Strike 45- A New Journey, Part 3
When Lightning Strikes- A New Journey Part 3
The Nemesis (Somewhere in the Void)
“So, you mean to tell me that Monster X and the Beast King were defeated? I assigned you to lead the assault on this… Equestria, but instead you send not only your two strongest soldiers, but you merely watched their demise?!” Yellow Radio, one of Ozai’s combat specialists and tacticians stated at the legendary Pokemon Cobalion. “How is this possible?! He is just one traitor and he still manages to slip through our grasp! How!?!”
“It wasn’t my fault Commander, you were the one who was suppose to lead the mission!” He argued, as the jester of illusions stared him down behind his mask.
“Oh, just imagine the look of disappointment on Queen Elysium’s face right now and because of you, that Traitor escaped,” The Jester said, still focusing the blame on Cobalion. “Those two were sent with a few of the promethean soldiers and not to mention the device that was suppose to drain him of his powers… Surely, not even a traitor like him could do that on his own. Even with the power he has.”
“Yet, you were also supposed to join us on this mission to ensure our success, but instead you sat back in your chair like the lazy runt you are!” Cobalion shouted, insulting the jester as he gasped in shock.
“Oh, such harsh words towards your commanding officer, Cobalion. You just wait till Queen Elysium arrives to punish you for your failure, you fool! Besides, I have been assigned to gathering Displaced from other worlds and thanks to my Sentinels, they were able to capture someone very useful to our cause!”
“Yet, you don’t understand the severity of the situation, you idiot,” Cobalion snapped. “I believe someone else is helping the traitor.” That statement soon caught the Jester’s attention as it looked back at the legendary pokemon. He was intrigued… but he still wanted to hear his reasoning as to what would lead to this presumption. “Before we got word of Monster X’s defeat, we saw his energy levels go from a rising level… to depleted within a matter of seconds. You and I both know that Suicune would dare not meddle with electricity with him being a water type. So something else must have drained Monster X of his power before he was defeated at the paws of the traitor.”
“Oh well, it can’t be helped, but I may have found myself a game changer to our little hunt…” Soon, two large Sentinels entered the command deck of the ship holding onto a small chip of some kind. Cobalion was going to question what it was… but something else soon came to mind.
“What if the one who is helping the traitor was the same one that Zsoltan had brought here. The one that escaped from the Warden Eternal with Exuberant Witness?” Cobalion questioned, wanting to hear Yellow Radio’s response to the question to see if he was actually taking this seriously or not. “This A.I could be the key to outmatch Exuberant and Warden, of course she’s been difficult to control, but with modifications he’ll be the perfect weapon to locate all Displaced in the Multiverse.”
“Theoretically… You don’t know what would actually happen. This has never been tested before, and you won't be able to get testing for it until after you get permission from Lord Ozai and the council.”
“What’s this I hear about an A.I?” Both of the Displaced and Sentinels faced the new Queen of the Displaced, Elysium. Cobalion was relieved to see her as he soon addressed her.
“Lady Elysium, I’m relieved that you’re here. Yellow Radio has a ludicrous idea to use an untested A.I to try and hasten our efforts. All of this occurring after he failed to join both Monster X and the Beast King into trying to capture the traitor. Now Monster X is dead, the Beast King is nowhere to be found and this lazy fool is ignoring the problem that I’m trying to address to him! Unfitting for a commanding officer of his rank, no less!” The legendary pokemon snapped.
“On the contrary, my queen. My sentinels have been able to capture this artificial intelligence from this dimension that could possible be the key to locating all Displaced in the Multiverse… Of course with a few modifications-.” He stopped the moment the queen placed her hand in the air, before she looked towards both of them.
“Yellow Radio, you may be one of Ozai’s Commanding officers, but you were put in charge of capturing Suicune and yet you're here trying to please me with the fantasy of an AI that would hasten our goal,” The queen told her in a fierce and stern tone as she grabbed Yellow Radio by the throat, lifting him off the ground as she began to flap her wings. “I don’t care about your science project, I want Suicune bleeding before me as he begs for his life. This A.I will only delay our progress.” As she was done, she threw him on the floor, Elysium soon turned to Cobalion. “Now… What is this about a problem?”
“I believe there is a displaced that is assisting the traitor, my queen.” The legendary pokemon told her. “And I think it is responsible for sapping Monster X of his strength before the traitor laid the final blow on him. I saw his power rising, only to drop rather rapidly and for his neuroelectrical circuits to be completely dry… all while this fool did nothing.” He growled, glaring at Yellow Radio as he tried to stand back up again.
“My… Queen… Lord Ozai assigned me to… assist with the invasion of this world. He wanted more troops to his army… I was simply following orders, your majesty,” He explained, as he got up again.
“They were not your orders to follow,” Elysium glared once more. “Lord Ozai gave those exact orders to the Warden Eternal while you were put in charge of the same squad that Monster X and Beast King were in. Now one displaced is dead because of your foolishness… Tell me, what would Lord Ozai think when he hears about how the blood of a displaced is on your hands. He would not be pleased at all, would he?”
“Even if the Warden was assigned to this task… I was suppose to assist him on this world since there has been quite a bit of resistance on this world-.” He was cut off by a back hand to his face as Elysium looked over him.
“I don’t care what Ozai says… this is my vessel and you’ll do as I say.” She snapped at him, her anger being imminent as she looked at the jester with eyes of rage. “Do I make… myself… clear?”
“Of course… My lady, but you must know that I have a way to find out who has been assisting the traitor…” Intrigued, Elysium decided to listen to what Yellow Radio had to say. “As I’ve said before about the A.I this one is special… capable of locating every Displaced there is in existence. Capable of controlling the most advanced technology in the universe.”
“I don’t want to hear you stories… If you want to be of use, use that AI to find the one assisting the traitor.” Elysium replied.
“Actually… about that, my queen. I have reason to believe that this person may be the same one that Zsoltan had summoned himself. The energy readings that the Warden was picking up in his chase was the same as the ones we detected in Monster X’s encounter. Which would also speculate that both of them aren’t alone.” Cobalion explained. Elysium was beginning to wonder if there was more to this Displaced then she originally thought. “Exuberant Witness was not present in Zsoltan’s study when the Warden had entered the place. It’s likely that she is assisting the traitor and his accomplice.”
“Also I’ve noticed that this particular Displaced is not from our universe but rather at our next destination.” Elysium heard this and still showed anger at the jester. “But we are heading there immediately of course!”
“Change that course,” Elysium ordered. “If you want to be of use, track where Exuberant is. We find her… we find out where the traitor is hiding… Do I make myself clear?”
“My Queen that is what we are doing, that’s what we all have been doing, Exuberant and the traitor are twelve dimensions ahead, but with the resistance from the many universes, it’s not easy for us to pass by with ease. Our best option is to continue forward as Ozai and you requested.” Cobalion informed Elysium, before turning back towards Radio with a glare.
“And I agree with you Cobalion… and Yellow… if you disobey me again… I will kill you myself.” The Queen told him, causing Yellow to scramble like a mouse and get back to his work. “Until then, I’m assigning Cobalion to watch over you… Trust is earned, not given… and that is a lesson you still need to learn, Yellow Radio.”
“Oh, and one more thing before I finish this invasion… Cobalion you are my new commanding officer,” But she was unaware that the Pokemon was hiding a dark secret.
“Does she honestly believe that I work for her… Only the Shadow King commands me and soon he’ll make his triumphant return,” Cobalion thought as smirk appeared across his muzzle.
Canterlot
After having to take some time to have Exuberant calm down, Lance soon joined back up with Suicune along with Celestia and Luna. The Adept had shown to the Displaced that no matter what he thought about him, that he was not going to be leaving anytime soon. With that though, he thought it would be best for some more information on who they might be facing. Sure they knew about both Lord Ozai and also Elysium… but what Lance did not know at the time was the possibility that both of them would be bringing an army.
“I take it you’re curious about Ozai and Elysium?” Suicune asked the Adept.
“Well, as the old saying goes, ‘know thy enemy’,” Lance replied back to him while looking at him. “The more I know about them, the more I can help you.”
“Well at the moment… I still don’t trust you. So right now, I have a task for you to do for me,” Suicune said as the Adept looked at the Pokemon with curiosity about this task. “If you plan on helping me, than I want you to assemble a team that can be trusted and assist us in the upcoming war.”
