Sigils of the Past, Summoned!

Chapters

The Future Beckons
Bonds of Light
Rise of Thunder
Explorations, Relaxation, and Classes
Jovian Storm
Kombat in Khaos

The Future Beckons

Nineteen-year-old Richard Shire exhaled softly, snapping the button on the kukri blades at either hip. He glanced at the case nearby, very aware of what was within.

He knew most who saw it immediately thought it was the Iron Man suit from the initial encounter with Ivan Vanko a.k.a Whiplash in 'Iron Man II', which… it was not.

It was merely a suitcase. What was within, however, was much more difficult to acquire. He scooped up the suitcase and went to exit his home before his ears twitched upon hearing an unfamiliar voice.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"

On the last three words, a bluish fog gathered, coalesced, then contracted.

His eyebrows rose as his head tilted as he felt a tug towards the shimmering dimensional rift. He opened the case, tugging out two items. He missed the fact that the items within the chest, including what he'd grabbed, were glowing as he latched the case. He did notice the tugging growing stronger as he pressed the item in his left hand to his waist before he and his case were pulled into the rift.

Within the shimmering tunnel, he noticed the item he'd had in his right hand glowing before he dove at it, grabbing it and just managing to grab the case and secure the latch as it threatened to burst open.

He tapped the button on the Memory.

Accel!

Moments later, he slotted the Memory in and twisted the handle twice. "Henshin," he muttered gruffly.

Equestria #1820-1212-1413

Seventeen-year-old Lyra Groază Heartstrings stared at the glowing arcane circle before, as usual, a large detonation of smoke and dust erupted. It was said that five centuries ago, her family had been all but royalty. As it was, they were, for the most part, nobility, yet in many ways, the 'black sheep' amongst the nobility. Her ears twitched at a heavy metallic clunk before her head tilted as she heard something odd.

"Cyclone!"

before an emerald-tinted cyclone scattered the dust and smoke, revealing what it hid.

Her head tilted at the case it held before laughter erupted.

"Should have known the Heartstrings would snap and screw up like usual!"

"She's utterly useless!"

"Shut up!" One voice roared, the voice belonging to the personal Protege of Princess Celestia, the 25-year-old alicorn Twilight Sparkle. "Lyra you summoned something amazing!" She said, marveling at the hidden fighter's armor. "That armor is even better than Shining's! That's saying something considering his armor is a magical artifact in and of itself. Even if there's no one inside and this is just a golem this is an incredible summoning."

The figure's free hand shifted before pulling the red… thing… from whatever was in his belt. A rush of heat heralded the armor disintegrating. "Bloody hell… that was a rush. Though I suppose I'm lucky I didn't break both legs on landing," he commented. His irises were a rich golden amber whilst his skin was a warm light copper tone. His hair was the deepest ebony, though Celestia's Sun revealed auburn, scarlet, and copper highlights.

He wore a dark forest green shirt with a black vest over it and blue jeans. 'I can't believe that actually happened… I actually transformed into Kamen Rider Accel… which implies that it's also likely the rest now have their power as well… makes me very glad that I indulged in a biometric lock keyed to myself,' he mused idly. The fact that he had the Joker, Heat, and Cyclone Memories in his vest, the last being what he'd used in the Engine Blade to blow away the dust, didn't escape his attention.

He also had the Lost Driver and Double Driver in the suitcase. 'Hmmm… could be possible that other Riders might be here… Kuuga and G3 come to mind,' he thought. 'Though that means there's a chance a Decade may show up at some point as well,' he thought.

He was unaware that the Familiar Summoning Ritual tended to be sealed with a kiss.

"Oh no he's hot!" Twilight murmured under her breath. "Well, Lyra, you gotta seal the deal." 'How will I top her summoning? Not that I really want to, I have to, otherwise, the princess could expel me! I mean even a young Alicorn like me can still fail. I'm only 25 years old and she's over 10,000! Experience has taught her much more than me. I'm just glad my turn is last.'

Lyra took a deep breath, nervous as she stepped closer to the unknown stallion. She jumped as he offered his hand as she stumbled onto the Summoning plinth. Her hand instinctively rose, gripping his.

"I'll bet the Zero just paid off a civilian desperate for gold," Richard heard one person comment arrogantly. "Luke, Chapter 6, Verse 35 - 'But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High.'" he commented.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the speaker snapped.

Richard smirked as he helped Lyra straighten. "I'm sure you can figure it out," he deadpanned. As his gaze shifted, he was mildly surprised as lips met his.

"Now, Familiar, you're mine," she said softly.

"Wish I could kiss him," Twilight grumbled softly after seeing the look of pure joy on her friend's face. "Still I'm glad for her."

Richard's ears twitched, just catching her last two words about kissing someone, but not the rest before he gritted his teeth as he felt an intense burning on the back of his hand.

He blinked as the mare who'd snapped at everyone stepped closer to him with a curious look.

"I doubt the civilian will remain once he has what he wants out of the 'zero'," one student snickered.

"Even if she is a 'zero', it means she can't go anywhere but up, idjit," Richard deadpanned gruffly. "Zero as a number means 'nothing' or 'none'... yet, look at it mathematically, and it's the only number that is 'indivisible'. In terms of potential, there are two numbers that are best - zero and 'infinity' because both represent limitless potential. One by its nature is limitless, whilst the other implies that there is only more potential waiting to be revealed," he said softly.

"That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard when it comes to math." Twilight said before nudging Lyra "Introduce yourself after all he's your familiar. Bringing a Sapient one from somewhere else is incredible and that armor he wore."

Lyra blushed slightly as she took a deep breath. "I'm… Lyra Heartstrings, your Master," she said carefully.

"Something that you can keep in the back of your mind is Proverbs Chapter 2, verses 6 to 8: 'For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity so that He may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His loyal followers.' Though if I'm honest, when I snapped at that idiot… I forgot a particular Proverb myself, Chapter 9, verses 7 to 9 - 'The one who corrects a mocker will bring dishonor on himself; the one who rebukes a wicked man will get hurt. Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will learn more.' Just goes to show that even I still learn from His Word," Richard commented thoughtfully.

"I've read that before and I believe that not every part of that book should be taken literally," Twilight said with a frown, "as a few artifacts have shown up in conjunction with that book revealing that they were not written in first-hand accounts meaning that the gospel as some would call it is as good as fiction."

"Oh excuse me?" A soft voice asked. "Is it my turn to summon?"

"I don't have a copy of that book, rather, most of it, I have up here. The fact that a good bit of it is found to be second or even third-hand accounts doesn't surprise me, yet what is faith but 'belief in what cannot be seen'?" Richard commented. "After all, the accounts within Acts, specifically Chapter 4, verse 13, claim that those such as Simon Peter were 'uneducated and untrained' so there's a real likelihood that Simon Peter knew naught of how to write," Richard commented thoughtfully.

Lyra cocked her head. "What?" she said blankly, confused.

"Acts Chapter 4, verse 13, says 'When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.' This was in reference to healing a lame man," Richard commented.

"Excuse me?" The voice asked again. "Is it my turn to summon yet?"

Lyra jumped at the soft voice. "Oh, I apologize, Abigail," she said, tugging her new Familiar off the Summoning Plinth.

Richard cocked an eyebrow upon seeing the young woman. "Wonder if her outfit is hinting at something. Perhaps the religions here are very different," he mused, missing how Lyra stiffened as if she could hear his thoughts. "Perhaps that's for the best. Never was a preacher, nor did I feel that calling," he thought.

"Thank you, Lyra." Abigail Fluttershy Breeze one of the few nonnobility do you use the familiar summoning ritual thanks to her high rank in the Solar Nights, an ancient religion that worship the Sun and Moon and the beings that represented them, said quietly before a little white slightly bipedal rabbit jumped onto the Summoning Plinth a red glow surrounded it as it began to grow into a demonic beastly form.

"You do not need to use the ritual you summoned me instinctually the day you fell. I was much younger so I cannot keep this form for more than a few moments. Still, I broke your fall taking the hit for you is only recently that I have remembered what I truly am." It said the revelation of instinctual summoning, an incredibly rare but known phenomenon almost on par with an interdimensional counterpart being your familiar, at such a young age caused Fluttershy to blush realizing that it was her own fault that her best friend besides Rainbow Dash head gained his head injury, and lost his memories for so long.

"Oh my!" She gasped her hands over her mouth. "Angel, I'm so sorry!" She said hugging the 12ft tall bunny monster.

Richard blinked at the large creature. He exhaled softly as he shook his head. "Can't be stranger than becoming a superhero through a Dimensional Rift," he sighed. In his experience, he'd heard stranger things. He cocked his head, noticing something shifting in the bushes before something leaped out straight at him. His head tilted, his eyebrows rising as he caught the little creature. "Well, I'll be damned, Fang," he muttered.

He sighed softly as he set the little cybernetic dinosaur aside where it seemed content to be near him. "Funny how the Fang Memory was one of the few that I didn't have," he commented, flicking a tiny switch and sliding his thumb over the lock as it beeped and unlocked the case before he blinked, opening it. He knew it hadn't been opened, but one of the two Doubledrivers he'd had was missing. He exhaled softly as he depressed the tiny trigger beneath the Accel Driver, feeling the belt retract before he set the Driver in the case and closed it after touching the Lost Driver, the lock automatically engaging. Had he been able to look through the case to within, he'd have seen the Lost Driver fade away.

"Fang Memory?" Lyra commented in confusion.

"Think of them as physical Embodiments of various things. Metal, probability, heat, illusion, the wind, weather, the ocean, amongst other things. I have all of them right here… though… there is a probability that they could be out there," he commented as he swiped his arm outward at the walls.

"And what 'memory' was that armor formed from?" Lyra said curiously.

"The Memory of Speed, the Accel Memory. It is also linked to the Trial Memory and Booster Memory," Richard commented wryly.

"Miss Sparkle is now time to summon your familiar." A member of the alicorn's guard escort said your son Spike must be present as well since the familiar will be in a similar place legally for him depending on if it's sapient or not." He reminded.

"I've been here the whole time. I just kept quiet since he showed up." the young dragon pointed to Richard.

"There isn't anyone else using the ritual today?" Twilight asked, starting to shake as her anxiety took over...

Richard touched her shoulder. "If you let fear overtake you, it could influence the Summoning. The last thing you'd want is to summon something that feeds on fear," he commented. "'There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.' - 1 John, chapter 4, verse 18," he said softly.

That comment stuck with her as she calmed down. 'Love drives out fear. I love my son and I want him to know that. I want him to be able to feel that way all the time,' she thought as she approached the circle, speaking the words to activate it once more.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"

The portal opened once again this time the rush of a void sucking the atmosphere appeared before a figure stepped through one that looked eerily similar to Twilight herself from the silhouette. "Thanks to whoever pulled me out of that void. I haven't been able to see natural light in millennia." The figure said telepathically.

Richard heard a whistling sound as a bolt of mystic green light shot out of the portal as he spun, his hand swiping across swiftly as he grabbed the bolt of light, hissing softly as it felt like he'd grabbed the burning end of a stick, though the burning receded swiftly. He turned over his hand to reveal the bolt's glow fading…. to reveal what he recognized as a T2 Gaia Memory with an 'M' with the uprights of the 'M' being quarter notes. "Music?" he read, not recognizing it.

Lyra blinked as her Familiar spun abruptly before she heard him hiss in pain. She paused, half turning to watch him. She knew that in roughly two weeks there was the Familiar Showcase where Masters and Mistresses pretty much showed off their Familiars for bragging rights. She noticed the thoughtful look on his face.

"Hmmm…. makes me glad that I have a memory for music, as I very much doubt that they've heard music that I'm familiar with," she heard him muse.

"Oh?" she commented with a cocked eyebrow. She found how he jumped rather cute. "Now you have me curious," she commented with a smirk.

A slight smirk crossed his face as he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm sure you'll find out," he commented teasingly. "So, these runes establish a telepathic link between us, eh? Hmm… I can feel them nudging me to a subservient mindset, but it seems like something is keeping it to a nudge and nothing more," he commented thoughtfully.

Lyra blinked as Ivory Scroll, the Headmistress of their Academy, stepped up, seemingly intrigued in Ricky's Familiar Runes. She walked towards her office quietly, however.

His gaze shifted to the mare who'd summoned after Lyra. Unknown to him, for an instant, his coppery gold irises shimmered to a deep, rich crimson with a single pearlescent tomoe within a darker reddish copper ring before he blinked, his irises fading back to their natural coppery gold.

"So where am I?" The figure asked as she finally was revealed, causing those who knew her Summoner to stare, jaws dropped.

"Uh?" Twilight asked as she walked up to the Alicorn in front of her. "Who are you?"

Richard hummed. "I'd wager the odds of Summoning a multiversal counterpart to oneself is about as likely as someone being able to use a solid gold knife more than once… and considering that gold is soft enough that if you smashed a nugget of it with a big enough rock it would flatten and light enough for flowing water to carry," he commented, not bothering to finish his comment as it was rather obvious. A knife made of solid gold would be lucky to be used a single time, much less multiple times.

"Huh I'm seeing double." The second Twilight said. "Guess I finally got another sister." The slightly taller Alicorn Mare held out her hand. "Call me Ayumi, Little sis."

Richard snickered a bit, unaware that a part of him that had lain dormant, in the present magic-rich environment, was starting to awaken. He turned away, not aware of the outline of a crescent moon overlapping the corona of a sun shimmering in gold and amethyst upon his brow.

"Little Sis?" Twilight asked, "I happen to be 25 years old!"

"Well I'm over 500,000,000,000!" Ayumi said. "Just because I'm technically your servant does not mean I'm not your elder!"

Richard exhaled softly as he took a deep breath. "Not quite sure why his theme is stuck in my head," he murmured softly in thought. He followed Lyra, who was surprisingly quiet, though he did notice that other students were still chuckling and I'm muttering about how she was still a 'Zero' and 'how she was so desperate for attention as to pay off a Commoner'.

His gaze flicked to one of the snickering students, his eyebrow rising dismissively.

"What did you just call Agent Heartstrings?" Ayumi said as a low growl emerged from her throat. "I trust her with my vast magic and knowledge more than anyone else here save Fluttershy. Let's get out of here Sis. I need to talk to the humans, Lyra, and Shy privately."

"Okay but why not report to Celestia first considering who you are and the fact that you're even older than our planet!" Twilight suggested. "Don't you think she should know about what you're going to say too?"

"What I know pertains to future events. Celestia probably already has knowledge of them due to her prophetic dreams." Ayumi said exclusively to the group of five. "Besides I want to see the town before I get locked up for being considered a changeling."

