The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

Morbucks paced around the room, desperately chatting through a phone.

“Yes, I understand what I’m advocating for here, but you know she would be a big hit!”

Some inaudible mumbling over the phone.

“Oh, screw you, she’s getting tubby! I’ve been helping her with her diet since she was 8!”

The voice over the phone cut him off.

“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re pulling. My daughter’s perfect for the part, and you know it. Come on, what’ll it take for you to see sense?”

The voice spoke again. Morbucks’ eyes widened.

“You can’t be serious… There’s no way I would--!”

Again, more chatter.

“Oh, really? That much in funding?”

After only a few more brief exchanges, Morbucks hung up and pocketed the phone.

Adjacent to the hall was a moderately large bedroom within Morbucks Manor. Inside, a young girl stared blankly into the mirror. Hardly anything was on her mind as she didn’t dare look at her vibrating phone on the table as it went to voicemail.

“Hey, Jenn! It’s Blossom! The reunion’s happening pretty soon, and I wanted to see if you wanted to come this year. Just… gimme a call back when you make up your mind. We miss you… I miss you.”

As Jennifer contemplated picking up the phone, the door to her room swung open, and her father peeked inside.

“Hey, pumpkin! Great news-- the producer wants to meet with you tonight for the new Spy Wars flick! Isn’t that great?!”

Jennifer jumped at his sudden entrance but quickly stood straight and put on a forced smile.

“Oh, that’s… great!” She laughed, not entirely genuine.

Her father clicked his tongue, his smile not fading.

“Oh, come on, sweetie, show some excitement! This is your career, here!”

Jennifer’s smile started to fade, but she quickly caught herself.

“I know… it’s just…” She started.

Her father took a step closer to her. As he did, Jennifer instinctually flinched.

“What, honey? What’s on your mind that’s more important than this?”

Jennifer took a moment to compose herself and sighed.

“Some of the girls from the old show are talking about a meetup, and… I was thinking about going.”

Finally, her father’s smile faded.

“Jenny, how many times have I told you? That stupid little show is history. You gotta focus on you. Don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of that.”

Jennifer nodded, unable to look her father in the eye.

“Now, you should focus on getting ready. From what I hear, he’s excited to see you… Oh, and we’re putting you on a new diet for the photo shoots next month. Gotta slim you down.”

With that, he left, shutting the door behind him.

Once he was gone, Jennifer sat silently, resting her head against the table. She felt her stomach growl but knew she couldn’t do much about it.

Not if she wanted to keep her father happy.

In the present, Rainbow sat in an office chair, tied to it. She glared at the two armored women loading up the back of a semi-truck just outside the station doors. Beside her was Fluttershy, also restrained and terrified.

“Okay, that’s the last bag. What should we do with these two?” Azul asked Rojo.

Rojo looked over to their captives.

“I dunno. We could just cut them loose. Odds are, they’ll be dead in a few minutes, anyhow.”

Hearing that, Fluttershy began to cry. This reaction caused Rainbow to glare Rojo down directly.

“Hey, asshole.” She simply said.

Rojo and Azul both glared over at Rainbow.

“Yeah, you in the red, I’m talking to you. What’s your plan here? Let’s say you cut us loose. What then?”

Rojo took a moment to respond, dumbfounded by Rainbow’s tone.

“We take this truck, bust through the horde, get to one of our old safehouses, and figure it out from there. It’s what we should’ve done when the shit started hitting the fan… we could be halfway across the country by now if we did…”

Rainbow hummed.

“Yeah? Well, what happens if you two pop a tire? What if you get stopped on the way out? Your little plan sounds sloppy as shit to me.”

Rojo responded by activating her arm cannon again, holding it right at Rainbow’s head.

“Y’know, you’re starting to piss me off, kid… you don’t wanna know what I do to people who piss me off…”

Fluttershy gasped, sitting frozen. Rainbow, however, only glared deeper at Rojo.

“You kill us, try to drive off, get stopped, and you both die. That’s Option A. Wanna hear Option B?”

At that moment, curiosity ruled over Rojo’s anger. She deactivated her arm cannon and lowered her arm.

“Okay, hit me.”

“We take those guns and that truck, and we drive over to the hospital where a bunch of us are. We arm whoever can fight, and we all get out together. We can help you, we’re Enhanced.”

Rojo considered the request, looking towards Rainbow and Fluttershy’s Geodes.

“Oh, so you’re the girls that Princess was so fixated with. Alright, I’ll bite. You wanna try to fight our way out of the city?”

Rainbow smirked and nodded.

“Or, we could fight and take the city.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, as did Azul’s. Rojo, however, had a hearty laugh.

