A bright sunny day! The perfect time for a hero?

To Sakura’s credit, she did a great job playing of Tako’s performance. Many of the adults in the crowd couldn’t hold up to just how cheesy the villain was. Her outfit was totally over the top, and the fact she spouted awful sea puns practically robbed her of any threat she could really have. The children, however, ate it up like it was birthday cake. The fact she was so totally alien to them added to her unique brand of villainy, and her looks was completely different from the hero’s. To the children, they were the perfect opposites. Good and evil personified.

The battle between the two forces would start with justice dealing the first blow! Lucky Charm dashed forward with the hopes and dreams of the children propelling her and fired off a devastating kick that likely would have taken out an entire pack of Dronis. Tako Musume took the strike head on, its power pushing her backwards a few steps before she caught herself in a way that made it seem like it was the suckers on her tentacles that kept her safe. The eight limbed eradicator cast Lucky Charm a nasty smile, standing getting back into her battle stance as if nothing had even happened.

“Is that gilly the best you can do, Lucky Charm? I have devoured crabs that put up more of a fight then that!”

The villain’s amazing durability actually caused some of the children to grow concerned! Their hero had bested those minions with simply blows, but what looked to be a defining finishing attack bounced of the villain like it was little more than a nuisance. If the villain was that strong, there was a possibility that the hero might struggle with earning victory.

“Squid you gilly think you could defeat me with such a weak attack? I’ll show you a true attack from an Inkvader! Somefin special, just for you!”

The tentacle terror rushed at the hero with sentai-ish speed, her two main limbs reeling themselves back, getting ready to snap forward as the villain jumped up into the air with a dramatic flourish!

“Twin Whip Tentacle Attack!”

Announcing her attack, Tako whipped her tentacles down with a vicious amount of speed. While her fake limbs made it seem like a whip attack, it was truthfully just a double chop to the chest, but it packed no less power. The villains grin seemed merciless as she gave this righteous hero the full power of her two extremities!

Even Lucky was visibly surprised when the octopus villain took her kick HEAD on, the toe of Lucky's boot slamming RIGHT under the chin of Tako! It did send her reeling back a few steps, true... but that seemed to be all it did! The cheerleader landed deftly upon her feet and hopped back a short distance as her great foe righted herself and mocked Sakura's power! Sheesh... What was that suit MADE of?? Other girls would've fallen on their butts after taking a kick like that but Tako...? Nah, she took it in stride... and fired back with her own tentacle attack!

Lucky's eyes widened in shock and surprise as Tako LASHED out with her noodley appendages expertly, twin tentacles cross-chopping at the cheerleader's buxom chest from several feet away! Gasping at the sheer speed and power Tako brought with her, the cheerleader crossed her pink-gloved arms over her body, crouched a bit and TOOK the tentacle strike as it CRASHED against her guard, Lucky bearing her teeth in effort, eyes clenching shut in pain, her boots skidding back a good few inches as the punny squid showed off a TRUE attack!

...Whoever made those tentacles knew their stuff... because they were heavy and weighty, squishy a bit, sure, but definitely could be real weapons in the right hands... or noodley appendages as the situation may be!

"YEOW!" Lucky exclaimed, only slightly exaggerating! She wiggled her wrists out in front of her, the parts where her arm were visible beyond her gloves a stinging red where they were lashed! "Owie! That hurt!" She took another moment to blow on her hands and arms in an effort to sooth them... before suddenly dropping down into a fighting stance, not in the least put off by her arch-rival's strength! "...But a move like that won't stop me from taking you down, Tako! Get ready, because I'm gonna show you my TRUE POWER!"

Not giving Tako any more time to prepare more tentacle lashes, Sakura DASHED at her foe once more! As she drew within range, she lifted her knee a bit... as if suggesting she would go for another kick... before suddenly whirling around in a spinning maneuver, bringing her special wand up to the side of the squid-lady's head... before pressing the button upon it's handle again!

