Sunny gave a sheepish smile as Paladin tried to reassure her. That she had dreams 'just like her'. She doubted somehow that Paladin's dreams had been the same as Sunny's dreams. She found it hard to believe that Paladin's dreams ever involved endless wardrobes of high fashion and professional manicures each day and filling a swimming pool entirely with her favourite perfume. But still, it was nice to know that Paladin understood her. Even seemed to guide her a little. For once, Sunny was enjoying being in the presence of an obviously more experienced hero. Letting her guide her.

"Well, if your dreams were like mine and you wanted a Barbie dream house to live in, you can always visit my manor in Beverly Hills. It's basically the same thing." She said teasingly, but meaning the offer. She liked to think they were friends now, and wanted Paladin to know that she could visit whenever she wanted. She wanted them to be friendly. Besides, a girly weekend with Paladin? That sounded amazing! If she could convince Paladin to enjoy being pampered for a bit...

She listened to her advice, and looked back at her with a slightly mischievous grin.
"Sooooo.... what you're saying is.... with great power.... must also come... great responsibility?" She said playfully. "I've seen those movies too!" She stuck her tongue out, obviously being a bit goofy. She paused though, and reflected on what she said. She knew that it was true. While Sunny might of enjoyed the fame and glory side of heroing, she also understood that it needed to be done. Because she COULD do it. So she SHOULD. It was simple as that. "Although, ew, spending that long in the gym? Ick. I hate exercise. You get all sweaty and gross. I just diet to look this thin!" She said cheerily, and unfortunately the introspection was clearly gone as she was back to her stereotypical 'girly girl' self.

When the kids approached, wanting signatures and selfies, Sunny suddenly dropped in to an expert celebrity mode, giving them cheerful waves, hugs, complimenting the kids in Gravity Girl costumes or tees, signing everything as they asked and giving her usual overly cheerful selfies. A few of the kids choked a little on her overwhelmingly strong perfume; apparently they hadn't expected that, but apart from that, most scampered away happy. When Sunny was dealing with selfies and signings, she was in her element, and found it easy.

When Paladin suggested they go have some fun after the kids had left though, Sunny gave an uneasy smile. She was a little nervous. She wasn't sure that Paladin's idea of fun was her idea of fun, but then again, it was a nice opportunity, right? Maybe Paladin would be her real friend by the end of it? Not just for her profile or for the superhero community, but because Sunny didn't actually have many close friends. They couldn't usually get past the cloud of perfume and her general self absorbed nature. The chance to make a real friend was quite exciting...

"Oh, okay, like, sure. What did you have in mind?" She asked chirpily.



Alice Morrow

Paladin's words swirled in Sunny's head even as she stepped out to meet the children. She had always been dreaming of being a hero. Dreaming of having responsibility. That word hadn't even been on Sunny's radar when she was a little girl. She already had everything she could want, so what she dreamed of was being the prettiest, the most fashionable, she dreamed of being loved and everybody's eyes being on her. She dreamed of being a star. She didn't even care what kind of star; at the time 'superhero' seemed an impossibility. She just wanted to be famous. No, more than that, she knew she would be famous. With her Mom, how could she not?

It was with an odd sense of self reflection then that Sunny stepped out to meet the children, and of course as their faces lit up to see her, for a moment, her concerns were forgotten as she moved between the kids, greeting each one, posing for the odd photo with them and signing whatever they handed her way. Quite a few of the kids had nothing for her to sign, and Sunny wished she'd thought of bringing some prints with her to hand out. Or even some Gravity Girl dolls, because she felt awful they had so little. They all seemed to like her and embrace her, in a way she was familiar with really. Of course, to them she was the glamorous celebrity, graceful, gentle and kind. And for once, taller than everybody meeting her! While Paladin was a lot more down to Earth, Sunny represented that Hollywood glamour, and a lot of them seemed to enjoy and appreciate that, but even as each of them smiled to meet her, somewhere in her heart, Sunny felt it break. It just felt so unfair. These kids admired her so, but had so little. And what did she have that made her worthy of admiration? Powers by luck and wealth by birthright? She looked over at Paladin, who had dreamed of being a hero all her life, and felt like such fraud.