“That’s fuckin’ crazy! The whole city’s infested. How do you expect us and a bunch of invalids to be able to fend them off?”

Rainbow smiled.

“At Morbucks’ house, there’s dozens of other Enhanced. We all meet up at the hospital, haul ass up there, deal with Princess, and we all take this city back. Make something out of it… because I don’t know about you, but I’m done running.”

Rojo didn’t react much to her proposal, but Azul’s eyes widened as she looked back inside the truck at their payload.

“Yeah, that’s cute and all, but come on, be smart. Cut and run while you still have a chance so you live to fight another--”

“She’s right.” Azul said.

Rojo turned to Azul in confusion.

“What…?”

“I said she’s right. How good are our odds of getting outta here, anyway? Come on, babe… let’s go out in a blaze of glory and all that shit.” Azul said, stepping forward and taking Rojo’s hand.

Rojo turned and faced Azul, also taking her hand.

“Alright… you’re right.”

“Oh, I know I’m right.” Azul smiled.

Rojo turned towards Rainbow and approached her, pulling a large knife from her belt. Upon seeing the massive blade, the teen tensed, wishing she had her Geode right about now…

“Okay-- you have my attention.” Rojo smiled as she stepped behind Rainbow, cutting into the restraints.

Rainbow’s hand snapped free of their bindings, and she immediately stood up and walked over to Fluttershy.

“I can get her. You two should get that truck running… there’s just one last call I need to make, first.”

Rojo and Azul looked at each other in confusion.

“When were you the one calling the shots?”

“Hey, my idea, my orders. Now go on and do it.” Rainbow snapped back as she untied Fluttershy.

Azul exchanged a look of approval with Rojo as she turned to start the truck. Rojo simply rolled her eyes but was also heading for the passenger seat.

Rainbow and Fluttershy both turned to the communications center, activating it.

“Come in, STRIKE Team, this is Rainbow Dash. Brick, Boomer, and… the other one- are any of you there?”

Kyle stood inside a now-empty, bloody hospital room, finding a set of somewhat-clean clothes from a few of the zombies that infiltrated the hospital. He looked down at Pinkie’s Geode, watching it dimly grow red…

He was unsure how to feel about what he had done to it. He contaminated it. He took it and twisted it into something ugly. Or at least, it was ugly to him.

But he knew that he had no other choice now. It was the only way for him to defeat Princess and help save whoever was left inside Townsville.

As he was getting ready, a distant series of gunshots rang out, presumably from survivors fighting their way out…

He put the necklace on, straightening it as best he could with one hand.

Outside, the hospital's top floor was soon filled with doctors and patients, taking residence in several rooms. Despite the rooms not being exactly sterile anymore, it was better than soaking in the sun on the roof.

Rarity helped fortify the staircases while Applejack put up larger barricades than before on the ground floor, hoping to let Rarity rest.

Sunset and Dark assisted the doctors with bringing the last few patients down the stairs.

Sunset was with Dexter, who was laid out on one of the many beds, wrapped in bandages.

“...So tell me where the armor is now.” She said to him.

“I do not know. Last I saw it, Kyle was provided it. But obviously, something went wrong…” He weakly answered.

Sunset nodded and set the bed down on the ground, allowing him to be pulled by a doctor into an empty room.

With that task done, Dark and Sunset turned and faced each other.

“Okay, so we should start talking about escape plans…” Dark said, glancing over at Sunset.

“We’re not doing anything until Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash get back here.”

Dark nodded, but shrugged as well.

“Look-- Sunset, is it? It’s been half an hour. If they’re smart, they took that humvee right out of the gates and drove off into the sunset together-- no pun intended.”

She scowled at Dark.

“We. Are. Waiting. Deal with it.”

While they had a small glare-off, Riku was helping Scootaloo back into her room, still bedridden and wrapped in bandages.

“Where’s Rainbow…?” She weakly asked.

“She’s helping Fluttershy, right now. Don’t worry, sweetie-- she’ll be here.”

One of the doors leading into a room opened, and Kyle stepped out, redressed and armed with Pinkie’s Geode and the injector.

Sunset turned to him, knowing what he was about to do…

“Kyle, no. I’m not letting you go back there-- we’re waiting for Rainbow and Fluttershy to get back, and we’re leaving.” She said, stepping towards him.

“Where will we go?” He simply asked.

Sunset scoffed in confusion.

“To Sanctuary! It’s perfect for us. It’s isolated, quiet, and those weapons could give us an edge against hordes like this.”

