//------------------------------// // 36. Jasper, Nevada (Part 4) // Story: Through The Multiverse // by Battwell //------------------------------// Earth 1984 Jasper, Nevada The Groundbridge swirled to life inside the secret Autobot base as four large silhouettes and five much smaller ones were seen running through the green gateway. Optimus and Twilight led both teams through the Groundbridge, slowing down when they recognized their surroundings. "We made it!" Twilight shouted happily. "So it would seem." Optimus added, his mask retracting as he walked forward towards Ratchet. "The mission was a success, old friend." Ratchet took note of this and looked down to see Batman safe and sound, surprisingly considering where he was not a few moments ago. "All is well, I assume?" He asked the small unicorn striding up to stand next to Optimus. She nodded and said, "We managed to save Batman just in the nick of time." She didn't notice Batman looking at her questioningly, probably due to the fact that he had managed to escape by himself. The others just showed up and gave him a way off of the ship. "The Decepticons underestimated our new ally." Optimus said to the medic. "He was able to free himself from Megatron's clutches with ease." "Impressive." Ratchet complimented the Dark Knight. "Although Megatron doesn't like it when things don't go his way." "Which is why it is imperative that they leave this dimension with the Energon cube before Megatron has the opportunity to strike once more." Optimus explained with a grim and determined look on his face. "Don't forget we still have a unicorn and a mad scientist to deal with." Sonic reminded them helpfully. Agreeing with the hedgehog, Arcee turned to Ratchet and asked, "Any luck in finding them?" "Unfortunately no." Ratchet replied before turning around to face the monitors before him. "There hasn't been any more attacks upon the military, and Agent Fowler hasn't reported in about any further developments." When he heard this, Mario turned to Batman, "You've dealt with this Freeze guy before." When Batman nodded, he continued to ask, "Any idea on how to find him?" He folded his arms in deep thought, "Freeze needs to remain at absolute zero temperature to stay alive, hence why he needs the suit." He looked up at Ratchet and said, "See if you can scan for any plummets in the temperature, specifically any areas at absolute zero." The Autobot medic nodded before running a scan of the wider area around their base and the town of Jasper. Since the area surrounding them is desert, the temperature is bound to be hot rather than cold. If there were any patches of land that had the temperature plummet to that degree, Freeze and Sombra were bound to be there. The Autobots walked up and surrounded Ratchet as he continued to scan for any weather anomalies. "Anything?" Bulkhead asked the medic, hoping that he might have found something. But alas, he hadn't picked up anything yet, much to the Wrecker's displeasure. While they waited, the other Guardians turned to face Batman, who had a stoic expression on his face. "So what did the Decepticons want from you anyway?" Iron Man asked, curious to what their intentions were. Batman answered, "They wanted me to show them how we travel between worlds." "That would be bad." Sonic commented, shivering at the thought. They had enough problems already. Mario then thought back to what Batman said earlier on the ship, "Wait you told Megatron that you could've escaped anytime you wanted. Why didn't you?" "I wanted to know what they were planning." Batman revealed. "I wanted to know why I was so important for them to kidnap me in the first place. Safe to say that I got the information I needed." He then looked down in thought, thinking about something, "So you were able to determine what the Foundation Element was?" He asked the group. Twilight smiled and pointed to Tony, "Actually it was Tony who managed to figure it out." "With help from Ratchet of course." Sonic added with a smirk. Tony shrugged, "Meh, it's no big deal." He said in a tone that implied that it indeed was a big deal. "AH-HA!" Exclaimed Ratchet, getting the Guardians' attention as they turned around and looked up at the monitors. "There appears to be a significantly large patch of territory that is covered in absolute zero." He pressed a button on the monitor to zoom in and enhance the image. "It appears to be another military base." "One that they have seized for their own purposes." Optimus added grimly. Twilight was about to comment but was silenced by the blaring of an alarm throughout the base. "What's happening?" She asked, looking around the base and seeing red lights blinking in and out. "An anomaly." Ratchet answered. "One similar to when Unicron was awakening." "You mean when the weather was on the fritz?" Bulkhead asked, reminding him of what happened when Unicorn was waking up. "Precisely that." Said Ratchet. "Only this weather anomaly isn't being caused by the awakening of the Chaos Bringer. It’s rather small at the moment." He then turned to everyone with a grim expression on his face, "But it could get worse over time." Suddenly the monitors on the walls began to glitch and become distorted, their green coloring turning into a dark shade of blue as Mr. Freeze's face appeared on the screens. "The Autobots, I presume?" He then took notice of Batman and scowled, "And the Dark Knight and his new accomplices. What a rather interesting development." "Freeze." Batman growled. "How did you access our communications?" Optimus demanded to know. "Feh! Your pitiful communications were easy to access." He then smirked cruelly. "Especially since we have a friend of yours in our possession." He revealed as he moved out of the way, showing off Agent Fowler encased