The Cursed Prodigy and The Three Special-Grades

"YOU'RE EVEN GOING TO FOLLOW ME HERE!?" Usowamoto bellowed through the glass."YOU GODDAMN SORCERER!?!"

Yuta gripped down their face, the wind whipping his hair upward. Spinning around, Yuta flung Usowamoto and himself into an office level. Shattered glass rained around them as they landed in a heap on the floor, surrounded by terrified office workers who huddled in corners, their screams swallowed by the chaos. Usowamoto grasped onto their crushed jaw, confusion evident on their face. "How did my face implode like that?" Usowamoto thought, "Another one of his cursed techniques?"

Panicked screams erupted from the office workers, though none of the new faces paid them any mind. Rika floats down beside Yuta, tearing her chest open and giving space for Yuta to reach into Rika's open chest cavity, a horrifying sight to any ordinary observer, and retrieves a gleaming katana. With a feral snarl, he lunged at Usowamoto, kicking them off the ground and sending them sprawling into a desk. Smashing into a monitor as Yuta gave chase, he vaulted over the table with his offhand and slid with a knee to the curse on the floor with a swing of his sword.

Usowamoto arched their back, allowing the blade to graze their chin. Extending a palm, they boomed a portal before Yuta, and a sudden gust of wind tossed him and stacks of papers backward. Rika quickly followed up, however, catching her from above and smashing her down a story.

The impact sent shockwaves through the building, causing the flickering fluorescent lights to sputter and die. Dust and debris billowed through the air, creating a thick cloud that obscured the scene. Panic erupted among the remaining building employees, their screams swallowed by the chaos. They scrambled for cover, their eyes wide with terror as they witnessed the monstrous form of Rika wreaking havoc.

Underneath the heap of rubble, Usowamoto heaved the covers off them, eyes creased from annoyance. From behind, Yuta tried an ambush, but the presence of Usowamoto's fist greeted him faster than he could react. It connected with his cheek before sending him crashing through several stories down diagonally from them; the spaces between their forearm stretched via the opening of several portals throughout, artificially increasing the length of their arm without actually stretching it.

Impact after impact, Yuta got sent further and further down the levels of the building before mustering enough clarity to grip onto the fist, flowing positive energy into it and causing an implosion from within. Freeing himself from the trucking force right on time as his head crashed through the glass window plane that spanned from the floor to the ceiling, dragging to a stop on the ledge, and the wind from the outside kissed his ears and upper body once more. He lay there for a moment, staring up at the white fluffy clouds floating lazily above, even catching the sight of small silhouetted birds passing by and allowing the automatic RCT to heal the lacerations across his body.

He had already noticed it but couldn't pinpoint what was happening. "The music that companies Hakari-senpai's Jackpot slowed dramatically." Yuta thought, "It's like listening to a song on x0.5 speed. Maybe even slower." Taking a hand to ruffle the glass shards out of his hair, he couldn't help but wander to a more important matter. "Shouldn't my connection with Rika be over by now? I can still feel the aftereffects of Jackpot."

Right as he was about to get up, Yuta tilted his head up, and Usowamoto appeared upside down next to him in the open air with a portal in their hand. His eyes widen upon contact. Gripping the ledge, he forced his body out and away from the slash zone as Usowamoto dragged the sphere across the air, leaving a trail of pure energy in its wake. The beam of light, blindingly bright and crackling with destructive power, sliced through the building like a hot knife through butter. The impact was instantaneous and catastrophic.

The entire top half of the skyscraper groaned in protest, a massive fissure appearing where the energy beam had carved its path. With a sickening lurch, the upper section of the building began to tilt, teetering precariously on the brink of collapse. Debris rained down like a deadly hailstorm, the remaining windows shattering under the immense pressure.

Yuta turned around just in time to see the devastation occurring before his eyes, the handle of the blade in his mouth and his left arm severed clean from his body. Taking the katana out of his mouth with his gauntlet-protected hand, Yuta turned back around just in time to eat a knuckle sandwich from Usowamoto. Sending him careening back into the falling upper section of the building.

