“Look at all the junk!” breathed Guard as we entered the citadel.
“If I didn’t know why Vortech was collecting it all,” mused Battle, “I’d call him a hoarder.”
“There’s just one problem,” remarked Wyldstyle. “Where’s MetalBeard?!” She then remembered. “Oh, and your friends too, of course.”
“I don’t know,” replied Batman. “It’s empty.” He was right. There was nobody there!
“So were the Mines of Moria when I arrived with the Fellowship,” warned Gandalf. “Be on your guard.” Wise words.
“I always am!” declared Batman.
“Is that…the Keyblade?!” I asked.
“It is!” confirmed Sengoku. “How they separated it from Sora, I’ll never know!”
“That’s not all they stole,” called Ichigō. “Look!” We looked up to see a spaceship above us.
“A Prometheus-class starship!” breathed Touché.
“Look at the name and registry!” called Guard. We got a good look. It was NCC-1701-G. The U.S.S. Enterprise-H!
“That name must be a Foundation Element!” I guessed. “How’s Starfleet gonna explain this?!” Someone cleared their throat and we turned to see Lord Vortech sitting on his throne.
“Ah-ah-ah!” he chided. “Those aren’t for you!”
“Vortech, you’re playing with fire!” I warned. “We need to take them back to their respective universes! These ARE for us!”
“No,” replied Vortech as he opened multiple rifts, “THESE are for you!” Vortexons came out of the rifts and charged at us! We defended ourselves.
“What’s the idea with the Vortexons?!” snapped Seeker. We kept them back.
“Why have an army if you have to do everything yourself?” asked Vortech. He summoned a giant gun and fired. “Did you honestly think you could just wander into my palace and steal your friends back?”
“That’s the general idea!” replied Wyldstyle. “Set the prisoners free! You can’t hold them forever!”
“It’s over for you now!” declared Vortech. “Give up, now!”
“Not a chance!” I answered. It was then I realized that Vortech was slowly turning himself into mist! The mist was gathering around us! Thank goodness Arch had a bright idea and swapped i.d. tags. Sento had given us the secrets of his forms while X-PO was making the map. Arch swapped out his i.d. tag for the Build one and selected a form.
“Build HawkGatling Steel!” announced his belt. The Build Driver’s voice then resounded throughout the temple.
“TENKUU NO ABARENBOU!” (The Rampage of the Skies!) it called. “HAWKGATLING! YEAH!” He then fired off multiple rounds from his bow and the mist released us. A fire tornado appeared with Vortech in the center!
“I am one with the elements!” he boasted. “I control them!” He then sent out some fire rings, decreasing the power of the tornado before he was just in a fire shield.
“Gandalf!” I called.
“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of water, Royal!” I then doused the shield. X-PO chose this moment to call us.
“Hey, guys!” he called. “Soooo, this is gonna be a pain, buuuuuut the rift calculations are taking longer than I thought. Use this to keep Lord Vortech preoccupied.” He then opened a rift to give Decade a Rider Card. It had my image on it.
“Minions, deal with these interlopers!” ordered Vortech. More Vortexons appeared and attacked. When we cleared them, Vortech made himself into mist as he summoned that giant gun again. “You cannot hide!” We were snagged again! Decade had managed to turn his book into another configuration and used another card.
“Attack Ride: Blast!” announced the Decadriver. It fired off multiple shots into the mist. The mist yelped in pain as it became an ice tornado. It sent rings out, decreasing its size until it was just Vortech in an ice shield.
“My turn!” declared Decade.
“Element of fire, Decade!” announced Gandalf. As the red aura surrounded him, Decade held up the new card walked up behind me.
“This may tickle a bit,” he warned.
“Eh?” I asked. He then inserted the new card into the Decadriver.
“Final Form Ride: Royal!” it announced. Decade then mimed opening my backside and aaaaaaaAAAAAARRGRHRGHERGHR! My head folded into my chest! My arms raised above my shoulders, sprouting blades and forming a sword! My legs twisted up at the knees, making the handle and cross-guard! I turned into a sword and was in a lot of pain!
“Talk about Targetmasters!” joked Guard. I was in too much pain to ask. I then heard the Decadriver say something else.
“Final Attack Ride: R-R-R-Royal!” it called. I then felt fire go up my arms and I felt myself being swung downwards! I then unfolded back into my human shape, my pain subsiding. I walked up to Decade and slapped him.
“NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!” I roared. “THAT WAS TOO PAINFUL!” Vortech then tried again.
“I am everywhere!” he boasted as he turned into mist. “I am all powerful!”
“Nope!” called Kämpfer. “Nipping this in the bud!” He fired multiple shots into the mist and it formed Vortech’s fire tornado again. I was still controlling water, so I doused it once the fire rings passed us. We then attacked Vortech, but he knocked us aside with his staff.
“NO! NO! This will not happen! I am Lord Vortech!” shouted Vortech. The rift X-PO created then opened and started sucking Vortech in, but…well, X-PO can explain.
“Ah, the old creating-a-giant-spider-web-to-stop-from-tumbling-into-a-massive-dimensional-rift act!” he mused over the comms. “Megumi, your Keystone! Now, hurry up! The rift won’t be stable for long! Sorry! I’m kind of bad at this! I fell asleep in Dimensional Rift-making Class!”
“I’m sure it will be sufficient, X-PO!” I assured. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I found it. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Locate help from D-0-C-T-0-R-W-H-0!” A Special Weapons Dalek and a standard Dalek in khaki-green, a Union Jack under its eyestalk, and an army utility belt from WWII.
“I am your soldier!” declared the standard Dalek.
“As am I,” reported the Special Weapons Dalek in a deeper Dalek voice.
“No Daleks!” snapped Battle. “I absolutely draw the line!” I wasn’t about to look a gift-horse in the mouth, though.
“Daleks, can you shoot the web Vortech spun himself?” I quizzed
“We can!” assured the Special Weapons Dalek.
“Do it,” I ordered.
“We obey!” called both Daleks. They took aim and fired! Vortech was about to be sucked in! Then…it happened. He closed the rift behind him and landed on the floor in a superhero landing pose!
“I think this has gone on long enough!” he chuckled as he dusted himself off. That was when his minions grabbed us and restrained us, cancelling our transformations. He then opened rifts to reveal Robin, MetalBeard, Frodo, and Ichimonji!
“BATMAN!” shouted Robin.
“Gandalf!” screamed Frodo.
“Wyldstyle!” called MetalBeard.
“Hongo!” yelled Ichimonji.
“Friendship is a weakness,” boasted Vortech. “You should have just destroyed your Foundation Elements.” He then called up someone. “Hiro, how fares the siege?”
“It fares well!” replied Hiro’s voice. “We’ve found the Element vault and have scuttled Vader’s Star Destroyer!” I then became worried and switched my comms on.
“Anyone! Report!” I shouted.
“Guys, it’s X-PO!” replied the person on the other end. “Vorton’s under attack! It’s times like this when I wish I knew how to fight and not make sarcastic comments!” I then heard a struggle and the Joker’s laugh. A new caller came in.
“This is Rusty!” answered the new caller. “We’ve been overrun! The Elements we have are being taken!”
“Correction,” corrected a voice I loathe, “the Elements you’ve HAD have BEEN taken!” Hiro and his forces had appeared out of a rift and set our Foundation Elements beneath the shield in the floor.
“Here you go, Boss!” called the Joker.
“What did you do to X-PO, Joker?!” demanded Batman.
“I put a smile on his face!” replied the Joker. The Foundation Elements then rose on pillars where they were set and orbited the Enterprise. They made an energy cyclone that went straight to the floor and revealed what was beneath a set of sliding panels.
“BEHOLD!” boomed Vortech as the object came up from beneath the forcefield. “THE FOUNDATION OF ALL DIMENSIONS!” I must say, the end goal was NOT what I expected.
“All this,” muttered Batman, “for a green square?!”
“I think I know what that square is!” answered Richard. We turned to him. “We’re just Legos to Vortech, for him to manipulate as he sees fit! That green square is just the starters kit, the place for him to begin making worlds!” Vortech then landed on the square. Energy coursed through him!
“I can feel everything!” he cried. “Control everything!” Just then, the cages opened and the occupants orbited Vortech!
“Hey!” roared Batman. “Give us back our friends!”
“Oh, don’t worry!” replied Vortech. “The last thing I want to do is…” he then spawned a blob of whatever he was made of, “KEEP YOU APART!” He laughed manically as he tossed the blob into the air.
“What is he doing to them?!” wailed Gandalf.
