Rainbow Dash: Aerial Avenger

by The Bricklayer


Mare-Vel Adventures #7: The Ring is the Thing

Despite a brief reminder of terror, life went on. The US, ironically, seemed to be standing united against the Mandarin and didn’t let his lectures divide him any further. Just yesterday in fact, Rainbow and Scootaloo had found themselves invited for dinner by a local muslim family!

And now for a night on the town…

“I dunno, Fleets,” Rainbow sighed, still fiddling with her dress. “This… this isn’t really me, y’know? I’m in lady stilts! I can hardly move, much less fight!”

“Why would you need to be fighting?” Fleetfoot asked. “It’s just a night on the town!”

“You never know, there could be a mugger or something!” Rainbow shrugged, at a guess. “He could come at me right, with a knife, and because I can’t move right I’ll be stabbed and bleed out and it’ll all be your fault!”

Fleetfoot giggled. “You’re being paranoid, besides you’ve got mace in your purse!”

“If you say so…” Rainbow mused before out of the corner of her eye, spotted a man stumbling around seemingly in confusion. “...oh joy, if he comes over here and throws up on my dress, there will be hands thrown. There will be hands thrown!”

Fleetfoot tried to help him to a bench. “Alright, I think you’ve had a little too much of the happy juice. Come on bud, let’s get you sitting down, what’s your name sir? Is there someone I can call to help you home? Do you have your keys on you, can I borrow them?”

Fleetfoot as she laid a hand on him, noticeably flinched at the touch. A burning sensation made its way up her hand, and she staggered back. “...wow, you’re hot.”

“Oh come on Fleets,” Rainbow groaned with a very noticeable roll of her eyes. “This isn’t the time to be…”

“I’m not flirting with him, honest!” Fleetfoot shot back. “He’s just really hot! Maybe it’s a type of fever…?”

And then the man practically ignited, his veins glowing a bright orange as his eyes burned. Like hellfire.

“...what the what?” Fleetfoot gaped taking a few nervous steps back. “Okay, yeah… that’s not normal!”

“Gee, you think?” Rainbow deadpanned as the man staggered forwards, still glowing like magma. Rainbow honestly hoped he didn’t erupt. “...man, since when did our lives go cray-cray for crayola?”

And then he launched a fireball at them, and Rainbow shoved Fleetfoot to the ground as a car exploded somewhere behind them. People screamed, and began to clear the street. 

“...okay, I’ll echo your statements Fleets!” Rainbow said, looking up. “What the what?”

She dodged another fireball, the magma man advancing forwards.

“You walked right into this one: I've dated hotter guys than you!” Rainbow said in a snarl, shoving a dumpster in front of the man as improvised cover. Hiding behind it, she scrambled around inside her purse for her cell. With a curse, she pulled it out before dialing a number. “Okay, let’s hope knowing you pays off somehow, Suit, because right now I could really use you!”

All she was met with was a dial tone, and then the magma man blasted right though the dumpster. Fleetfoot pulled her along by the arm as they kept running.

“Lady stilts Fleets, seriously!” Rainbow barked. “What’d I tell you? I can barely run in these!”

Eventually, she gave up, and pried off her heels chucking one at the magma man. It missed his head, unfortunately. All the while, she continued trying to reach Coulson. Finally, she heard his voice. Letting out a sigh of relief, Rainbow quickly realized she may have let out that sigh a little too soon.

“This is the desk of Special Agent Phil Coulson, if you have a message for me please leave it for me after the tone. If I can’t come to you right now, I truly apologize! I may be in a raid on World of Warcraft, so sorry! I’ll be sure to get back to you when I can!”

Rainbow let out a long frustrated groan.

“...come on Coulson, damn you… pick up!” she grumbled to herself. “God, I hate Suits!”

Cosmic energy crackled under her skin, and for a brief moment her veins glowed gold. Forcing the power down, Rainbow continued running. 

It would be so easy, she mused to use her powers right now and stop this madman before he caused too much destruction. But Mar-Vehl was right, much as she hated to admit. To give credit to the martian, he was right. Humanity simply wasn’t ready. Miracle Woman or not, love would give way to fear eventually.

And plus… if people saw her, all fingers would be pointed directly at the military and she’d be called some new thing created by their special weapons program. So… she just had to wait and hope Coulson would pick up eventually.

