Crisis of Infinite Trixies

Energy gathered around the Shocker’s hooves, particularly around the silver gauntlets around her hooves. She guarded the destroyed entrance, leaving them little way to escape. There was the side door to their other rented hotel room, but Razzle doubted they’d reach it before the costumed villain obliterated them.

Others watched the intruder with various levels of wariness. Only Laughter seemed unbothered by the Shocker’s presence.

“And who are you supposed to be? Another flunky of the Kingpin?” Laughter asked, her tone flippant.

“That’s right. He’s paying me good money to bring you in,” The Shocker replied. “Said nothing about you being alive, either. Best come quietly, or else you’ll receive the shock of your life!”

So the Kingpin was after them! Not that this info helped them. Razzle saw no way for them to escape with their hides intact. She doubted Spider-mare would come to their rescue a second time. They were on their own.

But their group didn’t seem ready to surrender, each rearing for a tussle. Guard tightened her grip on a nearby coffee table while Jade’s hooves inched towards her laser gun. Kassa extended her claws, pacing around their attacker like an eager predator. Laughter stayed where she stood, her expression thoughtful. Hopefully, the Element had some hidden plan at the ready. Razzle, for her part, hid behind a bed. It wasn’t like she'd be much help.

“Run!” Guard hurled the coffee table into Shocker’s face, hoping the distraction would knock the villain off balance so they might escape. It was a futile gesture. With a thrust of her power gauntlets, the coffee table exploded into wooden shards. Kassa used the distraction to pounce, claws extended to rend her opponent into bloody chunks. But a swift punch drove her through a nearby wall, Razzle coughing on drywall dust as the wall behind her blew to pieces.

“Kassa!” Razzle said, alarmed. As the dust cleared, a groggy lioness dragged herself from the hole her impact had created. While battered, she looked ready to continue their fight.

“Nice try, but my Vibro-Shock Gauntlets act as an almost impenetrable barrier. Even Spider-mare has difficulty navigating around them. Are you ready to surrender? I won’t ask twice. One blow from my gauntlets is enough to incapacitate anypony.”

Well, dang. This wasn’t looking good. If Spider-mare had trouble with this villain, what chance did they have? Despite Kassa’s skills as a hunter, a single blow had almost reduced her into bloody chunks. Various expressions crossed over Jade’s muzzle, weighing her options, not liking her chances against Shocker’s mighty gauntlets. If Jade’s shot missed, she’d get pummeled to dust in seconds. Guard stood on the sidelines, helpless, unsure how to proceed.

“Shocker, say something else.” Laughter said, taking everypony aback with her odd request.

“What’s the deal? You want me to repeat how you better surrender or else? Got something in your ears?” The Shocker said.

“I knew it. It is you.” Laughter said, her tone brightening. “You’re Blossomforth, aren’t you?”

“How?” This took the supervillain aback. She stared, dumbstruck.

“I thought I recognized your voice. But you, Blossomforth? A criminal?” Laughter asked.

Shocker paused, her expression troubled. Then she pulled back her mask to reveal a pinkish-gray mare with a cerise mane with emerald green stripes. “Might as well. Like my identity’s any secret. Have we met?”

“In my universe, you’re one of my best friends!” Laughter said, bursting with sudden energy. The reunion with an old friend had reignited something within her. “Oh, the tales I could tell. My Blossomforth once braved a chimera to protect her friends.”

“That right?” Much to Razzle’s surprise, the pegasus was taking this news about alternate universes in stride. “Brave filly.” Then the pair started chatting like old friends, Blossomforth laughing at Laughter’s quips. Everypony relaxed somewhat, glad for this sudden reprieve.

“How the heck did you end up working for slime like the Kingpin?” Laughter asked.

Blossomforth only shrugged. “The money’s good. Got the rent and car loan to pay next week somehow. My stupid landlord increased it without telling me.”

“And a shabby place, too? Trixie’s used to these Manehattan apartments. Rats have better living quarters.” Laughter offered a sympathetic shake of her head. “But is smashing ponies’ heads in the best use for your talents? In my universe, you’re a weather pony.”

