//------------------------------// // 18. The Kingdom of Corona (Part 2) // Story: Through The Multiverse // by Battwell //------------------------------// Earth 2145 The Kingdom of Corona Twilight looked on in awe, she never thought that she'd find a tower in the forest of all places. It looked majestic and yet, felt like it belonged here, like it wasn't out of place. She looked to see the others also admiring the tower and giggled lightly, she enjoyed these moments with her new friends. Sonic had an impressed smirk on his face as he rested his right hand on his hip. Mario looked on with a smile as he raised his cap slightly to get a better look at it. Tony's faceplate had slid up, revealing his smiling face. Although he was probably thinking about how he could Stark it up. Batman just stared with his usual scowl. Twilight inwardly sighed. Typical. While it was true that she had become closer with the Dark Knight of Gotham, she also knew that she had a long way to go before he even considered her a friend. She hoped that eventually he would reveal exactly who he was underneath that mask. But that wouldn't happen for a long while. Maybe it would never happen. She shook her head clear of those thoughts and brought her attention back to the mysterious tower. Just what was it doing here? Why was it here? There were so many questions flowing through Twilight's mind, each of them just begging to be answered. Was it somehow related to the Keystone? "Well would ya look at that!" The sudden voice of Sonic the hedgehog broke her train of thought, enticing her to turn her head and face him as he stared at the tower. "Who would've thought that a tower of all things would be sitting there in the middle of the forest." A smile tugged on Twilight's lips as she replied to the hedgehog, "Let's go check it out!" Mario shrugged in agreement, "Eh, why not? Who knows, maybe the Keystone is up there?" He suggested hopefully, although he doubted it. "It won't hurt to go and investigate." Said Batman. "Then what are we waiting for?" Tony asked impatiently as his mask slid over his face. "Let's go meet the neighbors." A few moments later As the group of heroes neared the base of the tower, they all saw Flynn climbing down the stones on the outside with a pair of arrows. He paused his movements, resting for a moment, when Rapunzel suddenly flung her hair down out the window, rappelling herself down the tower. Once she neared the bottom, she stopped all of a sudden before she hit the ground. Slowly and carefully, she extends a bare foot to the warm grass beneath. She took in the feeling of her first taste of earth and let go of her hair before kneeling down, feeling the ground under her hands. "It's so soft!" She whispered in awe as she felt the grass beneath her hands. She then looked up from the grass to see several dandelion seeds fly into the wind before her. Smiling a smile so wide, she stood up and declared happily, "I'm free... I'm really free!" before chasing after the dandelion seeds, not even noticing the five heroes as she ran past them. The group looked on at the sight questionably before Sonic and Twilight dart over towards Flynn, who had just made it to the bottom of the tower. "Flynn, good to see you in one piece!" Sonic said to the panting man as the others walked over to join them. Hearing the familiar voice, Rider turns around and smiles broadly before walking over to them, "Guys! You're here, and just in time." The group then hear the sound of water splashing and turn to see Rapunzel had entered the pond. She laughed as she stepped over the small stones lining the bottom of the pond. Curious, Twilight turned back to Flynn and asked, "Oh... Who's she?" Still having not noticed the group, Rapunzel took a handful of water and splashed it upwards with a shout of glee and loud laughter. Flynn rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before answering, "Uh, that would be Rapunzel. Something tells me this could be her first time outdoors. Give her a few minutes to get used to it." Batman found that hard to believe, but said nothing. That being said, Twilight's eyes widened at the news of Rapunzel's lifestyle. "First time ever?" She asked, to which Flynn responded with a nod. Rapunzel basks in the sunlight as she says happily, "I can't believe I did this!" But that happiness quickly slipped away as the reality of the situation hit her like a semi-truck. She grasped her head and once again said, "I can't believe I did this." But then the happiness returns as she screams with joy, "I can't believe I did this!" The heroes and Flynn looked at the odd display with mixed emotions. Some were of concern, some