Heads turned, frantically looking for the source of the guttural roar. Nicole had feared a mutant would come, and it seemed it finally had, but she couldn’t see it. Worse, they were all worn out from the massive melee, with Kayla barely able to stand after working so fiercely on crowd control.

The officers were looking around in confusion, and it was only by chance that Nicole had been looking their way when the mutant came sliding around the corner only a block down the road. It had the body of a kangaroo, and much like the real deal, was built like an MMA fighter from hell. The head was much more akin to that of a bull, complete with skewering horns both pointed forward. Worse yet, even on all fours it was easily as tall as the storefronts as a whip-like tail swished behind the beast.

The creature snorted, blowing white hot steam that ate away at all it touched, save its own flesh. The beast roared in challenge as powerful legs kicked off the asphalt, sending chunks flying as claws easily dug through the surface. Nicole was already in motion, seeing the coming disaster before it crashed into the unsuspecting police line who were still turning to face the unknown threat. There was no time for anything fancy, so Nicole shoved the hapless men and women aside regardless of how she might hurt them, there wasn’t any time to be gentle about it as horns the size of Jeff’s spear angled down towards her. The beast’s eyes locked onto Nicole, pure malice radiating from within.

Then the monster passed right through her as she phased herself. Steel scrunched and screamed as the creature crashed into the two cars behind her, throwing one aside while the other was simple knocked away. Devon met the creature head on, his shield ringing out like a struck gong. Unlike before, this time he was pushed back by the sheer force of the creature, his feet carving through the road and machine remnants being bowled over.

Grace and Jeff moved to each flank of the monster, weapons impacting flesh. Nicole wasn’t idle, falling upon the beast’s back, her blades finding easy purchase within the thick hide and spilling blue blood. The monster recoiled from the trio of strikes, only to be immediately pulled back down by a mass of vines. Kayla was barely on her feet, holding her staff tight as she leaned against it, the vines straining against her staff.

“Do something, quick!” Kayla called out, her voice cracking.

Nicole grimaced at the urgency of her words, not sure what else she could do with a pair of daggers, so she dug one in and threw herself off the side, the dagger trailing a line down the beast’s side. Grace backed away as Nicole phased through a swipe of the clawed hind leg, concrete shattering under the force of the strike. Nicole tried not to think about whether her kinetic shield could have handled the strike.

The beast forced itself upright, pulling at the vines as it billowed white smoke from its nostrils, the vines almost withering from the acrid substance. Nicole jumped away, as did the others. Kayla, however, collapsed to the ground as her staff clattered beside her, heaving for breath.

Fuck.

Before Nicole had a chance to move, Jeff and Devon were at her side, the former was helping her up while the latter projected his shield forward, keeping the noxious fumes from reaching either. Once Jeff had her in a princess carry, her staff now clutched in her arms, he leapt into the sky in a blur of purple.

The mutant reengaged with Devon, and Grace was supporting him as best she could but the monster was almost pure muscle and brute force. There would be no standing against the thing head on for Nicole, she wasn’t a frontline fighter like those two, so she would instead embody her namesake and be roguish about it.

Nicole phased, passing through a limb as the beast slammed its claws down on Devon’s shield, then as it tried to backhand Grace, Nicole struck. Her blade sliced through the hide and into a tendon at the joint. The monster wailed, attempting to lash out, but Nicole was once more incorporeal to all it could do. That didn’t stop it from slapping a parked car into one of the storefronts where it kept going halfway through the wall before it stopped.

Now she really didn’t want to get hit by that thing.

Devon took advantage, a shining silver sword burning flesh and fur before he was once again put on the defensive, blocking strikes and keeping the beast from lashing out at Grace who very much did not have any defensive skills. Even three on one it felt like they were only making superficial progress, small cuts into tough hide. The monster wasn’t as outright dangerous as the scorpion they had fought before, but it was a hell of a lot tougher.

From one endurance based fight to the next, and one of their members was already out of action. Jeff crashed into the beast’s shoulder right as Nicole finished that thought, the arm falling limp. He’d already backflipped away, his spear held in a high grip, ready to strike once more.

“Finally, some progress,” Devon said.

Nicole danced around the beast, rolling over the limp limb it tried to sling at her to land beside Grace. “Kickass is what that was. Now, let’s finish it so we can go celebrate.”

