Note: I made it to 300 reviews! Yes! I would like to thank all of you for your awesome support! I have really appreciated it all. To Lankore, I would like to say that I am glad you really enjoy my parts with Lyric and Summer. I personally enjoy writing about them far more that anything else. And thank you too, PBJNachos, 1st Dragon King, FocusedStream, Austin, TFJ, Elly, kp, falloutman33, Order of the Bronies, and everyone who reads this story. Thank you all! Alright, moving on...
Dimension: The Deep Coal Cellar
Planet: The Black Expanse
Specific Location: A dozen kilometers out from the main jail fortress
Time: Twenty-two years after the death of the Paradox, three days since the beginning of the new adventure
August looked around. He was in a small room with no windows or doors. The walls were obsidian black, and were completely smooth. August slowly reached down for his Inquisition Blaster. No matter the obstacle, he knew the blaster could shoot through it. It wasn't there. Panic now rising in his chest, August quickly slapped a hand to his right shoulder. The shoulder pad of Blue was no longer there either.
August was on the edge of hysterics now, but he managed to pull himself away from the precipice, telling himself that this was nothing but a vision. Slowly he became aware of a pair of eyes looking at him. Tensing himself, August turned himself around to look at whatever was gazing at him. It was a pony, a female Pegasus.
August rubbed his eyes in surprise. Whatever was a Pegasus doing here? He most certainly did not recognize her. This Pegasus was in suspended animation, her eyes tightly shut. August opened his mouth to call out to her.
Suddenly an image flashed before him. It had only flashed before him for a second, but it had felt very real, as if he had been teleported to another time and land in an instant. August blinked again. The image and the sensation had passed too fast for him to register what had happened. He turned his attention to the trapped Pegasus once more when another image flashed before him… then another… then another. As the intervals between the images came closer together, he began to realize what was going on in those flashes of alternate reality.
He was Blue. Standing tall beside him was Sunflower on his left and Dark on his right. The three of them had their hand-to-hand weapons out (Blue's longsword, Sunflower's elbow blade, and Dark's hatchet) and they were smashing down a sea of Maelstrom-corrupted humans. The shrieking of the monstrosities before them was tremendous, and the bodies of the fallen piled high above their heads around them. But they could not stop fighting. Not now… not ever… never…
"AUGUST!"
August was sharply dragged from his horrific, uncanny vision by a shout from Gene. He was back in the void dimension where the Deep Coal Center was positioned. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a sea of black liquid. The sky was also pitch black, and the only light seemed to be an eerie orange that emanated from everywhere. Sharp (and black-colored) rocks jutted out once and a while, breaking the smooth, rippling surface of the endless ocean of darkness. It was one of those jutting rocks that they were standing on as Gene pulled August out of his vision.
August slowly lay a hand on his hip, feeling the Inquisition Blaster by his side. He was back in reality. As he slowly wiped some sweat from his brow, he said, "I'm sorry. What happened?"
Jefferson rolled his eyes. "You entered the portal and then froze like you were in a trance. Obviously. So, tell us, what did you see? Did it have something pertaining to breaking into THAT?"
With that, Jefferson swept off his hat and flourished it off to his right. August turned his head to look in the same direction, and he saw the Deep Coal Cellar.
It was a massive building, about the ninety times larger than the Pentagon, and the ten times the height of the One World Trade Center. It was a sheer mass of pitch-black metal, with turrets, missile launchers, pitfalls, and robot guards everywhere. However, that was not the most unnerving part.
The most unnerving part was the lack of light and sound. The building just sat in black sea. There were no searchlights, no high-powered flashlights, nothing. Additionally, the silence was absolute.
Since it was so quiet, August felt somehow obligated to whisper as he said, "Why is it so quiet?"
Jefferson shrugged, then whispered back, "Probably because the whole thing is automated. The mechs guarding this place have little need of visual stimulation, since they simply shoot whatever has a life-signature."
"But… but how will they know if it is a high-level official visiting the prison?" asked August in hushed tones.
