literature

A World of My Own - X. Lionhearted

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Dashi walked over to Tweak's workstation and was handed over her weapon. At first, it didn't even look like a weapon at all; I noticed that she frowned when she first saw it.
"Really, Tweak?" she asked in disbelief. "This is the best you could give me?"
"That's just the hilt," Tweak pointed out. "Helps you get a good grip on this one. Now point  that away from yourself and I and press that pink button on there."
Dashi aimed it away from herself and her green bunny friend and pushed the button. In an instant, a pink beam of plasma shot from the hilt in a straight line, making a flanged "swoosh" sound when it did.
"Whoa..." Dashi could only exclaim.
"That right there," Tweak told her, "is a lightsaber. You're gonna be fighting to the death with this one, but you have to be careful with it. It's dangerous - even to the person who wields it."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"So what's your fighting name?"
"...My fighting name?"
"You know, your nickname for... when you fight. Something like that. You watched the 'Bad Blood' video, right?"
Dashi wisely turned off her lightsaber. "Oh my God, that is, like, the best music video in ages!"
"Yep! I wouldn't doubt it, not gonna lie."
"You're a Swiftie, too?!"
"Eh... Not really, no."
"Aw..."
"You know, all of the actors in that video, they chose their own names. Taylor had Catastrophe, Hayley was the Crimson Curse... Something like that. So what's your's?"
"Uh... I'm thinking of Pink Fury right now."
"Pink Fury it is. And now, your suit."
Tweak gave Dashi the suit she had designed and made herself; mostly black, it had pink streaks towards the left side of her body. Delighted, she took her suit and let Tweak know that she was going to the bathroom to change clothes.
"Kwazii," Tweak called. "You're next."
The lieutenant of the Octonauts walked up to Tweak and was given a watch-like gadget to wear on his left arm and a sword. Kwazii gripped his weapon with his right arm and was pleased by its looks. "Not bad," he told her.
"Push that blue button on that pommel right there," instructed Tweak.
Kwazii did what he was asked and saw his sword change into a medium-large cannon-like gun.
"That's your gun," she told him. "And sword. Two-in-one. It shoots out a ray that freezes whatever you're pointing at. And that blue button you pushed - it's on the grip, so you can change it back into a sword at any time."
"Cool," said the Kwaz.
"Now, that little gadget you have on your left arm - that allows you to make clones of yourself. Not only you can attack more enemies, you're also providing a nice line of defense for us, whenever we need it," she explained. "Try it out. Rotate the rim and the screen will tell you how many copies of yourself you're going to make. Just start with one."
"It's already showing me the number 1."
"Just push the button on there!"
He did just that - and then another Kwazii appeared next to his right. Same eyes, same eyepatch... everything about this Kwazii was the same as the original.
"Now look."
Kwazii turned his head to his right and was astonished. "Shiver me whiskers!" he exclaimed, his clone saying the same thing simultaneously.
"See?" Tweak asked.
"Yes!" he said jubilantly. Then he complimented his copy's looks. "Say, you look really good yourself, matey."
Said the other Kwazii right back, "Thanks - you too!"
"So how do I... uh... get rid of my clones?" Kwazii 1 asked Tweak.
"Just push the button again and you'll make all of your clones disappear. If you rotate the rim after you make a copy of yourself, the number shown on that screen right there is what the number of additional clones the gadget will give you, and when you push that again, it'll make just that," our engineer explained. "You wanna try out the first one?"
"I don't want to," said the first Kwazii, pleased with what the gadget would do.
"I wouldn't want to, either," the second Kwazii agreed.
"I knew you wouldn't," Tweak conceded, letting out a small giggle. "So what's gonna be your name?"
"Snow Clone," the two Kwaziis chorused without hesitation.
"Ooh, nice. I have two boyfriends now!" she joked. Some of us quietly laughed at that unique anomaly. "You forgot your suit!"
"I'll get it later, Tweak," Kwazii 1 reminded her.
"Okay... Twilight?"
"Yes, Tweak?" asked the purple alicorn.
"When Starlight Glimmer has the Staff of Sameness..."
"How did you know she has that?"
"Shellington told me."
Twilight glanced at me. "Huh. Okay then. Go on."
"If Starlight Glimmer has the Staff of Sameness, you have the Staff of Harmony."
Tweak handed the so-called Staff of Harmony to Twily, and it looked just like the Staff of Sameness. But of course, it had to be different; I could tell it was made of aluminum.
"I looked up Glimmer's Staff of Sameness and I wanted to get the same shape as that one," she noted. "This one's actually a large taser and a magical slingshot in one. As a slingshot, you can use orbs of magic to attack; just gotta aim and fire, that's all. As a taser, you just use it like any old taser-"
"I've never used a taser before," Twilight disclosed.
"You just push the button on the grip right here... " - Tweak pointed to it - "...and whenever you're in close contact with an enemy, you just hit them with this and they'll have a bit of a shock here and there."
"Sounds... decent, I guess."
"So what's your name gonna be?"
"Harmony Raptor."
"...I was thinking more along the lines of Bookkiller-"
"I come from a TV show that's supposed to entertain a bunch of little girls, and I don't even condone killing anybody, let alone saying the word 'kill.' Now if you're a brony, that's up to you, but I'd rather stay away from that name... or that word. Okay?"
"...Just get your suit."
Twilight promptly took her black jumpsuit and walked over to our makeshift living room.
"Tunip?"
The Vegimal waddled over to Tweak.
"I'm gonna give you something a little more practical to work with," she told him, and gave him two pocket knifes.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Twilight reacted in anger, depraved by what she saw.
"I know what I'm doing," Tweak sternly assured her. The bunny then turned her attention to Tunip. "Whenever you see bad guys going around, just cut them with this-"
"Are you that serious right now, Tweak?!" Twilight was still fuming.
"Well, what do you want me to do? Get him a wooden spoon and paddle bad guys with it?"
"YES!"
Silence.
"...Give me back the knives, Tunip."
Tunip handed them back over, and a flustered Tweak exchanged it for what exactly Twilight wanted for him - a wooden spoon.
"We'll call you Kelpthroat, okay Tunip?"
He responded with an agreeing chirp. I came over to Twilight and told her to calm down a bit. She responded, "Well, why the hay would you give this little guy a knife?"
"Because he's a cook," I replied.
"Not when he uses it to harm people!"
Dang, Twilight. Why do you have to be so uptight about this?
Well, she kind of had a point. The Vegimals (and Kwazii) almost harmed a pair of leafy sea dragons in the kitchen one time while chopping and preparing some kelp, but they didn't notice it right away until Captain Barnacles forced them to stop. So there's that.
After Tweak gave Tunip his jumpsuit, she gave herself her own weapon - two hammers she welded herself, and gave herself the name "Sledgehammer." Then she called my name and I walked up to her workstation.
"What is this, a sonic screwdriver?" I pondered.
"Yeah," Tweak replied. "Wait, how did you know?"
"I watch Doctor Who on Netflix all the time!"
Tweak hesitated for a bit. "Well... so you know how to use this?"
"Pretty much," I told her.
"Nickname?"
"Doctor Jellyfish."
She burst out laughing. Hysterically. I wisely chose not to retaliate. And then I explained: "Well, let's see: I was trapped in a jellyfish bloom one time, the Captain accidentally called me Jellyfish and then Jellyton, I watch Doctor Who, and I hold a doctorate degree in marine biology. So yeah, I guess it makes sense."
"Yeah, right," a lighthearted Tweak said, her laugh now quieting down a bit. "Everyone good?"
All of us agreed.
"Alright. We go to the Hudson River at 8:30 tonight. Get yourself sharp, get yourself prepared. Kwazii, your suit is at my-"
He walked back over to get his jumpsuit without his clone with him. Must've disabled it.
"...workstation. Okay. Dismissed!"
Kwazii removed his watch-like gadget and put on his suit, then put the portable device back on again and grabbed his weapon. Then he brought back his copy from beforehand, now wearing the same suit and holding the same sword-and-gun as Kwazii himself.
I watched as the two Kwaziis engaged in a practice fight, practicing basic sword techniques and inventing new moves, but tried to be careful not hurting one another. Then I looked over at the sonic screwdriver Tweak made for me. I remember one episode of Doctor Who in which the Doctor told somebody that the screwdriver doesn't kill or harm anybody... so how would I attack my enemies with this?
Hmm...
I turned on my screwdriver, the blue light tip facing the front, and tried to see if I could magically pick up an object. I decided on a discarded, old tennis ball that was lying around on the floor when we first got here and set up base. I pointed at it, pressed and held the button on the grip of the screwdriver (which activated a little sound effect I recognized) and tried to pick it up. And it worked!
We're getting somewhere, Shellington, we're getting there, alright!
I let go of the button and caught it with my left hand. I aimed my screwdriver once again at the ball and lifted it off of my hand. Then I pulled it back in an upward angle, and as soon as I jerked my right hand forward, I lifted the button, disabling its pull. And the ball went in the direction I wanted to, bouncing off the wall in the opposite direction. I caught it again with my hand.
Okay... I think this is gonna work. I think this is gonna work. I know it.
I later knew I felt I would need to engage in hand-to-hand, physical combat in the battle ahead. As soon as I knew that, my mind flashed back to the MMA - mixed martial arts - fights I used to watch on the computer, most of them from the UFC. I memorized what moves the fighters made, how they jabbed, punched, kicked...
You know what? I got this. I know what I'm gonna do when we have company coming by at nighttime.
To put it simply: I'm ready.

