MLP: Long Nights in Maretropolis

It was raining yet again when Spike emerged onto the rooftop after clambering back out from the manhole entrance to the Power Ponies secret lair. He grimaced as he looked up at the sky, both given the current weather and how the meeting had ended.

On one hand, getting acquainted with the Power Ponies actually wasn’t so bad, and it was even kind of nice leveling with someone again after so long. On the other hand, with the metal confiscated from Rover’s gun coming up without any results, the question of just who supplied him with such a powerful weapon remained worryingly unanswered. If there was someone out there supplying criminals with dangerous weapons, perhaps even like the chemical weapons used at the crime scene the night prior.

I gotta get back to the lab…maybe a few more tests could answer some questions. He mused to himself with a frown, launching across the rooftops once more with his grappling gun. Piercing a path through the rain was difficult as the wind whirled around him occasionally, he made a beeline back towards his own base.

As he traveled across the rooftops, his mind wandered back to the team of heroes he’d just gotten acquainted with. What to make of the Power Ponies…they were nice, certainly. Very kind to him despite being a stranger. They didn’t overshow their hand, keeping certain details of what exactly brought them together a secret, which he could respect.

Still, it’d been so long since he worked with someone excusing Sunset, and even that partnership had been relatively short lived. As nice as the Power Ponies seemed, could he see himself working alongside them against threats to Maretropolis? Or should he just stay out of their way and only work with them if their paths crossed in the field?

Sunset was always telling me I needed to get out more, make some friends…I don’t think superheroes are what she had in mind, though. He pondered with another thoughtful grimace. The truth was, he did need to start taking the life of Spike Drake as seriously as he did Noir. If he worked himself to the bone while in isolation, that wouldn’t be helpful to anybody.

Stowing the thoughts for later as he dropped outside his end destination, he holstered his grappling gun and made his way to the locked door on the side of the building. Opening the door after undoing the lock, he paused before stepping inside as a sudden flash of lighting made him look up. Maybe it was a trick of the storm raging above, but he could have sworn he saw a silhouette on the rooftop above after the flash.

Quickly stepping into the small garage, he looked around after locking the door behind him and allowed himself a small smile. The lab was just as he left it, as expected. A few workbenches, a terminal hooked up to an experimental router provided to him by an old friend at Drake Enterprises, and ultimately the center attraction of it all; the hoverboard. The latest toy he’d been given access to.

“I’ll be tinkering with you plenty soon enough. First things first, however…” He muttered to himself, plucking the metal sample back out from his utility belt and planting it in the scanner attached to one of his computers, setting up a similar analysis scan to what the Power Ponies performed. While it wasn’t likely that he’d pick up anything new, it was at least worth trying.

“Alright, with that settled…time to put my hands to work and get my mind off things.” He muttered, pulling back his cowl and taking off his gloves before walking over to the hoverboard, starting to tinker with the impressive device as he switched on some music on his phone.

An hour or so passed of him switching between checking on and restocking his gadgets, testing out the hoverboard a bit, and checking the progress on the sample scan. When the scanner inevitably chirped to alert him of the scan being finished, he walked over and pulled up the results, immediately scowling in disappointment.

No new results, at least compared to the Power Ponies scan. Same general construction, same mystery alloy. It was frustrating to say the least…at least, until he noticed something odd, a detail that seemed to elude the Power Ponies as well: an energy remnant. Residual energy left behind from the firing of the weapon itself.

“Huh. That’s weird…” He muttered, typing into the attached console and trying to isolate the energy itself. For it to have lasted this long, hours after he helped take Rover down…it had to be extremely powerful. However, hard as he worked to isolate the energy variable, he just couldn’t manage it. It’s not what the current scanner was built for. Still, if he isolated the signature properly and recorded it, maybe he could find another way to analyze the footprint.

If the Power Ponies didn’t pick this up, I might have to get an upgrade…hopefully, Steel Stallion hasn’t improved their security over the last three years. He chuckled wryly to himself, making a copy of the data and pulling the connected hard drive after the process finished. Checking his phone as he turned the music off, he hummed thoughtfully at the time. Hmm, it’s only 6…gonna be a few hours before actually sneaking into one of their labs is a viable idea. Maybe I should get a nap in before--

A particularly loud rumble of thunder cut the thought off as the lights of the garage suddenly popped, glass scattering across the ground as Spike shielded his face. Bringing the hand down a few seconds later, he found himself bathed in darkness, pulling a flashlight from his belt and looking about the room. Luckily, nothing looked damaged, even if the hoverboard now lay upon the ground, having clattered to the floor when power was cut.

