//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Rough Ride // Story: The first 6: Game Changers. // by frutineo //------------------------------// CHAPTER ONE: Rough Ride. Peace; such an easily disrupted state, you do not have to do much to upset it; a famine here, economic backlash there, religious fundamentalism, racial profiling, it can be disrupted by even some of the core emotions in any sentient beings existence: Greed, fear, rage. That is what Twilight Sparkle had gathered in the few weeks after the avatar of chaos incarnate had escaped his prison, followed by his subsequent recapture when she and her friends had wielded the items known as ‘the Elements of Harmony’ foolishly she had thought that the worst was in the past. Reality could not be farther from the truth; after word of their exploits had reached the world, fear began to spread, threats arrived each week, extremist groups where afraid that such power was in the hooves of young inexperienced and sometimes hostile. Now Twilight stood inside a shielded barn stepping into a carefully designed summoning circle with her best friends in an attempt to bring them what she could never offer them by herself, safety. “Twi” the brash Pegasus named Rainbow Dash complained not for the first but in Twilights mind the last time if she had anything to say about it. “This is by far the dumbest thing you have ever thought” Rolling her eyes the purple unicorn spoke. “Thanks for the vote of confidence Dash; you should really be a motivational speaker” “Don´t listen to her Twilight, she is…” “Don´t Rarity, she is just…” *sigh* “Dash for the last time, if we are going to be travelling emissaries then we are going to need protection, protection that I doubt the Royal Guard can provide and that is final! No more complaining, no more fussing and certainly. NO MORE WHINING! Got that?” the young mage said as she stepped closer to the rainbow maned mare. Said mare just hunched over, looking embarrassed. “Twi; I know that you are worried and everything, but is it necessary to do such a thing? We ARE the elements of Harmony” “And yet Discord managed to manipulate us, Nightmare Moon was too awestruck to do anything and if you need reminder that she moved both the SUN and the MOON! Without any effort, the elements are just tools we use and win against ultimate evils, in this case we can´t rely on them, and I doubt even you can take on dozens of ponies, let alone other species that might want to hurt us” The purple unicorn just stood in a set position scrawled upon the floor of the barn (1) “Please put yourselves into positions” at the same time she levitated a large crystal above the pattern, this was specifically enchanted by the unicorn so it would provide enough energy to her spell. ___------ Outside the barn a large group of this worlds inhabitants gathered under the ever growing shade the orchards trees gave, they didn´t spoke for their instructions were clear, by any means necessary. The shield would be though to destroy but not impossible and it was far away enough as to not warrant any unwanted attention by neither the residents nor the guards stationed nearby, all was set they just needed to wait until the ritual was complete so their chances would improve. The leader of the group looked at a single yellow filly running in the distance. “Bring her” one of the thugs at his disposal; a tall Minotaur of brown coloration looked at him. “Leverage, we don´t want to fail and she is sister of the mare of honesty, if she is to surrender to something, it would be to her sister in peril. And no we won´t kill her, but she does not need to know that” Reluctantly the brown mass of muscles ran after the youngster, the others just stood at a side waiting for the moment to strike. ___------ Twilight Sparkle started chanting in a low voice, the crystal that floated above them began to shine and hum a little; the pattern drawn on the floor began to pulse in several colors and a bubble encased each and every mare standing over it; the humming started to intensify as well as the light that came from the crystal. In a flash a large amount of energy crossed through every mare, making their eyes turn white and their coats to light up; a large portal appeared before them, its rim a veritable array of colors and inside it was a swirling cloud of thaumatic energy which flashed once. ___------ Sawada Tsunayoshi was feeling incredibly unlucky; it had been just a few days ago that he had received the complete Sky Ring of the Vongola and he was eager to forget that it had happened; Unfortunately Reborn had other ideas for this day, now he was following Verde, the lightning Arcobaleno trough his laboratory alongside his personal trainer; Arcobaleno of the Rain, Colonello. “I still don´t know why I have to be here” Complained the young Japanese boy for the second time in the day (2) “I was supposed to meet Haru later today for a picnic to celebrate my recovery” “Hey kid I know how much not being with the girl