Blip on the Radar

Chapters

Chapter 1: Sunset in Jump City
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

Chapter 1: Sunset in Jump City

Sunset was whistling as she made her way down the street. A simple little tune she remembered from Equestria. Things had been going alright so far. She'd been collecting funds and collecting information. She knew one thing pretty quickly from her time here.There were powerful risks here. They didn't show up for her but she knew it would be bad to agitate them. This world was filled with superpowered people. Heroes and villains Her magic wasn’t too out of place.

Too bad being a hero didn’t pay the bills.

Those risks were the reason she kept her crimes small. Gas station robberies, ATM hold ups, pickpocketing and the like, never anything with good cameras, never anywhere packed, and never during the ‘crime hours’ at night. Sunset did what she called the Mid-day Heist. Everyone at work, streets open and clear, in and out. As easy as a bank robbery would be with her abilities, it would also put her on the map with things that she really didn’t want to deal with and definitely not fight.

She was still whistling the most casual of activities, completely non-suspicious. She peered around the air as she slipped into the shadowed alleyway and tucked close behind a dumpster. Fashion was one of the few luxuries she offered herself in this lifestyle, emphasis on style. Versatility was key in her chosen outfit, a tall neck, nearly frictionless running pants, Sleeves that could be rolled or tucked in gloves. It was all about modular style. So long as the style was black. She wore, in contrast, white gloves, a custom job with a burn decal on the fingers. And the finishing touch was her mask, a smooth faceplate that hid her identity well, half red and half yellow it hugged a bit snuggly but comfortably, after all it wasn’t enough to be unidentifiable, she had to look good.

The mask was a truly special piece of work. She put a lot of work into it. From the outside it was just a simple piece of flat, unassuming metal. But if she poured magic into it, the enchantments she put into it would go into effect until she ended them. It was enchanted to have increased durability, be see-through from the inside, change it's outer look and not fall off. A fine piece of work if she said so. She wished she could take credit for it though and as much as she would rather do exactly that, she was pretty sure that the one who she'd worked with had half of the devices in the city bugged.

The most important thing about the mask was that the enchantment wouldn't work for anyone else. Once it connected to her magic it activated. It would simply fall off anyone else's face. Not that anyone else would slap a piece of metal to their face anyway.

She used a hair-tie she'd put a simple enchantment on to pull her hair back behind her head in a low ponytail, turning it black so not only was it much different from her usual bright colors but it could also easily be mistaken for part of her clothes. The more mistakes those trying to identify her made, the better.

Now that she was all dressed up and ready, It was time to make some money at another gas station. She could never believe how lucky she was to have full access to her magic in a world mostly filled with magic-less people.

Things were supposed to go smooth, everything was supposed to be ice cold, simple, easy in and easy out. It was a blur, the rush of action, and Sunset wasn’t even sure when things took a turn south, but she knew to run when she saw the glint of gunmetal gray.

"How was I supposed to know?!" Sunset shouted, voice augmented by a simple tool worn around her neck, a gift of the human world. She didn't have to put everything into the mask after all.

"You had to! Why else would you attack some shitty gas station?!" The voice scowled after her flight. Husky and heavy, the smooth sound of gravel rolling in a washing machine, a chain smoker easily.

Sunset dodged another round of bullets "Because, it's a robbery? Because I wanted money? " she shouted back.

This was bad. This was going to attract attention. How was she supposed to know that it was a front for a mob racket? A freakin gas station?

A different mob member started shouting, his accent was heavy. "Likely story! You freaks wit’cha powers ALWAYS tryin ta bite off more than ya can chew! And I wouldn’t ‘ave it any other way freak."

She had already set off the sprinkler system. She was drenched, annoyed and irritable. She had dozens of ways she could deal with these bozos but she didn't want to risk it. A one trick pony (ironic expression, given the situation) was less threatening to the big wigs.

She took a chance and glanced around, only for more bullets to streak around her. The red light of the cameras watching her were a pain in the ass.Those cameras were still on while drenched? Seriously?

Sunset was getting really sick of this. There were bullets, she was soaked and worst of all, the money was a mess. She'd have to wait hours for it to dry if she didn’t want to waste her magic on it. She probably would anyway. No one wants a moldy duffle bag. "Dammit..." She groaned "Can't believe I have to deal with this shit."

But then the bullets stopped.

"Come on out, freak! We won't do much to ya. Just fill ya fulla lead!"

She rolled her eyes. These guys were certainly confident. Though that made sense. They ran out spraying bullets. Heck. She was pretty sure the cashier was dead. Though, given this place he probably worked for them. "I think I'd prefer not to! Thanks though!" She was getting really fed up. Luckily she hadn't been just sitting here. She grinned as she felt her clothes dry.

She took a deep breath and popped out, just quick enough to send her spell out. It wasn't much at its core. She just used the water and her magic heat to create humidity.

Usually it was just a figure of speech when you got slapped by humidity but this time they ACTUALLY got slapped by the air. Giving her just enough time to melt the window and rush out. She could just hear their curses behind her.

As she landed on the other side of the glass, she looked side to side and saw a woman near a vehicle. She was giving Sunset a weird feeling. It was like... well she didn't really have something to compare it to. All she knew is, there were guns behind her and a weird girl was to her left. With a wall in front of her there was only one way to go.

She turned to the right and ran.

She heard soft footsteps rushing behind her. It seemed that the weird girl was more interested in her than the gas station. Though Sunset was pretty sure she wouldn’t be too eager to run back into a building full of bullets either.

“Stop!”

The girl shouted and Sunset shouted back “Not interested!”

A shiver ran through her spine as she felt magic flow in the air. That magic did not feel good. It gave her a bigger reason to get away from this random weirdo. When she looked back, the girl seemed to be flying.

“Nope!” She grumbled before jumping into a just big enough entryway as she activated her magic. She didn’t like using teleportation. It used too much magic and left her a little useless afterwards. But as she looked at her “home” she sighed and pulled herself over to the couch. “Ugh… today was a mess.” She grumbled as she took off her mask, tossing it onto the couch as it turned back into a slab of metal.

“At least I got some cash out of this mess.” She grumbled as she opened the duffle bag.

As she looked inside she felt her eye twitch. The money was running. The ink itself was coming off of it. ”DAMN IT!” The bills were all counterfeit, not a real one in the bunch. The paper had grown brittle and started to turn to clumps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the now empty alleyway the one who’d been chasing Sunset sighed and landed back onto the ground “Raven to Titans. They got away.”

Her earpiece was silent for a moment before it came to life “Understood. Come on back after catching up with the police.”

Raven sighed in annoyance as she looked towards the doorway the one she’d been chasing had jumped into. She narrowed her eyes and turned away.

Author's Note

SO! I got someone to go over this chapter and holy crap their recommendations are fire! SO good.

I also fixed some plot holes that would come up later. Ripperoni that I let them sit there for so long.

Chapter 2

Sunset opened her eyes with a groan. Yesterday was a disaster. A complete and utter disaster. The only way it could have gone worse was if she’d gotten caught. She still needed money, but after the botched robbery...

A simple walk through the streets ensured she could get some cash at least. Someone paying for a hotdog wouldn’t notice their wallet slipping from their hand right away instead of their pocket.

A quick sleight of hand and the bills were in her hand and his wallet on the ground with a noticeable noise.

She kept walking naturally, as if nothing had happened as they turned around, finally noticing they’d missed their pocket. It was nowhere near enough to replace what she’d missed out on last night. Only around fifty bucks, but it was enough for a bite to eat.

