Chapter 7 Abuse of Power
She layed in her bed, eyes closed. Her blonde hair sprawled out against her pillow. Her chest went up and down as she let out soft breaths. She clutched a grey, stuffed elephant in her hands. She had been trying to sleep for a few hours now, she thought the bath and drinking a glass of warm milk before bed would help her. She had been tossing and turning for a few hours now. Thoughts flooded her mind like a tsunami, so many unanswered questions, too many whys and many other facts she still needed to get straight. She opened her eyes and sat up in her bed, still holding the stuffed animal in her hands. She yawned and layed back down, closing her eyes. She was finally beginning to calm down when the lights came on. An alarm woke her up, she sat up, it was probably a false alarm. She groaned and sighed, she stood up from her bed. She opened her closet door and pulled out her fluffy robe, she put it on and tied it. She put slippers on and walked to the center of the ship, still holding the stuffed animal in her arms.
She walked to the throne room again and saw Grumm with Mora and Broodwing. If her eyes were not open, she would swear she was sleep walking. Her eyes wanted to close so badly. She came into the room, Mora giggled as she saw Rogue.
"What's wrong now? I was trying to sleep, you know?" Rogue asked annoyed, her mood would not get any better today. "What it is so important that you could not wait to tell us? Huh?"
"You look nice, Sydney." Mora said sarcastically, she referred to Syd's chemical peel in her, to the rollers that held her hair up and her pijamas. Syd just smiled and gave her a glare.
"Shut up Mora, at least I dont sleep with a doll that looks exactly like the baby of a blowup doll." She scoffed and sat next to the 10 year old. Mora stuck out her tongue.
"So mature, sleeping with an elephant." Rogue opened her mouth to protest. She balled her hands into tiny fists. She took out a piece of metal and put it in her hand, convering it. Her hand transformed into the metal and she held it up to Mora's face.
"Dont make me use this on you. But your face could do with a few bruises, you are far too pale for my taste. Maybe after I hit you, I could teach how to use makeup." Rogue smiled and kept the fist in Mora's face. Grumm turned around and glared at them. Broodwing stood besides him.
"Stop it you two, we have no time for your childish arguments." Rogue rolled her eyes and made her hand transform to normal again. Mora smiled and the older girl just made a mock smile. Rogue muttered a few words under her breath and then looked at Grumm. Grumm glared at Rogue, his eyes were a bright red, red with anger.
"Looks like somebody's leather shorts are too tight." She whispered to Mora, Mora nodded and gave a small giggle. Grumm continued to glare at them. Broodwing examined both girls. Looking at them closely.
"They are both so... so cute and adorable. I could have them relocated to an abandoned meteor if you like." Broodwing verbalized his disgust to humans in that commentary. Grumm shook his head while he paced around the room.
"As tempting as that sounds, I have need of both of their services, just as I have need of yours." Broodwing emited a small groan and nodded, Grumm stood up and walked to Mora's room. Both girls followed behind him and Broodwing. Mora sat in her tea table next to Rogue. The older female crossed her arms.
"Broodwing you are not nice to me or Rogue." Mora declared to the alien, Rogue mock pouted and glanced at the 10 year old.
"Silence child! Im here on business, I'm here to make business with Grumm." He snarled at her, Mora rolled her eyes and took out her drawing notebook. Grumm glared at Broodwing.
"Emperor Grumm for you three, you are not to call me Grumm." Rogue mock saluted and muttered a 'aye, aye, Captain' under her breath. "I need your help Broodwing."
"Just like you need another horn on your head." Mora answered back, Rogue could not help but smile and laugh at her statement, she high-fived Mora. Grumm approached Mora and groaned.
"Go to your room, Mora. You too, Rogue." Mora stayed in her place as Grumm gave his orders.
"But this is my room!" She exclaimed. Rogue stood up and tugged on Mora's hand. Mora glanced back at her.
"Then go to my room!"
"But you told me never to..."
"GO! Both of you!" Grumm glared at both of his human minions. Rogue and Mora exited the little girl's room in a hurry. Rogue took Mora to her room and layed down with her in her bed.
