Beneath the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters
Chrysalis, Queen of the changelings, strutted through the ancient cellars as she searched for the one treasure that would grant her enough power to crush Celestia. A power that would bring all of Equestria to its knees. A power to enforce her new rule once she had beaten her old rivals.
“Finally, I will obtain Megalith! The ancient artifact that has corrupted so many perfect heroes, and destroyed the minds of countless villains who were too weak to control it.”
Chrysalis smiled evilly as she approached the final obstacle in her way; the door between her, and her guaranteed victory.
“The power to use the abilities of any villain that the user can imagine. The possibilities are truly endless, imagine my powers combined with those of Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, or with one of the more ancient evils of the world.” She mused aloud as she blasted the door with a smirk, blowing it clear off its already weakened hinges and gaining entrance to the artifact’s vault.
Cade followed behind her cautiously, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He didn’t have to wait long, her guard immediately falling as she took in the sight of the massive blood red crystal suspended before her. He charged and quickly jumped on the changeling queen’s back all the while swinging at her face with all his might. Her reaction was predictable… she got pissed.
“A human! How dare you attack me!” She shrieked in rage and indignation as he held on with all of his strength.
“Die you insolent worm!” She yelled as she grabbed the offending creature in her telekinetic grasp, throwing it away with all her strength, straight at her prize. His body slammed into it with enough force to cause the crystal structure to pierce his skin and destroy his spine before both fell to the ground, rolling forward in a heap of flesh, blood, and stone. After a few slow rolls the body stopped, laying completely still.
Chrysalis watched in horror as the human’s body was consumed in a black aura that emitted powerful sparks of magic that danced through the air and blackened the ground where they touched. In a final flash of black light and sparks the human disappeared leaving only a man shaped hole in the floor and Chrysalis with the knowledge that she had been defeated by her own foolishness yet again.
In a black flash Cade appeared on a rocky outcropping, his body still enveloped in the black mist. The sounds of his body being reformed with loud pops, snaps, and cracks being the only thing that broke the silence. Finally, the mist began to fade and Cade reawakened as a new man, he stood up and took in his surrounding, professionally taking in the situation…
“Where the fuck am I now!?!”
The Frozen North
Tatsurion flew over the the frozen tundra at a leisurely glide, his mind lost deep in thought. The last few days had given him a lot to think about, mostly he kept coming back to the fact that he was no longer a human but a massive, beastial monster. The memories of Tatsurion, the original whose body he now resided in, had helped him tremendously in surviving the harsh climate of the strange world he had found himself on.
The cold air didn’t even bother him in this new form, he figured he probably had some sort of internal heat regulation system that kept him comfortable in these sub arctic conditions.
“Who am I? Why am I here?” He muttered, his voice barely audible over the sound of his wings beating the chilled air, “Huh, I sound like some kind of damn philosopher.” He snorted, tiny flames leaping from his nostrils.
Though he jested, the question still nagged at his mind. Ever since the memories had started leaking into his consciousness, Matthew had started to question everything he once knew, even his own life as a human. For how could he have ever been anything other than what he was now? It only made sense that he had always been Tatsurion, and Matthew was just a dream. Yet something else in his soul told him differently. Shaking his head sadly, the hybrid turned his full attention back towards finding a trace of civilization.
Without warning a wind of tremendous strength blew in from out of no where, jostling his massive form and sending him out of control. With a growl, Tatsurion attempted to right himself, but even with his mighty wings and tremendous strength he was no match for mother nature. Tossed from the air he crashed into the cold unforgiving ground, but it wasn’t made of the snow he was expecting.
San Palomino Desert
The sun hung high over another scorching desert day. Here and there desert animals scurried about their lives as they struggled to survive in the dry, merciless land. The silence was only broken by the whistling winds that began to blow in as if from nowhere. It quickly began to rise into a raging storm as bolts of blue lightning began to strike around a small section of sand and causing the local wildlife to run for cover as dark clouds began to form overhead.
The howling winds built into a deafening gale as a section of sand was turned to blackened glass by repeated lightning strikes. At the center of this nightmarish storm a crater began to form in the glass and with one final, massive lightning strike the storm clouds parted and the winds died away leaving a scorched glass crater and a lone bipedal figure in the crater’s center as the only sign it had ever been.
“Who… wha… whuzzit?” Asked the figure to its surroundings before vertigo took over and it fell face first onto the ground. It remained there moaning in pain as it tried to make its little world stops spinning.
“Where the fuck am I?” It asked, finally rising unsteadily to its feet and looking itself over for damage. “And what the fuck happened my clothes!?!”
Somewhere in the Void
He felt like he was floating, as if gravity didn’t exist. It felt… Wrong… And yet it was… Familiar… Why? Slowly he opened his eyes and looked around. He was floating in an empty space… There wasn’t anything around him, he was literally floating in nothing. It wasn’t even the black void of space, he couldn’t even tell what color it was. He didn’t know the name of the color, or even if it was a color… It was a familiar sight, something that he saw a dozen years ago… And the familiar habitant of the Void was there as well...
“So I am here again…” It wasn’t a question, just a confirmation of a fact. Sighing the man closed his eyes again. “I am dead… I guess my time is done, eh?”
There was no answer, except for a familiar sensation of his current body, his essence being sucked away. The warrior prepared himself for the afterlife… For his final rest...
The Everfree Forest
The Portal’s opening and closing was so fast and sudden that it could’ve been missed… But the results of it weren’t as easy to miss. A figure clad in black was lying face-down on the grass, a sword of fine make stabbed in the dirt next to him. A moan sounded before he pushed himself up, shaking his head to clear it up a bit. A pair of vibrant blue eyes opened, taking in the world.
“I’m alive… Again?” Blader whispered, clearly shocked by this turn of events. Slowly he stood up, as if expecting a ruse of some sort. He wasn’t supposed to be here… He was supposed to be dead… Not that he was complaining, of course. Turning around he spotted his sword and pulled it from the ground. A flick of it took care of most of the dirt on it, the rest being brushed off by his gloved hands. A quick inspection showed that his main weapon was fine. Nodding in satisfaction he slid it in the sheath that rested on his side. He felt safer now… Not that he was less tense. After all, he was in an unfamiliar territory, following events that should’ve killed him… Following his second trip in the Void…
Canterlot Castle Maze
Stoic looked around the corner of the hedge he had put his back against, checking to make sure that the path he was going to take was safe. He had something very precious to protect wrapped up in his arms, something that he would protect to his last breath, something that he needed to keep safe.
He looked down at the female figure in his arms, still frozen in the same stone that held him prisoner not thirty minutes ago. Looking back to the path Stoic saw that he only had a few more feet till he made it out of the maze just outside of the Canterlot Castle.
He took a breath, preparing to sprint it out. The faster he got away from castle the better; even if Celestia gave him and Sorrow amnesty like she promised all those years ago.
Counting down from ten, he made his move, shooting out from behind his cover as dirt flew from the ground beneath him. In five long strides -all of which left small craters- he made it to the clearing on the other side
He made it out of the maze.
But his small victory was not to be as a large hole of indescribable energy opened up underneath him; as his body fell, he threw the unfreezing Sorrow from himself up into the air, her body colliding with the dirt just outside the tear.
He was silent as he fell, a single tear escaping his eyes as the whole above him closed itself to the world. He was sad, angry, and most prominently sorry that he had to leave his lover behind. Sorry that she would have to find her own way.
Canterlot Castle
Rage walked through the large double doors that led to the throne room, not even bothering to glance at the two guards that flanked the entrance, the tall man had no time for them.
"Whatever Sun-butt called me here for must be pretty important...", he muttered to himself as he approached the steps to the raised dais that housed the two thrones. His face fell into a frown as he saw the sun diarch’s expression.
“What is it, Celestia? You seem worried…”
“Greetings, Rage.” The Sun Alicorn looked down at the human. “I have called you here because of a grave matter. A volcano has opened and I need your help with it." she said, concern evident in her voice.
“A volcano, you say?” Rage inquired with a raised eyebrow, “Why me? Why can’t the Guard or the Elements of Harmony deal with it?”
“It is… it is in another Equestria… an alternate one." Celestia said after a few seconds of thinking of how to put it the right way, “and there is a… significant danger connected to it.” Rage frowned a bit at her words, his eyebrows locking together as he thought over them.
“I see…." His voice trailed off, “but… why does a volcano in a different Dimension bother you?”
“I have my reasons.” Celestia said, raising a hoof before the human could reply. “And you will find them out when you arrive there.” A motion signaled for a Guard to approach them, dragging a large knapsack behind him.
“This should contain everything you might need on your journey - provisions, currency, clothes.”
“Very well." Rage sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, “can you tell the others where I’m going?”
“I shall." Celestia nodded before she closed her eyes and focused her magic, her horn lighting up with a bright golden aura. A small whirlpool type portal appeared on the ground as Rage hesitantly walked up to the edge of the strange anomaly.
“Also in your bag is a lantern. Burn a message in it when you're finished, and I’ll bring you back.” Celestia added looking at rage in concern.
“Understood." Rage replied with a small nod before throwing the knapsack over his shoulder. Getting ready to start his journey, he hesitated a bit, knowing that it’s going to be a rough trip, but with a deep breath he leapt in disappearing into the whirlpool.
Celestia watched as her human ally disappeared into the portal and looked down with a look of guilt.
“I’m sorry, Rage, but I had no choice. I hope you’re able to fix this before everything is destroyed.”
Ancient Castle of the pony sisters 1st floor
“I’m telling you this room should not be here." Midna said with worry in her voice
“You're right it doesn't seem to come up on the map." Link said replied some concern, “maybe Its a shortcut?” He reached for the door before his ghostly companion stopped him.
"Wait, I feel a weird energy behind that door, don’t open it." She said, making her worry more obvious. Link looked at his companion for a second while thinking of what to do.
