//------------------------------//
// Chapter Fourteen: The Monster, The Demon, And The Machine 
// Story: A Displaced Machine 
// by Prince_Zodiac 
//------------------------------//

	




Chapter Fourteen: The Monster, The Demon, And The Machine






{Symbol’s POV}

I was finally heading home after this whole thing with Epidemic and getting my sister back. Once I got back, I would ask Twilight and Octavia if they had their answers yet. But that could wait until the actual Gala. I was with Zero, Wasp, and Zanny as we all put on our suits. Mine was a dark blue with a black shirt underneath, cuffs and designer magic black leather shoes. Zeros was the same except anything blue was green. 

"Rarity really outdid herself on this one, how'd she get my measurements anyway?" Zero asked me in curiosity.

"We're identical twins, remember? Our bodies are exactly the same." He nodded and made his way out of the room.

I looked back to my disguised changeling roommates who had their tuxes on. Due to time restraints they had to settle for normal black tuxedos, it's a miracle black goes with blue and red.

"Alright you two, go on and have some fun while I do some things, I'll see you at the Gala." They nodded and left me to do my business. I looked myself over in the mirror before sighing. "I'm really doing this, I didn't think it was possible for me to actually find love in my life." A vision of one of my past murders flashed in my mind. "I was and still am a demon, how in the name of Griffith did I get so lucky?"

Just then a portal appeared behind me and a familiar skeleton in a black cloak walked through it.

“Hey Marx, what is it?"

“Symbol, you need to come with me."

“And why’s that?”

“Because that displaced I need you to help is finally back.”

“Oh, well then what’re you waiting for?”

“Oh I was going to grab Gale so the two of you could go together.”

“I can take care of things myself.”

“That’s not the reason why I’m sending him. She hasn’t meet Alduin or Gale yet, so I’m sending him in so she finally does.”

“Ah, right.” Suddenly, a portal opened right beside me and Gale came out.

“Huh? Oh what the fuck Marx! I was in the middle of a Sonic Adventure 2 Battle race with Sonic!”

“Sorry, but the other displaced from before has returned.”

“And yet you couldn’t let me finish my game?”

“Nope!” Gale rolled his eyes (eye?) and looked to me.

“Oh hey Symbol, didn’t see you there. Nice suit by the way."

“Hey and thanks."

“So Marx, who’s this displaced you’re sending us to?”

“Her name’s Lisa, and she’s the Slenderwoman.”

That sparked my interest a little. I knew that there had to be a Slenderman displaced somewhere in the multiverse, I didn't however expect a Slenderwoman.

“So, you think there’s a Nightmare Fuel there?”

“I’m certain of it. I need you two to go there and kill it before she does.”

“Wait what? Why would we do that? More importantly how, it can only be completely destroyed by me.”

“Because I’m afraid that it’ll piss her off and send her into one of her Mad Modes. If that happens, she’ll kill it slowly, painfully, basically enough to make it beg someone or something to kill it so the torture stops.” Gale and I shuddered. Nightmare Fuels were souless monsters, that would kill anything and everything. They also couldn’t really feel pain. If this Lisa could go to the point where it would beg us to kill it, I shudder to think of what she might actually do.

“So wait, she’s a psycho killer?” Marx shook his head.

“Only when she goes into her Mad Modes, and she’d only do as I described if it was Mad Mode Three. Otherwise she would end it quickly, and is actually quite friendly.” We nodded. So this girl was kind and friendly, but when it came down to it she could become a monster. That certainly reminds me of both me and Epidemic, well, at least the monster part. 

"Alright, let me get out of this suit then we can go."

After returning to my usual wear, a portal soon opened and we fell through.

{Lisa’s POV}

“Ah, time to relax.” It had been a couple hours since I returned from my new little bro’s wedding. I had been introduced to Ponyville, and was received rather well actually. Might have been the fact that I had saved two of their princesses but you never know. Anyways I was back home, sitting outside in a lounging chair, sunbathing. I know I can’t get a tan or anything like that, but I still love sitting in the sun. Suddenly, I heard a growl.

“Oh why this now?” I turn to my right to look out into the forest. I expected to see a Rake, but instead I saw a creature made of some purple substance. It had yellow, emotionless, circles for eyes, and had tendrils coming from its back. It looked up at me, and roared.

“The hell are you supposed to be?” It didn’t give me an answer, instead it just charged at me. I teleported out of its way as it knocked away my lounge chair. 

“Hey! I was using that!” The beast just ran at me again. I teleported again, and glared at it. “Okay I don’t know what the hell you are, but I’m not letting you get away with trashing my stuff.”

