As the Ghoul made her way through the halls of the abandoned Asylum. A sharp pain shot through the abdomen as she came to a sudden stop. Kneeling down on one knee, she placed a hand on her abdomen as she started to gasp for air frantically. “D-Dammit, guess I should’ve been more careful when I fought Maud’s sister.”

[Flashback]

“Now listen Kaoru. Just because you still have certain traits of a ghoul, doesn’t mean you can let your guard down around others.” Adagio said as she started to remove the mask covering her mouth along with the blood covered gloves. “Especially when we still need time to fix and adjust certain organs in your body. Right now I did a fix patch, but you still need to come in for two more operations.”

“Why not just do it now to get it out of the way?”

“Because Chrysalis needs you to go on a mission seeing how everyone else is busy either repairing the base, or on a mission somewhere else.”

“Great, so it’s just me then huh?”

“Moondancer will guide you to the place. But like I said before, you can’t afford to put pressure on the stitches. They will open up and cause you to bleed out slowly.”

“Yeah I get it.” Kaoru said as she started to make her way outside. “I’ll be more careful on today’s mission.”

“....I just hope you’ll forgive me for what I injected you with during your operation.”

[End of Flashback]

“I should’ve brought some medical stuff with me.” Kaoru said as she started to pull herself up from the floor. “Lord knows I prefer not to have to use the stuff here to patch myself up.”

However, unfortunately for the ghoul, she did not have much time in order for her to fix herself up once she heard some thunderous steps from around the corner. “Come out, come out wherever you are… little girl…”

“...Please let it be some dude pretending to be a big bulking monster.”

“I hear you…” She heard again. “And when I find you… I will enjoy crushing your skull.”

“I don’t have time for this shit.” Kaoru quickly took cover inside of one of the open spaced rooms as she kneeled down against the window. She then placed a hand onto into her pocket as she pulled a knife and readies herself to attack whoever it was that was heading her way. For a moment, everything sounded quiet…Until something burst through the wall and grabbed Kaoru by the throat.

“FOUND YOU!!!”

“Oh Shi-!” She cursed, the applied pressure to her throat causing her to drop the knife as her attacker threw her and caused her to skid on the floor.

“I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET, LITTLE GIRL!!!” It screamed, chasing after Kaoru while she was trying to stand up.

“Not good.” The ghoul said as she quickly tossed her another hidden knife at the charging monster’s leg. It worked for a second… but upon trying to take it out, the blade snapped, leaving her with just the grip of her weapon.

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!!!”

“Kaoru, what the hell is going on in there?” The ghoul heard her partner ask her over comms.

“Bit of a s-sticky situation I’m in a-at the moment Moondancer….Nothing that I can’t handle...I think.”

“Yeah… would that explain why your vitals are skyrocketing right now?” She heard Moondancer ask him.

“Just a bit of a jump scare caused by my friend here. S-Say hi ugly.”

“I WILL BASH YOUR BRAINS OUT, GIRL!!!”

“Ugly says hello.”

“Where the hell is Maud? Shouldn’t she be with you?”

“Family issues. Let’s put it at that.” Kaoru said as she reached into her trench coat and pulled out a can of sealant in a can and sprayed it into the monster’s eyes. “I’m gonna have to call you back when I’m not about to get my face pounded in.”

“RRRGH!! YOU SON OF A WHORE! MY EYES!!!” Her attacker screamed. “I WILL BASH YOUR BRAINS OUT!!”

“Maybe next time you think twice before attacking me asshole.” Kaoru taunted, only to feel the back of her head being grabbed.

“I CAN STILL HEAR YOU, BITCH!!” He yelled before slamming her through a wall.

“Right...forgot about that....” Just as she was about to reach for her suitcase on her back. Kaoru began to feel the stitches from her operation beginning to slowly open, as bits of blood started to stain her trench coat. “Dammit, not now.”

“Kaoru, what’s wrong?” Moondancer asked. “Talk to me.”

“Remind me to kick Chrysalis’s flank next time if I see her for sending me on this mission.”

