"So, what would have happened if you didn't marry Dad?" Robyn asked.

The Rangers, the twins, Jenny and C. C. were with Ruth in the dining room. Ruth had Rachel sitting next to her, and Robyn in her lap.

Ruth thought for a second. "Well, if I didn't marry your Dad, then 'Clipper' would probably force me to marry him, I would have been miserable with low self-esteem, and you two little girls would not have been born."

"Which would leave us with 2 less Spice Club members?" Rachel added.

Ruth chuckled, "Yes, dear; leaving us with two less Spice Club members, and leaving me with 2 less wonderful daughters."

"'Clipper?'" Leo asked.

Ruth turned to him. "Yes, Leo, 'Clipper.' Didn't anyone ever tell you that before we came here, we referred to him as 'the Candyman?'"

The Galaxy Rangers broke into riotous laughter. They seemed to never stopped, but Leo finally calmed down. "No kidding?" he asked.

"I kid you not. Look, I'm going on 19; I'm not a kid anymore."

Hanim rushed into the dining room. "Rachel, Robyn; come with me! I want to show you two something!"

"Ooh!" the twins squealed as they jumped out of their seats. Even down the hallway, the others could hear them scream, "Aunt Hanim has something to show us!"

"Aunt Hanim?" C. C. chuckled. "Cool."

"So, Ruth," Jenny said, turning to her friend. "Do still want to do the 'heart-to-heart' thing?"

"Sure, why not?" Ruth answered as she got up. They went through the jump tubes and went down onto a distant planet.

"So, you have a bloodline enemy now," Jenny said. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Well, until we met Sheila, I had no idea that the Magic existed that long ago. Over a millennium; wow! I only thought that the Magic started in the year 1761." Ruth stood in thought for a moment. "You know, maybe we intervened with the time."

"How so?"

"Well, I think it really started in 1761, then we inspired Sheila to use the Magic, making her the first Magical Princess. Then, the Magic would exist for over 1,000 years."

"Yeah, that's a possibility. But you didn't answer my first question, what are you going to do about Scorpius?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, I don't know. He's probably thinking of ways to grab the Magic from me." Ruth chuckled at the impossible thought.

"Shh, listen!" Jenny stopped short. At first, the sound was nothing but birds twittering. Then, a soft buzz was heard, becoming louder and louder. "Oh no," Jenny whispered. "Stingwingers!"

Indeed, several dozen Stingwingers came from the sky and swarmed down towards the two girls. One grabbed onto Jenny's shoulders, carrying her off her feet. This incident only lasted for a few seconds, for Ruth took one of her daggers and threw it at the Stingwinger's wrist. In response, the Stingwinger had let go of Jenny.

After straightening up, Jenny sent a distress signal to the ship. But she had to be quick, for three Stingwingers were approaching her fast!

"Let's take care of this pest control problem!" she shouted, drawing out her sword. She waited patiently for the Stingwingers to make their move. They came in at once, and she brutally slashed and stabbed them many times, until they could fight no more. "Yeah!"

Then she turned to one side. All the other Stingwingers, Ecliptor, and Furio were trying to overpower Ruth. She rushed in and grabbed several of the killer bees away from her comrade. She punched them several times, then finished them with a brutal stab.

Meanwhile, Ruth felt crushed as one Stingwinger got on top of her. She quickly turned her hands to a white glow, saying, "If you are truly afraid of the Magical Princess, then you've got a lot of courage to be on top of me." Realizing what she meant, the Stingwinger flew away in fear.

Standing up, Ruth hurled a series of white fireworks at the entire group. They all backed away, except for Furio and Ecliptor.

Seeing the open space before her, Ruth dashed for Jenny, grabbed her by the wrist, and called on the Galaxy Gliders. The white gliders came immediately, and the girls flew away.

"Stingwingers, after them!" Furio commanded. They obeyed and followed them.

Jenny and Ruth quickly knew to use whatever they could to shake them. They noticed that they were in a violent area of space. They sped by shooting stars, while the Stingwingers were hit by them. They circled around asteroids, making the Stingwingers dizzy and fall unconscious into the depths of space. Finally, they were able to get rid of all of them.

They flew to a nearby planet, and landed there. Ruth instantly looked around for a hiding place. Nightfall was approaching. They were near tall mountains, and there were crevices in the sides of the mountains.