you like sucks but Verde asked for your presence” Colonello said from Tsuna´s side “Maybe this will end soon enough-kora and we will be able to run all the way to the park” “THE PARK IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TOWN!!!” “The perfect exercise for a young boy recovering from life threatening injuries-kora” the baby said with a resolute nod. Tsuna just lowered his head in defeat. “Shush you two” the green haired baby said. “We have arrived” At this a pair of giant metal doors opened revealing a capsule like machine with to handles on the inside. “This is the flame collector” the scientist said with pride. Tsuna and Colonello stared at the machine without much interest and the baby spoke. “So… why are you going to use it for? Besides the obvious” “Ah! Yes well you see I have started to analyze the energies given by the Bovino family´s ten year bazooka” At this Tsuna shivered a little “And I have a theory that if I were to infuse a different kind of flame into the shell it would end up creating a different effect, so far the infusion of other flames via indirect means has yielded negative results because the flames wither fast” “So you thought that using a direct source would yield better results” Colonello said getting an affirmative nod from Verde. “That’s it Tsuna we´re getting the hell outta dodge-kora!” both of them did a 180 turn ready to depart. “Wait” Verde called. “If you do this for me then I promise that I will not seek the help of your friends Tenth!” Tsuna stopped mid-step and turned to face the green haired infant; as far as Tsuna was concerned Verde´s idea was dangerous at best, he also knew that if he stepped outside none of his friends or allies would help on such an endeavor… then again they were trusting and naïve to a fault, maybe they wouldn’t help him… knowingly that is. Tsuna took a deep breathe. “Fine” he knew that Verde will always pay his debts in full. “But you are to ask neither Vongola nor their allies to help you with this experiment after I am finished” “I swear it Tenth.” Tsuna sighed in relief and walked to the machine. Colonello wanted to stop him but one look at the young Japanese boy and all complaints died in his throat. Verde handed a bottle with a few pills to the successor of the Vongola Famiglia “The process is simple; you will stand inside the machine and will place your hands on the stands after you take one of those “Dying Will” pills” Tsuna looked at the pills recognizing them immediately as the pills used by a friend before the inheritance battles started, they were used instead of the normal bullets Reborn would shoot at him, Sawada thanked heaven for that little miracle and put the bottle into his pocket. He took one pill, pulled out his mittens and put them on, once the pill took effect the mittens transformed into a pair of dark metal gloves embroidered with an X at the back of the hands, he raised his hands to his forehead which had an orange flame and they immediately caught fire. Once inside the capsule he prepared to feed it the energy needed, above him a shell of the aforementioned bazooka lowered connected to the pillars he now gripped. “Let´s begin; I have somewhere else to be” Verde didn´t say anything he just pressed a button and the capsule closed itself. “Begin” was all that Tsuna needed to hear and he started to feed the flame of the sky to the machine, in his desperation he poured a heavy amount of energy to the machine, the shell started to crack and heat in an uncontrollable manner, before he could even say anything a bright flash of light enveloped him and the machine exploded in a shower of glass and fire. Verde and Colonello stepped out of their cover and glanced at the destruction in front of them. “We are in trouble-kora” Verde just nodded calculating how long it would take him to build a space ship for 2 babies and what point of the known universe was safe for them to hide into. Reborn was going to be PISSED! -_-_-_-_-_- The barn flashed once and the assailants stood outside some of them getting restless. “When are we gonna strike?” The leader sat patiently “Until it is finished; we come in too soon and they might still defeat us” The inside of the barn flashed once more. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- A man garbed in black with a bat like cape crouched over the roof of a warehouse of Dakota city, waiting for his backup to arrive; truth be told, he felt he didn’t need it but it was safer to bring someone along in case it hit the fan, and in this line of work, it often did. His waiting gave fruit as he saw the sparks that flew off of a metal plate; a metal plate that belonged to the hero of Dakota city: Static Shock. He had met the young Virgil when he helped him track down two Femme Fatales that had fooled a friend of the boy to do the dirty work for them, in the end the girl was saved and she had joined the ranks of the new Teen Titans and she could still carry on with her normal life. Recently the Justice League