Masuyo was released the next day. Daniel had been transferred to a clinic, where his normal doctor took over his care. Nephele was still under constant watch in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. Masuyo visited Daniel after he transferred, but the doctor irately rushed her out after about an hour. The next day, the Counsel called the Rangers and officially reinstated Phoenix onto the team with no need for probation, though Frosty was still the leader. Gus's absence was brushed off by the Counsel, but Frosty asked for an extended leave of absence for her to recover from 'personal issues'. The Counsel was more irritated by the timing than the reason but approved it anyway. Almost immediately after the meeting, Frosty, Hooves and Kai were publicly presented with accolades for their heroism. Thea and Masuyo cheered as their teammates received the awards.
A day later, Daniel was released from the clinic. It seemed extremely fast for the injuries he'd sustained along with his lacking healing abilities. Kevin explained that Dr. Carol Smith, the doctor who'd booted Masuyo from her clinic, was an amazing healer. The way he spoke about her gave Masuyo the impression that he definitely knew her from more than just being Daniel's doctor. After Daniel arrived back home, the family celebrated by having a big dinner together. They all enjoyed the meal. Even Yuu could barely come up with anything negative to say.
Maybe everything will still work out. Masuyo thought.
The school was closed for the next week while repairs were done to the grounds and buildings. Even though classes were halted, the students were informed that the First Semester Tests would begin right when the school reopened. The attack happened four days ago. Thea and her friends were granted permission to see Nephele, and they were studying together. The first set of exams were written. The students would then get a week off, then physical exams the following week. While all the girls were confident in their physical abilities, these exams, especially the senior's, were known for being legendarily difficult. Sitting around Nephele's hospital bed, books all over the place, each girl was buried in a book, scribbling notes.
"GRAH!" Alessia threw her notes up in the air. "This is ridiculous! Why are we studying so much!"
"Because," Nephele answered, not even looking up, "We're high school students, and if we want to become college students, we need to work hard."
"Some more than others." Lailah snickered.
"Stop calling me stupid!" Alessia slammed her book and stood up.
"I'm only kidding."
"It doesn't feel like it! You make fun of me all the time. We're in a freaking prestigious school. I'm sorry I'm not a top academic student like each of you, but I try my hardest!"
"Whoa. It's okay, Alessia. We all know you're smart, okay?" Eda tried to comfort her, but she was interrupted by an increasingly fast beeping echoing in the room.
Nephele's heart monitor was the cause. The girls looked towards their friend who'd dropped her book and was curled up, and holding her hands to her head, whispering to herself, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"
Thea went to her side, but when she reached to touch her shoulder, Nephele flailed and slapper her hand away. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" The girls all backed up, and a nurse came rushing in as Nephele began to hyperventilate. More nurses and doctors followed in shortly after.
"I'm sorry, but you all need to leave."
Gathering their things, the girls quickly and quietly left. After leaving the hospital, they went to a nearby park and sat at a table together.
"I'm… I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, Alessia." Lailah finally spoke. "It really was, you know… just a joke."
"I-I know, but… I don't know... You guys make me feel really crappy when you say stuff like that all the time." She sniffled a bit. "It hurts, is all."
Lailah hugged Alessia tightly. "We're friends. I never meant to hurt you. I promise I'll do better at listening and understand your side of things, okay?"
"Okay..."
"Kind of hypocritical for you all to say, isn't it?" A voice cut in.
The voice came from behind them. As they turned, they saw Daniel standing there, stone faced, wearing a hoodie. Charlotte stood behind him, timidly.
"What?" Thea asked, confused.
"You know, talking about learning empathy." His expression was dead serious. "After what you did to Charlotte at the dance, don't you dare go spouting bullshit about understanding."
Surprised, Eda Thea, and Masuyo all stood up to face them. Thea was glaring at Charlotte, who looked bewildered at Daniel's attitude. Eda shared a confused look with Masuyo. Daniel put his arm between Thea and Charlotte to block them from each other.
"All of you need to apologize to her."
"Like hell!" Alessia shouted back, getting to her feet. "She poisoned Masuyo!"
"I-I didn't!"
"Then who did?! You gave us the drinks after you two had just fought!" Eda threw back at her.
