After Cross-Z had successfully entered the building, the mass of people had flown into a complete frenzy. Many wondered what was going on, why Cross-Z was here, and why they were locked out of the building. The staff and teachers tried their best to calm the students down, but had difficulty in doing so.
Off to the side, Micro and Sandalwood managed to regroup away from prying eyes. The former had his phone pressed to his ear as Flash filled them in on the situation. How the gas and the Smash attack were simply a diversion for Stalk and Faust to sneak into the building and steal the box.
“I’m on my way right now! Tell Cross-Z to be careful until I can get to him!”
“Right. I’m sending Crozz in as well.” The intellectual replied. After a confirmation, the rider hung up as Micro inputted a new command into his phone.
Back at the lab, Crozz’s eyes flickered and lit up before it immediately flew out of the building to its confirmed destination.
Micro prayed that the mechanical dragon could get here as soon as possible. They were currently running blind on the situation.
“Hey, you guys!” Rainbow Dash hollered. The two boys turned to see the Rainbooms run up to them. “Do you two know where Flash and Sol went? We can’t find them anywhere!”
“Wait, so they weren’t with you?” Sandalwood questioned, feigning ignorance.
“We thought they were with you.” Fluttershy replied.
“Crap…this is bad…”
“You guys don’t think they’re still in there, do you?” Twilight turned to the locked down building.
“It….it’s plausible.” Sunset admitted. “But they should’ve woken up along with us. When did we get separated from them?!”
“What on earth is going on here?!”
From the building, all eyes turned to see the group of police cars pull up along the parking lot. Following them was another black car familiar to Twilight, Cadence, and Velvet.
From the lead police car stepped out Lieutenant Shining Armor while Night Light exited the black car, both were baffled by what they were seeing.
“Shining Armor! Dad!/Night Light!” The females of the Sparkle Household cried as they approached.
“Scrambled the squad as soon as I got your call, mom. Can someone please tell me what’s going on?!”
“Just what on earth happened while I was away?!” Night Light walked up to them. “What’s this about sleeping gas, Faust, and Pandora’s Box?!”
Velvet quickly explained to her husband and son the situation from what she could piece together. How they were all knocked out by some form of sleeping gas through the vents and how Build and Cross-Z came to save them. Apparently, Faust had set up this plan to steal the artifact.
As soon as she finished, both men from the Sparkle Household paled.
“Goodness…! Just how were they able to put together a plan like this?!”
“I don’t know, dad…but it’s definitely not good.”
“What of the Rider and his friend. Where are they now?”
“Currently, Cross-Z is inside the building. We don’t know where Build is right now. Hopefully they can stop Faust before they can get away with the Box.”
Meanwhile...
“Ba ba da bap bap ba da ba da ba da~” Stalk sung to himself as he traversed through the halls with a spring to his step. The Guardians that had previously followed him had left elsewhere for an additional assignment.
Behind him was a trail of dead bodies that quickly broke apart into black particles. The guards were unfortunate to have encountered Stalk and got poisoned for their efforts to stop him.
He was honestly surprised that so many had stayed when the building locked itself down. Oh well…they weren’t an issue anymore.
The red armored man had found himself in the room that housed Pandora’s Box. The Cobra couldn’t help but shiver in excitement. After so long…the Box was within reach. He brandished his Steam Blade as he approached the containment unit.
He raised the blade as if to slice through the container….but he stopped and crouched over a control panel off to the side.
He typed in a series of numbers before the panel lit green. The container beeped as sections of it slid open to reveal the artifact inside. “I must thank Misty for all those little security codes. Pity that there’s no master code to lift the entire lock down….oh well.”He grabbed the grabbed the box and held it with his hands. “Finally…one step closer.”
“Hold it you snake!” Sol Burner appeared, Beat Cross-Zer in hand. “You’re not getting the Box!”
“Ah, little Sol Burner…” Stalk mused as he turned to the teen. “How nice to see you again. But your statement couldn’t be more wrong as I already have what I came for.” He hefted the artifact for emphasis. “See?”
“Guess I’ll just have to take it back.” He already pulled the pommel. “After I kick your ass.”
HIT PARADE!
“As much fun it would be to beat the stuffing out of you again, I’m afraid I’m needed on the roof. But don’t worry.” With a free hand, he snapped his fingers. The Guardians appeared from the other side of the room, dragging along one of the CRDC’s scientists. The Cobra pulled out the Steam Blade once more. “You’ll have someone else to play with.”
DEVIL STEAM!
The scientist screamed as the Nebula Gas swallowed his body, transforming it into that of the Press Smash.
“Crap.” Sol groaned as the Smash lumbered towards him.
“Hope you survive this, kid.” With a wave of his hand, Stalk and his Guardians left the scene while Sol fought off the mutated scientist.
“You’re not getting away!” The fighter yelled out before he slammed his blade into the Press Smash.
“I already am!” The Cobra yelled back, his voice echoing as he got farther away. “Ciao~!”
Back outside, the police had taped off the vicinity and kept the students well away from the building for their own safety.
Night Light and Twilight Velvet were busy punching in a string of codes into the Building’s security system. But each one they tried resulted in an error message. All of the codes for outside access have been changed.
Shining Armor was with the rest of his officers trying to determine a plan of action in case of the two vigilantes failing.
The Rainbooms were off to the side with the same agenda.
“So what exactly can we do if Build and Cross-Z can’t stop Faust from stealing the Box?” Sunset wondered. After overhearing Cross-Z yell out loud Faust’s objective, the girls realized what was going on.
