Within his lab, Corvyn was staring at a holographic image of the device he had scanned earlier that day.

Shining and Twilight were there as well, the holographic Maleficore spinning in front of them. As it did, a bunch of readings were also being displayed. Readings Twilight barely understood whilst Shining was completely lost. "Alright. What am I staring at?"

"Dark energy," Corvyn explained. "On my world, we had a form of ore that produced its own energy. The Mimicores you use are made from those energy crystals. And the Hyper Core Gule and Flash used were rare forms of more powerful crystals. They allowed us to power cities and fuel vehicles without needing to rely on fossil fuels."

"Wow," Twilight nodded, "a sustainable form of green energy. I can't believe something like that exists."

"Our worlds are very similar," Corvyn told her. "But the laws of physics are slightly different here. Different enough that my world had a way of creating energy whilst yours doesn't. Either way, this particular Mimicore was designed using a form of negative energy crystal."

"Negative energy," Shining frowned. "I don't like the sound of that. So it gave Flash a power boost, put drove him nuts in the process?"

"Pretty much. The negative energy gave him a power boost and amplified his negative emotions. Anger. Hatred. Sorrow. All the bad parts about being human. They overwhelmed Flash and caused him to lose control. If we hadn't removed it when we did, there's no telling how much damage it could have done to Flash's psyche."

"And now it won't leave him alone," Twilight frowned. "No matter what we did, the core kept flying back to Flash."

"He should be fine," Corvyn assured her. "So long as he doesn't use it again, it shouldn't do any more damage." The others nodded, as Shining looked around. But the three of them were the only ones in the lab.

"Where is Flash anyway?"

"I sent him home," Corvyn explained. "After the day he had, I figured the last thing he wanted was to sit around the lab. I got the scans I needed and sent him home. Hopefully, he'll be fully rested and ready to go again when the Mimics show up. The soldiers are keeping watch and if the Mimics arrive, I'll bring you all over and fast as possible."

"Right," Shining nodded. "Hopefully, the damage Flash did the to two of them will put them out of action for at least the night."

Flash was at his house, laying on his bed going over everything that had happened during the fight.

He held up his hand and started at the device in it. The Maleficore had shrunken down so that it was able to fit in his hand. But he knew its size meant nothing. It was still just as powerful. And no matter what he did, it refused to leave his person.

Flash threw it across the room, but it stopped before it could hit the wall and floated in the air. It then flew back towards him, Flash catching it with a groan. "Leave me alone. I don't want you." But a chuckle made him frown, as Sheave spoke to him.

"Why are you denying it? Isn't it obvious that this device just wants to help you become the person you were always meant to be? A destroyer."

"Shut up," Flash growled.

"You remember how much power you had when you used it. You were stronger than when you used the Hyper Core. This device will grant you the strength to take whatever you want."

"And it turns me into a psychopath," Flash stated. "No thanks." He forced the device into his pocket. "I don't need that kind of power." Before Sheave could say anything else, a knock sounded at his door. "Come in."

The door opened and Scootaloo stepped inside, looking confused as she glanced around. "Who were you talking to?" Flash panicked for a moment, not realising Scootaloo had been listening. "Were you on the phone?"

"Er...yes! Yes, I was." Scootaloo looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. "Did you need something?"

"Can you help me with my chemistry homework? I'm gonna be in serious trouble if I don't turn it in on time." Flash rolled his eyes, but nodded and got up off his bed.

The pair headed downstairs and grabbed Scootaloo's books, both sitting at the dining room table as they began to work on Scootaloo's homework. Flash did his best to not simply do the work himself, knowing Scootaloo wouldn't learn anything unless she did it herself.

She scratched her head with her pencil, as she tried to think of what Flash had told her. And as their mother arrived home from work, Scootaloo wrote something down and showed it to him. "You got it!" Flash smiled, as Scootaloo cheered and he ruffled her hair.

"Hey!" The pair laughed, as Misty smiled and got to work on dinner.

As the pair kept working, Sheave tried to get Flash to say something out loud to worry his family. But Flash was too focused on helping her sister to hear him, the focus on the homework somehow blocking out his voice.

As they finished the homework, Misty finished dinner and the three were soon sitting together and eating.

"So, anything interesting happen today?" Misty turned to the two, Scootaloo shaking her head whilst Flash just stayed quiet. "Flash? You okay?"

