“I’m not like you, mister über-geek, whose lifelong dream was fulfilled by not just going to that monstrous comic convention in California, but by being the center of attention there,” Jennifer teased.
“Hey hey, we were both the center of attention. In fact probably you more than me,” Matt countered.
“I still can’t believe how many of the girls were dressed as Cheer Raider,” Jennifer said.
“Cosplayers are very into you right now. You’ve got lots of fangirls that look up to you,” said Matt.
“What in the hell?” asked Theresa as they arrived at Bensonville’s movie theater and saw that the entrance was blocked by a shell of ice that covered nearly half the building. She stopped the truck and the four of them got out. A girl was standing in front of the barrier, waiting for them.
“Ah, Cheer Raider, finally you’ve arrived! Now, transform and face me!” she declared loudly.
“What the hell is she supposed to be? Another one of those cosplayers?” Jennifer said.
“It’s your uniform alright, but it’s like she’s done a palette swap on it,” Matt answered. Rather than red, the dominant color was light blue, and the decorative braid stripes had a teal-white-purple-white-teal color scheme. The helmet visor was also light blue, and the helmet was colored purple on top and white on the bottom, with a long braid of black hair coming out behind it. The white block letters on the front of the shell top were outlined in purple, and rather than “Cheer”, read “Chill”.
“I am Chill Raider! And I’m about to show the world that I’m the superior magical girl!” she announced.
“Oh for fuck’s sake. ‘Chill Raider’? Really?” Jennifer said incredulously.
“Wait, I know that voice. Oh my God. Cassandra Taylor, is that you?” Theresa asked.
“Wha… uh, I said call me Chill Raider!” she stammered.
“You’re right! It is her!” Jennifer said. “Cassandra, what the hell is this?”
“Who’s Cassandra Taylor?” asked Matt.
“She was the captain of the our cheerleader squad here for two years. She graduated the year before all the monster stuff happened. I heard she even got a cheerleading scholarship to college. She was always a major prima donna, though,” Theresa explained.
“Hey, that means you just graduated from university, right? Congrats,” Jennifer said.
“Silence!” Cassandra shouted. “Never mind that. You’re nothing special. I was always a better cheerleader than you. Why should you get all the fame, and a movie, and dolls with your face on them, just for doing what I could have done, given the chance?”
“Wait, are you… are you jealous of me?” Jennifer asked in disbelief. “Do you have any idea what I went through? I was almost killed, several times. I was captured and tortured in ways you wouldn’t even want to hear about. I grew up for over half my life without my mother, or a functioning father, because of those monsters. So don’t stand there and tell me you wish it had been you.”
“None of that matters anymore. I have powers now too, and once everybody sees that I’m the better hero, I’ll get the recognition I deserve. Change so we can begin our duel!” Cassandra demanded.
“Come off it. What powers? To be even more annoying than you were back in high school?” said Jennifer.
“Uh, actually that ice barricade must have come from somewhere,” Matt interjected quietly.
“You doubt me? I’ll show you! Pom-poms!” Cassandra called, and indeed a pair of pom-poms in colors matching her uniform appeared in her hands. “Rally Pride Blizzard Fury!” she shouted, producing a projectile of snow and ice that hit a lamppost and left a thick layer of ice around it.
“Shit!” Jennifer said, taken by surprise. “Sugarshine, what is this? Is she really another magical girl?”
“Impossible. There can only be one guardian at a time. I have no idea where her ability came from. I didn’t even sense her power until she used it just now,” the pony replied.
“Okay, fine. You have powers. That’s wonderful for you,” Jennifer said sarcastically. “But right now we have a local movie premier to be guests of honor for. Just unblock the damn doors, because I’m not going to fight you.”
“Did you hear me say I’m giving you a choice? A forfeit just won’t do, your defeat must be genuine!” Cassandra said.
“Oh come on, would you? All of the fame, we didn’t ask for it! We avoided it as long as we could! I haven’t even transformed into Cheer Raider since we rescued my Mom and stopped the invasion!” Jennifer said.
“She’s telling the truth,” Matt said. “The studio’s effects people practically begged to see her transform, but in the end they had to make do with Panther’s video logs.”
“No! You won’t take this away from me this time! Battle me now or I’ll make you wish you had!” Cassandra threatened.
“Okay, you know, everybody’s going to start showing up pretty soon,” Matt said. “You girls work this out, I’m going to go fetch Panther to get that ice melted. Hell, it’s his movie too, people will love seeing him here. Emergency pilot retrieval, dimensional fold, activate.”
“Stay out of it! Rally Pride Blizzard Fury!” Cassandra shouted, her ice attack striking Matt just as he disappeared in Panther’s teleport.
