Two motorcycles roared through the English countryside. One, a Kawasaki in the signature green, was being driven by a woman in a green and black bodysuit and a black helmet with a green visor. The other bike, a sleek purple Honda, was driven by a girl in a short-sleeved purple crop top, black cargo pants, and fingerless gloves, wearing a purple helmet.
A headset built into her helmet crackled to life. "So why'd you drag me all the way to England again? Not that I mind the excuse to get away from my brothers."
"Ron has his own mission," she replied. "We got both hits at the same time. He's headed to Tibet to fight Monkey Fist. Yori's meeting him on the way."
"And you're okay with that?"
"It's Monkey Fist. He's really more Ron's nemesis than mine anyway."
"No, the Yori thing."
"Oh, totally! Yori knows the score. I'm so not jealous. Not anymore."
"Uh-huh. Okay, so the goof's dealing with the evolutionary backwash, but that doesn't explain why you dragged me to England."
"Killigan and DNAmy. Stonehenge. Don't know what they're up to, but it can't be good. Didn't wanna go in without backup."
"Didn't Killigan retire a few months ago?"
"Eh, that rich jerk with the bad hair bragged about American golf courses being better than Scottish golf courses and tried to prove it by building one in Scotland."
"Ooh, bet Killigan didn't like that."
"Nope! He's been on a rampage ever since."
"And now he's teamed up with everybody's least favorite monster maker," Shego summed up. "Wonderful."
"Yep." Kim Possible gunned her bike forward. "We're almost there."
"Race ya!" Shego's bike roared ahead.
"SHEGO! TRAFFIC LAWS!"
* * * * *
Ladybug's jaw hung agape, her bluebell eyes wide as she pointed a trembling red-gloved hand at Chat Noir. "A-ADRIEN?!"
Chat Noir sighed. "Claws in," he muttered. Green light traced over his body, replacing his skintight leather catsuit with the street clothes of Adrien Agreste. A tiny black cat-fairy tumbled out of the now-silver ring on his right hand, then flew up and landed on his shoulder.
"Well, that wasn't how I expected this to go down," Plagg said, raising an eyebrow.
Sunset frowned. "You two...didn't know who the other was without the masks...did you?" she asked slowly.
"We weren't supposed to," Ladybug said mechanically. "At least, that's what I was told."
"Yeah, superheroes, secret identities, it's all part of the whole saving the world thing," Adrien said.
Sunset groaned. "Shit," she muttered. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was supposed to be—"
Adrien sighed. "It's cool," he said. "If we're really trapped in another world, the chances of us not finding out at some point before we manage to get back to Paris were pretty slim. I mean, without using Cataclysm or Lucky Charm, we can stay transformed a pretty long time, but sooner or later we'd have needed to rest, recharge..." He shrugged. "Plus, it'd be hard to keep Ladybug from noticing Adrien and Chat Noir are never in the same place at the same time without her getting suspicious."
Ladybug shook her head. "Sorry, I just...I just need a minute." She started pacing. "Adrien is Chat Noir. Adrien is Chat Noir. Adrien is Chat NOIR?!" She threw her hands up. "That's just...HOW?!"
Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Wow. That's...one heck of a reaction."
Adrien frowned as he watched Ladybug rant and rave. "Yeah," he said worriedly. "I...honestly don't know what's bugging her. I mean, I wasn't sure what to expect when I finally let the cat out of the bag, but—"
Ladybug was suddenly in his face. "STOP! PUNNING!" she screeched. "I can't deal with Chat Noir's lame puns coming out of Adrien's adorable face!"
Everyone paused, processing that.
Ladybug blinked rapidly, then covered her mouth.
Adrien's face flushed. "A-adorable...?"
Cadance covered a snicker. "My my!" She sauntered over, appraising the two teens critically. "I see what's going on here," she purred. "The little lady in red has a crush on the catboy's secret identity!"
Principal Cinch snorted. "Come, Cadance. We have more important matters to attend to than some silly teenage love triangle." She turned and marched toward the school. "I expect the rest of you to remove yourselves from the premises immediately!"