It sent out its tendrils to attack me. I countered with my own, able to match it blow for blow. I then used my tendrils to grab its own, and pulled it towards me. As it came flying at me, I lifted up my leg and kicked, getting it square on in the chest. I followed this up by grabbing it with my tendrils, and slamming it into the ground left and right of me a few times before tossing it at a tree.

“Puny beast.” I giggled at my own joke. This new thing however, didn’t seem to like me mocking it. It ran at me and leaped. I teleported just above it and impaled it, sending it into the ground. I picked it up and slammed it into another tree, and then proceeded to drag it around the outside edge of my little field, hitting every tree on the border. After two laps around, I threw it into the air, impaled it with two tendrils this time, and slammed it into the ground. “See? Told you that you wouldn’t get away with breaking my stuff.”

I then heard the familiar sound of a portal opening, and looked up to see two beings fall from it. One was Mecha Sonic, which I assumed was a displaced and the other was, oddly enough, a regular human. They landed on the ground, and took battle stances. Mecha Sonic sent out laser blades from his wrists and stood ready to fight, and the other just looked around with a watchful eye, but his eyes...they were the eyes of someone who had seen some serious shit.

“Alright where is it?” Mecha Sonic sounded like he was on a mission. He had a serious expression on his face, or, he would have if he had the parts of the face to make that so. I kinda just got the vibe from it, like how people get that vibe from me.

“Where’s the Nightmare Fuel?” The second guy sounded much more serious though. I got a really depressing feeling from him, but I shook it off.

“Um, I think it’s over there.” I pointed to the monster that attacked me, which was now dissipating into a purple orb. They both turned, surprised, to see it finish dissipating. “Were you looking for it? Sorry I kind of, killed it. But in my defence it attacked me first!” The human walked up to the orb and picked it up. He then proceeded to crush it. Mecha Sonic just looked at me in shock.

“Whoa whoa wait, you killed it?”

“Yep. It destroyed my favorite lounge chair too.”

“MARX!” Suddenly another portal opened up and Marx hoped out. “Can you please explain to me why I’m here if I wasn’t needed?”

“Well that’s-”

“Wait a second. You know Marx?”

“Huh, oh yeah forgot to introduce you all. Lisa, this is Gale, one of my other displaced. That over there is Symbol, he’s a friend/family member. It’s complicated.”

“Uh, nice to meet you Lisa.” Gale held out his hand.

“You too.” I took his hand and shook it. I started to think. ’You know, even for a robot he’s kind of cute.’ I shook away that thought. What was I thinking? He’s a robot, not like he’s a living thing. Besides, I wouldn't date him unless I knew him. Symbol walked back over.

“Alright it’s dead. Now can I go home?” I looked at his eyes again, inside them I saw something, something that shouldn't exist in the soul of someone his age.

“Not exactly. That’s not the Nightmare Fuel I brought you two here for.”

“Wait there’s another one of these things? It better not destroy my house.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not around here.”

“So where is it?”

“Don’t know.”

“What? How could you not know?”

“Hey I don’t know everything okay? I’ll be searching for it while you two remain here until I find it. Once I do, you guys can go after it and kill it.” Marx disappeared into a portal afterwards, leaving me with two guests to entertain.

“So… why are you two here again?”

“We’re here to kill something called a Nightmare Fuel, a monster of the multiverse. It’s completely evil, and will kill anything and everything it sees. The one you just fought was one of the weaker ones.” Symbol looked to one of the shards of the former Nightmare orb and stepped on it.

“Really? Well if that’s the case then I guess if I meet a really strong one I’ll call you guys. Otherwise I think I can kill them myself.”

Gale shook his head. “Now hold on there’s a catch to these things. We may be able to attack them and destroy their bodies, but then they’ll turn into those purple orbs that only Symbol here can destroy. After a while, they’ll just come back to life and attack again.”

“Oh I get it.”

Symbol scratched his chin in thought. “You know, I’m surprised it didn’t take on any of her abilities.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, last time I fought one I was with someone named Epidemic. When we fought it, it took on some of his abilities. I wonder why this one didn’t seem to take on any of yours.”

“Probably because it already had most of her abilities. They both could move fast, and both had tendrils. Not a lot for it to gain.”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

I looked at the two in confusion. “Well what do you two want to do in the meantime?”

“I don’t know, hang around I guess. What do you think Symbol?”

He just shrugged. “Hanging around is fine.”

“Cool! Well then how about we go to Ponyville and have some fun there?”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright then come on!”

{Gale’s POV}

So Symbol and I followed Lisa back to Ponyville. As we did, I started thinking.

’You know, for a monster she’s kind of hot.’ I then shook my head. What was I thinking? She’s a monster, I’m a robot. How the hell would that work? We continued our trek back to Ponyville, and eventually made it to the edge of the Everfree forest. She lead us out and to the edge of Ponyville.

