Wakeman Residence - Tremorton, PA, USA
Jenny Wakeman landed at the front door. She immediately shut off her rocket boosters and stepped inside the house.
"Mom! I'm home!" Jenny called. There was no immediate answer, but her auditory sensors picked up a phone conversation her mother seemed to be in the middle of. Tempting as it was to listen in on any specific details, however, Jenny decided against it. She instead went to her mom's laboratory, where she knew she'd find her.
"Alright. I'll see what I can do," Nora said before hanging up.
"Who was that?" Jenny asked.
"The Earth Protection Force," Nora responded. "Apparently, they're under attack."
Jenny gave out a sigh. "And just when I thought I was done fighting crime for the day."
"Well, fortunately for you, you won't have to," Nora explained. Jenny gave her a confused look. "I'm gonna need you to stay here to monitor my movements remotely."
"Really?" Jenny asked. "Don't you think it's a safer idea to send me? Not that I'm complaining or anything. But, you've kinda gotten..." She hesitated before finishing her sentence.
"Let me guess: old?"
"I mean, you have been cooped up here in the lab all these years while I've been out fighting crime," Jenny explained. "It has been a while since you've been out in the field, you know."
"That's because I've always believed you would be a great hero," Nora reassured her. "But for now, I'd rather keep you out of the hands of those government goons at the EPF. They're way more aggressive in their tactics than the Skyway Patrol."
"Why? Are they more aggressive with their paperwork?" Jenny jokingly asked.
"Funny," Nora answered matter-of-factly, "but the Earth Protection Force has been known to seize technology from others for their own gain. If they ever found out what you could do, who knows what they might do to you?" Nora then rubbed her temples. "I could never forgive myself if something happened to you." Jenny then rested her right arm on her mother's shoulder.
"Mom, I..."
Just as Jenny uttered those two words, however, Nora's watch started beeping.
"I'm sorry, XJ-9. I've got to go." And just like that, Nora was on her way out the front door. Jenny stood alone in the laboratory, with nothing else to do except wait for her mother to return.
Fenton Works - Amity Park, IL, USA
Finn took a sip of black tea as he sat in the kitchen with Jake. The TV was on in the living room, currently switched to a news broadcast about the Fire Nation and its colonies.
"So, how long do you think it'll be before we can go back home?" Jake pondered.
"Who knows, dude?" answered Finn. "I just hope Dr. Gross doesn't find us. I'd rather not put anyone else in danger."
"We interrupt this report to bring you breaking news. A cybernetic woman appears to be attacking EPF headquarters at this very moment," the news anchor had announced from the TV set. "Sources say it's been fighting against some of the organization's allies for quite some time now."
"Looks like it's too late for that," Jake commented as he snuck some food from the fridge. "Looks like she found out we ran off with the Enchiridion. What do we do now?"
"Easy," Finn answered. "We kick her butt like we did last time."
"Last time, we had help from Susan," Jake brought up. "How're we gonna take down Dr. Gross without her?"
Finn thought about it for a moment, and ultimately realized he had no idea what to do.
"Oh, man," he finally responded. "This would be so much easier with Bubblegum here."
"Don't worry, man," Jake reassured him. "As long as we got each other, we'll be to defeat her." Finn cracked a light smile at the thought of that.
Immediately, there was a loud banging at the door. Both Finn and Jake jumped out of their seats, with most of Jake's food flying all over the place.
"FBI! Open up!" came one of the voices.
"FBI?" Finn whispered. "Who the bjork is that?"
"I have no idea," Jake responded in the same low voice. "Do we let 'em in?"
"What? Are you crazy? Danny and Sam told us not to let anyone in. Who knows who that might be?"
The loud banging continued. Jake shut his eyes and rubbed the sides of his head, this time formulating a plan. "Okay. How 'bout you distract 'em, and once their defenses are lowered, I'll knock 'em out," he explained, to which Finn gave a bewildered look. "What?"
As soon as Finn regained his composure, he then thought of a better idea.
"How about instead, we attack only if they attack first?"
Jake was hesitant, but after thinking it through, he eventually gave in.
"Mmm. Fine," he conceded.
"Just make sure to blend in. Act like a 'regular' dog," Finn told him. "Apparently talking dogs are weird here."
And just like that, Jake reluctantly got down on all fours.
Before they reached the door, Finn searched for the closest thing he could use as a sword. He ultimately went with an umbrella he found by the entrance.
The FBI agents continued banging against the door. "Open up!" one of them kept repeating.
Finn and Jake finally got to the front door. Before he opened the door, Finn pressed his index finger against his lips while facing Jake. They both waited a few seconds, and then...
"Hey there," Finn greeted the agents as he swung the door open. He hid the umbrella behind the door. "Is there anything I can do for you today?"
One of the agents immediately tackled him to the ground, knocking the umbrella out from his hand, while one of the others apprehended Jake, who tried to ward off his attacker, but only prompted more agents to hold him steady. Meanwhile, the guy in charge activated his earpiece and momentarily stepped away from the action.
"We have them, sir," he spoke. "We found them at the residence of Danny Fenton. Should we alert him immediately of the situation?"
"Come on, man! We didn't hurt anybody!" Jake exclaimed as he struggled against the agents.
"Yeah! Let us go!" Finn chimed in.
"Can't do that," one of the agents informed them as Finn was put in handcuffs. "We're gonna have take you two in for questioning."
"Says who?" Finn asked.
"Says me!" the agent in charge told them as he finished his phone call. He then pulled out his badge and shoved it Finn's face. Jeff Trigger, Jr., was the name on the ID. "You two are wanted for potential espionage. We need to take you in to find out what you know."
And just like that, Finn and Jake were dragged out of the house and shoved into a black hybrid sedan. They were now on their way to a whole world of trouble.
