> WDU: Crossover Chronicles > by Turbo the Brony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Under Construction > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Note: Takes place following the Prologue and during most of the events of the first six chapters) Vision Flashback In the far off parts of the rift, through the eyes of one, he looks towards the abyss, then back to what he was looking at. A beautiful young woman, who almost looked a bit plant-like, humanoid being, more closely resembling a plant, being mostly slender and having what looked like petals sprouting from the waist and blooming flowers on both sides on the top of her head. The young woman looked to the being, as she had a sad, apologetic look on her face, a small tear slowly appearing. Both the being and the woman were seemingly starting to slip away from each other, as the woman was slowly accepting the fate, the other was reaching, refusing to be apart. “No!” he cried out, “Don’t you leave me!!” As they drifted even further, a bright light was starting to envelope over them. “Take me with you! TAKE ME!!!” the being cried out one last time, as while he still tried to reach out, his final words echoed through the wormhole as he and the different directions of the rifts pull then forcibly pulled him and the female away from each other. And then everything went white… Palace at the Centre of Everything Foundation Prime As his palace was growing by the second it was being built, Vortech took a small good look at his hand with a small sense of sadness, as it seemed like it was once normal sometime ago, before anger slowly took hold as his hand scrunched into a fist. “You shall pay for this, my dear…” he muttered to himself, before, from the top of his lungs, shouted out to the heavens as his words then echoed, “YOU SHALL PAY!!” He then looked around the temple that was becoming his base of operations as he looked around the view of Foundation Prime, the very centre of the Multiverse that he seemed to seek for so long. “We could be doing this together, you and I,” Vortech then said with a sigh, “we could be ruling all of this right now.” His voice then grew dark as he added, “But instead, you abandon me and leave me to rule over this lonely planet!” However, as he said that, a stone gargoyle, that was right next him from his newly made throne, suddenly opened his eyes in confusion as he looked to Vortech. “Lonely, Master?” it said, “You’re forgetting me.” “Grimzy,” Vortech said as he turned to the gargoyle, Grimzy, his voice then filled a bit with venom, “It’s the thought of spending eternity here with you that holds a very special torment in my cold, dark heart!” Grimzy seemed a little hurt, and baffled, as he said, “Uh, gee, thanks… I think?” “Oh don’t feel so downy,” another voice said, as a jester in a red and yellow striped, tattered jester’s outfit appeared before them with his usual creepy grin, “if you and I aren’t here, then our boss would be quite so lonesome now, wouldn’t he?” “Perhaps.” a feminine voice spoke, as the two looked to see a woman stand before them. She was a tall, snow-white skinned woman, with pale blue hair curled inward, wearing a hair ornament and a dress of black accented in gold and silver. With vine-like ornaments ascend upon her body, entangled around her arms, with a few blue gems hanging from her sleeves, and her dark red heels accented with gold. “But if it were just the two of you he only had, then he would have quite migraine from your idiocy.” She said with sly, smirk on her lips, as she then approached Lord Vortech as she then acted sweet. “And you wouldn’t have someone to compliment on for their most decent beauty, and, perhaps, her cunning,” she said, as she playfully made small little trails on Vortech’s shoulder pads, “wouldn’t you agree, your Lordship?” Lord Vortech turned to her, as he eyed on her saying, “I suppose so,” he said, before sternly said, “but do tread on the next words you speak carefully, Northa, if I brought you back to life, I can simply take it back from you once more, if there are any signs of betrayal from you, knowing your cunning.” Not showing signs of fear or any deceptive negativity to him, Northa looked to her master with a wicked smile, as she said, “You are good.” “Enough of sorting out the company I would have,” Vortech said, “besides the point, all that matters is that now that Foundation Prime is now under new management, the Foundation Elements will soon be in the palm of my hands.” Just then, two more figures arrived, one was the gorilla-like brute with a sleeveless jacket and roman helmet, while the other looked like a big clockwork, steam punk-like robot, the key on top it’s head, it’s body was black, his hands having large, red cannons, with the glass on his chest being red, matching his eyes. His features also had metallic eyebrows and a red grill plate. “Master Vortech,” the robot said, “sorry if I am a bit late, I was just finishing up the first lessons with most of our protégés. What is it that you need us for?” “Right now, Maltruant,” Vortech said to the robot, revealed to be named Maltruant, “we are starting off with finding the Foundation Elements, as well as the dimensions where they come from. Once we find them, all the pieces will be in place.” “But boss,” Bruiser spoke, getting Vortech’s attention, “are you certain the robots can find them?” “He’s right,” Presto added, “after all, you only had enough strength to make enough of them to form quite a good marching band, especially as the Multiverse is quite gigantic for them to patrol all together.” “I know,” Vortech said as he explained, “that is basically part of my little idea, as there is help from others… from other worlds, much like Northa and Maltruant here.” As he spoke, Vortech then sensed something as he looked onward, as he said, “I believe we’re about to get company.” Vortech then raised his hand, as he started to open up a rift, but as it started to open, it slowly withered a little, as the inter-dimensional being noticed something amiss. “What is it, master?” Grimzy asked. “I’m sensing something in the rift, it seems like something is trying to fight back and-” Vortech was suddenly cut off, as a sudden flash of light brightened the throne room for a second, until suddenly, several unexpected visitors landed in front of him. One was a human with a glasses and a brown mustache, accompanied by three robots, two of them being small, one the shape of a ball, the other cube shaped, while the third had an anthropomorphic hedgehog look, another bunch were two giant turtles with spiky shells, one big and the other was small, almost like a child. While most of the group came to, Vortech noticed two objects on the floor, and instantly recognized them. One looked like an emerald, only the color was different being red instead of green and the other was a jewel in the shape of a 6-pointed star. Vortech also noticed two of the droids made it back in one peace, one holding in it’s robotic hand a six-pointed star gem, and the other holding what looked like four capsules containing some strange data. “Ooh,” Grimzy said, as he looked to the latter with interest, “love that star jewel-thingy.” “That ‘star jewel-thing’ is the Element of Magic, one of the six Elements of Harmony, each of them a Foundation Element of Equestria,” Vortech said, though interested, he looked quite unimpressed, “however, I thought that my robotic scouts had acquired all six of the Elements, how did only one get here? As well as only one of the Emeralds?!” “So it that robotic bozo was yours, huh?” an annoyed and angry voice caught Vortech’s attention, as Bowser and Bowser Jr. were those first to get up, and boy was the daddy koopa in a bad mood. “Just giving you a big head’s up that if anyone does princess kidnapping around here, it’s me!” he said as he approached Vortech. As he