"Gee, you're welcome," Tenten said thinly, glaring at her.
Cadance cleared her throat. "Actually, Principal Cinch, I'm leaving with this group," she said. "I'm worried about Twilight, so I'm going to go check on her. Plus, it'd help to find out more about what's going on so we'll be prepared if we have another...incident like this."
Cinch harrumphed. "Do as you please," she spat.
"What a pleasant woman," Adrien muttered sourly. "You think she was born with a lemon up her butt, or what?"
Sunset laughed. "Dean Cadance, do you have a car? I can only carry one extra on my bike."
"Yeah, I'll take these two," she said, gesturing at Ladybug and Adrien. "Besides, it sounds like they need to work a few things out, and the drive to CHS will give me time to mediate if it gets...weird."
Sunset nodded. "Okay. Tenten, I guess you're with me."
"Works for me," Tenten said. "That bike you ride looks kinda fun!"
"My car's around back in the faculty lot," Cadance said. She blinked, then added, "Umm...I'd probably better get my purse first...maybe try to find a change of clothes..."
Adrien held up a hand. "Hold up," he said. "Before anyone goes anywhere or does anything..." He turned to face Ladybug, his cheeks heating up again. "Look, we can...we can talk about who has a crush on who and what that means...later," he said, "but I need to know two things, and I kinda need to know them right now."
Ladybug nodded hesitantly.
"First: Are you upset that I'm Chat Noir?"
Ladybug frowned. "N-no, not...not upset," she said. "Just...surprised. And a little weirded out because Chat Noir is so completely the opposite of you and it's just..." She threw up her hands. "I mean okay yeah I'm starting to see it a little now but I just need to work this out in my head, you know?"
Adrien nodded. "Okay. The other thing..." He fidgeted uncomfortably, toying with his ring. "W-well...you know who I am now, so..."
"I won't tell anyone when we get back, I promise," Ladybug said hastily.
"Thanks, but....that's not...that's not what I meant," Adrien said. He tilted his head to indicate the Kwami sitting on his shoulder, then tilted his head meaningfully at Ladybug.
"He means lose the mask," Sunset supplied helpfully.
Ladybug blinked. "Oh. O-oh!" She paused. "Umm..." She sighed. "I-I'm not sure," she said. "I mean, once you know who I am, you—"
Adrien took her hands in his and smiled hopefully. "Will know who the beautiful, amazing girl I owe my life to a dozen times over is," he said. "And then we can be an even better team than we already are."
"But...what if you're...I dunno, what if it's a big let-down?" Ladybug asked.
Adrien smirked. "You're Ladybug. How could you ever let me down?"
"If you don't hurry this up, I'll die of boredom and hunger," Plagg grunted from Adrien's shoulder. Adrien casually flicked him with a finger, and he floated above Adrien's head, eyes narrowed.
Ladybug giggled. "W-well...alright..." Swallowing heavily, she shakily said, "S-spots off..."
With a flash of pink light and a swarm of glowing ladybugs, Ladybug was replaced by a short, freckle-faced girl with shiny blue-black hair and nervous bluebell eyes, wearing pink jeans, ballet shoes, a patterned shirt, and a black jacket.
Adrien's eyes lit up. "Marinette," he breathed in a wondering tone.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng ducked her head, raised one hand, and wiggled her fingers. "H-hi," she said.
Adrien broke into a wide grin. "I'm not the least bit surprised," he said breathlessly. He laughed. "Heck, I should've known."
Marinette blinked and looked up. "S-so...you're not disappointed that Ladybug is, well...me?"
"Are you disappointed that I'm Chat Noir?" Adrien countered.
"N-no..." Marinette frowned slightly. "Just...weirded out maybe?" She shook her head. "I mean, it's—"
"Okay, THIS part, you two can hash out in the car on the way to CHS," Cadance interrupted with a smile. "Sunset, we'll see you there."
Sunset nodded and turned to Tenten. "Let's roll."
