Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers

From Khadein, the army walked south, eventually reaching the end of the desert before they crossed a bridge to the island nation of Altea, fighting robots on the way like always.

Upon crossing, they spotted a village not too far from the bridge.

The village was easy enough to liberate, once again Eggman’s forces temporarily weakened due to the Doctor certainly accumulating a heavier army at the capital ahead to try and defeat them.

The army was tired, and thus, it was decided they were to take rest at the Village, the freed people more than happy to accommodate their saviors.

That night, at the local pub, many warriors were celebrating their spectacular turnabout in the war thanks to Sweetie Void and her friends.

Jagen, Archanea's oldest serving knight and close advisor to King Marth, decided to exit and take a bit of fresh air, looking at the star-filled sky.

“Quite the sight, eh?” a voice nearby said.

Jagen looked to the side, encountering none other than Mycen. Praised all across Valentia as one of the strongest even at his advanced age, he too was taking a break from the celebrations.

Jagen, a bit surprised at first, was quick to respond with a smile. ”Indeed. Mmm, we haven't had the chance to properly meet, have we? Jagen, paladin of Archanea.”

Mycen nodded. ”Mycen, gold knight of Valentia. Heh, I can tell we're fairly similar with all but a glance.”

Jagen arched an eyebrow. ”You mean, aside from the fact we're a tad too old to keep going on the battlefield like this?”

Mycen simply laughed good-humoredly. ”Hah! Talk for yourself! I am still in my prime! ...But yes, apart from that. You’re quite close to that Marth lad, and I can see he respects you a whole lot.”

Jagen looked to the side and smiled fondly, memories crossing his mind. ”I have been alongside His Majesty since he was but an infant and I a young newly assigned captain. Getting to see him grow into the fine king he is and getting to support him in his now third war is my greatest gift to this day.”

Mycen nodded with eager approval. ”Right? I myself helped raise Alm and Celica, and I took care of them as though they were my own grandchildren. Mm, even though we have a… complicated story and I am not really, y'know, their actual grandpa, they still call me that. There's nothing I wouldn't give for these too…”

At that last phrase, Mycen's face lost some of its joy, and his expression darkened.

“...I hear that when we were off to resurrect the fallen at the magical fountains of your continent, one compatriot of yours had to stay dead,” Jagen said, his tone getting serious too.

“Aye. Nomah, old friend. Helped raise Celica until she reached adulthood. He was among the first, buying time so everyone else could escape in time from these “Machines”. There was nothing I could've done, there was nothing that could've been done.”

Both became silent for a bit before Mycen continued. ”...Still, it was for the best; he would've been positively devastated to learn that a younger, full of life warrior was sacrificed only for him to live longer when he didn’t have much left. He's always been like that…”

“And are you any different?” Jagen asked, looking intently at Mycen.

Mycen smirked. ”No point in being coy around us old dogs I suppose. Indeed, if there’s a need I would save another's life in exchange of mine without a regret. These people deserve it.”

Jagen looked at Mycen, then nodded. ”We have already lived our lives to the fullest, it's no use trying to extend and delay the inevitable at the exchange of others. In both previous wars, I was ready to lie down my life but survived. And this time I am not different. But… that said, we would be causing far too much grief with our passing still.”

“Aye, these kids can't help but care too much.”

“Even for a pair of old-timers.”

Both Jagen and Mycen laughed.

Mycen then thrusted his arm forward, hand stretched. ”Then how about this: let us work together and see if we have what it takes to live after this war too.”

Jagen looked at Mycen's hand as resolution filled him, and he finally took and shook it. ”We watch each other's backs and ensure each other lives. For their sake.”

“Always for their sake.”

The army began their task of freeing Altea, village by village, base by base. Thankfully, Altea wasn’t big, so it didn’t take as much time as Grust. And in just a matter of days, they were before the capitale turned into a metropolis like in Grust, confirming what Marth feared.

Not even Altea’s castle remained. Marth’s childhood home, so full of memories, gone.

Because of how the area was actually composed of several islands linked together by bridges, the metropolis spanned several of these islands.

Like in Grust, the city was still under construction, but it was more advanced.

And of course, the totality of Eggman’s army in Altea was gathered there, ready to protect it.

