//------------------------------// // Invasion! Part 2 // Story: A Traveling Dreemurr Teams Up with the Fastest Man Alive // by jjb0420 //------------------------------// “Are you sure you’re not coming to Star City?” Asks Barry. “We’re dealing with an alien threat that has outsmarted us, killed the president, and kidnapped our friends. If we want to get this done, we might need some extra help.” “Fine, okay. Just..........be careful. We don’t need more problems than we already have.” Cisco then comes in, and they run off. I sit down, waiting for Riolu and Lightmare to finish up. I’m currently inside the Cortex, and we’re about to do something big. Lightmare comes in. “I assume Barry and Cisco are gone?” “Just left for Star City. Felicity left awhile ago, they’ll arrive at the same time.” “And you didn’t tell him the other reason for this?” “They have problems of their own. Besides, I might be wrong. Still..................I sense a presence I’ve felt only once before. If it’s as I fear, then we’ll need all the help we can get.” Riolu walks in. “Okay..........we’re all here. But what exactly are we doing?” I pull out three scented candles, and place them on the ground. “I learned this trick from the Paternoster Gang, clever bunch. These candles are laced in a soporific, Which emits a unique scent that puts the breather into a dreamlike trance. If I got it all right, the ones we’re attempting to contact will join us soon after.” I snap my fingers, lighting the wicks and creating barriers on the exits. “So we can’t be interrupted. Now............take a seat.” They skeptically pull chairs over, and sit down near the candles. “Now............close your eyes.........and breath in.” We all do so, and fall asleep within seconds. We open our eyes to a round table in Grillbys, with eight chairs. “Wow.” “Impressive, eh? When the Paternoster Gang first showed me this trick, I appeared in the Taj Mahal. I thought Grillbys would be more suited to a casual, yet serious conversation.” Right then, Sans and Obsidian appear in puffs of smoke, in chairs opposite to me. Sans spots me. “oh, hey kid. ‘sup?” “And where exactly are we?” “I’d prefer to explain everything once........all the guests have arrived, so to speak. Consider this place as a conference call. Now, would anyone like drinks?” Right as I say that, everyone’s preferred drinks appear on the table. “Sans?” Asks Lightmare. They look at her. “What’s going on in Equestria?” “a lot has happened, you guys left three months ago our time. for starters, faust was furious that celestia came over, and nearly killed everyone. hehehe! ya should’ve seen the conversation them and tori had!” he grabs a bottle of ketchup and takes a drink. “just saw the dragon migration.” Right then, the Architect appears next to Riolu. “What the.........?” he spots me. “So, it was your doing?” “How do you remember us? The timelines were out of sync.” “I decided to start recording such incidents after what happened with the Master. I don’t physically have the original memories, but the TARDIS has it all stored as a backup.” “Is that everyone? Because I would like to get started,” says Lightmare, taking a sip of cider. “Not yet. Count the chairs.” They all look. “I specifically made eight, because we’re going to be introducing two people to the group.” “who are they kid?” “You’ll see. If I got my letters right, he should be showing up...........” A certain white humanoid wolf appears next to me. “Now.” “W-Where am I?” He turns and sees me. “Asriel?” “Nice to see you again, Ayo Kub. How is Jason doing?” “The spell worked! Rainbow Dash is back alive!” “Oh thank goodness, I was afraid she had perished for good,” says Lightmare. He looks between us. “Who is she? And what is this place?” “Introductions have to wait. As for where we are..............where in a shared dream state. Space and time travel has always been possible in dreams, this was just the next big step.” “especially since you’re involved kid. you’ve proven it’s possible before.” “Indeed. Fair warning though, no one attack our last guest................no matter her appearance. Pinkie promise.” They all wince at the fact that I know this, then nod. “Cross my heart and.....” “Hope to......” “fly, stick a...” “Cupcake in my eye!” I nod, and stare at the chair as a puff of smoke appears. “I’m glad you accepted my invitation.” “I-I wanted to......meet your friends.” “wait.............I recognize that voice.” Slowly the smoke clears, revealing a small girl in a pink and purple sweater, black boots, and brown