Deus Ex: Cosplay Revolution

11:00.

Four hours, I'd sat in my room. Waited. The guards had come by, said "lights out" exactly one hour ago, left minutes later. I'd peeked my head out the door, and sure enough the only lights on were spaced so far apart as to be decorative only. I'd grinned, waited for the hustle of ponies going to their rooms to end, and waited a little more.

Soon as it was quiet enough to hear a mouse piss on silk, I zipped up the trench coat, donned the mask, and looked at my wrist.

Ninety-eight percent bioelectricity, a green body, and a black flag. Didn't take me long to wrap the bottoms of my boots in cloth, on the off-chance that the Run Silent thing didn't actually work. I transferred the baton to a little loop on my belt, hidden beneath the coat. It'd be easy to get, just unzip it, snag it, and smack someone on the side of the head.

I'd use the mnemonic later, when I truly needed to get away. Would waste bioelectricity, keeping it on all the time.

Before I could get lost in this sprawling castle, I took one of the statues and opened up the faceplate, unlike the others in the hallway. It'd help me remember where I went, at the least. The walk to my room was dominated with repetitive hallways, the only differences being the view of the night sky.

Without another word, I started walking.

Thirty minutes later, I was standing at a t-junction. I'd encountered about four guards, only one of them asking me what I was doing up at this hour. I'd told them I had trouble sleeping, and needed to take a walk to calm myself down sometimes. They ate it up without a problem, their questions of my mask were deflected by a simple phrase. "I have a condition."

Odd how that was getting me out of a lot of problems, now.

Either way, I looked around. It was quiet, save for my own breathing. One end of the junction had an old wooden door at the end of it, a pair of dark-coated guards standing beside it. The second I'd gotten in front of them it'd seemed they'd seen me, so I didn't bother going through there. I went the other direction, seeing a pair of golden doors stretching to the ceiling. A soft-blue glow spread from them. Didn't look like I could open them, so I went back to the pair of guards.

They tensed as they saw me, but calmed down when I took the mask off. Seemed curiosity was behind their cat-like eyes, most likely at my odd-looking face.

Protocol must've kicked in right then. "Sir, by law, we are required to ask you why you're up past curfew."

I faked a yawn. "Stretching my legs. Gets a bit cooped up in here, don't it? Don't worry, I won't do anything bad. I'm just a traveler."

"Sir, we recommend you go back to your room at this moment. Other guards might not be so cordial when dealing with you."

I shrugged. "Well, can I at least know what's behind the door you're guarding? Must be important. Is it the armory? I bet it's the armory."

One of them nodded. "Yes sir, this is the armory. Civilians are not allowed in it."

Eh well, was worth a try. "Alright. Y'all two have a good night."

"You too, sir."

I turned around and went back where I came. Was gonna have to keep that place in mind, if I needed to break in and get a weapon other than the baton. Chances were they had crossbows, bows, all kinds of medieval weaponry that'd be a bit more effective than a baton.

1:00

That's when it happened. I was walking down the hall, careful to be as quiet as possible, when I heard talking. In seconds I had used Stalker Silence, leaned up against a wall, and held my breath.

"Buddy, you know what happens to snitches?" hissed a mare. I could hear someone panting, footsteps, and a thump against the wall. "Do you?"

Guy she was interrogating must've nodded, because something like a confident chuckle escaped the mare. Silently, I drew the baton, carefully extending it to its full length. Worst came to worst, I could sneak up behind this chick and knock her flat.

"That's right. They get stitches."

A loud whump made me wince. Almost wanted to run in and knock the chick down right there, but I needed to listen.

"The next time you try to expose us, I won't be so kind. For now, how's about a little game of "how much can you take?" to lighten the mood?"

The guy whimpered. Didn't sound like any more information was gonna come out of it. Needed to act now, catch this chick before she messed this guy up to bad.

I steeled myself. If this was the kind of conspiracy I was fighting, then maybe this "I" guy wasn't so bad. Made me sick to my stomach just hearing that lady speak.

Quiet as a mouse, I crouched, slipped past the corner, and gripped the baton with white knuckles.

The chick straddled the guy's chest, hooves around his neck. She wore the outfit of a maid, just a little tighter than ones I'd seen around the castle. She had a coffee-grind black mane, a white coat, and... what the hell? Luminescent, glowing blue eyes. There wasn't a horn, but I could see her manipulating the stallion's body.

Almost wanted to vomit when I saw the bulge in the guy's pants, the helplessness in his eyes, and the psychopathy behind the mare's eyes. I stood up straight, kept silent as possible, stood in the shadow of a tapestry.

"Oh, what's that deary? You don't want me to leave any marks? I'll try not to."

I couldn't let this happen, not in a million years. Blood pumped through my ears, adrenaline numbed. Never stand to let a rapist live.

In one fell swoop I stepped out of the shadows, baton flying. It hit the mare in the side of the chest, a crack sounding through the room. She flew off the stallion, hitting the wall. Almost roared a death threat but reasoning took over.

"Get out of here!" I yelled. Unfortunately, the stallion still kept to the floor, frozen in place by magic.

As I turned back to the rapist, a sudden force sent me into the wall. My left shoulder popped out of position, white-hot pain shooting through the nerves. A set of armor clattered to the floor.

"Oh buddy, you interrupted at a bad time." A magical blade appeared out of thin air, blue flames glowing.

My stupid brain had to come up with a one-liner. "Seemed like I was in the right place at the right time!"

She laughed, lunging forward. I rolled to my knees, jumped away before the sword coud take my head off. Managed to get to my feet, baton at the ready.

Her blade was stuck in the wall. I was expecting her to leave it there, but she conjured another. She took another lunge, damn near took my arm off, the blade swinging back around and grazing my arm.

I swung the baton, cracked it across her arm. It went limp and she screeched something unearthly. I watched as a supernatural fire started burning behind her face, transforming it into something demonic. A cold burn spread from the wound, the skin tightening and a cloud forming over my mind.

A grin might've formed on her face. I snarled, raised the baton, threw it with an inhuman strength. It hit her with a bang, knocking her on the floor.

I stumbled, but kept my balance and brought my fists up. If I had to fight this bitch hand-to-hand then so be it.

She stood up, clutching her broken arm and ribs. She must've realized that I wasn't going down without a fight. Another blade appeared, this one floating. It swung my way, my baton almost blocking it, before swerving off behind me. I heard a scream, knew it was the stallion, and cursed.

She grinned something evil, got up, and started running. I looked back at the stallion -holy hell that was a massive cut- and my brain shot into overdrive.

I could go after the mare, leave the stallion to his fate. The mare was definitely part of the conspiracy, definitely, and if I didn't go after her she'd tell the rest, and the same fate might befall me.

On the other, I could leave the mare and tend to the stallion. Without my help he'd surely die of blood loss, and then if I couldn't catch the conspirator the blame would be placed squarely on my shoulders.

Fuck, I needed a solution and quick.