Earth 2001
"So, let me see if I have this right. The last time you were in this form you had the essence of an ancient Dark God residing within your soul that transformed you into said form whenever the moon was out. Then the Dark God drained his essence out of you while you and this little fairy thing you made friends with, who turned out to be the Dark God's antithesis, fought it out in the core of your world until he was put back to sleep, while still residing in your planet mind you. Then as it turns out, when we got here, when you returned to this form, it awakened some dormant part of the dark essence that was supposedly drained from you, causing you to hallucinate and go berserk on us. Am I getting that right?"
Tony wrapped up his recap of what he and the others had just been told as they moved through the Power Plant. They passed several CDA Agents putting out fires as they traversed the area. They had all been listening to Sonic as he told them about his prior experience with being the werehog and Dark Gaia.
Twilight looked at the werehog sympathetically, now finally knowing the reason her friend despised this form. It was because it originated from darkness, similar to the clone she saw in Corona, but vastly different.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Sonic shrugged as he walked along with his friends. Truth be told, he still felt immensely guilty about what had occurred earlier. Fighting his friends, tearing through the Power Plant. He had a lot to make up for, and he would never stop trying to. Even though everyone had forgiven him, Sonic still hadn't forgiven himself.
He shifted slightly when he felt a hoof press against his leg. Looking down, he saw the smiling face of Twilight Sparkle, her eyes twinkling as she spoke, "You don't have to deal with this burden alone. You have friends here who are willing to listen and help you through your troubles. I promise you that we will get our friends back, and I promise that we'll always be there for you whenever you need us." She then closed her eyes and said, "After all--"
"Friendship is magic?" Sonic finished for her with a sly smirk on his face.
Pouting, Twilight playfully bumped his leg with her rump, giggling at how quick the werehog beat her to the punch. As they continued to walk, they ended up just in front of a passageway that would take them into the factory, leading them closer to the Door Vault and Boo's door.
But a sudden crackle caught their attention. When they turned to the source, they saw a large blue tank that was crackling with electricity. Without hesitation, Sulley grabbed Boo and the rest of the group made a dash as quickly as they could to get away from the tank. It then exploded, knocking them all off their feet. Mike was winded as his breaths came fast and quick, the pipes above then burst into flames and exploded. Then, as if to make their night worse, another blow to their right caused another explosion, dislodging a gigantic pipe above them from its rivets. They all quickly got to their feet and made a run for it as the pipe fell to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. Looking back, they saw that the passageway they were about to use was now filled with broken piping, blocking their way in.
Everyone turned to Sonic and gave him a deadpanned look.
"Heh... My bad." Was the weak reply they got from the werehog.
"Oh, great. This time we're really stuck." Mike sighed dejectedly as he spoke.
"I could try lifting the pipe?" Iron Man suggested.
But Twilight shook her head, "We can't risk any further damage to the infrastructure. It's too risky."
Turning to Sulley, Batman asked, "Sulley, have you got any ideas?"
Placing Boo on the ground, the blue monster stroked his chin in thought, "Just gimme a second." As he tried to come up with a solution to their current predicament, he failed to notice Boo run forward. The others watched her carefully, not wanting to let her out of their sight in case she ran off.
The little girl then ran back to her guardian shouting, "Kitty!" Now having gotten their attention, she pointed to the pipe and giggled. While everyone else stared in confusion, Sulley formed an idea in his big, blue head.
"If I'm right about that pipe..." He mused to himself before snapping his fingers, his face brightening. "Yep, it's perfect. Boo, thank you!" He thanked the small child as he patted her on the head, making her giggle with delight. He then began moving forward towards the pipe, "We gotta follow that pipe."
But Mike stood in front of him, clearly confused. "What?! Wait a sec. I thought we were going straight to the Door Vault. The only place that pipe leads is to the cooling tank!" He placed his hands on his hips and looked at him suspiciously. "You sure you don't have a better idea?"
In response, Sulley grabbed Mike by the top of his head and dropped him to the side, "Don't worry, Mike. Just trust me." He then climbed on top of the pipe, motioning for the others to follow.
The little green monster sighed before following, with the others following behind. Twilight used her magic to lift Boo into the air, causing the child to laugh. She then placed the small child on her back and followed as Boo hugged the back of her neck. It reminded her of whenever she would place Spike upon her back.
She couldn't help but feel pride at how much the dragon had matured since they arrived in Ponyville. From the moment she hatched him she had always felt pride when it came to Spike. Her Number One Assistant. Her best friend.
…her son.
