//------------------------------// // Plan Of Attack // Story: Days in the Mind of One that is Great and Powerful // by The REAL Mister Pkmn //------------------------------// After they all heard Maestro’s explanation, Trixie asked a question. “So, your… dark half was taken? How are we supposed to get him back?” Maestro looked off into the distance and sighed deeply. “I’m… unsure. It still puzzles me how he was even removed. I mean, Nightmare entities can be extracted and exterminated easily enough, but Cacophony Chromium is far different from a simple entity. He’s been inside my head since I anthrofied, and he always felt like his own person. Since Jet works for Starlight, it’s likely that they’ll try and give him what Cacophony has always wanted: a body of his own.” Maestro shook his head. “No matter what, we can’t allow that. He’s dangerously unstable without me keeping him in check. I always had some inkling that you guys might have to snap me out of his mindset one day, but this is different from that. We need a plan to deal with this. Any suggestions? ‘Cause I’m all ears.” Before any suggestions were made, Ayumi asked the smart question. “You know him best, so you should let us know what to expect concerning him. We can’t plan unless we know what we’re dealing with.” A nod from Maestro, and he sighed. “Right. I guess there are a few things to go over. He and I have different methodologies when it comes to getting things done. I carefully plan things out and can adapt on the fly when necessary. Cacophony, on the other hand, is more sporadic. He switches between plans and just winging it on a dime, like a pendulum. He has pretty much the same capabilities as I do, but he doesn’t really like to hold back. It’s hard to really put him at a true disadvantage when you consider how unpredictable he can be. I think that’s about everything that’s relevant to the matter at hand.” He looked around the group. “Any questions?” The consensus seemed to be that there were no questions to be had. They decided to toss around a few ideas to hash out what could work. It was then that Gearbox put his idea out there. “It’s a longshot, but it might just work. Maestro, did you manage to siphon some of the antimagic?” Maestro shook his head. “No dice, I’m afraid. The antimagic cut off all power to my enchantments. The little flaw that siphons away magic couldn’t do anything because that was turned off, too. We’re going to have to approach this differently.” “Well that’s why I’ve been working on this,” Ayumi said as she pulled out a leather-bound book with a black five-leaf clover on the cover “This is a replica of the antimagic grimoire wielded by Asta in black clover including the daemon dweller sword.” Ayumi opened the book with a black mist “I’ve been training on how to use it’s antimagic swords without harming myself and have yet to master it to the point where I can access black daemon mode, but it should be enough to nullify anything Starlight throws at us, or whoever has Doc Jones void energy.” Maestro considered it for a moment and reached out his hand. “May I see that for a moment?” Ayumi handed it over, and Maestro weighed it in his hand. “Hmm. Powerful stuff, this book. This might be a bit risky, though. Something about it just… rubs me the wrong way.” He handed it back to Ayumi and sighed. “We’ll keep that as a back-up plan. The risks from using it should relegate it to last-resort status, but we don’t have many ideas at this point. Anyone else have an idea?” A murmur went through the crowd as they tossed around some more ideas. At first, nothing seemed to really be all that good. But then Chessmaster proposed his idea. “We’ll split into teams. One to distract Starlight, the other to sneak in. But we’ll need a bit of an edge… something they’re not expecting.” His gaze turned to Natalie. “Have you gotten the email from Mr. Deon yet?” Natalie nodded. “I have, but… I haven’t touched it. Should I? I’m uncertain…” Briana shook her head. “Not just yet. We need that as our surprise. You’ll open it to anthrofy once we get inside. That should give us the edge we need to take back Cacophony.” She looked at Maestro. “What do you think? Is it a good plan?” Silence fell as Maestro considered it. It was a bit risky, seeing as they really had no clue as to what Natalie would become. It was a wildcard gamble, but not as potentially dangerous as using the antimagic book. And so, he nodded. “It’s a good base. I’ll be part of the infiltrator team. I have to be there to try and reason with Cacophony, seeing as I know him best.” He looked around at everyone else. “Each of you must consider which team you back carefully. This is a delicate operation.” “If I may?” a male voice asked, “I think we should bring Nightmare Moon in on this.” Spike said “If Cacophony is as powerful as you say, we may need a very heavy hitter besides Ayumi. And since Nightmare is able to use lunar magic to purify or seal certain things away her powers could be useful.” “That’s my mother Spike.” Ayumi said “I want her as far from the fight as possible,” Ayumi sighed “But you’re right. Even at my strongest, I’m only one pony. I’ll try to get her in on this but if she gets hurt remember what I can do in a rage.” At the mention of Nightmare Moon, Janice looked a bit concerned. “Should we really enlist her help? I mean, I know this isn’t the same one we know. But… isn’t she too much of a loose cannon?” Maestro shook his head. “She may be, but she’s not necessary.” He held the platinum locket around his neck. “Remember what these can do. By activating its magic locked inside, I and my relatives can obtain