L-Anne-Terns

by Michael Ravencroft

The multiverse is vast and full of possibilities. When the light of the Emotional Spectrum shines upon the universe, it can alter many destinies. Come, and let us see how these lights change the destiny of Anne Boonchuy, and the different universes she resides in.

Everyone has a breaking point, even the most even tempered and kind person can be pushed off the edge and become a beast of uncontrollable rage.

Anne never thought she could feel such a thing, such rage that she was willing to kill, willing to destroy. But when the dust settles, will she be willing to kill someone who had no control over their actions? Rage is a powerful thing.

---

How did everything go so horribly wrong? How did all just go straight to hell? These were the questions that plagued Anne's mind, and it was also the fires of rage inside of her that kept the teen from completely surrendering to her. Currently, Anne was in a dungeon, a personal one that was empty except for her occupancy. She was bound inside of it by iron shackles that wrapped tightly around her wrists and ankles. The ones around her wrists were pulled taut, forcing Anne to keep her arms stretched outwards, while the ones that bound her ankles were shorter, making it so Anne was always kept at a kneeling position.

Her armor was taken away, and her school uniform was in tatters. The skirt was partially torn, showing just the slightest hint of her undergarments. The entire back of her uniform was destroyed, ripped and burned away, exposing her bare back. Her bra was gone, ripped off her long ago due to the torture her back endured, which was completely covered in deep cuts that looked as if they had been cauterized immediately upon receiving them, They were numerous, marring the young Thai girl's skin, and were angry red, some still raw, and others newly made. What remained of Anne's shirt hung loosely in front of her, only staying on her thanks to the sleeves, preserving some of the Thai girl's modesty. Although Anne wondered how much longer that would last.

Anne heard the door to her private cell open; she didn't bother to look up, mostly because she could tell by the footsteps that it was a Frobot. When the robotic sentry approached her, the machine spoke to her.

{Time for your feeding.}

"Screw…you…"

The Frobot's left arm grabbed Anne by the head and forced her to look up. The machine transformed its right arm into a tube-like appendage that glistened and dripped. Anne knew what was coming next, but she didn't bother to fight it at this point. The Frobot pressed the tube against Anne's lips, and then forced it down her throat. Anne coughed, her body shaking as felt the tube slither down her throat and straight into her stomach. The Frobot began the feeding process, pouring a kind soup-like food that was filled with essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Anything and everything the body needed to maintain and continue functioning. Anne's eyes watered as her hands clenched into fists, enduring the forced feeding. This wasn't the first time, no, this was probably the fourteenth time this week.

A grueling two minutes later, the Frobot finished its task and removed the tube from Anne's throat. The Thai teen coughed violently, taking in ragged breathes of air as she recovered from the feeding.

{Feeding complete.}

The Frobot turned around and exited the cell, with the door shut closed behind it. Like clockwork, the Frobot would come in the morning, noon, and then one last time at night to feed her. It was the only way that Anne could mark the passage of time, as there were no windows in the cell, no clocks either. It was all part of the torture process, she assumed, to break her down mentally as well as physically. If she couldn't tell time, if she couldn't figure out how long she had been in this situation, then it would make it hard for her mind to process this. But that Frobot, as much as she hated its arrival, was about the only thing she could count on to tell her how long she had been in this cell. From what she was able to discern, it must've been a week, at the very least.

Being left alone in this cell, Anne had time with her thoughts. Time to think back to how she got into this situation…

---

(1 Week Ago…)

Since Anne and the Plantars return to Amphibia, they have been working with Sasha and her newly formed Resistance. Together they've been gathering allies, and building up weapons and supplies, preparing for the day that they would attack Andrias and his master. The two of them had visited Mother Olm, and they were told about the prophecy, it spoke of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy's arrival in Amphibia. And that together they would "expel the Night" and save this world from destruction. Anne believed the prophecy, believed that together, the three of them could stop the invasion and save both worlds.

Spurred on by the prophecy, Anne and Sasha continued their mission to gather allies, and eventually they managed to gather a significant fighting force, comprised of frogs, newts, and toads, a first in the history of Amphibia. With their united force, and a plan to steal the music box from Andrias and rescue Marcy, Anne, Sasha, the Plantars, and Grime, began their stealth mission to reclaim the Calamity Box and rescue their friend.

However…

"Wait! Marcy's…different, she's not the girl you once knew!" Yunan warned.

"And neither are we," said Anne.

Together, she and Sasha kicked open the door. The throne room was dark, save for a lone spotlight that shined upon a pedestal in the center of the room, and on the pedestal was the Calamity Box.

"I don't see Marcy," Anne observed.

"First thing's first! Get the box!" Sasha stated.

The two human girls ran for the center of the room. Once there, they stood before the pedestal, amazed that they were able to get this far.

"I can't believe it, it's over! We've wo–AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Suddenly, Anne felt something pierce into her skin from behind. Sasha looked on in shock, along with the Plantars, Yunan, Grime, and Olivia. Anne managed to slowly turn her head around, and that's when she saw it. A mechanical tentacle had pressed itself against Anne's back, but she knew it was worse than that. Something very sharp had penetrated the armor and her skin.

'AAANNNNE!" Sasha screamed.

"S-S-SashAAAAAAAH!"

Suddenly, pain erupted through Anne's body as the tentacle lifted her up a couple of feet into the air. She quickly tapped into her powers, causing her eyes to glow bright blue as her hair started to change colors. But that's what the tentacle wanted. As soon as Anne tapped into her Calamity powers, the tentacle glowed the same color. Blue veins appeared all over Anne's body. Energy pulsated through the tentacle, and Anne started to feel weaker and weaker with each passing second.

Soon, Anne's eyes stopped glowing, and her hair returned to normal. Once it was done, the tentacle snapped forward, retracting the needle that it had pierced Anne with, and tossed her onto the floor. Sasha immediately dropped to her knees before Anne, inspecting her friend's back and noticing that there was a hole in the armor. The blonde teen hurriedly removed the armor from Anne, noticing some blood coming from the hole.

"ANNE! ANNE, TALK TO ME!" Sasha screamed with worry.

"Sasha…it hurts…"

"Y-You'll be okay! We'll get you out of here!"

"Oh, that won't be happening."

The room suddenly lit up as multiple mechanical eyes opened inside of the throne. The eyes continued to open, stopping near the throne where three larger eyes opened, revealing a figure standing before them. Anne managed to raise her head to see who it was, and she gasped when she realized it was Marcy. But for some reason, she was wearing strange black armor, and a helmet with multiple eyes and horns.

"M-Marcy…?"

"It's Darcy, actually. But we'll have plenty of time to get acquainted, Savisa. Mar-Mar's been waiting for you, and I have to say, so have I," said Darcy.

"What did you do to her?!" Sasha demanded.

"Oh, sorry about that." Darcy snapped her fingers, and when she did, another pedestal appeared out of the floor, this time with the real music box. "After your little fight with Andrias, we needed a way to siphon the fragment of the box's power from Savisa. And thanks to your brilliant 'stealth mission', you brought the last piece we needed to kick off this invasion without any more worries."

"No…"

Sasha drew one of her swords as she said, "What have you done to Marcy!"

"Oh, I am Marcy, but at the same time, not Marcy. I'm a combination of all the most brilliant minds of Amphibia, and of course Marcy herself. I'm a new being, and Marcy wants you so badly that I want you as well, Savisa. And dear Elizabeth, you can join us too, just submit to me," said Darcy.

"Fuck you! I'll rip that stupid helmet off your head and smash it into pieces!" Sasha declared.

"Such a pity," Darcy sighed as she snapped her fingers.

Upon snapping her fingers, several mecha tentacles slithered out of the walls and floor, all of them producing pincers with orange mechanical eyes that were ready to snatch them up. One of the tentacles lashed out at Sasha, striking her in the chest and sending her flying backwards towards the rest of their group, and separating her from Anne. The Thai teen tried to get up and draw her sword, but a single tentacle wrapped around her body like a boa constrictor and began squeezing her.

Anne felt her heart rate accelerate, her breathing quickening as the tentacle continued to squeeze her body, making it harder and harder for Anne's lungs to expand and get air. The Thai teen panicked, part of her wanted to yell to Sasha to save her, but when she looked in their direction, she only had one thought.

"RUN!" Anne yelled.

Sasha looked at Anne with shock as she retorted, "I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!"

"RUUUUUUUUNNNNN!" Anne ordered.

Sasha gripped her swords tight, but with great reluctance, she sheathed her swords and grabbed Sprig and Polly. The blonde shot one last look at her best friend with tears in her eyes before running as fast as she could down the hall, with Grime, Hop Pop, Olivia, and Yunan right behind her.

That was the last thing Anne saw before she completely passed out.

---

(Present)

They have to be safe…

The door opened again, and when she heard the footsteps, Anne slowly raised her head. She knew who this was. Standing before her was Darcy, the dark persona that was formed from a combination of Marcy's mind and the many minds that comprised the Core. The dark persona smiled deviously down at Anne, while Anne shot back with a defiant glare.