was about to let out a fire blast at him, another voice spoke up, one that the King of the Koopas recognized. “Steady there, Bowser,” Dr. Eggman said, as he and his robot lackeys (minus Metal Sonic), got up and approached Eggman’s villainous buddy, “I like to have a word with this fellow too.” “Eggman?” Bowser in surprise, “What are you doing here?” Eggman was about to respond until Vortech beat him to it. “The reason you and Eggman are here is because I have a special deal for you.” He said, “To make up for the detailed moments either of you had back home, such as escaping with your hated nemesis following another failed battle or the usual Princess kidnapping routine.” “How did you know about what we’ve been up?” Dr. Eggman asked, before raising an eyebrow as he then said, “Wait, a deal? After whatever that stunt was back there you did, as well as it cost me my Emeralds?” “Not all of them, sir.” Orbot stated, as the villains looked to him and Cubot, pointing to what looked like a damaged capsule, and inside, a large green emerald was rolled out, still intact. “Ah, the Master Emerald,” Vortech said, “besides the Chaos Emerald and this sole Element of Harmony, at least we have one of the Foundation Elements of Eggman’s world, as well as one of the Elements of the Mushroom Kingdom.” “Foundation Elements?” Bowser asked. “What do you mean by one of them?” Eggman added, “Where are we? And just who are you suppose to be, for that matter?” “Allow me to introduce myself,” the inter-dimensional lord said, as he made a small bow, “I am Lord Vortech, and I welcome you to the center of the entire Multiverse: Foundation Prime!” “Foundation Prime?” Eggman and Bowser asked. “Center of the Multiverse?” Bowser added. Villain Society Summoning “Indeed, my friends,” Vortech said, as he showed a small imagery of a large constellation of universes, “as you know, the two of you are from two separate universes, the world where Eggman and his enemy Sonic come from, and the dimension where exists the Mushroom Kingdom.” “Well, we kinda already know that part.” Said Bowser. Eggman, arms crossed, nodded as he said, “Why not tells us something that we don’t know?” “I’m getting to that,” said Vortech, “for what if I told you that your worlds are basically one of the many worlds that are existing? And at the center if it all, exists Foundation Prime, where we are on right now. For many years ago, when the Multiverse was created, the powers of space, time, reality and the powerful source of all, imagination, helped bring your worlds to being, and the endless remaining power formed this world, at the center of all things. It has exist in myth and legend, but I can assure that where we are now is indeed a reality.” “And what was it about these ‘Foundation Elements’ you mentioned, especially calling the Emeralds, as well as these… Elements of Harmony, as you say there are… that?” Eggman then asked. “For as your universes were formed, so were the Foundation Elements, they were created on your respective worlds, and each of them hold an important role to every world they are from, and each of them is basically a key to this universe, as the elemental essence of Foundation Prime linger through their molecules of existence.” Vortech explained. “So… anything can be a Foundation Element that is found in any dimensions?” Bowser asked, as he and Eggman both grew curious with interest. “Indeed,” Vortech said, “anything that could be an everyday object or a ancient, powerful artifact can be labeled as a Foundation Element. And once all the Elements are brought together here, it will finally unlock the deep secret of this, and every other universe.” “Which will be?” Eggman asked, rolling his hand as a sign to carry on. “The infinite power through the Foundation of all Dimensions!” Vortech said. Eggman and Bowser looked to each other in interest, while Bowser Jr. whistled in the same interest as his dad and his pal, and the grown ups had a small thought before looking back to Vortech. “So, tell me, your Lordship,” Dr. Eggman said, “what’s in it for us, since we’re a little surprised about you knowing what we do.” “Oh, I know lots of things about each of you,” Vortech said, “as well as every other hero and villain across the Multiverse.” “Okay,” Bowser said, “but like my buddy said, what do we get in return?” “Since you have difficulties at times on ruling your respective worlds,” Vortech said in a cunning persuasive voice, “what if I told you that if you help me, I would gladly help you all in your act of conquest, you will be able to rule over any number of worlds at your choice on interests, so you can take it over, conquer and even study the said worlds, anything you’d like to do and choose beyond your wildest dreams.” Eggman and Bowser had a very good thought on it, as two sinister grins grew on their faces, “That sounds quite intrigging,” Eggman said, “any worlds for us to conquer with ease, and then we can even return to our home dimensions afterwards and use what we gained to get the upper hand.” “Now that is something I like to do, having learned from you that you’ve been trying to do some multi-world conquest of sorts.” Bowser said with a grin. “And I suppose, if you like,” Vortech then added, “I’ll even let you in a part of my new Multiversal order I would do when all the Foundation Elements are found.” “You drive a hard, yet interesting bargain, Lord Vortech,” Eggman said, as he and Bowser looked to each other and then nodded in agreement, before looking back to their dealer, “count us in on the fun!” “Brilliant.” Vortech grinned. “Right now, though,” Bowser spoke, “if I recall, my minions were suppose to be with me when we were sucked up in that hole-thingy.” “As well as that two-tailed trouble maker, Tails,” Eggman added, “where are they exactly?” “Do not worry, you two,” Vortech said, and from a wave of his hand, another rift opened up, gaining the two villains’ attention, as the inter-dimensional ruler explained, “you see, I have the absolute power of controlling the rifts, which I have mastered for so many years, allowing me to open up rifts beyond space/time, thus can send and bring forth anything and anyone through the fabrics of time and space. Examples include those who were once deceased, like Northa,” he said as he gestured to the evil woman who was part of his minions, “or even call up an alternate being from a different point of space/time, like Maltruant.” He then gestured to the clockwork villain, who too, was among the group. “Also, here in Foundation Prime, as well as most of the Multiverse, it is almost out of sync from everything else,” he continued, “for an example, any second here could be a minute, hour, day, week, month or even a year in any other universe, especially when in the rifts, as we speak, your minions, the princess and that two-tailed vermin, as well as anyone else who could’ve been sucked in too, are currently still inside the rift, allowing us time now to sort out our plans.” The villains were quite intrigued, especially Eggman, as he was in deep thought as Metal Sonic finally raised up and approached the group. “Most interesting,” he said, “though, I don’t suppose I could have a nice bit of research on one of these rifts of your?” Vortech looked to Eggman, as he seemed to eye him with a glare… until it settled as he did another wave of his hand, resulting a small rift to appear. “But of course, Doctor,” Vortech said, “And until we sort out perhaps a small base of operations for you, you’re welcome to study on this rift as you please.” “Why, thank you.” Dr. Eggman, as the small rift was contained and handed to the scientist. “Nothing to it,” said Vortech. “Yeah, but hold on a second,” Cubot then spoke up, “if you have this power to control rifts and, I suppose, travel between worlds, why don’t you collect these Foundation Elements?” “Because, little robot,” Vortech