A/N: I LIIIIIIIIIIIVE! I'm sorry I've been quiet for ages. I have been super busy getting married and everything, and I bring you chapter three! I am really sorry about taking forever, but life has been crazy, and will be crazy for the next several months. I am already working on chapter four, however.

Warning: Blood, violence, and mild psychological things. This is a flash-back chapter for the Pink Coin.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Power Rangers.

Thank to all of the wonderful people who have favorited and followed this, as well as the few who left reviews. It really helps me stay motivated and to write through the blocks.

Coco lazily stretched on the grass, the blazing afternoon sun hitting her back though her gym shirt. She couldn't wait until cool weather was back, and she wasn't melted into a puddle of sweat. Slapping another bug on her neck, she also couldn't wait for those to return to hell again. Hot weather was the absolute worst.

"Yo, Pyrrha." She called as she leaned back to loosen her muscles. "Wanna grab take out tonight? My treat."

Pyrrha looked up at her from her set of lunges, somehow not even breaking a sweat. 'How dare she be so magnificent. That beautiful bitch.' Coco seethed jealously.

As if sensing her gaze, Pyrrha looked up at her. "See something you like?"

Coco cast a playful wink at her. "Always do. You know my taste is always impeccable."

Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh, and even Coco chuckled at their playful banter; though both were fairly sure that they were doing nothing to stop the rumors that they were dating each other. While both of them were entirely into men, they didn't really care what others thought. After all, being gay, or bisexual wasn't a bad thing, so why act like it was? People would always gossip, and both of them no longer cared what others thought.

"And yeah, I would love take out. Can we do Thai tonight?" Pyrrha gave her a fairly moving puppy dog look as she progressed to squats seamlessly. "Oh please? Pretty please?"

Coco openly rolled her eyes as she started on her push-ups. "You know I can't say no to you."

"Ewwww..." One of the girls in the class groaned. "You both are so disgusting."

Coco halted and looked at the girl dead in her eyes. "No, what's disgusting is your attitude. How about you worry about how you can't throw a damn shotput to save your life, and less about shit that literally does not affect you."

The girl let out a disgruntled sound before pointedly looking away, leaving Coco to finish her warm ups in peace. What the hell was Tammy's problem? Was it really that hard not to mind her own business? Coco felt a wave of pity for anyone who really was gay or bisexual; she didn't understand how anyone could stand assholes like that all the time.

Pyrrha slurped down her lo mien noodles as they poured over their papers, neither of them really wanting to do work with food in front of them.

"Pyrrha, you see Cardin in the last match?" Coco mentioned. "I would not mind being pinned under him."

Her friend laughed and blushed faintly. "I mean, he does have fantastic muscles and a great build. He certainly looks the part of a wrestler."

Coco grinned wolfishly, nodding. "Yes he does. Unf. I would love to feel his body."

"How about that homework!" Pyrrha quickly interrupted.

Coco had grown up around Pyrrha long enough to know that she was still very shy about talking about anything more than kissing. And Coco wanted to do more than just kiss Cardin. "C'mon, Pyrrha. He's one hot piece of ass."

"Now you're just being vulgar."

"Not really. He's hot."

Green eyes rolled. "Not my type, but I guess he's good looking."

Coco waggled her eyebrows again. "And just what is your type?"

Pyrrha paused for a few moments. "Sensitive, kind, and sweet."

"And looks?"

"Looks aren't that important to me." She admitted.

"Ugh. You know, you're a sexy woman. You can be picky." Coco sighed indignantly.

"I know. I just... choose not to be."

Coco rolled her eyes. "Why the hell do you have to be such a good person?"

Coco really didn't understand why her parents were fighting this time. It could be money, or maybe work. Hell, it could even be about her.

"I can't believe you, Lucas. I just can't understand you anymore."

Nope, it was over his obsession with the television.

