Thunder boomed across the dark sky as rain poured onto the city below. The droplets fell gently down on the terrain. However, the rain was only a minor inconvenience to the residents of Denver compared to what was taking place within the city.
At the entrance of a towering skyscraper, the headquarters of a mega-corporation known as World Marshall, two figures danced, fought, and ran through the rain; their metal bodies glistening with the rain. The two combatants have been going at it for the past thirty minutes, neither showing signs of slowing down.
“So this is Jack the Ripper’s terrifying true form?” one of them commented. His name was Monsoon, a captain of the private military company, Desperado Enforcement and a member of the Winds of Destruction.
"You won't be so glib when I ram my foot up your ass," cackled the other combatant. Like his opponent, he too was a cyborg; an extremely unstable, if not more lethal one at that. His body resonated with an ominous red aura that seemed to match his high frequency blade perfectly. The crimson sword he wielded only appeared red as it was soaked in the blood of his previous victims. This cyborg was Raiden.
Monsoon sped towards Raiden, a trail of purple haze following in his wake. He brandished his signature sais and unleashed a flurry of jabs at Raiden, each hit aiming to do serious damage to the cyborg ninja. Raiden easily saw the attacks coming and successfully parried each one. In the blink of an eye, Raiden deflected one of Monsoon’s attacks downwards, catching the cyborg off-guard. Smirking, Raiden immediately seized the chance for a counter-attack by violently smacking Monsoon’s helmet with the hilt of his blade. Not soon after the ninja relentlessly slashed at the dazed Desperado captain; deep gashes appeared on Monsoon’s body as Raiden continued his savage barrage. Finally, Raiden built up power in his right leg and spun in place, releasing a nasty roundhouse kick directly to Monsoon’s head. The cyborg screamed in pain as he was sent flying across the courtyard, sliding to a stop against the wet ground.
“Pain is a meme too!” Raiden laughed grimly. This is what he lived for: the glorious pain of battle and soaking in the blood of his enemies. He indulged in it, yearned for it. However, he could not shake the voice in his head screaming for recognition.
“This isn’t me! I am not a psychopath, dammit!” the voice called out. It was… him. The spineless coward that kept him locked up, burying him in lies and false promises.
“Sorry kid! It’s time you let good ol' Jack out to play…” the cyborg whispered. There was no “Raiden” anymore. There never was, only Jack the Ripper…
“Was that all? I could barely register those as scratches!” Monsoon yelled leaping back up onto his feet.
Jack the Ripper shook free from his thoughts and directed his attention back to his combatant. Monsoon twirled his sais in the air as a purple haze leaked from his body. Jack wasted no time and quickly activated his Ninja Run, charging towards Monsoon with a fierce intent.
Monsoon smirked. He pointed his arms towards the incoming ninja and activated the electromagnetic forces in his body. In a flash of purple, Monsoon’s arms shot out towards Jack with his sais gripped firmly in the hands of the speeding limbs. Caught off-guard by the sudden attack, the Ripper was launched off his feet and landed square on his back. Monsoon’s sais then impaled their target.
Monsoon smiled as his enemy was knocked off his feet. He quickly took control of his arms again by using his electromagnetic currents and began to swipe at Jack from a distance. The cyborg ninja could barely block each attack as the detached limbs continued their relentless onslaught. Each swing from the sais grew closer and closer to damaging the cyborg who was pinned to the ground.
“Enough!” Jack screamed. He swung his blade at the floating limbs above him, sending them flying from the cyborg ninja. The Ripper took this moment to leap back on his feet. Jack snarled; his right eye glimmering red with anger. He activated his Ninja Run once more, charging towards Monsoon.
“I can’t fight… not like this.” There was that voice again. Jack the Ripper shook his head and ignored it. He wasn’t going to let that coward rob him the satisfaction of slicing his enemy limb from limb. The Ripper closed in on Monsoon and released an unrelenting barrage of sword swipes, aiming to slice the Desperado captain to pieces.
Only they didn’t…
“That your best?” Monsoon taunted. Jack was flabbergasted at the sight. Monsoon had separated sections of his body to dodge every blow from the ninja’s blade. Jack continued to slash at the electromagnetic cyborg. Sadly his attempts proved fruitless as Monsoon kept on separating his body to avoid the attacks.
Suddenly, a searing pain penetrated Jack the Ripper’s back causing him to stop his attack. Monsoon’s arm was drawn back, allowing him to stab the Ripper right in the back. Monsoon quickly seized this window of opportunity and kicked his opponent high up into the air, leaping up to meet the ninja. The arms that belonged to the Desperado captain quickly reattached themselves to their owner.
