//------------------------------// // One Key For All // Story: May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key // by SoulboundAlchemist //------------------------------// May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse feat. GarnetNaturea Chapter 12: One Key For All “You know, you could have taken one of the radios with you,” Melissa glared at us as we got back. “All of the equipment in my lab is meant to analyze Heartless and other evil entities.” “You could have mentioned that earlier,” I muttered. “And besides, we weren’t expecting a frickin’ Kurt Zisa to show up!” “I know that,” the techie sighed. “I’m suggesting that you keep something with you to stay in contact with the Tower in case of emergencies.” “I have a feeling your tech might work better than my magic alarms, so can I take one back with me?” Lex questions, drying her hair since she had to shower off the dirt from the fight. Melissa nodded. “Sure, as long as you’re willing to do something for me in exchange.” “What’s up?” Lex questioned, standing slightly over the techie. “Ever since I got here, I’ve been trying to replicate One For All,” Melissa explained. “As useful as my tech is, more often than not in anime, the heroes are usually without their gear when an emergency occurs. Because of that, I decided that I needed something to even the odds. However, I’ve run into a bit of a snag. The component I need to finish it, is some magic, and I can’t use any. What I want you to do is imbue the mask I’ve made with your magic.” “Really? You recreated One for All?” Lex said, visibly impressed. “Wow. Even I have trouble recreating magic variants of moves from other media, and you were able to make one of the strongest Quirks ever? That is impressive.” “To be fair, I have been here for almost 1000 years,” the techie replied, adjusting her glasses. “I was here when the Tower was first built, but that’s besides the point. It took me almost the entire thousand years I was here to get this far.” “Wait, you’re over a THOUSAND years old?” I questioned in shock. Melissa nodded. “Yeah, my Displacer explained to me after the fact that the Displaced in this world, namely you, me, and Haley, are effectively immortal, baring getting killed of course.” “And here I thought I would be the same age as Melissa. I was trapped in a flipping crystal.” I hear Haley mumble to herself. “So we’re like the Alicorns then.” Lex muttered, surprising us. “What? You guys didn’t know?” “Uh, no,” I replied in a flat tone. “No we didn’t.” “I think I broke her,” Melissa chuckled. “In any case, back to the original matter, are we agreed then? Tech for magic being imbued into my creation?” “Sure thing.” Lex said simply, stretching her arms with a grin. “Honestly this will be my first time attempting a magitech combination, here’s hoping we don’t blow up.” “So where are the kids?” Haley asked, changing the subject of conversation. I quickly shook myself out of my daze. “Hey, that’s a good question. Did they finish going through Riku’s story?” “As a matter of fact, they did,” Melissa smiled. “I suggested that they practice some hand-eye-coordination with some Beat Saber.” “Wait, we have Beat Saber here?” My eyes widened in excitement. “Mhm, they’re taking turns with it right now.” “Damn, I guess I should have expected Luna to drag Dawn into something like that. Hopefully he hasn’t had an aneurysm from the flashing lights.” Lex muttered. “I think you’ll be surprised,” Melissa smirked as she led us into the control room, where we found Luna intently watching Dawn on the monitor. “How’s he doing?” she asked the filly. “Way better than me,” she replied, her eyes staying glued to the monitor. “I barely made it a third of the way through, and he’s almost two thirds through.” “What song is it?” I asked. The only response I got was Melissa flipping a switch to allow the music to play through, making my eyes widen. “REALITY CHECK THROUGH THE SKULL?!?!?” “Somehow I am not surprised.” Lex shook her head with a smile. “Dawn has incredible hand-to-eye coordination as a martial artist and he uses Airspace Magic, so he knows how to react and act super fast. Quite bluntly, he could give Rainbow a run for her money in the magic and reaction speed department.” “That may be, but are you aware of just how infamous this level is?!?” I replied, still in shock. “Just how many mistakes has he made so far?!?” “About three,” Luna replies. My jaw hits the floor, and I am reduced to a twitching mess. “Well he lasted longer than I thought he would.” Lex said, casually taking a sip of some water. “Then