Conduit, Not Monster

Blowing Off Steam

It was a quiet day in Empire City. Usually there would be a few break-ins, attempted murders, car wrecks, pretty much anything that called for the help of “The Electric Eight” (Pinkie Pie’s nickname for the group of super-powered friends). But, today was different. It was almost as if someone pulled the plug on all violence in the city.

Cole and his friends were all tired and he remembered shouting into the sky, “Give us a break, will you?”

That happened yesterday. No one questioned why this sudden decrease in crime was happening, but they still kept their guard up. Zeke and Cole were lounging on the couch as usual watching that guy that called himself the “Voice of Survival”.

“So what happened that one week ago?”

“You mean that guy that supposedly had powers? Turns out it was. He could control water like I could with electricity. It was pretty easy taking care of him.”

“So what’d you do?”

“All I did was fire a bolt at him and he was down and out.”

They both shared a chuckle. For a moment, everything seemed like it would get better again. This was interrupted suddenly when Rainbow Dash flew right in front of the TV, much to Zeke’s irritation.

“Hey! Come on, Dash! It’s just getting good!”

“Sorry Zeke, Cole. But, have any of you guys seen Applejack?! I’ve looked all around the city and I can’t find her!”

“Did you try asking Twilight or Rarity for help?”

She rubbed the back of her head at her sudden realization. “Oh…um, no.”

Cole let out a deep breath. “Alright. Fine. I’ll go get her.”

“Wait…you know where she is?”

“She told me before she left. You just hang back here with Zeke and I’ll take care of it.” He went off on his way, and Dash plopped down on the couch next to Zeke.

“Whatcha watchin’?”

“The Voice of Survival. I love listening to this guy rant on about what needs to be done in this God-forsaken city.”

“Sounds awesome.”

Cole finally arrived at the Town Square and started to look for Applejack. Then, he looked up. Applejack was swinging on the rope that once held the food supplies from two months ago.

“Applejack!! How’d you get up there?!”

She looked down and gave him a smug look. “The fact that Ah ain’t got wings doesn’t mean nothin’. You shoulda seen me. Ah actually ran up the statue like that James guy ran up that building that one time.”

“Yeah yeah yeah that’s pretty amazing! Now come down from there! Rainbow Dash has been looking everywhere for you!”

She promptly swung herself off the rope and landed on the ground right next to Cole. But, instead of having a proud look on her face, she looked sad. “Tell Dash that Ah’m not comin’ back.”

“What?! Why?!”

“Cause Ah don’t belong in the group. You got yer electricity, Pinkie’s got shape-shifting, Twilight and Rarity have mind powers, and wut do Ah have? Superhuman leg strength?! That ain’t nothin’ compared to y’all!!”

“AJ, I understand. But, you still have powers. Period; the end.”

“But, Ah didn’t want these powers! Ah wanted somethin’ else! Ah can’t compare with the rest a’ y’all. I don’t belong in yer group. So Ah’m leavin’.”

Cole put his hand on Applejack’s shoulder. “Well, I know I can’t stop you. But, I can at least make your last night here something to remember.” Then, he smiled. “Hey. You wanna know what I do when I’m feeling depressed?

Applejack then gave that same smug look. “Kick some Reaper ass?”

“Kick some Reaper ass.”

They were both positioned on a rooftop in the Historic District. Luckily, there was a group of Reapers lining up folks for target practice. Cole was about to shoot down the thugs when Applejack stopped him.

“Don’t worry bout it. Ah got this.” She then jumped off of the rooftop and landed right behind the Reapers. One of them turned around and she gave him an uppercut to the chin. He flew in the air and screamed, which alerted the other Reapers. They aimed their guns at her, but it was too late. With one swift movement, Applejack landed kicks on each of them. They were instantly knocked unconscious and flew back several yards. Then, that same one that she uppercutted was dropping to the ground screaming like a little girl.

“Hey Cole!! Catch this!”

Like Bruce Lee in Fists of Fury, Applejack jumped into the air and gave him a flying kick. He was sent skyward again, but this time towards Cole. He caught him by his jacket, pinned him to the ground, and put him in an Arc Restraint.

“You’re gonna tell me who sent you to kill those people.”

The Reaper smiled. “You really think I would tell that to a freak like you?”

“Don’t make me call my friend up here.”

The Reaper’s smile didn’t falter. “Anything you throw at me is better than what my employer would do to me.”

Cole fired up his lightning, but stopped himself. He needed to get all the answers that he could. “Explain.”

The Reaper chuckled. “Not that it’s any concern to you, but he threatened to kill my family and make me watch as he did it. The only way for me to save them was to kill a few people in their place.”

Cole couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You were all being forced?”

“Just me. The other guys joined in looking for some fun. So, at this point, I’ve lost all hope of seeing my wife and daughter again.”

Cole could sympathize with this guy. He would’ve done anything to get Trish back. So, he came up with an idea. “I’ll cut you a deal. You don’t have to tell me who sent you, but if you tell me where your hideout is, I’ll find someone else and let you go a free man. I’ll even make sure that your family is safe. Sound good?”

Needless to say, the Reaper was surprised. “You’re gonna forgive me just like that? After what I’ve done? I almost killed a group of people!”

