When Time stopped and Space collapsed 5 part 2

Everyone looked at her in confusion. “What kind of last words are those?!” Applejack asked in confusion.

“The last words of a delusional A.I.!” Judge yelled, firing the missiles.

Everyone watched the incoming attack in fear and horror as their lives flashed before their eyes. Then suddenly, the missiles trajectory changed, hitting the surrounding buildings.

“What?!” Judge yelled. “How could I miss?”

*BAM*

Everyone flinched. All heads turned towards the direction of the trunk.

*BAM*

Right behind them, Judge observed in confusion. Something was stuck in NightHawks’ trunk, and it seemed it was trying to get out.

*BAM*

The top of the trunk started to have dents, but the jammed roof didn’t allow it to open completely. Everyone looked concerned.

“Um, wouldn’t it be better if we moved out of the way?” Tucker suggested in fear, being the only one that was close enough to the back.

Suddenly, a pair of blades sprouted out from each corner of trunk, hitting the hinges of the roof then retracting back. NightHawk noticed the damaged report revealing that the hinges of the trunk had been damaged. Everyone stiffened at the sight of the blades, but couldn’t move much because of the tight space. Then, with a strong bang, both roof and trunk door flew, almost hitting Judge.

“What the-?” the GTO spoke surprised, barely avoiding the falling pieces of NightHawk to observe her rear.

“And there goes my roof.” NightHawk deadpanned.

The group just watched in silence, as a dark-blue gloved hand reached out from the trunk and took a hold on the backseat besides Tucker. Then slowly, a man with long blonde hair held by a purple bow started to get up, the sun hitting his blue sleeveless duster. All eyes were set on him, some in fear, others in awe.

As for the blonde, he just stared at them in puzzlement, confused by their faces and reactions, then glanced a little above them and blinked, as if he saw something else. He frowned. “Where in the bloody hell am I and who used my wake-up phrase?” he asked in a demanding tone, his voice with a British accent.

No-one questioned. Fingers and hooves were pointed towards NightHawks’ Heart Core, telling him she would know.

“In Las Vegas. Or what’s rest of it from another World.” NightHawk spoke up. “And I was the one who woke you up, hoping that you could help us.”

The blonde looked at everyone and everypony inside the car. “That might explain why all of them have several different melodies.” He muttered, making everyone change confused glances. “And help you with-” a few bullet hit his back, making him fall forward. Everyone yelled, but the blonde managed to put his left hand on the head rest of the drivers’ seat to stop the fall, surprised with the sudden attack. His eyes fell on NightHawks’ Core.

Behind them, Judges’ voice was heard. “My master was right! You can be quite crafty when the situation seems desperate! Too bad that guy fell before he could do anything!”

“My name is NightHawk, Gabriel.” the A.I. introduced herself, ignoring the other car. “And the car that’s following us is the reason for waking you up. I’m currently in critical state and can’t protect everyone here. Can you help me?”

Gabriel stared at the Core for a few seconds. “I’ll gladly blow him up.” he snarled, then got up in a sudden movement and turned around, facing the chasing car. A circle of light appeared on his feet. “Particles of heat form clouds of flame! Fireball!” he chanted.

A dozen fireballs materialized in midair and flew towards the GTO. The car retracted his machine guns, and took the fireballs head on, all of them blowing up on contact.

“How do you like… that?” Gabriel yelled in triumph, before his smile disappeared. The car didn’t have any damage from his spell.

“Oh scrap.” NightHawk muttered. “Gabriel, element-based spells won’t work on him!” she yelled.

“Why not?” Gabriel yelled back, another circle of light blooming under his feet.

“Because his armor is the same as mine! He’s Element resistant!”

Judge laughed. “The same? You’re pretty wrong there, sister!” he yelled, revealing his machine guns. “My armor is an upgraded version of yours! You couldn’t take Smith’s attack head on without losing your hood, but I can take his attacks without any problems!” he opened fire.

Gabriel raised his arms, a blade coming out of each one, and started blocking and deflecting some of the bullets that tried to hit him or the group. “Why’s he calling you ‘sister’?” he asked.

“Seriously?” NightHawk yelled. “We’re in a bind here, and you give me that question?!”

“I’ve been in a similar situation!”

“Yeah, but his is irreversible!” NightHawk avoided a few missiles fired, while Gabriel deflected the directed ones.

“How can you be so sure?!”

