//------------------------------// // Introducing Space Robocop // Story: And Then There Were 10...Er...67 // by Grey Ghost //------------------------------// “You know Jason, those dwarves were jerks,” Dash said as she exited the portal, with Jason and Twilight following behind. They had returned to the same area they had left from, the howling wind echoing through the mountain range. “Of course they are, they’re dwarves, what did you expect? The lollipop guild?” Jason asked, trying to keep his hair from blowing into his eyes. Meanwhile, as a certain group of heroes were in the mountains, a presence unlike any seen before appeared out in space. It was quiet at first, as was the norm of space, until a large thoom was heard. Out of the very inky blackness, a massive warship appeared. The ship itself was a rough U in shape, though some could mistake it for an abstract V. The ship’s hull was a dark metallic blue with chrome segments. Yellow lights flickered along its surface as it pulled into orbit around the planet of Gaia. Within the ship itself, many life forms were present. The life forms in question resembled humans, but there were vast differences. Their skin and bodies seemed to be garbed in purple body suits. Though their heads were human in shape, they were smooth and featureless metal domes. Silver metallic hands glided across buttons as a readout appeared on the screen. “Excellent, though this is Gaia,” a deep metallic voice boomed, “There is no sign of HIM. Lites, prepare to bring us in, It’s time to carry out Lord DerosS’s will. HAIL STAREATER!” The Lites stood as one and gave off a metallic ‘skree’ in agreement. “It’s so good to be home,” Dash said with a sigh as the trio returned to Ponyville, “Those tunnels were a nightmare.” “Yeah, I probably should have figured a pegasus would be rather claustrophobic inside of a mountain,” Jason said, running a hand through his hair, “Sorry about that.” “We still have to organize an official visit, Celestia will most likely want to forge an alliance with them,” Twilight piped up, still rather excited about meeting a new form of life. “I bet ol’ Sunbutt will,” Jason said with a chuckle, pointedly ignoring the glare Twilight gave him. “Hey guys, what’s that?” Rainbow asked, pointing up towards the sky with one of her talons. From above, breaching the cloud bank, a massive ship descended toward the town. Many ponies came out of their homes to look up, while others outside gawked. The ship leveled off at the height of Cloudsdale and halted. In a manner of moments a translucent beam of teal energy projected from the ship and touched the ground. What appeared within the area of the beam made many ponies back up - strange silver headed aliens, one hundred strong, stood at attention as one shape pushed through their ranks. The individual in question stood an imposing seven feet tall, built like a buff minotaur. His armor was a dark chrome and resembled smoothed tank plating. Two burning orange eyes scanned the crowd, the black plasma caster cannons on his shoulders whirring in a nervous twitch. “Attention lifeforms of Gaia,” the beast proclaimed, “Rejoice, for the glorious leader of our Empire has deemed me his representative. Therefore, on behalf of our Lord DerosS, I, Zeongzer request to speak with the one who calls themselves Princess.” “Yeah, I’m a prince,” Jason spoke up, moving closer, “Plus, I think you’re in the wrong place, this is Asgard,” he said, looking at him with a critical eye. Zeongzer’s eyes fixed on him. “You are among the leaders of this Equestria?” He turned to a Lite and bonked him on the head, “FOOL! You were to inform me if a human life sign was on this version!” The Lite skreed in an apologetic manner before Zeongzer closed the distance between the human, “What is your name, human?” The last word was spoken with venom. “Umm yeah... I’m not human,” Jason said crossing his arms, “I’m a Jotun, thank you very much,” Zeongzer scanned the ‘human’, its signature was strange. “I see. Very well, tell me your name then, Jotun.” “You may call me Corypheus,” Jason said, looking up at the ship. “May I ask why you are here?” Zeongzer stood tall and gestured to the Jotun. “I have come on behalf of my Lord to inform you that he has picked your planet as the newest addition to our vast empire. Your immediate surrender is recommended.” Pinkie, who was nearby, gently pushed a ‘Welcome Alien Friends’ cake out of sight. Jason just stared at him for a second before bursting out into a fit of laughter, “Oh thats pretty good, you know, the Incurseans said the same thing before we kicked them outta this universe,” Zeongzer stared at the being before him. His metallic face holding no emotion, Zeongzer nodded affirmatively. “Then your choice has been made.” Zeongzer then reached down, grasped the being by the throat, and threw him into a fruit stand. “Lites! Destroy them all!” Zeongzer snapped his claw like fingers, then the Lites rushed into town like a herd of angry buffalo. Their hands converted into hand blasters and sabers. “Flare Star!” Jason sprung from the fruit stand and fired off the spell. The explosion caught the Lites in it’s wake, incinerating them. “I will fucking kill you,” Jason snorted, glaring at Zeongzer. Zeongzer glanced at the being in mild fascination, “Hm, how irritating.” The ship then hummed with power as it beamed down more Lites. Unlike the first wave, their numbers matched the population of Ponyville and Canterlot combined. “That force was merely my escort.” Zeongzer