“Okay, what happens if the Caribou find us? Or maybe it’ll be something else, something we can’t fight. Just the handful of us at a place like that on our own? It won’t work. We have to make this work. We have to fight. Here and now, before this city’s lost for good.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, knowing that he was serious.

“We’re all tired, our most powerful fighters are out of commission, and we have a madwoman looming over us with the same powers.” She said, desperately trying to put some sense into him.

Kyle quickly raised a finger.

“No. She has those powers temporarily. After that fight she just had, she has to be exhausted and running low on X. She’ll need a recharge, and the only two spots she can get them are either City Hall, or the Utoniums’ lab. We catch her before she repowers, I inject her with this, and it’s all over.”

As Sunset struggled to respond, Dexter raised a hand from the side.

“Our lab was raided by soldiers just hours ago. They were most likely in her manor, but… that is no longer an option for her. Odds are the only X she has left is at City Hall.”

“That’s good-- odds are soldiers are keeping that spot clear for her.” Kyle said, recalling the gunshots he had heard earlier.

A distant explosion rang out, further verifying Kyle’s theory.

“Okay… fine, but I’m coming with you.” Sunset said.

Kyle went to decline, but Applejack quickly stepped in.

“We ain’t lettin’ ya go up against her alone-- our best chance is together.”

Behind her was Rarity.

“And I, for one, would like to help give Princess a taste of her own medicine…”

Kyle smiled and nodded.

From the corner, Dark raised a hand.

“I don’t like to brag, but I’m pretty damn good at sneaking in and out of places and taking stuff-- if you all can keep her attention, I could slip right in and take whatever X she has left… leave her powerless.”

Kyle’s smile remained at that suggestion.

“Okay, then… we do this together. Now we just need to find Rainbow and Fluttershy--”

He was cut off by the sound of a truck engine roaring closer, along with several energy blasts.

“Who the hell is that…?” Kyle asked, peeking out the window to see the semi-truck with Rojo and Azul hanging out the windows, opening fire on a rapidly-growing horde of Ragers.

“Ha! That's all you fuckers got?! I can do this all damn day!” Rojo cried, firing another blast.

Dark peeked out and grimaced upon recognizing Rojo and Azul.

“Ah, shit…” He sighed.

Without saying another word, he lept out the window, flying down and landing on the truck's windshield, right in front of a terrified Fluttershy and a surprised Rainbow Dash.

“Turn this thing around!” Dark shouted.

Dark turned towards the road and saw that another horde was forming at the opposite street, blocking the hospital in.

“Shit, everyone out of the truck, now!” Dark shouted.

Not waiting for a response, Dark swooped into the truck, grabbing Fluttershy and Rainbow. Rojo and Azul jumped off from the doors, their armor protecting them as they tucked and rolled.

The truck sped off, ramming the approaching Ragers, reducing the first couple dozen to pulverized mush. However, their bodies were quickly trampled over in the stampede that followed.

Seeing the group on the ground as the hordes from both sides stormed closer, Rarity quickly canceled her field blocking the door and allowing the girls to get up and run for the entrance.

Kyle and Sunset peeked out of the windows and opened fire, desperately trying to keep the group from getting grabbed by the occasional Rager.

“Come on! Get inside!” Kyle shouted.

Rainbow and Fluttershy were the first inside. Rojo and Azul, however, were falling behind due to the impact of their escape from the truck. Behind them, more and more Ragers entered the grabbing distance of the two armored women. Through various desperate dodges or shrugs, they managed to stay untouched.

However, one got a good grip on Azul.

Just as she was getting pulled back, Dark swooped in, grabbing them both and charging for the hospital doors.

Throwing them inside, Dark gestured to Rarity, allowing her to barricade the doors. The diamond reformed not a second too soon as the full weight of the horde pressed against the building.

Once everyone was helped up to their feet, they all looked out the sealed doors, watching the several Ragers smeared against the doors begin to get crushed under the weight of the others.

“Shit… now what?” Rainbow asked, catching her breath.

Kyle struggled for a moment to form a plan but looked down at the gem on his neck, recalling the power he displayed earlier…

“Okay… I have an idea… Everyone cover your ears.” He warned.

He took a step forward and took a breath, ready to sing.

“Wait!” Sunset called out.

Kyle stopped and turned to face her.

She stepped forward and removed the Geode from her neck, holding it outwards as it hummed.

“For luck?”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he looked at the gem.

“Sunset, I don’t know--”

“Why not? I talked with Dexter, I know about your plan. It’s a good one…”

Kyle took a breath.

“I don’t know. Do you think you can trust me with that?”

Sunset chuckled, still holding her Geode.

“Kyle, I trusted you with my life when we were out looking for your mom, just like you trusted me with yours. We’re in this together now. So, yes-- I trust you.”

