Crisis of Infinite Trixies

“What the heck?” Razzle shook her head, trying to make sense of what had happened. “What are you?”

“We have been tracking you for some hours. But the chase has reached its conclusion.” The black, costumed Trixie said. “The Kingpin put a bounty on our head because you freaks escaped!”

“Um, sorry?” Shade asked, confused.

“When the Kingpin learned of our magnificence, he had us cloned, and you’re his failed attempts,” Venom replied. “Pitiful copies, too. It’ll be a mercy when we put you out of your misery.”

Oh, crap. Razzle tensed, realizing they were likely in even greater danger than they realized. This Venom Trixie seemed downright unhinged, an inequine monster.

“What, no!” Shade shot back. “We aren’t clones. We’re from a different universe and…”

“Nonsense. Is that the lie the Kingpin programmed into you?” Venom rolled her eyes. “Alternate Universes indeed!”

“And you’re telling me clones are more believable?” Shade said, losing her temper.

“Yes.”

“Well, we’re not.” Shade snapped back. “And we’re here to rescue you. Though, if you’re going to act like this, I’m starting to wonder if we should even bother!”

“Venom doesn’t need rescuing. How about we show you why?” In an incredible bound, Venom had Shade pinned to the concrete floor with a single hoof. Shade’s eyes widened as she struggled to free herself. But Venom’s grip was like iron, impossible to break through.

Shade recoiled as Venom’s grotesquely long tongue slid across her face, the supervillain’s breath making her recoil in disgust. “Even if you’re some alternate version of us, you’re all pitiful foals compared to us. And frankly, the cosmos doesn’t even need you.” Shade’s eyes widened as Venom’s hooves grew claws, raised high to gore her.

“Do something!” Razzle said to Shocker, breaking the pegasus free of her stupor. “I think the Kingpin will pay better if we aren’t all dead!”

“Right,” Shocker said, clamping her gauntlets together. Before Venom could land a killing blow, Shocker threw an impressive upper punch. The black clad pony seemed to sense the blow coming and twisted away at the last moment but was forced to release Shade.

“Sides, I recognize that black goop,” Shocker said, circling her opponent. “It matches that black costume Spider-mare wore a couple of months ago! I’m getting a good hunch why she got rid of it. I thought her sudden behavioral change was strange. She’d seemed unusually tetchy.”

Was that it? Was this black costume somehow messing with the native Trixie’s head? If they got it off her, would she return to normal?

“Don’t remind us,” Venom said, scowling. “That Spider-mare betrayed us! Tried to get rid of us! So we have a better host, more suited to our line of thinking!”

The goop around Venom’s head pulled back to reveal Trixie’s normal face. “Spider-mare owes a great deal after what she did to me! She ruined Trixie’s life, destroyed everything she’s ever worked towards! So we formed a partnership, having both been wronged by that hateable web crawler. And together, we’re Spider-mare’s superior, unstoppable! We’re going to crush you, just like how we’ll smash that annoying webhead!”

Shocker only sighed, rubbing her brow. “Of course, it’s for some vendetta. Manhattan’s getting nuttier and nuttier! Gives costumed entrepreneurs like myself a bad name! I’m going to enjoy this!”

“Bring it. Face the wrath of the terrible Venom!” The pair pounced, each vying for advantage.

While Shocker edged out the monstrous Trixie in sheer power, Venom was impossibly quick. Somehow, she predicted each of the gauntleted pegasus’s attacks, moving before Shocker even got the chance to attack. Razzle winced as a missed blow blew apart a good chunk of the floor, peppering her with small chunks of pavement. Jade didn’t hesitate, retrieving her laser gun from a fallen guard and opening fire on Venom.

Despite her back being turned, the corrupted Trixie leaped around the red beams with uncanny grace. “Annoying. I’ll deal with you later!” A white fluid shot from Venom’s wrist. Jade avoided it by a hair, the substance hitting a far wall instead. Shade took advantage to grab her own weapon but gasped in surprise as she found her hoof webbed to the ground. What the heck? She had Spider-mare’s webbing too?

“Surprised? We’re Spider-mare, but better!”

But Jade refused to be deterred, putting Venom on the defensive as Shocker resumed the offensive. She had uncanny aim, only the costumed Trixie’s incredible instincts keeping her from getting hit. As Shocker kept her distracted, a shot bypassed Venom’s defenses, she hissed as red angry light singed her gooey flesh.

