Chapter Eight
Thrown by Grumm's newest creature, Sky landed on his back, hard. With a grunt, he forced himself back to his feet, only to be hit with a blast of energy from the creature. His teammates fell around him. Smoke wafted up into the clear afternoon sky. The Rangers struggled to their feet. In front of them stood the creature, surrounded by robots.
"Don't these guys ever do their own fighting?" Bridge complained from beside Sky.
"Oh come on Bridge," Z said, "we can take 'em." The green Ranger sighed wearily.
"Let's do it then." He said, springing into action with Z right behind him. The rest of the Power Rangers quickly followed their teammates and the fighting began once more.
Sky moved in a fury of movement, blocking and punching with abandon. He moved swiftly through the robots that surrounded him and made his way towards the creature, who was looking on gleefully.
"You're under arrest." He stated, coming to a halt in front of the monster.
"I don't think so Ranger." The alien said, shooting electricity at the blue Ranger. Sky rolled, narrowly avoiding the hit. Springing back to his feet, he grabbed his gun and fired. The shots hit the monster square in the chest. He fell with a grown and Sky quickly pulled out his Judgment meter. Guilty. The monster screamed shrilly as the Power Ranger captured him.
"Good job Sky." Bridge patted his friend on the back. Sky smirked and looked at the card that he held. The alien was busily trying to find a way out and screaming of his innocence.
Turning to face his comrades, Sky noticed something amiss.
"Where's Shadow?"
The robot continued to run, Shadow chased him diligently, unwilling to give up the pursuit. He carried something in his hands, a small, rounded object that he clutched close to his chest. Shadow could barely make out what it was in the gloom of the alley in which they were running. The robot moved swiftly, his feet flying across the pavement.
She chased after him, her breath coming in short, quick gasps. Her legs were sore and protested every step she took. But Shadow ran on, intent on catching the robot and whatever it was he held.
A brick wall came up before the robot, trapping him inside the alleyway with no way out but past Shadow. The black Ranger came to a halt, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest as she awaited the robot's next move. She scanned the area around her, looking for anything she could use to the advantage of capturing her prey.
The robot moved to the right and Shadow jumped, kicking off of a trash can that lay beside her, and launching herself at the robot. She landed on the concrete, the wind knocked out of her. Placing her hands in front of her, Shadow forced herself up. She looked around. The robot was no where in sight.
How…where did he go? She asked herself. This isn't possible. He was right here. She groaned, and let herself fall, face first, back onto the pavement.
Jack ran through the alleyway, searching frantically for any sign of Shadow. Where had she gone? What had happened to her? A groan sounded somewhere ahead of him, and Jack hurried towards the sound.
Shadow lay on her stomach, her eyes closed, and her head resting on one arm as she brought in large gulps of air. Her morph had left her, leaving her vulnerable to attack from any of the unsavory life forms that littered the alleyways. He quickly moved to her side.
"Shadow," he shook her gently, worry seeping into his voice, "are you okay?" She groaned as her eyes fluttered open.
"I'm fine." she said in a pain filled voice. Jack helped her to sit up then, slowly, helped her to her feet. Shadow fell heavily against him, her weight resting almost entirely on him. They began to move, and Shadow clutched Jack's arm tightly as she began to sway.
"You sure you're alright?" He asked, placing an arm around her waist to support her. Jack forced all thought of the tingles running up and down his spine a the feel of Shadow against him from his mind and focused on getting her back to Headquarters.
"Yeah," she nodded her head slowly, "just a little dizzy, that's all."
"You probably have a concussion," he said, pulling Shadow closer to him as they emerged from the alley and into the bright sun. "What were you doing in there anyway?"
"A robot ran back there and I was chasing him." She replied. "When he was blocked in by a dead-end I moved in to attack, but he just…disappeared." Jack looked down at where her head rested on his shoulder, her brown locks spreading across the black of his cadet uniform. He forced back a sigh as he looked at her.
Z's right, he thought to himself as they slowly made their way back to Headquarters, I do care about her.
By the time they entered SPD Headquarters, Shadow's head had cleared and she was able to walk, for the most part, on her own. Jack had one hand placed just above her elbow, supporting her should she stumble. The rest of the Rangers looked up from what they were doing as Shadow and Jack entered the lounge.
The four Power Rangers had returned to Headquarters once Jack had called them to say that he had found Shadow.
Now, the red Ranger released his hold on the young woman as she eased herself into a chair. Her head still pounded, and there was a perpetual ringing in her ears. Aside from that, and the few bruises she had retained on her body, Shadow was fine.
"What happened?" Syd asked worriedly as she and the others gathered around Shadow. Sky remained in his seat, a book held in front of his face as if he were not even interested in their conversation.