"Judging by the armor and outfits, I'd wager they're of a medieval style. Which, admittedly, I don't mind. I do have some experience currying horses… four legged variety, of course," Richard commented. "Though the Accel Memory does have a side form as a motorcycle," he commented wryly.

"I think that would be a good idea so we can meet with the rest of my party!" Fluttershy said a cute happy grin on her face, "I'm sure they'd love all of you!" Quickly the Pegasus and her rabbit familiar led the group outside of the hall into the public square leading towards the local church where her party was staying while she waited for her summoning turn. "We're basically a full party, I'm the cleric and healer, my friend Rainbow Dash is the ranger, Applejack is our berserker, Rarity is our White mage, and Pinkie Pie is our Bard and thief what we need now is a fighter a black mage and a tank. Once we meet up with them we should get food."

Richard blinked as his stomach grumbled rather loudly. He sighed softly. "Makes me kinda thankful I never took after Naruko or Usagi. One has a rather unhealthy obsession with ramen… the other has a sweet tooth that could probably rival that clock tower in size. I kinda lean towards… well… something else," he sighed.

Suddenly a low rumble sounded out from around the group. "Damnit now I want Ramen with mayo!" Ayumi said as she rubbed her stomach. "Returning from biostasis sucks! After so long without needing anything now I'm hungry and thirsty, by the way I can't talk until I get that drink otherwise I might tear my vocal cords apart that growl hurt, and all of my joints are aching from stiffness!"

Richard blinked before he tugged out two half gallon glass bottles from his pockets, not really realizing that his pockets seemed far too small to hold the bottles.

"Ramen with mayo?"

"Don't make fun of me so I like college food, so what?" Ayumi said as Fluttershy, Lyra, and Twilight started discussing party Dynamics and who could fill in the missing roles.

Lyra hummed. "So… Fluttershy tends to be the healer when we go thin out the monsters and more antagonistic wildlife while AJ is more a heavy melee striker," she commented. She may not be known for expertise in magic, but she was a damn dangerous strategist.

Richard shrugged. "Considering my father took me out regularly brewing moonshine whilst I usually prefer brewing mead as well as moonshine, I can't really comment. This is one of mine. Try it," he commented shyly.

"So how come you're able to carry that kind of stuff your pockets don't…" Ayumi started as she opened the mason jar. "Oh right I forgot riders have a pocket dimension, though I am surprised that you picked up on that instinctually." The cybernetic alicorn mare took a quick sniff of the potent alcohol. "Smells like pumpkins," She muttered before opening her maw "welp down the hatch!" She quickly chugged the drink letting the liquid rehydrate her innards before clearing her throat. "Damn did that burn good!" She said, her double layered voice startling the others.

"Celestia dammit" Twilight said as she turned to her elder counterpart. "How the Tartarus do you have such a creepy voice?!"

While the others were creeped out Fluttershy was shaking for a different reason knowing exactly why she had a voice like that having heard another alicorn with the same effect when using their power to its fullest. "W-when an alicorn or other such beings use immense power or have immense power channeled in their physical form it causes a double layered voice effect. Celestia does have this effect right after raising the Sun. I've witnessed the phenomenon when she raises it at the times she visits the church. What surprises me is that your elder sister here seems to just radiate that power through her voice although it could be because she was just using telepathy meaning she was channeling a lot of power to restart her body and cast the spell."

"You're quite close, actually this is just the result of the fact that I've stored power for over 1 trillion years since I didn't need to use it." Ayumi said as her voice slowly turned into Twilight's normal voice as she forced the power in her to speed up the waving of her Mane instead of leaking out of her voice. "It'll take some getting used to but I can manage the energy output in different ways."

"That explains why Celestia wouldn't let me talk to her right after she raised the sun most days." Twilight mentioned now understanding her mentor a little better.

Richard stumbled as she spoke, feeling something surge to the forefront as he held a hand to his forehead, unaware tendrils of silvery smoke were rising from beneath his fingers. He drew in a sharp breath, the sound hissing between his teeth.

Lyra's head pounded as she noticed her new Familiar staggering with a pained hiss. Her eyebrows shot upward before she blinked as blurred images flashed through her mind's eye far too swiftly to grasp in any useful detail.

Fluttershy noticed this and immediately went into a stance as the symbol of a sun appeared behind her. "Power of the Divine Sun, heal my allies' wounds, ease their pain, and allow them to go on!" She said as green butterflies swirled around both Richard and Lyra, her healing magic partially alleviating the headaches they were experiencing. "My healing magic can usually heal any headaches, the rare exceptions being those of mental strain or if they are of mystical origin." She said explaining her abilities to Twilight and Ayumi. "My order invokes the power of the sun itself to help with casting spells for non-unicorns. Journeymares such as myself are sent out with parties to strengthen our abilities in both healing and purification/light magic. A side benefit of this training is being able to cast buffs for physical and other abilities thanks to the purification/light magic and healing mixing together very well."

"So you're a White mage then why did you call Rarity a White mage?" Ayumi asked.

"I can answer that!" Twilight said happily "A White mage uses typical spells without using anger to help empower them or any other negative emotion including lust! Black mages tend to use the same type of magic but allow their negative emotions to empower their spells. Black mages are far more dangerous because of this but the power they use can corrupt them if they do not have self control." Twilight looked thoughtful as she remembered something she once read. "It's rumored that there is a magic nature that is strictly Black because it does not use emotion at all. I've only found scant references to this so-called 'lost nature' in the canterlot archives and Celestia does not talk about it beyond dismissing it as nonsense."

Richard grimaced as his fingers dropped, unaware of the sigil that had burned itself into his brow that looked as if its lines had been sprinkled with golden dust. "What if... this 'lost nature'... is something primal... yet easily dismissed?" he said slowly, wincing as his body felt sore and achy, almost as if he'd had the flu.

Lyra's eyes widened slightly as she saw the sigil. She got chills upon seeing it, as she could feel a strange, foreign sense of energy from it. She could feel echoes of his aches, yet they were muted. It was almost like her own destructive power, yet felt… distinctly different.

A slight snicker escaped Richard. "Though…. with your comment…. about those... two styles... of magic… I'm getting... a distinctive... Star Wars… Force reference… Light Side, Dark Side... kinda thing," he commented slowly. He could tell from their furrowed brows, none of them got the reference. "Light Side... Force users... tended to... eschew lust, hatred, fear, ecetera… to quote Grandmaster Yoda… “Fear is the path to the dark side… fear leads to anger… anger leads to hate… hate leads to suffering,” although... in his words... the Dark Side was "easier, more seductive, it is," he said slowly.

He didn't realize that upon quoting Yoda, his voice and even his speech patterns changed into those of the diminutive yet powerful Jedi Grand Master.

"It seems that you gained a unique ability to create exact replicas of voices. Does that have something to do with your talent, Lyra?" Ayumi asked, wondering if this version of her old Canterlot friend had slightly different talents than usual.

Lyra blushed. "Nope. I don't seem to," she said shyly and softly.

"Though that doesn't mean you won't pick it up… admittedly, some of the voices I use are rather… silly," Richard commented wryly, cutting her off. "Though I could see it being used for pranks… though it could also have uses in espionage… I mean, a spy hearing someone's voice and assuming they're there… even if they weren't?" he commented lazily.

"Hey melon nose!" Came from behind the group, startling everyone besides Ayumi who was calm.

Richard blinked, realizing that he'd drawn both Kukri blades and held them in a ready reversed grip.

Ayumi burst out in laughter, which was echoed by another female who was above the group. "You're good at that!" The voice said.

Richard's head tilted, his eyebrow rising. "ROTC," was all he said in reply. He didn't say it was eleven and a half years of it. He also didn't notice the slightest hints of golden and silvery light that was gleaming along the edges.

Fluttershy looked up immediately recognizing the voice. "Rainbow Dash, was that you?" The Nun asked.

"No, it was that mare there with the weird outfit that looks like the princess's student," Rainbow said as she leapt off the cloud busting it with a swift kick before landing next to the group with a flip. "I saw her move her lips right before that voice appeared."

Richard sighed softly as he sheathed the knives, slipping the loops over them and locking in the buttons with a soft click. His gaze scanned around before a low, screeching roar sounded as he half turned, the Fang Memory jumping up and landing on his shoulder. "You noticed it, too, eh? Something isn't quite right… like we're being watched by someone or something with less than friendly intent," he said softly, his tone cautious.

His eyes narrowed fractionally as his gaze scanned around, unaware that if someone looked very closely, they would notice something different about his eyes: the pupils were slits. He wasn't sure what it was, but his instincts were roaring at him, and he rarely ignored them.

Ayumi tensed suddenly, that same growl from earlier returning this time more audible since her throat healed. This reaction was mirrored by Angel, his own growl joining in. *SNICKT* The two beastial fighters extended claws from their fingers.

"Something's coming." Angel said, placing himself between the empty plaza and Fluttershy.

"Stay behind us, girls." Ayumi said as a low whining from her suit indicating that it was powering on joined in to the growling. "What can you sense, Rider?"

Richard's eyes narrowed slightly as he grabbed the Fang Memory, flattening it and folding it as he flipped the tail, tapping the button. "FANG!" it declared with a screeching roar as the Lost Driver formed around his waist as a glowing white outline that solidified into red and black metal. "No idea, but it's got my instincts ringing more alarms than a five alarm fire," he commented cautiously as he slitted the Memory into place as his armor formed in a burning pale blue light. It was a silvery white with gunmetal undertones and almost bug-like eye lenses that were a pale blue.

"That won't do. I should put that fire out…. permanently," a cold whispery feminine voice rasped.

Richard's eyes narrowed slightly. "Chilla. She's a cryomancer," he warned as his thumb depressed the tail trigger once before he blinked as something unexpected materialized in his grasp.

"You may be able to put out a fire," Ayumi started as the low whine of her suit shifted to a rumbling thump and a weird rifle appeared in her hands. "But are you able to stop nuclear fusion?"

"Stupid cunt. You really expect me to have come alone?" Chilla hissed as she spat out a shower of razor sharp icicle needles. Simultaneously, numerous bolts of crimson plasma flame and a bolt of prismatic lightning erupted, arcing their way.

It was two more Lunataks… the short 3'4" thruster legged, mohawked heavy assault specialist Tugmug and the 6'7" lanky hypnotist Alluro. What caught Richard's attention was the weapon in Tugmug's grasp… a Laserkraftwerk from the Wolfenstein games.

"Yikes… though it could make sense if somewhere in the universe that games or anime might be real… though if the Lunataks are here… could Dopants, and by extension Mutants and Mumm-Ra? I'd wager that old mummified bastard would try to have the Dopants under his thumb," Richard thought warily. "Though if they're here…. why? If so…. the Sword of Omens," he realized, unaware his eyes widened as they shone gold for a second.

Lyra blinked in confusion at her Familiar's thoughts. She had the distinct sense that he knew much more than he was telling.

Twilight's eye's shifted as Ayumi's rage grew. "Sis whatever you're doing it's affecting me too!" She said as her eyes began glowing with power along her Mane and tail flowing with raw mana. "And it feels good."

"Fluttershy, I'm going to need your strength." Angel said before blocking the ice shards.

Fluttershy got into a stance quickly, casting a silent strength buff to all of the combatants including the rest of her party who had approached Pinkie leading them. Along with a 7 foot tall purple and green dragon carrying a massive blade almost as big as himself.

Richard's eyes narrowed as he shifted the Drago Dagger in his grasp as he focused energy into the edge of the blade before swiping it through the air, an arc of golden flame edged with silver mist surging at a burst of Tugmug's shots before they collided with an echoing boom. His eyebrows rose slightly. "Those detonated with roughly half again the force of an M80, so anyone they'd have hit would have likely been taken out if not badly injured depending on the location of impact," he noted.

He noticed almost everyone evaded Arturo's lightning blast, save Rainbow Dash and Ayumi who actually drew it in.

"So I have another living lightning rod next to me, that's going to be fun!" Ayumi said as the electricity sparked over her form.

Bonds of Light

Richard's eyes narrowed warily as he kept an eye on Chilla, Alluro and Tugmug. He was wary of the Lunataks. "What drew them here, I wonder? Seems far too 'dumb luck' to be coincidence," he mused. His gut feeling was that they were here for a reason. "Who sent you and what does he hold over you?" he barked.

"What makes you think we aren't here to trash the place?" Tugmug snarled.

"Gut instinct. I doubt it's a coincidence that you, by dumb fucking luck, showed up not two hours after we end up here. You were sent and for a reason. What is it?" Richard deadpanned. He wasn't surprised that Chilla raised a hand at his case. "You aren't getting the case. This ain't 'Deal or No Deal'," he deadpanned as his head tilted before his eyes narrowed,

"Besides you're outgunned and outmatched." Ayumi said as she fired a shot from her rifle hitting Tugmug in the chest, the impact accompanied by a burst of green energy. "And considering how old I truly am, way underpowered for this scrap."

"Another immortal to contend with and one older than myself this is interesting." A voice on the wind said one familiar to both Ayumi and Richard.

Richard's eyes narrowed. "Seems to me the Thundercats must have weakened you enough to have to resort to lackeys, Mumm-Ra," his voice was icy. His head snapped around as Alluro lifted his staff, lightning gathering before it fired straight at him.

In a flash Ayumi was there, her rifle gone as she caught the blast between her claws. "You throw this stuff like you hate it." The glowing ball of plasma then flowed down her arms forming gauntlets of lighting. "Makes me wonder if you can take it back!" She said before vanishing, reappearing in front of Alluro, her right fist positioned to uppercut the lightning mage.

"No doubt he can, but the fact that he's trying to keep us at range implies he's lousy at close range," Richard guessed. He didn't like the smirk that crossed the Lunatak's face at that.

"Oh? What makes you so sure?" Aluero's voice was smug and dark humored.

Ayumi smirked as the lightning gauntlets disappeared, the plasma reforming into a ball in front of her fist. This was her plan, to fake a close range physical strike and instead give all the power back in one quick burst from right in front of the enemy. "As I said, take it back!" She said as her stance shifted to thrust the ball of plasma directly into Alluro's chest.

Alluro's voice shifted to an odd purr. "Wouldn't you prefer to hit your mouthy friend?" he commented as Richard darted forward as his irises shimmered prismatically in a hypnotic glow.

"You probably haven't noticed because they aren't really noticeable." Ayumi said as a third translucent eyelid quickly ran over her eyes and her wings opened showing that while feathered at their joints they looked far more bat or dragon-like towards the edges. "I'm a mother fucking Dragon hybrid and Dragons don't do hypnotized!" With that she punched the orb of plasma directly into the mage the explosion from contact causing a massive plume of smoke.