“What if it’s the dungeon item?” He asked her as she just looked confused and conflicted. He opened the door to reveal an empty circular room.
“Huh empty...” he said out loud as he walked to the center of the room. As he came to stop a number of hidden runes on the walls began to glow.
"Link! the energy is back!” Midna shouted in alarm as the floor started to glow as well and a portal opened swallowing the two up.
Council chamber of the high heavens
Malthael almost couldn’t believe what he seeing. He had been told what was happening before he arrived. However seeing it with his own eyes was completely different than being told what was going on. Displayed on the floor of the council chambers was an image straight from hell. Sitting in a crater was a small red portal. It wasn’t the portal itself that was the problem however, it was the demons spewing forth from the portal like water from a hose that gave him pause. What was so concerning about this was that the demons were not invading the High Heavens nor were they in Pandemonium. They were in the mortal realm, Sanctuary.
“What we see here is also happening in at least three other areas we know of." spoke Imperious, his glowing armor and halo were quite misleading. Malthael knew that despite his holy appearance he wasn’t much better than the demons they had fought. However, as the leader of the angelic council, Imperious was undoubtedly one of the strongest angels in the High Heavens. Despite the differences Malthael had with him he still couldn’t deny that his rigid nature had saved angel-kind from the demons more than once. Despite that Malthael still disagreed with him on a deep personal level.
“The purpose of our vote here today is to determine our next course of action. A vote ‘yes’ means you believe we should involve ourselves for the sake of the mortals. A vote ‘no’ means we should leave the mortals to their fate. Of course you may abstain from voting if you wish to.” Malthael had a bad feeling about this. His sense of dread had saved him in battle many times, so many times he would be a fool to ignore it now. He silently prayed he was wrong.
“As leader of this council I will begin the voting. I vote no.” Malthael was a bit surprised by this. No angel hated demons more than Imperious. In fact he was known for saying they would never give an inch to the demons. The fact his distaste for mortals made him willing to let one of the four planes fall to the demons was quite surprising.
“I vote no as well.” Daras, second hand to Imperious, followed him blindly so his vote was no surprise once Imperious cast his.
“I vote no.” Samar the embodiment of bravery said. Again he followed Imperious very closely so it came as little surprise.
“I abstain.” Meras the embodiment of wisdom said. As the embodiment of wisdom rarely voted so his choice not to was another given.
“I vote yes.” Auriel embodiment of hope spoke next. The only female on the council everypony knew she was not to be trifled with. She was also one of the few friends Malthael had and one of the few that understood him.
“I vote yes as well.” Tyrial embodiment of justice said with absolute authority, he was also a good friend. Malthael was certain he would have gone mad if Tyrial had not been there. Patient and understanding as always he listened to Malthael even when they both were pretty sure he was crazy.
“I vote yes.” Malthael embodiment of death spoke. His vote ensured that the council was divided evenly. Though what happened next surprised every angel in the room.
“Truly I expected better of you Malthael." Imperious stated bluntly, the silence that followed deafened every angel in the room.
“What do you mean Imperious?” Malthael asked spitting out the name as he did so.
“I would have thought the embodiment of death would be happy with the eventual slaughter on the horizon, or is your former mortal heritage clouding your judgement?”
“What did you just say?” Malthaels voice came out a low growl.
“I am asking if being a former mortal is clouding your judgment human." Imperious said mockingly. Malthael felt his anger rising but he didn’t take the bait. Not when he could call out Imperious for what he has done.
“Actually I am surprised at you Imperious. I believe you were the one to say we give no ground to the demons. Yet here you are saying we should let the demons have free reign over an entire plane. My only question is….why?” Imperious began to let his anger show. Then he did something that caused the entire council to be silent. He summoned his spear and pointed it at Malthael.
“Do not presume to know my actions human." with that Imperious disappeared in a golden flash, he then appeared behind Malthael intending to end him. Anticipating this Malthael sidestepped the spear thrust and hooked his sickles around the weapon. With a quick twist and pull it broke free from Imperious' telepathic grip and went skittering to the floor. Imperious roared with anger and teleported to retrieve his weapon. Only right as he reached it he could feel cold steel around his neck.
“Brother, think. why should we let the demons run free upon the mortal world? What point is there in death?” Imperious looked up at Malthael seething before finally conceding.
“The mortals are doomed. The Scroll of Fate says so.”
“I see." was Malthael's only response. Withdrawing his blades he walked slowly to the center of the room before slamming his hoof against the ground so hard he cracked the floor, “No! I refuse to accept fate! Brothers. I implore you to fight. We have done the impossible before so why should we resign ourselves to the inevitable now?” Looking around he could see that no one believed a word he said. Even Auriel was quiet.
“Fine, if you all are so resigned to fate that it binds you to inaction then I guess I am no longer your brother.” With that Malthael lit up his horn and began to pull at his wings. The pain was so intense that in order to cope Malthael had to scream. His wings began to glow brilliantly with power. Imperious backed away slowly able to say only one word, “Sacrilege.”
Eventually the torment ended as Malthael finally ripped his wings from his being. the skeletal wings made of ethereal energy fell to the floor with nary a sound. Panting from the effort it took, Malthael looked to fall over at any minute. However, it was not done. From where his wings had fallen wisps of energy began to grow. They grew and grew until they were large enough to wrap around the former angel. As his vision became obscured by the wisps of light he smiled.
As the energy finally engulfed him and he fell into a state of unconsciousness he fell. The former angel fell from heavens engulfed in blue flame.
Outside Canterlot
Early morning in Canterlot was as always, peaceful. The air was cool as the sun had yet to warm the earth. Dew clung to the spiraling buildings, grass, and the occasional homeless pony that slept in the park. All in all the world was slowly waking up and those who greeted Celestia’s morning felt that today would be a wonderful and quiet morning. Philharmonic held these sentiments as she sipped at her coffee and looked out over the slowly awakening world. The young, white Earth pony had not closed her eyes since the previous night, yet she still found energy to sit before the rising sun and marvel at the colors it created. Philharmonic took another sip of the bitter Bean Juice and watched as lights turned on in the houses and apartments around her while other lights flickered out, showing that the ponies were slowly stirring from their beds, while others were only just retiring from a long night of work and play. The world was silent and at peace, and Philharmonic felt that nothing could break her happy mood.
Then came the explosion in the valley. The echoing boom shattered the tranquility of the morning. Startled, Philharmonic dropped her coffee and cringed as profanity spilled out over the city in an echoing, distant chorus.
“Shit! That’s hot! Ow fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! Motherfucker!” after the offending, distant screams stopped the world grew silent once more but tension hung in the air. Philharmonic returned to the broken coffee cup, gathering up a broom and dust pan in her hooves she silently hoped that the source of the commotion was friendly.
Down in the Valley, no more than a few miles from the entrance to Canterlot lay a smoldering pit of Lava. It bubbled and festered in tune with the frustrated girl beside it. The girl was calming herself best she could, in one of the few ways she knew, swearing like a drunken sailor. She wore Fire Nation Regalia, a small golden three pronged metal Flame was her crown and it was held fast to her dark hair. She stared down at her clothes. The cloth that kept the metal breastplate from touching bare skin now held many holes, some in rather awkward places. She quickly whirled around in search of any prying eyes, her arms and hands flying to cover exposed breasts and other holes, upon finding none watching she relaxed.
“Wonderful! Shit goes nutty. I end up out in a field with Fiera out of sight, and my clothes are ruined. Things can’t get much worse, can they Azula?” she muttered to herself as the wind picked up making her shudder, “I had to fucking speak, didn’t I!?!”
Azula looked to the pool of Magma beside her, contemplating whether or not it would be worth it to dive back in. As she approached the lava bubbled and hissed making her jump back.
“Yeah… no, I’m not entirely fireproof, only resistant." a beat of silence, “Fuck! And now I’m hoping onto the Crazy train, talking to myself like that!” With a sigh she looked around and spied the city of Canterlot in the distance. It was not but a few vague outlines of white, gold and shadow, but even so she recognized it and cringing as she muttered to herself.
“Why is it when things get nutso I always find myself at the city designed by a barfing paint can?” she shook her head and began to creep towards the city, “I may hate the damn place but they have cloth and food, might as well.”
Stoicism finally opened his eyes, noting that his helmet was booting up and that his health, and radar were both blinking. Ignoring it and labeling it as Jamey force booting up, he looked past his monitors to see how far he still had to fall before impact.
“Well, that's not good.” A quick estimate told him that he was somewhere around 300 meters up in the air, and that he had a very short period of time to react. Alongside his quick snap of the world below him, he noted a large gorge, to be precise, Ghastly Gorge.
He threw his arms out wide, causing him to jostle in his armor as the wind beat even harder on him, threatening to tear his limbs from their sockets. Taking the second he gave himself he felt the energy flowing through his mind to see that his friend was still in the middle of booting up.
“Come on Jamey! I need to you to wake up now!”
200 meters out, his throat still burned, but he couldn’t let it distract him though. He waited a few more seconds, the ground below him getting closer with each tick in his head. When nothing happened he gave up relying on her for flight trajectory patterns for the safest route down.
100 meters out, “Alright, looks like I gotta land on my own.” He paused, clearly envisioning the last time he had landed in free fall without any real protection to hide behind, “This is gonna hurt.”
85 meters out, he closed his arms and legs in and angled himself so that he was nearly flat to the earth below, pushing past the air around him at a 45 degree angle.
55 meters out, he could practically feel the air current behind him as he shot down faster and faster with each second.
35 meters out, he spotted a figure not too far away; it was clearly bipedal, and most definitely not a diamond dog, maybe a teen dragon or smaller minotaur, but even those seemed unlikely judging by the way it walked. Hell, if he didn’t have god only knows what drugs in him, he wouldn't have even noticed the shadowy figure - something that can be said about teen dragons, and most Minotaurs is that they aren't stealthy or shadowy at all- and yet something told him that whatever and whoever it was would be important.