“He’s insane!” called Wyldstyle. Ichimonji, MetalBeard, Robin, and Frodo made contact with the blob as it enveloped them, combining them and other metals and ligaments into a four-headed, winged, sword wielding, cannon-armed, giant monster!
“The next time we mess up,” asked the Riddler to Hiro, “is he going to do that to us?”
“…Let’s not find out the answer to THAT particular riddle, shall we?” suggested the Joker.
“Vortech, where, exactly, does that monstrosity enter into our plan?” asked Hiro. Vortech then chuckled.
“Your services…are no longer required!” declared Vortech.
“…Kisama!” insulted Ambassador Hell.
“YOU’VE DOUBLE-CROSSED THE WRONG MAN, VORTECH!” bellowed Hiro. “Your current numbers against mine make for bad odds!” He loaded his i.d. tag. “HEN…!” He didn’t get very far as Vortech knocked his former flunkies aside.
“Our numbers cannot overwhelm one like Vortech!” called Davros. “We must withdraw!”
“…All hands, retreat!” ordered Hiro. They fled the citadel as ships scrambled to get Shocker Rift away from Vortech.
“MetalBeard!” wailed Wyldstyle. The monstrosity turned to us.
“We are the Quad!” droned the creature with all four heads.
“Robin, stop!” called Batman.
“There is no Robin,” declared the Quad, “only the Quad!”
“Ichimonji, snap out of it!” called Hongo.
“Ichimonji is nothing but a cog for us, the Quad,” droned the Quad. It swung its sword, but a rift opened beneath us.
I couldn’t help but chuckle as they fled my citadel. “You can’t run forever!” I proclaimed. “Every dimension is mine! And YOURS will be the first to suffer!” I decided to enlarge the scale of my new creature, the Quad. Once it was at the correct height, my order was simple. “Destroy them!” I ordered. “And then, destroy their worlds!” As the Quad flew off, I noticed my pocket was lighter. …NOT AGAIN! Now I’m 115,000 studs lighter!
“That back-stabbing, no-good, piece of…!” I snarled as the ship left Foundation Prime. “I’M the one who’s supposed to betray HIM, not the other way around!”
“Evidently,” remarked Igura, “Vortech’s played us for fools. What are your orders?”
“…Find a dimension far enough away for some breathing room,” I ordered the Dalek at the helm. “We need to regroup.”
“I obey!” obliged the Dalek as it began a search for a suitable dimension.
We arrived at Vorton to see it in ruins. Life support was still on, but most of the equipment was under repairs. Sento was busy trying to fix… “X-PO!” cried Wyldstyle.
“No, not another death!” I wailed.
“What have they done to you?!” called Gandalf.
“I guess,” gasped X-PO, “not everyone loves my care-free approach towards protecting the multiverse. Sorry I couldn’t save your…” his voice-box malfunctioned for a bit. “But, I programmed the Gateway,” he continued. “You must stop the Quad! I think this is the end for me, guys.”
“No, don’t talk like that!” I protested. “We’ve got a whole science team to save you!”
“My tech is beyond a lot of scientists,” argued X-PO. “Megumi, try not to blame yourself. I cannot…” his voice finally faded.
“NO!” wailed Wyldstyle. Flora started hugging Brendan, crying. I stumbled backwards, another loss on my hands.
“What do we do?!” asked Gandalf. I didn’t answer.
“…Megumi?” asked Emily. I wiped my face; my sadness being replaced with anger as I allowed myself to turn into Tora-Onna.
“We save our worlds,” I vowed, “and get our friends back!”
“Yeah!” declared Wyldstyle. “And then, we kick Vortech’s butt!”
“At least I made his pocket lighter,” replied Tsukasa. He pulled out a bag of studs. 115,000 was the total, bringing our total to about 4,361,000.
“Tsukasa, see if you can meet with Kiva,” I requested. “Tell him it’s time to gather the Riders. He’ll know which Riders to get.”
“Got it,” confirmed Tsukasa. Rusty opened a rift for him and he went through.
“Track the Quad,” I ordered Elphaba and the Brigadier. “Give me the coordinates and I’ll get us all there. Minna, we’re going at it in full gear!” Hongo struck his pose, we drew our i.d. tags, the Heralds opened their phones, and the Horsemen got their belts ready.
“Rider…!” began Hongo.
“HENSHIN!” we all announced.