Dave the custodian wheeled his cart full of cleaning supplies and grabbed a bottle of lemon-scented polisher. He applied a gentle spray and began wiping down the rustic metal until his face reflected on its surface.

  “There we go, the last one."

  The sounds of Natalie's sneakers echoed from a distance as she ran past Dave at full speed.

  “HEY, NO RUNNING IN THE HA—”

  WOOOOOOSH!

  With the force of a hurricane, the Kepler Sisters zoomed past Dave, knocking him off his feet. Locker doors were torn from their bolts and slammed onto the ground. Paper, textbooks, and photos exploded into the air. Dave sat in the center of the wreckage.

  "Fuck this, I need a beer..."

  Dave took a bottle from the cart and disappeared into the janitor's closet.

  In the gymnasium, the kids sat glued to their phones, watching Maddy and Bree chase Natalie live on Twat.TV.

  Courtney stood at the podium. She had sold out Natalie, and for what? She didn't want Natalie dead; she just wanted to make her suffer, which is like two totally different things, right?

  "Oh fuck, what if they kill her? I'll be canceled beyond recognition! I just wanted to be famous! What do I do? What do I do??"

  Then, out of nowhere, Harmony grabbed Courtney's wrist and marched her out of the gymnasium. She pinned Courtney against the lockers with a SLAM. For once, Harmony was in complete control.

  "Courtney... in all my years as a Cutie Princess, I have never EVER witnessed anything so despicable, so vile... so... cowardly." Harmony’s voice shook.

  "I know! I'm so sorry, I fucked up badly! Please tell me we can fix this, I'll do anything! Anything!" Courtney pleaded, her social status on the line.

  "Gear up. We're going to save Natalie and fight the Kepler Sisters. But I'm gonna need you at one hundred percent, alright?"

  Courtney trembled, eyes darting for an exit.

  "Courtney! Do you understand?!" Harmony demanded.

  "I-I do..." Courtney’s voice broke.

  Harmony stepped back. "By the powers vested in me, I shall become a Cutie Princess!"

  Ribbons and sparkles swirled into a dress as Harmony went into a beautiful transformation sequence, with the J pop music, and the dress and the blah, blah, blah, you get the point. She gripped her sparkly Cutie Wand.

  "Starlight Princess!" Harmony posed while stars and glitter rained down on her.

  Courtney unceremoniously flashed into her Cosmic Cheetah outfit.

  "Riiiight... we'll work on that later. Come on, Natalie needs us!"

  Harmony floated off the ground and grabbed Courtney’s hand. Together, they flew down the corridors, following the path of destruction the Keplers left behind.

  Meanwhile, Natalie ran for her life. She couldn't transform in front of the Keplers, not while they were broadcasting this chase live. Exposing herself meant death. She had to do something she deeply regretted. She had to beg.

  “LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M JUST A LITTLE GIRL!” Natalie shouted.

  Maddy had Natalie in her sights and readied homing rockets.

  “Maddy, wait! We don't know if she actually is a Cutie Princess!” Bree shouted over the comms.

  “The sooner she's dead, the sooner we get bigger trailers, Bree!” Maddy shouted back.

  PEW! PEW!

  Homing rockets whistled at a high pitch and exploded behind Natalie. The blast sent her flying through the cafeteria doors.

  "Owww...” Natalie groaned.

  She pushed herself off the ground and tried to transform until Maddy and Bree busted through the door. Maddy took the lead, pointing her arm directly at Natalie and firing 25mm Vulcan rounds.

  RATATATATATATATA!

  Chairs exploded. Tables cracked in half. Natalie dove into the kitchen as Maddy's bullets turned the walls into Swiss cheese.

  "Maddy, are you crazy?! You just became a school shooter!" Bree looked on in horror.

  "Well then, she better run faster than my bullets," Maddy smirked.

  At Powers Industries, Maxwell Powers viewed the livestream. He was not happy. He pressed the microphone and spoke directly to the Kepler Sisters.

  "What the fuck are you morons doing? Do you realize the PR disaster you're causing? A school shooting? Really?! Pull back now!"

  "Mr. Powers, sir, I am awfully sorry for my sister's behavior! She's not like this, I swear!" Bree panicked.

  Maddy defied the order.

  "Maxy, we had a deal. I'm gonna get super fucking rich and you're gonna get dead Princesses. Once they're out, you can milk this Maximum Climax bullshit all you want." She sneered, scanning through her visors for Natalie's whereabouts.

  Maxwell's face turned redder than Maddy's Ruby armor.

  "Maddy, I will shut you down, do you hear me? Stripped finances, termination, cease and desists—you'll never work in this industry again!"

  Maddy entered the kitchen. There was no sign of Natalie. She stalked through the counters and ovens.