"I don't know!"
"It was Quil!" Daniel interjected. "He was also the person who attacked her in the street, the one who stabbed me."
"Y-you were stabbed?" Charlotte was surprised at this revelation.
"Are you kidding?!" Thea said in disbelief, ignoring Charlotte's comment, but pointing at her. "You're taking her side and believing something The Grey Knight said over us?!"
"Masuyo knows the truth too. Whether or not she admits it is her problem. But 'I' found out. 'I' confronted him, and he admitted it to 'me'. Even taunted me about it. It wasn't the Grey Knight who said anything, it was him!"
"You…you figured it out and confronted him? Alone?!" Masuyo finally spoke up, and her confusion had shifted quickly to aggression. She grabbed Daniel by his collar and pulled him. "Why would you do that, you idiot!? You could have died!"
Daniel pried her hand off and backed up. "I tried to ask for help! You two were just so mad at me for just going to the dance with Charlotte, you wouldn't even hear me out!"
Thea stepped closer, almost to Daniel's face.
"Oh ya, you bring your new girlfriend and flaunt her in front of us. You expect us to be cool with that?!"
"She's a FRIEND! Not a girlfriend! I told you that, but you still didn't believe me and freaked out anyway?!"
"But…" She moved back a bit.
"Is… Is that why you attacked her?!" He got right back in Thea's face. "You used Masuyo to have an excuse to…" Daniel stopped himself and took a breath. "What you all did was wrong. When she told me, I could barely believe it, but now…!"
"Daniel!" Charlotte grabbed his hand and pulled him back a bit. "It's okay. I'm okay now."
He closed his eyes and took another breath, but when he opened them, he looked just as angry as before. He turned his back to the girls and began to leave.
"Wait, Daniel! We're… We're sorry!" Thea blurted out, causing him to stop.
He looked back over his shoulder. "Don't. Not now. It's too late." He took a hold of Charlotte's hand. Then looking straight at Thea, he said, "Don't talk to me anymore."
He left.
As they walked away, Thea fell to her knees, and the other girls went to check on her. Meanwhile, Masuyo watched them go, and Charlotte looked back at here. A small sad smile touched the side of Masuyo cheek as a tear fell. Seeing this, Charlotte gave a grin. This isn't real, right? Masuyo thought to herself. For almost the last five years Daniel had always been a great friend, and when she'd been at her lowest, he even promised to always be there for her. Once their parents were married, she got to see him practically every day. While she'd quietly harbored her feelings for him, and what she was doing with them she didn't even know, they were closer than ever, right?
The week ended, then began again, the school reopened, and the week of testing started. Masuyo was a zombie as she got up and dressed. Daniel had practically been a ghost since the day at the park. He was out basically all day, and when he was home, he was locked up in his room. Both Thea and Masuyo couldn't get a hold of him via text. She tried knocking on his door, but he never answered. Both Hana and Kevin had spoken to him, and while Masuyo got chewed out by her mom for what happened with Charlotte at the dance, it didn't help her with Daniel. She went downstairs on into the kitchen for breakfast, where Kevin, her mom, Yuu and Noriko were eating.
"Morning sis." Noriko greeted her much quieter than usual.
"Hey."
"Guessing things are still screwed up with Dani-. Ow!" Yuu was interrupted by an elbow to the chest by Noriko.
"Yep." She couldn't even bring herself to argue.
"Hungry dear?" Her mom offered her some food.
"Sure." She sat down and ate quietly.
Not long after, there was a 'knock' on the door and Noriko ran to answer. She returned to the room with Eda.
"Ready for school, Yo-Yo?"
"Yeah." She stood up and grabbed her bag.
"Good luck with your tests!" her mom shouted to her as she was leaving. Then she heard her mom talking to Kevin. "Maybe we should talk to him again tonight."
***
Daniel wasn't sure what to expect when he returned to school, but as he walked into the schoolyard, he felt every set of eyes turn to him. He quickly made his was inside as the whispering began all around him.
"He's the one to survive the Grey Knight? Why couldn't it have been Quil?" A female student said to the person beside her.
"Guess even the Grey Knight thought that Daniel was too weak to be any threat." A guy scoffed.