in ice. Standing next to the frozen human was King Sombra, who was showing off his fangs for all to see. "Agent Fowler." Bulkhead whispered, worried about the man's safety. "He's alive." Sombra reassured them before grinning, his eyes glowing with Dark Magic. "For now at least." Batman took a step forward, glaring at the monitor as he asked, "What do you want, Victor?" Freeze reappeared on screen and demanded, "The Foundation Element! A cube of Energon, here and in our possession within the hour otherwise Agent Fowler and the town of Jasper will suffer the consequences of your negligence." "What do you mean?" Twilight asked with narrow eyes. "You may have noticed that we have been raiding military bases for special equipment." "How could we not?" Bulkhead asked rhetorically. "Tell me, Dark Knight." Freeze started, directing his question to Batman. "What do you see here?" The screen shifted and showed a massive device spinning around, with laser cannons on the base, and a blue energy beam shooting up into the sky from the core of the device. Batman sharpened his gaze as he said, "You've built a Storm Engine." "Correct." Freeze confirmed before making his demands. "I assume you already have our location, so I won't waste any time. If you do not bring us a cube of Energon within the hour, then not only will Agent Fowler die, but my Storm Engine will release a pulse that will blanket everything in ice within a ten mile radius." "Including Jasper." Ratchet whispered in a horrified tone. "By the AllSpark." "Miko." Bulkhead whispered. "Jack." Arcee muttered in a tone, worried for his safety. Bumblebee let out a few beeps, clearly worried about Raf. Batman looked up at the monitor and glared a Freeze before trying to appeal to his better nature. "Victor, listen to me. If you set off that Storm Engine thousands of people will die." Freeze narrowed his eyes, "I care not for the lives of others." "But Nora does." Batman refuted the ice cold man. "Think about it, do you think she would want any of this? All of these lives lost because you want to save her? How do you think she would feel if she found out you killed all these people just to bring her back?" "Don't presume to know what my wife would think, Batman!" "You know I'm right, Victor!" Batman shouted back, trying to get through to him. "She would be afraid and disgusted!" "SHE WOULD BE ALIVE!" Freeze shouted, having grown tired of this debate. "I grow tired of this constant back and forth. You have one hour. Get to work." With that, the communication cut off. Batman scowled at the monitor, as did Optimus Prime. The Autobot clenched his fists tightly before turning around to face the Groundbridge. "Bumblebee, retrieve a cube of Energon." When the scout nodded, Optimus turned to the medic, "Ratchet. Open a Groundbridge to those coordinates immediately." As Prime stepped over him, Sonic turned to Twilight and asked, "We're not actually gonna give them the Energon, are we?" "No. Not if we can help it." She answered the hedgehog's query. "But if we can't stop that Storm Engine, we might have to." Batman said to the both of them. As Bumblebee returned, Optimus addressed the group before, "Autobots and Guardians, we cannot allow that Storm Engine to release its pulse. If we fail to disarm the device, then we must hand over the Energon cube. But only as a last resort. I will not endanger innocent human lives. But if we are to succeed, we must destroy that device at any cost." "Couldn't have said it better myself." Iron Man spoke up, complimenting the Autobot. "He has a real knack for heroic speeches, doesn't he?" Mario commented to Bulkhead, who simply nodded in agreement. As the Groundbridge opened behind him, Optimus's facemask came together before he turned to face the portal. "Autobots, Guardians of the Multiverse! Transform and roll out!" The first thing Twilight felt when she landed out of the Groundbridge was, obviously, the cold. She shivered, her whole body shook, she hadn't felt this cold since first arriving in the Crystal Empire. She quickly lit up her horn cast a spell on herself and the other Guardians to keep them warm so that they didn't suffer from hyperthermia. When she heard the sound of a loud thud behind her, she knew that the Autobots had arrived as well, meaning that the Groundbridge had more than likely closed by now. Twilight looked around her surroundings and saw many ice spikes that had emerged from the ground, and many dark crystals, courtesy of King Sombra. But up ahead was where her focus was at as she saw that one of the hangar bays had been transformed into an iceberg, with dark crystals protruding from the sides of it, with a beam of blue light shooting up into the sky. That was most likely where the Storm Engine was located. Twilight then heard Bumblebee make a few beeps, causing her to turn to face the Autobots. Arcee then responded, "I don't know if there are any human soldiers left." The scout had obviously asked if there were any soldiers left in the base. His question was then answered when they looked ahead to see many US soldiers encased in ice, frozen solid, dead. Optimus clenched his fists in anger, "This aggression will not go unanswered. The deaths of these individuals will not be in vain." He then began to walk forward, making his way to the iceberg to stop the Storm Engine. "Bumblebee, do not let that Energon Cube out of your sight." He ordered, not wanting to lose their last resort if they fail to destroy the Storm Engine in time. Twilight and the other Guardians pressed forward, following the last of the Primes, but the unicorn looked at the corpses and her ears fell flat against her head. She had never experienced death before, let alone this much. Murder was practically unheard of back home. "Are you