Aftermath and Answers (16)
I found Meta, Jun and Camouflage waiting just outside the cave entrance. They were a bit frightened at first by the appearance of Magnus and Pearl behind me but I was able to calm them down and explain what I could, minus the parts about Erebus. They weren’t sure about my explanation but if the Dragons weren’t going to kill them, then it was good enough for them. I made a note to explain about Erebus soon to the crew. I can’t go on much farther by leaving them in the dark about it.
After introductions were made, we headed off for the ship, making sure we kept to ground so we didn’t spook the others. However, I did send Jun ahead to inform the others about our new guests and tell them not to tamper with the bodies aside from moving it.
Most of the trip back was made in silence. I bounded along in my Dog form as I led them, keeping the course back by using my mini map. Meta stoically moved from tree to tree. Camouflage kept shifting his eyes nervously at the two dragons, their teeth and claws in particular. Magnus made a clear point of keeping himself between us and his sister. When I had to cross past him to stay on the path, he stopped and shifted himself subtly aside, like a shield in front of Pearl.
The silence was getting a bit unbearable, if a little awkward, so I had to think of something to break it. I decided to expand upon my magic theory after a bit of pondering, though mostly out of curiousity. “Hey Magnus, can you do magic?”
Magnus raised an eyebrow, “Magic? You mean our fire breath?” He puffed out a small flame as demonstration.
“No, I mean like actual magic. Like this.” I lifted my hand up and aimed it at a nearby tree, “Depulso.” In an instant, one of my bone bolts embedded itself in the trunk. I turned back to Magnus, “Can you do that?”
Magnus seemed slightly surprised. I don’t know why, it was the same spell I hit him with. “No I can’t.” he said though I could see a hint of intrigue in his eyes.
“That’s what the others said. Still proved them wrong.” I smirked at him, “How about you give it a try?”
Magnus stepped forward and lifted his hand up. “Now focus on your hand and say ‘Depulso’.” I said. He stared intensely at his hand for a few seconds before saying the word. When he did, the air warped for a brief second before a massive shockwave burst forth and obliterated the thick tree in front of him. We shielded ourselves from the flying debris, though Camouflage got whacked with a small branch. Once the dust settled, I took a full assessment of the damage done.
The thick tree that was previously there had a trunk about the size of Magnus. Now, the trunk was shattered and ripped apart like an octopus wielding chainsaws went at it. I whistled in amazement.
Achievement Unlocked: The Force is strong in this one- gained 30 XP
Achievement Unlocked: Not a fan of Nature- gained 20 XP
Magnus stood stock still, eyes wide at the damage he did. “Di-Did I just do that?” He said
I could only think of the implications of what I did. On one hand, he could defend his sister better and for that, I felt glad. On the other, he could kick my ass easier whenever he wants to. ‘Good thing it’s just one spell.’ I thought, ‘Then again, that one spell could kill me.’
“That looked amazing!” we heard Pearl cry, “I wanna try it!” She immediately aimed her hand at another tree and yelled, “Depulso!” in a high pitched squeak. It was quite cute to see her try, until the shock wave back fired and sent her sprawling across the ground, leaving the tree only rustled.
“Pearl!” Magnus cried. He rushed over to her side and checked her. “Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?” He grasped her shoulders and glared at me, “What happened?!” he growled menacingly.
“Calm down. What happened was that she didn't focus before releasing the spell.” I said matter of factly, “That caused the spell to backfire in her face. That's why I said to focus first before using the spell. Other than that, the spell was a kinetic energy type spell, so she shouldn't suffer anything more than a few bumps and bruises.”
Magnus stopped growling but kept his piercing glare on me. He snorted and helped his sister up onto her feet. Once she was settled, we kept on moving but not before Magnus came up to me and whispered, “The only reason you're still alive is because you're showing us our parent's bodies. If you even try to harm a single scale on Pearl, I will personally end you.”
