A/N~ I've finally gotten around updating the story again! I know, I should find a better way to focus on my stories now and then. But no worries, I'm still in the game and will be updating as much as I can.
Reviews
DB-20
The anniversary episode was actually much better than I thought! Not very epic compared to Forever Red, but not as lackluster as the 'Legendary Battle'. Overall, a very fun episode that I wished could have been longer.
WerewolfMazuko117
I hope you're still reading! And yes, like I said above for DB-20's review, great overall, but still wish it was longer.
MrtheratedG
Glad you enjoyed this story! Hope I didn't leave you to wait too long.
Also, thanks to captainmarvolus, Hero Entertainment, rosariovamp1 and LZ Wildlough for the favourites and follows!
Chapter 10: The Call to Arms
Beacon Academy,
Vale City,
Vale,
Remnant,
Still in his office, Professor Ozpin sips on his usual mug of coffee, gently letting the bitter yet enlightening liquid amplify the energy inside of his calm body. As much as he hated to admit it, the energizing force the beverage brought was becoming something of an addiction among the more 'uplifting' staff of the academy. Still, it was always a treat to enjoy a cup of Mistralan coffee during a time of post-crisis peace.
Much to Glynda's chagrin, though, the head professor of one of Remnant's most prestigious Huntsmen Academies was simply taking his sweet time, all before a major festival and tournament underway. Even if control and security over the Vytal Tournament were forcibly handed over to that military glory hog, Ironwood, Ozpin should at least assert some authority over the things Atlas wasn't aware of.
The tapping of her cane, dabbing on and off her arm, impatience brewing inside of her. The fear of the unknown, while not evidently shown, was still picked up by the grey-haired professor.
"Something's about to be set in motion, and you're here enjoying your cup of coffee." groaned Glynda.
"Things are always set in motion these days, Glynda." Ozpin remarked as he stirred his cup, watching the liquid swirl around inside.
"What makes you so sure that General Ironwood would be oblivious to what is about to happen?" reminded Glynda again. "He has the full force of his army that would be ready to handle the threats before they would present themselves. Not to mention that he has his top intelligence operating across the kingdoms twenty-four-seven."
"If James found the disturbances, then there would have been action by now." told Ozpin. That much was true, he knew. Atlesian Knights would have been deployed in their squads to combat whatever was looming out there. Alas, with not a single cue from the military to defuse any possible threats, the city was as it was even before the Breach. "Nothing that I am unaware of. And as far as we know, the occurrences all seem to take place outside this city, so it would be unlikely for our good General to be notified so soon."
"I hope for your sake, Ozpin." Glynda crossed her arms, deciding to extend her patience for a little longer before Ozpin would ever act. After another unfruitful discussion, she turned around and left the room. She had better things to do right now, because she and a few other Huntsmen had to go around Vale to repair the damages done by the White Fang and Roman Torchwick before more chaos would spread. She was going all that focus on repairing the holes caused by the exploding train from Mount Glenn.
The wise old man turned around to view the scene from his window, finishing up the last of his coffee before he placed the mug down on his desk. Rising up from his seat, he took his cane and stood firmly to watch the blue skies, thinking about the strange things that might happen in just a few moments.
He was well aware that something unknown was coming, but there could be no further action until he found the opportunity to investigate. He did have a good feeling, though. Something else was about to spring up to meet with the other more disturbing presence… Something that was born out of the powers of valour and peace…
Something good for a change…
Vale City,
Vale,
Remnant,
~CALVIN'S POV~
When we ran out of the shop, we heard this old lady screaming somewhere nearby. We ran fast we could to face the problem, head on. Hayley and I turned to a dirty, old alleyway to find out what was going on.
To our shock, we saw the scene of the crime unfold! There we saw, the old lady, small and frail-looking, being harassed by a few fancily-dressed men, with black tuxedos over red shirts, beaming their red shades towards the poor lady. They had some wrenches out, almost looking ready to do some really terrible stuff to her. At this point, there was no doubt that we should do something to help her out.
"Come on, Calvin!" Hayley shouted as I nodded. We both ran towards the two troublemakers to take them on. Like how we dealt with those jerks at the store, we didn't really need our Ranger powers to deal with these guys. Besides, with our identities needed to be hidden, we had to keep ourselves from activating them as much as possible.
Hayley and I came up close against the gangsters, catching them by surprise. We ran up and immediately gave the two men a hard kick to the face. They both tumbled down to the floor, landing on their sides. After we helped the old lady, we checked on her to see if she was safe.
"Are you alright, ma'am?" asked Hayley, turning around to get her out while I kept my eyes on the two fallen men. The woman was shaken quite badly, unable to speak. We didn't have to hear anything, since there were two crooks still hanging on. So, Hayley and I told her to get out of the alleyway.
As the elderly woman ran off, we both stayed behind to deal with the two thugs. They got up groggily after we kicked their butts to the ground. As if the sneers on their faces weren't too obvious, their weapons were already out at the ready; a couple of wrenches out to clobber us in the head.
Still, we stood our ground and prepared to fight back. They then charged for us with their weapons up high, their smug faces just telling us how much they wanted to bring the pain. Hayley nodded at me, signalling for me to make my move first. That was one of the many techniques we would train with Brody and the others; surprise the enemy by heading off on your own and try and separate their manpower.
I started by running for the guy on the left, thrusting my arm out to tackle him. The men were startled as I ran right into my target. While I pinned the thug to the ground, that was when Hayley moved to intercept the other guy.
I couldn't see how Hayley faired against the gangster. I had to deal with this punk who I have tackled down and believed she had it under control. The thug was quite strong, shaking me off with his whole body and managing to throw me off. After I rolled away, I kept my eyes on the crook, just as he got back up and stared menacingly at me.
"You're going to pay so badly, kid." threatened the thug, bashing his wrench to the wall to show his anger. Like I was going to be intimidated by that? I fought monsters uglier than this guy! He then came charging towards me, with his wrench just waiting to be whacked at my head. I moved out of the way, grabbing his hand just before he could hit me. Next, I gave him a strong punch to the stomach, knocking him back. He then tried to hit me again with his wrench, but I quickly followed up with another set of blocks before swiping his legs with a sweeping kick down on the ground.
When he was down, I waited to see if he was going to get back up, and when he did, the fight resumed. I lunged a few punches at him. This time, though, he put up a better fight as he swung his arms right before I could do him good.
It eventually became an equal fight between us, me just trying to do some damage and then forced to defend myself at the next instance. But then, when he was about to jump up and give me the biggest clobbering ever, I rolled out of the way, right before his weapon crashed onto the floor. The concrete floor cracked under the force of the weapon, making me feel glad that I wasn't hit by such a big blow.
I then moved in to get the guy while he was still recovering, ending the fight with a swift kick to the head. He shouted in pain just before he spun out and hit the ground. Landing flat on the ground, I was sure he was out for the count after that hard hit. He stayed there for a few seconds, trying to get up before he finally had enough, falling face flat on the floor.
Satisfied, I turned the other way to see Hayley, holding out well against the other goon. She was ducking under from multiple swipes of the guy's fists, finding the time to strike back. Before I could head over to help, Hayley already settled the deal and gave him a proper uppercut to the chin, swinging him back into a flip.
I'll let you know this; if you mess with Hayley, the only thing you'll get is one nasty punch to the gut. That guy learnt it the hard way. After that one-hit wonder, I looked on, watching him squirm a bit before fainting.
With both men finally taken out, we both regrouped, giving each other a nice high-five for a job well done. Another day, another pack of bad guys down for the count.
The threat now passed, Hayley and I went out the alley, leaving the two men to feel their pain the next morning. We turned to the road to find the old lady they were harassing earlier. When we came up to her, she was full of cheers, thanking us for saving her.
