The Sakura Cosmos, one of the four seasonal cosmos that make up the Grand Shiki Cosmos. It's considered one of the most peaceful of them all. And our heroes are venturing here. However…
"Ah…" Jexi said as everyone looked rough for wear as the ship had taken some damage.
"You could have told us that there was a barrier of dragons on the way." Lucy said.
"I didn't have enough time to explain." Jet said.
"Well tell that to our usual ship." Mari said, pointing to the Spirit Force's main ship which was now in ruins.
"Ouch… That was brutal." David said.
"That's the second ship we lost now." Al sweatdropped.
"No way this can be repaired. We're gonna have to scrap it and find you guys a new ship." Franky said.
"We truly appreciate it, Franky." Elisabeth said.
"Anyway…you said there were some places this Sunstar could be hiding." Erza said.
"Yeah." Jet said, unrolling a map. "The planets he could easily hide on are Guilst, Sunjewel, and Granbell."
"Granbell…what can you tell us about it?" Sunset asked.
"Oh…it's just a planet home to an amusement park. But no one's visited in over a century now. Nothing but robots there." Jet said.
"Perhaps we should take a look." Spade suggested.
"If we're going to search for Sunstar, it would be a good idea to search all three planets. Each planet could provide clues to his whereabouts." Erica said.
"Hmm…Granbell is small…sure. I'll plug in the coordinates to it right away." Jet said.
It didn't take long before the Galaxy King took off as they headed toward the small planet. As they entered its atmosphere, they landed in the harbor on the shore of the beach.
"Hmm… This seems like a pretty nice place so far." Sectonia said.
"Welcome to Granbell Kingdom." Jet said before they saw a second ship pull up next to theirs. "Huh…guess some people do still visit."
Stepping out of the fish-shaped ship was a young blonde woman and…
"Happy?!" Ace said as they saw a familiar blue cat walk out.
"What?! But I'm here!" Happy said seeing the other cat.
"He's likely your Future Universe counterpart." Sheer said.
"What the? Hey, who are you, copycat?" Happy-2 said.
"I'm no copycat. It's you." Happy said.
"Two Happys?" the girl said as she looked to the group. "And…wait…I know you!"
"Here it comes, another of our…" David said as the girl walked past and up to Sunset.
"You're Sunset. I've seen your gaming channel." she said.
"Wow…didn't think anyone watched that." Sunset said.
"You have a gaming channel?" Leanne asked curiously.
"Uh…yeah. We all don't spend our time with nothing after all." Sunset said.
"I'm Rebecca Bluegarden. I'm a fan." she said.
"A pleasure." Sunset said.
"So what are you two doing here?" Axl asked.
"We came here to check out Granbell Kingdom. And this is gonna bring a boatload of views for our channel." Rebecca said.
"Why come here though, isn't this place supposed to be inoperational?" Mahiru asked.
"Actually, it's still operating. No one has just visited." Jet said.
Just then a trumpet was heard as they saw a robot playing it.
"Our first visitors in a hundred years, welcome!" the robot said before playing the trumpet again as many other robots appeared.
"Wow, this is quite the warm reception." Fulgore said.
"And what do you dream on becoming? A knight? A princess? Either way, this is where that dream can become a reality." a composer robot said.
"Welcome to Granbell, the kingdom of dreams!" the machines said as fireworks and confetti went off.
"Wow, so pretty!" Rebecca said.
"Well then, what is your dream?" the composer robot asked.
"To get a million subscribers!" Rebecca said, activating the cube around her neck. "Could you do that all again from the start? I wasn't recording. Just the "Welcome to Granbell" part."
"Rebecca, don't forget your accessory!" Happy-2 said, holding some cat ears.
"Oh right. Thanks, Happy." Rebecca said, putting them on.
"Oh…she's a B-Cuber. A streamer." Jet said.
"Like a Youtuber?" Kagura asked.
"Something like that. And users of other video-sharing services." David said.
