RWBY Rangers: Remnants of the Grid

by DareDreamer

The Earth is under attack once again: this time from creatures that almost brought another world to its knees! Just when they thought their fight was over, Ruby and her friends must morph into action against a Grimm invasion that threatens to overwhelm Earth! With many more Power Rangers standing by their side, they must unlock hidden powers to defeat this threat... and another.

12. When We Fall

(WARNING: This chapter contains themes that may be distressing for some readers. Read at your own risk.)

To say Ruby was stunned would be an understatement. The woman's name eluded her, but her face was all too familiar. That dark ashen hair and her burning amber eyes that reflected the glow of the distant fires were just as bright as when Ruby had seen her in the hallway. That sadistic smirk remained resolute and those eyes burned deep into Ruby's shattered soul, the only color in the dead and grey scene around them. The ashes of those the woman had just vaporized without a second thought fell like snow over her features, each tiny speck a horrifying reminder of what - and of who - they once were.

Ruby's throat ached as she tried to get the words out, but keeping them in was just as painful. The girl pitifully lay on her knees before the woman, the haunting imagery of ash on her hands and body a grim sight the aptly-named monsters couldn't compare to. Even her dull eyes stung from the tears pouring down and her arms shook from the traumatizing events of just a few seconds ago…

"Whuh… w-why?" Ruby sobbed amidst a dreadful whimper. "Why would you do this? Y-you… you're a student… just like me…"

The woman scoffed so sharply that it made Ruby's trembling body jolt. She looked disgusted to hear such words. "It pleases me to finally say that I never was."

"Wh… wh-wh-what…" It was more of a squeak than a question. "B-b-but… but why-"

"No," she snapped, making Ruby flinch again. "I need to ask you why."

Ruby fell silent, her dimmed eyes still moist as ash stained her exposed face. The woman's face was tight and stern, those eyes glaring at Ruby with a quiet fury. She looked like a disappointed parent… and in many ways, that was how Ruby inexplicably felt before her gaze: fragile, fragile, small.

"Why…" she whispered so that only Ruby could hear the fire in her words. "...do you squander it?"

"I… I don't-"

"Why do you waste your time with them? Why do you let them hold you back? Why do you not use the most of what you have been given?"

Ruby had no ready response. She had no words for the questions that made no sense, even if her mind struggled to comprehend all the lives this woman had snuffed out like they were nothing. She slowly opened her mouth…

"Let me guess," the woman coldly interrupted. "Because you think you're a hero? Because you think you have a right, a duty, and an obligation to 'save' anybody beneath you? You use your power this way… because you think it's right? Or because it's a rule? A rule that has been drilled into your mind since you were an infant? A rule that your parents and teachers have constantly reminded you of until you believed it yourself?"

Ruby didn't think her heart could sink even lower and she sniffled again. "B-but… h-how…" She wiped at her face, but the tears kept falling. "H-h-how can you say that?"

"Because I see it for what it really is," the woman hissed. "It's a shackle on your neck that you never knew you were wearing, a chain that he has held in a tight grip ever since he met you. I wore one just like it for most of my life… and now, I've broken it. I'm so far away that it snapped. That's what you need to realize."

Ruby's lip quivered. "I-I… I d-don't understand."

"Of course you don't!" the woman suddenly roared. "You are just one of many children whose minds he's poisoned! Whose eyes he keeps shut from the truth! And you know what the truth is?" Her voice calmed back down as her unblinking gaze never turned from Ruby. "You. Didn't. Matter. To anybody. You were never a student or a hero… you were just something to be kept under the thumb of a higher power. A power that reined you in. A power that kept you from what you needed to be. What you should be."

Ruby blinked away the next set of tears. "Th… this is who I need to be."

"Is it?" the woman retorted. "All that talk of duty and destiny, and this is what you think it is?" She gestured at the scene around her before scoffing in disgust. "You could be so much more than that… much more than an asset who obediently follows everything you're told."

"N… no…" Ruby whimpered. "No, you're wrong! I-I'm making a difference here! I'm saving this world, these people, and-"

"What you are doing," the woman stopped her. "...is following the same rules for a different game board. Allowing the chain to be passed on to someone else."

"Wha… what do you-"

"Fine," It was a growl. "I'll spell it out for you. This is not Remnant. There, we had our lives chosen for us and I was the only one who realized it. We've been lorded over by those who see us as insignificant, who've controlled us from the day we were born. I craved the strength to break free from it for so long now… and here, on this clean slate, I finally found it."

Ruby still didn't understand what this woman was talking about. It was coming out as nonsensical drivel and Ruby couldn't begin to follow crazy logic like that.

"But I learned something about this world. It's breaking, slowly coming undone just like Remnant. And not by some malicious force or outside invasion… but by its own people. And the higher powers are doing nothing about it like they always do."

Ruby's face turned pale before she gritted her teeth and shook it off with frantic gasps, grabbing her forehead with both hands. "No… no, that's not… No, this is a trick! It has to be! Y-you're lying! You're LYING! You KILLED THEM! YOU'RE A LIAR AND A MURDERER!" She shot to her feet, her fist lashed out on its own…

…and it was caught by a talon-tipped hand, its owner still with indifference.

"For the first time in your life…" she spat. "I'm telling you the truth."

Ruby trembled down to her core, her tears dripping to her feet. She didn't want to hear more of this, but her body wouldn't listen. Her mind echoed with wails and screams amidst roaring flames. "A-a-all these people…" she sobbed, looking at the surrounding ash. "Th-th-they had lives… friends… family… h-happiness… h-how… how could you TAKE THAT FROM THEM?!"

"You want to save them?" the woman countered. "You want to keep this world from falling apart? Then. Listen."

Ruby wanted to scream at her. Refuse. Deny. Anything.

"This is not your world. These are not your people. You have no obligation to them and they'll realize that if they realize where you come from. You'll be nothing to them, just like how you were nothing before."

Ruby jerked back, trying to wrench her arm free, but the woman's grip was tighter than anything she had ever felt. She continued her tirade as if Ruby had never bothered to interrupt.

"They fight amongst themselves for the stupidest of reasons, discriminate against their own kind just because some don't look the same, and seek to destroy everything they fear or everything they see as beneath them. And that includes us, people from another world. Aliens. If they ever figure out you're from another planet, one where its people have more power than they ever will, they will hate you. They'll want you to go back, and if you can't, they'll kill you. But not unless we do something about it."

"NO!" Ruby shrieked. "I WON'T KILL THEM!"

"YOU DON'T NEED TO!" the woman fiercely screamed back. "You tell yourself that you need to help them, that you need to save them. You already know how to protect them from outside threats to the Grimm, but ask yourself this: how do you save these people from themselves?!"

Ruby stopped resisting and froze once again. Saving people from themselves… that would mean…

"I…" Her voice dropped to a squeaky whisper. "I… I-I can't."

"You can't?" the woman asked just as lowly. "Or you won't?"

"I… I p-promised…" Ruby sobbed. "A Ranger can't… helping people like that, it… it's against the rules."

"Rules are an excuse," the woman spat. "Rules are the chains keeping the collar on your neck. Rules are what they use to make sure you stay compliant and obedient, and nothing else. And following rules, following orders like I'm a goddamn puppet made to dance, is something I will never do again."

"D-Don't…" Ruby fought to get the words out of her mouth. "Don't you know what you've DONE?!"

"I know EXACTLY what I've done!" the woman shouted back. "The only way these people can truly be saved is by getting them in line. To teach them that their actions have consequences. Being soft gets you nowhere here, so you must use your full power to get through to them, your full potential kept from you for so long. You need to remind them of their place."

"Their… p-place?"

"Here's what I'm going to do," the woman sternly continued. "First, I will burn this world down to its foundation. Kill anybody who makes the foolish mistake of attacking me. And then, from the ashes, I will start over. I'll rebuild it all, correct it all. I'll put this planet on its proper path and show them the true power they so desperately seek."

The woman stared off momentarily, staring into the fires around her. "Of course, they'll try to take it for themselves, take it from me, or destroy it so that no one will ever have it again. Some will come to accept me and welcome me… but others will still hate me. I'll make an example of those people and ensure they stay where they need to be and do no further damage to themselves or their world."

Ruby shook her head frantically. "N-No… that's not what… that's not what this power is for."

"It is precisely what this power - what any power is for," the woman corrected her. "To separate the strong from the weak. These people flaunt their might and boast their accomplishments, but deep down, they're a sorry excuse for a civilization whose only excellence is mindless, chaotic destruction that will lead to their own demise. And for all that power given to them, the Power Rangers settle for standing by and letting them continue down this path when they should be lifting them out of it. That is what makes them weak. That is why they do not deserve or understand the strength of their namesake."

Her stance calmed and her amber eyes stared at Ruby pleadingly. "But you're not like them, Ruby Rose. You have the chance to do what they shy away from. You can save this world: end their pointless wars, stop the starvation, and deliver them from the holes they don't realize they've been digging themselves into. All you need to do… is help me set things right."

Ruby said nothing as she took this all in, her silver eyes glimmering with moisture and amber reflections while the woman lowered her arm and caressed Ruby's hand in hers. The fires shrank and dimmed around them. "Convince your friends. Help me purge the Grimm. Help me show these people that their infighting brings more harm than good. Help me bring peace to this world… and help me save it."

The tears stopped. The world stopped. Everything stopped. It was just Ruby and the older Red Ranger focusing only on each other, the woman's words washing over Ruby like the fires that suddenly had a warm and welcoming light to them. Ruby was at another loss for words; her mind conflicted as she stood at a crossroads.