alright?" She was brought back to reality by the sound of Batman's voice. She turned and saw that he was walking beside her, looking at her with a look of concern. She nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm just not used to..." She gestured to the corpses around her, "...All of this." Batman nodded before declaring, "Don't worry, Sombra and Freeze won't get away with this." The two of them then continued walking alongside the other heroes, determined to stop this chaos before it goes any further. But all of them were so focused on destroying the Storm Engine that they were completely unaware that a certain Decepticon warlord was watching them from a nearby cliff. Megatron smiled, "Finally." He looked down at his fist and clenched it, "I knew that if I investigated this patch of winter that I would find you, Prime. Now I will take those dimensional interlopers and your Spark!" He declared before running forward and jumping off of the cliff, transforming into his jet mode and flying down towards the base. As the Decepticon flew down, the sound of his descent made its way to Optimus' audio receptors. His optics widened as he turned around sharply, seeing Megatron fly down towards them. "Look out!" He shouted, getting everyone's attention. The Decepticon opened fire upon the Autobots and the Guardians, causing them all to break away from one another. While Team Prime transformed and rolled out of the way of danger, Iron Man took to the sky and shot a missile at the flying Con. Megatron dodged the projectile by barrel rolling out of the way and flying over their heads. He turned around and transformed, landing in front of the group of heroes. He kicked up snow where he landed before standing up with a sick grin on his face. "Optimus! You never call, you never write!" He exclaimed before aiming his arm cannon at the Prime and opening fire. A purple orb soared through the air towards Optimus, enticing him to roll out of the way of the projectile. "Megatron!" Optimus growled as his hands transformed into blades. Sonic clenched his fists as he shouted, "You just don't know when to quit, do ya?" "You thought you could escape me so easily?!" The Decepticon pointed at the group, "You would be wise to learn that Megatron always gets what he wants! And let it be known that I will learn the secret of Multiversal travel!" "Like scrap you will, bucket head!" Bulkhead said, aiming his blaster at the Con. Twilight looked around frantically, stress entering her mind as time ran out. "We don't have time for this! We have to stop the Storm Engine!" "I agree," Optimus concurred, not taking his sights off of Megatron. "Twilight Sparkle, you and the other Guardians will have to stop the Storm Engine alone." "What about you?" Mario asked. "Megatron will not stop until the knowledge you possess is in his grasp." Optimus informed the plumber, knowing his arch enemy all too well. "We will buy you as much time as we can. But it is imperative that you destroy that Storm Engine, otherwise thousands of human lives will be lost." Twilight looked unsure but nodded anyway, believing that the Autobots knew what they were doing. "Okay, good luck!" She encouraged before turning to face her friends. "Tony, get me and Mario up there. Sonic, you dash up and meet us there. Batman, you grapple up as well. Don't touch any of the crystal lest you wish to experience your greatest fear." They all nodded, causing Twilight to smile. She was getting the hang of this leadership thing. "Let's go!" As the Guardians began their ascent up the iceberg, Megatron growled and aimed his cannon at the organic beings. "NO!" He shouted as he prepared to fire, only to be stopped by a blast from Bumblebee, causing him to stagger slightly. He set his sights back onto the Autobot before letting out a raspy chuckle. "It seems that in order to get to them, I must get through you." "You will not go anywhere near them, Megatron." Optimus Prime declared with narrowed eyes. The Decepticon let out a hearty laugh, finding this whole thing humorous. "And who's going to stop me? You? The Autobots couldn't defeat me on Cybertron, even you failed to stop me. What makes you think that this encounter will be any different?" "Because the cost is too great." Was Optimus' answer before he pointed his blade forward. Megatron unsheathed his blade. "One shall stand!" "And one shall fall. YOU, OPTIMUS PRIME!!!" Team Prime charged forward; Megatron rushed ahead. Optimus transformed his left hand into a laser blaster and opened fire, Megatron returned that fire. They continued to open fire until they met in the heart of the snow, Optimus swung his blade downward, Megatron blocked it with his own blade. He was about to counterattack but was suddenly rammed in the side by Bulkhead. As Megatron stumbled, Arcee rushed past Bulkhead and leapt into the air. She tried kicking the warlord in the face, but Megatron grabbed her leg and swung her into Bumblebee, knocking them both down. He smirked at the fallen bots, but it was soon wiped from his face as Optimus spear tackled him to the ground, causing them both to roll in the snow. Prime began laying into his former brother, punch after punch, delivered to his face, he was unrelenting. He was only stopped when Megatron punched him in the side and kicked him off of him, sending Optimus sprawling onto his back. Megatron jumped to his feet and began opening fire on Bulkhead, who was running around the Con to avoid the blasts. Megatron grunted as four blasts hit his back, ceasing his attacks. He turned around and received a punch in the face from Bumblebee, which was followed by a kick in the back of his knee by Arcee. The Decepticon fell to one knee as Bumblebee threw another punch, only for it to be caught by Megatron, who