Akiko descended back to the pavement on a swirl of sparkles, resplendent in her tight-fitting suit of solid glitter and armed with an opal-topped staff which had appeared from nowhere.
“Now to show those villains the power of the Shimmer-Stone!”
“They’re gone, Akiko,” growled Rin, her distinctly non-magical friend, still swaddled in a grey school uniform. “They got in a car and drove off.”
“When?”
“When you spent about two minutes twirling through the air with your clothes flying off, that’s when. "
“Well, why didn’t you stop them?” Akiko stomped a preposterous heel.
“What, me and my homework versus four hardened gangsters with machetes? I can’t think why.”
“But I’m all powered up now. Which way did they go?”
“Does it matter? They’ve been driving for two minutes now and for all your glitter, you can’t fly. Or drive. This always happens. Couldn’t you change a bit faster?”
“The powers of the Shimmer-Stone aren’t easy to channel!” Akiko pouted. “I know where their hide-out is. Maybe we could get a bus?”