Silence fell for a moment as the dome retracted, and Sunny began to move towards her friends in a manner reminiscent of a serial killer in a horror film.
"What did you do to her?" Zipp demanded.
"Me?" Opaline smiled. "Oh, I did nothing at all. The machine here did all the work of bringing Sunny under my control. Now enjoy fighting your friend!"
Pipp rolled out of the way as Sunny blasted the ground. "IT'S EVERYBODY FOR THEMSELVES!" she shouted.
Zipp jumped onto a ladder and began to climb, trying to get some height and maintain verticality in the fight. "Sunny, over here!"
Sunny responded by blasting the ladder with a laser, cutting off the bottom half. Zipp looked down. "I wasn't expecting that."
Izzy, on the other hand, was running about at speed. "I have no idea what I'm doing!"
"You never did," Sunny said cruelly. She then landed in front of her, knocking her over and onto her back in the process. "Such a fool. You cannot taste true power."
Izzy began to crawl backwards as fast as she could. "S- sunny, no. Please, stop! You're not you!"
Sunny laughed. "Oh, really? I'm truer to myself than I ever was. So focus your thoughts on that." Her hands began to glow. "I'm gonna enjoy this, Iz-"
Suddenly, a volley of objects flew her way, and hit her. "What?" She turned to see Pipp lobbing a variety of small things at her.
"LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE, YOU MONSTER!" Pipp yelled.
Sunny fired off a bolt, missing Pipp by inches. "I hope I didn't chip a nail," she said sarcastically.
Zipp had dropped back to the ground floor. "This is where we could really have done with Hitch!" she shouted, as she attempted to pin Sunny down.
Instead, an energy blast threw all of them back, and Sunny rose to her feet. "Don't attempt to capture what you can't control," she said, before suddenly vanishing into nothingness.
Izzy got up and looked about to notice Boomer had vanished too, and two other doors had opened. "Pipp, help Misty!" she said, taking charge of the situation. "Zipp, can you figure out where Sunny went?"
"On it!" Zipp replied.
A few minutes later, Alphabittle and Misty had been helped over by Pipp. "What... happened?" Misty asked.
Zipp glanced up from her work. "Sunny's being mind controlled," she said. "That machine was designed to move the magic from Misty into her, and she used it for this purpose."
"And now they've hurt my daughter," Alphabittle said, who looked tired and done. "Misty, I'm so sorry. I'll see to it that they are brought to justice."
"Right now we need to focus on saving Sunny," Misty said quietly, having little strength.
Zipp's phone beeped. "I've got a lock. She's in Falmouth somehow. We need to get there as well."
"How?" Pipp asked. "It's hours!"
"We use the teleporter over there and ask Hitch to drive the convoy back," Zipp pointed out. "It's the only way we'll get there in time."
The group headed for the teleporter, determined to save their friend no matter the cost.
Night had fallen over Falmouth, but it was soon to be a night nobody would forget. The residents of the town soon saw Sunny, still powered up, stalking about the streets.
Posey looked over. "Halloween was a few months ago!"
Sunny looked at her coldly. "Stay out of my way and I won't have to end you."
Posey, shocked at the coldness in the girl's voice, backed off quickly. She'd had quite enough with carnage for one day.
Sunny continued to walk through the streets, with people in the streets heading as far away from her as possible. Many hid in buildings to avoid what they feared was to come.
Little could they have known what was truly going on. Sunny was not in control. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, somone else was in the driving seat. She was a witness, a passenger, a prisoner in her own body.
Stop! Please, stop hurting them! Sunny screamed, desperately trying to get whatever it was that was controlling her to let go.
And the voice of whatever was in control then cut back to her.
SHUT UP.
This was a living nightmare. This creature had evil planned, and there was nothing Sunny could do to stop it.
And one building was Sunny's target. After a very slow journey, she reached her home, and upon arriving pulled the door open with minimal force before stepping inside.
Her parents were sat at the table. "Oh, hello Sunny!" Argyle said. "Welcome home!"
