The Equestrian Prime

The Equestrian Prime

Chapter 8: The Fall of Blueblood Part 2

Artemis woke up from his internal chronometer saying it was 6:30 in the morning. As his eyes fluttered open, he let out a semi-loud yawn. He noticed a heavy weight on his left and right sides. When he looked down, he smiled at the adorable sight to his Spark.

There, on either side of him, was Twilight on his left, her head on the left side of his chest, her left wing draped over him, and Kara on his right side, her head on the right side of his chest. All three of them were naked under the covers as the room smelled of sweat and sex from their escapades last night. He leaned his head down and kissed Twilight on the forehead just below her horn and kissed Kara on the top of her head. The action started to rouse the two of them from sleep as they looked up tiredly and saw Artemis smiling down at the two of them.

"Good morning, sleeping beauties." Artemis said with a smile. "Did you two have fun last night?"

"Mmm… a bit sore, but not in a bad way," Kara said sleepily.

Twilight blinked a few times before giggling.

"Well, glad I could please the both of you in the best of ways possible." Artemis said, chuckling. "Unfortunately we do have to get up. Me and Cianán have an interrogation date with a certain 'No Balled' Prince. So Twilight? Make sure you get Celestia, Luna, Cadence and your brother down here as soon as possible. I want them in on this. They deserve it. Especially Shining. We'll make sure that traitor answers for his crimes." Artemis got up and used his nanomachines to clean himself off, with a hint of Axe fur wash and body spray. After that he got dressed in a new set of clothes and opened the door to the room. "Oh, and while it's on my mind… Twilight, Kara?"

Twilight and Kara both looked at Artemis with inquisitive looks.

"When you both take your showers, take them together, and don't be afraid to take some pictures… for our enjoyment!" Artemis said with a guttural growl as he closed the door to the room.

What followed next were the screams of both Twilight and Kara as they came from those words alone.

—

Cianán's eyes fluttered open as he exhaled. "Merde... on dirait que tu n'étais pas la seule à être très satisfaite hier soir, Vera-chan." he said quietly. Damn... looks like you weren't the only one very satisfied last night, Vera-chan. He yelped a bit in surprise a few moments later, realizing that though Vera was snuggled to his side, he noticed that only one of the two with Sunset was in sight… and it was the blue twin, Lotus. He shivered as he could feel heat bobbing over his 'morning wood'. He blinked as he looked beneath the sheets to a rather unexpected, but not unwelcome, surprise, at least for him: Aloe's head bobbing over his morning wood he shivered as he saw her gaze rise to meet his before she retreated with a giggle before she coughed a bit. "Tu as l'air un peu affamé," he commented wryly, teasing her. You look a bit famished.

"Il semble que vous aimiez votre surprise de réveil, non?" Aloe asked while giggling. It seems you like your wake-up surprise, no?

"Un peu dur, sans jeu de mots, de ne pas profiter d'une jument chaude et très attrayante en train de prendre un repas," Cianán quipped with a chuckle. Kinda hard, no pun intended, not to enjoy a hot, highly attractive mare enjoying a meal.

Brother, not to interrupt your little morning activity, but we have some work to do this morning. Artemis said through their link. We have a certain 'No Balled' Prince to interrogate. Twilight is taking a shower and will be calling the other Princesses and Shining Armor down to be present for it. So sorry ladies, but we need to take care of things first. I'm sure he'll make up for it later.

As much as I'd prefer to let the 'Ballless Wonder' stew a bit… as Sunny let it slip she may have 'accidentally redirected most of the toilets to drain their contents on his ass'... I'd rather put him out of everyone's misery as soon as possible. We'll clean up, then meet up. Cianán commented wryly. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had done the same with some of the baths and showers just to keep from making whatever dungeon Dickless BlueEgo was in from knocking out whoever checked on his sorry ass.

Trust me, brother, we will, but remember what I said before when we interrogated the mercs? We're going to do this by the book. Let the Princesses decide his fate. As far as what they decide, I'm pretty sure they're gonna let us take care of that little hijo de puta. Now get ready. I'm heading down to the dungeons and pulling a page out of Shawshank and I'm gonna give him a VERY rude awakening with a high-pressure fire hose.

Make sure it's good and icy cold, that way he'll really enjoy the wakeup call. Cianán quipped even as he sat up, pulling a surprised Aloe to him, not realizing it woke up Vera, who pouted. "Envie de nous rejoindre pour un lavage en profondeur?" he quipped innocently to Vera, not realizing Aloe was blushing as he had one hand massaging her flank directly over her Cutie Mark. Care to join us for a thorough washing?

Désolé, mesdames, mais nous devons nous occuper des affaires avec un certain Prince "No Balled" dans les donjons. Je suis sûr qu'il se rattrapera quand nous en aurons fini avec lui. Artemis said in Prench, this time projecting his words to the two sisters with Cianán. Sorry, ladies, but we need to take care of business with a certain 'No Balled' Prince in the dungeons. I'm sure he'll make it up to you when we're done with him.

Hence why I said 'washing' dumbass, not 'fucking you two mindlessly' though I'm very tempted to do that to them both simultaneously, washing and fucking. Cianán's tone was deadpan as he rolled his eyes as he headed for the showers.

I know, I just had to mess with you as per our custom since we've known each other, brother. Artemis said, laughing through his telepathic voice.

I wouldn't be surprised if Cadence were to mention castration for the 'Ballless Wonder'... though Shining Armor kinda already, pun intended, beat us to the punch. Cianán quipped jokingly. Though if I'm honest, I want to see Cadence's reaction to our new nickname for him.

Hence why I let him apprehend that fucker since he was in league with his traitor of a former protégé. Artemis said to Cianán. Then he laughed as he said, Though I'm tempted to see her reaction too. I swear, out of all the times we talked to a certain blonde haired, purple eyed brawler, I swear she was starting to 'rub off on you', am I right? Artemis cackled at his lame joke, knowing Yang would be proud and cackling too.

Cianán rolled his eyes. Pas autant qu'il me frottait la nuit dernière, he heard Vera cut in whilst giggling. His eyebrows shot up at her very dirty joke. "Damn," he muttered gruffly.

Um, I don't know that much Prench, brother. Could you translate? Artemis said, confused at what Vera just said.

Cianán's snickering gave away his amusement. What she said was 'Not as much as he was rubbing in me last night'. he quipped innocently, knowing he would likely cringe at how naughty the joke was.

All of a sudden, a loud metallic clang was heard from down the hallway that sounded like someone just facepalmed, along with a loud female voice cackling in all their heads.

Damn it, Yang, stay outta this. Artemis said with a growl.

Be glad you didn't hear her begging me to make an obscenely bad pun… no matter how tempting it is. Hmmm… though that could probably be utilized as a form of torture… having to listen to Yang's jokes for hours… if not days. It'd have anyone confessing just to make it stop. Cianán quipped teasingly as he twisted the handle to get the water flowing.

"Et bien que je sois très tenté de remplir chaque tout à fait trou que tu as… nous devons malheureusement agir comme des adultes," he sighed with a small shake of his head, knowing it would make them blush. And though I am so very tempted to absolutely fill every hole you have… we unfortunately have to act like adults.

"Promettre de nous rattraper~?" Aloe and Vera asked at the same exact time with a purr to their voice. Promise to make it up to us~?

Cianán shivered at their combined tone. Bloody hell was he so tempted to just decide to stuff them both.

Je vais m'assurer qu'il le garde, ou ce n'est pas mon frère. Artemis said with a malicious chuckle. I'll make sure he keeps it, or he ain't no brother of mine.

Also brother, what you said about Yang's jokes being a form of torture. Artemis said, sounding pensive for a moment. Since I was technically dating her and Blake even if it was through my astral form, and the fact I haven't forgotten about my twins through Blake, I have an idea. You go ahead and have some shower fun with those two, I'll be back in a couple of hours. Hopefully everyone is still where they were when we last talked to them. Besides, I bet the twins and my nonuplets miss their old man, as I didn't have the abilities to be able to see them at the time. Luckily I can open a transwarp field to anywhere I want in the cosmos to where I've been. So you know who I'm going to pick up, brother.

Cianán shivered slightly as he felt their hands massaging his fur before he jumped at a throaty chuckle before he turned to see a very touseled haired Sunset staring at him with a small smirk that he distinctly got the feeling of being hunted from. It didn't escape his attention that she was very much at attention. He shivered slightly. "Ah, fuck…" he muttered hoarsely.

"Ooooh, now that sounds like an idea. Though who's going to do the fucking and who gets fucked? Hmmm?" Sunset purred.

He shivered slightly. Ugh… a little… he managed before he noticed the lack of presence of Artemis. Oh, you teme… ya better hope Ah don't decide ta fuckin' douse a certain kitten, Alicorn, and Kryptonian with a bunch of aphrodisiacs an' lock yer ass in a fuckin' room with 'em! he grumbled. His eyebrows shot up as all three mares, two Earth Ponies and an Alicorn, crowded in with him.

—

Cianán shivered slightly as he exhaled. Fortunately, he showed no outward sign of what he'd gone through, though Vera and Aloe walked with rather noticeable limps as did Sunset.

"Damn, you look like you got rode hard," Kara quipped teasingly to which Aloe, Sunset and Vera blushed.

Cianán cleared his throat as he glanced at Twilight and Kara. He did notice the glow they had. "Looks like I'm not the only one that gave a good stuffing," he commented.

"Don't you mean 'got a good stuffing'?" Sunset quipped innocently.

"I know what I said, lass. And you did get a good stuffing and gave one too," Cianán commented with a smirk. He noticed them trading looks as if they got the feeling they weren't saying something.

His head turned before he blinked as a very familiar someone stepped around the corner.

"Jason. We found him. The real thing. Suffice it to say he wasn't quite in the mood to surrender," Cianán commented.

"And the gift?" Jason commented with a hint of interest.

"Once Harley is on… or if she decides to drop by," Cianán chuckled.

"An' how do ya know I haven't?" Harley said enthusiastically with a grin as she hopped onto Kara's shoulders.

"Heh," Cianán chuckled.

"Well slap me in the face, give me a massive ball-busting nut tap, and call me a monkey's uncle." Artemis said as he came around the corner. "Harley Quinn, as I live and breathe. It's great to finally visibly see you, even if I couldn't at the time."

"Do I know ya?" Harley asked Artemis, hopping off of Kara's shoulders and looking at Artemis.

"You don't remember me?" Artemis asked, looking genuinely hurt. "You don't remember that I stuck my neck out for you, convincing you to turn away from the chuckleheaded asshat and turn over a new leaf? Or the fact that I transformed my right arm into a blaster cannon and shot a massive blast of icy wind at him that froze him like cryogenic stasis? Or the fact that you were willing to give me a chance at a relationship despite my inability to visibly see you at the time I brought you to my Earth?"

"Though I can say the chucklehead's double had even Bruce fooled… which says a lot. Too bad, as he won't be fooling anyone else ever again," Cianán commented. He saw Jason's head tilt incredulously.

"Bullshit," Jason said slowly, drawing out the word.

Cianán's eyebrow twitched upward before the air ignited below his fingers before snuffing out, revealing the 'gift'... Joker's head and spine, still dripping with fresh blood. "No shit, just head," he quipped.

Harley's eyes widened as she saw what he had before her gaze shifted back to Artemis. "Aary?" she said slowly.

Cianán snickered at the shortened form of his name. "I will say that your accent is pretty hot, Harley… though it's not a really good Scottish accent, lass," he commented wryly before he blinked upon seeing a sapphire maned, golden eyed thestral stepping into the room. "Damn, Stella. Looking good," he quipped before Stella pushed off before a pale golden red aura caught her in mid leap.