“I expect nothing less.” I reply. I had to be careful around this one, he's a loose cannon. Just like how I used to be.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We made it back to the ship without further delay. Just about everyone was off the ship, moving supplies off and around. The body of the dragon was placed well away in a heap down along the path of destruction. Upon seeing this, Pearl sprinted over to the body but Magnus stayed behind.
“Where is my mother's body?” he asked in a dead serious tone. I could see the anger begin to boil in his eyes.
I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, “Yeah, about that. I don't really know where it is. Now hold on, let me explain.” I said before he could strike at me, “I threw it to this island and watched it land, but since I had to get back to defending my ship, I don't remember where it landed so you're going to have to search for it on your own. Okay?”
Magnus snorted, blowing smoke into my face before joining his sister. I sighed in relief, until I noticed Flamehoof come up to me with a serious expression on his face.
“We have a big problem.” He beckoned with his hoof and I followed. He led me around to the other side of the ship where there was a small tunnel dug into the ground. Some Diamond dogs were going about moving some of the dirt out of the way. Flamel was overseeing the project as well as handing pieces of timber down the hole. He nodded in acknowledgement to us before going back to his work.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“When we were checking the damages, we needed to check the bottom of the ship. Flamel got the bright idea to check it by using the dogs to dig under and support the ship up with timber.” Flamehoof explained, “The damages we found…you might want to see for yourself. It’s not pretty.”
I nodded and leapt into the hole. There was a unicorn with his horn glowing to provide some light, but it was enough for me to see everything clearly. Dogs were digging and shoveling dirt away with their paws as some set up the beams to hold the ship up. I skirted past them and checked the damages on the hull as I went along the tunnel. Flamehoof was right and I was getting frustrated. “Son of a bitch.” I muttered, sweeping my claws against the demolished wood. My HUD took a log and showed me all the damages on the ship as I passed them.
The hull itself was a mess. Pieces were missing from rocks smashing against it. There was a tree that had pierced a hole on one side and had done some internal damage as well. Strips of wood were peeled back like bananas against the soil. But those could easily be repaired, not, however, like the major damage staring right at me. The keel was shattered in two points and the friction from the ground had worn it down in some places. From what I knew about boats from my brother, the keel was the back bone of the ship. If it broke, you’re sunk. “It's just one thing after another isn't it?” I muttered.
I whistled loudly and everyone’s eyes snapped to me. “Hey, thanks for the work. Go and take a break now.” I said jerking my thumb to the tunnel entrance. They all slipped out and I followed once everyone was safely outside. I beckoned Flamehoof and Flamel over. “I saw the damage. It’s too destroyed for me to even try to fix it with magic and since it's the keel that's broken, the only way to fix the ship is to rebuild it entirely. So it looks like we’re not going anywhere for a while. I don’t suppose we have any ship builders?” The two of them shrugged and shook their heads. “Dammit. We're officially shipwrecked until further notice.”
“What are we going to do?” Flamehoof asked.
“For now, get the supplies off the ship and set up camp. I’m going to try to figure out how to get us off this island, one way or another.” My pride as an engineer won’t settle with any problem unsolved, especially the ones that concern me.
“What about those dragons?” Flamel asked, “I doubt they’ll want us to stay on their island, especially after what happened.”
“You let me worry about those two. Tell the others, and get camp set up. If you need me, I’ll be somewhere on the ship.” I said. I walked off and climbed up the ship side to the main deck. As I proceeded to my cabin, I thought to myself, ‘Challenge Accepted.’
I closed the door behind me, reverted to Base form, and began to think. I took every variable into account that I could think of and tried to fit it together, but I couldn’t. For hours, I paced, I sat in a corner, and finally ended up in my hammock out of frustration from not coming up with any ideas. There was no way that I could build a ship from scratch without any knowledge of making one. The only option was to wait for a passing airship to come by and rescue us, and from my experience on the zebra island, that could take a long time. Time enough for Magnus to kill me and the others out of spite or hatred. Time enough for the crew and me to deprive this island of its resources and resort to cannibalism.
I needed a solution and fast.
I was about to take a nap to rest my head a bit when I heard knocking on my door. I got up and opened it to see the kids staring at me with sad and curious eyes. “Is it true that we’re going to be stuck on this island?” Steam Tail asked.
