The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

The power of the Thirteen Artifacts, the power to rewrite reality, to remake the universe as one sees fit.

For Sunset Shimmer, she created a world similar to the last one, but different in many ways.

But, as was warned, sometimes, when the universe is tampered with, it can cause a Splinter, something that was not meant to be, but is now.

Let us look at seven of these Splinters, worlds with all those we know and love from the previous world, but, at the same time, worlds that are vastly different…

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EARTH: SPLINTER 909

His Name is…

It was a peaceful day in Canterlot City, at least it would be if it weren’t for the three-hundred foot, Cthulhu looking monster rampaging through the city. The huge monster bellowed, the tentacles around its mouth parting to show the rows of teeth and barbed tongue as its roar carried through the city. It was swamp green color, with leathery skin, scale plates that were positioned at different parts of its body to not only grant it protection, but also turn its body into a battering ram if necessary.

The creature was top heavy, moving like a gorilla with its muscular arms, and at the end of each arm was a hand that had four huge talons. Its legs were strong, allowing it leap from one end of the street and cover several blocks in a single bound. It had a long tail that whipped back and forth, cutting like piano wire whenever it struck something. On its back were four tentacles that each had a mouth filled with teeth. The creature’s tentacles snapped at the bystanders, snatching them up in its mouths and chewing them up until they were mush that slid down it.

Suddenly, a sonic boom echoed through the sky, and at that moment, something struck the beast dead center in its chest, sending it flying backwards and crash landing on its back. Everybody stopped for a moment to see what it was that stopped the monster, only it wasn’t a what, it was a who. It was a young teenager, about seventeen or so, his hair was spikey and blue with a light skin tone. He wore a suit that was black, yellow, and blue, and a mask that covered most of his face except his mouth and the top of his head. The mask sported rounded goggles for protection, and on front of his suit was a makeshift lowercase “I” symbol.

This was the young hero of Canterlot City, Invincible.

“Ugh, what godforsaken place did that thing crawl out from?” Invincible asked.

“From the looks of it, probably from that new mine that the city was making, guess there was something sleeping under there.”

Invincible looked up upon hearing the familiar voice. Floating down from the sky was a muscular man in a red and white superhero suit, his red cape fluttered majestically in the wind as he descended. He had an “O” shaped symbol on his chest, but unlike Invincible, he did not wear a mask, allowing his face to be seen. He had amber colored skin, with amaranth colored hair, with a bit of white around his sideburns, but otherwise he was clean cut. This was Earth’s mightiest hero, Omni Man, and…

“Dad, what the heck?! I said I would handle this!” Invincible wined.

“Flash, I’m just here to observe,” said Omni Man.

“And tag in if I can’t hack it, right?”

Omni Man lightly shrugged and rolled his eyes. “IIIIII’m not saying that, but I’m here if you need me.”

Invincible rolled his eyes back at his father. “Yeah, well, watch me!”

Invincible flew straight for the monster again, but the beast was agile despite its size, quickly getting back up just in time to smack the teen hero with its tail, sending him flying into the adjacent building.

Omni Man shook his head, “I told you, with monsters, always watch the tail.”

“THAAANNNKS!” Invincible shouted with annoyance.

Invincible smashed through the building and went at the monster again, this time avoiding the whip-like tail, and heading straight for its head. Invincible cocked back his right fist and struck the beast in the left side of its face, resulting in a thundering shockwave that rattled the windows and cars in the area. Invincible flew around to the right side and struck twice, each attack forcing the beast back.

The beast had had enough and used its facial tentacles to grab Invincible by the leg and tossed him onto the ground. The beast then raised its right and slammed it on him three times, on the fourth time, Invincible threw up his hands and stopped it before it could hit again. Invincible growled as he pushed up against the beast’s monstrous strength, but as a Viltrumite, he had the physical strength to overcome this monster.

The wind kicked up underneath Invincible’s feet, and with a strong “WHOOSH” sound he propelled himself upwards and threw the monster’s arm back, making it stumble backwards a bit. The beast regained its footing and made the tentacles on its back lock onto Invincible, and then it released a stream of green liquid. Invincible swiftly evaded the attack but paused when he saw what the liquid was. When it hit the street below, it ate through the street and everything else it managed to get on.

“Oh great, an acid spitter,” said Invincible.

“Esh, maybe I should take this one,” said Omni Man.

“No, Dad, I got this!”

Invincible flew straight for the beast again, the creature blasting the area with acid spit, trying to make it difficult for the young hero to even get close. Some of the acid droplets got on Invincible’s suit, while it didn’t immediately destroy the suit, its super durable material was making the process take a lot longer than it normally would otherwise. Invincible knew his body was nearly, well, invincible, and he had a good healing factor, but that didn’t mean that acid burn wouldn’t hurt any less.

“If you don’t kill it soon, these buildings will collapse around us after that acid eats at the foundation,” said Omni Man.

Invincible growled and double his speed as he focused all his strength into his right fist. With an incredible burst of speed, Invincible smashed right into the beast’s chest, but this time, he didn’t stop, he kept pushing more and more until he broke through the monster’s skin, and then its ribcage. The monster spat out blood as it felt the young hero pierce into its body and speedily reach its heart. Invincible released a loud war cry as he struck the beast’s heart, causing it to explode as he burst out through the monster’s back. The monster howled in pain before its howls turned to gasps, and then it fell to the ground with a big “BOOM”, dead as its violet blood pooled under it.

The young hero panted as he floated in the air, his body coated in the monster’s blood, but otherwise undamaged. Omni Man floated over to his son and smirked at him. “That’s my boy, good work.”

“T-Thanks, Dad.” Invincible looked at himself and made a grossed-out face. “Ugh, I need a shower.”

“C’mon, let’s get ya home and cleaned up.”

The two heroes flew off into the sky and traveled a great distance before they ended up in the suburbs of Canterlot. They landed in the backyard of a nice two-story house and walked in through the patio door.

“Mom, we’re home,” Flash called out.

His mother was sitting at the island counter, working on her laptop. She was a lovely, middle aged woman, wearing a pair of jeans and a black top. She had a light complexion, same as her son, and had blue hair that was lighter than her son’s. Her name was Grace Stalwart.

“Flashy, Magnus, you’re home – oh good god, what is that smell,” said Grace as she held her nose.

Omni Man, Magnus, slapped his hand on Flash’s shoulder and said, “Had a little encounter with a monster that was rampaging downtown during training. So, I decided to let our boy here show me what he’s made of and turns out he’s made of the right stuff. Ha!”

“Long story short, I punched through the heart of giant monster,” Flash clarified.

“I’d say we should hose you down outside first, but…ugh, just float upstairs and take you a shower.” Flash nodded, lifted off the floor and began floating through the living room before arriving at the stairs. “And be careful not to drip, monster blood is hard as hell to get out of the carpet!”

“Well do, Mom!” Flash called out.

Grace turned around and looked up at her husband and asked, “So, how did he really do?”

Magnus shrugged. “He struggled a bit, but I’d give it a seven out of ten.”

“Well, he’s still learning, I mean he just got his powers and all,” said Grace.

“Yes, but if he’s really committed to this, then he’ll have to do much better,” said Magnus sternly.

Grace walked up to him and rubbed his arm lovingly. “Magnus, I know you have to make hard decisions out there, and I can’t imagination everything you go through, but try not to be too hard on him that he gets discouraged.”

Magnus sighed and smiled at his wife. He leaned down and gave her a kiss, which then became a passionate kiss between them. After a minute, the two of them parted and Magnus replied, “I’ll try and do my best, I just want him to be ready.”

“I know.” Grace released her husband and went back to her laptop. “Oh, could you head to Italy and grab some food from that place we like?”

“Sure, I’ll even pick up some wine while I’m there. Be right back!”

Magnus walked out to the patio and took off into the air, during his flight, his expression morphed into a grimace. Sorry, Grace, but if Flash is going to become the Viltrumite I need him to be, then I’m going to have to push him a lot harder. He needs to be ready…I need to be ready.

EARTH: SPLINTER 1,015

A Savage officer of the law…

Spike Dragon, he was a six foot – six-foot-seven if you counted the green fin – tall, purple skinned, green eyed, muscular, police officer. He wasn’t human, at all, humanoid, but not human. But he had human values and sought a place to belong in this world. So, the captain of the Chicacolt Police Force brought him into the fold, it wasn’t easy, not at first. But eventually he came on and helped defend the city against beings known as “Super Freaks”, aka super powered people. While he did normally deal with super powered people, he also fought against normal criminals. Most bad guys pissed themselves when they saw a big, hulking, dragon-like creature in a police uniform come stomping towards them, who also possessed enough strength to lift an armored car and tear apart steel with his bare hands.