His gaze shifted to see a golden, almost white furred Alicorn with a deep burgundy-auburn red-streaked mane and pale bluish purple eyes. "Faust?! Damn, I haven't been in contact with you for a long time, but for an initial meeting… I'm almost jealous of a certain jackass," he commented.

Faust tilted her head before she paused, looking at him before she stepped closer to him before he cocked his head as Stella landed chest-first on the floor.

"Damn, she bounces, doesn't she?" a certain blonde brawler commented.

"And you don't? Especially considering you're much like a certain Snake Mistress?" Cianán deadpanned dryly before he felt a cool blade against his throat as well as warm breasts against his back. "Anko," he commented nonplussed at her threatening presence. A slight smirk crossed his face as he'd picked up a few tricks from a particular Lin Kuei member. He exhaled softly as he felt his body dematerialize into smoke before he reformed.

Sunset's eyes widened before a sharp slap resounded as the kunoichi spun from getting slapped on the ass, her eyebrows rising as her rear still jiggled despite the spin. She saw Cianán duck the swipe of the kunai before he swatted it up into the air before he caught it. Her eyes widened slightly as, just as swiftly, she drew a second in time for the blades to clash.

"Okay, ease off people. We don't need to cause a ruckus, not after what we already had to deal with." Artemis said, getting in-between Cianán and Anko. "Let's focus on interrogating 'The Ballless Wonder' first. Then we can sort this out with those matches that we were supposed to have. Only this time it'll be more interesting with more people."

"Funny you should mention interrogation. It happens to be my specialty. Admittedly," Anko commented before she kissed Cianán hard suddenly before retreating with a smirk, "it would be a bit more fun with Ibiki, but I think we can wring him for information well enough," she finished.

"I already had a plan for that, Anko." Artemis said, smiling a mischievous smile. "Oh Yang, babe~?"

Yang smirked as she cracked the knuckles of her left hand with her cybernetic right arm. "We can always tenderize his ass… nice and painfully," she commented.

"How about the next best thing you're good at, courtesy of Cianán's idea?" Artemis smiled a mischievous smile still. "We'll lock you and 'The Ballless Wonder' in a sealed and soundproofed room, with him chained to the chair. And you keep telling him all the bad puns you can come up with like I fell in love with you about. And keep telling it to him until he's begging to tell us what we want to know, just for you to stop. Can you manage that, babe~?" Artemis said that last sentence in a sing-song tone.

Yang cocked an eyebrow. A slow grin crossed her face. "No limits?" she said with a smirk.

Cianán shivered at that.

"No limits, babe. As long as we seal the two of you in the room and soundproof it, then by all means." Artemis said, walking up to Yang and kissing her passionately. He never realized how much taller he was now until right then, having to lean down towards Yang's face to kiss her. When they parted, Artemis continued, "Even if he doesn't crack right away, just knock on the door and we'll let you out if you need to take a break. But whenever you're ready for another crack at his sanity, well… let's just say I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of an execution. That would be too good for him. I want him to truly suffer by way of insanity because of those bad puns I grew to accept and love about you."

Yang smirked before Blake looked at the head and spine with distaste.

"Cianán, for the sake of the others, keep that overgrown zit on a stick hidden." Artemis said, noticing his Faunus girlfriend's look. "We don't wanna traumatize my young ones if they happen to see that thing."

"See what? Hadō no Gōjūyon: Haien," Cianán quipped as his hand dipped, an oblong orb of bright purple flame striking the head and spine and incinerating it. Even the blood was incinerated. "I don't see anything," he commented.

"Sabelotodo." Artemis muttered in Spanish, shaking his head.

Faust's eyebrows rose in mild surprise. "So, your talent is Spiritual Magic?" she commented.

"Spiritual Energy Manipulation and Runic Magic, despite lacking a certain 'head-dick'," Cianán commented wryly. He saw almost all of the Alicorns and Unicorns blush a bit as that was a bit of an unspoken but rather well known secret, that their horns were an erogenous zone.

"Head-di?!?" Yang snickered before Blake's hand blocked her from speaking.

"Don't even repeat that. And you," the feline Faunus said firmly, pointing at Cianán, "you say that again around the kids, and I'll spank you so hard, your rear will double as a stoplight," her tone was firm.

Cianán cocked an eyebrow.

Artemis leaned in-between Yang and Blake while pulling them close, his head sandwiching between theirs.

"I know you two have been dying to give me head for real while also feeling stuffed by my 11-inch-long, two and a half-inch-wide dick for real for a while now." Artemis whispered in their ears, making them both blush bright scarlet at his words. "And now that we're finally together for real, I foresee us doing just that." He growled huskily in their ears. "But we've got time. First Yang can torture 'The Ballless Wonder', no limits on the puns, then once he breaks from the insanity and tells us the info we need, I will make time especially for the two of you. Why do you think I came back for all of you?"

Artemis then looked back at Cianán and smirked, saying, "And brother, don't be jealous that you don't have the Alicorn Goddess of Equis for a wife as well as her." Artemis pointed his thumb toward the hallway of the Castle of Friendship from where they were in the interrogation facility, with Twilight's eyes widening in surprise at seeing another Cadence as well as a grown up Flurry Heart walking in.

"Artie, how are you married to Faust?! Or Cadence for that matter when she's right here?" Twilight exclaimed, pointing to her sister-in-law standing with Shining Armor.

"Because she's Cadence from an alternate Equestria, Twilight." Artemis said, looking down in sadness. "And her Shining Armor was murdered in front of her while she was being raped. We'll leave it at that, because you don't want to know the exact reason why she was being raped. Suffice it to say that I am not just the reincarnation of Faust's long-dead husband, but my Cadence's Shining Armor… at the same time. Two souls reincarnated into one body as a separate entity with its own life: Me. It's too much to explain though. If you want proof, ask Cianán. He knows this all too well."

"If there's anything we've found, it's that life tends to be far more crazy than any fiction we could come up with," Cianán commented wryly before he blinked at a purring comment. "Or as I liked to tell Artie when we were still human on our Earth, 'Reality is more fucked up than fiction'."

"Considering the fact that, by your own admission, you 'created' myself and Katrina," a wry voice commented coolly before midnight blue lacquered boots with ultramarine highlights touched the crystalline floor. His dark brown simian tail was coiled just below his belt.

"Kimura. How're you and Eri?" Cianán commented wryly as his eyebrow twitched upward. "You know that Katrina might be here alongside Pamela," he said wryly.

Artemis whispered to Yang and Blake, both of whom blushed bright scarlet again, but then Yang went into the sealed room where 'The Ballless Wonder' was chained to a chair with an inhibitor ring on his horn. She looked back at Artemis with bedroom eyes and fluttered her eyelashes.

"I'll be expecting a good time with you and Blake after I'm done with him, Artie. So don't start the fun without me, got it?" Yang said before closing the door behind her. Cianán used his magic to soundproof the room after it was sealed so no one would be agonized by Yang's jokes.

"Makes me kinda glad we don't have to hear her stand-up routine. No offense to her, but whilst her puns can be funny, they tend to be inopportune and, at times, inappropriate," Cianán commented.

What? You guys don't like me yanging your chains? Yang said over a telepathic message. Artemis, Cianán, and Blake all facepalmed at the bad pun, not realizing that the soundproofing didn't block telepathic messages.

"She may be bad with puns… but that's why I fell in love with her." Artemis said with a small smirk.

Cianán noticed a white haired heiress walk in. "Weiss Cream. Did you like the cheesecake?" he commented.

Weiss blinked before she cocked an eyebrow. "At least your puns are more tasteful," she sighed before she blinked, realizing the pun.

"At least your pun wasn't raw," Cianán quipped innocently, unintentionally impersonating a certain blonde British chef.

"That was a horrible Gordon Ramsey impression, brother." Artemis said with a deadpanned look. Then he turned to look at Weiss, smirking mischievously, saying, "Long time no see, Weiss. Remember me? I pulled a Bruce Almighty on you twice in my astral form while Blake and Yang held you still to do so and blew your clothes off both times. All of them, including undergarments. You may not recognize me, as I was still human and was using my astral form."

Weiss cocked her head in confusion. "That's… impossible," she said slowly in realization.

"Considering your own inherited talents and a certain Reaper, do you really think you have any room to call things 'impossible'?" Cianán quipped teasingly before he spotted a spiralling blur of red trailing rose petals behind Weiss shooting into the room before he felt it collide with him moments before he blinked, seeing silver eyes before he blinked as he felt lips pressed against his.

"Speak of the devil, Akuma no Sogeki-hei Kama," he quipped as he saw Ruby's cheeks flush as she retreated before he kissed her again.

"It's not just them brother." Artemis laughed, looking at Cianán. "Remember someone in their group who was mute until I used my old seikatsu ability to heal what happened to her who we both rescued after one of my 'gut feelings'? Come on out, my little ice cream."

As Artemis said that, a female figure with two-toned pink and dark brown ice cream colored hair comes walking out from behind Artemis, looking a little sheepish. She had a more badass look for clothing than her usual style.

"Long… time… Cianán…" Neo said haltingly, her voice sounding like she had a major sore throat. "I've… been… getting better… at Artie's… suggestion of… the treatment… for… my throat." Neo coughed a little bit before she popped a throat lozenge into her mouth and started to suck on it.

"Take it easy, babe." Artemis said with a smile before he kissed Neo lightly on the lips. "It's definitely getting better, but you still have a long way to go."

All of a sudden, 11 young little voices cried out in glee as Artemis heard, "DADDY!"

Nine 5-year-old anthro pony fillies and colts and two feline fraternal Faunus twins of the same age ran up to Artemis and hugged him to the ground in a massive dog pile (or is it pony pile?). Artemis laughed the entire time he was under them.

"It's good to see you, my little angels." Artemis said with a smile. "I thought it was your nap time?"

"We were too excited to finally get to see you for real this time." The girl of his Faunus twins, Iris, said. She was the spitting image of her mother, Blake, but with his old human form's eye color versus Blake's, while her twin brother, Beerus, was the opposite. He was the spitting image of Artemis when he was still human at his age, but with Blake's eye color. The only similarity between them was the same black cat ears on the top of their heads, just like their mother.

"So we all woke up at the same time to meet up to come down here and see you." One of his nonuplets through Faust said. The funniest thing about his nonuplets is that if one was smart enough to look, they would see the nonuplets have two different tails: a normal pony tail and a monkey's tail like Kimura's because of how they were conceived.

"Well it's good to finally see you, all 11 of you, for real this time. And that includes you too, Cadence, Flurry Heart." Artemis said with a smile at Cadence and Flurry Heart's way. "And all it took was… what? How many hiccups when trying to come and see me back on Earth?"

"Three times, before you cut off visitation until we could find a way to do so without said hiccups again, beibu." Another female voice said, with a distinct Japanese accent as Artemis looked and saw the one girl he had been dying to see, but couldn't due to said hiccups.

"Minako." Artemis said with a wide smile before she ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. Artemis leaned his head down towards her head and kissed the top of her head. "I hope the transwarp travel wasn't too rough for you."

"Īe,-sōde wa arimasendeshita." Minako said with a smile. No, it wasn't.

"Yokatta ne." Artemis said in response with a smile. That's good to hear.

Minako giggled as she said, "Anata wa yoku manande imasu." You're learning well.

"Watashiniha, watashi ga aishita saikō de mottomo nintaidzuyoi sensei ga imashita." Artemis said with a small smirk. I had the best and most patient teacher around whom I loved.