To reinforce her point, she turned towards the other girls.

“Right?”

Applejack was the first to step forward, putting her Geode in her hand and holding it out.

“Yeah. I trust ya’.”

Rarity was next, followed by Fluttershy and Rainbow. They stacked their hands and Geodes on each other one by one, forming a team huddle.

Kyle completed the huddle, putting his Geode on top.

“For luck.”

With that done, Kyle began to harmonize.

As soon as he started, he stopped as a strong pulse of energy shot through his entire body. In that one moment, Kyle felt the outrage by the others upstairs, the terror from the citizens still in the city either huddled away or being torn apart, and most of all, he felt the sheer rage of the infected…

It was delicious.

Countless strands of energy traveled through Kyle’s body until a powerful aura of energy began to resonate from him, blinding the others on the ground floor.

As he struggled to contain the overload of mana flowing through his veins, his mind was filled with visions and melodies he had never seen or heard before. Siren melodies filled his ears as he instinctually began singing them out loud. He felt a strange sensation in his back as he finally broke free of the team huddle.

“Kyle?! What’s going on?! Talk to me!” Sunset shouted.

Kyle tried to speak but couldn’t find the words as he struggled to ground himself back in reality. Slowly, the aura around him began to fade, and all the memories and visions died down…

“I… I’m okay. I’m okay…” He said, struggling to catch his breath.

Kyle felt the Geode in his hand hum and almost vibrate. Looking down at it, he saw that its shape had completely changed. It no longer resembled the other Geodes but now was the shape of a familiar pendant that Sunset immediately recognized.

“Oh… I guess that’s a good sign?” She asked herself.

Kyle looked at the now-changed amulet and refitted it around his neck, looking outside at the now-docile zombies.

“Okay… let’s see what I can do.” He said, taking a deep breath.

He began to sing one of the melodies he had heard. One that the girls recognized as the Dazzlings’ main melody…

As he continued harmonizing, the others noticed that the few visible zombies began to react to the singing. One by one, they stopped pounding against the field and stood dormant.

Kyle’s singing grew louder, and more of the horde began to stop in place. Watching the spectacle, Rojo and Azul struggled to comprehend what they were witnessing.

“Uh… who’s the kid, again?” Rojo asked in concern.

Rarity prepared to erase the barricade, but suddenly, the field vanished, seemingly on its own…

While the bikers immediately prepared to open fire, Kyle stepped outside, the horde parting to make way for him to walk through.

Hesitantly, Sunset stepped out, as well, following from close behind. The horde remained dormant, not even reacting to her presence. With that reassurance, the others started exiting the hospital, as well.

Kyle turned and faced them, holding out his arms and compelling the zombies to step further back, forming a large circle for the others to meet him.

“Okay… this is pretty awesome!” Rainbow laughed in awe, stepping out to join Kyle.

Kyle smiled and took a moment to admire the power he had obtained. The possibilities of controlling zombies raced through his mind, but he put those thoughts aside, knowing there was only one current use for his power.

“Yeah… yeah, it is. Let’s head inside, we have some planning to do…”

Inside City Hall, a pile of zombie corpses littered the halls as a squadron of soldiers shot their way through the building. Spent casings began to spill across the ground, rolling and hitting the edge of the wall.

Neither of them looked at each other. They all knew that, at this point, there was no reason they were still fighting. They all struggled to stomach what they had seen at the Manor, the massacre that occurred.

But now, there was no turning back. They had no choice but to follow Princess wherever she ordered them to go. Anything otherwise would surely leave them the same bloody paste or pile of ashes she left her countless victims as…

None of them said a word to each other. There was nothing left for them to say. Not as they opened fire on the few citizens seeking shelter inside, as well as the dozens of Ragers that poured their way inside. Not even as they dragged the bodies out into piles.

The silence weighed heavily over them all, but no one dared to break it. Not until absolutely necessary.

“It’s all clear!” One of the soldiers shouted into the sky.

Moments passed, and as all movement ceased, a silhouette began to hover down from above. Small drops of dried gore landed on the bloodied grass like rain as Princess reached ground level, keeping herself suspended.

She hung her head low as she hovered through the crowd, not looking at anyone in the eyes. She levitated up the stairs to the front doors, passing a pair of soldiers guarding the entrance.

“Everyone out.” Her shaken voice whispered.

The two guards by her side didn’t hesitate to march down the stairs and toward their comrades.

She finally landed on the marble floors of City Hall and shut the doors behind her.