were of impatience. And some were just weirded out by it. Rapunzel slumped forward as she began to think about what her mother would think of this development. "Mother would be so furious if she knew I disobeyed her and left the tower..." Twilight and the others felt like they were gonna be here a while. Rapunzel, currently sitting on a rock and holding a flower, continued to reassure herself, "But that's okay--I mean, what she doesn't know won't kill her... Right?" She was currently sitting in a cave, holding her knees to her chest with tears in her eyes. "Oh my gosh. This would kill her." She didn't even notice Flynn and Batman standing at the entrance of the cave, shaking their heads. Rapunzel ran through the grass, kicking up leaves as she galivanted across the green foundation. Twilight giggled at the display while Flynn rolled his eyes. "This is so fuuuuuun!" "I am a horrible daughter. I'm going back." She declared in a devastated tone as she leaned her head against a tree. She was then performing cartwheels down a hill, rolling through the flowers exclaiming, "I am never going back!" before she fell down and wrapped herself in her hair. "I am a despicable human being." She moaned as she lay face first on the ground. Sonic was just simply relaxing against the tree, his hands wrapped behind his head while Flynn pouted like a child, wanting to get a move on. Rapunzel swung around the tree, holding onto her hair like a tire swing, "Best. Day. Ever!" She declared as she swung around the base of the tree. She was then seen sobbing into her hands at the base of the tree, still unbalanced in regards to her emotions about all of this. Having had enough, Flynn, Twilight and the others walked over to her to see if they could get going. "I notice you seem a little at war with yourself here." Flynn observed. Sonic snickered, "A little?" "More like a lot." Mario also snickered. She stopped crying and turned to see them. She gasped in shock before standing up and holding out the frying pan toward them. "Stop right there! Who are you?" They all looked unimpressed. "Seriously?" Tony asked before he gestured to him and his teammates, "We've been here this whole time! Do you have no peripheral vision or are you just blind?" Flynn chuckled as he got in between them, "And besides, I told you already: my sidekicks." "SIDEKICKS?!" The group exclaimed together. This was the first they were hearing of this. Ignoring them, Flynn said, "May I introduce, ehh..." He started but trailed off, realizing that he never got any of their names. Deciding to help out a potential new friend, Twilight stepped forward and placed a hoof on her chest. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." "The name's Sonic! Sonic the hedgehog!" "I'm-a-Mario!" "Tony Stark: Billionaire genius." "I'm Batman." Once they introduced themselves, the chameleon named Pascal, appeared from under Rapunzel's hair, eyeing the group as he remained skeptical of them. "Twilight, Sonic, Mario, Tony... Batman." She listed off their names before lowering the frying pan, "It's...nice to meet you. I'm Rapunzel." "Yep. My sidekicks." Flynn declared before he was grabbed by the shoulder by a less than happy Batman. He spins him around and glares directly into Flynn's eyes, "I'm losing my patience." Batman growled darkly. Flynn gulped as Batman continued, "We want answers, Rider!" He sneered as he leaned in close to Flynn's face, "Why were those androids following you?" "I-I don't know!" Flynn whispered back harshly, trying to escape Batman's grasp. He failed miserably. "Do. Not. Lie to me." Batman snarled. "Look, she really wants to see the lantern show tomorrow night. Now, I'm a nice guy, so I've decided to help her. Only problem is those monsters might show up again. I can get her to the Kingdom--but you guys are clearly more cut out for combat." Flynn whispered back, hoping that would satisfy the bat. It did not. "Talk!" Batman suddenly shouted, causing Rapunzel to take a step back in fear. Twilight was also startled by this, why was Batman doing this? This wasn't what heroes do, at least not in her eyes. "Or I'll break every bone in your body!" Flynn was sweating beads now as he stammered, "L-Look, how about this?! I-I'll tell you e-everything I know if you help me with this little Rapunzel situation I got going on! After that's settled, I'll tell you everything! I swear!" Batman continued to glare before he shoved him away, sending Flynn to the floor. The Dark Knight glared at the thief before walking to the back of the group. Twilight stared at him wide eyed. What was that? Why was no-one else reacting to it? Sonic rolled his eyes, clearly