//------------------------------//
// Mission 1 - Cavern Chaos 
// Story: Double Dragon: Shadow over Equestria 
// by Scarlett Haze 
//------------------------------//

	Billy and Jimmy sat on the kitchen floor in shock. The woman of their dreams had disappeared from their arms.

"You don't think Skullmageddon had anything to do with this?" Billy asked aloud.

Jimmy remained motionless as he stared at the floor. "He was an evil guy, but he'd be more comfortable sending out his gang to try and nab Marian instead of... this."

Picking themselves up, Jimmy and Billy moved into their living room. The center of the room held a standard ring for their practice of Sou-Setsu-Ken against each other. Besides the ring, everything in the living room seemed normal. A television screen hung on a wall, currently running a channel of animated shows.

"I have an idea," Billy remarked, snapping his fingers. "We need to find some of the Power of Love that Marian had!" Jimmy raised an eyebrow of confusion, prompting Billy to continue on. "When Marian used the Power of Love, we were sent to the dimension where Bonehead had ran off to!"

From far away, in another plane of existence, a broken Skullmageddon gave a "NYAHHH!" of frustration.

Jimmy crossed his arms, "Problem."

Billy placed his hands at his hips, "Answer."

"Marian can use the Power of Love to send us across dimensional planes," Jimmy started. Billy nodded in response. "Then, Marian would have to be here in order us to use that power."

Billy's face remained confident, "It's one way."

"And what possible other way could their be?" Jimmy asked, a scowl slowly crossing his face.

Billy went over to a lamp and gave it a good punch, causing the porcelain to shatter.

"Aw, come on, man!" Jimmy began to complain. "I just paid for that!"

Billy moved over the lamp's place and held up a plastic bottle filled with a pink liquid. "This is the other way!" Billy set the bottle down in the center of the ring and backed away. "Okay. Hear me out on this."

"Do I have a choice?" Jimmy sarcastically asked.

"We both run to the bottle and open it together," Billy explained. "When it opens, the power is going to shoot out for a limited time, so we have to act fast. We follow where Marian was pulled into and we beat whoever had the idea of taking Marian away from us."

Jimmy mulled the plan around for a moment before speaking again, "Will we be able to get back before Almighty Turtle Cage Fight?"

As he finished the statement, the TV began running an advertisement for Almighty Turtle Cage Fight, showing the high-octane action of turtles as they attempt to tilt the other one over.

"Still don't understand your love for that show," Billy remarked.

Jimmy gave a single laugh, "In comparison to the little horse show that you watch?"

At that statement, the television began to run an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, opening to a scene of the Crystal Empire.

Billy pointed a finger at Jimmy, "Have you even bothered to actually watch it?"

"To know that its meant for little girls?" Jimmy said with a crooked smile. "All I needed was five seconds."

"When the Double Dragon soars," Shining Armor said, quoting his wife. "And something about the 'Avatar of Love'?"

Billy and Jimmy's focus cut to what unfolded onscreen.

"Yes, sir," a guard responded. "She's been unresponsive since her premonition."

Jimmy gave a sideways look to Billy. "Double... Dragon."

Billy returned the same look to Jimmy. "That can't be right."

They continued to watch the television as a ray of pink light shot through the sky and into a nearby mountain.

"Hang on a minute!" Billy yelled out. "Gimmie the remote!"

Jimmy froze for a moment before moving to the couch. After throwing every pillow and cushion off, Jimmy held up the remote in his hand and then threw it to Billy.

The remote made a satisfactory slap of plastic on flesh as Billy rewound the show and magnified on the light.

"It's Marian!" Billy yelled out, pointing to the silhouette.

Jimmy was taken aback. "There's... no... way..."

Billy moved to Jimmy, hoping to relieve some of his worry. "We have to get her."

Jimmy closed his eyes and weighed his options. He could either stay here and worry about both his little brother AND the woman of his dreams, or he could go with him to a land of magical unicorn and bright colors all over the place. Jimmy's reaction of disgust and anger transformed into a reaction of submission. "Fine."

Both brothers went to their opposite ends of the ring and faced the bottle in front of them.

"On the count of three." Jimmy stated.

Billy gave a nod as both of them went into their lunging positions.

"THREE!" They both yelled out, sprinting toward the bottle.

With a motion, only to be described as "smooth as butter", both brothers opened the bottle and unleashed the last energies of Marian's Power of Love. With a mighty leap up to the glowing heart that had taken form, both brothers reeled back their arms and shot them forward into a loud clap of high-five-atude.


***


Shining Armor remained by the bed of Cadence and held her hoof on his. His wife looked peaceful in her coma, but Shining Armor's heart remained heavy with uncertainty. "Cadence, I promise you, I will find these Double Dragons and help them in any way that I can."

A great rumble came from above, stirring Shining Armor from his bent position to an upright state. The rumble continued on as the crystal ponies noticed the clouds bunch together, each one curious as to what was going to happen. With a final boom, the clouds opened to a spinning combination of two colors; one blue, the other red. The crystal ponies watched the spinning colors as it bashed into the side of the mountain.


