Static Sparks (Good Karma)

Day 20...

Twilight woke up to find herself being held close to Cole. He had pulled her close to him in his sleep. Their faces were inches away from each other. Blushing, she placed a hand on his face, as she did he started to smile. A mischievous smile spread across her face. She angled herself accordingly and adjusted her hand on his face as she did, glancing to the chairs she saw Zeke awake and looking at her with a curious expression. Then as tenderly as she could... she pinched his cheek and gave it several strong firm shakes.

Cole's eyes shot open and he bolted up, electricity arcing off of his arms. He looked around ready to face whatever had disturbed him. What he didn't expect was stifled laughter behind him. Turning he saw Twilight holding a hand over her mouth trying, and failing, to hold in her laughter. She soon gave up and broke out in a fit of giggles. Looking over to the chairs he saw Zeke laughing his ass off. Spike was jolted awake from the laughter, looking around confusedly.

As annoyed as he was that she would mess with him now of all times, he couldn't help but smile at the giggling woman. He was glad that she was able to be relaxed enough to have a good time, even in such troubling times. "Having fun?" he asked.

"Y-y-yes. S-s-sorry, for messing wi-with you," she apologized through her giggling.

Chuckling, Cole got up and started stretching. Turning back to Twilight, he asked, "So who's going to go with me, you or Spike?"

"I-I'll go with yo-you," Twilight said, trying to compose herself as she got up from the couch.

Cole smirked, "You sure you can pull yourself together?"

"O-of course I c-can," she stuttered, struggling to contain her laughter. She took several deep breathes to calm herself down. Once she composed herself she held out her hand. "Shall we?" she asked.

Taking her hand, he said, "Yeah, let's go."

Spreading her wings she took off, lifting him with her. They headed to where the leader of the Reapers was supposed to be.

Once they reached the tunnel they noticed that it looked like it had been turned into an impromptu fortress. "This is certainly looks like the place," Twilight said.

Cole nodded as he contacted Moya, "We're across the Jefferson Tunnel."

"With the entrance blocked, the two of you are going to need to find a way to get in. You should enter the compound and see if there's a way to open the doors," she instructed.

Twilight descended to the street and set Cole on the ground. They walked to the gate that led to the compound. Cole quickly charged the power box on the side and it raised up. As they entered a kamikaze Reaper charged at them. Before the Reaper could even light the fuses of his bombs a violet beam hit him in the chest. The explosives instantly going off. Cole looked over to Twilight with a surprised look on his face.

Seeing his look, she said, sullenly, "I know what you and Spike said about that Reaper and figured you were right. I can't do anything about the bombs on them. I would rather not do it, but we have to protect the people of this city. I won't just kill every enemy we come across, but I will take them out." She said this with a depressed look, tears in the corners of her eyes.

Cole pulled Twilight into a reassuring hug, one she quickly returned. "It's okay Twilight. You're right, we need to protect people from these psychos. No we don't have to kill all of them," he assured her "but we can't afford to hold back against them either. If we do, then they could take us and/or innocent people out."

They separated and continued through the compound. Once they climbed the ladder, the two moved behind the containers there to avoid the fire of the turrets. Peering around the side of the container, Cole saw two turrets and a reaper on each tower.

Turning back to Twilight he told her his plan. "You teleport behind the turrets and take out those two Reapers and I'll take care of the ones on the towers," he said.

She nodded and cast a barrier around herself. She then teleported to the turrets. She appeared directly behind one of the Reapers. Charging her magic into her hands, she brought one hand down on to the Reaper's back. The magic blasted him forward, smashing the turret. Above her she heard electricity hitting the Reapers on the towers. Turning to the other Reaper she charged toward him. He turned toward her and started firing at her. The bullets bounced off her barrier leaving her unharmed, but each hit drained her magic. When she reached the Reaper she threw her fist forward smashing it into his face. He was blasted back into the fence and fell to the ground knocked out.

Twilight then flew up to the towers to look for something that would let them in. As she looked, he heard the voice from before, he started to suspect that this was Sasha.

'Finally coming home, sweet, delicious Cole. I've been waiting for you to arrive, longing for you to be with me at last,' she said.

"Shut the hell up," he said.

"Cole, I think that I found how to open the gate!" Twilight called down to him.

As she pulled the lever to open the gate the woman continued. 'I can feel all of the love in you. I'm going to have so much fun coaxing it out of you,' the voice said.

He ignored the voice and walked to the front. Twilight glided down to him and the two entered the tunnel. They soon ran into two Conduit Reapers. Cole and Twilight each aimed at a Conduit. He threw two shock grenades at one of them. One stuck to the Reaper, but the other missed and flew passed the Conduit. When the grenade blew, Cole sprinted toward the downed Reaper. Before he could get up, he was restrained.

Twilight fired at the other Conduit, but before the beam could connect the Reaper teleported. He reappeared behind her and sent a shockwave forward. Using her wings for a boost, Twilight flipped over the Reaper completely dodging the attack. Landing behind him, she grabbed his arms and sent an electric surge through him. He went rigid as electricity coursed through his body. He soon fell the ground, out cold.

