Later that evening, Liu Kang paced around a large brazier surrounded by pillars wrapped in dragon decorations as he pondered the information that had been given to him by the group he had sent into Outworld.

“Shang Tsung and Quan Chi once more conspire against Earthrealm?” The God of Fire asked his companion, circling the opposite side of the brazier from him, a tall dark skinned man with an esoteric style of dress. “What Johnny, Kenshi, Sweetie Belle and the Bages report should not be possible. You witnessed how I rewrote history,” Liu Kang continued. “I gave the sorcerers meaningless lives… They should have never gained power, let alone joined forces.”

“And your work was flawless,” the rugged man reassured. “Such would their lives have been, had someone not interfered.”

This gave Liu Kang pause as he turned to his friend. “Interfered? What do you mean?”

Said friend approached the brazier between the two of them and channeled his power into it, mystic sand shaping to show the events of the past. Two sets of figures materialized into view from the sand: The distinct forms of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, and another person, female and cloaked. The shapes played out the events of each sorcerer’s deal with the woman.

“Both sorcerers were visited by this person,” the deity of time said as Liu Kang studied the woman. “It is her intervention that bent the arcs of their lives.”

“Who is she?”

“Unknown. Her identity has been obscured from the Hourglass.”

“Who could have that power?” Liu Kang questioned. “Is it Kronika, somehow resurrected?”

“Even if that were possible, which it isn’t for reasons your little construct friend would be better suited to clarify than I am,” a voice said from the door to the side of them, raising their guard as the being literally manifested itself into the form of an androgynously built person, dressed in an opulent robe that seemed to shift between black and gray with their movements at that spot, “I’m afraid that isn’t the case here.”

“Who are you?” Liu Kang demanded as readied his flame. “And how much do you know?”

“I’m the one who set Sweetie Belle on the path to become a Godling of the Void.”

That answer made the true nature of this being clear to Liu Kang and the Time Deity, bringing even more tension to the room.

“As for how much I know of this little situation… well let’s just say, I don’t normally like being a Deus Ex Machina, but there’s not much chance this is getting sorted out in a timely manner, otherwise.”

Liu Kang stared at the being with caution. “If you are what you claim to be, then I suspect that knowledge comes with a price of some kind.”

The being gave an unnervingly wide grin in response.

Sweetie Belle, Rota and Nikoletta sat around a table, all eating at their own paces as the last caught her (adoptive) older sister up on what happened to her to be able to assume the form she could.

“It actually relates, somewhat, to how Bojack gained his own regenerative ability,” the living ghost (that’s the simplest way Sweetie Belle could understand it without forgetting the actual wording) prefaced before diving in properly. “I was chasing him down across various universes, using the portals he opened with an invention of mine he stole to pursue him. Just as he was about to open another one, I launched a Big Bang Attack at him, causing the device und portal to detonate into something more akin to a blackhole.” She paused, transforming into her ghost form, and looking down at her body before she spoke again. “When I woke up, I was like this und in the care of the Shaolin Monks. Liu Kang told me about the condition I was in, und I started researching…” another slight pause as Nikki smirked at Rota, who smirked back, “und training. A local in this universe who had gone through a similar experience in his youth helped me understand what had happened to me.”

Returning to her human form, Nikki set about explaining her own abilities, and how her alternate form allowed her to perform ghost-like acts. While flight was something she had been capable of through her Ki training and had retained after her ‘half-death,’ as she referred to it, her new ghostly powers now gave Nikoletta the ability to phase through obstacles, vanish into thin air, teleport short distances, telekinesis, and the ability to infuse her energy blasts with something called, ‘Ecto Energy,’ which seemed to act as a more volatile form of Ki.

Additionally, the form itself seemed to act a transformation as well, boosting her power when she was actively in it.

Sweetie Belle was… torn on the subject. On one hoof, she was excited to meet another member of Rota’s family, and another powerful fighter. On the other hoof…. She was technically dead. Kinda. Sweetie Belle shook her head, not wanting to think about it too hard.

Rota gave an uncertain hum as her half-regrown tail swished behind her. “Sounds like you're fine… but we should probably bring Marko into the loop,” she said while looking over at Sweetie Belle.

Nikki perked up at the mention of the sister’s older brother. “Oh, you already found him? Wunderbar. Although, we would have to see if the potion restraining Sweetie Belle’s power has worn off und wait until it does so if it hasn’t by now.”

Suddenly, a rift like Sweetie Belle’s opened above the table, pointed at the floor next to it between Rota and Nikoletta. The next second, Marko came falling out as if he had been physically thrown through it, his sword following suit right after. Recovering from his sudden stop with a groan, he sat up, dressed slightly differently than he had been last time they saw him. Most prominently, in place of gloves, he wore orange bracers with gray trim.

