At the Sentry Household…
“Thank you for your time, Ms. Veil.” The uniformed officer nodded as he walked out the front door. The matriarch of the household waved him away before sinking down onto the couch. She ran her hands down her face in exhaustion.
It had been sixteen hours since Shining Armor made his announcement that labeled her son and his friend wanted criminals. Early this morning, police officers had visited her home to ask a multitude of questions regarding her son and his possible location.
She answered the best she could. It was during this interrogation that she realized that she had no idea what Flash had been actually doing these past few months. What if what was said in the news was true?
She was only grateful that Scootaloo wasn’t present to witness this, as she opted to shut herself in her room, denying the announcement altogether.
It wasn’t until a few minutes after the police officers left did the phone ring. ‘Who could it be THIS time?’ She thought in annoyance. They had been swarmed with phone calls from the police and all sorts of media outlets. She had nothing to say to the latter.
The irritation was replaced with surprised once she saw the ID. She did not hesitate to answer. “Flash?!”
“Mom, thank god you answered!” The blue haired musician whispered in relief. He was hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, sitting on top of Sol’s motorcycle.
“Where are you?! Do you know what happened?!”
“I-I know! I saw the news! Look, it’s complicated, and I don't have a lot of time!”
“Why are you talking like this? You didn’t really work with Faust, did you? Please tell me none of it was true!” She asked desperately. It pained Flash to hear her like this. But he couldn’t tell her the truth.
“It’s not true!” He answered honestly. “I don’t have a lot of time! Just please don’t trust anything you hear over the media. It’s a bunch of lies!”
“Then please, tell me the truth!” As Flash continued his back and forth with his mother, a pair of officers entered the street with a device in hand.
“And you’re sure this will help flush them out?” The one on the left asked.
“Yeah. Since they’re teenagers, they’re bound to have their phones with them. This little doo-dad from the Tech Department will track down their calls and find them. It was a good thing the phone company gave us access to their ISP addresses.” As he finished speaking, the GPS screen on the device beeped with a glowing dot. “Just like that! He’s nearby!”
The police officers rounded down to the marked alley way. “Alright, Freeze, kid! COme out with your hands up!” Silence greeted them. Confused, the two entered the alley way until their feet kicked against something. Looking down, they found four smartphones. Each one of them smashed beyond salvation.
Shooting out through the other end of the alley was Flash on Sol Burner’s motorcycle. Any bystanders panicked from the sudden entrance, but he drove away before any of them could recognize him.
Micro gave him the task of finding a good spot to ditch their cell phones. He anticipated the risk of being tracked through any calls they made. Flash had been wanting to contact his family to dissuade them from worries. The genius gave him the go ahead to make the call, only if he ditched and destroyed all their phones afterward.
He felt bad about leaving his mother in the dark like this, but at least he was able to get the message out. Fortunately, he had been successful in his job and evaded the Police. But those hopes were dashed as he heard familiar sirens. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a squadron of police cars.
“Dammit! How did they find me?!” He yelled as he swerved the bike for a right turn. Thanks to his time with the Machine Builder and Sol’s lessons, Flash was able to ride a motorcycle. While he isn’t as good as Sol, he hoped he was good enough to shake off the police.
He darted down the road, weaving through traffic to escape. He cursed as another police car turned around the corner. He shot left to escape it and zoomed past Sugarcube Corner. A pair of police officers walked out with coffee and donuts. They noticed him, dropped their food items and alerted for backup.
Flash escaped through a construction sight, making sure not to hit any workers as he used a ramp to jump over a newly made pit. He broke through the barricade of warning signs and out onto the opposite street.
The sirens grew closer. And it sounded as if there were more of them. He glanced behind him to see at least three squads worth of cars tailing him. “Seriously?! For just one person!” He turned the corner again and saw an alley. He got an idea and drove into it. As the cars rounded around, they drove past the alley, continuing to pursue the wanted criminal. Several minutes later, the dumpster that lined the alleyway glitched out, revealing Flash and Crozz in his hand.
“Thanks, little guy.” He thanked the small dragon. It chirped in response. “Now let's go home.” He drove out in the direction of the lab.
In front of Canterlot High School were the Rainbooms gathered by the base of what used to be the school statue. What most do not know, is that the base is actually a magical portal to Sunset Shimmer’s home world: Equestria.
The girls waited anxiously for an important guest. After the shocking news story the other night, Sunset immediately wrote to Princess Twilight to update on the situation. Upon learning that Flash had been arrested, she made an immediate change of plans and said she’d be arriving the next day, which was today.
It had been a difficult morning, as the police and media had swarmed the school to question all of the students and staff that were present. The girls had been put through the wringer, as they were some of the students that knew the two best. Unfortunately, they couldn’t provide much help as they did not know where they were. Heck, they didn’t even know where Micro and Sandalwood were. But given how they all hung out, they seemed to be involved as well.
Classes had been cancelled for the rest of the day as Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna handled matters. But the girls stayed behind to wait for their friend.
“Come on...where is she?!” Rainbow Dash paced restlessly.
“Darling, please calm down!” Rarity urged.
“Calm down?! How can I possibly calm down after what happened?! Our friends just became wanted criminals!”
“We know, we were there, too.” Sunset replied. “But panicking like this isn’t going to change things. Twilight wrote to me that she’d be here as soon as she could after clearing her entire schedule. As a Princess, it couldn’t have been easy.”
“I know, but what are we going to do? We have no idea where the guys are, and they’re not picking up any of our calls or texts!”
“You don’t think...something terrible happened, do you?” Fluttershy voiced her worries.
“This…this has got to be a mistake!” Twilight still refused what she witnessed last night. There was no way…Flash and Sol would do that…would they?
“...They couldn’t….they wouldn’t collaborate with Faust, right?” Rainbow back.
“I wouldn’t think so. Flash is just too much of an upstanding guy. And from what I know, Sol Burner seemed like a good person. He was genuinely depressed when he thought he hurt his friends.” Sunset replied. “I can tell he regretted causing them trouble.”
“But ya can’t deny that they’ve been actin’ pretty sneaky the past few months, right?” Applejack stated.
