A day came and went, and things were seemingly back to a normal routine. Well, as normal as it could be with Burst Stream finding out he's a ticking time bomb who could go off in a matter of months or weeks. Maybe even less considering how active he was in combat. Letting out a sigh, the young hero whipped out a piece of paper with a list written on it.
Well, at least it's a short list. And the stuff on it is pretty easy to accomplish. Burst Stream thought to himself as he let out another sigh. So how am I going to pull all this stuff off without saying it's my bucket list?
"Yo Burst!" Inferno Flare cried out. Burst Stream perked a bit at seeing his best friend land in front of him. "How you doing man? You look a little drained."
Burst Stream paused before answering. His mind wandering to the last few fights against the Chaos Kin. True, he and his friends were used to bad guys popping up to fight them, but there had never been this many in a row before. "Well, I guess that's because I am. I think Battle City was the longest fight we've ever been in due to how relentless Big Saturn's Machina army was."
"I'll say." Inferno said as he took a seat next to Burst. "And I'd also say that you pushed yourself harder than you've ever been without being near death for that fight."
And then, an idea came to Burst. Dad said that avoiding getting into fights would at best prolong my countdown. . . Burst Stream clenched his fist. Faust, I'm pathetic. Leaving my friends to fight without me. I've been fighting alongside them for so long, can they really stand without me? Burst looked sadly at the ground. Then again, they're going to be without me sooner or later.
"Yeah. My dad suggested that I sit out for a while." Burst Stream replied with a small smile. "So, in accordance with his advice, I've decided to take a little vacation."
"Dude." Inferno said with a serious look on his face as he put a hand on Burst's shoulder. "You've kind of earned it with all the crap you've been through. I mean, you've been near death twice. Defeated two villains, one of them being your half-brother, and you had to endure a break-up. All of that's got to have been exhausting, and you STILL led us through all of the fights so far. So don't worry man! I've got things handled with the guys while you're off relaxing!"
Inferno Flare's gaze then turned mischievous as he smirked. "Who knows? Maybe you and Nightmare Moon can finally have a wild night of passion if you know what I mean~!"
"I HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWERED WITH HER YET!" Burst Stream snapped as his face became red from getting flustered! Not that I wouldn't mind that. I mean, we DID share a bed and she was nude when she healed me up after that asshole came out of nowhere and left me for dead. "A-Anyway, I'm gonna tell Moon about this. Like you said, it would be nice for her and I to get a bit closer. Even though I'd say waking up against her chest counts as being pretty intimate."
And with that, Burst Stream left to find his goddess of a girlfriend. "Take it easy dude!" Inferno called out. "Well then. Better inform the guys of the change in leadership for now." Inferno Flare whipped out his phone, and texted the rest of the Elements of Heroism about Burst Stream's vacation. "Alright. That should do it."
However, as the Elements of Heroism went about their business, a sinister force lurked beneath the earth. Suppression Pluto of the Chaos Kin stared up at Unityville from his lair. Pandemonium.
"To think this town is where Tyrant Neptune fell. Good riddance." Suppression Pluto said with a sneer. "The fool could never hope to amount any form of victory only relying on his brute force and his strength being so dependent on feeding on his own troops." Suppression Pluto then summoned what looked like a chessboard. On it were small figures of fiends that served as the pieces.
"Now to put my pieces into action." Suppression Pluto moved out one of the eight Vilepawn Archfiend pieces forward. A black mist emitted from the piece, and a battalion of Vilepawn Archfiends soon materialized in Pandemonium! "Go now. Attack Unityville!" In a swirl of shadow, the Vilepawns materialized right in Unityville's center! "I'll start from the center and work my way outward." Suppression Pluto smirked as he watched his minions terrorize the civilians and cause chaos. However, his smirk was soon wiped away when both teams of elements arrived. Their weapons allowing them to make quick work of the Vilepawns!
"And now my enemies have made their first move." Suppression Pluto noted with a slight frown. "No matter." he then proceeded to place two more Vilepawn Archfiend pieces onto the board. "Strength in numbers, as they say."
Meanwhile, back in Unityville, both teams of elements had been swarmed by the sheer number of Vilepawns that had materialized seemingly out of nowhere!
"Where do these things keep coming from?!" Tyrannus shouted as he blasted a wave of Vilepawns with his cannon! "There's so many of them!"
"They might not pack a punch on their own, but they've got numbers on their side!" Magnet North replied as he and Applejack had been paired back-to-back once again. "I'm not risking on an attract shot letting these things get in striking distance!"
"You don't gotta worry about any of 'em getting the drop on you sugarcube!" Applejack said with a nod as she fired off a few bolts from her twin crossbows! The magic bolts tearing through any of the Vilepawns that tried to leap at the battle couple! "You know North? This reminds me of the Royal Wedding."
"Nearly countless enemies and someone good-looking covering my back?" Magnet North asked with a smirk as he fired off another discharge from his shot-blaster! "Oh yes, lass. This certainly brings back fond memories. You know, I never did get that date you offered back in Manehattan."
