> Twisted Magic: Black
>  by Randomizer77
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The Storyteller,” he is called. That’s not his real name, of course, but everyone calls him “The Storyteller” or just “Storyteller” anyway. Why? Because of the tales he weaves: short, long, grim or silly, he can do it, and he does it well.

This is exactly what has brought you to this unassuming bar; it just happens to be one of The Storyteller’s favorites. A friend recommended a tale that you might be interested in hearing, and the best way to hear it is straight from the stallion himself. Your friend has courteously arranged the meeting ahead of time, so when you enter the building, you head straight to a booth near the back.

The Storyteller is wearing a nondescript brown coat, idly resting while you approach. As you sit down, his eyes open and a smile graces his features.

“You must be who I’m meeting tonight,” He says.

“Indeed I am,” You respond.

“And what tale would you like to hear?”

“My friend only called it ‘TMB.’”

“I see...” The Storyteller says. “I assume they told you that it’s not a story for the faint of heart?”

“They did,” you say, “that’s why I wanted to hear it. I’ve been looking for a good dark story for awhile now.”

The Storyteller smiles again.

“Well then make yourself comfortable and order a round of food and drink, because we’ll be here for awhile,” He says. “This tale takes place in a city that you won’t find on any map, for many believe it is cursed. ‘Midtown,’ it is called, and it’s a wretched place overrun with crime, corruption and rot.

“And yet, and yet... there is a yearly contest, called Twisted Metal, held by the mysterious Calypso. Legend has it that he has the power to grant the winner of his contest one wish of their choosing, no matter the size or reality. Wealth, power, revenge... win Twisted Metal, and he will make it happen. But first, one must fight for it: several battles across Midtown, including a one-on-one duel against Minion, the previous winner of Twisted Metal.

“Many of the contestants are inmates of the local Blackfield Asylum; even those that aren’t each have their own story to tell, and their own motive.”

By now, what you ordered has arrived, but you barely notice; you’re fully engrossed in The Storyteller’s words.

“This is the tale... of Twisted Magic: Black.”
> Demons, Pt. 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lady does work in mysterious ways. She giveth and She taketh away...

So it was with my freedom.

In the Solitary Block, a lavender unicorn—wearing a red scarf, wide-brimmed black hat and black-rimmed spectacles—sat in the moonlight streaming through her cell’s lone window.

In my time alone in that dark place, I would often hear a voice calling to me from within...

”You are my chosen one, Twilight Sparkle. You are my child, here to do my bidding!”

Truly I believed there would be no escape from the demon inside of me! I wasn’t even a real preacher; I was an evangelist, rejected by the church! I didn’t have the strength to fight the demon alone!

But one day, I was given a chance for salvation.

His name was Calypso. He came to me with a proposition: if I won his contest, he would reveal the truth. It had been two years since the beast had entered my mind, controlling my actions, making others believe I was responsible for those killings.

But now, I had a second chance!

I accepted the offer willingly. All I had to do was win, and a path back into The Land would be opened unto me.





Though only an evangelist, Twilight traveled from town to town, hoping to share her religious visions with anycreature who would listen. She wanted to eventually gain forgiveness and be allowed back into The Lady’s good graces. Her tireless pursuit to be ordained led many to believe that she was actually a fanatic, driven by madness. Whatever enveloped her surely became obvious in a later downfall...




Blackfield Asylum
Patient Profile


Twilight Sparkle

Age: 57

Species: Unicorn

Sex: Female

Physical Description: Lavender fur, purple mane/tail with pink stripe, purple eyes

Cutie Mark: Six-pointed pink star with smaller white stars

DELUSIONAL

DISORDER: Paranoid schizophrenia with persecutory and grandiose delusions.

TREATMENT: Intramuscular meds, restraints, *avoid theological discussions!*



Vehicle: Brimstone (Chevrolet El Camino)
Speed: 8/10
Control: 8/10
Armor: 5/10
Special: 6/10
Special Attack: Suicide Bomber





This rusty, travel-worn vehicle served as Twilight’s traveling church and also her place for penance. Chained and shackled in the back is a poor soul who refuses to answer for their sins. Beware of Brimstone’s Special Attack - Twilight has convinced some of her followers that death is the only option for those who refuse to believe. A maniacal follower strapped with dynamite is hurled toward opponents to grab on to their vehicle. Once they make contact, they’ll sacrifice themselves in the hopes that the opponent’s sins will be redeemed.






Round 1: Zorko Bros. Scrap & Salvage
Opponents: 7


Can Calypso really kill the demon in me? Can he destroy the voice? If I win his game, will I be free?

Twilight was nervous. Who in her position wouldn’t be? She was a nonviolent mare, but now she had to personally end the lives of who knew how many in order to achieve salvation.

With a sigh, she steeled herself as the battle started.

Right off the bat, she sped forward and picked up a homing missile. Pulling a U-turn, she flinched when her car was hit by something fired by another contestant; luckily for her, the damage inflicted was negligible. Going full throttle, she drove off of the elevated area she began on and began picking up weapons.

Twilight passed another contestant’s vehicle going in the opposite direction: a blue sports car. Its driver didn’t seem interested in fighting her at the moment, and she didn’t see what they looked like, but that was probably for the best; she felt slightly better about this by not knowing the identities of her opponents. Steering clear of the yard’s vertical crusher, she picked up another homing missile.

Then, she was hit by a gas can. Panic ran through the her body as her car was set alight; to her relief, a short spurt of turbo extinguished the fire.

But she knew what she needed to do: she had to kill, or she would be killed.

Soon, a target entered her sights: a muted purple hearse. The irony of such a vehicle in this contest was not lost on Twilight.

Apologizing internally, she opened fire, lobbing a combination of missiles, a Suicide Bomber, and machine gun fire that quickly whittled down the hearse’s status bar. It smartly fled, and Brimstone gave chase before colliding with a white tow truck.

The collision allowed the hearse to get away, so Twilight turned her attention to the tow truck, unleashing her entire payload of missiles. Quickly reversing, she failed to avoid a flaming spiked ball launched in retaliation, and rammed into her foe a second time. The white truck remained standing, and fired off a trio of missiles, but it was on its last legs. Twilight had an idea.

She fired a freeze missile, locking her adversary in place long enough for her to follow up with a power missile that finished them off. The number on the “Opponents” counter ticked down to 06.

But Brimstone had been badly wounded by the confrontation; it wasn’t likely to survive another one if it wasn’t fixed. So she guided her machine onto the battleground’s repair station, bringing its armor back to full condition.

Twilight then zipped around the battleground in search of another opponent, and soon found one in the form of what could only be described as a Frankenpony combination of a car and a tank. No doubt it would be able to survive more damage than the tow truck, but Twilight had a machine gun upgrade on hoof to deal with that.

Suddenly, she slammed on the brakes as a bright reddish-orange light appeared before her, and she quickly reversed to avoid taking the full brunt of the opposing vehicle’s flamethrower. Repositioning herself out of the weapon’s reach, she opened fire with her car’s temporarily powered-up gun. The car-tank turned and fled, and Twilight started chasing it across the junkyard.

But then, while racing toward the horizontal crusher, it suddenly pulled a feint, leaving its pursuer to helplessly slide toward the open jaws.

Twilight came to a halt in the danger zone. Frantically, she drove out of it before the maw closed on her.

Her heart pounded in fear, but something else burned inside of her.

Determination. To win this contest. To not let anycreature stop her pursuit of the truth.

She managed to catch the Frankenpony machine by surprise and take it out with a ricochet.

Okay. She could do this. She just had to stay in the zone and find another opponent.

…A police SUV?

Twilight was sure that was only slightly less ironic than the hearse. Why a police officer would enter this contest was a question that she couldn’t answer.

Twilight was steadily gaining confidence. So she fired a Suicide Bomber at the SUV from a long distance, and managed to get a hit. Her car was then ignited by a gas can, but this time, she knew what to do. A quick shot of turbo extinguished the fire, and Brimstone then took off in hot pursuit.

Twilight currently had twelve homing missiles stocked up; one by one, she fired them at the SUV, which retaliated by deploying a turret out of its roof that fired a stream of bullets. When Brimstone depleted its homing missile stock, the SUV used the opportunity to dash away, but then, Twilight dispatched them with an environmental attack.

The turret fire had left her car in bad shape, so she drove onto the repair station before re-entering the fray. After scouring a crashed airplane for pickups, she soon set her sights on the blue sports car from earlier, which had already been badly damaged from the environmental attack Twilight had used to eliminate the SUV. And sure enough, five homing missiles later, the sports car was down and out.

Okay, home stretch now. Doing a U-turn, she spotted another car—a red hot rod—charging straight toward her and landed a direct hit on it with a gas can; she then followed up with a power missile, but missed. Turning, Twilight gave chase to the hot rod, and when she crashed into it, she found herself in the same vicinity as the hearse.