(Though, really, watching the magma man blow up cars right and left, the temptation to give in and cut loose was there. She just hoped S.H.I.E.L.D. would pick themselves up off their asses and get here soon, because she wouldn’t be held accountable for what happened next if they didn’t get here.)

Another blast of fire went flying, and Fleetfoot yelped as it narrowly missed her head. Rainbow heard a scream, and down came a telephone pole. And S.H.I.E.L.D? They were nowhere in sight. Rainbow took a deep breath. Fine, screw it. She wasn’t waiting round for the suits any longer.

Pulling out a pistol from her purse, she took several potshots at the magma man. Bullets melted before they could even reach him, so Rainbow tried another tactic. Taking aim, she fired at a gas tank directly behind him and watched the magma man go flying. He crashed into a wall, bricks going flying.

“...well, that’s that...?” Rainbow wondered aloud, as Fleetfoot fell down, sliding exhausted against a wall behind her. Was it really that easy? Couldn’t have been… Then she watched bricks and mortar begin to melt and catch aflame, the man beginning to ooze his way out of the rubble. And he burned like a demon, leaving footsteps of fire in his wake.

“...crap,” Rainbow muttered to herself deciding that clearly, plain human ingenuity and basic training wasn’t gonna cut it. “Alright then…”

And like barely a second had passed, she was here, gone, and back again this time dressed from head to toe in blue, red and gold. A domino mask lay slipped over her face, and her hair sparked gold with energy.

“...and you are?” she asked, her voice reverberating with power. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fleetfoot gaping. “No, seriously! You want to tell me where you came from Hot Wings, or do we skip right to the part which I put you in the infirmary?” 

“LONG LIVE THE MANDARIN!” the magma man thundered out.

“Well, simple, eloquent, to the point,” Rainbow deadpanned, side-stepping a fireball. “Bet your boss really loves you. All ‘grrrrr’, all talk, no brains! Like, just saying, if I was working for a terrorist I wouldn’t out myself in public for everyone to hear!”

And then the creep breathed fire at her. Like, seriously breathed actual fire, a whole wall of flame.

“WOAH, OKAY!” Rainbow yelped sidestepping it, and really not wanting to find out if her costume was fireproof. Last thing she wanted was to be fighting psychos in the nude. “Okay, so you can breathe fire now. Okay then!”

Drawing back her fist, she blasted him through a fence with pure photonic energy. Nodding smugly to herself, Rainbow walked off and strode towards her friend, intent on helping her up.

And that’s when she heard the distinct crackle of flame. Sighing to herself long and hard, Rainbow readied for a fight. Whirling around, she tossed another photon blast at the fireball, before powering on through the man breathing more fire at her. Punching through the fire, she elbowed the terrorist in the face before kicking him in the shin. She heard the crack of bone before she flipped him head over heel into the pavement. 

“And that is that,” Rainbow nodded to herself before with the squeal of tires, a van pulled up with more men filing out of it. And one by one they ignited, veins glowing like lava. Rainbow sucked in a breath and cracked her knuckles, before shouting at them: “Alright, listen up! I hope you can hear me! Something you need to know. First there was nothing, then there was everything… Then the good Lord saw fit to bring me into the world to kick the asses of those who need it most. So get ready ’cause this day or the next, it’s coming.” 

Despite Rainbow rolling for intimidation, she wasn’t really effective. It must have been a nat 1, as the fire-empowered terrorists charged at her. And thrusting out her hands, she fired photonic blasts at two coming from either side, flooring them. Slamming her boot into the earth, the ground quaked and it rippled as the men toppled over.

“I’m sorry… sorry I’m a badass!” Rainbow cackled, on a high before the air seemed to grow hotter and hotter. Tugging at her costume, even Rainbow began to feel sweaty. She heard the scream.

“LONG LIVE THE MANDARIN!” the first of the group was yelling as he began to light up. His skin became like molten magma, and very quickly it became obvious what was about to happen. 

Time seemed to slow down, and Rainbow braced herself as she put herself between the man and Fleetfoot. Energy erupted outwards, cascading into a fireball as heat and flame passed through her and for a brief horrible moment she thought she was going to die. But then… nothing. She felt energy rush up through her body, flaring up along her veins flowing like water and instead of being incinerated, she felt the energy become one with her. She drank in its power, basked in it with her skin rippling as she sucked it in. It felt surprisingly natural, actually, like it had always belonged to her.

Throwing an arm upwards, the fire erupted in the sky like a bursting star. The explosion’s center was now just a pile of ash. Just a pair of boots really.. 