"Oh!" She came up to me and suddenly, pinched my cheek, pulling my skin out like someone was pulling my hair. I tried my best not to show how much I was wincing, so it didn't look rude. "Thank you so much, kids!" She then let go of my cheek, causing me to rub it. I knew I heard Hayler snickering at me for the embarrassing moment. "Is there anything I can do to repay you, children?"
"Hehe. Not… really…" I chuckled.
"But maybe you can help us with something?" suggested Hayley. The woman nodded very happily. "We're trying to look for my dog. He's a Siberian Husky with a red collar around his neck. Have you seen him?"
The woman hummed with a questioning tone. Hayley and I held onto hope that she had something to help us find Cody. She kept wondering for a few seconds, and then she turned to us. A smile was on her face. Could it be…?
"Oooh! Yes! I did see a Husky around these parts!" At last! Some good news about our dear friend! Hayley hugged me from behind, taking me by surprise. I could feel that she was very happy for the slightest hint for Cody, which put me in high hopes, too.
"Do you remember where he was last seen?" Hayley asked again. "We really need to find him!"
"Of course!" the old lady complied. "Follow me, and I will show you where your doggie is." She turned around and began to lead us through the streets. Hayley and I kept on hoping that we would find Cody, and if the lady was right, she would be a miracle worker! So, we walked on, following her to find our lost dog, so we could continue our mission to find more traces of Galvanax.
~BLAKE'S POV~
You wouldn't believe what I'm going through, right now… No. Not my fight against discrimination and hatred, at least not yet.
No, the real situation, right now, was that a cat Faunus, like me, was walking around the streets of Vale, in the open, with a dog. A literal Husky, walking beside me like I was its master. Not the best pair in town, but I wouldn't really care less about what people thought.
I had to stick my head up to help this dog find its real owner, this Hayley, and head back home to get things done. The only solution to do so would be to walk towards the nearest police station and have the city notified that a dog was missing its owner. I just hoped the owner would arrive sooner, because my nerves were slowly being triggered by my habitual reluctance to be near a dog. Dog Faunus, I'm cool with them, but if you want me to choose between fighting a rabid beowolf and having fun with a living dog, I'd rather fight the beowolf.
I still felt it was the right thing to help someone find her dog and help him reunite with her. It would be a small sign of hope for good things to happen before we take on the Vytal Tournament, after all that happened during the Breach.
I eyed the dog, who walked without even batting an eye over me. He didn't seem to be very attached to me, as most dogs would to other human beings. I always felt it was weird, but hey, as long as it didn't get all lovey-dovey with me as Ruby's dog would, there would be no problem.
"So, what does your owner look like?" I tried to start some sort of conversation with the Husky named Cody. He just turned his head at me and stared as we walked, responding with nothing. I almost slapped my own head when I realized how idiotic it was to ask such a question to an animal. "Figures. I'm talking… to a dog."
We continued down the street, filled with people going here and there. I was almost surprised by the turn up of this many people, but I supposed it was due to the Festival coming just around the corner. But whatever was going on out there, whatever entity was about to reveal itself to cause more harm than what was already done, then all of these people were in for a major surprise. Even as Atlas' military was taking over security for the Festival, I wasn't so sure that they were ready for the monsters that just decided to show up.
And that didn't even include the true villains behind the whole chaos before…
None of that mattered for now. Cody needed to find his master and I had to help out. So, we kept on going, not bothering to wonder if anyone was going to question the sight of cat and dog walking together.
I would have had Cody on a leash to make sure he wouldn't run off like he must have done, but as far as I could tell, he didn't seem to feel like being bounded, almost as if he had been trained to stick to the person of interest. Whatever Hayley must have done to train him to fight and behave, she did a very good job, and that coming from someone not so keen on being controlled…
We were about to go through a small park, just a few metres away from the police station. We both took a stroll along the stone path, flanked by the grassy fields and shaded by a lone Emerald tree.
Just as we walked into the shadows of the leaves above us, Cody stopped. I took notice of his stop and turned to him, wondering what made him halt like that. I took a good look at his face, seeing it turn into a threatening growl, with his teeth showing while snarling. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but then, that was when I felt something off, like what he was feeling.
True to my feelings, I looked up at the tree and, all of a sudden, something jumped down towards me. On instinct, I grabbed the dog and sprinted out of the way. As I rolled out of the way, I heard a loud thud behind me before we crashed onto the grass. When I recovered, I let go of Cody and looked to where that object came crashing down on us.
To my shock, a lone stranger, crouched on the ground, had a sword stabbed right into the path. He wore a padded white vest with a black sleeveless undershirt worn right underneath, followed by a pair of black khakis tightly tucked down into his metal boots. And the things that got me agitated by the attacker; a pair of dog ears and, most noticeable among them all, a steel mask of a beast.
The mask of the White Fang. My old comrades…
I had to wonder how many White Fang stragglers were there after we stopped the Grimm from devastating Vale. I wasn't surprised by the fact that there were some missing spots, but I didn't think they would come so soon.
Despite how I still felt about the White Fang, I had to pull my weapon out in defence, while Cody bent down, ready to attack as well. The White Fang straggler rose up to face us, bringing his sword to his shoulder as he stared right into us with murderous intent.
"Don't worry." I told Cody. "Do what you want with him. Just don't kill him." I had to make sure he wouldn't tear off his neck or anything, but after what I've seen from his attacks against Junior's boys, I was sure he got the message.
"Time to die, traitor!" the White Fang member yelled. I looked around to see if anyone was around to witness the attempt on my life. Thankfully, nobody was around to be threatened. All bars were up; it was time to strike with everything I got.
The Faunus operative charged right at us, swinging his large sword at me. Cody and I jumped right out of the way, as the sword split us up and hitting the stone path again. I transformed my sword into a repeating pistol and fired multiple shots onto the attacker. He managed to pull out his sword and block off my bullets, knocking them all with its large broad blade.
At that moment, Cody jumped right in and tried to bite the man in the leg, only for him to get kicked out of the way, sending the Husky flying back and landing back where he started.
"The traitor calls upon the aid of an animal to fight me." said the straggler. "Pitiful, how the great Blake Belladonna has fallen to rely on innocent creatures to…"
I couldn't take the amount of crap he was throwing from out of his mouth. I quickly turned my gun back to sword mode and threw my blade towards him, letting the thick cord whip its way. Once it hit his sword again, I pulled it back and swung it again, letting loose a series of repetitive whips against him. Unfortunately, after five more strikes, the assassin managed to catch the very end of the cord, holding onto my blade before pulling it hard. I was tugged right for him like a magnet. He tried to punch me as I flew to him, but I managed to catch my balance and flipped over him, making him miss me by a long shot.
I landed right near Cody, pulling my sword away from his grasp to tend to the dog.
"You okay?" I asked it. Cody barked once, while still staring at our enemy, letting me know he was okay. "Good, then we have to coordinate our attacks if we are to take this guy down. You with me?" Again, another bark, confirming that he was ready to fight with me. I had to admit; the more he listened, the more impressed I got. Didn't think I was really that open to be fighting alongside a dog before.
The two of us started our run, both of us flanking the crook with our fangs (figuratively speaking for me, anyway) sharpened to strike. The attacker readied his own weapon against us, standing defensively. As we came close, he swung his blade to get a head start over us. I jumped over his blade and attempted to kick him down, while Cody waited for me to knock him off.
I landed both of my feet onto his mask, kicking him right back and allowing Cody to move right in and bite the man on the leg. I heard the shout of pain running throughout the park, just to show me how excruciatingly painful it must have been. The White Fang member tried to shake the dog off, but that would allow me to make my move and strike my blade. My shorter weapon swiped right at the hand holding his weapon, forcefully releasing it from his grip. When Cody was done, he let go of the man's leg and proceeded to jump on his head, pouncing him down to his back.