“Be a weather pony? Like my parents?” Blossomforth rolled her eyes. “No, thanks. The pay sucks. I made some stupid decisions in my youth. I wanted adventure but got myself involved with the wrong crowd. You can guess the rest.” Shocker was a more decent pony than Razzle expected. She’d expected the supervillain to howl like a lunatic, delighting in the suffering she caused.

“And those, did you invent them?” Laughter asked, intrigued.

“Sure did,” Blossomforth said, puffing out her chest with pride. “I’m not just a pretty face! I’ve got an impressive bit of engineering know-how. And I realize what you’re thinking. Why didn’t I patent them and make millions? Do you realize how hard that is when you’ve had a criminal record since high school? It’d never work out. Besides, this life suits me. I rather enjoy breaking into banks and stealing all they got.”

“But really, it’s best you surrender and come with me,” Blossomforth said, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “The other guys the boss’ll send aren’t as nice. Some are just crazy.” She suppressed a shudder.

And the offer was tempting. Shocker was already bad news. But Razzle had another question first. “Did you capture another Trixie by chance? Along with a minotaur and pegasus?”

“Friends of yours?” Blossomforth asked before shrugging. “Sorry, but I’ve just started this job. Know nothing about your friends.” Kassa whipped her tail in agitation but kept quiet.

“Shoot,” Razzle said, dejected. “I suppose we have no choice.” Despite being a mercenary, this Blossomforth seemed an alright pony. With a nod, the others agreed. It might lead them to Shade and the others.

“Perfect! I like an easy paycheck!” Blossomforth said, returning her mask to her head. “Just don’t try anything. You’ll regret it, dig?”

The costumed villain led them to a parked nondescript van with blackened windows outside the hotel.

Kassa moved to join them, but Shocker extended a restrictive hoof. “Trixies only. If you’re smart, you’ll leave and forget this ever happened.”

“I’m not leaving them,” Kassa replied. She extended her claws, ready to fight despite the beating she’d gotten earlier.

“Your funeral?” Blossomforth said with a shrug.

Ponies watched with fearful eyes as the goons escorted them inside, but wisely decided not to intervene. They were quickly searched, and Jade had her laser weapon confiscated. The goon frisking the smuggler wanted to confiscate her utility belt, too. But Jade convinced them it contained only useless tools, and the thug let the matter drop. Hoofcuffs were clamped around their hooves, solid pieces of tempered steel.

“Huh, I’ve never ridden in these car things before,” Laughter said, playing on her seat. “Looks comfy. And stylish.”

“It smells,” Jade wrinkled her nose but otherwise kept her mouth shut. Like Guard, the smuggler kept quiet, keeping a watchful eye on their captors. Razzle recognized a few of the goons from the alley the previous afternoon. Their eyes were triumphant, promising terrible retribution for being foiled earlier.

Razzle was a collection of fraying nerves as they silently drove through Manehattan’s backstreets. After a dizzying amount of turns and backways, they parked in the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse.

“Ah, the abandoned warehouse, the beloved second home to ne’er-do-wells and villains everywhere.” Laughter said as they exited the vehicle.

“Shut up.” The head goon from the alley said, jabbing the Element hard with his laser gun. A red pegasus with a tweeting bird cutie mark exited the building to greet them, along with another pegasus with shades. Her cutie mark was the big dipper. If the arrival of four almost identical mares and a fearsome-looking lioness surprised the head goon, he didn’t show it, keeping the stoic professional.

“Is Tombstone here?” Shocker said. “I delivered the Trixies you asked for. Now I want my cut.”

“Sorry, but you’re gonna have to deal with me instead. Name’s Guided Path. Tombstone is sick with the flu.” The head flunky spoke with an exaggerated Manehattan accent, drawing a curious eyebrow from Laughter.

“Sorry to hear that,” Shocker said, ears drooping. “I wanted to share a drink with him later to celebrate a successful job. Oh, well. Maybe the Chameleon’s not doing anything.”

