"So, what should we do for dinner tonight?" Sydney asked Charlie, her eyes glittering. The new B-squad Yellow Ranger, in place of Z, laughed as she tried to think of an answer. "Something that's not Piggy's Cafe."
"When have we ever had that?"
"Never."
"Exactly." The two of them burst into laughter.
"But seriously, what should we do?"
Syd shrugged. "Let's just go somewhere in town."
"Okay."
The duo of Rangers held hands as they walked toward where their new sparring match was about to begin. Each of them were put into pairs in different arenas: Cruger and Bridge, Charlie and Jack, Sam and Syd. Sam had decided to come back and stay in the past. Kat started to count off the moments toward when the exercise would begin.
"And go!" she shouted.
"SPD, emergency!" Both Jack and Charlie morphed, ready to fight.
"I'm not going to let you beat me!" the Red Ranger spat, his hand on his Delta Max Striker. "I haven't forgotten how you betrayed SPD. You're still nobody to me."
"Now, don't do anything rash," Charlie snapped, but Jack was already in the air. He thrust out his foot and kicked her in the chest. She retaliated immediately, unleashing flurries of different attacks at him. Miraculously, he avoided all of them, slipping away and sweeping her feet out from under her, causing her to crash to the ground and demorph. She lay there, breathing hard, when, all of a sudden, Jack grabbed her and threw her against the side of the arena as hard as he could. Jack was the strongest on the team, so his assault knocked her unconscious completely, blood trickling from a cut in her forehead and from the left side of her mouth.
"Time out!" Kat cried. She left her post at the computer simulation and ran inside the ring, stopping Jack from getting near Charlie again. "You're just sparring! What the hell is wrong with you?"
The rest of the Rangers gasped as they entered that area as well, all demorphing. No one had ever heard Kat curse in their lifetime, or even say anything close to it. Syd matched over to Jack.
"What is wrong with you?" she snarled. "She's your teammate now, don't act like you're fighting Gruumm again."
"I don't care. I am her leader. Do what you like with her, but your girlfriend may not be safe here for long," he muttered.
Sydney gulped, unsure of what he meant by that, but she shook the thoughts away and ran over beside Kat. "Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine," the Felid replied. "She could have gotten a concussion from that hit though, so she may have to stay in the hospital wing overnight."
"Can I stay with her?"
"I'm sorry, but no."
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Sydney tossed and turned in her bed all night. She was still scared for Charlie, especially with what had happened so soon before. Eventually, her eyes closed and she tried to sleep.
She and Charlie were walking together in the city, along with the rest of the team, ready to battle Gruumm and Broodwing for the last time. Bridge, Jack, Cruger, and Sam darted into battle, swarmed by millions of Troobians. Charlie raced toward Broodwing and Gruumm and began fighting and Syd tried to follow her, but was blocked by many Orangeheads and Krybots. Her eyes darted toward her girlfriend helplessly, noticing that she was no match for both of them. Charlie screamed as Gruumm and Broodwing blasted her in the chest multiple times. Bridge was taken down by a number of aliens. Krybots swarmed over Cruger. Blasts of fire shot from all directions, taking out most of the Rangers and the rest of SPD. Syd could only watch helplessly as Cruger, then Bridge, followed with Sam and Jack, were defeated and killed. But the last sound that echoed in her head was the final cry of the one she loved, as Charlie was slaughtered and lay lifeless on the ground, her glazed eyes staring straight at the Pink Ranger...
Syd gasped as she sat up in bed, her body slick with sweat and tears pouring down her face. It was nearly light outside. She knew that no one could usually die from a concussion, but her nightmare had told her that the worries were still alive. Because of the fact that Charlie's previous injuries hadn't completely healed, it had been known that anything like that could put her in danger again. It had been Kat's idea to try to put her through the training seminar, but she had the urge to blame both her and Jack for what happened. Unable and unwilling to go back to sleep, she wriggled out of her pajamas and slipped into her SPD uniform. Then she stumbled out of her room down toward the control center. Bridge met her halfway.
"Hey, Syd. How are you holding up?" He put an arm around her as they continued to move on.
"Fine."
"Just so you know, I have nothing against Charlie. I do not wish to hurt her. But I must warn you that I don't believe Jack is the same. He was on the side of Sky and Z and he won't thank you and your girlfriend for landing them in prison."
Sydney shrugged. "So? They had it coming to them for attacking her."
"But I don't want either of you to get hurt defending each other."
"I don't care if I get hurt protecting her. I just don't want her to be injured."
"It's a little too late for that, but she'll bounce back."
"Meh." Syd walked ahead of him and entered the control room. Kat and Cruger were waiting for her.
"You may want to know," Kat said stiffly, "that Charlie is feeling much better and will be out of the hospital today. I am giving you permission to see her."
"Thank you, Kat."
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"Charlie?" Syd called as she opened the door to the hospital room for the third time that month. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Surprisingly, the newly instated Yellow Ranger was walking normally again and she seemed as strong as she could be. She moved over to Syd and hugged her. "Sorry for scaring you."
"It's fine." She rubbed her hands over Charlie's body. "How are your previous injuries doing?"
The other girl flinched as Syd's hand touched her back. "Better, but they're still a bit sore."
"Good. Let's go."
The Rangers intertwined hands as they exited the room. And that's when their morphers began vibrating.