“Noted…Okay, hang on, I got an idea…That thing is relying on his hearing in order to find you since you blinded him for the moment. Throw something in a different direction to distract him and then use the ceiling vents to escape him.” Moondancer told her. “That brick by your feet should do the trick.”

“Problem with that. The more I move, the more blood begins to pour from out of my wounds.” Kaoru replied, only to notice something… different. Her wounds were healing a lot faster than normal…and strangely enough, she felt…energized in a way. “Wait...something feels...weird.”

“Kaoru, what do you mean by that? Matter of fact, why am I picking up energy signatures coming from you?”

“How should I know?”

“That’s weird.” Moondancer replied. “Because according to these readings, they’re similar to that of Lance and Chrysalis… like if you combined the two of them together. How the hell does that make any sense?”

“That...doesn’t make any sense.” Kaoru soon began to notice something else besides her wounds healing rather quickly. First, she thought that her hand was zapped by static electricity… but when she looked down at it… that wasn’t the case. “The hell!?”

“Kaoru, what’s going on?”

“There’s something wrong with my hand.”

“Let me get Adagio on. She may know what’s going on.” Moondancer replied before she heard a click as a new voice entered the conversation.

“Moondancer, why the hell are you calling me while you are in the middle of a mission?” The Siren asked her.

“I’ll let Kaoru answer on that one…” She replied, letting Kaoru have the chance to speak.

“Care to explain what the hell did you do to me during the operation you performed on me Adagio?”

“I can only explain once you tell me what is going on.” She replied to her.

“You tell me. Because right now my right hand is spewing out electricity and particles similar to that of Chrysalis.”

“…… Holy shit, it actually worked.” That was only the first thing that Kaoru heard from Adagio. “You know how Lance and Chrysalis are adepts right? Well, I used strands of their DNA to help your healing and if that’s the case… Congratulations, you’re half adept now.”

“…Moondancer… remind me to punch Adagio in the face when this is over as well.”

“I’ll make sure to add that as another suggestion to the non existent suggestion box and complaints department back at the base.” Moondancer said sarcastically. “Though, maybe you can use this to your advantage.”

“And how do I do that? I’m kind limited on weapons besides the buster quinque. But I don’t know what would happen if I use that along with my powers.”

“I don’t know, I guess find a way to use them. Maybe hold your hands forward at your target and just let it loose I guess. It’s the only idea I got at this point. But be careful and don’t aim it at the ceiling. Aya is on the upper levels and if you mess up on that blast, she could get caught in it.”

“Wait I thought she was in the chapel of this stupid place?”

“Yeah the upper levels of the chapel is not far from your location.” Moondancer replied. “By the looks of things though, you really need to hurry. I fear someone’s trying to harm her.”

“On it. Just need to take care of tall and ugly first before I can go. Lord know I don’t want me leaving him be to bite me in the ass later on.” As instructed by her companion, Kaoru held her hands out in front of herself. Having the tips of her thumbs and index fingers form a triangle that she used as a sight as she pointed it towards the big and ugly bastard that was trying to find her. In a matter of seconds, the energy in her arms was released and the entire hallway almost turned to ash. “That should by me sometime for now.”

“That’s an interesting ability…very powerful to say the least.” An unfamiliar female voice said through Kaoru’s communicator.

“Now what?” Kaoru said in annoyance. “Who’s on this frequency besides Moondancer and Adagio?”

“You may call me Hack for now…Let’s just say we’re here for…Similar reasons. Trust me, I don’t like this place anymore than you do, but if we’re going to survive I need you to not go upstairs.” The voice said.

“And why shouldn’t I? My mission is to find Aya Brea and get her out of here.”

“And mine is to retrieve a dumbass bitch from dying and ruining my relationship with her group. But I’d rather not have you blow this building up with us inside. There’s a group of your kind that are looking for something upstairs and they set a trap. You go upstairs in any way, and this whole place goes up in smoke.”

“...Moondancer, is Hack telling the truth.”

“Give me a second to check...There is a trap upstairs, but it would more likely kill you if you rush through the doors.”

