Author's Note: It is not required but recommended that "Faith" a short story I wrote be read. It focuses on Z's past and is referenced in this story.
It had been one month, one month since the defeat of Gruumm. One month since one red ranger left SPD to live his life and another gained his lifelong dream. One month of peace, without monsters attacking and Earth in peril, Space Patrol Delta had done its job.
Peace is fleeting, that month is now at an end.
The bank manager sweated as he watched the alien order the other employees around. The eyes on the back of its head moved from side to side watching every movement. Afraid to put his arms down, the manager tried to signal to the tellers to press the silent alarm. His attempts failed.
"Oh, no," the alien spotted the teller, "we're not going to call for help."
"You!" The green blue sheen of the alien almost blinded the helpless group of people. It pointed at the manager. "You're going to show me to the main computer."
The eye monster grabbed the manager by the scruff of the neck and brought him to the large office in the corner. It forced his hostage into the leather chair behind the desk.
"Bring up high level access codes or I do a little target practice." It brandished a large menacing energy cannon.
"Please, don't hurt anybody!" the manager quickly typed in his pass code, eyes shifting back and forth between the screen and the alien. He reached for a data crystal.
"What are you doing!" the alien bellowed.
Frightened and puzzled the bank manager looked at the alien, "You need a data crystal to store the codes. You do know what a data crystal is, right?"
"Shut up," it swung the cannon at the manager, "Of course I know! Now get it done with."
The alien paced as they waited the long ten minutes it took for the data transfer. When it was done, the green blue villain grabbed the crystal and ran out of the bank. The manager waited till it was gone and went back to the main lobby.
"Alert SPD immediately!"
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"All rangers come to the command center!"
Sky stopped punching the speed bag, breathing hard with sweat glistening on his bare chest. Any fan girl would be fainting with ecstasy at this sight. He reached for the red SPD shirt lying on the ground, it still felt unfamiliar to the former blue ranger. He put it on, wrapped a small towel around his neck, and sprinted to the command center.
"I repeat all rangers to the command center!"
In her room, Sydney bounced to the music and sang into her hairbrush as she listened to the latest Kira song. Her blonde curls flew all over as she bopped her head from side to side.
"I would save the world for you!
I would give me all for you!"
The techno version of Hero was definitely her favorite, so much that Syd always played it at full volume.
"Huh?" She stopped her dancing and listened closer to the song. "Those alarms aren't part of the song."
The pink ranger turned down the volume to her media player.
"I repeat all rangers to the command center!"
"Oh, shit!" Syd pulled on a pair of jeans to complement the pink tank she had on as she and ran to the command center.
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"Bridge?"
Bridge Carson looked up from his server. He had been trying to network the waffle iron to the main server so that he could remotely control the waffle iron from his bedroom. Waffle while you wait or W3, he would call it. There were still many bugs to troubleshoot; the batter pouring mechanism was causing him trouble.
"Bridge!" Cruger's voice came out of the intercom.
"Um, yes Commander?"
"Can you please come down to the command center?" asked the voice with a tone of impatience.
"Sure, what's up?" Bridge continued to work on his waffle iron.
"THERE IS AN EMERGENCY! GET YOURSELF TO THE COMMAND CENTER NOW!"
The loud shout caused Bridge to bump into his work and spill waffle batter down the front of his blue SPD shirt. He tried to wipe it off as he grabbed his uniform jacket and dashed to the command center.
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"Rangers," Doggie Cruger paced back and forth before the view screen, "There has been a robbery at Newtech First National. The perpetrator has stolen high security access codes that can be used at other First Nationals that hold highly sensitive materials. The perp has been described as non-terran, blue and green in color, and with multiple eyes. I want you to go to the bank and investigate."
Cruger turned away from the view screen and faced the rangers. He did not look happy.
"What is this? Is this what you call being prepared for battle? Two of you are out of uniform and the only one that is…Cadet Carson!"
"Sir, yes sir!" Bridge saluted and stepped forward.
"What is that on your shirt?" the big blue dog pointed at the stain.
"Waffle batter, sir!"
"Why is there waffle batter on your shirt?"
The other two rangers tried to warn the commander, but he had already gone and asked Bridge a question.
Bridge stood at ease, "Well, I'm having trouble getting the pouring tube to put out the right amount of batter. Too little and you get an incomplete waffle and too much will cause the batter to spill all over the motherboard and short it out…"
"Cadet Carson!" Cruger interrupted.
"Yes, Commander!"
"Stop talking!" Bridge saluted and fell back into line. Cruger paced and looked at the rangers again. "And where is Cadet Delgado?"
His gaze fell on the red ranger.
"Sir, I have no idea," Sky answered.
"As leader of B-squad you should now where your teammates are at all times." Cruger went up to Sydney. "Do you know where your roommate is?"
"No, sir," she squeaked. During the whole Z interrogation, Bridge kept quiet but he couldn't keep it in anymore.
"Sir, I know where she is!"
"Did I give you permission to speak?"
"No, sir." Bridge waited a few moments before he stuck his hand in the air like a teacher's pet.
Cruger sighed, "Go ahead and speak Carson."