“Yes.” I said bluntly, “The ship’s broken and until it gets fixed, we’re going nowhere.”
“B-but you can fix it right?” Astrid said, “You can fix anything! The other day you fixed the doors on the ship and make them work even better than before.”
I sighed, “I can’t fix everything. This one’s too hard for me to fix.”
“Then we’ll help you get it fixed!” she said enthusiastically. The others puffed out their chests as far as they could and held their heads high, ready for any task.
I chuckled, “I appreciate the gesture but I’m not sure you can help, unless you happen to know how to build a ship from broken parts.”
“Well, why don’t you use the broken parts to repair it?” Astrid asked.
“Using broken parts….for repair.” I said flatly.
She smiled sheepishly, “Well you told me that you can make anything out of junk, you just need a use for it.” She pulled out her iron bar, which now had a wrapping around one end. “I chose to make a sword out of this bar, once that pony blacksmith will make it for me.”
“Astrid, it’s not like I can...” I trailed off as what she said sunk into my mind. I stared at the bar she held up proudly and mentally pictured it as a sword. ‘Could it really be that simple?’ I thought, ‘Only one way to find out.’ I held out a hand, “Astrid, may I see that bar please?”
She cocked an eyebrow at me but still placed the bar in my hand. “What are you going to do with it?” She asked.
“Fix it. Now go and play with the dragons.” I said before closing the door. They stayed for a while before trotting off down the hall. I looked at the bar of metal in my hand. “Now,” I said, holding the bar up, “Show me what you can do. For science.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magic level increased
I panted from exhaustion. Too tired to do any more. Luckily, I was done with my work. ‘Five hours. That’s all it took. Five long hours of experiments, testing and documentation.’ I thought, and then I glanced at my HUD. ‘A good chunk of my energy depleted, but it was worth it.’ I picked up the final product in my hands and turned it around. It was a simple short sword but instead of a normal straight edge, this one was serrated with hundreds of little teeth on each side. Every one of them very sharp, as the accidental cuts on myself led me to believe.
I grabbed a small fruit and tossed it into the air. With a quick strike, the fruit fell to the floor in a torn up mess. As I picked up the fruit and ate it, I watched the juice run down the sides of the blade, dropping slowly from tooth to tooth. ‘If this sword could cause that much damage to the fruit, then what damage would it do to flesh?’ I thought.
My mind began to click, slowly at first, but gradually gaining speed. Like a ratchet tightening up a bolt, ideas and concepts began to click into place. Simple ideas evolved into complex mechanisms. The complex ideas were broken down and picked apart to be modified and adjusted. Weapons, defenses, support, vehicles, medicine, energy and more, they all flooded my mind like a tsunami. Every conceivable piece of technology, benign and malevolent, appeared and sorted itself, ready and waiting to be built and used.
I had just discovered the pinnacle, no, the dream of all engineers. I knew how to create the impossible. I knew how to construct the unthinkable. It all lay together in the palms of one spell.
My spell.
I laughed. Not just at the joy of discovery, but at how I discovered it and no one else knows it. I could build my forces and make my own empire. I can take the entire world by storm. This world would burn to the ground at a whim. No one would be able to stop me!
After a few minutes, I calmed myself down. I could still feel the raw potential run through me, but it was starting to settle. “Now,” I said to myself, excitement burning away to seriousness, “I can repair the ship. I’m going to have to store up a crap ton of energy to do it. Not to mention all the supplies I need and limitations to take into account. Hmm, maybe I can ask the crew what features I should add to it? Ah hell, discovering the spell already took a lot out of me. I might as well get some shut eye.”
And with that thought in mind, I promptly crashed onto my hammock, the still swimming ideas lulling me to sleep. There was nothing that could ruin my mood now.
Achievement Unlocked: Full Metal Alchemist – Gained 777 XP
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My eyes fluttered open to see streaks of white moving. I was about to fall back asleep when I noticed the disturbingly familiar look to those white streaks. My eyes shot open and I shot up. I was back in the Grid and if I was here, then Erebus isn’t far behind.