"From what Doxia told me… NO ONE visits the Deep Coal Cellar. You send a prisoner here, and they are gone forever. Orion is the only one to have ever escaped," replied Gene.
"So basically you cannot visit here, then," repeated August.
"That's pretty much right," said Gene, "Doxia actually said he had to break IN once to set up some additional security devices."
August facepalmed. After a moment of doing that, he slowly dragged his palm down his face. Then he muttered, "Great. So, does anyone know of the defenses here?"
Jefferson slowly stroked his chin. "Actually, I have some useful information."
August and Gene turned to look at him. Jefferson grinned, "A couple of years ago I talked to the Dimensional Lord who was warden of the outer-ring of this place. His name was Robert. Weird name for a Dimensional Lord, right? Well, anyway, he told me that there is a single place that in under-guarded. Follow me."
Jefferson reached into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out a strange device. It looked like a detached bicycle handle. Jefferson held it in front of him and squeezed it. Beams of blue solid-looking light lanced out of both ends. The beams intertwined into a chassis of light and then solidified into energy hang glider that was glowing blue. When August looked at Jefferson in interest, he simply said, "I got for some work I did in the Tron dimension. It suits me."
August nodded wordlessly. He then turned to Gene and whispered, "I can't fly! I don't know how!"
Gene rolled his eyes, "Just jump. As you are falling, 'will' yourself to fly. It works every time. It is kind of like riding a bicycle. You will get the hang of it in an instant."
August shook his head and took a step back. "I can't. I will get dashed against the rocks."
Gene snorted. "No. This jutting rock we are standing on now has a flat face. It is smooth all the way down. Come and see."
August barely managed to suppress a "gulp" of fear as he timidly approached Gene. He then looked over the edge. There were sharp stones sticking out every which way on the rock face (like a thorn bush), nothing at all like what Gene had just described to him. In a moment August realized it had been nothing but a ploy to get him to stand near the edge. He tried to jerk back, but Gene shoved him over the edge.
It took every bit of his willpower to keep himself from screaming, but he managed to suppress his cries of horror as he toppled over the edge, narrowly missing the sharp stones sticking out of the rock face. He shut his eyes tight as he tumbled towards the smooth surface of the black lake.
However, despite the fact that he had braced himself for impact, the said impact never came. August opened his eyes a crack, and then realized he was floating just above the ocean of darkness. He was hovering.
Taking a deep breath, he got a hold of his senses and began to slowly maneuver himself through the air. It was like he was a puppet, but he could operate the strings to make him fly as opposed to the strings operating him. And, as Gene said, it was slightly like riding a bicycle where he got the hang of it in a moment.
Gene floated down beside him as Jefferson continued to watch from the top of the jutting rock, Tron Hang Glider in hand.
"See?" said Gene, trying to sound soothing and apologetic, "Nothing too it."
August snorted. "I am not going to talk to you for at least another thirty minutes."
Gene rolled his eyes again. "Fine, August, be that way. Hey! Jefferson! Let's go!"
Jefferson nodded wordlessly and leapt from the top of the rock structure. He skimmed lightly over the black ocean before he gained altitude once more and drifted towards the Fortress Jail of the Deep Coal Cellar at high speeds.
Gene motioned for August to follow him, and the two began to trail Jefferson.
As they flew through the air, August turned his head slightly to give Gene a side-long glance. As he did that, he said, "Gene? Could I tell you something?"
Gene chuckled. "What? I thought you were not going to talk to me for at least another thirty minutes. Twenty-five now."
"I changed my mind. I need to tell you about my vision."
"I am listening."
"Well, I was in this small room. It had no doors and no windows. It was simply blank. As I dwelled there, I noticed a pony. She was a purple Pegasus from the My Little Pony Dimension. She seemed to be stuck in some kind of suspended animation. Anyway, as I looked at her, I suddenly became immersed in another dream. It was like a dream of a dream. Anyway, in this new reality I was Blue, and I was with Sunflower and Dark. We were fighting what looked like the Maelstrom from 500 Billion Years ago. The fighting got really intense. Then… I woke up."
"That is unusual."