* * * * *
Once X had found directions to Crystal Prep, he and Brook had set off to rendezvous with the others.
Along the way, they'd gotten...a little sidetracked.
"NESHESHESHESHESHESHE!! How do you like my KUSHAMI-HOU?!"
"I think it's pretty disgusting!" X retorted as he fired off two shots from his X-Buster at their current opponent, who dodged by wobbling unsteadily out of the way.
"Well, this guy's absolutely from my world," Brook said as he readied his sword.
Their opponent was a tall, thin man with square shoulders, large, thick-knuckled hands, and bowed legs. He wore sailcloth breeches, scuffed leather shoes, and a striped blue-and-yellow shirt with a black neckerchief. A matching black bandana was tied around his head; a Jolly Roger on the front depicted a mercury bulb thermometer over crossed bones. Red, bleary eyes stared feverishly at them from over a cold mask.
"You know him?" X asked.
"No, but I can feel it in my bones." Brook paused, then added, "Since I'm only bones."
X sighed. "Right, so—"
The man blocking their path lowered his cold mask, sucked in a deep, wet breath, and coughed up a giant wad of phlegm that sailed at the duo like a fastball. X bit off a curse and slid to the side, firing a quick X-Buster volley; Brook leapt high into the air as the phlegm wad exploded violently, spraying green goop in every direction. "NEEEESHESHESHESHE!!" the man laughed raucously. "You probably want to stop doing that, or you'll get the worst bronchial infection you've ever had in your life! My phlegm bombs are highly infectious!"
Brook landed next to X; both of them stared at their opponent.
"I'm an artificial lifeform," X said. "I can't contract human infections."
"I'm dead and don't have lungs," Brook said.
The man paused, blinking. "Well...I still have my KUSHAMI-HOU!" He reared back and unleashed a massive sneeze; the force of his sneeze created a pressure wave that ripped a groove in the asphalt and sent X and Brook flying. "NEEEEESHESHESHESHESHE! That's what you get for crossing paths with Cold-Mask Fluenz of the Fever Pirates!"
* * * * *
"Ye're TOO LATE, lassies!" Killigan cackled. A quartet of giant mutant gopher-bears loomed over Kim and Shego.
"Okay see this? THIS is why I gave up the hero gig in the first place," Shego said.
"I thought it was because you hated your brothers and started wanting the bad guys to win?" Kim commented.
"Well, yeah, and that," Shego admitted. "But mostly WHOA!" She jumped backward as a gopher-bear charged her, then shot an energy blast into its nose. It roared and backed away, pawing at its face with its massive claws.
"Now as much as Ae'd love ye tae stae an' witness me greatest triumph," Killigan said, "Ae know better than tae give you lasses a chance tae stop me. So, Ae'm simply goin' tae kill ye now an' have done wi' ye! CADDIES!"
The gopher-bears penned Kim and Shego in. They stood back to back, looking for an opening, looking for any way out of their life or death situation...
The grand stones of Stonehenge lit up like strobes all around them, and then everything was gone. Killigan, the gopher-bears, DNAmy, Stonehenge...all gone.
In its place was a well-manicured lawn sprawling before a large school building, with a collection of teenagers staring at them in surprise.
"Well, here's two more," one of them said.
* * * * *
Crystal Prep had turned up a frustrating lack of appropriately-sized clothes to replace Cadance's wardrobe; she'd finally given up on it and decided to get underway. While she was searching the school, Adrien and Marinette compared notes; listening in on their banter, she got the impression that both of them had repeatedly missed obvious clues as to the other's identity.
She'd also picked up on two very obvious crushes that were now blossoming into an absolutely adorable teenage romance.
After her final recourse—Twilight Sparkle's old lab—turned up empty, she sighed. "Well, I hope you two don't mind being chauffered around by a half-naked hula girl," she said, throwing her hands up, "because I can't find anything to wear."
"Oh, crap!" Adrien blurted, smacking his palm against his face. "I'm sorry," he said, shrugging off his jacket and offering it to Cadance. "I was so caught up in the whole secret identity drama, I—"
Cadance waved him off. "It's okay," she said. "I know I'll find something at CHS because one of Twilight's new friends apparently makes ten new outfits at lunch every day."
