The stormtroopers were assembled down the hall in front of a hatch, still fighting. The final section of Stable Zero, it was where Rice's guards had congregated. This was their last stand. One final push was all that was needed, but the stormtroopers were not making headway.
"Dan? Sir," the ranking stormtrooper started, "the guards have a fortified position at the end of the corridor. We're not making much progress." Around them, that statement was obvious; wounded stormtroopers in various states were being tended to by those with medical experience. Without much in the way of medical supplies, they weren't able to do much. At this rate, they would be depleted before they breached Vice's defenses.
Dan's eyes were narrow. No one else could make this; it had to be him. He stared into the imperceptible visor of the trooper that spoke to him, and it was the man behind the faceless visage who knew fear. Dan's intensity radiated off of him in vicious waves. He was about to render final judgment and no mercy would be granted to any who got in his way.
"Pull your men back," Phoenix said. He could practically feel what Dan wanted, they all could. Unlike the troopers, Phoenix had known Dan long enough to suggest the right course of action.
Cap echoed the statement. "Pull everyone back. Get everyone back to the entrance." His shield was scorched and scratched, testament to his efforts defending the others.
"Acknowledged. Fall back! Fall back!" the trooper shouted.
The hatch to the final corridor opened. More troopers came through, the last group that had tried to advance down the corridor. They'd used smoke to try to cover their advance and the smokescreen was still hanging thick in the air. It billowed out into the hall they were in as the Imperials carried their wounded through. Some limped, some were carried, but they fell back through the smoke.
Jake, Dollars and Chris Redfield were the last ones through.
"I know what they were using... I know what they were using B.O.W.s for now," Chris said, panting.
"Those are some crazy guards, Dan," Dollars warned him. Jake nodded himself. The senior marine was normally a pillar of steel, but he had clearly been roughed up as well.
Dan still did not say a word. Not a sound he had uttered since he told the recently rescued members of the Mane Six. The stormtroopers retreated, firing only a few parting shots as they exited.
The humans fell back. Dan stood, facing the doorway until the sound of the last boots rounding the corner echoed back to him. Then it was just him and Phoenix Wright.
"Dan," Phoenix said, "kick his ass."
Dan nodded. Phoenix left and Dan stepped through the door to meet his destiny.
"No hostiles detected."
"Inform the master?"
"Hold position. Maintain defensive posture."
"Complying."
Rice's personal guards were the elite of his organization. Quite possibly the most formidable soldiers ever developed on Equestrian soil, they were fully-armed and armored with weapons designed and made by Rice himself. Iron Man-like in appearance but able to deflect any energy blast- be it magic or technological, they were Magic Gear soldiers, designed and trained and programmed to be the most efficient enforcers for Rice's army. The fact that there were so few of them was only due to his severe lack of resources.
These were the APE-X troopers, Advanced Personal Enforcers. The "X" stood for X-treme. Rice planned on marketing them if they were successful, though the best models he would keep for himself. The dog tribe he elevated from squalor to civilization had also been subjected to his cruel experiments. Special systems in the helmets of their suits suppressed their natural bodies in many ways, making them less-susceptible to pain, fear, or distractions like their own need to eat and sleep.
"Movement detected."
"Unable to acquire target."
"Suppressing fire."
"Complying."
The APE-X armor suit's primary weapon system combined traits from some of the best sci-fi weapons. When you had so many at your disposal, why pick just one? Rice had combined blasters from Star Wars, phasers from Star Trek, pulsars from BattleStar Galactica and the Needlers from Halo all into one easy-to-use weapons package that coincidentally looked pretty much identical to Mega Man's buster. However, because this story is primarily based on Hasbro toys, the lights and sounds they made were ripped right from the original G.I. Joe cartoon.
*Pram pram pram pram*
*Zworp zworp zworp!*
*Prew prew prew-prew-prew-prew*
Dan stepped out of the smoke.
"Target acquired!"
"Engage."
"Lock achieved."
"Open fire!"
All four of the dog super troopers fired at Dan. But he just stepped back into the smoke. The dogs stopped firing.
"Target lost."
"Unable to reacquire target."
"Maintain defensive position?"
"..."
"Sir?"
"Engage active surveillance."
"This course of action is inadvisable."
"Proceed."
"Complying."
