Disclaimer: I don't own MLP, and if I did well..I don't know if anypony would like the changes that I had in mind; so it's a good thing that I don't own it. Though I have to say, I am really looking forward to season 3 since they continue to surprise me with how well the show runs. So anywho., here we go!
Chapter 34: The final trek, and a "heated" reunion.
Snapping away, Jack's hand went up to his neck instantly, as his eyes averted around rapidly in fear as he tried to register what had happened. The last thing he had recalled was that he was being strangled to death by one of the ghost of Whisky Hollow. He and his friends were surrounded and..and then nothing. Glancing around as he tried to figure out where he was, he noticed that he was in the lobby of what appeared to be an office building of some kind. Sleek floor, front desk, elevators, staircase.. Eyes going up, he noted the sign: METALIFE.
"Wait..how'd we get here" Jack protested, as he then noticed his friends were unconscious next to him. Getting to his feet, he thought "The last thing I remember is we were about to be killed by ghost and then..We're here..which is miles away from where we were before and…"? As he tried to figure this out, he got his friends up one by one.
"Huh, what is this place" Twilight quipped as she noted how important the place looked. Glancing up at the METALIFE sign, she came to the conclusion on how they got there. "Discord" she spoke simply.
"What? Why would that nutcase place us in the very place he said he'd be in" Rainbow Dash snorted, since she figured Discord for being a lot more smarter than to not take them to the place w..wait a sec! "That punk" Dash growled, as the answer came to her.
"Exactly. Discord is so cocky that we can't win, that he brought us here out of a sense of his own inflated ego" Twilight interjected before Dash could finish. On a roll, she proclaimed "And I bet that he had something to do with that ghost too".
"In this sort of world..bah! He's messing with us! He has all the cards, and he isn't even taking us seriously anymore! So the ruffian chooses to send these cheap tricks to scare and distract us whilst he sits on his rear; laughing" Rarity huffed.
"He certainly is being a showman..Maybe we can use that to our advantage" Jack muttered to himself. Glancing up, he remarked "Well, however we got here and for what reason doesn't really matter right now. "We're literally within range of our goal. Since this guy has got the ego of a James Bond villain; he's mostly at the top floor or the roof. Cause for some reason, the bad guys just really love it that way".
"Great, so we just head up each floor till we git to him. Couldn't be simpler" AJ smirked as she started to head past Jack when Pinkie Pie suddenly tackled her as an Anvil fell down, smashing into the floor. "Where the hay did that come from" gasped AJ.
"My Pinkie Pie sense is going wonky! Discord is everywhere in this place, and he's gonna be doing everything to stop us from having things make sense again" Pinkie interjected in a face paced manner as she tried to grasp how they could handle this. Giggling as an idea came to mind, she smiled "Heya! Dashy, why don't you and Fluttershy just fly us up to the top? I'm sure that with Jack, Rarity, and Twilight's magic together could help keep your wings strong enough too".
"Nah, that wont Pinkie" Dashy cut off
"What? Why not" Pinkie gasped, thinking that idea had been a good idea.
"This here is Discord we're talking bout. He'd probably figure out whut we we're up to and have a way to keep us from reachin him. So, we go out their; he'd probably shoot us down outta the skies" admitted AJ with a shrug. Glaring up at the ceiling as she wondered what Discord was doing; she grumbled "Darn Discord. Ah hate when he doesn't take us seriously".
""We..well umm..we can use that to umm..help us because since he's not..well I mean we could surprise him" voiced Fluttershy.
Deciding to put all conversation to a rest, Jack charged towards the elevator as he stopped. "Wait.." he grumbled, as he pressed the button. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal jagged teeth and a long red tongue as it wrapped around Jacks torso and attempted to pull him into its maw. "An elevator monster? You fucking kidding me" Jack snarled, as he burned his way through the tongue as he backed away. "Elevators out so..stairs it is..oh god this is going to be a long climb" Jack growled as he started up the stairs.
"Hey, Jack wait a sec! Don't rush off without us" Rarity called after him, galloping after him in exasperation. One of the problems with Jack was that he either mostly does the thinking with his fist,or charges off without planning at all. As the others followed Rarity, she was surprised at how many floors there was as she noted their being 59 floors. She was even more surprised at how Jack was able to keep going up with such energy, but that must been from the magic.
