Bait 'n' Switch Codology

"I swear I blacked out... or something. I didn't even realize how hard my heart was beating until the moment passed."

"Passed? You mean, whoever they were-"

"They left. Yeah. Just like that."

"I don't understand."

"Neither did we, but that didn't stop us all from mindlessly holding our breaths for nearly a minute before somebody said something."

"Is-are they gone?" Ley grunted, a talon still trying to stem the blood flow from her wing.

That snapped Bullseye out of her terrified, adrenaline fueled haze. She nearly dropped the dead mare in her arms, instead, setting her down as quickly and smoothly as physically possible. The rain was deafening on the wooden shack. Yet, oddly, Bullseye felt metal between her back paws, and her limbs as she set down the maid. She only noticed after the weight was out of her arms that she still had Immersion's pistol in her hand. She stuffed it into her dress, if he wanted it back, he'd ask.

It made her feel better to have it.

Immersion responded with. "That doesn't make any sense. They could have killed us all, just put every round through the wall until we're all dead."

"But they didn't." Johnson added

"Not that I'm opposed-ow-fuck" Ley twitched her claw away from her still destroyed wing joint.

"Snow's dead." Bullseye said quietly. The lack of anything else to focus on letting her catch up to the moment.

"Will somebody help me?" Bullseye heard the snarl from Ley. Her eyes caught through the barely visible orange glow, Ley wrapping her wing with white cloth she had produced from somewhere.

"Snow is dead." Bullseye said louder, cutting through the sound of the rain.

Silence passed for a few moments.

"She died opening the door for us."

The rain fell.

This wasn't going at all like what Bullseye expected. Every step something changed, or someone died. She was barely afloat.

"Fuck..." Ley breathed after another few seconds passed in silence. "Fucking-what the fuck. What is going on?!"

"I'd like to know that myself." Immersion said, stepping forwards and lighting his horn with a spell. Snow's body began to glow orange, and her dress ruffled from the telekinetics.

It took a moment for Bullseye's brain to catch up with what she was seeing. "The fuck are you doing!" She stepped forwards, intent on punching his lights out. Johnson stepped between them and held her back with a hoof that said, 'if you make me actually hold you back, I'll just break your pelvis.'

She stopped of her own will but still snarled at Immersion. "Copping a feel you cold-sick-fuck!?"

Something removed itself from Snow's dress.

An empty vial, clearly shown in Immersion's aura.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me."

"Now I know this is a lie, you poisoned the wine. Not Snow Cone."

"Hold on for a second Gerald..."

"...Bossmare sees it now... You've got a cute thinking face, ya know that?"

"...Continue with your testimony, please, Miss Bullseye."

"Yes ma'am."

"What the fuck is that." Ley asked, even though they all knew .

Johnson turned, no longer needing to hold back Bullseye. "Are ya saying that..."

"She poisoned the wine? Yes." Immersion said simply, "Which is odd." He continued. "Because I distinctly remember poisoning the wine myself."

Holy shit... Bullseye's mind itched in satisfaction as all the pieces came together. "It's a trap."

"What?"

Immersion answered Ley's question. "We're all here for the same reason; to kill Origami."

Another beat of silence passed. Bullseye was staring off into the middle distance, still trying to put her thoughts to words. The rain kept pouring, peals of thunder shook the shack.

"That doesn't make any sense. What about Wave and Wire?" Ley asked

Immersion responded flippantly, "Why do you think the information broker was killed first?"

Silence from Ley as another moment passed with rippling thunder. "Alright." She sat up a little straighter, "I'll admit it. I poisoned the wine too."

All of them sat there. Their images flickering in the orange horn light of Immersion. There were shared glances of creatures that no longer wanted to be here. Creatures that were scared and hurt. Deep breaths Bullseye, hold it together. She took a step away from the growing blood puddle on the ground.

"Why." Immersion stressed, "All of us. Any clue could get us out of here. I'm a double agent, been working the bad side for years to get close enough for a shot at taking him out. Ley; You next."

She sighed, "I'm an assassin. Money. That's it."

"You don't look it." Johnson commented.

Ley snarled back in his direction. "I'm not a movie assassin. I get paid to kill things quietly, not fight monsters."

Immersion grunted, "Shut up. Johnson, you next."

Johnson's destroyed limb came to his chest, cradling itself against the fur, already tinted red. "Origami wanted my brother to throw a fight. He didn't, whacked him in an alleyway, this is justice, for me."

Bullseye's eyes narrowed and she looked at Johnson in confusion.

"Terri. You next." Immersion stated, breaking her reverie.

"My..." She started, catching Johnson's eyes as she stuttered, "My daddy was killed... for the same reason." Her cutie mark itched. "Deadeye." She said, the name she hadn't spoken in years rising from her throat with passion she wasn't expecting.

