11: Live and Let Die
"Sounds like you just lost another one."
***
Bond stood there for a brief moment, catching his breath, looking at the two unconscious ponies on the ground. He glanced at the janitor’s trolley that he had kicked, then at the mop that was still in his hand. Surprised that his plan had worked so well, and that these guards had been caught, well, off-guard so easily, he dropped the mop and started to make his way back towards Brute Force’s office. Then, noticing blood oozing out of a wound on the head of one the stallions, he paused and grabbed a wet floor sign from the trolley, placing it next to his downed foes with a smirk on his face. Who says I’m not allowed to have some fun every once in a while? he thought as he set off back downstairs.
In an instant he had lost all sense of comedy and regained his usual stoic, yet determined, demeanor. He moved purposefully, creeping back down the stairs, the way he had been taken, making sure to peek around corners to check if there were any guards about. Unsurprisingly, there weren’t. Well, it looks like Brute has a lot of misguided faith in his employees, Bond deduced, making his way down the corridor towards the double doors of the maniacal stallion’s office. This was it. There was no way he was going to let that bastard escape now. Time to end this.
James took a deep breath, and looked to the left and to the right to check that the hallway was clear, before stepping back and kicking with all of his might. His foot connected with the door and sent it flying open to reveal Brute Force, who nearly dropped Bond’s gun, which he had obviously been inspecting, out of pure shock. Capitalising on the stallion’s surprise, Bond charged in.
“No more games,” he announced, advancing towards the startled earth pony. “Last chance, Brute: give yourself up, now.”
“Not a chance,” Brute growled in reply. Unable to properly grip the gun, he threw it at Bond, who managed to catch it in his hand. Throwing my weapon back to me? God, this guy is stupider than he looks. It was then that he realised that the gun was merely a distraction, as Brute reared up and bucked his desk, sending it flying across the room at speed. With no time to move or dodge, Bond could only raise his arms and brace himself as it came crashing down on top of him, knocking him to the floor and allowing the stallion a means of escape.
James groaned, pushing the splintered desk off of him and trying to focus once again. Damn it. Okay, maybe not quite as stupid as he looks. He managed to make out Brute dashing out of the room, no doubt to call some of his guards or perhaps run to another hiding place somewhere else in Equestria. Shaking his head and cursing under his breath, Bond picked himself up, grabbed his gun, and gave pursuit.
Brute was fast, due to his large build, but that was a double-edged sword. Though he could power down each the hallway Bond pursued him through, he had to slow down significantly whenever he wanted to turn, lest his cumbersome body make him crash into a wall and end the chase prematurely. James ran, sprinting after his target, but found that the stallion always pulled away when he got close. Grunting with annoyance, Bond leapt forward, but missed and almost fell over as Brute swung around a corner into another hallway. Looking up again, Bond stopped to find two mares blocking his path. Recognising the first, he instantly drew his gun, but she darted behind the second, taking her as an equine shield. Twilight? Goddamnit, Quill!
“Let her go, Quill,” James ordered quietly, keeping his gun trained on the unicorn as she pressed her horn into the base of Twilight’s neck.
“Not happening!” she shouted back at him, doing her best to conceal herself. “Make one move, and I’ll kill her!”
I really don’t need any of this shit right now. “Why are you doing this?” he asked calmly, his aim unwavering as she stared him down.
“What can I say? Money talks.” Quill smirked a little. “And dear old Brute can be very talkative.”
Silence fell as Bond tried to deduce a way to end this confrontation. It continued for a few seconds as he thought. There was one course of action he could take, but it was incredibly risky. If Quill doesn’t back down, then it looks like I have no other choice, he thought grimly. I'm wasting enough time already. “Last chance: let her go,” he finally commanded, glaring at her.
“What are you going to do? Shoot through her to kill me?” the mare taunted, tightening her grip on Twilight. “We both know you wouldn’t do that. The poor, innocent girl; the damsel in distress who never deserved to get caught up in this. Please. You’d miss her.”
