> Your human and you: a stroke of death > by NightShadow76 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Escape > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I sit and wait in a tree high off the ground, waiting for the right moment. I've been stalking these gaint ant monsters for a while now and I'm getting close to their nest. Although I can never remember the names of most monsters, I can at least remember what they do and the stories from survivors. These big fellas are extremely deadly, venom enough to kill in a hour or so, but the treasure the beasts keep in their nest is enough to live like a king for a few generations, or if you're a demigod like me, enough Celestial Bronze weapons, armor, and other shit to supply the camp for years. All I need is a way in to set my plan in motion. I jump to the tree next to me to keep up with the patroling ants and soon find my target. It looks like a normal ant hill, other than the fact that it is a literal hill to match the monsters' size and numbers. From the size of the hill and what must be underground, there must be thousands of the fuckers. Good thing I'm hard to kill or this would be stupid...oh wait, it already is. I woke up with a slight flinch, the cage rattling slightly. "Damn, that dream again." It was of the very night I arrived in this Hades forsaken place. Oh, I should introduce myself, huh? My names is Cory Senn, or as my captors have called me, 'The Reaper'. Ironic, since my father is Thanotos, the greek god of death. I'm twenty years old, have a large scar going over my right eye from my forehead to just above my jaw, seven feet two inches, was built like a tank before I came here, but was now a monster, blue eyes, alabaster white skin, larger than normal canines, like fangs, and past shoulder length hair. Something different about me from the other humans though, I still had my clothes. I wore all black, black denim pants with a black T-shirt, a leather jacket, leather steel toe boots, and leather gloves with silver knuckle caps. I also wore a wolf head amulet necklace from my mother, who got it from my father. That may not seem like much, but considering where I was at the moment, that's a big deal. Let me explain, you see, when I first came to this world three years ago, I was lost in a forest. I didn't know where I was and I didn't know if I was a target by the Romans or Gaia's army. Though that didn't really matter to me, only getting back home did. I searched that forest like a bloodhound and soon found life. It was a pegasus, but it was much smaller than the ones I saw at camp and way too colorful. I was about to try to tame it when it did something that nearly scared the shit out of me. "Easy big fella. I'm not gonna hurt ya." It fucking spoke!!! I jumped back in shock and before I could wrap my head around what just happened, something hit my head, hard. I saw stars and was out like wet match. When I woke up, in a cage I be. I was angry, tried to break out, but before I could I was shocked with lightning. I turned to see a unicorn this time with it's horn glowing. Great, magic using unicorns, now? This one spoke too. "Now, none of that. We can't have a big one like causing too much trouble." I tried to threaten him, but when I opened my mouth the only thing to come out was growls and chirps. I was shocked again. The unicorn left me alone, giving me time to assess the situation. Many times they tried to remove my clothes, only to get shocked with 2000 volts of lightning. Everything I own and have on my person, including the things in my bag that I have to this day, is enchanted by several gods, including my father. The only ones who can touch them other than me are those who I've given permission, those I trust. Even so however, I was put in a pit and forced to fight other humans. Although I didn't want to, killing them was easy. I've killed humans many times before arriving at camp. I felt nothing when I killed them, no remorse, no pity, no mercy. I fought others that weren't humans. Like griffons, ponies, buffalo, these mutts the ponies called Diamond Dogs, minotaurs, even dragons on occasion. All fell to me, earning me the name 'Reaper'. Now here we are, three years later. The times have changed me. I was concidered cold and rude before. Now, I'm a unfeeling killing monster. Though I'm the best in the pit, I'm not stupid. I've seen how some of the human act and I got the act down like a card. I could heard a commotion outside my cage, usually that meant two things. One, another fight was about to happen, or two, which was happening now, the royal guard has found us. I saw the guard charge through like a fire, rounding up any of the fight lovers or the ones who profit off it. Many of the assholes got away. The guard was going to every cage, checking for humans that would be deemed too violent to release, till I saw them. The first was white and large, nearly my height, with an aurora like mane and tail that sparkled like ice in sunlight, a pair of large white wings and a very long horn. The other was the exact opposite of the white one. Dark blue with a mane and tail that was the night Sky itself. This one also had wings and a horn. From what I heard from my captors, these must be the princesses, and just like with most monsters, I can't remember their names. All I know is that they control