Chapters Pain struck Ethan as consciousness returned to him. He shot up in bed, and looked around frantically. The first thing he saw was that he was in a dark stone castle… Or was it a fortress? He threw that thought away and continued looking. Around the floor were five other humans… Or, humanoids that were unconscious.
The closest to him was a big, grey, winged humanoid that had a tail and what seemed to be horns on his eyebrows. The big man was wearing only a loincloth and leather belt. His pointy ears showed from behind his long black hair as well as some pointy teeth from his open mouth.
To his right, Ethan saw a pink haired girl with pointy ears, and wearing a pink and black one piece suit with a belt. She looked a lot more sci-fi than the first guy.
Ethan saw three others farther away. One was a blonde haired woman with black spots in her hair who was wearing a bodysuit with one arm missing that was a couple shades of orange with one armband that held a yellow pole down her forearm. Another was a red headed guy wearing a green t-shirt under a tan vest, dark green baggy cargo pants, a pair of tan boots, and red shaded glasses. The last was another red headed guy who wore a green shirt with brown pants and a vest, leather gloves that covered his forearms with the pinky and ring finger missing, and a quiver and black bow on his back.
Looking at himself, Ethan analyzed what he was wearing. A shirt that matched his skin, covered by a white hoodie with green on his shoulders and neck piece, while on his legs were black jeans with writing on his right ankle. Red gauntlets were on his hands, and a green and white holster was on his left hip. All in all, it looked like some sci-fi, anime and barf were mixed in a blender. Also, from what he could tell, his hair was a red like almost every other guy in the group.
Ethan, groaning in pain, pushed himself off the ground and onto his feet, which he noticed were red. When he was standing and knew he wouldn’t fall on his face, he gingerly walked over to the almost naked man on the ground.
Kicking him lightly a few times, Ethan started the tedious process of waking someone he knew was stronger than him. “Yo, get up G.”
Groaning a bit, the big man slowly opened his eyes while holding his head. He then stood up and stretched all of his limbs.
“Who wakes me from my slumber?” the man said in a deep voice. He looked around the room and took stock of the situation.
“Me, you moron…” Ethan replied, slightly annoyed. “What happened to us? Do you remember?”
“No, I don’t. Who are you anyway?” the big man asked.
“I’m Ethan Waber… Now at least. Not like my real name suits me.” Ethan said, looking around the room once more. “And you?”
“Well, going by my appearance. I am Goliath. My other name is as you said, unsuitable,” Goliath replied as he examined his appearance. “Any idea who these others are?” Goliath gestured to the four other beings in the room.
“I think I know two of them… Pinkhead and… Wait… We do know each other!” Ethan almost wanted to facepalm. “It’s me, Vein…”
“Vein? No way,” Goliath said in disbelief.
“Way… Then pinkhead’s sis… Who’re the others though?” Ethan asked no one in particular.
“Your guess is as good as mine. We all seem to be in the same boat, though,” Goliath said as he slowly walked toward the prone figures. “All of us seem to have been changed. I’m now Goliath, you’re Ethan Waber, and your sister seems to be Aelita.”
Ethan looked to the sleeping pinkhead and rubbed his head. “Okay… I’d be freaking out if I wasn’t loving this.” Ethan then walked over to his sleeping sister, and picked her up bridal style. “Wake up the others, starting with… The nerdy redhead. And make sure to calm him down.”
“Right, calm. You sure that someone looking the way I do can calm him down?” Goliath said as he walked over to the nerdy red head and gently shook him awake.
“Gah!” The boy screamed, and tried to make a run for it. Ethan rolled his eyes and pulled out one of his blaster pistols and shot the door the redhead tried to use.
“Calm down, foureyes! We’re not trying to hurt you!” Ethan yelled, causing his sister to stir in his arms.
“Why should I believe you!?” The boy yelled, before his eyes widened.
“Because if we were trying to hurt you then he wouldn’t have missed and I wouldn’t have let you run. Now, apologize for waking up his sister,” Goliath said as he stood up and folded his wings around his shoulders.
“S-sorry…” The guy said, shrinking.
“What’s your name?” Ethan asked as his sister was groggily waking up.
“Uh… Z-Zeke Browns…” He looked over himself. “Am I? My voice sounds weird...”
“Zeke Browns is still your name, but you’ve been changed into someone else like Ethan and myself. I am Goliath, by the way,” Goliath told the frightened boy as he went to wake another person. It was amazing that neither of them had stirred from the commotion.
“Then… I guess I’m Kaz Kalinkas, or Kid Chaor.”
“G, I think Kaz should wake the last two, don’t you think?” Ethan suggested as he went to the farthest place from the sleeping people.
“Oh, right. I’m a gargoyle now. Not exactly something you’d like to wake up to,” Goliath said as he walked over to stand next to Ethan and his sister.
“Now I see it, I loved that show.” Kaz said as he went to the girl first. He placed his finger on her forehead and started making circles with it in hopes of stirring her awake. He made sure his arm was as extended as possible so it wouldn’t be awkward.
The girl stirred slightly, but batted Kaz’s finger away and rolled over.
“Haha!” Ethan laughed.
Kaz grumbled. “You try waking her up without her thinking you’re a pervert!”
“Try that guy then. Maybe she’ll wake up while you’re trying to wake him or he can wake her,” Goliath said as he watched.
Kaz crossed his arms. “I can wake her! Watch me.” He then started shaking her by her shoulders half heartedly.
The girl’s eyes opened and she immediately smacked Kaz across his face. She quickly stood and grabbed the yellow pole from her arm guard. The small pole extended into a staff as the girl took a fighting stance. “Who are you and what did you do to me?” she asked as she pointed her staff at Kaz.
“I didn’t do anything!” Kaz said, his voice shrill and high pitch. “I tried to wake you!”
“Then why do I know how to use this weapon and have the skin tone of a cheetah?” she asked angrily.
“Wow, she’s faster than me.” Ethan stated plainly from where he was. “Look, we all woke up like this. I’m Ethan Waber, that Gargoyle is my buddy Goliath, and the runt that woke you is Kaz Kalinkas.”
“It’s nice to meet you all. Does anyone have more information about our situation? Having all the facts is always nice. Oh, I’m Cheetara, apparently,” the girl said to the group.
Kaz grumbled as he crawled away, nursing his red cheek. Ethan pointed to the last sleeping guy. “Once my sister wakes up, we’ll wake him up.”
And just then, Ethan’s sister screamed. “What the hell’s wrong!? Who are you!? Why does everything look like a cartoon!?”
Ethan decided to put that cartoon comment in the back of his mind. Right then, he needed to help his baby half sister. “Sis, it’s me, Vein. I was somehow turned into Ethan Waber, like you were turned into Aelita.”
Aelita looked at her hands, which she then proceeded to run through her pink hair. “Wha- How- When-”
“I’m trying to figure this out!” Ethan yelled, causing Aelita to shut up. Ethan sighed. “Okay… Wake the last guy up, then we’ll figure this out together.”
Cheetara walked over to the last sleeper, knelt down and gently shook his shoulder. The boy in question rolled over in his sleep and grabbed Cheetara’s chest. Cheetara screamed, slapped the hand away and then smacked the boy across his face for good measure. This woke the boy up instantly.
“Ow, ow, ow. What’s the big deal?” the boy asked as rubbed his red cheek.
“It seems we have two pervs in our group,” Cheetara said grumpily as she walked away from the youth she’d woken up.
“Hey! I’m not a pervert!” Kaz yelled. “I shook your shoulder to wake you up, there’s nothing perverted about it!”
“What’d I do? I just woke up,” stated the boy as he stood up.
“First, you grabbed me,” Cheetara said as she pointed at the boy, “Second, you obviously have no experience with waking anyone. When you wake someone you do so as gently as possible. My neck has the slightest pain in it and that tells me that you shook me pretty well.”
“Maybe I should have woken her up. The result probably would’ve been better, though not as funny,” Goliath whispered to Ethan.
“If I grabbed you then I did so in my sleep. You can’t help what you do while you’re asleep. I’m sorry for doing it, though,” the boy said as he examined his appearance. “Why do I have Tigrevurmud Vorn’s clothes and weapon on?”
“No idea who you’re talking about…” Ethan started, “But as you can see, there’s at least two people here that aren’t human, and another that has pointy ears.”
“Tigrevurmud Vorn is a character in a manga, light novel, and an anime. He and Robin Hood are kinda like my idols. Anyway, what do we do now? I mean, we were all put into the same room with each other and there seems to be only one exit,” Tigrevurmud said.
“I think we should remember what happened before we all woke up. I guess since Goliath, Aelita and I were in the same group, we’ll tell you what happened to us.” Ethan said, shrugging. “Any objections?”
“It’ll get rid of half of the group’s explanations so please proceed,” Cheetara said as the rest of the group nodded in agreement.
“Okay… To start off, me and Aelita are half siblings, our father cheated on my mom and… Well, let’s just say he didn’t choose my mother…”
Vein and Louise ran up to Marcus, who was standing outside of Comic-con wearing his Goliath costume.
“Hey Mark!” Louise yelled, waving her hand and beaming.
“Hey Louise. Sup, Vein. I’m glad you guys are here. It wouldn’t be nearly as fun coming here without friends,” Marcus said as he and his friends walked toward the entrance of the convention center.
“I know what you mean. We were lucky to get out the door with how long Vein took.” Louise said, giggling.
“For your information, I was getting the dye in.” Vein commented grumpily.
“Ah, the vain Vein,” Marcus said as he chuckled at his bad pun, and Louise joined him.
“Ha… Ha… Let’s get inside before all the good cheap stuff are gone.” Vein said, clearly pissed about the play on his name.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Louise responded. “C’mon guys, we don’t want the ladies inside to miss your costumes, now would we?” She giggled.
“Well, I did workout so I wouldn’t look horrible wearing this,” Marcus said with a grin as he flexed his muscles.
Vein shook his head as he went inside, hands in his pockets. “We all look ridiculous…”
“Maybe you do, but me and Mark look fabulous!” Louise said, snickering at her words.
They went around a bit, before stopping by a stall with a girl behind it. She was wearing a Harley Quinn suit, and had multiple things in her stall.
“Would you three like a souvenir?” She asked, talking exactly like the Joker’s assistant.
“Sure, do you have any suggestions?” Mark asked as he looked at her wares.
“Hmm… How about a group photo?” She suggested. “I’ve got this sweet camera from some ancient time.
“An ancient camera? Well, as long as it works. How much?” Mark said as he brought out the money he’d stored behind the wide leather belt holding his loincloth in place.
“If it works, then… Fifty, since it’s a really cool camera. Trust me, or your money back!” She said, pulling out a camera.
“You got the flash powder to go along with that?” Marcus asked as he handed the girl fifty dollars.
“Yep! It’s all there, so you just get into whatever position you want while I set it up.”
The three of them did as she told them. Marcus struck one of Goliath’s statue poses, Louise got on her tiptoes and tried to make it look like she was hovering with her arms to her sides, and Vein pulled out one of his laser swords and faced it away from him while he held a toy blaster in his left hand, aiming it at the camera.
“Ready?” The Harley Quinn asked.
“Ready!” the three replied. A background fell into place behind them and there was a flash, and everything went black.
“And then we woke up here,” Goliath said, finishing their tale.
“And we don’t seem to have gotten the photo…” Aelita said, searching through Ethan’s pockets.
“Huh… Who’s next then?” Kaz asked.
“I’ll go next,” Cheetara volunteered.
Ursa was sitting in their base camp enjoying a nice dinner when she heard a vehicle pulling up to their camp. She looked around and saw a Land Cruiser pulling into their camp. She wasn’t sure who was coming for a visit, but having visitors out here was almost always nice. This was Africa after all, not everyone was nice.
As the Land Cruiser pulled to stop alongside their vehicles Ursa noticed that it was driven by young girl. This wasn’t exactly unusual, but she didn’t seem to have anyone with her. This piqued Ursa’s curiosity so she went to see who the girl was and what she wanted out here in the middle of cheetah territory.
“Hello, what can we do for you, miss?” Ursa asked as she walked over to the girl who was getting out of her vehicle.
“I’m sorry, I got lost, and my gas tank got to low and saw this place. I’m a merchant, but even I don’t have unlimited supplies.” The girl said. She didn’t look much older than eighteen.
“Ah, that’s some bad luck. We’ve got some spare gas, but even we research expeditions don’t have unlimited fuel. You’re more than welcome to buy some of our gas, but we are open to trading as well if you don’t have enough money on you,” Ursa told her as she put a hand on her hip.
“Oh thank the maker! You can help yourself to anything in here besides the small black box if I can get enough to get to the nearest town…” The girl said, hopping off of her vehicle. “My name’s Enid Splinter, you?”
“I’m Ursa Bishop and we aren’t as cruel as to let someone get stranded out here. It’s dangerous out here, even for a group like us. The nearest town is about 150 miles to the southeast of here,” Ursa replied as she pointed Enid in the right direction to travel.
“Take as much stuff as you like, I’ve got a bunch of stuff that’ll sell real good! You’re my hero!” Enid hugged Ursa tightly.
“I’m glad I could help,” Ursa said as she returned the hug and giggled a bit, “You’ve got my curiosity piqued, though, by mentioning the black box. What’s inside that you’re not willing to give up? Now, if it’s personal you don’t have to tell me or if it’s embarrassing. I may be curious, but that doesn’t mean I have to know.”
“It’s a charm my dad gave me before he died. I bring it everywhere I go.” Enid said as she started to let go. “My dad fought in a war and sacrificed himself. So I keep it to remember the man he was. Simple as that.”
“I’m sorry for your loss and for bringing up sad memories. Let’s see what you’ve got,” Ursa said as she hugged Enid tighter. They let go, and Enid went to look for a gas canister.
While Enid was looking for the gas canisters, Ursa looked through her merchandise to see what they could use or what she’d like to have. There was a lot, from trinkets to souvenirs, to survival tools. Heck, there was even a registered gun or two, both sidearms. Seeing the sidearms she picked them up to see what caliber each was. One was a .45 Sig Sauer P226 and the other was a Smith & Wesson .500 magnum. Both were high enough caliber to fend off the animals that would like to make her into a meal. They had rifles and those worked quite well, but having a sidearm on her would allow her to defend herself should she get separated from the others.
“I’ll take this Sig Sauer you’ve got. Any ammo for it?” Ursa said as she picked up the weapon and checked its magazine and chamber.
“There’s a crate under the passenger seat! Full of that stuff! I call that gun Siggy!” Enid shouted as she brought back a can. “Go on, is there something else you want?”
Ursa put the gun into her pantes and two extra magazines in her pockets. She was about to go load the magazines with ammunition when she noticed something red with orange around it. She grabbed it and found that it was the outfit that Cheetara wore in the classic Thundercats. “Yeah, I’ll also take this costume for the nostalgia,” Ursa said as she brought the costume all the way to inspect it further.
“You have good eyes. My dad made that, he used to make costumes before he joined the military. He made props mostly, though. Like those Pokemon Eggs… Heh… He was really good.” Enid sighed deeply, remembering something.
“If this is something your dad made then you should keep it. I wouldn’t want to take something that can make you remember the good times you had with him,” Ursa said as she held the costume out for Enid to take.
“No, no… They’re too painful to keep, and I hate looking at it anyway. I was actually heading to a city with an airport and if I didn’t lose it, I’d sell it as a convention. It’ll look good on you.” Enid started filling up the tank of her car, smiling sincerely.
“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll wear it. At least not out here,” Ursa replied.
“Oh come on! There’s no one here right now!” Enid encouraged. “Look, I’ll wear my own costume if you wear this, just for a little bit.”
“Okay, I’ll wear it, but only because you’ll be wearing one as well,” Ursa said as she began to change into the costume. She wasn’t quite sure how to wear it since it didn’t seem to have a zipper or any other opening, but she figured it out once she fiddled with it a little bit. Ursa hadn’t realized that it was meant to be skin tight so she had to take it off once to take off her underwear since it’d show as clear as day through the costume’s fabric. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she walked around to find Enid.