"Jenny, they'll be looking for us for sure. Why don't we climb up this mountain a little, then go into one of those crevices?"

"Ruth, at this time, I'll be glad to hide anywhere. I just hope that the others find us, and soon."

Taking their Galaxy Gliders with them, they went up part of the mountain side and went into a narrow cranny; too narrow for the Stingwingers and their superiors, yet wide enough for the two girls. They kept going deeper into the crevice, until they finally reached a small area, wide enough for them to lay down with their knees bent. So Jenny did.

"Even if the Stingwingers do find us here, there wouldn't be enough room for them to catch us because we would be inside," Jenny stated, closing her eyes.

Ruth sat down in what space was left. In exhaustion, she ran her fingers through her hair. She stopped short, and ran her fingers through her hair again. She felt very carefully, but realized that her white rose was gone.

"Aw, man!" she said to herself. "I must have dropped it during that battle." Then, almost forgetting about the rose, she laid down and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, the others arrived to the planet from where Jenny sent the distress signal. Of course, it was the first planet that they were at; they didn't know that Ruth and Jenny had moved on to get away.

They looked around and saw no one. Carlos looked around keenly, and spotted something. "Hey! I see something!" He ran to the edge of the meadow and picked up the object. It was the rose Ruth dropped.

"What is it?" Kendrix asked.

"It's Ruth's rose," Carlos answered. "I'd recognize it anywhere. She's never without it, unless she's in trouble."

"And Jenny was with her!" Andros exclaimed.

"So, what do we do now?" Cassie asked.

"We've got to find them, and quick," Leo said. "Let's go back to the ship."

They all teleported away...that is, except for Carlos. He was distracted from teleporting by the thought that Ruth was in danger. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to her.

Maya came back a few moments after she left and took Carlos by the arm. "Come on, Carlos. Let's go." Hesitant, Carlos finally agreed to leave. They left together.

The sun came up from the eastern direction of the planet Jenny and Ruth slept on. The sun peeked into the crevice they were hiding in, and shone on Jenny's eyes. She stirred as the light continued to shimmer. She awoke, sat up, and began stretching her arms. Then, she gently shook Ruth.

"Ruth, wake up; it's morning."

Ruth groaned as she aroused. She had her arm underneath her head during the night, serving as a pillow. But it became numb during the night, and now she can barely move it. "Jenny, help me. My arm won't move."

Jenny chuckled as she calmly took her arm away from her head. Now down, she noticed that her fingers were in a curved position, also numb. "Oh dear," Ruth added. "I'll never play the violin again!" Jenny giggled again as she helped in getting Ruth's body awake.

The two girls took their Galaxy Gliders and crawled out of their hiding place, and beheld the land that they slept through. It was beautiful during the dawn. The golden light shown upon the very green grass. The white clouds were beautiful, and they thought that no one had ever seen a bluer sky. Birds were singing their morning songs.

"Oh, wow," Ruth said quietly. "We could stay here forever."

They didn't know it then, but Quantrons happened upon that planet that very morning, and were sneaking up behind them. The moment Ruth complimented the morning, they Quantrons came down and landed in front of them.

"I'm afraid we can't right now!" Jenny exclaimed, when she realized that they were followed. Ruth whispered an idea into Jenny's ear, and she agreed to it. They knew that there was barely enough room to fight, so the girls threw their Galaxy Gliders down to the ground.

Then they called them back. "Galaxy Gliders, hang ten!"

The gliders went straight back to where they were, but they knocked over the Quantrons from behind. They fell down to the ground, and the girls went up. Before they disappeared into the atmosphere, the Rangers arrived, awakened and aware of the Quantrons.

And when Andros heard the familiar sound of Galaxy Gliders, he looked in the direction of the girls. "Wait!" he called. But he was too late, they were too high up, and they disappeared in a split second.

"We almost got them! We've got to go after them!" But the Quantrons came back up, and they began to fight, while the girls continued onward.

"Wait a minute," Ruth said, as she leaned back and slowed down her Galaxy Glider. She stopped and turned in the direction they came from.

Jenny also stopped. "What's wrong? They're going to come after us, and we have to get moving."

"You know, Jenny," Ruth said. "Something funny tells me that we should go back the other way. Strange, huh?"

"Back to those Quantrons? Are you kidding me?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Ruth agreed, and they resumed the journey.

"Oh dear," Ashley complained, when they all finished off the Quantrons. "We lost them! Again!"

"We might be able to find out their destination since we know where they took off from, and which direction they left," Kai said.

"If we don't know anything about the Lost Galaxy, then they don't either," said T. J. "But it is worth our best shot."

"I feel kind of guilty of going back to the ship while they are out there alone. I want to go after them," Carlos said.

"We don't know where they are going, Carlos," Damon said. "And the best way to find them is to go back to the ship."

"But what about Ruth?"

Leo placed his hand on Carlos' shoulder. "We can't help her by standing here. Let's go."

Reluctantly, Carlos nodded and left with the others.

After what was only a few minutes, although it seemed like forever, the calculations were precise, and Alpha and Maya found out their mostly likely destination.

"I've plotted the course based on their starting point and their direction," Alpha informed.

"It's most likely that they are heading straight for Elysium, an extremely sensitive and unstable planet," Maya added. "It is like a utopia, but is so sensitive that it can rarely tolerate action. Hopefully, they are careful enough to cause as little disruption as possible."

"Jenny is rarely that careful, Maya," the Cryptkeeper informed. "She is a girl of action, and when she needs to protect herself, by golly, she will! Although I've never heard of her protecting herself by fleeing."

"Let's get a move on to Elysium, them," Andros instructed. "The sooner we get there, the more likely we'll find them in time."

About another hour later, they arrived on the planet Elysium. Indeed, it did look like a utopia. It was very beautiful, even more beautiful than the planet that the girls spent the night on.

As they looked around, they heard a loud noise coming from the hills. As they looked at them, they saw a herd of large animals emerge from the top of the hill. They looked like large furry bulls with elephant tusks as well as bull horns. The moment they went over the top of the hill, the animals came charging down, right in their direction!

Maya recognized the creatures immediately. "A Salacruze stampede! Run!" She took off to the side immediately, followed quickly by the others. No sooner than Kai, who helped Cassie up when she tripped and fell by the shaking ground, leave the area did the stampede come trampling on the ground they stood before.

Tired and excited, the Rangers leaned against some boulders. Relaxing, Maya said, "There's definitely something wrong here. This is a paradise; no body and nothing that came from this world is allowed to injure anyone in any way, guest or resident."

When she said that, they all heard some battle shouts coming from the other side of the hill. They didn't know if it was Jenny and Ruth until they heard a familiar voice, saying, "Come on, Jenny; we've got to get out of here!"

"Oh no, Ruth; not again," Carlos anxiously said as her ran up the hill. This was a tall hill, and he was already tired from avoiding the stampede. He could hear the two girls getting ready for her escape. He heard Jenny call for the Galaxy Gliders.

When he heard that, Carlos ran as fast as his strength could allow. But it wasn't fast enough, for when he got to the top, he saw Ruth and Jenny just beginning their departure. Carlos was about to shout after them, but the girls were distracted by the following Stingwingers. They went for the chase again.

The others arrived quickly. Damon removed something from his belt, then took his blaster and fired at the girls. His aim was precise, the object he shot landed harmlessly on one side of Jenny's neck.

"What did you do, Damon?" Ashley asked.

"It's a micro-sized tracer," he answered. "We'll be able to find them this time."

But they didn't have the time to go after them, for other Stingwinger, along with several dozen Quantrons, found out that they were spotted and went for them. Yet another attack began...

Furio entered the throne room and knelt before Scorpius. "My lord, the two Spice Club girls are giving us the slip, going from planet to planet. It has been difficult to keep up with them. And, in addition, the Power Rangers are making both the progress and attempts less successive."

"Those Power Rangers are getting in the way," Scorpius declared. "I shall get what I want; do you understand, Furio? I shall get what I want!"

"Yes, my lord, I understand."

The battle between the Power Rangers and their typical enemies raged on into the night.

During that time, Jenny and Ruth arrived at another planet. Like the planet Penitencity (where Remorse Lake was located), this planet was soggy and swampy. Unfortunately, there were many more trees, the only open place to land.

Ruth cautiously stepped off her Galaxy Glider and placed her feet on one of the larger branches. Seeing that the branches were stable, she nodded to Jenny. Jenny stepped onto a different branch, also cautious. They found the perfect places to lay down and rest. Twilight made the crimson red and dark blue sky so lovely.

