The helicopter fired a spray of bullets, and Rainbow rolled forward to dodge them. She heard the loud clattering behind her as the bullets took chunks out of the concrete roof.
Then the chopper flew away, and landed in front of the kidnapper. The door slid open, and a science faction pony started shooting rounds at Rainbow.
"No you don't-" Rainbow growled, stepping to the side and watching the streaks of light pass by.
She heard a faint buzzing noise behind her, and turned. There was a light blue flash, and Vinyl's combat disc flew past Rainbow's face. It whistled as it cut through the air, the glow slicing through the night. The kidnapper dodged to the right, and the disc hit the science faction rifle pony square between the eyes. The disc flashed, and bounced back. The pony crumbled down and out of the helicopter after a violent spasm, slowly dying of neuron failure as the disc destroyed the cells in his brain.
The kidnapper jumped aboard the helicopter, and it began lifting off.
Rainbow barrel-rolled over the disc as it bounced back, swinging the cleaver over her head and throwing straight at the helicopter.
There was a loud bang and a rainbow-colored blast of energy as the cleaver tore through sonic speed, flying almost faster than a bullet straight at the cockpit.
The glass exploded as the tip of the cleaver made contact, and dark red liquid splattered all over the cockpit. The force of impact knocked the helicopter back, unbalancing the delicate rotors as it tipped dangerously to one side.
The kidnapper saw trouble, and jumped out as the helicopter became an out of control vehicle.
A high pitched whine slowly went to low pitch as the motors failed. The helicopter swerved this way and that, sending sparks flying as the rotors scraped the roof. Then it finally fell, the tail swinging down into the roof and the rest of it soon following.
Rainbow flew forward, nearing sonic speed. She grabbed the cleaver as she flew through the fireball, smoke trailing her coat as she yanked the huge sword from the flaming debris. She landed several meters behind the kidnapper, who jumped off the roof and to the streets down below.
She followed, swinging down over the edge and stretching her wings to slow her descent; just in time to see the kidnapper throw Dainty in the trunk of a car.
"Sorry mate." Rainbow placed a hoof firmly on a passing motorcyclist's shoulders, shoving him off his bike. Her other hoof stopped the motorcycle, turning off the engine. The tires skid on the gravel, smoke rising up and dispersing in the cold night air. Rainbow swung it back around, the motorcyclist rolling on the floor.
"What the buck do you think you're doing!?" he scrambled up, stumbling towards Rainbow.
"Forcing a deal." Rainbow flicked her wallet at the motorcyclist. She was pretty sure there were a couple of twenties in there- hopefully that way she wouldn't get in too much trouble.
The engine purred as she turned it back on, and the motorcycle shot forward, Rainbow folding her cleaver and tucking it into her coat.
The world around her was a blur as the motorbike accelerated to top speed. To her, it felt much like flying- so she wasn't that worried about crashing. Flying in far more dangerous situations had sharpened her senses more than anything- it's just the handling, it'll need some getting used to.
The kidnapped turned a corner, and Rainbow followed. The reflections on both their vehicles were a blur too, as they passed by such high speeds.
Rainbow saw the kidnapper's hoof reach out of the side window of the car, a loaded pistol gleaming in the street lights.
The first flash distracted Rainbow, but she quickly shook it off and regained balance. The bullet bounced off the road just next to the back tire, rock shards flying.
The next shot was much more successful, piercing the front tire of the motorbike. It blew, and Rainbow covered her eyes from the flying rubber shreds. The bike wobbled out of balance, and started losing speed. It'll stop eventually, despite the back tire still intact. Sparks erupted as the bare rim of the front wheel scraped against the gravel road.
Rainbow leaped off and landed onto the roof of a car. No time to hijack- the bastard's already getting away. She continued sprinting, using her wings(quite painfully) to glide herself from roof to roof.
Surprisingly, she was maintaining enough speed- it was really wearing down her stamina though, unsurprisingly.
She leaped onto the roof of a passenger bus, almost slipping on the glossy surface as it turned a corner. She could still see the kidnapper's car up ahead, weaving its way through the traffic.
Her hoofsteps thudded along the bus as she sprinted, controlling her breath so she wouldn't lose stamina too quickly. She still had no idea how she'll catch the damn bastard, but this'll have to do for now.
Startling the bus driver as she leaped over the bus and onto the car in front of it, she kept going and ignored the horn beeps.
She jumped again, but her lack of stamina and the slippery roof made her trip a little. At this rate, she'll get hit by a car easy in no time. She twisted her wings so she spun through the air, and rolled over the windscreen of a car. Her wing was beginning to throb- she's using it too much. The car abruptly stopped as the startled driver stomped on the brakes, and she was flung onto the street. She rolled, diverting her momentum elsewhere instead of directly into the ground.
Rainbow quickly got up, looking around her. She could barely see the kidnapper now- better start running again. She quickly glided onto a moving car's roof, stopping for a second so she could catch her own breath.
"What the buck is this crap now...?" she muttered, looking up at the sky as six ponies wearing black armor flew down from the night. The design of their rifles and helmets suggested something out of a sci-fi movie- and if that wasn't enough to prove that they were from the science faction, they were flying on jetpacks.
