Academy Chronicles: Rise of the Skylanders

Chapter 3: A Hero's Debate

I've never been much of a meetings girl, although as a Disciple… it's unavoidable. There's always going to be the occasional conferences where we discuss battle tactics, time management or even group-building exercises.

Nowadays, though, it just gets more hectic now that we partnered with the Future Foundation. I grew to love this specific multiverse after I mistakened it for an anomaly. So did the other Disciples who visited and I wanna protect it with everything I've got; especially since I'm kind of responsible for the growing number of threats. After the Liberator Crisis, the Future Foundation changed to a multiversal protection agency, and some Disciples, including myself help out with the more dangerous operations.

I enjoy working with the people there, and it's great stopping the likes of Monokuma and his goons… But do we really need weekly mission reports?

It is what it is, though. I know Sonic doesn't find it fun either. I look to the left of my seat to see Neptune, playing with a stray pencil, spinning it over and over again to cure her boredom.

Lucky Nep. She's a frequent visitor too, but Sonic usually leaves her out of this… so this has to be important if he wants her and the others to attend.

I look across from my position to see my childhood friend, Madoka Kaname: The ex-goddess after being stripped of her powers thanks to Mephiles. Next to her, as always is Homura Akemi, the "Transfer Student" as I mockingly call her. She's a Disciple because Madoka's here… that's it. It isn't like she wants to protect the Writers after all they've put her through.

I look to my right. Of course, my good old partner Sonic is by my side. He has been for the past 4 years now, and although he sometimes gets too protective of me, we're always the star duo. Next to him, Sonic's brother Tails, the yellow, cynical inventor fox with an odd laser addiction but, damn is he a genius. Next to him, shaking a potion bottle like no tomorrow out of pure boredom is Pop Fizz. He's the Disciples' alchemist, and despite being a small blue creature like Sonic… he sure is a crazy fella.

"Sayaka, stop spacing out!"

I shake out of my bored trance thanks to the faint sound of snapping. I turn to Sonic, who was looking at me with a confused and stern expression. "We're 'bout to start."

Sonic isn't exactly the quietest hedgehog in the Fictional Realm. As such, I can just feel the stares of everyone in the boardroom. Trust me, the last thing you want is a room of Ultimates questioning you.

I nod in understanding. "Sure, sure! Okay… Yeah. All ready. Ready-rino… Let's… talk."

I've never felt more awkward in my life.

"Right…" Kyosuke Munakata said, adjusting his eyepatch. "So, progress report."

Sonic, like every week was the first to speak up. "Well, it's been… oddly quiet this week."

"Again?" Makoto asked. "No sign of Monokuma, or Izanami, or anything?"

"Not a word, just the usual arrival of mooks doing small crimes to stir up the cities." I replied.

Homura crossed her arms. "It was an absolute waste of my time. I'm sure your agents could've disposed of those Drow elves. Did you really need us?"

Hajime Hinata gestured by holding up his two hands, indicating that he's looking for a reason to justify us being called. "Well… I guess you could say it's a precaution. There was an awful lot of them. Maybe Kaos would show up or something."

"Well, he didn't! Maybe he was out… drinking with friends? Watching a movie? Going on a date?" Pop Fizz said, tapping his head with his bottle.

"Cross out the date part. There's no way Baldie would pick up a chick." Sonic refuted to the Alchemist.

Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro spoke up before the conversation had the chance to spiral into the dark Portal Master's potential love life… or to be more accurate, his lack of one. "Ain't it strange, though? Like, no sign of any of L.O.S.E's big cheeses for the past few weeks."

She's got a point. L.O.S.E: the League of Super Evil, they're an organization formed by some of the biggest baddies we've ever faced since we stepped foot on this multiverse. The leaders? Monokuma, a sadistic teddy bear, and Izanami, a woman who is pretty much death incarnate.

But as of late… we've never seen them or their other major members. They've been a pain in our ass for months with their plans for multiversal domination… but they seem to go down fairly easily.

Did they just give up?

…No. I'm just kidding myself.

Tails added onto Hina's statement. "Yup. Just the same indispensable minions. It's like they order them bulk from a catalog."

"They exist, you know." Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler and revived Link Joker defector said to the fox. "Trust me; I looked through it to see if there were any suitable servants. Alas, it's just the usual fantasy monsters." She sighed.

"Going back on topic…" Kyoko spoke up, looking at every one of us Disciples. "Is there any reason why you brought more than just Sayaka, Sonic?"

"Perceptive, Kirigiri. I see why they call you the Ultimate Detective." Sonic said, pointing at her.

Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny and the major source of income for the Future Foundation rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's just common sense. I bet someone like her could even figure it out."

The rich young man proceeded to nudge his head to the direction of Akane Owari, the Ultimate Gymnast and a lover of food… just not much of a lover of brain power.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Definitely." She said in a muffled voice, her mouth still stuffed with a drumstick she took with her to the meeting.

