The Smokeless Flame

by BIGBLACKINTOSH

The Doctor part 3

“Duck!” I yelled to my companions. Some blood needles had completely missed Flan and Velcro and were unintentionally about to hit us. Mastodon and Vito had ducked to the right, I went left, all of us hitting the ground with bellies to the floor. Mastodon was the first to get up. “You got a plan boss?” he asked, keeping himself pinned to the ground.

For a second I thought he was talking to me, but Vito got up and responded, “I have bloody no clue what to do,” he admitted. Well that was insulting and disappointing. Flan retreated back to me and got on her belly too covering her head. “Well, I suppose I had that coming,” she said to herself.

“How is your sister going to fight?” I asked.

Flan grinned at me and turned back to her sister. “Just watch.”

Velcro rushed in and went straight after Mimi, charging headfirst. Mimi smiled and let loose another volley of needles, this time focused on no one but the little filly. As soon she launched them, Velcro jumped straight up and dodged the entire volley. As she came back down, Velcro somehow pulled off her right hoof and instead of blood pouring out, an array of blades, swords, knifes and morning stars slashed out. “Aaaahhh!” she yelled as her fist of blades came down on Mimi’s surprised face.

Mimi jumped back to avoid getting beheaded, but wasn't fast enough to avoid Velcro impaling her arm, pinning it to the ground. Velcro balanced herself and smirked at the mare. “Now you're mine!” she shouted before revealing an axe in her other arm.

Mimi smiled and just as easy as ripping off a band-aid, she pulled away from Velcro and ripped her arm off. A river of blood exploded from the wound and quickly took form of another hoof. “You won't kill me that easily. Now DIE!” Her newly formed hoof, shaped itself into what looked to be a drill-like spear.

“Oh crap!” yelped Velcro as she pushed herself into the air, avoiding Mimi’s strike. Retracting her axe, she back-flipped back onto the floor and retrieved her hoof, which I noticed had a black fuzzy looking ring around the joint. Oh, Velcro. I get it. Mimi reformed her hoof and started to circle around Velcro, herself copying the action. Both stared at each other, trying to anticipate each others movements, never taking their eyes off one another.

“Screw this,” Mastodon groaned, taking out his crossbow and taking a shot at Mimi’s head. The bolt struck home and pierced right in the back of Mimi’s head, causing a gush of blood to spurt out before she collapsed to the floor. Mastodon got to his feet with a smug smile. “And that takes care of that.”

Flan frantically waved her hoof for him to get back down. “Get down, you imbecile! She’s not-” Flan began to yell but not before a blood needle embedded itself in Mastodon’s chest, cutting right through his armor.

Mastodon stared at the hardened shard that pierced his chest in stunned silence before slumping to the ground. Vito crawled to his friend with tears in his eyes. “Shit, shit, shit, shit,” he frantically shouted as he pulled out the shard and applied pressure to the wound. “Please don't die on me Digger. Keep breathing you son of a bitch!”

While Vito was tending to his partner, we didn't notice Mimi get up, Mastodon's bolt missing from her head. “As I told the little one, you will kill me so easily,” she reminded snidely. Mastodon's breathing had stopped and Vito’s claws along with it. A shadow fell on Vito’s face as he calmly got up from his friend. Without so much as a battlecry, he charged at Mimi with unbelievable speed.

Mimi’s snide smile became a scowl as her horn lit up with a red glow and spread across the floor. All throughout the fight none of her self inflicted wounds on her body had closed and had made puddles of blood wherever she stopped. Her horn’s glow enveloped the puddle under her and stretched out spikes. This didn't stop Vito as he grabbed a spike as it formed and vaulted over it. Midair, he used his wing to turn in a spin and slashed his claws over Mimi’s eyes. She screamed in pain and couldn't see see Velcro coming from her right, with an axe in hoof. Utilizing her chance, she brought down her axe on Mimi’s neck and cut it clean off her shoulders in one strike.

Mimi’s head bounced on the floor, her body along with her.