The closest two dogs, weapons still drawn, stepped forward. They approached the smoke, still thick, but were unable to make out Dan. Stormtrooper smoke grenades were designed to obscure visual and electronic sensors, so the dogs were effectively blind. Dan did not know that. However, he didn't need to know that.
The first dog was at the edge of the smoke when Dan's arm reached out and grabbed him.
"Hostile! Target ac-CLKKKGGK!" The soldier was lifted off the ground as Dan's grip clamped around his metal neck. Dan stepped out of the smoke, holding the dog in midair. The others fired at him, fired everything they had at him but it was as if their lasers were absorbed before they hit him.
The metal around the dog's neck was thick, insulated, fortified and very well-made. Dan briefly admired the craftsmanship of the armored suit before he crushed the dog's neck in his hand. The metal may have been advanced, but Dan's grip was somehow stronger, crushing into the dog's windpipe. His eyes stared unblinking at his victim as the dog clawed and his hand helplessly.
The electronics on the suit exploded in a shower of sparks. More smoke exploded from the suit as Dan squeezed harder. The other dogs stopped firing, stunned into sheer horror as the human squeezed the very life out of their comrade, watching the dog's limbs abruptly fall slack, followed by the most sickening pop they'd ever heard.
Whatever humanity, identity, personality that Rice's machines had sought to bury suddenly came flooding back to the remaining dogs. They knew fear again, and there was no escaping it.
Dan tossed the dog to the side like a rag doll. The closest one hesitated, had been crouched to get a better firing angle at Dan but now realized too late that he was too close. He tried to get up but wasn't fast enough; Dan grabbed him. The remnants of courage caused his arm to raise to defend himself but there was no time. Dan shoved him into the wall and punched him in the face, punched him again, punched him so hard it smashed his muzzle off his helmet, revealing only a bloodied face behind it.
The other two, out of desperation fired at Dan. Dan grabbed the muzzle-less dog's body and used it as a canine shield. Some of the lasers bounced off the armor but at such close proximity, many got through. They exploded in pink-indigo bursts of smoke and light, riddling the poor dog and taking what was left of him.
Dan then threw the dog at the closest trooper. Metal clanged as the body collided into the third dog, clanging again as it knocked her down to the floor. Dog three attempted to get her fallen comrade off of her when Dan's boot came down on her head. A few kicks later and her struggles ended.
The final dog attempted to open the door.
"Master help! Please-" Dan grabbed him by the shoulder. "Please..." He would receive no mercy.
Dan grabbed the dog by the back of his neck and slammed him into the door. He slammed him multiple times until the door finally opened. He then slammed him into the door so hard it made an indent and the armored soldier stayed there.
The final door still hung on its hinges, barely. Dan stepped through the doorway into the control center of the moon base, the observation platform. As he expected, as he had hoped, as he had known, Rice was there. And the two faced each other once more.
The moon was both the source of Luna's immense power and her greatest prison. Only she and her sister knew the full extent, but the moon itself could not have been more perfect. Contained by her own magic inside the moon itself, she was still very aware of her circumstances. The rage and desire of Nightmare Moon to escape was ever-present, but so was the regret of Luna, the mare who simply wanted more time with her sister and her friends. Both those things weakened the magical seal on her until it finally was broken.
Guilt and innocence contained within the same body, within the same soul, irreconcilable yet inseparable. Unable to condemn, incapable of forgiving, the Elements could not maintain harmony... yet had to. And so, Nightmare and Luna were both banished to the moon. This action, this need for judgment more than anything else is why Dan was necessary. Because difficult, heartbreaking decisions did exist. They required the nerve, the steel, the ice to get what was done. It took a cold heart.
Now, that same decision would return a thousand years later. Again, it would come and require a heart of ice. The truth, like revenge, was best served cold.
"What the hell is this? What the HELL is this?!" Dan demanded.
Rice's gaze was fixed on the floor, pondering in some unseen pool that held the murky future. Slowly, his eyes raised to meet Dan, mouth slightly open in silent breath.
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Chrys were arrayed around him. Chrys held her hooves to her muzzle, shocked at the destruction behind Dan. It was only her reaction, the reaction of his girlfriend that gave Dan pause, that flickered a pang of doubt in his heart.
And the ponies were not the only ones among them. With the trio of powerful alicorns, one being a changeling queen but still kinda alicorn-ish, there was another human. Standing almost as tall as the mares themselves was a man in green armor, a man that radiated coolness around him, a man of raw nerve and steel. Someone Dan had met before. He stepped out in front of Rice and calmly clasped his hands in front of him.
"Hello."
Dan didn't know what to say back. Still didn't know what the hell he was looking at but he knew he didn't like it.
Cap, Chris, Phoenix and Jake and Dollars entered at that very moment. The two marines swept the rooms with their weapons but paused as soon as they saw the armored figure.
"The fu- Spartan?" Dollars said. "Is that a Mark-" the ODST stepped forward, but stopped when he felt his partner's gloved hand grip his arm. Dollars turned to see Jake just slowly shaking his head.
"Perhaps I should explain," Princess Celestia said. She came closer, mane as ethereal as ever, eyes heavy as ever, the same as she was on Equestria. Celestia was a mare that held the weight of worlds on her broad shoulders. She never made any effort to convey it; indeed, her effort was used only to convey how much others meant to her. Like a woman old before her time, energy more precious, yet still used to make others happy, to extend the olive branch and be strong for those that needed it. A leader, if ever there was one, a leader of not just a people and a nation but the soul of both combined.
And now, she broke the news to Dan.
"Chancellor Rice Puddinghead has surrendered, Dan. The war... the fighting is over."
Dan looked at her. Then looked to Rice. He still stood, no worse for wear, eyes unfocused but the rest of him unpunished. Surrendered? What trickery was this?!
The rest of them did not relax just yet either. Cap still gripped his shield, Jake and Dollars still gripped their MA5Bs, Chris is anti-mat rifle, still ready for anything. Yet nothing came.
"It is as her highness has said," the green figure said.
"You." Dan stomped up to the new man. "I know you."
"Master Rals Braddaig of the Jedi Council. We met on Mr. Colress's frigate, I believe."
"Outside the ruins, yes, I remember. Barro's space-Jedi-ninja-gaiden friend, what of it? Why the eff are you HERE NOW???"
The Jedi was imperceptible as well under his smooth helmet. His suit was armored and clearly built for space, enabling him to go anywhere. Out of all of them in this room, he was the only one who did not look out of place inside the moon base. And that made him look out of place.
"Master Rals has helped to negotiate peace between Rice and Equestria," Celestia continued. Concern was heavy in her eyes as she tried to convince Dan. "Rice has understood the error of his ways. He has surrendered to us and will be treated fairly. We can all go home now."
"We can all go home now?" Dan repeated. His breath became heavy. The words that he longed to say himself, that only moments before, mere MOMENTS before he was hoping he'd get to say now sounded like the foulest, most viscous bile in his ears. Were they even... was it even possible?
Dan swallowed. "What does he have to say? What does Rice have to-" he reached for Rice but the Jedi stopped him. With reflexes and overwhelming power that not even Dan could match, Dan's hand stopped before it came anywhere near Rice.
The Force was able to do a lot of things magic could do. It could summon various forms of energy, it could levitate and grip and push and pull and manipulate things with ease. It could even influence hearts, minds and emotions as magic could, and it did all this without producing an aura or conjuring a flash of light or smoke. To Dan, who was used to ponies and magic, it was anathema.
Magic produced auras that were unique to the pony that used it. It was personal, it was from the heart. The Force was similar, but colder, impersonal, like harnessing the wind to do a mechanical job. Magic compelled the wind, it begged of nature, it made deals and dealt with the physical universe and made friends, forging a bond that served as a bridge between possible and impossible, a bridge that was friendship itself. You could tell the pony from their magic because each spell felt different.
The Force just felt like an object, albeit an invisible one. It felt fake to Dan.
Dan stepped back. The green-suited Jedi now disgusted Dan with his very presence. Even as it calmed others, even his friends, Dan found his very presence offensive.
Captain America stepped forward. "Master... Bradd-egg, was it?"
"You can call me Brad if it's easier."
"Right, well, Brad? May I ask about the... details of your negotiation?"
The Jedi nodded. "It was indeed challenging. In the end, I was able to convince Chancellor Rice that peace was in all our best interests."
"TARDIS!!!" That was when the Doctor burst in along with Twilight and her friends. Doctor Whooves ran up to the familiar blue booth. He hugged the large contraption, embracing it like an old friend, which of course, it was.
"Ah, yes. We managed to retrieve Mr. Turner's replica as well," Braddaig said.
