Dazzle Robs a Bank

Chapters

Chapter 1: Much Better Career Choice
Chapter 2: Let's Get Ramblin'
Chapter 4: See You At the Safehouse
Chapter 3: Things May Get Hairy

Chapter 1: Much Better Career Choice

I can hardly believe I'm doing this.

Sunset rarely ran into any of the Dazzlings in town, even when very deliberately waiting around the spots Aria and Sonata had showed her while under the guise of 'just hanging out.' Progress in terms of friendship-building of any kind was slow, the three of them overall being lukewarm at best, even with Sunset herself. Still, she badly wanted to see the three of them as happy as Twilight's friends, now her friends, had ultimately made her, and she wasn't sure they'd get there on their own.

That feels like exactly the kind of well-meaning condescention I didn't want anyone giving me, right after the Fall Formal, but with the way those three treat each other...?

So here she was, involved in a crazy scheme that was partly her own doing, meant to help win over the Dazzlings and build a bridge between them and her friends. Adagio apparently got along with Rarity when working with her at the boutique and Pinkie said she'd talked to Sonata about pinecones for an hour once (Sunset didn't ask), but other than that, nothing. It would have to start with Sunset alone and go from there. She'd do something they wanted, then they'd do something she wanted, a fair, simple deal.

That Sunset would, in theory, be getting paid at the end of the Dazzlings' task made her feel like she was cheating them somehow. Then again, her own request wasn't anything hard, so maybe it went both ways?

Jogging down the street in a grey, two-piece suit, white, formal blouse, and black loafers, Sunset turned a corner to see three more girls in suits not unlike her own, standing near the back of a van and facing away from her. Sonata was's suit was dark blue, Aria's was a darker blue, and Adagio was dressed in beige. It might have been the first time Sunset had seen two of them not wearing heels, she probably wouldn't have even recognized them if not for their usual outrageous hair.

"I'm here," she called out, "you guys ready?"

Aria scoffed. "We were just wondering if you'd show up, Shimmer."

When the trio turned to face her, Sunset jumped with a start at their faces. Given a second to look at them, she saw they were wearing masks.

Clown masks.

White, scary, pitch-black-holes-where-their-eyes-should-be clown masks.

"We were just going over preparations," came Adagio's voice through a mask bearing a sinister smirk of smug superiority, an American flag painted over most of the surface, "you know what we're here for?"

"Y-yea," Sunset uttered, not sure where to look, "you guys remember our deal?"

Crossing her arms, Aria's dissatisfaction with that part of the plan was clear even through her own mask. It was a flat-nosed thing with light purple circles over the eyes, a thick layer of the same hue all along creepily-grinning mouth, as if applied by a toddler trying on mommy's make-up. "Yea, yea, we'll do it. But first we're robbin' a bank."

"No worries, Sunny! Though you might have to remind me later." Sonata's mask was by far the most horrifying. There was no evil smile, but if anything, that could only have made it less frightening. The mask bore curves along where a person's lips should be in a way that suggested the whole mouth-line was being pulled inward, like the jaw was somehow caving in on itself. Combined with the eyelessness of the thing, something about the dark red coloring on the exaggerated nose and the entire underside of the face promised death.

"G-good," muttered Sunset, feeling more uncomfortable with their agreement by the minute. She gave the three of them a quick look, unable to resist any longer. "So, gotta ask, what's the point of the masks? Your hair, well-" she brushed hand through her own vibrant, unconcealed locks, "-mine too, I guess, is probably gonna be a hint who we really are anyway, right?"

Adagio might have been rolling her eyes. "By the time we're done here, it won't matter. Besides," she said with a haughty hair-flip, "it's the principle of the thing. Honestly, what kind of villian are you?"

Sunset's jaw dropped. "I'M REFORMED! AND SO ARE YOU THREE!!"

"What?" Aria crossed her arms. "I don't remember agreeing to that."

Sonata shrugged. "Nah, she's kinda right, we haven't done anything really bad since the Bee-Oh-Tee-Bee."

"Pfft, whatever," Aria replied flippantly, "I'm still a bad girl."

"Well, regardless," said Adagio as she reached into a duffel bag resting in the back of the van, "we brought an extra just in case you made it." She pulled another mask from the bag, but it didn't match the clown motif they were wearing.

It was a yellow unicorn mask. With a long, red mane.

Sunset took it, scowling a little at Adagio, who she knew was smirking under that fake clown face. "Very funny." Still, if it meant she could hide her face when looking at those horrible clown masks, she put it on.

"Next," ordered Adagio as though going down a checklist, "armor."

A few minutes later, Sunset finished strapping on her second heavy shin-guard and gave herself a quick look over. Adorned with the thickest shoulder, chest, arm, and leg guards she could find, she wasn't sure why helmets weren't included in the van's armor selection. Maybe the Dazzlings' villainous fashion sense overrode the common type?

As it to reinforce the notion, she turned to see the others were all wearing considerably less than her. Sonata had the same thick chest-guard, but only backed it up with bicep and upper-leg protection, Adagio wore a heavy ballistic vest, and Aria was only wearing a light vest that fit under her suit jacket.

"Are you guys nuts?! We're gonna be getting shot at in there, I can't believe you're wearing so little!"

Aria shrugged. "Mobility's important too."

"So long as we shoot first," Adagio said with a chuckle, "I think we'll be fine. And if not," she patted a first-aid kit she had hanging from her waist. "I'll look after you."

Sunset was already grateful they were all wearing masks. "Right, so... guns? We're gonna shoot people?"

Sonata's giggles coming from that mask in this context sent chills up her spine. "Ah, don't worry about it, Sunny! Think of it like a video game and it'll be easy! Pedestrians are fifteen points!"

"No," said Adagio while slapping her most cheerful psychopath on the back of the head, "we want them alive, do not shoot civilians." Before Sunset could announce any measure of pride in Adagio's apparent benevolence, her voice tinged with a familiar, dark edge. "I'll be rounding them up to take as hostages!"

So close, and yet so far.

"On that note," Adagio continued, picking up a pistol and fastening a brass knuckle on the opposite hand, "everyone grab weapons."

Sunset found herself clutching a shotgun with a sledgehammer on her back. Aria was holding a submachine gun, but Sunset had seen her slip a thin knife into her sleeve. Sonata was holding some kind of assault rifle with a long barrel (I'm never going to get over that mask now!), but didn't seem to have anything for backup if she ran low on ammo.

Aria noticed too. "Not gonna bring like, a fire axe or a butcher knife, or...?"

"Nah," Sonata answered with a shrug, "I'll be fine."

Aria turned to give Adagio an unseen look, which was somehow responded to with a nod.

"One last thing," said Adagio as she drew a piece of paper from a jacket pocket, "we were given aliases for this little operation. Aria, yours is 'Star'-" Sonata giggled as Aria crossed her arms, "-Sonata's is 'Punch'-" Aria slugged Sonata on an unarmored part of her arm, earning a plaintive whine, "-Sunset is 'Jacket'-" Sunset still liked the look, "-and mine is-" she immediately crumpled the note, "-eh, Heels."

Aria and Sonata turned their heads to look at each other for a split second, then lunged to grab Adagio's arms. "Quick," Aria said to Sunset, "get the note!"

"Gyah!" Adagio struggled and kicked in their grip. "LET GO OF ME, YOU IDIOTS!!"

Feeling oddly mischievous, Sunset did as she was asked, snatching the paper and unfolding it to find out what Adagio was trying to hide.

"D-don't you dare read-"

"Snrk!"

Aria was audibly smirking. "What's it say?" Sonata had already started giggling.

"Nothing," Adagio answered with a hint of desperation, "th-there's no point the names and masks anyway, right? I mean, we won't really-"

Sunset couldn't help herself. "It saaaays..."