She blinked a few tears away before pressing forward, determined to find the final Keystone and get her baby boy back, no matter what.
"I'm pretty sure Maintenance hasn't finished patching it up."
They managed to climb the pipe and followed Sulley into the cooling tank, where they were face to face with an orange sliding door that appeared to be blocking a hole in the wall. When Sulley approached it, he grabbed hold and slid it back, revealing a makeshift passage into another room.
"This way." Instructed Sulley with a smile, entering the room with Boo not far behind him.
Once everyone entered the room, they couldn't help but feel that they had been here before.
"Anyone else getting hit with a sense of Deja Vu, or is it just me?" Asked Iron Man.
Upon further inspection, Mike realized where they were. "Wait a second... It's the Door Vault!"
Sulley couldn't help but feel a little smug, as was evident by the smirk on his face. "Yep. What'd I tell ya?"
Mike couldn't help but smirk back. "Sure, nice job, Sull. Seriously, if I didn't know any better...I'd say you actually ran the place."
"Thanks, Mikey." Sulley replied with a sly smirk before motioning for everyone else to follow. "All right, it's not much farther."
In front of them was an elevator big enough for all of them to fit on. Once everyone was on, Sulley approached the control panel and pulled down on the switch, causing the elevator to move down to the level below them. As they moved downward, Twilight looked up to see all the doors passing over them on the railway system. Once the elevator jerked to a stop, she turned around and led the group off of the lift.
In front of them was a doorway, and a pile of scrap metal that laid to the left of the platform.
"Everybody look for Boo's door." Sulley said to everyone.
But before they could start searching, a certain reptilian monster uncloaked himself in front of the doorway. "Well isn't this a coincidence?" Randall said before he snickered to himself.
Everyone was already on guard, ready for a fight.
"Randall." Growled Sulley.
Boggs tilted his head to the left slightly, looking directly at Sonic. "I see you got you mutt under control." He rolled his eyes at Sonic's snarl. "It doesn't matter anyway, cause you losers are toast!"
Mike shook his head, stepping forward toward his enemy. "Didn't you learn your lesson before?" He pointed to his friends behind him with his thumb. "Our buddies here smashed your little toy when you attacked us earlier." He folded his arms and smiled smugly at him. "Whatever you've got now, we can handle it."
"Oh, I learned a lot." Randall snarled.
Batman eyed the monster before him with suspicion. Something was wrong, he could tell. The way he was talking, his posture spoke volumes, like he was waiting for something but didn't have enough patience to hide it. Boggs was clearly a distraction.
"Something's wrong." Spoke the Dark Knight, gaining everyone's attention.
Mike looked at him as if he were stupid, "Well duh! Randall's right in front of us."
"Randall's not the threat," Batman revealed, causing everyone to worry. "He's just a distraction. The real danger..." Without warning, he turned around and raised his wing to protect himself as three ninja stars flew through the air. They all clattered on the ground when they impacted his leather wings. He lowered it and glared at the figure in the shadows,"...is behind us!"
Then, from out of the shadows, stepped out the one behind this entire operation on Monsters, Inc. The one who fixed Randall's door, the one teaming up with Zavok. The leader of this covert operation. The figure wore armor that featured orange and blue colors. Half of the figures mask was covered while the other half revealed his eye, this side being colored orange while the covered side was blue. The figure wore multiple packs on the top of his suit to store bullets, darts, and other things that could be used as weapons. Holstered on his thigh was a pistol, while a sword rested on his back.
"You're so clever." Deathstroke patronized, stopping just a few meters in front of Batman.
"Slade." Batman growled as he remained on high alert. "You're the one behind this entire operation."
"Wow. No wonder you're the World's Greatest Detective." Deathstroke replied sarcastically.
"Never would've guessed travelling to different universes was in your paygrade."
"Neither did I. But the pay was too enticing to pass up."
Batman narrowed his eyes, "And I'm assuming that the only reason you worked with Randall was to get inside the factory."
It was then that Randall piped up, inspecting his fingernails. "Yep! They couldn't get in without me, so I decided to help them out." He then smiled devilishly as he looked up from his hand. "And in exchange they would help me get what I deserve."
Slade smirked under his mask. "I did promise you that, didn't I?" Without warning, Deathstroke drew his pistol and fired. The bullet flew through the air, but it wasn't aimed at Batman.
It was aimed at Randall.
The monster let out a startled cry before a purple shield appeared around him, protecting him from the bullet. Twilight let down the shield as the bullet fell to the ground.
