X and O
X and O! Press X and O! I screamed. "Slide between his legs. Dodge his move. Do something!" I buried my head in my hands and grunted loudly out of frustration.
"Z, whose side are you on?" Sky asked, too absorbed in the game to turn away from it. "At this point, I don't care. You both stink at this game."
Jack quickly turned around with a smirk on his face. "If we need advise on accessorizing our G.I. Joes for prom night with Barbie will ask you."
Sky and Jack started laughing. Bridge sitting near by was chuckling, his face hidden behind a comic book he was supposedly reading. I climbed over the chair, shoved Sky out of the way and grabbed his controller. Sky's man received a open kick in the stomach that sent his character to the ground. I rolled up onto my feet. Jack's character came at mine with a high kick. I ducked, rolled forward, and stood ready in a fighting stance. "Piece of advise, get use to tasting dirt." His man started running at me. I flipped backward (O and left arrow), crouched with the down arrow, and did a low combo kick that side swiped him off his feet. Next, I did a quick, swift forward kick (up arrow + X+ down arrow) nailing him in the leg. He tried to pick his man up, but I would knee him down to the arena floor.
"You are making this too easy," I laughed.
He finally rolled backwards out of my reach and got up. He used a cannon blast to knock me to the floor. I got up. He used that tired move on me again. I spun out of the way. "Try it once, shame on me; try it twice, shame on you."
He fired again. I blocked with an energy shield. He launched at me with a corkscrew kick. I slid under him (X and O) dodging the attack. I didn't waste any time with my next move. His energy level was low. I pressed down on the R button and the up arrow, then rapidly hit the triangle button that sent me twirling in the air.
I finished it off with a rapidly pressed X that kicked him like he had been struck by a lighting bolt. KO appeared on the screen. I looked at him with a satisfyingly sweet smile. Jack dropped his head in defeat. "Alright, alright. You're good."
"Not just good, but the greatest," I exclaimed.
"Yeah, for a girl," Sky added.
I punched him in the shoulder. Commander Cruger entered the lounge. We all stood at attention. A pinprick of pain ran up my leg as I stood quickly on my bad ankle. I ignored it.
"At ease, cadets."
I sat back down. He walked towards me and I stood again out of respect.
" I've decided to give this back to you," he said, holding out my fixed morpher. "Providing that you reframe from power ranger activity until the physician feels that you are capable of going out with the squad."
I nodded my head in agreement. "Yes, sir."
The feel of it in my hands, overwhelmed me. I would soon be fighting Gruumm forces as the yellow ranger again. I had healed enough to do the physical assimilations that required quick reflexes and physical endurance but only at a restricted level. My shooting had improved in target practice. I mostly spend my time there. When I wasn't there, I was helping Kat key data in S.P.D's mainframe. I tried to avoid my bedroom at all times. The next day I got up early. Syd was still sleeping cozy in her bed. It was a quarter till five. I moved across the floor on tip-toes getting dress in my sweat suit. The door gave a swish sound but Syd didn't stir in her bed.
Outside, the sky was still dark. The air was damp and cool. I did a couple of stretch exercises to warm up and set off on the track. It was a relaxing routine. It gave me time to think. I often thought of Omni-Solaur and the nurse's daughter. Sometimes I have had nightmares about that terrible scene; waking up in the middle of the night with sweaty chills. I have been waking up like that so frequently that I haven't been able to get enough sleep. I try to evade sleep when I can, but it only postpones the enviable nightmare. Then there are the nurse's last words "For I am already monster" that haunt me. Were those creatures conjured by her to kill me or were they just the tip of the iceberg? I shivered just thinking about it. I was through with thinking. I began to pick up my pace. My bad ankle protested with a minor sting. I launched into a fast run. The rapid change of my foot slamming onto the track sent small shocks of pain up my leg. Soon, I couldn't feel anything but the track. The point of tiredness was over. I didn't have to enforce my legs to give me another lap around the track. It wouldn't last long, everything would come back 2 times worst when I stopped, but for now liked the feeling of feeling nothing.
After my run, I toweled off and headed for the dining area. I wasn't hungry after my run; just thirsty. I got a glass of orange juice and sat down at the counter. A moment later, Jack walked in. He got himself a glass of orange juice and sat in the chair beside me. "Another early run?" He asks, conversationally.
I nodded. "Yep."
"Since when did you become a morning person?"
"What's with the interrogation, Jack?" I asked, defensively. "I have my reasons."
