Beta-Reader/Idea Contributor: The Vigilant Spider
CHAPTER 2: ENOUGH OF LAWLESSNESS
System Unknown, Planet Remnant
Kingdom of Mistral, City of Wind Path
November 7th, 2025
The first order of business for the SPD cadets was to secure some lodging for the time being. It wouldn't be like their small, but comfortable quarters at HQ; their main priority was being able to find a temporary base of operations that would afford them a place to rest and recharge located within the city so they could facilitate easier movement within in order to conduct their business.
The problem was finding a place that met their standards in terms of safety and security. Wind Path was absolutely rife with criminal elements. Everywhere possible, there seemed to be a bad guy on every corner. For those that weren't affiliated with a gang, they were likely cowed into silence and submission. In short, there were eyes and ears everywhere and steps had to be taken to protect themselves.
They found a place eventually, on the outskirts where their ability to track their surroundings was manageable and the people there simply took lien and asked no questions. It was relatively safe and kept away from the more dangerous inner city.
Lien was a little awkward to get used to. It wasn't the same as earth currency. It was found either on cards or electronically. There were no coins and no paper bills, which was streamlined, but still, something not all of them were quite used to. Oh well, adapt and overcome as the saying goes.
Their basic necessities were covered once they found all the relevant places. Despite the crime-ridden streets, there was still a semblance of a normal city once they made an effort to find it. It was just elusive.
More importantly than all that, there was the matter of the crime that was running wild. Compared to Newtech City, Wind Path was an absolute hellhole; it wasn't all that uncommon to see crimes being committed right in the open, and worse yet, nobody was doing anything about it. All leads and evidence pointed to one syndicate in particular.
Spider.
Not exactly a creative name, but their brand and their name were well-known not just in this city, but in the Mistralian underworld. It wasn't difficult to find a list of their deeds with a little investigating. Literally taking a walk into the inner city was all it took.
Which is what Sky and Z were doing now. It was initially just Z who needed fresh air, but Jack said that for their own protection, everyone should go in pairs so in the event that something happened, nobody would be caught off-guard.
"And I thought Newtech City's underworld was scummy." Z kept her voice quiet as she scanned her surroundings. "This is a new low, no matter how many times I see it."
Sky looked at her from his peripheral vision but kept his senses on high alert. "Miss home already. Didn't have to constantly watch everything and everyone."
"We'll make it back." The Yellow Ranger gently grasped his arm. "Think of this as taking the long, scenic route."
The Blue Ranger frowned for a moment before he sighed. "I'll… do my best. I don't mean to be a stick in the mud."
"I know." She smiled. "We're all under stress."
"Aww, isn't this touching? It's so sweet that I'm gonna hurl."
An unfamiliar male voice had both Rangers immediately on alert as they turned to face the person who had spoken. The first thing that immediately came to mind for the two SPD cadets was the uniform or lack thereof.
The man could easily pass as someone in the street. A gray shirt-sleeve shirt, dark blue pants, boots, and gloves. His face was that of someone who could blend in the crowd, a normal man. The only thing that denoted him was the matching spider tattoos on both of his arms.
It was that of a Spider member.
Z didn't miss the chance to throw back a taunt. "What, mom and dad didn't give you enough love when you were a kid?"
"Don't test me, girly." The man's eye twitched slightly. "Now here's how this is gonna work. The two of you will surrender all your possessions. Do that in thirty seconds and you'll get away relatively unscathed."
Sky wasn't intimidated in the least. "So, you're actually going to fight someone who can fight back? I thought your type was all about picking on people smaller than yourself."
"Tough talk, pretty boy, but you're surrounded." As the words left his mouth, a flurry of movement came from everywhere around them. "And you've got nowhere to run."
The moment that the threat level escalated, the two Power Rangers immediately went back-to-back, getting into their fighting stances.
Yellow wasn't the least bit amused. "Well, looks like they found us real easily."
"Nothing we haven't handled before." Blue simply kept calm. "You ready?"
"You two should've given up when you had the chance. Now you're gonna get bloodied. Take their belongings and let's remind the people why we're the most feared gang in Mistral!"
Flashing each other with a brief nod, the cadets split and went on the offensive. In a situation where numbers were against them, making the first move would give them the momentum to seize an advantage.
Sky blocked a punch with his forearm, then tangled the limb, flipping the gangster on her back. Before the next one could slash him with a knife, he lashed out with his right leg, kicking the weapon away, then rolled forward, tripping the enemy with a sudden swipe of his hand.
One came from the front, and one came from the back. The number two of B-squad quickly leaped into the air, kicking his legs and forcefully extending his arms at the same time, taking down two in one move.
Then he rolled to avoid being kicked and stomped, quickly rising to his feet and kneeing another while then kicking backward to down the bogey trying to sneak an attack from his blind side.
Z ducked under two wild swings, then intercepted and pushed back against two more. She then began to jump kick in succession, her efforts deflecting blows while also taking down everyone who held on too tight to their weapons.
A hand on her shoulder had her reaching out to grasp the hostile appendage harshly and pull forcefully forward, causing the larger enemy to be flipped onto his back hard. Then she did two handsprings.
When she landed, she started doing successive wide kicks in order to provide herself with a semi-defensive barrier. Then she lunged to her right, her arms swinging in a semi-randomized pattern in order to confuse everyone surrounding her.
She abruptly shifted to her left rear and kicked hard enough to send the person behind her a few meters. Then she grabbed another by the shoulders, wrestling only for a couple of seconds before throwing them to the side.