“That would not be easy. We don’t know how much time we have nor how long until they show up. Plus, I’m not sure if the same method as to how Zsoltan summoned me here could be done twice. Not to mention that Exuberant’s teleporter can’t go back to where we were originally.” The Adept replied. “Other than that, how do you insist that we form this… team then?”
“True, she can’t go back to our old world, but she can travel to other worlds and their are a few that I would recommend for you to visit, before the Elders get to them first,” Suicune explained to Lance. It did make sense that Exuberant could travel to the other worlds of the Displaced, but Lance had something to add to this plan of his.
“Let me see if there’s someone I know that can help me.” Lance replied. He remembered that most of his tokens were back in his world, but there was one that he forgot to put away. That being an Onyx dragon scale from his friend, Ken Ahkrin. However, when he tried to use it, both him and Suicune heard an… abrupt response.
“Oh haaaaaaaai. Sorry about that, but my cousin Ken can’t come to the phone right now because he’s playing a game of Bunkers and Badasses, B*TCHES!!! Leave a message after… wait, is this even a phone!? Ken, How does this thing work!?! …… A message from Tiny Tina.”
“O…… kay, that rules out one possibility.” The adept sighed as he put away the scale and looked back at Suicune
“Hmm… well it looks like you’re allies from that world are busy with their own problems. But like I said, these allies of mine are some of the best I’ve met when they were in the Displaced with me. You and Exuberant shall go and retrieve these allies and bring them here. Though you only have two months to gather my and your allies before Fall approaches,” Suicune explained, shocking the Azure Striker.
“How do you know that this is going down in two months?” Lance then questioned.
“I’ve had visions of these events for awhile now and wondered who would fight with me in this battle, but I’m starting to think that you might be the reason for this vision. You are the one who shall assemble my forces and defend this world.” Suicune told him. Lance, inside his head, thought that this was definitely a lot of pressure put on his shoulders. But instead of arguing, he instead accepted it and looked back at him.
“Where do I start then?”
“Tonight, when Exuberant’s teleporter is at full power, you will travel to where another Android is hiding. He’ll help you as long as you say my name,”
“Another android?” Lance asked, personally surprised by this revelation. “You mean you know of others?”
“Yes, and his ally Quicksilver are in this wasteland assisting in a revolution, it would be best for you to be alert. I shall keep in touch with you with my telepathy.” The pokemon explained as the Adept processed this information.
“What should I know about Quicksilver before I go try to find him?” The Azure Striker asked his final question while looking back at Suicune.
“He’s fast,” Suicune replied bluntly.
“Well, that’s to be expected… I’ll go find Exuberant and catch her up to speed… no pun intended.” The Azure Striker told him as he began to walk back to where Exuberant was waiting. He had Lumen stay with her so she could have someone to talk too. Which seemed good… for the most part… yet he didn’t want to assume anything.
“So, he’s going to be married?” Exuberant asked, the breezie, gave a slight nod.
“Yeah, to two other Displaced. I met them myself and that’s why a lot of your… advances so to speak, remind him of his Fiance Maxine. Seph is a bit… different, but Lance cares for them both. And part of the reason why he’s here helping Suicune is so no harm could come to his family.” He heard Lumen explain. “It’s an open relationship, but there’s still rules and such. Honestly, trying to pay attention to it for me really makes my brain hurt.”
“An open...relationship you say~” Exuberant’s thoughts began to drift as she put herself into a daze.
“With rules… Besides, two of his kids are adopted, including a filly Rainbow Dash and the fact that Lance is going to be a father real soon… in another way.” Lumen tried to get Exuberant to understand while she was daydreaming.
“And… he’s great with kids… only makes me want him more~”
“Well, here’s the thing about Max… She basically plays the role of Celestia and Luna since she had to inherit her powers… and the last time a subject about having Lance be taken was brought up, she was BEYOND pissed off at Time.” Lumen sighed, looking back at Exuberant. However, the mentioning of the name ‘Time’ had Exuberant… rather confused.
“Oh, but I’m a nice bot, and I can share… But wow Time… he has to be perfect-.”
That was the point where Lance had to step into the room personally. “Yeah, hate to break it to you, but the person that Lumen is referring to is not the case,” He explained. “His full name is Time Spinner… originally a displaced, but when banished through the void, he became a displacer… Exuberant, have you heard of something called the War of Shadows?”
“No, but I doubt they were as bad as the third war against Vlitra,”
“The War of Shadows was originally suppose to be a hunt for a voidling that was distorting other worlds. Multiple Displaced were called to find it, but when cornered, the voidling tricked two displaced into attacking one another… and from it, came civil war. I was there when it first happened and from it, I met Time… He used to be a displaced that was a hero in my world… but being banished severely changed him… like worse than Suicune. He became a Displacer and through it… began to lose pieces of himself.”
“A Displacer?” Exuberant asked, confused for a bit as she tilted her head to the side.
“You’re familiar with how someone is displaced right?” Lance asked, looking back at Exuberant as she nodded her head. “Let’s just say that the Displacer is someone that makes it happen. The one who has people become Displaced in the first place. There are many out there… but I have yet to meet the one that Displaced me… They’re the reason why someone becomes a displaced.”
“Well at least they have the courtesy to show their ugly mugs! All we got was a stupid email and passing out! Asshole!” Exuberant said, as her eyes turned into a dark shade of red.
“Your lucky then…” The Azure Striker replied. “Some people had it much worse… Case in point being my aunt, Aya Brea. Time displaced her… but how he did it was rather… gruesome.” All that did though was get Exuberant Witness even more interested. So Lance symbolized it by having one of his hands resemble a finger pistol as he had it tap Exuberants forehead. “One shot, point blank… bullet to the head… And that was after crippling her and making her bleed out in front of him.”
“Honestly, I still find that better… the guy that displaced me displaced over 2,000,000 people! At least that’s the number I’ve counted 1000 years ago,” Exuberant explained, surprising both Lumen and Lance.
“Well… that’s something,” Lumen stated in a monotone voice. “Oh and Lance, how did your conversation go with Lord Suicune?”
“Well, he told me three things… One, we’re going to need allies. Two, we got two months to prepare before Lord Ozai and them show up… and three, the first place for us to start looking is for an android and another displaced named Quicksilver. Would you happen to know anything about that, Exuberant?” He then asked her.
“The android is most likely my brother. Suicune had very few friends that were robots, or cyborgs. Let’s just say that he’s a bit… crazy.” That just had Lance raise an eyebrow as he looked back at her with a partially confused look on his face.
“Define crazy. Because Lumen and I have seen crazy before and one of those crazy moments just happened recently when I was talking with Lord Suicune.” He asked, playing the message that he received from Ken’s token earlier that day.
“Uh… that’s more of weird than crazy I’m talking about, I’m saying crazy as in crazy. He’s not right in the head at the moment,”
“I’ve heard of AI’s not being right in the head before being displaced… Yet, there were some differences… What’s his name?” Lance then asked out of curiosity. Wondering if who Exuberant was talking about… was the same as what he was thinking.
“Sigma, his name is Sigma,” Now that was something else. Lance remembered seeing Red vs. Blue… and to put it simply, even though Sigma was the AI that represented ingenuity and creativity, it also meant that he was beyond evil. Going as far as brainwashing the Freelancer Agent Maine to becoming the Meta. His other guess was Ordis, a Cephalon AI from Warframe that was also personally a bit crazy, even with the circumstances presented to him and the operator.
“Should I be worried then?” He asked, looking back at Exuberant. “Because if this guy is like what I think he is… then I got a bad feeling that we may not exactly be greeted with open arms.”
“And you should be a bit worried, but he’s not a killer… at least towards me and Suicune… hehehe…” The small laugh from Exuberant did little to help him though right now as he looked to see if Exuberant’s teleporter was ready to take them to where Quicksilver and Sigma was. He wanted to greet them peacefully, but something told him to keep his gear in check just in case Sigma tried to pull anything on them.
Later...
“So you are positive that Lord Suicune has a reason for trusting this guy,” Lumen then asked while looking at Lance and Exuberant. “Because from what you told me, it just makes me think that he might be brainwashing this Quicksilver guy we’re trying to meet!”