and represent the sun and the moon respectfully. I sat there emotionless, knowing that if I showed any intelligence, I would no doubt be experimented on. I also knew that if they think I was a docile human, then they would either try to sell me to a new owner who would turn out to be a fight lover, or send me to my death which they would find out that I'm near impossible to kill. The dark princess saw me first and I saw her eyes go wide. I seem to have that effect on others. I could barely hear anything said over there. I heard her talk to her sister and bringing her attention to me. I knew then that I was fucked. If they both were around me, then they would-no, wait. This could work for me. As soon as they open the cage, I bust out. Not a grand plan, but I've fought magic wielding monsters and titans and giants and lived. I think I can pull off an escape of epic proportions. And that's to my fights with them, I know the horned magic users can't use magic if you hit their horn hard enough. Or I could just break them, but where's the fun in that? I saw the moon princess coming closer to my cage, being flanked by a few guards. She stopped and stared at me before speaking. "Lieutenant, what do the records say about this one?" The pony to her left went through some paper work she had till she found what she was looking for. "Ah, here we are. The Reaper, fast, agile, strong, has killed humans for three years since they found him, and has killed…oh my. Ponies, griffons, minotaurs…even a few dragons." The princess snapped to her, her own eyes wide in shock. She looked back at me, a little fear coming off her now. "A human…did that?" You'd be surprised at what I could do. "Sister, you heard that, right?" The white one came up at this point. "Yes, he sounds very dangerous, yet he seems do calm and docile. Wouldn't a human that's been trained to kill like that be nothing, but aggressive? Maybe we could train him to be different, no longer a fighter, and in a loving home." Another guard came up. "I wouldn't advise that, your highnesses." The two princesses turned and saw the stallion glaring at me. "I've heard of this one. From the reports of the fight rings, the Reaper is said to show no mercy when in the pit. He won't spare you if you surrender. Humans are stupid animals, but this one is just a monster." Yeah, well I like you too. This bastard is really pissing me off. I watch him try to convince the others to put me down, but I have other plans. While the others are distracted, I grab a set of keys that a nearby guard had. I knew these were for the cages and went about finding the right one. Soon I did and I unlocked the door. Normally I would just broken down that se door, but the cage was enchanted to withstand a dragon rampaging. As I opened the door, it make the loudest creak I ever heard. I saw the others turning to me when I made my move. I rushed out and climbed on top of the cages to head for the pit. The blue princess landed in front of me, the white one behind, and the two were trying to reason with me. "Come on down. It's okay, nopony's going to hurt you. Just come down." Okay, so they were more like talking to a dog, but I digress. I saw the guards had their spears ready, nearly making me smile. They were idiots if they thought their pathetic weapons were going to hurt me. I kept my eyes on the princess in front, but kept my ears on the one behind. I tilted my head like I was a dumb animal, which made the one behind me sigh. Okay, you know what, I'm naming them both something. The blue one is The Dark Blue and the white one is The Bright White. Anyway, Bright White sighed. "It's an animal, Luna. It can't understand us." That's what you think. I glanced to see that guard from before has a spear aimed for my head. Perfect, these idiots just keep giving me excuses. I turn to him and let out a growl. This caught Dark Blues attention. She looked and saw the spear. "Lieutenant, drop-" Was as far as she got when I already bolted toward him. I grabbed the spear faster than he could react and tore it from his magical grasp. I spun and slapped him with the flat side of the blade, knocking him out. While the others were still stunned from my action, I dropped the spear and darted for the nearest exit. I was always faster than most others, sometimes being mistaken for a child of Hermes. When the ponies finally realized what just happened and moved to stop me, I was already ten feet away from my target. I felt a magical grasp latch on to me, but right after a scream broke out. Heh, must of hit my jacket instead. I broke out of the building to find that I was in a large city, like Manhattan. I think the ponies called it Manehatten, terrible pun, but so is Manhattan. I mean, come on, MAN-hatten? Why not just-oh right, getting off track. Anyway, I charged through the stupefied ponies and headed for anywhere, but there. I heard the guards behind me and realized that they must've sent pegasi. I didn't look, but from what I could hear, one was about to ram me. So without turning, I jumped to the side and kept running, watching as the pegasus miss me and crash right into a cabbage cart. "MY CABBAGES!!!" If I wasn't being chased I would've died laughing right there. I kept running till I saw a train, but I had to shake the ponies off first. I saw a pile of flour bags and grabbed two. Bashing