"I really wish you wouldn't look at me like that, Savisa," said Darcy.

"How else am I supposed to look at the monster that's using my best friend's body as a meat puppet! Plus, the weeklong torture hasn't helped either…"

Darcy sighed as she knelt before the Thai girl and used her right hand to cup Anne's chin.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But you're being very stubborn right now. All I want is for you to join me at my side and be my queen. It's what Marcy wants, she has biggest crush on you, you know."

Anne's eyes widened a little as she said, "Wait…M-Marcy has a crush on me?"

Darcy chuckled as she replied, "Oh yes, and has had one since you were little girls. Also, I guess I should mention that Elizabeth feels the same way for you as well."

"Okay…now I know…you're full of it!"

Darcy snapped her fingers, and the walls came alive. One of the various mechanical tentacles stretched down and produced monitor. The monitor kicked on and showed footage of when Anne and her team infiltrated the castle a week ago. The screen shifted, now displaying bio readings like heartrate, body temperature, and some other readings that Anne had no idea about it. The video stopped around when Anne took Sasha's hands into her own, and the readings seemed to spike.

"Elevated heartrate, increased O2 levels, dilated pupils, increased hormone levels and body temperature. All classic signs of the human body reacting to a person they find attractive, or in this case have feelings for." Another snap of the fingers made another monitor appear from a different tentacle.

Anne glanced at the second monitor, this one showed the inside of this room, and now it was displaying the biometric readings of Darcy. The dark persona reached out with her hands and cupped Anne's face as all ten of her eyes looked into Anne's dark brown orbs. Anne glanced back at the monitor, and from what she could tell, the readings on it were similar to Sasha's.

"The numbers don't lie, Savisa. I didn't just inherit the intellects of the Core and Marcy, but also her feelings for you. And as you can see, I do indeed have feelings for you."

"And yet…you hurt me…Don't deny that you're enjoying it…"

Darcy removed her hands and put on a coy grin.

"Well, I won't deny it. I have developed a liking for our little sessions. But truth be told, when I imagined a scenario like this, you weren't the one chained up and at my mercy. It was Elizabeth," Darcy informed. "I do regret letting her get away, but I didn't want to be greedy."

"You…You want to hurt Sasha?!"

"No, Savisa. Not hurt her." Darcy quickly rushed to Anne, grabbing onto her shoulders as all of her eyes stared with maniacal glee into the Thai girl's eyes. "I want to break her! She's always so strong, so stubborn, so iron willed. You know what I am speaking of, Savisa. Oh, the satisfaction of breaking that girl in both body and mind will be glorious! She's like a wild mare, begging to be tamed. Heh-heh."

"You're…sick! You could just…just slap control collars on me and Sasha…"

Darcy released Anne and hummed a little as she responded, "You're not wrong. I could. But then where's the fun in that? It's like a cheat code. Sure, I could easily make you and Sasha do whatever I wanted if I used the collars, but it's much more satisfying to break you and bring you to a point of complete obedience to me. But you have become a lot more stubborn and defiant than what Marcy remembers about you."

"And more pissed off every second I'm here…! And every moment I have to look at that stupid helmet…"

"Oh, my love…" Darcy lashed out with her right hand, clenching it around Anne's throat as she began hoisting her into the air. The chains around her ankles were allowed more slack to accommodate for this as Darcy started to choke Anne.

"ACK! AAAHACK!"

"I don't appreciate your defiance, Savisa. You make me hurt you with each act of it you commit. But maybe hurting you isn't the way to get the point across?"

Darcy released Anne, letting her fall to the floor as she coughed and gasped for air.

"Maybe I need to hurt the people you love for you to finally fall in line?"

Anne weakly raised her head and rasped, "Don't…you…dare…!"

Darcy crouched in front of Anne, propping her chin with the heels of her hands as she maintained her creepy smile.

"Sorry to say, my love, but it's out of your hands now. It has been for a week."

The Thai teen's eyes widened as she shouted, "What…What did you do?!"

"Oh, guess I forgot to mention." Darcy snapped her fingers.

The wall to Anne's right shifted and moved, finally opening and revealing the light of day for the first time in a week. Anne's eyes stung as they tried to adjust to the daylight after a whole week of not being exposed to it. After her eyes finally adjusted to the light, the Thai girl gasped in horror.

"We've been on Earth this whole time."

Los Angeles was in ruins, buildings were on fire, some were completely demolished. There were bodies in the streets, men, women, and children, all slaughtered without mercy, or remorse by the soulless robotic army of Darcy and Andrias.

"No…what…what have you done…?!"

"What we promised we'd do, Savisa. Eradicate all human life on this planet. Well, maybe not all. I was thinking of saving a handful of them. I could always use a good workforce. Or perhaps you would like to aid in the rebuilding of your species once I wipe them out?" Darcy suggested.

"Dude…I'm a girl, so are you!"

"Don't underestimate Newtopian technology, Savisa." Darcy watched as her future consort managed to wriggle in disgust and fear of what Darcy would do to her. "Some of your friends, including Elizabeth, managed to jump through the portal when we came here, and we encountered resistance. But one good EMP later, and the defense systems of the world were rendered useless."

Anne couldn't believe it, all this time, while she was getting tortured by Darcy, Earth was under attack.

"You…You already wiped out everything…?" Anne asked with tears in her eyes.

"Not quite yet. We're already in the process of harvesting the resources around this city to bolster our forces. Technically, we don't need to. I just wanted more time to play with you," said Darcy.

A couple of explosions went off down below, and Darcy smiled.

"Seems like they've gotten closer this time around."

"What?!"

A few more monitors appeared, this time showing live footage of what was going on down below. It was through these monitors that Anne witnessed not only the Plantars, Grime, Yunan, and Olivia fighting to get to the castle, but so too were Sasha, and…

"Mom…Dad…?"

"They've been desperately trying to get here. Trying to save you, Savisa. But now that they're here…" Darcy looked down at her plaything, and all ten of the helmet's eyes narrowed as if coming up with an exceptionally evil plan. "Yes, I think you should see them."

Anne looked down her body, at her tattered clothes, and various wounds. She was one tug away from losing all her modesty if Darcy so wished. But something told her that there was something worse coming.

"Just hurt me…please…just keep hurting me but leave them alone…!" Anne begged.

"Come now, Savisa, it's been so long since they've seen you."

---

The resistance group continued to cut through and destroy the hordes of Frobots that were thrown at them, unfortunately, they were now cornered by a battalion of them, along with two huge herons that were under the control of the Andrias and the Core. Despite their situation, there was a look of defiance in everyone's face, most so in the faces of the Boonchuys and Sasha.

However, the herons and the robots stopped, not one them made a move towards them. While this reprieve was welcomed, it also made them feel uneasy about what was to come. And what did come was something they didn't expect. A large robot appeared, standing taller than the other Frobots, with a "U" shaped head, and a long tail. After a second, the head and upper half of the robot opened up, revealing that it was in fact a mech suit, and inside of that suit was King Andrias.

"WHAT'S GOOD PEOPLE!" King Andrias yelled.

"Andrias!" Sasha shouted, angrily. "Where's Anne?!"

"OH, YES. SHE'S COMING, BUT I'D BRACE MYSELF IF I WERE YOU LOT," Andrias warned.

Just then, another machine flew down from the flying castle. It looked like a robotic stingray, black in color, with glowing orange eyes and a tail blade that was made of crackling orange energy. Upon the stingray's back was Darcy, and in front of her was Anne. Everyone gasped when they saw her current state. Her clothes tattered, hanging on by mere threads, body bruised with signs of deep cuts that had been cauterized, and of course, there were the shackles around her wrists and ankles.

"ANNE!" Oum cried out, her heart breaking upon seeing the state her daughter was in.

"M-MOM…!" Anne cried out.

"Anne! NO!" Sprig exclaimed.

Polly growled in anger upon seeing her big sister figure in such a state, and Frobo was the same with his weapons trained on Darcy. Hop Pop had no words to speak, seeing his adopted granddaughter treated so horribly did stoke his parental rage though.

Darcy looked down at her enemies and at her captured prize.

"Aww, what a happy reunion this must be for you all. A whole week of fighting, and you could barely get close to my castle, and now, the very person you wanted to save is right here in front of you," Darcy mocked.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER YOU PSYCHO BITCH?!" Sasha screamed.

"Get a good look, Elizabeth, because this will be your fate soon enough. But first, I need to have my dear Savisa learn a lesson." Darcy pulled on the chains, making Anne look up at her. "You had your chance to submit to me and be mine. Now you will have to see what your defiance will get you."

Darcy tightened her grip on the chains, bringing Anne up by the neck before tossing the chains, and Anne, back to the platform. The dark persona raised her left forearm, a panel popped up and revealed a mini keyboard. Darcy started to type on the keyboard for a few seconds, and then closed the panel. A moment later, the grooves, and gaps in the armor started to glow a bright magenta color as a mouth plate slid over Darcy's mouth, closing the helmet as its ten eyes shined until they were glowing bright orange.

Anne looked up at Darcy, unsure of what to make of what she had just done.

