Spectrum

Rainbow sat in the passenger’s seat as Kerfuffle drove them through the city. The rainbow-haired woman looked out the window before she looked at the driver. “So, how long you been doing this?”

“Oh, goin’ on five years now,” Kerfuffle answered. “Yeah, Psyche found me shortly after we got our powers.”

“Stop any bad guys?”

“Oh, you betcha. Mostly small-time crooks but we stopped a couple super powered ones. The worst was Grim, but each of us had our own to fight. I fought someone named Mech. Ah, that was an intense fight, dontcha know. I almost died.”

“Ah. That dangerous, huh?” Rainbow asked, feeling a wave of nervousness wash over her.

“Regretting your decision?”

Rainbow smiled. “I admit, dying didn’t cross my mind, but… I can take it.”

“I have complete faith in you. You’ve got determination. I think you’ll do… okay.”

“Just… okay?”

“Still too early to tell.”

Kerfuffle pulled into the parking lot of an auto body shop. One of the bay doors was open and inside was a pick up truck. The hood was open and a muscular woman with short red hair and drenched in sweat was working on the engine. She only wore overalls, thin tube top, boots, and a blue trucker’s cap.

“Hey, Torque,” Kerfuffle greeted as she led Rainbow over.

The sweaty woman looked up and stood upright as she removed her cap, still holding her wrench. “Hey, Fuffs. This Rainbow Dash?”

Kerfuffle nodded. “Psyche wanted me to show her the others in our group.”

“Hey,” Rainbow greeted. “So, do the police know about us?”

Torque chuckled. “Of course. Would be pretty to hide what we do.”

“Huh… That explains why they haven’t investigated Trixie. Or that thief who tried to rob Pinkie.”

“The one Twilight blew up?” Torque asked. “Do you know what discreet means?”

“Hey, that wasn’t me.”

“Maybe not. But can you be discreet?”

“Pfff. Of course.”

“Uh-huh. What can you do?”

“I can run. Fast.”

“Run fast? How’s your fighting skills?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I’m more athletic and sleek.”

Torque rubbed her temple and groaned. “For cryin’ out loud… You can’t just run into your opponents, Dash.”

Rainbow’s smiled faded. “Oh. Right. Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Psyche said she’d train her,” Kerfuffle said as she patted the newbie’s shoulder.

“She better,” Torque sighed. “Or she may as well be as slow as molasses in January. Speed ain’t nothin’ ‘less you got some power behind it.”

“Hmm,” Rainbow contemplated as she crossed her arms. “If you’d like to give some private lessons, I wouldn’t mind learning from you, too.”

"Oh-ho-ho," Torque chuckled as she placed her right fist on her hip. "You're one of those perverts."

"I prefer the term... seducer. Specifically of women."

"And this tactic works?"

"Usually." They all suddenly heard car horns honking and looked towards the street to see a woman Dash recognized standing in the middle of the road. “Gilda?”

“You know her?” Torque asked as she picked up her wrench.

“My ex,” Rainbow sighed as she left to stand on the sidewalk. “Got a screw loose, bitch?!” She called out. “Or are you trying to get run over?!”

Kerfuffle and Torque walked up and stood on either side of her. “Something feels off,” Kerfuffle muttered.

Torque nodded. “Careful, Rainbow.”

The rainbow-haired woman eyed the mechanic. “You think she has powers?”

Gilda smirked as griffin wings sprouted from her back. “Time to play, bitch!”

“Well, fuck me,” Dash muttered as the road suddenly became vacant of cars. It seemed the pedestrians wanted none of this shit. “She has powers. But so do I.”

“Careful,” Kerfuffle warned.

Without thinking, Rainbow took off towards her ex. As she was about to land a blow, Gilda ducked to the side and delivered a hard punch to her chest. Rainbow stopped suddenly and dropped to her knees. Gilda let out a chuckle and kicked her onto her back.

“Still the weak one,” the raspy woman spat.

"Hey!" Torque yelled as she and Kerfuffle ran over and stopped a few feet away. "Cut it out!"

"You two stay out of this!" Gilda yelled as she pointed at them. "This is between me and the bitch!"

Rainbow swiped her leg at Gilda, knocking her over before she zipped over to stand by her new friends. "Ideas?"

"Momentum," Torque said as Gilda growled and got back up. "Combine a punch with your speed. But watch out. Her reaction time seems to have improved."

"Yeah, that's what worries me," Dash sighed as Gilda began to move closer.

Rainbow then shot forward, ready to throw a punch. Gilda reached out to grab her neck, so she ducked and slid, delivering a blow to the woman's gut. Gilda let out a grunt as Dash zipped by again and delivered a punch across the face. Gilda growled and spit out blood as Dash zipped by for another punch. This time, Gilda was ready. She simply held out her fist as Dash ran into it. She then grabbed Dash's leg and pulled it out from under her. Rainbow fell on her back with a grunt.

"Gosh darn it," Torque sighed.

Gilda stood up and kicked Dash in the side, hard. "Still the weak one."

Rainbow growled and glared up at her. "So, what's your plan, G? Gonna kill me?"

"Kill you?" Gilda asked, before she let out an evil chuckle. "That would be such a waste of an amazing body. I thought I'd chain you to my bed and use you as a sex toy. Sound good, pet? Get to be my bitch. My special little plaything."

"I'll never be yours!" Rainbow yelled.

"Oh, good. I'd hate for you to enjoy it."

"I've seen enough," Kerfuffle said as she held her left hand down by her metallic leg. A small compartment opened up and a metal cylinder popped out. The woman gripped it and held it up as the ends slid out, becoming a long metal pole. She tossed it into her right hand and twirled it as she ran at the enemy.

Torque sighed and held up her wrench, resting it on her shoulder. "Fine. Why not?"

Gilda growled in annoyance and faced Kerfuffle. "Why couldn't you just mind your own business?"

She blocked an attack from Kerfuffle before side-stepping a swing from Torque's wrench. She then unfurled her wings and sun around, knocking both women away. Rainbow watched as the three fought, her two new buddies putting up quite the fight. Eventually, Torque got in a lucky hit with her wrench, smacking Gilda across the face with it. The winged woman stumbled back with an angry groan.

"Fuck this!" She yelled. "You three may have won this time, but next time you won't be so lucky!" She then flapped her wings and took off into the sky.

Torque and Kerfuffle watched her fly away before Kerfuffle folded up her staff and put it back in her robotic leg. Rainbow Dash got to her feet as the other two joined her. "Thanks for that," she sighed, brushing herself off.

"You need training," Torque said as she passed Rainbow, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Badly."

Kerfuffle watched Torque return to the garage before she looked at Rainbow. "Why don't we head back? See if Psyche has any ideas."

Rainbow nodded. "Good idea."