Episode 7 – The Yellow Streak

Tanya slipped the key into the lock and turned it slowly, the normally silent turn of the key sounded like columns of metal striking against each other with her sensitive hearing. She shook her head slightly, as she pulled the key and grabbed the handle. Slowly, she turned the handle and stepped through the door, mindful where she stepped. That creaking floorboard would be the death of her one day…

Now fully in the apartment, she turned and closed the door, the handle turned fully, and carefully turning it back into place. She let go, and turned around.

The lights suddenly flickered on and made her freeze, her eyes darting to the corridor, and she winced internally.

A finger pressed on the light switch, her sister stood. A light pink dressing gown wrapped around her, with her long blonde hair suffering from a serious case of bed hair. A pair of glasses sat on her nose, behind a pair of annoyed eyes.

"Uh..." Tanya started, but her sister raised her hand.

"Keep it short. I want to know where you were, and what the hell you were doing to just arrive at half-past midnight," Her sister, Nicole, cut in flatly.

It was at times like this Tanya really noticed how the two of them were sisters.

"Look…I was with my friends, and we had to go to the hospital after one of them did a stupid stunt and broke his leg," Tanya explained, straightening her posture slowly.

She wasn't being too far from the truth…

Nicole rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to know what you've been doing for one of your friends to break their leg." A moment of silence followed, before she half-heartedly added, "Are they OK?"

"He'll be fine," Tanya answered shortly.

Nicole nodded, and fell silent once again. As silence filled the hallway, Tanya noticed how Nicole seemed to rub her other arm slowly, and side glanced occasionally. "Something wrong?" Tanya asked, taking a small step closer.

Her sister looked over at Tanya again, before she sighed lowly. "I.. Fredrick was here."

That caught Tanya off guard - her eyes widened, and she dropped her jacket. "What?" She asked quietly. "How did he find us?"

"I don't know.. I don't know," Nicole responded, before she held a hand out to stop Tanya speaking. Her mouth was open to respond, but quickly closed. "I called the police, and he was gone before they turned up."

"Have they tried looking for him?" Tanya asked sharply.

"I've filed a complaint, and they're working on getting it done," Nicole replied quickly.

"Look, it's late. And I don't want to wake up in six hours to have the land lord knocking at our door with noise complaints," Nicole added, gesturing down the hallway. "Get some sleep, and we'll talk more in the morning."

Tanya wanted to ask so many more questions, but she couldn't put her words together and settled on, "Fine. Goodnight."

Nicole slowly nodded, and headed down the corridor, followed by her sister as they went to their separate rooms. Tanya paused momentarily when entering her room, looking over to Nicole until she closed the door behind her.

Tanya entered her room shortly after, closing the door behind her and leaning back against the wall next to her door. She screwed her hand into fists, and had to fight with all her will to try and punch a hole in her wall.

And with the Howler, she was pretty sure it would be easier to accomplish now.

She wanted to do so many things - scream, shout, throw stuff around... But she knew she couldn't. She'd just have to wait until the morning to do anything. Not even bothering to change, Tanya approached her bed and flopped onto it, rubbing her eyes. She tried to relax.

She glanced at her clock, seeing the digital display of 12:27, before she closed her eyes and tried to will herself to sleep.

The next time she glanced at the clock, its read 06:53. She amazed herself that she was able to sleep for over six hours straight with those thoughts swirling around her head.

Tanya pushed herself up, but remained quiet, wanting to test how good her sensitive hearing was. Despite the relatively thick walls of the apartment, she could hear the low snoring Nicole produced. A sure fire sign that she was still asleep.

Slowly getting out of her bed, she headed down the corridor quietly and took a quick shower.

As she stood in the shower, washing her hair slowly, the thoughts about what Nicole had said last night started to grow louder again. Her hands slowed through her hair as the memories around that name, Fredrick, and had to pull them free of her hair as she screwed them into fists.

She pounded the glass surround of the shower, grunting in frustration. The glass spider-webbed around her fists, cracks running in completely random directions around the point of impact.

Breathing deeply, she calmed herself and took note of her handiwork. "Shit," She muttered, before she quickly turned the water off and stepped out.

Returning to her room, she quickly dried herself off and found some fresh clothes in the wardrobe. Checking the time, which read just 07:12, she made some small adjustments to her hair and added a grey hoodie over her light red top.

Zipping it up, she lifted the hoodie over her head and headed for the door. She did the same as last night - slowly and smoothly opened the door, stepped out, and closed it behind her, double checking that she locked the door.

Stuffing her hands into the hoodie pockets, she turned and walked towards the stairs to get out of the set of apartments. She eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed the door open, entering the grimly-colored outside.

The overcast clouds seemed to mirror Tanya's mood right now.

She walked a few paces, before coming a stop. It just occurred to her that her friends, at least if they were sane, were still sound asleep at this time. Last she heard, Isaac was still in the Den, being monitored by MUTT and Savage, and the others had returned to their homes shortly after regrouping at the Den.

At the thought, she figured her best bet to blow off some steam was to head to the Den. She side glanced done both sides of the sidewalk, before quickly making her way towards a little side alley beside the apartment complex.

Once sure she was by herself, she rolled her sleeve up and tapped a few buttons on her Howler. Instantly, she was enveloped in a dark yellow light and vanished.

"You're up here rather early," MUTT commented as Tanya walked from the column of yellow light as it vanished from the Den. The Yellow Warrior shrugged slightly, leaning against one of the desks loaded with computer components.

"Had nothing better to do and figured I should try and blow off so steam," Tanya responded as she looked over at the robot, who turned away from the monitor he was working at to look at the human.

"Savage is currently sleeping at the moment, but you are fine to wait until he wakes up," MUTT said, turning his attention back to the monitor.

"What are you working on?" Tanya asked, leaning over the desk to try and get a better look at the monitor. From her angle, it looked like a mass of green blurs running up the screen at a pace her eyes couldn't keep up with.

"I'm working on reprogramming the Rogue Zords we acquired from the Rogue Wolves yesterday. I've been working throughout the night already to get them rebooted, but it's only 27% through the process," MUTT answered, his fingers moving rapidly across the keyboard.

"So, you've been doing this," Tanya gestured to the monitor, "All night, and you're just above quarter of the way there? Jesus…" She stepped back. "At this rate, it'll take you days to do it."