“Okay, here we are. Now, what do you two wanna do while you’re here?”

Symbol just closed his eyes and frowned. "Now why would he be here?" He asked to no one in particular.

"What was that?" Lisa and I both asked as we looked at him.

Opening his eyes he shook his head. "Nothing...just, nevermind."

Symbol just started walking ahead with a small purple glow around him.

"What's with him?" I looked over to Lisa as she just stared at Symbol.

"Gale, you know Symbol right?"

"I met him for a short while earlier, why?"

She turned to me with an uneasy expression, well, as much of an expression she could give.

"There's something about him, it just makes me feel...I dunno, afraid." We both looked on as Symbol slowly walked down the path. Author told me that the kind of magic Symbol uses isn't to be on the opposite end of, and the kind of persona that Symbol had only made him all the more terrifying. The look of bloodlust in his eyes, the look of sorrow, the look of a madman. Symbol was afraid, afraid of himself and what he could do if he chose the wrong path.

Sighing, I began to walk after him and Lisa followed. "I know something we could do."

Lisa looked at me, a little happier that the topic was changed. "And what would that be?"

"I know another displaced, Metal Sonic, in his home he has a few portals to the levels in the Sonic games, we could give one of those a try."

“Sure, sounds like fun.” Her expression then turned cold. “You better not send us to a Sonic 06 level.” I chuckled.

“No way, that game sucked ass. The only thing I kind of liked about it was the story. It had potential. Then they had to ruin it with Eliese making out with Sonic and crap like that.” Lisa sighed in relief.

“Okay good, I really don’t want to revisit that place, ever again.” I nodded. I turned to Lisa and looked her in the eyes, or where her eyes should be, a smiled. At first I thought I saw her shudder, but I just shook it off.

{Lisa’s POV}

As Gale called Marx so we could go to the zones, I started to think. When he looked me in the eyes, I saw something. It was like a flash that I sometimes get from people about their past, a brief moment of reflection from them that I sometimes pick up on. It doesn’t happen too often, but when it does I usually see some shit. This flash was weird though, I saw a silhouette of a huge, metallic monster, with flames in the background. I heard screams of fear and pain for a moment, but then it was over. Usually that moment of reflection is for something that the person did, so why did I see a beast in his. Eh, I’ll ask him later. Gale rushed up to me, holding a purple orb.

“Alright I got it, hope he knows how to get back without this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…”





Flashback

{Gale’s POV}

“Hey Marx!” a portal opened up and Marx hoped out.

“What is it?”

“Can you open up a portal to Metal Sonic for me please?”

“Yeah sure.” He opened it up and I looked through. When I did, I saw Metal racing through city escape with Rainbow Dash.

“Huh, thought he was with Luna. Ah well, to each their own.”

“So are you gonna ask for it or?”

“Nah I’ll grab it without disrupting them, just get the portal closer.” Marx nodded and the portal got closer. I reached out, and tried to grab the purple orb that sent us to the zones. I reached for it, and grabbed at it. I missed once, twice, three times.

“Huh?” Marx swerved the portal out of the way as Metal looked behind him, causing me to almost fall out. He grabbed one of my metal quills and pulled me back in. He brought the portal close again, and I reached for the purple orb once more. I grabbed at it, and got a hold on it! I brought it back to me, and on the other side of the portal.

“HA! I got it!”

“Huh?” Marx hurriedly closed the portal before Metal saw us.

“Phew, that was a close one.”

“Yeah, thanks for saving my ass from falling out.” Marx nodded, opened another portal, and left. I walked back to Lisa.

Flashback End





“Oh, huh.” I nodded.

“Yep, it was a really close call.”

“So, what zone are we going to?” I put my hand to my chin and thought. Where should we go? Hmm. I snapped my fingers.

“I’ve got it!”

“Where?”

“Chemical Plant Zone.”

“Chemical Plant Zone? Never heard of it”

“Well then you’re about to found out what it looks like.” I took her hand and held out the orb. It expanded and sent both of us to the Chemical Plant Zone. Lisa looked around.

“So this is the Chemical Plant Zone huh?” I nodded.

“Yep. Cool huh?” Lisa nodded.

“Very cool. Hey wait what’s that city over there?” I shrugged.

“Don’t know, I don’t think we can go over there.”

“I bet you fifty bits that we can.”

“Alright I’ll take you on that bet, another time. For now, let’s beat this zone!” I was about to run off when.

“Hey wait, I’m not as fast as you.”

“Oh yeah huh?”

“So, what do we do?”

“This!” I picked her up bridal style, causing her to blush. “Hold on tight!”

