The Weakest Color

Chapter 36: The Battle, Part 2

Bridge knew he was tempting fate, but he allowed himself to de-morph. He stared at Jack, challenging him to shoot. "Do it. It's what you want, isn't it?"

"Don't do it," Sky warned in a low, urgent voice. His blaster shifted away from Bridge and towards Jack.

Jack hesitated. The blaster wavered in his hand. "But he - he deserves it."

"Maybe, but this isn't how we handle things." Sky took a cautious step towards Jack. "You know this is wrong. Just put the blaster down."

He knew that Sky was right. But then he thought of Z. What Bridge had done to her was unforgivable. Jack's resolve returned and his finger tightened on the trigger.

Jack and Sky both fired at the same time. Bridge rolled to the side and covered his head as a blast barely missed him. The other shot struck Jack, and the weapon flew from his hand.

Bridge ripped off his glove and grabbed Jack by the ankle. Drawing power from within himself, he channeled electricity through his hand. Through the fleeting connection they shared, he felt Jack's heart flutter and skip a beat. The red ranger froze and crumpled, motionless, to the ground.

"You... Is he -?" Sky couldn't bring himself to say it. Because if Jack was dead, the war might be lost. Because if Jack was dead, it would be his fault.

Bridge got to his feet. He glanced over at the fallen ranger. "No. He's not dead."

Sky was silent for a moment, as he struggled to find the words. "Bridge - how could you? How could you do any of this?" He was aware once more of the battle, the rumble of explosions and the smell of fire. Lasers flashed high in the air above them. "We were friends!"

"Some things are more important than friendship," Bridge said. "Maybe you'll understand that one day."

As Sky looked at his former friend, a deep sense of anger and hurt rose up within him. Before today, he thought that he understood betrayal, but nothing could compare with this pain.

The cry was torn from his throat. "I don't want to understand!"

Boom slid across the floor as the megazord shifted beneath him. From his position, he could see the backs of Broodwing and his krybots. The bat was intent on operating the megazord, firing lasers within the city.

Boom crawled over to an access panel. He shifted to slide his fingers underneath the metal plate, and yanked it off to reveal a tangle of wires and cables. He unplugged several wires with a single swipe, and then removed one of the larger cables and reversed it. As he struggled to maneuver the panel back into position, a krybot turned and noticed him.

Boom instinctively held the panel up in front of him like a shield. The laser blast struck it and ricocheted, leaving a circular scorch mark in the ceiling. Boom dropped the panel with a yelp as the residual heat scorched his hands. He froze as the krybot levelled its gun arm at him once more.

A grinding noise suddenly came from deep within the megazord. The krybot lost its balance and tumbled away from him as the floor shook.

"What the – !" Broodwing cursed as the controls stopped responding. His gaze fell on Boom. The bat grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off his feet.

"What did you do?" he snarled, nearly incoherent with rage. He shook Boom roughly. "Fix it!"

Boom met the eyes of the furious alien. "Never."

Broodwing threw him hard against the wall, and Boom struck his head against the sharp edge of a control stand. He slid to the floor, stunned. Broodwing frantically worked the controls as the megazord veered to the right and began to topple with a groan.

The lights in the command center flickered. Everything went black for a moment. Kat slid across the floor and grabbed Boom, flattening them both against the wall. Boom heard a tremendous crack followed by the shattering of glass. He looked over and saw the open sky, shining through what had once been the glass eyes of the megazord.

Broodwing staggered upright. His dark cloak was torn and riddled with holes, and a crack snaked its way across the front his helmet. His feet crunched over broken glass as he took a step forward. "You will both pay for this!"

Boom felt Kat shift beside him, and the agile scientist got to her feet. She positioned herself protectively between him and the enraged bat. Broodwing sprung forward to attack.

A laser blast struck him in mid-stride and the mercenary collapsed in a heap. Sophie stepped out from the hole in the wall, clutching a blaster. "Get away from my friends," she said.

Broodwing lurched back to his feet, his eyes glinting with fury. He looked at Boom and Kat, and then back at Sophie. Then he hissed and flew away through the broken window, his tattered cape flapping behind him.

Sky and Bridge slowly circled each other, looking for an opening. Sky listened for the sound of spaceship engines. Where were the reinforcements that Cruger had promised? He never thought that it would come to this, that he would have to fight Bridge alone.

Bridge attacked first, and Sky had to summon a shield to avoid being touched by his bare hand. He remembered, all too well, what a single touch had done to Jack and Z.

"Don't do this, Bridge," Sky said.

"I have to." Bridge escalated the fight without warning. "SPD Emergency!" He hurtled his fist into the shield and his hand slowed before accelerating.

The shield dispersed with a snap. The next thing Sky knew, he was lying face-down on the ground. He gave a painful, rasping cough. He forced himself to stand, his ribs aching with every movement. He barely managed to raise his morpher. "SPD Emergency!"

The pain was faded to a faint ache once he was morphed. Sky ducked a kick and swept low. He quickly fell into the rhythm of the fight. He had fought this battle a thousand times before. He knew Bridge. He knew how he moved. He knew how he fought.

Above them, there was a blinding flash. A brilliant sphere of blue-white energy glowed brighter than the sun before dissolving into wisps of energy. Bridge looked up and hesitated, his hand halfway to his blaster. Sensing an opportunity, Sky darted forward.

"SPD S.W.A.T mode!" Bridge morphed again. He fired his Delta Enforcer.

The blast caught Sky mid-morph, at a vulnerable moment in his own transformation to S.W.A.T mode. The morph wavered and dissolved. Sky had just enough time to realize that he had fallen for the same trick twice before the main force of the blast struck him.

He felt himself falling, tumbling through the air. There was surprisingly little pain. The ground raced up to meet him before darkness came crashing down.

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing!