> A Displaced Monster And Machine
>  by Prince_Zodiac
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One: New Beginings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter One: New Beginnings






{Lisa’s POV}

Gale and I stepped through the little trap door and it closed behind us. I looked around, and was mighty impressed. There were a couple rooms, each filled to the brim with stuff.

“Welcome to my house.” I nodded and took a closer look at each room. There was a bar, a game room, a room with a portal in it, and a room with a capsule. There was one last room, but it was empty. The entire place was lit up by glowing crystals, and the walls were dark blue. The floor kind of looked like it was made from glass, and wherever you stepped the floor would light up around your feet with a circuitry like design.

“Very impressive. But, what about that last room?”

“Hmm? Oh, the guys and I never found a use for it.” I walked into it and made a full turn. It was pretty spacious.

“Alright then, I’ll claim this as my room.” Gale nodded.

“Would be nice to fill this room up. An empty room is so bland in any house.”

“Well I’m going to need some stuff.”

“Hmm? Oh right. Well I live right above Ponyville so we can go to a mattress store and get you a bed, and Quills & Couches will probably have anything else we need.”

“Everything else?”

“Yeah, haven’t you seen it in the show? That’s the place where the false advertizing is actually a good thing. They sell everything!” I put a hand to my chin in thought.

“They do don’t they?” Gale nodded. “Well alright then let’s go!”

Time Skip Three Hours

“Well, I think we have everything I need.”

“You think so?” Gale was walking behind me carrying a mattress, a cabinet, and desk, balancing them all like a really impressive circus act. I meanwhile was using my tendrils to carry bags of clothing and other stuff, and Sonic, who I had just meet, was carrying some groceries. What? I’m a cook, I need food to master my new found hobby. Anyways, we were all heading back when suddenly.

“HI GALE!” I turned to see Gale, being caught completely off guard, trip backwards and everything landing on him. Pinkie was sitting at the front of the pile.

“Oops, he he.” Pinkie had a sheepish smile and was rubbing the back of her head.

“Oooooo, I think I broke my everything.” I rolled my eyes and helped Sonic get all of the stuff off of Gale.

“Dude you okay?” Gale nodded.

“Yeah I’m good, but I could definitely use a trip to my repair capsule now. Anyways, what did you want Pinkie?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah. I wanted to know who your new friend was!”

“Hmm? Oh! Pinkie, this is Lisa! Lisa, this is Pinkie.” I waved.

“Hello.”

“Hi! Wow I’ve never seen somepony like you before!”

“Well that’s because I’m not a pony, I’m a… actually, I don’t rightly know what I am.”

“Oh, weird. Well I just have to give you a welcome to Ponyville party! What kind of cake do you like?”

“Chocolate please.”

“Alright then! Don’t expect your party at any time, because it’ll be a surprise!” Pinkie ran off to make plans for the party. Gale picked up everything he was carrying, once again doing an impressive circus act, and we went home. Once we got home, we had to fit everything through the trapdoor. The hardest thing was probably the bed, but we managed. Then, over the course of a few hours, we put my room together.

“Well I don’t want to brag, but I think we did a fine job!” My bed was in the back corner of the room, and my desk was right beside it, and it also had a spinning rolling chair. My cabinet was on the other side of the room, and was filled to the brim with new clothes from Rarity. In the center of the room was a large black carpet, and there was another table with a stereo on it. I thought it was pretty impressive.

“Well now that that's done, what do you guys want to do?”

“Well, considering that Pinkie’s finished the party and is having everyone gather at Sugarcube Corner, I say we go there.”

“And you know this how?”

“Mind reading Sonic, mind reading.”

“Oh.”

“Sounds like fun! Let’s go!” I nodded and we all headed to Sugarcube Corner.





{Gale’s POV}

As we walked to Sugarcube Corner, I thought about something. Lisa was handling the loss of her world surprisingly well.

’I wonder how she deals with it.’

“I just focus on the happy things Gale.”

“What?”

“I just read your surface thoughts and I’m telling you I focus on the happy things. Besides, both Author and Marx are trying to find a way to get my world back. Marx even got Metal to help. Also, knowing Marx, he’ll find a way to get it back.” I nodded. That made some sense, Lisa just focused on the happy things, and the fact that no matter what, Marx would find a way to get her home back.

Meanwhile

”Marx, what the hell are you doing?” Marx was in a lounge chair, right at the edge of the rip in time and space that Xram had thrown Lisa’s world into, with a fishing pole in hand. He also had a fisherman’s hat with a few hooks in it.

“What does it look like? I’m trying to get Lisa’s world back!” Marx drew back the line, then threw it out into the rip. He then sat down, and waited.

”You’re, fishing for it?”

“Yes, I am. What? You got a better idea?”

”No I just-” Author was cut off when the line on the fishing pole tightened.

“Hold that thought I think I’ve got something!” Marx began to reel in whatever the hell he had caught, and Author just stood by and watched. After a moment or two, a universe flew out of the hole and back into the multiverse.

“Wow.”

”Was that hers?”

“Nah, that’s one she threw into a rip in time and space a while ago. But, if I pulled that out, what the hell else is in there?” Marx got a giddy expression on his face and threw out the line again. Author just rolled his eyes and disappeared.

Back To The Story

Pretty soon we had almost made it to Sugarcube Corner. As we were about to walk in, I heard somepony’s voice. I assumed it was Pinkie’s.

“Everypony quiet down! They’re here!” We walked into Sugarcube Corner, to find it strangely dark. Suddenly, lights came on and everypony shouted.

“SURPRISE!” Lisa looked around the pony filled room, to see a good portion of the town. Twilight and her friends were there, the CMC, Filthy Rich, Big Mac, the Cakes, Mayor Mare, Derpy, Doctor Whooves, Cherilee, and tons of others I didn’t know. I’m surprised so many ponies showed up.

“Wow, this is quite the crowd.” Lisa nodded.

“I know, I’m new here and yet already a lot of ponies have come to meet me.” Sonic walked up to us.

“How’d Pinkie fit so many ponies in here, with room to spare?!”

“Don’t question the mind of Pinkie.” Sonic gave Lisa and I a look as we both deadpanned that sentence simultaneously. He then rolled his eyes and then walked off to enjoy the party. I turned to Lisa.

“Ready to have some fun?”

“You know it!”

“Well then come on!” I took her hand and we ventured into the crowd and joined in the celebration.

{Lisa’s POV}

The party lasted a couple hours. We played all sorts of games, and ate all sorts of food. At one point, Gale transformed into an alicorn and had an eating contest with Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash won of course, but I was more focused on the fact that my boyfriend could become a pony. He noticed me looking at him in shock.

“What?”

“You… can transform into a pony?”

“Yep! And an alicorn no less.”

“How?”

“Long story, I’ll tell you some other time.” I nodded, satisfied with that answer for now. I then got an idea. During this whole thing Marx had stopped by for a “Party Break” as he called it. I personally think he was slacking off, but he was trying to get my universe back so I couldn't complain. Anyways while he was here he had told me about Gale’s adventure with his brother in the human world. I had been particularly interested in the part about him playing the drums.

“So, a little birdie told me that you could play an instrument.” Gale spit out the drink he was currently enjoying.

“Wait what? Who?”

“Marx.”

“Sly bastard. Okay yes, I can play.”

“Which ones?”

“Guitar, drums, bass… a lot of things. But, I can also sing.”

“Show me.”

“Oh alright.” He switched back into his normal form and ran out. Moments later, he returned with a guitar, as well as a few other ponies alongside him. Two of them were wheeling in a drum set. Gale gathered up all of the long tables together, making a temporary stage. He stomped his foot three times to get everypony’s attention.

“Alright alright, is everyone having a good time out there?” Everypony cheered, I did as well. “Good to here! Well as you all know this party is for the newest member in our community, Lisa!” I blushed as everypony turned toward me and either clapped their hooves or cheered.

“Okay well anyways, she found out that I can play quite a few instruments, and so she asked me to play. I, being a nice guy, happily complied and got this little band together. I’ve got the perfect song for this very special occasion. It’s called Shut Up And Dance and back where I’m from, it was by Walk The Moon. Now, is everypony ready?!” We all cheered in excitement, me especially. I loved this song, it was one of my favorites. The fact that Gale was going to play it just for me made my heart race. Gale nodded at the cheers, and started the song.



“Oh don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me,”
I said “You’re holding back,”
She said “Shut up and dance with me!”
This woman is my destiny,
She said ooh, “Shut up and dance with me!”

Everypony started to clap to the beat of the song, and I joined them. Gale looked at me as he sang the next part.

We were victims of the night:
The chemical, physical, kryptonite.
Help us through the bass and the fading light,
Oh we were born to get together,
Born to get together.

She took my arm,
I don’t know how it happened,
We took the floor and she said..

“Oh don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me,”
I said “You’re holding back,”
She said “Shut up and dance with me!”
This woman is my destiny,
She said ooh, “Shut up and dance with me!”

A backless dress and some beat up sneaks,
My disco-tech, Juliet, teenage dream,
I felt it in my chest as she looked at me,
I knew we were born to be together,
Born to be together.

She took my arm,
I don’t know how it happened,
We took the floor and she said…

“Oh don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me,”
I said “You’re holding back,”
She said “Shut up and dance with me!”
This woman is my destiny,
She said ooh, “Shut up and dance with me!”

Oh come on girl!

When Gale said that he jumped off the stage and rushed to me. He took my hand and we started to dance to the beat of the music.

Deep in her eyes, I think I see the future,
I realize,
This is my last chance!
She took my arm,
I don’t how it happened,
We took the floor and she said..

“Oh don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me,”
I said “You’re holding back,”
She said “Shut up and dance with me!”
This woman is my destiny,
She said ooh, “Shut up and dance!”

I decided to join in on the singing at this point.

“Don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me,”
I said “You’re holding back,”
She said “Shut up and dance with me!”
This woman is my destiny,
She said ooh, “Shut up and dance with me!”

Ooh, “Shut up and dance with me!”

Ooh, “Shut up and dance with me!”

The final notes were played, and everypony cheered like crazy. A couple ponies whistled and I hugged Gale.

“That was amazing!”

“He he, thanks.” He returned my hug and we smiled. Well, as close as we could get to smiling. It was the vibe thing again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the mane six, which I had already been introduced to.

“Wow Gale that was amazing!”

“I agree darling. It was such a romantic song.”

“And yet somehow it wasn’t slow or sappy, it was upbeat and awesome!” Gale chuckled.

“Thanks girls.”

“Where didja even learn ta play like that?”

“Well, I’m kind of a machine so it wasn’t that hard.” They all nodded in agreement. Gale then looked at me. “Well, we still have a party to enjoy. Shall we?” I nodded and we went back into the crowd.
> Chapter Two: Spin Off Anouncement
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	



{Chapter Two: Spin Off Announcement}





{Gale’s POV}

Time Skip Three Days

Lisa and I were lying down on a picnic blanket, looking up at the sky. Or rather, she was, meanwhile I was having an internal dilemma about what to talk about. It had been about three days since the party, and now we were on our first date. I could NOT let it end with an awkward silence.

“Oh hey look at that.” I looked up to the clouds to see what Lisa was talking about. Floating through the air without a care in the world, was a bird shaped cloud.

“Huh, a bird shaped cloud.”

“Weird how clouds can make shapes like that huh?”

“Yep.”

“I wonder how that happens.”

“Lucky circumstance is what most would say, but I believe that something else makes it happen.”

“Like a powerful being that controls the world?”

“Yeah I guess so.”

“So you believe in god?” I gave Lisa a straight look.

“With the way the multiverse works, I think that the christian god is actually probably some displacer, or a number of displacers even. They do seem to hang around our world.”

“True, true.” As we continued to watch the sky, more shapes appeared in the clouds, and we talked about each of them. Right up until one cloud made the shape of a wedding ring. Lisa looked at me.

“I-It wasn’t me I swear!”

“Oh really? Then how’d that happen?”

“I don’t know, coincidence?”

“I thought you said that things like that couldn’t be a coincidence.”

“Um, Marx?”

“He’s looking for my world right now remember?”

“Doesn’t mean he’s not slacking off.”

“You and I both know that we would have felt him if he was here. He’s got that sort of presence you know?”

“Well all I know is that it wasn’t me.”

“Mm hm.” Lisa turned back to the clouds as I started thinking. Okay, someone had to be fucking with me at this point. We continued to watch the clouds again until.

“Okay that’s impossible.” I look to see what she meant and I agreed, that was impossible. There was a cloud that was shaped so perfectly like a pug, that someone in this world had to have made it. Lisa stood up and looked around.

“I think I see our culprit.” I looked around and saw him. It was Metal, flying around making the clouds into shapes. Lisa looked at me.

“What? I didn’t ask him to do that.” Lisa rolled her eyes and then walked towards the nearby hill. I walked with her and we waited until Metal landed again. He landed, admired his work, and was about to take off, but then Lisa cleared her throat. Metal turned around, and I mouthed the words ‘thank you.’ Well, as well as I could anyway. Still no mouth.

“Um… hey there Lisa…” Metal gave a nervous laugh as Lisa impatiently tapped her foot. Metal sighed. “What gave it away?”

“There was a cloud shaped perfectly like a pug.” Metal seemed to beam with pride a little, before Lisa glared at him and he rubbed his arm in embarrassment. “Want to explain what you were doing?”

Metal looked at me and I frantically shook my head. He sighed again.

“I was coming to see you guys when I saw you two spending time together and decided to make things a little more interesting.” I gave Metal a thumbs up at his quick thinking, then decided to tune out for a while. Then I heard the all too familiar sound of a portal opening and saw Marx walk out.

“Oh Symbol…” Lisa looked slightly depressed so I walked up to her and gave her a hug. I then looked at Marx.

“So Marx, what are you doing here this time?”

“What?”

“Every time you show up, shit goes down, so what’s wrong now?” Metal finished my question perfectly. Marx looked at him wide eyed and looked at the damaged portal piece that Metal apparently had. Probably should have been paying attention instead of tuning out for a quick sec but, eh.

“I’m here to tell you how to fix this.” Lisa perked up at this.

“What do we have to do?” Marx shook his head.

“Not what you have to do, what he has to do.” He gestured to a surprised Metal.

“What? Why me?”

"With the places that the missing portal shards are none of us can enter because we are too well known throughout the multiverse, we'd instantly be noticed and targeted by powerful displaced. You however are new to the multiverse and you have more agility and speed than the rest of us."

“So what you’re saying is that I have to aimlessly wander around the multiverse until I find all of the shards?”

“I’ll give you some time to think about it.” With that, Marx disappeared into a portal, then sent Metal back home through his own. Lisa and I looked at each other and sighed at Marx’s antics.





A Few Days Later

Marx, Author, Lisa, the mane six, Luna, and I all stood on top of a hill to say our goodbyes to Metal before he went off on his own adventure to find the pieces of the portal to Lisa’s world. Some words were said, and Luna and Rainbow gave Metal kisses on the lips goodbye, before Metal left. Once he did, Marx sighed.

“And now I have some work of my own to do.” I turned to Marx.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when I was fishing for Lisa’s actual universe in the rip in space and time, I found a giant space fish named that I named Guppy. He was adorable, and super helpful. Once I got past the him eating me part of course.” Author rolled his eyes at this. “Anyways, I trained Guppy to find any universes that were trapped out in that rip. There were surprisingly a lot, but there was one problem.”

“What was it?”

“Hang on Gale I was just about to tell you. Well, you see… it wasn’t there.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t there?”

“I mean that some other displacer or something had found and took Lisa’s universe before I did.”

“Who would do that?”

“I don’t know. What I do know is, I need to find it.” With that, a portal opened, and Marx was gone.

> Chapter Three: Everything Is Certainly Fine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Three: Everything Is Certainly Fine






{Lisa’s POV}

I was sitting at a cafe enjoying my coffee with Gale, who was also having coffee. The sky was a mess, which would normally be weird if Gale and I hadn’t seen this coming. While everyone was freaking out about the weather, or just being cranky, Gale and I were playing a little game.

“Alright I bet that cloud is going to unleash a lightning bolt onto somepony next.”

“I say it’s going to give freeze them.” A pony walked under it, then got hammered by an icy wind, freezing him solid. “Ha ha! Score!”

“Alright you win. Now, how about that one?” I looked to the cloud Gale was pointing at. “I’m sticking with lightning.”

“Freezing them.” A bolt of lightning from the cloud struck a random pegasus.

“Knew it!”

“Okay mister, how about that one?” We stared at it for a second before we both replied.

“Both.” An unfortunate grumpy pony walked right under the cloud. He got struck with lightning, then and icy wind froze him.

“Ooooo, that had to hurt.”

“I agree. Should we get them out?” I thought for a moment.

“Nah, it’ll all turn out fine. It always does.” Gale nodded and returned to his coffee. Then, out of nowhere a bolt of lightning struck across our table, barely missing us, and hit our waiter. I finished my coffee and relaxed.

“Yep. Everything is certainly fine.”





The weather problem had finally been contained and thus Gale and I were walking in the park, hand in hand.

“This is nice, you know?” Gale nodded.

“Definitely beats all that crazy shit that went on.”

“Yeah, definitely. And now both Metal and Marx are trying to get parts of my universe.”

“I wonder what they’ll do on those adventures.”

“They’re definitely going to have quite the story to tell.”

“Totally. Hey, how do you think everyone else is doing?”

“Like who?”

“Like Alduin, the Twins, the people in Symbol’s world.”

“Oh, right. Well, I’d like think they’re doing okay.”

“Yeah probably. So, anything else you want to do today?”

“You still need to take me to that city remember?”

“Oh yeah huh? Well let’s do that now. HEY MARX!” A portal opened up above us and Marx peeked out.

“Yes?”

“Can you get me a portal to Metal?”

“Yeah sure.” A portal opened up and when I looked in, I was shocked to say the least. It was in a dark room that kind of looked like a throne room. The portal was right behind Metal, and he was on a throne in his Neo Metal form. Gale put a finger to his mouth… well where his mouth would be, and shook his head. He reached behind Metal, and grabbed the orb. Once he had it, Marx closed the portal.

“What was up with all that?”

“Metal’s going through some serious shit right now, we don’t need to bother him. If we have to we can go in and help but for now we should let that source itself out.” I nodded.

“So, what are you waiting for?” Smiling, Gale held up the orb and it expanded. Everything was dark for a moment, but then the darkness cleared and I could see we were in Chemical Plant Zone.

“So, here we are. Shall we go?” I nodded. Gale then picked me up bridal style and flew into the air. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I nodded, telling him I was ready to go. “Hold on tight!”

With a burst of speed Gale took off, speeding away towards the city. After a few moments, we were there.

“Told you we could come here.”

“Good thing we never made wages.”

“I never said I didn’t.”

“Whoa whoa wait, you have a wager?”

“Maybe?” He sighed.

“What do I need to do?”

“Take me on the best date yet.”

“Gladly.” He flew down and we landed in the city which was, strangely enough, inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. I think in the Sonic universe they were called, Mobians?

“Wow, this place is packed with Mobians.” Knew it. “I’m surprised there's so many of them.”

“Well what are you waiting for lover boy? Take me on that date!”

“Alright come on.” We walked around the city, getting weird looks from some of the mobians, while others smiled. They must have thought that Gale used to be a hedgehog, then got got turned into a robot by Eggman’s roboticanizer or whatever it’s called. What? I was on the internet one day and saw a mecha Sally and went to figure out how that happened. Just because I don’t know about Mobians, doesn’t mean I don’t know other stuff. Anyways Gale took me to a nice looking restaurant where I could actually get some meat for once! I had ordered a steak with a salad on the side, and Gale ordered sushi. Our order was brought out a little bit later with our drinks by a fox waiter, and we began to chow down.

“Sushi huh? Interesting choice.”

“Always wanted to try it.”

“You mean you’ve never had it?”

“Nope and now that I am, I’d say it’s not as good as I thought it would be, but that’s an easy fix.”

“How so?”

“My taste receptors can make it taste like something else.”

“Hey now that’s cheating!”

“How is it cheating if it’s something I can naturally do?”

“Because I can’t do it.”

“Oh but if we were eating something with chopsticks and because you couldn’t get it down, you would get to use your tendrils?”

“Precisely.”

“How’s that fair to me?”

“Never said it was fair to you, but it is to me!”

“Wow. Just, wow.”

“Speechless are ya?”

“I can’t even, no. Just no.”

“I’m kidding.”

“You’re always kidding.”

“And that’s why you love me.”

“Touche.” We laughed at our little debate and finished up.

“Are you two ready for the check?”

“Yes we are.” The waiter nodded and turned to leave but then I stopped him and motioned him to come over. I whispered something into his ear, and he nodded with a smile.

“What’d you tell him?”

“That this was an anniversary date and I asked him for a discount.”

“That’s not like you-”

“Sir your check.” Gale grabbed the check and looked at it.

“What the?! THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS?! HOW IN THE HELL DOES THAT WORK?!”

“Um, sir, can you not pay that?”

“Of course I can’t!”

“Well then you might want to grab an apron. We don’t appreciate free-loaders you know.”

“Ah ti wha?” The look on his face was priceless. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and started laughing.

“Wha? What’s so funny? We just got seriously ripped off here!”

“Sir I believe your lady played a prank on you.”

“Ha ha, I’m sorry I couldn’t, phffft ha ha ha ha ha!” I was almost crying now while Gale glared at me. “Oh come on you have to admit it was a little funny.”

“Hmph.” Gale just pouted and turned away. I rolled my eyes (if I had them!) and pecked him on the cheek. That seemed to cheer him up pretty fast.

“Alright alright I’ll admit it was kind of funny.” Gale payed the actual check, which was only $15, and we left, taking a walk through the park. It was really pretty, what with the stars in the sky, the lights of the buildings giving everything a slight amber color, and the beauty of the trees in the park. It was almost as if fate wanted this to be the perfect moment for us.

“This is nice.”

“It really is.”

“I’m glad we came here.”

“Me too.” Gale turned to me and kissed me on the lips. As best he could anyway, like I said we don’t have lips! Anyways I returned the kiss and he held me close. We separated and smiled.

“That, was perfect.”

“Hmm. Well, it’s getting late. I’d say we head home, what do you think?”

“Yea, I am kind of tired.”

“Then let’s go.” Holding the orb up once again, it expanded and sent us home. We reappeared right in the middle of the house and the lights immediately came on.

“Well, good night.”

“Night Lisa.” I kissed him once more before heading to my room. I got into some pajamas, and leaped into bed, snuggling up underneath the covers.

“Today, was perfect.”





{Gale’s POV}

I was having a peaceful dream, yes I have those because I still have a human soul so I can sleep when I want to, when I was woken up by a bright light. I got out of my capsule and walked to a nearby window that was installed in my room. There, I saw a huge version of Twilight’s cutie mark in the sky and it descended. Upon hitting the ground, it cleared up and left a now alicorn Twilight. Twilight’s friends were admiring her new wings and such, but I was particularly pissed that they interupted such a good dream. I opened the window and shouted.

“HEY! MIND KEEPING THE LASER LIGHT SHOW TO A MINIMUM DOWN THERE?!” I shut the window and walked back grumply to my capsule, before opening it, then sealing myself back in. Just before I fell asleep, I realized what had just occurred. Twilight had just ascended, and I told them to quit it with the laser light show.

’Oh I am so dead tomorrow.’ Lisa had apparently been awake too, because she had read my thoughts.

“Yes you are!”

> Bonus Chapter: Halloween Special
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Metals POV

"I really don't get why we had to drive to the party Lisa, we could have just teleported there." I complained as I sat in the driver's seat of my new blue Land Rover. "I mean seriously, why are we even going to this thing? Couldn't we have just had our own party back in our universe?" Lisa looked at me from the passenger seat.

"Would you stop complaining Metal? Marx told us no teleportation in this universe, so we had to drive."

"And why exactly should I listen to Marx? He's not my displacer, hell, Author is going to this party and he already teleported there."

"Yes but I can't drive, I never learned how. And Gale is..."

"Speaking of Gale, you alright back their buddy?" I looked back to see Gale passed out in the back seat. "Eh he's fine."

"I still don't know how a robot that can travel faster than the speed of sound gets nauseous in a car." Lisa looked worriedly at her boyfriend.

"At least he threw up so much he passed out before we got on the freeway."

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask. What did you do with the bucket that had all of his sick in it?"

"Oh you know..."





A man in a fancy suit was walking down the street waving his cane when a bucket full of puke was thrown on him.





"...I did the community a favour." Lisa just frowned at me. "Ok, ground rules for the party-"

"You're setting rules?"

"Hey, I don't wanna have to drag yours and Gale’s drunk asses outta this party, not unless you're paying for new seats." Lisa just froze and grunted.

"First off, I don’t drink. I don’t know if Gale does, but I don’t. Anyways what’re your rules mister authority?"

"First off, no getting drunk and making out with strangers or Gale for a full hour, you'll regret it the moment you turn sober."

"Noted."

"No drugs."

"I’m offended that you’d even think that. I got displaced because I almost died in a accident with those things you know."

"No mad mode."

"Not even if some random dude hits on me?"

"No."

"You're no fun."

"One of us three has to be responsible, it's not Gale and you are literally hell walking, so it has to be me. So say I'm no fun, I'm fine being the fucking father figure in your life." Lisa just sighed and looked out the window.

"Continue."

"No drunken mishaps, that includes vomiting, unprotected sex, taking a shit in the sink and trying to hit on me."

"Why would I try and hit on you?"

"You're attracted to Gale, I'm a sleeker model, you may just mistake me for Gale if you're drunk." Lisa just punched my shoulder. "I turned off my pain receptors Lisa, you can't hurt me right now."

"Damn robot logic."





We pulled up outside a huge mansion that belonged to Marx, we could already hear the music blasting. "We should probably wake Gale up now." Lisa said as she got out of my car.

"I'm on it." I walked to the back over the car and pulled Gale out of the back seat. "Might wanna cover your ears Lisa, this is gonna result in a lot of cursing." She did as instructed and put her fingers in where her ears should be. I brought my foot up and let it hover above Gales crotch before I brought it down with great force.

Several minutes of Gale cursing and wriggling in pain later

Gale had changed to his costume, Silver Sonic. Not the best costume choice I've seen but not the worst. Lisa had changed her dress to one with pumpkin patterns on it, I figured she didn't really have a variety of costumes to chose from, oh well it made her look cute.

"Metal where's your costume?" Lisa asked.

"I'm saving that for later." I rubbed my hands together in anticipation.

"What're you planning Metal?" Asked Gale.

"Something awesome."

...

Auldin’s POV

I sat in my dragon-human form staring down the giant robot before me.



We both put our arms on a huge crate that had been brought in for us by one of the displaced at the party. We were in the middle of an intense arm wrestle at that moment, neither of us budging as our equal strengths pushed against each other. A large portion of the party had turned their attention to us and had started placing bets on who would win.

"I will admit, you're the first being to give me a real challenge Nathan." I said as I tried to put more strength into my push.

"I could say the same to you Auldin." The robot said as he too tried to put more strength into his ram. "I'm surprised we haven't crossed paths beforehand, I'm sure Sapphire and Lyric would get along great with Plague and Amnesia."

"Who did you say your displacer was again?"

"Roden Godswell, it was meant to be Author but Roden lost a bet and had to displace me."

"Is that so?"

...

Nightmare’s POV

I just looked at the strange creature before me. "The hell are you?"

"Im... A Rake." I just took a sip of my drink and looked at him with an unamused expression.

"Eh, you don't seem like much of a threat."

"What? There are hundreds of me waiting in the Everfree Forest just waiting to strike! I literally eat magic! How am I not a threat?"

"Please, there are hundreds of me actually striking and destroying multiple displaced and displacers, I don't hide in a bullshit forest like a little bitch."

"Says the one that was beaten multiple times by a fucking teenager that wasn't even out of puberty!”

"Oh that's it mother fucker let's go!" I threw my drink in his face and talked him to the ground, many of the displaced yelling 'Fight, Fight, Fight' as we went.

...

Symbol’s POV

I looked over to where Nightmare had started brawling with a Rake. "That's my arch enemy over there, and he's getting butt hurt over a comment from a fucking creepypasta." I didn't have a costume so I just went in my Demon State.

"Wait, I thought Xram was your arch enemy." Ashley said as she took a bite out of her hallowe'en themed cupcake. Her costume being a zombie nurse, typical.

"Eh... He's more of a recurring villain than anything else... Where the hell did you get a bottle of vodka?" I asked pointing to the bottle in her hand.

"That's for me to know and for you to eventually find out." She took a full swing of the drink and sighed in contempt. "Oh yeah that's the stuff."

"Are you serious right now?"

"Hey, it's a hallowe'en party! Someone's gotta get drunk at this kinda thing."

"Give me that." I took the bottle from her and started downing the contents. Once it was empty I threw it at the ground. "Let's fucking do this."

"Now yer gettin it!" I am gonna regret this when we get home.

...

Author’s POV

"Who invited Nightmare?" I looked to Marx and Roden who just shrugged.

"At least he isn't trying to kill anyone."

"He's certainly trying to kill that Rake."

"Oh my god are Epidemic and Symbol having a fucking dance off?!" Marx shot over to the dance floor where, sure enough, Symbol and Epidemic were having a dancing showdown.

"That I did not expect to see."

"Ladies and gentlemen... the saviour of the multiverse."

...

Lisa's POV

"So Metal, when are you actually going to get into costume?" I asked as he chugged down a bottle of beer.

"When someone asks me where my costume is, but when it happens the party will end."

"Why do you say that?"

Suddenly a Bowser Jr displaced walked up to him. "Where's your costume?" Metal just smirked and walked to a back room.

A few minutes later

"AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAH!!!" We all watched from the ruined building that once housed the party we were attending as Metal rampaged through the nearby city as the Metal Overlord.



I turned around and waved to the audience. "Happy hallowe'en everyone... can't be worse than ours."
> 100 Follower Special!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




100 Follower Special!






{Third POV}

“Soooooo… what are we doing again?” Gale was walking up a path with Lisa.

“Marx said that Zodiac has just reached one hundred followers so we’re going to celebrate.”

“And he is?”

“We’re allowed to break the fourth wall in a bonus chapter you know.”

“Oh… right. Well then I hope he’s been doing well. I also must question him on why he hasn’t written about us in a while.”

“Babe he has his reasons. Besides, even if it was a ridiculous one we can’t do crap.”

“Why’s that?”

“He writes our fate.”

“Oh… right.” Gale and Lisa continued down the path. Meanwhile, Alduin flew towards his destination, the Twins and Twilight on his back.

“I can’t wait to get there!”

“I know this’ll be so much fun!”

“Calm down you two we’re almost there.”

“Yay!” Twilight smiled at their excitement as Alduin sped up, determined to get to the ongoing party. While everyone else was on their way, Marx and Zodiac were just finishing setting up.

“And….. done.” The whole living area was decorated nicely, with congrats banners and food and cake. There were even some consoles and party games set up, such as an Xbox One, PS4, Cards Against Humanity, Catch Phrase, and other things. “I think we did good. How about you Zodiac?”

The Black-Mage pony persona nodded in agreement with his creation.

“I agree, we have done very nicely.”

“So what shenanigans do you have planned for us, oh mighty creator? It is your party after all.”

“I don’t know, I prefer to just let things happen.”

“Very well.” There was the sudden “DING DONG!” of the door bell, signifying that the guests had arrived. “I’ll get it!”

Flying to the door, Marx opened it up and let everyone inside. There was Alduin and the gang, some of Marx’s old displaced, and some displaced yet to come. Marx wasn’t quite sure how they got here, but were allowed in none the less. With everyone in, the party began. People started playing games, drinking cider, and having fun.

Gale rarely gets drunk, and even when he does it’s very little. That plan was thrown out the window when someone bet him a hundred fifty bits that he couldn’t jug an entire keg of beer. Not wanting to back down from a challenge, he took the displaced on, and managed to do it easily. However, his victory was short lived when he almost immediately passed out and Lisa had to put him in the upstairs bedroom.

Alduin was having a grand time, and being there with his favorite pony in the world and his two children made everything even better. He danced around with Twilight and made some new friends. He then watched with hilarity as the Twins became Epidemic so they could take place in a Mortal Kombat Tournament. Epidemic won of course, and got a giant golden belt as a victory medal, which he promptly threw in someone’s face and caused a fist fight between him and five others which, again, he beat senseless.

Lisa was enjoying herself as well. She had fun talking with her creator Zodiac and hanging around with some of the other cool displaced girls. She especially enjoyed the tale of her turning out to be the most popular displaced Zodiac ever had in her first tale, warranting over 150 favorites within hours and holding a spot on the featured list for two whole days! That definitely built up her ego and she shoved it in the face of anyone that thought they were better than her. Then this other hotshot girl said that she wasn’t that special, which in turn unleashed Lisa Mad Mode Three. Gale had woken up and came back to the party only to calm her down before she killed someone. They spent the rest of the night together.

Plague and Amnesia were having a blast! The party was awesome, and they made a lot of new friends. Epidemic though, made quite a few enemies, especially the ones from the fist fight, who were being sent back home and to a hospital. Otherwise they were having fun. They thought it was pretty funny when they had gotten challenged to and armwrestling contest, and they became Psychotic to win it. He drained his opponents power before the fight even began, and won ten matches in a row. The Twins returned to normal before he could go on an energy high and drain everyone. They then spent the rest of the party with their Dad and Twilight.

Marx was having a blast! The party was going great. He played some games, ate some cake, and reconnected with some old displaced of his, who were now void dwellers. He even did his trademark, “Free otherworldly candy for everyone!” opening a portal and filling the room with candy from separate dimensions. Yes, this was certainly the most fun he’s had in centries!

Zodiac was enjoying his party to the fullest. He meet displaced that he felt bad for because he would never write about them, and some other interesting displacers that he would make in the future! He was questioned by Gale as to why he and Lisa weren’t written about as much, which he answered with by blasting him with magic sending him flying into a wall. With that done he walked to the front of the room, grabbed a mic, and tapped it three times. Everyone quieted down as to let their maker speak.

“Good evening everyone. I thank you all for coming to my party. I want to thank some specific characters that exist in my stories now, and for their contribution to the beginning of my writing. I want to thank Alduin for being the first displaced I’ve ever had, and for being the start of a very interesting storyline. I want to thank Gale, for being a part of that beginning, and for restoring Alduin’s memories of his human life. I want to thank Lisa for being one of my most popular displaced yet, and allowing me to see that people do like what I write. I want to thank Marx, for being one of the funnest characters I’ve ever made, and for adding an insane element to my stories. And I want to thank the Twins for being some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever made, and for being the gateway into such an amazing tale.”

Everyone cheered at the end of the appreciation speech. But, Zodiac was not yet finished.

“Finally, I want to thank any and all who read my stories, and even more so those that follow me. One hundred followers, is the first of what I hope to be many milestones. I hope I can continue to write stories that everyone enjoys and finds interesting. Thank you, everyone, and goodnight.”

> Chapter Four: Strangers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Four: Strangers






{Third POV}

“Hmm.” Gale sat on the couch, thinking.

“What’s on your mind?” Sonic was sitting next to him, playing Sonic Unleashed. Currently, he was fighting the Egg Dragoon.

“That robot, I wanna make it.”

“What?”

“I wanna make that robot.”

“The Egg Dragoon?”

“Yes, I wanna make it.”

“Well, what’s stopping you?”

“One, materials. Two, how to make it.”

"I'm sure there’s some displaced out there that can give you some blueprints or something.”

“Fuck that!” Gale nabbed the controls from Sonic. “Snatch!”

“Wha? Hey!” Gale exited the boss level and went to the extras. “Oh come on man I was almost done!”

“No you weren’t. You still had Dark Gaia.” Flipping through the different original drawings, he eventually stopped on one of the Egg Dragoon. “There we go, I can make a blueprint out of this! Oh and here!”

“Uh…” Gale gave Sonic the controls again and walked off. He looked back at his game, shrugged, and went back to it. As he was about to enter a stage Lisa snatched the controller away.

"My turn!"

"Hey! I was playing that!"

"If you can call that playing, you lost seven lives just getting through Eggmanland, granted it is a long hard stage but it shouldn't have taken more than three." Sonic sighed and sat down.

“Ugh, this was a whole lot easier when I actually did this.”

"Yeah but you were at the mercy of a player when you did it."

"Thanks for pointing out that my entire life was nothing but a videogame Lisa."

“Your welcome!” Lisa turned back to the game and began to play, easily getting through the level without losing any lives. “See? That wasn’t so hard for me.”

“Because you’ve had videogames all your life! I didn’t!”

“Excuses excuses.” Flicking through other games to play with a tendril Lisa put a finger to her chin in thought. "I'm in the mood to race someone, might as well call up Metal to actually have a challenge." 

As she tried to summon Metal Sonic with his token she was surprised to find it didn't work. The token turned red and threw itself out of Lisa's hand.

“Aw what? Boo!” She picked up the token again and examined it, feeling something very, very wrong with it. Looking to the portal that joined their worlds she saw that it too had turned red and flickered on and off. "What the hell is going on?"

"Hey Lisa, are you having trouble opening a portal too?" Gale called in.

"Yeah, I'm trying to get Metal to come here but his token and portal turned red."

"I'm trying to call for Marx to get materials but he's not responding and no portals are showing up."

“What the hell is going on?” Gale was about to suggest something, but then out of nowhere came a raging headache.

“GAH!”

“Gale!” Lisa rushed over to her partner who was on his knees in pain. When she tried to touch him she was shocked by some force that prevented it. She heard beeping and looked up to a small golden candle that had appeared a few months before with a purple flame. It was flashing and beeping, like it was detecting something.

Suddenly the beeping stopped, and Gale stopped groaning. He stood up, with a serious energy about him.

“Gale?”

“He’s here.”

“Who?”

“Xram.”





{Symbol’s POV}

"Come on come on, find him already you two!" I shouted as I focused my energy on the candle I had given them after my death. "I can't make this more obvious for you Gale!"

With my energy spent I slumped down. I looked to the chains at my wrists that we're keeping me attached to the giant stone cross.

"Of all the places Xram could have brought me, it had to be here." Sighing I looked to the blood that was slowly slipping down my arms from my damaged wrists. A bit of blood dripped from my forehead and fell to the floor of the huge underground room.

Just then I noticed a familiar black skeleton with a white cloak walking into the room. "My my, someone is restless."

"Go get bucked by a timberwolf Xram."

“Ooo~ no thanks. Had someone in the Black Plane have a fear of that. Lets just say things got, bloody.” Even he shuddered at that comment.

"Ok, I may be going insane but you are just sick, even for your own standards."

“Trust me, I let that guy go. That was a bit too much torture. Found out he died five seconds later from the, lack of, body parts. Man, watching that timberwolf maul him and rape him was horrifying yet strangely beautiful at the same time.”

I just looked at him disgusted. "Ok now that is just bucked up on so, so many levels. No wonder everyone, especially my dad, want you dead."

“What can I say, being crazily sane is a beautiful thing. You should try it sometime.”

"Please, I am beyond insane at this point, I was raised in that hellhole Masereth, and been corrupted by the Nightmares, been to hell and back, died once and all of my mental barriers I set up to block out the pain of my past are gone. I just hide it extremely well."

“You know, I could make you sane again. All you have to do is agree to a deal.” I sighed. 

"Even if I say I don't want to hear it you're just gonna tell me anyways right?"

“Nope.” I sighed in relief. “I’m just gonna do it anyways to make this part all the more fun.”

"You know what, I've had enough of this. Alucard, if you wouldn't mind?" Xram raised a brow before he was thrown against a wall. "Took you long enough, where are the others?"

One of my own displaced stood there with a smirk. "What, I wanted to see how this played out. The others are back in their worlds waiting for you, although it seems Roden put up a little seal to block you from getting out of here any time soon." 

Rolling my eyes I looked back down to Alucard. "Mind getting me out of these chains?"

"Sorry, no can do, Rodens orders." I raised a brow.

"You aren't his displaced Alucard, you're mine, you take orders from me."

"Yes well, he was very persuasive." He replied, grinning like an idiot.

"He gave you your own version of Seras Victoria didn't he?" He just laughed and I sighed. "Well then, thanks for punching Xram, I needed that."

"No problem boss, I'll just be going before someone notices I'm here." With that he was gone.

"I wonder how Ashley is getting on back home. Probably not important right now."

“Well, it seems you're being abandoned.” I looked over to see Xram floating up to me, a crack in his skull from the force of impact that slowly faded.

"You gonna do your token villain thing yet or not?"

“Nah, I’m not really one for the clichés. Besides, there’s an annoyance making his way here at mach five speeds.” I smirked. 

"Oh I wonder how that could have happened." He glared at me,

"Don’t think for a second that you warned him."

"Oh?"

“No, the little piece of me that’s in him did.”

"Little piece in him?”

“Yeah. When he kicked me out of his mind, he also ripped out a bit of my power and took it for himself. Clever little bastard.”

"Well, good thing I took down that little barrier you made around this place." He stopped grinning and looked at me with hate.

"Idiot, that wouldn’t have stopped him anyway. With that bit of my power in him being active many of my powers will believe that he and I are one in the same. With that shield down he’ll just be able to bring useless backup. Speak of the devil, here he comes now.”

"I would hardly call Lisa worthless backup." His face went from hate to horror. "Oh, I'm guessing you didn't know she lives here? That is highly unlikely, you know everything. Oh right, I damaged your senses when I killed you last time!"

“Idiot! You only destroyed that small part of my power that escaped. Just like this body is just a small part of my power. If this was the real me, then you’d be cowering in fear.”

"Let me tell you something..." I blinked and my eyes turned black with red dots as pupils. "... I lost my sense of fear a long time ago. You wouldn't try to kill me, you know what will happen if this body is destroyed. That's why you aren't killing me now when you clearly have a perfect opportunity.”

"Ooo~ I’m soooo scared. Hmph, like I could care about your little, coming back from the dead attack. I know that it would kill this body, but my true one would barely even flinch. It’s a shame that my prison keeps making these bodies. It does allow me set certain things in motion though.”

“What do you mean by, your prison keeps making these bodies?”

“Oh, well one reason my prison is unbreakable is because everytime I get to a certain point in my power, my prison disperses a very small amount all over the multiverse. However, I recently figured out how to concentrate that power into one spot, and sometimes a small bit of that energy gathers and makes these bodies.”

"So... like the Nightmares?"

"No, it's nothing like the Nightmares!"

"Last time I checked the King of the Nightmares did the exact same thing."

"How the hell do you know about the King?" I raised a brow at him. "Oh yeah, created to destroy them and whatnot."

"You're an idiot."

"And you're a pest."

"Hey, if I get to pester you then I'll happily be the infestation in whatever place your boney ass lives in." He facepalmed and turned away.

"I'm not doing this anymore. I have some guests to entertain.”

"Hey while you're out, we're out of milk."

"Okay I'll head down to the sto- wait a minute." I just burst out laughing.

"Oh this is just too bucking easy!"

“That’s because when this body was formed, the formation screwed up and now I’m quite a few teacups short of the full set.”

"That's an... interesting metaphor."

“Well apparently the universe decided make this body slightly British. Which reminds me, if I survive this I need to pester the real me about my tea time.”

“What?”

“Oh yeah, each of these bodies get random consciences and personalities.”

"So there can be versions of you that are actually good?"

“Nope, they’re all evil, just different in ways of thinking. The real me could easily give you your sense of fear back, as well as your sanity, then break it all over again, in like three seconds.”

"Shouldn't you be out there fighting those two?"

“Oh yeah huh? Thanks for the reminder and not letting them sneak up on me!”

“Wouldn’t you sense them?”

“Nope! This mind is plagued with the weakness of being easily distracted!”

"Just get out of my sight." Shrugging he teleported away. "Finally, peace and quiet."

‘Oh by the way, if I survive this I’m going to plague you with random conversations in your mind. Doesn’t that sound great?’

“WHY?!?!?!”





Lisa's POV

“Gale! Slow down!” Gale was carrying me bridal style while flying at a very fast speed.

“No can do, we have to get to him.”

“I understand that but why must you go so fast?”

“Because I’m going to annihilate that bastard for destroying your universe.”

“I love the concern babe, but at this rate my head’s gonna get ripped off from the G-force!”

“Don’t worry we’re almost there.” He seemed to increase his speed before he started to slow down. We stopped in front of a cave in a mountain. He floated to the entrance and set me own. I stumbled a bit before Gale caught my shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” With a nod Gale did one last check before he looked into the cave. His looked hardened before his plating turned a little darker. “He’s here.”

We walked to the cave, before we heard some insane laughter.

“Oh look who’s here! The metal monster that I possessed and the girl with the missing universe. What a surprise!”

“Xram.” Gale’s voice was as dark as it was when he was in his dark form. I turned to look at him, and his plating was completely black, and his eye was red. “Why are you here?”

“Oh you know, just doing my thing.” Okay what? Xram seemed way different than when we first saw him. Wonder why. With a grunt, Gale disappeared, then reappeared behind Xram with his hands together and attempted to slam them down. Xram dodged easily, and was about to return the attack when he stopped and held two fingers to the side of his head.

“Huh? What? Whyyyyyy? Ugh, fine. Your lucky Gale, I don’t have time for this right now. Goodbye!” With that Xram was gone.

“Um… what?” Gale, who was turning back to normal, looked at me and shrugged.

"I don't know." He looked down the cave and we both saw a light. "Hey, there's something down there, let's go check it out." 

I nodded and we began walking carefully through the cave. As we got closer the sound of dripping could be heard. Walking into the huge room we were blinded by the light, once our eyes adjusted we both looked in horror at the sight before us.

In the middle of the room there was a huge stone cross with someone chained to it. It was a boy that looked not much older than nineteen with long grey hair and a small buzz of a beard below his lower lip. He had a purple trench coat, grey shirt, purple jeans and grey boots. There was blood dripping from his chained wrists and a small line of blood running down his forehead.

He opened his purple eyes and breathed heavily. "Took ya... long enough."

"Gale, we have to get him down." He nodded and flew up to the boy. He used his strength to break the chains on the boy who then fell to the floor with a thud. I ran over to him and saw he was falling asleep. "Let's get him to the apartment."

Gale nodded and teleported us back home, the boys unconscious body in my arms. "Any idea who he is Lisa?" I looked to him as I set him down on the couch.

"There's something familiar about him, but I don't recognise his aura, his face however, I know from somewhere."

"Well if Xram was holding him captive like that he must be important. I'll try and contact Marx or Author, see if they know anything about him." As Gale walked into the other room I looked at the body in front of me.

"I swear I've seen you before." I suddenly started getting sleepy, sitting on the couch next to him I started to drift off.

As I woke up in a dream I looked around at the black abyss I was now in, a small circle of light around me as I walked. Soon a figure appeared in the distance. Running to it I slowed down as I saw who the figure was.

The blue shirt with a black undershirt, the straight brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. Then the necklace, the necklace I nor anyone else in the displaced family could forget. The black wire with a sun medallion. "S-Symbol?"

He remained silent, looking at me from the corner of his eye. He turned away and began walking. Following him I looked around as the abyss slowly turned into a starry night sky and the floor turned to a sea of stars. Looking to my feet I saw I was on a small patch of land with a lamppost. Looking up I saw two moons and clouds that were a mixture of blue, red and pink floated through the sky.

Looking around I saw Symbol standing at the edge of the small island, looking out at the sea. "Symbol, please say something." I got no response. "Please, I need to hear your voice." Still nothing. "I never got to say thank you, for everything you did. I know you're just a figment of my imagination in a dream but... thank you, for saving me, Gale, everyone." He just stood still, his clenched fist opening slowly. "Please, even if this is just a dream, let me hear your voice again." He closed his eyes. "It's been almost eleven months since you died, I still feel guilty for not being able to do anything against Xram." He disappeared suddenly and appeared behind me.

Turning around to face him I was surprised when I was brought into a meaningful hug. "You shouldn't feel guilty Lisa." I started to tear up and returned the hug, burying my face in his shoulder while crying. "Everything worked out, your world is being rebuilt, you and Gale are together, everyone back on my world has moved on. You did the best you could, that's all anyone can ever expect. Don't feel guilty Lisa, never carry that guilt, that's my burden to carry, no one else's."

"This isn't just a dream, is it?"

"When I was killed, pieces of my soul survived, in the form of the candles. That candle in your home is part of my soul." I just tightened the hug. "Never blame yourself Lisa, it was my own fault for letting the Nightmare take full control the first time I fought Xram."

"Forge was going to kill us, you couldn't stop the Nightmare even if you tried." I pulled away and put a hand onto his cheek, his face was still the same, young and filled with pain. "I missed you so much, and now I'm gonna miss the real you even more."

"Don't worry Lisa..." The dream began to collapse and my vision faded. "... I'm closer than you think."

“Huh? Wha?” I woke up suddenly, that stranger still next to me. Groggily, I stood up and walked to the bar. I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a soda. Cracking it open I drank eagerly. “Ah, nice and fizzy.”

“Ugh why?” I turned to see Gale entering the room.

“What’s up?”

“My brother’s token doesn’t work either, and Marx still won’t respond. What is going on?”

“Perhaps Xram and this stranger are the reason?”

“Maybe. How’s he doing anyway?”

“Okay, but he’s unconscious right now and judging from his injuries he may not wake up for a while.”

“Hmm, I wonder what Xram wanted with him.”

“Me too. Hey um, I just had this weird dream.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Basically I was in a black void, and Symbol was there too. He told me to not feel guilty about what happened, and when I said I wished I could see him again, he said he was closer than we thought.”

“Hmm.” Gale put a finger to his chin. “Do you think that’s Symbol?”

“What? Why do you?”

“Yep.”

“But, he looks nothing like him. Well, a little like him but.”

“Reincarnation can change people’s appearances.”

“His aura is different too.”

“He can disguise it, and change it. I know I’ve seen it.” I looked at the stranger asleep on the couch.

“You really think that could be him.”

“That’s always the cliche path of fate ain't it?”

“True.”

“Welp, I’m gonna continue looking into what’s going on.”

“Alright good luck babe!”

“Thanks you too!” I nodded and turned back to the guy we saved from that cave. Could that really be Symbol? I mean, now that I think about it, his aura may not be the same but I still get that same vibe from him. Hmm, I guess I’ll question him when he wakes up. I left to go down to Ponyville to go get something at Sugarcube Corner.

{Symbol’s POV}

Opening my eyes, making sure that Gale and Lisa had gone, I got up and looked around. "So this is where Gale lives? Impressive." I looked over at the candle and smiled. "You keep looking after them." It flashed and flickered. "I guess now is a good time to leave their gift I was going to give them." 

I held out my arm and black liquid fell to the floor and formed two figures, one of a combination of a robotic looking wolf and a lion creature and one of a robotic bird. Picking up a piece of paper I wrote down a message.

Dear Lisa and Gale

Thank you for freeing me from Xram’s chains, I guess this makes us even now.

I haven't quite recovered and cannot return to my world as of yet. Don't worry, I won't bother you. I'll find a place to rest in the mountains. If you want to search for me you can try, but it won't be easy.

I've left you these 'pets' to say thank you, for showing me a great time before Xram. The wolf is for Gale, he is called Greygar. The raven is called Falzar and he is for Lisa. Both of these can fuse with you to give you an ability. Greygar will cover Gale in a wolf/lion armour that boosts your original abilities without tapping into Xram’s power which by the way might eventually corrupt you, just be careful ok? I'm not sure what kind of effect Xram had on you but I can almost guarantee it is not a positive one.

As for Lisa, when Falzar fuses with you he’ll give you some bird like armor with wings that’ll boost your fighting capabilities and speed so you can keep up with Gale.

Take good care of them. Oh, and you're gonna get a kick out of this, they can fuse with each other to create a powerful creature called the Cyber Beast. You may be wondering why they’re like this. Well, I made them so they can interact with both of you easier.

Until we meet again my friends, 
S.

Putting the more down I saw the two animals form into a robotic lion/wolf creature with raven wings. "Ok Cyber, you know what you need to do from here on in."

"I do, creator." I patted his head and walked out of the apartment. As I opened the trapdoor that led to the outside I found I was on some kind of floating platform. "Wait, is this Sky Sanctuary Zone from Sonic 3 and Knuckles?" I laughed a little and peered over the edge. "Well, I don't see any other way down." 

I turned around and put my heels to the edge. Spending my arms I turned around, tilted back, and fell off the side. As the ground approached I turned around and held my hands out, summoning two pillars of fire to slow my decent until I landed with a loud thud. 

"Now, where did those two get off to?" Pinpointing their location in Ponyville I smirked. "I'll not disturb them, but I do want to actually see them together while not hanging from a cross." Closing my eyes I teleported to Ponyville.





“CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!” I teleported outside of Sugarcube Corner, to see a party going on. Currently Gale was downing a jug of, something. Not too sure what that is. I changed into my pony form, a blue stallion with straight white hair. My mark was, of course, my necklace. Time to play spot the Symbol you two. I walked in and hid amongst the crowd. I watched as Gale finished the drink, and slammed it down.

“WOOOOO!” Everypony cheered as another pony sighed and handed Gale a couple of bits. They all returned to the party and I looked around for Lisa. I eventually found both her and Pinkie in the kitchen, baking cake and other sweets. Pinkie was zipping around the room and Lisa was using her tendrils to bake multiple things at once.

“Thanks for the help Lisa!”

“Welcome! I’m just glad I get to practice my cooking.” She closed three ovens at once and set the timers.

“Wow, even I can’t bake three cakes at once!”

“Yep. It’s useful having tendrils.” I shook my head and left the party.

’Alright, where to find a home?’

Gale's POV

After finishing off another huge bottle of... something, I slammed it into a table and threw my hands up in victory, the ponies around me cheering. I had no idea who had organised this party or what it was for but I thought it would be a nice break from looking into whatever was wrong with this world and its portals.

Lisa was in the kitchen helping Pinkie while everything was going on. As I looked around at the crowd everything seemed to go in slow motion as I saw a stallion walking at the back of the group. His fur was dark blue with his hair being short and white. He had a playful smirk on his face as his sapphire blue eyes stared at me. Then something caught my attention, his mark, I had seen that necklace somewhere before.

Quickly looking through my memories a picture of Symbol appeared in my mind, showing him wearing that necklace. Once the stallion had realised I had recognised the mark he smirked and ran down the road. I got up and ran after him, however when he turned a corner he disappeared. "What the hell?"

Lisa's POV

The ding of the timer told me all three of my cakes were done. Using my tendrils I opened the ovens, took them out, and set them on the table. I looked at the three icingless cakes. Ah, perfect.

“Awesome job Lisa!”

“Thanks.”

“Now to add the frosting!” I was about to help, but then Gale ran into the kitchen

“Lisa! I saw Symbol!”

“What? Really? Are you sure?”

“Yeah! Come on!” Looking to Pinkie who just nodded I followed Gale out of the bakery. We rushed out the door and ran down the road. We looked all around town, but we couldn’t find a single trace of him.

"Are you absolutely sure you saw him?" I asked, starting to think he was just seeing things.

"Lisa I would never lie to you, especially about something like this." We looked around for a bit more before we saw a figure standing on top of one of the roofs. It was covered by the shadow of a cloud but it was in the shape of Symbol when he had fought Xram. We blinked and he was gone. "You saw that right?"

"Yeah, I sure did. I think he's... playing with us."

"Symbol doesn't seem like the kinda guy to play around Lisa, you know how he was when we met him, the guy didn't even smile back then."

"A lot can happen in eleven months." We heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice say from behind us. We turned around and saw the man from the cave smiling at us and began running again.

"After him!" Gale nodded and we began sprinting after him. He just looked back at us with a raised brow. He shrugged and slammed on the breaks before jumping behind us and vanishing in a mist that had appeared. "What is it with him and mist?"

“No idea, no time, let’s go!” Suddenly picked me up bridal style causing me to yelp. With a burst of speed he flew after the purple mist, with me hanging on to him as tight as possible. “Gonna get ‘im gonna get ‘im gonna 'im.”

“Gale slow down!”

“NOPE!” He sped up, causing me to scream. He sped after the mist, not letting up for a second. “Almost got him!”

"I don't think you do." I looked behind us to see that Symbol was running behind us the whole time before disappearing again.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Gale slammed the breaks and was about to shoot off again when something lifted me out of his arms and knocked him away.

"Why don't you let the lady try?" Symbol was holding me bridal style with a smirk. That smile, combined with the fact that we all thought he was dead, but now coming back out of nowhere and doing this? He, is SO DEAD!

“Symbol.” Symbol looked down at me with that same smirk, until he saw my face. A scar appeared and opened up to reveal a blood filled mouth. My fingers sharpened into claws, and my hair got a little out of control. “You. Are. So. DEAD!”

“Well, I’m out of here.” He dropped me and tried to fly away, but my tendril caught his foot, and slammed him into the ground. I then slammed him around into the ground and nearby houses. After a bit of that, I slammed him into the ground in front of me. He coughed and spat out a bit of blood. "Why do all the women in my life either punch me, slap me, or turn into a monster?"

“First, we all think you’re dead. Then, you come out of nowhere looking different and chained to a stone cross. And now, you do this. I am going to make the next few hours of your life, a LIVING HELL!”

I was about to attack him, but he just closed his eyes and smiled. "I missed you too Lisa." I stopped in my tracks, looking at him with just a little less rage. "I wanted to come back and say I was fine, that I was brought back. Something came up, and I had to leave you all for reasons I'm not allowed to say. I never wanted to make you all feel bad about what had happened. I won't ask you to forgive what I did now, but I will ask you to forgive me for not coming back when you all needed me the most." 

He got to his feet and looked at me with a soft smile. Gale ran out of the trees ready to stop me but froze when he saw us. I slowly began to turn back to normal, tears forming where my eyes should be. Symbol opened his arms and I threw myself into them and he brought me into an apologetic hug.

"I'm sorry Lisa. Can you forgive me?"

“You're an asshole, but yeah.” He chuckled.

"So I've been told." I let him go and slapped him across the face. "And there it is." He rubbed his cheek and started laughing. "You'd think of the amount of times someone has slapped me I would have built up some kind of immunity."

“Don’t expect to be immune to hers. Lisa’s slaps hurt, no matter how much resistance you have.” Gale walked over and added to the hug. “So, what’re you gonna do now?”

Symbol just pulled away. "Wait, you guys aren't gonna ask how I'm alive in the first place?"

“Nah, you have your ways I’m sure. Either that or Xram brought you here. By the way, was he different this time to you?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, apparently the Xrams we’ve seen are nothing but spurts of energy from the real one. They each have their own personalities and consciousnesses. The one you just saw was way more insane than normal.”

“Oh, that explains it I guess.” Just then I felt some sort of energy in the air fade and a portal appeared.

"You tell no one I was here, it isn't time for me to return. I need to gather my strength again before I can travel to my new world. Goodbye for now." With that he disappeared into the forest while Marx walked out of the portal.

"Finally got to you two!" He sat down and tried to catch his breath. "It took me forever to get that damn seal down."

"Wait a seal? Was that why Metals portal and token were glowing red?"

"What, no, seals don't do that. They don't affect tokens out of preventing them from working."

“Then why was… oh never mind. Anyways Marx I need to ask you something.”

“Okay but first, your brother has some exciting news!” Alduin hopped out of the portal behind Marx, in his dragon pony form.

“Oh hey Dan! What’s up?”

“Hi Alduin!”

“Lisa, Gale, I have some very exciting news.”

“Well what is it? Come on spit it out!”

“I’m getting married!” There was a sudden silence as we all took the info bomb in. Gale had froze up at the news.

“Y-You’re getting… married?”

“Yep.” Gale fell back and blacked out. I stood over him and waved a hand in front of his face.

“Um, Gale?”

Meanwhile I saw Symbol looking in, listening. "Well, looks like I'll be coming back here sooner than I thought. I wonder if I should bring Ashley with me, yeah that would be nice, help her forget what happened with Epidemic the other day." With that he was gone, fleeing to whatever part of this world he was going to hide in.

> Chapter Five: The Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Five: The Party






{Alduin’s POV}

After being thrown into the portal, I was flung through the void before popping out the other side. I landed on my hooves, and took a quick look around. From what I could see, I was atop Gale’s house. I could also see a gathered group.

There was Marx, Gale, Sonic, and Zero who I learned was Symbols brother “You ready bro?” Gale asked me.

“I have a bad feeling about this but yeah.” I looked around in confusion. “I thought that Epidemic would be here too.”

Zero chuckled. “We stuck him with babysitting Screwball since Octavia back on my world is with Lisa and Twilight, wanted to pay her back for the baby shower she threw.” It still amazed me, the way that Screwball was created was truly remarkable. When Symbol had passed, the Octavia of his world was drained of her life force by Xram, in his dying act Symbol had placed a bit of his energy inside of Octavia to save her and that unintentionally created a foal.

“I bet he's loving that.” Knowing Epidemic he probably let Plague and Amnesia take over to avoid having to deal with his niece. “Alright then let's get going.”

“Wait, there's one other guy I'd like to invite, you don't mind do you Dan?” Gale asked me.

“More the merrier right?”

He nodded and flew off towards a mountain range. As we waited for him we all decided to catch up with each other. Then a question came to mind.

“Where's Author and that Metal Sonic displaced?”

Marx scratched his chin in thought. “We've been having trouble getting into Metals world, we suspect something either extremely important or something very, very bad has happened. As for Author, he is busy making sure the wedding is perfect.”

“Didn't take Author for a wedding planner, what's next? Symbol used to be a pastor or something?” Zero just looked at me. “Oh my God he was wasn't he?”

“Yeah, he was a lot of things, both of us were. With what we did back on our version of earth, which is dominated by crime by the way, required us to have a certain set of skills.”

Meanwhile

{Third POV}

Gale reached a small cave entrance in the side of a mountain. Landing just outside of it he began to venture inside. A few moments later he found himself in a beautiful sanctuary. The middle of the mountain hand been dug out and replaced with a patch of nature. A small waterfall flowed from a hole in the rock wall and created a steady stream out into the nearby forests. Flowers of various colours and shapes grew on the lush green grass and a few trees outlined the small clearing.

“Ah Gale, up here!” Gale turned around and looked up to see Symbol floating in place while reading a book. “What brings you to my temporary home?”

Gale looked around in amazement. “You made all this?”

“Sure did, if I'm gonna be hiding out in this world I might as well enjoy myself.”

“Anyway… We were just about to head for Dan's bachelor party, you wanna come?” Gale asked.

“Kinda defeats the purpose of hiding out, besides Epidemic will be there and he'll attack me on sight and blow my cover, it's taking a lot to keep my aura hidden without Rodens spell.”

“Epidemic won't be there, he's babysitting Screwball.”

Symbol froze at the mention of his daughter. A frown replaced his smile and he closed his book. “Fine, I'll go.”

“Sweet!” Gale and Symbol ran outside and they took off, back to the others. It didn’t take them long to return, and once they did, Alduin asked the obvious question.

“Um, who is this?”

“Huh? Oh! This is… uh…Fred! I recently made friends with him! I met him not to long ago when he was trapped here by his teacher for some training, he's a displacer in training at the moment.”

Alduin leaned in closer to this stranger, and looked into his eyes. There was something, familiar about them, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. His aura, though different from any he’d ever seen, was familiar as well. Where had he seen this before?

Symbol could only hope his new form would get past Alduin’s instincts. There was recognition in his eyes, but he couldn’t quite put two and two together. Alduin backed off, and Symbol gave a mental sigh.

“You're gonna have to forgive Gale here, someone that I probably knew from my past decided to play a trick on him and said my name was Fred, the name is actually Nero.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you Nero.”

“Yeah, you too.” While Alduin went to talk to Marx about what they would be doing, Symbol grabbed Gale and took him aside.

“What?”

“Fred? FRED? REALLY?”

“Sorry! I had to come up with a name on the spot! You’re just lucky Dan didn’t recognize you! I could tell from his expression he was pretty close!”

“Yeah, that could have been a disaster.”

“Alright, are we all ready?” Everyone was about to reply, but then a random portal opened up, and Epidemic hopped out.

“You’re not planning to do this without me are you?”

“Epidemic! Hey I thought you were watching Screwball!”

“As much as I love my little niece, there is only so much banter between her and Psychotic that I can take.”

“You let him out around her?”

“Nope.”

“Then how’d-”

“Don’t… ask.” As Epidemic looked around his glare focused Symbol.

“Ohhhh fuck.” Before he could react Epidemic had shot forward and grabbed him by the throat. “Ok… You really… Need some… Anger management.” This only caused Epidemic to squeeze his neck even more. “Ah regret, regret!”

“Epidemic!” Auldin scolded. “Put him down, what's gotten into you?!”

Epidemic groaned and let go of the now gasping Symbol. “What is he doing here?”

“That's Nero, Gales new friend.” Epidemic just looked to Symbol and Gale with a raised brow. Symbol just pointed to Gale and mouthed ‘His idea.’

Epidemic rolled his eyes and looked back to Auldin. “Alright, we gonna do this or what?” With a nod, they all walked off and began a trek to the Everfree forest.

“Um, why are we going here?”

“Well, we’re going to hunt some monsters! I thought that would be the funnest thing to do before you lose all sense of freedom.”

Symbol chuckled and looked to Gale. “If Lisa finds out you said that you're as good as dead.”

Auldin raised a brow at his brother. “Excuse me?”

“Nothing.” Alduin gave Gale a hard glare, before continuing on. After an hour or so, they had gotten pretty far in. “Aw man, where are the monsters?”

“Probably hiding.” There was then a sudden roar, and a MASSIVE black creature rose from the earth. It had a humanoid appearance, but it’s only features were a giant eye on it’s head, and purple veins going all over its body.

“The hell is that thing?!”

“Our entertainment.” Epidemic turned into his dragon form, released a mighty roar, and flew at the beast. It proceeded to backhand him out of the sky.

Symbol just watched as Epidemic got up and shook his head. “Swatted like a fly, and here I thought you were actually threatening.”

“Ok then why don't you have a go?”

“Gladly.” Symbol put his hands together and closed his eyes. “Mode two level one.” He glowed a soft blue and jumped towards the beast's eye. He swung his fist and a sudden magic blast knocked the beast on its back. Symbol landed beside Epidemic and smirked as he looked over to Auldin. “Why don't we let the soon to be married guy take a swing?”

Alduin smirked. “Watch the master.” He then took on his dragon form and flew up into the sky as the colossal beast tried to stand. He blasted it with fire, forcing it to lift up and arm in defence. The flames were doing heavy damage, until they didn’t. Alduin noticed this, and ceased his flames.

“What? Why isn’t this working?” The giant monster then held up it’s hand, and a burst of fire came out, hitting Alduin directly. It then got up, said something in a weird language, and glowed a soft blue. It then fired a magic blast at the rest of the group, which they barely managed to dodge. “What in the hell? Wait a second, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“How in the hell did a Nightmare get so damn big and, detailed?”

“When are they not?” Symbol asked.

“How do you know about these things?” Alduin asked with a raised brow.

“I'm a displacer, these things are all over the multiverse, it isn't just you guys that have to deal with them you know.”

Zero looked up at the huge Nightmare and noticed it eye, there seemed to be a faint but noticeable magic blanket around it. Taking a chance he pulled out a .44 Magnum Revolver and aimed at the eye. Pulling the trigger a small burst of magic energy fired out of the barrel and hit the Nightmare in its eye, causing it to backpedal and groan in pain. “Guys! The eye is its weak spot!” Zero began to repeatedly shoot the creature, without having the reload. “God I love this gun.”

Sonic and Gale formed into their spindashes and launched themselves up into the air where they struck the eye with a homing attack, which caused it to backpedal further. Then Alduin and Marx jumped up and blasted it with beams of energy, and to complete the chain of attacks Symbol and Epidemic charged energy in their fists and landed the finishing blow by stabbing their hands into its eyes.

As the huge Nightmare fell to the ground instead of turning into an orb, it broke apart into a large group of smaller Nightmares. “Ok, that's new.” Marx said as he blasted a charging Nightmare on the face.

“Oh well, more fun I guess.” Gale said as he grabbed one by the throat and slammed it into the ground. The group formed a circle, covering each other's backs as they took out each individual Nightmare as they charged. Symbol avoided using his fire magic as to not reveal himself to Marx, Zero and Auldin, and instead just punched and kicked them.

All the while Epidemic was keeping a close eye on him, wondering what he was doing, struggling not to just grab him and demand answers. When Symbol noticed Epidemic glaring at him he looked back and shook his head. Epidemic snarled and crushed a Nightmares head.

The group all sat down in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by small purple orbs that Epidemic idly blasted to pieces. “So Auldin, you enjoying the bachelor party so far?” Gale asked his brother.

“Yeah, not very often I get to just cut loose and fight creatures of darkness without having to worry about the fate of the universe or anything.”

“Well we're just getting started.” Gale got up as did the rest of them. They were all about to continue on looking for things to fight, when the sound of a pack of, something, started heading towards them. Suddenly, each member of the group was knocked away into a clearing, all of the sprawling onto the ground.

“Okay, ow.” Everyone groaned in agreement at Gale’s comment. Gale sat up, shook his head, and looked at whatever had attacked them. It was another one of those giant Nightmares. However this time, there were two. “What the hell?”

“Who in the hell invited these guys?”

“Pretty sure they came on their own Marx.”

“Touche Zero.” Everyone got up and began attacking the giant Nightmares’ eyes. Each of the monsters were bombarded with magic, flames, spindashes, and lasers. Soon, each of the creatures fell, and burst into large groups of Nightmares. The Nightmares began attacking, and Alduin and the others did their best to defend themselves. Attack after attack, the Nightmares went down, and Alduin and the others were confident that they could win. That is, until the Nightmares backed off.

“Um, what are they doing?” The Nightmares began to change form, taking on the shapes of a robot and a monster. Pretty soon, each and every one of them looked like silhouettes of Gale and Lisa.  “Okay, what the fuck?”

“Um, Gale? Why do they look like you and Lisa?”

“Hell if I know. You got any ideas Marx?”

“Nope. I thought that they could only copy your powers, but your form too? I’ve never seen that before.”

“That’s because they’re part of the new generation.” The group looked up to see a Nightmare with wings flying above them. “Xram sends his regards.”

With that the Nightmare was gone, and the Gale and Lisa look-alikes began their attack. The Nightmare Gales fired off lasers and blasts of energy, while the Nightmare Lisas attacked with their tendrils. The fight was now much more difficult, considering the group had never fought Nightmares like this before.

“Okay, what the hell is this? Why are they so hard to beat?”

“Because they’ve got your powers and skill Gale. You and Lisa alone are hard to beat, so a bunch of you is going to be very difficult.”

“Yeah well, it’s times like this where I wished that I sucked at fighting.”

“Gale, if you sucked at fighting you’d be dead.”

“Eh, probably.” The group finally started to pull through. The Nightmares may have Gale and Lisa’s abilities and skill, but they didn’t know how to improvise. Alduin and the others, did. They began to beat the nightmares back, and even destroyed a few. The nightmares once again, backed off.

“HA! How do you like that!” Suddenly, the Nightmares began to shake, then they converged on each other, creating one massive black blob. This blob, then began to grow in size, and began taking shape. Soon, it had become Gale’s most hated form. The Beast.

It roared out in fury and began attacking the group with its newfound power. The group did their best to get out of the way, but the still got severely damaged by that thing’s attacks. They all hit the ground, hard, and everyone except for Symbol and Epidemic lost consciousness.

“Ow… shit. What is that thing?”

“Presumably, the power of the new generation.”

“Ya think?”

“Why are you here Symbol?”

“Huh?”

“I asked, why are you here?” Symbol paused. He was about to answer, when the Nightmare Beast roared out in anger.

“Look we don’t have the time for this. We need to kill that thing now!” Epidemic nodded and the two leaped at the monster. It opened its mouth, and blasted them with a powerful laser, sending them flying back. Epidemic recovered in mid air, and blasted the Nightmare with his magic enhanced fire. Symbol also recovered, and shot it with a blast of magic. The Nightmare Beast took the shots, then fired out a ball of energy. It flew up to Symbol and Epidemic, before it exploded, causing them to receive heavy damage. Symbol was thrown straight into a rock, and Epidemic was tossed into a tree, before splitting up into the Twins. The Nightmare Beast roared in anger, before setting its sights on Alduin and the others.

Alduin was just waking up when he heard the roar. He sat up, shook his head, and glared at the Beast that was attacking them. It was charging up a huge blast that Alduin knew could be the end of him.

“N-No. I c-can’t die here. I have to make it to-” He never got the chance to finish his sentence, as the Nightmare Beast released its attack. The beam of energy was coming straight for him, and Alduin could do nothing to stop it.

The Twins were now witnessing this moment. They saw the beam of energy coming straight at their father, and knew they had to do something.

“N-No… Dad can’t… die.”

“H-He has to… get to… his wedding.”

“So then…”

“We will...”

“PROTECT HIM!” The Twins eyes glowed white, and they fused.

Alduin could only watch as the beam of energy was coming at him. He couldn’t move out of the way, he didn’t have the energy. All he could do, was sit and watch, as his death approached. Then, at the last second, something dove in front of him. There was a massive explosion, and Alduin shut his eyes tight. He expected to feel pain, but he felt nothing.

“I don’t think so.” Alduin opened his eyes, and saw a teenage girl flying above him, a magical dome shield in front of her outstretched hand. She had long, yellow hair, a yellow jacket with black stripes, and a black undershirt. She had black jeans, and yellow shoes. She had yellow eyes, and a kind voice. Her yellow wings, tail, and horns made her stand out. She looked to be about eighteen, just like Epidemic. “Sorry Nightmare, but my father has a wedding to go to, and it wouldn’t be any good of him to die here now would it?”

’Wait, did she say father?’ Alduin was beyond confused now. Who was this girl? And why did she call him her father? Whatever the case, she had saved his life.

“Um, thank you.” She turned around with a smile on her face. Alduin immediately noticed that she looked like an older Amnesia, which confused him even further.

“You’re welcome father.” She turned back to the Beast and was about to take off when.

“Wait!” She stopped and turned to Alduin. “Who are you?”

She smiled kindly and happily replied.

“My name is Patron, the third fusion of the Twins.” She then turned to the Beast, and flew at it. The Beast roared and fired shot after shot of energy at her, all of which she promptly dodged. She got up close to it, then summoned a yellow scythe, and slashed it across the face. The Nightmare Beast roared in pain, and sent a blast of energy straight at her. She smiled, and sent the attack back to its sender, causing major damage. The Beast had not been prepared for this, so it was knocked down into the ground. It got up, shook its head, and glared at her.