"Are there any events going on today that would look good on camera?" Rebecca asked.
"Good on camera?" The composer bot sweatdropped.
"Something with a lot of…POW!" Happy-2 said.
"Oh…then perhaps slaying monsters?" the composer bot said holding a flyer that says Let's Quest on it.
"Oh, that would be perfect on camera!" Rebecca said.
It was later in a field that the group stood before a large animatronic cat as it robotically meowed.
"I know it's the future and all, but that animatronic seems so lifelike." David said.
"It's the biggest cat I've ever seen." Rebecca swooned as the robot cat meowed. "So cute."
The robotic cat meowed before crashing right into the ground, revealing someone sitting on top of its head.
"What the? There's someone sitting on it." Natsu said.
"Huh? Humans?" the boy asked before he crawled down from it on all fours before feeling the others.
"Hey, Natsu. He looks just like you." Kokoro said. "Granted his hair is black and he seems a bit different but…" she said as the boy pulled her tail.
"And this is a dragon. I've heard of these too." the boy said.
"He seems like a very curious individual." Zacian said as the boy looked Zacian over.
"And this must be a robo wolf. Kinda cool looking." he said before feeling Rebecca before she stomped on him before he saw a caterpillar. "Ah! A bug!" he screamed as he knocked her off. "Where is it? Where is it?" he said in fear.
"Wow, he's afraid of bugs like you, Chal." Kor said.
"No need to remind me." Chalcedony said.
"Well, our captain seems to be doing better around them, though." Peridot said. "I mean, Chrysalis was one of our partners in Tokyo, after all."
"I'm flattered he managed to look past that fear, especially considering my appearance." Chrysalis said. "So, what about this boy?"
"Well, despite the personal space invasion, he seems nice enough." Mark said. "Uh, hi there. What's your name?"
"Humans…animals…robots…" he said, giving them a very scary face as they backed away a bit before he offered a hand. "Would you…like to be…my friends?" he asked.
"Huh?" A number of them said.
"You and I…we could be…" he said before Rebecca slugged him.
"Hell no!" Rebecca called out.
"Wow, TKO." Undyne said. "No tells, no wind-up. She's good."
The group was walking away with Rebecca and Happy-2 after that.
"Far as oddballs go, that guy was pretty out of it." Catra said. "What's his deal?"
"Sorry." he said walking beside them. "Just never seen humans or other races before."
"Whoa, he caught up to us quick." UlforceVeedramon said.
"Wha?!" Rebecca said in shock as some of them ran as others followed, leaving the boy dumbfounded.
Back in town at the tavern…
"There was another human out there. I thought only machines were living on Granbell." Rebecca said.
"Oh…you all must be referring to Shiki." the tavern keeper said.
"Shiki? Is that what his name is?" Mayumi asked.
"Yeah, and this is Mythra the Tavern Keeper." Shiki said, coming out from behind the tavern keeper, surprising them.
"How does this guy keep finding us?" Francisca asked.
"He's probably lived here for so long, he knows how to get around faster than anybody." Flamberge theorized.
"And that's John the tailor. Annie the cafeteria lady. And this here is Michael." Shiki said as he introduced some of the robots.
"Nice to meet you." Michael said.
"You all know each other?" Rebecca said.
"Of course we do. Cause all of us are friends!" Shiki said.
The group watched the boy as he talked with the robots.
"So…who are all of you?" Shiki asked.
"I'm Rebecca." Rebecca said.
"You can call me Happy!" Happy-2 said.
"Got it. Rebecca and Happy as well as…many others. Can we all become friends?" Shiki asked extending his hand again.
"I need some time to think about it." Rebecca said as he looked stunned.
"No offense, but you didn't really make a good first impression." Kentaurosmon said.
"Well, you can't really blame him for that." Goutou said. "Look at his environment. Only robots. He has no idea how humans or other races interact."