15 meters out, “You have got to be shitting me, if its another goddamned human bei-” He was cut off as he finally hit the ground, sliding across it, digging up a trail of dirt behind him.
In the meantime, Blader was trying to determine where he was. He couldn’t see any landmarks in the woods and since it was still daytime he couldn’t use the stars to navigate. He had two options, either wait for nightfall or start wandering in a random direction. Since the second one was dumb even for him, he decided to wait it out. Of course, Fate would present him with a third option in the form of Stoic flying fast through the air and impacting the ground behind him. Blader immediately turned around, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword as his eyes darted around to determine the danger. Upon seeing the prone form he frowned. It was a bipedal being, and unless he had hit his head and was hallucinating, then it was a human… A human in armor that looked very familiar…
Slowly he approached the armored being, circling it as he slid the blade a couple of centimeters out of the sheath so that it’ll be easier to draw.
Jamey, the ever hard to wake up AI that she is, finally woke up from her slumber, a slumber she did not chose to be a part of. So, as the hundreds of thousands of little lines of code that made up one of her smaller processors finished executing, she was groggy, or at least the closest thing that AI’s have to grogginess. This meant several things to her. One, that the codes were taking longer than usual to fully debug. Two, that someone or something had screwed up the code while it was last in use, and three, that she had been in fact rebooted at all.
As she noticed these things another processor went online, and immediately jumped to figure out what the status of the rest of her programming was. Another second passes and three more processors are running, all working to fix her core coding as fast as possible.
A few minutes pass and shes running at fifty percent capacity. A number she was comfortable with. So comfortable that she finally risked to see whose head she was in, how they were managing to not scream in pure agony, and how much she needed to drug them up in order to keep with her core tasks.
Her ‘brain’, if you could call it that, was syncing with his own, and with that came access to all of the armors functions. More importantly, the radar. On it was a lone blip that circled… Stoic’s… body. This, under normal circumstances wouldn’t phase her because it's common for people, or in the case of the world she was on, ponies to be curious. It did interest her however because instead of the normal yellow or red blip, this blip was a dull gray.
In her still drowsy state Jamey latched onto the coding that predicted and acted on any movements that Stoic would make, and then temporarily took control, overriding the locks that the system had.
In the meantime, Blader had no idea that any of this was happening. He had advanced close to his target, the human’s muscles tense as he readied himself to dodge and counter any attacks sent in his way.
For a few seconds he thought about “buffing” himself with Earth Guard or Wind Movement, but decided against it. He had no idea if the armored human could feel magic being used in its vicinity and he didn’t want to risk it. Especially if he turned out to be one of the more… unsavory humans that were thrown into an Equestria… Blader knew of several of those displaced humans, and a lot of them were quite… villainous. He even used the aid of a few of them…
Deciding to err on the side of caution and not to provoke the being Blader held back from enchanting himself or unsheathing his sword and stepped closer, within arm’s reach.
Jamey forced the suit to stand straight up, its main occupant none the wiser, and came face to face with… nothing.
“That's strange…” She checked the radar again, and saw that it was still flashing. She moved the suits helmet down, and thats when she saw what the radar had been picking up. Her second guess had been right.
It was another human. And this human was staring up at the suit’s faceplate with a pair of wide blue eyes…
Blader was shocked at the height of the other human. The last one he met was shorter than him… Hell, he spent most of his recent life with beings that were all shorter than him! Now to see this big armor, staring down at him from behind a polarized faceplate…
Jamey was, to say the least, unsurprised. Very few of the humans that she had apparently seen with Stoic had been as large as he was. As a matter of fact, as she was remembering she saw that all of his friends had been way under six feet tall, most of them only being in the five foot four inches range.
Still, this human wasn't to be underestimated. In less than an instant she shot the armors arms out, grabbing the small (compared to her/Stoic) human by the shoulders, and then lifted him up so that his eyes were even with about where Stoic’s were. Then, with a little flare she used some of her magic to make a holographic pair of red, very aggressive looking wolf eyes to appear over the faceplate.
She followed up with tossing him out of the small impact zone she had woken up in. The warrior wasn't prepared for the speed of the armored human, and so he was caught by surprise. Still, he managed to roll as he hit the ground, planting his feet in the ground and digging a small trench as he skidded to a halt. He remained in a crouching pose for a second, his eyes narrowed at the Spartan.
With two subtle motions of his left hand he “buffed” himself. He could feel his skin harden as the Earth Guard took hold, becoming hard as rock while air swirled around his form with the effect of Wind Movement. Whatever this was, it was not to be underestimated. The speed that the armor exhibited shouldn't have been possible, or at least that was what Blader’s experience dictated.
“Whoever, whatever you are… You made a mistake.” Blader said in a low voice before he kicked himself off the ground, channeling the magic of his body to his feet and propelling himself forward with a burst of speed. His sword hissed against the scabbard as he unsheathed it and thrust it forward, aiming for the armor’s center of mass.
The AI saw him charge forward and in kind response grabbed the blade mid stab as it made the shield surrounding the armor shimmer. She then pulled it to the side, bringing its bearer forward face first into a metal fist. The swordsman reacted as fast as he could, trying to evade the attack, but even with his Wind Movement his cheek got grazed by the blow.
Using the momentum that the AI so “helpfully” provided Blader spun around, using the motion to get some distance between himself and the armor. Unfortunately he had to let go of his sword for that, leaving it in his opponent’s grasp. Coming to a stop a few meters away the swordsman lifted a hand to his cheek. Even though his skin was hardened by his Earth Guard and the blow was just glancing, he could feel a bruise forming… This thing was strong… Too strong.
Narrowing his eyes at the polarized visor Blader raised his fist up at eye level.. Power flowed through his body, channeling into the jewel on the back of his hand. The air above his hand swirled around before solidifying, creating a hard projectile that he sent forward at his target with a punch. He had caught glimpse of the shield that had protected the armor and so he went with the strongest elemental attack he could do without his sword while choosing the fastest element - Wind.
The projectile soared past the Spartan’s body, impacting a tree a few meters behind it. An explosion of air sent splinters everywhere before the tree started to topple, a good portion of its trunk missing.
Jamey felt the large amount of energy pass by the armors visor, scraping against the suits shields. Realizing what kind of energy this being could put behind an attack, she went back into a combat stance, this time with the short sword she had taken from him.
Blader himself got into a combat stance, crouching low and bringing his left hand back, ready to launch another Magic Skill at the Spartan. The tension in the air was so high that it could be cut with a knife as the two warriors waited for the other to move first…
A third figure came down from the sky, slamming into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. Blader lifted a hand to shield his eyes while Jamey stood unphased by the dirt that bounced off the armor and visor. As the debris settled down both combatants looked at the interrupter...
The figure was wearing an all black jacket that reached all the way down to his shins, its front staying open and revealing his exposed chest. A pair of metal pauldrons laid on his shoulders, shining a bright silver in the midday light. On his back was a singular black raven wing, dark as the night sky. In his hands however, was something they both noticed: a katana that reached seven feet in length.
With a quick flap of his wing the dust that had settled once again flew up, this time however it created a fog that in trapped himself, and the two warriors. He then stood up, his blade pointed outwards, while his stance was tall. He looked at the two humans now trapped in his magic.
“Ah, what do we have here?” Sephiroth sneered. “Two more Humans? Good, I was looking for more humans to kill; the last three weren't much of fight…” Blader frowned at that. The last three… That implied that this being had killed more than three humans, and he had a feeling that those humans weren't bad like some Displaced he had learned of during his years in Equestria.
“Who are you?” Blader’s question was short and straight to the point. The magic warrior was still in a combat stance, only he was now shifted so that he could see both opponents at the same time. The tall warrior smirked as he looked at the magic user, his eyes alight with pride.
“The name is Sephiroth.” The man paused for a moment, but spoke up again before Blader could respond. “You might as well tell me your name and lot in this world before I kill you.”
“Your sword…” Blader didn’t humor the one-winged angel, looking over Sephiroth’s weapon instead. It was as long as the warrior was tall, if not longer… “Are you overcompensating for something?”
“Not going to play nice, are we?” Sephiroth’s smirk disappeared, being replaced by a small frown as his wing flared out. “Oh well, its not all that important. You’ll be dead in a moment anyways.”
“And how about you?” He shifted just a enough to see the Spartan on his other side, his frown now once again a small smile as he addressed Jamey. “Anything to add to this incompetent fool’s stupid remark?”
Jamey, not a processor stronger since her fight with the other human, and barely getting by as it was decided to humor the new opponent. Her wolf like eyes once again lit up over the polarized screen of the helmet, just as red and menacing as before. She finally spoke, her tone playful and filled with sarcasm.
“Well, as incompetent as he may be, he has a fair point, what’s with the ridiculously long sword?” Blader looked at her as she mentioned his incompetence, his eyes narrowing a bit in irritation.
“Why you-”
Jamey cut him off, looking towards Blader. “Hey, this guys just given me more than enough data to convince my master that it was okay to kill him.” She took a moment to get a look at Sephiroth’s face, noting the sudden apprehension that it now showed. “You on the other hand have been very… neutral. Then he told us his plans and I noticed a frown.”
“Your point?” Blader asked, his head tilting to the side slightly. He had an idea of where this was going...
“Answer now, are you here to fight me, or to kill my… honey?” Jamey, if she could, would have blushed madly after finishing that question. Mostly because she was still remembering everything she had said and done to him, but also because of her slightly bashful nature.
“That's it!” Sephiroth interrupted their little conversation before it ever even happened. “I’m done trying to give you both your last civil conversation while still alive.” He slashed with his sword towards Blader, stopping the tip of the blade only centimeters away from his face.
“Now, I’m just going to kill both of you, starting with...”