“Aw, is the little Nightmare confused? Hmm, well if you must know, I simply countered your attack, sending it right back at you with double the power.” She giggled a little at the Nightmare’s frustration. The Beast got up and was about to attack again, when suddenly, it split in half. It the disappeared in a puff of smoke, becoming an assortment of purple orbs. They all fell to the ground, revealing Symbol floating behind where it once stood.

“Just in time Symbol.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“A little demanding are we? Oh very well. My name is Patron, the third fusion of the Twins. And don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Unlike my brother, I’ll leave you to your reasons as to why you don’t reveal yourself.”

“Thank you.”

“Welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to say hello to my brothers.” With that, she was gone, splitting back up into the Twins, who fell to the ground, only to get caught by Symbol and carried to the ground. He walked back into the clearing, where everyone was waking up.

“Ugh, what happened?”

“That giant Nightmare knocked us all out. We were saved however, by Plague and Amnesia’s newest fusion.”

“Wait, the Twins have a new fusion?”

“Yep.” They all turned to see Sym- Nero walking into the clearing, the Twins asleep in his arms. “Seems like that new fusion tired them out.”

Alduin took the Twins in his arms and set them down. They began to quickly wake up.

“Ungh… Dad?”

“What happened?”

“You two gained a new fusion, and saved us all.”

“We did?”

“Indeed you did my little ones.”

“WOO HOO!” The Twins began jumping around in excitement and happiness as everyone else watched them go. They all stood up, and stretched.

“Alright, I’d say that was a good party.”

“Yeah, especially the part where we almost died.”

“Shut up Nero.” They all just laughed, glad to be together, and alive.

Unknown Location

“Ah, nice to finally be here.” Patron was stretching out when Epidemic and Psychotic came in.

“Oh goody, another one.”

“It’s good to see you too Psychotic. And Epidemic, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Epidemic just grunted in annoyance. “I see that I’m the first positive fusion here. Great.”

“Hey think about it, you’ve got us!”

“To drive me insane.”

“Hey!” Epidemic just shook his head and turned away as Patron and Psychotic started bickering. He began to wonder, just how many fusions will the Twins have?
> Christmas Special
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	

WARNING: This will be taking place after the wedding, the War Of Shadows and possibly other things. I’ll move this forward later once they’re done.








A Christmas Special






{Third POV}

Our little special begins, with a castle, in Ponyville. This castle, although she did partly share it with her friends, once belonged to solely one mare. Princess Twilight Sparkle. Now however, it belonged to two. King Alduin and Queen Twilight of the Dragon Kingdom. They were both also prince and princesses of Equestria, don’t ask why only that. After all, even the two main rulers are still princesses. Anyways, currently they were celebrating Christmas with their loved ones. Friends and family from across the multiverse.

As of this moment they were all having dinner. The gathered many were Alduin, Twilight,  Plague, Amnesia, and Twilight and Alduin’s newest son Mana Scales, who wasn’t even a year old. There was also Gale, Lisa, Marx, Author, Metal, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Twilight’s brother Shining Armor and his wife Cadence, Twilight’s parents Night Light and Twilight Velvet, Celestia, Luna, and even Sir Fire Forge. After what he had done for his king, he was considered the royal blacksmith, and was now even very good friends with Alduin.

Everyone was enjoying the feast. There was ham, and pie, chicken, and potatoes, meatballs, and buns, and even little sandwiches. Alduin sat at the head of the table, and Twilight was next to him on his left, with Mana Scales in between them. Gale was on Alduin’s left, and Lisa was next to him. Metal was sitting next to her, and after him was Author, then Marx. Night Light and Twilight Velvet were on Twilight’s left, and next to them were Shining and Cadence. Next to them were Twilight’s friends, and then came Celestia and Luna, and then Fire Forge.

“Gah!” Alduin’s attention to his dinner was stolen by his son, who was happily and yet curiously gazing at everyone.

“What? Is my little hatchling looking at his big family?”

“Gah!” Alduin chuckled at his son’s curiosity. Twilight was giving him her attention as well, smiling at him with care.

“Is my little colt enjoying his first Hearth’s Warming Eve?” She picked him up and out of his high chair in her hooves and cradled him. He giggled happily and waved his little hooves at his mother’s face. “You are aren’t you?”

“He’s so happy, and yet he has no idea what’s going on.”

“He’s surrounded by loved ones hon. He’s got an idea that this is supposed to be a time to be happy.”

“Heh heh, that’s very true.” Alduin gazed lovingly at his wife and son before returning to his dinner. While everyone was eating or talking, he decided to hop in on Gale’s conversation. Currently he was talking to Metal about the war they had just been in.

“And so after I blasted her with a laser I went up to her body and-”

“Talking about the time you had messed it up with the Neutrals?” Gale turned and gave his brother a look.

“Yes, I was.”

“Still can’t believe you messed up things that badly. If Epidemic hadn’t been there, we could have-”

“Yes yes I know I know. I messed up.” Alduin put a comforting hoof onto his brother’s shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry. It all worked out in the end. I think you're agreeing with the fact that you’re an idiot saved your life.” Gale rolled his eyes.

“Oh ha ha. Very funny.” Alduin just laughed at his brother’s misfortune. “So anyways-”

As he was about to continue a huge portal appeared at the open end of the room, where a man wearing a green hoodie with a metal sash, a scarf that hid his mouth and had green hair much like Vegeta's from the Dragonball anime jumped out of it.

“Roden?” Author and Marx asked in unison, both equally surprised by the sudden arrival.

”Hello Author, Marx, it's been quite a while hasn't it?”

“Marx who is this?” Auldin asked.

“He's one of the two ‘second in command’ members of the council, the other being me.” The skeleton explained. “His name is Roden Godswell, mostly known for his vast knowledge and ability to find...peculiar items, including the Reality Stars.”

”Well, I guess that since Marx has already explained my role I have no need to introduce myself. Don't worry I'm not here long, just dropping off a few of your friends.” Roden moved to the side and looked up at the huge portal. Suddenly Symbol, Ashley and Abi jumped out, Symbol catching Ashley as she almost fell.

Then the portal sparked and a larger figure walked out, three times the size of everyone else.



Auldin smiled at the last arrival. He got out of his seat and switched to a smaller version of his dragon form to match the huge robots height. The two stood face to face, towering over everyone else. The robot held out his hand and Auldin took it in his dragon claw. They then reeled their heads back before giving each other a powerful headbut. Roden had put a shield over everyone to protect them from the huge gust of wind that was created from the giants.

“Nathan Phoenix, great to see you again.” Auldin said as he switched to his pony form.

“Good to see you too Auldin.” Nathan then turned into a pony as well. A tall stallion with a thin waist. White fur, purple eyes and spiky purple hair, his mark being a bullet invaded in purple fire. “And happy hearth's warming.” As Nathan moved to the side he revealed two young children. One was a girl with long blue hair, blue eyes and wore a small blue dress and slippers. Beside her was a young boy just a bit shorter than her. He had golden yellow hair and eyes, he wore a yellow jacket and jeans with yellow sneakers.

As the twins saw the two children they smiled and disappeared from their seats, reappearing in front of them. Amnesia tackled the boy to the floor in a hug. “Lyric!”

Plague rolled his eyes at his sister and bumped fists with the girl. “Hey Sapphire.”

Auldin and Nathan smiled at the children. “Will Ruby and your other children be attending?” Auldin asked.

“No, Sonata and Ruby will be staying home to look after the hatchlings, we're having our own little dinner back there later. I just wanted the little ones to see each other today.” Nathan replied as he looked to the children, chuckling as he watched his shy son being hugged to near death by Amnesia.

“Can I ask everyone something?” Metal said, earning everyone's attention.

“What's up Metal?” Lisa asked.

“Doesn't anyone else find it weird that we all basically mirror each other?” Everyone looked at him confused. “I mean look at us, Author and Marx’s displaced all fit each other perfectly? Me and Gale, Nathan and Auldin, Symbol and Epidemic, Lisa and Ashley and even the freaking twins! Does no one else see a pattern here?!”

Everyone just looked to each other, suddenly getting what he was saying. “Actually Nathan is one of Roden’s displaced.” Marx said.

“Not the point!” Metal yelled, steam emitting from his body.

Gale just shook himself and placed a hand on Metals shoulder. “Ok, Metal, calm down. You're getting angry again, you aren't in the void anymore, relax.”

Metal slowly began to relax, falling limp in his seat. “Can we just fucking eat now?”





As the meal ended, the group decided to have a little dance around the huge Christmas tree in the main part of the castle. The couples all paired up and began to slowly dance with each other, Lyric and Amnesia sat down at the side of the room, Lyric twiddling his thumbs shyly as Amnesia slowly swayed herself to the music being played. Metal, Nathan, Symbol, Marx and Author both sat on the other end of the hall as they had no one to dance with.

“Hey you.” Symbol looked over to see Ashley glaring at him. “Get off your ass and dance with me. Now!”

Symbol smiled nervously. “Ok! Ok! I'm getting up.” Ashley nodded in satisfaction as she took Symbols hand and dragged him towards the dance floor. Symbol turned his head and mouthed ‘help me’ to the guys who just shook their heads with sly grins.

“Metal, why aren't you out there? Where's your wives?” Marx asked.

“Samantha is spending the holidays with her family in the afterlife, Rainbow with hers and Luna is being forced into attending some hearth’s warming ball by Celestia and Chrysalis. Looks like I'm alone for the night. Hell, even Metix has someone to dance with.” Metal pointed to a miniature version of himself, his son, dancing with his daughter Prism Dash. “And don't tell me you don't have anybody to dance with Author I saw Vivi coming in earlier.”

“Really? Huh, thought she was busy.” Author simply shrugged and continued to watch as the couples danced. In the meantime, Amnesia was sitting happily next to Lyric, when she got a devious idea.

“Lyric! Dance with me!”

“Uh, what?” Lyric didn’t have time to think as Amnesia grabbed his arm and dragged him to the dance floor. Plague just snickered at his sister’s antics. Sapphire looked at him, and nodded to the gathered dancers.

“What?”

“Well, do you wanna?”

“Eh, why not?” The two went to the dance floor, took each other’s hands, and began to dance. Thankfully, Patron was able to tell Plague what to do in his head. At the same time, Amnesia and Lyric were dancing, but Lyric was struggling.

“Not to be mean Lyric, but you suck at this.”

“Well I, um...”

“Look, I’ll show you.” Amnesia let go of his hands and began to show him what was wrong. “First, straighten up. Second, stop fumbling your feet. Third, relax!”

Lyric nodded, following all of Amnesia’s instructions to the letter. They began to dance again, and Lyric was doing much better this time.

“See? That wasn’t so hard was it?” Lyric shook his head. “Good. I expect you to remember all of this during our wedding.”

“W-What?” Amnesia just leaned in closer to Lyrics face with a devilish smile.

“You heard me.” Lyric sweatdropped with a sigh of despair. Alduin saw what his daughter was doing and just chuckled.

“What?” Alduin just turned back to his spouse as they continued their dance.

“Oh nothing. Just that Amnesia has already found her soulmate.” Twilight looked over to her daughter-in-law and smiled.

“I see. Ah, Amnesia and her antics.” The two chuckled and continued their dance. After a little while, the dance was over, and everyone exchanged gifts.

The group all sat in front of the tree, the children in the front row and the taller ones in the back such as Nathan who had returned to his robotic body.

“Alright, I think we should give the kids their presents first.” Auldin said as he handed Plague, Amnesia and Mana their gifts while Nathan handed gifts to Sapphire and Lyric.

Plague tore through the wrapping paper to reveal two metal gauntlets and boots with green gems. Marx took a look at the clothing and smiled. “Looks like your father gave you a set of Reality Guards. Should boost your abilities by about...125% I think.”

“I know you have been getting stronger, but I just want to make sure you don't have trouble with tough enemies like Xram or Nightmare, also I thought that they would look well on you.” Auldin chuckled as he watched Plague put on the armour pieces. He looked to the metal pieces and flexed his fingers in the steel gloves, the green gems glowing. Sapphire looked at him and smirked.

”Someone looks ready for a fight, how about after this I pull out the RYNO 2 and the Plasma Whip so we can duke it out?”

Nathan laughed at his daughter. “Now hold on there Sapphire, open your gift before challenging someone to a fight.”

Sapphire shrugged and tore away the wrapping paper. She opened the cardboard box inside and a huge smile made its way to her face. She reached in and pulled out a metal handle connected to a purple box. Hitting a button the box opened and ten huge gun barrels grew out of it along with a large drum of ammunition on the side.

“Only the best weaponry for my little girl, have fun with the RYNO 7 sweetie.” Everyone else just stared at the huge warbot, not feeling comfortable with a child handling such firepower.

Sapphire began to tear up, she then tackled her father in a huge hug. ”Thank you daddy!” With that Plague sprouted dragon wings and floated in the air, Sapphire jumped up and grabbed his hand and they both flew outside to battle.

“What kind of parent are you, giving you daughter weapons like that?” Velvet asked.

“Relax ma’am, she knows what to and what not to do, she knows what she's doing. As for parenting, I think I'm a good parent, I'm just making sure my little ones know how to defend themselves. And you should know what we all have to deal with by now.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

Amnesia opened her gift to find a small box, inside said box was a purple kitten with glowing yellow eyes. “Found this little guy wandering about the void, don't worry we had Marx and Author make sure he was safe to keep.” Auldin explained.

Amnesia took the kitten in her hands and it gently liked the tip of her nose causing her to smile. “I love him! Thanks dad!” She then began to groom her new pet with her dragon claws.

Lyric looked to his gift, wondering what it could be. Gently unwrapping the gift he opened the box inside and pulled out a golden fedora and a bracelet with a music note gem. Placing the fedora on his head he moved it about to get it in a comfortable position while he placed the bracelet on his right wrist. As he did soft streams of yellow energy circled his body and he started to glow.

“I know you aren't much for violence son, so I had a friend of mine craft you the bracelet that will give you a small shield and boost your healing magic, the fedora is just because Sonata thought you would look adorable in it.” Nathan explained.

”Thank you dad, I really like them.” As he was about to place the box to the side he saw a note at the bottom. He took it and began to read it. ”One free kiss from…” He looked to Amnesia from the corner of his eye who was smiling devilishly. ”Uhhhh, dad? Why did you put this in here?”

“I didn't, I only put in the fedora and bracelet.” Meanwhile Sapphire and Plague were laughing their heads off outside as the realised their prank had worked before returning to their fight.

As Amnesia scooted closer Lyric turned into a pegasus and flew away at high speeds, Amnesia as a dragon in hot pursuit. Auldin and Nathan looked to each other in worry. “I have a feeling this is only the beginning of something that probably shouldn't happen.”

“Oh why spoil their fun?” Lisa said before looking down the hallway to see that Amnesia was catching up Lyric.

Metal floated to the front of the group and kneeled down by Metix and Prism. “Alright you two, I want you to share this with your brother Midnight Star, OK?”

“Ok dad.” The mini Metal and small foal said.

Metal reached behind him and pulled out a large gold ring. “This is a warp ring, it will take you to some of the zones without my assistance. Although I've put some restrictions like blocking zones like Scrap Brain and Marble Zone as they would be too dangerous, when yours faster and stronger we will do those ones.”

“Thanks dad!” The two jumped onto him and hugged him. There was a sudden explosion and everyone looked outside to see it was raining meteors. Everyone looked at Alduin with a raised brow.

“What? I didn’t teach him that shout.” Everyone just rolled their eyes. “Okay can someone help me get the kids back together?”

It took a little while, but eventually they got all of the kids back together. Once they did, Gale stood up.

“Alright, alright, alright, time for uncle Gale to reveal his presents!” Everyone got ready for what he brought to the table. The first present he handed to Amnesia. She tore it open greedily, and took out a bracelet with a purple gem in it.

“What’s this?”

“Just a little something that I made. It boosts your magic, and I know how much you like magic.” Amnesia squealed with glee and put it on. She then proceeded to start levitating some of the furniture and decorations. Gale handed Plague his present. When he opened it up, there was a little black puppy.

“Found him in the void too. And yes, he’s safe.” Plague laughed and started playing with the little puppy. Gale nodded happily, and then handed his next gifts to Metal’s kids. Metix opened up his present, and took out a chaos emerald that was constantly changing colour. “Took me forever to figure out how to make this, it's all seven of the emeralds combined, so you can turn super without the need of your dad's emeralds...also so you can stop trying to steal my master emerald to try and go super.”

Metix tilted his head as he inspected the gem. “Thanks uncle Gale.” He said adorably before giving him a hug.

Prism tore off the wrapping paper to find a baby tortoise that looked up at her and smiled. “I know how much you love your mother's pet Tank so I figured you could have one of your own.”

Prism held the small animal in her hoof and smiled as it slowly nuzzled her fur. “Thanks uncle Gale, I love him!” She buzzed up to her uncle and hugged him.

As everyone started getting up to do their own thing Lisa felt a tug on her dress. “Auntie Lisa?”

She looked down to see Metix tugging her clothes with something behind his back. “Yes Metix?” She asked while kneeling down to her tiny nephew.

“Things get a little boring around the castle back home sometimes, so I've started doing a few things, one of them is making stuff with metal and gems. So, I made this for you, as a thank you for saving my dad.” He pulled the thing behind his back into view and held it up with both hands. It was a silver tiara with black gemstones embedded in it.

Lisa took the tiara from him and looked at it carefully, noticing the detailed patterns engraved in the silver and how precisely the gems were cut. “You made this?”

“Yeah, took me awhile, had to start over a lot but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.” Metix started his tiny engine and floated up, took the tiara from Lisa and placed it on her head, making sure that it was in the right position.

“How do I look?” Lisa asked the tiny robot floating in front of her.

“Like you always do auntie Lisa, like an angel.”

Lisa blushed at the comment and hugged Metix. “Awww, thank you sweetie.”

“Your welcome auntie Lisa...um, can you not hug me so hard? My nose might pierce your skin.” Lisa nodded and eased up on her hold.

The party continued on for a few more hours before it finally ended. Everyone said their goodbyes and headed home, with Amnesia giving Lyric a quick kiss on the cheek before Marx closed the portal on them. Alduin and his family gathered by the fire. Alduin was lying down in his pony dragon form, with Twilight resting next to him. Mana was in the crook of his mother’s body, giggling as Twilight used a feather to tickle him. Amnesia was playing with her new kitty, which she named fang for reasons unknown, and Plague was horsing around with his new puppy, which he named Buddy.

“Ah bah gah!” Twilight smiled at her son's babbling. She picked him up in her magic and put him in front of his father, causing him to squeal in delight. Alduin smiled and started tickling him as well, bringing a bright smile to Mana’s face. Alduin picked him up with his wings and held him in front of his face.

“Did my little hatchling have a good Hearth’s Warming Eve?” He nodded happily, causing both of his parents to smile. Amnesia saw her little brother and approached happily.

“Hey Mana! Wanna meet Fang?” Mana giggled happily and Amnesia held up her new kitten, allowing Mana to reach out a hoof and poke him in the nose. Fang just meowed cutely and licked Mana’s hoof, causing him to start laughing again. Alduin smiled and snuggled closer to his wife.

“This was a perfect Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“I’ll say. No battling, no adventure, no stress. Just a nice, relaxing, day.”

“Except for the meteors.”

“Yeah, except for that.” Alduin just chuckled and kissed her. They all spent the rest of the night relaxing together, as a family.

…

Meanwhile the others were settling back into their own homes to spend the night.

Metal sat on the roof a huge floating castle, looking up at the moon. “Fuck it.” He flew down to the main hall where two Metal Sonic 3.0’s were standing. “One, Two, with me, we're having a guys night, I'm sure Celestia won't mind us taking a few drinks from the Royal wine cellar.”

...

Gale and Lisa lay cuddled up in their now shared bed. “Hey Gale?”

“Yeah Lisa?”

“We forgot to give Screwball and Symph their presents.”

Gale stayed silent for awhile. “Fuck it, they can wait until New Years.”

...

Nathan had tucked Sapphire and Lyric into bed and slowly walked out of their room and closed the door. Making his way down to his room he smiled as he saw his wife Sonata sleeping soundly with five tiny foals sleeping in a bundle beside her. “Heh, some things never change.”

...

Marx and Author stood in the void, looking out at the now peaceful multiverse. “It's nice to know we can celebrate these things with those two monsters gone.” Marx said.

“Yeah, two of them…” Author turned away and looked towards a shattered portal. “But we've still got the third to worry about.”

...

Symbol lay on a grassy hill under the stars with Ashley cuddled up to him. He looked out into space, wondering what to do next in life. “Guess I just...live now, without having to worry.”

Symph walked around the empty halls of his current place of residence. He looked to a small glowing blue rose in his hand. He held it up and it began to fade into dust blowing away in the wind. “Happy hearth's warming, my dearest Zerlinda.”

> Chapter Six: A Metal Problem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Six: A Metal Problem






{Third POV}

“HOO! That was one hell of a party.” Gale was carrying Lisa bridal style as he flew them back up to their house.

“Why is it that you get to have all the fun while I get stuck getting us clothes and a motel?”

“Because you’re the best?” Lisa just rolled her eyes and planted a kiss on Gale’s cheek. They finally managed to get to the floating shrine, and then opened the trapdoor that lead to their house. Once inside, Lisa got out of Gale’s arms and stretched. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they were both tackled by the “gifts” Symbol had left them.

“What the hell?” Gale was extremely confused on what to think about the robotic lion that was on top of him. Lisa was also wondering why there was a robotic bird on her shoulder.

“Um, what are these?” To their surprise, the lion spoke.

“We’re gifts created by Symbol for the two of you. My name is Gregar.” The bird followed up on his companion’s introduction with his own.

“And I’m Falzar. It’s nice to meet you Lisa.”

“Well aren’t you a well mannered metal bird?” Lisa pet the top of her new pet’s head, causing it to coo happily. Gale looked at Gregar and smiled (as much as he could without a mouth anyways).

“Hey there buddy, nice to meet you.” Gale scratched Gregar behind the ear, causing him to purr happily. Lisa halted her petting and turned to Gale.

“So~... now what?” Gale shrugged.

“I suppose we just wait until tomorrow.”

“Wait, then why’d I get us a motel?”

“So we could stay overnight in my brother’s world. We’re probably going to have to watch the Twins too.”

“Why?” Gale gave her a look.

“Do you want their innocence to be ruined by the primal sounds of a pony and a dragon?” Lisa was about to questioned further till she realized what he meant.

“Oh. Yeah then that’s understandable.” Gale nodded. “Hey where’s Sonic?”

“In here!” The sounds of a videogame could be heard. From the music, it sounded like Sonic 06. Gale and Lisa walked in with their new pets to confirm this.

“Sonic? Why are you playing the game that should be burned in hell? Wait, why do we even have this game?!”

“Pinkie found it, played it, and then proceeded bang her head against the wall for a straight two hours. Then she bet me fifty bits that I couldn’t get through the whole game.” Gale nodded in understanding.

“You very far?”

“Nope, and I’m already wondering if this is worth the fifty bits.” Gale was about to agree with that statement, when he felt something. Everyone else must have felt it too, because Lisa froze and Sonic paused his game.

“Did you guys, feel that?”

“Yeah. What was that?”

“No idea Sonic, but I do suggest that we investigate.” With a nod, everyone ran out of the house and out onto the shrine. Gale picked up Lisa, bridle style, and took off. Sonic followed behind him in his super form, and Gregar and Falzar fused together, creating the Cyber Beast, which was basically a robotic lion griffin, and took to the skies as well. They were all headed to the Everfree, where they had sensed a portal open to a world of absolute chaotic, battling, madness.

“What do you think we’re gonna find?”

“No idea Lisa. I just hope it’s something we can handle!” Lisa nodded in agreement with her boyfriend’s statement. Gale then sped up, and Super Sonic and Cyber Beast did the same. They eventually came across a small group.

A group of Mobians and ponies.

“Tails? Cream?” The two tailed fox and rabbit looked up with shocked looks.

“S-Sonic?”

“Is that you?”

“GUYS!”

“SONIC!” Sonic flew down to the friends he hadn’t seen in what felt like hundreds of years and reverted back to normal. Everyone (except for Shadow, Omega, and Gamma) came together into a group hug.

“I missed you guys so much!”

“We missed you too Sonic!” They all separated and Sonic stood back, getting a good look at his friends.

“Damn, it’s been years since I last saw you guys.” Tails got a look of confusions on his face.

“Really? It hasn’t been too long for us.” Cream just shrugged and smiled at her friend.

“Still Sonic where’ve you been?”

“I’ve been here, hanging out with my new friends.”

“Who?”

“Oh right, let me introduce you all.” Sonic stepped back and gestured to Gale and Lisa. “Guys, these are my two new friends Gale, and Lisa. I’ve been living with them ever since I got here.”

Lisa smiles (as best should could without a mouth) and waves. “Hey guys! It’s nice to finally get Sonic reunited with his friends.”

“Yeah, maybe now he’ll stop spending nights alone at our bar, drinking all the beer.” Sonic glared at him and smacked him upside the head. Shadow approached, his glare never leaving Gale.

“So, we’re friends now with Mecha Sonic?” Sonic nodded.

“Yep. Gale’s pretty fun to hang around with, and serves as an awesome challenge for me.”

“Challenge? What, are you too weak to beat this piece of scrap metal?”

“Heh, Gale’s not like the Mecha Sonic I fought before, trust me. I mean, the normal one couldn’t go super without the assistance of the chaos emeralds.”

“WHAT?!” Everyone was shocked to hear this.

“Sonic, that’s impossible! The amount of energy required to go super is extremely high!” Sonic just smirked and looked at Gale.

“You wanna show them?”

“Sure, it’ll be funny to see their reactions.” Gale spread his legs out a little, and crossed his arms. Suddenly, everyone could feel a slow energy build up. Gale’s eye suddenly glowed a bright red, and he spread his arms out. There was a sudden burst of energy around him as a pillar of light shot up into the air.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” Gale shouted into the air as his energy skyrocketed. Shadow was taken aback. This energy, this power, was certainly more than anything he could muster. And it just, kept, growing. Everyone could only watch in shock as his energy kept building up and up and up. Pretty soon, Gale crossed his arms again, before uncrossing them, and a burst of light followed. When the white light faded, everyone looked to see Gale, as Super Mecha Sonic.

“Ah.” Gale stretched out before he casually floated into the air. “Man, been a little while since I’ve gone into this form.”

The group of Mobians, especially Shadow, were completely dumbfounded. This wasn’t possible! But it had just happened right in front of them. Shadow couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“H-How?” Gale looked at him and smirked.

“It’s called decades of training.” Gale dropped back to the ground and smiled. “So, what brings you all here anyways. And hey, where’s Metal?” The mobians, excluding Sonic, all shook themselves before all having worried expressions, a look Gale nor Lisa liked the look of. “What's happened?”

“GALE!!! LISA!!!” Suddenly the two displaced were tackled by Luna and Rainbow Dash from Metals world.

“Guys! You've got to help Metal!” Rainbow cried.

“He sent us all here! He's fighting that thing alone!” Luna continued.

“Now calm down, tell us what happened.” Lisa said as she lifted the two mares off of them with her tendrils.

“To understand you'll have to know what's happened recently.” Gamma walked forward, but his voice seemed different from the games.

“Wait why is your voice different?” Sonic asked.

“Like Metal, Omega and I are also displaced, we are from Metal’s earth, and we are close childhood friends. Unfortunately, due to an error in his memory banks, he does not remember us. If we revealed our true selves to him it would fry his robotic brain, so we have been acting like the Gamma and Omega from the games to avoid that. My real name is Myles, Omega is Connel.” Gamma shook his head. “But that's not important right now, as we speak Metal is fighting a battle that will determine our jokes very existence in time. So please, sit down as I tell you what happened.”

Gale, Lisa and the rest of the group sat down to listen.

“A little while ago, a Shadow the Hedgehog displaced arrived in our world looking for someone, and was in a similar situation to us and the Nightmares. It turns out that when Solaris was defeated in Sonic 06 multiple versions of Mephiles were spread out across the multiverse. Jack, the Shadow displaced, and Metal began searching for Mephiles, but apparently Mephiles had captured someone very dear to Metal and forced him to do his bidding alongside Discord. Both Discord and Metal were given some kind of dark magic, Apocalypse Magic I believe it was called. When we reached Metal we found him as Neo Metal Sonic and he then fought with Jack before Discord turned on him and tried to kill him. Jack had been taken back to his own world by Author when Metal transformed into Metal Overlord. After he defeated Discord, Mephiles used Discord's body and apocalypse magic to become a supercharged Solaris. Metal was about to fight him when he used his magic to transport everyone in Equestria and the world to safety in the zones, but he only trusted you two enough to take care of all of us so he sent us here. We don't know what's been happening in that world, but we know it can't be good.”

Gale and Lisa both looked to each other in shock. “Metal is there fighting alone?” Gale asked.

“Yes...and I think a part of him knew he might not make it out alive.”

“The presence of this ‘Apocalypse Magic’ would explain why we weren't able to access Metals world earlier.” Gale nodded and stood up. “Alright, enough waiting, we're going to go help my buddy with that fight, if you guys are here then whatever was blocking that world must be gone. Lisa, let's go.”

“Don't need to tell me twice.” As the two were about to call for Marx to transport them they heard echoed voices.

"D-Don't gi-give m-me the si-silent treatment." Metals voice rang out, with a deep voice that belonged to Mephiles following.

“Is that Metal?” Lisa asked.

“He sounds as if he's heavily damaged.” Gale said quietly.

"What do you expect me to say? You've won? I'll be back? There is a greater power at work here? Let me die in peace, leave me, now!"

"Y-You a-are in no pos-position to t-tell me wh-what to d-do! Y-You des-destroyed my h-home! Tried t-to k-kill my fr-friends! Not to-to mention h-holding someon-one I-I hold d-dear hostage! I-I de-deserve t-to know w-why y-you targeted m-my world spec-specifically!"

"I guess now it doesn't matter what I tell you know that I'm about to cease to exist. I myself didn't target this world, my 'master' did. To be honest I was only doing this to become Solaris again, I didn't care about what happened to this world afterwards, I just wanted to fulfill my purpose in life, but you've destroyed everything that I have, what I lived for, do you feel proud? Proud that you've killed someone just trying to accomplish what his very existence tells him to do? Trying to fulfill my life's purpose?"

"D-Don't try t-to turn thi-this around Me-Mephiles! Y-YOU ARE A CR-CREATURE OF DAR-DARKNESS A-AND TORE M-MY REALITY APART!!! YOU ARE N-NOT T-THE VIC-VICTIM!!!"

"I suppose I'm not."

"Are you p-proud?"

"What?"

"I said are y-you proud?! Taking someone dear to me?! Destroying my home, and the homes of everyone on this planet?! Their lives possibly ruined by your ac-actions! All for what? So you could feel complete? Th-There's something else t-that can help you feel complete y'know? It's called marriage! Or at least some f-form of a romantic par-partner!"

“Metal…” Lisa said quietly.

"And where would I find someone willing to actually give me a chance? MurdererHarmony.net? Not many women want to be with someone who's soul purpose is to destroy time itself."

"There are people out there that are evil like t-that you know, all you had to do was look, but it's too late now."

"It's not too late...You could save me, let me go so I can try to find that someone. Please! I beg of you, give me at least one chance of actually Live!"

 "No...after all of this...I have no mercy left to spare you. You die here, you die now."

“Give no bullshit take no bullshit…” Gale murmured.

“Damn, I didn't know Metal could be so cold.”

Then there was silence, only ended by one last line.

"The great disaster is coming, the dark swarms will be free, the one who forges evil will survive and the one with the body of bones will exact his revenge...and the master of power, will come for you. Heed my warning Metal Sonic, your face I remember as the last thing I see, you, will, die!"

After a while of waiting for another response from Metal, Lisa and Gale turned to everyone. “I guess that he took care of things.” Gale said.

“Maybe we should still go check to see if he's damaged, he sounded better through that but he still sounded hurt, like actually hurt.” Lisa suggested.

As Gale was about to reply they all felt a burst of energy, a dark presence had made itself known with one cry from Metals echoed voice.

”No...no no no! SAMANTHA!!!” His voice was filled with pain and filled their hearts with dread.

“Myles, did he just say-?” Omega asked with fear.

“Yes, he definitely said her name Connel.” Both of their voices were panicked. “If he found her, and if something happened to her...oh God…” Gamma started shaking.

“Wait, who's Samantha?” Lisa asked.

“There's no time! Get over to that world before it's too late!” Omega yelled. With a nod, Gale brought up Metal’s token, and lifted it up. It opened the portal to Metal’s world, and a dark energy could be sensed coming from it. Gale and Lisa leaped through the portal without a second thought, and their pets followed.
> Chapter Seven: Her
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Seven: Her






{Third POV}

The portal lead them to an Equestria armageddon. The sky was red, the clouds black, and any civilization in sight was in ruins. Gale was carrying Lisa bridal style while Cyber Beast followed behind them.

“What the hell happened here?” Gale asked to no one as he looked around in shock while he set Lisa down. They appeared to be on a floating island above a bare field of grass. In the distance Canterlot was almost completely destroyed. When they turned around they found a huge black castle with a hole in a wall leading to a throne room where signs of a battle were seen.

“Gale…” Gale looked over to Lisa who was staring at something and shaking. “...you...you need to see this…”

Gale walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What's wro-” He held a hand over his nonexistent mouth to keep himself from throwing up which, in all honesty, he couldn’t really tell if he actually could or not, as he saw what had Lisa spooked.

There lay Metals head, with the top tore in half as if something had burst out from inside. Looking a bit up they found the rest of his body in a similar state. To make matters worse there was a large puddle of blood by the body.

Lisa shakily knelt down and took the head in her hands and rose up again. She just stood there, staring at the shell that was her friend. As she looked inside it she found multiple scrapes in the metal, like something had tore him apart from the inside. “We...were too late.”

Gale wanted to comfort her, but then the shaking started. Gale could only watch as the unheard of, never before seen and only told in the most horrid of scary stories, Lisa Mad Mode Four, was brought to life. The ground cracked, a red aura built around Lisa, and that cut on her face reappeared. Her tendrils came out, and became jagged and nightmarish. Her hair began to float a little as magic coursed through Lisa’s veins. Her hands sharpened into claws, and the world itself seemed to darken around her.

“Who did this? WHO?” The castle shook violently as Lisa’s rage began to grow. “I swear when I find whoever did this, I will make them WISH THEY WERE DEAD!”

“LISA!” Gale rushed up to her and hugged her from behind. At first she was going to attack Gale, but her instincts realized who it was so instead of killing she tried to wrestle out of his grasp.

“NO! LET ME GO! I’M GOING TO KILL THE BASTARD THAT DID THIS!”

“I know Lisa. I know the pain you’re feeling, the sadness, but you need to calm down.”

“Calm down? CALM DOWN?! YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?! NEVER! I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I FIND THE BASTARD THAT DID THIS!”

“I know Lisa, I want to find them too, but getting mad like this will do nothing! Do you really think Metal would want you consumed by your own rage like this?” That made Lisa stop dead in her tracks. Gale was right, getting angry like this wouldn’t help anyone. Lisa began to return to normal as she broke down into tears, turning around and crying into Gale’s shoulder. Gale hugged her close as he looked at Metal’s destroyed body. He swore to himself, he would find who did this, and he would end them.

”Wait.” Gale and Lisa both stopped and looked to see a mobian limping towards them, Cosmo the Seedarian. ”Metal isn't dead. Those parts are merely a shell, notice that the way the metal is torn, it was torn from inside. Something came out of Metal Sonic, he is not dead, but if you do not act quickly you may lose him forever.”

Lisa pulled away from Gale and walked towards the injured Cosmo. “Really? Metal is alive?”

”Yes, but he is still in danger of losing his life to something else. That blood does not belong to him, but someone he cares very deeply for, someone from his life on Earth.”

“How do you know this?” Gale asked.

Cosmo hesitated for a moment, not sure whether or not to reveal herself, but trusted these two with Metals safety. ”Because...I am Metals mother.”

Gale and Lisa froze, having to take a couple of seconds to let that info dump sink in.

“WHAT?!”

”I know it's hard to believe, but…” She sighed and sat down. ”Twenty five years ago, I was just an ordinary woman with an adorable son and beautiful daughter.”

“Metal has a sister?!” Lisa exclaimed.

”Yes, let me continue. One day, when I was sitting in my home watching my six year old daughter play with her little Sonic the Hedgehog toys with my six year old son, of course Metal Sonic was his favourite, I suddenly felt lighter than air and appeared in some kind of white void. There I was approached by a strange figure, who reassured me, and told me of all the things my son would do both on Earth and in Equestria. I thought I was dreaming at first but it started to become all the more real as time went on. The figure that approached me, was Metals father. Apparently his father was a Void Dweller that had decided to live on earth where he met me. No wonder he always dodged the question of what he did for a living.” She chuckled slightly before continuing. ”I was offered a position, to be my children's guardian Angel of sorts. But, that would mean leaving them for twenty years, it's twenty because of Metals ten years asleep. So, for the future of my children I accepted the position...sometimes I wish I hadn't...so I could be there to comfort my two children when they were sad, or take care of them when they were sick. But it was all to preserve their futures.”