When they finally finished, Paladin looked over at Sunny, and asked if she enjoyed it. At first, Sunny just gave a bubbly response, her usual winning smile and spoiled blonde girl pep.
"Yeah, it was, like, totally great." She answered, but again, there was that slightly pained pause from her. As if she had something she wanted to get off her chest. "It just felt... unfair, y'know?" She commented, because Sunny was no good at keeping thoughts inside her head. She pretty much never had an idea she didn't articulate. "Like, they've all got nothing... and it's not their fault. I've never... known a life like that. I was always rich. Heck, with my Mom, I always knew I'd be, like, totally famous, somehow. The question was just, doing what? An actress? A singer? A model? Turns out, I'm a superhero! Did NOT see that one coming. But still, like, it was never a question for me. I just... knew it'd happen. I had everything. And they've got nothing. And like, what's the difference between us? Why did I deserve to get everything and they didn't? It just... doesn't seem fair..." She sighed, her shoulders slumping a little, a far cry from the usual spoiled rich girl cheer Sunny usually had.

"And then I look at you. And like, I think about what you said. You always wanted to help people. You always wanted to be a hero. I was dreaming of having a dream house and a pink convertible and you grew up always WANTING the responsibility of saving people. Like, you deserve these powers. You deserve to be a superhero. I'm just a spoiled brat who got lucky. And like, I don't know how it's fair for me to look those kids back there in the eyes, and tell them it's okay, when they got so screwed over and I got everything." She explained, sounding thoroughly miserable.

"I'm sorry. I sound like, even MORE spoiled, right? Whining 'cause, what? I've got it TOO good. It's just, when I look at you, how genuine you are, how naturally being a hero comes to you, how good you are inside, without even thinking, I just... feel dumb. Like a fraud. Like, I can wear the costume and be on the posters and have all the cute capes in the world, but at the end of the day, I'll never be a proper hero. Not like you." It was unusual for Sunny to admit she admired somebody else and to see her own flaws, but Paladin had a way of making her see them. There was a reason Sunny, despite her wealth and fame and reach, wasn't half as popular of a hero as Paladin. It was because there was no way to bleed the natural heroism and goodness Paladin had. You just had to have it.

And Sunny was realising she did not...



Alice Morrow

Sunny struggled to her feet with the girl's help, uneasily wobbling in those stiletto boots of her's, but at least back on her feet. Sunny wasn't sure why this girl felt she wasn't safe out here, despite her pain Sunny could still fly if she had to and had her gravity field right, but the girl herself seemed really spooked, and it made Sunny's heart break. Despite the fact this girl had tried to kill her, Sunny sympathised, and wanted to help. This girl did seem genuinely spooked, and Sunny was falling for her act completely.

The only moment that nearly ruined Evelyn's plans was that she had underestimated how much of a physical wimp Sunny was, so when she said she was going to 'set' her arm, for a moment Sunny recoiled, afraid of the pain and not wanting to face it. Had the moment lasted a little longer, Sunny might of freaked out and backed away, but unfortunately, Evelyn was too quick for her. Sunny screamed in agony as her arm was twisted, and before she could blink, the knife entered her abdomen.

Suddenly, Sunny felt like the entire world around her disappeared as she looked down, red blood flowing from her stomach, staining that pink costume of her's red just as Evelyn had so hoped. Sunny staggered back, not quite screaming, not quite feeling the pain yet, just in utter shock, before she lost her footing (thanks to those heels again) and fell down on to the tarmac. She was suddenly aware that she felt cold, clammy, that she felt like her entire body was fading. Every muscle felt heavy and she felt so tired. So exhausted.

She continued to breath hard, in shock, as the blood flowed from the open wound, staining her cape and the tarmac red. She would of been an easy target to finish off, but the gathered crowd was watching. Several police officers broke through, levelling pistols, and she was aware of people closing in around her, to protect her, to try and stop the bleeding, as slowly she slipped in to the cold, comfortable blackness of unconsciousness...

Evelyn Winters

Sunny hated her office visits at the best of times, but this particular meeting had been even worse than she had thought. Ever since her defeat by the mysterious assassin who had stabbed her and broken her arm, Sunny's profile had been hotter than ever. Tens of thousands of fans, if not millions, had out poured support for her heroics and sent sympathy cards and flowers for her injuries, but sadly the Hero Program didn't share their enthusiasm. Regardless of the attempt to stop the assailant Sunny had been seen to put in, it didn't change the fact that she was defeated, and soundly defeated at that, by a powerless human. Which was always a possibility, of course, but for somebody with Sunny's powers, it had come as a shock. She should have been, theoretically at least, always protected by her gravity field. It was why she was an active hero despite scoring poorly in all of her training.

Now the intense discussion was about sending her back to basic training and that she wasn't capable to be a hero, but the challenges in doing that given her current popularity and public profile. Sunny, who had decided to wear her new black costume (despite the fact her arm was still in a sling) to the discussion had expected this sign of how seriously she was taking the affair to win the directors over, but it seemed 'but I'm wearing black, not pink!' didn't quite have the impact she wanted. Even her begging that her perfume was lavender scented (which was clearly dark and gothic and serious) didn't impress them. In fact, it somehow made things worse.