“Too true, my little Chess Piece.” I whipped around to see Erebus behind me, holding a rolled up newspaper in hand this time. “It’s been a long time. How have you been?” he said, in a way eerily similar to GlaDos.
“How have I been?” I asked numbly. Every painful memory of the dragons appeared in my head, each being a reminder of who caused it. But I wasn’t angry, not even furious like I should be. No, I was happy, excited even, to get my revenge. “Just peachy.” I said before rushing Erebus head on.
I quickly reached him and started to rain down as many blows as I could before he could defend himself. Kidney punch, Elbow to the face, Uppercut the diaphragm, Chop to the neck, Strikes all around. I was quite surprised to see that Erebus didn’t even raise a finger to defend himself. I just increased my attacks even more.
I don’t know how long it took, but when Erebus said, “Enough” I was flung backwards through the air. I landed on the ground with a thud and quickly recovered. Once I got up, to my dismay I saw that not a single blow I landed had made even a scratch on him, even his suit was unwrinkled. ‘Fucking God-mode hack.’ I thought. I prepared to charge him again when I discovered that I couldn't move my body. I was locked in a kneeling position. The only part of my body I could move was my head.
Erebus chuckled, “That, my boy, is one of the reasons why I like you. You’ll go all out relentlessly on those you believe have wronged you.”
“You have wronged me, bastard.” I spat at him. I scanned his features, looking and waiting for the next opportunity to strike.
“Oh?” Erebus said curiously, “and how might I have done that?” He face showed mock concern to me.
“Liar!” I yelled, “You know what you did!”
“Of course I know what I’ve done.” He scoffed, “My question is: What do you think I have done?”
“Don’t play dumb with me! You set me up to kill those dragons! You made me orphan Magnus and Pearl!” I bellowed, “You put me in this stupid Game of yours in this stupid simulator! I know something’s up. I know that this is more than some game.
Erebus smiled and then he laughed. Laughed like it was some joke to him! When he was done, he spoke “Ah, you humans never cease to amaze me at how intelligent, yet extremely naïve you are.”
“Wha-” I began to say when Erebus cut me off with his newspaper.
“First off, I will say that you’re right. There is more to this Game than meets the eye.” He grinned evilly, “But I’m not going to tell you what it is. It’s more entertaining to see you scurry about trying to solve it.”
I growled my dissent but he ignored me and continued. “Secondly, I never set you up to do anything. My original intent was to give you a challenge before you make it to the main land. I sent the dragons over to harass you with a little twisted truth on their minds. If you lost, well then, I would just have to find another player and it would be more hassle for me, but if you won, then those two dragonlings would be left alone on their island to starve to death, with no one to protect them from anything.”
His words hit me like a ton of bricks. “What?” I breathed shakily.
“I never intended for you to find them at all. When I saw that you were heading for the island...well, I finally understand what my old colleague means when he told me 'Chaos is a wonderful thing'.” He laughed darkly.
As for me, I was stunned. 'I...was wrong? No! I couldn't have been wrong! He's messing with me! ' I thought, 'But....what if he's telling the truth?' I always had to take every situation into account. It was the only way to be sure. I was going to prod more on the subject in my head but Erebus' laughter was dying down. I assumed he had more to say and I had to pay close attention to this.
“Now,” He said with his smug grin on his face, “that brings me to my third and final point. You remember that little curse I placed upon you? You also recall how you must perform acts of evil to quell that little voice in your head?” I gave a slight nod. “Well now that you've performed quite the act of murdering parents, I feel I should mention a little...side effect of that curse.”
“What effect?” I growled, “What did you forget to tell me now?”
“ I never forget a single thing. Those topics...slipped my mind at the moment. This effect, however, I withheld until the time was right.”
“Get on with it.”
“My, my. Quite the impatient one, aren't you? Fine, then. It's not much of a side effect, but more of the nature of the curse. When you perform acts of evil, the voice in your head quiets down because it feeds off the evil like a parasite. The more evil you feed it, the more it will...mature.”