"My orders are to get these Zords reprogrammed back onto our side," MUTT said, looking aside at Tanya momentarily, and said, "Any particular reason why you couldn't sleep?"

Drumming her fingers over her arm slowly, Tanya turned and walked away a few steps, before she walked around the circular command center of the main area of the Den, and stepping up to join MUTT.

"Just.. family issues," Tanya responded, leaning against the desk, finally lowering her hoodie again, rubbing her hair to get it back into a presentable manner.

"Is that what you humans would consider a 'vague answer'?" MUTT responded, his lack of tone making it hard to figure out if he was trying to be serious or joking. Then again, with him being a robot, emotions weren't his strong point.

Tanya rolled her eyes and said, "Some people would consider it vague, yeah."

"Any particular reason for being vague?"

"I don't like talking about it. Bad history," Tanya said, looking away from MUTT.

"We all have bad history." Both Tanya and MUTT looked aside at the new voice, seeing Savage walking through an open door, which slid close behind him. His hands held together behind him, the sleeves of his standard trench coat rolled up to his elbows. "Some worse than others, but we all have one," Savage added, approaching the central column and turning on another monitor, the same blurs of green code appearing on his screen.

"Good progress, MUTT," Savage said, before turning around to look at Tanya. "You're up here early," he added.

"So I've been told," Tanya responded flatly in response.

Savage glanced at Tanya again, before he asked, "So, issues with your blood?"

Tanya simply nodded. "It's my.. father," She made it sound like calling him that left a bad taste in her mouth. "He's back in town. Not sure why, but I don't want anything to do with him. He cheated on my mom a couple of years back and ran out with the skank."

"Adultery," Savage commented softly, leaning against the desk as he listened, idly scratching an itch under his muzzle. "In my time, if a mated male was caught, doing the unspeakable, with a female other than his mate, his mate had the choice of punishment. It usually consisted of a vicious beating, and banishment from the clan."

"There are laws preventing things like that," Tanya said.

"Back in my time, those were the Laws," Savage pressed, adding, "Either way, you cannot allow this to happen. He must not be allowed to get away with this."

Tanya remained quiet for a few moments, before she said, "Look, I came here to try and work off some steam. Reckon we can do some training?"

Savage nodded, before he paused and said, "That reminds me…" He turned and quickly moved away, leaving MUTT and Tanya to themselves again.

She looked over at the robot, asking, "Where's he going?"

"You'll see shortly," Was MUTT's response.

Tanya shook her head with a low chuckle, just as another door slid open from the opposite side of the room Savage vanished. She looked towards the door, and saw, "Isaac," She greeted.

The Red Warrior nodded in return as he carefully limped out of the door frame, mindful of the leg brace-like device around his leg, immobilizing the lower leg from the knee to the ankle. But other than that, along with the slight limp, he looked relatively normal.

"Tanya," He greeted, limping up to the central column, only struggling the faintest bit when tasted with getting his immobilized leg over the edge. He succeeded, without help, and leaned against a desk opposite the other two. "I swore I heard Savage. Where's he gone?"

"No idea," Tanya responded, before gesturing to his leg, "How's the leg?"

"Annoying, more than anything," Isaac said, looking down at his leg too, before adding, "It's fine. That Instinct thing really helps."

"Just don't get addicted to that stuff," Tanya said with a smirk.

"Come on, Matt's got a better chance than I do," Isaac replied dryly.

Tanya chuckled and rolled her eyes, before the door opened again and Savage reappeared. Only this time, he was carrying something in one hand, and resting it over his shoulder.

Isaac and Tanya's eyes both widened and tensed up slightly. For the briefest moment, they were brought back to the fight with Kuli, Reliee and Licos, but they were quickly brought back to the present as Savage stopped in front of the pair.

"I overheard that you wanted a different weapon to your bow," Savage said, taking the item he carried off his shoulder and held it in both hands. The two humans saw it clearly now, the same curved blade that Reliee was armed with when they fought them.

"So, when MUTT recovered both sets of Zords, we managed to recover this as well," Savage said, one claw tracing over the sharpened edge of the blade, before he slowly turned the blade around to offer the handles to Tanya.

Tanya glanced over to Isaac, who shrugged slightly and gestured for her to take the weapon. She turned back to look at Savage, before she slowly extended her hands forward and slipped them around the handles within the blade.

Savage slowly let go, and almost immediately, Tanya nearly dropped the weapon due to the sudden weight.

"We'll need some training to get you used to the new weapon," Savage said, as Isaac had to keep from chuckling at Tanya trying to keep the weapon up.

"Yep, she's going to need it," Isaac commented with a smirk, receiving a glare from Tanya in response.

"With me," Savage said, gesturing for Tanya to follow him, as he headed towards one of the doors of the Den. Tanya followed after Savage, eventually supporting the back of the blade against her shoulder to carry it properly.

Once the two had left, Isaac turned to look at MUTT, who was still facing the monitor, and asked, "So…I need you to check something for me."

"I'm busy right now, Isaac. I will answer your query when I've finished processing this section of the reprogramming," MUTT responded.

"I just need you to check if there's anyone else like us active," Isaac asked, adding, "We were saved by something, and it wasn't any of the others." MUTT side glanced at Isaac, but remained silent. Isaac rolled his eyes and leaned against the desk.

"What are you doing, Fear?"

The male Demon Warlord glanced over his shoulder, turning around more to look over his shoulder armor. His cold eyes landed on the she-Demon, her arms folded over her chest and tapping her foot on the ground of their domain.

"Nothing of your concern," Fear replied, as he turned to look back at the green-and-black viewing orb, and returned to what he had been doing before being rudely interrupted. His fingers moving, like he were typing on one of those strange human devices they all seemed to have at desks, his eyes focused solely on the viewing orb.

Batibat rolled her eyes and slowly walked around the orb, getting a look at what Fear was doing. All she saw was a pair of fleshy human hands, as they tapped away at a strange device with all sorts of letters and symbols across it. The human's finger movements seemed to be mirroring Fear's, as they glided over the device.

"What are you doing, Fear?" Batibat inquired, stepping closer to get a look the viewing orb.

"Something that concerns me and not you," Fear responded, his tone flat, as he remained focused on the orb.

"Fear!"

The two Warlords visibly flinched at the sudden, booming voice, and Fear turned around briskly.

"Yes, Master?" Fear said, turning to face the pendant topping the podium. The evil energy radiated off of the jewel.

