//------------------------------// // 28. Rozen Sunny // Story: Magical Girl Sunny // by Jetto //------------------------------// The day had started well. Dean Mi Amore Cadenza, better known as Cadence (as most people didn't even know she had a full Prench name) was surprised to find the Five Shadowbolts, in particular Lemon Zest, causing ruckus in the cafeteria. She couldn't hear what the subject was (although she would bet her new favorite Golden Tea that it was about Sunset and Coco), but that was besides the point and she had to intervene. "Miss Zest, yelling on school property goes against the rules and I need to reprimand you for disru--" "NOT. NOW!" Lemon interrupted, standing tall with her hands crossed. "We're having an emergency friendship meeting right now! Please don't interrupt us, thank you very much!" Cadence raised her finger and opened her mouth, but decided against anything. She cleared her throat and stepped back. "I-I see, w-well then, do carry on. A bit calmer, i-if that's not a problem..." "Sure thing." "R-right… as you may." She slowly turned and walked away very confused. I know we teach them to be assertive, but this is ridiculous! Taking a quick glance at their table before she left the cafeteria she saw they were still arguing, but this time using their inner voices. No use punishing people for trying to find a common ground. She shrugged and left them to themselves. "Excuse me, Dean Cadenza?" She turned around hearing her name. She didn't recognize the two men in police uniforms, the same Shining Armor used to wear a few promotions back. "We need to ask you a few questions. Somewhere more private, if possible." Despite initial panic, she remained calm on the outside and smiled. "Of course. My office is nearby." At first she thought they were here to deliver bad news, but they would've called first if that were to happen. For all she knew (and hoped) they were just asking for a gift idea for Shining Armor. Either way, upon reaching her office, she unlocked the door with her key and went inside first, the two men right behind her, closing the door. "Please have a seat. Would you like some teaUMPF!" She couldn't finish her sentence when she was grabbed from behind by the neck and had a wet cloth pressed to her face. She struggled for a bit before the chloroform took effect and made her drowsy, eventually putting her to sleep. When she woke up, she was no longer in her office, but tied to a chair inside a small kitchen of what seemed to be an old apartment building, gagged. She was sitting right by the kitchen drawers, with a round wooden table in front of her occupied by the two 'policemen' playing cards to kill time. Her friends sometimes joked that being the wife of a police captain was a surefire way to get kidnapped, but she just laughed it away. It wasn't funny anymore. From their bragging she found out that Sombra, some kid with magical powers, was using her against both Magical Girl Sunny and Shining Armor. She had a hard enough time breathing through the gag, barely keeping herself from a panic attack or fainting, begging whatever deity there is to take good care of Shining Armor, Sunset Shimmer and her students. They didn't try to touch her at the very least, though they did make some offhand lewd remarks. When Shining Armor gets here, you will be sorry! Because he will be here, any moment now... Tears started pouring from her eyes. He promised! RING RING RING RING RING RING! A very loud ringing suddenly pulled them away from the cards, making them jump and reach out for their pistols, aiming them at the entrance in front of the kitchen. Once the initial shock passed, they sighed with relief knowing that it wasn't anything serious. The ringing continued after a short pause. Racket, the shorter of the two, groaned while putting his gun back on the table. "Probably just some pranksters." "I thought this place was deserted?" His taller partner, Wrangle, asked, still warily holding his gun up. 75th Coltshire Road was an old, decrepit apartment complex that stood for almost a century and was among many planned for demolition to be replaced by a brand new building. Most residents had already moved away and only a few apartments were still occupied, none on this floor. This made it the perfect spot for any illegal activities, such as kidnapping. RING RING RING RING RING! "I'll take care of this!" Wrangle said, standing up and moving towards the door in front of them, his pistol held low with the safety on but at the ready. Racket nodded and watched him carefully, his own gun within hand’s reach. Wrangle slowly moved towards the doors, careful not to make any sounds himself. He was pretty sure that police wouldn't come here even if they knew about it, as everyone was busy with the distraction at the main police station, meaning that they were woefully understaffed and unprepared to send a SWAT team this early. He carefully looked through the peephole,  raising his eyebrow when he saw nobody at all, despite the constant ringing that persisted even now. The apartment was at the very end of the corridor, with no place to hide on the sides except for maybe the other apartments. Driven by curiosity, he opened the door and carefully looked outside. The ringing didn't stop, even though the doorbell was not being touched or tampered with. He looked at it closer, wondering if it was stuck or taped after the prankster ran away, but there were no signs of it being touched in ages, with dust and cobwebs still covering the button. The more he analyzed it, he realized it was weird that the ringing wasn't coming from the inside of the house as it should, but from the other side of the door. He stepped outside to examine it closer. Meanwhile Racket rolled his eyes and relaxed, fully convinced that it wasn't anything urgent. Cadence's heart slumped now that her hopes for Shining Armor coming to her rescue were dashed. But unlike Racket she heard something behind her, despite the constant ringing. She turned back, noticing the kitchen window opened wide, with a familiar figure carefully climbing inside. She was wearing a crystal prep blazer with no skirt in place of her usual battle dress, had no mask and lacked her usual presence, but it was unmistakably her! Their eyes met for a second, but Sunset Shimmer of Crystal Prep didn't pay her much mind, only nodded while squatting on the kitchen table, focusing her gaze at the back of Racket's head. Wrangle looked behind the door and tilted his head at the pink smartphone in a rabbit-themed rubber case taped directly to the door, playing the most annoying sound on a constant loop on full volume. What the hell...?! He peeled it off and tried to mute or turn it off. Unable to do so, he cursed under his mouth and threw the device on the ground and stomped it several times until the machine died under his boot. The silence was short lived. Cadence had a front row seat to the scene that happened next. Magical Girl Sunny leaped into the air above her and straight at Racket, with one foot aimed at his head. With the ringing suddenly stopping, the crook heard the creaking of the furniture behind him and turned his head halfway, only barely seeing a flying kick that sent him flying down into the ground facefirst, while Sunny landed safely on the ground! Once on the floor, she wasted no time and grabbed Racket's gun and removed the magazine (along with the bullet in the chamber, avoiding a common mistake), then threw it under the counter to make sure nobody, not even her, was going to use it. I'm not THAT desperate and I refuse to ever be! The fallen Racket was groaning in pain, most likely about to get up at some point if she didn't do anything, but then there was the other problem. She was hoping the ringing would continue for at least a few seconds to give her a little more advantage, but she wasn't that lucky. "What the...!?" Wrangle only managed to yell as he entered, before turning off the safety and aiming his gun straight at her. Usually at this point she would reflexively teleport the ammo or gun out of the reach or teleport out of the way if necessary, but she had to preserve what little magic she had left for later. Instead, she overturned the table and hid behind it as the first bullet shot right into the hardwood. A little out of panic, a little out of belief the old school furniture was no match for modern firearms, Wrangle shot a few more times, each bullet harmlessly bouncing off. Sunny used all her strength to keep on her feet. The bullets were stopped, but she still felt the impact, even it wasn't enough to topple her. Right behind her sat Dean Cadence, with her eyes closed and shrieking in panic through her gag. Thankfully the table was big enough to cover her too, as most criminals tend to forget that hostages were there for a reason and it was too easy to dismiss them as safe in this situation. That was one of the few lessons Shining Armor gave her as part of their cooperation effort. Wrangle kept shooting at the table unaware that this was exactly what she wanted. Sunny wasn't just waiting: every shot was accounted for and she knew exactly when he was going to stop to reload. Awaiting that moment, her left hand reached inside the pocket. Unlike many times before, this time she wasn't unarmed. Wrangle kept shooting out of fear that if he stopped, Magical Girl Sunny would end him like she had ended the others. Sombra said that she was running on fumes, but he didn't trust him more than he could throw him. He kept pulling the trigger time after time, each bullet barely budging the table until instead of a satisfying BANG there was only a disappointing click after click. Cursing, he removed the empty magazine and reached for another in his pocket and loaded it inside, but that was when she revealed herself: no mask, no dress, throwing something shiny straight at him. "ARGH!" He yelled in pain, dropping the gun on the floor and grabbing his bleeding right hand, watching wide eyed at the foreign object sticking out of his palm. Scalpel. The same one Sugarcoat used to cut part of her dress when she was being treated. That's what she had received as the last gift from Sour Sweet, right before the plan commenced. "Uh, thanks... please don't tell me I'm supposed to slit their throats with it?" Sour Sweet rolled her eyes and took the scalpel from her then casually tossed it at the cork board nearby... ...missing Sugarcoat's and Lemon Zest's heads by a inch each! Seeing the razor sharp blade fly before her eyes, Lemon meeped and fell on her butt, trembling from fear. Sugarcoat had no reaction at all. "A simple projectile can go a long way when you're out of magic, not that I know that feeling," Sour casually said to Sunny "knives would've been better, but we couldn't find any," she soured "that's what you get in a school with no delinquents!" Shimmy blinked and looked at Lemon Zest, still in shock. She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it and just nodded, fully embracing this as her new status quo. "S-sour Sweet, wh-why?" Lemon stuttered, trembling and tearing her eyes while being gently patted by Sugarcoat. "Wh-what did I do? Wh-why me? I-it's for that g-group hug, i-i-isn't it? I-I'm so-sorry!" Sunny Flare and Indigo Zap only rolled their eyes. They noticed that when Sour went to retrieve the scalpel, she was noticeably Sweeter. Wrangle cursed the scalpel hanging out of his palm, more annoyed that it made him drop the gun than it actually hurting him as he casually took it out, ignoring the pain and bleeding. He looked with rage filled eyes at Sunny, who jumped over the table and dashed at him with her fists ready. He raised his hand to block the punch that sent him slightly back, but wasn't even close to knocking him down. Sunny panicked slightly when he jumped at her and sent a punch with his wounded hand, barely missing, but then kept attacking. She was barely avoiding those attacks as they brushed by her hair way too close for comfort. Her opponent seemed much smaller from a distance, but he was clearly at least two feet taller than her and way stronger than she would ever be, gym or not. He wasn't nearly as fast as her, but that mattered much less when she was already this exhausted. She waited for a momentarily lowered guard to punch him in the face and it connected, but despite hitting straight in the jaw, it did very little. She struck again, but this time he caught her hand. She followed up with her left hand but this one got caught too! She cursed herself when she felt her palms being crushed by the clearly stronger opponent. As if one overpowering her wasn't bad enough, she heard the other groaning and slowly regaining consciousness. Quick, think Sunset, THINK! She couldn't lift her legs high enough to hit him in the nuts. She looked around. Behind her opponent was the empty hallway, to the right was just an empty wall, but to the right was another door, slightly opened and leading to what she guessed was the bathroom. She diverted all her strength into her legs to push herself through the crooked door, pulling her opponent with her inside the bathroom, making him accidentally hit his head into the surprisingly low upper frame, weakening his grip just enough that his right hand, the wounded one, let go. Not the plan, but I'll take it! With only her right arm being grabbed currently, she placed it right next to the door frame, grabbed the door with her now free left hand, then SLAMMED it into him, effectively crushing his arm between the door and the frame. He didn't initially let go, but the yelling proved that he felt it, so she slammed it again and again, until he relented, let go and stepped away. Free of the grapple, she looked around. Sadly, the bathroom was devoid of anything useful, not even a bar of soap. Outside, both her scalpel and his gun were too far away to reach. Racket, the other guy, was up again, trying to reach for his gun under the counter, thankfully his hand was too thick to reach it. But it was only a matter of time before he abandoned that idea and joined for a two vs one, which she would definitely not survive. Desperately looking around her surroundings left her with no weapons to use, but there was the bathroom door frame, which looked like it was strong enough to hold her weight. Not thinking much else, she jumped at it, hanged onto it with both hands and swung herself forward, hitting Wrangle straight into his face with both of her boots, sending him right into a wall behind him! He hit the back of his head on the wall, leaving him dazed. Sunny quickly jumped to him, grabbed him by the wounded hand (making sure to squeeze it tight so it'd hurt more), then used all the might she had left and threw him over her shoulder, sending him on the ground with a loud THUD! Her toughest opponent thus far groaned loudly before losing consciousness. This put her somewhat at ease and allowed her a second to sigh with relief, which was quickly interrupted by muffled screaming behind her. Cadence's muffled screaming! Her eyes went wide as she realized something. The other guy! She turned back only to see Racket, standing right behind her with a wooden chair held over is head, about to strike. She had exactly one escape route, that being jumping back into the hallway, where she may or may not trip over Wrangle's body, giving his partner more than enough time to notice and grab a gun, at which point she would be screwed. She might hide behind the door to prepare a counterattack, but Dean Cadence was still inside, now more valuable as a hostage than ever before. Against her own survival instinct, Sunny raised her hands above her head and braced for the impact. "For one, you're way tougher than you look." That's what Indigo Zap told her when she said she had a few pointers about her fighting style, shortly before she became a Shadowbolt. "Thanks, I guess?" "But you spend all your energy, physical and magical, on avoiding getting hit at all cost." "And how is that a bad thing?" "It isn't. Not getting hurt should be the ultimate goal of any martial art, no matter how tough you are. This isn't a video-game, you know, there are no health potions or dedicated healers at the ready," she hummed "although that last point doesn't really apply to you, but you get my point!" "Y-yeah, of course I... no, actually I'm lost. What are you trying to tell me again?" Indigo sighed. "What I'm getting at is that evasion is a good strategy... short term. Most fighting styles assume that the battle will be over with quick, so you need to put 100% all the time. But this is a battle of attrition, the winner won't be determined by skill and power alone, but also by the ability to pace themselves over a long stretch of time. Sombra came here with this strategy in mind and he's spreading his resources carefully while you're exhausting yourself by trying not to get hurt at all. To the point that you're too tired to defend yourself at all!" Shimmy swallowed. Despite the treatment she received, the scars on her back were there to stay and severely limited her swimsuit choices. "What am I supposed to do then? Take it all head on?" "No, of course not!" Indigo rolled her eyes. "Not all of it. But sometimes taking a hit head on, while you're expecting and bracing for it, can lead to an opening that might just tip the scales in your favor. At least that worked when I used it against you." Shimmy raised and eyebrow. "Next you'll tell me that all the times I hit you was your plan all along." "Nah, the ones you landed were legit... about 80% of them." "You're too humble." "Bottom line, you need to use all the resources you have. Skill, magic, knowledge, planning, tools, friends and yes, even your own health. Just don't get shot. Or stabbed." Sunny nodded. She didn't like what she heard one bit, but of all people Indigo Zap seemed like she knew what she was talking about. "I'll... think about it." The heavy wooden chair shattered on impact, leaving behind splinters, bruises and bumps along her head and arms. She stumbled but remained still, withholding her yell while gritting her teeth so hard that she was worried they would shatter before her skull would. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, she saw him where and how she wanted: backpedalling, dropping what was left of his improvised weapon, wide-eyed and rethinking his life choices. Sunny grunted. Dear god, my head friggin' hurts! "That all you got?" She asked coldly, lowering her guard to look at him. "I barely felt a thing!" She lied. The step she took forward was mimicked by him taking a step back while covering his face. All things considered she had already won, but she wanted to make sure it was over on her terms. She pulled her watch up onto her knuckles, grabbed it tightly and pulled her fist back. Noticing it, Racket squealed. "I give up! I surrender!" He said, raising both of his hands up and closing his eyes. "Don'care! Suuunnyyy..." She formed a fist with the same hand that had her new watch. "...SHADOOOOW PUUUUUUNCH! And smacked him right in the face, the crystal completely smashing his nose and at least one buck tooth out, sending him flying into the kitchen sink, where he fell on the ground unconscious. A few seconds passed. Sunny took a few deep breaths. She first examined her watch, after wiping the blood off she saw not a single scratch on it. Wow, they weren't kidding about the quality! She then looked at the recently fallen Racket,  down after a single, non-magical, punch (and a flying kick earlier). She pulled the watch back on its place and looked back at Wrangle, wondering how much easier he would've been if she had just used it as a glorified brass knuckles from the start, but that was the past. Her head and forearms hurt like hell and she would no doubt be getting rid of splinters from her hair for at least a week (giving her more reasons to consider a shorter hairstyle), but at the very least Dean Cadence was safe. A little shocked and confused, but unharmed and slowly calming down, now probably more worried about Sunny than her own safety. As more time passed and her heartbeats stabilized, Sunset Shimmer of Crystal Prep had a sudden realization. Her hands were bruised, bloodied and dirty. The hostage was safe. The opposition: down. I... I did it! A small smile appeared on her face, then grew exponentially, until... "WOOOOOO!" Her hands shot up. "NO MAGIC! HELL YEAH! You wanted Magical Girl Sunny? Well too bad, you got Street Fighter Sunny instead, bitchez! Bwahahaha!" She laughed triumphantly a while longer until she had to gasp for some air. Dean Cadence was looking bemused at her, with one eyebrow raised high. "S-sorry," Sunny scratched her head "I got a little carried away there, but, but... it was my first time... be-beating criminals without magic, that is, haha! ...I, uh, I'll free you in a moment!" As Dean Cadence rolled her eyes, Sunny secured the criminals and their weapons and retrieved (and wiped) the scalpel, her new second best friend (competing with the watch... and Coco), which she used to cut the ropes bounding her hostage. As soon as Cadence was free, she almost threw herself at Sunny and hugged her tightly. Caught off-guard, Street Fighter Sunny almost fell on the ground, but somehow managed to regain her balance and hugged her back. "I was so scared!" Cadence said as she cried on her shoulder. Sunny pat her head gently. "Everything will be alright, I promise! Nobody will hurt you." Cadence gasped at the sound of the word. "Y-you're hurt!" She unhugged her savior and examined her body, most of all head and arms, removing a few splinters from her fiery red hair. "W-we need to call an ambulance-" "Shhh!" Sunny put her hands on her shoulders. "I'm hurt, but I'm not done yet. It's not over!" Cadence looked Sunny in the eyes and nodded, smiling weakly, unconvinced but unable to stop her. "Th-they said Shining Armor is under attack, i-is he... is he..." she was about to go all teary eyed, but the grip on her shoulders tightened. "He's... busy, fighting his own battle. I managed to speak with him and I made a promise that I will save you. And in return he promised me that he will get here as soon as he can," her smile grew "I kept my end of the bargain and so will he!" Cadence looked Sunny in the eyes for a while, barely holding back the tears, but eventually managed to smile. She wiped her eyes and nodded to Sunny. "You're right, he will!" Upon reaching their mutual agreement, they quickly shared short versions of their stories. Cadence was given Sour Sweet's borrowed cell phone to contact the ambulance. Sadly Sugarcoat's phone didn't survive being used as a decoy, but she said she was ready for the sacrifice and was used to losing her phones. And speaking of phones, another one started ringing. And it wasn't any of theirs! The ringing came from Racket's jacket and the sheer sound of it made Cadence pale in terror. "It's... it's him!" She muttered. "He's calling every few minutes to check on them!" Sunny walked to the unconscious thug and took out the old, brick style cell phone from his inside pocket. The name on the screen only showed up as 'kid'. Sunny thought for a moment, looking over Cadence and the two kidnappers. If they had been conscious she could've coerced them to lie and buy her some time, but that wasn't an option anymore. If nobody answered the call he was going to assume the worst anyway, so given the choice between ignoring it and answering, she chose the more satisfying one. She pressed the green button. "Hello? What the hell is taking you so long? Listen, she's up to something, so be on guard and if you so much as hear a funny sou-" "YO, Shadow Boy!" There was a long pause. She heard his stuttering and heavy breathing through the phone. Twice. That's how many times she managed to catch him off guard. And it was NOT getting old yet. "H-how, b-but, y-you..." he groaned "h-how did you-?!" "Someone told me. Those guys have no loyalty to you, but no matter. I recommend you don't try anything with Coco," she she took a deep breath and whispered "because what happens next... depends entirely on her!" She clearly heard him swallowing. "W-wait, Sun--" she hung up the call and removed the batteries from the phone. She sighed with huge relief. Like a breath of fresh air, she needed that feeling more than anything else. Except maybe seeing Coco's face when she's safe and unharmed. Soon. "What about the students in the school?" Cadence asked. "I heard they took hostages, including a gym full of people!" Sunny didn't answer immediately, but she was smiling confidently. This was the second time Coco Pommel saw Sombra lose his cool. The first time was due to an out of place remark that may or may not have been a joke (it definitely was), but this time was different. He wasn't just thrown off by comedic timing. The fact that in his anger he threw his phone on the wall, shattering it into pieces, was a dead giveaway. Now we do have something in common, she thought we both broke our phones the same way because of her! Against her own judgement, she couldn't help but smirk. "Problems?" She immediately regretted asking. She didn't need to see his death glare aimed at her, enhanced by the shadow constructs that arose around him making him look much bigger than he actually was. She meeped and turned away, remembering why she was sitting here in the first