asked him to refill the power batteries on their space station and had helped them battle and defeat the supervillain: Brainiac, not once but twice. “Hey Batman, how´s it going?” the electrical superhero greeted, the Dark Knight had begun to like the kid so he felt safe to ask for some help. “What are we doing tonight?” Batman suppressed a smile and looked at a side. “I have been following an old nemesis of mine called Ra´s Al Ghul to this warehouses, he appears to be planning to do something to the city but I haven´t found out what exactly; only thing I know is that he has a stolen warp tube technology and he is planning on testing it soon” “Then we better stop him before he-” the electric hero tried to say but a deep and imposing voice cut him off. “Does any harm to my city” both heroes turned down to see that at the entrance of a nearby alley a man garbed in a green and golden cloak surrounded by 4 men of varying heights and body types clad in black clothes; one of them had a weird gun strapped to a metal backpack. “Or something along those lines; you heroes are all alike, nothing original to say” the man looked at the both heroes before him. “I always thought you were more careful with who you ask help to, Detective”. Both heroes lowered to the floor wary of the man in front of them. “Be careful Static, those guys are trained assassins, the very best of the best; do not underestimate them” the Batman whispered to the young hero before addressing his nemesis. “What are you planning Ra´s? You know that using tube tech is unstable if messed with” The head of the Demon chuckled deeply until he started laughing loudly. “Detective, what do you do to an ingrown toenail? You remove it of course!” the old man replied with an uncanny natural tone. Virgil got upset and fearful of the man even after having just met him moments ago. “What are you implying?” he managed to say without stuttering. “This machine once I have it made to its full size it will move these wretched citizens that hurt this beautiful planet; and it will finally be time for mother nature to heal itself!” the man said with a flair. The air began to smell like ozone, the hairs in the head of Ra´s al Ghul began to shift and his skin prickled; looking back at the heroes he saw that the young black hero was outputting a massive amount of energy. “Where?” the boy asked; rage filling the words that escaped his throat; not missing the beat Ra´s answered without showing any fear. “Where else boy? The people in those buildings shall become fuel for our mighty sun to burn, what else would we use those leeches for? That way the chosen ones shall serve as this planet´s protector!” ´I have made a miscalculation´ was the first thing that Ra´s Al Ghul had in mind after taking a look at the young hero once more; ´thankfully I have an insurance´. “What are you planning to do boy? Attack me and save your city? Do you really think it will be that easy?” The electrons in the vicinity gathered and started to shock all men around Static, even the ever inflexible Batman was starting to become afraid of what might happen if this carried on. “Always have been that way, always will be” Power exploded from within him. “HEAR THAT OLD MAN?!” Ra´s laughed softly. “It would have been, UNTIL YOU FACED ME!” on queue 4 more men leaped from the shadows and started attacking Static Shock, their garments were made of insulating material, Batman jumped and attacked those, Static defended himself with metal bars and a manhole that laid nearby. The man with the gun took aim at the heroes. “Take care of the Detective, he is the biggest threat” The grunt nodded and pulled the trigger, the weapon gathered energy and began to buzz and there was a sudden change in the atmosphere, a change that Static felt, he glanced at a side and in an impressive use of his abilities, he rushed in front of Batman and shot a huge amount of energy to the machine. The tube tech gun was overloaded and the grunt lost control of the machine, it fired to the open sky and began to open a portal that got out of control and began sucking air and trash to the air. “It overloaded!” Batman yelled over the noise of air being sucked into the portal. “What can we do?” “You need to get near it and use a manhole to gather as much energy as possible, but you will need to do it fast, or else the portal would take you as well!” Virgil nodded and floated as fast as possible and began his task. Suddenly as soon as the electric hero got near the portal it expanded and enveloped the young hero sucking him slowly, he looked at the Dark Knight. “Gear, Permafrost and Rubber-band, tell them to carry on with my work!” In a flash it was over, no hero, no portal, no evidence; Batman was the only one left in that dark alley, contemplating how once again he had failed to save someone he cared about. And once more in his life, he fell to his knees in utter defeat. -_-_-_-_- In the far reaches of space, above one of the many interpretations of planet Earth, sat