"Sir! Subjects spotted!" shouted the helmeted wingpony to Shell's left.
Shell accelerated his glider, diving towards the fresh hole blasted open in the middle of the street. As he descended upon the site, a brown figure could be seen leaping down.
"They're headed underground..."
"Sir, if they gain access to Blue Nova's old sewer system—"
"Fire a gas grenade!" Shell shouted.
The managlider to his right obeyed, and a screaming missile flew ahead of them on a burst of mana. It flew straight towards the hole, its thrusters preparing to guide the weapon down.
Just then, the air above the wrecked street tingled with magical energy. A beam of light shot up from below, and chunks of rock exploded through the surface of the street, covering up the ragged passageway like an old wound.
Shell's good eye twitched.
The missile struck pure asphalt, exploding in a gaseous plume of dark green smoke.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Shell shouted, already pulling up on his controls. Him and the managlider to his left successfully flew over the cloud. The wingponies to his right were less lucky. In the middle of veering, their craft scraped a pair of roadsigns, and they plunged into a rattling stop atop the pavement, spitting sparks and fragments of burning metal across the sidewalk.
Up above, an entire backup squadron of Ledomaritan hovercraft screeched to a halt. Shell pulled his vehicle up into a hover and gazed down at the scene. In one swift movement, he pulled out a gas mask and unbuckled his harness. Diving, the stallion fell five full stories, landing in a cushioning blast of telekinesis. The gas parted around him as he caught his bearings, and galloped straight into the thick of the cloud. He went straight past the mess in the street and rushed to the collapsed managliders. Two enforcers were sprawled over the sidewalk, wheezing and coughing violently. With a tug of mana, Shell swiftly levitated the pair and pulled them back out of the hazy mess.
By the time he emerged, a trio of larger escort ships were hovering down, using their thrusters to blow away the effects of the gas grenade. A pair of soldiers descended down on ropes and quickly tended to the oxygen-starved wingponies.
This left Shell standing, peeling off his gas mask as he flung a hardened glare to the hole that had been blocked off just seconds before they could arrive.
Another soldier trotted up, panting for breath. "Sir! No sign of any of the suspects in the adjacent streets! They must have all descended into the old city's sewers!"
Shell took a deep breath and said, "Yes, they most certainly have."
"What are our instructions now, sir?"
"Now..." Shell flung his gas mask down and spun to face his fellow soldiers. "We dig. Send a message to Prime Enforcer Evans! We need to confiscate the nearest factory's supply of mana drills! Immediately!"
I just finished reading the one before. And then this! Wonderful!
Screaming.
And Shell once more stops to save his soldiers. Damn you, Shell, why can't you just be pure evil?
Shell somehow manages to become more and more insane while remaining completely in character.
Because truly evil people think they're doing it for good reasons. Hollywood is a lie.
You have to give him credit. At least Shell somewhat cares for his soldiers.
I wonder at what point Shell just becomes too frustrated with his chase. Every time he gets close, his quarry slips away. When he barely manages to catch them, they all escape. He's been single-mindedly pursuing the group for over two hundred chapters, and he's not playing some kind of long game a la CIA tracking bin Laden. The group hasn't been keeping their heads down or anything, they've been actively causing trouble and always just out of reach. How much longer until Shell loses his mind (more so than he already has)?
When you start making drills in Ledomare you know what you signed up for.
Love the last two chapters. I enjoy when crazy Shell takes care of his troops.
"his"
2844553Hollywood is cake.
I still hate Shell but I gotta admit that was pretty cool...
2845472
Exactly what I had in mind
2844628
Oh, he cares for them alright. He may be insane and more than a little pissed off at our heroes/heroines, but he's not completely heartless to those on his side.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..........
Still, he can sit on it and rotate like a fucking power drill for all I care.
I am now imagining Shell inside a giant mech, screaming "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?"
God, Tengen Toppa is ridiculous.
2845603 you just made Shell's figurine extremely clear to me.
2845603
SOMEPONY WHO NEEDS HIS FLANK KICKED, Rainbow yelled, atomic rainbooming his ass.
Twice.
2845684
Yes. A pony with a drill on a necklace and some really cool shades.
For all the fact I hate Shell, I gotta give him credit - he knows his limits, he plays right up to the edge, kicks a LOT of ass, and he doesn't let himself get intimidated by almost anything in the name of achieving his goals. They may be bad goals, but holy hannah. He's a master of getting what he wants by hook or by crook.
And I regain a bit of my lost respect for Shell, because even though he's an evil dickbiscuit, he still somewhat cares about the men under his command.
It's a drop in the bucket.
Every now and then, Shell does something kind of honorable and makes me want to respect him a smidge. Then I remember he's still a ruthless sonuvabitch and the world would be a better place without him. Of course, you gotte give him points for style.
Also, I normally don't bother with spelling and grammar corrections for this story, because I read it for the fun of it, but this stood out to me:
Should be "he", for the subjective case.
Only drilling? Shell, I am disappoint. You can just shoot at the spot over and over again with your managliders until the explosions clear a path for you!
SHIT BE FLYIN' YO!
2844684 "Yes, my queen! This isn't what it looks like. You see, about the giant holes we drilled in the streets everywhere - there was this lady and she got scared of that rat, and the rat escaped into the sewers and she told me to hunt it and you know that we are here to serve all citizens, so I thought... well, yes, about the gas grenades, we thought that there might be more of 'em, so to make sure that we got them all we flooded the sewers with gas - now I know that that stuff got into some families' homes too, but I blame that imbecile Evans for that. Yes, we bombed the city after that, but you see, the infestation was really bad and let's be honest here - if no one in Blue Shelf is left alive, no one is afraid of any rats either, right? Right?"
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1831-twil.gif
Is it a bad thing that I kept thinking of fart jokes during the whole gas bomb scene?
Also, Shell saving his men from certain doom rather than kicking them down its gullet? Is it weird that this makes him seem even more dangerous? He's supposed to be cracking under the pressure by now, not gathering his sanity and the continued loyalty of his followers!
Shell: We need to go deeper!
IIIIIt's Dashie's 12th Marathon Evaluation Time!!!!!!!!!!
If it's even possible, Shell seems even more determined to catch Rainbow and co. than before. I imagine that not only will he not allow himself to lose them again, the Council of Ledo won't allow him to do so. I'm only speculating, but...will the Rainbow vs. Shell final showdown take place in Blue Nova? These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. THIS IS IT.I will complete this, no matter the cost.
P.S.S.
2845603
2934470
dashie's 12th marithon is a go, evaluate when ready
P.S that video you posted remindid me of super smash bro's on the game cube
(at least i think its super smash bro's)
If Shell wasn't such an obsessive, insane bastard I would've given him major credit for saving those two ponies. As he is what he is, it just makes him a more interesting villain.
Smells like pony spirit.
*EPIC GUITAR JAM*
2845323 Yeah, I agree completely.
Shell cares for his soldiers. Also, you guys are running out of time! Go go go!
-Spirit
Shell suddenly has a conscience.
That sewer must smell like pony spirit
Not this time, Shell. Not this time!
Wait, when did Evans get promoted to Prime Enforcer? Or was he always one? I thought he was jut a normal Enforcer.
At this rate, EVERYONE is going to be wanting to screw over the prime enforcer.
6295608
I believe that Evans was part of something else. Like he was stationed in the Capitol or something. I think I remember when we met Evans, he had not faced battle against the Xonans?
Fuck you shell. Fuck, you~