She hugged her arms around me and nodded, telling me she was ready. I nodded and took off, racing away at high speeds. I destroyed every enemy we came across, and ran for the most part. It was kind of funny when I ran the loop-de-loops and Lisa yelped and held on to me tighter. She really freaked out when I went down a path that had multiple loops in a row. At the end I landed on the capsule, and let the little animals be free. I let Lisa down and she stumbled a little. I caught her before she fell.

“Whoa, you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. Just never went so fast before without being in a plane or something like that.”

“You get used to it.”

“You’re a robot, you don’t feel the G-force from your speed.”

“That may be true, but I did feel every wall I slammed into when I was first adjusting to my speed.” That caused Lisa to laugh.

“You slammed into walls?”

“Yep! If memory serves I’ve slammed into 433 walls by accident from running.” That just made Lisa laugh harder.

“433? That’s hilarious!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask how I remember them all.” Lisa started to calm down.

“You’re a robot. I kind of put two and two together.” I nodded. “So, what now?”

“I don’t know. Want to see if Marx found that Nightmare Fuel yet?”

“Yeah sure.” Using the orb I brought us back to Ponyville.





Symbol’s POV

I walked through the Whitetail Woods along the gravel path. The sunlight only piercing through the amber leaves in small rays as I strolled through. I placed a hand to my forehead and sighed.

"What am I gonna do? If they find out about the Nightmare in me they'll most likely be scared of me." Shaking my head I looked around, taking in the beauty of the woods. "I should take them to this place back on my world some time, could make a good first date for us, if they agree that is."

Stopping, I looked behind me to find the two others missing. I sighed and pressed on, at least one of us had to be out looking for those two.

‘Hey! Don’t you mean two?’ Marx said in my head.

"Sorry...wait a minute how are you in my mindscape? I thought I had that locked."

'Doesn't matter, Gale and Lisa are...shall we say bonding.' I facepalmed and sighed.

"While there is a soulless demon and an evil clone of me here? Typical." Shaking my head I felt something stir in my body. "Hmm, seems like she's almost done developing."

‘And when she is Epidemic will have another little sibling to look out for. When you can’t that is.’

"Yeah… when I can't..." Remembering what I saw in the notebook Cipher had given me I collapsed to my knees as I felt a sharp pain in my head.

‘Symbol, what the fuck is that thing?’

"What thing?" I asked in a pained voice as I clutched the side of my head as the headache only grew.

‘The big scary faded thing that looks like you in here. It’s getting bigger and your mindscape is freezing up.’

I screamed in pain as I felt dark thoughts make their way into my mind. I grabbed my necklace and it glowed, suppressing the pain. "I... I have no idea Marx... Get Vivi, she should know."

‘Wait, you grabbing your necklace stopped… OH NO YOU DON’T! GET THE FUCK BACK HERE! I’M NOT LETTING YOU GO THIS TIME MOTHER FUCKER!’ The pain returned worse than ever, but then suddenly stopped. ‘THERE! I GOT IT!’

"Gah, BUCK!!! What exactly did you get?!"

‘Huh? Oh, well, you know that Nightmare Fuel inside of you?’

"Yeah... What about it, Posit already broke its hold on me?"

‘Yeah well, he didn’t break his sentries. This thing always comes in when Forge is around, and it warns him so he can either one, get away from you or two, prepare to fight you. I just got it and sent it to the Black Plain!’

Rising to my feet I grasped my chest. "Gotta... cut down on the energy usage... Too much to do here."

‘Yep. But hey good news! Forge doesn’t know you’re here. But I do have a question, why is Forge here? He would only come here if there was something he wanted.’

"I don't know, he was supposed to still be in that floating island."

‘Yeah well, with the way Forge works the only thing that could imprison him is if I sent him to the Black Plain, and I’m not too keen on doing that.’

I took a moment to remember something Forge had said in the past. "Reality Stars...what are those?"

'Wait! Did you just say Reality Stars?!'

"Yeah, why?"

'I know what Forge is up to… he's trying to become a displacer!'

"What?!"

‘Symbol, you can’t let him get those Reality Stars. If he gets enough of them, he’ll become a displacer, then the entire multiverse will be consumed by the Nightmares.’

Great, now I have to deal with the fate of every single universe.





{Gale’s Pov}

Lisa and I walked around, looking for Symbol. Suddenly, a portal opened and out popped Marx.

“GALE!”

“Hmm? What is it Marx?”

“Okay I found the Nightmare Fuel but it’s not alone.”

“Who’s with it?”

“Someone very dangerous. Someone dangerous enough that I may need you to bring out the beast.” I stopped.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no. I’m not becoming that… thing again. I became it once when Moonglow corrupted me, but I won’t become it again.”

“Gale if you don’t then-”

“I don’t care! That thing is way more dangerous than any ally of the Nightmare Fuels could ever be! Hell, if it gets out it could kill Symbol!”