It was nighttime, around 9:00pm, when the crew and I, sans Kwazii's clone - which would come out later on - arrived at the Tappan Zee Bridge, towering over the Hudson River, by car. We got out of our Honda Odyssey and looked around for any suspicious surroundings.
"Starlight Glimmer must be here somewhere..." I muttered.
"She didn't exactly say if she was going to be there," Twilight clarified. "So it's either her or her allies."
While a little arpeggiated keyboard played in my mind, Tweak noticed something odd: another Tweak Bunny. But she - the original Tweak - wasn't wearing the device Kwazii was wearing now, so how in the world did this happen?!
"Guys... I might have stumbled across another... version of myself," she told us worriedly. Then the two green bunnies tried to copy each other - Twilight calling Tweak's name during that time - until the real Tweak's supposed reflection readied itself to attack.
"Oh no."
BANG.
Tweak was punched in the face so hard, it sent her flying off the ground. She hit the pavement really badly, rolling back to our side with a bruised cheek.
"Tweak?" called Twilight.
"Yeah, Twi?" she responded in a slightly raspy voice.
"Should've seen this coming."
"What?"
"Changelings. They can shape-shift into anypony or anybody they're fighting against, even taking the guise of every single one of us by changing their voices."
"Oh my gosh..." Dashi said as more of those creatures flew from under the bridge, surrounding us and transforming into exact disguises of each of us.
"I'm taking control of this," I announced. "You ready, guys?"
Dashi deployed her lightsaber.
Kwazii made 2 copies of himself.
Twilight was getting her Staff of Harmony ready.
Tunip took out his wooden spoon.
Tweak got herself back on her feet and readied her two hammers.
And I got my sonic screwdriver out of my pocket.
We were all ready to fight.
"Octonauts... LET'S DO THIS!"