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Jack was sitting down in a chair, reading a comic book and sipping a piña colada. He adjusted his sunglasses and looked over to the training field. His eyes scanned the field as he looked for his team, He clapped his hands as his team approached him. Z glared at him and shook her hand, some mud fell to the ground.
"What's the problem Z?" He paused for a minute to laugh. "A little mud has never hurt anyone."
"Actually, that's not true." Bridge corrected as he stood besides Z. "My uncle Bernie got a serious infection by sticking mud clumps up his nose." Z turned to look at Bridge.
"He stuck up mud up his... uh, nevermind." Z was not even going to try doing the math for that one, it was far too disgusting for her. The three cadets stared at Jack, Jack was amused by the angry looks in their faces. He closed his comic book and stood up.
"I know you are angry. Why don't you go and take a bath? I will see all of you in the simulation room in five minutes, off you go." Z wanted to put her hands around his neck desperately, Bridge would probably wanted to annoy him with his unique speeches and Sky wanted to kill the guy, slowly and painfully. Bridge and Z ran towards the showers, Sky walked slowly.
"He's got no business being Red Ranger..." Sky mumbled loud enough for Jack to hear. Jack approached him.
"I heard that." He looked at Sky directly and glared at him. "You think you could do a better job?"
Sky chuckled a bit. "Yeah. But Cruger picked you. You may be wearing red, but you are not a leader." He replied dryly, he cleaned his hand on Jack's shirt, staining it with mud. "Now, oh mighty leader, I have to go and shower." He ran to the showers.
A few hours later, the B-Squad cadets were sitting around a round computer, checking ofr any disturbances when Jack came in through one of the automatic doors. The three Rangers rolled their eyes. A female cadet approached Jackl and handed him his uniform jacket. He held up his shirt and inspected it.
"Uh, Cadet? Next time, could you wash it in cold water, please? It keeps the reds nice and bright." He told the cadet, the girl nodded and exited the command center. Jack approached the Rangers and smiled. Cruger approached him.
"Could you please hand in your morpher, Cadet Landors?" The Commander held out his hand, Jack hesistated but he finally gave it up, placing it on Cruger's palm. He looked at Cruger. "Don't look at me, your team came up with the decision." Jack walked to them.
"I like you as a friend and all... but as a leader..." Bridge paused for a few seconds, trying to come up with something that would not sound as harsh. "Hey, did I ever tell you that I really like your dreads?" He changed the theme of the subject quickly, trying to lighten up the mood in the room. Kat approached the computers and showed them a holograph of Grumm.
"Rangers meet Emperor Grumm- The leader of the Troobian Empire." The Commander sais as he pointed to the picture. Sky looked the holographic image, he remembered him. He was the one that took Sydney. He would ahve to talk to the Commander about that later on. The image changed on the screen, a picture of Rogue was shown to them.
"Rangers this is Rogue. We know nothing about her, apart from the fact that she is working for Grumm and that she is extremely powerful and skilled in battle." The alarms went off in the Command Center. Jack covered his ears.
"Rangers, its time for your Delta Runners. We have a big threat and I mean it literally." Dr. Manx opened up the passage to the Zord bay. "Dont worry Sky, I will control the Pink Delta Runner from here, I installed a wireless controller." Sky nodded, everyone was a bit confused by the last statement, but there was no time for explanations. The Rangers morphed and entered their respective cockpits of their individual Runners. They headed out to battle the giant alien attacking Newtech.
Rogue watched the battle from a high rooftop. She was alone, and she was glad she did not have any company, she needed to think about a lot of things. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the battle started the Rangers also had their army of giant technology. She had no idea about that until she saw the giant vehicles. She took out her communicator.
"You did not care to tell me that the Rangers had giant robot vehicles, Grumm?" She hissed onto the communicator, she heard Grumm grumble at her.
"That's because I had no idea they did. Now get back to your job." She stood there and observed the fight. She felt useless and did not know what to do but watch.
"And what exactly is my job? Watch our robot destroy the Rangers, I'm on a schedule here, Grumm. You give me something to do or I'm going back to my room to take a nap." She was irritated and angry, it had been a long, unpleasant day. She waited for Grumm to answer, his reply was another groan. She could just picture the bony dictator in her head, the image gave her a grin and a shiver at the same time. Oh, how she loved annoying him.