While he was pinned to the ground, I was about to knock the guy down with my weapon by bashing him on the head. When I ran to end it, the attacker kicked Cody off him and got back up. At that moment, I couldn't respond on time before he swung his blade, throwing its weight right at me.
The long, silver blade was about cut me right at the shoulder, and all I could do was brace for impact, shifting my blade to the side fast enough to catch it. But the force of the blow, added with my missed timing, caused the sword of Gambol Shroud to be knocked off and made me fall on the ground from a hit on my balance.
I collapsed to the ground, knocking my shoulder onto the stone path. The force of the fall had taken a number on my arm, spraining it and making it hard for me to get back up with the aching sensation striking my body. I tried, but my body was suddenly so riddled with shock and pain. I've dealt with worse than this, but now, I've been stunned by a mere sucker punch by a lowlife, let alone a misguided member of the White Fang.
Before I knew it, the attacker was about to finish up the job and end me for good. He crept up towards me, dragging his blade onto the path with a screeching wail ringing in my cat ears. His sadistic need to murder me was almost heart-felt, I didn't need to see it from within his mask. He was really ready to kill me, right there and then.
Still powerless to save myself, I looked up helplessly as the assassin readied to execute me with his sword right above his head. I closed my eyes, hoping for a miracle to happen. I could hear the blade swoop right down to end it.
SWOOSH!
"ARGH!" Instead of a slash, however, all there was a thud and a shout from the attacker. Opening my eyes, I saw that my would-be killer was not standing over me. As I shifted my head to the side, I spotted his body, once again, lying down on the ground, tackled by Cody, who was able to save me in the nick of time.
And this time, his sword was not in his hand, sprawled away from him. Cody kept him down long enough for me to rise up and regain my composure. After some quick recovery, I stumbled forward and grabbed my blade. I scanned through my belt and took one of the remaining Dust clips Weiss gave me during our last mission. Slotting in the multi-coloured clip into my pistol and cocking it up, I aimed it at the intruder, telling Cody to move out of the way.
"Cody! Move!" The dog saw what I was doing and jumped away from my aim. When the White Fang attacker raised his head to face me, he was too late to do anything as I pulled the trigger, unleashing an icy burst that darted right towards him. The burst eventually engulfed him in a cold blanket of ice that trapped him in place. The cocoon of ice covered his entire body, leaving only his hands, feet and head sticking out, but I can also imagine him being struck by a freezing frenzy.
When I walked over to him, I saw how motionless he was, apart from shaking badly from the terrible freeze I gave him. But all in all, once I shot him down, he was already as good as done, the crisis finally averted.
After putting away Gambol Shroud, I rubbed my shoulder after the painful fall I took from the attack, massaging it to partially relieve the straining soreness. Afterwards, I looked at Cody, who came up to me and sat down, wagging his tail. I walked up to him and bent down. For the first time in my life, never would I have guessed, that I was feeling thankful to a dog for helping me. He really was someone really special to his owner, which also intrigues me on who Hayley really was if her dog was this able in fighting. However, my instincts still kept me from showing my appreciation.
"I know, I know." I sighed. "You saved my life. What more do you want?"
Then, from out of nowhere, Cody lifted his head up and licked my face, slobber now staining my cheek. Ergh… Slimy dog drool. Nothing worse than having your face slobbered by a dog… However, even I understood that it was out of good intentions after our little scuffle with our foe, so I gave him a warm smile for thanks.
"Let's go. Your owner shouldn't be too far." I declared as I stood up. Soon, we heard the sounds of sirens going off in the distance. That was our cue to leave behind our assailant and let the police take care of him, while the two of us headed for the station. With any luck, we would find the whereabouts of Hayley.
Warrior Dome,
Orbit of Remnant,
~ODIOUS' POV~
The plan was being messed up, right when things were going to plan. We were about to eliminate the threat of these mere human warriors, and all of a sudden, the Power Rangers emerged to spoil my fun once again. First, the Red Ranger destroyed one of my monsters in the forest outside the city with one Huntress, and now I got word that the Blue one was with another in the city.
Those wretched Rangers always proved to be a roadblock, with two of them already running amok, helping a few Huntsmen in foiling our plans. I was moving around an entire cycle around the Warrior Dome, telling the Kudabots to do this and do that, ordering contestants to concoct the next stages of the plan to take over Remnant. Getting them to listen to orders instead of bantering about appearing on television was already irritating enough, now I had to listen to Galvanax rant at every opportunity he had over the Rangers' arrival to this dimension.
I held my cards on Cinder's plans to counter the Rangers and their new allies against us, but even now, her whereabouts were unknown to me, only would she call me would I be aware of where she would be. I kept groaning, desperately itching for any contact so I could leave the Dome to hatch another one of my plans to defeat our enemies.
Still, as long as only two Rangers were teaming up with two Huntresses, I was going to run things smoothly before heading out to continue with the schemes with the few contestants operating in the city.
Just then, I heard the loud sounds of the resonating alarm crying off from my communications device, pressing me to pull it out of my belt and answer the incoming call. I moved it very close to my mouth, letting the caller know that I was not in the mood right now.
"Yes? What?" I grumbled, listening into what she had to say. As it so happened, it was from one of the contestants who I sent down to prepare for the grand events of Galaxy Warriors. Annoyed to the core, I let out my usual disgruntled voice towards the communicator while my contact reported to me on what was to come. Once the warrior was done explaining to me, my frustration mounted up to the maximum.
"What?! More of the Rangers are in the city?!" I yelled. Drats! Now, two more Rangers were wondering around the city! The enemy was already getting closer to reaching the other enemies. Just what were these ninkaputs doing other than trying to stop them?
No matter, I had to tell my contact to move on and take any chance she had to eliminate them. They were not going to go far with their miserable lives, and soon, their Power Stars would be mine!
"You know what to do!" I told her, before shutting off my connection with her. "Finish them off!" But after I cut off my call, I was to be showered with more unwanted attention, coming from the worst kind of idiocy.
"Having trouble, Odius?" Cackling with glee behind me, Ripcon just strode right in, taunting me at my most stressed. The constant pestilence of his wretched existence stenches the air around me.
"What do you want, Ripcon? I'm busy!" I urged.
"Busy doing what?" he asked again, suspicion slapped into his voice.
"What do you think?! I'm busy trying to get those worthless goons to hunt down the Rangers!"
"You better be sure, Odious." he snarled, watching me from the door before turning around and walking away, but not before giving me one of his half-hearted warnings. "If I ever catch you scheming behind Galvanax's back again, you'll know what's coming."
One of these days, Ripcon, I didn't care if it was the Rangers, Galvanax, or even myself who would do it, but soon, you would be eating those words! (And as of now, in this current retelling of the events, he has indeed paid the price at the hands of the Rangers…)
"Ergh… the nerve…" After the fool left the room, I went back to my mission to ensue chaos across this world, hoping no more distractions would come to haunt me. The last thing I needed was to have Galvanax screaming at my ears for the whole day if the Rangers could get together with the Huntsmen. I was not going to give them the chance!
Vale City,
Vale,
Remnant,
~HAYLEY'S POV~
My separation anxiety for my dear dog was making me very nervous. I really wanted to get back to finding him before we would be kicked off course from our search. Not that I didn't appreciate help from an old lady, who somehow saw a dog like Cody; it was just me and my usual motherly concerns towards him that was driving me impatient.
We walked through the streets for a good few minutes now, and still, no sign of Cody. The old lady, Mertle as she was named, was still leading us to the possible place where she found a husky that could be him. We eagerly waited for her to tell us of any sign of Cody, keeping an eye out for him at the same time. Every second spent was another heartbeat of anxiety, pounding me like a hammer to the chest.