The remaining Mandarin goons stared at her in shock, before Rainbow blasted them all down and with a shrug, said: “...what, you’ve never stopped an explosion before?”

Now she could see if Fleetfoot was okay. Striding up to her, Rainbow helped her friend up.

“...who are you?” Fleetfoot whispered. Rainbow gave her a cocky grin.

“...fake news huh?” she drawled.

“Wait… wha… huh?” Fleetfoot stammered out, trying to figure out who this was. Her expression was pretty comical as it finally dawned on her. “...oooooooooh, you bitch. I should have known!”

“Ta-da?” Rainbow couldn’t stop smiling as Fleetfoot drank it all in.

“...well, I gotta admit, I shoulda seen this coming,” Fleetfoot said. “You get superpowers, well this is pretty much the next step innit? Oh man, Soarin’ is gonna love this. Like, every guy loves a girl who can kick their ass. They never say they do, but secretly? It really turns them on! But seriously, I shoulda seen this coming, like after the Suits dragged you off…”

“Well, I wouldn’t say they dragged me off per say…” Rainbow mused.

“Yeah, they totally did!” Fleetfoot refuted.

“...yeah, they totally did,” Rainbow nodded along before she heard the sound of multiple cars pulling up. She turned to look. Black, nondescript. Yep, right on time! Sighing to herself, she said: “...speaking of the Suits!”

Spreading her arms wide in a welcoming gesture, she called out: “Hello boys! What took you so long? Traffic?” 

She laughed a bit at her own lame joke, and watched as Coulson stepped out of the lead car.

“Hello Rainbow, we need to talk.” he said.

“Yeah, we do,” Rainbow replied and braced herself. Oh, this was going to be fun.


The news stations had a field day upon the new heroine’s unveiling.

“New weapon, or a real life modern day Captain America?” said a newscaster early that next morning. “That is the question the nation is now asking itself. Nobody knows her name, but we do know that maybe after years of absence, America has itself a new hero. Arriving suddenly out of nowhere, Ms. Marvel as the nation is calling her thwarted a terror plot by the Mandarin! We go to our reporter on the street, Coco Pommel, for reactions from the populace.”

“Thank you Mary,” said Coco as she held up a microphone to anyone and everyone she could. “Now, I’m here in downtown Canterlot, Colorado for reactions from the townsfolk. I, along with everyone else I’m sure, are very interested in what they think of their apparent hometown hero.”

“I think it’s nice,” said a young Pakistani-American girl, looking incredibly cheery despite her mother’s stern appearance. “I mean, us girls? We’re so rarely represented in the media, like usually we’re kicking as… sorry, mom, butt in skin tight clothes and as cool as that is -sorry again mom!- well! Honestly, this is kind of a refreshing change if you ask me. Uh, #Feminism, I guess?”

“Her uniform is still skin tight though,” said the girl’s mother. “But it looks practical. So, progress! She’s too cocky, too arrogant though,”

“She’s just sure in her own abilities mom!” her daughter complained.

“Hush, Kamala. I’m speaking,” said the older Khan. “Humility is the mark of a great superheroine, she could stand to learn some.”

“Do you believe she’s the new Captain America?” Coco pressed.

“Maybe?” shrugged Kamala, not really sure actually. “I dunno! But I’m totally rooting for her! Mind, she does need a new name though. Ms. Marvel, really? Who came up with that? It makes her sound like a housewife!”

Coco went around town, interviewing other members of it.

“Man, talk about sexy! Like, that is a woman who can kick my ass anytime!” said a guy, his girlfriend giving him a deathly glare. It was doubtful that the relationship would last much longer, Coco guessed. “Like, she is fine! Man, I envy the Mandarin, having to go up against her!”

“It’s nice for someone for women to look up to!” said his girlfriend. “Like, uh, it’s totally a male dominated hierarchy! Total sausage party, us women need another foot in the door!”

Justin Hammer, on a visit to the local military base also had his thoughts to give. “Man! Okay, I admit, I’m jealous. Like, I’m not sure who was tossed in what radioactive waste pit, but they came out swinging! Like… cosmic man! I haven’t seen something so awesome since I was last on weed!”