smirked before headbutting the scout. He unsheathed his blade and went to stab Arcee as Bee stumbled backward, but was stopped when Optimus rammed into his side in his vehicle mode. Prime transformed back into robot mode and gave a right hook to Megatron's jaw, then a gut punch with his left, followed by a kick to the chest, sending Megatron soaring through the air. The Decepticon transformed as he flew through the air, taking off into the sky and turning around. He opened fire upon Optimus, who was running directly toward him. The last of the Primes jumped into the air and latched onto Megatron's wings, the shift in weight sent them spiraling through the air before Megatron transformed once more, seizing Optimus by the throat as Optimus did the same. Prime kicked away from Megatron as they landed, both of them crashing into the snow, creating trenches where they landed. Megatron got to his feet. As did Optimus. "We were brothers once!" Megatron roared, his eyes turning purple as he channeled the Dark Energon in his veins. "Once." Optimus said coldly before charging forward to continue the fight. Their fists met, creating a shockwave that sent snow flying through the air. Meanwhile Batman retracted his grappler and gilded through the air, the snow storm more prominent at the peak of the iceberg than anywhere else in the base. He landed on the ice as Iron Man set down Mario and Twilight. A dash of blue was caught in his peripheral vision, which was Sonic struggling to maintain his footing on the ice. "Everyone accounted for?" Batman asked, to which he received nods of confirmation. "Good, now let's destroy this Storm Engine." The Guardians then approached the engine, which looked a lot bigger in person. Batman noticed a small platform at the top of the engine and wondered what it was for. He used his Detective Vision to see if there were any structural weaknesses in the engine, and he assumed Tony was doing the same. He saw something swirling in the core of the engine, that must've been where the pulse would originate. It was building up power and once it reached critical mass, it would release all of that pent up cold and spread it within a ten mile radius. "J.A.R.V.I.S.? Can you shut it down?" Iron Man asked his A.I. companion. "If you can get me into the mainframe I should be able to, though it might take some time to do so." Was the response he got. "Good enough for me." He then spoke to the group as a whole. "I'm gonna get J.A.R.V.I.S. into its mainframe so he can shut it down. Cover me." But before he could move, a dark crystal shot out of the ground, and a dark shadow shot forward and engulfed them. As their eyes glowed green, Sombra's chuckle could be heard echoing in their heads. Mario's fear Mario's eyes shot wide open, a pained gasp escaped his throat as he sat upright. His chest was heaving, he was gasping for air as black smoke filled his vision. He placed a hand over his chest as he got to his feet. "Hello?" He shouted out, wondering where everyone was. "Twilight? Bats? Tony? Sonic?" He received no response. "Where the heck is everyone? Matter of fact, where am I?" He felt something land at his feet. Curious, Mario looked down to see what it was, only to inhale sharply as he gazed upon the singed cap of his brother. It was scorched, tiny flames danced on the brim, smoke rising from the burnt cap. He bent over and picked it up, holding onto his brother's hat as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "Lui?" As the smoke began to part before him, het let out a horrified cry as the Mushroom Kingdom came into view. A sight that normally made him feel joy, left him horrified. Everything was on fire, Toads were in chains, airships covered the skies, and the castle crumpled to the ground in a burning heap. Mario took a step forward when he saw Peach, she was reaching out for him. He reached for her. She fell. Mario screamed. Iron Man's fear New York was in ruins. Avengers Tower was a shadow of its former self. Tony looked around at the world he created, smog filling the sky, skulls scattered in the streets. Cars were in ruins, buildings were falling apart. He looked around in horror as thousands of Ultron Sentries flew through the air, originating from a metallic moon like citadel that loomed over the planet. Ultron Sentries scoured the streets, exterminating any and all organic life they came across. Skulls were crushed under their heels as they marched, fulfilling the will of their master. And sitting before him were the burnt remains of his comrades. Captain America's shield was shattered into pieces and Mjölnir was broken into rubble. Tony took a step back, he never wanted this. He just wanted to save the world. "I had strings But now I'm free There are no strings on me." The sound of his voice shook him. Tony fell to his knees. Ultron rose up. Twilight's fear Laughter. That's all she could hear. Mocking laughter as various shadows appeared before her. Shadows of the colts that bullied her in school. Shadows of friends she never made. Shadows of her friends laughing at her. Twilight fell to her haunches and covered her face with her hooves as she began to shake violently. The taunting grew louder, and the voices became clearer. They were the voices of those she thought she could trust more than anypony. The voices of her friends. "Silly Twilight! How can anypony be friends with a party pooper like you!" "Stop." "You thought that Ah'd actually thought of you as part of mah family?! Hah! That's hilarious, sugarcube! Ya were nothin' more than a pony Ah had to tolerate!" "Please." "Um.. Twilight, I'm sorry that I misled you, but I don't actually really like you that much. I just had to get along with you because you're the Element of Magic. To be honest, you mean very little