Starlight Express
The train rolled to a stop in the platform at Truro, its final stop. "This is Truro!" called the driver over the intercom. "Change here for services to Penzane, Plymouth, and Paddington!"
The doors slid open, and Sunny and her friends got off the train. "It's sure been a while since I last went here," Sunny said.
"So, how long have you been roller blading?" Pipp asked.
"Since I was about four," Sunny explained. "I'll let dad tell the story, as he's the one who taught me everything I know."
"Gladly," Argyle smiled. "Although the roller blading craze had somewhat faded away by the time I was your age, I thought it was a handy way to get around. It gave you your own set of wheels, it was very good for the environment, and steering was easy. And, of course, you didn't need to pay road tax on them. That's why I was so keen to introduce Goldie to them, though it wasn't really to her taste."
Zipp nodded, recalling how effortlessly Sunny could skate around on her roller blades. "And Sunny took to it like a duck to water. Like father, like daughter, huh?"
They continued to walk through the streets, chatting. "So, what is this event we're going to?" Hitch asked. "I've been to this rink before- I went for Sunny's tenth birthday party, for instance- but is anything different this time?"
"And what did you do for food?" Pipp asked.
"They've got an attached diner," Sunny answered. "But nothing but pizza isn't particularly interesting. And the animatronics are a bit creepy."
"Can I see?" Zipp asked. Sunny showed her a photo. "Yikes. That does look creepy. And didn't they have a problem with the animatronics smelling bad a few years ago?"
"They did," Sunny replied. "But we're a bit off topic. Tonight the rink is hosting something called The Ultimate Challenge. They basically transform the place into a racetrack, complete with speed lanes and similar. It's really good fun. Don't worry, those who don't have protective gear are supplied with it by the place."
Misty looked concerned. "Racing? That all sounds a bit intense, if you don't mind me saying."
"And hopefully there's no jumping!" Izzy said. When they looked at her, she explained. "There's a Lancashire supersticion that states that jumping in roller blades on a wooden floor can be bad luck."
"The floor is made of concrete, so there's no worry about that," Sunny replied. "Besides, this place is none of those things. It's a bit of fun, so the only thing that matters is that we enjoy ourselves."
The crew walked past the hospital where Misty was treated about a year earlier, and then turned another corner to reveal the large building before them. "We've arrived!" Sunny smiled. "Let's go in!"
After they had put their things away in lockers, they were quickly introduced to the place. They were soon to learn about how this place worked, and safe to say it was a bit of a surprise.
"OK, I was not expecting this," Sunny said.
The rink was on multiple levels, as was fitting for such a building. This was to allow multi level rinks to be assembled and put together, as well as racing along the upper floor and maintaining speed when going downhill. The entire place also seemed to have undergone something of a 1980s makeover. Neon blared from everywhere, and synth music was playing from the speakers. It was obvious who the target clientele was.
"I imagine this is right at home for you, Mr Starshine," Misty said.
"Not really," Argyle replied. "I came of age in the 1990s, so Oasis and Britpop is more my thing." He looked over. "Who's the woman over there?"
A member of staff overheard him, and decided to answer. "The figure in black with the helmet? We call her the Black Phantom. We don't know what she looks like and she speaks through a voice changer, but what nobody can deny is she's seriously good at roller blading. And no doubt she'll be braving the Ultimate Challenge tonight. Good luck if you choose to race her."
Sunny overheard this, and feeling confident decided to challenge them. "Hey," she said coolly. "I heard you're really good. How about a race, one on one?"
"You're on," said a heavily distorted voice. Sunny felt the voice somehow felt familiar, but dismissed that thought. There was no way this mysterious figure was somebody she knew, right? That sort of thing only happens in anime or manga.
The pair were now lined up on the start grid, and looked up at the lights. "Ready for a challenge?" Sunny said.
"Let the race determine if you're a challenge," the voice replied, as the lights began to shift. They moved from yellow, and then to green.
"3, 2, 1, GO!"
The pair blasted off the start grid and were soon flying down a straight. Seconds later, the straight transformed into a half pipe, and Sunny moved into the edge of the half pipe to try and maintain speed. Black Phantom was maintaining incredible speed as well, and was drawing ahead.
"Applying movement when going downhill? I've never seen that one before," Sunny said. She chased them at speed when the pathway suddenly split. Sunny went left and Black Phantom went right. Sunny roared across a bridge and soon rejoined the main pathway, when she saw a gap on the other side.
It seemed as though Black Phantom would fall off, but she executed an absolutely spectacular jump and cleared the gap, landing on the edge of the next path and sliding down a rail before jumping down to the main path.
"Watch and learn, kid," she said, before skating off.
Sunny was so stunned she temporarily lost concentration, and was shocked when the path split again. It then turned into some steps. "This is gonna get bumpy!" But then she spotted a way down. The centre section was dominated by a rail. Sunny then got her idea in her mind.
She jumped, landed on the rail, and skidded down it, using her hands to maintain her balance. "Let's hope this was a good use of playing Sonic games!"
At the bottom she landed next to Black Phantom, who glanced over in surprise. "Where did you come from?"
"Depends on what you mean by the question," Sunny answered. "If you mean where do I live, it's Falmouth. But I was born just across the road."
Black Phantom switched path and built up speed before thundering through a loop, before Sunny dropped down another sharp slope and kept up speed in another half pipe. The next stage of the run ran through a kaleidoscope of all sorts of trippy colours designed to disorient the rider. Sunny flew out of the other end and through a fog tunnel before seeing the finish up ahead. And there was no sign of Black Phantom. Sunny roared over the finish line and skidded to a stop. "Phew!" she said. "That was one of the toughest ones they've ever built."