Well. It wasn’t like she was broke before. And she still had leftover money saved at home, but the less used, the better.

She made her way into a nearby cafe and ordered a simple unsweetened cheap coffee. As she relaxed and sippled at it, she listened to those around her.

“Can you believe that place was run by the mob?!”

“Eh. Yeah. They were always super rude and had horrible prices. Five bucks for a bottle of pop? They only got business cause the mob probably chased everyone else off.”

Sunset hummed to herself. They were probably right. She wasn’t a good person and she knew that. But the mob was a whole other slimy animal that she wanted no part of. No matter which side she took, she saw no outcome where it didn't end with her catching a bullet in the back or a super-powered punch to the chest.

She overheard a few more conversations about what happened last night but didn’t seem to catch comments about herself. She supposed that weird girl had come with the police and they didn’t notice her much.

As she continued to nurse her coffee she thought of how everything had gone so badly, so quickly last night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset ceased her whistling as she entered and waved towards the guy at the counter. "Hey there.”

“What?” Was the sharp reply.

“Oof. Aren’t you a ray of Sunshine?” Sunset teased as she put her duffle bag on the counter. “If you would only be so kind as to hand over all your money, I'd be very appreciative.” She said.

To her surprise, his expression didn’t change much, not even a raised brow. She jumped the counter and put a hand on his shoulder, warming it up to the point it would hopefully make her intentions and power clear.

He glared at her as he opened the till. “Step back.” She said, trying to keep a sweet edge to her modulated voice. After he did as she ordered she simply turned the till over into her bag. “Great job! Now, the safe.”

He continued to glare as he lead her to a back room. She whistled as she looked at the safe. It was weirdly big. “This place used to be a bank or something?” She asked

Her hostage just shrugged “Don’t know, don’t care. I can’t open it.” She was amazed how he kept his attitude up this whole time. Maybe she should have gotten a gun? Even a fake one could create fear easier than this.

She shook her head “Whatever. It’s not a problem.” She said as she created a bit of superheated magic flame on her finger and dragged it along the edges of the safe. She had to keep her eyes on both the safe and the hostage but at least thanks to the mask, the hostage never knew which she was focusing on at the time.

After a little bit she spoke up again “Might want to step back.” She said with a grin as there was a grinding sound as the metal safe door began to fall.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” She cheered as she tossed as much money as would fit into her duffle bag. “Thanks for being so-” She began as she turned around, only to see a gun aimed at her. A revolver at that. That could hurt. “Ah… What’s my luck on that being a model?” She asked, worry showing even through her modulated voice.

“Really fuckin’ bad.” The clerk growled as he pulled the hammer back.

“Ponyfeathers.” She cursed before sweeping her leg. She heard a ping as the bullet skid across the outside edge of the mask.

“Shit, shit, shit!” She cursed as she ran off, and threw a ball of fire behind her.

“Stop!” Came a shout as another door slammed open and when the men in suits poured out it reminded her of a clown car. Clowns in suits with guns.

She heard the bullets fire as she slid behind the shelves. “Why are you all wearing suits in a gas station?”

“She’s one of them freaks, boss!”

“Rude!” She shouted back as she tossed another fireball. It wasn’t meant to hit anything really. Just a distraction as she made her way further away. The next moment she felt water falling on her. “Oh, come on!” She groaned, having set off the sprinklers by accident.

“Over there! I’ll teach you to mess with the mob!”

“Do you actually call yourselves the mob?” She shouted out, but it was soon lost in the sound of increased gunfire. While she had a moment she zipped up her soaked duffle bag.

Another quick slide away and she was between shelving and glass. She raised a foot and kicked the window as hard as she could “Agh! The heck is that made of?” She grumbled, having not made even a single crack in it. It would take more than just force to break which was made clear when the bullets whizzing past her had the same luck breaking it that her leg did.

~~~~~

“What do you make of it?” Robin asked as he turned away from the large screen that was replaying the security footage and towards his team.

“Well they’re confident. That’s for sure.” Cyborg said with a small nod.

“They did not seem to have any intention to hurt anyone though.” Starfire spoke up

“That’s what I thought too. When they saw me, they just ran for it. Even while they were running they didn’t throw any of those fireballs at me.”

“I wanted to ask about that.” Robin said as he reversed the video to pause on where the fireball was thrown.

“Magic. At least I think so. I don’t know what kind but it was definitely reminded me of others we fought with magic. Though it's a lot less showy than them.”

“It couldn’t be something like Starfire’s blasts?”

Raven shook her head “I don't think so but, I think they have more they’re hiding too. When I chased them into the alleyway, they disappeared into a boarded up doorway. I’m not sure if it was invisibility, teleportation or if they went through the wall.”

“So they have some tricks up their sleeves? Big deal. Nothing we can’t handle.” Beast boy spoke up with a shrug.

“We might be able to handle it but that’s no reason to get lazy. The fact is they might be specifically hiding how much they can do-”

“Or, they just have limits.” Cyborg piped up. “Maybe whatever they used to run off wore them out? So they have fire and an escape?”

“It’s a good theory. But-” Robin moved the video along until their mask was on screen. “Does that remind you of anything?” After getting nods in response, he continued “With how similar their mask is to Slade, I can’t help but feel like it’s taunting us.”

“So, a trap?” Beast Boy spoke up

“But we can not simply let them continue attacking places of fueling.” Starfire pointed out.

“Of course not.” Robin said with a wave of his hand and shake of his head. “I’m just saying, we need to be careful.”

“I’ll keep an eye on this one then.” Raven spoke up. “If it is a trap by him, then it’s best we don’t all fall into it. Besides, we’ll need someone who understands magic to deal with this.”

Robin nodded as he looked over the group “Right. Then Raven will keep an eye on-”

“Darkfire!” Beast boy shouted out

“What?”

“Well they need a name!” He said as if it were a matter of fact. "We're not just gonna keep calling them, long haired, dark clothed fire dude, are we?"

Robin sighed and looked back towards Raven, ignoring Beast Boy for the moment “Like I said. You’re in charge of this investigation.”

“Got it.”

Author's Note

I didn't want to leave this sitting in my document so here ya go. When it gets edited I'll update with that version.

My biggest worry is characterization of the TT characters. So if there are any recommendations or constructive criticism, by all means, lemme know!

Chapter 3

Sunset arrived back at home after her little outing and took a seat on her couch. She looked over at the small mark on the metal that turned into her mask.

She sighed and picked it up, looking closely at the mark. “I almost died.” She muttered to herself as she stared at the mark before letting the metal drop to the ground as she put her face in her hands. “I almost died.” She repeated.

That realization hit her hard. Of course it’d been a possibility she’d known about and even planned for but it almost actually happened. She was inches away from it. It wasn’t like being suddenly crushed by a building or whatever usually happens here. She saw the gun pointing at her, quipped and felt the impact as it hit the edge of her mask.

She was scared of that possibility. She hated to admit that, but she was. She didn’t see her life flash before her eyes or anything. Only the cold metal barrel of the gun pointed at her. She was simultaneously ashamed of herself but she also thought that anyone else would have no choice but to understand.

She caught herself as she was shaking. She hated feeling like this.She hated feeling scared. She hated feeling anxious.

“Dammit!” She cursed as she stood up “Why am I so scared?! I am Sunset Shimmer! Student of Princess Celestia! Destined for greatness! Why am I so- so pathetic?! I’m not meant to die here!” She ranted, breathing heavily before stopping in her tracks and taking a deep breath.

She ran her fingers through her bangs. “Ugh… that was pathetic. I’d rather be in Tartarus than have anyone know what just happened.”She grumbled to herself as she walked back to the couch and picked up her mask. She sighed as she walked it to the file cabinet she kept her outfit from last night in.

Once it was locked again she sighed. She knew what happened. She had been careless. She’d thought it would be enough to rob a stupid gas station that no one liked. There were so many hints as to it’s true nature. The fact it stayed in business despite how little people wanted to use it. The high prices were just a way to fleece anyone who was unlucky enough to have to stop there. The rude employees were mobsters. They didn’t have any fear of getting fired and didn’t fear getting robbed because they had guns and no scruples about using them.

But she’d been overconfident. Didn’t do her research. She was a fool. “I’m better than this.” She muttered before making her way to her cheap laptop before stopping. She’d have to go out if she wanted to research anything. Living in an abandoned building and not having any sort of ID made it pretty hard to get internet installed. Besides, She wouldn’t want anything she looked up directly connected back to her.

