//------------------------------// // Exposed // Story: The Siren Song: Razzle Dazzle // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// "W-What is that thing?" one of the Kids of Shadows said, looking at the Battle which was causing havoc outside. It walked over to the school and dove both of its' almighty axes into the walls. The kid watched as the Battle then pulled both of the axes out of the pierced wall and threw them at a car, causing it to blow up with fires draping the road afterwards. "It looks like those mean old minotaurs from history class..." another kid said, looking at the Battle's demonic skin and blood-coated axes. he was rather paralyzed with fear as that massive beast let out another roar of fury, getting all the once arguing kids outside to scream and run in fear. "Whatever it is, it sure isn't friendly!" Topaz said, looking at the beastly Dystopian with a rather worried look on his face. He watched as the massive beast caused a tremor just by stomping the ground. He felt the ground rumbling underneath him and the other Kids of Shadows as the Battle continued its' madness. "I know what that is..." Adagio eventually told the Kids of Shadows, getting all of them to listen to what she had to say. She had the brilliant idea to convince the Kids of Shadows that this monster was a made up monster that they'd be trying to prevent from returning in the future. "That's an... an Anger Eater." "An Anger Eater?" Topaz asked, curious to know why Adagio could possibly have known such a thing. "Yeah... Back where we came from, these things destroyed our homes because people kept arguing and battling with each other," Aria lied, shifting any suspicions off of Lyrican monsters being from another world. "Because everyone hated each other, Anger Eaters came and destroyed the towns we lived in." "Well, if you know about these things, then surely you must know how to deal with them..." another kid said, hoping that The Dazzlings had an answer to the problem at hand. "Yeah, but it might be a bit bizarre..." Sonata said, before The Dazzlings rushed outside at a rather rapid pace. "Girls!" Topaz called out, quickly running out after them. He cared for all the Kids of Shadows that were in his club, not just the ones who were still unaware on how to defeat a Dystopian. When the Kids of Shadows were all outside, The Dazzlings were seen brandishing their swords with the red crystal hilts. They were surprised on a number of levels, seeing as no parts of The Dazzlings' clothes would be able to hide such weapons, not even from the other kids themselves. "Everyone, get back inside!" Adagio said back to the Kids of Shadows, hoping that they'd listen to her. "This thing's gonna kill you if you don't hide!" "No way, Adagio. The Kids of Shadows stick together, through thick and thin, through any ordeal," Topaz said, showing a large amount of confidence and faith in The Dazzlings. "I know that you can battle this thing and win, but we need to stick together. And I'm not about to just sit and hide while you go out and get hurt!" "I know you mean well, Topaz, but this is a matter beyond anything you'd be able to understand..." Sonata said as The Dazzlings dodged one of the Battle's axes and prepared for the fight ahead of them. Each of The Dazzlings evaded the wide swings of the Battle's axes, countering whenever they had the chance. But this time, the monster's attacks were non-stop and came in rapid succession. It was hard for The Dazzlings to find an opening in the beast's wide number of combos. However, when they did, they struck with powerful blows to the head. Each one of the attacks were quite powerful, both from the Battle and The Dazzlings. Each of them found themselves being knocked back against something by their opponents. The Dazzlings got swatted away by the Battle's backhand attacks whilst the Battle itself found itself knocked back by a combination of all three of The Dazzlings' sword swings at once. The Kids of Shadows watched as The Dazzlings continued wailing away on the Battle with rapid reactions and quick reflexes. All of the kids looked with both awe and surprise. They were awestruck with the fight that they saw, but were also quite surprised that The Dazzlings knew how to handle swords. The Battle reeled once more after another attack from The Dazzlings. It was now in rather large agony at this moment. Clutching its' wounds whilst scrambling to pick up its' axes once more. Seeing this massive opening, The Dazzlings charged towards the Battle and drove their swords straight through its' chest. When the beast groaned in pain once more, The Dazzlings pushed the blades up and down, cutting the Battle in three large pieces. Aria drove her sword downwards through the creature's lower areas, whilst Adagio and Sonata raised their swords straight through the Battle's face and eyes. Just