It's update time, everyone!
Freerider2901 here with the next exiting installment of the ongoing zany adventures of Adam and Zhar! What will happen this chapter? I know I know!
Anyway, during the course of the series you may notice some bold text in parenthesis. In them is will be the title of the song I listen to during the writing. I suggest listening to it, just to set a mood. Unless your in a crowded area, then in that case pump that jam up!
Anyway, stick around after the chapter. See ya then!
Chapter 3: Protocol Dictates Action
Time: Early Morning
Location: Sugarcube Corner
"Zacky! Time to wake up!" Pinkie Pie yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Zhar rolled over in his bed.
He opened his eyes slightly only to shut them back tight. Dammit. Hung-over again. He thought to himself. It took him for a minute to register that there was a bottle in his hand. He rolled over and held it above his head.
He opened his eyes and took a good look at the bottle. Why the hell was I drinking rubbing alcohol?
"Come on, Zacky!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she danced around the bed, making her way the window.
Oh God please don't. He pleaded inside his head.
Pinkie Pie bit on the blind cord and pulled back. Even with his eyes closed, his eyes hurt when the bright light his face.
"Come on!" She said out loud as she began to shake Zhar. "I want to show you around town!"
Zhar groaned and rolled back onto his stomach. "Please go away. I need my beauty sleep."
"Oh, come on!" Pinkie started to whine. "Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!"
Why can't anyone ever take a hint? HE thought as he did his best to tune out the crazy pink pony. Eventually when the pony left the room Zhar had thought he won. HE breathed a sigh of relief and rolled onto his side.
Just then a heavy metallic object hit him square of the side of the head. He rolled off the bed, clutching his face.
"Ow! What the hell?" He shouted as he turned to see Pinkie Pie standing beside the bed with a metal pipe in her mouth. Zhar was absolutely horrified. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked as he nursed his head.
Pinkie Pie spit the pipe out before answering. "What? That's how the other guy got you to wake up before." She replied innocently.
"Yea, but I was in a coma when he did that, and he sure as hell didn't use a damn pipe! God that hurt!" Zhar shot back, still in pain.
"Well that'll be a lesson for both of us! Pinkie Pie responded cheerfully. She skipped out of the room. "Come on! You promised last night that you would let me show you around town!"
Zhar followed the pony out of the room and thought about what she had just said. "When did I say that? I don't remember saying anything like that."
"Well of course you don't! You were wasted!" She replied as she walked down the stairs.
Zhar looked back to the pony. "Really?" He asked.
"Yep!" She replied as she opened the door and walked out.
I didn't even know you could get drunk off of rubbing alcohol. He thought as he followed Pinkie Pie out of the bakery.
The two went on a ways through the town, with Pinkie Pie constantly stopping to point out the most insignificant detail.
Worst tour guide ever. Zhar thought to himself. Eventually the two came to a large grey building. Before she could tell him about it, Pinkie Pie saw the mayor and ran off the greet her. "Oh! Hi Mayor!"
"Oh, Pinkie Pie." The old mare said as she turned to greet her.
"How are you? Are you feeling better? Worse? Are you getting enough to eat? Drink?" The rest of Pinkie Pie's words then began to jumble together and mix beyond recognition and Zhar gave up trying to understand her.
"Yes!" The grey pony finally shouted out, frustrated. She composed herself for a minute before she spoke again. "Yes, I'm fine, Pinkie Pie. Now what brings you here?"
"Oh, I'm showing Zacky here around town!" She replied happily. The Mayor looked past Pinkie Pie to see Zhar standing not too far behind her.
"I see…" The mayor's voice trailed off. ZHar decided to greet the mayor as well.
"Name's Zhar Zehiomie. Pleasure to meet you." He said as he extended his arm. The Mayor gave him a weird look and Zhar withdrew his arm. Not awkward at all. He thought to himself.
"The pleasures all mine…" Again the mayor's voice trailed off, almost like she wasn't paying attention.
"Yea!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "We found him and this other guy in the middle of the Everfree forest! We took them to the hospital and they went nuts and almost killed each other!"
"I see. So, um, Pinkie, is, um, "He", staying with you?" The mayor asked, moving closer to Pinkie ear.
"Yea!" Pinkie enthusiastically replied. "The Princess said he could!"
"I see..." The mayor replied again. "I'm sorry, but I have a lot of work to do. Would you mind…?"
"Of course not!" Pinkie again replied enthusiastically.
"Speaking of work to do, Pinkie Pie, Can you show me to the library?" Zhar turned around and asked.
"That's where we were heading next… so yes!" She replied as she bounced up and down.
"Great." Zhar replied then began to walk off, leaving the two ponies alone.
