Crisis of Infinite Trixies

“What have you done with Northern Lights?” Shade demanded, her face a mask of pent-up fury.

“Taken care of, but fear not. He’ll soon join you!” Crackling energy shot from the Kingpin’s hooves, leaving a vaporized crater where Shade had been standing.

Terror spiked through Razzle’s heart, fearing the worst. He’d been such a fun-loving, jovial stallion, too. Like Laughter, he’d brought light to their often frightening adventure. She couldn’t bare the thought of him being gone.

Their leader’s confused, terrified expression earned a chuckle from her enemy. “This, my dear, is the power cosmic, the same power that fuels the world eater Galactus. Quite impressive, don’t you agree? And I haven’t even gotten started!”

“Now! Attack! Attack!” But Shade’s desperate order only earned a smirk from the Kingpin.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that. Don’t you care about what happens to your friend?” The Kingpin asked. The white-faced doppelgänger pressed their knife into the unconscious Kassa’s throat, close enough to draw blood.

“Belay that.” Shade cursed, trembling with frustration. Razzle shook her head, helpless. The Kingpin had them right where he wanted them.

Their leader glared at the pony holding her friend hostage. “Who even are you, anyway?” Razzle couldn’t even tell the pony’s gender. This person seemed more like a living mannequin than a pony.

“This is the Chameleon,” the Kingpin said, answering for his henchpony. “An expert at disguise and sabotage. And her knife arm is getting awfully tired. It might slip if you don’t answer soon. Call your friends and surrender, or the lioness dies.”

“Sorry, guys. I messed up.” Shade ears drooped. “I underestimated him again. My desire for revenge blind me.”

“I imagine surrender is in order.” The Kingpin said. “We don’t want anypony hurt, do we?”

Razzle’s mind raced, wondering if they stood any chance of survive this. She couldn’t die here, not with Honey Bee home waiting for her! From the corner of her eye, Razzle noticed Jade hiding behind some straggly bushes, laser gun drawn. However, her position didn’t allow for a clear shot before the Chameleon could retaliate. Then a wild idea struck her. It might just work and reverse their fortunes.

“We aren’t finished yet!” a frantic Razzle said, using her magic to levitate a rock and hurl at the Chameleon’s forehead.

The white-faced mare instinctively ducked in surprise, eyes blazing murder in Razzle’s direction. This distraction offered the perfect opportunity for Jade’s shot. With unbelievable precision, a red streak struck the Chameleon right in the chest. She collapsed on her hostage, both unmoving.

“What?” Shade gaped, amazed anypony could make that shot.

Bile filled Razzle’s throat, realizing she’d just helped kill somepony. She stared at the Chameleon’s still form, begging for even the slightest intake of breath. But the body stayed motionless, still as the grave.

Jade continued her onslaught, ignoring how she’d caused the end of somepony’s life, aiming her weapon at the floating Kingpin. Much to her frustration, a pulsing barrier appeared around the overweight stallion.

“Impressive shot,” Bayou Runner said. “Your eyes betray a killer, a ruthless hunter of ponies. How about you leave this rabble and join me? I have a place in my organization for ponies of your skill.”

But Jade remained stone-faced, continuing her assault. Her laser bolts continued to bounce harmlessly from the Kingpin’s barrier. Guard joined her, hoping to overwhelm it. Much to Razzle’s dismay, this didn’t seem to be the case.

“No? Pity. Seems I’ll need to handle this myself!” The Kingpin said.

Razzle screamed as bolts of crackling energy flew past her head, but she didn’t have the luxury of a barrier protecting her. Shade joined her as they fled towards the warehouse door, dodging the incoming energy beams vaporizing everything in their path. It seemed wiser to seek some shelter. The warehouse might offer them better cover. Bayou Runner chased after them, ignoring the laser beams Guard and Jade shot his way.

In the confusion, Laughter rushed to Kassa’s aid. She slapped their friend awake, not being too gentle about it. The lioness groaned, slowly rousing from her slumber.

“Thank Celestia!” Laughter said, relieved, and helped the lioness limp away to safety. She pulled Kassa beyond a bush, offering them some cover.

The warehouse was musty and full of dust, unused for many years. Pieces of random machinery sat rusting and forgotten. Rows of shelves sat mostly empty, but a few had some boxes on them. Shade and Razzle ducked behind a shelf, partly obscuring them.

“Playing hide and seek are we?” The Kingpin’s voice said, amused. Through the self, Razzle saw him hoovering nearby, searching for them. “You must know you won’t escape, Trixie.”