Cianán chuckled a bit as he hugged Neo. "Good to see ya, lass. Hoka no senshi mo koko ni iru to omoimasu ka? Watashi ga oboete iru yō ni, rei wa shibaraku renraku o toriatte imashita," he commented to Neo, shifting his attention to Minako, whom the Japanese was for. I'm guessing the other Senshi are here as well? As I recall, Rei was in contact for a while.

He wasn't surprised to see her cheeks flush.

"Hai, karera wa koko ni imasu, Cianán." Minako, or Mina to her friends, said to Cianán. "Jissai, rei wa arutemisu ni tsuite mo shinpai shite imasu. Arutemisu ga chikyū kara sugata o keshita hodo kanojo ga barabara ni naru no o mita koto ga arimasen. Kanojo wa watashi to onajiyōni kare o aishi hajimeta to omoimasu." Mina sighed sadly as she said that. Yes, they are here, Cianán. In fact, Rei is also worried about Artemis. I've never seen her fall apart so much that Artemis disappeared from Earth. I think she started to love him as much as I do.

"Watashi wa itsu ijō no hōhō de kanari jibun jishin o keiken shimashita. Soshite, watashi wa machigainaku, sorera no DC eiga wa, sorera no kurai eiga ga dorehodo yakkaidearu ka o shimesu koto ga dekiru to iu koto ga dekimasu... Shikashi, sore o taiken suru junbi wa nani mo arimasen… Soshite watashi o shinjite. Sono rokudenashi no dākusaido... `Kowakute osoroshī' wa chikadzukanai," Cianán commented before he shivered. I've gone through quite a bit myself in more ways than one. And I can definitely say that those DC movies can show how nasty those darker movies are... but nothing prepares you to experience it. And believe me... that bastard Darkseid... 'scary and intimidating' doesn't come close.

"That's not what I'm feeling from her brother." Artemis said, his eyes flashing Decepticon-red as he looked to Minako and held her close. "Chikyū wa dō narimashita ka? Minako-chan?" What happened to the earth? Minako-chan?

Mina began crying uncontrollably as she held Artemis tightly, letting her emotions flow freely.

"Metaria ga okotta. Kanojo wa subete no hito o koroshimashita. Anata ga kite watashitachi o mukae ni kita chokugodeshita. Jigo made shirimasendeshita. Shikashi, watashitachi wa kanojo o eien ni watashitachi no uchū ni kakuri suru koto ga dekimashitaga, uchū no subete no hito no inochi o gisei ni shimashita." Mina said while sobbing. Metallia has happened. She killed everyone. It was just after you came and picked us up. I didn't know until after the fact. But although we were able to isolate her forever in our universe, she sacrificed the lives of everyone in the universe.

Cianán's eyes narrowed as his fingers curled into a fist, the Speed Force electricity, unknown to him, flickering both bright bloody crimson and bright golden white as he unconsciously drew on both the 'positive' Speed Force Barry and most other Speedsters could tap into as well as its 'negative' counterpart that Eobard Thawn could tap into. "Kanojo wa watashitachi ga soko ni modoru hōhō o kesshite mitsukenai koto o nozonde imasu. Nazenara, moshi watashitachi ga sōsurutoki... Sorera no nan jū oku mo no tamashī ga fukushū o te ni ireyou to shite irukaradesu," he muttered dangerously. She'd better hope we never find a way back there. Because if and when we do... those billions of souls are going to get Vengeance.

He saw several of those in the room shiver at his tone. He didn't notice the faint red glow from his chest pulsing like a heartbeat. He took a deep breath, the red glow fading to white.

He didn't notice that a blonde Kryptonian had noticed the red glow and more, recognized the feel of the energy emitted by it.

"So you noticed it as well, did you?" a certain half demon telekinetic sorceress said dryly, amused as Kara jumped.

"Kinda hard to miss, especially after running across Atrocitus," Kara sighed.

"You might wanna calm down, brother." Artemis said, looking concerned. "To be honest, it's scaring not just me, but that just scared the crapbaskets out of the kids." He emphasized when his 11 young kids just ran and grouphugged him, looking at their adopted uncle with a scared look.

"What do you say to leaving your blonde-brawling girlfriend to drive a certain idjit to insanity whilst we get some air?" Cianán exhaled softly. "And that Rage wasn't for me, but those Metallia killed. But I won't become like Atrocitus," he said carefully.

"Yeah, let's go have those beers that I promised we'd have." Artemis said, letting go of each of his kids after giving each of them a kiss on the head. "But remember brother, you promised to tell me what happened after you left them. But I suggested telling me over those beers I promised."

—

"Let's just say, as some might say, I'm a 'jack of all trades, master of none'," Cianán commented wryly as he slammed a shot of tequila down. Artemis and him decided to go to Berry Punch's tavern. Artemis, however, was drinking a regular beer, working on his second bottle. "Though I will say I've worked with a few rather well known 'niche' celebrities," he commented.

"You ever work with a certain 'pirate' after that whole debacle with his ex-wife?" Artemis asked with a small smirk.

"I've met him, true, though if you mean working with him for an extended period? No, though whilst I do like Amber… she's a right pain in the flank," Cianán deadpanned. "Though I'm kinda surprised they have tequila that tastes pretty close to a certain Red Rocker's tequila," he commented wryly.

"I'm pretty surprised myself over the fact that they have a beer almost exactly like Pabst Blue Ribbon. I know the distinct taste of that beer because I used to drink it occasionally." Artemis said as he took another swig of his beer. "So, back to them, tell me brother… what exactly happened when you left them?"

"I did exactly what Pontius Pilate did… washed my hands of them. Surprisingly, I ran across more than a few 'niche' celebrities in my travels. For example, Tim Smith, Steven Tickle, and Josh Owens. Two of them are… or were… legal moonshiners. Josh, semi-legal… mostly. But Tim is a decent guy. Surprisingly, the other celebrity… well, let's just say working with him was one hell of a challenge," Cianán quipped before he tossed back another shot.

"Who exactly was this 'Red Rocker' you mentioned?" a wry voice commented.

"He's, in most musical circles, a legend rivaled by only a few, such as Ozzy Osbourne, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alice Cooper… Sammy Hagar. The funny thing is, when he and one of his most well known bands 'Van Halen' were writing one of their albums… they purposely titled the album a particular way to insult the record company. 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge' was what they titled it," Cianán commented, his gaze flicking to Raven, who was nursing her drink. He saw her eyebrow twitching upward before she blinked.

"A very subtle insult," she commented.

Artemis was laughing his ass off, having already drank his sixth bottle of the Pabst knock-off, was more than a little tipsy. But his laughter was directed to what Cianán said, getting what the insult was.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! That title of one of Van Halen's albums was 'FUCK'? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Artemis couldn't contain his laughter, albeit light-weight drunken laughter.

Cianán's eyebrow twitched upward as he shook his head slightly. "Faust was right, you really are a lightweight," he muttered wryly.

"Hey, I'm not a *hic* lightweight." Artemis said, completely plastered drunk by this point. "I'm a Cybertronian *hic* heavyweight." After he said that, Artemis was about to take another swig of his seventh beer before he fell backwards off the stool and was on the floor of Berry Punch's tavern, passed out drunk.

"I'd wager he'll be glad he's not human when he wakes up. To my knowledge, Cybertronians don't suffer from hangovers, though I am curious if there's an Energon equivalent to being shitfaced," Cianán quipped. He shook his head slightly.

"Now you have me curious about who else you ran across," Berry Punch commented wryly as she wiped down a mug.

"One of the more challenging ones was with Troy Landry… or as some knew him, the 'King of the Swamp' down in Louisiana. That was some tough work, but then, fighting a six hundred pound gator by a rope no more than an inch and a half thick and pulling that gator up from the bottom then holding him on the surface ain't easy. Think of them as not unlike a Cragadile," he commented wryly. "And those gators have a 'kill spot' no larger than a small coin on the back of the head. And surprisingly, some gator hunters, such as Troy's son Jacob, actually make a habit of sniping gators out in open water when possible," he commented wryly. He saw her eyes widen at that.

"Ugh, okay, maybe Faustie was right. I am a lightweight." Artemis said, sitting straight up while holding his head in his right hand. "Fuck me sideways with a lit road flare as a strap-on, this is one bitch of a processor-ache though."

"Don't nobody have time for that, boyo," Cianán quipped, cocking an eyebrow. "Besides, ye ain't a lightweight until someone's carrying yer arse out like a carry-on, bub," he quipped innocently.

"Ah fuck off, ye bloody titwanker. Ye think ye are so funny, don't ye? Ye wouldn't know funny if it fucked ye sideways with a lit road flare as a strap-on in yer arse and out yer mouth." Artemis said, his old Scottish blood coming out.

Cianán snickered a bit. "Nah, I'll leave that to the 'Ballless Wonder'. He's probably wishin' fer a set o' earplugs right about now," he quipped innocently before his ears twitched as he caught the distinct vibrations in the air as a certain boot shaped object was shoved in the rectal cavity of a castrated former 'Prince'. He winced slightly at the pitch. "Damn… though the sounds were held in, that bastard's screaming enough to make vibrations through the crystal walls and ground… I can only imagine what Kara's hearing."

"I felt that too, brother." Artemis said, laughing despite his hangover. "He'll definitely be feeling a 'pain in the ass', am I right?" Artemis then began laughing at his own patented Yang-level pun. "Yang really 'parked her foot up his ass', am I right?" Artemis laughed even harder.

Cianán chuckled. "He's gonna need a transanal caligaectomy," he quipped.

Raven blinked, cocking her head inquisitively. "A what?" she said with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Extraction of boot from his ass, though something tells me that Yang may stuff that boot as deep as she can down the other end to clean it off a bit… and shut him up if the vibrations are anything to go by," Cianán commented wryly before the double doors swung open to reveal someone unexpected: a geokinetic… Terra Markov.

"Ugh… I need to get wasted so I quit picking up those damn vibrations… whoever it is is giving me a migraine that feels like chainsaws in my head," Terra grumbled, looking very annoyed.

"Trust me, Terra, you don't want to know about the traitorous prick we have in interrogation right now." Artemis said, finally picking himself off the floor and giving Berry Punch 80 bits, 70 for the tab of he and Cianán along with whatever Terra was going to get. He also gave her 20 for a tip, along with a wink her way, to which she blushed and quickly scribbled down her address and handed it to him. Artemis looked at Berry Punch with a raised brow, as if asking a silent question. She nodded with a bright scarlet face and a sheepish smile. Artemis smiled as he took her hand lightly and kissed it, then walked out of the bar back towards his marefriend, Twilight's, castle. Berry Punch's eyes just rolled up in the back of her head as she dropped down on the floor in a dead faint with a dopey smile on her face.

"Trust me, Terra, though I'm not a geokinetic like you, my senses are highly attuned to vibrations as my connection to the Speed Force seems even stronger than Barry's, though I couldn't guess why, and I have yet to run fast enough to actually enter the Speed Force, but I do know Barry doesn't have either a connection to the Negative Speed Force or a connection to the Emotional Spectrum unlike me. Though I still have no clue why I have it even after Kyle lost his connection…" Cianán commented wryly, shaking his head slightly.

His head tilted as he took a deep breath. He tugged out a dried gourd the size of a football that had a stopper shoved in the top. He tilted it, noticing it was roughly ⅘ full. No doubt Berry Punch would be interested in this, he commented wryly.

Terra and Raven both noticed the gourd, the former cocking her head, though the latter blinked at it.

"One of the last batches I ran with Josh, Mark, and Digger. Apparently, it sold damn well… if I recall, they sold it for around $320 a gallon," he commented. "Made a forty-five-gallon run and only decided to keep about a gallon and a half for consumption purposes… peach moonshine infused with blueberries, a hundred and ten proof. Though I suspect she'd be just as interested in this one," he commented, tugging out one half as large. "Watermelon cognac, aged a year."