"Turner?" Whooves said. "I'm the Doctor. THE Doctor, remember? Doctor Whooves and Assistant, even if my assistant isn't here right now, I'm still-"
The Jedi slowly turned away. "At any rate, we have come to an agreement and hostilities have ceased."
"Hostilities?" Dan repeated. "Hostilities have... AGREEMENT? What exactly did you AGREE upon?"
"Dan," Celestia intervened again, "I know this may be hard for you to accept-"
"HE should be in CHAINS hurtling into the SUN for all he's done!" Dan declared. "NOTHING is over until that fucking piece of shit faces justice for what he's done!"
"Dan," Celestia started again, but was cut off.
"Justice," Rice said. He looked up at Dan again. He had been silent, utterly silent, apathetic until then, as if he didn't care what was going on. And he didn't. "I wanted justice. I wanted my son back."
"You wanted-" Dan felt like his eyes were going to turn red and explode. "JUSTICE? You wanted EVERYTHING at OUR expense, of our LITERAL DEAD BODIES. You were willing to destroy TWO WORLDS to get your son back! Yes, what happened to you and your kid sucks, but you put us through hell, tried to MURDER US, tried to murder BILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE. There is NO JUSTICE for the kind of shit you pulled!!"
"I told you he wouldn't listen," Rice said to the princeses.
"Don't talk to them! You're talking to me!!"
"This is not justice." The words silenced everything else. Not for what they were, but for who they came from- Phoenix Wright. "Sorry, I mean, OBJECTION!"
Everybody stopped to look at him. Which made him nervous. (I guess I... okay, I'm gonna keep going.)
"Dan is right, your majesties. The victims of Chancellor Rice deserve justice for what they have suffered. Innocent ponies have lost their homes, their jobs, their livelihood, been separated from their family members and their entire lives upheaved for what he's done."
"They have," Celestia said. "Including the Chancellor himself."
And that comment turned pretty much everybody against Princess Celestia. Dollars raised his rifle, as did Chris, both men now considering dropping Rice right where he was. If he got away again, how much more damage could he do? It wasn't right to see him just leave. They did not act on these impulses, but they were there.
"Short controlled bursts, go for the kneecaps," Dollars said. Chris and Jake nodded.
"Enough," the Jedi said. With a wave of his hand, their weapons were lifted into the air. Even Captain America's shield. They were totally disarmed. "There is no need for further violence."
Dan drew his desert eagle, Burt Gummer's desert eagle. "No. There IS a need for justice. For retribution. FOR REVENGE!!!"
Rice made no move to defend himself. "Let him do it."
He pulled the trigger. *BAM!*
But the bullet barely even made it out of the barrel of the gun before it stopped in midair. Its momentum and energy sapped by a colorless energy, it fell to the floor, spent and wasted. So Dan fired again, emptied the clip all at Rice's head. But not a single round came anywhere near him. The magazine ejected from the gun and fell amongst the spent rounds.
"There has been enough violence," Celestia reiterated.
Twilight Sparkle stepped forward. Was she on Dan's side or Celestia's? Some may have been uncertain, but truly, those that knew Twilight already knew. "What happens to Rice now?" she asked, questioning her mentor.
That was when Princess Luna finally said something. She took to the center of the room, commanding all their attention. "Chancellor Rice is to be released, as are all the prisoners. His assets will be used to repair any damages to the lives and property that have been harmed due to his actions."
"What OF the damage?" Phoenix protested. "Billions of people and ponies and other creatures- more beings than we could count in a day have been hurt because of him! Their homes have been destroyed-"
"Their homes have been restored," Celestia said. "Equestria has returned to us, thanks to Dan. The lives we had there are ready for us to reclaim them at last... if only we let them."
"I..." Twilight paused. "Is that even possible?" What they'd wanted, what they'd hoped for and what they'd dreaded could never be finally was here. Equestria out the window was there, back to the way it was, as beautiful and shining as ever, waiting for them. Twilight felt her heart long for that place, long for Ponyville and its soft earth beneath her hooves, the warmth of the sun and the cool of the pegasi-made breeze. Her heart yearned for it to be back.
She turned back to Dan. "Is that even..."
Dan said nothing. His face, more tired and distraught than she had ever seen it, told her all she needed to know. She looked up at Phoenix, whose expression told her the same. Before she could make a decision, Rice spoke again.