the beautiful Lucy, looking at her chosen, waiting, presenting herself with an incredible dilemma… “How the HECK! am I going to transport him away from here?” contemplation was not really her strong suit. “I should have asked for help” She felt a third ripple in the fabric of reality. “Dammit! Now I am glad I´d asked for the last turn” -_-_-_-_- Below the city of New York, even deeper than the smelly sewers, there lays a maze of underground caverns dug by the once terrible ´Foot Clan´ where they experimented on humans, even deeper in the earth the ancient Y'Lyntians lived in an underground city and it was in this chamber that 5 warriors found themselves in an information gathering and experimentation mission. The leader: Leonardo; The strong: Raphael; The genius: Donatello; The partying dude: Michelangelo; and finally their master and father: Splinter. All walking leniently taking their time, with neither monsters nor the ancient dwellers making any kind of trouble; that way they could take their time. “Amazing my sons” Their father started. “And you say that you have known of this place for several months?” he softly glared at them. “An excellent training ground and you failed to tell me?” The four humanoid turtles tried desperately to look innocent to no avail. “Well, let´s get started then; and no complaining” his sons sighed in defeat as their mission transformed into a training session in the span of a second. Hours passed and the 4 turtles were already exhausted but one last match was afoot, Splinter: their teacher and father. VS. Leonardo: the eldest son and leader of their group. It was a match between sword-masters; it had been going for 10 intense minutes and to one that had never seen such a match it was one of the most impressive fights ever, to the other turtles however…. This was a monthly ritual so they were just resting. “My son, you have improved a lot after your last match” the Sensei dodged a wide swing from Leonardo and stopped a few with his own sword. “But you should also know that real fights are different from sparring matches and there are things you must do to win” His tail swung and sand reached his son´s eyes. “Like cheating!” finally the old master swung his body in a double kick that sent his son flying against a wall. The wall crumbled and the leader of the group landed hard on the ground. “I´m alright!” he said from behind the wall; and took his time to stand up and sheath his swords, and took a long look at the room he had landed; A room filled with runic symbols and crystals and machines. “Donatello, you better come here“ He didn´t manage to finish his sentence. A flash of light by one of the crystals the room powered the room and a blinding light covered the room. Once the light show was over the rest of the turtles and their master entered the room. “LEO?!” his brothers yelled as they entered. And no evidence on where their brother was. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- “DAMMIT!” Lucy yelled “Come on kid!! You need to reach your destination FAST!” her desperation was getting the best of her. “Should´ve started doing this earlier. Another ripple in reality. “I KNOW I KNOW!” -_-_-_-_-_-_- Izuku Midoriya, once a student of the renowned ´Yuuei Hero Academy´ but as of right now he is at the end of a month long recovery break because of injuries sustained in the world renowned ´Sports Festival´ “Izuku my love!” his mom bellowed from the first floor. “Dinner is almost ready, I just need soy sauce if you could be a dear and bring it from the store I would be much grateful” Izuku smiled; it had been bad enough to have her so worried at his injuries all the while he was in bed, and even worse when she had caught him doing exercises when he wasn´t supposed to. But Izuku had a mission and an incredible burden. “Sure mom I ´ll be right back” But mom didn´t need that kind of burden, this was the price of his resolution. “While you are there, buy something nice for your girlfriend!” Izuku missed a step halfway through the stairs and fell all the way to the lobby landing with a resounding ´UF!´. “IZUKU!” a girl yelled and kneeled beside him. In his daze Izuku recognized her as Ochako Uraka his friend from the Yuuei academy; the only one who had visited him more than 3 times a week while in his bedridden state “Hey Uraka” he said awkwardly noticing a slight blush from her face. “I apologize; my mom got the wrong idea about…” She stopped him. “It´s no problem, I might have gotten the same idea if I was in her place” somehow her cheeks got even redder. “I mean…” An awkward silence filled the air and Izuku´s mother entered the room as to change the mood. “Well, are you not going to the store?” both teenagers got up in a split second. “I also left some extra so you can bring a cake, we are celebrating your full recovery and I already made enough for the 3 of us so don´t take long” Both apprentice heroes left in a hurry as to avoid any more awkward situations; halfway to the store they started