Randall took a step back and eyed Deathstroke in fear. "Wha-... What are you doing?!" He demanded to know. "Y-You said we were partners! That you would help me get what I deserved once I got you what you wanted!"
"And you failed in that objective!" Deathstroke reminded him coldly. "While you were busy fooling with them," He nodded to Batman and the others. "I had to have Zavok pick up your slack in locating the Element." Deathstroke lowered his gun and shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, this was always going to be the turnout."
When Randall looked shocked, Slade chuckled deeply.
"What? Did you actually think we would help you become in charge of this place?" He gestured around him with his arms. "This place isn't even worth my time. And frankly, neither are you. So it looks like I'm going to have to clean up your mess myself." Slade holstered his gun and took something out of one of the patches on his armor. He then held it outward and opened his hand, revealing the final Keystone.
"The Keystone!" Twilight exclaimed.
"If my intel's correct, this is the War Keystone." Slade revealed before looking to the pile of scrap metal beside Randall. "Apparently it has the ability to turn anything into a weapon."
"That's how you installed those machine guns so quickly." Mario deduced. "You used the Keystone."
"Correct." Deathstroke nodded before aiming the Keystone at the pile of metal. "I've seen your skills, and I know Batman has the ability to go toe to toe with me. But I'm unconvinced about the rest of you. Let's see how skillful you truly are." He then fired a black and orange blast at the metal, encompassing it in a black and orange aura.
As it levitated into the air, the various pieces began to meld together, growing larger and more distinct in its design. It then began to grow four very large legs as spikes began protruding from it. Everyone took a step back as the transformation completed itself.
There stood a large mechanical spider robot. It resembled its namesake, though with only four legs surrounding its central head-body rather than eight. Its whole black chassis is covered in white spikes, with red highlights going through its grooves.
The Spider took a step forward, looming over the group menacingly.
Batman refocused his attention on Deathstroke as the mercenary took out a trigger from behind his back. "I'd love to stay, but I have a job to do." He pressed the trigger with his thumb and disappeared in a patch of smoke, making his escape.
Meanwhile Randall had slithered up to a vantage point to observe the battle at a safe distance. While he wasn't expecting to be betrayed by Deathstroke, it didn't really change much of anything In fact, this robot could be the very thing he needed to finally even the score.
"Finally... This is exactly what I need to take over the company. But first, I am getting rid of you."
Back down below, Twilight and the others approached The Spider and readied themselves for a fight. The unicorn looked to each of her friends and smiled before lighting up her horn. She quickly glanced to her left and saw Sonic, ready to pounce on all fours. With a quick nod and smile, they were both ready to fight.
Mike took a fearful step back and landed on his behind, eyeing the massive android in fear. He was then suddenly grasped by the top of his head by Sulley, who lifted him to his face and said, "Mike, time to reach down and let the scary out."
Smiling, Mike slapped his face a few times as his friend set him down. "Oh, I'm ready, Sulley. I'm ready!"
Together they all stood against The Spider as it loomed closer, its visor lighting up menacingly.
The Spider suddenly fired a laser directly downward from its visor. Thinking quickly, Iron Man aimed his Proton Cannon and fired back, the two beams colliding in the middle, lighting up the whole room. Knowing that this was their chance to attack, the group split up into two teams.
Batman, Sulley, and Twilight moved to the left side of the room and began attacking two of its legs.
Mario, Sonic, and Mike went for the right side, ready to inflict some damage.
Wasting no time, Twilight lit up her horn and fired several magical blasts while Batman flew around the android's legs, slashing at its armor to try and break through it. Meanwhile Sulley rushed forward and shoulder charged The Spider's left foreleg, but its armor was too strong and prevented any harm towards the mech.
The other team wasn't having much luck either. Try as they might they just couldn't inflict any damage to the android's exterior. Mario's fists lit up as he delivered blow after blow at the mech's legs, but its armor plating was too strong and absorbed any damage that came to it.
Mike, punched and kicked the mech, trying to help out in anyway he could.
Seeing how this was getting them nowhere, Sonic tried for a different approach. He looked to Iron Man and said, "Keep it up Tony! I've got an idea!" With that, the werehog leapt into the air and stretched out his right arm to the ceiling and grabbed hold of a vantage point. He then swung around the mech until he came around face to face with The Spider's visor.
Sonic then kicked the mech's visor, his metal spikes on the bottom of his soles adding to the attack. This caused the android to stagger, the laser it was firing flickered out giving Iron Man the chance to do some serious damage. He added more power to his Proton Blast, hitting The Spider square in the visor, sending it flying back into the wall.