Another man, far older than the rest and drawing the woman as a comic character was interviewed. Adjusting his sunglasses, he spoke: “Honestly, now that is something truly inspired! Credit to whoever designed her costume. It’s something I’d think of! To her, I say: “Luck's a revolving door, you just need to know when it's your time to walk through.” I honestly believe it’s her time. Onwards and upwards. You know, I honestly believe that one person can make a difference. 'Nuff said. I think she is that person. There is a type of person who helps others simply because it should or must be done. They do it because it is the right thing to do and it is indeed without a doubt, the mark of a real superhero. Excelsior!”

“Words to live by, indeed!” Coco agreed. “Ms. Marvel, if you’re out there, I hope you’re listening. We’re all rooting for you. Back to you Mary.”

“Well, I’m on Coco’s side. We’re all rooting for you Ms. Marvel, and it seems your entire town is behind you. While we don’t know of your origin, your intent seems clear enough. If you’re out there, listening to this… We’re glad you’re here now.”

Rainbow wiped a tear away as she shut the TV off. They actually believed in her. She couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. 

Now, if only managing her personal life was so easy…

“Alright, okay, who just stopped a guy from blowing up Main Street?” Rainbow chorused as she stepped inside Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S’s main building. S.H.I.E.L.D presumably wanted to run some tests on her or something, maybe to make sure she didn’t blow up like Hiroshima or something. Gesturing to herself, she exclaimed: “This guy!”

“I wouldn’t get too cocky if I were you,” said Mar-Vehl. “Those were just the footsoldiers.”

“Yeah, so? I easily creamed their asses!” Rainbow scoffed. “Bring on the main event! I want an actual challenge!”

“You sure about that?” Soarin’ asked, and Rainbow’s head swiveled so hard to meet his eyes she thought she might have whiplash. “The Captain here just informed me that the Mandarin’s rings, they’re apparently Kree tech. You really sure you want to pick a fight with the Mandarin?”

“Uh, yeah? He’s a terrorist, and I’m the woman with superpowers. I’ve even got a name now! Ms. Marvel, which okay yeah, I sound like a superpowered housewife but still! Bring it on!” Rainbow smirked.

“I dunno,” Soarin’ mused. “I’m just sayin’, you should be careful!”

“Fine then, don’t believe in me,” Rainbow muttered. “You’re like all the rest anyways…”

“Rainbow, wait!” Mar-Vehl called after her. “You can’t beat him alone!”

“Watch me!” Rainbow snapped.

Stomping off, she didn’t miss the heartbroken look on Soarin’s face. But, she ignored it. Better not to have him and the good Captain dragging her down. She was her own woman now!


Rainbow hadn’t been the only one watching that broadcast. So had Xin Zhang. He’d seen it all. “So, the people have someone to put their faith in. Smoke and mirrors from Madison Mare, to hide her fear. She fights me with a weapon! Well, there’s more where those men came from. The formula’s been perfected now. My Extremis agents are ready to move out, and while this attack was foiled, what about the next? And the one after? Ms. Marvel can’t be everywhere at once after all! And the big one is coming. I hope Madison is ready.”

After all, he knew he was!

They’d never see him coming, what he had planned. His spies, planted in every corner of the globe were on the lookout. There were only two rings left to find. The Spectral ring and the Remaker. Once the ten rings were reunited, he could continue Ghengis’ legacy, bring order to the world and finally avenge his parents. 
 
Closing his eyes, he could still remember the gunfire and the screams. The swelter of Vietnam, and the gentle putter of river boats on their daily fishing trips. Nobody thought the war would come to them, but yet it did. And his whole town paid the price. He paid the price.

Slamming a fist into a nearby wall, he chastised himself for his loss of control. He couldn’t lose control, not this late in the game. He was this close to success, he could almost taste victory. And then came in one of his men, and by the look on his face, he knew what he had to say before the words even passed his lips. 

“So, let the race begin. S.H.I.E.L.D will be after that ring as well, they’re not stupid. I’m sure they’ll figure out how important the rings really are as well. They’ll send their best,” he thought as a grin creeped its way onto his face. “I welcome the challenge.”


You know how the strangest of things were hidden in the most ordinary of places? Well, as it turned out, through a bit of satellite tracking, an energy similar to that of the one that the Mandarin was constantly emitting could be found under the Hollywood sign. 

“...Hollywood?” Rainbow drawled as she clambered down into some caves. “More like Hollyweird.” 

Rarity was by her side, fiddling with her geode. “Ugh, I can’t believe you dragged me into this! My new boots are all muddy! You could have given me more warning, like let me get into some proper spelunking gear!”