"Bang~!" She declared, the heart-head of her weapon glowing... before letting out a big *POOF* of smoke! Lucky wasn't done just yet, however, hopping back for just a second... before springing RIGHT back at Tako, lifting her knee to SLAM it into the baleful arthropod's belly! If these two blows connected, Sakura would finish her little combo with one of her signature moves... A backflip kick! But not just any backflip kick... Lucky would whip backwards with incredible speed, bringing one of her legs up to SLAM right into Tako's jaw, hopefully sending her FLAT on her back! Whether or not her blow connected, Sakura would keep back-flipping back, one after another her momentum increasing with each consecutive flip... before jumping at the completion of one... SPINNING dramatically in the air... and landing in a crouched stance... hand softly pressed against the floor of the stage, a small, cocky grin across her face...

Hopefully her dramatic proformance hid just how... uh... exhausting that display really was... because she could feel herself starting to work up a sweat over here... and her lungs begin to burn just a bit!

The softer material Hikari used to make her pliable tentacles worked masterfully to act as a decent weapon against the heroic Lucky Charm. Even the sentai play veteran had to give Sakura’s reaction props, as it was both adorably dramatic, yet doubtlessly appropriate for the situation at hand! Had she not been in the middle of her own play, Hikari would have tried to take some notes from this mysterious actor her manager apparently just found.

Tako Musume laughed in a villainous fashion, her tentacles wiggling about as the magical girl recovered from the deceitfully powerful attack. The kids seemed taken in as the fight had started to reach its rhythm, and their hero seemed to be getting prepared to take her grievances right back to the chuckling monster!

“Your power is fish paste compared to the mighty strength of the sea! These humans will all be prawns in my plan to help me take over the world once I beat you! It’s shrimply a matter of time!”

Lucky Charm wouldn’t just stand around and let that happen! The hero was as courageous as she was cute, and without hesitation she rushed back into the fight, looking as though she were going to deliver another one of her destructive kicks. The monster reacted by shielding herself with one tentacle, and using the other to lash out at the hero. Everyone was amazed when Lucky Charm feinted and expertly twirled around Tako’s offensive appendage, leaving the monster wide open for a counter attack.

Before Tako could recover from her blunder, Lucky Charm thrusted her magical wand into the anthropoid’s face. As the wand discharged a large bloom of smoke into Tako’s face, she screamed out a dramatic “BELCCK” as though she had just been hit with a mighty blow! As the smoke cleared, her bright pink-ish red helmet would be darkened a bit from the blast, as she coughed heavily while acting dazed, leaving herself wide open for the hero’s next attack! Even with all of her suits padding helping her take this woman’s blows, Hikari could still feel the powerful knee drive itself into her stomach. If she were without costume, the blow would have been enough to make her vomit, but thankfully it just made her lean over a bit. A perfect position for what Lucky Charm had in mind.

The leg SMASHED into the monster’s jaw! Not even the suckers on her tentacles could keep her grounded as she sailed through the air and crashed onto her back as a pile of limp tentacles. The kids were all screaming their adulation for Lucky Charm, while Martha, who was completely unaware of Hikari and Sakura’s deal before hand, looked absolutely panicked for her co-star’s safety. Hikari noticed her concern, and subtly wagged her foot, letting her know she was okay before slowly rising back to her feet. The monster was clearly phased by such a powerful string of attacks, but her devilish grin was still holding strong even in the face of such heroic adversity.

“I sea I underestimated you, Lucky Charm. My Dronis were right to fear you after all. If I have any chance of defeating you, it will have to be with my finishing move!”

Hikari could see some fatigue start to slow her co-star down, she decided not to use her second-best attack. Dashing forward to the posed super hero, Tako would envelop Lucky Charm in a deceitfully soft embrace. Tako was giving Sakura a rather gentle bearhug, only appearing to squeeze down on the hero as each and every one of her costumed tentacles wrapped themselves around the hero’s form. To the children, Tako Musume was about to crush Lucky Charm!