Adrien frowned. "Well, if you're sure..."
"Makes ten whole new outfits every day?!" Marinette exclaimed, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh! I can't even finish a design for a whole outfit in a day!"
"Don't sell yourself short, I've seen what you're capable of in a crunch," Adrien said. "I mean, that hat you made? The album cover for Jagged Stone?" He smirked and poked her in the nose. "Give yourself some credit for being awesome, Bugaboo."
Marinette pulled a face. "Okay, you acting like Chat Noir without the mask is gonna take some getting used to," she said.
The trio arrived in the parking lot, where Cadance led them to a mid-sized pearl-pink hybrid. "So, why don't you two tell me about your world and this whole superhero thing while we're on the way?" she suggested.
As the teens got into the back, blushing at each other as they buckled their seatbelts, Cadance started the car. "W-well," Marinette said, "one day this supervillain named Hawk Moth showed up in Paris. He has the power to turn people into crazy brainwashed monsters, and..." She shifted awkwardly. "On the first day of school, one of our classmates was turned into a giant stone monster and wrecked the school. When I went home after the attack, I found these earrings sitting in my room."
"And I found this ring sitting in my room," Adrien said.
"The earrings and the ring are magical items called Miraculous," a tiny, chipper voice interjected. Cadance blinked as, in the rear view, a tiny pink fairy creature with huge blue eyes floated between the seats. "Chosen humans use the Miraculous, and Kwami such as myself and Plagg give them the power to transform into superheroes!"
"So basically, we constantly fight villains Hawk Moth unleashes in Paris," Adrien summed up. "An Akumatized person wreaks havoc, Ladybug and I transform and kick butt, Ladybug uses her powers to capture the Akuma, turn the victim back to normal, and fix all the damage, and we go back to our regular lives until the next time." He pursed his lips and glanced at Marinette. "That about cover it?"
"Just about," Marinette agreed. "Only up until now, neither of us knew who the other was without the mask." She ducked her head and blushed. "A-and that's pretty much it."
Cadance frowned as she digested all this. "So this Hawk Moth," she said. "What's he after, and why haven't you gone after him directly yet?"
"We have no idea who he is or where to find him," Adrien said. "As for what he's after..."
"He's after the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous," Tikki said. "If you combine the two, you'll have unimaginable power—power no human being should have. That's what Hawk Moth is after, and I doubt he's planning to use it for anything good."
"So wait," Cadance said as she changed lanes, "this guy's after your powers, but you guys didn't have powers yet when he showed up?"
"Yeah, but the Miraculous are thousands of years old," Marinette said. "I don't know how long they've been around but I know there was a Ladybug in Ancient Egypt and that was five thousand years ago."
"Whoever Hawk Moth is, he knows a lot about the Miraculous," Adrien said. He frowned. "He has one himself, right Plagg?"
"Yeah," Plagg said lazily. "The Butterfly Miraculous. It went missing decades ago. It's how he makes the Akuma. It's not supposed to be used the way he's using it."
"So that's why he was in the book," Adrien muttered distractedly. He failed to notice Marinette tense guiltily at his side.
"So you two are classmates," Cadance said, "and both of you were crushing on each other but you didn't know?"
Both teens' faces burned red. "Y-yeah," Marinette said coyly. "I've had a crush on Adrien for months..."
"I fell in love with Ladybug the first day we fought together," Adrien said, gazing fondly at Marinette.
Marinette ducked away from his gaze, fumbling with her hands in her lap. "Chat Noir's flirting...usually annoys me, but sometimes..." She glanced up at Adrien, a faint smile on her lips. "I...I guess it..." She looked down at her lap again. "I mean, Chat Noir is...is my partner. And friend. And..." She trailed off, giving a small squeak.
Adrien reached over and took her hand. "The day I made friends with Marinette," he said, "was one of the happiest days of my life. I've been sheltered for so long, no friends, no life outside of my father's cold, empty house. Having a real friend, being able to be a real person and not just a product for my father to market..."