Not even a minute had passed and already, all of the Spiders had been downed with only the first man, presumably the leader of this group standing watching, his expression clearly not sure how to react.
"You were saying?" Sky eyed him, his expression dangerous.
The man took a step back. "So you know how to fight. Big deal."
He drew a pistol from his side, but the number two saw the movement and brought his shield up faster than the gangster could draw, prompting the shot to ricochet back to the shooter, a clear hit through the foot.
"AaAaHhH!" The man collapsed to the ground, holding his foot. "Brothers dammit!"
The rest of the Spiders had recovered, moving to pick up their leader.
"C'mon, we gotta go."
The leader leveled a scathing glare at the two Rangers. "We'll be back and next time you won't be so lucky."
The Spiders retreated, no doubt to lick their wounds and plot for their next attack. Any civilians in the immediate vicinity made sure to steer clear. It took only a few moments for the area to clear.
Number two gently nodded back in the direction of the "hideout" which didn't go unnoticed by number four.
"This isn't going to end well." Z had seen this happen many times. "They're not going to forget our faces. We'll have to watch our backs."
Sky quietly silenced her. "Not here. We'll discuss this once we're back. Are you hurt?"
"Pretty good, actually." The Yellow Ranger checked herself over. "You?"
Blue shrugged. "Normal. Krybots can put up more of a fight than they could."
They couldn't help but notice the stares they were receiving either. There was no telling who among them were simply civilians who'd witnessed two newcomers fighting back or if they were actual moles for gangs. Either way, a quick getaway was a good idea.
The senior cadet reached for his morpher. "This is Sky to Number One. Jack, you hear me?"
"This is Red, read you loud and clear." The leader of B-squad responded. "Whatcha got?"
Sky's eyes kept searching for potential enemies as he communicated. "We were just jumped by some gangsters from Spider. Given the reach of the organization, I doubt we can just bury our heads in the sand and call it a day."
"Roger… all Rangers reconvene at the hideout, time now."
Power Rangers - - - RWBY
When all six rangers gathered, Sky and Z were quick to recount the details of the encounter, leaving out not even the smallest of details that seemed relevant. The remaining four listened with rapt attention and considered the facts that were in front of them.
A steady silence fell over the squad before Jack spoke up. "If I know anything about gangs, they don't forget people who wrong them, intentional or not. They're not gonna forget about us, which means we've got two choices. One, we do nothing and we let them keep coming to us. Eventually, it will escalate the more we resist and that could bring in innocent civilians and that's the last thing we need."
Nobody particularly cared for that choice, as indicated by their silence and faces ranging from indifferent to disgusted.
"And the other choice?" Bridge posed the question that everyone already knew the answer to. "We fight back first?"
Sky nodded. "I say we take the fight to them, shut them down for good, not just for ourselves, but the people in the city. They run this place, open or not."
"What I'm worried about is who'll replace them if we stop them." Z bit her lip before continuing her train of thought. "I've seen this play out before a gang is removed from power, only for it to be taken by someone else. I'm all for helping these people, but how can we be sure that what we do won't have another gang take over once we leave?"
Jack looked at his sister in all but blood. "Then we'll keep coming back until they decide to give up. Did you forget that Gruumm is a much bigger version of this? He keeps sending goons to fight us, we confine them. This is no different."
"Agreed." Syd twirled a lock of hair in her hand. "Bad guys are just a thing we've got to deal with, Earth or Remnant."
Sam nodded. "This world could also use a more heroic example to follow. Huntsmen are supposed to be the ideal hero, but they're basically the same thing as a contractor: hired by the government and paid a high price."
"At the very least, law enforcement and the militaries aren't doing as much as they could." Bridge chimed in with his own observations. "Think about it: if we go by public records, Grimm have been a thing since the beginning of recorded human history. If they're so mindless, why haven't they been beaten or at least heavily suppressed?"
Jack regarded his number three. "Conspiracies aside, we need to get cracking on Spider. We know that they're the most dominant gang in the city as well as in Mistral as a whole. That means they likely have eyes and ears everywhere."
"Then we have to assume that they're tracking us now." Sky immediately picked up on the implication. "Bridge, are we secure?"
The Green Ranger stood up. "Hold on."
He then began a systematic check of the room.
"Let's help him out." Jack also got to his team.
Everyone began to search high and low for anything that could be linked to monitoring. Whether that be a bugged device or some other means of listening in, every inch of their shared living space was scanned.
After almost half an hour of searching, they came up with nothing.
Syd looked to her fellow cadets. "You think they might be spying on us some other way? Or are we in the clear?"
"How we looking," the squad leader referred to her resident techie.
Bridge looked nonchalant. "So far, my perimeter sensors aren't detecting anything that could be used to monitor us. We're good."
"Okay, so we need more intel on Spider before we hit them." Jack looked at each of them. "We'll have to gather intel on specific hideouts, storage points, caches, anything that's important to them. Z, you and I will scout. We've got the ability to cover ground quickly and get into places without being seen."
The Yellow Ranger nodded. "Got it."
"Sky and Syd, I need you two to see if we can drum up some support locally. We know these people don't want Spider around, but we need to give them a reason not to fear them and a reason to believe that we'll save them."
Sky looked thoughtful. "Humanitarian efforts, not exactly my thing. What about you, Syd?"
"This I can do." The Pink Ranger grinned. "Winning hearts and minds is the best part of this job."