"Ugh. I was hoping he'd be in the hospital longer than that." One of Daniel's regular bullies remarked.
Getting to his desk, Daniel sat down and began to unpack his things. As he grabbed for his books, a foot kicked his bag across the floor. Another of his regular bullies was standing beside him now.
"Bet you think you're hot shit, surviving that?" He goaded Daniel. "You're not. You're just too pathetic for even a psycho to kill."
Daniel said nothing, but when he stood to get his books, the bully shoved him down and spit on him before walking off. Daniel stood back up and saw the whole class starring at him. While he wasn't a stranger to this kind of negative attention, this felt different. Everyone usually looked at him with nothing but disgust and disinterest, but this time, he could actually see pity in a few of their eyes. This hurt more. Sitting back in his seat, he was greeted by Andras who had just walked into the room.
"Hey, Dan." He hurried over to Daniel. "Dude, I heard the Grey Knight almost killed you. What was he like?"
No. 'are you okay?', or 'I'm glad you're okay'. Daniel was pretty sure that if he had died, all Andras would be worried about would be how he'd use that to get a date. But as Daniel was about to answer, he noticed the whole room has gone silent. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that all eyes were on them now.
"He was… Shiny? Imposing? I didn't really talk much to him. Quil… well he and the others brought me up there to… um… bully me… and then he showed up. Quil said some stuff and then the roof caved in. I didn't know what had happened next, until I was rescued." Daniel recalled.
A few scoffs came from around the classroom and the others seemed to go back to their own conversations. Andras rolled his eyes obviously disappointed by the answer as well.
"Oh, ya." Andras said aloud as though he was remembering something.
'WHAM'
Andras socked Daniel hard in the shoulder.
"Ow…" Daniel winced and quietly held where he'd been hit.
"That's for somehow getting a date and leaving me out, dude." Andras bemoaned. "I stayed home and didn't even go. Then I heard that you brought some hot second year? Fucking life isn't fair." He tactlessly added at the end, "Can you ask if she has a hot friend with better standards?"
Luckily, the bell rang and Andras went to his desk. After the week Daniel had been through, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with Andras. Unlike his classmates, he was really looking forward to these tests and hoped that everything would get back to normal quickly.
***
Before Masuyo knew it, the first week of testing was over. They got a week of normal classes, then the physical exams would begin. This week had been absolutely brutal, and everything else didn't help either. As far as being heroes, Thea had been put back on the team right after the incident at the dance, but this evening would be the first time the team would actually be back together. Nephele was cleared to join but had daily counselor visits. While she insisted, she was doing fine now, the girls all agreed they'd keep an eye on her. The first joint call was for a gang fight happening on the city streets. Working together, almost like old times, they shook off their collective rust and were able to subdue the baddies with no major inconveniences. After turning the villains over to the cops, Frosty collecting the report, and an awkward interview where their presser, Canon, called out Nix for her absence, the girls found a safe place, transformed back, and then went to a café to celebrate. They'd originally planned on something more extravagant, but after all their studying and tests, they were too drained for anything more extravagant.
"After all the tests are done and the tournament finishes, we'll have to go on a mini vacation." Eda suggested. "There is a nice villa to the northwest that my parents rent out. I'm sure I could borrow it for a few days."
After the schools finished their testing, there would be a multiple week tournament with the most elite schools' best students fighting to see who's the best in the city.
"Sounds great, we can go during The Nine! Now we just have to somehow survive the next few weeks." Lailah dryly joked.
"Speaking of 'surviving'," Alessia cautiously brought up, "how are you two?" She was looking at Thea and Masuyo.
"I'm fine, really." Masuyo was staring at the tea she was stirring slowly.
"Really?" "I'm sure…" "Of course." Each of the others responded disbelievingly.
"And you Prez? Prez…? Prez!"
The third call got her attention, as she'd been staring deeply at her phone. She set it down and embarrassedly looked around at everyone. "What? I already ordered, didn't I?" She looked down to see her food was already in front of her. "Oh. When did it get here?"
"About half an hour ago, but thanks for answering the question."
"What?"
"Never mind."
After looking at the others for bit longer, confused, she returned to her phone.
