With the defeat and subsequent arrest of the fire monster Napalm, or by his real name Crimson Napalm, a student of the local Highschool CHS, Canterlot City was able to relax again. And with someone like Alchemy watching over them, many felt save again, even if there were some voices that questioned the motivations of the masked vigilante. The police still hadn’t given a statement about their position towards the hero that had now two times managed what they could not, protect the citizens of Canterlot.
Phoenix was lying on the couch of his brother'sliving room, the apartment too small to house more than one bedroom. Ultimately it didn’t matter much to him; he could sleep nearly everywhere, and Thunders couch was by far not the most uncomfortable place where he had taken a nap. Sadly his attempts at taking a well-deserved long nap were thwarted by his younger brother. Thunder was a morning person and always way too cherry, even if he had just awoken from his slumber. Quite the opposite to Phoenix, who was slightly cranky after awakening.
Thunder had marched into his living room and had shouted out:” Good Morning Phoenix! Enjoy your free day!”
His brother reaction to the rude awakening was to unceremoniously fall off the couch and plant his face firmly on the floor. “Thunder, can I ask you something?” Still sleepy he asked his brother.
“Sure, what?”
“Did you need to wake me this way? Seriously, it’s rest day at the restaurant. I thought I could, at least for one day, sleep the appropriate time? Like till two AM. Or something. You know I hate waking up early.” Phoenix seemed not amused by the antics of his brothers today. After managing to regain footing, he started to stretch himself, to at least get rid of some of his sleepiness.
“Oh, come on, it is such a beautiful day, you can’t just sleep for more than half of it. At least not under my watch.”
“Didn’t I earn some sleep after the last two days?”
“I thought the guy was so easy to beat that you didn’t even have to try? If that is true, I’m sure you will be fine or are you going to be out for days after beating something that challenges you?” He mocked his brother.
“Me and my stupid mouth. Fine, you win, I won’t sleep through half of it.” With that, he grabbed the remote for the TV and started to push the buttons on the device, the monitor flickering to live. “I will, however, watch TV for the rest of the day.” He laughed, apparently quite proud of his reply. Thunder just buried his face in one of his hands.
“You never change, do you?”
“Nope!”
“Anyway, I don’t think your day is going to work out quite as you planned. Summer is coming over here soon. She wanted to hang out before we go jogging together, or did you forget?”
“Jogging?” After a short moment of silence, Phoenix continued. “Oh, shot. I totally forgot about that. Oww, oww, I think I hurt my leg after falling from the couch. I can’t come jogging with you. I’m so sorry.” Now he was holding his right leg and giving the best pain-drenched face he could come up with.
Thunder didn’t buy this for one second. “Realy? So you realize the pain just now? Oh no, I think I know what you have. You suffer from a severe case of slackeritis; there are only two ways of curing this. Amputating your leg or jogging, lots and lots of jogging. Let me get my meat cleaver; you can get a belt and bandages.” Thunder began to move towards the stairs leading down to the kitchen.
“Fine, fine, you win. Didn’t expect this to work anyway. Wait, what did you mean with Summer is coming over here soon? How soon? And why am I just now hearing of this?”
“Oh, in about ten minutes or so. She asked me yesterday after we had answered her questions and you decided to take a trip with your bike.” Thunder replied.
“Oh, ten minutes. Wait ten minutes?!” In an instant he had jumped up from the couch, now standing in his pajamas. “And you tell me this now? Why didn’t you start with this? And why does something like this always reach me last?” With that, he dashed towards the bathroom with new clothes clutched under his arm.
His brother was laughing at the reaction of Phoenix: “As I said, you reacted so entertainingly when someone teases you. And you didn’t disappoint, that was just great.”
“Ha, ha, very funny.” And with that Phoenix slammed the door to the bathroom shut. Thunder taking the place of his brother on the couch and changed channels to a cooking show.
>-------<A>-------<
After dressing himself in his usual orange t-shirt, and his jeans replaced with black sweatpants, he had joined his brother on the couch and waiting for Summer to arrive. While he wasn't really interested in what Thunder had switched to it was better the just sitting around and doing nothing. Furthermore, he wasn’t keen on starting another argument with him, at least not now and so resigned himself to his fate.
True to Thunders words Summer arrived shortly after that. In her blue t-shirt, with a sun and small swirls, which were meant to symbolize wind, next to it, printed on the front and dark blue sweatpants she had made sure to be ready for their jog through the nearby woods, a popular location for many joggers.