Of course, such things did earn him the nickname “Savage Dragon”, but it didn’t bother him that much, in fact, it helped when it came to the criminal element. Just hearing his name was enough to make them give up the fight. He was currently going over some reports in the station when his partner came walking up behind him and patted him on the back. His partner was a woman in her early thirties, with sun-yellow skin, hair that looked like fire, and dark-orange eyes behind a pair of black sunglasses. Her name was Spitfire, a Sergeant in the CPD.

“Hey, Spike, we got a call.”

“Super Freaks again, Sarge?” Spike asked as he got up from his seat.

“Probably not, but it’s possible,” said Spitfire.

The two of them headed to his car, it was custom made to accommodate Spike’s size and weight, along with having a trunk filled with various weapons made to fight against Super Freaks, but Spike didn’t think he’d need those. He hoped to resolve whatever this was without a weapon, or the need to hurt someone. It rarely ended up like that if it was a possible Super Freak call.

The two of them headed out of the station and down the road, Sergeant Spitfire typed in the address of the call to the car’s GPS, and he began following its directions. “So, what’s this call about exactly?”

“Hmm, something that you might like,” said Spitfire coyly.

Spike raised an eyebrow at that. “And what would that be?”

“I guess it’s less of a what and more of a who. We’re headin’ to a disturbance call at the home of one Ms. Rarity Belle.”

Spike’s eyes went wide open, he swerved a bit, causing the other cars to honk at him and made Spitfire hold on for dear life. “We’re going to see Rarity Belle! The Rarity Belle?!”

“Jeez, if I knew you were going to get that worked up, I would’ve said her name when we were there,” said Spitfire.

“W-Why are we going there?!” Spike asked.

Spitfire scratched at her cheek as she said, “If you had this kind of reaction, I’m rethinking if I should say anything.”

“Just tell me, Sarge.”

“Ugh, fine, it’s a possible domestic disturbance, but we’re not sure. Neighbors say that they’ve spotted some strange lights at the residence, and heard some sounds, but it could be just some nosy neighbors.”

Spike knew of Rarity Belle, she was a famous actress, not just known for her acting skills, but also for her near boundless generosity. And with the movies she’s made from one box office hit after the other, she was on Apple Wood’s hotline for big budget movies, having her name and talent in the movie was pretty much guaranteeing a hit. And yet, she didn’t let any of it go to her head, she was a humble woman, while enjoying the finer things in life, she made time to speak with fans, and of course donate to multiple charities, even founding one. The charity known as Glittering Givers.

It was no secret to Spitfire and the captain that her partner had a huge ass crush on the woman, she lived in Chicacolt, but he never even tried to talk to her. Most cops would try to pull protective detail to try and get close to her, but the big lug was shy and didn’t want to seem like a stalker fan.

And now that he knew that she was possibly in danger, he turned on sirens and floored it to her residence. It took all of three minutes to get there, which was saying something because he was going full speed. The Dragon and Spitfire got out of the car and walked up to the mansion that was Rarity’s home. Spike had a serious expression on his face, as if he was ready and willing to take on whoever dared to hurt Rarity Belle. Which prompted Spitfire to elbow him, hard, in the gut.

“OMPH! Sarge, what the hell?!”

“If you look like that when she answers the door, you’re going to scare the poor woman. You wanna make a good first impression, right?” Spitfire chided.

Spike smiled a little, Spitfire wasn’t just his partner on the street, she was also his best friend, and his best wingwoman. She already had a girlfriend, Fleetfoot, and when those two got together they often would try to set him up with whatever woman they thought would be a good match for him. Their efforts were appreciated, but rarely did any human woman want to go out with him, mostly because he was a humanoid creature, and despite being a cop hero, it didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t human.

“Alright, now let’s answer this call, you stand there and look charming, and don’t say anything.”

“Why?!” Spike asked.

“‘Cause your dumb ass will get all tongue tied,” Spitfire replied.

Spike was about to refute that, but Spitfire quickly pressed the doorbell, making him clamp up his mouth as he stood at attention. There was a muffled sound of someone calling out, “Coming! Coming!” before the door opened. Spike’s eyes widened, and Spitfire’s eyebrow raised as she internally smirked at what she was seeing.

Rarity was standing before them in her robe, her flawless, porcelain white skin was something to behold, along with her luxuriously long, curled purple locks of hair. She didn’t have any makeup on, but even without it she was still beautiful, and unfortunately for this beautiful woman, she had her robe opened enough that her breasts were almost on full display, along with her more private parts.

Rarity looked up and saw Spike, she blinked in surprise for a moment before turning her attention to the female officer next to the burly dragon-like officer. “Oh my, to what do I owe this visit from Chicacolt’s finest?”

“Um, ma’am, you might want to fix that,” said Spitfire.

“Fix what dear–?” Rarity looked down at herself and realized what had happened. “Oh, my word!” Rarity quickly turned her back to them and tightened her robe before turning back to face them. “I am so sorry about that! I just got out of bed and was not expecting anyone! I-I don’t make it a habit of doing that, I promise!”

“Relax, Ms. Belle, accidents happen,” said Spitfire.

Rarity, who was blushing red, looked up at Spike, now that she recalled, his head had been pointed up the moment she opened the door. “Thank you, officer…?”

“Spitfire, Sergeant, and this is Spike, Spike Dragon,” said Spitfire.

Rarity looked back to Spitfire, “You mean that’s the ‘Savage Dragon’?!” Rarity returned her gaze to him, she had heard the stories of the Savage Dragon, and had seen photos of him in news articles and on the local news stations, but this was her first time actually seeing him up close. Despite the nickname, he did the gentlemanly thing and turned his gaze away to preserve her dignity. “Thank you, Mr. Dragon, for not staring.”

“N-N-No problem, Ms. Belle,” said Spike in a panicked voice.

Bet you’re saving that to your spank bank later, huh partner? Spitfire thought.

“How can I help you?” Rarity asked.

“Just a welfare check Ms. Belle, we got a call from your neighbors about a domestic dispute from your residence,” Spitfire explained.

Rarity sighed heavily. “Honestly, I love my neighbors, dearly, but they can be such nosy neighbors. Come in and see for yourself, there is nothing wrong.”

Spitfire and Spike entered the house, Rarity led them to the living room and said, “Can I offer you two something to drink? Tea? Water?”

“W-We really shouldn’t – OMPH!”

Spitfire did a quick elbow to Spike’s ribs, making him cease his talking, and said, “Some tea sounds great, Ms. Belle.”

Rarity smiled. “Wonderful, wait just a moment.”

Spike waited until Rarity was out of the room and said, “Well you quit hitting me?!”

“If I don’t, you’ll just mess it up.”

“I’m not trying to get a date with Rarity Belle! We’re here to make sure she’s alright!” Spike insisted.

“Yes, and we’ll do that. We don’t have any other calls to get to today, so let’s just take our time, enjoy some tea, look over the place, make sure she’s alright, and then we’ll be on our merry with you making a good impression and possibly getting a date out of this,” said Spitfire.

Spike grumbled and started looking over the room while Spitfire did the same. A few moments later, Rarity appeared in the doorway with a tray of cups and a teapot.

“Sorry, Darlings, I never asked what kind of tea you liked,” said Rarity.

“Anything’s fine, we’re not that big on tea drinking,” said Spitfire.

“That’s good to know…because I’m all out of tea…”

Rarity dropped the try and thrust out her right hand, particles of light came together and created a diamond shard, which Rarity fired straight for Spike. The dragonoid man hurriedly ducked to the ground as the shard imbedded itself in the wall behind him.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Spitfire exclaimed.

Rarity turned her attention to Spitfire, raising her other hand and firing multiple diamond shards toward the sergeant. Spitfire ducked behind a sofa as the super sharp shards tore through the sofa, making Spitfire have to tuck her legs in to avoid getting skewered.

Spitfire drew her weapon and said, “Ms. Belle, you need to stop what you’re doing, or we’ll be forced to take action!”

More shards were fired in Spitfire’s direction, forcing the sergeant to roll from her cover.

“Last warning!”

More shards flew at her.

“You’re not really going to shoot her, Sarge?!” Spike asked.

“She’s a Super Freak, what do you think?!” Spitfire rose from her cover and fired multiple shots from her pistol. Unfortunately, Rarity had created a hexagonal shield made of diamond that deflected the bullets. “Oh, shit, okay, this might be a problem.” Shards came flying at her again, forcing Spitfire to duck back down. “And of course, the good guns are outside.”

Spike growled and dashed from behind the couch and straight for Rarity. The Savage Dragon raised his right fist and threw a punch in her direction. Rarity responded by creating a shield, but Spike’s powerful fist shattered it like glass and caught Rarity off guard. Spike hurriedly put Rarity into a submission hold, keeping her hands locked to prevent her from doing anything else.

“C-Calm down, Ms. Belle! We don’t want to hurt you!” Spike stated.