"What are you doing?"

"Master," Fear started, clasping his hands behind his back. "I have been working on trying to figure out the mentor to the newest group of Warriors. However, I have had little success in looking for the mentor directly. So, I have been looking towards finding out the identity of the Warriors. And Master," Fear said, stepping forward slowly, "I have seen something.. worrying..."

He brought his hands out from behind his back, and snapped both his fingers. Immediately, several different orbs ripped through the atmosphere around them, displaying several images. They all shared similar traits though.

Despite the green tint to the orbs, different colored-clad Warriors stood, some with explosions paused in the background. Some orbs showed groups of five, some showed groups of three. There were even a few with three standing side-by-side.

"Master, there are more than the just the Warriors we have dealt with before. There have been many, many groups like the ones we've fought."

"The Animarium Warriors…" Batibat muttered quietly, as she looked towards one orb in particular. It sported six Warriors, clad in bright colors, but with a very familiar symbol on their belts.

"Your point, Fear?" The Master's voice resonated throughout the chamber.

"My point Master, is that we have the possibility of dealing with more Warriors than just the five Ancient Ones. I will do more research on the matter, Master," Fear assured.

A short silence followed, before the Master spoke again. "Very well, Fear. Do what you must to gather the information."

"I am already doing so Master," Fear said, bowing slightly. "I have turned two of the humans into my…puppets, as it were. I have them working on gathering as much information regarding the many groups of Warriors as possible."

"Good…Good…" The Master's voice said, before the invisible gaze seemed to shift over to Batibat. "Gather a Demon and travel to the Human Realm, Batibat. I must be released - immediately."

"Yes, my Master," Batibat said, nodding and bowing slightly, though side glanced at Fear with an annoyed look. The male Warlord simply turned his back on his fellow Demon and removed the other viewing orbs from the area. His focus was solely on the original orb. Batibat glared back at Fear as the Master's essence returned into the gem, drawing more darkness into the chamber.

"I was looking into who the Mentor was," Batibat hissed as she stormed over to Fear. He turned to face her when she reached him, the two standing nearly toe-to-toe.

"The Master has chosen another. You have been.. demoted," Fear said, a blank look in his cold eyes, but his lips were curled into a smirk.

Batibat glared at him further, before she harshly whispered, "You're stepping a very fine line, Fear."

With that, she briskly turned and approached the Demon Wall. Without even looking, she swiped her hand across a brick, and snapped the first finger and thumb of her other hand. This summoned a portal in front of her, and she walked through it the moment it fully formed.

As she vanished through the portal, Fear side glanced and muttered, "Petty…"

"Show me what you've got."

Tanya looked to Savage as the wolf stepped aside, gesturing to the tree she stood in front of. She looked back at said tree, adjusting the grip she had on her new weapon. In her armored form, she had a better hold on the weapon, but it still required more effort than her bow to wield.

Adjusting the grip on the handles slightly, Tanya brought the weapon down against the tree, hoping to make a clean cut in the bark. But it couldn't have been any more different from the result.

A large chunk of tree had been broken off from the rest of the tree, while the blade itself became wedge in the tree. The sudden stop vibrated up the blade, eventually working its way into Tanya, rocketing up her arms. She instinctively let go, leaving the blade stationary in the wood.

Shaking her hands slowly, Tanya side glanced at Savage and muttered, "Laugh and I'll rip your tail off."

"Firstly, good luck trying," Savage stated, stepping past Tanya and putting his hand through the grip. With a swift tug, he dislodged it from the tree and carried it, blunt end, against his shoulder. He turned back to Tanya, and added, "Secondly, I'm here to give you advice and train you. Insulting is standard as well."

Tanya rolled her eyes - though Savage couldn't tell from her helmet being in the way - as Savage adjusted his hold on the weapon and gripped it with both hands.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Savage said, his sharp ears flicking around slightly, as his eyes focused solely on the tree. The weight of the weapon shifted from one hand to the other, allowing his left hand to lead.

Tanya watched as Savage focused solely on the tree, stepping back. From her experience, people who focused hard, they often forgot about those around them…

She was brought back to reality by the sound of air getting cut, and saw the blade slice cleanly through the bark. All that was left was a single, large gash in the defenseless tree.

Savage quickly brought the weapon around, and struck the same level from the other side. The latest cut landed barely half an inch below the first strike. He kept the weapon steady as he stood still, his eyes closed and breathing slowly.

"That.. is how it's done," Savage said slowly, adjusting his stance to stand properly, bringing the weapon up to rest on his shoulder again.

"Jesus, Savage," Tanya commented, "You sure you're not a fighter? You say you've learnt Healing methods, but you're pretty good at fighting."

"I learnt," Savage replied simply, pushing the blade off his shoulder and offering it for Tanya. She reached forward and took the weapon by the one handle, taking the other handle when Savage let go fully.

She brought the weapon to rest on her shoulder, remaining silent. She glanced over at Savage again, and she said, "Savage?"

"Hmm?" The wolf responded.

"…Who were Sage and Yei?"

At this question, Savage's ears perked up fully and his tail lashed behind him. He quickly corrected the movement, and looked back at Tanya. "Where did you hear those names?"

"Those Wolves mentioned them. Quite a lot, actually," Tanya said, taking note of the sudden stiffness in Savage.

Exhaling slowly through his nose, Savage turned to fully face Tanya; though it was subtle, she saw a strange look in the wolf's eye.

"Sage and Yei were…they were the Original Red Alpha and Yellow Gamma Warriors, respectively," Savage explained.

"That would explain why they said it when they saw us," Tanya mused quietly, but quickly silenced herself, in case Savage was going to add anything else. Which he did.

"They were also mates."

Tanya blinked under her visor, using her free hand to unclasp her helmet and lift it off her head. "Really? Mates?"

Savage simply nodded. "No pups though," Savage added softly. Another unnecessary detail, perhaps.

"Did you know them well?" Tanya asked lowly.

Savage's ears flicked back slightly, before he shook his head. "Not as well as I should have." Shaking his head, he growled lowly to himself before he said, "This is training, not a history lesson. Come on, do exactly as I did. Now!"

Tanya ever so slightly flinched at the sharp tone, but nodded. She quickly adjusted her hold on her helmet, and replaced it on her head. With a small hiss, the helmet locked into place, and she held the blade in both hands once again.

