Movie: Riders of Two Worlds Part 2
After the bizarre sequence of events from the unknown enemies to the appearance of the previously deceased Trail Blazer, Flash had dragged Jet Storm back to the CRDC Laboratory to get answers. Well, it was more his friends asking the questions while he regrouped with his family to be alone.
The revelation and appearance of Trail Blazer shocked them to the core. How was he alive? Why was he alive? Why was he an enemy?
“So you don’t even know how you got here?” Micro asked Jet Storm.
"Look, I don't know what to tell you guys. One minute I'm fighting a guy covered in gears and the next, I'm waking up in the dark ages."
"Dark ages?" Twilight looked confused by this, "What are you talking about? Our world's become pretty advanced."
Jet let out a chuckle, "Keep telling yourself that." He moved over to the window and looked out at the city. "Internal combustion engines, terrible trash control and not even a moon base. I bet you still use that ancient refined petroleum stuff. What was it called...gas of beans?" Everyone couldn't help but feel a little bit insulted. Their technology was pretty advanced for what it was. "Nothing against you guys," Jet turned back to them. "But comparing my world to yours is like comparing a car to the horse drawn carriage."
"So what?" Rainbow asked, "You're from the future as well as another universe?"
"No, I come from the same year as you. My world just made a few...different choices compared to yours. When I first got here, I did a little research. Once I knew everything I could about your Smash problems, I looked into your history and found a few differences to my world. In my world, what you call the age of scientific repression never happened. That's why we're so much more advanced."
"I see," Twilight hummed. "Mind sharing what type of technological advances you have?"
"The usual. No pollution, end of world hunger and we've even wiped out almost all illness and disease." This last statement really surprised them.
"Really?" Velvet asked, "how?"
"In my world, we developed the art of data fields." Everyone gave him a confused look. "Data fields are a mist-like field that changes anything it enters into a form of data, including living tissue. The conversion is simple, painless and has done wonders for our world. Any injury or illness, the data field fixes it right up."
"How's it go and do dat?" Applejack asked.
"Data manipulation," Twilight realized. "If a person is converted into data, they can then be altered by altering their data."
"Exactly," Jet nodded. "You have a broken leg, they put you in a data field and reprogram the leg so it's not broken. Heck, even entire limbs have been regrown. The data field's first successful test run was on a war veteran that lost an arm and a leg. They just copy and pasted their existing arm and leg, flipped them over and the guy was back to full health."
"That's incredible," Rarity announced. "And the same thing works for diseases?" Jet nodded again.
"Yup. Just scan the person's data, find the illness and then send in an anti-virus that eliminates it."
"Wow," Sunset couldn't help but say, "Sounds like a utopia." It was then that a frown appeared on Jet's face, the man turning back to the window.
"Not exactly. The data field also had another ability. Anything physical that entered the field became data. But anything made of data could become physical if it left the field. Including computer viruses." Everyone's eyes went wide hearing that.
"Like those Gigabyter things?" Micro asked.
Jet nodded. "They were the foot-soldiers of an even more powerful virus. His name was Malware and he was the most deadly virus ever created. He was created when an artificial intelligence program was corrupted by a virus, morphing it into a monster that came to see us humans as outdated and disposable. So he made it his mission to get rid of us. It evolved too quickly, bypassing our standard anti-virus and rampant AI procedures."
"So basic robot apocalypse backstory," Pinkie stated. "Do you have robots in your world that like to say I'll be back in funny voices."
"No," Jet looked a little weirded out by this. "The company that made the AI that became Malware took responsibility. Cyburst Industries' top scientist had been working on a device that could allow humans to enter the digital world. When Malware became a thing, he redesigned it to become a weapon to use against him. And that became what is known as the Kamen Rider System."
"And that's where you come in," Night stated. "How long ago did this threat occur?"
"Malware was first created four years ago. He escaped into the internet and began to build his viral forces, returning six months later."
"So you were sixteen when you started fighting monsters?" Fluttershy looked horrified by this.
"It wasn't just supposed to be me," Jet explained. "We were supposed to have an entire army of virus busters. But the scientist only managed to build one Cyburst driver before Malware attacked the company. Malware destroyed most of the company's data on the rider system before killing its creator. Without him, there was no hope of creating more Cyber Drivers. Meaning I was the only one who could fight Malware's forces, since the Driver was locked to my genetic code and that couldn't be overridden."
"That's harsh," Sandalwood frowned. "So you've been fighting this Malware guy alone, for four years?"
"Nope," Jet shook his head, "I got some help from a few unlikely friends. And actually, I took Malware down about two and a half years ago."
"Really?" Twilight asked in shock.
"Yeah. Wasn't easy, but I managed to completely wipe him off the net and trap his base-code into a Cyber Card. Once that was done, it was a simple manner of purifying the AI of all the virus."
"But what about the Gigabyters?" Micro asked, "If they come from Malware, how are they here if he's been dealt with?"
Jet sighed, "That brings me back to last week. A Cyburst Industries storehouse was broken into and the card that contained Malware's programming was stolen. The virus might be gone, but the AI still had the data needed to make Gigabyters. I tracked the guy to some underground lab and fought him to try and get it back. But before I could, I was pulled into the same vortex your friend was stuck in."
Sunset sighed, recalling their current predicament. "I hope Sol's okay."
"That's a loaded question," Jet replied. "If he runs into the wrong people, who knows what might happen?”
When Sol Burner woke up and saw that everything was futuristic, he got curious and walked around in sheer awe. Was this even Canterlot anymore? Everywhere he looked, there were human-like robots, tall, futuristic-looking buildings, and roads in the sky that looked like they were made of hardlight.
Did he somehow get teleported to the future? Wait, if that’s true, then how’s he supposed to return to the past?! He doesn’t know time travel!
What’s more, what the heck was up with all the signs?! Every type of advertisement he saw had weird messages. Be Crash? What was that supposed to mean for a sunglasses ad?!
"Hot dogs!" He heard a man yell out, said man standing next to a cart. "Get ya'h hot dogs here." He then spotted Sol and smiled, "Hello son. Hungry?" Sol's stomach answered for him. "I'll take that as a yes. How'd you take it?"
"Err...onions between the dog and the bun with relish on top."
"Gotcha." he opened some kind of laptop on the cart and typed something in. Seconds later, the cart lit up before it dinged and the side opened. A tray then folded out with Sol's requested meal on it. "That'll be five and a half creds."
"Creds?"
"Creds. You know, credits." Sol quickly realized what he was getting at and panicked. He didn't have any of this place's money. "Will you be paying in cash or retinal?"
"Retinal?" The man took his question as an answer and held a device to his eye, a quick flash disorientating him before it beeped.
"Excellent. Transaction approved." He handed Sol the hot dog, "Have a crashing day."
"Err...you too," Sol walked away before anything else could happen. He ate his meal as he continued to look around, spotting many other strange things. Wheelie bins that were driving themselves and had arms to pick up trash. Restaurants with tables that bust themselves. There was a man in a suit that was flying above him, Sol quickly realizing he had a backpack like device with some sort of propulsion mechanism that resembled floating rings. The whole place looked incredible.
As he wandered about in his confusion, he was caught off guard when a squad of hovercraft cruisers surrounded him. To him, they looked like police cars. But what did they say PDNC? Shouldn’t it be the other way around with NCPD or something? What changed in the future?!
“Freeze!” The leader of the squad called out when he and the others exited the vehicles. They all wore futuristic body armor that made them resemble fighter bots that he saw in games and anime had what Sol assumed were laser blasters in their hands. The fighter raised his arms in surrender, bewildered about what was happening.