Before she trotted away, the mayor stopped Pinkie Pie and whispered a question. "Pinkie Pie, have you heard anything about Miss Sparkle yet?"
Pinkie Pie's smile instantly died away and she dropped her head. Then she slowly nodded no.
Zhar didn't hear Pinkie Pie answer, but from her reaction to the question he knew that something wasn't right.
Then the two started toward the library.
Time: Early morning
Location: Ponyville Library
(Knock)(Knock)
Spike woke up to the noise of the door being knocked on. Reluctantly, he forced himself to roll off his small bed and start toward the stairs.
"Hey, uh, can you get the door?" He called out from the top of the stairs. He waited a few seconds, but didn't hear a reply. In fact, since their chat last night, Spike hadn't heard the human say anything. He figured that he was probably asleep.
(Knock)(Knock)
"Hang on. Hang on." He said as he started down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, he found the library in a mess. Open book laid all over the place. HE looked over to the corner to see the human standing up, reading a book.
And I thought Twilight was bad. Spike thought to himself as he groaned.
(Knock)(Knock) (Knock)(Knock)
"I'm Coming! Hold on!" he shouted at the door. He picked up a few books lying close to him. "You know I have to clean this place up, right?" he said as he walked toward the door.
"Sorry." Adam replied without turning around. He then closed the book he was reading and threw it on a table. Then he walked over and picked up another book off the shelf.
Spike sighed and reached up to turn the doorknob. The door flew open, knocking him clear across the room and landed on a pile of books.
"Hi Spike!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she walked through the doorway.
Spike groaned and picked himself up. "Hello, Pinkie Pie."
Pinkie Pie came into the main room and looked around. She saw Adam in the corner and then looked at Spike. "Spike, did you and Mr. Guy throw a party and not invite me?"
"No." Spike said coldly and brushed the dust of his chest. HE then started to pick up the books spammed all over the floor. He was about to pick up another book when a large shadow dropped over him. HE looked up to see a tall, dark figure standing over him.
Spike backed up a bit and took a deep breath. This thing was so big it could crush with a stomp of its foot. The creature then took it foot and kicked Spike right in the stomach, causing his to exhale quickly and drop his books. The creature looked down and addressed him.
"Oh sorry little guy. Didn't see you there." It then bent done to help him pick up his dropped books.
"It's fine." Spike hastily replied. HE took his books and hurried over to the shelf to put them away.
"Hey keep those out! I'm not done with them!" Adam finally said, causing the dragon to jump a bit. Again his books fell to the ground. Finally he just threw his hands up and gave up. "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen." HE grumbled before leaving the room.
"Sounds like somebody's being a little purple grumpy pants!" Pinkie Pie cheered after the dragon.
Zhar decided that he would be the bigger man (or alien in this case) and picked a few of the books and placed them back on the shelf. Zhar then walked over to Adam and plucked the book out of his hand. He read the title out loud.
"Works of Yesterday. A Collection of Poems from Celestia's youth." He said with a chuckle. "Are you seriously reading poetry?"
Adam pushed Zhar and walked over to the book he was reading earlier. "You can learn a lot about a culture from their literature." He opened to the page he left off on. "You could probably learn a thing or two if you got your damn head out of the gutter."
Zhar rolled his eyes and opened to the small book. He read the poem then threw the book away. "Sounds boring. I'd rather party."
Pinkie Pie's head perked up at the word "Party".
Adam continued reading. "Is that why you're hung over?"
Zhar shook his head. "Who knows? Did you know you could get drunk off of rubbing alcohol?"
Adam looked at Zhar with a Really? Look on his face. "Yes Idiot. Most rubbing alcohols are at least 70% alcohol." He looked down in his book then looked back up. "Wait, why were you drinking rubbing alcohol?"
"Well she didn't have any regular booze, so I had to improvise." Zhar said as he pointed toward Pinkie Pie, who was just sitting and watching the two go at it.
Adam turned to face Zhar. "Why were you drinking in the first place? I told you to behave yourself."
"And I did… Up until the point I blacked out. After that I don't know." Zhar said as he walked over to the table, looking at the map laying there. "So what? You're a geographer now?"
Adam sighed. "No, just trying to get familiar with the terrain."
Zhar placed the map down and continued to walk around the table. "Speaking of which, you find us a way out of here yet?"
Adam put the book down and placed his hands on the table. "The hell do you think?" He said with distain.
Zhar replied. "You spent the whole night reading and you didn't find anything?"
"More work than you've done within the past few hours." Adam replied harshly. "That anomaly that we got sucked into back in the ruins must have been some type of Forerunner portal device. The only I see us getting back is if we find one like it."