"Product?" Cadance interrupted sharply, her eyes turning cold.
"Oh! Not like that," Adrien said hastily. "I'm a model. Father is a top fashion designer, and I have about six photo shoots a week."
"Oh," Cadance said. Her lips pursed with discontent. "Still. At your age, that's..."
"I know," Adrien said with a resigned sigh. "Believe me, I'd quit in a heartbeat if I could. I'd rather be spending my time hanging out with friends, doing stupid things." He looked over at Marinette. "So you really...all this time?"
Marinette nodded. "I...I tried to tell you, but I kept tripping over my own tongue, spazzing out..." She ducked her head, face flaming. "So not the Ladybug you know, huh?"
Adrien chuckled. "The Ladybug I fell in love with is my cute, talented friend Marinette." He blushed again. "Who...I would totally have fallen for by now if I wasn't blinded by my obsession with, well...you." He chuckled. "We're hopeless, aren't we?"
"Y-yeah," Marinette mumbled, giggling uncertainly.
Cadance smiled. "You two are completely adorable," she said.
* * * * *
X and Brook stood over the unconscious form of Cold-Mask Fluenz. X scowled down at him. "So what were you saying about pirates in your world not being criminals?"
Brook sighed. "I said not all pirates are. This idiot obviously is." He shook his head. "What do we do with him? His Sneeze-Sneeze Fruit powers make him too dangerous to just let him wake up and wander off."
X grimaced. "I don't feel right dumping another problem on Sunset's equine friend," he said, "but our options are basically execute him or send him to Equestria where they have better facilities for dealing with this kind of prisoner." He sighed. "Well, I guess we'd better—"
He stopped short as the delayed sound of Brook's sword whooshing through the air registered in his auditory sensors. His eyes widened in shock as Cold-Mask Fluenz's head rolled several feet away from his body.
Brook cleaned his sword on the tail of his tattered coat, then sheathed it. He gazed dispassionately at X. "Right, let's go," he said.
X stared at him. "You just—!"
Brook shrugged. "You said it yourself. Execute him or pass him along like a bad cold. This would've happened to him sooner or later on the Grand Line." He turned and walked away. "Shall we go?"
X scowled. "Tch," he spat. He gave the decapitated pirate one last glance, then took off after Brook, mind whirling with tense, unpleasant thoughts.
* * * * *
Shego sat up, rubbing her head. "Greeeeeeat," she grumbled sourly. "What stupidity did you get me dragged into now, teepee-tits?"
"I have no i—" Kim blinked, then glanced at Shego. "Teepee-tits?"
Shego shrugged. "Hey, you graduated high school, I feel comfortable using more grown-up insults now."
Some good-natured giggling erupted from the crowd of teenaged girls surrounding them. "Heh, teepee-tits," a blue-skinned girl with rainbow hair said.
A yellow-skinned girl with long pink hair covered her mouth. "I'm s-sorry, I sh-shouldn't be laughing, but...it is pretty funny."
Kim frowned and looked at the girls and their pronouncedly round, full busts, then down at herself. Her face turned red. "Okay, not something I ever thought of until exactly this moment," she muttered.
The sound of a motorbike cut through the giggling. As the engine died, two girls dismounted—one buxom with fiery red and gold hair, the other short and lean with brown hair in two round buns. The redhead grimaced. "More new arrivals?" she asked.
Two new boys dropped into view—one wearing a black body stocking, the other tanned, blue-eyed, and lavender-haired with rugged canvas and denim clothing and heavy boots. "Sorry we're late getting back," he said. "We took it slow so we could watch for any new problems."
"Are you okay?" the brown-haired girl asked, rushing up to the lavender-haired boy and examining him.
"H-hai," he said, blushing. "The hospital took care of my, erm...allergic reaction easily."
"Yo, weird people," Shego said loudly, waving a hand over her head. "Yeah, who are you, where are we, what's going on here, start talking or I start blasting."
