"Whoa...I...did not see this last time." Zan said as they stood inside of a stone fortress as a few members looked outside as the dark abyss outside and some floating masses of land and debris.
"Well, we were only traversing a small part of this place to rescue Hyness. It's hard to say for sure how expansive the Lost Universe really is." Francisca said.
"The Lost Universe is a vast space with no end in sight." Brave said.
"Uh...question. What's with the large spikes on the sides?" Ochako asked.
"Oh, those are to keep out the...wildlife." Aurora said.
They walked through the dark corridors before arriving at a large door as Ursa stood in front of it.
"What is this?" Ursa asked.
"They want to speak with the king." Brave said.
"And it's just to speak?" Ursa asked with a growl. "They're not planning to foolishly attack him, are they?"
"Not at all. We only wish to negotiate with him." David said.
"Very well." Ursa said as he pushed against the large heavy doors, opening them with a single push. "He awaits inside."
They stepped inside where they saw Barl standing over them. "The famous heroes...welcome to my little castle of the lost in my kingdom of the lost." he said seriously. "Dang, that sounded so badass right there."
"Um… Hello. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." David said.
"As you said, were the Hero Alliance." Hope said. "Allow us to introduce ourselves properly. I'm-"
"Hope, Jexi, David, Mark...and finally Catra." Barl said naming all the members very quickly.
"Wow. He nailed it on the head." David said.
"All of our members so quickly." Jexi said. "Somehow I get this isn't your first hearing of us."
"No, I've heard plenty about you guys." Barl said. "You've been on my radar for awhile now. But...honestly, I'm on the fence whether you're something that needs to be eliminated...or a flower that needs to flourish. Ugh, that completely sucked."
"Well, you seem quite informative. And yes, I can understand why you would feel that way." David said.
"We understand from Brave and Aurora that you wish to have Horde Prime eliminated." Hope mentioned.
"Yeah, that's right. But seeing you here means the plan failed. Yeah. I kinda figured. It was something made up at the last minute." Barl laughed.
"He seems pretty calm about this. I kind of envy him." David said.
"I dunno. He's all over the place." Adora said.
"Well, we were kind of warned that he tends to be...eccentric." Leopardmon said.
"But to answer your question...yes. Horde Prime is one of many people I want to get rid of in the multiverse. I made the decision very recently too." Barl said.
"And the bombing of the Universal Government?" Miles asked.
"Yeah, I ordered that too. But only kill those too stubborn to forfeit their power." Barl said. "That way, good people can create a new form of peaceful meeting with no one person ruling a single place."
"That's….actually a very thought out plan." Elementa said.
"Yeah. There's always some method to my madness." Barl said.
"And I thought I was crazy." David muttered.
"All of this...is all in the way of keeping that promise I made everyone. To enjoy a peaceful multiverse...a peace I can never have." Barl said.
"What's that mean?" Jet asked.
"Despite his look, Barl isn't from any of the outside universes. He was actually born here." Brave said.
"Whoa…"Bow said. "You were born… right here, in the Lost Universe? A place nobody in our plane of existence has ever been able to explore fully? I mean, besides the Mage Sisters."
"Oh, they weren't the only ones." Barl said. "Lots of people fall in here at one point or another. Either when they're about to die, or end up getting lost, or even for some strange third reason. I call these people Lost Ones. I usually either try to bring them in to my place or find the rift they fell through."
Hope then got a thought. "A while back, there were two people who came here. One was a Demon named Alonz, who used Lost Bombs on himself. The other one was called Slav, he was sent here without a choice by someone called Mime. What happened to them?"
"Oh...those two...became one with the Lost." Barl said.
"Ouch… That sounded rough." Yoko said.
"Yeah...not quite the way you're thinking of." Barl said pointing to the beasts trying to get in. "See those monsters? Believe it or not, they all used to be ordinary people. But they fell into their own darkness and wanted to become one with the lost. Their appearances changed and their minds deteriorated until they became Beasts of the Lost."
