Student 32: Sunset Shimmer

by Show Stopper

Arc 16 Chapter ?(2)

The date was pretty much over after that. Even if Ako hadn’t been too embarrassed to continue, Sunset wanted time to prepare for her confrontation with Takamichi. Chachamaru had found her shortly after she had separated from Ako and had confirmed that everything was on schedule. She’d explained that Chao would let Sunset fight Takamichi however and whenever she wanted, so long as she did so before he could really interfere with her plan; if she took too long, Chao would have no choice but to fight him herself. Sunset knew that Takamichi’s World Tree shift lasted until eight, so she wasn’t worried about finding him before he found Chao.

Sunset spent the next hour and a half leaping around the buildings within a few blocks of the World Tree Plaza, familiarizing herself with what was soon to be her battlefield. The buildings were of a fairly uniform height, though the track and baseball fields to the west might present a problem if Takamichi managed to put Sunset in between him and them. If there weren’t any people down there, he’d be able to fire off his full-power iaiken without worry. And from what little Chachamaru had hinted about Chao’s plan, everyone would be elsewhere watching as things went down.

So it was that as seven-thirty approached, Sunset found herself sitting in the boughs of the World Tree, watching Takamichi as he patrolled.

“You know, you kind of look like a stalker, watching him from way up here.”

Sunset watched as Evangeline leapt onto the branch next to her, dressed in a lolita witch’s outfit, complete with a broomstick in hand. “Shouldn’t you be out making grown men cry or something?” Sunset snarked.

“You’ve already done plenty of that,” Evangeline countered. “I’m just waiting for the show to start.”

“From way up here?” Sunset leaned over to look down the more than thirty meter drop. “Brave of you, considering your powers are still mostly bound.”

“Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary. Part of Chao’s plan involves dropping the barrier that surrounds this school. It won’t let me leave, but it will unseal all of my power that the World Tree isn’t able to release.” She chuckled as Sunset’s face went pale. “Don’t worry, I only plan to have some minor fun. I’m more of a bystander in this than you are.”

“Well that’s a relief.” Sunset turned her attention back to Takamichi. “...is she doing the right thing?”

Evangeline raised an eyebrow. “Having second thoughts?”

“Second. Third. Eighth. Twenty-sixth. Part of why I haven’t picked a side is that I’m not really sure whether Chao is wrong or right. I think that revealing magic to the world is a good idea, but it’s a delicate situation. Without knowing how she intends to do it, I don’t know whether she’ll create a new order or just chaos.”

Evangeline hummed at that. “Well, I suppose it’s really about the aftermath. A leader will have to step forward and take charge of the situation. Lead the world away from chaos and towards that saccharine harmony that you horses always go on about.”

“It may be saccharine, but it’s kept my country in relative peace for the past nine centuries.” Sunset sighed and checked the clocktower in the distance. It’s time. “I just hope Chao proves to be the right type of leader.”

Evangeline chuckled as the clocktower chimed the half hour. “We can hope.”

A small shiver ran down Sunset’s spine, noticeable only because she’d been looking for it. Even so, she’d almost missed it amongst the full-body shudder that ran through her as Evangeline’s power flared beside her. The school’s barrier was down. “Guess that’s my cue.” Sunset got to her feet as Evangeline leapt onto her broom, riding it side-saddle. “Have fun, I guess.”

“Same to you.”

*****

Takamichi watched as Evangeline flew off from the World Tree. He hoped that whatever had taken down the barrier, she wouldn’t take advantage of it to cause trouble. He didn’t have time to worry about that, though. Already he could hear disturbances coming from the lake and see figures rising in the distance. He cast a look around the plaza, but everyone seemed to have realized that something strange was going on; no-one was thinking about romance right now. Making sure no-one was watching him, he dashed for a nearby building and leapt up onto the roof for a better look.

He almost wished he hadn’t. Three colossal figures - each about thirty meters tall - were rising out of the lake to the south. He recognized them, of course; every mage that came to work at the academy knew about the six demon gods that had been sealed around the school centuries ago. But these demons weren’t fully released from their bindings. Rather, they were clad head to foot in some sort of white armor, full of wires and lights. The demons started walking north, and Takamichi could see a small army of… something at the demons’ feet. Was this Chao’s plan? Reveal these demons to the world? Or was she planning to use them for something further?