Calvin had his hand squeezed with mine, knowing how distressed I was. I knew I could always depend on him for comfort, but at the same time, it was very worrisome without Cody to stick around me. It was still always good to have someone like Calvin to help me through the day, being one of the most loyal of friends.
"Are you sure you know where my dog could have been?" I asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, my dear." giggled Mertle, looking behind at us as we walked. "You will find your little puppy in any minute now." Despite the kind response, it felt all the same, really. There was no difference from the beginning, when we lost Cody. I didn't want to make it obvious, but I was sighing hopelessly, getting more desperate to branch out and find him myself. But Calvin kept me in check, making sure I was alright. Giving me another smile, I had to calm myself down. Somewhere in this city, Cody could be able to find us; he was the most talented dog anyone could ever have! If any other Husky could go around a city for hours and find his friend in the end, it would be Cody.
We then came across a small square within the city, just to see a fountain right in the middle of the pavement of bricks. At that moment, Mertle finally stopped, looking around the empty square, where the only things we saw were the aforementioned stone fountain, with a statue of a brave warrior or knight rising above a fallen beast, added with a few benches, streetlamps and trash bins; just the place for a nice resting spot. The elderly woman then turned to us with her glasses raised up.
"I know I saw your doggy here." she told us. I took a look myself, seeing nothing but empty space with not a single soul but us. That didn't seem to help at all, unfortunately, as nothing concrete was ever pointed out that would lead us to Cody.
"Look, it's been nice of you for helping us, but I don't think we will find Cody around here." I cleared up apologetically. The woman looked at us sadly, seemingly disappointed that her help hadn't been much for us.
"Oh dear. I'm so sorry for not being able to help." she apologized.
"No, it's nothing to feel bad about." I insisted. "I just wish we had a better clue to finding him." I had to put my head to it, wondering what Cody would do in these times of loss. Where would he go when things looked bleak? What would he do to find a way back to me? It always amazed me how intuitive he was for a dog, even being able to help us take on Galvanax's minions in times of emergency.
So, it would have to be another lengthy search before we would ever find Cody, sure that he would eventually find his way back to us. We didn't want to trouble the old lady who was kind enough to help us this far, so we were about to bid her farewell, thanking her for her assistance.
"OI!" Suddenly, there was a loud, angry call, grabbing our attention as we turned our heads to where it came from. To my horror, we saw a very unwanted crowd of people we didn't need to see at that moment. These were full-grown men, wearing the same black and red clothes as the thugs we fought earlier. This time, there were six of them and they were all armed with even deadlier weapons, ranging from daggers to batons. At that moment, we were up against much more dangerous crooks than the last time, coming to exact their revenge.
Calvin and I stood in front of Mertle, shielding her from yet another excursion against some oppressive and dangerous men. Just when could things ever go the way we would like these days?
"We're not looking for trouble!" Calvin warned, both of us not letting out guard down against the thugs.
"Tell that to our pals who you assaulted." defended one of the gangsters with a smug.
"They had it coming!" I countered, but the verbal showdown was not to last.
"Yeah? Well, now, it's your turn!" With the bashing of his baton to the ground, the ringleader of the group finally gave the call to attack us, charging in with all their mob brutality. Calvin and I were about ready to deal with them. No matter what, we were not going to end up being victims to these guys any longer.
"Get behind us, ma'am." Calvin told Mertle as she hid behind the fountain in fear. When she was out of harm's way, the two of us prepared for another brawl, standing with our fists pumped up. We saw their weapons and had a small tinge of mixed emotions, conflicted about what to do with the higher stakes. I had this itchy hand just trembling to grab my Power Star and morph into a Ranger, knowing we would have to fight a gang of well-armed mobsters. But to give our identities away to them would be a very dangerous thing to do, risking our cover being blown away to Galvanax and whatever powers ruled this place.
All we had to do, for the time being, was to fight with our bare fists and the best of our ninja training…
They came for us with lightning speed, nearly catching us off guard, but we managed to catch up and separated the crowd into fair numbers. By taking them on with the idea that they had deadly weapons would be suicidal, but we had far worse; I mean, Kudabots with laser rifles and Bashers with their large cleavers? We fought those goons every day and it would just get staler after each fight. Bad guys with knives, batons and a nastier attitude? Consider that a level up from the usual monster battles. These were human beings, people who, even with all their violent intentions, we couldn't afford to destroy.
As such, we stuck to ending the fight with nothing but a few injuries and battered egos, for them.
~BLAKE'S POV~
After spending time walking around the city with a canine creature, something swam in my mind.
I was at the market district of the city, helping the lone Husky named Cody find his owner, some girl named Hayley. I spent a good amount of time with him, searching everywhere for her, but that was when I had a very strange pang of realization knocking at my brain.
If Cody was so capable of fighting a few bad eggs in our society, clearly trained to take them on, then how could it be so difficult to find his owner by using what he had learnt to reunite with her? Why was he sticking to me like I was his owner?
I certainly hope that wasn't the case. For all I knew, Cody still felt lost when we first met. If Hayley was not the kind, loving owner he believed in, then I'd be pretty agitated by how ignorant she would be. Some part of that instinctive drive still held signs of hesitation from me, understanding that an animal's love for their owners is not always as complex or straightforward as human or Faunus kind. Pets are often so engrossed by their devotion and trust in them as if they were leaders of the pack, that it wouldn't even cross their minds that their owners would end up abandoning them for nothing.
But I refused to let that thought linger; if I had to guess based on my Faunus instincts, Cody would still believe that his owner was the caring soul that kept him going. Even as mixed as I felt at worst, I held onto hope that he was one of the lucky pets that had a very loving owner; someone who treated him like a real family.
Like I know what being a good daughter was like…
"How are we ever going to find your owner? If I have to guess, you would be able to find her sooner, given how skilled you are." I spoke up to him, bringing up the strange thought in my head. Cody just looked up to me with blankness marked on his face (and by 'bland, I meant the usual ignorance of my rather inept statements). Sighing, I knew it was not going to do me any favours. "Sorry. I'm not much of a good talker, even to animals."
But then, Cody stopped again. His nose twitched and sniffed the air, suddenly startled by something. He bent to the ground and growled, seemingly disturbed by a mere presence.
"What's wrong now?" I asked him, but before I could even get a response, the dog, yet again, suddenly ran off, catching me off guard. "Cody!" I called out to him, but it was no use. He kept running off to who knew where. Groaning, I was just having had enough of these sudden sprints into the city. Just how much more catching up do I have to do?
I had to make sure he was okay for his owner to see him again, so I had no choice. Lifting my feet up, I decided to run after him.
Ergh! Dogs; you can never know what to do with them!
~THIRD PERSON POV~
Calvin and Hayley were minutes into the fight with the mobsters, and already they were starting to wane their strengths away. The risk of being hit by even deadlier weapons made them just as hard-pressed as they were when fighting Kudabots, Bashers and the occasional monsters. The only thing that made these crooks stand out, however, was the fact that they, like the Rangers, were human; no matter how malicious they could be, the instinct to hold back and lessen their strength was taking its toll on their conflict.
One thug swung his dagger on Hayley, leaving her to duck right underneath the strike before she gave him a swift kick to the back. But then, another crook reached out to her, hitting her square on the shoulder, forcing her back with a heavy hit.
Calvin had two thugs swiping at him with their blunt batons, barely catching the weapons in his two hands. Though in pain, the teenager held his own, but not realizing the third gangster coming up at him with a kick to his back that threw him off to the ground.