Sweetie Void remarked that there were more bishops than usual among them. The robots couldn’t heal each other, only the roboticized, but it looked like Eggman finally decided to experiment with the staves.

Not all the staves were for healing. There were some to repair stuff, some to warp people, some to raise strength or defense or speed, and so on. It seemed that Eggman had overlooked that, but finally decided to give it a try in the hope of defeating the heroes.

Which definitely wasn't good news for the heroes. Well used, a staff can become very problematic.

Of course, Sweetie felt that there was another robot possessing that destructive energy somewhere in the city.

This robot was a red-colored swordmaster that was built for speed. Tall, slim, with long legs. It also had the particularity of having four arms, each holding a beam sword.

The Egg Shiva.

Around it were several robot bishops.

Right away, Sweetie Void and her doubles went after the Egg Shiva as well as the many airships and dragons present everywhere.

However, three of the bishops used the Defense, Strength, and Speed Staves on the Egg Shiva, buffing it. Then, another bishop used a very rare staff to warp the Egg Shiva right in the middle of Marth’s army as they were charging toward the robots. That took the filly by surprise.

Of course Eggman got, or even created, a Warp Staff. With all the magical knowledge taken from Khadein, it should have been obvious.

Of course, the Egg Shiva proceeded to slaughter the soldiers surrounding it with its four swords, also sending sharp energy waves to kill even more. Sweetie Void and some of her doubles quickly teleported to the robot to stop it and its waves, clashing with it.

Not surprisingly, it was revealed to be very skillful with its swords, surpassing even the Egg Achilles. Sweetie Void was still superior with her ten double beam swords and managed to land several hits. The Egg Shiva eventually lost its buffs which disappeared quickly.

Then, one of the bishops that had been around the Egg Shiva used a Rescue Staff, warping the Egg Shiva back to the robot. A bishop with the Hammerne Staff then proceeded to repair the Egg Shiva.

The Hammerne Staff was a staff that could repair objects, mainly used to repair rare and powerful weapons about to break.

Of course it could be used to repair a machine. Eggman found his own healing staff for his robots. Thankfully, the Hammerne Staff was rather difficult to produce, so not many of them should appear, and it was quick to break, so the robots will have to use them with parsimony. Eggman thought about that however: there were two bishops with Hammerne Staves. They could repair each other and also the other staves in addition to the Egg Shiva.

As the bishops with the Strength, Defense, and Speed Staves buffed the Egg Shiva again, Sweetie Void teleported to its position. However, before she could attack it, the Egg Shiva was warped again.

Right to Marth’s position.

“Buck!”

While Sweetie Void destroyed the bishops to stop them from using their staves on the Egg Shiva, she sent one of her doubles to deal with the robot itself right away.

When the Sweetie double teleported to the Egg Shiva’s position, she saw it in the middle of fighting Marth as well as Alm, Celica, Kris, Jagen, and Mycen. Merric and Jubelo also backed them up with their magic. The robot was powerful, but thanks to teamwork, they were able to hold their own together.

Marth and Kris were attacking it from before while Alm and Celica attacked from behind. The robot was able to fight the four of them with its four arms. This left it at the mercy of Jagen and Mycen who both used lances which had the advantage over swords. The two cavaliers charged from the left and right simultaneously, forcing the robot to choose between defending itself from them or the sword users. In the end, the cavaliers were able to pierce the robot, badly damaging it. And then, Merric was able to damage it even more thanks to his Excalibur spell. The robot, however, jumped away to avoid Jubelo’s Thunder spell.

Sweetie Void finally intervened while the Egg Shiva was mid jump. She charged toward it with two swords. The robot saw her coming and formed a X before itself with two of its swords. The weapons clashed, and Sweetie was able to push the robot back, sending it crashing back toward Marth and the others. It quickly recovered however, and it was able to resume fending off the heroes before receiving any hit.

The Egg Shiva jumped again to avoid another charge from Jagen and Mycen, this time managing to slash Jagen, leaving a large gash in his chest, only to be sent crashing again by Sweetie Void. This time, Marth was able to slice its inferior left arm before it could recover, leaving it open to be pierced by the Hero King. Alm, Celica, and Kris then proceeded to pierce it too, the robot ending up with four swords planted in its torso.