Not that Sunny understood how ever discussing perfume made things worse.

Eventually they agreed that she should spend her recovery time studying techniques and protocol (since she was in no shape to train) before returning to active duty, which she agreed to. But she was sulking about it because she had thought instead she could use her recovery time doing plenty of shopping and interviews on the talk show circuit...

She decided to clear her head in the garden, which is when the tell tale sound of her ridiculously high stiletto boots (now black, of course) clicking on the path, or the flood of said lavender perfume, so strong it smelled like she had bathed in it, would alert the other woman currently in the garden. She spotted the other woman, who she recognised simply because of course Sunny knew her rival rather famous superheroines (although she didn't have anywhere near the social media presence of Sunny, of COURSE). She decided this was a good chance to try out her new, edgy, 'dark' attitude.

And then she saw the dog.

"OH EM GEE! Your doggy is, like, so totally cute!" She squealed in excitement, rushing over to get a closer look, although unsurprisingly, the dog kept its distance. Oddly enough, Sunny's insane levels of perfume could do that with animals. She then paused, and tried to look a little more casual. "Uh, I mean, like, uh, it's... okay." She said in her best attempt to act moody and edgy. It was pretty terrible because it was obvious Sunny was just exploding with excitement and joy at seeing the dog and just wanted to squeal and cheer with joy....

@heyho

The pain was unreal to Sunny. She literally wasn't equipped to handle it. In her perfect little pink perfumed world, she had never experienced anything even resembling this level of agony. The only thing that kept her conscious was the roaring wind as the two plummeted out of the sky, her dark pink cape fluttering around them, like an incredibly girly, perfumed blanket, that only served to block out the impending impact with the ground below. She was in so much pain that she missed Evelyn's initial taunt, which was probably a shame, as she raised a good point, and had Sunny had any real life experience at this point, she might of been better equipped to handle it, but she was more than aware when Evelyn started to talk about how they were about to die.

Sunny knew that she was right, she was trying to focus, but she couldn't think about anything but the pain, how every time she caught a glimpse of her flapping arm (which as they fell only hurt more) she felt physically queasy. She was sure she was going to throw up any second. But she had to try. She had to try and not think about the pain. Just for a moment she had to focus on her ability to fly. She tried, she tried to feel that power that otherwise came so naturally to her...

For a moment, she jolted, slowing a little, before speeding up again. God, it hurt so much. She just couldn't focus. She tried to block out the agony, to try and not think about it, and she realised slowly that she could, just about. For brief moments, she could halt their descent. If she timed it right, she could stop herself just above the ground and manage a landing...

But her attacker would go splat if she did that. Which Sunny didn't really see as a bad thing. That girl had broken her arm. Sure, she was meant to be the 'good' superhero, but she could just tell people that she had TRIED to save her and failed. Nobody would complain or question it. Besides, it wasn't like she had killed her herself or anything. She had brought this on all on her own by hurting her while they were flying...

But somehow, through the fog of all the pain and the panic over the fact they were about to die, Sunny realised that if she did that, then it really was all a lie. She knew she wasn't the typical superhero type, that sometimes she was more concerned about other things, but she also believed that in her heart, she was a true superhero. When she needed to be, she always stepped up and did the hero thing (even if she made sure she was glamorous and beautiful while doing it). If she let this attacker die, she wouldn't be that anymore. She'd always know in her heart that she was a fraud. That when faced with a difficult choice, she hadn't taken the path of the hero.

She couldn't do that.

The realisation gave her the clarity and concentration to activate one of her powers, but not more than one.

"I... I can't fly and protect myself with my gravity field!" She yelled back, realising now that she could do one or the other, but not both. "That means... I can't... carry you!" Although her gravity field didn't give her super strength or anything, it did make her a basic immovable object, so hanging off of her would be like hanging off a block of concrete. But without it? She was an 80 pound weakling who wouldn't have the strength to hold Evelyn at all. "You're gonna... have to really hold on. I'm not strong enough to help." She admitted, and then, she closed her eyes, and she did everything she could to focus.

Just above the ground, she managed to slow their descent, defying gravity's laws to slow herself right down. Her entire body screamed in pain, not only did her arm hurt, but where Evelyn was clinging to her body without her defences, her weak muscles screamed in protest, but she managed to just about stop them a few feet above the ground, before they both dropped on to the concrete, mostly safely, although Sunny instantly collapsed and laid on her back, groaning and crying in agony, mascara streaming down her face with her tears...

Evelyn Winters