Zhar nodded his head slowly and completed his path. "I don't suppose that they just happen to have one of those just lying around." They then both turned to find Pinkie Pie stacking a pile of books. She turned her head and smiled at them both.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say no." Adam said as Zhar waved at her.
"So we're stuck here?" Zhar said, turning around.
"Afraid so." Adam replied with a groan.
Zhar sighed. "Fanfreakintastic." He said.
Time: Early Morning
Location: Fluttershy's cottage
Several minutes earlier
The door of the small cottage opened. A second later Fluttershy came out with a small bucket in her mouth.
"Come on girls! It's time to feed the chickens!" She called back into the house. Soon after, three small fillies trotted out, each one of them still tired from being woken up so early.
The small orange Pegasus groaned a bit, then collapsed onto the ground.
"Don't you think it's a little early, Miss Fluttershy? The sun just barely got up!" She complained.
"Oh shut it with the whinnen, Scootaloo!" The light yellow earth pony said. "We promised to help!"
"Yea!" The white unicorn chimed in. "We might even get our Cutie Marks!"
"What?" The orange Pegasus responded. "Who wants a chicken feeder as their Cutie mark?"
"Fits you perfectly." The yellow earth pony responded. The white unicorn just giggled.
"Very funny." Scootaloo responded before getting up."Let's just get this done! I've got homework to do!"
"You didn't get your homework done?" The white unicorn asked. "Why?"
"Don't you know anything?" Scootaloo snapped back. "The new Call of Cutie just came out! I've been playing online all weekend!"
"Lucky." The yellow pony said. "I had to help Big Macintosh in the orchard all day yesterday."
"I had to clean up the boutique yesterday too." The young unicorn added.
The two ponies then stood there for a second, deep in their thoughts. The unicorn let a small tear fall from her eye.
Fluttershy looked over to the three. She could feel their sadness. They were probably feeling the worst.
"Um, girls? Chickens?" She was able to squeak out.
The three turned around and started towards Fluttershy. "Sorry Miss Fluttershy! We're coming!" The yellow pony shouted back at her.
Once they were all there, Fluttershy divided the chicken feed into four separate piles. Each pony took a small bit and walked around the pen, spreading feed.
"Now girls, be sure not to leave big piles or spread it out too much." She said gracefully. The three ponies nodded and continued their work.
"Um, Miss Fluttershy? Looks like one of your chickens got out again." Applebloom said. Fluttershy turned to see that she was right. There was a small hole in the fence along with a set of tracks leading out.
"Oh, Mrs. Fleatherball." She sighed to herself as she walked over to the fence. "I could have sworn that Moon Ray fixed that."
"Should we go after it?" Scootaloo asked, walking up. Fluttershy flew over the fence and started toward the forest edge. She turned back to the three fillies.
"No, um, you three just stay there." She said weakly before she poked her head into the foliage. "I'll just, um, go look a bit."
Mustering her courage, she took a few steps into the forest. She walked a bit before she unknowingly bumped into something hairy. She looked up to a heart-stopping sight.
Standing in front of her was a brute, looking straight at her.
It huffed a bit. Fluttershy was paralyzed with fright. She moved her eyes to see even more of them behind it.
The girls. Was all she could think at the moment. She scrambled to her feet and tried to take flight. The brute made a grab for the pony, but Fluttershy managed to get out of reach just in time.
She raced to get out of the forest back to the three. The brute, not far behind her, broke into chase.
Eventully she reached the edge of the forest. She could see the girls, still feeding the chickens.
"Girls!" She shouted before the brute grabbed her tail, throwing her to the ground.
The three fillies turned, confused to why she was shouting to them. They turned to see Fluttershy on the pinned to the ground by a massive, ape like creature.
Upon seeing them, the brute released a horrifying roar at them.
"Run!" Fluttershy was able to get out before the brute pinned her underneath its foot.
Terrified, the three fillies took off running back into town. The brute started in pursuit, but was stopped by a harsh voice.
"Stand down!" The chieftain shouted. The brute instantly stopped and walked back toward the chieftain. The brute stopped instantly and dropped his head in a bow.
Another brute walked up behind the chieftain. "Are you sure, chieftain?"
"Yes." The chieftain replied, angry.
"But they could warn the townspeople!"
"Let them.." The chieftain said. Fluttershy tried to get up, but was kicked back onto the ground by another brute.
"But the princesses! If they are here they will escape!" The brute said, desperate.
"Then we will send them a message." The chieftain said with finality. He motioned for two other brutes toward Fluttershy. One grabbed her mane and dragged her away.
Another brute walked over to the chieftain. "You go against the Prophets commands." It said, just inches away from the chieftains face. The chieftain inched his face closer, growling fiercely at the other. The brute took a step back. The other brutes stopped and stared at the two.