No time to think. He had to get to the lake before-

He dodged.

The roof beside him shattered, almost caving in completely. A young woman stood from the crater, red and gold mane blowing in the wind.

“Yo, Takamichi.” Sunset smirked at him. “Ready to finally show me everything you’ve got?”

Takamichi frowned. “Nichibotsu. I’m sorry, but I don’t have time for this. I need to-”

“Get to the lake?” Sunset interrupted, starting to pace around him. “Stop those colossi? Keep Chao from revealing magic to the world?” She stepped fully between him and the demons. “Sounds like you’ve got some urgent business to attend to. Better make this fast.”

“Nichibotsu.” Takamichi’s voice was both wary and weary. “So you’ve sided with Chao.”

“Not quite.” Sunset dropped into a fighting stance. “Honestly, I’m mostly staying out of this. But you want to stop her. And I want to fight you while you’re going all-out. So I figured I'd take advantage of Chao’s plan and stand in your way. You try to take those colossi on without beating me, and I’ll hound you the whole evening. Do you really think you can beat all three of them while I’m nipping at your heels?”

Takamichi stared from Sunset to the demons and back before sighing and sticking his hands in his pockets. His kanka flared in an instant. “Quite the opportunist, aren’t you? I’m sorry, Nichibotsu, but I need to stop Chao. I don’t have the liberty of holding back.”

Sunset smirked. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Takamichi.”

Despite the very real urgency of the situation, both combatants stood still for a time, each studying the other. Takamichi had Sunset outclassed in both raw power and experience, but Sunset had far more versatility. In addition, while Sunset knew everything that Takamichi could do, much of her skillset was a mystery to him. He was fairly familiar with her typical fighting style thanks to the tournament, but he had no idea what sort of tricks and surprises she could pull out. He had two options for beating her: do it carefully, or do it quickly.

Unfortunately for Takamichi, the approaching demons wouldn’t allow for the safer, surer strategy.

Sunset easily dodged his first kanka-reinforced attack, leaping to her right. Takamichi let the smallest grunt of frustration out of his throat; if she’d dodged left, he could have more easily maneuvered her between himself and empty space. He poured on a rapid series of strikes, reigning his power in so as not to too badly damage the buildings behind Sunset.

Sunset, meanwhile, had no concerns about the time limit. The distant collosi were slow moving, and it would take an hour at least for them to cross the distance between them and their destinations. She dodged attack after attack, keeping her pace and direction as unpredictable as possible. All the while, she inched closer and closer to Takamichi. It got harder to dodge the closer she came, but she counted it worth the risk. Come on, she thought as one invisible, super-fast blow opened a small cut on her cheek. Come on. Got to be almost there. Just a little closer. There!

Takamichi’s hands slipped fully out of his pockets, and he rushed Sunset. She brought her arms up, weathering a couple of blows as she smirked. One-hundred-and-twenty-six centimeters. That’s the minimum range for your iaiken. Let’s confirm. Sunset leapt back, placing herself right at the edge of his range. Takamichi flinched. Confirmed! Sunset thought as Takamichi took a single step back, returning his hands to his pockets. He hesitated. He had to decide whether to advance and punch or retreat and strike. Sunset poured magic into her ring, vanishing before Takamichi’s next strike could hit. She appeared behind him, just barely inside his minimum range. Takamichi turned, gritting his teeth as he saw exactly how close Sunset was. “Damn,” he muttered. “This is why I hate fighting clever opponents up close.”

Sunset chuckled. “You should have been more clever yourself. Pretended at a longer minimum range and struck me when my guard was down. But I’m guessing it’s been a while since you had to be deceptive at all with an opponent.” From the almost imperceptible glare Takamichi leveled at her, Sunset knew she’d hit the nail right on the head. “Figures. You’ve gone soft, Takamichi. I almost feel bad taking you down like this; I would have preferred to fight you in your prime.”