Richard's eyes narrowed slightly as his ears twitched at a crystalline crash that mingled with the crackling boom. He noticed a glint and skidded, the Drago Dagger rising to strike the staff Alluro held in a shower of sparks, feeling a hand press against his back. He was almost sure that Chilla had created a thick ice wall to give Alluro a chance to evade and react. "Shake off that hypnotic trance before you end up a frozen statue, damn it!" he barked, tempted to smack the shit out of her to clear her head. A cracking boom sounded as he heard Chilla shriek as he heard a thud.

Twilight focused, her keen mind acting like a knife slicing through the fog bank clouding her extra-dimensional twin's mind.

"Come on sis!" She shouted, feeling her mind try to break free. "Fight back!"

Meanwhile something emerged from the snow racing at Richard with a primal roar, the purple object rammed into the man.

Richard grunted as he tumbled twice, rolling to his feet. "Akon… Luna. Hell, the only one that's missing is Redeye… and I'd wager he's how you knew exactly when to attack," he deadpanned with a wince. He noticed his case in Luna's grasp. "Won't be able to unlock it. It's a biometric lock, and there's one thing that will unlock it," he commented with a small smirk as he saw her trying and failing to open the case.

"Even if they blow the lock by overloading it… what they're after… the Gaia Memories… aren't in there any longer," Lyra twitched upon hearing his psychic comment.

Ayumi gave a guttural roar as she slammed into Richard and took to the sky, throwing him up and punching him in the stomach. "Then all I have to do is rip you into bits and use one of them to open it!" Alluro said using Ayumi's voice. "This Alicorn's raw power should be enough to rip you limb from limb."

Richard grunted before he took a slow breath, noticing the fallen Drago Dagger dispelling in a shower of white embers. "Heh… you're a fucking coward and a pussy, Alluro, using what essentially amounts to a puppet rather than doing it with your own hands. What, too weak to beat a mere human?" he taunted. He gritted his teeth as, even with the protection of his bodysuit, that blow had hurt.

He knew just how hard these Gaia Memories could really hit, yet he didn't want to hurt anyone. He took a deep breath as he depressed the Fang Memory's tail trigger three times.

"FANG! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" the Memory declared as his arm reared up as white hot flames erupted before condensing into his grasp as the Sōjūtō.

His lenses flared bluish white as he slashed a downward arc, more to create distance than harm her. "Unless I'm mistaken, Mumm-Ra must have enhanced the abilities the Lunataks possess, as it seems like Alluro is somewhat possessing Ayumi's body rather than hypnotically manipulating her. Which implies that Tugmug's gravimetric powers may also be similarly boosted as well as Chilla's Cryomancy," he mused.

"A Human? I do not see human, I see a human-like being with incredible power. Of course I am afraid of fighting myself. Someone in this group should be afraid of death!" Alluro said through Ayumi who seemed to be moving sluggishly as if something was holding her back. This allowed Richard to dodge a strike that Ayumi was about to make which embedded her fist in the dirt."Ah! He does not see what she sees!" Alluro said, realizing that like him, Ayumi could see exactly what Richard truly was yet the man could not sense it himself. "Interesting!"

Richard's eyes narrowed slightly as he felt something pulse deep within him as he slid back several yards before he gritted his teeth as tendrils of silvery flame crept down his arm from his heart region. His eyes drifted half-lidded. "Afraid of death?" his voice was low. "Death is only one part of life, Alluro… a part Mumm-Ra fears like the bitch he is. It is the fact that we die that makes every breath, every act, precious. Better if we use those actions to better those around us!!" he said in a low voice, his voice rising to a snarled roar as his arm flashed up with inhuman speed as the outline of the marking upon his brow glowing like the corona of the sun in a solar eclipse. His fist paused millimeters from Ayumi, though a shockwave of golden white light from the Rider Punch shoved a ghostly form hard out of Ayumi's back. His eyebrows rose slightly as it shot back towards Alluro's body.

This caused Ayumi to collapse to the ground. Twilight in response began growling in rage, her eyes starting to glow brighter as the growling rose in pitch before she roared in raw anger and blasted Aluro with a beam of power she had prepared since the fight began. "YOU HURT MY SISTER YOU SON OF A WHORSE!" She shouted as the carriage sized beam impacted.

Angel took this moment to rush forward tackling a Lunatak back making sure to keep it distracted. "Fluttershy go to the church!" He shouted. "Luna should be listening, make a prayer to her for her help! With Mumm-ra back we need a warrior goddess!"

Richard saw Fluttershy dart off, but was distracted as Chilla tried to freeze him with her Cryomancy as Tugmug was distracted by Angel. He saw Alluro snarl as he got to his feet.

Fluttershy's eyes were wide as her hooves pounded the dirt as her wings fluttered in agitation.

Lyra's eyes widened as her Familiar tugged free the odd little Dino, which unfolded and darted her direction before leaping into her arms as she saw his armor disintegrating as he pulled out a different little thing before he rolled to evade a blast of thermal energy as he tapped the button.

"Joker!" it declared before he slid it in, swatting it to the side as his armor reformed, this time a rich dark indigo with purple highlights and red eye lenses. Her head cocked as he spoke an odd phrase she didn't recognize the language of.

[color=#70#963]"Saa, omae no tsumi o kazoero!" he sighed as he pointed at the Lunataks.

Luckily the Warriors of Harmony, Fluttershy's teammates had been taking on the small fry of the Lizians and Abyssinians, Rainbow Dash and Applejack doing the most damage with their respective super strength and speed when compared to normal ponies of their species. After hearing Angels suggestion knowing that Luna was the head of the international Hunter's guilds revealing that Angel had been listening to them speak of her all this time, the suggestion that Mumm Ra was strong enough that even his minions appearing warranted the response of the strongest physical fighter in the known world sent a chill down Rainbow Dash's spine.

"This Mumm Da dude is this strong?!" She thought as she beheaded another abyssian. An important fact to note was that all of the small fry seemed to be dead in the eyes, alluding to them being controlled by the more powerful lieutenants that Lyra and Twilight were fighting with their familiars. This meant that their minds had been stripped of anything besides following the orders of their master making them effectively living ggolems. This kept the guilt of having to kill living beings from truly manifesting in the Warriors even though they had killed others before in their hunts most specifically murderous bandits and raping pillagers, some of the worst scum of the Earth. Even Fluttershy their priestess had taken a life before out of Mercy for ending the suffering of a child who is bleeding to death. "It sucks that all we can do is end these poor people's suffering. Rarity's purify spell seems unable to break the control over them." She looked over to see Twilight blast Alluro once more this time with a much weaker attack that still caused the mage to stumble. "I'm not even sure that Miss Twilight, the student of Princess Celestia, the greatest mage besides Starswirled, I'm not even sure she could break the hold over these poor beings."

Luckily the restaurant that they had been headed to was right next to a dedicated guild Hall / church for the warrior goddess Luna. The restaurant was also run by former guild members, specifically one called Joe Donut, a skilled sniper with a scoped crossbow which he now wielded making sure that none of the stragglers would come near his patrons.

"What's going on over there Shy?!" The burly yet surprisingly buff earth pony said as he drew another solid iron bolt from his quiver loading it into his crossbow before aiming at another of the dead-eyed Lizian.

"I don't know Joe, all I know is I have to get into the guild Hall and try to gain contact with Princess Luna through prayer." Shy said as she stopped in from the guildhall doors realizing that they'd been locked from the inside as per evacuation and shelter protocol.

"Luckily I can get you inside. My restaurant is literally an extension built off the guild Hall since I still live there. Take my back way into the hall and then get to the altar!" Joe said as he pointed to a nondescript door to the side of his establishment which the grateful cleric pegasi took. Revealing it to be a secondary exit to Joe's apartment in the guildhall.

Quickly the Pegasus raced through the empty halls leading to the altar of the warrior goddess Luna. Kneeling down before it she began whispering a quick prayer to get in contact with her before saying. "Dear Luna if you can hear me one of your priestesses needs your help Mumm Ra has supposedly returned. His minions have confirmed it yet we have not seen him. We fear that he may soon show to steal Twilight Sparkle's immortality for himself seeing as she has yet to fully manifest her Alicorn abilities. Please we need your help, your willing priestess and cleric Fluttershy. May the Moon forever hold the Dreams in the Stars."

Richard kicked back Tugmug into Alluro as he staggered, only for one of Chilla's thermal blasts to catch him in the chest, hurling him back in a blast of sparks and smoke through a Rocky hillside and an ancient wall which sent out a billowing blast of dust.

Lyra's eyes widened as her hands snapped out, an explosion detonating in front of Chilla and shoving her back. A second detonation blew Alluro off his feet in a stagger. "Ugh… still alive… try visualizing your magic as grinding against itself when you release it," she heard him mutter in a groan within her mind.

She did so as Tugmug leveled his cannon, firing a volley of odd burning cylinders at her and her friends. Her arms slashed upward one after the other, the dust hanging in the air distorting from an unseen force before the rockets detonated in cracking booms as the same unseen force arced out, shearing through the projectiles. though the flames revealed that the unseen force were rapidly spinning arcs of invisible force.

It sheared a good third of the way through Tugmug's cannon before detonating violently, throwing him backwards in an uncontrolled tumble. She saw Chilla form a pair of spears of ice which shattered as her 'Arc Blades' struck them.

Her eyes widened fractionally as an Aurora Borealis surged in the air before her eyes widened as a rhythmic pulsation of crimson light shone from the hole her Familiar had created… which had, unfortunately, collapsed behind him.

Over by Twilight, Ayumi was slowly getting up. A visible aura forming around her as all her clothes disappeared revealing that her draconic traits extended over her whole body.

"Sis?!" Twilight said, amazed at how fast Ayumi had recovered from her recent ordeal only to notice that she was still unconscious, her body moving on its own. This worried the Alicorn, thinking that Alluro had somehow repossessed her. That is until Ayumi's eyes snapped open and what Twilight saw in them made her worry more for their foes. "Sis?" Twilight asked as she began to fear her elder sister.

"Run." Was all Ayumi said before she began charging at Alluro. Her body rapidly grew as she switched to a quadrupedal form of locomotion. "RUN!" She shouted as a purple light flowed up from her scaled chest to her mouth before she released a blast of concentrated purple plasma at the mage.

Lyra blinked as a surge of brilliant iridescent purple light flared as Alluro barely evaded the plasma blast before she felt arms grab her under the arms before she glanced up at Rainbow as she was pulled away.

"This fight is kind of a bit much for you," Rainbow said as they flew over to where Pinkie Pie and Rarity we're holding a defensible area with Rarity's gem shields and Pinkie's air magic powered party Cannon.

Fluttershy felt a cool breeze blow over her, fairly sure the Goddess Luna had heard her.

Richard groaned, his eyes fluttering open as his entire body was aching intensely. "Ugh…. damn… how the hell Shotaro, Ryu, Sugou, Wataru, and other Kamen Riders take that kinda hit and keep going… ugh… but I'll be damned if I leave them unaided. Eh?" he muttered before pausing, noticing slow, rhythmic pulses of ruby light like a heartbeat.

His eyes narrowed, unaware his slitted pupils were glowing slightly in a golden sheen. His foot slid forward, a low click the only warning before torches ignited, lighting up in several places before his eyebrows rose upon seeing a bolo whip, a retractable bo staff, and a set of nunchucks resembling clawed fists. what caught his eyes, however, was something that made his fingers twitch.

"I'll be damned," he breathed in surprise, Ignoring his burned and tattered clothes. "The Eye of Thundera," he said softly.

As if his words woke it, the slitted eye shone a bright red, the slit a prismatic silver. His eyes widened as a dime diameter beam of silver edged prismatic light hit the domed ceiling of the chamber a good nine feet overhead.

The area suddenly went dark as the sky above the fight shifted to the deep blue of midnight. "I hear your prayers and have arrived." A deep voice said before a shining blue orb rammed into the earth right beside Ayumi who had rammed into a wall of Blue ice created by Chilla.

"Hey mom!" Ayumi said as she stood up and began slamming her fists into the wall causing it to crack slightly before fixing itself. "Mind helping me with this crap."

Luna smirked a bit, her eyebrow rising slightly at the mature Alicorn's casual comment. "I'm not the only one that will be helping," she commented mysteriously. As she spoke, a tremor occurred as thin prismatic red beams punched up through the soil. A bolt of brilliant blue lightning exploded from the ground, tearing open a broad pit as something shot up before landing.

Lyra gasped, seeing her Familiar with numerous scratches, cuts, and bruises. His clothes were, quite frankly, in horrific condition, with burns, tears, dirt, and bloodstains both older and newer. Her head cocked at the odd gauntlet on his left forearm with what seemed to be a knife hilt sticking out.

Tugmug sneered, glaring at them. "We'll just kill all you stupid shits," he snarled.

Richard cocked his head. "I doubt that. Though if I'm honest, I pity you and yours, Luna… you, Akon and the rest of your group don't have to look to Mumm-Ra for purpose, but I know you won't listen… so few do… until they hit rock bottom," he deadpanned.

"Kill them all. Make sure these lands know the fear of the Lunataks," Luna Lunatak sneered.

The Goddess Selene Luna sent a bolt of dark blue mana at Luna, only for it to splash harmlessly off a malefic red barrier as Akon and his Rider fled.

Tugmug, Chilla, and Alluro attacked with rockets, thermal and cryonics blasts, as well as dark lightning.

In response Ayumi and Twilight both fired off their own respective blasts of purple energy plasma for Ayumi, her dragon breath and pure mana from Twilight. Along with this a Golden Glow surrounded each of the fighters revealing that Fluttershy had returned and reactivated the buffs that had run out in her absence.

"Human, call upon the Eye's power!" Angel shouted as he used his armored arms to deflect a rocket. "It responded to your presence, you can use it!"

Richard blinked, cocking his head in confusion before his gaze shifted to the armor gauntlet before he twisted as he saw Chilla slash an arm upward in his direction, shards of ice speeding his direction. His eyes narrowed slightly as he twisted, the icy shards striking the ground. He shifted his weight as he heard a whisper in his mind before a low snarl escaped him, unaware it sounded almost like an enraged feline. His eyes drifted shut for only a couple of seconds.

He didn't see the dagger lengthen in a surge of energy.

He did, however, feel a surge of strength rush through his body, unaware his irises were glowing a brilliant iridescent emerald that faded to aquamarine at the edges.

Rise of Thunder

On the edge of the Village of Ponyville right by the Everfree border a large-scale battle was going on. The warriors of Harmony, an unknown Draconic fighter, and a group of mares who had used the Summoning Tower along with their summons were fighting the forces of Mumm Ra. The battlefield littered with the bodies of Lizians and Abyssians who had been stripped of all free will thanks to Dark magic. The War Goddess Lune Di Selene, Aka Selene Luna had appeared thanks to the efforts of the Priestess Fluttershy, one of the Summons a human named Richard had been thrown into a ancient burial site nearby earlier and had emerged with a new weapon and gauntlet one that the goddess and a few others namely their enemies knew all too well.