like the beings before, the Battle didn't spill any blood, but had been cut clean open. Since it was no longer in a position to fight, the beast died by dissolving in a burst of red light this time. It seemed like red light consumed Dystopian beings, much to The Dazzlings' curiosity. The Kids of Shadows were about to come out and congratulate them, but them and all of the other kids didn't even move. At first, The Dazzlings thought they were still worried on what had happened, but were quite shocked to find that not only were the kids smiling, but they weren't blinking either. They looked at the nearby car which the Battle had destroyed. It was still there and still on fire, but not even the flames moved or crackled. There was only one explanation for all of this; time had stopped completely... "What the..." Aria looked shocked upon seeing nothing but herself and the rest of The Dazzlings being able to move throughout this bizarre and unnatural occurrence. Never in her life, even in the memories she was just now receiving, had she ever seen something as otherworldly as this. "Huh? Who's there?!" Adagio asked, seeing some footsteps among the grass that still moved in this time-stopped area of the world. She frantically looked around the stopped area of time and saw nothing but the rest of the world, frozen in place until the effects were lifted. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard above the heads of The Dazzlings. They looked up and saw a massive red portal with red lightning streaking out of it. At first they were completely shocked, but looked even more shocked when they saw five armoured figures dropping towards them with their swords drawn for a battle. Adagio, Aria and Sonata brought up their swords and pushed back against the five mysterious figures with such vigour and gusto that they threw the figures towards the nearby grass with their combined strength. "Who are you?" Adagio asked, wanting to know who these five mysterious figures were. "I demand you tell us who you five are right now. Should I get some stupidity on no names, I will spare no time in decimating the five of you." "And believe me, Dagi here stays true to her words, so you'd better tell us..." Sonata said, attempting to provoke the figures further. They merely got up from their position, in their armour with red streaks running down the sides. Their faces were completely obstructed by what looked like a combat helmet with red crystal horns poking out of the tops of them. Other than that, they looked like normal humans with otherworldly powers. Each of the figures raised their swords, showing the red crystal hilts that were used on The Dazzlings' swords. Every one of the swords also had an archaic marking in the middle of the hilt. On one hilt there were three balloons, one yellow with the other two blue. A second hilt showed three identical butterflies, with two others showing three identical jewels and three identical apples. The final hilt showed a cloud with a red, yellow and blue lightning bolt streaking down from it. "So you are who our masters are after..." one of the figures spoke, their voice seeming double-toned thanks to their helmet. Their helmets showed no emotions, so they could only tell The Dazzlings their emotions through their tone of voice. "You have your full powers back, Dazzlings..." another figure spoke, this time with the hilt that had the three butterflies on it. "It is time for you to uphold your destiny!" "Again with this stupid destiny crap!" Adagio said, showing hatred of her own at this point. "Whoa! Watch the language, Dagi!" Sonata said, trying to calm her Furen sister down upon seeing her seething rage. She'd seen others get angry, but she'd never seen Adagio get angry, at least not in her current age. "Sorry, Sonata. But I'm just not getting what this whole 'destiny' thing is," Adagio explained, calming down as she turned towards Sonata. "Ever since we've had to duel Courageour, we've been hearing nothing but 'destiny!', 'fate!' and 'the reason why we exist'! Somebody better explain to the three of us right now, or I'm gonna have the worst hissy fit possible!" "Infidelity again... Such a shame, really..." a figure said, hanging its' head in regret. After a few seconds of its' head hanging in that one spot, it and all the other figures raised their blades towards The Dazzlings. "Very well then, Dazzlings... If you will not obey, then we shall drag the three of you back to your brothers kicking and screaming for help!" "You could have done it the easy way, kids. But now this is the mess you find yourselves in..." the figure with the rainbow-coloured lightning mark on the hilt spoke, letting out little breaths as the figures all held their swords for battle. "Let's see if you're still worthy of the Right Souls of Fury, even after all these years..." MYSTERIOUS FIGURES