Suddenly wishing I put this place on a closed circuit…ugh. Guess I should check the fuse box before deciding what to do next. He thought to himself, grabbing his gloves and pulling his mask back up before he opened the door, grimacing as a blast of cold rain immediately slammed into him as he stepped out into the storm.

What had been a light rain with annoying winds when he’d arrived had escalated into a full blown tempest. Rain poured down as thunder and lightning crackled overhead, all while Spike trudged through the slog suddenly wishing he wore a full mask to cover his mouth as he was assaulted by the ice cold water.

What the hell caused this?! Maretropolis never gets storms this bad, even this deep into spring! He pondered as he finally ambled up to the fuse box, lifting his cape to shield it as he flipped it open, only to pause as he saw its sorry state. The fuses hadn’t just been blown…they’d been slashed. Long, jagged claw marks etched through the interior, utterly ruining the box and making Spike’s heart sink in the process. …what the hell…?

A low rumble from above shocked him out of his fear, turning his head back to look in the direction of the noise, that fear only intensifying after he did so. At first, he didn’t see anything in the darkness of the storm…but then a flash of lightning illuminated a billowing tower of churning smoke, followed by two inhuman green eyes that flared to life with a crackle of purple flame.

“...oh, fuck.”

The bizarre monstrosity locked eyes with him at the utterance, and let out a devastating roar that echoed throughout the alleyway before it lunged towards him. Spike barely dodged to his left, rolling as the inhuman creature crashed into the wall, cracks spreading like spider webs throughout the wall as he stumbled to his feet and started running, driven by pure adrenaline to the door.

He practically tore the lock off its handle, wrenching the door open despite the raging storm and slamming it shut behind him, barely muffling the thunderous roar that indicated his mysterious attacker was still on his tail. This was confirmed a second later as something slammed against the door hard enough to dent it inward as Spike flicked the flashlight back up to look, paling as he realized he needed to work fast.

Grabbing the hoverboard from the floor, he pressed the discreet button on its underside, the low whirr of the board switching on filling the room as he quickly darted back over to a desk, grabbing the communication device the Power Ponies had given him before he left. He darted back over to the board, dropping his flashlight as he clambered upon it, rising to the ceiling as the metal door suddenly burst off the wall, almost caved in.

The monstrous mist form rolled in slowly, crackling with power and hatred as it seeped into the room. Spike held his breath, practically pressed against the ceiling, waiting for the right moment to strike…eventually, when the mist cleared the doorway, he sprang into action. Angling the board down, he narrowly cleared the doorway and soared out into the stormy air, his escape punctuated with another roar.

He nearly whiffed it on the board immediately as the storm pelted him, but he forcefully rose to his feet and steered the board to keep from slamming into the nearest building. The experimental hovercraft would have been hard enough to use in good conditions, but the monsoon around him practically made it impossible.

Just keep moving, Spike, just keep moving. He chided himself mentally as he tried his best to steer through the air as another flash of lightning lit up the city around him. He hazarded a glance back at one point, and to his absolute horror, a billowing smoke cloud was following him.

“Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!” He shrieked in disbelief, nearly falling off the board again as he steered against the wind, fumbling for the communication device he’d stowed on his belt and hastily hooking it up to his mask with a shaking hand. “Come on, pick up, pick up--”

“Hello? Noir, is that you?”

Masked Matter-Horn’s voice crackled into his ear, and Spike nearly sobbed with relief before hastily refocusing on flying the board, narrowly avoiding crashing into yet another rooftop. “Yes, it is, and I have a situation! I’m being chased by some…shadow beast! I need back-up, now!”

“Wha--okay, I’ll alert the others. Where are you right now?” The heroine asked with a more frantic tone, obviously alarmed at the implication of whatever threat her fellow hero was currently facing.

“I just hung a left off 29th and Abrams. I’m using the hoverboard to stay ahead of this thing, but it’s closing fast!” He reported as he risked another glance back at his pursuer, pailing fearfully as he realized it was indeed gaining on him with another skull-splitting roar of rage. “Really fast…”

“Just keep going! Zapp and Fili are already booking it towards your location, Saddle Wrangler shouldn’t be far behind.” Masked Matter-Horn reported, her voice calmer than before as she seemed to be moving around. “Just give me a few more seconds, I should be able to properly track your location.”

Spike bit down the immediate desire demand she hurry, feeling the nervous energy of being chased suddenly reach a crescendo. At the same time, he felt something slam into the bottom of the board, sending him flying forward through the air with a scream of fear.

He hit the nearest rooftop hard, almost certain he’d dislocated his arm in the landing. The board tumbled somewhere ahead of him, forcing him to fight through the pain and try hauling himself to his feet. It was a struggle to rise, but he eventually managed it with a pained grimace, clutching his wounded arm.