"Margret. It's just for three hours for Christ's sake! Can't you get off my ass for just a week? Just a fucking week, or is that too much to ask?!"

She lay on her bed and turned the page of her magazine leisurely, as if the sounds of yelling was simply pleasant music. It wasn't anything spectacular for them to fight, and she had no issues with it anymore. Sure, she loved her parents, but she just didn't care anymore to try to stop them. It wouldn't do any good for any of them, and then she would just get upset too.

With a heavy sigh, Coco rolled off the bed, strode over to her closet, and began to root through clothing for inspiration. Perhaps something with a bit more color tomorrow? Or just stick with her signature browns? Hmmmm. It was so hard being so fashionable sometimes.

"Wanna hit the mall tomorrow?" Coco inquired happily as Pyrrha pulled her notebook from her locker. "No lie; saw the cutest flats there with your name on them."

A red eyebrow arched in interest. "Color?"

"Bronze and gold."

"Why wait? Let's just go now?" Pyrrha grinned.

Books tumbled from Coco's arms to the linoleum floor. "You... you want to ditch school?" Her hand flew up to touch Pyrrha's forehead. "You don't seem to be running a fever. What's my middle name?"

"Coco, what are you doing?" She laughed.

"Middle name! What is it?" Coco demanded.

"Ashley. What is going on?"

Coco breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Okay. You aren't a really shitty clone."

Pyrrha slapped away the hand. "Of course I'm not! What is wrong with you?"

"Ra. Honey, sweetie, baby. You never ditch. Not even when I had tickets to see In This Moment practically given to me." She smirked at her friend. "So, we ditching now, or..?"

"Now. Quickly, or I'll probably back out of this really stupid idea."

"Okay, this is way better than psychology." Pyrrha admitted as she caught a runaway dollop of ice cream. "Why have I never done this before?"

Coco rolled her eyes and waved the pink plastic spoon around. "Because you are perpetually worried that you might drop to a ninety nine percent in any subject?"

"Oh. Well, yeah." The cherry red blush nearly matched her hair. "But why are you so okay with skipping class?"

"Because," Coco scooped a small helping of her ice cream, "I already have high grades. Also my last classes are all pretty much nothing."

Pyrrha sighed. "At least I got those shoes. You were right; they are super cute."

"Right?! They were practically made for you." She looked around the food court idly, tapping her cup. "So, where to next? Kinda want to get outta here."

"Hmmm..." A soft tapping sounded from Pyrrha's spoon. "Kinda want to go up to the cliffs. We don't really see them around this time of day."

Nora roused for a moment when she felt as if something was tugging at her heart, like a needy child pulling on a parent's hand for attention. Her room was dark, still; silent aside from her soft breathing.

A bright flash of white light pulled her attention to her window, but in her haze, her head only moved in a slow turn. A woman in a long white coat stood before her, looking tired, and sad.

"Nora?" She could hear Winter's voice as if from miles away. "Nora, you called out."

"Cliffs..." She slurred, still holding the coin in her hands. "Pyrrha and I are going there... Told her the shoes were for her."

Winter strode silently over to the side of her bed, stroking her hair lightly. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Nora thought she saw tears in her blue eyes. "I see. It's okay, Nora. Go back into her memories. You deserve to know who she was."

"My name is... Coco."

"Not anymore, honey. It's okay. Connect with the coin. I have to go back to Blake now."

Her hand was so gentle on her cheek, as if lulling her back into the trance. "Blake..? She's alive?" Confusion clouded the turquoise hues. "So much screaming..."

Winter sat on the side of the bed, her hand not leaving Nora's cheek. "Yes. She's alive, Nora. You aren't Coco. Your name is Nora Valkyrie Ren. You are connecting with your power coin."

"Coin..." That's right. Her coin; the pink crystal. "My power coin." Her eyes drifted shut slowly. "So tired..."

"Rest. It's okay, Nora." Winter soothed.