“But what could they want with Pandora’s Box anyway?” Twilight wondered.
“I don’t know, but didn’t it say that generated some sort of unknown energy? Maybe they’re after that?”
“Ooh, what if they’re using the energy it makes and use it to power something? Like a doomsday weapon? Or the world’s biggest juke box? Or even Las Pegasus?!” Pinkie Pie was greeted by strange looks from her friends. “What? All that power for those lights gotta come somewhere you know.”
“Strange theories aside, there’s gotta be something we can do!”Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“But how can we stop them?” Rarity asked.
“Ah don’t know. Ah can’t help but feel like we’re gonna be useless, gals.” Applejack replied.
“You mean because of our magic, right?”
“Yep. If our magic can’t work, then we’re just sittin’ ducks.”
“There must be something we can do.” Rarity urged. They couldn’t just let the scoundrels get away like this.
“Panic?” Fluttershy suggested.
“That’s your answer for everything.” Their rainbow haired friend replied blandly. “Maybe I can sneak inside and reach the Box before Faust can.”
“But how are you going to stop them?” Twilight questioned back. “If you go in there, you’re gonna get blasted!”
“I don’t know! But…wait, what’s that noise?” Rainbow trailed off from her argument. The sound of rushing air filled their ears.
“Look!” Pinkie Pie pointed to the sky. All eyes turned up to see the flying form of Build careening toward the building at full speed. He showed no signs of slowing down.
“Dear heavens…!” Rarity gaped, realizing what the Rider intended to do. “Don’t tell me he’s going to-!”
Like a rocket, Build shot through the air and broke his way into the building’s barricaded window on the third floor. The sound of creaking metal and breaking glass filled the air as the metal panels failed. The students screamed as the shards fell on the ground.
“….looks like he did.” Pinkie Pie commented.
“Did Build just crash through the window?!” Shining Armor questioned in both shock and confusion.
“Well…looks like we need to get a new window…and shutters…” Night Light lamented. But it would be a small price to pay if they could keep Pandora’s Box safe.
While all eyes were on the broken window, Micro and Sandalwood were on their phones and out of earshot.
And no one noticed the small, blue, mechanical dragon sneaking in through the air vents on the side of the building.
“Dude, that was a pretty sick entrance.” Sandalwood complimented.
“It definitely distracted everyone that’s for sure. But there’s no doubt Faust is on to you, now.”
“Had no choice. Couldn’t find a way in, so I had to make one.”Flash replied as he flew through the halls, trying to find where Stalk was.
“You realize we’re just solidifying Chrysalis’ claims of destructive behavior, right?” Micro pointed out.
“Hey, it was an emergency! Would you rather have Faust steal the Box instead?!” The Rider snapped back as he flew down to the first floor to start his search.
“Point taken. Found them yet?”
“Nope! Going as fast as I can! Did you guys find Cross-Z?”
“Not yet, Crozz just entered the building and should find him shortly!”
“Just hope he’s doing okay.”
SMASH HIT!
The flaming blade of the Beat Cross-Zer slammed into the Press Smash’s body. A resulting explosion occurred that took the monster down for the count. Sol pulled out an Empty Bottle and extracted the essence, returning the researcher to normal.
“Glad that’s over…” The fighter sighed as he looked around the room. His fight with the Press Smash had been quite destructive. The walls had numerous dents and slash marks while the floor was covered in streaks of soot from the flames. He walked over to the unconscious man and pulled him off to the side so he rested against the wall.
He didn’t have time to see if he was alright, he needed to stop Faust from stealing the Box.
“Burrah!” A familiar cry was heard overhead as Crozz flew to his eye level.
“Hey buddy!” Sol smiled as he caught the dragon. “Guessing Micro sent you here?”
It chirped in confirmation as its eyes flickers. His communicator then crackled to life.
“Cross-Z, are you there? Come in!” Flash called out.
“I read you, Build. Where are you?”
“Inside the building looking for Stalk! I’ve done a floor sweep over the first two, but I can’t find him!”
“Do you know where he is?!” Micro called in next.
“Well, before he sent a Smash to attack me, he said he was needed on the roof.” The fighter broke out into a run. “I’ll meet you up there!”
“Wait, he was heading to the roof this whole time?!” Flash questioned loudly.
“Yeah, why?” Sol was already climbing the stairs to the next floor up.
“You’re saying I smashed through the third floor window for nothing?! And I STILL missed him?!”
“….yeah, pretty much.” Sol said before hearing him groan.
“Ugh….I’m flying back around. I’ll cut them off and meet you on the roof.” Flash cut the call as he flew up to his destination, muttering a stream of curses under his breath.
“You know, I probably should’ve said this earlier, but why didn’t you guys just call me that Crozz was coming? And I could’ve told you where Stalk went without the wild goose chase and window smashing, as cool as that sounds. How awesome was it?” Sol pointed out as he ascended to the third floor.
Outside the building, Micro stared off into space before he slapped his forehead.
A bit later, Build flew out of the hole he made and ascended to the roof of the building. Meanwhile, Sol had reached the stairs that led to the roof, only to be greeted by a group of Guardians with guns trained on him.
“I don’t have time for you scrubs!” Sol pulled the pommel of his weapon.
HIT PARADE!
He then charged in with a battle cry.
Blood Stalk whistled as he climbed the final set of stairs and opened the door to the CRDC’s roof. It was a spacious area with a helipad made for aerial transport. Standing next to the helicopter was the familiar form of Night Rogue.