Getting to his feet, he dusted himself off while grumbling loud enough to be heard. “Well, that was unpleasant.” Then he looked up and noticed where he was. “Oh, hey girls.”

Nikki then wrapped him in a hug, with Marko reciprocating quickly. “Schön dich wieder zu sehen, Bruder,” she said fondly. (“Nice to see you again, brother.”)

“Schön dich auch zu sehen, schwester,” he replied. (“Good to see you too, sister.”)

“Wenn wir auf Englisch umsteigen könnten, wäre das für Sweetie Belle praktischer,” Rota said before addressing Sweetie Belle. “Sorry, we tend to speak in Nikki’s birth language within the family.” (“If we could switch to English, that would be more convenient for Sweetie Belle.”)

Only for Sweetie Belle to respond in a way that left the siblings shocked. “Es ist in Ordnung, ich kann verstehen, dass man sich beim Sprechen mit der Familie wohl fühlen möchte.” (“It's alright, I can understand wanting to be comfortable when speaking with family.”)

The silence was only filled with Sweetie Belle’s giggling at the Bage’s stunned expressions at the filly speaking in Nikki’s native language.

Rota broke the silence. “Anyway, Marko, what happened to make you come flying out of that portal?”

“I needed the entirety of who had already been gathered and didn’t feel particularly patient,” an unfamiliar voice said from the entrance. Turning to see who had spoken, the group saw Liu Kang joined by two others, what Sweetie Belle could tell was the local Time Deity equivalent and a woman who seemed to put even the Deities who had entered with her on edge.

“Sweetie Belle, this… woman… wished to-”

“Let’s not be coy, Sweetie Belle. I’ve been watching you for a long while,” the woman said as she spawned a chair to seat herself at the table. That… shouldn’t have- “Been possible?” Sweetie Belle jumped as her thoughts were spoken aloud. “Don’t worry too much, that’s just a bit of fun. Now then, since I’ve had a proper look at you personally, I can see that I needn’t have feared for your power.”

Sweetie Belle leveled an uncertain look at the woman. “Why would my power be any of your concern?”

“Because I’m the one who set you down the road to acquire it all. It would have been such a shame to see that hard work amounting to wasted time,” the woman replied in a voice of clear false innocence. “Regardless, it seems the potion wears off faster the more power you use, but it’s not going to be easy calling it forth in the first place.” The woman then leveled a knowing smile at the filly. “Not that that will be an issue for you to do. You might even be able to recover fully before the little issue I wished for you to address needs it.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at that, with the attention of the Bage’s and the local Gods firmly on the mysterious woman. “What issue?” Sweetie asked.

“Oh, just a couple of gods that want to have their way with a large chunk of the omniverse and an army willing to do anything to stop them, even if it costs entire universes to do it,” the woman said casually. “The army is technically the more immediate threat, though I imagine you’d rather get this business with the Deadly Alliance wrapped up first.”

The responses to the information differed for each.

The Bages looked between each other with looks of concern and seemed to have a silent conversation amongst themselves.

Liu Kang called to his friend, Geras, for the group to be left alone while they began to plan out how to best use information that had apparently been given in exchange for this meeting.

Sweetie Belle gave some thought to it as she considered it.

She’s fought a god before, so it shouldn’t be too much more diffi-

“Void barely qualifies as above a First Category God. These two are not quite as powerful, but still very dangerous,” the woman interrupted Sweetie Belle’s thoughts.

“Oh… That might not be so easy on my own, then.” Sweetie Belle gave aloud. “But what do you mean by Categories?”

The woman smiled at Sweetie Belle’s curiosity. "In the Omniverse, one of the most known facts is that there are three categories of Gods. The first category encompasses all the Gods that are representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles. Fire, Water, Creation, Destruction, Day, Night, Chaos, Marriage, Nature, and so on. In a way, the alicorns, Discord and any mortals with God Ki are such Gods, but in a more minor league. Most legendaries from the Pokémon universe can be put in this category too. Some are totally immortal, others just ageless. And they don't all have the same level of power. Trust me, Discord, for all his Chaos, wouldn't stand a chance against the Gods of Chaos from the Warhammer 40k universe. And I hope for you and for your friends that you will never find this universe. Or at least not before you're ready. It's really bad."

“Can confirm. I was there ONCE. I’m never going back,” Marko commented.

"First category Gods are absolutely everywhere, so prepare to encounter a lot of them through your adventures. Also, many of them have egos that would put Rainbow Dash's to shame, so you will certainly end up fighting a lot of them."

