//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: The Guy with the Dragon Fullbottle 
// Story: To Build the Winning Formula 
// by Snow Fire 
//------------------------------//

It had only been a day since the rescue of Twilight Sparkle and Scootaloo. Due to prior events, the once quiet town of Canterlot is in even more of an uproar than before.  

In fact, the students at school seemed to hound on the Rainbooms more than ever since one of their backup singers was attacked by another monster. The story of the incident had played across the major news channels. It had been during the aftermath of the fight with the Compactor Smash and Build’s departure. While Twilight and Scootaloo were taken care of by the police and medics, they were also interviewed by reporters about what had happened to them. 

They responded that if Build hadn’t arrived when he had, then they would not have survived the attack.  

The public has proclaimed the Masked Rider Build to be a hero, despite his brief appearances. Of course, there were a few skeptics questioning the validity of his actions and his motives. But most of the populace agreed that Build was a heroic figure. 

However, as Build’s popularity steadily grew, so did the attention focused on those he saved. 

At school, Twilight and Scootaloo were practically hounded by other students asking questions about the Masked Rider. Thankfully, their friends had been there to pull them out of the mob. 

Flash, Micro, and Sandalwood had remained out of the spotlight, fortunately, as their actions remained hidden from others. 

The three had assembled themselves in Gizmo’s underground lab after school that day, discussing what Flash had learned of the night prior. 

“Pandora’s Box?” Micro questioned him as they sat around the panel on the desk. 

“That was what my Mom called it. I asked her more about it afterward, and she said that it was the mysterious object that fell from space nearly 20 years ago. She had been assigned to study it by the R&D Center ever since it came in.”

“So Pandora’s Box is the same thing that Gizmo used to make all this tech?” Sandalwood questioned.

“I suppose so. If this object truly does generate Nebula Gas, then my brother eventually learned to harness its properties for the Build System after learning of its side effects.”

“But he also said that the Smash are made from exposure to the gas. If that thing has been kept under watch for the past 18 years, then why are they starting to show up and attacking people now?” Flash wondered.

“I don’t know. Maybe someone took samples of the gas and they leaked out somewhere?”

“Maybe….but sitting here and speculating like this isn’t going to lead to progress.” Micro declared.

“Then what do you have in mind?”

“Simple!” The intellectual of the group held up two of the Fullbottles. One colored gunmetal gray fashioned after a gatling gun. The other colored light blue and modeled after a vacuum cleaner. “We test out the possible combinations these Fullbottles can make.”

“Why are we doing that?”

“Because it will help us better understand our equipment. For the past two days, we’ve just been learning on the fly and improvising.” Micro tapped a few keys on the computer and pulled up a series of images. One of them was Build’s RabbitTank form, another was the GorillaMond form. Off to the side was the Hedgehog and Tank combination. 

“So far, the Best Matches we are able to find were with the Rabbit and Tank bottles, and again with the Gorilla and Diamond bottles. And so far, we’ve only used five of the eight bottles we currently have. If we can try and figure out other possible Best Matches, we would have a better understanding of our arsenal and be prepared for when another Smash attack occurs.”

Micro then took the Rabbit, Tank, Gorilla, and Diamond Fullbottles and slotted them in the Panel. He then handed Flash the Build Driver with the Hedgehog and Gatling bottles. “Since we know what we already have, let’s just try and experiment with the remaining bottles.”

“So we’ll just be testing combinations today?” Sandalwood asked.

“That and understand the functionality of each bottle. We still don’t know what each one is truly capable of. Better to find out now than later.” 

“Well, answers won’t just come to us by standing around and talking.” Flash equipped the Belt and shook the two bottles. “Let’s start off this experiment…”

“HEDGEHOG!”

“GATLING!”

“Hm…guess it wasn’t a Best Match.”

“Maybe not. But let’s still see what it can do, for now.”

“Got it.” Flash repeated the transformation sequence from yesterday.

“Henshin!”

The musician was donned in a new combination of armor. Like his first transformation, his right fist was covered in a white, spiky ball while his left eye piece resembled a hedgehog. As for the inorganic pieces, his left arm was now covered in dark gray plating, resembling parts of a gun while the right eye piece resembled a gatling gun turret.  

Aside from that though, the Gatling side had no other distinguishable features that alluded to abilities like the Tank bottle. Flash felt power while in this form. But it felt….incomplete. He couldn’t quite feel as much power from the Inorganic side of his suit this time. In contrast, he felt power from the hedgehog side. 

As to demonstrate, he raised the white, spiky fist and activated it. The spikes immediately grew into elongated skewers of death…..the tips just inches away from his friends’ faces. 

“Whoa! Watch it, bro!” Sandalwood backpedaled. “Was that payback from the Drill Crusher yesterday?! I said I was sorry!”

“Sorry about that! I was just testing what this form can do…I can’t really feel anything from Gatling, but now we know what hedgehog can do aside from being a spiked boxing glove.” 

“Fascinating…” Micro said as he wrote down the findings. “It seems like the Build Armor can truly tap into the characteristics of each Fullbottle equipped to bring out the most of its arsenal…”

“….uh…in English, please?”

“It means that individually, each Fullbottle gives Flash access to a certain trait depending on the bottle. For instance, Rabbit gave him extraordinary jumping ability. And with Hedgehog, he can use spikes to attack and immobilize the enemy.”

“Ohhh…” Sandalwood nodded in understanding. 

“So now that Hedgehog is tested, what can Gatling do, Flash?”

“I’m not sure. I’m trying but I can’t figure it out.” He shook his head. His eyes were focused on the readout inside his helmet. The Inorganic side of his armor was grayed out for some reason while the belt and organic side glowed. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m not quite sure what it means, but it looks like Gatling is inactive. Could we be missing something?”

“Hm…well, since it’s called Gatling, and Flash’s armor isn’t mechashifting into a gun turret….maybe the bottle needs a weapon? I mean, doesn’t the Drill Crusher’s gun form resemble a gatling gun anyway?”

“It’s worth a try. But I would advise against it for now. At least, not until we figured out the Best Match for Gatling.” Micro then turned to the Rider again. “Okay Flash. Next, try out the new Cleaner bottle. Let’s see what it can do.”

“Right.” Flash removed the Gatling bottle and replaced it with the new addition.

“CLEANER!”

“No match again…” The intellectual of the team crossed off another potential combination. 

“Build up!” The Rider turned the crank and the Driver replaced the Gatling components with those of the Cleaner. Build’s Inorganic side turned the same shade as the Bottle used. As per its namesake, the right eyepiece now resembled a vacuum cleaner while the left arm had been replaced by a vacuum cleaner device. He even had a trash compactor on his shoulder. 

“…is this supposed to be some sort of housekeeping bottle?” Flash asked no one in particular. He turned his new arm around. No matter how he saw it…it was a vacuum cleaner. “What am I supposed to do with this in a fight? Suck the Smash’s face in?”

“Well, I’m sure it’s bound to have some degree of combat ability…” Micro encouraged. “I mean, you had trouble with that Compact Smash yesterday, right? And its right arm was the same as your left.”

“Yeah, but it made whatever it sucked up into ammo for its cannon arm. Do I look like I have one of those right now?”

“Look, I know it looks strange. But according to my brother’s notes, all Fullbottles made by the Bottle Fabricator are meant for combat. So…you know, just try something.”

“Like what?” Flash spread his arm out to the side. “I’m supposed to just suck things up with this thing?” As if responding to his words, the Cleaner arm activated and started to suck in nearby, random objects with extreme velocity. 

The musician scrambled in surprise by how much suction power the Cleaner bottle has. Unfortunately, it also sucked up whatever his arm pointed to, practically inhaling most of the objects in the lab. As he did, the trash compactor appendage on his shoulder enlarged as it became filled with objects. 

“Quick! Shut it off before it sucks up everything else!” Micro shouted as he and Sandal scooped the Panel and remaining bottles and devices out of the way.  

“I got it!” Flash commanded the Cleaner arm to shut down and sighed in relief. “Okay…I stand corrected…”

“Okay, now that we saw how powerful the Cleaner is…think you can have it spit out our stuff? We kinda need those…”

“Let me see…oh hey, there’s actually a reverse setting. Hold on…” Flash said as he read the information in his helmet’s HUD. He activated the Cleaner again, but rather than inhale things, it spat them back out in a neat little pile of random junk. 

“Huh…I guess it really did get the suck and shoot skills from that Smash…” Sandalwood idly commented. 

“Yeah…maybe if the next guy has a gun, I can just suck up the bullets and shoot them back at it…” Flash joked. 

“As entertaining as that thought would be…let’s get back to the matter at hand…” Micro then looked at the list. “It seems the only bottle we haven’t tried is the Lion Fullbottle. Hopefully this is the Best Match we’re looking for.”

“Only one way to find out.” Build grabbed the bottle from Sandalwood. But before he could make the switch, the Smash Detector blared loudly. “Oh come on! Another attack?! It’s like they’re popping up every day now!”

“Where is this one now?” Sandalwood asked as he prepped the Build phone.

“I’m checking right now…got it!” Micro turned to face the two. “It’s over by the supermarket!”

“That’s not too far away. I’m on it!” Flash turned to leave before he came to a realization. “…right after I change. Doubt I can ride a bike with this thing on my arm…” 





After changing back to RabbitTank, Flash had arrived at the scene. The people panicked and fled the area as the Smash rampaged. At first, Flash thought it was a bird-type given its wing-like arms. But looking closer, it resembled more like a jet plane. 

Either way, it was a menace that had to be stopped. 

“Hey Flyboy!” Flash yelled at the Smash, grabbing its attention. The creature turned and was greeted with a volley of laser blasts from the Drill Crusher. It backed away from the random civilian, giving Flash the opportunity to get him out of the way. 