“I won’t deny that.” The fiery haired girl shook his head. “But I’m sure they would have some good reason for it. Not…this.”
“But weren’t they missing for a while back in the Research Center?” Rarity pointed out. “They said that they were locked in, but what if what Shining Armor said is true?”
“That doesn’t prove anything!” Rainbow countered. “Are you saying that our friends really DID help Faust?”
“I’m not saying anything of the sort, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity retorted. “I’m just putting out a possibility!”
“Oh yeah? Then what about Sol’s match! You’re saying he was the one who turned Iron Will into a Smash?! He was buried under rubble!”
“No, but doesn’t it strike anyone odd that he recovered too quickly?” Applejack added. “He didn’t have broken bones, and he healed in just a few days.”
“Well I don’t believe it!” Pinkie snapped. Her demeanor was a stark contrast; instead of energetically happy, she was morbidly serious, which fitted the situation. “Flash and Sol are our friends! There’s no way they could do something like this!”
“But Pinkie-!”
“No buts, missy!” Pinkie shoved her face against the farm girls. “It’s all wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong….WRONG!” With each additional wrong, she inched closer and closer to Applejack, eventually pushing the farm girl off of her feet and onto her bum. Despite practically arching over the ground, she remained completely balanced on her toes.
“But then…are you saying my brother is lying?” Twilight asked her.
“I’m not either! There’s gotta be some kind of mistake!” She plopped back down in her spot.
“I can’t…I don’t believe this! It can’t be true!” Fluttershy whimpered. She desperately refused to believe that her friends could be working for the bad guys.
“What are we going to do?” Twilight asked her friends with a pained expression. She was conflicted by what she just witnessed and had no idea how to handle it.
Just when the group fell silent, the portal shimmered and a familiar figure stumbled through. She resembled Twilight Sparkle in very way. However, her hair fell freely and she lacked the wide rimmed glasses. Her attire was also different. She wore a blue blouse, purple skirt, and purple boots. Around her neck was an ornament that resembled a six-pointed, magenta star.This was Princess Twilight from Equestria.
“I’m finally here!” She announced.
“Twilight!” Her friends rushed over and scooped her up for a group hug. Even Sci-Twi joined in.
“Sorry I took so long! It was a long story that I shouldn’t talk about right now! What happened? Are Flash and Sol okay?!”
“We don’t know. We haven;t been able to get in contact with them since last night. We tried contacting Sandalwood and Micro too, but nothing went through.” Sunset explained.
“Okay, but what about Shining Armor?” Twilight asked her counterpart. “What did he have to say about this?”
“I tried asking him, but he was tight lipped about it.” The bespectacled girl answered. “He kept repeating the same thing. That they were guilty and deserved punishment. He looked...cold while saying it too. I barely recognized him.”
“But I thought he and Flash became friends. Why would he do that?”
“I asked him too, but he refused to say anything.” She trembled. “I just don’t know what's going on!”
“Do we know anything else? Has...has Faust done anything since then?” The Princess continued with the questions.
“No. They’ve been quiet. Given how it was reported that their alleged associated were convicted, they might be hiding.” Rarity answered. “Granted, it’s only been a day. But still…”
“I see…” The princess pressed a hand to her chin in thought. The gears in her mind turned.
“Do you have an idea of what’s going on?” Rainbow asked hopefully.
“Maybe. But I don’t know for sure. But let’s start with this. You girls said that Flash, Sol, Micro, and Sandalwood had been acting weird for the past few months, correct? That they’d be missing or late for some reason or another, and give reasons as to why?”
“Yeah. At first we thought they knew something about the Masked Rider, but then we realized it was just coincidental.” Applejack answered.
“I see. Do you know anyone else who may have had some sort of connection to Faust?”
“Well, there is his mother and Scootaloo. The former was kidnapped by Faust and turned to the Smash while the latter was ambushed by a Smash along with Sci-Twi. But I doubt they’re in a mood to talk right now.” Sunset pointed out.
“Ooh! Oh! What about Flash’s Bandmates, Ringo and Brawly? Bulk Biceps too! I’m sure they’d know something to help clear their names!” Pinkie pointed out.
“That’s a good idea. Do you know where they are?” Twilight asked.
“Yes I do~! Follow me!” She zoomed down the street with the other girls running after her. Hopefully they can learn something and help their friends.
“I’m back!” Flash called out once he was sure all doors were closed and no one followed him back.
“You ditched the phones?” Micro asked as his friend entered the lab. Thanks to their efforts, it has been repurposed into a bunker of sorts. Fortunately they had non perishable rations and water on hand so they won’t go hungry any time soon. They also have indoor plumbing and electricity that is not connected to the main power grid, something that Gizmo had implemented when he first made this lab. They were safe….for a while at least.
“And smashed them. I think we’re good on that end.”
“But what are gonna do now?” Sol asked as he snacked on a protein bar. “The police are still after us, and we have no clue how to clear our names.”
“Couldn’t we just find Faust and find some evidence to prove it wasn’t us?” Sandalwood offered.
“Doubt it. With Shining Armor as a member of the police, he’d have no issue forging evidence that will still point everything back to us. Not to mention that no matter what we do, they’ll find some way to counter our efforts and paint us in a worse light than we already are.” Micro said sadly.
“So in other words, we’re screwed no matter what unless we take down Faust, once and for all.” Sol deduced.
“We can worry about that later, once we have a better understanding of their next plan of attack. Micro,” Flash asked. “You took a look at the Bottle filled with Nebula Gas, right? What are the results?”
“I did.” He perked up. “And it’s quite astounding.” He pulled up a diagram depicting the bottle filled with Nebula Gas and one of their Fullbottles. “The gas you extracted from the Box. It’s pure Nebula Gas without any impurities in it. Unlike our Fullbottles, there is no additional essence that individually distinguishes them.”
Sandalwood and Sol looked at one another before back at Micro. The explanation flew above their heads. “...huh?”