Now free from the eye of her few remaining soldiers, she marched to her office. She glanced at the bloody puddles and viscera splattered on the floor as she walked. The gore soaked into the furniture. The rows of bullet holes dug into each of the walls and even the ceiling. The spare casings that littered the crevices of the hallways.

She did whatever she could to try and forget the horrors she committed… everything she cared for, the very thing that drove her… and she tore it apart piece by piece.

Finally reaching the untouched office, she slammed the door shut behind her. She fell to her knees, unable to contain herself, allowing the restrained tears to finally flow free. The small droplets slid down the drying blood staining her face as her insides twisted and churned.

“Having a rough night?” Jennifer’s voice echoed.

“Leave me alone!” Princess hollered, tears flowing thorough already-ruined mascara.

“Princess-- I don’t want to argue… but it’s time we faced facts-- this isn’t working.”

Princess went for a rebuttal, but she couldn’t find one.

“But it’s not too late. Stop. Just stop… destroy the X you have left, and leave… in time, this’ll all be like a bad dream.”

Princess snickered, finally having a chance for a response. She turned away from the mirror, activating the hidden door leading to the subway.

“You know that won’t work. I’d die from withdrawal… is that what you want? For me to die?”

“Well, do you want to live?”

That question caused Princess to freeze. Her mind began to overwork itself as she struggled to find an answer.

“And there it is… you don’t want to live, so you’re dragging everyone else around you down with you…”

Princess wanted to fight back-- to scream and blast the mirror down to melted goo… but she didn’t. She couldn’t.

“Sh- shut up…” She weakly whimpered, with barely the strength and anger she had earlier.

“Just look at yourself and tell me that I’m wrong…”

Seeing no other option, she looked up into the mirror, but Jennifer wasn’t there anymore. Now, there was only Princess.

Princess observed her thinned, blood-covered form. She saw the countless track marks running down her arm from X injections after ingesting it was no longer satisfying. She noticed just how sunk her eyes were without makeup to hide them. How pale she had become. She held her hands up and saw how shaky they were.

Aside from her physical state, her mind flashed back to the countless cruel acts she had committed over the last few months. She was drowning in the geyser of innocent blood she had spilled, and she only now began to realize that.

She looked away from the mirror, mortified at herself. She fell to the ground, curled in a ball, as tears flowed down her face…

As she sobbed, rapid footsteps approached the office.

“Ma’am! We have a situation!”

Princess looked out the door, contemplating even standing up, but the sound of faint singing motivated her to float herself up and speed out the door.

Princess approached the balcony and watched as a small red light glew brightly in the distance. As it grew closer, as did the singing… she was fixated on it, being drawn to the voice like metal to a magnet.

As seconds passed, the silhouette of Kyle began to take shape, illuminated by the moonlight. Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Sunset, and Fluttershy accompanied him, all wearing their Geodes.

Princess found herself only a little flustered but was mostly shocked to see Kyle alive and seemingly wearing a Geode of his own, one entirely different than what he had before…

Her shock was quickly amplified as dozens of Ragers shuffled up behind the group, not attacking them, but following them obediently.

The Morbucks soldiers drew their guns, unsure about what to do.

“What’re our orders?” One of them asked.

Ignoring him, Princess hovered down to the ground, only slightly staggering in the air. She began to approach the team as they made their way towards her. They managed to meet only a few dozen feet away from City Hall.

As more attention was brought to the front, a pair of all-black, crow-like wings flew down towards the back of the building, and the figure made his way inside undetected…

Spotting the sight, Kyle faintly smirked.

“I see I underestimated you, Kyle Williams…” Princess said, feeling a rush of what seemed like pride.

Kyle only glared at her, his left arm tingling at seeing Princess again.

“Jennifer Morbucks… your time as mayor of Townsville is done. We’re not going to let you hurt anyone else.”

Princess softly gasped at seeing Kyle’s unwrapped amputated arm. She clenched her fist, regret slowly flooding through her. She weakly laughed disingenuously.

“I’m sorry, but… was that a threat? After what I did to the other Enhanced, do you really think you can stop me?”

Her eyes began to glow dimly, perhaps from her lack of power or because of her inner conscience screaming at her not to hurt anyone else.

Rainbow and Fluttershy backed up only a little, Rainbow doing her best to put Fluttershy behind her. Nobody else moved, however. In fact, Kyle took a step forward, ignoring her attempt at intimidation.

“It’s not too late to stop this… not even now.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out the injector.

Princess’ eyes widened, snapping out of her heat vision.

“Just let me give you this, and we can figure out a way forward…” He said, cautiously taking another step towards her.

She didn’t budge, nor did the soldiers, all holding the group at gunpoint. She looked down at the ground, hesitant to look Kyle in the eye.