"SUNSET!!"

"Sorry, Dagi!"

"I swear I'll-"

"Her nickname is Fluffy!"

Letting go of Adagio's arms, Aria and Sonata immediately howled with laughter, Sunset holding her sides and nearly falling over as she joined in. About forty-five seconds later, the mad giggling was dying down, Sunset just noticing Adagio's stance.

They couldn't see her face through the mask, which was no doubt beet-red, but Adagio was just standing still. One fist was clenched, the other holding a gun that wasn't being used to silence the laughter, and Adagio said nothing until the others quieted down. Her tone was surprisingly calm. "Done? Finished?"

"Yea," Aria answered with a voice that could be mistaken for friendly as she patted Adagio's shoulder, "I think we're good."

Sonata stepped closer to give their fuzz-addled leader a one-armed hug. "Sorry about that, but it is pretty funny!"

Under her mask, Sunset gaped. Some little part of her was ashamed to have not even thought about the feelings of anyone involved here before reading the note, but this wasn't at all the reaction she'd have expected. No violent outbursts, no threats, empty or otherwise, no harsh retorts, no retort at all! And Aria and Sonata stopped laughing before Sunset had!

Did she really take my advice? Have they already toned it down to just this?! It's been a few weeks, but-

Adagio was shaking her. "Wake up!"

"Aah! S-sorry!"

Sunset sensed another eye-roll. "We need to get at least six bags worth of valuables, now let's move."

"Sure thing," offered Aria, "lead the way... Fluffy."

Sonata giggled, but Adagio didn't even look at them. Picking up her shotgun, Sunset opted to change the topic. "So, where's this bank, anyway?"

Adagio pointed across the street. To a building full of people that apparently didn't notice the four girls in full combat gear and crazy masks carrying on just twenty meters away.

Following the others to the entrance, Sunset had a really bad feeling about what they were about to do. And not just for the obvious reasons.

Author's Note

Sunset is okay with robbing a bank and shooting people! Is it all a dream? Are they playing parts in a movie? Something else? Make your guesses below for the chance to win Feel Super Smart when it's all over! :pinkiehappy:

This isn't necessarily a crossover in the traditional sense, in that no actual characters from the games will be making an appearance, but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't "Payday 2 with Sunset and the Dazzlings."

Been piecing this story together over the course of the summer. Finally ready to start sharing it!

Chapter 2: Let's Get Ramblin'

The peace in the bank was shattered with a gunshot aimed toward the roof, Sonata's smoking rifle a vibrant clue to what she had in mind as she leveled it at the crowd. "Stick your asses in the air, or we'll blow your hands off!"

Aria and Adagio maskpalmed in unison.

"I mean, hit the deck, dirtbags!"

Hearing the voice behind that mask, the people still didn't quite seem to understand, glancing around nervously, as though needing more to go on before reacting.

"Alright," Sunset said to the bank-goers, "everyone just-"

"GET. DOWN. NOW!!"

Adagio's loud, percussive command froze Sunset where she stood, her whole body lightly shaking as cold tingles ran up her spine. She felt something tap her shoulder, turning her head to see Aria's flat-nosed mask.

"She's talkin' to them. See?" Aria motioned to the people being tied at the wrists by Adagio and Sonata, all lying prone, face-down until their turns came.

Oh. Duh.

She had forgotten that the Dazzlings had once been intimidating all on their own, even if she hadn't seen Adagio's hippocampus aspect shout down Twilight's magic. Again, Sunset felt the benefits of her silly mask in conjunction with heat under it.

Aria chuckled, but her tone was sympathetic. "Toldja you'd be scared of her too."

Sunset let out a short, sheepish laugh. "Haha, y-yea. Guess so." That in mind, she hadn't forgotten what she'd witnessed that night in Fatbear's Pizza. When as many people as they had cable ties for were bound, the group went looking for the vault, and quickly found it.

"Wow," remarked Sonata, pulling on the valve with all her might, "this thing's shut tighter than Aria's pants!"

"Pfft," scoffed Aria, "it is not."

Everyone else's unseen eyes flickered down for a quarter of a second.

"Sooo," Sunset hesitantly inquired, looking at Adagio, "that underwear comment a while back, is it because-"

"Yes."

Aria started to blush beneath her mask. "ANYway..."

"Alright," ordered Adagio, "Punch, drill." There was a pause. She turned to knock twice on Sonata's mask. "That's you!"

Aria sounded confused. "You're actually using the names?"

Adag-Fluffy nodded. "Don't ask why, but the one who hooked us up with the equipment mentioned a 5% bonus to our cut if we did it." Hers might have been a little embarrassing, but they'd already laughed at her for it anyway. Suppose I've endured more than enough humiliation at this point to go along with it if it means a bigger paycheck. Maybe that little scuffle earlier was for the best? "So," she again turned to Punch, "the drill?"

"I have the drill!" She held up the bag she'd hung from her hip when they were gearing up at the van, a portable industrial drill.

Fluffy maskpalmed. "The thermal drill, the one big enough to crack a vault? That one might get us through a door or a wall-safe, at best."

Punch sounded irritable. "Well what am I supposed to do, carry a whole ton of different drills around?!"

"Just go get the thermal drill! Take Star as backup, the police should be here soon." She turned to Sunset. "Jacket, you're with me, we'll pile the hostages by the vault door and guard both until the drilling is done."

Star and Punch moved together, walking out the bank door and keeping an eye out for the other kind of sirens as they glanced back and forth across the street. For once, it was Punch complaining about the plan. "Why are we drilling the vault, anyway? Couldn't we just stick everybody up and tell them to open it for us?"

"I'm guessing there's some computer crap keeping it locked, like you have to authorize it like you would nuclear launch codes or something. That or, 'it's the principle of the thing' again. Either way, this is how we've gotta do it."

"Do you think Dagi is-"

Star cleared her throat meaningfully.

"Oh, right," Punch giggled, "do you think Fluffy is just playing up the bad guy thing for a little extra money? Like if there's bonuses for us wearing masks, too?"

Star was audibly grinning. "Who cares? We get to be bad guys again for a little while! This is gonna be awesome."

Slinging the bag containing the thermal drill over her shoulder once they reached the van, Punch gave Star the most inquisitive look she could manage through her mask as they headed back. "So, why'd she want me to fire off a shot when we went in? Why didn't we just tell everybody to stick 'em up, hit the deck, and drill the vault without the cops ever knowing we were there?"

"Fluffy-" she answered with only a light snicker, "-probably thinks something would go wrong, and I kinda agree. Even if nobody slipped away to call the cops, you think nobody'd ever drive by and see something we didn't want them to? Or someone call the bank, not get a reply, and notice something's up? Besides, what would we do if no one tried to stop us? Wait for the drill, bring every bag to the van, drive away? That's not a bank robbery, that's helping someone move."

"I guess that makes sense. Hey, how do you think D-Fluffy and umm..."

"Jacket."

"Right, how do you think Fluffy and Jacket are doing with the dirtbags?"

"I said, STAY DOWN!!"

Suns-Jacket watched in silent shock as Fluffy back-handed one of the braver (or less intelligent) civilians, who'd gotten up and started looking around fearfully. Apparently without having noticed the two masked robbers coming his way. The blow from Fluffy, though it didn't seem to include the brass knuckle, sent him straight back to the floor.

"Was... was that necessary? I know we didn't have cable ties for everyone, but I thought you didn't want us hurting potential hostages."

"I said I wanted them alive," she said as she forcefully hoisted one of the bound hostages to their feet, "slapping them around a little is fine." She demonstrated by shoving the man who probably only wanted to check his bank account today towards the vault. "Bank Vault. Move." She was also kind enough to escort him at gunpoint.