Once the victim was saved as the area was clear, the Flying Smash and Build squared off against one another. The Smash growled as it flapped its wings. “…Let’s dance!”

Build fired the Drill Crusher’s gun mode again. However, the Smash, now knowing what to expect, ascended into the air and evaded the blasts. The Rider continued to aim the gun at the Smash, but it moved too quickly, remaining out of reach from his line of fire. He tried again and again to shoot it down, but it easily evaded his attacks. 

He even tried jumping with Rabbit to reach it in the air, but it simply flew higher than him and out of the way. It even managed to deal a few good strikes by swooping in from all directions. 

Build growled in frustration. He continued to aim and shoot, but the Smash ascended further into the sky. He raised his head to fire again, but flinched as the sun shone directly on his face. The mutant capitalized on this opening and dove down as fast as a Falcon, slammed into the Rider and knocked him off his feet. 

Flash tumbled onto his back as the Drill Crusher fell out of his hands. He groaned from the impact. If he had to compare, it was the equivalent of getting hit by another Junk Ball from the Compact Smash. But before he could get up, the Flying Smash dropped down and drove its feet into his stomach. 

The Rider choked as the attack struck him directly in the solar plexus. While the armor did its best to mitigate the damage, it still hurt like hell as air was forced from his lungs. The damage read out from his helmet blared at him. He was about halfway from a forced shutdown if he took more hits like that. 

He tried to get up, but the Smash kept him pinned. It kept stomping on him every time he tried to get him. 

“Flash! You need to get that thing off you!” Micro declared.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?!” Flash continued to struggle.

“Try overpowering it! Go GorillaMond!” Sandalwood suggested.

Flash tried to reach to his side where the Fullbottles were, but the Smash pinned his other arm with its free leg. “No good! I’m stuck!”

The Flying Smash then raised its arm, brandishing its talon-like fingers. Flash gulped, not liking the picture one bit. The Rider continued to struggle, but despite the Smash’s agility and flight abilities, it was pretty heavy. 

Before it could deal the final blow, however, a hooded figure charged right at the Smash and punched it in the face. An explosion of blue fire knocked it off of Build, breaking him free. “Wh-what?!” Flash questioned as he stared at the new arrival. 

It appeared to have been a young man based on his physique: lithe yet muscular. He was clad in a dark blue hoodie, black jeans, and sneakers. His face however, was shadowed by his hood. Said figure turned to face Build, holding out a hand. “You okay? Saw that thing kicking your ass.” 

“I…I’m fine…But listen, you need to get out of here.” He then gestured to the recovering Smash. “I don’t know what you did, but that thing’s dangerous.”

"Not as dangerous as me," the teen said before holding something up in his hand. Flash looked at it and gasped seeing it was a blue Fullbottle with a design of a dragon on it. The teen shook it, causing the mist to fly out and surround his hand, before rushing towards the Smash. Before it or Flash could react, the teen drove his fist into the creature and caused a small explosion that sent it flying.

The Rider and his companions were shocked by this revelation. He just used a Fullbottle…without a Driver?! 

“How is that possible?!” Micro questioned. “My brother didn’t have any logs about this!”

“I don’t know…but…I think this guy knows more about the Bottles than we do…” Flash looked on as he recovered from the attacks. 

Meanwhile, the hooded teen continued to combat the Smash. It tried to swing at the hooded fighter, but he bobbed and weaved through the attacks like a professional. Once he found an opening, the teen struck fast and hard. Each attack had minimal wasted movements and packed a literal punch from the Fullbottle’s power. 

“Is this guy some sort of pro fighter? Look at him go!” Sandalwood commented. 

“Now’s not the time to speculate! We still need to figure out how to deal with the Smash!”

“But how? It’s too fast and it can just fly out of my weapon’s range!” Flash said as he retrieved the fallen Drill Crusher. “It’s not like I have a way to keep it grounded…..wait…that’s it!” he took out the Cleaner Bottle. “I have an idea!”




On the other side of the clearing, the Flying Smash was knocked back once again by the hooded teen. “C’mon….I thought you monsters were better than this…” The teen cracked his knuckles. The Smash roared as it rose again and took to the skies. “Round two it is then…!” He got into another stance. But he was stopped. 

“Quick! Get out of the way!” Build yelled out. The teen turned and was surprised that his armor changed. Now it was red and light blue….was that a vacuum cleaner on his arm?

“What why? I can still fight!” He then ducked as the Smash swooped down. 

“I’m going to end this!” The Rider declared, prepping the Drill Crusher and taking out the new Inorganic Bottle he tried out earlier. 

“GATLING!”

“Alright!” The teen rolled out of the way as the Smash flew after him. But his flight was stopped as Build activated the Cleaner Bottle. It sucked in the air in front of it at an alarming rate, which also included the Smash. It tried to fly away and escape its hold, but the suction proved to be too powerful. 

“Time to crash and burn, Flyboy!” Build aimed the Drill Crusher at the creature and pulled the trigger. 

“VOLTECH BREAK!”

A volley of energy bullets shot out and struck the Flying Smash. Due to the Gatling the Bottle, the firing rate was even greater than before and its ammunition much more powerful. The projectiles tore through its wings, crippling its flight ability as well as damaging its body. It crashed on the ground in a heap, struggling. The Rider then replaced the Cleaner Bottle with the Tank Bottle.

“TANK!”

“RABBIT-TANK!” 

“BEST MATCH!”

“ARE YOU READY?!”

“Build up!” He changed to RabbitTank.

“FULLMETAL MOONSAULT! 

"RABBIT-TANK!”

“YEAH!”

“With this…the Law of Victory is set.” He turned the crank on the Driver. 

“READY GO!”

“VOLTECH FINISH!” 

Flash jumped into the air and delivered a flying side kick to the Smash’s body, engulfing it in an explosion. He landed on his feet and pulled out an Empty Bottle to absorb the Smash Essence. The Smash reverted back into a human. Seeing his work was done, Flash turned to the hooded teen that saved him. But to his surprise, he was nowhere to be seen. 

“Where did he go? Did he leave already?” He wondered as he walked around for any sign of him. But the sound of sirens stopped him from continuing. Knowing he overstayed his welcome, he mounted the Machine Builder and drove off. But as he did, he failed to notice the pair of eyes watching him. 

The figure stepped out from behind the building. “So that was the Masked Rider…huh….” The hooded teen frowned as he walked away to a nearby motorcycle. 





Meanwhile…

Night Rogue stood before the monitors, observing Masked Rider Build’s latest victory. Off to the side, Blood Stalk leaned against the wall, acting nonchalant in regards to the battle. 

The bat-themed figure’s attention was focused on the hooded boy who came to Build’s aid. What disturbed him the most was his ability to fight off the Smash without the aid of a Driver or their own devices. 

“…I don’t like this. That boy is too powerful for his own good.” Night Rogue spoke. “I was aware he possessed the Dragon Bottle, but to think he was capabvle of using it to this extent.”

“Oh, no need to worry about that lad, Rogue.” Stalk waved him off. He walked up and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “So what if the boy can fight off a few Smashes? Those subjects weren’t even in their final state. Besides…he still pales in comparison to the likes of Build and us.”

“Maybe. But I do not like unknown variables.” Rogue pried the arm off before leaving. “The previous Smashes have been subdued by Build with ease. I believe it’s time to experience the capabilities of this Rider?”

“Oho? You plan on confronting him? How unlike you.”

“It is necessary. I wish to see his power first hand. But first….another attack dog is needed.”

Night Rogue looked over the railing, seeing another subject undergoing the transformation process. This subject was one of their fresh acquisitions from the Canterlot Mall. 

The Masked Rider has demonstrated his speed, strength, and durability with his arsenal. But can he fight off a Mirage? 





“So there wasn’t anything about using the Bottle’s powers without the Driver?” Flash asked Micro. He had returned from the fight and Sandalwood took the opportunity to purify the new Smash Bottle. The Musician and intellectual then discussed what they had just learned today. 

“There wasn’t. I checked the logs multiple times, but surprisingly, haven’t found anything about them.” 

“That’s weird. I’m surprised Gizmo hadn’t discovered this first before he made the Driver.”

“Well, maybe he did. But he chose not to publicize that. So that way, it wouldn’t be revealed that practically anyone can use the Fullbottles.” Micro said. 

“Good point….but it looks like someone figured it out anyway. Speaking of which, how did he get his hands on a Fullbottle? I thought all of the ones Gizmo made were in this lab.”

“I don’t know…but it’s definitely a cause for concern.”

*DING!*

“Oh, it’s already done.” Micro walked over to the Bottle Fabricator and removed the new product. It was a small, orange bottle that was themed after a Hawk. 

Once again, out stumbled Sandalwood in exhaustion. “And another one….down…” He slumped over and collapsed on the newly moved mattress. After the first few spills the green haired teen had after the purification process, they moved the bed out in the lab so he wouldn’t collapse on the floor anymore. 

“So…what’s the next plan of action? There’s someone else fighting the Smash, and he doesn’t even have a Driver. Are we just going to leave him be?” Flash questioned. 

“We’re not. But until we find out more, it’s best to focus on the current task at hand. And who knows? Maybe we’ll eventually seek him out and get answers from him once we know his motives.”

“Or, you can give me the answers I want right now…” A new voice cut into the conversation. Heads whipped over to the lab entrance in shock. Standing at the base of the stairs was the same hooded teen from earlier. 

“H-How did you get in here?!”

“The door was open. So I let myself in.” He jerked a thumb behind him. Sure enough, the panel that concealed the stairs was open. 

“….shoot! Knew I forgot something…” Flash cursed. Micro glared at his friend for his negligence. 