"Okay. We have to do something about this. Since that thing at the park, you guys haven't been the same." Eda said, concerned.
"I get that you guys like him, and he's a really good guy and we were all good friends back in middle school, but isn't this a bit extreme? I mean, what do you two even find so special about him?" Lailah asked.
"He was a friend." Masuyo spoke up. "I mean, ya, I like him a lot, but even so, he was a friend. Like each one of you. Someone I could rely on and now…" a drop rippled through her tea, as she realized a tear had escaped. She wiped away the others that were forming quickly.
"So, we've got to get you guys back to being friends." Lailah admitted.
"I'm not thinking this is something we can force." Masuyo lamented.
"There's got to be a way." Nephele sounded determined.
"Charlotte?" Alessia said sounding confused.
"Ya, I mean, she's part of it, but we've got to find a solution to the whole thing."
"No, Charlotte." She emphasized.
"Yes, Charlotte. The girl who's messing with Daniel. Second year. Red head. Bit prissy. We've met." Lailah impatiently snapped back.
'Guh, No! I mean she's right there!" She pointed out the window, and sure enough across the street, Charlotte was walking, practically skipping, by herself. She had a rather wide, mischievous smile on her face.
Practically dragging Thea behind them, the five others took off after Charlotte as she made her way down the street. Bumping through the foot traffic and pulling a distracted Thea along, it took about a minute for them to start getting close to her. Masuyo stopped.
"Guys, maybe this isn't a good idea."
"No! We need you guys to air this out!" Lailah shouted at her, surprising her. "You two need to get out of whatever funk you're in and she's the key to that!"
"Who's the key to what?" A soft but chipper voice from in front of the girls asked.
"Chaar…! Oh, hi Charlotte." Lailah lowered her voice to a more acceptable decibel.
"I heard you shouting and figured I should say 'Hi'!" She seemed much more insufferably chipper than the last time they'd met. "So, 'hi'!"
"Hi." The girls responded a bit halfheartedly, except Thea who was still on her phone.
"Were you looking for me, though?" She looked over the group. The other girls put up a hospitable front, but Masuyo couldn't make eye contact. This brought a grin to Charlotte's face.
"Um, ya." Alessia answered, "Can we talk with you for a moment?"
"Only a minute. I'm supposed to be meeting someone important very soon."
The group moved off the sidewalk into a nearby alley. The girls went in first, and Charlotte followed, seeming to keep her back to the busy sidewalk, possibly just in case she needed to escape.
"Who are you meeting with?" Masuyo spoke up when they were all away from the street.
With her grin still beaming, she cocked her head a bit and said, "Oh, it's not Daniel, if that's what you're asking."
Hearing 'Daniel', Thea looked around a bit and soon realized who they were talking to.
"I'm pretty busy though. So, what can I help you w…" Charlotte was cut off as Thea approached and them kowtowed in front of her. Each of the girls looked at each other in shock and confusion as she debased herself in front of Charlotte.
"I'm so sorry, Charlotte!" Thea shouted into the ground.
"Wha…?"
"Me too." Masuyo joined Thea on the ground. "I'm really sorry for what I put you through!"
"Please forgive us. I'll… I'll do anything." Thea's sniffling could be heard by the others.
Charlotte was standing there with a confused smile on her face but soon realized the situation. Her almost cute smile shifted into a wicked grin that caught the attention of Nephele, Lailah, Alissia and Eda. She took a few steps towards Thea.
"Hey!" Eda stepped forward, but Thea put out one of her hands to stop her. Eda had reacted to Charlotte putting her foot on top of Thea's head and was grinding her heel into it.
"You aren't so cool now, are you?" Charlotte taunted in a far less chipper voice. "You lied to me about how you felt about Daniel, right? You tried to flaunt your relationship with him, but he chose me!" She moved her foot over to Masuyo's head. "And you, psycho bitch! You attacked me over some crap I didn't even do! Then, after he sides with me…" She moved back to Thea, "you want me to help you to get back with him by forgiving you?!"
"Yesh, plesh." Thea groveled from below Charlotte's foot.
Charlotte moved her foot and got closer to the two. "Let me think about it. But while I do, I'd love somewhere to rest my feet."