to me." "Don't you think I know that?!" "Darling please understand, it's not that we don't like you. It's that we were obligated to include you to ensure that the Elements worked as intended. Plus the opportunity to converse with royalty! Surely you understand?" "I understand more than ever!" "Why would I ever be friends with someone as uncool as you? You're nothing but an egghead, a loser who only got to where she was because she had a panic attack. And you think you're so great? Please, I'm 20% cooler than you'll ever be. Sorry, but that's just how it is." "Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutup!!!!" "You have a lot to think about." Twilight's screams echoed throughout the darkness. Sonic's vision Sonic didn't know where he was, it was full of moving sand, it was desolate and dead. There was nothing for miles, except for... a pyramid? With Twilight's Cutie Mark plastered on the front? Was that a bat symbol? An Arc Reactor? A golden ring? A mushroom? Where the heck was he? The cracking of thunder caused him to jump and look up into the sky. It was a purple color, with red lighting flashing every second. He felt a sense of dread, a feeling of emptiness. He gazed ahead and saw six silhouettes standing atop a hill of sand. A large alicorn with eyes of darkness, filled with nothing but hate. An armored man dressed as a bat, with red eyes and a lightning bolt in the middle of his symbol. A short man with pitch black eyes, ghostly white skin, wearing red overalls. A hedgehog with rather large quills that jutted upwards, wearing a cloak on his waist, with red eyes that pierced his soul. A man of iron wearing black and gold armor with red highlights. An amber unicorn wearing black armor with a sun Cutie Mark on her flank. And hovering before them all was a silver amulet with wing tips, the head of a unicorn with red eyes, and a red jewel in the center of it. The Alicorn Amulet was surrounded by purple and red fire that appeared to have a glitchy effect to it. And up in the sky was a massive silhouette with eight eyes staring down at the hedgehog. This truly was The End, and Sonic knew terror. Back in reality "Yesss." Sombra relished in the fear that was taking a hold of his enemies. "Do you feel it? The crushing weight of your failure? Knowing that you cannot combat your greatest fears? Face it, victory is assured!" He was suddenly cut off from his rant by a Batarang that zoomed past him. He watched as the projectile lodged itself into the crystal behind him. Once it exploded, Sombra snarled, "What is the meaning of this?!" He turned around to face whoever dared defy him, only to find Batman standing there, his eyes no longer glowing. "I'm not afraid, Sombra." The Dark King took a step back in shock. "Impossible!" "I learnt to face my fears a long time ago." Batman revealed as the effects of the Dark Magic began to ware off, getting everybody back to their senses. He glanced at his allies and asked, "Everyone alright?" They all looked unnerved, especially Twilight and Sonic, but they shook it off... somewhat. "Just peachy." Iron Man grunted as he glared at Sombra. "Itchin' for some payback." Mario said as he smacked his fists together. "I told you that it wouldn't work." The voice of Mr. Freeze shouted as he appeared on the platform on the Storm Engine. "The Dark Knight has long since mastered the means to overcome any form of fear induced hallucinations. It was a fool's errand." "It's over, Freeze!" Batman declared, taking a step forward as he glared up at his enemy. "We have you surrounded." "Irrelevant." Freeze dismissed as he used his jetpack to slowly descend to the ground. "Where is the Foundation Element?" "Around." Sonic answered cryptically, taking his mind off of what he just saw. Twilight was in much the same boat as he was. "Please, there's still time to stop this!" She pleaded with the villain. "Shut down the Storm Engine! Spare these innocent lives, I'm begging you, please!" Instead of faltering in his resolve, Freeze's resolve grew stronger, "If you will not hand over the element willingly." "Then we will pry it from you cold, dead corpses!" Sombra finished as his eyes glowed green, barring his fangs for his foes to see. Sombra turned to shadow and grew larger as his shadow form surrounded the iceberg. The Guardians looked at the shadow tornado that surrounded them and saw large green eyes pierce through the darkness. Multiple dark crystals shot up from the ground, causing everyone to scatter. Mr. Freeze took this chance to fly into the air, dropping Freeze Mines as he flew through the air. Clusters of ice spikes erupted from where the mines impacted, causing the ice to spread to where Sonic and Mario were standing. The plumber jumped into the air and tried kicking Freeze out of the air, only to be swatted away when he was struck by Mr. Freeze's gun. Sonic spin dashed away towards Twilight, who was galloping left and right, avoiding multiple dark crystals that were emerging right at her hooves. Sonic uncurled and stood next to his friend as Sombra suddenly appeared with a grin on his face. He fired a blast from his horn, which was swatted away by Twilight, who swerved her head to the right as her horn lit up with magic, sending the beam moving away from the two. Sonic dashed forward as Sombra turned to shadow, evading the azure hedgehog. As Sonic uncurled several more crystals shot up, attempting to puncture his feet. He saved himself by curling into a ball and bouncing into the air, uncurling as Iron Man flew past him, firing multiple missiles at Mr. Freeze, who was currently on the ground battling Batman. Speaking of, Batman rolled out of the way of a Freeze Blast from the villains gun, rolling into a crouched position and throwing three Batarangs at