“I’ll kill you, you – Stop! I don’t want to hurt them – Fucking bitch just do what I tell you – Please help me!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Okay, so she’s crazy too?” Spitfire asked.

“Here – Shut up! – He’s in the house!”

Spike understood what she was saying and looked directly at his partner, “Sarge, there’s another here! I think she’s being controlled!”

“And if you’re wrong?!” Spitfire asked.

“Then I’m wrong, just hurry up and look, I can handle this!”

If Spike was anyone else, she would’ve said no, but she has seen him fight worse things than Rarity Belle, so that was the only reason why she left the room and started looking around for the supposed second Super Freak. Just then, something formed under their feet. Spike looked down and saw a platform of made of diamond was now under them. That platform suddenly grew spikes that forced Spike to release Rarity before he could get impaled. The platform disappeared, but now Rarity had her hands free. The movie star created two swords made of sharp diamonds and charged for Spike.

Spike had naturally fast reflexes, and normally could easily counterattack, but Rarity was surprisingly nimble and agile, and knew how to fight with swords. He figured it was due to the various action and superhero movies she has done during her career; all those martial arts heavy fight scenes must have stuck with her. And it didn’t help that Rarity was doing all this while still wearing her robe, which would flutter open and accidentally give him show. It wasn’t the fairest of fights.

Rarity’s right sword thrust forward, Spike dodged, but the blade managed to cut his left bicep, causing red blood to pour from the wound. Spike rolled on the floor and assumed a fighting stance as Rarity got closer. The Savage Dragon waited for another opening and caught her by the wrists, applying a little pressure to make her release the swords, which disappeared upon doing so.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not taking Rarity!” Spike proclaimed.

“Heh, this bitch is going to make me rich! What the hell!? Fuck, I thought I had more time!” Rarity tucked in her legs and kicked Spike in the face, forcing him to release her. The actress somersaulted in the air and landed perfectly on the floor. She then created a diamond knife and held it to her neck. “If I can’t use her, then I’d rather she be dead!”

“NOOO!!!” Spike yelled as he rushed towards her.

However, when he did this, Rarity tossed the knife right at him with perfect precision and imbedded it right in his left leg, forcing him to stop. Rarity used this opening to form another sword and came at Spike, stabbing him in the right side of his chest. “At least I’ll have killed the Savage Dragon!!!”

Suddenly, four gunshots were heard from upstairs. The moment that those went off, the sword in Rarity’s hand disappeared, her eyes widened as tears formed her eyes. “My god…wha-what have I done?!”

Spike smiled at Rarity and said, “Don’t worry, I heal quickly.” The bleeding wounds he received soon sealed themselves, leaving no trace that he had been hurt at all. “See, no harm done Ms. Belle.”

“YOU BITCH!!!” Suddenly a second assailant appeared from the kitchen bearing a knife as he charged straight for Rarity.

Spike thrust out his left hand letting the blade pierce through it, preventing it from stabbing Rarity. The Savage Dragon wrenched the knife away from him and used his right hand to punch the criminal, sending sailing back into the kitchen where he slammed against the counter and fell on unconscious.

After all was said and done, Spitfire and Spike were able to find out that a Super Freak and his accomplice were trying to extort money from Rarity, apparently no one knew that she had powers, the Super Freak had mind control powers and was going to force her to make them diamonds that they could sell, but Spitfire and Spike got there before it was too late. Afterwards, Rarity, wrapped in a blanket, walked over to Spike, and asked him if she could speak to him alone. Spitfire nudged the big guy forward and followed her away from the cameras and the other officers.

“Are you…Are you going to tell people that I’m…”

“A super powered person? No. Although, I gotta ask, why hide it?” Spike asked.

“I’m sure you’ve seen how ‘Super Freaks’ are treated, because there are those who use their powers for evil deeds it paints those who just want to live in peace with the same brush as them. I’ve hid my powers for a long time, but I found that I could use them to help not only myself but others.” Rarity opened her hand and created small diamond shards. “A friend of mine said these diamonds are flawless and worth a lot of money, with these, I’ve been able to pay for my acting classes, affording me the monetary ability to pursue my dreams and become who I am. While I also use the excess to give back to those who are less fortunate, I live by the old saying Noblesse Oblige.”

Spike remembered an article about Rarity, there were some who wondered how she was able to amass such wealth, even with her acting career, she was ranking up there with the top one percent as far as wealth was concerned, but now it all made sense.

“I understand, you want people to look at you, and judge you for who you are, and not because of your powers,” said Spike. “I get it, a lot of people judge me, too.”

Rarity looked up at Spike. “B-But you’re a hero! You’ve saved so many lives, fought against Freaks who have tried to harm hordes of people! And you’re saying people don’t like you?!”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “They’re afraid of me, because I’m not human, because I look like this. And yeah, I’ve saved the city and taken down a lot of scumbags, but despite that, they’re still afraid. ‘Savage Dragon’ doesn’t exactly sound family friendly either.”

“That’s just bad PR, Darling. And I find this greatly unacceptable, perhaps I can speak with your captain and talk about arranging something with my agents, create a good image for you, and of course you’ll have my full support,” said Rarity.

“T-That’d be great, when you’ve had some time to relax after all this,” said Spike.

“Of course…” Rarity had the tiniest of blushes on her face. “Um, if you don’t mind, perhaps we could discuss it this weekend? The two of us?”

Spike blinked. “Uh, oh, y-yeah, I can schedule some time off for the weekend. T-To discuss the PR thing.”

Rarity smiled and nodded her head.

“Oh, and don’t worry about your secret, it’s safe with me, and the Sarge, she won’t say anything,” Spike assured.

Rarity sighed in relief. “You’ve no idea how much that means to me, now, I suppose I really should head back inside. I’ve been in this robe this whole time and I’d like to put on some proper clothing.”

Spike watched as Rarity walked back into her home, but not before looking at him from over her shoulder and smiling his way. The dragonoid walked over to where his partner was, and Spitfire noticed the goofy grin on his face.

“You got a date with the actress?” Spitfire asked.

“W-We’re just going to discuss PR for me, she said she wanted to help me with my image,” said Spike.

“Uh-huh, just the two of you?”

Spike blushed and said, “Y-Yes.”

“HA!” Spitfire slapped him on the back. “Way to bag the big one!”

“I didn’t bag anything! We’re just going to talk about PR! On that note, you’re not going to say anything about…you know?” Spike gestured with his head towards the house.

Spitfire crossed her arms, she really should tell someone, Rarity Belle’s powers were a bit on the dangerous side, but for now she’d look the other way. “Yeah, I won’t mention it in the report.”

Spike and Spitfire walked back to his car to head to the station, but Spike stopped as he wondered aloud, “Something’s still bothering me.”

“What about?”

“Rarity said that she’s kept her powers hidden for years, but somehow two low level thugs managed to find out about her powers?”

Spitfire knitted her brow. “You thinkin’ someone tipped them off. Why?”

“Don’t know. But I think we need to keep an eye on Rarity and keep our ears to the ground.”

EARTH: SPLINTER 736

Witness Hell’s fury…

At an abandoned warehouse in the city of Manehattan, a local crime ring was busy getting their “merchandise” ready for transport. Men armed with pistols and automatic weapons led a group of young women into cramped cages, their hands bound with zip ties.

Two of the thugs were watching the procession as the last few were put into their cages. One of them asked, “How the hell do they just do that?”

“Do what?” the second thug asked.

“Just, walk right in there. Most of the time these bitches are screamin’ and howlerin’ up a storm, but they’re just…walkin’ right in,” said the first thug.

“Heh, it’s that new drug stuff the boss got, called ‘Dream’. Works only on chicks, and once they get a whiff of it, they’re completely obedient. They’ll do whatever you say without hesitation at all. Best part is, that Dream stuff can be made into a spray, a drink, or a pill, just a few sprits and they’re good for at least five hours. Speaking of which – Hey! Hit them again, we got a long drive, and we don’t need the extra attention!”

One of the thugs got a tank and a sprayer. Despite the drug only able to affect females, the thug didn’t take any chances, he put on a mask and began walking along the cages, starting at the back and working his way towards the front. The problem with these old warehouses was that they didn’t have good running electricity, which meant that portions of the inside were lit up by lamps that they brought, but it wasn’t enough to illuminate everywhere as it left good portions of the warehouse steeped in shadows.

As the thug sprayed, he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around but saw nothing. The thug continued his work, walking along the many cages, but the whole time that he was, he felt eyes on him, like something was stalking him in the dark places where the light of the lamps didn’t reach. It was like there was a predator lurking there, waiting for the right moment to attack.

“J-Just my imagination…yeah…that’s it, gotta stop watchin’ them damn horror movies before a night job,” said the thug.

9:9:9:9

“Or maybe you didn’t watch enough.”