“Took you long enough.”
“Sorry, had to keep our little Dragon occupied.”
“What of the Guardians?”
“Covering our escape. They got the stairway secured while we high tail it out of here.”
“Very well. But why do you insist on taking a helicopter instead of teleporting? Doesn’t seem practical given what we’re capable of.” Night Rogue pointed out.
“C’mon…lighten up! What’s wrong with having fun and riding a chopper once in a while? Gotta make a get-away in style, you know. Besides, this baby ain’t going anywhere…”
Just as Stalk said that, a flaming projectile flew above their heads and stabbed itself into the helicopter’s propeller. The impact produced an explosion that blew the rotors off its hull.
Both armored figures stared as their get-away ride had combusted. They turned around to find the culprit.
Sol Burner stood with his arm extended, Dragon Fullbottle in hand. His form was hunched over and panted heavily, signifying exhaustion from his previous fights. “You bastards aren’t going anywhere.” He stood tall as his fists ignited. “Hand over the box!”
“Well this is a surprise.” Stalk commented offhandedly. “You seem to have handled that Press Smash all by your lonesome, not to mention how you got past all our Guardians quickly.”
“As if stuff like that could stop me…” The fighter glared. Below them on the staircase were the sparking, mangled remains of Faust’s Guardians.
“Rightfully so…” The Cobra handed Night Rogue the Box. Before Sol could react, Blood Stalk had already closed the distance between them and delivered a solid punch to his midsection. He felt the wind expel from his lungs as he was knocked back into the wall by the door. “...But you still ain’t at our level yet, kid.”
Before Night Rogue could reach for his own Transteam Gun to finish off the nuisance, a volley of energy hawks impacted him from behind, forcing him to stumble and release his grip on the artifact.
“LION!”
“CLEANER!”
“Build up!”
Before it could hit the ground, Pandora’s Box was sucked up toward the descending Masked Rider in Lion Cleaner form. He hit the ground in a tuck and roll before propping up on his knees. The box flew toward him and into his hands safely.
“Well, look who’s tardy to the party.” Stalk mused.
“You’re not getting away with Pandora’s Box.” Flash glared at the two Faust members. Quickly recovering, Sol Burner walked up next to his partner, cracking his knuckles and rearing to go. “We’re stopping you here and now!”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but that ain’t happening.” The Cobra paused to think before continuing. “By the way, heard you broke through a barricaded window trying to find me.” He waved his hand in a so-so manner. “I’ll give you points for style kid. But practicality….meh.”
“Shut up!” Flash tried to rush him but a blast from Night Rogue knocked him to the side.
“Your fight is with me, Build.” The Bat coldly stated, stalking closer. The Masked Rider growled before he engaged Night Rogue.
Meanwhile, Sol squared off against Rogue. The former kept a wary eye on his opponent, waiting for an opening. “What’s the matter? Show me what ya got, kid.”
Seeing as he wasn’t able to goad his opponent, Sol complied and struck first. He started with a left jab that Stalk effortlessly parried. He was running purely on adrenaline, his movements became more sluggish and telegraphed. He shifted his feet and whipped his hand back in a backfist, yet his foe stopped it as well with a forearm block.
Sol spun on his heel to deliver a reverse spin roundhouse kick combination. Stalk ducked beneath the first kick and caught the second. He then threw the teen away. Sol reacted quickly and flipped up back on his feet.
He charged in and resumed the fight starting with a feint before he struck with an uppercut. Stalk simply leaned back to let the fist fly past his face. The fighter used his upwards momentum to spin for a left elbow smash that the Cobra blocked yet again. Sol Burner pulled back briefly before striking with a series of punches to try and overwhelm his opponent.
To his aggravation, the multiple strikes did not faze Stalk who soundly parried and blocked each one. “Is this really your best?” He mocked. “How disappointing.” Before Sol could lash out with another punch, Stalk sidestepped and drew close before striking his chest with an open palm strike.
The martial artist was sent skidding across the roof before he fell on his knees. His ribcage rattled from the impact and his breathing grew labored. Yet the sensations dulled as his anger flared up from the insults.
Without even shaking the Dragon Fullbottle, Sol’s fist ignited in blue balls of fire.
The Cobra saw and found himself amazed by this phenomenon. To demonstrate such power without the use of a Fullbottle was unprecedented. Truly, he never expected Sol Burner to be capable of such things. He found his intrigue in the boy grow more and more.
His musings were cut short as said boy closed the distance between them and rammed a blazing fist into his face. Blood Stalk was rattled from the hit, but quickly shook it off. Yet that moment of hesitation was enough of an opening for Sol to continue his assault on the red armored psychopath.
Straight. Jab. Straight. Hook punch. Uppercut. Back fist. Jab. Uppercut. Hook punch. Hook punch. The cycle continued in an unrelenting assault of blue, flaming fists. Sol’s rage was channeled through each attack. As his emotions flared higher and higher, the flames grew brighter.
As the fiery hits continued, Stalk felt each attack getting stronger. He smiled. That meant that the boy’s Hazard Level was increasing, but he had to be sure.
Sol cocked his fist back to deliver a right hook. But Stalk had caught his hand before it even reached his face. “Bravo~ Young Sol Burner! You did it! A 3.0 hazard level!” He was so caught up in his revelation that he failed to react to the fighter striking him in the face with a jumping axe kick.
The Cobra was sent stumbling from the kick before he shook his head and regained his senses. “Alright then…” He whipped out both his Transteam Gun and Steam Blade. “…let’s get serious!”