turned to his opponent as his cannons started to heat up, raw plasma pooling at the front. “PUNISHER CRUSH!” Twin blasts of raw power plowed into the hero like a freight train as the Lites started their assault on the town. Jason grunted, having managed to block the blast with Laevateinn. The blade crackled and hummed, absorbing most of the energy. Jason snarled, cutting through the beam, his sword red hot and hissing angrily. Zeongzer growled in annoyance, “Insolent lower life form!” The general rushed the Jotun as a blade of pure electrified plasma sprouted from his wrist and they clashed swords. Meanwhile Lites were laying siege to the small town, ponies scrambling to protect their young as well as try to fight back. But the technology on the Lites, though not as advanced as Zeongzer’s, proved to be a challenge in itself. Rarity was using a massive boulder to crush as many as she could, but they kept coming. “They’re like roaches with lasers!” she screamed as one singed her mane. “Lower life form?” Jason asked with a laugh, “I’ll have you know the very first life form to appear in this universe was the first of my race.” He kicked the beast away, panting. “Omnitrix, Atomix,” he said, shifting into the large robotic creature. Zeongzer shook its head after regaining himself, “So, you can change can you? Interesting,” Zeongzer looked to the side, “But should you focus on me alone? It seems your comrades are having a hard time with my troops,” the tone was both a mocking and condescending one. “Oh but he’s not alone,” Chrysalis said. Firing a spell at Zeongzer, she launched him into a building. She turned to Jason with a smirk, “Twilight teleported to the hive and informed me about the situation.” Above them, a good portion of the hive flew out of the forest, aiding in the town’s defense. Zeongzer emerged from the rubble, his eyes burning red, “Enough of this foolishness!” Once more, a teleporting beam from the ship appeared, but this one was continuous. Lites poured out in droves, joining their comrades as Zeongzer started to fire on Jason and his comrades. Only this time, he was sending explosive plasma rounds in the area near and around them. “To trifle with me is to court death!” The explosions rocked the ground, knocking several of the defenders out of the sky, into the ground, or sent them hurtling to parts unknown in town. “Alright, I’m starting to get pissed,” Jason said, firing several nuclear blasts at Zeongzer. Zed had come to her masters aid, tearing into the Lites in the form of Buglizard. Zeongzer grunted as the blasts rained down on him, the smoke obscuring him. The smoke was blasted away as a Punisher Crush plowed into Atomix. The robotic being was sent sprawling from the sudden attack, forcing Jason to revert from the sheer impact. Zeongzer closed the distance, blasting the Jotun’s allies aside like flies. “Hm, you see now,” he planted his boot on Jason’s chest as hydraulic muscle bore down, “Resistance is pointless.” The ship started to rain down shots on the town, “Surrender,” a point blank Punisher Crush started to charge. “I live to die in combat, I will not yield,” Jason glared, starting to charge an Ultima spell. “Can you say the same?” he asked, not a trace of fear in his eyes. “I live and breathe death,” Zeongzer stated, “From me, more will come, you will lose!” As the Punisher Crush was about to fire, a massive crack was heard. From in front of the StarEater general, a Time Vortex opened. Something quickly emerged from the vortex. “HIYA!” A white shoe planted itself firmly in the face of the robo, knocking it over and causing the blast to shoot into the sky. The being landed and stood tall. The person looked eighteen, wearing a grey coat with a silver G on the lapel over his heart. He wore dark blue jeans and white sneakers. His brown eyes focused on the downed Jotun as his medium length brown hair blew in the mild breeze, revealing a small ponytail in the back. “Hey dude,” he bent down and offered his hand, “you alright?” “Yeah,” Jason said, getting to his feet, cracking his neck, “I was more or less holding back. I take it these are your guys?” The young man nodded, “Yeah more or less, Zeongzer here took a ship out of my Equestria and went Celestia knows where. Then a friend dropped me a line and told me they were headed here. Long story short,” he pointed a thumb at the growling general, “he wants to take over your planet, use all the stars in this galaxy as fuel and move on.” He raised a hand to the Jotun, “By the way, name’s Gavin Brooks, nice to meet ya.” “Jason Hughes, a pleasure,” Jason said taking his hand, giving it a shake. Zeongzer glared with hatred at Gavin. “You!” Gavin stepped forward, “Me!” He looked at Jason and smiled, “Watch this.” Gavin raised a fist to his his chest, “Electroplate!” He then struck a pose as a cloud of shining silver particles formed onto his body to reveal what he had become. “Alright, since not many of you on this Equestria know me. A little introduction,” he gestured to the ponies who were looking. “I’m Gavin Brooks, but to my enemies and friends I also go by the name of Space Sheriff.” He then raised a fist at Zeongzer, ”GAVAN!” The Lites froze as they turned and looked at their shining silver combat suited nemesis. Gavan turned to look at Jason, “Ready to beat these clowns?” “You know, I was gonna tear these guys apart limb from limb, but then you went all sentai on me so, why don’t I indulge a little?” Jason asked. Planting his sword in the