As the group of heroes regrouped, The Spider gathered its bearings and turned away from them. It then began climbing the wall behind it, getting a better vantage point for its next attack. The android then jumped off of the wall and landed on the ground, the impact sent forth red shockwaves from each of its legs.
Twilight, Mike, Sulley, and Sonic were hit by the shockwaves, which sent them sprawling onto their backs. Mario jumped over the shockwaves while Batman and Iron Man took to the air, avoiding the devastating attack.
The werehog rubbed the back of his head as he groaned in displeasure. "This thing just won't quit! We can't even break through its armor!" He stood back up, as did the others, and continued, "We're gonna need some serious fire power to break through this thing!"
Suddenly an idea popped into Twilight Sparkle's head, enticing her to turn around. She saw the lift behind them, and more importantly, the seemingly endless abyss below it. A smirk graced her face as she said, "Maybe we don't!" Twilight quickly galloped over to the lift and used her magic to pull down on the switch. When the elevator began to ascend upwards, she lit up her horn and teleported back down with the others. "Guys!" She shouted, gaining everyone's attention. She pointed to the ledge behind them with her hoof and said, "We need to get it to that ledge!"
Understanding her plan, Sonic and Mario smirked while everyone else nodded.
"Alright! Let's do it!" Sonic shouted as he dashed forward on all fours, with Mario running right beside him.
The werehog stopped in front of the android and stretched out his arms, circling The Spider's legs. Once both of his arms met behind the mech, he interlocked hands and pulled his arms inward, closing in on the android's legs, making it stumble. Knowing his cue, Mario leapt into the air and punched the back of The Spider, sending it tumbling forward until it began to fall off of the platform.
They were about to celebrate, but stopped when The Spider used its front legs to catch itself, hanging onto the edge of the platform. It tried to climb back up to continue the fight.
"Go for the legs!" Twilight shouted.
Already on it, Iron Man and Sulley made a dash for the left leg. The Armored Avenger charged up his Unibeam while Sulley got a firm grip on the android's leg and began lifting. "Ugh! Hurry!" Sulley strained, losing his grip on the mech's leg.
Meanwhile Sonic and Mario were on the right leg. "Alright, when I say when, you move out of the way." Explained Mario, to which the werehog nodded in understanding. As Sonic began lifting the leg, Mario clenched his fists as they were engulfed in a fiery aura.
"NOW!"
"WHEN!"
When both Iron Man and Mario shouted, Sulley and Sonic quickly moved away as the two heroes prepared their finishing blows. Tony fired a massive Unibeam blast that dislodged the leg from the platform while Mario dashed forward and punched the right leg, dislodging it.
With nothing to latch on to, The Spider plummeted into the dark abyss below, its silhouette shrouded in the darkness.
Once the mech was gone, Twilight lifted herself up onto her hindlegs in celebration while Mario and Sonic shared a fist bump, cheering at their victory. Iron Man walked over to the unicorn and said, "That was really quick thinking out there, Twi." He smiled under his helmet as he continued, "Y'know you've got a real knack for being a leader. It suits you."
As the unicorn blushed at the compliment, Randall slithered over to the ledge and looked over into the darkness below with frantic eyes. He whimpered before gritting his teeth in anger, how could this happen? How could it all have gone so wrong?
"Whyyy?!" He screamed upwards, letting loose his frustrations.
Randall began muttering to himself as Mike looked over to the left to see a door that had been restored from wooden chips. It looked to be melded together by some yellow light, the light pulsating with power. Mike then waved for Sulley's attention and quickly performed a series of charades and gestures to get his point across without speaking. The gestures were in a specific order. Door. Randall. Pointing. Strangle? Not getting it, Sulley shrugged, he simply didn't understand. Mike sighed in frustration before making a quiet roar.
Now that was something Sulley understood.
After giving Mike a double thumbs up, he silently rushed forward to sneak behind the oblivious monster. As Randall turned around to declare his vengeance, he was met with a face full of Sulley as he roared directly into his face.
He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it.
Randall had lost to these losers again. To say that it was humiliating for him would be a sugarcoating it, he felt vile for having lost to the likes of Sulley and Mike once again. Right now the monster was surrounded on the platform where the heroes had fought Zavok, with Randall standing in front of his door once more. He looked around and growled at the expressions on everyone's faces.
The likes of Mike, Sonic, Iron Man (under his mask), Mario, and Sulley had smug looks on their faces.