Crashing through a window, the room around him is entirely flipped on its axis; the ceiling is now the floor, a treacherous landscape of dangling wires, flickering fluorescent lights, and twisted metal, and the floor is the ceiling. Yuta used his newly regenerated arm to claw at the ceiling platform, dragging himself to a stop as tables, chairs, computers, printers, and machines of all kinds fell around him. Worse of all, people, actual people, were tumbling about as well. Sweat rolled down his chin and brow while Yuta cleared the way for himself to reach some of the employees screaming at the top of their lungs, slashing away at the office workspace, clattering and cascading around them as he reached out a hand.

Of course, saving lives is much easier said than done. With the sorcerer's mind wandering off elsewhere, Usowamoto emerges from behind a wide table, a coffee cup spilling over as they took a low stance, their fist drawn back. This smell of fear in the air was euphoric to them. The innocence screaming their lungs out was the cherry on top. Their eyes were razor-focused on the human before them, drool seeping down their chin as they approached. There was simply no way for Yuta to delegate any priority to save civilians; they knew he had to make a choice, and Usowamoto relishes that fact.

Usowamoto slid closer, their movements slow and deliberate yet imbued with a deadly grace. The air around them shimmered with dark energy, a malevolent aura that sent shivers down Yuta's spine. He clenched his remaining hand around the hilt of his katana, the only weapon left to him.

Suddenly, time seemed to slow down. Usowamoto rocketed their fist forward, a blur of dark energy coalescing around it. Their voice, a guttural growl, echoed through the ruined office space.

"『黒閃』: Kokusen."

With a thunderous boom, the fist slammed into Yuta's side. Black sparks erupted from the point of impact, a monstrous web of dark energy crawling across his body. A geyser of blood erupted from his mouth, the raw force of the blow sending him flying. He bounced off the makeshift ceiling, his body a ragdoll flung through the air, before crashing back down onto the debris-strewn ground.

Reaching a hand into a portal, Usowamoto grabbed Yuta by the jacket and pulled him back below them as they drew their arm back. Shooting it down onto his abdomen in another shower of black sparks.

"『黒閃』: Kokusen."

The sudden downward force propelled Yuta down several stories, his left arm being blown away in the process. The blow had him spinning backwards down in a heap, blasting through several ceilings before landing on his feet at the fifth. Regrowing his arm in a blink, Yuta was about to launch himself back into the fray when a sudden grip clamped down on his right wrist.

The force was surprising, holding him firmly in place despite the urgency coursing through him. He spun around, his gaze landing on two unexpected figures. One was a cowgirl, brandishing a familiar hat, with her orange mane of hair starkly contrasted with the dust-filled air. Her grip, surprisingly strong, held his wrist in a vice-like clam. The other figure, clad in a strangely formal purple dress, emanated a soft violet aura that shimmered ominously around his newly regenerated left arm.

"Please let me go," Yuta asked through the rumbling office space.

"And let you wreck the place!?" Applejack rebuked, gripping tighter "Ah, don't think so!"

"What kind of magic do you possess to do such large-scale damage?" Twilight inquired, hands balled up into fists while she pulled them back, in turn, pulling Yuta's arm along with it. "Instant regeneration?"

"We don't have time for this. Please listen to me." Yuta begged, "All of you, and many more innocent people, will die if you don't let me go."

Applejack furrowed her brows at this, turning back to talk to another figure. "He's telling the truth, girls."

"Girls?" Yuta thought, "There's more of them?"

From behind, Yuta felt a hand pressed against his back, fingers gently digging slightly into his flesh.

"I'll just read his memories," Sunset explained, closing her eyes. "It'll be faster this way."

"Wait!" Yuta yelled, throwing his head back. "Don't-!"