~~~~~~

The next day Sunset found herself at the same little cafe again. But this time instead of getting a coffee, she got a tea. She didn’t need energy. She needed to focus. She was just glad this place knew how to brew their tea. It was still cheap leaves but they knew how to handle their water. She once went somewhere that didn’t know how soft and hard water worked with tea and it just tasted like bitter water.

She held the cup up to her nose and took a deep breath. The smell of tea was always so relaxing. Something of a holdover from her time with Celestia. One of the few good things that came from it.

Meanwhile she was looking through local places: mostly gas stations as she planned her next heist. There were a good few places that seemed to fit the bill. But she was more… if anyone asked she'd say cautious. But, if she were honest with herself, she was scared. She didn't want to risk something like that again. Who would?

That "caution" made her mark off a few places. Ones that served suspicious or too close to gang territory.

The bell rang as someone new entered the café. Sunset ignored it as she had multiple times already. The voice of the newcomer was harder to ignore, however.

"Heya! What's Crack-a-lackin'?" His voice was a bit nasally and often cracked.

"Ah. BB. They have you on coffee duty again huh? Who'd you piss off this time?" It seemed the owner knew him pretty well. Good for him. Sounds like he's a trouble maker too.

"Wha-? Me? Piss someone off? Come on. It's like you don't know me. Everybody like me! I just uh… lost a bet." Sunset was already tired of listening. It made looking through her targets annoyingly difficult.

"I'm sure that's the case. Just the usual for everyone?"

"Yeah, yeah." There was a blessed moment of silence before his voice picked up again and to Sunset's horror it was aimed towards her. "Well hello there~"

Once he decided to take the open chair near her for himself Sunset finally knew who it was and she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck raise. Beast Boy. A member of the foremost group of superheroes in the city. The Teen Titans. Even someone living as far under the radar as she was knew about them. She took a moment to close her eyes and calm down before slowly moving her gaze up. "Can I help you?"

"Heh. Yeah. Your number would be great to start."

She felt her eye twitch and she sighed "so what would you put my number under then, hm? Asking for a number before even a name doesn't seem like a very good way of getting to know someone."

"Well...I was gonna put it under "Babe from the coffee place" but since you're offering~"

"I'm not."

"Ouch. Ya know, you remind me of a friend of mine. You have this whole unapproachable feel to ya."

"I feel like I would get along with them a lot better than you then." Sunset grumbled. She was honestly getting annoyed now. She didn't enjoy being hit on in the first place but he didn't have that slimy feel that most who did it had. Which made it harder to dislike him, which in turn made her more annoyed!

Lucky, she had a well tested way to get out of this. "Look. I'm not interested."

"Aw, come o-"

"Not just in you. In men in general." It was mostly true. She hadn't found any "men" attractive. Or "women". Or any humans since she arrived. It just wasn't something she'd given any thought. She'd been far too focused on survival. Even back in Equestria she couldn't really remember anyone she found attractive. It might have been she was far too focused on her own thing. She didn't have anything against dating or whatever. It just wasn't really something she could see herself doing. She'd never exactly been normal.

"Oh." That seemed to throw him off. Hopefully that meant he'd leave her alone now.

"Well, alright. But you still seem pretty cool. I mean, there's only a handful of people in town with skin colors like us."

Sunset felt her eyes twitch. "It's a skin condition." She almost growled.

"Ah, yeah. That makes sense. Hey, what are you up to anyway? Also, I don't mean to brag-" she doubted that. "- but I know quite a few girls. Maybe I could introduce you. Maybe you could introduce me to any single girls you know, huh? I'm a pretty good wingman." He said as he literally turned his arms into wings.

That show of a super power did a good job of calming Sunset's anger and annoyance. It was a strong reminder of who he was. Strange and desperate as he may be, he was still a member of the Teen Titans. She couldn't blow up at him. So her best route was to humor him.

"I'm job hunting and as for friends, I don't really have any. Kinda new to town. So I'm just trying to get situated before I start socializing."

He seemed a little let down that his "wing"man joke didn't get a reaction as they changed back into arms. "Ah. I mean, yeah. That makes sense-"

"BB! Your order is up." The woman behind the counter called out.

"Thanks!" He replied before looking back at Sunset. "Well uh. Good luck."

Sunset's only reply was a simple nod as he finally left her alone and left the building.

She began to groan one she was finally alone, only for the woman from behind the counter came over. "Hey. Sorry about him. He's a good guy, it's just he's a bit much. I hope you weren't too uncomfortable."

Sunset raised a brow in surprise. She didn't expect her to come and apologize for him. "It's whatever. He didn't push too hard so I suppose I can look past it."

"Great." She said before extending her hand "I'm Clara. The owner."

Sunset reached out and shook her hand "Sunset Shimmer. The customer."

That got a little chuckle out of Clara. "Nice. Hey… look, I couldn't help but overhear that you're looking for a job."

Sunset cursed herself. She didn't expect her excuse to bring more attention. "You offering?" She decided to lean into the excuse. It would make it easier to keep coming here if she thought she had a good reason like this.

"Sort of. I can't exactly afford to hire a whole other employee."

"That's...a strange way of wording it. I wouldn't exactly be able to apply anyway. There's issues with my paperwork."

"Ah. Gotcha. No worries. There's enough weirdness in this city that it's not too surprising. You wouldn't believe some of the stories I've heard here. There was apparently one English guy who ran circles around the Titans." She said with a giggle "but anyway. All I'm offering is that the last hour of the day you help out cleaning. I'll pay you each day so you have enough to buy more than just the cheapest coffee we have."

Sunset frowned a little. She didn't expect that Clara would be quite so attentive. "But there's still the issue of paperwork."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. You'll just be helping out as a favor. It's not like you'll be working anywhere near enough for anyone to be suspicious. All I ask is that you don't turn this place into some battleground."

Sunset sighed. She could use the money and if she's gonna be here for a little each day she might as well get paid for part of it. She reached her hand out "I accept and if it's in my limited power I'll keep the battlegrounds to the street. Or something like that."

Clara took her hand and gave it a hard shake. "Glad to hear it. Don't actually worry about that though. If someone comes bursting through the window or something, you just run and hide."

"Ha. Honestly? That was my plan anyway."

Clara chuckled and shook her head "I like honest help. Come by around nine if you're not still here. You won't get a uniform but I'll let you put your stuff in the back."

"Thanks." Sunset had to admit, this turned out better than expected. It might only be like ten bucks, if that per night but it was something. She wouldn't have to dig into her reserves then. Not that she had much left.

Author's Note

Sup! I made another chapter.

It hasn't been edited yet so, uh. Yeah. Sorry about that.