“Thanks,” Shocker said, sending kinetic force into Venom’s chest.

“You’re the less insane of the two,” Jade said in her usual flat voice.

But Venom recovered quickly, sticking to a nearby wall like a lizard. “You’ve got us hopping mad now!”

“Woah!” Shocker grunted in surprise as webbing clung to her left back leg, sticking it in place. A flying kick hit like an oncoming freight train. The fight turned more intense as Venom clobbered Shocker with blow after blow. But the costumed pegasus got her own hits in, stunning the mare with a grazing blow.

“Are you okay?” Razzle said, struggling to free Shade’s hoof. With Venom otherwise occupied, she wouldn’t have a better chance. What was this stuff made from? It was harder than concrete!

“Allow me,” Kassa said, using her claws to slash her boss’s hoof free.

“Thanks,” Shade said, rubbing at her hooves. Behind them, the fight intensified, a nearby wall getting totally demolished.

“I was worried about you. I thought you might be dead!” The lioness said, her tone fretful.

“Barely. But we survived somehow.” Shade paused, then gazed down. “Thanks for coming to save me. I did kinda walk into a situation completely out of my depth.”

Kassa’s expression turned wry. “Heck yeah, you did! Taking on a mob boss by yourself? That’s reckless even for you!”

“Yeah, sorry,”

“Guys, maybe we can have their heartfelt reconciliation elsewhere!” Laughter said, giving the shaking roof a wary glance. “Before they literally bring down the house!”

Those words turned out prophetic as Shocker’s back struck a support beam hard, cracking it. It unleashed an unearthly squeal as it bent and twisted under the strain of holding the roof.

“Blossomforth!” Laughter cried, alarmed. While not Laughter’s friend from her world, Razzle doubted she wished for someone sharing a friend’s face to die.

“Can nothing stop her?” Shade asked, Watching as a single kick crumpled Shocker, rendering her senseless. Satisfied she’d defeated her foe, Venom turned her ire towards her doppelgangers, tongue lashing around. More laser blasts lanced out at her, but Venom danced around them.

“Pest,” Jade said, annoyed. Calculations ran behind her eyes, running across her options. Did she have something to help her get out of here? She reached for her tool pouch for some item.

Before that could happen, a portion of the roof finally collapsed. Venom froze, sensing the danger and leaping aside. She winced as she struck the ground hard, avoiding getting smashed like a bug by a hair. Razzle grimaced as steel beams clattered together, her ears ringing.

“Gah!” But, much to her amazement, the sound hurt Venom worse. Her gooey skin writhed like it was in pain.

“Sound hurts her!” Laughter said, leaping into action. She grabbed a piece of broken metal and smashed it hard against the steel beams. The others joined it, making the half-destroyed warehouse a symphony of discordant noise.

“You’re annoying us now!” While the sound still hurt, it was more irritating than painful. It wasn’t loud enough.

But that hadn’t been Laughter’s intention. The cacophony dampened whatever allowed Venom her preternatural sense of danger, allowing Shocker to sneak up on her. Too late, Venom missed her presence, howling in pain as she took two Vibro-Shock Gauntlets to the back.

“Ha! That’s what you get!” mumbled Shocker she collapsed into unconsciousness.

“You!” Venom howled in fury. She tensed as sirens blazed in the distance, emergency services coming to investigate the commotion. Her mouth filled with too many teeth scowled before widening into a sickening smile. “You got lucky imposters. Don’t think you’ve escaped us yet!” Before they could even blink, Venom webbed a nearby wall and crawled out, leaving them in the half-destroyed remains of the warehouse. And she could climb walls? Was Venom a dark parody of Spider-mare?

“We need to get out of here,” Jade said, holstering her laser weapon.

“Will Blossomforth be okay?” Guard asked.

“Trixie believe so. The authorities can handle it from here,” Laughter said after examining her friend.

“What a mess.” Razzle’s hoof almost tripped over a body, one Jade had shot. Much to her dismay and disgust, the stallion was dead. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but Jade had shot to kill. The other Trixies paled at a similar revelation.

Reading her expression, Jade only shook her head. “It was necessary. They were trying to kill us.”

“But..!” Laughter said, dismayed.