again I have seen some of the training he does in his free time, this is only a couple levels harder.” “Impressive,” Melissa nodded in respect. “Maybe I should come up with something that’ll really test him at some point. In any case, I suggested this since it’ll make wielding a Keyblade easier if he uses something similar beforehand.” “Um guys? I think Kairi is broken again.” Haley says noticing my twitching state. “Don’t worry, I got this.” Lex said, summoning her Keyblade and holding it over me. “Mind Spark.” A small bolt of purple electricity went through her Keyblade and then into my head, and next thing I know, I’m on my feet again. “Huh, I honestly didn’t think that would work.” “You didn’t have to do that! I thought we could just shake her or something!” Haley said before quickly kneeling down to my level checking on my well-being. I quickly waved her off. “It’s fine Haley, I actually told Luna to slap me on the back of the head next time that happens, though since she’s currently occupied, I’m not surprised someone else had to do something.” “That doesn’t make me worry about you any less,” Haley said as she crossed her arms. I shook my head, turning back to the screen. “Well, it looks like this impossible song was just finished. And with only three mistakes.” “You’re acting awfully calm there Kairi,” Melissa observed with a smirk. “That’s only because I’m pretending this is all just a big dream, and that I’m unconscious after that fight.” I could feel Lex’s blank stare as we moved out of the way for Dawn. I expected him to be exhausted, but I forgot, martial artist. He only took a deep breath and had a very thin shine of sweat on his head as he returned. “That was….interesting.” Was all he said before taking a water bottle from Luna and chugging the whole thing down. “I’m not too terribly surprised after what Lex told us of your training,” the techie remarked. “I have half a mind to send you home with a personal version of the Simulator just so I can make harder songs for you.” “I have no idea what just happened, but I am impressed.” Trixie finally spoke up, no longer looking over all the tech. My eye started twitching again. “Impressed would be an understatement for me…” I muttered, still not believing what I saw. Lex just sighed and smacked me over the head with her Keyblade. “Ow!” “This is real, get over it.” She said before turning to Melissa. “So where’s the mask of One for All?” “In my lab,” she replied. “But, only you are coming with me.” “Are you okay?” Haley asked, worried about my well-being once again. “I’m fine,” I waved her off again with a roll of my eyes. “We can have a bit of fun with Beat Saber while we wait on them.” “All right then,” Melissa nodded. “Just follow me.” ---Lex’s POV--- After Melissa led us out into the hall, she turned to a seemingly blank wall and placed her hand onto it, muttering something too low for me to hear. A low rumble is heard before the wall rolls aside to reveal a staircase. “This way,” the techie remarks, as she guides us down. Not sure why, but even from here I could feel the intense energy that comes from what I assume the mask of One for All is. Not sure why, since I have the magic needed for it. “That’s not the mask,” Melissa spoke up, having seemingly noticed my apprehension. “The energy you’re feeling is almost entirely the security I built into the walls. Only a small fraction of that is the mask.” “Ah, that makes sense. Maybe it's just because of how much magic energy I am normally surrounded by at home, but the difference was a little jarring.” I muttered, mostly to myself. “Understandable,” she nodded. We soon came to the bottom of the staircase, where a nondescript door waited for us. I took a step towards it, only for Melissa to grab my arm. “Not that way. That door is a trap.” She turned to the wall again, this time simply stepping through. I quickly followed after her to find myself on an elevator. “Really?” “What?” She raised her eyebrow. “My lab has some of the most dangerous tech in the multi-verse in it, wouldn’t you make sure that security is air-tight?” She turned to the door, and entered what I can only assume was a passcode of some sort, before a microphone popped out of the wall. “Melissa Shields,” she spoke clearly. Suddenly several turrets crackling with electricity popped out of the ceiling and were pointed at my face. With a quick glance up, Melissa then adds, “And guest,” causing the turrets to return to a neutral state before the elevator began moving down. “Just how deep does this place go? I am half expecting us to arrive