Alright, so why more feedback than I expected, so thanks. I've got chapter three all thought up if this one is well received. For now, on with part two!
The B Squad rangers looked from the new ranger to Cruger and back again. Sky, as usual, was the first to recover from his shock. "The Omega Ranger?"
The dog-like alien nodded and motioned the aforementioned ranger forward. "Yes, since the A Squad went missing Dr. Manx has been experimenting with new powers."
"I thought you could use some help." The doctor added.
"Why?" Sky asked with more than a little hostility in his voice. "We're doing fine."
Cruger looked at the blue ranger disapprovingly "Since you let Gruumm get those diamonds his creatures have been getting stronger. You're getting help, whether you think you need it or not."
Sky clenched his fists, but relaxed slightly when Sydney placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Yes sir."
SPD's Commander removed his glare from Sky and turned towards the Omega Ranger. "You may power down. Cadets' Tate, Drew, and Carson will give you a tour of the facilities after the debriefing."
The Omega Ranger nodded and did as Cruger instructed. The 5 B Squad members watched, eager to see who it would be. Sky shook his head in disapproval, another stranger. The new ranger stood at about 6'2", with shaggy light blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes. He was dressed as a surfer, which was unusual in New Tech City, wearing blue board shorts covered in red stylized hibiscus flowers, a long sleeved white shirt underneath a blue t-shirt, which advertised for some place called Storm Chargers, a white pooka shell necklace, and red flip-flops.
Sky, Bridge, Z, and Jack were all surprised as Syd let out an ear-piercing shriek. "Ryder?"
Both blondes laughed as Sydney launched herself into the man's arms. "Syd?" Bridge asked hesitantly.
"Oh," Syd turned towards her friends "Guys, this is Ryder Bradley, my oldest friend."
"You're older than me, Syd." Ryder nudged the petite girl with his hip. "You guys can call me Ry."
Sky glared at the two blondes before returning his attention to Commander Cruger. "Whatever…"
Bridge looked over at the blue ranger with a frown on his face. Sky was broadcasting again: Confusion. Pain. Jealousy. Hate.The green ranger leaned over to whisper into Z's ear. "This isn't good."
The short Latina looked at him, confused. "What-"
"Ahem." Cruger cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Now, as I was saying…"
"Cadet Delgado, Cadet Landors, may I speak with you a moment?" The yellow and red rangers nodded their response. Then the blue alien looked at the people remaining in the lab. "The rest of you are dismissed. Cadet Drew, I trust you and the rest of A Squad will make our guest comfortable?"
Sydney nodded exuberantly, and then grabbed Ryder's hand leading him from the main control room. "Come on Ry, there's so much I want to show you-"
Z watched as the metal doors slid shut before turning nervously to Cruger. "What's up?" Jack asked their commanding officer.
"It's about your community service."
The two rangers exchanged surprised glances; this wasn't what they had been expecting. "What about it?"
"Well…"
"This is the mess hall." Syd gestured proudly around the large spotless room they were in. "It's a little more impressive when there's food though… We've got a really good chef."
"Better than my dad?" Ryder cocked an eyebrow at his friend.
The pink ranger laughed and playfully pushed the surfer. "Nobody's better than your dad."
Sky felt his chest tighten as the two bantered back and forth. This was more than he could take. He had to get out of there. Fast. He glanced at Bridge, who nodded, and without a word he silently left the mess hall. "So where do you guys train?" Bridge turned his attention back to the pink and Omega rangers.
"There's an outside training field and the simulation rooms in the basement, but Sky should really show you those. He knows them inside and out. He's the best fighter at SPD." Syd grinned proudly as she praised the blue ranger. "Where is Sky anyway?" she asked, realizing the brunette was missing. She looked over at Bridge, who was frowning.
"He had to… go." The green ranger said lamely. He never was a good liar. "You know Sky though, he's like that…" Bridge said to the newest ranger. "If he's not the center of attention he bails… He's probably training, or running. Sometimes he runs to clear his head, you know. Or maybe he's not training at all. Maybe he went back to our room-"
Sydney held up a hand, halting Bridge's rambling. "Slow down, Bridge. Take a breath."
Ryder just shook his head, unable to comprehend how much had spewed from the green ranger's mouth in such a short time. "Was that even words?"
Bridge blushed slightly, "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. Everyone in my family rambles-"
Sydney shook her head and was relieved when Z and Jack entered the room. "Thank God." She groaned causing Bridge to turn even redder. "What did Cruger want with you guys?"
"It was about our community service." Jack said helping himself to an apple. Fruit was one of the things often left out in the mess hall; it was good for them, or some nonsense like that.
"I thought you guys were almost done." Bridge said, confused and a little pleased when Z greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.
"We were." Jack said, glaring at his younger female counter-part. "But Cruger found out that we cheated."
"Cheated?" Syd asked, "How did you do that?" She regretted asking the question a few seconds later, when 30 Z's appeared around the room.
"At first I just replicated." It was a little disconcerting when the 30 yellow rangers spoke at once. "But it wasn't going fast enough," suddenly 29 Z's disappeared, leaving only the one clutching Bridge's hand. "And I was getting bored."
"So…" Syd prodded.
"So she rounded up a bunch of our old… contacts…" Jack grinned, "and convinced them to do it."
"Contacts?" Bridge asked, clueless. His eyes widened as realization dawned. "Oh… you mean criminals."
"I wouldn't call them criminals." Z huffed.
"Would you call you and Jack criminals?" the pink ranger asked.
"No."
"Therefore, criminals."