The five figures suddenly charged towards The Dazzlings, their swords thrust forward as if to impale the three of them. They were about to pierce The Dazzlings when they brought their swords up and crossed blades with The Dazzlings' swords. Within seconds, the five figures were locked in intense combat with Adagio, Aria and Sonata. Their swords were brought down on each other at a rapid pace, and red sparks were seen lighting up the ground as the swords struck. Eventually, the beings jumped back and fired balls of Furen Magic at The Dazzlings. Adagio, Aria and Sonata met the balls of magic with their swords, slashing them right back at the figures, who slashed them back at The Dazzlings. It quickly turned into magic ball tennis, with The Dazzlings and the five figures slashing the now combined globe of Furen Magic back and forth. With every successful hit, the sphere travelled faster and faster, truly testing the other groups' reflexes to the fullest as the orb flew across the time-halted playground at colossal speeds now. Both groups knew that the other would have to stop eventually and take the full force of the orb's power. Eventually, Adagio knocked the orb into the sky, enabling Aria and Sonata to launch each other upwards so they could spike the ball towards the figures. Aria vaulted off of Sonata's hands, getting her to the optimal position to spike the ball. Once she was up that high, Aria charged up a powerful slash and spiked the ball at the figures, hitting all five of them with a powerful explosion upon impact. Each of the figures grunted every time they bounced off of the ground as they were launched towards different parts of the playground. They'd all landed in a rather cluttered mess around the playground as the five mysterious armoured warriors landed on their backs in rather undesirable agony. They all got up only to find that The Dazzlings dealt them repeated combo chains, harming them even further. Some of the figures tried to fight back, but in the end, they were all smashed together with one group attack from Adagio, Aria and Sonata. Once they were back up, they leapt up onto the roof of the building and put their hands together. "Mezzrianze Krinzelagrey!" the figures all said, letting out a red stream of Furen Magic behind them. Within seconds, the streams all combined, revealing a massive Hydra with pink, yellow, blue, orange, and white heads coming out of the main body. The five figures still had their consciousnesses, though, as they destroyed a part of the school for The Dazzlings to climb up and challenge them. "They're Furens?!" The Dazzlings spoke together as the clouds started to move once more. It seemed like only the clouds were moving though, as all the other areas in the vicinity were still locked in time. As they looked at the five mysterious figures with horror for a few moments, they then realized that they were still fighting them. Whilst they were climbing the rubble of the school, The Dazzlings all received a memory where the three of them combined their own Furen Magic to create a massive beast like that as well. It seemed like a long shot, but once they were up on the same roof, they put their hands together and uttered Lyrican themselves. "Cerezelgra Firenzre Mardrenel!" The Dazzlings all said, using their Furen Magic to conjure up a massive dog-like being with three heads. The heads all looked ferocious and were all different colours. Each one of the heads of the giant Cerberus was coloured in The Dazzlings' skin colour and had seething red eyes coming out of each head. "Seems like you're ready to take this to the next level..." one of the figures said once the beasts were onto the road in the far distance, out of the way of the fight on the roof. "Fine by us!" The fight began once again, with all of the figures chaining swords and magic together. It seemed like their attacks were only getting faster and faster with each successful swing and spell. It seemed like they were finally trying against The Dazzlings this time, instead of just letting them knock back one of their own spells. Adagio, Aria and Sonata charged forward, meeting the blades of the five figures with such ferocity and anger. Their attacks did seem rather hasty this time, but they were even more surprised when this time, they saw the figures vanished into thin air after a few slices and then immediately appeared behind them and slashed at their backs, causing them to let out grunts as they were knocked against the small edges of the school's roof. As they got up to their feet, they noticed that the Cerberus they summoned was starting to struggle in this fight as well. It was being constricted by the monstrous heads of the five figures' Hydra. Now it seemed like all of The Dazzlings' attacks and all of the five figures' attacks would determine how the fight in the background would