As her eyes closed again to pull her into the memories once more, she felt Winter's hand trembling on her cheek.

"I'm so, so sorry. It's all my fault you're gone. I miss you, Coco. God, I miss you."

Nora didn't hear the soft sobbing of the other woman, nor did she feel the blankets move to cover her as she found herself next to Pyrrha on the cliffs.

Coco stretched under the midday sun, looking at the sky through her sunglasses with a grin. "This is great. We should do this more often"

Pyrrha poked her side playfully. "Not happening. This is a once in a lifetime thing."

"Awwww, but c'mon! I mean, I can see not ditching if it's raining, but this? Too good of a day to waste." She poked her friend with the toe of her boot. "Besides, you had fun."

"Yeah, I did." Was the grudging reply.

"Yo! What are you two doing here?" A male voice called out.

Both of them sat up and to look at the source, seeing Cardin, and Jaune walking towards them, the much smaller blond running his hand through his hair.

"Cutting school. Kinda like you two." Coco replied. "The hell are you doing here?"

"Ehhh..." Jaune rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, I was getting picked on again, so Cardin punched out half of the football team. We got suspended."

Pyrrha was staring at Jaune, blushing faintly as he smiled at her. "That's awful. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm kinda used to swirlies by now."

Cardin pat his shoulder firmly, the much more slender frame pitching under the force. "I think I broke Lark's nose. But he deserved it."

"Yeah, that's really touching and all, but what in the hell is that?" Coco interrupted, looking at the area behind them.

All eyes turned to try and see what she was talking about, noting that there seemed to be six lights twinkling at then from the grass. Faster than they could imagine, four broke off and rocketed towards them, the other two heading for the old tree a good distance away. The four lights halted inches from their faces, blue, pink, red, and yellow flashing in front of them quickly, blinking in and out of sight to be replaced by another color, as if trying to match itself with someone. Suddenly, they stopped, each light holding in front of one of the teens; Blue for Cardin, yellow for Jaune, red for Pyrrha, and pink for Coco.

All of them froze as they stared at the lights hovering in front of them, until Cardin slowly reached out and grabbed the blue light. "The fuck?" He muttered, opening his hand to reveal a blue crystal coin with a gold outer edge.

Slowly, each of them followed suit, and each light became a coin.

"Okay. I don't remember doing drugs." Coco admitted in confusion.

All at once, they felt a sharp pain in their chest, like a firm tug from a rope. The world lurched and turned around them, the grass replaced by nothing, and then metal grates as the sensation of moving irrationally fast finally stopped.

Coco glanced around nervously as she stumbled to her feet, seeing the other three struggling to do the same, as well as two other forms huddled a distance away.

"What... the hell..?" Coco groaned as she took in her surroundings, trying to make sense of everything.

They stood in the middle of what seemed to be a command center, monitors blinking to life around them. The grate creaked under their feet, their footsteps heavy as they slowly turned around, as if searching for why they were here.

"Winter? Whu-where are we?" A soft voice whispered, catching everyone's attention.

A young girl stood clinging to a much taller teen, her black cat ears pressed flat to her hair in fear. The older woman pulled her closer, using herself as a shield to block the others from getting too close.

"I don't know, Blake. Just stay close, okay?"

Blue eyes pierced Coco as she noticed her watching them, the monitors glinting off of metal on her nose and eyebrow, which was a stark contrast to the fact that she was wearing the uniform of a prestigious academy. "The fuck are you looking at?" She seethed.

"Yo, chill out. Damn." Coco huffed, holding up her hands submissively. "Just seeing who else is here, little miss anger issues."

"How about you just stay away from us. That's that you should be thinking about." She shot back, her blue eyes like ice daggers.

"Winter, please." The girl begged from behind her.

It seemed like the plea reached the young woman, and she visibly relaxed. "Fine. Sorry." She sighed, turning back to the much smaller frame.