“And I let a girl kick your ass, so I think we’re even.” Immediately, Cole took away the restraints and helped the Reaper up. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“Johnny. Johnny Carson.” He shook hands with Cole. “Our hideout is near Empire Electrics. Do me a favor and give ‘em hell.”

And with that, Cole shouted to Applejack to follow him. They set out for Empire Electrics. Cole was doing his thing with the power lines, while Applejack was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He was actually surprised that Applejack could keep up with him.

She may not have wanted those powers, but she sure as hell knows how to use them, he thought.

When they arrived at the supposed hideout, everything was quiet. A little too quiet. Then, they heard someone talking. They positioned themselves on top of an old mill building to hide. Luckily, it had plenty of open skylights so they could see and hear everything. There were two guards with AK-47’s guarding the entrance. In the middle of the room was a woman and a little girl tied to two chairs and blindfolded.

“Where the hell is Johnny? He and the group were supposed to be back half an hour ago!”

“Just calm down. He can take his sweet time. You know the whole situation, right?”

“Something about killing his wife and kid?”

“Exactly. If I had to kill to save my wife, then I would. That is, if I had one. Hell, I’ll kill people just because I want to!”

“If I had a beer right now, I’d drink to that.”

While that was going on, Cole laid out a plan. “Okay. Here’s what we’re gonna do. You take care of the guards, I’ll sneak in and untie the two of them, and we’ll bring them back to Johnny.”

“Why do Ah always get the hard work?”

“Because you’re a pretty lady with super-strength.”

She shrugged her shoulders and went to work. She jumped far enough away that the guards wouldn’t hear her. She unbuttoned a few of the buttons on her flannel shirt to show off her cleavage. She then started to walk towards the guards. They raised their guns at her, but put them down after getting a good look at her. After she got their attention, she started strutting.

“Scuse me fellas. But, Ah think Ah’m lost. Can you big, strong men give a lil lady like me an escort home?”

The two nodded furiously and started to follow her. Now that they were out of the picture, Cole could get to work. He jumped down and went into the mill house. The woman and her daughter were shaking when they heard someone approaching.

“It’s okay. I’m not hurt you. Johnny sent me to help you.”

The little girl perked up at this. “Daddy sent you?”

“That’s right. I’m gonna get you and your mommy outta here and take you two to see your daddy again.” He took off their blindfolds and untied them as fast as he could. Applejack came back at the perfect time. They snuck around the remaining guards and made it outside. They then set out for Johnny’s last location. Applejack rooftop-jumped with the woman on her back, while Cole cradled the little girl while zipping on the power lines. They reached a ground level area close to his location. The little girl called out for her father and was answered by something else.

“Well, well, well. Look what the pretty lil lady brought with her.”

They turned around to see a large group of Dust Men perched on a rooftop with Johnny taken hostage. They were homeless people before the Blast, but rose to power using brute force like the Reapers. They would take scrap metal and make weapons out of them, one of which was a razor-sharp blade resting on Johnny’s neck.

“Down on your knees, hands on the ground, or this Reaper bastard dies.”

Cole didn’t know what to do. He had gone so far out of his way to help Johnny and his family, and now it was all dashed away. Applejack looked at the group. There were eleven men, and the one with the blade looked to be their leader. Suddenly, she felt a new strength rising up in her. There was a desire to protect welling up, and she could have sworn that she heard voices ringing in her head.

“Do as he says, Cole.”

“Are you crazy, Applejack?”

“No Ah ain’t. Ah promise we’ll be fine.”

“That’s not true! They’ll kill us the first chance they get.”

“Now listen here, Cole McGrath! What Ah’m sayin’ to you is the honest truth! Do as he says, and we’ll make it outta here.”

He didn’t know why, but all his trust was in her. He told the others to comply. They all went down on their knees and everyone but Applejack put their hands on the ground.

The leader shouted, “Come on missy. Hands on the ground.”

She gave an evil smug look and said, “With pleasure.”

She slammed her hands onto the ground in front of her. Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound coming from all around. The Dust Men were becoming more afraid by the second, and Cole was bewildered. What was causing this? Was it Applejack? This was answered when a string of eleven green vines suddenly popped out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the Dust Men. One of the vines knocked the blade out of the leader’s hands before tying him up as well.

“Take ‘em out Cole!”

In a knee-jerk reaction, Cole head-shocked them, and they all fell to the ground. The vines that once held the Dust Men joined up and grabbed Johnny. They extended and lowered him to the ground safely where he was greeted happily by his family. Applejack smiled at her accomplishment, but Cole was beyond confused.

“What the hell was that just now?”

“Ah don’t even know. There were voices that popped into my head telling me exactly what to do, and Ah did it. Ah didn’t know what would happen.” One of the vines came her way and cradled her hand as if it were congratulating her. “Then these little guys turned up.” Her eyes suddenly widened as she realized something. “You don’t think that this could be a new power do you?”

All that Cole could do was stand with his mouth agape. He finally exclaimed, “Well paint me purple and call me stupid!” Applejack couldn’t help but laugh at that. “So does this mean you’ll stay?”

Applejack thought for a moment with her hand playing with the vine. She finally looked back at Cole and said, “Oh…why the hell not?”