Maybe it was the way Fluffy's behavior brushed certain memories, maybe it was a direct response to her lack of compassion that made Jacket want to show more, but she was much gentler with the hostage she was moving, gingerly helping him to his feet. "Nice and easy, follow us to the vault, okay?"

Neither needed to say out loud why they were only moving them two at a time, but Jacket couldn't help picturing Punch voicing the question anyway. While it might have been quicker, Fluffy probably came to the same conclusion she did, that if they moved them individually, they'd feel divided, isolated, and weak when not on the floor, less likely to do anything dangerous.

"So, F-" Don'tlaughdon'tlaughdon'tlaugh, "Fluffy, how have things been going with Rarity?"

Fluffy spared Jacket a quick glance over her shoulder. "Instances in which she actually needs me to wear her designs are few and far between. While she pays better than I'd anticipated, she can't manage much, hence doing-" she made a vague gesture to their surrounding area with her pistol as she pushed her hostage to the ground by the vault door, "-this. For the most part, I've been getting little gifts in the form of, admittedly, very nice clothing in exchange for letting her use me as a living mannequin, which isn't exactly difficult, and helping around the boutique."

Just a little teasing would be fine, right? "And letting her play with your hair?"

"She does not 'play' with-" Fluffy stopped, turning to look at Jacket. The quiet, earnest surprise in her tone was the only reason this didn't draw a flinch. "wait, how did you know she...?"

"Well," giggled Jacket, "apart from it being Rarity we're talking about? Your hair looks a little straighter. Still really wavy, but straighter than it used to be." Before today, Fluffy hadn't known warm smiles could be detected through a voice. "It's a good look for you."

Fluffy's mask emitted nothing but the sensation of a silent stare before it quickly shifted toward a nearby window. "K-keep an eye out for the police, they should be here any-"

Not too far away, they heard the rat-tat-tat of Star's SMG. They were here.

"Damn, let's grab a few more hostages and hunker down by the vault, Punch should be back with the drill soon!" They managed to move two more to the vault without so much as seeing any cops, though the encroaching gunfire was definitely getting louder.

Star came charging around the corner, her gun smoking. "Six already!" From the sound of her voice, she was enjoying this. "How many have you guys got?"

Fluffy readied her pistol, glancing around for any sign of someone carrying guns and not wearing crazy masks. "It's to your credit that we haven't seen any yet. Where's the drill?"

"Coming!" Punch was moving at a snail's pace as she dragged the bag carrying the thermal drill.

Star chuckled. "She didn't even shoot one."

Slinging the bag against the vault door, Punch huffed. "Screw you, this thing is heavy!"

"Pfft, excuses."

Ignoring their squabble as Punch set up the drill, Jacket scanned the immediate area by the vault door. There were doorways to watch at the left and near-right, plus the corner Star and Punch came from to the far-right down the hall. At the far wall was a window she'd have to watch for anyone trying to pick them off from the streets. Fluffy seemed to be thinking something similar, leveling her pistol at the window.

Star glanced around anxiously. "Well, what're we standing around for? Let-"

"The drill," Fluffly answered flatly, "we're waiting on the drill. To rob the bank."

"Yea," added Punch, apparently feeling sassy, "try to pay attention, Star."

"Tch, whatever." Star looked at Jacket, the mask making the hairs on the back of her neck twitch. "I'm gonna go shoot more dudes, you in?"

Glancing back and forth between Star and Fluffy, Jacket was gripped by indecision. "Uh, er-"

"We should be alright here," said Fluffy in a relatively assuring tone, "they won't send in heavy firepower as long as we have hostages, you two can keep the bulk of them from closing in on us at once."

Jacket counted four people tied up and lying by the vault door, where Punch had just gotten the noisy thing fired up. "Alright," she shouted to be heard over the cacophony of metal versus metal, "holler if you need anything!"

Turning the corner with Star, Jacket was immediately startled by a man in a SWAT uniform leveling a heavy SMG at her, finger already on the trigger. Not thinking, she shrieked, swinging her sledgehammer straight for his face and sending him to the floor, motionless. By the time her brain caught up with what she'd just done, she noticed three more SWAT guys on the ground, Star chuckling and her gun smoking.

"Nice one, you even got a battle cry in there."

"Y-yea. No sweat."

"I'm still up on you by eight, let's roll!"

Jacket just focused on following Star, hoping she wasn't just employing the terrible tactic of wandering around at random hoping to find more people to shoot. Or run up and bludgeon, in Jacket's case, which Star eventually caught on to.

"Uh, you know you're carrying a shotgun, right?"

"I'm saving ammo."

"Uh-huh. You're also the one carrying the ammo bag."

"I'm saving more ammo!" Sunset wasn't deeply familiar with guns, but she didn't want a repeat of the Fatbear incident. Though, technically, that would require her entirely dropping the gun and hugging someone while not paying attention to-

She was snapped awake by the impact of bullets against the armor on her chest and forearm, turning and blind-firing in the direction it had come from at the same time as Star's much more concentrated fire.

When the nearby police were all down, Jacket swore Star was smirking. "So that's the real reason."

"What?"

"Using your hammer because your aim is crap."

"WHA-?! My aim is just fi-"

"Sure, sure," she said with a chuckle, "hey, whatever works."

Jacket grumbled, but she would use this fury in her hammer swings. Shotguns were hard to aim with anyway, more-so at a distance!

With the next wave of SWAT guys came two tall, black monoliths that seemed to float just off the ground. Upon closer inspection as the cops behind them started firing, it looked like the monoliths were just thick slats of metal being held up by one extra-armored SWAT guy each. Star ducked behind a pillar and picked off the standard SWAT units by popping out, firing, and taking cover again, Jacket focused her fire on the guys with shields. It looked like results were mixed; the distance minimized her shotgun's effectiveness, but the spread of the shells seemed to have enough impact to slow them down, even if it didn't get through the metal.

"Star, loop around and shoot them in the back!" Jacket glanced to the pillar she'd seen Star using for cover. "Star? Where-" She was nearly knocked over by one of the shield guys ramming into her at full speed, the sudden, painful impact and proximity of the enemy responsible filling her with rage. Nearly snarling, she swung in full force with the sledgehammer, clanging it against the shield, staggering its holder, and pushing him back. Going a step further, she rained down wilder, faster swings to floor him, then brought the hammer down on his head when he was trying to get up.

Saving ammo.

She quickly looked around, eyes wide and alert under the ridiculous mask. There were no other SWAT guys in her sight, not even the other charging guy, but she heard Star's SMG around a corner. Rushing in that direction, she turned just in time to see Star getting crushed up against a wall, the Charger bashing her with his shield. Jacket sprinted over, slammed her hammer into the side of his knee, and punctured his helmet with sheer force when he'd fallen over.

"Ugh," came Star's pained groan as she sat slumped against the wall, "was tryin' to shoot through his little, damn peep-hole thing in the shield, needed to reload. Go get Fluffy, I think my ankle's twisted."

"I'm here." Fluffy approached at a rather leisurely pace for a criminal in a building surrounded by the police, Jacket turning to her.

"That was fast."

"I came to get you two, we should be through the door soon."

"That's great," remarked Star, "still injured here." Fluffy casually walked up to her and knelt down, but didn't do anything. "What are you waiting for?! Help me!!"

The team doctor's tone was worryingly calm. "What do we say, Star?"

"Wha-?! Are you nuts?! Just fix me up alrea-"

"What do we say, Star?"

The downed robber groaned with exasperation as much as pain. "P...'Please, do your damn medic thing before more cops show up'?!"

"Good start. Now about when we were gearing up..."