His face grew serious. "For real Z, what's up with you? Talk to me."
I got up out of my seat and placed the empty glass on the conveyor belt built-in the wall. I went to the lab. Kat was busy with a collection of gadgets. She barely noticed me as I took a seat at another desk in the room that I claimed as my workstation. A huge stack of folders laid on my table. Boom came in and waved. Kat looked over wondering who he was waving at and noticed me.
"I didn't hear you come in."
"I didn't want to interrupt your work."
RIC trailed in behind Boom with a blue ball in his mouth.
"Sorry boy, I've got work to do."
RIC barked. He crawled over to me and dropped the ball in my lap. "I'm busy too."
He whimpered. I threw the ball and he ran off to get it. I opened up the first folder on the stack before I felt the ball in my lap again.
"He makes an excellent point."
I look up at Kat, now standing in front of my desk.
"What do you mean?"
" You have been cooped up in the academy for weeks now. Don't you want to go out anymore?"
"I've been out," I explain.
"Really?" Kat asks in disbelief.
"Just let me finish this stack-"
She leans forward and takes the folders off my desk.
"I'll take care of these."
"Are you sure you don't need any assistance with anything?"
She gently leads me out of the lab with the folders tucked under her arm.
"Boom, what about you? I could help you test some of the equipment."
The doors closed behind me. I catch Commander Cruger walking out of the commander center, talking with another cadet and walked over.
"Commander!" I called.
"Miss Delgado."
" Commander, I was wondering if I could be of any assistance to you, today."
"Miss Delgado, B-squad is off for today-"
"I'm fully aware of that Sir, but I have fully committed my day to helping around the base."
"I see," he paused in thought. "- Miss Delgado, I appreciate your enthusiasm to assist around here, but I feel it necessary that you spend this time with your team members." RIC came up from behind and nuzzled me.
"I order you to enjoy your day, Miss Delgado." He continued to walk down the hall, but stopped half way and turned around. "If you should leave the base, take someone with you. It's a dangerous time for any ranger to go out alone."
I saluted and went down to the garage with RIC accompanying me. The group was waiting for me when I arrived. Jack was in the driver's seat, Sky seating shotgun next to him, with Bridge and Syd sitting in the back. "Did you think we were going to leave without you?" Syd asked. RIC jumped in and I got in after him. Bridge, as usual, dominated the conversation with his bizarre questions.
"How can we be sure if we are moving at all? Sure the wheels are moving and we all feel like were moving, but how can we be sure that the ground is not moving beneath us?" "Bridge, you could ask me that a thousand times or ask me one just like it and I could never understand what you're trying to say," I replied. "Then, how about this: Is the world around us just an illusion or are we the illusions in this world."
"Stop, Bridge!" Syd yelled. "You have maxed out your odd questions per day. "
A great deal of people were at the park. A birthday party was being held in the gazebo. A few were walking their dogs. Some were there to take a stroll.
Once I got out, I threw the ball as far as I could. RIC leaped out of the jeep to go after it. RIC caught it in midair and hurried back so I could throw it again. Some of the kids from the birthday party came over.
"Is that a dog?" One girl asked.
"Yeah," Jack answered.
"His names RIC," said Syd.
RIC barked in response to his name.
"Can we play with him," a little boy eagerly asked.
"Please?" The kids begged in unison.
Jack picked up the ball. "Fetch RIC!"
He threw it high in the air. I squinted my eyes against the sun to see where it would fall. RIC ran off in its direction, followed by the kids.
"They are so adorable at that age," said Syd, as they ran off. We spread out under the shade of trees and began to throw the Frisbee. I would glance over at RIC playing with the children. I could spot the birthday girl in her pink rhinestoned tiara. The kids' laughter echoed throughout the park. I caught the Frisbee and threw it to Jack. I looked back over at the children playing. The girl wearing the pink tiara was gone. I looked over at the gazebo to see if she was there. One of women that was watching the kids was scoping the park too. She noticed it too. The Frisbee whacked me in the head.
"Ouch!" I shouted, rubbing my head.
"Sorry!" Jack apologized.
"Are you okay?" Sky asked, trying to inspect the damage.
"Something's wrong."
"Is it bleeding?"
"No, something's happened over there," I said, pointing.
"Haley!" The woman screamed. The children were still playing with RIC as if no one had gone missing. I ran towards the gazebo, followed by the others. The kids suddenly stopped what they were doing as we approached.
"What happen?"
"She was playing with the children," she cried. "Right there," she pointed with a trembling finger.