him. Unfortunately Freeze had anticipated this and pressed a button on his gauntlet, activating a blue shield to protect himself from the missiles and the Batarangs. He scowled as he stomped his foot on the ground, tiny spikes of ice spreading from the point of impact. The Dark Knight took out his Grapnel Gun and made his way to the Storm Engine, evading the attack. Freeze immediately took to the air, activating the missile launcher that rested on his shoulder. He fired three ice missiles at the Batman as he landed on the platform on the Storm Engine. Batman ran as the missiles exploded behind him, running ahead of the projectiles as he threw multiple Batarangs to get Freeze off of his back. Mr. Freeze began charging up his gun; this was his chance! Batman fired his Grapnel Gun and attached it to Freeze, zipping up and kicking the dome that protected his head, sending them both crashing onto the iceberg below. Back with the others, Sombra had conjured up a scythe made purely of Dark Magic and was swinging it at Mario, who jumped over the attack and tried landing a kick to the king's face. But out of nowhere a burst of Dark Magic sent him flying right past Sonic, who was running directly towards the villain, swerving left and right avoiding multiple orbs of Dark Magic. Sombra swung his scythe at the hedgehog, who simply slid under it with a smirk plastered on his face. He delivered a kick to Sombra's legs, causing him to stumble as Twilight fired a beam of magic directly into his chest, dispelling the scythe and sending him to the floor. While he was down Twilight quickly galloped over and turned around, delivering a nasty buck to Sombra's face, sending him flying through the air. As he soared through the air Twilight grabbed him with her magic and smashed him against the ground several times before flinging him to the right, the king tumbling across the iceberg as Iron Man landed on top of the Storm Engine, displaying a holographic image as J.A.R.V.I.S. began hacking into the machine. Freeze saw this and shouted, "NO!" as he aimed his gun at the Armored Avenger. But he was suddenly blindsided by Twilight, who hurled a chunk of ice at him while he wasn't looking. He stumbled as Mario charged up behind him and shoulder charged him, damaging Freeze's suit. The ice cold villain looked around and saw that he was surrounded by the Guardians. He took to the air to try and stop Iron Man from shutting down the engine, but he felt a heavy weight on his back. Looking behind him he saw Batman grabbing hold of him, hitting his shoulder with his elbow, causing sparks to fly. Batman then punched Freeze's jetpack, tearing out the exhaust hose as they began falling out of the sky. Freeze grunted as Batman delivered one last punch to Freeze's dome, cracking it as they landed in a heap. Batman rolled across the ice and stood upright. Freeze crash landed, his suit damaged beyond repair. Back with Tony, he was almost done hacking the device, shouting to J.A.R.V.I.S. "Anytime now, pal!" Not even a second later the beam shooting out of the Storm Engine ceased as it began to power down. Iron Man took a step back as he scanned the engine, making sure that it was disarmed. "It's no longer drawing power. Holy hell, we did it." "Was there ever any doubt, sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. commented cheekily. The billionaire chuckled as he turned around a hovered off of the platform and landed next to his friends, who were busy surrounding the now defeated Mr. Freeze. All of a sudden Sonic speeded off and returned with the unconscious King Sombra. He dropped him unceremoniously and dusted off his hands. Freeze panted heavily, already feeling the temperature coming into the crack in his dome. "Do you know... What you have done?" He growled, clenching his teeth as he glared at the heroes surrounding him. "Without that element my wife will remain frozen." "If we gave you that element, all would be lost." Twilight replied sadly, feeling sympathy for the man who only wants to save the woman he loves. Batman crouched down to meet Freeze at eye level. "I'm sorry, Victor. But you don't know what's at stake." "My wife's life is at stake!" He sneered in reply. Batman was about to respond but was stopped when everything started shaking, causing him to stand upright and look around for the source. "What the hell?" He muttered as he looked at everyone else, who were also confused. Struggling to maintain his balance, Sonic glared down at Freeze and asked, "This also a part of your plan?" But surprisingly Mr. Freeze shook his head in denial, "No. No it isn't." Back with the Autobots Arcee grunted as her back hit the floor, letting out a a gasp as Megatron's foot stomped on her chest. Team Prime had done their best to ward off Megatron while the Guardians stopped the Storm Engine. Unsurprisingly Optimus fared the best against the Decepticon, but even he wasn't able to bring him down. The last of the Prime's was currently getting back up to his feet, as were the other Autobots, when they saw Megatron aim his arm cannon at Arcee's head. "No!" Optimus shouted as he made a beeline to the two. Megatron smirked, "Prepare to join Cliffjumper in the AllSpark." He would have finished her then and there, had a sudden earthquake interrupted him. "What's this?!" He shouted in confusion as he looked around, only to see Optimus and the other Autobots looking in confusion. A sudden roar caught everyone's attention as they turned towards the source. There, they saw a massive red tear in reality split apart. "What the...?" Bulkhead wondered aloud as he took a step back. Something was coming through, something big. Back with the Guardians, they looked on at the familiar site, dread and caution etching their way into each of them. Another