Enid was wearing a Harley Quinn outfit from Batman The Animated Series.
“You look awesome!” Enid said happily.
“Heh, so do you. I’m just glad the guys are gone. They’re bad enough while I’m in my other outfits. This would just send them over the top,” Ursa admitted with a blush on her face.
“I can see why… Maybe someday we can see each other again when either one of us are in the same place.” Enid said, smirking.
“That’d be nice,” Ursa said with a smile. She then started to feel tired. “I’m feeling kinda tired. You good by yourself? Cause I’m gonna go take a nice cat nap.”
“I’m good, see ya around!” Enid said before hopping into her vehicle and started it up. “Later, Cheetara!”
“Later, Harley!” Ursa called to her. She went into her tent and laid down on her cot and fell asleep.
“I woke up to being violently shook by that guy,” Cheetara said as she pointed at Kaz.
“I’m sorry, there. What do you want from me, a one thousand word apology note?” Kaz shot back.
“And foureyes decides he’s up next.” Ethan said.
“Wait, wha-” Kaz started but was cut off.
“Nope, it’s your turn. So, spill it!” Goliath said cheerfully.
“Ugh… Fine…” Kaz grumbled.
“Zeke! Get your fucking ass down here!” Shouted Jordan, Zeke’s step brother.
The boy wearing glasses ran down the stairs of his house, fear written over his face.
It was hard for Zeke to actually tell what Jordan was. Zeke’s foster mother divorced her last husband, and married Jordan’s father. So step foster brother he guessed.
“Where’s your costume? I thought you were going to farticon?” Jordan asked, blocking the front door.
“I… I decided to not wear a costume…” Zeke shivered at Jordan’s stare.
“Fine, but bring me back lunch, pussy.”
Once outside, Zeke breathed a sigh of relief and ran across the street and knocked on the neighbor's door. An old lady answered it and smiled.
“Hello Zeke, are you here for the…” The lady narrowed her eyes and looked around. “Package?”
Zeke had to hold in his laughter at the lady. “Yes Mrs. Wilignus, I’m here for the package.”
Mrs. Wilingus smiled, and gave Zeke his costume. “Make sure to have fun Zeke, and bring me a sucker.”
“Mrs. Wilingus, you are a sucker.” Zeke teased. “And thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Let me give you a ride.”
“Oh, you’re the best!” Zeke said, hugging the woman.
Mrs. Wilingus chuckled. “Come on, my car is over there.”
Once they got in the car, Zeke in the passenger seat, they headed for the convention. Zeke got out, and thanked the old lady for her help, before she had to drive away.
Zeke found a bathroom where he changed, and went around the place in awe. He found a girl dressed as Harley Quinn at one of the stalls.
“Heya kid! Ah got’s some stuff you might wanna buy!” She yelled.
“Oh… Okay.” Zeke said, walking over to the stall.
“Look at my stuff, I think you’ll find something good.” She said, smiling.
As Zeke looked through her selection, he immediately found something. “Is that a Chaotic Scanner!?”
“Yep! And you’re not going to find another one around.” The Quinn said, smiling proudly.
“Well… Okay, how much?” Zeke asked, pulling out his wallet.
“Five hundred.”
“Five hundred!?” Zeke almost screamed. “I only have twenty five!”
“Look dude, if you thought you could afford it with that much, you’re a daydreamer.” Zeke looked down, realizing the truth of her words.
“But… I do have a discount for daydreamers and people with costumes that need it. Twenty bucks.” Harley said.
“Oh thank you! But... Are you sure?”
“Look, you’re the only guy here who likes Chaotic. It may have been a good idea, but it’s forgotten.” Harley said.
They made the exchange, and Zeke looked at his new Scanner. One of the buttons was beeping, so he pressed it, and the world went neon.
“And then I woke up here, was told to wake Cheetara, and here we all are.” Kaz finished grumpily.
“Huh, I guess I’m the only one who didn’t pay or trade for something,” Tigrevurmud thought outloud.
“Well, it is your turn now so tell us how you got here,” Cheetara said.
“Gladly,” Tigrevurmud said.
Alex was on his way to the archery tournament that the renaissance fair was putting on and it wasn’t raining for once. This was a miracle in England. He brought his recurve bow with him since they didn’t allow modern compound bows in this tournament. The grand prize this year had yet to be determined and the excitement of finding out what it was and possibly winning the tournament made Alex have an extra spring in his step.
“Now, let’s see how good the competition is this year,” Alex said as he took his place after he’d registered with the tournament officials. There were plenty of other archers there and some looked like professionals.
“Well, at least the girl in the Harlequin costume at the prize booth is actually dressed properly this year,” Alex said as he strung his bow and took a few practice shots.
The tournament started fairly soon after Alex had finished retrieving his arrows. It progressed smoothly and Alex advanced to the semifinals. It turned out that the archers that looked like professionals just looked the part since they got knocked out well before the semifinals. Alex was relieved that there were no real professionals in the tournament.
After a small break the tournament continued. Alex ended up winning the tournament by only a couple of points. He was told to go see the girl at the prize booth to claim his prize.
“So, what’s the grand prize this year, Miss Harlequin?” Alex asked.
The Harlequin gave Alex a pair of gloves. The gloves were made of high grade leather and covered his forearms so that the string wouldn’t hit his bare skin and the pinky and ring finger were left bare since they weren’t needed for shooting an arrow.
“Man, these are just like Tigre’s gloves. These will be perfect for Halloween this year! What’s the name of the company that made these, Miss?” Alex wondered.
“They’re handmade, and the guy who made them died a few years ago.” The girl said apologetically.
“I’m sorry to hear that. If you know his family tell them that his work is exquisite,” Alex said as he continued to admire the gloves.
“I’ll see if I can, they’d love to hear it.” the Harlequin girl replied.
“Well, I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day,” Alex said as he started his walk home.
“After that I went home and fell asleep that night. You all know how I woke up,” Alex told the group.
“I guess we have that bitch ‘Enid’ to blame for this.” Ethan said matter of factly.
“She does seem to be the one who got to us all. She seemed so nice, though,” Cheetara replied.
“Hey, hey! We don’t even know why we’re here, she might have good intentions or bad, but we don’t know!” Kaz suggested.
“Whether she has good intentions or bad doesn’t change the fact that she ripped us out of our lives and put us here,” Goliath said.
“Personally, I really like the fact that I’m now one of my favorite characters, at the very least,” Tigrevurmud said as he tested his new bow.
“I agree. Some reason I’m not fazed either…” Ethan added. “Well, we aren’t gonna get anything done by sitting here. Tigre, Kaz, you two stay here and see if there’s anything of interest around here. Aelita, Cheetara, you two check that side of the castle,” Ethan pointed to the door Kaz had tried to escape through. “While Goliath and I check the other side. Meet back here in half an hour.”
“Why’re you calling the shots? We barely know you!” Kaz pointed towards Ethan.
“He has a point. You may know two people, but the rest of us have just met,” Cheetara said.
“Well then, what do you suppose?” Ethan asked, crossing his arms.
“There’s no need to argue. The plan is sound and we can decide on an actual leader later on if we want to. Let’s just go along with it until we can figure out where we are and what is going on,” Tigre said in a calm voice.
“I for one agree with Ethan. Splitting up to find out more about our situation is going to allow us find out more and it’ll be faster than if we stayed together,” Goliath said as he unfurled his wings and walked toward the door Ethan had indicated for them to check.
“I’m fine going with Aelita to check this place out. I actually prefer checking it out with her over the rest of you right now. I just don’t think that Tigre and Kaz are going to find anything in this room,” Cheetara explained.
“Kaz looks like a wimp, I’m looking out for him.” Ethan said.
“Hey!” Kaz yelled.
“Heh, yeah. I should be able to keep any dangerous looking people at a distance to keep this place secure if I actually am Tigre now. So, if you run into trouble you can’t handle fall back to here. Sound good?” Tigre said as he nocked an arrow.
“Yep, sounds good. Let’s get this show on the road,” Cheetara said as she bounced on her toes.
“And if there’s something you can’t handle, give me a shout.” Ethan said as he turned on a green Saber.
“Of course. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” Tigre said as he began to carefully search the room they were in.
“We’ll see you in half an hour...Wait, how are we going to tell it’s been half an hour?” Goliath asked.
“Just assume. Aelita has a mental watch, and I have an actual watch.” Ethan said.
“Okay, good. I wasn’t sure what everyone has equipment wise since what you see is what you get with me,” Goliath said as he gestured to his body and state of dress. He walked out the door that he and Ethan were taking, looking around for anything noteworthy.
“I’ll make sure that cute little Aelita stays safe,” Cheetara said as she grabbed Aelita’s hand and strode out their side of the castle.
“So, Aelita. I vaguely remember Code Lyoko, but I can’t remember what you can do,” Cheetara admitted as they began their exploration. The castle around them seemed fairly old and not well kept.
“Well… I can create digital spheres and wings, as well as shut down towers… But I don’t see those around here.” Aelita replied.
“Hmm, interesting. I can run really fast and use my staff expertly, but that’s about it. I can’t even run at full speed for very long,” Cheetara admitted.
“That’s okay, Ethan can’t do anything and Goliath is just really strong and can glide.” Aelita assured. “So you were a… What were you before this?”
“Well, I was a zoologist. I specialized in cheetahs and other african cat species,” Cheetara told her.
“That’s interesting. What kind of animals did you study?” Aelita pressed.
“Cheetahs, lions, leopards, basically all the cats in Africa. Cheetahs were my favorite, though,” Cheetara explained.
“I guess becoming one is a dream come true, isn’t it?”
“Oh, it’s quite wonderful. It kinda takes away from it that I know what diseases and genetic faults are common in cheetahs, but I can’t wait to find a nice open area to try running as fast as I can,” Cheetara said excitedly.
“And I can’t wait to learn how to fly.” Aelita added dreamily.
“Flying, that sounds like fun. Any idea why Goliath can’t fly? He seems to have a big enough wingspan and enough muscle to fly,” Cheetara wondered. She looked out a window as they passed by and noticed that there was nothing besides forest for as far as she could see.
“Beats me, I never got into that show. My brother told me a few simple things, but Goliath knows way more.” Aelita replied, shrugging. “Maybe the wings aren’t as strong as they look.”
“I guess that could be. Well, there are some things that aren’t entirely explainable. Like how there’s forest as far as you can see instead of a town or something right outside this castle,” Cheetara said with a shrug of her own.
“Or how we’re all fictional characters.” Aelita added. “So, did you have family back home? Friends? A boyfriend? A… Girlfriend?”
“I had family, but it had been awhile since I’d last seen them due to that expedition to Africa. The same goes for my friends. My career choice made it hard to be in a relationship so I didn’t have a significant other when I was sent here. How about you?” Cheetara explained.
“My brother’s all the family I have, never knew my mother and my father wasn’t ever there. Goliath is my only friend because I was shy back home. And I never really met someone who got me.” Aelita replied. “I guess I’m someone without anything tying me down.”
“Hmm, I see. It’s not bad to have nothing tying you down, but have something solid to support you in hard times is really nice. You know, you might find someone here who ‘gets’ you,” Cheetara said with a smile.
“We’ll see.” Aelita giggled as she looked around, and found something. “Uh… Why is there horse armor with spears?”
“And why are they so small? A horse this size would only be able to be ridden into battle by children,” Cheetara said as she examined the armor and weapons. “Well, this might be a stretch, but maybe the armor was made for the inhabitants of this castle. The way they are displayed is just like medieval castles back home. So...”
“We’re in little horseland, aren’t we? Better not be My Little Pony.” Aelita said simply. “Oh, heh… I just thought of something you said. I don’t think I’ll find someone who understands here.”
“Well, if they are ‘ponies’ then I think you’re right about that. What about that Goliath guy? He might understand you, might. Hmm, My Little Pony...Is there a way to confirm or deny that we are in that show? I’m not familiar with it,” Cheetara said.
“Well… Are there rainbows and prissy stuff around?” Aelita asked.
“Not that I’ve seen, but we haven’t really seen much yet,” Cheetara replied.
“Okay… Still, it wouldn’t surprise me if this was My Little Pony.” Aelita said, before continuing her walk.
“Well, we’ll just have wait and see. Shouldn’t there be someone here besides us? I mean, this is a castle. You don’t build one and abandon it. That would be a waste of resources,” Cheetara said as she walked next to Aelita.
“Well, if the forest around us is any indication, they left. Maybe animals scared them away?”
“If they got scared away by another animal then that means that there’s a predator around here. Most likely an apex predator if the entire castle and forest is its territory. If that’s the case then I hope we don’t run into it while we’re separated from the others,” Cheetara deduced.
Aelita nodded, and the two continued.
“Well… Nothing here.” Kaz muttered to Tigre.
“Yep, nothing. So, I’ve never even heard of who you are. What can you do?”
“Nothing, my character has no powers.” Kaz grumbled as he pulled out his Scanner. “I don’t even know why I dressed as him.”
“Huh, what’s that thing in your hand?” Tigre asked, “My character is only good at archery, by the way.”
“It’s a Scanner. In the TV show, it was used to turn ordinary teens into awesome monsters!” Kaz said, getting pumped up at the idea. “But… One problem…”
“You have to scan them?” Tigre guessed.
“Worse… You need to be in a Drone Match, which is a one on one simulation. I memorized the codes of my deck, so I could get scans… But there wouldn’t be much use.” Kaz explained.
“Wait, you have the codes memorized, but you still have to scan them in a Drone Match? That seems really annoying,” Tigre said.
“The codes are random. Each card in the real world has them, which you can use on the Scanner. The card pops up as it’s own scan, and in Perim, they get scans of new creatures. I’ve got all my cards memorized in case… Well, in case I could get the online game working…” Kaz said, tossing his Scanner to the side. “But it’s useless.”
“Well, maybe we can find some friendly monsters for you to scan once we leave this castle. Who knows, maybe there’s a dragon or some other mythical beast that will allow you to scan it without fighting you,” Tigre said optimistically.
“That’s not the point. Scanning is useless in real combat, it’s meant as a game…” Kaz sighed.
“Oh, I see…,” Tigre said, “Well, any guesses as to where we were sent?”
“There’s no evidence, but I assume somewhere magical. Reasoning? There’s a few strange symbols on the walls that look like those things you see in fan art that go with a magic user. Also, this place looks big, but it’s a lot smaller than a normal castle, meaning the intelligent life on this world is small…” Kaz stated.
“Hmm, makes sense. There’s one thing I can add on to that. It’s night right now. How do I know this? Goliath isn’t a statue and in the show that means it’s night,” Tigre explained.
“Good work, Watson. Let’s see what else we can find.” Kaz joked.
“Thank you, Holmes. Is there anything else we can deduce?” Tigre said, playing along with Kaz’s joke while trying not to laugh too much.
“Well… It seems that Ethan’s placement was to keep the two ‘perverts’ together in this room, the girls in their own and the buddies in the last. We seem to be the butt end of this joke.” Kaz said, pretending to smoke a pipe.
“Well, we are the only ones that are ‘normal’ too,” Tigre pointed out while pretending to stroke a mustache.
“I guess, but I think Ethan’s normal to.” Kaz said seriously.
“Really? I totally thought he had powers or something to make him abnormal,” Tigre admitted.
“No, I know a guy who used to play the game he’s from. The only thing interesting about him is his laser weapons.” Kaz said, shrugging.
“That’s kinda like my character. He’s really good at archery, sure, but it’s this bow that gives him power,” Tigre said as he held out his black bow. “It can level an entire city with a single arrow, but the amount of power you can use depends on how practiced you are using the ability and your will power. The last one to use that amount of power died in the process.”