But once again I didn't just want it collecting dust. So here ya go!

So uhhh.... we got featured?

That's pretty baller.

Thanks to y'all who like my stuff!

Chapter 4

"Coffee time!" Beast Boy announced as he walked through the automated door.

"About time! Gimme that liquid goodness." Cyborg replied with a wide grin.

"Here ya go." BB said as he set the cup down for him and then turned to the girls next to him. "Your coffee madams~" he said with a faux fancy voice and a small bow.

Raven rolled her eyes as Starfire giggled at his butler type impression. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He said, back in his usual voice "Oh! By the way! I met someone who reminded me of you at the café!" He said as he jumped up and sat on top of the table. "All grumpy and serious. Pretty too."

"I'm not grumpy." Raven grumbled

"Yes. Friend Raven may be serious and quite attractive but she is not a grump." Starfire had a way of saying things that were simultaneously flattering but always had the tone of a dear friend honestly saying it.

"Thanks." Raven said, a little quieter this time. She raised her brow as she thought of something though. "If you say she's grumpy, I'm guessing you hit on her and she turned you down."

Beast Boy groaned, looking at the ceiling. "Man, I didn't even have a chance! She's gay."

"Tough luck there." Raven said as she failed to hide a small smile behind her cup.

"Wha- oh come on! Don't take pleasure in my pain!" He complained.