"Shego!" Kim snapped. "Sorry about her. But...umm...yeah, mind telling us what exactly the sitch is here?"
A lengthy round of introductions and explanations later...
"Well this blows," Shego said, crossing her arms and scowling.
"Yeah, major blowage," Kim agreed. "You're absolutely sure there's no way back?"
"Sorry. We're all kinda stuck here," Miles said. "I mean, it's no picnic for any of us, but right now we gotta wait until the eggheads figure out a way to fix everything, you know?"
A car pulled up to the front of the school, and Cadance, Marinette, and Adrien piled out. Cadance's appearance drew numerous raised eyebrows, but the three new arrivals were quickly introduced to everyone and given a run-down of the situation.
Once everything was explained, Adrien glanced at Marinette. "Do you think your Lucky Charm could—?"
Marinette frowned. "I doubt it," she said. "I mean...well...Tikki?"
Tikki shook her head. "Sorry, Marinette. This is way beyond what the Miraculous can do. Or...well...it's more like it's something I really, really don't want to try to mess with since I've never even heard of magic like this before."
"Yeah, if the locals can fix it, let them fix it," Plagg said. "And if they can't, well..." He shrugged. "You can always just give your ring to Marinette and hope for the best."
"Give my ring...to Marinette?" Adrien asked.
"With both Miraculous, Ladybug would have virtually unlimited power of creation and destruction," Tikki said. "It's...not an idea I like or want to even try, and I still don't know if it'd actually fix all this, but if it's the absolute last resort, we can...we can try it."
"I don't think I want to have that kind of power. Or that kind of pressure." Marinette grimaced. "I agree with Plagg. Let these people handle it since they know what they're doing."
"Great. So what're we supposed to do in the meantime?" Shego asked.
"SUNSET!!"
Everyone turned to see a breathless Sci-Twi rushing out of the school, Starlight Glimmer galloping at her side. As Sci-Twi ran toward the group, Starlight broke for the portal and jumped through.
"Twilight!" Cadance called, rushing over to her. "Are you alright?"
"Dean Cadance!" Twilight shouted with relief. "You're alright! I'm so glad you're..." She trailed off, her cheeks flushing. "...naked," she finished lamely.
Cadance raised an eyebrow. "You're so glad I'm naked? Well, we can have a long talk about that later."
"GAH! No, that's not what I—" Sci-Twi cut off as Cadance started giggling. She stamped a foot, her cheeks puffing up. "OOOOOHHHH...!!"
A round of good-natured snickers and giggles erupted.
"Dean Cadance, that's...quite a bold look for you," Rarity said.
"I like it! Ooh, were you at a luau? Does Crystal Prep have luaus?" Pinkie asked.
"Please don't say the word luau. Or pineapple, or lei, or aloha, or anything Hawaiian," Cadance said with a grimace. "I'll explain later." She coughed. "Rarity, was it? You're the one who does clothes, right? I, uhh...I could actually—"
"Say no more, darling!" Rarity said, rushing for the school. "I've got just the thing in the fashion club room." Cadance followed her at a more sedate pace.
Sunset turned to Sci-Twi. "Twilight, what's wrong? You came tearing out of the school like you were on fire."
"Okay so there might be the teeeeeeeeeniest problem," Sci-Twi said, rocking side to side in place and fidgeting nervously with her hands.
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Really," she said. "Because all of this isn't already a problem."
Sci-Twi adjusted her glasses. "Well, yes, but..." She sighed. "The dimensional flux is multiplexing the phase space."
"Multiplexing the..." Sunset trailed off, blinking. "I...actually have no idea what that means."
"I don't think any of us do," Kim said. "Hi, I'm Kim, by the way."
"Twilight Sparkle," Sci-Twi said absently.
"I think I know what it means," Shego said with a grimace. "Kimmy, remember that time we got whammied into Dr. D.'s cable thingie, and how things got super weird there at the end?"
"Yeah?"
"It's that," Shego said.
"Yikes."
"Okay, and for those of us who have no idea what you're talking about...?" Miles prompted.