Lisa and Gale let all of this new information sink in. “So, Metal is the son of a displacer?” Gale asked.

”No, his father isn't a displacer, just a being from the void. Now enough talking, you need to go help my son before he's lost forever! I can't do anything right now, I'm too injured to walk right and I'll only slow you two down. Now go!”

As the two were about to run Lisa turned back. “Wait, if he's your son then why are you calling him Metal and not his Earth name?”

”You’ll find out soon enough. Now, get, going!” With a nod Gale and Lisa ran out of the castle. Gale picked Lisa up, bridal style, and took off, with Cyber Beast close behind. Eventually, they started flying across the Everfree, and there was noticeable evidence that something had gone on a rampage through here. Gale descended to the ground and let Lisa down.

“Damn, wonder what did this.”

“Do you think it was Metal?”

“Maybe. If it is, then it’s a good thing I’m in my super form. We may need to fight him to calm him down.”

“I hope not.” Gale nodded and they all began to walk along the path. Cyber Beast diffused back into Gregar and Falzar, and both went back to their respective masters. As they walked along, the sings of something rampaging through the forest became clearer and clearer. It was all heading towards a mountain. As they neared it, Gregar suddenly stopped and began to growl.

“Gregar? What’s up buddy?”

“I sense something hostile.” Gale nodded and looked around. Lisa turned to her robotic bird and got an idea.

“Falzar, I want you to fly up and see if there’s anything nearby.”

“Alright.” And so he flew up above the small group before he looked around. At first he saw nothing, but then he noticed some strange magic, moving towards them.

“See anything?”

“There’s some weird magic heading towards us!” As if on cue, a pack of timberwolves jumped out of the bushes. They were all adults, and their eyes glowed orange, and they had orange smoke coming out of their eyes. One growled, and then leaped at them. Lisa impaled it with a tendril, before throwing back into another one. Gale blasted one’s head off, causing the rest of the group to take a step back.

“Yeah that’s right, back off!” Then, out of nowhere, a metallic growl was heard. The other timberwolves lowered their heads before taking another step back. Some nearby bushes started to shake, and Gale and Lisa could only assume that it was because the pack leader was arriving. And then, out of the bushes, stepped something they had never laid their eyes on before.

“M-Metal?”



The creature they saw before them was on all fours. It’s eyes were glaring at the intruders. Lisa and Gale could only look on in shock at the thing their friend had become. It leaped at them, intending to kill, but Gale roundhouse kicked him to the side. Metal recovered, and roared at them.

“Metal, I don’t know what the hell is going on, or why you’re like this. But, I’ll tell you one thing. You beat the monster out of me once, now it’s my turn to beat the monster out of you.” Gale leaped at Metal and Metal leaped as well. They clashed mid air with their hands locked together. Gale brought up a knee into Metal’s stomach, grabbed him by the quills, and threw him into a tree. He was about to go in for another attack, but then a tendril wrapped around him.

“STOP!” They both froze and turned to Lisa. She had tears streaking down her face. “Stop it you two. We came all this way to help Metal, and fighting won’t do anything.” Metal looked to Gale and growled before turning away from him and towards the Slenderwoman. “Metal, it's me, Lisa. Don't you remember me? Don't you remember Gale? Please Metal, calm down so we can help you.” She pleaded with him.

As Metal stared at Lisa, something clicked in his head, past the corruption and anger. He remembered her. He remembered that he could trust her. He seemed to calm down a little as Lisa approached him. She kneeled down and put her hands on his head as she continued to cry.

“Oh Metal. What happened to you?” Metal just whinned while leaning into her touch, then walked off. He stopped and looked at Lisa, then jutted his head as if telling her to follow. Lisa nodded, and followed. Gale tried to, but Metal just growled at him.

“Uh, babe? I think it’ll be best if you just stay out here.”

“What? But I-... Oh alright fine.” Gale sat down with a huff as the two walked away. One of the timberwolves walked up to him with curiosity. This did not go unnoticed by Gale as he turned and glared. “What’re you looking at?”

Lisa walked silently beside the corrupted Metal Sonic, the energy he was giving off made her afraid, it was something that she felt shouldn't even exist, yet his body seemed to be full of it. She attempted to read his mind, hoping that it would work this time as she was unable to every other time.

She managed to get through, but found nothing, nothing but a few instincts and some faded memories. In some of the memories she could make out a figure that looked to be her, but the images were too cloudy to tell. Her friend was gone, something else was in control, with only faint memories to go on.

She could still sense the real Metal inside him, but it was a faint spark of life, everything else was wrong. Metal had sensed her distress and looked up at her with curiosity but still keeping an angry look with his current form. He stopped for a moment and retracted the spikes on his back, leaving a smooth surface but still keeping his quills. He then jutted his head as if to tell Lisa to get on.

She looked unsure but sat down on his back and placed her hands on the smooth parts of his quills for balance as he began to walk again.

As they went further into the forest Lisa started feeling the energy of the chaos emerald, only much, much stronger. She then noticed multiple trails in the dirt as if someone had dragged something through there. They reached the mouth of a cave hidden deep in the forest but had a large open space in front of it where a pack of the Apocalypse Timberwolves were walking around or sitting up on the rocks. ‘He must have overpowered their alpha and taken control of the pack.’ Lisa thought to herself as Metal walked through the small crowd of wolves, growling at a few that got too close to his passenger.

As Metal let Lisa off his back and extended his spikes a rebellious timberwolf walked up to challenge him. Metal just growled and swiped a claw at it, slicing it to pieces and blasting it with a huge blood red beam.

‘He did that with just a swipe?’ Metal gave out a loud metallic roar which caused any wolves thinking of standing up to him to back away or lower their heads. ‘I need to remember never to mess with Metal after this is over, he could still contain this power if we find a way to cure him.’

The two of them walked down into the cave.

{Lisa's POV}

As I walked further down into the cave in the side of the mountain I felt the presence of the emeralds growing stronger. Suddenly, Metal growled furiously, turned into a huge ball of blue and silver spikes and shot down the cave. I wondered what was happening until I felt a familiar presence, and immediately knew why Metal had shot off. Whatever he had down here he was protecting, and somehow a Nightmare had found its way into the caves.

I ran down the lengthy cave system, following the sound of a battle taking place as I came to multiple crossroads. Eventually I found myself in a beautiful circular wide open chamber with colourful flora and trees all planted in small ponds of crystal clear water. In the middle of the huge chamber there stood a large detailed shrine with the Super Emeralds on pillars surrounding the Master Emerald which seemed to be bigger than I imagined. I noticed that the stone that the shrine was made out of was freshly cut. “Did Metal build this?”

My thoughts were interrupted as I spotted Metal fighting a Nightmare Fuel drone that knew it was outmatched and tried to flee, only to get caught in Metals claw and savagely torn to shreds. As the Nightmares corpse turned into an orb Metal stood between it and the shrine protectively. I walked up and took the orb.

“I’ll hold on to this until I can find Symbol.” Metal just growled again, but stood aside, allowing me to see something that made me gasp. Now I could see why Metal was hovering over the shrine so protectively. There was a girl on the master emerald. I started to walk up to her, but Metal jumped in the way and growled. I was shocked at first, but then I realized that she must be very important to him.

“Metal, you can trust me, I won’t hurt her.” Reluctantly, Metal stood aside and allowed me to pass. I walked up to her, and saw that she actually looked a little like me when I was human, except she had brown hair instead of black. It was to the point where some would call us sisters. I’m pretty sure Metal had once told me that I looked and acted like someone that was once important to him. This must be her. She didn’t look too hurt, but her face was contorted in pain. The damage she suffered must be internal or mental. If it was mental, then I could help her. There was however a noticeable red patch on her stomach, like she had been stabbed, the blood back at the castle must have been hers.

I began to read her mind. What I saw was a mess of memories and thoughts, but not enough to cause her this much pain. Just as I suspected, the real injuries must be internal. I began to organize and fix everything the best I could. It certainly helped that her mind was already trying to fix everything, so it was able to guide me on what to put where. Once that was all done, the girl seemed to relax a little. Metal came over and sniffed her, then looked at me.

“I’m sorry Metal… I fixed her memories and thoughts so that should ease the pain a little, but most of her injuries are internal. I can’t fix that.” Metal looked back at the girl before he huffed and hopped onto the emerald. He curled around her before setting face down next to her head. He whinned and nudged her a little before laying his head down. I sighed, on the brink of tears. “I-I’m sorry Metal, but I don’t know what we could do for her. I can see that the emeralds are doing their best to keep her alive, but something is stopping them from healing her.”

He noticed my distress and rose from the emerald while carefully walking around the girl. He hopped off the huge green gem and nuzzled my hand. It did comfort me a bit, but it was strange, to see my friend reduced to an animal that seemed to act completely on instinct, luckily it acted on Metals instincts which could turn in my favour.

Then a thought came to me, Metal had used the emeralds to heal others before, and I think on a visit Gale tried to use Metals emeralds to advance his super form but the emeralds wouldn't respond but responded to Metal just fine, the emeralds must have bonded with him and granted him control over their power. He just can't use them with his corruption and lack of memory. If we get rid of the Apocalypse Magic we get Metal back and he can save this girl, whoever she is.

I suddenly started to feel tired, I hadn't slept in awhile and I was starting to fall asleep. Metal noticed this and wrapped his tail around my torso before carrying me up to the emerald. He carefully moved the girl over slightly and placed me on the other side of it before his tail stretched and wrapped around us both protectively. He then retracted his spikes, now giving a friendlier appearance, as to not hurt us while lying down close to us. Even when excluding the Apocalypse Magic in this world, I could feel something else leering in the shadows, and it was too familiar, I just couldn't wrap my head around it, but I think Metal sensed it too as he slightly tightened his hold on us.

I then began project my thoughts into Gale’s head. ‘Gale?’

‘Lisa? Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?’

‘What? No! He isn't going to hurt me Gale, he's actually protecting me, I don't know what from but there is something in this world apart from the Apocalypse Magic.’

‘Well then I'll come down there with you to track it down.’

‘That's not a good idea Gale, Metal isn't just protecting me down here and I have a feeling he doesn't want anyone near us at the moment.’

‘Is there someone else down there?’

‘Yeah, there's this girl that's injured, Metal is protecting her as the emeralds try to heal her, and what's weird is she looks like me!’

‘What? Wait...didn't Metal say something about knowing someone like you? Exactly like you?’

‘He did, I guess this is her. Look Gale, find a place to rest up for the night, I'm going to get some shuteye.’

‘Got that covered, a group of the timberwolves are letting me bunk with them, I'm guessing Metal told them to help me since I'm with you.’

‘Ok, goodnight babe.’

‘Night Lisa. Hey wait.’

‘What?’

‘How can I hear you?’

‘I’ve gotten so used to the presence of your mind that I can project my thoughts into it.’

‘Oh. Huh, that’s interesting. Well anyways night Lisa.’

‘Night babe.’

I broke the link and wrapped my arms around Metal who shifted slightly to let me get more comfortable as I cuddled up to him. “I'll help you, I'll get your friend back...so I can get all of my friends back. I promise Metal.” He gave what seemed to be a silent huff before laying his head down on the gem, but not closing his eyes. “I guess being a robot and being powered by dark magic means you don't need to rest. Goodnight Metal.” With that I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

But before I slipped into a dream I felt my subconscious being moved out of my body and into a place I didn't know.

Suddenly, an echoed voice rang out. ”Hello, Lisa.”

‘Who's there?’

”Relax my dear. My name is Jasper...I'm Metals father.”

> Chapter Eight: Wandering Minds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Eight: Wandering Minds






‘Metals father?’

”Yes Lisa, the one you call Metal is my son.”

I couldn't under what was happening, everything was going by so fast. With all that's been going on I really didn't expect to meet my best friends parents while said friend is corrupted by dark magic in an apocalyptic world. ‘I don't understand, why is all this happening?’

”This was never meant to happen, someone has been tampering with the path this timeline is supposed to take.”

‘This timeline?’

”Yes, there are multiple different timelines that are affected by what happens in this period of time around Alduin’s wedding. It was most likely the Nightmare Fuels and Xram that have been tampering with destiny.”

‘Why are you telling me this and not someone like Author or Marx?’

”I am unable to reach them at this moment my dear. I am currently trying to keep this world from completely breaking apart, and so I must act through you Lisa.”

‘What do I need to do?’

”For now just wait, you need to focus on keeping my son as close to himself as possible. You're the only one that he trusts right now, so I must ask you to stay with him. He holds you in very high regard my dear, you're one of the most important people in his life right now. Stay with him, and do not let harm befall that girl on the emerald. I shall speak to you later, for now you must wake up.”

I felt myself returning to my body. Opening my eyes slowly I looked to my side to see that Metal was gone, with just me and the girl laying on the huge master emerald. I sat up and stretched my arms. Looking around I saw that Metal was patrolling around the shrine protectively.

Getting off of the emerald I walked down the smooth stone steps of the shrine towards my friend, who must have sensed me as he stopped and looked up at me. He gave a very low growl, which I took as a greeting, before sitting down near the bottom of the steps. As I reached him I put a hand on his forehead and he leaned into the touch. “Come on Metal, let's go check up on Gale.”

He just looked at me and placed a claw on the shrine.

“Look, she'll be fine.” I held my hand up and large black tendrils grew out of the ground around the shrine, waving about and blocking any possible access to the girl. “That will let me know if anything gets down here and should fight them off. Now, let's go.”

Metal gave me another low growl before getting up and walking towards the cave system that led to the surface.





{Gale’s POV}

Sleeping with a pack of timberwolves is actually pretty damn comfy. I knew that whenever they slept, they just turned back into branches and stuff for protection, but I had no idea that they could focus themselves into one thing. I don’t exactly know why, but these guys turned into a small little shack with a bed made out of leaves. It was surprisingly soft, and I slept like a baby. Anyways, I woke up to a horrid looking Equestria. It took me a second to remember that I was in Metal’s world, and not my own.

‘Gale? You there?’ I jumped up a little in surprise from the sound of my girlfriend’s voice in my head. Man I need to get used to this.

“Huh? Oh hey Lisa. What’s up?”

‘We’re coming by to get you. We’ll be there in a bit alright?’

“Sounds good. I’ll be waiting.”

‘See you then babe.’

“Later.” I could feel the connection cut off and I looked around. Gregar was sleeping at the foot of the bed, a blanket of leaves draped over him.

Damn, these were some nice timberwolves.

Anyways I woke Gregar up and we left the little shack. The timberwolves must have noticed this because they turned back into their wooden wolf selves. To pass the time, I played fetch with them. Watching a timberwolf chase a stick was really weird looking. I mean, it was a bunch of sticks, chasing a stick. That threw my head for a loop. Thankfully it wasn’t a paradox.

Now that would have been bad.

So after an hour or so I saw Metal and Lisa walk out of the treeline. They stopped and watched as the timberwolves chased a stick, gaining the same confused expression I had. Lisa shook it off before she approached me.

“Sorry we left you out here babe.” She gave me an apologetic kiss, earning just a very, very low growl from Metal. I simply shook my head.

“No no it’s fine. Sleeping with a pack of timberwolves is actually pretty nice, considering they formed themselves into a shack with a bed in it for me.”

“Really? Huh, never thought timberwolves could do that.” I heard a small growl from Metal. He sounded like he needed to be somewhere, and he sounded urgent. “Alright then let’s head back. Metal doesn’t want to be separated from that girl for too long.”

“Wait, you understood that?”

“Nope. Just good with animals.” She walked off back to the treeline, with Metal and I close behind. I looked at Metal and gained a sorrowful expression.

‘Don’t worry buddy. We’ll get you through this.’

As we continued on we passed more of the Timberwolves that were going about their business, if they strayed too close to Lisa they earned a hostile growl from Metal and then kept their distance. Sometimes I wondered just how close Metal wanted to be with Lisa, I just get that feeling that he wants to be more than just friends with her.

Maybe it's just how much she reminds him of the girl that Lisa mentioned, I don't know. I decided to just keep an eye on Metal for now, he doesn't seem to be in absolute, scratch that, he doesn’t seem be in control at all, just following his instincts.

While we were walking Metal suddenly walked ahead of me and to Lisa's side. I was surprised when he retracted the spines on his back and looked up to Lisa who petted his head and sat down on his back, allowing him to carry her. I just looked at Lisa confused and she just shrugged before Metal started walking again.

As we reached a large clearing with a cave in the side of the mountain that was surrounded by a pack of the Timberwolves I just started wondering just how animal like Metal was if he was able to communicate and even command the wolves.

As we entered the cave it started going downwards. Coming to different crossroads Metal just walked down one of the two paths without waiting, so I followed suit, now sensing the emeralds strong presence. I could feel the Super Emeralds with the master emerald, not surprised that Metal would try to use them to heal someone.

As we turned the last corner and walked down the last hallway I was surprised to see a stone shrine surrounded by black tendrils. Lisa snapped her fingers and they all disappeared revealing the beauty of this place and showing the Super Emeralds surrounding the shrine on different pillars, with the master emerald somehow being twice it's normal size and placed at the top of the shrine where I saw a figure lying down.

As I tried to step onto the shrine I was shocked to find Metals instantly jumped in front of me and turned to me with a hostile growl, making me back away from the shrine. He then used the blade on his tail to draw a line between the shrine and me before pointing to it and walking up the shrines steps towards the master emerald.

I turned around to Lisa confused. “Just do what he wants Gale, he's just trying to keep that girl safe is all.”

I sighed and nodded, feeling left out somewhat. I felt Lisa plant a kiss on my forehead before she began walking up the shrines steps and knelt down beside Metal who was sitting while staring at the figure on the emerald with worry. I watched Metal get up and move from emerald to emerald, checking them and moving them very carefully in some cases like he was trying to see if something was wrong with them or to make sure they were in proper placement.

He eventually walked up to Lisa and gave a low growl before walking down the steps, passing me while giving me a glare, stopping as he reached the exit of the chamber before curling into his spindash, which was now a large ball of blue and silver spikes, and shooting up and out the cave.

Lisa walked down the steps and began slowly walking through the beautiful flora surrounding the shrine before sitting down on a tree stump while looking at all the flowers. I walked over to her and sat down beside her.

“What happened to him?” I asked.

Lisa looked down at me with curiosity. “What?”

“What happened to Metal? What caused all this to happen to him? What did he do to deserve all of this? His world torn apart, seeing one of his friends in such a condition, being possessed by dark magic and not being able to heal his friend. He treats you like you're his master or something, but he treats me like I'm gonna try and kill him at any given moment.” I looked to the shrine and then back to my girlfriend.

“I don't know Gale, something is messing with all of us. I heard the voice of Metal’s dad last night while I slept and he said something about someone messing with destiny.” She said. “And I think we both know who could be behind that, or rather, which two beings are behind this.”

“Xram and Nightmare.” We both said in anger.

“So now he's torturing my best friend? Xram is gonna pay.” I said darkly. I got up and walked around to collect my thoughts. Great, I was just about to go to my brother’s wedding, but now I had something like this to deal with. ”FUCK!”

“Gale-”

“No! I’m tired of this shit! I wanna know what the hell happened here! I wanna know who the hell that girl is!” I stopped as Lisa hugged me, trying to calm my anger. “I wanna know what the hell Metal did to deserve this. What any of us did to deserve any of this.”

“Gale, sometimes this is how fate works. For no reason at all, we were chosen to take part in this. At least we’re allowed to be there for him.” I nodded. She was right, at least we could be here for him. I calmed down a bit more after that. Metal came back, rolling down the path straight to us. When he uncurled, he growled at me, as if telling me to move back. But I stood my ground and let my eyes (eye?) glow red as I gave him my best death stare. That made him back off a bit.

But it seemed to be out of surprise rather than fear, I don't think anyone has really stood up to him at this point. He just countered with his own glare, and I struggled to keep my cool. His eyes were just filled with so much unnatural anger and despair, it was hard not to flinch. But I stood my ground and began walking over to him while countering his glare.

When I reached him I had to look down, trying to show dominance by showing that I was the bigger player...big mistake. Once he had figured out what I was doing he slowly began to rise onto two legs, I had thought he could only stand on his four claws. Once he was up he was taller than me by half a head, I now had a better view of most of his spikes.

“Gale...just back away...I'll try to calm him down.” Lisa said as she tried to walk over.

“No Lisa.” I held out my hand to stop her. “Let me do this, I need to show him I mean well.”

“By intimidating him?! He's got the instincts of a fucking predator right now!”

I screwed up, I'll admit. Metal grabbed me in his claw and smashed me into the ground. He then threw me into the wall. I was able to pull myself out, and when I did I saw Metal taking a defensive stance in front of Lisa like he was protecting her. Protecting her, from me.

Ah hell nah.

“I see. Since you don’t remember me, you don’t remember the relationship that I have with Lisa. You think she’s yours. Well, listen here pal, we may be friends, but no one steals my girl. If you think that being a primal monster is an excuse to take every female that’s to your liking,” my eye glowed an even brighter red as my power started rising, “you’re dead wrong.”

Energy burst out around me as I donned my super form. Once the transformation was complete, I rushed up to Metal and grabbed him by the neck.

“Let’s take this outside shall we?” I shot up and used Metal as a shield as we barreled through the earth. We blasted out the mountainside that held the cave we were in. I then shot downwards, right into the ground, smashing Metal into face first. There was an explosion, and I jumped off to the side. I watched the plume of smoke for any signs of Metal. Suddenly, a huge red laser was fired at me, but I managed to dodge it. “You’ll have to do a hell of a lot better than that.”

As soon as I said that I felt a surge of dark magic behind me. Turning around I saw a faint red glow in the dust. Once the dust settled I saw Metal standing there, his body now glowing red and red electricity appearing all over his body. He crossed his arms and looked at me with a glowing eye. What he said next made me rethink my plan of attack. “Chaos...Blast…” With the built up Apocalypse Magic in him the normal Chaos Blast was now as strong as...well it was like a miniature nuclear bomb that's all I can describe it as.

A violent wave of red energy swept across the area, I was unable to dodge or counter so I had to take the full force of the blast. As the energy stopped expanding it seemed to form a dome around the area, blocking any chance of escape while still dealing damage to its target, me.

As Metal approached I tried to get off my knees but the magic had managed to paralyse me, so all I could do was watch as Metal stomped towards me, his sharp claws seeming to look even more threatening than before. He reached me and pulled his arm back, ready to take a swipe...but he stopped. He just stood there, unmoving. His glowing eyes were gone, making it look like he was in some kind of shutdown.

I knew that it was a lost cause trying to restrain him, his monstrous strength could easily break through anything we bound him with, and his spikes could just saw right through the bonds. I took this chance to recover before punching him in the face, sending him flying backwards.

As I approached him I saw his eyes flicker back to life before he used his extending tail to knock me off my feet before getting to his. He just looked at me, thoughtfully, it looked like he was studying me, it was like when he had first seen Lisa. Suddenly he started stepping back and gave a low growl. He had remembered me. He cancelled the dome and began walking back to the cave. He curled into his spindash and jumped down the hole in the ground that I had made when I had taken him out of the chamber.

When I reached the shrine again I saw that Metal was lying on his side by the shrine with his eyes once again shut off, like he was sleeping. Lisa was sitting beside him with her back against the master emerald. “You need to stop assuming things Gale.” Lisa said in a hushed voice.

“What?”

“You need to stop assuming things.” She said louder. “You said that he thought I was his, but you were wrong, he remembered me for me, not the girl and he wasn't trying to steal me from you, he just didn't want to risk losing anyone else dear to him. I guess he just got confused with who was friend and who was foe.” She said in a calmer tone while placing a hand on Metals face. “If we're going to help him we need to get the real him out of there, he's in there I know it, I saw it. We just need to get in there somehow.”

“Even if we did get into his subconscious who would look after the girl or protect us from harm while we're asleep?” I asked.

”I believe I may be of use here.” A voice spoke as a ball of purple light floated into the chamber. ”Hello you two, and good to see you again Lisa.”

“Lisa who is this?”

“That's Jasper, Metals dad.”

”It’s a pleasure to meet you Gale.”

“Uh.., same here?”

”So, I heard you say something about getting into my son’s mind.”

“Yeah! Do you have a way?”

”Yes, I do. But, I’m reluctant to do this.”

“Huh? Why?”

”The mindscape is affected by a person’s state of mind. With the way Metal’s it running rampant, it could be very dangerous.”

“So what? Metal is our friend, hell is gonna have to freeze over before we decide to leave him behind. Besides, Lisa and I can handle anything that Metal’s insanity can throw at us.”

”Very well, if you think you are ready, then I will send you.” I was about to nod before I stopped and turned to Gregar.

“Hey buddy. Think you could watch over Metal and the girl for us while we’re gone?”

“You can count on me.” I nodded before I turned to the purple flame that represented Metal’s father.

“Alright, we’re ready.” The flame seemed to nod before a small ball of light formed in front of it. It consistently grew bigger and bigger until it enveloped us, causing everything to go white. Soon, everything was dark, not a single thing in site.

“Is this Metal’s mindscape?” I turned to Lisa, and froze.

“Whoa.” Lisa turned to me, confused.

“What?” Suddenly she gained a look of surprise. “Uh, Gale?”

“Uh, Lisa?”

“You-”

“-look-”

“-weird.”

{Third POV}

Lisa and Gale finished their sentences simultaneously. Both looked at each other, mystified by their new appearances. Lisa looked… odd. Her normal form that was constantly seen, with the long black hair, the pale white skin, and faceless head was like a faded outline over a new body. This body still had the long black hair and the black dress. But the similarities stop there. She was a bit shorter, had light tan skin, and beautiful black eyes. This is what she looked like as a human.

Gale had also changed. His Mecha sonic form was also a faded outline around a human body. Gale was in the human form he took when he went to Equestria’s human world. He had the long light blue hair the was spiked towards the ground. He had his red and yellow heterochromia eyes, a blue jacket with a light blue undershirt, blue jeans, and light blue shoes.

“Lisa, why do you look like that?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

”This is how you look in the mindscape. Everyone, looks like this.”

“What? But when Xram invaded my mind I didn’t look like this.”

”That was different. When Xram entered your mind, it was by force so your mind put up a barrier, causing you to take that form.”

“Oh… I guess that makes sense.” He turned to Lisa and eyed her. “So this is what you look like as a human?”

“Yeah.” She then made a pose and stared into Gale’s eyes. “What do you think?”

“Hot as ever.” She giggled and gave him a kiss. A real one now that they actually had lips.

“Thanks babe. You’re not too shabby yourself.” Gale just chuckled and looked around.

“Alright. Welp, we best get moving. Metal has got to be around here somewhere.”

“But where would we even look to find him?”

“Hmm.” Gale closed his eyes and listened for any sort of sound. Although it was faint, he could hear a piano playing in the distance. “I think I have an idea as to where he may be.”

As the two began walking towards the sound details started to appear in the void around them. They seemed to be entering a hallway of sorts, but in shambles with lines of red energy spread around the place like wires in the walls. On the walls lay paintings that were blurred out by the red energy. “His memories...they're all faded.” Gale said quietly as he looked around.

“These just look like random ones, most of them are just of him either playing video games or doing something to pass the time, I think we need to go deeper to find his more important memories.” Lisa said as she looked to one of the paintings.

“Well to do that I guess we just follow the sound of that piano.” Gale said before walking on ahead.

“You know, I never knew that Metal played the piano.”

“Oh yeah that never came up with you two did it? When we first met Metal told me that Luna had gotten him to wear a suit and perform for the thestrals of his world.”

Lisa just giggled as she imagined Metal in a tux playing a grand piano. “Oh my god really?”

“Yeah, we even made a bet to see who could pull off a suit better in their battle forms...I lost.”

“What were the stakes?”

“I owe Metal one favour and I have to do it unless it's something unnecessarily creepy, but I doubt that will happen. He's still yet to cash in, I guess he was saving it for situations like this.”

The two continued to walk through the corrupted hallways, occasionally blocked by large red crystalic walls forming in their way which they destroyed but with difficulty. Things followed a linear path until they came to a small lobby of sorts with two pathways branching out. “I think we should split up, cover ground faster.”

“I don't think that's a good idea Lisa, you heard Jasper, there could be anything in this place.”

“Do you really think that Metal would let something hurt me in here?” She asked with a raised brow.

“...point taken.” They gave each other a kiss before heading down different hallways. As they turned their corners two signs flickered to life above each entrance. The one Glae had went down was labelled ‘Secrets’ and the one Lisa went down was labelled ‘Core Memories and Feelings.’

Meanwhile, deep inside the subconscious realm there lay a white chamber, in the centre lay a round stage where a white grand piano stood. Gentle notes filled the jar as the one playing expertly crafted a masterpiece of a song. The one playing wore a white tailcoat and dresspants, his hair spiked and black, looking no older than seventeen. His eyes...one was normal with the colour of blue while the other was black with a red glowing dot as a pupil, lines of red energy surrounding it like wires. He too had an outline, the outline of Metal Sonic.

> Chapter Nine: Inner Secrets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Nine: Inner Secrets






{Gale's POV}

As I walked through the hallway of Metal's inner secrets I couldn't help but try to get some dirt on him to use as potential blackmail in the future. “Come on, where's the good stuff?” I know that I'm being a total jackass by doing this but Metal had pranked or showed me up way too many times and I want some payback.

Each of the paintings had locks on them that were corrupted by the Apocalypse Magic, blocking them from view. However, I did manage to come across one secret that wasn’t sealed away.

It played and showed Metal and I at a party, I turned away from him and went to Lisa. While my back was turned Metal put something into his drink, looking like some sort of pill that fizzed in the liquid.

“Wait, is that some kind of antidepressant?” The painting stopped and faded to grey, waiting to be played again.

I moved on, finding a few other unlocked secrets that either made me feel bad for the guy or just laugh. Although, I couldn't find any from when he was human, it was all him as Metal Sonic.

As I was about to leave the area and move down the next hallway I saw the last one at the end of the hall with a lock on it, but the lock was severely cracked, all it would take was a quick strike to open it.

Letting my curiosity get the better of me I knocked the lock down and let the secret play. As it progressed my eyes slowly widened and I suddenly felt a sense of dread. “Oh... my... God…”





{Lisa’s Pov}

I looked at the teenager in front of me, of whom I assumed to be Metal. He continued playing the piano, apparently not noticing my presence. I stood and waited as he played the melody, patiently waiting for him to finish. When he finished and sighed. He prepared to begin playing another when I started clapping. With a look of surprise, he turned to me, applauding his little performance. I was conflicted about how his left eye seemed to be corrupted by the Apocalypse Magic, but I continued.

“Bravo Metal! Bravo! I didn’t know you could play the piano.” Metal shook his head, as if trying to determine if I was real or not.

“L-Lisa?”

“In the flesh… or rather, in the soul!”

“What are you doing here?” I crossed my arms and gave him a look.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Metal gave me a quizzical look, clearly not understanding what I meant. “Metal, can you take a guess at where we are?”

“My mind.”

“Yes but where exactly?” Metal paused for a moment, once again confused.

“I don’t know what you mean.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“Metal, we’re in your subconscious. Deep, in your subconscious. In a place where your consciousness should never travel too, less it might never return. We’re in a place where you have no control over your body, and are a prisoner in your own mind. Do you understand what I mean now?” Metal nodded. “Okay, then I’ll ask you again. Why are you here, or rather why do you think you’re here?”

He remained silent for a moment, his face emotionless. “I'm here because I made yet another mistake.” He turned around and began to play again, but in a soft tune low enough that we could still talk.

“What do you mean, ‘made yet another mistake?’” I asked.

He seemed to tense up, some anger clearly showing. “You know damn well what I mean.” He said with ice in his voice.

I was shocked, through all of the time I had known Metal he had never once talked to me like that, to Gale or a few others sure but this was the first time he had spoken like that to me. “Metal, are you ok?”

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK LISA?!?!” He yelled in fury as he slammed his hands o to the piano.

I was completely taken back by this, first the icy tone, now the yelling.

“ANSWER ME!!! DO I LOOK OK?!?! DOES ANYTHING IN THIS DAMN PLACE LOOK FINE TO YOU?!?!” He turned to look at me from the corner of his right eye, which was filled with anger. Not anger you would feel if something wasn't going your way, no, what Metal was feeling was pure, unadulterated, rage.

I just remained silent, this wasn't the Metal I knew...but was this the real him? Had he been putting on a mask this whole time?

“Metal, nothing about you is fine right now, I know that. I was just asking because I care about you.” I said calmly. “I care about my friends and family, and you're part of my family Metal, so I care about how you feel.”

“Well you shouldn't care about me.” He said simply, not from arrogance or in a dismissive nature, but like he was giving me advice. “The more you care about someone the harder it is when they're taken away from you.”

“That may be true in hindsight, but in reality that’s a stupid idea.” Metal turned to with a tired expression.

“I guess to know why I think that you'd have to have lived my life.” He said quietly. “Lisa, I'm not gonna tell you that I've had it worse off than you.”

I looked at him surprised, usually that's how these situations go. “Why not?”

“Because I already know about your past.” He said tiredly. Okay what? Whoa whoa whoa how in the hell does he know about that?

“How?”

He put a hand to his forehead as if he had a headache. “You honestly didn't think I wouldn't do any research on you guys? On Gale, Auldin and whoever else?” He turned back to his piano and continued to play in a darker tone. “I know about your relationship with Marx, I know about your uncle's lab, I know about your life in Equestria.”

A part of this was just plain creepy.

“Don't worry, I didn't look into your personal shit, I just did research on your past.” He assured, exhaustion clear in his voice.

“Well that's ok, but why?” I asked with curiosity.

“Lisa, you are literally the alternative version of my now dead girlfriend, why the hell wouldn't I look into you?”

I should have guessed, that girl was his girlfriend. “Well that makes sense I suppose.”

“Why are you here Lisa?”

“What?”

“Why are you here? Why venture into my mind just to talk to me like this?” He asked with anger.

“I came here to get you back, that...thing...out there isn't you, I can't stand seeing my friends becoming monsters like that. I've seen Gale turn into a beast, Symbol turn into a fucking Nightmare and now I've seen you become a...a…” I tried to pin exactly what Metal had become on the surface, it wasn't a werehog form I knew that much.

“A wolf?” Metal suggested.

“Yeah, basically.” I sighed and took a step forward. “Metal, you need to get out of this place, you need to take control again! The emeralds are trying to heal that girl out there, but only you know how to use them. You can save her.”

Metal just looked at me and shook his head. “I'm not resurfacing Lisa, I have too much to figure out right now. That thing controlling my body is protecting her right now, I don't need to worry.” He continued playing, the tune being a soothing melody.

“Metal, you can figure everything out when we get you back in your body, we have to go!” I pleaded with him.

“Lisa, do you even know anything about me?” He asked, causing me to stop. “I’m not the cocky Metal Sonic that you've been around, I'm just put on a fake smile to stop you guys from worrying because you have far bigger fish to fry.”

“I do know something about you Metal.” I walked up to him, turned him around, placed my hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes, even the corrupted one. “I know that you care for those around you, I know that deep down you know that you're a good person. You keep fighting for others, you fight for Equestria, you fight to protect those you love and care for.” I smiled at him and raised a brow. “Who is the one searching for the shards to my world? You are. Who just protected an entire universe from nonexistence? You did. Who keeps coming to help me and my clumsy boyfriend? You do.” He just sat there with a blank expression, listening to me list off his accomplishments. “Metal, you are hands down one of the best people I know, you're probably the only one I know that hasn't gone on some rage induced murder spree.” I cupped his cheek in my hand and gave him a caring smile. “Metal, I am so lucky to have met you. I don't care if you've only been taking care of me because I remind you of your girlfriend. You still see me as me, not her. You've been trying so hard to help everyone and have asked nothing in return. I know how exhausting your life in Equestria is, you don't get any rest, yet you still keep fighting and putting up with whatever the multiverse throws at you with your head held high.” I blushed and looked away slightly. “To be honest, have I not met Gale, I probably would have wanted to be with you.”

He just looked at me surprised, letting what I had said sink in. “Lisa…”

I put a finger to his lips to silence him. “Our little secret, ok?” He nodded. “Now, I may not be able to be your lover-”

“Actually you and Gale can join the harem, but that's something I think we should stay clear of.” He stated.

“Yeah, no offence but I’m not one to join a harem. If I’m going to be dating someone, then they’re only gonna have me.” I replied. “Anyway, like I was saying. I may not be able to love you like a lover, but I can love you as a sister.” I walked up to him and ruffed up his hair a little. I took a better look at his form and giggled a little.

“What?”

“Metal, how old are you?”

“Um, seventeen. Why?” I just started to laugh harder. “What?”

“I guess that makes me your big sister!”

“Wait what? How old are you?”

“Metal, asking a woman her age is rude. But, if you must know, I’m twenty one.”

“I don't care, I'm already a jackass, saying I'm rude is a compliment to me. But twenty one? Damn, you have aged well.” I smacked Metal upside the head for that. “Ow what the-”

“Twenty one isn’t that old dumbass.”

“I meant you looked like you were in your teens, Jesus!” I rolled my eyes. Excuses excuses. “Well anyways how old is Gale?”

“Twenty two.”

“That goofball? He’s twenty two?”

“Yes. Why, does that surprise you?