The hot rod raced away, leaving the hearse as the closest target. The two vehicles collided head-on before Twilight launched two Suicide Bombers in quick succession to eliminate them.

Almost there! She thought to herself while she took off after the hot rod. Taking aim, she fired a ricochet, but missed on both the launch and the rebound. But she kept her cool. Continuing her pursuit of the hot rod, Twilight then came upon a dirty car that gave off the impression that it had been sitting unattended in a yard for years on end.

This time, there was no hesitation from Twilight; she hurled a gas can and opened fire with her machine gun, taking off more than half of the junk car’s health. But then, the two remaining adversaries ganged up on her; suddenly, she was fleeing for her life, and making matters worse, the repair station had stopped functioning.

Putting the pedal to the metal, Twilight raced back to the crashed airplane and grabbed a repair pick-up inside of the tunnel it led to. After exiting on the opposite end of the tunnel, she grabbed a second one, bringing Brimstone into a condition where it would be much more likely to survive a fight.

Tracking down the hot rod, Twilight lobbed a gas can, but missed. She followed with a power missile, but this also missed. She wasn’t deterred, though. Powering forward, the two machines collided, but then the hot rod was suddenly surrounded by a field of electricity, with two bolts arcing to Brimstone. Quickly backing out of range, she launched a fire missile that hit home.

Just the junk car left. After grabbing a few pickups, Twilight followed her the blip on her radar to find her remaining opponent inside the tunnel entered via the wrecked plane. They dodged a ricochet, but were quickly reduced to flaming scrap metal by a ram and a Suicide Bomber.






Round 2: Midtown Expressway 104
Opponents: 7


Innocents will surely be sacrificed today. Many of my flock live here—yet they surely understand why a mare must free her soul.

This battle was taking place somewhere much more public than the last one. Twilight’s previous nervousness started threatening to resurface, but she kept it down for the sake of her survival.

Maneuvering around the civilian vehicles traveling along the roads, she picked up something called a “reticle” and to her surprise, a bright green border appeared in her vision. This item, no doubt, would be relatively easy to aim right, something that could be a literal lifesaver in the heat of combat.

She quickly took aim and fired at the nearest target: the junk car. The four missiles that the weapon fired were followed by a hail of machine gun fire and two ricochets. Chasing the now heavily-damaged junker down the road and avoiding the civilian vehicles traveling along, Twilight soon collided with a black semi truck, stopping her in her tracks and allowing the junk car to escape.

Veering right, she drove off of the road and fell to ground below; up ahead, she spotted another new opponent, but they currently were too far away for her to be able to make out the details of their vehicle. When Twilight got closer, she found out that it was a huge dump truck.

Deciding to not take it on just yet, she steered into the nearby stadium, then drove up into the bleachers to exit; going airborne, Brimstone clipped the concrete barriers lining the expressway, and somersaulted onto its wheels. Shaking off her daze and then leaving the road via a construction site, Twilight quickly set her sights on a sidecar-equipped motorcycle. Launching a couple of missiles, Twilight pursued it back onto the expressway, but the bike suddenly pulled a U-turn to get out of Brimstone’s line of fire.

As Twilight re-oriented herself, she was suddenly rushed by the semi truck she encountered earlier, and its driver was now coming at her with killing intent. But she didn’t back down; raising a shield, she nailed the truck with a gas can, and took advantage of their close proximity to fill it with bullets. The truck escaped and Twilight unrelentingly gave chase, destroying it by sending a series of fire missiles its way.

A short distance away from the semi truck’s remains, the junk car could be seen. At least, until Twilight finished it with a pair of fire missiles.

U-turning, she raced down the asphalt, then was suddenly attacked. Brimstone was now in dire need of healing, but the nearby repair station took care of the problem. She then headed toward a boxed-off area next to a hospital accessed by a downward-sloping ramp, intending to grab more pick-up weapons. But on her radar, she noticed that somebody was heading their way. So she stopped around the corner, out of plain sight, and waited.

Soon, the pursuer revealed themselves to be the motorcycle. But it had just driven into an area that nullified the advantage of its superior maneuverability enough for Twilight to hit it with a power missile, knocking it down to about half health. Following it back onto the expressway, she missed a shot with a second power missile, but not with three fire missiles that followed.

As the pair raced back onto the expressway, the road then split into two, with the motorcycle going right and Twilight left. Powering forward and avoiding traffic, the two contestants crossed paths once more, racing toward one of the battleground’s edges. Both of them U-turned, and the motorcycle used its speed to pull away while simultaneously launching a rearward attack.

With the motorcycle swiftly moving out of attack range, Twilight turned off the expressway and went flying into the stadium’s go-kart track, grabbing a repair pick-up and a weapon. Driving into the bleachers, she leapt out of the stadium, but lacking the speed to land back on the expressway, instead tumbled to the ground. Undeterred, she raced toward the main road’s nearest re-entry point and pulled a quick U-turn to get onto it.

But she then encountered by far and away the strangest vehicle yet: a white-and-pink ice cream truck with an evil-looking decorative head on the roof. Backing away, Twilight took a moment to regain her bearings, then charged back in... just as the ice cream truck came over the crest, now transformed into a tall mech that unleashed a volley of missiles in her direction that inflicted heavy damage.

Worry shot through Twilight’s veins as she turned tail and retreated, raising a shield as extra insurance against any other attacks. With practiced smoothness, she guided Brimstone onto the battleground repair station, then raced down the expressway. Upon reaching the “end zone”, she whipped around and charged at the red hot rod.

Suddenly, her car was brought to a dead halt by a freeze missile; however, she managed to quickly break out of its effects. Seconds later, four other contestants entered the immediate vicinity, and all of the now five started firing their payloads in a frenzied attempt to wear down—if not outright annihilate—some of the opposition. Amidst the chaos, Twilight struck the dump truck with a power missile, then took out the bike with a Suicide Bomber.

Heading back to the “ditch” at one end of the expressway, she was soon set upon by the ice cream truck. Instinct kicked in: she hurled bullets, a satellite, a gas can and a fire missile. But then she ran out of pick-up weapons and special charges. Wisely retreating, she headed up an expressway ramp that came to an abrupt end and went flying into a hospital; to her relief, the large floor was almost completely empty, and there were only a few creatures present.

Of more importance was the repair pick-up in front of one of the desks. After exiting the building via the windows, Twilight found herself in the ditch once again. The ice cream truck, once again in its mech form, bore down on her with another flurry of missiles. Fearlessly, she charged at it head-on and rammed it, carrying enough speed to knock its aim away from herself. As the mech started transforming back to its truck form, Twilight launched two missiles and a burst of machine gun fire, sending it to the figurative scrapyard.

The dump truck was within easy range. She attacked with two missiles and a Suicide Bomber, but was then hit with a freeze missile; once again, she repeatedly cranked her car’s engine to break free of the effects. Reversing, she took aim at the still nearby dump truck and peppered it with bullets, sending it to the same place as the ice cream truck.

Racing down the lengthy expressway, Twilight gradually closed the gap between herself and her nearest opponent. When their vehicle, the sports car, came into view, they launched two attacks at Brimstone—just as the latter also launched two attacks.

Steering left, Twilight caught airtime and landed in the go-kart track once again. The skirmish had put her car in critical condition, and she needed to fix it to have the best odds of victory. A drive around the outside of the stadium yielded nothing, but she was able to grab a repair pick-up in the construction site.

Driving back onto the expressway, Twilight was briefly zapped by a familiar electrical field surrounding the hot rod going the opposite direction. U-turning, she kept her distance while firing a few missiles in retaliation, but then a red plus symbol appeared on her radar and a distinct scream sound started approaching.

She did the one thing she could do in her immediate circumstances: run. Activating her turbo, she made a dash toward the hospital as the odd scream grew closer. But several tense seconds later, it stopped and the red symbol on her radar vanished.

Sighing in relief, Twilight made a beeline for the cut off ramp, entering the hospital and grabbing the single repair pick-up inside, making sure to avoid the creatures running around in a panic. Jumping out and landing in the ditch, she turned to face the remaining two contestants as they sped toward her. She rammed the sports car and fled, wanting to get into a more open place to fight them head-on. Glancing at her radar, she hurled two Suicide Bombers behind her.

A few seconds later, her Opponents counter ticked down to 01.

She veered right to grab a turbo pick-up, then re-entered the stadium. Grabbing a couple weapons, she aimed to jump onto the expressway, but her car proved to not be going fast enough; she instead crash landed.

Not wasting a moment, she drove back onto the multi-lane road and tracked down the hot rod. Brimstone couldn’t survive much more; Twilight would have to make her shots count. She fired the reticle and hit, but was then stopped by a freeze missile. Quickly, she broke out as the hot rod used its special attack, then fought back with a Suicide Bomber and a homing missile, taking out the hot rod for good.

