About one week later Susana, as her mage alter-ego Renegade Liberty, waited at the front of the royal palace as the sun was beginning to rise. Her long hair and the edges of her duster jacket were blowing in the wind as she looked onwards.
As Renegade Liberty, her hair reached to her waist and had two tones of pink; the strands that framed her face and her bangs had streaks of a lighter shade of pink, and the rest of her hair had a two-toned gradient with the lighter shade of pink towards the tips.
Her eyes had a determined gaze. They were golden brown with gold highlights, and she wore a blue and white outfit with a dark blue sleeveless duster jacket, a white puffy-sleeved blouse with blue cuffs that had brass buckles, white boots and gloves, and a white miniskirt with gray trousers.
Over her jacket and blouse, she wore a lighter blue high-collared shawl that had golden stars on the collar, and black riveted shoulder pads.
Around the collar of her blouse she had a black bolo tie with an oval-shaped brass pin with the Magical Renegades insignia on it, just as Renegade Midnight Conductor has on hers. Her bangs were long but a silver pin with a brass star on it helped keep her hair out of her eyes, and on her head she had a pair of brass goggles with blue straps.
Minutes before the Minions of Nemesis were to arrive to cause death and destruction, she vigilantly looked in each direction, waiting to see the first hint of their presence on the horizon.
She thought about what the history book said, and what she was going to do differently. One week earlier she was an ordinary human who was unsure whether to keep living at her family's farm and ranch or whether to start a new life in the city despite the civil unrest that loomed in the country.
Since this year was looking decent for the farmers and ranchers, her own community was more insulated from the unrest this time, but it was still there. The Minions of Nemesis' overthrow of the royal family didn't come out of nowhere, she realized.
With the unrest that was growing when the royals weren't doing much to ease it; the current king and queen were ineffectual at best and other royals were outright cruel at worst. The Minions of Nemesis' leader made promises that things would change. There'd be no more tyranny from a family that no one chose to have lead over them!
Susana suddenly had some memories of the overthrow come back. The day it happened was a shock to the country. In their search for more souls, the Minions of Nemesis had been a menace to people before, but were briefly welcomed and celebrated for being the largest opposition to the royal family.
Their leader didn't lie about making changes; he was a tyrant in his own ways!
He was ahead leading the group! Their military-style uniforms were predominantly black and red with gold epaulettes and belts; sometimes they were hidden among the masses of dark magic that radiated from their wearers. Susana could more clearly see the leader in front, simply known as Deathmaster.
His uniform was like the rest of his army; a black tunic with dark gray sleeves, a red collar and front panel with gold epaulettes, gray trousers, red and black boots. The dome-shaped crown with red and white jewels that he wore glistened in the morning sun and marked him as the group's leader.
He stood taller than most of his team, and had light blue hair with red tips and piercing red eyes.
The royals nervously peeked from behind the front door of the palace. Midnight Conductor was standing by the door; it was difficult at first for her to convince the king and queen of what would happen when she visited them within the past week. Regardless of how she and the other Magical Renegades felt about them, saving their lives would be necessary to prevent a disaster, and perhaps the royal family would be willing to cooperate after being humbled so much, being saved by those that some of them looked down on. Those were the hopes.
The royals that decided to look out the windows or doors could only helplessly watch as their fates would be decided over this battle.
"Are you ready to supercharge it?!" Midnight Conductor asked Liberty, who quickly nodded back at her. In her left hand, Liberty held some magic superconductor crystals that resembled the ones in hers and Midnight Conductor's pocket watches. These crystals were in different colors and patterns.
With her right hand, Liberty pulled her weapon, Quasar Sniper Pistol Star, from the holster on her belt. Her weapon was a steampunk-style raygun that resembled a contemporary pistol with gold rose and morning glory decorations on it. The handle was light blue with a gold rose decoration on the back, with gold and silver trim at the end. Next to the hatch, between the handle and barrel on both sides of Pistol Star were gold star-shaped components with rivets between the points, and had glass panels in the middle that glowed with the power meter. She opened the hatch on the side and put each of the superconductor crystals in, one by one.