Both their eyes began to glow, magic from Sunset's hand coursing through Yuta's body and mind. Giving her access to a week's worth of information in the span of seconds. Simultaneously, the magic that seeped into Yuta's body began to change him. The excruciatingly slow beat of Private Pure Love Train zipped forward, speeding up the beat for a second. Like a DJ spinning the table, the music sped up and slowed down erratically at involuntary moments. This went on for a few more seconds, Sunset begging to groan in the process. And then, it snapped. Yuta could feel it, his cursed technique replenishing.

Manifesting cursed marks on his cheeks, Yuta turned to them with a command, "Blast away!!"

In an explosion of magic and cursed energy, the resulting forces sent Twilight, AJ, and Sunset flying back into the wall. Freeing Yuta from his bind, he leapt into the ceiling and jumped back into the fight. Sunset hoisted herself against a metal pillar, vomiting up the breakfast she had that morning. Not from the sudden force slamming into her back but from her visions of a bygone Equestria and the time Yuta spent over there.

"Sunset!" Applejack and Twilight called, rushing over to her. "Are you alright!?"

Sunset raised a hand to Twilight's shoulder, looking at her with strained eyes. "We have to help that guy exorcise that curse!"

"Exorcise?" Twilight asked, puzzled.

"Curse?" Applejack joined in.

"We can't let whoever he's fighting loose into the city!" Sunset yells through the destruction. "If we do, everyone's lives are in danger!"

High above the ravaged office building, Usowamoto stood triumphant, their fist still steaming from the devastating blow that had sent Yuta plummeting floors below. The sight of a teenager bouncing off the ceiling like a ragdoll had unsurprisingly sent the remaining office workers into a screaming frenzy.

Usowamoto, however, found their reaction tiresome. With a dismissive flick of their wrist, they summoned a swirling portal in their palm. Superheated air crackled around their fist as they focused their cursed energy.

"Shut up," Usowamoto commanded, firing a beam of fire at the source of the noise. That seemed to work, and the silence immediately followed, which gave them the cue that their attack did the trick Suddenly, a blur zipped past the corner of their eye, a rainbow blur, to be precise. Whipping their head around, the civilians weren't there anymore. The only thing left was the molten crater of their attack.

A blue fist slammed itself into Usowamoto's cheek, sending their head reeling from the impact.

"What do you think you're firing that thing!?" Rainbow mocked a sneer across her face, and her fist still hung in the air where she struck them across the face. "And why's your face like that?"

"You must be Rainbow Dash," Usowamoto replied.

"...How do you know my-" A fist crashing into her face cut her short of what she was going to say. Sending her flying back and crashing through a window. This didn't go unnoticed by the Queen; leering off from the top, Rika slammed both her fists to either side of Usowamoto. Which was promptly dodged by slipping through a portal beneath them and reappearing directly in front of her, socking her across the face.

Taking advantage of the momentary opening, Usowamoto ripped a new portal into existence directly across Rika's face. With a snarl, they unleashed a torrent of concentrated energy through the portal, the opening aimed at Rika's exposed side.

That blast never came because Rainbow came back flying and dropping, kicking the life out of Usowamoto. The curse grunted, thrown off balance by the unexpected attack. Simultaneously, Rika lunged forward, her massive fist aimed at Usowamoto's vulnerable back. The monstrous curse user twisted mid-air, a portal opening beneath them as they narrowly avoided Rika's earth-shattering blow.

They reappeared a hair's breadth away from Rainbow, their arm raised in a defensive block. The combined force of Rainbow's kick and Rika's punch slammed into their forearm guard, the impact sending shockwaves rippling through the air.

"You wanna tussle, ugly!?" Rainbow Dash taunted, her voice laced with reckless bravado. Her knuckles dug deeper into Usowamoto's arm, trying to overpower their defence. "Let's rumble!!" she roared, channelling her element in a desperate attempt to gain the upper hand. But before the battle cry could fully leave her lips, a deafening shout erupted from below.