thinking about a brooding counterpart back in his home dimension. Mario looked away, whistling a happy tune. Tony looked at the man in pity. "Should've just told him what he wanted to know." He thought to himself. Twilight turned to look at Rapunzel, who looked a little frightened by the display but seemingly calmed down as Flynn got back up to his feet. The unicorn frowned, she was definitely going to confront Batman about this later. Flynn dusted himself off, "Right, now that that's settled..." He turned to Rapunzel and gestured for her to follow him. When she and Flynn began walking, the group of heroes followed close behind. "So! I guess we're bodyguards now." Sonic stated with a roll of his eyes. Tony began to ponder, "It's weird. Usually I'm the one being body guarded, not the other way around." He then turns his head to the rest of the group as they continue to walk along, "But at least this way we can get some answers. And we might be able to find the next Keystone in the Kingdom Rider is leading us to." "I'd say that's a safe bet." Mario agreed. It was then that Sonic noticed that Twilight hadn't said a word since they got moving. Worried for his friend, he nudged her with his elbow and asked, "Yo? You good, Twi?" She didn't answer him, but when she eyed Batman unapprovingly, Sonic got an idea what was wrong with the unicorn. Batman, however, took notice and said, "If you have something to say Twilight, then say it." He clearly wasn't in the mood for this. Taking up his suggestion, Twilight said in a disapproving tone, "I don't like what you did to Flynn back there." "That's nice. I don't care." "You can't just do that to somepony, Batman!" Twilight reprimanded the Dark Knight, clearly unhappy with what has transpired. "It isn't right!" "Clearly I can." Batman responded, not really caring what Twilight thinks of his methods. He's been doing this line of work for a long time. He knows a criminal when he sees one. "I can also tell when someone can't be trusted. And Flynn Rider cannot be trusted. He's hiding something, otherwise why would those androids be hunting him down?" "You don't know that! How can we even hope of completing this mission when there's no trust? Friendships are made by forging new bonds, not violently interrogating our potential allies! And how do you know Flynn's a criminal? Huh?! He could just be a civilian who was in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Batman, knowing that he was right and that she was wrong, decided to end this disagreement by declaring, "I knew you were naïve, Twilight. I didn't think you were stupid." With that, he walked right past the stunned mare, who's mouth was mimicking a goldfish before it turned into a frown. She continued to scowl at the Dark Knight of Gotham as she moved along. Behind them, Mario, Iron Man, and Sonic just looked at the pair in silence. Said silence was broken by Sonic, who muttered, "Awwwkward." "You said it." Sometime later It had been quite sometime since the group decided to head out to take Rapunzel to the Kingdom, with the word of Flynn Rider that he would explain why the Soulless Ones were chasing after him after they helped him get Rapunzel to see the lanterns. And during that time, Twilight had been scowling at Batman for his intense interrogation tactics. Batman continued to ignore her. Sonic, Mario, and Iron Man could feel the animosity between the two of them, and they could see both sides of the story. On one hand, Batman really didn't have to manhandle Flynn like that... or threaten him either. But sometimes in their line of work you had to resort to those kind of tactics. Tony did it from time to time, although not to that extent. Even Sonic had to threaten Robotnik on occasion whenever he crossed the line when it came to his friends. Mario not so much, but he did get it. On the other hand it seemed that Batman was growing slightly impatient in not being able to find their missing friends. They had spent a lot of time jumping from universe to universe on this wild goose chase. But it was the only way they were going to get their friends back. Sometimes interrogation methods of that caliber are necessary to get the job done. It seems that Twilight has yet to learn that when it comes to being a hero. The group hadn't encountered any Soulless Ones during their travels as of yet, which was a good thing. But it was also very suspicious. Where had they gone? Why were they after Flynn in the first place? What was their end goal? All of these questions flooded through their minds. Well except for Flynn and Rapunzel's of course. Rapunzel was busy taking in the world around her. Flynn just wanted