"Oh, come on, you've gotta admit 'Fluffy' is a funny na-"

"What do we say, Star?"

"God, you've gotta be the most-"

"What do we say, St-"

Star groaned with pure exasperation this time. "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I'm sorry I laughed at you, okay?!"

Fluffy chuckled, gripping Star's injured foot in both hands. "Good girl, now hold still."

"What are you gonna-"

Crack!

"OW, SONOFA-"

Crack!

"Ohhh," Star muttered with a light giggle, "tha-hat's actually pretty nice..." Most of the pain in Star's ankle effectively vanished, Fluffy lightly massaging the area with one hand and retrieving a cold compress from her bag with the other.

Lifting Star to her feet a moment later, Fluffy almost sounded like an actual doctor. "Try not to run around too much and you should be fine."

So THAT was it, thought Jacket, she wasn't just tolerating a laugh at her expense and letting it go, she was biding her time! She knew we'd be counting on her if we got hurt, and I was the one who read the note... A little thankful her expression was hidden behind a unicorn mask, Sunset resolved not to let Adagio trap her the way she did Aria, that she wouldn't get taken down or put in a position where she'd have to beg for help when she needed it. Should be easy with all this armor!

"By the way," said Fluffy, "watch out for vent covers, Punch was drop-kicked by a lunatic that jumped out of one and threw a smoke bomb."

Star stopped where she was. "What."

Fluffy nodded tersely. "Be wary of men in gimp suits with green lights attached, is all I'm saying."

"...What."

Ignoring Star and Jacket's mutual confusion, Fluffy led them back to the vault, walking past at least two dozen dead SWAT guys to see Punch kneeling down by the hostages, leaning really close to talk to one of the bank tellers they'd taken captive.

"Punch," called Fluffy to be heard over the drill, "what are you doing?"

Punch turned back to face them, Jacket just looking away this time. "I was just telling the dirtbags that everything would be okay, that we probably wouldn't even have to bust a cap in one of 'em as an example! But I had to get real close so they could hear me."

Goddammit, thought Jacket, just thinking about that horrible thing up close is gonna give me nightmares! She had a whole new level of sympathy for the hostages now. Looking down at them, she noticed a body that startled her; a black-leather clad man with glowing, green goggles. Judging by the bullet holes, he'd been shot in the back of the head around five times. If they have changelings in this world, I bet this is what they look like.

About a minute and another dead SWAT team later, the vault door slowly slid open, but to the robbers' immediate and collective irritation, there was no money, no jewelry, no gold, no anything on the little table in the center of the room.

Star sounded like she was smiling as she went in. "Jackpot!"

Punch groaned. "Do I really have to be the one to point out the obvious to you?!

Drawing a lockpick from her coat pocket, Star nodded to the safe deposit boxes lining the walls, turned to Punch, and just stared at her.

Punch's blush wasn't visible, but her sheepish stance was. "Oh... Right."

Huh, thought Jacket, Aria knows how to pick locks? Guess that's part of her 'favorite task'?

"We'll defend her while she works," ordered Fluffy, hoisting one of the bound civillians to his feet, "start moving the hostages into the vault."

Jacket (gently) grabbed a hostage in much the same way, but Punch apparently hadn't learned anything watching the two of them.

"You, get up!" No response from a balding man in a blue shirt and black vest. "Get up, dirtbag!" She had to kick him to get him to comply, but gunfire in the distance seemed to make him panic, looking around everywhere (even at blank walls) for the source. Then he caught sight of Punch's mask, screamed, and staggered in the opposite direction of the bank vault, straight into three SWAT members coming around the corner.

"Don't shoot," said Fluffy, despite the fact that bullets were already impacting the cover she, Jacket, and Punch were ducking behind, "you might hit the hostage!" Seeing the police untie her wayward captive seemed to change her tune. "Alright, shoot, but aim carefully!"

Jacket held her fire, knowing she couldn't reliably aim with a shotgun, but Punch's rifle punctured the knees of two SWAT officers while Fluffy drew their fire by popping out where they could easily see her and immediately ducking back. Jacket wasn't sure in the cacophony of battle, but it sounded like Adagio was shrieking with barely-suppressed fright under that mask every time they aimed at her. Sunset smiled.

Ohh, Dazzle.

While Punch was finishing off the two downed police, the third took aim at her and fired, despite the fact that the man in the blue shirt was still standing around between them.

The former hostage fell over, dead.

Fluffy exploded. "HEY!! WHAT KIND OF GODDAMN COP ARE YOU?!"

Still working on the deposit boxes, Star called over her shoulder. "The careless kind!"

Punch took the opportunity to shoot Officer Unfettered in the leg. Fluffy motioned for her to hold fire, stomped out of the vault, and trained her pistol on the wounded cop's head, her tone murderous. "Drop the weapon."

To Jacket's surprise, he complied. She watched in quiet fascination as he was booked (Is that the right term? I wouldn't really know...) with his own handcuffs.

Fluffy put a hand on her new hostage's shoulder, pushing him toward the others. "You're my bitch now. Get in the vault."

A minute later, the four robbers, three civilians, and one SWAT team member were all in the vault, waiting for the next police assault as Star kept picking locks and bagging valuables. Jacket glanced over her shoulder at her, and couldn't help an eerie little feeling itching at the back of her neck.

Star was lifting her mask just enough to reveal her mouth, her tongue extended to gingerly touch the edge of the lockpick before getting to work.

Jacket's jaw dropped. "What the Hell are you doing?!"

Star jumped with a start, glancing over her shoulder. "P-picking locks, do ya mind?!"

Sighing, Fluffy retorted before Jacket could. "Some people have hobbies, Jacket."

She was only more baffled. "Whuh, I, thah, buh-"

"Hey guys," Punch asked conversationally, "are bullets pointy?"

"Some models for higher-caliber weapons," answered the bound SWAT member, "why do you ask?"

"Well, if they make holes in people, they must be at least a little sharp, like a drill when it goes into your eye. Right?"

The cop didn't have an immediate reply.

Some part of her mind rejecting everything that was happening here, Sunset wondered if wearing those evil clown masks might be having some kind of effect on the Dazzlings, more-so as Punch turned her rifle around and started to look straight down the barrel, Jacket quickly reaching out to stop her.

"Haha, w-why don't you just focus on lookout, Punch?"

Jacket cursed herself for not anticipating Punch's mask looking directly at her, thought it sounded like the girl beneath was smiling. "Okay!"

Author's Note

Sonata as Wolf. I think it fits.

Also, Aria likes picking locks. Really, really, likes picking locks.

Payday 2 is an odd creature as far as shooters go, in that camping by the objective isn't just a valid means to win, it's usually the smartest option, provided said objective isn't far removed from cover. There's nothing to gain in racking up a body count and it's easier to defend one spot than to patrol the map and triple the risk of getting blindsided by a cloaker.

Chapter 4: See You At the Safehouse

Sunset awoke amid sounds of electrical humming and the heavy Bweeooooo of a machine powering down. Everything was dark, save for a green, spherical, translucent surface in front of her. She heard a loud hiss that made her think of an air-lock in a science fiction movie as the door to her pod slid open. Stepping out and stretching a little, she found herself in the lab she'd entered earlier today.

It looked as much like a Hollywood mad scientist's kind of place as when she went in. There were big, thick wires that someone was probably going to trip over running all around the floor, big, chrome spheres crackling with electricity at the top of shiny rods, flickering lights Sunset wasn't sure were there for more than decoration, the works. She liked it. Stepping out of metallic pods similar to hers were the Dazzlings, who looked similarly groggy, most of all Aria. She probably wasn't a morning person. The four of them heard a synthetic, female voice over the intercom.