As soon as Mimi’s head stopped moving, Flan rushed over to Mastodon’s body, myself included. She started looking over the wound that killed him, whispering temperatures and measurements to herself.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Straight through the heart and out the lung. Hmm” she whispered, ignoring me. She ordered Velcro to wheel over a hospital bed and gleefully smiled at Vito. “Fixable.”

A single tear fell from Vito’s face as he stared at the doctor. “What do mean fixable? I felt his heart stop,” he asked, struggling to get the words out.

Flan smiled as she enveloped Mastodon in a silver glow and lifted him to the hospital bed. “If Mimi didn't kill many personnel, I can definitely find my organ donor before Mastodon grows cold.”

Just as I was going to ask how that would work, there was a wet swishing behind us. We all turned to see a severed pony head riding a wave of blood. I groaned and stomped the floor in frustration. “Oh come the fuck on!” I yelled.

Mimi smiled as her body formed from the red liquid around her. “Oh, but I couldn't die yet! I have yet to show you my art! Its nothing special really,” she admitted mockingly. The corpse that had once been her body got on it’s hooves and a ball of blood gathered on its shoulders. The ball glowed and took the shape of Mimi’s head, even copying her smug smile. Both of the mares leaned against each other in a pose. It would have been something as cute as in the show, but was ruined with how much both of them were covered in blood and itching to kill us.

“Well fuck,” Vito huffed. “Flan, take Don and fix him up however way you can. Idilah and I will hold off this thing,” He ordered, nodding to the Mimi’s with great disdain. Flan looked unsure but complied, ordering Velcro to stay and help.

I looked over to the artificial twins. They were both mimicking each-others movements and expressions. Or more like one expression, boredom.The kind of boredom you’d see on a child getting sick of his toy. Unfortunately, this was a vengeful blood mage with an even deadlier twin to boot.

How the fuck am I going to beat this thing? I have no ammo and if try to do another grenade or fireball, I’m going to pass out. I pondered using word based magic but that would just tire me even more. I was out of options. Vito was going to have to fight alone.

That is until Arige Kool-aid maned through the right side wall with Kitty riding his back.

I would have thought the alligator was a crocodile with the smug smile he was giving us. “I believe this is what you call a “dynamic entry,” yes?” he asked me.

Kity jumped of his back and hovered over us, smiling wickedly. “I haven't gotten any action since we fought, lets do this!” she yelled excitedly.

The Mimi on the right stared between our two groups and smiled. “Oh my, now I’ll be able to crush four cockroaches today. This going to be fun!”

I smiled at Kitty’s excitement but remembered that Mimi’s magic wouldn't allow them to hit her. God dammit! Think Idilah, think! I thought frantically. Arige and Kitty being here would be null and void if we didn't think of a way to take Mimi out. Dammit Idilah think, your friends about to die, fucking think! I screamed in my mind.

I suddenly got the most painful headache I ever had. My vision went fuzzy and my eyes wouldn't blink. Words echoed through my head like a fractured recording. Alright, listen carefully. We’re going to use this lighter to cauterize the wound. This will seal off the wound and destroy the injected issue. Just keep the heat over the wound and it should close.“What the hell was that?” I whispered to myself quietly. Where the hell did that memory come from? And why does my head hurt so much thinking about it? No one had moved since my mini freakout. Everybody’s eyes were on the Mimi twins, staring at their morbid dance in an accumulating puddle of blood. Flan had made it out, along with Velcro and Don, so that was a plus. “Alright, time to end this madness,” I announced to my group.

Vito shook his head and looked at me expectantly. “What do you have in mind?”

I smiled devilishly and I clap my hands together holding them to my chest. “Arige and Kitty are going to distract Mimi and I’m going to try something new. When I say so, you're going to bring me closer to Mimi before she has a chance to react," I proposed. The gryphon slowly nodded in agreement, along with Arige and Kitty.

"Just one question, which ones the real one?” Arige asked curiously.

SHIT

“Um...Just distract them. Whoever protects their head the most is the one we’re looking for,” I guessed.