"Now come now…you are our first guests in 100 years!" Mythra said as a grand feast was soon held for the group.
"Whoa… That's a huge spread!" Dynasmon said.
"Hmm?" Leviathan asked before spotting an archer bot spying on them from outside.
"Hey…what were you doing with that cat bot?" Adora asked.
"I was repairing him. He's been acting up lately. But when I tried to fix him, he went all rawr!" Shiki said.
"Um… I think that's how cats normally act." David said. "Well… When they're aggressive, anyway."
"Where'd you all come from anyway?" Shiki asked.
"Blue Garden for us two." Rebecca said.
"As for the rest of us, were from a lot of different worlds outside this Cosmos." Hope said.
"Never heard of them. But it's my dream to go out and visit other places someday." Shiki said.
"That's a very nice dream to have." Ace smiled.
"What's stopping you from following it right now?" Gemini asked.
"Well, if I leave, who would repair the machines while I'm gone?" Shiki replied before yawning. "Well…I'm tired now. So going to sleep." he said as he fell asleep on the table while also breaking it.
"Whoa!" Ajna said. "Is it normal for a table to break from someone laying their head on it?" she asked as steam emitted from Shiki's head.
"Well, if your head is as hard as his…" Marco said.
"Hmm…mind if we give him a haircut?" Rarity asked.
"Of course not. We don't know much about human needs." Michael said. "As for many of you, you're likely wondering what a lone human is doing here?"
"Uh…yeah." Dan said.
"10 years ago, the demon king brought a lone child back with him." Michael explained.
"Demon King?" Shanoa asked.
"A robot who played the part. He's…broken now. But he raised him as if he were his own child. He became attached to us. We could not abandon him. And he helps us by doing repairs." Michael said.
"Sounds deep. I feel a little bad for him." Fulgore said. "I'm pretty much the last of my line, so I understand how it feels."
"Fulgy…" Leviathan said.
After cutting the boy's hair, the others soon went to sleep. But come morning…
"Wow…it felt like I slept like a…log?" Pit said before noticing he and the others were tied to stakes. "What the heck?!"
"What's going on here?" Zephyr asked. "These guys were nice to us before, but all of a sudden they're setting us up to be burned at the stake?"
"They're infected." Leviathan said.
"Hey, what's going on here? First my hair walks away and now you all are playing this early?" Shiki asked as he approached with his shortened and spiked hair.
"We're not playing! Hurry up and untie us!" Nami said.
"Oh, okay." Shiki said.
"You must not untie them." a voice said as the robot king marched with his soldiers.
"His majesty…" Shiki said.
"Why is this happening to us?!" Rebecca asked.
"We've waited a century for a visitor with a ship to come here. Now…we have visitors with two ships." the king said. "We will kill these people and then take their ships and sail to the outside world."
"What? Why are you aiming to do that? Just yesterday, all of you welcomed us as guests!" Hope said.
"And that's the problem." the king said. "To humans like you, we machines are seen as inferior. Nothing but tools to be thrown away when used up. If you expect us to continue to live like that…think again."
"Humans are the enemy. They are the problem." a number of the robots said.
"Come on, that's not true. We have robot companions with us as well." David said.
"You do. But who is to say they are serving you of their own free will or just programmed to follow." the king said.
Remembering what Shiki said yesterday, Glimmer came to a revelation. "Leviathan you're right, I think these guys are infected."
"Yes. They seem a little too eager to have really set this all up." Fulgore said.
"Yes…it was the virus that gave us self-awareness and our own free will." the king said. "We are not merely tools for humans."
"But Shiki! He's fixed you all a bunch of times!" Natsu said.
"All part of our roles. He's never truly fixed any of us. His role was the repairman. The auto repair in the castle is what fixes us." the king said.
"No way…I gotta bring all of you back. Like a friend should!" Shiki cried.
"It was long ago…this place was filled with humans. They abandoned us. They didn't even bother to dispose of us. That was 100 years ago. Now today, humans with ships that allow us to leave this island have come! The time for rebellion has come!" the king said.