The woman's eyes searched frantically around the park.
Another woman embraced her and encouraged her that her daughter would be found. To us, she gave a detailed description of Haley: blue eyes, brunette hair, 2'3', wearing dark denim overalls over a red shirt and a pink tiara. Hearing the women describe her daughter made the mother weep even more as the reality hit her that her daughter was missing. "Don't worry, we will find your daughter," promised Jack.
"Thank you…" She said softly.
Jack ordered us to divid into pairs and search the park. Bridge and Syd took one area of the park, Sky and me took another, while Jack searched alone. RIC was ordered to stay behind and be on guard. I could understand Haley's mother myself. I only turned a second and she disappeared.
"Haley!" I called. My heart was pounding so fast. More than anyone, I wanted to find her. Sky called Bridge on the communicator to see if he detected any trace of her. Bridge could not pick up her trail or any negative force that could have been behind her disappearance.
"Sky, what if we don't find her," I said, growing worried for the girl. Sky turned around to face me. He noted the serious look on my face. Sky wasn't the kind of person to sugar code things. There was nothing he could say. He let the question drop into silence and continued to call the girl's name.
Sky's communicator went off. Commander Cruger reported that a giant robot was attacking the city. Sky reported that we were searching for the little girl in the park. Jack's voice came in on the communicator. "Sam and I will take care of it. The others can continue the search." I absently felt for my morpher that was clipped to my pants. I had brought it along as a last minute resort.
"Jack, you can't operate the megazord without the others. Call Karen. The others will be there shortly."
Sky grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me around to face him. "Z, you can't search for her by yourself."
"Sky, its okay. I have RIC with me. If I get into any kind of trouble I'll call."
"Just promise me you won't try to handle any situation that may come up without us." "My word as a ranger," I promised.
He pulled out his morpher.
"S.P.D emergency!" He morphed into the blue ranger.
"But don't expect me to stand around and do anything when or if that situation occurs." He nodded and ran off. I checked back with the party guest. I recommended that the safest thing to do at this point is leave the park. Haley's mother became more upset.
"But you promised to find her."
"And I will, but we have to think of the other kids' safety. Call their parents and have them pick up their children," I directed to the woman, who seem to be second in command.
"Oh no! Something has happen to her. Something-" She passed out. The woman caught her and fanned her with a stack of napkins that were sitting on the table. I took out my communicator and called Kat.
"Kat, I need a search party at the park to find a missing girl."
I gave Kat her description and what she was wearing. Kat replied that she would send D squad right away. Kat said something else but I couldn't make out what it was because of the static noises.
"Kat!" The connection was breaking up. The clouds approaching began to darken as though night was approaching early. Everyone seemed to look up at the sky as the darkness spread slowly over the entire park. Then a loud crackling noise broke the silence and the kids screamed. The sound made me jumpy as well.
The wind picked up into a gust.
"Everyone move!" I yelled, trying to be heard over the wind.
"Come on, kids follow me," the woman ordered. We all started to run. I duplicated so I could help the woman support a unconscious mother and keep the children together. For myself, I had stay behind to find Haley. RIC caught on to my duplicates and followed me away from the fleeting party guest. "No, go back! Make sure they make it out of the storm." He turned his head from me to the fleeting party and back to me like he wasn't sure he should leave me unaccompanied.
"Go!" I ran, calling the girl's name even louder than before. Tree branches were violently snapped off by the wind. The trees, themselves, were bending in the winds path. Then the rain started in a heavy downpour. It was getting hard to see with the heavy rain blinding my vision. I pulled out my morpher.
"S.P.D, emergency." I transformed into the yellow ranger.
"Haley!"
Something dug into my boot. I looked down and saw something pink poke out of the grass. I picked it up. It was the pink tiara Haley was wearing at the party. Grass blades were entwined between the small cracks of the pink rhinestones, mud was caked on the entire left side, and the spikes of the tiara were hanging loosely from the headband. I tried to contact the others with my communicator. No one responded. Bridge would have came in handy right now. The park was but so big. We basically searched every area of the park.
Behind the sheets of rain falling, I caught hold of something moving.
"Haley?"