“I did warn you!” Rainbow said, rock crunching underneath her boots. Holding up her hand, she was using golden photonic energy to light the way. A soft glow filled the cavern, painting it in cosmic light. Their path illuminated, they pressed forwards.

“You said we were going to Hollywood!” Rarity almost whined. “I thought that meant we’d be schmoozing with stardom, not… not going walking in a cave! Completely different set of attire, darling.”

Rainbow cast another glance at Rarity’s now ruined dress.

“I thought we’d find the ring in a museum or something!” Rarity grumbled, crossing her arms with a small huff. She pouted for a little bit, saying: “Rings are always in museums, and I’d assumed that your friends in S.H.I.E.L.D would come up with some excuse. Like that the ring was stolen and that it needed to be brought back to its proper owners. Art theft, true white collar crime! Something worthy of a novel!”

“...and finding a hidden cave under the Hollywood sign isn’t worthy of a novel? Hell, this is like National Treasure!” Rainbow shrugged.

“...oh, what I wouldn’t give to be in an adventure film. Oh, I’ve always had dreams of starring in movies you know. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be in a musical alongside Dexter Blueblood!” Rarity rambled. “And it wouldn’t just be faked for the cameras! Our love, it would become real! Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt. Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hand in marriage, and of course I would say, ‘Yes!’ We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess, which is what I would become upon marrying him. The Princess of Hollywood! And he? He would be the man of my dreams.”

Rainbow stared at her friend, and after a long silence, she muttered: “...you’ve got problems,” and then added with a sigh: “Yep, this is totally us failing the Bechdel test!”

And then they found themselves in front of an impossibly majestic temple. Hidden away from the world for centuries, now revealed once more. Rainbow let out a low whistle, okay consider her impressed.

“What is it?” Coulson’s voice crackled over the radio. “You’ve found something?”

“...yeah, it’s definitely a something! Suit, I believe we’ve found your ring!” Rainbow replied. She remembered being incredulous that S.H.I.E.L.D believed this was where the ring was, but… well! “We’re going in.”

“Be careful, you don’t know what’s behind those doors.”

Rainbow nodded and as soon as she opened the doors, reacted fast. She heard the sound of metal slicing through the air, and thrust both of her arms outwards utterly destroying twin falling axes. 

“...Wow, this is just like a Daring Do film. The good ones, not the shitty reboots,” she muttered seeing the melted steel.

“A few years ago, you'd have been geeking out about that,” Rarity commented, nervously sidestepping what remained of the booby trap. 

“Yes, well a demented terrorist bent on taking over the world sorta puts a damper on that sort of thing,” Rainbow deadpanned.

“Touche,” Rarity agreed, before she let out a shriek as she brushed past a spiderweb. “AAAGGGHHHH!”

“...oh come on Rares, don’t be the Willie Scott of this adventure,” Rainbow groaned. “Be the Marion Ravenwood, she’s actually cool.”

“...you do realize she fell in love with the main hero, rigggggghhhht?” Rarity said flirtatiously, but Rainbow just shoved her away as they entered the main room. In the center, on a plinth, was the ninth ring. Rainbow could feel it radiating power.

And then the wall exploded as the Mandarin himself strode in the room. His goons weren’t even present, just him.

“So glad we finally meet,” said Xin with a bow. “A pleasure!”

“Wish I could say the same,” Rainbow growled, her body crackling with cosmic energy as she floated several feet off the floor. Rarity wisely took cover behind some statues. Slamming a fist into her palm, Rainbow then pointed at Xin, declaring: “Your reign of terror ends here!”

“...does it?” Xin commented, one of his rings lighting up as Rainbow felt crushing gravity pull her to the floor. He slammed a fist into her gut, making Rainbow nearly double over. Spinning, he roundhouse kicked her into a wall. Freezing her in place, Xin dashed for the ring.

Rarity knew she had to act fast, and she leaped from cover, tackling Xin to the floor even as Rainbow freed herself.

“Rarity, what are you doing?” Rainbow shouted.

“What does it look like?” Rarity asked, tasering the Mandarin. “Saving you, dearie!”

“Are you?” the Mandarin said, twisting her arm and Rarity let out a scream over a sickening crack! Shoving her into a statue, Xin reclaimed the ring.

Rainbow dashed forwards, only to be swept into another room by a cyclone. Winds sprang from Xin’s hand, and their target bounced off statues like a human pin-ball. Gale force winds kept her from moving forwards, and gravity increased once again as Rainbow desperately tried to inch forwards.