"A virus that infects all of you at once…" Fulgore mutters to himself.
The robots started to gang up on Shiki as he lay on the ground. As he did, a glow came from his arm as the robots came flying back.
"Are you sure, we aren't friends anymore?" Shiki asked.
"If you want to escape, you'll have to get past me, human!" the king said. "Die human!" he said jumping at Shiki.
Shiki pulled back a fist as the glow happened once more, the fists seemed to collide as a force sent the king back. "My name…is Shiki!"
"That glow…it's…Ether Gear." Jet said.
"Ether Gear?" Lucy asked.
"It's kind of like future magic. He's able to use the ether inside his body to power it. It's a power lost to the dark ages." Jet said.
The king tried to attack Shiki again, but as the latter dodged, his center of gravity changed as he found himself running along buildings avoiding the king's gunfire.
"Whoa! He's able to manipulate gravity!" Bow said.
"That's how he brought down the cat and broke the table. He increased the gravity. It's a Gravity Ether Gear." Jet said.
"Incredible." Mari said as Happy-2 untied everyone.
"Perish!" the king said firing at Shiki who flew through the air.
"Magimech attack!" Shiki said before punching the king and sending him into the ground. "Gravity Fist!"
The punch was so strong it formed a hole in the ground that went deep until it was out of sight.
The others were soon starting to float right next to him.
"Where are your ships at?" Shiki asked.
"Uh…by the cape?" Hyde asked.
"Fine. I'll make the gravity go North North West." Shiki said as gravity shifted, sending them all flying in the same direction.
Fulgore looked to the robots. "I had a feeling your behavior was a little too convincing."
"Fulgore, are you saying…" Scorpia started.
"Yep. I knew it was an act all along." Fulgore said.
"So they did this just so Shiki could go out and see the Cosmos." Leviathan said.
"Guess that means he's coming along for the ride with Rebecca and Happy's twin." Hyde said.
"They probably knew they didn't have long to last. This might've been considered their last request." Fulgore said.
They landed near the ships.
"You guys need to go. I'm going to stay and try and fix everyone." Shiki said.
"Hmm…" Jexi and Ace thought before both smiled. "Nope. You guys are coming out to the universe with us!" they said as they grabbed Shiki.
"You said you want to make friends and see it right, well you're already off to a great start having us as friends." Ace said.
They got Shiki, Rebecca, and Happy-2 along with their small ship onto the Galaxy King as it started to take off.
"Wait…I thought you said this was a ship." Shiki said.
"It is…look outside." Jet said as Shiki saw the many different worlds and flying cherry blossoms. "Welcome to the Sakura Cosmos."
"Wait…are…are we in space?!" Shiki asked in excitement.
Hope chuckled. "Oh, are you in for some fun with us, buddy."
Fulgore looked out.
"It's like you said. I scanned them before we left. Their batteries were about to die out." Tails said.
"Yes. Everything eventually dies out. I couldn't say anything, I knew it was an act from the start, but I couldn't bring myself to just blurt it out." Fulgore said.
"You won't need to worry much about that." Tails said, looking to the sobbing Shiki.
"Even after they turned evil, I still forgive them. Hear that? I forgive you all! We were always friends!" Shiki cried out. "Hey, I don't think they can hear me. Can I break one of these windows?"
"You absolutely cannot!" Franky said.
"That settles it! I'm gonna go out there and make 100 friends!" Shiki said.
"That's a bit of a tall order." Leopardmon said.
"Really? Then I'll up it to 1000!" Shiki said.
"Why go even bigger?" David asked.
"You gotta admire his spirit." Ace said.
"Well, you're off to a good start." Frisk smiled. "You're already friends with all of us!"
"And I think we're gonna be in for one heck of an adventure here in the Sakura Cosmos. Let's see where this journey takes us." Hope said.