“Wh-what did I do?!” He couldn’t help but question. He hasn’t even been awake for more than half an hour and he already got in trouble with the law? Was this because he had no idea how that retinal credit currency stuff worked?
“Quiet.” The squad leader barked. “Officer on deck!”
The crowd of police officers parted down the center. Walking through was a figure clad in armor. In Sol’s opinion, the guy looked very similar to that Cyburst guy from before. But instead of the white bodysuit, this guy had black. The blue armor pieces were instead red. His visor however, was different. They looked like two triangles pointing at each other, somehow resembling an H. He also had a black poncho wrapped around his shoulders.
The man walked right up to Sol and stared down at him, being slightly taller. “So...you’re the source we detected. That strange energy is all over you.” His voice was male, yet slightly filtered due to the helmet.
Sol Burner...had no idea what this guy was talking about. What energy?
“Although, I highly doubt that you’re the culprit. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look smart enough to pull off such a thing.” He continued.
Yet Sol couldn’t help but feel insulted. Seriously...what was he talking about?!
“Be that as it may, your presence is of concern to us and warrants investigation. So we’ll need you to come with us for the time being. Any questions thus far?”
“Yeah...just who are you? You a friend of that Cyburst guy or something?”
“...Just what I wanted to hear.” The man reached to the side of his belt and pressed what seemed to be a data pad. A holographic image appeared in his hand before he grabbed it. The data materialized into a spear with a blue blade, red handle, and black shaft that he pointed at Sol.
“Whoa! What the heck?!” Sol demanded as he backed up.
“You’re the anomaly we have been detecting. We know you have something to do with Cyburst’s disappearance. Where is he?!”
“Dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about right now!” The fighter yelled as he got into a defensive position. “Who the heck even are you?!”
“The name’s Hacker. And you will answer our questions...one way or another!” Hacker swung his spear, his De-Bugger Blade, aiming the pommel to knock the teen out. But Sol ducked below it and rolled backward. He pulled out his Build Driver and placed it on his waist.
The other officers were prepared to shoot the resisting teen, but they quickly retreated when they were intercepted by a stream of blue fire. Crozz, Dragon Fullbottle equipped, flew around driving the police back before dropping into Sol’s hand. He then inserted it into the Driver and turned the crank.
“CROSS-Z DRAGON!”
“ARE YOU READY?!”
“Henshin!” He cried before the runners enclosed over him.
“WAKE UP BURNING!”
“GET CROSS-Z DRAGON!”
“YEAH!”
Sol yelled as he charged at Hacker. The latter swung his weapon but Cross-Z blocked it.
“How did you transform?!” Hacker demanded. “That’s not a Cyburst or Hack Driver!”
“None of your business!” Cross-Z pushed him back before summoning the Beat Crozzer.
“So that’s how we’re gonna do it? Fine by me!” Hacker tapped the battle app folder on his belt and clicked a new icon.
“CEMENT GUN!”
Hacker’s left arm transformed. It was now replaced by a gun barrel that resembled a cement truck mixer. The barrel spun around before shooting out globs of liquid cement at the Dragonic Rider. Sol batted the shots away with his sword, only to scowl when the substance solidified and weighed it down.
Grunting, Sol slammed the concrete-encased sword over his knee, breaking it free. Hacker took more potshots with his weapon. Now knowing what to expect, Sol weaved through the cement shots as he ran towards the enemy. Before he could fire again, Sol swung his weapon and parried it before slashing Hacker across the chest.
The digital-themed Rider backpedaled with a growl. He opened up another battle app and clicked the icon.
“HACK CLAW”
The Cement Gun broke away before it became replaced with a wicked-looking gauntlet with sharp claws. He raised it to block another overhead slash from Cross-Z before kicking him away. The dragonic Rider then spun to the right for a side swing before he was parried by the De-Bugger blade. Once the blade was parried he thrust the spear forward and stabbed it dead on his chest plate.
Cross-Z stumbled back, giving Hacker an opening. He threw his gauntlet-clad arm out and the tips of the fingers flew forward while connected to the main hand with energy wires. The claws latched onto the Beat Crozzer before yanking it away from the foreign Rider.
“Hey! Give that back!” Sol charged at the man with raised, flaming fists. He threw a punch that Hacker side stepped and ducked below another before he countered with his spear. He jabbed him in the gut with the blade before swinging it around to strike the side of his helmet with the pommel.
Sol stumbled as Hacker continued his assault. He delivered blow after blow with either his weapon or the stolen sword to ensure his opponent had no opportunity to recover. But as he swung to deliver a final blow to the head. Sol ducked under it the last moment and jumped into his guard before slamming his head into his. The sudden impact dazed him enough for Sol to grab his sword back and bash the pommel against the side of his head. He then leapt up for a reverse spin kick to knock him back.
Hacker crouched down with a grunt. “Enough of this!” He dismissed his Hack Claw as he pulled the lever on the left side of his Driver. He fell into a stance with his spear pointing forward as power charged along the blade.
“ANTI-VIRAL STRIKE!”
Recognizing this action, Cross-Z responded in kind and pulled the pommel of his sword.
“HIT PARADE!”
“HIT PARADE!”
“MILLION HIT!”
As their weapons charged up, the two Riders ran at one another to deliver the final blow.
"ENOUGH!" before either could unleash their respective finishers, something hit the ground between them, triggering an explosion that threw them backwards.
Once the dust settled and Sol regained his senses, he tried to track down the cause. Both he and Hacker looked up and found a figure standing atop a building not too far from them.To the former’s shock, it was another Rider.
This new Rider appeared feminine in design. Her armor was more slender, colored pink with a white bodysuit with pink circuitry patterns beneath it. She also had a pair of kit-shaped pieces of pink armor coming off her waist, with white fabric that gave her a shirt appearance. Her pink helmet was similar to Cyburst and Hacker, except it was pink and her visor looked like a heart that was split in two at all but the tip and pulled apart so that it resembled a V. A medical cross was on her armor and she carried a futuristic looking bow. Instead of a string, it had some kind of handle that can be pulled back with a slot in it. The bow itself seemed to actually be blades.
“I swear, I leave you alone for five minutes and this happens?” She spoke to Hacker as she dropped onto the ground between them. “I thought you got over rushing head first into danger.”
“Don’t patronize me, Vaccine.” He scoffed as he pulled himself up. “This guy’s the only lead we have to Cyburst. I wasn’t about to let him get away.”
“And by doing so you risked injuring him and collateral damage. And I thought Jet was the reckless one.” The female Rider then turned to Cross-Z and bowed. “I’m sorry about him. He has a habit of shooting first and asking questions later in emergency situations. He was just worried about our friend who went missing a week ago and you were our only lead.”
“Well, he has a funny way of showing it.” Sol replied, standing as well. “And since you seem like a voice of reason, can you just tell me where and/or when I am?”
“That’s fine. But first, maybe it’s better to power down and speak face to face….without weapons.” Vaccine suggested. Following the order, she and Hacker undid their transformations with Sol following suit.
Now that she was out of the armor, Sol knew what Vaccine looked like. She was a young woman just a bit older than him. She had a stark complexion with bright red hair tied up in a bun and blue eyes. She was dressed in a pair of pants, a red shirt and a pink jacket over it. Around her arm was an armband with a red medical cross on it.
The same was said for Hacker. He was a young male around the same age as Vaccine, maybe a bit older. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and a black jacket. Around his neck is a red scarf while a black fedora with a white stripe rests on his head.
“Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Heart Beat. And my associate is named Code Breaker. As for your questions, you’re in NewGear City. And the year is 2017.”
“....huh?”
Back in Canterlot City…
“So what do you think this is supposed to be?” Micro questions as he and the others stared at the mysterious syringe that Trail Blazer had.
“Maybe some kind of steroid?” Rainbow offered.
“Antidote to some poison maybe?”
“Well, we took a sample of it and are currently running an analysis on it. We should get the chemical makeup and find out what it’s supposed to be soon.” Night Light answered. When he and Velvet first learned of Trail Blazer’s appearance, they were equally shocked. The test pilot had been a good friend of theirs, and to find out he was alive was quite alarming.
What was even more alarming was learning that he was somehow connected to the attack.
“I see. But what about you, Flash? What do you think it is?” Twilight Sparkle questioned, only to be greeted with silence. “....Flash?” She turned around and saw the teen huddled up in the corner.
The blue haired musician sat with the wall to his back. He stared down absently at the aviator goggles in his hands. The meeting with Trail Blazer continuously ran through his mind.
“Flash?” The sudden voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Turning his head he saw Twilight smooth her skirt before sitting next to him. “...What’s wrong? Are you doing okay?”
“...To be honest, I don’t even know.” He shook his head. “I just met my father...who had been dead for years. I was there. We had a funeral and everything. But now…? He’s running around back from the dead, and from the look of things, part of some crazy sci-fi plot. I don’t even know what to think anymore, Twilight.”
“Now hold on. I know things are crazy...well, crazier than normal, but there’s no way of proving that man was actually your dad.” She argued.
“What do you mean? Twilight, he recognized me. And those scars...they were like the injuries I saw when I saw his...his…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. His grip on the goggles tightened. He stopped when the girl placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Flash...I’m sorry about your dad. I may not have known him, but my parents told me he was a good person. And he most definitely wouldn’t be the type of person to cause such destruction and kidnap Sol. Whoever he is...he is not the man you knew as your father.”
“But…”
“No buts. We still don’t know who he is. But I promise, we’ll all work together to find answers. Okay?” She consoled.
It took a few moments of processing. Twilight brought up a good point. If what Jet said was true, then the Multiverse theory held weight. It really might not be his father he saw, but a different Trail Blazer. He didn’t know. But... at least he won’t be alone to find out. Slowly, he nodded in understanding.
Before he could say anymore, Jet's entire body suddenly seized up. The next thing everyone knew, he fell to his knees and clutched his sides while crying out in pain.
Misty, Fluttershy and Velvet rushed to his side while the others just stared at him in shock. "What's happening to him?!" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know," Misty looked him over but saw no signs of injury on him. But then something else happened. Jet's body started glitching, his entire form appearing to pixilate and shift around. "I've never seen anything like this!"
"...I have," Flash said. Everyone looked at him in confusion as he got up, "...dad did the same thing before he disappeared. But before he did," he turned to the needle on Night's desk. Could it be?
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked him as he reached over and grabbed the syringe, rushing to Jet's side.
"If I'm right," he pulled the cap off. "Saving him." Before anyone could stop him, he stabbed it into Jet's back and pushed down the plunger. The serum entered his body and everyone waited a moment, hoping Flash hadn't just killed him.
But then, the glitching reduced and his pained screams lowered in volume. After about a minute, Jet appeared to be back to normal despite being out of breath. "Ahh," he moaned as the others helped him to his feet, "That...was so not crash."
"You okay?" Sunset asked, Jet nodding.
"I think so." He turned to Flash, "thanks."
"No problem," Flash looked at the needle. "Sorry I did that without asking."
"No drip. I probably would have done the same thing. At least now we know what it does."
"What did it do?" Applejack asked, the other looking just as curious. Velvet, however, appeared to have a theory.
"Could it be...the multiversal backlash." The others turned to her, most looking confused.
"The what?" Sandalwood asked.
Velvet smiled. "It's been theorized that inter-dimensional travel isn't as easy as they make it seem on TV or in movies. Maybe some times, there'll be two universes similar enough that you can just step between them like stepping through a room. But it's more than likely you wouldn't be able to exist in certain universes. Different physical laws can hit you when you least expect it, causing you to get sick or die. And even if you are able to exist in a universe, there may be some other side effects to entering it."
"Like what happened to me and Princess Twilight," Sunset explained. "The only way we were able to enter this world from Equestria was to become human." The others understood, minus Jet, what she meant by that and nodded.
"So what happened to me?" Jet asked.
Velvet hummed. "Best guess, you were likely being rejected by our world. That serum must perform some kind of physical rewrite that allows you to synchronize with our world. If Flash hadn't injected you, you probably would have disintegrated or something."
"Not crash," Jet said. "But I should be okay now, right."
"Maybe," Velvet said.
"Or it might be that it was just a temporary fix," Twilight finished. "And if that's the case, you'll need to keep injecting yourself. But it won't last forever. You'll probably build up a resistance."
"Not that it matters," Jet said. "That was all the serum we had."
"We should be able to fix that," Night said, holding a stack of papers from a researcher. "We just got the scans and readings from the serum. Shouldn't be too difficult to replicate it for you until we get you home." Jet smiled at this.
At that moment, Sunset realized something. “Hold on a minute.” Everyone’s attention became focused on her. “If Trail Blazer had this episode before, and needed the serum to stabilize himself, then doesn’t that mean he’s from another universe like Jet?”
The others were surprised by this realization as everything started to make sense, if only slightly. The Trail they say wasn’t the one they knew. It was a different one from another universe.
“But if that’s true...then why was he even here?” Flash wondered.
“So where are you guys taking me?” Sol Burner questioned. He was at the back of a cruiser with Code Breaker and Heart Beats in the front.
“You’ll see. It’ll be where hopefully we can get some answers.”
After Heart broke up their squabble and explained to him where and when he was….Sol was more confused than ever. He had no idea a place like NewGear City existed. And he was pretty sure that they shouldn’t have technology this advanced from WHEN he was from.
“We’re here.” Heart announced as they pulled over to a massive building that Sol could only gawk at.
It was multiple stories high, probably around 50 or more. It also looked way more modern than any building he saw, with sleek construction and what appeared to be screen windows on the sides. On the front was a logo that resembled a stylized C, just like Cyburst’s.
“Welcome to the world’s leading source of innovation and technology, Cyburst Industries.” Code droned as he and the others exited the vehicle. Once they left, Sol was surprised to see it drive off by itself to a nearby parking garage. That was pretty neat.
“Well don’t just stand there. Come on!” Code snapped as he opened the door for Heart to enter. Grunting at the attitude, Sol followed. If he was amazed by the outside of the building, the lobby was equally astounding. It looked much bigger inside than outside. Everything looked so clean with the white floors, walls, and ceilings. There were several floating monitors and robots. There were also men and women in suits working what seemed to be reception desks.
“Welcome back, madam President.” Came a chorus of greetings from everyone, even the robots.
“Wait...president? Madam?!” He looked over to Heart, who giggled sheepishly.
“Yeah...that’s me. I’m currently the President of Cyburst Industries. Pretty cool, huh?”
The fighter felt his mind short circuiting. Futuristic technology. Weird place and time. And now a company president of a technological conglomerate around the same age as him? If it wasn’t due to the pain he felt from the earlier fight, he would’ve written this off as some sort of sci-fi dream.