Arige cracked his double dolphin-sized neck. “This is a horrible idea,” he omitted flatly.

My cheeks puffed in frustration. “Do you have a better ideas?"

Vito face-clawed and ordered Kitty to take flight. “Kitty’s feathers paralyze ponies remember? She goes after both and whichever goes down is the right one,” Vito deduced smugly.

I groaned and kept concentrating on my hands. “That's it, your the official strategist from now on.” A blood spear rushed past my head and rightly remembered where we were.

"I grow tired of waiting!" Mimi shouted. "The only one I want is Flan, just let me through and no one else has to die," she offered.

I chuckled at the offer. "How about no and Arige and Kitty kick the shit out of you," I suggested. Just as I finished talking, Kitty unleashed a wave of feathers from above. Both of the Mimi’s scoffed at the action and raised a wall of the accumulated blood on the floor a shield. That is until Arige kool-aid manned that too, letting Kitty get in closer with another barrage of poison feathers.

Too stunned to react, both Mimi’s were pelted with knife-like feathers. Mimi to the left was completely unaffected, casually shrugging off the feathers. Mimi on the right on the other hand was completely still. The blood clone stared at her controller and scowled, showing her teeth. “I going to enjoy draining the blood from your body Kitty!” she yelled at the mutant.

Kitty let out a cute giggle. “I wouldn't worry about me if I were you,” she hinted.

Mimi gave Kitty a confused look and slowly turned her head to see me riding Vito’s back and my hands on fire. “Surprise motherfucker!” I yelled. Mimi tried to raise a wave of spikes but in her desperation, forgot about Vito’s agility. Vito once again vaulted over the wave of shards. Only this time, I launched off his back, holding my fire encased hand to my side.

As I flew straight towards Blood Clone Mimi, I swung my arm out, aiming for her neck. My inflamed hand passed through the blood clone like butter, crystallizing the heat sensitive liquid on contact. Nothing broke my stride as my hand did the same to the paralyzed Mimi, only this time, cutting off her horn. I smiled wickedly at my feat but failed to remember where I was going to land. “Sh-i-i-i-t!” I shouted as I slid through the waterslide of accumulated blood, straight into the opposite wall.

“Dammit,” I groaned into the wall.

***

After grabbing Mimi’s severed head, we rushed into the operating room next door. Mastodon was on an operating table, Flan and a creature covered head to toe in bandages standing next to her. The thing looked like a diamond dog but had the subtle curves to be a female one. Flan had removed Don’s armor and opened his chest, revealing his fleshy innards.

“Zip! Heart, lung, now!” Flan ordered the dog. The dog flinched and opened her bandages around her chest. Just when I think she was just flashing Flan, I saw line of segmented metal on her fur. Zip, true to her name, unzipped the pocket in her chest and reveal a mess of organs you’d probably find in your chest. Zip gently grabbed a heart and two lungs and carefully held them out for Flan to grab with her magic.

Flan smiled devilishly and slipped on a surgeon's mask. “Alright then! Two ruptured lungs and a pierced heart! BEGIN THE OPERATION!” she announced, surgical tools and new organs in her magical grasp. I stared in complete astonishment as I saw Flan operate on Don as if she was surgical god. Blood vessels cut and reconnected, organs taken out with ease and replaced within seconds.

Vito and I stood close to the operating table, far enough to not impede Flan in any way. “You told me she was good. Arige told me she was good. I didn't think you meant this good,” I said Vito quietly.

Vito shook his head. “I’ve seen her close up impossible wounds, I never thought she could bring people back from the bloody dead,” he replied breathlessly.

I drifted my gaze over to him. Ever since I met him, Vito and Mastodon had never separated, even before that, when Vito was being interrogated while impaled to a wall, they right back into being friends again. Either these guys were two of the closest friends ever, or they were both so deep in the closet that I’d have to pull them out. “Think she’d be willing to join the crew?”

Vito shook his head. “Don't know love. It takes Flan financial encouragement to get out of bed in the morning.”

