Author's Note: Today is my birthday! I'm finally 18, which means I'm legal (at least where I'm from!). Happy birthday to me and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 25- Savage Part 1

Pain, both emotional and physical. That was the first thing he experienced upon waking up. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light hovering over his face. He tried to speak but no sound would come out. A nasty groan emerged from his throat. That's when he felt the plastic tube inside his throat. He shifted his gaze to the right side and found a button that would send a silent alarm to any of the medical staff.

Lucky for him, he didn't have to reach for it; Z had already taken notice and alerted Kat. Doctor Felix and Kat came running through the doors seconds later. They checked his vital signs and proceeded to remove the breathing tube shoved down his throat.

"Sky, I need you to give me a loud cough so I can pull it out." Kat commanded gently. Sky did as ordered and delivered a cough powerful enough to lift the tube. She pulled it out slowly while Dr. Felix got a glass of water for him.

The Blue Ranger took a deep breath and spoke in a coarse voice, "Where's Syd?"

A loud clang resounded in the background. Apparently, Doctor Felix had accidentally dropped his medical instruments when he heard the question. Kat sat on chair beside him and adjusted his bed to a sitting position. She tried to make up her mind on whether to tell him at that moment or avoid the question and let him find out for himself. She sighed and looked him in the eye, "You've been through a lot, Cadet Tate. Its probably best if you rest."

"Where is she, Kat?" The tone of his voice had risen drastically. She couldn't blame him for being angry. She was angry, too. When she didn't answer, he came to realize that the reason she was avoiding the question was because she was… gone. Again. His heart sank to a new low. His blue eyes filled with tears as she came to the realization that he would probable never see her again. The girl he had grown up with. The girl he had fallen in love with and his best friend. She was gone.

"She's not here anymore, is she?" The dead silence that had fallen over the room gave him his answer. Z came inside and relieved the doctor from her post. She said nothing. Nothing she said would bring her back. Instead, she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get her back."

Sky gave her a weak smile. "We don't even know where she is. How exactly do you plan on bringing her back?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Z confessed. "But I did make a promise to her and I intend on keeping it."

Just as she was about to leave, his voice stopped her. "What promise?"

"That we would get her back."

He wiped his tears and smiled weakly. She waved before the doors closed. Doctor Felix readjusted his bed and coerced Sky to fall asleep again. He protested at first, but the doctor soon convinced him he wouldn't be of much use out in the battlefield in his condition. Sky took his advice and drifted off to sleep with a million thoughts in his head.

The more rest I get, the faster I can get back to training. The more training I get, the more experience I'll get….

The Terror

She was back in his territory. He was in control now, there was no denying it. She hated him with every fiber of her body. The Troobian took one look at her and didn't even try to disguise his disgust. Morgana held her arms behind her back, sneering at her with delight. She was like a vampire that fed off people's humiliation and disgrace.

Syd didn't even struggle or fought back. Resistance was futile now. This was her destiny, what she had been born to do. Even though she didn't believe his words then, she was certainly doing so now. After dismissing Morgana, he grabbed her arm with his bony fingers and dragged her to the throne room. Sydney kept her composure but he could smell her fear. He walked to his throne and sat down.

"Kneel before me." Grumm demanded, raising his staff.

She responded with a scoff, "Or what? You'll kill me? You forget that without me you have nothing but a bunch of robotic junk that serve as soldiers, a spoiled 20-year-old woman who also happens to be a 10-year-old who draws aliens for a living and that alien with a tank for a head you call your provider."

"They both serve a purpose." He lowered his staff. "I may have raised and trained you to be my second in command, but that doesn't mean you can't be easily replaced by someone just as capable as you."

A figure stepped out of the darkness and let out a small chuckle. She couldn't quite make out who it was, but it certainly wasn't human. "She doesn't look like much."

Sydney hadn't even met the person or alien behind the voice but she knew one thing already. She hated her. It was a her, the tone of the voice was certainly feminine. When the figure stepped into the light, it didn't look as threatening as she originally thought. The alien's white body was covered by a rich purple robe with long, flowing sleeves. The features of her face, except for her bright green eyes, were hidden behind a matching turban. She circled the girl for a few seconds and chuckled again. The human girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "I don't get the joke."