“This isn’t over yet,” Takamichi countered. He vanished, using instant movement to retreat several meters.

“Yes, it is.” Sunset was right in his face when he exited, her knee plowing up towards his stomach. He barely managed to block it with his own leg, though the angle was poor. He grunted as he was forced back almost a meter. His leg ached when he put weight back on it.

“This isn’t a traditional fight anymore,” Sunset said, pacing around him again. Stalking him from just inside iaiken’s minimum range. “It’s a chess match. I know all of your abilities - your pieces - and exactly how you can use them. All I have to do now is divine what tactics you’re going to put them to use in and counter them as they’re occurring. As I said, chess, and I’m pretty good at chess.

“But it gets worse.” Sunset smirked, coming to a stop behind and to the left of Takamichi, just far enough that keeping an eye on her was a strain on his neck, but not far enough to justify letting his guard down to turn. “Because while you’re working with pawns and a queen alone, I have an almost complete set of pieces. And unlike you, I’m not restricted to standard chess. You have no idea what pieces I have, or what they might be able to do. Heck, for all you know, my knight might be able to move like a bishop. One of my pawns might secretly be a rook. Heck, I could have horses, dragons, and shogi generals moving around, beneath, or over the board, and you wouldn’t even know. You’ve lost this fight already. Still, I’ll keep playing with you if you don’t want to face reality just yet.”

Sweat was beginning to bead on Takamichi’s forehead as he contemplated Sunset’s claims. Clever, intellectual opponents had always been his Achilles Heel. Opponents like Negi and Sunset. But Sunset had the combat experience that Negi lacked. What’s more, unlike in the tournament, they weren’t restricted to a ten-meter by ten-meter arena. Sunset had far more room to maneuver in, and many possibilities for cover. What’s more, a few of her spells could definitely curve around obstacles whereas his attacks could only operate in straight lines. If Sunset’s claims were true, then she was right; the match was already done.

If her claims were true…

Takamichi relaxed, letting out a sigh. “You almost had me.” He wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead before turning to fully face Sunset. “But you might have overdone it with the psychological tactics. You have tricks and spells I’m not aware of, I’m sure. But not as many as you claim. If you did, you would have used them more in the Tournament. You wouldn’t have had such a difficult time against Negi-kun or resorted to the time-out to defeat Setsuna-kun. Even now, you’re trying to frighten me rather than just pushing the advantage you claim to have. Tell me, Nichibotsu, how many of your hidden abilities are even game-changers?”

Sunset stared Takamichi down for a minute, her eyes burning with an indignant fury. Finally, she sighed, hanging her head. “To be fair,” she muttered, “I’m used to fighting psychopaths who want to bring about the apocalypse on some scale. Psychological attacks like that work wonders on them because they’re paranoid enough to believe them without question. You have to admit, I did have you going for a minute.” Her eyes rose, and Takamichi felt a shiver go down his spine. The look she gave him was intense, focused in a way few of his many opponents’ had ever been. Predatory.

“Unfortunately for you,” Sunset said, baring her teeth in a semi-maniacal grin, “unlike you, I love clever opponents. I was right to want to fight you, Takahata Takamichi.”

Magic poured into her ring and she vanished again. Takamichi whirled around, bringing up an arm to block her high kick from behind and a palm to catch her follow-up fist. She vanished before the punch could connect, appearing upside down before him a split-second later, her blow launching beneath his guard to strike him in the gut. She used the leg she’d kicked with before to push off of his upraised arms, teleporting again to drop that same foot on his head from behind in an axe kick. Another teleport saw her a couple of meters back, upside-down once again. She landed on her hands for only a moment, planting herself before launching a buck into the empty air behind her. Another teleport, and that buck was sailing straight into the knee of Takamichi’s injured leg.

Takamichi gasped in pain, dropping to one knee as Sunset teleported a meter in front of him, sweating a bit but with steady breath. “Easier to do with Equestrian magic,” she admitted. “My wellspring is bigger than the reserves I can pull in for Earth magic. Still, I’ve been working on that a lot lately. I could probably pull off a few dozen rapid-fire teleports if I really needed to.”