"And uh… Yoko, I think one of them recognizes you." Marco said as they heard a screech being directed at Yoko.
"Yep. I think that's Alonz, alright." Yoko said.
"I wouldn't worry. Those barricades keep all those beasts out. And if they ever try to break in, we have the four strongest warriors to keep them back." Aurora said.
"You mean like that big guy out front?" Frosta asked.
"That's Ursa. He's the Knight of Might and one of the four. The others are Slayer, Rebellious and Index." Brave said.
"I see." Hope said.
"Rebellious and Index… Oh yeah, we heard about those two." Zacian said.
"Though...even if all four worked together...they could never beat the king." Aurora said.
"So true." Barl said.
"Speaking of those two, we heard about that little scuffle they had with our...well, technically allies, in the Future Universe. Something about taking out a few lookout stations that once belonged to Theodore." Alphamon said. "We had… a bit of a dark history with him, and for good reason."
"Yeah, I asked them to destroy those while posing as Gundam Pilots. To be honest, they kinda sucked at it. But I get it. Hard to show your skills inside of big piles of metal." Barl said.
"So much the case, it seemed." Mayumi said.
"Yeah." Barl said. "And then Aimi tried to take over humanity with paper. Though, to be honest, I don't buy that. It sounds way too silly to ever be true." Barl said. "I mean, you could just blow paper away or set it on fire."
"Uh… Yeah. But at least she's passionate." Mayumi said.
"She better not have heard Barl's passive jabs." Zephyr whispered to Eddy.
"Oh, I'm not worried about that." Barl said.
"Dang, his hearing." Zephyr said.
"Anyways…you wanted us to fall for the illusion that Horde Prime was attacking Tokyo, but we saw past it." Hope said. "Why do you want Horde Prime gone, exactly?"
"I think the answer is obvious in this case." Raine said.
"He's a conqueror who wants to take over the worlds. Of course he has to go." Barl said. "I tried to kill him once but he's got this hive mind thing so it's pretty much impossible."
"Ah, yes. I have heard. Whenever he is killed, he just ends up taking a different body." Alphamon said. "The only way to even have a chance of defeating him for good would be to break down his Hive Mind."
"Hence, why you set up an attack on Tokyo using Horde Prime as a proxy." David said.
"Pretty much. I had seen you in rage when your city is brought up so I figured that would be the best way to pull you into the conflict." Barl said.
"That was...actually because of us. Theodore brainwashed us and made us launch an attack on Tokyo." Crusadermon said.
"Ah...makes sense." Barl said.
"Enough of the gab. We're kicking this guys ass right now." Bakugo said, jumping at him.
"Don't do it you idiot!" Jexi said as an explosion went off.
"Ha. How'd ya...what?" Bakugo said as Barl stood there completely uninjured.
"Wow...so that's what an explosion is like. How exciting." Barl laughed.
"He just took Bakugo's attack like it was nothing. Maybe he really is that strong." Tsumugi said.
"No...its not strength." Jexi said. "He has incredibly dense layers of aura surrounding his entire body. They're almost impossible to see unless you focus."
"Yeah...this is why we aren't worried. No one can beat him...because he can't be hurt by anyone." Brave said. "His Barrier Style forms a strong layer of aura around his body that acts like an impenetrable shield. In short, he's the ultimate defensive shield."
"You sonuva…!" Bakugo said.
"No, Bakugo!" Hope said.
"Cease, Bakugo. We can't afford to waste our energy trying to penetrate it now." David said.
"Heh...like you people even could." Brave said.
"Wow...you seem angry...no worries. I'll calm you down." Barl said, holding his hand out. "Power...release." he said as a wave went into Bakugo, sending him flying and crashing into the wall.
"So he can not only absorb attacks… he can blast them back at his opponent too." Hope said.
"No...that power was Barl's own. The aura doesn't just protect him, it accumulates the aura he naturally generates. He can release small parts of it at will. That amount that hit your friend. I say it was about 2...maybe 4 percent of his overall power." Aurora said.
