Kat set a priority on tracking down and capturing the Reaper. It was clearly too dangerous an alien to be allowed to continue roaming free unchecked. The only problem was, it didn't surface in the city. Its one goal seemed to be annihilating the Rangers. For the time being, it had gone to ground.
"We can't keep waiting for it to show up again, we need to meet this thing on our terms for once," Sky said, "But I don't see how we can make it come to us."
"I don't think we can," Jack, though not in the field, chose to attend and put in his two cents at the meeting, "It's too smart to break cover for a trap."
"So we can't defeat it when it attacks, and we can't get it to come to us, what's left?" Syd asked.
"We go to it," Z answered.
"How? We don't have a way to track it. Bridge tried to pick up traces of its aura where we fought it last, but the trail faded out," Callum now spoke in place of Bridge, who for whatever reason had not appeared to help think of ideas.
Jack had advised Sky to leave him be. Letting Bridge think in his own way and his own time had often proved invaluable in the past, maybe it would now too. It couldn't hurt anyway.
"And we don't know anything about its habits," Z put in, inwardly upset to find herself agreeing with Callum, "I talked to Piggy, he doesn't know anything about the Reaper except that it's bad news."
"We knew that already," Sky said, "He didn't have anything else?"
"Piggy just said that the Reaper is very, very bad news. Grumm hardly ever employs it. Piggy says that it sometimes destroys entire worlds in pursuit of its target. If we don't stop it, Grumm's Reaper will keep upping the ante until we can't afford it. It's that dangerous."
"Then we'll just have to be more dangerous," Bridge said, walking into the room, "Or equally dangerous. Or do more dangerous things? Well, danger's sure to be involved anyway."
"Aside from that blinding flash of the obvious, do you have anything else you'd like to share with us?" Sky demanded, somewhat impatiently.
Z had just confirmed what they had all known subconsciously all along. The very Earth was at stake. That was technically always true, but not in this way. Grumm just wanted to conquer the planet and plunder its resources. The Reaper, in pursuit of the Rangers, was willing to utterly destroy it, and anyone who got in the Reaper's way.
"Yes, Sky, there is. Thanks for asking."
"And?" Jack pressed when Bridge hesitated.
Bridge shifted uneasily and his eyes flickered in Callum's direction. Callum stiffened where he stood.
"No. Carson, no," Callum growled, repeating this when Bridge took a steadying breath, "No."
"You've all seen Callum's power work. He was able to transfer energy from himself to Sky so that Sky could use his shield. In the same way, he overloaded the Reaper, causing it to virtually short out."
"Which would be very helpful, except that we don't know where the Reaper is," Sky hissed.
"I know that," Bridge said mildly, unruffled by or unaware of the tension in the room. It was hard to tell with Bridge, "But I know how to find it."
"How?" Sky asked, at the same time as Callum said, "No," for the sixth or seventh time.
"Cale, you know as well as I do what the stakes are," Bridge said, turning to Callum.
To the other Rangers, it suddenly seemed like they no longer existed in reality, but were merely spectators, observing, but unnoticed by those participating in it.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten what happened back then," Callum shot back, seeming more shaken than angry.
"You know I haven't. But that doesn't matter. Not here, and certainly not now."
"What makes you think this time will be different?"
"Because, this time, we both know what we're doing. And why we have to do it."
"Uh, guys? Could I just ask a question here?" Jack interjected.
Callum and Bridge both blinked and turned to look at him, as though noticing his presence for the first time.
"Hi. So, what are you two talking about? And which one of you wants to tell me?"
Callum and Bridge exchanged glances. Bridge opened his mouth to speak, but Callum put a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward. Callum took a deep breath, and began
"We were first year cadets. I guess you all know what that means."
"Enlighten me," Jack growled, crossing his arms.
"Right. Forgot. Sorry," Callum licked his lips nervously, it was the first time he'd ever looked truly uneasy, "When I was a first year cadet, I thought the second year cadets were so... so cool. I would have done... anything, to impress them. As for Carson... he just wanted to fit in. To show that he belonged in SPD as much as anyone else... and so, we hatched a plan. It was the biggest mistake of my life. See, I was the one who thought of it, and convinced Carson... Bridge... to go along with it."