Titan was coming through. That dread was amplified when the Titan stepped through. This was the tallest of the Titans, constructed primarily of brushed white metal with black and red highlights. It highly resembled Giganto, as a humanoid with a broad upper torso and thinner legs, with holes resembling eyes along its entire body. Its wrists and hands were black, with three fingers ending in pointed red claws. Attached to its shoulders was a cape-like plate featuring ten cylindrical thrusters. Its head was covered by a red helmet that connected to a spinal cord down its neck. This helmet had multiple lines and lights analogous to eyes. Two horn-like protrusions rose above the back of its head, curving around its face and splitting into three horns pointing downwards on each side. Its chin had four more protrusions similar to a beard, the outer pair longer than the inner pair. Supreme let out a roar as it began approaching the frozen base, its massive shadow looming over the base. But while everyone was distracted by the appearance of the former leader of the Guardians, they failed to notice a portal open beneath Freeze and Sombra, causing them to fall into it and make their getaway. Mario turned around and groaned, getting everyone's attention. "They got away!" Mario shouted, tired of the villains always making a quick getaway. "I think we have bigger problems, Mario." Twilight reminded the plumber. Tony agreed with the unicorn as he walked to the edge of the iceberg, "She's right. We can't let that thing get to the town." With that he took off into the air, with Sonic dashing after him as well. Twilight let out a yelp as Batman wrapped his arm around her tummy and lifted her up, carrying her as he fired his Grapnel Gun, zipping them off the iceberg as Mario leapt into action alongside them. Back down with Team Prime and Megatron, they all took a step back away from the approaching Titan, but stopped when they saw that the Guardians were doing the exact opposite. They were headed straight for it. "A-Are they out of their minds?!" Arcee shouted in disbelief. To this, Optimus shook his head. "No. They are braver than most." He directed his sights toward Supreme and said, "Autobots! Stop that creature from reaching the town." He looked over to see that Megatron was gone. He shook his head before transforming and rolling out. As Twilight ran alongside Mario and Batman, she heard something beep behind her. She turned and saw that Team Prime was alongside them. She smiled as they transformed and ran towards the leader of the Titans. She lit up her horn, guiding the way as she and Optimus led them to victory. Meanwhile Iron Man was flying around Supreme's head, firing missiles at its head to try and damage it. Seeing as how he was a Guardian, meaning that only he and his allies were the only ones capable of damaging the monster, this shouldn't be a problem. But to his surprise, this merely annoyed the Titan as he set his sights on the Armored Avenger and opened his maw, a red light growing brighter from within. "Oh sh--" He was cut off as he nosedived, narrowly avoiding the mouth beam that would've surely been his end. He flew back around and noticed Sonic running up along his leg, hitting it with as many spin attacks as he could to try and cause some damage. Tony stopped in front of the monster and fired a Unibeam, causing little to no damage whatsoever. That was a blow to his ego. Back on the ground the Autobots were opening fire upon the monster while Batman grappled up to its leg, throwing explosive pellets as he soared upwards. Mario tried shoulder charging it, but it did nothing. He looked behind him and saw Twilight fire a blast of magic at the beast's foot. What surprised him was that Supreme actually let out a groan as it stepped back away from the unicorn. "What the hell?" Tony asked no one in particular. He looked down and saw Twilight with a look of confusion on her face. He zoomed down and landed in front of her. "Was that you?" "I-I think so." "Well hit it again." She nodded and fired a beam at Supreme once more, this time aiming at its knee. It staggered. It actually staggered. Everyone was in shock, turning to Twilight, who was also in shock. "Twi, I think you're the only one that can hurt it." Tony muttered, putting the pieces together. "Hit it again, but this time give it everything you've got!" But they wouldn't get the chance as Supreme stomped his foot onto the ground, red cracks spread across the ground before chunks of the earth erupted out of the ground and soared into the air, with the Autobots and the other Guardians standing atop them as they flew. Twilight, Optimus, Arcee, Iron Man, and Batman were stood on the debris that floated before Supreme's open maw. A red glow shining through its teeth as it prepared to fire another mouth beam. Optimus already had his blaster on the ready, as did Iron Man. But Supreme's attention was suddenly shifted by four purple explosions on its head. It turned. As did everyone else. Megatron fired again. Flying around the beast in his jet mode, Megatron continued opening fire, declaring, "THIS IS MY PLANET!" as he continued his aerial assault. "Megatron?" Optimus questioned, confused as to why the leader of the Decepticons was aiding them. "ARE YOU GOING TO CONTINUE TO DAWDLE?!" Megatron shouted as he transformed and punched the side of Supreme's face, dealing no damage whatsoever. "FINISH THIS OR I SHALL FINISH YOU!" "Twilight?" Batman asked, turning to the unicorn. He saw that she was building up insane amounts of magical energy. Her horn fizzed and sparked as her eyes turned into pure white, magical energy seeping from her very form. Once she opened her eyes she released a beam of pure magic directly into Supreme's mouth, sending it tumbling