“Hey, guys. Oh, Phoenix you’re awake, honestly didn’t expect you to be.” She said to Phoenix when she walked up the stairs to the living room.
“Well, I’m always good for a surprise.”
“He wouldn't be if I wouldn’t have woken him up.” Thunder intercepted from his place on the couch.
“Yeah, that does sound more like him. Why didn’t I think of that first?”
“Hello? I’m still here.” He proclaimed to them, waving his arms over his head to make them recognize he was still in the room.
“Oh? I didn’t even realize. I’m so sorry we won’t forget it again, I promise.” Every single word from her was using sarcasm. A delighted smile was forming on Thunder lips, all while Phoenix quietly sighed.
“Oh, right. I totally forgot to make snacks. Be right back.” With that Thunder left the room and walked down to his kitchen.
“So, since no one is keen on giving me the information I’m just going to ask, what did you want here? The jogging is for four hours, so why did you come this early?”
“Just wanted to get to know you a little more. Work is not the best place for that, too many distractions and duties, you know.”
“Can I sing you a song about duties.” He snarkily replied.
“No thanks. I heard about this enough yesterday. I wanted to know more about you, besides the whole Alchemy business. Hmm, why not start with something simple. What do you usually do on your free days?”
“Oh, that is easy. Nothing, ok to be more precise watch TV, and nap. Oh, and if the weather is nice and I’m in the mood, I take my bike out for a ride.”
She didn’t seem impressed: ”Well, that is certainly … something different from what I tend to do. I just can’t sit still. I need to move, do something or I will go crazy.”
“Well different people, different interests. Would be kind of lame if everyone would like the same stuff anyway. What could you even talk about if that were the case?”
“Fair point! Mh, I personally don’t care much for bikes so care to explain what you like about it?”
“Oh, it’s hard to describe. You just feel free, the wind that pushes against you, the speed and how the landscape just rushes past you. You can just leave all the worries of the world behind you.”
“Hm, I get the same feeling when I’m running, you just leave everything behind you, shut off your brain and can just relax. Nothing worries you, nothing can harm you, there is nothing in the world but you. And after you are done, you are so KO that you can sleep like a brick and be refreshed for the next day.” She replied while dreamingly staring off into the distance.
“While I don’t get the whole working out thing, I know what you mean. Maybe this day won’t be as bad as I thought.”
“Hey! Come down! I have some bruschetta for you, a small snack before the workout keeps you full of energy.” Thunder screamed up the stairs. And with that, both stood up from the couch and get their share of the food.
>-------<A>-------<
After finishing their lunch and talking about different sports and motorcycles they had decided to start the workout they had arranged the day before finally, much to Phoenixes dismay, it was agreed that they would start with walking the way to the woods. It took them nearly an hour, and he was already out of breath.
As they reached the edge of the forest, he called out to them: “Wait! I … I can’t … I need a break.” The exhaust was visible in his expression, sweat running down his face. His arms were hanging down like a wet towel.
“Oh come on, that was the warmup. Are you really that out of shape? I think we have to come here three times a week so that you do not collapse from a walk through the town.” Summer had stopped, turned around and was now jogging on the spot. “I’m sure you can push a little bit more. Fifteen minutes and you can take a break, just hang in there a little bit longer.”
“I knew it; you want to kill me.” Phoenix gave her a pleading look, apparently hoping for some mercy.
But before Summer could reply Thunder joined the conversation: “Don’t fall for it. He still can go on. That is his ‘I don’t want any more’-look not his ‘I’m done’-look. If you give even an inch, you will just make it harder for you in the long run.”
“What have I ever done to you Thunder that you have to torture me so much?” His brother asked him, annoyance in every single word.
“Oh the list is long, should I write it down?” Thunder jokingly replied.
“Don’t worry Thunder; I was just about to say that he should pull himself together or the next break will be in thirty minutes.”
“You are evil, both of you. I hope you sleep with open eyes Thunder.”
Thunder and Summer just chuckled and started to continue deeper into the forest. Small trails lead through the undergrowth. On their way through the trees, they came across some people who, just like the three, were using the sunny day for a little bit of exercising. Some older, some younger. And just like Summer had promised him, they did indeed take a break after fifteen minutes of running.
Phoenix had slumped down, leaning his back against a tree. His look had lost focus, now just staring into the air. “Here, have some water, we don’t want you to fall over in the middle of the training.” Thunder hold a water-bottle in front of his face, playfully shaking it to get his brothers attention. Phoenix wasted no time, grabbed the bottle and empty it into his mouth. “Hey, hey! Slowdown. If you drink it all at once, you will still be thirsty.” Forcefully pulling the bottle away from his lips, to save at least some of the water for later. “You are always so hasty, can’t you just think for a second?”
Before he could reply he was interrupted by someone screaming Summers name. “Hey, Summer! Nice to see you!” A girl with blue skin, rainbow-colored hair and a dark blue tracksuit were walking up to them, quite fast actually. She seemed to be rather athletic and showed no signs of exhausted. That could not be said about her friend, an amber girl with red-orange hair and orange tracksuit was trying desperately to keep up with her. Her face spoke for itself, she was exhausted, and the sprint that her friend had just pulled didn’t help in the slightest. Phoenix recognized both girls from two days ago; they were part of the bunch that had sitten in front of the podium of the school.
“Hey Rainbow, nice to see you too. I see you had the same idea as me?” She replied to the teenager that had just reached them.
“Sure, schooles over for the day and why waste this sunny day. And with the race coming up some training wouldn’t hurt, even if I don’t need it. Am I right Sunset?” She yelled over to her friend. She had just caught up with her.
“Never do this again, Dash, please.” The girl, apparently called Sunset, replied to her friend, completely out of breath.
“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad. Hey, Thunder didn’t expect you to be here. You seem more the, you know, not-sports-guy.” She continued the conversation.
“Well, you are not wrong. But I had the fabulous idea that this would build our team spirit. So we three decided that it would be a great idea to get to know each other more.” Thunder, even though he was covered in sweat, still hadn’t lost any of his flamboyant attitudes.
“Three?” Rainbow asked while raising an eyebrow. Sunset quietly pointed at the miserable figure of Phoenix leaning against the tree. “Oh! Ups didn’t see you down there. Who are you anyway?”
“That is my brother, Phoenix Feather. He had moved to hear just two days ago. And since he is new, he still needs to work on getting to know Summer and working with us together. So we decided that jogging together would be beneficial for him.” Thunder explained to the curious girl.
“Without my consent, I might add.”
“Your brother? I didn’t even know you have a brother. Nice to meet you, I’m Rainbow Dash, the sports star of Canterlot High.” She turned to the sitting Phoenix and extended her hand towards him.
Taking her up on offer he did the same. As the shaking hands, he replied: “Nice to meet you too. So from where do, you know my brother? You don’t seem to be the type of person he would hang out with, no offense.”
“None took. You are probably right. I know him because he makes the best pizzas in town. And what is better than a good pizza after some training. We are somewhat regulars there.”
“We? So you and … what was your name again?” He replied now looking over to the exhausted amber girl.
“Sunset. Sunset Shimmer, a pleasure to meet you. Yes, our friends and we go there relatively often, your brother sure knows his craft.” Sunset replied and just like Rainbow extended her hand for a greeting.
“Can it be that I have seen you before somewhere? Your face just rings some bells in my head.” He asked her after returning her gesture. “Oh, now I remember you were the girl that saved the little child yesterday, weren’t you?”
“She sure did! Man, she looked so cool, just rushing in, nearly as awesome as I would have been. The difference would have been I wouldn’t have needed help from this Alything guy.” Rainbow said before Sunset could answer herself.
“I think his name was Alchemy. And that you would have just raced in, grabbed the girl and left is not really impressive now isn’t it Rainbow?”Sunset chuckled.
“Maybe.” She muttered under her breath.
“Anyway, it sure is impressive to save a little girl from a situation like this. You could have been hurt, or worse. I’m impressed, to do something like this requires some guts.” Phoenix tried to regain the control of the conversation.
“I just couldn’t stand by and not do anything.”
“I knew exactly what you mean,” Phoenix whispered to himself.
“Did you say anything?”
“Oh, I said you are a real hero.” He frantically tried to reply. Sunset raised an eyebrow at his strange reaction.
“Thanks. But the real hero is this Kamen Rider, without him I would probably be bacon. Where he got the magic to do, it still wonders me, though.”
“Magic? Why do you think he used magic?” Now he was interested, he wasn’t sure, but the girl seemed to know more than she let on.
“Ehh … I don’t know, that is just how it looked, the flames out of nowhere and all. Magic is just the first thing that came to mind.” Now she mirrored Phoenix reaction only a few moments ago. She defiantly knew more then she let on.
“When we are talking about magic anyway, I heard some rumors that strange stuff is happening in the city, especially at your school. Is there any merit to them? Since you know, three meter-women and cracks in spacetime are quite out of the ordinary. Do you know anything about that? I would like to know if I only can leaf the house into protective gear.” He added chuckled.
“We sure do know ab…” As inconspicuous as possible Sunset had jammed her elbow into Rainbows side. “Ow, what…?” A quick look from her friend silenced the teenager, and she continued:” absolutely nothing. Hehe.” A smile that couldn’t be more suspicious had formed on Rainbows face, eyes staring off into the air. Now it was Phoenixes turn to raise his eyebrow.
“Sure. Nevermind I will just be careful, what is the worst that could happen anyway.” Phoenix replied with an earnest smile. Rainbow wanted to say something, but a quick look at her friend stopped her before she could even get one word out.
“Yes, with that monster the other day it is probably the best to be a bit more careful,” Thunder added. “Who knows maybe the next one isn’t so far of. Maybe it might be just around here. Or not, who knows.” Everyone just looked at the cook with a confused expression.
“Well it is certainly not impossible, but probably rather unlikely. The incidents before were all separated by a certain amount of time. I think we are probably the safest we can be right after the attack.” Sunset was the first to react to what Thunder had just said.
“Probably and even if, that Alchemy guy is still around, I’m sure he can kick any monsters butt,” Rainbow added, her energetic personality resurfacing after her rather a pathetic attempt to lie to the three.
“Would be fun to see him in action once, he seemed so cool on TV yesterday. The way he beat up that hothead was so awesome. I could really get used to that.” Phoenix had joined in on the praise of the armored hero. Thunder and Summer were just signing in return.
“So, since you are here why don’t you run with us? I’m sure the two slackers could use another good lead.” Rainbow offered Summer.
“Sure, I think the two, especially Phoenix, could use someone who pushes them harder.” She replied
“I’m fine with only you. Thank you very much.” He tried to prevent the inevitable, knowing very much that he wouldn’t be able to anyway.
“Oh, he sounds so thrilled about us joining in.” A wicked smile had formed on both there faces.
“Is she always so evil?” He asked Sunset.
“Usually not, just when it is about sports. She can become rather pushy in that regard.” She smiled in return. That didn’t help him to get this uneasy feeling out of his stomach.
The only way he could reply was with a loud:” Gulp.”
>-------<A>-------<
Things had gone from bad to worse. The “sports star of CHS” had managed to ignite the spark of competition in Summer and now both were pressing everyone to move faster. Much to Phoenixes dismay, but he wasn’t the only one, Sunset, as well visibly exhausted, seemed to have the same feeling. Both had fallen behind the main group. Summer and Rainbow had taken the lead, unsurprisingly, and kept exhilarating there speed only to fall back to the other could catch up, more or less. Thunder had managed to somewhat keep up with the two girls, but even he started to feel spent.
“Seriously, your friend has too much energy, that is just not normal.” He managed to say to Sunset, all while trying to keep Rainbow and Summer in his line of sight at least. “How did she even get you out here. You don’t seem to enjoy yourself that much?”
“Her usual training partner is ill, and she asked around if one of us could help her out. And I was the only one that had time and wouldn’t fall over after ten minutes of continues running. But now I’m starting to think this was a bad idea. What would I give for ice and someplace to sit right about now? But the thing is Rainbow would do something like this for any of her friends, so it is only logical that I do the same.”
“Well, friends, you could sometimes strangle them, but deep down you need them. You can put up with a lot of crap as long as they are there at the end of the day. God, I'm philosophical. That running is really not good for my head.” Phoenix chuckled while trying his hardest not to lose the group.
“You could say that friends can be rather good at forgiving your flaws. If someone knows that it’s me.”
“Now you make me curious. What exactly do you mean by that?” His exhausted had taken a backseat in exchange for his curiosity.
“Well, I was the biggest bully in my school. Like super mean. I acted like everything belonged to me, and I could do whatever I wanted to everyone. To be totally honest I kinda could, everyone that dared to oppose me was crushed beneath my heel, and I ruined their life. I still feel horrible for what I did. And at the Fall Formal, everything just came to its boiling point. I did probably the worst thing I could have done, but Rainbow and her friends pulled me back from it. And they did this after I had sabotaged their friendship, they still forgave me and helped me get back on my feet. The last thing I could do is go training with her because without them I probably would still be a bully.” The most sincere smile he had ever seen had formed on her face. It was infectious and Phoenix couldn’t other than to smile too.
“You seem to have some good friends. For the longest time, I only had my brother. My gramps was rather strict and didn’t leave me much free time. He was fixated on an ancient family tradition that I was obligated to carry on. Thunder was always eager to impress gramps, I think he wanted the duty for himself, hey I would have let him, but nope, first born son and so on. He made the whole ordeal barrable. Because as much as we bicker if I entrusted my life to anyone, it would be him. God, working out really messes with my head, I babble out my personal history. That is your fault with your sappy story; you brought me in the mood.” Sunset just laughed at his accusation.
“Move slowpokes!” A female voice was shouting behind them.
As they turned their heads a girl with light blue complexion, blond hair and black tracksuit with golden stripes and blue running shoes with a yellow lightning bolt on them just rushed past them. Sunset managed to stay on her feet, Phoenix, on the other hand, landed face first in the dirt. “Ow, did anyone get the number of that truck?” He jokingly asked.
Sunset, who had stopped to help him up, replied: “No, but I know her. She is from Crystal Prep, another Highschool in the city. Used to be all up and might, well until the friendship games. But apparently, some bad eggs still haven’t changed much. I think her name is Lightning Dust, she is their star runner, but couldn’t compete, thanks to a broken leg. Since then she has doubled her training.”
After getting on his feet again, he replied: “I think she could spare just a few seconds and apologize.” As he spoke, he tried to get rid of the dust that had gathered on his t-shirt.
>-------<A>-------<
As Sunset and Phoenix recovered from there encounter with Lightning, she had caught up to Rainbow and Summer and started to talk to them. “You are not like the snails behind you; you are fast, I can see that, so why gimp yourself just to drag that lot with you?”
“Because they are my friends and that would be rude. And besides that, I need someone that can push me, training alone is no fun. And if you are only here to insult them, you can buzz right of.” Rainbow replied.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude. But if you need someone to push you why not race me, I yearn for a good challenge.” A competitive glare had manifested in her eyes.
“Hmm, I’m not sure, I don’t want to abandon my friends.” Rainbow seemed somewhat hesitant.
“Oh come on, just a quick race around the forest, there is a path that leads directly hear again just takes five to ten minutes. They won’t even know you are gone.” Lightning kept pressing her to accept.
“I’m sure they understand. I can wait here and tell them where you are. And I think they are going to appreciate a short break. Sunset and Phoenix are awfully far behind I think we should let them catch-up.” Summer encouraged her friend.
“Ok, fine but don’t cry when you eat my dust.”
“Now that’s the spirit.” With that, both readied themselves for their little race.
“Three! Two! One! Go!” Both girls raced off and left a dust cloud behind.
“Chough, chough! Damn, they are fast.”
“Hey were did Rainbow go?” As she turned around, she could see that the three other members of their little jogging party had also arrived.
“Oh, she is racing that girl that just came by. At first, she was hesitant, didn’t want to leave you alone. But I thought you could take a break and Rainbow an actual challenge, so I talked her into it. I think she is having a blast right about now.”
“Oh I hope she lets her taste dirt, I don’t want to be the only one today.” Sunset chuckled andSummer just looked at both of them rather confused.
>-------<A>-------<
Further away from the two combatants were trying to pass the other. Both of them were pretty evenly matched and didn’t give an inch.
“You are not bad; I gotta give it to you, this is not boring.” The Crystal Prep student smirked to Rainbow.
“You are also not half bad, but I won't let you win, that is not my style.” She replied.
“Well, it seems you have to look for a new style because this one belongs to me.” Lightning returned.
“We will see about that.” With that, both of them increased their speed even further. Rainbow was slowly starting to get ahead of Lightning, bit by bit. As she realized this Lightning increased her speed by a considerable margin and began to overtake Rainbow. The rainbow-haired student just smirked a little and maintained her pace.
As the trees rushed past them the distance between Lightning and Rainbow increased ever so slightly, occasionally Rainbow picked up her speed to close the gap but never reached her.
“Reaching your limit already? I expected more from you.” Lightning shouted behind her.
“Oh please, you would be surprised. I still will beat you.”
“Doubt it!”
Their way up until now had been relatively devoid of people, but soon a large group of joggers was coming their way. While Lightning didn’t slow down and kept rushing straight ahead, Rainbow readied herself to evade the group. Some of them were pushed aside when Lightning stormed through there midst, some jumped out of the way before they were pushed aside, but all of them were not amused and started shouting at the blond-haired girl. She just chuckled in return.
Rainbow had already moved to a position where she could just run past them without running into anyone. “Sorry, that wasn’t planned, sorry!” She shouted towards the angry group while racing past them. “What was that? Couldn’t you walk past them?” She yelled at Lightning.
“Oh, please nothing happened, and they should have seen that I wanted to go there. It’s really their fault, not mine.” She just shrugged her off, seemingly not caring about what she had done. “You should rather worry about how you like your dust; I could get you some mustard because the goal is not far away anymore. Prepare for the bitter taste of defeat.” She started to laugh, but this was precisely the opportunity Rainbow had waited for, in a moment she had increased her tempo immensely and was rapidly catching up to Lightning.
As she was again head to head with her she smirkingly replied: “Sorry, but not today, see you later.” And with that, she had overtaken Lightning, the later unable to realize what had just happened. Rainbow was widening the gap between them with every second. The goal and her friends were already only two hundred meters away, and she was getting closer with every second.
“No, I have to be faster, losing is not an option, not an option! Faster, I need to be faster, faster, faster!” Her shoes started to spark, and she picked up her pace.
Only fifty meters and Rainbow had won, but she wasn’t going to relax just about now she still had some energy left she could put in her sprint, and with the footsteps of Lightning behind her getting ever closer she had no choice, she also picked up her speed to the maximum. Both opponents were getting ever closer to each other and the goal. None of them thinking about admitting defeat.
“And Rainbow is first!” Summer shouted as Rainbow crossed the finish line, a split-second later Lightning had also arrived, both girls panting heavily, visibly exhausted.
“Yay, I did it! That was fun we should do that again sometime. But you really need to save your energy for the last sprint. You just used it all up too quickly, and I could overtake you quite easy. But with a bit of practice, you could even beat me, maybe.” Rainbow extended her hand as a sign of respect, but Lightning just slapped it away.
“No, I need to be faster, I can’t lose, I need to be faster!” Her voice seemed somewhat unhinged; she didn’t take the loss that well. Her boots started to spark again. “I will not settle for second best; I will become the fastest there is! I need to be faster! Faster!”
“Are you ok? I know losing sucks, but it’s not the end of the world.” The concern could be heard in Rainbows voice as she stepped closer to Lightning to calm her down a spark of lightning hit her. “Ow, the hay? What was that?”
Lightning was now staring directly at her; her eyes had changed color, her golden eyes now a dark blue, sparks were erupting all over her body. The shoes that had moments before sparked were now glowing. “I will be the fastest!” And with that, her entire body was consumed by a blinding light.
As the light had subsided in Lightning’s place now stood something different, something terrifying. Another monster had appeared, and it didn’t seem pleased. Its stature was not so different from what an average human looked like. The main part of its body was colored in a dark blue, her upper body, legs and half of her arms were had taken an electric blue tone. The transition between the different body colors was rigged, like a thunderbolt, and had a gold line separating them. The shoes had taken over her legs to the knees and had thunder like wings extending at her heel. Her face had taken a round shape, gone was her blonde hair, replaced with the dark blue of the rest of her body. Two horn-like things expanded from the sides of her head like on her body they were electric blue with golden lines separating it from the darker shade of blue. Her mouth, now only a golden thunderbolt that was trapped between two points, was continually moving and her square eyes glowed in the same color.
“Yes, yes. Yes! Now I will never be slow again; I’m the fastest, I will prove it to all of you. And I will start with you!” She pointed at Rainbow, small lightning bolts rupturing everywhere from her body. “You will race me again, and this time you have no chance!” Every word she said was accompanied by light crackling. Phoenix had started to quietly retreat in the direction of some trees, trying to find a more secluded place. Until now no one had noticed his sudden exit, and with Rainbow shouting back at Lightning he hoped that it stayed this way.
“Race you again? No! You are cheating, besides who knows who you might hurt in this form. You already caused so much chaos when you were normal. I’m not risking that!” Rainbow was furious, that girl had lost and now used magic to give her an edge over her? How pathetic, and the worst part, she had no idea what she could do now. If she let loose here, it could hurt her friends and some innocent bystanders that were in the area.
Meanwhile, Phoenix had managed to get out of sight, and no one had even noticed. “Well, didn’t expect that, but hey the day was not a complete waste. Yay?” With that, he pulled out the Alchemy Driver and put it in front of his waste, the driver reacted like always, looping around it. Before transforming he looked to his left and right, trying to prevent the mistake from yesterday from happening again. When he didn’t see anyone he sighed in relief and put the flame disc into the driver.
\ MAGIC DISC DETECTED! /
“Henshin!”
\ FLAME DISC ACTIVATED! /
The flame whirlwind appeared around him, changing his form into that of Alchemy. As he looked around, he noticed that the spot he had transformed in now was now burned. “Ups.” Rubbing his hand behind his head, he moved closer to the monster, trying to forget this little case of arson.
“You will race me, or your friends will suffer the consequences!” As she spooks more sparks were surging of her body. But before Rainbow could reply to the monster, a burst of fire consumed the spot Lightning had been standing a second ago. She had managed to dodge the incoming attack.
Kamen Rider Alchemy stood in the direction the attack had been fired from, Flame Saber in hand, seemingly disappointed that he missed. “Hey Sparky, I gotta admit, you are not slow, but I assure you, in the end, you will be dead last!” He spoke to her in his usual mocking tone.
“Oh, you. I didn’t think you show up, especially not this early, but whatever against my speed you are nothing. Shall we test it.” She dared him, a particular form of arrogance in every single of her words.
“Make my day!” With that, he unleashed another swing of his sword, trying to hit the speedy girl. To his dismay, she easily dodged his attack and rushed closer towards him. Quickly he tried to hit her with more attacks, only to see every single one miss the monster. As Lightning was close enough for close-quarters-combat, she planted her fist firmly in Phoenixes stomach. Unable to match her inhuman speed his defense was quickly broken, and he was sent flying. The sparks that erupted from his stomach were only an appetizer of what was to come.
“Ow. God that hurt. But don’t think I’m done with you Sparky. That was only the warmup. You are so grounded!” This time he adopted a defensive stand, trying to counter her when she got close.
She just chuckled and charged electricity in her hands. “Oh, this is not good!” Just as he had finished speaking she threw the first lightning bolt towards him. He managed to dodge it, just barely. But the second one was to fast for him and hit him in the shoulder. The pain surged through his body and before he could recover he was struck by three more bolts. Forced to his knees he breathed heavily, trying to regain his fighting stance.
“Pathetic. I at least thought you would be a challenge but this, wow am I disappointed. I think I will end it quickly, so you don’t have to live with the shame of losing.” She stepped closer towards the injured Rider, seemingly raveling in her victory. As she was standing over him admiring her victory, she asked him one thing: “Any last words?”
Alchemy looked up at her and chuckled: “You are not the brightest are you?” And with that he slammed his fist in her face, sending her trembling back. Before she could regain control of the situation, he bombarded her with a flurry of punches keeping her disoriented. Channeling his magic in his right fist he tried to finish her, but to Phoenixes dismay Lightning managed to dodge the attack. He only managed to slam his fist into the ground behind her. A strange seal was manifesting at the impact point. But nothing happened beyond that.
“What? I thought I was going for an explosion?” At this moment the strange seal erupted into an earthshattering explosion sending Phoenix flying. “What? I … just what?” Alchemy had landed unceremoniously on his back, confused about what had just happened.
“You little… Well, I have to give you credit for that move, but in the end, it didn’t help you one bit.” She charged one last lightning bolt and aimed at Alchemy. But before she could unleash her devastating attack, a blue blur rushed past her, taking the rider with it. “What?”
“Over here! You want a race, ok fine; you get your race. But kid gloves are off!” Rainbow had appeared next to Lightning, a small sky blue medallion now hanging around her neck.
“Good, you finally turned around. But I don’t want to race you right now; I want to crush you at your best. Tomorrow, same time, same place. If you don’t come you friends will regret it.” With that Lightning raced away, completely forgetting Alchemy was still around.
“Rainbow are you insane, what if she loses again? God knows what she would do.” Sunset rushed over to her friend.