Flash thought for a moment, then came up with an idea for how to explain it. "Imagine the Fullbottles are bottles of juice," he said while grabbing some of the bottles. His friends all looked at him like he was crazy, until he held up the lion bottle. "You've got orange juice," he put it down and picked up the train bottle. "Apple juice," he then swapped it with the ninja bottle. "And blackcurrant." He put them all down. "They're basically all water, but with a little something extra that gives it its flavor." He then held up the essence bottle. "What we have here is pure water on its own. With nothing added to it."
"Oh," the two said slowly as they caught on.
“Exactly, thank you Flash.” Micro said gratefully for the analogy.
“But what makes it so special aside from it being a pure mass of gas?” He asked.
“I was getting to that.” He pulled up a set of charts with different readings. “Like I said, this gas is the purest we've ever seen. Unlike the other gas, which has had some of its energy lost by being in the earth, in a smash or during the purification, this gas is at one hundred percent energy. If we can harness it, we'd be able to make something not even my brother would have been able to come up with."
"You mean like a new form?" Flash asked before seeing a smirk on Micro's face.
"Exactly. And if we do it right, this form will by twice as strong as anything we've seen before."
"Awesome," Sol punched his fist into his palm, "So what do we do to get this going?" It was then that they saw Micro sigh, sitting back in his chair and rubbing his eyes under his glasses.
"That's the issue." He turned to them. "Since we don't know what Faust does to the gas when using it to make a smash, we don't know how to do it with this. We can't just put it into the purifier and it's done. We need some way to help it take form."
Sol hummed as he picked up the bottle. "We could always spray it on someone and see if they turn into a smash." The other three all glared at him, the pro fighter holding up his arms defensively. "I'm just kidding."
Now it was Sandal's turn to hum, thoughts rushing through his head. And as he remembered what Flash said, a spark of inspiration exploded into his head. "That's it," he said as a light bulb flash above his head. The others turned to him and saw there was an actual light bulb, which was in a lamp stood behind him that had turned one when Flash stepped on its cord switch.
"Oh," he took his foot off, "sorry."
"Micro," Sandalwood turned to the smart member of their team, "We need something to give this thing form right?" Micro nodded, "Well we've got it." He held up two of their Fullbottles, "Let's just use these." Micro raised an eyebrow at this before his eyes slowly grew wide.
"Sandal," he stood up, "that's it."
"What's it?" Sol asked, turning to Flash and seeing the look of understanding appearing on his face. "Can someone clue me in here?"
"Like Flash said," Sandalwood held up the Fullbottles. "Orange juice and blackcurrant. But if you pour a bit of orange or blackcurrant into water, you make a new type of orange and blackcurrant."
Micro nodded. "And if we mix a tiny amount of Fullbottle gas into the pure gas, we'll get a supercharged version of that bottle." He began setting things up while telling the others to pair up all the bottles with their best matches, the three doing so but not before Flash secretly closed the lid on Gizmo's laptop. If this worked, Flash didn't want Stalk knowing about it.
After minutes of running around town, the girls finally found Ringo and Brawly. They were situated in Sugarcube Corner. According to Pinkie, they always come here to order milkshakes when they’re feeling bummed about something.
The two band members were surprised to see two Twilight Sparkles, but welcomed back the Princess with open arms.
“I’m sorry if I’m bringing up bad experiences.” She apologized. “But do you think you can tell me what you can recall from when you were Smashes?”
“We think we might have a way to clear Flash and Sol’s names.” Sunset elaborated. “But we need your help to do so. Is there anything you two remember from when you were kidnapped? Anything at all?”
“Not really…” Ringo shook his head regretfully. “Everything is just one big, blur. The earliest thing I could remember is answering the door. The next thing I knew, I was in an ambulance on my way to the hospital.”
“Yeah. It was the same for me.” Brawly nodded. The girls became downtrodden. There wasn’t anything that could help. “Although…” The drummer continued, instilling hope once more. “It’s kind of hazy. But before I was kidnapped, I remember Flash trying to save me from the robots.”
“Can you please elaborate?” Twilight asked eagerly.
“It was when Flash and I were going to visit Ringo at the hospital. We just had lunch, but we got surrounded by a lot of vans. I think those robots with guns hopped out of them.”
“So you’re saying Flash was with you when the robots tried to take you?” Rainbow inquired.
“Yeah. I got shot in the leg, and we took cover behind some trash cans in an alley. He said he was going to distract then while I escaped out the back way.” The drummer continued.
“So he said he was gonna be decoy while you tried to get away?” Applejack clarified.
“Yeah. But after that I crawled through the alley, everything went dark. Next thing I knew, I was being carried by the paramedics.”
“So you don’t recall anything else?” Rarity asked.
“Nope. Sorry…but does that help at least?” Ringo asked hopefully. They truly wanted their friend found innocent in all of this.
“It does, thank you.” The Princess nodded as they walked out of the door.
“Well, we couldn’t find much about Ringo, but it seems Brawly’s story holds weight. It’s not much, but it’s a start.” The fiery haired girl stated.
“We’ll need more testimonies. You said that Bulk was another person attacked by Faust. Do you know where he is now?”
“Yep! To the park!”
Within minutes, a device was set up, designed to infuse the Matched Fullbottle essence into the Nebula Gas Bottle. It had a pair of slots similar to those of the Driver to insert the Fullbottles. Connected to it was a tube that was fed into a tank. Then the tube was connected to a connector chamber that takes a sample of the inserted essence and Pandora Box Essence and mixes them into the beaker connected above. Off to the side were all 20 Fullbottles they had on hand.
“Alright. Everything is set up. Now all we gotta do is testing which Best Match the Gas is compatible with." Micro announced.
"Great!" Sol said as he approached the table. "So who's doing the matching?" He was answered with a series of clatters and moving furniture. Confused, he turned around and saw his three friends barricaded behind a fort of upturned tables, chairs, and riot shields.
"We're counting on you, man!" Sandalwood gave him a thumbs-up. "Good luck!"
"...Thanks guys." Sol deadpanned. He really felt the vote of confidence. He looked over the bottles and thought about which would work best. He selected Panda and Rocket and inserted it into the machine.