“Nah, I kinda expected he'd be somewhere around that age anyway.” He laughed for a second before his smile turned to a frown and he looked down.

“What's wrong?”

He looked to the left and covered his corrupted eye with his hand. “Lisa...I don't think this is fair.”

“What?”

“I know all about your past, yet you don't know anything about mine.”

“Oh I know more than you'd guess.” Metal looked at me questioningly.

“How?”

“I met your mom and dad.” 

He looked at me with wide eyes, he slowly stood up and grasped me by the shoulders. “What did you just say?”

“I met your mom and dad. Your mother has been Cosmo all this time, and your father is a void dweller. Not a displacer mind you, but a void dweller. They both did whatever they could to help Gale and I get in here and save you.”

“Cosmo...she's...my mom…” He collapsed to his knees and looked to his hands. “My dad...a void dweller. I can't believe it...they're still alive. I thought...I thought I was an orphan.”

“Yeah, well you aren’t. And they’re both pretty sure your sister is still alive too. Though, they haven’t managed to track her down. That’s why you haven’t met your father yet. He’s been looking for your little sister.”

Tears began to form in his eyes. “Marcy...is alive too?”

“Yes, they’re pretty sure. So since you’ve got quite a bit of people to get back to, quit wallowing in your self pity and let’s get out of here. Your mother is especially worried about you.”

As I got up and began walking towards the hallway I felt Metal grab my arm. “Wait.” I turned to him and saw he had a look of shame in his eyes. “When I said I wanted to tell you of my past...I didn't mean what you had told me. I mean what happened after. How I became like this, how I met Myles and Connel… what I did to my world’s Gale…”

“Your world’s Gale?” I questioned.

“Yeah...his name was Martin on my world...and I...I…” He sighed and looked away. “It's better if I show you.” He began walking down the hall of memories that I had came in through, I hadn't looked at any of the paintings as I respected Metals privacy, but he was showing me his past now, I had to see what he wanted to show me, so I followed him. “That girl out there, her name is Samantha, Samantha Jackson, you already know that she's my worlds version of you. Martin, my worlds version of Gale...let's just say...he wasn't the most mentally stable person in the world.”

I started to feel nervous about what he was about to show me, the way he was talking wasn't helping me either.

We reached the hall of memories and I had noticed that many of the paintings had changed from us to a group of humans. “I've moved some of the memories to speed things up.” He said.

“You can do that?”

“It's my mind Lisa, I can do whatever I want in here.” He sighed and stopped by a painting. He touched it and it began to play.

It showed a young boy, probably about fifteen, smoking a cigarette in an alleyway. He had a pure white jacket on, he had spiky black hair and a blue right eye, the other covered by a black eyepatch. “Is that-”

“Yes...that's me.” Metal said with a sigh.

The painting continued and a girl came rushing up to him with a panicked expression. Metal looked at the girl with a raised brow before taking the cigarette out of his mouth. “What's wrong Sam?” He asked.

“He’s back Metal, he's coming after me again.” This confused me, the girl was calling him Metal, why?

Metal just sighed and put the cigarette back in his mouth. “Samantha, get behind me. I'm taking care of this.”

The girl did as she was told and got behind Metal who had taken his back off the wall and now stood with his hands in his jean pockets in the middle of the alley.

Just then another boy, around seventeen years old, came running into the alley but stopped as he saw Metal. He looked like Gale did in his human form, but his hair was grey and he looked like he had just escaped from a loony bin. “Alright Martin, what do you want?” Metal asked in annoyance.

“What do I want?! You know what I want! I want my girlfriend back!” Martin yelled in a psychotic voice.

“Now why is it that you think she is YOUR girlfriend?” Metal asked as he blew a cloud of smoke.

“WHY?!” Martin then gave a psychotic laugh. “ISN’T IT OBVIOUS?!” Martin then held up a heart shaped locket. “WHY WOULD SHE GIVE ME THIS IF SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME?!” Martin calmed down slightly and smirked. “C’mon Met, we're best friends, surely you understand.”

Metal glared at Martin and crushed his cigarette in his hand. “Best friends? Was setting fire to the orphanage we all lived in a sign of friendship?!”

Martin then laughed. “Oh come on! Life in there was hell! Remember?! I got rid of the bad memories, I freed us all from the years of torment! I did it for you...BEST FRIEND!”

“Martin, just give yourself up, you need help.” Samantha pleaded, but Metal just pushed her back gently before turning to Martin with a burning rage in his right eye.

“You have never once, ever could be, or ever will be my friend! Ever!” He yelled. “You sick, twisted, FUCK!!!” Metal grabbed the side of his head. “I put up with you for seven Goddamn years! Because for some reason, I actually thought you WERE my friend!”

“We can be best friends if you just give SAMANTHA BACK TO ME!!!” Martin began walking towards them.

Metal growled and jumped him. “Fuck, you!” The two began to wrestle each other. Metal had began pushing him back towards a bridge on the next street. Samantha only watched with her hands over her mouth as she watched them.

Martin pushed Metal against the railing of the bridge that sat above a deep river that was thrashing violently. Metal then grabbed Martins arms and threw him over the rail, sending him falling to his doom. He got to his feet and looked down, finding no trace of Martin. It would take a miracle for him to survive in those conditions.

Samantha walked up and propped Metal up with her shoulder, helping him walk. “Are you ok?”

Metal caught his breath and looked to Samantha with a weak smile. “Yeah...I'm alright...let’s just go home ok?” With that the two of them began slowly walking away and the memory ended.

Metal turned to me with a shameful look. “That’s… what I meant. I killed him without remorse, I didn’t even care that he was dead. I… I just…” I quickly gave him a hug, making him shut up.

“Hey, it’s okay Metal. You did what you had to, to protect that girl. You don’t have a reason to be remorseful about that.”

“You have no idea how hard it is to know that another version of him is now my best friend. I constantly worry that one day Gale will end up like Martin…I've even made plans to kill him if he does.” I simply shook my head.

“Nah, I don’t think that’s possible.” Metal gave me a questioning look.

“How do you know for certain?”

“Because, he beat Xram out of his mind, and Xram is the most corrupting force in the multiverse. If Gale can resist him, then he can resist his own insanity. Besides, he’ll have me, his brother, his niece and nephew, and quite a few others. And to top it off, he’s a robot. He can simply have his systems reset his sanity levels at any time. I’ve seen him do it too.”

Metal gave me another questioning look.

“When was that?”

“Our world’s Pinkie got a hold of some highly, and I do mean HIGHLY, concentrated sugar cookies. Everyone lost their minds. Kinda funny now that I think about it.”

Metal just shook his head. “I don't even know how to respond to that one.”

I chuckled as we started to walk. “Don’t try to.”





{Gale’s POV}

I couldn’t believe my eyes. What the hell was this?  This was something that should have been buried in the deep archives of Metal’s mind. This was an idea that should have been under better lock down.

This was a plan to kill me.

I stared in horror as the window displayed details and facts about me, ones that very few know of, and some that I’ve never told anyone about! There were lists on my strengths, weaknesses, abilities and powers. All sorts of things that made this look like a hit list. There were battle strategies, scenarios, and other such things that labeled this as a full fledged plan just waiting to be used. I took a step back. This can’t be real, it doesn’t make sense! Why would my best friend have plans to kill me? What was the point in that? What could he possibly gained if I died?!

I took a deep breath and attempted to calm myself. This was probably just contingency plan that he made after I got possessed by Xram. I mean, if anyone got possessed by that guy, I would too. Yeah, that was the reason. He was just planning ahead in case Xram took control of me again. I sighed in relief, knowing my friend still cared about me. However, there was still a little part of me that was wary of that plan, and what it could still possibly mean. I tried to brush it off but the feeling wouldn’t leave, so I continued onward hoping that it would clear up later.

“Alright, how do I get out of here?” I looked around in an attempt to find an exit. After a bit of searching, I decided to head down another hall of secrets, figuring I would eventually find my way out. As I walked I came across another window with a weak lock on it. I considered opening it, but decided against it as it may just make me panic even more. I turned and walked away.

And yet with every step I took, I could not help but feel drawn to the sealed away secret. Every footstep was met with a yearning desire to turn around and unlock the secret. I did my best to resist it, but then a little voice in my head decided to convince me.

What if it’s important? Well yeah it probably was. I mean, you don’t just lock something away without reason. What if it concerns that plan of Metal’s? I highly doubt it. If I was right then there shouldn’t be anything linked to that plan. What if it’s the reason he made that plan in the first place?

I stopped dead in my tracks, then slowly turned to look at the locked up window. Could it be related to the reason? That was highly unlikely. But… maybe just one look wouldn’t hurt.

I turned back and walked up to the secret. With a bit of force I blasted the lock away, allowing me to see what was behind this lock...I really wish I had just left it alone.

I couldn’t believe it. No, no this wasn’t possible. In this secret, this window, this painting, there were plans. Plans, and facts. Facts, about Lisa. What she liked, what she hated, and what she thought of Metal. This plan, this secret… it was a plan to- no! I can’t think like that! This was probably just some little squabble Metal had when he first met Lisa. That’s understandable. This was just some stupid thing he made a long time ago. He wasn’t going to go through with this.

I nodded to myself thinking I had come to the correct conclusion. I then walked off, planning to give Metal a hard time when I found him. When I turned a corner, I saw them.

Metal and Lisa…

Hugging…

And Lisa kissing his forehead...





{Lisa’s Pov}

As we walked, Metal showed me more of his past life on Earth.

“Life was unforgiving for us. Connel, Myles, Samantha, my little sister Marceline and I. After my mother had disappeared Marcy and I were found by a friend and we were taken to an orphanage after my mother had been confirmed dead...I guess that was a lie. Anyways, once at the orphanage at the age of six we met Myles and Connel. Myles was a really thin seven year old and Connel was this huge eight year old. We became best friends, almost like siblings. Our caretaker was the meanest, most abusive bitch you could ever meet. She didn't let any of us get adopted, always shooed away potential couples. Over the years I was bullied by the other kids because of my eyes, one blue and the other red. The guys and my sis stood up for me sure, but it just kept coming. Until one day when I found an eyepatch that belonged to a kid that had gone missing the previous year and started wearing it. The teasing stopped. Over the years we had been sneaking out at night, stealing money from anywhere we could to eventually buy at least some crumby apartment. After nine hard years we had gathered enough money, Connel having put it in a savings account. He was old enough to buy off a small appartment for us. So one night, we all snuck out of the top floor window of the orphanage, not before I put a knife in our abusers leg though, I wanted revenge for the amount of times she hit Marcy.”

He took in a breath and moved onto the next painting, it was him when he was a teen.

“I was fifteen at the time. Samantha had just gone missing, I had met her during my last year at the orphanage and we had been getting really close in that time, eventually dating. I was so heartbroken, and my sister had gone missing the month after. They were both confirmed dead, their bodies found in the woods. When I had attended their funeral I met my uncle, and he was the biggest piece of shit that ever existed. He was driving me back to the apartment when he made some smart remark about what had happened.”

He choked slightly but continued. “He then started to insult my mom and dad, I told him to stop but he kept the insults coming...the last straw was when he said that they all deserved to die.” The image showed Metal punching the guy driving and throwing him out of the car. The two began to fight and Metal backed him up towards a nearby cliff before kicking him over the edge and sending him falling to the sharp rocks below. “Yet another life I had took...and I didn't even feel bad about anything...but that made me feel bad, not feeling bad made me feel bad...how does that even work? It was because of those feelings that I had grown tired of losing people, watching them vanish out of thin air. That feeling of betrayal...is worse than anything.” He began to tear up again and I hugged him tightly.

“Hey, hey. It’s going to be okay Metal, you’ll see.” He seemed to snuggle deeper into my embrace. I kissed him on the head as a show of sisterly affection. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

Then suddenly, a ball of energy came out of nowhere, and everything went white. I watched in slow motion as the ball hit Metal right in the side of his torso, the look of shock on his face was haunting. He fell on his side, grasping his torso in pain. Everything started to break down and we were thrown out of the mindscape.





As I opened my eyes I couldn't see Gale anywhere, but I saw Metal, returned to normal but still with the red glow on his knees, his eyes glitching out and his body shaking, he was damaged.

I quickly ran up to him to see what was wrong, whatever hit him in the mindscape had damaged his outer body’s systems somehow. “Metal! Metal what's wrong?!” I asked in panic as I frantically looked him over.

“L-Lisa...I-It hu-hurts.” His voice glitching as he spoke in a shaky voice.

“It's alright Metal, you're gonna be ok! We'll get you to Marx and he can get you fixed up.” I assured him. I was about to help him up when he was knocked away again. He slammed against the stone wall and collapsed onto the ground with a loud clang. “Metal!” I tried to run up to him but came to a halt as a figure appeared behind him, picked him up and punched him right through the chest.

“GAHAA-AAAAA-AA!” He yelled in a glitched cry of pain.

I shot a tendril at the figure and stabbed it in the chest while catching Metal in my arms. As I glared at the figure, my mad mode beginning to show, I only stared in shock as I saw who it was. “Gale?!”

Gale was in his dark form. He pulled the tendril out of his chest and glared at Metal. “Lisa...stay away from him…” He said darkly. His voice was weird, as if there were two versions of him speaking simultaneously. His normal voice, and then another voice that sounded similar to Xram’s.

“Se-Self repair...failure…” Metal said in an automated voice. “Unable...to...re-repair...injuries.”

“Gale, what's wrong with you?! Why would you do this?!” I demanded in anger, I know he's prone to fits of rage every so often but this is way too fucking far.

“I'll explain later...just give me Metal…” He said darkly as he unleashed a crimson laser blade and began walking towards me.

I backed away and held the injured Metal close like a protective mother. “I am not giving him to you! What are you gonna do to him huh?! You gonna kill him, is that it?! Kill your best friend who is practically your brother?!”

“The...emerald…” Metal said weakly. “Master...emerald…”

That's right! The master emerald can heal Metal. As I turned to rush up the shrines steps a blast of energy destroyed the emerald, it's shards scattering all over the room and Samantha's body begin thrown to the side. I turned around and saw Gale with his hand held out with a small line of smoke coming from his palm.

‘He's really trying to kill him.’ I thought in disbelief. Gale looked at me, a darkness in his eyes.

“Lisa… hand him over to me… Now.” I took another step back.

“Gale… why are you doing this? What has Metal done to you?” Gale just started at me, then began to laugh, his double voice sending shivers down my spine.

“What has he done to me? WHAT HAS HE DONE TO ME?! This metalic MONSTER has made plans to kill me, and steal you away in the process! I’m going to end him here and now, so he has no chance to do either!” I gasped. So wherever Gale had gone, he had found Metal’s plans and had misunderstood. I don’t know anything about plans to steal me away from Gale, probably some jealousy induced thing, but that’s not the point. The point is, Gale had taken this the wrong way, and I needed to explain that to him.

“Gale you don’t understand! Metal had made those plans because he was afraid that you’d-”

“Shut up!” Gale threw a ball of energy at me. “I don’t want to hear it. After I’m done destroying this ingrate, I expect an explanation from you as to what you were doing with him earlier.” I could only watch as Gale walked up to Metal. Something was wrong. Gale could get mad, and there were times when he misunderstood things, but he would never go overboard like this unless he knew the full story. What is going on with him? As I watched him, I noticed a dark aura over him, and felt a very familiar presence.

Xram.

But how was that possible? Xram wasn’t here, was he? No, if he was we would have known by now. So what was going on? I mean, it’s not like Gale is… wait a minute. That small piece of Xram inside Gale, that must be what’s causing this! It fed off of Gale’s confusion and anger and took control! I had to get through to him, but how?

“Well well well, what do we have here?” I looked at Gale to see what he was doing, only to find him standing over Samantha. “My, my… isn’t this the one that’s special to you Metal?”

“G-Get aw-way fro-om h-h-her.” Metal struggled to get back up, but he was too badly damaged.

“Hmm, I wonder. Should I subject you to the same fate you saw fit for me? Should I steal her away from you too?” No, he wouldn’t dare. Gale was too sensible, not even Xram’s influence would- “You know what? I think I will.”

He held up his hand and began charging up an attack. He aimed it right at Samantha’s head. I managed to get to my feet and ran to her, throwing myself over her body.

“Gale stop this please!”

“Get out of the way Lisa.”

“No! I won’t! If you want to kill her, then you’ll have to kill me too!” I gave him a hard look. There was a reaction in his eyes. For a second, they became normal before quickly becoming crimson again.

“Hm hm hm, very well then.” He continued to charge up the attack and was about to fire when Gregar came out of nowhere and attacked. He tackled Gale to the ground and the two began to fight for dominance. As they did so, Falzar flew to my shoulder with a worried look.

“Master! Are you alright?”

“Yeah Falzar, thanks to you two.”

“What happened to Gale?”

“He’s being controlled by the piece of Xram that’s inside of him! We have to help him!” Falzar nodded.

“Alright master, then there is only one thing we can do.”

“And what’s that?”

“FUSE!” Falzar became all digital before he flew behind me. A grid appeared all around me and armor started forming. Boots with talons appeared on my feet, a red and black armor appeared on my legs, my chest plate had the same color, and the gauntlets that I gained had claws. Two spine like things grew out of the helmet I received, and wings appeared on my back. In all honesty, I looked like a faceless female Bass with the Falzar beast out mode armor on. My wings spread out along with a flash of light, signifying that my armor was done building itself.

I felt pretty awesome. As Gale knocked Gregar off of him, I sped towards him and kneed him in the stomach. I then grabbed him by the neck and threw him upward before I unleashed giant fire birds from my hands. All of them hit Gale, causing an explosion in their wake.

Gale then charged me but was knocked away by a blast of red energy. I looked down to see Metal on one knee, one hand over the hole in his chest and the other held out. “G-Get him a-away fr-from the shrine.” He said before falling on his face, his eyes fading out.

“Don't you die on me little bro, you're getting out of this with me.” I lifted him up with a tendril and put his back against the wall to support him. His eyes brightened again but were flickering off and on.

“Lisa...he hit my chaos drives.” His voice now appeared to be better, but I knew that there was no way he was going to fix anything else on his own. From what I knew Metal was powered by those drives, without them he would die. He shakily opened the hatch on his chest and showed the cracked drives, two of them in reduced to half their original size as they had been hit when Metal was damaged. “I won't last much longer…”

“Stay with me. Please Metal, I don't want to lose anymore friends.” Gale came up behind me and knocked me away while I was distracted. I stopped myself in midair with my wings and watched as Gale lifted Metal by the throat with the intent to kill.

“I won't let you take her from me!” He yelled as he began to crush Metals neck.

Metal seemed to bring up some more strength and began to glow red. “Chaos...blast…” He said weakly. A small, contained blast of chaos energy blasted Gale to the other side of the room. I ran up to Metal and wrapped him in a tendril, lifting him up behind me.

“I’m getting you out of here Metal, you're in no condition to fight.” I said sternly.

“Lisa, I'm staying right here.” I looked to him and saw that he had a serious expression on his face. “Long ago I promised to protect you and Gale, to make sure that you two lived happily together, so that you wouldn't lose each other like I did Samantha. If I have to die to make sure that you two can be happy then so be it. I'm staying, there's nothing you can say to stop me. If you send me away I'll just teleport back or use a portal.” He turned his head. “Watch out!”

I used a wing to shield myself from the blast of energy but it caused me to let go of Metal.

“I'll assist you if I can. You focus on Gale. If you can bring him to a cave under Canterlot, I have something there that can stop him.” Metal said as he shakily got to his feet, hand still over the huge hole in his chest. I nodded and turned to Gale.

“Hey, Gale!” He turned to me. This was gonna hurt to say this, but I had to keep his attention. “Personally I think that Metal would make a way better boyfriend. He’s newer, sleeker, and just all around better. Seems as though he’s already stolen my heart!”

Gale gained a hurt look on his face which cut me to the core. His sadness turned into rage as his eye glowed red and he charged with a cry of fury. I turned around and took off, heading towards Canterlot as fast as possible.





”LISA!!!” I rolled out of the way of another blast of energy that was aimed at me. Looking back I could see that Gale was gaining on me, looking as though nothing more would please him than my destruction. But that didn’t too much matter, I was almost at the caves.

I looked down and saw Metal standing at the mouth of the cave and motioned me inside before teleporting away. I blasted Gale point blank to earn some time and flew into the caverns underneath the wrecked city.

As I flew deeper and deeper into the cave I wondered just how long Metal had spent planning out these tunnel systems.

I eventually reached a small chamber with Metal standing on one side by a lever, holding the hole in his chest as he leaned in the switch, a red circle surrounded most of the room. “Get over here, and don't go inside the circle.”

I nodded and flew to his side. “What's this gonna do Metal?”

“You're about to find out.” Suddenly Gale burst through the stone wall and landed in the middle of the circle. “Gotcha now ya bastard.” Metal pulled the lever and Gale was suddenly surrounded by a dome of electricity. He tried to get out but was pushed backwards when he tried. The floor underneath him opened up and a golden sphere began rising out of the ground and surrounded Gale while placing restraints on him, rendering him unable to move. “There, that should hold him for now...you do what you gotta do.”

I nodded and focused my energy on Gale, and entered his mind.

Metal’s POV

I watched Lisa fall limp as she entered Gales mind. I caught her and lay her against the wall to avoid her getting hurt. I walked back over to the lever and watched as Gale was electrocuted by my device. I had contraptions like this built all over the place, not just for Gale, but for everyone, even myself. I knew there was always the possibility of us turning to the darkness, so I needed a backup plan in case we couldn't revert the possessed displaced back to good.

If Lisa was doing anything in Gales mind I couldn't see any change in him, other than his power was rising. “Great…” I looked to the hole in my chest and sighed. “How the hell am I gonna repair this without the master emerald?” Just then I remembered something about Sonic characters and their super forms. If you went super, even if you were fatally injured, your body would repair itself and you'd exit the form at peak physical condition regardless of your state beforehand.

I saw Gale starting to break free of his restraints and stepped back, holding up my hands and summoning the emeralds to my location. The super emeralds appeared and began circling me, transforming me into Hyper Metal Sonic. My body changed to that of Neo Metal Sonic and began flashing different colours.

I had learned in my first fight with Gale that energy poured from the Hyper form like a fountain, so I had to learn to contain that power to avoid others using it for themselves, and thank God I did.

As Gale broke out of his prison and charged me I effortlessly knocked him out of the mountain and flew after him.

He snarled at me before going super, his power still far beneath mine, in his fit of rage he couldn't hope to concentrate enough to ascend to a higher form, even with his rage mode activated. He began to rapidly throw balls of energy at me, hitting me as much as possible, but no damage was dealt to my invincible body.

I rolled my eyes and instantly appeared beside Gale before swatting him away with a backhand. Man if felt good to feel like a God. As Gale was about to stop himself in midair I appeared behind him and kicked him upwards, sending him flying up at a speed exceeding mach ten before appearing above him again and sending him flying back down to the ground.

What proceeded was something that you would see in Dragon Ball Z as I knocked him around like he was a ball in a pinball machine, there were even sound effects being made.

As I was about to hit him again he turned around and punched me in the face. He smirked at me before a look of anger took its place as I hadn't even flinched. “Gale, when has that ever worked?”

He cried in rage and kicked me away with as much strength as he could muster. To keep him distracted I just let him get a few hits in before driving a lunar blade into his leg to stop him on his tracks. As he went to take out the blade I roundhouse kicked him, sending him flying over to a mountain that then collapsed as he made impact.

“Damn, the Hyper form is way too powerful...I love it.”

Meanwhile

{Lisa’s POV}

As I entered Gale’s mind, I noticed how dark everything was. I expected everything to be vibrant and happy, but with everything that was happening now I guess it made sense. Once I was fully integrated into Gale’s head, I noticed that once again I was my human self overshadowed by my displaced form. Seems as though Gale’s mind doesn’t regard me as a danger to him.

Good, that means I still have a chance.

I immediately began running, trying to find Gale. Assuming Gale would be where I felt the most sadness, confusion, and anger would be, I headed in the direction where I felt a large amount of distress. After a minute or so, I came upon his body.

What I saw was shocking to say the least.

There was this huge statue in the figure of Xram’s body from the waist up. It was holding an orb, with hundreds of chains coming into from every direction. In the center of that orb, was Gale.

His human form had changed a bit. Now instead of blue and light blue, he was black and grey. There were tears streaking down his face as the chains held him. He was in great emotional pain.

“Gale!” His heartbroken face hit me where it hurt. He looked like he was in so much pain. His eyes told me he didn’t want to believe what he saw in front of him.

“L-Lisa?” His voice sounded hurt, causing tears to form in my eyes.

“Gale!” I rushed up to him only for the orb surrounding him to stop me. I pounded on it once, then started looking at the chains trying to find a way to break them. “Gale I’m gonna get you out of here just hold on.”

Using my tendrils I started snapping chains. One by one they began to break as I attacked them. Gale just watched as I proceeded to demolish chain after chain, trying to set him free. He hung his head low before he spoke.

“What’s the point of freeing me? Two of the most important people in the world have just betrayed me.” I stopped and stared at him. “I don’t want to live with this pain, I just want to-”

“Gale, stop.” He looked up to see the tears in my eyes. “Gale, please… don’t say that. You’re.. you’re scaring me.”

“What do you care? You seem to like Metal a whole lot more than you do me.”

“Gale no I… I never meant what I said. I just did so you’d follow me to the caves.”

“And after that? What, you think freeing me is going to make me feel better for what you two have done?”

“Gale you misunderstood. Metal never meant to-”

“Then why was that plan in his head? Huh? Huh? Explain why he had a plan to kill me… and why he had a plan to steal you!” I stepped back. Gale was clearly just as angry as he was sad. He hung his head low again as he continued. “Please… just explain that to me. I want to understand why… why you-”

“Gale… Metal never meant to hurt you like this. He never wanted to steal me away.” Gale gave me a look. “Okay, well he doesn’t anymore. And for that plan of his? Look, he lived in a separate world than ours. In his world, Samantha was his version of me, and another person named Martin was his version of you.”

“So what?”

“Gale… Martin wasn’t exactly, right in the head. He was mad, crazy mad, and he did some pretty bad things. When he found out that you were another version of him, out of fear he created that plan just in case you became like Martin.” I began breaking chains again, trying to reach Gale. “He made that plan because he was afraid his past would come back to haunt him and those he cared about.”

Gale just looked at me. I think he was starting to get it. His anger was starting to dissipate, and was being replaced by realization and more sorrow.

“Gale… You have to know that I would never hurt you… not like this. I love you too much for that.” As I started to break the last couple chains, the orb around Gale began to disappear. “When I saw your face after we had exited Metal’s mind, I was worried about you. I knew that I had to do everything to get you through this. And now I’m here, freeing you from the bindings of something that has possessed you. If I really wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would have left you like this?”

Once again, Gale’s anger began to clear up and make way for realization. He now knew what had happened, and what was going on, and he was horrified by his actions. Thankfully, I was here to comfort him. As the last chain broke, the orb disappeared and Gale fell to the ground. He lended on his knees and I rushed up to him, hugging his head into my chest. As he began to cry into my breast, I rubbed the back of his head and held him in my embrace.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh shh, it’s alright Gale. It’s alright.” Gale looked at me, sorrow in his eyes.

“How can you forgive me so easily?” I smiled at him.

“Because I know you Gale, and I know that even though your jealousy took over, you were still desperately trying to come up with an answer to what had happened. And it’s because of that, that I love you.” I held his head in my hands, and kissed him. It was deep and meaningful, showing him how much he really meant to me. His eyes went wide for a second before they slowly closed and he returned the kiss. We stayed like that for a little while before we broke apart and put our heads together.

“I love you Lisa.”

“I love you too Gale.” Everything slowly started going white as the darkness in Gale’s mind was cleared away by my love.
> Chapter Ten: Apocalypse Metal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Ten: Apocalypse Metal






Metals POV

As I held Gale in the air by his throat I started to notice that his body's steel was becoming lighter, the darkness that had overtaken him must have been purged. “I guess Lisa was successful in getting this idiot to listen to reason.” I dropped him and watched from the air as his body began to shift around and a large black blob started to form on his chest as the darkness gathered in one place. “Interesting…”

I floated down and kneeled beside Gale before grabbing the blob as all the darkness had gathered and flew back up in the air.

“Is this some kind of parasite or some shit?”

The blob then launched itself into the air and began to expand, forming the shape of a black version of Gale...except different. It seemed to have a more demonic design to it. It grew two dragon like skeletal wings out of its back and it's quills were sharper and had small spines around them, it's hands had become claws and its eye glowed red rather than orange.

“Ok, a crappy recolour is going to fight me, I didn't know deviantart could invade realities.”

“You fool.” It spoke darkly. “I am much more than-”

“Ok I'm going to have to stop you right there.” I interrupted by holding up a finger. “We could just stand here and you could go on and on about your powers, how you're much more than whatever and that you are stronger than whatever. Or! You could just tell me your name and we can get to the actual good bit of this little meeting.” With that last part I punched my right hand into my left palm, sending a shockwave over the area we were currently in. God I loved this form, too bad it's not able to last really long periods of time like the super form, but it should still hold up.

“Very well, since you seem so impatient.” He spreads his wings and his eye gleamed. “I am The Alpha Nightmare, one of the most powerful Nightmare Fuels in the multiverse, and I shall be your undoing.” He stated proudly.

“A Nightmare Fuel eh? I've been wanting to see one of you freaks for awhile now. Don't tell me, Xram is here too right? I want a chance to beat his boney ass into the ground for what he's done to Gale and what he made Lisa go through.” I summoned a lunar blade which came out red. I remembered the Apocalypse Magic that was still in my system, I looked down to my hand and saw that it was starting to change to the claw of The Wolf as I like to call it now. I clenched my fist and fought back its possession. ‘Keep it together!’

“A version of him is indeed here, as well as another of my Nightmare brothers.” I could tell that Alpha was smirking as he spoke the next line. “I seem to remember that the Nightmare of this world took great satisfaction in killing your little female that happens to get mixed up in all of this. As well as beating that seedarian that cared for you so much.”

Like that, the sound of glass shattering riddled the landscape as any mental barriers blocking out the anger I had been repressing for so long was finally let free. I have been holding back so much anger...so much rage...I've seen and done some underhanded shit in my time...but killing an innocent girl was NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

Samantha...my sweet...precious Samantha…

…

…

…

It's their fault…

That Nightmare...that Xram...this Nightmare…

It's all...their...fault.

I am going to tear each and every one of them to shreds. I am going to obliterate their consciousnesses. I am going to disassemble their molecules.

In other words…

I AM GOING TO DESTROY THEIR VERY EXISTENCES!!! AND I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE TO TEAR THIS REALITY APART TO DO IT!!!





Lisa’s POV

I woke up in the cave to see the machine broken, Metal and Gale nowhere to be seen. I teleported outside and looked around, seeing a blue blur by the forest nearby.

As I rushed over I saw it was Gale, his body back to normal. He coughed slightly and began to rise to his feet. “Man...whatever happened to my body has just...drained me of energy.” He said tiredly.

I helped him to his feet and looked down at him with caring eyes. “You gonna be ok?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah...I think so.” He shook his head and took a step forward. “Alright, let's go find Metal...I need to apologise to him for almost killing him like that.”

As we were about to leave the area we suddenly stopped, sensing a very large amount of dark power flooding the area. Looking up we saw what looked like a Nightmare version of Gale and...oh god.

Metal was in his hyper form...but something was very wrong...so...so very wrong.

Red lightning shot out from his body, the flashing colours of his highest form ceasing and his body being coated by a blood red coat. His head hung low, the dark clouds above circling him.

He clenched his fist as he was now completely red, dark blood red mist seeping from his body and forming the shape of dragon wings behind his. His eyes were closed, but even then I could see the relentless anger in them… what happened while I was in Gales mind?

“Shit.” Gale was staring at Metal’s new form. “And just when I was about to say sorry.”

As Metal opened his now glowing red eyes his arms fell limp to his sides, an eerie silence passed over all of us, the Nightmare Gale just looked at him with curiosity. “Well well, what do we have here? It's seems as though you have more control over that magic than I thought.” It spoke. “But the question remains, do you control it or does it control you?”

"W̗̻̠̳̮h̡̻͉̠̯y̬̠͇̖͙ ͏̞̦̦̲͍d̲̣̻o̘̼͈͓͙̬͈n̼͖̻̟̼'͉t̟͈̫̼͢ ͈͖̻w͓é̻̹͇̘ ͚̫f̡̲i̘̭̱̩n̞d̟͕͚͇̪͢ ̣̫͔o̹͎͈u͘t̝͚̰́?͚̪̙̫̰͚"҉͇̪͓͖

Gale and I froze at the sound of Metals voice. There was no way in hell that this was a good thing. I could tell by his voice, his posture, the look in his eyes...Metal had snapped.

"̨L̦̰̹̝̙̦̟e̞͚̫͔̺t͎̙'̵͕͚̤͉̥̥̗s͚̜̺̙̠̲͙͡ ̳͖̦͕͝s̡͎e̖͓͔͖̭͚ͅe̮̩̬̻̠̱̲ ̼͕̘͡i̴̹͚̺f҉̟ ̹̭̲̹̲͈y̷͔̙͍̙̼͖o̖̼͇u̵̗̤͇̯̩̼ ̫͞N̪̰i̸͍͍͓̩̖̝g͍̩͎̳͢h̼̝͙͔͚̲ț͙͔͉͕m̪̪͚͍͚͔͝a̧̳̺r̀e̩s̖͍̞͍ ͙a̛̪̖͔͉͍̝̳r̜̻̬̪̜̤̫e͏̲̼ ̣̬a͓̠̦̲̙ͅs͙͔̪̻͍̮ ̸̲̲̺̻̞̘s͏͔̺̺̯̹̫t̟͈͔͚̖̀r̡̬͈̞͙̟̪o҉͙ng͢ ̧as̩̣̭̣̘̮̖ p̨̫͚̼̬e̼͎̰͓͕o̴p̫͕̣̪̖͚l̵̝̦e̜̩̟ ҉̘̗̭̺ͅs̜̩a̡̮̗ý.͘"̳̩̺͖

Metal held up one hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly the Nightmare was knocked away by a red explosion of energy. Metal snapped his fingers again and another explosion knocked it into the air.

He held out both arms and hundreds of red lunar blades began to appear and circle him before he threw his hand forward and sent a wave of cursed swords shooting at the distracted Nightmare.

The Nightmare dodged them all with ease and shot straight into Metal who began to shoot towards it. The collided and caused a massive surge of energy to spread over the land, blowing us off our feet.

“Jesus how strong did he get?!” Gale yelled out before he was smacked against a tree.

We both looked up at the fighters, neither moving an inch as they pushed against each other. Both broke apart and began trading blows, when each ouch landed a hit a shock wave was created, leading me to wonder just how strong they were...and how strong Metal really was. Then, Metal landed a punch on the Nightmare’s face, sending him flying back before he unleashed a ball of energy aimed at the Nightmare. It exploded in a massive red blast, creating a massive dust cloud. Metal glared at the plume of smoke as it began to clear.

“You know, there is a reason why I’m called the Alpha Nightmare.” When the smoke cleared, Alpha was shown to have no signs of battle damage. It was like nothing had even touched him. Holding out his hand, he created a laser blade from his wrist. He held it up in front of his face before swinging out, clearing away the rest of the smoke around him. “I won’t go down as easily as my weaker brethren.”

"̵̭̱͍̥̘̭T͇h̞͘e̥͙̮̣̘͜n̶̲ ͕͖̭c̫̼̪̠͕͔̼͜o͍̘m͏̰̥̮̯̲̠̼e͖͕͉̱͙̳̟͡ ̫̱̝ḁ̙͕̳̥̦ͅt͏̬ ͉̙m̙̙̰̕e̬̥̤͙ ̬͢w̩͎i̜͉̗͝ͅt̬̝͢h̢̬͍̥̤͖̤ ̮͈̼͍͟ͅͅe̦̻̬͍͚ṿ̩͓̦͙̳e̴ŗ͈̼̩ý̩̘͇ͅt̫̰̩͓͈̪͞h͔̼ị̴̖̘̺̩̥n̛̯͉̰͓͓̹̹g̜͎͈͚̝, ͍̬͟I̦͚ ͓͎̥͖̘͍̬w̤̹̘̱i̶l͈̜͓̭͈̙̜l̖̞ ͏̺͍̠͉̰̘̯ẖ͖̳̼̹́o̪̟̹͓̲l̮̞̦͘ḓ̳͙̘͢ ͜n̲͙͔̟͓ot͕hi͚̭̣͉̥̠̱n̘͖̬̦g͎̼̞̹ ̶̼̭̳̝͉͕̱b̴͚a̲͕͉̗̻͍c̪̺͚k̷̺͈͓͓ ȩ͓̠̻̺͖͉͈v̢̬̱͎e͎n͔͍͙ ͇̭̭̳i̥̺̝f͔̝̩ ͏̬i̫t̵̮̭͓ ̖̪̩͘m͘e̘̱̬a͚̦̣͚̤̮n̨͉̱̳̲s̨͍ ̺̪̪̙̥̯̕th͔͙̥̠͞a̠̫̠̝̭̞ț̲͍͉͙̯ ̦̞͚͚͘t̰̱̥̠̳h͏̝͔͍͎̥̣is̻̠̺̥̯̘ ҉w͎̳̲͈͚̞o̞̺r̺̫̝͎͜l̠̻d̨͎̗̰̳ ̢͎m͏͈̭̟̻͔̹a̲͕͈͎͉y̤̭̙ ̡͚̜b̳͉e ̫̰̺͚̬to͍̲̹͖̹r̸̪n̞ ͓̟̰̫͝ą͈̖͖̰͙̯p̵̙a͉ͅr̵̭̠̼̼̻̰̭t͙̯̭̘͜.̭͓͜"̝̪̦̭

> Chapter Eleven: Ripping Apart Reality
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Eleven: Ripping Apart Reality






{Gale's POV}

I just looked up at my friend in shock. I knew that anger could make people say things they don't mean, but when Metal had said that he didn't care if reality was torn apart, it sounded as if he actually meant it. I shivered as I felt his new power rushing over me like a wave. Just how strong did that stuff make him?