at the cave where the Tree of Harmony is.” I muttered, shaking my head at my new habit. “It is down here,” Melissa replied. “Its on the level below my lab, powering the whole Tower.” “Only you would find a way to harness its energy.” I muttered, damnit, again. “I have been using it to help with the guild members meditation, but even then it is just being in proximity of it since it naturally stores and releases so much Ethernano.” “You are aware of what happens to the Tree in the show, right?” Melissa glances over in worry. “Oh I’m aware, my sister Nat told me. Since Discord is still in stone I plan on having Celestia submit the task of reforming him to the guild then either having him use his Chaos magic to get rid of the Plunder Seeds, or just copy his magic and do it myself.” Lex replied. Melissa turns fully to face me, a look of shock on her face. “You really don’t know, do you? In the show Sombra destroys the tree, but in every other universe the tree is destroyed by something else. In our case, my Displacer said that it would be the Heartless.” I am pretty sure I blanked out for a second before pinning Melissa to the elevator wall. “Not. Happening. I am not letting that tree get destroyed.” I said with a glare, accidentally releasing my earth seal. Some leaves began to grow in my hair as wood grew on my arms. “That one tree is a larger source of magic than even I am. If it is destroyed the resulting Magic Inversion would likely equal an Etherion Blast.” “I know,” Melissa calmly replies, prying my hands off of her. “Which is why I’m sending along a security device that will be powered by the Tree itself. I’ll show you in the lab.” A chime sounds as soon as she said this. “Speak of the devil. Now, would you kindly calm down, and power down?” I just scoffed and resealed my earth seal, crossing my arms as we left the elevator. The techie stepped out, sweeping her arms in grand gesture. “Welcome to my lab, where I keep my most dangerous devices, and work on my more… shall we say… energy intensive devices. But, before we get to the mask, lets get that security device.” She moves over to a wall lined with pods, selecting a glass one with what looked like a silvery liquid suspended within it. “This is one of my most useful devices. I call it the Figure 17.” Melissa gives it a twist, causing the liquid to run out onto the floor. It was obviously bigger on the inside, since the pool on the floor was far more than the container could naturally hold. After a moment, the puddle began to move and contort. It shaped itself into a clone of Melissa, right down to the clothes she was wearing. “Figure 17, unit 3 activated,” it said, before turning to Melissa. “Why am I active when there is no immediate threat?” “Just a demonstration, Three,” she replied to the now named Three. I could feel my eye twitching as I looked at, what I believe, was a mix of a DBZ Android, the T-1000 and Melissa. I slowly turned my head to the human and pointed to the copy. “Wat.” Melissa rolled her eyes as she stepped into Three, causing the two of them to become a new, older looking individual. “The Figure 17 units are essentially combat armor that can function autonomously. They work excellently as disguises as well.” The two then step apart again. “I currently have three Figure 17 units guarding the Tree now, which is the maximum I’m willing to send back with you.” I managed to get my eye under control and slowly nodded, looking at Three. “So, she’s fine with going to an alternate Equestria?” “Not Three,” Melissa shook her head. “She’s already encoded to me. No, I’d be sending you back with fresh units that can bond with you. Think of them like the Venom symbiotes of Spider-Man, but made from technology. They will look like clones of you, or anyone you want to bond with them. The best part is that they can learn Magic as well.” “Oookay. That….is actually really handy because of all the guild members with different magic styles.” I said, slowly thinking about it more. Melissa nodded, before pulling out three more glass tubes and handing them to me. “One last thing about the Figure 17 units. While you can have them all bond with you, they will act like your twin more often than not. Try to have others bond with them as well. Believe me, I’m kinda sick of having three twin sisters.” “As someone who is constantly splitting myself into four people, I know the feeling.” I said, remembering all the arguments Ali, Xan and Lexa can get into when I am left separated for too long. Melissa shuddered. “I can only imagine. Anyway, I tweaked these ones