“So…care to tell me what the hell was going on back there?”

“Okay, first off, who are you?!” Flash narrowed his eyes as he inched towards the Driver. “And what do you want?”

For a moment, the figure remained still. Then he pulled down his hood, giving the two a good look at his face. He was a teenage boy around their age. His skin was a pale, ashen gray. His hair was a mess of dark blue with orange tips. His eyes were a light shade of orange. They seemed to glow like magma.

“The name’s Sol Burner.” He answered. “And all I want is information. Specifically, what happened at Gizmo Poindexter’s apartment six months ago.” 

“Wh-what?!” Both CHS students gaped while Sandalwood continued to snore. Why…why did he want to know about THAT particular incident? Did…did he know something…?

“According to the news, Gizmo was a scientist that killed a man in his own apartment before disappearing. But we both know that’s not the whole story. Right, Build?” Sol scoffed. 

“Gizmo wouldn’t kill anyone! He didn’t kill anyone!” Micro defended hotly. “I know what the news said, but there’s simply not enough evidence to prove it! My brother is no murderer!” Sol’s eyes snapped over to the intellectual, who suddenly paled by the teen’s now fierce demeanor. 

“Brother? So you DO know something!” Sol walked up and grabbed Micro by the collar. “Tell me where he is! That murderer has to pay!”

“Hey! Put him down!” Flash tried to pry the teen’s arm from his friend, but Sol wasn’t budging. He was much stronger than he initially thought. 

“I…I don’t know!” Micro spat out, trying to loosen the grip on his shirt. “But you’re wrong! Gizmo….Gizmo didn’t kill anyone…!”

“The discovered corpse buried six feet under begs to differ.” Sol snapped. “So stop stalling and answer me!”

“Wh-why…? Why do you want to know?! What does it matter to you?!” 

“Why?! I have a right to know! Because I was there that night! I SAW him leave! And the man that Gizmo Poindexter killed was my Father!” Sol yelled at Micro in the face. 

Both conscious teens were stunned speechless by the revelation while Sandal turned over on his side in his sleep, mumbling something. Flash and Micro stared as Sol panted from the scream, his hands trembling. This guy….he….he was the corpse’s son?

“Tell me now, before I call the cops on this place!” The musician stared at the distraught teen. For a brief moment, he saw a younger version of himself….back when his own dad perished. 

Flash gently grabbed the hoodie wearing teen by the arm. “…I think we got off on the wrong foot.” He told him. “Why don’t we just sit down and talk. I promise…we’ll explain what we know. But in exchange…please tell us what you know as well.”

Sol looked him in the eye. For all he knew, he could be lying to him to get him to back off. But he thought otherwise. The look in the musician’s eye resembled his. After a few breaths, he calmed down and started to think coherently. 

“…alright…” Sol let go of Micro, taking a nearby seat. Micro turned to Flash who looked him in the eye and nodded. Both students sat down before the fighter.  

“So….what do you guys know?”

Over the course of an hour, the two explained how it all began three days ago. How they received Gizmo’s laptop from an anonymous sender, discovering the secret lab, learning about Project Build, Nebula Gas, and the Smashes, and becoming Build….everything.

“….geez…you guys seriously had a crazy 72 hours.” Sol commented as he processed the information. 

“Pretty much.” Flash nodded. “So…now that we told our side of things…tell us your side of the story. Like how you even got that Fullbottle.”

“You mean this?” Sol held out the Dragon Bottle. 

“Yeah. I thought all of the Bottles my brother made were in this lab. I mean, the only way to purify Smash essence is in here.”

“Well, guess he didn’t keep everything stored away. Because I found this in the hands of my dad’s corpse….”





Six Months Ago…

A single car pulled up in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Sitting in the passenger seat was Sol Burner, dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans. Next to him in the driver’s side was a middle aged yet very fit man with red skin and fiery red and orange hair in a buzz cut. He wore a white t-shirt with a flaming fist insignia on the chest and a pair of shorts and sneakers. 

This was Sol Burner’s father, Knuckle Blaze. 

“Hey Dad….I know I probably should’ve asked this earlier, but why are we here?” They had been on their way home from eating out, but Knuckle made a slight detour which brought them here.

“Well, an old friend of mine wanted to talk to me about something. It shouldn’t take too long. Just hang out for a bit here.” Sol replied with a nod as Knuckle stepped out. 

He waited in the car for five minutes. Then ten. Then twenty. Soon it became over half an hour. All the while, Sol remained seated, bored out of his mind. He tried to turn on the car radio earlier, but it didn’t work. All he got was static and jumbled words. Then again, he probably should’ve expected it. Barely any of his dad’s electronic devices worked properly for some reason. “…jeez…just how long are they gonna talk for?” 

Soon after, the door to the complex opened up and a figure stepped out. At first Sol thought it was his dad….until he got a good look at the person. 

It wasn’t his dad at all. It was a man that he recognized from the news. It was the scientist Gizmo Poindexter. The man had a neutral expression as he walked across the parking lot, a tote bag in hand. 

Sol ducked down as he passed by the car, not wanting to be seen. As soon as he passed, the teen peeked out the door, and saw that the apartment was still opened. His dad never walked out. Concern and trepidation fueled his actions as he made his way into the building. He then stood before what he thought was the scientist’s apartment, the door slightly ajar. All was silent.

Sol gulped as he pushed the door open. What he saw next made his heart stop.

His father, Knuckle Blaze, face down on the floor….unmoving. Sol rushed to his father’s body and checked his breathing. 

Nothing.

He checked his pulse. 

Nothing. 

He remained there for several moments as the realization kicked in.

A scream of fear, anguish, and despair tore from his throat. 

An hour later, police were at the scene of the crime. They asked Sol many questions, as he was the one who called them. He answered as much as he could, still numb from the shock of seeing his father dead. 

As the officers were satisfied with his responses, they moved on to investigate the murder scene. Sol grit his teeth as he stared at the small item he hid in his hand. 

An item that he found in the hands of his father’s corpse. 

A small blue bottle, modeled after a Dragon. Despite not knowing what it was, Sol took it for himself. It was the only thing that he had from his father that gave him a clue to what happened, and he’d be damned if he let the police take it away from him as evidence. 

It was that night he vowed to uncover what happened…and make the one responsible pay…





“…After that, I’ve been trying to find any leads as to where Gizmo might’ve gone. It was only a few weeks ago when I came across these robots that tried to kidnap me. Surprisingly, they didn’t put up much of a fight. And it became even easier was then I learned how to use this…” He held up the Dragon Bottle. “If I shook it while the cap was opened, my punches would get much stronger. And I learned last night that I could punch a Smash’s lights out when that Flyboy attacked me. Sent it flying over the treetops. And now, here we are…” Sol finished his tale. 

Neither Micro nor Flash could speak at what they just learned. While they knew that a dead body was found in Gizmo’s apartment. The media assumed that it was murder, but none of them believed that the scientist would do such a thing. For one, the body did not have any notable stab wounds or injuries that implied a bloody conflict. There didn’t seem to be signs of a struggle either. 

Even with Sol’s testimony, it just wasn’t enough to make them think otherwise. 

“….I’m…I’m sorry about your father…” Micro finally spoke. “But you gotta understand. Just because a dead body was found in his apartment, doesn’t make my brother a killer. I mean…there weren’t any visible wounds or lethal injuries on your dad’s body, right?”

“No…but they did find foreign substances in my dad’s body from the autopsy. Even if he didn’t stab him, Gizmo definitely had access to chemicals that could’ve been used to poison him.”

“But it’s not necessarily poison!” Micro refuted. Flash could only watch the exchange go back and forth. “While the practitioners did find something, they weren’t able to identify it. It couldn’t be matched to any of the associated poisons and lethal chemicals. The evidence doesn’t add up to my brother being a killer. Based on this, your father must’ve died of natural causes…”

“You saying my dad died from a heart attack or something? He’s the healthiest guy I knew! And your brother was a scientist! He probably could’ve made a new or different poison instead!”

“But there is no way to prove it given all the information there was!”

“Why are you defending that murderer?!” Sol jumped out of his seat. 

“My brother is no killer!” Micro followed his action.

“The News and experts beg to differ!”

“They just came to that conclusion based on circumstantial evidence that fails to add up!”

The two teens were now butting heads. Flash chose to step in before violence broke out.

“GUYS!”

“WHAT?!” Both snapped their heads to the musician.

“Let’s just take a moment to breath and calm down, alright?! Arguing like this is getting us nowhere!” He looked at Sol. “Sol! I’m sorry for your dad, really, I am! I don’t know exactly what you went through, but I know how painful it is to lose a dad! But you can’t just throw accusations around without evidence! Like Micro said, the evidence is circumstantial at best right now! That’s why we’re trying to find the truth for ourselves! And think about it from Micro’s point of view! His brother, a person he greatly admired and respected, was accused of murder from this circumstantial evidence, and you’re making this worse by insisting he’s the one responsible!” 

He then turned to Micro. “And Micro! I know what Sol said upsets you, and you’re justified at getting angry, but look at it from his perspective! He lost his father and is still grieving for it! He’s just looking for someone to blame and the only person he feels directly responsible is your brother! I’m not saying he did it, but at least try to understand why he’s so insistent!”

He then looked at both of them. “You both lost something that night. You both lost family and had to deal with the painful aftermath. So instead of going at each other’s throats about it…at least try to understand each other’s perspective before going off on a triad…okay…?”

Micro Chip and Sol Burner stared at Flash before looking at one another. Both still looked like they had something to say on the matter….but Flash’s words sunk in their heads. He wasn’t wrong. They both lost someone they cared about that night. They both were looking for answers about what happened. 