“Come on. Let’s go.” Heart pulled him along while the fighter did not resist. He was too out of it to even try. Code snorted. Just what was with this guy?
Eventually, they found themselves inside an underground research facility via a private elevator car. The fighter took note of how spacious it was. It was probably three times the size of their new lab in the Research Center. Everything looked so high tech that he can’t even begin to describe it outside of being sleek and shiny.
Code took a seat before what looked like a computer and started typing.
“So how did you even get here? You said you woke up in the middle of town, right?” Heart asked.
“Yeah. One moment I was being thrown into some giant metal hand, the next moment I’m in the middle of some science fiction story.”
“It does sound crazy. But given what we do with datafields, anything is practically possible. So where did you say you were from?”
“Uh, Canterlot City.” Sol answered. Code ceased his typing as he and Heart exchanged uncertain looks.
“...You sure?”
“Positive, why?”
“Well...I don’t know how to say this but...Canterlot City is….gone.”
Sol felt his stomach drop. “...uh, gone? What do you mean gone?! A whole city can’t disappear overnight!”
“Were you living under a rock or something?” Code questioned in befuddlement. “Canterlot City was razed to the ground around four years ago, when Malware and his Gigabyters first broke out of the Data Fields and attacked everyone. There were barely any survivors and we’re still trying to help them rebuild. It was pretty much a warzone.”
“That’s impossible!” Sol snapped angrily. “I was just there hours ago!”
“And I’m telling you that’s impossible!” Code retorted in irritation. “Canterlot City is gone! There hasn’t been anyone living there for years!”
“Don’t joke around!” The fighter grabbed the hacker by the collar. “You can’t expect me to believe my friends and mom are gone just like that!”
“If they were, then they were gone for years! Now tell us the truth on where you’re from!” The hacker grasped his wrists to pry him off. Heart glanced back and forth between the two with trepidation. The fight kept escalating and would do so until someone threw the first punch. But before she could stop it, something else did.
“GRAH!!!” Crozz screeched as it flew between the two men, separating them. Sol Burner looked at the little dragon in surprise while Code Breaker did so in confusion. He recognized it from the fight earlier, but had no idea what it was.
“...Okay, just what the heck is that thing?”
“Hey! He’s not a thing. Crozz here is my friend. Ain’t that right, buddy?” The little critter chirped as it landed on the fighter’s shoulder and nuzzled his cheek.
“But...what is he?” Heart asked with intrigue. The little device was similar to their drones, but different in some way.
“Well, Crozz is my friend. But he’s also what allows me to Transform into a Masked Rider.”
“Masked? Not Kamen?” Code inquired.
“Well, yeah. By the way, what’s the deal with that Kamen thing?”
“Not important now. But you said he helps you transform?”
“Yeah. And he also works as a drone for the lab back home.”
“So he has a connection to video feed to where you’re from?” Heart questioned.
“Yeah. Why?”
“...I think that’s how we can get to the bottom of this mystery.” Code said, realizing what she was getting at. Without warning, he snatched Crozz off Sol’s shoulder and placed him inside a chamber connected to the computer.
“Hey!” He tried to rush Code but Heart pulled him back.
“Easy, we’re just trying to find the frequency signal that Crozz emits that allows him to relay video feedback to your lab. We just need to cross-reference the existing frequencies used for communication in the database, triangulate the points of reference and use them to pinpoint the exact coordinates.”
“....what does that even mean?” Sol asked in confusion while Code rolled his eyes.
“Oh, uh, if we can find the signal needed to form a connection with Crozz, we can find where you’re from.” Heart explained in laymen terms.
“Oh….now that makes sense.”
“It does...but one issue.” Code announced as he pulled over the monitor and showed them the results:
NO SIGNAL FOUND
“I can’t isolate the frequency. It’s not found in the database.”
“But how can that be?” Heart wondered as he moved beside him. “All communication devices are developed by Cyburst Industries. Meaning we should be able to have access to all frequencies. It should exist.”
“That’s the weird part.” Code tapped a few keys, displaying a specified location in NewGear City. “The signal exists. But when I tried tracing it to a location, it just stopped flat. Like, it stops several feet above of the city.”
“But how can that be?”
“Wait...that place…” The fighter said, recognizing the approximate area displayed.
“What’s so special about it?”
“I think that’s the spot where I woke up. Like, after I went through that giant hand thing and landing.” The two processed what he meant as they refocused on the strange location.
The signal’s trail seems to just stop midair. Not at a certain building or a certain spot in the ground. But in the middle of the air. Almost like….the middle of empty space.
“Hold on a sec...Sol Burner. You said you were just recently in Canterlot City, correct? With complete buildings and everything?”
“Yep. Buildings, populated, and the occasional monsters that Flash and I fight to keep the people safe.”
“What year was it?”
“...2017.” He answered, much to the surprise of Code and the confirmation of Heart.
“...I knew it. We’ve been looking at this the wrong way.” She stated.
“What do you mean?” Sol questioned.
“The issue wasn’t due to the City itself. There’s a reason why your Canterlot City and our Canterlot city are so different, despite being the same year.” She typed several commands onto the datapad and pulled up diagrams of the Earth. “It’s all coming together. The cut-off unknown signal, the different city descriptions...and when we add in the Multiverse theory it all comes together.”
“Hold on, you’re saying this guy came from a different world?” Code asked skeptically.
“It makes sense. Think about it. Our scanners picked up the enigmatic energy coming off him, right? When comparing it to the signal Crozz is supposedly connected to, they have the same frequency. It is a frequency that doesn’t match up with anything known in our world. That means, by process of elimination, Sol Burner must come from a different world!”
The fighter was speechless. A whole new world? Was that where that hand thing took him? “...Huh...never thought I’d be isekai’d...ever…”
“....okay...but how does this help us? Last I checked our communication devices don’t have interdimensional coverage.” The hacker remarked sarcastically.
“Maybe not. But if we use the signal Crozz gives off and hook up our detectors to the company’s signal boosters run in parallel, we should be able to emit one powerful enough to reach wherever Jet is through the Cyburst Driver.”
“Makes sense...unless it explodes on us.”
“It won’t, just do it!”
“Alright, alright.” The two went to work while Sol just stayed back. All of this technological babble went right over his head. Within the hour, everything was set up and they were all waiting for a response. They had a lock on the specific coordinates where the rip in the dimensions occurred that allowed Sol entrance to their world.
But before they could pursue the signal, an alarm went off.
“Dammit! More Gigabyters!” Code cursed as he located the mass of monsters not too far from the building. What was worse was where they were found.
“Sorry, Sol. But we need to take care of this. We’ll finish this later.”
“I’ll go with you guys. I can fight too!...and I’m not sure what to do here without breaking anything.” He answered as he took Crozz from the scanner thing.
“Good call. Let’s go.” The three rushed up to the surface using the express elevator.
Heart and Code rushed out of the building while Sol trailed behind.
The two took out a pair of phones just like the one Cyburst had, only Code's was black while Heart's was pink. The two held the phones almost the exact same way, right out in front of them with both hands together. Code held his in his right hand while Heart held hers in her left.
And like with Jet, they pressed the button before lights the same colours as the phones shot up their arms and flew down to their waists. A black and pink Cyber Driver appeared on their waists, except theirs opened differently. The black driver on Code's waist opened at the top, the two halves splitting down the middle before folding upwards. Meanwhile, Heart's pink driver opened almost exactly like Jet's, only for her it was the left side instead of the right.
"HACKING DRIVER!"
"VACCINE DRIVER!"