to have their power increased when in proximity to the Tree by about a hundred times what it's normally capable of.” “So, harmony powered Super Saiyan.” I muttered, before glancing at Three again. “But how do they stack up normally?” The techie shrugged. “I’d say about the equivalent of All Might in his hayday, physically speaking, and magically speaking, about the equivalent of Iron Rock Jura.” “Ok, magically I could take them, but I would break everything if I tried to arm wrestle them. Got it.” I said, glancing at the copy with apprehension. Melissa nodded before turning to go further into the lab. “Right then, lets go do what we originally planned to do. Power up that mask.” She quickly led me to the back of the lab, past work tables with all manner of dangerous inventions. I’m pretty sure I saw an incomplete Zapatron on one of the tables we passed. Finally we came to the mask. It was a pretty nondescript mask made of white porcelain. “Huh, honestly I expected it to look like Deku’s mask.” I said to Melissa, receiving a blank stare that I shrugged at. “Alright, here goes nothing.” “Hold on, can you copy it first?” I nodded and used my Archive magic to copy everything about the mask before combining it with my Arc of Embodiment to create a second one. Melissa nodded as she put the copy on another worktable. “I needed another one in case this one failed, so that I can try again at this point.” With that, I placed my hands over the mask and began to let my magic flow into the mask. Almost immediately I could feel my magic connecting to the man-made-quirk, which began to drain me through most of my physical based magic. I groaned a bit as the flow increased for a couple seconds. “OK, I think that’s enough,” Melissa spoke up, but the drain wouldn’t stop. “Um, ok, you can stop now.” “Bitchi No Musuko Ga Tasukete!” I yelled on reflex, before groaning and going back to English. “Son of a bitch! Melissa help!” “Shit! Hang on!” The techie grabbed my arms and began to physically force my hands away from the mask. Unfortunately, with this shift in magical flow, the flow itself became unstable, ending in an explosion that threw us both across the room. “F***! Melissa are you ok!” I yelled, poking my head out of the rubble that was a wall I flew through. Said girl groan as she picked herself up off the ground. “My head is spinning, my ears are ringing, and the rest of me is sore. I’d say I’m still alive.” “Suitoeteru, that sucked.” I muttered, my Japanese coming back to me as I dug myself out of the rubble and hobbled over to Melissa and summoning my Keyblade. “Cura.” The techie sighed in relief. “Much better. Let me check on the mask, and then we can head back up.” Melissa picked her way through the rubble, tapping some consoles as she passed them, before picking up the mask itself. “Well, according to my readings, everything is as it should be. The magic is being contained.” “Thank gods, I was worried I would be having a repeat of using Crux’s Celestial Key again.” I exclaimed in relief. “I’m not even going to ask,” Melissa shook her head. “In any case, now that we’ve finished down here, lets head back up.” With a nod, we both turned back to the entrance, and made our way back to the elevator… ---Kairi’s POV--- “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?” I screamed in frustration. “Yes! I win again! Best 10 out of 12?” Haley said while jumping around happily. “You’re on! I’m picking the song this time though!” I growled. “I swear, you only ever played Osu before, how the actual crap are you this good at Beat Saber?!?” “Years of Osu and Geometry Dash, my dude.” She said before placing her hands on her hips with a smirk. “I still don’t understand how I am keeping up with you two since I have never played video games before.” Trixie said, handing me the controllers from Haley. “Alright, we’re doing 99.9 this time!” I growled as I stomped into the simulator. I sighed in satisfaction as I stepped out of the room. “Beat that!” I smirked as I tossed Haley the controllers. “Gladly.” She responded, smirking back at me before walking into the simulator. My smirk stayed plastered onto my face for all of ten seconds, before it slowly morphed into a scowl as Haley managed to meet me note for note, until finally she came to the end of yet another perfect run. “AAARRRGGGHHH!!!” I screamed in rage. “I GIVE UP!!!!” “Uh, is now a bad time?” asked the voice of our techie. “Nah. You’re right on time. Since Kairi finally gave up.” Haley said, stepping out of the simulator with a wide victorious smirk on her face. Trixie silently