The chieftain took a look around and turned to face the brute. "I go against the Prophets will so I can fulfill it." He hissed out.
"You seek damnation."
"I seek the princesses. If the Prophet damns my actions then I will accept it." The chieftain said to the group. "But I will find them. If I cannot, then I will make their people suffer for it."
The brute backed off, defeated. The chieftain huffed.
Inside his mind, he was terrified. If he went through with this, he will most certainly face damnation. But he didn't care. He could not bear giving disappointing reports to his chieftain and Prophet any longer.
He motioned his head forward. "Let's go send a message."
Time: Early Morning (present)
Location: Ponyville Library
"I'm just saying, if used properly, it could save wounded soldiers lives in the field!" Zhar responded.
Adam sighed and rolled his eyes. "How would medics carrying sildenafil citrate possibly save troops lives?"
Zhar leaned against the wall. "Well, take for example a squad of ODST's are in an arctic environment. We both now that at low enough temperatures, hypothermia can set in a matter of hours."
"You know that they have equipment for those types of situations, right?" Adam interrupted.
During this conversation, Spike wandered back into the main room. He walked over to Pinkie Pie and whispered into her ear.
"How long have they been arguing for?" He whispered quietly to avoid drawing attention.
"SHuuuuu…" Pinkie Pie responded. "This is starting to get interesting!"
"Just hear me out." Zhar said as he held out his hand. He continued. "Hypothermia forces the body temperature to lower because it makes the blood vessels contract, making it harder for blood to flow through the human body. The drug sildenafil citrate stimulates the blood vessels so more blood flows through the body."
"Yea, one particular part of the body." Adam interjected.
"Yea, maybe. But with blood focused in one general area, the trooper or squad of troops could use it like a heat lamp." Zhar responded back.
"You're an idiot. Shut up." Adam shot back with finality, turning back around. He went over to the duffel bag and pulled out his pistol. He checked the chamber and placed it into the holster on his hip. "Now come on, I need to find that rainbow one."
"Don't you mean Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Adam looked over to her. "Rainbow Dash. Right." He rolled his eyes.
Just then the Spike heard the door knock. He walked over and opened it to find Rainbow Dash standing there, wearing a white blouse and a red and black stripped skirt.
"Speak of the devil." Adam said quietly to himself.
"Oh, Dashie, You're here! And you're wearing the outfit I bought you!" Pinkie Pie yelled out as she went over to hug Dash.
"Uh… Hey Pinkie Pie." She said modestly as she returned the hug.
Adam, confused walked up to the two.
"Why are you…?" Adam started to ask.
Just then the countless memories of him having to confiscate data pads from Jak and Scott for viewing inappropriate content flooded his mind. He connected the dots inside his head.
Before she could open her mouth to answer, Adam interrupted again. "You know what, I've changed my mind. I honestly really don't wanna know."
"Yea, you probably don't wanna know." Dash responded, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof.
"I'd like to know…" Zhar and Pinkie Pie said quietly to themselves. Adam and Dash turned to their respective to them and just stared.
"Anyway…" Adam started. He turned back to Rainbow Dash. "Take me to see the Princess. Now."
Rainbow Dash, getting nervous, started to slowly retreat to the other side of the room. "Um… I… uh… cant." She said
"Oh really?" Adam replied back. He walked over to the door, closed it, and locked it. "Why?"
"I, um… Got stuff to do."
"Well then tell me where I can find her. I'll talk to her myself."
Rainbow Dash just looked nervously around the room. "Um, no pony really knows where she is right now." She replied.
"Look," Adam said walking toward Dash. "I just want to talk to her. If I have to go out of my way to track her down, it's not going to end well." He replied coldly. HE was a two feet from Dash now. "So why don't you just take me to her, and I'll be nice."
Rainbow Dash mustered up what courage she had. "Hey, I already told you that no pony knows where she is! What do you want from me?"
Adam chuckled underneath his breath. He grabbed a handful of her blouse, slammed her into the wall, and pulled her close to his face. Staring deep into her eyes, he hissed his response.
"I want the truth." He hissed out. "From the moment I woke up, all anyone in this goddamn town has ever done is avoid me and lie to my face. Well I'm sick of it." HE pushed her against the wall again. "You're going to stop lying to me and tell me what the hell is really going on!"
Adam took a deep breath and waited for a moment. Rainbow Dash just hung there, staring deep into Adam's eyes, not sure how to respond.
"Well?" Adam barked out, causing Rainbow to shut her eyes tight. Zhar walked over to Adam and gripped his shoulder.
Adam just turned his head and glared at Zhar. Zhar returned the glare.
Adam then took another deep breath, surprised at his own outburst. Never in his life had he ever allowed himself to express his anger like that.