Coco watched as the young Faunus looked around warily, but stayed very close to the Winter girl. The both of them walked around to look at a few of the screens, Winter pulling out what seemed to be an electronic cigarette to take a few drags.

"What in the fuck is this shit?" She muttered, tapping at the screen.

Pyrrha and Coco carefully walked over and looked over their shoulders, frowning at the screen. In place of letters and numbers were strange symbols, vanishing from their hazy places to be replaced by different ones. "I uhhh... I got nothing." Coco admitted in awe.

"That is no language that I know." Pyrrha breathed softly.

"Hello, Rangers." A deep voice boomed, causing them all to jump.

All of them whirled around in surprise, trying to find the source.

"Please, come closer."

Coco watched as Cardin squinted, looking a bit more to their left. "Uhh, guys? I think... I think I see a talking tube."

She followed his gaze as she slowly moved near him, spotting what seemed to be a huge tube of iridescent what light. With a... face in it? On it? She wasn't sure.

"What the hell?" Coco breathed, motioning for the others to join her.

"Rangers. Please step closer." The face requested firmly, all of them obeying in a stupor.

It felt unreal to be face to face with a giant talking tube, looking up at the image in confused awe. The strangest part of it all was that it looked back at them, gazing between them.

"Welcome, Rangers. It has been a long time since the world needed you."

When no one spoke, the male voice went on. "I am Zordon. And you are the Power Rangers."

"The what?" Pyrrha blurted out dumbly.

"The Power Rangers; a team of heroes who fight to protect the earth from evil. You are the new defenders of this planet from those who seek to control it. The power coins in your hands mark you six as the chosen defenders of humanity."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but is this a joke?" Coco interjected somewhat loudly.

The large eyes locked with hers as Zordon spoke again. "No. When a new evil emerges, if the coins have no Ranger they are bonded with, then they select those with the greatest potential to be a Ranger to take up the mantle. You six were chosen. You six are the greatest defenders of this world."

"Look, I can't even pass chemistry." Jaune chuckled darkly. "You got the wrong person. I'm not hero material. I only dress up like one for conventions."

"You are the ones. The coins selected you, and the coins are never wrong."

"They sure as hell are this time." Winter hissed. "Blake's in middle school. How can you expect her to fight against evil?"

"With training, you will be able to connect to your coins and unlock your powers. You will have some help from the previous holders of your coin in how to fight. Your power will one day be strong enough to take down even Cinder Fall herself."

"Whoa, whoa. Powers? Like, am I gonna be able to shoot lasers from my eyes or something?" Coco pressed with a devilish grin.

"No." The voice replied calmly. "You will be faster, stronger. You will even be able to call upon weapons to aid you in your battles. And, in time, you can call upon your Zords. When you are able to unlock your power spirits, you will be able to call out to them, and take on your armor. Your Zords will reflect these spirits."

"You didn't answer my question." Winter growled in frustration.

Zordon glanced at her for a moment. "She has been chosen. She has the same power you all do. She will be able to fight just like you."

Another long stretch of silence hung heavy in the air before he spoke again. "There are three rules you must abide by as the Power Rangers. The first rule it to never use your power for personal gain. The second rule is to never escalate a fight unless you are forced to. The third rule is that you must keep your powers, and identity as a Ranger a secret. Breaking these rules will prove to me that you are not worthy of your power, and I will take it away from you."

Coco helped as the light blinded her, hearing the others also crying out in shock at the sudden sunlight. She desperately tried to blink away the pain, using her hand the shield her eyes.

"Winter? Winter, where are you?" She heard Blake calling out.

"Son of a fucking bitch!" The sudden voice shouted, clearly the woman in question. "Blake?"

"Winter!"

Coco managed to look up to see the Faunus rush over and hugging the pale woman, both of them firmly holding the other.

"Okay. So, now what?" Jaune questioned nervously.

"Now, we just pretend this never happened, and just, you know, part ways." Coco suggested.