“I’ll tell him the next time I see him.” Guided Path replied. “The money will be deposited into the usual, untraceable foreign account.”

“Sure?” Shocker raised an eyebrow at this, but otherwise didn’t comment. “The Kingpin’s paying extra for four Trixies, right? The cat’s a hostage in case they do anything funny.”

“You’ll get your extra, plus a bonus.” The head goon smiled. “The Kingpin will be well pleased for your well-done delivery.”

“Sounds good.” Then, out of nowhere, Blossomforth shot two blasts of concussive force into Guided Path. The stallion grunted in pained surprise, smashing hard into a nearby wall. The pony collapsed, and Razzle gasped as Guided Path faded away to reveal a familiar blue unicorn. Beyond her recent injury, she was in rough shape, wearing a bandage over one eye.

“Trixie!” The guise masking the other pegasus dropped. Razzle recognized him as Northern Lights.

“Shade?” Razzle said in a gasp.

“Trixie!” Kassa struggled with the bonds, rubbing her fur raw as she tried forcing her cuffs open.

“How?” Shade said through gritted teeth, struggling to her hooves. The real Kingpin goons rushed over to apprehend the impostors.

“Ponies always seem to assume old Shocker is a dummy. That quilt face is nothing but a second-rate villain. But they forget I invented my Vibro-Shock Gauntlets. I pegged you as an impostor from the start,” Blossomforth replied, getting into a better position.

“See, I thought it was strange that you didn’t react to seeing four different Trixies. Not even a twitch,” Shocker continued. “You were expecting more Trixies, sure, but four? And the wire into a foreign account? Sorry, but Shocker only takes cash. If you worked for the Kingpin, you would have known that. You seemed far too eager to make me leave. But the real tell? Your accent. I’ve lived in Manehattan my entire life. I know what a real one sounds like. And yours? Trying way too hard.”

“Yeah, it was a painfully bad impression,” Laughter added, rubbing her brow. Razzle had noticed this discrepancy too, but she’d been too distracted by fear.

Shade scowled but didn’t seem ready to surrender yet, withdrawing a laser weapon from a hidden pocket on her cape. Along with Northern Light, they opened fire on the costumed supervillain. Razzle ducked as the warehouse became a shooting zone.

The entire scene was chaos as angry, red beams of light flashed over her. Razzle stayed close to the cold, hard concrete floor, not daring to move from that spot. Laughter darted everywhere, using her illusions to confuse Kingpin’s goons and Shocker with fake laser beams. Guard used her restrained hooves to smash the nearest goon, pounding him into the pavement. Jade was already free of her restraints, picking up a fallen laser gun and firing the weapon with remarkable precision.

The goons fell quickly enough, but Blossomforth wasn’t such easy prey, darting around the laser beams with impossible grace. Her gauntlets blasted Northern Lights across the room, then she used her gauntlets to deflect a shot from Jade aimed at her head. Despite being outgunned and outnumbered, Shocker wasn’t a foe they’d defeat easily. The nearest goon to Kassa got a terrible concussion as the lioness used her own chains as a blunt weapon.

“That’s all you’ve got? I’m getting bored!” Shocker mocked before incapacitating Jade with a well-placed Vibro-Shock punch. Could nothing stop this monster? Their numbers were dwindling by the second. Razzle winced as Guard was the next to face Shocker’s wrath. Razzle’s mind raced, wondering if there was anything she could do. She doubted Spider-mare would come to rescue them a second time.

“Okay, enough. You win!” Razzle said, raising her hooves. She couldn’t bear her friends getting hurt. Shade’s rescue plan had failed. The missing Trixie scowled but dropped her weapon and followed her lead. Laughter sighed and raised her hooves, too. Kassa sighed, throwing aside a pony she’d gotten in a painful-looking headlock.

“Smart,” Shocker said, fluttering her wings in excitement. “Five Trixies. The payday’s going to be sweet!”