She drew closer to the tree again, and tried to copy the movements she had seen Savage do.

"C'mon, MUTT. I just need you to help me with this," Isaac pressed, nudging the robot's shoulder slightly. But MUTT remained silent, solely focusing on the task of reprogramming the Zords. Isaac had lost track of how far MUTT was through, but he didn't really care that much.

Rolling his eyes, Isaac side glanced at one of the free monitors and computers, and after quickly looking back at MUTT, limped over to it. Carefully tapping the keyboard, Isaac muttered, "Alright, I can figure out how this works…"

He barely rested both sets of fingers on the keys when MUTT said, "Please refrain from touching that machine."

"Why?" Isaac questioned.

"That is the machine I use to activate the Zords when you need them. Once misstep and you're sending the Zords into the city. From what I've seen on your human News, you already have bad press."

"You saw, huh?" Isaac asked, turning around to face MUTT instead of the monitor.

"I was updating my database of the current era and, since you five were chosen, you've become more and more relevant every time you're seen."

Isaac nodded slowly, adding, "I mean, it's not like we're the first team to cause massive amount of damage to our home town. I mean, did you see about the time where all those aliens nearly destroyed the Earth about twenty years ago?"

"I discovered that, yes," MUTT replied. Silence followed this comment for a few seconds, before a sudden alarm went off and one of the monitors, beside the one Isaac was going to use, flashed red.

"I didn't do it!" Isaac said, quickly stepping aside and raised his hands.

MUTT quickly paused the reprogramming of the Zords and moved over to the monitor flashing red, and tapped the keyboard.

"Demons have been sighted, with one of the Warlords," MUTT said.

"Which one?" Isaac asked, looking over MUTT's shoulder.

"Batibat."

"That bitch?"

MUTT nodded, adding, "It appears they have appeared in the industrial estate, which is still under repair from the last time they were there."

"What the hell do they want to accomplish there?" Isaac muttered, leaning over to look at the monitor; but it made no sense to him. How MUTT made sense of it, he had no idea.

"Get Tanya and Savage, I'll get the others," MUTT said, moving one hand to another keyboard and tapping away.

Isaac nodded slowly, before he slowly walked off the central podium and towards the exit of the Den.

Isaac slowly limped up the small hill, approaching the area where he knew Savage and Tanya were training - the same spot where Savage had kicked all five of their asses 'training' them. Plus, he was guided by the sound of wood breaking and the cutting of air.

When he eventually reached the crest of the hill, Isaac glanced back momentarily to look at the view of Pax Valley that the position of the Den provided; he could see the entirety of the city, the skyscrapers that were still standing, catching the light of the morning sun, just right.

He quickly turned back around, however, when the sound of wood breaking could be heard again. He resumed walking, and it didn't take him long to come across the two.

Savage was standing to one side, nodding his head slowly, seemingly in approval, as Tanya was slicing across a tree. Looking around the clearing, Isaac saw that several trees had layers and layers of cuts across the bark, small chunks of wood littering the ground around each of the marked trees.

Isaac noticed Savage's ears swivel slowly around to face him, and soon Savage himself turned to look at Isaac. He looked back to Tanya and said, "We'll have to cut this lesson short."

Tanya looked at Savage, before she turned around more and saw Isaac. She straightened herself, bringing the curved blade up to rest on her shoulder. "What's up, Isaac?" Tanya asked.

Isaac blinked at Tanya momentarily, before he shook his head and said, "Something's come up. Batibat's turned up."

"The bitch?" Tanya asked.

"Yep."

"Where have they appeared?" Savage asked, stepping forward towards Isaac.

"MUTT said in the industrial area, the same place they've already been," Isaac informed, gesturing behind him.

"Did he say he'd get the others?" Savage asked as he walked past Isaac, heading down the same path he had just come up from.

"Yep," Isaac confirmed.

"You two better get going then," Savage add, before half looking back and gesturing to Tanya. "We'll work on further training, but for now, you're good to fight."

Tanya nodded, and Savage walked off. This left the two humans by themselves for a few seconds.

"So, we gonna get going?" Tanya asked, seeing Isaac staring her momentarily.

He quickly straightened his gaze, saying, "Ye.. Yeah…" He quickly raised his Howler across his chest and pressed the central button. Instantly, the Howler lit up and growled lowly.

"United, we Howl!" Seconds and a quick flash of light later, Isaac was morphed and ready to go.

"Let's get going," Isaac said, tapping another button on his Howler. The two were enveloped in light and teleported away, into the city.

"This is.. different," Batibat mused.

She had been expecting to arrive in the Human Realm with no resistance upon arrival, and she'd be able to waltz into the densely populated city.

Instead, however, she had barely been in the Human Realm five of their minutes before several large metal carts came towards them at speed. They hadn't fully stopped moving before several humans came swarming out of the carts, all wearing black armor and clothes, and full face helmets. They were armed with strange-looking metal weapons, and formed up.

"Do not move!" One of the soldiers, presumably, the commander, as the groups of soldiers made movements with their weapons, a strange clicking sound echoing from them.

Batibat simply raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk crossing across her lips. "Humans…" She mused under her breath, before she snapped a pair of fingers and faced the palm of her hand forward.

Black-and-green smoke formed around her hand, before it quickly extended forward, a great roar echoing from the smoke, as a shape started to form within the expanding energy.

Four of the 13th Division soldiers quickly moved out of the way, the smoke roaring past them and colliding into the side of one of the SWAT-like vans. The sheer force of the impact sent the van flying backwards, flipping onto its side and skidded across the concrete.

Sparks flew as metal skidded across concrete, before it finally ended when it collided with the side of one of the buildings. Smoke started to escape from the van's underside, but that was the least of the soldiers' worries.

With wisps of black-and-green smoke sticking to the prominent horns extending out the sides of the Demon's head, curling down to its neck, before curling back up to end about eye level. What they lacked in size, the sharpened ends made up for it. And judging from the different tones of dried red on the ends, others had paid the price.

Snorting lowly, the dark white eyes of the horned Demon turned to rest on a couple of the soldiers, who were aiming their rifles at the Demon. Without waiting for an order, one of the soldiers fired a few shots, aimed directly at the Demon's face.

But they proved to be ineffective, simply mushrooming and falling from the ground. The commanding officer shouted for him to cease fire, but it was proved to be too late.

The Demon, despite not receiving injuries, roared viciously, the sound echoing throughout the estate, before it turned its demonic glare at the one solider.