That’s it. “I never miss,” he stated simply, before firing.
The first shot missed purposefully, instead embedding itself in the wall behind the two mares. Caught off guard, Quill flinched, unknowingly sticking her head out from behind Twilight slightly. She went to shout something, however, she never got the chance, as Bond fired again, this time with his sights firmly aligned with her head. Her eyes briefly widened as she realised her mistake, before the bullet impacted just to the side of the base of her horn. Her head exploded in a shower of blood as she was sent sprawling down onto the floor, stone dead.
Twilight took a few seconds to process what had happened, before shrieking at the top of her lungs and scampering away from the pool of blood that was now forming around the unicorn’s body. “James!” she cried, desperately trying to wipe the mare’s blood out of her coat. “What... what just happened? What did you do?!”
Finally releasing a sigh that he didn’t know he had been holding, Bond kneeled down slightly, bringing himself to Twilight’s eye level. “It’s okay,” he reassured her, putting his hand on her gently as she shook from shock. “It’s over.”
“No, James, it’s not okay,” she protested weakly, making sure not to glance at the body behind her. “You killed her. Heck, you nearly killed me.” She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. “She was working with them, right?” she asked, and he nodded. “I guess she would have killed me anyway if you hadn’t done something.” Relieved to be out of immediate danger, she sighed and looked up at him. “For what it’s worth, thank you.”
He nodded simply, and used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe some stray spots of blood from her face. Then, he looked over at Quill’s lifeless body and grimaced. This wasn’t over yet. “Come on,” he announced to Twilight. “We can’t hang about. Brute Force is no doubt still running with his tail between his legs.”
“Any idea where?” she wondered, taking great care to trot around the pooling blood as they pressed on swiftly down the hallway. “We can’t let him get away, not after everything that has happened.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to let that happen.” They continued to jog back down the corridor, heading towards the main casino floor. 007 took the time to check his weapon. Thankfully, Brute hadn’t messed around with it too much; everything seemed to be in order, aside from the lack of the bullets he had fired previously.
Soon enough, they both reached the door to the casino floor unhindered. Bond, looking down at his equine companion, whispered, “Go and check to see if he’s out there. I don’t want to risk him seeing me just yet.”
“I don’t even know what this “Brute Force” stallion looks like,” she pointed out, opening the door slightly and peeking out.
“He’s a big, red earth pony,” James described, doing his best to peek out as well. “Bigger than the royal guards, at least. Mane’s styled kind of like a crew cut.” He stepped backwards from the door and looked down at her. “Look, he lives up to his name, alright?”
“Okay, okay.” Twilight gave him a quick glance, before peeking out of the door again.
“If you see him, just start making your way towards him,” James instructed. “I’ll be watching.”
The mare nodded. “Got it.” Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and trotted out. “Here goes nothing,” Bond heard her say as she tried her best to look as inconspicuous as possible.
He kept an eye on her, peeking out of the crack between the door and the doorframe as she made her way around the room, looking for the earth stallion. “Come on... where are you, you bastard?” Out of the corner of his eye, James noticed two security guards whisper something to each other, before making their way across the room towards the oblivious unicorn. Shit. Well, so much for subtlety. Seeing no other course of action, he pushed the door open and strode into the room, knowing full well that doing so would make him as obvious as if he had run in guns blazing anyway. Don’t want to create a panic with so many civilians around, he thought. Doing so could bring me a major advantage, seeing as a crowd could stop any more guards from getting in between me and her. It’s a double-edged sword, though.
In an instant, he saw most of the guards stationed around the room take notice of him, but, thankfully, not the ones who were already making a beeline for Twilight. All of them were too far away to hinder him as he continued his stride towards the two stallions, even as they began to hastily make their way towards him. Damn, this is about to turn ugly. Just then, he noticed Brute talking with the cashier, with an angry expression upon his face. Time’s up, James thought, as he reached the two stallions just before they reached Twilight.