Coming to a stop, Twilight caught her breath. Her heart rate slowed as the adrenaline started to wear off, letting everything sink in.

And there were still five more battles to go.
> Demons, Pt. 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Round 5: Prison Passage to Blackfield Asylum
Opponents: 8


Now do you see? It was the demon. He killed those lost souls and tarnished my good name. I hope The Lady will take me back...

Twilight was in a large room inside... she didn’t know what. What she did know, however, was that the ice cream truck was close by once again; albeit in front of her this time, rather than behind her.

Dodging the gunfire the truck sent at her, she raced past, smashed through a metal structure and grabbed the pickup weapon behind it. Hanging a left, she raced around the open room, grabbing the weapons scattered about. Then, she faced the ice cream truck and opened fire with a barrage of bullets and gas cans that sent it up in flames.

Twilight pulled up a reticle and took aim at the remaining opponent: the muted purple hearse. She started to charge the weapon... but her target briefly moved out of the crosshairs, eliminating all chances of her hitting with the weapon’s full force. Undeterred, she still managed to hit with six of the missiles.

A power missile missed, as did a ricochet. The hearse then used a new attack: a purple-and-black shadow-like object that swiftly traveled along the ground and exploded when it was a few feet away from her. Twilight chucked a Suicide Bomber in response, but missed. She attacked with her machine gun and a pair of power missiles, though the latter missed; the hearse shot back with another shadowy explosive.

Twilight assessed her current situation: her car was at slightly less than half health, there was no repair station or pickup in the room, and there was absolutely zero cover. She’d have to take out the hearse quickly. Dashing across the space, putting distance between herself and her opponent, Twilight turned to aim and fire, only to be stopped in her tracks by a freeze missile.

As she frantically cranked her engine to break free, the hearse used the opportunity to attack freely, pushing Brimstone closer to the brink of death. Twilight started to panic. But then, salvation arrived in the form of doors on the sides of the room opening. Not missing a beat, she dashed out through the newly-formed exit, and discovered that the room was... on a ship at sea?! Just when she thought this contest couldn’t get any crazier!

A missile lobbed at her by the junk car knocked Brimstone into the red zone. U-turning after they passed by, Twilight raced up a ramp and grabbed a repair pickup at the top; a quick search of the ship’s upper deck resulted in another one. By now, Brimstone’s turbo was completely empty, but a nearby white orb fixed the problem.

Racing around the ship’s upper deck, Twilight grabbed an MG upgrade. Passing by the hearse, she launched a Suicide Bomber behind her, hearing the familiar cry of “Repent!” when they made contact. Whipping around, she launched a missile at her opponent, only for them to dodge.

At first, Twilight drove around on the upper deck of the ship, anxiously waiting for the repair pickups to respawn. But that plan changed when the ship docked at its destination. Racing off, she briefly debated using the repair station nearby, and decided to save it for when and if things got truly dire for her; after all, she had no idea if this one would cease functioning after one use.

Activating her turbo, grabbing a couple of refill pickups to keep Brimstone’s engine humming, Twilight spotted, off in the distance, the blue glow surrounding the items she needed right now. Driving through them brought her car’s status back into the green and landed the driver-vehicle duo in a muddy ravine.

An opponent came down into the ravine on the far side. Taking careful aim, Twilight launched a zoomy and got all ten missiles to hit their target. Raising a shield, she floored it, opened fire and rammed into her target: the two-wheeled contraption. As it raced away, she exited the ravine and got onto the road at the edge.

Down the road was a raised drawbridge—much bigger than the one on Black Vista Highway—blocked off by “Do Not Enter” barriers. At least, until Twilight destroyed the empty booth that sat at the foot of the bridge. Seconds later, the bridge and the barriers lowered, allowing her to cross. Driving back onto the ship, she crossed paths with the hearse, which was now on its last legs. She finished it off with two homing missiles and a gas can.

Climbing up the side of the ravine, Twilight pulled up a reticle and aimed at a target highlighted in the distance. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Full Charge Up. Fire.













Twilight started to worry that her target may have out-driven her attack, but then “Missile Bonus 10/10” appeared on her radar. Scurrying around the nearby buildings, picking up an MG upgrade along the way, she stopped on a repair station to bring her car back to full fighting condition. Leaping through the air and landing on the side of the ravine, she lined the dump truck up in front of her and launched a Suicide Bomber.

...How did that miss?

No matter. She opened fire with her mega gun and, when that ran out of ammunition, continued the assault with her regular machine gun.

Turning away from the flaming wreckage of the other contestant’s vehicle, she raced back onto the asylum grounds and grabbed an MG upgrade, then leapt through the air, but then went tumbling end-over-end into the ravine. Shaking off her disorientation, she aimed herself at the motorcycle and attacked with a power missile and her mega gun, unflinchingly ramming it when she got close.

Continuing onward, Twilight passed through the room on the ship she started the battle on, grabbing two missiles as she did. Exiting the room took her onto the road that encircled the edge of the battleground, then later, into the vicinity of the two-wheeled contraption. The two moved into a large tunnel that lead into the asylum, whereupon she launched two Suicide Bombers.

Behind the smoldering remains of the contraption, the police SUV took aim at Twilight; she responded with a barrage of fire missiles. Dashing away long enough to grab a repair pick-up, she then re-engaged and took it out with a gas can.

Exiting the asylum, she initially drove onto the road circling the edge of the battleground, then looped back to the roof and finally the interior, where she encountered the junk car. Keeping some distance, she fired a gas can, bullets and a few homing missiles, then exited the building before it could get a good aim at her. Speeding onto the roof, she launched a zoomy at the taxi, then plowed straight into it; this elimination was followed by a second one against the motorcycle.

Jumping to the asylum’s next level down, Twilight used her machine gun to break open some crates and reveal access to a repair pickup behind them. But no sooner had she collected it, that the junk car attacked, pursued her into another room and blindsided her by ramming her when she stopped to grab a turbo refill.

Acting fast, Twilight raced out of the asylum and onto the roof, whereupon she found a repair station. Dashing about, she grabbed two clips of mega gun ammunition, endured the zero-gravity sensation of going airborne, and attacked the junk car with a Suicide Bomber and a homing missile.






Round 6: Black Rock Ridge
Opponents: 8


This place is as small as the hearts of creatures, and just as dangerous. Mother, why do you afford me no sanctuary?

Snow. Snow all around. It was pretty, almost giving the area a quaint feel. But this weather also made things more dangerous; Twilight had traveled to enough cold regions to know how snow made driving difficult.

At first, she was paralyzed by indecision, not sure whether to go forward or backward. But missiles striking her from behind forced her to make a decision, and she chose backward. Zipping by the dump truck, she whipped around a trio of squat buildings—a gas station, a store and a garage—and headed to some k-rails; behind them, the surface sloped downward, providing some cover.

Turning around and climbing back up the slope, Twilight passed by the contraption and sped down the snow-covered road to find most of the other contestants duking it out together. Deciding that doing something to potentially make all of them gang up on her was a bad idea, she merely passed by and left them to their own devices for the time being. But further down the road in an empty lot, she spotted one that had strayed from the pack, and nailed it with homing missiles.

At the end of the route, Twilight cautiously broke through another concrete k-rail, nabbing a repair pickup from the ground behind and below. Clambering back up onto the lot, she raised a shield and charged at the semi truck; the shield proved to be a smart decision, as someone activated an environmental attack that struck her with a bolt of lightning.

After colliding with the semi truck, Twilight rushed down the road—taking note of a repair station—and threw a Suicide Bomber at the sports car. Reaching the three squat buildings, somebody destroyed the garage, removing half of the cover in the immediate area. Brimstone was pushed up onto two wheels by something hurled by another contestant; regathering herself, Twilight fired several missiles in quick succession at the sports car. Hurrying down the road, she tracked down the junk car and after a skirmish, destroyed it, as well.

Twilight stopped behind a brick building to take stock of her current situation. About forty rounds of mega gun ammo. Little less than half of a full energy supply. Nearly full turbo supply. Health status in the red zone.

...The repair station.

She’d have to be smart about this. So she used a tool she hadn’t used yet: invisibility. Engaging the turbo, she dashed out from her hiding place and across the land, nerves on edge. Soon, the invisibility started to wear off, but when it finally did, she was within spitting distance of the station.

Driving down the road and U-turning at the gas station junction, she took a single potshot at the two-wheeled contraption, then the dump truck, and finally multiple ones at the motorcycle.

One more down.

Reversing as the dump truck opened fire on her, she then shifted back into drive and raced past it, snow flying by her and across Brimstone’s windshield. Ending up in the empty lot, she broke through more k-rails to grab a repair pickup, then U-turned and used a gas can to score a bullseye on and eliminate the police SUV.