"Good. Bridge and Sam, you two will stay here. Bridge, I think sooner or later, we're going to need access to places that require an ID. of some sort. Your job is to make us something that'll help us get to those places. Sam, you'll be supporting Bridge, but also be the QRF in the event that the four of us going out gets us into trouble and we end up needing backup."
The Green Ranger flashed a thumbs up.
"Yes, sir." Omega Ranger was immediate in his acknowledgment.
Jack felt satisfied with the basic plan. "I'll leave it up to all of you how you want to complete your assigned task. We begin tomorrow; for now, we prep whatever we need to and get some rest."
B-squad broke up and went about their personal business for the remainder of the day. Everything from preparing weapons to ensuring that their communicators were functioning to making sure their morphers were fully functional.
Commander Kruger always stressed the importance of preparing. Most of the time, preparations determined the outcomes of fights, and they had all come to understand that while training was the most obvious application, equipment maintenance and ensuring their own personal health was part of the equation too.
Advanced or not, they were alone.
They couldn't afford to make crucial mistakes.
RWBY - - - Power Rangers
"Just like old times, right?" Z chuckled, although her humor wasn't pure.
Jack snorted. "Yeah, those were the days: recklessly stealing from gangsters. Exciting stuff."
It had been a little under a year since the two of them had become a part of SPD. It was a move that both of them needed to be able to grow not only as individuals but as productive members of society. Of course, neither would forget their roots. Many years spent in poor living conditions, living hand to mouth, that couldn't be forgotten.
And with those memories came old skills, tips, and tricks that were very useful when dealing with scum of the lowest type.
They were not scouting the place Sam had once been to. He hadn't engaged anyone there, but according to him, there were some shady things going on. People coming in, but not coming out, and way too many people for a small public place.
Z looked to her leader. "What do you think?"
"I think this is going to be enlightening." Jack stepped up. "Let's just hope that this works and quick. They might already know your face."
The Yellow Ranger didn't appear afraid. "Let 'em. I'll take them all on."
The normal thing to do was see the bouncer out front and be waved in. The two of them had other ideas. When the coast was clear, Jack activated his genetic powers and grabbing Z by the hand, he casually slipped through the wall. When he sensed the end of the wall and the beginning of the room, he carefully poked his head out.
There was just enough light in the room to see, but not enough for him to be seen clearly even if someone was staring in his direction. The place was small, just as the outside suggested, but it felt a little too easy.
Carefully, the Red Ranger slipped through to the other side, making sure that his partner was all the way through, then letting her go. Once they were both in, they took to the wall and carefully kept themselves inconspicuous. A few looked at them, but nobody seemed to linger on them for too long.
So, they began to scan the room. It appeared a simple place: people drinking and getting drunk, a few rowdy, but not yet chaotic customers, and everyone simply minding their own business. The loudest thing in the room was the music and even that wasn't ear-splittingly loud, simply loud with voices being heard.
"See anything," Jack quietly asked his teammate.
Z shook her head lightly. "Nothing yet."
There were a lot of people, so keeping track of one particular face was going to be difficult. Plus, looking at everyone at eye level wasn't getting them anywhere. They would need to either shift their perspective or they would need to get to higher ground.
So they stuck close together and migrated to the other side of the room, carefully keeping themselves out of the spotlight, but they had to do so in a way that didn't make it look like they were searching for something specific.
They moved to the opposite side and at first, nothing struck them as off until they noticed a small door. At first, they paid it no mind; it looked like a staff entrance. Then Jack noticed that people were going in and out despite not seeing any consistent faces.
Jack pointed. "Think that's it."
"You mean people going in and out who clearly don't look like employees?" Z's whisper could only be heard by him. "I see that."
They stalked closer to the door, stopping when Jack signaled. Then he activated his genetic power and carefully peaked into the room on the other side. It was a much thinner wall this time and when he did, he had to duck back to narrowly avoid being spotted. He took a moment to wait, then precariously looked again.
Jack grabbed Z. "Clear, this way."
Before she could ask what was going on, he pulled her through to the other side.
This wasn't a kitchen area. In fact, it looked like the door to the kitchen was located to their right. The left looked like an employee rest area and then there was an unmarked door. If that wasn't suspicious…
"Think this is it," The Yellow Ranger asked.
The Red Ranger simply gave her a look.
He let go of her and they both quietly walked to the far end, then immediately took position on either side, trying to listen for anything suspicious. Then they stepped back to observe the door itself.
Jack knew what this was. "Looks like you need a key to get in. Got a little touchpad right here."
"Any ideas?" Z wasn't about solving puzzles.
The B-squad leader hummed. "I might."
He then began to draw the symbol of Spider on the pad, first, the left legs, then the body, then the right legs. He honestly didn't think it would work; it seemed too easy to be a password, but he received a surprise.
The pad beeped an affirmative before the door opened, revealing an elevator.
"... really?" Z looked disappointed. "It's like making your password 'password.'"
Jack shrugged. "Yeah, well that's their problem and our benefit. Into the belly of the beast, we go."
Power Rangers - - - RWBY
"I'm starting to hate this place." Syd was careful to mind her step. "This place seriously needs some major trash collection company or something."
Sky simply gave her an amused look. "You are part of SPD, right? You've literally done this kind of work before."
"Yeah, but at least I could go back to base and reset." The Pink Ranger gave her current partner a glare. "Here, we're far away from our creature comforts."
The Blue Ranger rolled his eyes. "If you've got the energy to complain, you'll be fine."
