The harsh rays of the sun beat down upon the sandy landscape, making the sand burn anything that touched it. For endless miles the sand went on with no end in sight, with not even a hill or a dip to chance the scenery in any way. No creature could make its home in that environment, so the land was devoid of all life and nearly all sounds. But today, the only sounds that could be heard was the sound of the wind whipping through the sand, and the cursing of one very annoyed human who trekked through the desert.
"Ugh, an all-black outfit was not the best thing to bring to a desert," he wheezed from under his black hood, which was doing more harm than good as it absorbed the heat of the sun. His black jacket and pants were doing him no favors either in the heat. He lifted a hand to his head and covered his eyes from the sun while he looked in every direction. "And just where the hell is this place supposed to be? Argh," he grumbled as he reached into his backpack and withdrew a long map from within, unrolling it and glancing over the images. "Seriously, mare? You couldn't put this place on some beautiful island or on a nice grassy hill?"
'That would make it not only easy to find, but it might also mean that others who might make their homes in such an area might be dragged into our conflict,' a voice from within his backpack said with a sigh, knowing that this was the third time she had reminded him of this fact. 'Honestly Ryan, if you're not going to listen to me, then why do you even bother asking these questions?'
"Because I don't want to go even farther down the rabbit hole, and talking to someone helps me keep my grip," he replied while he shrugged at the map and rolled it back up, keeping it in his hand as he continued to march across the sea of sand. "Can you at least tell me what I'm looking for out here?"
'Trust me, you will know it when you see it. Just keep going the way the map told you to, and you should be there soon. Now leave me be, I must rest to conserve my strength.'
"Thanks mare, as useless as always," he grumbled when the voice went quiet. "Seriously, you're like the--"
'WILL YOU BE QUIET AND LET ME SLEEP?!' her voice roared back at him.
"Keep it together, mare, your personality is cracking again," Ryan said to her, feeling the rage die down. "You can't let it beat you, not yet. We're almost there."
Ryan cast a quick glance up at the sun which rested directly above him. He was hoping that he found this place soon, before the sun decided to turn him into another set of bones in the desert. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look, narrowing his gaze as he thought, for a moment, that he saw something shimmer for a second off in the distance. 'Either the heat's making me see things...or the insanity is...or there's something over there that just reached out to me. Sure, let's go see what it wants.'
The lone human turned towards the point of shimmering and dragged himself over to it, certain that he'd die of thirst before reaching the spot. Yet his body didn't give up on him just yet, and he managed to reach the spot where the shimmering was, carefully observing it for a moment before touching the shimmer with his left hand.
The moment he did so, everything around him changed, turning the sky from a burning day to a pitch-black night. He quickly took in the new area to find himself standing on what looked like stained glass, with six pillars around him. Each had a different colored flame on top, providing the only light source for the area.
"So, I'm back here again, am I? That's fine; gets me out of the damned sun for a while," he sighed with relief as he flicked back his hoof and walked over to one of the pillars, slipping off his backpack and sitting down next to the white pillar, resting himself against it while he closed his eyes. "Yo mare, I'm here? Anything you want to tell me now?" Silence was her answer, leaving Ryan to shrug it off as he rested his head and decided to take a quick break.
"...rrrrrrrrrrrrr..." Ryan's eyes snapped open at the low moan and he flipped up to his feet, ripping open his backpack while he reached inside and pulled out a long, golden stun baton. He flicked the power on while slipping on his backpack and held the baton out in front of him as the lightning began to crackle along its rod, preparing for whatever was about to show itself. He wasn't prepared enough.
The first thing he saw in the darkness was eight sets of yellow eyes, all of which shone as light spotlights in the darkness. Ryan's heart slowly began to sink when he heard the thud of heavy footsteps hitting the ground, while the spotlights got closer to him, their location telling him that this thing was just as big as he was. He backed up into the center of the stained glass as the eyes entered into the light, allowing him to see the full design of the creature.
It looked like a man in golden scuba armor, but its head was on the front of its body instead of on top of it. Its left hand was gloved and covered with golden plating, but it had no right hand. In place of its hand was a massive drill, at least the size of Ryan's arm. Strange, golden tanks and tubes were on its back, but Ryan's eyes were drawn to the eight yellow eyes that looked down at him, a low moan escaping the creature as it observed him with interest.
"Holy shit. A Big Daddy," Ryan whispered as he very slowly switched the baton off and placed it back in his bag, slowly putting both of his hands next to his head while he backed away from the metal monster. The Big Daddy continued to observe him for a moment before its eyes switched from yellow to green, allowing Ryan to let out a sigh of relief as he leaned against a pillar opposite the creature. "Man, never thought that I'd see one of you in my lifetime. The mare wasn't joking when she said this was the most mismatched team that she had seen."