“Well then… Don’t die.” Kaz said.
“Oh, I plan to slowly work up to that level of power. That way should I ever need to use that much destructive force I won’t die like he did. It doesn’t help that this weapon is affiliated with a goddess of death either,” Tigre told Kaz with his fingers crossed.
“Okay… This is why I never watched anime.”
“Hey, it started as a light novel and was only adapted into an anime later on. There’s plenty of other anime that are quite good. Anyway, how do you think the others are doing?” Tigre said.
“Girls might be getting along. Other than that, I dunno.” Kaz shrugged as he picked his Scanner up.
“Man, it’s only half an hour, but time is flowing like molasses in January,” Tigre said as he stood up and walked to the far side of the room. He then lined up with one of the open doors and fired an arrow into it. “Might as well get some practice in while we wait, right?”
“Have fun, I’ll play with my Scanner.” Kaz said, turning it on.
Ethan slashed through a spider with a blue star on it’s butt.
“God I hate spiders…”
“That’s a fairly common statement when it comes to spiders. The girls in the orphanage would always have me come kill any spider they found in the same room as them,” Goliath said as he used his wing to blow the webs away. “That definitely wasn’t any kind of spider I recognize, though.”
“Really? You don’t say.” Ethan sarcastically said. “I don’t recognise this situation. I don’t recognise my own sister… What here is recognisable? We’re fucking characters for heaven’s sake!”
“True, but I meant from shows, comics, anything. I’ve never seen that kind of spider anywhere, real or otherwise, and if we can recognize something in this world then we can figure out where we were sent. Now calm down and look around for more clues,” Goliath explained as he continued walking and searching.
“Right…” Ethan sighed, before looking through a door. A large throne covered in dust, with a single banner hanging. “Maybe that banner has significance.”
“Banner?” Goliath asked as he joined Ethan at the door. “If that doesn’t have significance than something in this room will since this looks to be the throne room.”
“There’s a horse on it…” Ethan said, stunned.
“That there is...Please, please, please . Tell me we aren’t where I think we are…” Goliath said in despair as his eyes shrunk to pinpricks.
“I can’t read minds, where do you think?” Ethan asked.
“You're not going to like it...I think we're in My Little Pony,” Goliath said as he covered his eyes with a hand.
“It’s just a horse with wings and a horn. Why would you think this is a pony thing?” Ethan asked.
“It's because the girls at the orphanage would watch it every Saturday morning. They would see a spider and call me to kill it while watching it. Anyway, that's the only place I've seen a horse with wings and a horn,” Goliath said.
“It might be a symbol for a tribe, like a combination of a Pegasus and Unicorn. Might represent something.” Ethan said, “But no idea is debunked, so let’s find some people and either confirm or deny your theory.”
“I'm hoping that you're right. Being in that show would be horrible. The characters are way too naive and forgiving. Anyway, since this is the throne room there should be a way to get out the main entrance from here,” Goliath said as he walked toward the largest set of doors in the room.
“Okay, but we can’t leave. Let’s head back and tell the others what we found.” Ethan said.
“Yeah, okay. Hopefully they found out things we didn’t and hopefully we aren’t stuck in technicolor pony land,” Goliath said as he rejoined Ethan and headed back to where Tigre and Kaz were waiting.
“Welcome back. We found nothing in this room. Did you guys have any better luck?” Tigre said as the four who had left returned. There was a peace sign made of arrows in the door he’d been using for target practice.
“We found a throne room with a banner.” Ethan remarked. “Some kinda winged Unicorn was on it.”
“We found some suits of armor and weapons made for horses and a forest outside that seems to go on forever,” Cheetara chipped in. “Seems that the dominate species for this area is ponies. The armor and weapons were displayed the same way medieval castles back on earth display theirs.”
“Well… Maybe we are in My Little Pony… At least they’ll be welcoming, right?” Ethan offers.
“Crap. Why here of all places?” Goliath groaned as he slumped to the floor.
“Hey, at least it isn’t Final Fantasy, or a horror game.” Kaz stated.
“Says someone who looks normal. At least you won’t scare people just by looking at them. I’m a freaking gargoyle. I’m like the exact opposite of these ponies,” Goliath retorted.
“We’re human, meaning they’ve either never seen our race, or they’d give us a chance.” Aelita said. “I watched a bit of the first three generations. Humans are only in the first one, and the others are too stupid to care.”
“My brother forced me to watch generation three point five…” Kaz said, shivering. “It was like fingernails on a chalkboard…”
“Well, I’ve got no idea about any of this since I’ve never seen that show,” Tigre said as he retrieved his arrows from the door. “The real question is what do we do now?”
“Well, it seems like this place is abandoned… Aelita, try figuring out how to fly and see how far this forest really is. Kaz, Goli-” Ethan was stopped by Kaz with a clearing of his throat. “Sorry , do whatever you want. But I’m going to look for a map of this castle.”
“I’ll climb to the top of the castle while Aelita is trying to figure out how to fly. I might be able to see something from up there,” Goliath said.
“I’m all for suggestions of what to do since I’ve got no powers beyond destroying things,” Tigre said.
“Can you hunt?” Ethan asked. “I think food would be good.”
“I’ve never hunted, but Tigre is a master hunter. So, I’ll go try my hand at it since I seem to have Tigre’s skill with a bow.” Tigre replied and started inspecting his arrows for any damage.
“Okay, but hunting won’t do us any good if we don’t know how to prepare the meals. And we also don’t know how to tell if food is poisonous.” Ethan grumbled. “How about you guard the castle?”
“Valid point about the food. Mind if I tag along with you Goliath? Archers are useless unless they have some elevation when defending a castle.” Tigre finished inspecting his arrows and walked up to Goliath.
“Sure, I should be able to carry you on my back while scaling the castle walls,” Goliath replied.
“Well, that covers exploration and defense. We still need food and water if we can’t find some sort of civilization,” Cheetara said. “When you get to the top see if there’s a river nearby. I’ll look for the kitchen to see if any containers are still useful. So, what are you going to do Kaz?”
“Uh… I’m not-” Kaz was cut off by Ethan.
“He doesn’t have any special skills, so he’ll look for some rooms for us.” Ethan stated.
“Rooms are good, but with the amount of dust covering everything I doubt any beds left here are any good,” Cheetara commented.
“Maybe so, but something will be better than nothing,” Goliath said as he and Tigre left the room.
“I… I guess I’ll clean up as many as I can.” Kaz said, looking down.
“Then it’s settled. Let’s get to work people.” Ethan said as he walked towards a hallway.
Author's Note
AN:
BP: I’d like to thank Danger A Dragon for co-writing this story.
Danger: I’d like to thank Bronyparasite for the opportunity to work with him, beyond the War of Shadows.
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Vol 1. CH2: Welcome To Equestria... Who Are You?
Twilight Sparkle sat in her castle, looking over papers sent by Celestia.
“How’s that paperwork coming along, Twi?” Spike asked. He had a tray of goodies and a pot of tea with him. He figured that Twilight had gotten engrossed in her paperwork and forgot to eat, again.
“Confusing… It’s all about alternate dimensions and multiverse theories… I don’t understand why Princess Celestia would send these over. And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with them.” Twilight replied, sounding frustrated.
“If I were you I’d send them to another dimension,” Spike said, attempting a bit of humor. He set down his tray and poured Twilight a cup of tea. “Seriously, Princess Celestia has always known when you need to study something, somehow. So, maybe something will happen that involves alternate dimensions and multiple verses.”
“I hope not, Spike. It’ll be worse than dealing with Starlight Glimmer…” Twilight sighed. “Maybe I need a break…”
“Good idea, Twi. I’ve brought you some tea and snacks since you’ve probably forgotten about eating while you go over the papers that Celestia sent you. Hey, what are the other girls up to today?” Spike wondered. He set the cup of tea in front of Twilight along with the snacks.
“Thanks Spike. Fluttershy’s tending to an animal shelter that was damaged, AJ’s working the apple farm, Pinkie’s with Starlight helping her with stuff… I think Rainbow’s free, but she’s probably sleeping.” Twilight explained. “And I don’t think I can handle Rarity today. She’s a good friend and all, but there are just days I like being ‘unlady like’.”
“Well, what about visiting the castle of the two sisters? It’s been forever since we’ve been there and there’s plenty of work to do to get it back into shape for the princesses,” Spike suggested.
“Yeah… I guess you’re right. But… Why would they have us clean it? It’s in the middle of the Everfree Forest!” Twilight rubbed her head. “I mean… It’s just… Nevermind, there is a book I need anyway. You mind watching the castle while I’m gone?”
“Sure thing, Twi. You know you can count on me.” Spike put his claws on his hips and struck a heroic pose.
Twilight giggled. “You’re right, I do know. I’ll be back before sunset, if not, then I probably decided to stay overnight.” As the Princess of Friendship was leaving, she snatched the goodies and took them with her. “Later Spike!”
“Later, Twi, have fun!” Spike called as Twilight trotted out of the room.
When Twilight finally reached the castle of the two sisters, she noticed something that made her freeze.
“Oh look, more proof that we’re exactly where we thought we were sent. Who are you and what do you want with this abandoned castle?” Goliath said as he stood next to Tigre on the castle ramparts. Tigre had his bow fully drawn and aimed at the pony below them.
Twilight shook her head and sputtered. “I-I-I came h-here f-f-for a b-b-b-book…”
“Well, that answers what you want, but not who you are. Here, I’ll show you what I mean. I’m Goliath and this is our home,” Goliath stated.
“And I am Tigrevurmud Vorn. You can call me Tigre,” Tigre added.
“I… I’m Twilight Sparkle… I didn’t know anyone lived here, I used to come here a-all the time…” Twilight gulped after she said that.
“We’ve been living here for about a day now, Miss Sparkle. Where did you come from anyway? We can’t see a thing from here besides forest,” Tigre asked. He slowly let his bow relax while keeping the arrow nocked and ready.
Goliath sighed after Twilight didn't answer for a little bit, “It appears that I'm scaring her speechless. I'll go tell the others while you stay with her, Tigre.” Goliath then glided down to the inside of the castle and out of sight.
“Got it. You okay, Miss Sparkle?” Tigre asked once Goliath was gone.
Twilight could only nod.
“Wait there and I'll be down in just a moment,” Tigre said before heading for the closest set of stairs. It didn't take long for him to get to the ground level and walk out to meet Twilight with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his hazel eyes. “Where did you come from, Miss Twilight? You're the first contact we've had since we got here.”
“Uh… P-Ponyville…” Twilight said, trying to calm her nerves. ‘Keep a level head Twilight, this is first contact with an unknown species… Two if that Goliath isn’t part of Tigre’s race!’
“Ponyville… That's like naming a town Humanville, but okay,” Tigre said with a chuckle. “No offense, Miss Sparkle, but you don't look or act anything like the ponies I'm used to. None of them could talk and they definitely didn't have wings and a horn.” Tigre smiled the entire time hoping that would help the situation.
“Well… It’s not normal for a pony here to have both a horn and wings…” Twilight then narrowed her eyes. “Your species looks familiar… What are you?”
“Oh, I'm a Human. What are you if having a horn and wings isn't normal?” Tigre said while he started to fiddle with his bow and arrows to keep his hands busy.
“Alicorn.” Twilight stated. “Wait, are you from the mirror portal!?”
“Mirror portal? What are you talking about?” Tigre said in a very confused manner.
“The mirror portal. The thing connecting the human world to this one? Are you not from Canterlot High?” Twilight questioned.
“I’m from a place called England. I’ve never heard of Canterlot High. Are you telling me that there’s a way to go to a world besides this one?” Tigre asked. Upon hearing that there was another world attached to this one his hands had frozen and the arrow he’d been fiddling with fell to the ground.
“Uh… Yeah… What about Goliath? What’s he?” Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her.
“Goliath? He’s a gargoyle. Don’t let the big wings fool you, though, he can’t fly.” Tigre said as he leaned over to whisper the last part to Twilight.
“Okay…” Twilight said. “I assume you’re not from Equestria.”
“Like I said, I’m from England. Unless that’s the name of the planet in which case I’m from Earth.” Tigre said. A yellow and orange blur collided with Twilight as Tigre was finishing his sentence.
“A new species to study! Oooh, oooh. It’s got wings and a horn like the banner. She’s completely different from ponies back on Earth,” Cheetara said excitedly after her high speed glomp.
Twilight yelped while rearing up on her hind legs. Aelita crashed next to Cheetara, before groaning.
“You okay, Aelita?” Tigre asked while trying to hold back his laughter. Aelita raised a hand and extended her thumb, signaling to them that she was fine.
“Her plumage and fur are so soft! I wonder what the horn is for? Also, these wings seem too small for her to fly. I have so many questions!” Cheetara said as she inspected Twilight’s wings, horn, and fur. “She can talk can’t she? I mean, you weren’t just talking to yourself right, Tigre?”
“Yes I can talk… How did you know my gender from just looking at me!?” Twilight went back to her forelegs. ‘Is this what I sound like to my friends?’
“Well, to be blunt you don’t have the parts downstairs to be a stallion, dear. That and I’m used to studying animals. Now, are you the only kind of pony or are there multiple kinds? If there are multiple kinds then what are they called and how are they different?” Cheetara rapidly asked.
“Uh… I’m an Alicorn, and yes, there are multiple types. There are Earth Ponies, which have no wings or horn, but are stronger and more durable. Pegasi, which have wings and lighter bone structure. And Unicorns, who have a horn that helps them with their magic…” Twilight felt like a kindergarden teacher for having to explain this.
“Okay, I’d like to see examples of each of them… This might be a bit personal, but what’s that on your hindquarters that looks like a star with stars around it?” Cheetara asked after she’d calmed down enough to notice the mark on Twilight’s butt.
“That’s… My Cutie Mark. It shows a pony what his or her talent is once they discover it.” Twilight answered, blushing a bit.
“Wow, she’s not as awful looking as the ponies on MLP.” Aelita said once she was sitting cross legged.
“That’s sooo not fair. Getting a mark to tell you what you’re good at. To get something like that we have to go through a painful process involving needles and ink.” Cheetara said as she mock pouted.
“What the hell does it mean?” Aelita asked.
“It means magic. My special talent is the arcane arts.” Twilight responded, glaring at the pinkette. “Did you call my race awful looking!?”
“Well, in our world this one isn’t real. So... yeah. Stars equals magic and the arcane arts here. Good to know.” Tigre said as he sat down next to Aelita.
“Not always. Sometimes Cutie Marks are hard to tell, like a lightning bolt could mean speed, weather manipulation, or even destruction. It’s hard to tell with these things.” Twilight elaborated.
“Hmm, you’re an Alicorn. Does that mean anything or is the giant banner in the castle just for show? Also, are there any cats here?” Cheetara asked.
“Uh… There are only four Alicorn’s including myself, and we have the attributes of all other ponies. And yes, there ar-” Twilight stopped abruptly. She started purring while Aelita scratched behind her ear.
“Hey Cheetara! Alicorns are part kitten!” Aelita laughed as she continued. “Maybe dog too~!” Cheetara squeed and joined Aelita in scratching Twilight behind the ears while she petted Twilight’s fur and wings for good measure.
Ethan walked out from the castle, and upon seeing the three girls, went back inside to beat himself over the head.
“Aaaahhh~! S-s-stoooop~!” Twilight whined through moans and purrs.
“Yes, do stop. We can’t get anything out of her like this,” Goliath said as he exited the castle and saw the current situation.
“But her fur and feathers are so soft! Plus, she likes it.” Cheetara said.
“Yeah! She smells like lilacs too!” Aelita added.
“I believe that ‘she liked it’ is an excuse people back on earth use to get out of rape charges. That usually wasn’t the truth. Even if it was the truth here, we need information and she’s the only one who can provide it,” Goliath said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Only you could bring up rape in harmless petting…” Aelita grumbled, moving her hands away from Twilight.