"No it couldn’t! Symbol has been through way worse shit than that thing ever did!"

“Yeah? Well you know that it never even used a fraction of its power! If it couldn’t kill Symbol, it could certainly injure him pretty badly, and it would kill Lisa!” Marx stopped and thought for a second.

"You really shouldn't compare that beast to Symbol, when he's at his full power he could wipe out entire solar systems with a snap of his fingers. You don't even want to know what went into the creation of his soul, he's the result of trillions of years of study and experimentation. His soul has a part of each of the multiverse’s greatest warriors and Gods all put into one child! The only reason he doesn't show that power is because he cares too damn much about everyone that has ever showed him kindness! Auldin’s suffering can't even compare to Symbols!"

“I’m not comparing it’s power to Symbol’s, I’m comparing it to the Nightmare Fuel inside of him.”

“Why would that be a problem?”

“You know as well as I do that when that thing is around, dark beings like the Nightmare Fuel in him gain power, and in return that monster gains more power. Symbol could beat it no sweat, but that Nightmare Fuel in him is heavily restricted. When the beast comes out, he’ll come out, and in his weakened state the beast will kill him, in turn killing Symbol.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?!?!”

Marx's eyes narrowed. 'It's no use reasoning with him, he’ll do anything to not turn into that thing again. I’m pretty sure he knows none of that can happen, in fact I know he does, but he’s desperate not to become the beast again.’

“You’re just saying this so you won’t have to become it again, aren’t you?” I lowered my head.

“Please Marx, don’t make me become that thing again. I killed way too many last time, I don’t want it to happen again.”

Marx then walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You killed many, yes. But that wasn't you that killed them, this time you'll be in control."

"How?"

Marx placed a hand to my chest and it glowed. "A gift from my friend Roden on the council." I looked up at Marx.

“You’re sure it’ll stop me from losing control?”

“Absolutely.” He then mumbled. "Even if it doesn't I'll just get Nathan from his Equestria to knock you out of it..."

“Alright then… I guess I’ll try. But I’m only going to use as a last resort.” Marx nodds.

“Thank you. Now let’s go! Symbol is already on their trail!” Lisa and I nodded, and ran alongside Marx to the Whitetail Woods.

“Okay now that we’re running towards the Nightmare Fuel, would any of you care to tell me what the hell you two were talking about?!” Marx looked at Lisa, then me.

“You wanna explain?” I nodded.

“A long time ago, I fought this stallion called Moonglow Glimmer. He was very powerful, stronger than Sombra even. One day, he corrupted me and sent me out of Equestria so he wouldn’t have to deal with me. I then became a monster, and for a whole year I destroyed everything, and everyone outside of Equestria. I killed Billions of ponies, griffons, zebras, nothing escaped my wrath.”

“Oh, I guess I can see why you’re reluctant to become him again.” I nodded.

“I just hope I don’t have to when we fight, whoever we’re fighting.” We ran for a while more and eventually came across Symbol.

“You find them yet?”

Symbol turned to us with a extremely serious look on his face. "You two! Go stall them while I find these bucking stars!" With that he shot off in a random direction.

“Um, what?”

“I sent him to look for a Reality Star, it’s something you won’t understand.” I swear I saw Lisa’s eyes widen for a second, but then she returned to normal. Of course, she doesn’t have eyes but I got that vibe from her I guess. We turned to look out at the nearby field. When we did, I could see two figures. One was what I assumed was a Nightmare Fuel, while the other looked exactly like Symbol except he was all pitch black with a read aura outlining him.

“Marx, who are they?”

“The one on the left is the Nightmare Fuel. The one on the right is Forge.”

“Forge huh? Wierd name. OKay I’ll take Forge, Lisa you take the Nightmare Fuel okay?”

“Right.” I nodded and stepped out of the brush. The two took notice of me.

“Hmm? And who might you be?”

“Name’s Meta, what’s your’s?”

“That is something you won’t live long enough to have use for.” Forge swiped his hand in front of him and the Nightmare Fuel ran at me. It leaped, and then got impaled by a tendril. Lisa stepped out, then threw it into the forest.

“I’ve got this one.” I nodded and turned my attention back to Forge. He just starred back at me.

“Now will you tell me? I much rather know the name of my opponent before I battle him.”

“Hmm, very well. My name is Forge, and I will be your ticket to the afterlife.” He charged at me, and I him. We clashed our fists and glared at one another.

“You can’t hope to defeat me.”

“Who knows, I may surprise you.” We leaped back from each other and he fired some blasts of magic at me. I promptly dodged and fired back some of my own blasts. They hit him dead on, but when the smoke cleared he seemed unfazed.

“Is that the best you’ve got?”

“Nope! Just the best I think you deserve!” Forge grunted and threw another magic blast at me, which nailed me in the chest. I was thrown into a tree, which collapsed on top of me.