Mycen finished it by piercing its head with his lance.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Void quickly healed Jagen.

“I’m really getting too old for that,” Jagen said.

Marth went to his side, kneeling. “Are you alright?”

“I’m already better than five seconds ago. Thanks young one.”

“You are welcome. That was quite the scare for a moment,” Sweetie said.

“That wasn’t so bad. It missed all the vital organs. I just had to worry about blood loss. With all the healers around, that wasn’t a problem.”

“You shouldn’t take being almost killed so lightly, Jagen,” Marth said.

“Eh,” Mycen chuckled. “Us fossils can joke about our mortality.”

The others all sighed while Sweetie giggled.

While the Egg Shiva was destroyed, the battle continued. Wyverns came and were destroyed like usual. The Sweetie doubles destroyed airships and dragons left and right. The soldiers had to deal with buffed robots (including robots with better resistance to magic thanks to ward Staves). And occasionally, there was even a robot using a Silence Staff, temporarily stopping everyone in the battle from using magic, except Sweetie Void because she didn’t need to chant to use magic. Because the robot was able to communicate with the other robots in the battlefield, it was always able to use the Silence Staff at the worst moment, like when a mage had been about to save a life only to suddenly not be able to cast the spell. It was especially bad when healers needed to heal the ones that were badly wounded.

Eggman really showed how the correct use of staves could turn a battle to hell.

Thankfully, the heroes had staves too, and the ones from Valentia were even able to cast spells without them, so they were able to send buffed units too. Nobody dared to use a Warp Staff however. Also, they only had one Hammerne Staff in the whole army so they were forced to use the staves sparingly.

Sweetie Void solved this problem by giving the two Hammerne Staves that the bishop robots had possessed.

Eventually, the army was able to enter the city where Kris encountered his roboticized childhood friend, a pink-haired girl named Norne who had also helped Marth in the previous two wars. Marth and the others hadn’t been able to get to her village as they escaped Altea. Kris immediately rescued her.

Amy also found inside one of the buildings another ally of Marth, an old bishop named Wrys. Like with Norne, his monastery had been out of the way, so Marth and the others hadn’t been able to reach him while escaping. But while Norne defended her village and became a target of the robots, leading to her being roboticized, Wrys understood that it was no use to try to stop the robots so he remained passive, waiting for Marth to return. Amy guided him to the nearest healer who gave him a staff so he could join the battle.

Because the city spanned several islands, the army had to cross well-defended bridges that made the conquest of the city slightly harder. Sonic and his friends helped a lot, and Sweetie Void once she finished all the airships and dragons.

By the time the sun was setting, the battle was over, and Marth had a heroic welcome

As Marth was welcomed back by his people and freedom’s return was celebrated, Sweetie Void looked at her Pokémon in one of the emptier streets.

Since the beginning of this war, they fought very well, and many of them even evolved. Draco finally evolved into a Dragonite during this battle! Drako thus became a real juggernaut who could kick the butts of the dragons of this world, even roboticized, despite being much smaller.

All her Pokémon became very strong thanks to this war, and Sweetie was very proud. They will be ready to face the Subspace Army.

Sweetie Void suddenly stopped and did a double take. She looked at her left and saw Volta talking to Scout the Ferret. She then looked at her right and saw… Volta on Drako’s head.

“The buck?”

It couldn’t be a Ditto. She didn’t have one.

She immediately grabbed the two Voltas with her telekinesis and placed them side by side before her.

The two Voltas were surprised to see each other. They hadn’t noticed the presence of their double among all the Pokémon.

“Eh?! Why is there another me?!” the Volta at the right asked.

“W-where do you come from?! There is only one me! Who are you?” the Volta at the left asked.

“I’m Volta! The REAL Volta!”

“No! I am the real Volta!”

By now, all the Pokémon were looking at the two in wonder, wondering what was going on.

The two Voltas were ready to start a fight, electricity showing up in their cheeks.

“Ok! That’s enough!” Sweetie Void shouted before she looked at the right Volta. “You can stop. I know you are the fake one. I can read your mind.”