He only managed a few steps forward before the mist-like creature slammed down upon the hoverboard, an electric crackle following as the device was utterly ruined from the monster’s weight. Those same green eyes locked onto Spike, a hateful snarl echoing out from the beast as it started to drift towards him.

“Shit…that’s not good…” He muttered to himself, blood dribbling down his lip as he released his wounded arm, slipping a hand down to his belt as he prepared to make a last stand, staring the abomination down with a determined glare. “You want me, Smokey? Come and get me!”

The mist entity let out another vengeful roar at the challenge, and rushed forward at a high speed. Steeling his nerves, he dodged at the last second by rolling to the side, throwing a volley of smoke pellets as he came out from the roll. Unfortunately, his attacker barreled through them without issue, and charged once more, a green haze suddenly enveloping Spike as he was hurled back forcefully by the advancing beast, scraping along the roof’s surface.

His head started to spin as he writhed against the energy that fully ensnared him, pain coursing through his restrained arm as the misty creature rose up above him, dark smoke curling around the rooftop as it leered down at him.

Slowly, however, something new seemed to form from the darkness. A face took shape, sporting pale gray skin, those same piercing green eyes, and a menacing smirk that toted a mouth full of sharp teeth. Most notable of all, however, was what sprouted from the forehead of the strange face.

Is that a fucking horn…?

“What…the fuck…are you…?” Spike grit out in horror, watching the evil smirk grow wider on the thing’s face. Before it could respond, however, a familiar whoosh of wind made the smoke from churn briefly, along with a telltale crackle of electricity as he was suddenly pulled off the ground, still enveloped by the green force.

“I dunno what you are, but I know you’re in for a world of hurt if you don’t let go of our friend, now.” Zapp hissed, cracking her knuckles as electricity surged around her, while Fili-Second stood beside her, unsettlingly serious as she stared down his captor.

The monster keeping him suspended stared the duo down for a moment, expression agitated…but then the smirk returned, and suddenly Spike found himself hurtling backwards over the edge of the roof, barely catching the taunt that left the creature’s mouth as he was hurled back.

“You should be more specific, fools.”

And with that, the green vanished, and Spike was suddenly falling. He tried to reach for his grappling gun, only to strike the edge of a fire escape and cry out as something cracked along his side, hurtling down further and smashing into a dumpster before bouncing off and finally crumpling to the ground, unable to see straight from the sheer agony.

He lay in a tattered mess on the ground, uniform torn and tattered and body aching with the intensity of his injuries. He heard distant sounds; crackling lightning, a series of roars both familiar and foreign, someone calling to him as his eyes started to flutter closed…and then it all faded away into blackness…

When Spike drifted back to consciousness, a soft groan slipped past his lips, barely able to open his eyes as light streamed in from somewhere to his left. Eventually, he managed to tilt his head, taking in the room around him as his senses started to come back to him.

He was in a room he didn’t recognize, surrounded by warm wooden walls and a homey interior. Additionally, he found himself hooked up to a EKG and a blood bag, apparently having been patched up by someone. He attempted to sit up slightly, struggling a bit but not feeling any intense pain, so he assumed he’d been given some pretty good meds to boot.

Eventually, his gaze wandered further right, and his eyes fell upon a surprising sight; a familiar pink haired woman, though now without her turquoise suit or purple mask. She was slouched back in a nearby chair beside his bed, seemingly sound asleep. Bewildered by the sight, Spike tried to sit up a bit further, finally getting a pulse of pain as he sucked in a pained breath, waking up the woman in the process who swiftly jolted awake with an squeak of alarm.

“O-oh, goodness! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you’d woken up!” She apologized profusely, quickly rising from her seat to inspect his bandages, her eyes full of earnest concern as she looked him over. “Are you feeling alright? Any significant pain?”

“N-no, I’m feeling okay…still a little tender, I guess.” He answered, offering her a nervous smile before he was suddenly struck with the realization of where he was and the fact that he was without any of his gear, mask included. “...well…guess the Power Ponies know who’s under the mask now, huh?”

“Oh…w-we did want to talk to you about that, yes…I-I’ll go get the others!” She assured him, stepping away from the bed and heading to the exit of the bedroom, pausing at the door to turn back and send him a warm smile. “I’m glad you’re finally awake, Spike. We were all quite worried about you last night.”

He managed a weak smile in return before she left, leaning back against the pillow behind him as an interesting thought crossed his mind; apparently, she knew his name now.

Well…looks like things are going to get pretty complicated after all…