***


When the aftershock passed inside the rocky caverns hidden underneath the mountain's face, two changeling guards approached a pile of rocks that had gathered from the resulting shock.

"Hrm," one buzzed. "I don't sense any pony life or magic here."

"Do you think that the legend about the guardians of the avatar of love are true?" the second one chirped.

The first guard turned to his compatriot and scoffed him, "A pony having dragons protecting her?" He continued to speak as the rock pile began to move, "It's about as likely as me getting punched out by one."

He turned back to the pile just in time for two scaled fists to burst out and crack his jaw. The guard was sent flying into the ceiling before landing back on the floor and making a gurgling sound. The second guard remained in shock as he looked up to two standing dragons that towered over him.

Before he could rush out, the red dragon with brown spinal scales blocked his exit.

"Check it bro!" The guard heard the blue dragon with yellow spinal scales excitedly squeal, "We're dragons! Like real, fire breathing, winged dragons!"

"Uh-huh, cool." The red dragon responded with little interest. "We might need to work on our fighting style and balance because of, you know," he grabbed his tail and gave it a shake.

"Right," the blue dragon nodded before lifting up its fists. "I'll do some light attacks first."

The guard threw up a magic bubble as the dragon went through a series of punches, protecting him from the attack.

"That thing just put up a bubble to stop your strikes," the red dragon pondered before snapping his claw. "Try a heavy blow."

The guard panicked and brought up his bubble again, but the defense failed as the wound up punch broke through and struck him down.

"Doesn't look like much change needed on the fighting side then," the red dragon commented.

The changeling guard coughed before looking up at the two dragons. "What are you?"

The blue dragon threw his arm up before bringing it back down to a leaned pose, "Billy Lee!"

The red dragon threw his arm up and well and mirrored the blue dragon's pose, "Jimmy Lee!"

"We are the Double Dragon's!" The both yelled before taking a unified strike with their fists to the guard.


***Mission 1***


The guard crashed through the stone wall, alerting many of the changelings to the present danger of the dragons now coming their way.

"For the queen!" one shouted, before cartwheeling towards Billy Lee.

With a bicycle kick, the changeling was sent flipping in mid-air before landing on its stomach.

"Marian!" Billy yelled out, "Where are you?!"

Jimmy ducked from a swooping changeling and tried a few upward punches of his own, none landing on the nimble flyer that was dive-bombing him.

"You asked for it," Jimmy grunted, crouching down as the changeling reared back to make another dive. The changeling buzzed forward before Jimmy leapt up and spun in place, his foot bashing into the side of its head. The changeling attempted to steady itself before running into a wall.

Billy, in the meantime had his own problems with a changeling firing magic bolts at him, forcing him to use cover. Another changeling had snuck behind him and was ready to strike, only to be halted by a swift smack of Billy's tail. Billy twitched and looked back to see that he had unconsciously struck his attacker with a hard hit.

"Jimmy!" Billy yelled out to his brother, "Use your tail if they get behind you!"

Jimmy hit a changeling and grabbed it before throwing it into another changeling and knocking it over. Seeing an approaching group of seven changelings, Jimmy went to shout in anger, but felt something coming up from his gut. The changelings tried to stop and retreat at the sight of fire being built up in the dragon's mouth, but were too late. The flames powered through the group and left them fallen on the ground.

"We must protect the queen as she performs the ceremony!" A changeling screeched. "Bring in the dogs!"

"Dogs?" Billy and Jimmy questioned.

Bursting through the rocky walls, Diamond Dogs began attacking them. The dogs were much stronger and took more of a beating to take down than the changelings, as Billy and Jimmy were quick to realize. The brothers began using a combo of punches and kicks to keep the dogs at bay before they looked past each other to see a dog ready to strike them from behind.

Billy and Jimmy shot forward and gave shoulder tackles to their respective targets before turning around and high-fiving each other. "What do you think about this 'girly show' now, bro?" Billy chuckled, bringing his knee up into the face of a bent over Diamond Dog's face.

"This is not a show," Jimmy grunted, lifting another diamond dog up before chucking it forward. "Show me the part where there was a big fight with multiple bad guys against two dragons and THEN I'll be impressed."

The remaining Diamond Dogs growled in frustration before bringing out planks of wood and knives. Billy and Jimmy felt the pressure of the numbers gain on them as the knives managed to get a cut now and then. A dog had also managed to get his wooden plank to crack over the head of Jimmy, causing the dragon to wobble in place before another dog jumped up and kicked him to the floor.

Regardless of these blows, the brothers kept fighting on. The further they moved into the tunnels, the more intricate the designs became. What had started as standard cave walls, became more stylized. The art looked basic, similar to ancient cave paintings. They looked at carved statues of guard ponies while they fought, now having to deal with both changelings and diamond dogs.