I sighed. I was going to have to consult Crow about our finances. I swear, by the time we find these relics, we’re gonna be broke. “That reminds me. Do you think Jill’s still looking for those relics? You know, to get into Omar?” I asked him.

Vito tapped his chin. “I don't think so. To tell you the truth, I would have thought she’d found them by now.”

“What do you think she’s doing?”

“I think...,” he paused. “I think she might just be going straight after Omar. But that doesn't make any sense.”

“Is there any way to get in without them?”

Vito shook his head again. “No way. She’s have to have the key for one thing, The Sheytan for sure and another item I never could find more info about.”

This was getting ridiculous. We had came her looking for answers, but so far only got that Jill got some surgery and she was looking to get rid of a trail, attempting to make some profit out of it too. Flan obviously didn't know anything more than that, or else she would have told me in the horn room. I sighed in frustration. “I guess theres not much to do then see if Flan wants to join the voyage,” I thought aloud.

Mastodon suddenly sat straight up with a deep breath. He looked at the masked Flan and then to a distraught Vito. “What the hell happened?!” he yelled jerking his head back and forth.

Vito walked up to him and set a claw on his shoulder, casually saying. “Nothing important. You just died.”

“Operation success!” Flan shouted, her excitement on the same level of Pinkie Pie. She slipped off her surgical mask with a wave of magic and threw it into a nearby trashbin. “And considering the injury was of your stupidity, no charge.”

Mastodon the back of his head. “Thanks. I think,” he replied, not knowing how to take that statement.

“So wheres Velcro?” I asked Flan.

Flan shook her head, disappointed. “Cleaning the grounds, making sure theres no more dogs waiting outside. Oi, today has been an ordeal,” she sighed.

I planned on making Flan an offer that would put even the most savvy merchant to shame. An entire speech that would make any fresh faced civilian join an army. It actually came out like, “Hey, wanna join a treasure hunting crew?”

Flan Pinkie level smile held the answer.

***

On my way to my room, I stopped by the med bay to check on Nightheart. Flan was currently loading her gear onto the ship. Considering she said she was going to be continuing and expanding her research, she was bringing a lot of stuff with her. It was going to be a while, so I figured I get in a visit before the floor got cluttered with science equipment. As I turned a corner to the med bay, I heard something I thought I’d never hear again... Phil Collins.

Well you can tell ev'ryone I'm a damn disgrace
Drag my name all over the place.
I don't scare anymore.
You can tell ev'rybody 'bout the state I'm in
You won't catch me crying 'cos I just can't win.
I don't scare anymore I don't scare anymore

I stopped dead in my tracks. “What The. Fuck?”

I rushed into the infirmary expecting to see Nightheart, what I saw was... Different. The creature in the room was tall like Nightheart but had nothing similar to the hybrid. Long midnight-black arms sporting sharply clawed hands swung to an unheard beat. The same color covered its body, somehow shining in the dim room light. His whole body was moving to the beat, its purple webbed wings flapping occasionally.

I won't be there anymore
Get out of my way
Let me by
I got better things to do with my time
I don't scare anymore I don't scare anymore
I don't scare anymore I don't scare anymore

“Who the fuck are you, where the fuck is Nightheart and how the hell do you know Phil Follins?!” I asked the dancing creature.

The creature suddenly stopped dancing and slowly turned around, finally letting me get a good look at its radioactive green hair and eyes.

“Oh...Uh, hi Idilah. Sup?”

Author's Note:

Sorry about the re-posting. Gdocs spell check does not make a good substitute for an editor. Though, a message to all newcomers! I love feedback and comments so if you have an opinion to share, please comment! (Also, had to edit the song lyrics because of Knighty's new policies. Gotta keep myself from getting banned!

Comments

[mild hotsauce]

I've seen some mistakes, one around where mastodon got pierced by Mimi and the diogue she starts to get back up, one where flan is performing the operation, and I believe one before the change where it says flan 'pinkie leave smiled.' Check around those parts, thats where it seemed most prominent. Otherwise, good work.

[BIGBLACKINTOSH]

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