The township had been evacuated to the local guildhall in accordance with local monster slash ever-free invasion plans instated when the guild Hall was built expanded from a local church that helped with the summoning rituals in the tower the extension of this guild Hall retired members could request expansions built whether they be for personal quarters or established businesses this is where we see Lyra, verity in Pinkie Pie hold up alongside a world-class sniper Joe Donut known throughout the culinary world for his tasty confectioneries and in the hunter world for his impeccable aim.

"Well I don't mind you beautiful ladies helping defend my store shouldn't you be out helping your friends with the major battle?" The slightly rotund earth pony asked as he fired another shot into a Lizians head.

Richard's grip tightened on the sword in his hand. His eyes drifted half-lidded as his grip flicked the blade, mystical electricity arcing over the blade. "Thundercats…. HO!" he roared, unaware his irises flared golden, followed by AJ's shining a deep emerald, Dashie's a brilliant magenta, Twilight and Ayumi's flaring a rich amethyst, and Lyra's a bright gold before Pinkie giggled as her irises shone blue.

Selene Luna's Cyan aura of power, Ayumi's Midnight violet, and Angel's near invisible white grew in response to the call showing the power of the Sword of Omens to enhance the welder's allies.

"The sword!" Alluro shouted, recognizing the light of the Eye of Thundera's Lioness symbol in the sky. "The human found the relics! Half of our job is complete!"

Richard's head tilted. "No… what is complete is the fact you will be leaving empty-handed, Alluro, as you did before," he said firmly, unaware his voice was double toned. In his mind, he could see the previous wielder of the Sword. "Let's keep the other Relics of my Team from them. Mumm-Ra will try to ensnare their souls into slavery to him," he heard in his mind.

"That won't happen. Mumm-Ra doesn't know that I transferred the Memories and Drivers to a dimensional subspace pocket that only I can access… and left a very embarrassing trap for him," he thought in return. He sensed Lion-O's smirk as he focused the lightning through the sword's edge, slashing upward and releasing an arc of electricity at Alluro and Chilla. He pushed off right after the second, his strides swift and ground eating before he pushed off into a snapping roundhouse kick that tagged Tugmug across the face hard enough to send him spinning before he grabbed Tugmug's cannon and smashed it across his face twice before unloading it into Tugmug's face before tossing it into Chilla's face and drop kicking it into her face, sending them both staggering. "If possible, gather the Relics while I keep these wankers occupied," he deadpanned with a hint of gruffness to his voice.

Ayumi held out her left hand as a yellow blur raced to her from the tomb landing in her hand.

"I'm borrowing this." She said plainly before ramming one of the ends of Cheetara's staff into the ground using the magical nature of the staff to launch herself over the wall. "It seems that the relics want to be wielded. Might as well add my own to the mix!" She said as she shrank back down to her normal state before holding her right hand to the sky, a handle with a golden ring at the end appearing in her outstretched palm, a blade of clear crystal extending from the ring seconds later.

Richard tilted his head as Tugmug charged at him as he shifted his weight, catching the tri legged Lunatak before dropping his weight onto an outstretched knee in an Atomic Drop. From his immediate squeal of pain, it appeared that his legs were flesh and blood. He ducked as he saw a cowboy booted foot plow into Tugmug's face. Applejack having rushed in to capitalize on the opportunity alongside Rainbow Dash.

"Pretty sure Shawn Michaels would be impressed at that Sweet Chin Music, darlin'," he drawled as he noticed Tugmug tumbling before he managed to recover. His head tilted as he took a deep breath. "But as for you….. Who's next? You're next!!" he growled as he hit Tugmug with a brutal Spear tackle. He felt metal armor fracture from the impact, not seeing the belt breaking in fragments, rendered utterly useless. He heard an impressive whistle as several arrows peppered Chilla's ice wall before it shattered with a sharp whistling crack.

"Dude, what are you with the Zero for?" Rainbow commented. "Not dissing her music, but her magic kind of sucks."

"She's not a 'zero' if she hasn't reached her true potential yet," Richard deadpanned. "And those Void Arcs were created by her, giving you and your friends the opening to get here. I merely advised her to visualize her energy in a certain way," he deadpanned. "Which begs the question, if her usual magic seems to blow up in her face, is it something to do with the stability of the energy flow or how she's visualizing it?" he mused.

Lyra heard the whispers of her Familiar's thoughts. They made tears well at the edges of her sight.

"Hey, she is classified as a Zero. It's not just an insulting nickname for her, it means she has zero aptitude in any of the elements yet she has capacity for magic beyond her cutie mark." Dash said. "The rating system goes from 0 to 4 depending on how many elements you can use besides your natural cutie mark magic and any magic you're bestowed by the goddesses and gods. I myself am classified as a two due to my ability to use lightning magic which is a mixture of fire and Air." She explained while dodging a strike from Tugmug, "Nice try asshole you got to be faster than that to hit me!" She shouted at the Lunatak.

Richard hummed. His eyes drifted half-lidded before his eyes snapped open as he twisted, swatting Chilla's thermal blast with the flat of the Sword of Omens before the blast condensed, turning an eerie blend of white hot heat and inky darkness before, with a flex of his arms, he sent the blast right back at its origin. He saw Chilla's eyes widen as she ducked, the blast ripping through and igniting no less than five trees before hitting an ancient column and detonating like a stick of dynamite. "Perhaps her specialty is a yet unknown branch of magic or even a specialized branch of Elemental Magic, did you consider that? Hell, more than a few Kamen Riders, such as the one I arrived as, his counterpart, Gaim, and G3, to name a few, lacked magic in the way you're referring, yet they did things that an average civilian could not. Hell, Gaim went from being someone you wouldn't take a second glance at on the street to being the equivalent of a reality bound deity," he said dryly. His gaze shifted back to Tugmug. "You'd think someone that looks like a toad might be a bit intelligent… but it seems that on top of being short, fat, and having the face of a toad, you have the learning curve of one a.k.a 'dumb as a box of rocks'," he deadpanned, seeing how battered and bruised the Lunatak was.

This caused Rainbow to burst out laughing allowing Alluro to blast her with a lightning blast mixed with Chilla's ice preventing the Pegasus from absorbing near all the damage. "Fuck!" She said as she was grown to the ground, her torso frozen, pinning her wings to her back. "AJ! Need your help!"

"Hey, Alluro, what do you think happens when you get hit by lightning?" Richard deadpanned before he charged the Sword of Omens and hit Alluro with a lightning blast that had him thrashing on the ground. He saw Chilla rear back her hands before he snapped a kick up, her cryokinetic blast freezing the spray of water. He took a deep breath as electricity flickered over his body, condensing into his other hand before he hurled a lightning bolt at Chilla, watching her eyes widen before it hit her in the chest.

He heard a metallic crash before he heard Rainbow yelp. "Getting slow in yer old age, sugarcube?" he heard in a Southern drawl. He glanced over his shoulder, unaware of the metallic looking Chinese dragons coiled around his forearms.

"Hah!" Rainbow said as the ice around her torso began to steam before shattering in a bright flash along with the crack of lightning and the smell of ozone. "If I'm old you're ancient AJ considering you're older than me!"

"And considering these wankers are older'n both 'o ye, maybe we should put these old fucks out to pasture… six feet under it," Richard deadpanned dryly, unaware that for just a couple of seconds, his voice gained an inhuman rasping growl before it just as quickly faded away.

"Well then let's get to it!" Ayumi shouted as she rammed the butt of Cheetara's staff into Chilla's chest with an audible "CRACK!" Making the thermal mage groan as she fell to the ground. Ayumi then retracted the staff to the length of an escrima stick allowing her to use the weapon and her sword at the same time without unbalancing her. "And then there were three!" She said gleefully.

"Never thought to use my staff for a short range CQC weapon." Cheetara's silky voice said in Ayumi's mind. "Interesting use of the extending and shrinking properties Jaga imbued into it."

Richard didn't notice the fractured jar that fell to the grass with a gothic 'V' upon it. He shifted his weight as he snapped off a roundhouse kick that caught Alluro across the face before he shifted into an axe kick that drew a loud crack as his collarbone snapped. "Eh? Did you hear that?" he deadpanned, unknowingly hearing Cheetara. "You hear us through our close link as both Thunderans and Thundercats," he heard a slightly growling, mature masculine voice in his mind. "Lion-O?" Richard thought in mild surprise even as he pushed off into a jumping back kick that caught Alluro high in the chest just below his throat. His eyes widened slightly as a large serrated knife speared through Alluro's chest and out his back.

He heard numerous gasps as he glanced down, seeing dark ebony liquid forming into a thick blade extending from his leg before he felt an odd warm chill as he saw the blade retract before he rolled through as he saw Alluro staring at his own bisected chest and throat before he slumped over to the ground. "Is that what I think? Ugh… mendosei," he sighed. He heard whispers, presumably that of Lion-O and Cheetara conversing.

"He found the 'V' Symbiont," Lion-O commented to Cheetara. "Though we do know that Mumm-Ra has at least two corrupted Symbionts," he muttered to her. "The others will wake with their tools in use, but we can do little more than guide our successors now, much like Jaga did for us."

Alluro disappeared in a flash of black light. "What the?!" Ayumi shouted as she recognized the magic signature. "Mom, did you feel that?" She asked Selene Luna. "How is he alive?!"

Selene Luna's eyes narrow. "We do not know, but we will find out," she said dangerously.

"I'm guessing necromancy is a frowned upon art, if not forbidden. It can be used for closure purposes, as Anita Blake employed it as such, though it was only found later that she was a born necromancer… she never abused the gift, however," Richard commented dryly. His head tilted as he'd sensed a tightening inside at that surge of light, as if something in him rebelled at that energy.

"Where I come from, it is not totally forbidden, as using it for closure purposes is actually the best usage of it and what Zebraican shamans practiced for the most part besides their potion making." Ayumi said before swiping at Tugmug with her crystal blade, who was barely standing as the attack cut through his armor, finally causing it to fall apart. "And now there is one; I think this one should be yours, mom, as they dare to use your name." The others did not notice the two fallen but still alive warriors disappearing in a flash of red light, black crystals temporarily appearing where the flashes were. Luna Lunatak had disappeared in the confusion.

Richard noticed something, yet by the time he turned his head, he saw nothing.

Luna Selene's eyes hardened. "There is a magic that can render Mumm-Ra unable to bring his fallen back, though it is on the darker side," she said warily.

Richard growled. "You have that Magic? Especially that particular Magic… holds great risk," he deadpanned. He saw her startled look as if she did not know he knew of that particular branch of Magic.

He inhaled sharply, gritting his teeth as the slightly paler skin smoked and sizzled, the skin grafts falling away as they charred into ashes. It exposed metallic looking Chinese Dragons, silver and ebony in color with red eyes, coiled around his forearms.

Lyra jerked, feeling his pain as she inhaled sharply, darting towards her Familiar.

Richard breathed hard, his hair messy and tangled as well as in need of a good, thorough scrubbing. His body was very bruised and battered, as well as scraped and scratched in places. He could feel the adrenaline ebbing away, leaving him very shaky.

"I have an even better way of doing such a thing." Ayumi said with a smirk "Considering how evil they are I will just unleash the Shun Goku Satsu upon them," she chuckled darkly "after all you can't bring something back without a soul and it be intelligent or powerful."

Richard tilted his head, unaware his eyes shone the palest blue for just an instant. "There was another sword in an alcove down there. It felt… hungry…. aware. Although… I didn't recognize it. I could feel it, however. I noticed a bolo whip down there and a set of nunchucks, as well as a pair of wrist mounted crossbows, along with that staff," he commented wryly. He jerked as a pair of forms materialized into ghostly forms before he recognized them from Lion-O's memories. "Lion-O, Cheetara," he said in mild surprise. Cheetara had materialized in a flickering surge of golden light while Lion-O had materialized in a surge of shimmering ruby light.

"What you saw was far older than our time. We chose to become guardians of it… and the one who once wielded it. However, we were cautioned never to touch it directly, nor allow it to fall to forces such as Mumm-Ra's or Grune's forces…. for to have such a thing occur would damn the living to a hell far worse than death," Lion-O said, "it is known as," he started before Richard cut in.

"The Soul Reaver… Raziel," Richard deadpanned quietly. He saw Lion-O's eyebrows rise in mild surprise as if he had not known the blade's name.

"From what I can tell of your new friend are you sure it isn't Allblack?" Ayumi said, looking closely at Richard's arm. "It's just as bad if not more."

"I'm not Allblack, girlie. He consumes far more than body or mind. He consumes essence and spirit on top of body, mind and desire. He's a plague… I'm not. Name's Venom," a gurgling growl deadpanned dryly.

"I was talking about the sword in the tomb and how your God created it, not you Klyntar." Ayumi said. "I know of your kind and it's power."

Richard cocked an eyebrow. "I doubt that. Though I can't guess for sure. What I felt from that sword was an endless hunger," he deadpanned.

"The Allblack was made to kill space gods." Ayumi said as she walked over to the remains of the cannon fodder. "Something it was successful at and now it wants more."

Richard blinked as a head formed from his shoulder blade on wavering tendrils of bluish black. "I don't know what Allblack looks like, but the sword I saw was a serpentine longsword with a fanged skull as the pommel. Seems that this world seems to be somewhat of a nexus for things from other worlds," he commented thoughtfully.

AJ cocked an eyebrow. "Ah wouldn' know about all that magical stuff. Not really my specialty," she drawled. "Ah'm better at tracking an' hunting. An' that includes them rogue idjits that call themselves 'free mages' that lean towards darker magicks… that stuff has a particular stench like rotten meat and wood," she deadpanned.

"When it doesn't feel of musk." Rarity said with a blush. "I hope that they don't learn that I have personal experience with black magic of the lust variety." She thought to herself. "It seems Sweetie Belle has picked up a few of those spells, most specifically ones that use frustration to help with cleaning one of the few supposedly 'pure' spells of the black variety."

Richard exhaled softly. "No doubt Mumm-Ra will realize he's been pranked… as I replaced what he expects to be inside… with an explosive of pressurized air and skunk spray… set off by a plastic cylinder with a chunk of sodium metal… that will be set off when he opens the case… releasing the water held back by the lid of the case being closed," he commented innocently. "Though the sprayers of Liquid Ass may have been overkill," he commented offhandedly. He saw Rainbow staring at him with widened eyes, same as the odd girl with puffy raspberry hair and blue eyes.