Twilight glared at the monster, feeling a great distaste for the villain at his methods of collecting power. Using children's fears as a power source? The likes of King Sombra would just love that.
Batman kept his usual demeanor, nothing new there.
Feeling especially smug, Mike walked over to the door and turned the knob, opening it. "All right, and in ya go."
Boo performed her own quiet roar as Boggs growled in frustration. "There's no place for you here anymore, Randall. Now we're in the business of making children laugh." Said Sulley as he looked down to the child in his arms, who giggled cutely.
This irritated Randall to no end. "You think it's funny?" He yelled.
"Hilarious! The more that you whine, the funnier it gets." Mike said, twisting the knife further.
Boggs growled like he was about to retort, before slumping forward, accepting defeat. He shoved past Mike and made his way towards the door.
"Enjoy your extended vacation." Said Sulley with a smile.
Randall seethed as he vowed, "You clowns are gonna be sorry when I find my way back and I finally take over this place!"
Mike was about to close the door when Randall stepped through, but he then overheard something.
"Mama, that gator's in the house again!"
"Are you kidding?! Oh, this time, he's in for it. C'mere!"
The green monster grinned madly as he overheard Randall getting beat up by two trailer park folk. It was something that he would never forget in his life.
"Get back here!"
Randall let out one final scream before Mike slammed the door, dusting his hands off as he walked away from the door. He looked up and smirked at Sulley, who was walking towards the door leaning on the railing.
"And now we just need to do one last thing."
He then bent over to grab the underside of the door with one hand before flipping it over the railing. He looked over to see the door fall into the abyss, never to be seen again. The blue monster turned around to face his new friends. He nodded with a smile, showing that it was over.
Mario smirked as he chuckled, "And that takes care of that."
Letting out a sudden gasp, Mike pointed behind the plumber and shouted, "Look! It's Boo's door!"
Turning around, it was there clear as day, slowly passing by the platform that they stood upon. Mike and Sulley jumped for the door, hanging onto it as Sonic grabbed Twilight and lifted her up onto the railing. Iron Man and Batman hovered next to the door while Mario leapt onto the railing beside Twilight.
Sulley looked to Boo and said, "Okay, Boo. Time to go home. You must be tuckered out, but we'll play together real soon." He was about to open the door, but the railway buckled as the doors began moving again. Twilight let out a startled cry before she was scooped up by Sonic.
The werehog latched onto the door behind Sulley and Mike and followed on, with Mario grabbing the other side of the door.
"WHAT NOW?!" Mike shouted as they all left the Door Vault.
Wasting no time, Batman and Iron Man followed the doors, already having the feeling that something was going to go wrong.
Twilight looked around in awe, they were now back on the Laugh Floor. She let out a gasp as the clamps shut around the bottom of the door and lowered them to the ground. Once they were safely on the ground, she jumped out of Sonic's grasp and made her way to Sulley, Boo, and Mike.
Batman and Iron Man landed on the ground, with the armored hero asking, "Okay, what the hell are we doing back here?"
Turning around, Mike replied, "That's what I'd like to know!"
"I see you got my invitation."
That voice! They all turned around to see Deathstroke slowly approaching them, unsheathing the sword from his back.
"I have to be honest, I expected Batman to survive that encounter. But I can't say the same about the rest of you. I hate to admit it, but you surprised me" Slade set his sights onto Twilight, "Especially you. Seems there's more to you than meets the eye."
Batman was in no mood for this. "Enough games, Slade! Why are you here?"
He smirked under his helmet, "Simple. For this!" Suddenly a Soulless One appeared in a cloud of red mist, holding what appeared to be a Laugh Canister, except it was all rusted and worn out. The android held the canister as it stood next to Deathstroke. "Before I arrived here I did some reconnaissance on this place, I wanted to know what I was getting into. Come to find that this whole world was powered by the screams of small children, and this company was what made it all happen. Gotta be honest, even I find that kind of sick."
Mike stamped his foot angrily and said, "For the last time, we already stopped doing that!"
"Then how do you explain this?" Deathstroke retorted. "If you were truly done with using Scream Power, then you would've gotten rid of the very thing contradicting that." He looked at the canister before revealing, "The very first Scream Canister used in Monster's, Incorporated."
Batman narrowed his eyes, "That's what you were looking for this whole time."
"They tried hiding it deep from prying eyes, but I knew I'd find it. All I needed to do was get in here, and wouldn't you know it, the perfect opportunity arose through the form of a whiny loser who just wanted to be in charge."
"You mean Randall." Mike said with a glare.