to get this done. The group had managed to make it pretty far through the forest, reaching a patch of wildflowers in a clear area of the forest where the sun was allowed to shine down upon them. But something caught Rapunzel's curious eye as they stopped in the small clearing. "Oh, look. What is that? It's so fluffy!" The long haired girl asked excitedly as she rushed over to investigate. There, sitting in the middle of the clearing, was a pink ball of fluff. Rapunzel rushed over and began to touch it, her fingers grazing the surface of it. Flynn looked on curiously as he stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb, "Huh. Never seen that before." Behind him, Iron Man and the other looked on curiously as well, trying to determine whatever the ball of pink fluff could be. Batman activated his Detective Vision to try and scan it while Iron Man raised his hand towards the odd ball of fluff, also scanning it. As they scanned the ball, Sonic and Mario looked over to see Twilight looking at anything other than Batman. It was pretty obvious that she was still mad about being called naïve and stupid, but it was something else too. Maybe she just wasn't used to seeing such brutal tactics being used by a hero. Then again, this wasn't Equestria. Once the scans were done, Batman turned to Tony with a confused expression on his face, "I'm assuming you got the same result?" Tony nodded, "Yep." He replied before asking his A.I. companion, "J.A.R.V.I.S. are you absolutely sure that this is correct?" "Without a doubt, sir. The scan confirms, no matter how preposterous it is, that the ball of unknown substance before us is made out of none other than Cotton Candy." Tony nodded and the explanation before turning to the others and shrugging, "I guess balls of Cotton Candy that grow in the middle of the forest are a thing here?" He guessed while the others looked at him oddly. But that last sentence managed to get Twilight's attention. "Cotton Candy?" She repeated before her eyes suddenly widened in alarm. "No! It can't be!" She inwardly thought before reaching out a hoof to Rapunzel and screaming, "Rapunzel, get away from that!!!" But as Rapunzel turned her head around to see what Twilight was screaming about, a pair of yellow, mismatched eyes suddenly opened on the face of the ball of fluff. "Hi there!" Rapunzel turned back and screamed, scurrying back as Twilight galloped to her side. The ball of Cotton Candy began to rise up into the air, turning into a tornado of Cotton Candy colored goodness before exploding, sending chunks of the delicacy all over the clearing. There, laughing his head off in delight, was Discord! (Play until 3:12) Discord hovered above the group, holding his stomach as he continued to laugh his head off... quite literally as it popped into multiple strands of confetti before popping back into existence. As the Draconequues continued to bellow with laughter, the group of heroes and Flynn rushed to Twilight and Rapunzel's side. Tony aimed his Repulsor Rays at the Draconequues and asked, "Okay, this is getting ridiculous! Who the hell is this?" "Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Y-You should s-see you fa-a-a-ace!!! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Discord said between laughs as he pulled Twilight's mane from out of nowhere and wiped his eyes before tossing it back into the mare's face. "P-PRICELESS!!!" Quickly checking to make sure her mane was back on her head, Twilight glared upward at shouted, "Discord?!" "That's my name! Don't wear it out!" "B-But we sealed you back into stone!" Twilight exclaimed, confused as to how Equestria's greatest threat managed to escape the confines of the prison her and her friends sealed him in. "H-How are you here?!" Suddenly appearing at her left with his lion arm wrapped around her neck, he pinched her cheeks and said, "Oh, Twilight! You saw how successful I was my last time being free! Of course they had to bring me back for a sequel!" He then disappeared in a flash as Twilight suddenly found herself sitting in a chair with a pointy, white hat with the word 'Dunce' written on it on top of her head. "Honestly for someone so smart, you can be kind of slow sometimes. Well then again you had to study how to make friends." He reappeared in front of the group with a quill and parchment in his talons. "Dear Princess Celestia: Today I learned that I'm an antisocial loser who's incapable of making any friends because I only care about kissing your big, fat plot! I freak out over the tiniest of things because if they're not exactly how I wrote them on my checklist, then my OCD kicks in and I spaz out over a friendship