to take a more leisurely pace. “So…” Uraka started. “It´s great to see you up and running again Izuku!” “Ye - Yeah! It´s great to be better” another awkward silence permeated the air around them. “U-Uraka…” said Izuku clumsily and the girl asked him what was it that he wanted, in a soft tone. “I wanted to thank you for coming to see me; it was great to know that you were there for me, I didn´t really saw you guys all that much” “Well with homework and hero exercises taking up most of our daily routines we barely have time for ourselves, but for you… I had to make time” she ended in barely a whisper. Izuku heard it and blushed, for a brief moment he looked at his friend, she was courageous, friendly, and now more than ever beautiful beyond measure and in the blink of an eye Izuku leaned and kissed her, a kiss that Uraka accepted. It had been just a few seconds, but the kiss felt like it had lasted for several hours once they separated they looked at each other, breathless. “How disgusting” a voice startled them, a voice that Izuku recognized; the leader of the ´Villain Alliance´ that attacked them during the first days of training in the academy: Black Mist “You are truly a disgusting being” Midoriya stepped in front of his friend. “And now you are trying to protect her, foolish and ultimately futile” he snapped his fingers and 3 more supervillains appeared from the shadows. “It seems to me that we have you surrounded, surrender now Izuku Midoriya, don´t make us hurt you” The young hero looked at the gathering of villains; his mind raced to think of a way out without making himself useless; he glanced at a side and saw an electric transformer and he took action. “Sorry Uraka” before she could even reply he increased the size of his arm and threw the young heroine high to the air, using just half his strength allowed him to just feel numb rather than having it broken. In a sudden leap he reached the electric post and broke his middle finger to make it fall and to leap himself the distance between him and ´Black mist´. Izuku grabbed black mist by the throat. “It seems that you have made a miscalculation once again” he smiled, an insufferable, cheeky and cocksure smile that only an insufferable hero can make. “You should have taken me when I was in the hospital, now you are going to regret it” the other villains were dumbstruck and failed to notice the falling transformer. It reached the ground and the electrical discharge reached both youngsters, Midoriya being virtually unharmed because he was wearing his training boots which where insulated, the villain and his portal not so much; suddenly the teleportation hole overloaded and it increased in size, Midoriya on pure reflex launched the villain out of reach of the portal but he was enveloped by it. Once it disappeared the villains took their leader and scrambled, they didn´t wanted to be caught by heroes and their means of transport was out for the count. And their target was missing in action, things couldn´t get worse. Floating away from the scene, in direction of his friend house, Urakara cried the loss of his new boyfriend. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- In the confines of Canterlot Castle the regent sisters of Equestria felt a powerful shift in the magical energy of the atmosphere. The eldest sighed in contemplation the youngest just stared at the quaint little town named Ponyville. “Dos Thou really think it necessary?” she glanced at her sister and saw no response. “She is amazing for re-creating the means of summoning but is she powerful enough to link the creatures she summons forth to them?” again no visual answer. After mere moments the alabaster Princess answered. “Even if I had forbid it, she would have done so, it´s due time she takes risks and I am amazed that it hadn´t come to this extremes until now” a new ripple in the energies of the world was felt by the two god like entities. “Let us hope this is enough for them to survive” both sisters sat at the balcony feeling the cool breeze flowing around them. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- In other part of the multiverse, inside an old loft a group of avengers called ´The Ultimates´ where giving a final goodbye to a man that had travelled from another dimension, Peter Parker started to step into the portal and looked back. Looking at his counterpart from another dimension he told the young boy in the black version of his costume. “Don´t let anyone clone you. Seriously; and only date one girl at a time.” The amazing Spiderman started counting with his fingers. “And – and if you find out a guy named Doctor Octopus is going to marry my Aunt May – stop it. And once you beat up the bad guy leave the crime scene as soon as possible because they´ll try to make you clean it up” Miles Morales also known as the Spiderman started to make mental notes. “And wash your costume, like, daily, because it WILL get funky and people will make fun of you” “Finally never, EVER, lend money to any