“Please tell me you don’t mean the diner,” Devon muttered.

Jeff actually gasped. “Do not diss the diner! They have amazing chocolate chip pancakes!”

Grace snickered and some part of Nicole wondered if the beast was just being polite by letting them banter, but no, it was pawing at the limp arm and—

A sick tearing sound reverberated as the monster ripped the limp arm from it’s shoulder looking at it in disgust for a moment. The blood dripped off the limb as the creature snarled and its shoulder tensed.

“Scatter!” Nicole yelled.

The arm was flung right at their group, impacting hard where they had just been standing. It was a near thing that it missed them and Nicole wasn’t about to try and take that kind of impact with how much her shield had already been strained in the fight. Once again Devon moved to keep the monster’s attention, his shining shield and sword a beacon that seemed to draw the animalistic side of the monster towards it.

Nicole kept up her strikes, moving around the creature and cutting away at joints and tendons. Blood poured from the stump and Nicole knew it was only a matter of time before it became too much for the creature. With how the beast ripped its own arm off, self preservation didn’t seem to be a thing that the mutants were all that concerned with.

“Stall or try to end it sooner?” Grace asked, her mind also latching onto the same idea.

Devon muttered under his breath, then brought his shield up just a bit firmer. “Take no risks, but ensure it won’t be a danger to the public.”

Given how it had torn through the streets, thrashed multiple vehicles, and was still standing despite the blood leaking from the limb, it was still very much a danger to everyone present. All it would take would be a single errant motion and a car might sail into the police line, or the reporters which were now arriving on the scene.

Joy.

“Once more unto the evening news,” Nicole muttered.

“Bring it home Rangers!” Devon shouted, letting his blade shine bright as he held it skyward, then brought it down with a yell.

The blade of energy impacted the monster’s face, forcing a wince across its face. Jeff jumped high as Grace charged. Nicole didn’t sit idle, stepping sideways before also closing the distance. The one armed mutant swatted at Devon, he deflected the strike with his shield and struck true. Grace ducked the deflected limb, sinking her own blade deep into an existing wound, widening it further. Jeff hit the beast in the chest with a thunderclap of force, driving it to rear back from the impact.

Nicole wasn’t that nice about things. She jumped, dancing through her friend’s strikes and put one of her blades through the bastard’s eye. The mutant screeched as it reached for the blade she had left behind, stepping back as the Rangers once more made distance.

A single vine wrapped around the mutant’s ankle, the fiend tripped, falling sideways with enough force to rattle the remainder of the police line. That was all it took to give Grace the opening she needed, her axe impacting the back of its neck with a flash of blazing crimson. Nicole stood stock still at the sight, then her blade moved once more, cleaving through. The beast still stood, staring forward, but Nicole knew it was over long before the head slipped free and the beast collapsed to the ground with a dull impact.

She turned, looking up to the rooftop where Kayla stood, the vine retreating back into her staff. She dropped to one knee, but held up a thumb even as she gasped. Nicole nodded once towards her as Jeff jumped up to check on her. Nicole hurried over to Grace, dismissing her weapons on the way and offered a high five for her friend.

“Hell yeah,” Nicole said, the tension having turned to excitement.

Grace chuckled, the hands holding her axe trembling. The weapon dispersed into motes of red light, and she held up an unsteady hand. Nicole slapped it, then bumped her with a hip.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“We won,” Grace said softly even as the rest of the team gathered around, offering their own muted cheers.

The news always depicted the Rangers standing triumphant with the dead mutant in the background. Having fought two now, Nicole had more than a little suspicion that those pictures were just a bit staged.

“Everyone alright?” Kayla asked as Jeff helped her over to the others.

“I think my everything is bruised,” Devon grumbled.

Jeff chuckled. “No kidding. I don’t see myself getting out of bed for at least two days.”

Nicole could agree with that sentiment. The mutant had been a powerhouse, but it wasn’t smart about using its speed and strength, which gave them the edge needed to pull off the win. More importantly, she didn’t think any of the mechanical soldiers had managed to get their claws into civilians.

She looked up, finding Grace’s red helm. She smiled, even if her friend couldn’t see it. She’d been in danger, and her teammates had come to help, they’d fought together again, and won in a way that they could be proud of.