“Rah!” Iron Will appeared from nowhere, hurling a piece of heavy steel barrel at the distracted Kingpin. The barrier rippled, but stayed firm.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Shade threw up her hooves in frustration. Razzle had to agree. Was this monster unstoppable? Their only shot was ripping off his crown. But their only problem was subduing Bayou Runner.

Twin beams shot from the Kingpin’s hooves, leaving a burning trail of destruction in their path. The shelf above them exploded, and they jumped away, almost getting crushed in the process. Laughter jumped to their aid, summoning illusionary Trixies to confuse their enemy as they fled. But he got lucky, Shade clutching at her wounded back leg that had gotten clipped in her wild, desperate leap to avoid the Kingpin’s incoming attack. She flinched, having trouble putting weight on her wounded leg. Razzle watched helplessly as Bayou Runner floated right in front of their wounded leader.

“Shade!” A frantic, frightened Laughter said.

“You’ve amused me long enough. But first, how about I eliminate the greatest irritant in your group?”

“Woah!” Spider-Mare swung across the factory parking lot, avoiding a barrage of thrown crates by a hair. As usual, Doc Ock wasn’t messing around.

“Quite a spectacular day, don’t you agree, Spider-mare?” Octavia spread her hooves wide. “The entire multiverse is opening up in front of us. Thanks to Proto’s technology, the stars seem like a tiny puddle compared to the vast ocean open to us!”

“Hey, uh, maybe we should focus on exploring local space first before the multiverse. Somepony’s putting the cart before the horse!”

“Small-minded, as usual, Spider-Mare!” Octavia said, voice full of disappointment. “To experience the endless symphony of the cosmos! It makes the blood sing!”

“Have fun, then, I guess.” While her former science camp mentor was a jerk, she admired Doc Ock’s gusto. Twilight, however, was less interested in seeing other universes. Knowing her Sparkle luck, she’d only run into alternative counterparts that were evil! Manehattan was a big enough playground for her, thank you very much.

Before Doc Ock could reply, Twilight a burst of purple, crackling energy caught her attention. It sizzled in the air, creating the smell of ozone in the air. What the heck? Wasn’t that the power cosmic? Was Galactus in there?

Wait, no. That wasn’t right. She doubted the warehouse could even fit the world devourer’s hat! Wait. “The Kingpin?”

“Impressive, right? Thanks to Proto, the Kingpin has gained the power of a god!” A feverish glint shined in Doc Ock’s eyes. “A beautiful melody, don’t you agree?”

“Well, shoot.” It explained why the big bad boss was here. Otherwise, she bet even walking inside the building would have winded the overweight pony.

“Then I can’t afford to play around.” While Doc Ock was one of her most deadly foes, Twilight couldn’t afford to waste time trying to defeat her. Octavia wasn’t stupid like the Rhino, prone to knocking herself out. Venom was another complication. Would she have the power to defeat Super Ultra Cosmic Kingpin?

“Gah!” Octavia howled in surprise as webbing caught in her visor, blinding her.

“Sorry, but I’m taking a rain check on our fight!” Spider-Mare said, web-slinging to the warehouse.

“Come back here!” an irate Doc Ock howled behind her, less than amused about the trick Spider-mare pulled. With scant time to spare, Spider-Mare landed on the warehouse’s roof and slipped her head past its edge to survey the situation.

“The Chameleon? Of course!” No wonder the Kingpin pulled this ambush on them. Her blood chilled as she noticed the Master of Disguise holding Kassa hostage, a knife to the lioness' throat, but that wasn’t her only problem. Bayou Runner stood floating like some bloated balloon, purple energy crackling around him. While Twilight had been skeptical, it seems the Kingpin’s true identity was Bayou Runner.

A million things happened simultaneously, Shade’s allies knocked out the Chameleon and rescued Kassa. From her vantage point, Twilight saw the Master of Disguise had a nasty blackened welt where Jade had shot her. Dang, the bounty hunter played for keeps! She only hoped the mare was still alive. Venom was still nowhere in sight, unpredictable as always. With the symbiote villain immune to her spider-sense, she could be anywhere.

“Come now. Don’t tell me that’s all you’ve got?” the Kingpin said, amused as both Jade and Guard shot laser beams at him to no effect. Shade and Razzle ducked inside the warehouse with the Kingpin giving chase.

“Spider-Mare!” Doc Ock howled, reminding Twilight she needed to hustle. She crawled across the warehouse’s side, scanning through a window until she spotted her prey. With the Kingpin’s back to her, Spider-Mare launched her attack.

“Well, this doesn’t seem fair. How about I change the odds!” Spider-Mare smashed through the window, launching a kick at the distracted Kingpin. The timing was perfect. Bayou Runner’s turned to search the source of the commotion, and her kick landed right in the Kingpin’s multiple chins.

“Gah!” But even her best kick deflected off the Kingpin’s barrier, crashing Spider-Mare onto the hard pavement.

“Spider-Mare! How good of you to make it.” The Kingpin said, all genial politeness. “I was looking forward to wringing your neck myself!”

“Woah!” Her spider-sense just saved her as an energy beam lanced in her direction. Even with her incredible spider agility, Twilight almost hadn’t dodged it.

“Get out of here! I’ll handle this!” Spider-Mare said, ducking as a nearby shelf exploded and almost toppled onto her.

“But!” Shade sent an evil glare at the Kingpin. With her hated enemy in sight, she wasn’t so quick to abandon the fight.

“Smart move. It’s fortunate I prepared for this possibility. Boys!” Following their boss’s words, about a dozen goons appeared, each with a nasty-looking weapon in their hooves.

“Oh, come on!” Where they’d come from? Were they lying in wait this entire time? Was nothing go right today? To punctuate the dire nature of their situation, an irate Doc Ock burst through the wall behind Spider-Mare.

“Just another one of those days.” Spider-Mare said, sighing. Given her luck, Galactus himself would smash through the roof next!

“Tsk. What a bother,” Venom thought as she crept her head out a window, watching as the Kingpin easily deflected every attack thrown against him. From the obese pony’s smirk, he was finding this most amusing.

“No, not yet,” she told her partner. Though she longed to engage, Black opted to stay back and assess the Kingpin’s capabilities. If other Trixies got in trouble, it was their fault for being so slow.

The prize soon became apparent. Perched upon Bayou Runner’s brow was a silver crown of plain metal. It was surprising such a simple object contained such awesome power. A spike of worry stabbed into Black’s heart. If Proto developed such a powerful artifact from a piece of ordinary metal, what other forces would he throw against her? Shade’s offer for help didn’t seem so silly.

But Black dismissed it out of hoof. As sincere as they sounded, Black knew the other Trixie had her own agenda. They hadn’t helped her out of the goodness of their hearts. They wanted her because of Venom’s power. Well, she’d use them too to destroy the Kingpin. After that? Who knew?

Venom’s eye twitched as a familiar, annoying web crawler burst onto the scene and fought the Kingpin. She should have anticipated Sparkle’s involvement. No matter. She would destroy both the Kingpin and Spider-Mare. Abandoning all pretense of stealth, Venom charged into the fray.

“I’m coming for you, Kingpin! You aren’t escaping this warehouse alive!” she howled, launching herself at the overweight blimp with a flying kick. Unable to summon a barrier in time, the surprised Kingpin stumbled in the air. Much to her disappointment, the blow startled her opponent more than hurt him. This Kingpin guy was tougher than she thought. It was like she’d kicked solid steel.

“There you are, finally glad you could make it,” the Kingpin said, all civility. “I hope you can make this more interesting.”

Instead of an energy beam, as Venom had expected, a meaty fist slammed into her with the force of an incoming freight team. Much to her shock, Venom realized she was dealing with a more dangerous foe than she’d realized. The crown wasn’t the source of his power. It’s only made this shark even more deadly.

“Seems the whole party’s here. This oughta be fun,” Spider-Mare shot a line of webbing to catch the Kingpin’s crown to disable his terrible power, but he dodged away. The web crawler ducked, just avoiding getting her head blasted off.

“Hey, Venom. I know we’ve had our differences, but we really oughta work together on this,” Sparkle said, ducking another beam. “We might not stand a chance otherwise!”

“I agree!” Venom said. The Kingpin was a formidable opponent, so some unpredictability might change the outcome. She had the perfect plan.

Since her symbiote masked her presence, Venom’s next move completely blindsided the annoying web crawler’s spider sense.

“Hey!” Sparkle said, shocked, as a stream of webbing stuck to her back.

“Let’s soften you up! Eat this spider-shaped wrecking ball!” She smirked in satisfaction as the annoying Sparkle struck against the Kingpin’s hardened, muscled body.

“Gah!” Sparkle howled in pain from the impact. The Kingpin only grunted, merely unbalanced by the blow.

“What the?” Spider-Mare said, somewhat baffled. She stared at the Kingpin, fear entering her eyes. She was learning just how dangerous the stallion was. “What are you made of, bricks?”