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "nothing happened today. I heard there was a fight between the Riders and the Mimics again today, but I was nowhere near it."

Scootaloo nodded. "I heard the Riders are getting help from a bunch of soldiers and cops. But they keep getting beaten up."

Misty nodded. "Yes. I'm worried something big might be going on. The Mimics are up to something and if something bad happens, the Riders might not be able to do anything this time."

"I don't think we have to worry," Scootaloo smiled. "The Riders are awesome. I'm sure whatever's happening, they'll take those Mimics down no problem." Flash smiled, his heart swelling as he heard his sister praise him. Even if she didn't know she was doing it.

The family finished their dinner and Misty suggested a movie, her children nodding and all sitting together as they watched the film. Flash was still feeling a little weird after what had happened with the Maleficore, but being with his family really helped him forget about those issues for the moment.

At the same time, the Mimic Generals were preparing for their next fight.

"Four spots left," Frill stated. "No doubt three of them will be guarded by the Riders. And the fourth by those magical girls. We need to come up with a plan to stop them, especially since one of them is still supercharged thanks to the Maleficore."

Maya frowned, still upset that the device didn't end up in the hands of her spawn. Even though her master sounded pleased by this, she still wished to find a way to free Torin from Thorax's control. But with the Maleficore no longer an option, she needed another plan.

High stepped through the doors, the others noticing her and a look she had. "What?" Greye asked, as High smiled.

"I've just summoned four new Mimics from their posts in this world. They'll be here by the morning." The Generals all looked confused, as High smiled. "We don't have time to make any more Mimics. It's better to save the spawns we have and make more Mimicreeps. So I think it's best we call upon the ones still mopping up things in this world."

Frill frowned. "Those Mimics are supposed to be searching for stragglers. Including the cloaked guy that's been helping the Riders."

"Relax. We've got more than enough Mimics out there. These ones won't be missed. And with the animal forms they've taken, the Riders might find themselves in a tough situation." The Mimics didn't look so sure, but decided that they would need the extra help.

They still needed to plant the four remaining Doom Pillars. And the more distractions for the Riders to face, the better.

The next day.

As soon as Flash was up, he was out of the house and off to find someplace he could head to the lab from. As he did, Sheave began to speak to him and his good mood was lost. "You really think your little friend is gonna be able to find a way to get rid of the Maleficore?"

"Shut up," Flash told him. "If Corvyn can't find a way to stop it from following me, I'll just not use it."

"Why not? It's power is far greater than anything you could hope to have on your own." Flash said nothing. "This is why you humans are doomed to fail. You're too scared to use the power that could solve all your problems."

"I'm not scared. I just prefer to be under control of my body."

"Except it's my body." Flash rolled his eyes, as the portal appeared in front of him and he stepped into the lab. There, Corvyn, the Rainbooms, Pharynx and the other two Riders were waiting for him.

"Hey," Shining smiled, "you feeling better?"

"A little," Flash nodded before taking out the Maleficore. "But I'll be better if I can stop this thing from following me." He turned to Corvyn, "any idea how I stop it?"

Corvyn sighed. "Sorry. I've been analysing the data we got from it, but I haven't been able to figure out how to access it's programming. It's clearly designed to stick to the first Rider who touches it and since that was you, it won't leave you alone until it's either destroyed or I find a way to hack it."

"Then let's destroy it," Rainbow stated. "You three just Rider up and blast it."

"Absolutely not!" Corvyn frowned. "Do you have any idea how much power is within this kind of device. If we destroy it, it'll make an explosion that could wipe out anything within ten miles of it. Even if they tried to portal away, they'd never be able to outrun the blast."

"Right," Shining nodded, "forget about destroying it. Our best bet is to reprogram it. Any ideas?" Corvyn hummed, clearly having some idea. But nothing concrete.

Thorax frowned, as he sat there looking upset. "It's my fault this is happening. If I had been stronger, this never would have happened." The others felt bad for him, knowing he must have felt guilty for letting Maya get the better of him and causing Flash to fly to his rescue and come in contact with the Maleficore.

"Dude, it's not your fault." Flash crossed his arms, as he leaned against the wall. "I'm the one who picked up the Maleficore. If I had just left it alone, none of us would be in this situation." Thorax sighed, clearly still upset.