hair with pink highlights. She looks up to show pink eyes. Obsidian, Sans and the Architect stand up, and I put up a hand. “Wait.” “i’m done waiting. this is the girl that killed an alternate version of me, helped out Sombra, and broke the walls between worlds!” She runs and hides behind me, and I put a hand on my face. “This isn’t the same one. I believe introductions are in order, so sit down.” He looks between me, and her. “fine. but you have explaining to do.” The three sit down, and she slowly walks back to her seat. “Now, you all know me, so we can skip that. This...........” I gesture to her. “Is Betê Noire, of a very special AU. One that I like to call, X-Glitch.” “X-Glitch? As in X-Tale?” Asks Obsidian. “Sort of. So called because not only was it a Glitchtale timeline, but it’s so empty, so................terrible, no dimension hopper had ever traveled there. Basically Glitchtale, same people same, events..............except for one, crucial difference.” “Let me hypothesize. Chara had created the ERASE button before Sans and the others could stop her and..........they were more than happy to use it,” says the Architect. “Yep. The timeline was ERASEd. But Betty had awoken somehow. The ERASE button was targeted towards the timeline, Humans, and Monsters, so she didn’t get ERASEd like everyone else. But since Monsters hadn’t been freed, she never got activated, her...............purpose, was never forced on her. She’s just a kind, scared, blank slate. Kind of like Nyx, in a way. Problem was, everyone else was gone................it was just her, in a white void with no one to comfort her. Alone...............unwanted...........unknown. Until I found her, that is.” “Why didn’t you tell us?” Asks Lightmare. “I wasn’t sure of how you would respond. Architect, Sans, you already know Ayo Kub. Everyone else, this a friend of mine, who was created when we first went to Jason’s Equestria. Fast, good tracker, and great with survival skills. Fair warning though, he has sharp claws, and a feral alter ego.” I then gesture to Sans. “The skeleton is Sans, as in the font. He’s a monster like me, with the unique ability to teleport, and remember past RESETs.” “What about the man in the hood and glasses?” “He is the Architect, a Time Lord from Gallifrey. He was originally called the Doctor, but...............” “But I was tired, and angry of all the people who died in my name. Simply put, I got red in my ledger, so I got rid of it. I broke the promise, abandoned that name. Rather than the man who makes people better, I am now the man who helps build the good................and protect it.” “He’s good with technology, and incredibly smart. He also has the ability to regenerate.” “What’s regeneration?” “It’s a biological process Time Lords can do. In laymans terms, it’s a neat little trick to cheat death.” “The black humanoid next to Sans is Obsidian, a species of living gemstones and rocks called Gems. He’s an experimental fusion of obsidian Gems called a Cluster-gem, capable of copying gem weapons and abilities. Quite the powerhouse, if I say so myself.” “Asriel, you still haven’t told us about the two next to you.” “Right, sorry.” I gesture to Lightmare. “This is Lightmare. She might appear human, but she’s actually a species called a pony. More accurately, a pegasus, siren hybrid. A long time ago, she was a student under an alicorn, named Celestia. That all changed when she was corrupted by an evil mare, named Nightmare Moon.” “I became her top advisor, and soldier...............but I was SAVEd. That corruption left me with two things. The sirens magical voice, and the power to become that Mare as a last resort.” “The last is Riolu, a human turned Pokémon with unique traits. Ayo Kub, your not the only one with some...............feral tendencies. His last resort ability can get out of hand if used for too long, but has great power.” “now that everyone knows each other, can we get started?” I nod, and snap my fingers. Dust and smoke gather to form above the table, and form the image of a Dominator. “These are called the Dominators. Aliens of unknown planetary origin, but are attacking Earth, of the Arrowverse.” “Whats so special about them?” “Aside from incredible strength, and weird sci-fi tech? They mind controlled a bunch of our friends over here, and made them fight us,” says Lightmare. “Including a Kryptonian. And not much affects them.” Everyone shows slight wariness. “I assume something recently happened, if you decided to form this call.” “They kidnapped several people