TIME WARS
Chapter 5: The Ambush
DIPPER SQUINTED his eyes as he, Star, Marco, Janna and Lemon stepped through a portal and entered the main hall in the secret base of the Order of Merlin in Exterra. He looked at the operatives that roamed the area and made his way with the others to the Control Room up a central elevator in the concourse. Despite the time he'd spent there, which he already lost track of, he struggled to accept that he started all this in the first place.
"Hey, how come Hekapoo needed you in order for her to find me?" Star asked Marco as they waited in the elevator.
"I don't know." Marco crossed his arms. "The last time I met her was when she gave me my own scissors and that was a while ago, I don't even think we talked much during that training either."
Star squinted at Marco, unsure if she believed him, and shifting her focus as the lift came to a stop and they stepped into a hallway, heading toward the Control Room. They made their way to the room's entrance when Mabel and Alfonse came up to them. "Hey Dipper!" She called.
"Oh, Alfonse, you're finally up." Dipper said. "Are you alright? You looked pretty banged up earlier."
"Yes, the magic in the Land of the Maestro worked wonders." Alfonse said, turning to the others. "Hello, everyone, I don't think we were properly acquainted."
"Well, we met earlier I think." Finn said.
"Hi, I'm Lemon." Lemon shook Alfonse's hand. "I'm sure Mabel's filled you in on what's going on, right?"
"She has, I'm sorry about what has happened here." Alfonse replied.
"Well, what's happened has happened and we won't let it hold us down." Lemon said. "We'll stop Time Baby soon." Alfonse nodded.
"Hey, Dipper, Alfonse and I are going to prison and you can't stop us!" Mabel said excitedly.
"Wait, what?" Dipper raised his brow.
"Alfonse was wrongfully arrested on this prison planet that exists outside of time before we found him and we're gonna save the guys who helped him escape but didn't get out and you can't stop us."
"Mabel, that's a terrible idea – do you even know what kind of creatures might be in that prison? You could get killed!" Dipper frowned.
"I don't care, we're going and that's that." Mabel crossed her arms.
"Don't tell me he's falling for her obvious bait." Janna said.
Dipper tried to argue, but cut himself off, groaning. "If you're going then I'm coming with you – I don't want you to get killed."
"He's falling for it." Janna rolled her eyes.
"I'm gonna tag along too." Pacifica walked up to Dipper. "It's been a while since I did something other than a supply run around here."
"Yeah, me too." Star smiled. "This's gonna be fun."
"Well, I'm not coming." Marco said, raising his hands.
"Me neither, I think that's enough of the outdoors for me for a while." Janna pocketed her hands and walked off.
"If you're going on a dangerous mission like this, then I'd better come along so you don't get injured or anything." Lemon said when her earpiece beeped. "One second." She walked off, listening to the voice on the other side. "… Aw, what? … Ugh, fine." She cut the line, turning to the others. "I gotta go meet up with Brian on the field – guess you're going without me."
"We can handle ourselves." Mabel grabbed Dipper's hand. "Come on, let's get going!"
Mabel dragged Dipper along, Star, Janna and Alfonse following, and Lemon went the opposite way, heading back to the elevator they'd arrived with.
A PORTAL died down and Lemon, Brian, Finn, Wendy, Jake and the mutants from Essex Corporation stepped off Lemon's transmutation circle and into the streets of the Land of the Maestro. The royal guards of the realm arrived to meet them, but were intercepted by Hercules, the god of Strength, who descended from a magical disc of his own.
"Well, he's a big guy." Wendy chuckled.
"Whoa, dude, that's Hercules, the god of Strength!" Jake tugged Finn excitedly.
"That's so awesome!" Finn said with a starry expression.
"Lemon Liu Kang, what brings you here?" Hercules said
"Uncle Hercules! I didn't see you last time i was here!" Lemon hugged Hercules.
"I was off training some soldiers," Hercules smiled at her then looked to the mutants behind them. "I see we have new guests."
"Yeah, the Essex Corporation captured them and forcefully awakened their powers. Could they stay here for a while? They could be hunted after and their powers could be dangerous."
"There's no need to ask." Hercules waved the guards over and they began guiding the mutants to clinics nearby. "This land was made specifically for those put in such predicaments."
"Is dad still here?" Lemon asked.
"I'll take you to him."
Hercules lead Lemon and the others through the kingdom and into its outskirts where a mountain range lay. The area however was massively damaged with the hills in ruin and several craters littering the ground. Confusion and surprise filled Lemon and the crew's faces and a loud explosion nearby rocked them as winds blew and soon after tom flung past them and crashed against the rocks!
Tom grunted and pushed himself up, turning to see the others. "Oh, hey guys," He held his shoulder in pain. "Heh, the maestro doesn't really hold back much."
"I was holding back." The Maestro said as he landed nearby from a huge bound and turned to the others.
"What? You nearly ripped me in half earlier!" Tom complained.
"Huh, you've been gone a while." The Maestro said to Lemon.
"How long?" Lemon asked.
The Maestro thought for a bit and looked to the artificial sun above. "About a month or so."
Brian chuckled at this. "If only Asgardian magic could affect the entire cosmos and bring time back."
"At least we can have a sense of days passing in here and Exterra."
"Hey, how's your training been going?" Finn walked up to Tom.
"I can't really tell; kinda got my ass kicked most of the time." Tom replied.
"You've actually improved greatly, Tom; in the first couple weeks, you gave in to your rage whenever you got beaten down and now, you're only slightly aggravated." The Maestro answered.
"Gee, that's encouraging." Tom frowned.
"Well, if you've trained for a while, would he be able to come back with us? We could use him in case something else happens." Finn said to The Maestro.
"Yeah, and where's Mary anyway?" Wendy asked.
"Well, she was training with -,"
A bright light interrupted The Maestro and out of the tear came Mary and Raven, a blue-skinned witch clad in a dark cloak and one-piece suit, who walked her out of the gateway. The younger woman was visibly tired, but the woman nudged her, casting a spell that jerked her out of her sleep.
"Oh, hey, Tom!" Mary waved at him and her eye twitched. "How's your training going?"
"What happened to you?" Tom raised his brow.
"Oh, nothing, just read a couple hundred spell books and tried balancing my energies for three days straight, but otherwise I'm fine!" She laughed slightly.
"I went through much worse when I started learning magic; you should be grateful I held back." Raven crossed her arms.
"That was holding back?!"
"Seems these two have something in common." Tom said.
"I'll leave her with you - she should be able to figure the rest about the application of her powers on her own." Raven said to The Maestro.
"Hey, raven, could you -," The Maestro tried to say, but Raven went back through the portal and vanished before he could finish. "She was never one for conversation anyway." He turned to the others. "Since their training has finished, we can put their abilities to the test."
"Another test!" Tom and Mary yelled in unison.
"Yeah, i think these two might need to take a nap ... for about a week at least." Finn said.
"We don't have that luxury unfortunately; Time Baby's forces have been drawing closer on us since you were gone." The Maestro said.
"Still? I thought you'd gotten them off your tail." Lemon said.
"That wasn't enough apparently, so i think we should change our approach."
The Maestro said. "It's time to take the fight to them."
BACK IN Exterra, Pacifica, Star, Mabel and Alfonse sat around a table in an old meeting room of the Order of Merlin, waiting for Dipper who flipped through his journal. His mind buzzed with questions as he wondered how they'd access a planet that existed outside of time in the first place when Mabel nudged him.
"Hey, you figure out anything yet?" Mabel asked.
"It's not like I have the coordinates to every place in the multiverse!" Dipper frowned.
"Sorry, but you're taking a little long."
"Are you sure you don't know how to get back there?" Dipper asked Alfonse.
"I was unconscious when I was taken there and I didn't create the portal that led me out. I'm sorry." Alfonse explained.
"You know you're enabling her, right? I mean, I just needed to pass the time, but she fooled you." Pacifica said.
Dipper groaned and Mabel chuckled. "Oldest trick in the book."