“Panda and Rocket.” He placed the bottles into the slot of the machine. A portion of the bottles’ essence drained down the tube into the connector of Nebula Gas Bottle and the beaker. The substances reacted as a bright light emitted from the beaker.
“Hey, I think it worked. Something’s happen-!”
KA-BOOM!
The fighter yelped as he was sent tumbling into the air. He crashed down on his back and slid against the barricade. His front was covered in soot and his hair was blown back. Micro and the others peered over the edge and collectively sighed.
“Panda and Rocket is a no-go.” Sandalwood remarked as he crossed off the possible combination from the list in a notepad.
Sol groaned weakly.
After recovering, Sol tried out combination after combination, trying to find the one that is suitable. He definitely wasn’t fortunate with his succeeding attempts.
“Gorilla Diamond.” The beake glowed light blue and flickered. He thought something good would happen….until he got blasted in the face with a bunch of diamonds.
He fell onto his knees from the stinging pain as Sandalwood marked another combination off the list. “Well, that didn’t work either.”
Sol knocked himself in the back of his head to dislodge diamonds that flew up his nostrils. He also spat a few out from his mouth.
“…You know, I wonder if we could sell those.” Flash wondered.
“Lion Cleaner.”
Sol inserted the bottles, the beaker glowed again, and he was promptly blasted by several thousand volts of electricity. He stumbled around as he spasmed. At some instances, his skeleton became visible.
“Another one down.” Sandalwood crossed off another match.
“…is he gonna be alright after all this?” Flash wondered.
“Why do you think I made him the tester?” Micro asked rhetorically.
“Fire-Hedgehog”
The beaker glowed red. Then Sol was pushed back as multiple sharp quills shot out. Several of them stuck into different points of Sol’s body. He turned around, seeing his friends wince from the gruesome sight.
“Well, that’s a definite no.”
“…huh. I feel strangely relaxed.” The fighter said before falling on his side.
“Ninja Comic”
Sol got spurted with ink. Then he was pinned to the table barricade with several paper ninja stars made out of comic strips. “I know paper cuts, but this is pretty ridiculous.” Flash said.
"Sadly, it’s another dud.”
“Pirate Train.”
The bottle flickered between blue and green. Sol Thought he was making progress….until a train made of water crashed into him head on. He flew over the barricade and into the wall. The train continued onward, thoroughly soaking him to the bone. He slid down the wall while coughing up water.
The three wordlessly stared at him while under the umbrella Sandalwood opened up. Micro crossed off the combination for him.
“Turtle and Watch…” Sol said as he inserted the bottles.
“So, why didn’t you guys tell me you purified those Bottles?” Micro questioned his friends.
“I thought Flash told you.” The eco-teen said.
“Oh, right. Sorry, it slipped from my mind with everything going on.” Flash apologized. Sandalwood stared at the musician with a befuddled expression. It wasn't like Flash to forget stuff like this. Yet Micro seemed to accept it.
“Gyagh!” Sol yelped as an energy bolt struck him dead on. He was thrown into the air...and proceeded to yell and flail in an extremely slow pace as he descended. It was like watching the scene in slow motion.
“Incredible!” Micro exclaimed. “So it really CAN slow down time to a crawl!”
“...but how do we go about fixing this?” Sandalwood asked as he crossed off another match.
“Dragon and Lock.”
Sol desperately hoped this was the right combination. It was his Fullbottle after all. The Bottle flickered between blue and gold. It glowed bright blue. The fighter smiled, thinking he finally got it….until he was blasted by a column of blue fire this time.
“Holy crap!” Flash shot up from his spot and grabbed the fire extinguisher. The fighter thrashed around until he dropped onto the floor and rolled. Flash aimed and blasted him with the extinguisher to put out the flames. In moments, Sol laid on the ground panting, covered in soot. He coughed up some soot as well.
“….I guess KeyDragon’s a no-go.” Sandalwood crossed it off.
“You think?!”
Finally, Sol inserted the Rabbit and Tank Fullbottles. Once their essence became infused with the Pandora Box Essence, the beaker shined in a myriad of colors. And best of all….no painful explosion!
“It’s shining!” A burnt, battered, and bruised Sol Burner smiled at the success. His friends hopped out of their bunker and rushed over in awe.
“No no, it’s sparkling!” Sandalwood proclaimed.
“You see? How do you like my-“
“-invention?” Micro interrupted before prodding him in the chest. “Your sixth sense on the other hand? It’s faulty! It took you all ten combinations!” Sol swatted off his hand. Before they could continue their banter, the super computer beeped.
Micro walked over and opened up the monitor to see what was going on. His and everyone’s eyes narrowed into a glare when they saw what it was:
A message…from Blood Stalk.
“Great, what does that snake want THIS time?” Flash scowled.
“How did he even know where to send it?!” Sandalwood exclaimed.
“He probably knew where we were this whole time. He seemed to be a step ahead of what we planned to do, at least.” The musician scoffed.
“We can keep hating on Stalk later, what does it say?!” Sol yelled.
“Don’t scream! I’m right here!” Micro snapped as he opened the message and read it.
“Yo~! How’s it going, kiddies? Bet you’re enjoying your new found fame. Or not. Doesn’t matter to me. But I believe I have a way to fix your little issue. Come meet me at this location. And bring Pandora’s Box with you and all of your Fullbottles. If you refuse, well no skin off my nose. But should you accept, this whole media issue can go away. Whaddaya say? I’ll be waiting.”
“…You know, I’m really starting to hate that guy.” Sol grunted.
“Trust me. The feeling’s mutual.”
“But is he saying what I think he’s saying? Can he really fix this whole media craziness?” Sandalwood questioned.
“I doubt it.” Micro scoffed. “He probably thought we’d be desperate enough to do such a thing. But we won’t.”
“So we’re gonna stand him up?”
“Nope. We’re going.” The bespectacled teen stated firmly.
“…come again?”
They found Bulk Biceps going up and down on the park teeter totter. He seemed dismayed. Once the girls told him of their plan to find a way to prove Flash and Sol’s innocence, he immediately brightened up and cheered. When inquired about any weird events, he explained.
“Well, when I talked with Sol about his match, he seemed depressed about something. Not sure what it was. But I never saw him so sad.”