It just…it just hurt when their lost family was brought up in an antagonistic manner like this. 

Both teens separated and sat on their own chairs, deep in thought.  

Surprisingly, Sandalwood had remained sound asleep throughout the triad. 

Flash sighed as he slumped down. He never knew being a mediator was so exhausting. 

He just hoped he got through to them…he wasn’t sure what to do if he didn’t. 

Silence loomed over the group for several tense moments. Flash anxiously looked at one conscious teen to the other, hoping the conflict has been resolved….or at least alleviated. 

Sol had been the one to break the silence. “…so what happens now?”

“…what do you mean?”

“How do we go from here…?”

“Wait, we…? What do you mean ‘we’?” Micro asked skeptically. 

“I mean we. I’m pretty much in this, too….aren’t I?” Sol questioned as he dangled the Dragon bottle in air. 

“No. You’re not.” Micro said firmly. “Just leave that bottle here and forget you ever saw us, any of this….everything.”

“You can’t be serious!” Sol raised his voice again. “I just found a lead of what to do next! I can’t just back out of this!”

“You found nothing.” Micro dismissed his argument. “All we did was argue back and forth about what happened six months ago. We’re nowhere closer to finding the truth. But I do know that my brother is not a murderer like you so insistently claim.” He turned away from him and grabbed the Build Driver. "Besides, we've got more important things to worry about. Like the Smash."

Sol frowned before spotting the driver and getting an idea, quickly rushing over to Micro and snatching the driver away.

"Hey!" Micro yelled.

"I'll show you!" Sol said as he slapped the driver on his waist. "This is how you transform right?" He slotted the Dragon bottle into the driver.

"DRAGON!"

He looked over at the table and saw the Gatling bottle sitting on it, grabbing it to place in the driver. But before he could do so, something grabbed his wrist. Looking around, he saw it was Flash. "Are you nuts?!" He asked, "If you don't have the right Hazard Level, that thing could kill you."

"Hazard Level?"

They quickly explained what a Hazard Level was, while Micro pulled out the scanner and scanned him. "Two point zero," he said before turning to Sol. "You'd barely avoid becoming a Smash. But it does explain how you could use the Dragon Bottle without turning into one."

Sol groaned as he took the driver off. "I'm still not leaving. Don't forget, I can still get the cops involved." This threat made the two sweat, knowing he had them by the throats.

Flash sighed, "Fine. You can stay. Just don't get in the way."

Sol laughed, "If anything I'll help. Just you watch." He looked at the driver in his hand and then at the bottles. He went to put the Gatling bottle in with the Dragon, but then a feeling came over him. For some reason, he didn't think Dragon and Gatling would work well together. Instead, he took it out and placed it on the table before looking over the rest of the bottle. Finally picking one, he slotted it and Gatling into the driver.

“HAWK!”

“GATLING!”

“BEST MATCH!”

Both Flash and Micro were stunned. They spent so much time trying to discover the Best Match for Gatling….and this new guy comes along and gets it on his first try?!

“There. Problem solved. See? I’m helping you guys out already!” Sol grinned triumphantly. 

“Wh-what…? B-b-b-but….but….H-HOW?!” Micro sputtered, unable to comprehend what just happened. 

“Well…I guess that solves the Best Match issue…” Flash scratched his head. “Now…all we need is a weapon to bring out Gatling’s full potential.”

"I've got it!" Sandalwood cried as he sudden sat up, surprising the lot of them.

"That was fast," Flash said as he watched his friend get up off the mattress and grab a nearby pen and paper. He had expected Sandal to be unconscious for a few more hours, but it seems he was getting use to the effects. The three just watched as Sandalwood sketched something on the paper, switching between black and orange pens.

Finally, he stopped and looked over watched he'd created before turning it around to show them. "What do you think?" The three looked closely at the drawing and saw it was a bunch of squares and rectangles that were either black or orange, though it looked like a five year old had drawn it.

"What are we suppose to be looking at?" Micro asked while adjusting his glasses.

"The weapon you can use in that form," Sandalwood replied. "It came to me...in a dream."

Sol just looked up at him, "You're insane, aren't you?" 

Sandal just frowned at Sol, but turned away when Flash took his picture. "What do you think?"

Flash hummed while looking it over, turning his from left to right as he did. "I think I get what you were trying to imagine."

"You do?" Micro and Sol asked in unison. Then the two glared at one another. 

Flash just nodded his head before putting the paper down and grabbing a fresh sheet and the pens. Using Sandalwood's sketch as reference, he drew a new image and eventually turned it towards his friends. They looked at the new sketch, Sandalwood smiling while Micro and Sol's eyes went wide. "What do you think?"

"It's no Mona Lisa," Micro said while taking the paper in hand. "But at least I know what I'm meant to be looking at." He stepped over to the lab computer. "If I scan this, the computer should be able to use it to make blueprint for the weapon."

"Awesome," Sandalwood said, "now it just needs a cool name." He hummed while staring at the bottles, "Hawk...Gatling. Hawk...Gatling...er. Hawk Gatlinger!" Flash and Micro both smiled at this, liking the sound of it.

Sol just raised an eyebrow, completely clueless how they went from a terrible drawing to designing and naming an admittedly bad-ass looking weapon. "….I know I probably should’ve asked this first but…just who are you guys?"

Sandalwood just smirked at him, "We're Team Build." And with that, the eco-teen just fell backwards and landed on his mattress before letting out a bunch of snores.

"Huh," Flash said, "Guess he's not getting used to it."

“I’m more surprised how he managed to sleep through all the yelling…” Then Sol turned to the two. “Still, if I’m going to be working with you guys, I’ll need to know your names. You already know mine.”

“Well, I’m Flash Sentry, a.k.a. Masked Rider Build.” He then gestured to his intelligent friend. “He’s Micro Chips, the brains of our group.” He then gestured to the unconscious member of the team. “And he’s Sandalwood Forests. He purifies the Smash Bottles we obtain into Fullbottles to use.”

“I see. Well…it’s all good to meet you…”

“Yeah, you say that after we were at each other’s throats just a few minutes ago and all but blackmailed us…” Micro scoffed. 

“What was that?!” 

As the two got into another argument, Flash sighed heavily. ‘Here we go again…’ It was at that point, Flash realized something. This had been the first time any of them had seen Sol around. He seemed to be the same age they were, but they never saw him at CHS, or even from Crystal Prep for that matter. “Out of curiosity, are you new to the city, Sol?”

“Huh?” The fighter turned from the intellectual. “Oh, yeah. I moved in a few days ago. I’m actually starting school tomorrow.”

“Really? What school?”





“Sol Burner, this is Sunset Shimmer.” A woman introduced the red and yellow haired girl. She was a tall woman with pink skin and had long hair that seemed to shimmer in a multitude of colors. She wore a yellow suit jacket over a pair of purple slacks. This was Celestia, principal of Canterlot High School. “She will be the one to give you the tour around our school.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Sol greeted cordially with an extended hand. Unlike yesterday, he was dressed in a black t-shirt with a design of a fist made of blue flames on the chest. A red and black flannel shirt was worn over it. 

“Likewise.” Sunset replied with a polite smile and shook it. She had been taken out of class to act as the tour guide for the new transfer student. She honestly got a sense of déjà vu from the experience as she hosted a tour for three disguised sirens months ago. She had been chosen because Principal Celestia through she would be the best choice to introduce a new student. That and she was the least injured among her peers to actually conduct the tour. 

None of them actually got off unscathed from the Smash attack. Rainbow had a sprained ankle and multiple scrapes and bruises from where she crashed. Rarity got several bruises along her back from being tossed aside, and a massive bruise on her front from being hit in the solar plexus. Even now, breathing remained uncomfortable for her. 

Applejack had a few cuts and bruises on her face, and a mild concussion from the Smash’s assault. She also got a sprained wrist from trying to block one of the swings. 

In contrast, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight, and herself got off easy with less bruises and mild injuries. They were still bandaged up from the ordeal, but it could’ve been worse. Surprisingly, their ponied up forms actually mitigated the damage, saving them from fatal blows. It was because of that none of them were in the hospital right now. Granted, they still had to take it easy while they recovered. Unfortunately, Twilight got additional injuries from the Smash attack yesterday. Thankfully, though, they were only superficial. 

“I’ll leave you two be. Please don’t be late for lunch.” With that, Celestia went back to her office, leaving the two alone.

“So you ready to go?”

“Yep.” The two proceeded to trek through the halls. Sunset informed him of the various facilities and amenities they had as they passed them while Sol asked an idle question every once in a while. They also made some small talk on the side. He even brought up that he recognized her from the music video he saw on TV. She also told him that he seemed familiar as well, but he denied it as it was their first meeting. Eventually, their tour came to a close.

“So, that covers everything. Any other questions?”

“I have one.” Sol raised a hand as his stomach growled. “…what’s on the menu for lunch today?”

Sunset giggled. “Lucky for you, its spaghetti and meatballs and I gotta warn you…the food here is delicious.”

“Awesome! Gotta have my protein.” The fighter clapped his hands. 

“You know, you sound like my friend Rainbow Dash. She enjoys her protein as well, mainly because she’s an athlete. Are you one as well?”

“You can say that. I’m a martial artist, so I gotta keep my protein intake up.”

“Well, hope you don’t skimp out on the veggies.” she joked. 

“Wh-what? N-no, of course not…haha…” They entered the cafeteria, seeing a variety of students seated with one another, exchanging small talk and idle chatter. The two teens got their lunches and went to find a seat. 

“Well, I’m going to head over to sit with my friends. You can join us if you’d like.” Sunset offered. 