Despite their attempts to get out of the way, two of the soldiers, including the shooter, were back-handed by the large, clawed hand of the Demon. The force of the impact sent the two flying backwards, colliding into the side of one of the other vans they arrived in.

As they lay crumbled against the side of a building, their limbs twisted at odd angles and blood soaking through the armor they wore, the Demon turned to face the other soldiers, who had formed on two sides of it, aiming at the Demon.

Though a sudden flash of color caught the corner of its eyes, and it turned around. Only to be met with a sudden force to the face, sending it reeling back from the force. As it stumbled back, snarling, its eyes turned sharply to rest on the standing figure, clad in red armor, with black and silver accents.

"Hey Fugly," Isaac commented, his stance somewhat relaxed as he summoned his sword, flicking it up to bring the back edge to rest against his shoulder.

Batibat took note of the pesky Warrior, and went to step forward. Only to stop when a flash of yellow came to a stop before her.

"Remember me, bitch?" Tanya asked, a sharp edge to her tone, as she stood fully, bringing her newly acquired curved weapon in front of her defensively.

The She-Demon narrowed her eyes at the supposedly insulting name, but she simply stood higher and glared hard at the Yellow Warrior. "I will finish what I should have done so last time we fought," She hissed, drawing two, pure-black daggers from behind her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the remaining Warriors stand beside the Red Warrior, drawing their own weapons, but right now, she was focused on the Yellow Warrior. With another hiss, she rushed forward, aiming to strike at the Yellow Warrior's helmet. But the curved blade blocked the attacks, as Tanya shifted into a better fighting stance, and returned with an attack of her own.

"How come Tanya gets a new weapon?" Kyle asked, as the four of them attacked the horned Demon.

Only to get knocked back by a single backhand, sending them flying into the sides of buildings, creating more cracks running up the sides of the buildings.

"More importantly," Natalie asked, rolling her neck slowly as she groaned. "Did we just get bitch slapped by this fucker?"

"I think we just did," Matthew responded dryly, pushing himself to his feet and rushing at the horned Demon. Though before he could reach the Demon, he noticed that the armored soldiers they had interrupted were still in the area. If anything, they were trying to form an attack. "Hey, one of you guys mind dealing with those armored assholes before they get themselves killed?"

"Do we have to?" Kyle questioned.

"Thanks for volunteering Kyle," Isaac said as he rushed past the Black Warrior, throwing a punch at the hanging jaw of the Demon.

Kyle went to say something in respond, but ran over in his words and eventually grunted in frustration. "Fine," He grunted, before he quickly ran, turning into a blur of black with a bit of silver, as he moved towards the 13th Division soldiers.

"Yo, guys," Kyle said after coming to a stop, skidding along the ground briefly to stand before the group of 13th Division soldiers. They all flinched and raised their rifles to aim at the Black Ranger.

Kyle instinctive raised his hands at first, before realization came over him and he lowered his hands again. "You need to get your asses out of here before any more of you get killed," He said, gesturing behind him, to a pair of soldiers helping the two bloody bodies away from where they came to rest.

The soldiers looked between themselves, seemingly amused, before one spoke up. "We don't take orders from the likes of you."

"Well, you really should," Kyle said, rolling his eyes under his helmet and folding his arms across his chest; the arm-braces that acted as his weapons made it a bit difficult for it to be comfortable, but he had bigger things to worry about. "Since you have zero fucking knowledge on what you're dealing with."

At that very moment, Matthew was thrown across street, tumbling a few times before landing on his feet, sliding to a stop after digging his feet into the ground, creating inch-deep grooves in the solid tarmac. "That was a lucky shot," He said when he saw Kyle looking at him. Even with the helmets, he could feel the judgmental look Kyle was giving him.

Kyle rolled his eyes slightly, before side glancing at the soldiers. "Last warning, get out before we make you leave."

One of the soldiers looked ready to throw a punch at Kyle, but another soldier quickly grabbed ahold of their shoulder, shaking their head when the first soldier looked back at him.

Shaking his own head, Kyle eventually turned and rushed back to the fight, vanishing in a blur of black and silver, joining in with the other Rangers. The soldiers glanced among themselves, before the commanding officer gave orders. Reluctantly, they all piled into the two remaining trucks, being careful for their wounded.

Isaac ducked to avoid one of the flying horns of the Demon, quickly moving aside and adjusting his stance to keep up with the Demon. Natalie and Matthew were trying to land strikes on the Demon's back and sides while it was distracted by Isaac.

This didn't work, however.

The Demon, irritated by the constant attacks by its sides, turned and punched Matthew first, then Natalie, before finally back handing Isaac. The three flew back, though Kyle managed to avoid getting knocked back by Natalie's body and rushed at the Demon.

Reeling one primed hand back, Kyle skidded to a stop just before the Demon and threw a punch that should have knocked the Demon back at least a few feet. But no.

Instantly, one of the Demon's hands firmly clasped around Kyle's fist, and quickly applied pressure. It wasn't long before Kyle was shouting out in pain and crumbling to one knee, gritting his teeth under the helmet. He wasn't a scientist, but he was sure that his hand was broken by this point.

"Kyle!" Matthew shouted, quickly pushing himself to his feet and ran at the two, throwing his spear as he ran.

The spear connected, digging into the toughened skin of the Demon, causing it to snarl and turn its beady eyes to the approaching Blue Warrior. This made it release Kyle's limp hand, and scattered the Black Warrior aside.

Meanwhile, Batibat and Tanya had somehow managed to find themselves fighting on top of one of the lower buildings, exchanging and blocking sword and dagger strikes with neither landing firm blows.

"You really think you are anywhere close to facing the Master?" Batibat sneered, the two currently locked in their weapons, their faces close together, glaring at one another.

"I'm kicking your ass, aren't I?" Tanya replied dryly, causing Batibat to raise her eyebrow slightly.

She quickly pushed the two of them apart and aimed a kick at the she-Demon's undefended legs. Her eyes widening, Batibat stumbled slightly at the sudden attack, quickly drawing her weapons close to her.

Hissing lowly, Batibat rushed at Tanya, throwing one dagger first before following the attack up with a punch with her free hand.

While she was able to deflect the dagger, sending it flying off the side of the building, Tanya barely dodged the incoming punch, the clenched fist flying past her helmet and the sharpened nails skimming the yellow color across the side of the helmet.