"All Randall ever cared about was winning." Said Sulley to Mike. "And this guy took advantage of that weakness."
But Batman wasn't done questioning him yet. "Why go to all this trouble, Slade? All of this for a Scare Canister?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
"Let's just say that this canister holds the key to a great power, and leave it at that." Deathstroke said cryptically.
"But why take the job at all? This isn't your usual M.O.." Asked Batman.
Deathstroke shrugged, "The pay's green. And as a bonus..." He then turned quickly and sliced off the head of the Soulless One with his sword, destroying it. "...I get to kill Batman."
Sonic growled as he said, "Like we're gonna let that happen."
"And who's gonna stop me? You?" Slade laughed as he pointed the tip of his blade at the Dark Knight. "You don't even know what's really going on. You've been going on a wild goose chase while my forces have been searching for my real objective."
"Yeah, and the whole time they were trashing our company in the process!" Sulley held Mike back from rushing at Deathstroke, but Mike struggled against the grip on his head.
Slade shrugged carelessly, "Casualties of war."
"But that doesn't explain why you're still here." Said Iron Man. "You got what you wanted, why hang around for?"
"Simple." Deathstroke narrowed his eye at Batman. "I have a score to settle."
Without warning nor hesitation, Slade quickly pulled out a submachine gun and opened fire upon the Batman. As the bullets flew through the air, the Dark Knight briskly covered himself with his wings, the small projectiles bouncing off of his wings.
Letting loose a howl, Sonic, alongside Mario, rushed forward towards the World's Deadliest Assassin.
Slade arched an eyebrow before tossing his gun aside and allowing the two heroes to attack him. When Sonic pounced, Deathstroke ducked under him and delivered a nasty gut punch to the werehog. Sonic let out a painful grunt as he rolled across the floor.
But Deathstroke wasn't done yet as he flipped over Mario, who was charging at him from behind. When he landed behind the confused plumber, he gave the side of Mario's head a nasty bump with a roundhouse kick. This sent the monstrous plumber flying into a collection of Laugh Canisters, knocking them all over as he landed.
The assassin turned around, smirking under his helmet, at the flabbergasted looks on Twilight's, Mike's, and Sulley's faces. He had just taken out two of their heavy hitters without even trying. To taunt them further, he waved for them to come over with his fingers.
"Twi! Hit him with a magic blast while I distract him!" Ordered Iron Man before he took flight, charging right for Deathstroke.
Anticipating this move, Slade reached behind him and threw forward four electric mines. Once they landed on the floor, they all shot up a wall of electricity right in front of Iron Man. Once he went through the wall, his armor went offline and he crashed on the ground, stopping right in front of Deathstroke's feet.
He was about to comment but was halted by a magic blast that struck his chest.
But to Twilight's shock it bounced right off of him.
"Wh-what just happened?" Twilight stuttered out, completely flabbergasted at what just occurred.
In response Slade tapped his chest with his fingers, creating a clanking sound. "Magic resistance. You don't get into this line of work without taking precautions." He informed the unicorn before throwing down a smoke bomb, disappearing from their line of sight.
Before anyone could react, he reappeared behind them in a puff of smoke. He ducked down and swiped Sulley's legs, taking the behemoth down with ease, before standing upright and punching Mike square in the eye, sending the ball shaped monster bouncing back.
Twilight lit up her horn, but let out a pained cry when Slade grasped his firmly with his hand, the light dimming out. He added more pressure, threatening to snap it clean off. Tears welled in Twilight's eyes as she felt the pressure tighten around her horn.
But before he could snap it off, Deathstroke was tackled from the left by Batman, causing him to release Twilight.
The unicorn fell to the floor, rubbing her aching horn with her hoof, before looking upwards to see Batman and Deathstroke going at it. Her friend had a firm grip on the assassin as they flew around the Laugh Floor, but that didn't mean Slade wasn't struggling.
The villain punched Batman in the jaw multiple times before his adversary caught his fist with his hand. The literal bat took them down to the ground and smashed Deathstroke onto the ground, the impact sending them both tumbling across the floor.
Batman slowly got to his feet and looked around.
Twilight was still nursing her horn.
Iron Man's armor was down.
Mario was out cold.
Sonic was winded and couldn't move.
And Mike and Sulley didn't have the experience to take on Slade.
It was just him and Deathstroke.
The assassin got to his feet, having a firm grasp on the hilt of his blade. "Finally. It's just you and me!" He then charged forward yelling, "COME ON!!!"