“I’m sorry, miss.” Cheetara said as she hugged Twilight’s head to her chest.
‘I’ll need to ask Cheetara what these lumps are later…’ Twilight thought to herself.
Ethan walked back out with Kaz trailing behind. “Okay, everyone’s here. Now what?”
“Well, for one we ask about what we can and can’t eat around here. It’s not like we can go on forever just drinking water. We should also ask about local customs in case we have to go into town for some reason.” Goliath reasoned.
“Good thinking.” Ethan responded. He then turned to Twilight, “You heard what the Gargoyle asked.”
“Uh, I’m not an expert in that area, but I could tell Zecora to bring you enough meals to hold you over until you guys move into a town or city.” Twilight suggested, “And as for customs… Just be friendly…”
“Do you see how some of us look? Me, especially?” Goliath asked. “If you reacted like that then how are the other ponies going to react?”
“Oh, believe me, the ponies of Ponyville-” Twilight was cut off as Kaz burst out laughing.
“Aahahahaha! I’m sorry, but Po-pfft!” Kaz held his mouth shut as best he could.
“It’s not that funny, Kaz. Kinda strange, but not that funny.” Tigre said as he shook his head at Kaz’s reaction. “Sorry, Miss Sparkle. I guess some of us are less mature than others.”
“What were you saying before you were rudely interrupted?” Goliath asked.
“The ponies in Ponyville are much worse than me. But, I think I can calm them down enough for them to act normal around you.” Twilight finished.
“Oooh, more ponies to study and scratch behind the ear!” Cheetara cheered.
“Wait, why would they so easily listen to you?” Kaz asked, not buying the purple Alicorn.
“I’m one of the four rulers of Equestria. I think they’ll listen to me.” Twilight replied.
“You’re royalty!? Forgive me for aiming my weapon at you.” Tigre said as he took a knee, bowed his head, and placed a fist on the ground before Twilight.
Twilight groaned mentally. “You don’t have to do that, I don’t like being treated special.”
“So you’re a modest queen?” Kaz asked mockingly.
Twilight glared at the redhead and spoke through gritted teeth. “Princess.”
“I thought you said you were one of the rulers!” Kaz laughed.
“I am! I’m the Princess of Friendship!” Twilight almost screamed.
“But a Princess is the daughter of the king and queen, isn’t it?” Kaz said, smirking.
“What!? A king and/or queen is a tyrant! A Princess is a ruler of kindness and compassion!” Twilight shot back.
“My Queen is not a tyrant!” Tigre shouted as he continued to kneel despite what Twilight had said.
“It’s a difference in culture, Tigre…” Aelita commented.
“Bet it’s just a phrase to make them feel young.” Kaz snickered, and Twilight’s eyes sparked.
“Allow me, Twilight.” Goliath said before smacking Kaz on the back of his head. “You need to learn to keep those kinds of comments inside your head, Kaz. It’s unwise to anger someone who could have an entire military here with a word, especially when you have no way of fighting back.”
Kaz folded his arms, before looking away with a scowl.
“Anyway… I myself would like to study each of you, but not until everything is settled and you give me permission.” Twilight said, “So I’ll have Zecora come by for the next week to give you guys food. That okay? Oh, and here.” Twilight placed a folded paper towel that held Spike’s treat. “To tide you over.”
“That sounds wonderful, Twilight. I do have one question. Is there a clear path from here to Ponyville?” Cheetara asked.
Twilight shrugged. “Head straight after the bridge, pass the trees, over the river, up the gorge, there’s a path heading towards Ponyville. I wouldn’t recommend it though, Timberwolves are all over the paths. I almost exhausted all of my magic reserves.”
“Timberwolves? If they’re the same as back home then we’ll have no problems getting through them. Why don’t you, as a princess, have a squad of guards guarding you when you go out?” Goliath asked.
“I don’t need guards, and besides, I’m only here to take a book back home.” Twilight said simpley. “And I don’t have any guards…”
“You’re royalty and you don’t have any guards? Blasphemy! Every royal needs some loyal guards or knights around to help protect them,” Tigre said as he struck a knightly pose.
“That seems so old fashioned, though. Maybe she should have some maids that can kick ass as well as do household chores,” suggested Cheetara.
“Why does it matter?” Ethan deadpanned. “She seems fine on her own…”
“She’s not and she knows it. She’s got five friends that wield this rainbow magic thing with her to defeat their opponents. Plus, she admitted herself that she almost exhausted her magic reserves during her journey.” Goliath pointed out.
“Wait, how did you know I had five friends!?” Twilight’s eyes widened in fear, and Ethan face palmed.
“Sorry. Should I tell her now that I’ve blurted that out without thinking?” Goliath asked after he’d realized his blunder.
“Go on, it doesn’t matter…” Ethan grumbled.
“Okay. In our world, this world is a fictional cartoon show. The girls at my orphanage loved it, but couldn’t stand spiders being around. So, they would call in me and some of the other boys to come kill the spiders. It’s kinda hard to not see or watch a bit of the show while coming to help them. That’s how I know you have five friends that shoot rainbows at people.” Goliath explained.
“They shoot gay beams at people? Why haven’t I ever watched that show, it sounds fun!” Kaz said, sounding shocked.
“Shut up Kaz…” Aelita commented.
“So, what are you going to do now that I’ve told you how I know about your friends, Princess of Friendship?” Goliath asked, ignoring Kaz.
“I… I’ll need to ask you more about this later…”
“I’ll answer your questions as best as I can. I don’t know a whole lot about it, though.” Goliath admitted. “How about we get you that book and then back home? We wouldn’t want anyone getting worried about you even if you are a bit of a hypocrite.” Goliath started to walk towards the castle.
“Hypocrite!?” Twilight’s face went red in anger.
“Yeah, hypocrite. You want to be treated like normal, but expect the ponies in your town to listen because you’re a Princess. So, which is it?” Goliath replied, turning his head to address her over his shoulder.
“I’m royalty whether I like it or not. I didn’t ask to be in charge, but I am. But I try to be normal as possible.” Twilight glared. “But that doesn’t give you the right to call me a hypocrite!”
“Isn’t that the very definition of ‘hypocrite’? Royalty who wants to be as normal as possible while still wielding the authority thereof?” Goliath wondered.
“Hey! You’re making our new cute friend angry, Goliath!” Cheetara shouted.
“I never wanted the power!” Twilight growled. “But it’s not like I can return these wings! I wanted to be a teacher or something!”
“You think we wanted to come here!? We’re stuck here and there’s no way home! There’s no running away from what we are and that’s what it sounds like you’re trying to do by making people treat you like a normal pony while having those wings!” Goliath returned eyes turning pure white.
“But we don’t have paperwork and a ton of responsibility. Plus, who said there’s no way home.” Aelita said, raising an eyebrow.
“She has a point, Goliath. There might be a way back,” Tigre said, still kneeling before Twilight.
“So there’s no reason to be a dick.” Aelita added. “And all she said was she didn’t want it. She only started to complain once you called her a name.”
“Fine, there may be a way home. I overreacted and I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle. It has not been that long since we got here and I am still wrapping my head around that fact.” Goliath said, hand to his head as though it hurt.
“You should try to relax a bit more, Goliath. Maybe go off and relieve some stress. All I’ve seen you do is patrol the walls with me and look through the castle.” Tigre said in concern for his gargoyle friend.
“There, there, Twilight. The big, mean Gargoyle apologized and you’re too cute for anger to mar your muzzle.” Cheetara said, hugging Twilight and petting her mane soothingly.
Twilight stared at Cheetara for a bit, before sighing. “Okay…”
“Yay! Now, what book did you come here to find?” Cheetara asked.
“It’s a book on a topic I’m curious about. A book called ‘The History Of Clover The Clever’. I wanna know more about one of the ponies who founded Equestria.” Twilight responded.
“Okay, I’ll go grab it for you. Won’t be gone too long.” Cheetara said before running away in a blur of yellow and orange.
“Is it just me or is Cheetara really into all of this?” Tigre asked.
“Maybe she swings that way?” Kaz joked, snickering.
Aelita rolled her eyes. “She’s an animal lover… Twilight’s new to her…”
“She did say she was a zoologist before getting sent here. She’s probably just really excited about seeing species that have never been discovered before.” Goliath reasoned, turning back to the group.
“So…” Ethan started. “This is going to be fun…”
“Yep, especially if she gets more energetic the more she sees.” Tigre agreed.
“I’m back!” Cheetara said before stopping in front of Twilight. “Here you go, Twilight. ‘The History of Clover the Clever’.”
“Thanks… That’s a real help!” Twilight said, grinning from ear to ear. “And how did you move so fast!?”
“I think my body can speed up my molecular structure to some degree, but I’m unsure about that.” Cheetara told her.
“Well, maybe you two can study each other…” Kaz stated, shrugging.
“Why don’t we let Twilight get the food ready and get back home first.” Ethan said.
“That’s a good idea, but didn’t she say that she used a majority of her magic getting here? I think some of us should go with her as far as the forest’s edge to ensure she gets back safely.” Goliath suggested.
“I volunteer!” Tigre shouted as he stood up.
“Well that was fast…” Ethan said, crossing his arms. “Tell me the reason?”
“A knight always protects royalty!” Tigre said resolutely with a fist over his heart.
“That’s all well and good, but you can’t fight in close quarters with your bow. Someone else should go as well.” Goliath pointed out.
“Thanks for volunteering G.” Ethan said simply.
“But-! I didn’t-!” Goliath stammered.
“Your idea!” Ethan said, waving his friend off.
“Ugh, fine.” Goliath said, resigned to his fate.
“Anyone else wanna go?” Ethan asked.
“I do, but I also need to keep Kaz from sexually harassing Aelita.” Cheetara said, running over and hugging Aelita.
“I can handle that, she’s my sister.” Ethan said snarkily.
“Right. Well, I’m also unsure I’ll be able to keep from running into town if I saw it. I don’t want to mess up and get us hated before we all arrive.” Cheetara reasoned.
“Hey, why doesn’t Cheetara just take Twilight to the town in a flash?” Kaz suggested. “She’s fast, so…”
“I can only run so fast for so long, Kaz. Adding a passenger would decrease that time significantly. I’m not even sure how far I can run before I need to stop.” Cheetara explained.
“So, Tigre and I are escorting Twilight home while the rest of you stay here to guard the place and see what else you can find, right?” Goliath asked for clarification.
“That sounds right to me.” Cheetara agreed.
“Okay. Kaz, try to make yourself useful and find something to do.” Ethan said. “No offence buddy.”
Kaz grumbled. “Some taken…”
Aelita smiled. “Then it’s settled. See you two later, and don’t be perverts.”
“A knight would never defile royalty like that!” Tigre said in protest.
“You know me better than that, Ailita. We’ll be back as soon as we can and tell you what we find out about the forest.” Goliath said as he took the lead into the forest with Twilight between him and Tigre.
“So, are Timberwolves the only thing we have to worry about on this trip?” Goliath asked, scanning the forest around them for any trouble.
“Cockatrice’s… They turn ponies to stone with one look…” Twilight said, shrugging. “Maybe an Ursa… Possibly some kind of crocogator…”
“I recognize the first of those, but those last two are new to me. What are they?” Tigre asked curiously.
“An Ursa is like a giant star bear… With an entire galaxy in it’s fur if you believe that. I don’t know the last one's name though, but it’s a rock crocodile that’s eight times bigger than me.” Twilight said. “The Ursa’s the scariest, it’s as big or bigger than our town.”
“Well, we didn’t believe in talking ponies before coming here either.” Tigre commented. “Hopefully, those Ursas aren’t very common. They don’t sound like something I’d like to fight or see.”
“Would it be better to be loud or silent to avoid trouble in this forest? Back home it was advised you talk while in bear territory to keep them away.” Goliath said, continuing to scan the forest.
“Ursa’s are pretty calm, and only when they’re disturbed are they a threat.” Twilight said.
“That's good to know. I'd think those croc things would stick to swampy areas if they're anything like the ones back home. So, that leaves Cockatrices and Timberwolves to worry about.” Tigre reasoned.
“We’re almost halfway there.” Twilight said, her wings twitching.
“Any reason why your wings are twitching, Princess?” Tigre asked.
“Her wings are twitching? Stay alert. She’s used to this world and its dangers so she might be sensing something without knowing it.” Goliath said, wings spreading out to make him seem bigger.
“No, no… They just… Kinda do that from time to time. It’s weird since my brain is used to only being a Unicorn.” Twilight explained. “The muscles are still pretty new.”
“So you got them fairly recently then? How’d that happen?” Tigre wondered as he noticed Goliath let out a sigh.
“Well, Princess Celestia, my mentor, gave me a spell to fix. She didn’t tell me much though. So I fix it, and since I wasn’t sure it’d work, I tested it out. I thought it failed, so I went to sleep. Next morning, I come to find my friends cutie marks were swapped with one another!”
“The marks on their rears switched…?” Tigre asked perplexed how that could happen.
“Yeah, the cutie marks represent a ponies talent, so my friend Rainbow Dash thought her talent was taking care of animals and… No, she’s not. My friend Fluttershy thought her talent was making others laugh… Guess how that turned out?” Twilight said, eyebrow raised.
“She sucked at it, right? Not everyone can do what another can.” Goliath chimed in.
“Her name’s FlutterSHY.” Twilight giggled. “She did suck, yes. I figured out how to fix it, and after everything was I used a spell on the Elements of Harmony and… I’m not sure… I woke up with wings, and suddenly I’m a Princess…” Twilight stared up ahead vacantly. “Huh… I just realized how cryptic that sounds out loud…”
“So you grew some wings in your sleep after helping your friends with an identity crisis and you have no idea how or why.” Goliath summoned up.
“You didn’t even feel anything when they grew onto your body?” Tigre wondered.
“I felt a warm bubbly feeling in my chest, but that’s it.” Twilight said, shrugging.
“You know, for a forest that you seemed reluctant to travel through this trip has been rather peaceful.” Tigre commented as he looked at the forest around them.
“I’m actually quite glad it is. I’m sure we could handle ourselves well enough, but I’d rather not have to fight if possible right now.” Goliath said, folding his wings around his shoulders. “What’s your town like, Twilight Sparkle?”
“Just Twilight is fine. And it’s pretty okay. It’s usually quiet or exciting.” Twilight explained. “The ponies, like I said, get scared easily though. So it’ll take some time to get them used to the idea of you. Other than that, it’s a beautiful country town with the most unique ponies you’ll meet. Best Apple Farm in Equestria, Fastest Flier in Equestria, and the best Party Mare on the planet.”
“Great. A town full of scaredy cats and we have the scariest looking of the six of us, me, tagging along. Hopefully, no one sees us then.” Goliath said, throwing his arms up in exasperation.
“It is interesting that a country town could hold some of the best ponies in your country, though. I wonder if that’s coincidence or if someone planned it that way?” Tigre said, tapping his chin with his free hand. “Oh! Are there any archery ranges or contests in Equestria? I’d love to be able to practice on more than trees and doors.”
“Uh… I think there’s a filly whose talent is archery, she might know more.” Twilight suggested.
“Hmm, I’ll have to look her up once we’re introduced to the town and they stop being afraid of us. Thanks, Twilight.” Tigre said, a smile playing across his face.
“Is there a way we can not scare them as much? I really don’t know how to handle scared animals. Even if they can talk.” Goliath said.
“I think I’ll get you started with my friends. And don’t call me an animal.” Twilight said, glaring.
“Sorry, still getting used to talking ponies. Ponies were just animals back home so it’ll take me awhile to stop thinking of them as such. Are your friends more resilient than the other ponies?” Goliath explained.
“Once I tell them what you are and who you are, they should be. And hopefully not attack you.” Twilight said. “I know Fluttershy and Pinkie wouldn’t, but the others…”
“Are more shoot first and ask questions later?” Tigre provided.
“Yeah, but once they get to know you they’ll like you. You’ve got to understand, whenever there’s something new it’s usually dangerous. Sirens, Draconequus, Changelings. They’ve all invaded when we didn’t know what they were.”
“Sirens I get, but Draconequus? Changelings? Never heard of them before.” Goliath said.
“The first is a spirit of chaos, they can create, alter, and manipulate anything. There’s only one left, his name is Discord. The Changelings are a race of shapeshifting equines that tried to invade us months back.” Twilight explained.
“Are those two threats no longer able to invade or are they in a dungeon somewhere?” Tigre asked.
“Discord became an ally recently, but the Changelings are still at large.” Twilight said.
“You let an invading race that can shapeshift live to invade another day? That seems foolish to me.” Goliath said.
“We kicked them out, and we haven’t relocated them since.” Twilight snarled. “When we tried to find them, they had retreated. What could you have done instead?”
“Engage them in combat and imprison those who surrender or can no longer fight. Rout them from from the field so as to show them it would be foolish to try another invasion.” Tigre said, thinking along the lines of what a knight in medieval times would have done.
“That’s what we did, but they took us by surprise and had our armies taken out like they were nothing. The only reason we won was through the power of love, which sent them far away.” Twilight stated.
“Power of love? Sounds like a cheesy anime. Did you kill any of them or capture any of them? I’m sure studying their bodies would enable you to figure out how to see through their shapeshifting.” Goliath posed.
“We did, but the Changelings haven’t returned.” Twilight said, rubbing her head.
“Sorry if we seem to be asking obvious questions, your majesty. We don’t know the first thing about this world and can only compare it to what we already know. We appreciate you explaining so much to us.” Tigre said, concerned they were giving Twilight a headache with all their questions and counter arguments.
“It seems your race isn’t as forgiving as I first thought, Twilight. I thought for sure that you hadn’t killed any of your enemies. Or was that just the Changelings?” Goliath said.
“No, we killed a tyrant called King Sombra.” Twilight said, shivering. “That was… Unintentional.”
“So, you wanted to try to capture him, but ended up killing him instead? That must have been one bad situation if it made you unintentionally switch tactics like that.” Goliath responded.
“So, what’s your favorite pass time, Your Majesty?” Tigre said, steering them away from what he perceived as a sensitive topic.
“Mostly reading or spending time with my friends.” Twilight responded.
“Hmm, no other hobbies or anything?” Tigre asked curiously.
“Uh… I practice a lot of magic. And I like to make checklists. Organize books. Uh… Helping my friends...” Twilight listed.
“Hmm, interesting choices. Is there any ponies in town that we should be careful around when we decide to show ourselves? More than the others that is,” Goliath wondered.
“Perhaps Lyra Heartstrings. She’s obsessed with ‘the bipedal way’.” Twilight giggled. “She may be a handful. And maybe the flower triplets.”
“Okay, what’s up with the flower triplets? I can understand Lyra after your explanation, but what is it about those three in particular?” Tigre inquired.
“They freak out about butterflies.” Twilight deadpanned, but it was more of a deadpan aimed at the triplets.
“Then I don’t want to know what they’d do when they see me for the first time. Hopefully, we can stay out of sight of the town when we get to the end of the forest,” Goliath replied.
“How long do you think it’ll take for you to get the ponies to not freak out as much?” Tigre wondered.
“Just let me try to see if I can warm them up to the idea first. Okay?” Twilight asked.
“Alright, I’m just wondering how long we should wait before showing ourselves, that’s all,” Tigre said with a shrug. “A day? A week?”
“A week. I’ll have Zecora the Zebra tell you when I finally am ready.” Twilight said. They finally reached the edge of the forest. “Thank you gentlecolts. Once my magic is full, I’ll see Zecora and tell her to bring to guys food. Kay?”
“You are welcome and you have our thanks, Twilight. If you decide that we can help in anyway or that you have more questions. You know where to find us,” Goliath told her.
“We look forward to meeting you again, Your Majesty,” Tigre said as they began their journey back through the forest.
Twilight sighed happily.
[One Week Later]
Kaz spat his lugy into the unknown crevice. He waited a moment before hearing the splat. “Haha! I knew there was a bottom!
“... You’re disgusting…” Aelita said, making a weird face.
“Isn’t there something better for you to be doing right now?” Cheetara asked. “It’s been about a week since Twilight showed up so maybe you should get ready for the ponies to see you.”
“We’re waiting for Zecora.” Kaz said. “Besides, shouldn’t you be with Ethan and Tigre? Coming up with a plan?”
“I took a break to make sure you weren’t doing any pervy things around Aelita,” Cheetara told him.
Kaz growled. “For the last time, I’m not a pervert! Besides, Aelita has powers and I don’t. She could vaporize me.”
“True, but all of us are still getting the hang of our abilities. Now that I know she’s fine. I’m going to return to Ethan and Tigre. Bye~” Cheetara said before running off to rejoin the planning session.
“I hate her…” Kaz grumbled.
“I like her.” Aelita smiled.
Meanwhile with Ethan and Tigre.
“So if things go south, we can flee back here. Without Kaz and Aelita, we can get here faster.” Ethan stated. “Thoughts?”
“Hmm, that’s a good idea. Are we leaving them here to guard the place then?” Tigre asked curiously.
“Okay, I’m back. I think we should have the most normal of us go greet them first once Zecora comes here to tell us they’re ready to meet us to help soften them up,” Cheetara suggested.
“Cheetara, none of us are normal to them. But maybe our weakest and Goliath should stay here, just in case.” Ethan said. “I mean, the three of us can do this. Right?”
“I think so, but they’re going to have to meet Goliath eventually,” Tigre pointed out.
“I said ‘most normal’, Ethan. Like Tigre and you,” Cheetara countered.
“And two “apes” are normaler than a cheetah on two legs?” Ethan asked.
“For us, yes. For them, none of us are ‘normal’. Showing them our most normal might help ease them into accepting our more extreme comrades, though,” Cheetara replied.
“So, Goliath is staying here with Kaz and Aelita while we go to visit the ponies once Zecora gives us the okay. Sounds like a plan to me,” Tigre said with a smile.
“Okay… It’s settled. I’ll tell Goliath while Tigre tells the other two. Cheetara, you get the any snacks ready.”
“Okay, got it,” Cheetara said before running to the kitchen to prepare their snacks.
“Alright, on my way,” Tigre said as he went to tell Kaz and Aelita about the plan.
Ethan made his way to where Goliath was.
“So, you three figure out a plan?” Goliath asked as he noticed Ethan approach him on the castle’s rampart.
“Yep. You, Aelita and Kaz are staying here while Cheetara Tigre and I go into town. No offence buddy, but you’re kinda scary looking.” Ethan said. “We gotta warm them up.”
“None taken, I know I’m intimidating looking, Ethan,” Goliath replied. “Just make a good first impression for me.”
“... We’ll see.” Ethan stated. “I’m mostly scared about our numbers. Two girls and four guys… Not much room for romance.” Ethan was mostly joking, but it did scare him about being alone and single for the rest of his life.
“I know you’re kinda sorta joking, Ethan, but at least you still look like a normal human. I doubt there’s many who’d like a guy looking like me,” Goliath replied.
“Are you kidding? You’re Goliath! You’ve got more rock hard abs than any human! And you don’t looked ripped! Look, I’m sure there’s some way we can fix this… We may not be the only people here.” Ethan said. “You never know… Anyway, I better head off. Wish me luck.”
“Yeah, thanks, Ethan. Good luck, I’ll keep an eye on the place while you’re gone.” Goliath told him with a smile.
“Later!” Ethan yelled, dashing off.
“You two are so slow!” Cheetara exclaimed as she watched Tigre and Ethan walk up to her.
“We had to talk to people. You just had to get some snacks together and you’re a speedster,” Tigre complained.
“Whatever, she’s going to outrun us anyway. Let’s head to Zecora’s hut.” Ethan said, pulling out two blaster pistols.
“Right behind you,” Tigre said as he nocked an arrow to his bow.
“I’ll be sticking with you two since neither of you have close quarters fighting ability,” Cheetara said before holding up a bag of snack she’d prepared. “Besides, you might get peckish before we arrive at her hut.”
“Pfft!” Ethan laughed. “I have close quarters combat!” Ethan switched his weapons slowly. His Sword appeared in his hands.
“Hmm, okay, but have you trained with that very much?” Cheetara asked curiously.
“... Point taken.” Ethan switched his weapons again. This time, two Sabers appeared in his hands. “Let’s go before we start agu-” Before he could finish, Zecora walked out of the shadows.
“Well… This is quite a turnout.” Ethan stated. The three of them were on a rooftop, watching as ponies gathered. “Makes me want to puke.”
“Um, do we have to meet all of them at one time?” Tigre asked nervously.
“Look at all the ponies! I can’t wait to start learning about their culture and about the different kinds of pony!” Cheetara said excitedly.
“I can’t wait to get in a bed…” Ethan groaned.
“You sure you’re up for this, Ethan? I mean, I’m not excited about this like Cheetara, but I’m not getting sick from thinking about it like you,” Tigre said, a bit concerned for his friend.
“It’s just so girly…” Ethan spat below the house onto the ground. “But let’s get this over with.”
“I’m with you, Ethan. Is Princess Twilight going to be here or are we on our own?” Tigre said, looking around to see if he could see the lavender Alicorn.
“I see her. She’s talking to…” Ethan seemed to freeze up.
“Ethan? Who or what is she talking to?” Cheetara asked as she looked over Ethan’s shoulder to see where he was looking.
Ethan nearly burst out laughing. “She’s talking to a skittles pony…”
“Oh! The sheer genetics needed for that to be natural is astounding! It is natural, right?” Cheetara said as she noticed the rainbow maned pegasus Twilight was talking to.
“I don’t know…” Ethan said. “S’not like I know her… If it isn’t, maybe she’s a gay pride.” Ethan wasn’t smiling anymore. “If it is, whoever designed her is cruel…”
“Either way is fine by me. Do we wait for Twilight to stop talking to her gay friend or do we just go down?” Tigre asked.
“There’s a stage, so I assume she’s waiting for more ponies.” Ethan shrugged. “Let’s wait until she signals us.”
Once Twilight was done talking, she got on stage and cleared her throat. When she spoke, even the three on the rooftop could hear her.
“Hello everypony! It’s nice to see you all here! As you may have heard, there are new… How should I say this… A new sapient species I met in the Everfree. I’m here to tell you that all these claims are true! There are six of them, all different from one another! They saved my life and want to live in peace and harmony with us!” Twilight announced. The ponies in the audience had… Mixed reactions, to say the least.
“Huh… Suppose she’s good at telling ponies the truth.” Ethan muttered.
“Their reactions aren’t very confidence boosting,” Tigre said.
“I can’t tell if that was sarcasm soldier.” Ethan stated, confused.
“It wasn’t sarcasm, Ethan. Some of their reactions boost my confidence, some lower it and the rest do nothing. So, I’m not exactly excited to go down in front of them even with a Princess on our side,” Tigre said as he stared the the multitude of ponies below them.
“Whatever.” Ethan muttered.
“The tactician side of me is telling me that a tactical retreat using the bounding method of moving until a more advantageous situation occurs or we secure a more influential ally is our best course of action, sir.” Tigre said as he examined the area for routes of retreat that would keep them hidden.
Ethan turned to Tigre. “Did you just call me sir?”
“You are our commanding officer at the moment and you called me soldier. So, sir is more appropriate than Ethan. I just forgot that for a moment. What do you think of that assessment?” Tigre replied.
“Personally, I think we’ll be fine,” Cheetara said.
“Commanding officer… Oh, uh, sounds okay, but I think it’s best that one of us introduces ourselves. I suggest you, Tigre, because you aren’t an asshole or annoying.” Ethan stated.
“Very well, I’ll go introduce us. I’m sure Princess Twilight will give us a signal or something when she is ready for us to join her on the stage.” Tigre said.
“How am I annoying or an asshole?” Cheetara asked, crossing her arms under her chest.
“You’ve been annoying Kaz about that pervert thing after I told him to wake you up. Other than that you’re adorable.” Ethan said. “I’m the asshole. Go get ‘em Tigre.”
“I can’t argue against that, but it’s just so fun to annoy him.” Cheetara admitted with a shrug.
“Yes, sir.” Tigre said as he made his way down to the ground level and walked around the crowd of ponies towards the stage Twilight was on.
The ponies didn’t see him until he was on stage. Some gasped, others screamed, and more stayed quiet. Twilight cleared her throat.
“This is Tigre, he’s not going to harm anypony.” Twilight assured the audience, calming the masses.
“Tigre better not screw this up.” Ethan said, sitting down. “What’cha got for snacks?”
“Some sandwiches, crackers and cheese, cookies, some veggies and some fruits.” Cheetara told him as she put the basket of snacks next to Ethan. “I’m sure he’ll do fine. He’s our best representative after all.”
“Maybe so, but none of us are really ready for this.” Ethan said. “If this works out, I want us to get citizenship. Then I’m going to look for other humans.”
“Hmm, that sounds like a good plan. Do you have any idea where to start looking for other humans in this world?” Cheetara asked.
“We woke up in ruins, so I’ll find others in ruins.” Ethan looked out into the horizon. “I don’t want us to be the only humans… I was alone before Goliath befriended my sister and pulled me into the mess."
“Ah, that’s pretty good reasoning, Ethan. I’m sure Enid will find others like us and send some of them our way. She didn’t seem like the type to stop with just us six.” Cheetara said before gently hugging Ethan from behind. “Goliath may have been the start, but you’ve got three more friends now. Even if Kaz is a little off at times.”
Ethan smiled weakly. “Thanks… You have no idea how much this means to me…”
“You’re welcome, Ethan. We’re in this together so I’ll do my best to help. Even that means having to fight.” Cheetara told him with a smile.
“Hello, I’m Tigrevurmud Vorn. You may call me Tigre if my name’s too hard for you to pronounce. Princess Twilight has spoken true. I do not wish to harm any of you. Do any of you have any questions that you’d like me to answer?” Tigre said as he stood next to Twilight on the stage. The Alicorn beamed when there were a few raised hooves in the audience, the crowd having a positive response giving her hope that things could work.
Author's Note
Next Chapter we learn what Kaz can do. As well as what Displaced are, training, and... A school of Displaced?
Welcome To Beacon 1/4 The Fighting
Author's Note
This is a major crossover with Frost the Wolf. It's important because of multiple things.
1: The characters learn off screen for the most part, but only their skill. Any new abilities shall be in this, and any updates to the characters skills will be stated and explained in the beginning of the chapter.
2: They meet someone important to this story and Cheetara in general.
I needed to get this out of the way, but thankfully it won't affect the story that much.
Welcome To Beacon 1/4 The Fighting
When the Forgotten ones meet Lance
Ethan watched as the crowd of ponies dispersed. They seemed rather calm after the hour of explaining Twilight and Tigre went through.
“What a good sport.” Ethan chuckled. He took a bite of the sandwich Cheetara offered him as he laid back against the hay roof as he watched the sun start to set.
“Yes, that went a lot better than I thought it’d go,” Cheetara said.
Ethan gestured to Twilight and Tigre. “So… Should we jump down there?”
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t,” Cheetara said with a shrug.
“You go on ahead… I’m not built like you.” Ethan said as he got up.
“Okay, see you down there.” Cheetara said before running down to Tigre and Twilight in a blur of yellow and orange.
Ethan took another bite, but was shocked. The redhead threw his sandwich and pulled his Pistatore and shot it. Only to see the shot hit something metallic as the remains of the sandwich landed on some bystanders that gave him angry glares.
Ethan flipped them off, but they didn’t understand. They were flattered anyways. However, what did startle them was when a crack of lightning went off in the distance as Ethan and the others saw the lightning strike from where they were.