Before the thug could make a sound, chains shot out from the darkness and wrapped around his head, keeping his mouth shut. More chains wrapped around the thug’s body and legs, tripping him, and then dragging him across the floor as his tried to scream, but having only come out as muffled noise as he disappeared into the shadows. The muffled screams continued, but a moment later, all was silent. The girls in the cages made no noise, they were told not to make a sound, and they obeyed, not even when they heard the wet, squelching sounds of someone getting impaled, or the sounds of limbs getting tore off.

The tank and sprayer the thug had on were thrown from the shadows and landed into the light, showing bloodstains all over it. Another of the thugs came around the corner and spotted the bloody sprayer. He rushed to it and looked around with his weapon drawn.

“What the fuck happened?!” he asked.

The girls said nothing.

“Shit, tell me what happened!”

All at once, the girls who saw the events occur spoke, “He was spraying, but then chains wrapped around him and dragged him that way.” About two dozen of them pointed in the same direction, towards the shadows. “We heard screaming, but then it stopped.”

That was creepy as all hell, which definitely didn’t help the situation. The thug cocked his shotgun and walked in the direction the girls pointed at, he took out his flashlight and shined it into the shadows, glancing about cautiously. About twelve steps into the shadows, that’s how far he walked before the thug happened upon the mutilated corpse of his fellow gangster. This made him swear out loud as he took out his walkie and announced this to the others.

The entire warehouse was on alert, they couldn’t afford to put on more lights, or they could draw unwanted attention from a cop on the beat. Everyone started to patrol the area, guns drawn and ready to shoot whatever it was that killed their gangmate. However, all these criminals failed to look higher, because if they did, they might’ve noticed a pair of green glowing eyes peering down upon them, they might’ve seen his undulating, almost ridiculously long navy-blue cape as its tattered its coiled around the rafters like snakes slithering about.

But they didn’t, these fools thought that they were up against a rival gang, they were looking for multiple people, but in fact it was just one person. The caped one had to be careful, even though the girls were their merchandise, he knew that they would not hesitate in the slightest to shoot them. He had to be precise, it was fine if they shot him, but he had to be careful if wanted to shoot back. From his cape, the stalker took out a sniper rifle. There was no need for a scope, his eyes could zoom in on whatever he needed to look at, and night vision goggles were useless as well, nothing hid in the dark from him.

The stalker fired a shot at one of the thugs, hitting him right in the head and sending brain and bits of his skull splattering against the floor as he dropped dead. He moved like a shadow, weaving through the rafters as he repositioned himself and fired two more shots, hitting two thugs one after the other. The thugs down below were panicking as they couldn’t tell where the shots were coming from as each of them were getting dropped like flies. One of the few remaining thugs spotted his muzzle flashes and called out for the rest to aim towards the ceiling.

Gunfire pelted the ceiling, ricocheting off the metal rafters, and some going through the ceiling, letting some of the moonlight seep through. More and more shots were let loose as automatic fire and clacking shells filled the warehouse with noise. After two minutes of continuous firing, the thugs stopped, noticing that they riddled the ceiling with bullets holes and letting multiple spots of moonlight beam down through them and into the warehouse. Screams were heard as one of the thugs was sent flying into the air, landing against the truck trailer as blood stained the trailer from his split skull before he hit the ground.

More and more of these criminals were slaughtered, one after the other, their necks snapped, holes punched through them, getting twisted and mangled to the point of being unrecognizable. The screams continued until there was only one left. The last thug was cowering against some crates, putting his back as close to the wall as he could. The area in front of him was clear, so whatever was out there killing his associates would not be able to sneak up on him. But then again, there was no need to sneak, not anymore.

A figure jumped from the distance and landed a few feet from the thug, his was shaking, his gun moving about to the point that he was aiming everywhere but where he was. The figure walked until he was standing in the moonlit spotlight. The figure was humanoid, wearing a navy-blue cape with a large collar that gave him a vampire-like appearance. That cape opened and revealed the rest of his body. The figure was clad in a black suit, around his forearms were navy-blue gauntlets that had silver spikes imbedded into them and on his feet were navy-blue boots. Around his waist was a silver chain belt with a skull buckle design, and the studs that held the cape in place were also silver skulls. He had a blue and gray design on the chest, a mask fully covered his face. That mask had gray wing-like designs around the eyes, and those eyes, they glowed a bright green, piercing the darkness.

“Who or what the hell are you?!” the thug asked.

“Someone who doesn’t like criminal pieces of shit like you. Someone who hates watching trash like you treat people like fucking merchandise. But more than that, I just don’t like you.”

The thug was about to fire, but the studs of the caped man shot out as chains connected them. The skulls sprang to life, revealing four razor sharp pincers that seized the thug’s gun, wrenching it from him before crushing it into pieces. The thug was pissing himself at this point, literally, and crying as he said, “Mercy, please?! I give up! I’ll go to jail!”

“I have none to give, and where you’re going, jail will be a five-star resort in comparison.” The caped man rushed towards the thug and grabbed him by the throat, hoisting him up as if he weighed nothing. “Give this name to your friends in Hell, the name of the one who sent you…Spawn.”

An ear-piercing scream could be heard and then silence. Spawn left the warehouse and flew towards the suburbs, he stopped over a house, landing softly on its roof as he quietly looked down through the skylight. Down below was a family, a woman with fuchsia skin, tri colored hair, and amethyst-colored eyes. This was the woman he once loved, still loved.

Cadence…

The man next to her had a brown complexion, with blue hair, and a scarf around his neck. Spawn knew who this man was, he was his best friend growing up, and his partner during their days on the job.

Spearhead…

On the floor was a little girl of ten years. She had a light pink complexion, with powder blue eyes, and hair with three tones of arctic blue, cerise, and violet. This girl was his little girl.

Flurry…

All three of them were in the living room, watching something on TV, a movie he guessed. Flurry was sitting between Cadence and Spearhead, with Spearhead extending his right arm to bring around Cadence’s shoulders, and an act that Cadence happily enjoyed, all three of them looking like the perfect, happy family. Spawn’s eyes briefly glowed with fiery embers, that should be him. That was his wife, his daughter, and his so-called friend came in and took that from him. But Spawn took a breath.

No, it wasn’t him. It was them. They took me away from my family.

Spawn went by another name, his name before he died and became what he was. He was Shining Armor, an ex-soldier turned contract killer for the government, taking out potential threats to the country and the people, arms dealers, drug cartel leaders, and every other piece of human trash under the sun. Shining Armor was very good at what he did, and so was his friend. Spearhead never did what he did after they both were honorably discharged, his friend went into police work, but Shining Armor wanted to make more of a difference, and he got paid well for it. Until the agency he worked for double crossed him and killed him.

He was sent to Hell for his deeds, having made a deal with the devil, Malebogia, to allow him to return to Earth to exact his revenge, but in exchange he would lead Hell’s army against the forces of Heaven. In his rage, Shining agreed, but he was tricked, he was sent back to Earth, but ten years later. It was a blink of an eye for him, but when he returned, his wife was re-married, his daughter was nine, and the world was teetering on the brink of chaos.

Shining Armor broke his deal, and decided to fight against Hell, while also fighting against the evils that existed on Earth. Of course, this put a mark on his head, Hell’s demons, and other supernatural beings have tried to kill him, along with Heaven’s subordinates on Earth, as well as angels, but he’s beaten them all and survived, he still needed to exact his revenge on the agency that betrayed him and find out why they did it. A year has gone by and nothing yet, he watched his family, coming to see them and watch them from the shadows. He even checked in on his little sister, who was the only one who knew about his return and his identity as Spawn. She was a genius and believed in science, which was why when she first saw him, it was a shock as they buried his body and saw it with her own eyes.

Twilight’s help had been great, they were getting closer to the truth because of her, being a genius helped. She would ask him sometimes if he at any point wanted to talk to them, wanted to see Cadence alone? Every time he refused, because under his mask was burned man, his skin was leathery from the explosion, and the hellfire that tempered it. He was nearly unrecognizable, but his voice was the same, and so were his eyes. It was those two things and his memories that gave Twilight reason to believe that he was her big brother.

Shining Armor stood up and looked towards the city, there was still more evil out there, evil like that might one day come for his daughter, his sister, or his wife, which was why he needed to take down evil like that wherever it showed. “For now, Shining Armor is dead. I am Spawn.”

Down below, Flurry looked up at the skylight, feeling the presence of someone.

“What’s the matter, sweetie?” Cadence asked.

“I…thought I saw something,” said Flurry.

Spearhead and Cadence looked up at the skylight with her but didn’t see anything.

“You sure, Flurry?” Spearhead asked.

“Hmm…no, I guess not. Sorry.”

Spearhead brought his right hand from Cadence’s shoulder and ruffled Flurry’s hair. “Aw, don’t sweat it.”

“Daddy, stop!” Flurry whined halfheartedly.

