CHAPTER 14: ALLIES

Hello again, loyal readers. I'm back, and I bring you chapter 14. I know many of you were probably wondering what Sam and the crew were up to while all of this time has been passing. Well, you won't be disappointed in this installment, so please send me your reviews, and let's get to it. I own nothing.

"Hello Tank Dempsey...Nikolai Belinski...Takeo Masaki." A familiar voice greeted from seemingly everywhere but nowhere. The three men stood up from their meal and looked around the large room. It had been over a week since they had seen or heard anything. With the doctor's strange disappearance, the zombies, hellhounds and the voice of the strange girl had vanished as well. Now they were shocked to hear the evil game-master again.

"Ey, it's little girl that sends hell-pigs after us." Nikolai commented. "Hello little demon girl. We thought you had disappeared too."

"Shut up Nikolai..." Tank sighed.

"What?"

"Stop making friends with the enemy...especially if the enemy is some crazy ghost kid that can control zombies and shit." The marine said.

"Actually..." Samantha began "I came here to see if you would all like to be friends."

"Friends?!" Dempsey shot back. "You try to kill us for weeks, then say you want to be friends?! The fuck? We don't even know who or...what you are."

"I understand vhy you're mad." She sighed. "But I can explain everything. My name is Samantha...Samantha Maxis."

"Okay...Samantha..." Dempsey mused. "Now we know who you are, but we still don't know what you are, or why the Hell you're talking to us."

"I'm a girl, Mister Dempsey." Samantha replied. "I am a ten year old girl who just happens to be in a really powerful and really old magical pyramid on zhe moon."

"BULLSH...actually...at this point, I believe that." The marine quipped. Sam giggled.

"And like I told you already, I came here to make friends. I need your help, and you three need mine."

"I need more wodka." Nikolai argued. They heard the girl sigh, and when Nikolai lifted his large brown bottle, it was filled with alcohol again. "Thank you, evil ghost girl." He said, raising the bottle in a toast.

"Okay, what kind of sick game are you trying to play with us now?" Dempsey demanded.

"I promise you zhis isn't a trick." Samantha said.

"Says little girl who plays this game of death with us." Nikolai shot back. He took a drink from his bottle. "But at least she makes sure I have wodka, so little girl might..."

"Shut the fuck up, Nikki." Dempsey stated angrily. "You'd warm up to Satan if he got you drunk enough." The marine turned his attention back to the voice. "You've been tryin' to kill us for weeks now. What the Hell makes you think we can trust you?!"

"I've kept you inside zhe game, I know." Samantha replied. "But haven't I given you weapons to protect yourselves? What about my mystery box? You have enjoyed using it at every turn, Mister Dempsey..."

"Yeah, well..." The marine trailed off, rubbing the back of his head.

"And zhe magical aids like zhe insta-kill and zhe max ammo? I even kept Nikolai's bottle of drink full." The omnipotent little girl added. "You have to know zhat if I really wanted to kill you, I would have killed you already."

"Okay...so why have you kept us alive?" Dempsey pressed. "And why the fuck did you drag us into your little game in the first place?"

"Zhat's just it, silly." She answered. "I am not zhe vun who dragged you into zhe game. I didn't create zhis game for you three. It vas meant to be for uncle Edward."

"Uncle Edward?!" The three soldiers exclaimed in unison.

"There are many things that Doctor Richtofen hasn't told you." Sam stated. "Like how he murdered my father, und how he lied to you about being your friend."

"Okay, so the Kraut is a liar." Dempsey shot back. "But at least he didn't throw a bunch of maggot-sacks at us." They were met by the girl's giggling echoing from space-time.

"Oh, you don't know zhe extent of his lies." Sam spoke. "And how zhey affect each one of you...very personally..."

"I fear that what-a she speak is-a the truth." Takeo finally spoke up. "I have a-known for wong time now...that what-a the doctor speaks is treacherous. That there is a great and terrible truth that-a was obscured from us. We must wisten to this child." The three were silent a moment.

"Alright..."Dempsey growled at the ceiling. "Why don't you explain it to us, kid?"

"Vhat do you know about your pasts?" Was the reply. "Vhere were you born? How did you get to zhat room where you met Uncle Edward?" The three soldiers were quiet a moment. As usual, Dempsey was the first to speak.

"I know my name is Tank Dempsey, I'm a big-time ass-kicker, and I'm a United States Marine." He said. "Other than that, I can't really remember much...I'll...admit that."

"I know my name, little girl." Nikolai said next. "And I know I am a Soviet...I love my wodka...and I remember my wives...eh, most of them. Oh, and I think I was sniper." He took a drink from his bottle. "Uh...next?"

"I am Takeo, captain in Imperial Army of Japan." Takeo declared. "I remember the emperor! And I remember..." He trailed off.

"Tak?" Dempsey pressed curiously.

"I remember the tests...some of them."

"Tests?" Tank exclaimed. "What fuckin' tests?! What the fuck you talkin' about?"

"He's telling zhe truth." Samantha's voice told them. "At least...vhat he remembers. One of zhe side effects of zhe 115 vhas acute memory loss." There was nothing but quiet for a few seconds. "Zhis is a surprise to you?" Dempsey's hands were clenched in anger.

"Who...the...fuck...experimented on me?" He demanded. The marine's face was flushed red, and his knuckles were cracking as he squeezed his fists, holding back the urge to demolish the entire building by himself.

"Who do you think?" Sam countered.

"Richtofen..." Nikolai said solemnly, then took a long drink of vodka.