"Dude!" Rainbow said visibly pissed off "me and Pinkie here may be pranksters but we don't set up something for someone who can literally kill us and is willing to do so! You are one crazy son of a bitch that I don't want to talk to right now! I've already dealt with my own problems with pranking in the past."

Both Ayumi and Twilight smacked Richard upside the head. "You obviously know how vengeful Mumm Ra can be! Why the hell would you antagonize him with such a prank. Now he's going to literally be gunning for us every chance he gets!" Twilight said. "Never prank a serious threat!"

"Even in my world I didn't do that!" Ayumi growled. "Now we'll have to be on guard until Mumm Ra is ash!"

Richard cocked an eyebrow. "Are you aware that my world knew of these two and Mumm-Ra as animated characters rather than 'real people'? Same for the Soul Reaver, though it was a video game creation… and Venom… was originally a comic book character. So the odds of me knowing such things are about the same as the odds of the rabbit popping a golden egg out of his rear, ya ken?" he deadpanned bluntly as he flicked his thumb at Angel Bunny, reminding them how little he knew of their world. He gritted his teeth as he felt heat surge from his core, unaware the metallic Chinese Dragons visibly rippled with multicolored rainbow flames.

"What are you? We've been ignoring it because of the fight but we've seen signs that you're not human. Hell, even the admittedly hot naked mare Ayumi can see that you're not human as implied by the freaking lightning mage's words while he was possessing her body." The draconic fighter said. "Hi Aunt Luna!" He said as he hung his sword onto his back. "Thank you for responding so quickly."

"So you come from an oververse?" Ayumi said ignoring the comment by the draconic fighter knowing his true identity. "Something tells me your oververse was far more connected with the rest of the Omniverse than you think. The signs on your body notwithstanding."

"Luna's your Aunt!" Pinkie squealed "my drake friend is royalty?!"

Richard cocked an eyebrow. "What the fuck is an 'oververse'? We had shows both animated and realistic that most considered fantasy, same as video games. However, all of them had one critical factor in common… they all were an escape from reality, which more often than not was boring as hell and where people as often as not took advantage of you in one way or another," his tone was cool and tightly controlled as he spoke. "You ever heard the phrase 'Aes Sedai'? It has a very particular connotation in the Old Tongue over what most would consider the 'common' tongue or language," he deadpanned. "And I was born a human…. so if I'm something other than human… I don't see it," he deadpanned with a cocked eyebrow. He was unaware of the metallic pale golden marking upon his forehead that stood proudly visible, rippling with both Solar and Lunar energies.

"It's a personal nickname for a type of universe that can easily observe other universes through their fiction as if it's in a glass box watching "over" those universes." Ayumi said. "A more common name for it is a "Nexus reality." There are a few that I have encountered including the very center of the Omniverse, the Zero Point, the point of the Omniversal Big bang." Ayumi tapped her sword "This is actually a relic from that universe where the zero point resides, the Infinity Blade. It was multiplied infinitely by falling through the zero point and sent to nearly all Universes. It is different from its normal look because of changing its look to match each Universe it is in. It was called the Sword of Balance or Harmony in my world. There may very well be a version in this world if the Sword of Omens is not that weapon already. It might not even be a sword as one version of the Infinity blade was called the Sideways Scythe."

"Hmmm…. that could be possible," Lion-O commented thoughtfully, "though Tygra would know better than I. Though T do know that there are ancient Runic markings upon the hilt nobody could read," he commented.

Richard shifted the Sword, looking closely at the hilt before he blinked, unconsciously dropping the blade in shock. "I could…. and it's a name… not of the sword, but if I'm right… a place the Sword is familiar with…. Grayskull," he said, his eyes wide. He saw prismatic white lightning arc over the blade as if reacting to the name as well.

Unknown to all of them, several star systems away, a tremor rumbled through the castle in question, causing two sets of eyes to open.

"The Sword has been found and the Runes etched into the hilt read," the elder of the duo commented.

"So, despite what happened all those centuries ago… our bloodline survived despite his attempts to end it," the younger woman commented.

Explorations, Relaxation, and Classes

"Well then, it seems that in this world the sword was paired with the Eye of Thundera creating the Sword of Omens from the Sword of power." Ayumi said, slightly surprised. "If the sword has laid dormant only using the power of the Eye, then Grayskull must have just awoken when you named it." 'Trust me when I say that there is another sword I may wield that is powered by the same energy of Grayskull.' Ayumi said to Richard, Twilight, Lion-O, and Cheetara. 'Though the weapon will most likely choose you, sis.' As she said this a streak of white light impacted the ground next to Twilight. 'Guess I was right.'

With a flap of her wings Rainbow Dash cleared the smoke from the crater formed from the impact revealing a unique blade half embedded into the ground. "What the heck was that?!"

"That my friends is the sword of protection counterpart to the sort of power and the source of power for the warrior She-Ra." Ayumi said, pointing to the weapon. "Only one will be able to wield it, one worthy of it."

Richard cocked his head. "Considering what I've seen today… I wouldn't be surprised to know that magical forces could be just as aware if not more so than people. Shows that the Creator really focuses on the long game, so to speak," he sighed as he flicked the Sword as he scooped it up, watching it shrink back into a dagger. In that instant, memories that were not his nor Venom's surged through his mind at high speed. He blinked, seeing Lyra over him, unaware his legs had given out beneath him. He noticed their concerned looks as he sat up shakily. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving…" he said. He saw Lion-O's facepalm before Cheetara laughed.

"Seems you gained his metabolism, child. Though I know nothing of this 'Grayskull'," she quipped.

"To get a significant strength and speed boost and through the literal impossible just raise the sword and call out 'By the power of Grayskull I have the power!' After that you'll get a significant power up and look more like Hercules then you do now Richard." Ayumi said as she pulled the sword of protection out of the ground feeling that they acknowledge that she could be its wielder but that there was another like her that it wanted. "Lil sis, I think this will give you the edge in battle that you need." She passed the weapon over to Twilight, a sudden blaze of rainbow light appearing as the younger lavender alicorn took hold of the blade.

"This weapon! It feels like it's alive!" Twilight exclaimed as she held the weapon.

"That weapon does not have the same call as the sort of power if I remember correctly it's 'For the honor of Grayskull'. Though for both of you you can call upon different aspects of Castle Grayskull to empower you even more temporarily." Ayumi said "Since we have the time we should gather up the relics within the tomb considering how strong I am I should be able to hold the Soul Reaver for a little while."

"I did notice the Sarcophagus near the Soul Reaver… and if it's correct… then the Sarcophagus holds Kain within," Richard commented cautiously, thinking of what little he knew of that series.

"Kain is?" Fluttershy said softly, confused.

"Huh." Ayumi said, scratching her head. "I have no idea of which Kain you are referencing, the one that generates blades or are you referencing another version, a vampire I may be thinking of. If I'm being honest I really hope it's the former because with all of us being great warriors he won't go berserk, especially since that means his brother might not be on this world giving him less reason to go berserk."

"By the way, why are you still naked and glowing with that aura?" Rainbow asked. "Clothing is not a legal requirement in Equestria but it tends to be used considering how dangerous some of the wild areas are."

While my body has fur on top of it my skin layer is more or less dragon scales, extremely tough and considering I'm legally an Elder Dragon it's even tougher than a Dragon Lord at full growth. The aura thing is just what happens when I'm not wearing my armor. The armor uses my excess magic to start nuclear fusion and maintain the reaction. Though I have to ask everyone, do you like what you see?"

AJ's head cocked as she noticed something before her hands snapped out, a sudden ripping sound catching the attention of everypony there as an ugly bruise exposed itself on the lower right side of his chest alongside a rather noticeable concave area roughly a third larger than a fist… namely a certain Elder Dragon-Alicorn hybrid's fist.

Richard cocked his head before he coughed a bit. He exhaled softly as he sat up before he gritted his teeth. He could feel a burning sensation rushing through his body.

Lyra's eyes widened as she saw blood trickling from her Familiar's mouth.

"Shit," Ayumi said as she used her magic to scan Richard before immediately applying a general healing spell using her unique abilities to turn it into a complete body regeneration. "I hit with my full force. We need to get him to Redheart now! He's got internal bleeding and pretty much pulverized ribs. My magic might save him, but we're going to need specialized equipment to keep the bones from regrowing in the wrong shape, plus from what I can see it we're going to need to let them know that AJ has some serious bruising in her arms and legs and Rainbow has a few singes. NOW!" Ayumi summoned a syringe that she injected immediately into Richard.

'Stimpack, it should at least replace the blood that you're already losing' Richard heard her voice whisper in his mind even as she yelled aloud "WE NEED TO MOVE NOW!"

"Get… Relics. Keep… safe," he managed weekly. He saw her gaze dip to him for a moment even as he felt his consciousness fading. "Shows that even the armored bodysuits the Kamen Riders wear have limits… but I ain't fucking dying again, not like this," he whispered.

"Damn it, this is all my fault... if I hadn't engaged Alluro when I did, I wouldn't have been controlled!" Ayumi shouted as she began to levitate the man keeping equal pressure on all of his body to not exacerbate his injuries further. "Where is the hospital!" ?"

Fluttershy took a deep breath. "We have an infirmary. Unfortunately, only those related to royalty have access to… hospitals… though medical knowledge of the body in the way you've shown is… extremely advanced," she said softly.

"Nobody is perfect, Ayumi… save the Creator and His Son. 'Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.' from James, Chapter 1, verses 2‭ through 6. Also, Romans Chapter 5, verses 3 through 8 tell us, 'And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!' That is the hope and strength within me. Not mine, but my Heavenly Father's through me," he whispered.

"We have two royals here, that is not a problem, they can vouch for us!" Ayumi said, pointing to Luna and Twilight, both of them princesses. "I can't use any more of my special medical equipment to heal him all I'm doing right now is making sure his body is stable and replacing lost blood as quick as he loses it if I push the spell any farther his rib cage will heal but in a way that will keep him from being able to move."

When Richard awoke with a sharp, deep breath, he found himself in a room that looked mildly like a cross between a medieval room and a more modern hospital room.

Lyra grimaced, staring at the blade sheathed in the claw gauntlet before her gaze shifted to the twin wrist mounted crossbows on her own forearms. She jolted in surprise as she felt her Familiar's consciousness surge from its quiet.

"Miss I insist you put some clothing on!" Was heard from outside the room they were in. "Your intimate knowledge and special equipment saved his life but even with the close optional law for the rest of Equestria, medical facilities require proper clothing!"

"Fine!" Ayumi said before snapping her fingers a bright flash of light illuminating the door frame for a second. "That better?"

"I guess so," the voice said. "Although that outfit might elicit the wrong response from our patient, it's still a form of clothing." At this the door opened revealing nurse Redheart and Ayumi.

Richard cocked an eyebrow at the mature Alicorn's outfit. "Cute outfit. Though I'm guessing it was instinctive rather than intended to be seductive, mon amour," he commented wryly.

"Actually I like walking around nude this is about as much covering as I'll wear normally. I'm a naturalist." Ayumi said. "It seems that this world has at least 1900s Earth level of medical technology so we were able to keep your ribs in the correct shape while I used my magic to heal you. After that was done I used a couple of stimpacks to fully replenish your blood and a more advanced healing spell to regenerate any damage from your tissues. I even fixed some not noticeable problems that wouldn't affect you in the everyday but would have gotten worse with age."

Richard cocked his head. "That's information to me. Though I'm guessing you likely noticed the minor scoring on the ribs along my right shoulder blade in the back. Came from an encounter with a grizzly bear," he commented wryly. He saw her eyebrows rise in mild surprise.

"I had wondered where those came from." Redheart said. "Princess Twilight gave us full access to Princess Ayumi's scans of your body to allow us to treat you since even though you are remarkably similar to us you are a different species unknown to this world."

"It's the least I can do." Ayumi replied, "Though I haven't given access to any of my more advanced medical equipment. Mostly because there's no way to reproduce them currently without lowering quality to dangerous levels."

"Sis?" Twilight nervously asked as both she and Lyra stuck their heads in the chamber. "Is Richard awake?"

"Yeah he's up." Ayumi said before turning to Lyra and Richard. 'I learned to focus my telepathy a long time ago. She's not listening in on this but I think both my younger sister and Fluttershy have developed a crush on Richard especially after seeing his exposed chest after the bruising was gone.'

"Whoever got WilyKat's slingshots, I can help with as I've had experience hunting with slingshots. Hell, after the incident with the bear, I brained a wolf with my slingshot and dropped its mate at a full running charge with a launched river rock. I'm also skilled with bladed weapons and kunai, or as they're also known, rope darts, especially," he commented wryly.

"If you're wondering how long you were out it's actually been a week." Ayumi said her voice filled with disappointment in herself. "It's my fault you're in here. Even with all I did to save your life I can't ever forgive myself for letting that bastard control me! For almost killing you! Not to mention we've had to fight off small incursions from The Forest of straggler forces that whole time the good thing that came from that is Twilight, Lyra and I have become good friends with the rest of the 'Warriors of Harmony' as they call themselves. Lyra's been added as their official Black mage in Twilight as a Hexblade to use a D&D term, we've found a couple of more relics as well. Now that you're healed I want to ask for something."

Richard cocked his head slightly. "Oh? I have to wonder, with the Sword of Power and its counterpart showing up, if Skeletor's forces also have done so," he commented carefully. He was unaware his irises were glowing slightly. "Though I did feel a tremor rush through the Sword of Omens as if responding to something," he commented thoughtfully.

"Applejack has been using one of the relics that we found. It's a unique weapon." Ayumi said before sitting cross legged on the floor, though her height did not allow her to sit in a normal hospital chair. "Although I recognize it due to having been in multiple human worlds, I'm surprised that it showed up here." She passed the picture of the object that she had drawn from observations to Richard. "What worries me is that means we could be getting some of the beasts of that world. Even weapons from that world hold the blood, especially that one as it seems to be completely upgraded."

Richard tilted his head, his eyes on the picture. "I don't recognize that weapon. Though," he started before his ears twitched upon hearing thunder roll in the distance before his eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed something. He saw Ayumi's head turn. "You sense that as well? Something is in that storm," he said before arcs of electricity surged over one of the Dragon markings as if reacting to whatever he sensed in the storm. "I hope that it is not what I think it is," he muttered gruffly.

"WILD EVERFREE STORM HEAD FOR SHELTER! WEATHER MARES IN PONYVILLE CANNOT CONTAIN THE INTENSE STORM! IT IS HEADING TOWARDS CANTERLOT! HEAD FOR SHELTER!!" A booming voice said from the streets below.