Shining Armor, for now, was gone, Spawn was here, and so long as Hell sought his death, they weren’t safe. But he’d make sure they would be.

EARTH: SPLINTER 865

Seeking the truth with a blade…

Adagio Dazzle, an investigative reporter for the Las Pegasus’ Gazette, was working on her latest article. She had been a reporter for the past six years, the youngest in the Gazette’s history at the age of twenty-five, practically fresh out of high school, but she proved herself multiple times, getting one hard hitting story after the other. She feared no one, looking criminals and corrupt politicians right in the eye and getting to the heart of the matter.

Speaking of Adagio, she was currently on assignment, going undercover to investigate one of Las Pegasus’ most wealthy and prominent people, Gladmane. He was a wealthy casino tycoon, owning almost half of the casinos on the Las Pegasus Strip, word is he even owned some of the legal brothels outside the city limits as well. Why was she investigating him, you may ask? Well, there were rumors that Gladmane used his casinos as a front for his less than legal money-making methods. For you see, he wasn’t just the wealthiest man in Las Pegasus, in the underworld, he was also the most feared.

Gladmane had kept his hold on the crime gangs of Las Pegasus for over twelve years and still going strong. Any new blood that came into town had to come and kiss the ring of the “Mane Man” himself, if they didn’t, let’s just say they didn’t last very long. So far, the cops haven’t been able to get anything to stick to him, the man was Teflon, every time they thought they had something on him, a witness or a piece of evidence, it just up and vanished, either it was “misplaced”, or the witness was killed. There was never a way to tie it back to him, so more often than not he was free to go about his business.

Adagio suspected he had some cops on the payroll, but there was no way to prove it. Not yet anyway. Adagio had made it her project to bring down the man who could not be touched, and she knew how to do it. The “Mane Man” was going to have a party at one of his casinos, inviting many of Las Pegasus’ movers and shakers. That party was where Adagio was right now.

One of her talents was the ability blend in with any crowd, walking with a superior stride, aura practically demanding that others look upon her as her presence caught everyone’s attention. Adagio was wearing a silken, strapless stress, allowing her ample cleavage to be on display. The skirt of the dress had a slit that came up to just below her right hip, and to add more to the look, she had a ruby necklace on, fake mind you, and a bracelet on her right wrist.

She mingled with the crowd, meeting some of the state’s elected officials, the governor, the senators, other wealthy people, and the mayor of Las Pegasus. Adagio found it distasteful that they would associate themselves with someone like Gladmane, but at the same time, it made sense. If you wanted to be untouchable, you made connections with people that could help you out in a pinch.

Adagio began to meander through the crowd and into an off-limits area, she had no fear when it came to finding the truth, for only those willing to risk it all were able to pierce the shadows with light. She noticed a few cameras lining the hall around the corner, Adagio hugged the wall and smirked.

“If you wouldn’t mind, dear?” Adagio asked as she talked into her bracelet.

Metal strands began to extend from the bracelet, thin as piano wire as it crept along the walls, further and further it slithered, and getting right underneath the cameras. Once all five of the cameras were ensnared, Adagio gave the mental command to squeeze, the ultra-sharp wire sliced through the cameras all at once and littered the floor with their cut-up pieces. With no other obstructions, Adagio casually strode down the hall and to the office of Gladmane himself. The man was known for having a private office in each of his casinos, just in case he wanted to come down in person and get some work done on site.

She noticed that the door had a keycard lock, normally this would be a problem, but not for her. The strands of metal from her bracelet extended once again, this time wedging into the door crease. With a quick slice, the door was unlocked. Adagio hiked up the dress on the left side, revealing a thin pouch that held a pair of latex gloves. After slipping them on, Adagio opened the door, once again hugging the wall and taking a quick peek inside to make sure that there weren’t any cameras.

Cost looks clear, she thought.

The fearless journalist entered the room and deadpanned at how gawdy it was. The mahogany wood desk was gilded with gold plating, an expensive Persian rug took up the center of the floor, above was a chandelier with real diamonds hanging from it, and pictures showing Gladmane’s different accomplishments over the years, as well as showing him shaking hands with some important people. On the desk was his work computer, she wasn’t sure if she’d find anything, but every bad guy managed to slip up somewhere, and Adagio was hoping the overconfidence of Galdmane’s ability to stay out of jail might’ve made him sloppy somewhere.

Now Adagio wasn’t a hacker, farthest thing from it. However, she did know a girl who was brilliant, a practical genius, and was kind enough to give her a specially made USB drive that would upload a virus and grant Adagio access to whatever she wanted, while also deleting any digital fingerprints. Adagio pushed the seat back and booted up the computer, once it was on, it asked for a password. The journalist reached down between her breasts and pulled out the USB drive. It was purple and red, with a half-moon symbol painted onto it, along with three stars.

“Alright, Moon Dancer, let’s see what you got,” said Adagio.

She plugged in the USB drive and watched as the same half-moon, three star symbol appeared on the screen. The virus already went to work unlocking the computer and created an interface that would allow Adagio to easily get whatever she wanted.

“Moon Dancer I could kiss you! And I will later. But for now…” Adagio typed and spoke aloud, “Find hidden files.”

The interface took the command and immediately sifted through all the files on the hard drive, breaking through multiple layers of security as if it was nothing. C’mon black market deals, assassinations, hell I’ll take an overdue parking ticket at this point. The interface brought up several files, one of them was labeled “Funding”. That’ll do.

Adagio clicked on the file and opened it, there were financial records that showed a lot of money being paid to the company called “Laplass”. She had heard of this company before, they were a pharmaceutical company that’s made many breakthroughs in medical science. But why are you paying them? Good god, don’t tell he’s paying them to figure out a way for him to live forever? Another file was opened, and this was marked “Cloneblade”. “The hell…?” Adagio read over the file, which also included some diagrams that looked awfully like her own weapon, the Witchblade. “How…?”

}}} Adagio, we’re not alone! {{{

A shadow loomed over her from the window behind Adagio. She quickly took the USB out just in time for the unknown person to smash through the window, Adagio jumped over the desk just as the assailant destroyed the desk and computer. Adagio turned around and gasped at what she saw. The attacker was wearing skimpy armor, dark pink in color, with grooves that glowed a bright red. The woman in the armor had black eyes, the only color was from her glowing amber irises, her skin tone was a light pink color, while her hair was white as snow and sheened like metal.

“Who the fuck are you?” Adagio asked.

“You can call me Delta, and you’re not supposed to be here,” she said.

“Oh, I am, Gladmane just stepped out,” Adagio jested.

Delta raised her right hand, the armor around that arm morphed into a sickle blade. “A shame, you’re really hot, but I’m going to have to kill you.”

Adagio chuckled as she stood proudly, her right hand against her hip as she smirked at Delta. “Better monsters and people than you have tried. Mask!”

}}} Copy! {{{

The bracelet came alive as metal strands exploded from it, the strands sliced and tore through Adagio’s dress as it donned her in a new attire. When it was done, Adagio was completely changed. The armor gleamed like silver moonlight, her entire right arm was encased in armor, with a ruby gemstone resting atop of Adagio’s hand. Her shoulder pauldron was shaped like a crescent, with a second ruby gemstone sitting at the shoulder joint. Armor wrapped around Adagio’s ample breasts, covering half of them while two strips of metal ran down her stomach and formed a crotch guard that also covered her rear. The left arm was also covered in armor, but not as thick as the right arm armor and had no shoulder guard. Armor covered Adagio’s legs from the thigh down, giving the illusion of thigh high boots, the heel of these boots was a sharpened blade. Adagio’s hair was unbound, transforming into pure metal with the ends of her hair turning into sharp points. Her eyes were the same as the woman in front of her, except her eyes glowed violet.

“So, it’s you!” Delta formed another blade with her left arm and took a fighting stance. “It’s my lucky night!”

“Hun, trust me…” Adagio formed a sword in her right hand, but when she slashed the air, the sword broke apart and extended out, showing that it was a chain sword. Adagio whipped the sword around before grabbing it with her left hand and taking her own stance. “You’re going to regret this night for the rest of your life, both seconds of it!”

EARTH: SPLINTER 405

Science from beyond the stars…

A large ship flew towards Earth, alien in origin, with weapons pointed at the blue world dead ahead. This ship was one of several that had traversed the galaxy in search of habitable worlds to conquer and plunder the resources. The ship’s crew performed a cursory scan of the planet and found that Earth’s technology was so primitive that it barely registered as a threat. They knew the fight would be short and sweet, they even considered taking it easy on them for a little bit, just before they got serious and utterly wiped out any hope they might think they had.