Recognition lit up in Johnson's eyes.

"Little Iris?" He asked in awe. He looked her up and down, "Why are yo-"

"The fuck is happening right now?" Ley asked in equal confusion.

"That's impossible. My daddy didn't have a brother." Bullseye affirmed.

Johnson staggered a step closer, "We went into boxing together. He used to say, 'pick up your hooves-"

"-and fight something bad'." ~ "-and fight somethin' bad'." They finished together.

The rain fell, the thunder rumbled, they were all probably going to die here. Probably.

But they were together.

They stared at each other in silence as Immersion continued, "We all know why Snow wanted out. So that leaves the question of who is trying to kill us."

Bullseye opened her mouth.

"No. I don't- What? Are you serious?"

"Terri was dead for a reason. Snow was forced to be there, alone. The only staff for the whole mansion, built specifically for one thing: to be a trap. We were all invited, lied to about the details by who? The same pony who wasn't at all surprised that there was poison in his wine. He had a plan before he tasted it, he was already leaving by the time any of us figured out we'd been caught."

"Origami..."

"It was a trap the whole time."

"A trap for his would be killers."

"So he could have a go at us like a hunter letting out a bunch of foxes into secluded woods, just to track us down."

"..."

"Fuck."

"Fuck is right, birdy boy."

"Sonuva-" Ley began

Immersion's horn shone brighter. The interior of the shack was revealed. The walls and ceilings were wood, but that's where the features of the shack ended. The metal floor reflected the orange light, and the shack was shown to be empty. It was just a topper to a very slim staircase at the back, surrounded by more metal grating.

"Where is this?" Johnson asked as he took a slow step towards the stairs.

"Our way out of here." Ley answered, standing up and moving towards the stairs.

"Wait." Bullseye said, heavily. This isn't over.

The motley crew of damaged survivors turned to face her.

She stood as tall as she could. "We're not leaving yet. Not without dealing with Origami."

Immersion inclined his head. "I'm not sure you noticed Terri, but he took a bullet and barely cared. I've only got one left. You willing to bet all of our lives I can put one through his eyes? To bet that it'd even work?"

"Then let's lay a trap." She argued.

Ley snorted, "Fuck that. I'm out. No money is worth this."

Immersion slowly acquiesced, following Ley to the stairs. It was clear he wanted to argue the point more too. "I'm sorry but she's right."

Johnson's unbroken hoof patted her side. "Sometimes, ya just gotta know when to bail."

Hoof steps on metal.

Like hell I'm... Bullseye looked towards Snow Cone, and the blood pooling around her, staining her disgusting dress and what should have been her pristine white fur. I'm going to kill him.

She wanted to take Snow with her.

She couldn't lug a body around like that.

She wanted to.

"..."

"..."

"Your goons busted up my place already, yeah?"

"They did."

"Didja find my money stash?"

"..."

"...No they didn't."

"Gerald."

"It's her money anyways."

"Give it to... whoever the-just. Find out who Snow Cone's filly was. The stash is under the door. You've gotta remove the frame on the inside to get at the floor panel it's hidden under. Tell 'em I'm sorry I couldn't do better by her momma, and that she died doing real good."

"...There's no telling when we'd be able to, or-"

"You know, it's funny."

"What?"

"I totally forgot to write down anything that just happened in the last minute or so, and I'm struggling to remember. Did you say anything important that I should take to the law just now?"

"Gerald."

"Nope."

"Well that's good enough for me."

"Thanks."

"..."

"..."

"...Fine..."

The sounds of steps on metal were mixed with the wet, echoing dripping noise of water getting into the concrete tunnels beneath the manor. Down the stairs, there was a three way intersection, with pipes and lines of arcane ducts up at the top corner of the wall. It was pitch black in any direction not lit by Immersion's horn light.

"Well what now?" Ley questioned, as they Immersion and Johnson both stared off into the subsuming darkness

Bullseye, meanwhile, had her thinking cap on. The pipes. "This whole place is rigged to the nines." She was, at the moment, tall enough to reach her limb up to the thickest pipe. Not only could she feel the water rushing through, but she could hear it, from this close. "Pressure. For hydraulics."

Immersion joined her, looking up at the equipment, "You mean, something that could lock a door?"

"Exactly what I'm thinking." There were other pipes in there too, nothing for hot water though. Bullseye smiled when she came across one that said: 'Warning: Flammable'. "Think you can get those bolts loose?" She asked.

Ley immediately interjected herself into the conversation with an accusatory "I'm not sure I like where this is going."

Immersion creased his brow, "It'd be easier to just cut the pipe open, but why?"