“Back to the earth with you!” Monsoon jabbed at the ninja with his sais several times before sending him crashing back down. The Desperado captain reveled at the sight of the dazed Jack. Unfortunately he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed as he had expected more from the infamous killer.
Jack, however, felt even worse.
The rain did little to soothe him from the dizziness and anguish he felt. He was a natural-born killer, one of the most ruthless and merciless to ever grace the battlefield. And here he was, losing to a gimmicky cyborg. Despite finally being released after so many years, he was still being held back. Held back from what he truly is, what he was truly capable of.
“I am not a bloodthirsty killer. I kill to protect, never out of anger, vengeance or pleasure.” It was him! HE was the one holding Jack back, the one yanking on the leash. Even now, during the heat of battle, HE kept holding Jack back!
“Go away, dammit! This is my fight, not yours,” Jack shouted, slowly picking himself off of the ground. Thunder boomed through the rainy sky, Jack the Ripper fought to maintain his focus. He couldn’t lose this battle, no matter what.
“I am not a murderer!”
“Yes, I am!”
“I kill to protect!”
“I kill because I love it!”
“I am not Jack the Ripper anymore!”
“I always was, and I never will be anything else!” the cyborg ninja screamed furiously. He was kneeling on the wet ground, staring at a puddle. The reflection taunted Jack: it was him but not him at the same time. The reflection pictured him without the crazed look in his eye, without the blood splatters or the red aura. Instead, it pictured him defiant and head-strong, the bloodthirsty look forsaken.
It stared back at the Ripper, HE stared back at the Ripper!
“Hey Jack,” Monsoon’s voice snapped Jack back to reality. “This one’s on me!” Before Jack could respond, Monsoon used his magnetic power to fling four large APCs (and Military Choppers) directly at the cyborg ninja. Jack was doomed; he had no energy left in him and no time to react.
The flying vehicles crashed into Jack, smashing him into the hard concrete as they burst into a violent explosion and shower of flames.
“This cannot be! Raiden, what happened? You are supposed to be stronger than this!” Doktor, one of Raiden’ support crew, yelled over the defeated cyborg’s codec.
“You cost me the fight, you know? You just couldn’t let me out, could you?”
Raiden shot his eye open; he brandished his high frequency blade while leaping to his feet, assuming a combat stance. However, the ninja was confused: where was he? Raiden scanned immediate area. It was empty, an abandoned limbo. If someone looked closer, they would spot a thin mist of fog circling in the distance of this seemingly never-ending space.
“Over here, Raiden,” a harsh, mocking voice broke the quiet atmosphere of the white limbo.
Out of the corner of his eye, a bright, crimson light flashed brilliantly. Raiden turned to face the source, and gasped at the horrifying sight.
Raiden saw a perfect copy of him standing just a few feet away. His body resonated with an ominous red aura. He had a bloodthirsty look on him, and his eye shined a bright, crimson light. This was NOT Raiden!
“Surprised to see me?” Jack the Ripper smiled. In the blink of an eye, the Ripper lunged towards Raiden. Jack snatched his prey by the neck and held him in the air, his grip growing tighter and tighter. The helpless Raiden could do nothing to break free; he flailed around to shake loose; he tried to pry open Jack’s hand but his strength failed him.
“You cost me the fight,” Jack growled. “All because you were too much of a spineless welp to give in!” the psychotic cyborg threw Raiden as if he were trash. Raiden manipulated his momentum to land on his feet again, but was swiftly sent flying again by a sudden kick to the jaw. The Ripper walked slowly towards the grounded Raiden.
“You buried me away, turned me into a bad dream. And for what? So people could accept you? So you could kill with a clear conscience!?” the Ripper yelled. Raiden took out his blade and charged towards Jack, intending to cut him down once and for all. However, the attack proved futile as Jack simply caught the blade in his right hand as if it was a stick. Raiden’s surprise was cut short by a punch to the abdomen. Jack then delivered a powerful haymaker directly to the ninja’s face.
Blood splattered onto the unseen ground of the empty limbo, Raiden coughed and hacked up blood and saliva, but the Ripper was not finished. Lifting a leg straight into the air, Jack brought it back down onto the injured cyborg below. A satisfying cracking sound filled Jack’s ears, encouraging him to repeat the same stomping motion over and over and over again. A savage grin appeared on the Ripper’s face as Raiden’s cries of pain and agony danced in the psychopath’s ear drums. Finally, Jack kicked the defenseless cyborg onto his back.
“How…?” Raiden wheezed out. He could not breathe. The wind was knocked straight out of him as blood clogged up his windpipe.