Racing to the repair station—unable to not take note of the burning wreckage of a vehicle that, curiously, wasn’t the remains of another contestant—Twilight entered the gas station junction, and realized the three remaining contestants had followed her route.

Perfect.

She first attacked with a satellite, but then followed it with two back-to-back ricochets that took out the dump truck and semi truck. Snagging a repair pickup from a passing helicopter, she pulled up a shield and then struck with a gas can. The contraption unleashed a blue shockwave that knocked her into the air, but had no response when a ricochet was launched in its direction.
> Demons, Pt. 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Round 7: Abandoned Skyscrapers
Opponents: 8


One hundred stories up. Maybe I should just jump and end it all... No! That is the demon talking! Dear Faust, make it go away!

This was it. The last fight before salvation. It was happening on the most dangerous battleground, fittingly enough.

For her first move, Twilight broke through a giant glass pane and landed in the interior of a gray, empty building whose original purpose was long forgotten. Grabbing a few weapons, she then exited via another window, sailing through the air and landing on another skyscraper. Using a gas can, she managed to score a bullseye on the semi truck, only for it to retaliate with a freeze missile.

Breaking free, she raised a shield a few moments before the big black machine charged at her. Retreating, she drove up and off a metal mesh ramp, overcome with the unnerving sensation of negative g-forces. Landing, she picked up a missile... but instead received a notice that her weapon bay was full. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? She wasn’t sure. But at least, she found out, she could still grab MG upgrades.

Driving through the hollowed out fuselage of an airplane, Twilight ended up next to the hollow building where she had started the battle. Briefly butting heads with the hot rod, she tried to take an airborne shortcut to one of the lower rooftop, but her car nosedived and crash-landed, and then a red + appeared on her radar very close by.

With no other option, Twilight braced.

The screaming projectile’s impact knocked Brimstone back onto its wheels, but also knocked its health status into the red zone. She had to act fast. Retracing her route through the airplane, the empty building and across the ramp led her to the repair station. A few bullets later, a large billboard was transformed into a makeshift road between two of the skyscrapers. Darting across the new ramp and through the airplane, Twilight came face-to-face with the semi truck, which stopped to aim long enough to be destroyed by two power missiles and a shower of mega gun fire.

Grabbing a repair pickup, Twilight bursted through one of the tall building’s windows, but she was suddenly torched by the car-tank hybrid’s flamethrower, which set her car alight. Making matters worse, she had no turbo. With little other option, she fled, launching a few homing missiles behind her to discourage the thing from chasing her. Exiting the building, she turned left and broke open a pile of crates to uncover a repair pickup.

U-turning and heading around the corner, the evangelist spotted the bright illumination of the hybrid’s flamethrower; acting fast, she raised a shield before charging in and emptying her entire stock of mega gun bullets into it, followed by a couple of gas cans. She then raced across a metal mesh bridge connected to a rooftop with a crane swinging a wrecking ball back and forth, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a freeze missile.

Moments later, the culprit raced by: the hot rod. Breaking the freeze, Twilight continued on past the wrecking ball, turned right and drove onto a repair station. She followed the hot rod to the next rooftop over, landing a few shots on it while entering the plane fuselage. Quickly moving out of range when it attacked with its electrical surge, Twilight was momentarily pushed off the ground by a shockwave released by the two-wheeled contraption.

Exiting the plane, she turned around, raised a shield and attacked the contraption with a gas can and a power missile, the shield protecting her when her opponent created two shockwaves in quick succession. Retreating and heading for the empty building, Twilight jumped through the hole in the ceiling, but then was suddenly pushed across the gap and onto solid ground by another shockwave from the contraption.

Not wasting valuable time sitting still in shock, Twilight dashed away and jumped onto an old cathedral. Snagging a repair pickup, she dropped down onto a rooftop with several satellite towers, turned right, grabbed another repair pickup and landed on a rooftop with a motionless crane—the exact one that was landed on after exiting the hollow building—where she launched a Suicide Bomber at the taxi.

“Repent!”

Twilight raised a shield as the taxi returned fire. Turning around to keep it in her sights, she launched two gas cans and quickly followed them with a fire missile. Putting some distance between herself and the yellow car, she rear-fired another fire missile, then set her sights on the contraption, taking it out with a few fire missiles. The taxi attempted to flee, but entered Twilight’s line of fire long enough to also be hit with multiple fire missiles, itself being reduced to fire and scrap in the process.

Breaking open two nearby stacks of crates netted Twilight two fire missiles and a zoomy. Picking up an MG upgrade, she raced off of the mesh ramp to escape from the ice cream truck. After landing, she grabbed two health pickups, U-turned and waited for an opponent to come into range... the ice cream truck. Twilight fired off the zoomy.

Dodging as the truck sent a flurry of missiles in her direction, the evangelist raced through the hollow plane to get out of her opponent’s line of fire. Exiting, she grabbed a much-needed turbo refill, turned around and pounced on the ice cream truck when it too exited the plane. Burning off a full third of her mega gun ammo attempting to strike, she stopped her target with a freeze missile, and hit with her remaining MG rounds, a gas can, a power missile and finally a Suicide Bomber.

“Repent!”

*Boom!*

That was one step closer, but she was left badly wounded and in peril. Twilight jumped into the hollow building, but was hit when she exited, pushing her car even closer to the edge. Driving off the metal ramp, she continued her search for repair pickups; driving to what she now realized was the broken-off nose of the wrecked plane turned up an MG upgrade and a satellite, but nothing to heal her damaged machine.

A trip through the plane fuselage refilled her car’s turbo, but a scan of the rooftop it exited on revealed no repair pickups. She was starting to panic. Dropping into the hollow building again, an all-too-familiar scream sounded, so Twilight stopped, raised a shield and braced. After impact, she headed for the exit.

Then a repair pickup spawned in front of her. She raced for it like a pony lost in the desert would toward a jug of fresh water. Exiting the hollow building, she looped around across the wrecking ball rooftop and through the airplane, then tried to strike the SUV with the satellite, but missed. With her car still in bad shape, Twilight smartly retreated into the hollow building, but turned left after exiting; to her relief, another repair pickup had spawned next to the outside edge.

U-turning, she darted up and off the mesh ramp and through the plane fuselage; another U-turn after the exit directed her to a repair pick-up hovering above the plane wreck, and she grabbed it out of midair with some help from her turbo. Heading back into the airplane, she rushed to the next rooftop up and started to unload her supply of fire missiles in the direction of the sports car, ending by charging forward while firing her mega gun.

Another one down. Driving into and out of the hollow building, she grabbed an MG upgrade, turned right to jump off the mesh ramp and fired two ricochets at the car-tank hybrid when she landed, but both missed. She then tried four Suicide Bombers in succession, but she couldn’t tell if the latter three hit; however, a closer inspection upon driving by revealed that they did, leaving the hybrid thing hanging on by a thread.

Taking cover in the airplane, Twilight turned around with the intent of finishing off her opponent, but changed plans and reversed when the SUV rushed her. Exiting the fuselage, she raised a shield and opened fire, taking the SUV down to about half health and emptying her entire stock of mega gun ammo. In her continued attempts to strike, she threw a Suicide Bomber way off the mark, then turned around in time to witness large bolts of electricity from the hot rod hit and destroy the hybrid.

With the hot rod and the SUV holding each other’s attention, Twilight used the distraction to enter the hollow building, then picked up a zoomy and a turbo refill. A blip on her radar started moving her way. She pulled up the zoomy and waited... then fired it at the vehicle that emerged—the SUV—and successfully got all ten missiles to hit their mark. Pulling up a shield when the opposing vehicle got close, she chipped away with her machine gun, then used their close proximity to hit with a Suicide Bomber.

*Boom!*

She crossed the bridge to the wrecking ball rooftop—taking care to avoid the swinging wrecking ball itself—and fired off the single ricochet she had stocked up, wanting to make room in her weapon bay for other items. The airplane nose rooftop gave Twilight a fire missile, gas can, zoomy and MG upgrade. She used up a few of her homing missiles to make room for more fire missiles, which she picked up in the plane fuselage.

A search of the hollow building rooftop turned up a few more weapons, and informed her that the repair station had shut down. Her car’s status was in the yellow, while the hot rod’s was in the red; she held the advantage there, but still couldn’t afford to be reckless. Entering the hollow building to put distance between herself and her final opponent, Twilight snatched up a few more weapons, then whipped around and activated a shield as the hot rod jumped down from a higher rooftop and attacked with a mega gun. But its driver failed to dodge the Suicide Bomber thrown its way.

“Repent!”

*Boom!*

...She had done it.

She had won!

All of this sank in as she drove to the rooftop of a large, circular skyscraper, where she would be transported to Calypso’s lair.

But then, a helicopter emerged.





“You are in violation of Midtown City Code 4432!” The pilot said. “Step out of your vehicle and surrender peacefully!”