A cough came from near him. "Can I get my coffee?" Robin asked with a small smirk of his own.

~~~~~~~

Cleaning up was actually pretty easy and the few customers who needed anything, Sunset directed to the counter.

All in all, it wasn't bad. It couldn't hold a candle to a good theft though. She could get hundreds in a single night. Meanwhile after an hour here she doubted she'd make anything in the double digits. At least while she cleaned she could mentally sort all the research she did before.

"Sunset?"

Sunset blinked and looked around. The place was empty and Clara was standing next to her. "You okay? I was calling for you."

"Ah. Yeah. Sorry. I was too focused."She couldn't help but blush a little. It'd been a while since she lost herself in her thoughts around others.

"It's not a problem. You did good tonight."

"Oh? Uh. Thank you. I mean it was just cleaning."

Clara raised a finger and waved it side to side. "Ah, ah. It may have just been cleaning but by you doing it my employees were able to get everything else done in record time." She reached into her pocket and grabbed a bill before offering it to Sunset. "You'll get normal wages next time but I wanted to show how much we all appreciate your help."

Sunset accepted the bill and to her pleasant surprise it was a twenty. "Oh! Uh. Well, shoot. Thank you. It's really nice of you." Clara seemed like a good person. Sunset felt Clara wasn't a good judge of people if she trusted her of all people but she's a good person.

"Like I said. It's to show we appreciate your help. Tammy was happy to go home early." She explained, referring to the closing employee. Sunset didn't interact with her though so she was only assuming that's who she meant.

"Glad to hear it. I should get going soon too. It's a little bit of a walk." Sunset said as she went behind the counter and grabbed her things.

"Are you alright going by yourself?

"Yeah, it's fine. You want me to come again tomorrow?"

"If you can. You're not an official employee so you don't really have a schedule. Just come when you can."

"Sounds good. I'll see ya around." Sunset gave one last wave before taking her leave.

"Twenty bucks huh?" She mused to herself as she walked. Yeah, it wasn't much but it was certainly something. Maybe she'd actually keep going. It was something and a way for her to explain where she gets money from if someone should ask.

She also felt like getting her paperwork situation settled. She really didn't want to deal with him again though…

She groaned and dug around in her pocket. She had just enough change.

She stopped at a payphone and put in the number.

"A payphone? Really? You can't scrounge up enough to get a proper phone? Pathetic."

She really hated that he was her only contact. "Micro-"

"Gizmo!"

Sunset groaned "Gizmo. As much as neither of us want to bother with the other, I just need a contact. Someone who can deal with legal paperwork."

He scoffed through the phone "And? What's in it for me? I already know your abilities, so tests aren't enough this time. I couldn't even make anything with your junky powers!"

She could offer more than what little she showed him but she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him… actually she could probably get some good distance with a good punt. Besides, hearing him call her magic "junky" had her grinding her teeth "I'm sure we could work something out."

"Money. Give me what you have."

She rolled her eyes "you want all the money I've worked so hard to gather just to get me in contact with someone who I probably could no longer pay thanks to you?"

"Maybe you're not a complete imbecile."

"I'm going to take that as a complement since it's the best I'll get out of you."

"Do what you want. But I still want the money. Honestly it'll be nothing compared to what I already have but I need to get something out of this."

"Yeah well it's a shit deal." She grumbled before hanging up. She groaned and landed against the inside of the booth. "Now what?" He had been her main contact. He was the one who made her shape changing mask in exchange for researching her powers to see if they could act as a power source immune to EMP's. They couldn't. At least not for him.

She stayed there for a moment before grunting and pushing herself back away from the wall. She left the booth with a frown. What did she need paperwork for anyway? What happened at the café must have messed with her head. More paperwork would just mean more for people to find about her. It would be better to just be without. Besides, if she had paperwork, then she'd be a citizen and have to deal with everything that came with it. She'd heard horror stories about the "IRS" from Gizmo while he was doing his tests. Well. He wasn't really telling her stories and was just complaining aloud. She still didn't want to bother with it.

Now she was annoyed with herself. She wanted to just go and get some cash to blow or something. But she knew that was a bad idea.

She'd learned from her failure last time. She needed to be more careful and more serious. She was too carefree last time and almost ate a bullet for her trouble.

Next time, no joking, no taking an eye off the employee.

But if she was going to do more research now it meant that there'd be more time between heists. Which meant less money so she'd have to do bigger scores. Which in turn needed more research.

This wasn't supposed to be a full time job…

Author's Note

Heya. Another chapter.

I'm actually looking for a new editor right now. So, uh. Yeah. Goes without saying this one hasn't been edited.

Chapter 5

Research was nice, calming, peaceful, and fulfilling. She constantly felt like she was making progress in this project of hers.

Her work-flow was simple, research most of the day and use the last hour to mentally plan. Then when she got home she'd update the actual plan and adjust for variables she didn't think of earlier. It was relaxing, even if the ten bucks a night wasn't as nice as the twenty the first night.

Three days in and she had a plan. She'd chosen an out of the way, lower / middle class area. Originally the richer area seemed better but the more she looked into it, the worse an idea that seemed. Better security, harder to predict systems for handling money and worst of all, the police tend to arrive faster than any other area. She felt stupid for not thinking of all that on her own.

The place she was going to hit up was similar to the last. A general store instead of a gas station. But her plan was very different, she was going to be careful. It was going to go smoothly and no one was going to interrupt. Most of all, it’s not a damn mob front!

...if it was though, she swore she’d go straight. Her luck couldn’t be THAT bad! Could it?

She took a breath and was already dressed up. She knew the positions of the cameras, the fact that there was a lack of employees today. Everything was lined up for this to be perfect.This would have to work.

She took a deep breath. Her nerves were tense. Too tense. She needed to take a few moments. In. Out. In. Out. She could feel her heart slow. Her body relaxes. This was what she needed. If she appeared tense to the employee inside then they’d see her as a amatuer. Or worse. A risk. As an example, if someone was holding a gun, you’d hope they were calm. If they seemed tense you might be worried about getting shot.

The moment she entered the store she threw a quick bit of fire at the camera looking towards the door and then jumped over the counter, blasting the camera watching that one too. She ignored the employee’s shout of surprise and pushed them away from the counter. “You’re going to get me into the safe,” she said as she reached over and opened the till, she was thankful he was still logged into it. She dumped the till into her duffle bag and grabbed the employee’s wrist, putting it behind their back. “Now walk,” she said as she pulled his wrist up. She heard him wince but walked.

“I-I don’t have the key,” he said as they walked into the backroom and she destroyed a third camera. There were more in the building but she wouldn’t need to deal with them. They were out of the way and wouldn’t give anyone any information on her.

“Don’t lie. This place isn’t worth that,” she said as she put him on his knees next to it. “You’re the closer. You put the money in the safe at the end of the night, now open it and remember. I don’t need you, it’s just easier this way.” Of course she had no intention of hurting them. She attracted enough attention just doing this, assault or worse would make her life impossible to live and not just because of the attention she’d attract. “And remember what I said. Don’t lie for this store, this is what they have insurance for.

Her hostage grumbled to himself as he put the code in and the safe opened. “Great,” she said as she pushed magic into him and a few moments later his body slumped to the ground. “Have a good nap.”

She smirked as she looked into the safe. There was a good few thousand in there. “Nice.” She whispered as she shoveled it all into her duffle bag. “Money, money, money.” She sang to herself with a giggle.

She didn’t have any urge to look for any more money. She got a good haul and had no reason to push it. She got cash, it’s still quiet and she wasn’t getting shot at this time.

She simply walked out the front door and took her leave. She tried to look as casual as possible. Which would be difficult to continue if someone was to look at her closely due to her outfit and mask. But this was a nice and quiet area. It went smooth and perfect. She was all smiles as she made her way home.

When she got home she felt all the adrenaline hit her at once. The thrill of a successful job - of such a successful job was amazing. All those hours of research put into action. No guns, so shouting, no soaked money or clothes. Nothing but a successful job.

Hours later Robin was looking into information on local crimes. A bad late night habit he got from him. He should really be sleeping honestly.

Gas station robbery, gas station, general store - possible super? That caught his attention. He looked into it deeper and found that the cameras were melted down into slag and the employee was found unharmed and unconscious near the open safe.

The employee said the criminal was wearing a mask and wearing black. Wow. Really helpful.

Wait.

Slag or not, maybe the cameras caught something.

Robin pushed his way deeper into records he certainly wasn't supposed to be in -(he'd learned that when it came to public safety to lean into the "ask for forgiveness, not permission" side of things) - and sure enough, for a very short moment just as the door was opening there was a sliver of that familiar but yet not mask.

They'd gone from smash and grab to nearly silent pretty quickly. That was a little worrying. But outside of whatever melted the cameras, which they were still pretty sure was magic - though seeing as it came from their hands it could easily be a hidden weapon- they still didn't know much.

At least these small-time crimes didn't feel like Slade. So there was that. But Robin still couldn't get rid of the pit from his stomach. He really hoped it was just his own anxiety getting the better of him.

Author's Note

I had most of this chapter wrote ages ago but the second half went through so many changes until this morning when I said, "screw it" I don't want this poor story to languish. I WANT to keep it going dang it!

So yeah! Sunset's felt some nice success!

Buuut Robins got some bad habits thanks to the bats so he's got an eye on her.

It's her own fault for using magic really though.

Chapter 6

"I still say Darkfire sounds good."

"It's way too close to Star's sister."

"Agreed! If she was to find out you gave a name so similar to hers to someone she would be quite displeased."

"Yeah, but isn't she a villain anyway?"

Robin rubbed his head as he walked into the living room where the team was talking about what he suspected was the very person he'd been looking into far too last night. "What are you all talking about?" He asked as he went to the counter and grabbed himself some waffles. Just because he hadn't slept yet didn't mean he couldn't have breakfast.

"A name for that masked villain!" Beast Boy was, of course, the most enthusiastic. How he'd roped everyone else in was - well not really a mystery. He probably just asked as they were all eating.

Robin sat down "What if it turns out that using fire is only a small part of their kit and they were just hiding the rest?"

"Or-" Cyborg began "they drop the fire thing and change their look?"

Raven hummed as she ate but apparently BB had needled her enough to the point she was invested. "As long as they still used fire you could claim it was metaphorical."

"By why must their name relate to fire? Friend Raven mentioned their possible use of other magics. So, the name need not be so limited, yes?" Starfire offered, causing BB to wilt a little

Cyborg smirked at that, "She's got a good point."

Robin spoke up next "Honestly, naming them with so little knowledge is pretty pointless since anything we learn can change everything."

Beast Boy threw his hands up and groaned "Well-! I dunno man! Usually the bad guys name themselves. It's super awkward to have a criminal who just goes around doing crimes without one."

"Speaking of." Robin grabbed a small remote from his belt that he really hoped he remembered to take off before he finally went to sleep later. A large screen lowered in front of the large window that overlooked the ocean. It displayed what little information he managed to get last night. "They appeared again and completely changed the modus operandi."

"The what now?" Beast Boy and Cyborg both asked together.

Starfire beamed "Oh! I know this one! Modus operandi! Mode of the operation or the operation method. It is how one usually does the things, yes?"

"Thank you Star." Robin said with a nod before pressing another button. It brought up what little information they had about them before "investigating what we know now against past robberies, we know that they tended to hit little places with no cameras. Small smash and grabs basically."

He pressed the button again "but last night they suddenly got much more careful. They hit a middle class convenience store. They were quiet and careful. Outside of this image they destroyed only the cameras they needed to. They seem to have gotten the employee to put in the code and police found them unharmed and unconscious."

"So they got smart. Or at least stopped being lazy." Cyborg muttered as he ate another full waffle. "But it's still small time. I mean, it sucks for the place but we usually deal with more dangerous stuff, you know?"

"But we must not let this scoundrel continue their crimes! What if they get worse?" Starfire countered

Cyborg put his hands up "Look, I'm not saying we shouldn't try to help the police with supers and stuff whenever we can. I'm just saying. Compared to hypnotizing the city or blowing up a building or whatever, this is small potatoes."

"Did the police get anything from questioning the clerk?" Raven spoke up, cutting past the argument.

Robin put it on screen. "It's pretty basic stuff. Just telling them to open the safe, saying that their employer has insurance, the normal kind of script."

"It does say that they felt threatened. But seeing how gently they treated the clerk,I have doubts about the criminal's penchant for violence." Raven noted before she stood up. "Send this to my room. I'll look it over since you put me in charge of this."

Robin blinked for a moment. He had become a little too fixed on the resemblance to Slade that he forgot that he'd basically given this case to Raven when they found out the criminal might have magic. "Right. Will do."

"You gonna finish that?" Cyborg asked as he pointed at her blackberry waffles.

"No."

"Score!"

Raven's renewed interest in this case was three-fold. The first of course was the fact that it was her case. Robin had put her in charge of it.

Second was her personal interest in the villain's powers. She couldn't be sure until she investigated more but if the clerk was put to sleep or unconscious with magic then maybe their abilities are far more versatile than anyone expected.

Third was that she wanted to take the case out of Robin's hands. She could see how tired he was. Everyone probably could. He'd found this link to them with a second of recording and spent time finding possible links to past unsolved robberies.

She hoped that it was just him being over eager but the similarities in the masks and the way he brought up Slade had her worried.

Robin was a good leader and a good friend but when Slade started getting involved he could turn into an idiot. Granted it wasn't without reason. Slade was a terrible enemy. Smart, strong and merciless. But that was all the more reason to get this out of his hands.

She looked over the files Robin sent over. Outside of a similar mask there were no other similarities. They went after money. Small time stuff compared to a lot of the criminals they dealt with. No tech thefts, no chemicals. Just money.

She shook her head. She'd need to look at the store herself.

After changing into something normal, just some jeans and a top (because who wears their costume 24/7?) She left the building and flew to the location.

She landed and after a quick back and forth with the police- (she had pale skin, purple hair and a red gem on her forehead. Did she really need to wear the cloak just for them to recognize her?) -she gained access to the building with an escort and looked around.

"The place looks like it got looted." She observed as she noted the mess all around.

"It was. After the robbery some kids did a smash and grab. They ran past some of the working cameras and we're working on catching them. Until they came, everything looked fine. Employee said the perp didn't even pretend to look around." Her police escort explained.

"So they came in and went straight for the clerk?"

"Blasted a camera, came in, jumped the counter while blasting another one. Shows they did their research."

Raven nodded as she looked at the cameras. "We were thinking the same thing. We're thinking they may have had a hand in some robberies that involved fire before. But they were a lot rougher. I think getting involved in that mob shootout spooked them." She explained. Sure enough, outside of the cameras that were on the immediate path they would have traveled, the others were completely untouched. They completely knew their field of view.

The officer groaned "why couldn't they have been spooked into stopping instead?"

Raven shrugged. "Couldn't tell you." She put her hand out and felt the air around the camera. There was…something there. She didn't try sensing anything before in the alley but now that they were relatively sure it was magic they used…

"Step back please." She said before closing her eyes.

The officer wasn't foolish enough to argue with a hero who said to "step back". Escort or not. "Long as you don't disturb the scene."

"It won't affect anything you can see." She muttered before taking a calming breath “Azarath Metrion Zinthos.”

When she opened her eyes they were bathed in black. Looking at the world through a lens of her own power. So, when she looked at the camera there would be… “Nothing?” She muttered to herself as she looked closer. It was true. There was nothing there. Something like magic fire to melt a camera should leave traces behind. It interrupts the natural flow of the world. Or at least it should. She wasn’t sure why there were no traces left behind but the idea that the criminal’s magic was somehow that harmonious seemed ridiculous.

She moved her head around and looked at the other areas where they would have used magic and sure enough there were no traces there either. That was ridiculous!

“Azarath Metrion Zinthos.” She mumbled as she increased the intensity. Sure enough, there was finally a reaction! But… not from where she expected.

The first one was a spot and small trail leading from the door? Then another a few steps in. Though that one was more just a trail.

The last one was what told her exactly what it was. The spot where they'd found the clerk. An almost perfect white blur of the mask. Maybe the mask was what was giving them power? That was disappointing but made things more urgent. If someone had masks that could give someone magic then they could very well end up with even more of these villains in the future… if they weren't already different people.

Now she was starting to get worried about that masks resemblance.

Author's Note

Barking up the wrong tree thanks to a misunderstanding.

Ripperoni Raven.

Also! I went back and changed some stuff on chapter 1 to fix some plot holes involving the creation of her mask and some stuff in chapter 3 (I think) so that IF I want to add shipping later I can. Still not sure on that. Not really leaning towards it. But who knows what this story might evolve into.

Chapter 7

Sunset had said that research was nice but maybe it was the fact she hadn't had a project in so long that made her forget just how much work actually went into it. On her second though time passed slower, words on the screen blurred and she found it harder to focus.

It'd been a week since her last gig and she was getting lower in funds than she'd like. This part of town was getting known for "pickpockets" too so that was getting more difficult too.

She groaned quietly to herself when she felt a shiver run up her spine. She fought the urge to look up immediately and did it as naturally as she could.

"Well hey there Raven! It's been a while! What brings you by?" She could hear Clara's enthusiastic voice was toned down a bit more than usual and she understood a bit when she heard "Raven" speak.

"A place to relax. Cyborg is testing his new speaker system." Raven replied. Her voice was low and almost drawled. It was definitely the voice of someone who would appreciate a quiet night with a book.

But more importantly that was the girl who chased her the night she got shot at! With a name and a better look she could put it together. Raven, another member of the Teen Titans. Possibly one of the more dangerous due to her versatility and raw power potential. Sunset felt even more lucky to get away.

Clara hummed and looked around "We're a little packed but there's an empty chair across from Sunset over there. She's a quiet girl so if you ask I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll throw a free drink on the house since there's no empty spot for you. Sound good?"

Sunset desperately hoped that Raven would reject it. She looked back down and heard Raven say her name. She assumed Clara pointed her out. "Over there. She's keeps to herself. Actually, " she spoke louder "would that be fine Sunset?" Then back to normal volume "She has really good hearing"

Sunset sighed and looked up with a placating smile "What's that Clara?"

"Would you mind sharing your table with Raven?"

Dammit. "Not at all." She minded a lot.

Raven seemed to unintentionally tease Sunset as she hummed and thought about it before shrugging "Sure. I'll have my usual. I can't really go back to the tower until everything stops shaking."

"Coming right up!"

Sunset internally screamed but physically just gave a polite nod before looking back at her screen. Great. How amazingly, horribly nerve-racking. She was looking up how to plan her next heist right in front of a superhero. Maybe see should type in code. It wouldn't be THAT much work to create a font for Equestrian, would it?

She focused on her screen while Raven simply took her seat. Neither spoke up and Sunset could feel her nerves fray. The awkwardness made her very much want to say something, anything. But, Raven had come here to get away from the noise. The last thing she wanted was to get on her bad side by annoying her.