Z glared at the other female ranger, "Where's Sky?" Sydney shrugged, while Bridge shot her a warning glance. "Sorry I asked." She muttered to herself. Bridge squeezed her hand and Jack grinned at his friend.
"Where to next?" Ryder asked suddenly. Inwardly shaking his head at the group dynamic. They were just like his parents and their friends; all rangers were alike, he supposed.
Sky pounded his fists into the freestanding punching bag over and over; he stopped and cursed when the skin on his knuckles split, again. "Dammit!" He looked around for something to wrap his hand in. Nothing.
He was still standing next to the bag, blood dripping from his hand and pooling on the floor, when Jack entered the training room. "What happened to you?"
Sky groaned: Jack one of the many people he didn't want to deal with. "Nothing." He finally gave up his fruitless search and wiped his bleeding hand on his sweaty t-shirt.
"Whatever." The red ranger bent over and removed his shoes. "Are you just gonna stand there?"
"What?"
Jack motioned to where Sky was standing, right in front of the punching bag. "Are you just gonna stand there," he repeated, "or can I use the bag?"
Sky flexed his fingers experimentally and swore in his head when the bleeding started again. "I'm using this room, there's plenty of others, go somewhere else."
The red ranger grinned mischievously and cracked his knuckles, "You know, I don't think I will. I'm already here and I'm the red ranger, why don't you go somewhere else?"
Sky growled under his breath "Why don't you kiss my ass?"
"Now, now," Jack wagged a finger in Sky's face "Such language, and to a superior officer…" Sky growled, out loud this time, and lunged at the African-American. Jack grinned as the taunting did its intended job; a good fight was what both of them needed. He easily dodged Sky's wild attack. "Gonna have to do better than that, blue ranger."
Sky bared his teeth at the red ranger and jumped up, executing a flawless tornado kick. "I'll show you what a blue ranger can do."
Jack flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the powerful kick and countered with a strong roundhouse kick of his own. He caught the blue ranger in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Sky recovered quickly and retaliated with a flurry of punches to Jack's torso. "Ugh…" The red ranger hit the ground hard. "Jesus," he rolled away from an advancing Sky and jumped to his feet "Chill out Sky." The blue ranger clearly wasn't listening as he sent a devastating front kick Jack's way. "Sky!" The red ranger had to use his powers, to sink into the wall behind him, to avoid the blow. "What the hell, man?"
Sky shook his head angrily and walked back to the punching bag. He hit the piece of equipment hard enough to send it crashing into the wall. He didn't look back as Jack re-materialized. "I gotta go." He muttered to the red ranger. "I'll see you later." He was about to leave when the 'tour group' appeared in the doorway.
"Sky," Syd said happily "there you are. We were just-" She stopped talking as Sky wordlessly pushed past her. "Sky?"
It was then that Z noticed Jack slumped against the wall. "Oh my God! Jack, are you okay?"
The red ranger groaned and clutched what he was sure was a bruised rib. "It's my fault." He coughed. "I," He winced as he straightened up against the wall, "provoked him." He smiled gratefully at Z as she rushed to his side. "Thanks Lizzy."
The Latina didn't even bother to reprimand her adoptive brother for addressing her by one of her most hated nicknames. "Come on, Jack, let's go." Syd didn't say anything as she went to support Jack's other side.
The three left Bridge and Ryder standing awkwardly in the training room. "So," Ryder asked slowly, taking in Bridge's own bruises "does this happen often around here?"
"Lately? Yeah. Pretty soon Gruumm's not going to have any trouble taking over the world. We're going to take ourselves out…"
Ryder shook his head "Go, I'll find my way back to my room." Bridge looked at the Omega ranger questioningly. "I know you want to see how he is."
"I thought I was the psychic around here…" the brunette muttered to himself.
"You are." Ryder grinned, "I'm a water ninja, I'm kind of attuned to emotions and stuff." He shrugged sheepishly "I get it from my mom."
Bridge grinned at the new ranger. "Thanks, man. You sure you'll find your way back?"
"Yeah." Ryder waved a hand dismissively "Get gone."
Sky looked up as his door slid open, he scowled as he saw that it was Ryder. "What do you want?" he asked the blonde coldly.
Ryder shrugged "Honestly? I thought this was my room, but since you're here I might as well tell you that you did a good job kicking Jack's ass."
"What?"
"Oh yeah," the blonde said entering the room, "looks like a few bruised ribs at the very least."
Sky carefully placed the picture he had been clutching on his bedside table before looking up at the Omega ranger. The look in the blue ranger's eyes could've frozen even the coldest of men. "Get out."
Ryder was about to leave when he caught sight of the photo Sky had placed on the table. "That your dad?"
"Why?" Sky narrowed his eyes at his new teammate.
"We may have more in common than you think."
"Whatever." The blue ranger muttered lying back in his bed. He was interrupted a few minutes later when his bedroom door slid open again. "I thought I told you to get out-" He stopped when he saw it was Syd standing in the doorway.
Sydney looked at him with a mixture of shock and hurt in her eyes. "I can leave if you want me to…"
"No," Sky said, letting his head fall back onto his pillow. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."
"Who? Jack?" The pink ranger sat on the edge of Sky's bed and ran a hand through the brunette's hair. "What's going on with you? You were fine a few hours ago."
Sky leaned into Syd's hand, "It's nothing, Syd, don't worry about me."
Syd opened her mouth, but was cut off by the Academy's sirens. "B SQUAD PLEASE REPORT TO THE ZORD BAY IMMEDIATELY."
"Let's go." Sky said, suddenly alert. Syd shook her head and followed the blue ranger down the hallway; she thought they were past this point.