helping out, five hours ago.” They all gape at me. Sans closes his eyesockets. ”i know you kid. ya wouldn’t have called us, just ‘cause of some aliens.” “Indeed..............which brings me.........” I snap again, the dust condensing into an energy pattern. “This.” Sans, and the Architect slowly stand up as the reading fluctuates rapidly. “Where did you get this?” “Several hours after we left Equestria, I started sensing............something. After the team left to rescue the president, I went to S.T.A.R. Labs to get a reading. This, is a live feed of that reading.” Lightmare turns to me. “You said you were going to the speed lab.” I turn to her. “I lied, because I didn’t understand it...............still, don’t understand. And if I didn’t, I doubt Barry would’ve.” I turn back to the two. “What do you make of this?” “It’s very high, for one...............hell, it’s off the scale!” “and it looks............i don’t know how to describe it.” “It looks familiar, doesn’t it? It felt like I felt it before.” Lightmare puts a hand to her chin, then her eyes widen. “Asriel, convert that signature to an audio file.” I look between her, and the energy reading. I skeptically snap, manipulating the reading into an audio file for us to hear. What we hear, none of us expected. I turn my head shakily to her. “H-How.........?” “To better control my voice, I learned everything I could about sound, and different frequencies. And if I learned anything from those books, is certain sound frequencies can form patterns, I’m good with spectrograms!” “kid..........if this is correct, and the signature you sensed is this.............” “H-He’s here. In the Arrowverse.” “Who?” I slowly turn to her. “No one knows his true name. Last we saw him though, he called himself..................Infinite.” The dreamscape shakes. “What was that?!” I look up, and smack my forehead. “Azzy you flipping idiot! Of course that wouldn’t hold against them, they controlled a Kryptonian for gods sake!” “What’s going on?” Asks Ayo Kub. I turn to them. “The Dominators, or something else are attacking the three of us, it’s destabilizing the dreamscape!” I turn to them all. “We’re gonna wake up soon, so I need to be quick. If you wanna help out, a package will show up next to you when you wake up. Inside will be a teleport device, it’ll send you straight to us!” Everything shakes rapidly. “We’re all waking up, bye!” Everyone vanishes, and the dreamscape dissolves away. Right as we wake up, an energy wave goes out, and we get flung into the nearby wall. As we land on the ground, I look around and spot Barry attacking a silver humanoid. “If you guys are done with your nap, I could use your help!” I warp behind the silver man, and spin kick it to the ground. As it starts to stand up, I blast them in the chest, causing them to collapse. “What. In the hell. Happened here?” I ask as I slowly walk towards the silver man. “We left six hours ago. Cisco couldn’t Vibe them, so we tried searching for the dominator tech, when................I get a call from Joe, saying CCPD got attacked by a metal man.” “Not just any, metal man.” I twist a part of the chest, causing a circular logo to come off. I stand up, and show it to them all. A large C. “This............is a Cyberman.” “What’s a Cyberman?” Asks Lightmare. “An enemy from Doctor Who,” says Barry. “Oh no, more than that. You see, a Cyberman is basically an example, of parallel human evolution. They’re created in a few different ways, but the most common is for the brain to be removed, and inserted into............well, this.” “So...........that thing, has a human brain? Then why did it attack us?” “Because it’s not human.” We all turn towards the entrance, and see the Architect come in. “I see you accepted the invitation.” “If he’s back, no universe is safe. Besides, we had some fun times.” Barry walks up to them. “So this is why Asriel and the others didn’t come with the four of us. They were contacting you.” “Conference call, I’ll explain later. You see, the Architect is right. The brain is human in origin, but they’re completely different.” I flip the logo, showing a small device. “Emotional inhibitor. Stops them from feeling anything. The human mind is fragile, imagine finding itself in this.........thing. They’d go insane.” Lightmare walks up to it. “So they take away the one thing that makes them human.” “Because they have to, yes.” “With that apathy, they think with logic only. They think their an improvement, the upgrade. Human.2. So they seek out human life, and upgrade them into Cybermen. Those who fight back..............are terminated.” “Well.............this is the only one, right? You killed it, so.........problem solved?” “No.” I turn to them. “When it comes to Cybermen, there is never, just one. Until we find out exactly when and where this one came through, we have to act like it might’ve converted people.” “How do we find out if there’s more? Everyone’s looking for the others!” Shouts Lightmare. “We scan the city,” says Barry. “If we can find out where, and when this one came through a breach.............” “We can find out where it’s been! Awh! Barry Allen you are good!” they run over to a computer and start typing. “I’m not sure that’ll work man. Like I said, It could’ve been anywhere!” “Oh, you think it won’t work? I’m writing a bit of software that’ll scan the fabric of this dimension, and tell us the most recent locations. And....................Bam!” he slaps the keyboard, and we all hear several pings go off. “I told you! Aside from your breach, I got one from ten hours ago, old iron quarry!” “I’ll check it out. You up for it?” “Considering it’s from my world, yes. Last thing we need is another invasion.” I walk over to him, grab an arm, and zoom out. We stop right at the entrance. He grabs his chest. “Next time, warn me if you plan to use super-speed. Fastest I’ve gone is when River forced me to go on a hypersonic roller-coaster.” “Noted.” We start to walk in. “What’s happened since you all left?” “After my past self brought everyone back to their own worlds, he started to head back to ours. I wasn’t inside because I decided to use a vortex manipulator, and get my TARDIS back from Ayo Kubs universe.” “Didn’t Ten and Eleven call those things ‘cheap and nasty time travel’?” “Oh don’t even start. They say that because more people can use them than a TARDIS. Anyway, the moment they entered the timestream, they................rubber-banded, back to after they took the radiation. Became Ten again, only to regenerate into Eleven properly.” I turn to them. “Amy. The Omnitrix sample of you did say he needed a companion.” “Yes. Amelia Pond............the Girl who Waited. Once all this business with the Dominators and Infinite is done, we need to go back............I believe Lightmare would like her. Enough about me. How are you still alive?” I stop in my tracks. “........................You shouldn’t ask questions you wouldn’t like the answers to.” “Come on, what’s the harm in telling me? I’ll find out eventually, might as well get it from you.” I warp right in front of him, and clench a fist. I sigh, and relax. “Fine................have you heard of the term to ‘force a RESET’?” “I have not, but I can assume it’s bad.” “It is. It’s a risky, and difficult way to RESET without a SOUL, or not enough Determination. Rather than DT giving you the power, you force your way to the buttons through sheer will and strength. It’s how Chara RESET the underground after Frisk and I left...............and it was the precursor for how I survived. When I died, I did have DT, but not enough to refuse, obviously. So................I ended up in front of a glitching, broken RESET button.” He snaps. “Frisk breaking the FIGHT button, OWH! It combined with your remaining Determination, and the RESET function to make that button!” “But since I didn’t have enough DT to do it properly.................it didn’t RESET me properly. Fixed my broken body, yes..................but it didn’t fix my SOULs.” “What exactly.............did happen?” “Inside me is just the will to live, and the SOULs former power...................I’m basically a ‘good Flowey’ who can feel fear.” He facepalms. “That explains why you didn’t contact us until now.” “The others only found out three days ago. When I came home for Christmas.” I look back at the path ahead. “Think it’s safe to warp forwards?” “Considering how risky teleportation can be, let’s just do what I do best. Run.” Eventually, we end up near the end of the quarry, next to a bunch of equipment. The Architect is looking at it all when I pull him out of sight, right as two Cybermen walk past. “It seems your suspicions were correct.” “Yep. Hold up.” I pull out a black circle the size of a hockey puck, and throw it into the air. It opens up in the middle, and opens several compartments. In the middle is a propulsion fan that keeps it aloft, on the front is a video camera, and on both sides are smaller disk turbines to maneuver. “Surveillance drone, took a bit to make.” I pull out a phone, and boot it up to the drone controls. “Activating cloaking.” It disappears in the air above us. “Now...................let’s see what how many there are, and what they’re doing.” The two Cybermen keep walking forward, eventually entering a metal door. I made sure to keep the drone close, and we gape at what we see. “Okay, either they converted a small city...........” “Or they’re bringing Cybermen over from my world!” Inside the complex, is thousands of Cybermen, building machinery and cyber-converters. We spot a big screen as the first two approach one with a black head, and visible brain. “A Cyber-Leader.” “Establishing audio feed.” I press a button, and we hear the three talking. “Report reconnaissance mission,” says the Cyber-Leader. “Nearest human city is fifty miles from command base. Population, 60,000.” “Inconclusive. Aerial scans show one-third of population is Non-human.” “Cyber-unit 53.8-4 used Dalek technology to teleport, and gather information inside the city. Three Earth-years ago, an experimental particle accelerator detonated. Resulting energy and theoretical matter mutated specific humans, and created a new species.” “Confirmation required.” the Cyber-leader turns toward the screen. “Open communications channel.” Nearby Cybermen press buttons on a panel, and the screen turns on to static. “Boost signal, and input security code.” Slowly, the screen starts to form color and images. Then we hear the voice. “It’s been a while, Cyber-leader. Progress report.” My eyes widen. “No. Oh no no no no no....................it’s him. He’s really back.” On the screen, is Infinite. Hovering in space in front of a black hole. “We have secured a location near a human city. Our scans show one third of the population is non-human.” “Ah, yes. The common term is metahuman. You see, everyone was bathed in that energy, but only people with a specific gene, and under specific conditions gain from it. You see, metahumans each have unique abilities.” “Would it be possible to upgrade these ‘metahumans’?” “Hmm...............it might be possible, but you would have to account for many differences in biology. You’re Cybus Cybermen, specifically designed for normal humans. We’re getting off track. Has Asriel been confirmed to be in your locations dimension?” “The last visual records of Cyber-unit 53.8-4 is termination by a goat-like humanoid.” They grab their mask, and start to cackle. “HEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It’s all coming together, just as I remember! And I bet the other six are with him too!” I gape at this. “Do we proceed with the plan?” They turn towards the star behind them. “Not yet. Not until my men and I arrive. It takes large amounts of energy to just cross several dimensions, and we’re stuck in Tamriel, during the return of Alduin and the Civil war. That’s about....................120 universes away from yours. We’re only having this conversation because I was able to put a dying star in a permanent state of decay.” “An Eye of Harmony. Time Lord engineering. What are your orders then?” “Keep bringing troops over from your world, and collect as much data as you can. If we are to invade that multiverse, we need to know their strengths and weaknesses. And keep working on Project Genesis.” He perks up, and puts a hand on his ear. “I have to get going soon, Daniel is having trouble with a dragon near Winterhold........................wait, what’s that hovering in the air!?” The Architect and I perk up at this. “Nothing detected in the air.” “GROWL! That’s because it’s using subwave cloaking, it’s undetectable save for my mask! And only one person would use that in a drone! ASRIEL IS SPYING ON OUR CONVERSATION!” An alarm starts blaring, and all the Cybermen turn towards behind the drone. “GET HIM, GET HIM NOW, BEFORE HE ESCAPES! WEAPONS-GRADE CYBERMEN, ACTIVATE! SEEK, LOCATE, DESTROOOOOOOOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” “Hail Infinite! SEEK! LOCATE! DESTROY!” a dozen Cybermen with blue glowing chestplates zoom out. “Run!” I grab the Architect, and speed away as the Cybermen chase after us. “What’s so special about weapons-grade Cybermen!?” “Aside from hyperspeed?! Their specially designed for combat, and they learn from your attacks and actions! If we don’t get out of here fast, they’ll eventually catch up!!” “All my energy’s going got into keeping the distance between us, and them! I can’t open a breach unless we stop!” “...................Maybe you don’t have to!” he pulls out a large leather strap-on, with technology and his Laser Screwdriver. He puts it on and