~~~

Raven closed her eyes and enjoyed what silence she could. The girl who she shared the table with was thankfully without questions. Looking at her, she was probably the one who told Beast Boy off. The lack of typing meant she probably felt awkward. That was unfortunate but it was something Raven was used to. There were only a handful of people who weren't awkward around her for some reason or another.

"Here ya go, dear!" Raven opened her eyes and saw her usual drink set down in front of her. At the same time she heard the sound of keys lightly tapping. It seemed that whatever awkwardness Sunset had was either gone or her work took priority. She could respect that.

She took a sip of her drink quietly and let out an equally quiet sigh. It wasn't the quiet of her room but she wasn't distracted by every little thing like when she was young. Her emotions weren't a constant battle. She still needed to keep them in check to an extent but she allowed herself to enjoy things more than she used to.

Raven enjoyed the relative silence with her eyes shut. She took another sip but heard the clearing of a throat that could only come from nearby. She cracked an eye open and saw the bright teal eyes of her table partner looking at her. “Hey. Sorry to bug you. I just have one quick, non personal question.”

She sighed and waved a hand, indicating for Sunset to continue “Great! So. I’m looking for somewhere with a good work/life balance in the city but I need to have a better understanding of the risks. The city, much like Gotham and the like have high rates of superpowered crime, though this one is thankfully less lethal on average. But, my question is, outside of the obvious, like outside of town, are there any areas where supervillains don’t really hit? The kind where it’d be safe to settle down, at least for a while? I already have a pretty good idea based on a number of graphs I looked through but, I couldn’t pass up a professional opinion to add to it.”

That was… actually a pretty good question. “Huh. Well outside of town is, like you said, pretty safe but a few bad guys make their bases there. Out of the way and all. Inside town, you might think that the lower end areas would be good for it since there’s nothing to steal. But that’s another big area where bad guys make themselves at home. So while they might not be attacking there, it’s still not the safest. Then you have normal crime there too.” She hummed in thought before shrugging “Probably the suburbs. Areas with only people. Like you said, there’s not much lethal focused crime in the area, so big villains who take entire neighborhoods hostage don’t really happen around here. There has been one or two situations where we have had to go out there, but rarely did the fights stay there.”