He released Dash who just moved to the other side of the room next to Pinkie Pie.
Adam looked back at Zhar and nodded. Zhar released Adam.
"Sorry." Adam turned to Dash and said.
"It's fine." Dash said. "I'm sorry. I can take you to her."
Adam nodded. HE walked over to the table and put his books away when the door began to knock loudly. Spike walked over to the door and opened it.
As soon as he did three small fillies ran toward Rainbow Dash, all on the verge of tears, talking a thousand words a minute. Even with his augmented hearing, Adam couldn't make out a word they were saying.
Apparently Dash was having the same problem. "Hey, hey!" She said to the three, trying to calm them down. "Slow down! What's wrong?"
The small light yellow one spoke first, fighting back her tears. "Well, we we're helping Miss Fluttershy with the chickens… Then one of 'em got out and she went to go look for it…"
"And then these things showed up!" The small white unicorn started. " They grabbed her and they started to come after us!"
Adam glanced over at Zhar, who just stared intently at the three fillies. What things? Adam thought to himself.
Rainbow seemed to know what they were talking about. She looked at each of the fillies. "Are you sure that's what happened?"
All three nodded.
"How long ago was this?' She asked.
"It just happened!" The orange Pegasus answered. "They chased us the whole time!"
"Who chased you?" Zhar spoke up, walking forward.
All three fillies just stared at Zhar and huddled together. Zhar sighed a bit to himself and backed away.
Rainbow Dash, in distress, began to pace back and forth across the room. "This isn't good. Not now. Please, not now." She whispered to herself.
Pinkie Pie was in the middle of comforting the three terrified children when the sound of a deep horn came from the entrance of town. Rainbow Dash picked her head up.
"No…" She whispered. "Not now."
Just about everyone rushed over to the upstairs window.
Adam looked out to see a group of dark figures walk slowly to a small hill near the outskirts of town. At first he couldn't make out some features.
Only when they came closer did he finally recognize them as Jiralhanae.
Brutes.
Adam glanced over to Zhar. He was staring intently at the brutes, tensed up. Adam looked back over to the brutes. He noted that there were 12 of them.
A full pack.
He looked toward the back to see that there was someone else with them. Whoever it was it definitely wasn't a brute. It looked familiar. It had a light yellow body and pink hair.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie cried out as Adam recognized the hostage.
The chieftain (or at least the leader a far as Adam could tell) stepped forward. Even with the distance between it and the town, Adam could hear the brute speak clearly.
"Citizens of Equestria!" The chieftain yelled out, causing every pony in the room to jump a little.
The chieftain took a deep breath and waited, hoping that everyone could hear him. "I come to you today on the behalf of the Prophet of Faith! We have searched through this land, trying to track down the scum who dare call themselves you're rulers! For too long they have oppressed you, kept you from reaching your true potential! But then when the Prophet came to exact justice, you allow them to hide behind you like cowards! The Prophet does not wish for this! The prophet wishes for peace, but peace cannot come until the blood of the Princesses spill on the dirt!"
The chieftain paused for a moment before speaking again. "Celestia! I speak directly to you now! You hide behind your people, making them suffer for you're cowardness!"
The brute paused a moment for effect. Adam glanced back at Zhar. He could tell he was getting angry. He gripped at the window cill, digging his fingers in the wood. Adam could feel the rage building up inside him. Adam looked back out the window.
"Bring the prisoner forward!" The chieftain shouted to his pack behind him. One brute stepped forward, his hand gripping Fluttershy's hair. It stepped forward and threw Fluttershy to the ground in front of the chieftain.
"No…" Rainbow Dash whispered to herself again.
Fluttershy, obviously hurt, lied there on the ground in front of the chieftain. The chieftain reached over his shoulder and pulled out his massive metal hammer. The other brutes then took a collective step back.
The chieftain, looking back at the town, spoke again. "You have a choice, Princess! You can either step forward now and accept your fate…" The brute paused for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Or you can watch your loyal subjects die." He finished.
Zhar let go of the window cill and took off down the stairs.
Adam turned in time to see Zhar going out the front door. "Zhar! Dammit No!" Adam swore out as he broke into pursuit.
Before he exited the library, he tore open the duffel bag and pulled out a small metal bar. He stuffed it into his back pocket and raced out after Zhar.
The chieftain looked into the town again. He waited for some type of response.
After nothing happened, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So be it." HE said at last.
"Chieftain…" another brute started. "She's not here, chieftain! You don't have to do this!"
The chieftain growled back at the brute. The brute took a step back, defeated.
"She is here." The chieftain replied. "She is hiding here, I know it."