“How am I doing all of this? How am I beating you senseless?” the Ripper yanked the high frequency blade from its master. “The answer is quite simple. I’m stronger than you, I always was!” Jack lifted the blade above his head, and brought it downwards…
Time stood still for Raiden; blood droplets fell onto his face and pain coursed throughout his body. The hilt of his blade towered above his chest as the rest of the sword was embedded into his body. The immense pain that Raiden had experienced was suddenly replaced by a cold numbness. His eyelids grew heavy, his breathing ragged. The cyborg ninja looked back at his psychotic doppelganger one last time.
“From here on out, nothing is going to hold me down,” Jack the Ripper’s red aura resonated brighter.
“Jack is finally back!” the Ripper yanked out the embedded blade from Raiden’s chest cavity, twirled it, and… sliced.
Sunshine filled the rolling, green hills with its brilliant radiance. The birds chirped, and a soft breeze blew throughout the land.
And one individual began to stir…
A tall bipedal creature awoke from its slumber, the drowsiness being replaced with a sense of awareness. It rose from the grass, dusting its metal exterior free of dirt and grime. The sunlight allowed the creature to see a small trail leading to an unknown place. Slowly, it began to stagger along the dirt trail, taking note of the lush scenery it was surrounded by; a juxtaposition of the metal creature’s origins.
Eventually, it reached a large wooden sign, with letters reading:
“Welcome to Ponyville, the happiest place in all of Equestria.” Raiden spoke aloud. He was perplexed by this new information. Waking up in the middle of nowhere was already too much to think about, but now, this sign spoke of two places that sound like they were ripped from a child’s imagination.
However, the cyborg ninja noticed several buildings in the distance. It was a village by the looks of it. Raiden could find out how he got here later. Right now, he needed to know where he was. Making a mental note to call his support group when he reached the village, Raiden built up his Ninja Run and sprinted down the trail and towards the village.
Up above Raiden, a small cloud began to follow the cyborg ninja.
“You’re not setting one hoof in Ponyville, you monster!” A small cyan pony creature poked its head from the small cloud; her rainbow mane blowing in the wind.
The rain continued to fall onto the plaza of World Marshall HQ. It looked as if a war broke out on the small residence.
Monsoon, the Desperado captain, laughed in triumphant glee in front of the wreckage of several APCs. He had just successfully dispatched the infamous Jack the Ripper, a cyborg that fought savagely but was ultimately no match for the electromagnetic captain.
“Wind blows, rain falls…” he said. Taking one final look at the wreckage, he turned around and began to march towards the entrance to World Marshall. He had to admit, he was quite let down that THE Jack the Ripper was dispatched so easily. Perhaps the tales of his slaughter and ruthlessness were mere exaggerations.
Jack the Ripper was all bark but no bite.
“Goodbye Jack, it was nice while it lasted.” Monsoon said off-handedly before suddenly stopping in his tracks. He heard sounds coming from behind him, from the wreckage. The Desperado captain grew nervous, there was no way he could have survived such an attack.
His fears were soon confirmed as a blade punctured through the armor of an APC, slicing through it as if it was butter. After several tense seconds, the blade retreated back into the metal heap and pieces of the wreckage went flying.
A bright, red aura glowed from within the smoke, and a figure could be seen twirling a blade around. Monsoon started to back away in dread, hastily equipping his sais once more. Out of the smoke, the killer stepped out. He smiled as he saw his prey back away in fear. His eye shined a bright crimson once again.
“Where do you think you’re going,” Jack the Ripper asked. Monsoon quickly equipped his visor, prepared to fight once more.
“This fight just got a whole lot better!” Jack cackled.
Raiden ran down the narrow dirt path, occasionally glancing at the peaceful scenery around him; the baby blue sky and its marshmallow clouds, the rolling green hills off in the distance, the clean fresh air and the warm sunshine. It was so surreal for Raiden to even be here.
The cyborg stopped sprinting all of a sudden, inspecting the scenery around him. Something felt wrong to him. He didn’t know why but he sensed a pair of eyes focused on him, watching his every move. The ninja looked to the distant hills and to the sky above. Nothing was there. Warily, Raiden began to walk down the dirt path to the village again; so as not to waste his energy by further sprinting.
“Where the hell am I?” Raiden mumbled as he idly watched his feet crunch the dirt below him. He waved his hand a few inches in front of his face. A small, holographic menu appeared in front of the cyborg’s face. Raiden brought a finger to one of the visible buttons on the hologram and lightly tapped it. Making several beeping sounds, the small box expanded into a larger version of itself.
This was Raiden’s trusty codec, an advanced piece of communication equipment that allowed video calls, the use of a built in binocular, and other handy tools that usually benefited him on missions.