Sunny said, nothing simply looking at them coldly. At least, that's what was perceived. Sunny was horrified. She had no clue what this thing had planned for them, but suspected it was nothing good.
"Sunny?" Argyle asked.
"Where are they?" Sunny demanded.
"Where are what?" Argyle asked.
"You know what I mean."
Argyle nodded. "Oh, it's a game. I see. Well, if you were to cross the seventh sea and land in the port of Gel-"
Out of nowhere, Sunny pulled a plate off the table and threw it.
Goldie's patience had worn thin. She stood up. "Sunny, you'd better stop with this behaviour right now or else I'll-"
Oh, she thinks she had any chance against me? Let's see how she copes with no spine!
Sunny felt the familiar surge of energy building in her hands, and internally screamed in horror. Please! Don't hurt her!
I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO SHUT IT!
Sunny focused as hard as she could, realising that she had still the slightest bit of control. In doing so, she focused herself, weakening the energy in her hands.
A pair of energy blasts flew from Sunny's hands, throwing Goldie across the room and into the back wall.
"Goldie!" Argyle cried, and ran over to his wife. "Are you OK?"
Goldie shook her head. "I've got some sort of backpain, but I think I can walk."
Sunny laughed as they escaped. "You think the threat of a grounding will work on a God?" Of course, that was the monster talking, but the other had no way of knowing. The true Sunny could only watch in horror as this being who had stolen her body began to trash everything she held dear.
Sunny made her way to the access door to the lighthouse, tearing the door off its hinges and leaving the battered object on its side. She then began to climb the steps, her form lighting the dark passageway above. She walked up, and up, and up, energy continuing to glow and radiate from her spectral essence as she climbed the steps.
She opened the final door to see the crystals floating in place in the chamber. "After all these years, they will finally be mine!" she said, as a beam was readied in her hand.
Before she was about to fire, Zipp suddenly appeared from nowhere and tackled her to the ground. "Sunny, stop!"
HOW DID THAT FOOL GET HERE? ENJOY A FRONT ROW SEAT AS I KILL HER, SUNNY!
Sunny wheeled around and delivered a punch to Zipp's face. Zipp recoiled and shook her head. "That's gonna sting."
Sunny lunged at her and pinned her down, but Zipp rolled out of her way and landed on the side. The two continued to exchange blows, fists slamming into the cold metal floor but rarely making impact. Zipp certainly had a huge disadvantage, a normal teenage girl brawling with the closest thing this reality had to a superhero.
Zipp dodged a beam from Sinny, before ducking underneath a thrown fire extinguisher which bounced out of the door and exploded. "Come on Sunny, this isn't you!"
"I've never felt more powerful!" Sunny bellowed, as she charged in for the kill. "Falmouth spent so much time putting me down, and now those who laughed at me will feel my wrath!"
Zipp was pinned down, and was barely holding the energy blade from her chest, as if it fell it would fall directly to her heart. "Sunny, stop! Remember who you are! If you go through with this you're no better than Opaline!"
WHAT IS THIS?
A sort of energy began flowing inside her, and Sunny moved her mind to drive them back. Something you will never understand! Now GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
Sunny blinked, holding still for a moment, the energy from her body providing the only light. And then, something flickered. Her eyes shifted from red to green, and she looked around in confusion. "Zipp?" she asked. "W- where am I? What's going on?"
She saw the damage around her, and it hit her like a ton of bricks. "No," she whispered, as she fell back against a wall and covered her face with her hands. "What have I done?"
Zipp slowly sat up and moved over to comfort Sunny, who was shaking uncontrollably. "Sunny, it's not your fau-"
"I'm a monster!" Sunny replied, the sudden change in volume startling Zipp. "I cause nothing but chaos wherever I go! Maybe it would be for the best if I left and never came back!"
"Sunny, you're our friend. Opaline was controlling you. You weren't yourself."