The white-haired man was interrupted as Blader drove his fist in his gut. The pre-prepared Wind Blast spell shot out, tossing Sephiroth back in a tree. The magical warrior straightened himself up, looking at the armored being.
“I believe that answers your question. My sword, if you will.” Blader said, looking back at Sephiroth who was shaking the cobwebs from his head.
Jamey let the eyes on the front of the visor vanish with a wink as she tossed the sword back to the warrior, who caught it effortlessly. She followed up by walking into the middle of the clearing they were currently in, turning to face the still dazed Sephiroth.
Blader joined his new-found ally, looking down at the white-haired human. Sephiroth’s eyes finally focused and he saw his predicament - a fully armed swordsman and a towering human in armor, both allied against him… No matter how you looked at the situation, it wasn't good...
“Hmph, alright then." He paused, his arrogant smirk in full return. “Lets fight!”
Sephiroth spread his wing, several black feathers drifting down to the ground as he bent his knees and jumped to take flight and gain advantage over his opponents. Or at least those were his intentions… His wing flapped once, but he never left the ground… Looking down revealed why - tendrils of energy had emerged from the ground, coiling around his legs and keeping him in place.
Sephiroth looked up in shock, his eyes locking with Blader who had bound him in place. Then his expression changed to that of fear as he saw the large form of the Spartan charging at him before his face got intimately acquainted with an armored fist…
The reaction was immediate and clear as the spell failed to keep Sephiroth in place and he flew back, deeper into the forest that surrounded them. The sound of breaking trees echoed over the otherwise quiet forest as his back broke through them.
Jamey took the moment of quiet that followed to look back at her new, and very obviously magically gifted, ally… to tell him that he would have a few moments of prep time before Sephiroth could get up.
Unfortunately, Sephiroth had managed to not only get up, but to fly forward out of the tree cleared path his body had left behind. He didn’t look that much worse for wear, his face was only slightly bruised... Blader didn’t waste any time, dashing forward with his sword poised to strike. Steel met steel with a ring as Sephiroth blocked the swordsman’s strike, Blader forcing the two blades to lock.
“Are you a Displaced?” The brown-haired swordsman asked as he tried to push his adversary back. “Are you someone in a costume from Earth?”
“How…” The surprised widening of Sephiroth’s eyes was all the confirmation that Blader needed, and the slacking in his attention was a good chance to push him back. Batting the overly long odachi away he slashed, the straight blade nicking the white-haired man’s side and leaving a gash over his ribs.
Sephiroth jumped back to try and gain some distance from Blader, only to once again meet the giant suits fist, this time directly to the side of his head. Before he could fly away again, Jamey grabbed his left arm and pulled back, yanking him between the force of the punch he received and the steel grip and pull of the armor.
She followed up her attack by letting go of him, and spinning around with a roundhouse kick, right back into the magical swordsman’s path.
A purple and blue magic circle appeared in the air in front of the Force Blader. Timing it right was a bit tricky, but he managed to slash through it just as Sephiroth flew in front of him. A column of energy shot forward, crystallizing upon contact with the air. The stream of jagged crystals slammed into the one-winged angel, sending him crashing into the trees again.
A roar of rage came from the new path in the woods as Sephiroth flew out and went straight after Blader. Their swords clashed again as the latter deflected and evaded as many blows as he could. There was no form in Sephiroth’s strikes, just raw fury that made them unpredictable but strong. In just a couple of seconds Blader sported a few new gashes in his coat and shirt, as well as a nasty slice on his left arm, just under the shoulder that hindered him somewhat. It was fortunate that he didn’t try to block or parry… If he did then he wouldn't have been able to endure the silver-haired man’s strength.
Jamey watched, waiting for the perfect moment to strike the enemy away from the man; an opening that didn’t come until after his initial burst of rage-filled attacks. Pushing down on the hydraulics of the armors legs she sprinted into a jump that would become a tackle; a tackle with over half a ton of weight behind it.
Sephiroth didn’t even get a chance to dodge the AI’s attack, nor did he get a chance to escape her beyond iron-tight grip after they rolled and tumbled through several tree’s with his body taking most of the blunt trauma.
Blader, the only witness to the current events, took the time to cast the only regenerative spell he knew as Jamey rolled on top of Sephiroth, straddling him and beating his fists as they blocked her own from reaching his face. Without a warning Sephiroth beat his wing, sending a small explosion of air at her, which lifted her off him long enough for him to shoot his legs up for a kick.
Jamey sailed up through the air, flailing her pseudo-arms before she quickly plummeted to the ground, smashing through some of the forest’s many branches. Sephiroth jumped up to his feet and began to brush himself off.
Blader frowned. The battle was taking too long… His mana reserves were still on the full side, so he could easily use one of his higher-ranked skills without worrying about exhaustion… Not to mention that the regenerative spell was both healing and replenishing his strength…
A motion of his hand sent his magic coursing through his body. A purple sphere of force appeared around his body before it shrank down inside him. The moment it disappeared so did he. At that same moment he reappeared behind Sephiroth, his sword moving in a horizontal arch that left the signature glowing magic circle behind. The one-winged angel cried out in pain as he lost the thing that gave him that title, the black-feathered appendage falling to the ground.
But Blader wasn't finished. The same dark purple sphere appeared and he once again disappeared, reappearing on the other side. This time his blade left a gash in Sephiroth’s stomach before the magical swordsman did his trick again, this time pirouetting in the air and slashing upwards, nearly severing his adversary’s right arm. Two more times did Blader disappear and reappear, with two more gaping wounds left in his opponent before he finally came to the finishing part of the ability.
Sephiroth was dazed, both from the pain and from the random-appearing attacks. He had no defense against them… He couldn’t even predict where would they land, they happened so fast. Finally Blader appeared over Sephiroth, his sword held in a one-handed grip. The magical swordsman seemed to hover in the air before he went down, stabbing his blade down at the ground. A crimson magical sigil appeared on the ground before exploding, sending Sephiroth flying into a tree (again).
Sephiroth fell from the indentation his back had made in the tree and collapsed on his knees, the wounds and exhaustion from the battle taking their toll on his body.
“How…” He whispered, looking up at the Force Blader as he approached him. “I was… Unbeatable… For over an year...”
Jamey laughed a little at that, her attitude still out of whack because of all the data processing in the background of her -really Stoic’s- head. A year of winning previous fights means nothing when it comes to the fight at hand, especially when fighting a hulking suit of armor and a skilled magic warrior.
“I was Displaced a dozen years ago.” The brown-haired swordsman calmly said. “You never stood a chance. Now…” Blader raised his sword. “It is time to rest.”
With that he swung the sword in an arc. The straight edge cleaved right through Sephiroth’s neck, his head rolling off his shoulders as the lifeless corpse fell on the ground. Leaning down Blader used the dead man’s coat to wipe the blood from his sword before sheathing it with practiced ease.
The AI watched in slightly morbid curiosity as multiple tangents opened up in her core, yet again slowing her down, this time forcing her to let go of the armors controls. Of course, as it happened, the drugs that she had forced in her masters system finally took effect, forcing him from his concussion caused sleep. Falling to a kneeling position he grabbed his head in one hand and moaned out a little. “Oh good god… I hate crashing…”
Blader tilted his head, his eyes blinking a few times at the new voice that sounded from his armored new friend.
“O-kay… I could’ve sworn that you had a female voice until now…” He said with a frown, his hand going back to the hilt of his sword. Stoic looked up at the voice, looking for a sign of one of his friends. Noting the new figure’s appearance he jumped back, landing at the edge of the just formed clearing.
He bent his knees and raised his fists, ready for a fight. “Who the hell are you?!”
“I am someone who helped you against the pretty-boy over there.” Blader nodded towards the headless corpse. “Well… I helped you when you were with a female voice…”
Stoic craned his head towards the location pointed out, observing the mess of a body strewn about on the ground. He curiously took note of the random cuts and bruises on the torso. Bruises that a guy like the one in front of him couldn’t cause. Bruises that matched his own fist size. “Okay, I can see that you didn’t do all the fighting with that guy, but." He paused, taking a second to think out his next few words. “Okay, what’s your name then?”
“My name…” Blader paused for a second. “My real name doesn't matter. Only one person used it in the last twelve or thirteen years. I go by titles now… Force Blader being the one that really matters to me. Or just Blader for short, even if it’s not the most accurate for my abilities.”
Stoic, still weary of the newcomer after spotting the nearby decapitated Sephiroth, loosened up his stance a little before muting the outside speakers. “Jamey, you've been busy. What’s the story with this guy though?”
Ever-faithful to him, his long term companion answered to the best to her fizzled out ability, her voice covered in a deep layer of static and sounding almost intoxicated. “Oh him? H-he’s just this guy… Me and h-him had this really epic duel with that one g-guy, where he w-was all like ‘are you overcompensating for somethin’ and I was all l-like ‘yeah, you doin’ what h-he’s sayin’ and then we beat the crap o-outta him with a combo like Knowledge was goin on bout’ that one time…”
Stoic sat there, quiet as could be, contemplating the extremely underwhelming and vague response. “Are you… are you… infected with a virus? Or drunk?”
Jamey laughed chaotically for a moment before turning on the suits vibrate function on and continuing . “Mmmmaybe…”
Stoic shivered uncomfortably under his armor, deciding that it would be best if he didn’t question it any further. Standing back up fully and dropping his arms to his side, he turned the mute off, once again giving himself the ability to communicate with the outside world. “My friend tells me that you’re a good guy. So I’ll play nice for now, but one fuck up and you’re on my shit list.”
Blader tilted his head a bit again. In all honesty, he wouldn't call himself a “good guy”... Sure, he wasn't evil, but good was kind of stretching it… Still, if it meant one enemy less then he could roll with it.
“I still haven’t heard your name.” He politely reminded the Spartan.