“Lumen, aren’t you over exaggerating just a little?” Lance asked her as she flew back into his hair… but that was before she said one more thing.
“Don’t judge me! I have MY reasons!!”
“Right… So Exuberant, are we all set with the teleporter?” Lance then asked her as he walked over to where the android was standing at.
“We’re ready, but I think you should know that Sigma isn’t that bad, he’ll listen,” She told him, causing the Adept to nod his head and join up with her as the teleporter was soon active. “Alright, and as I told you earlier today… we’d be spending quite a bit of time together~”
She soon grabbed Lance’s hands as they were both teleported to their next destination. Which in turn, felt kind of strange for Exuberant to be acting this way… even after explaining how his relationship worked. But he just rolled with it. He had other things to pay attention too and one of them was coming up once their feet touched the ground.
The world around them was a complete wreck and all signs of life seemed to be non existent. There was damage everywhere and from what he could tell, it almost seemed impossible for someone to actually live or survive here.
“What the hell happened here?” Lance asked, but Exuberant soon got on her knees and found a damaged piece of metal with scales that were still active.
“Sentinels…” Was all Exuberant said.
“Sentinels? Are they different from the prometheans that we saw before?” Lance then asked, wanting to know if Exuberant happened to know anything else on the subject.
“In the second war… Sentinels were used as a security measure, but was shut down due to their primary function. They were created by a guy named Yellow Radio, but why would they activate something that can literally destroy everything?” Exuberant explained.
“What do you mean everything?” Lumen asked, a bit frighten by her words.
“Look around you,” Lance said, pointing out all the chaos and carnage that was around them. “Something tells me this is what she means.”
“From what I can tell the landscape has always been like this… but a battle happened recently,” Exuberant explained. Lance could tell from the scorch marks on the ground along from the smoke and ash that drifted through the air.
“Well where should we start looking?” Lumen asked. The question though was already answered in the Adept’s mind as he happened to notice something. A trail of what looked liked the same metallic scales that belonged to the sentinels. He slowly followed the trail while having himself be prepared just in case if there were an ambush and in his head, he was already sending a message to Suicune.
“Okay, Lord Suicune, we just got here and I must agree on the Wasteland part… But we came across what looks like a battle scene and remains of figures that Exuberant calls ‘Sentinels’.” The Adept informed him mentally. The response that he got though… was an informative one.
“The Sentinels were created by an old acquaintance named Yellow Radio in the second war. A war that almost lead to our enemies winning because of his past alliance with them.” Suicune answered the Adept.
“She also mentioned that they were suppose to be shut down… Do you think there’s a likelihood that this acquaintance of yours brought them back online to hunt you?” Lance then asked him. “Because Exuberant described them as beings that can literally destroy everything. Unless they were reprogrammed, wouldn’t reactivating them bring some form of risk?”
“Yellow Radio most likely reactivated them to earn a place as one of Ozai’s officers, but the Sentinels were created to hunt… other Displaced. In the war, Yellow Radio proposed that we create a new weapon that could win us the war... but he was supporting both sides and many of the Displaced had been killed.”
“So he reactivated them to save his own skin basically?” The Adept hypothesized. “Show that he was still useful despite playing both sides during the war?”
“Even though he’s a genius he’s a deadly adversary and we would have locked him up like the others, but the other Elders saw fit for him to build towers and make our lives within the Displaced easier.” Suicune explained to Lance. “A foolish mistake if you ask me.”
“Good to know… We’re going to see if we can find Quicksilver and his accomplice… along with any other survivors that could help us. I’ll give you an update later.” Lance told him before letting out a sigh and taking a moment to look around while making sure there wasn’t anything trying to come at them. Exuberant was still searching as well, but Lance right now was trying to make sure that he didn’t wander off too far to where they would get separated.
But during this though… that was when he began to hear something… off. It first started as a faint humming noise like a hummingbird flying past him… but the sound soon grew louder… and then he remembered what he said about Quicksilver. He was told that he was fast… so that meant he was dealing with the displaced equivalent of Filli-second. He heard the sound pass by him a couple more times… before activating his Flashfield and causing whatever was moving past him to soon come to a crashing halt.
“Damn it! What the hell?!” A man wearing a silver jacket and black jeans and silver Nikes, as well as a pair of goggles.
Lance himself saw him and then said something to himself. “Quick and…… silver. Honestly, I did not expect for the name Quicksilver to mean something literally.”
“What’s the big deal, Asshole?!” Quick stated as he stood up, dusting himself off before zipping past Lance and grabbed a hold of his weapon and dropping it before appearing next to him. “Well you don’t look like the guys that were with those Sentinels… Who are you exactly?”
Lance himself was surprised that this guy was able to get a hold of his gun. Unfortunately for him though, Quicksilver did not know that his gun could only be used by him only. “My name is Lance, but sometimes I go by Gunvolt. I was told by a friend to come find you and also someone else… Would you happen to know someone named Sigma by any chance? I was told by Exuberant that he would be here.”
“Sorry, but I don’t know you… So sorry can’t help you, but hey it was greeeat to meet you, but hey I’ll let him know you dropped by,” Soon he was gone before Lance and Exuberant could finish asking him.
“I wasn’t done talking…” Lance interjected, before sighing a little. “I was just about to tell him about how Lord Suicune was needing their help-.”
“Say what now?” Quick said, startling the Adept as both Exuberant and him turned to see him eating what appears to be a slice of cake. “Lord who?”
“Suicune.” Lance repeated, using his abilities to conjure a holographic projection in his hands with his powers. “Are you familiar with him?”
“Hmm… I’ve heard of him… but that’s only because my dad told me about him… but not really, no.” He replied, taking a bite from his cake as Lumen began to drool a bit. The last part of his sentence caught the Adept’s attention though as he looked at him.
“Your dad told you about him? Who is he?” He asked politely, curious to hear the response that he would get from him.
“Quicksilver… well he was before he died a year ago… doesn’t bug me as much anymore if you’re curious. “The Adept nodded, just as Exuberant soon showed up next to Lance a couple of minutes later.
“I’m sorry for your loss… can you excuse me for a moment?” He asked, just as Quicksilver noticed Exuberant. Lance soon took a step back and then began to contact Lord Suicune again. “Lord Suicune, there may be a minor hiccup with Quicksilver.”
“How so?”
“The Quicksilver that you know is dead. Died last year… The one I met is his son, who took up his title. He has heard of you from his father, but has never met you in person.”
“Hmm… well still you should recruit him… he could still be of use to us.”
“Alright. He seems to know Sigma, so all isn’t lost… But with the possibility of the Sentinels, we may be running low on time before they come back.” The Adept replied. “I’m going to take a wild guess that you can only talk in my mind and not his?” He knew it was a longshot, but if Quicksilver could hear Lord Suicune out, then there would be less likely of a possibility that he would think that he was crazy.
“That is correct Lance Walker,” He replied.
“Okay, I was just checking… I’ll see if he can take Exuberant and I to go meet Sigma. I’ll update you on my progress once we meet him.” He replied before walking back over to Quicksilver. “Hey, Quicksilver. I’m sorry for bringing this up immediately, but is it possible for both Exuberant and I to meet Sigma? We need to let him know of some of the things going on with Lord Suicune and why he’s asking for both of you to help him-” Before they knew it they weren’t in the middle of the wastelands anymore, but rather in an underground bunker of some kind as Quicksilver closed the doors and grabbed another slice of cake. It didn’t help that Lance soon had a headache due to the whiplash.
“Well you’re here,” Quick answered, taking another bite from his cake. Lumen soon noticed the remaining cake on the table nearby and immediately flew off of Lance’s head and dived into the cake.
“This… cake… is good!” Lumen spoke while entranced by the flavor of the cake as Quick gawked at the breezie.
“Lumen, seriously?” Lance replied, trying to resist the urge to facepalm himself as he noticed Quicksilver’s startled reaction to her just jumping out of his hair.
“Hey I was going to eat that!” Quick said, as he tried to grab the cake, only for Lumen to smack his finger with her antennas only for his eyes to widen.
“Learn how to share, speedy gonzales!”
“...... How do you even know that reference?” Lance questioned as he looked at his breezie partner in disbelief.
“Aurora told me.”
