Ranger
Chapter 154: Mindscape
By Wanderer D
Sunset ran around the building as the shots echoed behind her, dodging around old trash and jumping over boxes and other debris.
"One hit."
"Missed!"
"Keep shooting guys!" Sunset called in, seeing a perfect spot to fly. She didn't stop running, instead accelerating and shooting her grappling hook for a running leap. The cord whipped through the air, the alien-alloy central tip piercing into the solid wall, while the additional hooks sank around the point of impact for additional purchase.
She felt the mechanism from Mox's hook activate, and like a fish biting the hook, she was pulled through the air with tremendous force to land on her destination, a tall building just shy of the bridge where the Hunter was located, overlooking it by a solid additional floor.
Sunset rolled her shoulder. Mox's hook was designed for someone much bigger than her and carried a lot of additional strength with it. One day, if she wasn't careful, she might dislocate her arm. No trying to drag back ADVENT forces to her position with this one.
"The Hunter is not giving any indication of awareness to your current location, Sunset Shimmer," Sashssa said on the comms. "She has taken cover at the top of the bridge."
"Great. Then I can still—"
"Trojan's down!"
"Fuck!" Sunset started running. She needed to catch up, fast.
"She took another shot, but Angel snagged Trojan out of the way!" Sashssa informed, clearly surprised.
"Angel, both of you get down to the alley between the two buildings! Take cover!" Sunset ordered. "Jane, head over there and heal them."
"Hiss!"
"Roger, already on my way!"
"Fridge, you and Annette stay put. If you see the Hunter I want razing fire, but don't expose yourselves, understood?" Before she got a reply, Sunset saw a bright explosion of light on the other side of the building she was running around, and heard Outrider gasp in the radio. "Elena!"
"I-I'm fine, no damage, but I can't see anything!"
"Stay in cover!"
"The Hunter has moved!" Sashssa reported urgently. "She's on the same rooftop as you, around the corner! Taking a shot!"
Sunset ran, scampering over the staircase that led into the building and jumping down, sword raised to stab the Hunter, who took her shot, the black lance of energy flashing in a way that distorted the air around it for a split second.
She heard a distant explosion as she crashed into the former siren with all the momentum she had applied to the tip of her blade. She heard bones snap and felt the welcoming warmth of blood covering her as she skewered the monster.
She felt her gem resonate, and the world spun around her as the blood invaded her senses. Sunset's eyes narrowed as the world around faded. 'Of course... Sonata has another…'
"Ugh. Mindscape!" Sonata's voice whined all around her.
Sunset blinked as she stood up in the empty darkness.
"I hate Mindscapes! Why are they always so dull? I mean, like, why can't they ever be something nice, like a taqueria?"
Clouds of energy shifted and everything reformed into a restaurant with metallic, branded tables and plastic chairs. Sitting at one of the tables, already loaded with food and a large drink was Sonata.
Well. Older Sonata. Gone was the teenage Siren she had seen in the other world, now sporting a much more mature body.
Sunset briefly wondered how that worked. For all intents and purposes, the Sirens had been immortal in the other world. Even here, they had spent centuries in this world without aging a day. Did it have something to do with their magic? The Elders? Being turned into Chosen?
"It's fake food, but it sure does bring back memories!" Sonata said in between gulps. She glanced up at Sunset and didn't dignify her with words, merely nodding at the chair across with her head.
Sunset grimaced and rolled her eyes, but… mindscape. What the hell else was she supposed to do?
So, she went and sat down, glaring at the gorging Siren. "You done there, Sonata?"
"Huh, so you know my name? Cool! I guess." The Siren said, chewing down and swallowing a particularly large piece of food, which ended up in her coughing and grabbing her drink to help push it down.
Once the morsel was gone, Sonata leaned back, raising an eyebrow at Sunset. "So you killed me. Well done. Score one for you XCOM."
"Why am I even here?" Sunset asked, unamused. "We both know this is a hollow victory as is."
"Is it?" Sonata shrugged, sipping her drink. "You stopped me from killing more of your friends."