A sharp clap startled her, and all five Rangers’ attention snapped to the source of the sound. A young girl was standing back behind the remnants of the police line, clapping. Others were stepping out of nearby shops, joining in with the revelry, and soon they had a small crowd cheering for them. Colin and Kendra were among them, the jubilation picking up by the second. Nicole looked on, dumbstruck.

People were cheering for her. Even when she was doing gymnastics, the only ones to do that were her parents, and her two friends. Now, she had an entire crowd, not just clapping politely, but actively cheering! Her eyes burned as she took it all in, and a firm hand fell on her shoulder. Grace stood beside her, visor looking back and she could just barely make out her face underneath. She nodded, then turned back to the crowd, waving as she did.

Nicole decided she could unpack those feelings later, and followed her friend’s example, putting the approaching cameras as far out of her mind as she could. They had won, and for once she would take pride in the accomplishment.

----------------------------------------

“Ow, fuck,” Nicole said, shouldering the door to her dorm open.

Beside her, Grace helped prop her up as they stumbled inside. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to get back to my dorm tonight. I’m fucking exhausted.”

There was no disputing that, it had taken everything they had just to get back to the college after they managed to shake the reporters. Nicole felt like she’d been thrown down a mountainside and into a blender. If Grace felt even half as bad, she wouldn’t want to go any further than absolutely necessary. Nicole glanced across the darkened apartment, glad that it seemed to be empty.

“Totally getting Chinese delivered, no way I’m up to even microwaving something.”

“Sounds good,” Nicole said softly. Her phone would need charged anyway after morphing with it on her person. “I need a shower, but fuck that noise right now.”

Chuckling, the pair helped one another to the couch. Not that she had much choice given how fucking exhausted Nicole felt at the moment. They flopped down with heavy, and pained, grunts. Nicole knew right then and there she wasn’t getting back up that night, even for takeout. She wasn’t about to voice that, however. Instead, she fished her phone from her pocket and placed it on the wireless charger that Becca had bought for them and grabbed the remote, turning it to the news.

Sure enough, all the local coverage was about the Rangers making another appearance. What surprised Nicole most was that they had considerable footage this time, at least compared to what happened at the Renfaire. Most of it was shaky cell footage, but there was some store security stuff mixed in as well. The news cameras had gotten in place by the time the big bastard showed up, offering higher quality footage of the climactic showdown or whatever the talking head was calling it.

“I dashed us some Chinese,” Grace said after a moment.

Nicole blinked, looking at her friend. “Your phone didn’t get drained by the morph?”

Grace chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. “Left it in my car. I figured yours would be dead if you had to morph, so I didn’t want to take that chance.”

Nicole grinned, leaning against her friend as a bit of tension bled out of her. “At least someone on the team has some brain cells. I went off on my own and allowed Queen Bitch General of the Scourge there to find me.”

A loud snort rumbled through Grace, but Nicole didn’t have the energy to react.

“I’m assuming that’s a reference I’m not getting?”

“Nah, just pissed that she pretended to be my friend,” Nicole said softly. “I don’t have many of those, and she caught me at a particularly low point before the attack.”

“What about today?” Grace asked.

Nicole thought back to seeing her across the street, and the conversation that followed. “If I didn’t know better, I would almost think that she was checking up on me. As if one of the invaders might actually be concerned about a random human.”

Grace sat up a bit straighter, jostling Nicole from her comfortable position. “Is it possible that she actually did care?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Nicole spat. “She claimed to have been engineered to lead the forces on Earth, yet she had enough volition to come check on me. She has free will, she could walk away if she wanted to, so fuck her.”

“Just because someone can leave doesn’t mean they are able to,” Grace said at almost a whisper, reaching her arm around Nicole’s shoulder and squeezing gently. “Until we know her circumstances, what hold they have on her, I don’t think we should discount her just yet… I mean, no civilians were hurt, even with the mutant turned loose at the end.”

That was true, and did seem out of the ordinary. Why waste hundreds of their drones on an attack like that? Yet, the machine that had stood on the counter had more than enough time to kill Colin, yet it had delayed the strike until she arrived to save him. Had Maraline intentionally limited the attack just to spare them the worst of it? Shit, if that was a limited attack, what hope did they have if things got truly serious? That was a sobering thought, and one she was far too tired to entertain at the moment.