Sunset nodded as she listened along. “Gotcha. Thanks for the information. It’s tricky enough to find a place in a city, let alone one with so much going on.” With that she went back to her laptop. Actually looking at it, it was an old model. Very old. It must be a pain to do research on that. But it didn’t really involve her so, Raven simply went back to her drink and what quiet she could get.

~~~

Sunset internally sighed. That was a waste. She’d hoped that Raven knew of some area that she could hit later on that would be safer (Obviously much later or she’d be the first suspect) but it seemed that unless she wanted to put on a raccoon mask, carry a sack and practice her lockpicking spells, she’d have to keep with her current focus of stores and stations.

She stayed there for a little longer before getting up and taking her leave. She looked as casual as possible but internally she was panicking.

“That was dumb, that was dumb, that was so, so dumb!” she thought as she tried to look as casual as she could until she got to the alleyways and started to run. Initially she talked to Raven for fact finding and the hope that she would come off friendly but not impactful at all so that they’d have a very vague but positive thought of her. But as she sat in silence afterwards she realized how stupid that was. She should have just stayed quiet. Said nothing. She already caught attention. Her hair and skin used to be so normal in Equestria. How she could forget that it’s out of the ordinary here was beyond her.

She kept running until she reached her little home far, far away from home, slamming the door behind her. “Dammit!” She cursed as she sighed and leaned against the wall for a moment before slamming her fist back against it again as she stood. She was just frustrated that she’d done that. She could have easily just sat there and stayed quiet. But, no. She got overconfident again and didn’t think of anything beyond her own assumptions again!

She took a deep breath and pushed her frustration down. Maybe Raven didn’t care. Maybe it went exactly how she hoped. Maybe she was still just sitting there, enjoying her drink. She sighed and shook her head. She doubted fate would be so kind to her.

~~~

Raven took another sip of her drink with a sigh. This was nice. Peaceful- well, as peaceful as a public coffee shop could be. Even Sunset’s question had been a nice change of pace. It wasn’t a fan, not an enemy. Just a normal question that treated what she did like a job. As if she was an office worker or something. Though she could never imagine herself in a suit and tie. At least not a normal suit and tie. Something nice looking with some purple. Probably not something that would be allowed in an office.

She pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter right now anyway. All that mattered right now was finding out if she could go back.

She brought out her communicator and checked. No messages. So the test probably wasn’t over yet. Robin was supposed to message her when it was done. She really hoped she wasn’t going to end up here all night.

Author's Note

Not a lot really happened here I suppose. I started this chapter off and it kind of took control from me.

But hey! Raven's met her target without even knowing it. Sunset got a lil overconfident in dealing with one of the people who chased her and is pissed at herself for doing exactly that.

I'm hoping for the next chapter to have more happening.

Chapter 8

In-person recon was the part she disliked the most honestly. It opened herself up to so many risks. But that was why she only made one visit. Recons were always caught by the same person scoping the place out. Sunset was better than that. She just needed to double check the information she got against what she saw. For example, she might see multiple cameras in the plans but if one was broken or bent to look in a different direction, that could cause issues. So, while she didn’t like it, here she was, in the location she planned on robbing in a week or so. She’d spread her other heists further across so as to not create a pattern of visiting a week before.

As she entered she found that it pretty much fit with what she’d read about it so far. Clean, organized (well, as well organized as a corner store could get) and it looked like all the cameras were set up just like she’d figured. Though she did notice one extra one looking over the register from the corner behind it. It didn’t look like a professional one. Probably put in by the owner so they can catch an employee stealing from the register or something. Nothing to really worry about. Maybe she could cook up an emp spell- no, no. She’d thought of that before. It would fry any electric locks they had and then she’d have to brute force her way in. Besides, it would show off more of her ability. She wanted them thinking all she had was fire for as long as she could. Besides, even if she could easily rob this place with more magic, it didn’t make it a good idea. There’s nothing that catches people’s attention more than a perfect crime. No matter how good you do, when you’re dealing with physical money, someone is going to notice.

She went about, looking at this or that and eventually grabbed a little snack. Just something so it wasn’t too obvious she was scoping it out. Leaving without grabbing anything would be dumb. She went up to the counter and hummed a little “Hey. You know anywhere that’s hiring?” She asked as the clerk run her up. Her name was apparently “Jen” and if her nametag was to be believed it was apparently nice to meet Sunset.

Jen looked over at her with a thankfully unannoyed look “Well. We are for a night shift-”

Sunset waved a hand “No can do.”

Jen shrugged “Fair enough. Not for everyone.” She bagged the small snack and hummed in thought. Thankfully there wasn’t a line behind Sunset as she leaned on the counter. “This town has a lot of idiots in costumes. If you’re willing to take a risk I’m sure they’d hire for henchmen.”

Sunset scoffed “I’m not even willing to risk missing out on sleep. No way I’d take that.”

Jen laughed and nodded “I figured. Sorry. Gotta filter out the crazies. Anyway. There’s a place on Fifth and Norway that’s hiring. It’s just a little laundromat but it’s something.”

“Thanks. Something is better than nothing.” Sunset said with a small nod as she collected her change and left.

She took the snack out right away and bit into it. Just because she bought it for a reason other than eating it didn’t mean she didn’t pick one she liked. But as she was enjoying it and going over the information she gathered (especially the fact they were hiring for the night shift. That meant whoever she would deal with would be pretty out of it, ideally) she heard noises from the alley. She didn’t look in but instead leaned against the wall next to the entrance and listened.

“Look. It’s easy. Smash and grab. You don’t gotta psych yourself up for that! It’s like motivating yourself to take a shower. We go in, take what we want and run out. Easy-peasy.”

Sunset frowned. Oh, they were not going to hit her target! The more attention it grabbed, the worse it got. She’d put way too much time into researching this hit. She clenched her hand and put it into her pocket. Now, what should she do? She could always get rid of them calmly and quietly. Or, she could not. She figured that if she just made them leave, they’d just come back. It’s best to just scare them off.

Her hand glowed in her pocket as fire lit in the alleyway. “Yo! What’s up with that?!” One of them shouted as the fire grew and covered the direction that would lead towards her. The fire formed into large words “Choose a new target. LEAVE.” It was simple, clear and she really hoped they took it to heart.

She heard the scramble of feet against stone and smirked as she felt as though she’d done good work. Well… sorta. Sure she’d scared away some thieves but the fact still remained that she was going to be the one that robbed the place.

She released her magic and got rid of the fire message before pushing away from the wall. She was about to step away when she realized she could smell smoke and still hear the crackling of fire. Her eyes widened as she glanced into the alley. There was a garbage fire. She could feel her eye twitch as she snapped her fingers and dropped some magically created water onto it. She was really starting to question her luck at this rate.

She took a deep breath and didn’t bother with anything else. She just teleported away and collapsed onto the closet soft pile of whatever was available.

Seriously, what was up with her luck recently? Or at least today? She took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling as she thought. She was already a little paranoid about her job going well and now it was getting worse. Her mind was working against her. Thinking about how things could go worse.

She shook her head clear. No. There was no reason to worry. She’d planned this all out. She’d prepared and gotten ready. She was ready.

Sunset was all confidence as she made her way towards the store. She was ready and pushed all her worries out of her mind. With all her preparations and research, there was no reason to be so paranoid.

All she had to do was go in, knock out the cameras, go to the counter and play things like last time. Easy peasey.