"HENSHIN!" they yelled as they swung their arms around differently. Code swung his downwards in a circle until his arm was held straight up, then pushed the phone into the open slot before it closed.
"JACK IN!"
Heart swung both her arms apart in a circular motion before bringing them back in front of her chest in an X formation, slotting the phone into the driver as she did.
"DOWNLOAD!"
Instantly, the drivers unleashed the same light the Cyber Driver had unleashed, only these were red and pink. Sol watched as the two transformed the same way as Cyburst, Kamen Rider Hacker and Vaccine eventually standing in front of them.
"Awesome," was all he could say as the two looked down at their drivers.
"Let's get going," Hacker said as he pressed something on his driver.
"Transport!"
"Alright," Vaccine took out a memory card before slotting it into the center slot of her driver.
"DOWNLOAD!"
Both drivers shot out a red and pink beam, which struck the ground and created a pair of data field clouds. Seconds later, the clouds vanished and revealed a pair of tricked out rides. One was a black motor trike with two red wheels on the front and one on the back, along with a red windscreen and red lines running along. The other looked like a white futuristic motor scooter with a pink windscreen, wheels and lines.
"Double awesome." Sol watched the two climb onto the vehicles, Hacker turning to him.
"What are you waiting for?" Sol gulped but rushed over and climbed onto the trike behind Hacker, the riders revving their engine as the red and pink sections of the vehicles glowed. "Hold on!" With that, they shot off down the road.
"WHOA!" Sol barely managed to grab onto Hacker's waist before he was thrown off, unable to believe they could move at such speeds.
Meanwhile…
Back at the Research Center, Night Light, Misty Veil, and Twilight Velvet were at work studying the device Jet loaned them. He called it a Cyber Pad, which seemed to be his world’s equivalent of a smartphone. Within it contained the anti-virus software that allowed Jet to fight off the Gigabyters with ease. It took a while for them to establish the right adapters to hook it up to the computer given how advanced it was.
It would take some time to find and copy the necessary files and programs that they needed. In the meantime, Flash, Twilight, and Sunset decided to show Jet around the building.
“So everything related to scientific advancement and research takes place right here?” The otherworldly Rider asked as they passed through the robotics wing.
“Pretty much.” Sunset answered. “It’s home to all scientific fields. Energy, mechanics, materials, prosthetics, biomedical, software, you name it. It’s why the place is as big as it is.”
“Man...it’s almost like walking through a museum.” Jet said. Despite seeing the latest achievements in technology, he seems to view it more as seeing severely outdated creations.
“Look, I know you came from a futuristic world, but that doesn’t mean you can just downplay all of our current achievements like that.” Twilight responded with slight annoyance.
“Sorry if it came off like that. But It’s hard to be amazed when everything I’ve seen so far is more or less an antique prototype of what my world currently has.”
“And yet for all your datafields revolutionizing healthcare and welfare, you were all susceptible to an AI virus attack.” Flash rebutted.
“Yeah, can’t argue there.” He chuckled sheepishly. “We definitely needed to upgrade our firewalls and security after that mess...Still, can’t believe this is what Canterlot City used to be like.”
“‘Used to’?” Sunset questioned. “What do you mean? You had a Canterlot in your world? What happened to it?”
Jet soon frowned and stopped walking, causing the others to turn towards him. “...Unfortunately, Canterlot City in my world is….gone. It was Ground Zero for where Malware and his Gigabyters first broke out. There were only a handful of survivors. Four years have passed and we’re still trying to rebuild.”
The startling revelations shocked the three teenagers. Their home in Jet’s world was...the first to have been erased by Malware? That was crazy to learn.
But before they could continue the conversation, they were silenced by a loud grumbling noise.
Jet just chuckled with flushed cheeks. “Ah, sorry about that. I haven’t actually eaten for a few days since I got here. Turns out, my credits are no good in your world.”
His admission helped ease the tension ever so slightly. “Well, we can’t exactly fight on an empty stomach. How about we grab a bite? My treat.” Flash offered.
“Sounds crash. Just let me get my Cyber Pad and we’re good to go.”
After retrieving said item, the four were on their way to the city’s favorite cafe. While Night and Velvet were able to retrieve the data, they were still unable to decode it properly. Meaning that if Flash were to fight the Gigabyters again, he wouldn’t be able to do much. Thankfully Jet was more than capable of handling them.
While they went to fill their empty stomachs, the rest of the gang were at the local community house that is typically rented out for celebrations. After the fiasco at Canterlot High, Pinkie decided to throw a party in appreciation to the Masked Riders that saved them. While they waited on the progress of cracking Jet’s Cyber Pad, she took the others to help set up for the party.
“Hey Pinkie, where do these go again?” Sandalwood lifted the box full of DJ equipment.
“On the left hand of the stage.” The party planner said as she blew up a red balloon and twisted it and a blue one into the visage of Masked Rider Build. “The fog machines go on the other side, AJ.”
“Got it.” The farm girl nodded as she hefted the crate of equipment over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash zoomed around setting up the banner that read THANK YOU MASKED RIDERS! Over the stage.
“Pinkie...are you sure we should be doing something like this?” Micro questioned as he looked over the notes of the Sclash Driver to make sure he knew what to do when they got back to the lab.
“What do you mean, Darling?” Rarity asked as she helped organize the decorations.
“I mean, I get that you want to show appreciation to the Masked Riders, but is now really the best time for that? I mean, we have an alternate version of Flash’s deceased dad running around, Sol is missing, and...Gizmo...is still out there somewhere, plotting his next move. Should we really be working on a party at a time like this?”
“What are you saying, Micro?” She asked as she zipped over to him. “Now’s the best time to throw a party! Everyone’s all stressed and serious! If we keep going like this, we’ll never get anything done. So we gotta help everyone unwind to refresh and figure out what’s next. Besides. We need to make sure that Flashy and Solly know that we’re supporting them. And a party is just the way to do that!”
The intellectual hummed as he thought about it. Pinkie’s reasoning made sense. Admittedly, morale had been dropping lately due to current circumstances. The alternate Trail Blazer’s appearance did not help matters. Maybe throwing a party would be good to boost morale, provided everything died down before then.
“So this is Sugar Cube Corner?” Jet asked as he and the others were seated at a booth. “I’ve never seen a small cafe this...bustling before. Usually it’s all quiet where I’m from since everyone just orders to-go. Gotta say the atmosphere is nice though.”
“You don’t know half of it.” Flash said. “This place has the best milkshakes and baked goods in town.”
“I’ll hold you onto that.”
“Well, this is a surprise.” A familiar voice rang out. The others turned to see Silver Speech. However, aside from his traditional fedora, he was in his casual clothes. “Usually I see you guys with the rest of the gang.”
“Oh, hey Silver.” Sunset greeted. “What are you doing here? Working?”
“Sorta. I have work at my other part time job today, but I’m just dropping by for lunch before I go.”
“It must be rough working two jobs like that.” Twilight said. “I don’t think I could do that while having school.”
“It’s not so bad. The hours are flexible and the pay’s good. Besides, I’ve already graduated so I have the time to spare.” He answered as he noticed an unfamiliar face. “On a side note, care to introduce me to your friend? I haven’t seen him around before.”
“The name’s Jet Storm.” Jet greeted with an extended hand that Silver took. “I dropped in town about last week. I just met these guys not too long ago either.”
“Ah, so a new friend then.” He nodded with a smile. “Looks like Pinkie’s gonna be throwing another party soon. Nice to meet you.”