This time it was Stoic’s turn to tilt his head. “I… I also have not been referred to by my old name in a long time… longer than any person should have to deal with. The ponies did give me a title way back when though, and it has stuck with me. You may call me Stoicism. Stoic for short, if you wish.”
“Stoic…” Blader said the word before bowing slightly. “It is an honor to meet you, Stoic. But what about the female voice I heard before?”
Not one for formalities, Stoic uncertainly bowed in return. “You mean Jamey? She’s running diagnostics right now. She won’t be saying much while she’s doing that though…”
“And who… Or what is this Jamey?” Blader asked. He was guessing that she was some sort of a spirit or something like that, but he wasn't going to make any conclusions without having all the facts…
Stoic paused, thinking up the best way to explain his strange companion. “Do you know what an AI is?”
“AI…” Blader frowned a bit as he thought. It was familiar… The last time he heard the term was years ago… “Artificial Intelligence?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. It had been a while since he used any science-fiction terms...
Stoic nodded lightly, turning his head towards the barely visible sky. “Yes. Though, that still isn't the best way to describe her. She is truly a Smart AI, or in layman's terms, an AI that can think for itself. This is also wrong for her. Because as artificial as she is, she’s a near complete copy of this armors last wearer.” He paused, turning his head back down to Blader. “A real person.”
“So she is more akin to a spirit than an artificial construct…” Blader said with a nod of understanding. He used to be a big fan of such things back on Earth…
“Yes, though she was originally a construct. She copied the soul of her last ‘user’.” He said the last part with air quotes. “Not much else I can tell you though, she refuses to go past that no matter what I say.”
“I see.” Blader said with a nod. He knew a lot about troubling pasts… Shaking his head he walked over to the headless corpse and crouched down next to it. He had gotten into the habit of examining the corpses of his adversaries when he could, on the off-chance of finding something useful. Unfortunately, this time there was nothing in Sephiroth’s pockets that was worth taking… Still, there was something else…
His sword...
“I doubt that this will fit even in the Cabal inventory…” Blader muttered as he picked it from where it had fallen and stood up, examining the overly long katana critically. A few test swings confirmed what his eyes told him - the weapon was too impractical for someone like him. Though… “Catch.” He commanded, tossing the sword at the Spartan.
Stoic caught it in his right hand, paying little actual attention to it and focusing more on the friend Jamey had made while he was down and out. “What? Why are you giving it to me?”
“You’ll need a weapon. And this oversized katana will fit you better than me. Besides, I have my own sword.” Blader explained, patting his weapon’s pommel.
Stoic looked at him for another second before he turned almost all of his attention to the elongated sword in his hand. He tossed it up into the air a few times, catching it on the last toss by its hilt’s tightly woven fiber grip as it fell back towards his extended hand. He then swung at the air behind him, creating a harmonious swish as the air tried to slow it down, and eliciting a smile underneath his helmet.
“Hmm, not to bad, could be a tad heavier, but like you said, better to at least have a weapon than not.” In a swift motion he spun it around, letting it hit his back with a loud clang as it magnetized to it. Blader nodded as he crouched next to the corpse, searching it for anything else of value.
“Now, I believe that we should decide on our next course of action…” He said, grimacing as he found no pockets on Sephiroth’s body. If he had anything then he had left it somewhere else… “I don’t suppose you have any idea where we are?”
“Hmmm…” Stoic looked around the edge of the clearing, checking for any clear landmarks. Not finding anything noteworthy he looked back down at Blader. “Definitely Everfree… Not the cavern, that's for sure… Judging by the texture of the trees, were not in the northside… My best answer is that we’re somewhere in the southwest area, near the gorge that I ma...” He trailed off.
“The Everfree…” Blader closed his eyes for a few moments. “So I’m still in Equestria… Good.” The country had been his home for nearly half of his life, and he felt like he belonged more here than on Earth…
“If you’re talking about the Ghastly Gorge, then there should be train tracks to our South-Southwest. I believe that we should head towards them. From there we can easily go in any direction we want to, either Northwest, towards Ponyville and Canterlot, or Southwest, towards Appleloosa, Dodge Junction and Fort Ruina…”
Stoic looked at him with confusion. “Okay, I know I was in stone for a long time, but they named the gorge... Ghastly Gorge? Just… wow. Also, I am not going to Canterlot. Maybe one of those other places, but not there.”
“Wait…” Blader said with a confused frown. “You were in stone? That doesn't make sense… Tia would've told me if she had met another human being…” He was sure that his lover wouldn't have kept such a secret from him… Was Stoic lying? Or…
Blader’s mind went back to his first arrival in the Void, and the two choices he was given. Putting two and two together was easy and the swordsman facepalmed with a groan.
“Of course… It wouldn't send me back to my own Equestria…” He sighed and shook his head before looking at Stoic. “Forget what I told you about the Fort, and the rest are only highly probable to exist… This isn’t my world, so things will be changed in ways I can’t think of.”
Stoic nodded, after all, he had contemplated the idea of multiverse quite often. Some might think he had done so too often, considering he had spent countless nights researching it. “Well, beyond the fact you've just dumped a whole new level of stuff into my head, don’t worry about.”
Truth be told, all the Spartan could do was worry about the shorter mans words; he knew Celestia on a personal level, something that they regrettably shared. He shuddered, this time he wasn't able to contain it to just the inside of the armor, his memories of Celestia crying out her soul in front of him for three months straight once again surfacing.
With their next destination in mind the two set off, Blader pausing briefly to pluck a few primaries from Sephiroth’s severed wing before they left the clearing, leaving his headless corpse behind for the forest to claim...
The two men (and one AI) kept walking South-Southwest for several hours, during which they took their time to learn about each other. It was an interesting experience for all of them… This was the first time they met a friendly human in what seemed like ages.
Finally they reached the edge of a cliff. Bending over it the two could see the tracks running below. And not a moment too soon, as the distinct sound of a steam-powered locomotive was heard to their right.
Blader looked at the approaching train with a critical eye before taking a few steps back and applied Wind Movement to himself. Turning towards Stoic he shot him a smirk.
“Come on. Let’s hitch a ride.” With that he ran forward, right towards the drop. As he reached the edge he jumped, his legs pumping through the air to add more distance to his leap. He stayed airborne for a couple of seconds before he impacted the roof of one of the cargo cars and rolled to cushion the fall. Only his reflexes, boosted by the buff, saved him from going over the edge of the car’s roof.
Stoic watched him jump to the roof of the train with a tiny smirk. “Well, I hope they build these things sturdy enough for a guy like me.” With that he sprinted forward, almost instantly catching up with train. He jumped, activating his jetpack piece and landing on it with a loud clang in a crouch. Standing up and climbing the rather large -and new- dent in the roof, he made his way to where Blader was, his foot-falls causing smaller dents and producing more loud noises.
Blader looked at his companion and waited for a few seconds. After nopony appeared to see what the commotion was he let out a sigh of relief before sitting down. Stoic followed, lowering himself with more care than the other had shown, prepared to fall through the roof.
As they settled on top of the train car in a comfortable silence they glanced at each other.
The two could hardly be more different and remain the same species… One of them was clad in hard, state of the art armor, the other was wearing leather clothes that were geared towards speed and freedom of movement… One was protected by sophisticated technology while the other wielded the power of magic. And yet there was one thing that connected them…
They were both warriors...
In the Badlands
“Where the fuck am I now?!” Cade screamed at the top of his lungs as he rapidly scanned the area. All he could see was rocky barren land that seemed desolate of any plant life. Cade did not notice the large blue ball of flame falling towards him at incredible speeds. It landed behind him with enough force to split a mountain.
Cade was knocked on his ass by the blast of the explosion, he quickly positioned himself to see what exactly had hit the ground.
“What the fuck?” He yelled out, unable to hear the sound of his own voice from the ringing in his ears and through out. Cade watched as the dust settled in and around the crater, from it rose the form of a unicorn clad in dark grey armor and robes, his face hidden by a hood. As he climbed his legs were shaking and he almost fell over a few times, but he was still able to climb out of the crater and stand.
“Well... that is something I do not want to do again." Panted out the new arrival.
“Well, I guess I'm still in Equestria." Cade mumbled under his breath while a black aura surrounded his ears, allowing him to hear again. Cade wasn't sure if he should approach the unicorn considering his gear was more threatening than that of King Sombra, so he decided to keep his distance until he could figure out the unicorns intention.
“So whats your name buddy?” He yelled, hoping the being would be able to hear him. Hearing a voice to his right, instinct took over and the dark unicorn brought one of his scythes to face the source. Unfortunately he was too tired to do much more; he silently hoped this would end peacefully.
Cade backed up instinctively seeing as the unicorn had just pointed a wicked looking scythe toward his direction. As he watched the pony he felt a change in his eyes, seeing the ponies movement before it made them. Trying to avoid a fight he tried to talk to it one more time.
“Hey! Easy man, I’m not here to start shit.”
Malthael turned to face the source of the voice. What greeted him was a sight he never thought he would ever see: a human, a naked red eyed human.
“Okay I must have landed harder than I thought." He grumbled as he spoke and he lowered his blade only to grunt in pain.
Cade watched the obviously pained unicorn unicorn for a moment before moving. He cautiously walked towards it, not yet sure if it was threat to him.
“Hey ma… Unicorn are you ok? You don't look so good.”
“Well I just got intimate with the ground at terminal velocity, so no; I am not feeling too well. Is this san-” He was cut off as his strength failed him and he fell squarely on his side, a grunt escaping his lips. Cade smiled at the unicorn’s antics and looked up in the sky trying to find the source of the being.
“Well, considering you survived the impact, you should be fine… unless you're internally bleeding." Cade then looked down at the being in pity, expecting it to die any second.
“Oh quit looking at me like that. If it was that easy to kill Death somepony would have done so already." His annoyed voice came out strained as he stood. It was a slow and agonizing procedure.
