//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Gravity Kills // Story: SuShi's Bizarre Adventure: Fantasy Friendship // by Jojoleopard //------------------------------// “We had only just gotten her back…!” Pinkie Pie wailed as she encased Fluttershy in her arms. “This shouldn’t have happened! Why would anyone do this?” Fluttershy had no words as she looked on through blurry eyes at the mound of rocks in front of her and sobbed. The shape of rocks looked like a fist in the ground, cut off from some unseen golem and their friend had given her life to signal them and protect Jojo. The man in question sat in a corner, shadows cast over his face as he removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair. Rarity had given her all to defend him and if he hadn’t been so weakened after the Sabaton battle, things might’ve turned out differently. He blamed himself for her death and he knew he would do what needed to be done to avenge her. “Kill. I’m going to kill her.” Jojo looked up and White Buffalo appeared in front of him. “No, you can’t. Not on your own.” Sunset ran up between him and his Stand. “We need to come up with a plan, Jojo.” “I have a plan. And that’s to attack.” Jojo stood up and dusted his cap. “Sushi, Rarity gave her life so that I may still have mine. How can I sit here and do nothing when she did that for me?” “And you’ll be throwing away the life she protected if you just rush in there,” Sunset countered. “Look, Trixie’s dangerous. You’ve seen that more than I have. If we go in blindly, we’ll die too.” “But how will we even find her now?” Jojo rubbed a hand down his face. “She could be anywhere.” Pinkie sniffed, then wiped at her face before producing a magician’s hat from behind her back. “What’s that you got there?” Sunset asked when she noticed the headpiece. It had stars patterned onto it. “A-A smoothie…” Pinkie’s voice still trembled after her earlier wailing, but she sipped from a straw of a cup of pink liquid in her other hand. Sunset had no idea where she had gotten it from, but in the last few days, she’d learnt to not question how Pinkie did things. There was no answer to many of them. “What about that hat?” Sunset pointed to the other object in her other hand. “It’s Trixie’s hat,” she answered rather dejectedly, a vast difference from her usually bubbly personality. “She uses it for her magic performances and things.” “Great idea.” Jojo got up and put his cap back on, flipping it backwards. “We can find a dog to track her scent and find her.” “Not a dog, no.” Pinkie shook her head, then flipped the wizard hat into the air where her Stand appeared and caught it. “Trixie uses her hat to pull out rabbits and flowers and stuff. It’s kinda like a door.” Sunset was beginning to understand. “A door? So you’re saying…” Pinkie nodded. “Golden Ticket doesn’t only take doors to open them to the other side. Golden Ticket can return doors to where it got them. In this case, we can get Trixie’s hat back to her.” “And we follow it. Of course!” Jojo called forth White Buffalo and hastily got on. “We’re going to find her and we’re going to put an end to her for what she’s done.” “B-But your bike only si-sits two…” Fluttershy wiped at her nose, which was dripping wet. “I can take one of you,” Sunset said as Pegasus Fantasy spread its wings in the air behind her. “But I can only do it for a minute. We’ll have to be fast.” “Don’t you worry about that.” Pinkie tapped the hat. “You should be more worried about keeping track of where the hat is. It’s going to go fast.” “Then whenever you’re ready. Fantasy armor!” Pegasus Fantasy flew into Sunset from behind and wrapped around her. “Do it, Pinkie. Fluttershy, you go with Jojo. Just follow behind me.” “Don’t worry, we will. For Rarity.” Jojo nodded and revved his Stand. “Let’s do this!” Pinkie roared and Golden Ticket threw the hat up into the air, where it spun and spun until it suddenly zoomed off to the east. “Hold on tight.” Sunset grabbed Pinkie around the waist and with a mighty flap of her wings, they took to the sky, following after the hat at speeds no human could go. Jojo followed from below, speeding after them on White Buffalo, with Fluttershy clutching onto him tightly as his Stand used Faster than Fire from its throttles, giving it the speed it needed to catch up. Pinkie had been right about keeping up with the hat. If not for their Stands, there was no way they’d be able to keep up with it. Pinkie said something about how the doors she borrowed needed to be returned to their owners quickly and it had never been used as a tracking device before. It was a clever idea and something Sunset herself would’ve never thought of. With Rarity’s monument left behind, now forever a reminder in the forests of Everfree, Sunset vowed to herself that they would avenge her. They would bring Trixie to justice and they would do the same with the master who thought she could just do whatever she wanted. “For Rarity.” ----------------------JO-JO----------------------- “There. Below.” Trixie’s hat had descended the next road, going down a slope that only led to one place: The harbor. What she was doing here, Sunset didn’t know, but what she did know was that they were going to find her and they were going to win. The hat darted into one of the boathouses facing the waterfront. Sunset planted themselves down on the wooden docks, her fantasy armor fading away. They had only taken fifty four seconds to get here, which was cutting it a little close, but it had been just nice. Jojo wouldn’t be far behind as well, slowed down only by the twist and turns of the streets. The inside of the boathouse was dark and the only lights around were that of the pier, where hordes of tiny insects buzzed around, attracted to the lamps. “Open sesame!” Pinkie called forth Golden Ticket, who opened a purple door into the garage door of the boathouse. “Okay. Now we have to be careful. Trixie’s a formidable enemy,” Sunset warned as they gazed into the dark interior. “We don’t know if she’s planned an ambush or something.” Before either of them could take another step, Sunset felt a buzzing in her head, followed by a sudden weight being pressed down on top of her. It almost brought her face straight down to the wooden flooring below, but she caught herself and spread her legs further, keeping herself up. Pinkie had been on the way in and was now face first in the cement floor just past the boathouse’s doorway. “You know, Trixie hadn’t expected you to find her so quickly… But I’m glad you did.” Sunset looked up to see Trixie sitting on the roof, swinging her legs under her with her Stand levitating in the air above her, its legs crossed. “Trixie…” Sunset growled. “Didn’t Rarity tell you?” She smirked at her. “Gravity kills. Oh wait, she can’t tell you. She’s dead. And I was the one to kill her. The Great and Powerful Trixie is not to be trifled with!” “And you’re going to paaaay for that!” Pinkie yelled from the doorway as Golden Ticket tried to help her up. “How could you do this, Trixie? She was your friend too!” “Whatever friends I had are long gone. Only the master has my loyalty now.” Trixie stood up and dusted her robes. “Now, I believe we have chatted long enough.” Gravity Kills propelled itself through the air before slamming hard into Pegasus Fantasy, knocking them both to the end of the pier as they tore apart the planks below. Pegasus Fantasy planted both hooves under Gravity Kills and kicked up, then halted itself in the air and dashed forward, ramming both fists into the enemy Stand’s gut. Trixie coughed up blood and fell off the roof, but got up again with a new rage in her eyes. Gravity Kills raised one finger and the air around them began to get lighter. Sunset felt her feet leave the ground and she struggled to grab on to something, but to no avail. Once she had floated past the roof of the boathouse, Gravity Kills lowered its finger and the meter on its chest tipped to the left. Without warning, she was thrust down to the ground with enough force to break the planks, with wood splintering into her face as she did so. Sunset gasped from the pain and began coughing up blood, but she could not get up. The gravity was too intense around her. Think, Sunset, think! There must be a way to beat this! Before she could do anything else, a pale door appeared under her and flipped open, allowing her to drop into the water below. Sunset shut her eyes as she collided with the water and she kept sinking because of the intense gravity, but she found that after drifting down for a while, Gravity Kills’ ability lost its effect on her and she was able to get Pegasus Fantasy to push her away from the spot she had been at, traveling along the pier until she was three boathouses down. It seemed Gravity Kills could only change gravity in a limited area around itself and she was now out of range of its power. Unfortunately, Sunset knew her Stand’s range wasn’t that good. If she wanted to take on Trixie, she would have to get close. Unless she could think of something else. I have to do this. For my friends. For everyone. For Rarity. Pegasus Fantasy grabbed Sunset and flew her out of the water and back on the pier. Trixie turned to her with a snarl and pointed at her. Gravity Kills raised both hands, then the pier closer to it began to splinter and break under the gravity around it. In only a few seconds, the gravity there seemed to increase and the wooden beams supporting the boardwalk were shattered and that portion of the pier sank under the water. Sunset didn’t have to be there to know just how high the gravity was there. There was no chance she would get close. Unless… “Pinkie, could you do that again?” Sunset called to her friend, who was still lying by the boathouse. “I’ve a plan. It’s the only way to get close enough.” “Okey-dokey!” she yelled back, with Golden Ticket moving away from Gravity Kills as best as it could. Pegasus Fantasy flew high, getting as high and as far away from Sunset as it could, before dive bombing back down towards Gravity Kills. The enemy Stand saw her coming and lowered the gravity, pulling out broken shards of the pier from the water as they spun around it. Further manipulating the gravity around it, Gravity Kills began firing the broken wood at Pegasus Fantasy, who spun and flew around them, occasionally punching them. Once it got close enough, Sunset could feel the gravity affecting her now and with the low gravity, it was suddenly harder to get to Gravity Kills, but grabbing one of the pieces of wood, Pegasus Fantasy threw it behind itself, propelling it through the low gravity field towards the enemy Stand. Seeing the threat coming, Gravity Kills raised gravity again and Pegasus Fantasy immediately began plummeting down, but Trixie realized her mistake when Pegasus Fantasy readied a fist as it fell faster and faster. Its fist connected with Trixie’s Stand’s face and Gravity Kills was knocked down as a door shifted under both of them and opened, plunging both Stands into the water below. Pegasus took this chance to give Gravity Kills the beatdown it deserved as it reeled from the sudden plunge. Gravity Kills raised both arms to block Pegasus’ punches, then unfurled its claws and slashed at Sunset’s Stand. Both Stands traded blows as the water began to bubble around them from the speed they were attacking at. Gravity Kills attempted another attack at Pegasus Fantasy’s face, but it grabbed its hand and with all its strength, it threw it high, sending the enemy Stand out of the water where it followed with a flap of its wings. However, Gravity Kills spun around in the air, then raised both hands as gravity increased once again, pushing against Pegasus and it tried to get to its foe. “You’ve tested me beyond your permitted line, Sushi.” Trixie’s fumed as blood ran down her head, mixing with her white hair. “I have yet to use Gravity Kill’s true power. Do you want to know what happens when it pools intense gravity into a single spot?” Gravity Kills pointed both fingers down on the ground as it levitated over it. To Sunset’s horror, darkness began to gather on the cement floor of the dock, slowly bending and warping it as it grew bigger and bigger. Orange lights began to pool around this dark spot and spiralled around it, swirling almost majestically as the hole got bigger and bigger. “With this much gravity, Gravity Kills is able to create black holes, able to bend space and time itself. If you find yourself in there, Sushi, you might never find your way out!” Trixie bent back with laughter. “As this black hole grows, it will consume everything in its path, including the city and all your friends.” “Trixie, this is madness!” Sunset swiped a hand to the side. “You’ll destroy everything! Including your master!” “You’ve pushed me to this, Sushi. You only have yourself to blame!” As the black hole continued to grow, its gravity began to pull objects into its dark void, starting with the broken boardwalk and even the lampposts. Pinkie began sliding towards it, but Golden Ticket grabbed her hand and warped a door above them, opening it and throwing both of them through it before shutting it. That would buy her some time, but not much, judging from how fast the black hole was growing. Trixie needed to be stopped, now, before this could escalate any further. “But what can I do against this?” Sunset clenched her fists as her brain worked on strategies. “What can I do?” “Your next line is going to be ‘I can’t do anything against this’.” “I can’t do anything against this!” Sunset threw her hands down. Then she realized who had just spoken and she turned around. Jostle Joyride stood behind her, White Buffalo at his side, along with Fluttershy and even Rainbow Dash and Applejack. They must’ve heard the commotion and come over. “It ain’t over yet. I’ve explained everything to Rainbow and Applejack. We can still beat this, Sushi girl.” Jojo gave her a pat on the shoulder. “You can reset the docks.” “But I need a heavy amount of concentration. I don’t know if I can do it.” “You can. Believe in yourself.” Jojo moved his hand over to her hand and gave it a pat as well. “I believe in you. I’m sure Rarity would as well. Now do her proud. We’ll buy you all the time you need, so work your magic.” “Yeah, Sunset, we have your back!” Rainbow pumped a fist and flexed her arm. “Yes we do.” Fluttershy nodded and gave her a smile. “Then it’s time we get right to it.” Applejack cracked her knuckles together and summoned Highwayman. “Someone’s gotta pay for what they did to Rarity.” “Right. Then I estimate about fifteen minutes before this black hole consumes the docks completely. We’ll have to stop it within that time.” Jojo slid one leg to the side, then placed one hand on his belt and the other to his hat. “Keep Sunset safe and get to work!” Running on Ice, Highwayman and White Buffalo charged towards the growing void and the enemy above it.