Meanwhile…
Trail Blazer rummaged through several drawers within the room he was in. He growled before ripping the drawer from its table and flinging it to the side, scattering several miscellaneous items. He had spent several hours overturning the room to find what he was looking for.
He needed more of those stabilization injections. He had lost his remaining one at the hands of Cyburst, and if he was going to remain in the other world, he needed more.
But no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find any. Had his partner moved them? Sighing, he consulted his final option and contacted him.
In a matter of seconds, a holographic projection emerged from his communicator. Unfortunately. The device was damaged from the previous fight, leaving only a shadowed figure in view.
“Ah, Trail. I wasn’t expecting you to contact me again so soon. Have you finished your assignment?”
“There were some...complications. I’m also out of injections. Some...obstacles intercepted and took my last one, forcing me back here. I'm trying to find them, but can’t. Where are they?”
“I have them. Apologies, but I needed to keep some on hand due to the nature of my task. But don’t fret, you’ll get one soon….after you complete your missions. Now that you’re here, you should be stable enough to make another trip and finish the job, yes?”
“Well, yes, but-” He was cut off by the figure.
“Trail. I can’t express the importance of your assigned task. We need to do this correctly. If we can’t, then neither of our wishes will come true. And you do wish to see your family again, correct?”
The scarred man fell silent as his mind was caught in a flashback. The fire. The blood. The lifeless eyes of his wife and children. “...I won’t fail you. I will succeed.”
“I’m positive you will. Oh, gotta go. Looks like I have some unwelcome guests.”
Sol and the Riders continued to zoom through the streets towards their destination. Once he got used to the speed, the fighter asked where they were going.
Vaccine answered that they found Gigabyters at the town’s Solar Collector Receiver.
Having no idea what that was, Sol had to ask.
Hacker answered that it was a facility with a giant thermal collector dish composed of thousands of tiny, individually-controlled mirrors. It absorbs the solar energy that is focused through an orbiting satellite in the form of a concentrated beam, hence the Solar Collector. It was facilities such as these that places like NewGear City around the world were able to run off of clean, environmentally friendly power.
“But isn’t that dangerous? I mean, it sounds like a freaking space laser.”
“There definitely were concerns during the development stages. But after the idiocy of an ignorant sales director pushing a prototype’s power to critical limits, limiters and regulations were installed in much safer variants. Now we no longer have any worry of positively charged plasma bolts from roasting us and destroying aircraft.”
“Oh, joy.” Sol mumbled.
“We’re here.” Hacker announced as the two bikes swerved to a stop. Once they got a look at the facility, they all scowled.
“It’s worse than I thought.” Vaccine frowned. The number of Gigabyters present rivaled the amount Sol and Flash fought against back at the power plant. They swarmed all over the facility.
“Well, let’s take them all out!” Hacker declared as he summoned his De-Bugger Blade. Vaccine did the same with her bow. The two charged into the horde with determined yells. Sol watches them as they attack. Unable to sit back and do nothing, he dons the belt and transforms.
“Henshin!” Now transformed, he ran at the nearest Gigabyter and punched it in the face. Sadly it did nothing. He tried a kick. Still nothing. The Gigabyter counter attacked by slamming its arm into the side of his head, sending him tumbling. He rolled and pulled out the Beat Crozzer to try again.
While he managed to knock them back with powerful swings, they didn’t so much as have a scratch on them.
Meanwhile with Hacker and Vaccine, they were taking down Gigabyters left and right. Hacker fought with his spear and Hack Claw, slashing and stabbing enemies while flinging them away with his unique gauntlet.
Vaccine sniped them from afar with deadly accuracy from her bow. Every time she pulled the handle back as if it were a bowstring, arrows of energy manifested before shooting out and striking the Gigabyters.
She was about to shoot down another one until Cross-Z entered her line of fire. She quickly diverted her shot and it landed right next to her target. Said target proceeded to thrash Cross-Z around like a ragdoll before knocking him into Hacker, throwing them off the elevated platform.
The two landed in a tangled heap before the Kamen Rider threw the Masked Rider off. “What are you doing? Stop getting in our way!”
“I’m just trying to help!” Sol argued.
“You can help by standing aside and let us handle it.” He shoved Sol off as he returned to the fight. The martial artist growled in frustration before kicking the wall.
Vaccine glanced at Cross-Z from the corner of her vision and sighed. She felt sorry for him, wanting to help but unable to. But she couldn’t let such thoughts cloud her mind and instead focused on the fight.
Two Gigabyters tried to ambush her from behind. She spun around quickly and slashed them with the blades on her bow. The blades cut through their armor before knocking them aside. Two more took their place and charged. She took out a memory card with a snowflake emblazoned on and placed it in her bow.
“FREEZE BOLT!” She then ran at the charging enemies and jumped on one of them. She kicked off as if it were a platform into a flip in the air. She reoriented herself and shot them both in mid-flight. The bolts of energy immediately froze the two where they stood upon impact.
Once she landed, she replaced the memory card with one with a fire symbol on it.
“FIRE BOLT!”
She took aim and fired twice. Bursts of intense, crackling heat shot out and struck the frozen foes before engulfing them in explosions.
“CEMENT GUN!”
Hacker aimed and shot out globs of liquid concrete at an incoming mob of enemies. The cement quickly hardened and locked them in place. He then rushed at them and slashed them down with his De-Bugger blade.
Soon, the two had taken out about half of the number of Gigabyters. However, the ones that remained were the ones that continued to siphon off power from the collector receiver. But before they could attack them, a series of blue energy gears flew at them and exploded on impact.
“Hacker! Vaccine!” Cross-Z rushed to where they landed.
As the smoke from the explosion cleared, a new figure approached them. Sol’s eyes widened beneath his helmet. The armor the man wore was similar to the guy that he fought by the giant hand. However, the gears on his armor were blue instead of red and were situated on the opposite side of his body.
“Who...who are you?!” Hacker growled as he used his spear to support himself.
“...I am the man that will bring about the perfect world.” he answered cryptically. “And I will not allow you to interfere.”
“I don’t know what you’re babbling about…” Cross-Z scowled as his grip on his sword tightened. “But I know you’re with the red gear guy that sent me here. Which means I just gotta beat the answers outta you!” With a cry, he charged
“Ugh. Uncouth barbarian.” The man scoffed. He nimbly side-stepped the diagonal swing and ducked beneath the horizontal follow up. He caught the kick aimed for his ribs before flinging the dragonic Rider away. However it left him wide open to Vaccine’s energy arrows. He got shot in the chest before rolling to the side to avoid the barrage.
Hacker leaped after him with his spear pointing forward to skewer him. The geared man ducked beneat the charge before slamming his gear shoulder into Hacker’s midsection. Energy gears grinded against his armor before shooting him off into the air and exploding.
“Hacker!” Vaccine cried before aiming at the man again with the freeze memory card equipped.
A chilling bolt flew at him, but he simply grabbed the ambushing Cross-Z from behind and used him as a human shield. The bolt struck him in the chest and covered his body in a layer of frost.
“Oh! Sorry!” She apologized before the man threw the semi-frozen Rider at her. The two crashed to the ground while Hacker struggled to get up.
“How pathetic.” The stranger drolled in boredom. “Is this really what this world’s protectors have to offer?”
“Shut up!” Hacker yelled out before selecting a battle app.
“HACK CLAW!”