Cade tried not to laugh at the pony, thinking that the MLP version of death couldn't be all that threatening.
“Heh, sorry man. I would help you up… but something tells me it’s not safe to touch death.”
This comment made Malthael fall over in uncontrollable, and slightly painful, laughter. “I-I can’t believe you would say that! That was an old mare's tale over a thousand years ago!” He managed to stop laughing only because he needed to in order to get back up.
“Mare’s tale?” Cade asked, not really sure if they had even say that in MLP. Cade walked over and offered a hand to the struggling unicorn. Gratefully accepting the help Malthael finally managed to stand without the risk of falling over.
“Well technically I was death. Not anymore though.” As he explained this he rubbed his back where his wings had been. “What, devil got your tongue or something. Ha! If that threw you for a loop listen to this one. I used to be human like you.” Cade stared down at the pony not really sure what to say to that
“You used to be human? Ah man that sucks. How's having unicorn powers?”
“Oh you think I am a simple unicorn? Well that makes sense actually… Anyway, I was more than a simple unicorn. I was the angel of death in the high heavens. Oh, and a side note, ripping your wings off sucks.”
“I’m sure it does… but if you're the angel of death… super powerful creature…” Cade smiled and started to giggle at his future stupid comment.
“You didn't happen to get a piece of that sun goddess did you?” Cade said with a stupid smirk on his face.
“I….what? Okay, now this won’t work if we are both making no sense.”
“Princess Celestia? You know the alicorn princess? Wait… Is this Equestria?” Cade said trying to figure out exactly what was going on, and scratching the back of his head in confusion at the same time.
“Hell if I know. I was trying to get to Sanctuary. Man, my aim must really suck if I can’t even hit a plane of existence while I am falling right at it.” Malthael groaned.
“Sanctuary? Now, I have no clue whats going on, ” Cade said while he scanned the surrounding area trying to get a glimpse of civilization, “we need to find a town or something.”
“Well standing here won’t help. If I can recall correctly, and remember I was plummeting at high speeds so forgive me if I am a bit off, there was a small city a few miles…that way.” Looking around he pointed in a direction with one of his blades.
“Works for me, lead the way. By the way, what's your name? Mines Cade Adams.”
“I am Malthael, former angel of death." With that he began to walk with Cade in tow.
On a Ridge overlooking the Badlands
“Ha haaa! I've found you! You've been found!” A man stood over the barren land smashing his fists together in excitement. “I’ve the eyes of a hawk, ha ha! And the nose of seven wolves!”
The muscular man was dressed in a strange fashion. The top half of his body was covered in armor that left most of his chest and the entirety of his upper arms bare. His legs were covered with blue pants, a pair of orange kneepads and high brown boots over them. The image of the brawler was completed by a pair of sturdy forearm protectors that looked sturdy enough to stop a rampaging bull without problem.
“Seven wolves that wasted the last week sniffing at dead ends." A blonde female stood beside him, disgusted with her partner’s antics
She wore a strapless dress that went down to her upper thighs. A pair of black shoes with red thigh-high stockings covered her long and slender legs and gloves in the same shade covered her hands. A coat that parted down from the neck and a large white cone hat completed the ensemble, with the interior of the latter showing red. A staff was grasped in her hand, longer than she was tall, with the top shaped like a crescent with a pair of wings while the bottom ended in a long spike.
“Yes, they look weak... Ahhh, how my blood surges for battle." The man said, continuing to smash his hands together harder and harder in anticipation for the fight that was soon to come. The woman started to rub her temples, trying to quell the headache that her partner was causing her.
“Patience, Barras, we need to be smart about this. First we’ll take out the weak naked one, and then you can have your fun with the unicorn.”
Barras quickly turned to Holly and threw his hands in her direction in frustration, “Holly Whyte! Must you dash all of my dreams!?”
She ignored his actions knowing it wasn't worth paying him any attention.
“Only the stupid ones. So, all of them.” Barras visibly sagging seeing how she ignored him as usual.
“....All of my dreams…”
Holly Whyte turned and faced the two figures walking in the distance.
“We'll wait for them to reach the town center then attack them while they’re unawares. I’ll even let you throw the first punch.”
Even though he heard that he would be fighting soon, he didn't like how the plan went about fighting them.
“Ugh… Hiding is for the weak though… There are only two tactics a real warrior needs! Frontal Assault, and death by Frontal assault!”
“Are you calling me weak?” She snapped her head at her partner giving him a piercing glare.
“Woman! You would never understand a warriors pride!” Barras shouted ignoring her and started punching his fists together again getting hyped up for the fight to come.
She shook her head in disgust somewhat content with him being such a brutal man. “I think you’re confusing stupidity for pride. Anyway, they are getting away.”
They both turned watching the two figures in the distance get smaller and smaller.
At the edge of the Badlands
Malthael was getting one of those feelings, the kind of feeling that he was being followed. Living for ten thousand years taught him that feelings like that existed for a reason and that he should listen to them. Stopping, he held out a foreleg to stop Cade.
Cade, finally dragging his feet from his new redesigned body weakly, looked up at Malthael.
“Why are we stopping?” He asked through his glaringly obvious exhaustion.
“Ever have one of those feeling that you are being followed and they turn out to be true?” Malthael asked without moving.
“No? Can't say I've ever had that feeling." Cade said while turning around, trying to spot something that would be following them.
“Well then let me ask you another question, how much fighting skill would you say you have?”
“None at all, I never even fought on Earth before." Cade said somewhat embarrassed.
“Great, I am being followed by an unidentified threat, I am severely weakened and may not be able to fight as well as I used to, and to top it all off my only backup is next to useless. Dammit Imperious, I hate it when you are right." Malthael cursed under his breath.
“Hey don't be a dick." Cade responded scowling at the pony, “I have no experience, but who said I have no power.” Cade focused his power to his eyes, causing the sharingan to activate and quickly scanned the area again. This time, with the sharingan, he spotted two shadows moving in the distance behind a rock formation.
“Hey! Who's out there!?!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, “We can see you!”
“I resend my previous statement somewhat, only the next few moments will define yours and my strength." Malthael spoke as he walked next to Cade facing the same direction.
“Dammit Barras, they spotted us!” A female voice yelled in a whisper from behind a small gathering of rock formations.
“Then to battle... Whyte! Give us a fitting arena!” The males voiced boomed through the land, completely giving away the location of the stalkers.
The female sighed before stepping out of hiding, her body language showing hesitation
“I dont suppose I’ve much choice. I’ll join you." She said as she slammed her staff onto the ground causing a light blue light to cover the surrounding area, seemingly acting as an arena.
“Ah, an arena spell. Clever, though I must say Tyriel's were definitely better.” Malthael commented as he readied his blades.
Cade looked at the two ‘foes’ and quickly realized who they were, “Oh God no, not these two.”
“Hrnh! HA ha ha HAAA! Monk Barras Lehr enters the ring!” The monk shouted proudly as he approached the two other beings trapped inside the light arena.
“Ugh, must you always shout? Daft or loud, man, pick one!” The female stalker yelled feeling a little stressed.
“Well I was hoping to try my skills out in a more...safe manner, but this will do." Mathael spoke as he rubbed his blades together creating a scraping metallic sound, “Come then, death awaits.”
“Dude these are like the first bosses in a video game, no reason to drop cool lines on them." Cade said with a shit eating grin on his face.
“I have killed the Lord of Sin in one on one combat; if you think I am threatened by these two you clearly don’t know me at all.”
“I thought you said you lost your power." Cade said bluntly, not even paying attention to his would-be enemies.
Smiling Malthael turned back to his foes, “That's what keeps it interesting.”
Holly Whyte just ignored her two enemies and continued the conversation with her partner.
“I’d say we’re already finished here. I’m not breaking a sweat if it’s not absolutely necessary." She said hoping that for some reason Barras wasn't in the mood to fight their foes in a head on battle.
Monk Barras ignored the comments that his opponents were making and focused solely on his partner.
“What?! I live for fighting, Woman! Let me have this! My heart fuse is lit! You can’t unlight my heart fuse!”
“Then let’s get this over with.” She said depressingly with an uncharacteristic sigh as she prepared her staff for battle and stepped behind Barras for cover.
Dashing forward Malthael swung his blades forward to strike Barras in the chest hoping to end it quickly.
“Yesss! Finally! Finally the duel begins! On with the Punching!” Barras said beside himself with manic glee before charging his enemies with his fists raised. Malthael’s blades hit flesh but instead of slicing through like he expected they simply left two small scratches on his chest. Barras decided to take advantage of his opponent's opening and hit him squarely in the chest. The punch sent Malthael flying back. After recovering unceremoniously from the punch he spat out some blood and wiped his mouth.
“Ah, protection magic. Auriel did it better but I will concede, well played.”
With that Malthaels entire style changed instead of going for big powerful blows he started to scratch his foe while not giving him an opportunity to fight back.
“Oh, that's what that weird aura is around him was." Cade said nonchalantly, “Sorry, new to these eyes.”
Still fighting and dodging Malthael said, “No biggie, whoa, can you tell me why he, gah, isn’t going down." Malthael was beginning to tire as his movements began to slow.
Cade looked over at Holly, who’s seemed to be casting magic periodically, “ Well, she's a white mage so she seems to be healing him." Cade said as he started to approach the white mage, “Let me deal with her.”
“NO! Stay back and let me-” He was interrupted by a square punch to the jaw sending him flying back while spinning in the air. After he landed he looked at Cade, “No, let me... do this." Blood was dripping from his mouth as he spoke.
Cade turned back at the pony with a smile on his face.
“Sorry, I already cheated Death once. I don't plan on losing to these two when I kicked their asses virtually 3 times.” Cade then sprang at the two, his sharingan focused on the monk to allow him to see his punches before they are even thrown. Easily dodging the blows from the monk, and counterattacking when the opportunity allowed.