I looked to Lisa, sensing her discomfort at seeing our friend in such a state. “G-Gale?”

“Yes Lisa?”

“How much has Metal had to deal with while he's been in Equestria?” She asked me with worry.

“Why?”

“Because if he's finally snapped, all of his anger and stress is going to surface...all of that, plus his anger from hearing that Nightmare and Xram killed Samantha...and all of that Apocalypse Magic...he's even stronger than my Mad Mode Four.” She answered in fear.

“Well then we've got to do something! I know he wasn't lying when he said he'd tear this world apart, we have to stop him.” I tried to get to my feet but fell to my knees, I was in no condition to fight let alone stop someone like Metal.

“I don't think we can do anything other than watch. I can try to calm him down, but I'm not even sure if I can reach him! Damnit I had just gotten him back to his normal self!”

I was about to try to get up again but I froze as I heard Lisa sobbing. I turned around and saw her with her hands covering her face and tears dripping from in between her fingers.

“Why can't I just keep my friends!?” I just sat there frozen as she yelled. “First Symbol had to go and die for me! Then my world was destroyed! Everyone keeps getting hurt and I can't do anything to stop it! Metal has been corrupted by his own anger twice in the span of a day and I almost lost the one I love! Why!? WHY CAN’T I KEEP MY FRIENDS!?”

I would have went over to comfort her, but when I tried to walk or crawl I collapsed and fell face first into the dirt. All I could do was very slowly pull myself towards my troubled partner while I watched her cry her eyes out while my best friend was about to destroy his own universe. What happened to us? Why was this happening? Why couldn't we be happy? I looked around. There had to be something I could do.

Then it hit me. I could still remember what had happened when I was corrupted just a few moments before, and Metal had gone into his super form to fight my darker self. Going into a super form in the Sonic universe allowed you to enter it and exit it in peak physical condition, no matter the circumstance! If I could just build up enough power, and fuse with Gregar, I might be able to stop this! I focused and began slowly building up energy. I gazed at my friend, waiting for my energy to build up high enough. ’Hold on buddy, I’m coming.'

{Third POV}

Metal and Alpha just floated there. Metal’s anger had consumed him, and now he was on the warpath. He would destroy anything that got in his way of killing this Nightmare. He summoned a crimson lunar blade, and charged. Alpha created his own blood red laser blade and came at Metal. The two clashed, creating a shockwave that rocked the world around them.

“So, you really don’t care if you destroy this world as long as I die in the process huh? Well that’s just perfect. I can think of a few ways we could use that anger.”

"̢̫̘̭̜̝̬̰I̴͍̬͔̲ ̙̭̘̝͡w̙̼̦̯̭̞̙į̷̭̘̘̲̘̭l̛͓̭͔͖l͖͈̝ ҉̞͇́n̘͠e̤͕̻̫̪̮͢͡ͅv͏̮͇͚̹̭͍͙̲e̥̖̳͔̙̲r͖͔̗͙̖͈̪̕ ̫̝̰̖ọ̴͖̫̻͖̞̜͘͞b҉̮̻̗̟͎͔̜̖è̴̬̣y̡̛̗̤̠͖͕͖ ̴̶̙̫̮̗̫͓͞y̴̨̩̞̜̪͇̦̩̮o̧̪̜̩͟u̵̢̩!͏̙͕̝"͈̼̣̖̬̀

Alpha merely chuckled.

“Who said it would be your choice?” The two separated. Metal fired a giant beam of red energy that Alpha simply dodged. “If attacking straight on is your strategy, I’m afraid this fight won’t last for very long.”

"̡̢͇̻̗͖̻̳̲ͅG̵͎̙̪̞͓̘R̛͖̻̟͘͢A̻̥͉̬͕͜͜A̱͓̩̤H̸̘̹̫̥͙!̶͔̹̪̱̬"̠̦̲̘̳̠̞̀͝

Metal fired more energy beams, but each one was dodged. Alpha then appeared behind Metal.

“Let me show you the attack of one who knows how to handle this kind of power.” He blasted Metal, then came at him with his laser blades. He got a couple strikes in before he kicked Metal and the fired some concentrated balls of energy at him. Each one detonated on the metal hedgehog, sending him further and further away. But Metal quickly recovered. He then vanished, and reappeared right in front of Nightmare with a charged up blast.

"̲̖̳ͅͅI̟ ͏̸͖t̶͇̞ḥ̖͟i̵͕͎̞͝n͍̣͈̖̤͔̭k̢͈͈ ̶̪̖͕́I̙̫̫͝'̸͔̱͇̠̥͇̝̦l͎͉̪͉̘̱l̨͉ ̟̞̯́g̷͚͖̱͉͎̕o̜̰͍̲͍͢͞ͅ ̷͍̣̜͈͖b̸̺͙͇̫̪̳̯̙y̺̻ ̺̰ͅý̝͖̜͉̼̰͢ơ͔̲̙̲̼͔̰͢ͅu̪r̩̲͍͉̯̟̩̯̻͠͞ ̡̛̣͖̱̥̤e̴̶̺͉͖x͏̙̘a̟͓̼̥͙̗̖̰͢m̩͎̙̭͇͈͖͞p̷̳͖̮̀l̛͏̣̺̗̟̳̜͓͉͜e̢̹͙̼̪̦̮̩̫̝͘͝!̬̝̳͚͇̘͔̣̱"͓

He then unleashed the energy beam and nailed Alpha point blank. When the beam disappeared, Alpha was gone.

“Think yourself clever do we?” Metal turned around to see Alpha, perfectly fine. “When I said that I would be unlike any opponent you have ever face,” he glared at Metal, “I meant it.”

He punched Metal in the face, sending him into the ground.

“Your anger may make you strong Metal, but your attacks are slow! You want to finish me as fast as possible, so every attack you do is at full power. That not only takes time to charge, but it wastes energy and no matter what you say or do, you still have a limited supply!” He charged up an attack. “But just slightly charging up your attacks, allowing them to have enough force to do some damage, will provide a much faster solution than going all out.”

He fired his attack, but Metal recovered just in time to dodge. He leaped at Alpha, tackling him out of the air and threw him into the ground before sending off a ball of energy after him. This time, his attack hit, and Alpha suffered some damage.

“In the physical department your doin’ just fine I’ll give you that.” He stood up, showing that he was nowhere near finished. “But you’ll need more than that to defeat me!” He teleported behind Metal and punched him in the back of the head before grabbing him, spinning him around and throwing him into the ground with great force, causing the ground to shake violently as an explosion of dirt and dust clouded the area. “You've let your anger cloud your judgement Metal, that is your mistake.”

"̷͓̮̞̳͇̥̖Á͏̣͉̟̣͓͔̝h̛̘̼̪͜a̟̳̰̲͇͍ḩ̶̹a̡̡̩͉͖̣̣͔h̶̼͍͖̰̦͎ͅa͝͏̣̟h̦̼͙̞͎̰̞͈a̡̧̛̮̠͍̫̖̬ͅh̟̥̻̦͚͚̖̲̙a̰̘͟h͍̪̥͓a̸̸̩͔̼͡!̢̛̱̫̘́ ̸̩͓͓̮͎̙͚͘A̪̻̬̺ͅͅH̻̤̯̳̖̗͞ͅA̰̬̼̯̹͡H̴̛̞̺͠A̵̧̺̮̙̘͉̝͠Ḩ̘͞A̴̱̘H̗̕͡͠A̪̜͉̻̬͜H͟҉͏͔̲A̪̩͉̠̦̥̳H̲̗͈͖͓́A҉̪̩͎̦̰͈͍ͅH̟̪̦̬̞̤̖͟͜A͏͎̟̲̺H̲̯̳̪̩͝Ạ̶H̵̵̥̠̹̻ͅÁ̴̩̩̯̭A̷̷̲̰̯̟͚͕͡A̰̞̹̙̳̳͘ͅA̢̮͖͇̮̦͘͠A̘͍̜͈̙͈͠!̝͕̙̞͟!̷̤̱̣͔͇!̗̺̪̀"͜͡҉͔

Alpha shivered slightly at the blood curdling, psychotic laugh that Metal was giving off from inside the dust cloud.

Yo̴u͟ ͡r̴e̛al͢l͞y t̨hińk̛ ͟I've̡ ͘let ̸ang͏eŕ ̨clou̴d̷ ͝my͞ j͟u͟d̕gęmén̴t?͝!͠ I'͟m͠ sti̷ll̢ as con͘scio̷u͠s as͞ ͢b̡e҉ ̛fi͡re͠ th̴i̵s ͝tr̨an̶s̀f͞o̴r͏m̴a̵tíon,̢ I̕ ̕wa͟s ͞oņly ͏w̛a҉nti͠ng҉ ͞to ̕enḑ ̧t̡hi̢s͘ ̷f̡ig̡ht ͘qu̕i̶c̶k҉ly ̨by̶ att́ack̀i̷n̨g͡ ̴w̷it͏h ̧thośe҉ s͠l̡i̷g̷h̢t̡ly ͝chárg̷e͡d͡ ͜at͢ta̴cks̢!̛ Ļi̵mi͝te͝d ̡su͜p̸pl̕y ̢o̡f̕ ҉e̛nerg͝y͢? H͏a̸h!̧ Yea҉h͝...͜k̸èep th͝ińk̴i͜ng̡ ̕ţh͢a҉t͘, beca̸us̕e I ̀c̷an͏ g̶o ̀for ͞all̷ e̴t̴eŕnit̸y̸!̴"

Metal shot out of the cloud with his claw open. Once he was close enough to Alpha he swiped his claw. The world seemed to freeze for a second before claw marks were embedded in reality. Alpha had just barely dodge the attack that would have surely killed him, seeing as Metal had just destroyed parts of the universe's reality with one swipe of his claw.

“Hmm, that could prove pr-” Alpha was cut off when Metal suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the throat. Metal chuckled darkly before shooting upwards and flying up to past the planet's atmosphere. He let go of Alpha when Gravity was weak enough to just have him float there. Metal then proceeded to add his speed to his arms and rapidly swiped his claws at Alpha, the areas of reality behind him being damaged in the process.

Metal then formed into his spindash, which was covered in large a cloud of dark red mist and slammed into Alpha, causing the nightmare to shoot down towards the planet's surface.

"̣͖͓͞I̘̱͜'͔̳̦̳̜͓v̖̲ę͚͔ l̩̺̟̠̪͚̼e̩͎̱̹ṯ͖͚͈͇ ̩͙̟̟̺̰͚y͖̗̙̖͇o͢u͍̩ ̡̼̳̥l͢i̞͍͖͖̲̩͉v̤̥e̹ ̗̣͍͓̙l̴͎͕on͚g͟ ̙̲͙̲̫ę̩͍̙͇̫nͅo͎̪͔̯u̴͙̹̜g̤̣͓͓̗͙h͇͕̹!͖̱̜͎͕̫"͈̺̟͙

Metal held out both of his hands and built up,energy while also charging energy in his chest laser. Once a large ball of violent red energy was built up he aimed it at the planet.

“D͖̼̩̜̗͖͝Í̢̲̰͖̭̭Ȩ͙̮̙̰͎̖͇ͅ!̧̠͟͟!̨̲̦̻̥̙̳̙͈͞!̧͟͏̺̻"̢҉̹

Metal punched the large ball and sent a spiralling ray of destruction towards the planet. As it descended he just watched it from the bottom of his eye while clenching his fists tightly. He knew full well what he was doing, he would end up killing Lisa and Gale in the process, but he didn't care anymore, he didn't care about anything anymore. All he wanted, was for everything to burn.

Then, his planet destroying ball of energy was hit with a blast of energy and exploded. Metal looked to the side to see…

"͉̯̟͎͝W̛̳̲̜̬̹̬̖ͅh͈̟̠̤̼͉ͅͅó͇͎͖͉̰͟ͅ ͏̰̗̱͝t҉̱̰̫h̝͓̼̼͙̙̀͘ͅe̴̟̭̱̹͢ͅͅ ͔̙̗̞h̞͙̹͔͠ͅḙ̲̭͡ͅl̜͇̹͍͖̩̯͢l̴̴̮͔̥͖͚͕̥̱̕ ̷̧̥͎͓̳̦͎͠a͙͍̰̰̖̜͎̭r͏̧̪̳͕̟̲͕̼e҉̹̥̪ ̛̱̞̜͈͖̘́͠ͅy̡̥͙̠͔͕̼̹̳̰o̶̸͇̠̦̺̜̯ͅu̹̞̹̳̻͈?̢̬̩͕͇͈̘̥̙̝̀"̧̠̹̼̺̤̕ 

His gaze was focused on some sort of, bipedal creature with robotic lion armor. In short, imagine Mega Man’s beast out mode, but instead of it showing his eyes with the lion head bit above them, it was now just a robotic lion head. The unknown newcomer looked at him.

“Come on Metal. Does this form make me look all that different?” When he talked, his mouth opened revealing sharp teeth. His voice sounded familiar. It sounded like…

"̛̪͚̘̲͔̱̕G͏̻̝̀͘ḁ̵̻̖̦̦̣̲l̞͈ę̟͙?̴̬͖̜̜̟̭̯͔"̨͘͏̯̱̮͓̟͚̟̰͓

“The one and only.”

"͚̪̩̩W͏̨̗h̬͙̟̬̮͞ͅͅá̸̼̝t̛҉̱͈̪͔ ̥̦̥͖͇͜t̶͎͉̳̜͉͕̰͔̫h҉̱ę̘́͢ͅ ̛̱̗̘̹̀̕h̴̸̦͕͠e̛̘̼̦͙̠͉l̲͕͙͖̝̀͢l̤̬͘ ̧̲̫̣̫̤a̮̝̦̥̺͉̼ͅr̖̹̬͔͇͇̕e͏̸̗̪̙͔͈̣ ̧̛̻͎͚̼ỳ̨͇̞͎̫̮̣̺o̼̱̰u̢͓͇͍̳͍̬̹̫ ͉͈͓̤͎̱ͅd̛̳̻͇͚̭o͇̫͚̪̞͇̹ì͙̟̺͇̘̫̝̺͡n̳̮͍͕ͅg̲͉͓̀͢͢?̻̱̳͖͘!̶̼͓̺̻̜̜̬"̫̺

“Saving my girlfriend, as well as the home to countless civilians. What, you’d think I’d just let you destroy the planet? We may be friends Metal, but I’m not gonna let you go that far.”

"̷̳͙͍H͈̜͔̼̦̗̝o͏̪͕͖͕͜ẁ̵̫͎̝̣ ҉̬̠͢d͍͖̘͚͖̥̤̱ḭ̴̮̗̘͚̻͙ͅd҉̸̣̹̮ ̶̖̖͍y̟̳̙̹͕̮͜͢ͅo̡̖̦̬̗̮̤̼u̡̗̟̜͔͓͎ͅ ͏̤̟̬e̢̥̬̱̗͉͘v̧̼ḛ͙̪͚̖̩̙n̻̺̯̙͞ ̴̢͇͓͙̩m̱͍͙̕a͏̞̯͓̗n̮͕̬̣̪͘ͅa̛̛͚̺͚͞g̷̨̱͖̦͉̩̗̘͔̗e̶̢͎̜̟ ̰̬̩̗̮̻͉̜͢t͔̟̣͜o̭͙̺̣̫̜̞̮ ̷̻͖g̩̥̼̹̩e̟̝͚͢t̰͍̳̭́ ̡͍̼̦͞u͙̤̙̹͖̬̹͢p̥̳̳̞͇̪͉͝ͅ?̸̛̞͕"͇̭̜̘

“Simple, stopped my systems from repairing my body and had them all focus on energy build up. Figured if I entered a super form, I’d be back at peak physical condition. Looks like I was right.”

"̸̱̟͉͔͈̗͘͝I̲̭̱̣͍'̢̭͚̬̘v͚̳͕̜̱e̡̞͎͇̪͘ ̟͇̼̟͜n҉̧̭̮̗̜͕̳e̠͢v̪̮̘͉̮e̴̵̝̼̩̟͉̟̭r̠̻ ͔̩̮̗̲͙͖̜͞s͉̘͚͓̗̱͖e̠̲͍͙͕͍͈͙̹͘e̠̰̖̪n͚̙̰̜͉͘͝ ͙̬͉̠̦̯̱͠͡a̭̟͖̬̺̝ ̗̯̻̺͓̞f͔̳̟̲̘͖̤ǫ̙̘̱͚̣̩ṟ̴̦̦͍̭͔͘m̫̝̱͕̥̭̳͙͜ ͏̸͎̩̜̗͟s̸̷͚̱̝̼͜u҉̷̣̘̣̰͙͟c̶̖ͅh̫̭̺̦̖͘͞ ̸̧̗̟̥̮͢ạ͈̝̯̪͈̗͉͘͟͞s̳͘̕ ̢̛̺͖̘̕t̨̠̻͎͠h̬̖̘́i̡̟͉̜̱͠ş̺̜̘̩͚͚͞.͠҉̫̳ ͝҉̵͇̤̦Ḥ̷̗̘͔̲͚̬̭̀o̸͚̭͙͖͉͞w̡̟̱͘ ̛̝̳̟͈̬̭̲d̸͎̙͈͍͡i̢͇͕̺ḑ̴̜̻̯̬͍̹ ̣̹̞̺y̵̵̺̣o̟͎̥̜̦͈̱̕u̸̦̺̠͘ ̣͖̗͖m̵̢̻̳̺ạ͓n̨̲̩̪̮̫̘̝̪͝ḁ̵̣̮̦̰͜g̢͍̬͈̝̘̲̗̦e̵̡̝͡ ̡̹̫͝t̸̜̗̣̙̻͜o͏̺͓̝͉̜̤̜ͅ ̴̗̦̫͕̥͇ͅt̖̺͖͎̲r͕͓͓̣a̸̰͇ṉ̣͈͉̀s̖̲f͎̯͍̥͉͕̠͓̬o̵̮̹̱̫̺͟͟r͕̟̣m̢̙̲͇̯̦͔̺̘͠ ̖͓̱͘l̷͚͇i̱̙̺̺k͏͖̙̮͙̻͝ͅe̕҉̜̗́ ̨̙͔̦̻͚͉͕t̥̘͙̖̕͜h̵̻͈͉͝á̡̖̞̹̩̙̳̤t͉̞̥͉̘̬͉͝?̵̷̢̝̖̤̥̠̼̪̮͙"̱̪͓̦͚̟̞́ͅ

“You met my pet Gregar right? Well, let’s just say he’s got a few… special functions.” Gale smirked as Metal hardened his glare.

"͍̬̺̠̕Y̨͇̟̕͞o̧̘̦̗͡u̷̝͚̥͙͚͔ ̷̴̦̭̫m̪͈̲̦̪̭̝͜͞ͅe͏̷̳͓a̶͇̗͈͙̘͎͡n̹̲̻͚̞͓ ̩͟͡t̷̰̜͕̞͡o̖ͅ ͔̩̫̝̙͕̱̭̙͜s̵͉̠͈̭t̰̞͎̘͝ó҉͖̯̮̜̻̦̣͕p̳̻̰͝͡ ͙͉̘m̧̲̻̩̣͉̰͓͚͠e͈̭̙͓,̸̩͔͔͕̗̺͙̜̕ ͓̗̱̮̖͈̖f͔͖̩̹͡͝r̬͓̯̯͖̖̪o̬̞̦̠͘͢m̴̨̘̪̖̤̝̠͟ͅ ̧̯̦͇̩͡ḏ̳͉͈͔e̶̵͚̣s͈̜̫̗͕͕͜t҉̡̥r͉o͍̦̗̱̠͙͉̬͞y̡̡̧̳͇i͏̞̰͖̝͇̪̟̳̖͠n҉͈̺͓͉̜̬̮̝͞g͏̡̘̪̘̤͓͢ ̙͔̱̼͎̦h̰̩͝i̶̜̟̜̳̱̥͎̜͇m̖͓̜̪̤̖̗̰?̮̬͇̣͜"̢̦͚̗͈͡

Metal pointed a corrupted finger at Alpha. Gale looked at him and shook his head.

“What? No no no. I’ll deal with him soon enough. But for now,” he turned to Metal, “I need to deal with the one thing that threatens an entire planet far more than that Nightmare does.” Metal stared at him, before he started to laugh. His laughter grew louder and more insane by the second before he stopped and looked at Gale.

"̵͕͈̲Y̨̟̰͙o̮̙̘ú͈̮ ̸̯͙̲͇t̷̢̪ͅh͏̩͡į̴̳̟̫͉͉̻ņ̤̹̤̘̘̬̭̟k̲̩͈̘͖ ̧̙͍̦̝͖͍y̴̼͉̫̥̳ͅo̵͎͍ư̪̗̤̳̹̥͡ ̦̖̀͜c̘̪̝̻̕͟ͅa̶͓͓̹n҉̸̲̻̻̰̘̜ ̦̬̫̝̹̘͡͠s̢͎̙͙͇̘̬̩̳͘t̻̞̗̀ͅò͈̼̙͈͡p͠҉̜̰̺ ̴̟̱̠̮͇̬͖̕͠m̜̲͈̮͍̼̠̪͜͞ͅe̠̲̤̜̖?̷̛͍͎̬͙̞̼"̙̯̣

Gale smirked, as if accepting the challenge.

“Don’t believe me?” He crouched a bit, getting into a fighting stance. “Just watch.”

Suddenly he was right in front of Metal. Metal didn’t have time to react before an intense amount of force was plowed into his gut in the form of a kick. He was sent flying with surprising speed before he recovered.

"̢̨҉̦̮W̵̡̺͍̫̖̙ͅh̛͔̗̩ḁ̖̻̪͢t͝͏̼͔̖̦͘ͅ ̧̢͉͈͇͍̬͠t̷̮͍̙̬͔̕ͅh̯̘̗ę͖̠͚̼̪̜́ͅ ̴̪̤̲̖̕h̠̱̟̦̺̞͝e̛̞̩̺̜͜l͏͖̯̥̫̺̫͇͈̖͘l҉͇̲͇͚̳͍̣͚̜͠?̸̗͈͍͚̝̞̦̱͚͡"̴̲͉̭̫̜͠

“You may have the advantage in energy right now Metal. But in the speed and physical strength department,” he got into a fighting stance, keeping himself loose as he bounced on his feet, “let’s just say you’re outclassed.”

With a grunt, Metal went at Gale full speed, wanting to prove him wrong. However, Gale was suddenly gone, and an unexpected kicked was being delivered into Metal's side. He was flung a good distance before he recovered. He quickly looked around, trying to pinpoint Gale. He found him, but not where he would have liked. Gale was suddenly in front of him, and started throwing punches. Metal could barely bring up his arms to defend before the fists hit their mark. He blocked a few before he attempted to swipe at Gale with a laser blade. Gale just moved forward, rolled over Metal's back, before he made a low sweep with his legs. Tripping Metal up, he got a clear shot by bringing his hands together and slamming them into his gut. Metal was sent downwards the planet before he once again recovered.

This was impossible. Gale should be easy for Metal to defeat. So why was he doing so bad? He did admit, Gale was pretty fucking fast right now. Faster than he could be without losing control. Physical strength was on a whole nother level too. What was going on? Metal didn’t have time to question it as he saw Gale flying towards him. He ready a fist and threw it forwards, causing it to collide with Gale’s already incoming punch. The resulting force created a shockwave so massive, the very planet shook.

Metal had put a lot of energy into that punch. Gale had too, and to compensate for what he couldn’t match up energy wise, he used physical power to counter Metal’s attack. The two separated before they started going at it. Metal’s fighting style was fierce and deadly. He would make powerful strikes, and try to land as many fatal blows as possible. His ferocity made him dangerous, and his power just added to that.

Gale’s fighting style on the other hand, was loose and flexible. His attacks were quick and skillful, hitting points that were breaking Metal’s defence. He kept up his momentum in order to make powerful strikes, as well as to keep himself moving. This allowed him to dodged whenever Metal went in for a fatal blow. His physical strength also provided an advantage. 

Gale had thought he had the upper hand, he was wrong. Metal had taken no damage whatsoever, and his energy levels were the same as the beginning of the fight. “Ok, that could be a problem.”

“Y͙͖̜̫o͏͉u̜̜̗̫̟ ̧͖̤̺̞̤̰̹i̵̙͚̱̯̲͇͍d͓̩̙̦i̳̝̺͈̫̞o͉̦ţ̞̠̥̫.͔̬̗͔"̛̹͍͔͖

Gale just looked to Metal who was shaking his head in disapproval.

̜"̮͓̠̜̲D̳̘̼͖id͈̖̖̞̪ ̴̜͖̗̹y̩̺̦̱̦̺o̮u͔͇̺̯̭͉̱ ̫̻̗̟͉r̥̤͞e҉͈̜̜̻̼̼a̹̫l̺͕̹̗̠ĺ͇̱y͏͔̙̩͎̣ ͍̺͚̬̤̰͡t̕h̗͎̯̖̜͝i͚͈̩n̻̕k̜̮̻ͅ ̖I͉̻̼ ̠̞̖g̘̦̹̩͚̗̤a̵͇̥̰̟v͡e̛̜̼ ͈̬̱̝̗͟u̝̣p̯̟͙͕͓̣͜ ̜̠̼̺̟͈͢m̡̜y̧̭̲̝̭̼̼ ̗̥̫͈̀s̛p̴̫̦̖͓̞̪ee͖͇͍d̦͙?̠̘ ̞D̢̬̖̞̙̠̪i̫̤̙d͔̗͇̰ ̮̘̤̭y̠͔̫o̦̰͇̲̪͎u̺ ̪n̹̝̝͕̯̗̜o̙̙̪ṯ̞͉̤͔ t͖h̞̻̼͡i̙n̩͍ͅk̩͓̻͚ ̻̳͇͖̣̬̮th̳̘̣̻̗̫̣a̟̦t̺̘͖̞̯̲̫ ̯͙̯͎̰I͙̭̦͉̤ͅ ̟͎w̳̫͈̩o͖u̗̭͕ͅḽ̗͓̜̥d͖̤͍̬̹͎ ̧g̭͙͍̞͞e̟t̷̬͉̘̝̠̘̮ ̙̫̺̭̜́f̱̙͠ͅa̴͙̰̥̙̲͕̗s̭͓̼t̹͈̤̫͠ḛ̻͙̺͓̩r̖͠?̜͚͚͈̥͓̘"̮̤̖

Metal just smirked and was suddenly in front of Gale before grabbing him by the throat.

"Yo͝u͏r̡ ͠m͝is͜t͘a͞ke w̴as forgettin͟g͢ t̸ha̸t̵ I̶ ̶c̡a̴n ͠inst̵an͏t͟l͏y̷ ̡ch͟an͝g̡e m͢y ͟fi̧g͞hti̸n͠ǵ ̢s͢ty̡ļe͢,͜ I̢ ̛w̛an͠t͜e̵d̨ ͘t͠o̷ give̢ y͟ou a s̶wìft ̕d̶ea̛t͢h, ̨but no̸w it̴ ̕w̴i̧ll̀ ҉hav̕e͏ tǫ ̷be͢ p̀aìn̛fùl."

Metal suddenly disappeared and Gale was bombarded by rapid strikes, each less than a millisecond from each other. When Gale managed to grab Metal, Metal quickly placed a hand on Gale’s chest and blasted him point blank before forming into his spindash and shooting towards Gale who was thrown back. Gale prepared to block the homing attack but as Metal was only a few centimeters from impact he changed his course and hit Gale in the back.

Gale expected him to break away but he was wrong. What followed was a relentless barrage of homing attacks, each immediately after the other. When Gale managed to get his shield up his eyes widened as Metal came out of his spindash and spin kicked the shield, shattering it effortlessly and allowing him to fire a charged chest beam into Gales face.

Gale steadied himself and met Metal with a glare. ‘This isn't good, I didn't expect him to adapt so quickly. Hmm, looks like I’ll have to move to plan B.’ Metal lifted up a his hand and charged up a ball of energy.

"̨͏̖͍̰̹ͅN̺̬̗̱͎͙̼̘͢͡o̶̩͍͉͞w̧̛̻̻͙͡,̵͓̰͈̖̺͔̕͞ ̲̻̯̳̭̱̠p̯͚̤͈̜̕ͅŗ̮̹̖͕̺͔͠ͅe͎̠͟p̸̜̺͚̤̹̹á̩͚͍̕r̸͏̘̣̩͈̼̲̠͜e̸̮̱͡ ͏͎̖̙t̵͏̟̣̩͍̥̺͢ọ̴̰̰ ̴̛͔̯̤̥̳̩̫̖D͏̷̙̥̀I҉͎͚̤̦̝̥͍̻E҉̰̦ͅ!̰̰̱̯͖"̨͎̱̯

Gale sighed. “I didn’t want to have to do this Metal, but you leave me with no choice.” Metal was about to question when Gale closed his eyes. Suddenly, they reopened and they were green.

”APOCALYPSE HYPER METAL SONIC SCAN COMPLETE.” Gale’s voice had gone monotone and robotic. Before Metal could figure out what that meant, Gale’s eye turned red. ”REPLICATING”

A burst of energy rushed through Gale as a copy of Metal’s apocalypse magic built up inside of him. His body turned crimson, giant dragon wings formed from red smoke seeping out of his back. He vanished, then appeared behind Metal as he delivered a roundhouse kick. Metal was sent flying. He quickly recovered and gazed at Gale’s new form.

"̲̮͈͈̖̟̩H̷̤͇͍̳̘̬͓͓̀o̡̟̯̫͓̬w͏̛͙ͅ?͜͏̣̰̫͕ ̢̫͖͖̻̗̯̟̕H̢͈̬͉̳̤̼̺o̡͎̤̖̞͇͕̱̰͡ͅw͝͏̩͖̜͚̤̫͍̙͟ ҉̙̘̳͎i̮̮͚ͅs͕͈͔̥͙̞̮͘ ̸̜̱t̴͇̠̦̖͎̬h͉͓̫̠̫͠ͅi͔̪s̵̶͉̤̟̩̰͖ ̙̫̺̥̣̳̰̭͝p̨҉̦͇̭̗̟͘ó̩͖̘̪͎s̨̩̙̝̗̪͓͍̲͝s͖̟͚̻̳̭̹͚̪̀į̬͍͇̺̞͙͔ͅb͍̫̳̱̮̫̩̙͘͞l̵͙̘̱̞̲̣̩e̦̣̹̼̩̻̝̕͢?̷͇̳̙͎́̕!̸̤͞"̣͈͍̣

Gale said nothing. He simply charged, crimson laser blade at the ready. Metal summoned a lunar blade before returning the assault. They clashed blades and began trading blows. They started fighting at impossible speeds, time seeming to slow around them as they fought. Each strike was met with another. Every attack blocked and countered, which only resulted in a blocking from the other combatant. However, they were not completely equal. After all, Gale still had a little bit of a boost from his previous forms. This gave him just enough to dodge, and land a deadly blow on Metal. Metal swung one of his lunar blades, but Gale dodged and plowed his own laser blade into Metal’s chest. He knocked him away and fired a blast of energy.

Metal managed to recover, but not before getting hit by that blast of energy. He glared at Gale. So, no matter what he did, Gale could copy it and add it to his arsenal? Metal wasn’t feeling so invincible anymore.

However, unbenounced to him, Gale was having a hard time keeping it together. The sudden addition of energy was putting a huge strain on his body, as it was not able to gain the power naturally. The reason he didn’t speak was because his voice box was turned off. In fact, every non essential thing except for body movement, energy control, and eyesight, were turned off in order to focus on keeping this new form from breaking apart.

’Gale, this form won’t last very long before your body overloads and discharges the energy. You must end this quickly.’ Gale nodded. He thought that it was pretty cool that while fused, Gregar could work as some sort of AI for Gale. But he was right. He needed to end this, fast. He looked up at Metal, an internally cringed.

Because of the overflow of energy rampaging through his body, even the slightest movement caused him serious pain. He had even turned his pain receptors off, but the system that allowed for that had been damaged, so he was still feeling the full brunt of this uncontrollable strength. Thankfully, he could power through it. At least…

… he hoped he could.

With another mental grunt Gale shot forwards and spin dashed into Metal. Metal attempted to put up a defence, but it was in vain. He was knocked back, and Gale forced the Apocalypse magic into his robotic quills, causing them to shred Metal worse than they usually would have. He uncurled and kicked Metal with his heel, sending him down towards the planet. He immediately followed, catching up to Metal and began beating him senseless. He punched, kicked, stabbed, and blasted, before he tackled Metal into the ground, creating a massive crater. Gale recovered quickly and jumped a short distance away from Metal before he started charging up again.

Charging up the attack was taking longer than normal however. All of that movement had put Gale through an agony of the likes he had never felt. Not even Metal’s strikes when he was only fused with Gregar hurt this much. He couldn’t put all his focus into the attack, there was just too much pain to deal with. He saw Metal get up, and look at him with surprise.

’Well, here goes nothing!’ Gale moved to fire off his attack.

But then his systems overloaded.

The energy was too much, his body couldn’t handle it anymore. Without getting that strength naturally, there was no way his body would have been able to adapt to it fast enough. Electricity flowed inside and outside his body as unimaginable pain coursed throughout his being. He shouted in pain, his voice now turned back on, as the wild and corrupted copied apocalypse magic shot out of him in all directions before immediately disappearing.

Metal watched as his best friend cried out in torture. The apocalypse magic was now leaving his body, seeming to do as much damage as possible to him before it left. Metal felt sorrow for his friend and wanted to help. And yet, for some reason…

… he smiled.

As the last of the apocalypse magic finally left his body, Gale collapsed onto the floor. He wasn't unconscious, but he was in such pain he might as well be. Metal walked up to his friend and began to charge up a blast.

"̷T͞h̵̨͞a̴̵t̸ wa҉̕s ̕͡q҉͢͝ų̛i̡̛t̴͞e̸̢̛ ́͝a v̧́͝a̡͞ĺ̢͏i̶̷͟a͞n͢͞t̡͡ ͢e̸̢̧f͏͞f͠ort̵̵ ҉̵G̴̢͜a̵͝l͏̨e͠͞,̶̴ ͜b̡u̴t̡ ͞I̕'̸̕͟m̶͢ ҉á͞f͞r̢͜a̢̢i̵̢͝d̕͟҉ ͠i͞t̸ w҉a̛͜ş̛̕n'͏t̕ ̀͞҉e̸nǫ̛͏u̡g҉҉̕h̵̛.̵̛ ̵̕͞Ḩơw̨͠e͝v̷̡é͘͟r̡̛,̶͘ ́͟c͟͠ò͟ǹs̵̡i͟d̡̢er̴̵i͜ń̢̨g̸ t͟͏h̴e͢ ̕͜m̴͞͏a̢͘s͡s̵͠iv͏́͞e͏̡̕ a̧m҉̵où̡n̵̡ţ ͘o̕҉͟f̶͝͡ ̸̸̴p̶͝a̧͝͠i̵̡n҉̕ y̵͜͝ơ͠u̸̶͘ ͜͡j̡͡u͏̷st̶͟ ̴̀̕w̵̵è͝nt̵͠ ҉͞t̵̡ḩ́r̶͏͏o͠ug̵̵h͘, ̸҉̢I̵̡̕ ś͜͡u̕͢p̧͜͝pose͝ ̵Ì̕'̷l̸̨͜l̸̀ ͞s͘h̴͡͝o̴͜w̛ ͏͡͏m̨̛e̸r͟͏c̀́͟y̸ a̵̛͢n̷͜d ̷̀͢k͠ill͜ ̀̀͝y͟o̶u͏̕ ̛n͢ow̕͜.͝҉ ͘D҉͢o̢n̵̷'̢t̢͟ ́̀͢w̕ǫ͘͟r̢͠͝r҉̀͞ỳ,̡ I̶'͜҉l҉̷̷l̶͟͡ ̡̀m̕ak̛ȩ̢̕ ̷̢҉ít̷ ̵̛q̧̡͟u͜͢i̕͢ć̨̢ķ̷͠ ͏͡ą̶nd̀ ̴p̴a҉̴ínl̴̡e̵͠s̀s̷.̷̸"̕͜͝

Gale struggled to look up at his friend.

“So, this is the thanks I get? For coming all this way, just to save your ass? Heh, I should have expected it I guess. Fine then, kill me. But if you do, then you’ll lose everyone you hold dear, you know that right? Luna will think of you as a monster, Rainbow will be terrified of you, Lisa will hate you to no end, and Samantha would probably think you’ve become another Martin.” Metal stopped, looking at Gale with suspicion.