However, the ship came to a halt when its scanners detected something approaching them at high speed. It was too small to be a fighter or ship, and not quite big enough to be a missile. The object got closer and closer until it stopped a few hundred yards from where the object supposed the bridge was. The object in this case was humanoid, a female armed with what looked like a suit of armor. The armor was streamlined, just a tad bulky to give the slender frame of its wearer some mass. The helmet had fin antenna on the sides of the helmet that pointed upwards, on its back were four hard-light wings that resembled something like a fairy. At the center of her back was a powerful thruster that kept her stable, along with smaller mini thrusters scattered about the armor that autocorrected to keep her upright. Her armor was deep a magenta color, with some plates colored a silvery white, her visor was a pair of blue eyes that shined in the darkness of space, along with a six-pointed star patterned crystal at the center of the forehead.

“Um, hello there, I am the Galactic Guardian of Earth, Tech Jacket.” she announced. “I am attempting to communicate with the ship in front of me. Please state your purpose for approaching Earth.”

The aliens aboard the ship didn’t know what to make of this.

“If your intentions are hostile, I will give you this warning. Turn back now and I won’t harm you. If your intentions are peaceful, I will assist you in contacting officials on Earth to begin dialogues. Now, again, please state your purpose,” said Tech Jacket.

The aliens aboard the ship communicated back to her, but when they did it was in a language she did not understand.

“Translate.”

[Translating. Translation Complete. Reading Translation: “We did not come to talk; we came to take. Surrender or be destroyed!” End Translation.]

Tech Jacket sighed. “Why is it that almost every other alien ship that comes close to Earth just wants to conquer us?” Suddenly, the alien ship fired one of its cannons. Tech Jacket’s systems alerted her, and she quickly flew out of the way of the beam attack. “Okay, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance!”

Tech Jacket’s right and left arms morphed into cannons, she then flew straight for the ship and opened fire on the ship’s hull. Powerful explosions went off again and again as Tech Jacket took out the gun turret mounts one after the other. A hatch opened from the starboard side of the ship and released dozens of small fighters. Tech Jacket took evasive action as the thruster on her back roared, doubling her speed as she was now being chased by the fighters. Tech Jacket cut the thruster and pointed her feet forward, firing the thrusters from them and sending her flying backwards.

As she did, her armor morphed to create many missile pods. On her command, the missiles fired, each one locked onto a specific fighter as they passed her by. The missiles sailed through space, chasing down their target relentlessly until they hit, destroying their target in fiery explosion. Tech Jacket ignited the thruster again, this time firing a grabbling hook from the left gauntlet and using it to bring herself closer to the fighter. Tech Jacket moved to the front of the fighter and made two large blade arms come out her back. The blades pierced into the hull of the fighter and tore it apart, making the alien pilot get sucked out into the cold void of space where it died.

The fighters started to swarm Tech Jacket as her HUD showed their positions. “Prepare for Death Blossom!” The armor morphed again, this time creating several spherical shaped crystals all over her body.

[All targets are locked.]

“FIRE!!!”

Blue beams of light shot out from the crystals, some of them twisted and bent at different angles to hit their targets before disappearing and firing again. The area was littered with blue beams of light from every angle possible, the beams chased down their targets, leaving none spared from this all-encompassing attack. A retreat order was given, but it was too late to escape, the beams continued to fire while Tech Jacket remained in the same spot. After a full minute of continuous fire, the fighters were destroyed, their remains floating in a mini spaceship graveyard around her.

“Locate the power core of the ship.”

[Scanning.] Inside her helmet, the scanners on her HUD showed the armor analyzing the ship, x-raying it to locate the target. A few seconds of scanning ended when the computer beeped. [Power core found.]

Tech Jacket nodded and dove straight for the ship, she held out her arms in front of her, allowing the armor to morph into a large drill bit. The drill spun at rapid speeds, while at the same time, it released energy that wrapped around itself, turning into a plasma drill. Tech Jacket smashed against the hull and bore a hole deep into it. She dug far into the ship, passing through one layer after the other. Eventually, she made to the core, which was a big glowing containment sphere that housed an advanced fusion engine.

The armored hero’s chest plate morphed until it turned into a cannon, a cannon that was steadily drawing in energy at a rapid rate of speed. Just then the aliens stormed into the chamber, but it was too late. Tech Jacket unleashed the pent-up energy, firing a huge laser beam straight for the core. The moment it impacted a large explosion went off; Tech Jacket hurriedly flew out through the hole she made just in time to watch said explosion crack the ship in half before both halves were blown to pieces.

[All enemy combatants have been eliminated. No signs of life detected.]

“Alright.”

Tech Jacket set her thrusters to full burn and jetted back towards Earth. There was a space station that was maintaining orbit with Earth, it was an advanced space station, nothing like the International Space Station. This one had many arrays that scanned deep space for threats, and some weapons were mounted on it in case of attack. Tech Jacket saw one of the hatches open and flew towards it, once inside, the doors shut, and the room was pressurized. The heroine took the elevator to the command observatory, and inside she found someone familiar sitting at the controls. It was a man with a navy-blue complexion and dark blue hair, his eyes grayish yellow, and he wore some slacks and a sweater vest.

“How did to go out there, Twily?”

Tech Jacket’s armor started to move, the amor retracted and revealed the pilot underneath. It was a teenage girl, about sixteen years old, with black rimmed glasses, a purple skin tone, and navy-blue hair with two colored streaks of pink and violet. She was the intellectual prodigy known as Twilight Sparkle, and the chosen wearer of the super advanced alien suit of armor.

“Oh, you know, another day, another alien race trying to attack Earth,” said Twilight.

Her father sighed as he shook his head. “Really now, what is their interest with our planet? It’s not like have anything that valuable, and would it kill them to just talk to us?”

“I know, right?!” Twilight replied in full agreement. “But at least I have the Tech Jacket to keep us safe, and this space station on loan from the Geldarians.”

Twilight remembered the fateful day when her family went camping, she disliked camping, but her big brother and father didn’t, her mother wasn’t as into it, but she knew it was a good excuse to get Twilight out of the house instead of just having her nose in a book. One day, while Twilight was out gathering wood for their fire, an alien ship crash landed and nearly killed her in the process. Despite the near-death experience, her curiosity got the better of her and she began to investigate. That was when she found the ship, cracked in half and its pilot dying on the ground. All the books Twilight read on extraterrestrial encounters told her not to approach the alien, there was no telling what kind of foreign pathogens it might have.

However, when she saw it spit up blood, obviously injured, Twilight felt compelled to try and help the poor creature. She wasn’t even sure that it would understand her, but she tried to communicate with it. And when she did, it understood her, and told her that his time was over, and that there were those who would come looking for Earth, and so he armed her with his weapon, the very suit of armor that she now has, the Tech Jacket.

Eventually an envoy from the Geldarians, the princess of their people, Skystar, explained what the Tech Jacket was. A symbiotic armor that, once worn, increased the natural abilities of the wearer a hundred-fold, as well as being able to create almost any kind of weapon that its wearer wanted. From what else the princess explained, apparently, Twilight was far stronger than any Geldarian that wore a Tech Jacket, as their race was naturally, physically weak, but with Twilight’s human biology, she was far stronger than any human on Earth. There was one downside to this though…she couldn’t remove it. The armor was attached to her nervous system, and any attempt to remove it would run the risk of death.

Whether you see it as a blessing or a curse, Twilight made the best of it, which Skystar saw fit to grant her family access to their advance space station, as well as a teleporter that connected their house to the station. Her father as an astrophysicist, so to him this place was heaven, allowing him to study the stars like never before. Shining Armor, her older brother, was a marine in the army, and decided to train his little sister on how to fight. The benefits did outweigh the soreness and pain, as whenever Twilight improved her physical condition outside the armor, when it was on, it translated that progress into greater strength.

“Guess we should head back down. Mom’s probably got dinner ready,” said Twilight.

“Ah, you’re right. What’s for tonight, I forgot?” her father asked.

“Her special meatloaf.”

“Oh, yeah!”

“I hope she made a lot of it, I’m starving after that,” said Twilight as she held her stomach.

“Well then let’s be off.”

The father and daughter duo walked across the room to the teleporter platform, and in a matter of seconds they were sent back home. Where the young teen tried to live an unassuming life, while also keeping the Earth safe from threats outside their solar system. Just an average day in the life of Twilight Sparkle, the Galactic Guardian, Tech Jacket.

EARTH: SPLINTER 1,000

She’s Firebreather, but don’t call her princess…

Ember was a moody girl, but that was typical of most teenage girls in high school. But her moodiness was due to some other issues, one being her family and the second being her body. She had just transferred to the city of Apple Loosa, a city in the middle of a desert, which was perfect, to a degree anyway, the heat of the place didn’t bother her at all, so she often wore a hoodie wherever she went. People thought she was crazy for doing that, but no matter how hot it got, she was fine. Not a single bead of sweat could be seen on her body or clothes.