"I know. I have a question: Why do I keep having visions of just Blue? I mean, I am a Detector, right? My DNA is attached to all the Inquisitors. Sure, I am tracking Blue down, but I don't think it is natural that I feel connected to him. It doesn't feel right. And now his armor is beginning to attach to me. What is going on?"
"I cannot tell you anything about why you are having visions about Blue, because I don't know; however, remember that you are a Detector. I believe that means you form some mental bond or something with your target to ensure ease in finding them. Since you are after Blue, I am guessing that it is normal that you feel a connection. After all, it is making it easier to follow his footsteps. I guess."
"You guess?"
"Yeah, I am just making a well educated guess."
Just ahead of August and Gene, Jefferson was eavesdropping on their conversation. As they talked, he formed his own idea of what was going on, and it intrigued him. He began to wonder if he should go ahead and tell them his theory, but then he opted not to. Information was power, and he did not trust either of them. Thus, it only made sense if he gathered as much power as he could.
At this time, the three began to draw near the fortress. Jefferson bit his bottom lip as he pulled a sharp turn and began to skim to the right. Robert the Warden had told him that there were several hundred layers of invisible anti-existence energy shields surrounding the place. One touch and he (and everything in a kilometer radius) would be reduced to less than ashes. Signaling for August and Gene to stay right on his tail, Jefferson gained more altitude as he began to scope out the locating Robert had told him had a hole in the shielding. It was a little smaller than a manhole, so he was going to have to time his entrance just right.
After raking his surroundings with a seasoned eye, he finally located the area. It looked like blank space to the average eye, but his correspondent Robert the Warden had made it very clear that that was the spot he was to enter in by. Taking a deep breath, Jefferson glided by it, swung around, and dove straight through, deactivating his Tron Hang Glider a second before he flew through. The hang glider deactivated and folded in on itself (narrowly missing the edges of the invisible shielding breach) and Jefferson shot through the air on momentum only. As he fell, he violently signaled Gene and August to catch him. Gene and August then shot through the invisible breach themselves and dove towards him. They grabbed him (with Gene seizing his right arm and August grabbing his left) in the nick of time, his feet not even skimming the surface of the black ocean. Up above, a lone mech stood, looking off to its left. It had yet to see them.
They flew up to the sheer wall of the fortress and hovered in front of it.
Jefferson then opened a telepathic link with August and Gene.
"Don't talk," he said over the link, "The mechs are sensitive to sound. In fact, do as little thinking as you can as well. There are clusters of arrays set up everywhere that can detect brainwaves. Now, listen carefully. Exactly two meters and a half meters to my left is a hidden hatch made by Doxia to allow Dimensional Lords access to the inner workings without having to fight their way through the first line of defense. DO NOT touch the walls. If you do, you will be vaporized by the super-energy-charged masonry."
August nodded to Gene, and they eased Jefferson to the left. Jefferson held up a hand, signaling for them to stop, and then pointed. As he did so, he said telepathically, "Right ahead is the hatch. Now we need August to place his palm on the wall."
"ME?!" exclaimed August over the link, "Why me?!"
"The device is designed to recognize… um… armor. You touch it, it will see that you are wearing Blue's armor, and it will let us all in," replied Jefferson, doing his best to sound convincing.
Gene was not convinced. "Why would it scan armor and not DNA? Surely it is safer to do DNA."
Jefferson rolled his eyes as he replied telepathically, "Maybe, but who knows what went through the head of Doxia as he made this hatch. And, anyway, the armor of a Dimensional Lord is pretty much like his DNA. The armor is a part of him. Blue is the highest-ranking Inquisition soldier there is, so surely this hatch will also accept him. Now do it. Gene, could you please readjust my hat?"
August suppressed yet another "gulp" of apprehension as the three drifted closer to the wall and he extended his hand. "I guess we're going to find out," he said through the link.
He laid a hand on the wall. Sparks of dull blue and green energy exploded from the wall and danced around his fingertips. The sparks were gone as abruptly as they came, and there was a pause.
Then, without the slightest noise, the hatch opened.
August and Gene, still carrying Jefferson, drifted inside. They then gently set Jefferson down as they landed in the hallway. It was pitch black inside, and the passage seemed to drift deep inside the fortress.
At that very moment, August was struck with another vision. It was Blue once more. He was slowly walking through the hallway. He walked to the end and then turned right. At that very moment, a security mech leapt out at him with a robotic hiss. The metallic monstrosity looked like a cross between a grasshopper and a praying mantis. It turned its metallic praying mantis head towards Blue and shot towards him with blinding speed. Not even a Dimensional Lord could block the speed with which it attacked. But Blue was not a Dimensional Lord, he was an Inquisitor.
Blue ducked under the serrated limbs of the security mech and flipped over it on the other side. As he was airborne, he pulled out his Inquisition Blaster. He landed on the mech's back and he seized the head. He then viciously forced the gun down the robots throat and fired twice. The whole machine twitched and shook as the gun shredded it. All that was left was half of the robot's face, which Blue hurled against the wall, hard. The hunk of metal struck the surface and sizzled and exploded. Blue then slowly turned and strolled down the hallway once more.
With that, August was pulled back into reality. He almost cried out in surprise from the jolt, but Jefferson had covered his mouth as a precaution.
"What did you see?" said Gene over a telepathic link.
"I saw where we go next. I do not know where Blue hid the armor yet, but I know the first step. Follow me," replied August, still a little shaken.
The three stealthily crept down the hall until they reach a fork in the road. Jefferson quickly picked it up and put it in his pocket as they strolled by. When August gave him a curious look, Jefferson shrugged.
"It was probably left here by Doxia as a joke. A souvenir, if you will. Let's keep moving," he said.
August nodded and they kept moving. A couple minutes later, they arrived at a real fork in the road.
"Left or right?" asked Gene.
August pointed to the right passageway. The three turned the corner and strolled off. Almost a moment after they set foot in the passage, they were assaulted by a mech, just like what had happened to Blue. Apparently the passageway intersected a local patrol route.
Hissing, the machine immediately turned on them and attack with blurring speed. Under normal circumstances, all three of them would have been dead in a nanosecond, but something happened to stop their immediate deaths.
As the machine lunged at the trio, August stiffened. Then he suddenly turned his right shoulder to the attacking grasshopper/praying mantis hybrid robot and slammed it into its face. The mech skidded backwards, recovered, and attacked again. August dove under the machine, leapt up, flipped in the air and landed on the back of the machine in a mirror move to what he had seen Blue do not minutes before.
Whipping out his Inquisition Blaster, August pressed it to the robot throat and fired, decapitating it. He then kicked away the body and shot it four times. The mass of metal disintegrating into pure nothing, leaving only its head behind in August's hand.
August then abruptly threw the decapitated head to the ground and viciously ground it to dust beneath his heal.
Gene gaped. "August…? Are you okay?"
August whirled at the sound of Gene's hushed voice and pointed the gun straight at Gene's face. There was a long pause, then, suddenly, August stiffened once more and then relaxed. Slowly falling to his knees, he dropped his weapon and rubbed his eyes.
After a moment of doing that, he slowly got up again and said, out loud, "Ugh… What happened? I mean, what did I do? I could see what was happening, but I could do nothing. It was like watching my own body through a TV screen. That was horrible…"
Jefferson snorted. "It depends on your definition of horrible. A little unorthodox, yes; a little violent, yes; but most importantly it was effective to the extreme. Now we should resume communicating over the link and get a move-on, the alarm will be raised any minute now.
Jefferson then proceeded to stroll down the hallway. August turned to follow him, but Gene placed a hand on his shoulder.
"What is it Gene?" asked August over a telepathic link.
"What you did a moment ago… you had no control?"
"No. I would never have been able to do that myself. The moment that mech appeared, my mind fell into a haze and I got this disembodied feeling. Then the rest was a blur."
"That is good. What you did after the defeat of that mech was rather… frightening. Was Blue really that brutal?"