"͏̞̮̹̩͇͉̬W̨̲͖̫̣̪̥̠̯h̵̢͔̹̲̥̬͇̹̠̟͝a҉̦͇̠͉́͝t͉̳̮͔͔͈̺͕́͘ ̻̞̠̥̕a҉̸͙̗̩͇͖̺̠͡ŗ̳̘̱͇̘͝e͇̬͎̝ ̟̣͕y̗̥̺̜͘͞o̷̡̢͎̰͓͔̠̖ͅu̫̫̝̭̯̩̬ ̘͚̖̝͖͍ͅt̸̨̰̹a͔̘͜͢ḻ͙̬͡k͍̲͚͙̥̞̗͕̲i̭̪̣̝͖̮͖n̖̬̙͔͟g͍̦͈̠ͅ ̢҉̭ͅa̧̭̻̙̹̬̝͕̦͢b̳͈̰̟́o̫u̖̤͜t̶̸̗̰͉̮͢?̸̩̞̫͔̮̲ ̨͏̤̗͢S͏̩̲̺̤̩̩a͇̥̙̖͡ͅm͘҉͍͙̫̦̩͚a͎͉̞̥̞͎͜n̨͚̯͙͉̗͚̮̙̹͘t̕҉̳͖ͅḥ̶̢͈́a̴҉̣̰̲̜̞̤̮̩ ̡̹̗͠ͅi̧̳̰̫͙͝s̴̨̩̮ ͖̼̲̙̭̠̬̜̝g̬̬͈̩̱̤̭̯o҉̶̜͕̙n̤̙̠̩͕̦͇̱é͓͇̘̙̲̣̮͢͠!̸̧̘̩̖̰̯̰"̸͈̯

Gale chuckled.

“Yeah? Your point? Symbol was gone, but now he’s been hanging out at my world for a little bit. My brother was gone, but now he’s getting married. Hell, I was gone, but I’m here now aren’t I?” Metal was even more confused. What was Gale getting at? “Look Metal, we know plenty of forces that can bring Samantha back. For instance, reality stars, the Soul Carin, other displaced or displacers with some power over souls. They can help bring Samantha back. Hell,” Gale slowly but surely got up and looked his closest friend in the eye, “there are probably some forces that would bring her back, whether we want her to or not. She may be dead, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still save her. I mean, even if DEATH himself has her soul right now, Epidemic and Symbol together could probably beat him senseless and bring Samantha back.”

Metal wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to believe what he was hearing. Could… Could they really bring her back? Gale made it sound so simple and yet… was it possible?

"͙̀͡͞Ỵ̡̰͈o̯͔̥̪̗̟̲͢͝u̢͚̜̖̜̳.̛̜͔͎͇̖̤̗ͅ.̷͍͕͖̀͞.̧͓͈̯̰̘̳͖́ͅ ҉ͅY͕̩̳̳̼͠o͓͉͈̗̲̙͓u̵͔̙͢ ̷̸̧̜̥̠̘̯͇̞̮̜c͚̫̺a̴̩͇̮̦̩̗̜n̤'̦̝̺͓̹t̸̤͉ͅ ̴̳̼̥͓b̸͙̼̼͖̰̯̫͎̙̕ę͍̖̣ ͓͍̫̼͜s̵̨͓̩̥̳̱̠ę͙͚̘͕͓̝̬͡ͅr̛̖̮̣͝i̧̝̩̬̮̖͈͔͈̠̕͟o͚͉̼̪̕u̮͉͎̹͉̣̼s͚̝͘͝.̶͈̯̟̜̲"̵͍̥̮͓

Gale smiled. “I can be, and I am. But, in order to make that happen, you need to calm down. After all, I don’t think you harem would apreciate the head male being a corrupted monster would they?”

Inside of Metal, something snapped back into place. His pain was starting to dissipate, his anger was evaporating. Gale must have noticed this, because he nodded his head approvingly. Metal grabbed the side of his head and grunted in pain as his quills began to get shorter and his body began to change back to normal. Once he was back to his usual self he fell onto his hands and knees. Closing his eyes he punched the ground, a feeling of shame washing over him as he realized what he had just tried to do.

“Alright, isn’t that better? Now come on! We’ve got a girl to-” Gale sentence was cut off as a laser blade stabbed through his chest. He stopped, shocked, and shakily turned his head around.

What he saw, was the Alpha.

“Sorry there Gale, but we can’t have Metal get back to normal just yet. That would interfere with our plans. To insure that something like this doesn’t happen again, I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you.” With that, he drew back his blade, and roundhouse kicked Gale’s head off.
> Chapter Twelve: Eternal Suffering
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Twelve: Eternal Suffering






{Metal’s POV}

Once all of my Apocalypse magic had left me, I collapsed onto my hands and knees. I looked up at Gale as he outstretched a hand to help me up.

“Alright, isn’t that better? Now come on! We’ve got a girl to-” Just before I went to grab his hand, Gale sentence was cut off as a laser blade stabbed through his chest. He stopped, shocked, and shakily turned his head around.

Right behind him, was Alpha.

“Sorry there Gale, but we can’t have Metal get back to normal just yet. That would interfere with our plans. To insure that something like this doesn’t happen again, I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you.” With that, he drew back his blade, and roundhouse kicked Gale’s head off.

I could only watch, as Gale’s head rolled up to me. It stopped, face up, and his eyes were dark.

“Well now, this is an interesting development now isn’t it? After all his efforts to bring you back, only to be killed in the end. Kind of ironic isn’t Metal?” I could help but stare at my best friend’s lifeless head. He was only trying to save me, and this is how he’s rewarded?

“You… you killed him.”

“Yeah, wasn’t all that hard either. Kind of relieved that I did too. Pretty sure if I fought him he might have replicated my power and mopped the floor with me. Good thing he was too busy helping you out.” I slowly raised my head to him.

“You...you! I’LL KILL YOU!” I was suddenly filled with energy as I rushed at him and kicked him, sending Alpha flying. I quickly formed into a spindash and plowed into him, before uncurling and punching him in the face. He went flying even further, and didn’t have time to recover before I blasted him with a giant beam of energy. After a few seconds though, the beam burst as Alpha countered it with a small energy blast.

“There you go Metal! Now this fight can really begin!”

{Lisa’s POV}

I ran to the spot where I sensed Gale and Metal had crashed. I hoped everything was okay. As I approached the crater, I saw Metal and Alpha fighting again. I sensed Metal’s mental state was a bit better. He no longer wanted to destroy everything in sight. But, that feeling was replaced a massive thirst for revenge. But, why? I mean, it could be Samantha. But, this want was for the death of someone else.

“I wonder who it’s for.” As I tried to think up a person he could want to avenge almost as badly as he wanted to avenge Samantha, I noticed Gale was nowhere to be found. “Hey wait, where’s G-” Then, I saw it.

Gale’s head.

On the ground.

Separated from his body.

And his eye was dark.

I slowly approached. “Gale?” No response. “Gale?” Again, nothing.

“C-Come on, this isn’t funny. Gale?” I was answered with silence. I fell to my knees, and picked up the head. “Gale, cut it out. Come on, say something. Please, just say something, anything! Gale? GALE!”

No, this couldn’t be real. This had to be a bad dream or something. This… this can’t be happening. But as much as I tried to deny it, I soon realized the truth. He was gone. Gale, the love of my life, the one I spent day and night with, was dead. I started crying as I hugged his head close. Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed. Then, suddenly, something inside me… no not just inside me, something all around me…

...shattered like glass.

{Metal’s POV}

“I’ll DESTROY YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!!!”

I charged up another energy blast and fired it at Alpha. He promptly dodged and sent a ball of energy at me. It hit me, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was avenging Gale. I caught up to him and swung a fist, but he dodged. Then, he roundhouse kicked me away, before charging up a massive blast of energy.

“Sorry Metal, but it seems we can’t get any use out of you after all. Ah well, doesn’t really matter to me all that much. Goodbye Metal, have a nice time in hell. Oh, and say hi to Gale for me!” He fired off the beam he had been charging. I didn’t have the time to recover as it made its way to me. I watched as my death quickly approached.

But then, it suddenly stopped, a massive crack in it. The cracks spread and the beam crumbled into pieces.

“What the hell?” Alpha was just as confused as I was. Why did his attack just fail like that. Was he badly hurt or something? Then I looked to my left, and found my solution.

It was Lisa. But something was horribly, horribly wrong. For one, she had dark, empty eye sockets, that seemed to stare right through me. Her tendrils were out, all of them in positions showing that they were ready to attack. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

No, the worst of it was that there were massive cracks in space and time all over the place, and, to top it all off, there were an army of monsters around her. At first I thought that they were Nightmare Fuels, but upon further inspection, it was revealed to me they were different. For one, Nightmare’s had glowing yellow eyes, not glowing crimson mouths. Two, these guys were a bit bigger, than the normal ones. They each had four tendrils coming out of their backs and there were tons of them. It was like a small army, and Lisa was the head of command.

That’s when I noticed that Lisa held something in her hands. It was Gale’s head.

’Oh no.’ Seeing her like that broke my heart. She must be in so much pain, that she’s become this. Lisa looked at me, before turning her attention to Alpha. The monsters that surrounded Lisa started growling, sounding excited and, hungry. Lisa then snapped her fingers, and all hell broke lose.

With unholy roars, the monsters attack Alpha. He tried to blast them away, but whatever pain he caused them they seemed to ignore. They piled up on him and started ripping him apart. I could hear his cries of pain as they tore off his limbs, and bit into his neck. Once they were done, they lept away and all that was left of Alpha, was a small, purple orb.

I just stared in shock at how quickly the creatures destroyed that monster. I didn't have much time to dwell on it though, I had to help Lisa. There was no way in hell I was letting another person fall to the darkness today, enough of that has been done already it's starting to becoming annoying.

As I approached Lisa, I reverted to my normal form. I saw that the ground around me was becoming devoid of colour and pieces in reality were glitching out. When I was close enough a feeling of fear swept over me from her presence, but I quickly subdued it and I continued walking towards her.

She didn’t seem to even notice that I was afraid of her in the first place, as she kept her stance and her voided eyes remained empty. “Lisa?” I wasn't going to bother asking if she was alright, she clearly wasn't. “Lisa, can you hear me?” I asked as I moved closer and waved slightly. She didn't move.

“Metal…” I heard her say my name in a very hushed voice.

“Yes, it's me Lisa. It's Metal. Now, are you still in control? Do you know what you're doing?” I asked very cautiously. Not wanting to set her off.

Suddenly, I heard her start to quietly chuckle. Which turned to a low giggle...to inane laughter. She hugged the head close to her chest and laughed like a maniac at the sky. She ceased her laughing and set her gaze upon me, I refused to even flinch under her glare. “Metal Sonic...it is you...my friend…” She giggled darkly again before continuing. “Look at you, all shiny and better after going God mode on us...and look at Gale...poor...poor Gale. Nothing but a head and an empty corpse.”

She tossed the head in her hands before holding it close again.

“Ironic isn't it? We thought you were the exact same thing whenever we first came here to save you...now Gale has become what he tried to prevent. Such a shame...such a loss…” As she continued talking about Gale her voice was getting darker and darker, but began to sound like a creepy little girl’s voice at the same time.

“Lisa, I know you're upset, I know you're angry but you need to calm down. Let me try to fix this before you destroy everything.” I stepped in front of her and stared into her empty eyes, feeling the pain seeping through them.

“Metal...I am in so much pain…I've lost the love of my life...my home...and my friends...one by one I lose and lose...now, with everything that's happened...you know what it feels like...don't you?”

As she began to take a few small steps closer I remained in my place, not showing any signs of fear, that would only give her an advantage in this situation. I saw that those creatures were staring at me with hungry expressions. “What are these things?” I asked myself quietly.

“Oh, you're wondering about my little helpers? Meet the Proxies, my little pets.” Lisa explained as she continued to draw closer.

“Lisa...what're you doing?” I asked as she was right in front of me, staring into my eyes with her lifeless voids.

“You understand my pain…” She said quietly before holding out her hand and dropping Gales head which landed with a clang. “You've stuck by me...even now...so…” I could tell she began to smile evilly as she grabbed my arms with and legs with her tendrils, holding me down. As I struggled she leaned down to me and brushed my cheek with her hand. “Come on Metal, why don't you share my suffering!?” She brought her last tendril up to my body and wrapped it around my torso. “Let's suffer together!!! Just you and me!!!”

She drew one of her claw-like fingers across my chest, almost as if she was cutting me open with her nails alone, trying to reach inside my soul. She grabbed the side of my head with her hands and brought her close to mine.

“I don't want to be alone while I'm destroying everything, I want you to be there too. You aren't scared of me, you want to help me...help me now!”

She clamped down on my head and placed her lips on mine, her corruption pouring into my body from the kiss.

I continued to struggle as my systems began to fail to fight off the corruption. “N-No…”
 
Lisa pulled away and looked at me with a smile. “What's wrong Metal? I thought you wanted me to yourself.”

“N-No...I won't betray Gale...or you…”

Lisa just giggled insanely before smiling and looking into my eyes again. “You don't have a choice…”

She suddenly threw me into the air and her Proxies leapt at me. They bit into my body, corruption pouring into me faster than I could think. I just barely managed to use chaos control to get away before collapsing on the ground. I was aching all over, and the corners of my vision were starting to go dark.

“Oh Metal.” I looked up to see Lisa surrounded by her pets. She stroked one lovingly, as an owner would their dog, before she faced me and started her approach, her Proxies not far behind. “Why do you resist? Don’t you want the world to know your pain? To know our pain? Don’t you want to make them all suffer like we have?”

“No… I don’t… not anymore.” I struggled to get up. I faced her, putting on a brave face, but she was starting to scare me now. The way she talked, the way she walked, it was like something out of a nightmare.

And I couldn’t wake up.

“Hmm… what a shame. Well don’t worry, soon you’ll want to make everyone suffer like I do. We’ll make them suffer… together.” She started giggling madly before she snapped her fingers. Once again her Proxies charged at me, their monstrous bellows unlike anything I’d ever heard. I shot up into the air and took aim at Lisa. I didn’t want to hurt her, but if I ended this fast then I could get us all home and fix everything.

Lisa didn’t expect me to attack her, so she was hit with the full force of the attack. She was thrown back and I went charging after her. I prepared to finish her off by punching her, but then she turned her head. Her eye sockets were gone. She was back to normal.

“Metal? W-What’s going on?”

“Lisa? Oh thank god you’re-” suddenly those eyes returned and a tendril pierced itself through my body. I could feel her creepy smile.

“Oh Metal, you have such a soft heart. It’s nice to know that my face still has an affect on you.” The corruption was spreading through my body again, and once again I used chaos control to get out of it. I looked at her, not believing what she had just done.

“H-How? How could you-”

“It’s very simple Metal. All I did was hide my eyes, and you did the rest.” Once again her maddened giggles sounded off. I could no longer hide behind a brave mask. 

This was the fastest I’ve ever been taken down, and if I lose here a lot of people are going to pay the price. But, I didn’t want to hurt Lisa, she was going through too much for that. But then what was I supposed to do? I slowly tried to crawl away from her, which just caused her to chuckle.

“Oh Metal. You’re so cute when you’re trying to get away. But I think we’ve waited long enough. Now come, and be a part of my eternal suffering.” Her tendrils wrapped themselves around me once again and I could do nothing as they lifted me up. Her Proxies started getting excited the closer I got to her, elated at the idea of having a new master. She held me up in front of her, a tendril ready to strike. “Welcome Metal, to your new life.”

”FUS RO DAH!” Suddenly, everyone, including me, was knocked away by some unknown force. As I flew through the air, I felt something grab me and carry me away from Lisa. When I looked up, I saw a gray dragon. It was Gale’s brother,

Alduin.

{Alduin’s POV}

”FUS RO DAH!” I bellowed. My unrelenting force shout fired off and hit the group of monster that surrounded Metal and Lisa. I grabbed Metal in my mouth as he sailed through the air and took off, hoping to put some distance between Lisa and myself.

Once I was far enough I landed behind a mountain and set Metal Sonic down. He fell onto his hands and knees, sparks of electricity coming from his joints.

“Are you alright Metal?” I asked as I lowered my head down to meet him.

“N-No...just...need a minute for...self repair to kick in.”

“You've got a hole in your chest and you're full of a darkness that is quickly spreading.” I stated, it seemed as if he was trying to downplay his injuries.

“I've been stabbed…in the chest all day today...the corruption is nothing new either, I'll be fine.” The sparks ceased and the hole in his chest began to fill up again as he got to his feet. “I've got to go back.”

“Wait.” I stopped him from taking off by blocking the way with one of my wings. “Don't just fly off without a plan. Do that and you’re as good as dead.”

“I don't care if I die! My sister is out there, broken, suffering and tearing the world apart with her pain. I'll be damned if I just leave her for even a second, I'll gladly give myself up to make her better.” He responded readily, floating up to my head and staring me dead in the eye with determination.

‘He's so young yet so brave, either that or incredibly stubborn. Clearly he’s willing to lay down his life to make others happy.’ I thought to myself. “Metal Sonic, let me ask you a question. What is it that you promised yourself when you came to Equestria?” I asked with interest.

He just clenched his fists and glared. “I promised that I'd protect everyone with my life, I promised to be a hero to those that couldn't fight for themselves. I'm a selfish bastard most of the time, but I know what needs to be done.” He answered darkly while pounding his fists together.

‘Hmm, something must have happened to him in the past for him to have a want to protect others like this.’ I thought for a moment before deciding that I wouldn’t be able to stop him. “Alright, then I’ll help you obtain that goal. But we need a plan first. We also need to find Gale.”

“That won’t help.” He said simply.

“What?”

“Gales dead, a Nightmare stabbed him in the back and kicked his head off...he didn't survive long, that's why Lisa is like this.” He explained. “Although with what he explained to me earlier it's kinda hard to think of the consequences of death if it can easily be reversed.”

“Hmm, I knew something was wrong with him, I couldn’t sense his energy. Very well, then we need to find his body and return it to his repair capsule.”

“I suppose that could work. But, if we both leave Lisa will just follow us and her terror will be unleashed onto whatever universe we travel to.” I brought a wing to my chin and thought for a moment.

“Hmm, so we can’t get Gale’s assistance with this right now, else we risk unleashing Lisa to the multiverse. However, she is incredibly powerful and has an army of monsters at command, so fighting her should be a last resort. Do you have any ideas?”

Metal flew over to the edge of the cliffside we were on and looked over the side. “Maybe, I can try to reach out to the real her if I can get close enough. I don't know if I'll be able to reach her or not, but it's all I can come up with.”

“Right. Well considering what she’s going through, it won’t be easy. Hmm, if only there was a more direct way of reaching her.” Metal thought for a moment before snapping his fingers.

“I’ve got it! There isn’t a more direct way of talking to someone than going into their mind. If I do that, I just might be able to get through to her.” I nodded.

“Very well, but how are you going to get there? After all, you don’t have the ability to enter someone’s mind do you?”

“No, I don’t. But Lisa does.”

“Hmm, and how do you propose to gain that ability? You have to see it first right?”

“I can scan my memories.”

“Yes, but even then she may have a way to block. With how experienced in the mind she is, she has to have a way to block intruders.”

“Then what do you think we should do?” I stopped and thought for a moment, before a grin appeared on my face.

“I believe I have a plan.”

{Third POV}

“Where did those two go?” Lisa looked around, trying to find Alduin and Metal. “Alduin will pay for what he’s done. I won’t let him take Metal away from me!”

She turned to her army of Proxies.

“Find them! And bring Metal Sonic to me, I don't care if you have to kill Auldin to do it, just bring him back to me!” With affirmative growls, her Proxies ran off, willing to search every corner of the world if it meant pleasing their master. Lisa watched them go, confident that her pets would find them easily enough. As they left, more Proxies leapt out of the cracks in reality, either spreading themselves around to act as lookouts, or placing themselves around her to act as a living shield. Either way, there were all readily welcomed into the growing pack. “Soon, I’ll have an unstoppable army. Then I’ll hunt down every Nightmare in the multiverse, and make everyone know my suffering.”

She giggled like a mad women. Then, she noticed something, odd. A large number, nearly half, of the Proxies she sent out to search for Alduin and Metal were gathering in one area, and that number was growing.

’They must have found them. I guess I can make my way there and see if they need any help. After all, Alduin and Metal are no pushovers.’ With her decision made, Lisa made her way to the gathering of Proxies, the ones she had with her following right behind her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with them though, but she didn’t know what. It took her a while, but eventually she arrived. They were all lined up and facing her, as if forming some sort of defensive line against her. She began to wonder why, but then notice a difference.

They all had glowing yellow eyes, with a yellow mist seeping out of them.

Lisa then knew, these Proxies weren’t hers to command anymore.

“What in the? Who dares to take control of MY Proxies?”

“That would be me.” Lisa watched the proxies part, to make way for their new master, Alduin. He stood tall in front of his little army, ready to take on any challenge.

“How? My pets only listen to me.”

“It’s called the bend will shout. I can make anything or anyone obey my every command with that shout.”

“And why not use it on me?”

“Like the dovahkiin, displaced seem to have a resistance to it.” Lisa huffed.

“And why take over my Proxies anyways? While you have a limited supply, I gain more every minute.”

“War tactics, something I am very familiar with, and you have never used before. I will bring both you and your Proxies down before the end of the day.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“It’s a promise.” Metal flew down and landed next to Alduin. “From us, to you.”

Lisa growled in anger, before swiping her hand, sending her Proxies off to battle.

> Chapter Thirteen: Everlasting Peace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Thirteen: Everlasting Peace






{Alduin's POV}

As Lisa's army or Proxies began to charge towards us I raised one of my wings to give the command to attack, but before I could even give the order the first few rows of the attackers were completely destroyed by a large wave of blue transparent swords, much like Luna would use. They just kept rapidly shooting into the monsters bodies, causing them to collapse as corpses on the ground. When the barrage ended I looked to my side, not finding Metal who was there only a second before.

I looked up and saw him with multiple lunar blades circling him as he glared down at the Proxies. He then grabbed two of them in his hands and the others disappeared. If that was the extent that he could use a copied ability to, I could wonder what he would be capable of if he were to copy my shouts.

“You take care of the Proxies…” Metal began as he sighted his target. “...I'm going straight for Lisa.”

“I hope you have a plan for when you get in there, I don't want to end up fighting you as well.”

He just glanced at me for a second before shaking his head. “Just focus on the enemy, if I can't get her to see reason I have a backup plan.”

“And that is?” I asked. If we were going to work together, I needed to know what he was planning.

“You'll find out if it comes to that.” He merely stated as he landed and began walking towards the army with the blades in his hands.

I just shook my head and roared, signaling my Proxies to charge.

I looked to Lisa who had her eyes on Metal as he approached, both staring each other dead in the eye with a certain determination and understanding, as if they were talking just by looking at each other.

As the Proxies clashed around us Metal merely smacked one away with a backhand and kept his pace. I took to the skies and charged a large group of the growing number of Lisa's minions and blasted them with a large breath of fire.

A few jumped up behind me and bit down on my wings, causing me to fall to the ground. Before they could begin tearing at my flesh I turned my head around and used a shout to force them off.

”FUS RO DAH!”

As they flew off from the force of the shout I spat out multiple fireballs which followed them before landing a hit. I grunted in pain as one of the Proxies jumped onto my back and stabbed its claw straight through my scales. I turned my head around to attack only for another Proxie to shot a beam of dark energy into my mouth, causing an explosion.

As I stumbled the army of creatures began to pile onto me. My own Proxies were busy with the others and two Proxies holding my mouth open prevented me from shouting. As I struggled I saw a bright red light shining through the gaps in between monsters.

“CHAOS...BLAST!!!”

The Proxies were incinerated by a wave of red chaos energy. I looked up to see Metal floating above me in the center of the wave.

“Get up, we’re losing too many of our Proxies, see what you can do to try to even the odds while I make a break for Lisa.” He instructed before shooting off in the direction of Lisa.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do!” I called back before taking to the skies.

{Metals POV}

I came to a halt as a large Proxie blocked my path to Lisa. It lunged forward to try and trap me in its jaw, instead it received a fist going mach two to the face, knocking its head clean off.

I threw a blade behind me to stab a Proxie that tried to sneak up on me before moving my head to the side to avoid a tendril being shot at me. I grabbed the outstretched tendril in my hand and curdled into my spindash. The Proxie was repeatedly slammed into the ground as I spun in place with the tendril in my grasp.

I unfurled myself and began to spin the Proxie around, knocking down multiple other monsters in the process before launching it into the air and blasting it with a chest beam.

I turned to lock eyes with Lisa again, who just smirked and snapped her fingers, causing a horde of huge Proxies to appear around her, all looking at me.

“Why don't I give you the challenge you deserve? After all, if we're going to be spending eternity together I need to know that you can fight a real battle.” She said sadistically with a seductive tone.

I shook my head to free myself of whatever kind of spell she was trying to cast. “I've been fighting God-like beings all day today, what's a swarm of cannon fodder?”

“Good question.” She giggled before flicking a tendril, causing all the larger Proxies to begin charging me.

As they got closer and closer I shut my eyes and readied my fists. As the one at the front of the horde was about to strike me I spoke two words. “Chaos Control.” Time completely stopped around me, everything and everyone frozen in place.

I quickly sped about the large Proxies and planted explosive dummy rings on each of them. I then went back to my original place and readied one of the rings in my hand to start the chain reaction.

As I deactivated Chaos Control everything slowly began to turn to normal. As the Proxie was just about to touch me I threw the ring at his face. It exploded on impact, causing his to explode as well, which in turn caused a chain reaction.

Soon a path was cleared to Lisa who was looking at my unimpressed. “Chaos Control...really? What kind of guy cheats like that?”

“I prefer to get things done quickly.” I responded simply as I continued walking towards her. “You know for someone who wants to turn me to the darkness you seem more keen on destroying me rather than bringing me to your side.”

“You can't blame a girl for wanting to have a little fun before things got serious can you? Besides, it looks to me as if you're giving yourself up?” She began to walk forward, two Proxjes close behind her.

“Yeah, it's pretty useless to try and fight at this point, you'll just keep spawning these things, we'll tire out eventually. Plus, I'm wanting a little revenge on the multiverse for everything it has taken from both of us.” I answered as I reached her. She looked down at me with those empty eyes, I could feel her smirk.

“Well, this certainly makes things easier for me. Now...come here you, I'm making you mine right here, right now.” She leaned down and grabbed me by the torso, bringing me up to eye level. She stared at me for awhile before gently placing her lips on mine, staring to link our minds together.

’Gotcha.’ As we began to enter each other's minds, I pushed her out of mine and forced myself into hers. It was time to break her out of this nightmare, and I swear to whatever God is watching this that if there is another damn villain or possession after this I'm tearing this world to shreds.

She tried to stop me but failed, I had ceased control. Her Proxies ignored everything, not getting any commands from their master, so they just went on to fight the other Proxies and Auldin.

’Hang in there Lisa, I'm coming for you, I'll fix this.’ With one final push I was able to reach into her mind fully. Now, just to find her in this corrupted labyrinth.





As I entered Lisa’s mind, I began to notice a change of scenery. Like in my own mind, my displaced form was shadowed over my human self. The area around me was like an abandoned kingdom. Buildings were empty, windows were broken, and there were cracks in the walls and cement. I seemed to be in some sort of shopping district.

“So, Lisa’s mind is a castle? Hmm, considering how experienced she was with the mind, she may have made her consciousness into a fortress. Of course, when she’s not insane it’s probably not abandoned.”

“You’d be right about that.” I stopped and turned, not expecting to see anyone here. At first I thought I would see Lisa, in her maddened glory. But instead, I saw a little girl with black hair, black eyes, and tan skin. She was wearing a smaller version of the dress Lisa always wore, but it now had straps over her shoulders. She also had that pin with the crossed out circle in her hair, and she held a black rose.

“Um… hi?”

“Hello! My name’s Lisa! I’ve never seen you around here before, are you new? Did you come to help me find everyone? Oh please say you have! It’s gotten really lonely without everyone else. What’s your name anyways?”

“Uh, Metal. My name’s Metal.”

“Metal? That’s a weird name. Oh well, so how come you’re here mister? Are you here to help me find everyone?”

“Find everyone?”

“Uh huh! All the other Lisas that used to be here. There were a lot of us. But then, when the scary lady stormed the castle and took over, everyone suddenly disappeared.”

“Disappeared? Scary lady?”

“Yeah, the scary lady. You know, the one with the empty eyes? She used to be locked away in a far away mountain, but then one day she just showed up here. Then one by one everyone started to disappear. The other Lisas tried to calm me down, but then they left too. I’ve been trying to find them, but I just can’t!” She looked down at the ground, sounding really sad.

What the hell was going on here? Other Lisas? The scary lady? I was super confused by this point. I had expected to find a destroyed, messed up mass of chaos with Lisa somewhere in the middle. What I got was a destroyed kingdom, and some mystery along with it.

“Um… well I’d love to help kid but-”

“You would?! YAY!” She ran up and hugged me before she dashed off before stopping to motion for me to follow her, then running off again. I shook my head and ran after her.

“So, what is this place?”

“This is our mind.”

“Our mind?”

“Oh, sorry, I meant Lisa’s. This is a place she created so she could have a better defence for her mind and a good way to handle her memories. Unintentionally though, she created people like me, copies of her past. Every time a year passes, a new one forms, in the same state of mind and body as she was at the end of that year. Anyways, she also made this place to seal away the scary lady.”

“And she is?”

“The one that gives us our mad modes.”

“Ah. So, whenever Lisa get into a mad mode, the scary lady takes over?”

“Nope, she’s just released for a long time, around a couple years.”

“A couple years? But Lisa’s never-”

“Passage of time in here is very different then it is out there. A minute in the real world is a whole year here.”

“Huh, well I guess that makes some things easier. So the scary lady has never taken over?’

“She used to sometimes a really long time ago. But then Lisa stopped her and sealed her away for good. But now somehow she broke out. The only reason why that could happen is if something bad happened and Lisa can no longer keep the scary lady in check.”

’Well, I’ve got a pretty good idea why she couldn’t this time.’

“Anyways, the scary lady started making the other Lisas disappear. Now I’m the only one left.”

“Why hasn’t she gotten rid of you?”

“Because in order to keep Lisa alive, one of us has to be around.”

“How come she didn’t choose someone younger?”

“I don’t know. The scary lady is kind of cocky, so maybe that’s why.” I nodded.

“So, anything I can do to help?”

“You can help me stop her!”

“That's what I planned to do from the start. Alright, scary lady here I come!”

“Be careful though! The scary lady isn’t limited here like she is out there! If we wanna beat her we need help!”

“And who, might I ask, could help us?”

“Someone that’s been here ever since the scary lady came here. He should be strong enough to assist us.”

“Alright then, lead the way.” She turned a corner, and headed for the city’s exit, with me close behind. And so we set off, to find the one that could help us beat Lisa.

You know, after this all blows over, I'm making sure this situation never happens to us again, we are far too easy to posses. I don't care if I have to destroy Lisa's mad modes to do it, and I know that they are basically the only things that have allowed her to fight powerful opponents and survive. But if this was what they could do to her, to all of us, they had to be destroyed.

But I wasn't just about to leave her defenceless against guys like Nightmare or Xram. I had another plan to help her with that. I knew a good few people in the multiverse that would be willing to help us out with that particular issue, I had been earning favours over the course of my time there, so I've got a few things up my sleeve if needed.

I noticed that the younger Lisa was having trouble running, most likely weakened due to the mad mode Lisa attacking. So I grabbed her by the waist and threw her onto my back where she wrapped her arms around my torso and wrapped her legs around my waist while still holding onto the flower in her hand. “Which way?” I asked while running at a faster pace.

“Towards that mountain over there!” She answered while pointing to a mountain off in the distance.

“Alright, hang on!” I had quickly learned that I still had my speed in the mindscape, so that allowed us to progress at a much faster rate. I couldn't reach mach speeds without my engine, but I could still clock in a couple of hundred miles per hour with my legs alone.

But as I began to pick up more speed I felt the ground shake and some of the buildings began to crack, the cracks seeping with darkness. “Oh no! She's starting to turn everything dark!” The little Lisa exclaimed. “We won't be able to get him up in time to save Lisa!”

I came to a screeching halt and set the girl down, confusing her. “You hurry on and get whoever it is taht can help us, I'll head back and hold off the mad mode until you get there.”

“But you won't survive on your own!”

“I knew that when I came here now go!” I ordered before speeding off again. The girl looked as if she was about to protest but just gave me a look of worry, a look I knew all too well from the real Lisa.

I zipped through the streets of the abandoned kingdom, dodged dark cracks in the road that appeared suddenly, having them appear at a faster rate as I got closer to the main castle.

“Don't even try to stop me, I will get my sister back even if I have to die to do it!” I charged right at the castle, intent on finding this, “scary lady” and setting Lisa free.

{Young Lisa POV}

I ran towards the mountain that he stayed at. I don’t know why he never told Lisa that he was here. He actually only told me, and then told me not to tell anyone else. I guess he knew that I would be the only one the scary lady didn’t take away. I guess it didn’t really matter right now, all I knew was that we needed his help. I soon approached the cave he lived in, and walked right in. I looked around. The cave was pretty bare. Contrary to what I remembered, he like to keep this simple. I strolled up to the only thing in the cave, a huge capsule. I knocked on the glass.

“Uh, mister? We need your help. Metal came just like you said he would, and he went to fight the scary lady all on his own! Please, we need you!” I waited, but nothing. Then, I heard a loud noise, and the capsule opened. Smoke was pouring out, letting whatever was in stasis wake up. Then, two blue metal arms gripped the sides of the capsule before a red eye glowed.

{Third POV}

Metal rushed through the city as more cracks in the ground appeared all around him. As he dodged around, he made sure to keep his eyes on his target. The castle. Just as he rounded a corner, a tendril came rushing out of a random crack and nearly smacked him. He just barely dodged, and stared at the tendril in shock.

“I see. So you’re fed up with trying to indirectly attack me and now you’re attacking me directly. Seems as though you see me as a real threat now.” With a nod, Metal sped past, continuing on to the castle.

As he moved along, more and more tendrils came out, attempting to strike. Pretty soon, the tendrils stopped, only to be replaced by Proxies!

“What the hell?!” Metal cried out as a Proxie took a swing at him. He jumped back and fired a beam at it, destroying it instantly. “Still got energy attacks in here, good to know.” More Proxies began walking out of the cracks, forcing Metal to hurry up and move. As he ran, he noticed that the Proxies were running up behind him, and gaining! He jumped up, turned mid air, and fired a powerful shot of energy. The shot exploded and annihilated the Proxies. He continued on, more and more proxies appearing behind him.

“Don't you guys have anything better to do?!” Groaning in frustration, Metal back-pedalled, jumped into the air and slammed down onto the ground in a split second, sending a shockwave across the area, wiping out all the Proxies. “Thank you.”

After that, he sped off towards the castle again. For a minute, it seemed as though the Proxies had given up chasing him. He knew this wasn't the case. There was no way that the one controlling these things would be stupid enough to just leave him alone.

He turned out to be right as he turned a corner he found an entire swarm of the beasts waiting for him with one huge Proxie leading the charge. Behind the horde was the castle. He was almost there. He was so close to finding a way to free Lisa from her mental prison and end the corruption of her mind, and those Proxies were in his way.

“Get…” As he began to pick up speed he unknowingly pulled his fist back. “...out…” As he clenched his fist tighter his hair began to flicker red and red electricity began to violently spark around his fists. “...of...my…” As the gigantic Proxie swung it's huge fit towards the young boy, Metal sidestepped and threw his fist forward. “...WAY!!!” He was suddenly on the other end of the horde in a flash of light. The street behind him erupted in a huge blast of red electricity that destroyed even the buildings around the now destroyed Proxies.

Metal himself stood with his fist forward, sparking with red energy as did his hair and eyes. He stood breathing heavily, the area around him turning red as well. He looked down at his hands and to the destruction he had caused.

“So...the Apocalypse Magic is still in me...but it feels more…” He opened his hands and the energy seemed to calm, it's sparks becoming less erratic. “...natural and controlled.” Sensing a nearby disturbance he looked down and saw a small stream of Apocalypse Magic and a few tendrils of the dark energy wrestling against each other, the Apocalypse Magic slowly gaining the upper hand as it spread itself into the darkness. “That could come in handy here…”

Having been distracted too long, Metal slapped himself in the face and sped into the large castle through the huge, broken doors.

Now having less space to run around, he reduced his speed to a fast jog as he journeyed through the abandoned castle.

“I wonder how Luna and Dash are holding up right now, I'm sure they're worried as hell.” He spoke to himself, remembering the mares he had fallen for to try and brighten his mood. “Heh, Dash is probably pacing impatiently demanding to join the fight while Luna is sitting acting calm but inside she's just like Dash is on the outside. I'm going to have to make it up to them after this...if I survive. I probably won't.” He said nonchalantly. “Huh...I said that too readily, I guess with all the times I've come close to death I've lost all fear of DEATH himself.”

“Oh really now?” The grim reaper asked as he began to phase in through one of the walls.

“Fuck off!”