Despite what he said, Flash was a little scared of what might happen if he used the core again. The memory of how much hate he had felt was still fresh in his mind, making him fear losing control like that again. He had attacked his friends and if things had been just a little different, he could have ended up seriously injuring them. Could he risk that happening again?

Suddenly, an alarm went off and everyone rushed to the map.

They expected to see the last three spots light up, but were surprised to see two areas on the other side of the city were showing Mimic activity. "What's going on?" Pinkie asked, but Shining understood.

"They're trying to draw us away. When we go attack these Mimics, the others will attack those spots and place the Doom Pillars." Everyone frowned, as Morphic turned to Flash. "We have to hit these spots and deal with them quickly. Then we can get to the Doom Pillar spots."

Flash frowned, clearly not keen on going out with what had happened. "Maybe Thorax should go. If the Mimics attack the Doom Pillar spots, it might be best for me to wait here and attack." Shining nodded.

"If you're sure." Flash nodded and Shining turned to Thorax, who nodded as they both took out their Mimicores and summoned their Drivers. "Then let's do this."

"RUSH!/SLASH!" The pair placed their Mimicores into the Drivers, as Corvyn activated the portals and locked onto the spots the Mimics had shown up in. The two then struck a pose.

"HENSHIN!" With that, they slammed the Drivers closed and activated them.

"MIMIC! COYOTE!"

"MIMIC! MANTIS!" The slime flew out the pipes and formed the cocoon around the Riders, as the portals flew over them and they were transported to the battlefield.

In a part of the city, people were running as High shot lightning in every direction.

Besides her was an orange Mimic, covered in some kind of shell. Its head was that of a snapping turtle and the body armor had the same pattern on it, that would be on a turtle's shell. Its arms had gauntlets around them that mimicked a turtle shell perfectly, with the hands coming out of where a head should be.

The turtle Mimic moved slowly, but the police that had stayed behind were worthless as their bullets just bounced off the shell.

High laughed, only for a light to make her look around and see a portal appear before spitting out the cocoon. And as it did, the amber exploded of the Rider before forming his armor. "Howling velocity, increasing the tearing power of its fangs"

Morphic stood tall and as the Turtle turned to him, he summoned his claws before shooting forward at super speed.

His incredible speed made the Turtle unable to even defend itself, as he shot passed and slashed at him with incredible speed and precision. The claws ground at the turtle and created three long groves along it, the Turtle crying out as it was knocked staggering back.

As it did, Morphic prepared another attack. But he quickly found High jumping between him and her Mimic.

"I don't think so!" She sparked and the two began to battle one another, moving at super speed and morphing into a blur that slammed into each other over and over again.

In another part of the city, Maya was causing mayhem with another Mimic.

This was one was a brown humanoid snake-like creature. It had the head of a king cobra, with the headpiece going down the side of its neck to connect to its shoulders. Its arms were also that of snakes, the right arm having another snake head for the arm whilst the left one, was a long whip-like tail.

The Mimic hissed, as it spotted some people and tried to bite them with the snake head on its arm.

But before it could hit anyone, a portal formed and a cocoon was expelled out. The snake head tried to bite the cocoon, which caused it to crack. But before the Mimic could attack again, the cocoon shattered and Changeling stood in front of the people.

"Bladed arms that slice through anything, cutting down the evils of the world!"

The Rider's armor formed and he began to run forward, his blades forming as the Snake and Maya glared at him. Changeling also stared at him, knowing he couldn't afford to let himself get beaten again. So when Maya fired her web-lines at him, he dodged one, deflected another and cut the third up.

"Raaaah!" He leapt at the snake and dealt a kick to its head, knocking it back as he landed and slashed at Maya. The Mimic barely managed to avoid him, then spun around to try and deal a kick to him. But Changeling crossed his swords and blocked it, using them to push her off balance.

Changeling then dodged a bite from the Snake's head arm and slashed at it, cutting the beast down its chest and making it scream. But before he could attack again. Maya fired a web and managed to hit the back of his shoulder. He was then pulled back and screamed as he was thrown away from the snake.

"Augh!" He hit the ground and as he did, the Snake charged at him and swung its tail arm down towards him. But he rolled out from under it and jumped back to his feet, as the Snake once again tried to bite him.