All of sudden, Artemis' voice came in through their link. Brother, get your ass to the interrogation facility pronto. She broke him.

She cracked his brain like a hard boiled egg, eh? Looks like we can now pick his brain, Cianán quipped as he stowed the alcohol away.

Still got that sealed envelope with his seal on it? Artemis asked all too innocently.

Aye. Hope that bitch has a good singing voice, 'cause we're gonna make him sing until he can't anymore, Cianán commented as electricity arced over his body. Something tells me he's going to be really 'horse' by the time we're done.

But like I said earlier, we're not going to give him the satisfaction of an execution. Artemis said with what sounded like an evil smile that would make a certain demon slayer proud. We're going to let him stew the rest of his life in the nearest looney bin due to him now being insane thanks to my brawler of a girlfriend. They're all waiting for us. So get your rear in gear.

I'm pretty sure your rear is gears, bub, Cianán quipped teasingly as he moved swiftly. He came to a stop just behind Weiss nearly silently before he drawled out two words in a snarky tone he knew would annoy the hell out of her. "I'm waiting."

So are you in a way, brother. IF you count your legs which you are still trying to figure out like I'm still trying to figure my new body out.

Suddenly three loud bangs came from the door of the interrogation room. Cianán disengaged the soundproofing spell and Artemis opened the door, revealing Yang with a dopey but happy smile on her face.

"Is he wanting to sing like a certain species of bird, my sexy brawler~?" Artemis asked all too innocently in a sing-song tone.

Cianán cocked an eyebrow at the way Yang smirked.

"Which species? Parrot or vulture? Or maybe 'dead canary'?" Yang quipped, her tone far too innocent.

"Dead canary sounds about right." Artemis laughed. Then he looked at Cianán and said, "Remember brother, we're not going to give him the satisfaction of an execution. We're sending him straight to the looney bin, considering my sexy brawler here made him go insane from her bad puns."

Cianán had a pensive look on his face as he had a gut feeling something was going to happen nobody would like. What it was, he couldn't quite explain, but his instincts were yelling… just as they had before the Apokaliptian 'deity' had revealed himself.

"What's wrong, brother?" Artemis asked, noticing Cianán's look on his face.

"I don't know, but my instincts are warning me something isn't right. The last time my instincts reacted like this, Darkseid showed up, and there ain't no way I'd put a certain group at risk," he said warily. His head tilted, noticing Flurry Heart fiddling with something in her belt pouch at her hip.

"Flurry, honey, what is that?" Artemis said warily, getting the same vibes as Cianán from seeing his eldest child messing with whatever was in her belt pouch.

"It's something I found," Flurry said before she pulled it out.

Cianán's eyes widened slightly. "Ryūki's Advent Deck… huh. And I'm guessing that she wasn't the only one, hmmm?" he commented wryly, an eyebrow twitching upward. He saw Cadence's cheeks flush in response before she pulled something very similar out, but with a different Sigil.

His head tilted. "Knight's Advent Deck, which means the others could show up as well. Though I do hope it doesn't end up with the Riders holding those Decks fighting to the death," he deadpanned seriously.

"I take it that's bad if that happens, isn't it?" Artemis said to Cianán. "Would we have a Highlander-level fight on our hands if that happened?"

"Worse, as there's not just those two Decks… but eleven others as well. Each has different attributes, though for destructive potential, I'd say that Zolda and Ouija are the most destructive as Ouija has a way to not only steal the Contract Monsters of others, but fuse them with his own partner. Zolda is more of a ranged combatant, but his Final Vent finisher is extremely powerful but destructive… like warzone destructive," Cianán deadpanned. He took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, the Build Driver was pretty damaged, most likely from my use of the Speed Force, so until I get time to repair it, it's pretty much useless. However," he commented before he pulled something out.

He saw Flurry's and Cadence's eyes widen slightly in surprise. "Dai-Shocker was careless. They left no less than four Advent Decks out… and now… they have none," he commented wryly.

"Good, because we don't need those guys showing up again for a good while after we destroyed their base." Artemis said, looking at his second wife and their daughter. "Be sure to use those powers wisely, you two. And if you two get into trouble, don't be afraid to ask for help. Understand? If I lose you two, I don't know what I'd do. Especially now that we're finally together for real this time." Artemis said those last two sentences with a sad look with his head down, shedding a few tears. Only Faust, Cadence, Flurry, and Cianán knew the real reason: he was in tune with Cadence's Shining Armor, not just Amber Skystone, Faust's long-dead husband and Celestia and Luna's father.

Flurry Heart looked at her father with a smile before she ran up to him and hugged him tightly, saying, "Papa, kiwotsukete yakusoku shimasu." Daddy, I promise you to be careful.

Artemis' eyes widened slightly as he smiled and hugged his eldest child back, his Cadence having joined the hug. "Eri obasan kara takusan manande iru yōdesu ne." Artemis said with a smile. It seems that you are learning a lot from Aunt Eri.

Flurry giggled as she said, "Hai. Kanojo wa yoi senseidesu." Yes. She is a good teacher.

"You remember when they ended up in the Mirror World? Only those who are either destined or find an Advent Deck can access that side. The best thing is that no matter how much you destroy there, it won't affect this side… hmmm… what if we trap the 'Ballless Wonder' on that side? He'd be unable to escape or bother anyone on this side without an Advent Deck," Cianán commented thoughtfully.

"Hmmm. Good idea, brother. Flurry, since I originally promised you could train in that sword you found back on Earth," Artemis started to say, "let's see if you're up to this. Would you like to do the honors of taking 'The Ballless Wonder' there instead of leaving him in a looney bin?"

Flurry Heart smiled a smile that would make her Uncle Billy proud as she transformed into her Advent Deck armor and said, "Kare ga okāsan ni shita koto ni taishite, tsuini ikuraka no mikaeri o eru koto ga watashi no saidai no yorokobi ni narudeshou." It will be my greatest pleasure to finally get some payback for what he did to Mom.

"I'm guessing you never told me the whole story about what happened, did you babe?" Artemis said to Cadence, who looked down to the ground in shame.

"Let's just say 'The Ballless Wonder', as you call him here, had a hand in Shining's death and allied himself willingly with them when the Fall happened." Cadence said, crying. "He was the reason the Crystal Empire fell to those filthy monsters. He gave them inside information in exchange for all the slaves that he wanted. They even let him… have his way with me before I was sent to Canterlot as a trophy for Gann where I met Uncle Billy." Cadence started to sob uncontrollably as she fell to her knees and held her face in her hands while she cried in shame.

Artemis felt his Spark sink at the sight of his second wife in such a pitiful state, even though she had good reason to be. Artemis got down on his knees and hugged her gingerly, being mindful of her wings. She stiffened at the action for a minute, but Cadence eventually returned the gesture and cried her heart out in Artemis' chest.

"It's okay, babe. Let it all out." Artemis said in a whisper, rubbing her back gently. "Remember what I said before, like I said to Faust? I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere. I won't leave you alone ever again. I give you my word as the last Cybertronian."

"There is no honor in taking advantage of the innocent in such a despicable manner such as that." Artemis heard from a certain Cybertronian of an alternate version of Cybertron, who just walked in.

"Dinobot, been a long time." Artemis said with a smile. He looked around the corner behind Dinobot, but couldn't see anything, but his Cybertronian radar was telling him something was there, but invisible.

"I know you're there, Scar." Artemis said with a smile. "It's okay. Come on out. Everyone here can be trusted."

An electric sound from Dinobot's right side happened as a very familiar Yautja made himself visible after deactivating his camouflage.

"It's good to finally visibly see you, Scar." Artemis said with a smile. "It's been a long time."

"Yes… it… surely has… hasn't… it?" Scar said in broken English.

"Um, why does his voice sound funny?" Iris asked, her head tilting to the side in confusion.

"He's an alien, Iris." Artemis said to his Faunus daughter. "Plus for his species, he doesn't speak English very well, but I see he's been learning."

"And you're not?" a sarcastic, slightly squeaky voice said.

"Rat Trap," Cianán. "You're just as annoying as ever."

"I wouldn't be surprised if all the Maximals are here. I've always wanted to meet Black Arachnia." Artemis said, laughing at the memories of watching Beast Wars.

"Black Arachnia was always hot and bluntly honest, not unlike Silverbolt," Cianán quipped teasingly. "Hell, I had a Silverbolt toy growing up," he chuckled. "Although between you and me, if Tarantulas shows up, I'm going to go Superman Castrator Shot on his ass," he commented. He hummed in thought.

"Is a certain Energon-backblasting, Megadork shaming big guy with you guys?" Artemis said while laughing. "I will never forget how when he was sick with that virus meant for Optimus Primal, he ate those beans. Then when he was in beast mode with you guys against Megadork, he turned his backside to the Predacons and let out that Energon fart that, quite literally, blew the Predacons away, including Megadork. The funniest part was that the blast was visible as a mushroom cloud of Energon from space… FROM SPACE! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Artemis fell to the floor as he, by the end of his story, had completely lost it and was completely busting his gut laughing.

"Sounds like he really blew it up," Cianán quipped with a deadpan expression.

"Okay, that's a fart joke even I wouldn't touch… or smell," Yang quipped.

In that moment, a sound not unlike an extremely deep bass horn blew out. "Ugh… damn beans," a deep grumble sounded moments before a higher pitched horn blew before it deepened to a rumble.

"Tell me that ain't…" Cianán commented wryly. He blinked as he noticed the shadow of a Transmetal 2 peregrine falcon darting past a nearby window.

"Yup, that was Rhinox. I'd know that deep voice anywhere." Artemis said with a deadpan look. "Apparently he still didn't learn his lesson from his issue with those beans he ate before he embarrassed Megadork. Luckily I just disconnected my olfactory sensors so I don't have to smell it." Artemis looked towards the window that Cianán had looked at. "I know that was you, Airazor. Come on in. I figured you all were here."

The form shot past again in a blur before she shot down the hall.

"Airazor, Maximize!" her voice rang out as she shifted into a far more humanoid form.

Cianán blinked before he heard a low pinging sound before his head turned to spot a canine head watching them. "Get your ass in here, you feathered hairball," he deadpanned. He blinked at Airazor's laughter before he noticed Airazor stood a bit over 6 foot 4 inches.

"Feathered hairball! Damn, now that's funny," Airazor chuckled.

Artemis, the entire time, was blushing and looking away from Airazor, hoping she didn't remember the compliment he made to her through their talks through Cianán when he and Cianán were still human on Earth.

Airazor smirked. "I still haven't forgotten," she deadpanned, watching the blushing Cybertronian. "And your Prime told us through Optimus Primal," she commented, hinting they knew a lot more.

"It's not that I didn't want you to remember the compliment." Artemis said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I just never thought I'd ever get the chance to finally meet you. Even though I was being completely honest about the compliment." Artemis muttered the last sentence he said in that statement, a little embarrassed.

Airazor shrugged before the winged wolf flew in. Their startled reactions were rather amusing.

"Silverbolt, Maximize," he barked before his body shifted before skidding on the crystalline floor.

Cianán blinked before Silverbolt tripped over one of the cords along the floor and promptly faceplanted. His eyebrow twitched upward. "No traction, eh, pup?" he commented.

"Have a nice trip, see you next fall." Artemis said with a chuckle.

"Ugh… jush my luck," Silverbolt groaned, revealing a golf ball sized chunk of crystal lodged in his mouth, more than enough to muffle him as he spoke.

"Huh, so we found a way to shut him up after all," Rat Trap commented with a smirk.

"Too bad we can't shut you up," Cianán quipped teasingly.