Knocking a diamond dog out, Billy's eyes fell on a green gem and without thinking, grabbed and swallowed it. His pupils shrunk to a reptilian state before returning to normal as he felt his wounds heal slightly. Placing a headlock on a changeling, he dragged it with him to a corner, leaving Jimmy to finish off the remaining stragglers.

"Alright, changeling, spill it," Billy hissed as he yanked on the head. "Where's Marian?"

The changeling grunted and gasped before saying, "The avatar is in the next room! But you will not get to her!"

Billy tightened his grip into a nerve choke and waited for the changeling to go limp before letting go.

"The next room, huh?" Jimmy coughed, wiping a small amount of spit and blood from his mouth. "Then, let's go."


***Mission 1 Boss***


Billy and Jimmy entered a large room filled with changelings with a lifted section at the far end. At its top, a pink earth pony with golden blonde mane was lying unconscious at the hooves of Queen Chrysalis.

"My queen!" A changeling spoke up, "The dragons that have been attacking your guards, they're here!"

Billy pointed a clawed finger at Chrysalis, "I know who you are! What have you done with Marian?!"

Chrysalis stared down at the dragons with a look of annoyance. "You... know who I am?" Her annoyance became hidden with confidence as she chuckled. "Then you would know that attacking my children was a foolish mistake."

Jimmy pointed his own finger at Chrysalis, "You wanna talk foolish mistakes? You're about to make one if you don't tell us where Marian is!"

The pink pony stirred and opened her eyes. "Bi...lly..."

Billy and Jimmy tensed up, "Marian?!"

The pony's eyes opened wide before she attempted to stand, only to be held back in a green magic bubble. "Billy! Jimmy!"

"So," Chrysalis interrupted, "This is your... Marian."

Billy went to step forward when a wall of changelings lined up between them and the stairs. "You monster! What are you planning on doing with her?!"

Chrysalis brought her horn down toward Marian. The horn began to glow a sickly green as Marian screamed in pain. After the scream had ended, a small amount of pink energy was gathered in a ball in front of Chrysalis. "See this, dragons?" Chrysalis gave a lick to the ball and shivered, "This... is a miniscule portion of the Avatar of Love, hidden inside your precious 'Marian'. I'm going to remove every ounce, every drop, every molecule of the Avatar from her and then fuse it with my own body."

Jimmy growled in frustration at the sight of Marian in pain.

"Now, witness what this small amount of power can do." Chrysalis laughed before chomping down on it and swallowing. Her eyes shut as her horn turned from a glow of green into dark purple and fired at a single changeling. The changeling tried to steady itself before it started shaking. As it shook, its muscles began to bubble up and its size began to increase, a sound of pain and satisfaction coming from it. Finally, the change completed, leaving Billy and Jimmy to look up at a towering Changeling as it roared loudly.


Monsterous Changeling


The dragons rolled away from the giant's stomping blow and looked at each other with a "What do we do?" expression. Jimmy felt something lifting him up as he struggled to regain footing with the floor. A green aura had surrounded him as he was lifted and then thrown back to the ground. Billy began hammering at an elbow of the changeling, praying for it to give away so they can try and attack the head.

Jimmy struggled to get up, trying to shake off whatever pain he had. Seeing his wings flap for a moment, he got an idea. Running under the head of the changeling, he began shouting, "Hey! Try and stomp me!"

The changeling was willing to oblige, hovering a hoof over Jimmy. The hoof came down and came in close contact with the floor. The hoof began to vibrate as a low growling was heard, Jimmy was holding the hoof up and slowly lifting it with each beat of his wings.

Billy gave a sharp kick to the bent knee, making the giant howl in pain. Seeing Jimmy struggling with the lift, he swooped down and began helping him lift the leg higher and higher.

The changelings looked on in horror as these dragons continued to lift the beastly creature to a vertical position.

"Hold him until I give the word," Jimmy whispered to Billy. Billy grunted in response as Jimmy fell the the floor and crouched down. "Now, Billy!" Jimmy screamed, making Billy push off the hoof. The giant changeling began to fall as Jimmy shot up with a wound up fist. At the last moment, Jimmy unleashed his blow to the descending chin of the giant, sending a shockwave resounding off the walls with its shot.

The giant landed on all fours again, but began to stumble. It's eyes began to fog up as the stumbling became worse. Finally, letting out a moan the giant fell down, making the mountain quiver.

Jimmy descended again, landing on the head of the giant.


***Mission Complete!***


Queen Chrysalis frowned in anger as Jimmy and Billy looked back at her. "Leash! Hold down these dragons!"

A female diamond dog, wearing a spiked collar that tied to a cloth bra and long stockings swaggered out, her tail swishing side to side. Her paw lifted up and a devilish smile came on her face before snapping, the lights being extinguished as the sounds of heavy beatings was heard. The last sound that the Lee brothers heard was the cackling of Queen Chrysalis and Marian screaming, "BILLY! JIMMY!"