“Time’s up!”


Round 8: Warhawk’s Rooftop
Opponents: 1


So this is to be my Armageddon? The law demands that I surrender... But I only answer to a higher power.

Dashing around the center of the rooftop, Twilight noticed purple electrical bolts surrounding the helicopter: a shield. But how could she disable it? When she took cover in an empty structure to avoid a barrage of missiles from the helicopter, a potential answer arrived in the form of a tanker truck that bore a striking resemblance to Minion’s. She yelped and opened fire with her mega gun when the tanker charged at her while unleashing a stream of flames from its top-mounted cannon, but her attack literally stopped it in its tracks, leaving it badly damaged and without any wheels or weapons.

Getting an idea, she took it out for good when the helicopter flew overhead, causing the shield to flicker and spark erratically.

Okay, she had a fighting chance, just like she did against Minion! She could win this! But it wouldn’t be easy... something that Warhawk reminded her of by assaulting her with another barrage of missiles. Undeterred, she attacked—and quickly disabled—a second tanker that entered the fray, then dashed across the roof to the second cover structure and grabbed a repair pickup inside of it.

Rushing back to the first structure, the helicopter dove down, and Twilight blew up the tanker, damaging the shield a second time. It didn’t take long for a third tanker to take the place of its blown-up brethren, but like the two before it, it also didn’t take long before it was disabled and used as a makeshift bomb.

The helicopter’s shield flickered, then vanished.

At last, she could finally, truly fight Warhawk. Just like Minion, he wasn’t invincible! She could take him, she knew she could!

Entering the open, Twilight rushed across the rooftop while the ‘copter starting shooting a volley of missiles at her, and took cover to wait out the remainder of the attack. When the explosions stopped, Warhawk swooped down and steered to the structure’s open end to get a clear shot at Twilight, allowing her to do the same and strike with a fire missile.

Passing over, Warhawk doubled back and Twilight launched three more fire missiles at it... but then, the helicopter dove straight for her. She raised a shield and frantically backpedaled, but failed to get out of the way in time; the shield prevented the impact from inflicting any damage, but she was still pushed out from behind her cover.

Moving fast, Twilight snatched up a turbo refill and a repair pickup, then took cover as her opponent opened fire. Taking the time to cycle through her weapon inventory, she realized that fire and homing missiles were literally the only things on hoof that would be able to damage her airborne adversary.

But this contest had taught her how to use the cards dealt to her. When Warhawk moved into a position to line up a shot at her, she attacked with a couple of missiles, but was then forced to dodge something that looked like a giant red ricochet. As the helicopter moved back into Twilight’s line of fire, it was hit by three more missiles before stopping in place to unleash a barrage of firepower.

Twilight made a gamble by exiting her cover to rush across No Pony’s Land, and she took a hit in the process; however, the gamble paid off in the form of a repair pickup that had spawned in the other structure. When Warhawk took aim again, its ground-bound opponent brought the big black helicopter’s status down into the red zone.

She hurried out into the open, raising a shield for protection while she rushed for the other structure. But then, she miscalculated her trajectory and crashed into the side... and the shield then wore off. Twilight was suddenly forced onto the defensive as Warhawk opened fire.

Hurrying back behind cover, she waited until Warhawk moved to take a clear shot, then launched her remaining stock of missiles, engulfing the helicopter in explosions and sending the pilot plummeting to the ground far below.





The contest was mercifully at an end.

I had triumphed over The Darkness!

I visited Calypso; it was time for him to prove my innocence and clear my name!

And yet, he seemed hesitant.

“I made no promise to clear your name,” he said. “I only promised to show you the truth.”

And the truth, he said...

Was that the demon wasn’t real!

The voice inside me was a figment of my imagination! It was all in my mind!

The exorcism? It wasn’t an exorcism at all; it was a baptism!

It was Judgement Day in that church, and I was the Angel of Death!

The truth had been delivered indeed, but not by Faust, but by Calypso! He was right: I was, as they say, insane!

My whole life, I’d been trying to silence that voice; I even performed rituals to show my loyalty to Faust in hopes that She would save me!

Bracing through the pain, Twilight used nails to impale herself on a wall, in the middle of cross painted on the surface.

But nothing worked.

A mare cannot hide from herself; there is only one path before her...

Hefting herself into a bipedal stance with assistance from her magic, Twilight—standing on a building’s roof—spread her forelegs wide, seemingly embracing the land before her...

Then tilted forward and fell off the edge.











There was a *splat* followed by the klaxon of a car alarm.
> Mutilated, Pt. 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the lights are low in this place... you get plenty of time for thinking.

It beats the alternative: listening to the screams that come from every direction.

In the Solitary Block, a green earth pony dressed in a black-and-white suit sat in the corner of his cell with his face covered by his forelegs.

Must’ve been years I was left alone in that darkness. But when you look like I do, it’s probably for the best.

The stallion uncovered his face, revealing...

He didn’t have one!

Like a twisted version of Slender Mane, his eyes and mouth were sewn shut!

My life was over. But the griffon who did this to me, to my face, he was still out there.

But one day, I had a visitor.

Guy’s name was Calypso. He ran this freak show contest he wanted me to be a part of. If I entered and won, he said I’d taste the payback I’d been dreaming about. I just wanted to find the son of a bitch who destroyed my life!

How could I refuse?





Deke was a boxer at a local gym. His father was a championship boxer. Bout after bout, his father knocked out fighter after fighter, most often in the first round. Deke knew he had a champion’s blood in him. But unlike his father, Deke had never been a contender for the National Title; rather, he fought purely for the love of the sport. Every fight would go the distance and the fans loved the show that Deke would put on. One night’s bout was going to be an easy one. The bookmakers had listed him as a favorite against the newcomer. Deke’s confidence was strong. But all of that changed soon after he stepped into the ring...




Blackfield Asylum
Patient Profile


Deke

Age: 30

Species: Earth pony

Sex: Male

Physical Description: Green fur; white mane/tail; *no eyes*

Cutie Mark: Tombstone

FIERCELY AGGRESSIVE

DISORDER: Chronic pain; rage disorder with psychotic features; brain trauma.

TREATMENT: Pony tranquilizers; isolation.



Vehicle: Crazy 8 (Cord 810)
Speed: 8/10
Control: 7/10
Armor: 5/10
Special: 6/10
Special Attack: Field Surge





Deke drives the very car that his father won in a National Title match many years ago. Its dated appearance hides an advanced Special Attack. When initiated, Crazy 8's Special Attack surrounds the car in an electrical surge that seeks out a nearby target. To inflict more damage, additional, smaller surges can be created during the weapon’s use, or the field can be charged before activation. Opponents must be kept close, or the electrical connection will be lost.






Round 1: Zorko Bros. Scrap & Salvage
Opponents: 7


If I win, I can ask for any prize? I'll take revenge. Try having your face ripped apart; see what you ask for...

Life could send curveballs at you; if you were lucky, you’d get a hint that they were coming, but most of the time, you never realized they were even there until they connected. In Deke’s case, he had been thrown three curveballs in a row: his life being destroyed, becoming a mental asylum patient and becoming a contestant in a to-the-death vehicular combat contest.

However, the third curveball presented him with the chance to get even with who was responsible for the first one. But to make good use of that chance, he had to take out who knows how many other drivers vying for victory.

Racing across the junkyard, Deke busted open some stacked crates to uncover a homing missile, then headed onto nearby higher ground to take a fire missile. Grabbing a gas can in mid-air, he launched the fire missile at an opponent in the distance, but proved to be too far away, as the missile instead crashed into the ground.

Landing, he pursued his intended target across the ‘yard, but broke off the chase when they moved too far out of effective range. Jumping onto the large roof of a one-story building, he only stayed on it for a moment before jumping off in search of a target.

...There: an ice cream truck. Following it onto the elevated ground “ramp,” Deke waited until the truck stopped and turned around to face him, then activated a Field Surge, quickly sapping his target’s health bar. When the truck dashed past, he turned to face it; it did the same, still wanting to fight.

Deke attacked with a fire missile, a burst of machine gun fire, and another Field Surge, but his opponent quickly got out of the Special’s range and leapt off of the end of the ramp. Deke followed, but briefly lost sight of the truck... there! Putting the pedal to the floor, he chased after the truck and launched one, two, three, four homing missiles.

One down. A repair pickup in front of the remains of a bowling alley sign undid some of the damage sustained from the duel with the ice cream truck, but as he drove away, a shadowy object whizzed by and exploded against the wall of the junkyard, a reminder that Crazy 8 wasn’t the only vehicle here with a trick up its sleeve.

