//------------------------------// // 4-gotten: Heroes // Story: The Sparkle in his Eye // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// The four teammates continued their headlong charge to rescue Susie from the kidnapping Gravoid, heedless of obstacles. So strong was Twilight's concern for the poor girl that she didn't even question how some stone platforms were moving up and down in midair without any visible outside force making them move or keeping them in their movement patterns and not flying off into the distance. Unfortunately, the headlong charge eventually led to a dead end, with a platform that was so high up only Twilight could reach the top. "What are we supposed to do now?" Twilight complained. "There!" Alister called out, pointing to another nearby platform where gadgets similar in appearance to the Gelanator Twilight and Ratchet had made use of when they first arrived in Polaris sat. "Those are Glob Lobbers!" Twilight turned to Alister. "Seriously?" she demanded in a deadpan tone. "That sounds like something Qwark would name." "They were designed by the Agorians," Alister explained. "The musclebound idiots at the colosseum?" Twilight clarified. When Alister nodded, she sighed. "Continue." "The gel inside is generated by the Gadget," Alister explained, "and designed to both expand and drastically increase its gravitational spectrum once it comes in contact with ordinary atmosphere. It will also stick to just about any surface. The Agorians used them to anchor their warships in low gravity." "And we can use them to manipulate platforms like this one?" Qwark asked, gesturing to it. "Is that why it has a symbol on it that looks like a splat image?" "I'll question why that's there once we've saved Susie," Twilight replied, grabbing a Glob Lobber. Turning, she fired it a few times, and watched as each glob sticking to the platform spire caused it to lower bit by bit. As the others each grabbed a Glob Lobber and added their fire, the platform was soon low enough for the group to continue on. Before long, the group reached the balloon...but there was no sign of its pilot. "Susie?" Qwark called out worriedly. At that moment, a large mechanical drone flew in, bracing four long prongs on the edges of the platform the group was on, creating a dome field trapping the group there. The drone then flew away as more warping robots appeared inside to attack. "So not fair!" Twilight complained loudly as the group began to mow their way through the hostiles. She attempted to breach the barrier with both magic and weaponry, but found them ineffective. "What?" "It's a dimensional rift barrier," Nefarious explained. "It separates the contained space from the rest of the universe with a unique energy field based on studies of your abilities." Twilight blinked. "Wait...this shield is based on my magic?" she asked, shocked. "Explains why you can't get out," Alister grumbled. "And why only the robots with proper clearance can get in," Nefarious confirmed as larger bots flew through the barrier to attack. "So we should try and harvest the codes?" Twilight inquired. "They're likely hardcoded to the bots themselves," Nefarious indicated. "However, artificial magical energy like this is taxing. If we're able to strain its limits to contain the altered space..." "So blow stuff up until it breaks?" Qwark asked. "Can do!" With that, he leapt up to grab a cybernetically augmented Gravoid that had flown in and proceeded to smash it against the shield until both broke. Nefarious blinked several times. He then leaned over to Twilight. "Would it do any good to say that shouldn't have worked?" he whispered. "Qwark's abilities work based on belief," Twilight replied. "As long as he's convinced to the depths of his being that he can do something, he can." "And here I thought I kept losing to him because he was stupidly lucky," Nefarious complained back. "Now I learn that he's stupidity empowered! So to beat him I somehow have to educate him? That's no fun! What, am I supposed to salt my fortresses with traps so that the only way he can progress is if he correctly answers math questions?" "You inhuman savage!" Qwark squealed out in terror. "I knew you were a monster, but even you wouldn't go so far!" Nefarious stared at Qwark for a time in disbelief. "...that is a seriously disappointing weakness..." "I just got a communication from Ratchet and the others," Alister spoke up. "Susie's somewhere up ahead, and scans don't indicate her to be in any present distress. We can be more careful as we progress so we don't fall into any more traps like that." "Then let's go!" Twilight insisted. As she led the way, she turned to Nefarious. "So-" "Localized gravity wells with stable orbits focused on the cores of the platforms, and former anchor platforms specifically for docking using Glob Lobbers," Nefarious spoke up quickly. "Those are the answers to your platform questions, right?" "And the reason the Glob Lobbers just happened to be there?" Twilight inquired. "Likely because Qwark genuinely believes that nothing can stop us from overcoming this if we 'work together'-" "I absolutely do!" Qwark sung out. "-meaning his powers are warping reality so that random chance results in us finding the bare minimum of what we need to continue progress so that we're able to conquer this challenge while still having it be challenging," Nefarious concluded. Twilight stared at Nefarious for a time. "...I don't think I want to think too hard about that..." she murmured before turning to lead the way further, pausing as she caught sight of another warp platform that required the collection of a certain amount of critters. "Umm..." "According to the upgrades I gave my sensors while trying to access the Great Clock, the inside of that lab exists in warped space time, with only a few moments passing while we're in there," Nefarious offered. "We can spare a few moments," Twilight decided, turning to access the lab.