Changeling quickly used the back of his sword to shield himself, the snake's fangs sinking into the blade but being unable to damage it. Instead, they shattered against the metal and left the Snake without a means to hurt or poison the Rider.

Maya saw this and frowned, once again attempting to launch her webbing at the Rider. But Changeling saw this coming and quickly knocked the Snake in the web's path, causing it to be hit instead. And before Maya could release it, Changeling hit the side of his Driver.

"CLIMATIC SLASH!"

Before the Snake could defend itself, Changeling charged at him whilst his swords glowed. And in the blink of an eye, he shot past the Mimic whilst slashing at it with both swords. The energy flowed into the monster and as Changeling skidded to a stop, the monster exploded.

Maya hissed, seeing the Mimic she had brought be destroyed so easily. She turned to Changeling, who stared at her and prepared for another fight. And she would give it to him.

Back at the base, Flash and the others watched as Changeling and Maya began to battle. They were worried for him, but had to trust he could handle himself.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and they turned their attention back to the map. Two of the spots were glowing, showing Mimic activity. "Damn it!" Flash cried, "both places are getting attacked. "I can't be in two places at once."

"But we can," Twilight told him. "We'll try and hold them off until you or the others are ready."

"Alright," Flash nodded. "Just be careful." The others nodded and prepared to head out, as Flash took out his Mimicore and summoned his Driver. But before he activated it, he suddenly felt something appear in his hand.

He looked down, seeing the Maleficore had somehow gotten into his grasp. And as he touched it, he felt it dark power coursing through it. But he shook his head and put it in his pocket, instead activating the Mimicore.

"BLADE!"

He placed the Mimicore into his Driver, as Corvyn created another pair of portals. And as the girls ran through one of them, Flash struck a pose. "Henshin!" He slammed the Driver shut and it activated.

"MIMIC! SWORDFISH!" Flash crossed his arms and the pipes unleashed the slime, as the portal moved towards him. The slime solidified, as the portal engulfed him and he was transported away.

The soldiers screamed, as they fought to destroy the Mimicreeps currently attacking the spot.

Behind them were two Mimics, Frill and a yellow lizard-like covered in orange spots. The only thing unique about this Mimic, was how its fingers were thin with large round ends. And as the soldiers destroyed more Mimicreeps, they moved closer to the spot the Doom Pillar was meant to go.

Frill looked around and didn't see any sign of the Riders, the Mimic chuckling as he prepared to summon the device and plant it.

But before he could, a portal appeared and seven girls appeared out of it. And as soon as they saw him, Rarity created a wall of gems that she sent flying at the vulture.

Frill spread his wings and leaps into the air, dodging the wall whilst the gecko runs at the girls. But before it can get close, Pinkie throws an entire cupcake and the monster. And since it didn't realise what she could do, the lizard tried to swat it away only to suddenly find it exploding.

As the beast was knocked back, the others pointed their blasters at the Mimic General and fired.

Frill dodged and blocked the attacks with his feather swords, then launched his darts towards them. But Rarity shield them before Twilight grabbed a few in her magic and sent them flying back at him.

The general dodged his own attacks and when he landed, he glared at them. "You might not be Riders, but you girls are just as irritating." The Rainbooms smiled, as the Gecko pushed itself up.

In another part of the city, the soldiers were fighting the Mimics that had appeared.

"Raaah!" Greye spun around and launched his energy blades, blasting the soldiers and sending them flying. As he did, those that had avoided getting blasted tried to shoot him.

But before one could take aim, he suddenly felt something wrap around his waist before he was lifted into the air. "GYAH!" He was thrown upwards and released, the other soldiers watching him spin through the air before crashing into the ground. The impact had obviously broken something, making him scream in pain, as Greye chuckled.

But then, a portal suddenly opened up and released the cocoon. "Oh, great." Greye charged at the cocoon, but it cracked and exploded to reveal Shifter. The Rider's armor formed and he quickly summoned the arm blades, which he raised to block Greye's attack at the last moment.

"Slicing through the ocean, with speed and precision unmatched."

The two glared at one another before Shifter managed to over power Greye and push him back. Greye staggered around, but quickly recovered and swung his fans at Shifter. But the Rider dodged the attacks using his super speed before leaping back.

Once he landed, he charged forward at super speed. But before he could reach Greye, he suddenly ran into something he couldn't see. Some kind of invisible rope, which caused him to trip over his own feet and fall to the ground.