Bullseye smiled, "Not open. Loose." She pointed down the hallway. "The water's coming from that direction, it's pressurized, which means there's a pump. We loosen these until we find the source, and then we blow it to Tartarus."

Verglas nodded "Then all the pipes down this way will rupture, sure, but we don't have the time. That... thing isn't just gonna leave us down here."

"We burn the fucker out." Johnson decided.

"Let's get to work." Immersion agreed.

Ley hung her head and sighed.

"I thought they were against setting a trap?"

"I think it was more that they were against fighting Origami, or coming up with another plan. This one was easy, and readily accessible, despite it taking longer to get out. If there was a way out down where we were going."

"I just... why the change of heart?"

"None of them wanted to leave the bastard alive bossmare, that's what you're forgetting. I just needed a solution, options; rather than what I had, which was only loose hope that we could take him out."

"How long did it take? Before you got to where you were going?"

"Well, we ended up only mussing up the bottom halves of each pipe. Four bolts per, loosen all of 'em, take out the bottom so it'd drip. It was smelly, gas, something-I dunno, but Immersion was getting his hackles up about how long it was taking, so we had to cut corners."

"Alright, this one's done." Immersion ducked away from the pipework and trotted forwards. Bullseye slammed her fist against the pipe at the seam where they connected. It shook, and started to drip. As they loosened more pipes, the fumes were starting to fill the hall.

Ley was still against the whole process, but was at least willing to go along with the group. "Can we hurry this up?"

"Seconded." Immersion kept the pace, but skipped the next seam.

Bullseye and Immersion kept working until they came to another junction. Immersion was the first to stick his head around the corner, he had the horn after all. "Which way do you think?" Bullseye looked down each path before letting out a soft hum.

"We're under the mansion now. I can't hear the rain." Bullseye noted. Immersion nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Whatever we're doing, can we do it now? Please?"

Immersion took a few steps forwards, "Right it is then." Ley followed after, and Immersion started on the next seam when Johnson pulled on Bullseye's dress. She turned, of course.

"Bullseye." He said.

Bullseye waited for a second, mulling over answering to her name right now. "Yeah?" She eventually settled.

"I..." Johnson seemingly also had no clue what to do. "Ahm not very good with words."

Bullseye turned the corner, Johnson tailed after, "Later then, when we get out of here."

Johnson fell silent.

Guess that's the end of that.

"Hey, look alive back there, there's light's ahead." Ley called back.

Bullseye and Johnson quickened their pace, meeting with Ley and Immersion as the group passed through a door-less opening into a two story room full of screens and more exits. The catwalk along the sides of the walls had no clear way of getting up besides just having wings, and all of the screens were dark. There were no pipes in here, they had converged into the wall and seemingly gone around. Overall, it was a bland, empty room, and put them no further to escape than another hallway would have.

Ley walked up to the railing and looked down into the room. "Where do we go now?"

"We-"

"DUCK!"

"I honestly have no clue who said it. It could have been me, and in hindsight, it probably was."

"Duck? Did-"

"Yeah, the fucker turned the corner. I drew Immersion's pistol, it was a messed up draw, what with the fingers and all for a unicorn pistol, but I did get it out."

BANG

Bullseye inhaled quickly after she pulled the pistol. She was not ready for that kick. The split second it took her to aim and fire was enough though. Origami, looking notably less monstrous, flinched back, and there was a spark of arcane energy that popped and sizzled from his rifle. In the next moment, he pulled the trigger, and another spark and a zap signaled the weapon's death by Bullseye's aim.

There was a standoff as everyone in that basement realized who was outnumbered and suddenly unarmed.

"Get him!" Immersion shouted, just as Origami spun into a gallop down the opening he came from with a wet laugh.

There was a tangle of limbs. Bullseye roughly stuffed the pistol back into her dress. Somehow, Johnson overtook all of them, running on three legs. He was the first to catch up with Origami, Bullseye watched him grab the bastard's tail from behind, silhouetted by Immersion's horn light against the dark. She watched him nearly take Origami's back hoof to the face too but he turned and rolled it into his shoulder. Immersion tried to flip Origami over as Bullseye just threw her weight onto him from above.

Origami didn't care. He kept laughing and laughing.

While less viscous looking, and still hidden behind the mask, he ignored Immersion's telekinetic shunt and reared up, slamming both hooves into Bullseye just as she got close.

Bullseye came-to with her lungs telling her they still weren't full even after she sucked in another breath from her spot collapsed against the wall. Shadows flashed in her blurred vision as Immersion and Johnson continued to tussle with their tormenter. Bullseye could smell the gas as she sucked in breath after breath.

Ley came to her side as Bullseye was getting up. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm go-" Bullseye coughed up blood

"He's getting away!"

Bullseye pushed Ley, "Go! Go-" Another cough, "A-after him!"

