Ep 1: Arrivals
It had all been going so well.
The UFT had just gotten into full swing, and everyone was having fun. Sure, there was this other Flux causing trouble, but it couldn't have been too much to handle, right? Barry hadn't gotten where he was by being a pushover.
Then Alabastar happened.
That damn king; him and that stupid ball of light ruined everything! "If he survives whatever the Arzan heroes throw at him," Barry thought, "I'm gonna drag him to the Universal Prison kicking and screaming!"
Oh well. For now, Barry would have to make due with keeping New World in order while the heroes cleaned up this mess.
"Still," Barry thought while taking care of some paperwork. "If I'm gonna be any help, I might as well use what I'm good at."
In the few days since he'd arrived here, he'd gotten straight to business: sending men to get the two cities up and running, ordering replica bodies for the Spirits, and establishing portals as temporary replacements for the Trade Gates. As for the Cross-Worlds of the Multiverse, it was surprising just how willing they were to help the refugees robbed of their homes.
"I guess Sam's dream isn't as hopeless as one might think." Barry thought. The guy had a good heart, and from what he heard about this place before the incident, he knew how to run a world. Barry had even heard some of the refugees saying that they were thinking of staying here for good.
A call from his phone interrupted his thoughts. Answering the call, he held the phone up to his ear. "This is Barry."
"Sir, it's good to hear from you," the voice on the other end said. "We've reached the underwater city and have established power. We're going to try and bring it up to the surface now."
"Good," Barry said. "Make sure you water-proof everything after you do. We need to make sure that it doesn't sink the moment someone walks onto it."
"Roger that." The call ended. Just then, a new figure jumped onto the desk.
"Hello Eevee," Barry said, petting the Pokémon. "You're still worried about Jexi, huh?"
"Eevee…" the Pokémon replied, sounding worried.
"Hey, don't worry, Jexi can take care of himself," Barry said. "Besides, I doubt he'd appreciate me sending you into danger."
At that moment, the door opened as Wiz walked into the room. "Hey, do you have a second?"
"Sure Wiz, what's up?" Barry asked.
"Well," Wiz began, clearly on edge. "Well, you know how you asked the Cross-Worlds to send ant heroes they had to help us out? Well, they just arrived."
"Alright, send them in." Barry said. Wiz then motioned outside, and a few faces entered into the room.
"Salutations!" a young girl with orange hair and green eyes greeted. "My name is Penny Polendina, it's nice to meet you!"
"Likewise," Barry said. "Last I heard, you were part of the Heroes Coalition, correct? You disappeared after it disbanded, what happened?"
"Well, I was…unable to go back to Remnant, so a friend of Marcus was kind enough to take me in," Penny said.
"Oh, Oh! She's talking about me," a man in blue armor said. "She is now Freckles' sister!"
"Oh, you're Michael J Caboose, correct?" Barry said, looking apprehensive.
"Yes, but you can call me Caboose! The other Reds and Blues are here to! We were going to get pizza in the Future Universe when Santa showed up and broke everything!" Caboose said.
"Uh…that wasn't Santa…" Barry said.
"Oh, sorry, it was the Easter Bunny!" Caboose corrected himself.
Cue facepalm.
"Alright, moving on…" Barry said, looking at the other gathered heroes. He then sees a face that throws him off guard.
"Wait…Ichigo?!" Barry yelled, taken aback. "Ichigo Kurosaki?!"
Indeed, Ichigo Kurosaki, former founding member of the Dimensional Heroes, stood before Barry.
"Yeah, that's me. I know it's a shock." Ichigo said.
"But…how?" Barry asked. "Karikura Town was among the first worlds to be wiped out."
"Well, I was taking the family on a vacation to the Undead Universe's Cross-World when that light beam struck. We came here after the portals got set up. Figured that if Jexi and the others were anywhere, it would be here." Ichigo said. "So…they here?"
"No, you missed them." Barry said. "They went to the World of Light to take down the ones that caused this."
"Speaking of which…" Penny interrupted. "Is it true? Is this the Arzan Prophecy I heard about?"
"So, it is time." Ichigo thought. "Well…can't just stand around here, can I?" "Hey, you mind if I follow them?" the Soul Reaper cut in. "I'm itching to help them out."
"If you insist." Barry said. "The Trade Gate is in town. As for the others….I need you to stay here and act as a security team in case anyone tries anything funny."
"Understood." Penny said.
"OK." Caboose added.
As the heroes left, Barry reflected on the events.
"Man…well, at least I'm getting some practice for my new plan." Barry said, pulling out a folder labeled:
PROJECT: COALITION 2