"Augh!" He rolled along the floor, the soldiers flinching until he came to a stop. "What the?"

Greye chuckled, as something appeared besides him. It was a green reptilian Mimic, with large round eyes that seemed to be able to look in different directions at once. Its shoulders looked like the heads of chameleons, with their tongues sticking out and curling around a little. When it opened its mouth, an even longer purple tongue shot out and was almost three times as long as the monster was tall.

Shifter groaned, realising he was fighting a Mimic with the ability to make itself invisible. And as he picked himself up, the lizards turned invisible.

Back with Morphic, the Rider continued to race around at high speed.

High moved just as fast, the two battling it out as the Turtle Mimic continued to attack the city. It smashed its way through buildings, its hard shell protecting it from damage. It seemed that it was incapable of being damaged, as Morphic slid to a stop.

High also stopped and unleashed a wave of lightning, which shot towards Morphic as the Rider crossed his claws.

The lightning slammed into him and he flinched, as he skidded back and almost fell over. And as he was recovering, the Turtle Mimic charged. And even at its much slower speed, it was able to get to him and football tackle him.

"GYAH!" Morphic was sent flying and crashed into the ground, groaning as he hit it. High then used this opening to launch another lightning bolt, Morphic barely managing to roll away in time. And as he did, he suddenly had an idea. "Is that your best shot. Come on!"

High growled and launched another bolt, but Morphic dodged it and moved around again.

"Lame," he told her before dodging another bolt, "lamer." High was getting more and more annoyed, as she fired stronger and stronger bolts. "So close. Too slow. Oh, I felt that one."

"JUST STAY STILL!" High screamed, as her body exploded with energy.

Morphic skidded to a stop and gave her a 'bring it' gesture, making High scream as she unleashed the most powerful blast of lightning right at the Rider. Morphic charged forward, moving at an incredible speed right at the super bolt. But at the last moment, he suddenly dropped to the ground and slid under the thunderbolt.

High growled, only to notice something that Morphic had been hiding behind himself. The Turtle.

The Rider had positioned himself between the two Mimics and when he ducked under the lightning bolt, it made the weaker Mimic the new target. "Get out of there!" But the Turtle wasn't fast enough.

The bolt struck the Mimic and friend it, the monster roaring in pain as it was cocked within its own shell.

That shell began to crack from the heat coming from the inside, allowing Morphic to race forward once the bolt finished. And as he got close, he slammed the side of his Driver.

"CLIMATIC RUSH!"

His claws glowed, as he slammed into the damaged shell and shattered it. This left the Turtle an easy target, as Morphic slashed at it a hundred times in ten seconds. And after the hundredth strike, he spun around and slammed his foot into the Turtle's exposed chest.

This launched him backwards, as the Turtle was thrown away as well. He back-flipped and landed, as the Turtle exploded in midair.

High growled, as Morphic spun around and was illuminated by the explosion. She growled, angry at herself for falling for his ploy. "Not bad. Using my power to destroy one of my compatriots." Lightning surged around her body, "but you'll regret making a fool out of me!" She charged, lightning trailing off of her as she moved. Morphic attacked as well, the pair turning into nothing but blurs that clashed into one another

Changeling and Maya's fight continued, the Rider slashing at his mother as fast as he could.

Maya dodged each and every attack, smiling as she avoided the blades and tried to shoot her webs at him. But Changeling managed to avoid the as well before finally getting in close and slashing at her.

"Augh!" Maya leapt back, as Changeling stabbed his blade into the ground before leaping forward.

"Raaah!" He thrust his foot forward and stomped Maya in the wound, making her flinch as she was almost thrown off her feet whilst Changeling jumped back and landed between his blades. He stood up, as Maya fell to the ground and clutched her chest.

She quickly sprayed her webbing onto the wound, keeping her from losing too much blood. She then looked up at Changeling, a smile appearing on her lips. "You're getting stronger. Clearly, every fight helps you grow more and more comfortable in your new body."

Under his suit, Thorax thought about it and realised he did feel more comfortable. Hopefully, this meant he wouldn't be a burden on his friends any more. What had happened to Flash was because he hadn't been strong enough. "No more." He rushed forward, sword in a backhanded grip as her slashed at the Mimic as fast as he could.

Maya tried to hold him off, but the speed he was moving was too much for her to keep up with.