“It wasn’t necessary.” Shade said, hoof quavering with pent-up fury. “Didn’t your weapon have a stun setting?”

“The authorities will be here soon. We should flee before they arrive. I don’t want to explain this mess,” Jade said, ignoring her ally’s outrage.

What a hard mare. She’s completely unbothered that she’d just taken somepony’s life. What type of life did she lead in her world? Without protest, they left the warehouse cloaked in an illusion. Hopefully, the police would give Shocker the medical treatment she needed.

After some arguing, they rented rooms in a flea bitten hotel, this time with even more carefully designed disguises, changing their gender and tribe randomly. They entered the hotel as three unrelated groups, arriving at different hours. While not perfect, they would be less likely to be noticed by prying eyes.

Razzle released a yawn as everyone finally gathered together, the hour was well into the night. Northern Lights kept watch as they held the meeting. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any more unwanted visitors.

“So, what happened exactly?” Kassa said, getting to the point. “What happened with Iron Will?”

“Yeah, you really thought it’d be a good idea to go against somepony who controls all the crime in Manehattan?” Laughter added, bemused.

“Yeah, that was a little foolish,” Kassa said, lounging on the bed she’d stolen. “This Kingpin seems like one nasty customer.”

“For the record, I’d like to point out that it wasn’t my idea.” Northern Lights added from the guard post. “I argued against it, but you know how the boss gets.”

Shade fumed, not liking Laughter’s sarcastic tone. “I was being careful, okay?! I didn’t do it on some whim! We just underestimated him.”

“And what’s with that lousy Manehatten impression?” Laughter said. “A foal could see through it! Next time, use a lighter touch. A spot of paint works better than a whole can. Ponies noticed the subtleties.”

“It was kinda terrible,” Kassa said, wincing.

Shade gritted her teeth, opening her mouth for a cutting retort, but Razzle waylaid her.

“We aren’t mad at you, Shade,” Razzle said, trying to play the peacemaker. For whatever reason, Laughter and Shade didn’t seem to get along very well. “We’re just trying to understand what happened.”

After sending Laughter another scathing glare, Shade settled down. “Might as well start from the beginning. It all started when I noticed Bayou Runner in the local paper. I saw through his lies from the start! His so-called innocent public persona was only a mask for something more sinister.”

When Laughter opened her mouth, Shade cut her off. “I knew because I know Bayou Runner! And it galled me to see my mother’s murder so beloved and celebrated, okay! I saw right through him to his black heart!”

“But what about rescuing this universe’s Trixie? I understand the thirst for vengeance, but what about your mission?” Jade asked.

Shade stomped a hoof in annoyance. “I did that too, okay? I know what I’m doing. After some digging, I tracked her to a local paper called the Daily Bugle.”

The somber Trixie’s mood improved somewhat, her expression turning whimsical. “I happened to run into Twilight Sparkle, of all ponies, during my visit. She works there as a photographer, believe it or not.”

“Really?” Razzle perked up, surprised by the coincidence. This caught everypony’s attention, particularly Jade, whose expression darkened. She tried whipping it away before anypony noticed.

Shade continued her story. “Anyway, much to my misfortune, Trixie got fired from her job months ago for a scandal involving Spider-mare. She wrote a piece that implicated her in a murder, but it turns out she’d fabricated evidence. When the truth came out, it ruined her career, and she vanished. Try as we might, we couldn’t find any trace of her.”

“It must have something to do with her grudge against Spider-mare!” It lowered Razzle’s already low opinion of the local Trixie, blaming the costumed hero for her mistake.

Shade nodded. “Can’t say I expected the black ink costume, though. What a crazy world this is!”

“Venom mentioned something about the costume having bonded with Spider-mare before her. We’ll have to ask her about that the next time we see her.” When Shade gave Laughter a questioning look, the Element clarified. “We’ve met before. Saved us from some Kingpin goons.”

“Oh, interesting,” Shade said. “You sure get around. We’ll see about finding her. She might help save Iron Will if she’s as good as the papers say.”

“What happened when you infiltrated Bayou Runner’s lair?” Kassa asked, her tail lashing behind her. “Did he really beat you alone? Surely he must have called some guards.”

“No. He did it alone,” Shade winced, shaking her head. “He was a monster, breaking us with contemptible ease. I’ve seen nothing like it.” Then she began her tale of their brief but devastating encounter.