I walked forward. I could make out the deep blue of the object. It was running. I could now make out the bright red under the blue. Her face was pale in the rain. I darted towards her. A bright bolt of lightning struck a tree, bringing it down beside me. The thunder rumbled so viciously, it shook the ground. A series of vicious lightning was pursuing her, striking the ground only inches from her feet. The ground swelled as if a giant was burrowing from beneath it. A large bolt of lightning flared in front of her, making her fall to the ground. I ran harder as if a bolt of lighting transferred its electric energy to my very legs. The trees crashed to the ground. I plummet over her and tumbled an estimated second before the ground trembled from the crash. The girl was shivering against me as I cradled her in my arms. When she looked to see who saved her, her eyes were an eerie icy blue. I almost wanted to push away from her. I picked her up and ran. The lightning began to travel, ripping at the ground it stroked. Another one appeared. They started to intertwine, forming a cycle that was enclosing us in a trap. I held tight to her. I felt hot. It felt scolding hot. My muscles were throbbing so hard, my whole body ached. My heart was pulsing so fast in my chest, I was starting to fill faint. My vision was a blinding white. Only me and her in this empty space. I heard myself scream before everything went dark.
I abruptly awoke gashing for air. My heart was pounding hard in my chest. The rain was drowning me. I grabbed a huge chunkful of grass and pulled myself to the side and threw up.
My head knocked against something rough and rigid. Sirens. Where was I? I turned over. Moving around made me more nauseous. My visions was twisted and contoured. Something brown was near my head. Something grey above my head. The colors were fading. I could recognize the familiar shades of what I was drifting into. No! I just escaped that place! Where was I now?
"Z." Voices within the grey called.
"Z!" "Z.Z.Z…Z.Z..Z.Z… I pulled myself up on the brown object in front of me. Tree. "Tree. Tree…Tree..Tree. Tree." The object I was leaning on was a tree. My fingers painful curled around something on the ground. I picked it up. It was black and white with S.P.D on the front. "S.P.D. S..P.P..D." The block was making a high pitch noise that wouldn't stop. My ears became annoyed by the sound. I smashed it against the tree. The noise stopped.
"Z," The object called. What was this funny device? "Z, can you hear me?" "S.P…P..D.D," I responded sluggishly.
"Where are you?"
I looked around. Nothing was familiar. I looked up at the gray, where the rain was coming from.
"Sky.-Sk-y. Skk-y."
"Is Sky with you?" The voice sounded familiar. Maybe if I described what was around me, she could find me.
"Yes. I can see the sky.- I'm near a fallen tree." I looked around me. A girl was lying down beside me. I gasped loudly.
"Z, what is it!" The feminine voice asked, urgently.
I climbed off the support of the tree and painfully crawled over to her. My body burning with the slightest movement. I turned her onto her back. Her eyes were closed.
Something told me to check and see if she was breathing. I tilted my head and rested it on her chest. She was breathing which was a good sign, but she needed help immediately before her condition got worst. I stretched my arm out to retrieve the object.
"There's a gi-rl-girl, sh-she needs help."
"Z!" The voices again, they were drawing close. Z. That must be my name. I looked back towards the girl. "Or hers." Someone is trying to find her.
"Help." I tried to scream, but it came out a hoarsely cough. I tried again, finding it a strain on my throat.
"Help, " I screamed at the top of my voice. I slithered back over to the fallen tree, determined to get these persons' attention. " Help! This girl… this girl..girl…" Something was making its way towards me. What if they wanted to harm the girl. I looked around for something to fight it with. I grabbed at the blocked object. Blunt edges, but it was heavy in my hand. I held it up, ready to throw it, despite my arm was aching to be put down. "Don't come … close. Who are you? Friend or foe?" They probably wouldn't say. They'd come at me and kill both of us. I didn't wait for those odds. I threw it just as I was able to make out the blue uniform. I flinched back. The creature was all blue except for the black 2 down its chest and a black streak across his face where the eyes should be. I had nothing else to fend it off with. It had a weapon hooked to the belt it wore. If I even relaxed from my frighten stiffness, Its weapon would vanquish me in a second it would take me to breath. "Please, don't hurt her," I cried. It slowly climbed over the tree that rested between us. I quickly moved in front of the girl. "No, don't!" The creature vanished or rather his disguise.
Standing in front of me was a guy who looked to be around my own age. How old was I anyway? He was wearing a gray-black uniform with a patch of blue on the right shoulder. In small silver letters were the initials: S.P.D." The guy was more familiar than those initials. I looked up at the sky, rain pouring on my face.
"Sk-y. S-ky. Sky. Sky. Sky." His name was Sky too. He crouched down to look at me. His eyes. Even through the rain, his eyes held the same shade of blue.
"I can't re-remem-ber, rem-mem-member, remember." After that everything went black again.