Sweet Snacks Café - Canterlot, EQ, CAN
"This is Sunset Shimmer reporting to you live from the Earth Kingdom. Right now, I'm attending a referendum that will determine whether some of the Fire Nation's former colonies here should become their own independent state."
As the news report was playing out on TV, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were sitting near the front window and having their weekly catch-up, a tradition that Pinkie came up with after she and her friends all graduated high school and went their separate ways. Right now, Rainbow was in the middle of telling Pinkie a riveting story about her soccer team.
"I'm telling you, Crystal Prep's team has gotten way better since they hired that new coach," Rainbow explained. "Now, I've gotta up my game for Canterlot High's sake."
"Well, I'll be there to cheer you guys on," Pinkie reassured her. She then proceeded to perform a cheer of her own. "Gimme a D! A! S! H! I! E! Go Dashie!" Rainbow chuckled after Pinkie finished.
"You're always there to cheer me on, Pinkie."
"Yeah, I know," Pinkie replied as she blushed. Rainbow didn't seem to pay much attention to her rosy cheeks, however.
"Anyway, what've you been up to, lately?" Rainbow inquired.
"Oh, nothing much. I actually just started my own party-planning business."
"That's awesome! How many clients have you gotten so far?"
"Well, that's actually kind of the problem," Pinkie told her as she started twirling her hair. "Right now, I don't have a lot of clients. I tried asking around for help, but Rarity's too busy with her boutiques these days, and Applejack's too busy running the farm to help me out,..."
"Uh, Pinkie," Rainbow tried to chime in.
"...and I even offered to plan Twilight and Sunset's wedding, but they said they already hired a wedding planner,..."
"Pinkie."
"So I was wondering if maybe you'd be available to help me. I mean, if you're too busy, too, I'd totally understand. You've got your soccer team, after all. I mean, I can always ask Fluttershy if she's free to--"
"Pinkie!" Rainbow yelled. "She finally managed to catch Pinkie's attention. "Of course I'll help you."
"Really? Pinkie elated. "You mean it?"
"Yeah. Whatever it is you need help with, I'll be there."
Pinkie suddenly leapt over the table and wrapped Rainbow in a tight hug. Rainbow could barely breathe.
"Pinkie," Rainbow struggled. "Too tight."
"Oh, right. Sorry," Pinkie apologized as she let go. She then continued to fiddle with her hair as she looked directly at Rainbow.
"Uh, Pinkie?" Rainbow called. "You still with me?"
Pinkie, whose attention was now focused on what the woman across from her was saying, responded.
"Oh, sorry. I was just...thinking. About us."
Rainbow looked confused a bit. Then, after realizing where Pinkie was going with this, her eyes widened as she started to blush as well. Did Pinkie really like her like that? Did she like Pinkie like that? Rainbow figured Pinkie liked everyone the same. She didn't really think Pinkie would think of anyone romantically, much less herself. Did Rainbow even feel the same way?
"What, uh...what specifically did you want to talk about? About us, I mean," she stammered.
"I was actually wondering if, maybe, you and I could go out sometime. I mean like, on a date. Maybe, we could go watch Flash and his band perform at the amphitheater tomorrow night," Pinkie suggested.
"Yeah," Rainbow responded. "Yeah. That'll be fun. Let's do it." The two of them smiled at each other.
Yu Dao, Earth Kingdom
"Thank you again for letting us broadcast our news report here," Sunset Shimmer told a bald monk as she helped the camera crew pack their equipment. "It truly was an honor to visit your people."
"It's an honor to have you visit," the monk replied. "We probably wouldn't have the opportunity to leave our isolationist ways behind if not for journalists like yourself."
"I still can't believe you've managed to hide all of this from the rest of the world for so long," Sunset commented. "How did you do it?"
"Well, it wasn't easy," the monk told her. "My friends and I actually had to deal with a power-mad tyrant who wanted to take over the world. Luckily, we stopped him before he could ever even reach the Spirit Wilds to get to the rest of the world."
"Well, it's a good thing you and your friends managed to stop him, then, Mr. Aang."
"Please, just call me Aang."
All of a sudden, something small seemed to dart around in the air behind the two of them. They both turned around, but saw nothing.
"Did you see that?" Sunset asked.
"I did," Aang responded. "But what was that?"
"I have no idea."
The object came around again, this time on their other side. They turned around and missed the object again. What could it possibly be? Neither of them had any idea.
Then, out of nowhere, what looked like a giant wasp with a bird's head swooped down and grabbed Sunset with its talons. Aang immediately chased after her, blowing gusts of wind in the creature's direction, but to no avail. He then planted his feet firmly into the ground and extended his right arm outward, willing columns of earth to jet out diagonally and towards the creature. Unfortunately, the creature was too far for Aang to reach. It was already long gone with Sunset still in its grasp.
Sweet Snacks Café - Canterlot, EQ, CAN
"Breaking news from Yu Dao," one of the news anchors announced. Everyone in the café suddenly turned their attention to the TV screen. "We're now getting word that our own Sunset Shimmer was abducted just after her broadcast from the Earth Kingdom. So far, we have no word from any officials as to how this all happened or who her captor is."
Pinkie and Rainbow gave each other concerned looks. Who knew what could possibly go wrong.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"You mean head to the Earth Kingdom and kick some butt to save our friend?" Pinkie confirmed. "I dunno. I mean, I've got an appointment later today. Plus, I've got a party to prepare for and--"
"Pinkie!" Rainbow interrupted.
"Hmmm? Oh, right. Sunset. Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go."
And just like that, Rainbow bridal carried Pinkie out of the café and ran as fast as she could to the Earth Kingdom.