"I… I don't know. I just don't know. Please, let's keep moving." August turned off the link and looked away. Then he began to follow Jefferson.
Gene eyed August worriedly, but did not attempt to press his friend any further. It was obvious that August was shaken up, but there was not much he could do to help at this time.
Jefferson slowed his pace to allow August to catch up, then he said, over a link, "That was fairly amazing, I must say. Could you shave off a little time in your schedule to teach me to fight like that?"
August shook his head. "Even if I knew how to, I wouldn't. From what I have felt, that was one of Blue's signature moves… that means… that means he did that on humans too. I…"
August's mental train trailed off and went silent. Something ahead triggered yet another memory encoded in his brain.
August found himself following Blue once more. Blue was strolling down the hallway that they were now standing in. As he walked, he slowly detached his arm armor, his metallic gauntlet folding back and compressing itself into the metal. Blue then held it up to his face, and then tossed it down. Just like that, he discarded it. Then he opened a portal and left.
In a moment August snapped out of the vision. He blinked. Why had Blue just thrown the armor down like that? Had he not been interesting in fighting past any more security precautions in order to hide his armor more thoroughly? Had he been on some sort of timetable? No matter, the hiding place of the armor had been located, and it was just ahead.
Heart beating fast in excitement, August motioned vehemently for Jefferson and Gene to follow them. He quickly rushed ahead. And there it was: another piece of Blue's armor, lying on the ground as if it had been dropped not the day before.
Jefferson was grinning greedily, but refrained from attempting to touch the armor as August crouched down to inspect it. After a moment of hesitation, he touched it.
A small spark fizzled from the contact point, and the armor leapt to life. It jumped in the air and firmly snapped onto August's right arm. The metal gauntlet unfolded and detached itself from the arm armor and slithered around August's fist. His whole right arm (from shoulder to fingertip) was surrounded by Blue's armor.
"Well now, are you SURE you're not related to Blue?" snorted Jefferson over another link, "Because his armor sure as hell likes you."
August shook his head as he inadvertently scrabbled to rip the metal off of his flesh. "No! I don't know who Blue is or why this is happening to me. Maybe Doxia can explain. Yeah… We have to find Doxia!"
"Good idea," interjected Gene, "But first let's get out of here, posthaste."
Jefferson rolled his eyes and took off his top hat. He tossed it into the air. "Please. What's the rush? We have only run into one guard. I am really unimpressed by this place as a whole. Why are there not more guards?"
In response, a disembodied voice echoed out from behind them. "That is simple: I kept them from you until the right moment."
The trio whirled to face the source of the voice, which resonated from behind them. It was Orion. Behind him was ten of the anti-Dimensional-Lord security mechs.
August whipped out his gun, but his hand began to shake in fear. His voice also reflected his terror as he said, out loud, "B-but… you're Orion the Traitor! You were an inmate here! How is it that these things work for you?!"
Orion polished his right fist on his chest as he said, "Oh, I have friends in high places. So high, in fact, that they could show me how to reprogram this whole facility. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. I am just going to ask my new friends to give you a hug and then skip out of here. Eh... Just kidding."
With that, Orion snapped a finger and then pointed it at the trio. "Security mechs… kill them."
The ten robots shrieked in response and rushed the three. August, Gene, and Jefferson just stood there, watching as the wall of death swept around Orion and barreled toward them. Then, August snapped.
Just as he had lost control when the first robot had attacked, the haze surrounded his mind once more and he lost himself.
Pulling out his Inquisition Blaster, August rushed headlong into the ten robots as Gene and Jefferson looked on in awe.