“Heh, not for long.” DEATH faded back out of existence as a bolt of Apocalypse Magic was thrown at him.

“God!” Metal shook his head before readjusting his eyepatch. “The nerve of some people.”

“This coming from the one that has broken into someone else's property.” Metal came to a complete stop as he heard the familiar voice, the voice of Lisa's mad modes. “Hello there my Metal Prince, so nice of you to join me!” A tendril wrapped around him and pulled him into the darkness.

“Oh no you don't!” Metal growled before bursting out of the tendril and jumping back into the light. “None of that shit! Show yourself Slenderwoman!”

He heard giggling and footsteps coming from the darkness. “My my, a little demanding and fierce are we? I like that in a man.”

‘Oh my fucking God this is wrong on so many levels.’ Metal thought as he stood unfazed by the words of his target. “I'm going to give you one chance Slenderwoman. Let Lisa have her body back willingly, or I'm going to beat the living shot out of you until you do.”

{Metal’s POV}

As the crazed woman in control walked into the light, she giggled and pointed one of her tendrils at me while licking her lips. “Heh, I never thought I'd see a descendant of Apocalypse offer a peaceful solution to a beast such as I.”

“What're you talking about?”

“Oh right, little Cosmo hasn't told you of your heritage has she? Oh well, if you somehow manage to survive this without becoming my new husband then you'll be able to ask her yourself.” She smirked before shooting a pillar of darkness my way, which I knocked to the side with a backhand.

“Alright then, force it is.” I leaped at her in an attempt to punch. However, I simply passed through. “What the?”

“Heh heh heh. Silly Metal, in this world, I am a goddess. No matter what you do, I can’t be defeated here.”

“Hmph, it’s thinking like that that’ll get you killed.”

“Heh heh heh! You wouldn’t dare kill me!” Slender Woman spread her arms wide as tendrils shot out of her back. I dodged them and threw back an energy blast, which she backhanded.

“And why wouldn’t I?”

“Try it, SEE WHAT HAPPENS!” Two massive orbs of darkness formed at her sides. She threw them right at me, and I barely dodged. I ran at her full speed and threw a punch, but she caught my arm with a tendril. She lifted me up, then slammed me into the ground. Slender Woman then tossed me tossed me into the castle. I broke through the wall and landed in the throne room. The hall was empty and lifeless. The only thing in there was…

“Lisa!” She was chained up in an orb that rested above the throne. There were chains on her arms, legs, and body. There were angled lines all over her body, sort of reminding me of something from Twilight Princess.

“Don’t bother, she can’t hear you.” I turned to see Slender Woman walking in.

“What did you do to her?”

“Nothing. Her own sorrow is what’s made her like this. And as long as it does, I get to keep control.”

“Monster, give my sister her body back!” I leaped at her but she dodged.

“Give it back? This body was mine to begin with! If anything, I’ve just reclaimed what was mine!” She snapped her fingers and a couple Proxies appeared. They ran at me and lunged. I however formed a couple lunar blades in my hands and slashed through them.  I then charged at Slender Woman, but again I phased through her.

“Ugh, this is getting boring. I suppose I’ll just finish this.” She snapped her fingers again and everything went black. Then, I heard the crack of lightning, and everything went white. When the light cleared up and I could see again, it looked like I was in the middle of some sort of storm. It was pouring rain and lightning flashed everywhere. There were floating stone platforms all over, making some kind of battle arena.

“Tell me something Metal.” Slender woman’s voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. “Are you ready to succumb to the darkness?”

“A bit too late to ask that question.” I could see a black figure forming in the clouds. It emerged out of the storm wall and came into view.

It was a giant, Slender Woman.

“What the hell?” She lifted up a massive hand and swung at me. I jumped onto another platform before the hand could hit me. The tendrils on her back flew out and attacked, many of which I just barely dodged. However, one nicked me in the back, causing me to fall onto another platform right on my face. I flipped over on my back in an attempt to recover, only to see another tendril descending right on top of me. I couldn’t do anything but watch as it quickly approached, ready to hit me with a strike that could end me. I closed my eyes and braced myself.

But nothing came.

I waited a few seconds before opening my eyes. What I saw...didn't shock me in the slightest.

“Giving up already? That’s certainly unlike you Metal.” It was a blue robotic hedgehog. “I expected more.”

When he looked at me, I could tell the personality and expression were a bit different, but it was still the same basic person.

“Took you long enough.”

Gale just turned to Slenderwoman. “Why aren't you fighting like you normally do? This is an opponent that would require a form.”

“I was holding back because I didn't want to damage Lisa's mind.” He helped me up and we stood side by side, staring down the monster before us as she extended a hand.

“What was your plan to kill her exactly?” He asked as he blasted the giant hand away.

“You know I'm not dumb enough to realise that I can't kill her, as much as I really what to. I know what will happen.” I answered while clenching my fists to build up the Apocalypse Magic I had in me.

“How did you come across that answer?”

“You haven't been paying attention to me lately have you? All those plans to kill all of you if necessary? I did my research man, I'm not an idiot. Now can we stop talking and take this bitch down? I'm getting really tired of this story arc.”

He just looked at me strangely before shaking his head. “That Apocalypse Magic must have damaged you considerably..”

“We were all messed up before we got to Equestria. And the magic hasn't affected my personality that much. It feels…” I held out my hands and the electricity swept over my body. “...natural.”

“Hmm, seems as though you have adapted to it.”

“Hey, how come you sound different?”

“I am only a soul. Without a mind, I have less of a connection with my emotions.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So, are you ready to face her?” I looked at the Slender Woman before nodding.

“Let’s do this!”
> Chapter Fourteen: End Of Darkness 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	




Chapter Fourteen: End Of Darkness






{Third POV}

Metal and Gale both leaped at Slender Woman with extended legs. They both managed to land a kick on her face, causing her to cry out before she took a swipe at them. The robotic hedgehogs dodged, and landed on separate platforms. Slender Woman summoned more Proxies to attack them while her tendrils lashed out everywhere.

As a giant Proxie leaped at Metal, he summoned a lunar blade to slice it in half. He started swinging left and right, cutting down every Proxie that came his way. “Well, at least these things aren’t that hard to kill!”

“Don’t get overconfident Metal!” Gale shouted as he blasted a Proxie in front of him. “Doing so will get you killed.”

“Oh lighten up mr. serious, no Proxie that she summons could really be a threat to us!” A few of the Proxies seemed to growl to Metal, as if offended, before becoming Proxie like versions of the two warriors. They both stopped and stared at their new opponents.

“You just had to say that, didn’t you?”

“Hey, they may be able to copy forms and abilities…” Metal readied his fist and charged a Proxie version of him which mimicked his movements, their fists clashed but the Proxie was blown to pieces. “...but they can't copy power!”

Gale nodded and grabbed a Proxie him by the neck. It curled into a spinball in an attempt to escape but Gale just used this and threw it at another Proxie, ripping it to shreds. “Is it just me or are we becoming far more brutal fighters?”

“I don't know what you're talk about.” Metal stabbed his hand through a Proxie and ripped out its heart.

“Was that sarcasm or obliviousness?”

“Huh?” Metal grabbed another Proxie, stabbed his hands through opposite sides of its torso before ripping it in half.

“Ok now I know you're just fucking with me.”

“Am I ever not?” While he was distracted Slender Woman appeared behind him and threw a punch.

“Metal look out!”

As the punch was about to hit Metals eyes glowed red. He instantly turned around and met the punch with a headbut. Slender Woman staggered and grasped her hand in pain as bolts of red energy were sent into it and from the force of the impact. His eyes began to glow brighter as he jumped into the air and threw both hands forward.

Four large streams of Apocalypse Magic shot out of his arms and flew into the giant. Everything was still for a moment before Metal held out an open hand. “Rapture.” He clenched the hand into a fist and Slender Woman screamed out in pain as her body was being torn apart from the inside.

Metal deactivated the attack before it could kill her, knowing what that would do to the one he was trying to save. Gale punched away another Proxie before flying over to him. “Dude...what the hell happened to you? That attack was just savage, even for you and I've seen the crap you've got in your head.”

Metals eyes returned to normal, save the one filled with Apocalypse Magic. “I'm getting used to this new power, and this isn't just some kind of energy you shoot out and it explodes. This power is something more…”

Gale stared at him with concern. “You're not gonna let this power get the better of you again are you?”

“No.” Metal lowered his hands and relaxed his body slightly. “This isn't something that can corrupt me again, it isn't forcing itself into me or trying to cease control. Like I said before, it feels natural.”

“Of course it does.” They heard Slender Woman say shakily as she regained her composure. “Do you seriously have no idea what that power is to you?”

“No but I can already tell that you aren't going to give me a straight answer,” Metal said before fireing a blast of apocalypse magic at the Slender Woman.

“Ugh! Insignificant little… that apocalypse magic make quite the annoyance.”

“Really? Because I find it pretty useful.” Metal felt the poet surge through him once more as it erupted from his body killing the surrounding Proxies. “Are you done wasting our time? Or are you just gonna keep putting up a pointless struggle that we all know will just end up with you losing and us walking out of here with Lisa safe and sound.”

“I think you forget that this is my mind, my world! And in it, I am a goddess!”  Slender Woman swung out with her arm, faster than Gale and Metal thought she could, and knocked the two robots off their platform and into the storm. The electricity in the air was overwhelming, and lightning flashed all around them, some a little too close for comfort. 

“Well shit. So, what now Gale?”

“I’d say our best chance of ending this is finding Lisa and waking her up. We do that, and she can take down the Slender Woman a hell of alot faster than we can.”

“Alright, and how do we do that?”

“Well if I had to guess, I’d say Slender Woman has trapped Lisa deep in her own subconscious. If we could somehow get to her, then I theorize my being there will be enough to awaken her.”

“Really? What about me?”

“Metal, this has all happened because Lisa thought I died. Normally in our family that isn’t too much of a problem because we have our ways of coming back. However, Lisa does not know this, thus seeing me dead has caused her to sink into her own subconscious, allowing Slender Woman to be free.”

“Right then, so where do we start looking.”

“We need to find a way to get deeper into her mind, but first I suggest you dodge.”

“Huh?” Metal turned to see a massive fist impact with him, sending him flying. “Okay what the hell?”

“Remember, this is Slender Woman’s mind. We’re playing by her rules in this world. Up until now, she’s been toying with us, but now things are going to get serious.”

Tendrils started coming out of the clouds at a rapid pace, Gale and Metal doing their best to dodge them. Eventually, they came out of the clouds and started heading towards a mess of branches and lights. It kind of looked like they were inside of a brain, and the branches were all neurons connected together, but they were all black with blue outlines. Bolts of electricity jumped from neuron to neuron.

“Okay, where the hell are we now?”

“This is most likely Lisa’s memory bank. All those lights are her memories.”

“Wow, she’s got a lot of them.”

“She is immortal.”

“Right right. So, will we find Lisa in here?”

“No, but an entrance into Lisa’s subconscious should be around here somewhere.” The two landed on their feet, then stood and looked around. “This way.”

As they started to walk, Metal looked around.

“Man, this place is amazing. How come my  mind didn’t look like this?”

“Lisa specializes in control of the mind. She most likely organized her mind in such a way as to both better defend it from intruders, and to assure that Slender Woman doesn’t take complete control of her mind’s defences.”

“Defences?”

“Indeed. Before Slender Woman came, Lisa’s mind had hundreds of defences to ward off intruders. Thankfully, they recognized me as friendly, and let me in. If they had not, then I wouldn’t be in here, as it is impossible to break into Lisa’s mind by force, or by sneaking in. It’s too well defended.”

“So, Lisa made it so that when Slender Woman comes, those defences are deactivated.”

“Correct. This was probably done so that people from the outside could come in and stop her if Lisa herself could not do it on her own.”

“Huh, Lisa’s more prepared for something like this than I thought.”

“Indeed.”

“So an entrance to Lisa’s subconscious should be in here somewhere?”

“Correct.”

“But if that’s true, why would Slender Woman lead us here?”

“Slender Woman only has control in certain areas of Lisa’s mind. She must not have know how close we were to Lisa’s memory bank, and accidently dropped us in when she swiped us off the platform.”

“So, we’re safe here?”

“Not exactly. Lisa’s defences only deactivate in areas that Slender Woman can control. Her memory bank’s defences are still active.”

“Then why aren’t we seeing any?”

“Because we are defined as friend to her defences. However, that can quickly change if we aren’t careful.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, got it.” The two continued walking along, making their way to the center of the mess of neurons. Eventually, they found a neuron with a couple of holes in it. “Is this it?”

“Probably. Now we have to be carefull. Lisa’s subconscious is where Slender Woman is kept when Lisa is in control. She’ll know the place better than we do, and will have total control over everything. She could straight up kill us if she wanted to.”

“Then how are we supposed to find Lisa?”

“We rush in, and hope for the best.”

“That sounds like a plan that a Gale with emotions would come up with.”

“It’s our only option. Besides, I’m still me, just less connected with my emotions now that I no longer have a body.”

“Alright, if there's anything I'm good at its rushing in blindly and somehow coming out on top. Let's do this.” Metal sent a red glow over his body and grabbed Gales arm before dashing into the fractured neuron. As soon as they enter a large tendril came out of nowhere and attempted to stab the two. But the tendril was blocked by an invisible force around the two.

“How'd you do that?” Gale asked as he let himself be dragged along by Metal.

“Something I learned quickly with this new magic, it's useful in the physical world and the mental world. I'm not sure exactly on how I activate it, but from what I can tell it shields me from anything Slender Woman can throw at me, as long as the field stays up of course.” Metal explained as a red bubble flashed around them before becoming invisible once more.

“Once we get into the real world again we are looking into this magic.”

Metal shrugged and kept running full speed, the shield around them blocking various attacks coming from their enemy. “How long is this hallway?!” Metal groaned as he had now been running through the same corridor for ten full minutes.

“It would appear that Slender Woman is purposely making it longer, you could be running forever and we'd still make no progress.” Gale explained as he raised a hand and blasted a tendril away.

Metal just kept running as he began to think of a way to counteract their enemies manipulation. “What if all of her focus was on attacking one of us?”

Gale thought for a moment before nodding. “That may distract her from creating a longer pathway, but we'd have to split up.”

“That's the idea!” Metal came to a stop and chucked Gale further down the corridor. Immediately massive amounts of tendrils appeared and surrounded him, only for glowing red ropes to wrap around them and hold them back. Gale looked to Metal who was holding the ropes in his hands. “Go! Get Lisa! I'll hold her off!”

“You could die facing her alone!”

“I came in here knowing full well that I could die, but if it gets you two out of here then I don't care! So just...GO!!!” Metal sent a wave of energy over to Gale which pushed him forward.

Slender Woman appeared and attempted to peruse Gale, only to be hit by her own tendrils which Metal was now puppeteering.

“Oh no you don't you demon bitch, I ain't done with you yet!” He yelled as he let go of the ropes and took a fighting stance.

“I'm not wasting my time in you! I heard your little plan and I'm not giving this body back!” As she attempted to escape Metal threw his arms out to the side and covered the corridor in a red barrier, temporarily preventing her from leaving that area. “Alright, I am destroying you once and for all! And after I do that, I'll kill Gale and then move onto those little friends and lovers of yours!”

Metal stood still before sighing. “Making it extremely hard to not kill you y’know…” His body was coated in red energy before he charged forward.





Gale ran as fast as he could, rushing down the hallway trying to find Lisa.

‘There’s a 53% chance that she’s down this way,’ Gale thought. ‘Course, there’s also a 47% chance that I’m still going the wrong way, but I can only hope.’

He ran along the dark path, eventually making it to some sort of room. Gale stopped and looked around. He spotted Lisa, but not in the way he thought he would have.

Instead of seeing her all chained up like he had expected, Lisa was curled up in some large, black, circular bed.

“Odd. I would have figured her to be imprisoned, not asleep.” Gale walked up to the bed, intending to wake Lisa up and end all of this. Then he hit a force field. “Knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”

Gale walked around and inspected the invisible forcefield, trying to come up with a way to bring it down. He tapped on it once more before calling out.

“Lisa? Lisa!” No response. “Figures, it’s sound proof.”

Gale took on last look around before he noticed something. Up above was a really fancy chandelier that was holding up curtains that draped around the sides of the bed, and it was lined with candles. Gale flew up to it. He noticed that it wasn’t blocked by the force field, and began his inspection, finding a chain at the top.

“Hmm, perhaps this could lead me to whatever is keeping Lisa trapped.” Gale followed the chain, up and up and up until finally, he came to the ceiling. There he found some sort of monster, holding the chain in its mouth. 

Acting quickly, Gale killed the beast before it did anything, causing it to drop the chain. The chandelier fell, crashing on top of the force field and breaking it. The chandelier then dissolved, as did the drapes, leaving only the bed Lisa slept in. Gale floated down next to Lisa and gave her a light shake.

“Lisa, time to wake up.”





“You know something?! I'm actually starting to have fun with this!” Metal yelled like a madman as he dashed to the side to avoid a huge tendril striking the shield.

“Could you just hold still and let me kill you already?!”

“Nope!” Metal snapped his fingers and created an explosion right on the Slender Woman's face, causing her to fall backwards. “Oh come on, after all I've thrown at you THAT is what gets you to fall?! Pathetic…”

Slender Woman got to her feet and glared at him. “What's pathetic is that a descendant of Apocalypse is actually holding back trying NOT to kill!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Slender Woman just growled and lunged forward in an attempt to tackle him, only for him to quickstep out of the way and kick her in the back, causing her to fall onto the cold floor with a grunt.

“Guess you ain't budging on that subject, oh well, I'm sure I'll get some kind of cryptic explanation from someone later. For now…” Metals other eye began to glow red with energy as he cracked his knuckles. “...daddy needs to express some rage.”

Slender Woman growled and began to grow into a giant. She then attempted to swipe him with a claw only to have him stop the hand with his own. The two struggled against each other, both glaring at the other with pure rage in their eyes and non-existent eyes.

Metal smirked and snapped his finger, causing another explosion, this time on her face. She screamed in pain before throwing her hand up, causing multiple black spikes to rise from the ground and stab him. He grunted and teleported off the spikes, breathing heavily as the wounds were filled with his magic. “Is it strange that I'm becoming numb to being stabbed?”

When Slender Woman swiped him with a claw, he jumped back and crouched.

“I wonder if I can still…” He curled into a ball and began charging up a spindash, the spinball being made of glowing red energy which grew larger around him as he charged it up before blasting into his enemy's chest, sending her flying into the magic barrier Metal had set up, electrifying her. He broke out of his spinball and landed just in front of the now normal sized Slender Woman.

His other eye returned to normal as he watched his enemy breath heavily, her hands and knees on the floor with her head hanging low.

“Well, this is certainly a sight, and here I thought you were supposed to be extremely powerful.” He shook his head and formed chains out of his magic before tieing her down and sitting down. “Guess it's up to Gale now.”

Slender Woman clenched her fist and growled. Then, suddenly, everything shook.

“The hell?” Slender woman froze, seemingly knowing what that shaking was.

“No… no not now! Not now! I was so close!” Slender Woman broke the chains that held her down and turned around to face a figure, walking towards them in the darkness.

“So, this is what you’ve been doing. Taking over my mind just so you could steal Metal’s power and destroy everything. Heh, you’d work hand in hand with the nightmares.”

’Lisa?’ Metal wondered.

“You! How did you get up?!” Slender Woman cried out as Lisa stepped out from the shadows.

“Simple, he woke me up.” Gale walked out of the darkness, standing beside his girlfriend. Lisa looked towards Metal and smiled. “Metal, good to see you as yourself again.”

Metal remained silent and looked away slightly.

“Grr, shut up! Why are you all acting so happy. Now I’m free to kill you all!”

“Ah ah ah Slendy, you know the rules. Now that I’m awake, you get to go back to sleep.”

“No! Fuck your rule over my mind! I’m taking it all back and destroying everything you hold dear! I will-” Suddenly, Slender Woman was gone.

“Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah blah. My mind, my rules, my decisions.” Lisa turned back to Metal and Gale. “Now, I hope you two have enjoyed your expedition into my mind, because now you two need to leave. It feels weird having you two in here for so long. Anyways, hope you didn’t see anything embarrassing!”

“Wait wait wait, aren’t you excited to see that Gale is okay?”

“Huh? Oh I knew he was going to be fine, or at least, I remembered that. But seeing Gale’s body had made me forget that for a bit. Before I remembered that he would be fine, Slender Woman took advantage of my sorrow and took over my mind. But as I lay there in my subconscious, I realized that he would be fine. Besides, I’m still waking up, so I’ll probably get all emotional when Gale wakes back up in the real world.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Welp, bye you two!” Then everything went white.





Metal re-entered his physical body and jumped off of Lisa as she began to take control of her body once more.

“Well, that was quick! But do you mind giving me a hand here!?” Alduin called out.

Metal turned around and saw the dragon being swarmed by a horde of Proxies. Metal clenched his fists and charged up his new magic. “CHOAS...BLAST!!!” Protective bubbles formed over Auldin and Lisa as a huge explosion of red energy destroyed everything wishing a half mile radius.

When the blast died down, they were all left in a large flat crater. When Metal looked down at himself, he saw that his body had changed. He was now slightly taller, his metal was now shiny, his left eye still glowed with his magic, he had a sliver ring around front his jet engine, his quills were slimier and he now had a scar over his chest where he had been stabbed multiple times.

He shook the red mist off of his hands and sighed. “Of course there's a scar…”

The bubbles around the two other displaced disappeared. Auldin looked to Metal with concern. “How did you get this strong in so little time?” He asked.

Metal held up an open palm and a red flame began to burn above it. “Something I was apparently missing…”

Auldin could feel the power radiating off of him, the same power he felt that was full of destruction and evil, but now sat calmly inside of his fellow displaced’s body.

The two turned around when they heard Lisa grumble as she slowly got to her feet, holding her head in pain. “Ow...why does my head hurt so much?”

Metal runner the back of his head nervously. “Sorry about that, kinda had to break into your mind that get you out of there...in more ways than one.”

Lisa groaned, feeling the after effects of her body being possessed and the usage of the mad modes. “What happened while I was…” Suddenly, everything that had been seen or heard by Slender Woman during the time she was in control came rushing into her mind. She looked to Metal, remembering the look on his face when Slender Woman had tricked him and how he was so determined to get her back. “Metal…”

Metal looked away and sighed.

She walked over to him slowly, concern washing over her as she saw his new form and the scar on his chest. The memory of Slender Woman trying to possess him flooded her mind. She got on her knees and got just below eye level with the robot who looked away. She looked at his chest and brushed her hand against the scar. “Metal, your-”

“It's fine.”

“What she did...you could have-”

“I said it's fine.” He dismissed. “It hurt, but it's fine.”

“No, it's not fine. You've done too much, you've been hurt far too much in such a short amount of time!” She placed her hands on the side of his head and stood up, making him look up at her. “Metal...you do too much for others without asking for anything. Please, just let me know how it really feels…”

Metal stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes. “...it hurts…” Lisa saw what looked like a black tear forming under Metals eye. “It hurts so much…” He opened his eyes, staring right into hers, she saw pain in them, she saw exhaustion in them, and she saw coldness in them. “I can't keep doing this...but I have to...because no one else has the power to do so…”

Lisa was about to speak when Metal pulled away from her and looked at the ground.

“There are very few thugs that keep me from going insane. Rainbow, Luna, you...Samatha...and the fact that I need to help people, that I have the power to make a difference...all of that was almost taken away from me today…” Lisa put a hand over her mouth as she saw oil tears falling down Metals cheeks. Auldin just kept quiet, knowing how much pain the responsibility brought, and how much can be taken from one person. “I've watched three of the people I love almost die in the past twenty four hours...I've lost my home...I don't even know what I'm going to do next! There's no winging it this time! There's no do random shit for fun anymore! there's no peaceful solutions! THERE’S NO ENDING!!!”

Metal sat down and looked to the ground.

“There's no ending…” Lisa and Auldin looked to each other before walking away from him to talk in private.

“What do we do? I don't know what to say to make him feel better.” Lisa admitted sadly.

“There's nothing that can really be done, other than ending all of which causes him to be this way, which is what we're all fighting. Perhaps, after Xram and the Nightmares have been destroyed, and peace is brought about, he can finally be at peace. For now...he will have to feel this way. We can support him, show him that we care and appreciate what he does for everyone. But those feelings will always exist in him.”

“There has to be something though, something that can give him hope…” Lisa thought for a moment before an idea formed in her head. “What if we got his family back together?”

Auldin nodded with a soft smile. “That might help.”

“His sister is missing somewhere in the multiverse, his mother is somewhere around her, I don't know where his father is, and his girlfriend from earth is probably dead right now, but that one is an easy fix on Metals part.” Lisa explained.

“I see…”

“I'll go find his mom and dad after I leave Gale back in his pod to heal, you see about finding his sister, she's named Marceline I think. She'll be a female Metal Sonic most likely. And I think Metal is already going to go try to heal Samantha anyway.” The two nodded and went off on their own ways, ready to complete their set tasks.

Metal watched them go, having heard their entire conversation. “They forget I'm a robot far too often…” He sighed and held out his hand. Suddenly, the chaos emeralds appeared and floated around him. He used his power to take the Apocalypse Magic that had been trapped inside them when he had tried to use them in his beast state.

He got up and teleported down to the underground shrine, where the shards of the master emerald lay scattered around the room with the body of a young girl lying among them. Metal looked into his memory and scanned a typical unicorns telekinetic ability. Using this, his hand glowed dark blue as he used his magic to lift the shards and the girl into the air.

The shards began attaching to each other as the emerald returned to its former glory. Metal then set the emerald in the middle of the shrine and levitated Samantha's body into his arms. “I've almost got you...just a little longer.” He spoke to her lifeless body and he ascended the steps upto the large green jewel. The chaos emeralds began to separate and float around the entire shrine as he walked.

He gently lay her body down on the top of the ancient gem and brushed her cheek with his hand.

“Just hold on a little while longer…” He took a step back she raised his hands up into the air as he began to command the emeralds power. “Just wait…”



An hour later

Auldin, Lisa, Gale, Cosmo, the ball of light Jasper and another figure appeared outside the cave leading to the shrine. Auldin shrunk down to his human form in order to fit and while Gale and Lisa hugged each other closely after what had happened.

They began to walk down the dark caves, the way lit by Gales robotic eyes. Once they reached the large dug out area which held the shrine they stopped. Metal was at the top of the stone structure on his knees, the emeralds still and the place in dead silence. Samantha's body remained unmoving, laying still on the master emerald.

Lisa began to walk forward, with the others following her. Once they reached the top Lisa and Gale placed their hands on Metals shoulders comfortingly. “I should have guessed…” He spoke emotionlessly. “Guess it was too late.”

“It's alright man, we'll find a way to get her back.” Gale tried to comfort him, but failed.

“Worst case scenario here, my children and I can fight of DEATH to get her soul back.” Auldin stated quietly.

“And what if DEATH doesn't have her soul?” Metal asked.

“Then...I don't know...I'm sorry.”

Metal clenched his fists and glared at the emerald. “You know what? I AM SICK OF THIS!!!” He suddenly got to his feet and placed his hands on the master emerald. “YOU’VE GOT INFINITE POWER INSIDE YOU, USE IT!!!”

The chaos emeralds closed in and began violently spinning around the shrine. The others stood back as the room began to shake.

“WE ARE ENDING THIS, I’M TIRED OF LOSING PEOPLE I LOVE, I’M TIRED OF BEING SCREWED OVER BY WHATEVER FUCKING DEITY IS CONTROLLING ALL OF THIS, AND I AM SICK OF THIS FUCKING STORY ARC!!!” The emeralds all began to glow violently as they expanded, becoming the super emeralds. “I CONTROL YOUR POWER, I COMMAND YOUR CHAOS ENERGY, SO I COMMAND YOU TO SAVE HER!!!”

The group shielded their eyes as a bright wave of light burst out from the centre of the room.

After the light finally died down, the group slowly opened their eyes. They watched the chaos emeralds shrink back down and fall onto the ground. Looking up, they saw Metal standing still in front of the master emerald. Suddenly he tipped backwards and was about to fall down the stone steps when Lisa reached a tendril over and caught him. Pulling him over to the group, they saw the lights in his eyes had gone out and his body fell limp.

“I guess all that energy that was released tired him out.” Auldin said as he checked that Metals life force was still stable.

“Hey shouldn't have been knocked out though, he's used more energy than that before…” Gale stated as he looked up at the emerald.

“His chaos drives are still damaged, he used all the power he had left to command the emeralds.” Lisa explained as she opened the hatch on Metals chest, revealing the broken gems that powered his body.

Cosmo walked over to him and pulled out the two broken drives and placing new ones back into him before closing the hatch. ”It will take him awhile to wake up, he just needs to recharge.” She brushed her hand over his cheek and smiled softly. ”You did well my child. So well.”

“Hey, don't I get to see him?!” A young female's voice, just slightly higher than Lisa's, complained. Gale turned to the female Metal Sonic, who was slightly shorter, had light blue metal, had curved quills, her body had a bit of a curve to it and had light blue eyes.

Cosmo smiled at her daughter and nodded. ”Come on then Marcy.”

Marcy walked around the others and came up to her unconscious brother. “Damn...he looks like he's been through a lot…”

“You have no idea…” Lisa and Gale groaned in exhaustion.

Marcy ignored them and placed a hand on his scar. “You've been throwing yourself into danger...haven't you?” She sighed and hugged his body. “It's been too long...I really missed you…”

The group looked up at the shrine as they heard moaning. Samantha fidgeted a little bit before slowly opening her eyes.

“He did it.” Lisa sighed in relief.

Samantha slowly sat up and stretched out, groaning as she felt sore all over. Once she was done she looked around at the unfamiliar location until her eyes fell on the group. “I guess...that fight between Metal Madness and Solaris wasn't a dream…”

”Indeed my dear. It was in fact quite real.” Jasper spoke as he floated up to the revived girl.

“You're...that voice that was speaking to me while I was asleep, right?” She asked.

”Yes, I am. But you were not asleep Samantha, you were dead.”

Samantha looked at him confused. “Wait...what? I was...dead?”

The group all nodded and Gale motioned to the unconscious Metal who Lisa had lay down on the grass. “Yes, and he's the one that risked everything to try and get you back.”

Samantha looked to the sleeping robot and tilted her head. “Why did he do that? He doesn't know me.”

“Trust us when we say he knows you better than anyone.” Lisa said as she walked up the shrine. Samantha retreated slightly as she approached, causing her to stop. “Oh don't be scared, I'm not like Slender in any way other than body. Name's Lisa.” She greeted while holding her hand out.

Samantha hesitated, but felt a sense of familiarity from her, easing her worries. She took Lisa's hand and shook it. “Samantha.”

“Oh I know who you are, he's told us a lot about you.” Lisa said with a smile as she pointed to Metal with a tendril.

“But how could…” It took a moment, but Samantha eventually put two and two together and gasped. “Wait, Metal?!”

”Yes, that's him.”

Samantha jumped off the master emerald and rushed down the steps. Once she reached the bottom she got on her knees and looked at him with concern. “He's just sleeping, don't worry.” Auldin explained. “It took a lot for him to bring you back to life. Let him have his rest, he's earned it.”

Samantha looked to the group and back to her sleeping love. She gripped his hand in hers and pressed her forehead against his. “Thank you…”

A little while later, Author and Marx appeared and looked around the broken world. “Dear God what the hell happened here?” Marx asked as he looked around.

Author closed his eyes and frowned. “It seems that Metal finally gained control over the Apocalypse Magic inside of him, as well as absorbing a large quantity of it.”

Marx sighed and snapped his fingers, making his staff appear in his hand. “Well, let's find everyone and get them back to Gales world while we fix all this damage.”



Gales universe

“So, you guys just travel through different universes on a daily basis?” Samantha asked as the group walked through a portal into the peaceful universe.

“Pretty much, but the one who would travel most would be Metal, he's the only one of us other than Marx that has the ability of to naturally open portals to other worlds.” Lisa explained, Metal cradled in her arms.

“So, what has he been doing all this time? I'm sure there's a lot to tell.”

Gale stopped himself and her, letting the group go on ahead while he gave her a quick overview of all of Metals adventures, achievements, heroic and villainous moments. “So yeah...he hasn't had the greatest run, the fact that he's even still sane after all of this is a miracle in itself.” Gale finished.

Samantha had her hands over her mouth and tears in her eyes. “He really did those things?”

“Yeah...saved and helped us all more times than I can count. He's a pretty good guy, but he does have his flaws, big flaws that he needs to work on.” Gale added. “But...I can't really blame him for those faults. Most of them were created by interfering forces...others the result of bad experiences.” As Samantha was about to respond he turned away and began walking. “Come on, we're gonna wanna be there for when he wakes up.”

As they walked, a very important question came to Gales mind. He stopped and turned to Samantha with a nervous look.

“Um, quick question...how good are you at sharing?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, you see, when Metal came to his Equestria, he was trying to get over you and move on...as a result he ended up forming a herd with Luna and Rainbow Dash…”

Samantha facepalmed and groaned. “He and I are going to have a very long conversation about this…”



“Well, I'd best be getting back to my own world to prepare for the wedding. See you all there.” Auldin said goodbye as he walked through the portal to his home.

“See ya bro.” Gale waved as the portal closed.

Samantha watched as Luna and Rainbow Dash looked over Metal, making sure he was alright. To not be left out, she walked over and set Metals head in her lap while holding the sides of his head.

The others either chuckled or rolled their eyes as the three looked at each other with slightly territorial eyes.

Omega and Gamma looked to each other and sighed happily, glad that one two of their old friends had returned to them. Having both Samantha and Marcy back with Metal filled them with relief, knowing they would help him keep a steady mind and keep him healthy.

Suddenly, the lights in his eyes flickered. The group all gathered around as they flickered on and off again until finally they remained on. He quickly sat up and head his head in his heads. “Gah...God damn that hurts…”

“You ok there?” Gale asked with his arms folded.

“Nope...definitely not…” He stood up and the group backed up, giving him space, except for four of them. Metal stretched his arms out and yawned. “Man...it feels like a nuke was dropped on my head…”

“I think the energy of the emeralds were far more powerful than any nuke could ever be.” Gale commented. “A nuke probably wouldn't do that much to any of us to be honest.”

“Yeah yeah whatever…” Metal grumbled. “Wait.,.what happened to-”

“Metal?”

Metal froze as he heard the voice of Samantha. “Sam…” He quickly turned around and saw her standing there with a smile and tears in her eyes. “You're...you're alive...it worked…”

Samantha nodded. She was about to say something when Metal instantly brought her into a hug. Lisa smiled at this and placed a hand on her chest. Samantha wrapped her arms around him as he held her tightly.

“Never...leave me again…” He spoke quietly.

“Trust me...I'm not going anywhere.”

Suddenly Marx and Author walked out of a portal and smiled. “Well, we've fixed your world and everyone is moving back in. I think you'd all best get back and start preparing for the wedding.” Marx suggested as he kept the portal open. The ponies, mobians, Gamma and Omega jumped in first, followed by Luna and Dash, Marcy snuck around Metal and jumped in, soon followed by Samantha who had managed to pry herself away from Metal, then lastly Jasper and Cosmo jumped through.

Metal walked up to Gale and Lisa and brought them into a hug. “Thank you...so much…” The two smiled and returned the embrace.

“Your welcome little bro...and thank you for fighting for us.” Lisa spoke softly.

“We really appreciate it dude, don't you forget that.” Gale added as he pat his friend on the back.

Metal pulled away and nodded. “I won't, don't worry.”

“Well, after all of this, I'm going to go take a nap, because I am tired as hell.” Lisa groaned before teleporting away. Author and Marx disappeared, leaving only Metal and Gale.

As Metal walked towards the portal Gale called out, causing him to stop. “You still want Lisa...don't you?”

Metal remained silent, only taking the last few steps before disappearing into the portal, which closed behind him.

> Bad News, And Good.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello everyone, it's me, Prince_Zodiac. I know I've been gone for a while now, and I guess you all deserve to know why.

For a while now, I've been stuck. Stuck, at the spot my stories have gotten to. It's come to the point where I just have no idea where to go from this point. And so I have some bad news.

Pyra and I, we talked and decided it was best to end our displaced adventure together. It's consumed so much of our time that we were never able to write for other stories. And mow that we don't know what to do anymore, we're both just stuck. So we're ending it here. I'm scrapping it all. I'm canceling my displaced stories, and Lyra is ending his. As things are now, those displaced stories are over.

But I do have good news.

I've always known the destination, the end point of those displaced stories, I just never knew how to get there. So I've decided to begin with a fresh start. I'm going to revamp my entire displaced series and, although Lyra himself won't be a part of it, the original cast will still be there.

It saddens me that my journey with Pyra had come to an end. We became such good friends over a short period of time, but then slowly drifted apart. Maybe someday he and I will work together again. But for now, I'm gonna focus on my original dream for my displaced. I'm not sure when I'll release it, hopefully soon. So for those of you that have stuckn around this long, your patience will soon be rewarded. Thank you all for sticking by my side, and get ready for a displaced story unlike any other you've ever read before.
> Remake is Out!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey everyone! So I noticed that not all of you may know that the remake of this story and all the others is out, so I decided to make a chapter to pet you all know. You can find it here!