“Thanks, but I think I see some of my guys over there.” Sol gestured to a table where Flash, Sandalwood, and Micro sat to Sunset’s surprise. “Thanks for the tour Sunset. See ya around.” Before she could question him, he made his way to the Build table. 

Confused and contemplating, Sunset went over to the Rainbooms table. 

“So…how did the tour go, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked as she adjusted the cast on her arm, wincing. 

“Pretty good….but I can’t help but think something’s off about Sol.”

“You mean the new guy?” Rainbow Dash asked, finding the name slightly familiar. “Why? He’s not another Siren, is he?”

“No, no….nothing like that.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked. 

“It’s just…I don’t know. But don’t you think all of this is just too….coincidental?”

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked, slightly wincing from moving her bruise diaphragm. 

“I mean all of this. The monsters, or the Smash as Twilight called them, the robots, and Build all appeared a few days ago. And now this new student appears? It just seems a bit fishy to me.”

“Do you think…that he’s Build?” Fluttershy asked. 

“Maybe, maybe not. I mean, for all we know, he could be the reason why the Smash started to attack.”

“But I don’t think that’s fair, Sunset.” Twilight interjected. “Sure, his appearance now of all times is strange, but that doesn’t mean that he’s the cause of it. Maybe we should give him a chance at first. I mean, did he seem suspicious at all when you gave him the tour earlier?”

Sunset opened her mouth but paused. Looking back, Sol did nothing to warrant her suspicion earlier. He acted…normal. Well, as normal as every other teenage boy. He didn’t act weird or strange like the Dazzlings had when they enrolled. Maybe she was being paranoid. “No…I guess not. I guess I’m a bit on the edge lately.”

But…it still didn’t explain how he seemed to know Flash and the others. 

“Well, given how things have been lately, Ah don’t blame ya.” Applejack replied. “What say you, Pinkie Pie?”

She was greeted with silence.

“Pinkie Pie?” She turned to find the pink haired girl who sat next to her missing. “…now where did she go?”





“Hey guys.” Sol greeted as he sat down. 

“You know, I’m still surprised when you told us you were enrolling here.” Flash commented as he took a bite out of his spaghetti. 

“Well, it seemed like a good choice. My parents went here before, so I thought I would continue the trend…plus its way cheaper than Crystal Prep.”

“Can’t argue with that. But I didn’t think you were born here in the first place.”

“Yeah. Things got crazy after the incident. Had to move outta town for a bit. But now, since everything’s settled down, I’m back.” 

“Well good to see you’ve gotten comfortable here, dude.” Sandalwood smiled. After regaining consciousness, he was introduced to Sol. He was a bit miffed that he kept accusing Gizmo to be a murderer, but he got over it once he learned the full circumstances of why he thought so. Losing a family member was never easy. The two got along better after that.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Micro. “Aren’t you being too comfortable here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why are you acting so familiar with us? You’re supposed to be a transfer and here you are treating us like friends. Are you trying to sway suspicion towards us?”

“Dude, chill out. I think you’re being paranoid. Look, if anyone asks, I’ll just say I know you guys because you helped me out the other day. Sound good?” He was greeted with blank expressions. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?” Sandalwood just pointed behind him. Curious, Sol turned around and came nose to nose with Pinkie Pie.

“Hello!”

“Gah!” Sol fell out of his seat in shock. “Wh-who the heck are you?!”

“I’m Pinkie Pie! I just wanted to come over and say hello and welcome to Canterlot High! Go Wondercolts!” She pulled out the Wondercolts’ signature pony ears, tail, and Pom poms out of her hair and put them on. “I just couldn’t wait to meet you when Sunset told me about you! It’s just so superiffic meeting someone new! And it looks like you already have friends yourself! That’s good. Everyone needs friends! Will you allow me the honor of being one of yours?” She said in rapid fire succession as she drew her face closer to his.

“....I think I need an adult?”

“I think you’re coming on a bit too strong, Pinkie Pie.” Flash advised his friend. “Maybe you should tone it down a bit…” 

“Okay!” Pinkie pulled back, maintaining her grin.

“Who….who is she?” Sol asked. 

“This is Pinkie Pie. Canterlot High’s resident party planner.”

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. transfer student whose name I don’t know!”

“I-it’s Sol…Sol Burner…” 

“Got it! Nice to meet you Sol Burner! Here!” She gave him a slice of cake she seemingly pulled from thin air. “Welcome to Canterlot High! Hope you enjoy this happy greeting cake!” With her job done, she skipped back to her table happily. 

“So…yeah…that was Pinkie Pie.” Flash said to Sol’s gobsmacked expression. 

“…is that girl just crazy sugar and joy incarnate?”

“I know she can be a bit….well…Pinkie, but she means well. You’ll get used to her in no time.”

“Maybe…” Sol said as he sampled the cake Pinkie gave him. “Wait, how did she know my favorite flavor?!” He quickly finished off the sweet treat along with the rest of his lunch and was about to get up, when a voice called out.

"Seriously!?" Everyone in the cafeteria turned to the Rainbooms' table, where Rainbow was now standing while looking at Pinkie with a shocked look on her face. She then turned to the boy's table and stared at Sol, as if inspecting him, before going wide eyed and then began to limp over to them.

"Uh...who is she? And what is she doing?"

"That's Rainbow Dash. She's a friend of ours, but I have no idea why she's limping over here..." Flash replied.

"I...I can't believe it...!" The athletic girl said as she made it over, stars in her eyes. "It really is you! Omigosh! I can't believe it!"

"Uh...yeah....do I know you?"

"No...but I know you! You're Sol Burner! You’re a fighter that took up boxing AND kickboxing! You were set to win a tournament that would set you up for the pro leagues before you dropped out! What are you doing here?!" Her exclamation drew the attention of several students, surprised to learn that a professional fighter, a teenage one at that, is a member of their school.

"You...you're a fighter?!" Flash gawked. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"...Because no one asked..." Sol sighed. He hoped that people wouldn't make a deal out of his presence at the school. Especially not due to the incident. He really didn’t want to be reminded of his dad, as his death was the main reason why he dropped out. . Thankfully, Rainbow Dash actually had the decency to not bring it up. "So...what can I help you with?"

“Heck yes you can! You and me! We gotta have a match!...you know, when my ankle gets better.” 

“But, why do you wanna fight me?”

“Because I wanna see your skills for myself! You are set up to win the tournament before you dropped out at the final match! I want to see how good you really are! There’s no better opportunity!”

“Well….okay then. Just let me know when and where….only after your ankle gets better.”

“Deal! I’ll hold you onto that!” Rainbow Dash cheered and she and Sol shook hands to seal the deal. She then proceeded to limp back to her table, leaving the four boys. 

“….is everyone as …unique as those girls?” Sol questioned. 

“…I didn’t even know Rainbow Dash knew how to box.” Flash commented. 

“Dude, this is Rainbow Dash we’re talking about.” Sandalwood replied. “She probably knows how to play every sport that ever existed….even ones from forgotten cultures…”





Following lunch, the day passed by without much issue. Sol was discovered to share the same class schedule as Sunset Shimmer, and share some classes with the rest of the Rainbooms and Team Build. One example is sharing gym with Rainbow Dash. Another is art with Pinkie Pie. 

However, Sol remained the center of attention since the revelation in the cafeteria. It hadn’t been easy as many students, particularly the athletes, had wanted to ask Sol questions about his training, his career, and what he planned to do next. 

After a long day, school came to a close. Many of the students had left campus as their respective clubs ended practice.

A group of three girls made their way through the school parking lot late in the afternoon. Sunset Shimmer and Applejack had just finished helping clean up after the Fencing Club’s practice. Both were part of the club, but were unable to practice due to their injuries. So they settled for helping non-strenuous clean up. Applejack’s sister, Applebloom came home with them. The girl had taken the opportunity to watch the club members in action, as she was thinking about joining the club as well. 

Looking back on it, the youngest Apple couldn’t help but laugh when she remembered how her sister joined the club. 

She knew her sister and Rainbow Dash were competitive….they took it to a new level during Club Picture Day. 

As her sister and Sunset made small talk, Applebloom hung back and was lost in thought. It had already been a few days, but the incident at the Mall still gave her nightmares. If it weren’t for her sister and her friends, she wasn’t sure what would’ve happened to her, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. 

Not to mention what happened to the latter just the other day. She was relieved that she was safe thanks to Build, but she still worried. There was even another monster attack yesterday at the Supermarket. The trend seems to indicate that it may become a daily occurrence, and that prospect scared her.   

Unbeknownst to her, Sunset and Applejack shared the same worries. Yesterday, Twilight told them about the attack and what she learned. When she had tried to defend herself and Scootlaoo from the Smash’s attacks, her magic barely had any effect on them. She couldn’t use her telekinesis to change their trajectory or stop them at all. She theorized it might have something to do with the gas they emitted, but it all instilled a sense of dread in the Rainbooms. 

Their magic was absolutely useless against these Smash monsters. 

Never have they felt so helpless. These monsters roamed around their city, and they were powerless to stop them. The only person who could defeat them was this Build character. While they were relieved that there was at least someone who could fight them, they were still uneasy about it. 

Especially Sunset Shimmer. She couldn’t help but feel suspicious about Build. The same day these monsters show up, Build makes his debut and defeats them? It just seemed too coincidental. She brought up her suspicions to her friends, and they all had mixed feelings. 

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash though otherwise and believed Build to be doing the right thing. 

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight were neutral on the matter. They had no reason to believe Build being responsible until shown otherwise, but they still appreciated his help. 

Only Applejack and her retained suspicions on the Masked Rider. It didn’t mean they condemned what he was doing. If he hadn’t shown up, they probably wouldn’t even be having these conversations. But some things still didn’t sit right with her. 