Takamichi took a deep breath, pouring ki into his leg to reinforce it before standing again. “That,” he noted, “is a very annoying tactic.”

Sunset smirked. “Effective, too. You might be able to guess at my first or second strike. Given enough experience against it, you might even block my first dozen. But all it takes is one blow getting through to ruin your timing and concentration. After that…” She gestured at his leg. “Well, you see how it goes.”

Takamichi grit his teeth, genuinely frustrated now. Sunset wasn’t just dominating this fight, she was toying with him. That rapid series of teleports could have ended with a much more significant blow, but she’d held back, aiming to injure rather than incapacitate. He understood, though; now that he’d seen through her bluff, she wanted to show him exactly what she could do. She wanted to beat him, and for him to know exactly how she’d done it.

She wanted him to see that he was absolutely powerless to stop her.

Takamichi wasn’t a vain man, but he wasn’t about to let someone decades his junior and new to his world’s magic take him down so easily. It was time to turn the tables.

He turned and fled westward, banking on Sunset’s pride to keep her from hitting him while his back was turned. He heard her following behind, letting him lead her for a short while at least. Not that he needed long. In a few seconds, they were standing on the baseball diamond.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about this arena? You’ll have to jump every time you want to strike me. It’ll be easy to dodge.”

Takamichi simply smiled in return as he returned his hands to his pockets. “Will it, now?”

Sunset stared him down with warry confusion for a moment, trying to figure out what he was planning. What new scheme Takamichi had come up with.

Takamichi’s Kanka vanished.

OH SHI-

Sunset threw herself to the side as a half-dozen strikes flew past where she’d been standing. She poured power into her ring, teleporting to just inside of Takamichi’s range on his left. “You little-”

Takamichi raised a foot and brought it crashing down, sending up an explosion of dirt and dust. Sunset shielded her face for a moment before lowering her arms. Takamichi was retreating, his hands still in his pockets. Oh no you don’t! Sunset teleported again, appearing to Takamichi’s right.

His iaiken struck her in the shoulder and sent her flying. “REFLECTIO!” Sunset barely managed to throw up a barrier before Takamichi’s follow-up strikes could hit her. Still, she had to teleport again as her barrier shattered under his assault. She hid in the cloud of dust, gritting her teeth as she massaged her shoulder.

Dislocated. Damn it, this is gonna hurt. With a single hard yank, Sunset popped her shoulder back into place. She grit her teeth, choking back her scream lest she give away her position. How the hell did he do that! Does the iaiken have a closer minimum range without kanka backing it? Did he guess where I was teleporting and step so I’d be outside his range? She peered through the cloud of dust, trying to glimpse Takamichi’s silhouette. With her vision obscured, it was difficult to remember in exactly which direction he was.

…oh. Sunset growled under her breath. Oh that cheeky little- The dust! He threw up this dust to mess with my aim! Without a clear view of Takamichi’s exact location, Sunset couldn’t pinpoint target her teleports. She’d be less likely to land right on the edge of his range; she’d either be a little too close and off balance, or a little too far and subject to his iaiken. And without kanka powering his strikes, he didn’t have to worry about them flying too far and causing collateral damage; the baseball diamond provided plenty of room for them to lose their punch.

What’s more, with her pinpoint accuracy shot, she couldn’t pull off her rapid teleport-strike combo again. Takamichi had taken her two greatest advantages and hampered them with a single blow. Sunset was furious.

And almost delirious with excitement.

Now THIS is a fight!

Sunset finally found Takamichi’s shadow in the cloud. She teleported, landing almost within arm’s reach of him. Both of them were startled, but Sunset recovered more quickly, taking the initiative and striking out. Takamichi blocked her, giving a little ground as he went on the defensive. Sunset rained blows down upon Takamichi, forcing him back with every strike.

Back… and to the side? Sunset frowned as she noticed that Takamichi was taking his retreat in a wide circle. As the dust began to settle, Sunset realized that he was deliberately keeping them within the baseball field. She focused more of her attacks on his side, trying to cut off his retreat.