a temporary power boost. Used strategically, we can do this without Nightmare Moon.” He glared a bit at Spike. “Besides. I don’t want Cacophony sealed away in anywhere but my head. If he was purified somehow, that darkness would have to go somewhere. I’d rather not risk that going somewhere that I can’t control.” Prism sighed heavily. “Don’t be so harsh on him, dad. He’s just trying to help.” Maestro rubbed his forehead. “Alright. So we’ve got a plan. I still need people to show which team they’re on. Who’s infiltrating with me?” As expected Sarah, Chessmaster, Janice, Phantom, Natalie, Prism, and Trixie and her friends all raised their hands. Maestro nodded. “That means that Twilight and her pals, Ayumi, Serine, Alex, Gearbox, Spike, and the rest can be the distraction team. We need to coordinate our efforts, though. Chess will guide us to the Castle, and then we’ll split into the two teams from there. Any objections?” A long series of shaking heads was the response. Just as they were going to go over a few more points, “Slieghthand” arrived from the east. “Guys? We have a problem.” He looked around the group, a grim look on his face. “It’s come to my attention that a Tirek anthro has been rumored to be siphoning magic from anthos around the world. The signs were first seen in some smaller countries but ultimately overlooked. However, the most recent attack was in East Africa. He’s making his way to Australia.” He sighed. “Put on hold your plans. We’ll have to get ready to strike back when this anthro arrives here.” Maestro pinched the bridge of his nose. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another!” He let out a huff as he nodded. “I did not see Tirek’s attack here happening until a bit later, but it seems he’s grown impatient. Well, we’ll have to deal with this first. It’s a far more pressing issue, as it stands.” He looked towards Twilight. “Actually, you and your friends can handle it on your own, right?” At her nod, he sighed with relief. “Alright. We can still tackle both then. Just a few adjustments need to made to the plan, but it can still work.” His attention shifted back to “Sleighthand”. “You. Get your buddies, and help us out. But leave ‘Renddown’ out of this. I don’t trust her.” “Guess I can test the antimagic blades on Tirek” Ayumi said “I’m not letting my little sister go up against that beast on her own.” Setting that aside for a moment, “Sleighthand” questioned Maestro. “Why don’t you trust Renddown? I mean, she’s…” He shook his head. “Nevermind. But why don’t you trust her?” A sigh escaped Maestro as he clutched his chest. “Something about her feels fake. I trust my instincts on this one. I say she’s playing all of you for fools.” “Sleighthand” gasped. “I’ve known Renddown since childhood! She’d never do that to us!” Maestro huffed, pointing harshly at him. “Listen, loverboy. I say that she’s a sham. I may not have access to my future sight at the moment, but all the alarm bells are going off when it concerns her. She’s only trouble, trust me.” Anger and venom seeped into “Sleighthand”’s response. “You take that back! My Rendy would never betray us! I trust her with my life!” Maestro was about to refute him, but sighed. “We don’t have time to argue, kid. We’re wasting time. Just grab your pals and meet us at Starlight’s Castle. But if you bring ‘Renddown’, don’t say I didn’t warn you when she turns on us.”  “Sleighthand” was about to respond when “Frigid” flew in from the east. “Sleighthand. We’ve got a situation. Renddown has been captured by Jet.” Shock set in on “Sleighthand”’s face. “What? But how? I sent her off with Catseye and Mystquake! She should’ve been fine!” “Frigid” shrugged her shoulders. “It’s uncertain how at the moment, but when I arrived, both Catseye and your brother were barely conscious, and they relayed what they recalled. They said that they’d been overpowered by Jet, and that they only barely caught a glimpse of him leaving with Renddown.” Maestro shook his head. “Suspicious, if you ask me. I say she set it up to look like that. She’s working with Starlight. I can feel it.” This time, Janice cut in. “Bro, are you sure? It seems that Sleight has an awful lot of faith in Renddown. Couldn’t you possibly be mistaken?” Another shake of the head. “Not this time.” He glared at “Sleighthand”. “Let’s go. Your ‘girlfriend’ has some explaining to do.” At the g-word, “Sleighthand” blushed a bit. “W-well, she’s not my… not yet, anyway, and…” he shook his head. “That’s aside from the point. You’ll see how wrong you are! I’m coming with you inside the Castle! The rest of my friends can help with the distraction. Once inside, then you’ll have to take back what you said!” Maestro rolled his eyes. “Sure, whatever kid. Just get it all ready, and meet me there.” He beckoned to the others. “Let’s go. We’ve got preparations to make.” As “Slighthand” and “Frigid” went off to make preparations, the others followed Chessmaster to the Outback, where they could see the Castle. It was made out of obsidian with platinum accents. Chessmaster pulled out a map of the area, and started marking a few things down. “The front door of the Castle is where they’ll expect us, and it’s the most heavily guarded. Our distraction team will go there, and destroy the many traps in the area. This should get Starlight to send a good portion of her hired goons to deal with the issue. The rest of us will sneak in using Trixie’s illusion magic to hide us from detection. Once inside, we’ll have to be on high alert. She‘ll have some pretty hefty security. We attack tomorrow.” They all seemed to agree, and went to their homes for the night.