The vertical crusher rose, allowing Deke to grab the pickup weapon perilously located underneath. Selecting the newly-acquired satellite and getting ahold of a Mega Gun clip, he fired the sat and got it to land on a muted purple hearse. Taking aim at an orange marker off in the distance, he started sending a hail of mega gun metal in its direction. He briefly relented when a number of large boulders suddenly entered his path and crashed into his car, but he kept plowing forward and emptied the rest of the extra-powerful bullets into the vehicle responsible: a very large dump truck.

The hulking machine sped away, but the hot rod wasn’t going to let it go so easily. Deke U-turned and chased after it, throwing a gas can and fire missile before breaking off his pursuit and heading to the horizontal crusher, but then stopping at the entrance. It proved to be a wise move, as the walls slammed shut a moment later.

When the walls reopened, he made haste through the perilous path they surrounded and gravitated to a homing missile near the repair station. By now, the dump truck was nowhere to be seen, leaving Deke with no potential targets... until a two-wheeled contraption soon decided it wanted a piece of him. He responded with a Field Surge, after which the contraption’s pilot decided that they no longer wanted a piece of him.

Once again lacking any targets, Deke picked up the gas can from the end of the elevated ground ramp and entered a tunnel whose entrance was framed by a section of airplane fuselage. The tunnel‘s innards ended up containing a repair pickup among a few weapons. After exiting, he activated an environmental attack, successfully scoring a few hits on one of his adversaries.

A hunt for another foe bore fruit in the form of a taxi, which he pounced on with a Field Surge, but it quickly moved out of range to break the connection. Not one to be discouraged so easily, Deke chased after it while unleashing his entire stock of homing missiles; the taxi survived the assault, however.

Any plans to keep pursuing it went out the window when what looked like the offspring of a car and a tank got up close while throwing a couple of gas cans at him, an action that Deke reciprocated. His car was now near the “danger zone,” and rather than push his luck, he instead hopped into a suspended airplane piece to grab a repair pickup.

Entering the large building in the center of the junkyard, stacked crates were destroyed to gain access to the pickup weapons they covered. The car-tank showed its face again and hit Crazy 8 with a gas can that set it aflame, but in retaliation, was pelted with a full-force assault from an environmental.

As the fire was quickly extinguished via turbo, Deke took a shortcut through the horizontal crusher on his way to the repair station, where he quickly brought his car back into fighting shape. Cycling through his weapons, he selected a reticle and backed off of the station, and just in time, as a power missile struck his previous position a split-second later. Unintimidated, he charged up the reticle and fired it at the dump truck, taking it out.

Deke drove backward and U-turned, but Crazy 8 lived up to its name by instead doing a wild spin that ended with it facing a barrier, stalling its driver long enough to get hit by a projectile that thankfully on inflicted scratch damage. Leaving the earthy ramp, he set his sights on the hearse, only for it to dash past him and up the ramp, prompting him to pursue. The gap between them proved too great, however, and the hearse shook him off its tail.

Leaping off the ground ramp, Deke restarted his search for a target, and quickly crossed paths with the taxi once again. It was on higher ground... a narrow path. He charged up a Field Surge and let it loose; the cramped space prevented his opponent from escaping and caused them to take the full brunt of the attack. Then, a collision finished it off.

Another shadow passed close by, and Deke quickly pinpointed the vehicle that fired it: the hearse. As Crazy 8 closed the distance between them, the hearse’s driver changed tactics and started fleeing, with the hot rod following close behind. He chased it around the bowling alley sign, past the crusher and another contestant, and finally unleashed a Field Surge.

The blue electrical bolts surrounded Crazy 8 and arced out toward the hearse, but the latter soon broke the connection. Undaunted, he U-turned and chased the faded purple machine onto the roof of the single-story building, but it jumped off a couple of moments before he landed. Keeping up the pursuit, he grabbed a zoomy, took a hit from another shadow, and fired his weapon, putting his target onto its last legs. It started to flee, but couldn’t outmaneuver a pair of homing missiles.

A ricochet wizzing by alerted Deke to the whereabouts of the nearest enemy, which turned out to be the car-tank. In trying to line itself up for another attack, it stood still long enough to be nailed with a power missile. Both vehicles were briefly thrown into the air by a blue shockwave, then the contraption came rushing in while sending out another shockwave, throwing Crazy 8 against a building.

Shaking off the impact, Deke resumed chasing the car-tank, throwing a gas can and a homing missile its way. It dodged a fire missile, then cloaked itself in a shield. Deke simply waited for the moment the shield wore off to destroy the vehicle with a fire missile.

The contraption came over one of the dirt piles and released a shockwave, and Deke took off in pursuit, his hot rod’s old school engine roaring away. He chased it past the repair station, across the ground ramp, through the lone building, past a blue vintage sports car and swiftly dispatched it with a charged Field Surge.

Just the sports car left. But Deke didn’t let himself get cocky just because it was the last opponent standing; he didn’t know what they could do. He’d have to keep his guard up.

Initially, he avoided his remaining foe, instead speeding into the plane tunnel and collecting the weapons within; only after gathering a good-size stockpile of weapons—and fixing his car with a couple of repair pickups—did he seek out the sports car.

It was ready for him; when Deke used a Field Surge, the rival driver used their car’s speed to swiftly get out of range and shoot back with a zoomy. Going on looks, Deke guessed that the sports car wasn’t well-armored; hay, it was probably worse than his car in that aspect. He tested this theory with another Field Surge, this one charged; sure enough, the sports car’s status bar drained rapidly before it struck him with a freeze missile.

Breaking free, he considered using his machine gun, now loaded with mega gun bullets, but decided against it; he’d rather save them for round 2. Using turbo to push his car to its limits, he trailed the sports car across the junkyard and when it was in the proper place, stopped it with a freeze missile, then activated an environmental and finished it off with a power missile while it was immobilized.






Round 2: Midtown Expressway 104
Opponents: 7


You grow up on the east side of Midtown, not much affects you anymore. That's why it doesn’t bother me, killin' these other drivers.

The freeways. This battleground was very open, perfect for Crazy 8 to stretch its legs, so to speak. But at the same time, the open space could also provide more avenues of escape from its Field Surge, unless the vehicle being targeted had a significant speed disadvantage.

Deke had already packed his weapon bay almost to the brim in the previous round; he decided to top it off and thus headed to the go-kart track, where he picked up a satellite and a few missiles. Jumping back onto the expressway, he launched the sat and chased a police SUV down an on/off-ramp, intending to hit it with the weapon’s full force.

It was too far away, however, and the weapon missed, but not by much. As it attacked him with a fire missile and a roof-mounted gun turret, the two vehicles slammed into each other head-on before dashing back up to the main road.

While the SUV turned right, the now-wounded Deke turned left and jumped the gap between the expressway and the stadium twice over to get the two repair pickups hovering in the air. Landing safely outside of the building, he turned and opened fire on the dump truck, throwing a couple of extra power missiles and ricochets for good measure. On their last legs, the truck’s driver wised up, but their vehicle wasn’t fast enough to get away from a lethal Field Surge.

Deke reversed off the ramp to avoid a ricochet and a power missile launched by the SUV, after which he returned fire with two power missiles of his own that landed squarely on their target and were followed by a Field Surge. The SUV broke the connection and rear-fired a gas can, but Crazy 8 didn’t back down, following it and launching a few fire missiles before a different contestant heading down the expressway—the contraption—set their sights on him.

As the SUV sped away and the contraption raced down the on/off-ramp, Deke launched homing missiles at the latter while reversing. When his opponent reached the bottom, he floored it and roared past them back up the ramp, hung a left and jumped into the stadium.

But he wasn’t alone; the contraption soon followed him. Deke heavily damaged it with a charged Field Surge, and it turned tail and fled; as it exited the stadium, the hearse entered. Launching a fire missile in its direction, he realized that his car was in rough shape; the stadium held a repair station, but he’d first have to lure the hearse away from it.

The latter’s driver went on the offensive, trying to hit with a satellite, but Crazy 8 dodged, almost hitting one of the go-karts racing around the circle track. The hearse launched another satellite, but Deke dodged it, too, then used the opportunity to speed onto the station. Upon his car being fixed up, he took a glancing hit from a gas can, quickly reversed, and retaliated with a fire missile.

The contraption rejoined the fight, throwing Crazy 8 into the air with a shockwave before Deke exited the stadium and collected a satellite along the way. He quickly fired the weapon, and when the contraption followed him out of the stadium... bam! Racing to one end of the expressway, Deke grabbed a gas can, homing missile, MG upgrade and ricochet, then turned around and headed the other way, passing several civilian cars along the way. At the on/off-ramp, he activated a Field Surge and performed a quick drive-by to eliminate the SUV.

The taxi, surprisingly, was still at full health; Deke changed that with a pair of fire missiles. Speeding to the expressway’s opposite end, he jumped off the off-ramp and into a huge, mostly empty hospital floor, where he collected a repair pickup.