The two combatants charged at one another before meeting in the middle. Slade brought his blade down upon Batman's head, but his attack was blocked by the Batman's now organic arm guards. He swung again but was blocked. He continued to swing his blade to try and land a hit on his enemy, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't land a hit on him.
So he went for a different attack. He jumped and spun in the air before bringing his blade down, only to be blocked once again by Batman. It grazed against his arm guards, creating a spark as he deflected it downward so he could get in close and elbow Slade in the face.
While he was momentarily stunned, he grabbed the back of his head but was pushed away by Deathstroke. The assassin went for a leg sweep but Batman jumped over it and kicked him in the face, sending him stumbling back. The two met once more as Batman ducked under Slade's blade and punched his rib.
He jumped back as Slade spun around and slashed, trying to cut his chest.
The mercenary rushed forward and brought his sword down once again, but this time when Batman caught it in his arm guards, he split apart the blade itself and kicked his adversary back. Quickly tossing his broken sword aside, Deathstroke unholstered his pistol and opened fire.
Batman ducked down as he moved ahead of the bullets before finding cover behind a work bench.
As Deathstroke reloaded his gun, Batman took this chance to leap out of his hiding place to tackle his foe to the ground. As they both rolled across the floor, Deathstroke elbowed the Caped Crusader in the chin before kicking him off of him. He jumped to his feet and threw three ninja stars.
Batman ran forward and slid underneath the projectiles, getting up just in time as Slade tried hitting him with a roundhouse kick. Luckily he grabbed Slade's leg and threw him into the side of a nearby work bench. Slowly recovering, Deathstroke cracked his neck as he began to move slowly around Batman, keeping his one good eye on him.
"You cowardly bastard." Deathstroke said slowly. "You caught me off-guard."
"You shouldn't've dropped it." Retorted Batman.
As the two evenly matched combatants circled one another, Batman noticed Sulley, Boo, and Mike sneaking behind the workbenches. Sulley and the Dark Knight made eye contact, with the former nodding to the latter. He just had to keep him distracted.
"You associate yourself with these lesser warriors?" Deathstroke asked, gesturing to his fallen allies. "They're not even worth the time of day."
"There's more to them than you think, Slade."
"So far that point has been disproven."
"Just a little longer." Sulley thought to himself as he slowly approached the mercenary from behind.
"I don't know why everyone else had so much trouble. He should've hired me from the start, that way this job would be done by now." Deathstroke said cryptically.
However Batman arched an eyebrow, "He?"
Sulley's form began looming over Deathstroke, his eyes frowning and his teeth clenched.
Slade shook his head, "Doesn't matter. You should feel honored, Batman. When a man earns my respect that means I do not rest, I devote all my energy, everything I have, to killing him!"
"Made you look!"
"What?!" Slade exclaimed as he turned around to face the monster behind him.
Sulley roared ferociously and Boo covered her eyes, while Mike covered her ears. Taking the opportunity while he was stunned, Sulley grabbed Slade by the shoulders and lifted him into the air.
"Let me go!" Slade ordered as he struggled against Sulley's firm grip. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"
It was then that Sulley smirked, "I'm the guy who runs Monster's, Inc.!" He tightened his grip, causing Slade to drop the War Keystone from his grasp. He turned around as another set of doors were brought into the room, courtesy or Mike, who had pressed the button to bring them in.
"Over here, Sulley!" Exclaimed Mike as the doors clamped and descended to the floor.
Sulley then ran over and threw Deathstroke inside the door. "Close it! Quick!"
Mike slammed the door and Sulley grabs it as Mike ran to the next terminal, opening a second door. Sulley tossed the door inside the second door, and the process repeated with a third, and then a fourth door. Finally, Sulley unclamped the fourth door and took it to the shredder at the end of the room. The fourth door was then shredded into sawdust.
Upon their success, Sulley and Mike high-fived while Boo danced, giggling up a storm.
Meanwhile Mario was getting back up onto his feet, glancing at Iron Man, who's armor regained its power. "Anyone get the number of that bus?"
"What's a bus?" Twilight asked, groaning at the raging horn ache she had developed.
"We'll tell you later." Iron Man said dismissively before turning to Batman. "Where's Deathstroke?"
He glanced to the monsters and nodded approvingly. "He's been dealt with."
Sonic, who had finally recovered, walked over to the group while glancing at the Scare Canister. "What I want to know is why that guy went to all this trouble over a Scare Canister?"
Tony shrugged, "No clue. All that matters is that he doesn't have it."
As if tempting the universe, another portal opened up right behind the Scream Canister. To everyone's dread it began dragging it in.