"OUT OF THE WAY!!"

Dash's eyes widened, her body moving on command; with a powerful burst of her wings, she propelled herself and Rika backwards just as a blur of white and black rocketed past them. Giving just enough space for Yuta to come barrelling in at top speeds with an erratic surge of cursed energy, slamming into Usowamoto with the force of a runaway train. His fist connected with Usowamoto's jaw with a sickening crunch. The portal curse was sent flying through the air, a ragdoll flung across the ravaged office space as Yuta gave chase after them.

Usowamoto tumbled and rolled several feet back, trying to get up, but a kick to their stomach made them soar further in the air and slam into a pillar with a sickening crack. Yuta jumped into Usowamoto, pulling his arm back and delivering a cursed energy-condensed punch at them.

"Ratio Technique:" A concentrated blast of cursed energy erupted from his fist, slamming into Usowamoto with a sickening crunch. "Collapse!"

The impact was catastrophic. The cursed energy, imbued with Yuta's erratic control, defied usual limitations. It pulsed outward from the point of impact, a monstrous wave that devoured everything in its path.

The already weakened ceiling, barely holding itself together, succumbed to the onslaught. Concrete and metal rained down in a deadly shower, shattering windows and exploding outward in a grotesque ballet of destruction. Chunks of debris soared through the air like projectiles. Blasting a hole through the window plains.

Caught in the epicentre of the blast, Usowamoto was instantly flung outside. They screamed, a sound both raw and primal, as they hurtled through the open air, shattered remains of the office flying side-by-side with them.

Leaping from the edge of the torn ceiling, Yuta exploded forward, zipping past flying debris imbued with his cursed energy, and flew straight at Usowamoto, intercepting them in the air. Gripping onto his katana with both hands so hard that the handle of the sword got crushed under pressure, he swung the weapon down with all his might. Upon contact, the blade shattered into pieces from the overflowing energies within. Forcing the curse down onto a building's rooftop.

Bouncing off the rooftop with a disgusting arc and a spray of blood, Usowamoto swung both their arms outward as they dragged to a halt. Summoning volleys of portals next to them, a cacophony of screeches and growls filled the air as flying curses of all sizes launched themselves toward Yuta, a swarm of ravenous predators seeking their prey.

"DIE!!"

The echos of Yuta's infinite cursed energy radiated through the air and were accompanied by artificial feedback. The curses halted mid-air for a second before the aftereffects of Cursed Speech immediately stole the lives of the flocks of curses in front of him in multiple heaps of explosions.

The blowback was intense, as winds of dust and debris clouded Usowamoto's vision. "IT'S YOU, ISN'T IT!?" The curse bellowed in fury, swinging an enraged arm in an attempt to clear the smoke. "IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOU MEDDLING IN MY PLANS!! WELL!? ARE YOU HAPPY!?! YOU RUINED MY DREAMS!!!"

The weight of a crushing fist came crashing into their face, sending Usowamoto flying down onto the city streets below and cratering the road.

"A curse's dream? Killing innocent ponies!? Killing innocent people!? For your selfish entertainment!?!" Yuta yelled back, speeding down after them. "This isn't a fairy tale!!" Usowamoto managed to hop back just in time to dodge Yuta's landing and fade into a portal. Reappearing atop a speeding car, they landed with a huff, staring at the sorcerer. The entire street quaked from the severed building's top, smashing into the street a couple of blocks down from them.

"AREN'T YOU BEING PRESUMPTUOUS NOW, SORCERER!?"

Yuta pushed off the ground, folding the earth beneath his feet and charging straight toward the racing car housing the curse on its car's roof. Seeing this, Usowamoto opened several portals beside them, and cars with passengers zoomed out of them at great speeds. The first car to reach Yuta was empty, so he smashed the hood with his fist without a second thought. Causing a great explosion as he dashed through the thing, coming out completely unscathed.