Sci-Twi looked around the crowd. "It means we could start seeing incursions of distorted space as the dimensional resonance frequencies intersect at the quantum level," she explained. "Tachyon interference generated by the dimensional instability will layer pockets of other universes onto our own, exponentially increasing the incursions while overwriting sections of our universe with others." She frowned. "Except they'll be, well...echoes." She looked around the group again. "For some of you, they may look like home, or a way back to where you belong. But they won't be. They'll be like..." She trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
"Ghosts of other places?" Trunks suggested.
"That works," Sci-Twi said, nodding. "But these distorted incursions could also deposit foreign contaminants into this dimension en masse, which will make sorting this whole mess out once the other Twilight contains the artifact an even bigger headache."
Shego frowned. "By 'foreign contaminants' you mean people like me, Kimmy, and I assume at least half these other weirdos," she said flatly.
Sci-Twi blinked. "Oh. My gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that to sound so..." She ducked her head.
"It's okay," Kim said soothingly. "Nerds gotta nerd, we get it." She smiled. "More importantly, do you have any recommendations?"
The sky over the school turned a funky shade of reddish-purple, and hundreds of spongy, spiky alien masses of...something...hung suspended in midair. Without warning, an army of identical glowing blue robots, each armed with a pulse rifle, faded into view.
"Alert. Unanticipated dimensional transport has occurred."
"Scanning. The dimension that is the dimension to which we have been transported is a dimension that is unknown to Kraang."
"Improbable. The dimension that is the dimension to which Kraang have been transported resembles the dimension which is known as Earth."
"Unlikely. Quantum state readings in this dimension that is the dimension to which Kraang have been transported do not match the quantum state readings of the dimension which is known as Earth."
"Recommendation. Capture and interrogate the lifeforms that exist in this dimension."
"Agreed. Interrogation of the lifeforms that exist in this dimension will yield information about this dimension that is the dimension to which Kraang have been transported."
The robots trained their rifles on the group.
"I recommend we RUN!" Sci-Twi yelled as she turned and broke for the school.
"Oh snap," Shego said, charging up her fists with a bright green glow. Around her, others sprang to action—Trunks settled into a fighting stance, Miles put his mask on and crouched low, Sunset's hands began glowing with magic. Marinette and Adrien looked at one another and nodded firmly.
"Tikki, spots on!"
"Plagg, claws out!"
The two teens suited up; Ladybug began spinning her yo-yo while Chat Noir extended and spun his staff, deflecting blaster bolts as the robot army opened fire.
"Okay anybody who can't fight on this level, get into the school!" Sunset yelled. "Rainbow Dash, that means you too!"
"Y-yeah...sure...no problem. Don't really wanna tangle with this," Rainbow said. "You heard her, guys!" She began herding her friends toward the building.
"Humans, halt! Surrender and prepare for interrogation and extermination!"
"Screw that!" Miles yelled as he webbed two robots and smashed them into each other, then swung them like a scythe through wheat, knocking down several more.
"Everyone be careful!" Sunset said. "I've gotta protect the portal! If one of those robots destroys it, our only shot at fixing all this is lost!" With that, she fell back and erected a glowing magical shield around the half-broken marble statue.
"Don't worry, we've got this," Miles said. "Err...we do got this, right?"
"We'll know soon enough!" Chat Noir said as he pole-vaulted into the mass of robots, kicking and clawing and swinging and smashing. The robots made odd electronic screeching sounds as they fell like bowling pins.
Ladybug swung her yo-yo in a wide arc, cutting off the hands of several robots. Their pulse rifles clattered to the ground. Tenten ducked low under the barrage of blaster bolts, scooped up two rifles, rolled into a crouch, and opened fire. Chat Noir landed next to her. "I thought you were a ninja?" he asked.
"I'm a ninja who's running low on ninja tools," Tenten said as she blasted away at the robots. "Besides, only an idiot ignores the best weapon available in a battle like this."
"Fair enough."