"Think about this, Ruby…" the woman whispered, gently lifting the girl's chin so silver met amber. "I believe in destiny more than anything else. It's not something chosen for you… it's something you get to choose. You've been told about right and wrong all your life, but what is the right thing to you? Letting these people live out an existence of selfishness and cruelty while you stand by and do nothing about it? Ignoring how they kill each other? How they destroy everything around them?"

If… if what she was saying was true… that Earth's people were not as united or as peaceful as Remnant's… then maybe…

"There's a lot you don't know," the woman gently uttered. "About the power you were given. You don't understand it, and neither do your friends, but I can help you. I can teach you all how to harness it, how to use every bit of it for your benefit… and together, we can do what the Rangers can't. We can make this world better. Better than Remnant could ever be."

Ruby's mind wandered away, and her head slumped down. The woman's words echoed as Ruby pictured it all.

A perfect world she and her friends would protect… with no strife or disorder… no fear, paranoia, or hate…

Keeping peace… saving lives… like her mother…

But…

You look at us and you see YOUR people…

You treat them like people who don't know what they're doing.

We're keeping them from doing what they need to do…

You tell that to anyone on Earth and they'd think you're bogus!

I'm fighting everyone's battle for them like a glory-seeking showboat.

I've tried so hard to understand your world… and no matter how much I learn about it, I don't think I'll ever learn enough…

And that's why I…

Ruby silently closed her eyes, one more tear trickling down her cheek.

…why none of us belong here.

With every bit of gentleness she could muster, Ruby slowly touched the woman's wrist and carefully pushed it down. She turned her head upward and opened her eyes to meet the woman's affectionate gaze…

"No."

Her silver eyes shone with determination as she declared this, causing the woman to raise a brow and drop her warm smile in confusion. "Ruby… these people need help."

"They do," she agreed. "But not from us."

Concern flashed in the woman's eyes and her posture softened. "Ruby, please… these people, they… they'll destroy themselves one day. We can stop that from happening. You, me, your friends, all of us. We need to show the Power Rangers that they're wrong for not stepping in. There's so much you don't know about this world!"

"I know Earth is a lot of things," Ruby softly replied. "But there's one thing it's not, one thing that we can never change no matter how hard we try." There was a pause as Ruby dug deep inside her, gathering warm emotions from her fondest memories to make her explanation as heartfelt as possible.

"It's not home."

The woman went still. "...home?" She spoke the word as if it was foreign to her.

"You're right… this isn't Remnant. That means it isn't our home. That means we don't belong here. And it means it's not our place to decide what's best for Earth's people."

"Ruby, we-" The woman's voice rose before she cut herself off with a grimace and repeated herself in a tone Ruby now recognized was suppressed. "We're better than them."

"That doesn't mean we get to choose for them," she retorted. "So what if they're not as perfect as you say? What if they do fight each other? Ours did once upon a time during the Great War, and we got over it! So that means they can, too!"

"They can't," the woman seethed, trying and failing to hide her frustration. "They're too thickheaded to see what they're doing to themselves."

"Then they'll learn," Ruby countered. "One day, someone on Earth will wake up and ask, 'What are we doing?' Heck, maybe some of them already have!"

"Then the rest aren't listening," the woman shot back. "And it's our job to make them."

"Since when?"

"Since the moment we realize - since you realize - that we're far more powerful than them."

"Because they don't have Aura? Or Semblances?" Ruby asked defiantly. "And because that makes it easy for them to 'fall in line' so that their problems can be solved? These problems aren't going to be solved overnight!"

"But we can make that happen," the woman spat. "We can fix this world, pull it to heights Remnant will never-"

"THIS IS NOT OUR HOME!" Ruby suddenly roared, her shout loud enough to make the woman jolt this time. "And it never will be! Even if we try to make Earth just like it and more! I won't be as happy as I am there! Back home, I have the best life I could ever dream of! Not only am I on my way to becoming the person of my greatest dreams, but I have welcoming friends who support me and a caring family who loves me more than anything! Even my mother - who I only knew for a very short time - wanted the best for me, and there's nothing I wouldn't do to honor her memory! I have everything I could ever want or need on Remnant…"

Ruby's silver eyes pierced into the woman's amber orbs. "But you don't… do you?"

The woman seized up, and her breath hitched before her hands started to shake and her eyes narrowed. "You don't know a damn thing abou-"

"I know enough, 'visitor from Haven,'" Ruby spat just as fiercely as the woman did not too long ago. "You have no friends, you have no family, and you have nothing for you back on Remnant. Which means it was never home for you, wasn't it?! That's why you want to make Earth into your own image, so you can finally have something for yourself. I think you were scared at one point in your life, and now you want everyone to be scared of you, is that it?! That's why you want to be better than everyone else, right?"

The woman's fists clenched as she fought to keep her composure. Ruby's tears were returning now, but they weren't tears of sadness or grief. Instead, they were tears of rage. "You want to make sure nobody can hurt you, threaten you, or endanger you again, so you slaughter anybody you think can do that!" She screamed as she gestured at the ash around her and continued her rant, calling forth all of her anger and disgust to the surface.

"People must have looked down on you, so now you look down on others! Which means you look down on me and think I'm stupid enough to believe every crappy lie that comes out of your mouth! You wanna talk about power?! About right and wrong?! About strength and weakness?! You say you're the most powerful person in this world and know the truth, but the real truth I see here is that YOU DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO SEE YOU AS WEAK EVER AGAIN!"

The woman's fists locked up, she bared her teeth, and tears glimmered in her eyes… before she shut them, relaxed her body, and uncurled her fists. A small, barely noticeable sigh left her lips. Ruby was left heaving, her face red as her suit and hot, furious tears marking her face. Neither Red Ranger spoke or moved, silence falling over the ash-covered plaza again. The woman hung her head low as Ruby glared daggers at her, the girl panting heavily. She could feel the sweat gathering on her forehead and her body quivering from the emotional overload. Thankfully, Ruby had enough adrenaline in her system to do much more than-

Hold on… the sweat wasn't from her. Everything… everything was getting warmer and hotter again. The dimmed flames returned to life like someone had thrown tinder onto them. The fires burned brighter and higher as the woman straightened up. Her eyes were still closed as any tear she shed was instantly evaporated. Ruby was the one who scoffed this time, the sight proving her point of this woman hiding any signs of vulnerability.

"Then I was right," the woman whispered as the air temperature around her skyrocketed into a shimmering heat. Her Red Ranger suit lit up with a bright glow of red energy, prompting Ruby to brace herself as the winds fluttered through her cape and blew the ash off her body.

The woman finally opened her eyes… revealing a fiery glow from them while her amber irises burned brighter than stars. Those irises burned right into Ruby's being with rising rage and ascending anger, emotions Ruby channeled into her silver orbs as she forced the horrifying memory of this woman incinerating helpless innocent civilians - people that were nothing like what she described - to the front of her mind.

"This was a waste of-"

SHLLK!

The woman's words died on her tongue and the fire in her eyes fizzled out as red energy exploded from her chest, particles and streams spilling out like blood… all while a gleaming golden speartip burst outward. Her anger turned to shock and her mouth opened in a silent scream in the blink of an eye while Ruby's eyes widened in equal horror and surprise. Her silver eyes glanced over the impaled woman's shoulder as time slowed to a crawl, the red particles of Morphin Grid energy drifting away from the puncture wound between the woman's breasts.

Never before had Ruby seen Pyrrha Nikos herself so enraged.

Tears of her own leaked from emerald eyes and her teeth were bared in a furious snarl, with no regret or remorse for her actions. The sight burned into Ruby's mind, a small part of her wishing she could savor the moment…

Suddenly, the red particles were sucked back into the woman's body as if time reversed, which released a small blast of red energy that repulsed Pyrrha away. The woman collapsed onto her hands and knees with a deep gasp while the Gold Ranger dug her heels into the asphalt. Ruby and the woman glanced at the wound left by Pyrrha's spear, the latter patting the spot with her hands with startled breaths…

…where no such wound was present.

Ruby's heart skipped a beat while the woman went wide-eyed, her breath hitching at the lack of damage. Her shock was brief as a wicked smirk split her face again before she rose and turned away from the stunned Ruby. The younger Red Ranger became aware of the scene around her, notably how the fires blocking off the streets had vanished. Several people were kneeling near what remained of their loved ones, sobbing and crying as they desperately cradled all they had left.

Pyrrha stared down the woman with rising anger, her face and posture screaming vengeance for the poor fallen as her golden armor reflected the flames' glow. Ren was silent and open-mouthed, Nora had her hands against her mouth, and Jaune…

The blonde Silver Ranger was kneeling in the middle of ash and charred bone. Ruby could hear his choked sobs and broken whimpers from here, and it made her heart sink into her gut. He had just as many reasons as her for becoming a hero and saving lives… a terrible sight like this - an immense failure with so many lives lost - meant it was just as tragic for him to witness this as it was for her.

And then she saw them. Weiss was on the verge of tears, ash staining her otherwise radiant White Ranger uniform. Blake looked completely lost, her eyes elsewhere as she silently walked through the colorless landscape like a ghost. And Yang… Yang was holding a charred skull that crumpled apart in her trembling hands. Her blonde hair had grown dull from the surrounding ash before she caught Ruby from the corner of her eyes.

She turned to her. They all did. Shock, horror, fear, confusion, she could see so much in all of them. But Ruby felt none of those things anymore. Her friends wanted to know. Who? How? Why?

Anger flooded Ruby's body, her heart pumping hatred as the memory of being front and center to the whole disaster let itself be known. Ruby made sure they saw the tear stains on her face, the fury in her silver eyes, and how her body quivered before she jabbed an accusing finger at the woman before her. She didn't need to see the woman's face to know of the taunting, remorseless smile on it.

Seconds passed before Ruby's anger infected them all. Fingers clenched tightly on weapons, eyes burned, tears slid free… and Yang was the first to heed her sister's silent command.

"YOU MONSTERRRRRR!"

The Yellow Ranger was off like a rocket, screaming at the top of her lungs as she shot for the woman like a missile. The Red Ranger made no move to dodge or intercept, standing completely still as the roaring blonde zeroed in with her body aglow with yellow fire. The woman held out both palms that easily caught Yang's fists, leaving the enraged blonde to look deep into her glowing amber eyes, their prior fire reigniting alongside a satisfied smirk.

Her crimson suit erupted with orange flame that clashed with Yang's yellow fire, the blonde girl screaming and roaring with rage as she pushed hard against the woman who devastated her poor little sister. But the older Red Ranger never moved an inch, glaring into the yellow dragon as if she were a tiny worm instead. Yang broke free from the lock and immediately threw herself into wild, explosive blows that would have hammered the woman's body if she hadn't easily bat them aside with speed that matched Yang's. Weiss and Blake were already sprinting toward her, their blade alight with a frosty white aura and purple light swirling with shadow.

"Hmph."

The woman furrowed her brow with indifference before grabbing Yang by the throat. She hurled the screaming blonde skyward effortlessly, launching away in a fiery takeoff from which Weiss and Blake hurriedly backed away. All eyes shot up as the ascending comet soared towards the struggling Yang, ill-prepared for the flaming foot to the gut that knocked her even higher. Another blast from the woman's legs boosted her speed so that she soared directly behind the stunned Yang…

…whose horrified face the woman savored before a powerful axe kick smashed her back to the ground, the ensuing shockwave shattering windows and turning the street into a crater. The Red Ranger hovered a mile above Yang's battered body, her arms wide in a silent invitation while flames flickered from her eyes.

It was an invitation Ruby's friends gladly accepted.

Shadow bolts blasted from Blake's palms, freezing energy beams erupted from Weiss' hands, pink lightning surged from Nora's fingers, the cannon mode of Jaune's shield blasted bright silver blasts, and Pyrrha's golden bow shot arrow after arrow at great speeds. Ruby and Ren followed through with their blasters, crimson and emerald lasers joining the rest of the projectiles.

They all spectacularly missed thanks to the woman soaring and blazing through the air as if she was born in flight, her body twisting and weaving away from each shot. Flames from her palms and feet acted as makeshift thrusters, allowing her to slow, accelerate, and curve at impossible velocities. For anything she couldn't directly dodge, she swatted aside with her palms like the mere annoyances they were to her. Weiss was the first to have enough and she charged forward, skating up to the woman's position on an icy path she froze for herself.

A single step from the Red Ranger's boot heated it so quickly that the whole thing melted into lukewarm water in the blink of an eye.

"Wha-UGH!" Weiss moaned as she collapsed amidst the puddles, the impact of the Red Ranger's touchdown enough to spring her back to her feet and draw her saber. Her sword and the woman's blades were white and red blurs as they struck with bright sparks; the adult's defenses were seemingly impossible to breach until one of her feather-like blades was pointed at Weiss' throat. A frown from the heiress met the woman's smirk before she dropped low, swept out the woman's legs, and blasted her away with a chilled pulse from her palm.

The cold patch on her body was gone before Weiss could blink, and the woman was moving fast, rolling and dashing away from every blast the White Ranger threw at her. She shot high to avoid a blast aimed at her legs and Weiss fired another cold stream at the Red Ranger in midair… who promptly set herself alight and dove for Weiss like a comet, her body temperature diminishing the beam on contact and reducing it to steam as she burned through the freezing temperatures like it was nothing. Weiss threw up her arms and braced for impact…

RRROOOAAAAARRRR!

A purple panther construct tackled the woman from the air, and Blake charged after it with shadow selves on her heels. The Black Ranger and her copies quickly surrounded the Red Ranger as she struggled and stabbed at the Animal Spirit, using her as a chew toy. She was desperate to put the beast down as she had done before and cut off another of its nine lives.

Blake recalled the spirit back into her body, leaving the woman's blades to slice through empty air where the construct's throat once was. Then, she realized she was surrounded by a literal army of darkness with Blake as their commander. Orange eyes burned into fierce gold before the shadows struck from everywhere at once, forcing the woman into a slashing and stabbing flurry to drive the shadows back. Two attacked for every shadow she struck down, but the woman fought like made to keep herself from getting overwhelmed. Blake remained still as more shadows leaped and popped out of her body, joining their comrades that vanished into black puffs or vaporized to ash. Blake drew her blades and marched close to the woman, who snarled viciously as multiple shadows grabbed her from all sides…

"RRRRAAAAAAARRGH!" A burning blast escaped her body in a scorching shockwave, the sight making a distant Ruby's heart shoot into her throat. All of Blake's shadows were wiped off the street and the Black Ranger was sent flying back, her suit slightly smoldering as she grit her teeth.

"Who are you?!" The ex-Faunus growled. "Why did you do this?!"

The woman merely scoffed. "Children. Always so demanding."

She was on Blake in mere seconds, attacking Blake with terrifying speeds and slashing at her from all angles until a whirling strike from both burning blades broke the last of her ill-prepared defenses. Ruby's hand moved to her scythe as she fought back a sob, but her stance lowered when she heard a distraught scream that reminded her that she wasn't the only one upset by the other Red Ranger's actions.

"MURDERER!" Jaune howled with tears in his eyes, his sword a blur of silver light that awfully missed each mark thanks to the woman's nonchalant dodging. The blank and unimpressed stare that held no remorse for her actions only enraged Jaune further, the Silver Ranger screaming as he spun and swung right for her neck…

…and clawed fingers snagged his blade before it could touch flesh.

"And so disillusioned."

Her other hand tightened around Jaune's throat and began to choke the boy, who dropped his sword and frantically clawed at the woman's wrist. She stared at him in discontent as her hand lit up in a hot glow… and the blonde boy released a strangled cry of agony. Another wave of hot tears spilled from his eyes and steam rose from his skin.

FRRZZZAAAK! An electric steam struck the woman dead on. Followed by a second burst, then a third as Nora repeatedly blasted her with pink lightning from her fingertips. Pyrrha hurried over to Jaune's side and knelt beside him, her shaking hands hesitant to touch his scalding neck. Her emerald eyes were just as moist as his, and her breath was shaky. The Gold Ranger gently wiped away the boy's tears of pain and sorrow.

"Jaune… a-are you…"

"P… Pyrrha…" His voice was weak and scraggly, but his gauntlet-clad hand gripped hers as she slowly lifted his cringing face to hers. He finally opened those dark blue eyes, still wet with unshed tears… but burning with a fire Pyrrha had never seen in them.

"Sh-she needs… t-to pay."

Her emeralds burned back as her face tightened into a scowl. "She will." Her tone made it sound like an undeniable fact, one her friend and leader would swear to uphold.

The woman held out her hand to block the lightning that licked at her exposed face, a feral growl leaving her clenched teeth as she struggled to keep herself standing. Nora growled at her resistance and drew on as much power as possible, forcing the Red Ranger back with each blast. "Go down, go down, go DOWN! Why won't you-?!"

Power lines off to the side caught her eye as the woman continued to power through the storm. Nora didn't hesitate to reach out to the overhead transmission wires, briefly halting her bolt bombardment to extract the electrical energy within. Crackling arcs leaked out before shooting into Nora's body, the blue hues bleeding into a bright pink as she called it down like rain from looming clouds. The heaving woman shook dizziness from her head and snapped her head towards Nora, rushing for her with explosive propulsion from her legs. Her talon-tipped fingers opened wide like a bird of prey swooping in to snatch its target…

…until Nora's eyes shot open.

"NNRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!" The Pink Ranger erupted into a furious storm, thousands of volts erupting from her hands and making the girl hope she was giving this wretched woman the most painful electrocution of her life. Nora roared louder than thunder while the woman dropped to the streets, howls and shrieks of agony leaving her writhing form. Nora kept the pressure on, amping up the voltage and earning her more screams that were music to her ears. It was Nora's turn to wear the twisted smile as she slowly advanced on the woman, now reduced to a pathetic heap on the street…

…until she firmly planted her hands and feet and slowly rose, the pink lightning zapping and surging her from all angles. Yet the woman resisted, fighting through the pain as her agony shifted into a deep rage. Nora had to suppress her shock and thrust more power into her streams, making the woman buckle. She refused to fall and continued to stand, flames roaring and flowing across her body as they clashed with Nora's lightning. And no matter how much energy Nora poured into her streams, their effect on the woman diminished by the second. One moment, she was cringing. The next moment, she twitched as if struck with a static jolt.

The next, she stood tall with a ferocious and furious glare, the fire growing bigger and brighter as the lightning sputtered and died. It was as if the flames were feeding from the electricity, and soon, Nora faltered. Her desperation to fry the woman to a crisp faded, just like her stance and breath. Her eyes slowly drooped, and her breathing slowed…

With a final groan, her Pink Ranger suit vanished in a shimmer of pink light, and the de-morphed Nora collapsed at the woman's feet like a ragdoll.

Everyone's breath left them and their bodies froze in fear as the Red Ranger's flame-covered form cast an ominous and vengeful visage upon them. One of their heaviest hitters lay spent and weakened before her: a testament to her terrifying power given by that golden coin on her waist.

It was a Power Coin, Ruby's panicked and terrified mind screamed. This isn't what it was made for. It was made for good, not evil! So why wasn't it stopping her?! Why was it still allowing her to commit these horrible, heartless acts?!

"WHY WON'T YOU STOP?!"

All eyes whirled back to Ruby, who was just as surprised as them about the heights her voice reached. The only one not surprised was the one her distraught question was directed at, whose only response was a sigh of… was that satisfaction?! And… RELIEF?! Why was she feeling relief when Ruby and five of her remaining friends wanted nothing more than ave-

Five…?

Wh-where was-?

The woman's arm snapped to the side like it had gained independence, seizing the air around it before Ruby heard a small grunt. The air shimmered and flickered before a green figure materialized into the open, a pair of hurt magenta eyes glaring at the woman while the smirking woman held the emerald dagger at bay. Her glowing amber eyes turned to Ren's face, the boy struggling to loosen her grip. A tear trickled down his face before a scream of anger tore from his throat, his second dagger lashing out.

Ren's cry halted when the woman grabbed his other wrist and shoved the dagger into his chest in one fluid motion.

The effects were immediate; jade poison seeped from the dagger and spread across Ren's body like a plague, shorting out his power and dissolving his suit like acid. Before long, Ren stumbled away in his civilian clothes, his trembling hands clutching at where the dagger used to be… before he fell onto his back with a weakened gasp.

The woman's sadistic smile remained as she stared proudly at Nora and Ren's defeated bodies, finally landing on Ruby as her mouth opened.

"Why would I want to?"

The careless, remorseless tone echoed in Ruby's mind even after that clawed glove grabbed her by the face again.

…

Empowered Grimm poured out of a cave and stormed down the nearby beach, Beowolves and Ursai bellowing while Griffons flew out into freedom. Dozens were already charging down the sands while several crashed into the ground or splashed against the waves. A trio of Beowolves leaped over a collapsing Ursa, only to be blasted out of the air by a series of sapphire lasers.

"HEE-YAAAH! KI-YAAA!" Three Blue Rangers held their ground near the waves lapping against the shoreline, all sporting the appearance of fierce sharks. Two engaged the Grimm in close quarters with sharp fin-like tonfas and two broadswords, slicing and dicing at necks, chests, and limbs. The third provided cover fire with a sea-colored crossbow, blasting Griffons out of the sky and rolling away from lunges before shooting those Grimm point-blank.

"RRAAH! We must not linger!" yelled the sword-wielding Ranger as he decapitated a Beowolf and sliced off an Ursa's paw. "We must reach the cave and seal it off!"

"These guys aren't making it easy, Master Finn!" the second Ranger grunted as he held a snarling Beowolf back. A knee to its jaw disrupted the Grimm, leaving it open for a cross slash. More Grimm rushed in to fill the void left by their fallen packmate. "Argh, we don't have time for this! Noah, we need an opening! NOW!"

"Way ahead of you, Max!" shouted the third Ranger as he shot skyward and kicked down a swooping Griffon. He soared over the swarm and pointed his weapon at them, the tip glowing a bright blue. "SHARK'S BITE!" A barrage of blue energy blasts rained down on the Grimm, blasting some away and obliterating those struck by direct hits. Noah landed before his cobalt-clad comrades and broke into a sprint, gunning down Grimm and laying down cover fire while Max and Finn cut down any Grimm that got too close for comfort.

A growling Ursa Major blocked their path, snarling at the three Blue Rangers. Max gulped at the sight. "Uh… gonna need to break out the big guns for this!" Noah was already pulling out a cell phone and a blue figurine-like key.

"You may be a big guy," Noah quipped. "But you just made a bigger mistake getting in our way! SUPER MEGA MODE!" He inserted the key and gave it a good twist…

…but nothing happened.

"H-Huh?!" Noah twisted the key thrice, only for the device to not respond while the Ursa Major trudged forward with an open maw. Finn stepped forward in confusion. "What's happening? Why is it not-?"

"I-I don't know!" Noah stammered. "I think something's wrong with the-!"

"LOOK OUT!" Max tackled him before two massive paws smashed onto the sand, spraying particles everywhere. Max and Finn were back on their feet in moments, but Noah stared at the device in shock. "My… my Legendary Morpher… h-how?" His voice trailed off when the ground started to rumble and shake, throwing the trio off-balance before the sands exploded upward…

HRRRSSSHHAAAAHHH! An enormous dark worm with a single purple eye inside a giant fanged mouth hissed at the Blue Rangers while the Grimm surrounded them from all sides. Noah's breath shuddered as he looked between his morpher and the surrounding Grimm, a few more key twists doing nothing to the device. "I-I don't understand… how is… why…"

"There's too many of them!" Max cried out as Grimm continued crawling out of the cave, drowning the trio in darkness. "We gotta get outta here! Teleport away, all of you!" Three bright blue beams shot into the sky, abandoning the beach and leaving the Grimm to claim new territory.

…

"HRRYYAAH!" Lily roared as her fist pounded a Sabyr's skull into the forest floor. Izzy dashed through a few Beowolves, several swipes from her sword cutting them down before she swung around a tree and kicked another Beowolf into Marv's waiting claws. The Red Ranger ripped the Grimm clean in half and somersaulted over a charging Boarbatusk, slashing at its hindquarters and earning a squeal from the porcine beast. "Almost done here, Rangers! Keep up the pressure!"

They were happy to oblige, having adjusted to the Grimm's stolen powers. Eliminating what remained was no different than dealing with slightly enhanced minions: a trail each Ranger knew from experience would lead to the infamous Monster of the Week. Thus, they knew what was coming even before it showed itself.

Trees were knocked aside and the ground rumbled like an earthquake, heralding the arrival of a violet-hued Goliath that bellowed an ear-splitting noise. Marv and Izzy took up defensive positions, claws and blade poised for attack. Lily held back behind them, greeting the dark elephant with a scoff. "Guess what, Trunks? We got some pachyderm power of our own! SPIRIT OF THE ELEPHANT!" The Yellow Ranger called forth the spirit within…

…but there came no answer.

Lily grew still, her breath hitching when she felt emptiness where the spirit rested. "M…Master Phant?"

Another deafening trumpet rang through the forest as the Goliath smashed the earth with its forelimbs. It created a massive violet shockwave that obliterated the ground and blasted the three ill-prepared Rangers off their feet. They were sent screaming into the treeline and vanished into the brush, all while the Goliath roared in a primal rage.

…

"We've got him on the ropes, guys! Let's finish this!"

The Leviathan staggered backward, its weakened body leaning against a skyscraper. The kaiju-sized Grimm charged with violet colors, unleashing a powerful beam blocked by a shield wielded by the steadfast Samurai Megazord. The mech trudged forward until it deflected the beam's energy back at the Leviathan, stunning the beast. Inside the cockpit, all six Samurai Rangers detached their joysticks and reformed them into short swords.

"And another giant monster bites the dust!" Jayden announced while the Megazord charged its blade in a circular motion. The Rangers held their weapons high…

"SAMURAI STRI-"

BRRZZZZZT! Sparks scattered and showered across the cockpit, throwing off their concentration and earning yelps of surprise from the Rangers. The Megazord shuddered and buckled violently, giving the growling Leviathan enough time to rise to its full height and shrug off its injuries.

"GYAH!" Mia screamed. "Wh-what's happening?!"

Kevin gasped as he noticed his console going dark, all colors fading with a dying boop. "The Megazord's losing power!"

"What?! HOW?!" Mike yelled. "We were kicking this guy's tail in!"

Jayden switched his blade to controller mode and jammed it back into his console, struggling to move it with exasperated grunts. "I-I can't… I can't get us moving! The systems won't respond!"

"INCOMING!" Emily shouted, turning everyone's eyes to the viewport… where the Leviathan was lunging at the Megazord with an open maw! The giant Grimm bit down on the mech's head and grabbed its arms, claws and fangs digging deep into the groaning and creaking metal. The cockpit was swallowed in darkness, illuminated only by erupting fires and dangerous sparks as everyone was thrown from their stations. Antonio struggled to stand as sparks showered around him. "Jayden, what do we do?!"

The Red Ranger's breath was shaky as he saw the cockpit cave in from all sides, alarms blaring full volume while colored light gave way to darkness. "Samurai Rangers, RETREAT!" he commanded. "ABANDON THE MEGAZORD! EJECT NOW!" He and his friends frantically dialed in their communicators and faded away with bright light flashes, escaping the compacting devastation around them.

No sooner did the team evacuate their crippled vessel did the Leviathan wrench the Samurai Megazord's head from its body, exposing the mech's inner workings before doing the same to its arms and tearing them out of their sparking sockets. A hard smash with one of the severed limbs knocked the combination-turned-scrap-heap onto its back, leaving it to smash against the road in a hard impact. Tossing the limbs away and crushing the head in its mouth to metal bits, the gargantuan Grimm stomped onto what remained of the Megazord's broken body before turning all six of its glowing violet eyes to the sky…

…and releasing a deep, bellowing roar that announced the fall of the city's protector to all who still remained to hear it.

…

Ruby Rose was in hell.

At least, that's what it looked like to her—fire and destruction everywhere, leaving nothing and no one untouched by its devastation. And one particular flame refused to be doused or smothered no matter how hard Ruby tried, growing bigger and brighter with each attempt. Two of her friends were already down, their powers no match for this inferno they were facing. The rest were driven and devoted to bringing their foe down, their hearts and minds overwhelmed by anger and a need to avenge both the civilians this fire had consumed and their allies who had fallen to the flames.

Ruby was tired, so very tired. Her scythe felt heavy on her grip, and she could feel her power dwindling as she exerted herself. But she couldn't rest, no matter how much she wanted to lie down and close her eyes. Her mind wouldn't allow her body to quit, not even after all the punishment it had taken. Her suit was covered in black burn marks, and parts of her torn cape were scorched, with the crimson colorations dark from the smoke and ash that coated the ruined cityscape. The pained screams of her friends - pain from the heart or the body, it was getting harder to tell - blended with the distant wails and shrieks from helpless civilians desperate to flee from the firestorm.

Ruby's soul seized up as her dull silver eyes reflected the fires that extinguished all hope of escape. No…

No more. Please, no more.

Please stop. Stop killing, stop destroying, just stop! Stop the nightmare, stop the chaos, stop the screaming, stop stop stop…

Ruby couldn't move anymore. She could only watch: watch families flee, watch people vanish in the fires, watch children cry as they were forced to leave precious belongings burning away into nothing. Every tear she shed for them was gone instantly, evaporating from the intense heat that wiped away the sweat pouring down her face. Her scythe clattered to the street, and she fell to her knees. The world was burning around her, and she could do nothing to stop it.

Her friends couldn't stop it, either. They attacked the source with everything they had, but none of it was enough. Yang brought an overhead axe kick on top of the older Red Ranger, a yellow dragon following the movement of her leg and crashing down onto the woman. The dragon's flames molded with the woman's heated aura, harnessing it into energy she channeled into her fist before smashing Yang hard in the midsection. The blonde barely had time to let out a gasp of shock before the woman's other fist bashed her face into the street and a boot came down on Yang's neck.

A circular motion with the woman's arm surrounded Blake in a fire ring, drowning the Black Ranger in unbearable heat. Ruby couldn't see Blake at all, but she could hear her agonizing scream when the woman closed her fist and the ring collapsed inward. Once the fires faded, Blake's motionless body stood still while smoke wafted from her flickering and straining suit. Weiss charged for the woman with a determined scream, sweat staining her features and her body fighting through the immense heatstroke. The Red Ranger dodged each of the heiress' swings until she grabbed the saber's blade and hurled it away, leaving it to clatter to the street.

Weiss only scowled and thrust her palms at the woman's smirking face… but only white mist sputtered from her palms, causing Weiss to gasp in confusion and surprise. A simple slap to her face was all it took to dispose of the White Ranger, who quickly succumbed to the harsh environmental conditions her body was not accustomed to. Hearing Weiss' ragged and wheezing breaths from the intense heat made Ruby forget how to breathe, the woman striding past the white-haired girl as if she was never there.

"I gave you your chance," the woman spoke with an ominous tone as she approached Ruby with a tiny flame in her palm. "I offered you the opportunity to do so much more with that power… but I should have known better. Not only are you blind, Ruby, you refuse to open your eyes. You'd rather follow the rules like a 'good little girl,' never considering what you want to do."

Ruby's throat was aching so badly that she didn't know if she had the energy to reply. And if she could, she wouldn't know what to say. A promise that she would stop this madwoman? Express her grief for the lives she'd burned away? Scream at her for hurting her and her friends? The heat made it harder for Ruby to think, let alone act, against this woman who stood over her with fire in her amber eyes.

A hand grabbed her by the throat and squeezed tightly, raising Ruby off her feet while the pressure cut off what little breath she managed to obtain from the smoke and ash. Ruby could almost see how pathetic and weak she looked in the woman's dominant orbs, empty silver eyes drained of tears and color drained from her face. The woman's grip forced Ruby to focus on nothing but her stern and disappointed expression, amber eyes burning brighter than any of the surrounding fires.

"You're unwilling to embrace this power," she whispered venomously. "That tells me it was never yours to begin with. So, if you deny its purpose and refuse to use it as it was meant to be… then it's better off in the hands of someone who will."

Ruby weakly choked in the woman's unrelenting grasp. "Wh… what do you-GYAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The girl screamed in pure agony as her entire body flashed a dangerous red, her suit shimmering, flickering, and sparking dangerously. Pulses of crimson energy flowed down the woman's arm, light washing over their figure while Ruby grew weaker by the second. Her hands slammed uselessly against the woman's unmoving limb and her adrenaline sapped away, the leftovers of her strength dwindling. Exhaustion began to creep over Ruby's body, her pained screams lowering to moans and whimpers while her suit started to lose its battle to stay functional. Holes opened across her body and crackling red lightning failed to hold the molecules together, her Red Ranger suit coming undone like burning film and slowly unveiling her civilian clothes underneath.

Ruby thought she heard something as her vision weakened, something along the lines of her name. She thought she saw the woman pause and roll her eyes with an annoyed groan…

…but she felt her body flying through the air at sudden speeds before she slammed into somebody, knocking them both to the ground. Ruby welcomed the sweet release of air and felt the power return, the color of her namesake draping her in its glow once again as Morphin Grid energies worked to repair… whatever the woman had tried to do. There was a groan from beneath her, and Ruby blinked to focus her vision. She saw the weary, desperate face of a blonde-haired boy with dark blue eyes.

"J-Jaune…"

She registered the tears in those eyes before the Silver Ranger forcibly shoved Ruby off, leaving her to land hard on the street. At the same time, he scrambled to his feet and charged with a hoarse, hysterical scream she never expected from anyone, not even him. Despite her power returning and repairing her suit, it was not enough for Ruby to rejoin the fight herself. She felt weaker, like the energies weren't at full strength. It took all of Ruby's effort to prop herself up and turn her eyes to the melee, where the woman took on Jaune and Pyrrha's combined might like she was toying with them. A playful swat from her blade deflected Pyrrha's jab, a heel drove Jaune's sword to the ground, and a knee bashed him back before that same leg caught the Gold Ranger in the gut.

The woman tossed a fireball in Jaune's direction, the pyrokinetic projectile hitting his shield but knocking the boy off his feet from the impact. With him taken down for the moment, she rushed towards a stumbling Pyrrha and struck relentlessly, a sadistic grin splitting her face as she battered down the Gold Ranger's defenses. The Invincible Girl struggled to fight back while the woman made that title worthless, tarnishing the gleaming gold armor with scorch marks and marking the girl's body with black gashes and showering sparks. The woman spun from a shield bash and crouched behind Pyrrha, a slice to her heel earning a cry from the champion before she fell in a weakened heap. Pyrrha's powers shortened out from this critical strike, fading into golden sparkles and leaving her in her vest. The redhead started crawling forward until the Red Ranger forcefully turned her onto her back and stomped down on her chest, savoring the pained wince on Pyrrha's face. Despite this pain, her emerald eyes glared upward at the vile vixen above, determination and the refusal to submit shining brightly amidst her beaten body.

Ruby's eyes widened in horror as she watched the other Red Ranger tower over the fallen champion. "Look at you…" she whispered with a sly grin. "A firm believer."

"You…" Pyrrha grunted from beneath the woman's boot. "You'll never win…"

"And you're so sure of that? Even now?" came the calm reply. "Such a deluded mind… tainted by beliefs and shackled by destiny. Well, I will show you and everyone else the truth."

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. "And what truth… is that?"

"The truth that your destiny, like all Huntsmen and Huntresses…" The woman reared back her left arm, a feather-like blade pointed right at Pyrrha's heart. Something spiked through Ruby and her body froze in terror, her breath no longer coming out. The woman, meanwhile, wore another satisfied smirk while the steadfast Pyrrha never broke eye contact with her.

"...is a lie."

Ruby's heart slammed into panic and she reached out an arm, terrified whimpers on the tip of her tongue. She urged her aching body to crawl forward while her hand drew her blaster, but her hand was shaking so much it was difficult to aim properly. With no tears left in her dim silver eyes, Ruby could only open her mouth…

"NOOO!"

An anguished cry, a silver flash of light… and a scream.

A scream that wasn't Pyrrha's. Or Ruby's.

Ruby's mind jolted back into focus as an agonized howl cut through the heated air. Pyrrha was still on the ground, her chest heaving from shock as her bewildered emerald eyes glanced upward. Standing before her was a shaken and frantic Jaune, who had a death grip on his sword while his eyes were blown wide open. The woman was staggering away from them…

…holding the stump on her upper arm while screaming bloody murder.

A horrified gasp made Ruby snap her head in Yang's direction, the shell-shocked blonde matching Ruby's expression as the silver-eyed girl brought her hands to her mouth with a squeak. Jaune was just as horror-stricken, his sword clattering to the street near the woman's severed arm. Strangely, neither the limb nor the woman's wound was bleeding; instead, they were surrounded by a glowing red light that emitted crimson sparks.

"Jaune…" Yang muttered breathlessly. "W-what did you…"

"I-I-I didn't…" the other blonde started hyperventilating as he placed his hands on his head, his words spilling out in a panic. "I just wanted to… I-I was going for her weapon, b-b-but she was too… oh gods, what have I- NO!" He loudly cut himself off and threw his fists to his sides. "No, she- she made me do it! I-I had no other choice! Sh-she was… I… i-it wasn't my…"

A gentle hand wrapped around his gauntlet. Another caressed his cheek and wiped away the tears. Jaune's breathing slowed, and his shaking body calmed down. His moist eyes met Pyrrha's gaze. When she spoke, it was like a breath of fresh air. "You did what needed to be done, Jaune. If you hadn't been there…"

The next exhale from the Silver Ranger was a long breath rather than a panicked stammer. "Y…yeah. Yeah, y-you're right. I-I'm sorry, I just… th-this is all…"

"Too much," Pyrrha finished for him. "I… I understand. No amount of training could've prepared us for… this." Her eyes turned to the fires and chaos engulfing the plaza. Ruby and Jaune couldn't bear the sight for long, the boy placing his hands on the redhead's shoulders as he let out another breath.