Hayley suffered another push by a shove from another thug before she joined Calvin onto the floor, beaten and bruised by the batons, slightly scratched by the knife blades and tired from everything else. The two Rangers, left powerless without using their Power Stars against human beings, were borrowed time, almost unable to do anything but take more hurt from the empowered gang.
They had to fight on, for the protection of their own dimension and the current one. Galvanax was still out there, plotting a major scheme to exploit this world and its opportunities. It was too soon to give up now. But above all else, Hayley refused to go out without knowing where her beloved dog was at the time. She didn't want to abandon him if something were to happen to her and Calvin. She needed to be there for him to the very end, and she knew he wanted to same for her. Even if they were to be beaten down, they had to fend themselves and find some way to fall back and regroup. The gang, however, was as relentless as they were ruthless, not wanting to let them get away with their previous encounter. So, with their battered bodies, the Rangers had to put in more strength in their defence. Perhaps, maybe at this situation, they had to resort to using their Power Stars, just to buy them time to escape.
Then, Hayley turned her head to the right, noticing something coming her way. From out of the blue, she could see a shimmer of hope on four legs.
"Cody?" At that moment, she could see the image of a dog, running for her with all its speed. It then jumped up in the air and landed right in front of the two injured Rangers, standing its ground and snarling at the gang who attacked them. "Cody!"
The Rangers were beyond elated to see that their faithful pooch and loyal friend was safe and sound, now back to help them out. Hayley bent down to greet the dog, hugging him as he licked her face, overjoyed by their reunion.
"Oh, Cody! We've been looking all over for you!" Hayley kept embracing the Husky, while he whimpered with relief to find her again. She always knew he would find a way to be back with her and Calvin, trusting the help of a stranger he felt could help.
But the joy was short-lived. Hayley separated from Cody to face the gang. They were not at all threatened by Cody's sudden return to his family's side, rather they just chuckled out in great amusement that a puny mutt had come to try and save the day. Later, they would realize, Cody was not on his own.
From out of nowhere, a new stranger had entered the fray. Right next to the dog, a shadowy figure emerged, jumping into the fight before revealing its true form. The cat-like Faunus, Blake Belladonna, had come to the aid of the lost Husky, crouched down with Gambol Shroud already loaded. Now, the mobsters had a reason to be worried. Their two victims were now joined by a Huntress!
Calvin and Hayley, too, were quite surprised by the sudden arrival of this girl, seeing her standing by Cody's side to help them out. Seeing her two bladed weapons in her hands, they easily recognized her as a capable warrior; someone who could actually take on a full gang of mobsters. The way she stood against the gang was another indicator that she was definitely on their side; that is, if they got to know her better.
Blake also saw how Cody went up to defend these two strangers, instantly feeling that he had found the people he was looking for. Cody had found Hayley, at last, seeing her being victimized by the usual appearance of Junior's gang. But knowing they were able to stand their ground against the thugs showed Blake just as much on how Cody was so well-trained himself.
Just who were these people? Could they have been Huntsmen from another land, or were they already trained at some degree? They certainly looked old enough to be qualified for any of the Huntsmen Academies throughout Remnant. For them to handle Junior's gang members as much as they could have, she was quite impressed.
But now, the matter of the gang had to be done with, if everyone was going to come out peacefully.
"Get back." warned Blake to the two people behind her, unaware of what they were truly capable of. Despite their wounds, Calvin and Hayley did not wish to back down just yet. They needed to remind the gang that as long as they were here on this world, they will not be disturbed while they were on their mission to find Galvanax and whatever he had planned.
"Not a chance." urged Hayley. "We're here to help."
"You're injured. Do you really think you can withstand much more pain?" Blake didn't really know why these two citizens were so defiant to the end. They were victims, after all, so why should they continue to take the fight after such a rough battle with these dangerous mobsters? She couldn't tell, but that didn't seem to matter now. If they were so keen on dealing a blow on these crooks, she supposed they may have a good reason to, knowing how Cody seemed to trust them.
"I'm not sure how much more you can take." Finally, Blake sighed, allowing the couple to take part in the attack. "But fine." After letting them in, she faced the gang with stern eyes, joined by Calvin and Hayley as they breathed their pain out to help Blake deal with the thugs.
The gang didn't need to wait. The odds were still against the three victims, so they spared no room for hesitation. They took their weapons in their hands and resumed their attack on the trio. Blake gripped her weapons tightly, charging forward while Calvin and Hayley backed her up from behind. The unpowered humans engaged with two thugs each while their new ally fought the rest of the four. This time, the couple knew that they should combine forces to battle them. They closed the gap between each other, taking turns in dealing with the men.
Calvin had his hands full on his attackers, dodging each swipe of their weapons and fists while countering back with his own limbs, thrust at them with renewed speed. One of the thugs then tried to stomp on his foot, raising his boot upwards to make the kick. Calvin managed to catch the crook in the act and jumped up, landing his own feet onto the knee of the thug, balanced himself onto it and delivered a swift spin kick to the face. With one thug down, Calvin then shifted his focus on the next gangster who attacked him. The man tried to grab his head, but again, Calvin hurriedly grabbed him before he could get his hands on him and tossed the man over his back like a judo practitioner.
He looked over to Hayley, seeing her handle three mobsters at once. They all took quick jabs at her, attempting to knock her off. However, they would finally come to see a revitalized girl who, energized by the reunion with her dog, rapidly took on their strikes, blocking off all of their attacks with precise aiming of her hands. When there was an opening, she would kick a thug on the chest and deliver a fist to another right on his head, wiping the red shades of his head.
Once they were free of some weight, the couple got together to deal with the rest, coordinating a synchronized assault upon the last few thugs.
Meanwhile, Blake was having a somewhat easier time fighting Junior's thugs. She has had her experience cut out for her, having fought all sorts of terrible things in her life. These boys were nothing more than regular thrash that could be discarded with ease. Her short blade struck a man's weapon with sudden force that completely knocked his grip off, then using her larger blunt side of Gambol Shroud to whack the man in the head. Her head then turned to the three other men, who gathered to form a line. In their hands, they each grabbed a small orb that Blake recognized as firecrackers, probably used to distract her before they could clobber her. Spotting them attempting to throw the bombs, Blake leapt up in the air, just as the firecrackers left their hands, missing their mark. The resulting blast of popping sparks on the floor did not hit their target, as Blake vaulted over the three of them, using the cable attached to her pistol to be wrapped around them in a tight lashing grip. Once she landed, she then pulled the cable in and made the three men fall down to the ground.
Calvin and Hayley had already gotten two men beaten down, leaving two more to be repeatedly suppressed by a flurry of punches and kicks before finally giving them a heavy kick on them. The thugs fell to the ground like bowling pins until they could not rise up to challenge them.
After seeing that they had done what they could, Blake ran to join them, amazed by their perseverance in fighting a gang of dangerous mobsters. There was clearly a sense of skill and dedication that made their stances so noble. There was truly something about their abilities that gave her the idea that this wasn't an unusual occurrence for the teenagers.
With the three together, the gang soon stumbled together, dizzy and bruised from a long fight with the three unlikely teenagers. One good look on their faces, and the thugs were immediately forced to flee, not looking back at the people they thought would be easy prey. They fled to the alleys, hoping to never have another bad day with the wrong people.
The chaos being over, Blake turned her attention to the two teenagers, with Hayley bent down to hug Cody again with better time for a peaceful reunion. Calvin was by the other side of Cody, patting him on the head for a job well done. When Blake came over to them, they looked up to see this quiet-looking girl with a black bow on her head. Regardless of her looks, they welcomed her all the same.
"Did you help Cody through the streets?" asked Hayley.
"Yeah." Blake nodded, giving them a small smile to show her gratitude for their reunion. "He wasn't much trouble at all."