After taking care of the Conduits, they continued through the tunnel. The two soon noticed a short distance away was a fence with a locked gate. However standing between them and the gate was a Reaper they had never encountered before. The new Conduit Reaper wore a coat as black as night and looked slimy like their tar. Unlike the other Reapers he held no weapon. However, the very air seemed to be moving. He slowly started to raised his hand and held it to the side. Cole and Twilight took defensive stances, ready to face the Reaper. The new Conduit swung his arm forward sending a blast of wind at them. Caught off guard by the new use of powers, Cole and Twilight were blown backwards. Cole managed to stay on his feet, but Twilight was knocked on to her back.

Cole rushed over to make sure she wasn't hurt. "Are you okay?" he asked, keeping an eye on the Reaper.

"Yeah, I'm okay. We're going to need to watch ourselves. Those other Conduits were difficult enough with just the one attack. There's no telling how many this one has," she said, standing and taking an offensive position.

Nodding, Cole rushed toward the Reaper as Twilight fired beams at him. The Conduit dodged the beams with ease. As Cole got near the beams ceased. He charged his gigawatt blades and swung at the Reaper. Jumping to the side he dodged the blades and brought his arms across his chest. Spreading his arms he launched a blast of wind toward Cole. He noticed there was something different about this gust and ducked under it. The wind flew over him, he then heard metal being rent apart. Turning around his eyes widened when he saw a car with a clean cut in it.

'Gonna have to watch out for that,' Cole thought.

When he turned back he saw another blast coming at him. Cole instinctively brought his blades up to block the attack. Wind met lightning, Cole pushed against the scythe of air. He struggled against the gust, until he was finally able to repel the blade. The attacks dissipated and Cole charged at the Conduit again. He threw two grenades at each side of the him to limit his movement. The Reaper moved forward to avoid the explosives, forcing him face Cole. Gathering wind in his hand, he threw his arm forward. Cole jumped away from the punch and threw an electric filled kick at the Reapers stomach. The Conduit dodged the kick and shot a blast of air at Cole, sending him back several feet. When he landed he rushed back at the Reaper.

As Cole fought the Conduit, Twilight was trying to get a clear shot at the Reaper. However, they kept moving and she couldn't shoot without either missing or hitting Cole. She was getting rather frustrated that she couldn't help. She would just have to be patient and wait for an opportunity to attack.

As he fought, out of the corner of his eye Cole saw Twilight trying to get in a shot, but couldn't because they wouldn't stand still. He would need a way to trap the Reaper so he couldn't move. He got an idea that he wondered would work. The Reaper didn't use any of his bigger attacks as he moved. So if he stopped moving. Cole came to a stop with his back to the fence. The Conduit stopped in front of him and crossed his arms to fire his air scythe. As he was about to release his attack when there was a flash of magenta behind the Reaper. He stiffened from the hit, then fell to ground unconscious. Cole walked over to him and restrained him.

Letting out of sigh of relief, Cole looked over to Twilight as she walked over to him. They spared a moment to give each other a kiss.

As they did the voice yelled in his head, 'What are you doing?! That can't be possible. You lie!!'

Cole winced and held a hand to his head, "Ugh."

Twilight looked at him concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a slight headache," he lied. "Let's keep going." He turned toward the fence at shot the lock that was keeping the gate closed. As he opened it, their eyes widened and Twilight gasped at what they saw.

Cole contacted Moya to report what they found. "We found out where they are making Reapers. There are machines down here spraying that black tar all over people they have in cages," he said.

"You need to get them out of there before they become Reapers. Then deal with Sasha," she said.

"Right," he said. He looked over to Twilight and said, "You take the right, I'll do the left."

She nodded and they went about letting the people out of the cages. After freeing everyone they resumed walking down the tunnel. As they walked the Sasha's voice came back.

'You think that I don't see the way your parading that brat around like some common Jezebel?' the voice said. 'I see all of it now Kessler. Everything.'

"Damn it. What the hell is your problem?" Cole muttered.

'And your bringing her here. Perfect. When the two of you get down here we can be rid of her,' she said eerily.

Twilight looked over at Cole worriedly. She could see something was wrong with Cole. He was grimacing and was muttering to himself. She decided to leave it alone for now. They had come to a giant hole in the floor, there wasn't anything past it so they headed down it. Cole leapt off the edge and Twilight glided down. When they reached the bottom the gate in front of them raised.

When the gate reached the top the two saw a woman sitting in a strange chair. She wasn't wearing anything except a small coat. Tar covered her legs and the lower half of her body. Instead of fingers she seemed to have claws. She had what looked like small pipes sticking out of her shoulder and above her chest. When she spoke Cole was slightly surprised at the voice.