"Hey, why don't we just use Alfonse as an anchor and track him back to where he's last been? That'd us save time." Star said.
Dipper blinked in surprise. "Whoa, that was actually smart."
"Well, I did pay attention to Glossaryck's lessons sometimes." Star smirked. "I don't remember how to do it though."
"You gave me enough of an idea anyway." Dipper stood up and moved to a corner of the room, pulling out a piece of chalk from his pocket and drawing a transmutation circle on the floor. Finishing up, he turned to Alfonse. "Alfonse, stand in the middle of the circle here."
"What're you doing anyway?" Pacifica moved up to Dipper.
"You'll see." Dipper said and Alfonse, though confused, followed his instructions and stood within the circle. "A portal often needs coordinates to the location you need to travel to and since we don't have that now, we'll use Alfonse's memory instead." Dipper explained.
"And you made magic lame, great." Star said
"How did – it was your idea!"
"Well, you could've made it sound cooler."
"But -," Dipper groaned. "Just pour your energy into the spell, okay? I don't know how to create portals yet."
"See, I knew you were lame." Star said.
"Hey, not all of us are magical Space Princesses with years of training in the Mystic Arts, alright?" Dipper snapped back.
"Not all of us can cast magic spells." Pacifica grumbled.
"Some of us are just normal anyway." Mabel said.
"Oh, stop, you're making me blush." Star chuckled. "Fine, I'll help."
Dipper shook his head and returned his focus to the task at hand, moving up to Alfonse. "Now, focus and try to remember the prison planet and I'll do the rest."
Alfonse nodded and shut his eyes. Raising his hand up to him, Dipper began searching Alfonse's memories, causing the transmutation circle to come aglow. Finding his mark, Dipper called out. "Now, Star!"
Star summoned her wand and shot a ray of energy at Dipper, causing his body to glow, and he held out his free hand, erecting a portal to his left! Seeing the gateway solidify, the princess stepped back and the brunette looked through the tear in space.
"This's it." Dipper said, turning to the others. "Who wants to go in?"
"See ya on the other side, suckers!" Mabel jumped through the portal!
"Mabel, don't just rush in!"
Dipper chased after Mabel, soon followed by Star, Pacifica and Alfonse as the gateway began to fizzle out, and the five collapsed onto the hard steel floor of a hallway! Squeezing his way out, Dipper stepped forth and gasped as he took in his surroundings.
"This's one big prison alright." Dipper said.
The five were in awe as the gigantic hallway spread out before them, seeing several large prison cells hovering in rows on either side of the walkway they were on that seemed to stack up over each other endlessly with floating plates by their entrances that moved to each room. They moved along carefully, curious as the prisoners inside didn't seem to notice them at all, when a loud alarm started to blare, echoing throughout the prison.
"Well, that was quick." Pacifica noted.
"I told you not to jump in like that!" Dipper yelled at Mabel.
"Dipper, we don't have time for this - we've gotta hide somewhere before the guards come." Pacifica said.
"There's no real place to hide around here." Alfonse said.
"Star, do you know any invisibility spells?" Dipper turned to the mewman.
"I told you guys that I'm a summoner!" Star frowned.
"Guys?" Mabel pointed robotic ladybugs landed around them, surrounding them from all sides!
"Miracle Pumpkin Punch!" Star waved her wand and fired a gigantic pumpkin shaped like a fist that barreled down the hall and smashed through the robots ahead! "Come on, let's keep moving!"
Star, Dipper, Pacifica and Alfonse ran toward the opening when they heard a scream, turning to Mabel who had been grabbed by a Ladybug!
"Mabel!" Dipper cried out.
Pacifica reacted quickly and shot down the robot with her laser sidearm, grabbing Mabel as she fell when the other guards began to fire a barrage of metallic spikes at them! Star cast aside her wand and erected a force field around them that deflected the projectiles, only to knock them down below the walkway where they exploded, sending out waves that knocked them off their feet!
The sentries took aim at the five as they were down when a laser suddenly fired through one of them, drawing the others' attention. The five looked down the hall and saw an old man with a rifle and a teenage boy running their way.
