"So much for a little break from the action." Burst muttered to himself as he and the other Elements of Heroism returned to the hotel that the Elements of Harmony were also staying at. "Sorry to ruin today for you and the girls Twilight."
"Hey, it's fine." Twilight said with a small smile. "Both of us and our friends fight so that no one else has to. We've faced all kinds of villains together, and this time's no different."
"Yeah. But I don't think we've had to tend with so many enemy commanders at once." Burst said with a sigh. "Ty took out Tyrant Neptune. Splendid Venus is doing who knows what after Venus Bloomer gave her a verbal lashing. And we're currently dealing with Big Saturn trying to take over Manehattan. I'm also pretty sure we haven't seen the last of him or Commander Covington. Those robots we fought were just the standard grunts."
"Well, whatever they throw at us, you can bet we'll come out on top!" Twilight said with a cheerful smile. "Plus, if all else fails, you've still got your one-hit finish technique!"
"I haven't used it in a long while." Burst said with a chuckle. "Who knows when I'll need to whip it out again? Well, we'd better get some rest. Who knows when the next wave of machina might roll out to wreck the city?" And with that, both teams of elements were off to bed. However, the next morning held a rude awakening as a rumbling from the streets! Both teams of elements found tank-link and cannon-based machina units roaring through the streets!
"Looks like the rust buckets upgraded their arsenal from their last trip to the junkyard." Fang growled as he saw the Machina Fortress units plow through the city streets! "Though why aren't they just tearing up the city with their weapons?"
"They're banking on their intimidation factor." Steel Edge noted. "It's easy for resistance to crumble when you're big enough to run them over, or have a big enough gun to point around. Either way, no regular person would be in their right mind to take on those heavy metal monsters. Yo Dash? Care to make a few air raids?"
"Count me and my brothers in too." Arctic Ace chimed in. "I can blast them with my ice magic from the air while Shadow and Ice join you two in making raids on them from the air. A good number of us are fliers, so we've got an aerial advantage over them."
"I could also let loose a few thunderbolts." Tyrannus added. "Attacks based on electricity seem to have a pretty destructive effect on these walking piles of nuts and bolts. Especially if Burst and Twilight's strategy from yesterday is any indication."
Arctic Ace nodded. "Also, these new enemy units don't look like they're built for speed. Akage? Maybe you and Pinkie Pie could out maneuver them? You're some of the quickest fighters I know besides Rainbow Dash." Akage gave a short nod while Pinkie gave an excited one.
"I knew it was a good call to name you our strategist." Burst said with a nod. "Looks like we've got a battle plan. So let's send these mechs to the scrap heap!" The heroes equipped their weapons, and rushed outside to meet the machina that were causing mayhem! "Alright! Ace! Rainbow Dash! Get ready to make your attack run! We'll keep them occupied on the ground!"
"Roger that!" Steel cried out as he and Rainbow Dash led Ace, Shadow, Ice, and Ty on their run on the Machina Fortress and Machina Cannon units! However, the Machina Cannon locked onto them and blasted them out of the sky! "AGH!" All the fliers were soon dropping to the ground! "It looks like they learned since our last battle! They prepared for air raids!" Fluttershy quickly tended to the fliers' injuries with her healing staff as Burst cast the aegis spell to help guard them while the recovered!
"Then it looks like our battle's strictly grounded." Twilight noted as she fired off a massive blast of magic from her staff! Easily tearing through a Machina Fortress unit rolling towards her! "Everyone! Make sure to keep mobile! The cannons on these guys can do major damage, but it means nothing if you can move faster than they can shoot you!"
"Then it looks like this is our time to shine." Akage said with a smirk. "You ready Pinkie?"
"You know it!" Pinkie Pie chirped as she bounced onto the battlefield! She jumped between two Machina Fortress units, and stuck her tongue out at them! "Betcha can't hit me!" She bounced between the two long enough for the units' sights to lock onto each other! Pinkie Pie dropping to the ground as both fortresses let loose laser fire that destroyed each other! She then used her yo-yo to latch onto one of the Machina Fortress Units that was targeting her, and misdirect it into firing at another of its fellow tanks! "Whee!"
"Hey bolt brain!" Akage called out to the Machina Fortress he'd ran up to! "Don't lose your head!" One slash from Akage's sword, and the Machina Fortress was one head short! Akage kept at his hit-and-run tactics by using his speed to zip over to each Machina Fortress and stabbing his katana right through their heads! Making the tank-like terrors stop dead in their tracks! Sure enough, Akage was right in the line of a Machina Cannon! The heavy metal monster flicked its wrists, and fired the machine guns mounted on its arms! However, the bullets seemed to pass right through Akage! Pinkie, curious to the odd occurrence, swung her yo-yo to try and snatch Akage right out of the line of fire. Only to find that it was merely an afterimage. The real Akage had slipped right under the Machina Cannon's vulnerable underside, and jammed his sword right into the gears making it function! The jam made the cannon spasm and sputter, and it broke apart!
"Hey, no need to fall to pieces." Akage quipped as he sheathed his blade. "Then again, I did cause your tank buddies to lose their heads." He then saw several more Machina Fortress units roll up, and was shocked to see some of them shifting to a bipedal form. Machina Megaform. "Okay. Those might be a problem. If this is about the robot jokes, I'm sorry if I made you all blow a gasket."