  "Cute story, boss, but you'll be begging for me to return once I have those little sluts on a silver platter."

  Above Maddy, Natalie—now transformed as Nebula Ninja—clung to the ceiling. She looked down at Maddy like a certain radioactive superhero avoiding a certain goblin in a 2000s action movie.

  "Alright, bitch... time to tear you a new asshole..." Natalie hissed.

  Natalie dove with the precision of a hawk, her Ninjatō pointed at Maddy's back.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  "NINPO SHADO—"

  Maddy's enhanced reflexes kicked in. She grabbed Natalie in mid-air and strangled her.

  "Maxie, look! I got her! I got her!"

  Maxwell stared at the screen. It was a Cutie Princess, but he couldn't permit a kill on school grounds.

  "Let her go, Maddy!"

  "WHAT?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

  Natalie turned purple. She kicked and scratched at Maddy's iron grip to no avail.

  "I said let her go! This isn't a fair fight. If you're gonna kill them, you'll do it my way with permits! This is murder!" Maxwell shouted.

  Maddy scoffed.

  "Murder? Didn't you just yeet a man off a fucking building? Didn't you give impressionable young women weapons of mass destruction? Didn't you—"

  Maxwell terminated the livestream. A "technical difficulties" sign with a sleeping puppy replaced the feed.

  "Maddy Kepler... YOU'RE FIRED! DO YOU HEAR ME? YOU'RE FUCKING DONE!"

  "Should have thought of that before you gave me the suit, Maxwell. Now I'm gonna fuck you up. Consider it a severance payment."

  "Guards! Guards! Protocol Alpha! This is not a drill! Take me to the bunker. Have the lab coats disable those fucking power armors. I want Maddy Kepler erased off the face of this planet!"

  "Sir, what about Bree?" asked a suit who frantically held a clipboard in his hands.

  "As long as she keeps playing the bleeding heart, she's a viable asset. We can salvage this and make this her solo career debut!”

  Maddy stared into Natalie's red eyes and tightened her grip. Natalie was desperately trying to pry apart Maddy’s mechanical gloved fingers.

  "Look, kid. This isn't personal, but I have nothing left to lose."

  "Maddy, stop! You're killing her!" Bree tried to pry them apart when suddenly the cafeteria doors blew open.

  "Hold it right there!" Harmony shouted. Courtney stood beside her, her face filled with guilt.

  Natalie turned her head. For once in her life, she had never been so happy to see Harmony.

  "Bree, look! It's another one!" Maddy gasped.

  Natalie dug her fingers into Maddy's cheek and peeled down the skin with her nails.

  "AHHH! YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

  Maddy screamed and threw Natalie at Harmony. The two tumbled and crashed into tables and chairs. Courtney stared at the Keplers.

  "Wait... I know you..." Maddy approached Courtney menacingly.

  Courtney gulped and trembled.

  "You're that one Cheetah bitch I was told not to kill."

  "Y-yeah! That's right! Partners, remember?" Courtney laughed nervously.

  Maddy's suit began to hum. The sound grew louder and louder.

  "Right... Partners." Maddy pointed her wrist at Courtney.

  "LOOK OUT!" Natalie shoved Courtney.

  BZZZZZZ!

  A red laser streak scorched the ground where Courtney had just stood.

  "Shit! Stand still!" Maddy hollered.

  "Bitch, get up!" Natalie pulled Courtney to her feet, avoiding the laser blasts.

  "BREE, DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!"

  Bree stood there trembling. "Maddy, just stop! Please, I'm begging you! It's only assault; don't make it murder!"

  "Shut up. Shut up, SHUT UP!" Maddy shrieked. She unleashed homing rockets at Natalie and Courtney.

  "JESUS CHRIST!" Natalie back-flipped. A rocket whizzed past her only to turn back around, aiming at her back.

  "NINJA!" Courtney grabbed a metal tray and, in a flash, she smacked the rocket away. The wall crumbled in the explosion.

  "Girls, on me! We gotta take this outside so no one else gets hurt!" Harmony commanded.

  Natalie and Courtney leaped toward Harmony. She encased them in a pink barrier and phased them through the wall.

  "WHERE DID THEY GO?!" Maddy shouted.

  "Maddy, let's just stop this now!" Bree held Maddy's arm. Maddy turned and smacked her sister, sending her crashing through the wall.

  "At least you made yourself useful, Bree." Maddy grinned, walking over Bree and out of the hole.

  Outside, Harmony removed the pink barrier. She and Natalie landed on their feet; Courtney face-planted on the ground.

  “Are you two alright?” Harmony asked with worry, holding Natalie’s hand.