"I'm just trying to figure out if you'll survive out there." The mysterious alien said.

"Out where exactly?"

"You'll see." And with that, she left. Sydney still didn't like her. She was much worse than Morgana, she decided. Grumm suddenly threw a medium-sized backpack at her feet. She began inspecting it out of curiosity. Inside there were 6 liters of bottled water, a first aid kit, a few cans of food and packets of snacks, a sleeping bag and a jacket.

"Let me guess, you're going to send me camping?" Grumm answered with a growl.

He sighed, "I need you to get something for me."

Sydney was starting to believe that Grumm was high on something. Why would she help him after what he did to Sky? Before she could say anything, the Troobian spoke up, "You're going on an expedition to my favorite planet in the entire universe."

She could feel her hands shaking. She didn't even need to tell her the name. Syd knew the name of the planet and the planet itself. She had been there when she was 16 and it hadn't been a nice experience. The original name was in some alien dialect she didn't recognize, so she had simply deemed it planet Savage. As far as she could remember, Savage was no man's land. The creatures lurking around its lush forest were vicious and had no mercy for intruders such as herself. She had learnt that the hard way.

She was only 16, still young and naïve about other alien cultures, when Grumm sent her to explore Savage. After a grueling battle she endured against a monstrous alien, she discovered a cut on her arm. She bandaged it up and cleaned it. For the next few days, it began itching. Then, she began feeling nauseous, getting severe headaches and finally a fever. Broodwing had found her lying underneath a tree, her skin pale as a sheet, barely breathing. When she woke up, she discovered that the alien that had cut her had poisonous claws. She was not about to go into the place that had almost killed her.

A gasp escaped her lips when Grumm put his bony hand around his neck. A foul stench invaded her nose. "You're going to planet Savage and you will bring me what I'm looking for." She tried breathing through her nose, but that just meant inhaling the odor. She groaned as he squeezed harder. "Fine, I'll do it!"

He let go of her neck. She coughed loudly and took a deep breath. "There's an artifact I need you to get for me. A crystal, to be more precise."

She took a mental note and nodded. "The crystal is located inside a cave. Broodwing will give you the coordinates and a data pad with a map of Savage. You're dismissed."

She left the room in a hurry, bagpack in hand. She made her way to the only place she knew she would be alone, the loading docks. Upon arriving, she began crying loudly. The only thing she could remember before getting aboard on The Terror was Sky and her farewells. She was interrupted by footsteps coming from behind. She looked back and found Morgana smirking at her. "Leave me alone."

"Is that really the way you're going to talk to your expedition partner?" By no extent was Morgana her partner. She groaned in frustration. Where was a gun when she needed it?

She sighed and wiped her tears, "Excuse me, I'm going to sleep. I'm going to need all the energy I can get to put up with you on our little trip."

She brushed past her, hitting her shoulder. "Who peed in your Cheerios?"

The blonde groaned and walked up to her again. "You, Grumm and everyone else on this stupid ship!"

The brunette just frowned and crossed her arms when the other girl left the room. It's going to be a very long trip.

SPD Academy

The physical pain had begun to die down as soon as Kat began giving him painkillers. But no pill was strong enough to deal with the emotional pain. He was empty, numb and hollow. A part of him had gone missing. To get her back, he and the team would have to go through great lengths to bring Sydney back alive and well. Jack had been 'keeping an eye' on him for the last four hours. The Red Ranger was fast asleep on a chair.

As miserable as he felt, he still managed a small smile. He didn't blame him for falling asleep, if Sky weren't so anal, we would have probable done the same thing, too. Jack rose from his seat when his alarm beeped.

"Get better soon, man. We are going to need you out there." Jack handed him a glass of water.

Z awoke to the sound of her alarm and got ready. It was weird, waking up by herself in the morning. She usually went over to the blond girl's bed and poked her to wake her up for training every morning. The room wasn't the same anymore. She went over to Syd's bed and found a few samples of some type of green good, next to them was a note with Sydney's handwriting on it 'Get to Kat, ASAP! Tell her to investigate. Grumm might be using this for something.' After gathering the samples, she entered the lab and left them in Doctor Manx's desk, along with the note.