"Yup." Pinkie Pie said with a nod. "My yo-yo can't reach that far, and I don't think tying one leg would be enough to trip them up!"
"Not to mention most of our fliers are still downed!" Fang growled as he tore through the core of a Machina Fortress Unit with his claw gauntlet!
"These things are made of sterner stuff than the last wave!" Venus grunted as he lashed away with his whip at a Machina Fortress unit! It took a lot of hits, but he managed to yank the head off of the tank! "There's got to be an easier way to trash these things!"
At hearing the words of Venus, an idea came to Burst Stream! "Applejack! North! See if you can get the attention of the walking cannons! I've got a plan!"
"I've got you covered lad!" Magnet North said with a nod. He then turned to face Applejack. "Well lass? How's this for a first date?"
"Wouldn't go that far sugar cube." Applejack said with a smirk. "That might change after this tussle though." The two shooters fired away! While their shots weren't enough to make a dent in the Machina Megaform units, they were certainly more than enough to get the mechs' attention for Bust to pull off his strategy!
"Here goes nothing!" Burst thought out loud as he charged up his White Lightning Overdrive, and teleported right up to the head of the Machina Megaform that Applejack and Magnet North were distracting! Slamming the overdrive right into the mech's face! "TIME TO GET UP IN YOUR FACE!" The megaform fell to the ground with a thud, and soon exploded! "Keep it up you two!"
"Don't worry about them!" Twilight called out as she used her magic to cast a shield spell around Applejack and Magnet North! "I've got them covered while they cover you!" Twilight then fired a massive beam of magic that made one of the Machina Megaform topple! "And I can also knock them down to set you up!"
"Thanks Twi!" Burst said with a nod as he teleported to the toppled Machina Megaform, and smashed another White Lightning Overdrive into it! "Their numbers are starting to wear down! Just a few more, and we'll be clear!" With that, Burst continued his warp assault on the remaining Machina units! Teleporting up to the Megaforms that Twilight toppled and striking them with an overdrive! Before long, all that remained were a few Cannon units that Burst took care of in short order with a well-placed White Lightning Overdrive to the face! Any fire that the cannons directed at him intercepted by a quick casting of the aegis shield spell! Before long, the battlefield that was the streets was littered with scrap-metal!
"That's. . . the last of them. . . " Burst Stream panted as his arms fell to his sides. "Anymore. . . drones to decimate?" Suddenly, the sound of someone clapping was heard. Commander Covington stepped onto the battle with only a single Machina Soldier, Sniper, and Defender by his side.
"Impressive." Covington stated as he surveyed the wreckage that was once his heavy Machina units. "Your style of fighting is quite effective. Despite the numbers that were at my disposal and the firepower, it was useless against a small skilled force such as yourselves. So I decided to take your approach. . . " Covington snapped his fingers. "And adapt it to my tactics." The Machina Soldier, Defender, and Sniper disassembled themselves, and recombined into a single unit! "I give you the culmination of my forces! Machina Force! A single unit with the strength of three! And with enough firepower to wipe you out! FIRE!"
Machina Force let out a volley of missiles from its shoulder-mounted launchers, and a barrage of laser fire from the beam rifle in its arms! The storm of projectiles creating a cloud of dust! The second Machina Force was done with its assault, its entire body fell limp! Steam hissing from its core! Commander Covington gazed proudly at the cloud of dust, but a voice form within the cloud made his proud expression drop instantly.
"Nice attack. Too bad it didn't hit a thing." Burst said as he stepped out from the dust cloud! "And it looks like your 'ultimate force' is a piece of junk given how much power it expends in just one attack. Looks like it needs to cool down after burning so much power. That makes it a glass cannon." Burst charged up one last White Lightning Overdrive, and leaped into the air! Striking at the center of the powered down Machina Force! "Time to smash it! WHITE LIGHTNING OVERDRIVE!" And with one hit, Machina Force was burst apart! Not even a single nut or bolt to be found of the mechanical menace!
"Im--possible-!" Commander Covington sputtered! "My formation. . . was perfect!"
"Little tip bolt brain!" Burst called out as he whipped out his blasters and charged them up! "Nobody's perfect!" And Burst unleashed a twin charge shot that tore through Covington! Rendering the commander of the Machina into little more than scrap metal! As both teams of elements gathered, the entire city cheered for the heroes who had triumphed! The headline of the newspaper reading "Victory of Battle City!" A fitting title considering all of Manehattan had become a battleground.
"It's not over yet." Burst said with a tired smile. "Big Saturn's still out there, so we've gotta deal with him next."
Inferno smirked. "True enough buddy. But right now? I think you'd better worry about getting some rest. Celestia knows you need it after taking on an entire army like that."
"Yeah. I guess I do. . ." And with that, Burst Stream returned to his room. But the second he lay down on his bed, he felt pain in his right arm! "Ah!" Burst clutched his arm. "Better not lie down on it. Don't want to hurt it anymore." Gently, Burst turned to his left side, and fell asleep. However, there was something wrong. On his right arm, a small crack had formed. And energy and magic could be seen streaming through the crack.