Sunset frowned. "You didn't kill anyone this time."
Sonata tilted her head. "Oh? Well. You might find otherwise once we're done here."
"So spill it, why did you bring me here?" Sunset leaned forward.
"Hmm." Sonata tapped her chin with her finger, pretending to think about it. "Well, you're a blood witch. And you're already down the Path of Madness. I think you'd be a better fit with us in ADVENT than XCOM."
Sunset felt a chill run down her spine. The way Sonata had used the words 'path of madness' made it sound like an actual event. "What do you mean by that?"
Sonata blinked, then smiled. "Oh. You don't know? That's a-dorable." She blinked, seeming to space out for a moment. "But… if you don't know, how did you create the Blood Bind?"
"Blood Bind?" Sunset tried to remain calm, but it was hard to concentrate. Sonata's words were full of meaning, and she had no idea what that could be.
"Yeaaaah," Sonata waved her hand in circles. "You know, that thing you did to that woman on your left."
Sunset reared back a little and cautiously looked to her left. Jane floated there, naked, her privacy kept intact only by slow-flowing streams of blood that encircled and flowed around her, except for one area, where it went straight into her chest and out of her back, like some sort of twisted Gordian Knot.
"W-what…"
"Oh. You can have a lot of fun with that. You can stop her heart. Slow her blood flow. Accelerate it. Cause her immense pain… or really, really…really intense pleasure." Sonata grinned, almost squirming in place.
"I—"
"And then there's you…" Sonata interrupted. "Haven't you looked down at your body?"
Sunset's eyes widened and she looked down at herself, relaxing a little when all she saw was her armor… but…
Gulping, she pushed the collar away from her body a little. She could almost feel her heart stop.
"Yes, yes, it's shocking the first time… you're still very sane though," Sonata said, leaning back. "You might actually survive it. Who knows what you'll become, huh? Another Siren?" She tilted her head. "I've always wanted a little sister. But maybe you will become something different. Something worse… you're so much further in than other blood witches… and yet your spells are so limited! Like, why the fuck?"
Sunset stood up, stumbling back and trying not to look at the floating form of Jane. "I—"
Sonata started laughing. "And I was, like, worried about the gem for a while there," she grinned, standing up and waving her hand. Immediately the whole imaginary restaurant disappeared.
Sonata walked forward, crossing the distance between them and getting right into Sunset's personal space. Her raspberry irises looked straight and deep into Sunset's cyan. "I think you're adorable, little witch. Come join me sometime soon for some fun and backstabbing. Here's a couple of little freebies for you… don't say the Hunter doesn't give back."
Sunset licked her lips, still tingly from Sonata's kiss. She tasted the Siren's blood, rich with forbidden magic, much like her own, and the almost fizzy taste of the Elder's psionic energy. Her breathing was coming out hard, her mind still ablaze with not only the feeling of the other Sire—she shook her head.
She wasn't one of them.
She wasn't. She'd never be one of them.
It was during that second reaffirmation that the sounds of the world returned.
"Angel's down!"
o.0.o End Chapter 154 o.0.o
AGHHH, NOOO!!!!
FUCK! SHIT! BLIET!! DON'T YOU DIE ANGEL!!
NOOOOOOOOooooooo.... Not Snek bro!
(broette? Does bro even have a female term, or is it one of those things that transcends gender ounds?)
"is she wasn't careful, she might dislocate her arm"
"if she wasn't careful, she might dislocate her arm"?
Snek? SNEK? SNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK? Someone get angel up ASAP!!! we can't loose the best Waifu!
9092292 Fixed! Thanks!
No not snek waifu. Medic!
And this shows the rise of the Fallen Angel on two fronts...
Ooooh boy... Sunset really has gotten them into some deep stuff hasnt she? Its not just herself like we thought either. Somehow she has wrapped Jane up into her madness too. And is that the start of a gem we see forming on Sunny?
derpicdn.net/img/2016/11/5/1289063/full.png
9092306
You're welcome!