She barely moved her head out of the way of Takamichi’s suddenly kanka-powered fist. She teleported away, preparing another barrier spell. Sure enough, Takamichi’s kanka dropped as his hands dropped into his pockets. Sunset started dodging and blocking again as the iaiken strikes rained down.

That was too close, Sunset thought as she teleported again, staying a few meters away from Takamichi as she strategized. And that was deliberate. He baited me into focusing too much on cutting him off. Wanted just one clean hit. She swallowed nervously as she dove for the ground to dodge another few strikes, rolling back to her feet and juking backwards to avoid another. Hate to admit it, but if he gets one solid blow while fully kanka-charged, that’s it for me. I might be faster than him in close-combat, but if he stays on the defensive, he might just manage to land a crippling blow before I can wear him down!

Sunset teleported again, throwing out a lance of fire. Takamichi turned, intercepting the spell before it had closed half the distance between them. Sunset fired off a series of sagita magica, but he intercepted every bolt with casual ease before resuming his attack, even finding time to stomp his foot again and renew the fading cloud of dust.

Sunset shouted in frustration and teleported close again, launching herself back into close-combat. She got one good blow in on his left shoulder before he managed to bring his arms up, and his kanka as well. Sunset poured magic into her ring again, shaping her sagita magica around one of her fists as she struck. Takamichi’s kanka absorbed most of the magic, but he was wincing now every time he was forced to block rather than dodge. Just one good strike, Sunset thought. One good strike past his guard, and I can lay into him with everything I’ve got. All the while, she knew he was thinking about the same thing.

Sunset suddenly cried out, her voice filled with rage and frustration. She cocked her ringed fist back further than before, an inferno swirling around it. Takamichi’s eyes went wide, and he brought up one hand, catching her blow.

So focused was he on the obvious punch that he didn’t notice Sunset’s other hand sneak beneath his guard, her palm flowing to rest against his stomach. She smirked as his eyes went wide. “Blame Ku Fei for this one.”

Sunset poured every ounce of ki she could muster into her arm and pushed. The explosion of pressure ripped a hole through Takamichi’s suit and blew the dust cloud away. Takamichi coughed out a gasp, accompanied by a small amount of blood. Sunset teleported backwards again, her left arm tingling slightly from the switch between magic and ki and back. She took a few deep breaths, watching as Takamichi sank to his knees, clutching his stomach. He hadn’t fainted dead-away like Mana had, but Sunset thought that his injuries might be worse than hers had been. Ku had more precision with her ki; Sunset had relied on brute force.

Once her breathing was back under control, Sunset approached Takamichi. “Yield,” she said. “If you try to fight with an injury like that, you’ll just end up doing more damage to yourself. You almost certainly have a few ruptured organs. If you don’t get treated immediately, sepsis will do you in.”

Takamichi coughed again, blood splattering on the ground. “You really didn’t hold back,” he muttered. He glared up at Sunset. “Still, I can’t yield. Chao’s plan-”

“Will continue without issue.”

Takamichi didn’t have time to react. Chao was there. Had been there. She’d touched something to Takamichi’s back and he was suddenly enveloped in a sphere of dark energy. He looked over his shoulder at her, shock warring with fear on his face. “Don’t worry,” Chao said. “I’ll make sure there’s a doctor there when you arrive.” The sphere rapidly shrank into nothing, and Takamichi was gone.

Sunset stared at Chao warrily. “What was that?”

Chao smiled enigmatically and held up a fist, revealing several small, black-tipped objects sticking out between her fingers. “Special bullets. With the ability to transport someone hit by them three hours ahead in time. From Takahata-sensei’s perspective, the fight is already over.” Seeing the look on Sunset’s face she waved her off. “Don’t worry. They take an insane amount of magic to work. Like my and Negi-kun’s time machines, they only work because the World Tree is shedding so much magic right now.”

Sunset nodded. “That’s a relief. It’d be far too easy to misuse something like that.” She frowned at Chao. “Did I come up against my time limit?”