back as it moved its hand to block the attack. Tony fired a Unibeam to support his friend. Optimus fired a barrage of laser blasts, as did the other Autobots. Eventually Twilight's magic broke through and struck Supreme in the face, causing it to fall to its knees as it let out a shriek that shook the very earth itself. Eventually it died down as Supreme's head lowered, defeated just in time. The chunks of earth began to lower to the ground as a portal opened beneath the Titan. They all watched on as Supreme fell into the portal, growling in defeat. Once the Titan was gone, a sense of calm washed over everyone once as they returned to the ground. But that calm didn't last long as Megatron landed in front of the heroes with a scowl on his face. Everyone readied themselves as the leader of the Decepticons simply stood and stared at them. He closed his optics and chuckled before saying, "I suppose there is more to this than meets the eye, eh Optimus?" He then pulled out an Energon cube. More specifically, the Energon cube that Bumblebee had. His optics widened, he must have lost it during the fight. "Now why, oh, why did these organics want an Energon cube of all things?" Megatron asked with a smirk on his face. None of them answered, so he decided to take a different approach. "Explain or we go back to how things were before." Twilight and the Guardians looked unsure, but the unicorn, against her better judgement, explained everything to the Decepticon. The Foundation Elements, what they were, what would happen if Exiled got them all. She neglected to tell him about how they traverse between dimensions, she wasn't that naïve. Megatron, upon hearing this, looked down at the cube, then at the Guardians. If what they were saying was true, then it didn't really matter if he learned Multiversal travel if everything was going to end anyway. So he did the unexpected. He tossed the cube to Optimus, who caught it in his hands. He looked at his former brother with wide optics, shocked that Megatron was just giving them the cube. "Why?" He dared ask. Megatron shrugged, "If were all destined to be one with the AllSpark, then there's no point in dragging this out any longer." He answered before setting his sights on the Guardians. "Besides, if I wish to function long enough to conquer this planet, then who am I to deny the opportunity to prevent my certain destruction?" He then gave them a mocking bow before walking backwards. "Until we meet again, Optimus Prime." With that Megatron took off into the air, presumably making his way back to the Nemesis. Optimus glared up at his worst enemy before crouching down and handing the cube to Twilight, who took it in her magic. Suddenly another portal opened up behind the Guardians, causing everyone to turn and look at it. "That doesn't look like a Groundbridge." Bulkhead stated, eyeing the portal skeptically. Mario turned and looked up at the Wrecker. "That's our ride." Sonic looked up at the Autobots and said, "We can't thank you all enough for your help." "Without you, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did." Twilight told them truthfully, a smile on her face. "And I can't thank you enough, Optimus." The Prime got to one knee and met Twilight's eye level, "You have the markings of a great leader, Twilight Sparkle." He said, his words genuine. "I know you will lead your allies to many great heights. Save many worlds. I am truly honored to be a part of your story." With tears brimming her eyes, Twilight galloped and nuzzled against Optimus' cheek, the last of the Prime's letting a small smile grace his face. The other Guardians were also saying their goodbyes. Mario and Bulkhead shared a fist bump. Sonic and Bumblebee gave each other a thumbs up. Iron Man told Optimus to give Ratchet his best. And Batman and Arcee nodded to one another, a sign of the respect that had for one another. With their goodbyes said, it was now time to go. The Guardians turned around and began walking towards the portal, another Foundation Element in their possession. But as she walked, Twilight couldn't help but feel bitterness as she thought back to her fear manifestation. Sure it wasn't real, but did that mean that what she saw in the vision was entirely wrong? She just didn't know. And she wasn't the only one with a sense of unease. Sonic couldn't help but think back to his vision. To what he saw. The six figures, that massive beast with eight eyes, that amulet. He had a feeling that that was important. He couldn't help but shiver as he kept thinking about it. Just what was that? Foundation Prime Exiled's Fortress Pinkie Pie let out a shudder, a yelp, and... a squeak? The Equestrians turned to face her as her whole body spasmed and shook, her tail was twitching, her left ear was wiggling, her eyes were woozy, her belly was fluttering, and her legs were trembling. "What is this?" Princess Luna asked, wondering what was going on. "Pinkie's havin' a doozy." Applejack answered, getting the feeling that this wasn't anything good. "A-A-A-A-A-N-N-N-N-N-D-D-D-D I-I-I-I-I-I-I-T-T-T-T-T'S A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A B-B-B-B-B-B-B-I-I-I-I-I-I-G-G-G-G-G O-O-O-O-N-N-N-N-N-E-E-E-E!!!" Pinkie stuttered out as her whole form continued shaking. Luna looked away and moved to the edge of the dome, watching as her new friends that were also being held captive conversed among themselves. She moved her eyes over to the Elements of Harmony on display and let out a horrified gasp. This caught Celestia's attention. "Luna? What is it?" The Lunar Monarch simply pointed her hoof toward the Element of Magic. When Celestia moved her sights toward it, she too let out a gasp of pure, unadulterated horror at what she saw. The color in the Element of Magic.... was fading.