Later that evening…
“An abandoned warehouse near the edge of the city,” Aidon commented with a chuckle, “How absolutely cliche.”
“Not quite different from the heretic cults that existed near ancient Canterlot,” Starswirl replied. “I suppose this will be no different.”
Both gentlemen were walking towards the very building they were describing. A plan had been laid out by Sunset Shimmer that involved them making contact at the front of the building first.
“Do you remember what we need to do, old man?” Aidon asked, “I don’t want you croaking in this fight. You know we have unfinished business.”
“Indeed…and I wouldn’t expect you to forget,” Starswirl replied with a sigh, “But for the moment, Sunset wants us to draw their attention while she and the rest of her friends raid them from the back side of the building.”
“Correct,” Aidon said with a nod, “If all goes well, this should be over in a few minutes. But for extra support, Micro Chips and Flash Sentry are joining us on our side of the operation.”
“I’m impressed,” the wizard quipped, “The students here show more potential than the ones Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. And that’s saying something.”
Aidon raised an eyebrow at such a statement. “...really? You don’t hold the highest opinion of the princesses do you?”
“If she had her way, that world would be six hooves--er, feet? Six feet under by now. But that’s a topic for another day. The point is, you should take pride in how well you’ve taken care of these brats. I sure wouldn’t have the patience for it.”
“...Huh,” Aidon muttered as he processed what Starswirl just told him. That was the absolute last individual that he would’ve expected a compliment from. “...Thank you? I’m not really sure what else to say. I’m somewhat blindsided.”
“Don’t trouble yourself,” Starswirl replied, rolling his eyes, “I seem to have a habit of coming off as far more irritated than I actually am. That’s what 100 years of stress does to a person I suppose.”
Soon enough, they arrived outside of the building where Flash Sentry and Micro Chips had already been waiting. The latter was typing on a small laptop that he had brought with him.
“Alright,” Micro spoke up, “I think we’re ready to get started.”
“Are you sure you wanna join in?” Flash asked, “I know you’re not the type to throw yourself in the middle of a fight so I--”
“I’m doing this for myself,” Micro replied, “I’ve found the strength in adversity to continue and I don’t want to shy away anymore. I’m standing on my own two feet ready to handle whatever comes my way, brother. I just hope you can keep up.”
“Keep up? Me?” Flash scoffed at the idea of falling behind. “I’ll run circles around these fools. I just feel bad for the ones Sunset and the others are gonna deal with.”
Starswirl approached them and said, “Seems you gentlemen are prepared. That’s good to see. When do we get started?”
Micro cracked his knuckles and started to give them the run-down. “As soon as you see the magic from the girls activate from the technicolor rays of light that come down from the sky, you’re going to make your entrance to give them the impression that you’ve come to talk.” He then looked at Aidon. “Professor, you’ll surprise them with your best usage of dark magic. I fear there might be more to Tatsuya Hishima than he lets on from appearance alone.”
“What do you mean by that, son?” Aidon asked cautiously.
“...When I studied that guy…the longer I looked at him, the less I felt the presence of a human. It was as if…” he hesitated for a moment to gather his thoughts, “It was as if something was augmenting his biology. Something unnatural. But it wasn’t magical. In fact, his body possess zero ability to possess magic at all.”
“Then what could…” Aidon weighed the possibilities, but couldn’t draw any conclusions. “No. there’s no time to speculate. All we can do is make our move and handle the situation as it unfolds. On your feet, boys.”
As if right on cue…
SHOOM!
A shimmer of rainbow light came down from the heavens just behind the building. As expected, this was Sunset and her friends activating their abilities in order to prepare themselves as they stormed the building from the rear.
“It’s time. Let’s go end a life or two I suppose,” Starswirl remarked as soon as he saw the light, and walked up to the building to force the doors open with his magic. Aidon, Flash and Micro would all follow close behind.
The layout of the building was simple. Two corridors--one to their left and one to their right--existed as split paths. But the path that the gentlemen were taking was through some double-doors into a room straight ahead of them.
And inside that very room…
“Failure after failure…nobody can seem to do their jobs right,” Tatsu grumbled to himself as he flexed his hand. “Well not this time. Even if we go down, they’re not making it outta here in one piece.”
“Your augments are ready to go, boss,” one of his gangster goons spoke up form a nearby computer, “I just installed the update into your arms and legs.”
“Heh…good. I beat ‘em once and I’ll beat ‘em again.” Tatsu cracked his knuckles…which emitted a small burst of electricity. “Humanity’s overrated anyway.”