"Your world. Your Equestria. You wanted justice? That's it," Rice declared. "You look at that world and you see your friends. Your families. I see... I see my son's death. A thousand years ago, an innocent colt with a bright future. The future of my family, dead and buried, forgotten. My world died a long time ago... and any life I had a long with it."
"You threatened," Phoenix's fists were balled, "SO MANY LIVES-"
"Then kill me, lawyer! End my life right here, right now! You'd be doing me a favor. I feel nothing... I barely sleep," Rice muttered. His voice quivered, but he had no tears to weep. "The times I do, I'm haunted by the life I had with my little boy. My little pony... son. You love the 'magic of friendship' so much but it's been nothing but cruel to me my whole life. I have no reason to live."
"Is that what the TARDIS was for?" Colress asked. He snuck in at the back of the room and was a bit more emotionally stable than the others.
Rice nodded. "I... I don't-"
"The same way Dan had used the Genesis Device to restore Equestria, Rice was attempting to use Doctor Whooves' TARDIS to restore his son," the Jedi explained. "Magic alone requires outside help at times- and this can be accomplished through summoning magic, or other means. Where there is a will, there's a way."
"But there's no way to get my son back," Rice said.
"Why?" Twilight asked. More curious than anything else.
"It wouldn't be my Vice Grip," Rice said.
Rals nodded. "Indeed. Rice's goal was always to get his son back and create a new universe, a universe where his son had never been killed. But it would not change this universe."
"Wait," Dan piped up, "so the thing that made him give up all his crazy, stupid, bullshit maniacal mad-scientist garbage ruthless evil science-y worthless FUCKERY is the FACT THAT MULTIVERSE THEORY IS A THING?!?!"
"Does it really matter?"
"YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!"
"But actually no," Pinkie said. And everybody slowly turned to her. "I forget the multiverse is a thing sometimes, too. What?"
"You wanted fairness, this is it. You wanted things to go back to normal, you wanted all your little friends back, you have them," Rice said. "You have the world you wanted. And I have nothing, exactly how you wanted it."
But not the way he wanted it.
"That's not," Dan stopped, pinched his eyes closed hard, shaking with fury. "That's not good enough. You could come back, you pull some other bullshit! This... this isn't right!"
"He should be in prison," Cap said.
"Yeah," Phoenix agreed. Dollars and Jake, as well as Redfield agreed.
"He's too dangerous to just let go."
"Imprisoning him won't solve the problem," Celestia said, turning to Luna. Luna's gaze was stern and steely, but melted for just an instant when met by her sister. "We will not make the same mistake again."
"This ISN'T the same mistake! This is a newer WORSE mistake!"
"Enough," the Jedi said again, louder and firmer than last time. "There will be no more violence. Both sides have come to an agreement and it will be honored. You have all lost much, but in order to move on, you must let go your hatred."
Dan shook. "I'm here... I'm HERE BECAUSE of my HATRED!!"
"No," Chrys said. "You're here because of your friends. The ones you helped and the ones you worked for." She walked up to him. His anger, his hatred, for all it was, it diminished as she wrapped her hooves around him.
"I CAN BE HERE BECAUSE OF TWO THINGS!!" Dan protested angrily.
Everyone joined in in hugging him. "No. You're here because of all these things."
"I..." Dan hugged his ponies. He hugged his Phoenix. He hugged his Cap and his Chris and even his ODSTs- well, they haven't been here for a while but hey, more the merrier. Everybody hugged them. Dan hugged them back, for just an instant, his anger subsiding.
And then it came back. "NO!" he pushed them off him, exploding them backwards in a rage. He walked right up to Rice. The Jedi moved to intercept, but Rice held up his glove to stop him.
Dan grabbed the other glove. Rice's right hand. He yanked it off the pony's foreleg, leaving his hoof bare. He said nothing.
Rice looked back, unfeeling, barely caring. Only the slightest hint of rival hostility remained in his eyes, that of a contemptuous opponent whom had fought him time and again. Dan still said nothing. He squeezed Rice's gauntlet in his single hand, squeezed it so tightly that the metal bent.
The gauntlet, sturdy and strong as it was, sophisticated as it was, shook in Dan's grip. Rice stared back at him, unflinching. Then, Dan's grip crushed the glove, squeezing it harder than should've been possible, an impossible strength that bent and peeled back the metal near the fingers. It exploded like his dogs' armor, sparking electronics spilling forth as the thing crumpled in his hand.
Dan dropped it to the floor and walked out.