The others watched uncomfortably as Charlotte used Masuyo as a chair, and Thea as her footrest. As she sat there pondering, she took every opportunity to kick and stomp her new furniture. Thea barely made a noise as she took the beating. After a few minutes, Charlotte seemed to get bored. As she stood up, she took one more shot at Masuyo, by kicking her in the gut with her heel.
"Fiiine." She looked down on the two girls she's been using as furniture. "Do one more thing and I'll tell Daniel I forgive you two." She presented her hand. "It's quite simple. Even you gorilla brained bimbos could do it. Just kiss my hand and say, "I'm sorry!".
Thea stood up and dusted herself off before walking over to Charlotte. As she went to take her hand, she saw that Charlotte had pulled out her phone to record them.
"Well Prez? Have anything to say?" As the camera focused on her.
"I-I'm sorry." She squeaked out.
"Awe… You'll have to speak up, Prez. Or? Or do you not want Daniel to forgive you?"
"I'm sorry!" She shouted as she kissed the back of Charlotte's hand.
Charlotte laughed a dark cruel laugh that the girls had never heard from her before. "Now Masuyo, your turn."
"I'm sorry!" she said, making sure to be clear and loud, then kissed the back of her hand.
After finishing the recording and putting her phone back in her pocket she switched back to her innocent smile. "All is forgiven. See? I'm forgiving. We should totally be friends now. Don't worry, I'll make sure to tell Daniel I've forgiven you." She paused for a moment. "Oh! I can totally do that the next time we're finished doing it in his room." She bragged.
The two girls gave very different expression; Masuyo's was one of confusion and Thea's was one of realization.
"I mean, that is where I just came from…"
Masuyo went to step forward, but Thea calmly grabbed her friend's hand. As she looked at Thea, she saw her friend shaking her head as if to say, 'don't let her provoke you', and she relented and walked towards the others. Thea, however, walked over to Charlotte and the two began talking very quietly to each other. The others couldn't hear what was being said, but it seemed like a tame enough conversation. The girls looked at each other.
"Maybe she's asking her to delete the video?" Nephele suggested.
"What do you think she meant by that 'in his room' thing? You don't think they…" Eda started to say with no small hint of disgust.
"Daniel isn't like that. He wouldn't… I mean…" Masuyo was trying to convince herself as well as the others.
'SLAP'
The loud clapping of open palm on face rang through the alley. The girls' attentions were snapped over the others as Charlotte stood there, a bit dazed, with Thea's handprint clear on her face.
"You BITCH!" Thea went to knee her in the face next, but Charlotte blocked it and stood upright, collecting herself.
"Hahaha…" Charlotte laughed as Thea's face was almost crimson with rage, while the air around her was heating up. "If you know that… heh, then you've done it with him too. Aww… and here I thought I was his first."
"Prez…? What is she talking about?" Alessia asked what they all wanted to.
Thea looked back at the others and Charlotte used the distraction to kick her in the stomach, knocking the air out of her, and sending her rolling back to the other girls.
"What I'm talking about," Charlotte was slightly backing away from the group, "is that your beloved Prez has been assaulting poor lil' Daniel and using him as her own… 'Personal toy'."
She let out an unsettling cackle that echoed in the alley.
"The- The best part is, she's basically forcing herself on him, because he can't resist. Awe… so desperate for his attention, she preyed on his forgiveness as she stole more and more of his innocence. So pathetic."
"What does that say about you?!" Thea stood back up, using the wall as her support. "How is what you did any better?"
"Better? Ha. I don't care. I never really cared for his attention. I was just curious as to how he tasted." She licked her lips. "And let me tell you all…" she pointed towards the others, "you're definitely missing ou…"
"THAT'S ENOUGH PLAYING AROUND, CHARLOTTE." A distorted female voice came from above the alley. All seven of the girls looked up at the sky, as a black cloaked female descended between them.
"M-ma'am…" Charlottes joyful and sadistic demeanor vanished in an instant. Visibly panicking, she dropped to a knee.
"I BELIEVE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO REPORT TO ME FIVE MINUTES AGO." The woman landed in front of Charlotte.
"I-I-I apologize, my lady. As y-you can see, I was delayed."