“I don’t need my barrier to protect me. Only ten percent of my body is fat. The rest is solid muscle. How about I show you how deadly I am, even without cosmic powers?” the Kingpin boasted, grabbing the prone Spider-Mare and lifting her high into the air. Between his hooves, he smothered the superhero with the force of his tremendous strength.

“What a monster!” Still, the stallion’s overwhelming physical strength impressed Venom. He didn’t need cosmic power to crush Sparkle like a bug.

“Hey, do something!” Shade said, pointing furiously.

“Why?” Venom picked at an ear with a hoof. She was rather enjoying Sparkle getting her just desserts.

“Because we need her to win!” Shade said, eye twitching. “If you haven’t noticed, we’re getting our butts kicked here!” In the background, Iron Will, Guard, and Jade struggled to fight off the Kingpin’s horde of minions. Razzle was hiding behind a crate, indecision wracking her features.

“Should we?” While both her minds agreed Sparkle deserved this butt-kicking, Shade had a point. What the heck. Besides, it’ll be fun to rub it into Sparkle’s stupid face that she needed our help to save her sorry skin.

The Kingpin grunted as he ducked under a flying kick. Venom used her webbing to grab an arm and tugged. Her muscles strained as she pulled against the crime lord’s forearm, bending it far enough for her nemesis to free herself.

“You saved me,” Spider-Mare said, breathless.

“Don’t get used to it. We still have a score to settle. But first, we must deal with this guy!” Venom said, giving the Kingpin a scathing glare.

“Oh, is that a grudge I detect?” the Kingpin said, amused.

“You ruined our lives with that bogus intel!” Venom said, fire almost spitting from her mouth.

Bayou Runner’s expression was empty for several seconds before realization struck. “You’re the reporter I gave false info to frame Spider-Mare.”

“That’s what happened?” Spider-Mare said, jerking in surprise.

“It wasn’t our idea, if that’s what you thought!” Venom snapped.

“You must forgive me. I have so many hooves in pies that details sometimes slip from my mind,” the Kingpin said in false apology.

“I should have figured you were behind it all,” Spider-Mare said, seething.

“You shouldn’t need to worry about it any longer,” the Kingpin replied. “It’s not like you’re escaping this warehouse alive.”

“Now I really want to kick this guy’s butt. Truce until this is over?” Spider-Mare asked.

Venom only rolled her eyes. “Fine. We find this acceptable.” Besides, they wanted to knock the smile off the Kingpin’s smug face. Venom and Spider-Mare would join forces to win, but just this once.

Meanwhile, the fight was going poorly on Shade’s team’s end. Angry laser fire cornered Jade and Iron, forcing them to take cover behind some rusted machinery, neither making any headway as the fight escalated. Shade clutched at a leg, face twisted in agony. Venom only shrugged. That was their problem. They’d work it out. She had worse fish to fry, just dodging twin energy beams from the Kingpin’s hooves. Both Spider heroes ducked and weaved as Bayou Runner played with them. Made worse was the tentacled earth pony Doctor Ock, who harassed Spider-Mare as she slipped around deadly beams.

“Come on, Doc! How about giving me a break?! I’m already tied up as I am!” Spider-Mare complained.

“That makes this even more fun, seeing you run around like a fox with its tail on fire!” Doc Ock cackled. And, of course, Venom did nothing to help Sparkle. Hey, it was her problem.

“How about this?” Venom grabbed a nearby shelf and hurled its heavy metal frame at the Kingpin’s back. Bayou Runner slapped it aside, crumpling it like aluminum foil. Venom slipped under the obese crime lord and shot a line of webbing at his crown. But the Kingpin only flew backwards, just avoiding the line.

“We can’t even get close.” Venom had hoped to slip past and pull off the Kingpin’s fake crown, but the criminal mastermind was too slippery, always keeping his bald head out of reach. “This is getting really annoying!”

Then a scream caught her attention. Venom froze, mouth agape. Even the Kingpin stopped, surprised by this sudden development.

“I’m tired of this,” Jade said, walking past a corpse she’d severed in half. It smoldered where the wound had gotten cauterized.

“Jade, what have you done?” Shade said mortified.

“I’m finishing this. Enough hiding what I am.” A cruel smile spread across Jade’s usual stoic face. In a hoof was a metal cylinder with a ring around it, its black metal gleaming in the weak light. Two angry red blades, humming with power, omitted from each side of the cylinder.

“And I’m taking that crown for myself.” Jade’s yellow eyes glinted with an unholy flame. “I will add its power to my own. Compared to the Dark Side of the Force, however, your power cosmic is a pitiful nothing.”