“How do you know-”

“We’ll get there. Second category are the Gods powerful enough to create AND destroy universes at a whim. There too, their level of power can differ from one God to another, and some can be killed while others can't, but the common point is that they all can both create and destroy, contrary to Gods of Creation who can just create and Gods of Destruction who can just destroy. Void is an example of a Second Category God, as I said. Kirby is well on his way to become one. Same for you once you mature a little. By the way, can you hurry and sail that ship?"

Sweetie belle groaned as she fell back in her seat. “Not you too. I don’t even have a name to call you by.”

The woman sighed. “Just call me DD. Anyway, then comes the third category. The Gods that are, to put it simply, truly omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. In some terms, TRUE Gods. Like what you're supposed to become once you fully ascend. Remember your Soul form? Well, third category Gods are just the level above. You were missing the omnipresent part."

“And you’re a Third Category God, yourself?” Rota asked suspiciously.

"I was, once. But then, I became something else. Like I said, it's common knowledge among the Omniverse that there are three categories of Gods. But what is less known is that there's actually a fourth category, which I'm in. We are given a really nice, self-explanatory name: the Devourers."

Sweetie Belle gulped as the Bages suddenly tensed up as if ready to jump into a fight. Hearing that name gave them all a bad feeling.

"To become a Devourer, a third category God must absorb another third category God. Needless to say, the resulting being is powerful beyond imagination. Devourers are feared all over the Omniverse even among Third Category Gods. Some roam it devouring everything on their way, others prefer to just devour their favorite dish: Third Category Gods. As you may have guessed, I'm the second type. So you have nothing to fear from me, for now. But you understand now why I acted so you would ascend into a third category God."

Sweetie Belle, by now, was shaking in fear as she understood that this entity wasn't kidding. In the future, that thing will come to end her existence, no matter what. And she won't have the power to stop her. What really scared her was that she could feel nothing from her. Not an ounce of power. DD was telling her that she was powerful beyond everything she could think of, and yet, it was as if she was sitting beside a newborn foal. Some beings were able to hide their power, but they still let out something. But not DD. Besides her presence, there was nothing. And Sweetie Belle was certain that DD could hide her presence too if she wanted.

Nikoletta chimed in, seeing that Sweetie Belle was a tad scared to do so. “That… doesn’t make sense. Why did you… do that to Sweetie Belle rather than target an existing Third Category God?

DD gave a sadistic grin that informed Nikki exactly the kind of answer she was about to get. "That's my little thing. You see, rather than attacking Gods directly, I find it more enjoyable to help mortals ascend into godhood, living through all kinds of entertaining adventures, before I come and do my stuff. Also, I like to give them a fighting chance. Like what I'm doing right now. Now that you know about me, you will try to find a way to stop me. Your chances of succeeding are low, very low, but at least, now, you have some chances. It's less boring that way. And I'm not a total jerk either. Just another warning. The more they devour Gods, the more powerful a Devourer becomes. I devoured six Gods so far. Oh, by the way, they say hello."

"They're still here?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out in shock.

"Yeah. The devoured Gods become minor, background voices in the mind of the Devourer. It's also the case for any other beings devoured, but Third Category Gods are easier to hear and acknowledge. However, besides communication between each other and me, they can't do anything else. Buuuut at least they have each other, and me. We're like a family! And I can't wait to have you join us! Unless you manage to have us join you." DD then reached out to grab Sweetie Belle, only for Rota to grab her arm while Marko kicked his sword up into his hand then placed the tip at their throat and Nikki leveled the palm of her mechanical hand at the Devourer while charging an energy blast. A moment of tense silence fell upon the room.

Until…

“Hahahaha. Message received,” DD said as she pulled her arm away from Sweetie Belle, prompting the Bages to stand down. “But regardless, that's still not before a long time. And you still have that threat to face before. I don't want you to get killed now that you have gone so far and you have grown on me, so I will help you. But not too much or it would be boring."

No one said anything as DD marked a small moment of silence. Sweetie Belle simply waited for her to continue while trying to control her panic. She didn't want to devour OR be devoured!

"While I had expected you to ascend when I sent you to Dream Land, I didn't expect the events that I set in motion by doing this. During your fight against Kirby, when you were in your Soul form, you remember when you punched Void into another dimension?"

"Yeah, I remember..."

"Weeeell... That dimension of darkness was a prison to a powerful evil entity of light. It had been trapped here by a powerful ancient civilization billions of years ago. When you punched Void into that dimension, you disrupted it enough to start the process for the entity to slowly free itself. This entity is just a first category God, a God of Light, but it is a very dangerous one that will threaten countless universes. And the worst part is that it's not alone. That entity has a counterpart of Darkness that had been trapped in a dimension of light. You see, the dimension of darkness was using the entity of Darkness as a power source to sustain itself and keep the entity of Light trapped, and the dimension of light was doing the same with the entity of Light as the power source. But now that the entity of Light has started to free itself, the dimension of darkness has started to weaken, giving power for the entity of Darkness to start to free itself too. Eventually, the two will be free to plunge universes into light or darkness."