"I made my own choice," Bridge corrected him, "I take responsibility for my actions."
"You weren't responsible. Not that day..."
"Whirlpool, want to cat. Eating burger," Bridge was muttering quietly to himself, his stare vacant as he gazed across the room.
"Will you shut up? Hey, are you even listening to me?" Callum snapped his fingers in Bridge's face.
"Artichoke!" Bridge exclaimed, then blinked and looked over at Callum, "Oh hi."
"You done?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. I'm done. Like a potato, or an artichoke... do you cook artichokes? I don't know. Artichokes are a vegetable, but you don't put them in soup, so does that mean you eat them raw? You put carrots in soup, but you can eat them raw-"
"BRIDGE!" Callum shouted, shaking Bridge's shoulders, "Focus!"
"What were we talking about? Ooh, is that C-Squad?" he started toward the distant cadets, but Callum stayed him by putting a hand on his chest.
"Hold it, flea-brain," Callum said, "Remember the plan?"
"Plan? Ooh, I love plans. They're like planes, only easier to say."
"What?" Callum shook his head, "Agh, never mind. Now, pay attention: do you remember hacking into the SPD criminal records computer?"
"Hmm? Oh sure. That was fun. Are we gonna do that again?"
"No! Gah, it's like talking to a wall."
"No it's not. I've talked to walls. Walls never talk back. But they do speak. With shiny colors," he waved a hand in front of Callum, "You look angry. Why are you angry? Can I help? Would you like some buttery toast? Would that make you less angry?"
"Forget food! Forget the walls! Forget everything and just listen to me for a minute. The reason we broke into the computer is because we needed a target. For our plan to work, you need to do your job. Do you remember what your job is?"
"Um... no," Bridge shook his head.
"Agh! What's the matter with-... no, scratch that. Look. Look at this file. See this alien?"
"Yes, I do."
"This alien is a bad guy. We need to find that guy. Can you wrap your thick head around that?"
"I dunno, my head isn't that flexible."
"Were you raised under a rock?"
"No, but I was kept in a padded cell for most of my childhood. It was for my own safety."
"Riiight... whatever. The point is, we need to find this guy."
"Okay. How?"
"How do you think?" Callum grabbed Bridge's wrist with one hand and held it up.
"Ohhh..." Bridge nodded, "Yy powers aren't that stable."
"I know that," Callum bapped the back of Bridge's head, "I'm going to help you, using my powers."
"Which will amplify mine approximately a thousand fold, making me able to read any aura in a hundred mile radius."
"Exactly. Now, why we picked this guy," Callum waved the file, "Is because we know he lives somewhere in this city. All we have to do is track him down. C-Squad will do the rest."
"I dunno, he seems dangerous. Isn't this a job for A-Squad?"
"Heck no. C-Squad needs a chance to shine, and so do we. We can help each other out, making all of us infinitely cooler," Callum explained.
"Okay,"
"Wait... that's it? 'Okay'? Don't you have five or six... thousand... words you want to add to that?" Callum asked in disbelief.
"No. I don't think so. Unless you'd rather I did."
"No, no! You're fine. Just... shut up. Let me do the talking."
"Which," Callum sighed, "is exactly what I did. C-Squad was only too eager to participate. After all, they were second-year cadets. More than anything, they wanted to prove themselves in the field, to prove that they were done training and ready for bigger things."
"Some things never change," Sky observed.
"As you might have guessed, our plan backfired."
"What happened?" Syd asked.
"I couldn't handle the supercharge," Bridge said, "I was overwhelmed. Instead of reading the aura, my system adapted to it."
"Meaning?" Jack pressed when Bridge didn't elaborate.
"I became the very monster we were seeking."
"Turns out, C-Squad wasn't equipped to handle the threat," Callum said, "Bridge took every one of us down in seconds. Including me. I woke up two hours later with a concussion."