"This is serious, Sky!"
"And so am I."
Their conversation had absolutely no relevance to what they were supposed to be doing, which was helping whoever needed help. Typically, charity work and humanitarian efforts weren't in their usual duty roster since they became active-duty rangers, but it was something they all did when they began the academy.
Their upbeat and somewhat lively demeanors were also something of a sore thumb in a city rampant with crime. Sure, there were cities that could proclaim good parts and bad parts, but more often than not, the good outweighed the bad. The opposite was true here.
And Syd, given her background, was severely out of her element. "Do these people even understand basic personal hygiene?"
"Can't be as bad as visiting Piggy." Sky's comment came with it a sense of dread from both of them.
The blonde woman scoffed. "Don't even get me started on that one. I don't even want to know what he does when no one's looking."
Their chatter was interrupted when they saw a blur of movement to their left. A figure, who appeared to be male judging by his build, ran by a woman, snatching up her bag, no doubt carrying valuables, but the theft itself wasn't what was absurd.
Rather, it was the woman who had just been robbed simply giving a look of anger, but doing nothing, like what had just happened was something only worthy of a moment of emotional outburst.
"I'm going after him, you stay with her!" Sky made a snap judgment.
Syd nodded to the second-in-command. "Got it."
The Blue Ranger took physical fitness very seriously; it was the foundation for virtually everything else within SPD. Without a healthy and fit body, the mind would follow, and it was very hard to make it without the competence of body and mind.
It didn't take him long to cross the distance between himself and the thief with a burst of speed. He judged the distance between himself and the assailant before tackling him to the ground, putting the full weight of his body on top of the man's back.
"Stop moving!" The man tried to get up, but Sky bent his arms behind his back. "STOP MOVING!"
The man continued to resist, and the more he did, the more the SPD cadet put pressure on the man, causing pain and lessening the struggle. It was during this tussle that a very noticeable tattoo could be seen on the back of the criminal's neck.
Spider.
The man, knowing that he couldn't escape, began to insult. "Look at you, mister bigshot hero. Think you're gonna save all these people from evil?"
"You have the right to remain silent." Sky began to cuff the man, soundly ignoring the attempt to engage him. "I suggest you comply."
His statement only served to further agitate the man. "Damn cop, must be a rookie. Think you can just come into our turf and act like ya own the place?"
"No, just doing my civic duty." The number two of B-squad carefully grabbed the stolen bag in one hand, then used the other to control the cuffs now on the detained. "Move."
The man turned around to spit in his face. "Go to hell!"
"I said move!" Sky pretended like that action had not affected him.
The thief really liked to hear his own voice. "When my friends find you, you're a dead man, pretty boy."
He couldn't do anything about the man right now, but maybe putting him out on display would serve to show the Spiders that not everyone in Wind Path was a coward who would bow to the lawlessness.
So, the Ranger found the nearest light pole and simply put the protruding obstacle between the man's back and the cuff links.
"Well, before they get me, they can laugh at you being cuffed in public." Sky had the final say before walking in the direction they had sprinted from.
"THIS ISN'T OVER YET! I KNOW YOUR FACE! I'LL FIND YOU!"
"... seriously, that guy needs to shut up."
He then wiped his own face, remembering that there was spit on it. He only looked momentarily annoyed before flicking it away, then quickly searching for and locating Z and the woman who had just recently been robbed.
Sky held out the bag. "This is yours, ma'am."
"... I don't know what to say." The blonde regarded him as if he were an alien.
Syd chimed in next. "Just doing our job, miss. Don't think too much about it."
The civilian stared for a few moments before reluctantly taking it. It was only during this time that the Blue Ranger noticed something about her eyes: they were shaped like that of a snake.
A faunus. He only let the surprise show on his face for a moment.
"Our work here is done. Be careful with your possessions." The Blue Ranger decided now was the time to take his leave. "Syd, we're leaving."
The Pink Ranger nodded. "Coming. Take care, okay?"
Despite how cold their departure might be, they didn't want to linger for too long. From one act of kindness to the next. If they wanted to affect greater change, they would need to move fast and strike hard.
"You did good, Sky. One down, a million to go."
"Can't conquer Rome in a day, Syd."
"I know, but it's literally us against the world. I can't help but feel that we're way in over our heads."
"All the more reason to keep focused on our job. There's no reason to think about things that aren't relevant to us or not within our control or influence."
"Calm as a cucumber, like always." Syd smiled. "What would we do without you?"
Sky shrugged. "That's why we've got Jack."
"You have changed." The blonde woman gave him a look. "A year ago, you wouldn't have accepted anyone else being the Red Ranger."
The dirty blonde man simply looked nonplussed. "Maybe because there are things more important than the color we wear."
"You two are more alike than you're willing to admit."
"Shut up."
RWBY - - - Power Rangers
While being confined to their "hideout" was a boring job, they had important work to do here.
Bridge was getting to work on hacking into the local networks and breaching the Cross Continental Transmit System, the CCTS or CCT. Getting in wasn't the problem nor was hacking into it. On the contrary, he found out that even the more complex security systems on this planet were no match for SPD software intrusion systems.
If anything, the challenge was actually forging backgrounds that were indicative of their training, but also somewhat believable with common knowledge about this world. Essentially, it was like writing an outline for a character in a story.
Sam was helping provide some input as a second set of eyes. He was far more versed in espionage due to his background and Ranger training in a future where Gruumm and the Troobian Empire had taken over Earth. This was more his expertise, so he was helping the Green Ranger with filling in the blanks.