"Oh yeah, they have Town Criers." Ayumi said in response to Richard's visible confusion at the voice. "These ponies have at least 1900's level medicine yet they still rely on Town Criers instead of an announcement system. Even back where I was from we had magic for that, but it does pay very well since it's technically a guard posting."

Richard tilted his head slightly. His gaze shifted to the storm before his eyes narrowed, unaware of the tiniest arcs of electricity flickering in his irises as a slight emerald light rippled through the marking upon his forehead which was a muted mother-of pearl golden tone. Unknown to him, his true nature was far more powerful than merely Human or Thunderan.

Jovian Storm

Richard exhaled softly. "I don't know what fell amidst that storm, but we cannot allow Mumm-Ra to get his hands on it and corrupt it. I'm hoping it is not Mjölnir, to be blunt. Either way, if it's as strong as I suspect, to be sensed however far from this 'Everfree' we are, it must be secured safely from those who might misuse it," he said in a low, yet firm and powerful voice.

In the Astral Plane, Cheetara glanced at Lion-O questioningly. "You did not give him your charisma, did you?" she deadpanned. A small smirk crossed Lion-O's face. "No more than you afforded the Elder Magic Avatar your stubbornness," he drawled teasingly. "That was all him… if I'm honest, were I still breathing, with his charisma… even I would follow him. Though there's something that feels… older… about him," he commented wryly, his countenance thoughtful.

"There are other hammers of equal power and strength that it could be, there is even a mace that it could be." Ayumi commented, "What worries me more is who could have fallen. There are a few beings that might have been placed here that control the elements of the storm."

Richard tilted his head slightly. "If it is, Mumm-Ra may attempt to sway them to his side, insidiously if he must… as well as those unknown who may be allied to him other than the Lunataks. No doubt Alluro will hold a grudge against me," he commented. I do not know why, but I get the sense there is something… familiar… in the storm… from our past," he mused, unknowingly using the term 'our' in reference to his past.

Lyra blinked, noticing an odd, slight hint of a growl in his thoughts. For just an instant, she got a flash of harsh golden amber eyes inset within ebony armor within silver moonlight within her mind's eye. She gasped, unknowingly stumbling backwards into Twilight and Redheart.

"Miss Heartstrings?!" Redheart asked. "Are you all right? We know that you've been worried about your familiar's physical state ever since he passed out. Have you been eating well?"

Lyra took a deep breath before nodding slightly. "I just over-balanced for a moment," she said carefully. Her head tilted as she noticed a glint of silver, obsidian, and navy beneath the bed her Familiar was in.

"Well then, it's about time we let our resident fashionista in here to take your measurements, Richard." Ayumi said. "You only have one set of clothes, currently, and more like could give you some armor, thankfully it's on one size fits all kind of deal due to game physics, as my armor is more suited for the female form, so I don't think you would want some of it or any of it for that matter."

Richard tilted his head. "Resident fashionista? I don't get it," he commented blankly, confused. "Though anything resembling what I knew as normalcy is kinda out the window and falling into the nearest black hole," he sighed. "Though I do know leatherworking is a very underrated art… because it's possible to create some beautiful things," he commented wryly.

"Dah-arling!" Rarity said as she walked in the room. "Leather is outlawed here any Equestria cows or any other animal that you can make decent leather from are sentient!" The marshmallow mare said looking aghast at the mere mention of using animal products for clothing, before she broke down laughing. "I'm just kidding, darling. While cows and all that are sentient we do have some specific forms for leather that breeds non sentient animals that make decent leather."

"Hmmm… first animals that come to mind would be certain species of snake such as rattlesnake or crocodiles. Rattlesnakes are venomous, but a good bit of money can be made from capturing them and selling their venom for antivenom. Not to mention that their skin is quite beautiful in color, mostly browns, tans, and coppers which had been used in boots and gloves. Crocs… they can be dangerous and get damn big. Biggest gator caught, I believe, that was confirmed by multiple sources was thirteen feet, eight inches. They tend to be opportunistic predators, but can and would go after children if given the opportunity, and from the muscles on your bodies, equine facial features or not, there's no building that kind of muscle you or AJ have without meat of some sort," he deadpanned with a cocked eyebrow. He noticed Ayumi's cheeks coloring at that. "What, too many people trying to curry favor of one sort or another with ya in the past rather than a single person making a genuine observation of your beauty with no ulterior motives?" he teased.

"I was in biological stasis, remember?" Ayumi said. "Imagine NNN times 1 quintillion. You mentioning how I look, it's kind of gotten something flowing that I want to forget right now."

"But didn't Spike mention that you look good?" Twilight said curiously. "I mean, he's not your son."

Little sis, my Spike was my son, that's why I was able to ignore his comments," Ayumi said glaring at Twilight. "Although incest was not taboo or illegal when I ruled, it was not always looked upon with glee. Besides, even entertaining that is an Oedipus complex waiting to happen with him, plus I think that comment was more because of his transformed State allowing him a different state of mind as not a lot of people would have recognized him."

Richard rolled his eyes. "You're referring to that subtle, faint scent in the air, hai? My senses were always sharper than most, though I will admit that I wouldn't know the first thing about romance towards any of you. Such as whatever… social etiquette… would be known to this world that wouldn't be on Earth," he deadpanned. "Though I'm hoping that there isn't an equivalent of Gaia Memories in this world… or that group NEVER… ugh… they manipulated people into using Gaia Memories to turn themselves into Dopant Kaijin… which fortunately could be reversed… if someone executed a Memory Break to eject the Memory used," he sighed.

"Honestly, right now I kind of need to get out of here before I rape you." Ayumi said bluntly before disappearing in the flash of teleportation.

"That was awkward," Twilight said, embarrassed at how blunt her sister was. "I didn't think she'd actually say something like that. Sorry, Richard, it seems that right now she's more focused on relieving those needs before harming anyone than anything."

"Although my gut feeling is that putting it off or suppressing it would make it worse. And in terms of armor, wouldn't leather layered underneath steel provide a bit more defense? Admittedly, most steel and leather armors are more for appearance, on Earth, than actual use… as that sort of armor hasn't been used for close to…. six to eight hundred years. The kind of combat armor tends to be layered plate steel or woven Kevlar… both of which can block bullets… which are copper projectiles roughly half the size of your thumbnail… though some of the bigger calibers can be half as big as your thumb… accelerated to just under the speed of sound through a pipe. I won't say how nor what sizes of bullets there are on Earth," he deadpanned, his eyes narrowed on Twilight, feeling an odd heat build behind his forehead as he noted her scribbling down his words. He didn't see the mark upon his forehead shine red for a fraction of a moment before reverting to a warm golden tone dusted with silver, no more than the amount of time it took for him to blink before the notes she'd taken regarding bullets were ignited in a gust of flames.

Twilight glared at Richard. "Why did you do that? All I was doing was writing down what you said to compare with my sister. She explained what that weapon was when she mentioned nuclear fusion," Twilight header hands on her hips unknowingly emphasizing her curvy figure. "She told me it was an assault rifle, a weapon that uses bullets. Something similar to the flintlocks and black powder cannons that are used in naval warfare between Equestria and the Griffins if not far more advanced."

Rarity decided to change the subject before an argument broke out "Ayumi explained to me that gamberson's, leather and cloth armor tunics, are actually better than metallic armors for catching blades. The biggest reason why metallic armors have been in use is because of projectile weapons such as arrows, air rune-powered cannons like Pinkie Pie's and those aforementioned flintlocks. That's because the projectiles move so fast they can cut through leather and cloth far easier than a blade which can only move as fast as the strongest earth pony or Alicorn can swing. Along with that, metallic armor is better for deflecting magic whether it is enchanted to do so or is mirror-like so there is that factor as well."

"No doubt Mumm-Ra will attempt to introduce advanced weaponry even beyond what I knew on Earth and the reason I did that was because ballistic guns have caused the deaths… on Earth, in no more than a century and a half from the time of flintlocks until present… in the range of one million, three hundred and seventy thousand… and that's just from major wars, to say nothing of various criminal groups. If I can prevent the same here, good," Richard's voice was low and grim.

In another flash Ayumi reappeared, this time looking far more relieved. "He already has as some of those stragglers were equipped with laser weapons. Not on par with my best, but they were still pretty powerful." Ayumi pulled out a unique looking almost toy-like weapon.

"I have many others of this weapon in its various modifications but this is my standard laser assault rifle. I have a weaker earthborn version but this one came from a race of aliens called Zetans. They also have pistol variants that look similar to this but this is the one I use if I need to turn something to Ash immediately."

Two distant bellowing roars echoed as Richard's ears twitched. His eyes narrowed at the sound, a soft, wary breath escaping him. He didn't notice the embers of flame rising from his right forearm as electricity danced over his left forearm. "That didn't sound like Lizards," he commented cautiously.

"They're not. That sounded like Outworld Centaur war cries. Though whom they may have found has me more troubled," Pinkie said quietly, her tone wary.

"Okay, I guess we're not going to ignore the obvious threat anymore,"Ayumi stood up, switching to her original outfit in a flash of light. "Armor up everyone, including you, as we need to go out and take care of this." Ayumi said morosely. "Redheart, prepare the ER, just in case we get injured as it's going to most likely happen."

The nurse nodded and headed out to warn the doctors of impending patients.

Richard nodded as he slid out of the bed, uncaring at that moment that he was wearing naught but boxers. He noted that Rarity had been taking measurements even as everyone was preparing. He blinked as he saw her hands rise, a soft translucent cornflower blue aura engulfing her hands and wrists, coiling around her forearms before he blinked away the glare before blinking in mild surprise. It was only after that he noticed the bolo whip hanging from Rarity's hip.

The group left the hospital. "What do you think is drawing the raw power and enemies?" Twilight asked. "It has to be something very powerful to create such a large storm and bring in centaurs from Tartarus."

Richard rolled his shoulders. "No idea. If it's Mjölnir, or some counterpart to it, that could explain it, though… call it a gut feeling, but I don't think it'll just be a 'what' but also a 'who'," he commented carefully. He couldn't explain what he was sensing, but it felt very…. familiar. His eyes drifted half-lidded before snapping open as his fingers curled inward. His eyes narrowed as his legs tensed before he shot forward. Unknown to him, for no more than a tenth of a second, ghostly dark golden wings edged in prismatic silver flared out from his shoulders before fading into smoky embers.

Lyra's eyes widened slightly upon seeing the wings, thinking of the recurring dream that her Familiar had been tormented by whilst unconscious. Her head bowed slightly as she hadn't told anypony about those dreams… because she was almost certain that they weren't dreams… but memories. She missed AJ and Fluttershy watching her from the corner of their eyes, oblivious to the subtle dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Something has Lyra troubled, Twilight, though she hides it really well," Fluttershy whispered to Twilight. "What it is, I can't guess," she murmured quietly.

"He's powerful, little sis." Ayumi said Via her familiar link. "He may not realize it, but the longer he's here, the more powerful he'll get. I barely had to do anything by the time the sun went down the first day to heal him when he should have been bedridden for that entire week with me completely focused on healing him the whole entire time to make sure that his ribs wouldn't shatter under the strain of them forcibly healing so quickly."

AJ saw Twilight shoot the older Alicorn an incredulous look, almost tripping as a result as they darted out of the guild hall.

"Makes sense that they would mistake Outworld for whatever this 'Tartarus' place is. Presumably, they're both home to demonic denizens, though no doubt Outworld would have more varied demonkyn… though we can only hope that Shao Khan or Onaga are not at the reins of the realm… both of them could be considered warmongers," Richard muttered to himself aloud. He didn't realize 8he was humming a slow, almost tribal beat as his booted feet pounded the ground.

Lyra cocked her head as she could just see her Familiar in the flashes of lightning as it reflected off the buckles upon his armor. She didn't realize she was unconsciously matching his quick, loping stride. For an instant, she got an image of men and women dressed in shades of tan and browns with black veils hiding all but their eyes wielding short but broad bladed combat spears. She noted that they employed the same fluid hunting stride.

"Tartarus is a portal to all hell dimensions in most Equestrias," Ayumi sent Richard. "It's ruled over by centaurs, so Outworld most likely has a natural connection to Tartarus. Honestly I hope it's Ko'atal for Kitana that we're dealing with, not Shao or Onaga. If I'm being honest I hope even more we're not dealing with Gods from those realms, Kronika most especially."

Richard tilted his head as he slowed. "Eh? I'm picking up on something in the flashes of lightning. Looks… like a twisted battle axe… black on a red background." His eyes narrowed, unaware his irises were a rippling golden color. "That's not an Outworld sigil…. too chaotic," he muttered, unaware that gave a big hint.

"Well then, DISCORD!" Ayumi shouted both out loud and through her mind. "They're the best source of answers for chaotic items and they will have been drawn to this weapon, one that I don't recognize."

An ember of rippling magical power that happened to be constantly shifting in color formed before erupting in a burst of rippling smoke. "It is so tiring to be sealed in your own plane, only able to observe save for when I'm summoned," a masculine voice sighed. "Eh? Where did you find a Demonic Combat Axe of Chaosrealm? Most of the time, only high ranking Clerics would have those… and they'd never leave them lying around," the voice commented with mild interest before his voice shifted to grim wariness.

Richard cocked an eyebrow as the smoke obscured the speaker.

Fluttershy and Ayumi rushed in and hugged the creature. "Dissy!" The Pegasus said as she giggled. "It's been too long!"

"Ah… the reborn Daughter of Magic and the Daughter of Nature… Hmmm, curious little slingshots you have," the commenter spoke again. Richard's ears twitched at low grumbling babbles that made no sense to him, and again at chuffing growls before he half turned, his eyes narrowing warily in the oncoming storm before he noticed something flying end over end in the air before his eyes widened slightly at a distant spark of emerald electricity flickering.

"Old friend," Ayumi said with tears visible in her eyes. "I failed you, I'm so sorry."

"You know Discord?" Twilight asked nervously. "While not evil, he's not a good person. Why did you say you failed him?"

"It's from my past, my world. Let's just say I lost everyone and leave it at that, it's too painful to remember anything else right now." Ayumi said, barely able to push the words out through her near sobbing. "In truth I've been keeping myself from breaking down out of sheer force of will and sense of duty."

Richard's head tilted as, unknown to him, the marking upon his forehead was rapidly pulsing between a bright emerald green and muted golden bronze. He crouched, not noticing the foggy emerald energy gathering around his feet before he pushed off into what most acrobats or free runners would have called a Flash Kick or Half Inverted Gainer respectively. However, the resonant metallic clang gave away that his kick knocked something away before a female voice yelled distantly.