“I thought as much.” He sighed, before turning to Quicksilver. “Sorry about Lumen. She’s a friend and my partner… who apparently has a strong liking to cake.”
“Well actually, you should feel sorry for her,” Quick stated as he was taking a bite of a hotdog that he got somehow.
“Okay first off… how did you get that when I was watching you the entire time? Also what do you mean by that?” Exuberant asked.
“His abilities involve enhanced speed that’s five to ten times faster than the average person from the looks of it,” Lance replied. “Just a theory. I’m not sure about the last bit.”
“Well actually I had it in my jacket the whole time,” He corrected only for Exuberant to facepalm, but Lance remembered what he said about Lumen.
“Hold on… What exactly do you mean by feeling sorry for Lumen?” He asked.
“Well one, Pinkie Pie made it for me specifically… meaning I can only eat because I’m the only one who can handle the ingredients. Also let’s just say that… she’s going to regret eating that cake.” Lumen tried to float up to Quicksilver so he could further clarify, but soon held her mouth for a second… and throwing up on Quicksilver’s shoes.
“Lumen! Really!?!”
“S-sorry… I didn’t feel anything wrong… it just tasted strange for a moment so I spat it out before anything bad happened.” Lumen apologized, not worried that Quicksilver would get mad at her for doing that.
“If strawberries taste strange then you have problems,” Quick said as he took a bite of his cake before zipping out of the room and returning with another pair of silver Nikes.
“That was STRAWBERRIES!?! I thought that was suppose to be Vanilla!” Lumen shouted, “Damn you, frosting!! That is the last time you will deceive the likes of me!!!” Now was the appropriate time for Lance to facepalm himself as he sighed a little to himself.
“Well I thought it was obvious I mean it’s covered in Pink frosting,” That’s when Lance looked confused, seeing that the cake had white frosting on it… for the lettering of the cake. And where Lumen landed was on of the letters.
“Please do forgive Lumen… she doesn’t always think before she acts,” Lance apologized, causing Lumen to grumble before taking some frosting and trying to throw it at his face. Only for Lance to catch it mid flight. “This doesn’t normally happen when meeting other people.”
“Hey no problem, not many people can adapt to a black and white world that easily.” Lumen was going to question it, but that just lead to her drifting back into Lance’s hair and passing out seconds later. “She should wake up...in a day or two… the last person who ate my cake… well he didn’t wake up for… ever.” Quick said, trying to hide a sly grin as he left them alone to get Sigma.
“Well, she’s an Adept like I am so she’ll just sleep it off like a hangover… a sugar induced hangover.” Lance said to himself, looking at Exuberant for a minute.
“See something you like~” And she’s back to being herself. Another reason for him to sigh deeply and roll his eyes for a moment. He just hoped that Sigma was nothing like her right now… Again, hoped.
“So, he’s ready to see you now,” Quick said, holding a lot of Twinkies… there was only one thing Lance had to ask himself.
“Just how much sweets does this guy eat?” He asked himself, trying to not accidently contact Lord Suicune with the small thought in his head. Following Quicksilver, he soon walked inside to see a room that was… teched out. Like really teched out. Old computers, devices and a freaking arcade station… seconds later, he saw Sigma, but not what he was expecting.
“So you are the one Quicksilver told me about?”
“You must be Sigma, I assume?” Lance then asked. Honestly, he was surprised by his appearance. He didn’t think that an AI that was supposedly ‘crazy’ according to Exuberant would look like a monk. Especially like this one.
“No, Sigma isn’t here at the moment, I’m Zenyatta, a close friend to him.” The Omnic replied, answering the Adept’s question.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all the same,” Lance told him, extending a hand for him to shake as he introduced him and his companion. “My name’s Lance, but I sometimes go by Gunvolt. This here is my companion, Exuberant Witness.”
“A pleasure to meet you all, I take it Lord Suicune sent you here?” The Omnic asked as he approached the two.
“Indeed he did… He’s in need of help.” Lance replied back to him. For the next half an hour, the Adept used the time to explain to Zenyatta and Quicksilver what was exactly going on, their encounter with that of Monster X and the Beast king, and what Lord Suicune told him. That they needed to get allies to help him. Exuberant also made sure to add more details to what was going on, including what the sign of the Sentinels from earlier could possibly mean and explain it was all the more reason for them to get their help.
“I see… well, I could offer my assistance, but at the moment I have my hands tied with the Sentinels. If you must know, they can adapt to anyone’s powers and find countermeasures to them… even my own. Sigma is out with Ruby fighting those monstrosities. And the one leading them in this assault is Yellow Radio.” Zenyatta explained to them.
“I was told about Yellow Radio. Suicune told me of how he was involved in the second war and how he developed the sentinels…” The Adept replied. “What can I do to help you?”
“Not much I’m afraid… they are powerful machines and we can barely handle a squad. There were twenty-five of us here before, but now there is only six of us. Me, Quicksilver, Ruby, Sigma, Colossus, and Drax.” That led to Lance scratching his chin in thought as he was processing this information. “I’ve tried to find a solution to this problem, but the Sentinels were created to kill Displaced. The second war was difficult for all of us and now that they are active again. I’m afraid no Displaced can escape. All we can do is run an hide.”
As the Adept thought this through, he was beginning to see a small pattern. The Sentinels were created by Yellow Radio… yet, if this guy actually had any brains, he needed some sort of kill switch for if they turned on him next. So the fight was not with the Sentinels, but with Yellow Radio himself. By stopping him, you stop the sentinels… for good… hopefully. But to figure this out, he needed some things.
“Would you happen to have a map on you?”
“At our old base yes, but that is all the way in the ruins of Canterlot, but that can wait until tomorrow… You must be tired? You can stay here for the night and we’ll depart first thing in the morning.” The Omnic suggested.
“Thank you,” Lance replied, “We really appreciate your generosity.”
“But be warned… using your powers will draw in the Sentinels so keep them to a minimum. The last thing we need is for them to find us.” He warned as he headed to his original spot, before powering down. The Adept took his words to heart as he leaned against a nearby wall and began to fall asleep. Needing as much rest as he could for tomorrow.
Dreamscape
When Lance first woke up, he didn’t wake to the sight of the same room that he was in previously, but rather an expansive and starry plane of existence as he soon realized that Suicune and Celestia were standing in front of him. “O… kay, can someone tell me what’s going on here? Because last I checked, I was trying to get some sleep-.”
“What is your progress as of now, Lance Walker? We need to know if they’ll come and assist us in this war immediately.” Celestia asked the Adept.
“Oh… right… Well, here’s the thing… Lord Suicune, remember when I mentioned the Sentinels last time I checked in with you?” The Adept replied, seeing the pokemon nod his head. “Well, because of them, things are a bit grim. There was originally twenty five displaced here, but now there’s only six. Sigma, Quicksilver, Ruby, Colossus, Drax, and Zenyatta. The only possible way they can help us right now is once they don’t need to worry about the Sentinels… We’re going to the Ruins of Canterlot tomorrow to try and acquire a map so we find the one in charge of the Sentinels, the one you refer to as Yellow Radio, Lord Suicune. The sooner we defeat him, the sooner that those Displaced can be able to help us.”
“Well you better hurry, Lance Walker. Reason why is because two weeks have already passed since your departure to the wastelands,” Suicune said, surprising the Azure Striker.
“Woah, wait a second… Two weeks? It’s only been a few hours since we got here.” Lance replied back. “What’s the time difference suppose to be? One hour here is a few days back where you are? If that’s the case, then screw waiting. We need to get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Not every universe has the same time zone, but if you hurry you can possible make it to the next Displaced world.”
“How many world do I need to reach before coming back?” Lance replied, asking one last question before wanting this to end. The more time he wasted here was affecting Suicune’s chances of surviving. “Because if the clock’s ticking, I’ll hurry and get you your help as quickly as possible.”
“Good, we don’t have much time here and if what you say is true, then you must convince them to come back with you to the next world.” Celestia warned the Adept. His time was running out and failure was not an option as of now. He knew that for sure.
The second Lance woke up, he still found himself inside the basement of the hideout Zenyatta and the others were in. He saw everyone being asleep, including Zenyatta still powered down. But knowing that time was of the essence, the Adept knew that he needed to hurry… Therefore, instead of disturbing them, he needed to do this on his own. Exuberant was powered down as well, so no one was able to give him some help… But first, he wanted for them to be on the same page as he was when it came to the current situation.