Ley ran, Bullseye chased after the fleeting horn light of Immersion as they turned a corner. The adrenaline in her system let her ignore the bruising in her back, and the stinging in her chest. Another corner, and Bullseye heard a strange noise as she was plunged into pitch black.

"..."

"... Is this whe-"

"No. Sorry. I knew this part was gonna be hard."

"What happened?"

"..."

"We can take a moment? If you'd like?"

"...No. No I'm okay."

Bullseye collapsed against a wall as another cough took her. Fuck, broken ri-

Her thought was cut off as blaring white flood lights blinked on and forced her eyes shut.

The wall she was leaning on was a door, a door that had been shut. Bullseye stepped back and looked around. She was still in the hallway portion, but it opened up. There was glass that showed the other side of the room. Verglas Ley was trapped inside; on the other side of the opposite wall, also looking through the glass was Johnson and Immersion.

Clunk.

The ceiling came down a hoof. Heavy gears shifted loud enough for Bullseye to hear through the wall, and the whole thing dropped like a stone. It was stone, which made plenty of sense.

Ley was trying to force the door open with her talons.

Clunk.

Another hoof. Bullseye realized through her haze what was happening. There were marks in the wall where a rail or gears or something could slide down it.

It was a crusher.

Clunk

Bullseye coughed again as she inhaled more acrid gas. There must be some hydraulics in the door, something malfunctioning. If I can find it and break it more- Bullseye looked up as Ley started banging on the glass on her side. Her mouth moved but Bullseye couldn't hear her.

She pointed at the door and then dove for it.

Bullseye tried to find an edge to stick her paws into, and barely found one.

Clunk

It was head height with her now, and there was no moving the door. Bullseye stumbled to the side and ran her fingers along the seam of the glass and metal the wall was made up of. Right where it came into the stone near the edge of her hallway, there was some sort of fluid sealer leaking the fumes.

Clunk

Ley started banging her talons on the glass while Bullseye used her nails and claws to desperately try and dig into the stone. Using a shaping charm made her look like a diamond dog. It didn't make her claws as sharp as steel, it didn't give her their strength. She was still just an earth pony underneath, and she'd yet to meet anyone who could dig through solid concrete at will.

Clunk

Ley shrunk away from the window and pressed her talons against the ceiling

Bullseye stepped back with her eyes wide.

Clunk

The albino griffon's arms crumpled under the weight. Bullseye watched a bone in Ley's forelimb snap as the weight of the ceiling simply moved her arms out of the way.

Ley was crying now, she had stumbled up the glass again, and was beating at it with her good leg.

Clunk

She screamed obscenities' and pleas and blame

Clunk

Then her head disappeared below the glass as she was forced onto her stomach.

Clunk

Bullseye could barely hear the scream.

But she heard it.

The gargling, jagged scream of someone who had been halfway crushed.

Clunk

Then nothing.

Nothing but Bullseye's heavy breathing, and the near silent white noise that was pervading the back of her mind as she tried to rationalize what she just saw. She was mindlessly clutching at her stomach, the weight of her broken ribs on the rest of her body.

Then she heard the laughing. She spun around, and there he was. Still weeping blood from tears under his fur, still disgusting, still a monster. He revealed himself, stepping into the light fully, and Bullseye could finally make out the relative shape.

He walked towards her idly, like he'd already gotten the kill.

"I'm going to fucking kill you." Bullseye said.

"HA" Was his crazed response.

She lunged, but he was faster. A hoof came to her face as soon as she was in range to claw at him. She went stumbling, but caught herself. He kept closing, but slowly. "Origami, right?" Her cutie mark itched as she inhaled again.

He laughed again, "You think you're such a clever bitch don't you?" Was his wet rebuttal. His voice was twisted like his body, completely unrecognizable to the snotty and slightly refined voice from before.

She lunged again. He back hooved her again. She let herself fall this time, towards the glass, towards the wall.

"You're so pitifully weak." He continued to advance, and Bullseye could hear the smile from under the mask. "I'm going to pull your ovaries out through your nose with my bare hooves." He chuckled. She kept sliding herself away with her paws, scooting away from him on her butt.

Bullseye pulled out the pistol.

He stopped for a second. "That can't hurt me." He took another step forward, "Give up. You can't win."

"That's the thing about ponies like you." Bullseye smiled. "You think I can't kill you and live to tell about it."

Origami snarled, something between a mix of a growl and slavering beast grunting in rage. He tried to slam a hoof down on her leg, she scrambled backwards until her back was to the wall.

"And you're right." Bullseye quipped, still leveling the pistol at the monster. It was out of bullets, but that didn't matter.

He stopped to consider what she said, she saw his brow furrow.

"I don't mind throwing this fight!"

She stuck the pistol into the leaking gas-click