“...What do you mean by that?” I asked hesitantly. I definitely wasn't liking where this conversation was going.
“Simply put, that voice has been acting like a demonic kindergartener from Tatarus. With you killing those dragon's parents, you practically drop kicked that child into a young teenager. It will be much more intelligent than before and a bit more subtle about what it wants you to do. Not by much but it's a start.” he said proudly.
My jaw dropped. I felt like I got hit by a semi truck, and that was one feeling I never wanted to know, much less remember. But it did explain why it always went silent. I guess that the Voice was taught not to talk with it's non-existent mouth full. I kept glaring at Erebus.
“Joke's on you Erebus. I'm done with this crap.” I smirked, “As soon as I wake up, I'm going to give myself a proper suicide. I'm considering burning everything off in a massive spell. How's that sound?” I gave a demented laugh of my own.
To my surprise, Erebus joined in as if I told a joke, “Oh, that would be wonderful! To see a massive fireball or shock wave, anything to destroy that island and everyone on it. Ah, the screams would be a delight to my ears. You know, I haven't had a proper genocide since World War Two. Heh, Hitler was one of a kind. He had much more finesse than that moronic Stalin.”
I stared in shock at what he said. This guy was sick in the head. Wait, how the hell did he work with the Holocaust? He must be at least eighty years old. Whatever treatments he takes, he hides his age well. He doesn't look a day over 40. What the hell is going on?
“Anyways,” Erebus snapped from his trip down memory lane and focused back on me, “Your attempt to defy me is cute, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that.” He snapped his fingers and an image appeared beside him. It showed a Marine in full combat uniform patrolling down a street. His M16 held loose but ready to aim at a threat. He was chatting up with another buddy who was cut off by the image edge but no sound came through. I noticed the name on his chest and I got a good look at his face.
It was my brother. I'd recognize his face anywhere. “How did you get this?” I said softly. There was no way in hell anyone could get this kind of image on the Marines.
Erebus waved his hand dismissively, “That doesn't matter. What matters is the choice you get to make.”
“Choice?”
“Yes, you can stay in the game as my player and your brother will continue his merry campaign in that water-godforsaken desert. However, should you decide to end your pathetic life and make me have to start my work all over again...well, a lot of things can go wrong on the battle field. A stray bullet, a lurking ambush, a waiting mine...all sorts of things.” Erebus said this casually.
I wanted to call his bluff, to prove that there was no way he could do that, but something stopped me. I don't know what it was but it told me that if Erebus wanted it so, then so it shall be. If I called it, then my brother would die. He was the only family I had left, and I'd be damned if I was going to kill him too. “Fine. I 'll stay.” I said reluctantly.
“Wise decision.” Erebus said. He snapped his fingers again and the image dissipated. “Now, If you'll excuse me. I have places to go, things to do, and people to torment. Ta-ta.” He snapped his fingers again and the world went black.
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hey guys I just want to say a couple things:
1. Erebus is a complete dick
2. Thank you all for liking my story
3. Thank you Reaper1543 for proofreading my
crapchapters4. In the chapter with the Dog invasion, I added a link to show what the scream was like (now Phobos Sonor instead of Sanguis Sonor), so go check it out, (or be lazy and click the link here )
5. HOT DAMN! Last update I got so many likes, favs and time in the feature box (it was a slow day). I honestly never thought I would make it this far.
6. There won't be a new Chapter for a while as I must Read 2 stories for my English class
Thank you all so much!!
1560838
No problem man, I will do it anytime. So if ANYONE has a problem with the chap, you guys know who to blame.
.... Erebus is a bitch, isn't he.
1560921 you've no idea
1560931 I think I do... No I don't.
1561457 Trees have mouths. Millions of them. Pores. CO2 Intake, O2 output, it's like reverse breathing. And what about small animals, or fish?
(By the by, this is turning out to be very great, and entertaining. Hopefully you don't fall into OP syndrome.)
1561477 Don't worry, i've made sure of that
1561505 well okay then.