Silverbolt stood with a hint of a growl before he coughed before he spat out the crystal chunk before it ricocheted with a ringing clang off Rat Trap's head right between the eyes.

"Headshot!" Cianán quipped with a snicker as Rat Trap tumbled twice before ending up on his face. "Heh… a crystal hairball rang his bell," he quipped.

"Trust me, Rat Trap, you may be a good fighter, but you were always such a pessimistic prick, always saying, and I quote, 'We're all gonna die'." Artemis said with a smirk while chuckling.

"Can't be worse than Megadork's 'yes' verbal tic… ugh, he was annoying and about as subtle as an avalanche," a wry, slightly hissing voice commented.

"Aiee! Giant spider!" one of the nonuplet twins said, startled.

"Easy, Maya, she's a friend." Artemis said, looking at said nonuplet. "She's from Cybertron, like me, though an alternate version of Cybertron. So Black Arachnia, transform so as not to scare her. I guess she has arachnophobia." When Black Arachnia turned to Artemis in her beast mode, he just shrugged and said, "It's a human/pony fear thing."

"Black Arachnia, Maximize," she sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"It's specifically the 'fear of spiders'," Cianán quipped.

"I know what it is, ya jackass." Artemis said with a deadpan look that rivaled the Terminator after the failed attempt at smiling. "I was just being simplistic about it." Then he turned to Black Arachnia and smiled, saying, "Funny thing though. I said 'Megadork' before you all showed up, long before I even became what I am now. Besides, if I ever met that version of the Megatron that you all dealt with, or his Decepticon predecessor, I would be very tempted to call both of them that, just to see them pop an Energon vessel for crapbaskets and giggles." Artemis chuckled at the thought of seeing both Predacon Megatron and his Decepticon predecessor get pissed off. Airazor, Silverbolt, Dinobot, even Black Arachnia chuckled at the prospect.

"Oh Primus, what I wouldn't give to see him pop an Energon vessel after the, as you said, 'crapbaskets' he put me, Dinobot, and Silverbolt through." Black Arachnia said.

All of a sudden, Beerus walked up to Black Arachnia and looked up at her. Black Arachnia noticed this and looked down at Beerus.

"Is there something on my face, kid?" Black Arachnia asked Beerus, a little annoyed.

Beerus just stood there and smiled while holding up a particularly beautiful red rose.

"I grabbed this from home before Daddy came and picked us up." Beerus said, looking bashful. Artemis thought the sight was adorable, seeing his son through Blake trying to be Black Arachnia's friend. "I think you should have it. You look very pretty."

Black Arachnia was shocked by this, but in her Spark, she felt an emotion she never had before at his admission: joy. Black Arachnia smiled as she knelt down to be eye level with Beerus and took the rose while giving him a hug.

"Thanks kid." Black Arachnia said. "You're not too bad yourself for being Prime's son."

"Ain't that the truth." Artemis said with a smile of pride on his face. "I wouldn't be surprised if he looks like me at 33 years old. Besides the cat ears and yellow eyes, he's the spitting image of what I used to look like at his age when I was still human. Exactly to a 'T'. I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to look like a clone of me at that age when he gets that old." he commented.

"Except skinnier. Though I can't really comment, as when I left them, I wasn't exactly skinny myself. I can say you are quite beautiful, Black Arachnia. True, admittedly, I'm not quite looking for any herd members… though I'm almost sure that Sunset and I hooked triplets, especially from the way Aloe was screaming," Cianán quipped with a deadpan.

"Sorry, but as you already know, I'm taken." Black Arachnia said. But she smirked at Cianán, saying, "But it's still nice to hear compliments like that, even if it's not from Silvy here."

"Yeah, though," Cianán started before he paused, noticing a bead of red before an eruption of crystalline dust detonated before he shifted, rolling to his feet as silvery liquid metal surged from his palm, hardening before a second blast impacted as his eyes narrowed. "Tarantulas…" he growled, not realizing the metal shifted to a metallic red sheen as he unconsciously suffused it with the Omega Sanction.

Brother, you're releasing the Omega Sanction. Artemis said through their link while getting into a battle stance and pulling out his Ion Blaster. Be careful…

Ugh… knowing Darkseid, he'd know the feel of it… and we don't need his attention. Cianán sighed, forcing back the killing intent he could feel within the Omega Sanction as the red sheen receded before he cocked his head. Didn't Tony use some sort of nanotech at some point? he mused, unable to remember the name… Extremis.

Just do me a favor and get the kids outta here as well as everyone in town to a safe distance. Artemis said, having already transformed into his Battle Form Armor. That includes our marefriends and girlfriends for me. Me and the Maximals will handle him. I'll do you a favor and give that bastard the Superman Castrator Shot for ya, ya dig?

Ugh… he's not alone if what I'm picking up is right. Cianán grumbled. Quickstrike and Inferno are with him, which means it's likely Megatron isn't far away.

You're not saying Megadork is back, are ya? Artemis asked incredulously, but with a hint of glee that he finally will get his chance at insulting Predacon Megatron.

It's likely. Inferno sees Megatron as the ant equivalent of a Queen Ant, so he'd follow orders and I'd wager Quickstrike is looking for a good brawl. Tarantulas… I wouldn't be shocked if he had ties to Dai-Shocker… being what his particular lineage is… a certain DARK CYBERTRONIAN, he warned, referring to a particular being the G1 Megatron knew of well. He doubted Megatron knew that particular fact.

Oh HELL NO! You ARE NOT referring to Unicron, are you?! Artemis all but yelled that to Cianán through the link.

"Shut up, brat… ugh… a few millennia sleeping makes a Kitsune so fucking stiff," a deeper growl rumbled.

Kurama, Cianán deadpanned, shaking his head before he gritted his teeth, feeling energy surging through his body, not noticing that flesh formed over his cybernetic legs as his body seemed to be outlined by pale bluish flames that receded into his skin as it faded to bluish white electricity. You asshole Kitsune… fuck… that was almost as bad as regenerating my legs the first fucking time… whilst getting hit by lightning, he grumbled, wincing as he dropped to his knees.

Just take it easy brother. Artemis said through their link. Get the kids and the girls, as well as the townsponies out to a safe distance, the Maximals and I will handle it. When you get everypony out of harm's way, rejoin us to kick some Predacon skidplate.

If I do take it easy, our loved ones are still in firing range, and quite simply… FUCK THAT, Cianán said as he forced himself to his feet, his body arcing with Speed Force energy. Though knowing Sunny, she may well try to sneak into the brawl herself, he quipped innocently.

I wouldn't, Sunset commented wryly.

Cianán cocked an eyebrow much like a certain wrestler-turned-actor, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Hmmm… what word am I thinking of, Sunny? Ah, yes… bullshit.

Sunset's cheeks colored as she shivered.

It's for the safety of you and everypony else, Sunset. Artemis cut in. Shining, use your armor I gave you to open a Ground Bridge and get everypony in town to the abandoned Castle of the Two Sisters. But also watch over my kids and keep them safe, same to you Twilight, Kara, Yang, Blake, Faust. Cianán, the Maximals and I will handle these pricks. Can you do that for me… Brother?

All Artemis could hear was silence. But then he heard Shining Armor say, Consider it done… Brother. You better not get yourself killed. If you do, I'll hunt you down to the Pit for Twilight if you get injured.

Thanks Brother. Artemis said with a smile before his battle mask slid into place. I owe you one for this.

Just come back to Twilight, Kara and the others in one piece and we'll call it even. Shining Armor said with a small chuckle. But a beer would be nice.

A beer it is then. Artemis said with a laugh. Then he held his Ion Blaster at the ready while looking at the Maximals. "Are you all ready to do this?"

"You may not be Optimus Primal, but I know you will lead us into battle with honor as he would have done." Dinobot said while getting into a battle stance of his own.

"I'll see what you can do first, after which I'll decide if I might give you a chance." Airazor said while a little behind Artemis and to his left. Artemis yelped as he felt a very resounding smack on his rear, looking at Airazor who looked all too innocent about what just happened.

"Now you're just teasing me." Artemis said with a deadpan tone.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not~?" Airazor said in a sing-song tone, being far too innocent about it. Artemis chuckled.

"If you found an alternate pony form, oh-ho, the things I would do with you in the bedroom." Artemis purred in her ear. After which a light 'POOMPH' sound came from Airazor's back. Apparently even she was not immune to wing boners as her wings on her back were standing at complete attention and proud.

"I think I might just do that, but I'll choose a pegasus form so I can still fly." Airazor said, a bright scarlet blush on her cheeks with a dopey smile. "I just hope you can keep up with me."

"Careful, Airazor, you're basically invoking Murphy's Law on that one." Artemis said with a smirk.

"Trust me, lass, that would leave you twitching if what he did to a certain Kryptonian and Alicorn was anything to go by," Cianán quipped innocently, not seeing both Kara and Twilight blush in response almost immediately.

That's none of your business, Wes Cianán Campbell. Kara chastised, calling Cianán out on his full name through the telepathic link. Then she sounded like she smirked as she said, Though you're one to talk, considering the stuffing you gave Sunset and the Spa Triplets as well as getting a good stuffing yourself from Sunset in return like a Thanksgiving turkey.

Cianán cocked an eyebrow. "Never said it was, though with this idjit leaving the link open just to drive Sunset and I nuts, I wouldn't have expected you to have a voyeuristic streak," he commented before he paused, his ears twitching as his gaze shifted to the west, towards the Everfree Forest before his eyes narrowed. "Keep the link open and transmitting. I have a feeling we're gonna see something unexpected," he commented as he focused, the armor a certain Bat would have recognized as that of his dark counterpart The Red Death forming around him before he vanished in a gust of air, unaware as he shot past Weiss, her clothes were yanked off with a loud ripping sound, leaving her in light yellowish orange panties and bra, with her screaming 'Damn you, you pervert!'.

He knew if Artemis left the link open and transmitting, they'd be able to see from his perspective as he moved, seeing hills, trees, and various rocks before he shot up the side of Mt. Canterhorn where Canterlot resided. He, however, had unknowingly left his reformed hooves bared of the armor so Sunset was aware of every single footfall.

Sunset shivered as she could feel the tingling rush just beneath her skin of the echo of the energy he referred to as the 'Speed Force' as well as the slight echoing ache of hooves on the ground. She was hovering just above the ground in a side room with her legs in a lotus position, her focus on the connection with her mate. Her head tilted as she hummed softly, the sound musical.

Cianán shivered slightly as he heard Sunset's humming. His head scanned around, spotting the Predacons. "Looks like they're to the southeast of the town, roughly four hundred yards out from the outskirts but not moving closer yet," he relayed. His gaze shifted to the Everfree Forest before his eyebrows shot up. "Holy shit," he muttered both mentally and aloud. Either the Castle of the Two Sisters had not sustained much damage or someone had restored it. His money was on the latter.

What he didn't expect was explosions to detonate around him before he realized he'd been followed. He didn't notice the armor sheathing his legs and hooves even as he spotted the attacker.

"Terrorsaur, Terrorize!" came his screeching cry even as he opened fire.

Cianán knew he was almost as strong as Predacon Megatron. His head tilted before he flipped the bird to the bird-brained Predacon before he was gone in a surge of electricity even as a heavy brick slammed into the Predacon's face and shattered. "Come on, bird-brain bitch. Can't keep up, ya slow-mo?" he quipped teasingly.

He sped back towards Ponyville, glancing back as explosive rounds impacted yards behind him repeatedly. He vaulted off a hill as he somersaulted, purposely smacking his ass to taunt and piss off the aerial Predacon before he landed in a roll before he got an idea and focused so he shot along the ground as a rolling blur.