Suddenly, a red plus symbol appeared on his radar and an unusual scream started approaching. Rather be safe than sorry, he activated a shield and stopped. The scream continued to grow in volume before a projectile impacted his car, after which he continued on his way.

When he reached the windows of the hospital, he paused... two other contestants had followed him up there. Not wanting to back down, he selected his Special Attack, raced to meet them, and unleashed a Field Surge on the taxi, but a split second later, it shot several spikes toward him that knocked him airborne and backward.

As it raced by, Deke started driving in reverse, avoiding another group of its spikes, and landed a glancing hit with a gas can when it passed by in front of him. Getting a bead on the taxi next to the windows, he opened fire with his machine gun, then hit with a ricochet that pushed it over the edge, and launched a second ricochet after it for good measure.

Turning away from the windows, he sped across the floor and started a duel with the other vehicle that had followed him up there: the hearse. It hit him with a homing missile; he did the same. When it moved behind him, he rear-fired another homing missile, then reversed as it attacked with a zoomy.

Deke raced toward the same windows the taxi exited from, rear-firing another homing missile just before he exited; a projectile launched by the hearse struck him in mid-air before he landed back on the expressway. Darting around the civilians, he refilled his turbo, then fixed his car on the repair station outside of the construction site.

Heading back onto the expressway, he veered into the stadium to pick up more weapons, then a few contestants moved their brawl into the same area. Deke fired a satellite, paused to catch his breath, and then raced into the stadium and landed a direct hit on the taxi, leaving it hanging on by a thread. As he left it in his dust, he rear-fired a couple of fire missiles that finished it off.

Jumping off the stadium bleachers and onto the expressway, he noticed a nearby blip on his radar. U-turning, he drove down the on/off-ramp in the direction of the blip, which turned out to belong to the hearse. It was too far away for a Field Surge to work... until Deke raced in close to it and reduced it to scrap metal.

Traveling around the outside of the stadium, he found a way back inside, whereupon he fired a power missile at the contraption, which retaliated with a fire missile and a shockwave. Another red plus symbol appeared on the radar and started homing in on him, so he turned on the turbo and exited the stadium to try and outrun it.

Deke just managed to succeed. With the heat off of him, he activated invisibility, U-turned, and headed back for the stadium, but then he passed by the barely-hanging-on contraption. He ended his invisibility early to rear-fire a fire missile to take out his opponent.

Running a ring around the outside of the stadium netted a few pickups, but he needed more than that; he needed to repair his car. With the repair station no longer active, he collected a repair pickup in the construction site and the hospital before jumping out of the latter and landing back on the expressway, where he was greeted by a dirty, rusty junk car.

When it hit Deke with a missile, he retaliated with a Field Surge that inflicted a decent amount of damage before the junker’s driver broke the connection, but a screaming missile from the other opponent made sure that the junker would get off with more than just a few scratches.

While the two other drivers grappled with each other, Deke cut through the construction site, drove down the expressway a short distance, and collected a repair pickup while entering the stadium, also grabbing a zoomy inside.

He started to drive up the bleachers, but stopped when he noticed an approaching radar blip. Changing tactics, he backed up toward the stadium center, and when the opposing car entered, fired the zoomy, landing all ten missiles on their target.

The now very angry junker charged at him while shooting a missile and gas can, but Deke raised a shield and returned fire with a power missile and his mega gun. After getting out of the line of fire, he shot a gas can and homing missile behind him.

Just one opponent left.

A jump from the stadium to the expressway nabbed Deke a satellite and put him close to his remaining adversary. Racing in its direction, he fired the satellite, sped down the on/off-ramp, and brought the missiles down on the blue sports car. He fired a power missile, but missed; dodging a satellite, he hit with his remaining mega gun rounds, two ricochets, and a charged Field Surge.
> Mutilated, Pt. 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Round 3: Black Vista Highway
Opponents: 8


The docs in the asylum always asked what I could see. I told 'em I saw what I’ve seen my whole life: darkness.

Round Three. All of the death and destruction wasn’t affecting Deke. But there was a part of him—the boxing side—that was relishing a particular feeling: the adrenaline rush.

But this wasn’t a boxing match, this was a literal game of life or death. He couldn’t let the rush he got from fighting cloud his judgement, because with what was on the line, a misstep could cost him much more than victory.

A turbo-boosted charge down the road rewarded Deke with an MG upgrade and a potential target in the form of a black semi truck. A Field Surge damaged it, but only slightly, as Crazy 8 was too far away. Racing on by, he targeted a white tow truck with a gas can, then jumped across a raised drawbridge.

A second MG upgrade on the other side of the drawbridge further boosted Deke’s firepower before he traded paint with the sports car traveling in the other direction. U-turning, he gave chase, refusing to back down when the rival driver hit him with a power missile. After crossing the drawbridge, however, he gave up the pursuit, having seen enough to realize that the sports car was fast enough to outrun his hot rod.

Turning around, he set off on a hunt for another target, and quickly found one: the semi truck. Undeterred by the ricochet it launched in his direction, he took advantage of the truck’s inferior speed to dump two-thirds of his mega gun rounds into it, then finish the job with a gas can.

Up ahead, the road forked into two routes; Deke took the right-side route and surprised the dump truck with a gas can that, while not inflicting anything more than scratch damage, definitely got its attention. The dump truck’s driver shot at him with a homing missile, and after chasing each other around in a quick circle, Deke hit it with a charged Field Surge.

Leaving the truck in his dust, he snatched up a reticle and continued ripping down the road at maximum speed in search of a target. The sports car came by going the other direction, moving too quickly for the reticle to be of any use. A rusty coupe utility that followed it was also too fast, so he changed course onto the lower link where the route crossed a bridge, turned around and waited for a target to enter his sights.

He didn’t have to wait long. Taking aim, he charged up the weapon and fired, successfully hitting his selected target. Making a reverse U-turn, he raced up to the point where the bridge’s upper and lower links rejoined, where he threw missile after missile at the car-tank while chasing it to the drawbridge.

Grabbing a repair pick-up while crossing the drawbridge, he resumed his dogged pursuit of the car-tank; when it paused to pick up a weapon, Deke used the opportunity to strike with his mega gun, a power missile, a Field Surge and a homing missile.

Leaving the car-tank’s flaming wreckage in his rearview, he used a gas can to do a drive-by on the dump truck and swiftly fled before its driver could respond. Speeding onto the bridge’s upper link, he launched a pair of homing missiles at a taxi before snagging a repair pick-up in a hole in the road.

With multiple vehicles brawling on the upper link, Deke selected a recently-acquired reticle and backtracked along the lower link to get a target into his line of fire. Sports car: aim, charge and fire. Its driver just managed to dodge the full brunt of the weapon, and quickly broke the connection of a Field Surge.

But their machine’s health was now in the red zone, and they couldn’t get to a hiding place without going through Deke first. Chasing it to the fork in the road, he launched two homing missiles, picked up a zoomy, and then used a fire missile to land the killing blow.

At the opposite end of the road where the two routes rejoined each other, the dump truck was a sitting duck for the zoomy. It got closer to retaliate, but this move made it easier for Deke to hit it with a fire missile, ricochet and take it out with his machine gun.

Racing through the center of the dump truck’s remains, he headed to the drawbridge, where he picked up a reticle and a repair pickup. It was then that the tow truck entered his line of sight; not wanting to let the opportunity go to waste, he quickly selected the reticle, fully charged it up and let it loose.

The attack put the tow truck in the red zone, but they weren’t going to go down so easily. They raised a shield for protection against a Field Surge, then stopped Deke in his tracks with a freeze missile, buying themselves enough time to flee to safety.

Jumping the bridge and grabbing a turbo refill, Deke came under attack from the taxi; acting fast, he raised a shield and made a speedy getaway. He slowed down to grab an MG upgrade, then hightailed it when the police SUV fired a power missile at him.

Speeding onto the repair station, he brought Crazy 8 back to full fighting condition, then turned around to face off against the SUV as it bore down on him. He selected and started charging a reticle, but moments before it reached full charge, the SUV hit him with a freeze missile, causing the weapon to overcharge, backfire and be lost.

Breaking the freeze, he launched a ricochet and a Field Surge while reversing to keep his distance, unintentionally breaking the electrical connection in the process. Shooting his mega gun, he followed the assault with a fire missile; a civilian car was unlucky enough to get in the way of a second one, but there was no obstruction for a third one to land the killing blow.

U-turning away from the wreckage, he refilled his turbo, picked up a reticle and headed to the two-level bridge, where he fired the weapon at the taxi from a long distance away. The missiles disappeared into the distance while he closed the gap between the two vehicles, and he was soon notified that all of the missiles reached their target.

Launching a satellite, Deke quickly brought it down onto the taxi and the coupe utility, the latter which happened to be in the blast zone. Racing away from the two tangled-up opponents, he rear-fired a trio of fire missiles before U-turning to take out both vehicles. A few homing missiles dispatched with the taxi, but it was a flaming spiked ball showing up out of the blue that finished off the ute.