When she dodged a slash, he spun around and dealt a kick to her chest. As she staggered back, he charged again and slashed at her arm, cutting into it and making her hiss. And as she jumped back, she fired webs at the ground expecting him to step on it and get stuck.

But Changeling charged and leapt over it, doing several spins before doing a midair back-flip and swinging both legs down to slam into her head. Maya screamed, clutching her head as Changeling landed and thrust his swords forward.

But Maya managed to recover in time to lean backwards at the last moment, the swords barely missing her and stopping right above her chest. And before Changeling could attack again, she shot two web-lines behind her before pulling on them and propelling herself away from the Rider.

As she flipped around and landed, she stared at Changeling as he spun his swords back into a backhanded grip. She was actually impressed. The strength he had now was amazing. And he was only going to get stronger.

Maya shook her head. "This isn't my spawn in control. I can't be proud of his strength." She frowned, realising she was likely feeling Chrysalis' pride for her child. "When I free Torin from him, I can be proud of him then." She charged, Changing doing the same. The pair roared out, as they clashed once again.

Over with the Rainbooms, their fight against the Mimics was a mixed bag.

Currently, the gecko Mimic was attacking from multiple angles. Its ability to stick onto any surface, allowed it to jump around and avoid the girl's attacks before leaping at them. Rarity was using her magic to shield them when it attacked, but this freed Frill up to deal with the soldiers currently defending the area.

"Raaah!" He slashed at them with his swords, the old-looking Mimic showing incredible skill as he cut them down.

He also used his feather darts to pierce their guns and make them blow up, injuring the soldiers and knocking them down. "Pathetic!" He cut the ends off a few more guns and fired his darts at close range, stabbing the soldiers as he got closer to the spot where the Doom Pillar was meant to go.

The Rainbooms saw this and realised they needed to act fast.

As the Gecko leapt down towards them, Rainbow flew up and tackled it. The lizard was taken by surprise, as she forced it down to the ground. It tried to fight back, but Applejack ran up and wrapped her arms around it.

Using all her strength, she squeezed it as hard as she could. Meanwhile, Twilight grabbed Sunset and Fluttershy's blasters. "What are you doing?" Sunset asked, as Twilight began to rewire them along with her own.

"Giving them a bit of a power boost." The girls were surprised by this, wondering why Corvyn didn't make them that strong if they couldn't be. "Applejack!" Twilight used her magic to lift the three weapons into the air, pointing them right above Applejack. "DO IT!"

Applejack nodded and threw the gecko into the air, Rarity creating a crystal roof that the lizard slammed into it. And this put him into Twilight's target, the girl firing the weapons only for them to all explode from the overload.

The three supercharged blasts hit the gecko before it could jump away, causing it to explode and burst into a hundred pieces.

Rarity put up another shield to block the rain, the girls all looking grossed out by the slime as it fell around them. But they had done it. They had actually managed to defeat a Mimic without the Rider's help. However, this joy was short lived.

As they turned to Frill, they spotted him holding a Doom Pillar in hand.

The portal also launched a bunch of Mimicreeps, which surrounded him as he stabbed the device into the ground. It began to activate, as the Rainbooms rushed in. Sunset and Fluttershy were forced to stay back, since their weapons were gone. All they could do was watch, as the others tried to fight their way through the Mimicreeps. But it was proving difficult, whilst Frill protected the device.

If they didn't get to him soon, they would run out of time.

Back with Shifter, he was still trying to fight the Chameleon Mimic. But since he couldn't see it, this was proving tricky.

"How pathetic," Sheave laughed. "To think, you're having so much trouble against a Mimic with barely any strength. If I was in this fight, I'd be able to take that thing down in five seconds. This is just embarrassing."

"Will you shut up," Shifter growled. Sheave in his head was really starting to irritate him.

"I'm just saying-"

"Well save it!" Shifter started slashing wildly at the air, hoping to hit the beast by chance when it got close to him. But he didn't hit anything. And as he was so focused on the Chameleon, he didn't notice Greye move over to where the Doom Pillar needed to be.

"Perfect." He quickly opened a portal and pulled out the pillar, which Shifter finally noticed.

"NO!" He ran at the general, picking up as much speed as possible. But as he did, an invisible whip swung around and got in front of Shifter. And as he ran, his right foot ran right into the whip and it wrapped around his leg.