Chao laughed. “Actually, not at all. I was honestly surprised you defeated him so quickly. But Takahata-sensei is too stubborn and self-sacrificing to give up just because of a little internal bleeding. And I don’t want him to die. Besides, you’d already won.”

Sunset considered arguing that the fight hadn’t technically been over since Takamichi hadn’t yielded, but she gave up; it would have been semantic and petty of her to insist on it. “So? What now?” She frowned and pointed at Chao’s fist. “You going to use those bullets on me, too?”

Chao shook her head. “I probably should, honestly, but I don’t think I really need to. You’re just standing aside for the rest of this, right? I’d rather not get on your bad side if I can avoid it. Besides, these bullets are expensive!”

Sunset chuckled. “Whether armies or revolutionaries, someone always has to keep the logistics in mind.” She nodded towards the World Tree. “Do you mind if I get a front-row seat to whatever it is you’re doing?”

Chao shrugged. “Feel free. Though you won’t want to be in the tree once all six of them get into position. It’ll be the epicenter of a massive ritual, and I’m really not sure what’ll happen to you if you’re sitting at ground zero when it goes off.”

“Fair enough.” Sunset gave the bloody dirt where Takamichi had been one last glance before turning towards the World Tree. “Well, good luck, Chao. I hope all of this was worth it.”

*****

It turned out that Chao’s plan was amazingly straightforward. The six colossi took their positions in a hexagon around the World Tree, Chao and a sniper somewhere - probably Mana - taking out all of the mage teachers and students with those black-tipped bullets. The general populace of Mahora stood back to watch the show, captivated by the massive creatures walking through the school.

Once they were in position, Chao and Hakase began their ritual. The spell was long and complex, and Sunset didn’t even try to understand the details of what was happening. As the incantation finished, the six colossi and the World Tree began to glow, quickly illuminating the darkening sky. Their brightness soon eclipsed that of the sun, forcing Sunset and every other observer to shield their eyes. When it faded, the World Tree was apparently unchanged. The colossi turned and began plodding back towards the lakes. Sunset stared in confusion, wondering what had just happened.

“I don’t get it,” she muttered as she made her way to her class’s building for the final night of the Midnight Horror route. “What did that spell do? It must have been something amazing; there was an unreal amount of magic being released. But nothing seems different. What could it have-”

“NICHI-CHAN!!!”

Sunset was pulled out of her musings as Yuna ran up to her. “Oh. Hey. What’s up?”

“What’s up? WHAT’S UP?! Didn’t you see that huge flash of light?! Or those creepy giant things?! I mean, what in the world was that?!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah, I saw it. But don’t incredible things happen all the time? This was pretty low on the strangeness bar for Mahora.”

Yuna paused for a moment, considering her point. “Y-yeah. I… I guess a lot of weird stuff does happen around here, huh? Especially around Negi-kun.” She eyed Sunset warrily for a moment. “Come to think of it, you get caught up in a lot of weird stuff too, Nichi-chan. And you were doing some pretty incredible stuff in the martial arts tournament.”

Sunset’s other eyebrow shot up as well. Why is she questioning this now? “Sure, I guess I was. But why didn’t you bring this up before? I mean, it’s been a day and a half since then. If you thought something was fishy about the tournament, why wait until now to mention it?”

“I… I don't know.” Yuna looked down and gripped her head with both hands. “I mean, I didn’t even think it was weird at the time. Really cool, but, it all had to be a show, right? Just CGI or something. But… but that’s not really how CGI works, is it? I mean, I’ve never heard of it being that advanced before. But, if it wasn’t CGI or some other trick, then…” Yuna looked back up at Sunset, her eyes filled with confusion, awe, and a little bit of fear. “Nichi-chan, what the heck is going on?”

And suddenly, Sunset understood what Chao had done.

Oh you clever little minx.

Comments

[Ariamaki]

All it takes is just a tiny crack, a little bit of acceptance and belief, to let the truth come flooding in.

[Pinklestia]

Oh this was clever.

[lord Martiya]

And this is why the staff should have feared Chao. Too bad they didn't know she knew exactly what she was doing...