She walked into one of the girl’s rooms and checked herself out in the mirror, only after making sure that there was no one around. She pulled back on her hoodie and checked her hair, which was a little over shoulder length and spikey, giving her an almost wild look. Her skin was cyan colored, and under her eyes she had three “birthmarks” under each of them. Well, she called them that, but in reality, they were scales that matched the color of her hair. Her red eyes were piercing, almost menacing, which didn’t help her image much. It made a lot of the less than savory elements of the school want to fight her, thinking she was some kind of tough girl.

When really, all she wanted to be left alone.

Unfortunately, there were some at this school that didn’t seem to take the hint. Like a boy by the name of Spike, and his annoyingly optimistic friend, Gabriella, or Gabby for short. They would often include her in the things they did, hanging out at the mall, going to see a movie, just normal stuff. Gabby would often joke that Ember was being all “tsundere” about how much she liked hanging out with them.

Stupid anime weebs, thought Ember as she smiled in the mirror.

She parted her hair just above her temples and grimaced, hidden in her hair was a short white horn. Thankfully, it didn’t get any bigger than that outside of her going dragon mode, but it still made her anxious that someone would see that she had two horns sticking out of her head. At best she could cover it up with her hair, at worst, she could pass it off as a bit of cosplay.

Today was Friday, which would start her long weekend of misery. She walked out of the bathroom and started heading to the front with the rest of the herd as they all left school. As she descended the stairs, Ember caught a glimpse of Gabby getting a ride home with her big sister, Gilda, and her girlfriend Greta. Gabby waved goodbye to Spike before getting into Gilda’s car and leaving. Ember’s mother wouldn’t be picking her up today, as much as she probably wanted to, but thanks to their arrangement with her father, Torch, she had to make the journey to her destination on her own.

As Ember made it to the bottom of the stairs, Spike called out to her. “Hey, Ember!”

Ember stopped and sighed, she didn’t do friends, but she tolerated Spike and Gabby. And despite her attitude towards friendship, she thought it rude not to at least acknowledge him. “Hey, Spike.”

“Hey, did you want to go see a movie with me and Gabby on Saturday? It’s supposed to be epic!” Spike exclaimed.

“Another of those superhero movies?” Ember asked with little enthusiasm.

“Yeah, but this is the team up movie! More heroes and more action! It’s going to be sweet!”

Ember rolled her eyes. You are such a nerd. “Can’t…I visit my father on the weekends, so…” Ember let that hang in the air.

“Oh, right, sorry I forgot,” said Spike as he rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your time with him.”

“Don’t be, guy’s an asshole,” said Ember nonchalantly.

Spike raised an eyebrow at that. “He is? But then why are you spending time with him?” Spike bit his tongue realizing how that sounded. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t to assume question–!”

Ember gave the boy a light karate chop to the head to make him stop talking. “Dude, it’s fine. I get it, it’s not exactly normal. And before you ask, no he doesn’t hurt me, no he doesn’t sexually or mentally abuse me, he’s just an asshole who cares.”

The purple skinned boy blushed at how Ember just said all that like it was nothing. “O-O-Oh, okay, so long as he’s not hurting you, that’s good, I guess.”

Ember smiled, the boy was a nerd, but he genuinely cared about his friends. It was a shame, for all his nerdiness, the guy was kind of cute, with his messy green hair and emerald, green eyes, and just enough muscle to not make him look like your typical scrawny nerd, he wasn’t half bad on the eyes. “Thanks for lookin’ out though.”

Just then a car arrived and inside was Spike’s older sister. Ember’s demeanor changed to neutral when she saw her. Spike’s older sister, Twilight Sparkle, she had met the woman a few times when she hung out with Spike, neither of them were old enough to drive yet, so sometimes Gabby’s sister or Spike’s would take them to wherever they wanted to go. Ember kind of liked Gilda, their personalities meshed well, and Gilda even seemed to like her back. But Twilight, she was a nerd, a genius nerd, the kind of girl who analyzed everything. She could tell she cared about Spike, almost to the point of it being possessive, because she would always give Ember a scrutinizing glare.

Like she already prejudged her to be a bad influence and a potential gang member. Not like she could blame her, Ember kept to herself, wore a hoodie almost twenty-four-seven in all weather conditions, and always had a gruff and sarcastic attitude towards everybody, although, to be honest, when it came to Spike and Gabby she toned it down considerably, and she was sure that they knew when she was being serious and when she was just complaining. However, Twilight just saw it all the same way.

“Spike, let’s head home now,” Twilight called from the car.

“Oh, uh, right!” Spike called back. “If you change your mind…”

“I got your number, now go before your overprotective ‘Onee-chan’ comes out here and drags you into the car,” said Ember with a smirk.

Spike blushed again and said, “I do not call her that! And she’s not that bad, she just really cares about me.”

“Whatever you say, dude.” Ember began walking away and waved goodbye. “See ya Monday!”

Ember walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. She just kept walking. Through the city, into the suburbs, and to the outskirts, going further until she had desert country, which wasn’t that far. Normally a walk like this would tire out most people, but thanks to her heritage, her stamina and endurance were far above that of normal people. Ember stopped for a moment and took out a thermos from her backpack, she looked inside and swished the contents around. She then took a gulp of the brew and sighed contently.

“Hmm, mango and ruby, with a touch of emerald, my fave! Thank you, mom!”

Ember could consume human food just fine, but for maximum nutrition and energy, she needed gemstones. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, they all had their unique flavors to them, and her mother knew how to mix them well. Filling reenergized, Ember continued her walk until she happened upon a cave, she stopped at the mouth of the cave and gave an aggravated sigh of reluctance before continuing. She descended into the depths of the cave, having memorized the tunnel system to take her to the Chamber the fastest.

Soon the tunnel opened into a huge underground cavern, and there it overlooked a vast world filled with giant monsters, or “Kaiju”. Ember put down her backpack, took off her hoodie, and then her shirt to reveal her sports bra underneath, she also kicked off her shows. Ember’s eyes glowed just a bit as she growled, her skin started to turn scaley, her nails grew out into white claws, her horns grew out and curved, her teeth became sharp, and from her back sprouted two large dragon wings. Now in her dragon form, Ember put her clothes and shows into her backpack and flew over the expanse.

She took note of several different Kaiju that eyed her, the ones that flew came up alongside her. It had bat-like wings, scaley tail that ended with a stinger like a scorpion, two burly arms with giant talons, a long muzzle filled with razor sharp teeth, and two horns coming from its head. “Do we really need to do this, right now?”

“No time like the present, Princess!”

The Kaijus below that did hear what he said all facepalmed themselves, or tentacle-palmed depending on the species. That was a big no-no.

Ember growled fiercely as she flew straight for the Kaiju and punched in the face. Despite her small size, she was extremely powerful, her single punch making the flying Kaiju falter as he quickly stabilized flying. The Kaiju roared as it opened its mouth to bite her in half, but Ember flew up and away from the oversized lizard-bat. Ember came down with an elbow drop right on the monster’s head, putting a decent amount of strength behind it. The Kaiju released a garbled screech as its eyes rolled into the back of its head before falling out of the sky and smashing into a rock pillar.

One of the downed Kaiju’s friends of the same species, flew at Ember, catching her off guard and biting down on her, her form disappearing inside its large maw. That was a mistake. Suddenly the Kaiju’s mouth started smoking as tears filled its eyes, a moment later the Kaiju opened its mouth and spit Ember out as its entire mouth was on fire. Ember flew around and gave the Kaiju a double kick to its right side, before following up with a deep inhale and ending with a roaring exhale of magenta flames that formed a huge fireball. The fireball struck the Kaiju and exploded, knocking out the beast as it hit the floor of the cavern, making the other Kaiju move so as to not get hit by him.

Ember spit in the general direction of the downed Kaiju and said, “Don’t ever call me a ‘princess’!”With that dispute settled, Ember continued her flight until she was at the rock carved throne of her father. Compared to the other Kaiju he was enormous,

His scales were a darkened arctic blue, his wingspan big enough to cast a shadow over the city of Apple Loosa, the leathery membrane was a bright vermillion color, his horns were curved in the same manner as Embers, his right horn did have a ring around, black with gold at the center. He wore black armor around his chest, and a black crown with a ruby gemstone at the center. This was Ember’s father, the King of the Kaiju, Torch.

“I see you had fun on the way here,”said Torch, his deep voice rumbling around her.

“Tch, if by fun you mean getting jumped by monsters who want to kill me to take your throne, then yeah, I had loads of fun!”Ember jabbed.

“You are my daughter, the next King of the Kaiju. You must learn to fell all challengers to your birthright and dispatch them will all due haste!” Torch smacked his large tail against the throne, shaking the area. Thankfully, Ember was still flying so she didn’t feel it. “Now, come, it’s time to continue your training.”

“Fine.” As Ember followed her father, she crossed her arms and cleared her throat before landing on his huge snout and giving him a serious glare.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I want a deal. If I work hard now and work double hard on Sunday, can I go and do something I want tomorrow?” Ember asked.