So, taking a piece of paper and a pen, he wrote a note explaining every last detail of the events that have transpired since his arrival. Shortly after that, he took a deep breath and quietly began to leave the shelter. Given that this wasteland itself looked exactly like the badlands where he fought Monster X, the adept had a feeling that Canterlot wasn’t far either. But he could not use his teleportation ability or any of his other powers in fear that the Sentinels could detect him… so instead, he had only one other option.
Run.
“And where do you think your going?” A tall metal man asked, as he crossed his arms at the Adept. “Zenyatta asked for all of us to wait before we depart to Canterlot today.”
“I’m sorry, but we’re losing time. Originally, I was told that-.” As he turned around, he realized that the person that he was talking to was not Zenyatta. “Wait… I’m not sure if we met before… Have we?”
“No we have not, the names Colossus and right now you’ll wait. Sigma and Ruby left to scout out a safer route for us to reach Canterlot and we aren’t allowed to leave until they come back!” Colossus stated, shoving the Adept gently inside. “After all, we don’t want to attract the Sentinels.”
“And how much longer are we supposed to wait?” He questioned. “With every hour that passes here, we have less time to help Lord Suicune. Originally, I was told that we had two months to get allies. Now it’s become six weeks… and that was just in a matter of hours. If Sigma and Ruby are going to find a new route, then they need to hurry.”
“Now I know you are concerned about your master, but going out there now, alone is suicide and the Sentinels will kill you. Trust me it’s better to wait till they come back, which should be any minute now,” And right on cue a Warthog soon pulled up at the front entrance. A beautiful girl with dark red hair and red cloak exited the vehicle.
“So you’re the new guy?” She looked at him for a moment before she held her hand up.
“And you must be Ruby…” He replied. “Should I assume that Sigma is with you?”
“What’s it to ya?”
“I was told that you could help us,” He replied back. “It’s a lot to explain, but I came to help. My companion, Exuberant Witness and I are needing your help, but we’re running out of time in order to help Lord Suicune.”
“Pfft… fine, just don’t get in my way when I blow up sh*t!” Sigma said, pushing the Adept aside as he entered the bunker to see Exuberant sleeping. Yep, that definitely answered the crazy part that she was talking about earlier… just not exactly what he originally thought of. “Drax! Did you mess with my hard drive again?! You asshole!”
Lance just facepalmed in response. Everyone was trying to sleep, but Sigma here was just trying to wake everyone up right now. All he could do right now was to keep calm and carry on.
“Don’t get angry! I was only polishing it!”
“It’s covered in butter you idiot!” Although, it was getting really hard to try to not yell at everyone else to just calm down with each passing second.
“Well it looks like we can wake everyone now,” Ruby said as she entered the bunker.
“Technically, I think Sigma and Drax already did that,” He replied, who pointed out Sigma and Drax arguing with one another to the point that it woke up both Quicksilver and Zenyatta in a matter of seconds along with Exuberant shortly afterwards. “That’s one way to do it, now what?”
“Now we prepare for our trip to Canterlot,” Zenyatta said, approaching Lance.
“Good morning to you as well, Zenyatta,” He replied back. “I was going to see if you were up but… I think Sigma already did the waking up part for you.” The adept said the last bit in a muffled tone of voice so he wouldn’t think that the AI could hear him. Because the last thing he would want to do is make him angry.
“He’s just tired, but being in control of a power suit can take a lot out of you.” Zenyatta explained. Still, they needed to hurry if they were going to get to Canterlot. Lance was ready, but he needed to hear what Zenyatta was planning first. Because they didn’t have anymore time to lose at this rate.
“Now Sigma and Ruby scouted a safe route for us to travel to the ruins of Canterlot, meaning that there aren’t any Sentinels. But still, no one use any of your powers! They can track us in seconds and you already know what happened to the others! Now Sigma, get Pinkie Pie and bring the Van. We’ll all have to squeeze in since the Warthog is almost out of fuel and it’s the only transportation we have.” Zenyatta explained. The plan was simple and not really complex to understand, but Lance knew that they would run into those Sentinels sooner or later. Time was the one thing they did not have… and that they needed to hurry if they were going to help Suicune.
“Alright let’s hurry up everyone… we need to get there before sundown,” Colossus said, as he hopped in the front seat. Lance himself sat near the back to try and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity while everyone else took their respected positions in the van. Ruby took up position near the back, making room for Sigma, Drax and everyone else as Zenyatta sat in the middle. But seeing that there wasn’t much room Exuberant squeezed right next to Lance, letting out a quiet but obvious giggle.
“Wait… Who’s driving?” Lumen asked, rubbing her eyes after waking up.
“That would be me silly fillies,” A pink pony with puffy pink mane, wearing a brown jacket and an eyepatch as she sat in drivers seat. “Everypony buckle up, we’re going for a ride!” That caused the breezie to gulp a little and Lance had barely any time to hold onto something before Pinkie slammed her hoof on the gas pedal.
“WHO’S IDEA WAS TO LET HER DRIVE?!” Sigma shouted, as everyone except Sigma, held on for their lives.
“IT WAS YOUR IDEA!” Ruby countered. Lance officially decided inside his head that everyone here was a bit crazy… Except for Zenyatta, Ruby and Quicksilver. They were fine in his book. He had a feeling that his trip was going to take awhile, no matter how fast Pinkie Pie was driving.
“Lance! If I die here… I leave my will to you!” Lumen said, pulling on his hair tightly.
“Just calm down, Lumen. You’re over exaggerating again…” He sighed, looking back at Ruby. “Is this normal for you guys?”
“This… happens when a new guy shows up… Pinkie always insists on driving and let’s just say… that your little friend isn’t… Exaggerating,” She replied as she gripped her seat tightly, with a bit of sweat dripping from her forehead.
“Don’t you think it’s a lovely day for a ride, Lance?” Zenyatta asked, calmly turning his head towards the Adept calmly. Yet, before he could actually answer his question, Pinkie made a U-turn, causing Exuberant and Drax to lean against him forcefully.
“Ow… Pinkie can’t you slow down?” He said, trying to push both of them off before they squished him to death.
“I thought you guys wanted to get there quickly, besides at this speed we should be there at night time.” She answered.
“AT NIGHT-?!!” Lumen shouted, at this speed they would waste an entire day just to get there. “Getting there in one piece is one thing, but at freaking night!? We won’t even be able to see if those sentinel freaks are coming!” Lance himself groaned. They needed to hurry, but at this rate, he would barely have any time at all to get back to Suicune before the Elders arrived.
“Is there like some sort of shortcut we can take or is this the only way there!?!” Lumen shouted
“This is the quickest path to the ruins Canterlot taking any of the other paths would take days or they are blocked off by Sentinels… and their the last thing we want to see. This is the only way… unless you want to take the risk of using our powers and draw them near us?” Drax explained, he made a good point, but Lance didn’t have time for a trip this long.
Soon the van came to a complete halt, as Lance hit’s Zenyatta’s seat face first as the car stopped… Wait, stop? Why did Pinkie Pie stop? That was the main question on his mind as he looked back at the others. “Uh… what just happened?”
“Shhh! Sentinels flying over us.” Pinkie answered as three Sentinels flew over them, searching for anything that moved. Everyone was quiet for awhile, but when they were out of sight, Pinkie tried to start the car again, but Colossus had to do it since she doesn’t have hands to turn them. “Wow, that was one heck of a doozy… So glad to have my Pinkie Sense~”
“That was too close-.” Before Drax could finish he didn’t realize that he was leaning on Exuberant, and loud beeping sound began to go off.
“Uhh… What does that beeping sound mean-?” Before Lance could finish his question, something else happened a few seconds later. They were suddenly at the front entrance of Canterlot, Sigma looked at the Adept with anger.
“What did you do?!” Sigma demanded.
“Hey, I didn’t do anything! All I saw was a bright flash of light from Exuberant and now we’re here!” The Adept told him in response, before looking at her. “Exuberant, are you okay?”
“I’m fine… but Drax must have leaned against my controls and activated my teleporter functions-”
“Then that means they’ve found us,” Zenyatta said quietly.