"I second that." Cardin added.

"I'm inclined to agree." Pyrrha agreed. "Clearly what just happened was some sort of mass hallucination. There is no way that it was real."

"Except for, you know, these." Winter seethed, holding out her coin. The quartz stone glimmered innocently in the sunlight. "I don't know about you, but I'm pitching mine off this fucking cliff."

Almost in perfect synchronization, the other five teens pulled out their own coins and looked at them before nodding. If they got rid of these damn coins, then they could pretend that this whole thing had never happened. That it had been one very elaborate and strange daydream.

They moved as one, throwing the six gold embellished disks off the cliff and to the ocean below, watching them until they were out of sight.

"Great." Coco breathed, shoving her hand into her pocket. "Now, we can all go home, and never speak of this... again?"

Her hand felt something in the pocket. Something large, round, and disk-like. Something that felt exactly like what she had just hurled off of the cliff.

Slowly, she removed the item from her pocket, the coin glinting under the sun. "Guys!" She shouted in horror. "What the fuck? This... this is fucking creepy!"

Everyone crowded towards her, jerking back as soon as they saw the pink quartz. In a moment of frenzied panic, they all began feeling in their own pockets, each one finding their coins once again on them.

"We threw them!" Blake whimpered, her eyes wide in disbelief. "I mean, one person keeping theirs is one thing, but I know I saw at least four falling!"

"Fuck this bullshit!" Winter cried out before hurling hers once again over the cliff, five others rushing to join the plummet to the waters.

As soon as no one could see the coins, it was another frantic check to see if they had come back, and once again, all six coins were found.

"No, no." Jaune's voice shook as he looked at the yellow quartz. "This isn't possible. This isn't possible!"

"Jaune, hey, calm down." Cardin urged. "Deep breaths, buddy. Come on. In, and out."

Coco couldn't pay too much attention to them as she stared at her coin. This was utterly insane. There was no way they could keep coming back after throwing them from cliffs like that. "Look, guys, we... we gotta try to get rid of these things. Maybe we can't here, though."

"It... it's possible that being too close to that Zordon could be protecting them." Pyrrha breathed.

"I have a forge. I could try to smelt them." Jaune offered.

"Lead the way." Winter stated, keeping Blake's hand in hers. "Just give me a bit to call for a car for us."

"Thank you." Blake's voice was barely above a whisper.

The group walked towards the road as Winter called someone on her phone, but everyone but Blake balked at the sight of a limousine emblazoned with the Schnee company logo met them.

"Hold on." Coco could feel her head spinning. "You're a Schnee?"

Winter rolled her eyes. "Didn't my elegant fucking demeanor give it away? Get in the damn car."

As they all crowded in, Jaune nervously gave the driver directions, then sat next to Cardin.

"So, that explains your uniform." Pyrrha awkwardly spoke.

"Your point?"

"Only prestigious families send their children there."

"Great. I hate it there. Too many rules, and I don't like being the one everyone paws after." Winter's voice was as cold as her namesake, her attention drifting from Blake to out the window idly. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go back to not knowing each other."

Within thirty minutes, the vehicle pulled up to a moderately sized house, the six figures pouring out of it and into the driveway.

Coco was impressed by how large it was, but Jaune quickly started leading them through to a back yard.

"I really don't want to deal with my sister's asking questions, so the sooner we can melt these, the better." He told them in a hushed voice.

A cement shed seemed to have been converted to a forge of sorts, Cardin helping Jaune to move a propane tank towards what looked like a large metal can lined with scorched cement.

"Okay, hook that up for me? I'll get the smelting cup." Jaune instructed, Cardin deftly connecting a pipe to the can.

"Did you make these?" Pyrrha asked, looking around.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I did. I make cosplays and props. Kinda enjoy doing the metal stuff the old fashioned way."