"Our fighting skills and technology are far too advanced for this world to be considered anything but military in the eyes of these people." Sam was pondering out loud. "That being the case, if we're to morph, we're going to need to stay out of sight."
Bridge looked over his shoulder. "But that goes against our whole public image thing. All SPD cadets and officers are public for a reason: to show the people that we have nothing to hide."
"In any normal situation, that would be the case, but in this world, we're on our own. We have no backup should our identities be discovered." The Omega Ranger elaborated on his reasoning. "If we're caught or compromised, even just one of us, we'll be spread thin. We can't afford that right now."
The Green Ranger looked like he wanted to disagree, but he didn't. "You've got a point. It just feels different; we're not the military, so it almost feels like we've become like a secret unit instead of being law enforcement."
"Our time might come later, but for now, we keep ourselves safe. We're no good to anyone if we can't defend ourselves. Besides, think of it like a fun game of cat and mouse between us and the bad guys of this world. It'll be fun catching them from behind and them not knowing what hit them."
"Like a weird cop mystery show. I wonder when was the last time I watched one. Probably before I joined SPD. There's something about this job that makes me not want to watch anything related to my job, even peripherally."
Slight tangent aside, the gist was that their civilian identities and their Ranger identities needed to be separated for the safety of the entire squad. Without support from HQ, they had no fallbacks if someone found out the truth, good guy or bad guy.
Sam leaned against the nearby wall. "In any case, we need to keep it on the down low. It's better for us and safer for everyone else. Plus, bad guys are afraid of what they don't understand and we're different than huntsmen."
"Right. So, I'm thinking about how to explain our training." Bridge sat back in his seat. "We can't pass our skills off as self-taught. We all fight according to SPD SOP and TTP's. How do we explain that."
Omega had an answer. "Easy. We say that we've taken private lessons in self-defense and weapons training. We've got men and women with mecha-shift weapons running around killing monsters. A few civilians with training to defend themselves shouldn't raise too many eyebrows. After all, there aren't enough huntsmen to go around in the first place."
The Green Ranger accepted that, inputting it into his terminal.
Inputting the information was the easy part. The hard part was making their credentials look official and not having anyone ask questions. Fortunately, the days of physical IDs were becoming more and more obsolete. Remnant in particular was fond of IDs contained within a scroll.
"I'm gonna need your image." Bridge turned to the other Ranger. "We never did get your face."
Sam nodded. "Got it. Think the wall here's good. Where do you need me to stand?"
"A little to the right." The Green Ranger motioned. "Aaaaand you're good. Stay there."
It was strange seeing the face of their normally morphed teammate. None of them had taken any particular note of his features with fascination, only that they knew what he looked like so they could identify him. Looking at him now, it occurred to the resident tech.
We haven't really talked much about this.
The Omega Ranger didn't seem to think much of that topic, instead displaying a slight smirk, giving him just a little flair of confidence that bordered on arrogance. It was surprisingly fitting for the once-masked man.
The time traveler snorted. "If they catch us, at least they'll be graced by my beautiful mugshot."
Bridge couldn't help but chuckle at the bravado.
Power Rangers - - - RWBY
The man who was guarding the entrance to the place didn't even bother to look them over much. He did give them a strange look, but neither Jack nor Z decided to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The first thing they noticed was the assortment of men and women in the room. This place was clearly a gang hideout. It was broken as hell; glass on the floor haphazardly, a bar that looked like it had been shot up more than a few times, with boarded-up doors and entrances save for the one they came through.
Overall, it was just plain unclean and unsanitary, nothing the two of them hadn't lived with in the past, but still not something either of them wanted to revisit, not after living in their small but tidy SPD rooms.
And their presence had not gone unnoticed. Despite not being dressed fancily, even their casual clothes couldn't be mistaken as anything but ordinary, a distinguishment that clearly separated them from the thugs all around.
"What's this? Some lost little lambs?" A man about Jack's height stepped up to size the two Rangers. "Or did you come here to join?"
Jack squared up but didn't take further physical action. "Nah, just thought we'd check the place out. We're tourists, nothing much to it."
"Tourists stay on the 'good' side of town." The rough-looking thug grinned, but it wasn't a pleasant expression. "Where the worst thing that'll happen to them is they get robbed of all their possessions. Here, you'll get that if we're feeling nice."
Z crossed her arms. "Aren't you supposed to be nice to your guests? No complementary snacks, no drinks? You Spiders are terrible hosts."
"Watch it, girly. We might have rules and codes, but they're more like… guidelines." A sneer crossed the criminal's face. "If we really feel like it, we'll totally cut loose. How do you think we became the most dangerous syndicate in Remnant?"
"What do we got here? Fresh meat!"
"They look like they've done some dirty shit!"
"Hey, wait a minute, I know her! She's the one that beat Adam's ass! Hey, Adam! The chick that beat your ass is here!"
"She's mine, her boyfriend with her?!"
"Nah, different guy based on your description."
"So she's a hoe!"
Z tensed when she heard that voice. She didn't recognize any faces, but she didn't forget the beatdown that she and Sky had dealt with previously.
Then she saw the face of the man who'd led the game, as ugly as ever.
"Well, there's a face I'd hope to never see again." The Yellow Ranger gritted her teeth for a moment.
A look of anger. "Oh, I've been lookin' forward to this! Doesn't matter who your little boy toy is, I'm gonna tear you a new one!"