“How is it? How do you like my Tentakill attack?!”

“Quick boys and girls! Lucky Charm needs our help! We all have to cheer for her so that she can be strong enough to defeat the evil monster!” Martha, finally understanding what was going on, jumped in to help the play reach its climax “Don’t give up, Lucky Charm! You can do it!”

No sooner did Martha start to cheer the hero on the all the kids started to throw their support towards her as well. Each and every child yelling for their encouragement to be heard as they tried to help the courageous hero out of the tight spot she found herself in.

Lucky's attacks had quickly silenced the over-confident octopus, knocking her to the floor with not a single tentacle being able to keep her standing! Still... all this flipping and twirling was kinda... exhausting... Especially since she hadn't done anything quite this dramatic in, like, years! Ah, her highschool days flashed before her eyes, days where she lead the cheerleaders, her grace and agility known among every girl in the entire building! She could do flips, cartwheels and somersaults for days and not even brake a sweat until the very end of the game!

...Things were different now, though... Training in fighting made her neglect a good bit of what made her high-flying and stamina so legendary in those times, let alone focusing a lot more on her writing passion! Lucky huffed and puffed softly as she stared down her foe, Sakura's eyes widening as the sub-aquatic terror SPRUNG right at her, wrapping Lucky up in a cocoon of tentacles!

"AH!" She cried out, genuinely shocked by this sudden grapple, Lucky's eyes one of confusion... before she began to struggle that was... Squirming in Tako's grip, she realized that she wasn't even being squeezed all that hard! She looked up into the octopus-lady's mask inquisitively as if asking why she wasn't giving back everything she had gotten, why she wasn't trying to genuinely hug her! ...D-did she hit her THAT hard? Was she so weakened by Lucky's attacks that she couldn't conjure enough strength to hit her back? Or... maybe she didn't want to....? DANG IT! NOW SHE FELT BAD! Unintentionally, the look of distress spreading across the magical-girl's features only fed into the air of evil dominating over good in this moment, Tako BEARING DOWN on Lucky seemingly like how a cephalopod would upon her prey!

The children were scared, Martha did too... Lucky doing her best to appear as if she were suffering in the villain's embrace her jaw clenched, teeth bared in discomfort, eyes shut HARD as if she were bearing the brunt of this attack... before the voices of encouragement touched her ears... Slowly, Sakura opened one eye, looking out over the crowd that commanded, begged, asked for Lucky to break free, their praise of her... actually touching her heart! She knew they were just asking for the character but still... she WAS that character right now! Lucky truly felt a sense of empowerment wash over her as everyone put their hopes and dreams in her, the cheerleader slowly PUSHING against Tako's embrace, raising her arms up and spreading them out to the side rapidly in an effort to BURST herself free!

"You.... Will... Not... win... VILLAIN!" Lucky insisted! If she managed to blow back Tako in all her tentacle hugginess, Sakura would charge RIGHT at her unsavory rival as she recovered, jumping in the air and extending a leg in a BIG OL' Kamen-Rider-esk kick aimed RIGHT at Tako's upper chest!

"Take this, Bad-guy, My finishing move! Sugar-Fly Kick!"

“Beee Hee Hee Heeeeee~ Cry as much as you like, you delectable little shrimps! Once I’m finished with Lucky Charm, I’ll be happy to give each and everyone of you a similar experience! I recall kracking Clams in a similar fashion. I wonder if someone like your precious hero will have such a delectable edible center after I break her apart!”

Despite being gentle, Sakura was putting on a marvelous acting face! Hikari marveled at this woman’s acting ability! Was she really just snatched out of the crowd by the manager? The evil octopus was barely squeezing on this woman, yet she made a face that made her think that even SHE was squeezing too hard. Still, the expression did a marvelous job at getting the children involved. There cheers were louder than any show Hikari could remember. The sheer passion these kids had for their hero made Hikari’s heart pound faster, touched by the display.