report of all things! I can't go one day without giving somepony a lecture while acting that I know better than they do! Gee, I wonder why I don't have any friends! Bleh, bleh, bleh! Your Special Ed Student: Twilight Sparkle" The parchment suddenly exploded in a swarm of pineapples with wings, flying away as Discord shoved the quill into his ear, grinning evilly at the unicorn beneath him. Twilight shook off the 'Dunce Hat' and glared angrily at the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony while the others looked on, piecing together that this thing and Twilight had a history. "Yo, Twi! Mind introducing us to... Whatever this thing is?" Sonic asked with a cocky smirk. Discord grinned madly as he set his sights on the ensemble of heroes before him, "Ah, the main cast! Let's see what we're working with!" He exclaimed happily as he summoned a pair of glasses on his face, studying his foes intently. "First off we got the blue boy! Maurice!" When Sonic looked at him questionably, Discord took off his glasses and pondered aloud, "Wait, is that canon? Bah! Who cares!" He threw his glasses behind him, resulting in an explosion going off behind him. He then snapped his talons, making Sonic disappear in a puff of smoke, reappearing looking slightly different. Discord proceeded to do this multiple times as he muttered to himself, "Let's see... SatAM... Boom... X... Underground... Adventure... That weird one with the chicken robot and the drill robot. Although I gotta say that show was quite chaotic, highly recommend! What else... 2020 Movie... 3D Blast... Oh my lord, look at those teeth!!! Those calves!!! My eyes!!!" "PLEASE STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!" Sonic practically pleaded as he was suddenly switched back into his normal appearance. Discord shrugged as he said, "Meh, Jason Griffith sounded better." Before he moved onto the other heroes. "Ah, Tony Stark, the hero with the drinking problem! Batsy, the brooding loner! Joker says hi. And lastly we have Jump Man himself, Super Mario! Wow, you're short!" "Enough Discord!" Twilight shouted, having not missed Discord's constant shenanigans. "Whatever you're up to--" "What? You're gonna stop me, right?" Discord finished for her in a bored tone before leaning forward and pointing to her head, "Hate to break it to you, Sparky, but you seem to be lacking in the jewelry department." Her eyes widened in realization, "...The Elements..." "That's right! As you probably should've already figured out, but haven't since you're dumb, you don't have the Elements or your annoying friends by your side!" He then let out a dramatically fake gasp before smiling, "You can't stop me!" Twilight looked down in hopelessness, tears welling up in her eyes as she began to feel alone. That is until a gloved hand touched her shoulder. She looked to her left and saw Sonic standing there with a kind and reassuring smile on his face. Twilight brightened, smiling back at her friend. Sonic set his sights on Discord, "She may not have her Elements or whatever, but she's still got a group of friends backing her corner." "Ugh, gaaag!" Discord heaved before waving him off dismissively. "I've heard that speech before, it's getting old! Besides, I'm the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony! I'm a literal God of Chaos, how can you hope to stop that, huh?" Sonic shrugged, "I've faced my fair share of Gods before." "But none like me!" Twilight, surprisingly, wasn't deterred by Discord. "I'm not going to let you get to me again, Discord! I'm not alone! I have friends by my side! And we won't stop until we defeat you and seal you back in stone!" Discord was not amused. "How boring." He said before raising his talons, "Let's change that up, shall we?" He snapped his talons, summoning a small squadron of Soulless Ones from out of nowhere. The group got ready to fight as the Draconequues closely inspected his nails. "Now I must dash! There's lots to do, lots of chaos to spread, yet not enough time in the day, y'know? Besides I'm pretty sure McSnurtle the Turtle is getting bored without me, so until then..." He smiled mischievously at Twilight as he waved, "Toodles!" With that, Discord disappeared with a snap of his talons. As the Soulless Ones moved closer, Batman turned his head to face the still very frightened Rapunzel, "Take cover! Now!" She nodded and ran back to Flynn, throwing her arms around him and using him as a shield. At first Flynn was surprised, but then a thought struck him. This was his chance. An out! He smirked before saying, "All right, I hate to say it, but I'm lettin' you outta this deal." Her grip loosened, allowing