said as he eyed him, “my dedication and all my hard work on learning the secrets of the Multiverse and finding Foundation Prime has started to take a good toll on me.” He grunted a little as his left hand started to slowly swell and stretch before bouncing back to normal, “And I fear that I no longer can be able to dimension travel is I searched for the Elements myself, I may end up out of Foundation Prime forever or worse, and all the hard work would be for nothing.” “I see…” Eggman murmered, before looking to Vortech as he said, “maybe, I could see on working on few things for this multi-world conquest thing, and perhaps, maybe find a solution to sorting out your condition?” “But of course, my dear doctor,” Vortech then said, “and I can assure you three that we would get along well.” “Yeah, that fo-wait…” Bowser said, as he suddenly retraced what Vortech said, as did Eggman as he raised an eyebrow as the Koopa continued, “Us three? But there is only two of us, besides Eggman’s goons and my boy!” “Oh, I think it’s you who should recount our gathered forces, as I have about three accounted for, right, Sigma?” Vortech said with a chuckle. “Sigma?” Eggman and Bowser asked as they looked to each other. “He’s speaking about me.” The two villains, as well as the Koopa Heir and henchbots turned around, only to be shocked as they looked to Metal Sonic, who had responded but in a different voice. The other thing that caught them off guard was that the mechanical hedgehog had glowing purple eyes. “What the-who or what are you?!” Eggman yelled, “And how dare you possess one of my greatest creations!!” “Dr. Eggman and Bowser, I presume,” the robot said snarky, before looking to Lord Vortech, “and you must be the one who summoned me here.” “Indeed,” Vortech said, before looking back to the Sigma-controlled Metal Sonic and the other startled villains, “like these two here, I’ve been studying you for as long as I remember, so I’ll be needing your rare skills and intellect in order for my goals to sucsseced.” “Well first off, Sigma (if that’s your name),” Eggman then spoke as he turned to the virus who was controlling Metal Sonic, “you need to get your own body! I don’t want anyone controlling my great creation, and I am certain that he doesn’t like being hacked and/or controlled by something like you either!” “Funny you should say that,” said Vortech, “because one of the first things to do would be to prepare Sigma a new, more suitable body for him.” “Well, I do remember having an Egg Bot that he could use,” Eggman said in thought, “though, I’m afraid that Sonic and his pals ruined it during that Nocturnas Clan fiasco (he was such a handsome devil, too).” “Actually, Doctor,” Vortech spoke, “I believe that Sigma would need a body that would is based off his original design from his world and time of advance technology.” “Are you certain,” Eggman asked, raising an eyebrow, “I mean, I know that I’m great at building things, but if you say that the tech of his world is advance as you claim it to be, how am I suppose to learn most of these new designs?” “A small, valid point there, Doctor,” Vortech said, “and I believe there is just the man who can help you, as he too, is from the same world as Sigma, one that he might have met or not, as confusing time would be to mere beings like yourselves. Still no time like the present.” “Really? Uh… who?” Eggman asked (though he was annoyed about being called a mere being). Vortech opened a rift to his left, and then turned his head in that direction as he peered into it. “Ah, yes, just the scientist we need…” he said, as he reached with his left hand, it then grew as it went through, and seconds later… pulled out a terrified Dr. Wily, who, to the rest of his world, was suppose to be dead! “No! Shadow Man! Help! Help me! Somebody help meeeeeeeeeeeeee!” he cried as he was pulled out of the rift and landed between Vortech and the summoned villains. Seconds later, Shadow Man followed out of the rift, and landed by his master’s side, as the scared scientist looked with mixture of worry, fear and confusion. “W-where am I? Who are you!? What is that?! WHAT’S GOING ON?!?!?” Dr. Wily said, as he scampered to sit up straight, looking at the beings around him. “I don’t know where we are for certain, master,” Shadow Man said, as he looked around, before bringing out his star blades in battle formation as he said with a glare, “but one of these things better start explaining on why they have brought us here!” While this was happening, Bowser and his son had a good look on Shadow Man, until the latter whispered to his father, “Dad, that ninja bot looks just like…” “I know.” Bowser said as he nodded in agreement. “What’s up, Doc?” Presto said with a grin, until Vortech looked upon the scientist. “I demand to know what’s happening here!?!” Wily said, angrily, though felt a little scared upon seeing most of the strange beings among the masses. “Welcome, Dr. Wily,” Vortech said with open arms, “allow me to be the first to welcome you to this sanctuary.” “Welcome me?! You kidnapped me!!” Wily cried out. “That doesn’t matter now, for it is in the past.” Vortech said, brushing it off, “For now, we must work on the future.” As they were talking, Bowser looked to Eggman as he said, “Hey, Eggman, I think I may have heard of that name before!” “Really?” Eggman asked. “Yeah,” Bowser said as he explained, “back during the latest Smash Bros fighting games, we had a few newcomers, such as Junior here, but there was one of them callin’ himself ‘Mega Man’, he had a heck of a lot of dang custom weapons on him. Anyway, during one of our fights with him, and perhaps outside the ring, I heard a bit of talks from him about dealing with this there ‘Wily’ fella. I bet this must be the guy he meant!” “You don’t say…” said Eggman, who got intrigued from the info his pal had given him. “So I think that since this Dr. Wily and I know about Mega Man, as we both know about our own enemies, I think he might make a perfect partner for this plan.” Bowser said. Hearing this, Eggman shared the cunning grin that was plastered on Bowser’s face, before looking back to the doctor that was brought here. “You expect me to do forced labor for you?!” Dr. Wily said angrily to Vortech, having been told that the doctor was to work for him, “I was on the start on the good plan until you had to barge in and interrupt!” “Well, what if we’re to say that we could help you by combining your scheme with ours,” Bowser spoke up, “and together, we can final defeat anyone that stands in our way and Mega Man!” This, suddenly, got Wily’s attention, as he looked to the duo behind him and Shadow Man, they have known Mega Man, but he had never heard of them before when facing the Blue Bomber. “You know about Mega Man?” Wily asked with curiosity. “Steady, doctor,” Shadow Man said, being on guard, “we don’t have anything about these two from our history records.” “True,” Bowser nodded in agreement, “but we know quite a little bit about you, Dr. Wily. Tell us, where and when are you from?” “I’m from Earth, of the year 20XX, why?” Dr. Wily said, raising an eyebrow. “Well, allow us to introduce ourselves.” Dr. Eggman said, as he then nodded to Bowser to go first, who nodded back in reply. “Firstly, I am Bowser Koopa, King of Koopas,” the king said, as he introduced himself, then gestured to his son, “and this is my proud son and heir to the throne, Bowser Jr.” “Hi!” Bowser Jr. waved hello. “And I am Doctor Eggman!” Eggman said as he gestured to himself, “The scientific genius of my world!” “Your world?” said Wily, curiously, “You don’t look like a space alien (not how I pictured one, anyway, though the koopa fellow does seem to fit a little…).” Eggman chuckled at that, “Ah, no, this is your first time dealing with alternate realities, isn’t it.” “I think we shall give you a good explanation,” Bowser added, before