"Whoa," Jack breathed.
"C-Squad had no idea what had happened," Callum went on, "I didn't explain the mechanics to them. They just thought Bridge had gone berserk. I... let them think that. And told my superior that it had been Bridge's idea, that he'd talked me into it."
"And they believed you?" Sky asked.
"Yeah. I mean, who were they going to believe? A top grades cadet or what they viewed as a mentally impaired nut-job who was only in training because he couldn't be confined to a padded cell or turned loose on the world?"
"I didn't remember any of it," Bridge put in, "Not until months later. And nobody mentioned the incident... for obvious reasons. Two of the C-Squad cadets never got to finish their training. Before long, I was transferred out, for my own safety."
"It wasn't your fault. None of it," Callum told him.
"Doesn't matter now. What matters is, we can do the same thing we did back then and find the Reaper."
"And have you get mentally crushed by the Reaper's personality? No. Bridge, I am not willing to put you in that position. Not again. Never again. I've already done you enough harm."
"This isn't about me, Cale," Bridge said, gazing intently at Callum, "Or you. This is about defending the Earth. Something we both swore to do. I can do this. Please, let me do this."
"Sky?" Callum turned to Sky for support, but the Blue Ranger shrugged.
"Bridge thinks he can handle it, and it's not like we have a lot of options. But it's your power he needs, not mine. The choice is up to you."
Callum bit his lower lip, and looked at Bridge. Finally, he nodded.
"Alright. Yes. Let's do it."
The Rangers were gearing up and preparing to implement the plan which had been laid out before them. They would return to the demolished building and Bridge, with assistance from Callum, would try to pick up the Reaper's trail, and track it. It had been made perfectly clear that Bridge would be exhausted and unable to defend himself afterwards, forget actually fighting. Callum was an unknown, he'd never tested the limits of his powers. Since that incident years ago with Bridge, he had actually refrained from exercising his powers at all, having become uncomfortably aware of how dangerous they really were.
If possible, he would use his powers to short-circuit the Reaper, giving the Rangers an advantage. But they might well be going in without that benefit. But they still had water as a weapon, or at least a defense. It might not work on the Reaper itself, but it did work on the Reaper's creations. Either way, water was a must and, where they were going, there probably wasn't any.
Bridge pulled Sky quietly aside.
"Look, Sky, if things go south, or sideways, or whatever the term is..."
"What?" Sky asked when his friend trailed off.
"I may be taking on too much here. There's a chance that the energy of the Reaper will override my base personality, replacing it with the Reaper's. If that happens, I'll be every bit as dangerous as it is. More, because you won't see it coming."
"What are you saying?"
"You may have to... stop me. No. You... will... have to stop me. I don't want to wake up and find out you all died because I took you to the Reaper, and then became that thing. Do you understand?"
"What do you expect me to do?"
"Whatever you have to."
"What? Kill you? I can't do that. Don't ask me to do that."
"You may not have time to restrain me, Sky. Don't turn away from me, listen!. Sky, you are the team's leader. If anything happens to them, you are responsible for that. If it comes down to me or them, you have to put them -the last hope Earth has of defending itself against Emperor Grumm- before me. You know that. You are trained to know that. You cannot hesitate."
"No. We'll have to find some other way. I can't ask you to do this," Sky shook his head.
"The Reaper will destroy the Earth if we don't stop it," Bridge said evenly, looking Sky square in the eye, "This is our only shot. We're Rangers, Sky. This is what we do. Risk our lives, sometimes give our lives, so that innocent people don't have to die. This is what both of us signed on for."
"Right. I know," Sky sighed after a moment, "I just... I don't like this."
"You think I do?" Bridge suddenly sounded half-playful, "I'm the one who's about to get up close and personal with the psyche of Grumm's Reaper. All you have to do is take it down after I find it for you."
"Sounds easy as one, two, three, when you put it that way."
"Exactly. Only it would just go up to two. I locate, you capture. So really, easy as one, two."
"Sure, Bridge. Sure."