The fake Volta looked disappointed. “Aww… That’s cheating.” Her body then glowed, and in a flash, a man was standing in her place. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.”

He was a cheery looking man in a fancy red tunic and shorts with striking red hair contrasting with his mirthful blue eyes. At his waist, a medium sized blade hung in its scabbard.

“After I heard about you from Gotoh, I got curious,” he said. “I’m Xane. Nice to meet you, Sweetie Void.”

Sweetie Void giggled. “It was a nice try. Nice to meet you. So you are a shapeshifter?”

“That’s right. I can turn into anyone and copy pretty much everything from them. I guess this makes me a jack of all trades.”

“I’m guessing you are an ally of Marth.”

“Yes. I helped him in the previous wars. I wasn’t able to join him in his escape, sadly, so I remained hidden until Gotoh told me that he was back. I immediately went to await him in the most likely place where I would find him: Altea.”

“Then let me guide you to him. We can talk on the way.”

“Very well.” Xane looked at Volta. “No hard feelings?”

“None. Now that I know it was a prank, it was actually funny,,” the Pikachu replied.

Xane smiled back at her before he and Sweetie walked away, leaving the Pokémon behind to participate in the celebration.

As the two walked, they talked to each other, learning more about the other.

Thus, Sweetie discovered that Xane was one of the few remaining divine dragons left after the war against the earth dragons, like Tiki and Gotoh. He didn’t have his stone however so he couldn’t take his dragon form. That was why he used shapeshifting instead.

And yes, his shapeshifting was as OP as Gandrayda’s. He could copy everything from whoever he turned into. Now, Sweetie wondered how much he could copy from her. Even a fraction of her powers would be very useful on the battlefield. However, he couldn’t shapeshift into something too big compared to him, like the dragons, and he needed to be given the weapons. Like, if he copied Marth, then he would need to be given a sword.

Strange. He could copy the clothes, but not the weapons? Sometimes, powers were weird.

Before long, they reached Marth who was in the middle of a crowd, reassuring everyone that the nightmare was over, that Eggman would pay, and so on. Sweetie Void and Xane waited for him to end his little speech, then approached him. Once Marth spotted them, they got out of the crowd and entered a skyscraper, going to an empty apartment.

Once they were alone, Marth looked at Xane. “I’m glad to see that you are alive, Xane.”

“It’s not these mindless things that will kill me,” Xane said. “And I bring some good news too. Elice is alive, and she is kept in Eggman’s main fortress in Thabes.”

Marth’s shoulders visibly relaxed in relief. “Thank you. That’s the best news of this war, beside the arrival of Sweetie Void and the others.

“Eggman made her the holder of the Aum Staff. If he is ever killed, she will bring him back to life with it.”

“I would rather avoid the staff being wasted for someone so vile.”

“So I guess that we will have to avoid killing Eggman before we recover the Aum Staff if we ever encounter him before we reach Thabes,” Sweetie Void said. “Which may happen sooner or later. Sonic and the others told me that Eggman is the kind who loves to fight the heroes himself instead of waiting in his base for them to arrive, taking matters into his own hands. The only reason why we haven’t seen him until now is probably because he wanted to test these special robots and see how they would fare against us. Or I guess he wants to avoid me. He barely escaped me last t-”

She was interrupted by Past Tails entering the apartment, looking worried. “Oh! I finally found you! You should come out, quick!”

“What is going on?” Marth asked.

“Eggman released the Death Egg.”

Marth and Xane looked at Tails with bemused expressions as they both repeated, “Death… Death Egg?”

Sweetie Void groaned.

Quickly enough, everyone exited the skyscraper and looked at the sky where they could see the moon-like space station with Eggman’s head.

Nobody could believe what they were seeing as everyone looked in worry.

Sweetie Void groaned again. Of course Eggman would build a Death Egg.

“Let me take care of it,” she said before she called her ten cannons and flew toward the sky. She stopped above the city and readied the cannons around her horn before she fired an Ultimate Doom Laser at the space station.

The instant the laser reached it, it disappeared in a spectacular explosion.

Sweetie Void snorted. “Eggman. You should have known better. Wait, oops, what if he had been inside?”

Eggman looked at the explosion in the sky and groaned. “I should have known better. At least, I wasn’t in it.”