Jack was the first to grab the dude by the arm and flip him over, prompting Z to make duplicates and go on the attack.
The Red Ranger did two spin kicks to create a circle of space. When they all either backed away or were caught and downed, he lashed out to kick the nearest thug in front of them, then shifted his leg to kick behind, feeling the temporary resistance of a foe behind him.
He then ducked and rolled lashing his arm out to sweep another's leg from underneath, then quickly got back up to deliver a high kick, his foot connecting with the chin of an unfortunate gangster.
Z and her duplicate were spinning in a circle delivering kick after kick and taking down foes in pairs. Then they flipped into the air high enough to evade the blades and other attacks coming their way. The real Yellow Ranger landed on one hand while the other tapped two on the shoulders, the weight of her body enough to destabilize the enemy.
Both original and copy-linked arms began to swivel in the air, boots meeting chests as a slew of them went tumbling to the ground.
Apparently, in the less than the one minute that had passed since the fight broke out, the two Rangers had flattened all of the Spiders in this room.
Jack immediately went to the bad guy who had identified Z. "You're not the boss, I'm guessing. Tell me where they are."
"Try again, guy." The ringleader snarked. "You'll have to do better than that."
RWBY - - - Power Rangers
"You sure this guy knows something?" Sky asked his squad leader.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, he knows something judging by how he reacted when I asked questions. One way or another, he'll talk, and I know how."
And their method for interrogation?
Bridge.
"I'll give it a shot." The Green Ranger didn't see the harm. "But I do have one question: aren't we going to have to confine this guy now that he's seen too much?"
The Red Ranger knew that answer. "The first of many, although it's kind of a shame that it's just a two-bit thug we're taking down. Oh well, good days and bad days."
None of the other rangers had any objections to the plan of attack, so the resident techie began to employ his version of interrogation.
Which was basically droning on and on about a particular subject.
They had relocated to a secret room within their hideout and placed the prisoner there. This Adam fellow simply looked like he wanted to rip and tear everything and everyone apart. Instead, he was cuffed to his chair and made to listen.
"You know, it'd be much easier if you told us what you know." Bridge was non-threatening in his demeanor, merely casual. "That way we could both go on our merry ways. Actually, even if we turn you loose after, you're likely not going to save face with your pals.
"But are they really your pals? Because you're all criminals, and that carries the implication of bad deeds, so what does that really say?"
Power Rangers - - - RWBY
5 Minutes Later...
"But that may end with criminality and dive into the human condition and morality because everything we do is fueled by those two things to some degree.
"...get to the point."
"Because even if you value your fellow Spiders, you're still criminals at the end of the day. You'll seize any opportunity to get more prestige, a better reputation, more money, anything to enhance your position, but how long can that last? Anything built on a fundamental good or evil can't be undone by acts of the opposite.
"But as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so do we really understand fundamental good and evil? Or do we oversimplify it to such a degree so that our minds process it in a somewhat rational manner?"
RWBY - - - Power Rangers
10 Minutes Later...
"Better yet, how did we come up with rationality? How did it come to be in our minds? Was it the product of evolution or was it God with a plan? I mean, I'm Jewish, so of course I believe in God, but that doesn't necessarily explain human concepts that exist today."
"...do you ever shut up?"
"Because nothing really does last forever. Even the universe, which's existed for billions of years, still will exist long after we're all dead and gone, so in the grand scheme of things, you could say that all of us are not really that important."
"...make it stop."
"But then again, I've never really done anything that would be considered illegal in my life. Actually, I think we've all broken the law to one degree or another and we just don't realize it. It's all a matter of the severity of the crime."
"... no more-"
"But that does bring up a question of what exactly you guys are involved in. Because off the top of my head, I can at least predict a handful of potential things that-"
"STOP! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I'LL TALK! IT'S LIL MISS MALACHITE! SHE'S THE LEADER OF SPIDER!"
Now they were getting somewhere. Public information had very little in the way of concrete names of leaders within gangs. There were certainly suspects and some suspicions, rarely a specific name.
Not only was a name given, but there were several, including the main leader in Wind Path. There were far too many for them to detain quickly, but they needed an excuse to test out their Ranger powers.
And to diminish the gang presence within the city.
Power Rangers - - - RWBY
The main HQ for Spider in Wind Path was no different than any other day. Underlings came and went, delivering news and goods, ensuring that at the end of the day, this city would belong to the most powerful gang in Mistral.
They had fought a war for territory, and they had held onto power for close to a decade. There was no other criminal element that was close to challenging their power and now their efforts were being expanded into the other kingdoms.
In time, there would be an underworld across the entirety of Remnant that would be made to serve Spider. It was ambitious and it was something that required time, but even those outside Mistral knew of the infamous arachnid tattoo against a web background.
At this point in time, there were simply too many of them and they were too widespread to be stopped by anyone. The best that law enforcement could do was mitigate damage and appease the underworld.
And it was because of that arrogance that none could believe that anyone would be able to overthrow them, huntsman, military, or mercenary alike.
Coral, who was head of Spider in Mistral, could only marvel at the position that she held. She had power, prestige, money, and everything she could ever want, and she loved every single moment of it.
Today was going to be a day like most others.
And then she heard the sound of a dull thump coming from outside the hall that led out of her office.
"What in Brothers's name is going on?" She grabbed her nearby radio. "Hey, Chase, what's with all the racket?"