“Did anything else happen after that?”
“Hm…oh, yeah! I met this really scary guy with red armor!” Bulk exclaimed, eliciting shocked reactions from the girls.
“Wait, you met Blood Stalk?!”
“Is that who he was? I don’t know, but he was scary! Then everything hurt, and then I woke up with some ambulance people.”
“So you don’t know anything else after that?”
“Nope. Sorry…but did I help?” He asked hopefully.
“You did plenty, Bulk. Thank you.”
“Yeah! I hope you guys can clear Sol’s name. He’s a good guy.”
“So this is the place?” Sol asked as he and Flash got off of the Machine Builder. They were garbed in their disguises. Strapped on the rear of the bike was a covered box. Next to it was a small duffle bag. They followed the attached coordinates, finding themselves in some sort of parking complex. They anticipated another ambush, given that it was Blood Stalk responsible.
“It is…wonder where that snake is hiding?”
“No need to wonder.” The guest of honor announced as he stepped out from behind a large car. “I’m already here. Did you bring the Box like I asked?”
Flash unhooked the stored item and removed the tarp. He grabbed Pandora’s Box while Sol grabbed the duffle bag and opened it. Inside were all twenty Fullbottles. “You wanted these, right?”
“Yes indeed.”
“Let me ask you this though. Is this why you had Shining Armor slander us? Pinning the crime of stealing the Box on us and embellish our false crimes? So we’d be cornered enough to deal with you?”
“Why, aren’t you a sharp tool, Sentry?” Stalk mocked. “But what is the point of asking if you already know? We get what we want, and you get what you want. It’s a good deal, no?”
“Oh we know…and we also know that we can’t trust you!” Sol summoned the Drill Crusher and fired a salvo of laser blasts at Stalk. They were shot down from another set of energy blasts. Shining Armor stepped out from behind a truck with the Transteam Gun smoking.
“So it’s come to this then.” The Lieutenant said stoically. “In the end, you chose to become sacrifices to the greater good.”
“Good, God, it’s like you’re on a freaking loop!” Flash was seriously tired of hearing this spiel. “Doesn’t matter what you’re doing. As long as Faust exists, we’ll be there to stop you!”
“Then we’ll pry the Box and those Fullbottles from your cold, dead hands!” Shining shook his Lost Bottle.
“Only if we let you kill us!” Sol retorted as he shook the Dragon Bottle.
“Yeah, that’s what dead means, kid.” Stalk shrugged as he whipped out his Transteam Rifle.
“Either way, this ends here!” Flash glared as he shook the Turtle and Watch Bottles.
Minutes later, a massive explosion erupted from the parking complex.
The explosion did not go unnoticed. While walking home a random bystander heard the blast not too far away from where they stood. Normally, a person would run from explosions, but curiosity got the better of them and caused them to investigate.
What they found however, was something completely unexpected.
The Masked Riders, Build and Cross-Z were engaged in battle with a man in red armor and another one in black and silver armor. They had motifs of a cobra and bat, respectively. They recognized the latter, it was Night Rogue. But how was he here? The police should’ve taken care of him! Was it a replacement? Is Faust really back so soon?!
They then noted that Build’s armor was different, being green and gray as opposed to his usual red and blue.
Realizing that they wouldn’t get such a prime opportunity again, they took cover behind a car, pulled out their phone, and started recording.
Cross-Z fought against the man in bat armor while Build combated the man in red armor.
Build turned the Driver crank three times.
“ONE! TWO! THREE SECONDS!” The clock face on his armor glowed before the light washed over the area. To the recorder, Build moved faster than the eye could register. But the moment his blurred form struck the Cobra man, he was thrown off and flung away. He tried again and again, but every attempt failed. All the bystander could see was him moving all about in a blur.
Once three seconds passed, the Masked Rider crashed on the ground, his armor sparked erratically.
“H-How…? What was that?!” He yelled as he picked himself up.
“Like it? Got ourselves an upgrade after our last run in with you.” The Cobra claimed as he approached. “Electric currents running through our suits. The currents transfer to something or someone else when impacted at a high velocity. Since you can move fast, guess what happens? Now you can’t touch us!”
“Dammit!” Build said as he stood up. But the Cobra moved in quickly. He threw a punch into the Rider’s Solar Plexus. Then he delivered two, swift strikes to the knees. He jumped up and kneed the dual-armored man in the chest. The Cobra finished the assault with a backflip, delivering a powerful kick to the chin that sent Build flying.
The red armored man landed on his feet whilst fist-pumping. “Nailed it!”
Cross-Z was momentarily distracted during his fight as his gaze locked onto the red armored man’s. “How...how do you know that move?!” He yelled before dodging another swing from the Bat. How…? How does he know his father’s Burning Assault?!
“How else? I learned it!” He retorted before moving to the downed form of Build. He grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him up. “Now...give us Pandora’s Box. We worked quite hard to get it in the first place and would like to have it back.”
“F-Forget it!” Flash spat as he grabbed the arm and headbutted the Cobra, causing him to backpedal. “You stole the Box and put innocents in danger! We won’t allow you and Faust to do as you please!”
The Cobra was about to retort until he turned to the bystander’s direction, causing them to freeze. He let out a bone chilling laugh.
“Fine...then you can just die and let us take them!” He whipped out his Transteam Gun and fired an energy blast. However, the trajectory was completely off. Build turned and saw the intended target. He quickly cranked the handle.
“ONE! TWO SECONDS!”
The recorder didn’t know what happened next. One second they saw the energy blast heading straight for him. The next, Build appeared and shielded them from it. The Rider stumbled as his body sparked, noting a loss of power from the impact. Nevertheless, he turned to face them.
“Get out of here! Hurry!”
Not arguing against their savior, the random bystander nodded and ran out of the warzone.
Flash was relieved that the civilian was safe, but grew worried once more when Cross-Z crashed at his feet. “You okay?”
“Fine...sorta..!”
“Guess this is the end of the line for you two.” Stalk hummed as he and Night Rogue took aim with their Transteam Guns and fired. Flash quickly smacked his shell-shoulder pad and the dome barrier appeared around the two of them. The energy bullets ricochet off of the energy shield.