looking to Orbot and Cubot, “you too, do your… you know, your screen thing.” “Certainly.” Orbot said, as he and Cubot activated their visionaries, showing a screen from each robot. “As you can see,” Eggman said, pointing to Orbot’s screen, showing to different earths, “there are infinite variations of worlds. Some are very similar, while others are vastly different. Entire universes existing separate from each other.” “So we’re from parallel universes?” Wily said, looking quite intrigued, “fascinating…” “And I guess that you know anything about bringing order and a better way of thinking to the world, especially through your machines, doctor?” Eggman asked, a grin on his face. Wily had his own grin grew on his face as he said, “Oh, indeed. And I don’t suppose either of you have some young upstart gets in your way and ruins everything, do you, doctor?” “Oh, you can’t begin to imagine!... Or perhaps you do!” Eggman smiled evilly, along with Bowser. “And like you said, we have enemies of our own,” Bowser said, as he showed Dr. Wily Cubot’s screen, showing two windows of pictures of Eggman and Bowser’s enemies, “these merry bunch are no doubt the thorns on our sides, the blue spiky guy is Sonic the Hedgehog, enemy number one of Eggman, while mine is that pesky plumber, Mario, together with their pathetic friends, they always had a way of foiling our schemes and ruining everything at the 11th hour, much like your enemy Mega Man and his friends do.” “And let me guess,” Dr. Wily said, as he suspected what was up, “we’ve been gathered here together to work together and beat our enemies once and for all?” “You better believe it!” Bowser replied. “And the best bit,” Dr. Eggman added, “is that if we help our benefactor here, Lord Vortech, as what he calls himself, in his plans, we can be able to take over not just our worlds, but every other world in our liking!” Dr. Wily had a good thought about this, then turned to Vortech, and then back to the villainous duo as he said, “Tell me everything about this ‘plan’ of Vortech’s, and count me in.” The two doctors instantly shook hands, while Bowser added his claws over the two, as they all shared a sinister grin together. “So, when do we begin?” Dr. Wily asked, as he and the others looked to Vortech. “When ether you are ready.” Lord Vortech replied. “I take that there are others that we’ll be working with?” Bowser asked. “Indeed, my dear koopa,” the inter-dimensional lord said, as he showed holographic portals of images of different beings, basically other villains from other worlds, some human while others were various types of creatures, be it animal, alien or even robotic, “for now, you lot get to know each other, make yourselves comfortable, while I sort out on recruiting the rest of our get-together group.” “Of course, Lord Vortech.” Eggman said, as he and the others headed into the palace that Vortech was creating, Shadow Man meanwhile, looked to Vortech for a moment with a suspicious and curious look, before heading off to join the others. Coming of the Storm “Oh, Eggman?” Vortech said, calling Eggman to him. “Here.” He said, handing the scientific madman the containers with the odd data. “May I ask what this is?” Eggman asked. “Just a bit of data energy that few of my robots collected from the dimension known as Gamindustri (I suppose that one of them managed to keep all four containers protected until returned here),” Vortech explained, “I hope you put that to good use for some of your experiments.” Eggman looked to the containers, and then back to the being that summoned him and his allies, before saying, “I suppose so…” He then looked back to Vortech saying, “While you’re at it, do open up a rift and let Tails and our other ‘guests’ in, they will be needing the welcoming committee here for when they arrive.” “Certainly.” Vortech said, before lightly shooing Eggman away. As he headed of to join the others, Dr. Eggman looked to the container that held the rift inside, then a small grin same up, ‘Many thanks for giving me this rift, Vortech,’ he thought, ‘once I have learned of it’s abilities and help you out, I’ll just put it to use with my friends, you may already know, but I’ve been working with all powerful beings before, and I know the outcome many times… so I suppose I’ll play along… for now…’ As the villains left, Grimzy looked to his master as he said, “That was quite generous of you, master, letting them be a part of your conquest like that. I sure would like to see what they will be doing during your rule.” “The one thing they will be doing would be to witness the triumph… MY triumph, over the Multiverse once I have the Foundation Elements!” Lord Vortech said to the winged gargoyle. “But still,” Vortech said calmly, as he and the other minions watched the group leave, “we’ll let them enjoy themselves for now, for while the Multiverse would be theirs, in the end, all of creation will be mine, and these so-called heroes and villains, what can they do… but burn?” Vortech let out a good laugh as the looked to their master, and to each other, with wicked glee, while Grimzy acted a little skittish at what was to come. Soon, Lord Vortech opened up another rift, and in seconds, several beings tumbled out of the portal with a thud, all confused, worried and scared for where they were. One of them, a fox with two tails, was the first to kneel up, as he looked around with worry and confusion, “What the-? Where am I? “What is this place?” “Tails?!” a female voice spoke, one that Tails recognized as he looked to his right. “Princess Peach?!” Tails said in surprise, “what are you doing here?” “Why she’s invited to stay at our little ‘inter-dimensional hotel’, my dear two-tailed fox.” The voice caught the two’s attention, as Tails looked with caution, while Peach looked worried, as Vortech and his minions looked down at them. “I am Lord Vortech,” the inter-dimensional lord spoke with an evil cackle, “and I welcome you all the centre of the Multiverse… MY Multiverse!!” > Meeting of the Minds > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Multiverse Police Force No Zone Somewhere beyond the corners of the Multiverse, lies another world, one that may look the same, yet different in many ways as other universe do, however, this world holds a bigger role out of the rest. “The No Zone. An interdimensional world where the inhabitants exist and have one important role of duty: to monitor and watch over the Multiverse as it’s big ol’ police force. Sort of like the Green Lanterns, only at a multiversal level. These police go by the name of the Zone Cops, or sometimes the Zone Cop Corp, and they lock up any baddies who would do trouble for the other worlds.” “Two things about this universe, the first was that everything around this world is sideways, calling it a perpendicular dimension where everyone is sideways, one way or the other for the Zone Cops and those who are visiting. The second, was that everyone’s name start with Z, weird right.” Somewhere, in one of the work offices of the police force, a young, bright and well experienced Zone Cop was looking through his files, before noticing something on his screen, indicating a temporal anomaly, this did not worry, him though, as he knew what was happening, and, taking most of his important files, got up from his seat and headed off. He almost looked like Sonic, only he had darker green eyes, and wore the official Zone Cop armor (as he also placed his Zone Cop helmet onto his head). His name was Zonic the Zone Cop. While he’s job was to monitor all realities, he would allow others to cross over to other worlds, only when they are needed. But now, things were starting to grow difficult. As he stepped out of his office, he was greeted by some of his fellow Zone Cop friends, such as Zector (the Zone Cop counterpart of Vector) and Zamy (the Zone Cop counterpart of Amy). The croc