“Well, now what’s the plan?” Lance asked them, “Because hiding might not exactly help us any longer if they know we’re here… Should we divide and conquer? Half of us look for the map and the other half try to divert the sentinels away from here?”
“Lance… we appreciate your help… but you must leave while you still can… Quicksilver and Pinkie Pie agreed to accompany you… there isn’t enough time for you to stop Yellow Radio and complete your mission. It will take an hour for Exuberant’s teleporter to charge again. Get in the castle and remain there until it’s charged. We will buy you as much time as we can,” Zenyatta explained, placing his hand on Lance’s shoulder.
“I thank you for your help Zenyatta, but there’s no way in hell that I’m leaving any of you behind. We’ll get through this and do it together.” Lance reasonably told him, only to get a much different response in return.
“Lance… you must realize that you can’t save everyone… besides I’ve lived a long fulfilling life and my sons would agree with me,” Zenyatta said, as Colossus and Sigma stood beside him.
“Sorry Lance, but this isn’t an argument you can win… you have your mission and you need to be the one to complete it… not us.” Ruby said, pulling out her signature weapon, Crescent Rose.
“I… I’ll hurry as quickly as possible,” He replied back to him. “Just don’t die on me so quickly… put up a good fight… leave the rest to me.”
On the other side of the Wastelands
Yellow Radio, sat in his lab as he watched the monitor for any activity of Displaced, being disappointed for a little while until he heard the all too familiar sound of alarms began to go off. “Let us see where Zenyatta is hiding now.”
“Ahh… Canterlot City… Let us see what happens when they see a ghost from their past?” He said, cheerfully as he pressed a single button. “I believe it is time, my friend… Zenyatta is in Canterlot and I believe it’s the perfect time to spring our little trap.”
Back at the city
Moments after getting out of the van, Lance, Lumen, Pinkie and Exuberant had begun searching for the map that they needed based on the directions to the old base that Zenyatta left them with. Once they were there, the Adept had no time to lose at all. His plan required the map that was left behind in the old base as they soon rushed around a corner into an alleyway and the sooner that they were able to get it, the sooner the Adept could find Yellow Radio and put a stop to the Sentinels.
“Lance, are you okay?” He heard Lord Suicune contact him.
“Earlier yes, now… not so much,” Lance replied back. “One of the Displaced here set off Exuberants teleporter on the way to Canterlot and now Zenyatta and the others are trying to hold the line while we get something important from their old base. We’re trying to move as quickly as possible, Lord Suicune.”
“Lance, you are running out of time… another week has passed. What are you doing over there?” Lord Suicune asked. Lance had to think it over for a minute, before giving a bold answer.
“Putting an end to the Sentinels and Yellow Radio. I’m going to stop them so no one else has to die and that Zenyatta and them can help you. I promised that in any way possible that I will try to help you and I’m planning on doing that right now… I gotta go, I’ll check back with you later after this is done.” With that, Lance ended the conversation before Suicune could reply just as Pinkie Pie opened a door to a half destroyed bakery and lead everyone into the kitchen. Turns out, she hid the map inside a book of recipes that she couldn’t bring with her originally due to the sudden arrival of the Sentinels in canterlot.
“Okay I found the map that will help us find...” She said, before then realizing something. “Wait, why exactly do you need a map?”
“Just trust me on this one Pinkie,” Lance replied as he grabbed a marker from the nearby countertop and placing a dot on where Canterlot was located. “Okay, where have the last few sentinel attacks taken place?”
“Well the first attack took place here in Canterlot, where we were living originally, and the second attack took place somewhere in the Wastelands, as for the other attacks they’ve been all over the place. Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Appleloosa, and Texas.” With the names of each location, the Adept was processing faster than the average displaced could as he made dots on each of the locations and connected them with two sets of lines. One being where the lines formed into a direct shape while the other being where all the lines from each point would converge at. And with it, he figured out exactly where Yellow Radio was.
“Exuberant, stay with Pinkie…” He told her boldly as he began to go for the door.
“No, Pinkie goes with you! I’m going to help my brother out there-” Before she could finish her wrist pad began to beep again, but this time it was a message from Sigma. “He says to come outside now… they’ve found a Displaced injured!” Lance looked back at the two of them, torn between what he had to do and whether or not to help them. “They want you to meet him.”
“Is it just me, or does that sound like a trap?” Lumen then asked.
“It probably is… Unless if it’s someone I know, then any of the displaced that are here are new to me… besides, the reason for the map was because that’s the location where Yellow Radio is creating the Sentinels… It’s their base of operations. Destroy it and the sentinels are no more.” He sighed for a moment, looking at Exuberant. “Hey, Exuberant… Can your body do holographic projections? Like have you imitate the appearance of another person?”
“Uh… let me think… No,” She said bluntly.
“Damn… and enough time is already being consumed as it is,” Lance replied as all of them walked out of the building. “With each passing minute here, days go by for Suicune. He originally told me that he needed two months… now we only have five weeks… Plus, the Sentinels are still active.” With that, the Adept formed a plan in his head as he looked back at Exuberant and Pinkie. “Exuberant, help your brother. Pinkie, stay with her… I can instantly transmit myself back here in a second if anything happens. Time is of the essence and we can’t afford to waste anymore of the precious time we have. If there was any other options, I would’ve come up with it. But this is the only choice I got right now.”
“But how are you so sure that you can be able to stop those meanies?” Pinkie Pie then asked.
“The sentinels are familiar with your guys’ powers… But they don’t know a thing about mine.” Seconds later, the Adept placed the index and middle finger from his right hand on his forehead as he looked back at them. “I’ll get back here as fast as I can. In the meantime though, take this…” With his left hand, he pulled out his secondary weapon that was in the form of a Bolt Magnum issued UNSC firearm that he kept on him for emergencies as he tossed it to Exuberant. “It has infinite shots. Keep yourself safe.”
“Fine… you better stay alive, otherwise I’ll find a way to bring you back and kill you again for leaving,” Exuberant said as her eyes turned to a dark shade of red.
“I’m not planning on dying anytime soon,” He said, running off before disappearing in a quick transmission while Exuberant and Pinkie Pie raced to meet up with Sigma.
Back at Yellow Radio’s Lab
As Yellow Radio watched the screens in front of him for a brief moment, he smirked at the signs that Zenyatta and the others were investigating the… bait that he had set for them inside the walls of Canterlot. However, one thing that stood out at first glance from observing it was that the Displaced he was trying to find out more about was not amongst the group. He began to wonder to himself what was going on as he walked around in a circle in the same place.
His answer to the question was a switch and powerful kick to his face that threw him into the same console that he was using to monitor and control the Sentinels. Cracks of Electricity could be heard as he stood up, only to see the likes of a figure that he personally had not seen before. Blond hair, dark blue combat suit and light blue eyes along with the back of this Displaced’s hair being in a braid. “So you must be Yellow Radio… the two faced coward I keep on hearing about.”
“And you must… be that foolish Displaced that helped the traitor,” He replied to the Adept, looking at the destroyed console and monitors he had worked so hard to build. Except only one monitor work, but it was cracked. “You’ll pay for what you did to my research kid!”
“Talk is cheap, and you can’t hide behind your tin can toys anymore, court jester.” The Azure Striker taunted. His plan for engaging the Jester was like all the other times he had been engaged in combat. Read the enemies tactics first, find an opening, and then expose it. True, Yellow Radio looked pathetic on the outside, but Lance was not going to underestimate him since he had a feeling that this jester had a few tricks up his sleeves.
“Well of course my Sentinels aren’t here, because I sent most of them to take care of those other Displaced. I figured I would be safe here, but apparently I made a slight error.”
“Your error was in those Sentinels,” Lance shot back. “They happened to leave behind a trail that I happened to pick up on.”
“Oh, on the contrary they were a work of art… they can adapt to anything with powers or abilities of other Displaced, regardless whether they’ve met or not. Intelligent and cunning, just like our Elders, but not quite as powerful as them, but they make up for that in numbers.” Yellow countered as he got up and pulled out a baton.
“Would that work of art also be the reason for your choices during the war?” The Adept questioned. “Because I was informed that you would basically do anything to save your own skin.” He then noticed the baton as he had himself at the ready just in case this Kefka wannabe were to try and pull anything on him while he was distracted.