Not even three steps forward, and a second car neared him. Through the mangled windshield, Yuta locked eyes with a wide-eyed mother, her children huddled together in the backseat. A pang of despair lanced through him. He couldn't stop. He wouldn't. But he couldn't let them get hurt either. Gritting his teeth, Yuta threw his hands forward in the seal of a rabbit. The shadow below him lurked forth in a rushing sea of white.

"Rabbit Escape!"

An overwhelming herd of rabbits rushed forth, towering over buildings and filling the road, cushioning the fall of the car in front of him. Eventually, the rabbits even got to the point of acting as cover for Yuta. Shielding him out of sight of the curse. Cold sweat began to break on Usowamoto's forehead, gripping a portal; they swung madly at the herds of rabbits before them, the energy beam slicing through the rabbit horde like a scythe through wheat. Still, Yuta was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, the car Usowamoto was standing on flipped forward. Turning back, a ghastly fist had nailed itself onto the hood of the car. Momentum was the force sending them flying straight into Rika. With her free hand, the apparition punched Usowamoto to the side. Alley-ooping them into a rushing Rainbow, snatching them by the throat. With a roar, she dragged them across the asphalt through several blocks at breakneck speeds. They bounced off curbs, scraped against buildings, ran through several red lights, and left a trail of destruction in their wake. Before grinding to a halt and tossing them in the air.

Usowamoto, disoriented and battered, managed to right themselves just in time for a strange sight to greet them. A shower of colourful sprinkles rained down from above, sugary confetti raining down on the ravaged cityscape. Usowamoto, momentarily stunned by the absurdity of it all, managed a single confused word: "Sprinkles-?"

Boom!

Black smoke billows from the explosion point as the portal curse falls back onto the streets, trials of smoke tailing their body. Not giving them an ounce of rest, Rainbow came flying in, punching them across the face, which did just the trick of flipping them upright. Raising an arm to summon another portal, the joints in their limb get restricted in a violet hue as they grunt in agony. Turning to their side, Twilight held both fists outward, a determined look on her face.

"You-!"

More explosions from the sprinkles rained down on them, the relentless onslaught not stopping for even a second.

"Eat this!" Pinkie yelled, throwing, you guessed it, more sprinkles at the poor curse. But a sudden twitch of her tail sent her into a backflip, barely dodging a pillar of cursed energy that erupted from Usowamoto's outstretched hand.

"Woah!" Pinkie exclaimed, her near miss momentarily breaking the frenetic rhythm of the battle.

Usowamoto, seizing the opportunity, attempted to unleash another blast of energy. But a blur of blue and orange slammed into them before they could complete the gesture. Stumbling back, Applejack stepped in closer, gut-punching Usowamoto as Rainbow Roundhouse kicked them in the side. Each punch from AJ earns a shockwave, rocking the streets from the portal deity. Usowamoto tried to retaliate with a punch of their own, but AJ was quicker, grabbing them by the wrist and elbowing their forearm. AJ rocketed her backhand to their face once more.

Reeling back from the pain, Rainbow, with a fistful of Pinkie's sprinkles, punched Usowamoto squarely in the back. The resulting explosion was spectacular. A blinding flash of light engulfed Usowamoto, the force of the detonation sending them flying through the air.

Usowamoto slammed into the unforgiving asphalt with a sickening thud. The air was knocked clean out of their lungs. Their vision swam, filled with a mixing of colours courtesy of Pinkie Pie's relentless barrage. Trying to push themselves upright, to retaliate, proved an impossible feat.

A sudden flurry of movement caught their attention. A swarm of buzzing insects descended upon them. Spiders, ants, beetles, and a writhing mass of tiny creatures crawled over Usowamoto's body, further disorienting them and making it impossible to regain their footing.

With a frustrated roar, Usowamoto lost their balance, their attempt to rise into a comical slide face-first across the debris-strewn street. Slipping up, they fall right into a fist, rising from the shadows as Yuta uppercuts them from below. Usowamoto was sent tumbling back in a spray of blood and saliva.