Pulling off from the stair case on the 8th floor, Jack kicked open a door that would lead to abuncha cubicles all lined up neatly. Glancing left and right for any sign of trouble, Jack shouted aloud "Yo Discord! Instead of sitting on your ass laughing, why don't you come on down here and fight me like a man..or a chimera or..whatever the hell you are". Goading Discord didn't seem to be the right move as suddenly, the room darkened.
"Eh, whats this? Did Discord turn down the sun or something? I'm actually abit surprised he can do that in this human world" Dashy commented in an irritated tone. Noticing that Jack was staring past her with a horrified stare; his mouth gapping; she slowly turned her head and found herself staring at a reflection of herself. Watching as the reflection vanished and appeared, she backed up and noticed that it was an eye..a giant…angry…lizards eye as it glared at her.
!
"AGH" Jack growled as he covered his sensitive ears to the ear shattering roar from the dinosaur like monster. "Godzilla…he made Godzilla..That's nice" Jack grumbled over the roaring as he glanced back over to see the creature place its open mouth against the window as down its throat, a green glow began to appear. "DUCK" Jack shouted, as he dropped to the floor.
"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" cried Twilight as she could feel the heat of the fire breath; tormenting above her like a storm! Looking up as the fire disappeared for a moment, she tried to come up with a plan on how to get rid of the reptilian rampage. "Umm, ahh" she stuttered as the monster's mouth started to charge once again with power. "I..I got it" she proclaimed as she fired a bolt of violet magic down the monsters maw.
"ACK! E..erg.." the monster gagged, as his eyes went wide; his mouth slamming shut in response to the sudden experience of magic. Grasping at its throat, it could feel something in its belly threating to let loose. "Ble..BLE..BLERAHAAAGGGGGGGH" shouted the monster as it threw up..candy? A mountain of candy flooded the office window as the residents within were buried underneath the candy.
"Oh CRA.." Jack started to swear, but was cut off as he was buried under the candy.
Many of the ponies and human reacted with dismay, and annoyance at this. Pinkie on the other hoof, started chomping her way through the candy like a pro; norming as she licked her lips at how delicious the candy tasted! Coming up from the sea of candy, she giggled "MMmmmm, yummy"! Looking over at the others, she could see that they weren't remerging from the sea. "Ahh, what are you guys doing" Pinkie questioned curiously.
"This..is seriously pissing me off" Jack stated deadpanned, as his furious red eyes glowed from beneath the sea.
"While we're goin round fighting, making the bad guys hurt; Discords sending all this nonsense at us; making us look like abuncha foals" AJ responded as well; as her eyes flared with similar fury.
"I swear..if he doesn't start taking me seriously" Dash swore, before she let out a roar of anger; emerging from the pile of candy with her hooves raised in the air; AJ and Jack following suit as they roared alongside her! "IM GONNA BEAT HIS FACE IN" Dash bellowed as she glared at the Godzilla, knock off monster. "First though, I'm gonna make you get lost" Dash swore loudly, charging at high speed towards the monster as she raised a hoof back. "HIIIIYAAAHH" Dash declared; connecting with the monsters jaw alongside AJ who had kicked it, whilst Jacks flaming fist punched!
"Eh" Jack blinked as he watched the monsters jaw start to inflate itself. "What the hell? It's gonna blow" shouted an alarmed Jack as the inflated jaw pushed against him, Dash and AJ. All three of them tensed up as they expected to get blown to bits when..the jaw popped like a balloon and deflated. His eyes fluttered a few times, whilst his teeth tightened in anger.
"Looks like Discord still isn't going to take us seriously, despite you three really going off on the anger" Rarity pointed out as the three of them glared downwards in silent anger. Approaching the three, she stated "He's doing this to get a rise from you three. If you show how angry he makes you, then he's getting the satisfaction of winning. Do you want to give him that"?
That was true… Breathing in and out, Jack nodded "Yeah..I don't want him to get under my skin…let's go". Silently, the trio reentered the stairwell as they started to go back up once more. Glancing back at Rarity as he took up the rear, Jack smiled weakly "Heh, thanks Rarity".