I can see why Sonic taunts people… pisses them off and serves as a pretty good distraction, he sighed softly, amused as he rolled around the slope of a hill before uncurling and pushing off the ground, tackling Terrorsaur out of the air with a Spear before he tagged him with a few European Uppercuts before they hit the ground hard. He rolled through the impact, wincing a bit. His ears twitched at the deep metallic clunking as he realized Tarantulas was reloading. He grinned as he got an idea. Hey, brother, you may want to head for the balcony. As I recall, Tarantulas' tank mode basically has him shooting those shots out of his ass… well, you'll laugh your ass off at what I'm about to do. He relayed this to Artemis.

He grabbed Terrorsaur's stunned form from the ground before he darted towards the Predacons' location.

Twilight blinked, cocking her head in confusion at Cianán's comment before he cut the feed.

Gonna shove Terrorsaur's head up Tarantulas's arse, Hancock-style, are ye? Artemis cackled at Cianán through the link.

Safe to say it'll be two birds with one stone, or in this case, one bird and one spider with one asshole, Cianán quipped innocently.

Oh, now this I gotta see after what that hijo de puta almost did to me if not for the Transmetal 2 driver. I'll be right there. Black Arachnia cut in, wanting revenge on Tarantulas for that particular point in time.

Cianán shivered slightly at her vindictive tone. See? That's why I do my best not to piss off ladies. Especially medics… they're the scariest when vindictive. They know how to take you apart, then put you back together… repeatedly. He commented. He hadn't told anyone, but he'd run across a dead ringer for a certain blonde Sannin in both skills and temperament on the other Earth. He snickered as he swung Terrorsaur, tagging both Quickstrike and Inferno in the back of the head hard enough to distract them both.

And do you think I'd leave you alone after all the times you pissed me off, teme? A Japanese female voice cut in as he was doing that to the said Predacons.

"Ah, fuck," Cianán muttered as he darted around, stuffing Terrorsaur's head in one cannon tub, his legs in the other two before he kicked him in the nuts in principle before he purposely sat right on Tarantulas' head. "Hello, asshole. Did you order the teabagging service?" he commented innocently.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Black Arachnia's voice came cackling from nearby. "Primus, that's slagging hilarious. 'Teabagging service'? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Eh?" Quickstrike drawled before noticing Cianán sitting on Tarantulas' back flipping the bird. He leveled his Cobra Cannon at Cianán as Tarantulas spun at Cianán's comment, thinking he was behind him before they saw Terrorsaur's predicament as one of the freshly loaded barrels glowed, ready to fire.

"What do you get from barbecued snakes and scorpions alongside grilled spider and bird brains?" Cianán quipped teasingly. "Let's find out," he quipped before the cannon fired. He snickered as he shot at high speed, perching on the railing of the balcony near Black Arachnia as the detonation erupted skyward. "Damn… wonder what he ate to blow that outta his ass." He commented nonchalantly.

"I saw that from all the way over here, brother." Artemis said over the comlink this time. "Gotta wonder if he ate those beans that Rhinox had when he was sick with that virus meant for Optimus Primal." Artemis laughed over the comlink as he said this. "Satisfying enough for you, Black Arachnia?"

Black Arachnia smirked before her eyes widened fractionally, watching over his shoulder before she cocked her head.

Cianán turned before his eyes widened slightly. "Huh… why does you showing up not surprise me?" He also noticed the reflection of a top hat in her hand behind her back.

"Of course she'd show up." Artemis said with a laugh. "She contacted me last night, asked me for a favor. She filled me in on all the times YOU pissed HER off. I couldn't say no to screwing with you, brother. So I went and picked her up from her dimension after she retired as Hokage."

Cianán facepalmed. "Yet I noticed she never did that to a certain knucklehead, considering all the times he pissed her off. Besides, had I not intervened when that idiotic Uchiha fled, he'd have ended up with that snake," he deadpanned dryly as he shifted his weight to lean against the balustrade.

"Oh, if that would've happened after I became a Prime, I would have kicked his ass personally. Sasuke for his stupidity, and Orochimaru for just being the evil pizza shit-stain he is." Artemis said with a chuckle. "It looks like Quickstrike, Terrorsaur, and Tarantulas are, pardon the pun, 'resting in pieces'. So all we gotta take care of is whoever came as far as the rest of the Predacons as well as Megadork himself. Ugh, not looking forward to hearing that 'yes' verbal tic of his in reality. It was annoying enough in the show. Imagine how much more so it would be in reality, brother."

"I'm guessing they had the nuclear chili farts, eh, brother?" Cianán quipped teasingly.

"That's one way of putting it. Though it's not far from the truth." Artemis said with a small chuckle, suddenly appearing next to Cianán.

"Though I can say the first thing I'm gonna do with Dorkatron is stuff his mouth with the heaviest, densest, thickest thing I can find just to shut him up." Cianán commented wryly.

"Oooooh, deal me in on that. You in, Black Arachnia?" Artemis asked, turning to said Maximal.

Black Arachnia blinked. "You do know that could sound so wrong in another context?" she commented innocently.

Cianán shivered as he cleared his throat, trying not to retch at the image Black Arachnia unintentionally put in his head. "I really don't need to know that, lass. That is just… ugh," he growled.

He shook his head before his hand swiped as a burning golden flame flickered over his fingertips as the hat Tsunade had held hidden shot free from her grasp, startling the Sannin before the hat shot up, revealing its owner.

"Hot damn!" Artemis said with a whisper as he blushed at the sight of the gorgeous-looking backwards speaking mage. "I will say this brother. Like ye said about Kara, the media did nae do Zantanna any justice at all, aye?" Artemis said, his old Scottish blood coming out in his flustered voice. Zantanna just giggled at Artie's reaction.

"Glad you think so." Zantanna said while giggling. "Cianán told me a lot about you, Artemis… or is it Aaron?" Zantanna said that last part of her sentence with a teasing wink.

"Who told ye that name, lass?" Artemis said with a small smirk, his old Scottish blood still prominent. "I highly doubt Cianán did. Since, from what he told me, he barely trusted anyone after he left them. That, and I highly doubt he would just give out that info even if he still had such trust."

"I may have… accidentally accessed his memories after he joined the Justice League back on Earth." Zantanna said sheepishly. "I didn't realize what happened until after the fact, as it was a new spell that backfired. But when I realized what I saw, I kept what I saw to myself, but never told him. I didn't want him to be mad at me for a new spell that backfired and had unintentional side-effects."

Artemis looked at Cianán and said through their link, Sound familiar about a certain Alicorn I'm dating after getting her brother's approval, brother?

"You could have mentioned it after we stomped Faust's ass in Mannheim's Chinese Theater in Metropolis, though I have no reason to get pissed off at ye, considering I see you like a sister… a sister that can be a pain in the arse, but a sister nonetheless. Although it seems my magic took after yer own. The only big difference is that I have to speak Latin backwards," Cianán quipped teasingly.

"Sor-ry, ya jackass." Zantanna said with a teasing smirk at Cianán, knowing Cianán would know she saw that particular dialogue of Artemis and Cianán's old human lives.

Cianán rolled his eyes. "Oh? Alip Auqa," he quipped innocently before a basketball sized orb of water fell on both Zatanna and Tsunade… and unintentionally soaking Tsunade's top and revealing a certain lack of support in a particular region though hers didn't sag at all.

"Uh… wha… homina…" was all Artemis could say before he passed out in a dead faint as all his Energon went straight south for the winter.

Black Arachnia blinked before cocking her head. "How the hell are those natural?" she muttered.

"Milk and chakra," Tsunade quipped with a smirk.

"I bet that cow's milk ain't the only milk in those," Cianán deadpanned.

"Besides, Artemis did me a favor. But what he didn't say was something I never told him." Tsunade said with a blush as she muttered something under her breath that none of the others seemed to hear, except Cianán. "We knew each other before… a long time ago in middle school when he was still human."

Cianán cocked an eyebrow before he blinked. His ears twitched twice before he spun. "Cover your ears! Sagig Rogarf Sutci!" he roared before he clapped his hands together. Rather than a sharp clap, an echoing boom sounded, not unlike an explosion. The trio of rockets speeding at them were sheared in multiple places before they detonated.

Cianán's eyes narrowed as he scanned around warily for the threat. He didn't know too many of the Predacons beyond Tarantulas, Megatron, and Inferno. His head tilted before he exhaled softly. "I'm going to proceed with evacuations, at least until we can eliminate the Pestacons," he commented to Black Arachnia, who snickered.

"I wonder how we wake up 'lover boy'," she muttered before she felt a gust of air.

Zatanna rolled her eyes before she shook her head. That was something she didn't need to know. She had also noticed an all too familiar energy when Cianán had tugged her hat free, though how he'd known about it in the first place, she couldn't guess. She paused, noticing the crystalline pitch of her footfalls before she facepalmed. "Ugh… for being a strong homo magus, I didn't consider that crystals might refract more than light," she muttered under her breath.

—

"Um, Mama, even if we did find these 'Advent Decks', we don't know how to use them, and Uncle Cianán didn't tell us," Flurry commented.

"I've been thinking about that. He did mention something about mirrors, so… perhaps reflective surfaces?" Cadence commented thoughtfully, unknowingly exactly right.

Her head turned as a trail of lightning surged out of the gaping hole in the wall, producing a strong gust in its backwash.

"Not again!" a white haired heiress screamed.

"You know, you could just not be in the hallways when he's running around," Ruby pointed out.

Weiss just flipped the bird as she stumbled back to her room after gathering her clothes.

"Wonder why she's wearing that color," Cadence murmured shyly.

—

At the Castle of the Two Sisters, restored by unknown means, although Cianán had suspicions as to how, he delivered a trio of mares. One under each arm and one on his back. The mares were two Unicorns as well as an Earth Pony. One Unicorn mare was a light sea green with a mint green mane and a white streak within it. The other had a white coat and a two toned blue mane as well as purple glasses. The Earth Pony mare had a beige coat, pigment blue mane with a rose pink streak, cerulean eyes, and a cutie mark of three wrapped candies.

A few minutes later, more ponies were placed there in the main courtyard, a particular family of bakers as well as their twins. Minutes later, a rather windswept cellist arrived as well as a certain trio of gardening sisters. Unfortunately, as he darted to leave, vines easily as thick as the front end of a semi truck burst from the ground and covered the exit in time for him to plow face-first into them.

A good thirty seconds passed before he fell back and landed flat on his back only to see a bow aimed at his face, a seed pod filled broadhead arrowhead at the tip. "Really, Kat? No 'hello'?" he commented wryly before he kicked up onto his feet before stumbling.

"Do I know you?" Katrina looked at Cianán with an incredulous look.

"Not face-to-face like this, no. But I know you almost as well as I do myself. You and Pammy both. Though I can say you look damn hot," Cianán quipped teasingly as he let the helmet retract in burning embers of reddish gold. "Though it has been years since we spoke," he commented wryly. "That, and last we spoke, I didn't have a connection to the Speed Force… though I can say that the next time I see Brainiac… I'm going to toss his ass into the nearest black hole," he sighed with a shake of his head.

He tilted his head as he could see the gears turning in her head before she shook her head with an incredulous look. "That's impossible," she said slowly.

"As impossible as meeting someone you 'created'?" Cianán quipped teasingly. He tilted his head as he saw someone he half expected to see.

"And you should both know a certain Clown, the real one, ended up here but he kinda lost his head. Oh, and Harley's at that crystalline castle," Cianán commented.

He saw their eyes widen.

"One question: is it true? Those rumors that claim the only reason Metropolis is still standing was you? Heard it from not only Babe and Nygma, but Freeze, Wilson, and Dent too," Pamela 'Poison Ivy' Isley commented bluntly.