One of them landed lightly on a truck up ahead, his jetpack flaring as he made his descent. He had the kind of big sniper rifle one would not want to mess around with.
The muzzle exploded as he pulled the trigger, and Rainbow instinctively yanked out the canister, the cleaver already unfolding. The bullet ricocheted off the blade, leaving behind it a trail of smoke as it burned through the air. The force of impact made her take a step back, her hoof aching slightly.
"As if I don't have enough trouble." Rainbow muttered as more of the jet-pack ponies came gliding over the roofs of the buildings on either side of the street, clear bright dots in the dark night sky.
She heard a loud whoosh to her right, and looked over in that direction. Lucky for her, she also tilted her head in doing so.
The rocket burned past her face, one of the fins scratching her cheek and drawing a tiny drop of blood. She fell back with a surprised yelp, the rocket slamming into the side of a car and sending it flipping through the air.
Rainbow almost slid off, her mane dragging on the rough gravel road. The road passing beneath was like a giant sanding machine, inches away from the top of her head. She mustered all her energy in her waist, and leaped back up onto the roof.
The driver noticed, and was about to stop. Rainbow quickly leaped off onto another bus.
She missed the back by less than a meter, but managed to hold onto the roof with her front hooves. Her body slammed painfully onto the back of the bus, the air leaving her lungs. She still held on though. She hauled herself onto the roof, unfolding her cleaver as a jet-pack pony landed near the front of the bus, his rifle raised and safety's off.
He pulled the trigger, sending a stream of extremely inaccurate bullets showering towards Rainbow. It was really a storm- the bullets sacrificed accuracy for pure power and fire-rate. But despite the heavy punch, it didn't punch through Rainbow's cleaver. Like the other bullets, they barely made a scratch.
It was much easier to deflect the bullets because of the cleaver's broad blade, and one could see the trails of smoke left in the air as the bullets abruptly curved away on impact with the cleaver.
Rainbow pressed forward, closing the distance between herself and her gun-wielding opponent.
Does this bastard ever reload? Rainbow thought as the bombardment of bullets continued.
Finally it stopped when she was two meters away from the pony, and she heard the pony's jetpack flare.
She thought he was getting away, so clearly she was surprised when he came back down with a long samurai sword.
Sparks erupted as Rainbow's cleaver clashed with the sword, and the pony's jetpack flared again. He flipped over Rainbow and landed behind her, the light blade already slashing back.
Rainbow blocked it without a problem, but she was pretty sure she heard the faint sound of hydraulics and motors when the pony swerved around.
She kept pressing, and the heavy cleaver slid through the samurai sword, slicing it in half. The cleaver then ran through the pony, but drew no blood.
"Knew it." Rainbow muttered as the de-headed robot pony walked around aimlessly, slashing the halved samurai sword.
Rainbow would've finished it off, but she needed to chase after the kidnapper. Quickly gliding over onto the roof of another car, she briefly saw the robot with the rocket launcher take aim, shortly before the rocket was launched and the blaze from it covered his figure.
Rainbow flew right at him, the cleaver slicing through the rocket. It was halved so fast and so cleanly that the detonation cap failed its job. The robot pony calmly began loading another rocket(well of course, robots probably aren't programmed to panic. The programmer would be weird if they were actually programmed to), but was too late and Rainbow launched a kick right into the side of its metal head.
There was a loud crack and a rip as the wires were yanked apart. It felt down onto the road, clunking and tumbling out of sight; its head barely clinging onto its body with a few loose wires. Rainbow wondered if Val could survive something similar.
A loud bang made its way through the howling winds, and Rainbow quickly rolled to avoid the bullet.
"No time for this crap..." she muttered to herself. The kidnapper was getting further and further away, but still in sight.
Suddenly the sniper robot's head exploded with a shower of sparks, and clunked dully onto the car roof it was crouching on.
"Fancy meeting you here." a bullet shell flew out of its chamber as Magnum reloaded, her jetpack flaring and landing on a car a few meters away.
"Where'd you get that?" Rainbow asked.
"Got it off a dead robot. It's pretty neat, ain't it?" Magnum said, tapping the jetpack on her back.
Rainbow mentally kicked herself for not thinking of it.
"I'll just head over there and get that guy's." Rainbow gestured at the sniper pony, and took off. Despite still being able to glide, it would be much better if she could just rest her injured wing.
"Hello. Sorry I was a bit late." Vinyl said, driving her car and weaving through the traffic.
"About time you showed up- and why are you driving that?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow at Vinyl's car as she took the jetpack off the dead robot pony.
"It's the only car I got, alright?" Vinyl said.
"It's a limo." Rainbow said, shrugging on the jetpack. "How do these things work again?"
"I'm pretty sure you just jump up and it'll activate." Magnum said, demonstrating by leaping up into the air. The engines blazed to life, propelling her even further.
"That'll work. And how did you know I was in trouble?" Rainbow asked.
"Shining Armor. One of his stallions noticed a missing helicopter, and we traced it a bit back. I was in the area, so he sent me. I'm sure you're glad to hear more reinforcements are on their way?" Magnum asked.