"You got the bombs?" The old man asked.
"I'm working on it." The boy said.
"You're gonna ruin our cool entrance."
"I said I'm working on it!"
The old man shot down several of the Ladybugs with ease, stunning Dipper and the others with his rapid marksmanship, and the teen tossed out a metallic plate on the floor before him that sent out intense magnetic waves that yanked the remaining robots down and pinned them to the ground. Grinning, the boy pressed on a detonator on his watch, causing the plate to explode and destroy the machines in a massive explosion!
Dipper squinted as the fires died down and he raised his brow as he saw the two coming their way. "Who are you?"
"How's about a 'thank you' first, kid, huh? Geez, why're we out here saving people and shit?" The old man said.
"Cuz it's the right thing to do." The boy beside him replied.
"The right thing to do? The right thing to do? Son of a bitch, Morty, why did I start listen to ya and -,"
Star and the others got to their feet and she recognized the two and grinned. "Hey, I saw you two at the god Summit earlier!"
Morty blushed as he saw her, trying to articulate his words. "Uh, hey -,"
"Damn it, Morty, this's your fault!" Rick frowned.
"My fault? I'm not the one who decided to spy on gods!"
"They're not gods, Morty, they're aliens!"
"You know these two, Star?" Dipper asked Star.
Rick turned to Dipper as he heard him and frowned. "Stan and Ford's grandkids? Wait, what're you two doing here?"
"Wait, you know our Uncle Ford?"
"And Grunkle Stan?" Mabel added.
"Unfortunately." Rick frowned then saw Alfonse in the back. "And why're you back here?"
"We thought you needed help getting out of here." Alfonse said.
"In what way would you think that?"
"Because we were being gunned down when you kicked him through a portal." Morty deadpanned.
"Stop correcting me, Morty!" Rick yelled then turned to the others. "You kids better get out of here now, I don't want Ford on my ass if you died. Wait, wait, don't do that." He realized and groaned. "Fucking hell, if you open another portal, it'd draw Nap Time's attention."
"There's a Time General here too?" Dipper asked.
"This prison is run by Nap Time and I don't wanna deal with a Chrono-sapien right now." Rick explained and grumbled. "Why do Pines Twins always have to get in my way?"
"What're you doing here exactly?" Dipper asked.
"We're trying to save Star Lord, the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy." Morty explained with a chipper grin. "You want in?"
Dipper blinked. "Who's that?"
"Morty! This's supposed to be a secret mission; you don't tell people what you're doing on secret missions!" Rick yelled at Morty.
"Ooh, ooh, I want in! It sounds fun!" Mabel moved up to them.
"Oh great, she wants in." The old man face-palmed.
"Well, I don't know any Star Lords, but we could use your help here anyway." Pacifica walked up to Rick. "We help you save whoever Star Lord is and you get us out of here afterward."
Rick thought about it for a moment. "Fine. You got your 'magic' so, you might be useful." He walked off for a bit then finally recognized Star. "The Mewman Princess is here?!"
"You didn't notice her earlier?" Morty asked.
"Well, it's not like I'm out here staring at little girls - what are you doing out here!? Great, now I'm gonna have to deal with one of the kids that nearly blew up the universe!"
"Wait, what?" Pacifica said in shock.
"Well, it was a long story." Mabel waved her hand dismissively.
"It's a long story I wanna hear," Pacifica turned to Star, "Why did you try to blow up the universe?"
"Hey, why don't we start looking for this Star Lord guy?" Star summoned her wand, "I can use my magic to help find him."
"See, she can help us." Morty turned to Rick.
Rick grumbled and walked off, being followed by Dipper, Pacifica, Mabel and Alfonse. Star stayed in the back, trying to avoid drawing attention to herself, and Morty moved up to her.
"Hey, I'm Morty by the way." Morty said.
"Star Butterfly." Star said curtly.
"So, you're a magic space princess? Never met one of those funny enough."
"I didn't do anything, I swear!" Star yelled and ran to the front of the group, confusing Morty who watched her apprehensively look around as they came to a corner.