him to turn and face her. "What?" "It's way too scary out here. Let's just turn around and take you home." He said with faux concern as he tried getting her to move away, but to his surprise, she whirls around and punches him in the chest. "No. I am seeing those lanterns." She said with conviction before gathering up her hair in her arms and making her way back towards Twilight and the others. Once she reached them, Twilight turned to her in surprise, "Rapunzel?" She looked down at the unicorn with a look of determination all across her features. "It's okay. I'm not afraid to face them." "Um, that's probably not a good idea." Iron Man said as he aimed his hands at the group of androids. "I mean, all she has is a frying pan for crying out loud!" "No time to dwell on it now!" Batman said as the Soulless Ones drew closer. "We've got incoming!" Twilight looked up at Rapunzel once more and smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry! Just stand by me and I'll use my magic to protect you." "Here we go!" Mario shouted as the Soulless Ones dashed forward, commencing the fight. Meanwhile: in the Tower "Rapunzel!" A frantic voice shouted as she entered Rapunzel's room in the tower, searching for any signs of her. The woman had curly black hair and gray eyes. She wore a shiny dark magenta dress with a black cape. Mother Gothel scrambled around the room in desperation, searching around frantically for Rapunzel. When there was no sign of her, she frantically tore down the curtain covering the window, but found that no one was there. She clutched her face in terror before a glint of light caught her eye from beneath the stairs. She walked over slowly and cautiously before opening the bottom step, pulling out a satchel. Flynn's satchel! She reached into the satchel before she removed a sparkling tiara and at the sight of it, she dropped it in fear. Terrified, she turned her attention back to the satchel and dug further in the bag. She then took out a Wanted poster for one Flynn Rider. "Missing someone?" Whirling around at the sudden voice, Mother Gothel asked, "Who's there?!" She looked all around the room for any sign of another person being there. But she found no-one. "Look behind you." She turned around and fell back onto her butt at the sight of a grinning Discord. She scrambled backward in fear as he floated before her. "She's such a precious gift." Discord complimented, referring to Rapunzel. "Allow me to assist you in getting her back." His smile grew devilishly before he pointed to the tiara, "All I ask for is that tiara." Gothel turned at looked at the tiara in confusion before Discord continued. "Of course I could take it myself and be done with it. Buuut I've been sealed in stone for a few moons and I really need to stretch." He said as he cracked his back. He stiffened and stroked his goatee, "Plus I don't think Bowser would appreciate me ruining his fun either, so there's that." Discord landed and walked over to the cowering Mother Gothel, his lion paw hovering over her head. He then poked the top of her head, causing her eyes to be engulfed in a swirling motion of colors, slowly but surely, falling under Discord's control. The only sound heard in the Tower, was Discord's deep laughter. Back with the heroes Twilight grabbed the final two Soulless Ones with her magic and raised them into the air, holding them in place as Sonic dashed right through them with a Spin Dash. Once they disappeared into red mist, the hedgehog uncurled and landed in the soft, green grass. "Whew! That was a workout!" Sonic expressed as he rolled his shoulder backwards, making his way back to the others as they reconvened under the sunlight. Iron Man turned his head around to face a tree. More specifically, a certain thief hiding behind said tree. "And thanks for the help, Flynn!" He thanked sarcastically before adding, "Real team effort!" Flynn Rider leaned his body away from the tree and slowly made his way over to the group. "H-Hey, no problemo!" He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Twilight giggled at the man's sheepishness before something caught her eye. She turned her head and saw that Batman was kneeling on the ground, picking up a strange, foreign object that she had never seen before. She frowned slightly, she was still angry at the Dark Knight over how he handled the situation with Flynn. She was also hurt at how Batman called her naïve and stupid. Sure they had only known each other for a short time, but she thought that he had more respect for her than that. It was then that her eyes widened as a realization struck her like an Ursa Major. This was her first Friendship Problem