“I can’t… it’s too late. You know what I did… you really think we can just… ignore it…?”

Kyle paused, letting out a sigh of defeat.

“Like I said, we’ll figure it out… it won’t be easy, but it’s our only option. We can’t keep hurting each other or lying to ourselves… we need to try to find a way to live with ourselves, to work together. I know we can.” He said, struggling to catch his breath.

Princess suddenly stopped, bewildered over what she had heard. She took a moment to try and process a different way forward. For a slight moment, Kyle had hope that he was getting through to her.

As Kyle spoke, a few soldiers slowly started to lower their guns. For a brief moment, Kyle saw Princess’ struggle to make a choice. She slowly looked up to Kyle, looking into his eyes. However, seeing the soldiers lower their rifles snapped her out of her train of thought. She glared over toward them, forcing them to put their guns back up.

“Good for you-- you figured your shit out… but I don’t need your help, and I sure as hell don’t need you to tell me what I need…”

She took a sharp breath, tightly clenching her fists…

“Open fire!”

In moments, a flurry of bullets went barreling toward the group.

And were all shattered as they hit solid diamond.

Rarity held out her arms, forming a barrier around the six, protecting them from the string of gunfire.

Once the rifles stopped shooting, Rainbow took her queue and sped through the squad. Racing through them, she unloaded each and every gun, making sure to round the chambers.

Soldiers scrambled to pick up the magazines on the ground, which Kyle took as the queue to send the infected forward.

Shambling at an unnatural medium pace, the soldiers saw they had no time to reload. They looked toward their two Humvees, both of which were quickly blocked by the zombies pushing forward.

“Fall back! Fall back!” One of the soldiers shouted.

Seeing no other option, the squad began to retreat into the building. Princess turned towards them, her eyes angrily flashing red.

“You damned cowards!” She instinctively fired a blast at them.

Rarity went to block the blast and managed to form a shield just inches away from the soldiers. The laser reflected against the diamond, firing into the sky.

Frustrated, Princess turned her attention back to Kyle’s group. As the Ragers advanced, so did they.

“You’re in pain, Jennifer. We can all see that! No one else needs to hurt with you..” Kyle said.

Hearing that name brought a seething rage to Princess. She clenched her fists as she began to pull from whatever strength she had left from both the slaughter from before and the Chemical X starting to wear off…

She lunged straight for Kyle’s throat, only making it halfway before Rainbow sped right into her, using her whole body weight to push Princess off-course. The attempt was successful, and Princess wound up heading towards Applejack, who managed to deliver a solid right hook, sending the powered woman back a few feet.

Princess struggled to process what just happened, holding the left side of her jaw with blood dripping down her chin as Applejack chuckled.

“Guess it ain’t so easy when you’re fightin’ someone yer own size.”

Princess growled and levitated herself back up from the ground. She charged another blast of heat vision, but Rarity yet again deflected the blast into the sky. Growing increasingly frustrated, Princess set her sights on Fluttershy…

“I guess not all of you have such fancy powers…” She smirked, speeding in her direction.

Rainbow was the first to notice the attempt, immediately speeding to try and knock her off course again.

As time slowed to a crawl, Rainbow raced towards Princess, fear running through her veins as the distance between Fluttershy and Princess’ fist grew shorter by the nanosecond.

Rainbow took a moment to measure how slow Princess was compared to her. It wasn’t by much, but that small fraction might be enough to make a difference…

She prepared for another shoulder ram, but as she got close, she watched Princess’s gaze switch from Fluttershy to her…

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she tried to stop herself, but it was too late by then. Princess turned her fist and clobbered Rainbow, sending her flying into the side of City Hall.

This quick jab forced Princess to stop, laughing at the damage she gave the athlete.

As Princess prepared for another attempt on Fluttershy’s life, she was cut off by someone else grabbing her with super speed and tackling her to the ground.

Princess tried to flail and break free of the stranger’s grasp, but his one arm was wrapped tightly around her as he tried to reach to his side, towards an injector…

“Jennifer, this has to end!” Kyle shouted, residual sparks of red lightning still dissipating from his body.

Everyone’s eyes widened as they traced Kyle’s magic trail, from where he had just stood to where Princess was and to where they both were now.

As Princess struggled to break free, Kyle’s amulet glowed brightly as his grip on her never broke, his veins glowing a bright red.

“Uh, did he just…?” Rainbow started.

“Yeah… he did.” Sunset slowly nodded.

As Kyle’s amputated hand reached onto the injector, hints of a red diamond began to bloom from the healed stump, slowly forming fingers…

In seconds, a hand constructed from diamond grabbed onto the injector and was only inches away from Princess’ arm.