“Cheetara! Tigre! I think I did something!” Ethan shouted.
“What do you think you did!?” Tigre shouted back.
“I think I broke my electronic sandwich!” Ethan added.
“My CASTLE!!”
“That’s a castle? I thought it was a cheap toy…” Ethan remarked, only for Twilight to zap him with a spell, sending him off the building.
“Twilight! There’s some strange looking bipedal thing in the castle!” Spike exclaimed as he ran towards Twilight only to freeze in place at the sight of Tigre and Cheetara with Twilight.
“Bipedal…?” Ethan asked almost to himself.
“Can you explain what you mean Spike?” The Alicorn asked the baby dragon.
“It looks like them, but with a long braid and different clothing and stuff,” Spike said gesturing to Tigre and Cheetara.
“So a female…” Ethan said, caressing his chin in thought. “Or a Japanese character, either way, let’s go! Avengers, assemble!” Ethan did a wacky pose.
“Yeah...you do that, Ethan. I’m going to go see what he’s talking about.” Cheetara said before running in the direction Spike had come from.
“Oh god, what the hell did I fall into?” They heard from inside as Ethan and them cautiously approached the door.
“Yo! Someone in there!? I’ve got a laser sword I don’t know how to use properly!” Ethan shouted.
“Are you okay in there!?” Spike asked.
“Yup… I’m fan-freaking-tastic… Just all gumdrops and ice cream in here…” The voice groaned to himself, but the response from Ethan was not what it expected.
“Come out with your hands up and I might not shoot you,” Tigre told the being as he kept an arrow trained in the general direction of the voice.
“Can I come in?” They heard Spike and Ethan say at one point. Only for the voice to groan again.
“... I’m surrounded by idiots…”
“I thought you said that you were surrounded by ice cream!” Spike replied. Only for the voice to scream to himself.
“Okay, I’m coming out… But whoever thought it would be funny to throw my token into the wall of a crystalline castle I need to have a serious discussion with-.” The voice spoke as he stepped out to look at the group. “-them.”
“No idea what you’re talking about, but make any suspicious moves and you’ll get an arrow in you,” Tigre told him.
“Okay… For one… I have a name. It’s Lance… Two, I crashed here because someone shot my token and it landed into the wall of wherever I just landed.” He said as he held it up. “Three… I’m going to assume all three of you are Displaced.”
“Like I said, no idea what you’re talking about, Lance. No idea what a ‘Displaced’ is or what a ‘token’ is. I’m just going to continue to assume you’re an enemy until you prove otherwise.” Tigre replied.
“Okay, but I’m telling you three the truth… Did you three find yourselves crashing here after getting something you wanted?”
“Yes and no. Tigre and I got something we wanted, but Ethan had his picture taken before we all ended up here.” Cheetara told him. “How did you know that and why shouldn’t I let Tigre use you as target practice?”
“Because like you, the same thing happened to me and a bunch of people I know have had the same thing happen to them. I’m a displaced… Dimensionally Misplaced. I was at a convention and bought a small addition to my costume, only to arrive in the middle of my world and find out that I had not just a weapon… but powers.” He demonstrated as lightning churned in the middle of his hand.
“Huh, so the multiverse theory was right. You still haven’t answered the other part of the question about being target practice, Lance.” Cheetara said.
“Because I can help you meet other people that have been displaced. Hell, my cousin Sun runs a freaking Academy for Displaced.” Lance told them. “And you guys are lucky. I ended up in a world where Twilight and her friends are Superheroes.”
“Wait… You mean the power ponies!?” Spike asked, desperately.
“That’s them alright.” The response just caused the dragon to stare in awe at him as Lance looked back at Tigre and Cheetara.
“So, it’s the X-Men or something?” Tigre asked.
“More like the Avengers. Think Fluttershy with the abilities of the Hulk and you get Saddle-Rager.”
“Sorry, Fluttershy? Who is that?” Tigre wondered as he lowered his bow.
“Yellow Pegasus… Pink mane… takes care of animals?” Lance asked them before looking back and sighing. “Lives in a cottage with a chaos spirit named Discord?”
“Nope, not ringing any bells. We’ve only met Princess Twilight.”
“She’s one of my friends.” Twilight told them, levitating a picture over for them to see.
“Ah, okay. We saw the skittle pegasus talking to you earlier, but that’s about it.” Tigre admitted. That got Lance to chuckle as he looked at them.
“Maybe it would be best to continue this conversation inside.” He suggested. “I can explain a little more about myself, the Displaced in general and also answer some questions for you guys.”
“Sounds good to me.” Cheetara said as the group started to walk inside and situate themselves at the Dining room table.
“Wait… So are you a guy?” Ethan asked.
“Yes… Yes I am.” Lance replied. “I just preferred to grow my hair instead of get a haircut.”
“It’s kinda hard to tell with you being a japanese character and all… Well, we both are, but I look more manly.” Ethan said.
“You look like a twerp of a teen.” Cheetara stated.
“Technically, I have been displaced for over a year and in that timeframe, I’ve matured more than I thought. Besides…” He said as they finally noticed the ring on his finger. “I’m married and helping raise four kids.”
“... Okay… Should I be taking notes?” Ethan asked.
“That depends on if you would remember it or not. But if it’s in response to any questions you may have… then probably yes.” The Adept replied. “Speaking of questions, what would you like to ask me?”
“What’s a Displaced?” Cheetara asked.
“It’s short for Dimensionally Misplaced. Anyone who gets sent to their own version of Equestria as a certain character or with certain powers. I arrived as the protagonist based off of a game called Azure Striker Gunvolt, made by the creator of Megaman. Plus, summoning a Displaced can be compared to when you use a summoning in a final fantasy game.” He explained to them the best he could before looking back at them. “Anything else?”
“Where’d we summon you from?” Ethan asked. That was when Lance showed him the token from before and explained how he arrived in Twilight’s castle.
“All Displaced have tokens you can summon. This one is mine.” He told them.
“A hair pin?” Cheetara asked.
“It’s the same as the clip at the back of my braid… If you hit it or channel energy into it, you summon me.” Lance explained to them. Only for Twilight to remember something in that moment.
“Hey Ethan… Didn’t you shoot something before Lance… well… arrived here?”
“Uh… My sandwich.” Ethan remarked. “It shocked me, so I un-alived it.”
“It was never alive to begin with.” Tigre said.
“My token was in your sandwich?” He then asked, sighing as he looked back at the others. “Okay, out of all the things I have heard, that was the weirdest one yet.”
“I finally accomplished something without even trying…” Ethan said nodding proudly.
“...... Okay, next question?”
“How do we make a token?” Tigre asked.
“Well, that’s simple… Do each of you have an item that represents yourselves? If so, you focus your energy into it, say a few words that represent yourself and then send it into the void.”
“I don’t have any power, how does that work?” Ethan asked.
“Well, just focus on the saying. Do you have an item or trinket you want to use?”
“Not anything I want to get rid of.” Ethan said.
“You won’t get rid of it. The void sends out copies of the original item and lets you keep it.” He explained, showing the original token and also showing the one Ethan bit into. The bite marks still apparent.
“Some of us don’t really have much on them. Goliath only has a belt and a loincloth. So, is there a way to create something to use as a token?” Tigre asked as he thought of the three that weren’t with them.
“There is… What did you have in mind?”
“Oh, I already got something in mind for myself. I was just asking for Goliath really.” Tigre clarified as he took an arrow out of his quiver.
“I’ll just use one of my Item Boxes, it’s not like there’s anything inside of them.” Ethan said, showing off a red diamond shaped item. “You Cheetara?”
“Probably the Thundercat plate that’s in this costume.” Cheetara replied as she took the round Thundercat symbol off her chest.
“Aelita and Goliath might need something.” Ethan said.
“Yeah, both of them don’t really have anything besides what they’re wearing.” Tigre pointed out.
“Maybe a figurine of each of them?” Cheetara suggested.
“That’s retarded. Why not for Goliath a stone, and Aelita uses one of my handguns?” Ethan suggested. “Kaz can use his glasses.”
“Right, a stone. Very representative of a gargoyle that no longer turns to stone during the day.” Cheetara said sarcastically. “Doesn’t the token have to represent ourselves and thus Aelita using your gun kinda make that point moot?”
“How about a stone with Goliath’s claw marks in it while Aelita uses an image of her wings?” Tigre suggested.
“Sounds good. We’ll have to ask them though.” Ethan stated.
“Of course. So, now we just focus on these items and say a few words of introduction? Seems easy enough.” Tigre said as he fiddled with his arrow. He the nocked the arrow to his bow and thought of the words he wanted to say.
“I am Tigrevurmud Vorn, Lumiere, Knight of the Moonlight. If you have need of a highly skilled archer and hunter thrust this arrow into the ground.” Tigre said as he drew the arrow back and a black energy swirled around the tip of the arrow and extended back in a cone. “Now what? Actually, if I release this arrow then something is going to get destroyed. So...” That was when Lance used his hand to open a tear in the void right in front of them
“Shoot it in there.”
“Right, what about when it returns?” Tigre wondered before releasing the arrow in the tear in the void.
“I think the castle can withstand it.” Ethan smirked.
“Wait and see…” Lance advised them.
“So, that’s my token taken care of. Who’s next?” Tigre asked as he waited for his arrow to return. As the Arrow returned, Lance was able to catch it mid flight and toss it back to Tigre.
“I’m Ethan, if you need an asskicking redhead with a science fiction arsenal… Then call me I guess. Or don’t. I don’t care.” Ethan dropped his Item Box. “That right?” Lance nodded, sending the item box out into the void before yanking back the original one.
“I am Cheetara, call me if you need a speedster and staff master. Point this symbol into the sky and I will come running.” Cheetara said before tossing her symbol like a frisbee into the tear in the void Lance had opened. “So, should we go tell all of this to the others now?”
“I suppose. C’mon, let’s go.” Ethan said before making his way to the forest.
“Wait, that’s it? You’re leaving?” Twilight asked almost dejected.
“Something tells me that there are more than just these three… One did mention someone named Goliath.” Lance spoke up.
“Well, Twilight. Was there anything else you wanted us to for while we were here?” Cheetara asked.
“I kinda… Hoped you’d all stay at my castle.” Twilight said bashfully.
“That’s sweet, Twilight, and I’d love to, but we do have three more friends back in the Everfree and your ponies had some mixed reaction to just seeing Tigre. So bringing Goliath here is going to be a lot worse than that.” Cheetara replied.
“Let me guess… Gargoyle?” Lance asked.
“Yep, he’s a Gargoyle, but somehow doesn’t turn to stone during the day.” Tigre answered.
“Well, I would be interested in seeing him then.”
“He and the other two, Kaz and Aelita, are in the castle in the Everfree right now. Apparently we can move in with Twilight if I understand her correctly. Do you have any suggestions as to where we should stay, Lance?” Tigre said.
“Well that depends… Beacon Academy has dorms, but I think Twilight can find ways to accommodate if she were flexible.” He said, looking at the alicorn.
“Beacon a-what-amy?” Ethan asked.
“Beacon Academy… I told you that my cousin runs a school for Displaced in his world.”
“... His world… What, you want us to enroll?”
“It’s your choice really, but since you’re all new to being a displaced and the school is focused on helping New Displaced then it might work… Still, your choice.” Lance advised.
“We can handle anything that comes our way. Right guys?” Ethan asked.
“I can handle anything until they get close in. Then I’m kinda screwed.” Tigre admitted.
“That’s why you have us to cover for you, Tigre.” Cheetara said as she brandished her staff.
“Hmm… I think I might have an idea… You all sound so confident… So how about we do a test spar. All six of you against me.”
“Six on one? Isn’t that going a little too far, Lance?” Cheetara asked in concern for Lance’s well being.
“Sometimes experience outweighs strength in numbers… Plus… It lets me see how all six of you can coordinate as a team.”
“Okay, but I can already tell you that our coordination is lacking. There hasn’t been all that much action since we got here about a week ago.” Cheetara admitted with a blush of embarrassment.
“Quantity over quality.” Ethan said. “Let’s head to the castle. Twilight, you can cheer us on.”
“I’ll go ahead to tell the others then.” Cheetara said before dashing away in a blur.
“Ugh, let’s hurry up…” Ethan groaned. Lance just chuckled… This was going to be fun.
“And that’s how I met Lance.” Aurora, a filly ghost in Lance’s bracer told Twilight.
“We’re finally here!” Ethan said slightly annoyed.
“About time you showed back up, Ethan. How’d the intro go?” Goliath said from the castle’s rampart.
“It went surprisingly smooth. Oh, and we met this gir- I mean guy.” Ethan pointed at Lance who was behind him. Only to get a punch in the shoulder which sent him to the ground.
“Haha!” Kaz laughed.
“And now we’re fighting him six on one. Cheetara told us that much already. She forgot to tell us about the intro, though.” Goliath said as he looked at Lance.
“Apparently, Ethan flipped off a few passerby’s when they stared him down, according to Tigre.”
“That fits with his personality and bodes ill for when they see me. Do you really believe that you can take all six of us at the same time?” Goliath asked as he glided down to land in front of the group.
“Trust me, I have a lot of different tricks up my sleeve.”
“We’ll see how well those tricks do against us then. Hopefully, there won’t be too many injuries on you by the end of this.” Tigre said in a cheerful voice.
“Okay… But first,” He said as he put two fingers on his forehead. “You need to find me.” Within seconds of that, he disappeared from sight, leaving all six of them stunned.
“Crap, he turned invisible. Well, let’s see if he still leaves a shadow or footprints then.” Tigre said as he backed up against a tree as he searched for signs of Lance.
“Come out and fight us, coward.” Goliath said in frustration as he looked around in panic.
“Guys, it’s simple. Just listen and you’ll find him.” Cheetara advised before swinging her staff at the area she believed Lance was in. Only to hit nothing as Ethan leaned back against a wall.
“Or I could use my Goggles.” Ethan said, pulling out his tech. “They show things the naked eye can’t see.”
“That works too. Freaking advanced tech base.” Tigre grumbled as he stayed on alert.
However, before Ethan was able to put them on, A hand from the opposite side of the wall grabbed him before sending him flying.
“There he is!” Tigre shouted and fired at the area Lance had been in. Only to miss as he launched several shots at the group and caused them to scatter. All while grabbing a stick and using it to hit Ethan with it like he was teeing off at a golf course.
“Fore!”
Ethan yelped in pain as he went flying. Aelita sent an energy sphere at where Lance was. While Tigre fired more arrows at the area Lance was last known to be in. The Adept himself countered by using his Flashfield to block all the incoming projectiles before disappearing again.
“Where’d he go this time?” Cheetara asked in frustration as she put her back against Goliath’s to help cover their blind spots.
“I don’t know, but I can’t wait to get my claws on him.” Goliath said as his eyes darted back and forth in search of their elusive opponent. Only to have him get blindsided as it showed the Adept on a chandelier. Using the energy blades that were on his guns, he cut the chain holding the chandelier up before darting out of there again, causing the piece to drop on them.
Meanwhile though, Twilight was very concerned with what was going on and trying to convince Aurora to talk Lance out of this. “Aurora, this is insane. Is there any sort of thing that we could do to help them? Anything at all?!”
“Not really.” Aurora responded.
“Seriously? Is there nothing we can cast?”
“Perhaps something heavy.” Aurora suggested.
“But he might kill them!”
“That would be wonderful for the test!” Aurora said happily.
“AGHH!!!”
“Retreat!” Ethan yelled running away followed by Aelita.
“Right behind you!” Tigre said as he fired some arrows in random directions in hopes of hitting Lance for once.
“How is this a test of our abilities if we can’t even connect?” Cheetara asked as she got out from under the chandelier with Goliath.
“Guys! We gotta work together!” Ethan yelled.
“I’ve got the bad feeling that he’s gonna pick us off one by one.” Aelita said. Only for her to realize that Lance was right behind her.