Freeing one hand, Tanya grabbed a fistful of Batibat's smoky clothing and, using the position they were in, flung Batibat over her and across the roof.

The Demon rolled a couple of times across the gravel-covered roof, eventually landing on her front and coming to a stop. She raised her head slightly, her normally smooth, long hair ruffled somewhat and a small bit of strangely-dark green blood out of the corner of her lips. Yet, despite getting floored, a smirk cross her lips.

"What are you grinning at?" Tanya snapped, approaching Batibat slowly, holding the blade defensively as she drew closer.

Batibat, still smirking, glanced from Tanya's helmet to her torso. This caused Tanya to glance at her side, and her eyes widened.

Sticking out of her side, somehow penetrating the suit of armor, was Batibat's other dagger, the slightly crooked blade wedged about two and a half inches into her, with blood slowly squeezing through the small gap between the dagger and the torn suit.

Breathing slightly harder, one of Tanya's hands flew down her side, and tried to pull the dagger from her side. Instantly, however, pain rocked through her and forced her to crumble to one knee as the dagger attack started to catch up with her brain.

A quick shuffling sound came from in front of her, and she raised her head, just in time to have Batibat's knee collide with the bottom of her helmet. The attack resulted in her head rapidly, before Batibat rushed and tackled the stunned Tanya, running the two of them to the side.

This ended up with them reaching the edge of her building and falling off the roof. The two landed on the gravel surrounding the building, electing a shout of pain to come from the already injured Tanya.

The sound caught her attention of Isaac, who quickly got up from the latest attack and turned to look over at Tanya.

"Tanya!" He shouted, quickly rushing forward and shoulder-barged Batibat as the she-Demon tried to punch the downed Tanya. The force of the impact sent Batibat stumbled to the side, before righting herself. Looking up, she hissed, teeth bared, as she saw the Red Warrior standing defensively between herself and the Yellow Warrior.

Seeing that the other Warriors were starting to get to grips fighting the monstrosity of a Demon, Batibat snapped her fingers and two portals formed to the side of her and underneath the horned Demon. As she side stepped into her portal, the horned Demon sank into its own portal, before another strike could land on it.

"Come on! I had him!" Matthew growled in frustration, before his gaze shifted to Tanya and Isaac, and he, along with the other two, rushed over to join Isaac.

"MUTT! Teleport to the Den, now!" Isaac all but shouted into his Howler, his fist clenched tightly, to the extent that his entire forearm was shaking slightly.

"Doing so now," MUTT's monotone voice responded, before the comms were cut short and the five were enveloped in light. Moments later, they vanished, the scarred road and building the only remaining evidence that they were ever there.

The teens appeared in the Den, and immediately, Savage and MUTT carefully took Tanya and walked her, either one of her arms over their shoulders, to the table that rose from the floor.

The others quickly closed in when Tanya was lying flat on the table, her breathing having grown heavier since they had left. Savage quickly pushed against Matthew and Kyle's chest, saying, "Stay back; give her space."

Reluctantly, the others stepped back, as Savage and MUTT quickly gathered the tools and instruments to treat Tanya, the dagger still embedded deep in her side.

As MUTT went off to collect something from one of the cryo-freezers, Savage carefully tapped an Instinct-filled syringe, and removed Tanya's helmet with his free hand. Her heavy breathing became more prominent, as her eyes darted across the room rapidly.

"Tanya, relax," Savage said, borderline ordered, as carefully turned Tanya's head to look to one side, and injected the liquid into her bloodstream.

Her body tensed at the initial injection, but eventually her breathing calmed and her eyes drifted half close. Savage removed the syringe from her neck and set it to one side, before turning his eyes to look at the dagger.

"One of Batibat's weapons…" Savage uttered under his breath, as he carefully took a hold of the dagger's handle and pulled it free as slowly as he could.

Despite the odd flinch from Tanya, the blade came out smoothly and was soon held in Savage's hand - the wolf looking it over, seeing the thin layer of blood covering the blade.

"MUTT, see to any internal bleeding," Savage said as MUTT approached, carrying a small blood bag back with him. The robot nodded and quickly approached Tanya's side as Savage stepped back, connecting the blood bag up.

"She going to be OK?" Natalie asked when Savage approached them, the dagger still in hand. The others quickly looked up and drew closer again, all of their helmets off their heads and finding some place to rest by this point.

"She'll be fine," Savage assured, raising the dagger slightly. "This, however, needs to be disposed of."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's all well and good, but I kinda have a broken hand here. Probably need it seeing to, you know?" Kyle said, holding the wrist of his broken hand with the other, as he waved it slightly, gritting his teeth beneath his tightly pressed lips.

"This way," Savage said, handing the dagger to Isaac and gesturing for Kyle to follow him, another table rising up from the floor, opposite the room to where MUTT was repairing Tanya's side.

As Kyle slowly walked after Savage, Isaac turned his eyes down to look at the dagger; turning the blade around so it was facing down. The blood started to draw towards the tip of the blade, but it still left a slight blood mark where it had been. Small grooves covered the smooth edge of the weapon, and the handle itself had intricate markings and designs carved into the wood, though Isaac understood none of them.

"Fuck…that hurt…"

Tanya tried to push herself up onto her elbows, but MUTT carefully pressed onto her shoulder, pushing her back down onto her back.

"You will need to recover, Tanya. You lost a fair amount of blood," MUTT explained, walking around the table and carefully injecting another syringe full of Instinct. Tanya rested her head back against the table again, sighing quietly as she felt the feeling of the numbing agent flow through her bloodstream. It was.. unique.

"Give it a few minutes and you should be fine," MUTT instructed, moving to one side, and approached the other side of the Den, where Savage was dealing with Kyle and his broken hand.

When MUTT moved away, Isaac and Natalie approached her, Natalie leaning her hands on the side of the table and Isaac leaned against the wall beside the table.

"Did it hurt like a bitch?" Natalie asked, a smirk crossing her face.

"Oh yeah," Tanya muttered, though smirked as she added, "Still, kicked her ass though."

"We'll get her back for this," Isaac assured, receiving a thumbs up from Tanya. "But for now, we need you two to rest up."

"Meanwhile, the head teacher's going to have a hissy fit when they figure out we've skipped class for the past few weeks," Natalie muttered, glancing across at Isaac and over at Matthew, who was standing beside Savage and MUTT, observing as they tried to set Kyle's bones right.