“Judge!” NightHawk yelled. “What’s your Prime Directive?!”

The firing stopped. “Obey my Master and Creator and fulfill all of his orders.” The GTO replied. “And I’m proud of obeying him. There’s always fun whenever he orders me to go.” He added in a cheerful tone, resuming his shooting.

Gabriel just stared at him in disbelief, continuing deflecting the bullets and missiles. “That car is mad.”

“Ya don’t say?” Applejack spoke sarcastically.

“What about you?” Ferb asked, looking at NightHawks’ Core.

“Think freely and decide your own actions. That’s my Prime Directive.” NightHawk replied. “Obey your owners’ orders is my Secondary, but I can refuse it if I want thanks to the Prime Directive.”

“So you’re saying that you could go rogue anytime you wanted?” Tucker asked.

“Oh, I went rogue. Once.” NightHawk replied. “And never again.”

“Why?” Sam asked.

A bullet hit the rearview mirror, surprising them. “As much as that story might seem interesting…” Gabriel interrupted. “I believe you woke me up for a reason?”

Everyone nodded. “His weakness isn’t the Heart Core alone.” NightHawk spoke up, providing some missiles to support Gabriel. “But if we can strip the plating from him, he’ll be completely vulnerable against any attack.”

“Then I’m going close range!” Gabriel yelled, jumping towards Judge.

“No, WAIT!” NightHawk yelled, but it was too late. Taking in the momentum, Gabriel jumped with both blades ready to slash the hood of the GTO. The next thing everyone saw was the blonde hitting some sort of force field and thrown back at her trunk. “You know, for someone who has the ability to predict the opponents’ movements, you’re doing quite a good job at messing yourself up.”

Gabriel tried to get up, but his movements were sluggish. “W-what was that?” he asked, trying to recover.

“Probably a close contact defense mechanism. A low frequency EMP shield, if I’m not mistaken.” NightHawk replied.

“EM what?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“EMP. Stands for Electro-Magnetic Pulse.” Sam explained. “Kinda troublesome on machines.” She added, glancing at Gabriel.

“For the distance that Gabriel got stuck in midair, it seems the range is one point five meters all around the car.” NightHawk analyzed.

“You should have told me that before I jumped.” Gabriel growled.

“You didn’t give me the time for that.” NightHawk retorted. “If we want to destroy that car, we’ll have to team up.”

“I work better alone.” Gabriel spoke, deflecting another incoming missile.

“True, but you work even perfectly when protecting someone else.”

Gabriel glared at the Core. “How the bloody hell do you know about me?! I don’t even know you!” he yelled, throwing another set of fireballs towards the GTO.

“You might not know me, but you know my owner very well. After all, that monthly challenge he suggested to you worked rather well.” NightHawk replied naturally.

“What do you me-” Gabriels’ voice trailed off, his eyes widening. “He’s your OWNER?!!!” he yelled as NightHawk avoided some missiles with some flares. “Why the bloody hell does he has a freaking car??!!! Why didn’t I know about it???”

“Caleb knows.” NightHawk replied. “And you could also know if you asked.”

“Oh that-”

Gabriel was too much focused on NightHawk that he completely forgot they were targeted. Judge, losing his patience at being ignored, sped up and hit everyone from behind, making the car jolt. At the moment of impact, an electromagnetic pulse was discharged from the front of the GTO, making NightHawk lose control. Everyone screamed as she tried to regain control, some of her systems short-circuiting. She groaned in pain.

“You know, fighting between yourselves isn’t a good idea when in another battle.” Judge spoke, slowing down to resume his shooting.

“Could we please leave the arguing for when we are in a safer place?” Ferb cut in, turning towards Gabriel. “NightHawk decided to let you sleep because she thought it was best for all of us. But considering the situation, she woke you up in order to ask for your help! I don’t know what’s going on between you and Mike, and sincerely, I don’t care! Just help us getting out of this mess!”

Gabriel just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

NightHawk spoke up, her voice in a warning tone. “Gabriel, whatever you’re thinking, I advise you: this group is not to be ended.”

Gabriel looked at her Core. “And why, pray tell, may I not?” he asked in defiance.

“Because as Caleb marks his most important persons as treasures or Little Heroes, Mike marks this group as his trusted friends.” NightHawk replied, her warning tone never leaving her voice. “It is possible that your Big Brother might be with Mike at this very moment, together with some of the missing members in here.” Her voice got cold. “But if you ever bring this group any harm, or even dare to leave us at our own destruction, Calebs’ anger or Martels’ wrath pale in comparison to what Mike will do to you when he finds out. And it doesn’t matter if Caleb is with him or not, he will not show you mercy!”