But she was a villain! She needed to play the part! The only smile on her face was a toothy one made from cruelty! Her tentacles slowly wrapped around Lucky’s limbs tighter and tighter. Two powerful wires wrapped around each of Lucky Charms arms, and a few others restraining her legs. The trap appeared to clench the hero tighter and tighter until there would be nothing more.

But as the cheering continued to rise, the hero’s strength seemed to grow. More and more, Lucky Charm resisted, and slowly, the tentacles slowly began to falter. The hero’s strength was starting to be too much for the octopus’ woman. Finally, Lucky Charm let out a determined cry, which separated her from the cephalopods grasp. Tako bounced once, twice across the stage.

“W-what?! Inkpossible! There is no way you could inkscape from my grasp! No hero can fight against the sea!”

Tako stood back on shaky feet, looking absolutely stunned at what had happened. Her tentacles whipped up in a frenzy, slapping the soft stage a few times. Tako was clearly looking to pay the hero back, but before she could counter attack, Lucky Charm was in the air, and diving at her like a seagull.

“Oh carp!”

The Sugar-Fly Kick rocked the sea creature completely, taking her back down to the floor, but this time, tangling up her limbs as she did so. Tako Musume’s tentacles were all wrapped up in knots, and the harder she tugged, the more immobile she became.

“You fishy hero! Let me go! Don’t you dare think about eating me! I-I’m filled to the gills with poison!” To punctuate her fear, Tako Musume actually spat out some Ink towards Lucky Charm, struggling all the while to untie herself from…well, herself.

“SHE DID IT!” Martha cheered! The entire crowd all cheered on the illustrious hero as she conquered her foe in one of the flashiest ways the play had ever seen! “What an incredible battle between good and evil! We all knew you could do it, Lucky Charm! Thank you so much for all your help! Who knows what those cruel Dronis and Tako would have done if you weren’t here!”

Lucky literally could not BELIEVE how well that kick went! One could not have written it in the script any better as Sakura's flying kick SENT the sturdy, strong octopus ROLLING along the ground, Tako's own tentacles entombing her! Lucky landed... semi-gracefully a good foot or two from where she had sprung from, nearly stumbling and falling to her knees... nearly but not quite! Sakura huffed and puffed heavily, her cheeks red from exertion, a light sheen of sweat forming atop her perfect pale white skin... but she was smiling! VICTORIOUS over the vengeful... hero from the deep! Lucky (and Lucky Charm) recognized that the seemingly evil cephelopod wasn't truly a villain, but a being blinding by anger and grief! She thought herself a hero of her kind by taking the fight to her enemy's race... and Sakura wouldn't quite feel right if she ended this by just hauling her backstage as a prisoner!

...That's what a police officer would do... but not a super hero!

"I...I won't hurt you!" Lucky insisted as Tako threatened, warned and SPAT at her, ink splattering across the stage right before Lucky's soles, barely MISSING her boots! Carefully, she stepped over the pitch-black sticky fluid and walked up beside Tako, smiling down at her reassuringly and resting her hands along one of the entangled tentacles! "I wanna help! Stay still, 'kay?" Slowly, carefully, she would tug at the tentacles, undoing the utter KNOTS her kick had somehow forced them into! With Tako freed of her own body, Lucky would HOP up to her feet and offer a hand to her defeated enemy, her face practically aglow with innocence and happiness!

"Lets be friends! I wanna help you and your people... but that doesn't mean we gotta hurt these ones! Let's find a better way together!"

In her efforts to figure out and free Tako from her own knots, Sakura almost didn't register the praise Martha (and the crowd) was throwing her way! Lucky blinked and stared out as the crowd EXPLODED with approval, apparently the cheerleader sticking the landing and everything before it! She grinned widely at Martha, then out at the people watching her before taking a nice big BOW before them and turning to Martha!

"All in a day's work, mam!" Lucky Charm announced, hands on her hips proudly!

“Nnngh! No! Get away! Just because I appear helpless does not mean I am not still dangerous!”