Applejack blushed! "Who said anything about it being a date?!" And in her flustered state, she let loose a flurry of bolts that made quick work of the Vilepawns that had surrounded them! Meanwhile Pinkie Pie was striking the Vilepawns in their heads with her yo-yo! The momentary disorientation caused by her providing the perfect set up for Akage to take them down with hit-and-run strikes from his sword!
"Boom! More party poopers sent packing!" Pinkie Pie said with her signature smile. "Of course, this party's just getting started!"
Akage smiled. "The sooner this battle ends, the sooner we can go on a date." Akage then froze when he saw Pinkie tearing through the Vilepawns using her yo-yo as a tool of untold destruction. Her arms becoming a blur as she swung the yo-yo with a force and ferocity that he'd never seen before!
"Sooooo," Pinkie asked with a sly smile. "Where did you have in mind Akage?"
Akage, despite being used to the fact he'd never understand Pinkie Pie, was left utterly dumbstruck at the feat he had just witnessed performed by the pink party planner. And he couldn't help but laugh. "Don't you think our friends might have some plans for after the battle too?"
Pinkie Pie gasped! "Well don't just stand there silly! Let's go kick some badguy butts!" Pinkie grabbed Akage by his scarf, and leaped at the Vilepawns still swarming Unityville! Meanwhile, Nightfall and Twilight were dealing with their own encroaching swarm of Vilepawns! "FOR THE SHIPS!"
"You know, you're oddly chill about all this." Nightfall remarked as he blasted a Vilepawn with a strident blast from his suit's hands! "Does this happen all the time around here?!"
"Eh." Twilight said with a shrug as she bashed a Vilepawn with her staff! "Wouldn't be the first time my friends and I have fought against an army." She then smiled. "Or maybe your memory's a bit rusty?"
Nightfall smirked under his helmet. "Hey. I'm the rookie here. This is my first real fight as an element member. Got any advice?"
"Be badass." Twilight replied with a smirk. "For example," Twilight powered up her magic, and unleashed a massive beam that wiped out the Vilepawns surrounding her and Nightfall! "That."
As the battle raged on, Burst Stream watched his friends fight off the Vilepawn Archfiends. Each moment that ticked by, his heart ached. Never before had he felt so useless. He then saw the Junior Heroes and the TCC trying to make a stand against a squad of Vilepawns. Burst Stream had summoned his Duelist Arms and was about to rush in when Nightmare Moon cut the fiends to ribbons!
"Shouldn't you be resting?" Nightmare Moon asked Burst Stream with a smirk as she blasted a stray Vilepawn to oblivion with her magic without even looking at it. "Or maybe you just feel a bit left-out of all the couple-battles going on?"
"Funny. I thought most couples tried to avoid fighting with each other." Burst said with a weak smile.
Nightmare Moon smiled. "Trust me. We'll be spending plenty of time together on our little vacation. But right now? I've some business being these fiends' worst nightmare." And with that, Nightmare Moon flew off to join both teams of elements in battle!
As he returned his attention to the battle, a small smile crept onto Burst's face. Looks like I don't have to worry about them when I'm gone. They can handle themselve just fine without me there. That just goes to show you how good a team they are.
"And it shows how good of a leader they have even more." A voice called out from Burst's sword!
"You again, huh?" Burst asked the voice coming from his sword. "Funny. All this time I've been fighting with you and I don't know a thing about you. I know you're a dragon because of when you manifested yourself in front of us. But who are you?"
"You will have your answers in time Burst Stream." The voice replied. "Let's just say that I've been watching you for a long time. You just might be the one I've been waiting for."
"What do you mean?" Burst asked.
"Do not worry. I assure you that my intentions towards you are anything but ill. But I cannot afford to tell you just yet." The voice replied. "Farewell. For now."
"Great." Burst sighed.
Meanwhile, Suppression Pluto had placed yet another Vilepawn piece on his board. "They may possess great strength. But in the end, they are few. Even with Avatars on their side, they cannot fight forever." And then, a shadow hovered over Unityville. "What?!"
In a ray of light, Splendid Venus descended down from the Sanctuary in the Sky! Her very appearance making the Vilepawns shield their eyes! The light coming from her weakening the fiends! "BEGONE!" Splendid Venus commanded as she let out a wave of light that wiped out the all the Vilepawns!
"Damn her!" Suppression Pluto hissed! He then noticed Pandemonium fade away! "Her very presence weakens me! And with the arrival of her lair, my own domain is rendered null and void! Such is the way with all of our domains in the presence of another!" He gazed hatefully at the Sanctuary in the Sky. "So you choose to stand against your kin, do you Venus? Just for that, I will personally see your sanctuary fall. . . " And he slithered away into the shadows of the Everfree Forest.
Back in Unityville, Splendid Venus was talking with both teams of elements. "I had spent much time thinking since our last encounter." Splendid Venus began. "I thought that I had done nothing wrong. That I was just trying to make this world better. Then I remembered the actions of my brothers, and I realized I was no better than they were. I wish to rectify this if you would have the assistance of myself and my agents in your battle against Suppression Pluto."
"I'm glad my words got through to you." Venus Bloomer said with a smile. "But there's telling when they'll attack the town again."
"Fear not." Splendid Venus said. "For as long as my sanctuary hangs above, the fiends shall find no safe haven here."
Inferno smiled. "Looks like the playing field just got a whole lot more even."