"Thanks. I'm Hayley, by the way." She shook Blake's hand before turning it over to Calvin. "This is my boyfriend, Calvin."
"Nice to meet you, uh…"
"Blake." she said. "Just call me Blake." The introductions went off pretty well, much to Blake's relief, considering she was never the most social of people. Calvin and Hayley were certainly thankful someone had the fight in her to help them deal with the gang, amazed further by the fact that she had actual weapons! Just what was she? More importantly, could she be a great ally in their quest to stop Galvanax?
They had the gut feeling they should let her in on what was going on, but they couldn't risk it, having not gotten to know Blake enough to realize her true allegiances. Perhaps they should stick around, but again, they couldn't afford to stray away from the mission. Maybe, in time, things could work out between them, no matter what their fates led them to.
Then, from out of the fountain, the old lady, Mertle, tipped her way to the teenagers, graciously glad that those bad boys were dealt with.
Blake was surprised to see her, remembering her as the woman she helped rescue from two of Junior's other boys. She couldn't have imagined that a coincidence could happen like this, which sort of amused her."
"Ooooh, my! What brave kids!" she cheered. "And such strength too!" She then came up to Calvin and pinched his cheek, almost as hard as a laundry clip stuck to his skin.
"Uh… thanks." Calvin sighed as he rubbed his cheek. Mertle then looked over to Blake, recognizing her as the nice lady who helped her deal with the same thugs earlier.
"Ooooh… And you must be that nice lady who helped me at the alley earlier today!"
"Yes, ma'am." Blake nodded, smiling at Mertle for another unexpected meeting.
"Well, why don't we all come to my home and have something to eat?" offered Mertle, inviting everyone for a nice little treat for such an eventful day. Calvin and Hayley certainly didn't know whether to accept the offer or refuse and continue with their mission. It would be rude not to accept a nice lunch with Mertle, and it wouldn't be too much of a bother to spend a few hours. After all, they had just found Cody and fought off a series of crooks, so it would be grand to have some real rest for now.
"I guess we can't say no to that." Calvin shrugged, with Hayley sharing his opinions. Blake also had some thought on the invitation, as she wouldn't mind at least getting to know more about these skilled teens, and maybe, what they wish to do about their abilities.
However, the peaceful gathering was soon to be shattered.
BARK! BARK! BARK!
All of a sudden, Cody barked viciously, forcing Hayley to catch him.
"Whoa! Hold on, Cody!" She held her dog gently, calming him down. She managed to get him to slow down, but the Husky kept growling, with his teeth sticking out in a threatening matter. When Hayley looked to where he was barking at, she couldn't really believe what she would find. Cody seemed to be acting hostile towards… Mertle?
The old woman was startled by the sudden outburst, being tended to by Calvin.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am!" apologized Calvin. "He's never like this to people." After a few breaths, Mertle simply chuckled it off, not offended by the sudden outburst.
"It's quite fine, dear! I'm not very good with dogs!" It seemed to have told just as much, as Cody kept on snarling at her while being handled by Hayley. Perplexed by his behaviour, as well, Blake just couldn't know what was going on his mind when he decided to act negatively towards this kind old lady.
"Cody!" Hayley kept him down after he tried to shake her off, adding more mystery into his behaviour. Blake couldn't help but feel something strange coming from Cody. She was very curious as to why Cody would be so viciously hostile towards Mertle. Hayley and Calvin insisted that he was never like this to anyone who seemed decent to his friends.
Then again, she had learnt to trust Cody's instincts when fighting Junior's thugs and that White Fang straggler at the park. If there was something bothering Cody, then could there be a good reason why he was being protective against this old lady?
"What's wrong with him?" she wondered aloud.
"I don't know." told Hayley. "He's never acted this way before." It was all too bizarre for even the mysterious Blake Belladonna, very confused about Cody's animosity towards this old lady. What did she have that might have had ticked him off?
Despite the hostilities, Mertle just waved off the issue, eager to let bygones be bygones.
"I'm sure he means no harm." she insisted. "Now, let's go home so we can talk about those Power Stars of yours."
"Huh?!" Then, just when things were about to go off without steam, Blake's ears perked up at what Mertle had just said.
"Wait a minute!" she called, catching everyone by surprise. As it turned out, Calvin and Hayley had just heard the same thing. "What did you say they have?"
"Eh?" Mertle seemed clueless, but the three teens knew something was weird.
"You just said they had…" Blake looked at the teens, curious over what she said at the very end that caught her attention. "Power Stars?"
"Did I say something? Oh, deary me!" Mertle had her hand in front of her mouth, apparently oblivious to her sentence. But by then, the teenagers were not buying it. She did indeed mention something that, to Calvin and Hayley's knowledge, would never know, especially since she was supposed to be someone not from their world.
"Hold on. You did say that, didn't you?" Hayley inquisitively asked, now letting go of Cody as she stood forward. The dog stayed behind, now his suspicious behaviour being more legitimate with this sudden change of events.
"How did you know about our Power Stars?" asked Calvin. Now, everyone was onto Mertle like she had just become the suspect of a crime, a person of question. How did a woman from this very dimension, all of a sudden, know about the famed Power Stars; something that only the Rangers, and anyone else they knew from Earth, knew about. Mertle was starting to startle out of control. She was being backed away by these teenagers who were now sceptical about where she stood in all of this. Just what did she know that she wasn't supposed to?
Then, just as they had her in their watchful eyes, Mertle stopped moaning in fright, and then, with a sudden change of heart, began to giggle. Giggle and giggle, perplexing the teens even further. But then, all of their suspicions were about to be brought to the light when she then started to laugh out with a cold, cringing tone. They backed away when Mertle rose up from her crooked stance to an upright one, standing well on her two legs before she laughed with all her heart.
What happened next would set a whole new standard for them, as their new friendship was to be put to the test.
Mertle then cackled out her last bit of breath before she grabbed her clothes and threw her arm out. When the clothes were ripped off, she suddenly transformed into an abominable, freakish monster that towered over them. Everyone retreated, shocked by the revelation. Blake, especially, was more than baffled when she saw what had transpired. There she was, dealing with a woman she thought was not telling everything, but then, 'Mertle' decided to show it all in such a way that completely took the Faunus by surprise. She had never seen such monstrosity ever in her life, other than the Grimm and the symbolism that the White Fang currently held.
This monster was almost in perfect humanoid form, standing with a coat of pink armour with a pair of white gloves and a face with only one eye, strands of eyelashes sticking out. On top of her head, a helmet shaped like a telephone was stuck onto her head, complete with an antenna-like membrane sticking out from her left shoulder. This was truly an abnormal beast of the crudest way possible. (A/N~ Telephone Sensei from Gosei Sentai Dairanger)
"What is that?!" she exclaimed, horrified by what she saw. And when she saw the reactions of Calvin, Hayley and Cody, her stunned expression only worsened when she noticed how defiant they were, as if they knew what they were facing! She couldn't help but ask what they thought.
"Long story." Exemplifying Blake's confirmation, Calvin breathes out with casual suave, staring right at the monster with no sign of fear. What did they know about this monster? Who were they really?!
"I'm Scam-Ma! And I'm just one call away from getting your precious Power Stars!" Again, the mention of these Power Stars made Blake even more confused. She guessed that it had something to do with her new acquaintances.
"She must be one nasty mama!" joked Calvin.
"Is that why you ran off, Cody?" Hayley looked down to her dog. "You knew there was a monster somewhere in the city?" Cody barked once, acknowledging her suggestion.
Blake's mind felt like it went through a jumpstart. It started to make sense. At one moment, she met the 'old lady' in the alley near A Simple Wok's. And then, the next instance, she met Cody in that same alley, almost at the same time. If both were so close to each other, then it must had been connected. Cody did indeed sense the presence of the monster in disguise and went to look for her.