“Come on!” Rainbow roared, and watched in shock, eyes widened as Rarity tased the Mandarin again. Taking advantage of his shock, she pried off two of his rings. Blasting him into a wall with cyclonic winds, she then released Rainbow from the crushing forces of gravity.

And then the storm roared, as Earth’s newest champion rushed forwards glowing a bright gold and eyes burning with righteous indignation. 

“Very well then!” The Mandarin snarled, metal twisting around him to form armor. Launching fireballs at Rainbow, he readied for battle. Emerging from the fire, Rainbow grabbed him by the neck and tossed him upwards. Throwing him through earth and stone, he slammed into the ceiling of the floor above. But everything was an opportunity, and he had a new ring to try out.

It glowed as he slammed a fist into the floor, and cracks began to spread out as the entire ceiling began to come down atop Rainbow and Rarity. All bonds between the atoms and molecules had been ruptured, and now down rubble rained down around them. Some of it was shattered apart by punch, or blasted to ruin by photonic energy, but it was rapidly becoming evident that this temple was falling to pieces.

Rainbow knew she had to run, and wrapping her arms around Rarity, flew out of the temple. Watching it come down, she could only hope that the Mandarin wasn’t quite as lucky. That he’d been caught up in his own stupidity.

Sadly, it was not to be, and out from the collapse he emerged protected by armor. “YOU THINK THAT CAN STOP ME?” he thundered. “I AM THE FUTURE, AND YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THE FUTURE?”

The two traded powerful blows, the cavern shaking with every punch. “Well, uh, yeah? It’s kinda what a superhero does. Stop nutcases like you!”

With that, she headbutted him, shattering his helmet. He staggered, but grabbed Rainbow and tossed her into a cavern wall. Ripping his stolen rings off Rarity’s fingers, all nine glowed with the light of the cosmos.

“...now, where were we?” the Mandarin mused to himself, before a malicious smile -promising only pain and suffering- crept its way up onto his features. “Oh yes. Now I remember. Time to die.”

“Easier said than done, buster, because even with my back against the wall -- I don't give up!” Rainbow said charging up a photonic burst. Thrusting her arms forwards, she released a beam of energy, beautiful but deadly. With every intent to cut open the Mandarin’s armor, Rainbow kept up the power.

And the Mandarin responded in turn, freezing the energy burst in mid-air before tossing a fireball. Rainbow side-stepped it, before bursting forth and pile-driving the Mandarin out into the open. Through earth and stone she pushed him, and suddenly they were in the middle of downtown Los Angeles.

Hitting him with a car, she shattered his armor. Rainbow leaped over creeping vines of ice reaching up to get her, before slamming a fist into the street. The earth rippled, and it shook and suddenly Xin was skywards. He smashed into a building, and honestly, that was probably that. Well, to Rainbow’s eyes anyways.

Dusting herself off, she sighed. “Such a waste, he could have been a true hero. Not this ‘teacher through pain’ crap,” she mused. “All of the power, and look what he decided to do with it.”

But when the smoke cleared, out emerged the Mandarin. Rainbow’s jaw just dropped, and so caught off-guard was she, that she was now wide open. The Mandarin grabbed her, slamming her into a wall. And then he did it again, and then again. Three times he beat her, her head now bruised and probably close to bleeding.

“And with you gone…” said Xin. The battle was actually pretty public, people watching on all sides. Cameras and smartphones had been pulled out, and really common sense had been thrown to the wind. Rainbow wanted to croak out a warning, but the Mandarin had hit her in the throat. “I can lead the world to a new and brighter age. A better age.”

“You have no idea what a real leader is. A leader has to project confidence. Fight for what she believes in. But never stop questioning, wondering how to be better,” Rainbow spat in his face, wheezing out her words. “You’re nothing but a maniac.”

“Believe what you want,” said Xin, slamming her into the earth. Her energy crackled and faded away, its owner beaten. “I have a new world to shape, you won’t be part of it. And I doubt the old one will miss you. You’ve been broken, shattered. Your spirit is now beyond repair. And now the whole world knows it.”

And with that, he flew off. Coughing, Rainbow tried to pick herself up off the ground only to let out a cry of pain. Tears in her eyes, she whispered: “Soarin’, Mar-Vehl, you were right. I couldn’t beat him alone…”