between her and Batman! "Okay! Breathe, Twilight." She thought to herself as she took in slow, deep breaths. "You didn't expect to have a Friendship Problem this early with one of your new friends, especially at a time like this. But it's okay! We'll get through it, and it will make the perfect letter to Princess Celestia when this is all over." She was taken out of her thoughts by Batman, who had walked over and and said, "I found a Motherboard from one of the androids. We can use this to figure out what they are, and what they want." He then turned his sights onto Twilight, "Now, who was that?" Twilight sighed as the memories of her and her friends being corrupted by Discord flashed back in her mind. "That was Discord. He's the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. His one purpose in life is to cause as much chaos as possible, disrupting the natural order of things. He can basically do anything with a snap of his talons. He can't be defeated by normal means, only sealed within stone by the Elements of Harmony." She then gazed up at the sky in wonder. "But there seems to be no form of Chaos Magic in the air whatsoever. Which is unlike him, since he'd normally relish in the chance to spread chaos wherever he goes." She said aloud, tapping her chin in thought. "So why are there no candy colored clouds raining down chocolate? Where are the upside down floating houses?" It was then that Flynn decided to pipe up, "Ummm, I don't mean to interrupt... whatever it is that you're talking about. But we should get moving, y'know, before the sun sets." He suggested as everyone focused on him. Rapunzel nodded eagerly, wanting to see the lanterns as soon as possible. While she had no clue what was going on in regards to Discord, she was still excited to experience the outside world for the first time in her life. Mario gestured for Flynn to proceed, "Alright then, let's-a-go." He said simply before Flynn nodded and began walking alongside Rapunzel. The two led the group further into the forest, but while her mind was focused on any threats that may be watching them, Twilight was also focused on Discord. He was right about one thing, they didn't have the Elements this time. So how are they going to be able to stop him? A few hours later It had been a few hours since their encounter with Discord. Surprisingly things had been calm, y'know given the fact that the literal embodiment of chaos was flying around somewhere in this dimension. Aside from a few encounters with some Soulless Ones, things have been rather calm and serene. Twilight had tried to talk to Batman on multiple occasions during their stroll through the forest, but every time she tried he simply said "Focus on the mission, we'll deal with it later." Every time he responded with that made the unicorn's heart hurt just a little bit. Maybe friendship didn't mean much to the Dark Knight. Maybe their friendship didn't mean much to him at all. She fought back the tears and pushed forward, determined to find the Keystone, stop Discord, and solve this Friendship Problem between her and Batman. With that thought in mind, Twilight continued to walk alongside the group. But they all stopped abruptly as they came faced with a strange, metallic looking device stuck in the ground in the middle of a small clearing. Twilight tilted her head at the device, having no clue what it was. "Okay. That's suspicious." Flynn said as he gestured toward it with his hand. Rapunzel, curious as ever, began to slowly approach the device. "Rapunzel." Sonic said, warning edging into his voice. She turned around and smiled, "Don't worry. I know to be careful around these things now." She reassured him with a wink. Sonic chuckled at the girl and began to walk past her, "Whatever it is, it's not normal. I'll take a look." He said to her and the group, walking up closer to the device. It had four legs that dug into the ground, the rest of it taking on a seed like design. It had highlights going from the top of the device all the way down to the base of it, but they were currently off. Sonic leaned in closer, walking around the device with a suspicious look on his face. But once he came around to the back of the device, his eyes widened at the sight of a familiar logo. More specifically, an Eggman logo. He quickly dashed back to the group and shouted, "Get away from it! It's a trap!" But suddenly, the device hummed as it came online, red lights slowly lighting up in the devices highlights. Before the group could ask what was happening, a shadow suddenly made itself known above them. They all looked up and Mario gasped at the familiar vessel looming above them. It was