Raising both their arms up in mock defence, the massive hands of Rika clamped down on Usowamoto's torso, restraining them in an iron grip and rendering their defence useless as her jaw chomped onto their shoulder. Giving Yuta enough time to rush in and materialise a sword into his hands.

"Creation Technique: katana."

One slice, and blood was spilled. Yuta brought the katana down in a vicious arc. The blade tore through Usowamoto's arm just above the elbow. A spray of crimson erupted, mingling with the smoke and dust that choked the air.

Usowamoto, trapped in Rika's vice-like grip, writhed in agony. Rika lunged forward, her monstrous maw engulfing Usowamoto's severed arm in a single, bone-crushing bite.

A sudden, violent gust of wind erupted from the swirling portal, a gale that sent everyone reeling. Rainbow struggled to maintain her position, forced to beat her wings furiously against the invisible current.

Fluttershy was flung from the top of the shattered building where she had been aiding the injured. And Sunset desperately reached out with telekinesis, trying vainly to catch her falling friends.

"THAT'S IT!!" Usowamoto bellowed, the sound distorted by the howling wind. "ALL OF YOU ARE DEAD!!!" Their missing arm, torn from them by Yuta's blade just moments before, began to writhe and pulsate. The severed limb knits itself back together in a grotesque display of regeneration.

Usowamoto spread their arms wide, the swirling portal at their palm expanding with a horrifying speed. It grew and grew, consuming the shattered cityscape, swallowing buildings whole until it resembled a gaping maw of pure, unadulterated darkness.

"CURSED TECHNIQUE AMPLIFICATION: EGRESS!!!" Usowamoto roared, their voice a mere echo amidst the howling wind. A blinding white light erupted from within the portal, a celestial inferno unleashed upon the devastated city.

The heat was instantaneous and all-encompassing. Buildings crumbled before the scorching wave like sandcastles under a tidal wave. Metal warped and twisted, asphalt bubbled and boiled, turning into a viscous black tar.

The once-proud skyscrapers became grotesque pyres. Bending in an impossible arch, glass facades are shattered and raining in a deadly shower. Inside, trapped office workers and fleeing civilians were reduced to smouldering cinders in the blink of an eye.

Vehicles ignited in spontaneous infernos. Their tyres' rubber melted, dripping like black tears onto the searing asphalt. Engines fused into molten slag, leaving behind twisted, unrecognizable hulks.

The heat didn't discriminate. Once a vibrant part of the cityscape, trees became skeletal silhouettes, their leaves curling and charring before exploding into ash puffs. Park benches, swings, and slides – the remnants of happier times – melted into unrecognizable blobs of warped metal.

The streetlights bent and twisted. Their glass globes shattered, raining down molten shards of superheated glass. The very air itself shimmered and wavered, distorted by the intense heat.

The beam of light continued its rampage down the ruined street, its path marked by smoke, ash, and the agonizing screams of those caught. Everything it touched and engulfed was reduced to a smouldering wasteland.

Finally caving from the exertion, Usowamoto relented their attack; the monstrous maw of the portal sputtered and shrank, and the blinding light extinguished as abruptly as it had begun. Panting and shaking, they surveyed the scene before them with a twisted sense of satisfaction. The once-proud cityscape was replaced by a desolate wasteland of smouldering ash and twisted metal.

But their smug expression faltered as their gaze landed on Yuta. He stood there, a solitary figure amidst the ruins, completely unharmed. Not a single hair on his head seemed out of place, his clothes untouched by the inferno that had consumed everything around him, with Rika huddled behind him.

"...I just shot the surface of the sun at you..."Usowamoto mumbled, "How..." Stammering. For the first time in battle, fear was evident in their demeanour. "How are you still standing?"

Rika extended her palm, releasing Sunset, Twilight, and the rest of the group from the sack of darkness nestled within her and plopped them behind Yuta. Fluttershy raised her hands to her mouth in disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes from the thought of her critter friends being swallowed by the blazing fires.