them together got the desired results, a smoke screen; or in this case a flour screen. I kept running while hearing the ponies fading coughing behind me. I snuck/ran to the rear end of the train and hopped on. I heard the conductor cry out. "All aboooaaarrd!!!" I opened the door and saw it was a cargo hold. It's a good place as any to get some rest, I've got time. This train won't reach it's destination for at least five hours. I barely got a glimpse at where this train was headed next, but the name intrigued me. After all, a place called the 'Crystal Empire' has got to be a sight. > A visit to an Empire > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke when the train whistle blew. Damn that thing is loud. I stood and cracked my back, feeling the relieving pops coming from my spine. The place left much to be desired as a sleep spot, but that was the best sleep I had in three years. I just finished stretching when I heard clanking hooves heading towards me. I left the same way I came, through the back door. I opened and closed the door as silently as humanly possible and hopped down to the ground when I just realized something. I'M FUCKING IN A FUCKING BLIZZARD AND FREEZING MY FUCKING NUTS OFF!!!!! Holy Hades, did I do something to piss off the gods or something?! Shit!!! As I swore like a sailor in my head, I saw some ponies getting off the train. Six of them, all mares, and nearly a rainbow of colors. The first was a lavender unicorn with a darker mane and tail that had a two-toned pink stripe running through it. On her flank was a purple star burst with smaller white stars around it and on her back was a small purple and green baby dragon. After her was a cyan pegasus with a-I shit you not-rainbow mane and tail and on her flank was a rain cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt. Next up was an orange earth pony with a blond mane and tail that were both tied in ponytails. Weird, I know, but not as weir as the fact that she wore a stetson hat. She had three red apples on her flank. Next up was another unicorn that had a coat as white as my skin. Her mane and tail were an deep indigo and curled. Her flank had three diamonds. Next was pink. That's all I could say, the earth pony was pink. Hot pink coat, dark pink mane and tail that looked like cotton candy. He flank had three balloons, two blue and one yellow. The last one nearly gave my a heart attack from the shear cuteness. A cream yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail. The mane covered half of her face and she looked like she was trying to make herself as small as possible. Her flank had three pink butterflies. I saw another unicorn come up to the mares. This one looked like a stallion. He was white as well and had an electric blue mane and tail with a two-toned light blue stripe running through it, just like Purple Star(lavender pony). He wore what looked like a Star Wars Hoth winter gear ripoff and I saw that his flank had a star burst over a shield. "Twily!!" I'll call him Lord Blue. Purple Star ran to him and they hugged a brief moment. They parted and Lord Blue lead them into the blizzard. I followed and stayed out of sight. A few moments passed and I saw that something else was following the ponies. A black mist was closing in on the group and Lord Blue stood his ground while the six mares escaped. Brave fellow, but foolish. He used a spell that managed to push the mist back, but at the price of black crystals growing from his horn. I never seen that happen before, so I know that the mist has sentence. I followed Lord Blue as he fled and came upon a large pink barrier covering a huge city. I saw Lord Blue head inside, but the mist bounced off and let out a screech. I thought I recognized that mist. I've fought enough of Nyxs children to know that power. I went to step through the barrier, but was stopped. It didn't hurt, leading me to believe that the screech of out of anger. I was about to find another way in when the mist rammed into the barrier again, making it crack and break enough to make an opening. I moved like hellhounds were on my ass, which I have had happen to me before. I had just made it through when the barrier closed on the mist as it rammed it, cutting off a bit of red horn. I saw that the mist was really a dark unicorn with a blood red horn and a silver crown and a black mane. Everything else about him was covered in the mist. I ignored the broken piece and headed into the city. I kept to the shadows and saw that the entire city was made of crystals. In fact, the only thing not crystal was the ponies, who looked like someone just murdered their puppies in front of them. Every time Dark King(the mist pony) rammed the barrier, the ponies flinched, some even screamed in fear. I saw the six mares and Lord Blue heading towards a large crystal citadel. I followed, keeping to the shadows, and soon came to a pair large doors. I knew that I wouldn't be able to get through them without being seen so I went to climbing the wall. I was so glad that there were large enough handholds to climb with. As I was climbing I saw that Dark King had some how made it in. "How did he get in? There shouldn't-THE HORN BIT!!! He must've used that to sneak in!!" I hastened my climb, but Dark Kings mist had already reached the citadel. When I reached the nearest window, I looked in