Having seen every weapon useable by every contestant’s vehicle, the ball could only have been a Special Attack, and could only have come from the tow truck. Sure enough, the white machine showed its face again and was ready to fight, attacking with another flaming spiked ball that Deke barely dodged.

But he still had some advantageous cards he could play. Using his car’s speed, he activated a Field Surge and literally ran rings around the tow truck, just avoiding the hail of mega gun metal it tried to hit him with, the bullets instead striking any civilian cars unlucky to be within range.

Halting the truck with a freeze missile, he emptied his entire stock of mega gun ammunition into it.






Round 4: Minion’s Stadium
Opponents: 1


Crimson clouds constantly shifted across the night sky. Bloodstains and the charred remains of destroyed vehicles sporadically littered the ground.

Crazy 8 sped into the stadium through the sole entrance and skidded to a stop; behind it, a massive metal door slammed down, trapping vehicle and driver inside.

Sitting near the center of the stadium was their opponent.





This guy won last year's contest, but I ain't afraid. If I can just find a way past his shield, I can beat him.

For his first move, Minion charged. Most would be shocked by his truck’s speed and remain still just long enough to be rammed. But not Deke, who dodged with the aid of his turbo.

Rushing to the outside ring of the stadium, he stocked up an MG upgrade and a few missiles before going on the offensive, hitting Minion’s right shield panel with a fire missile. As the massive tanker started to chase him down, he rear-fired another that hit its front panel.

Minion got up close, close enough to be within range of Crazy 8’s signature attack. A drive-by Field Surge quickly took out the right shield panel and managed to damage the three remaining ones before losing its connection, but Deke didn’t get off scot-free, his vehicle being damaged and set alight by Minion’s flamethrower.

Both drivers moved off the outer ring of the stadium and back into the center, where Deke raised a shield to safely dash past Minion and grab a turbo refill, repair pickup, and two weapons. The former knew that he couldn’t so much as scratch the latter until he took out their shield. But there was no getting around the danger and difficulty of doing so.

He’d have to approach this fight smartly.

Taking advantage of the distance between himself and his foe, Deke charged up and fired off a reticle, but Minion saw it coming and angled himself so his shield blocked the weapon’s full force. Rushing off the edge of the arena, Deke activated a shield, raced in to the danger zone and destroyed the front shield panel with a power missile, using turbo to aid his escape.

Minion wasn’t going to let him get away so easily, however, and launched a barrage of fireballs that swiftly zeroed in on and struck their target. Within a second, the reigning champion moved entirely onto the offensive, opening fire with his machine guns while taking off in hot pursuit of his adversary.

Pushing his car’s ancient engine as hard as it could go, Deke gradually created a gap between himself and Minion, and stretched it to the point where he could safely swerve and nab a repair pickup. But the repairs were almost immediately rendered moot as the tanker started pelting him with homing missiles, and he raised a shield just in time to block a fully-charged reticle that would have otherwise finished Crazy 8 off.

But this wasn’t Deke’s first rodeo; he’d been on the back hoof many times before.

Refilling his turbo, he raced around the stadium’s edge and fixed his badly damaged machine with repair pickups that had regenerated, topped off by one dragged by a helicopter. After doing a quick check of his weapons, he came up with a plan to take out Minion’s shield.

Against an opponent of Minion’s caliber, the plan was risky, to say the least.

But Deke hadn’t made it this far into Twisted Metal by not taking risks.

Dodging a zoomy that was fired his way, he retaliated with a fire missile while jumping back onto the blood-and-metal-littered dirt that formed the center of the stadium. Selecting a homing missile, he fired at the exposed left shield panel, but Minion turned and made it strike his shield at the last moment.

Just as planned.

Not missing a beat, Deke raced in, charged up a Field Surge and let it loose while driving around Minion’s left and back sides.

Two explosions—music to Deke’s ears—sounded as the reigning champion’s final two shield panels were destroyed, and with it, his invulnerability.

It was impossible to tell for sure if Minion was angry, but since he then attempted to incinerate Crazy 8 with his truck’s flamethrower, it was possible, especially if his previous opponents hadn’t put up nearly as much of a fight as Deke was doing.

But Deke wouldn’t give up; not now, not ever. The moment he accepted the invitation to compete in this contest, he was all-in, and he had no plans to leave in a body bag.

Backing off, he retreated to the edge of the stadium to stock up on weapons, and Minion, not one to intentionally let an adversary get a leg up on him, did the same. After loading up, he turned toward Deke with astonishing speed for the size of his vehicle and fired a zoomy, though the latter dodged half of the ten-missile barrage.

Deke then made an incredibly bold move.

Firing a satellite into the air, he rushed at Minion, feinted, got behind him, let the weapon bring down the hurt, and then swiftly dashed away to avoid retaliation.

Minion had no way of showing it from inside his truck, but he was impressed by this driver’s boldness.

But that didn’t change the fact that he was playing for keeps.

Deke got in close again, this time striking Minion with a power missile and taking advantage of the weapon’s knockback to hit him hard with a full clip of mega gun bullets, taking off about a quarter of the truck’s health before speeding away.

Minion gave chase while shooting homing and fire missiles at the fleeing hot rod and following with a flurry of fireballs to keep the pressure on. Deke slowed down and dropped a charged land mine before swerving to grab a repair pickup out of the air.

Upon landing, he swiftly U-turned and started driving in reverse while aiming and charging a reticle. Minion launched more fireballs, but Deke didn’t falter; he stood his ground and let the attack land, then fired the reticle afterward, the cluster of missiles taking off another near-quarter of his adversary’s health.

Deke opened fire with his machine gun while Minion closed in, then when he got too close for comfort, braked and activated turbo to slingshot past him toward the stadium’s edge. On the ring, he filled his weapons bay to the brim while dodging even more fireballs, and followed the weapons with a turbo refill and repair pickup.

Minion charged up a reticle and shot it at Deke, but he blocked it with a shield before retaliating with a zoomy, aiming carefully to make sure all ten missiles hit. Zipping in close, he struck with a ricochet and power missile, then quickly moved away when Minion’s flamethrower spewed a jet of scorching flames at him.

U-turning, he showered Minion with mega gun bullets, bringing his health down to slightly less than a quarter. The champion rushed him, and when Deke moved to dodge, steered into his path while unleashing another torrent of flames before slamming into him at top speed, sending Crazy 8 skidding across the stadium.

Minion may have been almost on his last legs, but he clearly wasn’t going to go down easy, and Deke wasn’t foolish enough to get complacent and sloppy when he thought victory was a sure thing.

Just like in boxing, he wouldn’t let up until his opponent went down.

Time to finish this.

Crazy 8’s machine gun started chattering away while the hot rod fearlessly charged at the tanker, then launched a power missile shortly before colliding head-on. Though pushed back by the collision, Deke used the opportunity to line up and fire another ricochet, followed by a homing missile, fire missile and another power missile.

Minion was now hanging on by a thread.

Deke launched a gas can and brought it down for a bullseye to finish him off.

But he slammed on the brakes when a massive piece of Minion’s exploding truck sailed straight toward him.





In the nuthouse, I was always drugged up; I never thought about what happened to me.

But after I was out, I couldn’t stop thinkin’ about it.

I was a boxer. You never heard of me, I was strictly small-time.

One night, I went up against a hotshot fighter from outta town.

A fighter nicknamed “The Drill.” Deke, a.k.a. “The Tank,” stood in his corner of the ring, red eyes brimming with confidence.

I never saw it comin’!

Cheers, gasps and shouts came from the crowd as the match rapidly heated up.

I got torn to pieces before the end of the first round!

Following hit after brutal hit, Deke went down, and the chime of the ringside bell followed.

My jaw was shattered, my nose was broke... I was a mess.

Some of the guys from the gym said they knew a surgeon who could fix me up good as new. Maybe there were better doctors in town, but none that I could afford. Besides, I’d heard this one was a big fan of the fights.

…Too bad old doc made the mistake of bettin’ on me that night.

“20,000 bits,” the griffon said sourly. “20,000 bits I lost on you tonight.”

As I went under, all I could hear was the scraping sound of doc’s blade, and this blaring opera music he played while he worked.

With a flick of a switch on an old-fashioned radio, music filled the room as the doctor started to operate…

The bedside tray was filled with two eyeballs…

Then a tongue…

When I woke up, my face felt like it had gone fifteen rounds with a semi truck!

…The doc did a good job fixing me, I’ll give him that.

But from what I hear, I went crazy...

They say I busted up the hospital tryin’ to find the guy. In the process, I killed six innocent creatures.

…But now that I’m out, there’s no place for the doc to hide.

The metal door finally rose, allowing Crazy 8 to exit.