It all made sense now. But the question remained, what did her three new friends had to do with all of this?
"Alright." threatened Scam-Ma. "You know the drill! Give me your Power Stars and Galvanax will spare your lives!"
Calvin and Hayley looked at each other. Now, they were sure that it was the best time to finally stop hiding. They had to use the Power Stars; they had to become Power Rangers, even when there was someone else in their midst. However, they did put faith in the fact that she was a capable and understanding warrior who could be trusted. Wherever this may have gone, they had to make do with the situation if they were to defeat the more obvious threat.
"Blake." told Hayley, slightly burdened from breaking the low profile. "What you're about to see might surprise you." Blake stared at the two, unsure what they could have that might prove her suspicions.
Pushed into action, Calvin and Hayley dug into their pockets and pulled out their Yellow and White Power Stars, thrusting it out in front of them before their Ninja Morphers appeared in their other hands.
"POWER STARS! LOCK IN!" They locked in their stars and gave them a spin, powering them up for the transformation.
"NINJA SPIN!" As their stars spun, they glowed to a bright blinding white light, engulfing their bodies and, in an instant, morphed the human teenagers into a duo of empowered warriors. The Yellow and White Rangers had emerged with their Star Blades out at the ready.
"What the…?" As if Blake's surprises weren't big enough, she just got the weirdest conclusion to her investigative search for answers. She eyed the bizarre look of the two Rangers who were once human teenagers she had just met on the street, puzzled by their power and appearance. Now, she was even more eager to know what their game was.
"We'll explain later." Hayley told her. "Just follow our lead." But beneath her inquisitive exterior, Blake still felt that these warriors were still the good-hearted individuals she met earlier. With their powers, she was sure they could actually do some good for the city.
"Okay." Finally, she drew Gambol Shroud again, devoted to helping the Rangers defeat Scam-Ma. Whatever unknown forces threatened Remnant today, she was bound to get to the bottom of it.
Ruby was right, she thought. There was definitely something deeply troubling going around at this moment.
"Kudabots!" Scam-Ma raised her arm up, summoning a squad of Kudabots to cover her. Blake was taken aback by the sudden warping of these blue soldiers, more troubled by how many they were, which gave her a clue of how more serious this case could get. But she paid no attention to her questions; she had to defeat these monsters alongside her new allies. "Attack!"
"Blake." called Calvin. "Care to take out those Kudabots for us?"
"Any advice on how to take these things out?" asked Blake.
"Just go wild! I'll back you up" Hayley blatantly answered, giving her the idea that she could just do whatever she could, fight them like she would against other Huntsmen and Huntresses or maybe even the White Fang, other criminals, even the Grimm. Either way, she'll fight with all her heart.
The horde of Kudabots charged towards the three, meeting up with them in a vicious battle within this small part of the city. Blake and Hayley went for the minions while Calvin headed right for the leader.
As Blake would find out, fighting these alien beings was going to prove a little more difficult than fighting the Grimm. They fought with slightly better coordination than those wild, soulless beasts, using their spears to catch her off guard before they would strike. The Faunus warrior coped rather easily against them, however. Just like the sparring sessions in Beacon, she learned to take in the tight circle of spears and blades thrown at her from all sides, letting Gambol Shroud guard her against all strikes.
Hayley was right beside her, reducing the burden of the Faunus' shoulders by fighting the Kudabots. She had the advantage of having more familiarity with these brutes, assisting Blake however she could. Her Star Blade spun around, slashing at the Kudabots with grace and smooth prowess. Her blade slit through their weak armour like a pair of scissors snipping through paper.
Blake then converted her dagger into pistol mode, firing rapidly at the grunts around her. In an instant, all of the goons on her end were downed. Then, she set her sights on helping Hayley take out the rest of the horde, running to join her in the exchange.
"How are you holding up?" Hayley called, giving one Kudabot a kick to the head.
"Pretty good." Blake responded as she tossed a Kudabot away before swiping another with the blunt side of Gambol Shroud. "I thought these creatures would be more formidable."
"You'll get used to them." The two girls fought side by side, almost naturally becoming in sync with their attacks. In no time, they were able to finish off the Kudabots in record time.
In the meantime, Calvin was handling on his own against Scam-Ma, fighting with her bare fists. He slashed his sword here and there, trying to get a hit on the alien, but she was able to block his moves, swiftly moving her hands to shake off his advances. When the Yellow Ranger got his weapon locked in between Scam-Ma's arms, he was willing to get to the bottom of Galvanax's plans.
"How did you even know we were here?" he demanded.
"I've seen the footage from past episodes, Rangers!" explained Scam-Ma. "Your faces are all over Galaxy Warriors! I just decided to come up with new tricks to get your precious Power Stars!"
"And what brings you here in the city?"
"I'd tell, but that'd be a total waste of time, wouldn't it?"
"Enough talk." shouted Hayley as she jumped right in to join her boyfriend. "You won't jeopardize any lives today. Not in our world, and definitely not here!"
Blake's questions grew larger by how Hayley boldly declared that she would defend her world. What did that mean? Could they not be from Remnant as well? That drew the line for possibilities; no one could ever come from above the stars, let alone go into them. It was just too farfetched for her, or anyone from Remnant. Aside from that, she felt comfortable knowing that, no matter where these strange people came from, she was fighting alongside two heroes who fought to protect the innocent.
The two Rangers were knocked back by the monster, joined by Blake as she prepared to move in for the attack. Scam-Ma made the move to deal absolute pain to them.
"Oh my, Rangers! Galvanax called! He wants his Power Stars back!" she growled.
"Tell him they're not for sale!" retorted Hayley.
"You have an incoming call, Rangers! Your impending doom!" Scam-Ma used the antenna on her shoulder to channel sonic waves into her eye before she shot out a series of energy rings that struck the three heroes like a laser bolt.
Blake felt the full sting of the attack, forcing her to vault back. The two Rangers, however, were caught off guard, thrown to the ground with heavy force. The Huntress was able to withstand the force of the blow, though she did feel like her arm had been struck by a hundred fire arrows, burning into her skin. Despite the pain, she stood firm, ready to strike back.
When Scam-Ma attempted to fire another wave of sonic energy, Blake summoned the power of her Semblance, creating a shadow copy of herself who took the blast for her, while the real thing dashed to the side and charged towards the monster. With Gambol Shroud, she speedily sliced away at the monster, putting her down to size. Eventually, after such a lightning-paced strike, Blake eventually found the source of Scam-Ma's power and slashed away the antenna from her shoulder, cutting it off and leaving the monster in pain.
"ARGH!" she screamed, grasping onto the cut shoulder. Blake flipped back to the Rangers. The two of them had their Star Morphers configured into their Bow Modes, pulling back the arrows to unleash their double attack.
"Arrow Blast!" They released their grips, firing a pair of blue energy arrows that speared into Scam-Ma with great piercing power, striking the monster in the shoulders and delivering the ultimate blow that finally rendered her out of strength. The monster was thrown back with no fight left to attack the Rangers and Blake. Soon, that meant they could finally put an end to her malicious ways.
"Stand back, Blake. This one's going to be a flashy finish." Hayley warned. Blake took a step back and let the Rangers finish Scam-Ma off. With their Power Stars locked onto their blades, they spun them with their thumbs and powered them to their fullest. As they spun their blades back for the final blow, they dashed forward, ready to defeat their enemy and prevent her from doing more harm.
"Final Attack!" Upon reaching Scam-Ma in a power dash, they swung their swords together, waves of yellow and white light cut right through the monster with the utmost power. The attack soon left the combatant shattered to the core, sending her flying back after an explosive end to her fight.