She adjusted her uniform before entering the Medical Wing. Sky lying in a bed was a sight she would never get used to seeing. She recalled wondering if Sky was a robot. She never saw him do anything that wasn't reading the SPD Rulebook or patronizing some poor cadet who had messed up in some way or another. He only acted like himself around Syd. With her gone, he'd go back to being the same old jackass she first met upon entering the Academy.

She sat down on a chair next to Sky's bed and began reading one of the magazines the Pink Ranger had left behind. Fashion magazines were not her cup of tea, but watching him have breakfast and get shots wasn't any more attractive. She began flipping through to see if anything got her caught her eye. She doubted it would, though. "I miss her."

Z put down her magazine and looked him in the eye. "We all miss her."

A deadly silence fell over the room for what remained of Z's three hour shift. She went TO the lab after Bridge arrived. The Green Ranger seemed more enthusiastic and he had more probabilities of cheering him than she and Jack. Kat was looking at something in the microscope when she arrived. "Did you check out the samples I brought in?"

Kat gave her a nod and handed her the printed results. Z read them over twice to make sure that her eyes weren't misguiding her. "Human DNA? So you're telling me that green goo Syd collected is a person?"

"In its most natural and richest form."

Z looked confused, "I'm not sure I follow."

"I'm going to skip Biology 101 and get straight to the point." She was still confused but nodded as if she understood what Kat was saying. "This isn't just Human DNA, its energy. I'm guessing that it's some type of fuel but I'm not sure yet."

Z handed her the results. "I need to go to the place where Sydney took the samples from." Kat emitted a low whistle. RIC barged in a few seconds later. After having a leash attached to its neck and handing it to Cadet Delgado, she placed one of the samples on his nose and all of a sudden, the dog took off. Z groaned and ran with it. She stopped the dog by whistling. "Ok, this is what we're going to do. I will ride in the car and you will lead me to the location of the goo."

RIC wagged its tail and placed himself in front of the Jeep.

The Terror

Sydney woke up after getting a mere two hours of sleep. With what she had just been through, she considered herself lucky of getting any rest. She had spent almost half the night sobbing quietly so no one would notice. She's decided that no one was going to see her cry again. She had to be strong. Not only for herself, but for everyone that cared about her, especially for Sky and Z. Se had to keep her promise.

She stretched and washed her face before changing into appropriate attire for Savage. After rummaging through her closet for 15 minutes, she plopped down on the bed and sighed, "If I die, at least I'll do so in a decent get-up."

She had more things to worry about than just about her outfit, but she was still a girl. She finally opted for skinny jeans comfortable enough to wear for a whole week, a black and white striped t-shirt and black leather boots. On her way out, she grabbed her leather jacket, aviator shades and backpack. Her 'partner' was in a similar get-up.

"Good morning." Morgana announced cheerfully upon setting eyes on her. Maybe too cheerfully for Syd's taste. She replied with a groan and met up with her at the loading docks a few minutes later.

"I brought weapons, extra food and some of Broodwing's technology." She held up 6 silver balls that released Krybots. "Are you scared?"

"I'm terrified. But any place is better than being stuck here." She confessed as she packed the weapons in her backpack. Moments later, the ship landed on Savage. Sydney stepped forward and took a deep breath when the bridge lowered and hit ground. She took the first step, Morgana following her behind.

After a few seconds, the bridge closed again. The Terror took no time in leaving. She looked around the clearing they were in and told herself that it wouldn't be as terrible as the last time she had been in there. Creatures all around the galaxy feared Grumm. Probably they knew her reputation well enough not to mess with her or Morgana. Being associated with Grumm does have its benefits sometimes.

After just a few steps into the wild jungle, a huge army of aliens unknown to her stepped out of hiding. They pointed their weapons at them. She made a mental note to never make assumptions again.

Just a few minutes in the planet and they were already being attacked. Savage indeed.