“OK, then why don’t YOU go and fix it? Why bother asking us?” Rota demanded in hostility as she sat on the arm of the chair Sweetie Belle was sitting in. It didn't escape the filly's notice that Rota had placed herself between Sweetie and DD.

“Let's not abuse the deus ex machina too much. I did say that I want some good shows, and you fighting these entities promises to be good. Besides, they are not the more immediate of the two threats, if you remember earlier,” DD answered with a chuckle.

Marko narrowed his eyes at DD. “The army willing to end universes to stop them?”

“Somewhere out there, because of the imminent threat of these two entities, a powerful army is preparing to face them. But their method of preparation will be very bad for the health of countless beings across universes. You will have to start to gather strong allies to hope to face it and save everything you hold dear. The only problem is that you have nothing to pinpoint where you will need to go to face this army and stop it from swallowing worlds. This is where my help will come. I will guide you so you will always be where you're needed. Maybe, one day, you will find a way to follow this army through the Omniverse, but until then, you can count on me. However, don't count on me to directly lead you to their HQ. You wouldn't be ready anyway."

"Uugh..."

"Don't worry. I'm sure that you can do it. You just have to repeat what you did to fight Void, on a larger scale. And you should start soon after this current situation is resolved. Don't worry about Team Rainbow Rocket. The League can take care of them for now, and your presence will change very little. You still have some time before the army starts to take action, enough to relax for a bit first, but the more allies you will find, the better it will be. Be sure to let Discord know about all this, by the way. With his powers, I'm sure that he will be of great help."

"If you say so..." Sweetie Belle said with a resigned sigh. Then, with a determined expression, she stared back at DD. "We will defeat Team Rainbow Rocket, this army, these two entities, and even you. But, uh, if I defeat you, could I avoid the whole devouring part? You know, like, letting you go?"

"Not unless you want to see me come back for a second round. Once you are a Goddess, I won't stop attacking you until one of us devours the other," DD answered before she licked her lips. "Why deprive myself of a good, well deserved meal because of a minor setback like a defeat? I will only stop if I have no other choice."

"But I don't want to become a Devourer!"

"Aww. It's not so bad to be a Devourer. If you desire, you can perfectly be a Devourer but not devour anything. You will have that hunger for more Gods constantly gnawing at you like you constantly crave for sweets, but I'm sure that this won't be a problem. Now, I think it's time for me to leave you. I gave you a lot to think about, and you need to process all this before you start training. I'm rooting for you kiddo. Until next time."

Then... she was gone. Just gone.

Throughout the day, each member of the little group of multiverse travelers processed the information they had been given and prepared in their own ways prior to their martial arts training.

Marko sharpened and oiled his sword as he pondered the information. He couldn’t see the point in the timing of it all. DD made it sound as if she were telling them this earlier than she expected to. Regardless, both the army and the gods were a threat to many people. And anyone who gave open threats was someone Marko felt compelled to stand against. With his family at his side, he’d stand against this all the same. It was just a matter of gathering allies. But first, he felt that he needed to change his hair.

Nikoletta was performing maintenance on her robotic arm as she thought about the situation. Nikki wasn’t sure why DD had chosen that particular Sweetie Belle of all beings in the multiverse for this life, but she was certain of one thing. She couldn’t do this alone. So, as soon as she finished her maintenance, she pulled out a very special cell phone that she rarely used and began to send a pair of text messages.

Rota and Sweetie Belle were sitting side by side on a bench in the Fire Temple, both wanting to talk, but neither was sure what to say.

Then Rota gave a sigh. “Guess I should have expected this kinda shit when I asked to come with you, huh?”

“Honestly, that was a new one for me, too…”

Silence fell for another moment.

…
…
…

“Rota?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we can win?”

“...”

“...”

“I don’t know…” Rota then turned to Sweetie Belle with a reassuring smile on her face. “... But then again, who knows about anything before they’ve tried it?”

Sweetie chuckled at that before she scooted off the bench. “Well, we won’t improve our chances just sitting down.”

Rota jumped to her feet. “Damn right. Let’s get started.”

Author's Note

Well, this took less time than I expected it to.

Hope I explained things satisfactorily, other than the fact that Bojack was technically put into a similar state as Nikki in the accident she talked about, but was found by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's benefactor.

Either way, see you next chapter.

EDIT because I'm a dumbass: Thanks to Lucar for helping me write this chapter.