Princess desperately flew into City Hall, dragging him with her. Together, they tore through the building, Kyle holding on for dear life while trying to pull out the injector.

Princess turned herself around to ram Kyle into the walls of the rooms. Kyle’s back slammed through each and every wall leading to the main office. He roared in pain but refused to release his grip on her and the injector.

Once they reached the mayor’s office, Princess finally stopped flying, and Kyle couldn’t hold on any longer…

They both tumbled and rolled into the office. Kyle tightly tucked the injector to his chest, protecting it as his body thrashed and slowly came to a stop. He went to push himself up with his left hand but stumbled, having forgotten that it was gone.

Princess gave a low, tired laugh at the stumble. Kyle set the injector by his side as she laughed, needing his only hand to get off the ground.

“How can you possibly think you can stop me?” She huffed, stepping towards him as he slowly rose to his feet.

Princess delivered a hefty kick to his chest. While a low blow was somewhat unexpected, Kyle had grown used to such kicks, quickly exhaling the air in his lungs to avoid being winded as much as possible.

With Kyle struggling to his feet, Princess almost ripped her cabinet open, searching for additional syringes…

However, a horrified gasp escaped her as she saw that the drawer was empty.

“What…?! Where’s my… What did you do?!” She screamed, her eyes flickering in and out of red.

A low laugh from the hallway caught them both off-guard. From the side, Dark entered, holding several of Princess’ Chemical X syringes.

“Oh, are you looking for these?”

Princess’ shock quickly shifted to anger as she clenched her fists and released several heavy huffs…

“You know, I think it’s time we had an intervention for all this… it’s just not healthy,” Dark smirked, taking one of the syringes in his other hand, “I mean, do you even know what’s in this shit? ‘Cause I don’t!”

Princess’ anger was quickly washed away as she desperately ran to grab onto a syringe. Dark, however, gave one flap of his wings, ascending toward the roof.

“See? You can’t even put this stuff down, anymore! Well, this needs to stop, missy. Even if you have to go…”

Dark used a thumb to press down on the top of the syringe and push some black liquid down toward the floor below. The drug quickly soaked into the hardwood as Princess gasped in horror.

“...Cold turkey.”

With one firm push, the syringe’s contents were spilled all over the floor, forming a little puddle. Princess sprinted toward the mess and desperately lapped it up. This had no effect, however, and Dark used the distraction to press his palm down on the remaining syringes, beginning to pour them out, as well.

Princess flew towards Dark with whatever power she had, grabbing hold of his wrist and pulling his hand away before he could continue emptying the syringes.

“Just who the hell do you think you are?! What, because you robbed some paintings in Japan 26 years ago, that makes you the hot shit here?!”

Dark struggled for control, but Princess’s strength still matched his, making the fight even.

“I mean… I am the one with a cool head, here.” He smirked.

Princess gave a feral laugh.

“Oh, really? What about I go feed Riku and your ‘friend’s’ little girl to those freaks back at the hospital? Will you still have a cool head after that, tough guy?!”

In an instant, Dark’s confident, smug demeanor dissipated. He desperately tried to break free of her grip to either finish emptying the syringes or to try and fight, but his efforts were fruitless…

“Aw, care about your alter’s family? Well, I guess you have a real serious tie to that family, right? Like Riku’s grandma, I think… now, what was her name…?”

Dark’s eyes widened, his desperation to break free only amplifying.

“Rika?”

Dark’s breath quickened as he tried to wipe hearing her name again from his head, but it clung in his ears like a tumor.

“I read your history-- well, what was documented, anyway. I saw a transcript from little ol’ Rika before she croaked. She was going on and on about this ‘swooning angel’ who ‘swept her off her feet’ and how he’ll ‘come back and take her with him to the great beyond,’ and all that jazz...”

Dark shook his head, clinging to control over Daisuke, but it was fading…

“But that’s not what happened, is it?”

Dark’s hands clenched as he took deep breaths, knowing what would happen if he lost control…

“Doesn’t sound like you loved her that much.”

Kyle charged Princess from behind, grabbing her arms and using Applejack’s strength to pull her back from Dark.

“That’s enough! Dark, empty the syringes!” He shouted, Princess quickly working through his grip.

Princess broke free, throwing Kyle against the wall, the impact resulting in most of the ceiling falling on top of Kyle. He wailed in pain as heavy rubble pinned him down to the ground. Kyle struggled to pull himself free, his arms and legs trapped.

At that moment, as the dust settled, Kyle and Princess were blinded by bright light. The light slowly faded, revealing Daisuke in Dark’s place. He stood frozen, still holding the syringes.