While Sol continued his fight with the now armed Blood Stalk, Flash handled matters with Night Rogue. The latter fired a volley of energy blasts from his gun. Flash reacted by raising his Cleaner arm and sucked up all the projectiles harmlessly. Seeing as ranged attacks were useless, Night Rogue rushed in with the Steam Blade next, electricity crackled along the edge. Flash ducked under the first swing and sidestepped the second. He blocked the third with his right arm, blade meeting Lion Gauntlet. The Bat pulled the trigger.
“ELEK STEAM!”
Millions of volts of electricity surged from the weapon and through Flash’s body. The armor greatly mitigated the damage, especially the Lion Half-Body. But Night Rogue was not finished. He turned the dial on the Steam Blade and pulled the trigger once more.
“ICE STEAM!”
A frigid blast froze Build in place, allowing the silver armored man to follow up with his Transteam Gun.
“STEAM SHOT!” A large energy bullet impacted Flash, breaking him free from his icy prison and into the adjacent wall.
Flash pulled himself up while panting. “Is that the best you can do?” Night Rogue questioned mockingly. “Hard to believe you caused so much trouble for us.”
“I’m just getting started!” The Rider cried, shaking a new pair of bottles. As he charged at his opponent, he switched his current match for a new one.
“HEDGEHOG!”
“FIRE ENGINE!”
“BEST MATCH!”
“ARE YOU READY?!”
“Build up!” As his armor transformed, Flash used the energy it exuded to force Night Rogue back. While the Bat stumbled, the Rider blasted him with a pressurized stream of water from the Multi Deluge Gun.
“PIN-POINT RESCUE!”
“FIRE-HEDGEHOG!”
“YEAH!”
Night Rogue tried to return fire with his own weapon, but the water got on his visor and blurred his line of sight. If it weren’t for his armor, the pressurized water could’ve sheared through his flesh and bone.
He was pushed back by the blast and stumbled from the now slippery terrain. Flash capitalized on this opportunity to tackle and pin him to the wall. He pressed his right arm against Night Rogue’s neck, face inches away from the extendable spikes on his Spine Knuckle. The Multi Deluge Gun’s nozzle was pressed against his ribs, ready to puncture a hole at a moment’s notice.
“It’s over, Night Rogue.” Flash told him, glaring through his helmet. “The Box is staying where it belongs. You failed, and so has Faust! Now you’re gonna answer to all the lives you ruined!”
“…You might want to check again. If you recall, we’re not the only ones fighting.” The Bat reminded smugly.
Before he could respond, Flash was interrupted by a sudden explosion and Sol Burner’s scream as he flew past him. He crashed and rolled until he hit the concrete railing of the roof. His body was wracked in pain and exhaustion as Blood Stalk idly watched him from across the roof.
Distracted by the fate of his friend, Flash’s hold on Night Rogue loosened. The Bat used this opening to wrench the Multi Deluge Gun from his body and force him back with a mighty shove. Before he could react, Night Rogue aimed his Transteam Gun and pulled the trigger.
“STEAM BREAK!”
A bat-shaped burst of energy shot out and impacted Flash, sending him flying into the air, and knocking his Fullbottles loose from the Driver. The Rider reverted back to the disguised musician upon crashing. The blast hadn’t just knocked out the bottles from his Driver, but it also scattered all the Fullbottles he had on hand from him.
The heroes lied injured and defeated while the villains stood tall and barely even winded.
“Take the Box and go.” Night Rogue ordered Stalk before he returned his focus to the disguised teens. “…I’ll finish matters here.”
“You got it.” The Cobra picked up the Box and held his gun. “It’s been fun, kiddies. Ciao~” In a burst of steam, he vanished from sight. Meanwhile, the black and silver armored man crouched down and picked up one of the scattered Fullbottles in hand.
“Those are ours!” Flash screamed indignantly.
“To the victor go the spoils.” The Bat replied coldly. To their shock, Night Rogue pulls out a familiar slab of foreign material.
It was another Panel of Pandora’s Box. How does he have one of them?! The leader of Faust methodically inserted the newly acquired Fullbottles into it one by one. Each bottle was connected by their Best Match. First pair was Rabbit-Tank, then Gorilla-Mond, then so forth.
The musician refused to let it stand. He refused to let their Fullbottles be taken by the enemy. He scrambled up and tried to take their Fullbottles back. As soon as his hand wrapped the nearest one, Lock, Night Rogue’s leg lashed out and kicked him away.
“Build!” Sol tried to help his friend, but his body protested otherwise. Crozz chirped in concern as it flew down to his level. The fighter looked at his friend, the bottle in his hand, then his companion, and then the Dragon bottle in hand. A plan pieced itself together in his head. “Crozz! Take this to him!” He gave the small dragon his Fullbottle, allowing it to become supercharged.
“CROSS DRAGON!”
Filled with power, Crozz flew over and blasted Night Rogue with a steady stream of blue fire. The intense heat was enough to force him back. Once the danger was cleared, Crozz flew over to Flash and dropped the Dragon Fullbottle in his hand.
“Huh? This is…!” His eyes flicked up to Sol in confusion.
“It’s all we got left! Use it to stop him!” The fighter screamed out.
The Rider’s grip on the Fullbottles tightened as his resolved hardened. His friend had loaned him his power to fight and defeat their foe. He was not going to waste this chance. Flash stood up and shook the new pair of bottles, math equations filling the air once more. He twisted the caps and inserted them into the Driver.
“DRAGON!”
“LOCK!”