play out. The five figures curled their hands together and lowered their heads, absorbing a massive amount of red Furen Energy out of nowhere. As they did so, the Hydra turned towards the roof and opened all five of its' mouths for a massive attack that would utterly decimate the school with one shot. As they charged up energy, five red Furen Magic orbs grew in the open jaws of the great beast. Seeing an opportunity here, The Dazzlings quickly dashed over to the five figures and dealt a massive string of at least fifty sword attacks, breaking the figures' concentration after at least the tenth attack. When their concentration was broken, the figures were bombarded with attacks from The Dazzlings, attacks which dealt considerable damage to the five of them. They looked back and saw that their Hydra was about to fire, but the Cerberus had broken free and was now brutally ripping into the necks of the giant Hydra with such ferocity. The Dazzlings dealt one last slash to the figures, knocking them backwards and making them crash against the short edges of the school as well. Once they did so, they saw the Hydra die in a massive flash of red light, before their Cerberus was destroyed by a massive torrent of Furen Magic fired by the five figures. "Zemla Kringraxe!" the five figures spoke before they grew their translucent Hippocampi wings and took towards the sky, where they could summon their next monsters. Within five seconds, five ferocious Hippocampi were soaring across the skies. One yellow, one blue, one orange, one pink, and one white. "Emzel Kringera!" The Dazzlings responded to that by calling out their own Hippocampi wings and extending their hair with their final transformation. With all this said and done, they took to the skies and called out their own Hippocampi for the fight ahead of them. Within the short span of thirty seconds, all eight of the fighters were winged, up in the air with their swords drawn, with their Hippocampi besides them for the grand fight ahead of them all. They all looked at each other with looks of confidence, confidence that they were going to win and defeat their opponents. Once they were up in the skies, the clouds began swirling around above them in a vortex-like fashion. Not only that, but winds began roaring and red rain began to fall from the skies. On top of all that, red lighting bolts appeared with ominous thunder cracks accompanying them all. "So, I guess this is it, huh?" Adagio smiled as she looked at her rather worthy opponents as they floated at least a hundred feet off of the ground. "Now it truly comes down to quality versus quantity..." "Indeed..." the figures all said, raising their blades and using their Furen Magic to widen the hilts and light the blade parts on fire. Once the fires were lit, the figures swung the blades around, showing off their newfound power. "Now destiny shall unfold..." With that last remark, all eight of the girls charged towards each other with their wings unfurled, their swords drawn, and their Hippocampi duelling in the background. As the eight pony-seahorse hybrids clashed in the background, The Dazzlings and the five figures blades kept smashing against each other with such force and ferocity. Both sides seemed like they didn't want to submit to the other, not at this final round in their little fight. The Dazzlings all co-ordinated their attacks rather well and put up a very good fight against the five figures, but the battle was pretty much even in the end. All of their attacks were met with similar slashes from the five figures, as if The Dazzlings were fighting against a mirror image of themselves. The thunder rumbled once more, resonating in all of the ears of the eight duellists. They shrugged this off and charged towards each other again, nimbly rolling in mid-air to avoid an attack and immediately deliver a powerful counterattack to whomever launched the first strike. It truly seemed like this was a final battle that could have gone either way, with both The Dazzlings and the five figures gasping for breath after another power struggle. They all looked at each other with such ferocity and rage, and watched as the world around them was affected by their Furen Energy. They could see that buildings were being pulled up from their position on the land, floating upwards towards the sky as if they were caught in some mighty black hole. Now they started to panic, as if they were all running out of time and wouldn't be able to explain any of this to any witnesses that were on the scene. However, they looked at each other one last time and curled up their arms in pure fury. Once they'd harvested enough Furen Energy, they all let out screams of utter fury before charging at each other once more. The Dazzlings' eyes were now blanketed in a radiant red glow, whilst they could also see similar red glows coming