looked to see the hedgehog’s face looking serious, knowing that something was wrong, as he then walked along side to talk to him. “Is it happening?” he asked. “Yes. Again.” Zonic replied, “Only this time, as we speak, it’s starting to grow more and more serious by the second.” “What’s that, exactly?” one of the recruits, a rabbit asked. “Something that can has been happening for quite sometime, Officer Zudy,” Zonic stated, “something that it is our duty to watch over and monitor unless necessary.” Zonic walked past them, only for the group to follow. “Where’s he going, Zector?” the other recruit, a fox, asked the crocodile. “Straight to the Warden, Officer Zick,” Zector replied, “you may have meet him a while back, but it would be best to stay clear when he talks to Zonic, things may get a little heated when something like this is involved.” As they were walking, Zudy spoke up, “What is this all about, sir? Some sort of anomaly or disruption somewhere in one of the dimensions?” “I take it that both of you a bit new to this?” Zonic asked. “Well, we have been starting our training back on the digit training number 04032016, sir,” Zick replied, “so there is basically much we don’t quite know about most of actions we need to take on the situations that happen in the Multiverse.” “If you must know,” Zonic spoke, “for sometime now, we have detected some unexpected rifts opening up in different realities. They started out as just 2 to 4 of them, but now they seem to be growing a bit, and from what I’ve learned, is that for sometime now when the rifts have been opened, several citizens, creatures and even items or sorts have been missing from respective worlds, boundaries are slowly beginning to break and we are on high alert if two or more worlds might collide in one another.” “If our struggles with Dr. Eggman Nega wasn’t enough,” Zamy added as she joined the conversation, “we also need to make sure this doesn’t go far into Earth Prime.” “Earth Prime?” Zudy asked. “The primary Earth that connects to all the others alternate worlds in the Multiverse.” Zonic explained, “It is there that all the Earths originate from.” Zonic then showed the group some of his files, each containing what looked like comics, graphic novels, books, and even copies of written stories as he continued “While we record all the events that happen in the alternate realities, it’s possible that each Earth’s history, including our own, are recorded within the minds, thoughts and pages of those from Earth Prime, be it on paper, books and even electronic devices, any event that has happened on one Earth is simultaneously recorded in the Prime Universe.” “And we take that we’re forbidden entry?” Zick guessed, which was replied with a nod from Zonic. “Exactly,” he said, “anything that might happen on Earth Prime could set off a chain reaction, which is one of the reasons why we kept entry to Earth Prime under lockdown, making sure that Dr. Nega won’t enter, or what is happening at the moment takes effect there.” Soon, the group arrive at the Warden’s office, where residing, was Warden Zobotnik, the No Zone counterpart of Dr. Eggman, as he saw the group enter, he let out a cunning grin (and a not so pleasant one to add) as he approached them. “Ah, greetings,” he said, “and how are things going with my “Star Zone Cop” today, I might add?” “Not good, at the moment,” Zonic said, taking out a device that showed interdimensional data as he said, “we’ve just another emergency signal we got a while, and it’s growing. As you may remember, something pierced the Multiverse and is causing an temporal anomaly.” “Don’t tell me, more of the rift situation?” Zobotnik asked. “Precisely,” said Zonic, “if it’s all right with you, I may need to go on and investigate further on this, see how far it’s spreading.” Zobotnik looked in thought for the moment, a frown on his face as he looked to the top zone cop, before saying, “I’m afraid that won’t be necessary.” “But sir,” Zonic said, a little sternly, “if we don’t do something soon, the situation would be catastrophic, especially if it hits Earth Prime!!” “And I need my “best” Zone Cops (by that being you) here to continue sorting things out,” Zobotnik retorted a little, “we did, after all, took a bit of a blow when Nega attack us. And we need all hands on deck to make sure he doesn’t make a come back to finish us off, because without the Zone Cops, who will patrol the roads of the Cosmic Highway? That, and need I remind that we still need to have most of the Interstate under lockdown, so don’t get any ideas of you going on ahead with what you’ve got planned.” “Actually, the planning of sorts would be my department.” The new voice caught Zobotnik, and most of the Zone Cops (expect Zonic) by surprise, as standing behind the warden’s desk, was a man, who had black hair with white trims showing signs of nearing old age, wearing what seemed to be a steampunk uniform, his right arm was robotic, and in his left hand was a sword cane. “What the-? How did you get in here?!?!” Zobotnik said, as he brought his hand down to his belt buckle to grab his taser… or at least where it was. “Wha-? Where’s-?” he said in confusion, until the unexpected visitor spoke. “I took it off you before I arrived.” The stranger said, holding up the taser, before tossing it aside with dissatisfaction, “Disgusting things, just as bad as guns.” “It’s alright, sir,” Zonic said, getting everyone’s attention, “he’s a friend.” “A pleasure to meet you all,” said the stranger, as he introduced himself, “Professor Paradox, at your service.” “Professor Paradox, a scientist who’s out of his own time. Don’t let the age fool you, he’s just as old as the Multiverse. He has the power to travel across Time and Space, and knows what’s happnened, what’s happening and what and/or when it’s going to happen. He’s been through his fare share of time travel, as well as traveling to Alternate timelines and realities. You can say he’s a lot like a walking internet page about every world there is.” Ignoring the newly arrived Proffesor Paradox, Zobotnik turned to Zonic, “Officer Zonic, you know this being capable of inter-dimensional travel, and you never reported this to your superiors?!” he slowly had a small grin as he said, “Something like that would be reported as insubordination!” “Maybe,” Zonic said, “but the Professor here, like us, knows very well the rules of inter-dimensional travel, and has been good support on most of these situations.” “Indeed,” Paradox nodded, “and for what’s happening now with this crisis, I need Zonic to assist me for important matters.” “Bu-but that’s out of the question!” Zobotnik said, “Zonic is needed-” “With me, thank you very much,” Paradox said with a calm smile, “as of now, Zails and the others have things under control, so Zonic is free for duty.” Zobotnik was left baffled at this, as the professor walked passed him, and came to Zonic, who nodded to him, Paradox replying with a nod of his own. As they about to leave the office, Paradox called out to Zobotnik, “Oh, and by the way,” he said, “If it’s alright, we will be needing aid from Prisoner Prime.” Hearing that, Zobotnik turned to Paradox with plate-sized eyes (behind his glasses, of course), “ALRIGHT?!” he cried. “Lovely, thank you, and good day to you all.” Paradox cheerfully said, as he and Zonic left with the others surprised, just as Zobotnik was about speak up against the request. All the officers were shocked, until Zudy spoke up in question, “Who is Prisoner Prime?” “That is out of the question!?” Zobotnik blurted out, as he pointed to the door to the other officers, “You! Leave! Now!” Without question, the officers did what the Warden said, leaving him completely stumped at what has happened, especially about the paradox fellow and Zonic. Meanwhile outside, as soon as they were a few feet away from the door to the Warden’s