"NO!" Twilight exclaimed as she made a bolt for the retreating canister.
"Twilight wait!" Batman warned, but she paid him no mind.
As the canister was dragged into the portal, Twilight didn't slow down, she was going to get it and find out what was going on. But her drive was quickly diminished as a silhouette appeared inside the portal.
Twilight stared wide eyed.
Exiled stared back.
He raised his hand and positioned his body to the left before firing five yellow lasers from his yellow nails. The lasers moved from Foundation Prime, through the portal, and impacted Twilight's chest, sending her flying through the air.
"TWILIGHT!!!" Everyone shouted as they rushed over to check and see if she was okay.
The portal closed, but not before Talos' deep chuckle echoed throughout the Laugh Floor.
The little unicorn groaned softly as her eyes began to open, her chest felt like it was on fire. "G-Guys?"
"Oh, thank Chaos you're alright." Sonic sighed in relief.
"You took quite a hit there, kid." Tony stated.
"Are you alright?" Mario asked.
Twilight nodded, "I'll be fine."
"Who was that?" Batman asked.
She looked over to see Boo's Door, then to the War Keystone lying on the floor. Twilight struggled, but eventually got to her hoofs and walked over to the final Keystone. "We'll find out soon enough." She said as she grabbed the Keystone with her hoof. She then tossed it to Batman, who caught it flawlessly.
"Well we're just glad you're all right." Said Sulley with a smile.
"You said it!" Agreed Mike.
Batman then turned to Sulley and said, "Thank you."
But the monster shook his head, "No, we should be thanking you. We never woulda managed to get Boo this far if you hadn't come along to help."
"And finally, we found her door." Said Mike as he gestured to said door.
Twilight trotted over and leaned down to Boo's level. "Boo, I know how excited you were to come play with Mike and Sulley. Sorry we dragged you into this."
Boo then proceeded to boop the snoot.
Twilight's eyes went crossed for a moment before she let out a cute sneeze. Boo giggled before she tackled her chest, hugging the unicorn. Twilight wrapped her foreleg around the girl before releasing her.
"Okay, Boo. Time to go." Sulley said softly.
"Kitty!"
"We'll catch up soon, kid." Mike said with a sad smile.
"Mike Wazowski." Sha exclaimed, rushing over and giving her friend a big ole' hug.
Mike smiled, "I'll see ya, kid."
Sometime after Boo's departure from Monster's, Incorporated
The group, minus one adorable little girl, eventually made their way back to the lobby. Twilight had a smile on her face, this turned out to be quite the productive night. They got the final Keystone, made some new friends, strengthened already existing friendships, and they got Boo home.
Twilight allowed herself to feel proud, but not too prideful, she wasn't Trixie.
The two groups stood before one another, just like how they met a few hours prior.
Sonic rubbed the back of his head bashfully, "Sorry for all the headaches we caused."
"Don't mention it. And actually, it was kinda nice havin' a little adventure for old times' sake." Sulley reassured the werehog with a smile.
"Yeah, the flying and the falling--and hey, let's not do that paint thing again," He deadpanned to Sulley before continuing, "--but nothin' like running for our lives to get the heart pumping!"
"Any chance that we can drop by again?" Mario asked.
Mike smiled, "The door's always open."
"And maybe Boo can join us!" Sulley said with a smile before reaching his hand out to Batman, who instantly accepted the handshake. These two helped save their lives tonight, they were good in his book.
But now it was time to depart.
"Take care of yourselves!" Iron Man said as he gave them a two fingered salute.
With that they began to make their way to the entrance.
"For the record, I still get the most laughs!" Mike said, not being able to help pointing that out, specifically to Mario, who managed to get Boo to laugh when he couldn't.
"Happy exterminating!" Sulley yelled as he waved his new friends goodbye.
Upon hearing that, Twilight and the others simply smirked knowingly at one another before leaving the building. Once they were out the door, they saw a portal waiting for them. Twilight looked to Batman, who still had the War Keystone in his possession.
She then looked at the portal, while her heart remained conflicted with her feelings towards the girls and Celestia, Luna and Spike did nothing wrong. Even though she was sore with the majority of them, she would still save them, otherwise Equestria would be doomed.
She would save the girls and Celestia for Equestria.
She would save Luna and Spike for herself.
No matter how she felt she wouldn't abandon them.
With that thought in mind, she looked to the others for a brief moment before jumping into the Rift, the others following her. Once they were all in, the portal closed, leaving this dimension and Monster's, Incorporated in peace.