"I give the orders here, remember, now you just watch the battle and report what you see." She opened her mouth to protest, she hesistated for a moment and then closed her mouth again. She rolled her eyes.
"Aye aye, Captain. I will report everything from number of buildings destroyed to the number of pets that were killed." She replied sarcastically, before Grumm could reply, she closed her communicator and cut the communication lines. She groaned and watched the battle. From the looks of it, Broodwing's alien was winning. The Rangers were getting their butts kicked. Badly.
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Jack was in the Command Center, he and Boom were watching the battle. Kat controlled the Pink Delta Runner swiflty, but it was not enough, the Rangers needed help. Jack did not want to sit there and watch his team, or former team like this. He stood up and walked to the Commander.
"Commander, the team needs my help." He came out with it. It was good to finally get it off his chest. He stared at the Commander, Boom watched in surprise. "I would like my morpher back. They need my help." The Commander looked at him.
"Why should I give the morpher back, you proved to be a terrible leader. What good would it do if you went out there?" Jack hated to admit it, but the Commander was right. He tried to come up with something to say. Jack nodded in defeat.
"I just need to go back there, I made some mistakes, I know that. But please, let me go out there and help them, you won't regret this, Commander." The Commander turned to Kat, the feline doctor gave him a small nod and then he turned to Jack, he gave him his SPD morpher. Jack morphed and went to his Delta Runner. Cruger sighed and continued watching the battle.
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The tiny petite kept watching, in a few minutes the Rangers would be done for and they would destroy Newtech, she clapped her hands and kept observing. Something caught her attention a red vehicle joined the Rangers. Her eyes widened, she wanted to scream, but it was not the smartest thing to do when you are trying to go unnoticed. Then she saw as the Rangers's vehicles transformed into one. She knew they would not be able to beat that thing. In a few minutes, the robot they had was destroyed.
She covered her eyes because of the explosion that happened. She opened her communicatorto call Grumm again, she had no more business on Earth. Her breath came in short gasps, she was truly astonished by what she had just witnessed. She managed to relax a bit before talking to Grumm.
"Tell me you just that, the Rangers made our robot look like a giant poodle out there. Can I return now? I don't see what else I can do here. Unless you want the Rangers to take me in and imprison me. We both know how much you would miss my company and everyone knows how much you need me." Her voice was calm, yet agitated, she waited as she tapped her foot several times.
"You can return now." He ordered, she smiled and disappeared in flash.
She went to her room and took a long bath to calmher nerved, she still did not know what had her so agitated. She went to sleep, it was one of the nights when she got bits and pieces of memories, mostly bits. She saw herself as a little girl playing with a boy in a dewy grassy field, they were laughing and it seemed like they were enjoying themselves. Then it suddenly became black, she could remember pain and crying. She could only remember his name, his face, his scent.
"Sky!" She exclaimed quietly. She woke up as she remembered the brand. She was covered in sweat, her hair sticking to her face, her pijamas were sat up in bed, her knees to her chest, she buried her face in her hands and cried for a few minutes. She never cried, but it felt good sometimes, she had read somewhere that crying helped get things of your chest. Oh, if only the editors knew everything she had to get off her chest...
She wiped the tears away and stood up, she turned her back to the mirror and lifted her shirt, she traced the brand with her fingers. "Evil, am I truly evil, or is it just Grumm's brainwash?" She asked out loud to herself, she fixed her shirt and decided to sleep. Exhaustion finally claimed her body.
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Jack and the rest of the Rangers were celebrating their victory in the guest room. They were drinking soda and telling jokes. Everyone that is, except for Sky. Sky was drinking a soda and reading the SPD rule book.
"I admit you had a big ego out there, Jack, but you cam through to help us, I'm glad you did. We would not be here if you ahd not helped, thank you." Z hugged his friend, Bridge came over and threw an apple to Z. Z grinned and mouthed a thank you to the Green Ranger.
"Besides, the MegaZord wouldn't have had a head if it weren't for Jack." Z chuckled and laughed, Jack high-fived Bridge. "I could not imagine fighting with a head less MegaZord."