10%... 20%...
30%... 40%...
As they were added, more of the power meter lights on the barrel of Pistol Star lit up.
50%... 60%...
70%... 80%...
90%...
100%... All of the lights on the barrel lit up! They were lit up in the colors of the rainbow.
110%... Liberty channeled some of her own magical energy and will in the way that she was taught during her training would allow the power meter to go beyond 100%! The lights on the power meter glowed a bright white, and the star-shaped panel glowed even brighter than usual.
She kept focusing and powering it up when Pistol Star started to change form, her outfit and hairstyle started to change too!
Her hair was more feathered, more glam rock-like, her shawl changed shape and had translucent sparkling black frills with a small cape coming from it, and her skirt also had these frills at the hem. The insignia on her brooch also glowed.
"Sweet Bazooka of Mine -- Pistol Star Supercharge!!" She announced the name of her supercharged weapon, which now took the form of a bazooka!
Deathmaster wasn't immediately deterred and led the charge for his soldiers in formation, clocked in demonic magic, with their swords ready. They were sure they still had the advantage.
Liberty pointed Pistol Star Supercharge at them; a large magic fireball was forming in the barrel, and behind her a series of concentric magic circle segments glowed.
"That weapon..." Deathmaster muttered. Suddenly, when he was about 10 feet away from Liberty, he cast a barrier in front of his group and ordered everyone to stand down.
"She is using an unfamiliar style of magic. We might not be able to fight her."
"Seriously?" One of his soldiers said in disappointment.
"What now?" Another soldier asked.
"We have to retreat and try again when we know how to counter her magic." Deathmaster explained to them. His soldiers didn't complain, and they followed his request to stand down. Before he did, he walked closer to Liberty as part of a gambit. Just a couple of feet away he stood from her; the magic fireball that was aimed at him had grown larger while Liberty stood with a determined expression on her face.
"You could kill us now and avert our takeover once and for all, but it is dishonorable to shoot someone once they surrender." He said defiantly. He gave Liberty the chance, but banked on her sense of honor.
"That's true, and I'll stand down, but I didn't supercharge my weapon just for you to surrender." She begrudgingly agreed to stand down. "Whatever. Just get out of here and don't come back!" She warned.
The Minions of Nemesis retreated. She, Midnight Conductor and the royals that were watching saw them retreat into the sunrise. Their attempt to take over was stopped dead in its tracks, but there was another problem.
"I can't cancel this shot! What do I do?!" Liberty asked Midnight Conductor.
"Can you fire it into the air?!" Midnight Conductor asked. "Oh no! In all of our training, I didn't teach her how to cancel a supercharged shot or tell her about the recoil they make when fired!" She thought, feeling a chill of terror over this realization.
"Let this be a warning to you criminals!" Liberty shouted as the fired the supercharged shot into the air. A rainbow fireball with a long trail and stars of different colors flew into the sky where it let out a bright and colorful explosion!
"Holy s*** commander! We dodged a huge bullet!" One of Deathmaster's soldiers blurted out.
"Ugh... All of your privileges to make bad puns have been revoked, for the entire squad!" Deathmaster said in frustration.
"Aww... Yes, commander."
Liberty sat on the brick path entrance. She looked tired and was holding onto Pistol Star Supercharge, which had only 3 lights of its power meter on after that supercharged shot took most of it. Steam rose from the barrel.
"Are you okay?!" Midnight Conductor said. She ran to see Liberty and kneeled down to check on her.
"Yeah." Liberty said, sounding tired.
"Really? I didn't teach you about the recoil and--"
"It's alright. That was all-fired grand!" Liberty said, sounding much more energetic and excited!
After a close call, almost losing control of her supercharged weapon, the showdown was over now. Renegade Liberty kept control by firing a warning shot that the Minions of Nemesis would never forget.
It was a scary but exhilarating moment that saved many lives. Becoming a mage and joining the Magical Renegades changed Susana's life too in ways she couldn't have previously imagined. This was her calling!
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