Just what were his motives? 

There was also the new transfer student, Sol Burner, to consider. Apparently, he is a rising star on the fighter scene, just short of moving up to the pro leagues. She did a little research into him during study hall and learned a few things about him. He was the son of the retired heavyweight boxing champion, Knuckle Blaze and grew up right here in Canterlot City. 

Sol became known through his countless victories in boxing and kickboxing competitions. He demonstrated exceptional athletic and physical ability never-before-seen when he was a child. He had been the fan favorite to win the tournament that would’ve secured a contract with the pro leagues. However, six months ago, everything fell apart for him. His father had been found dead in Gizmo Poindexter’s apartment. The event forced him to withdraw from the tournament and move out of the city until the attention died down. 

But now he was back….and his appearance coincided when the Smash and Build first appeared. As much as she didn’t want to, she couldn’t help but think that they were connected in a way. 

Just a few days after the Smash attack and Build’s debut, a new student arrives? Too much to be simple coincidence. Was it possible that he was the cause of it…? Was it possible that he was Build…?

Her musings were cut short when she picked up a strange sound in the distance. She wasn’t quite sure what it was but it sounded like…whistling wind. 

“Uh…do y’all hear something?” Applebloom questioned. Apparently, Sunset wasn’t the only one who heard it. 

“Hm? What do ya mean, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. 

She was then knocked aside by a bluish purple blur. 

“Applejack!” Sunset and Applebloom cried as the farm girl fell on the ground. 

“Ah’m okay!” She hollered back as she readjusted her setson hat. At times like this, she was grateful for her magic power giving her added durability, as well as landing on her uninjured hand. But who just slammed into her?

Her silent question was answered when the blur skidded to a stop before the three. It greatly reminded them of the Strong Smash the girls had fought at the Mall. Only this one’s body resembled more like a knight and was mostly blue with bits of purple. In its hands were two swords with blue circular guards. On its shoulders were bell-like protrusions that resembled its head.  

“A monster!” the youngest Apple shrieked. 

“Another Smash?!” Sunset exclaimed. This was the fourth day in the row! Where were they all coming from?!”

The Mirage Smash ground both of its swords together as he approached Sunset and Applebloom. Applejack would have none of it. 

“Get away from them ya nasty varmint!” She got up to punch the creature with her good hand, but it sped out of the way. The farmer stumbled as the Smash reappeared behind her, blade raised. Applejack saw it and stepped out of the in the nick of time, tripping over her feet and landing on her rear. The blade sliced into the concrete, narrowly missing her. 

“You alright?” Sunset helped her up. 

“Ah think so…just where did this thing come from?”

“I don’t know, but we gotta get out of here!” As much as Sunset hated to admit it, they were helpless against this Smash. Their magic had no effect. The best chance they had was to retreat and hide. 

But as they turned to run away, the Smash appeared before them in a blur of speed. They tried to flee in a different direction, but it cut off that path as well. 

“This thing here’s as fast as Rainbow Dash…” Applejack grunted. “How can this get any worse?”

After images appeared around the Mirage Smash before encircling the girls. They were now surrounded by solid copies of the Mirage Smash. 

“….me and mah big mouth…” 





Meanwhile, at the hidden laboratory, Team Build had assembled as Micro performed the finishing touches on their latest project. 

“Annnnd finished!” Micro cheered as he held the completed device in hand. It was a handheld gun with a black grip and n orange magazine that resembled a spin wheel. The gun’s muzzle had six barrels on a spin wheel, just like a gatling. On the side was an orange sensor in the shape of a Hawk’s eye. “Gentlemen, let me present to you…the Hawk Gatlinger!” 

“…how did you make something like that so fast?” Sol questioned. It had only been a day since Flash made the design plans. 

“Hmph. Don’t underestimate my intelligence and the resources and tools of my brother’s lab…”

“Whatever you say…egghead.” Sol murmured the last par under his breath. But Micro still heard it.

“Why you-!”

“So anyway!” Flash decided to step in before things got dicey….especially since Micro was holding a gun. “This is the weapon for the Gatling Bottle?” 

“Yes indeed.” Micro said, doing his best to ignore Sol. “This should be able to unlock Gatling’s full capabilities in its Best Match state. Be aware that like the Drill Crusher, it doesn’t need to reload. And to increase its firepower, just simply spin the magazine. If you spin it ten times while in Hawk-Gatling form, it will use its Finisher move.”

“Awesome. Then let’s test it out!” Flash strapped on the Driver. But before he could insert the bottles, the Smash Detector went off. “Oh c’mon! Seriously?! Four in a row?!”

“What’s going on?! Is that a fire alarm?!” Sol questioned. 

“Smash Detector.” Sandalwood answered. “It means a Smash has been detected in the city.” 

Micro pulled up the location and paled. “Flash! Th-that’s the school parking lot!” he tapped a few commands again and hacked into the school cameras. They all paled as Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Applebloom appeared on screen. “Oh no! They’re in danger!”

“I’m on it!”

“And I’m coming too!” Sol joined him.

“No! Sol, you’re staying here!”

“What?! Why?! !” Sol replied, holding the Dragon Bottle. “I can fight these things to, you know! I can help!”

“Dude, you can’t!” Flash refused. “If anyone at school sees you using a Bottle, it might reveal who Build is!”

“So you’re just gonna leave me behind?!” Sol argued.

“We can’t risk our identities being exposed!” Micro jumped into the argument. “If everyone learns who Build is, our entire operation will be uncovered! It may get as extreme as the government stepping in and shut us down! Or worst! Even accuse us of being the cause of everything and imprison us!” He grabbed Sol by his jacket. “Is that what you want?!”

“Okay, okay!” Sol stated in defeat. “You made your point! So fine! I’ll just stay here….but don’t say I told you so when you need me!” He then plopped into one of the chairs and rolled away. 

“Don’t worry!” Flash shook the Rabbit and Tank bottles. “It’s just another day in the office for us!”

“RABBIT!”

“TANK!”

“BEST MATCH!”

“ARE YOU READY?!”

He turned the crank and the driver created the constructs that held both halves of the Build armor. Sol whistled in amazement. “Huh…so that’s how it works.”

“Henshin!”

The constructs slammed into him and donned the Build armor in a cloud of steam and gas. 

“FULLMETAL MOONSAULT!"

"RABBIT-TANK!”

“YEAH!”

As soon as he finished changing, Flash rushed out of the store.

“BUILD CHANGE!”

He got onto the Machine Builder shot off to the school. He desperately hoped he wasn’t too late. But as he drove, he couldn’t help but ponder the real reason why he had Sol stay behind. While he told Sol that he didn’t want him to be recognized, he simply didn’t want the fighter to get involved. 

Flash knew what it was like to lose a parent. But he’s had years to heal from such a traumatic experience. Sol only had a few months. And from what he witnessed yesterday, the wounds hadn’t healed completely. He was quick to anger and lash out whenever it concerned his late father. Fighting off the Smash was dangerous enough. But he feared what could happen if Sol fought in such an emotionally unstable state. 

The Rider could only hope that Sol realized that it was too dangerous to fight like this and stop. 





Sometimes Sunset Shimmer wondered if she was cursed. Or if a divine being held a grudge against her. 

Sure she did some terrible things back when she was a bully, but she changed for the better thanks to her friends. But time after time again a magical incident takes place that threatens the world, and it’s usually involved with Equestrian magic. 

But now? They were dealing with unknown entities that were immune to said magic. 

And one of said entities had made clones of itself and surrounded her and her friends. They slowly approached with raised blades. Sunset and Applejack shielded Applebloom as best they could, but they also trembled with the prospect of death looming over them. 

She tried to think of a way out, but the existing facts set the situation out of their favor. The enemy was too fast, armed, and can make copies of itself. They couldn’t outrun or overpower it. 

They were trapped. 

Each clone tensed itself as if to rush in and skewer them. 

However, their actions ceased when the familiar roar of a motorcycle grew closer. 

Then a volley of lasers slammed into the clones, breaking the encirclement and distracting them. Taking this chance, Sunset and the Apple sisters escaped the ring of monsters and hid behind a nearby car. They watched as the Masked Rider had arrived on the scene, holding some sort of conical handgun. 

“Don’t you guys know that girls dislike overbearing guys?...assuming you are guys.” Build said as he got off the bike. Somehow, it folded itself up and shrunk until it became a smart phone that he pocketed. Sunset couldn’t help but wonder why he would make quips like that in a perilous situation…or what he did to his motorcycle. They also felt….familiar for some reason. “Now then…whose ass am I kicking first?”





The Mirage Smash clones swarmed him all at once. Reacting quickly, Build ducked and evaded each swing, thankful for the Rabbit’s speed. He fired at the foes that came within range. While some impacted them due to the rapid fire, others managed to evade them with blinding speed. They were even faster than Rabbit. 

Flash also learned this first hand when said clones struck him from multiple angles, throwing him back. He took this time to regroup and change the Drill Crusher into its melee form.  

“Uh guys? You know where in videogames where you fight a mob of enemies and they disappear if you hit them enough times? It’s not working!”

“We know! It doesn’t seem like these are ordinary clones, Flash.” Micro advised upon seeing the feed. “I’m guessing you need to find the original and take it out. The clones should disappear accordingly….I think.”

“You think?!”

“Well, it’s better than nothing! And on your right!” Flash ducked below an overhead swing and drove the Drill Crusher’s blade into the Mirage clone. He forced it back, but he was countered by two more clones. He tumbled on the ground before he stood back up. 

“I’m open to suggestions! I can’t keep this up forever! There are too many of them!”

“If they’re gonna swarm you, you need to tank those hits until you can find the real one! Try using GorillaMond!”