starts to zap it with the screwdriver. “I just need a couple seconds to adjust this puppy for this universes frequency and coordinates!” The Cybermen start to get closer as we exit the quarry. “Better hurry up!” “Just a few more seconds!” They get close enough that I can clearly hear their power source inside. “Now would be a good time!!!!” “Urgh...............DONE!!!” I grab his arm, and we warp away right as a Cybermen tries to grab my sweater. The Cybermen stop. “Target lost. Teleportation via Vortex Manipulator.” ”URGH!..............It’s okay. They don’t know what Project Genesis is. And they certainly don’t know about who else is working with us. I’ll be there soon to take care of this personally. Until then, I’m declaring Code Black, a Vortex Manipulator means the Architect is with them. You have full permission to build armaments, and bring more weapons-grade Cybermen over. And don’t let anymore of your men’s get spotted, understood?!” “Affirmative. Returning to base.” We land in the Cortex, and take a breath. “Note to self.................make sure to bring some form of teleporter along in case of emergency.” The others run in. “What happened over there!?” Exclaims Lightmare. I take a breath. “It’s worse than we thought.......................It wasn’t just one Cyberman coming through a breach........................there’s thousands of them!” They all gape at this. Riolu walks in with the rest of the team. “They arrived a few minutes after you left...............what did you see?” “Sigh...............they’re constructing a base in the quarry, and are bringing over more Cybermen. They are amassing an army.” “Whats a Cyberman?” “I’m with Betty,” says Ayo Kub. “Cybernetically, augmented human. Most common form of conversion is to remove the brain, and put it into a suit of armor. Good idea on paper, but they want everyone to be converted. The human mind can’t handle it, so they inhibit the emotions, leaving them cold, logical killing machines.” “not to mention they’ll kill anyone who refuses, or fights back.” “I’m more worried about the fact that this isn’t just something random.” They all look at me in confusion. “What do you mean?” Asks Obsidian. “He means, the Cybermen are working for him..................working for Infinite!” Everyone save Betty and Ayo Kub gape at us. “Okay....................clearly this guy did something bad.” “He’s ERASEd several different timelines, including mine and Sans!” I shout. “The four here didn’t know this was going on, but.......................I was there. The Sans of Time gathered the others as a last ditch effort to defeat him...................including me. I was the sole survivor.” they put a paw on their eyes. “About that.............they might’ve survived.” They look at me. “R-Really!?” “Sigh.................I fear he might’ve done something worse.” I stand up and walk towards the computers. They all look at the Architect. “I’m sorry, but...................he might’ve corrupted them.” “Whaaaaat?!What!?What!?What!?” They cover their ear for one second. “Sigh. We’ve don’t know exactly what happened, but...................he said they’re in Tamriel, stuck during the return of Alduin and the Civil War. Before he spotted the drone we were using, he got a message..............Daniel was apparently having trouble with a dragon near Winterhold.” “No............No! RIOLU RI!” they run up and push the Architect, causing blue flame to explode out of their paws, and send them back into the wall. They start to tear up “K-keuubi..............v-Vulp-pess..............ev-vryyo-onne...........” everyone save Betty and Ayo Kub gape at this. “I f-failed............and n-now we’ll have t-to f-f-fight each other!” They run off, crying as I take a seat. ”I don’t know who you are..............Infinite. But know this. Whatever it takes.................I w i l l k i l l y o u .” Barry walks in. “We found the others...............and I see everyone’s here.” He then spots Betty, and super-speeds her into the wall. “Barry, wait!” I put up a paw, and he looks at me. “She isn’t the same one we fought. She’s good.” “How can she’s be good? She was created with the sole purpose of ensuring humans, and your race never live in peace!” “She’s good because she was never, activated!” I warp in between them, grab her, and warp away. “This isn’t the time for a repeat o what happened with Wells! We have bigger fish to fry.” “we’re not even cooking.” Everyone save Betty facepalms. She actually giggles, which catches us all off-guard. “What? I thought it was funny.”