ground, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a small object. “A moment please,” he said, revealing the object to be a power morpher. “It’s morphin’ time!” he shouted, going through the motions and activating it. “Dragonzord!” there was a flash and where Jason stood was now the green power ranger. Gavan stood in mild surprise for a moment, “Sentai...” he pointed at Jason, “Oh! You mean Power Rangers! Dude that’s awesome! Frankly though I don’t know what this is,” he gestured to his combat suit, “I just sort of...” Zeongzer let loose a massive Punisher Crush at the two as both tucked and rolled out of its way. Gavan looked over at Jason, and merely nodded as he reached to his fist and unsheathed a sword from under it. The sword’s hilt was black and yellow with a smooth flawless blade and it had no crossguard to speak of. Gavan stood up as the blue digital lines lit up on the black segments of his chest, and two neon blue eyes flashed to life in his blackened visor. Leveling his sword, he stood beside his comrade in arms. Jason summoned the dragon dagger and grabbed his sword, “This is gonna be good,” Jason smirked behind his helmet. Gavan then released a mighty yell and charged forward, Jason following his pace, both their weapons raised. Behind them a massive explosion rocketed into the sky, courtesy of a missed shot from the ship. Gavan leapt at Zeongzer, bringing his sword down hard on the creature, sparks flying as the Zeongzer summoned his arm’s sword and started to clash with the Space Sheriff. He glanced at Jason who attacked Zeongzer’s blind spot, “Nice one!” The Space Sheriff ducked under a swing and raised his right hand and extended his middle and index finger, “Laser Z Beam!” A beam of white triangles hit Zeongzer square in the chest forcing him toward Jason. Jason leapt forward, using the energy his sword had absorbed earlier to empower his attacks, slicing at the beast. Gavan leapt into the air and extended both his fists toward Zeongzer, “Dimension Bomber!” He plowed his fists into the beast, knocking him for a loop. Chrysalis, taking the opportunity, fired a focused beam that decimated Zeongzer’s right shoulder cannon. Gavan landed and slashed the other to pieces. Gavan looked to Jason who jumped to his side and they both delivered twin kicks to the StarEater General, knocking him down hard. Gavan brought his fingers to his blade and dragged them along it, bright blue energy consuming it with electricity crackling off it. “Laser Blade.” His eyes glowed in sync with the sword, “Let’s end this, partner.” Jason smirked as he powered down. “Knock him into the sky for me will ya?” Jason asked Gavan nodded as he rushed Zeongzer. “Gavan Upperpunch!” A powerful uppercut sent the damaged monster into the air as Gavan jumped up and front flipped, bringing his sword down. “GAVAN DYNAMIC!!!” Zeongzer yelled in agony as the attack critically damaged him, then his eyes fell on the smirking Jotun, “No...” Jason held his arm up, a multicolored distortion building at his palm, “Ultima!” he shouted as the distortion flew out of his hand. It cut through Zeongzer, then his ship, both of which exploded in a massive explosion, shaking most of the buildings in town. Gavan landed and fist pumped, “Yes!” The Lites all stared around, their source of numbers and command all but destroyed now. Gavan turned to Jason, “What do you think, give them a ten second head start?” Jason pursed his lips, “Lets give them fifteen, just to be fair.” Gavan started counting. After the massive clean up of Lites and wreckage, Gavin was dusting himself off as he stood before the Time Vortex. He glanced back at the destruction and sighed. “Damn it,” he kicked a rock, “If I had just gotten here earlier...” He shook his head. “Hey, this isn’t the worst that's happened here, be glad you weren’t here when the knights rebelled or that crap with Eclipse and Fenrir,” Jason said with a sigh, shaking his head. “So... how long have you been Displaced for?” Gavin shrugged, “Displaced is an odd word for it, in my terms I guess I was just called.” He smiled. “But I say bout now... been at this for a month. And we’re no closer to beating StarEater.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, “We?” Gavin nodded as he half stepped into the vortex, “I have two partners. One’s a bit of a jerk at times, the other is a nice girl. Both are Space Sheriffs like me.” Gavin looked into the vortex and for the briefest instance, everyone saw another Ponyville, in a more repaired condition. On the other side, two individuals stood, one in red armor, the other in blue. Gavin tilted his head, “What? You serious...? Crap.” He looked back to Jason. “Hey, there’s a bit of a situation over there. But just to be fair, here,” he passed Jason a blue card with three names on it. ‘Gavan, Sharivan, Shaider.’ “If you need me, us, or just one of em,” he made a phone gesture, “drop us a line.” He raised his fist in a fist bump gesture. Jason returned the fist bump and tossed him a Unitrix core. “Use that if you ever really need any help,” Jason said with a nod. “Good luck, Jason. Hope we can fight again soon.” He stood in the portal as it closed, waving. “You take care. May the winds of victory always be at your back and the blood on your sword never dry,” Jason said, giving a salute. The portal closed, and a new friendship was formed. Then, with a bright flash, Celestia appeared. She gazed around at Ponyville’s condition and facehoofed with a sigh. “So, what was trying to invade us this time? I want details.”