"We did a little tinkering with the suit, Savisa. Marcy's body is a suitable host. But it's also…how shall I put this delicately? She's weak. All that training with the Night Guard may've did wonders for her stamina and endurance, but strength, not so much. However, if I channel the Strength Gem's energy into the suit, well…why don't I demonstrate?"

Darcy's gaze suddenly locked onto Frobo, and a swift step later, Darcy bolted off the floating stingray platform and appeared right in front of the robot. Frobo's eyes blinked, confused as to how Darcy just closed the distance on him so quickly. But his time to think about it was cut short as Darcy cocked back her right fist and punched Frobo in the chest. A pulse of magenta energy erupted from the impact, launching Frobo away from Darcy as he crashed into the side of a building. A huge dent had been made in Frobo's chest, the glass of his left eye was cracked, and sparks started to shoot off from different parts of his body. But it wasn't over yet.

Darcy's hands were suddenly formed armor around her them, creating long, sharp claws that she used to spear into Frobo's chest, tearing open Frobo's chest plate as she then tore out different oiled up mechanical parts and looked at Frobo. The dark persona continued to tear Frobo's body apart from the inside out, causing the metal to creak and groan as a noticeable sound of metal tearing could be heard. When it was over, Frobo slumped to the right and then fell over, oil flowing out of his open chest cavity as he laid there, his function ceased.

"FROBOOOO!" Polly screamed.

"No…NO!" Anne yelled.

"Wheeeew, that was fun! Who's next…?" Darcy turned around and looked at her potential next victims.

Sasha wasn't going to give her the chance to hurt anyone else as she charged in with her swords. Darcy jumped into the air, avoiding the slash of Sasha's blades. When she did, Darcy reached behind her back, unhooking a hilt and giving it a single mental command to activate. A burning orange blade of energy extended, about six inches in length. That's when Darcy threw the beam dagger, her intellect and strength being used throw the weapon accurately at her target. When Sasha looked up, she was too late, the beam dagger found its home right in her left thigh, causing the blonde warrior to scream in pain as the blade pierced her flesh and bone. Sasha immediately dropped to the ground as she released both of her swords, wailing in pain from the burning blade.

Darcy landed next to Sasha as she crouched down and said, "Oh, that's gotta hurt. Don't worry, Elizabeth. A few minutes in the rejuvenation tank and that'll heal right up."

"SASHA!" Grime roared as he brandished his warhammer and readied to strike Darcy.

"Oops, sorry, Elizabeth, need this back. Yoink!"

"NO, NO – AAAAAAAAAAH!" Sasha screamed as Darcy pulled out the beam dagger.

Darcy raised her right hand just in time to catch the flat of Grime's hammer, causing a shockwave from the immediate stop of the hammer blow. The ground beneath her feet shook, and some cracks formed on the asphalt, but aside from that, Darcy didn't seem to have sustained any damage from the attack. However, Darcy did grunt at little, perhaps the attack did have an effect on her?

"I forgot that these old Warhammers packed a punch, pretty impressive that present day toad can still wield it," said Darcy.

"WIELD IT AND CRUSH YOU WITH IT!" Grime yelled.

Grime backflipped away from Darcy and ignited the jets on the back of the hammer as he went in for another strike. Darcy readied her dagger, but that's when her detection systems went off, alerting her to an incoming attack. A quick glance over the shoulder made her aware of Yunan charging in as well, her wrist blades extended and ready to kill. Darcy grinned under her helmet as she raised her left fist and smashed it against the ground, kicking up debris and dust that acted as a smokescreen. Grime swung the warhammer, with the wind generated from the swing rushing forward and clearing the dust. Yunan stopped as she and Grime looked around for their target.

"LOOK OUT!" Olivia warned.

Before Yunan could figure out the warning, an orange-red blade of light pierced through Yunan's chest from behind. The general of the Newtopian army managed to turn her head to the side and saw Darcy, having switched out her dagger for a sword.

"Heh, déjà vu, am I right?" Darcy mocked.

"YUNAN!" Olivia screamed as she raised her weapon to shoot at Darcy.

The dark persona drew back her sword and used the blade to deflect the beam blasts from Olivia's weapon. At the same time, she was receiving blaster fire from the other side from Oum. Darcy took out another beam sword and began deflecting both attacks at the same time.

"DARCY, STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH! I GET IT! I WON'T DISOBEY YOU! I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!" Anne begged.

Darcy glanced at the floating platform, spotting her captured prize as she looked upon her with desperation and tear-stricken eyes, and she chuckled.

"No, I don't think so. I'm actually having waaaay too much fun! Plus, I think in order to truly make you obedient, and the perfect partner, Savisa, I need to take away everything that you hold dear! Starting with…" Darcy's glowing eyes locked onto Oum.

"NOOOOO!" Anne screamed as she tried to bolt off the platform, but the chains around her neck and limbs immediately sent a surge of electricity that shocked her body into submission and made her fall back onto it.

Darcy's hivemind immediately began calculating the trajectory and angles of each of the laser blasts that were being shot at her, and after a few seconds, she knew what to do. The dark persona used the blades of her swords to slap two of the incoming beams, deflecting them back in the direction they came. To the shock of both Olivia and Oum, the beams that Darcy deflected hit both of their weapons at the same time, destroying them on the spot. Darcy tossed her right sword in Olivia's direction, and then dashed for Oum.

The green newt woman couldn't react in time as the blade swiftly pierced through her chest. Olivia coughed up blood as she saw the hilt of the sword pressed against her chest, but her arms had already lost their strength as she fell to the side, dead.

Darcy quickly closed the distance on Oum and looked up at the older Thai woman.

"Ah, Mrs. B, you have been a little strict on dear Savisa, but compared to Marcy's parents, you're still leagues better than them. I'll miss you and Mr. B, at least the part of me that's Marcy will," said Darcy, nonchalantly.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME, BUT I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY DAUGHTER ANYMORE!" Oum yelled as she cocked back her fist and punched Darcy.

The dark persona caught Oum's punch before it could land and said, "Really, Mrs. B? You can just stand still; I'll make sure it's at least painless."

"Heh, maybe you should stop being so cocky?" Oum warned.

"What?"

Suddenly, the glove that was around Oum's right fist started to ignite with purple electrical sparks, but then those sparks turned into powerful surges of electricity that traveled from Oum's fist and down Darcy's arm and to the rest of her body. Darcy released shrieks of pain before she finally let go of Oum's fist. Oum didn't waste any time as she ran forward and kneed Darcy in the chest, followed by a haymaker to the head, also electrically charged, and then a left hook to the right side of Darcy's face. The blitz attack threw Darcy off balance, allowing Oum to pull out two pistol shaped blasters from the holsters on her thigh and began shooting wildly at the dark persona.

Darcy recoiled from each powerful shot before Oum delivered a strong roundhouse kick to the left side of Darcy's head, sending her spinning into the air before landing harshly on the ground.

Sasha grunted from the pain, but managed to say, "Damn…that was hot…"

Anne, for a moment, let herself feel something like hope in her heart.

Oum stood over Darcy's body, keeping her weapons pointed at the dark persona the entire time.

"I cared about my daughter's friends, Marcy and Sasha, in spite of everything that she told us that happened, I still care about you. But you, you're not my daughter's friend. You're something that took control of her and are holding her against Marcy's will! I don't know how to free Marcy…but…" Oum cocked the blasters, recharging them for a charged shot. "I'm sorry, Marcy. I know you're hurting inside…forgive me."

"Mrs. Boonchuy…" Darcy got up on her hands and knees and glanced over her shoulder as the faceplate opened and the ten eyes looked up at Oum with sadness. "P-Please…don't…I'm trying to fight back…I-I don't want to die…!"

Oum hesitated, her hands shaking as she struggled to pull the triggers. The instincts of a mother were strong, and those same instincts were compelling her to help Marcy.

Just then, Anne noticed the tail of the stingray platform curling over her head. The tail started to hum a little louder and glow a little brighter. That's when I figured it out.

"MOM!" Anne warned.

The moment she turned her head, Darcy whispered, "So naive…"

The stingray platform shot a hard-light spike, the spike flew like an arrow and pierced Oum in the back. The force and speed of the weapon was strong enough to carry Oum off her feet, and nail her against the side of a wall. Needless to say, the ten-inch-wide spike had ripped apart her heart and lungs, and Oum remained on that spike as her grip loosened and the blasters fell from her hands.

Anne's eyes widened even further, her mind having a hard time processing what she was seeing, what had happened. The next few moments were a blur to her. She saw the platform fire something else, it looked like a pole. Darcy grabbed it, twirled it around, and transformed it into a beam scythe.

"STOP IT!" Anne screamed as she, once again, tried to run off the platform.

Yet again, her bonds electrocuted her, but Anne's fury and anger refused to die down. She used it as fuel to get back up and try again, but the electrocution kept happening.

With her new weapon, the dark persona went on a rampage, slicing and slashing through Anne's loved ones. No one was spared, her father was cut in half, Hop Pop was diced up, and Darcy used a beam dagger to skewer Polly. Sprig and Grime were last, with Sasha still on the ground. Darcy slashed the ground, sending an energy wave towards them.

