Chapter Text
It was one of the wildest-colored barriers Tracy had ever seen in her life. The buildings were covered in a tricolor of Yale blue, canary yellow and scarlet red – reminiscent of a children's building blocks set, and the colors seemed to keep constantly shifting (or maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her). The windows shone bright white and the ground was a pale beige, or perhaps ivory color. Tracy hated everything about it – it was difficult on the eyes and made her head hurt.
As her pedal-powered cruiser scuttled along she scanned the surroundings, hoping that a monster fight would supply a break from this technicolor hell that enveloped her, but so far she had no such luck.
“Dispatch, are there any perps in the vicinity?” she asked into her car's radio. “It is awfully quiet around here.”
“Of course, officer.” The radio crackled to life. “We don't have a description, and it is far away from your position, but there are multiple suspects reported loitering on Crescent Lane.”
“I'm on it.” Tracy replied, put the radio receiver down and began pedaling east towards Crescent Lane.”
******
Little did Order Keeper know that hers was not the only car on the streets tonight. Down Crescent Lane drove a small car (though still considerably bigger than her cruiser) that appeared to be styled after some really ancient vehicles that predated old world history. It was a black town sedan with a very tall roof, a flat nose with a large brass radiator and headlights, and thin small wheels reminiscent of those on a bicycle. In the rear a huge winding key was stuck in the car's back that spun as it was driving, that had now suddenly stopped and the peculiar vehicle ground tho a halt.
The rear door swung open, and out stumbled a small. skinny humanoid monster that appeared to be dressed in a gray pinstripe suit, with white four-digit hands that appeared incredibly bulky compared to their twiggy arms, and equally bulky dress shoes covered with white spats. And it wouldn't really have been scary or intimidating if there wasn't a very grotesque element to it – it had a giant revolver for head. The creature went to the back of the car and grabbed the key with the intention of winding it back up, but paused as it saw a flashing red light from a distance. It started chattering something unintelligible (that vaguely sounded like “Popo! Popo!”) and five more of them jumped out of the car and joined it. Together, all six reached for the hammers on their gun-heads and cocked them, before lowering them down to where the triggers were, and waited...
******
Order Keeper was now drawing closer and could see the monsters and their car in the middle of the street. She had never seen anything like them before. “Hmmm, what are those? And what are they do...”
Apparently, she was now close enough for them to attack, as the first one pulled on the trigger and with a loud 'Bang!' fired a big lead ball towards Tracy. The knockback from the shot swept it off it's feet, and the other mobster monsters followed suit.
Unbeknownst to her, Order Keeper made acquaintance with the Gunguys, a group type monster that seemed similar to gangsters from movies made in way back times of the Old World. Except of course, these gangster had their guns in their pockets, not for their heads. The Gunguys were infamous for having one of the most devastating ranged attacks – their revolver heads fired large metal balls that could be very tricky to dodge as they flew pretty fast (but nowhere as fast as an actual bullet) and hit hard (but also nowhere as hard as an actual bullet). Luckily they were not very accurate and it took them a while to recuperate between shots. However, since they were always a large group packed in their car, they could unleash a serious hail of lead upon an unsuspecting Magical Girl.
“Oh shi...!!!” Tracy quickly turned the steering wheel in order to avoid the lead ball, but other shots quickly followed. She dodged two more, but a third one strafed her cap and shattered the dome light on it. The fourth and fifth she managed to dodge again but then...
The sixth Gunguy was feeling lucky, punk, and managed to land a shot on the pedal cruiser's front right wheel. It broke off and the the cruiser flipped on its side, launching Tracy from her seat and onto the pavement. She tumbled for a few metres before coming to a stop.
******
Tracy laid there on the ground, motionless. The Gunguys had their hammers cocked and barrels aimed at her, ready to fire, but as she was not moving they got curious. After a brief chatter one of them dared to approach her - hand still holding the trigger – and and kicked her in the ribs. There was no reaction and that was apparently proof enough of her demise for it and the other Gunguys. They all rose their hand up and started cackling victoriously. Five of them then went back inside the car, and the sixth one turned its attention back to the winding key in the back and began to twist it until it started spinning again. Satisfied, it went to return inside, but did not notice the shadow that fell upon it until it was too late.
”Come quietly, or there will be trouble!” Tracy growled and swung her baton at the Gunguy's revolver head. Apparently it still counted as an actual head, because when the baton connected with it, it made the typical 'Bonk!' sound and the Gunguy when limp. She quickly grabbed it and propped it up, ready to use shield herself from the others' shots, but they never came. Instead, the Gunguys' car simply sped off, leaving one of their own behind.
“Hrpmf, typical.” she thought to herself as she quickly slapped a pair of handcuffs on the mobster monster's wrists and turned around to walk back to her car. She was looking worse for wear – her cap was gone, her shades were shattered and she was bleeding from her right knee and right palm of hand. She was also covered in bruises, her outfit was dirty and crumpled up, and her hair had become undone. She looked at the busted wheel on the cruiser and thought for a second before detransforming and transforming back again.
Her transformation sequence was rather plain compared to most Magical Girls – red and blue flashing lights enveloped her, accompanied by sounds of sirens and radio chatter, before fading away and revealing her sitting back in her cruiser, which was now fall fixed up, along with her uniform, shades, hair and the domed light on her cap. She immediately grabbed the radio.
“Dispatch, we have a group of suspects fleeing at a high rate of speed. Requesting authorization for pursuit mode.”
“Roger that, officer. Pursuit mode authorized.” Came the reply from the radio and with a blue flash the cruiser transformed itself into the much faster dark blue version.
“Also, if there is anything else you can give me that could help taking down those sons-of-a-gun, that would be much appreciated. Tonight I'm not a cop, dispatch. It's personal.”