"Not at all. They should be HERE, not ON THEIR WAY." Rainbow growled, taking off after the kidnapper.
"Oh yeah. Take the mic- you'll need it." Magnum threw her a small metal disc. Rainbow caught it and lodged it into her ear.
"Can you see him?" Rainbow asked Vinyl.
"Yep." Vinyl replied. "Going after him."
"Magnum- can you take out the damn robots?" Rainbow asked, landing on the container of a truck to recharge the jetpack energy.
"That is a very unnecessary question." Magnum said, stepping to the right to avoid a bullet, and firing off one of her own and blowing the robot's head off in mid-air. "Uh-oh. Watch out."
Rainbow rolled forward as the out-of-control robot flipped through the air and crashed through the corrugated metal she was standing on a second ago. There was a soft beep from the jetpack, indicating to Rainbow that it was ready for another boost. She jumped up, and felt the powerful downward thrust push her up into the air. Leaning forward slightly, she was able to control her trajectory. She still hasn't worked out a plan for stopping the kidnapper's car yet- that'll have to be compromised. She couldn't get Magnum to blow the bastard's head off, since the out of control vehicle may very well kill Dainty too.
Suddenly the world around them shook as a giant passenger jet passed overhead, the engines' loud whine rattling Rainbow's brain in her skull.
"Son of a- What the buck?" she cursed, looking up. Passenger jets don't fly this low!
Suddenly a powerful thrust of wind sent her off her hooves, and she almost tumbled off the car she was standing on. The jet engines weren't whining anymore- it was more like a furious roar.
"Looks like the bastards are gonna try something real fancy again." Magnum said as the passenger jet flew mere meters away from the streets, the power from the engines crumbling the cars behind them and blowing them away and into the air. The kidnapper's car was beneath the passenger jet, and Rainbow could see large metal claws closing around the car.
"That ain't no passenger jet- it's a freakin customized flying fortress!" Rainbow exclaimed, taking in more details of the plane. She could see panels that obviously did not come with a normal plane, suggesting weapons storage beneath the panels.
"We need to somehow avoid those damn engines and get in!" Vinyl yelled.
"Best if you retreat now, Vinyl. That limo is gonna be make some serious damage if it gets flipped." Rainbow said, her jetpack sending a fresh blast of energy downwards and propelling her into the air.
"I'll get the reinforcements, then." Vinyl growled.
Rainbow had to use her wings, as the jetpack simply didn't pack enough of a punch to send her over the jet stream in time.
"Holy Celestia mother-bucking son-of-a-" Rainbow flipped through the air as a car flew by her, lifted and thrown away by the powerful jet stream.
"Shuck." Magnum said as the aircraft passed over a street filled with traffic, tossing all the cars up in a chaotic tornado and sending them tumbling across the skies.
There was a loud boom as Rainbow broke the sound barrier, slicing through the jet stream and too fast to be affected. She crashed down on the roof of the aircraft, the jetpack cracking into several pieces of her back and breaking away in a shower of blue sparks. She could see the chaos behind the jet as cars and just about everything else that was loose got hauled into the night sky, then came crashing back down in a metallic storm.
"Damn." Rainbow didn't dare flex her injured wing, because the wind up here would be enough to take her off her hooves should she suddenly increase her air resistance. She'll need to keep her wind resistance low. Her wing ached more than it ever did, and felt like it could be torn off at any moment.
On the other hand, she was on the plane, and the kidnapper was not too far away now.
*
Val sat in the dark detention cell, waiting for secure transport to arrive. Her robotic side was damaged by an EMP- damn the captain of the royal guard. He knew what he was doing- but he should've known his enemy better.
There was a soft beep, directly linked to Val's brain so nopony else would hear; indicating that the nano-bots had finished repairing the robotics. The nano-bots were sealed inside a small tube inside Val's arm, which could block out and divert the EMP, protecting the bots. She had released them the moment she got struck by the electro magnetic pulse.
She tried to wriggle her fingers, and they responded as beautifully as they always did. A grin crept its way onto her face as her mechanical eye buzzed back to life, adjusting to the light around her. She had hoof cuffs on, but those could be taken care of any moment. Her robotic leg was still damaged though, but even at this moment the bots were repairing it. It was almost done- she could already walk around. It was the same as regeneration if you ask her. Funny thing, none of the guards check on her. All they do is stand with their backs to her cell like statues- what fools.
Val stood up slowly, not making the slightest noise. There was a loud clang as she simply tore her hoof cuffs apart, the shattered metal rings clattering noisily to the floor in the silence. She closed her hands around the heads of the two startled guards, and crushed their brains in their skulls with a loud and satisfying crunch. Blood splattered onto her hands and arms, dribbling down through her fingers and forming large puddles on the floor.
She shook off the blood on her hands. Still wasn't clean though, so she ran her tongue along a metal fore-finger. Doesn't taste that bad- not as good as her own though, she thought.
She tapped the bars, disabling the alarm system. With a heavy kick, she sent the barred cell door across the hallway in a crumbled heap. No alarm went off, no guards alerted. With her usual toothy blood-thirsty grin stretched across her face, she strode out of her cell.