“Fool, thinking you could be a match for me.” I smirked. This was only the beginning. I charged up a lot of energy, and went super. The tree flew off of me, and I rose into the air.

“How about now?”

“You think that changing forms will make a difference?” I teleported behind him and kneed him in the back, then blasted him with a huge laser, sending him into the ground.

“A slight difference yes.” Forge got up and looked at me.

“Huh, that actually hurt a little.” He rose into the air. “Perhaps this will be more interesting than I thought.”

“You bet your ass it will.”





{Lisa’s POV}

I threw the Nightmare Fuel into another tree.

“Come on. Marx said you were going to be tougher than the last one.” It got up and roared, then charged at me. I teleported out of it’s way and grabbed it by the back of it’s legs. I lifted it up, then threw it down into the ground. I then picked it up and slammed it against a tree, then proceeded to do what I did last time, slam it into every tree around me. After that I tossed it into the air, impaled it with two tendrils, and slammed it into the ground once again. I turned into that purple orb thing, and I thought about how to get rid of it. Suddenly Marx appeared and took the orb.

“I’ll make sure it gets to Symbol so he can destroy it.” I nodded.

“Hey wait Marx?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is Symbol looking for the Reality Star?”

“Because he- wait, you know what that is?”

“I might.”

“And you didn’t tell me this why?!?!”

“Because I can’t remember where it is! Besides, I know what enough of those things can do, so I’m not trusting anyone with the information that I know what they are.” Marx just pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Look, how do you even know what those are?”

“Because found it once and it had immense power. I can only assume that the Reality Star that you’re looking for is that thing.” Marx sighed.

“Alright fine, I get it, you don’t trust anyone with the info you have on it. Not even me. Alright we’ll find it anyways just go help Gale!” I nodded.

“Right!”





{Gale’s POV}

I got slammed into another tree, but I recovered quickly. I flew at Forge and threw a punch at his face. He dodged and threw a punch at mine. I quickly dodged and threw another. We kept doing this, attacking and dodging, attack and dodging. Pretty soon we separated and glared at each other.

“I must admit, I did not expect you to last this long.”

“Thanks!”

“But I am looking for something important, and this battle is getting in the way of that. Let’s end this shall we?” He started charging up a huge attack that I was getting ready to dodge. He finished charging and was about to fire the attack when.

“Gale! I got the Nightmare Fuel!” I looked to see Lisa coming out of the Whitetail Woods. I looked at Forge. He smirked and fired the attack at Lisa instead of me.

“NO!” I teleported right in front of Lisa and spread my arms out. Taking the full force of the attack, I was blasted back, badly hurt.

“GALE!” I saw the blurry image of Lisa running up to me and lean down next to me.

WARNING: ALL SYSTEMS ARE HEAVILY DAMAGED. POWER NOW AT 25%. WILL SHUT DOWN IN ONE MINUTE.

“Gale are you okay?”

“N-No I… My systems are badly… d-damaged.”

“Oh god Gale I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”

“N-No it’s n-not.” While Lisa was distracted Forge snuck up behind her. Before I could warn her Forge’s hand had pierced through her chest.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this sad moment, but I can’t just let my targets live can I?” He threw her across the field and walked to her. Lisa got up and tried to attack with her tendrils but Forge just dodged them. He got to her and grabbed her by the throat, and started to choke her.

“Hm hm hm. This was fun while it lasted, but now it’s about time I killed you both.” I was furious. I could feel the beast inside, raging within me. I got up and glared at Forge.

“Get, your hands off of her, you sick BASTARD!” A dark aura surrounded me and I changed. My plating went from blue to black, my eyes (eye?) went completely black, and I grew in power. Forge just looked at me.

“Another form? You think that will stop me?” I teleported right in front of him, took Lisa out of his grasp, and impaled him with a red laser blade.

“Yes, I think it will.” I took the blade out and kicked him across the field, slamming him into a tree. He fell off, then got up.

“What the hell? How are you suddenly this strong?” I lifted my laser blade and stroked it with a finger.

“Giving into the darkness in your heart makes you that much stronger, don’t you think?”

Forge just started laughing. "Oh that is hilarious, look at you, so sure that you can beat me with the very same power I was born with." That last part came out in a dark serious voice as his expression became stern.

“Oh I don’t think it’ll beat you. In fact I very much doubt it. But, I do know it can hold you off till the one that can kill you comes.”

“The hell do you mean by that?”

“Did you honestly think I came alone Forge? No, I came with the one person that you fear, fear that he will break you, that he destroy everything that you have worked for, fear that he will end you.” I teleported in front of him again. “But for now, all you’ve got is me.”