one named Wolverine, or Mockingbird; You´ll never see it again” he sighed deeply. “Thanks for everything and take care” he waved goodbye once more and stepped through the portal, and he disappeared into his dimension. The other heroes looked at the now powerless device on the floor and started moving about, taking the infamous villain ´Mysterio´ to captivity, meanwhile a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, their leader: Nick Fury and 3 heroes remained in the loft, Tony Stark, also known as ´Iron Man´; Steve Rogers: ´Captain America´; and the afore mentioned new ´Spiderman´: Miles Morales. Miles was mingling about the room looking at the network of computers connected to the dimensional portal device with mild interest, Iron Man looked at him. “Let it out kid” Miles looked at him surprised. “I know you have a question, even with your mask on, come on and ask away” Miles looked at the machine once more and took off his mask. “How do you think he does it?” now it was Stark´s turn to look puzzled. “I mean…” Miles hesitated a second. “How does he put up with villains that will go to such extents as to travel to different dimensions so as to get rid of him?” Tony was ready to answer but Captain ´America´ (3) beat him to it. “He does because he suffered a great loss early in life and that loss gave him wisdom and a drive to do what is right! He wasn´t just some child eager to play with his new powers” all the agents stopped what they were doing, some looked uncomfortable, other were already wishing for a supervillain to attack the city and dispel the super beings from this location, the remaining were wondering the last time they had updated their will. Before the situation could get any more stressful, Nick Fury stepped behind the Captain and grabbed his shoulder. “Cap. We need to talk” Steve Rogers looked at him from over his shoulder and complied not without giving a glance at the young new hero. Miles looked more than a little abashed and followed the Captain with his eyes until they stepped outside. “Did I do something wrong?” the boy asked the armored man. Antonio Stark with all his wit and intellect was as surprised as the rest of the people in the room, in the very few decades of his life he could effectively count with one hand the amount of instances he had taken more than 10 seconds to answer to a question out of pure surprise. Now he counted, this was the first time it had taken him 15 solid seconds to answer one simple question to someone who had recently hit puberty. “Don´t worry kid, he always had been someone hard to get along with, Cap is so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond; in the meantime, care to help me out a bit?” “I am going to be punished for not coming home early, might as well make the most out of this night” Miles said as he pulled his mask above his head. “Atta boy! That´s the spirit!” Tony said as he clapped his metal gauntlets. “Now please pull those energy conduits from the machine and help carry it to the containers” “You want me to carry heavy stuff for you?” “Only if you want me to have a cover story as for why you are arriving so late to your house” “OK BOSS!” yelled the young half Hispanic boy. “You got it!” Stark chuckled and began mingling with the other systems that were around the impromptu base of operations and detected a bit of programming that looked really fishy, he tapped the line of code in his holographic-display and all of the sudden the machine powered up. “Oh no…” He turned around as fast as he could and tried to launch himself at the boy moving around the portal but an explosion stopped him, a vortex of six colors surrounding a white vortex of energy appeared and pushed away all the agents in the room. All the people on the room crawled away from the device, all except the boy that was the closest to it, who also happened to be enveloped by the energy from the portal, the vortex started to swallow the boy and in the last moments of the portal´s burst Captain America, Nick Fury and Iron Man saw how the boy was swallowed whole and the machine exploded in a shower of shrapnel and sparks. Once the air settled; the one eyed man closed the distance between him and the millionaire. “WHAT DID YOU DO STARK?!!” Tony just stared at the space that once occupied the young hero and for the second time in that day he failed to answer immediately. “I don´t know” -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The outside of the barn was surrounded by the group of shady individuals looking to the flashes of light that emanated from the inside of the building. “Be ready, as soon as the light disappears we strike” A final flash appeared from the barn. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- In the confines of a mountain range, in a secret armory of the once leader of the Crystal Gems: Rose Quartz; there stood six figures and a feline; an adult male by the name of Greg Universe, a girl named Connie Meshawaran, the pink Lion… Lion. The last figures though were the ones more interested in being in the room. Garnet: the de-facto leader, calm, precise and the most level headed of the group; Pearl: elegant, fluid, intelligent and incredible high strung; Amethyst: short, on temper, stature and attention span, easy going and fun to have around; The last of the figures was a boy no more than 12 in age, he was a mix of half alien and half human DNA, his name: Steven Quartz Universe. “I hope we can get something here to help us with earth´s defenses” said the young boy. “Worry not Cutie Pie” Garnet reassured him. “I think that at the very least we can give something to the Human militia, we could use their support and it is due time that we fight together as a team rather than doing thing by ourselves” “So long as there are no more of those training robots” said Steven in a whisper. As he placed his hand on the control pedestal and it hummed. Connie (Steven´s special friend) walked up to him. “Remember what we discussed Steven, so long as you don´t ask for it, we won´t have to worry” she got closer to his ear. “Besides…” Steven could feel her warm breath; a few of the present were getting blushes. “I have been wanting to…” she got her face away from Steven´s “DO THIS!” Suddenly Steven got attacked by a barrage of fingers all over his body tickling him which had the effect of making all kinds of weapons and assorted things to appear or disappear; in between bouts of laughter he managed to ask her what her problem was. “This is for making me worry and trying to make me think you didn´t like me” As Steven held his laughter back and tried to reply to Connie but was interrupted by Pearl screaming out loud. “What is it Pearl?” Pearl just pointed at the pedestal that occupied the dais; it was a platform of multiple colors that had a pedestal with an indentation for a blade and two holes shaped like a pair of feet. “What- is that?” “I don’t know Steven” the slender gem said ignoring a comment of that being a first. “But it seems to be like one of the warp stream bases we use, but why would Rose keep something like this?” Steven took his hand off of the pedestal and walked over to the base and examined it. “I don´t know Pearl; If it was just a warp pad, then why hide it here?” Steven became contemplative. “MAYBE THIS PAD ACTIVATES A SUPER WEAPON!” “What are you talking about Steven?” “Well Amethyst think about it” Steven started to say. “If it was a Warp pad why does it seems to need my mom´s sword? Maybe I can activate it and see if it can help us, and if it’s dangerous we just pull the plug and that’s it; what do you say?” The Crystal Gems began to ponder about it and Steven´s father approached him with a worried expression. “Son, ehhh; do you really think this is a good idea; I mean all this magic stuff is dangerous and I wouldn’t want to lose you” The boy looked at his dad. “Dad” he said in a low and calm voice. “Even if it’s dangerous, I have already made my mind, I want to protect you, and Connie, and Beach City. Remember that Lapis is at the bottom of the ocean holding Jasper in an underwater prison, there are hundreds of gem monsters we haven´t found and Peridot is out there just waiting to get in contact with the Gem home world so they can start a full scale invasion” Steven held George´s hands in his´s own. “We need this more than ever, for all of our sakes” both of the males held their glances and Greg relented. “You are right Steven… ´sigh´ whenever you talk like that I am reminded of your mother, ´SNIFF´ where did my little boy go?” “I am here dad, I am just trying to see things as how they are; besides I want to test this so we can go back home to one of your famous grilled dogs” “You got it son!” “Well Steven, I am glad to see you so resolved” Pearl said as she got close to him. “But you will not only need to fit the sword but stand in the foot holes as well, how are you going to do that?” The boy lit up and smiled wide. “I won´t have to do it” “Then who? Garnet?” “Nope: Stevonnie will” the reactions to this statement were varied, from the confusion of his father to Garnet´s infectious grin. “Steven” Connie said. “Do you remember what happened last time?” “Sure, but this time it will only be for a few minutes at most. Besides: aren´t you curious about what that platform is for?” “But how can you be sure this isn´t a home world warp stream?” “I am not; buuuuuut! If it is a warp platform then it could lead to another secret armory, if it is in the home world then there is a chance the warp pad there is broken, and if it isn´t then it hasn´t been found or else the gems would have ended up here long ago and if it is broken then we won´t be able to leave either way” Steven extended his hand. “So… what do you say Connie?” “Wait a minute” Greg said. “Who´s Stevonnie?” Steven looked at his dad. “It´s easier to show you” Steven took his cellphone from his pocket, and turned it on to a certain tune; Connie took Steven´s hands and they started to move to the beat of the music, a