“I know, but what else I could have done. If I hadn’t stopped, her Alchemy would have been fried. What a hero he turned out to be.” She replied, with some level of disappointment in her voice.
“It seemed he had no way of doing anything against her speed, hay I couldn’t even keep up with what she was doing,” Sunset replied.
“Maybe. Where is that guy anyway? Did he flee? What a coward!” The distaste in Rainbows voice had only increased.
>-------<A>-------<
A small distance away, the beaten Rider tried to find a secluded spot to turn back. His entire body arched, he really had taken a beating. “That didn’t go as I had imagined. I really shouldn’t rush in like that again. If Rainbow hadn’t been, I would have been fried.” As he stepped through the undergrowth he suddenly heard a voice calling out for him, he froze in place expecting the worst and a fist full of lightning in his face.
“Freeze!” A light blue woman, with light and dark blue hair, was aiming a gun at him. She invoked a rather powerful aura around her with her dark blue jacket and light blue T-shirt underneath it. “I’m agent Ocean Skys of the MRG, and I demand that you stand down!”
Phoenix had raised his hands, all thanks to that commanding aspect of her voice. “Ehm, hello, nice to meet you?” He tried to reply, unsure what was just happening.
“I’m just here to ask you some questions. First, who are you?” She continued, completely serious.
“Well, I think I’m relatively well known. I’m your friendly neighborhood Kamen Rider! You really should watch more TV.” He jokingly replied.
For a moment he thought he had seen the faintest ghost of a smile on her face, but in an instant, her poker face was back. “Funny, I’m mean your real name. Who are you under that mask?”
Now Phoenix was starting to shift from confused to uncomfortable. He really didn’t want to answer any of her questions. “Ok, first and foremost, could you put that thing away? If you shoot me who know where the thing might ricochet of too.” He was bluffing he didn’t know what would happen if he was hit by a bullet and he wasn’t stupid enough to test that later. And surprising Phoenix she indeed lowered her gun. “Thanks. Second MRG? Never heard of that before.”
“It’s a government agency that researches mysterious phenomena around the country. MRG is short for, Magical Research Group, we had our eyes on this city since the fall of last year. And with the recent monster attacks, I have been authorized to command a small strick force and deal with the problem by every means possible. We were in the area since we received readings of magical energy in this very forest for a few days and now have the manpower to investigate. I saw your ‘battle’ and followed you here.”
“Wait, government agencies? Oh wow and I thought monsters were the weirdest it was going to get. Now the government is in on it too. I feel like I’m in way over my head.”
“Quite possible. A civilian isn’t prepared when his life is on the line. Regardless, I thought since you are a vigilante and I have every right to bring you in why not work together? It would be beneficial for both of us. We can help you find the monsters, provide medical treatment for your injuries, make sure for your family, as well as friends, are protected, and you wouldn’t have to worry about any police officer asking silly questions. In return we expect you to gather data about the magical phenomena you face. And I’m sure we can come up with a plan for Corrupted number seven.” She offered him, slowly stepping closer towards him.
“Wait, wait, time out. One thing after another.” He had raised his hands in confusion. “First, Corrupted?”
“That is the name we gave these monsters. They are corrupted by magic, so it is quite the fitting name, don’t you think?”
“Well, there are worse names out there. Anyway, back on track. You want me to help you? I’m flattered, but no thanks, as far as I know, you could just lie, and I would never jeopardize my secret identity so easily. I don’t trust you. The offer sounds interesting, but I prefer my independence so if you excuse me I have to leave.” With that, he turned around and began to leave.
“Fine, but the offer stands hotshot. If you are interested, just come over to the police station or ask a cop about me, and we talk. If you want trust first, I can deliver. I respect people that stand in for what is right, and I don’t want to make this more complicated then it needs to be. As long as you keep the collateral damage to a minimum and don’t use your powers for something that is against the law, besides the whole superhero business, you are tolerated. To prove to you that I’m sincere I will hold a press conference tomorrow and make sure that you can do your hero-duty as long as you play by the rules I have laid out for you.” She waved the rider a goodbye and marched in another direction.
“Thanks? Wow, this did go better as expected. Oh well, Thunder is going to be interested in the offer. But first things first I need to beat Sparky. Well and I think I have the right plan for the situation.” He mumbled to himself as he moved towards a secluded part of the forest.