One of the energy bullets bounced off and struck Pandora’s Box.
“Shit!” Flash cursed. The Faust fighters stopped their fire as their attention became focused on what was just hit. Instead of a damaged Pandora’s Box, all that was left was a burnt mess of paper mache.
“...You know, I kinda expected you would try to trick us.” Stalk said. “At least we now know.”
“The two of you will pay for your deception!” Night Rogue growled as he and the Cobra formed their Transteam Rifles.
Flash and Sol remained defiant. But it quickly died as the power of Flash’s suit ran down to critical levels, causing the shield to flicker. He reached down to turn the crank of his Driver.
“FULLBOTTLE!”
“STEAM ATTACK!”
Energy blasts in the form of a giant cobra and a swarm of bats shot out and impacted the two Riders. They were sent flying into the air before crashing harshly to the ground. Build’s transformation dispelled upon contact, scattering the Fullbottles all around. Cross-Z remained suited up, but lied flat on his back.
The two members of Faust picked up the scattered bottles as the two lay on the ground in pain. Flash flipped himself over and crawled over to the nearest two Fullbottles; Turtle and Watch. He grabbed them in his hands. But before he could move, two boots stepped on his wrists, eliciting a pained cry. Looking up, the two armored fighters looked down on him.
“Don’t even think about it, Sentry. You’re done here.” Stalk advised. They bent down and plucked the bottles from his hands before stepping back.
“Consider yourselves lucky we’re not killing you yet.” Night Rogue glowered.
“We still need the real Box from you guys. And what better way than to use you as a hostage?” He bent down to lift Flash up, but Cross-Z grabbed him and pulled him away.
“You’re not taking him!” He declared as he summoned his Beat Crozzer. “You’ll have to get through me, first!” He pulled the Pommel of his sword twice.
“HIT PARADE!”
“HIT PARADE!”
“MILLION HIT!”
Cross-Z slammed his sword to the ground, kicking up rocks and dirt into the air, obscuring the Faust fighter’s vision. The cloud swallowed the two. When the pseudo-smokescreen finally dissipated, the Riders and their bikes were gone.
“...Meh. Alright. Consider yourselves free to go...for now. But since you double crossed us...no pardons for you.” The two teleported away, leaving the Masked Riders battered and on the run.
“The Build blog?” Princess Twilight asked her friends. The Rainbooms had finished compiling their inquiries from everyone that was affected by Faust in any way. Well, everyone that was from available.
Even then, they still lacked enough evidence to support Flash and Sol’s innocence. While staying at Pinkie Pie’s house to figure out their next plan of action, the party planner suggested the blog she set up.
“Yeah!” She smiled. “With all the craziness, I forgot all about it!” She pulled out her phone and accessed the blog before showing it off. “It’s something we whipped up a while back! It’s got a ton of followers! New videos of the Riders were posted constantly! And a lot of people post comments on their thoughts on these videos!”
“But what are videos about the Masked Riders gonna do for us?” Rainbow asked. “How will they help proving our friends’ innocence?”
“Maybe we can find something that proves that Flash and Sol are not working with Faust. Weren’t there videos about the Research Center?”
“Well, it’s worth a try.” The Princess nodded as she and the others scrolled through. They looked through any video updates that have been taken since the Blog’s creation. Whether it’d be about the Riders themselves for a Faust attack. They even found Pinkie’s alert about the Guardian attack a while back.
She saw many others. One taken at Sweetapple Acres with the giant Square Smash and Build saving the day. Another one with Build fighting the Strong Smash, and Cross-Z falling from the sky onto a car. Even some during the invasion at the Research Center. It showed Build crash through the window.
“Why did he even do that?” The Princess asked.
“Dunno. He was probably in a rush to stop Faust from making off with the Box.” Rainbow shrugged.
“And you said that Flash and Sol said he saved them from Night Rogue and Blood Stalk after they found them?”
“Yep. Although, Ah couldn’t help but feel there was somethin’ off with how they said it.”
“Off?”
“Like they weren’t tellin’ everything.”
“Why would they do that?” Fluttershy wondered aloud.
“It may have something to do with why they’ve been so secretive for a while. But that doesn’t mean they’re connected to Faust.”
The Princess looked through the other videos and comments. One was Cross-Z transforming for the first time and beating back a Smash and Night Rogue with ease. Some comments were about the Smash attack during Sol’s Burner’s match.
There was even a clip of the news story that featured the Faust base Raid led by the human Shining Armor. The Princess was still disturbed by what her counterpart said about her brother’s recent behavior. She couldn’t understand why he would ever act like that. There’s gotta be a reason. The only time she could ever remember her own brother acting mean and distant like that was during his wedding preparations when he was brainwashed by Chrysalis, but it doesn’t sound like the same. After all, who knows what kinds of stress he would be having due to Faust’s presence here…
She blinked out of her thoughts as a notification popped up on the screen.
“Huh? A new video’s been posted?” She went to click on it.
Blood Stalk and Night Rogue appeared in their new base. They dumped the retrieved nineteenFullbottles onto the table.
“Finally. After all this time, we got the Bottles back.” Night Rogue was pleased.
“Now all we need is the Box and the Dragon Fullbottle.” The Cobra-themed man nodded.
“Soon...it will all be over.” Night Rogue added as he took the Rabbit Bottle and shook it. He twisted the cap. But instead of the hiss of gas being released, something else came out.
“MISMATCH! MISMATCH! MISMATCH!”
Flash’s voice rang out. In unison, flags popped up from all of the bottles, knocking themselves on their sides. The flag depicted an image of Flash sticking his tongue out and dragging down his eyelid in a mocking gesture.
The two were still in silent bewilderment for several moments.
“...Huh...they double duped us with a fake Box AND fake Fullbottles.” Stalk stated factually. “...should’ve seen that one coming.”
As the bat suited man stared at the mocking images on the flags, his rage slowly began to boil until it finally hit its limit. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" He flipped the table over and started stamping on the fake bottles, crushing them underfoot while Stalk moved over to a nearby workbench.