Coco looked around as well, noticing the weapons hanging up on hooks, helms and unfinished platemail sitting on mannequins. She even spotted a few decorative items and jewelry. Needless to say, she was impressed.

"That's actually really cool." She added.

"Thanks. But I need everyone to put these on. Just in case." He shoved dark lensed goggles at them. "I don't expect sparks, but with these things we can't risk it."

As they put on the goggles, Jaune checked the furnace, then asked for the coins when it was hot enough. Quickly, they dumped them into the cup and watched as he placed it into the furnace. Six heads peered in tentatively as the coins glowed from the intense heat, knowing that when they melted, it would all be back to normal for them.

And yet, the coins never melted. They glowed, but no part of the gold came away. No part of the crystal cracked. After an hour, Jaune urged them to back up as he reached in with a pair of tongs and removed the cup, dumping the coins out into a barrel of water. The water steamed up from the sudden heat, and after a few minutes, the coins sat at the bottom; completely unharmed.

"Okay. That has never happened. That shouldn't have happened." He stated, moving the goggles to his forehead.

With great care, he removed a set of tongs with very long handles from the wall and pulled out the coins, setting them out on a table with a low whistle. Hesitantly, he reached out with his bare hand and touched the yellow one, frowning. "Umm. They're cool. And undamaged."

Coco took hers quickly, looking it over. Just like Jaune had said, they were completely unharmed from the attempted smelting. "Well shit. I guess these aren't going away."

She glanced up to see Winter and Blake whispering off to the side, seemingly coming to some sort of agreement before rejoining.

"Look." Pyrrha awkwardly spoke up. "I know that nothing makes sense about this right now, but maybe we should go back there tomorrow. I can't tell any of you what to do. I don't care if he said that the red coin makes me a leader; I don't want to be that. I don't want to force you to do anything. But tomorrow, at four, I'm going back to the cliffs. I hope I won't be alone, but I don't mind if I am."

Coco rolled her eyes at her friend. "You idiot. I'll be there. Beats listening to the folks bitch about everything."

Cardin rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno. I have to think about it."

Jaune nodded at her. "I kinda want answers. Even if I'm scared."

Winter glared but nodded. "I'll be there. I want to see if I can punch that holographic bastard right in the mouth."

Blake sheepishly stepped closer. "I'm coming. I want to know why us. Like, really why."

Coco had to admit that Blake had a great thought; why them exactly. Zordon said that the coins chose them and the coins never made mistakes, but also that he would take their power away if they were unworthy. So, which was it? Were the coins always right? Or was it just chance and they had to prove themselves?

Coco groaned as she and Pyrrha made their way up the cliffs, clutching her stupid coin in her hand as each step made her feet hurt. They still had no idea of how to get into the base again, and she was sore from the stress of yesterday.

"Hey!" They heard Jaune call out.

He and Cardin waved at them as they joined up, each holding out their coins. "Still can't believe it's real." Cardin murmured.

"Join the club, pal." Coco sighed. "Any idea where the other two are?"

The two boys shook their heads.

"Great. Let's just get to the tree, yeah?"

The four of them made their way to the fallen tree to wait, though before they got there, they noticed the last two joining up with them.

"Great. The gang's all here." Winter sarcastically cheered. "Now we can all die together!"

"Winter, please?" Blake whined, gaining a soft apology from the older woman. "Thank you."

Blake and Winter held out the coins to the others, all six of them held out in the circle. All at once, they were encased in lights that matched their colors, and were suddenly teleported into the base.

"Welcome back, Rangers." Zordon greeted.

Coco was so tired from training as she tried to keep up with the classes, but her mind wasn't able to focus. Still, she managed to catch that damn hockey puck in gym class barehanded, so her powers must be doing some good. She had half a mind to just pass out for this test, but at least she didn't have to worry about after school activities. Unlike Cardin. He was struggling to keep up with everything, and Coco had no idea just how the hell he was managing to do that.