"Waga shugo Mokusei yo! Arashi wo okose! Kumo wo yobe! Ikazuchi wo furaseyo! Mokusei Hekireki Teikiatsu!" before a maelstrom of faintly glowing rose petals blew up before bright arcs of emerald electricity surged, revealing three Chaosrealm Clerics convulsing as surging volts of electricity paralyzed them and gave away their position.

"Thank you, now I don't have to worry about things!" Ayumi said as she summoned her sword. "I can kill again!" Quickly the mayor rushed forward bisecting each paralyzed cleric in a swift strike, each of them dissipating into smoke. "New tricks, looks like these things work more like Shadow clones able to take a hit but not something lethal!"

"Either that or something is manifesting them. Meaning that while they have a physical form they're not really here." Twilight said. "We really could use Rainbow Dash right now. This storm is interfering with my ability to see magic. Her presence would stabilize the area thanks to her immense Pegasus magic influencing the air."

"The Gaia Memory of Metal could well draw any static electricity out of the storm and ground it through its staff... though doing so, well… it would take split second timing and an opposite charge from the storm to draw it. If it's anything like the storms on Earth, the top of the storm cloud will be positively charged, with the bottom nearest the ground negatively charged… and other than drawing the charge… I'd have to ground the staff milliseconds before the storm's charge hits it and get the hell away so I don't get fried," he commented with wary eyes. "And I know you're there, Mako-chan. Get over here," he barked sharply.

"Who is Mako?" Rarity asked, looking around not seeing anyone. "These clouds are making it incredibly hard to see but I can tell that no one is here."

"Anata wa kidzuite imasen ka?" a mildly annoyed voice commented as an emerald glow faded away. A young human woman, seventeen years of age with long brown hair held in a high ponytail and emerald eyes in a ripped brown skirt with a ripped white blouse.

Richard snorted a laugh at Makoto's wry comment. He could tell from Rarity's expression, she didn't recognize Makoto's comment was actually a slight to her observation skills.

"Nehelenia watashitachi o samazamana basho ni chirabara semashita. Soko no purisshī wa usagi no yō ni fukai ni miemasu," she continued, making Richard's eyes narrow before he snorted a laugh at her comment about Rarity. He hummed thoughtfully as Rarity, to the untrained eye, a bit dense and slightly oblivious. He wasn't fooled, however.

"Oh dear darling!" Rarity said finally recognizing the language. "Watashi wa anata no hōgen o kanzen ni wa rikai shite inai kamo shiremasenga, anata no fuku wa shūri ga hitsuyōdearu koto o shitte imasu."

Makoto blinked as she glanced down at herself. She took a deep breath before shrugging. "Rei, Minako, usagi, ami, soshite watashi wa min'na chirabatte imasu," she sighed. "Autā senshi ga bakufū ni mimawa reta ka dō ka wa wakarimasen... Watashi wa nozonde imasen," she sighed before dragging a hand down her face, grimacing at how soaked her clothes were.

"Essentially, she's saying her friends and herself were scattered by what I'm assuming was a magical explosion, though I'm guessing you all landed in different places, hai?" Richard translated for the benefit of the others. He noticed Rarity used an older form of Japanese than Makoto. Clearly, they were able to somewhat understand each other, however.

"Let me." Ayumi said as the scout's wand glowed purple momentarily. "I activated the universal translator function of all sailor scout wands. It works similar to a Plumber badge or Lantern ring." She explained. "As a goddess of magic I can pretty much modify anything that is magical in nature although technomagic is harder for me to do. Still very easy considering my experience, but because of the mixture of technology and magic harder than straight up magical items."

Makoto coughed before she shivered, making Richard aware that on top of her clothing being very battered and torn, were soaking wet. "I did find something in that storm," she said slowly.

In response to this the flaming meteor landed in front of the group. "That would be me." A younger male voice said.

"My name is Cole. I'm a descendant of Hanzo Hasashi also known as Scorpion. My armor allows me to call upon his Spirit whenever I need but also connects me to him meaning that since he lives currently as an Arigami in Outworld he has some inside knowledge. He contacted me and told me that Outworld threatens a world outside of the realms of Mortal Kombat. A place where he is not allowed to venture not without an anchor."

Richard blinked. He cocked his head. "Cole Young?" he said bluntly. His eyes narrowed fractionally before he hissed softly, his hand dropping to his right thigh as he twisted. His shift in weight was fortunate as a sai shot right where his head had been seconds before.

His head snapped up, his eyes widened slightly as the sai had missed Twilight's hoof by inches. What caught his attention, however, was the woman highlighted in the flashes of lightning.

His head tilted fractionally as he straightened, feeling the Void form in his mind, unaware the feel of his energy had gone from amicable to that of a predator. His irises were glowing a soft greenish aquamarine as he exhaled softly. "Bakayaro," he breathed. His wrist twisted as he felt the latch release as a weapon he suspected Cole would recognize dropped into his grasp.

"Arcana!" Cole shouted as blades formed from the wrists of his armor. "Hello Mileena." The fighter said as he and Ayumi shifted to a horse stance. "It seems we have a fight on our hands."

While surprised, Twilight quickly reached down and grabbed the weapon, wielding it as if she had been trained in its use. "It's never smart to throw your weapon at trained fighters who can use it against you."

Richard tilted his head fractionally, seemingly unaware of her comment. "Who said I was going to throw it at her? My target is that thing skulking in the shadows. Smells like a serpent, almost," his tone was a deadpan, oblivious to the fact he'd revealed that his senses had been steadily growing keener since finding the Sword of Omens. His gaze, the entire time as he spoke, was tracking slowly to his right yet never shifted to Twilight before a glob of slightly glowing green slime shot through the air. He drew and slashed downward with the Sword of Omens, a momentary arc of electricity scattering the slime, which steamed despite the rain pelting down, revealing its acidic nature. A faint shift in the air gave away the presence of something.

Author's Note

Kombat begins next Chapter...

Kombat in Khaos

"I was talking to the Tarkatan hybrid over there." Twilight said, pointing to Mileena with the butt of the Sai she had pulled from the ground.

"You won't be saying that when I'm snacking on…" Mileena hissed.

"Pretty sure the only thing you'll be eating is boot leather and tooth enamel from the teeth that's gonna get kicked down your throat," Richard deadpanned.

He saw Mileena glare his way. "You know, you may have a really cute face, but your personality is about as pleasant as sitting on a running chainsaw," he commented lazily.

This caused the hybrid to blush. "I want him." She whispered to herself. "He'll be mine!"

"You won't survive this!" Ayumi said, swiping at the hybrid, as a shockwave of mana fired off from her attack.

Richard heard a snarling hiss before he pushed off as mud sprayed up. His eyes narrowed, unaware his irises looked like glowing diamonds with onyx slits.

"Don't rush in!" Twilight said as she kept back charging her horn. "It seems these guys don't have very many ranged abilities."

Richard saw the reptilian creature snarl before he formed an orb of greenish sludge that he launched at them like a slingshot projectile.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mileena vanish in a shimmering cloud before his body tensed as he heard a slight whisper in the air before he leaned back slightly and caught Mileena as she leaped from what appeared to be a teleportation cloud, trying to land on his back before he fell into what most WWE fans would have recognized immediately as an RKO.

He rolled out of the way as he narrowly evaded the charging Raptor. He gagged at the foul stench of rotting fish. "Ugh… bloody hell, you reek worse than a gallon of Liquid Ass," he groaned, trying not to vomit.

"The man is mine, reptilian! Take the boy in the two enquines!" Mileena said angrily. "I truly appreciate the compliment therefore I will not kill you and eat you but take you as my own."

"Did it cross your mind to make a life for yourself away from Shang Tsung and Shao Khan? Not fight or kill for them, but for yourself? After all, I know Shang may have resurrected you, but just like Shao Khan, they see you as a tool or, worse, an attack dog, rather than a being with your own thoughts and desires. Hell, the fact you recognize a compliment shows you're more intelligent than an animal.," Richard deadpanned before he twisted, catching Reptile's clawed hands by the forearms, dark green blood trickling from punctures caused by the Claw Shield's claws. "And you, Cyzoth… for your loyalty to the Emperor and his pet Sorcerer, how were you repaid? Not with comrades of your own race nor a mate, but shunned as nothing more than a tool, perhaps one treated as a cushy pet, but a tool much like a blade or arrow… to be aimed at and used at one seen as an enemy. Funny how they seem to ignore your own Loyalty to them. Rather sad that neither Shang Tsung nor Shao Khan choose to ignore the Loyalty of those who fight for them, wouldn't you agree, Queen Nitara?" he commented before he twisted, Venom engulfing his free arm in a skintight sleeve before a strand of high tensile webbing fired out from the back of his hand, the bulb of webbing no larger than a golf ball expanding abruptly and engulfing the Vampire as her wings dipped, capturing her and dropping her to the ground.

He let his gaze shift skyward to the storm, knowing his words were causing the trio to think and likely reconsider their loyalty to Shang Tsung and, by extension, Shao Khan. "And if you really consider it, how much fun is Kombat when you achieve victory through stealth, guile, and deception rather than strength and skill? Shows how much of a fucking pussy and coward Shang and Shao Khan are that they'd attack a world with no connection to the Realms, and by extension, the Elder Gods," he deadpanned.

"It matters not!" Mileena said. "Father nearly killed my sister for free thought, for now we fight if you survive this Kombat then we shall talk." The hybrid slashed at Richard with her Sai. "Now face me!"

Ayumi quickly blocked the strike with her blade, purposely getting the weapon caught in the blade breaker parts of the Sai. "High density equestrian Crystal made manifest thanks to the last piece of my tree of Harmony, unbreakable and perfect for doing this!" Ayumi said, leveraging her blade to remove Mileena's remaining Sai from her hand, tossing it to Twilight.

"Even unarmed, I can still beat you human!" Mileena said.

Richard cocked his head as he sheathed the Sword of Omens. He didn't notice the minor stinging ache as his sharpened nails bit into his palms as he clenched his fists, drawing blood. "You do know that your 'Father' sees you only as a tool… and not if, but when you break… he will abandon you," he sighed. Equally, he failed to notice that his blood glowed like lit rubies from the power hidden within his body. "But if you're so eager for Kombat, you will get it," he muttered, unaware his voice deepened slightly into a voice unknown to him, though most Outworlders recognized as the former God of Thunder and Lightning.

"I smell blood." A new voice said as a crimson blade impacted the dirt. "The blood of a god!" Another blade slashed through the organic webbing surrounding the vampire. "Help me spill more of it and you shall share it!" Skarlett said as she revealed herself.

"Blood witch, the man is mine!" Mileena growled. "All of him is mine, including his blood, stay out of this!"

"Just how many enemies are going to appear!" Rarity said. "This is almost as confusing as the last raid from the Everfree!"

Richard barely turned his head, unaware his irises were glowing a hot blue. His head tilted fractionally as the spilled blood ignited as the marking upon his brow was rippling between a pale bluish white, arcing with electricity, emerald green, also arcing with electricity, and a burning gold. "Raiden, though I don't mind your presence, I don't need your assistance… they will not gain respect for me if I do not fight under my own strength," his voice was a low murmur as the immortal presence faded away. He exhaled softly as he did sense the former deity in the back of his mind. His head turned to see the woman bonded to the Blood Kode… Skarlett.

He noticed with mild interest that she looked eerily like Elizabeth Olsen. "Rather sad that you don't see that, to Shao Khan, as well as Shang Tsung, at best, you are cannon fodder to be killed and resurrected over and over at worst… and at best, tools to be broken and ultimately discarded at their leisure. Even you, Skarlett. They fear all four of you… Mileena for her strength and ferocity… Cyzoth… or Reptile… for his race… Nitara… for the world and race Outworld consumed and the vengeance they know you would rain upon them if you knew… Skarlett… for your control and potential," he deadpanned bluntly. "They fear your potential and talents if they were to be turned against them… hence why they keep you weak. You've seen here already, Mileena, that though your sais are lethal, they are best at close range. True, your teleportation abilities make it easier to get in close… but to one who happens to have honed body, mind, and senses? It's nigh useless, much like Skarlett's knives. On top of that, your bloodlust can be a weakness, Skarlett… much like a serial killer or drug abuser… you're focused on getting the next high… whether by killing or feeding the Blood Kode," he deadpanned. "Everything and everyone has a weakness, no matter how strong they are," he finished, his gaze flicking to Ayumi, knowing she'd recall what Alluro did.

"There are things that, if you fight for those things… you will find yourself able to fight on par… nay… you will be able to outstrip those like Shao Khan… Onaga… Shinnok himself… with ease," he commented before an orb of crimson energy impacted his chest, detonating, and sent him sliding back a few feet with a squish before his gaze rose to see Motaro… one of Shao Khan's Centaurian Generals. He coughed, waving away the smoke. His chest plate was scuffed, but was otherwise untouched. "You know, I can say I never expected to see Outworlders face-to-face… I mean, amongst the kunoichi characters, my personal favorite was always Jade, though Mileena and Kitana were close behind. You, Motaro, was a character never really well developed in the series. I mean, you really only appeared in… I think four games out of eleven primary timeline games and mostly unplayable save for cheats? And out of those, one was a three second appearance in Mortal Kombat '9' where you pretty much got killed off," he sighed.

The words Richard said were having effects upon the fighters. Though not noticeable at first, Mileena was actually trying to get knocked out on purpose hoping that maybe she would not have to listen to that little voice in her head that told her to obey her father. "How many times have we done this all of us this time even my father is being forced into this!" She thought.

"In truth we were forced into this world. A great power has been taking over Outworld. We seek relics in this world hoping to find something to undo the damage." The blood mage said. "The storm is not our doing but the sign of things to come."

"See? Now you're being helpful…. though I'm getting the feeling that the 'great power' isn't Onaga," Richard commented as a small smirk crossed his face. His gaze shifted to the storm before, for an instant, he got a flash of malevolent crimson eyes that he was certain were not Mumm-Ra. In fact, the nauseating awareness of Evil and a desire for Death and Destruction made Mumm-Ra's evil seem downright kind. He blinked, taking a step back as the awareness passed as swiftly as it arrived. He could sense that Raiden had seen whatever it was and it left him shaken. "What in the Elder Gods was that? That made even Kronika feel kind and sweet," he heard the deity mutter in his mind.

"Shang Tsung at his most powerful." Reptile said, elaborating on Skarlett's message. "It seems that Kronika died in an alternate timeline and Shang Tsung took her power for his own. The god of fire and lightning of another timeline has been helping us preserve ours. Shao Kahn sent us here to look for anything that might undo the damage."

"Silence! Our Master would want us to destroy anything in our way, not bargain with it!" Motaro shouted, rushing at the group. "If you're not going to do as an Outlander should then I shall kill them all and then you!"