"Honey! Where have you been? The bridge is always backed up at night. I told you that," she said getting up from the chair. "You need to get dressed for the dinner plans we have tonight. Yes, I told you, you silly man. Which means that your little friend will have to leave." As she stepped into the tar she submerged into it.

'So it was her I was hearing,' Cole thought.

Twilight picked Cole up and flew into the room. She landed on a slab of concrete that created an island in the pool of tar. Cole started to jump to a different platform when Sasha surfaced from the tar and opened her mouth, from which several tentacle-like things came from it. She started leaning toward his head. Cole was using all his strength to keep her away, but she slowly made her way closer. Before she even got halfway, however, a magenta aura surrounded one the small pipes on her shoulder. Both of them noticed this and looked over at Twilight. They were surprised at what they saw.

Twilight was glaring death at Sasha, snarling, "Get off of him, you bitch!" She tore the pipe off of the Reaper leader. Tar shot from the hole made by the pipes removal.

She screamed as the pipe was ripped off and plunged back into the tar.

Cole jumped onto a platform, "Thanks!" he shouted. "Looks like those pipes are some kind of weak point." He waited for a chance to attack. Sasha rose and sent a shockwave at Twilight. She quickly jumped to the side, dodging the blast. Quickly retaliating Twilight shot a beam at the enemy Conduit. The beam connected, hitting her in the gut. After taking the hit she descended back. Twilight unconsciously moved to the edge of the platform.

When she did, Sasha surfaced and jumped at Twilight. Before she could react, the Conduit grabbed her throat, pushing her to the ground and started choking her. As she was squeezing the life out of the alicorn, Sasha started to taunt her, "You aren't anything special. He deserves so much more from someone. He deserves a woman and he will belong to me."

Twilight narrowed her eyes and growled, "He isn't... *gasp* ...some thing... *gasp* you can own. *gasp* *gasp* He is a human being."

Sasha snarled and started to tighten her grip, her claws digging into Twilight's neck, when she felt a weight on her back. The jolt caused her to loosen her grip and Twilight seized the opportunity by teleporting away. Gasping for air she looked back and saw Cole on the other Conduits back pulling another of the pipes off of her. She quickly dove back after it was removed.

He rushed over to Twilight. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'll be okay," she gasped. She brought her hand up and started to heal the wounds on her throat.

Deciding to stay together, they stood next to each other. As they waited for her to surface again, some strange worm-like things started to rise from the tar. Slowly, but surely an orange energy seemed to move to the top. Having a feeling it wasn't anything good. They decided not to wait and find out what it would do. They quickly shot and destroyed the orange energy. They were to late in shooting one and it was launched at them. They were forced to separate by diving out of the way, Cole jumped to another platform and Twilight grabbed onto a light pole that was submerged in the tar. As the energy made contact with the ground it exploded, pushing Cole back slightly and breaking the wood pole Twilight was hanging onto. She quickly jumped to another platform.

As soon as she landed, a shockwave hit her knocking her to the edge of the island. Sasha rose from the tar and lunged at Twilight. Ready this time, she rolled out of the way. Pushing up she brought her legs toward herself and bucked the Conduit's side. Dazed from the blow, Twilight swiftly grabbed another pipe and ripped it off. Screaming, Sasha submerged back into the tar.

Twilight teleported back to Cole and stayed next to him. They waited for the leader of the Reapers to attack. More of the worms rose up and the two started shooting them down. As they did this Sasha reemerged and sent a shockwave at them. Twilight quickly teleported them away from the attack. They appeared behind the leader and Cole quickly tackled her. Once they hit the ground, he swiftly grabbed the last pipe and tore it off. He got off of her, but kept his aim on her in case she tried anything.

She didn't move however and looked up at Cole, "You won't be able to control your powers. Look at what they did to me. They control you."

Cole stood above the demented Reaper leader. 'Will this really happen to me?' he wondered. 'Will my powers really twist my mind into something this demented?' He felt something on his shoulder, looking over he saw Twilight giving him a comforting smile. He smiled back and returned his attention back to Sasha. 'I'll deal with that if it happens. Twilight, Spike, and Zeke will help me out too. Right now I need to find out what she knows about the First Sons and their Ray Sphere,' he thought. He started to reach down to start interrogating her, when there was an explosion. He grabbed Twilight and put himself between her and the blast.

After the dust settled Cole looked over to where the explosion had occurred. He saw some men with strange masks carrying Sasha out of the tunnel. They moved fast through the rubble, as if they were trained for this kind of thing.

The tunnel was starting to fill with water and was starting to cave in. Looking over to Twilight he cursed. When she fell to the ground from the force of the blast she had hit her head on the ground, knocking her out. Not having time to think, Cole quickly picked Twilight up and not being able to go back, headed into the slums of the Warren.

Cole soon reached the end of the tunnel. Instead of going out, he walked over to a wall separating the tunnel from the streets. Placing Twilight down, he checked where her head hit the ground. He sighed in relief when he didn't see anything. He sat next to her and waited for her to regain consciousness. As he waited he stayed alert to anything that might be threat to them.