Trunks, meanwhile, was hurling low-powered ki blasts which caused each robot struck to explode violently, spraying biomechanical shrapnel in every direction. Each time a robot exploded, a small, wrinkly, rubbery pink creature resembling a brain with tentacles would scurry away, screeching.
"Gorchy," Kim muttered, shuddering as a brain scuttled past her while she was busy disarming a robot. "Uhh, guys? I think these robots are like, vehicles for these brain thingies..."
"No, really?" Shego retorted archly as she melted the head of a robot with her green glow, then snatched the brain from its torso and drop-kicked it across the campus.
"Alert! Resistance encountered! Forces diminishing!"
"Attempting to summon backup forces! Receiving a response to distress signal from Kraang! Additional Kraang units responding!"
Several wedge-shaped pink portals opened all around them, and a phalanx of Kraang droids marched out of each.
"This is a cat-astrophe!" Chat Noir said as he landed in front of Ladybug.
"Tch...!" Trunks growled. "I'm still weak from that stupid pineapple allergy! I'm gonna have to go hand-to-hand..."
"How are they summoning reinforcements?" Shego wondered. "I thought you said this whole cross-universe whammy was one-way?"
"I don't have all the answers!" Sunset shouted back from where she strained to keep her forcefield up. "We can worry about it later! Right now, you guys need to—" Several blaster shots struck her forcefield, and she dropped to her knees, grunting and squeezing her eyes shut.
"SUNSET!" Starlight Glimmer reappeared at her side, eyes wide in alarm as she took in the forcefield, Sunset's strained condition, and the war waging all around them. "What in the name of Celestia—?"
"Starlight...help me protect the portal..." Sunset grunted through gritted teeth.
"No worries! I've got this, you rest up!" Starlight's horn lit up, and Sunset's wavering forcefield was replaced with a brilliant blue-white shield that was practically solid. Blaster bolts bounced harmlessly off it, shooting off into the sky like fireworks.
"Thanks," Sunset said hoarsely as she slumped to the ground.
"There's...too many of them," Miles said as he helped himself to a Kraang rifle and started opening fire even as he dodged their blasts with his spider agility. "Where the hell is X?"
"I don't know," Trunks said as he rammed his fist through a Kraang droid. "But we could definitely use some help..."
A zipper appeared in midair, opening with an unnaturally loud sound. In a whirl of cherry blossom petals, a young Japanese man in a blue and white parka roared through the open zipper on a bright pink sakura-themed motorcycle. The bike knocked down two Kraang droids before drifting to a stop, its rider jumping off. He looked around, scowled, and reached into his parka, removing a broad, shiny black device which he slapped against his waist. A belt snapped into place around his body, holding the device in place.
Next, he produced a strange-looking padlock with a shiny orange front, which he raised in front of his face. The orange lock glowed briefly as he said a single word:
The lock unlocked with a loud clack, and a voice spoke from nowhere:
ORANGE!
Another zipper opened in the air above him, and a giant, shiny metal orange slowly descended from the unzipped crack in the sky. The man went through a series of elaborate, whooshing arm poses with the orange lock, then clicked it into place on a notch on his belt buckle, where the open lock top easily slotted into a matching hole. The front flashed once, a bright pulse of orange light.
LOCK ON!
A lever that looked like a toy fruit knife sat to the side of the padlock; the man gave the lever a twist, and the front of the orange lock fell open on a hidden hinge, revealing what looked like a sliced orange on the inside.
ORANGE ARMS!
His body glowed brightly, and a blue and gold bodysuit formed in place of his clothes. He spread his arms out low to his sides as the descending orange enveloped his head; it split apart as though being peeled, its segments forming shiny orange armor over his chest, back, and shoulders. His head was now covered in a blue helmet with an orange visor that resembled an orange wedge, a silver faceplate engraved with a grasshopper-like mouth, and a crescent moon crest upon his brow. He unsheathed a black straight sword from his hip; in his other hand, he held a curved-bladed sword which, in line with the bizarre fruit motif of his armor, looked like an oversized orange slice.
Hanamichi! ON STAGE!