office, Zector and Zamy looked to the new recruits, who were still curious about the name of the Prisoner that Paradox said. “You really wanna know about this Prisoner Prime, huh?” he asked, Zudy and Zick nodded, as the crocodile and pink hedgehog let out a soft sigh as the latter explained. “Prisoner Prime is one of the most dangerous prisoners known throughout the Multiverse,” Zamy said, “though while at times he has been a help and has been learning self-control for sometime thanks to this Paradox fellow, we still keep him contained incase anything bad was to happen which may involve him.” “You don’t say…” Zick said, as he and Zudy looked to each other and seemingly started putting things together when they heard the last part of the Prisoner’s name, “You said Prisoner Prime… you don’t mean…” “Indeed,” Zector nodded, “he is from the Prime Universe.” “But who is he?” Zudy asked. Prime “You’re probably wondering who they talking about…” a figure said as in shadows, before looking up… and looking up to the reader(s)! “They’re refereeing to me: Superboy-Prime!” Superboy-Prime introduced himself. He looked like a usual young adult, with the likeness of a certain superhero, and was wearing a black t-shirt with what looked like a Superman logo, which seemed to look like it was melting a little and- “No need for the descriptions. I’ll take it from here.” “As you know, I’m from the Prime Universe, and in case you for some of you who may not know me, I’ll tell you a bit about myself (take caution of spoilers): like you, I remember reading, watching and playing the various stuff that were films, TV shows, comics (my personal favourite stuff to read) and video games, unaware of that somewhere, these worlds really do exist. I had a good life on my Earth, a loving family, and nice girl, but it all changed when I encounter the actual Superman during a cosmic conjunction with a comet, which in turn unlocked my super powers. It was so cool!” “Sadly, as it turns out, all good things don’t last, as the darn First Crisis happened, thanks to Anti-Monitor. I lost everything and everyone I knew and loved because of it, even though I helped defeat him. One of my allies, Alex Luthor Jr. from an alternate world, would then show me the aftermath of what has become of my long life heroes, only for me to go down a bad path in aiding in his schemes and… let’s just say things were said and done that I don’t want to talk about.” “Things then got worse as I tried so much to get back home, causing damage and destruction to everything and everyone that got in my way. It wasn’t until I fought Superman and 3 versions of the Legion of Heroes, and even came face to face with Time Trapper (who was an older version of me!!), until I finally arrived home… but everyone I knew grew fearful of me and most of them even hated me for what I did… though I suppose it makes us even as I hated them as well for turning me into this… then I ended up back in the DC world once more, and was defeated for good as I was trapped in the Source Wall.” “You’re wondering how I ended up here and how’s it possible: well, first off, the events I mentioned happened in the comics before they got a big reboot, and the second, that’s thanks to that Paradox fellow you saw earlier, as during my time in the Source Wall, I was slowly rethinking of all the things the others said to me, until the Professor came over to see me, imagine that, a character I never knew from a different world, a different series no less, who came to aid me. Of course, I was a little harsh on him, wanting to be left alone, but over time, he just stayed there, and when we talked, he explained about how my knowledge could be useful, despite the troubles that had fallen.” “Along with him later, the Zone Cop of that Sonic character came up and asked me to come with them, I don’t know why, but after sometime with my thoughts, rethinking if I would ever redeemed myself, I complied, and they brought me here, with aid of some other allies you’ll see soon enough. While, like back home, I was under house arrest, I have been some use to Paradox and Zonic, aiding them in difficult dangers, much like this one, speaking of…” Just then, his cell door opened up, revealing Zonic and Paradox, also showing Superboy-Prime being in a containment dome (containing a bed, several comics, DVDs of films and TV shows, games and a computer), allowing the Superboy from Earth Prime to look up to his visitors with a smirk. “Figured you’d come here.” He said. “A pleasure seeing you again too, Young Kent.” Paradox said, adding before Superboy-Prime could speak, “I understand if you don’t want to be called that.” The Prime Boy then turned to Zonic as the hedgehog spoke, “And I bet you know about the-” “Incidents with the rifts and what’s happening in the other worlds?” Superboy finished, “Yeah, figured that much. So, you need me to come along to your usual pow-wow get-together?” Zonic a little bit ignored the question as he opened up the door to the dome, as he said, “Just get yourself ready.” “I think I can sort out,” Professor Paradox said, as Superboy-Prime stepped out of the dome and stood in front of the duo as he continued, “and we best hurry, if we have to get there on time, then we’d have already left.” Once said that, there was a flash of light, and the trio had instantly vanished… Cosmic Counsel Unknown Area: Beyond Time and Space One moment, Zonic and Superboy-Prime were in the latter’s cell, a second later, they were somewhere in an unknow part of Space/Time. Superboy-Prime had an instant change of uniform too, as he donned he’s Super suit that he wore when he first escaped the Speed Force. Zonic checked his scanners, showing a complete blank at the moment, before looking to the Professor and asked, “So, when will this summit be starting?” “Quite soon, my good friend,” Paradox replied, “quite soon.” Just then, another bright flash caught their attention, as another voice spoke up, “Paradox.” As the three looked, they saw two new arrivals, one looked like a silver man on a surfboard, while the other was a beautiful woman, dressed like a princess with an plush like star beside her. “Whoa, is that Silver Surfer?!” Superboy-Prime exclaimed in surprise, “A few of my old friends read his comics back on my Earth!” “Are you… the Superboy from Earth-Prime?” the space surfing hero asked, in which the young man nodded in agreement, “Paradox has told me a little bit about you.” “Well, one of my old friends is a huge fan of yours.” Superboy-Prime stated, before looking to the woman, “Though, I don’t think I know you…” “Prime,” Paradox said, kindly, “Allow me to introduce Princess Rosalina, she is the Princess of all Galaxies.” “It is nice to see you again as well, Paradox.” Princess Rosalina said, bowing her head in greeting. “Have they not arrived yet?” Silver Surfer asked the Professor. “Fear not,” Paradox replied, “the gathering have been expecting your arrival.” And with that, another flash of light shrouded them, and when it cleared, four of the five were stunned by whom they were faced with. For Superboy-Prime, if his friend was here, he knew that he would be gawking out upon the sight of each of the cosmic enterties he and his friend knew. Prime recognized several of the entities of the DC series, such as the Phantom Stranger and Spectre, but he guessed that the Guardians of the Universe may or may not have been part of this as well. He looked and saw those from the Marvel, as his friend explained each cosmic entity there was there, such as the 5 cosmic giants that were the Celestials. Along with them was the Destroyer of Worlds, Galactus, who, according to his friend, was Silver Surfer’s old boss before the Surfer became a hero. One of the guests looked like an elderly lady, sitting comfortably in a chair, which had a big spider web behind it, his guess it was Madam Web. One cosmic entity