NO NOT SNEK WAIFU YOU MONSTER REEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! So now we know that Sunset has made a wood doll out of Jane. This isn't actually a bad thing if Sunset learns how to boost Jane abilities.
Hell no! (Panics)
Get her stable stat.
For the last two chapter, the comments section be like ‘#SaveAngel’, ‘Life4Viper’, ‘EndSnekAbuse’.
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Readers: encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRNDygfzcVHMP4hlJpaGfwsiDFXfAWoDEXS8AlB3eZITufLXAWA8Q
Your enjoying this aren’t you?
Now to officially add a little Angel to the rechosen ones...
As Sonata said, Sunset has broken the traditional timeline of her path, but how will that change the result?
9092581
What do you think? Half the fun of writing stories is watching your readers squirm. And D is doing a good job of making us all squirm for our beloved snek.
9092513
That's neat, though the way she suggested that she could be something WORSE implies a branching evolution, which reminds of the old digimon tamogatchi.
9092528
This is a terrible thing if Sunset's mental stability continues to deteriorate like it has. Or maybe it will be the thing that saves her, a way in of sorts. We can only hope.
Hmn, I wonder if a less evil use of that Blood Bind would be to keep injured allies alive. Angel might be needing that right about now.
It'd be nice if Sunset made it through the Blood Witch transformation sane. I've been speculating for a while now that the low magic environment is helping with that in a way that the magic rich environment of Equestria never would have allowed.
Oh crud. Angel is also down.
So Sunset and Jane are link by blood and Sunset can manipulate or enhance her through this link.
Yeah, Sunset might want to tone down that hook next time she has access to a friendly engineer.
Also, fascinating look at just what Sunset's gotten herself into. Sonata's provided just enough answers to raise all kinds of interesting questions. Is it too late to stray from the Path of Madness to, say, the Path of Cardiology?
As for Angel, at least there's already a medic en route to that position... but that raises the question of how medicine designed for humans functions on Vipers...
9092581
I'm enjoying it.
9092991
You don't need medicine when you have a Blood Witch on the path to ascension and a damn good reason.
I wonder if saving Angel will be the turning point, when she has to deliver herself fully to the corruption to save the one she loves.
At least she could read more of the book now.
And no, I'm not considering for even a moment snek waifu will actually die, why do you ask?
9092688
I'm not talking about Sunsets mental stability, I'm talking Sunset using woodoo magic to boost Jane's physical abilities.
Please, not snek :(
anything but that
9093856
More like Earth's counter to the choosen of the Ethereals.
...RIP Sunset. Fluttershy is going to kill you.
I'm honestly impressed that "cliffhanger: the story" here has gotten to the point where it foreshadows and repeats its own cliffhangers. Thats next level!
(I grumble because cliffhanger overuse makes them lose all value due to being expected.)
That criticism aside its a fun chapter and I like where this is going. (However slowly. ;) )
No step on snek
Snek is not for buli
9092280
Well, "sis" doesn't have quite the same connotations, but it makes up for it in alliteration and sounding so sneklike. "Snek sis"
9093345
... A super soldier bound by pain and pleasure to a woman slowly descending into bloodlust centered madness. Yeah, that is a great thing. I don't know what I was thinking.
9092991
Don't medikits work on Dominated aliens?
Yikes. Even ignoring the snake in peril which the rest of the comments section has... more than adequately discussed... The conversation with Sonata was terrifyingly creepy. She knows what's happening to Sunset, what's expected to happen; she points out the link Sunset didn't know she'd formed with Jane and alludes cryptically to capabilities none of us knew it had; and apparently the process is having some visible effect on Sunset? Or might that only be true in the metaphorical mindscape?
Anyway, awesome chapter.
9094561
RIP Wanderer-D.
Fluttershy's going to get Pinkie or Discord to tear a hole in the forth wall so she can kill him.
I have learned a word today.
You better not have.
-GM, master of games.
noooot angelll
For fuck sake... Angel better don't be dead or about to...
Hope Sunset stay sane-ish...