The chieftain turned back around. "We will search through this town. We will find them. Kill anyone who resists." The brutes behind him bowed in acceptance. The chieftain stepped toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked up at him, wide eyed, tears rolling down her face.
The Chieftain stared back into her eyes. He considered the ramifications for his planned actions.
"Forgive me." The brute said to her as he lifted his hammer. "Find peace in the next world."
Fluttershy watched the brutes hammer as it rose over its head. When it stopped she instinctively covered her eyes with her hooves.
The chieftain then howled with rage and brought the hammer down.
CRACK!
Fluttershy laid there, helpless, waiting for the end. She heard the brute let out a terrible roar and braced for the worst. Then she heard a horribly sick wet cracking noise and felt something warm and wet drip onto her face.
Slowly, she moved her hooves from her eyes and looked up. Towering over her she saw the strange creature she had saved the other night.
It stood over her, on hand gripping the hammer under the head, and the other balled into a fist.
The brute, dumbfounded, merely let out a huff.
Slowly, the creature forced the hammer to the left out of the way of Fluttershy. As It did this, It moved its face closer to the brutes.
A few moments passed and the creatures face was mere inches from the brutes face. Staring deep into the brutes eyes, the creature spoke up, its mandibles moving as it spoke.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" It hissed out before it drew its fist back and slammed it into the brutes face. Fluttershy heard several wet cracks as the brute fell back, letting go of its hammer.
The brute landed a few feet away in a heap, its face bleeding and swelling up. The other brutes merely took a step back and stared at the creature, then to their chieftain, then back to the creature.
The creature merely looked back to the pack and huffed what sounded like a mocking laugh.
"HERATIC!" One of the brutes pointed and yelled out. "TEAR IT APAR-…"
The rest of the brutes words stopped instantly. Fluttershy could have sworn she had seen a silver flash just then. The brute then moved started to move its hands toward its throat. Fluttershy followed the brutes movements as his hands hovered around its neck.
There in its neck was a small, black handle with a bit of silver sticking into the brutes fur covered neck. Then she saw blood started to flow out of the wound.
The brute muttered some words out as it fell to its knees, but they became unintelligible as blood filled its mouth. It fell on its face and died.
The other brutes turned back to the creature as its human companion ran up beside it.
"You just had to run up, didn't you?" It said.
The creature just shock its head. "What was I supposed to do? It was going to kill her!"
The human took a quick glance at Fluttershy before turning back to face the brutes. "Yea I know, but did you have to be all dramatic? Couldn't you have just moved her out of the way?"
"Would've taken to long." It replied.
"Idiot." The human replied coldly as it brought its fists to chest level. "Now they're going to kill us."
"Not if we kill them first." The strange creature replied back as it took a battle stance.
"Good luck with that." The human shot back. He looked at the pack, noting that they had spread out, surrounding the two. The human nudged his head. "I go right. You go left."
"Got it." The creature replied as it turned to Fluttershy. "You might want to run."
Fluttershy took the creatures advice and took off back towards town, leaving the two alone to contend with a pack of bloodthirsty brutes.
(On Your Knees/Maniacs- Jeff Williams- Red Vs. Blue season 9 soundtrack)
10. That's how many brutes Adam counted that surrounded he and Zhar. He cursed Zhar for his impulsiveness, whishing he had taken more time to come up with a better plan of attack rather than just running straight into the fray.
But what are you gonna do? He reasoned with himself. He couldn't fault Zhar for his reasoning, no matter how impulsive he could be.
The brutes grew furious, filled with rage towards the two strangers. Adam decided it couldn't be helped. Right now armed confrontation seemed like the only solution.
"Here." Adam said as he handed Zhar the energy sword. Zhar took it but didn't energize it.
"Thanks." He said back. "Was wondering where I put that."
"Shut up." Adam replied harshly. "On three…"
Zhar nodded and spread his legs, ready to move. Adam took a good look at the rest of the brutes. He knew the one Zhar had knocked out wasn't getting back up, plus the one he killed meant that they had to deal with 10 angry brutes ready to tear their eyes out.
One of the brutes roared out and the others charged.
Adam and Zhar moved at the same time, Adam going right, Zhar going left. Adam hoped that this would force the remaining brutes to divide their efforts, meaning both he and Zhar would have to deal with 5 brutes each.
Obviously this wasn't the case.
Most of the brutes went for Zhar. Zhar ducked underneath the first brute and drove his fist into the stomach of the one behind it.
Adam turned his head just in time to see three brutes break off from the main charge and head straight toward him.
Adam side stepped the first brute, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground. The second one was too close for Adam to safely doge, so Adam drew back his fist and slammed it into the brutes face, causing its legs to swing out and fall straight onto it back.
The third brute, its fist drew back, swung toward Adam.