"Yes. And I'd like to have words with the mare about why we are being dragged into this now." Both Ryan and the Big Daddy turned their heads to see a pony walking into the circle of pillars. The pony was lightly blue and had a short white mane, with a cape covered in stars resting over her back. There was also a small saddlebag that rested on her side, but the most interesting thing about her were her eyes, eyes that held no doubt within them. Ryan watched as her eyes quickly glanced over him with moderate interest, before they went wide at the sight of Mr. Bubbles. "So, you two must be some of the others that she has drafted."
Mr. Bubbles let out a moan while he flashed his eyes from green to yellow and back to green again, both Ryan and the pony raising their eyebrows at his moans. Ryan then looked back to the pony and placed a hand over his head, wracking his brain as best he could.
"Don't tell me, don't tell me. I know who you are. You're...Trixie Lulamoon, right?" Ryan asked her. Trixie smirked while she gave a polite bow in response.
"Yes, I am Trixie Lulamoon. You must be a human, as you fit the description, but I cannot place the other one," she said with interest. She walked right up to Mr. Bubbles, looking up into his eight green eyes as he tilted his body down so he could get the best look at her. "No, definitely can't place you. Any ideas, Batmare?" Trixie saw that Ryan had a look of confusion on his face, and she nodded her head to a pillar with a smile. "You must not be here because of your observation skills or else you would have spotted our friend."
Just as she said this, a black-clad pony leapt out from the shadows and landed in the light of the fires, causing both Ryan and Bubbles to jump because she seemed to appear out of nowhere. The pony looked female, but it was hard to tell underneath the bat-like armor that covered most of her body, with a gray bat in the center of her chest. Her face was hidden beneath a cowl, and a scalloped-hemmed cap rested over her folded wings, while her eyes beneath the cowl quickly took in the two of them. Bubbles' eyes flashed yellow as his drill began to move, but Ryan had a completely different reaction to seeing the pony.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! That has to be the freaking funniest thing that I've seen in a long time!" he exclaimed as he roared with laughter, clutching his stomach while he rested against the pillar to support himself. "Ugh, nice Batman cosplay there. You really nailed all of the right details. Sweet God, that's funny."
"I don't like him," Batmare said while she cast him a glare before walking over to Trixie, greeting her friend and opening her mouth to speak, before the both of them turned to look at the massive Big Daddy walking towards them. Trixie's horn glowed while Batmare took up a more offensive stance as it got closer, but it stopped just shy of them and looked down at Batmare while tilting its body to the side slightly, almost as if it were confused. Then, it let out a happy moan as its eyes all shone bright green and it knelt down while holding out a hand to her.
"Aw look, he likes you," Ryan said with tears in his eyes while he tried to regain any dignity he had left. Batmare chose to ignore him as she gently shook the Big Daddy's hand, getting another happy moan out of the giant when it rose back up and stood beside them, seemingly content.
"So then, where is the silver mare?" Batmare asked as she looked around the room at the group. "The only reason that we'd all find ourselves home one moment, and here the next, is that she's finally summoned us. She really picks the worst times for this, I was this close to cracking the Jester's master plan. Hopefully, Nighthawk will be able to cover for me."
"Yeah, the mare can be a dick sometimes, that's for sure," Ryan agreed while he smiled at Batmare. "So I've got to ask ,why are you wearing that? Are you the pony version of Batman in a reality where all humans are ponies? Or did you take up the mantle after he saved your life?"
"The latter, if you must know," Batmare said in a cold voice that Ryan ignored. "And he also trained me in all of his fighting styles, so I hope that you pick your words more carefully in the future."
"Don't hold your breath; it's going to be a long ride with me," Ryan smirked. "And I'll give you the same warning, since I probably have the shortest fuse here."
"I wonder about that."
All eyes swung around in the darkness to follow the deep voice that echoed across the room; all of their senses for danger were on high alert at whatever was coming. Then, the four began to feel the footsteps, footsteps that shook the ground with far more power than the Big Daddy had managed. All four of them backed away as the lights gave a hint of the monster that was approaching them, a monster that they could tell towered over them simply from the shadows. A massive leg stepped into the circle and allowed all of them to see what it was.
The creature was at least nine feet tall, making it nearly as tall as the pillars that illuminated the room. Muscle upon muscles covered its body, a body which they could tell from its exposed arms was green. The creature wore a tight black shirt along with tight black pants that covered most of its body, save the arms and its head. The ground beneath the four shook with each step and all of them immediately knew, out of all the strange beings in the room, this one was by far the most powerful.
"Because I can tell you now, I'm famous for having a short fuse," it said with a smile as it came to a stop, crossing its huge arms over its even more muscular chest and looking around at the other four with a thin smile on its face. "Well now, isn't this just the oddest assortment of creatures in one room?"