from the helmets of the five mysterious figures. They knew know that this was going to be their final attack, so they'd better make the most of this one last strike. Adagio, Aria and Sonata all charged towards their opponents, covered in a massive torrent of red energy. They zipped towards their opponents like mighty lasers, piercing the sky with their extraordinary speed and power. It didn't take long before they collided with their opponents and entered one last power struggle. Meanwhile, the Hippocampi all regrouped into their own groups and began charging up orbs of Furen Magic in their gaping jaws. They raised their heads up as they hit full power and all roared at the other group, combining their mighty streams of multi-coloured energy to create a massive spiral of Furen Magic. One stream was golden, purple, and light-blue, whilst the other stream was blue, yellow, pink, orange, and white. As the two streams collided, the amount of power that lit up the sky was devastating. It was as if the whole sky was illuminated by this light show of destruction. The roars continued for as long as the Hippocampi would hold out. As long as their controllers were fighting, they were fighting as well. The Dazzlings and the five figures let out one final scream of fury and unquenchable rage as they continued to push each other backwards with their ferocious power. As the scream finally intensified, a massive explosion of red Furen Energy consumed the entire city, leaving nothing spared... In the aftermath of that attack, The Dazzlings and the five figures found themselves locked in another plain of existence, where everything was all white and shone radiantly. They looked absolutely appalled to see that their opponents were still alive after that final struggle of immense power. They all panted for about a minute or two to catch their breaths. Once they were all calm and collected once more, they sheathed their swords and looked at each other with rather honourable looks. "I gotta hand it to ya. You really gave us quite a show..." Adagio complimented her opponents, who were still looking at her with blank expressions. "As did you, Dazzlings." one of the five figures spoke as a red portal opened up behind all of the figures once more. "Before we leave you, we shall impart with you another piece of your long lost past..." another of the figures said, addressing all of The Dazzlings with a rather impressed tone in their voice. "Come the resurrection, three Furens were reborn. However, they could only survive on others' scorn," one of the figures began speaking to The Dazzlings with another riddle. "They travelled Equestria, spreading spite and hatred. But they were soon stopped by Starswirl The Bearded..." "Trapped in new vessels with impure magic, they started a feud that became quite tragic," the figures spoke as they walked through the portal, dissolving into the red light they were travelling through. "A Battle Of The Bands was the game to attract. But for The Dazzlings, twas their last act..." "Wait!" The Dazzlings all reached out for the portal, but watched as it quickly shrunk and vanished. After that, it was replaced with a rather bright light, engulfing Adagio, Aria and Sonata in its' radiant shine... The next thing that Adagio, Aria and Sonata knew, they were back on the playground in the middle of the warm sun's rays. They were even more surprised to see such a sight, as if that battle with the five figures had never even happened... "What do you think that was all about?" Adagio asked her Furen sisters when they finally came back to reality and saw that all was silent, except for the cool wind, and the chirping birds. "What did they mean by 'Battle Of The Bands'?" "Search me, Dagi. I can't remember seeing that..." Sonata said, showing a rather curious look on her face as she scratched her head with her fingers. "Well, whatever it is, it involved the three of us, and that's a fact." Aria said, remembering that the five figures did mention The Dazzlings during that riddle back there. "I think we should ask Mommy and Auntie Twilight when we get back. Hopefully they'll know what they mean by that..." Adagio said as she ran her fingers through her long, golden hairdo. "Uhh, Adagio..." Topaz said, looking out of the meeting place at Adagio's back, seeing that there were some features that were still there. "What are those?" Adagio turned around and saw that Topaz had been looking at her back. Fearing the worst, Adagio felt her back, feeling a flesh-like thing sticking out of it, as well as some extended hair. She looked over at Aria and Sonata and saw that their wings and extended hair were still there, even after the fight's end. "Uhh..." Adagio started in a nervous tone of voice. She looked like she was trying to force a smile, but only showed nervousness in her voice as she spoke. "I can explain?"