  “I-I can't believe you saved me… after everything I said and done… I've been nothing but a bitch to you…” Natalie sighed.

  Harmony smiled and hugged Natalie.

  “You know I'll always be there for you. Even you, Courtney! You're all my besties and I love you all!” she proclaimed happily.

  Natalie’s face burned with guilt. Friendship. The one thing she never had in her entire life. Just as she was about to hug Harmony, rockets flew towards them, exploding into a cloud of smoke. Their eyes and lungs were irritated.

  “What the fuck?!” Natalie hissed.

  “MY EYES! OH FUCK, IT HURTS!” Courtney whined.

  When the smoke cleared, Maddy stood before them. Her Ruby armor sparkled under the bright sun. She aimed her laser directly at the trio.

  “Don't worry. When you're dead and gone, I'll be sure to let the world know that the Cutie Princesses died heroically!”

  BZZZZZZZZZ.

  The laser flew off into the distance, bouncing away from the girls.

  “What the hell?!” Maddy yelled.

  It was the Lunar Knight, Joan! She deflected the laser with her Lunar shield. Despite the demonstration at the concert, science was no match for magical powers and friendship.

  “Are you alright, milady?” Joan asked, not even turning around.

  Harmony felt awestruck. She had missed Joan all day.

  “Lunar Knight! I… I'm sorry for everything…”

  “I forgive you. My allegiance is to you and only to you, my princess.” Joan hid her blush.

  “Oh, Lunar Knight….” Harmony smiled with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “Barf! Let's just fuck this bitch up so we can all go home!” Natalie pushed between the two idle Cutie Princesses.

  Maddy couldn't believe it. All four of the Cutie Princesses were here.

  “You sluts think you can beat me?! I have money! I have technology! I have fans!”

  “And yet you've lost your sister, your sponsors, and your livestream! You're a joke, Maddy Kepler, and I looked up to you!” Harmony clenched her hand over her broken heart.

  “You are nothing but toxicity that threatened to break our glorious bond!” Joan added.

  “Why are they talking?” Courtney whispered to Natalie.

  “The fuck should I know?!” Natalie whispered back.

  “What you've done is unforgivable! And I swear we will bring you to justice!” With a cool, dramatic pose, Harmony pointed her finger at Maddy.

  “Fighting in the name of love, Starlight Princess!”

  “Fighting in the name of justice, Lunar Knight!”

  The camera stopped at Natalie, who rolled her eyes. “Ugh… fighting because… I fucking hate you.. I'm Nebula Ninja…”

  “And I'm Cosmic Cheetah! Be sure to catch up with me on my socials at—”

  The rest of the girls stared at Courtney, reminding her about the lesson of the day.

  “Oh… right… um.. sorry…”

  Harmony proudly took a step forward. “And together we are Sailing Star…”

  “CUTIE PRINCESS!” she and Joan shouted as explosions and confetti surprised Natalie and Courtney, who hit the deck, covered in glitter and sparkles.

  “Jesus Christ, that fucking scared me!” Natalie shouted.

  “DON'T DO THAT!” Courtney screamed.

  “Ugh, just shut up, all of you, and let's fight!” Maddy hissed.

  The moment had arrived—the big fight! The whole reason you waited through five boobless, touchy-feely emotional episodes!

  The Sailing Star girls were absolutely brutal.

  Joan delivered a one-two punch, sending Maddy over to Natalie, who slashed at Maddy's suit with her Ninjatō. Sparks went flying! Courtney came in and did a series of quick roundhouse kicks. More sparks flew.

  Maddy's FOV was glitching out. Error 404 screens appeared before her eyes. She couldn't see, and her head was bruised with every punch and every spark.

  "STARLIGHT BLAST!" Harmony shouted, aiming her Cutie Wand at Maddy.

  The blast sent Maddy rolling down a grassy hill, knocking down multiple trees like a strike in bowling.

  "Ugh.. you Cutie whores are nothing! I'll fucking kill you all, you hear me?! You're all fucking DEAD!" Maddy unleashed a barrage of homing missiles.

  "Girls, countermeasures now!" Harmony ordered.

  "Counter what?" Natalie asked.

  "The fuck does that mean?" Courtney tilted her head.

  The incoming deadly swarm clouded the sun. It was like the movie 300, but instead of arrows, it was weapons of mass destruction.

  "Holy shit!" Natalie shouted while Joan jumped in the air. She spun around, smacking away as many of the missiles as possible.

  Harmony spun her Cutie Wand and shouted, "STARLIGHT BARRIER!"

  The missiles thudded repeatedly onto the barrier. Natalie looked on in amazement, and so did Courtney.

  "You know something? I think... I think being a Cutie Princess is... kinda cool," Natalie admitted.