Gingerly, Shadow held a hand up to her head and massaged her temple.
"I saw a robot take off down the alley," she said, recounting every detail she had told Jack twenty minutes before.
"Are you alright?" Z asked once Shadow had finished.
"Yeah," the black Ranger nodded her head and winced at the pain that flooded her, "or at least I will be." She smiled weakly.
"You should rest." Jack said, reaching down a hand to help Shadow up. She took it gratefully. She stood up too quickly, and her vision blacked out momentarily, just long enough for her to lose her balance and fall forward slightly. Luckily, Jack was standing in front of her, and Shadow fell right against him. His arm moved around her waist to support her, and Shadow felt herself giving into his embrace. Her body sagged slightly, allowing Jack to hold more of her weight, and her head rested against his shoulder.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Jack asked, clearly concerned. Shadow's eyes opened and widened in shock as she took in her position, and that of the Ranger who held her.
"I said I'm fine." She pushed away from Jack slightly, but still allowed his hand to rest on the small of her back, where her shirt rode up just enough for his hand to have some contact with her skin.
"I just need to sleep for a little while."
Sky watched, seemingly uninterested, as Jack escorted Shadow to her room. He bit his lip, deep in thought. Something was going on, he could sense it. Something about Shadow's story just didn't make sense.
Closing his book, Sky stood and stretched.
"I think I'm gonna turn in." He said.
"Dude it's only," Bridge looked down at his watch, "six o'clock."
"Really, that late?" Sky shrugged, "See you all in the morning." He quickly departed and made his way to his room.
The door slid open and Sky walked in, locking the closed door behind him. He didn't want anybody walking in right then. He turned on the computer that sat in the wall, the holographic screen springing up in front of him. Quickly, he logged on to the internet and began his search. Not being the technological genius that Bridge was, it took Sky a bit before he could access the information he was searching for.
Pages of information sat before him, waiting to be read. Sky scrolled through until he found what he wanted. He clicked a link, and began to read the information he had found.
"The robot wasn't real, was it?" Shadow groaned, trying to ignore the voice above her. Her head still hurt, but the ringing had ceased.
"The robot wasn't real." The voice persisted. Shadow picked up her pillow and stuck her head beneath it, trying to block out the annoying person who was disrupting her rest. A firm hand shook her shoulder, jarring her entire body.
"What?" She removed her head from beneath the pillow and glared up at her assailant. Sky stood over her, his arms crossed and the ever present scowl on his face.
"It was a hallucination, the robot." He said.
"Yeah, so?" Shadow wanted him out of her room so that she could once more surrender to the sleep that had been rudely taken from her.
"You're going through withdraw," Sky said, "you have to get help Shadow, or else you'll put not only yourself in danger, but your teammates as well."
"Look, Sky," she was irritated now, even more so than she was only seconds before, "I have this under control. So if you would kindly let me get back to sleep." She pulled the covers up over her head. Suddenly, they were yanked off of her. Shadow curled up into a ball, seeking to use her own body temperature for warmth.
"You need help Shadow." Sky repeated.
"Are you a broken record or something?" She sat up and glared at him, "Because all you seem able to do is repeat yourself. And it's not like anyone listens to you, in fact, all I'm hearing right now it blah-blah-blah-blah. So do me a favor and let me sleep."
Sky's hand wrapped around her own, and Shadow felt herself being pulled from her bed. She groaned and stomped her feet on the cold metal floor like a child about to throw a tantrum.
"Why, why, why do you feel the need to torture me like this?" She cried.
"There's a cure," Sky said, ignoring her complaints, "one that is easy to get and completely confidential."
"I told you Sky, I'm fine."
"No you're not Shadow. If you don't get help soon you could get yourself killed."
"Sky, do you even know what those antidotes do to you?"
"Yes, they cure you of your addiction."
"No…well yes they do, but do you know the side effects? Headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, numbness, seizures, heart failure, sometimes even death. You're not the only one who's done their research Sky." Shadow buried her face in her hands and took in three deep, even breathes before looking back up at her teammate.
"I'm not willing to take those chances," she said, "and that is just something that you are going to have to deal with. Now leave me alone."
Yippee, another chapter finished! I bet you all can't wait to see where this is going to go. I realize that right now the chapters are a little monotonous and sort of repeating themselves, but I promise you that things will begin to heat up soon. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed so far. You guys (girls included) totally rock!
Now I want to remind you all that when you review (and you will review, right?) to cast your vote for who you want Shadow to end up with. Right now the count currently stands at:
Sky- 16
Jack-24
All of you Sky fans had better get your butts in gear if you want Sky to win this poll. He's only a few votes behind Jack and could easily catch up. This poll will not shut down until I'm ready to post the final chapter, so vote, vote, vote.