Feeling pragmatic, he charged forward quickly and lashed out with his foot, kicking one of the guards square in the jaw. He cried out in shock and stumbled, falling flat on his face. Bond delivered a follow up kick that gave an audible crack as it connected with the stallion’s chin, before he smacked the other across the face with the butt of his gun. The guard spun, dazed and confused, allowing 007 to grab him and put the gun to his head. Gamblers and other ponies surrounding them yelled in shock, and the whole room fell silent.
“Brute Force!” James shouted, his voice echoing across the whole room. “I’ll say it one last time! Give yourself up. By jurisdiction of Celestia’s royal guard, you’re under arrest!”
Twilight gasped and wheeled around. “James!” she hissed as the guard he was holding struggled for breath. “What do you think you are doing?”
“Yeah, sorry about this,” he apologised.
Bond noticed the earth stallion glare at him. “You just don’t give up, do you, Bond?” he screamed, back pedalling towards a nearby door. “Take care of him!” he ordered his guards, kicking open the door. “I want that son of a bitch dead!” The door slammed shut behind him, and the entire room erupted into chaos.
007 turned around just as one of the guards, who had crept up on him, leaped forward, swinging his hoof wildly. James kicked the guard he had been holding towards him, knocking them both to the floor, before shooting them both. The ponies around the room collectively screamed, and started galloping towards the exit, or, barring that, as far away from the conflict as possible. He internally cursed the mass crowd, as he couldn’t make out where the guards were because of it. Crossbow bolts came flying through the air, embedding themselves in the poker tables just behind him. Must be bringing out the toys from the armory, James deduced.
“Get down!” he barked over at Twilight, taking cover behind a table that had been overturned in the panic. She obliged, but not before sending off a few blasts of magic towards their attackers. One of them caught a pegasus stallion that had been firing from the air, and he promptly fell to the ground in a heap. Here we go, James thought grimly, hunkering down as more crossbow bolts came flying their way.
He sat there for a moment, listening as some of the guards shouted orders at others. They seem pretty disorganised. Still, if he didn’t start firing back then they were sure to start flanking. He went to stand and fire, but saw, to his horror, that one of the unicorn guards had enveloped the table that the two of them were hiding behind in his magic, trying to lift it off the ground. In an instant, Bond dropped into a prone position on his side, aiming through the crack between the carpet and the now-floating poker table. Spotting the offending unicorn, he squeezed off two shots, both of which hit home. The guard fell, as did the table.
“Is there a plan, or are you just making this all up as you go along?” Twilight shouted as James fired a few more rounds.
“We need to get after him!” Bond replied over the noise. “Anything you can do that could help with that? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re fairly outnumbered here!”
Twilight thought for a second as she picked up a nearby chair with her magic, throwing it at one of the approaching guards. “I think so. I know a spell that might let us move forward a bit easier.”
“I’m open for ideas,” he told her, firing the last few bullets in the clip blindly before loading another one into the gun. Only one spare magazine left after this, he noted. Better not waste any bullets.
The unicorn’s horn started to glow. “It’s a shield spell,” she informed him. “My brother taught it to me. It should stop any projectiles from coming in, but let you shoot out.”
“That’s perfect, good job!" he called out as the shield began to take form, expanding outwards from Twilight’s horn. She looked over to him and nodded determinedly, so he stood up. The guard wielding crossbows tried their best to shoot through the purple shield, but to no avail. Even the blasts of magic from other unicorns had no effect. Smirking, James took aim and started to fire, dropping most of their attackers with ease. Intimidated, and quickly losing morale, a few of the weaker-willed guards turned tail and fled for their lives. Either way, they’re out of the picture, Bond thought, as he and Twilight started to advance towards the door that Brute Force had escaped through.