Everyone shivered at the last sentence. Gabriel however didn’t seem fazed by the warning. “I can deal-” he started.

“No, you can’t.” NightHawk cut him. “Mike never went all out in your World, Gabriel. Because if he did, your sparring sessions would be a one-sided massacre, with you ending up almost dead.”

The expression on Gabriels’ face showed everyone that he got the hint. He glanced at the entire group, noticing Fluttershy hiding in fear, and Rainbow Dash with one wing without any feathers. “Fine then.” He looked towards the GTO. “Any ideas on how to deal with that bastard car?”

“Oh, finally paying some attention to me?” Judge asked. He had suspended his shooting and was waiting for the conversation to end while following them. “Finally, I thought that you forgot that I’m trying to destroy you.”

“It’s impossible not to notice a PERV when he’s right behind us.” NightHawk interjected.

“Don’t call me that!” Judge yelled, machine guns and missiles coming out and opening fire.

“Gabriel raised a barrier to protect against most of the bullets. “Perv?” he asked, confused.

“Pursuit and Execution Response Vehicle.” Tucker replied, chuckling. “That’s how he identified himself.”

Gabriel chuckled. “I see.” He glanced at the GTO, the machine guns firing nonstop. “If I can reach those machine guns, I can neutralize them.”

“If he’s keeping his shield up, it might not be easy. Only with a surprise attack.” NightHawk explained.

Gabriel smirked. “Oi, perv!” he yelled. “Is shooting the only thing you can do?!”

Judges’ engine roared. “Don’t. Call. Me. PERV!!!” he yelled.

“Really? Isn’t that your designation?” Gabriel teased.

“Um, what’s he doing?” Fluttershy asked to the group.

“Taunting.” NightHawk replied, noticing Gabriel positioning himself. “I’m starting to understand what he is planning.”

“And what plan is that?” Wanda asked, concerned.

“Just brace yourselves for a sudden stop and a collision from behind.” NightHawk replied.

The taunt had worked. Judge sped up, preparing to ram against NightHawk for a second time. However, Gabriel was expecting him to do that. “Now!” he yelled.

NightHawk hit the brakes, making the GTO approach faster than anticipated. The collision was stronger, but everyone was already braced for the sudden impact. Gabriel didn’t waste the chance and swung his blades with all his strength towards the hinges that directed the machine guns, snapping them off a few seconds before a jolt was felt across him and the car. Both screamed at the sudden surge.

“You’re going to regret this!” Judge yelled, the headlight panels opening to reveal the missiles.

“Crimson fire, burn! Eruption!” Gabriel yelled.

A pillar of flames burst under the GTO, lifting it just in time the missiles were fired. NightHawk instantly sped up to gain some distance, but felt her rear dragging on the ground. The screen lit up.

Warning: Rear suspension critically damaged. Substitution advisable._
Warning: Several systems in short circuit. Shutdown advisable for repairs._

“I don’t think I can take another hit like that.” NightHawk spoke worried, her rear camera trying to lock on the other car to shoot another missile. Her arsenal was almost empty, save for the bullets, but she couldn’t take the risk of turning around to shoot him.

“At least the machine guns were disabled.” Sam said, trying to look at the car chasing them.

“Yeah, but now we have to worry about the missiles.” Rainbow added, as a few more missiles zipped through them.

NightHawk took a look at her missile inventory, checking how much left she had. The list was already short, and she only has two varieties now: corrosive and…

…Rust?

“What the…? Why do I have two of these in here?!” NightHawk yelled, catching everyones’ attention.

“What is it?” Gabriel asked, glancing at the Core.

“I’m checking my remaining arsenal of missiles. I have six corrosive-type, and two rust-type remaining.”

“Rust type?” Rarity asked.

“It’s from a World I avoid. The components in it can rust any type of metal, and it seems Mike took the opportunity to gather some resources and created these… these things.” NightHawk ended the explanation with bitterness in her voice.

Gabriel stared at her. “You had a missile that can rust any metal in you, and you didn’t use it?!” he asked in disbelief. “How thick can you be? This battle could have ended a long time ago if you used them!”