Rainbow Dash and the rest stood there stunned as they surveyed their surroundings, residual heat bending the air, distorting the world around them into a shimmering mirage as cinders radiated an evil red glow below them.

Pinkie's hair deflated, AJ took a step back, and Rarity's tears threatened to ruin her mascara.

"Our home..." Twilight whimpered, a hand held to her chest.

The clang of Yuta's katana hitting the scorched ground echoed in the eerie silence. The blade, untouched by the inferno, gleamed defiantly against the ashen backdrop. Ignoring the weapon, Yuta focused on Usowamoto, his eyes burning with an intensity that rivalled the dying embers.

Fear etched into their every movement, mirrored Yuta's action. Their hand, trembling ever so slightly, reached for a familiar gesture. A portal ripped open behind them, offering an escape route.

"I have to run!" screamed a disembodied voice in Usowamoto's mind. It was their own voice, a primal scream of fear echoing through the ruined landscape. But before they could step through the portal, the world shifted.

Clap!

Usowamoto reappeared beside Yuta, the portal shifting its location in a gambit. In its place, the discarded katana lay on the smoking ground.

Desperation fueled Usowamoto's next move. They lunged at Yuta, a hand outstretched, a portal shimmering into existence right in front of Yuta's face. But Yuta was ready. His own power surged forth from his outstretched hands. With a movement so fast it blurred, Yuta clasped the portal shut with overflowing positive energy, his hands meeting in a resounding fold.

The air crackled with suppressed energy as the portal dissolved back into nothingness. Usowamoto stumbled backwards, collapsing onto the scorched earth.

They kicked off the ground, dragging themselves back in a pathetic attempt to get away. Shimmering a portal onto the floor, Yuta pulled them off the ground before they could fall in and socked them across the jaw.

Usowamoto, trapped, helpless, could only watch in horror as they crawled away. But just as Yuta raised his hand for the final strike, the air above them shimmered. A new portal, larger than any before, flung down from the scorched air. Before anyone could react, Rainbow was the first to catch sight of it.

"Watch out!" Dash yelled, jumping into Yuta.

A blinding light engulfed them, sucking them all – Yuta, Rika, Dash, and the defeated Usowamoto – into its swirling vortex.

The portal vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind only the desolate wasteland and the lingering echoes of the battle.

Deep beneath the surface in an alternate universe, the earth groaned with an unseen burden. Miles down, carved from the living rock, lay the Judgement Hall of The Underground. Once, perhaps, a place of order and bureaucracy, it was now a desolate wasteland. Scattered remains of bones lay strewn across the checkered black and white floor, littering the base of towering, crumbling pillars. The very air hung heavy with the weight of forgotten souls and untold injustices.

In this desolate chamber, two figures stood guard. A lone skeleton stood slumped against a pillar. He wore a tattered blue hoodie, far too large for his skeletal frame, black basketball shorts that hung loosely from his hip sockets, and a pair of incongruously pink, fuzzy slippers. A red scarf, its fabric faded and threadbare, was wrapped haphazardly around his neck.

And a charging human brandishing a knife.

With a snarl, the human lunged, aiming the knife straight for the skeleton's chest. The blade glinted faintly in the dim golden light. But the skeleton, despite his apparent slumber, seemed to possess an unnatural awareness. With surprising agility for a creature devoid of muscle, he twisted to the side mere inches before the blade connected. The knife sliced harmlessly through the empty air, its intended target replaced by a crumbling pillar.

"Heh!" The skeleton laughed, sliding out of the way with a shrug. "Did' ja really think you would be able-"

A dusty knife quickly cuts him off as it nears the skeleton's chest, the cold metal grazing his white undershirt. Suddenly, a portal opened up above them, dropping Rainbow, who was now a pony, directly onto the human holding the knife with a thud. Inadvertently saving the skeleton of his fate.