"Thank you for taking part in the development of the Dis-Corp state-of-the-art Reality Reconfiguration Receptacles. Your time and effort are a vital part of the research process. As promised, you may collect your payment on the way out, and we hope to hear from you all again soon."

Slowly swinging her arms in a circle to shake the stiffness off, Aria chuckled. "More V.R.? I could do that."

Sonata gave her an amused grin. "You have fun shooting those coppers, Star?"

Aria ignored the nickname and took up a proud, hands-on-hips pose. "Forty-three kills, even got a Hunter on the way out." She grinned cockily to the others. "How many'd you guys get?"

Adagio shrugged. "I only cared about the objective, casualties weren't even an afterthought. More-so when all of our hostages perished." Seeing Sunset flinch and turn away in shame made her wish she'd worded that a little differently.

"Tch, figures." She turned to Sonata. "How about you?" There was only a shrug, which made Aria look almost pleadingly at Sunset. "Uhh...?" Smiling apologetically, Sunset shook her head. With an exasperated groan, Aria pulled at her own pigtails. "None of you even kept count?! How am I supposed to brag if I've got nothing to compare it to?!"

Adagio gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Let's just say you probably killed the most imaginary people and go get paid, alright?"

As they headed out to the lobby, Sonata gave Aria a smug look. "Toldja I'd be fine without a melee weapon!"

Aria just rolled her eyes, looking at Sunset. "Speakin' of, great job with the hammer in there." Crossing her arms, she gave what might have been a semi-admiring smirk. "May not have stopped the big guy, but damned if you didn't look like a raging badass trying."

Scratching her head, Sunset actually blushed. "Eh, thanks?"

"Yea," giggled Sonata, "you know you're a little scary with that thing?"

Sunset could only stare back at her, lost for words.

Waiting for them on a table in the lobby were four handbags, looking exactly like miniature, purse-sized versions of the duffel bags they took the loot in during the simulation. Adagio didn't even have to snap her fingers for Sonata to jog over, open a bag, and look inside.

She smiled at the others, holding up a wad of bills. "We're in the money!"

Smirking with satisfaction, Adagio stood with a hand on her hip. "One of those bags is yours, Sunset Shimmer, as per our deal."

Sunset smiled for two reasons. "Speaking of which..."

"Ugh," complained Aria with crossed arms as she looked at Adagio, "do we have to?"

Adagio nodded. "A deal's a deal." She looked at Sunset. "You helped us when we came to you with the job offer for the four of us to test the equipment here, so we'll attend school for the full day for a week." Glancing at Aria again, her smile vanished. She spoke loudly enough that she was sure Aria and Sonata could hear. "However, as we agreed, if we go there and find nothing but grief, we're gone. No revenge on our harassers, but no excuses to stick around, either."

Sunset smiled, her tone reassuring. "There won't be a problem, I promise."

Adagio didn't look sold. She nodded to Aria and Sonata, who picked up the bags, threw one to Sunset, and headed for the door. "I intend to find out for myself, but what makes you so certain?"

"I talked to just about everyone on your enemy list that goes to CHS, and-"

"W-wait, when did you see the enemy list?"

"Rarity's birthday, while we were looking for you. My friends were the first place they checked and I joined in from there."

"Oh."

Sunset giggled. "It's actually not as wide as you guys might think, the list of people that really don't like you? I've gone around and talked to people over the past few weeks, almost everybody's moved on, and even those that haven't aren't going to start trouble."

Adagio nodded a little, glancing around to find just herself and Sunset in the lobby of the Dis-Corp-owned building. Just the same, she kept her voice down. "Nobody particularly likes being cornered by a hostile crowd, Aria in particular. If everyone we saw were to give us hostile looks, there'd be nothing I could do to keep her from bailing."

"It won't be a problem." A thought occurred. "And, why is she afraid? I thought she beat up a bunch of kids by herself a while back."

"Yes, while wearing the star uniform." Blink. "Or, so the story goes..."

"Right. So shouldn't it be easier for her to fight back without it weighing her down, if she needed to?"

"Maybe, if she had hypothetically been using the suit as padding to protect herself instead of a full-body weapon."

"...How."

Adagio averted her eyes. "I'm sure I can't say, I wasn't there. Besides, it was only a rumor, right?"

Not wanting to think too hard about Siren logic, Sunset shook her head. "Right, well, anyway, I don't think anyone'll bug you guys too much, and if they do, just tell me. Okay?"

Crossing her arms, Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Come to think of it, are you really any less subject to ill will than the three of us?"

Sunset smiled somewhat ruefully. "Well... no." Then the rueful part vanished. "But that's all the more reason people'll be more willing to forgive you guys, comparatively speaking! I mean, you three only did what you did for a few days and then vanished for a while, and it's a lot harder to hold a grudge for something like that than a three-year reign."

She still looks worried about something. Should I say it helps that they're all really pretty girls, or would that make it sound like they'd get harassed for different reasons? Would they like that kind of atten-

Sighing quietly, Adagio nodded. "I guess that'll do." She glanced at the bag in Sunset's hand. "Any plans for the money, or is that just a bonus to you?"

"Umm..." Sunset opened the bag, finding more than she'd expected. "Oh, wow!!" She heard Adagio giggling at her.

"It's proportional to the amount we got away with, and as we escaped with about thirty-three percent more than was necessary, we got a little more each. The man in charge of this place mentioned something about it helping immersion in his first message to us, how it's arguably the whole point of virtual reality."

"Maybe, but I can't believe we're getting paid half this much to play a game!"

"Well," Adagio poked her in the stomach, "did it feel like just a game to you?" The pained grimace as Sunset remembered her virtual injury said the shotgun blast had felt pretty real. "That's what they're really paying for, the reason we had to sign those papers on the way in." She stepped back, folding her arms behind her back and giving Sunset a somewhat guilty expression. "Well, that, and the possibility of going temporarily insane, like testers before us..." Adagio offered a sheepish smile. "So, on that note, how are you feeling?"

Sunset smirked a little, lightly knocking on her own head. "Still got all my marbles, don't worry." It mildly worried Sunset herself that Adagio looked legitimately relieved. How real was the danger in there? The two of them walked out of the lobby together, continuing on the same path down the street. "So, I noticed you seem to bicker with those two a little less, how's it been going?"

Adagio turned to look at her as though not sure how to answer, thinking for a moment. "W-well..." She shrugged, a tiny smile making Sunset hopeful. "I took your advice, kind of."

"Kind of?"

"To make them less afraid of me. I didn't want to just wait for them to work out on their own that I'm not trying to intimidate them anymore and saying it outright would only make things worse, so I shared a secret..."

The sirens stood in the living room of their small house, Adagio having asked that Aria and Sonata meet her there to discuss something important. For the first minute, nobody said a word, the air increasingly tense as her former underlings (it felt disingenuous to say they worked for her anymore) traded worried glances.

"Aria Blaze," began Adagio in a level tone, "Sonata Dusk. I need to talk to you two." She knew full well that those words were fantastic for making people more afraid, in addition to use of full names, but the sharp contrast to what was coming would only help her.

Trying to pretend Sonata's knees weren't shaking, Aria kept her voice as steady as possible. "Y-yea, what?"

"There's something both of you should know. In all the time we've known each other, I've been letting you believe a lie, something that made controlling you easier for me. I've had more than enough time to think it over, and I wanted to come clean." She took a deep breath, her face solemn. "Aria? Sonata? I don't actually just know when you're lying to me."

"WHAT?!"
"FOR REALZIES?!"

Adagio just looked back at them, heart thudding in her chest as she waited for further exclamations of shock, scornful judgement, enraged shouting, whatever they'd throw at her for this.