he recognized was Ahti, also known as Kismet, a giant woman with a cloak, who seemed to be made out of the DC universe itself, and next to her, looked like a man, much like her, was made of what was indeed the Marvel universe, known as Eternity. Prime also saw among them the Lords of Order and Chaos, the previous having gave some of their power to their champion, Dr. Fate. A creature stood by in the centre, which looked like a white equine resembling either a qilin or a centaur, with a gray, vertically-striated underside. Finally, a another giant figure arrived, who looked like a man made of gold, but with no neck, and a giant purple silk cloth covered the top and sides of it’s head. Though as the group gathered around, Zonic and even Superboy Prime looked to noticed someone else among them, but just a few feet away, a mysterious being, dressed in a sort of futuristic roman robes and having a bit of a big head, stood by as the golden giant spoke via telepathy. “Counsel is now in session.” The golden giant boomed, “The Living Tribunal stands before you, present at the Time Walker’s request to him and his cohort to speak of this what is happening.” Paradox drifted towards the centre with Zonic, Prime, Silver Surfer and Rosalina, as he then began to speak up. “Hello and greetings, fellow beings and deities of the Multiverse,” the professor spoke kindly, as he took a small bow, “Professor Paradox, at your service. Here to bring forth word of this unexpected anomaly that has befallen to us.” “You may speak, Time Walker.” The Living Tribunal spoke. Paradox spoke up, showing forth a hologram of an infinite star system, all filled with different versions of Earth, “For as we all know, the Multiverse is an infinitely large universe filled with endless universes and dimensions, and for a time, most of them have been crossed over and came in contact with others, most only if necessary. However, for sometime now, the Zone Cops and I have experienced an anonymous problem, as rifts have been opening up across reality.” On each Earth, purple dots begin popping up at random, indicating the rifts that were appearing. “As we speak, without anyone to find a way to stop this, these anomalies will cause all of reality’s boundaries to break at break neck pace.” Paradox stated. “Is there any where beyond these realities that is the source of this catastrophe?” the equine-like creature spoke through telepathy. “As a matter of fact, Arceus, there is,” Paradox said as he explained, “it turns out that something… or someone, had manage to cross space and time, and successfully found their way to Foundation Prime!” The council had gaped mouths and shocked murmurs of this revelation. “And, pray tell,” one of the Guardians of the Universe asked, an eyebrow slowly raised in question, “how do you know that, out of all the realities, it would be Foundation Prime?” Paradox just shrugged with a small grin as he confessed, “Guilty, I may have senced something up and had to see what was going on there.” “Time Walker!” another member of the Guardians, a female, spoke up, “You know very well as we all do that Foundation Prime is strictly off limits! As well as the Forge of Creation!” “True,” Paradox nodded, before stating, “but there will be times when risks must be taken during these times of need.” “They do have a small point,” Zonic said to him, “While at times we have to do what we think is right, we still need to follow rules at times in the No Zone.” “But who,” Arcues asked, “who has found their way to Foundation Prime? And how did they manage?” “So far, we are not sure.” Zonic replied. “However,” Paradox spoke up, “I was able to get a small good look at our ‘guest’ to the Center of All Things.” He raised his gauntlet, and a beam of light projected an image of the mysterious intruder, earning mutters of shock and concern from the council. The being looked like an Aztec tribesman, all dressed in a gold helmet and shoulder pads, with a torn up cape and bottom robe, while his body was like a living celestial, much like that of Eternity and Ahti. “So, this is the being?” the Phantom Stranger asked, “What would his plans be for Foundation Prime?” “I not sure,” Paradox said, “though, if I’m right, he would be on the hunt for the Foundation Elements.” “The very elements that are connected and play important roles to each universe?” Madam Web asked. “The very same.” Paradox nodded. Superboy-Prime looked to the others as he quietly asked; “Care to run that by me a bit on what they’re talking about?” “These Foundation Elements,” Zonic explained, “are items that can either be ancient artifacts or everyday objects that are connected to every world in every reality in the Multiverse, but together, they are the keys to ancient and mysterious dimensional realm, said to be located at the centre of everything that has been said to be called Foundation Prime.” “And if someone were to bring these items to Foundation Prime?” Prime asked. “Then they will unlock the very secrets of reality itself.” Stated Paradox, hearing most of the conversation, “Anyone who finds it will have total control of all space/time, even one snap of their fingers can alter just about anything!” “Especially as we have to keep a lockdown on routes to Earth Prime,” Zonic added, “as if anything were to happen there could have catastrophic results to the rest of the Multiverse, like a row of dominos.” “So what are we going to do?!” Superboy-Prime asked, as he spoke up to the council, “Can’t any of you try and stop it!” “Even if I could, I cannot,” the Watcher spoke, “for I am only to observe and never to interfere.” “And I’m afraid Madam Web and I can’t be of help too, I’m afraid,” Phantom Stranger added, “For we can only steer but never lead.” “We are sorry, young one.” Madam Web said to Superboy Galactus, who had been hearing enough, huffed as he spoke up, “Then I shall be the one to take on this intruder. If he thinks that he could be a god, then he doesn’t know that he is nothing compared to Galactus!” “And risk having you learning of Foundation Prime’s power which can help feed you for forever? Perhaps even destroy more worlds quickly to do so too? Out of question!” Paradox protested. “I agree with Paradox,” Rosalina spoke, as she sternly looked to the armored giant, “this beast has the capacity on devouring worlds and star systems!” “I’m with Pretty Blondie here,” Prime added, “and you probably may not have known, but I already dealt with a world destroying baddie once when he destroyed my home universe, and there’s no way in heck that I’m letting this happen again to others!” Galactus looked down to the young anti-hero as he added, “And just so you know, I could take this big guy down just as I did the Anti-Monitor during that Lantern Corp war!” “Such a feisty spirit,” Galactus said, “you could make a fine herald.” “I’m afraid that’s out of the question too.” Paradox said as he floated up to Galactus’ face, “But Prime is right, as we need to act fast, we must make a plan on stopping this threat.” “And you expect Galactus to follow the plans and empty words of insects, especially time travelling ones like you.” Galactus asked, his voice slowly showing signs of anger. “Yes,” Paradox said, “but if not, then Galactus is quite a fool.” Galactus showed no rage, but the sudden glowing of his eyes did otherwise, as Silver Surfer, Prime, Zonic and Rosalina watched in shock on what was to happen. “Galactus! Don’t!” cried Silver Surfer, as he soared up on his board to try and save Paradox. But it was too late. Galactus fired a beam of deadly energy at Paradox, and seconds later, the professor was nowhere to be seen. “Paradox!” cried Rosalina, the Luma next to her whimpered in fear and sadness. As Silver Surfer looked in horror, Prime showed signs of anger, as he wanted to get even at the devourer of worlds using his heat vision to go through