blunt end of my revolver, I used it to smack some form of sense into Asphyxious. When I looked back at him, I then said something else.
“The reason why I shot you… and hit you just now is this,” I sighed. “You startled me.” Asphyxious just stood there staring at me for a moment before going, oh.
“Well why didn’t you say so?” He asked, loading his shotgun and looking for his next target.
“It was already kind of hard because of how you were getting on my ass because, you know, I shot you…” I groaned, shortly before looking back at Shayne and Aaron. “So what exactly is the plan-”
“YOU FINISHED PYRO PEPPER’S BULLSH*T!!!” Oh god, Torgue. Why do you have to cut in NOW of all times? “NOW GO TALK TO HIM AND HE’LL PROBABLY TELL YOU THAT HE’LL GIVE YOU A SPONSOR, BUT THEN HE’LL BETRAY YOU AND TRY TO KILL YOU AND YOU WILL HAVE TO KILL HIM AND IT WILL BE AWESOME!! ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD, CHILI PEPPER?!”
“Uh no… You about… covered it… Thanks… For that.”
“YOU ARE WELCOME!!!”
That though… had some form of Revelation come to Twilight. “Oh NOW I know why that name’s familiar!! Chili Pepper… Dang it, why didn’t I realize that sooner!!”
“You remember something, Twilight?” Shayne asked, while trying to ignore Orendi trying to chew on her arm.
“Sergeant Chili Pepper used to be part of the Royal Guard, but was removed from service and sentenced to Tartarus after being linked to multiple cases of Arson and Homicide!! But how is he here?!”
“Guys, guys! Would you be grossed out if I ate that thing?” Orendi asked pointing at something on the floor that was moving.
“Uh… That’s a spider.” Shayne added on. “But seriously, if Twilight said that this guy’s supposed to be in Tartarus, it does make you wonder what he’s doing here- Oh god, Orendi!!” That’s when Orendi jumped down on the floor and began devouring the spider that was there like it was a thanksgiving day feast. And it really was making my stomach turn right now.
“TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, LITTLE ANGSTY PUNK ASS, I WAS ABLE TO GET SOME OF THESE DUMBASSES FROM THE ROYAL GUARD BECAUSE THEY WERE LEAD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS A MAXIMUM SECURITY COMPLEX, SO WHEN THEY ASKED ME ABOUT IT, ALL I HAD TO SAY WAS ‘ANSWER: YES’!!”
“Wait… so you lead the royal guard to believe… that this was a SECURITY COMPLEX!? How the hell is any of this secure?!!” Aaron snapped.
“HOW ELSE WERE THEY GOING TO LET ME HAVE MOST OF THESE F*CKING MORONS!?!”
I could definitely hear Twilight banging her head against something right now in the background as Shayne looked back at me. “Torgue’s not that much of the intelligent type, is he?”
“I AM!! I WATCH MICK AND RORTY!!!” Uh… I think he meant Rick and Morty, but that’s not the point right now. The main point right now was to go down and take down Pepper in order to get whoever was the sponsor that he was holding captive.
“Ow! Stop biting! No more biting!” Called Asphyxious who was on the floor while Orendi cuddling him as she started biting his neck and cheek. Yeah… we should come back for them once we find out who exactly was the sponsor that was kidnapped.
End Chapter 38
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ahh all the backstabbing brings back memories!
Ah, this chapter brings back memories. XD
I wonder how Ken and that would react to when, and if, Berserker and the others come around?
8624083
Then all hell would break loose
8624232
Well, you’re not wrong there.