“Got it!” Flash regrouped and switched to the Gorilla and Diamond Fullbottles. 

“GORILLA!”

“DIAMOND!”

“BEST MATCH!”

“ARE YOU READY?!”

“Build up!”

“DAZZLING DESTROYER!”

“GORILLAMOND!”

“YEAH!”

The clones struck at him once more, but the durable armor of the Dazzling Destroyer mitigated the damage significantly. He punched the clones away and got to thinking. It would be difficult to discern the original Smash from the copies, as they all looked alike. If he attacked one, they would just end up shuffling around quickly to confuse him. He needed a way to keep them in place. Glancing down at his diamond fist, he had an idea. 

From what he understood, the Diamond bottle let him create diamond constructs. He could create something to keep the copies in place. 

He activated the power of Diamond and created crystalline constructs that crept up the legs of each individual Smash body, pinning them to the ground. They struggled and struck at the crystals to free themselves, but it was no use. 

It just wasn’t easy to break a diamond. 

Once all the bodies were trapped, Build sighed in relief, feeling a bit of a reprieve. All he had to do now was to figure out which one was the original. He supposed he would just attack one at a time and see what would work. 

But before he could even use a Voltech Break, a blast of energy struck him in the chest. He tumbled and rolled onto his front. He pushed himself up to see a new figure standing between him and the Smashes.

The figure was a male clad in black armor, with a silver chest plate and shoulder pads. Curved pipes protruded from the silver armor pieces, two on each shoulder and one on either side of the collar. On said chest plate was a bright yellow bat symbol. The helmet also bore a bright yellow bat motif that seemed to glow in the darkness. On his forehead was a flat horn.

In his hand was a red gun of a steam-punk design with a modified Fullbottle stuck in the underside. 

“Who…who are you?!”

Wordlessly, the figure fired another shot at Build, this time in the face. 





“Who…who is that?” Applebloom whispered from her hiding spot. She, like the other girls were surprised by the person’s appearance. They were even more surprised when they saw his attack knock the Masked Rider off his feet with ease. 

“Ah don’t know…but…” Before Applejack could finish, the bat figure ruthlessly shot Build in the face, forcing him to stumble. “…He’s definitely bad news…”

“We can’t stay here.” Sunset hissed out. “We need to get out of here and call for help!”

“Right, let’s…” The sound of cracking stopped them cold. They peered over the car. To their horror, the Mirage Smash clones repeatedly beat on their Diamond prisons and yielded some results. Their strikes gradually cracked the structures. Bit by bit they inched towards freedom. 

“….well shoot…”





Flash scrambled away as he deflected another blast with his Diamond fist. He returned fire with the Drill Crusher, but the bat figure just shrugged off the shots and continued his advance. 

“Just who are you?!” Flash demanded as he ducked below another blast. 

“…I am Night Rogue…your demise, Masked Rider.” He aimed another blast and fired. It struck Flash in the chest dead on. The Damage readout continued to alarm. 

“Guys?! Any suggestions would be nice right now!”





“We’re trying!” Micro said as he did his best to analyze Night Rogue. Micro made a note to equip some scanners on the drone for situations like this. At best, all he could discern of Night Rogue’s armor is that it was similar to Build’s in a way. He didn’t think such a thing was possible. All this time they all believed the Build Driver to be the only one of its kind. 

Just who was this guy? And why was he trying to kill Flash?! They couldn’t ponder for long as they had to save their friend. But this foe was no slouch. His attacks actually left considerable damage on GorillaMond, the form that had the toughness of a Diamond!

“Well, try faster!” On screen, Flash deflected another blast, but left himself open to a swift liver punch. 

“That’s it…!” Sol said as he headed up the stairs. “I can’t take this anymore! I’m heading over there!”

“What?! “ Micro and Sandal snapped to him. “Sol! You can’t!”

“And why not?!” He rounded on them. “Unless Flash gets some help, he’s going to get creamed! In fact, he’s already getting his ass kicked!” He pointed to the screen, showing off Flash on the ground as Night Rogue repeatedly stomped on him. 

“But it’s dangerous! You’ll get hurt!”

“Newsflash! I don’t care!” Sol snapped at Micro. “Face it, I’m pretty much the only other fighter on this team, and our vanguard is getting whooped by a new enemy while the first ones are trying to escape! So unless you have an idea to corral them from here, I need to go to help out!”

Micro bit his lip. As much as he hated to admit it, Sol was right. They couldn’t help out Flash from here aside from logistical support. Neither he nor Sandalwood are much help in a fight. Sol on the other hand, knew martial arts and had experience in using Fullbottles. If they were going to get Flash out of this alive…he had to make the call. 

“…Alright, fine! You can go! But we’re not letting you off without some kind of disguise!” He opened a nearby drawer and pulled something out. He tossed the item to Sol, who caught it and stared at it. It looked like some sort of respirator. 

“What…is this?”

“A mask I whipped up. It was designed to filter out any Nebula Gas for safety, but it should be enough to hide your face at least. It even makes you sound different.”

“And here!” Sandalwood came back and gave him a gray, hooded trenchcoat. 

“...where did you even get that?”

“Tell you later, just go!” Sol quickly put on the gear and hurried off on his motorcycle.





Later…

“Guys?! GUYS?!” Flash tried to radio in, but no one was answering. He just got away from being pinned by Night Rogue and tried to fight back, but he was a better fighter than he initially thought. In close combat, he blocked his strikes with ease and deflected them before he countered with swift punches and kicks. Despite the defensive properties of Diamond, Flash felt each one strike home. 

This was the disparity between a novice and an experienced fighter. 

Since Night Rogue moved quicker than Flash, he decided to change back to RabbitTank to match him in speed. He learned that when he changed forms, the damage readout resets, as if he got an instant-heal. 

However, despite matching Rogue in speed, he was still stuck trying to dodge his hits or getting smacked around by him. 

As he got up from his fourth knockdown, the sound of breaking diamonds filled his ears. He blanched as the Mirage Smash clones finally freed themselves. To make things worse, they found the girls running away and advanced toward them.

“NO!” He tried to intercept the Smash horde, but Night Rogue shot him in the back and knocked him down. 

“If this is the extent of your abilities…then you truly are pathetic.” He yanked up Build by the collar and tossed him to the side. He rolled until he stopped at the wall of a nearby building. He pulled himself up using the wall as support as Night Rogue approached. “Now watch as the innocents you tried so hard to protect become exterminated…”

Applejack, Sunset, and Applebloom tried to keep running, but the clones quickly surrounded them once more. Flash growled in frustration. Night Rogue pointed his gun and fired at the wall. Each blast compromised the structure. He had intended to bury the Rider alive. However, before he could deliver the final blow, something came up from behind. 

“Hey bat man!” Rogue turned around and was greeted with a flaming punch to the face. The force behind the attack sent him flying towards the wall. Flash rolled out of the way in time. 

Rogue’s body hit the crumbling wall, sending it toppling on top of him. 

Build pushed himself up to see who his savior was. To his surprise, it was a figure garbed in a gray, hooded trenchcoat with a respirator mask to hide his face. But what stood out to him was the blue bottle in his hands. 

“Looks like I arrived on time.” Sol greeted as he helped Flash up. 

“What…what are you doing here?! I thought I told you to stay put!”

“Well, things changed when the fight became too much for you. And don’t you have girls to save instead of arguing with me?!” He pointed to the still surrounded girls. 

“Crap! You’re right! But how am I supposed to find the original at this rate?!” Sol smacked him in the arm.

“Dude, you got your Best Match and new gun, now’s the time to try them out!”

Flash then felt like an idiot. He honestly forgot about them until now. He took out the Hawk and Gatling Bottles and shook them. A new series of equations floated around him, confusing the heck out of Sol. 

“What the-?! Where did all this math come from?!”

“Doesn’t matter!” He inserted the Hawk and Gatling Bottles into the Driver. 

“HAWK!”

“GATLING!”

“BEST MATCH!”

Flash turned the crank as orange and gray armor pieces filled the constructs.

“ARE YOU READY?!”

“Build up!”

The constructs slammed into him and donned him in a new form. The Gatling side of the armor remained the same, but the Hawk part of the armor gave him a new form. The organic sections of the armor were orange and the eyepiece was modeled after a swooping hawk. But the most unique thing about the armor was now he had wings. 

“SKY HIGH VANDAL!”

“HAWK-GATLING!”

“YEAH!”

“Wh-whoa! Where did these things come from?!” Flash was amazed by his new set of wings. 

“Question later! Save now!” Sol went ahead to try and save the girls. Flash nodded as he ran forward, but the wings on his armor activated, sending him flying into the air. He yelled in surprise as he took to the skies. He soon found a way to steady himself and flew over to the encirclement. 





One of the Mirage Smash raised its swords with the intent to cleave the girls apart. Sunset and Applejack shielded Applebloom with their bodies. 

The girls closed their eyes at the inevitable impact. 

Just before the Smash could bring the blade down, a hooded figure intervened. Moving quickly, he wound up his fist and drove it hard into the Smash’s body. A burst of blue fire erupted and forced the mutant away, forcing it to crash on the ground. The mysterious individual then turned to the girls. 

“Hey! Are you girls alright?!” The three opened their eyes, and were immediately surprised by the figure’s appearance. He was male based on his physique, lithe yet muscular. He was clad in a heavy, gray, hooded coat with a respirator mask on his face, concealing his identity. His voice sounded strange, as if it were filtered.

“Y-y-yeah…we’re fine…” Applebloom stuttered out. She then noticed the Smash rising before rushing at their savior from behind. “Look out!”