Galactus’s helmet and fry his brain… but seconds later, he slowly calmed down, remembering some of the treatment that Paradox helped him with us the giant spoke to the council. “The threat will now be dealt by us,” he said, “without a yammering human to speak up, we shall plan our defense more easily.” “I just don’t know why your anger always cloud your judgment so easily.” The voice took most of the council by surprise, as they looked up to see Paradox, alive and well, on top of Galactus, before warping back down to his group (who were relieved to see, especially Prime and the Surfer). “Surely you must know, that a complex and skillfully executed plan strategy can ensure the Multiverses survival.” Paradox stated. For Paradox was explaining, that for being a time traveler, he was able to escape Galactus’s laser beams then arrived seconds later on top of his helmet. Just then, Zonic received a message on his pager, and then spoke up for everyone to hear. “Everone, listen up,” he said, “I just got word from HQ that another anomaly has been detected!” “Another one?!” Rosalina asked, “Where is it now?” Zonic brought up his portable wrist pad, looking through the info it was showing, before discovering something that caused him to look up in confusion and surprise. “I located the other source in another dimension,” he explained, “but this is weird. The world in this dimension has been abandoned for almost eons…” “Where…?” Silver Surfer asked, raising an eyebrow. Zonic looked to the others as he said one word: “Vorton.” That one name made everyone fell silent, until Prime finally spoke. “Vorton?” he asked, “Never heard of a place like that.” Zonic turned to Prime as he explained, “Vorton is, or basically was, a planet that was home beings, whose technology and science were way far ahead of any other species. The residence’s known knack of science work was of that of inter-dimensional research, much like the Zone Cops do, until one day, during a project that was to learn of the origins of reality and imagination of sorts, the planet was then left to be forgotten in time.” “And yet, something… or someone has turned up on the ancient, forbidden planet.” Paradox stated, before looking to the Zone Cop, “Try and find out who’s there.” Zonic did just that, upon opening up another screen, Paradox’s group looked to see the mysterious intruders that have set foot on Vorton. Once the screen showed the mysterious planet, Zonic zoomed in onto the planet’s surface, but upon that, the group was surprised on who was there. On the planet’s surface were four turtles, a caped crusader (Prime knew that it was Batman), a bearded wizard, several girls at different ages, two men wearing almost identical uniforms (only the colors being different), two teens and a dragon, several living toys and several other animals, five of them standing up straight while others were what looked like ponies. As the group looked on at what they saw, Paradox, out of the group, smiled with interest as he got everyone’s attention as he said, “Well, well… it seems that we’re not the only ones trying to solve this anomaly problem.” “The real question is what are Sonic and most of his friends doing on Vorton?!” Zonic asked. “And who are those other characters with them?” Prime added, “I already know that Batman is with them, as well as that bearded guy must Gandalf, but I don’t seem to know those others.” “One thing for certain, I know that those two are Mario and Luigi.” Rosalina stated, pointing out the recognizable Mario Bros. Prime then spotted something that the group was standing in front of as he pointed out, “And that?” Silver Surfer took a look as he then looked to the young anti-hero, “I believe that it’s some sort of space/time device…” “Like an inter-dimensional teleporter?” Prime asked. “Exactly.” The Surfer nodded in agreement. Paradox had a bit of thought, until finally come to a conclusion. “Friends,” he spoke up, “I believe that if this anomaly situation has brought that lot together, then there is no doubt that they may know what is going on.” “The point being?” Rosalina asked. “Therefore, I suggest that we keep an eye on this group,” Paradox explained, “see how well they do and perhaps aid them if they’re alright with it.” “But what of the threat at hand?” Arceus questioned the time traveling scientist. “We could perhaps use some sort of camera to keep an eye on the being on Foundation Prime,” Zonic suggested, understanding what Paradox was getting at, “of course it will have to be nanite-sized, small enough to not be seen by this threat.” The rest of council murmured to each other on this, until Arceus finally broke the silence. “Very well,” he said, “then it is decided. We shall allow one of us to go and aid these heroes if they on to stopping this threat, while the rest of us monitor the events that will occur later on at Foundation Prime and the rest of the other worlds.” Most of the council began to mutter among themselves on who to send out, while Rosalina, seeing this, went into thought, she knew most of the group that were there (while curious about the newcomers), so she knew that they would probably need her help on this situation. Soon, she finally spoke up, “I’ll do it.” She said, “I will go to them.” “You?” asked the Lord of Chaos. “Yes.” Rosalina said as she explained, “Just so you know, most of the members of that group I’m familiar with, so I’m sure that they may need my help to aid them.” “That would make sense.” The Lord of Order said, reeling it in. “Then that settles it then,” Paradox said proudly, “Rosalina will go forth and journey to their aid.” “Very well,” the Living Tribunal spoke, “all those in favor of along Rosalina to volunteer to aid.” The rest of council looked to each other, while others muttered to one another, before they made their final decision. Doing this, those that agreed raised their right hands, Galactus, meanwhile, was little annoyed about the previous incident, and groaned before raising his hand in agreement too. “The ayes have spoken.” The Living Tribunal said, before speaking to the Princess of the Stars, “Princess Rosalina, you must go forth and aid these wonderers, guide them down the right path and make sure they succeed in stopping this crisis.” “I understand.” The princess said, as she did a small bow, before turning to her small group. “One more thing, Rosalina,” Paradox said, getting her attention, “it would be best that you should keep the presence of our group incognito, until the time is right for them to know a small bit about everything.” Rosalina nodded in agreement, before she and her Luma flew off to who knows where the small band will head off. “Are you sure Rosalina will be okay?” Prime asked, as they saw the princess off. “Do not worry,” Paradox replied, “we all know that she’s been in tougth scraps before and came up top with help of others, so I know she can do it.” Zonic then spoke up, “Right now, though, best we head and watch over the what’s happening back at the base.” “Alright,” Prime replied, interestingly without hesitation, before turning to the time traveler, “see you later… Time Walker.” “You too, Superboy-Prime.” Paradox waved goodbye, as Zonic and Prime returned back to the No Zone to keep track on what was happening. Paradox then turned to the Living Tribunal as he then spoke, sternly, “I believe it would best to alert to the One-Above-All about this situation.” “My Master shall be alerted,” the Living Tribunal spoke, as he started to vanish before saying, “though there is no doubt that he knows all to well on these events as you do.” As soon as he left (with most of the others leaving as well), Silver Surfer looked to Paradox as he spoke, “Let us hope that this situation does not go further on thin ice, Time Walker.” “We shall see, Surfer,” Paradox said with a smile, as both of them made their leave, “We shall see…”