"Ruth," Jenny asked. "Why are we running? We should be fighting."

"I don't know," Ruth answered. "Something is telling me to keep running, and yet something else tells me to go back." She noticed Jenny scratching the side of her neck, where Damon shot his tracer. Of course, neither she nor Ruth knew about this. "Are you all right, Jenny?" Ruth asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she moaned in her answer. "It's just that my neck hurts. Maybe it was the fact that we slept in a crevice and that we've had nothing but fighting and running all day."

They didn't have time to say anything more; a Stingwinger snuck up behind Jenny and grabbed her by the arms. She screamed in response.

"Oh no, you don't," Ruth whispered. She took her Galaxy Glider, and it was her turn to chase. The Stingwinger was moving too fast for Ruth to grab Jenny. The best that she could do was keep up, until they finally reached yet another planet, a meadowy one.

As both the Stingwinger and Ruth's glider came to about 20 feet above ground level, Ruth finally came up with an idea. She placed her palms almost together, creating what looked like a green sphere. As Ruth concentrated, the sphere fired a small, thin, green beam at the Stingwinger's ankle, startling it.

Ruth continued to fire at it until he finally had to let go. Jenny landed flat on her back and remained motionless. Ruth turned around and went for her friend. She stopped near Jenny's body, and went to check on her.

"Jenny, you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jenny weakly said. "I just need to rest for a minute."

"I'm afraid you don't have a minute," a familiar voice said. Ruth stood up and spun around.

The voice belonged to Ecliptor, who came along with Furio. And it was no surprise that quite a number of Stingwingers and Quantrons were also there.

Ruth carefully stepped one leg over Jenny in an attempt to protect her. She produced a large frown on her face, and held her ground. "Well, well, well, what have we got here? If it isn't the Candyman, or do you want me to call you Clipper?"

Furio turned to Ecliptor. "Candyman? Clipper?"

"They have been known to tease me by those...those nicknames," he answered.

"So, Candyman, do you still like me?" Ruth asked.

Shocked, Furio faced Ecliptor again. "What's this I hear about you liking her?" Furio snapped.

Ecliptor didn't answer. Instead, he turned to Ruth. "You're coming with us, Magic Spice!" He grabbed her by the wrists and lifted her off the ground. Ruth struggled to get free, but without success.

As Ecliptor was about to drag Ruth further away from Jenny, and energy blast struck Ecliptor at the back. He had let go of Ruth, then collapsed to the ground. Ruth looked up to see the Rangers and Hanim coming down. "Carlos!" she shouted.

"Attack!" Furio shouted.

The Stingwingers raced to attack. Zhane and Hanim attended to Jenny.

Damon, Carlos, and Ruth teamed up to fight. Ruth pulled a Quantron by the arms and twirled him as fast as she could. When she had let go of him, he went spinning into the air, and was caught by Carlos' Lunar Lance. Damon took his weapon, the Trans Blaster, and fired at Carlos' Quantron, then at several others.

Maya flipped and kicked at her Stingwinger fiercely. She and Ashley ran around the Stingwinger until Ashley finally punched him in the face while Maya kicked him on the other side. Maya shoved his legs downward, causing him to fall on top of her. She kicked her legs up, pushing him away as Ashley finished him.

Andros was being choked by the Quantron's force of the hands. He tried to get away, but the Quantron's grip was firm. Then, Leo came and pulled him away from Andros and flipped on his own back, allowing him to toss the Stingwinger on top of two others.

Kendrix grabbed onto the shoulders of her Stingwinger and shifted from side to side fiercely. Once, she even shifted to her left, knocking the opponent against a nearby tree. Cassie came along and hooked her left foot with the Stingwinger's right leg, and pulled him away. Now loose from Kendrix's grip, she and Cassie made the Stingwinger stand up again, then pushed against him, back to back; Cassie on one side, Kendrix on the other.

T. J. to handle both a Quantron and a Stingwinger. But he was having a harder time. When the Stingwinger lost the advantage, the Quantron had it, and vice versa. When T. J. came in between them, a long vine had suddenly dropped down near him. He looked up a tree to see Kai, holding onto the vine. Understanding, T. J. grabbed onto the vine. No sooner than Kai take the vine with him as he went down, allowing T. J. to go up did the Quantron attempt to slice T. J. with its blade and instead sliced the Stingwinger.

For a while, Furio and Ecliptor just watched. Then, they went into the fight and headed for Damon, Carlos, and Ruth. While Furio took Damon, Ecliptor had the couple. Ecliptor grabbed onto Ruth by the wrist again, but Carlos quickly shoved him away. "Sorry to break it to you, Ecliptor, but she's already taken." Ecliptor growled as he stood up. He began to battle with Carlos.

While the two were fighting for Ruth, she realized something. She heard her own voice, saying: "He's probably thinking of ways to grab the Magic from me." She realized that it was her that Scorpius was after. No wonder why the recent battles were focused on her alone instead of her with the others.

Ruth knew exactly what to do. Standing on top of a tall stump, she shouted, "Ecliptor! Furio! Stop!" Everyone, shocked by Ruth's words, stop the fight and stared at her in confusion. Ruth stepped down as she approached Furio. "Furio, I'll bet you 10-1 that it's me Scorpius is after."

Chuckling, Furio answered, "Bet heavily, Magic Spice, for it's sure thing."

"If it's me you're after, then I'll make you a deal. I'll go willingly with you if you promise to let the others go."

Leo walked to Ruth. "No, you can't do that! It's too dangerous."

"Must more die for me? For the past three days, Jenny and I have been running. But I'm tired of running now. If it's me they want, then shall get me."

Jenny made her way to her. "They won't keep the promise. You know that. How in the world can you trust them?"

"Who said anything about trusting? Like you said to Kai before, 'I am my woman. I make my own decisions.' I am willing to take any risks, as long as it saves you all."

"But, Ruth..." Hanim started.

"No fuss and no blubbering!" Furio interrupted. "Just say your good-byes!"

All was silent for a while longer. After most of the farewells were said, Ruth walked up to Hanim.

"Hanim, you have to promise me to take care of the twins as if you were their mother. Carlos can choose anyone he wants to replace me as his second bride, if he even wants one; but only you can be their second mother. Promise?"

Reluctantly, Hanim nodded. "All right, I promise. Bye, Ruth." They hugged for a moment.

Ruth looked at her husband. "Well, Carlos, I'm going to miss you more than anyone. And you'll probably want no one else to replace me as your second bride."

Carlos removed something from his pocket. "Oh, Ruth. You dropped this on one of the planets you were running from." He presented the white rose and placed it in her hair. They stared at each other for a moment.

Then, in a quick burst of motion, Ruth took off Carlos' helmet, dropped it on one side, then kissed him. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, however, for Ecliptor walked up to them and removed them from the kiss.

"To make sure you know that we will keep our part of the promise, we will let you all leave this planet first," Furio said. After a few more moments of silence, Ruth's friends left for the ship.

Knowing that they were gone, Ruth only had three words left to say: "I am ready."

Ruth was brought before Scorpius and forced to sit on her legs. Her landing on the floor was somewhat askew, part of her hair ended up in front of her face, and her rose became off balance. She remained in eye-contact with Scorpius for only a few seconds, then she stared at the floor.

"You dare to show disrespect to me by removing eye-contact?" Scorpius roared.

No response.

"And also by not speaking to me in a manner of honor?"

Still nothing.

He turned to his Stingwingers. "Her tongue has been stilled for the moment. Tie her to a stake and have her in any torture you can think of. But do not hurt her in any way unless I give the word." Obeying, the Stingwingers grabbed her, and took her down the hallways. All who saw her were surprised as they noticed that she did not make any attempts to break free.

They entered a large room, where a platform, one that looked similar to a scaffold, was waiting. There was a tall stake standing in the center of the platform. They took her up the stairs of the platform and tied her ankles to the stake.

They picked up a metal bar and positioned it over her shoulders. They tied one of her arms to one side of the metal bar, and her other arm to the other side. This uncomfortable position made Ruth look like she hanging on a cross.

The Stingwingers began to mock her and jeer at her. One of them tore Ruth's necklace right off and threw it to the side. At the same time, two more took off Ruth's other pieces of the magical jewelry. They took no chances of Ruth using the Magic.

But Ruth did nothing except stare and frown.

Scorpius came in with Astronema, Trakeena, and Ecliptor. "A Magical Princess?" Trakeena mocked. "Ha ha! She looks more like worthless trifle." Trakeena walked up the platform and approached Ruth. Both Ruth and Trakeena noticed that the Stingwingers backed off to give Trakeena room on the platform, and bowed down.