Only a few remained now, futilely trying to blast their way through Twilight’s defence. Quickly reloading his weapon, Bond picked off three of them. As they dropped to the floor, only one remained, who charged straight towards them in some sort of kamikaze attack. To Bond’s surprise, the pegasus stallion flew right through Twilight’s shield. Wait, what? Oh, she did mention projectiles. I guess flying ponies doesn’t fall into that category. James fell into a defensive stance, bracing himself as the pegasus tried to tackle him. At the last moment, he sidestepped, grabbing the pegasus’ wing and throwing him to the ground violently. Before the stallion could recover, he grabbed a nearby barstool and brought it down on his head, knocking him out cold.
“I think that’s all of them,” James murmured, catching his breath quickly. “Come on, he went this way.” The both of them ran towards the door that Brute escaped through. To Bond’s surprise, it only led to a stairwell. Trapping yourself, Brute? Okay, you definitely are stupid. It was locked, but Bond shot the lock quickly and kicked the door in, allowing them access.
He ran in, pointing his weapon up through the concrete stairwell. It may have been his imagination, but he could have sworn that he saw Brute dashing upwards towards the roof about ten floors up. Well, this will be one hell of a climb. "Hope you don't mind stairs," he called back to Twilight as he started to ascend.
"Ugh," she groaned, following behind him closely. "Not this. It's like the Crystal Palace all over again." Bond decided not to ask. Instead, the two continued upwards, bounding up the stairs two at a time. It was a long way up, and Bond kept his eye on what he assumed to be Brute Force, still scrambling up the stairs floors above them. He hadn’t heard any of the doors on the way up slam shut either, so he could only assume that the stallion was trying to escape to the roof.
“Almost there,” he called out wearily a few minutes later, as they neared the roof. “The bastard’s cornered; there’s nowhere left for him to go.”
“And not a moment too soon,” he heard Twilight call back a few steps down. “If I never see another staircase in my life, it’ll be too soon.” She groaned again slightly, and picked up the pace, moving closer to Bond as he reached the door to the roof.
He turned around and faced the mare. “You ready for this?” he asked her, putting a hand on the door. She nodded silently. Nodding back, he took a breath and pushed it open, running out onto the roof of the casino.
Running outside, James immediately noticed Brute inside what appeared to be a personal carriage, being pulled by two of his pegasus guards, who were already starting to take off. Thinking quickly, he aimed his gun as they took to the air, firing off the rest of the bullets loaded in an effort to down the two pegasi. Thankfully, it worked. The two stallions yelled out in pain as the bullets hit them, and sent them tumbling downwards. The carriage crashed into the roof, knocking both of the pegasi free and sending them sliding to a halt, either dead or unconscious, on the other side of the roof. The carriage, however, kept going, sliding along the roof, with Brute still inside, before tipping over the edge. It stopped suddenly, as one of the pegasus’ reins had been caught on a statue, which was now holding the entire carriage back from tumbling down to the street.
"Et tu, Brute?" James called out, as he reached the side of the building.
“Oh, glad to see you're having fun, Bond!” Brute screamed back in frustration. He was trapped inside the carriage, since it was hanging too precariously for him to move, let alone climb out of it. “Why can’t you just die?!”
“It’s over!” James called back, lowering his gun. “The royal guard will be here from Canterlot soon to bring you in. Stay there, and I’ll see if I can secure the carriage!”
The carriage sagged, as the pressure of gravity began to prove too much for the rein that was holding it. “I’d rather die than have to submit to the whim of those tyrants!” the stallion cried, seemingly resigned to his fate. “For too long pony kind has bowed to them both! I could have ushered in a new age! One in which Equestria, and everypony in it, was truly free!”
“More like a chaotic age!” Twilight retorted, trotting up to the edge next to James. “You would have made Equestria as hellish and sleazy as this place! Celestia and Luna rule to bring peace to Equestria!”
“How can you be so naive?!” he called out, before calming herself. “No matter,” he said to them, bringing himself to a standing position precariously. “If ponies weren’t as shortsighted as you are, the two sisters would have never come into power in the first place.” The carriage sagged again. “Just know this: I am not the only one with these kinds of ideals. There are others! Even if I have failed, some of them are sure to try, and perhaps even succeed!”