Flipping out the light trying to survive this endless fight;
If we shoot them down, we can make it right, we'll make it right...

And they light the sky as they multiply, they multiply;
No matter what they try, they won't take away our will to fight,
So if we shoot them down, we can make it right, we'll make it right...

I was fighting against a bunch of evil clones of myself, trying to get after me and punch me to death. I had finally made my way out of them until I saw a dozen of clones or so of Tweak coming right at me.
"Kwazii!" I called him.
"Yes, matey?" the original Kwaz answered.
"Go protect me!" I ordered.
"On it!" He made another copy of himself to defend me and attack the changelings.

They broke the walls we guarded,
But we don't care about it!
We'll finish what we started,
So promise me that...

We'll be the lionhearted,
For we don't care about it!
We'll finish what we started,
So promise me that they'll fall!

"Alright, me hearties, get ready!" Kwazii commanded his three copies of himself. All four of them pushed the buttons on their swords so that they could transform them into freeze rays.
The Kwaziis waited for the right time to shoot. And when they found it, the original Kwaz commanded them to ready... aim... and fire.
Shooting out of their guns was a ray of frozen ice, and in no time, the surrounding changelings were frozen. We could knock them completely dead and into pieces as we wished, but I decided to keep them as my projectiles as the battle raged on.
And while it ensued, a four-floor dance beat and synths dominated the sounds of the war we were in. I was too focused on getting through this battle and how I was going to fight the changelings, so I couldn't really quite describe in my head what the synths sounded like, the kinds of sound the drums were making, and so forth.
We then made our way towards another group of changelings disguised as Princess Twilight, and the real Twilight was trying to handle them the best way she can.

No matter what they try, they won't take away our will to fight;
If we shoot them down, we can make it right, we'll make it right...
And up against all odds, take a thousand lives, a thousand lives,
So if you shoot them down, we can make it right, we'll make it right...

They broke the walls we guarded,
But we don't care about it!
We'll finish what we started,
So promise me that...

We'll be the lionhearted,
For we don't care about it!
We'll finish what we started,
So promise me that... they'll fall...
So promise me that... they'll fall...

We'll finish what we started;
We'll be the lionhearted!
They broke the walls we guarded,
But we don't care about it!

We'll finish what we started;
We'll be the lionhearted!
They broke the walls we guarded,
So promise me that...

By that time, almost all of the changelings were defeated, some knocked unconscious, others sliced and diced into small pieces.
"Are we done?" Dashi desperately asked.
"I don't think so," Twilight answered.
She was right. Even more changelings appeared.
Now was the time to finish what we all started... All of us readied our weapons once more...
And we were doing it ALL. OVER. AGAIN.

They broke the walls we guarded,
But we don't care about it!
We'll finish what we started,
So promise me they'll fall!

Once Dashi had beaten the very last changeling with her lightsaber, all was peace and quiet again, the sound of silence taking over the atmosphere. We then sheathed our weapons and Kwazii's three clones disappeared into thin air at his own will. I was breathing heavily by the time the fighting was finished, however - all tuckered out.
But I had to stay awake. It wasn't over... yet.

While the Octonauts take a vacation from protecting the ocean, photographer Dashi Dog and scientist Shellington Sea Otter go on an excursion - and to a new world - they won't forget. Inspired by EDM producer Porter Robinson's debut album, Worlds.

(Chapter 10.)
© 2015 - 2024 AdrianMata26
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