"Do you see the Stingwingers?" Trakeena asked. "They bow before me because I am Princess of Evil in this Galaxy. Do they bow before you because you are a Magical Princess? No; they mock you under the command of my father. They would protect me if I was in danger. Who in here would protect you?"

For the first time since the end of the recent battle, Ruth spoke. "I have no need for protection, Trakeena. I came here willingly, to spare the lives of my friends. I have protected and spared them by doing that!"

"What makes you think that they are spared for long, Magic Spice?" Trakeena asked. "If you are dead, what is to stop us from killing your friends, your husband, and your daughters, too?"

"My two daughters are strong! Even the friends who know me better than rest of my friends do not understand that deep within themselves, they are real warriors, ready to kill anyone who would dare attack their father."

"And their mother? What of her? What would they do if their mother dies?"

"Then, they shall accept and succeed afterwards. Any and all evils hearts shall realize how strong the Magic of the Universe really is! It has the capabilities to turn inexperienced apprentices to the strongest warriors anyone has ever seen!"

"Ha! Turn little girls, who are both trifles just like you, into warriors? I'm just dying to see that happen!" With that, Trakeena slowly walked away. But Ruth began to spew out saliva at the back of Trakeena's head. She turned sharply to her, just when some more landed on her eyes. Surprised but calm, Trakeena wiped the saliva off.

"You are not the first to do that to me." Trakeena walked out of the room, with Ruth spitting her tongue at her.

Ecliptor walked up the platform. Ruth began to struggle with the ropes; she was not willing to have Ecliptor touch her again. However, Ecliptor began to caress her cheek. "Come now, Magic Spice, don't be like this. You know that deep within, you are waiting for me."

Ruth stopped struggling and stared at him. "The only time you'll find me waiting for you is during a battle. Then, you would find me waiting for you to be destroyed."

Ecliptor paused for a second, then resumed his talking. "If you truly want your friends and family to survive, be my wife. You know that many humans have given themselves to more than one husband or wife."

"Those humans are adulterers," Ruth responded. "They do not realize the consequences and anger that follows them. They suffer a great deal of punishment. The agreement was that I would only come here willingly, and I have. You ask me to do something that's wrong, while you know that I am not that kind of a woman."

"You are a woman; that's enough," Ecliptor said.

Then, Ruth began to smile. "I wish you could bottle that charm."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Ruth said, as her smile turned to a frown. "After that, I could put a cork on it!"

"I enjoy your sense of humor!" He grabbed Ruth by the chin and attempted to give Ruth a French kiss. But Ruth jerked her head back and bit at Ecliptor's hand. This served as a distraction (from Ecliptor's thoughts of love) and as a protection (from Ecliptor's attempts of a kiss). He tried to pull his hand back, but Ruth kept her mouth tight.

He was finally able to remove Ruth's teeth from the hand by squeezing the cheeks with the other hand. When he pulled his hand away, he looked at his wound. Then, she saw Ruth, hissing and growling like her Lioness Spirit. (See "Animal Spirits" for more details about that.)

"If you shall not accept my offer, you and your friends will die!" Ecliptor threatened.

"Then, so be it!" Ruth shouted. "We would all rather die than see me become two wives in one person! There is no room in me to be both a wife of good and a wife of evil!"

Ecliptor stared at Ruth in surprise. Would she really risk the lives of her friends just to save herself from one evil sin? Not wanting to take any chances of Ruth biting him again, he walked down the platform and stood by the Quantrons guarding the steps to the platform.

It was Scorpius' turn to talk to Ruth. Unlike the preceding talkers, he merely walked to the front and stared at Ruth for a long time. He did not walk up the steps to the platform. "You are courageous to refuse an evil heart."

"He's responsible for the murder of my parents," Ruth responded fiercely, referring to Ecliptor. "They were everything to me before I met and joined my friends. They have given me a strength that no one would be able to give."

"You speak of a strength, do you?" Scorpius asked. "Very well! If you have this strength now, remove yourself from that metal bar and stake, and show us this strength you have."

"You put me to a test, and that proves how cowardly you are," Ruth scolded. "Besides, this strength I speak of is not on the outside, but on the inside. It is the strength to my mind, to my heart, to my eyes, and to my soul. That all feeds the outer strength that must come later."