"It's no problem at all Jack. After all, all of that pent up aggression that you have in you could be used for..Other ways rather than fighting. Perhaps you could show me after we end up saving the day, hmm" Rarity hummed as she gently rubbed his cheek.
"Oooh I'm looking forward to that Rary" flirted Jack, as he gently scratched under her chin with one finger as he noticed her title her head at the nickname. "Yeah, I figured that could be my pet name for yah whenever I'm feeling "fiiiine", you like" questioned Jack.
Giggling in response to the name, Rarity nodded "Mmm hmm, I do like. I hope you don't mind me calling you Jackie then". Watching him make a face at the name, she burst into giggles as she recovered "Hehehe, it does sound like a girly nickname I know. My "tough wittle man" wouldn't want anything linked to girl now would he"?
"Nuh huh, that would hurt my feelings" spoke a mock hurt Jack, as he chuckled in response to their conversation that seemed to take his mind off of his anger for the moment. Suddenly remembering where he was and that the two of them had a job that needed to be done; he blushed "We'll finish this conversation after we win; kay"? Getting a nod, he said "Right, lets keep going then".
Rushing up the stairs, Jack growled as he came across another blocked part of the stairwell; as he kicked at the locked grated door in frustration. "Kay, let's try another office then" Jack grumbled as he turned to the left and kicked open the door.
This room was much larger than the last one. Infact, there was nothing in it apart from a few desk, and chairs that were crudely tossed aside, some them even scorched and yet..not by being burnt. From how black, and judging by how neatly the equipment was burnt; it looked like it was electrocuted rather then..broken glass shards were sewer everywhere next to broken windows. The door at the end of the room was broken off its hinges, fist indentations deeply within the door. In the middle of the vastly empty room was a single chair. Sitting in the chair, appeared to be a human. A man in his mid-thirties from the looks of it, a ripped brown overcoat, and faded jeans. Distant grey eyes, dirty brown hair, unshaven face, a horrible stench emanated from the man as he held what appeared to be an old beer bottle; as he continued to chug.
Approaching the drunken man, Jack narrowed his eyes as he approached the only living resident on the floor. "Oh god…it's you" Jack started deadpanned as he recognized the man. Watching as the man glanced up at him, Jack snarled as the man continued to drink. "Norman White" Jack snarled at the adoptive father; tempted to unleash hell fire on the man.
"Well well…look who finally came back" Norman chuckled lowly. Moving his hand around in a sweeping gesture; he laughed "Welcome to New York city; It's a real shit hole…". Chugging down some more whisky, he laughed "Heh, I'm surprised that your even here boy. I take in you, you take off without a word…leaves everything in a crappy state".
"What are you talking about, you drunken idiot" Jack growled, cracking his knuckles in sight of the man who had abused him ever since he had taken in Jack after his father died. He didn't give two shits about him, or anyone else but himself. All that mattered to him was one thing, and one thing only in this world; Whisky. Whenever Jack had either gotten out of line, gotten in his way or simply looked at him funny..POW! Right in the eye.
"Heh, I mean you leave, and come back acting like you care about what happens to this world. Why should you care right? I mean, what did this place ever do for you right? You been living in your world of fantasy ponies, only to come back and..hic..act like this place means something to you" Norman laughed as he got to his feet, or staggered.
"You're not making any sense…despite what I feel about this place, I'm still human. I may not like the problems with it, but I still care about Earth…I just prefer to live somewhere else now" spat Jack, as he tried to defend himself with the last statement; but Norman was having none of it.
"Ha! Oh I getcha boy. You're a coward" Norman laughed in between chugging as he remarked "Rather than live in the real world, and deal with what life throws at yah; you hide yourself away in a world where everything comes up all sunshine and roses, thinking that's what life's all about…tell me ponies, has what he brought to your world helped"?
The ponies seemed shocked at the fact that he knew about them, as he laughed "Oohh Discord told me everything about you little freaks. How you live in a world of magic and friendship, and how you..*hic* never have to worry about the same problem we humans we…you think your better than us don't you…DON'T YOU"? demanded Norman angrily, as he smashed his bottle against a window.