At first, the man didn’t seem to react. But just as one of the clones swung at his head, he ducked underneath it and grabbed the outstretched limb. He twisted the arm away. He kneed it in the stomach and used his free hand to deliver a vicious uppercut to its face. 

“Hah…these things don’t seem so tough…” He was proven otherwise as two of the clones tackled him at high speeds, sending him crashing to the ground. He rolled back onto his feet and glared at the clones. “…okay, I was wrong.” 

One of the clones tried to attack the girls from behind while he was distracted. Sol tried to rush over and stop it, but his path was blocked by another set of copies. 

Thankfully, help came in the form of the Sky High Vandal swooping in and kicking the Smash in the face. Build landed on his feet, his back turned to the girls. “Sorry I was late, air traffic was killer.” He then turned to the disguised Sol. “Get these three out of here. Things are about to get messy.”

“Right!” Sol then escorted the three girls away, leaving Build alone with the horde of Mirage Smash.

He then held his arm out and called. “Hawk Gatlinger!” The gun-like weapon manifested into his hands from the Driver. 

“With this…” Build slid one hand across the orange eyepiece. “…I now have the winning formula!”

He remembered Micro’s instructions and spun the Hawk Gatlinger’s magazine. 

“TEN!”

He pulled the trigger and a volley of energy bullets shot out. They impacted the horde of clones with greater effectiveness. 

The remaining clones tried to rush at him, but he took to the skies. He spun the magazine again to reload and continued to fire at them from above. The clones tried to move about rapidly to evade the blasts, but the Hawk Gatlinger has locked onto all of their signatures due to the Third Eye Hawk sensor. It relayed that data to Flash’s Helmet and showed him where to properly aim and let the energy bullets do the rest. Once fired, the bullets would alter their flight paths until they hit the target, as if they were homing missiles. 

To think a weapon like wouldn’t have been possible without Sandalwood and Micro. 

He spun the magainze twice, increasing the weapon’s fire power. 

“TEN!”

“TWENTY!”

He flew around the clones in a circle, corralling them into a single space while damaging them simultaneously. Soon, all of the existing clones were grouped together. 

“…Time to end this!” Flash ascended into the skies, spinning the magazine multiple times. However, the Smash below him were persistent and jumped after him. They surprisingly had extraordinary jumping abilities as they followed him into the air. But Flash avoided their attacks as he flew higher and higher.

“TEN!”

“TWENTY!”

“THIRTY!”

“FORTY!”

“FIFTY!”

With each spin, the Six Gun Muzzle glowed brighter with gathered power.

“SIXTY!”

“SEVENTY!”

“EIGHTY!”

“Let’s go!” Build spread his wings, and a series of energy rings expanded around him. They grew and rotated until they formed a spherical graph made of white energy, trapping the horde inside. 

“NINETY!”

“ONE HUNDRED!”

“FULL BARREL!”

“Open fire!” Flash pulled the trigger and an endless barrage of energy hawks shout out of the gun. He aimed and flew all over within the sphere, hitting every target within. Once every Mirage individual Mirage Smash was struck directly, they exploded into a green burst of flames. It set off a chain reaction that caused the spherical graph to explode in a green burst of energy. 

Flash flew out of the cloud and landed on the parking lot below. He had flown high enough to ensure the attack didn’t damage anything on the ground level. The girls and Sol stared in amazement at what they just witnessed. 

The original Mirage Smash crashed soon after, unmoving. 





Meanwhile, back at the collapsed wall, the pile of rubble remained still. 

Out of nowhere, an armored arm shot out of the mass of debris. Night Rogue pulled himself out of the mess of broken brick and mortar. He crawled out of the mess and panted. He pushed himself onto a knee and looked up to where the others were. He clicked his tongue when he saw the Mirage Smash in a defeated heap. It seemed that the Dragon Fullbottle user and Build had joined forces after all. He grew frustrated when he realized that he couldn’t stop them at this point.

“Yo, leader…” Stalk walked out from the corner. “You look like you’re having fun~”

“Why are you here, Stalk?” Rogue asked as he stood to his full height. “Why didn’t you step in earlier?”

“Didn’t see much reason to. Thought you had it all handled.” The Cobra-themed warrior shrugged. “As for me, I’m just here to pick up out little asset before the Rider could pry anything from it.”

Stalk’s chestplate glowed eerily. 





Flash had sucked up the remainder of the Smash essence from the Mirage Smash, returning the host to a normal human. 

The girls and Sol stepped up to the Rider once the danger had passed. The girls were amazed at what they had witnessed first hand. Build seemed to have much more power than they initially thought. Sunset’s eyes were focused on Build before they shifted to the unconscious person. 

Her eyes widened in recognition. It was a woman garbed in what seemed to be white hospital scrubs. She had seen her before. It was back at the mall when the Robots were kidnapping people. She was one of the personnel taken. 

Sunset tried to approach the unconscious body. She hoped she could learn what happened after capture. Unfortunately, she didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings. 

Fortunately, Sol did. He acted quickly and shoved Sunset aside. “Look out!” Build had pulled the Apple sisters out of the way as well. As they moved, a large blur sped passed them and picked up the body in its maws and swallowed it. It soon slithered to a halt, revealing itself to be a giant, teal cobra comprised of what seemed to be energy. It hissed at the group before it slithered out of sight. 

“What the?! What was that thing?!” Applejack questioned as Build set her and her sister down. 

“I have no idea…but we lost our lead…” Sunset picked herself up. She was frustrated she couldn’t find anything about the Mall attack.  But at least the Rider and his compatriot were here to question. She turned to the two males only to discover they were gone.

“Hey! Where did they go?” Applebloom questioned. 





“Man…flying is such an awesome power…” Flash said as he used his newfound flight capabilities to get him and Sol away from the suspicious Sunset Shimmer. Said disguised fighter had his arms held by his own, leaving the rest of him dangling. “I can see why Rainbow loved it back at the Games.”

“That’s all fine and dandy, but can we get back to my bike now? Kinda need it to go home.” Sol questioned. Flash complied and they landed where he parked his motorcycle, which was thankfully out of sight from prying eyes. 

“So…still think it’s too dangerous for me to fight?” The fighter asked with his back turned. 

“…why did you come here? I thought I told you to stay at the lab.”

And what? Leave you be while you’re getting your ass kicked?” Sol turned to look him in the eye. “I get it. Fighting monsters and bad guys, it’s dangerous. Heck, I know it's a lot more dangerous without the armor. But that doesn’t mean you get to push people away while you shoulder it all alone! I’m part of Team Build too, you know. I’m here to help, and I can fight!”

"Without the armor, you could get seriously injured! You saw what happened to me today!"

"Yeah, but I got here on time to stop it! I know it's dangerous! I'm not an idiot! But if you're just going to tackle these Smash things alone, you could end up getting yourself killed! That Bat guy completed curb stomped you, remember?! I don’t care if you think you’re some hero or whatever! A person can't handle things like this alone! You need help!"

Flash stared at him through his visor. He sighed. It seemed like Sol wasn’t backing down. He was determined to see this through. He realized that he did make a stupid decision. Because of him wanting to keep Sol out of it, he nearly got himself killed. He almost got the girls killed on top of that. If Sol hadn’t been there to save him…they would all likely be dead. 

“Sol…I’m sorry…”

“What?”

“I’m sorry…for keeping you out of the fight. I was just…worried. I know what it was like to lose a father…it took me years to cope with that fact. Even now, I’m not sure if I’m fully recovered. But you? You only had a few months. I didn’t think that was enough…”

“So….you thought I was unstable and would’ve screwed up somehow?” Sol asked with a raised brow. 

“Well…yes…but I now know that you can keep a cool head in a fight…if you hadn’t arrived, I probably would be dead. So thank you….and I’m sorry…” 

Sol kept silent as the words sunk in. He then rested a hand on Flash’s shoulder. “It’s alright. Thanks for being honest with me. I get where you were coming from but…I just want to help out. I’m part of this team too, and I gotta do my part. So whenever there’s a fight going on, I got your back…partner.”

The fighter held out a hand. Flash smiled underneath his helmet and grasped it.

“You got it…partner.”





Later that night…

Applebloom sat on her bed, smart phone in hand.  She had been group-texting her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo about what happened earlier today. She still couldn’t believe that Masked Rider Build had come to save her, her sister, and Sunset! 

Scootaloo had been ecstatic when she learned of this. She was even more ecstatic when Applebloom told her about a new form Build used. How he could fly like a hawk and use a cool gun that did some awesome auto-targeting on the Smash clones. 

Sweetie Belle had also been amazed upon learning this. Although, she expressed her worry for her friends as they were both caught up in Smash attacks. Scootaloo assured her that they were fine, as Build would come to save the day if they ever got attacked again. 

Before Applebloom could continue the conversation, her grandmother hollered out to her.

“Applebloom? Can you come down here? We got something to talk to ya about!”

“Sure, Granny!” The youngest Apple sibling hollered back. She texted her friends goodnight before she hopped off her bed. She climbed down the stairs and entered the kitchen, where the rest of her family sat down at the table. On the left side of the table was Applejack. 

On the right was a tall, muscular man in his early twenties. He had a peach complexion was freckles across his face. He had green eyes and a mess of straw-yellow hair. He was dressed in a white shirt, jeans, and a red flannel shirt with a large, green apple logo. This was her brother Big Mac.

Seated on the other end of the table was an elderly, plump woman with light green skin and white hair tied up in a bun. She wore a yellow dress with an apron over it. This was her grandmother, Granny Smith.

To the young girl’s surprise, they all had solemn expressions. 

“What…what’s going on y’all?” She couldn’t help but ask when the silence became too much to bear. 

“….sugarcube?” Applejack spoke. “The three of us talked and…well….we came to a decision…”

To Be Continued: