//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: A Spectacle Monopolized // Story: SuShi's Bizarre Adventure: Twilit Curtain Call // by Jojoleopard //------------------------------// Shiho Sunfast groaned as she sat herself down at a small circular table, resting her head on one palm as she gazed across the city street. She had been sitting there for quite some time, waiting for her beer to show up, when people had started going crazy and running around and pointing at their mouths. She had sighed then and that was when she realized no sound could come out of her mouth. Twilight and Spike had sat down with her and tried to work through this issue, but after a while, their voices returned again and everything in the cafe went back to normal. “Good grief…” Shiho stuffed her cigarette back in her mouth and grumbled. “Took long enough…” “I wonder what all that was about?” Spike looked around, but none of them could guess what had just happened. One of the waitstaff came by with Shiho’s beer and set it down in front of her. Shiho cracked it open with a well-practiced twist and took a long drink. She had never tasted French beer before, and it was different from beer in Japan. It was more fruity tasting and not as intense, but overall it wasn’t bad. It did quench her thirst, so that was well worth the price. She could have drunk water, but Shiho hadn’t ordered water from anywhere since she had left middle school. “You seem to like what you’ve got there,” Spike said, sitting across from her. “But it smells… fermented.” “It’s beer,” Shiho said bluntly, taking another gulp of the drink. “What did you expect?” “There’s still a lot to learn about your world…” Twilight drummed her fingers against the wooden table as she leaned back. “So you’re Sunset Shimmer’s granddaughter? I wonder how that works. Tell me, Shiho, are you like all the other humans here?” “How would I know that?” Shiho slapped a hand to her forehead. “As far as I know, we’re not any different.” “It’s strange…” Twilight looked at one of the passing cars. “Once you come over from Equestria, it’s like you were never a pony to begin with. Maybe that’s why you don’t feel any different. Other than Stands, this world doesn’t have any magic. That means we don’t carry anything over. So it would be logical to assume that Equestrians here and humans here could be one and the same. That means that if you were to go to Equestria, you would become a pony, just like us, and you could have pony children and they wouldn’t be any different.” “Right.” Shiho nodded. “But remind me again why I should care about this?” Twilight tilted her head to one side. “Don’t all these mysteries intrigue you even the slightest?” “Nope.” Shiho downed the rest of her drink. “Die Die Riches killed my friend. I’m here to end them. And someone’s gotta watch the old granny…” “Yeah…” Twilight nodded, remembering her own friends’ mortality. They had all passed her in age and she made it a point to help them out whenever she could to avoid giving them any strenuous tasks. “Look after your grandmother well, Shiho. Don’t wait until she’s gone before you start appreciating her.” “That much I know…” Shiho groaned and flicked her cigarette away. “How long do we have to wait before the others show?” “They might’ve already arrived.” Twilight stood up. “We’ve been here for quite some time, through all the silence. Maybe they’ve already found out where Die Die Riches is.” Shiho grumbled to herself and was about to get up and go look for her grandmother and the others, but she decided to continue sitting down and ordered another beer. “And stick some cherries in it,” she called after the waiter as she left. “Wait, what?” “What, what happened?” Twilight and Spike turned their attention to her. “Why would I ask for cherries? I hate cherries…” Shiho growled. “Good grief, as if the day can’t get any worse.” “What’s wrong with cherries?” Twilight leaned forward. “I think they’re delicious.” “They’re sweet and you have to peel off the stalk before eating it.” “O-Oh. Humans do that, huh?” Twilight scratched her chin. She suddenly turned around and looked at a man having a sandwich. Shiho watched her look at him intently and raised an eyebrow. “Do you think that man’s suspicious? He looks suspicious.” “Does he?” Spike asked, turning around in his chair to look. Now that she thought about it, Shiho did find him suspicious too. He had blonde curly hair and a rather thick moustache, obscuring his mouth, and he was dressed in a blue suit with a red tie. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but something about him was making her brain go haywire. Every nerve in her head was telling her that this man was fishy and that he meant them harm. Shiho wasn’t going to have any of it. She was going to make the first move and take him out. “Curtain Call,” she said as she pushed away from their table. Shiho’s Stand slid out from her position and threw its cloth over one shoulder. With a yell and a burst of strength, it closed the distance between its master and the man, before delivering a solid punch to the side of his jaw just as he was about to take a bite of his sandwich. The punch threw his mouth sideways and he bit down as his sandwich flew out of his hands, slicing off the tip of his tongue as he fell off his chair. The patrons of the cafe got up and looked at the man as he grabbed for his mouth and mumbled in pain. Since no one else could see Stands, it had looked as though he had just fallen off his chair and dislocated his jaw. “Hmm… he didn’t summon a Stand.” Twilight eyed him warily. “Something’s off about this.” “Are you calling me a liar?” Shiho’s eyes blazed as she turned to face Twilight. Curtain Call rose up behind her like a guardian angel. Twilight waved her hands in front of herself defensively. “What? No! Why would you think that?” “That’s because I know you think so.” Shiho balled a fist. “If you want to pick a fight, I’m all ears.” “No, I don’t want to fight, Shiho,” Twilight said, but still called forth Strange World behind her, which stretched one arm up in the air. “But I do want to know why you look so suspicious right now!” “What? It’s you who’s suspicious!” Shiho threw one finger forward. “You think I’m a liar, therefore, you’re the enemy!” Spike looked between them, then all of a sudden, thoughts of summoning his Stand to turn everyone to ice filled his mind and he decided to do so. “Winter Wrap Up!” Spike pushed both palms forward as his Stand did the same above him. A wintery storm began to envelop the cafe front, and people began to get up, but instead of leaving, two of them pulled out guns and began shooting other people. What is going on? Shiho kept herself low as bullets began flying. It’s like everyone’s gone mad all of a sudden, and… I have to kill Twilight. There’s no other way. She has to die. Wait, did I just think that? Shiho shook her head and when that didn’t work, she hit the side of her head and screwed her eyes shut. What are these thoughts? These aren’t mine… Twilight has to die right now, or I won’t be able to sleep in peace! Die Die Riches may use violence, but what they’re doing works. What? No! Twilight seemed to get to that conclusion first. “Someone’s controlling our thoughts. It’s like… a whisper in my head, resounding over and over again. I’m thinking that I need to eat more burritos. What even is a burrito?” “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Shiho looked at Spike as his Stand began to create a cyclone around them. “Spike must be thinking he has to kill us as well.” “We just can’t listen to our own thoughts.” Twilight called up her Stand as she focused its ability on Spike. Winter Wrap Up began to slow down and the ice storm around it did so as well. This gave Twilight room for her and Strange World to get in there towards Spike. “Spike, stop! Something’s wrong. These thoughts aren’t our own. You have to stop your Stand’s ice storm!” Twilight said as she grabbed him by the shoulders. “I don’t trust you, Twi!” Spike shoved her away as his Stand directed what it had of its storm at Strange World, enveloping it in an icy gale. Frost began to climb up its legs. “Something about you is wrong. It’s your nose! Because of your nose, I have to kill you.” “What’s wrong with my nose?” Twilight’s mouth hung open in confusion. He’s after your boyfriend. He wants him for himself, that’s why! Twilight shook her head when she thought that. She clearly knew she didn’t have a boyfriend, nor was Spike interested in one. Their thoughts were definitely coming from somewhere else. “Spike, someone’s feeding thoughts into our heads! What you’re thinking isn’t what you’re thinking!” She used Strange World to slow Spike’s and Winter Wrap Up’s movements, allowing her to get her Stand around him as it wrapped an arm around his Stand’s neck. “Let go of me, I’ve got to kill you!” Spike thrashed around as his Stand tried to escape. “Spike! Realize these thoughts are not yours! Please!” Twilight held him down with her Stand. “Think, Spike! What’s wrong with my nose?” “It’s the same color as my grandmother and you’re sullying her grave!” Spike struggled, then he widened his eyes and his movements began to slow, apart from Strange World’s slow. “I don’t have a grandmother… At least, I’ve never known her.” “That’s right, Spike. Stop Winter Wrap Up’s attack.” Twilight let go of him. “These thoughts are not your own. This has to be the work of an enemy Stand. Whoever they are, they don’t know your past.” Winter Wrap Up lowered its hands and faded away. “I’m sorry, Twi. I couldn’t tell these thoughts apart.” Spike sighed. “This is some sick person putting their thoughts into our heads.” Twilight nodded, then looked past him and frowned. Spike turned around, following her gaze. Behind him was a woman with wavy brown hair and a tattoo of a flower on her left cheek. She was dressed in a crisp white suit with a rose attached to her pocket, which looked fake beyond belief. She stopped walking once they spotted her and she threw a hand down at her side before raising the other one in a ‘V’ shape in front of her body. “I hate it when people figure out my Stand powers…” she said. “It’s only ever happened to me once and I nearly paid for it with my life, but instead, I was recruited into this cause. The cause to wipe the rich from the earth!” “So you’re with Die Die Riches.” Shiho pointed a finger at her and raised the corner of her lip in disgust. “You go around killing whoever you want to try and fulfill your sick master plan. You’re the ones who should be wiped off the planet.” “Please, you think you can beat me?” The woman waved a finger. Her voice had a trace of Spanish in it. “My name is Flower Castle, and I am one of Die Die Riches’ strongest members. You’ve witnessed my power first hand. My Stand, Guerrilla Radio, has the ability to influence the thoughts of anyone in its vicinity.” “We’ve already outsmarted you.” Twilight pointed out, keeping Strange World’s ability at the ready in case she tried anything else. “Your foreign thoughts won’t work again. I think I’ve learnt how to tell them apart.” “A clever one, aren’t you?” Flower Castle flicked her tongue at the roof of her mouth, producing a sort of clicking sound. “Most people simply listen to their thoughts, since thoughts exist within our own brains. You might not be so easily fooled, but there are still plenty of people in the cafe. If I tell them to kill you because you’re suspicious, they will. Observe.” She snapped her fingers and an ape-like figure in a beret jumped up onto her shoulders and sat down, scratching at its nose. It had on some kind of military getup and it had a huge thin mouth, which didn’t seem to have any teeth. It tapped at two mics that were positioned in front of its mouth and breathed into them a low hum. People all over the cafe, still reeling from the sudden ice storm from Winter Wrap Up, suddenly turned to face Shiho, Twilight and Spike with varying degrees of confusion on their faces. However, that didn’t stop them as one man grabbed an empty glass and hurled it at Twilight. Strange World turned its attention to it to slow it down before catching it in one hand. Then another decided to join in and more and more people started grabbing what they could before throwing them at Shiho and the others. “Good grief, now we’ve got to deal with regular people too.” She called out Curtain Call, which swept its cloth over an array of flying objects, turning all of them into red bouncy balls, which clattered to the ground harmlessly. “You’ve really done it now, Flower Castle.” “All this power…” Twilight looked at the Die Die Riches member. “And what, you use it to kill the rich? With a power like that, you could be using it to help people! There’s so much that could be done with influencing people’s thoughts.” “Bah, the world has never done anything but laugh at me!” Flower Castle held her chin high as she narrowed her eyes. “I was from the world famous Yarelian Flying Circus, one of three in existence. I was known as the Glider, the one capable of flying from perch to perch with the use of my mechanical instant-wingspread glider. I was so good at my job I could do it with my eyes closed. But instead of cheers from what I thought were my fans, I was constantly laughed at!” “That’s because you were working in a circus.” Shiho rolled her eyes. “A Flying Circus!” Flower Castle spat back quickly. “One of three! Do you know how rare it is to be able to fly in the sky while performing for an audience in a floating mechanical dome? But they laughed because I was a nobody. Well, this nobody has now seen the bigger picture, and I’m about to pull the rug out from under the spoiled and privileged rats that lead our world.” “You talk too much. We’re wasting a lot of time here.” Shiho was already charging in, sending Curtain Call out ahead of herself as it flipped its cloth over a flying plate. When it whipped the cloth away, the plate had changed into a billiard ball, which Curtain Call chucked at the enemy Stand master with all its might. But