"Calm down drunk, they don't think anythi.." Jack started to say but was cut off when Norman shot his hand forward and fired a bolt of lightning into Jacks chest; knocking him onto his rear. "GGAAAAAAAH" Jack hollered in pain, the electricity dancing around his body as it surged all over him. As it vanished, he twitched a few times as he slowly got up. "W..Where'd he learn how to do that"!
"Surprised aintchat boy" laughed the drunk as he jabbed a thumb casually up at the ceiling. "Discord up their went and gave me this power and it feels great! Hell, I can give you all the punishment that you deserved whenever you ran away or tried to avoid punishment" smirked Norman toothily. Snapping his fingers, a bottle of whisky appeared in his right hand as he chugged it down in a delicious manner. "Mmmmm, that's useful" grinned Norman, as he continued to chug. Pausing lightly, he said "Now..I think I'm going to teach you a lesson boy".
Getting to his feet, Jack grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair; trying to keep himself calm as he glared over at the drunken fool. "You know what Norm, you really piss me off so I think what I'm gonna do is fry you so I can get back for all the crap I had to put up with".
Hahah! As if you could" cackled Norman, raising his palms high into the air. At first nothing happened, as the man stood in place; looking like a complete fool. Suddenly, lighting shot out of his fingertips; his entire body vanishing in the process. A bright yellow aura covered Norman, as the aura seemed to get larger, and larger by each second. As the aura vanished; Norman glowered down silently at the shocked teen the man had gained massive muscles, and was now ten feet tall! His clothes were completely ripped bow, as he looked even drunk in the eyes…
"O..oh no…" muttered Jack as he slowly backed away in intimidation, as he thought to himself how strong he was now. He seemed strong before but..now he looked like a frekaing behemoth! Despite how intimidated he felt by the size of the freak, he wasn't about to back down. Snorting, Jack crouched low into a fighting stance as he snorted "Do you really think that's gonna help? Like Im gonna piss my pants at the size of you being a giant? Tch, all you've done is made this easier for me"!
Closing his eyes, Jack chuckled as he grumbled "Flame on.." before his entire body ignited in fire! "Well, now I do think Ill kick your ass thank you" Crouching down low, Jack sprinted towards his foster father; itching to break his teeth as he leaped high into the air to kick his teeth out! "HEEEYAH..wha" Jack blinked as the drunk caught his foot in midair; stopping him in his tracks. Grunting, and groaning against his grip; Jack snarled "Gahh..let go of me you idiot"!
"Alright" smiled Norman, as he turned towards his group of friends and tossed the boy into them; nodding with satisfaction at the sound of him connecting. Stomping his feet towards them, he hefted one foot into the air to crush the hell outta the group; a cruel sneer etched on his face!
Eyes widening in pain at the feeling of something powerful kicking at his hind left leg; he staggered to keep his balance; glancing down in time to see the Applejack kick his giant foot; her incredible strength knocking him off balance as he collided face fist against the ground.
"Ha! That's whut you get when you mess with mah friends" chortled AJ.
"And this is what you get for pissing me off" remarked the giant as he aimed his giant finger at the earthpony before shooting a bolt of lighting at her! His anger seemed to rise even further as Pinkie Pie shoved AJ and herself both out of danger; her Pinkie sense clearly working well today since she was able to move fast enough to help AJ.
"Get him" Rainbow Dash shouted; charging in low towards Norman who was picking him himself off the ground. Grinning with glee when he looked up, Dash punched him hard in the chin as the drunken man staggered backwards from the blow; threating to fall over from the amount of power he had felt in that one attack! Pumping her hoof into the air in victory, Dash declared "You can dish out being a jerk to Jack and hurting him; but I guess you can't take it huh"?
"Heh" snorted the drunk in return; moving his head back into its normal position as he rubbed his now sore chin. "I have to say, Jack picked his friends. To be gutsy enough to actually stand against me, I'm really impressed. Or not" Norman snidely sneered; retracting his statement as he fired a crackle of lighting in Dashes direction; laughing as the Pegasus pony was struck; her entire body twitching rapidly as the electric danced through her bones before she collapsed against the ground.