“BEST MATCH!”
“ARE YOU READY?!” With a turn of the crank, blue and gold armor segments formed on the panels.
Shifting into a fighting stance, Flash yelled out, “Henshin!” He stood at attention as the segments converged on him, donning in a new form of armor.
The Inorganic armor segments were golden. The left shoulder had a large lock with a chain that connected to the large key attachment on his left arm. The right eyepiece was a golden lock. The Organic armor segments were a brilliant cobalt blue that possessed a vague, scale pattern. His left foot had a white ankle brace while he had white, dragon-like spines on his right arm. His left eyepiece was the side view of a dragon’s head.
“THE SECURITY FANTASY!”
“KEYDRAGON!”
“YEAH!”
“….and it’s a Best Match?” Sol asked in disbelief. Seriously, what were the odds?!
“Now…I have the winning formula!” Build struck his signature pose. He then charged in to attack Night Rouge. The Bat evaded his hook punch and tried to counterattack with a straight jab. Flash blocked it with the Bind Master key on his left arm. He parried the arm aside before he struck back with his right fist. Each hit produced shock waves that made Night Rogue backpedal. The Bat went for a round kick that Flash batted away with his left arm once again. He immediately followed with a punch to the face with a fist covered in azure flames.
Night Rogue staggered before he regained his footing and tried to attack with another kick. Yet Build effortlessly batted it away as well and punched him again with his other arm. The pattern continued once more before Night Rogue spun into a backhanded strike that Flash once again blocked. Forcing the silver and black arm away, leaving the enemy wide open, Flash quickly struck with an open palm strike that sent the Bat skidding several feet backwards.
Like before, he regained his footing and glared at the Masked Rider beneath his helmet. “What…are you?!”
Flash did not speak. He responded by turning the crank on his Driver. The device’s wheel spun and glowed in a sequence of blue and gold. Once the sequence completed, Flash flung his left arm forward. Several chains shot out and wrapped themselves around Night Rogue before securing themselves tightly with a gold energy lock.
“READY? GO!”
As the Bat struggled to break free to no avail, a massive ball of blue fire gathered in Flash’s right hand. With an angry roar, he threw the ball of fire at the Faust member.
“VOLTECH FINISH!”
The fireball exploded on contact, breaking the lock and chains and drastically injuring Night Rogue. He fell to his knees and panted. He made sure to check the Panel’s condition and was surprised. The attack even knocked out a few of the Fullbottles from the Panel. Before he could reach to grab them, Crozz flew in and knocked them out of his reach before Build stepped into view, dissuading him from advancing any further.
Growling in annoyance, Night Rogue could only say, “….this isn’t over.” The pipes on his armor exuded a cloud of steam that swallowed him and teleported him away.
Once he vanished, Flash sighed in relief that the battle was over. But it was short lived as arcs of blue electricity raced across his body and engulfed him in terrible pain. He screamed and fell on his knees as error messages popped up on his HUD, instructing him to remove the bottles before lasting damage occurred. With shaking hands, he grabbed the Dragon and Lock bottles and yanked them out of the Driver, undoing the transformation and ending the pain.
He panted from exhaustion as he stared at the pair in his hand. “What….was that…?”
“Hey!” The exhausted teen turned to see Sol crawl over to him. “What…what just happened? Why did the armor start sparking like that?”
Flash simply gazed at the items in hand. “…I don’t know. But it’s not over. They still have the Box and most of our bottles!” He grunted as he stood on his feet and picked up the dropped Fullbottles from the Panel, which were fortunately the bottles for the Best Match he needed. He tossed the Dragon bottle back to Sol as he shook the new pair. “It’s time to get them back!”
“HAWK!”
“GATLING!”
“BEST MATCH!”
Now transformed into Hawk Gatling, Flash jumped into the air. “I’ll try to track Stalk down! From what you and Micro told me, their teleportation has a short range. He couldn’t have gotten far!”
“What do I do?” His partner questioned. Sol tossed him the Build Phone and Lock Fullbottle.
“Follow me in the Machine Builder!”
“Got it!” Sol painfully pulled himself back on his feet using the wall as support. He hobbled over to pick up the discarded Beat Cross-Zer by the helicopter and inserted the Lock Bottle into the phone.
“BUILD CHANGE!”
With Nebula Gas fueling its functions, the phone transformed into the motorcycle and the fighter hopped on. "Wait, before I forget!" Sol reached into his pocket and tossed a Smash Bottle to Flash. "Got that from a Smash I beat downstairs! We can purify it later!"
"Got it!" After pocketing the item away, Flash took to the skies while Sol used the Machine Builder to drive off the roof and adhere to the wall using its tires.
It would’ve been fun if he hadn’t been screaming in utter terror the ride down.
The Masked Rider had gone ahead of his friend in a rapid search over the city to find the Box and their bottles. After a few minutes searching from the air, he spotted a familiar suit of red armor on his optic camera enhanced by HawkGatling.
He dived down and encountered Blood Stalk lying casually on his back on a park bench. Strangely, the area seemed devoid of people.
“You got here faster than expected…” He said as he sat up.
“Cut the crap!” Flash growled as he aimed the HawkGatlinger at him. “Where’s Night Rogue? And while you’re at it spilling, hand over the Box.”
“C’mon, kid. Don’t ya know loose lips sink ships? Moreover…” Stalk walked over until his chest plate pressed against the muzzle of the gun. “…Didn’t your mother teach you it’s rude to point?”
Flash tried to counter with a witty remark and a pull of the trigger before he was cut off.