random and somehow personal dance, their movements and cheer, it was as if there was no one else in the room, at the end of the impromptu dance Connie grabbed Steven by the waist and they both joined their foreheads and then… magic happened. Steven´s quartz shone and both individuals began to shine in a pink and white light, two became one and now standing instead of the two youngsters was a tall teenage girl, with long curled hair and a toned form. Steven’s father looked aghast. “YOU BOTH CAN FUSE?!” Stevonnie just looked a little ashamed. “Guess I didn´t tell you, huh?” A few explanations were given and soon enough Stevonnie found herself atop the pad, sword in hand, and the hamburger backpack strapped behind her, no other gem or person was with her. “I am ready” All the others stood aside, worrying, some more than other. “Are you sure that you don´t want us up there?” “Nah, I don´t think that will be necessary” she took Steven´s mother´s sword out of its scabbard and placed it carefully at the pedestal… it did nothing “Huh?” said Stevonnie and tried to place it again, several times. “Not even a buzz?” “It was always a possibility, it´s not like you can write out a password on it.” Garnet said to the human fusion. Stevonnie´s face lit up and her smile widened. “Maybe not write it…” the rest of the companions perked at this realization; with her simile widening the Gem-Human fusion uttered the catchphrase of the Universe family. “If every pork chop were perfect we wouldn't have hot dogs.” Power surged from the pad, it lit up and the room to the point of forcing all the ones to close their eyes, the ground shook with the immense amount of power coming from the pad… and it all failed. …… “Huh! At least it was cool” the fusion claimed while still holding the blade; Garnet on the other hand chuckled. “You knew this was gonna happen didn´t you?” “Of course, it was the most defining vision I had, but now that you are in that form we can start training here” Stevonnie grunted. “Now, now; no complaining” “I´m coming…” Stevonnie said as she tried to pull the sword out of the pedestal, once then twice and when it didn´t seem to budge. “GAAAARNEEEEEEET!!!” It was then that the device lit up once more, and an array of lights and power that enveloped the fusion above it, with one final breath Steven disengaged the fusion and Connie shot away from the platform. She looked at him dead in the eye and whispered his name… in an instant the half gem boy disappeared from existence leaving the rest of his companions in a distraught state; the young girl fell on her knees. “STEEEVEEEEEEEN!!!” she cried and the room echoed her cries of despair. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The barn shook and shone, the Elements of Harmony settled down on the floor slowly and they all fell to their knees and looked with hazed eyes to the center of the drawing, just below now powerless crystal; were 6 bipedal creatures all in different sized, shapes and colors, it was surreal and at the same time astounding. “What the…” said the tall one in a blue coat. “Where am I?” As Twilight Sparkle rose she heard a loud explosion coming from outside the barrier, which collapsed and once again an explosion broke through the barn walls sending the nearby girls tumbling together, bruised but otherwise unhurt. A group of 2 dozen individuals appeared from the cloud of smoke and dust. “Excuse me” said a unicorn, apparently the leader. “It seems that the summoned creatures are not as overwhelming as thought. A shame really” Leonardo and the other humans stood up coughing. “What the hell is going on?” said the humanoid turtle. “It seems that I was mistaken, you can speak. Let me explain it then: these six mares used a spell to summon 6 creatures from another plane of existence in order to force them to be their familiars and protectors.” Steven looked up to the mares in question and his eyes took a star shape. “OOH! OOH! OOH! I could be familiar? AWESOME!!!” All the others in the room looked at him and stared for a few seconds before the leader talked again. “They would have forced you to heed their orders, to be at their beck and call; fortunately we have arrived to stop them from their evildoings, in short… we came to get rid of your problems” the leader said sporting a grin that unsettled the rest of the heroes. Tsuna looked calmly at the ringleader, then to the mares behind him. “And by getting rid of them; you mean that you are going to kill them” Steven looked aghast. “No…” The leader raised his voice. “YES! How else shall you be free from their grasp?” All the teenagers looked at each other and they nodded, Izuku looked to the big group of offenders in front of them and with the look of determination he stated. “I think that we pass on the offer, they are the only ones that can bring us back home” “Is that your answer?” Midoriya and the rest took poses and activated their powers or took their weapons out. “I speak for the rest when I say this. BRING IT ON!”