Aria was the first to speak coherently, shaking her head. "No, bullcrap, is this some kinda loyalty test? I know you've got some sneaky trick for getting into our heads, there's no way you've always just-"

"There's no trick."

"Then how-"

"Logical deduction, obvious tells from Sonata, and the occasional lucky guess."

Sonata flinched, both at the accusation, and Aria's sudden glare that felt like 'You little snitch!' "B-but, but, h-how, that time at the zoo, you just totally-"

Adagio shook her head, her face still calm and passive. "The peanut boy told me just before you two came around the corner."

Aria clenched her fists. "That little snitch!!"

Huh, thought Sonata, called it.

"So, anyway," Adagio continued, "I shouldn't have manipulated the two of you that way for so long, that was wrong of me," she folded her hands in front of her, looking down to the point they couldn't see her face, "and I'm sorry."

There was a short silence. "Yea, well," mumbled Aria, "I, totally knew it all along."

Adagio looked up. The statement had been delivered without much conviction, but Aria was still looking at her as though hoping for a sign she was in her head that very instant. Adagio offered only a sheepish little smile and a shrug back. "That one sounds like a lie. Is it?"

Blinking twice, Aria crossed her arms and turned away, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. "Maybe. Not tellin'."

Before Adagio could comment on that rather weighted tell, Sonata got right up in her face, which made her draw back with a start.

The blue girl's stare was wide-eyed, but passive, showing no trace of any emotion. "Hey, Dagi. I forgot to put on underwear this morning."

Glancing at Aria, Adagio couldn't even get a hint as to how she was expected to respond, so she made a guess. "Erm... T-true...?"

Sonata beamed. "Nope!!" Then she went back to her very forced, but nigh-impenetrable poker face. "Sometimes I watch you in your sleep."

Please be false. "True?"

Beaming again, Sonata snorted. "Nope! I knew you'd think I'd say something you thought had to be true the second time!"

She giggled madly, leaving Adagio a few seconds to look to Aria, who was just facepalming with a little smile. Adagio hesitantly grinned herself, actually feeling pretty good about this so far.

"Hey, Dagi! Sometimes I like to make funny faces in mirrors."

"Sonata, I know that one is true because I've caught you doing it a few times."

"Oh, yea..." Sonata scratched her head before smiling. "My record for jump-rope is six hundred and forty-three skips!"

Shrugging a little, Adagio regained her wavering, uncertain smile. "Ehm, false?"

Blue brows furrowed. "Hey, I thought you said-"

"Deduction that time, one specific number against a few thousand possibilities, so I opted to err on the side of caution."

Aria started snickering, but Sonata paid her no mind. Grinning, she put her hands on her hips. "Alright, Miss Smarty-Pants, how about this one..."

"I-I spent the next few days scared, after that," Adagio muttered, "I was sure they'd get back at me somehow, use the knowledge that I could be fooled against me. I didn't know how, and for a while, that was the worst part. I figured their smiles were just a ruse to lull me into a false sense of security before I'd get a tin of hot sauce to the face, or electrified thumbtacks in my chair, or even just a sign that says 'Rape Me' stuck to my back, but they never really went past poking fun at me." She gave Sunset a curious look. "Is that odd?" Judging by the way Sunset's jaw hung open, maybe she should have expected something.

The former bully struggled to form words. Even at her worst, she'd never tried any of those things. There'd never been a reason to do something so extreme and even schadenfreude only went so far. I'm not a monster anymore. "They... do those things?"

Adagio shrugged a little. "Well, those are some of the more extreme examples of the pranks I've seen them pull on each other when tensions were high, but they haven't really done anything like that in a while. Being afraid of me was one of the reasons I attributed to never having been involved with their game at all, so I was expecting... Are you listening?"

Sunset was still staring in shock. "Couldn't they get, you know, seriously hurt doing stuff like that?"

Nodding casually, Adagio glanced down at her own waist only to remember that she wasn't carrying the first-aid kit in this world. Oh. Immersion successful? She silently hoped Sunset hadn't noticed her doing that. "Yes, hence my predilection toward playing the medic." She chuckled. "Those idiots have gotten hurt in more ways than I care to name since we got to this realm, who do you think patched them up over the years? Sonata is especially accident-prone, as you may recall."

Sunset smiled. Dr. Dazzle to the rescue, huh? That's so sweet! Oh, that reminds me! "Hey, uh..." She glanced away, feeling just a little contrite for what might have been a friendship failure on her part, in that she had assumed the worst in Adagio's intentions. "Speaking of Sonata getting hurt, a-and me too, I guess, everyone but you was downed while we were in the simulation."

Adagio sighed. "Yes, yes, 'I was being careful' does sound like 'I'm a massive coward,' feel free to rub it in. I'm sorry I hid behind the counter and let you three take care of it, alright?"

"W-what? No, no, that isn't what I mean." Adagio was looking at her in genuine surprise. Was she as sensitive about her weaker moments as she was about her hair? On some level, Sunset could relate, drawing a little smile. "Don't worry about what happened with the Tank. Heck, you still tried to help out, remember?"

"Yes," she answered with slightly slumped shoulders, "right before ducking back and praying one of you had a plan." She tinted red, looking away as she muttered. "In hindsight, I should have said to get out of his sight and run to the van. SWAT teams around the bank would have been easier to deal with and he probably couldn't have chased us far."

Giggling, Sunset patted her on the shoulder. "Then that's what we'll do in the next one. If we see a Tank, I mean." She got a little smile back, but there was still her initial question to deal with. "So, uh, yea... When Sonata and I got taken down, you just got us up as quick as you could, but when Aria fell..."

Tilting her head, Adagio looked earnestly confused. "What?"

Sunset shrugged, getting the feeling she shouldn't have asked, but in too deep to back out. "I mean, I figured you might have got Sonata the first time she was kicked by a Smoker, but you didn't taunt or tease me at all, not even a little snarking under your breath about my weight when you were dragging my ass out of there."

Adagio blinked slowly. "I... No, I didn't. Why would-Oh!" She smiled somewhat apologetically. "Because the three of you laughed at my ridiculous code-name?" Sunset nodded a little, still looking lost. Adagio smiled and lightly shook her head. "I wasn't trying to get even this time. You told me to 'ease up,' remember?"

"Then why did you force Aria to say sorry?"

"Eh, w-well, uh..." Her smile turned sheepish, as though she was expecting to be chastised. "Sonata said it right after, so I didn't need to get her at all, things were a little too frantic when I might have been able to get one out of you, but Aria's case gave me plenty of time and I wasn't likely to hear it from her otherwise." Looking just a little rueful, her lips formed the tiniest pout. "I know it was petty, but I still wanted an apology. Is that wrong?"

Oh.

It wasn't revenge, not like it would have been before, Adagio was just looking for a band-aid for her bruised ego (not that band-aids were much good for bruises), and possibly some hurt feelings. Pinkie Pie had explained the difference between laughing with someone and laughing at them, and the response to 'Fluffy' was firmly in the latter category. That in mind, Sunset stepped closer to wrap Adagio in a hug, the two of them stopping where they stood on the sidewalk.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I should have said it when Sonata did. You're doing fine, don't worry about a thing."

They remained that way for the better part of a minute, Adagio not moving a muscle or saying a word. Then she huffed. "D-don't hug me in public," she said while trying to wriggle free, "people will think I'm in your group now or something!"

Giggling, Sunset stepped back, smirking when she noticed how red Adagio had gotten. "Aww, is someone getting friendship cooties?"

Scowling, Adagio stood with her arms folded. "There's no such thing."

"Ohh, yes there is," said Sunset through barely-contained laughter, "how do you think they converted me?" The look on Adagio's face as she went pale was priceless. "It starts with warm, fuzzy feelings..."

"Stop it."