Before he could try and cut himself free, the whip went tight and Shifter was suddenly pulled off his feet.

"WHOA!" He was lifted into the air and with a quick whip of the Chameleon's tongue, he was thrown through the air and eventually slammed into the ground. "AUGH!" He hit the floor and groaned, as the Chameleon appeared and chuckled. At the same time, Greye raised the Doom Pillar into the air.

"Blast him!" The soldiers yelled, firing their weapons at the Mimic. But even though they were aiming at the Doom Pillar, they weren't able to hit it since their weapons weren't built for accuracy. As such, Greye was able to stab it into the ground and activate it.

Shifter pushed himself up and saw the Doom Pillar beginning to power up, as Greye started defending it from the soldiers.

Shifter tried to attack the general as well, but was stopped by the Chameleon as it appeared in front of him and claws at his chest. "Augh!" He staggered back, the Mimic vanishing before he could counter.

Greye chuckled, as the Chameleon launched its tongue at the Rider and wrapped it around his neck.

Shifter gasped and tried to free himself, attempting to cut the tongue, but the Chameleon flung him around until he crashed into the side of a building. "Gyah!" The tongue retracted and he fell to the ground, Sheave's laughter filling his head whilst Greye's filled his ears.

"Look at you. Can't even defeat the simplest of monsters." In his head, Sheave agreed with Greye and Flash was starting to get really angry. As he did, his Driver started glowing with a dark energy. "Because of you, another Doom Pillar will be placed. And when they're all activated, every human in this city will be wiped out."

"Every...human?" Flash suddenly thought about his sister and his mother. His family. The people that were most important to him.

In his mind, Sheave could see this image and smiled before closing his eyes. And unknowing to Flash, he was imagining something as well. Something that Flash was about to see.

The image began to change. Changing from his mother and sister at home, to them on the street. As a wave of energy flew towards them. They tried to run, but the wave stuck them and they screamed before disappearing. The sight ran flew Flash's head and his heart broke, as he let out a roar of anguish and rage.

Suddenly, Shifter felt something that caused his anger to turn to dread.

The Maleficore suddenly shot up from where it was being kept and floated above him, the device activating and unleashing a burst of energy that struck Shifter's Driver. "GYAAAAAH!" He tried to fight it, but it was too late. The device flew down and connected to his driver, quickly folding over the screen and turning it black whilst the device spoke up.

"MALEFIC BLADE!"

Shifter screamed, as the energy sparked around him. And eventually, the armor on his body melted and began to form the cocoon around him once again.

"MIMIC! SWORDFISH!" The cocoon cracked before shattering, revealing Shifter's suit was now completely pitch black. The armor flew onto him and formed the Blade Armor, only now it was black and his eyes turned blue. "Darkness, engulfs all that stands within it. Unlimited power awakens in the shadows!"

Greye and the Chameleon stared at him, Greye both happy and terrified by what was happening. And the soldiers looked just as worried, whilst the reptilian Mimic disappeared.

Corvyn watched this and was terrified, quickly contacting the girls and telling them what had happened.

All he could do was watch, as Shifter created black versions of his arm blades. And as he stepped forward, something invisible shot towards him. But somehow, he caught it and squeezed. This caused the Chameleon to roar and appear, its tongue in Shifter's grasp.

The Rider pulled on it with all his strength and the Mimic was pulled towards him, Shifter moving fast and swinging his blade around.

This caused the tongue of the Mimic to be sliced off at the base, making it roar in pain as it fell to the ground and clutched its mouth. Shifter then continued to attack, slashing at it before it could escape. With his super speed, Shifter cut the Mimic a hundred times in less than three seconds, making it scream in agony until the Rider stopped and leapt back.

The bleeding monster staggered away and tried to turn invisible, but the slime blood covering it didn't disappear and acted as a target for the Rider to aim. And as the Rider hit the side of his Driver, it yelled out.

"MALEFIC CLIMAX!"

Shifter crossed his blades before racing forward, turning into a black blur that flew past the invisible monster and sliced it up.

The blur then spun around and shot back towards the Chameleon, spinning around it like a tornado and cutting it up multiple times. After ten seconds and a few hundred slashes, the blur flew off and landed before Shift spun around and slashed his blades through the air.