to see Dark King had not only made it inside, but he had also already taken down the six mares, Lord Blue, and another pony. This one was as pink as Poofy Pink(pink earth pony) with a mane and tail that was pink, bright lavender, and yellow. What caught my eyes was that she had wings and a horn. Another princess. I managed to hear well enough. Dark King was cackling. "At last, after all these centuries, my Empire is mine once again!!" He laughed maniacally before summoning skeletal armored ponies. "Guard the doors, I'm going to enjoy this." The guards left and he turned back to the others. Lord Blue bellowed. "You won't win!!! The princesses are already on their way!!" Damn, if I want to escape, I better leave. "Then they will fall and become my slaves, just like you all will be." I froze at that. He's planning to make slaves of his own kind?! That's no better than humans!! I let out a silent snarl and jumped on to a pillar in front of me. I jumped from pillar to pillar till I reached the large chandelier and landed on it, surprisingly not making enough noise to draw any eyes. I looked down and saw that I was just over Dark King. I saw a pole and broke it off, making a staff. "Besides, none of you are powerful enough to stop me. What makes you think-" I cut him off by slamming an end of my new staff upside his head. He soared and hit a pillar. He stood up and glared at me. "A human?! You dare attack me?!" Oh, I more than dare you sick son of a bitch. I growled and let out a roar. > Darkness vs Death > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- OST Dark King fired off several black bolts of magic, forcing me to dodge them with haste from the shear speed of them. I rolled to my left and the instant my feet hit the ground, I bolted at the bastard. Before I could get close he summoned fifteen skeleton ponies in armor and sent them at me. I used my staff to take out three with good hard strikes to their heads before it shattered. In hindsight, using a staff made of crystal may not have been the best idea, because now my hands were cut up. Not bad, mind you, my gloves prevented most of the shards from getting through, but the larger shards cut through and left light cuts. Just glad it wasn't a sword I was using. I didn't pause a beat and grabbed a skelepony by its neck bones and ripped it's head, and spine, off and used it to smash another skelepony like a ball-n-chain. Five down, ten to go. I then spartan kicked in front of me and sent a skull flying through a stain glass window, shattering that too, then in the same instant, I used the same leg and shot a kick behind me, hearing and feeling the satisfying crunch and breaking of bones. Two more tried to bum rush me. I stepped back, causing them to stumble as to not crash into the other, and grabbed their heads before slamming them together and turning them both to dust. One managed to sneak past me and sunk it's teeth into my shoulder, making me roar in pain. It didn't get through the jacket, but have you ever been bitten by a horse, especially an undead one? That shit HURTS!!! I grabbed its head and threw it to the ground, where I finished it off with a good old fashioned curb stomp to the skull. Ten down, five to go. The last five weren't taking chances and they all rushed me. I mentally smirked, my outward face showing no emotion, and charged at them in return. I met them by grabbing the first and slamming it into the one on my right, the back handed the one to my left as hard as I could, knocking the skull off like a golf ball. The other two attacked from two angles, one jumping at me high, the other rushing at me low. I simply stomped the low while pulling off an anime worthy uppercut to the high, making it spin like a wheel in midair like a cartoon. I finished it off by driving my elbow into its spine at the right moment, snapping it in half. The first two survived the crash I made them do and rushed me again, either ignoring that their buddies just failed or just oblivious, I don't know. What I do know is that I nearly busted out laughing at what greeted my eyes. The two skeleponies had their bones mixed up and now they looked like a deformed mutant. I took care of them, it, them, AGH!! I took care of it by sending a kick their way that would've made most soccer pros green with envy. The moment the hit the wall and turned to a pile of bones, I could've sworn that I heard a Mexican scream out, 'GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!!!'. I turned back to Dark King in time to catch a black crystal in the gut. It dragged my a few yards before stopping, the momentum sending me right into a pillar. I slid to the floor in pain, shakily standing up. I could feel my back screaming in agony, my whole body demanding I stop. Damn, really wish I had some ambrosia right now. I looked up just in time to side step another black crystal that would've taken my head. I ran straight at Dark King and ducked under a blast of magic and drove my fist into his snout, feeling something break. I didn't stop there. I immediately grabbed his throat with my left and began repeatedly punching his chest with my right fist. I knew he wore armor, but my adrenaline prevented me from feeling the pain of my no doubt broken hand as I kept driving blow after blow into his chest, bending the metal into flesh. I heard a few bones