Congrats on getting feature, I mostly love this story. Except he has guns, and he sang while fighting, that was just downright retarded.
Apart from that a very interesting adventure story.
1562025 Okay, I admit the song thing was a little retarded (it fit and I wanted it in there at the time
.). I couldn't help but use the Tobuscus song as a quick gag joke
and i'm trying to keep the songs to a minimum (well, lyrical songs at least) but the guns is what makes him...well, Gunhaver. I don't really see him much as a close quarters combat person (unless the circumstances state otherwise)
Carpe noctem.
1562066 que?
1562073
'Seize the night' is written 'carpe noctem' in Latin. Not 'carpe nocte'.
1562059
Fair enough with the guns, I also love the HUD thing you have going on. In future could you not actually have him sing but rather just state this is what's going through his head. Because it kind of collapses suspension of disbelief (especially when everyone acts as if it isn't extremely weird or bizarre). Otherwise you have good taste in music.
Speaking of which, what's your opinion on these?
[youtube=sfrN12pI3jk]
and
[youtube=LV5ACJ80hCI]
Purely out of curiosity.
1562085 I blame google translate
1562091 okay, i can see your point and i will take this into account for any future songs
as for the two vids
.... the Sherlock holmes one is the kind of music I write/plot to *mad scientist/evil laugh*
and the other one, I do like Audio machine and their music. same for Two steps from hell and Distortion MX. look up park0urfreak on youtube, he's got a lot of them.
My my my, now isn't that a clever way to add some drama Erebus.
Two-thumbs WAY-way up.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmfc67NJJH1ql1qf2o1_500.jpg
1562473 told you it was gonna be good
you gonna perform a lil alchemy?
are ya?
you gonna sacrifice your left arm for the father dragon?
LOL
1567676 THANK YOU! finally some one comments on the damn reference. I thought it was going over everyone's heads
have a mustache
I really want to contribute, but, ugh. The cloud of Procrastination hangs heavily around my shoulders. Winter Break can't come quickly enough. Plus, too much ideas bouncing without really settling.
1570601 I know that feel bro
...and contribute to what
?
1570630
The CGotG, but I write so sporadically (and somewhat inconstantly, I'm trying to see how well I can hold a plotline together) it would be safer for me to go non-canon. Unless that's just my low self esteem of my writing abilities talking. I can't tell between my subjective voice and my objective voice.
1570667 dude, do what i do. Write a few minutes each day. That'll get you into a bit of a writing rut. As for improving your skills, I suggest getting some books on creative writing, or get books/fics you read normally and study how they work, like style and flow. The more you write, the better your skills will get. Heck, it's why the month long edit storm i did makes my fic look a helluva lot better than it was before.
But that's my opinion and way of doing things. Just do what feels natural and comfortable to you.
1570719
Sorry for late post, I was busy procrastinating and laughing my head off (not at you).
right now, I'm going to try and be kind of vague, short, and be generally kind of confusing with short time skips. Or something.
If everyone focuses on trying to figure out what's going on, they will have less time criticizing. Or something.
1571122 hmmm, don't be too confusing. you want Readers to understand what's happening. And they'll criticize you regardless of what you write. Just don't give them ammo to do so.
1560838*crapters
1577418 not necessarily. the gems were used as storage mediums for magic. the actual magic energy comes from the person's ability/potential themselves.
EX: Griffin used dragon's blood to power his own magic. Knightmare uses inherent changeling magic to shapeshift. the ponies each have their own form of magic as well.
This is the worst trip to Equestria ever, unless you were to convince yourself that none of it was real, or you were pure evil. There's almost no way to get around all the bs.
and something pleasing to my ears.
Instead of the link to the laugh you laughed, how about the laugh in this video?
Why does that sound like HAL-9000 to me?
Erebus, if I find you, I'm going to kill you. It might take my entire mortal lifespan, but I'll do it. "Anything that can live, can die." -LOZ Modern Darkness
FYI, the Marines, or any branch for that matter, use M4's WAY more than M16's. If they do use M16's, they would use the M16A3, or M16A4.
Can't let you do that, star fox.