“Bingo!” He snapped, catching her off guard and sending her into Cheetara with a quick jab punch.
“Fuck!” Ethan said pulling out his Saber and attacking randomly.
“Try catching this!” Tigre challenged and fired three arrows at Lance in one shot while Ethan attacked the long haired man. Lance countered the attack from Ethan and used the blades on his guns to cut the shots as he kicked Ethan into Tigre.
Lance kicked Ethan in his sensitive spot again, which forced him to kneel.
“That was dirty!” Aelita shouted as she landed next to her older brother.
“Definitely not what a knight would do.” Tigre agreed as he stood next to Aelita.
“I’m not a knight. I’m an Adept… And I’m starting to think that was decent enough… for a warm up.”
“W-warm up…?” Ethan asked, his voice a higher pitched.
“I wasn’t using most of my abilities because I wanted to see how you would react and what your attack methods were…” Lance told them. “Besides… I don’t go invisible.” When he said this, in the blink of an eye, he was behind Ethan with guns drawn.
“Oh shit… He teleports…” Ethan said, too scared to move.
“Teleporting...can you teleport like this?” Goliath asked as he tackled Lance away from Ethan. Only to blink out again and onto a nearby ledge.
“... Does that answer your question?”
Ethan sighed in relief.
“Yep, it does.” Tigre said as he fired at Lance once more. Ethan joined him in firing as Aelita covered their backs.
“Need I point out that this is only one tool in my arsenal?” He asked, dodging Aelita’s shot and using his Flashfield to block the rest. Switching clips to Vasuki , Lance began firing a different series of shots as they hit their target after deflecting off of walls or hard surfaces.
“No, but you’re kidding yourself if you think you can hit us so easily.” Tigre said as he did his best to dodge the shots that came his way.
“Speak for yourself, Tigre. Not all of us can dodge shots as well as you.” Goliath grumbled as several shots hit him. “How’s everyone holding up?”
“I’m okay, but this is getting tiring.” Cheetara admitted.
“Okay! You win!” Ethan said, shutting his Saber off. “We need training.”
“That was the point I was trying to make…” Lance replied, landing from above once again. “Now, before I let you follow me to Beacon… I want you to try and hit me-.” His sentence was interrupted when Ethan blasted him directly in the face.
“Oh fuck! It actually worked!”
He was taken aback once the smoke cleared to see that there wasn’t any signs on wounds on his face or anywhere else.
“Oh fuck! That didn’t work!” Ethan yelped.
“I knew that wouldn’t work,” Everyone turned to see Aurora standing next to Twilight. “Lance is a bit of a badass.”
“Aurora, Language.”
“So, you want us to stop trying to hit you and hit you?” Goliath asked.
“I was just trying to prove a point. If you try to fight an opponent without knowing a bit about them, the results will not turn out to be the way you hoped.” He told them, showing his fingers recovering a little from one of the stray arrows from Tigre hitting him. “As in the old phrase… Know thy enemy.”
“Yes! I actually hit him! I didn’t think any of the arrows connected at all! I mean it was pure luck, but I’ll take what I can get at this point!” Tigre said excitedly.
“It was just a scratch.”
“Still a hit and that means I wasn’t completely useless like I thought I was moments ago.” Tigre countered.
“So, how do we fight an unknown opponent then? Cause that’s probably going to be the grand majority of our fights.” Cheetara said with her hands on her hips.
“Take the first few moments to watch them and see what kind of moves they have. If you can pay attention to anything that could be a potential weakness, you can exploit it… For example…” He turned to look at Ethan. “Ethan has absolutely no idea how to use his equipment.”
“What’s there to know, sword goes swish swish, bad guy dies.” Ethan said.
“Okay, point taken, but you disappeared on us so not even I could observe you for long and I’m used to observing cheetahs for a living.” Cheetara countered.
“If you can’t see, use your other senses. Hearing is one major component… Also, regarding Ethan… Did he have any knowledge of martial arts at all before ending up here?” Lance asked. The silence that followed next was the only thing he needed to hear to answer his question. “Okay, that settles it… You need to learn how to use a sword before you can use a laser sword.”
“The only one of us who had any sort of training with their current abilities and/or equipment before becoming like this was Tigre.” Goliath informed Lance.
“Well then… This is either going to be fun or not depending…” Lance told them as he snapped his fingers and opened a door to Beacon. “Follow me… It’s time for you to see the Academy.”
“Going to school again is going to suck so much! I graduated from college already and everything!” Cheetara complained as she walked towards the door.
“Not that kind of school,” He informed them as they stepped into Beacon’s Grand hall. Catching all six of them by surprise. “This kind of school.” They took a few moments to look around at the sights around them and a few of the people passing by. But stopped once something landed on Cheetara’s head.
A banana peel.
“Who’s monkeying around?” Ethan asked.
“Immediately with the puns I see?” Another voice boomed as all six of them looked up to see a guy with blond hair, long jacket and cargo shorts hanging from the ceiling by a monkey tail.
“Gross! Could you not drop a banana peel on me the moment I enter a room?” Cheetara said as she tossed the peel away from her.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to enter the room.” He replied back, looking at the Adept. “So Lance, I guess you’re the tour guide for this group?”
“How do you two know each other?” Aelita asked.
“Remember when I told you I had a cousin?” The Adept asked. “Well, you just met him. Meet Sun Wukong… Founder of Beacon Academy.”
“He’s the founder?” Tigre asked in surprise.
“Well… We can definitely expect shits and giggles. I’m in.” Ethan said.
“I’m in as well if it means I can learn how to use this new body of mine.” Goliath said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“When do we start?” Tigre wondered with a shrug.
“I know there’s gonna be paperwork…” Ethan whispered to himself. “Please don’t let there be paperwork.”
“Just a simple form to keep on record… Before we have you visit Asphyxious.”
“Asphyxi-what?” Aelita asked.
“One of our teachers on campus… He’s a lich.”
“A what now?” Cheetara asked.
“An undead necromancer. Like a zombie, but they continuously bring themselves back from death. They’re usually sentient.” Aelita explained.
“Neeerrrrrddd!!!” Ethan laughed.
“Actually, she’s right. Just be careful around him though.” Sun informed them. “He’s also part dragon.”
“Okay~ Um, what do we do now? Go to class?” Tigre inquired.
“I thought we had to fill stuff out…” Aelita said.
“I think the founder of the school would have told us if there was any paperwork or anything else we needed to fill out, Aelita.” Cheetara said before hugging Aelita from behind.
“Fill out the forms, then I’ll let someone give you a tour of the campus.” Sun replied. “Oh nice, Dawn’s back.”
“Is Dawn another teacher here?” Goliath asked.
“Actually… She’s a student.” He said as she walked in, looking at the group as she looked back at them.
“Well, nice to see that you’re showing the new students the ropes,” She replied, twirling a pair of dual revolvers with blades attached to the end of them and a chain with them. Before she looked back at Ethan. “Who’s this little cutie with the blush on his face?”
“His name is Ethan and I think you broke him.” Goliath said with a chuckle.
“E-Ethan Waber!” Ethan said, shaking his head. His face was red and he was getting sweaty. “I’m sorta the leader...”
“Nice going dipshit.” Kaz remarked.
“Ethan plus pretty lady equals nervous sweats apparently.” Goliath commented.
“Wait til you meet Nicko.” Lance chuckled.
“Wait, did she just call my brother ‘cutie’?” Aelita asked.
“She did, but my question is: who’s Nicko?” Tigre asked.
Dawn chuckled as she looked at the group. “You mean my dad? He’s a teacher here.”
“You’re so screwed!” Kaz laughed as Ethan ignored him.
“Uhm… S-so… W-what’re you doing h-here a-again D-Dawn?” Ethan asked then cleared his throat. “So uh… You seem pretty good with that weapon…”
“Why thank you, I’m flattered.” Dawn said, going over and lightly kissing Ethan’s forehead… before he collapsed to the floor. “Yep, he’s a keeper.”
“If you say so, Dawn. Can we start filling out the necessary papers so we can start learning to fight properly?” Tigre inquired.
“Sure,” She replied, handing out the necessary forms for all of them.
“Thanks. Are we going to be learning about anything else besides how to fight properly while we’re here?” Tigre inquired as he and the others began filling out the forms.
“Where’s the sign up sheet thing!?” Aelita suddenly yelled.
“Huh? Right here. You okay there, Aelita?” Tigre said and handed Aelita a form to fill out. Shortly after each one of them filled out the forms, Sun took them, rolled them up in the form of a scroll and took out a lighter. Surprising everyone.
“Calm down, this is how I send these to Twilight.” He assured them, a green flame being emitted as it consumed the forms and sent them off in a whisk of sparkles. “The lighter emits the same green flame that Spike would use so that way I can easily send them to her.”
“Didn’t know any of that until now, but it’s good to find out about. What do we do now?” Goliath asked.
“That’s simple… Dawn, can you escort them to the training grounds?” Sun asked.
“Certainly,” She replied, looking at Ethan. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Oh, uh, I am. No need to worry about me.” Ethan cleared his throat after speaking.
“Uh huh, just try not to stare too much, Romeo.” Goliath teased.
“I’ll remember this hornhead…” Ethan grumbled.
“What’s a friend for if not to give each other a hard time in situations like this, Ethan? Besides, I’m sure you’d do something similar if I was in your shoes.” Goliath replied with a chuckle.
“Are you two done with your ‘male bonding’? There’s more pressing matters at hand right now.” Cheetara said as she walked over to Ethan before leaning close to Ethan and whispering, “I’m rooting for you, Ethan.”
“Thanks.” Ethan blushed as he replied.
“While we’re travelling to the training grounds we should try to figure out the roles each of us are going to take.” Tigre suggested. “I’m fire support/sniper, Kaz is a non-combatant until he gets training, Goliath is our tank/melee fighter, Cheetara provides battlefield control with her running, Ethan seems to be an all-arounder and will be best as an adaptive role, and Aelita is in the back with me as another support role. Does that seem about right?”
“Sounds about right. I do adapt well.” Ethan said.
“I was mainly thinking about the different kinds of weapons and abilities everyone has, but it’s good to find out a bit more about you.” Tigre replied with a smile.
“Good to see how everyone has certain skillsets… However, there is also the fact that with these advantages… there are also disadvantages too.”
“That's true, but it's not like each of us is going to be able to be able fight on our own at Lance’s level, right?” Tigre said, unsure if what he'd said was actually true.
“Yes… but there are some above his level.”
“You’re kidding, right? The six of us put a single scratch on Lance and you’re telling us that there’s people above his level of fighting?” Tigre said in disbelief.
“Why else do you think we would have to train you? Besides, other Displaced have lived over 1000 years and have more experience than you.”
“... Uh… You have a good point.” Ethan shrugged.
“So, the biggest thing would be to work on our weak points, I’d guess.” Goliath chimed in.
“I’d say working on our fighting skills. I’ve never even hit a person.” Ethan said begrudgingly. “So, who wants to go with Dawn to the training ground thing? Uh… Where is it?” That was when all the others looked up and saw a particular sign above his head. One that was pointing to the left and had the caption ‘ This way, Dumbass’ emblazoned on the front. “What?”
Aelita burst out laughing, and pointed behind her brother. Ethan turned around and his eyes narrowed and he grumbled. “Whose idea was this?”
“That would be me…” All of them turned around to see a new figure emerge next to Nicko and Dawn. A figure that, to them, they had never seen before. One with numerous different animal parts for arms and legs which, upon arriving, caused Dawn to sigh a little. “I just thought I would give the leader of this group a… proper greeting.”
“Was that really necessary, Eris?” Nicko asked her as he folded his arms.
“Come on, Nicko. I was just trying to have some fun with these guys.” Eris giggled, looking back at them. “Besides, I wanted to see how the kids were doing. Moondancer too.” With that, Dawn rolled her eyes and folded her arms for a moment. But the next thing the group heard lead to them staring back at Ethan.
“Hello to you as well, mom.”
“Oh my gosh…” Aelita said, before laughing again. Ethan gulped.
“Uh… H-hi…” Ethan squeaked.
“Oh look, the little guy is blushing!” Eris chuckled before looking back at Nicko. “I’ll leave you two to them. Dawn, play nice okay? You wouldn’t want to break them apart too early now.” With that, she phased through a nearby wall and left both the Rune Slayer and the Crimson Rose with the forgotten ones.
“W-well… That was… Strange…” Ethan said nervously. Aelita then jumped in front of him and bluntly asked:
“What was she!?”
“That… is a draconequus. Half Dragon, Half pony, full on master of Chaos Magic and basically does anything that she pleases,” Nicko replied. “That and she is the daughter of another draconequus I know named Discord.”
“Ah… She didn’t look half pony-” Aelita was cut off by Ethan who shoved her out of the way.
“Aelita, don’t be indecent!” Ethan shouted.
“That is honestly how it is described. There’s only a few amount of them in the world. Rather the universe itself…” The Rune Slayer replied, looking back at them. “Don’t worry, she won’t mess with you guys… my wife just has a way of… making an entrance at times.”
“Yeah… No joke there…” Ethan grumbled. “Now, can we please get to that training zone?” By then the group had already walked to where Nicko and Dawn were, finding themselves in a wide open circular room that would almost resemble an arena.
“Technically… you just arrived.” Nicko said as he went up to the seats. “Now, I know what Lance told me, but I’m going to do something different. Instead of watching you fight all at once, I’m going to see how you fair individually.” It was in that moment that Dawn had a small box in her hand with a few pieces of paper as he had each one of them get one piece.
“What’s that?” Kaz asked fearfully.
“You’ll see,” Dawn assured her. Once everyone had a piece of paper, she put the box away and then asked them to do something. “Now unfold the paper and tell me what number you received.”
“One.” Ethan remarked.
“Two.” Cheetara added.
“Three…” Kaz muttered.
“Four.” Goliath said proudly.
“Five!” Aelita squealed. Tigre stayed quiet, knowing that he was six and anyone else knew he was six.
“What the hell does this mean?” Kaz asked.
“The numbers represent the order in which all of you will be fighting,” Nicko explained. “Since Ethan has one, he’s going first. It’ll be followed by Cheetara, you, Goliath and so on. It also means that I’ll be getting a few more… participants to see how strong all of you are.” With that, he then looked at Dawn before looking at everyone else. “Now stand off to the side of the Arena. Ethan’s fight is about to begin.”
“Who am I fighting?” Ethan asked. This only lead to a silly smirk on Dawn’s face as Ethan then heard the spinning of chains.
“Me.”
“Oooh, good luck, Ethan,” Cheetara said with a sympathetic expression.
Ethan backtracked. “I can’t hit a girl! I’ve never even punched a real person!”
“It doesn’t help that you think she’s cute,” Goliath mumbled before walking away with the others to the edge of the arena.
“I hope my brother survives.” Aelita stated nonchalantly.
“They’re here to teach us, Aelita, not kill us.” Cheetara said comfortingly.
“I know, but Ethan looks about ready to have a heart attack.” Aelita replied, looking at Ethan’s shaking form.
“Well, it is his first time actually fighting. So, most of that shaking is probably nerves more than fear, I think.” Goliath said thoughtfully.
“S’not like I have a choice, though…” Ethan mumbled to himself as he summoned his Sevara Saber in his right hand, and his Pistatore Handgun in his left one. ‘Doesn’t help that I have only the weakest weapons in PSU…’ He thought. Just as Dawn’s weapon was inches away from his face. The chain blade was attached to a revolver on the other end. But that wasn’t the least of his problems.
The thing was… Dawn had two of these… and one was aimed at his head. Click … clack … BANG! Ethan was barely able to duck in time. He rolled on the ground before sloppily shooting at Dawn with his laser gun. Which she was able to dodge quickly and easily while having the other end of her chain tripped Ethan, causing him to faceplant on the ground. Ethan got up quickly for a guy who never exercised much, and changed his strategy. He started running towards Dawn, shooting more precisely than earlier as his blade disappeared.