"Rangers!" Cruger's voice yelled in their ears. "There is a criminal attack downtown. Cadet Drew, Cadet Myers, Cadet Landors, please investigate."
Syd glanced at Charlie. "Are you up for this?"
"You bet."
Jack met up with the girls by an old abandoned building, which was the center of the coordinates Commander Cruger had given them. But no one was there.
"I don't see any-" Charlie began. However, her sentence was stopped in the middle and Jack and Syd turned expectantly to hear the rest of what she had to say.
But she had disappeared.
"Charlie?" they exclaimed in unison. "Where did you go?"
"She's with me," a voice snarled behind them and too late did they turn, for an immense weight crashed against them, pushing both Jack and Sydney to the ground.
"Hey!" Syd snapped as she looked up. A massive amount of iron and steel towered above them in the shape of a cat standing on its hind legs.
"Who the heck are you?" Jack growled. "And what have you done with Charlie?" He had thought about what he'd done to her before and realized that the former A-squad Ranger could possibly be trusted.
"I am the third most wanted criminal in the galaxy, Capati!"
"What have you done with our friend?"
"Oh, she's safe... in the grip of destruction!" Capati gestured to the top of the old building. On the top floor, the windows were closed, but red lights flashed from inside. "She is being ripped apart in there, but will only be spared if SPD surrenders to me!"
"Great, another alien who wants to take over SPD and destroy the world," Syd mumbled angrily. Then she raised her voice. "Let Charlie go!"
Capati refused and the Rangers began to battle. However, it was astonishing how easy it was for the two Rangers to defeat and capture him in a containment card.
"Let's get up to the top of that building," Syd breathed. "I just hope we'll get there in time."
But when they got to their destination, the most shocking surprise greeted them. Charlie was laying flat on her back on the floor with a terrified look on her face. A girl with shoulder-length black hair was straddling her waist, holding a huge sword that was buried in the side of the other girl's chest. Three other men surrounded the pair, but as the B-squad Rangers smashed the window and leaped inside, they turned toward her, as did the girl stabbing Charlie. Syd and Jack gasped.
"It- it can't be," Syd stammered.
"That's right." The man wearing a green uniform smiled slyly. "A-squad has returned."
"They want revenge on me for joining SPD!" Charlie cried. She attempted to push the dark-haired girl off of her, which didn't go well on account of the weapon still interred in her body. "Rachel, let go!"
"Cliff, Beevor, Ivan, don't let them near me!" the one called Rachel snapped. "She will pay for betraying our team!"
"Get away from her!" Syd roared.
"Never!"
The Pink B-squad Ranger darted toward her girlfriend, but Beevor raced in front of her, swiftly grasping her arm and flipping her over.
"Syd!" Jack tried to come to her rescue, but was soon occupied by Cliff and Ivan.
"Don't even try to stop me." Syd got to her feet and in the space of 5 minutes, Beevor was the one groaning in pain on the floor.
Now she just had Rachel to contend with. But the girl had stabbed the sword deep into her victim and Charlie was arching her back and screaming in agony. Syd was terrified of accidentally hurting her more, but she knew she had to do it. She charged toward the Pink A-squad Ranger, the element of speed being all she was dependent upon. But Rachel was too good. As Syd got closer, she thrust Charlie away from her and swiped a clean slice with the sword, aiming for her attacker's legs. Syd barely jumped in time and that distraction was enough for Rachel to drag Charlie over to Beevor and Cliff, while Ivan fought with Jack and Rachel faced off with the B-squad Pink Ranger.
"Sydney!" Charlie cried, trying to escape the A-squad Blue and Green Rangers. Cliff grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her as Rachel threw the sword towards Beevor and he placed it at her throat.
"Don't call again," he growled. "You deserve all you get for what you did to us."
"If you decided to join SPD too, it'd be a better decision for everyone!"
Beevor pressed the weapon harder, creating a small cut in her neck. Syd and Jack could only watch helplessly as Rachel and Ivan pinned them to the floor.
"We're coming, guys!" One of the other windows was smashed and the the Green B-squad Ranger and Shadow Ranger stepped into the room, instantly running toward Jack and Syd. They managed to take them by surprise and Syd immediately got her feet as Cruger wrestled Rachel away.
"I'm coming, Charlie!" She dived toward Beevor, but he and Cliff simultaneously dodged away, pushing the saber harder into Charlie's neck. This was too much for her, but the more she struggled, the more the blade cut through her and the more she couldn't breathe.
"Let me go!" Charlie screamed. Her neck was bleeding heavily and her eyes watered in pain. Syd charged again and this time, she managed to tear Ivan away. He spun out of her grip, eyes blazing with hate. Realizing that he was next, Beevor released his captive, somersaulting away to help Ivan. The second Charlie was free, Syd sped over to her, falling to her knees beside her. The Yellow Ranger had closed her eyes as pain shot through her body.
"Charlie, come on." Syd swung one of the girl's arms over her shoulder. "Jack, Bridge, Commander we need to get her back to the SPD base!"
Jack finally noticed them and ran over to help the Pink Ranger. "Agreed."
"I just can't believe that the rest of A-squad escaped. Those cells are foolproof!"
"Not for them, apparently," Bridge muttered as he and Cruger went to help as well. "Let's get her to the infirmary and figure out what their purpose is for escaping and how we can contain them once again."