“Matt! No! What did you do?” cried Jennifer. “If you hurt him, I swear I will end you.”
Cassandra smiled. “Well now, you still have two friends left. Shall we see how they like the cold?”
Jennifer’s eyes burned with fury as she gave Cassandra a death glare. “Fine! You want a fight with Cheer Raider? I’ll give you a fight with fucking Cheer Raider!” She tossed her purse to Theresa and called out, “Gimme a V! I! C! T! O! R! Y! What’s that spell? Victory!” On the final word she thrust her fist into the air, and the charms flew off her bracelet and circled around her, turning into a swirling cloud of golden sparkles. She levitated off the ground, and all her clothes vanished, leaving her completely naked. The rush of sparkles tickled against her skin, especially her tits and pussy. A sports bra and thong formed around her body. The striped braid appeared, starting from her shoulders and meeting in the middle, then the shell formed moving downward over her breasts, stopping with the lower braid. Bloomers formed over her thong, and the skirt pleats appeared, spinning around her body, drawing closer to her until they attached at her waist. Ankle socks and boots formed around her feet. Her hair blew wildly behind her, then came together and wove itself into a single braid down her back, secured with a red hair tie. A yellow glow appeared over her nose, then split into two that moved up and back, creating the visor. From the top of the visor and around to the back of her head, the helmet formed. A final flurry of sparkles moved over her chest, leaving behind block letters that spelled out “Cheer”. Then the sparkles lowered her to the ground and dissipated.
“Matt, Matt are you okay?” Jennifer asked.
“After a fashion, yeah,” Matt replied through her helmet communicator. “I’m encased in ice, except for my head, fortunately. The base personnel are heating up some water to get me out, but it’s gonna be a while I think.”
“Oh thank goodness,” Jennifer said. She turned towards Cassandra. “I still owe you a beating for that, though, bitch! Pom-poms!”
Cassandra dropped her pom-poms and summoned a different weapon. “Baton! Whirling Baton Icy Barrier!” As she spun her baton, a curved wall of ice formed in front of her, reaching from the ground to a few inches over her head.
“Fighting Spirit Fiery Burst!” Jennifer shouted, multiple times, each time launching a fireball that puffed out harmlessly against the ice shield. Jennifer took off running towards Cassandra, pulling back a fist and shouting, “Pom-Pom Flaming…” As she got within reach, she performed a round off move, springing off her hands to Cassandra’s side and landing just behind her, while reversing the direction she was facing. “…Punch!” she finished, landing a fiery blow to Cassandra’s backside and sending her sprawling through her ice shield, which shattered on impact.
Cassandra picked herself up off the ground and said, “That was a cheap shot.” She twirled her baton, tossing it into the air twice. “Cutting… Chill… Frigid… Glaive!” The resulting weapon was tipped with an eighteen-inch-long ice-encrusted curved blade. With a wide two-handed grip on her polearm, she charged at Jennifer.
Jennifer quickly switched to her own defensive posture. “Baton! Baton Twirl Blazing Shield!” The hot energy shield formed just in time to block Cassandra’s strike. Sparks and steam shot out as Cassandra leaned in hard with her blade’s edge, but the shield held firm. She hopped back and spun around, dropping low and reaching the glaive forward with one hand. The back of the blade struck Jennifer’s ankles, taking her feet out from under her. She landed hard on her back, her shield and baton lost. She quickly rolled to the side, narrowly escaping as Cassandra drove the glaive’s blade into the ground where she had fallen.
On her back again, Jennifer kicked her legs up and back down, letting the momentum roll her onto her feet. She let it carry her through to a forward-leaning crouch, then pushed off with her legs, landing a head-butt to Cassandra’s gut. Cassandra fell back with the wind knocked out of her, dropping her glaive, and Jennifer pounced on her. The two girls grappled on the ground in a tangle of limbs, rolling this way and that, neither able to maintain the upper hand.
Eventually Cassandra managed to end up on her back with both her arms in front of her, and Jennifer on top. She called out, “Pom-poms! Rally Pride Blizzard Fury!” The icy explosion between them sent Jennifer flying through the air, her body encrusted in ice.
Theresa, who had been recording the fight with Jennifer’s smart phone, ran to where she landed. “Jennifer! Are you okay?”
She heard Jennifer mumble, “Pom-poms.” The ice around her instantly shattered as the pom-poms flamed into existence in her hands. She lay on the ground, looking up at Theresa. “I was fighting angry. It ruined my focus,” she admitted.
Cassandra, now on her feet, laughed heartily. “Is that all you’ve got? You’re rusty, Cheer Raider! Or maybe you were never that good to begin with!”
Leave a Reply