"You don't wanna tap that alien ass, Morty, trust me," Rick turned to Morty. "You could get pregnant or she could eat your head 'cuz she has four arms, Morty! Four arms, Morty!"
"Who're you to talk? You dated a whole planet when you were with Unity." Morty walked off.
Rick watched him walk off and frowned. "Don't be a punk ass bitch, Morty."
BACK ON earth, the Maestro hovered on a light disc ahead of Tom, Mary, Brian, Finn, Wendy and Jake who were on hover bikes as they searched for Time Baby's forces in the ruins of a city a few miles from the hidden kingdom. Brian looked below and squinted as he saw several swirling pools of energy pop up on the ground below.
"Seems we've ended up in an area filled with tears in space time." Brian said.
"We figured a place like this would deter Time Baby's foot soldiers who would be affected by them, but it didn't. So we'll use it to our advantage to take them down." The Maestro said.
"What do these tears do exactly?" Wendy asked.
"I'm guessing they rapidly distort your body and can alter your age or destroy you." Jake said.
"You do not wanna get sucked in them, bruh - Hansel once got sucked into one that made him go through puberty fifty times! It was hilarious." Brian laughed.
"Okay, noted." Wendy cringed.
"Heh, I remember when Finn went through puberty -," Jake tried to say when Finn interrupted him.
"Which we will not talk about!"
"These tears could be particularly useful against the Vasto Lorde. They're particularly difficult to fight because their beams can wipe you out of existence with a single touch." The Maestro crossed his arms. "I do not know how Time Baby got his hands on these beings, but they do not have the same energy as him or his Generals. Theirs is more akin to Tom actually."
"What?" Tom said in surprise.
"Whatever they are or wherever they came from, there's definitely more going on here." The Maestro said.
Tom mulled over this, exchanging a glance with Mary, when Brian called out. "We've got bogeys up ahead!"
The Maestro looked forward and frowned as he saw Time Baby's soldiers, Time Cyclopes and three Vasto Lorde searching the area below. "Alright, let's split up and take them down while they're apart. Use distortion detectors I gave you to detect the rifts and use it against them." He said and the others checked the runic watches they wore. "Let's go!"
The Maestro dismissed the photon shield he stood upon and dropped to the ground below, coming down with two mighty fists that tore the earth apart and tossed the soldier's assault vehicles into the air!
"So much for using the tears to split them up." Wendy said.
"Come on, he's given us an opening!" Finn flew past her.
The Vasto Lorde caught themselves midair and growled at the giant, flying toward him when Tom tackled one and flung it onto a far off hill!
"Tom, what're you doing!?"
The Vasto Lorde tumbled on the ground and fell into a rift, putting a smile on Tom's face as he hovered above. The monster pulled itself out however and stood unscathed, howling to the sky and summoning its Zanpakutou!
A few feet behind them, The Maestro engaged the remaining two Hollows, blocking their blades with his forearms and blowing them aside with two swift punches! One of them immediately shot back at him and sent an arc of energy at him with a swing of its sword! The Maestro barely dodged the attack and the beast tackled him, grabbing his face and dragging him through the earth!
Finn and Brian soared up above and opened fire on the assault vehicles as they drove out of the destroyed earth, forcing them to split up. Using the opportunity, Wendy and Jake dove down and attacked the vehicles on the ground while they evaded the barrage from above.
The Time Cyclopes rushed to the soldiers' aide when Mary descended upon them and thrust her arm at them, increasing the gravity around them and crushing them against the rocks! A Cyclopes fought against the force however and sent out a beam from its eye, causing the ground beneath her to reverse in time and a destroyed building to rise out of earth!
Mary shielded herself with a force field however, causing the edifice to break apart as it shot towards her, and she swiped her hand down, sending the beasts further into the ground!
Nearby, The Maestro kicked the Vasto Lorde off of him and slammed his hands together, knocking aside the other two with a shock wave that shattered the rocks beneath them! The giant roared in rage, releasing a gamma aura around him and he lunged at the Hollows, engaging them once more!