"Ah… the rumors about that body double of the clown hooking up a nuclear heart rate trigger to a pregnant Lois Lane? True… also true that the gust I kicked up from trying to keep up with the Big Blue Boy Scout scattered the Fear Toxin that double tried to hit him with. And knowing Harley, she likely heard about it from Lawton and Jones after I kinda Hurricanrana'ed her ass into the gurney after Supes got Lois out," Cianán said wryly. "Though I'd wager that body double was aching quite a lot after I beat his ass like Smith did Neo in that subway station," he commented wryly.

—

Meanwhile, Tsunade flicked a certain Cybertronian Prime's hard-on without chakra as she suspected if she did so with chakra it would probably explode from the pent up blood. She was very tempted to do what a certain Merc did to a grumpy Canadian.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Tsunade… or should I call you Tasha, my old middle school crush?" Artemis said without opening his eyes.

Tsunade blinked a couple of times, cocking her head as she remembered vaguely that life. It was closer to that of a dream, especially with how the memories returned weeks after a certain incident with a Salamander and in the months following. "That was a long time ago… and I've made more fuck-ups than I care to recall," she sighed.

"Haven't we all? I grew dissatisfied with Megatron's bullshit and his desire to eliminate not only the Maximals, but the primordial humans of that Earth. Unknown to him, using the Vox to try and eliminate the Maximals scattered us through time and space. We don't know if Primal is still alive or not nor where the others are. We got lucky that we happened to end up in the same time and place, though what drew us here is a mystery," Black Arachnia commented.

"I can confirm that Pamela and Katrina are here… in the Castle of the Two Sisters," Cianán cut in over the comlinks. "Kinda ironic… as sisters had the castle and sisters rebuilt the castle," he quipped.

"Huh, that is ironic." Artemis laughed. Then he said to Cianán over his comlink, "You think you can handle the Predacons, brother? I don't think it would be wise for me to go back outside with a certain southern problem still persisting." Artemis looked towards Tsunade and said, "Plus I have some catching up to do."

"Once these stubborn sisters let me out… or I figure out how to vibrate and phase through shit, I can get more out of the potential firing zone. Maybe it's a good thing a particular Barry had Harrison Wells, even if he turned out to be Thawne," Cianán quipped, referring to a particular Earth.

"I'll open a Ground Bridge once I'm settled and keep the refugees at the Castle of the Two Sisters safe, brother." Artemis said with a small chuckle as he stood up. Artemis then looked at Tsunade, saying, "But after that, Tsunade, you and I are going to have a long talk. As in, you could have asked me for help when you and your son back on Earth were in danger from his father." His gaze softened as he saw her look down in shame and sadness. "We'll talk in private if that makes you feel better."

"Yes that would, actually." Tsunade said with a small smile despite her sadness. "I'm sorry. I should've realized I could still trust someone I knew who actually cared about me, even after all this time."

"I never stopped caring." Artemis said in a whisper, looking down in sadness himself as he said this.

"The past is set in stone and cannot be changed. The future is a tale yet to be told. The present is a gift with which we live, hence why it's called the 'present'," Cianán quipped.

Tsunade's eyes blinked before she shivered unconsciously. She knew that Creed very well… as it belonged to a sibling Clan to the one she had been reborn into.

"If you're still willing to give me a chance after this is over with, Tsunade," Artemis started to say with a blushing smile, "I just hope that you don't mind sharing, as I have a herd. The female-to-male ratio is 8-to-1 favoring the females. So I'm just giving you a heads up."

"So it's like a C.R.A.P but more publicly known, hmmm? Meh. Always was a bit more into girls, myself," Tsunade hummed.

"Such as a violet eyed, red headed Uzumaki who happens to hate tomatoes?" Cianán quipped teasingly. "Never did like the idea of a C.R.A.P or gave a crap about it… especially if the remaining Clan Member was female," he sighed.

Tsunade smirked slightly as she leaned forward with a conspiratorial smirk. "I'm certain she'd find a way to come for my ass, but I know why she hates tomatoes," she commented.

"Uh, what's a C.R.A.P?" Artemis said, clearly confused at what Tsunade and Cianán were talking about, having not heard of that.

"Clan Restoration Act Protocol. Think herding for Clan Families. However, if the last remaining member is female, it would be far closer to gang rape in order for them to have children with said skills," Cianán said grimly.

Black Arachnia blinked before her eyes narrowed as her fingers dragged along the edge of the railing, sparks flying though no crystal was broken away.

"I take it you've experienced something like that, Black Arachnia?" Artemis asked, his eyes flashing Decepticon-red at her reaction.

"I don't want to talk about it," was all she said.

What Cianán didn't say was that he noticed embers of deep purple, almost black, energy rising from her fingertips, which he'd noticed, extended into sharp talons.

"Everyone, leave the room." Artemis said, his tone turning deadly serious, his eyes completely changing to Decepticon-red. "And brother?" Cianán looked at Artemis. "Don't listen to this this one time, okay? I want this to be in confidence like when I told you what happened years ago, aye?" Artemis looked towards Cianán with a serious look that said 'please, brother, just this one time'.

Cianán cocked an eyebrow before he shrugged before a sultry female voice spoke moments before he cut the connection. "Why do you" was heard before the connection was cut off.

"I'm not leaving you alone with her." Silverbolt growled, thinking Artemis was going to steal his girlfriend from him.

"Silvy…" Black Arachnia said, causing Silverbolt to look at Black Arachnia with a worried look. "Just go. It'll be fine. Just help Prime's friends and the rest of the Maximals with taking down the Pestacons. I'd rather this be in confidence. I'll… tell you about it later."

Silverbolt's eyes narrowed before an abrupt and powerful tremor shook the palace. His gaze snapped to the west where a thick beam of bright golden red energy was erupting from the trees. Moments passed before a gale hit that knocked him on his ass before his head cocked as he groaned from the tumble he'd taken.

—

Cianán heard Pamela's voice speak as he cut the connection.

"Why do you hold back? I can feel the power within you just begging to be unleashed. It feels so potent that even the Tribunals took note. I know that the Tribunals of Animals and Trees most certainly have. In fact, the Green gave me a way to awaken that potential," she commented.

Cianán blinked as the Tribunal of Animals were essentially the equivalent of Alphas to the strongest Alphas in the Animalistic World that most knew simply as The Red. Vixen had a connection to it through not only her amulet but her bloodline as well. The Parliament of Trees ran The Green, or as it was known, the 'web' all plant life was linked to. The other Forces were The Clear, the same force Arthur Curry, the 'Aquaman', could tap into… the 'web' of aquatic life. Another was The White, which mages such as Captain Marvel and Black Adam could indirectly tap into. True, one of the most well known with a connection to The White was a Greek Skyfather. The Melt, however, was the driving force behind what science knew as 'plate tectonics'. The last two was The Rot, who had chosen none other than Solomon Grundy as their Avatar, and a force many knew simply as Magic.

Cianán's head tilted fractionally before he blinked before he spotted the vines shifting before he felt something both icy cold and burning hot driven into his chest before he saw Katrina darting forward, her eyes wide before he felt the vine behind shifting before he felt what he could only describe as a wall cracking and fracturing in his mind and spirit. Unknown to him, the knife was thrown high into the lower orbital levels of the planet as a bright jet of golden red energy detonated skyward, unknowingly creating a tremor in the ground that would catch the attention of anyone nearby as well as a gale strong enough for a Category 3 hurricane to erupt. He didn't see the simian tail erupt as his mane darkened to a deep midnight blue as his fur became streaked with not only golden red, but a dark indigo-ultramarine before his muscles bulged as his eyes snapped open. Unknown to him, rather than charcoal, teal, or pale blue of a certain form… his irises were a deep blood red with a edging ring of rippling silver like liquid mercury.

—

Black Arachnia's eyes widened as her head cocked at the feel of the energy. "What the hell?" she managed. She could see the beam receding before her audio receptors twitched slightly at hearing a high-pitched whistling.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he went the pony equivalent of Super Saiyan 4." Artemis said with a smile. "Looks like he's got this in a one-sided fight." Artemis then turned back to Black Arachnia and looked at her with a saddened look. He clicked his fingers before a dome of shimmering magic forms around the two of them. "This is a soundproofing field. Anything we say won't be heard by anyone outside of it. Now… what happened? You can tell me." Black Arachnia started to cry as Artemis held her in a friendly hug and said, "Take your time. I'm all ears."

Black Arachnia took a slow breath. "There was once… before I was 'recruited' by Megatron… when I was a very young Cybertronian… and like any young sentient… I made stupid mistakes. One 'job' I had… well… let's just say that the 'boss' saw his employees as little more than something to use and abuse… and I do mean in that way," she said slowly. "Surprisingly… it was Megatron who rescued me from that… contrary to assumption, he could be decent… until he got obsessed with his counterpart in the distant past. I don't know why, frankly, as all that can be learned from the past is what not to do…" she sighed.

Artemis just seethed at the part of her story that she was abused by whomever her former boss was. He was seething so much that he dropped the soundproofing spell as the ground began to shake like an earthquake was happening. Black Arachnia blinked and backed up from Artemis as she realized the source of the quaking was him. Lightning began to crackle above the Castle of Friendship, as his Battle Form Armor disappeared and in its place was his normal clothes.

But he was tensing up, his muscles bulged as he growled to hold back the tumultuous emotions rushing through his mind. All he could think about was what Black Arachnia said, and it made him angry.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Was all Artemis screamed before a blinding golden light surrounded the Castle of Friendship.

—

Cianán's head tilted as he exhaled slowly and deeply. "Pamela. You do know a cut across the palm could have worked just as easily, hmm?" His voice was dangerously calm and low. "True, fracturing the barrier inside would have likely been slower, but it would have allowed me time to adjust… though I do know about your past, but why the HELL DID YOU DECIDE TO STAB ME IN THE CHEST?!?" he said calmly before his voice rose into a ringing shout.

Pamela jumped in surprise. She, a hardened 'supervillain' and multiple time inmate of Arkham Asylum, jumped. And though she'd never admit it aloud, the sheer power radiating off him was intoxicating. It was, if she considered it, as if she were a plant used to very little fresh air and sunlight and suddenly getting as much as she wanted. She noticed Katrina shivering out of the corner of her eye as if considering something similar.

"I do wonder one thing: who the hell came up with the concept of superheroes and supervillains? I mean, yeah, one helps freely more, the other tends to take advantage of others more… but I do think that the Joker had it right in one thing: all it takes is one bad day… but the real question isn't who has bad days or good days, but what do they do with the days they have? Lord knows, I've had enough 'bad days' to make me no better than the Batman Who Laughs… but what good is it to hurt someone else to make myself feel better? It's like the satisfaction of a bottle rocket… there and gone…" he commented wryly before his hand rose, two fingers to his forehead before he abruptly vanished, no magic, no Speed Force… he simply vanished.

—

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Artemis kept screaming as he was still powering up. Black Arachnia looked genuinely scared by this point.

"Prime, stop! You'll tear the castle apart with us." Black Arachnia said, screaming while crying. "Please, Prime, please stop!"

All of a sudden, the screaming stopped, as did the quaking. The dust that had kicked up from started to settle as Black Arachnia saw the change that had taken place in Artemis.

His normally deep blue mane was spiky and blonde while having grown longer down his back past his waist. His muscles were at least three times bigger than they were, and his eyes were a teal blue. The only difference in his mane was that it also had a streak of purple and mulberry pink side-by-side to each other going down his back in the center. But the most prominent feature was his eyebrows were devoid of hair and looked more pronounced like the protohumans from the Earth she was familiar with.

"Prime?" Black Arachnia asked tentatively, as he was looking straight ahead. She jumped when he looked down at her. But she eased up when she saw him smile.