Suddenly, there was a loud bang outside, and a figure wreathed in fire appeared in the sky before them. Both looked up and moved back in fright.
Opaline Arcana levitated before them, energy burning from her very being. "It's been a long time since I was last truly powered up!" she said. "And it's all thanks to you. I should thank you, really. You do make for an excellent ally."
What happened next stunned them. Sunny, still fully powered up, leaped out of the door and slammed into Opaline with an animalistic roar. "THIS IS FOR MY FRIENDS!"
Opaline was surprised by this, but began blasting off energy bursts at Sunny, who roared through them. The two soon crashed into each other, energy sparking from their clashing energy gauntlets.
"How?" Opaline said. "You're supposed to be under control!"
"I'm not right now," Sunny said coldly. "But soon you will be."
The two supercharged beings danced through the night sky, and exchanged blows back and forth at incredible speed. From the ground it was impossible to follow what was going on, and looked like a series of blurs of light. Those watching looked on in a mixture of confusion and terror, sensing that the world was forever changed.
Opaline blasted away with energy fire and swung as madly as she could, but Sunny exploded through the firepower, her energy acting as a shield from the firepower. A shield powered up, and she slammed into Opaline with incredible force, knocking the woman to the ground with a bang.
Opaline crashed to the floor and looked around, sensing her wings were gone. And everywhere were the angry townsfolk of Falmouth.
Sunny touched down in front of her. "It's over, Opaline. Your power is gone, diminished. And the entire world has seen who you truly are tonight. You're finished. It's over."
Opaline suddenly glowed. "Nothing's over whilst I'm still breathing!" The energy built to fever pitch, and she suddenly vanished.
Sunny looked over and around, and hung her head. "I'm so, so sorry for what I did," she said quietly. "I'll accept whatever punishment you give me." She closed her eyes, fully expecting to be hated forever for what she had done and what had happened.
To her amazement, the gathered citizenry began to cheer her name. "You saved the day!" called one. "You're a hero, Sunny! You drove off that monster and saved us all! Three cheers for Sunny! Hip Hip!"
"Hoorah!"
"Hip Hip!"
"Hoorah!"
"Hip Hip!"
"Hoorah!"
Her friends then arrived, looking at her and gathering together like it was the ending of a Marvel movie. "That. Was. AWESOME!" Izzy squealed. "You were like a superhero, saving us all from Opaline like that!"
Sunny shrugged her shoulders. "I did what had to be done. It was Zipp who helped me back to the light."
"Such modesty!" said another person.
"With you by our side, we can't go wrong," Zipp smiled. "You can be my wingman any time."
Sunny laughed, spotting the reference. "Well played, Zipp. You can be mine, buddy."
Hitch was the last to arrive, and looked down. "Sorry for not being in a position to help," he said. "I know you're still mad at me, but what you did for all of us was nothing short of incredible."
Sunny's magic flickered out, and she walked over and hugged Hitch. "It's not exactly a conventional situation," she said. "But these last few hours have shown me that holding onto grudges is unhealthy. Of course I forgive you."
The townsfolk cheered at this sight, friends reunited. The strife of the last few days was over, and all was once again good in the world
Opaline, on the other hand, had limped back to her bunker, and was propped up in front of a display. "Sunny's stronger than I could have imagined. This is a positive sign, Boomer."
"That power could benefit us in the future," Boomer agreed as the display updated.
Opaline smiled at the new display. "Look at all this power, Boomer," she said.
"That is plenty of spectra," Boomer admitted, glancing to their existing levels of the substance. "But where is it?"
Opaline scoffed, and shook her head, glancing back at another display. "A place we cannot get to it. But I think we have a way of locating the stuff we need. And for that, we need to work fast." She checked her instruments for some sort of display or military clock. "Project SENTINEL cannot fail. There's only a certain amount of time that the Strategic Reserve will remain open."
She rose to her feet, and looked to the skies before bellowing to the heavens themselves.
"MY NAME IS OPALINE ARCANA! ALL LIFE WILL OBEY ME!"