Twilight glared as she tried to think of way to overpower Norman. Her eyes scanning the room; she spotted a few large curtains with thick rope that were ideally hanging next to the broken windows. Grinning, she called "Rarity"! The other magic user galloped to her side as Twilight whispered her plan into the fellow unicorn's ear. Getting a nod at the plan, the two set their plan into action.
"Ha! Is this all you can do" Jack taunted as he rolled aside to avoid getting stepped on; whirling around to toss the occasional fire ball at the man. "You're not really that hard to miss because you're so big. I'm guessing of the bad sides of being huge is that you become an easy target huh" sneered Jack who was surprised at Norman simply laughed in return to his taunts. "What's with the laughing" demanded the angsty teen.
"You're the real idiot Jack! My massive size allows me to take all the pathetic hits you're dealing out towards me! And you know what? I don't feel a damn thing" grinned Norman; stomping his foot against the ground. It sent a powerful shockwave that knocked Jack, AJ and Pinkie off of their feet/hooves. Norman laughed cruelty at the sight of the trio of friends trying to beat him. That would never happen of course; because he was all powerful!
Pumping his fist into the air; any further thoughts of victory were quickly cut off when suddenly; several large curtains started to wrap around his waist, feet, and hands. Struggling against the sheets; he was surprised that they were able to keep him from breaking free as the sheets were being held together by some very strong magic by the feel of it. Completely tied up; he noted the sound of a lit cannon as he turned back to see a grinning Pinkie; who fired it into his back; knocking him onto his stomach.
"What's wrong Norman" remarked Jack causally as he approached the temporarily disabled giant. "Seems like you're a little bit "tied up" at the moment" joked Jack as he could hear his friends groan at the incredibly bad pun.
"I just wanted to say Jack" Norman grumbled quietly; glancing downward before he looked back up with a sneaky grin. "Thanks for getting closer" Norman laughed as he suddenly broke free from his bonds and wrapped a meaty fist around Jacks waist; picking himself off the ground.
"GAAAAHH! LEGGO! LEGGO" Jack responded as he struggled to get himself free from the giants grip. Yet it appeared to be useless as no matter how hard he struggled; he couldn't break free from Norman's strength. Feeling a familiar jolt run through his body; Jack glowered. He knew what was coming next. "Damn you" Jack growled as Norman started to shock the hell outtta Jack!
"Hahahahah! How do you like that boy..do you hear me? HOW DO YOU LI..WHAT THE HELL" Norman shouted as he started to get swarmed! Glancing down; he was shocked at the sight of Pinkie Pie and Applejack climbing up him; Dash and FLuttershy were flying in low to attack whilst Twilight and Rarity were shooting at him with magic spells.
"Let go of our friend you big bully" Fluttershy shouted as she dive-bombed down towards him; kicking him in the nose. Backing away in shock, surprised at her own bravery; she blinked "Ummm..ahh".
"Nice one FLuttershy" called Jack weakly to his usually passive friend.
"NOT GOOD ENOUGH" Norman responded in anger, as he reared back and fired another bolt of lightning towards the trio of friends. Laughing in mockery as his mouth twisted into a sneer of smugness; he noted "Tell me, how this is helping your situation? You're on the run, and in constant danger and you think that you can beat me? PAH! Glancing down as he felt the earth ponies punch at his chest; he reached up a free hand to squash them when he felt an immense pain in his hand.
"GAAAAAAA" he shouted as he let go of Jack, watching the teen slip between his fingers as Jack collapsed to the floor. Gripping his hand, he noted a small trail of blood from where Jack had bitten him. He had actually resorted to biting him just to get free! "Well, I figured you'd try something like this! Luckily, I was prepa..AGGGGRHHH" cried out Norman as he covered his face to protect himself from the intense heat from Jacks flaming swords!
Landing in front of Norman, Jack back flipped away as Norman stared shooting bolts where he stood. Avoiding them to the best of his ability, he thought to himself how crazy this was! For one, being able to use such powers seemed…wait a sec. Glancing at Rarity and Twilight, he backed up next to them as he shouted "Everypony, keep him busy! Twilight, Rarity; I need your help". Watching as everyone rushed in to attack, he turned to the two unicorns.