Grime and Sprig were blasted in two different directions, but as Darcy readied to cut down Sprig, Grime intercepted. The cost of his actions was his right arm. However, Darcy didn't stop there, she sliced off his left arm, and then in one sweep, cut off his legs, leaving Grime as a limbless torso bleeding out on the ground. Sprig, with fear in his eyes, begged for Marcy to stop, but her reply was to cut off his head before even Sprig felt it.

"And then there was one…" Darcy disengaged the scythe and holstered it on her back as she walked up to Sasha and grabbed her by the collar of her leather armor, hoisting her into the air. "Now, Elizabeth, what shall I do with you? Savisa, my love, do you have any requests?"

Anne was on her hands and knees, panting heavily as her entire body was wracked with pain from the constant shocks she was receiving. Her vision was fading in and out, but her anger was the only thing that was keeping her from fully losing consciousness.

"I'll…I'LL KILL YOU!" Anne declared.

"You still haven't learned your lesson, my love? I guess Elizabeth will serve as the final lesson then. And if this doesn't work, then it's the control collars, as boring as that will be," said Darcy.

"Screw you…Darcy…do your fucking worst…" Sasha dared.

"Elizabeth don't tempt me with a good time. I've had so many fantasies about what I was going to do to you. Although, they took place mostly in the castle, and in the privacy of my bedchambers. But, hey, I don't mind an audience!" Darcy exclaimed.

Sasha flinched when she felt Darcy's right hand wrap around her left forearm.

"Let's see…we'll start with this!"

*CRACK!*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sasha screamed.

Darcy had used her augmented strength to snap the bones in Sasha's forearm, causing the blonde teen to wail in pain.

"Oh, I'm sure that hurts, Elizabeth. Let's see what else we can do!"

Darcy moved her right hand to Sasha's left thigh, with her armored thumb, she pushed the claw tipped digit into the wound she had caused earlier. The dark persona dug her thumb deeper and deeper into the gash, causing fresh blood to pour out while Sasha's screams of pain only intensified.

Anne fought against her bonds again, feeling the metal digging into her skin, but even that pain was being smothered by the shocks. The Thai teen gritted her teeth through it all, her eyes narrowed as she focused all her hate and rage on Darcy, with a single-minded purpose of freeing herself and making her pay.

Darcy threw Sasha to the ground and once she had, the dark persona straddled the hips of the blonde as she whipped out her beam dagger, making Sasha go still.

"Hmm…now what shall I do next?" Darcy had the tip of the beam dagger hover around Sasha's midsection as she looked at Sasha's frightened face. "Shall I perform a little surgery? Do some anatomy lessons? Take out each one of your internal organs and explain their functions to you? I'm sure you'd both benefit from this, Marcy's memories recalled that you had a "B" in biology, ironic. Savisa, you might benefit as well, your grades were especially horrible–!"

"DAMN YOU, DARCY, ENOUGH! STOP IT!"

Darcy rolled all ten of her eyes.

"Oh, well. Time for that anatomy lesson, Elizabeth," said Darcy. "Any last words?"

"SCREW YOU AND THE SKANK, BITCH NEWTS THAT GAVE BIRTH TO YOUR OLD ASSES!" Sasha spat.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR MOTHERS!" The many voices of the Core yelled.

Darcy raised her beam dagger and plunged it straight into Sasha's stomach. The blonde teen wailed in pain as she felt the burning blade pierce through her. The dark persona's grin widened from behind the helmet, laughing maniacally as she slowly moved the blade up, cutting a deeper gash into Sasha's abdomen, causing the blonde girl to bleed profusely from her wound.

"DARCY, I'LL KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS!" Anne yelled as she continued to struggle and getting shocked for her efforts.

Again, Darcy rolled her eyes as she said, "Guess I really do need to slap a control collar on you if you're going to be this–"

[Warning: Incoming Object]

Darcy stopped and got off Sasha.

"Ugh, did those military goons get their weapons systems back online? Analyze and determine object's origin!" Darcy ordered.

"MASTER, WHAT'S WRONG?" Andrias asked.

"Seems that someone has the balls to ruin my fun, and sent something to us," Darcy answered.

[Analysis Complete. Object's point of origin is not terrestrial.]

"What?! What is it then, and where is it?!"

[Warning: Unknown energy detected from incoming object! Approximate distance is–]

"MASTER, ABOVE US!" Andrias warned.

Darcy looked up into the air and watched as a crimson star came shooting down straight for their location.

"ALL FORCES, FIRE AT WILL! SHOOT THAT THING DOWN!" Darcy ordered.

The Frobots all turned their weapons towards the sky and began shooting in the direction of the red star. Multiple laser blasts and missiles were launched into the air, with just as many explosions going off. But despite the massive amount of firepower being launched at the object, it seemed to do nothing to change its trajectory, or even damage it.

Anne, after stopping for a moment to catch her breath, finally looked up, and noticed that the red star was heading right for her.

{Rage Detected.}

The red star suddenly gained a burst of speed as it zipped through the air. The Frobots were unable to keep up with the red star as it appeared over Anne before releasing a blinding red light. Inside that red light, Anne's eyes were drawn to a bright red object that floated in front of her. That light faded some and revealed the object to be a ring, a red ring with a strange symbol molded into the center of it. It almost resembled a bull.

{Anne Savisa Boonchuy, you have great rage in your heart. Your loved ones have been killed, and your enemy threatens to take another from you. Your world will burn, unless you are willing to take this ring and unleash your rage upon your foes…}

Anne furrowed her brow as the memories of the torture she endured from Darcy flashed through her mind. The sight of the destroyed Los Angeles. And of course, the deaths of her loved ones.

"I don't know what the hell you are…but if you're here to give me the power I need…THEN GIVE IT TO ME!" Anne roared.

In a matter of seconds, the red ring shot towards Anne and slipped over her right middle finger.

{You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.}

Anne suddenly felt pain erupting through her body, worse than what she had felt before. The red sphere of light that had kept her concealed had faded away and allowed everyone to witness the transformation. Anne felt something building up in her throat, and a moment after, she threw up copious amounts of blood. She retched like this a second time, and then a third time before she had finally stopped.

"SAVISA!" Darcy cried out with concern.

"A-A-Anne…!" Sasha weakly yelled in equal concern.

[Warning: Detecting physical anomalies within human subject.]

Anne started to feel something, her veins, every single one of them, felt like they were on fire, as if the very blood in her veins was replaced by this liquid flame. The beating of her heart suddenly stopped, she felt it stop. However, she didn't die, she was still breathing and conscious. The familiar beating of her heart was no longer in her chest, but now, somehow, was being mimicked by the ring that was around her finger. The pain that had wracked her body from the ring was now replaced by power, invigorating all the cells that comprised her being, and nullifying the pain that she had endured earlier.

The Thai teen slowly rose to her feet as the brown coloring of her irises was replaced with a harsh red glow. Anne, with all her might, yelled a fierce battle cry into the air. Somehow, the power of the ring amplified this cry, turning it into a bestial roar that released pressurized waves of force that made even Andrias in his battle armor have to brace. The chains that kept Anne bound shattered apart as the red light from the ring started to coat Anne's body. The light continued to layer itself over her until her entire body was covered from head to toe. A few seconds later, the red layer of light shattered, breaking off into pieces from her as it revealed Anne, but in a new form.

Her eyes were shining bright red, with hair glowing the same color, and flickering around wildly like fire. Her uniform, which was tattered to begin with, had been destroyed, replaced with something else. Arms were covered in silver colored armor, with that same armor covering her chest and shoulders, but leaving her collar and midsection exposed. Around her waist was a crimson sash, with the longest part of that sash hanging down in front of her and bearing the same symbol as the ring she wore. Instead of a skirt, she now wore black, baggy pants, and around her feet were silver metal boots.

What…What is this?! This isn't the stones' power! This…This is something else! Darcy thought.

Anne got down on all fours, like a beast ready to attack her prey, her red glowing eyes briefly changed to normal as they rested on Sasha. The empowered teen bolted from the platform, the force of her take off was enough that the platform was crushed and sent it flying in the opposite direction as it plowed through some Frobots before exploding.

Anne appeared right in front of Darcy and used her right hand to grab ahold of her face.

"I'll deal with you in a minute," Anne promised.

Anne spun around and tossed Darcy like a ragdoll straight towards Andrias. The King of Amphibia wasn't fast enough as his master impacted right into his chest and sent both of them tumbling in the air. With that done, Anne moved closer to Sasha as the blonde looked up at her friend with equal parts relief and concern.

"Anne…is that…are you…?" Sasha didn't know what to ask right now. Anne looked different, powerful, scary.

"Don't worry about me."

"But–!"

"Waybright, shut the hell up and let me get your ass out of here!" Anne stated.

Sasha went silent. Anne's voice was filled with anger, but she could still hear the concern for the blonde's safety in it.

Anne's aura flared around her body, and in a flash she jumped into the air and took off. She flew through the air for a few seconds before spotting what looked like a military operating base. Anne landed in front of the base, causing the soldiers to immediately draw their weapons as they pointed them at her.

"HALT!" they ordered.

"This girl needs a doctor, she's injured, badly," said Anne as she started walking towards them.

"FIRE!"

"ANNE!"

The soldiers all started to fire their rifles at Anne, unleashing a hailstorm of bullets at her. However, when the bullets hit her and Sasha, each one of them just flattened harmlessly against them. It was then that Sasha noticed that the thin red aura that outlined Anne's body was also around her as well, leading her to believe that it was a kind of defensive barrier. The soldiers continued this shooting for the next couple of minutes before stopping.

"You done yet?" Anne asked, annoyed.

A couple of soldiers appeared, this time with rocket launchers.

"Oh, for Frog's sake!"

The soldiers fired their rockets. Before they hit, Anne's ring reacted, creating a dome of red light over them. The two rockets impacted against the barrier and exploded, but when the smoke cleared, Anne's barrier was still up, not a scratch to be seen.

"Okay, either you guys stop this bullshit, or heads are, literally, going to start rolling!" she warned.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

The soldiers parted and that's when Anne saw a familiar face, albeit one that made her growl with anger.

"Mr. X."

"Hello, again, Ms. Boonchuy. That's quite the makeover you've got there," said Mr. X.

Anne growled a little more, her hands curling.

"OW!" Sasha exclaimed.

Anne quickly loosened her grip as she said, "S-Sorry, sorry!"

"I-I-It's okay. Anne, Mr. X is with us…he's the one who gave your…your mom and dad the weapons to help fight and rescue you," Sasha informed.

Anne looked at Mr. X who nodded at her.

"Then get someone out here to take care of Sasha! Her left arm is broken, she's got a bad wound on her left thigh, and her stomach's cut open!" Anne ordered. "And do it now, because they'll be coming soon!"

Mr. X nodded again and looked at one of the soldiers as he said, "GET ME A MEDIC OUT HERE, ASAP!"

The soldier saluted and ran off to go and get a medic.

Mr. X crossed the distance to Anne and held out his arms. Anne, reluctantly, placed Sasha in his arms as she turned around to face the city.

"Where's everyone else?" Mr. X asked.

"…"

"…"

"I…I see…" Mr. X lowered his gaze a little. "I'm sorry, Anne."

"…Save it. This isn't your fault. They…They came to save me…and because of me…they're all dead…except for Sasha. Heh, small miracles," said Anne.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm going to kill them all…"

Anne's aura flared as she prepared to take off again.

"ANNE, WAIT!" The Thai teen glanced at Sasha. "I know Darcy killed everyone, but you can't kill her! Please, promise me you'll at least try and save Marcy! Please!"

Anne didn't give a response as she jumped into the air and flew back towards the city.

---

Darcy and King Andrias had managed to stop themselves from flailing through the air, with the former furious about this turn of events as she now stood atop a skyscraper, with Andrias behind her.

"What in the hell was that?! That power…it wasn't from the gems, but it wasn't like anything I've ever seen either!" Darcy complained.

"WHATEVER IT IS, MASTER, IT'S SEEMS TO HAVE AUGMENTED HER PHYSICAL POWER. SIMILAR TO HOW THE HEART GEM ENHANCED HER PHYSICAL ABILITIES," Andrias observed.

"No shit, blue boy! That power, the object, it came from outside this planet's atmosphere! Which means, it came from somewhere in space! Start scanning the outer atmosphere, I don't want any more of those things coming in and–!"

"DAARRRRRCCCCYYYYYYY!"

Just then, a red comet plummeted straight down in middle of the city. A great explosion erupted from the impact as crimson flames ignited around the area. From those flames walked out Anne Boonchuy, her eyes now glowing bright red as she slowly advanced towards the army of robots and the two giant herons.

Darcy saw this and with a wave of her hand, took over the multiple jumbotrons and TVs around the city so that her face and voice could reach Anne.

"Anne, I don't know how you became what you are now. But I will give you this chance to surrender. I do not want to kill you, my love, but you're going to leave me with little choice in the matter if you act like this!" Darcy warned.

Anne chuckled at the warning, her laughter echoing through the streets as she continued to laugh loudly and hard.

"DARCY! I'M GOING TO TEAR IT ALL DOWN! YOU'RE ARMY! YOUR CASTLE! EVERY GODDAMN THING YOU AND ANDRIAS BUILT! I'LL BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND!"

The rage aura ignited around Anne once again, but this time something else happened. From Anne's back, four extra arms appeared. These arms were red in color, hard-light constructs that clenched their fists and sparked with crimson energy. The ground beneath Anne's feet buckled and fissured under her growing power, and even when Darcy's scanners tried to analyze the energy, it couldn't get an accurate reading as it kept coming up as "Unknown". Anne once again got into her bestial stance as the four extra arms flexed their fingers.

Darcy growled as she yelled her command, "ALL FORCES…KILL ANNE BOONCHUY!"

The Frobots all released their weapons and unleashed a barrage on Anne. Lasers and missiles soared through the air as they all converged on her position, setting off a huge explosion, but they didn't stop. More and more the robots continued to fire, creating multiple explosions one after the other. However, amongst the flames and smoke, a single red light shined brightly. That same red light shot through the flames and smoke with enough force to push them aside as she flew across the street and right at the army in front of her. Some of the Frobots switched from long range weapons to beam blades and saw blades, and four of those Frobots bravely – stupidly really – charged in to try and cut her down.

The first two Frobots came down with their sawblades to try and slice Anne apart. But Anne used her upper arm constructs to block the blades, using their forearms as shields. The sawblades released horrible screeching sounds and sparks as they tried to cut through the hard-light construct arms but were failing to do so. Anne raised her right fist as the red ring glowed. With a swipe of her fist, Anne made a beam of red light shoot out as she slashed both of the Frobots in front of her. The two robots' torso lower halves fell off before they exploded a moment after. The other two Frobots tried to attack Anne from behind with their beam blade hands, but Anne was quicker. She turned around and used her real hands to grab the blades. The Frobots tried to push forward, tried to cut her down, but Anne wasn't budging even one inch.

Anne roared with fury as she clenched her two hands into fists, and with that rage fueled power, shattered the beam swords of the two Frobots. Both of the Frobots had a look of utter confusion as to how she managed to do something like that, but their confusion didn't last long as Anne cocked back both of her lower arms and thrust them forward, punching the Frobot's in their chests. Immediately after, a burst of red light exploded from behind their backs, leaving big holes that sparked for a couple of seconds before they exploded.

The Thai teen whirled around and charged in for the rest of the robot army. Landing right in the middle of them as she started to attack. Her punches hit hard, caving in the metal frogs' heads and chests with one blow, some tried to block her attacks, but found it utterly impossible as she continued to wail on them. Her six arms were proving to be very useful as she blocked some attacks with them, counterattacked, and then fired off small blasts of fist shaped energy from them.

Anne grabbed one of the Frobots with her right upper arm, crunching the head of the Frobot, and then tossed it like a tin can at another. The impact sent both flying into a group of their fellow Frobots, knocking them down like bowling pins. Another Frobot managed to get behind her and wrapped its arms around her, restraining Anne, for all the good it would do them.

{I got her!} it called out.

A Frobot came charging in with a beam sword, believing that this was its chance to skewer Anne and kill her. However, once the metal frog was close enough, Anne inhaled, and then, to Darcy and Andrias's shock and awe, released blazing breath of liquid plasma energy. The Frobot out in front got drenched in the burning plasma and was now on fire and melting, in a matter of seconds, the Frobot's entire body had been reduced to molten slag. Anne managed to focus her thoughts; she was starting to understand how this ring worked. Her rage gave her power, and it was through her rage she could make whatever she wanted.

The red ring glowed bright again, a moment later, the Frobot that was restraining her suddenly found its top half getting chomped off by a new creation. After being released, Anne turned around and saw that she had recreated the Scorpileo. The beast roared and then began lunging at the Frobots, tearing them apart with its fangs, claws, and piercing through others with its spiked tail.

Anne smirked as she flew into the air, looked down at a battalion of the Frobots, and then unleashed her napalm blood breath. A torrent of this crimson plasma flame washed over the robots, incinerating them on the spot and causing other things that were splashed by it to hiss and sizzle. Anne suddenly got sideswiped by a huge, wrecking ball sized mace that sent her crashing into a building. Before she could figure out what hit her, the entire building she was knocked into started to rumble before it completely collapsed with her still inside it.

The thing that had hit her was a Tanker Frobot, one several times larger than the foot soldier types. More started to come to the side of the one that attacked her and collapsed the building, but as soon as they arrived, a blast of red light shot out of the rubble and debris, and from it rose Anne.

"You wanna go?! THEN LET'S FUCKING GO!"

The first Tanker Frobot swung its mace hand again, but unlike last time, Anne was ready. She used all six of her hands to block the attack, catching the mace and stopping it completely. Anne yelled loudly as she dug her fingers into the mace, making the metal groan from her grasp. Using her unnatural strength, Anne flew into the air and lifted the heavy Tanker Frobot with her. The large robot was helpless as Anne began swinging it around, faster and faster, making the robot's eyes show swirls. With another loud yell, Anne tossed the Tanker Frobot straight towards the floating castle. Of course, the robot never hit the castle as it exploded once it hit the defensive barrier surrounding it.

The other Tanker Frobots switched to their huge rotating cannons and began shooting at Anne while she was in the air. The beam blasts from these guys were a little bigger and hit harder, so Anne took evasive maneuvers as she flew down towards her second target. Although she could focus her mind, it was difficult to come up with more complex constructs as her rage idled mind made it hard to think about that kind of stuff. But things like the Scorpileo weren't that difficult. And there was another thing that was simple enough to create.

Anne raised all six of her hands as she formed a huge construct sword that rose high into the air. With one great swing, Anne brought the skyscraper cleaving blade down onto the Tanker Frobot, carving it straight down the middle, and dismissing the sword before it could hit the street below. The two halves of the Tanker Frobot fell to either side before exploding. The other four Tankers lowered their arms to aim at Anne, but the Thai girl charged her ring, and fired a huge blast of crimson energy straight at another of the robots, burning away its head and top half before it too exploded. Anne hurriedly flew out of the line of fire as multiple energy blasts struck the street where she once was.

The destroyer flew at another Tanker and pierced into its body. The Tanker Frobot looked distressed as it looked down at the hole in its body but finding that Anne had not exited. The other Tanker Frobots looked at their companion, making the pierced Tanker look at them with worry. The remaining three Tankers all aimed their rotating laser cannons at that one Tanker.

{No! Wait!} it begged.

However, its pleas fell on deaf ears as the other three began shooting at it. They fired continuously, riddling the Tanker Frobot with holes. Their companion fell over and exploded a moment later, but they continued to fire nonetheless, not taking any chances that Anne survived that explosion and fire. After they finished, the only thing that was left was a smoldering crater. Yet there was still no sign of Anne. Just then, three huge blades rose out of the street from below all three Tankers, cutting them in half as the blade constructs pointed into the air. The robots exploded a few seconds after being bisected as Anne broke out from the street below and into the air.

Anne then charged up all six of her fists as she began rapidly punching the air out in front of her, shooting off more fist sized blasts of energy as they exploded against the ground, destroying multiple Frobots left and right. Some of the attacks destroyed buildings and other structures, but she didn't care, she had enemies to destroy, so long as there was no one inside these buildings, they were just collateral damage.

"Huh, there's a thought," said Anne.

The Thai teen flew down, charged her ring up as much as she could, and then fired a beam of red light that extended for a few miles out in front of her. Anne then spun around as that hot, red, blade of light cut through every building in a three-mile radius of where she was floating. Once she had made a full three-sixty-degree spin, Anne dismissed the blade. The buildings all groaned as they no longer had any stability, and in just a matter of seconds the multiple tall structures all fell forward, dominoing against each other as they collapsed and crashed onto the streets below. The Frobots that were in the streets couldn't escape in time as all of them were crushed by the falling skyscrapers, setting off a series of explosions one after the other.

Anne had flown over the destruction, watching as her attack caused major damage to the city, but then again, it was already severely damaged in the initial attack by Darcy and Andrias, not like knocking over several buildings was going to make it worse. Just then, Anne found herself getting snatched up in the jaws of something big. That's when she saw that she was now in the beak of one of the giant herons, its sharp teeth coming down to try and pierce her flesh but finding it hard to do thanks to Anne's protective shield layer.

"Hop Pop said that two herons killed Sprig and Polly's parents…I'm guessing it was you two!"

The second heron flew towards the first, its own beak opening wide to come and aid the first in tearing Anne apart.

"If you really are those same herons, then it's time for some payback!" Anne declared.

Anne used her monster strength to pry the heron's beak open as she flew out of it and came around to deliver a flying kick to its face, throwing the bird down towards the ground. For the second heron, Anne flew at it. Its beak was still open and ready to bite down on her, but instead of avoiding it, she flew into its mouth, just far enough so that she didn't get swallowed by it. The heron brought down its beak in an attempt to eat her, but Anne used her upper arms to push up on the upper half the beak, while using her strong legs to keep the lower half from closing. She was right at the entrance to the heron's throat as she glared down into its gullet.

"IF YOU WANT TO EAT SOMETHING, THEN EAT THIS!"

Anne inhaled deeply and then fired another napalm blood breath blast down into the heron's throat. The burning plasma fire made the heron's eyes widen with both pain and panic as it jerked its head back and forth, trying to dislodge Anne from its mouth, but that wasn't happening. Anne continued to shoot her blood breath attack down its throat, and as she did, the heron let out a gargled cry of pain as it felt its throat and stomach getting burned from the inside. A red spot started to form under the heron, and a moment later, the creature's stomach exploded, as the blood breath ate away its flesh and bone, spilling both that and the heron's internal organs. Entrails rained down from the sky and onto the debris ridden ground below before Anne released the heron. The giant avian beast fell limply from the sky and crashed onto the ground, its neck breaking upon impact, but at this point that was an act of mercy as its throat sizzled and dissolved, separating its head from the rest of its body.

The first heron saw the death of its companion and screeched loudly with vengeance in mind as it flew at Anne. The warrior of rage remained where she was as she formed two huge shuriken and tossed them at the heron. The two shuriken whistled as they cut through the air, and then cut off both of the heron's wings. Anne formed a construct bow and arrow, took aim, and then fired it. The arrow flew faster than a normal arrow should be capable of, and when it struck the head of the heron, red energy surged into its head before the head exploded.

Now that the ground forces had been decimated, and the herons slain, Anne turned her vengeful gaze onto Darcy and Andrias, with the former standing on Andrias's shoulder. It was clear even from this distance that Andrias and Darcy were completely taken aback by the sight of Anne's brutality, as well as her power. Neither one of them had prepared any kind of countermeasures for this sort of development, but neither were they willing to give up now.

Andrias had sacrificed too much, had committed too many horrible acts to just let this invasion be undone by one human child.

For the Core, this wasn't about to stand, not after finally regaining the music box after a thousand years. All that time waiting and plotting, and to have it all undone by one girl, it was utterly preposterous to even fathom.

And for Darcy? Well, she was conflicted. On the one hand, Anne was incredibly dangerous, homicidal, and overpowered to the max right now, probably as much as a danger to herself as she was to them. On the other hand, Anne's current appearance was incredibly hot to look at.

Anne's aura flared up as she roared with hatred and vengeance in her soul. The Thai teen shot towards Andrias and Darcy faster than a rocket as a sonic boom erupted behind her. All three of Anne's right fists cocked back before striking Andrias's armor mech body in the chest. Darcy was sent flying off the machine and into the air, but a quick command to the castle made another floating stingray platform fly out and catch her before she started falling. Once she was on the stingray platform, Darcy stood up and allowed it to equip some additional armaments. A couple of back mounted laser cannons, a pair of rocket boots, two wrist mounted beam guns, and a belt which holstered a number of hilts that created different beam weapons.

Now outfitted for battle, Darcy took off from her floating platform and began shooting at Anne with her back mounted laser cannons. Anne formed a shield out in front of her as the multiple beams exploded against its surface. Andrias seemed to have recovered from Anne's attack as he now flew straight towards her, cocking back his left fist as he struck the distracted Anne. The Thai teen tumbled through the air before she managed to correct herself and flew back towards her targets. This time all six of her hands were armed with a construct sword as she readied to slice up her opponents.

The battle mech's tail started to glow, and a moment later, fired off directional energy beams that took the form of salamanders. The salamander beams flew threw the air as they started to converge on Anne's location. But Anne wasn't afraid, fear wasn't in her vocabulary in this state. As one of the beams got closer to her, she slashed its head off, she did this for the next five beams, and diced up the sixth with all six before they exploded around her. Anne continued towards them, but Darcy flew in with her beam scythe and clashed her blades with Anne's. Darcy grunted from the sheer power of Anne's impact, while Anne growled like a feral beast, the corners of her mouth dripping with blood.

"I must say! I'm really impressed by this new power you have, Savisa! You're like a warrior goddess right now!" Darcy exclaimed.

"I HOPE YOU'RE THIS FUCKING HORNY WHEN I BREAK YOUR ARMS AND LEGS, AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH!" Anne screamed.

"Oh, Savisa, you are the only one worthy of being at my side! Think about it, please! With your power, and the power of the Calamity Box, we could rule the entire multiverse together! There're probably some other versions of your mom and dad, of the Plantars, Grime, Olivia, and Yunan! We just have to find the right universe and we can pluck them up! You can have them back, my love!" Darcy promised.

Anne growled even louder as her aura released a burst that made Darcy back away. The red warrior flew at her again as she swung wildly, making Darcy have to quickly parry and block each of the wild strikes, which wasn't easy considering Anne now had six arms.

"YOU JUST WANT TO REPLACE THEM?! JUST LIKE THAT?! THEN THE SAME APPLIES TO ME TOO!" Anne flew in from the right, but Darcy fired her wrist mounted beam gun. The red warrior quickly evaded the attack, rolling out of the shot before coming in with a spinning roundhouse kick and nailing Darcy in her back.

The dark persona coughed violently from the pain erupting her back before she was sent flying. Anne flew on an intercept path as she dismissed the sword in her right middle hand and charged her ring.

"YOU CAN JUST KILL ME AND GET ANOTHER ANNE, RIGHT?! JUST LIKE THAT!"

Anne fired a powerful crimson energy blast, but Darcy quickly activated a hexagonal sphere barrier around herself as the crimson beam crashed against her shield and exploded. The red warrior dismissed her blades and landed on top of her shield bubble, glaring bloody daggers at Darcy.

"NO, SAVISA! You're special! And you'll always be special! Even if I found another Anne, she wouldn't be like you! You're irreplaceable! Try and see what we can offer each other!" Darcy bargained.

"The only thing I want to offer you…is my hand in your chest, ripping out your beating heart!"

Anne inhaled again and released another blast of her napalm blood breath. The plasma fire blast washed over the barrier, making even the energy that sustained it begin to dissolve. Thinking quickly, Darcy opened a hole at the bottom of the barrier, letting herself go into free fall before kicking on her rocket boots and flying away as the barrier fell. Anne was about to give chase, but Andrias came in and threw an energy infused punch. The red warrior responded by throwing all three of her left fists against Andrias's right. The two attacks collided, creating a shockwave that threw both parties back several feet.

"YOU CAN'T WIN AGAINST ME! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH BEFORE THIS DAY IS OVER!" Anne decreed.

"YOU POSSIBLY COULD, BUT THEN AGAIN, YOU SEEM TO BE FORGETTING SOMETHING," said Andrias.

"AND THAT IS?!"

"We're still smarter than you, Savisa. And your dumbass is too rage idled to realize we were getting you into position," Darcy answered.

Anne realized too late what they meant, she turned around quickly just in time to watch as the castle's main cannon dropped the hammer and fired its super weapon. A huge blast of energy hit Anne, taking her all the way down towards the center of Los Angeles before the beam hit the ground and set off a massive explosion that created a mushroom cloud. What buildings that were standing earlier no longer were as the explosion knocked them down or disintegrated them immediately. Darcy and Andrias floated high above the destruction, both protected by hexagonal energy shields from the explosion as they gazed upon the ruins of Los Angeles.

"AS POWERFUL AS SHE WAS, MY LORD, I DON'T THINK EVEN SHE WAS CAPABLE OF SURVIVING THAT," said Andrias.

"I concur…still…I wish it didn't have to be this way. She would've made an excellent queen, but I guess I will have to pluck up another Anne from another universe. She won't be the same, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it." Darcy looked down at the smoldering crater below, and sighed. "Alright then, let's start the final clean up of these hairless apes and start mining its resources in full. If we manage to find Sasha, have her brought to the palace, Andrias. Understood? Understood? Andrias, I'm talking to you!"

Darcy looked up, and that's when she noticed that the eyes of Andrias's mech weren't looking at her, but rather, were looking down at the fiery crater that used to be Los Angeles.

[Abnormal energy signature rising.]

"No…i-i-it can't be!"

The flames that made up the crater all started to flicker into a different color, a strong heartbeat could be heard thumping from the center of those flames, and a moment later, they went from an angry orange color to a bright crimson color. The flames swirled about, transforming into a red fire tornado and forced the two invaders to fly higher and away from it. That's when they saw something emerging from the flames. It was two huge arms with intricate patterns woven into them, and each hand had claw tipped fingers. Another pair of the same huge arms came out of the flame tornado, and a moment later, the rest of what they were attached to emerged. It was a construct, humanoid in shape, but its head was demonic, with long curling fangs, five horns, sharp ears, and white glowing eyes. The construct stood at about twenty feet, the four huge arms extending outwards to about the same length. At the center of the construct, where its heart would be, they could spot Anne Boonchuy, the one controlling the construct.

The Core felt something for the first time in countless years, fear. Anne Boonchuy, and this power she now possessed, it made her into something far beyond even their wildest calculations and simulations. This was a power on a completely different scale from the gems. And if they didn't kill her now, she could destroy so much more than just them.

"FIRE AGAIN! SHE NEEDS TO DIE BEFORE SHE WIPES US ALL OUT!" The Core warned.

The castle's main cannon quickly began to power up, taking aim at the monster at the center of what used to be LA. The construct released a bestial roar of dominance as its four huge arms came together in front of itself. The construct mimicked Anne's movements as she widened her stance and gathered more of her red energy towards the center, creating a massive ball of flaring crimson energy. The castle had finished powering up and fired its main cannon for the second time. Anne roared as she thrusted all six of her arms forward, making the construct do the same as she fired a huge blood red beam of power at the incoming beam cannon blast.

The two beams collided in the air, creating a huge shockwave that could be felt for miles and miles. The two beams struggled in the air, both pushing back on each other and fighting for supremacy. However, Anne wasn't about to be beaten by some castle. With a powerful roar of rage, the beam she fired quadrupled in size. The huge blood red beam crashed against the smaller beam, pushing it back at a rapid pace as it slammed against the shield wall, but even that shield wasn't able to withstand such a huge beam as it shattered the shield and bore a hole straight through the castle. A moment after, the entire floating fortress exploded in the air.

Darcy and Andrias looked on in disbelief as their entire castle came crashing down from the sky, exploding a second time once it made landfall, reducing it to a fiery heap of metal and concrete.

Anne dismissed the construct and flew up straight at Andrias. The red warrior dismissed her two construct right arms and created a giant construct drill around her right hand. Once she was in range, Anne thrusted the spinning drill bit forward, piercing through the mech's armor as it dug a hole through the chest of the exosuit's armor. The only thing that could be heard was Andrias's screams of terror before the drill found him and tore him apart before piercing through the other side. Anne wasn't done yet, she built up a charge in the ring, and unleashed it while her construct was still in the chest of the machine, causing it to explode from the inside out, ending the life of the King of Amphibia.

With Andrias dead, she moved onto her last and final foe. Anne remade her two right construct arms and flew at Darcy, with the dark persona still too stunned to even take evasive action. Anne capitalized on this and began throwing rapid fire punches with all six of her fists. Each of the six fists collided with Darcy, striking her from different angles and shattering her various weapons and armor pieces. Anne dismissed all her construct arms as she coated her entire right fist is blazing red energy before driving it straight into her face. But she didn't stop, Anne kept driving the punch as both of them fell towards the ground. Like a red comet, the two hit the ground, hard, causing a great, thundering "BOOM" throughout the area.

A huge cloud of dust was kicked up into the air, obscuring a lot from sight. But what could be seen was Darcy. She was crawling away, with different parts of her armor now missing, exposing the vulnerable human skin underneath. Her helmet was cracked, and some of the eyes were no longer functioning, and even the mouth plate had been broken off as blood trickled from the side of her mouth.

"DARCY!" The dark persona froze and turned in the direction of the voice. That's when she saw Anne walking out from the dust cloud as some of the lingering flames burned behind her. "I didn't say you could leave."

"S-S-Savisa…p-p-please have mercy…!" Darcy begged.

"Mercy? Really? I don't remember you giving any to Yunan, Grime, and Olivia! I don't remember seeing any mercy given to Polly, Sprig, or Hop Pop! AND I DEFINITELY DIDN'T SEE ANY MERCY FOR MY MOM AND DAD!" Anne roared.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I beg your forgiveness! Just please, think rationally about this!"

Anne closed the distance on Darcy and grabbed her by the throat with her left hand, hoisting her up into the air as she continued to glare at her.

"IF YOU KILL ME, YOU'LL KILL MARCY TOO! CAN YOU REALLY LIVE WITH THAT, SAVISA?! CAN YOU REALLY LIVE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU KILLED YOUR FRIEND, SOMEONE WHO HAS NO CONTROL OVER HER ACTIONS! I MAY BE GUILTY, BUT SHE IS INNOCENT! IS YOUR VENGEANCE WORTH HER LIFE?!"

Anne raised her right fist, and the ring glowed brighter.

"YOU DIE! END OF STORY!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"

"Please, promise me you'll at least try and save her! Please!"

A powerful blast of red light shot into the air, a beam that could be seen for miles around, signaling the end of the invasion.

---

(6 Months Later…)

The rhythmic beating of the heart monitor could be heard echoing in the hospital room. The sun was shining, with the warm rays coming in through the open window as a gentle breeze blew in, making the blinds dance for a moment. In this room lay the young girl known as Marcy Wu. Her eyes were closed, with a number of medical equipment keeping track of her vitals, while IVs fed her fluids and essential nutrients to keep her body strong.