The woman slowly turned towards the girls. Though she wore a mask, it only covered the bottom half of her face. She lifted the hood enough to see the girls. She had pulled back pitch black hair, and porcelain white skin, with a rather stern look in her glowing blue eyes. The mask she wore looked like black plated metal with gold carvings throughout. The girls barely noticed, as the aura she was emanating put each of the girls on alert.
RUN! TRANSFORM! She'll kill you if you stay put!
Those terrifying thoughts ran through each of the girl's minds, but their bodies wouldn't move an inch. This fear seemed to permeate to their very souls. Masuyo recognized feeling something like this before. On the night they faced The Grey Knight, the aura when his eyes lit up felt almost exactly like this.
"HMMM… I DO HATE DELAYS." With one, nearly impossible to see movement, her hand erupted from her cloak revealing her black ensemble beneath. Her hand grabbed Charlotte by the back of her neck and lifted her into the air.
"HURGH!" The grip was tight, and Charlotte attempted to peel the black gloved fingers from her neck, but to no avail. "M-mistress?"
"THOUGH, I HATE THOSE WHO CANNOT DEAL WITH THEM, EVEN MORE." She took off slowly towards the sky still holding the kicking and panicking Charlotte by the neck.
As the distance grew, Nephele collapsed to her knees and she and Lailah threw up.
"What was THAT!?" Thea cried.
"I-I don't know, but we've got to save Charlotte." Alessia wheezed, catching her breath.
"She's right!" Masuyo declared.
"Let's do it then." Eda confirmed.
Lailah helped stabilize Thea, and after they helped Nephele up, they all transformed into The Magical Ranger Girls. Once transformed, the girls leapt to the top of the building beside them and saw the woman still holding a struggling Charlotte.
"Let's go then!" Frosty led the charge.
UC grabbed Nix's hand before they rushed off and said, "We're going to talk about what she said about you and Daniel after this." Then released her and joined the others in pursuit if Charlotte's attacker.
The black cloaked figure wasn't moving particularly fast, so the Rangers gained ground quickly. As they began to approach, the figure turned to face them, still holding Charlotte who was begging to be let go.
"P-please m…m…Mistress. I'm sorry I was late. It will not happen again…"
"HMM…" She looked at the Rangers. "YOU'RE HERE A BIT QUICK. YOU KNOW THOSE GIRLS, I TAKE IT?"
"That doesn't matter, villain." Frosty declared. "Let the girl go!"
"IF YOU INSIST." She released Charlotte.
Charlotte caught herself in the air before the others could react and landed on a nearby roof, coughing and trying to catch her breath.
"UC!" Frosty turned to Unicorn. "Go help her! And keep her safe from this…"
Frosty caught an elbow to the face that launched her into Unicorn. Both crashed into the street below causing a panic. Civilians ran as the two lifted themselves from the crater they'd made. Looking up, UC saw Gus and Hooves attack from opposite sides. The figure seamlessly moved around the attacks, grabbing Hooves' leg and swatting Gus with her body. The two landed next to Frosty and Unicorn. Kai jumped to attack. Even though the woman dodged the physical attack, Kai's {Dark Aura} attack still landed. The woman was stunned for a moment, and Phoenix flew straight at her with a flaming blade. As she swung, the attack was deflected by a shield, the woman suddenly conjured.
"W-what?" Phoenix let out a confused response at the sudden shield.
"T-that's just like the Grey Knight." Kai backed up a bit.
"THE GREY NIGHT?" The woman looked at the two in the air. "HE HAS THIS ABILITY TOO?"
UC and Frosty flew back up, Hooves and Gus were right behind them. The woman looked at each Ranger as they surrounded her and began to laugh to herself.
"YOU SIX ARE LUCKY. I'M SUDDENLY IN A MUCH BETTER MOOD." An aura appeared around her, then spread further out, encompassing all of them. "I WILL SPARE YOU TODAY."
Whatever this aura was blocked their vision. Gus let out a '{Gale Force}', that blew the fogging power away, but the woman was gone. Unicorn looked down at the building that Charlotte was on and saw the woman holding her up by the neck again. The girl flailed wildly, as the woman brought her in close to whisper something. Charlotte's desperation increased dramatically at whatever was said. She started balling and screaming.