“Oh, such harsh words from a wannabe hero, I’ll have you know that even without my Sentinels I’ve slayed thousands of Displaced before they were even created. Well anyways I don’t know why you’d come here when the real battle is at Canterlot where my Sentinels are right now, along with a little present of mine,” Yellow Explained.
“Yeah… hate to break it to you, but I already presumed you would try to trick them. Which is why I’m here…” Lance then pointed to the destroyed consoles and machines around him. “If you worked so hard on your Sentinels, then this is where the Sentinels get their commands. Almost like the brain or the heart of the Sentinel… Take it out and everything else falls down with it. So, are you going to try and bore me with your petty speeches or try to show me that you are actually a… decent opponent.” That was the second part of Lance’s plan. Since this Yellow Radio took great pride in himself and his work, the second part of the plan was simple. Play a little game of psychological warfare to throw the court jester off balance. Which in turn, seemed to work… partially.
“You know for a low level Displaced, you really are starting to get on my nerves, but do tell me whoever said this was the main controls to the Sentinels?” Yellow asked, with a light chuckle. “Because if I recall I would never bring them here on one of my ship when they can be safe within the Displaced. Right beside Lord Ozai,” Yellow soon waved his baton, and multiple copies appeared all around the Adept.
“Clever… but a bad assumption on your part,” He insisted as he held his eyes. “For you see… I’m not as low level as you may think… besides, there’s one thing that you haven’t even seemed to notice.”
“Oh, really and what might that be? Because even if you somehow magically kill me, the Sentinels will still kill your friends and if they can’t then my friend will,”
“Why spoil the fun?” With a snap of the Adept’s finger, a powerful release of electricity struck all the clones that tried to close in on him as he looked back at the one that still remained. “I want to see if you can be able to figure it out on your own. Besides… you’ve never faced an Adept before, have you?”
“Well you know what they say… there’s a first time for everything!” Soon the copies evaporated, as the whole room began to change somehow into what appeared to be a carnival. “You can say whatever you want, but it won’t change the fact that I’m just wasting your time~. Hehehehe…”
It looked like for a moment that the Adept was getting on his knees, like he was submitting to what the Jester was trying to pull off. His move just now, one that was named ‘Silly Go-Round’ was an illusion in which it’s purpose was to make the target feel dizzy and lose focus. This move he had used hundreds of times before and took the opportunity to kill any Displaced caught within it. And from the looks of things, he thought that the Adept himself was also caught in this ability too and decided to take this to his advantage.
“Death-by-piercing!” He cried out, Leaping into the air to deliver a final blow to the Azure Striker. But as the attack came closer to him, Yellow watched as the Adept himself turned into static electricity and completely avoided the attack. All before disappearing shortly after that through one of the open floor grates, reappearing behind him and slamming his face into the floor.
“Is that really your best? I honestly expected more,” The Adept replied, looking towards the single monitor that was still functional and thinking of an idea. “And it still seems like you haven’t figured out my little trick yet.”
“Oh contraire my friend… I’m not really trying anything right now and at the moment… I don’t care what your plan is because it’s practically pointless at this point. You still don’t know what I’ve been planning do you?” He asked, standing up to face the Adept.
That just encouraged Lance to follow through with his plan as he placed his hand on the cracked monitor and channeling a bit of electricity into in. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, the Adept focused as Yellow Radio soon heard something from the same machine.
“Access Granted… Sentinel Self Destruct protocol… Not found… Joker card protocol, located… Counting down in t-minus 20 seconds…… You might want to start running.”
“You fool! Are you trying to kill us?!” Yellow began to panic as he tried to leave the lab. Only for the door to close in his face.
“More as a way to get you to talk. Ever since I got here, your facility has been a source of power for my abilities. And right now, thanks to this, I’m one step ahead of you.” With another command, the Adept looked back at him. “You either tell me where the main console that controls the Sentinels are or I’m letting the clock run out on you.”
“I already told you… it’s back in the realm of the Displaced! Do you honestly think I would let something like this happen? Even if I die, the Sentinels will continue to live.
“Yet, this console here is the same one that you used to give the Sentinels their orders… I don’t need to know where the heart of the machine is in order to break them… Because right now, I’m at the brain,” Lance smirked. “With the amount of energy this facility processes, it’s remotely connected to the Sentinels wirelessly… And since I’m synced with the machine right now… I can use my powers to override their thought processors.” With it, the Adept began to release high volts of electricity as he looked back at him. “Ten seconds…”
“Maybe… to one carrier of this ship, but there are still two others that come from the Nemesis which is busy at the moment dealing with another world… hehehehe… They’ll be there shortly and my surprise will be ready for them sooner than you think.” Lance began to look back at the files and saw that there really was one carrier. “Each carrier holds up to one hundred Sentinels… and to believe that I needed over two thousand of them to take care of those weaklings down there! Face it… you lost.”
However, instead, all he saw was him grinning as the electricity died down. Yellow Radio did not understand why, but soon noticed that the hand that the hand that he was using was moving. He figured that it was to channel his powers. Only to realize that he was typing something. “If I can’t stop them, the least I can do is stall them… Besides… why would I demonstrate all of my abilities when the real you isn’t here?”
Yellow Radio personally was stunned. This Displaced… did all this to buy his friends time and to get him to talk!? That was absurd. Most importantly, he saw through the fact that the Yellow Radio that was here was actually a drone. “H-how-!?”
“You had no pulse… if you were a living being, I would be able to feel your heartbeat,” The Adept explained. “Also… Thank you for the information… I believe this would be very helpful.” With that, The Adept released his connection from the terminal and disappeared in a flash. Seconds later, that same screen that had multiple lines of code and commands now only had one line reading across the top.
ERROR: Data not found.
Back at the Ruins Canterlot
Meanwhile, Zenyatta and the others had taken the time they had to barricade the entrance of the city. Of course, the Sentinels themselves would find a way to hold them off for a short while, but with the help of their old ally (who was thought to have been killed) Cobalion, they were able to set up the defensive barricade within ten minutes.
“It’s good to have you back my old friend,” Zenyatta said after everyone else was finally able to breath out a much needed sigh of relief.
“It’s… good to be back Zenyatta,” Cobalion replied, trotting past the Omnic, examining the barricade carefully as a smirk appeared across his muzzle, eyes glowing dark purple. A dark mist slipped within the barrier of the entrance, weakening it. “Well I think that should about do it, Zenyatta, now I better check the area on the other side of castle. To… make sure there aren’t any problems.” With that, Cobalion disappeared around the corner, not to be seen by anyone again as far as anyone knows.
It was only a few seconds later did Lance arrive next to Zenyatta. “Hey, I came back as quickly as I could. You guys okay?”
“We are fine, but it would seem that your plan had been… miscalculated,” Zenyatta said, watching as Ruby and Sigma take positions on top of the walls, carrying what appeared to be a device of some sort. Something that was unfamiliar to him upon first glance as he looked back at Zenyatta.
“Actually… it was successful… I was able to screw around with the coding inside the sentinel units to buy us some time,” He told the omnic, showing what looked like a holographic manila folder. “In addition, not only did I disrupt the facility that he was using to make the sentinels, but I stole all of Yellow Radio’s files. If Sigma and Exuberant can find a way to tap into the controls or find and expose a weakness. Because one of the things I meddled with was the coding for the adaptation protocols they use to adapt to a displaced’s powers. Even went as far as to lock the file with a passcode that Yellow Radio doesn’t know about.”
“Clever, that’ll keep them from adapting to new abilities, but after the many Displaced they’ve killed, their programming has already adapted to that, but we shouldn’t have to worry about them taking on new abilities. But do tell me what kind of powers do you have? And if not what equipment do you have?”
“What I have is a Septima,” Lance replied, having some lightning crackle in his hands. “Since I’m an adept, which is a human with psychic abilities, mines is around electricity and lightning. I’ve also learned some energy related abilities and other tricks from some displaced… But enough talk about me, we need to get to Lord Suicune and present him with the information I recovered from Yellow Radio’s archives.”
“I’m afraid that your abilities won’t have an affect on the Sentinels since my friend, who was a Pokemon, had the power of Electricity. Meaning that they’ll adapt to them to counter it, regardless of what type it is, not to mention after many years within the Displaced they’ve adapted to so many that it’s nearly impossible to kill them unless you use brute force, but even that doesn’t always work.”