“And if you do rush in, the automated guns will fire. Thankfully for you, I know how to disarm both traps easily. They know who I am and what I’m capable of, so they hid the switch that activates the traps inside one of the patients. Get that out, and the trap should go offline.”

“...By inside one of the patients, you mean actually inside their body?”

“No, inside of their hammerspace- of course inside their body you idiot!”

“Be nice Sunny, she’s going out of her wayto listen to your bitching!” A second voice said as it joined in onto the conversation.

“...Okay how many more are in on this conversation? Because right now I’m starting to get annoyed.”

“One other. They’re my escorts. Now, as a show of trust, I’ll send the interrupter to assist you in extracting the trigger.” Hack said.

“And how is your assist going to get here?”

“Simple…you might want to scoot aside, lest you’d like to fall, dearie.”Hack said as the floor under Kaoru started to rot away at an alarming rate.

“Ah hell.” Reaching for her grappling hook, Kaoru shot at the ceiling above her as she pulled herself away from the floor underneath herself and landed a few feet away onto a floor what wasn’t rotted or torn down. As she looked over to her left from where she was, a tan yellow earth pony mare with a freckled face, a light purple mane with a light blue highlight, and a pair of dark purple eyes. She wore a purple and black uniform with a ponies skull on her rump. Something disturbed Kaoru about her eyes however. She had a wide smile, but her irises were dilated.

“I take it you’re the assist that Hack sent correct?”

“Rotten Core, at your service.” She said sweetly, but her smile soon turned into a frown. “Till you’re of no use to me.”

“...Moondancer what are my odds on surviving the trap upstairs?”

“0.5% chance even with your new powers you just unlocked.”

“Crap, okay Rotten Core. Do you know where to find the thing we’re looking for to deactivate the trap?”

“Of course! Why would I be here otherwise!?” Rotten said glaring daggers at Kaoru before returning to a smile.

“W-Well...could you lead me to it then please?” Kaoru asked as she tried her best to smile.

“Sure thing! It’s this way~” Rotten Core began skipping the way that Kaoru came from before hopping up high and rotting an air duct away with a single swipe of her hoof. She then walked over to a wheelchair and placed it under it so she can get inside it. “Need some help?”

“I’ll be fine.” Kaoru answered as she followed after Rotten Core to the room holding the device to deactivate the trap upstairs. The ghoul was about to ask the creepy pony guide a question or two about who was this Hack person was and why she was in this place. That is until moments later  after exiting the air ducts of the Asylum, they came upon a pair of ponies wearing riot gear in front of a steel double door. They both were holding AK-47’s aimed at the entrance. Sour and Kaoru were crouched behind a flipped table.

“Here we are. I’d take them out, but their guns would shoot me dead after I kill the first one.” Rotten Core stated. “If you didn’t notice, I’m close quarters combatant.”

“Right. This shouldn’t be a problem for me.” Reaching for her suitcase from behind herself, Kaoru pressed a red button on the handle of the case as it transformed into a heavy cylinder like buster weapon. “You stay here while I’ll deal with them. Got it?”

“Sure, I should probably eat SC’s treat…” Rotten said, almost uninterested as she sat down and pulled out a candy bar.

Kaoru simply rolled her eyes as she moved from behind the corner they were hiding behind, and started to charge at the two guards blocking the door. As the guard saw the girl making her way towards them, they took aim and started to fire at Kaoru. As the bullets headed toward her, Kaoru used her quinque to block or deflect the oncoming attack as she quickly made her way toward the guards. In a matter of second, Kaoru was close to one of the guards as she brought her weapon up and slammed it into the first guards head. Causing his head to slam right through the window of the door. The guard next to his fallen ally tried his best to shoot at Kaoru, but she soon tossed her weapon at his head which he ducked out of the way. Only for the ghoul to appear in front of him, and delivered and strong uppercut to his chin sending him flying to the ceiling face first as he was now stuck there unconcious.

“You done yet!?”Rotten shouted.

“Rude, but yeah I’m done.” Kaoru said as Rotten Core hopped over the table, and skipped childishly towards the door. Rubbing her hooves on the door in a circular motion. Seconds later after rubbing her hooves on the door, a huge chunk of the door slid off in the shape of a heart.