“Give me a map of the area,” Raiden spoke to the hologram. A line of text appeared on the screen: Area Unknown. The ninja growled in frustration, repeating the same command over and over again.
Area Unknown
Raiden deactivated the codec. It never gave him this problem in the past. Why now? The cyborg continued to walk down the dirt path, the distant village was getting closer and closer. However, he still felt as though he were being watched. Raiden glanced around the area, searching for anything suspicious.
‘How in the world did I get here?’ Raiden pondered. Last time he checked, he was in the concrete jungle of the city of Denver, tearing through the privatized cyborg police forces of World Marshall.
World Marshall…
Raiden remembered the towering headquarters of World Marshall HQ. He was battered and volatile. He remembered how Monsoon broke him and his code of honor. A code he used to shroud himself in a lie. And finally, he remembered Jack coming back…
A cold wind blew across the sunny landscape; the grass was healthy and fresh. Dirt tumbled around the cyborg’s feet as he continued to walk down the beaten trail.
“Damn,” Raiden suddenly felt nauseous. “Jack is back…” mumbled Raiden. The ninja remembered that ghostly limbo where he woke up. Where he fought the Ripper, and got beaten to a pulp. Raiden stopped as a headache surged through his head. Jack had beaten Raiden, saying that he was ‘stronger’ than him.
That was when the Ripper took Raiden’s blade and…
“Eat hoof, monster!”
Raiden snapped into alert mode, immediately turning on his heels to the source of the outburst. The ninja saw a cyan blur speeding directly at him! His eye flashed red as he quickly acted: he ducked below the speeding blur, the thing just mere centimeters from colliding with Raiden’s titanium jaw.
The cyborg flipped into the air, taking out his sword and landing on the ground. Raiden immediately took a combat stance and brandished his sword, getting a good look at the thing that attacked him.
And what he saw was stupefying.
A small, cyan horse with wings turned to glare at the baffled ninja. It’s mane and tail were rainbow. It pawed at the ground with its hoof, flaring its nostrils and crouching to the ground. Raiden observed the creature with a mix of caution and awe.
“You’re not gonna set one hoof in my town, monster!” the pony yelled. Raiden was a little surprised that this creature spoke, but then again he had previously encountered a vicious, cyborg wolf that could talk too, so this did not bother him much.
“And you are?” Raiden asked casually.
“I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria and the pony whose gonna whip your flank!” Rainbow Dash spread her wings that were unseen by Raiden. She flew towards him in a reckless attempt to damage him, but Raiden easily saw her coming and simply jumped to the side. Rainbow Dash soared past her target and crashed head-first into a tree; her head was lodged comically inside the trunk. The cyborg ninja laughed out loud and sheathed his blade; it was apparent this creature was no threat to him.
“Need some help there? I’ll give you some sugar cubes if you promise not to kick me!” Raiden joked at the pony’s expense. The pony’s body thrashed around in a futile attempt to get free. While the cyan Pegasus was busy, Raiden brought up his codec again, searching through all the options to find out where his current location was.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was having the time of her life. Having embarrassed herself in front of this metal monster, she was now stuck inside a tree trying to free herself as the creature just laughed at her. Fantastic!
“You’ll be sorry when I get outta of here, you hear me!” Dash threatened. At least, that’s what she wanted to say as her words came out as a series of unintelligible muffles. The pegasus continued to try and pry herself from the trunk of the tree, using all of her pony strength to release her head from its’ prison.
It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining, the wind was blowing gently, and the grass was crisp and fresh.
Area Unknown: Satellite Not Found
Connection to: [Maverick/Boris] Failed
Connection to: [Maverick/Courtney] Failed
Connection to: [Maverick/Wolf] Failed
Connection to: [Maverick/Kevin] Failed
Connection to: [Maverick/Doktor] Failed
Raiden deactivated the codec with a frustrated growl. So far, contacting his support group at Maverick failed as no signal could be found; GPS failed as the codec could not locate any satellites. The cyborg ninja could feel his insides tangle themselves into a bitter, cold knot. He looked to the pony known as Rainbow Dash, her struggling beginning to loosen her cranium from the tree. Raiden remembered his ‘death’ at the hands of his psychotic persona; the experience felt so horrifying and surreal. However, the pain from the Ripper’s beating was as real as the air Raiden was breathing or the grass he was standing on.
Was it even possible…?