"I'm sorry! Please! I've always been loyal! I swear, I'm so sorry! I didn't…"
'CRACK'
Charlotte stopped flailing and, as her final tears streamed down her face, died. Phoenix dashed in, but the woman kicked the Ranger back down into the street pavement. Frosty, Hooves and Gus rushed next, but even still holding Charlotte's body, the woman in black easily dodged and countered each attack. Unicorn was frozen in mid air. Watching her teammates failed attacks.
No! She's a monster.
"UC!" Kai was still beside her. "Hey! Listen!"
"What?" Unicorn was pulled from her fears.
"My Dark Aura worked on her for a second. If we time an attack. Well, we may be able to catch her off guard."
"I WOULD RATHER YOU NOT." The distorted voice came from behind them. The woman in black, still holding the still body of Charlotte, interrupted.
Looking back, the girls saw the other Rangers incapacitated. Phoenix was trying to get to her feet, but Frosty, Hooves and Gus were not moving. The figure was close enough that they could see her face below her hood again. Her eyes were no longer glowing, but still cold. She got closer to Unicorn and sniffed at her.
"INTERESTING…" The woman then looked over at Kai. "YOU HAVE POTENTIAL. SO, I DO APOLOGIZE FOR THIS."
"Why..?"
Kai received a swift kick to the side. She was able to block it with her arm, but a loud 'SNAP' cut through the air, and Unicorn saw a part of the bone in Kai's arm tear through the skin. Kai's eyes went white and she fell from the air. Unicorn dove and grabbed her before she hit the ground. As they collapsed to the ground, Unicorn saw Alessia, now transformed back, arm still broken.
"FU..!" Unicorn covered Alessia's mouth.
"I know it hurts, but if she hears you, she may come down here and see you."
'What?" Alessia noticed the blood on her clothing that was not her Ranger costume. She gritted through her teeth "Okay. Please fix this so I can go back up there and kick her ass."
Unicorn began to heal the injury, but knew it wasn't going to be done fast enough to do anything in this fight.
After seeing Unicorn catch Kai and land, Nix fervently flew after the cloaked woman, swinging her blade. When the woman noticed, she stopped and faced Nix and grabbed the blade mid swing. She got close and this time sniffed Nix. Her eyes flared blue for a moment before calming down. Sighing, the woman released Charlotte, letting her plummet to the ground. Nix dove to try to catch her, when another 'Crack' hit the air. This time it was a whip the woman had caught Nix's leg with. Nix couldn't let that stop her, so she continued to dive. With a sudden jerk, the whip pulled back causing her ankle to make an audible 'pop' as it dislocated. The pain shot through her, but Nix still pursued. The resistance suddenly disappeared, as the whip dematerialized. A crowd had formed at the ground below her, and Phoenix was able to slow down, now holding Charlotte. Looking up, Nix could no longer see the black cloaked woman. She quickly scanned the crowd, searching, but instead of the woman, she noticed Daniel. He was limping through the crowd towards them, looking terribly injured. The moment they made eye contact, he fell onto the street, motionless. Right after she saw his doctor was rushing through the crowd to him, but Phoenix couldn't help but scream.
Epilogue
As the blond doctor attended to Daniel, two figures watched from a nearby rooftop. One person was large and imposing, while the second was much smaller and more feminine in build. The large person kneeled to the smaller.
"Was it as you thought, my lady?"
"IT WAS." The woman pulled her hood back slightly to show her black mask with gold etching. She slowly unstrapped the mask from her face.
"What is to be done next?"
"You are to report the fate of our operative to my mother. Though, do leave out any mention of him from that report. I intend to observe those around him, and for the time being, let him rest and recover." The woman's voice no longer distorted.
Daniel was taken on a stretcher to a nearby clinic. Charlotte was taken to the same location, though covered with a white sheet.
"It is a shame to lose her like that. She was a good…"
"No!" The woman interrupted, angrily, "She touched what wasn't hers! She should be grateful I was the one who found out! My mother may not have been so merciful."
"You are correct, my lady."
"Now, please report this. I wish to stay and keep an eye on my brother."