“Idiot.” With that Malthael disappeared in a thick grey fog that quickly dissipated. Barras and Cade were interrupted by a high pitched scream. Both looked at the source to find Holly standing there looking down in disbelief. Sticking through her chest was the hooked end of a scythe. It was violently removed as she collapsed, Malthael standing behind her. Turning to face the Monk Malthael readied his blades and simply said, “Next.”
“Holly, no!” Barras screamed as he looked at her in disbelief. Then that moment he let out a blood curdling yell as he charged the unicorn reaper. Expecting this, Malthael simply sidestepped the telegraphed punch and buried his blade in his foe's chest, piercing his heart.
“Rest for now warrior, you have earned it." He whispered in Barrass's ear before removing his blades and letting him fall.
Cade stood there in absolute shock. He expected to just beat them and let them live, he didn't expect his ally to kill them. He quickly ran to Holly and put his hands on her wounds trying to stop the bleeding; he looked at her face and saw no life in it. Realizing that she was dead, he visibly began to shake.
“Why? I could have handled them. Why use lethal force against them?” His voice trembled as he as looked upon the lifeless forms of the first people he'd seen killed in combat.
For a time it seemed Malthael would not answer. When he did it was slow and deliberate.
“I ended them because if you had been paying attention we were trapped with them until one of us died. I chose us to live." He turned to look at Cade. “Did I choose wrong?”
Cade watched as the blue arena dissipated from around them and slowly nodded. Then, he watched small crystals rise from the bodies of his deceased enemies. Realizing they were asterisks he hesitantly grabbed them to see what they actually did. In that moment he felt the red crystal on his back began to glow as a red aura surrounded the crystals and in a flash they shattered and the energy within them was sucked into Megalith.
“Well that was… interesting." Cade said as he felt weird surges of power fluctuate throughout his body.
Malthael walked up beside Cade and spoke in a voice so soft if Cade hadn't been paying attention he would have missed it.
“Remember them. Remember your regret. Never forget death. For if you do then death is truly final. Never forget.” With that he turned in the direction they had been traveling. “Well then shall we get going?”
“Fine, fine." Cade said feeling a little confused. Not from what Malthael said, but from something in his mind. He felt a different power, and he wanted to seek it out. In a moment he grasped it as his body enveloped in a white light, giving him white clothes and the staff that Holly Whyte had previously.
“The hell just happened?”
“Well, it's a start at least." Was the only clue Cade was going to get.
“What does that mean?” Cade asked before looking down to see himself wearing the same dress that Holly wore.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me!” Cade yelled as his voice echoed through the barren land.
“You better pick up the pace." Malthael called out to Cade as he continued along the trail.
Cade looked up at the pony as he began to climb up a path that lead out of the rocky region.
“Can't fucking believe I'm wearing a dress." He muttered under his breath, summoning his power to his legs, and leaped to Malthael's side.
“Are they gone?” Said a male voice, as the body of Barras rose from the ground.
“Shhh! Quiet, you fool!” Replied a female voice, as the body of Holly Whyte slowly got off the ground and watched her foes walk away.
“You survived that, five minutes of lying still won't kill you.” Holly Whyte said in quiet anger.
“It might! I've never tested it. That said, Reraise sure come in handy." The monk said somewhat mischievously watching as his enemies disappeared over the ridge.
“I said hush! Do you want them to find out we’re still alive!?”
“Ha ha haaa! We’d get to fight another battle, wouldn't we!? Let’s do it!”
Holly Whyte put her hand on her head sighed a bit, knowing they barely survived the last fight.
“Anyway, I think we should report back to the boss, he will need to hear his enemies aren't so weak.”
“That being said." She then hopped on the wounded Barras surprising the monk and knocking him to the ground, “I wouldn’t mind lounging around a bit longer, just the two of us.”
“Ah ha haaa! Yes, good! Perfect weather for it, too!” Said the monk, with surprising spunk in his voice.
Coming over the ridge Malthael saw the town from his fall.
“Ah ha, I found it I-” his voice trailing off.
Cade was still mumbling to himself about the white mage dress but looked up as Malthael stopped talking.
“What is it?” he asked while running up to his side.
“Death. Death and pain. Why is it here? This place was fine a few moments ago." Turning to look at Cade he said, “We need to get down there, NOW!”
Cade, hearing that, quickly switched back to his nude form, which contained Itachi Uchiha’s power, before grabbing the pony reaper, holding him like a princess. He quickly leapt into the air, jumping high enough to make it into the outskirts of the town when they landed.
As they landed Malthael couldn’t help but comment, “Sadly that is neither the most embarrassing nor the most humiliating thing to happen to me. It does, however, get to be a close second.”
Cade ignored his comrade and ran up to a wounded pink earth pony mare with a green mane and switched to his white mage form to begin healing her wounds.
“Relax, her injuries are not that severe. I am more concerned with who, or what, is causing this." Malthael said, readying his blades.
In the meantime, Stoic and Blader’s ride pulled into the station. The two warriors jumped off the train car, Blader taking the time to fix his coat as they strode into the town.
“What happened here?” Stoic asked as he looked over the unconscious and hurt ponies, already knowing the obvious answer he kept his posture ready for an attack from any direction
“They were attacked.” Blader replied quietly, his right hand moving to grasp his sword’s hilt, “Be on your guard, the assailant may still be around.” Stoic nodded as he switched the armor’s external speakers off to talk to Jamey in private for a moment.
“Jamey, can you pull anything from what we’re seeing here? Any evidence at… all...” Stoic’s voice trailed off as he spotted a menacing pony, covered head to hoof in grey armor with two sickles hovering next to him. In a matter of a second Stoic had charged forward, aimed at the only possible assailant around. Blader chose a more “reasonable” approach - he cursed under his breath as he held back, intending to see this being’s fighting style first and then counter appropriately. As it was right now, his favorite methods of attack were all blocked thanks to the Spartan being between him and the possible enemy.
Malthael noticed the charging metal behemoth. Though questioning why he wasn't using the sword on his back he couldn’t deny a tackle from him should be best avoided. Malthael quickly lit up his horn and teleported a short distance to the side to avoid the tackle, his body consumed by thick smoke as he cast the spell.
Already mid-tackle, Stoic turned his small flight into a roll, instantly standing back up and turning around to face his new opponent. Checking his external speakers to ensure they were off and changing his stance he checked on Jamey's self-repair status, seeing that she was nearly fully functional he spoke to her.
“Jamey, can you tell me anything about this guy?”
“No, nothing outside of the fact that his magical aura has been compressed to the point that its leaking out all around him. Think Japanese comics, but with less tentacle rape and more wispy-ness.”
Stoic nearly choked on his breath like he had earlier, falling to a kneeling position.
“Gah-why the hell would you make that joke?”
After getting no response he pushed himself back up and grabbed the sword on his back, pulling it around in front of himself.
“Ah, so you finally decided to take this seriously. Well then shall we?” Malthael said as he gave a slight bow and lowered his weapons a bit to match his gesture.
“Holy shit is that a Spartan!?!” Cade yelled catching the attention of the Spartan and the death pony, as well as startling the pink mare that was previously unconscious in his arms. Stoic turned his head towards the cross-dresser staring intently at him for several seconds of silence.
“Why is it that everything and everyone I've seen or met today has been so… strange...”
Seeing his foes reaction to Cade, Malthael assumed a less threatening pose.
“Well that was kinda disappointing." He said, annoyed that he wouldn't get the chance to fight an experienced warrior.
“For me it was refreshing.” Blader replied as he approached the group, his hand resting on his sword’s hilt as he looked over the beings. His blue eyes lingered on Cade before he diverted his attention to the more dangerous looking newcomer, “An interaction with a human that doesn't end with a fight is a new experience to me.”
“Indeed, though I must say you do look like any fight between us would at least be interesting, warrior." Malthael said as he tucked his blades under his robes. He then gave a slight bow to show respect to the newcomers.
“By the way, my name is Malthael. What is yours?”
Blader’s eyes locked on the pony-like being before he returned the bow.
“I am known as the Force Blader. I have been granted other titles, but I believe that they are irrelevant in our current situation.”
Cade set down the pony he was healing and walked up to the two new humans and extended his hand.
“Name’s Cade Adams. Nice to meet you all." He said with a smirk on his face.
"Name's Stoicism, but you can call me Stoic for short." The Spartan said shaking the cross-dressing man’s hand, almost crushing it in the process.
The group’s meeting was swiftly interrupted as a high-pitched feminine scream rang through the air. They quickly ran down the street as a man dressed in black came into view. A pony stallion was hanging in midair as the human held one hand out, appearing to be squeezing his fingers.
“Now you listen to me, alien. If you want to live you will tell me what Galaxy I am in, and where the nearest spaceport is.” The pony only struggled to breath and didn't make a sound as the black clad figure threw him to the side. Furious that none of the ponies had the information he sought, the Sith turned towards the group of humans.
“I sensed you arrive the moment you stepped foot in this town." He addressed them with the artificial voice that was iconic in the Star Wars movies.
“Dude, no way, that’s Darth Vader." Cade said trying not to laugh.
Stoic tilted his head down sighing in frustration, putting his hand to the back of his head and muttering curses to himself about how ridiculous his life was becoming.
Vader turned his full attention to the group as he attempted to look imposing. From a distance however he seemed to do little more than turn to face them. He tilted his head lightly as he took note of the groups appearances. Though they all looked strange in their own way, he found himself taking the most interest in the pony and huge metal covered stranger.
Taking a moment to pause, he hummed to himself. “Now, you all seem to be different from the locals. Tell me, what planet is this, and where is the nearest space-port?”
Cade smirked at the star wars character. “To put it short and sweet, This is Equestria, and there are no spaceports here.”