Instead, she just let those thoughts flee, falling into a comfortable doze. A moment later someone dared disturb her from her slumber. She grumbled petulantly, even as her warm cuddle source pulled away.

“Nicole, food’s here,” Grace said. She just grunted in reply, rolling a bit to get comfortable again. “Fine, fine, I’ll get the food, you nap a bit more you adorable menace.”

She hummed in response, then her brain was practically burning as the words registered.

Someone had called her adorable?

She must have dreamed it, because nobody was there. Instead, Nicole stretched, every joint cracking as she did, her muscles protesting with a dull ache. Just how long had she been out? Because she should be in far more pain than she was given how she felt earlier. Vaguely, she wondered why she felt like someone was missing.

Becca was at Colin’s, but that had been for days now, so who…

“Who the hell are you?” Someone said from the doorway. Nicole sat up, that voice was familiar, as was the sound of panic coming from the other woman. Nicole was already on her feet, hurrying to the door where Grace held her hands up, taking a step back. Becca didn’t waste a moment, stepping forward and into Grace’s personal space. “No seriously, who the fuck are you? I swear, if you hurt Nicole I’ll—”

“Becca!” Nicole said, sliding between the two girls. “Chill, she’s a friend.”

Rebecca blinked, looking Nicole over quickly, then her eyes settled back on Grace, and a damn smirk came to her lips. “Well, looks like I wasn’t the only one getting a bit of private time with a special someone.”

“That isn’t—” Grace tried, but Nicole held up her hand.

“Becca, this is my friend Grace. Grace, meet Becca, my obnoxious best friend and roommate.”

Grace chuckled nervously, offering her hand. “I’d say it was a pleasure, but this is hardly the right foot for that.”

Becca glanced down, and hesitantly accepted it. “You hurt my friend and I’ll kill you.”

Grace blinked, and Nicole had to snort. Rebecca was protective to a fault when it came to those in her circle, and disappointing her was near the top of Nicole’s list for why she hadn’t cashed out of the game of life just yet. She’d disappointed enough people as it was, and didn’t want to hurt her as well.

“Noted,” Grace said. “Now, this might be weird to ask, but would you happen to be our dasher?”

Becca rolled her eyes, stepping back out into the hall before retrieving a bag. “Got it right here, and you’re lucky you tipped so well, otherwise I might have doubled back for Colin’s shotgun before delivering this.”

“I’m surprised you’re dashing right now,” Nicole said, then shut her mouth before she blabbed that she knew Colin had been at the center of the attack. Instead she gestured towards the TV which was still displaying news footage of the attack.

Becca sighed. “I meant to sign out, but I sort of panicked when Colin messaged me that he’d been in the heart of that shitshow. He even got a closeup look at a machine as well as the Black Ranger.”

“He was that close?” Grace asked.

It was a good thing her friend had no aspirations for acting, because that delivery was anything but convincing. Unfortunately, changing the subject would have to wait a moment if she wanted to keep up the charade.

“He’s okay?” Nicole asked softly. “I’ve seen what those things can do…”

Rebecca huffed, stepping inside to set the bags down on the counter. “He’s down in the car. I got the dash when I was driving back to his place and didn’t recognize the name.”

“That’s my bad,” Grace said. “This little terror fell asleep after giving me her order.”

Nicole didn’t even recall giving an order, which meant she probably just grunted an affirmative when Grace asked if something was okay or not. Hopefully it wasn’t orange chicken, she couldn’t stand the stuff.

Nicole shook her head, moving to check the bags. Sure enough there was an order of orange chicken in addition to some lo mein which Nicole was quick to claim. “Since you’re here, care to join us? You could invite Colin up…”

“Nah, I don’t want to intrude,” Becca said with a mischievous glint in her eye, then they widened in concern. “Wait, why are you both bruised to hell? Shit, were you two in a fight or something?”

Nicole and Grace shared a look, with her friend offering a shrug in answer. She wanted to tell her best friend, she really did, but would that only serve to put her in more danger? It was a real possibility, but at the same time, the support of someone who knew her secret would certainly help, especially if something came up during school hours…

“About that…” Nicole said, stepping over to the kitchen island. “Pull up a seat, this might take a minute.”

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, glancing from the chair back to Nicole. “If this is some weird sex thing, I don’t want to hear it.”

Nicole’s face heated almost instantly to an inferno as Grace, the traitor, bellowed out a laugh.