August collided with the first robot, smashing his right shoulder pad into its face. Seizing its neck, he swung over it, ripping its throat open and emptying a shell into the breach, causing it to explode. He landed on the head of the second oncoming enemy. Twisting over it, he slid across its back without even looked. He dove off of it (shooting it in the stomach as he moved) and slid under the third. He fired two shells into its abdomen as he passed by. The whole thing went up in flames as August leapt up, smoke and flames streaming from his armor. The fourth robot screamed as it lunged with superspeed. August deftly side-stepped it and used its own momentum to shove it into the passageway wall. The robot disintegrated as the deadly wall fired off lances of power into the contact point. The fifth robot and the sixth robot leapt over the dead body of the fourth and attempted to perform a pincer movement to out maneuver him, but August could not be stopped. As the two arrived at opposite sides to crush him between them, he jumped and slammed a foot against a wall. The wall immediately responded by firing an energy bolt at him. Time seemed to slow down as the lancing bolt of power seared through the air. Moving faster than even that bolt of power, August grabbed the nearest enemy (the fifth robot) and shoved it in front of him. The bolt struck the robot and blasted it straight back, directly into the sixth robot. This sent them both into the opposite wall. They were both disintegrated immediately. As this was going on, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth robot was charging a massive blast of power from their shoulder-mounted cannons. As August straightened up, the monstrous machines fired. August had no time to dodge, but he did have time to turn his shoulder. The massive wave of energy beams collided with the shoulder pad and arm armor of Blue and exploded. The shockwave caused the walls to crack and crumble, and the floor to explode upwards in a tidal wave of steel splinters. August, feet firmly planted on the ground, slid at least a dozen meters backwards from the shockwave, but he was completely fine. August straightened up and then checked his Inquisition blaster. Then he deftly pointed it and fired four shots, each striking the last four enemies in their chests, killing them all.
There was a long pause as Orion, Gene, and Jefferson looked over August's handiwork: ten dead security mechs designed to specifically kill Dimensional Lords, the most powerful beings in the multiverse.
Orion cleared his throat. "That was interesting. I must commend you on your skill, Blue. Oh, I'm sorry, your name is August, right?"
August whirled and fired two shots at Orion. He acted so fast that the corrupted Dimensional Lord could do nothing to dodge the attacks. Two deadly Inquisition Blaster shells blew holes in his left arm and right leg, dropping him in a second.
"August!" yelled Gene, "What the hell are you doing?"
August simply fired a shot off at Gene's feet. The explosion knocked him backwards, keeping him from interfering.
August then strolled up to Orion and pointed his gun at his face.
Orion simply grinned. "I've been here before. You know, with Blue pointing a gun in my face and all. I must tell you, I am quite surprised. You have shown the brutality and viciousness signature of the John 3 Chapter. You do realize that is why they were so effective, right? Come on, pull the trigger. Kill me. Finally you will be like Blue. That is who you are aspiring to be, right? Blue, the leader of the most powerful Inquisition Chapter. The most brutal, violent, murderous good guy of them all."
There was a pause, then August contorted and twisted, as if his body was fighting against itself. Then August dropped his gun.
Breathing hard, August then hissed, "I… am not… Blue. I… am… a… hero."
Orion looked curiously at August. "A hero, eh? Huh. Unusual. Well, I have what I came for. Goodbye."
With that, Orion opened a portal. Still on his knees, the traitorous Dimensional Lord hobbled through and vanished.
Still shaking with shock, August picked up his gun and attached it to his hip. He then turned to Jefferson and Gene.
Jefferson was grinning ear to ear, but Gene's face was the picture of concern.
"Gene… are… are you okay?" breathed August, "I saw what Blue… I mean… I saw what I did."
Gene nodded. "I am fine. The greater question is are YOU okay?"
August nodded. "I am fine. But, please, you both have to be honest with me. Have I… have I become Blue?"
Jefferson twirled his hat at the end of his finger. "I can wholeheartedly say yes! Like usual, I have been withholding information from you. Both the entrance to this secret passageway and the Phantom Device that cloaked this dimension were designed to scan DNA, not armor. It is confirmed. You ARE Inquisitor Blue."
Note: I am sure some of you saw this coming. It only made sense. However, the question to ponder now is whether or not Blue was actually a good guy, and how August can possibly be Blue. Your thoughts? Anyway, give me reviews please! You give me reviews, and I will give you a cupcake of your choosing. Why cupcakes? Because I ran out of other stuff for the moment. Please stand by. But do not stand too close. It makes me nervous. Several kilometers should do it.