Adam moved his head out of the brute's fists path. Then he grabbed its arm and with his other hand, drove it, palm flat, into the brutes elbow, causing it to bend up. The brute let out a cry of pain.
Adam then grabbed onto the brutes shoulder, picked up his foot, and drove it into the brute's knee, causing it to bend backwards, enticing an even more agenizing cry of pain from it.
Adam then backed up grabbed the back of the brutes head, and slammed it into the ground. The brute let out a soft yelp of pain as it died.
Adam then turned to see the first brute charge toward him again, only this time armed with a curved knife.
The brute held the knife blade in his hand and raised it over his head. Adam again was too close to safely dodge.
The brute grabbed a handful of Adams shirt and brought the knife down.
Adam grabbed the brute's wrist before the blade made contact and put his knee into its midsection, causing the brute to release Adam's shirt. Then Adam, still holding the brutes wrist, moved behind it.
Adam forced the brutes arm down, causing it to stab itself with its own knife. The brute let go of the knife handle in response and looked down. Adam grabbed the knife handle and jerked it up, then pulled it out, causing blood to gush out of the brute's stomach.
The brute, horrified, brought up its hands to stop its guts from spilling out of its body. Its eyes rolled back into its head and fell to the ground, dead.
"Huh." Adam said to himself, knife in hand. That was definitely easier than Adam initially thought. He turned back around to see the remaining seven surrounding Zhar. Not surprisingly, Zhar was holding up just fine. It was only until another brute with a knife moved behind Zhar that Adam spoke up.
"Down!" Adam shouted as he ran up behind the flanking brute. He flipped the knife in his hand and drove it into the brutes back, right between the shoulder blades. The brute screamed in pain as Adam jumped up onto the brutes shoulders. Adam then spotted another brute on the other side of Zhar, trying to flank him. Using the brute as a springboard, Adam jumped off.
Fortunately Zhar had heard the human and ducked down and Adam flew right over him. He brought his foot up and kicked it straight into the brutes face. He then kicked it in the chest and rode the brute down. Adam felt a moment of resistance when the brute's skull gave way when it impacted with the ground.
Adam jumped off the brutes dead body and next to Zhar. "Nice kick." Zhar said as Adam brought his fists up.
"Thanks." Adam replied. His eyes darted between the remaining brutes surrounding the two. Adam caught them glancing at each other. He knew what they were thinking. How could a "pathetic and weak" human and a Sangheilie wrench possibly take on a full pack of their best warriors?
"You seem to be the popular one." Adam remarked as the remaining five brutes surrounded them.
"I know." Zhar replied, chuckling.
"You think it's funny?"
"Kinda." Zhar replied. "Really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside."
"I see." Adam said as he turned back to the brutes.
The rest of them mustered up their courage and charged. Zhar Ducked right and energized his energy sword. HE pushed the blade into the nearest brute's midsection and pushed it away. HE moved to the right as another brute came up from behind him. The brute missed Zhar and punched its comrade in the face, causing it to sprawl to the ground.
Zhar grasped his fists together and brought them down onto the back of the brutes head. A small bit of blood came out of the brute's head as it slammed into the ground.
Zhar turned his head to see another brute charge him. Zhar kicked his leg out and it connected with the brutes gut. It dubbed over and threw up.
"Ah, really?" Zhar shot out. He grabbed the brutes head and brought his knee into its face. Blood spewed from its face as it fell back.
Zhar turned to see Adam finishing off a brute that had tried to flank him.
Adam fixed his shirt and took a look around, observing the scene.
12 dead or dying brutes lay around the two.
"We done?" Zhar asked Adam as he bent down and retrieved his knife from the brute's neck. He shock the blood off the smooth blade and sheathed it.
Zhar bent over and retrieved his energy sword. "Not quite." Adam responded when he heard a muffled moan from behind him. He turned to see the chieftain crawling on all fours, trying desperately to reach its hammer.
Adam walked over to the brute and kicked it violently in the ribs, turning it over onto its back. Zhar placed his foot onto its chest.
"Can you understand me?" Adam asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Zhar put pressure on the brutes chest. I coughed up blood and slowly growled.
Adam took that as a yes.
"Who sent you?" Adam asked. The brute turned its head and spat blood mixed spit at Adams boot.
Adam walked over and kicked it into the ribs. "Tell me." He demanded.
The brute laughed weakly. "Never."
Zhar applied more pressure to the brutes chest, causing the brute to cry out weakly in pain. Zhar then bent over, powered on his energy sword, and cut the brutes arm.
The brute roared with pain. Zhar stomped his foot onto the chieftains chest, knocking the wind out of it.
"Answer the question." Zhar hissed out, angry.