“Stalk!” Chemistry Set, the scientist that Flash had defeated before, yelled desperately as he hobbled over to the Cobra. “P-Please…I’m sorry but…please…!”
“Hm? Oh, it’s you. What are you whining about?” He said as he casually ignored Build and walked over to the scientist.
“Please just….please cure my son…! You have Pandora’s Box, don’t you?” He grabbed the man by the shoulders. “Please! Use it to cure him!”
“Hm…let me think…” Stalk tilted his head in thought. He then said flatly. “…Nope. No can do. You failed to be a decent distraction after all.”
“….Damn you!” Enraged, Chemistry pushed him away. “After everything I did, you’ll just walk away?! You promised!”
“No need to be so testy. Besides…You ever heard of a snake keeping promises?” He gestured to his Cobra-themed armor.
“But I need to cure my son!” He yelled again as he marched up to the man. “If you refuse I’ll….I’ll…”
“You’ll do what?” He asked in amusement.
“I’ll….I’ll tell everyone just what’s underneath that helmet of yours!” His declaration stunned Flash and silenced Blood Stalk. The Rider looked at the two. Did he really know Stalk’s identity?
“Really now?” The Cobra wondered. “And just how did you come to that conclusion?”
“It was a no brainer!” Chemistry’s ravings became more manic. “I know what happened back at that apartment months ago! I have a good idea of what you look like! Isn’t that right, Gizmo Poindexter?!”
His sudden declaration stopped Flash in his tracks as his head snapped to the red armored man. Could Chemistry be right? Was Blood Stalk….truly the missing Gizmo Poindexter?
Blood Stalk stood silent. Flash waited with baited breath for his response. Was it true? Was it false? He needed to know. He needed to know who was behind that mask. Yet at the same time, he felt dread. He dreaded the possibility of his friend’s brother being capable of such atrocities.
Finally, the Cobra spoke. “…Huh. Interesting theory you have there. At a first glance, it could actually make a lot of sense. But, sorry old chap.” Stalk’s hand shot out, grabbed the man by the face, and slammed him to the ground. “…Looks can be deceiving.” Steam billowed out from him palm, causing Chemistry to scream from the pain.
“Get off of him!” Flash flew to tackle Blood Stalk away. The man jumped back to avoid the blow. The Rider then crouched next to the scientist, whose body was still clouded by steam. “Hey, are you okay? Say something!”
As the steam faded, Flash felt his heart stop once he got a good look at the man’s face.
Or rather…Gizmo Poindexter’s face.
“What….the hell…?” He stood up in panic as the man blearily blinked, as if he wasn’t all there. His head snapped back to the Cobra. “How did you…?!”
Flash was cut off as an energy Cobra rammed into him. The beast slithered around him, aiming to strike should he move to attack. “Surprised?” Stalk asked as he skipped forward. “Just a little trick I know. But hey, look on the bright side. Now the Police will stop searching for the missing Gizmo once they arrest this schmuck in his place.”
“You….what did you do to him?!”
“What? You don’t like the little face lift I gave him? Makes him look ten years younger.”
“What did you do?!” Flash demanded and aimed the gun at him.
“Geez, alright, alright. No need to get your undies in a bunch, kid.” Stalk raised his arms in surrender. “Like I said, it’s one of my little powers. I can alter a person’s appearance any way I wish.”
Then, the newly altered Chemistry Set stirred awake. He blinked as he stared blankly into space. “Where…wha….who am I…?” He asked with genuine confusion.
“And what about that?!” Flash snapped while pointing to the now amnesiac man.
“That? Eh. Side effects. C’mon, you didn’t think Nebula Gas could only turn people into Smash or be used in those little bottles, now do ya? You see…they also affect memories.”
“Memories?”
“Yep.” He said while popping the ‘p’. “A small dose could be enough to erase quite a bit of short term memory. But intense, prolonged exposure or successive doses could lead to indefinite or permanent memory loss. That little face change? Used enough gas for multiple doses…so he won’t be recalling much for a while…”
Flash stood still as his grip on his weapon tightened. His breathing increased while his irises shrank to pinpricks. He could feel his blood boil in his veins, his heart hammering to the beat of rage. The man, no…the monster before him doesn’t care about what he had done. He had poisoned a man’s son, manipulated him into stealing for him, broke their deal to cure said son, and now changed his face and erased his memories of his life?! And he’s divulging it all as if it were some sort of joke.
The Rider did not hesitate as he pulled the trigger, unleashing a volley of energy hawks at the Cobra. The energy Cobra slithered back to shield its master, resulting in its dissipation. Blood Stalk jumped back and pulled out his Transteam Gun and returned fire with his own energy bullets.
Flash took to the skies and avoided them before spinning the Revol Magazine on the HawkGatlinger.
“TEN!”
“TWENTY!”
“THIRTY!”
“FORTY!”
“FIFTY!”
He had no reason to hold back. He was going to blast the snake! Energy hawks shot out of the gun, faster and more numerous than before.
Yet to his dismay, Stalk had been prepared for it. Rather than dodging the projectiles or attempt to shoot them down, he responded by unleashing a massive cobra comprised of energy from his chest plate. The serpent, completely defying the laws of physics, slithered through the air and met the energy hawks head on. The projectiles became snuffed out upon making contact with its body. The snake-like construct continued until it nearly reached Build.
The Rider flew out of the snake’s path just before it could clamp its jaws on him. The laws of gravity kicked in as it fell back to earth. But while he was focused on the energy cobra, he was unaware of the actions of the other Cobra.