“Mines not the same since I primarily use it for defensive purposes instead of offensive,” He mentioned, turning to notice Exuberant. “Hey Exuberant, is your teleporter ready?”
“It should be ready, but Zenyatta and the other have been talking… they want you to take Quicksilver, Pinkie, Sigma and me to return the information on Yellow Radio to Lord Suicune now. While they… stay behind.”
“Stay behind?” He asked, turning to see Zenyatta nod his head. “Why? You know Lord Suicune, so why stay behind?”
“I’ve fought for the Wastelands ever since I arrived here… This is our home and we won’t abandon it to those elder scum, no offence to Lord Suicune of course. Besides the ponies that are still alive need us… even if it’s for this last moment. My children and friends shall make our stand here!”
Lance sighed, looking back at him. “If that’s your choice, then I respect your decision. We should still keep in contact though if you need help.”
“I don’t know if that’ll be possible my friend-” Before he could finish, Sigma activated the device and a large barrier formed around the city. “Oh, no they’re here.”
Soon the two pods that Yellow Radio had mentioned were only two miles from their location. The Carriers began to open from the bottom as hundreds of Sentinels began to drop from them and fly towards the city at full speed.
“Oh crap… Those Carriers have a hundred sentinels each-.” He said, before hearing an explosion. “Exuberant! We gotta get out of here!! Now!!”
“It’s not fully charged yet, we still have five minutes left!” Exuberant’s arm soon extended into a plasma rifle as she began to back up with Lance.
“What does it rely on to charge!?” He asked her in response.
“My own energy has to take it’s time recharge… we can’t rush it if that’s what you had in mind!” She said. Soon Drax and Colossus began to head towards the castle doors.
“Both of you head inside now!” Colossus ordered as he pointed out the main castle to the Adept and his companions. Lance didn’t have to be told twice as he bolted inside along with Quicksilver, Pinkie and Exuberant. But he soon noticed something about the barricade that they put up earlier… like a dark spark beginning to grow. Before he could say anything the barrier that surrounded the city began to collapse as the device began to short out as dark crystals began to sprout from the barricade they had built, shattering it into a fiery explosion.
“What the hell just happened!?” The Adept shouted, trying to see if anyone else understood what was going on.
“Ruby, Sigma… Delay the Sentinels!” Zenyatta shouted, as Sigma pulled out his type-25 grenade launcher and began firing at the Sentinels that were within firing range.
“I thought that shield was suppose to keep them out!!” Lumen panicked, looking back at everyone. “Just who even gave you the shield anyways!?”
“That shield was made by Sigma, but it doesn’t make sense… Where did those crystals come fro-” Before Colossus could finish the ground began to shake from the many Sentinels that were destroyed by Ruby and Sigma.
“Lance get inside… I shall buy you and Exuberant sometime,” Zenyatta soon leaped to the top of the wall where Sigma and Ruby were and activated his orbs and launched them at multiple Sentinels repeatedly.
“No! Not without you guys-” Soon Colossus grabbed him and threw him into the castle entrance before sealing it off by destroying a pillar. Lance wanted to help them, but he immediately turned towards Exuberant. “Exuberant, can you channel most of your energy into the teleporter and teleport everyone out there fighting?”
“It’s possible, but I won’t be able to-.”
“Make it happen then. I’ll cover for you.” The Adept told her as he armed himself with his weapon of choice as he was making sure to be aware of his surroundings. But darkness began to surround them as shadows began to grab them and drag them towards the walls, hardening into solid rock. It was than that the one who was behind the attack revealed himself from the shadows. Cobalion
“So you’re the one that Zsoltan sent to… protect Suicune? Heh… what a joke. Although, I must thank you for leading Zenyatta and those other Displaced here. Now I can begin to broadcast my message about our true gods to the Multiverse.” Cobalion said, as he pulled out a blue orb. Lance tried to break free, but no matter how much he struggled, it felt like it was getting tighter. “Now than I don’t plan on killing you just yet, I’d figure you’d just love to watch your fellow Displaced meet their end as every living being knows that our true gods will rule over all.”
The Adept watched helplessly as he tried to break free. He saw the Displaced that he just met, those friends that he made not too long ago and wanted them to help Lord Suicune fall at the hands of the Sentinels. Including Zenyatta as he was broken into pieces and watched as the Omnic’s head rolled towards Sentinels foot, being crushed after it’s body was obliterated to pieces. “Yellow Radio, are you ready?”
“Of course! We are ready to broadcast now!” Cobalion sighed to himself, but what he did not realize was that while he was distracted, the Adept was slowly charging his power, combined with the strength provided from Lumen. He was not going to let anymore people die… and he for sure was not going to let Cobalion get away with this. “You Displaced keep defying the Elder Siblings… Why?”
Lance saw that Colossus was the next to go as a Sentinel flipped over him and grabbed him by his neck as another Sentinel grabbed his legs and ripped him into two. Drax was soon incinerated by a Sentinel as he tried to fight back. “It’s because you are afraid of our leaders, because they are different. Everyone had always feared that which is different. Well I’m here to tell you.”
“To tell the Multiverse… Your right to fear us! We are the Future! We are the ones who’ll inherit the Multiverse! And anyone who stands in our way will suffer the same fate as those Displaced who continue to defy our gods!” At that moment, Cobalion soon heard the Adept laugh to himself as the Pokemon turned to face him, “See this Displaced here? My fellow Displaced, this is what happens to those who stray from our gods path.”
Sigma was the next one to go as the Sentinels surrounded him from all around. Sigma kept fighting back as best he could before he had his arm cut off by a Sentinel’s blade, but managed to kill it with his dagger, but had his head torn clean off by another Sentinel. “Today these Displaced had attempted to stop our cause, but instead I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours! Let this be a warning to the Multiverse and to my fellow Displaced. No more hiding, no more suffering. You all have lived in the shadows for too long. So come out and join me… Fight together in a brotherhood of our kind. A New tomorrow… that starts today.”
It was then that Cobalion turned to watch in shock as Lance broke himself from the darkened bindings, a bright and vibrant light overpowering the shadows all around him as in the blink of an eye, the Adept’s fist slammed into Cobalion’s face, sending the pokemon flying before the Adept got behind him and struck him a few more times. One blow for each of the fallen displaced that he was responsible for killing. “Your gods weren’t able to protect you from me… so how do you plan on winning with your broken philosophy?”
Cobalion couldn’t answer as the Adept slammed his foot into his ribs and sent him into a stone wall and used the chance to get back to those who were still alive. Quicksilver, Pinkie, and Exuberant. “We need to go now!”
“Exuberant finished charging a few seconds ago.” Pinkie whispered to him as the Adept nodded, which was the cue for them to leave.
“Then punch it. We gotta get outta here, now!” Lumen then told Exuberant, which was the cue for the android to activate the teleporter. As they were about to Teleport, Cobalion noticed that both Lance and Lumen were connected… somehow. The Pokemon couldn’t help but smirk as his limbs popped once he stretched them. He had found a way to get to the Adept and it involved a little Breezie that laid on top of Lance’s head.
“Run all you like my friend… but I have already discovered your greatest weakness… It’s only a matter of time, before I make you beg for mercy!” Soon two of the Sentinels held Ruby in place, beaten to a pulp as she was forcefully shoved to the ground.
“W-why? Why are you doing this?” She asked, but Cobalion could only smirk as a dark purple sword form on the top of his head, before shouting out two words that ended the huntresses life.
“SACRED SWORD!!” He shouted, and watched as she fell to the ground, blood spilled all over the ground as his blade dissipated. “I do this for our true god and he’ll create a better world for all Displaced. After all he’s the one who started all of this.”
End Strike 45
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Merciful emperor....
7719758 Yup. Told you Lance was busy xP
Well, looks like Asphyxious is going to join in on another fight.
7719939 Maybe. Maybe not... Right now, Lance is cut off from all the other Displaced he knows
7719943 Well that sucks.
7719948 Yeah. Oh and if you paid attention to earlier, you saw a sneak peak for what's in store for Ken ;P
7719961 I may have missed that.
7719978 It was with Tiny Tina
7720200 Oh that, I get it now lol
Nuuuuu Ruby! ;_;