This was the part where the hero usually tossed Tako Musume away. Sometimes they acted as if they would grab her tentacles and toss her back into the sea. Other times they would simply punt her back into the backstage, throwing her in “prison”. It was par for the course in this story. The way Sakura was approaching her, Hikari was guessing it was the former ending rather then the ladder. Because of that, she was playing a scared villain. The children usually found it funny when the villain acted a bit scared and goofy just before being dispatched. Her pitiful boasting was made to try and get one last laugh before exiting the play for the day.

Now, just scooch some of the prosthetic tentacles out a bit so she can get a grip, then let her swing you about before flying off stage.

And that was what she did. Tako looked as though she were trying to attack with her tied tentacles, the knotted-up appendages reaching out for the hero in an attempt to be threatening. However, Sakura took a different approach. Rather then defeat her foe…she tried to redeem her. Lucky Charm untied her deadly limbs until she was totally free. This time, it was Hikari’s turn to be stunned, with the vile monster absolutely shocked at the show of compassion coming from someone who stood against all she had set out to do.

After all she had done, and Lucky Charm was still willing to help her rise to her tentacles. Slowly, one of the monster’s main tentacles reached out, slowly getting closer to the magical girl’s hand. The limb grazed the victorious girl’s arm, and the octopus quickly pulled back.

“Hmph!” Tako Musume crawled back onto her eight tentacles, all of them wiggling about excitedly. Despite the monster’s boisterous words, her limbs gave her excitement and desire away. “As the Inkvader from the sea, I am here to inkslave all of you! I can’t be joining the enemy! No Kraken way!” Tako shouted, slapping her tentacles against the floor before crossing her limbs. “Although…I suppose it would be gilly hard to take over every city so long as you defend these shrimp…maybe we can be allies…”

Tako Musume simply stared behind her visor, thinking for a bit before standing up straight.

“Lucky Charm, if you promise to defend the sea with the same passion as you defend these shrimp…then I promise…not to inkslave all of humanity.”

Before Tako got her answer, the crowd showered Lucky Charm with praise. They loved her, of that there was no doubt. Hikari knew when it was time to make her exit. As the crowd all but threw roses at Sakura, she made a subtle exit on the right side of the stage. A few of the Dronis stuntmen where in the back, drinking water and taking off their gear.

“Hey Hikari, are you alright? That new girl looked like she really gave you the business. I know we told her not to hold back, but man…I didn’t peg her for a striker.” The man said as he rubbed his bruised jaw.

Hikari popped off her helmet, letting her messy, short black hair free from the confines of her helmet. A bright red blush and excited gaze pierced the mans surprised eyes.

“She was Kraken Inkredible! We have to get her to work with us again!”

Hikari didn’t notice she was still speaking in character, making her co-worker worry that he

“Uh…oh…Glad you liked her.”

--

While the cheers began to wrap up, the final music of the play went off over the speakers, signaling the end.

“Well, it looks like its time to go. Thank you all for coming to visit us! We loved having all of you help us and cheer for Lucky Charm when she was in need. Each of you are all heroes in our books!” Martha clapped happily, applauding the audience in a kind matter, “And of course, we can’t forget the one who put everything aside just to save us. Everybody, can we give Lucky Charm one last thank you before we go? 3, 2, 1…”

Thank you Lucky Charm!!!

--

The curtains would pull over the two stage performers, Martha finally showing her fatigue as she at on the floor and took a long breath. Playing an overly positive girl in distress was actually quite tough, giving how rough the morning was.

“Whew, glad that went over with them so well. Hey! Sakura, right? You did great out there. I don’t think the kids had ever been so excited before.”

"YOUR WELCOME!" Lucky cried out as the crowd SHOWERED HER in all sorts of things! Roses (dethorned thankfully), Praise, kind words, more smiling faces than she'd ever seen, like, ever! Her heart SWELLED as the people who had watched her completely improv-ed and completely unprepared performance practically threw themselves at her in approval, her cheeks blushing HARD... the poor girl growing bashful in the face of such happiness! She... she didn't think she was capable of such things... Yeah, people loved it when she went out for wrestling and she made a lot of friends and stuff... but this was so much more different! She MADE this play when it was meant for someone else! She helped a bunch of kids meet their hero and these performers, their deadlines!  