“FULLBOTTLE!”
“STEAM ATTACK!”
His eyes snapped down to see Stalk aim his Steam Rifle at him. What shocked him even more was the Rocket Fullbottle in its slot. Where did he get that?! He thought all the Fullbottles were in Night Rogue’s possession.
“Before you ask, Night Rogue dropped off a little gift. Time to clip your wings, Flyboy.” He pulled the trigger.
A rocket shot from the Barrel and soared towards the flying Masked Rider. Flash reacted quickly, learning from last time Stalk shot rockets at him. He flew quickly and kept his distance. As the rocket followed, he shot out more energy hawks to try and detonate it before it reached him. One of the hawks made contact and set the rocket off a safe distance away. He then looked over his shoulder and saw two more rockets fly at him. He made a steep climb then a sharp dive to try and shake them off before he turned and fired at them as well, detonating them mid-flight.
Flash did a quick scan and was relieved that no other rockets were coming at him.
He just didn’t see the Cobra rise up from behind and coil itself around him. The musician screamed as his limbs became restrained and gravity kicked in. The serpent adjusted its position and managed to pile drive Flash head first into the ground.
The attack left him stunned as his HUD displayed warning messages about the damage it sustained. He tried to get back on his feet, but a red boot sprung up in his field of vision and kicked him in the face.
Flash let out a cry of pain as he rolled onto his back. As his vision cleared, he was greeted by the stock of the Steam Rifle bashing him in the throat. But the assault did not stop there as Blood Stalk continued to repeatedly beat the Rider into submission with his weapon. He even mixed in a few stomps, kicks, and punches. He aimed for every available weak point to the human body.
He started with a swift kick to every man’s weak point: the crotch.
A flash of blinding pain paralyzed the Rider, leaving him wide open to a full out beat down at the hands of the snake.
Then he struck the joints. Neck. Wrists. Ankles. Kneecaps. Visor. Collarbone. Crotch again. Anywhere and everywhere he could deliver enough damage.
Admittedly, Stalk could’ve simply blasted Flash with another rocket to break his transformation and take his Fullbottles….but where was the fun in that?
He hadn’t had much enjoyment in quite a while. Beating the teen to near death was much more appealing to him. He took his sweet time to make the youth suffer. Flash tried to reach for his discard gun earlier, but Stalk had stabbed the bladed end of his weapon into his hand and kicked the weapon away. The blade hadn’t broken through the armor and drew blood, but it was still a painfully sharp experience.
Flash was left helpless as Blood Stalk continued his relentless assault. He couldn’t even call on his weapon as each hit to a vulnerable spot made him cry out in pain and halt the process. And surprisingly enough the damage he was doing still wasn’t enough to break his transformation.
Especially since Stalk was using both the blunt and bladed ends of his weapon to assault him. After several minutes of abuse, Stalk decided it was enough play time and chose to end it.
“FULLBOTTLE!”
“STEAM ATTACK!”
Without a word, the Cobra aimed at Build’s helmeted face and pulled the trigger.
A rocket shot out at point blank range and flung the Rider into the air in a large explosion as his transformation cancelled and his Fullbottles were ejected from the Driver. Furthermore, the blast also knocked off the Smash Bottles he collected from the scientist and Sol.
He crashed to the ground in a pained, groaning heap. His body was covered in soot and he felt like his body was one giant bruise. Blood dripped down his face from the cut on his forehead and cheek, and he tasted some from his split lip. He raised his aching head, but his vision was blurry and his ears rang.
“Whew….now that was fun…” Blood Stalk cheered as he scooped up the Hawk and Gatling Fullbottles and Smash Bottles. “Thanks kid. That little beat down really made my day.”
If looks could kill, Stalk would already be dead from Flash’s gaze. The injured musician responded by silently flipping the man off.
“Harsh! Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” He mockingly exclaimed.
“Give…” Flash rasped out while crawling toward the man, desperately trudging through the agony. “…the Box….and the Full….Fullbottles…b-back…”
“Sorry, kid” Stalk shook his head. “No can do on that. I won our little tussle, so they’re mine. That being said…the losers are gonna have to go to sleep.” He pointed the Steam Rifle at the musician once more. But before he could load and fire, the revving of a motorcycle cut him off.
He looked to the side to see the disguised Sol Burner charge at him on the Machine Builder, Beat Cross-Zer pulled out, blade blazing. As he neared the Cobra, Sol swung, but the snake jumped back to avoid it. He circled around and stopped in front of Flash.
He went to pick up the HawkGatlinger and the injured teen off of the ground and placed them both on the Machine Builder. He wasn’t the brightest member of the team, but he knew enough that things weren’t going great by what he saw. So he called for a tactical retreat to get away from the man who was a hairsbreadth away from killing his friend. He got on the bike, revved it up, and pulled away from Blood Stalk, but not before leveling a heated glare at him.
As they pulled away, Stalk rested the rifle on his shoulder as he tossed and caught the Fullbottles in hand.
“Thank heavens you two are okay!” Rarity exclaimed as the paramedics pulled away. She and the rest of the Rainbooms had gathered around Flash and Sol.
“Well….that’s kinda….debatable…” The musician grunted.
After retreating from Blood Stalk, the former drove back to the Research Center after he got a call from Micro that the cops were making progress in breaking through, as well as having called the fire department to use a ladder to access the opening Flash made.