“Was that really necessary?”

“Does it matter?” Rotten asked coldly, surprising Kaoru with a hollow expression, almost sad looking as she hops through the hole in the door.

“...Why do I always get paired up with crazy ponies?” With a sigh, Kaoru followed after the Rotten Core through the door as they entered a room filled with what she could guest were the patients that Hack was talking about. All of them were ponies that looked less than well in their heads, all behind glass. “This is the room we’re looking for right?”

“Yes. These are actually less of patients and more of test subjects. Unwilling ones at that. I think Sunny said something about a mare who joined the Power Ponies built the building… Silver something…” Rotten Core remarked half heartedly. “Makes ya wonder why they say we’re the villains...”

“Yeah…It kinda does Welp no time to waste just looking. Let’s find the device so we can leave this place.”

“Agreed, and I know who it is already.” Rotten Core stated as she pointed to a pegasus mare with a filthy-looking light blue coat with magenta eyes and curly dusty pink mane. She was rubbing her head, whispering to herself. “Dust Devil, formerly a ‘redeemed’ hero…”

“Formerly? What happen to make her be a former hero?”

“Uh… Sunny said she used her powers for petty theft, but was caught by the Power Ponies on one of their early days. She was later rehabililitanted…” Rotten Core paused at her mess up.

“It’s rehabilitated dumbass…” Hack growled, obviously annoyed at Rotten’s lack of vocabulary.

“Yeah, that.” Rotten chuckled nervously as she continued, “She joined a team that was like parole, doing good acts, that kind of crap. But, rumor has it that the warden of the Zero Zone framed them for murder and terrorism. The entire team was taken back into the Zero Zone ever since, although from the looks of things they transferred the ex-thief here…”

“You think we can get the device out of her without killing her?”

“Not my concern. I’ll rot her entire body if it completes the mission.”

“Adagio, your take on this?”

“Hm...let me have a look at what she looks like.” Kaoru moved her wrist towards the mare behind the glass for Adagio to look at her. “Looking over her, the device is in her left hoof. You can cut it off seeing how it’s pretty infected. It’s a bit of a surprise that it hasn’t spread to the rest of her body. I’ll have Moondancer bring her in so we can help her as best as we can.”

“Well that answers my question.” Kaoru said as she looked over at Rotten Core. “I’ll give you the device if you don’t kill her afterwards. Agreed?”

“Either way, I’m getting it. I kill her, I get the device…But I don’t feel like fighting you.” Rotten Core shrugged, before making an entrance for herself to enter the glass room the mare was in. She then walked over to the pony and knocked the mare out her back leg. She then stomping on the infected hoof, as a mix of blood, pus, and damage tissue spewed out of the now opened wound. Rotten Core picked up a small circular glass with tiny electronics covering the inside of it out of the scattered flesh with her mouth.

“Well I was gonna use some knockout gas and cut her leg off, but I guess that will do. So what do we do with the device?” Rotten said nothing for a moment as put put the device in a pocket on in her suit. After putting the device away, she then put on a mask over her face and placing yellow goggles over her eyes.

“Why do you need to know? Look, you should probably help out the bleeding mare who just lost a hoof. That’s what you heroes do, right?”

“Technically we’re anti-villains. Where the good guy leave the bad guys in jail, we kill them so they don’t come back up.” The ghoul said as she walked over to the knocked out mare, pulled off a piece of her coat, and tied it onto the mares arm. “Moondancer will get her out of here. Now then, I believe I have a woman to go save who is trapped inside of the chapel upstairs.”

“Okay, Sunny probably already hacked into the device. An before you ask, ‘Hack’ can’t hack into anything surrounded by blood or flesh in general.” Rotten said, before giving Kaoru a mock  salute. “Later killer, haha!” She said as she galloped away down the hall and out of Kaoru’s sight.

“... After this mission, I’m going to take a break from all this nonsense for a while.” Kaoru said as she moved from inside the glass room of the knocked out mare, and started to making her way to the chapel.