He went to continue his rant, but was interrupted as the rein holding the carriage finally snapped. There was a deafening screech of metal, and the carriage, with Brute along with it, fell from the roof of the casino. From the top of the buillding, James could make out the stallion's terrified screams, before the carriage crashed into the street storeys below in a wreck of twisted metal.
And, just like that, it was over.
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It wouldn't be Bond without the one-liners.
Hmm, wrapping up so quick?
3619477
*fist pump*
YES!! I got the reference AND the story updated on the same day I read it!
Bond wins.. for now...
Oh James!
(You would think from all of the times that Q says "Oh grow up 007" that there would be a compilation on You Tube)
Yeah, that's Bond baddies - some are in it for the money, some genuinely think that they are doing the right thing. The latter (ideologues) tend not to realise their mistake even just before death. It's ironic that Brute, thinking that he was a liberator was an agent of such death and destruction. He, of course, was proof why the various nationalist groups can't be allowed to win.
Mission complete. Now it's time for James to go home.
Good show 007, good show indeed.
Bond to Brute : "Time to face gravity!"
Great chapter again!
Given this is a Bond flick, whose guessing Brute Force was just the, Fall Guy?
3621186
If Bond putting up a wet floor sign because someone's bleeding on the floor isn't already in a movie, it should be.
I don't know how fitting this phrase would be...but
Brute: "For Equestria, Twilight?"
Is it wrong for me to be chuckling a bit at Bond's antics? Wet floor sign... that would be a Bond thing if one was nearby.. the "et tu Brute" was clever and nice reference to Julius Ceaser (sp?).. Although word jokes tend to get someone PUNished.. If Bond had a dollar for every time he heard the rhetoric that Brute Force was spoutin, he'd be richer than the queen of England
3621186
More like a disc one midboss
I don't believe it Bond...
You let him go?
3621465
Twilight : "No... For me." *drops the carriage she had been holding with her magic until now.
Now that it's over (for now?) is it time for the BondxTwilight chapter?
Twilight could have grabbed the carriage. But she didn't.
She knew what she did.
3622262
We can, it just comes out the other end exactly the same as when it went down your throat.
Brute was so bullheaded he never realized the gravity of the situation.
"stories," not "storeys."
3622724 They're both correct, actually.
nice
3621758
Nope, Latin. If you're unfamiliar with the reference, it's from Shakespear's Julius Caesar, the scene where Caesar realises his old friend Brutus is a member of the party of assassins come to kill him.
*finishes story* *looks at views* 666 views o.o
It's over, gun rounds are ran out, Brute Force is dead, 007's job is done, maybe.
3622171 That, I'm not sure if I should kill you or agree with you for asking that question. Like if you want me to kill him and dislike if you think I should let him live.
3621758
006: for Natalya, James?
007: No, for the strawberries. *bang*
3622527 honestly, he forced his fate on himself
Alternate World!
Brute Force is allowed to make his case to ponies, "And if you let me rule, I promise that I'll murder anyone who stands against me! I'll have gangs of thugs brutalize you repeatedly, rob you, and you'll live in fear of your lives! No more of this peacefulness and harmony with all the other species! We'll have wars and violence and pain and death galore!"
The ponies collectively blink... then lock up the obvious nutcase in the loony bin with Screwloose and Screwball.
3622724
It's Brit Banter. They spell everything wrong over there.
3717943 oi, I resemble that remark
Huh?
QWOP?
Uh... Twilight can teleport. Or did you forget that?
I mean, seriously, she'd be in the roof in no time if she just did that.
Hmm, Bond seems to put a lot of faith in the Princesses despite just getting here. I think his argument should probably focus more on Brute Force being crazy...
I guess this is new Bond, where people just die. It would have been more fun if Lavender Quill's reaction to Bond shooting at her had been an emergency teleport just as the bullet hit, causing her to telefrag herself. Appropriate one liner, 'Rest in Pieces', 'You spread yourself too thin.', 'Pull yourself together.'
Well... that was something... good. Very good.
He had no head for heights.