Guerrilla Radio beat its chest and gave a hoot before it swiped one of its chunky arms down, deflecting the ball before growling into its mics. “Die foreigner scum!” one of the cafe patrons yelled as she threw a full glass of champagne at Shiho. “Shut your trap!” Shiho yelled at them, but before Curtain Call could whip its cloth over the champagne glass, she spotted Flower Castle smirking, which made her a little suspicious of her enemy. “What so funny?” “Oh, nothing much…” Flower Castle waved a hand nonchalantly, then tilted her head down and shrouded it in shadow. “But did you think all Guerrilla Radio could do was to put thoughts into people’s heads? Shame on you for that.” Her Stand raised an arm and stuck its index finger out. It opened its mouth and Shiho felt her arm hairs stand on end as something invisible brushed past her. She didn’t know what it was, but she could feel it. It was as though something heavy rolled by, but at the same time, it was able to move fast and vibrated as it went. And then the champagne glass shattered into a million pieces, splashing alcohol and glass towards Shiho as Curtain Call tried to bring up its cloth to defend its master. It managed to swipe some out of the air, but a majority still found their way to Shiho’s left cheek and neck and she fell back on the ground with a thump. To her credit, all she did was let out a grunt of surprise as she began yanking out the glass from her face. “Sonic waves. She’s using sound to shatter glass.” Flower Castle bent back and lifted both arms as she laughed to the sky. “Si! Si! Si! Did you think projecting thoughts was all Guerrilla Radio was capable of? It can send its voice out across spaces to influence thought at the slightest whisper, but if it were to raise its voice, the sound waves manifest, vibrating towards its target and anything along the way, especially glass, will be shattered!” “Not if I have anything to say about it!” Twilight stepped between Shiho and Flower Castle. “Stay back, Shiho. I’ll deal with her.” “Oh, I’ve heard all about you…” Flower Castle pointed a finger at her. “The ability to slow time or to speed it up. What good do you think that’ll do against sound? Do you know how fast sound travels? Even if you were to slow it down, you won’t be able to avoid my attacks!” Guerrilla Radio continued to speak into its dual mics, and the people of the cafe continued their onslaught of throwables, sending them towards Twilight and Spike. As Guerrilla Radio increased its volume, the various glasses in the air began to shatter, raining down glass over them. Twilight got her Stand to slow down the incoming projectiles, but there was one issue she hadn’t thought through. Strange World’s power range was narrow, meaning it couldn’t slow all the glass at once. Its power could only focus on single targets, and when this translated over to the falling glass, it meant it could only slow the shards in a rough cone in front of itself. The rest fell around her, cutting into her arms and legs, but Twilight held strong as she turned her gaze to Flower Castle. She had to get away from all this glass and close the distance between them. “Strange World, go!” Twilight dropped to a roll to avoid more glass as she ran behind her Stand. With her Stand being a close ranged Stand, she had to get closer in order to put her in a world of hurt. But Flower Castle must’ve known this, because she suddenly darted down past the end of the cafe, heading down the street as her Stand began waving its arms around. Twilight turned the corner in pursuit, but it was halfway down the street, as she felt her hairs begin to stand, she realized her mistake. This street was a whole street of store fronts, including florists, pet shops, other eateries and even one hairdresser. They all had giant glass windows on their fronts and in that instant as she stopped in her tracks, the windows all shattered at the same time, sending shards in all directions and towards her. With nothing else she could do, Strange World began punching them out of the air, its arms becoming a whirl of purple as it shattered what it could with its powerful fists. But there was just too much glass and one stabbed her in the back of her thigh, sending her to the ground. “Aagh!” she cried out as she watched the retreating form of Flower Castle. “Spike!” Her companion was at her side in an instant, checking on her leg. “No, don’t worry about me. You’ve got to get her. That way!” “A-Are you sure?” “Just go, Spike. She’ll get away. We need to find out where Die Die Riches is!” Spike looked between Twilight and the end of the street, and after taking a deep breath, he got back to his feet and ran after her.