pop, must've broken his ribs, but kept at it till I finally felt the liquid fire in my hand. I stopped punching, but to start using my left hand that was still holding his throat to slam his head into the floor for about ten times before throwing him into another pillar, there's WAY too many pillars in the damn room!! I didn't notice the black crystal till it was lodged in my back, missing the spine by an inch. I then felt a blast of magic hit me in the chest and shoved the crystal right through me, again just barely missing my organs, but it did break a few ribs. Dark King them bucked me hard, breaking more ribs as well as the crystal holding me, sending me flying. I bounced a few times before hearing gasps of horror. Must've landed in front of the ponies. HERA DAMN, THIS HURTS!!! I could hear one crying while another tried to cheer me on, though I could hear the crack in her voice. "Come on!!! You can do it, big guy!! You gotta be tougher than this!!" I heard a few nearly silent drips, tears falling I guess. I heard another speak up, this one sounding southern. "Rainbow, it no use. Nothing could survive that kind of damage and you know it." Heh, if you only knew. I cut off anything else when I start to stand, earning a few gasps for my audience. I stood to my full high, my arms feeling limp. I could hear one who sounded quiet, but her tone nearly made me obey. "You lay back down, right now mister! You're in no condition to do anything!!" I ignored them as I willed my arms to listen and reached for my chains. Just in case any of you haven't guessed it, I'm a demigod. Son of a god and a human. And just like any other demigod, I always have a weapon on me. Now normally I wouldn't pull my weapon of choice out, but if I want to end this before I pass out from blood loss, then I need them. Now some of you may be wondering about where my weapon would be and why would reaching my chains help. Here's your answer, a demigods weapon can be disguised as nearly anything else. My friend, Josiah, has a metal wrist band that turns into a full sized shied and he can use it to go Captain America on his enemies. There's another kid, Percy I think, who had a pen that can turn into a three-four foot sword. Me? Well, I have my little friends. I pulled at the chains, slowly drawing out my weapons. The shafts came first and the more I pulled, the longer they got until the blades came out. Before long, I had two large one handed scythes in my hands. They were pitch black with the skulls of monsters and humans engraved in silver. To me, it wasn't the color or the art on them that should send chills up spines, it's what they were made of. You see, unlike most other Greek demigods, I didn't use Celestial Bronze. Instead I used Stygian Iron. Doesn't sound like much to a mortal, but look it up and you'll see that any weapon made from this metal has the power to kill both monsters and mortals. And as an added bonus, it sucks up the souls of those who are slain by them. Again, look it up. As I held my scythes at my sides in reverse style, the silence was so deep you could hear a feather drop. I only spared a glance at the ponies behind me and saw the looks of awe, fear, and…did that rainbow pegasus pop a wingboner? I looked back in front of me and saw the look a dread and slight fear on Dark King. I mentally cackled at the turn of events. I took a step before he just sent a barrage of magic bolts and black crystals at me and the ponies. I stood my ground and used the new flooding of adrenaline to move my body faster than I thought possible in my condition. I blocked and deflected any attacks that would've gotten past me and hit the ponies, though some did managed to get past my scythes and hit me hard. Where magic hit me, smells of burning came up, where the crystals hit, they were stuck there like the big one in my chest through my back. I began to move forward against the onslaught and saw the fear in Dark Kings eyes build the closer I got. Soon I stood in front of him and made a swipe with a scythe, but he stepped back and tripped over the bones of one of his skeleponies. He looked at me in pure terror, my own face showing no emotion still. "What the Tartarus are you?! A devil? A monster? A FREAK?!" I froze at that, memories that I tried to bury resurfacing and flooding my mind. The name calling, the insults, the beatings, everything. In a heart beat, I swung both scythes and cut the bastards head clean off, letting out a roar of victory. I returned my scythes to my side, watching them turn back into chains. I turned to see that things changed. The ponies still had their looks of fear, now with horror at what I just did. Though I also saw respect. For what, I have no idea. I also saw that the pegasus still had that wingboner, which was creeping me out, but now the pink alicorn had one too. Offically creeped out. But the ones who had my attention were Bright White and Dark Blue. They must have arrived when I was finishing off Dark King. Dark Blue started towards me and I reached for my chains just incase. I saw Bright Whites horn glow and was about to make a break for it when I saw Dark Blue right in front of me. My knuckles were turning white from how hard I was gripping my chains. She just smiled and extended a wing to brush my head gently. "It's okay, nopony's going to hurt you." I finally passed out.