place. Sombra stood like that for a few seconds, before he took a deep breath and the shadows dissipated. "No, not problems, just a little... plot twist!" He turned to the monitor, in particular the screens that showed a gym full of tied up students and teachers, with several armed guards patrolling around, their rifles at the ready. "She thinks she's so smart. She thinks that she took out all the aces out of my sleeves, when in reality I have an entire deck and then some!" Coco swallowed. She trusted Sunny and the Shadowbolts to know what they were doing, but she couldn't help but worry anyway. She had long accepted that she might end up becoming a martyr for this cause, but the others? That was a much harder pill to swallow. All she could do was wait and believe. "I counted six." "That doesn't divide by four." "More for me, then!" Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare rolled their eyes at Indigo, who seemed a little too excited for someone who was going to fight people with guns. They didn't miss the cold sweat their powerhouse friend tried to hide. "One of them is patrolling the upper seats." Sugarcoat reported, looking through the tiny creak in the door. "I guess that one's all mine!" Sour Sweet shrugged sourly. She had no reason to smile. The four met at the entrance to the gym after taking out their mini-bosses and leaving the hostages in a safe room (Indigo strongly insisted on NOT freeing Trenderhoof, for his own good, and nobody dared to defy her) and prepared for their next move, still having a few minutes until the main phase commenced. The double doors to the gym were not locked, but opening them would alert the bad guys and they would be riddled with bullets instantly. But if everything went according to the plan, that wasn't going to be an issue. And they REALLY hoped it was going to go according to the plan. Cadence sighed heavily. "I should've expected them to pull something like this." She said while checking out the gun she was given. Appropriately for a wife of a police captain she knew how to handle it, even if she wasn't proud of that skill. "But if Sunny Flare thinks that you can do it, then I have no choice but to trust you. All of you!" Sunny raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to stop me?" Cadence shrugged. "How? A supervillain and his army of thugs couldn't, what chances do I have? At least I'm not in the way anymore." Sunny blinked. She figured that Dean Cadence, as expected of the wife of Shining Armor and survivor of a similar calamity, would be a little more accepting of the current situation, but this went beyond that. Finding out that Shimmy had some unexpected help managed to put her somewhat at ease. Whether it was because of who was helping her, or because she had accepted assistance at all was a matter best solved when she wasn't on a timer. And speaking of which, she still had a few more minutes, but she was worried Sombra might get another brilliant idea if she gave him too much time. "I need to go, but I promise I will make it right," she paused, before shaking her head and correcting herself "we will make it right!" Cadence smiled warmly and nodded. "I know. Good luck!" Sunny nodded back, took a breath and was about to teleport to school, when Cadence said one more thing. "Oh, and, Sunset Shimmer! Congratulations on becoming a Shadowbolt!" Sunset blinked a few times. Wait, I didn't tell her that, how does she... She looked at her watch. Oh. Right. Of course. She snorted. "I know, you expect great things from me. And I promise... I will make everyone proud!" And then she disappeared. Cadence giggled at the empty space. “You already did.” She appeared back inside the stall she was in before. She didn't need to go back there specifically now that the jig was up (and she risked an ambush too), but as expected, as soon as she landed on her two feet, she stumbled and would've fallen on the ground if the stall wasn't so tight, instead making her lean on the wall with a huge migraine. She bit through the pain and took a few deep breaths. Still not dead! Yay me! One of the theories the two Twi's (Pri and Sci) had was that unlike a unicorn with a horn that worked as both a conductor AND a power limiter, a human body with pony magic was eventually going to pay the price for abusing their power with its own life force. They never tested it, deeming it too dangerous to try, but it seemed like they were correct and she just performed the unauthorized experiment for them. Those two would like to know that... heh, one more reason to survive! Feeling slightly better, she used the opportunity to wash her hands and face of the blood and sweat (respectively), then left the toilet, finding the walkie-talkie in front of the door, as she left it. That meant that no mini-boss had reached it, which in turn meant that everyone else did their jobs too. Good, I'm in a mood for happy news. She thought, then raised the walkie-talkie to her head. "Hello honey, I'm baa-aack!" She said cheerfully, making sure at least one security camera caught her smile. "Missed me?"