Sitting in a chair to Marcy's right was Sasha Waybright. She was dressed in a plain pink shirt, and a pair of jean shorts. She had cut her hair a while back and was now neck length. Her arm had healed from its breakage months ago, although it was still a little tender, but that would go away after some time. The same could be said for the wound in her leg. That would take a little longer to heal since the weapon that caused it burned parts of the bone when it pierced. This made her walk with a limp, but it wasn't that bad. The internal damage to her organs was cause for concern, but thankfully she managed to recover nicely from those wounds, and of course, she got another "neat" scar out of it.

Sasha had the TV on, tuned into the news as the news anchors commented on "Frog-vasion", the weeklong invasion that was suddenly brought to an end by a figure clad in red. Some called the red warrior a hero, others called them a greater threat than the invaders considering they were able to take out the entire army on their own. Sasha turned to look at Marcy: six months later and she still hadn't awakened from her coma. She was happy that Marcy was alive, but she worried if her friend would ever awaken.

"Your hair's getting long, Mar-Mar. I should probably cut it," said Sasha.

"I think she looks better with longer hair."

Sasha froze and then turned to her right. Anne was standing next to the window; she hadn't even heard her come in. The Thai teen was dressed in a red tank top, with a pair of ripped jeans, black combat boots, and a red hoodie tied around her waist. When Sasha looked up at Anne's face, her eyes were still tinted red, and even after six months, Anne still had the angry look on her face. In her left hand she had a bouquet of flowers, and on her right middle finger was her ring.

"Just my two cents," said Anne.

"Hey, Anne…been a while," Sasha greeted.

"I saw you and Marcy three months ago."

"Not much since then…"

Anne growled as she retorted, "Look, don't start guilt tripping me, alright? I'm doing the best I can!"

"No, Anne, I'm sorry… That's not what I meant…" Sasha apologized.

Anne released a sigh as she said, "Don't take it personally, you know how I am now."

The Thai teen walked to the other side of Marcy's bed and placed the bouquet of flowers into a vase with some others.

"Any change?" Anne asked.

"Not much, they said her brain activity is improving, so that's good. If this keeps up, they say she may wake up soon," said Sasha.

"…Good."

Sasha got up from her seat and walked over to Anne.

"Watch it, Sasha, your leg's still not a hundred percent," Anne warned.

"I can still walk around a room without much trouble, Boonchuy – WAH!"

Anne quickly turned around and caught Sasha in her arms, making the blonde girl blush from both embarrassment and…something else.

"I told you."

"Shut up," Sasha retorted.

Anne helped Sasha back to her feet as she finished placing the flowers in the vase. The Thai teen looked back down at the sleeping Marcy, a small bout of shame bubbling up inside of her. Something that Sasha noticed right away.

"You're still not blaming yourself for this, are you?" Sasha asked.

"I almost killed her, but I remembered your words and destroyed the helmet instead. I…I didn't think…"

"You did what you could, Anne. It's not like we had another option, Darcy was too dangerous, and you and I know that Marcy wouldn't have wanted to stay like that," Sasha argued.

Anne glanced at the still comatose Marcy and remarked, "And her being like this is any better?"

"You'd rather have her still be that psycho bitch?"

Anne shook her head, if anything, she wished Darcy was a physically separate person, at least then she could've enjoyed inflicting the same kind of pain Darcy had done to her. But doing so would've meant hurting Marcy, she was not the object of her rage. Although she still felt some anger towards the Taiwanese girl for whisking them all away to Amphibia, that was marginal, neglectable really.

"No, you're right. Anyway, I should go," said Anne as she readied to leave.

"Wait!" Sasha grabbed Anne's wrist, causing Anne to look back at her. "Just stay a little longer. I know Marcy would want you to."

"She doesn't need my aggro aura around her. Neither do you."

Sasha looked down at the ring on Anne's finger, her brow furrowing at the sight of it.

"Then, take off the ring, Anne," she suggested.

Anne chuckled and replied, "Wow, you want me to die?"

"You won't die if you take it off!"

"I will, no joke."

"What…?"

Anne took that same hand that had grabbed her wrist and forced Sasha to press it against her chest. The former cheerleader blushed bright red as she felt Anne's chest, completely at a loss for what she was doing.

"Do you feel it?" Anne asked.

"Depends on what I should be feeling right now, Anne," said Sasha nervously.

"My heart, Waybright. Do you feel my heartbeat?"

With that direction given, Sasha closed her eyes and took a moment to feel Anne's heartbeat. One second passed, then two, three, five, eleven, twenty seconds, then a full thirty seconds. Sasha's eyes flew open as she looked at Anne with deep concern, but her friend's expression remained the same.

"A-A-Anne! Y-You're heart! It's not beating! W-W-We need to call the doctors!" Sasha stated with worry.

"There's nothing they can do about it." Anne raised her right hand and drew Sasha's attention to the ring. "I learned a lot in these six months. I learned that this ring has taken over as my heart now. It's essentially my life support. If it runs out of charge, or if I take it off, I'll die since my heart is not beating anymore. So, no, Sash, I can't take it off, because I will literally die."

Sasha withdrew her hand from Anne's chest. This was unfair, her best friend was in a coma, and her other best friend was essentially a dead girl walking.

"Plus, it's because of this ring that you and Marcy are in this hospital getting the best medical care," Anne pointed out.

The blonde teen sighed dejectedly. Mr. X was able to swing a deal with the government that Anne would act as their deterrent for both domestic, international, and even extraterrestrial threats. In exchange, all three of their names would be stricken from any news reports or records, and Sasha and Marcy would receive the best healthcare and doctors to treat them and make them better. One bit of good news was that Mr. X was in charge of Anne, she reported to him and him alone, no other entity was allowed to give her orders. And, according to Anne, Mr. X was also in possession of the Calamity Gems.

"Did Mr. X ever tell you what he plans to do with those gems?" Sasha asked.

"For now, they're under lock and key. Somewhere where they can't be used by the government or anyone else," said Anne.

"Where's that?"

Anne pointed her ring out to her right. It glowed for a moment before a tear in space opened before them. Inside this red dimension, Sasha could see four different objects. The first three were the Calamity Gems, which were just floating there. Then there was the fourth object, it had an odd shape, but the center of it was glowing bright red. From what Sasha could discern, it looked almost like a lantern, albeit a strangely shaped and ominous looking lantern. Anne then closed the tear, returning that portion of space back to normal.

"It's a 'pocket dimension'. Only I can access it, so there's no chance of anyone using the gems," Anne explained.

"You know…we're going to have to go back someday. Six months…I can only imagine how much everyone is worried," said Sasha.

"I know…I'm not looking forward to telling them that we won the war but lost…" Anne gritted her teeth. "Anyway, like I said, I need to get going. X needs me to come in for a mission."

"Anne, wait a second."

"What is it now? Mmph!"

Anne suddenly found herself lip locked with Sasha. The blonde teenager had her eyes closed, and her hands clasped onto Anne's arms. The Thai teen raised her hands, as if she wanted to hug her, but then brought them in and gently pushed Sasha away.

"I'm sorry, Sash…we can't…I can't," said Anne.

Sasha teared up a little and replied, "No, I'm sorry. That was just my selfish side coming out."

Anne turned her back again as her red aura outlined her body.

"When Marcy wakes up, tell her I'm dead."

"What?!" Sasha exclaimed.

"I can't be anything more to you than a friend. And I know you like Marcy, too. Don't deny it."

Sasha blushed; she did indeed have a crush on Marcy.

"You two need to be happy, whether that's together or not, is up to you. But…I'll be around," said Anne.

Anne's body swiftly transformed into her Red Lantern form, and took off into the air, and away from the army base hospital. As she flew, Anne was picking up a transmission.

"Just wait a little longer, X, I'm heading to the meeting place," said Anne.

{I know, I know. I'm just wondering, you sure you want to go that route with your friends?}

Anne stopped flying and hovered as she asked, "How the hell do you know – Ugh, you have their rooms bugged don't you?"

{Considering you might go apeshit and burn the world if something happened to them, it's better that I keep a close eye on them.}

Anne couldn't deny that she most likely would burn the entire world if her friends died because of some assassin or something.

{You shouldn't deny yourself, Anne. Ms. Waybright seems to have deep feelings for you.}

"X, remember when I told you that I would die if my ring lost its charge?"

{Yes.}

"Well, another thing that will kill me is love."

{…Okay, honey, now I know you're BS-ing me.}

Anne chuckled as she resumed her flight.

"No joke. My ring's whole deal is rage, if my rage fades too much, like say, from being in love with someone. Then it'll remove itself and I'll die. Do you really think I want to put my friends through that? Knowing that being in love with either of them would kill me?" Anne asked.

{Protecting them from afar, huh? I guess the life of a hero isn't going to be easy for you, Ms. Scarlet Avenger.}

"Yeah, we seriously need to rework my codename."

{Power Levels at 50%,} the ring announced.

Anne stopped in the air and decided she should charge it now; she didn't like it getting below fifty percent if she could help it. The Thai teen reopened the tear in space and pulled out her Red Lantern Power Battery. With her left hand she held the battery, and with her right she pressed the ring against the glowing center of the lantern as she recited her oath.

"The power of the crimson red,

Can lead your soul away from dread.

And heal the deepest wounds of hate,

Let no one else decide your fate!"