She felt the vague but familiar tug in her chest catch her, cautiously feeling for who it was reaching for her. Jaune? Strange. The feeling left as quickly as it had come, but it had helped to snap her out of the exhaustion that had been settling in. She felt full of energy and damn it felt good.

She looked over at Cardin who was nodding off at his desk just in time to see him suddenly seem wide awake. He looked at her and she shrugged, both of them returning to their test. She would have to thank Jaune for that later.

Coco growled in frustration as she looked at her weapon, her helmet opening to show her irritated expression. First she got a rabbit as her damn spirit, and now she had a fucking handbag as her weapon? Was this a joke? And why did she have to have pink armor?

"Really? The fuck am I going to do with this?" She seethed at the others, holding up the bag. "Bad fashion the Grimm to death?"

As she finished her words, she shook the bag to emphasize her rage, however, the bag opened and expanded, a massive machine gun now in her hands.

"Oh, fuck yeah! Now this is fighting with style!"

She turned her attention back to the holographic Grimm, unloading round upon round into the targets. She could hear the others cheering, Winter praising her happily from beside Pyrrha. When there was nothing left to shoot, Coco turned around and grinned at her friends, blowing on the smoking barrels in victory. Sure, it was just training for now, but they had started seeing more and more signs of Cinder. Grimm attacks were more common place, and even though Jaune had yet to unlock his weapon, they knew he would soon.

They were more like a family now. Winter's cold exterior had given way to expose how kind she was. But at times, she would still retreat back into that hard shell, even though they now knew how to pry her back out. And, tonight, they were planning on all hanging out in the room that Zordon had somehow made for them. They didn't really ask questions anymore when it came to the base.

"Guys! Wanna head to the room?" Cardin called out.

The cheers of agreement were unanimous, and so Coco let her weapon and armor vanish as she joined them. It wasn't too long before they found the new door, and it slid open to reveal six beds, one in each of their colors.

"Dibs on yellow!" Cardin called out.

"No! That's mine!" Jaune replied, dashing over to flop onto his bed.

"You boys fight over the beds. I'm getting out the food." Pyrrha teased, lifting a large duffle bag.

Instantly, the group hushed as she dumped out onto the red blankets dozens of junk food packages and sodas. Then, like a flock of carrion they descended upon the treats, greedily snapping up ones they wanted before others did. There was almost a fight between Winter and Coco over the box of Cheez-its, but it was avoided by Pyrrha producing a second one.

As they settled down on their beds, chatting away, Jaune spoke around the jerky in his mouth. "You know, this really makes me happy. Two of my three favorite F's checked off at the same time."

Blake raised her eyebrow at him as both Winter and Pyrrha quickly moved to either side of her. "What are your three favorite F's?"

Two sets of hands moved to ready themselves as he replied. "Food, friends, and functional onesies."

After a moment of silence the other five started laughing. "What?"

Coco waggled her eyebrows at him. "We share two of our three. Mine are food, friends, and fuc-"

"Coco!" Both Pyrrha and Winter shouted in unison, clapping their hands over Blake's ears.

Another round of laughter ensued, the group of teens easing in for a probable slumber party. Times were good, great even. And Coco couldn't wait to keep laughing like this with them for years to come.

Coco watched in horror as Cinder stood before the unmasked group, a crystal that looked like corrupted blood in her hand. She was terrified, but refused to back down, struggling against the Grimm that held her on her knees. "You stupid bitch!" She shouted, fighting to get her arms free. "I'll rip your head off!"

Cinder gave her a lazy smile as she stalked over, running one finger along Coco's jawline. "Oh my dear, I don't think so."

Coco managed to her her feet under her enough to stand up, using her head to catch Cinder under her chin sharply. She saw stars for a moment, then shook her head clear as the Grimm forced her back down to her knees. "Think again."

Cinder smiled at her broadly as she wiped away blood from her lips, kicking the long discarded pink helmet aside. "My, my, my. You have guts, little one. Coco, wasn't it?"