Vader, realizing he was now stuck on the brightly colored world, dropped down onto his knees and put both hands on his helmet, yelling out loudly, “NOOOOOOOOOOOO.”
“Pussy...” Cade said not caring about the whiny Vader as he rose from the ground angrily.
Vader stayed rooted, looking at the alien he had intended to speak with originally. “It is not wise to raise your tone with me. If you will not join me…." the distinct snap-hiss sound made the group tense, except for one female clothed human who seemed unimpressed. “...then you will learn the power of the Dark Side.”
“I always wanted one of those…” Blader muttered, staring at the red blade.
They were all suddenly distracted by a shrill whistle. Turning to face the sound they all saw a humanoid figure silhouetted against the setting sun with an old Stetson pulled low over its face giving no clue to his identity.
“Hey! Little Orphan Annie! Didn't your mother ever teach you to play nice with other?” Asked the strange cowboy, something in his voice sounding very wrong to all who heard it, “You’ll never make any friends like that.”
“Who are you? And why can’t I sense you with the Force?” Asked the black clad villain, taking up a fighting position, facing the interloper.
“That is a very good question." Replied the figure, moving the duster away from a cut down rifle, a Mare’s Leg, resting in a leather holster along his right leg, “Your move tall, dark, and scary.” With that, they began to stare each other down, neither moving, sizing the other up for an opening that they could exploit.
Malthael made a move to strike at the Sith Lord while his attention was elsewhere, but was stopped by the Force Blader’s raised hand.
“Watch." Blader said calmly, his blue eyes focused on the battle. He had finally taken his hand off the hilt of his sword. It was evident that he wasn't on edge anymore, or at least less than before.
In an instant a single gunshot rang out, the figure had decided that he had the advantage and, with a lightning quick move, he had drawn the rifle one handed and fired on the Sith Lord.
“What… how?” asked Vader weakly as he fell to his knees, staring between the ruined stump of his hand, that he had used to try and create a barrier, and the smoking hole going through his chest.
“I guess the Force just wasn't strong with you." Mocked the figure as it placed the rifle back where it belonged with a quick twirl and the body of the defeated villain fell lifeless to the ground.
“Now, to deal with you lot." It said, advancing on the group that had been spectators to the quick fight.
“Who should I start with?” Mused the stranger, “Oh, Mr. Jordan Georgiev…” Blader’s eyes widened in surprise at the name… A name he hadn't heard in nearly thirteen years.
“How do you know that name?” He interrupted the stranger, his right hand immediately moving to grip the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.
“That is a good question." Said the stranger, taking a cigarette from a pocket inside his coat. To everyone's surprise, it lit itself as soon as it was in his mouth, or at least what they assumed was his mouth as he kept his hat over his face and the sun behind him.
“And you, Mr. James Fairwell." He said turning on the group's Spartan, “I see so much destruction when I look upon you, but you can't continue to blame yourself over an accident in the heat of the moment.”
Stoic stepped back, caught off guard by the statement that had been directed at him. In the same instant memories of countless lives he’d ruined sprang to the forefront of his mind, only for them to be interrupted by a single memory of the moment that changed him for the rest of his own life. As the memory ended he looked back at the new arrival.
“How the hell do you know about that, and who the hell are you to tell me to not blame myself?!”
“Someone you may come to trust." The stranger replied before looking to the only pony present, “Malthael, Angel of Death, a being who is here, but I still see as a blank space that is slowly being filled in. Your actions are too extreme for my tastes but your reasoning and intentions are noble and just, never forget that. I just hope you watch your actions from here on out, I'd hate to have to call the Nephilim.”
Malthael simply gave the stranger a dumbfounded look as he tried to piece together what the stranger was talking about.
“Mr. Cade Adams, you should be ashamed, what would your mother think if she saw you and your new bad habits?” He said rounding on the very nervous young man, “Why, she would likely die of embarrassment. And, oh my, sweet, innocent little Fluttershy would cry her eyes if she ever found out what you did with that picture of her or if she heard the impure thoughts you had about her when you two first met.”
Cade at first was baffled by the comment trying to figure out what he meant. Then he looked down and saw his female white mage clothing. Then he thought about the second part of his statement.
“Fluttershy?” Cade mumbled under his breath. then he realized what he was referring to, “Aww come on man! That was one time! That being said... You better not tell Fluttershy” And with his last word his eyes turned red with the sharingan.
“Do not worry, your secret is safe with me." The stranger replied.
Cade kept his glare on the new human. Somewhat upset that his secret was exposed. He quickly lamented and nodded, figuring now wasn't the best time to ask how he knew.
“So what's your name stranger?” Cade asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
“I am but a humble traveler, who much like yourselves, is of two souls and a very long way from home." Replied the cowboy as he took a dramatic bow, still keeping his identity hidden.
“A Displaced…” Blader muttered, more to himself than the others, but anyone listening would’ve heard it anyway.
Cade was fed up with the secrecy, he quickly summoned all his power to his legs and quickly leapt towards the mysterious being, removing his hat revealing his skeleton face.
“I guess the cat's out of the bag." Said the Rider as he stood straight again and took in the looks of shock on the faces of the others, “I guess if you want to call me anything, call me Rider.”
“Wait… like Ghost Rider? Where’s your bike?” Cade asked as he looked at Rider curiously.
“That is a good question my friend." Said the Rider looking rather put down by the man’s comment, “I seem to have left it back in my Equestria... along with my regular attire, not really digging the change from Biker Badass to Cowboy Curtis.”
Cade watched the ponies fleeing the scene and put his hand on his face.
“So… I think we need to go to Canterlot and get there before the ponies blame us for what went down here. If we don't explain ourselves then the local government will probably take action against us. I think there is a train that runs from this little town to Canterlot, we should take the train there. That would be the fastest way to get everyone there and clear up what happened before we have to deal with their military... not that they're a threat.”
“You can never know when another Dimension is concerned.” Blader said from where he had crouched next to Vader’s corpse and was searching it. The older swordsman was speaking from experience, the military of his Equestria wasn’t a pushover, even after centuries of peace and he had no reason to believe that this one wasn’t like that.
“Yeah, I'd rather not have any more Demon Hunters after my boney ass again, I never thought the last ones would ever ease up." added the Rider, earning a few strange looks from the gathered humans.
“Our cross-dressing companion is right.” Blader continued as he stood up and put something in his coat’s inner pocket, “We will face unnecessary complications if we stay around for a chat.”
Cade physically sagged as he continued to be insulted. “Well… besides the clothes I'm stuck with… there should be a train that runs from here to Canterlot. Maybe we should check the station and see if a train is there…”
“I agree with Cade.” Malthael stated before muttering under his breath “maybe we will be lucky.”
Stoic watched the four nod in agreement, leaving his own opinion lay silent. He swiveled his head around, following the motion with the rest of his bulky form. He opened his mouth to ask which way they would be heading, only to be interrupted by another of the groups members. Cade, figuring he should take lead, leaped onto a building to try to get a better look around the town. Looking farther into the distance he was able to spot the train tracks that lead away from the town. “Hey guys! I spotted the station!” He shouted down at his comrades. “And it looks like there is a train there too!”
Blader followed the man’s movement with his eyes, nodding in agreement. “Indeed.”
Stoic nodded and followed the given direction with a jogging stride, leaving them behind.
The rest of the group of men quickly ran towards the direction of the station. Fortunately the town of Appleloosa was fairly small and they arrived at the station in minutes. As they approached the station Malthael looked around at everyone as they gathered. Everyone was accounted for save one. “Does anyone know where the spirit went?” He asked as he received curious glances from the rest of the group.
They walked into the passenger compartments and realized someone needed to try and drive the train. As if in response to the question, the doors of the cars slammed shut of their own free will, sealing the passengers inside.
“Ladies and gentlemen, uh, this is, uh, your captain speaking." Came a familiar voice over the trains P.A. System, “Uh, we will, uh, be departing in, uh, only a few moments. Uh, make sure your, uh, tray tables and seat backs are, uh, locked in the upright position.”
“Looks like hes stealing the show, not that I care.” Cade said lazily while closing his eyes and leaning his head back into his seat. Blader, however, wasn't so calm.
“Can someone stop that idiot before he kills us all? I’d rather not die… again.” He growled, quickly casting Earth Guard for himself just in case.
“I can’t believe I’m actually going going to go through and follow these guys to her…” Stoic muttered to himself quietly as he sat down on one of the seats, instantly filling its poor frame with his tremendous weight.
With a blast of sudden acceleration, the group of displaced humans were forced down into their seats.
“This is your captain again..." Came the Rider's voice over the P.A. again, “...and as we enter the first turn of our journey I have one, simple, question for a special group of individuals that we have with us today, have you ever seen the movie... Tokyo Drift?” The cries of anguish and pleas for help were drowned out by demonic laughter as the hell-morphed train entered its first curve of the trip. It was going to be a bumpy ride.
Author's Note
Greetings and welcome to the first chapter of the LoHAH Mass Crossover, a chapter that was written, rewritten, discussed and changed more times than I could count. I am Malcho1234, your host for this Author's Note.
I'm sure that many of you have noticed the writing style being all over the place. Before you complain, this is what you get when you have this many people writing a single story. Also, if you have any questions, then it's best to PM them to us, at our private profiles.
Derek Watterson here; Like my friend Malcho said, welcome to the first chapter. This has been in the works for a while now, a few months if memory serves me correctly. In this time our group of writers have not only been forming the 17K chapter before you, but forming bonds as well; bonds that have made us not only writing allies, but friends. And with this friendship that has formed comes a certain ability to work well with each other in our goal to bring you, the audience, a fun and enjoyable reading experience.
So, dear readers, I hope we managed to bring to you something that you found enjoyable, whether that be the writing, the characters, or the tale.
On another note, WHEEEEW! We finally got the first chapter posted! Yes, just so much yes!
Now to work on chapter two... yay...