"Then they get you to hold hands..."

Adagio closed her eyes, holding her hands over where Sunset assumed her ears were. "Stop."

"Before you know it, you're singing with people you used to hate!"

"Quit it!"

She tip-toed closer. "And then, once the infection takes hold..."

"Sunset Shim-"

"They hug you!" Giggling madly, she enforced the notion directly, blushing a little herself as she threw her arms around a squirmy, fidgety Adagio. After about fifteen seconds of sputtering and complaints from her captive, Sunset managed to hold her still. "I really am sorry. Okay?"

There was a short silence before Adagio again huffed quietly, but it sounded like she was smiling. "Yes, well..." Lightly pushing Sunset away, she smirked. "Considering how long it took, I might just get you anyway, in time..." She put one hand on her hip while pointing a finger of the opposite hand at Sunset. "So stay on guard, Sunset Shimmer!"

It was then that Sunset noticed Adagio was pointing slightly to her side, her head tilted as though looking at something just behind Sunset. Whipping around and expecting to see Aria, Sonata, or both with water balloons or something, she instead saw something that made her feel like an even bigger sucker; nothing at all. Quickly turning back, Adagio was gone.

"How did-" Sunset felt a sudden gust of air blown straight into her ear. "-gah!"

She turned to see Adagio, snickering and covering her mouth with one hand. "Gotcha!"

Lightly brushing the weird feeling from her ear, Sunset smirked a little. "Verrry funny. That wasn't 'it,' was it?"

Immediately turning away from Sunset, it looked like Adagio was folding her arms behind her back. Hard to tell through the hair. "No, that was it, apology accepted." As it sounded like she was smiling, Sunset didn't believe it for a minute. "I should head home now, but I'll see you in school, Sunset Shimmer."

The possibility of Adagio's revenge aside, Sunset couldn't help a tiny smile as she watched her walk away. Yea, see you in school...

And with that, she ran home to write a message to Twilight!

Elsewhere in the city, in a circular office with no particular decoration scheme, and all of them at once, a madman sat behind his gold-and-peppermint desk. It was a different combination of precious metal and tasty snack every week, but he'd only mixed them up once so far. So what if he chipped a tooth? Now it looked like he was half-vampire! He chortled to himself over the results of his latest enterprise. And also the digital cops n' robbers thing, that was pretty groovy. Sure, there was no official reason to have all of the testers be (according to his sources) formerly magical world-dominating monster girls, but why not?

After all, he thought, looking to his favorite motivational poster of a clown with his shoes on backwards water-skiing on quicksand with a squirrel firing a light machine gun and screaming into a pine cone while riding on the clown's head, what fun is there in making sense?

Late that night, Fluttershy awoke to the sound of her phone ringing. Worried she'd kept someone waiting on the other end, she quickly snatched it up and answered.

"H-hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Sunset? Is something wrong?"

"...K-kind of... I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Fluttershy smiled warmly, hoping it was detectable through the phone. "Please, don't worry about it. Why are you calling in the middle of the night?"

"I, uh, w-well..." The pause only made Fluttershy worry more. "I-I, uh, kind of have a little f-favor to ask..."

Author's Note

I did say I'd get this story done by some time this summer, but it turned out to be very, very late summer. Sorry about that. Worse yet, I have no idea when the next part should be out. Haven't even started on it yet. Still, more of this series to come, more simulations, more Sunset and the Dazzlings, more slice of life shenanigans!

That last one is up next, see you then! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 3: Things May Get Hairy

Two waves of SWAT guys later, Jacket had set down the ammo bag so everyone could re-stock. She was the only one that didn't need more ammo at that point on account of barely having fired a shot since they entered the vault. Punch and Fluffy (wisely) never let the cops get within shotgun range, but at least it meant she personally was at little to no risk of running out for now.

During one of the quiet moments, the SWAT hostage spoke. "Bullets aren't pointy." This won Punch's attention. "They're projected with sufficient force to puncture, but you could do the same thing with a perfectly flat object if it were fired fast enough at something, so while live rounds may produce an outcome similar to sharp objects, the truth of the matter is that these similarities are purely-"

Rat-tat-tat!

He was silenced by Star's SMG, which made Fluffy stomp her foot in annoyance. "STAR!!"

"What? He was breaking my concentration and we've shot tons of cops by now."

Groaning, Fluffy maskpalmed. "You could have just kicked him or something." No matter. Three hostages.

There was another pair of shield-bearing Chargers that they couldn't take out as they were, so the three robbers by the vault door ducked completely out of sight and waited for them to come in, Jacket smashing her hammer into the first one's head when he made the mistake of walking in and turning to look at the two other felons. The second came in facing Jacket, but was shot in the back of the head by Fluffy. Something about the situation drew creepy little giggles from Punch, which Jacket earnestly tried to ignore. Eventually, Star called out to them.

"Eight!"

Fluffy glanced over her shoulder to see her dropping another duffel bag of loot onto the pile. "Eight? I told you we only needed six."

Star shrugged, putting her lockpick away. "Yea, but each bag is sorta heavy and I doubt we'll get far carrying two at a time with everybody shooting at us, so we'll have to make two trips. I figured if we'd be coming back for two bags anyway, might as well get everybody carrying full loads. More loot, more pay, right?"

Nodding, Fluffy quickly checked to make sure the coast was clear. "Good thinking, everyone grab a bag and let's move, I'll bring one of the hostages." She hoisted one of the bank tellers to their feet and motioned for Jacket to take point, the four of them moving to the front entrance.

Punch stopped at the vault door, sticking a proximity charge with a red, glowing light in the doorway. "This should keep them coppers from taking our dirtbags!"

No sooner than the second all four of them were out in the hall did the group hear a metallic impact not far away. They turned in the direction of the sound, weapons ready, but the only thing they noticed was a little, black ball rolling in their direction, stopping at Star's feet. The ball immediately sprayed acrid smoke in every direction, which left the four of them coughing and nearly blind.

"Smoker," Fluffy rasped through a cough, "look for green lights!"

Jacket tried to scan the area, shotgun raised. "The guys in g-gimp suits?!"

"Yea," Punch answered, "they'll probably try to-HUAGH!!"

There was the sound of a body hitting the floor, Star and Jacket immediately turning and firing in the direction of the new silohouette in the smoke, which promptly fell and did not get up. When the smoke cleared, Star, Jacket, and Fluffy looked down to see Punch lying by the fallen Smoker, groaning in pain.

"Ooooowwwiieeee..."

Fluffy quickly knelt down to look her over, but to her equal surprise and relief, there weren't even any knife wounds. "Did this one just kick you too?"

"Yea, but he kicked me really hard!"

Maskpalm. "Just get up, we've got a robbery to finish." She looked around for her hostage, finding the teller lying next to the Smoker, equally still. Goddammit, I bet he did that on purpose! Or maybe the Smoker was hoping all four of them would have the presence of mind not to shoot through obscuring smoke with a hostage nearby? Bad planning on his, and Fluffy's parts, perhaps. She bit back snarky comments on carelessness and waved an arm toward the entrance as Punch got up again. "Come on!"

Jacket watched Fluffy curiously. Huh, no mockery there. Did she already get even with Sonata the first time she got taken down? Or is it that she'll wait until we're being shot at a little less for payback?

The four of them had barely set foot out the front door when a loud gunshot was heard, a bullet impacting by Fluffy's feet in the same instant, which made her audibly shriek and fall on her rear, quickly scooting backwards to get out of their range.

Star pulled Punch backward into the bank. "We got Hunters!"

Jacket quickly ducked behind the wall next to the doorway as well. "Hunters?" She peeked through the door to catch sight of two waggling red lasers tracing through the air, originating from a pair of windows on the second floor of a building across the street. The building itself was right next to the alley in which the van was parked. From what Jacket could see, the men holding sniper rifles were both wearing akubras, apparently talking to each other.