“Guess I’ll have to find out…” Raiden murmured, motioning towards the trapped pony. Grabbing her back legs, the ninja quickly pulled out Rainbow Dash from the bothersome tree as an audible pop could be heard upon release. She shook her head in a daze, she could see stars in her vision before they quickly disappeared. Rainbow Dash tried to fly away but something was holding her back. She looked to her back legs and saw two metal claws wrapped around her legs, and their owner was giving her an unimpressed look.
“Hey, let me go right now! I ain’t through with ya!” the tenacious pony thrashed violently, she used every ounce of strength in her to release her legs from the ninja’s iron grip. To Raiden, it was almost pathetic seeing this poor thing feebly try to escape; he could barely feel a thing. Feeling sorry for it, he let the pegasus go. The pony creature quickly flew in the air, stretching her wings and shaking her head, feeling the warm wind blow through her rainbow hair… before immediately charging at Raiden again.
“This time, I’m gonna-“a metal hand connected with Rainbow Dash’s face, more specifically her mouth. The cyborg ninja held the pony in front of him, his face evident of irritation.
“I am not in the mood for anymore stunts, whatever you are.” Raiden growled; his tone was low and threatening enough to send a chill down Dash’s spine. Raiden tossed the pony back into the air.
“I have no idea where I am and I was just on my way to that nearby town ‘till you showed up,” Raiden chastised the cyan pony, the latter huffing and rolling her eyes.
“I was resting on my cloud when I saw you waltz outta the Everfree Forest and headed straight to Ponyville! Of course I had to deal with ya!” yelled Dash.
‘Ponyville…? Jesus, what planet did I wake up in?’ Raiden’s eye twitched.
“Besides, you’re lucky I stopped you when I did or else you could’ve given everypony a heart attack.” Rainbow Dash said, hovering back and forth above the cyborg.
Did Raiden hear that correctly?
“Did you just say ‘everypony’?”
Dash nodded.
Raiden sighed heavily, bringing a hand to his forehead as he felt a headache coming on; Ponyville, Equestria, everypony. Those words, those ridiculous words buzzed painfully in his head like an annoying, rainbow-cyan hornet. That was when the cyborg ninja came to a horrifying conclusion:
“…There are more of you in that village, right?”
Dash nodded again. “Yep, ponies. They come in all shapes and sizes and races.” Rainbow said in matter-of-factly tone. She did a little spin in the air for the hell of it and looked back to Raiden again.
The ninja could feel that headache coming anytime now. Turning on his heel, Raiden continued his trek to the village, now knowing that there is sentient life at the small hamlet. Although, it wasn’t the type of life he was expecting, or wanted to meet.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow Dash butted in front of Raiden’s way again. “Where do you think you’re going? I just said that you’ll cause a panic if you step one hoof –or whatever those are- in town.” She said pointing at Raiden’s modified feet.
“As much as it pains me to say, I need someplace to go where I can get some professional assistance. I’m not going to get much done out here.” Raiden walked past the floating pegasus, stopped, and faced the pony.
“Is there anyone in that town that can help me? Anyone at all?”
“Probably. A friend of mine can probably give you a place to crash and you can…”
Rainbow smacked herself. “Why am I telling you this? I can’t let you into town! Who knows what you will do!” Raiden sighed heavily, tired of hearing the same argument over and over.
“Look here, Blue. I am lost and I really need to gain my bearings and assess given my current situation. I need someone that can provide an accurate description of where I am, and if possible, help me.” Raiden gave the pegasus a serious yet sincere look. “I promise that I have no intention of hurting anyone over in that town. Hell, it will screw up my chances of going back to where I came from.”
Rainbow Dash huffed and crossed her forelegs. As much as she hated admitting it, this metal thing could seriously hurt her. Yet he didn’t retaliate violently despite her constant brutish advances towards him. And despite his menacing appearance, He didn’t seem to hold any sort of malicious intent. The cyan pony sighed in defeat.
“Ok, I’ll trust you…but try anything funny and I’ll send you to Canterlot’s dungeons myself!” Dash viciously pointed a hoof at Raiden before backed off.
‘Score’ the ninja did a mental fist-pump in celebration of this small but gratifying victory. Raiden turned back towards the village now known as Ponyville.
“Well, we’re not going to get much done here.” The cyborg turned to stare at his destination. Before he could even take a step, his new companion flew in front of him yet again.
“What now?”
“I can take you to somepony that can help but we still have the issue of the entire town going into a panic.” Dash explained.
“I’ll take care of it.” said the irritated ninja.
“Pinkie Promise?” Dash said with a raised eyebrow. Raiden’s eye twitched…
Yep, Raiden could feel that headache kicking in.
“…We’re wasting time here. Let’s get moving already!” Raiden strolled past the awkward pegasus and began his trek anew. Dash grumbled and led the way to Ponyville.