They were instructed to double back and sneak into the building and pose as victims who got caught up in the attack. Not exactly hard to play off given their injuries. Fortunately, Sol found an entry point away from prying eyes; most likely the same infiltration route Faust took. From there, they ditched their disguises and Sol helped move the injured Flash to a supply closet to hide.
They were found by the authorities about ten minutes later. From there, they were transported to the waiting ambulance to treat their injuries. Despite the abuse Sol took earlier, he had bruises that ranged from mild to prominent, numerous scraps along his head, and significant fatigue.
Flash wasn’t quite so lucky. He had bruised testicles from the repeated crotch shots Stalk dealt him, a black eye, a cut along his head and cheek, a sprained ankle and wrist, a jacked up knee, upteen bruises, and a mild concussion. If it hadn’t been for the armor, he would’ve had broken bones and more. Scratch that he would’ve been dead from the explosive rocket to the face.
“Where were you two?!” Twilight questioned in concern and desperately tried to keep her eyes up to their faces and not the ice pack Flash was pressing to his crotch to numb the pain.
“Well, we kinda fell asleep like you guys.” Sol told their story. “When we woke up, everyone was already gone. Flash and I tried to find you guys….but I guess we found Faust instead.”
“You guys ran into Faust?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Goodness, that must have been terrifying!” Fluttershy whimpered.
“It was.” Flash admitted while pressing another ice pack on his head. As much as he detested and loathed Stalk for what he did…a small part of him couldn’t be helped but be terrified by him. It had been ingrained into him from the brutal, sadistic beat down and his completely disregard for human life. But in truth, it was more than that. Each encounter convinced him that whoever was under that armor couldn’t possibly be human. How could anyone be so monstrous? But what that Chemistry Set guy said rattled him. Just how was under that mask? Was it really Gizmo? Or someone else? He didn’t know…and he didn’t want to know.
“Yeah…we pretty much hightailed it out of there as soon as we could, but they caught up to us.”
“Did you at least try to fight them off?” The athletic girl asked.
“Rainbow!” Sunset scolded. Was that really the first thing her friend asked them?
“We tried…as you can see…” Sol gestured to him and his friend. “…didn’t work out so great.”
“What happened?” Pinkie Pie asked in concern.
“…that red guy….Stalk, he said his name was…he was pretty brutal.” Flash winced from his injuries.
“Wait, Stalk did this to you?!” The bespectacled girl exclaimed, scanning over him.
“Y-yeah…” The musician nodded. “…We tried to fight back. Sol actually held his own for a bit…but I got my ass handed to me. That guy was a monster…”
“After he kicked our asses…” Sol continued. “He pulled out this weird knife thingie. Said he was gonna turn us into Smash.” The girls stiffened by that statement. Twilight saw such an event first hand, yet couldn’t imagine such a fate befall any of her friends. “Thankfully, Build and Cross-Z arrived in time to save us. They tackled Stalk away, giving us enough time to escape. I dragged Flash over to a supply closet, and here we are…”
Yet as he finished, the only one who didn’t seem completely relieved was Applejack. In all her life, she had been a brutally honest person. And it is because of that particular trait that she obtained a sixth sense that a person might be telling a lie.
But as she listened, said sense was only set off half of the time. What Sol said had been the truth….half of it anyway. She didn’t know why that was the case. It troubled her, but what other explanation could there be? Her friends and the vigilantes couldn’t possibly be the same people. The girls saw the riders drive by while Flash and Sol were with them and his mother! And yet…it still wouldn’t leave her mind.
Her musings were cut short as Micro and Sandalwood finally cut into the conversation. “I’m just glad you two are alright…” he said truthfully. While he was perplexed that they lost most of their Fullbottles and Pandora’s Box to Faust, he was just relived to see his friends back alive.
“Yeah…” Flash’s gaze turned downcast, dreading what he had to tell them later on. “…same…”
“Excuse me.” Shining Armor and Night Light stepped into view. The officer had a pad and pencil out. “I’m sorry for the abruptness, but I’m going to have to ask you two questions about what happened. Its for the investigation, you see.”
“…sure. Fire away…” The musician agreed.
“Whew…That was sooo exhausting…” Blood Stalk complained as he kicked back and relaxed at a nearby desk. “…even if it was extremely entertaining.”
Night Rogue said nothing as he replaced the Rocket Fullbottle back where it belonged on the Panel. He stared at it with most of Team Build’s Fullbottles properly secured. While they had completed their objective in securing Pandora’s Box and the Fullbottles needed to activate their Panel, they were still far from their goal. Something that Stalk noticed based on his body language.
“…You seem perplexed. Penny for your thoughts?”
The Bat remained silent for a moment. He turned his head and replied. “…it’s those kids.”
“Worried about them?”
“Hardly.” He scoffed. “It just their behavior perplexes me. Back at the roof, when I took their bottles and inserted them into the Panel…they acted strangely.”
“Oh? Did you happen to notice Build’s reaction to seeing it in your hands?” Stalk asked with an unseen, knowing smirk.
“…it was recognition.” Night Rogue answered.
“Truly?” Stalk took his feet off the desk and sat up straight. “If that’s the case, then there’s only one explanation. I bet those two saw a Panel before, and we both know that aside from ours, only one other detached from the Box.”
“So they have it in their possession.” Night Rogue replied with an answer rather than a question.
“Bingo!” The Cobra snapped his fingers. “And if we’re gonna be going all out for this little plan of yours, we need to go all out! And you know what that means…”
“…We take it from them.”
“Esattamente~!” Blood Stalk cheered in Italian.
To Be Continued…