The malefic energy flew off the weapons and morphed into a pair of crescent blades, which struck the Mimic and cut it in half. It roared, as the energy exploded and completely consumed the beast. As it did, Shift turned his attention towards Greye.

The Mimic gulped, amazed by the power he now possessed.

But before Shifter could attack, the Doom Pillar activated. And it wasn't the only one. As the one at Frill's location also activated.

There, the girls watched as the energy dome formed around the device.

Frill laughed, as he spread his wings. "You girls did well, but not well enough." He flew into the air and Rainbow followed, but had to stop when Frill sent a bunch of feather darts flying at her.

"WHOA!" She flew around, barely managing to avoid them all. And this allowed Frill to fly up into a portal that formed, Rainbow not daring to fly into it. Instead, she flew down to the others as they stared at the Doom Pillar that had been activated.

"Now what?" Pinkie asked, as the soldiers around them also wondered what was going to happen.

Twilight sighed. "We've got another problem right now. We need to get to Shifter before he does something he'll regret." Rainbow nodded and grabbed both her and Rarity, the three zipping off at super speed whilst the others ran there on foot.

In the other two areas, Changeling and Morphic's fights had also come to a stop.

As Morphic slashed at High, the Tiger Mimic leapt back and did a flip before landing. But before she could attack, a portal opened up behind her. "Huh. Looks like I don't need to keep you here any more." Morphic tilted his head, only to realise what she must have meant.

"This has been fun," Maya told Changeling as she stood in front of a portal. "You're growing stronger. That will come in handy, once I've found a way to free you." Changeling said nothing, as she turned to walk through the portal. Morphic watched High do the same and before he could think of what to do next, Corvyn contacted him.

"You need to get to Flash. Hurry."

Shifter began to move towards Greye, but the Mimic opened a portal behind him and jumped through.

Even Shifter's super speed didn't allow him to catch up, the Rider reaching the portal spot milliseconds after it closed. The Rider just stood there and didn't seem to be doing anything, until one of the soldiers spoke up.

"What do we do now?" Shifter turned towards him and the soldier suddenly felt very exposed, as he began to move towards him. "What are you doing?" Shifter raised his blade, "stay back." Shifter didn't and the soldiers pointed their weapons at him. "I'm warning you!" But before either side could attack, a flurry of wind signalled Rainbow's arrival.

She had sped over and brought Twilight and Rarity with her, the girls seeing Shifter in his Malefic Form and gasping.

Shifter prepared to attack, but Rarity put a wall of gems between him and the soldiers. The Rider wasn't slowed down by this and slashed at the gems, actually cutting deep groves into them. "Do something!" Rarity cried, Twilight and Rainbow trying to think of a plan. And Twilight had one.

As Shifter kept slashing at the wall, she summoned her magic and it wrapped around the Maleficore.

Shifter noticed this and turned to them, but Twilight pulled with all her strength. The Maleficore unleashed a burst of energy that made Shifter roar in pain. But Twilight kept pulling and eventually, the Maleficore was ripped off of the Driver.

Shifter was suddenly surrounded by light and when it faded, he was back in his standard Blade Form.

The Rider fell to his knees, panting as he once again had control of his body. But he couldn't rest for long, as the Maleficore quickly broke free of Twilight's hold and flew back into his possession. And as he caught it, the soldiers all looked at him with worry.

"Whose side are you on?" One cried, looking ready to fire at him.

Shifter panicked but before he could do anything rash, a portal suddenly opened and he ran through it. The girls followed suit and they all disappeared, leaving the soldiers to stand there confused.

When they got into the lab, Flash moved to one corner of the room. But Twilight followed him. "Flash." She tried to grab his shoulder, but Flash pulled away.

"Don't touch me." He leaned against the wall, "it's not safe." The girls could see the fear in Flash's eyes, as Corvyn arrived and saw the state he was in.

Sheave started laughing, Flash's frayed nerves getting even worse. "Don't fight it. This is what you truly are. A destroyer." Flash tried to ignore his words, but he couldn't. He could have killed the soldiers and if that had happened, there wouldn't have been any difference between him and Sheave.

It was clear this issue needed to be fixed, but nobody knew how. And with only three Doom Pillars left, things were only going from bad to worse.

Author's Note

Geez, this was a hard chapter for Flash. The Maleficore is doing a number on him. Hopefully, he'll find a way to free himself of its darkness soon.