Mask

Rock bottom.

Tap.

Spikes whole body ached, his eyes heavy and his clothes damp. His ribs were definitely bruised, arms were pretty scraped up, and his tail was coiled around a rock, thankfully uninjured. Spikes hand stretched out a bit, before he clenched it into a weak fist, squeezing his own hand, feeling dried blood on his palm, before he used it to grasp onto a cool, damp rock. He squeezed the rock, his hand easily crushing it within his grasp, before he gave a grunt, trying to gain control of the sick feeling in his stomach.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Pain was good, pain meant Spike was still alive. He sure wished the ringing in his ears would go away faster, and that he didn't feel like he was breathing though a plugged hole, but he was alive. A miracle, to be sure, though he knew Star wasn't as lucky.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Spike finally opened his eyes, blinking a few times, his vision blurry and unfocused. He blinked a few more times, his vision slowly coming back to normal, before realizing the glass to his mask had a crack across his face plate.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

What was that annoying sound?

Spike looked up to see the beast impaled on a large stalagmite, its blood dripping off of its massive arms and tapping onto Star Gazers masked face, blood trailing down his fallen comrades visor. Spike gave a wince, clawing into the rock wall a bit as he stood up, gripping onto his ribs with one arm and limping towards Star Gazers lifeless body. His leg was killing him, but at least it wasn't broken, as his ribs ached from a serious bruising.

"Star, come on buddy, speak to me." Spike called out, though even some small part knew the man was dead the moment he smashed into the wall. He walked over to the top half of Star Gazers body, falling down for a moment, only to crawl over to the bisected corpse, shaking to the upper half of the body.

No response came, Spikes head lowering in respect, the young lad grasping the corpses hand and squeezing it. Spike adjusted Stars body, tugging the mans necklace off, his tag being ripped off and put in Spikes pouch pocket. Spike opened Star Gazers pockets and pulled his ammo off of him, restocking himself, filling up half empty magazines. At one point, Spike would have found such practices disrespectful. However, with a few years of experience under his belt, Spike knew not to waste resources in the field, he did not know what lies ahead. Spike slowly stood up, giving a grunt as he looked around, seeing a tunnel ahead of him, adjusting his weapon as he looked all around, seeing holes in the wall.

He looked around himself, seeing no other bodies, then grasped his radio, speaking into it. "Bright Light, where are you?" Only static answered back. "Silver? Steel? You copy?" Nothing but static. He looked upwards, seeing massive holes dotted along the walls, grimacing at the sight. Light must've fallen into one of the holes and was further ahead. He adjusted his boomstick, then started loading shells into it, giving a glance towards Star Gazers body. Blood wasn't dry yet, he hadn't been knocked out long, though the moisture in the air may be keeping it from drying completely. He racked a shell by pumping the shotgun, then looked around again.

He pressed a button on his shoulder, trying his flashlight, though nothing happened. He clicked the button again, before pulling the light off of his shoulder, looking at it; absolutely smashed to bits. He shook his head, then tossed the light into a pocket, looking at Stars body, seeing his flashlight was smashed to bits as well. He shook his head, then gave a soft sigh, looking at the hole, then back at Star Gazers body.

He wanted to bury Star Gazers body, but he knew he didn't have the time. So, he offered a silent prayer, before walking off into the dark. He watched the walls as he walked, noticing deep marks along them, his eyes scanning the walls for any surprises. He spotted a flicker of light ahead, slowly putting his boomstick away to pull out a snapper, slowly unsheathing his knife and kneeling down, starting to stalk though the tunnel.

He took cover behind a rock, before slowly peeking over, seeing nothing but a lit lantern hanging on the wall. He aimed around, flipping the knife around and giving a silent huff through his mask, slowly moving forward. He aimed around the corner, seeing multiple lit lanterns down the hallway, his interest piqued as he observed the candles inside.

Recently lit.

Someone else was down here.

Silver stared into the abyss, searching for any sign of Spike or Flare. Steel sat there, stretching his wings out a bit as he looked down the hole as well, boomstick racking another shell. Bright Light and Stone firing into some beasts brave and stupid enough to rush them.

"Sir! We gotta move! Second group will be moving up and we gotta get these bastards outta their way!" Stone yelled over the gunfire, taking her knife out and slamming it into a beast dumb enough to try and jump on her. "Sir?!"