Princess smiled ear-to-ear as Kyle’s eyes widened in shock.

In an instant, Princess shot a blast of heat vision right into Daisuke’s chest, burning a hole clean through his heart. With that one last effort of power, Princess’ veins slowly reverted from their deep black, and she slumped back, winded and exhausted.

A moment passed, and Daisuke fell to his knees before collapsing to the ground.

“No!” Kyle screamed, desperately trying to rip his limbs out from the rubble.

Princess slowly walked over to the syringes in Daisuke’s hand, pulling them all out, and turning over towards Kyle.

“After I’m done with all of you, I’m gonna burn this goddamned city to the ground!” With that, Princess injected all six needles into her arm, their contents coursing through her body, only some hitting her veins.

Moments passed, and Princess soon clenched her fists, pulling all six syringes and dropping them. Her veins returned to a deep black, but it didn’t stop there this time. The blood vessels in her eyes, the skin under her fingernails, and even the blood oozing from the multiple injection sites. She even coughed up spare black fluid as she convulsed and groaned in pain…

Kyle increased his efforts to break free from the rubble, finally managing to gain some wiggle room with his left arm. Then, his right. At this point, Princess was wailing in agony as her veins seemed to bulge outwards, swelling up like a balloon…

Kyle kept flailing his arms and legs until he could finally punch through the rubble that was restricting his movements. As he stood up, he gasped and quickly searched his body for the injector.

He looked over towards Daisuke, seeing that when Princess threw Kyle back, the injector wound up on the ground near the now-lifeless corpse…

As Princess’ screams continued, Kyle ran past her, grabbing the injector and prepared to charge her and drive the needle into her, but as soon as he turned, her cries ceased, and a slow-building laugh took it's place.

She slowly turned towards Kyle, her eyes now a complete black, with black tears flowing down her face as she blissfully smiled.

“Oh, Kyle… I’ve never felt power like this, before! It’s… beautiful…”

Kyle’s eyes widened in horror as Princess levitated off the ground with a wide smile still plastered on her face.

“Let me give you a closer look at it…”

In an instant, her hands were around Kyle’s throat, and together, they dove through the office floor towards the subways below…

Outside City Hall, just moments after Kyle was pulled inside by Princess, the team heard the fight inside the building and rushed to join and protect Kyle. However, with one great slam, the zombies behind them began to stir, having been snapped out of their trance…

“Oh, shit…”

The girls had little time to turn as the horde began to race towards the closest prey they could find: Them.

Desperately looking around, Sunset searched for the best escape route. However, she could only hear the sounds inside City Hall as Princess threw Kyle around.

For every wall being smashed and every large puff of dust exiting the windows, Sunset grew increasingly worried.

“We gotta get in there! He needs us!” She shouted, using one of the soldiers’ discarded rifles to fend off the advancing swarm.

“We can’t! We just gotta trust ‘em! We go now, we let this horde right in behind us!” Applejack shouted, driving her fist into a Rager’s chest.

They all shared a look, knowing that they may not survive this day, but they wouldn’t be going down without a fight.

Joining back together, they began their final stand.

Rarity fired spikes of diamond, just as she did back in Canterlot High. Beside her, Fluttershy desperately opened fire with another rifle. Rainbow raced around them, driving a knife through Ragers’ skulls at top speed.

Slowly, they began losing ground. Sunset and Fluttershy both ran out of ammo and had no choice but to fall back behind the others, with Sunset grabbing a piece of rebar and pulling Fluttershy behind her.

Applejack and Rainbow started getting exhausted, and Rarity’s Geode began to glow brightly, her next few shots nowhere near as powerful as before.

Acting fast, they raced for the Humvee, entering inside just in time.

The doors and windows were immediately pounded upon, but the glass seemed to hold…

Inside, they all checked themselves for bites. After ensuring that they were clean, they nervously huddled together.

“Okay… now what?” Rainbow asked, her voice shaky in exhaustion and fear.

Sunset struggled to think of a solution, her mind racing to formulate a plan.

“We… we wait here. We try to hold out until Kyle does what he needs to do and gathers these freaks back up again.”

“And when’ll that be?” Fluttershy asked.

“...I don’t know.”

The windows were continuously tested as Ragers threw themselves against them, trying to break their way in. Fluttershy covered her ears to try and block out their snarls and screams, with Rainbow holding her to try and calm her.

“We may not have long…” Rarity sighed.

As the six anxiously sat, trying to block out the pounding of the infected, Rainbow looked out the windshield, noticing a trio of bright red lights from the distance…

“I think we’ll have long enough.” She smiled.