"Do you have some sort of plan Jack" Twilight questioned curiously as she hopped that whatever it was; it could help them take down Norman fast!
"I think so…I want you two to absorb his lighting; and send its power into me. So when I use my fire attacks; they'll be a lot stronger and therefore; give me what I need to beat Norman" explained Jack, as he watched the fight between Norman and the others.
"That's crazy" Rarity protested; shaking her head in disagreement at such a plan. "How do we know that the power from his magic won't hurt you in the process? All it could end up doing is killing you" Rarity insisted. Glowering at the idea, she was surprised when Jack nodded in response. "Wait..you know it might kill and you still want to do it"?
"I know…but Im gonna do it anyway. I don't intend on dying, that's the best I can say really" sighed the human as took a step towards Norman at the sight of Dash almost being zapped out of the air. "Just be ready alright? Im gonna get his attention". When Normans back turned, Jack aimed and fired a stream of fire at his back. "Heya drunken idiot! Over here! Why are yah wasting your time fighting innocent ponies when you could be teaching the ungrateful bastard a lesson"? Deciding to put on more taunting, he laughed "You really are a piece of work, you know that Normy? Spend all your days drinking and blaming all your shit on me; when you're the one who's truly worthless".
"SILENCE" thundered Norman, whirling around as he sent a spew of lighting at Jack. He was shocked when Jack back flipped away as Twilight and Rarity trotted up, horns glowing. Snorting as his lighting started to absorb, he laughed "What? You think you can handle it" as he put down more power.
Rarity let out a tiny eep of pain, as she flinched under the magnificent power that was emanating from the abusive foster father. The power that was being transferred into her horn felt unbearable! Twilight was holding out a lot better than she was, but this was most likely due to Twilight being more proficient with magic. Groaning, Rarity opened her eyes as she glared at Norman with contempt. This..Horrid creature had made her Jacks life hell, and she was going to see to it that he was punished!
Directing her magic towards Jack, Twilight watched as the human clenched his knuckles as he collapsed to his feet; the overwhelming power from the magic was quiet…well..powerful! "Cmon Jack, you can do it" called Twilight in ecourgamnet as she knew that he had it in him to survive and overcome all!
Jack groaned as he felt like every single nerve in his body was exploding at the speed of light as he charged up his flame powers. Opening his eyes, he gawked in amazement at the sight of his fire towering over himself; the power from the lighting clearly escalating what it was capable of. A slow smirk etched onto Jacks face at the sight of this, as he turned to face Norman. Placing his palm out, he focused and fired a concentrated beam of fire!
Norman, realizing what was about to happen; turned and fired back in return in hopes of overcoming the boy! "That won't work Jack! YOU WONT WIN" cackled Norman; knowing that his powers would overcome Jacks in the end. At first, that's exactly what it seemed like as Normans lighting powers were starting to overwhelm Jacks fire beam. However, just as it appeared he was about to win; he got the shock of his life when his attack started to get pushed back. "N.o…NO" protested Norman in denial at this prospect!
Jack however wasn't happy, nor was he sad: he felt absolutely nothing as knew what had to be done before he shouted "TAKE THIS"! His fire beam shot forward as it completely enveloped Norman, inciting a scream of absolute pain as the man vanished in the blast! When it died down, he was gone. All that was left was a pile of smoldering ashes. Lowering his hands, he glanced back at the others as he muttered "C'mon. Let's go" as he turned and continued further up without a word.
"OOf" Jack grumbled as he and Rainbow Dash kicked open the door to the roof of the Metalife building. Glancing left and right, the two nodded as they stepped out onto the large structure. A whirling storm had started; chocolate rain fell down as the sky was now a uniform pinkish color. The rest of the group followed up behind them, as they all had the same thought on their mind: They had made it up..so where was Discord?
"We'll…you actually made it" smirked Discord as he hovered above them; a cocky smirk to indicate he had won before the battle had even begun.
Ending it there. I hope the fight scene was good, I wanted to try and make it as long as possible but I hope it didn't drag out. Anyway, the confrontation with Discord is next week. It might be one…maybe two parts. I am about to pass algebra after all this time so I'm really, really pumped up! Anyway, till then!