"Relax," he told him while putting a few pieces of machinery together, "getting angry won't help us."
"What would you have me do?!" Rogue turned to him. "We need the bottles and the box! As long as they have them, they have just as much advantage as we do!"
Stalk turned to him. "You're forgetting the one major disadvantage the Riders all have," he stepped over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "They care about others."
Rogue seemed to go stiff for a moment as these words washed over him, finally speaking. "What do you have in mind?"
“Now…it’s time to put Plan B into action.” Stalk said as he took out a knife and threw it at a picture of Canterlot high school, skewering the image dead center.
Meanwhile...
Flash and Sol had returned to the Lab after their scuffle with Blood Stalk and Night Rogue. Ever since, only one thing was heard throughout the room:
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
….crazed laughter from all four teenagers. Even Crozz was laughing in the form of chirps.
“I-I can’t believe they actually fell for it!” Micro guffawed. “I thought our cover was blown when they got the box but...ahaha….they still fell for it!”
“I know! I bet they’re feeling really stupid now! Ha!” Flash said between laughs.
“Who’s laughing now, idiots?!” Sol shouted before breaking out into laughter once more.
“And-and look at their reactions!” Sandalwood pointed to the screen, tears in his eyes. The fake bottles that Faust took had miniature cameras in them. They had wanted to get a good look at their reactions at being outsmarted. They laughed even harder when Night Rogue flipped the table and crushed all the cameras. The video had been on a loop for several minutes.
“How were you able to make those things so fast?” Sol asked, finally calming down.
“Never underestimate the power of arts and crafts!” Sandalwood grinned, gesturing to his work table covered in resin and paper mache.
“Whew…! I needed that.” Micro said. “By the way, how were you able to switch the real bottles with the fake ones after the decoy box got blasted?”
“Well…” Flash began as he glanced at all twenty Fullbottles on the table next to him. “...It was pretty close. But I managed to pull off one sleight of hand trick.
Earlier…
The Faust fighters were about to pull the triggers of their weapons. Flash had just managed to turn the crank of his Driver five times.
“ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE SECONDS!”
Moving quickly in slowed time, he went over to the bag where he had stored all of the fake Fullbottles. He quickly swapped all real ones he had with them before hiding the real bottles inside the Machine Builder’s hidden compartment.
Once he finished, he made his way back to Sol and got into position. Time resumed again and they got blasted by the dual attack.
After being forced out of his transformation, Flash grabbed the nearby Turtle and Watch Fullbottles. Acting quickly, he hid the real ones in his sleeves while he palmed the fake ones in his hands. Then Stalk and Rogue stepped on his wrists.
“I honestly wasn’t sure if I would be able to make the switch in time. But I did it.” The musician smiled.
“Well, thanks to your quick reflexes, we still have Pandora’s Box and all of our bottles. Not to mention one more.” Micro pulled up the image of a can-like item on the screen. “Behold.”
“Whoa! So this is what you made from the Nebula Gas bottle?” Sol Asked.
“Yes.” He typed a few keys on the super computer, pulling up the Can’s schematics. “I’ve analyzed the power output from the Can. And based on the results, the power it has is more than twice than any of our current matches. Even KeyDragon and TurtleWatch pale in comparison.”
“Seriously?! That’s awesome!” The musician cheered.
“We finally got a secret weapon against Faust! You da man, Micro!” Sandalwood fistpumped.
“Well, couldn’t have done it without all you guys. It was a team effort and accomplishment. Even you Sol.”
“Yea- Hey! Whaddaya mean by that?!” He shouted indignantly.
As the two engaged in another argument, Flash eyed the still closed laptop that used to belong to Gizmo. ‘And that secret will stay secret.’ He thought with a frown.
However, all banter ceased once the computer beeped another notification.
“What is it?”
“It’s a notification alert from the Build blog.” Micro said.
“The blog? Huh. Haven’t checked on that in a while.” Sol mused. “What’s the update about?”
“It’s a new video. And it’s...oh crap.” The others stared at the screen as they saw what was on it.
Build Blog…
The video that was posted was a recording of the fight between the Riders and Blood Stalk and Night Rogue. It was only a few minutes long, but it was enough to capture the start of the fight and some of the dialogue exchanged between both parties. What were the most notable were the talk about Pandora’s Box being stolen from the red and silver armored men, and how Blood Stalk pulled off the Burning Assault against Build.
The comment section was absolutely flooded with talk about them. And it was definitely a bad sign given the content.
[Wait, so the Raiders stole Pandora’s Box from them? When did they manage to do that?]
[I thought the news said Flash Sentry and Sol Burner stole the Box in the first place. Does this mean the Riders stole it back from them?]
[Flash and Sol did not steal the Box!]
[Where’s your proof? You can’t prove they didn’t do it!]
[Hey, didn’t the red guy pull off the Burning Assault? Wasn’t that Knuckle Blaze’s signature move?]
[You’re right! But how does he know that?]
[Wait, isn’t Sol Burner Knuckle’s son? Maybe he learned it from his dad?]
[...OMG! It’s been proven! Flash and Sol are the red and silver guys from Faust!]
[Say what?! That crazy, man!]
[No, it makes sense! Faust had the Box, Flash and Sol stole the Box, Flash and Sol worked with Faust! And when the Riders took it back, Flash and Sol were sent to get it back! I mean, who else would know to use Knuckle Blaze’s move if not his son? Coincidence? I THINK NOT!]
[But if that red guy is Sol, then why would he shoot the one who recorded the video?]
[Why would a villain NOT kill off someone snooping? Obviously the guy saw too much! But the Rider saved him and allowed him to post this video to give us the truth!]
[But that would mean that Sol Burner tried to kill someone.]
[Well, he’s already a criminal. So how could it be any worse for him? He and Flash are the bad guys, aren’t they?]
[Find them, Masked Riders! Find the criminals and make them pay!]
[Make them pay!]
[Beat the crap outta them!]
[They deserve punishment!]
[Stop hiding cowards!]
[Answer for what you’ve done!]
[How can you say that they’re the two fighting the Riders?! You have no way of proving that!]