"The...Mother...Fucking...Hulk," was all Ryan could get out as he placed his back to a pillar, sweat dripping down his face while the Hulk turned his head to look at the human with a smile.
"So, you have heard of me? Not surprising, I'm pretty infamous after all," Hulk said with a small chuckle while he studied the Big Daddy, going quiet for a moment as his eyes observed the metal man. "Antique armor, but a very interesting design. From your armor and tanks, he places your time period to be about the 'sixties, but he has no idea what purpose you would serve in that era."
Hulk then turned his head to look at Trixie and an eyebrow went up, but whatever he was thinking he didn't say it out loud. Then, he turned his green eyes to Batmare and the smile returned to his face as he walked over to her, Batmare looking up at him while masking as much of her fear as she could.
"Now, you remind me of a certain pointy-eared man," Hulk said with a loud laugh that caused the floor to shake beneath. "He cheated to beat me by kicking me below the belt. I haven't forgiven him for that," Hulk said with another smile as Batmare slowly backed away from him.
"RRRRRRRR!" Mr. Bubbles roared as all of his eyes went red and he marched over to the Hulk, placing himself between the Hulk and Batmare. Despite the Hulk being nearly two feet taller than Mr. Bubbles, the Big Daddy never backed down while his drill revved up, and he pointed it under the jaw of the Hulk, who simply smiled in response.
"So, you want to pick a fight with me? Have to say, haven't had that happen in the longest of times," Hulk said as he looked down at Mr. Bubbles with a curious glance. "I know for a fact that the ancient armor you wear will be nowhere near strong enough to survive any of my blows, so just back off and we can still--" Bubbles' response to his words was to slam his drill into Hulk's face with a roar. But to Bubbles and the ponies shock, the spinning drill ground to a halt as the Hulk's skin refused to budge.
Hulk let out another chuckle as he grabbed hold of the drill and forced Bubbles' arm back down, Bubbles' eyes were full-on crimson as he tried to fight back against such ungodly strength. "Alright, you want to go a round with me? Fine," Hulk began as he brought his right arm back and cocked it for a punch, seeing Ryan dive for cover out of the corner of his eye.
'Seriously, Hulk?'
"It'll just be a tap," Hulk responded as he went to throw a light punch...before realizing that his arm had never moved. Hulk wondered what was going on before he felt his arm tingle, like there was electricity coursing through it. And a quick look at the ponies' eyes showed him that they were no longer looking at him, but rather someone behind him. Hulk slowly turned his head to see that indeed there was someone behind him; that same someone holding onto his arm and holding him, of all people, back.
"Come on guys, is fighting really the way you're going to introduce yourselves? You're suppose to start with your name. Hi, I'm Captain Marvel." The captain wore an all-red suit with golden gauntlets and grieves on his arms and legs, while a golden belt wrapped itself around his waste. A lightning bolt that seemed to be filled with lightning itself rested upon his chest, while a white cape swished around behind him. A white hood rested upon his head, but that didn't stop the others from seeing the smile he wore upon his face. "So, come on big guy, calm down and let's just talk."
Hulk tried to pull his arm free one more time and found that it barely budged, intriguing him as he slowly lowered his arm. This time, the Captain let go of it. Despite his best efforts to come off as friendly, all of the faces that looked up at him (except for the Hulk's) were of wariness and caution.
"You are...a very powerful magical being," Trixie said at last, breaking the silence of everyone in the room. "Far beyond anything I have ever seen." Marvel could see that all of the others were thinking along similar lines, and all of those lines meant that they were afraid of him.
"Don't worry, guys. I might be the most powerful guy in the room, but I'm a good guy and on your side," Captain Marvel said with another of his beaming smiles, not seeing Hulk give him a smirk at his choice of wording. Then, the good captain realized what Batmare was wearing and he flew over to her so quickly that he seemed to just appear in front of her, causing her to yelp as she jumped back. "Oh, how cool! You look just like Batman! Do you know him? So, do you have the same grumpy one that I do, or is yours more laid back and cool?"
"Um..." Batmare responded awkwardly before Marvel's attention was distracted by the Big Daddy.
"Awesome, you look like one of those old divers that I read about in school...but where's your head?"
'And with that, all of us are here.' All eyes turned towards Ryan's backpack as a silver smoke began to emerge from it, circling in the center of the room. In the smoke, a small orb could be seen for a brief moment before the silver energy began to swirl around it, giving it the form of a mare of pure silver. A hood and cape formed over her head and a strange marking appeared on her side as she floated down to the ground, looking at all of them with a smile. 'Hello, my friends. For some of you, it has been far too long since we last met.'
"It must have been quite some time. I don't remember you looking so...broken, the last time we met," Captain Marvel said as he crossed his arms and tilted his head with confusion. "Seriously mare, half of your face is missing."