Gauntlet now equipped. He flung out his arm and latched onto a crate before flinging it at the man. He quickly dodged it only to cross the attack path of a charging Kamen Rider. With inhuman reflexes, he sidestepped, grabbed the shaft and wretched the weapon away from Hacker. He slammed the pommel into his face before kicking him away. To add insult to injury, he hurled the De-Bugger blade back at him, knocking him down.
It was at that moment, the Gigabyters hooked up to the power modules within the facility let out a collective beep. They were finished and the man laughed.
“Finally...the time is almost here. Come, Enigma!”
With the command, the roof of the facility broke apart as a towering device manifested out of thin air in the middle of it. As Sol Burner thawed himself out, he immediately recognized it as the giant hand he saw before. But it seemed a bit different, as if it were the opposite hand.
With a snap of the man’s fingers, the Gigabyters exploded. Streams of energy data emerged from where they stood before they became sucked up by the giant hand. The hand then opened up from its closed position and shot out a giant beam of light from its palm. It pierced the heavens, igniting it into an eerie glow.
“I don;t believe it...he..he used the Gigabyters to collect power for that thing!” Code exclaimed in realization.
From outer space, waves of energy encompassed the Earth and the space around it. Soon, a mirror image of earth manifested right next to the original separated by a thin boundary.
Back on the ground, the Riders were unable to believe what they saw. It looked as if another Earth had appeared through a hole in the sky. The man continued to laugh more and more like a maniac.
He finally peered down to the dumbfounded trio. “...The world will end in twenty-four hours.”
Before they could even inquire what that meant, he and the giant contraption disappeared. The Riders were left alone, exhausted and frustrated by the turn of events. They all powered down. At that moment, Heart received a notification from her company.
“President, we finally got the signal boosters hooked up and running to your specifications. We now have the capability to make the call you require.
Heart wasted no time in calling up Jet.
Back in Sugar Cube corner, the three teens and young adult finished their meal. Jet was impressed by how much flavor the food had, despite outdated cooking ware.
“Well, I should get going.” Silver said as he got up. “I still need to get to my job after all. It was nice seeing you guys again. And meeting you, Jet.”
“No drip.” He said. “Feeling’s in synch, Silver.”
“Right…” The man said, not really knowing what that meant before he left.
“He seems nice.” Jet said as he slurped more of his milkshake.
“Yeah. But what was that all about?” Twilight had to ask. “No drip? Crash? In synch? What do those mean?”
“You mean you don’t know? It’s how people talk. You know, lingo.”
“Lingo? You mean where you’re from?”
“Yeah. Don’t you guys have the same thing?”
“We do, but it’s different.”
“How so?”
But before their discussion could continue, they heard several people screaming outside. The commotion drew their attention and after paying for their meal, they rushed out the door. Once they got out, they noticed everyone was staring into the sky. When they looked up, they understood why.
Instead of the blue heavens above, they were greeted by the face of the Earth!
“...sweet Celestia…” Sunset whispered
She and Twilight stood there, processing how this was even scientifically possible should it not be a hallucination. Was Equestrian Magic involved somehow? Jet’s jaw dropped while he rubbed his eyes, making sure this was real. Flash was rendered speechless. What...what the heck was even happening right now?!
The familiar ringtone of his phone snapped him out of his panic. He answered the Buildphone and heard the familiar voice of Night Light.
“Flash! We just detected a group of Gigabyters attacking the Coltfield Dam!”
“Sure but...are you even seeing what’s happening with the sky right now?! Is this even real?!”
“It is. We have satellites relaying video feed and images back to us. It is definitely another Earth. Trust me, we’re all currently having mental breakdowns over the physical and scientific impossibility of a second Earth being right next to us without gravitational repercussions. But we can worry about that later! The Gigabyters are currently attacking and we need you and Jet to handle things there. Micro and the others are en route back to the lab as we speak to provide further logistic support.”
“G-Got it!” He answered before hanging up. “No time to skygazing, guys! We got Gigabyters attacking the Coltfield Dam right now.”
“So we’re just going to ignore this?!” Twilight gestured to the Earth above their heads.
“Believe me, a lot of us would like nothing more than to have nervous breakdowns over the end of the world, but we gotta take care of some monsters before they can hurt people!”
“R-right. Let’s jet!” The four rushed toward the attack site. But before they could make a few blocks, Jet’s Cyber Pad went off. Such a thing surprised the teen as he hadn’t been able to get a signal for the past week. Gingerly, he answered it.
“H-hello?”
“Jet?! Is that you?!” A holographic screen appeared over the device, showing Heart, Code, and Sol in the background.
“Heart!? Oh you have no idea how glad I am to see you!”
"Sol? You're okay!" Sunset exclaimed in relief.
“Hey guys!”
“Thank God, we finally made contact with you.” Heart returned. “Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but we figured out what happened to you. You’re-”
“On a parallel Earth? Yeah, I figured it out for about a week. And let me tell you, everything here is so primitive.”
"We're not that bad!" Twilight pointed out.
“Well, I’d love to ask about it, but we have a problem. A dire situation. It turns out, someone’s definitely orchestrating the Gigabyters. They already hit the Solar Collector Receiver and siphoned off power.”
“What?! How did that happen?!”
“We tried stopping him, but he was just too strong! He used something called Enigma to fire a beam into the sky. Next thing we knew, we saw ANOTHER Earth appear in the sky!”
“Well, we’re seeing the exact same thing on our end!”
As they discussed and exchanged stories over what happened up to this point, Twilight slowly put together different pieces of the puzzle. The Gigabyters. The Power Facilities. Something called Enigma. Finally, it all came together. "I...I think I got it!"
"Wh-what is it?" They all focused their attention to her.
"I think I know why these attacks have been happening." She elaborated, before turning to Heart. "You said the Gigabyters attacked a facility on your end in order to siphon power, right?"
"Yes."
"Then that coincides with what happened to us. Our attack was at the city's power plant. If it weren't for Jet taking them out, then they would have succeeded."
"But what's the point of these attacks?" Sol questioned.
"My best guess is that whatever this Enigma thing is, it requires large amounts of power. The Gigabyters must be attacking any industrial level source of energy to enable its functions."
"But what the heck is Enigma supposed to be anyway?" Flash questioned.
"A device that could doom both our worlds in the wrong hands!" Flash, Sunset and Twilight all froze at the sound of that voice, slowly turning around to see Gizmo. He genius turned psycho casually strolled towards them, not looking at all worried.
"You!" Flash and the girls got into a battle position while Jet looked confused.
"Oh don't look so grim," he told them as he pushed passed. He looked up at the store he now stood in front of, a coffee shop, then up towards the sky. "The current situation isn't exactly good for me either." He sat down and began to make himself a cup of coffee from the brewing kit he strangely had on hand. "So I thought I'd give you a hint."
"What?" Flash asked both confused and annoyed.
Gizmo continued to make his drink as he explained. "Those Gigabyters are giving off a smash signal, are they not?" They nodded. "That's because they've been imbued with Nebula Gas. So in a way, they're Nebula Gigabyters. And unfortunately, only the anti-viral riders will be able to stop them until you find a way to upload the same software they use into your system."
"My parents are trying that but it isn't working," Twilight told him.
"Thought as much," Gizmo said. "Luckily, I've had more luck." This surprised them, the lot wondering if he'd actually give them something that'd help. "But instead of focusing on the problem, maybe you should turn your attention to the source."
“The source?”
"...My dad," Flash whispered.
"Oh yeah," Jet turned back to his phone. "Are you guys still there?"
"We're here," Heart replied.
"Do a search for a guy named Trail Blazer."