"You guys'll be in the shit," Tanya muttered.

Isaac shrugged, saying, "MUTT said he hacked the school records and made it look like we're there every day."

"That doesn't stop the teachers from saying that we weren't there," Natalie countered. This caused Isaac's head to lift up slightly, his fingers stopping from rhythmically tapping his other arm.

"We'll think of something," Isaac replied, waving a hand dismissively before he pushed up from the wall, and walked around the main Den area to the area Kyle was getting treated.

When Isaac had passed the central control panels of the Den, Natalie looked over to Tanya and smirked knowingly. Tanya glanced at Natalie, and she immediately whispered, "Don't even think about saying it."

"You do then?"

"Fuck off," Tanya grunted, slowly pushing herself to sit up, and swung her legs over the table, ripping the blood bag from her arm, throwing the tube to one side.

Natalie simply smirked and rolled her eyes, but stepped forward when Tanya gestured for help. Putting one arm around her shoulder, Natalie helped Tanya to her feet. Once sure she could stand fully, Tanya nodded and side stepped slightly.

"Which hand are you?" Matthew asked as MUTT carefully set Kyle's unarmored hand in a cast, setting the bones right making sure they would heal correctly. All the while, Kyle grit his teeth and tried to keep from squirming. The Instinct helped, but it still hurt like fuck.

"Left…why?" Kyle asked lowly.

"That's lucky, you can still keep yourself busy at night," Matthew said, arms folded. His face remaining somewhat neutral. Savage and MUTT both looked over their shoulders at the comment, while Isaac shook his head and face-palmed, while Kyle just looked at him weirdly.

"I don't think I want to know," MUTT said quietly as he secured the hand cast, stepping to one side and returning to his stand at the command console.

"Frankly, I don't think I want to either," Savage added, glancing aside at Isaac.

"Trust me, you don't," Isaac said while pinching the bridge of his nose, before glaring at Matthew, who had let a small smirk cross his face.

Kyle pushed himself up slightly, gently holding his casted hand as he tried to move his fingers, though grit his teeth and stopping when the pain flared up momentarily. "Now we just have to hope those dickheads don't come back here for a while," Kyle muttered.

"Don't say anything like that, or you'll have to eat your words," Matthew advised.

"Yellow whore…" Batibat uttered to herself, wiping a bit of her blood from the corner of her lip with the back of her hand. She stood before a black-and-green smoke viewing orb, but it looked more like a mirror at this point, with the smoke simply surrounding it.

Et-ki had wondered off somewhere when the two of them had passed into their Realm once again, and she was thoroughly fished off. At least, Batibat thought that was the correct phrase... Humans were strange.

"I see your attack on the city went well."

Batibat rolled her eyes as she turned around slightly, seeing Fear drawing near, hands clasped behind him with a relatively smug smirk across his stone face.

"If you are done with that shit-eater grin," Batibat commented, turning back to look in the mirror, turning one hand in midair slightly, turning the mirror telepathically, showing her another angle of herself, from which she could make any more adjustments to the lucky shots. "I would advise leaving my chambers before I force you to."

"We both know you would, Batibat," Fear mused, slowly pacing around the good sized cavern, his eyes shifting across the numerous viewing portal mirrors lining the walls. All catching the faint light that reflected off of Fear's shoulder armor. "But the Master wouldn't be be pleased."

Batibat rolled her eyes slightly, remaining silent, washing her hands carefully in the small, shallow bowl of water levitating in front of her. Fear shook his head, and he continued pacing around the chamber, eventually coming to a stop by a large space that was absent of any mirrors; small mountings where Batibat rested her weapons between fights.

"You are missing one of your daggers," Fear said, gesturing to the empty spot on the wall. One dagger sat above that spot, with two more hanging horizontally either side.

"Your eyes are working fine, I see," Batibat commented, gently snapping her fingers and both the mirror and shallow bowl floated to one side, returning to rest on the wall and on a small pedestal, respectively.

Fear glared at Batibat as she turned to face him, making the final adjustments to her hair. "I thought you were one to take care of your weapons," Fear added, ignoring Batibat's comment as he paced around the cavern once again, eventually standing before the entrance.

"I've told you before, I have a reason for my actions," Batibat said, before she saw the blank look in Fear's eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose slightly with a light sigh. "The last I saw it, I had stabbed the Gamma Warrior with it. So, hopefully, it will still be in her."

"You have a plan, I assume?" Fear asked, stepping forward slightly, drawing closer to Batibat.

"Yes, Fear. I do," The she-Demon said bluntly, smirking slightly. She brushed past the other Warlord, slowly extending her hand and trailing her fingers up his arm. "Leave this to me, Fear," She purred quietly, her hand trailing up further and gently caressing Fear's strong jaw. She gently gripped his jaw firmly, turning his gaze down to meet her's. "Or I will make you suffer…" She whispered softly, a small smirk crossing her lips - a sharp contrast to the tone of her voice, paired with her vague threat.

Fear glanced down at Batibat as she trailed her hand free of his jaw, and she walked off. His eyes followed her movement out of her cavern, and to the right until she was out of sight.

He briskly turned and moved to walk out of the cavern, only to stop when he came face to face with the end of a dagger, levitating in midair and level with his eyes - aimed between them - with Batibat standing at the entrance to the cavern, her hand raised slightly.

"I mean it, Fear," Batibat said, the smirk gone from her features and replaced with a stern scowl. Her eyes bore holes into Fear's skull, and Fear could practically feel the fires burning in his temples.

Fear rolled his eyes slightly, before he raised a hand and, using his first two fingers, pushed the blade of the dagger to one side, saying, "I think I've got the message, Batibat. I will stay out of this."

Batibat glared at Fear, but eventually get the dagger drop and let it land on the floor, letting out a low, metallic clang ring out through the cavern. It didn't last long though - she quickly raised one hand, and the dagger quickly rose up again, and returned to be gripped in Batibat's hand.

Sparing one last glare, Batibat left for real, vanishing from sight, and disappearing through a black-and-green smoke portal. Fear rolled his eyes slightly, before he finally left the chamber, and walked the other way to where Batibat had vanished.

"Why isn't she picking up?" Tanya muttered to herself, pulling her phone away from her ear and looking at the phone screen. She flicked the screen aside, showing the list of times she had called her in the last twenty minutes.