Bowser's Airship! Now repaired from their last encounter. A vicious laugh sounded out throughout the forest as someone leapt down from the airship, the resulting impact sending dust outwards which caused everyone to shield their eyes. Once the dust cleared, a familiar Koopa King took a step forward with a gleeful smile on his face. "Mario!" Bowser greeted with a wicked grin. "Did ya miss me?" "Bowser?!" The red plumber shouted in surprise. "How did you get here?!" The Koopa King shrugged, "Doesn't really matter, does it? Seeing as how this will be your final resting place, plumber boy!" Twilight took a step forward, pointing at the villain accusingly, "You're working with Discord, aren't you?!" "Guilty as charged. While he has his fun messing with all of you, I'm going to take a more... direct approach." He then stomped on the ground before gesturing to the device behind him, "What you see here is a Magma Generator! And I've been busy planting them allll over this forest. At my command, they'll activate and turn this forest into a lava pit!" Rapunzel, Twilight, Sonic, and Mario looked at the villain in horror while Batman, Flynn and Iron Man scowled at the Koopa. "You can't do that!" Rapunzel shouted, gaining Bowser's attention. "Think of what will happen to all of the animals in the forest." Bowser chuckled deeply, "Hate to break it to ya, sweetheart. But I frankly don't care." Rapunzel scowled, "Mother said the outside world would be full of ruffians and thugs." Mario turned his head to the girl and said, "That's not a ruffian, Rapunzel." He set his sights back onto his most hated enemy and finished with, "That's nothing but a monster." "Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!! Well you're not wrong, Mario! But I'm a monster with the upper hand!" He declared as he held out his hand, revealing the Elemental Keystone in his palm. Twilight let out a gasp, "The Keystone!" "The Elemental Keystone. From what Discy told me, this baby can grant me power over almost any element." He set his sights onto Mario, "This time you won't beat me so easily, moustache! Even with your little friends backing you up, you won't be able to defeat me! I've already won!" All of a sudden, the Magma Generator let out a pulse of energy, breaking the ground around it. As fire began to shoot out from the ground, it created a circle around the heroes and Bowser, a makeshift arena made of fire that separated Rapunzel, Flynn and the others. Scowling, Batman said to Rapunzel, "Rapunzel, Flynn, stay back!" But the girl shook her head defiantly, "No. I want to help you fight." Mario turned his head to the girl and looked at her sympathetically, "I know. But I'm afraid you can't hurt this guy with a frying pan. Trust me on this. Flynn, could you explain?" "No problem. Knowing when to flee is one of my specialties." He then rushed over to Rapunzel, grasping her by the shoulders and pulling her back. "C'mon, Rapunzel. Gotta go." "But--" "Look, I wanna stay and slug it out too, but my sidekicks have it covered." She looked away from Flynn to look at the others currently surrounded by fire. Twilight turned to her and gave her a small smile, reassuring her that they were gonna be fine. This reassures her, so she nods and says, "All right. Please be careful, guys." With that, Flynn and Rapunzel dash off further into the forest away from the battle. Bowser watched as the two made their getaway. "Yeah! You'd better run! Not gonna help ya, since I'll just catch you both later!" "Focus on us, Bowser!" Mario demanded as he clenched his fists tightly. Bowser looked at his nemesis and chuckled deeply. "Y'know, I think I just might." Then out of nowhere, he closes his fist around the Elemental Keystone, letting loose a shockwave of power that sent the heroes sliding back towards the wall of fire that surrounded them. As the power of the Keystone surged through his body, Bowser's body grew and blackened as his hair and eyebrows lit up in flames, his eyes losing their pupils and the center of his plastron and the tips of his shell spikes glow orange and red. Fury Bowser let loose a deep chuckle that rumbled throughout the forest. Mario looked determined to stop his adversary, as did the others. Fury Bowser took one step closer to the group of heroes, showing off his increased size to the group. "Mario, prepare yourself for the great beyond!" Fury Bowser said as he let loose a roar into the air, breathing out flames from his maw as he stared down his enemies. "Mama Mia...." Were the words Mario muttered to himself before Fury Bowser let out a roar, charging forward to attack, initiating the battle that would shake the entire forest.