  "Yeah, it's like... they're doing all this shit to keep this world spinning another day, and they don't ask for money or fame. They do it because they want to," Courtney added.

  "GIRLS, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! HELP!" Harmony screamed.

  The two girls looked at each other. Courtney sighed and said, "I'm so sorry, Natalie... for everything."

  "I'm... I'm sorry too... you fucking bitch," Natalie mumbled.

  "GIRLS!" Harmony demanded.

  Courtney smirked. "Come on, you fucking softy. Let's help these dumbasses and show them what we can do!"

  Natalie and Courtney jumped through the Starlight Barrier. Together, they held hands and spun through the rockets, narrowly avoiding each one. They were falling through them in slow motion. Courtney laughed and smiled at Natalie, and Natalie smiled back. Then, they landed on the ground with a loud THUD.

  "Owww, fuck my shoulder!" Natalie whined.

  "Oooh. That was my bad. I got distracted," Courtney said, holding her ribs.

  "Are you two finished?!" Joan asked while still swiping away the missiles.

  "Right, let's go get that bitch!" Natalie sprinted toward Maddy.

  "Right behind you!" Courtney laughed and ran on all fours using her Cheetah speed.

  Maddy fired rocket after rocket until she wasted her entire surplus.

  "Shit, shit, SHIT!" Maddy panicked.

  Natalie rushed over and began beating the shit out of Maddy, holding her by the plating and punching her in the face over and over like a God of War interaction.

  "Hey, wait! I want a turn too!" Courtney pulled a branch off a tree and joined Natalie in the beating. The girls laughed with every punch and spark.

  "GIRLS, STOP. STOP. STOP!" Harmony got between them and Maddy.

  "This is not what Cutie Princess is about! We are honorable! We fight with love, with courage, with—"

  Maddy lifted her arm and unleashed her flamethrower. Natalie and Courtney watched in horror as Harmony was engulfed in flames. Her shrieks echoed throughout the park. Natalie dropped her sword and leaped out of the way of the inferno. Courtney rolled to the ground.

  Joan watched in horror as Harmony was completely swallowed by the fire.

  "LADY CELESTIA!" A guttural, harrowing scream, unlike any heard before, came from Joan.

  When the flames dissipated, Harmony coughed out smoke and fell to the ground. Her beautiful pink hair and dress, now covered in ash and soot, lay on the grassy plains. Flowers and dandelions surrounded her. Natalie's eyes filled with tears, and so did Courtney's.

  "I did it? I DID IT! I GOT HE—"

  SHIIIINK.

  "Ack!..."

  Maddy looked at her chest. Joan's Lunar Sword was deeply embedded in her. She was now pinned to the tree behind her. Joan ran down the hill and held Harmony in her arms.

  "Lady Celestia? LADY CELESTIA!"

  No response.

  "Please... don't do this.. don't head into the light... stay with me, my princess. Without you, I am but a sailor lost in the sea of troubles. Without your radiance and guidance, I am nothing. Please, my princess, answer me."

  No response.

  Tears dropped onto Harmony's cheek. Joan held her tightly and let out a raw, visceral sob. She cried horribly. Natalie and Courtney looked at each other. They did this. They were responsible.

  Natalie and Courtney walked up to Joan. They were both crying.

  "Joan...? Is she okay?" Natalie asked.

  "Joan, I... we're—" Courtney tried to speak.

  Joan stood up and faced Natalie and Courtney. She grabbed their wrists and yanked off their magical bracelets. They both turned back into their civilian forms.

  "HEY, WAIT!" Natalie shouted.

  "Joan, come on!" Courtney panicked.

  "As of right now, you two are officially banned from Cutie Princess. You two are selfish, arrogant, good-for-nothing, deplorable human beings. I should do the world a favor and dispose of you both!"

  Natalie and Courtney flinched. They were terrified.

  "But... that's not what Lady Celestia would have wanted. Go. Live your lives as you normally would. But don't you two ever associate with me again."

  "Joan..." Natalie whimpered.

  "GO! LEAVE!"

  Natalie backed up and ran, crying.

  "Natalie... wait up!" Courtney followed behind.

  Joan picked up Harmony. She removed her magical bracelet and went to get help. Maddy was left behind, leaning on the tree, the sword holding her in place. Bree ran up to Maddy and looked at her dying sister.

  “MADDY? MADDY!?"

  "Bree...? I got one... heh... I got one..." Maddy then closed her eyes.

  "Maddy?! Oh my God, Maddy!" Bree panicked and looked at the mess they made. Maddy's comms crackled to life.

  "Bree? Come in, Bree." It was Maxwell Powers. "Bree, if you're listening, I'd like to make a proposition for you."

  つづく

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