"He vhas trying to create super soldiers by injecting you vith chemicals." The ethereal girl explained. "Zhe zombie soldiers he created...and it vhas Richtofen who created them...zhey were not good enough. So he started trying to build a better soldier using captured warriors." She began the tale. "Zhere were always three subjects. I don't know vhy. At some point, zhe original third soldier died during zhe tests. Fortunately, that same week, you happened to get captured trying to free a comrade, Mr. Dempsey. Uncle Edward made you his...top priority..."

"SONOFABITCH!" Tank bellowed, kicking a broken chair across the room, splintering it against a pile of debris. "Fucking fascist asshole!" He paced back and forth a few times like a caged animal. Then he spoke to the ceiling again. "I knew he was lying to me...when he said we were allies...I shoulda called him on his B.S. then!" He huffed. "If the freakbags hadn't been tryin' to get in..."

"He woke you three up to help him fight me. If he had not, I would not have been forced to be your enemy. Like I said before, this game vhas not meant for you. I was only trying to keep the doctor from finding out how to get to where I am."

"And if he did?" Nikolai asked, watching Dempsey continue to pace. "What happens then, we win the game, eh? He...kills you or something and we all go home."

"If he ever reached the MTD, he vould try to kill me, yes." Samantha answered. "But only because he wants to be where I am...and he vants what I have...all for himself."

"And what is that?" Dempsey asked.

"The world." She answered. "Und I can't let that happen. I have to kill him for what he did."

"What did he do, little um...ghost girl?" Nikolai queried.

"He turned my dog into a monster, sent me to zhe moon und killed my father! That's vhat he did!" Her voice became loud and demonic. "He deserves to die for all of zhe awful, evil things he's done!" Her voice returned to normal. "Even though you've killed hundreds of my pets, and I did feel each one, I'm not mad at you. Actually, I'm talking to you right now because I think we can help each other."

"Help each other to what?" Dempsey demanded.

"Right now?" Samantha replied. "I think we want the same thing."

"Richtofen." Tank growled.

"Exactly." The girl's voice said happily. "And if we can help each other to find him, I guess it doesn't matter who kills him, as long as he gets what he deserves, right?"

"Eh...wait..." Nikolai slurred. "The doc is still alive? I thought big transporter-machine kazap him into a million pieces." He made an explosion motion with his hands. "Kkkkpshhhhhh!"

"If he's still alive..." Tank pondered out loud. "...then where is he?"

"That's why I need your help." Samantha answered. "I can feel that he is still alive...I think he's on another plane."

"He's in aeroplane?" The Russian asked.

"No. What I meant is he is in another world." Sam explained.

"Wait...that hunk a' junk sent the doc to Mars or something?!" Dempsey asked incredulously. Samantha sighed.

"Just listen. There are other worlds inside this one. I can sense them...sometimes I can see little peeks of them. The voices...the ancient ones, they call the worlds realms. When the teleporter broke that day, it sent Uncle Edward to one of these realms. I can't get to him myself. I have to wait until someone else teleports there, then follow them at the same moment." The three men stood silently, listening to Samantha like soldiers being briefed by an officer. "The only problem is...whoever or whatever goes through must contain element 115."

"So it's either us or a maggot-sack..." Dempsey concluded.

"Do you always have to be so dirty-mouthed, Mr. Dempsey?" Samantha asked in a childlike tone. "But yes...I am asking you three to follow Doctor Richtofen to wherever he went. I will follow, and together, we can stop him." Tank Dempsey looked to his comrades, then back to the ceiling and sucked his teeth.

"What do we get out of it?" He asked.

"I vill release you from zhe game." Samantha said. "This world...this realm...I have already made it my own little playhouse. Sorry." Dempsey growled and rolled his eyes. If he had a home and a family, they were probably long gone, but so too was his memory of such things. The little girl on the moon seemed to read his thoughts.

"You can return to zhis world and try to live as you can...and I vill not harm any of you with my pets as long as you live. Or...you can stay in vhatever world you wish zhat vhe may find on our journey...a...fresh start for all of you in a world untouched by my pets and the doctor's evil. These are your choices."

"What fuckin' choice?" Dempsey shrugged. "We stay here and we're gonna get scrubbed one of these days, right kid?"

"That is true. Over time, everyone loses the game. Besides, it's been boring the last few days."

"You can say that again..." Nikolai muttered. "So hey...I will go to other world okay?"

"Nikki..." Dempsey grumbled.

"What?" The russian said defensively. "It's a new world, Dempsey! There could be girls...future ex-wives even! And strange new wodkas, hey-hey!" Tank facepalmed.

"Well...I could go for the women...even if they're from another world..." He agreed. "I could be the first Marine to bag a space-girl with four arms, Oorah!"

"I too will go on this journey, little girl." Takeo said dutifully as ever. "I must-a fight alongside my new allies with honor."

"Good." Samantha said contentedly. "Before you go, I will let each of you pick whatever weapons you want from the box or the walls of this theater, and to get your perk-a-colas. I want you to be ready for whatever we might find when we get to our destination." Tank fist-pumped at the idea of being armed to the teeth. "Now fix the teleporter, and I will set it to find Uncle Edward. It will probably take some time to repair."

"And how exactly do we fix that thing?" The American asked. "We ain't scientists."

"Don't worry." Samantha answered. She smiled inside the MTD. "The ancient ones know. I will walk you through it."

So, the teleporter is being prepped to take Tank, Nikolai and Takeo to Equestria...and Samantha is going to follow to make sure Richtofen is finally killed. This cannot possibly bode well for Richtofen, the crew, the ponies or either world. So keep it locked in right here if you're dying to find out what happens next. As always, I will try to have the next chapter up tonight or tomorrow. And as always, don't forget to hit those like and fav buttons and drop me a review. Remember, like a changeling, I feed off your love! Until the next installment, thanks for reading, everypony. -Drake