“I didn’t even know I had them! And I’ll gladly use them.” NightHawk shot back, loading the first missile and locking on the GTO. Judge shot a missile to intercept, both meeting halfway and blowing up. The car passed through the blast as if it was nothing and started to speed up.

Gabriel stared at the charging car. “It seems he ran out of ammo.” The blonde announced.

“Not a good sign since he’s about to charge at us.” NightHawk retorted, her systems on the verge of a shutdown. “Another EMP like that last and I’m offline!”

“You told me that missile could rust anything!”

“Not if it doesn’t hit the target!”

Everyone watched the car gaining more speed. “How about hitting the car from below?” Ferb suggested, catching their attention. “If the chassis gets heavily damaged, he can’t move anymore, can he?”

Gabriel looked at the car in thought, as NightHawk ran some simulations. “It could work.” Both said at the same time.

“Yeah, but how will you make him rear?” Tucker asked.

NightHawk chuckled. “Tucker, that’s an American Muscle car.” She started. “A Classic, but still a muscle car. And there’s one thing they all have in common, if I’m not mistaken.”

“And that is?” Tucker asked.

NightHawk didn’t reply. She just loaded the remaining corrosive missiles and shot them towards the charging car, never meeting its target. Everyone just saw as the missiles blew up in midair, spilling acid on the road.

“What’s the matter, sis? Last batch of missiles is defective?” Judge mocked, passing through the acid-covered road.

“Nah, just thinking if your tires are acid proof.” NightHawk replied, as the sound of two tires going flat was heard. “And it seems that they aren’t.”

Gabriel smirked, as the two front tires blew up, leaving Judge on a hard control. The rear tires seemed to have escaped, thanks to the path created by the two on the front.

“That’s it!” Judge yelled. “I don’t care anymore, I’m going to fry every single one of you to a crisp!!!”

The sound of the engine roared, as the rear tires screeched. The sudden rise of speed, combined with the engine power made the GTO pull out a wheelie towards NightHawk.

“Back wheel traction, and the capacity to pull wheelies. A typical skill of a Muscle car.” NightHawk muttered, loading her last missile. “Make sure he doesn’t go down!” she yelled towards Gabriel as she shot the rust missile towards the chassis.

“Not a chance.” Gabriel spoke, the magic circle forming under his feet when the wheelie was starting to come down. “Crimson fire burn! Eruption!” he yelled.

Another pillar of flames shot from the ground, hitting the chasing car and forcing the wheelie to rise. That was more than enough for the missile to hit its target and spray some kind of gold dust all around it.

“Direct hit!” Gabriel yelled. “Now what?”

“Just observe.” NightHawk replied, as all eyes turned towards the GTO.

Judge had finally landed his front wheels, but felt something wasn’t right. He felt that NightHawk hit him with some kind of missile, but he couldn’t identify what it was. Then suddenly, he started feeling it.

From under the car, the rust that hit him started to creep out towards the armor. Little by little, it started corroding the undercarriage, the doors, the hood, the roof, filling him with rust.

“What is this?” Judge spoke in fear. “What did you hit me with?!”

“That, Judge, is called Instant Rust. As soon as it sets on a target, it consumes every piece of metal in it, corroding and leaving almost nothing. The Nightmare of any type of metal.” The GTO started to slow down, as the rust was reaching the tires. “I’m not going to lie, Judge, I don’t like those missiles not one bit. The steps taken to build and coat them in order to last for a long time is quite complicated, and if not coated right, they corrode the missiles and then go towards the vehicle they’re connected to. Kinda like a virus: it only stops when all the metal is completely consumed.”

By the time NightHawk had ended her explanation, the blood red painting had been changed to a sickly orange. Judge was speeding up as much as he could, but the rust was already blocking his wheels, and he could feel the specks reaching the engine.

“Damn you… damn you, NightHawk… I’m going to get you for this!!!” Judge yelled, the suspension finally breaking. The car started creaking, as if it couldn’t take the weight for much longer.

“Sorry, but it seems this battle is over.” NightHawk slowed down a little. “Gabriel?”

Gabriel grinned. With armor gone, the car was vulnerable. Meaning there was nothing stopping him. “O Flames of Hell, burn unto them the wrath of the Lord of Fire!” he chanted, as the magic circle appeared under his feet again. “Burn! Flare Tornado!”