"Oi, croikey, looks loike they're fallin' back, gonna 'ave to woit for 'em tah come out again, eh?"

"Aw, piss."

Dammit, thought Jacket, this is getting nuttier by the minute! All I wanted was to rob a bank with a trio of still-kinda-evil divas without much incident, is that so much to ask?!

Her thoughts caught up with her.

Whatever, I know what to do.

"Hey guys, I've got the most armor, I'll pop out and draw their fire, you three pick 'em off when they're distracted, okay?"

The four of them enacted the plan as it was outlined, Jacket getting staggered and almost knocked down by a shot she wasn't fast enough to duck out of the way of, but coming out no worse for wear. Star grumbled about not being able to reliably hit the Hunters at that range with her SMG, costing her two possible kills to Fluffy and Punch, who held the most accurate weapons. Luckily, she was able to make up for this when they charged across the street, being fired on from both sides, Star enthusiastically offering suppressing fire.

Four bags secured in the van, the group turned and charged back, even Jacket firing blindly toward the surrounding police as she and the others ran back into the building. Jogging back to the vault, Sunset found herself smiling under the mask.

Twilight wouldn't approve, but this is getting pretty exciting!

They stopped just outside the vault door to find police untying one of the two remaining hostages, who was already on his feet. Jacket raised her shotgun to clear away one officer, but the newly-freed civilian, before her very eyes, wandered a few steps with just the right timing and direction to bumble in front of the cop and take the shotgun scatter himself. As he fell to the ground, Sunset's world slowed down, tears gathering in her eyes.

I did it. I'm a murderer. I take it back, this isn't exciting. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

When she came to her senses, Fluffy was fuming about all the hostages being dead, but saying through audibly gritted teeth that it probably didn't matter anymore anyway.

"Wait," Sunset nearly begged, "I killed both of them with that shot?!"

"Nah," Star said in a relatively assuring tone, "Punch's bomb went off a little too close to one of 'em when the cops came in. Looks like she took out three more cops with it, though!"

Punch glanced back and forth between Star and Fluffy, something telling Sunset she was alternating between pride and contrition with each turn of her head.

Fluffy appeared indifferent. "Last load, let's move!"

Sunset would keep that tragic accident in her memory, but for now, Jacket's team needed her. She shook off the gloom and grabbed a bag, the group immediately turning and moving as quickly as they could for the entrance.

Standing in the doorway when they got there was a huge, hulking, green blob of a man, his arms and legs as thick as tree trunks, his whole body wrapped in thick, heavy, armor that completely put Jacket's to shame. He even had a helmet! In place of a face mask, however, he wore a thick plate with what looked like tiny holes where the eyes should be. Raising a heavy shotgun in their direction, the man-tank stepped forward, all four robbers opening fire.

He didn't even slow down. There was no blood, no sign of pain, just the occasional sparks flying from the advancing behemoth as he casually fired off a few rounds of his own, Star diving out of the way, Fluffy letting out a high-pitched yelp and ducking behind a counter, Punch running around a corner and out of sight. That left Jacket, who gulped, but didn't back down, leveling her shotgun at the Tank's face-plate and firing every round she had in it.

The plate didn't even seem to be cracking. There was no sign of damage on the Tank whatsoever.

She was sure that if she kept firing, that would change, but there was no time to reload! Luckily, Star and Punch stood side by side behind the Tank, calling out in unison.

"EAT LEAD, FAT BOY!!"

They fired at the same time, rifle and SMG rounds impacting the back of the Tank's well-armored head... and not even making a dent. The Tank turned to face them, heavy shotgun raised as the two frantically started reloading.

Fluffy popped out of her hiding spot, firing more to get the Tank's attention than to damage him. "You want a real criminal?! I'm the brains of this outfit, catching me will make your pitiful career!!"

The Tank turned toward Fluffy, Jacket certain she heard an 'eep!' as the mass of orange ducked back behind the counter. Having only reloaded two shells by this point, Jacket fired both into the back of the Tank's knee, hoping the area was less protected, but it didn't even slow him down. Running out of ideas and knowing she couldn't let the Tank reach their medic, Jacket clutched her sledgehammer and grit her teeth.

Don't worry, Dagi, I'll protect you from the big, bad bullet-sponge.

Screaming with berserker rage, Jacket swung with all her might, raining down blows on the back of the Tank's head, elbows, and shoulders. This at least got some response in the form of pushing him downward by an inch or so through sheer impact, which got his attention enough to make him turn, shotgun raised, and blast Jacket point-blank in the stomach.

The air was knocked out of her and she saw stars, falling back as a cold pain spread from her gut to the rest of her body in slow, regular pulsations. The Tank was standing over her, time seeming to slow as he leveled the shotgun at her head.

Then it sped up again, Punch jumping up onto the Tank's shoulder like an enraged chimp, screaming not unlike Jacket had just a moment before as she toppled the tank over with her weight. Hers, and that of the portable drill, which she hefted in both hands over her head, fired it up, and brought the furiously-whirring drill-bit down on the Tank's face-plate. She stabbed several times until the tip found an eye-hole and plunged it as far as it would go.

The man's dying screams would echo in Sunset's nightmares.

Before she could think about asking Fluttershy to sing her a lullaby or something over the phone when she went to sleep every night for the next week, Jacket was snapped to attention by Fluffy tracing her hands over her stomach, drawing a wince from the bruised robber.

"Jacket! Can you hear me?!"

"Y-yeow..."

"I'll take that as a yes, c'mon, get up!" Jacket couldn't see who Fluffy was snapping her fingers at before dropping her loot bag, throwing Jacket's off too, hooking one of Jacket's arms over her own shoulders, and hefting her up herself, grunting with exertion.

"Sorry," Jacket muttered, "I know, armor's heavy."

"Don't talk," came Fluffy's terse order, "we're almost out!"

Over the cacophony of gunfire, Jacket just focused on keeping her legs moving so as to take as much strain off Fluffy as possible, finding herself in the back of the van next to a pile of loot bags before she knew it. She couldn't see through Fluffy's clown mask as she pulled the doors closed and sat next to her, but she didn't really need to.

Fluffy turned and shouted to the front seats. "You two, take off!"

Star and Punch, driving and riding shotgun respectively, shouted back. "Aye-aye!"

The van started to move. They were getting away with this, mission accomplished. And yet, Sunset felt guilty. "Sorry," she whispered.

Tilting her head a little, Adagio sounded confused. "What? Why are you apologizing?"

"We dropped two bags. I know we got enough to get out, but-"

Adagio chuckled. As she took off her mask, she was sweating, her disheveled (though still fairly straight!) hair hanging in damp tendrils in front of her face, but Sunset could see that she was smirking. "What makes you think I left a single thing behind?" She nodded to the pile of bags accompanying them in the back of the van.

One, two, three... Eight!

Sunset looked back at her in surprise, getting another amused chuckle in reply. "Aria kept the street clean while Sonata was dealing with the Tank, the two of them moved the remaining bags while I tended to you. We didn't lose a thing."

"Oh!" Despite the lingering pain in her stomach, Sunset grinned, taking her mask off. "Great!"

The van trundled along down the road, the sound of police sirens suspiciously absent as Adagio whispered to Sunset.

"And, in case you're wondering?" She smiled, just slightly flushed. "Yes, it would be a little despicable of me to abandon you even if we couldn't have gotten the bags."

Sunset smiled back. "Yes. Yes it would."

Still, she thought, you didn't even poke fun at me a little after the name thing... Was I wrong about you taking revenge to start?

The world faded to white.