[Why defend them? It’s obvious they’re the ones who did it!]
And the list went on and on with similar content. Some ranged from agreement, to toxicity, to trolling, to the very, very few ones about denial.
The team fell in stunned silence after reading through all of the comments. They’re hope for clearing their names diminished further and further as
“....The world is out to get us. I just know it.” Flash dragged a hand over his face.
“This...this is what we’re supposed to be protecting…?” Sol frowned while his hands balled into tight fists. “They’re all practically wanting us to be fed to the wolves! And we’re fighting to protect people like them?! Bastards! Every last one of them!”
“Calm down, Sol!” Micro grasped his shoulder. “The internet’s always been a source of negativity and trolls!”
“That still doesn’t make it okay! We’re trying to help them, and they just turned their backs on us!”
“Okay, for one thing, don’t pay attention to the trolls out there! They’re just pathetic individuals who lack proper sustaining lives and resort to making toxic posts and comments just to fuel online conflict to make themselves feel superior and deny any and all accusations of being responsible due to the anonymous nature of the internet! They’re also quick to make fake, crackpot theories to string people along to incite more chaos in stuff like fandoms!Second, they have no idea that you and Flash are the Riders that save people!”
Once Micro finished yelling, Sol let the words sink into his head. Finally, he calmed down. “...alright, fine. But I still wish I had the power to punch them through the internet.”
“Trust me, everyone wants that power.” Micro agreed.
“But what are we gonna do now, dudes?” Sandalwood voiced his concerns. “The public is turning even worse against you guys now!”
“Unless we can stop Faust, unmask Blood Stalk and Night Rogue, and finally end this insanity, I’m not sure if there’s much else we can do for now…” Flash frowned.
Next Day…
“I can’t believe it! How can some people be such jerks!” Rainbow Dash snapped loudly. She and her friends walked through the school halls. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna called for a school assembly to discuss the current state of events in regards to the news and the online blog that quickly escalated to slander and even minor cyber bullying due to threats made.
None of the girls were happy...mostly at what they saw from the video that was posted on the blog yesterday.
“Trust me, darling. People can be quite devious little savages.” Rarity huffed.
“Look, there’s no use getting upset over a bunch of trolls and toxic commentators on a blog post.” Sunset advised.
“But didn’t you see what they said? It’s all lies! And they’re supporting it just to feel good about this ‘theory’.” Rainbow quoted the word with her fingers.
“Of course I did. We all did. But getting mad about it now isn’t going to help Flash and Sol’s chances.” The fiery haired girl said.
“I just don’t understand…” Pinkie Pie said with deflated hair, a sure sign of her depression. “I made the blog to support Build and try to learn more about him...not to use as ammo against our friends…” Her lip quivered.
“I know, Pinkie…” Fluttershy grasped her shoulder in support. “They had no right to be excessively mean about this. They’re just insensitive.”
“Insensitive is too weak a word.” Rainbow huffed. “They just need a good smack to the head to think clearly.”
“I never thought that people can be so cruel over an online blog.” Princess Twilight said.
“Well, the internet’s never been a safe or friendly place if you don’t know what you’re doing. And people can be especially callous to others if they don’t know the ones involved.” Her counterpart said. “But that’s what I don’t get. I thought you girls started the blog. If it was limited to students, how could anyone in this school say such horrible things to their classmates?”
“It’s likely the user-base expanded due to popularity.” Sunset explained. “The more popular Build got, the more fans he got. A lot of the commentators are probably from outside school.”
“Still, this doesn’t make any of this right.” Rainbow said with finality. As the conversation died down, she recognized someone else down the hall. It was Scootaloo with Sweetie Belle right next to her.
“Scootaloo?” She and the others approached the pair.
The short haired girl looked up. “Oh, h-hi Rainbow…” She gave a small wave and a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Are you okay?” The rainbow haired girl asked in concern.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine…” She smiled. But none of the girls were convinced. “I...I gotta go. I’ll save you all some seats.” She she slipped through the crowd and entered the auditorium.
“What’s going on Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked her sister. The young songstress sighed.
“Scootaloo hasn’t been...doing so well lately. Everyone’s been staring at her weird. Like they were wary of her or something.”
“What?! How could they?!” The athlete exclaimed angrily.
“I guess the videos and comments cut deeper than I thought.” Sunset realized. “More and more people are becoming more convinced that Flash and Sol really are criminals.”
“How awful.” Fluttershy agreed.
“What are we gonna do?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I’m getting scared, Rarity. I don’t like seeing any of my friends like this!”
“Now, now, it’s gonna be alright, darling.” The fashionista hugged her sister. “The others and I are working to figure this out. So don’t worry. We have this under control.”
“O...okay.” She sniffed before following her friend into the auditorium.
“Do we really though?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“We have to.” Rarity replied.
“And we will.” The Princess added. “We just need to get more testimonies and evidence. Let’s try again after the assembly.”
The others agreed as they entered the auditorium and quickly took their seats. Within minutes, all of the students were present as Celestia, Luna, and the rest of the school staff were on stage. The principal stepped forward and spoke into the microphone.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Now students, I understand that we are going through troubling times due to Faust’s presence, the Smash attacks, Guardian attacks, and even our own members of the student body ousted by the media and federal law. But I want you all to realize that this is no laughing matter. This is a serious situation that must be taken as such.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Principal~!” A deep, filtered voice announced. Dropping down from the ceiling was Blood Stalk. The students and staff were thrown into a frenzy, recognizing the figure. “Buon Giorno!”
The Rainbooms grew alarmed by his presence. Just what was he doing here? How did he get in?!
“Wh-who are you? Wait...you were the one in that video!” Celestia realized as she stepped back.
“Never thought I’d be so famous. Well, allow me to introduce myself ladies and gents. You can call me Blood Stalk. And this…” He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. All of the doors were kicked open as an insane number of Guardians filed into the massive room. The students tried to flee, but they were quickly restrained. Not even the Rainbooms could do anything without putting others in danger as all guns were pointed at them. At the center of the room, right next to Blood Stalk, appeared Night Rogue. “...is a hostile takeover!”
To be Continued...