I grabbed him by the face, and threw him into the air, then came up and kneed him in the stomach. I grabbed him, threw him down into the ground, and blasted him with a huge laser. I then curled up into a ball and spin dashed him even further into the ground. He kicked me off and flew into the air. He punched me in the face and sent me even higher in the air. He rushed up and nailed me with a few more kicks before sending me into the ground. He charged up a huge laser glared at me.

“Say goodbye to your existence.” The laser hit me head on, causing serious damage.

I landed beside Lisa and she looked at me with worry. She shakily placed her hand in mine as we watched Forge slowly walking towards us.

"It was fun, but now you two need to die!" As he raised his hand in the air he froze in place, a look of horror on his face. We looked around and saw dark purple mist seeping into the area, surrounding us three and blocking out the sun. "No..." Just then something shot out of the trees and hit Forge, they tumbled around for a second before Forge through whatever it was hit him off.

Just then something was leaning over us. I looked up to see Symbol there with a extremely enraged glare. Although his presence made me feel more frightened than safe. His skin was dark grey, his hair was now spiked and jet black. His shirt had became dark purple and his fingers were claws. His teeth were razor sharp and his eyes were a dead black, with only glowing red dots as pupils, blood had seeped from his eyes creating a led line from the eyes to his chin. He also had four dark tendrils growing out of his back.

"You...will not...touch them!" He was on all fours, shielding us like a predator would protect its young while breathing heavily.

The look of fear that was plastered on Forges face was enough to tell me that Symbol was indeed a force to not be reckoned with. "You...y-you...why are you here?!"

"What's wrong Forge, you were talking all that good shit a minute ago! What's the matter?! Scared of your brother?!"[/ color]

Forge shot a beam at Symbol but was deflected by a tendril. Symbol got to his feet and took a fighting stance. He shot his tendrils towards Forge but they were dodged, expecting this, Symbol flung himself forward and the tips of his claws glowed dark purple. When he swiped at Forge he created a few slash marks in the air. Everything in the path of the blow, including Forge, was cut deeply.

As Forge lay on the ground trying to recover from the wound, Symbol stamped his foot on his back. He then shot all four tendrils into Forges back, causing him to scream in pain.

"No one...and I mean NO ONE hurts my friends!"

Forge screamed in pain as Symbol repeatedly stabbed him with his tendrils. Suddenly, a Nightmare Fuel came out of nowhere and tackled Symbol. Symbol pushed it off of him and killed it instantly, but that had given Forge enough time to get up and prepare an attack.

“I won’t go down, unless I take you with me!” Forge fired the blast, which Symbol didn’t have time to dodge. It hit him straight on, and he was sent flying into a tree.  Symbol quickly got up, only to get nailed by another blast of magic. Forge rushed up to him and grabbed him by the neck, slammed him into the ground, and started to stomp on his back relentlessly.

“DON’T LIKE IT WHEN THE TABLES ARE TURNED DO YOU?! THIS TIME, I WILL KILL YOU!” I couldn’t let this happen. I slowly got up.

“G-Gale… no.” Lisa sounded weak, which just made me angrier. I stood up, and limped forward. Froge looked at me.

“Oh? You’re still standing?! Well then, let’s finish you off shall we?”

"GALE, DON'T DO IT, I CAN TAKE HIM!!!"

“No one, hurts my friends like this. NO ONE!” A rush of power went into me and I started to turn into the beast. My body grew, and my head changed appearance. It changed into the head of Metal Overlord, but that’s not what I was becoming. My body was becoming huge, and I was growing spikes out of my back, as well as wings. I grew a long tail that ended with spikes, and my legs bent backwards. My feet grew talons, and my arms grew longer, with my hand gaining five long claws, one for each finger. My transformation complete, I roared into the air. But then, something wrestled the control of my body away from me, and I blacked out.

{Symbol’s POV}

I watched as Gale grew into a huge monster. Once it was done, he roared into the air, and smirked.

“Ah, to be free again at last.” I looked at Gale. Something was wrong, he had a lot more power than he should have.

“W-What? H-How, are you h-here?” Gale just looked at Forge.

“Ah Forge, one of those that could actually be a threat to me. Oh and Symbols here too. Now I can eliminate two of some of my most dangerous threats.”

"What the hell? What's going on?" Gale looked at me.

“Oh? I presume you never told about me were you Symbol? Well then allow me to introduce myself. I am not Gale, that is the body I am merely possessing. My name, is Xram, and I am here to kill you all.” Suddenly he was gone, and then he appeared right behind Forge. He impaled him with a claw, flung him into the air, and blasted him with a massive laser from his mouth. Forge fell to the ground, unconscious.