"Z went to the cemetery by the park. It's the anniversary of her parents' death."
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"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…"
Z rolled the rosary beads through her fingers as she knelt over her parents' grave, the cool shadow of the willow tree hiding her from the sun. After she finished she laid two red roses at the gravestone. It had been seven years since the death of her parents.
"Hi Mama. Hi Papa. It's Lizzie again. It's been one month since we defeated Gruumm and I think I've found my place in this world. Jack has returned to helping the poor and part of me wants to be right there with him doing the good work. But, I think being a ranger and being a part of SPD means that I can do more good. I can save the world.
"And my squad is really starting to feel like a family to me. But I'll only have one mother and father and that's you guys. I love you."
Beep… Beep… Beep. Her morpher caught her attention.
"Z come in," Kat's voice came in over the speaker.
Z stood up from the grave, "This is Z."
"Z, there's been a bank robbery. Look out for a blue green alien with eyes all over his head. He was last seen traveling through the park."
"Ok, Kat. I'm close by. I'm gonna check it out."
"Be careful Z."
The yellow ranger dusted off her black pants and readjusted her yellow button down shirt. She scanned the horizon for any signs of trouble and heard faint screams from the west.
She sighed, "Bye Mama, bye Papa. You're little girl has to go kick some ass."
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Families scattered in all directions as random energy beams hit the trees. The bank robber laughed as he tormented more innocent bystanders trapped in a gazebo.
"Stop right there! SPD!" Z ran to the scene as fast as she could.
"No one is going to take Zantrex down!" the blue and green alien turned his energy cannon around and shot out red beams just narrowly missing the yellow ranger.
"Maybe no one," Z's eyes flashed red, "But how about two?"
Zantrex's back eyes saw another Z appear out of thin air. He leapt forward just as she kicked the air where his head would have been.
"Yaaah!" The original Z threw a punch at it only to find her arm blocked by his free hand.
The other Z reached around to grab the energy cannon and had it in her grasp but was easily shaken off by the ultra strong monster. Two Z's were not enough.
Z's eyes blinked red again and now three Z's were surrounding it.
Zantrex grabbed the arm of one of the Z's and flung her around like a rag doll. Her flailing arms and legs knocked the other Z's to the ground.
"AAAAHHHH!" she screamed as it let go of her body and sent her flying. She hit the trunk of a tree dead on and disappeared.
The two Z's got up on their feet shaky and feeling the loss and pain of the third Z. In unison both straightened up and took a fighting stance then charged at the criminal.
One Z kicked low as the other tried another punch to the aliens head.
Both were blocked by the monster's huge limbs. He grabbed the arm of the Z who attempted to punch his head and twisted it behind her back. Both Z's winced in pain.
He easily lifted her up over his head, her body struggling to break free.
"He, he, he," he laughed as she screamed in terror. He waited till he felt that she had had enough and brought her down swiftly over his knee. She disappeared from the world.
Zantrex continued to laugh as he observed the only Z left. She kneeled on the ground overcome by the loss of yet another Z.
He swung around his energy cannon and pointed it at her head. "Too easy."
Zantrex pulled the trigger just as the other rangers arrived on the scene.
"NOOOO! Z!" Bridge yelled as he desperately tried to reach her, but he was too late. All the other rangers saw was a flash of bright red then a dust cloud bloomed over the two figures. The rangers ran to Z's aid only to find no alien and two Z's unconscious on the ground.
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The rangers rushed both Z's back to headquarters and watched as the medtechs bring them to the infirmary. They tried to catch any bit of news as then stood in the waiting room. The doors would swing open and a cacophony of yelling medtechs, machines beeping, and concerned doctors would come out causing more worry in the already tense rangers.
They saw a brown blur rush past them and saw Dr. Kathryn Manx striding through the double doors of the infirmary. They could here her yell, "I want biorhythms on both bodies and I want them now!"
The catgirl came back out again after a few minutes, the look on her face indicated that things were not going well.
"Kat, what's going on? Is Z alright?" Bridge asked as he and the other rangers gathered around the doctor.
"For now she's, um they are stable."
Syd noticed her slip of tongue, "Why are there two of them? There was only one Z when she got blasted."
"Could one of them be the alien? Maybe a shape shifter?" Sky asked.
"No, the biorhythms are exactly the same," Kat looked at the clipboard with the medical information. One of the medtechs came out of the infirmary.
"It's okay to come in now."
Kat continued as they walked in, only the steady beep of stable conditions could be heard. "My theory is that Z subconsciously produced a replicate just as she was hit by the blast. With two replicates, the large amount of absorbed energy can be spread between the two bodies increasing the chance of survival. But one of the Z's should have disappeared when she became unconscious."
"That's right!" Sky looked pensive, "I've never seen one of her replicates last this long."
"But which one is the real Z?" Bridge asked as he cast a glance at the two Z's each on a bed.
Kat shook her head, "I don't know their biorhythms are exactly the same. All that we can hope for now is that when they wake up, Z can pull herself back together again."
"I can't," two voices said in unison. The rangers turned around to see both Z's sitting up. They faced each other, mirror images.
"I tried," one Z started.
"I can't get back together," the other Z finished softly.