"We can't… we can't do this," he whimpered. "That… that freak already took out Nora, Ren, Blake, and Weiss. I-I don't want to do it… but we need to run. W-we need to get outta here while we can."

Ruby choked back a sob. "A-And leave these people to-"

"STOP!" Jaune suddenly yelled, making Ruby jolt back with a startled peep. "Stop, I… I know, okay?! I know we can't… I-I know we're not supposed to… that it goes against everything we've been taught-"

"B-but we can't leave them!" Ruby bawled desperately, only for a strong hand to fall on her shoulder. The Red Ranger whirled to see Yang's gloomy face, her amethyst eyes sunken and her blonde hair dark and grimy from ash. The sight of her older sister in such a broken, disheartened state intensified Ruby's own sorrow.

"S-Sometimes…" Yang croaked before furiously wiping at her brow with an arm. "Sometimes, bad things just… happen, Ruby." She sniffled. "And believe me, I-I don't like this any more than you do… but there are some things you can't stop no matter how hard you try. And there are some lives… th-that you can't save. Y-you can't… stop them… f-from happening… and you can do nothing about them."

Ruby froze up once again. Yang had never spoken like this. Not since… since…

Some things you can't control. Some deaths you can't prevent.

White.

White in the breeze. Snow on a cliffside.

A shiny cloak with the color of falling flakes just out of reach.

Closer… closer… almost there…

Gone.

Gone before it can be seen. Gone before the face can be shown.

A small, rectangular stone is what remains.

A rose.

Thus Kindly I

A silver light returned Ruby to reality and her mind snapped back into focus, a quiet gasp escaping her being. Jaune's hands were still on Pyrrha's shoulders… but were glowing now. A warm, gentle light washed over the stunned redhead's body, encasing her in its bright embrace. Once Pyrrha was completely covered from head to toe, the silver light shifted into a glimmering gold…

FWA-SHAM!

Jaune staggered back in alarm, the glow in his palms dying down… while Pyrrha stood in her radiant Gold Ranger armor, complete with her resplendent helmet. Ruby and Yang were at a loss for words as Pyrrha's helmet flashed away to reveal her own bewildered expression. Her emerald orbs trailed all over her body before settling back on Jaune's stunned face.

"Wh-what happened?! What did you just-"

"I-I don't know!" Jaune stammered back. "I-I was just touching you for a moment! I had no idea what-"

"Um… g-guys?" Yang's voice was still low, her lilac orbs trained on the woman Ruby had almost forgotten about. She wasn't screaming anymore, but she was lying on the ground while cradling her stump with seething moans and pained gasps. Her severed arm was still lying limp on the ground… until crimson specks rose from the limb, dissolving away like a sugar cube in water. Within seconds, the arm was gone without a trace… and the woman threw her head back with another tortuous wail.

"NYYYAAAAAARRRGGHHH!" Her hand flew away from her glowing wound, the crimson energies pulsing quickly and brightly like a flaring alarm. The energy grew and expanded outward, increasing in length while the woman screamed in agony. The crimson light warped and contorted, ending in five sharp tips…

…and drafted away in red motes and specks, revealing the woman's entire left arm and the clawed fingers at the end. She slowly rose to her feet while twitching and flexing her fingers, her exasperating breaths slowing until they concluded with a calm sigh. The woman clenched her regenerated fist and smirked sadistically, fire burning from her eyes once more as they seared through the quartet's stunned and horrified orbs.

If she was surprised by what had just happened, she did not show it and coyly stared the teens down.

"Well?"

A sound that might as well have been the combination of a scream and a roar erupted from Yang's throat as she blasted for the woman at high speeds, ignoring all of her sister's and friends' protests. The woman only managed to sprint forward a few paces until Yang collided with her, fists locked together while the woman's boots were dragged a few inches back. A vicious headbutt from Yang broke the clash before the Yellow Ranger began punching and beating the older woman in a feral, heartbroken rage. Yang poured out all of her pain and suffering from seeing this lunatic beating her baby sister and her best friends within an inch of their lives. The memory of Blake's pained scream before the fires consumed her added more fuel to her fire, tears leaking from her lilac eyes as she bashed and pounded at the woman's body. A sharp hook across the jaw caused blood to spew outward and splatter onto the street before Yang drove her boot into the woman's knee.

Hearing the cracking bone and seeing the twisted grimace that appeared on her face was progress… but it wasn't good enough.

Yang roared again as she kicked the woman to the ground and continued to beat her in a frenzy, unaware of Ruby's traumatized face and Jaune and Pyrrha's worried, horrified reactions. The Yellow Ranger's body burst into sunny flames, each of her punches cracking the street beneath the woman while she screamed with tears in her eyes.

"MONSTER! MURDERER! BASTARD! I! WILL! MAKE! YOU! SUFFER! YOU! HEART! LESS! MOTHER! F-"

Yang's next word died in her throat, and the flames around her sputtered out. Inside the miniature crater was boring into the road, the woman - still wearing that damn smile on her stupid face - casually wiped the blood off her lip… before the red liquid vanished. She visibly winced from another crack as the stunned Yang watched her broken leg readjust back into place. And the yellow flames from the blows that managed to set the woman alight were dwindling, fading into her body and providing her Red Ranger suit with a hot, dangerous glow. Yang's anger disappeared instantly and terror filled her body as the smiling woman whispered two words.

"Thank you."

And faster than anyone could blink, a powerful blast from her palm hit Yang dead-on in the chest, the force decimating her Yellow Ranger powers and shattering it like glass. The sunshine-colored motes joined Yang's breath from leaving her before she was sent flying back, smashing into the side of a van and crumpling its chassis before collapsing.

"YANG! NO!" Ruby howled, already running over to her sister before the roaring approach of the other Red Ranger forced her to leap away. The woman lashed out at Jaune and Pyrrha again, their blades clashing against the silver sword and golden spear while scraping against their shields. Ruby wanted to move in and help, but her body was too frozen to move as she looked upon the fallen forms of her friends. None of them answered her mental pleas to wake up, making the girl shake and tighten her grip on her scythe. Her heart hammered against her ribcage and her breathing quickened, the girl unable to calm herself down.

Ruby couldn't move, blink, or breathe as she watched the woman hold her own against the last of her friends. The Red Ranger grabbed Pyrrha's spear and flung her into Jaune before throwing her away into a pile of rubble. She spun on a dime to block Jaune's sword with both blades, drive it to the side, and deliver a searing spin kick to the side of his head. Jaune used the momentum to swing his shield at her in a frantic move, but the woman grabbed his arm and wrenched it with a sharp twist, earning a gasp of pain and shock from the boy as he was driven to his knees.

The woman backhanded the Silver Ranger's sword away, grabbed his exhausted face in both hands and took a deep breath while enjoying the terror settling in…

FROOOOSSH! Red-hot flames erupted from the woman's mouth as she blasted Jaune dead-on, earning a long, pained wail from the writhing blonde boy as the heat ate away at his powers. His screams and shrieks tore at Ruby's soul until the inferno ceased along with them, leaving Jaune smoldering and powerless before the woman shoved him back and allowed gravity to drop his weakly moaning body to the asphalt.

"Ugh," the woman groaned, showing no sympathy for her victims. "I'll admit it… this is beginning to bore me." She turned back to Ruby with fire in her eyes. "But even a stupid little girl like you should see the obvious now. If you had the tiniest bit of sense amidst all that naivete, you would have taken my offer more serious-"

"JAAAUUUNNE!" An enraged shriek heralded a blast of bright golden light, followed by a shower of debris that barely fazed the woman. Ruby was still too caught up in her mixture of horror and shock to respond properly, but the older woman rolled her eyes and sighed lowly.

"I take it back. This is starting to annoy me instead."

Both Red Rangers turned down the street, where Pyrrha Nikos stood fiercely with an anguished expression… and a pair of gleaming gold eagle wings protruding from her back. It was a heavenly sight to behold, one enough to fill Ruby's being with warmth again to replace the dread in her heart.

It was a warmth she knew would not last.

The older woman remained unamused as Pyrrha shot into the sky with golden light trailing behind her, wings spread wide once she reached the height of her ascent and drew back her bowstring. Dozens of shining arrows flew upon the string's release, streaking as shooting stars and bombarding the street as comets. The older Red Ranger confidently held her ground, steadfast as the arrows burst and detonated around her. One that came close to her head was swiftly snatched and shattered in the woman's grip before she also launched skyward with flames bursting from her feet.

There were many things Ruby could not look away from in the last few moments, and the sight of Pyrrha and this woman staring each other down in midair was another to add to the list. Neither spoke for a while as Pyrrha's golden wings beat in a gentle pattern and the fires from the woman's feet acted as natural thrusters.

"I thought I made it clear," she spat. "But you. Can't. Stop me." She jabbed a finger at Pyrrha before pointing it toward Ruby. "Not you, not her, not anyone in your pathetic band of obedient kids, and certainly not the rest of those color-coded cretins."

Pyrrha glared daggers at the woman. "That doesn't mean I can't try."

The Gold and Red Rangers shot at each other so quickly Ruby would have missed it if she blinked. She didn't miss the bright explosion that followed, the shockwave that nearly knocked her on her butt as windows shattered from the force, or the sight of two flying figures that either periodically collided with each other or shot golden arrows and fireballs at one another.

But Ruby paid it all no mind. She didn't see the flashes, hear the blasts, or feel the bursts that ripped the air. She saw only the destruction, the smoke, the chaos, the ashen remnants of this world's people… and the still, silent bodies of her fallen friends and her beaten, broken sister. Ruby's voice was just as cracked.

"Y-Yang… g-guys… w-wake up… please… y-you gotta wake-" A stray fireball blasted a distant car to smoldering scrap, startling Ruby and cutting off her words with a squeak. "P-p-please… wake up, I… I don't…" Ruby hung her head low with a quiet sob. "I don't know what to do without you… who am I without you…"

BAM! Someone smashed into the street and shattered the asphalt like glass. Ruby already knew who it was even before she saw the descending crimson shape. The flames from the woman's feet snuffed out as she touched down outside the crater's edge, where Ruby barely made out the sight of an arrow sticking through Pyrrha's chest before the arrow and her armor faded away.

With the last of her friends fallen to this vile vixen of a woman, Ruby's resolve and willpower vanished as well. She could do nothing but meekly crawl and scoot away from the other Red Ranger, who approached with a wicked grin and a flame in her palm. Ruby drew her red sidearm with panicked breaths, only to scream in pain and alarm when a fireball blasted it from her hand, leaving a burning sensation on her palm.

"You know… it's so fitting you would be the last," the woman grinned maliciously. "What better way to punish you than to see all the people you love burn?" She said it as if she enjoyed it, making Ruby sick to her stomach. "And what better way to realize you have no hope of winning… than the fact that everything you throw at me… feeds me?"

Feed? What did she…

Yang. She gave this freak everything she had: all of her anger, strength, and power… and the Red Ranger had absorbed it. Like when she… gods, Ruby still had trouble believing this… like when she tried to absorb Ruby's powers. Everything she did, everything her friends did…

All for nothing.

Ruby fell. And she wept. Her body couldn't cry any more and her eyes felt dry, She wanted to curl up within herself and let nothingness envelop her. She must have looked so pitiful already because Ruby could still hear the woman's voice as she mockingly pitied the frail little girl lying before her.

"Awww, don't cry, little petal," Ruby heard the telltale whoosh of the woman's blade materializing in her hand. "This will all be over so…" There was silence, leaving Ruby unsure if the woman had struck right then and there, Ruby's body apparently not knowing it was dead yet. Ruby hadn't felt a thing, which was probably the last bit of mercy she would ever-

"What the hell…?"

Silver eyes she hadn't realized were closed snapped open with a quiet hitch of breath. The deranged pleasure on the woman's face was replaced by confusion as her amber eyes were trained away from Ruby, focused on the smoke behind her. Ruby had half a mind to ask her what was wrong while she slowly rose to her feet, but the other half screamed at her to strike while the woman was distracted by whatever she saw.

Ruby listened to it. Her fear and terror began to boil into a white-hot rage. Her fists clenched at her side while her chest heaved with heavy breaths, and a burst of adrenaline aided her returning powers in gifting strength to her body. Ruby was seconds away from lunging at the woman, an enraged scream on the tip of her tongue…

…but it all vanished when she felt something breathing on the back of her neck.

The fear returned with a vengeance as Ruby became as stiff as a stone, her muscles locking up and her heart ceasing to beat. A low, ominous growl came from the smoke behind her, the sound daring Ruby to turn around. The woman was just as still as she was, her fingers wrapped tightly around her blades and her body poised for attack while she bared her teeth and focused her fiery eyes on the thing in the smoke.

Against her better judgment, Ruby slowly turned to look over her shoulder. The growl made the air tremble in fear, and the smoke shrouded the street behind her like a curtain of shadow…

…and a pair of bright purple eyes flashed open in the darkness.

Instinct kicked in and Ruby blinked away before the jaws snapped shut around her, reappearing a short distance away with panic across her face. The horrible head belonging to those large jaws emerged from the smoke, violet orbs locked on Ruby as the monster stomped forward. Its clawed feet broke up the street and a pair of purple-veined dragon wings unfurled themselves while the fires' glow gave it an intimidating stature. Its eyes bore into the timid, terrified girl before it, who was again tearing herself apart to make a choice no leader should have to make.

Jaune was right: Ruby had no chance of fighting anymore. She was no match for the other Red Ranger, which meant she stood no chance against the Grimm - something she was used to fighting - in such a weakened state. She needed to flee, run, and live to fight again… but she would abandon her friends if she did. Leaving them at the mercy of this woman and the savagery of the Grimm dragon responsible for unleashing hordes of dark beasts on Earth.

The dragon went still for a moment, its gaze falling upon the woman with an expression Ruby found odd for a Grimm to possess. It looked like… what was that? Surprise? Unexpectancy? Whatever it was, it was gone as quickly as it came and the dragon turned its focus back on Ruby with a savage snarl and abyssal violet eyes. The roaring beast pounced at the girl in a predatorial leap, with a screaming Ruby barely diving away in time before its landing knocked her away.

With panic pumped into her bloodstream and fear in every vein, Ruby did the only thing she could think of… and ran.

GRRAAAAARRGH! The dragon gave chase with earth-shaking footsteps, its horned head bashing cars aside while it blasted violet fireballs at Ruby. The Red Ranger dove leaped, and teleported away from each blast, leaving them to detonate against buildings and add more destruction to the city around her. She hurriedly looked over her shoulder, her mind scrambling for a way to elude the monster…

But Ruby only saw a ruined street behind her. Before she could question it, there was a loud impact right in front of Ruby and she snapped back around to see the dragon inches away from her face! The girl screamed in alarm and fell backward, her terrified body trying to crawl away as the monster advanced. The monster's mouth opened with a violet glow, ready to roast Ruby alive as it stared into her silver eyes. In its own was an amount of hatred, anger, and rage unseen in any Grimm Ruby had encountered, as if the beast wanted nothing more than to-

"RRRAAAAAAAGH!" The phoenix-themed Red Ranger came down on the monster's head, burying her blades into the dragon's skull and earning a howl of pain from the beast. It moved to smash its head into a distant wall, but the woman somersaulted off as the beast did so and tore a gash into its side, leaving a glowing purple wound behind. A quick somersault saved her from a tail smash, and a fireball she blocked with her blade sent her skidding back. Ruby stared at the woman in shock, wondering why she would go out of her way to-

BLAM! When the woman's eyes met her, she scowled and shot Ruby point-blank with a fireball from her palm. The Red Ranger collapsed onto the hood of a car, the windshield cracking from where her head had struck. Her attempt to rise was halted when she felt the woman's boot at her throat and felt her fiery gaze pierce her again.

"We're not finished yet," she snarled as she raised a blade…

GRROOOOAAAARRH! A massive black tail swatted her aside like an insect and the Grimm dragon's jaws barreled toward Ruby again. The panicking girl screamed as she rolled off the car and hit the asphalt, leaving the beast's teeth to sink into the vehicle. Upon seeing Ruby lying at its feet, the dragon raised the car off the ground and brought the hunk of metal down on top of her.

"NO-!"

BAM! CRASH! KRUNK! Ruby was smashed and pounded deeper into the street as the weight bashed her over and over. If it weren't for her suit taking the brunt of the damage and flickering with every hit, Ruby would've turned into a red smear on the pavement. Still, her brain rattled in her skull and she was crushed before she could even think of standing up. Soon, Ruby became too dazed to properly count how many times the car battered her against the road, crumpled metal and shattered glass falling all around her… until there was one more CRUNCH that buried her completely.

The world lost focus and there was a ringing in her ears, accompanied by a faint flicker of red and coughing sparks. The darkness faded as Ruby felt the weight leave her, the wreckage collapsing next to her battered body. She could taste copper on her tongue and feel the beast's breath against her skin, but her mind was already slipping. It hurt to move so much, and the aching groan that escaped her throat when she lay on her back was proof of that. Ruby's blurry vision left things a mess for her to identify.

All she could faintly see was the monster's dark horned head, glowing violet eyes… and fanged mouth twisted in a sadistic, masochistic smile.

S-smile…? S… since when did Grimm…

Right… Alpha said… that this thing absorbed Morphin Grid energy. Which meant it was faster, stronger, tougher… and smarter. Smart enough to recognize the pain it inflicted on Ruby… and enjoy it.

Ruby would've spat blood in its eyes in disgust if she didn't feel so busted up inside and out. She let out a tired wheeze as she felt her energies dwindle. Her powers… they wouldn't last much longer now… she needed to… to…

Who… who was that shouting…?

"...think you're doing?! She's mine to kill!"

The sound was enough to bring Ruby back to full consciousness but not enough to reduce the terrible pain she felt all over. The silver-eyed girl coughed and choked as she weakly propped herself up on her arms, her ragged chest gasping for air. Her worn eyes focused on the angered woman with flames bursting from her eyes and the draconic Grimm staring at her in what seemed like annoyance.

"I said she's mine to kill! MINE!" the woman bellowed. "Just as her power is mine to take before I do it! Now get your stupid Grimm ass out of here, you brute!"

The dragon only growled lowly, baring its teeth in a way that made the woman's body flare with heat. Her eyes burned hotter than the sun before she drew her blade and jabbed it at the beast. "IF YOU KILL HER BEFORE I TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE, I WILL MELT YOU DOWN TO YOUR CORE AND MAKE YOU BEG FOR A MERCY I WILL NOT SHOW!" The woman screamed at the top of her lungs. "DO YOU HEAR ME?! SHE IS MINE! THEY ARE MINE! THE POWER! IS! MINE!"

The Grimm dragon reared its head back as its teeth bared tighter, its monstrous eyes focused on the woman, and it readied to unleash its full fury of the woman. Ruby quietly backed away, unsure if she wanted to be caught between them. A noise rose from within the monster's throat, causing Ruby to brace for what was coming…

But what came out of the Grimm's mouth was no fire.

"NNNNOOOOO!"

All was quiet.

Ruby's body stopped working. The fire in the woman's eyes coughed out and the heat faded instantly. Silver and amber eyes almost popped out of their sockets, mouths dropped in shock, the air in the Red Rangers' lungs escaped them, and even the small fires were snuffed and extinguished. It was like a bomb had just detonated, its aftermath leaving the decimated plaza in deafening silence. The beast stood tall and dominant over the shell-shocked woman while the stunned, bewildered girl lying amidst shattered asphalt could only utter one thing. It was something even she needed to force out of her closed airway, something only she could hear herself whisper.

"...did it just…"

A huge claw smacked the woman clean through a wall, followed by an intense stream of purple fire that obliterated that building's structural supports. The world shook and trembled as the violet flames incinerated and annihilated everything in its path, ceasing only when the building collapsed and sank in on itself. Ruby threw her arms before her face as it all came down in a devastating crash, dust and debris flying everywhere like a raging storm. The dragon's dark shape hung over Ruby as the beast stared at the destruction most of its kind would revel in…

…and two purple lights pierced through the dust when the monster snapped its head back toward her. Ruby gasped in terror as it slowly moved for her again with an open mouth, only to wince and grunt as the stab wound in its head and the gash in its side pulsed with an unstable light. Violet liquid dripped onto the street, crackling with dark lightning as the beast moaned in pain. The monster's eyes turned on Ruby, then the wound, then back to Ruby, and back to the wound.

The dragon growled in irritation before opening its mouth and deeply inhaling. Ruby's fear dimmed into confusion: what was it trying to-

"GYYYAAAAAAHHHHH!" A pain greater than Ruby had ever felt shot through her system, the girl wailing in pain as her suit flickered and sputtered dangerously. The silver-eyed girl writhed and spasmed on the ground, agonized shrieks leaving her mouth as her body shook all over. The pain wasn't the only thing she felt: red energies slowly left her Power Coin, seeping away like ash in the wind as it trailed towards the dragon's open maw.

The red stream dipped into the dragon's open maw as Ruby continued to wail and scream, the energies washing over the Grimm as red slowly bled into hues of violet and purple. This twisted, corrupted energy touched the Grimm's wounds, sealing them up quickly. But still… the dragon continued as its eyes locked on Ruby's wailing, writhing form. It opened its mouth wider and inhaled more of the Red Ranger's powers, its eyes glaring sadistically at the shrieking girl with tortuous glee and twisted pleasure.

"NYYYYAAAAAAAAHH! GRRRRRNNNNGGGGHHH! NNNNYYAAAAAAAAAGH!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs as more and more of her powers were stripped away, making her feel like she was being torn apart. Her skin, muscles, bones, and even her very DNA felt like it was coming undone while her suit slowly and painfully disintegrated into nothing. Her mind begged for the beast to stop as new tears flooded her eyes. She couldn't even shout the command to power down; all she could do was scream and howl as she was ripped apart down to the molecular level.

Yang… Blake… Weiss…

She failed them. She failed the world. She failed everyone.

And she was in too much pain to apologize.

And so, as the last bits of power - as the last bits of herself - were sapped and swallowed by this horrid thing, Ruby's last conscious moments would be of pain, sorrow, and agony. She could only take solace in the fact while she would be swallowed in darkness… this would be the last of the pain her broken heart and shattered soul would experience today.

KRACHOOM!

The monster howled as something struck it in a bright blast, stopping the drain before Ruby's powers could be fully depleted. The girl was too tired to notice the bombardment of lasers raining down on the retreating Grimm, which howled and bellowed as more direct hits and several stray shots knocked it off its feet. Exhaustion and weariness overtook Ruby's body as she slowly de-morphed, her breathing slowing down as each blast thundered in her ears… and the faint silhouette of a massive ship loomed overhead.

Beams of light shot down to the street, colored figures opened fire while spreading out… and two shapes - one with five colored squares across his red chest and another with a black-and-white zigzag pattern against pink - reached out for her.

And with a final, gentle exhale, Ruby Rose slipped away into darkness…

…

"GO, GO, GO! POUR IT ON! FIRE EVERYTHING!"

Double-barreled laser turrets and ion cannons unleashed their entire stock on the shrieking Grimm dragon, who could do nothing to fight back against the bombardment while two teams of Rangers hurried to retrieve the Remnantians' unconscious bodies. It was all too much, but she was right there. It could still…

KA-BLAM! A high-powered blast hit it in the chest, making it topple over and crash against the ground in a shower of dark sparks and ionized energy particles. The Rangers were hurrying back, blasters in hand to protect their comrades carrying the Remnantians. They were shouting to each other now, and it struggled to listen.

"Andros! Is she-"

"No time, Leo! Everyone on board, quickly!"

"D.E.C.A! ENGINES TO FULL! WE GOTTA GO, NOW!"

They… they were getting away!

She was getting away!

No… NO! NO!

It lunged… but too late. The ship was already blasting away from the city at high speeds, leaving the burning, ruined metropolis. The rising smoke shrouded its escape as the dragon launched upward, its wings beating as hard as possible. It rose higher… higher… and broke into the sky above Panorama City…

…but the ship - the Astro Megaship, it remembered - was gone.

She was gone…

SHE WAS GONE! SHE WAS GONE! SHE WAS GONE!

"NNNNOOOOO! NNNOOOOOO! NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Its roars and cries carried for miles while it sprayed violet flame everywhere, lighting the sky with dark fire and setting rooftops alight. Its howling roars and bellows of anger rang out as it flew off, its deafening cries of denial fading with it.

But down in the city below, one pile of rubble lay still amidst the smoldering, crackling flames. The building's remains lie quiet and undisturbed…

…until a clawed hand broke through to the surface.

It was followed by a second as both hands gripped the debris, clawed fingers scratching the rubble as they pulled a grunting ashen-haired head to the surface. The amber-eyed woman coughed and sputtered as she shakily climbed to her feet, dust and residue falling from her crimson-colored suit. She breathed heavily as she observed the scene around her, her eyes burning as she fought against the bewilderment and shock written on her features.

She thought Ruby Rose would be her greatest obstacle to freedom. Instead, there were two obstacles. Each of them was just as dangerous, and she had made the fatal mistake of underestimating them. Thus, she needed to take no chances.

She needed to grow. She needed more power. And come hell or high water, she would get it. She wouldn't stop until the power they squandered was in its rightful hands. And that Grimm… it had that power, too, and lots of it. She could sense the abundance from within: an abundance wasted on one of her creatures.

This is not her world, and it never will be. She won't let it be taken away… and to do that, she needs all of the power—and not just that kind, as she reminds herself when she spies movement near one of the buildings.

It's more of them. The weaker, lesser versions of the people who cared little for what they believed to be beneath them. She pays no attention to what they say to one another, for they all mean nothing. All that matters to her is that they know their place and bring her one step closer to what she most desires.

The woman leaps from the rubble and lands before them with a hard landing, startling the ones in front. One of them lights up upon seeing her. "Oh, thank God! A Ranger! I-It's okay, everyone! We're in safe hands now!"

The woman smirked. "Yes, you are… but on one condition."

This earns her some confused whispers from the crowd before one of them speaks up. "Condition? What… what condition?"

"You will all be under my protection," she addressed them. "If each of you kneel."

The crowd was silent. They blinked with baffled faces and looked at each other as if she was speaking nonsense. One of them stepped forward while waving his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. I-I'm sorry, you want us to what?"

She scowled at him. "You heard me."

"Yeah, I did, and it sounds… totally un-Ranger-like. That's not how you guys work. At all."

"Are… are you sure you're even a Power Ranger?" somebody else asked. "Because I heard that they don't show their faces."

She ignored him and turned to the one who stepped up. "So… that's a no, then?"

"I'm the one who has to say no here!" he shouted in disbelief. "You should… you need to be helping us! Some folks are injured here! But instead of helping, you expect us to… to bow at your feet?! You're not supposed to-GAK!"

The woman's hand shot out and squeezed around the man's throat, lifting him into the air effortlessly as the crowd gasped and shrank back in panic. She savored the surprise and terror in the man's eyes as her fiery orbs stared into them. She leaned in close to whisper something in his ear.

"The only thing I am 'supposed' to do… is what I decide to do."

The next few seconds were absolutely glorious. It made her feel stronger than she had in years, possibly her whole life. She breathed in the scent of burning flesh and savored the horrified screams of the crowd mixed with his wails of agony. She enjoyed the panic and fear on every face she could see and listened deeply to every terrified swear, every plea for mercy to a god, and every pitiful attempt at denial. Those in the back spun on their heel…

…but a quick fireball to the distant roof created a rubble barricade. All eyes turned back to her as the last of the ashes spilled from her fingers. The woman steadied herself before pouring raw power into her voice and lighting a flame in her palm. "If anyone here wishes to survive the next five seconds, you will surrender and kneel before me! NOW!"

They complied instantly like pets obeying their master. The people fell to their knees, and bowed their heads with quiet sobs and choked whimpers. None raised a head in defiance and none raised a hand against her.

It was the most beautiful thing she had ever witnessed.

She was grateful that no one dared to look her in the eye as she wiped away a tear, a proud and dominating smile splitting her face. There was only one thing she had to thank for making all of this possible…

…for without it, Cinder Fall would still be trapped at the bottom of the ladder.

(A/N: Next time will be a brief interlude from the main story focusing on Cinder's POV, mainly her arrival on Earth, how she acquired that mysterious Phoenix Power Coin… and a clue to the coin's origin.)