“And what, pray tell, is so important that you need to skip a whole day’s worth of training?!” Torch asked indignantly.

“I was invited to a…social activity…with some humans I go to school with. I don’t go that often, so I thought I’d humor them,”said Ember.

“Daughter, do not let those weak creatures influence–!”

“Did you forget you bedded one of those ‘weak creatures’?! My MOM! Look, I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me, gone through all your batshit crazy, hell worthy training every weekend! I’m just asking for one damn day off!”Ember bared her fangs. “No, you know what, I’m DEMANDING IT!”

Torch roared loudly which shook the very cavern and made the other Kaiju flinch in fear.

“YOU DARE DEMAND SOMETHING FROM ME?!”

“I DO!”

The two dragons kept their steely glares on each other for a long and tense moment, those Kaiju who were nearby started to swiftly put some distance between them, not wanting to get caught up in whatever melee was about to occur. After a long and extremely tense moment, Torch shook his snout and made Ember fall off. Ember flapped her wings and stopped herself from falling, before she could say anything, Torch continued his walk. Of course, the old bastard wouldn’t give her this.

“I don’t want to hear any complaints about ‘soreness’ or how ‘tired’ you are come tomorrow when you see these humans of yours, the training will be intense today and the day after tomorrow to make up for lost time. Now hurry up, whelp! We’re wasting time!”

Ember’s jaw dropped, her father just agreed to let her go and hang out with her friends. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ember flew after her father, despite herself she couldn’t help but smile a little.

Torch, however, was smiling for a different reason. This was the first time his daughter demanded anything, more so, stared him down and demanded of him, the King of the Kaiju. Keep up that attitude, Ember, and you’ll be a greater King than I.

EARTH: SPLINTER 1,001

The inheritor of the mantle…

Rainbow Dash was just a college student, but not anymore, not sense she took up the mantle. It was strange to think that the most athletically inclined person would idolize a writer such as A. K. Yearling, but her adventure stories were just too, in her words, “awesome”, not to enjoy. She and her best friend since childhood, Twilight, were total fangirls for her stories about “The Knight”, a black and silver armored hero named “Daring Do” in a mythical land that fought against evil, all while trying to deal with the fact that her time was short. It only made the battles she won bittersweet, but even more meaningful.

It wasn’t until one night while out on a run, that she met the hero of Yearling’s stories, only, it wasn’t some knight, it was a man clad in a black and silver armored suit, the helmet had wing-like blades, and the eyes were shining red. This man was fighting against some criminals and Rainbow Dash was caught in the crossfire, she had taken cover and watched, and then when she saw one of the criminals about to shoot him with his back turned, Rainbow attacked the thug, kicking the gun out of his hand and beating him down.

The armored hero, who called himself ShadowHawk, decided then and there, that she would carry on his mantle or rather, her mantle. For you see, ShadowHawk’s armor allowed the woman underneath, A. K. Yearling, to masquerade as a man.

Rainbow learned later that A. K. Yearling was not only the Daring Do character, but also the vigilante, ShadowHawk. The stories of “The Knight” were derived from her real-life battles against the villains and criminals in the city of Fillydelphia. When Rainbow asked about why she did this, Yearling replied, “The cops and every bad guy out there is going to be looking for a guy, they’re not going to be looking for a woman book writer in her mid-forties.” Rainbow had to admit, that was insanely smart. Rainbow also asked Daring why she wanted to pass on the mantle to her, she was just some college girl, not a hero?

“The answer to that is simple…”

Suddenly, gunshots caught ShadowHawk’s attention. The suit she wore was comprised of nanotechnology, the only solid part of it was the helmet. With the suit, Rainbow had superhuman speed, agility, and strength, and the nano armor was able to create almost any weapon she needed. She was already at pique physical condition, being an athlete all her life and in her early twenties, coupled with the enhancing power of the suit, and Rainbow was a powerhouse. She leaped from building to building effortlessly as she employed her skills of parkour and free running to keep her momentum going, not missing a beat, looking for any angle to vault from.

She stopped on a rooftop and perched at the edge; she used the helmet’s sensors to zoom in on where the gunshots were heard. A convenience store was getting robbed, and it seemed that the police had the building surrounded. Her sensors switched to thermal, allowing her to see three people, the scanners in her helmet made out the shapes in their hands to be automatic rifles, there also seemed to be four hostages inside that were kept in a room, most likely the manager’s office.

Rainbow had the helmet find the fuse box for the store, thankfully it was an old store, so it was on the outside. The hero of the night jumped into the air, somersaulted twice, and landed on the adjacent building. Rainbow created a shuriken from the nano armor, and with perfect precision, tossed the bladed weapon straight towards the box. The shuriken embedded itself into the fuse box, but then it released a surge of electrical energy that shorted out the lights and had the unexpected benefit of causing a big enough power surge that it knocked out the lights for the entire block.

Okay, not what I was going for, but I’ll take it! Rainbow thought.

She jumped off the roof and landed behind the store, Rainbow located the backdoor and broke the lock, gaining entry. She switched to night vision, allowing Rainbow to see inside as if it were daytime. She swiftly and quietly made her way down the hall, and to the office, seeing that the thugs were meandering around trying to find some light, and the cops unwilling to enter due to the unknown, this was the perfect chance for ShadowHawk to get the hostages out. Rainbow opened the door, of course she knew they probably could see her glowing red eyes, but she quickly spoke to them.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said through the voice changer. “I’m ShadowHawk and I’m here to–” Rainbow paused when she saw who one of the hostages was, Twilight, her friend. “–help you!”

“Y-Yeah, right, how do we know that you’re not one of them?!” the clerk asked.

“Because if I was, I’d have shot you guys already. Fear not the dark and know that there is light, for–”

“It is in that light that my hand awaits to left you up,” Twilight finished.

Rainbow looked at Twilight and smiled, of course she would know that line, it was from “The Knight”, Daring Do’s line to the downtrodden and fearful. ShadowHawk gently and carefully reached out as Twilight offered her hand and grasped it, firmly, but not hard, reassuring Twilight that everything was okay. “The backdoor is unguarded, head to the end of the hall, make a left, and get outside to the cops. I’ll take care of the idiots with guns.”

Twilight nodded and let ShadowHawk lift her to her feet, Twilight instructed the others to hold hands so that she could lead them out. Rainbow looked outside, seeing that the thugs were still flailing about, she then directed Twilight towards the other end of the hall, letting her and the hostages take it from there.

Now without any distractions, ShadowHawk went to work. She dashed into the store proper, and roundhouse kicked one of the thugs, he flew all the way to the other end where he smashed into the glass doors of the cooler where the drinks were stored. The other two thugs noticed the red eyes and opened fire, their muzzle flashes briefly lit up the room, granting them glimpses of the silver and black armored vigilante. ShadowHawk was nimble and quick, ducking behind the aisles as they wasted both their time and ammo, her armor was bulletproof and could withstand an explosion that could level ten city blocks, so she didn’t have to dodge, but it was just reflex at this point.

ShadowHawk created two boomerangs from her armor, each one beeped on and off as if counting down. With a swift throw, both boomerangs flew into the air. The thugs could only see the gleam of the weapons before they embedded themselves into the side of the rifles. A couple seconds after, a small explosion went off that destroyed their guns. ShadowHawk dashed from behind her cover and delivered a series of swift punches to the first thug before throwing him over the counter and knocking him out. The last guy she punched in the gut, grabbed him by the arm and tossed him like a rag doll through the glass window of the store where he landed right on a cop car. The cops looked at the thug and then back at ShadowHawk and demanded she put her hands up.

Life of a masked hero.

ShadowHawk did as they asked, but not before she created some smoke bombs in her hands. When she opened them, the smoke bombs hit the floor and released a thick cloud of gray smoke that obscured her completely. Rainbow ran out the back and quickly ascended the buildings where she waited on a rooftop, watching as the cops cleared the building and found Twilight and the rest of the hostages. Rainbow looked down at the people below, to the relived faces of the people she saved, especially her best friend, and remembered the words of her hero.

“I’m dying, Rainbow Dash. It’s not just a gimmick in the book, it’s real. I’m sick, and there’s no cure. So, I’ve decided to do all the good I can, while I can. But I started to get afraid when I realized that there might be no one to carry on this crusade, but then I saw how you willingly threw yourself into that fight and took down that guy without any hesitation or fear of what might happen to you. Don’t say yes if you’re afraid, it’s okay to be afraid, and don’t say yes because I’m your hero. Tell me what you want to do.”

The answer was clear to her then, as it was now. Because this city needed a hero, the world did, and someone needed to continue the legacy of what that selfless woman started. She was ShadowHawk.

………

………

What other worlds are out there?

What other “Splinters” were formed from this cosmic event?

Well…that is for you to decide.