She pushed the door open and prepared her magic but stopped as she saw something that very much should not be there. She stared and the thugs stared back at her. “What is my life?” She grumbled to herself.

Author's Note

I look at them.
They look at me.
I look at them.
They look at me.
I look at them.
They look at me and they say "I'm sorry! What did you want again?!"

It's a little short and a little forced. I almost cut it even shorter before I got the idea to end it where I did.

So yeah. Sunset's luck has had a lil bit of a bad run. Hopefully it'll get better soon!

Chapter 9

Sunset stared at the thugs and groaned as she shook her head. One of them stepped forward with a pipe. "You better leave if you know what's good for you."

Sunset gave him an unseen deadpan expression behind her mask. "I can't even- you're seriously- ugh." They looked like your usual, boring things. Heavy jackets with deep pockets, baklava for hiding the face and thankfully no guns. The guy with the pipe looked confident. The other guy looked really nervous and - who gave the nervous guy a knife?! He was looking between her and- of course the clerk was Jen. No wonder she wanted a night shift.

She didn't like this situation. Not one bit. She liked money, not violence. She didn't like surprises and that shaky thug looked like he could give out an unwanted surprise at any time.

"Dammit." She cursed and that one utterance seemed to send the skittish one into overdrive. He turned and started to move towards Jen with his knife out.

Time seemed to move slowly as Sunset's mind moved on instinct. She wasn't a hero. She wasn't. But, this was ruining all her plans. Making all the time she'd spent go to waste. She'd been learning human martial arts since she arrived but it wasn't instinctual yet. So when she dropped to all fours it threw the pipe off enough that he didn't do anything when she launched herself towards his buddy and upon getting close to him, turned around in a quick and fluid movement as she left both hands on the floor and brought both feet to the knife idiot's chest.

Time's flow came back to normal as he flew a few feet away and she stood back up and wiped her gloves off on her legs. She looked around and found the knife on the ground. She kicked it under one of the shelves before making her way back to him.

He was wheezing. "That hurt?" She asked impassively as she grabbed his head. "I hope so. Cause you were doing something really dumb."

Pipe thug seemed to come out of his stupor as he came rushing to heroically help his poor idiot. "H-hey! Bug off!"

"Bug off? Really?" Sunset mumbled to herself before slamming Knife Thug's head against the floor. Not horribly hard. She'd used some magic to put him into an unconscious state too. No reason to take chances that she might not do it too hard or not hard enough.

She stood up and cracked her neck, spreading her arms and creating some fire from her fingertips. "Alright. You're going to be my punching bag then. Cause I'm really pissed off right now." She said before sending a few fireballs to the nearby cameras. Just because she didn't like violence didn't mean she couldn't use it in a way that benefited her.

Pipe Thug's eyes widened at the sight of the fire. "It was you! In the alley!"

Now Sunset's eyes widened before she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness! I was worried that this place had three groups that wanted to rob it." She chuckled a little and got a little more of her confidence back "Well at least now I know my luck isn't that bad." She said before rushing at him. This time she consciously focused on using human martial arts.

Wanting to stay away from the fire, the thug stepped back and swung the pipe. Sunset superheated a very small range around her hand and reached for it. The pipe melted before the force even reached her. "Ooh. Sorry. Too bad."

The thug panicked and dropped the pipe, trying to run but that big jacket worked against him as Sunset grabbed the hood and kicked the back of his leg. Once he was in range she put an arm around his neck. "I'm gonna need you to sleep." She made a show of jerking his head to the side as she cast the same spell as she did on his buddy.

"Hey! Do you have an extension cable?!" Sunset called out to Jen, who seemed to have hidden behind the counter once she was out of danger of being targeted right away, as she started to drag Pipe Thug towards the other one.

Jen jumped at being addressed but once she realized everything seemed over she rushed into action. Though her version of action was very different from the action of what just happened. She walked up and handed off the extension cord to what she could only see as her savior. "Thank you so much for your help. I was already worried about taking a night shift. I know this neighborhood is better than some but I don't like being out late and-" she cut herself off with a sigh. "I'm rambling. Thank you so much."

Sunset chuckled. She felt a little uncomfortable. It was also a bit funny. Once she was sure the thugs were tied good enough she put a bit of heat into the cables. Enough to melt the rubber to itself and make sure getting out was harder.

"Don't thank me." She said as she stood up. She was just a little taller than Jen. "I'm not exactly much better."

Jen raised a brow "what do you mean?"

Sunset chuckled again. "This is gonna be really awkward after all this but… I'm going to need you to open the safe. Now." She ordered. She watched as Jen's face fell at the realization that she hadn't exactly been saved. "Look. Just do it and I won't hurt you. Those morons first instinct was to threaten you. Which, you already are by the situation itself. So just do what I'm asking, don't go near that button under the count-" Sunset stopped.

The counter. The place where she'd been hiding during the fight. The place where the panic button was.

"Shit," She cursed. She couldn't even get mad. Jen already hit the panic button, so she put her to sleep by casting a nicer version of the spell she used on the thugs on her and helped to make sure she didn't crumple to the floor.

She grabbed the bag she'd dropped at the entrance and rushed to the safe, barely paying attention as she blasted the cameras. Her "fight" if you could call it that, with the Knife Thug reminded her of the days with Celestia. Back then she'd demanded some training with the royal guards. In her mind her reasoning was that a future princess would need to defend herself if her magic was ever cut off. She was often paired up with a recruit who was really good with shields so she wouldn't hurt him since she had a tendency to go overboard. Which she used as an opportunity to train both physically and magically even harder. Eventually she came up with a spell to break his shield. It worked for all of two days until she had to rework it.

She may be a genius but when it came to magic shields, whatever his name was, was dang close. Every time she broke it, he'd fix it soon afterwards.

That very spell was what would get her into the safe now. She recalled the blueprints she found online and her magic took the form of a drill. It pushed in like the metal was butter. His shields were way better. If she ever got back she'd really have to spar with him again.

She stepped out of the way as the thick door fell. She quickly pushed the money into her bag as she heard the tell-tale sounds of sirens nearby. All her planning and everything fell apart. Maybe burglary wasn't all that bad of an idea after all.

She made her way to the back door and melted the lock out, kicking it open afterwards. She heard someone shouting at her to stop. Memories of her sparring partner and her first botched job mixed together in her head, causing her to create a shield behind her. Luckily it wasn't the bright pink she remembered from the training grounds but instead a transparent shimmer in the air.

She didn't hear any shots. But she heard someone chasing her. Annoying but she could deal with that. A bit of magic into her legs and she moved faster. She was already outrunning them but now the distance was even bigger.

She couldn't even smirk though. This whole thing was one screw up after another. She'd have to look into a new avenue of theft. She still wanted money because finding someone to buy stolen goods was a pain in the ass.

Long after outrunning the police and taking a scenic route to change, she found herself home. She felt wiped out. That drill spell was a bit tougher to use than she remembered. She sighed and lit a little ball of fire on her fingertip. She watched as it bounced from finger to finger. She still didn't understand why pyrokinesis was the only magic that didn't wear her out. The bouncing flame took the form of a familiar filly, a smile full of hope and joy. She was looking up at-

She snuffed the flame out. She had research to do. Convenience store heists weren't working out. She needed something with a big enough score that if it went bad she could still hide out long enough with her ill gotten gains for the heat to die down and be comfortable.

She needed to go bigger.

Author's Note

Some of you were really expecting more out of a couple of steet thugs XD.

Sunny's bad luck wasn't over at all as it turns out! Too bad!

This chapter kinda wrote itself as you can tell by how quickly I wrote it X3