"Someone finally manage to smack that smug smile off of your face?" Hulk asked with a smirk. The silver mare ignored their remarks and continued to speak.
'Many of you have known that this day was coming, the day that I brought you all together to help me fight against a force that I cannot even dream to match,' she began, all of the champions sharing glances before she continued. 'Most of you are unfamiliar with those who stand next to you, but not all of you are strangers to each other. Batmare and Trixie come from the same world, so they are already close friends. Hulk and Marvel, I believe you two know of each other?'
"Yeah, I remember this guy," Hulk said as he punched Captain Marvel in the shoulder and shook the whole place, yet Marvel only staggered a few inches. "The last I remember of him, Goldilocks was giving him a good, old fashioned Asgardian beating. How does it feel to lose to that wimp?"
"The only reason I lost that fight, was because I was too busy watching Superman smack you up and down the planet while not even flinching from your punches," Marvel responded while he punched Hulk in the shoulder, knocking the others off of their legs while Hulk took a step to steady himself. "And considering I have the power to beat Superman, what's that say about you?"
"Heh, I like you," Hulk said with a smirk as he turned back to face the mare, who cleared her throat once all the others had risen back to a standing position.
'Yet, as you all may know of one or two of the others in here, each of you have something in common that makes you all similar, the reason that I have gathered you all here. And, it is that each of you have been chosen to be champions,' the mare continued while she looked at each of them with pride, but Ryan noticed that the silver mare never looked at him. And when he made a quick glance at the others, he wondered if Batmare had noticed as well. 'Each of you overcame nearly impossible odds and became greater than you were before. For some, that was a battle with a physical demon. For others, it was a battle to overcome yourselves. But all here won that battle, so that is why I am asking you to help me with mine. And know now, that I believe in all of you.'
"And this is the team we're going with?" Ryan asked with a dry laugh, the others turning to look at him while the mare put her face in her hoof, knowing what was coming. "Seriously? You expect this merry band of misfits to be able to work together and stop whatever the hell we're supposed to be fighting? I don't believe it."
"And what's wrong with us?" Captain Marvel asked with a frown.
"Let me tell you. To start, you've got me on this team, so we're doomed from the get-go. Next, we have the most overprotective father in existence who would sooner gut you than he will shake your hand. Then, we have Trixie, who I am fairly certain was evil in nearly all the other versions of Equestria I've been to, so I don't know how much I can trust her," Ryan began, knowing full well that he was turning them all against him early, but he didn't care in the least.
"To continue, we then have the ultimate Batman fanpony, who went so far as to cosplay as him instead of thinking up her own identity. After that we have...Hulk...and finally we have Earth's Mightiest Manchild. If you ask me, and since none of you didn't, I'd say that I have little faith in this team," Ryan finished with a shrug, ignoring all the angry looks that were given to him.
"Well, aren't you just the honest one," Batmare said in a quiet voice.
"If we're going to be part of this team, we'll have to be honest with each other. That was my honest opinion of the whole thing."
'Ryan?' the silver mare began, Ryan turning to look at her. 'Please shut the hell up and just listen. Yes, there might be a few concerns about the members of this team, but each of you has proven yourself to be heroes before, so I have no doubt that you'll do so again. But I have spoken enough, and it is time to put this desperate plan of mine into motion.' As she said this, a sphere of pure silver erupted in the center of the room, showing all of them a barren wasteland in the middle of it. 'If all of you are willing, then step through the portal and prepare yourselves. Once you are within my world, I ask that you find Princess Luna and avoid Celestia, for now. She is...not the same as she once was.'
Captain Marvel took the first step forward, but a giant, green hand pushed him back as Hulk was the first one to enter the portal, followed by Batmare and Trixie who entered at the same time.
'Billy,' the silver mare said as Mr. Bubbles entered into the portal, stopping Captain Marvel and turning him to look at her. 'You should know this as you enter. Black Adam is in this world and he will be a foe of yours. But do not believe he is the same Adam that you knew. He is different.' Captain Marvel's face darkened at her words, but he stepped through the portal nonetheless. That left the silver mare and Ryan.
"You're not coming, are you?" Ryan asked as he looked down at her, the silver mare shaking her head.
'With Teth able to sense my power, he would find you and the resistance within a few moments. No, it is safer that I stay away,' she said with a shake of her head as she looked up at Ryan. 'You still remember right? The reason I am so desperate for this to work.'
"Yeah, yeah, I remember...just don't think it's a good idea keeping secrets from the guys I'm supposed to be working with," Ryan said with a shake of his head as he walked towards the portal.
'Ryan? You be sure to take extra care of yourself...more so than the others. Got that?'
"As I said, I got it," Ryan said with a roll of his eyes before leaping into the portal, which closed shut behind him and left the mare alone. She sighed and offered up a silent prayer before vanishing into thin air, leaving the room to be consumed by the sand once more.