"Err...alright," Heart grabbed Code's phone and used it to search the name on their database. Seconds later, she got a hit. "Trail Blazer. Well decorated test pilot who lived in Canterlot City with his family, Misty Veil, Flash Sentry and Scootaloo." This caught not just Sol's attention, but the attention of the ones listening. "It also says he's one of the few survivors of Canterlot's destruction by Malware. He was badly injured and scared, but alive. Alas, his family weren't so lucky."
"...Anything else?"
"No," Heart shook her head, "After that he seemed to disappear. No one has seen him since."
"So he is from your world," Flash realized. "But I don't get how he could do that. My dad was a great pilot, sure, but he wasn't a scientist. How'd he get here?"
"He had a little help," Gizmo explained as he began to sip his coffee. "Help from someone from our world. Enigma was designed by a man named Doom Raizer, who used to work at the Research Center."
"Hey," Twilight realized, "I know him. We met a few times when I went to visit my parents at work. He was... weird."
"How so?" Jet asked.
"I don't know. He just had this weird vibe about him."
"Doom was one of the few people helping me research the effects of the Nebula Gas. He was there when I designed the Transteam Gun and by the sounds of things, he must have reverse-engineered my design."
"He must have been the one in the blue armor," Sol realized.
"Most likely," Gizmo nodded. "His research into Nebula Gas led to an interesting discovery. A way to use Nebula Gas to open portals to alternative worlds." They all gasped, understanding what that meant. "And to do that, he designed a device called the Enigma. But before he could build it, I had him removed from the Research Center."
"Why?" Sunset asked.
"He was going too fast for his own good. He wanted to build it without looking into what dangers opening portals to another world could have caused." Flash, Twilight and Sunset knew more than anyone what problems that could lead to, the Midnight Sparkle incident springing to the forefront of their minds. "I tried to slow him down, but he refused to listen. So I had no choice but to terminate him."
"But that clearly didn't stop him," Flash pointed out.
"Yes. He went to work for Tirek Heavy Industries and used their resources to create the Enigma, allowing him to enter another world." He turned to Jet, "your world, to be precise."
"But why my world?"
Gizmo chuckled as he took another sip. "Doom's always been a bit of a technophile. All his life he's wanted to live in a world that is far more advanced than ours. When he discovered a means to enter another world, it's clear he saw it as a way to escape the dark ages that he considers our world to be in. For someone like him, your world was clearly the best choice. And had there not been any issues, he probably would have just stayed there forever and not caused all this mess. But alas, he ran into one glaring complication."
"The multiversal backlash," Jet realized with Gizmo nodding.
"He wants to stay in your world, but it's rejecting him. That's why he's doing all this."
"But what is he doing?" Heart asked over the phone. "You said this Enigma would doom both our worlds, but how?"
"And what's my dad got to do with all this?" Flash asked.
"It's quite simple," Gizmo poured another cup. "Doom wants to live in your world but can't and Trail Blazer wants to live in this world for some reason but can't. So that leaves them one option. Combine our worlds." Those listening had been expecting a crazy response, but not that crazy.
"Combine our worlds?" Twilight asked, "that's impossible."
"Actually, it's not. If done correctly, the Enigma can be used to fuse both worlds into one." He took another sip of his coffee. "I looked into the enigma myself after Doom left and discovered that if two systems are built on both worlds and have a large amount of Nebula Gas and unbelievable amounts of power, then they can overlay the two worlds and rewrite them to create a stable fusion."
None of them could believe what they were hearing. Was it really possible to combine both their worlds?
"But there is a catch."
"What?" Twilight asked as Gizmo finished off his second coffee.
"Why don't you ask my brother. The information should be on my laptop." Gizmo then put his cup down before reaching into his jacket, Flash and Jet preparing themselves to fight back until they saw him pull out a set of orange and purple Fullbottles. "Here," he placed them on the table, "A little extra help to deal with the annoyance." He then picked himself up and began walking away, Flash glaring at him.
"If you don't like him so much, why don't you deal with him yourself?"
Gizmo turned to smirk back at him, "Because that's hero work. Not my thing." With that, he pulled out his gun. "Ciao~" He shot at the ground unleashing a burst of smoke that caused him to vanish.
The four were left alone by the store, processing what they just learned.
“...Who the heck was that guy?” Jet finally asked.
“Someone that I really, really want to beat the crap out of.” Sol growled hatefully, something Code took note of.
“We’ll explain later.” Flash said as he approached the table and snatched the Fullbottles in a swift motion. “We have Gigabyters to take down first.”
“R-Right.” Jet nodded. “Sorry guys, I’ll call back later.” He cut off communications as he inserted a new memory card into his Cyber Pad.
“CYBER CYCLE!”
From a stream of data, a futuristic motorcycle materialized. It looked more akin to a hovercraft seen in a certain video game featuring giant space rings. He hopped on and held out a helmet for a passenger. The three were surprised by the new vehicle.
“We’ll get there faster if we ride. You have one too, right?”
“Yeah.” Flash inserted the Lion Fullbottle into his Build Phone.
“BUILD CHANGE!”
“Okay, now that’s cool.” Jet admitted when he saw the phone transform into a motorcycle.
“Why didn’t we just use these before?” Twilight asked as she hopped onto the Machine Builder.
“To be honest, I was too shell-shocked to remember.” Jet admitted as he handed a helmet to Sunset before she hopped onto his machine.
“Enough chatter. Let’s ride!” With a rev of their machines,. The two pairs shot through the streets towards the Coltfield Dam.
To Be Continued...
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Wow, that is a lot to take in. From the way Jet described it, the data field and data manipulation sound incredible, and so Sci-fi. If it weren’t for the fact it brings malware and viruses to life it would be perfect. Also, the confirmation that Trail Blazer was from an alternate world was a shocker.
I was surprised that Gizmo was willing to lend a hand, but at least he isn’t sticking around. If he had stayed with the heroes the whole time I would have been just waiting for him to backstab them.
Great to see another update now. Great work with it.
This whole chapter was just heartbreaking.
I have to say I loved it when jet said we ride cuz that remind me of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight the first Kamen Rider I ever finished and the best American one
Sounds like a nightmare to me.
Get shot, exploded, imploded, disitegrated, yeeted, deleted, killed. Killing is fun, that is why I enjoy Blood Stalk so much.
I'd wish he did. But the plot needs him. So of course he'll survive.
That proves my theory. Trail Blazer exists in another universe where he survives but his family didn't. Which obviously makes him hellbent in finding a way to restore his family back, and luckily he found a world where his family survived. And from the trailer, he is going to merge this universe and his to be with his family. Talk about a hardworking father, am I right folks? Guys? Shakaaram.
Nope, not the best time for a party. This is never a best time for a party lass.
You can collect more if you've just created a dyson sphere. More energy collected and it could also boost space for buildings and such.
Oh I so like you very very much...
Wow! I finally caught up in the story! :)
For some reason, reading this one and last past feel like a big damn movie than some extended episodes.
I laugh when Twilight get annoyed when Jet dismisses their scientific discoveries as primitive stuffs and consider them as outdated compare to his world.
Man, even though Trail is from another dimension, it’s going to be hard to see Flash fighting against his own father in order to stop them from dooming both worlds. :(
EDIT: Alternate Trail Blazer's motivation is very similar to Kingpin from Into the Spider-Verse as both of them are using interdimensional device to be reunited with their dead family.
I not sure if you did this on purpose or just a coincidence but that's just my opinion on his motivation.