Silver said nothing, just staring into the caverns below, weapon by his side. Steel shot a beast that clambered up the side of the wall, pumping the shell out and shaking Silver, making the man move his head an inch towards Steels direction. "Come on, boss, if anyone can survive that, it's Spike. Caverns have to link up somewhere, we can make our way down and look for him after we move!"

Silver only looked back at the hole, before nodding, picking his sweeper up and pulling the slider back, loading a round into his weapon. He smashed the stock of his weapon onto some poor Moles head, before firing a few rounds into the creature, making it go limp. "I'll kill the whole lot of you fucking bastards!" Silver snarled out, slamming his gun into another beast, knocking its teeth out. He took his knife out and stabbed it into the creatures eye, not caring as blood spilled everywhere, spraying across his chest, sleeves and mask. He slammed his knife in again and again, snarling angrily as he stared onto the beasts face, giving a scream of fury and anger.

The battle had stopped around him, even the Mole beasts were watching along with Silvers squad, seeing Silver roar in fury as he slammed his knife down again and again. He suddenly started lifting the beast up, giving a furious scream as he threw the body down into the pit, before being brought to his knees, panting loudly. The Moles started to slink away, giving Silver a wide berth as they started climbing down the walls and into the various holes, Steel slowly walking forward, Silver standing up and reloading his weapon, before walking over to the gate. He grabbed the lever and tugged it down, before walking into the darkness, flashlight turning on. Steel, Rock, and Flare exchanged glances, before following him, weapons at the ready.

"Sir, do you want to-" Steel began, before Silver flashed him a glare that froze him in place faster than a cockatrice could.

"Shut the fuck up."

"Yes, sir."

Spike kept walking, his eyes scanning the row of lit lanterns. His mind wandered back to his team, sweeping his weapon back and forth, before some rocks made him pause. His tail waved to and fro as he slowly knelt down behind a rock, keeping his snapper at the ready, adjusting the handle of his knife in the other hand. He kept listening, before a voice pierced the silence, making him grimace.

He knew those voices.

"Why do we have to find food! Others in pack are better hunters!"

"Boss says we hunt, so we hunt."

Two sets of footprints started to be heard, Spike pushing into the wall, blending in with it. One creature stepped into view, makeshift metal helmet pressed firmly on the beasts head. Powerful arms, stubby legs, and covered in fur: a Diamond Dog. In its hand was some strange weapon that had a knife messily welded to the bottom. It has a heavy look, with a barrel on the front and some sort of magazine on its side, curved in look, the beast holding it much like the boomers the team held.

It seemed the dumb brutes created their own weapons that spat fire and metal. Spikes eyes narrowed at the sight of the brute. He waited for the second to pass, a skinny dog walked by, arms no doubt as impressive. "At least Spot did not live to see us turn to this, Fido."

The bigger one turned around and growled at the name, and for a second, Spike thought they would fight. The big one, Fido, huffed and turned back, "Come, Rover. We must hunt for meat."

The two trekked onwards, Spike slowly slinking out of the shadows, weapon trained on Rovers fat head from behind. Memories flooded to him of what he did to Rarity, kidnapping her, putting her in chains. He pressed his finger on the trigger, before slowly squeezing it.

One more point of pressure and that dog would die. One more inch. The hammer would smash into the bullet into that dumb beasts brains. That would be it.

However...it wouldn't be Spike.

Spike pulled his finger away and started sneaking through the tunnel again, leaving the two beasts to continue their journey. His mind was sharp, fury died in the back of his mind, and he would continue on.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes.

Thirty minutes.

An hour had passed as Spike walked, before finally seeing something. He slowly knelt down behind a rock, peering over, seeing a lone guard and metal door. He peered for a moment, before giving a disbelieving sound, stepping up and over. The guard made no motion, Spike quietly fast walking over to him, giving a soft noise. The guard snored loudly and shifted whilst leaning, Spike giving him an incredulous look.

Spike slowly opened the door, then slipped inside, holding his snapper up and aiming around. He twirled his knife around, peering around to see a shanty town of metal and rust over bubbling water.

A Dog Town.

Spike heard footsteps and quietly jumped down one of the ledges, landing into a trench and slowly walking along it, peering outwards as he knelt into the hole, watching dogs walk to and fro, minding their own business. He peered upwards until he heard barking in the distance, seeing movement at the top, near a structure carved out of the wall.

Time to investigate.