Gosh y'all, it's been a long time since I've updated. I am so sorry and I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter. I want to say a special thanks to TheSilentShogun who helped me get over my writer's block. You rock dude. :)

Chapter Seventeen

The sun beat down on them as the six Rangers paired off to spare. Sweat was already beginning to form upon Shadow's forehead as she took her stance across from Bridge.

"Hey, Shadow do you mind if I steal Bridge from you?" Syd asked, coming up to the pair. Shadow glanced at her, brow furrowed.

"It's just that Bridge promised he'd show me that new kick he's been working on." Syd added, catching the green Ranger's eye. Bridge looked from her to Shadow, confused.

"Oh yeah," he said, catching the look that Syd gave him. "I did promise her. Sorry, Shadow." He shrugged.

"No problem." Shadow said slowly, clearly confused by it all.

"Thanks," Syd grabbed Bridge's arm, "I thought you wouldn't want to pair up with Sky after," she lowered her voice, "you know what. It's very big of you."

"Wha…what?" Shadow sputtered as she watched Bridge being drug off by Syd.

What had she just gotten herself in to? Shadow could not face Sky right now, she just wasn't ready.

She watched Syd talking to the blue Ranger. He cast a look at Shadow, his eyes burning into hers. She glared at him. He turned back to Syd, shaking his head furiously. She simply pushed him in Shadow's direction. Hanging his head, Sky approached her.

Shadow crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared Sky down as he came to stand in front of her.

"Look, Shadow…"

"Save it," she cut off what he was going to say. She didn't want to hear any of the crap that he had to say to her. She simply wanted to get this training session over with.

She returned to her fighting stance, Sky doing the same.

They watched each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Shadow's eyes flitted over Sky's form, taking in the subtle shift of his hips that gave away his first move.

Bending backwards, Shadow let Sky's kick skim over her, missing its mark. She quickly caught his ankle before he could put his foot down again and twisted it, causing him to spin and land on the ground with a thud.

He looked up at her from his place on the ground, his eyes narrowing into small slits. Shadow met his stare head on, not backing down from the unspoken challenge. He jumped back to his feet, and they were off.

Shadow ducked, blocked, and attacked in a flurry. Sky moved just as swiftly. They were a blur of emotion as each vented their own frustrations with their opponent. Shadow was angry at Sky for kissing her, and he was mad at her for rejecting him so easily. Neither wanted to give the other the upper hand, for to give their opponent the upper hand would be to give in to the others will.

It was a battle between them. The fight so intense that they had begun to draw a crowd of cadets who had also been training that morning.

Lost in their own world, Shadow and Sky were oblivious to the cheers and encouragement from their fellow cadets as well as the bets being placed on the outcome of the fight.

Sweat soaked through the back of Shadow's uniform. It beaded upon her forehead and dripped into her eyes, burning them. She blinked, trying to get rid the unbearable stinging. Her heart was racing with adrenaline and her lungs filled with lungfuls of air. Her body was beginning to tire, but Shadow refused to surrender.

Anger and frustration towards Sky fueled her aggression, driving Shadow to push herself to the limits.

Sky's hand clamped around her wrist, twisting her arm behind her back. There was an odd popping sound. Shadow ignored the pain that traveled up her arm and quickly flipped Sky over her shoulder. He landed on his back, hard, and stared up at her dazedly. Shadow pinned him to the ground, her breath coming in harsh gasps as she stared into his eyes.

Cheers and groans mingled in the mid-morning air as Sky remained still, ending the match.


"You sure you're alright?" Jack asked, running a gentle hand over Shadow's right shoulder. She winced slightly.

"Yeah," she nodded her head as she tried to rotate her shoulder, "I'm fine. My shoulder just popped out of socket, that's all. Just give me some pain killers and I'll be ready to go."

"I'm sorry, Shadow," Kat shook her head, her brown curls bouncing around her round face, "but you're going to have to rest that shoulder for awhile. No fighting for at least another week."

"What!" Shadow cried, jumping off the exam table in the hospital wing of Headquarters. "You can't put me on sick leave, Kat. I am a Power Ranger, I have a job to do."

"I'm sorry, but it's my call and I say that you can't fight."

"Jack, c'mon, tell her that I'm fine." Shadow turned to the one person she knew she could trust to be on her side.

Jack looked from Shadow to Kat, torn. On the one hand he wanted to side with Shadow. She was a good fighter and they would need her if Grumm decided to send down another one of his goons. But, he also didn't want to see Shadow cause serious harm to herself, which would happen if she fought with an injured shoulder. What was a red Ranger to do?

"I gotta side with Kat on this one," he said, dropping his gaze from Shadow's, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you better be." Shadow growled, storming out of the room.

Jack sighed. He hated to see her upset, but what was he supposed to do? Kat had said that Shadow shouldn't fight, and he had to agree with her. An injury that was minor could easily escalate into something…not so minor if it wasn't rested and taken care of properly.

"She'll come around." Kat's hand rested on Jack's shoulder comfortingly. "She's just upset right now. A girl like Shadow needs to know that she's needed. And with this injury, she feels useless. Don't worry, she'll understand that you made the right decision."

"I sure hope you're right." Jack said, his eyes on the door that Shadow had stormed out of.


"Stupid idiots, saying I can't fight. I'll show them," Shadow muttered to herself as she walked down the hall to her room. "Saying I can't do my job 'cause I got one little injury. What a load of crap."

The door to her room slid open and Shadow walked in, peeling off her cadet training uniform as the door closed behind her.

"I'm not going to just sit on the sidelines and let you all say what I can and can't do. Nope, I'm not gonna do that." She shook her head as she threw the dirty uniform onto her bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a black V-neck. She winced as she pulled the shirt on over her head, her shoulder protesting to the movement.

"Stupid shoulder," she scowled at the offending body part.

Shadow grabbed her jean jacket and slipped into it angrily. She needed to get out of there and clear her head. Right then so many emotions were flooding her that it was hard to breath. Headquarters was suffocating her, reminding her constantly of everything that was going wrong in her life right then.

Between Sky kissing her, her shoulder getting hurt, and Jack not letting her fight; it was all just too much.

She headed out of SPD Headquarters blindly. Shadow had no clue where she was going, all she knew was she needed to get away from there.


Ok, so the chapter's not as long as I was hoping it'd be, but I think it was a pretty good chapter. I'm hoping to have the next chapter out soon. Review and give me your thoughts and don't forget to cast your vote for who you want Shadow to pick in the end. The count is currently at:

Sky- 63

Jack- 55