“For the record, I’m not actually Trixie,” Razzle said.

“Close enough,” Shocker’s shoulders lifted in a shrug.

“I ordered you to stay in my home universe!” Shade said with an exasperated groan. “I told you it was too dangerous!”

Laughter only shrugged. “And you expected us to listen?”

“Yes!” Shade said, her teeth grinding at the Element’s flippant tone.

Before this ugly fight escalated, Kassa asked a more pertinent question, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Where’s Iron Will? Is he out somewhere, lying in wait?”

But that hope died with a firm shake of Shade’s head. “No, he got captured.”

“The big guy got caught? How?” Kassa said, taken aback.

“We snuck into Bayou Runner’s penthouse to gather information. That stallion is slippery, but we uncovered hints of his other, more illicit activities. Nothing concrete, but avenues worth exploring. But he was there, waiting for us. We underestimated him.” Shade’s expression turned distant. “Bayou Runner was beyond anything we’d ever expected. He took us all out without breaking a sweat.”

“What?” Kassa said, both amused and exasperated. “Did he sit on you?” Razzle couldn’t see it either. Shade and her crew seemed like competent fighters with experience fighting the underworld. How could one bloated, overweight stallion pose much of a threat to them? Jade seemed puzzled, too. Only Laughter took this seriously, her expression turning thoughtful.

“The Kingpin isn’t somebody to be trifled with!” Shade shot back, eyes blazing. Was he the one who’d given her those injuries?

“Woah, woah!” Shocker said, breaking into their conversation. “Let’s keep these musings about the Kingpin’s identity to ourselves! That’s a very unhealthy topic to muse on. Best to stay ignorant. I like keeping my head down. Thank you very much!”

“Really, because that’s a question that we find most interesting,” Somepony said, making everypony jump. Leaning against a wall was a familiar blue unicorn, anger gleaming in her eyes. “After all, the Kingpin was the pony who sent those armed ponies after us!” Razzle blinked. Huh? Where’d she come from? Had she snuck through the open window 6 hooves above her? How’d she pull that trick off? It amazed Razzle nopony had noticed her arrival.

“We?” Laughter said, amused. “I realize Trixies can be egotistical, but taking the royal we?”

“Get out of here, you idiot! She’s too dangerous. You can’t beat her alone!” Shade said. But the new Trixie refused to heed that warning. In fact, she seemed eager for a fight.

“Well, now! Isn’t this a treat!” Shocker said, clapping her hooves together in delight. “Six Trixies now! With the dough from this job, I’ll be reclining on a tropical beach in no time!”

With a clap of her gauntleted hooves, they sparked to life. The other Trixies backed away, knowing what these Vibro-Shock Gauntlets could do. The universe’s native Trixie, however, seemed unconcerned, eyeing the pegasus with a bored expression.

Irritated by this lack of a reaction, Shocker pounced. Her front hooves thrust forward, aiming to pulverize her prey into submission. With a remarkable athletic grace, the native Trixie leaped aside, the wall behind her blasting to tiny pieces of rubble.

“Lucky.” Shocker went on the offensive, the air cracking from her gauntlets’ power. Yet, the native Trixie danced around each blow with a ballerina’s grace.

“What the?” Shocker shook her head, baffled. “Such agility. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were…”

“That we’re that irritating Spider-mare?” Native Trixie said, anger creeping into her voice at the mention of the arachnid-themed superhero. “No, but we’re something very close.”

Razzle’s stomach turned as the native Trixie’s fur rippled, taking a life of its own. What the heck was happening? The black goo, or whatever it was, spread across her body, engulfing it. It masked her face, only for white, soulless orbs to open up, staring at them with malicious glee. A too-wide mouth opened to reveal an array of needle-sharp teeth, a slick red tongue slithering beneath it. Across her chest was a spider emblem, not unlike the one Spider-mare wore.

“Our name is not Trixie. Trixie died long ago.” The mare said, the mouth extending into a gruesome, unequine smile. “Call us Venom!”