Richard's eyes narrowed as he cleared his throat. "Looks like you're running your own damn mouth, hijo de püta," he deadpanned before he pushed off, tagging Motaro across the face with a brutal snap roundhouse kick before he twisted with the kick, his heel scything around before tagging Motaro just in front of one of the horns. "Hmmm… seems there's multiple Kombat timelines colliding, including where both of the Aftermath endings took place separately," he commented.dryly. "Although if I'm honest, I could see all four of you, Mileena, Skarlett, as well as Jade and Kitana, as supermodels in a physical sense… though if I'm blunt, I suspect that all of you in that universe… are hot enough to make a black dwarf go supernova," he deadpanned.

"Again I thank you for the compliment and please take care of that idiot he was always far more battle hungry than necessary." Mileena said with a growl. "This world is outside of our laws and rules that means that we can be eradicated and the Elder Gods will not take pity on us. That means our souls could pass on permanently."

Richard tilted his head. "You've never considered creating a Collective? That way, your souls would both buoy each other and bolster your powers… exponentially. Especially if you found someone strong and noble enough to act as the core of the collective… meaning even if he died, you would still be able to heal him without fear that he would leave you behind and vice-versa, you'd hold each other to life… and only through mutual agreement could someone be released from the Collective," he commented before realizing not only the Kombat kunoichi, but Ayumi and Twilight were staring at hi. He was unaware that what he'd just revealed was Ancient Magic as old as the Sun Goddess' birth… if not older. He heard a snarl before a spear bladed staff hit the ground feet away.

"Damnit!" Ayumi said as she got pissed. "Enough interruptions!" The goddess of magic roared as she cast the shield spell that Shining had used to protect Canterlot in another time to seal them in. "Now we can finally either turn them to our friends or kill them for all I care!" If anyone that had looked directly at her eyes they would have noticed the bright glow emanating from them as her eyes shifted to a more predatory slit. "I'm sorely tempted to kill them all, even if the females are beautiful."

Richard's eyes narrowed as he took a shuddering breath. He could feel a burning in his chest as he rolled his shoulders as his hand rose to his chest, unaware that Makoto's eyes widened as molten power that felt distinctly familiar… yet simultaneously foreign and strange. What was, however, certain, was that the power awakening within him was powerful… and it was Celestial Magic.

What formed from streamers of reddish golden fire was a small item, though it had a hollow where something should have been on top.

Elsewhere, within a distant Castle, a head tilted skyward. "His true power has begun to awaken, though much of it still sleeps," a soft, aged, yet powerful female voice whispered.

Motaro quickly got up ready to attack once more but felt compelled to look at the woman who said she would kill them all. In that glance he saw the power of Onaga almost as if she were his female counterpart, the sight causing him to freeze and stand down. "I am not an idiot!" He said, still looking at Ayumi. "That would be Goro. Be thankful that he is not here otherwise he would have not even let you talk." The centaur turned to the rest of the Equestrians and their summons

"We know nothing of this world that axe drew us here." He said, "I believe it affected my mind. For a moment after the shield came down I felt something vanish from my head."

"You're right even now my mind feels cleared." Skarlett said, Mileena and the others nodding in agreement. "Outworlders are not so naive as to try not to become allies, in times of War, with those that are neutral with us. For now I believe that would benefit us all."

Ayumi's eyes reverted back to their normal shape but still glowed that deep purple. "It seems you've gained wisdom since we last observed your universe. I take it that the versions of you we have encountered are from a timeline where Armageddon did not occur, yet Shao Kahn is still alive."

"Yes, that is correct for the most part." Mileena said. "Armageddon did occur but it was not at the hands of father but Onaga himself in revenge for what father did to him."

----☆|♤|☆-----

"That axe apparently is native to Chaosrealm, which only high ranking Chaos Clerics possess. More than likely, it was left intentionally. Though if I'm honest, I always found Shokans intriguing. Though if I'm blunt, I suspect that Chaosrealmer who left the axe was fucking with us… sowing chaos just for shits and giggles. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if DC's Joker was, in truth, native to Chaosrealm," Richard said dryly.

His ears twitched at a growling laugh as he heard a low cracking sound. His eyes narrowed as his eyes tracked the axe… and its wielder.

"I told Havik his little scheme would fail… that he should have let me bathe in blood," the hissing snarl chuckled.

Richard gritted his teeth as he groaned, glowing blood trickling from the corners of his mouth as a surge of memories from that dream surfaced viciously and painfully. He distantly heard Lyra cry out at an instant shared migraine. So distracted he was, he missed the feel of two wet tongues brushing his skin… that of a certain Outworld blood mage and Tarkatan hybrid.

His grip tightened on the wand in his grasp as his eyes snapped open. He didn't realize that golden steam was coiling around his hand, wrist, fingers, and forearm. He was unaware his irises had become the same color tone as a black opal… ebony with prismatic bluish teal flames and golden slits. "Anata wa, daijōbudesu... Jigoku no hi no naka de nyūyoku shimasu," he muttered, not seeing Cole jerk at the raspiness of his voice… despite having only heard it once before…. as it was the spectral voice of Hanzo Hazashi.

Richard let his leg slide back. "You may want to materialize, old man… as I doubt this will agree with ya," his voice was a low whisper, barely audible. "Yoku dekimashita. Betsu no rerumu de betsu no kettō ga kokyū shite iru no o mitsukeru to wa omotte imasendeshita," he heard before he heard bubbling and the crackling of flames moments later.

His eyes drifted almost closed before snapping open as his arms crossed over his chest. As they did, flames that were a brilliant golden white spiraled from his forehead around his body twice before, unseen by him, though quite obvious to Cheetara, Lion-O, and anyone that saw, that the Eye Of Thundera migrated from the Sword of Omens to the wand within his grasp before a trio of thin silvery white claws encircled it in a spiral as the golden flames suffused within its heart as if it were greeting its true wielder once more.

Lion-O's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he noticed the reaction the Eye of Thundera had… to a human… of all beings. "How much did we not know about the Eye? I have the distinct sense that something has begun that will echo for hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands of years," he said slowly.

"Looks like we need to get serious." Ayumi said as she drew her blade a pillar of black fire forming around her. "Girls, keep back, even you, scout."

Richard's head tilted fractionally. Words escaped from him, yet they held an old dialect of Japanese that amongst them, only Makoto and Ayumi most likely understood, the former only because of her Senshi wand. "Moeru seimei no kokoro, hai kara tachiagatte atarashī kibō ni hiwotsukeru... Taiyō kyōi, Henshin."

Hanzo's eyes snapped to Richard the moment the words escaped him, however. "Anata no yūjin wa kare ga daredearu ka shitte imashita ka? Umarekawatta Fenikkusu Ōji?" he spoke sharply as brilliant iridescent blue and golden white flames engulfed him before a navy and gold clad hand slashed out in a flourish, whipping the flames into golden and silvery blue embers. A sunburst with deep coppery gold wings much like those of an Angel or Pegasus rested over his heart, the wings curled protectively.

The pillar of flame dispersed and revealed that Ayumi had completely transformed.

"Might as well stop playing around." She said in her dual voice as her element of magic appeared embedded in her chest just above the breastplate. "Time for you to die!"

The Chaosrealm Cleric cackled. "Doubtful, witch. You and the Elemental Knight are nothing, even combined," though even as he spoke, a dark reddish black aura that reeked of Chaotic Malice surged around him.

Richard's eyes widened slightly before his hand reared back. "Suisei no chie wa anata no nikushimi o kūru de shōten o shibotta ronri to musubitsukemasu," he barked sharply as his hand thrust forward, a burst of radiance the same shifting tones of the Aurora Borealis surged forward at high speed. His eyebrows rose slightly as the Chaosrealm Saurian swung his axe, an energized projection of the axe head spinning at high speed, speeding at them. His hands reared back as electricity arced over his fingers and palms. "Mokusei Tsuin Rasenyari," his voice was a low whisper before twisting arcs of electricity surged forward, one shattering the chaotic projection In an eruption of sparks before the second tagged him in the shoulder before the ice elemental burst hit him low in the chest and abdomen, engulfing it in a quarter inch thick layer of prismatic ice.

Hanzo's dulled eyes narrowed slightly, his head tilting. He had run across a trio in the Netherrealm whose Gifts were very similar to his own… the Flames of Vengeance, they'd called them… they had mentioned a Chaos Sorceress they knew of… and the energy they'd shared the feel of… felt very, very similar to what this one used, yet far more malicious. His eyebrows rose as Richard pushed off after a trio of swift strides before he planted a flying side kick into the chest of the Chaosrealmer before he rolled his hips, a second kick plowing into and fracturing the ice before he landed and thrust both fists into chest and abdomen with an impact sound like a shotgun blast. He recognized that particular technique as one of his own as a shockwave kicked outward from the blow before he blinked in mild surprise as a blade on the end of a chain shot from the underside of the forearm bracer, impaling deep into the chest of the Chaosrealmer.

"Get over here, bitch," Richard barked as he jerked hard, the servo motors within the armor whining slightly and enhancing his pull as the Chaosrealm Saurian was jerked several inches off the ground as he was jerked towards Richard before a nasty elbow strike to the jaw sent a few teeth glinting in a crackling flash of lightning as he jerked free the kunai as the Chaosrealmer spun before Richard slammed a brutal headbutt into his face, staggering him backwards.

"Don't hog the meat, let everyone get a slice." Ayumi said darkly as she ported next to the Saurian slashing her sword over the chest wound and slicing off its wings before using her magic to send the Chaosrealmer back to Richard with a painful lightning blast.

"I'm brutal but even I don't do that kind of shit often." A deep voice said as the air next to Twilight parted, revealing Al Simmons the Divine Spawn. "I save that kind of thing for the real motherfuckers."

"Such as that annoying little bastard Violator. Ran across one of his brothers a couple years back when I was in high school… big, bullish bastard calling himself Vandalizer," Richard deadpanned before his visor flared a brilliant pale blue. "Suisei Zettaireido," his voice was a whisper as he grabbed the Chaosrealmer by the belt and throat, icy fog erupting immediately from the contact as he heaved the Saurian in a Powerslam, only for a loud, abrupt shattering sound to follow a wet splatter as the Saurian's body, most of his muscles and flesh flash frozen, shattered. It was, however, obvious he was not completely frozen as blood splattered from the impact as half frozen organs splattered and other organs exploded. He breathed a bit hard as he straightened.

"Well that means that the Shirai Ryu has some of the Lin Kuei in their DNA." Ayumi commented thoughtfully. "Either that or Hanzo specifically is a cousin of Bi-Han and Sub-Zero," she commented.

"Not quite. Each of the planets within the Sol System has a different elemental affinity. Suisei… or Mercury… is the Element of Ice. Kaisei is Mars and has the Element of Fire. Mokusei is Jupiter and holds the Element of Thunder," Richard commented. His gaze shifted to Hanzo. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu were connected by more than the brotherhood between Hanzo and Kuai Liang," he commented as the helmet retracted into his collar.

He noticed the stare Hanzo was giving him that obviously demanded answers. "Simply put, Kuai Liang is Bi-Han's little brother and will, in time, prove to be stronger than Bi-Han in his Cryomancy and far more honorable. And I'm certain you have suspicions on how Bi-Han found your family…. simply put… he didn't. Someone used his guise and powers to fool the Lin Kuei… and more importantly, use you as a puppet of rage and vengeance… because the one behind it knows he lacks the Kombat skills to defeat Bi-Han in head-on Kombat as Bi-Han not only kicked his ass, but those of his underlings and his Master…. so he manipulated events to ensure he was able to ensnare the one man who was not only a rival, but just as lethal as Bi-Han… General Hanzo Hazashi. And how else to distract you than take the one thing that you held most dear?" he deadpanned.

"You dare?" a furious snarl interrupted him as he half turned at a surge of dark emerald light before dark purple embers hung in the rain as it pelted down.

"I dare… Quan Chi, as you're dishonorable trash not even worthy to stain General Hazashi's blade with your blood," Richard commented icily as his helmet reengaged, the visor igniting a pale golden red. He didn't see Cole shiver at his tone, unaware it sounded almost identical to Bi-Han's. He noticed the necromancer's aura was a sickly greenish black, but dense and strong.

"Normally I would go for the brutal approach but this fucker doesn't even deserve that." Spawn said as he snapped his claws encasing Quan Chi in a cage of holy light. "Thanks for drawing my target out, kids have a gift as a reward." Spawn snapped his fingers again, a pulse of light expanding rapidly from the snap flowing over the entire planet. "You'll have to figure part of it out but every one of you have a dedicated weapon/item and a rpg style skill system/inventory now. This goes for the whole planet so have fun."

Richard cocked an eyebrow as the only thing he saw was a rounded rectangular projector Iris open on the top of his right forearm. He noticed a HUD activate within his visor before he paused, a slight frown crossing his face. He could see a distinctive deep golden orange beam radiating skyward from deeper in the forest. "You said that Quan Chi was the target you were after. I'm guessing he damned more than a few souls," he deadpanned, unaware of the fact that what had happened to a certain blonde driving actor…. had not been an accident as many thought.

"The most satisfying was that Walker fool," Quan Chi gloated.

Two bright golden blue glows shone through the visor within seconds. "What did you just say?" his voice was low, even soft. However, there was an undercurrent within his voice that held the sense of a giant, hungry, irradiated lizard three or four times the size of a skyscraper staring at a morsel of food.

"The mother of all things gave me a task to round up all of her disappointments and send them to the world I left Satan and his brother to. Quanie here has earned that one way ticket along with Mum-ra and a version of Skeletor, the one you might face." Al commented. "A way to repent for what I did to Wanda."

Richard's eyes narrowed as he realized Al was referring to something. "Shows no matter how powerful we are, we still make mistakes. I'm guessing sending this bastard off to that dead world will free those souls he ensnared?" he growled, unaware that the inheritance he had also came with a curse… one that was tied to his emotions. His godfather knew of it… as he too had it. He gritted his teeth as his armor dispersed in embers of golden flame. It revealed Richard's clothes were straining as he shivered as he gritted his teeth, unaware a primal predatory energy surged around him as he felt like his muscles were burning whilst his veins surged with icy fire.

Lyra's eyes widened as she saw her Familiar hunched over and trembling, feeling a dull aching echo of what he was feeling. She noticed both the Outworld blood Sorceress and the Tarkatan hybrid trembling slightly as if they felt a slight echo of it as well. She winced as she could hear low cracks and pops as she knew if she was picking up muted echoes of what he was feeling then what he was feeling had to be far worse, even agonizing.

Makoto's eyes widened fractionally as she could hear strained groans and growls.

Author's Note

What could be occurring and what caused it? What secrets are in Richard's past?