"I'll be damned to Tartarus if I let Cianán beat me again like he's done so many times even if it was in video games." Artemis said a calm voice as he put two fingers on his forehead and, in the blink of an eye, disappeared.

Cianán cocked his head where he squatted a few feet from Black Arachnia. "Huh. Lucky for us we don't have an insane, self-proclaimed planet-brokering 'emperor' being an ass. Though I would love to knock his reptilian ass around a bit," he commented lazily, amused as Black Arachnia jumped in surprise at his voice. His eyebrows rose as he smirked playfully. "Did you just squeak?" he commented, trying to keep a laugh back.

"DORKATROOOOOOOOON!" Cianán and Black Arachnia heard Artemis scream as he was apparently giving the Pestacons a painful 'ripping and tearing'. "WHERE ARE YOU HIDING YOUR VERBAL TICCED ASS, YOU SLAGGING SON OF A BASTARD PROTOFORM?!"

Cianán blinked several times before his eyes narrowed before his head tilted as a purple laser missed his head before his head tilted back. "There you are, you slag gobbling bitch," he muttered gruffly before he pushed off the railing before he backhanded a few more laser bolts aimed at him. His new Ki Aura flared as he accelerated before he shoulder-blocked the leader of the Predacons in the chest. "Took you long enough to show yourself, yes?" he hissed.

Megatron frowned before his head tilted. "Predacons, stand down. Our mission was to protect the town, not fire upon it, yes," he said bluntly into a communicator, almost hissing the last word.

"Is there a reason why Terrorsaur decided to not only fire on my ass, but chase me almost all the way here?" Cianán's eyes were narrowed.

"Not to my knowledge. I never ordered him to do that," Megatron said.

"Then it appears someone was able to turn Inferno against you, as he, too fired on me. More than likely, Tarantulas, I'd wager… though I'm pretty certain that I humbled him, alongside Inferno and Quickstrike… shoved Terrorsaur up Tarantulas' cannon ass and left him," Cianán quipped.

"I would wager Primal is around somewhere, yes… just like the rest of his Maximals. I do have something that would very much interest the Maximals," Megatron commented. "Though I do not know what those surges were from. They felt like Energon, yet not… yes. Most curious."

Cianán blinked, cocking an eyebrow. "And I'm guessing you have a connection to the Princesses, hai?" he deadpanned dryly. To his mild surprise, the Predacon leader nodded.

"Took yer barmy ass long enough to report in, you old lizard," a familiar Scottish brogue commented dryly.

"Apparently, the Lunar Guard's resident drinker and asskicker decided to drop in," Cianán quipped teasingly. He saw Stella blink.

"Don't think butterin' me up will save your arse from a good bootin'. Besides, as I hear it, you like when a mare dominates yer ass, pun intended," Stella quipped, her wings folding against her shoulders, her dark bluish gray armor and wide brimmed hat shielding her eyes from the sunlight.

"Oi! Been a long time, lassie." Artemis said, his old Scottish blood coming out unknowingly at the sight of Stella, despite being in his super-powered form. "Been wondering when I'd see yer cute thestral arse, Stella. Because I have a present I've been waiting to give ye. And ye can fuck right off with that 'you don't remember me' shite, ya cunt. True, ye don't remember me in this form, aye. But I was still human and was using my astral form, especially when me, you, and darling Sveta had some fun times and great cuddling, innit?"

At Artie's admission, all Stella could do was smile from ear to ear.

"Well fuuuuck me sideways with a strap-on in me arse and out me mouth." Stella said, running up to Artemis and throwing her arms around him in a big hug, the latter laughing and returning the gesture. "Where the fuck have ye been, ya cunt? What the bloody hell happened to ye? When Faust said that ye disappeared, Sveta and I were worried sick about ye. Especially since we never got the chance to tell ye."

"Tell me what, ye old titwanker?" Artemis said with a smirk.

"Oi, Sveta! Bring the two over and let them say hello to their old man." Stella turned to the shade of the trees nearby, where a teal-coated thestral mare with sapphire eyes and a mane color that matched Stella's was standing with two shorter thestral fillies.

"And what am I, chopped onions? I know I make the pussy boys cry, but heck," a teasing voice came from a blond thestral mare with a smirk on her face, whose accent was distinctly Slavic. She wore a red top that strained against her assets as well as a slightly longer than knee length set of dark tan shorts with a slight camouflage pattern as she leaned against the trunk of the tree, watching them.

"Well, if it isn't Songsexual, herself." Artemis said with a wide smile as he waved her over to join the hug. She smiled as she put on her hat and ran over to Artemis, throwing her arms around his neck. Despite being an Amazon of a thestral, Artemis easily towered over her. "I've missed you. I've missed all three of you."

"We've missed ya too, daddy." The two 7-year-old thestral fillies said, running up to Artemis and hugging him around his legs.

"Um, Stella, Sveta, are they…?" Artemis started to say, realizing what Stella said about something she and Sveta wanted to tell him.

"Yep. These two queefbubbles are yers, ya cunt." Stella said with a smile before she placed her right hand on the taller of the two fillies. "This is Starla Uchigata Sabre, who's our little queefbubble, and the smaller of the two of them is Astrid Katanara Sabre, yers and Sveta's little queefbubble."

"Well it's good to finally meet you, my little angels." Artemis said with a smile at his two second-oldest daughters.

"You're forgetting one other, my handsome Prime~." Midnight Song said in a sing-song tone, while rubbing her stomach gently.

Artemis got the message with a smile. "Midnight… how far along are you?"

"A couple of months." Midnight Song said with a happy smile as she looked down while rubbing her stomach. "It's funny. I wasn't one for staying tied down for very long. But you, my handsome Prime, changed my mind when you managed to steal my heart. And honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world."

A puddle several feet behind Midnight shone before someone shot out of it.

Cianán blinked before he chuckled. "I see you figured out how to use it, Flurry," he commented nonchalantly. He saw the trio of thestral tensed before he rolled his eyes as the armored form tugged free the Advent Deck from her belt, the armor dissolving into glowing shards of glass that dissipated into the air, revealing the Princess of the Crystal Empire.

"Okay, what tha fu-?" Stella started before a hand covered her mouth, cutting her off before she glared at Cianán.

"Language, hun. And I'd wager you and your mother got those in your little Mirror World jaunt, hai?" Cianán quipped.

Flurry blushed, but nodded shyly.

"I'm guessing you two ran across Dragreder and Darkwing in there and we're able to create Contracts with them. Hm… sounds familiar. Though in my case, I got Destwilder, and he didn't make it easy," he sighed.

Flurry Heart blinked.

"Flurry, honey," Artemis started to say. Flurry looked at her father. "Did you know about your Aunt Midnight Song here?"

"What do you mean, daddy?" Flurry asked, her head tilting in confusion. "Of course I knew about her."

"Clearly you didn't tell her, Midnight." Artemis said with a smile.

"It may have slipped my mind by accident~." Midnight said in a sing-song tone while giggling.

"Tell me what, daddy?" Flurry asked, pouting in confusion.

"You're getting another little cousin to spoil, Flurry Heart." Artemis said with a smirk.

All that could be heard for miles around was a scream in joy that was being used with the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Primus damn it, Flurry, what're you trying to do, blow out our eardrums?!" Artemis yelled over his eldest daughter, who was still screaming in joy with the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Could be worse… such as you with a certain Alicorn…. especially when I was hearing you idjits doing it. Lucky for you there were soundproofing spells, otherwise everyone from here to Oa would have heard her screaming," Cianán quipped far too innocently.

"You know that's statistically impossible because sound doesn't travel in space, ya jackass!" Artemis said with a deadpan expression while he was wiggling his fingers in his ears to get the ringing out of his ears from Flurry's RCV scream of joy.

"What?" Cianán quipped teasingly as he half turned, revealing he wore a vest with a red-eyed silver skull smoking a cigar on the back.

Midnight cocked her head at the unusual logo, not getting the reference.

"It's just Cianán being Cianán, Midnight. Just like Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." Artemis said with a sad smile, seeing his blonde thestral marefriend's look of confusion.

"I wouldn't want to try being Pinkie. She's far too unique," Cianán deadpanned dryly before his ears twitched before his hand met Sunset's wrist and forearm millimeters from his throat, noticing her stiffened thumb. His eyes narrowed. "Natsumi," he commented as "Sunset's" hair shortened and darkened to just longer than shoulder length and black. "Your perfume gave you away."

"That reminds me." Artemis began to say, rubbing his chin in thought. "I wonder if Tsukasa still has the Oni Armor Crystal that reacted to me all those years ago back when you and I were still human, brother." Artemis looked to Cianán with a serious look. "Any chance you'd still be able to contact him and ask?"

"Kind of difficult to contact someone who's dead," Natsumi said flatly.

"I'm not surprised you picked up some shapeshifting from your brother… Wataru, hai? Kinda realized it considering you're also a Kamen Rider… Kivala," Cianán deadpanned. He saw her startled look.

"Natsumi…" Artemis said, looking at Natsumi, who looked back at him. "Did Tsukasa ever give you the Oni Armor Crystal to give to someone named Aaron Rogers before he died?"

Natsumi shook her head. "He hid them with Riders. He didn't say whom specifically, but that 'those destined for the crystals will find them'," she said slowly.

Cianán hummed. "Hmmm. I'd wager that Cale's Jackal Armor, attuned to the Element of Darkness and the Season of Autumn, may well be with Hibiki."

"Makes me wonder who has the Oni Armor Crystal." Artemis said with a thoughtful look.

"I dunno. My first thought would be Phillip and Shotaro… the 'Two that are One'… Kamen Rider W… but what if that would be too obvious? It could…" Cianán commented before he paused.

"What is it, brother?" Artemis asked, noticing Cianán's hesitation.

His eyes narrowed before he vanished.

Sunset flinched at her mate's look as well as the molten feel of power rushing around him. Despite herself, she could feel her body tightening with need at his look.

"You didn't tell the Princess, did you? You're not just Princess Sunset Shimmer… you're more than that, aren't you?" His voice was low and gentle but intense and focused.

Sunset grimaced before she took a deep breath. "No, and yes…" she said slowly, tapping several points upon a particular rectangle of crystal before it retracted into the wall and she pulled out what was within: a belt device, as well as two slots on either side of where the hips would be. The mechanism on the front looked to be in the shape of a horse head, with the horn sticking out from it. There was a slot at the base behind the neck where something was supposed to be inserted into it, and from the looks of it placed down into the horn. She also tugged free something he recognized immediately.

His eyebrows shot upward. He saw her lips curl upward playfully before she vanished in a gust of flames, the belt and Gaia Memory in hand. "Holy fucking shit! If I recall correctly… the Sci-Twi from that story… had a connection the same way Phillip did to those Records, so there is a chance she could be brought back as he was," he thought. He shivered as he knew the connected stories…. including a certain Gamer Rider. "The idea of meeting him, as he was one of my favorite Riders… he and Takeru…" he mused before he felt the dull ache at his temples like right before that particular incident…. before he'd built the Build Driver. He blinked once or twice, realizing he knew details of building not only Drivers, but specifically the LostDriver that employed the Gaia Memories. Chills rushed through his body at the realization that he had a connection to the True Gaia Memory before he closed his eyes, focusing on the connection before he opened his eyes to see innumerable bookshelves… as well as a bespectacled young woman reading. "Twilight," he thought before she jumped, her head turning as her eyes widened. He saw the book she'd been reading dematerialize even as she dropped it, reforming on the shelf.

On the other side of the mirror…

A certain surgeon and gamer sneezed, unfortunately spoiling his present run in the game he was playing.