"THEY JUST CAME IN!" She heard what sounded like weapons fire and she could barely hear the voice. "THEY'RE NOT THE-"
The radio immediately cut off, but one thing was clear: someone was encroaching upon their territory. As the boss of this city, she had to deal with it now before word got to Lil Miss Malachite.
An opportunity she wouldn't get as the double doors blew open with enough force to throw her off her feet. What came next could only be described as absurdity. She had never seen anything like it before.
There were six of them: red, blue, green, yellow, pink, and white. All of them were dressed in near-identical uniforms save for the color that distinguished them. On the left side of their chest, there was a nameplate with three letters: SPD.
But most distinctive of all was the badge on their right side. It was a shield containing a dog or wolf in the center, which appeared to be scowling.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The one in red stepped forward. "SPD, you're under arrest!"
"... Are you for real?!" She laughed, completely forgetting her situation in place of the seemingly comical moment. "What, y'all think you're heroes?!"
"Hands where I can see them!" Red simply ignored her. "You don't want to make this harder for yourself?!"
Coral dared to challenge them. "Or what?! You're gonna shoot me?! Kill me?!"
"Kill you? No, that's not how this works." The leader immediately rebuffed her. "But you will come with us willingly or by force. The choice is yours, and it's the last chance you'll get."
Of course, she wouldn't go quietly. Not only would that not sit well with her boss, but it would wound her pride as well. If she was going to go down, she would go down fighting. Plus, these idiots were stupid to think that it would end here.
Red seemed to sense her intent. "Find, we'll do it our way."
From his belt, he pulled out a device and held it out in front of him.
"Coral Reef, you are charged with racketeering, extortion, bribery, theft, arson, murder, and trafficking! Judgment time!"
The device flipped over.
"Oh, so it's just me and not everyone else?! How biased is that?!" She had nowhere to run, and she was getting a bad feeling about all of this.
The device began flipping through a red X and a blue O symbol for a few moments before it settled into the former.
"Guilty!" Then red folded his device before clicking another button. "Confinement time!"
That was the last thing she heard before she found herself no longer in her base of operations.
The next thing she saw was white and nothing else.
RWBY - - - Power Rangers
As soon as the head honcho was captured, the Rangers immediately began to shuffle through the contents of the drawers and containers. The boss lady was also stupid enough to leave her scroll on her desk as well.
"Whatcha got, Bridge?" Jack peered over the shoulder of his number three.
The Green Ranger had already hacked into the scroll and begun pulling up text messages. "Got it, the signal points to somewhere closer in the heart of Mistral City."
Sky perked his head up from one of the cabinets. "The most secure city in the kingdom? Dangerous place to be for a gangster."
"Not really." Z shrugged. "That's where I'd be. Yeah, it's dangerous, but only if you get caught and no one goes to the underworld unless they've got a death wish or they're already a part of the scene."
Syd picked up a file. "They really got some big stacks of people that I have no idea about."
"Probably the most important people in the city," Sam commented offhandedly. "It would take us a lifetime to get every single thug. With what we've got, our best bet is to get whatever info we can on Lil Miss Malachite and pop smoke."
Bridge stood up straight with the newly acquired scroll in his hands. "Okay, I've got everything that we need."
"That quick?" Z was surprised.
The Green Ranger grinned. "Remnant's technology level is actually much lower than our own. Dust isn't helping matters."
"So, we've got what we need, correct?" Sky looked to his squad leader. "We should head out to Mistral as soon as possible."
Z seemed a bit aghast at that suggestion. "And leave these people to fend for themselves? We've barely started here."
"True, but we've got a positive ID on the location of Spider's head honcho." Jack pointed out to his number four. "We can't just ignore that. The best thing we can do now is keep monitoring the cities we visit and if a big crisis comes up, we deal with it if we're able. Remember, we don't have the manpower to solve all these problems."
The Yellow Ranger cursed lightly but seemed to accept the logic nonetheless, albeit with reluctance in her features.
Bridge chimed in. "Since Spider has eyes and ears everywhere, we can use that to keep track of where certain crimes are taking place. If we need to, we can come back later and thin out their numbers."
"Agreed." Sky crossed his arms. "How are we looking on IDs for the squad?"
Sam was the one to answer. "They're mostly done. We'll just need to procure some scrolls and we'll have one to store our IDs. We gotta make sure that whatever hardware we acquire on this planet can't be traced or otherwise tampered with."
"Off to the city where art and culture reign supreme." Syd seemed chipper at the prospect of going to Mistral City. "I can't want to reintegrate with a real society."
Z made a face. "That would be your priority."
"Hush, you." The Pink Ranger lightly slapped her teammate. "One day, you'll come to my way of understanding."
The Yellow Ranger made another face. "You sound like a movie villain slowly seducing the hero to their side."
"But we're not villains," Bridge said, then paused to reconsider, "At least, I'm not a villain."
Jack regarded the tech. "I'm not a villain too."
"We're not villains," Z reinforced, arms coming over number one and three, "We're SPD cadets, badasses, and saviors to boot."
Sky joined in. "And remember, like Silverback said, we don't let them come to us, we take the fight to them."
It looked like the hunt for Spider's head was a go.
Power Rangers - - - RWBY
Once they'd packed up their temporary dwelling in Wind Path, they got airborne. RIC had been the only one remaining with the ship as it stayed in low orbit away from the eyes of anyone on the ground save for the cadets.
The difference between the capital and where they'd just come from was like night and day. The streets were clean, the people here looked friendly and affable, and there was a sign of law and order within the city walls.