"Something wrong?" Natalie asked, taking steps towards Tanya, seeing what was cause her to stress like this.

"Sister's not picking up her phone. She should be up by now - I mean, sure it's her day off, but she doesn't usually sleep in on days off," Tanya explained.

"This about your dad?" Natalie asked, her arms folded gently over her chest. Tanya's eyes widened and she looked at Natalie. "Savage left the comms open," She further explained.

"I'll skin that fleabag," Tanya growled under her breath.

"I can hear you," Savage's distinctively gruff voice called.

Tanya rolled her eyes slightly, before Natalie caught her attention again. "Look, maybe you should check up on her. You know, ease your mind," Natalie suggested.

"Yeah, I should do that," Tanya agreed, smiling at Natalie and lightly nudged her shoulder. "Don't think you can get away with fighting any monsters that turn up without me," She added.

Natalie rolled her eyes, smirking away as she said, "I doubt we will over Kyle's whining."

"Hey!"

Tanya laughed lightly at the remark from across the room, before she nodded goodbye to Natalie and the others, and she tapped her Howler. Instantly, she was enveloped in a dimmed yellow light and vanished from the Den.

"We're going to need to have a talk about the abilities these Howlers have given us," Matthew commented as he took a seat to the side of the table Kyle was sat on.

Finding herself in the same alley in which she had teleported from earlier, Tanya looked around, checking over her shoulder to make sure there weren't any hobos lying in the alley, awoken from the sudden light. Seeing there wasn't, Tanya released a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding.

She went to step out of the alley and return to the apartment she shared with her sister, before something caught her eye and caused her to freeze. For most people, they wouldn't give the car parked at the sidewalk, but to Tanya, all that car bought her were memories of pain and anger.

The car in question, a deep red in color, seemed to have a history, judging from the number of knocks and dents across the bodywork, along with a couple of scratches across the doors and a dark blue side mirror - most likely a replacement.

"Shit…" Tanya said to herself, before she quickly found her feet again and ran down the street, quickly turning up the path towards the apartments.

Fumbling with her keys momentarily, she eventually got the door open and nearly slammed it close; the glass shook slightly, threatening to shatter. But Tanya was already running up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

After half the time it took normally, she reached her floor and quickly rounded the corner. But she quickly slowed down, peering around the corner towards her apartment, instead of rushing all the way and running into him…

Deciding to test the abilities provided to her by the Howler, Tanya pulled back in the corner and sniffed slightly. Instantly, however, she nearly gagged and had to cover her nose and mouth. The overwhelming stench of colonel burned her nose.

'Definitely him,' Tanya thought darkly, pulling her hand back down slowly.

'KILL.'

"What?" Tanya questioned, looking around sharply, as the sudden, gravely tone of voice startling her.

'BAD. PAIN.'

Despite looking up and down the corridor, the source of the voice had no body. However, unaware to Tanya, she had slowly moved out from behind the corner, and was steadily walking towards the closed door.

'KILL. KILL.'

The voice began to grow louder, steadily at first, before more voices started to overlap one another, the voices growing in intensity. It started to burn Tanya's ears, despite having no source that was visible. Before she realized it, she was standing before the door, her hand raised slightly, reaching for the handle.

It was at this point, she found she was hearing other voices. Thankfully, or at least thankful for one, they were coming from behind the door. However, they seemed to be steadily growing louder and more malice-laced.

'KILL. KILL. KILL!' The voice's began again, swarming around Tanya's head as they seemed to consume her very thoughts. The wound where Batibat's dagger had impaled her seemed to itch, and Tanya vaguely felt the warm feeling of blood oozing against the bandages pressed firmly against her side. But right now, her thoughts were elsewhere.

The hand hovering over the door handle slowly screwed into a fist, and she raised her other hand, twisting it so the Howler was facing upward. She quickly pressed and moved the central crystal, electing a growl to escape the Howler. Except this time, it seemed more animalistic than usual.

The door of the apartment burst open, nearly coming off its hinges as the lock broke, sending small portions of wood flying in every direction.

"What the hell?" One of the current occupants exclaimed, looking around the corner of the corridor. He adjusted the shirt he wore, and glanced back at the other occupant.

Nicole quickly moved around the male, making sure to avoid getting too close, and roughly pushed him back, getting a slightly aggravated look in return.

"Shit!" Nicole exclaimed.

Fredrick quickly moved past his daughter and stepped into the corridor, looking down at the source of the noise.

He was immediately tackled by a yellow blur, sending him flying into the kitchen of the apartment. Nicole, naturally, shouted in alarm, before she quickly moved, rushing into the kitchen.

She instantly stopped when she saw the scene before her.

The table that sat in the center of the dining room/kitchen combo was split in half, her father lying in the middle, fresh cuts oozing blood across his arms and face. Standing over him, was someone she had only heard on the news - the Yellow Power Ranger. Her back was to her currently, but there was something off about Her. How she held themselves, their fists clenched tightly.

The Yellow Ranger bent down and grabbed Fredrick by his scruff, lifting him up with unimaginable strength. He tried to push himself away from the Ranger, but one hand released the ruffled scruff of Fredrick's shirt and grabbed his wrist.

"You shouldn't have come back," The modified, metallic voice of the Yellow Ranger said, malice laced within her modified tone, before her grip tightly on Fredrick's wrist and, with a sharp twist, a sickening crack rang out and Fredrick cried out in pain.

Adjusting her stance, the Yellow Ranger threw Fredrick across the room, sending him flying into the wall of the kitchen. A large dent was left when Fredrick slump to the ground, his wrist hanging limply at his side, while his right leg had a large piece of glass from the picture that previously covered the wall.

Nicole, still in shock, slowly raised her shaking hands and covered her mouth and nose, breathing shakily as the Yellow Ranger turned and stalked towards her father, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the Ranger momentarily stop, as if looking at Nicole, before quickly moving on.

She moved her hand out to the side, and a black blade formed from her hand, taking the form of a large, curved blade, which she brought down to rest against her other hand.

"Any last words?" The Yellow Ranger asked, facing downward, looking at Fredrick. But no response came - in his unconscious state, it wasn't possible for him to do. "Pathetic," Came the growl-like voice, as the Yellow Ranger held the blade firmly in both hands and raised it up, the sharpened blade catching the light. Her muscles tensed, and she went to bring the weapon down.

To Be Continued…