took the controllers and walked in, selecting Red Like Roses Part 2. I just growled under my breath as I turned back to Lex and Melissa as they entered the room, a fake smile plastering itself onto my face. “I take it you finished working on your mask?” Melissa nodded. “Yep, now I just need to run a few tests before actually trying it out, but right now the results are quite promising.” I nodded, my smile becoming a bit more genuine. “Good to hear, now would either of you like to explain why Lex is giving you dirty looks?” “Oh, just that the mask in question seemed to have a stomach of its own and tried to eat all my magic.” Lex responded with a frown. I winced. “Ouch, remind me never to get involved with your experiments Melissa.” “I volunteer as tribute!” Haley suddenly said while raising a hand and giving a bright smile. An unholy glint entered Melissa’s eye. “Do you really want my inner GLaDOS to emerge?” “This is coming from the girl who just beat Kairi at 12 rounds of Beat Saber. You were saying?” Haley said, her smirk returning on her face. My eye twitched. “Tell anyone else about this, and I’ll toss you through my Doors of Hades myself.” “Maybe if you do that from now on you can actually see what that spell can do.” Lex snarked, looking at Trixie through the monitor as she was three quarters of the way through the song. The twitch in my eye intensified. “AAARRRGGGHHH!!! What is wrong with me?!? I could have been doing that this WHOLE TIME!!!” “I rest my case.” Haley said, before giving me a look of innocence. With a fire burning in my eyes, I lunged at the image of false innocence, only to be met by a blue shield from Chirithy. “Chirithy,” I growled. “Lower that shield right now!” “Not until you calm down,” the cat replied, as Trixie stepped out of the simulator. “Um, what did I just walk into?” she asked, her eyes widening. “Even I do not know, and I was standing here the whole time.” Dawn responded, looking at all of us before sighing while quietly muttering about ‘crazy displaced mares’. I was still growling as Melissa stepped up to me and slapped me full across the face. “Knock it off! If you’re going to attack each other, wait until our guests have left first!” “Yeah, I don’t wanna be rude but I was about to ask when we were going home Lex. I have a training da-um, practice, with Twilight.” Trixie said, stuttering with a blush at what she almost said. I blinked, my anger quickly evaporating. “Huh? Oh, we can take you down to the Gate now.” “Yeah, that would probably be best, I have been away from my little girls long enough.” Lex said, a motherly smile going across her face at the thought of her daughters. “Alright then, let's get you lot home,” I smiled as I led the way back to the Gate Room. Upon arriving, I pulled out my copy of Lex’s Token and placed it on the scanner, activating the Gate’s dialing sequence. “Once the wormhole is active you can go on through.” “Alright. Well this was fun, and good luck with your magic Haley. Remember, since you are a Mirajane Displaced, you have all her Satan Souls, so be careful about using some of them.” Lex warned, a stern glare on her face. “Believe me. I’ve watched enough Fairy Tail to know to be careful.” Haley replied with a roll of the eyes. Lex just raised her brow in disbelief before shrugging and turning to the portal. “Hmm.” Dawn hummed to himself before sighing and turning to Luna. “Princess Luna. It was nice to meet you, and thank you for a fun time.” He finished with a bow. Luna giggled, pulling him into a hug. “I had fun too. Come back soon!” I waved to them with a smile. “Don’t be strangers now, just remember to call ahead before visiting. And until next time, May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key!” The group smiled as the ponies walked through before Lex followed, stopping right before the gate. “Oh yeah, expect me to call in a couple weeks for the Promotion Exam! I plan on having my siblings and Ed come by too!” She said before walking through the portal. As the portal powered down, a smirk came to my face as I turned back to Haley. “Now, where were we again?” “Uh. I was running?” Haley said as her wings appeared on her back. “That’s right, you were running. Because, when I get my hands on you, I’M TOSSING YOU THROUGH MY DOORS OF HADES!!!!” “Eep!” Haley yelped before flying away quickly. “GET BACK HERE!” I yelled as I chased after her. Melissa just rolled her eyes. “Take it outside children, no need to destroy the place.” What none of us noticed was a faint crackle of emerald electricity appearing on her right arm...