“Hm hm hm. Well, that takes care of him for now. Time to eliminate the more prominent threat.” Gale- er, Xram turned to me and smirked. “Say goodbye to all you hold dear Symbol, for once I throw you into hell, your world will soon follow.” He swiped me with his claw and I was sent flying into a tree. I got up and charged at him, and attacked with my tendrils. All four hit him, but he acted as if they were nothing. He rushed me at blinding speeds and spun, getting me with his tail. I was sent into the air and he followed, grabbing me in mid air with his teeth and throwing me back into the ground.

 I got to my feet and stared at my opponent. I then rushed over to Lisa and opened a portal to my world.

"Symbol...what are you-?"

"At least one of us is making it out of here." Once the portal opened Zero was standing there with a confused look.

"Symbol?"

"Take care of her and our friends brother." I tossed Lisa through the portal and closed it, Lisa yelling in protest. Once I made sure the way to my world was sealed I glared at my opponent.

"Sacrificing yourself to make sure your friend is safe? A good choice of your last act in your existence."

"If I die here at least Lisa can form a plan to take you down."

Suddenly, a portal opened up and Marx hoped out.

“I can’t believe this.”

”Marx?”

“I’m here to fight with you. Xram was never supposed to escape his imprisonment.”

”What is he?”

“If we survive this, I’ll tell you.”

“Ah Marx, come to die as well my weaker counterpart?”

“If I was weaker than you, then how did I imprison you? Moreover, how did you escape?!”

“Did you really believe that you could keep me from becoming free forever? All I needed was a suitable vessel, and this one was perfect. He was filled with such unbridled rage that I couldn't help but be drawn to it. Though there is one problem, this body can’t even begin to unleash my power. But that will change once I get my true body back.”

“My body was never yours.”

“Foolish Marx. Your body was always mine.”

I looked to Marx and to my necklace. I took the symbiote pony out of my body and threw it into Marx, along with my necklace. "Symbol, what a-"
 
”Marx I'm sorry." A portal appeared behind him and I pushed him through it, making sure to seal his access to this world, before the portal closed I threw the yellow crystal through it as well. "No more interruptions, we fight now."

Xram grinned and we both charged each other.

My name is Symbol Shattered, and this is the day I died, defending my loved ones.

{Xram’s POV}

That foolish mortal thought that he stood a chance. But, he was already dead. When the battle started, I had attacked with my claws, which I energized, and sliced clean through him. He still stood and fought me after that, but he died in the end. I looked upon the universe I had just left, and snapped my fingers. In moments, it was gone, sucked away into a rip in time and space, never to be seen again.

“Hm hm hm. Now, where did that Lisa girl go?” I looked around and saw Symbol’s universe. Bingo. I flew towards it. “Get ready Symbol, you’re about to watch me destroy everything you know and love from your front row seat in hell.”

I flew into Symbol’s world, with his body as my trophy.

{Lisa’s POV}

I woke up in a bed, surrounded by strangers.

“She’s awake.”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where, am I?” I asked as I looked around.

“Miss you’re in another universe. Can you tell me what you last remember?” A boy that looked exactly like Symbol asked me.

“Um… I was in my universe with someone named Gale, and another named Symbol. We were fighting this guy named Forge, until he started winning. He, counterattacked Symbol after Symbol beat him for a while, then Gale, who had been badly hurt like I had, stood up and became this monster. It claimed to be something called Xram, and it attacked Symbol and Forge. Symbol tried to fight it, but he stood no chance. Then he sent me to his world, and that’s the last thing I remember.”

“Well at least she doesn’t have amnesia.” The Symbol look-a-like glared at the person next to him.

“Yes, but what about Symbol? You heard her she said he had no chance!”

A little unicorn filly jumped onto the bed and glared at them. "You're wrong, Symbol can handle anything!" A portal opened and Marx fell out. He got up and tried to rush into it but closed before he could.

“SYMBOL NO! DAMMIT!” Marx banged his fist on the ground in anger.

“Um, who the hell are you? And what happened with Symbol?”

“My name is Marx, and Symbol… is dead.”

The group all gasped, I looked over to see this worlds versions of Twilight and Octavia break down into tears. I guessed that they were his partners or soon to be partners. The Symbol lookalike just shook his head in disbelief.

"No...no I can't lose him too..." Suddenly there was a loud boom outside and everyone rushed up to a nearby window. Then, I heard his voice.

“MORTALS OF THIS WORLD! YOUR ONLY HOPE IS DEAD! PREPARE TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR EXISTENCE!”

“What the hell is that thing?!”

“Look it’s got Symbol!”

“He… he’s limp and… lifeless.” Now Xram was here? Why? Why was this happening? First there’s a Nightmare Fuel in my world. Then Gale and I get badly hurt fighting Forge. Then Gale gets possessed, and then Symbol gets killed. Why? Why was this happening?

To be continued…