Coco spat at her, struggling again as Cinder knelt down in front of her. She could hear the other four begging, pleading, threatening Cinder as they locked eyes. She could see amusement in those almost burning eyes, smoldering darkly as they burned into her mind, but she refused to look away. She could buy the others time to fight, or run, or something. She could die, and they could have a chance.

"Coco, darling? This will hurt quite a bit." Cinder soothed.

Suddenly, Coco choked on a scream of pain as the crystal was plunged into her stomach, piercing through her armor.

"Coco! Coco, no!" She could hear Pyrrha screeching as if from far away. "NOOO!"

Coco looked down slowly to see the sickly looking shard jutting out from her armor, her hands released by the Grimm. She could barely breathe as she tried to reach out and touch it, feeling the hot, metallic blood start creeping up her throat. Numbly, her hand gripped the shard and tried to remove it, but her strength was already waning. She looked up at Cardin, Jaune, and Blake to see various expressions of rage, horror, and fear.

"Coco! Coco, stay with me! Coco!"

Her gaze went to Pyrrha as she tried to fumble with the shard again, watching the red armored woman struggle futilely against the Grimm that held her. She could see the horror and desperation in the features of her best friend, offering in exchange a smile that dripped with blood. Everything was getting fuzzy and cold when Cinder entered her view again. She wouldn't let that bitch win so easily. She had too much left undone. She had a whole life left to live. She had to clock Winter when she saw her, and she couldn't do that if she was dead.

"Stubborn, aren't you?"

Coco could feel something pulsing from the crystal, something that was trying to end her already fleeing time sooner. She refused to just die like that. She could still hear the others, but it was muffled, as if she was listening through a wall.

Dredging up her strength, Coco spat blood at Cinder and lunged out weakly at her with a punch, everything going dark long before it even connected.

The alarm pulled Nora from her sleep abruptly, finding herself throwing a wild punch at nothing as she jolted into a sitting position. Her room seemed hazy, as if she was looking at it through gauze. Her head felt jumbled, memories of Coco fighting with her own, and for a terrifying moment, she couldn't tell which one was the real person.

Sitting up, she quickly pushed herself to her feet, hearing a dull thud of something heavy hitting the floor. In a daze, she turned to see the coin reflecting the sunlight up at her, and she reached down to pick it up.

"Coco! Coco no!"

Pyrrha's shrieks of horror made her recoil and grip her head, the memories muddling further. Was she Coco Adel? Was she Nora Valkyrie Ren? Was she someone else entirely? She staggered a bit longer before catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, wandering over to it.

Pale skin, freckles, orange hair, turquoise eyes. Coco didn't remember having those features, but Nora did. Coco also remembered being a lot taller than what she was now. Who was she? Was she really this Nora girl she could see these memories of? Or could Nora see her memories?

Nothing made sense, but she had to get her coin. When she finally did pick it up again, she noticed that the quartz was void of the hare that had been in hers. In fact, aside from one tiny flaw in the quartz, it was as perfect as the day she had gotten it. Had it really been last year?

"Huh. Guess time fli-who said that?!"

Coco whipped around for the person the strange voice belonged to, trying to find them in the strange room that seemed less and less familiar by the minute.

A knock on the door caught her off guard, making her jump.

"Nora? Are you okay in there?"

Coco didn't recognize the voice, or the language, but it did seem to bring Nora's consciousness back again.

"Lie? What... what time is it?"

Nora was holding her head in her hands, grappling between the two very different consciousnesses. She could barely keep herself in charge on her own. She had to keep her brother talking to her.

"Ten minutes until you have to catch the bus. Hurry so you can eat."

The mix of Chinese and his voice helped to keep her focused, driving back the other mind. School. She had to get changed for school. Weiss could help her there, and hopefully they could talk to Winter afterwards.

Hopefully before she went insane.