"I see that it feeds your wisdom as well," Scorpius complimented. "For a very, very long time, I have never heard such words from one who fights for good. You have a freedom for your mouth, but not for your body. Surrender your magic, and you shall receive the freedom your body needs."

"The Magic of the Universe belongs only to the Universal Magic Princess. First of all, only a strong and determined female can obtain it. Secondly, only an open mind that hopes for the infinite possibilities can control it. And last, but certainly not least, only a pure heart, with a soul set for the goals of good, can use it."

Ruth said nothing more. She closed her eyes and turned her head away. If her hands were not tied to the metal bar, she would have plugged up her ears as well.

Angered by the reasons Ruth gave, Scorpius turned to one of the Stingwingers. "This one is truly a spicy Spice Club member. She is exactly how she described herself and her ancestors, including her mother and her ancestor Sheila."

He looked at Ruth, but still talked to his Stingwinger. "However, she lacks the ability to fill my need for humor as her ancestors did. Destroy her, and then kill her daughters. With those three destroyed, the Magic of the Universe would be useless, and the Spice Club would be incomplete."

The Stingwinger obeyed. He walked up the platform and gave a long stare at Ruth. As if doing an ancient ritual, he performed slowly. He produced his stinger and shouted praises to his fellow Stingwingers. In response, they all shouted to kill her. Then, moving fast, the Stingwinger on the platform had spun around and prepared to seal Ruth's fate!

But at the last moment, Ruth forced her right leg forward, allowing that particular ankle to become free from the rope! She did a snap kick in the Stingwinger's gut and kicked it off the platform! All at once; more Stingwingers approached the platform, the Quantrons gasped in shock, Scorpius and Ecliptor watched in awe, and Ruth released her right leg completely.

When three Stingwingers came in front of Ruth to kill her, she used her free leg and knocked them down with an impressive crescent kick! This gave Ruth enough time to kick the ropes from her other leg. Boosting both legs up and releasing her waist, she kicked a Stingwinger so quickly, squarely, and powerfully; he tumbled backwards and struck about six or seven more off!

Now that her waist was free and there was enough room, Ruth began to run her legs around the stake like a merry-go-round. When she lifted her legs, she was going very fast and used her legs to knock off more Stingwingers from all around her!

One Stingwinger tried to hit Ruth with its stinger, but instead accidentally cut the rope holding her right arm to the metal bar. "Thank you," Ruth sweetly said, quickly releasing her other arm and using the metal bar as a baseball bat, knocking more away.

Using telekinesis, Ruth summoned her magical jewelry to come straight to her hands. She took only a quick moment to put each piece on. As if it was angry at Ruth's attackers, the Magic was immediately initiated, and what looked like purple fire surrounded her. In fear, all of the action stopped, and all eyes were on her.

One Stingwinger was brave enough to try and hit Ruth with its stinger, but a purple fireball came out and damaged the stinger, damaging the Stingwinger with it.

Ruth quietly looked at Scorpius and Ecliptor. She also noticed that Trakeena and Astronema had entered during the fight. Even though all were shocked, Ruth was surprised that they attempted to hide it.

"Remember this appearance well, Astronema and Scorpius!" Ruth shouted. "For I only use this magical implement if I need to. You have no idea of what the Magic can really do and what you're up against."

"What are you going to do now?" Ecliptor asked. "Are you going to kill us as punishment for abusing you and your friends as we have, or even as vengeance against me for killing your parents?"

For a few seconds, Ruth said nothing. During those few seconds, the purple fire lowered and calmed down, until there was nothing left around her except what looked like yellow smoke. Soon, even that disappeared. "I am not a murderer, Ecliptor. Even if I was, vengeance is not for me to achieve."

She stared at the Stingwingers and Quantrons. They were so still and quiet, one would think that they became statues. Calmly, Ruth said, "Anyone else want to fight me?"

Immediately, the Quantrons and Stingwingers as fast as they could out of the room. Their superiors followed, commanding them to attack her and to not act like an overgrown group of cowards.

Now, Ruth was alone. She knelt on one knee and seemed to take a prayer position, except her hands were not together. "I will never fail you, Mother," she whispered. Standing up, she pressed on her ring and teleported out, returning her to the ship.

The End ... for now.