"You're just gonna take that insult?!" Asked Kazuichi Soda, the Ultimate Mechanic, baffled.

Sonic then sighed. Rubbing his gloved hands, he spoke his mind. "You see, I brought the others here to back me up here."

Back us up? You… think you should've probably told us what we're backing up before we started, Sonic.

Sonic can be a good leader, but he sure can overlook details sometimes.

"To get to the point… LOSE is planning something BIG. They just have to. They can't just up and vanish like that while still sending minions out to fulfill petty schemes!"

"And…?" Kyosuke asked, eyebrow raised.

"Lemme finish… I feel like these past few weeks have been distractions while they prepare to take us down. I don't know what they're doing, but it has to be something and we need to be ready for it and we're not enough."

I look at Sonic, putting together the pieces on what he said. "You're saying… we need more superheroes?"

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Exactly. I can't call in all the Disciples. That much mutliversal rifts in this already unstable world will probably tear the fabric of space and time apart… but what if we recruit more heroes from within this multiverse? It'll be enough to stop LOSE dead in their tracks!"

Flesh hit the metal desk in an instant. Everyone in the boardroom turned to Kyosuke. Intensity swelled up in his one visible eye.

"You're proposing to just get people from all over the multiverse and risk their lives like that?" He growled. "Do you understand the risks that come from gathering people to take on your tasks? They'll die."

"It's not like we send our agents after Izanami, or Enoshima. They'll wipe us out when they could easily do the smaller operations. We leave it up to you because you triumph over them time and time again. We trust you Disciples to eliminate these threats because you dealt with matters worse than any other person I've ever read about."

Kyosuke shakily put his hand on his bandaged eye. "Heroes have their own worlds to protect… What if they're left unattended because they're off doing your work? It'll just cause more and more chaos. More and more… Tragedies."

Sonic simply looked at Kyosuke, his stern expression unwavering.

"…I was foolish, making everyone in the Future Foundation believe that violence is the only means of stopping despair," Kyosuke continued to lament. "That mindset, though only led to my friends… dying. Only you and your team, Sonic are able to strike that balance. You were able to use both belief and power to defeat Junko Enoshima when she was revived by those Link Jokers. If you did that once, you can do it again now that her soul's in the body of that cursed bear."

"If more come, though… you'll only become like me: Pushing your ideals to the point of the destruction of others."

I could tell just from his face that he was resisting the urge to just draw a sword at Sonic right then and there. He tried to remain civil, though.

"If you care about the well-being of others as much as you claim, Sonic the Hedgehog, keep the battle against LOSE between your squad."

At that moment, a hand rose. It was a hand I never expected…

…It was Makoto's.

"Kyosuke… I get what you mean," Makoto began. "Sonic has a point, though."

A collective silence was heard across the room.

"…Did I just hear that from you, Makoto Naegi?" Kyosuke asked in disbelief.

"Kyosuke, listen. I get you, I'm not a fan of violence. It's very risky, and I understand why the Disciples are only permitted to go up against LOSE because they're the ones that are most likely to make it out alive," Makoto began. "But remember, the Disciples weren't the only ones in the Hub's early days of conflict that fought off these threats before."

Neptune decided to pipe up. "Oooh! Ooooh! Yeah! Like Nightwing!"

"Or like Mega Man…" Madoka added.

"Don't forget Kat, or Ragna!" Pop Fizz said.

"Or Jessica, or Lumina." I included.

Makoto then pointed at himself. "…Or me. I risked my own life to help Sonic overcome Junko when she corrupted him."

Kyoko stood up, standing by Makoto. "And I helped during the Liberator Crisis as well. I risked my life as much as Makoto's against these otherworldly threats."

"You see, Kyosuke? The Disciples can't do this stuff alone. They need outside help as much as you need their help." Makoto said to the angry man.

Homura sighed, chipping in as well, surprisingly. "It didn't help that you sent the ones not here back to protecting their own dimensions by force. Face it, Munakata, your paranoia is going to be our death if the threat is as big as Sonic's anticipating."

Homura's blunt words only triggered Kyosuke more. Oh boy, two of the edgiest people I know are about to go at it.

"Say all you want. I'm in the one in charge. Defy what I say, and you, Disciples will be declared fugitives to the Future Foundation." He spat back. "It's harsh, I know. But I must do what I must for the sake of EVERYONE."

He then turned to Makoto.

"And you, I'm especially disappointed in you. For all this talk about pacifism, you wish to send more people into battle? Are you going back on your own words, Ultimate Hope?" Kyosuke asked.

I could see Makoto's fist ball up as sweat ran down his forehead. "I still believe what I say… but in these cases, we need a little more risk and a little more force. Monsters, aliens, robots, instruments of mass destruction exist and have now come to our world. Realistically, words aren't enough anymore."

Makoto got off from his seat and walked away.

"…We need more heroes."