Mistral's reputation for art and culture wasn't a joke either; not only was it apparent in the murals on the streets or the colorful and unique vendors that lined the streets, but the people with tattoos and the intricacies of their clothing. Even the architecture was something to behold, a strange combination of Asian culture with Remnant aesthetics and culture.
Regardless of the strange similarities, it was a good place to set up a more permanent residence. The relative safety of this place was more insurance that they wouldn't be traced or compromised so long as their activities didn't catch the eyes of the wrong people. If Spider wasn't looking for them, that would be a surprise.
Ultimately, they chose a temporary apartment that went on a monthly basis. Thanks to their raid of the Wind Path Spider HQ, they had appropriated a large amount of lien. They distributed to the needy and desperate and kept just enough to be able to sustain themselves. They still had their own rations and sustenance if need be.
For now, they were content to take the week off to explore rest, and recharge. So long as they didn't stray into the darker side of town, they were fine mostly. Like any normal city, there were good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods.
And now they had forgone the rule of going outside in pairs, a welcome breath of fresh air for Syd as she took the streets to go to the shopping district. It was unfortunate that she didn't have the budget to get a lot of things, but looking around would do wonders for her too.
Another thing that she noticed about the people of this world was that they were more colorful in their manner of speaking. Sure, there were the oddballs with bonkers fashion senses, but more importantly, there were hair colors that were considered unnatural back on Earth, yet simply were on Remnant.
Animal traits on the faunus were strangely not all that alarming. If anything, it was basically a human with some extra parts.
"Hey there." A male voice, young from the sounds of it. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting, goldilocks."
The undertone in his voice clearly indicated his intent. She could tell the type from a mile away. The attention was flattering, but for one thing, she was definitely not into dating younger guys, especially when they weren't of legal age.
And even if he was within her age range for dating, nothing about him particularly popped out, particularly to her.
Still, Syd cocked her hips to one side and decided to play along. "Isn't it rude to ask for a lady's name without first giving your name?"
"I'm Neptune. I'm a student at Haven Academy." The younger man flashed her a grin that she supposed was meant to make her weak at the knees. "What's your name?"
Haven Academy… where have I heard that name before?
The Pink Ranger let that thought sit in her mind for a moment before she returned to the conversation. "Sydney Drew. My friends call me Syd."
Then it clicked in her mind: Haven was the name of one of the four huntsman academies that trained the elite huntsmen and huntresses. Basically, this kid was trying to become one of the elites.
And he was trying to impress her.
Nice try.
"Couldn't help but notice you looking around. You don't look like a local." Neptune was confident, she would give him that. "You need someone to show you around?"
So that's how she appeared to him.
Syd decided to put her foot down. "I appreciate the thought, but I'll be okay. I'm a big girl; I can look after myself."
"Sure you wouldn't mind the company?" The kid didn't seem to pay much mind to her rejection. "I mean, I don't mean to brag, but I know all the spots in town."
The SPD cadet crossed her arms. "Nice try, but I don't date younger guys. Even if I did, you're not at my level, kid."
To make sure she got her point across, she crossed the distance between them in less than a second and flipped the boy onto his back. He was completely unprepared for the move and he could only fall ungracefully before.
When he hit the ground, he grunted in pain, but she saw a flash of energy around his aura, which she presumed to be aura or whatever it was.
"However, if you're in the market for some training, I'll gladly teach you a move or two." Syd took out a pen and jotted down her new scroll number. "And if you call me, you'd better be serious about bettering yourself. Do we understand each other?"
Neptune grimaced. "Crystal."
"Good." The blonde woman held out a hand. "No hard feelings, right?"
The teenage boy gave her a look of uncertainty, but she held his gaze and after a moment, he grabbed her outstretched hand, and she hoisted him up effortlessly.
The bluenette shook his head. "I guess not, but man you've got a mean flip."
"That was just me being casual." Syd grinned. "Welp, I hope you have a good rest of your day."
She flippantly threw him a note with her scroll number.
That was an unexpected distraction to be sure, but one that might actually prove useful in the future.
B-squad had been talking about the academies more recently and their role in maintaining the rather bad status quo that currently existed in this world. Although their primary mission involved Spider right now, this might be something worth investigating down the line.
Of course, that assumed that Neptune took up her offer. While she had threatened him if he intended to make contact with her and make a pass at her again, even if he did, she wouldn't be terribly offended. It would still be playing right into her hands.
And now it was back to her day of exploring.
Although she kept playing one word in her head.
Haven... she knew she'd heard it from-
Syd stopped dead in her tracks. "Of course! The Huntsman Academy. Those kids are students!"
Suddenly, any thought of her plans for today went out the window. She had to tell the rest of the Rangers about potentially being able to get into the most prestigious and most secure place in the whole of Mistral.
This story will explore story ideas, concepts, and techniques that aren't typically things I use in writing. Since I'm trying to create this story in the spirit of Power Rangers and SPD in particular, there will undoubtedly be some people who aren't into this story. Rest assured, for those who love the series, I hope to do it justice.
So we're still in the midst of some setup while also ramping up the story. The outline that's been made for this story is lengthy and quite frankly, while I have a rough idea of how many chapters there will be, that may change as the story gets further along.
Thoughts on this chapter? Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.
Big thanks to The Vigilant Spider for being the beta-reader and idea contributor to this story. As always, invaluable work.
Thanks for reading.
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
Plato