Hope turned back to Barl. "So, you want us to take care of Horde Prime for you, is that it?"
"You are not one who I will negotiate with. I will only do that with either Jexi, David or Mark." Barl said.
"Oh great…" Hope said. "Another guy who finds me a joke."
"Hope, I don't think it's about that." David said.
"Oh no. I don't think you're a joke. Thing is...with negotiation...you kinda suck at it." Barl said.
"Haye to side with him, but he's right. Your opinions on matters tend to be a little biased." Alphamon said.
"I guess you're right." Hope said. "Guess I'll leave the talking to the three of you."
"Alright, Barl," Mark said. "Was what Hope said true? Do you want us to take care of Prime for you?"
"I don't really care who does it. I just want him gone." Barl said.
"And there's the problem. If we're going to do it...we'll be doing it on our terms." David said.
"Your terms?" Barl asked.
"Yeah. We'll take care of him not for you, but to free the Magic and Future Universes from his tyranny." Jexi said.
"We appreciate the intention, but...we're not mercenaries that can just be hired on a whim." David said.
"Hire you?" Barl said. "I was just gonna let you take care of this without any transaction."
"That is just…" Jexi said as a strange sound was going out.
"Oh...that's probably Rebellious. I asked him to lead a few rebellions against the guy." Barl said. "Yes, what is it?"
"Yeah, boss, something has just gone wrong." Rebellious said.
"What do you mean?" Barl asked.
"His forces, they aren't staying in the Magic Universe anymore. They're starting to spread into others." Rebellious said.
"What? That can't be right. He was supposed to stay in the Magic Universe." Barl said.
"Guess he found out that Jack duped him." Sachiko said.
"No...if he did know. He would have focused all his forces on Standard. Not spread them out like this. Something else is going on here." Barl said. "What about the mothership?"
"It's still staying close to Etheria. It's the others that are spreading out." Rebellious said.
"Hmm. How would...wait...I remember one of those government members were campaigning for them to eliminate Horde Prime." Barl said.
"And coincidentally, it's the one that wasn't present the day of the bombing." Brave said.
"Always gonna be some pest trying to pull together a dying breed. Find him and figure out how he forced this force to spread." Barl said.
"You got it." Brave said departing with Aurora.
"Now...do you see a reason to take up arms?" Barl asked them.
"I admit, that isn't good." David said.
"We'll do it." Jexi said.
"Haha. Splendid. I knew you would understand." Barl said. "All I can ask is you do your best as we do ours."
"Not like we had much of a choice in the matter. This is Horde Prime we're talking about, after all. It's better than just letting him do what he wants." David said.
"Agreed. I wish you luck in your endeavor." Barl said.
The four groups left for the Galaxy King.
"So, what's the plan?" Bow asked.
"The plan couldn't be simpler, Bow." Eddy said. "Stop Prime and his forces across the Multiverse."
"Wouldn't the smart option be to attack him directly in Etheria?" Glimmer asked.
"No, that's too risky. If we just go in there half-cocked, we'll only be charging into a suicide mission. Plus… I didn't want to say this in front of him, but I don't know if I'll be comfortable taking their orders. Especially since Cheetah kind of marked Index. If we go along with his plan, it's going to cause problems on that front." David said.
"Especially since Zamazenta is with her. I prefer not to fight him on this matter if it can be helped." Zacian said.
"You have a point." Mark agreed. "They did blow up buildings, who's to say they wouldn't do worse down the line?"
"Our best course of action is to take out Prime's fleets spreading into the other universes, cut down his troops and weaken his hive mind." Hope said.
"Hmm...not sure about the second, but we would definitely cut down his forces." Hera said.
"Plus, we are still kind of doing this on our own terms. We'll sort this whole thing out somehow." Francisca said.
"Alright. Let's go stop Horde Prime's advance… our way." Hope said as the Galaxy King took off to stop Horde Prime, once and for all.