A vortex of fire engulfed the now rusted GTO. Without the plating protecting the car from the Elements, Judges’ interior was completely exposed to the wrath of fire now unleashed. Everyone heard the enemy A.I. releasing a final scream, before the car itself exploded.

Everyone cheered in triumph at the victory, as NightHawk finally drove away from the ghost city.

“Now we can finally focus on finding everyone.” NightHawk announced, ignoring her damage report that was giving warnings nonstop.

“Do you know where they are?” Gabriel asked, getting into a crouched position in the trunk.

“With my Time-Drive offline, I can’t search as wide as before but-” her voice trailed off as the screen lit up, calling everyone’s attention.

GPS online_

“Whoa, you have a GPS?” Tucker asked.
NightHawk didn’t answer, as the screen kept loading.

Remote call issued_
Tracking satellite_
Satellite located_
Triangulating positions_

“This can’t be…” NightHawk muttered. “Why didn’t I noticed before?”

“NightHawk, what’s wrong?” Ferb asked, as everyone looked at her core in concern.

Positions triangulated_
Main key position established_
Vehicle position established_
Please follow the directions towards your destination_

“I know where we are.” NightHawk spoke up, her voice in shock.

***

“And ever since then, little Magpie has been paying us a visit once in a while.” Caleb finished his story.

Back in the graveyard, everyone watched Caleb telling his long story in awe, amazed by how old he was, all the adventures he went through, how he knew most of the people gathered there, how he met Mike and his constant visits, sometimes to help, other times to mess around, and the reason he calls him Magpie. Some of them laughed, others looked shocked when the story hit its ups and downs. Mike however, wasn’t paying attention.

He stared at the controller of NightHawks’ car key in his hand. After using the Time-Drive for so long, he completely forgot that the controller had a built-in GPS system. But considering his Drives are busted, NightHawk must probably be in the same situation. And contact is impossible, much less teleporting to where he is. He just hoped she could get the signal. If there is a satellite in that World.

“Wow…” Twilight started, rubbing her head. “Just… wow.”

“That’s quite an amazing story, no doubt.” Danny commented.

“I’ll say.” Phineas spoke up, still processing the story. “I had a feeling that Mike was strong, but your story and the adventure he had with you beats ours by a long margin.”

“I second that.” Timmy agreed as everyone else nodded.

Caleb got up from the tombstone he was sitting. “I’m glad to hear it. And at least we now know a little from each other in order to have some trust.” Everyone nodded. “So how about if we try to find out where we are? Gather some information.”

Normally the entrance of the cemetery has the places’ name. Maybe we can start from there?” Danny suggested. Everyone agreed.

“Let’s go see it, then.” Mike spoke up, getting up from the tombstone he was sitting. As everyone got up and started following him, Caleb and Danny stayed behind to mutter a small prayer towards the large family that rested in the place they were sitting, when a name called their attention.

“Magpie?” Caleb called.

Mike didn’t look back. “Yes?”

“Are you by any chance related to the Dreamer family?” Danny asked.

Those last words made Mike froze in place, his hair suddenly falling still. Those who were following him instantly stepped back, worried that the strange reaction would make him snap. Mike slowly turned his head, his eyes wide. “What did you say?” he asked slowly.

Danny and Caleb changed hesitant glances. “This entire row” Danny started “belongs to the Dreamer family.”

“And…” Caleb continued. “I think you should see this.”

Mike turned around, returning to the place they were gathered, his hair starting to get frazzled. Caleb and Danny stepped aside to let him pass, in order to read the names of all the tombstones. No-one in the group recognized those names, but Mike did. His hair started moving erratically when his eyes came across the larger tombstone.

Here lies Mike ‘Elemental’ Dreamer
Loved Son
Guardian of the Elements
Powerful Warrior
May his Body and Soul rest in the place he is.

A sharp pain hit his head, as a piece of Knowledge went through his mind. Mike however didn’t react to it. He raised his right hand to lean it against his tombstone. “I know which World we are now.” He finally spoke up, his voice trembling.

Everyone behind him changed confused looks, worried about his strange behavior, but Twilight was the first one to speak. “Which is it?” she asked.

When Mike turned to face them, no-one could hide their shock. In all the time Mike visited them, he was always bright and cheerful, sometimes serious, and no-one wanted to remember when he got angry. But his expression when he turned to look at them caught everyone off-guard.

Mikes’ expression was of pure pain and sadness, his eyes almost on the verge of tears.

“It’s my World.” He replied.