Arch: Why, thank you~ Rep: (to Architect) Quit. You know she's married, has children, her husband is standing in the same room, and you have yet to release that form lock you have had for a while based on its current state. What did you use when you first made it? Something like Timelords use to stay young? Where is this information coming from????
"I'd still hit it," Maya said. Dusty nodded. "Agreed." Raven gave a hard core cringe. "Mom. Dad. Ew."
Rep: Little, Bat?, I'm with you one that one. (emulates, but not well, the same cringe.) Arch: Well then~ (striking an obviously pronounced and stupid pose.) Here~ Rep: (Sensing something incredibly strange about Architect, and warning the patrons at the bar in a way that Architect couldn't detect.) There's something wrong with him. He is never this, flirtatious. Be on guard, be prepared for almost anything....
Nightshade stood beside Azrael, prepared to move quickly if the old horse attacked. "Az. Fall back. I have an idea."
"You better..." Azrael leapt back a few dozen feet. ~~~~~~ "We do have two kids in the room," Maya said, "so maybe tone it down?" "...Agreed." Dusty shrugged. "Maybe next time." Raven let out a relieved sigh."Thank the gods."
Nightshade landed beside him, and turned to face him, her eyes glowing. "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."
"Might as well trust this..." Azrael turned his back to Nightshade, reared up, and bucked her chest, full force, hard enough to crack the ice beneath them.
Rep: (Only communicating to those in the bar that were not Architect) This is not like him, like there is something...more. (reading Architect's telepathic emanations and looking shocked) His emotion lock is failing, this part of his personality is never this uninhibited.
Nightshade's favorite fighting style was called Whispering Wing. It allowed her to channel her internal magic-- the magic that all Equestrian ponies had within them-- and focus it to harden her feathers to the point they could be used as blades. The same principle, focusing magic to augment body parts, was common in advanced martial arts. The trick Nightshade was using now was one she'd learned from an old Zebra warrior. Her augmented eyes followed every twitch of Azrael's muscles as though he were moving in slow motion. Carefully, she adjusted her position to meet his back hooves with the bottoms of her own. The full force of the blow was transferred into her body, sending her flying in Cannonball's direction. This was it. The power she needed to finish the fight. She went into a spiral. Increase speed. Lose a bit of energy. Still more than enough. Immelman turn. Lose some speed. Lose a bit more energy. Still fine. Dive. Faster than she'd ever gone. Mach cone forming. Sonic boom. Keep diving. "..." Her shouted words did not reach Azrael's ears. She was moving faster than sound. Appleloosa grass cutter. Level out. Double speed. Increase force. Approaching the target. Prepare the strike... ***************************************************************************************** Cannonball turned to face Nightshade and was caught in a full tackle. The force was staggering. Before he could pull himself from her grip, they were both in the air, flying at twice the speed of sound directly at Az. She rolled, still holding him tightly, and positioned him between her an Az. Her words, shouted a fraction of a second earlier, reached Azrael's ears. "FINISH IT!"
He is so old, (Catching a glimpse of Architect's memories through the telepathic emanations) and he's now remembering such terrifying and traumatic memories, couple that with how long he's kept things bottled up inside.........Just the memories alone would drive most crazy for a while, (again getting a flash of information) You might know the feeling, some of you. He might do something insane, such as being overly flirtatious, or anger, or grief. Architect: (collapsing to the ground, tears in his eyes, clutching his head)
Sounded promising. Azrael pulled a trick from Maya herself, leaping up just in time to deliver a Supermare Punch to Cannonball when the time was right. It played a part in laying out the legendary Azrael, so who wouldn't it drop? All of his strength, plus an extreme amount of weight, on top of whatever Shady added with her flyby. ~~~~~~~ Asmo groaned. "That's depressing. Rep. Fix it. I dunno how."
The shock wave from the impact shattered the ice, leaving a massive crater. Flair and Rain put up shields to protect the spectators, and the ship's crystal-powered shielding kept it safe. When the air had cleared, Nightshade was out cold at the bottom of the crater. Beside her, Cannonball jumped lightly to his hooves. He seemed unscathed. He calmly brushed the ice chips from his fur, stretched his wings... and fell unconscious to the ground. "Azrael and Nightshade win!" Flair shouted. *********************************************** Back in the bar, Marq cussed and dug out his bits to pay Raven for the bet he'd just lost.
Raven gave a coy laugh, holding out her hoof to collect the Bits. "Told ya!~" ~~~~~~ Azrael hurried to his hooves after the crater formed, barely scathed. After hearing the winners announced, he chuckled and attempted to grab unconscious Night to her hooves. "We are indestructible!"
Rep: (Shaking his head) Nothing I can do. Those memories helped make him who he his, he must face them again, and overcome them by himself. I can at best, put him into slumber. (Gently resting his hand on Arch and Arch falls asleep immediately.) Arch: (In his mind hears songs being played, faded, and almost indistinct, including Spoiler: Song , and Spoiler: Demons as he wrestles with his memories.)
Nightshade shook her head groggily. "Me slightly less so than you, apparently. Ow. Mutha. F**king. Ow." ************************************************************ Cannonball woke up and climbed to his hooves. "I'm getting too old for this sh*t."
"We defeated Cannonball Run and an Assassin. Us! Rejoice!" He planted Shady on her hooves. ~~~~~~~ Maya giggled some. "He needs the rest. And uhh... No cheating, Rave, give Dust four hundred, Navaja didn't drop Shade first."
Nightshade nodded. "Good. Let's go get healed." She walked over to Cannonball. "You are getting old. I remember when you were as fast as me. That was fun, though. Let's never do it it again." ********************************************************* Marq shrugged. "You should have seen him ten years ago. He'd have mopped the floor with both of 'em, then turned around and whupped the assassin."
Azrael nodded. "That, we shall do. I'll have to remember to shake his hoof when he awakens." ~~~~~~~ Raven shrugged. "Not my fault he got all old."
It wasn't long before Rain had everypony healed up and they were back on their way. ********************************************************************************* Marq sighed. "Still a bit disheartening to see age catch up to the old horse like that."