She became a real hero this day... and that made her feel PROUD to be alive!

As soon as the curtains closed, Martha practically FELL on the stage floor beside Sakura, the cheerleader flinching as she turned to face her! Wowie... She thought SHE was tired after all that flipping and acrobatics and stuff... She didn't even begin to consider how Martha felt, being her over-the-top cheerleader throughout the whole fight! However, exhaustion or no, the woman wouldn't be stopped in congratulating the cheerleader for how well she did...

"I...I... thank you..." Lucky blushed DARKLY, rubbing the back of her neck as she offered Martha a nervous smile. "I... really didn't think they'd like it all that much either..." Lucky glanced backstage as she heard her once GREAT RIVAL practically singing her praises, her cries so loud, Lucky's blush darkening ever further! If the poor girl kept being praised like this... she the blush might start to HURT!

"...Th-thank you for letting me be in your play!" Lucky quickly spoke, bowing low before Martha, her emerald eyes aglow with joy! "You made this, like, the best day ever for me! Thank you so much! OH! And can I have the specs for this costume too?... I... really kinda like it actually...."

“Oh please, Ms. Sakura! We should be the ones thanking you!”

That voiced belonged to none other then Shinji Takaharu. The manager had a coffee in one hand, and a water bottle in the other. The wide grin on her face told anyone exactly what they needed to know about how she thought the play had gone. She couldn’t stop smiling even as she handed the water bottle over to their guest performer.

“That had to be our best show! I don’t think I had ever seen a crowd get so riled up! I have to admit, I didn’t expect you and Hikari to get so…physical, but it seemed to have paid off in spades!”

Shinji helped Martha up off the floor, the both of them standing like proud parents and beaming at each other with pride. Both of them were truly happy with the way things turned out. When Sakura continued to tell them she had fun, and that she was happy they included her, they each gave her a smile. Both of them admired her modesty, as they knew that Sakura was easily the biggest factor in why this play had gone off without so much as a hitch. Of course, they were taken in completely by her kindness.

“It really was a pleasure, Sakura. I’m happy you seemed to have had as much fun as the children did. It really was a magical thing to see…get it?” The manager winked playfully as Martha groaned at the poor pun.

“Anyways, if you want the specs on the costume, I think you are going to have to ask-“

“Sakura!”

The next thing the cheerleader would feel was someone SLAMMING into her, practically tackling her as two arms enveloped her in a happy embrace! The woman still had her tentacle boots and skirt, but her helmet and gloves were gone. Hikari hugged her tightly as she giggled excitedly.

“That was great! Did you see how much they cheered? Man, I bet that’s a show they will never forget!”

Hikari finally released Sakura, but moved around in a manner that made the tentacles on her waist wave about excitedly.

“I heard you liked the costume I made! I would totally be happy to make you one if you want! But you gotta promise to come back sometime and be in our play again! We could play a villainous duo! Eh heheheheheheheh~”

“Erm…yeah, well, Hikari is the one that makes all the costumes…she is a bit weird, but you get used to her after a while. Of course, I won’t deny her offer. If you ever want to come work with us ever again, shoot us a line, and I know we can find you a spot somewhere in this business.”

Shinji dug out a business card, and swiftly handed it over to Lucky, the entire staff gathering around and praising the helpful cheerleader and thanking her.

“Alright everyone! Let’s get this place cleaned up! After this, we are going to celebrate! Drinks and food for everyone!”

This time, the heartfelt cheers came not from the audience, but from the happy crew, many of them looking forward to the party that was coming in their near future, already welcoming Sakura to join them as if she had always been a part of the cast. There would be drink, food, and merry company for everyone to enjoy…what other way was there to end a great day?

The End...