The brute again let out a weak laugh. "Do what you will heretic. All I will tell you is that I am sent by one who wants to change this world and the inhabitants for the better. You're interference will only bring more pain and suffering towards these noble creatures."
"Who sent you?" Zhar roared at the brute, interrupting it. He applied more pressure to the brutes chest.
The brute cringed with pain, but still managed a weak, mocking laugh. Spitting blood, it gave its answer.
"Faith…" It said weakly.
Zhar, finally having enough, lifted his foot off the brute's chest. The brute breathed a small breath of relief as Zhar lifted his foot and curb stomped its head in. Its body twitched once, and then laid still.
Adam didn't say anything the whole time. There was no point. Trying to reason with an enraged Elite was like putting a loaded gun strapped with C5 to one's head.
Zhar took a few heavy breaths before finally looking towards the sky and let out a roar from the bottom of his lungs. Then he looked back down and closed his eyes, finally calming down.
"You done?" Adam said as he patted him on the shoulder.
Zhar looked at his human companion and nodded. "Yea. Sorry."
Zhar walked away as Adam kneeled down near the dead chieftain. He searched its body and found a long, black rectangular prism. He placed the object in his back pocket.
Faith. Adam thought to himself. Somehow that sounded a bit familiar.
"You're right." Zhar finally said at last. "It's about time we got some goddamn answers."
"Glad we're finally in agreement." Adam replied as he stood up. "And fortunately for us, I know exactly where to get them." He started to walk back down the road back to town. "Come on. Put on your best pair of dress pants. We have an audience with royalty."
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she just saw. One minute ago 12 brutes stood at the entrance to town, ready to tear it apart and the next minute they were all dead.
She just flouted there in the library, dumbstruck as Adam and Zhar walked back in.
For a minute they just all just stood there, completely silent.
Talk about awkward. Adam thought to himself.
Finally Zhar broke the silence. "So… Anyone hungry?"
Pinkie Pie immediately shot her hoof up. "I am! I am!"
Zhar looked at her. "Terrific." He said. He looked over to the side of the room and saw Fluttershy laying in the corner with her hooves covering her face, surrounded by the three fillies from earlier. They backed up as Zhar walked over to them. He knelt down.
"Are you ok?" Zhar asked her. She took a small peek from behind her legs. She stared at him for a moment before she nodded her head slowly. Zhar breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."
Adam didn't say much to this. Zhar was always good with civilians, even though Adam had no idea why.
Fluttershy continued to examine the Elite. "You're bleeding…" She said quietly.
Zhar looked himself over to find out what the shy Pegasus was talking about. He then looked down at his palm and saw a small stream of his blood leaking down his arm. HE whipped the blood off with his thumb. His mandibles flexed into a smile.
"Relax." HE said to her. "It's just a scratch." He said as he rolled his wrist. HE winched from the sudden pain. "And a small compound fracture."
Adam walked over to Zhar and put his hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"
Zhar rolled his wrist again and nodded. "I'll live."
"Good." Adam said. He turned to Rainbow Dash next. "Now can we see the Princess?"
Dash nodded and moved to the door. Pinkie Pie walked over to Fluttershy and the girls and followed Dash out.
Zhar took a glance at Adam and followed the others out. Adam lingered for a moment in the library.
He pulled his pistol and the long black rectangle out of his back pocket. He inserted the rectangle into the pistol and pulled the chamber back. He heard a click and he placed the handgun back into the holster. He turned around and followed Zhar out of the library.
Adam was going to get the answers he wanted, one way or the other.
And that's it for this installment! HAHA! XD
So anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Things are really starting to get intense! A confrontation with the Princess? Will Adam and Zhar find out the truth to their presence in Equestria?
Will they find their way back to their own universe?
Will updates ever be more frequent?
HAHA. Anyway, sorry to all of you who waited so long for this chapter to come out. It really hurts me to think about how long it takes me to write these.
Then it dawned on me. I don't give a half flying crap how long it takes me to write these! XD Hell, I could stop writing these things tomorrow if I wanted to! No skin off my neck!
JK. I would never do that to you guy's. Not after how awesome you guys have been. (And the one girl who read's this. I know who you are…)
Anyway, I promise that I'll try to get these chapters out more frequently. Between school, work, homework, housework, and general goofing off, I've just had a hard time forcing myself to keep writing.
But that WILL change, I swear.
Anyway, be sure to review and subscribe you lazy bastards… For so many view I sure haven't got many reviews…
Let's see, what else… (shuffles papers) Aw, yes, Thank you for reading this chapter. If at any time you scratched your genitals during the course of the reading… cut it out, that's disgusting.
Till next time my loyal minions!
Next Chapter: A wonderfully half-assed rescue.