After unleashing their Final Attack, the Rangers retreated back to Blake, victoriously watching their enemy tumble down, expecting her to blow up. However, their attack did not do its job, only severely injuring the monster as she rolled from the blast. Not to say their attacks had always fully taken out some monsters before, but they couldn't help but feel incomplete when putting a monster down for good.
Scam-Ma managed to get up, but was so weakened by her attackers that she couldn't even keep her one eye straight. She shook as she stood, her rage still as high as ever.
"Why you…! I'm gonna make you pay for that!" The Rangers and Blake prepared for another battle at hand, expecting another form of retribution from the alien combatant. One more hit should do before the monster is finally put down.
But then, when Scam-Ma was about to retaliate, she stopped moving. Then, the Rangers couldn't tell, but they could have sworn they saw a hand raised up to the left side of her head, almost as if she was calling someone. They stared at her for a few seconds, watching what she was doing. Before long, she stopped and looked back at the three, lividly decided to end the fight, after all; just not on the Rangers' terms.
"A call came in, Rangers!" she shouted. "I've got other plans! You best be prepared for what's about to come ringing!" Then, she raised her arm up in the air before she teleported away, leaving the stunned fighters to helplessly watch as their enemy fled.
Though disgruntled by the escape, the Rangers supposed that it wouldn't be the last time they would face her. Her fleeing would mean an alarming hole in their element of surprise, that Scam-Ma would alert Galvanax of their presence. Then again, given that Scam-Ma was already scheming to steal their Power Stars long before, their surprise was already broken from the start. They would have to be ready for anything from this point on.
"Power Down!" The Rangers soon demorphed back to their human forms, distressed over the possibility of a battle against Galvanax, in a world that didn't need their conflict against him.
But the worse was over, for now. All Hayley wanted now was to get back to her beloved Cody and cuddle with him, relieved that he was alright. Meanwhile, Calvin was left to answer for a particular witness to the battle against Galvanax. Blake came up, now with the look of questioning, bent on finding out who they were and what was going on that was about to threaten her home.
"So, you guys wanna tell me what the heck is going on here?" asked Blake with seriousness. Calvin sighed as Hayley came up to finally give in. They were now in league with a special warrior who was, whether they liked it or not, now involved in their fight.
"We better do a lot of explaining…"
They took about ten minutes to finally explain to Blake everything. They told her about where they came from, which perplexed Blake enough. Then, they went on to tell her about Galvanax and his game show of violent fighting, before telling her what they were fighting for, what Galvanax threatened to do if they lost their battles.
"So, you're telling me that you came from some other dimension?" The Faunus from Remnant wanted to be sure she got their details right.
"Correct." Calvin confirmed.
"And those monsters…" She stopped to reconsider her sentence, still not used to the fact that anything could possibly come from the stars above. "Those aliens. They're from some game show that involves fighting monsters and powerful metal stars."
"Keep it going." Hayley nodded.
"And you're basically heroes called Power Rangers trying to stop them from taking over both your world and mine?" And so, the teens had given her their approval of her guesses, finally giving her the full picture of the situation. It was all still very unbelievable for Blake, really. None of this made sense, even in the standards of Remnant's most ridiculous myths. No amount of wondrous literature could prepare her for the preposterous story she was given by these two mysterious humans.
But she had to choose to go along with it. She didn't really care if this bizarre crisis was impossible in theory; there was no doubt that these monsters were starting to emerge and were planning something diabolical behind the scenes. With Vale within the tight hold of Atlas' military after the Breach, the last thing it needed was have these alien creatures ruin everything before the Vytal Festival, nor would she let them doom Remnant.
"Okay, I get the whole plot, but 'Power Rangers'? That is just goofy." she sighed.
"She's not half wrong there." admitted Calvin, which only earned him a bump to the shoulder by Hayley. "Ow!"
"We hope you can believe us, because we do know that this can be a little hard to swallow." said Hayley. "Look. As far as we know, Galvanax has been sending his monsters throughout the city walls, but they seem to be in the city as well. You and whatever higher power in this world could be in big trouble." She then thought of what she might have to do with Blake. There's no point letting her remain in the dark about Galvanax if she had already encountered one of his monsters. If she was here to fight them, then it's a safe bet she'd be eager to cooperate. If there were others like her who could fight, then she could probably bring in the help they would need.
"This might be a little crazy… but you're going to need all the help you can get. And in turn... You can help us too."
"Hayley!" Calvin jumped up in shock. "Brody told us not to get anyone involved!"
"It's too late, Calvin. We already got herself into this mess. We can't just let her go just yet. I mean, look at her. She's clearly a warrior herself. She might help us more than we'd think." Calvin thought about Blake helping them, wondering if it was a good idea to bring her in, when they didn't even know what kind of allegiance she served in this world. However, they did spend a good amount of time fighting alongside her, showing no sign of opposition against them. That could mean she could be a good ally to fight alongside with, but they still barely even know her. If she was to join their side, they needed to know her better.
"Okay, fine. But if Brody ever finds out about this…" he warned, but was playfully interrupted by his girlfriend.
"Who says I'm the one telling him?"
"If you're both done arguing like an old married couple, then you wanna hear my decision?" Blake then told them. They turned around back to her so they could hear her out on her choice about the crisis at hand. Understandbly, she was much in the unknown as anyone in Remnant would be, so she had to rely on the aid of these humans from some other world to help her save her world from more danger than it was already in. "Clearly, this is a threat we, the people of Remnant, are not prepared for. I mean, for me and the rest of us Huntresses and Huntsmen. So, if you are willing to trust us, then we can make it work."
Calvin and Hayley looked at each other, nodding in understanding.
"Thank you." Hayley told Blake. "We'll do our best to help your world out."
"I trust that you will." agreed Blake. "Now, we have to go and find my teammates." The Rangers couldn't be any happier over the fact that Blake wasn't a lone fighter. She, too, had a team of others who could join them in the fight against Galvanax.
"Same as us." acknowledged Calvin, giving Blake the same fascination that there were more humans out there who were involved with her new friends. "If we can get everyone together…"
"Then we'll be a bigger team! An alliance!" Hayley couldn't contain her excitement, tackling Calvin by the back while he swung her around, joined by the ecstatic barks of Cody.
"Sounds like a plan." Blake giggled. Things would only get weirder from here, but she knew it was all necessary in fighting a threat unknown to her and all of Remnant. "So, what's the plan?"
"We have to go find a place to settle down first. We can contact the others there." suggested Calvin.
"I know a nice place we can rest at." offered Blake.
"Good. I could use a good drink of water. Is the water here good?" asked Hayley.
"I'm sure." Blake rolled her eyes, amused that they went that far to solve the differences between their world and hers. As Calvin and Hayley went to one corner to discuss further about their plans, Blake then saw Cody walking up to her, sitting down with the same attentive face. She bent down to his level and sighed, wondering how this one Husky could have gotten her into this mess.
"You definitely know how to cause some trouble, huh?" She then made the brave move and stroked Cody on the head; something she never even did to Ruby and Yang's own dog. But, of course, that led to the dog into believing she was okay with him, licking her face. She then wiped the slobber off her face, quite disgusted and starting to regret touching his head. "I hate it when you dogs do that..."
Regardless, the dog, and his owners, were good-intentioned beings, willing to help her and Remnant overcome a force far beyond the comprehension of even the wisest. If there was any chance of defeating this Galvanax, these Power Rangers could hold the key and joining forces with them was to be the only hope the world had. Calvin and Hayley, too, needed to trust Blake, not just as a guide to this strange world, but as an ally in their battles against the Galaxy Warriors, for they could team up with other skilled warriors and rid this dimension of Galvanax's reign of terror.
All they needed to do now was to contact the others and form their alliance…
TO BE CONTINUED…