The Crimson Rose smirked as she ducked for cover before deflecting some of his shots with her weapon. “Well… someone’s getting the hang of it… Looks like I don’t need to go easy on you anymore.”
When Ethan was close enough, his gun vanished and his sword appeared in his hands and he took a swing. Dawn dodged the attack and flipped backwards, kicking Ethan in the chin first before throwing out her chain blade at him. Of course, this wasn’t any normal attack. This was Bloody Chain , an attack that allowed Dawn to strike an enemy and pull them towards her. Which, unfortunately for Ethan, caught his Jacket in the process.
“Damn it…” Ethan growled before he was pulled towards Dawn in the attack. But in the process he took a swing in hopes that they’d at least hit each other. His gamble paid off as his intended attack and hers collided, causing the area to shake a bit before having them back off.
“Nice counter…” She smirked, readjusting herself. “I’m beginning to think that with time, you can be better at the skills you have.” As Ethan was getting up though, he saw the Crimson Rose look up at him and give Ethan a small wink. Making his face blush instantly as he fell back down on the floor.
“Huh, did she just break Ethan?” Goliath grinned.
“With a wink,” Cheetara smiled. “I guess it’s my turn now.”
“Great, I was wondering when I don’t have to get bored,” Another voice spoke up as Cheetara and the others turned to see Sun hanging from the rafters with his monkey tail. “Sup?”
“Um, you?” Goliath said uncertainly.
“No, I mean how are you?” Sun chuckled as he leapt down from the rafters and onto the arena floor. Just as Dawn picked up Ethan and took him off of the fighting grounds. “Hey, Nicko. Mind if I have this one?”
“Go for it. It’ll give me a chance to call Anson and Noctis while you’re at it.” Nicko smirked. “Just play fair.”
“If you say so. I wasn’t sure Dawn was playing fair though-.” That was when a shot whizzed by his head as Dawn was still holding one of her guns while another arm held Ethan.
“You were saying?”
“... I’m sorry?” The faunus said, before looking at Cheetara and getting out both of his weapons as they formed a staff before taking up a stance. “Anyways though, this should be a good chance to practice my skills.”
“Hmm, monkey man vs cheetah woman. Both using a staff. This’ll be interesting,” Cheetara said and she walked out onto the arena floor as she took her staff from her bracer and extended it.
“Goliath! Dawn broke Ethan!” Aelita shouted.
“And took him away afterwards,” Goliath chuckled.
“This will be interesting indeed… word of warning though… my weapon is more than just a staff.” He smirked, shortly before making the first move and swinging diagonally, barely missing Cheetara’s head with the first strike. This was followed up by two vertical swings, the first barely missing Cheetara while the second one almost hitting her wrist in an attempt to disarm her. Cheetara ran behind Sun in a blur of yellow and orange before swinging her staff at his feet in an attempt to end the fight quickly. That was when Sun though, turned into a holographic figure of yellow light as it exploded in front of her, causing up a cloud of smoke and making it harder for Cheetara to see.
“You got guts, that’s for sure.” She heard him say, before hearing something move. “But you need to be able to expect the unexpected.”
“But that makes the unexpected the expected,” Cheetara replied as she ran away from the movement she heard to gain some distance from Sun. Only to hear something different as she turned around to see Sun again as he caught her off guard.
“True, but with every opponent, you don’t know what to expect.” He then said. Splitting his weapon as they formed what appeared to be a pair of nunchaku.
“Huh… More animal parts.” Kaz remarked. “Lot’s of furries here.” Aelita smacked him.
“I’m not a furry! I’m a digital angel!” Aelita shouted at him.
“Crap, I thought he was in the other direction,” Cheetara said in alarm and began to run to separate herself from the faunus. Cheetara breathed heavily once she was far enough away. “How was...he in two...places at once? And man, I’m out of shape.”
“You can do it Cheetara! I believe in you!” Aelita shouted encouragement to her friend.
“Thanks, Aelita! And smack Kaz really hard for me! I’d do it myself, but I don’t think Sun’s going to let me!” Cheetara called as she kept a wary eye on Sun. All the monkey faunus did was smirk as he looked back at her.
“Seems like you are trying to figure me out…” He said, just as the smoke cleared and Cheetara was able to see the spectral creation of the faunus some distance away. Where she first was before backing up and running to Sun again. “Well, now’s your chance to piece everything together.”
“It seems like you’re able to make a projection of yourself while a smokescreen covers your movement,” Cheetara said in analysis.
“That… is partially right.” Sun replied, pointing to the clone as it began to move. “You see, myself and a few others in this world have a Semblance, or special trait. For me, it’s making a pair of spectral clones of myself that explode on contact. However, I’ve been tinkering with my abilities and trying some new things with it… Remember when the explosion happened that created the smokescreen? Well, that was clone #1.” Just as he said that, the second clone dashed towards Cheetara and detonated a few inches from her location, having her focus on defending herself from that attack on the right and leaving her left side exposed.
Which was where Sun was a few seconds later. “That was clone #2… and this,” he said, pointing one of the nunchaku at her. “...is where I am.” Once that was said, Cheetara had to quickly use her staff to block the dust based shotgun round that was fired at near point blank range, close to hitting her by a few inches. Cheetara continued her swing to try to bring one of her staff butts into Sun’s temple. But Sun was quick to block and dodge, even going as far as to try and use his tail to trip and have Cheetara fall. Cheetara used the momentum of her fall to begin back flipping away, but not before aiming a kick at Sun’s chin.
But the faunus dodged the kick and smirked. “Trying to copy Dawn now are you?” Earlier, the Crimson Rose did the same maneuver to Ethan and it hit dead on. Not so much this time around as he saw this one coming. “I have to admit, you’re doing pretty well. Better than that Ethan fellow earlier.”
“Thanks, my eyes are used to seeing fast things due to studying cheetahs back home and now being Cheetara I’ve got faster reflexes,” Cheetara told Sun before charging at the faunus at full speed with her staff pointed at Sun’s chest. However, what caught her by surprise was when Sun put away his weapon and then used his hands to block and disarm the Cheetah as his tail now held her staff.
“You may have fast speed and reflexes, but combat can be a different story,” Sun then said, offering a hand to help her up. “However, you did a good job today, so you pass in my book.”
“Dang, couldn’t even land a single hit,” Cheetara said and took Sun’s hand. “Thanks, that means alot coming from the director of this combat school.”
“No need to call me any fancy titles, I’m just the founder… if you want to meet the headmaster, I suggest talking to Twilight or Ozpin.” He said to her, looking at Nicko. “So who’s next?”
“M-me…” Kaz muttered feebly.
“Well, this is interesting,” Another voice said as they turned to see another face next to Nicko. “Are you sure that one can defend themselves?”
“Patience Anson,” Nicko said. “Just have faith… which reminds me, is Connor here?”
Sun then turned to Nicko, raising an eyebrow for a moment. “Really Nicko? You want to bring your nephew into this?”
“I’ve been helping him with his training along with Anson and Dawn, so I think it’s for the best if he tries another opponent besides one of us,” The Rune Slayer insisted, just as another figure appeared next to Anson and then hopped down from the railing.
“Heh, looks like Kalinkas is gonna get his butt whooped!” Aelita said with a laugh.
“Which reminds me,” Cheetara said and ran up to Kaz before whacking him on the head with her staff. “That’s for thinking pervy things about me.”
“I’m not into you, dang it! I just said that Sun was a furry!” Kaz shouted before stomping onto the arena.
“You called them both furries, Kaz.” Tigre sighed.
“That just means they dress as anthropomorphic animals! There’s nothing perverted about it!” That conversation was interrupted when the young sword knight at the other end planted his sword on the ground and stretched his arms.
“Can you three please SHUT UP ALREADY!! I’m wanting a fight, not a screaming match-.”
“Connor, be respectful!” Anson retorted.
“Sorry dad…” He mumbled before pulling his blade out of the ground.
“I apologize as well. I only meant to point out a fact not keep the argument going,” Tigre told them politely.
Kaz coughed. “I-I don’t have any p-powers or cool weapons! How am I supposed to fight him?”
Anson sighed, looking at Kaz. “Connor’s sword has a blunt edge unless needed specifically for fighting massive creatures and… Hey Nicko, can you see if there’s anything with Kaz that we can’t see?”
“Let me check…” Nicko said, hopping down and with a little bit of magic, looked at Kaz. “Hey Kaz… did you notice that you had something in your back pocket?”
Kaz nodded, and pulled out his red scanner. “Yeah, it’s my scanner. It’s useless without an arena. Not a typical one like this, a… Battledrome, that’s the word!” Kaz shrugged as he turned it on. “Why?”
“I have a feeling that there’s more than meets the eye with this…” Nicko said, returning to Anson. Only a few seconds later did the scanner beep a little and then said something.
“KidChaor, battle mode online.” It said in a synthetic male voice. A list of creatures along with and an empty slot appeared.
“Oh my god… This is…” An evil grin formed on his face. “The… Best… Day… Ever! ” He then dragged one of his favorite creatures into the slot along with a Battlegear and a couple Mugic’s. He then placed his hand on the creature, and the scanner vanished. Suddenly, he was enveloped in a blue, blocky light that caused everyone in the arena to cover their eyes.
When it finally stopped, Kaz was gone. Replaced by a large red bulky male.
“Uh… Hi?” Connor said, still shocked and trying to process what just happened. Just as his father and uncle were talking amongst themselves.
“Do you think Connor is going to be okay?”
“Oh I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” Anson assured his brother. Before hearing the shouting from the arena floor.
“HELP!! THIS RED MONSTER THING IS TRYING TO EAT ME!!!”
“Unless of course he was attacked by some sort of devil like monster thing…” The infinity sword said with a sigh before turning back to the arena. “Which is the most stupidest way to continue the plot sequence but-. Oh my god, it’s actually happening.”
“Chaor!!!” It screamed.
“Holy… and I thought I would scare the ponies,” Goliath commented.
“Shit… I’ll never mess with him again…” Aelita said, eyes unblinking.
“Now… Let’s see what you’re made of, runt!” Chaor said, grinning. Only to see Connor’s eyes narrow and his ears twitch as he grit his teeth.
“What… did you call me…?”
‘Oh my gosh! What did I say!?’ Kaz thought.
“Uh oh…” Nicko said, catching the others attention.
“What’s ‘uh oh’?” Goliath asked worriedly.
“There’s one thing that Connor takes from me… with not so good results…” Nicko told them.
“Uh, sorry… This new form’s messing with my head.” Chaor apologized. Only for fury and anger to form around Connor as he stared down the beast in front of him.
“Never… call me… A RUNT!!! ” He roared, some new energy wrapping around his sword as he held onto his blade. He knew for a fact that he shouldn’t try this yet. But if he were to hold his ground in this fight, it meant that he had to take a risk. His knees weakening a little as he yelled. “ARMAGEDDON BLADE!!! ”
“And now he’s lost it.” Nicko groaned, facepalming himself. “Whenever I tried training with him, he keeps pushing himself to use second job class skills, even if he’s only the first Job class. It won’t be long until this runs out… Plus, there’s another bad thing too.”
“And what would that other thing be?” Cheetara inquired.
“Since his body isn’t used to the skill, it’ll strain his muscles and kill his speed. He would be a sitting duck compared to your friend.” Nicko said, looking at his brother. “I’m sorry Anson. I try to keep telling him not to do that-.”
“Don’t apologize. If worst comes to worse, we’ll just stop the match.” Anson sighed. “I just hope he knows what he’s doing.”
Chaor groaned. He was glad about what Battlegear he chose. He summoned his Torwegg and placed his hands on his hips. “This’ll be fun…” Connor planted his feet, waiting for if his opponent was to make a move. But when he heard that, he believed that the creature was mocking him and proceeded to charge in with his Rolling Smash skill, which was a somersault forward that did moderate damage. But Armageddon Blade made the damage increase a lot. Chaor yelped, then used his Battlegear to shoot into the air before he could be hit.
“I want one of those…” Ethan muttered to himself.
“Coward! Get back here!!”
“Not until you ca-” Before he could finish that sentence, the engines cut out and he fell… On top of Connor. “Ugh…”
“Urgh…” The Sword Knight groaned from being crushed. “Why you… get off!” He said, trying to hit Chaor, but didn’t make it budge. “I said… GET OFF!! ” That time though, Connor resorted to a mid jab kick that put Chaor… in a lot of pain afterwards.
“AAAAHHHHHH!!!” Chaor screamed as he changed back into Kaz and was significantly lighter. Giving Connor some breathing room as he crawled out from underneath.
“S-sorry I-.” He was going to apologize for a moment, until he noticed Kaz and tilted his head. “K-kaz? W-where were you during that w-whole fight?” That only caused Anson to sigh and for Nicko to facepalm himself as the youngster looked back at them. “Did I do s-something wrong?”
“Not necessarily wrong…” Nicko sighed. “Other than having your anger get the better of you, you were fine. But for future warning… that monster you fought was Kaz. His abilities revolve around shapeshifting.” Once that was said, the young knight had a horrified expression on his face and hurried back to where Kaz was.
“I’m sorry for getting mad!! I didn’t think that red brute monster was actually you!! Please forgive me!!” Now the youngster was sounding like he was pleading for forgiveness as all it did was make his father sigh as he watched his son be a little… overdramatic.
“That… he got from his mother.” Anson chuckled, looking at them. “Sometimes Connor can be just as overdramatic as Pinkie.”
“Kaz turned into a giant monster with a jetpack…” Aelita said in a deadpan tone. “I can see why he’s that way.”
“It’s… It’s okay… I shouldn’t have called you a runt, I think turning into Chaor messed with me a little…” That was when Nicko sighed.
“If you call a little being that… eh, what the hell. Both of you are good now. So who’s next?” Connor asked, only for a small white light to emerge and an adult like figure with black leather clothing walking in.
“So this is all the commotion that’s going on. I was getting curious when Sun told me that there was a fight occurring in the training hall, yet I never expected this.”
“H-hi Noctis!” Connor panted, him and Kaz taking a seat at the side of the arena.
“Who’re you?” Aelita asked.
“That’s my brother… Well, one of them anyways.” Dawn sighed. “The other one isn’t at Beacon yet, mostly because we are concerned that he is like an older version of Connor given how angry he gets when being called short.”
“So, Edward Elric?” Tigre wondered.
“Who?” Aelita asked.
“Anime.” Ethan stated dully.
“Pretty much… He threw a former teacher named Mr. Blueblood into a wall after he called him little as a way to intimidate him…… Let’s just say that he’s Blue-broken nose right now.” Dawn chuckled. “Still, Noctis himself is a strong opponent… Hey brother, wanna participate in the next fight?”
“Sure I guess, I needed to brush up on my skills after that last training with you and Connor.” He said, taking off the gloves he had on his hands as he stepped into the arena. “So who am I fighting?”
“Wait, brother?” Ethan asked, only to be ignored.
“That would be me.” Goliath answered and walked towards Noctis as he unfurled his wings.
“Hmm… Well, I guess this will be interesting.” He said, having some silver light be channeled around one of his hands. Once he threw his hand forward, everything else changed.
“Holy-” Ethan flinched, suddenly glad he’d faced Dawn.
“Well, looks like you’re not so easily intimidated,” Noctis smirked, retreating most of the weapons and summoning one particular one in his hand. “Let’s see how good you are in combat.”
“If you're sure you're done showing off.” Goliath grinned before charging at Noctis and swinging his claws up in a diagonal slash. Noctis disappeared, reappearing behind him as he threw the sword at Goliath’s feet before warping to it and kicking him in the shoulder.
“I don’t show off… Only if I want to, but not right now.” Goliath was spun around and sent a few feet away by the unexpected kick. He growled and closed the distance before he began trying to punch Noctis in rapid succession.