"Ten seconds behind," Black Phantom said, revealing themselves to have already finished. "You're good, kid. That's the closest anybody has got. I'm off to take the lift back to the top. See you there."
Sunny was stunned. This person was seriously good. Just who was she?
The others all took the opportunity to race Black Phantom, and all of them got trounced in spectacularly short order. No matter what they tried, they always got ahead of them, almost as if they had run the course before many times before. The night drew on, and the races (and soda) flowed as they raced again and again. It was during one of the last races that everything suddenly changed.
Argyle was thundering along, when he suddenly spotted something. "The bridge on Black Phantom's side hasn't lowered! They'll fall into the depths!"
He swung round and pulled himself up to the relevant section and stopped, seeing Black Phantom approaching at speed. "JUMP! THE BRIDGE HASN'T DROPPED INTO POSITION!"
Black Phantom's body language indicated shock and confusion, and she jumped into the air as quickly as she could. But she slightly mistimed the leap, and flailed in the air as she flew forward.
Argyle locked the brakes on his blades on and got ready. Black Phantom flew closer within seconds was down below, her hands grapping the track.
"A bit of help, please?" she called.
Argyle resisted the urge for a wise crack and reached down to pull her up. He heaved with all his might, but in the impact noticed something odd. The voice hadn't been distorted at all. In fact, it sounded familiar.
Once he had finished hauling her up, he moved back to give her some space, and spotted her helmet had been knocked off.
And that he was looking into the face of somebody he knew very well.
Zipp sped past, saying the question for him. "Mom? Is that you?"
Back at the top, the group were sat around a table, and Black Phantom, now revealed to be Lady Haven, sat before them, explaining what was going on. "The truth is I've been doing this for years. Ever since I was your age, actually."
"How?" Zipp asked.
"As you probably know I was born in the 1970s, so was coming of age when the disco and roller blading crazes were at their peak. I took it up- though your grandfather disapproved- and became quite good at it, if I say so myself. Even when the craze faded I continued to roller blade, as it was good exercise and brought competition. It also spiced up the life of managing estates."
"But why the secret identity?" Pipp asked.
"Imagine how the press would react if they saw me out in public doing this sort of thing! The tabloids would have a field day!" Lady Haven sighed. "That's why I adopted the identity of Black Phantom. That way I could compete at my full potential without having to worry about people judging my performance just because of my social station." She sighed once more. "But I guess those days are over now. My secret is exposed. You all know now. It seems as though Black Phantom has run her last race."
"There's no need to give it up!" Argyle said. "You were amazing out there! It'd be a shame for you to throw it all away just because of an incident on the track!"
A worker walked past, and smiled. "Besides, there's nobody from the press here, and I think the only ones who saw the incident were you. Your secret is safe with us, Your Ladyship."
"And with us, too, mother," Pipp replied. "It's really cool to have a secret identity. Like a superhero!"
Zipp nodded in agreement. "The moves you were pulling out there were incredible. I could barely keep up!"
Lady Haven smiled. "Well, I do suppose I am something of a model of good physical health for my age." She reached forward and took a drink. "Well then, who wants another race!"
"You're on!" they all said.
Lady Haven popped her helmet on. "The Black Phantom rides again!"
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awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter five night at freedy's
11798314
Is there where you wanna stay?
A fnaf reference eh.
Ok?
Woah!
Ngl, something told me it might've been Haven as the title and a callback referenced in a past story gave the answer away.
11798766
1. Put in just for you.
2. All these jinxies! I cannot keep up!
3. Stunning, no?
4. I see you've been reading Rebirth of Magic. Of course you have, you've commented on them.
11798785
1. What a coincidence seeing how my birthday is tomorrow/the 14th.
4. Mhm.
11798787
1. In which case:
4. You got that right.
11798788
Thx.
11798302
And It worked perfectly. But, I can’t remember, did it have a working foghorn too?
Now, this was a fantastic chapter to read! I love the idea of her Ladyship being a champion rollerblader with a secret alterego!
11798797
Np.
11798973
I can't recall writing it as having one. Possibly a future project for the crew?
11798975
Fiction is full of characters with exciting secret lives; one of the first was The Scarlet Pimpernel, a novel about an English noble who has a double life saving French aristocrats from being executed in Terror-era France. It seemed only fitting to honour this long line of story writing.
Funnily enough, I'm not the only writer to have made this connection; 30 Rock, a sitcom in which Krakowski also starred, contained a number of allusions to Starlight Express as an in-joke. Although the show flopped in North America, it gained a huge fanbase in Germany of all places. It probably also helps rollerblading is really good fun.
11798988
Yeah, a good opportunity for a story.
As for me asking, I wasn't 100% myself as I tried to recall your take on The Fogman or somewhere story where you mentioned the Lighthouse's former glory.
11798991
That sounds awesome!
That is really amazing! And I believe with roller blading, my hometown has 2 roller skating rinks.
11798994
1. I think I may have, actually. A foghorn would make sense, mind.
2. It's good to hear the tradition is alive and well stateside; it's a surprisingly popular transport option in the heavily urban part of the world I usually call home, as traffic lights aren't a worry for them!
Huh, I thought this one might be related to the upcoming G5 comic where the mane 6 compete in a roller derby, and perhaps you got a copy, but there's no mention in the notes, so I guess it's all coincidence?
11804197
I actually penned this chapter before the comic was revealed/released, though I do plan to adapt the comic series at a later date.