Variations Of Pink
Chapter 5: Discussions
Lat Revised: August 12, 2005
Summary: We see a little more of the bad guys, and the big talk between Syd and her parents finally happens.
Rating: T, may change later
Disclaimer: I don't own PR, Disney does.
AN: The names of the bad guys are all in Hindu, the one bad girl's is in Greek.
Desdemona – Of the Devil – Greek
Mayon – The Black God – Hindu
Visvajita – One Who Conquers the Universe – Hindu
AN 2: Thank you, all of you, for the wonderful responses. I appreciate the support more than you'll ever know!
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." Richard Bach
"Family life is too intimate to be preserved by the spirit of justice. It can be sustained by a spirit of love which goes beyond justice." Reinhold Niebuhr
"Status report!"
"Emperor Visvajita, the Pink Ranger has experienced the first sensations from the chip. We recorded her energy levels, they spiked even higher than we predicted," Mayon the wizard replied, fearing for his life.
Visvajita grinned evilly. It was sweet revenge for him to do this to S.P.D.'s pink princess. After all, wasn't it her parents that had left him disfigured and hideous? 'I may have killed them both, but my revenge will not be complete until she's dead and S.P.D. has fallen.'
"Emperor, are you pleased?"
"Yes, Mayon, I am. Increase the levels of her chip; make her suffer and doubt and destroy all she holds dear!"
"Yes, my lord."
"I still don't get it," Mayon heard as he entered his laboratory.
"What's that, Desdemona?"
"Mayon, how's you get the chip implanted in the sniveling Ranger?"
The Dark Wizard smiled and laughed. "Simple. I followed her the night before she returned to New Tech City. We've been keeping an eye on her since we learned she'd survived the battle all those years ago," Mayon told her.
"Okay…"
"She got caught in the rain, hit her head on something. It was simple really. I injected a sedative into her, hauled her here, surgically implanted it in her chest, and with her having Ranger powers, there was no trace of the implant after it was in."
"So what's this implant supposed to do?"
"Release an electric shock and chemicals into her blood stream. The chemicals will change her behavior until she's no longer herself."
Desdemona laughed. "Oooh, nasty; I like it."
"Ready the Krybots and my secret weapon!" Visvajita ordered.
"My lord, the Zords are ready and your pilots are on standby."
"Good, launch them!"
The team sat in shock, staring at Sydney's parents. "What are you two doing here? I thought you weren't going to be here for a while?"
"Sydney, we're not going to discuss that right now, not with you being hurt," Jason started, already feeling a headache creeping up on him.
"Baby, are you alright?" Katherine asked shakily, sinking to her knees on the floor right in front of Syd and Sky.
"I feel better, but I still don't know what's happening to me."
Katherine took Sydney's free hand and held it as tight as she could without hurting her daughter. "I'm sorry, Sydney. I never meant to tell you like I did," Katherine apologized. "I was scared for you, but I should have known better, especially since I've been there before."
Syd looked at her mother and gaped at the words that had come out of her mouth. "Maybe we should go and leave you to talk," Jack suggested as he, Z and Bridge started to move.
"NO!" Sydney nearly screamed, squeezing Z's hand tighter and leaning closer to Sky. "I want you to tell me the truth, now, and in front of my friends."
Jack nodded, as did Bridge and Z, before the trio sat back down. Jason looked down at his wife, sighing when she nodded her head so slightly he barely caught the movement. "Who were my birth parents?"
Jason swallowed hard and knelt down with his wife, sitting before his daughter and her friends. "They were my two best friends next to your mother," he started, choking back the tears that threatened to spill over. "Your mother's name was Kimberly. She and I had known each other since we were in diapers. I thought of her as my little sister, which she was in everything but blood."
Syd gulped. "Was she nice?"
"Yes," Jason murmured, marveling at how much like Kimberly Sydney had become. "She was generous of spirit, courageous, loving, constantly happy, and beautiful. Actually, your dad's nickname for her was Beautiful."
The Pink Ranger bit back the tears and nodded as her father told her of the people she barely knew. "What'd she look like?"
Jason smiled. "Remember the picture I gave you of me and mom when you were little? The one with the other couple in it?"
Syd could only nod slightly.
"That's them."
Closing her eyes, Sydney knew she'd been right when she'd spoken of her suspicions to Sky about that picture. "And my father?"
Katherine's face brightened with a smile. "His name was Dr. Thomas Oliver," she started. Both former Rangers watched the shock leap onto Sky's face. Knowing who Sky's parents were, both Jason and Katherine surmised he'd heard plenty about Tommy Oliver, Ranger Legend, growing up. "He was a paleontologist and a high school science teacher."
Syd smiled. "How'd they meet?"
"At the karate tournament where Tommy and I first faced each other; that's where Kim saw Tommy for the first time. She met him the next day at school when he got the class bullies to leave her alone."
"So you were both friends with them?"
"Yes."
"Were all of you Rangers?"
Katherine and Jason's eyes locked before Jason turned back to stare at Syd. "Yes."
"S.P.D.?"
"No," Jason started. "Kim, Tommy, and I, were all members of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the very first team of Rangers Earth ever had."
All five of the current Rangers gawked at Sydney's father. "No way!" Jack muttered.
"You guys are like…living legends…" Bridge grinned goofily. "Awesome!"
Sensing Sydney's next question, Jason continued. "I was red, Kimberly was pink, and Tommy started as green and then went white. Eventually, both Kim and I left, along with your Aunt Trini and Uncle Zack, and your Uncle Rocky took over for me and your mom took over for Kimberly."
"Aunt Aisha, Uncle Adam, Aunt Tanya, Uncle Justin, Uncle Billy….they were all Rangers, weren't they?"
Katherine smiled. "Yes. Eventually, Tommy went on to become Red Zeo and the first Red Turbo Rangers, and later, Black Dino Thunder. Your dad came back to join us during Zeo, taking over for Prince Trey of Triforia as the Gold Ranger when he couldn't hold his powers. I continued on to be Pink Zeo and the first Pink Turbo before I joined Adam, Tanya and Tommy in passing on the powers."
Five faces stared at Katherine and Jason in a mixture of wonder, awe, and pain. They remembered, all too well, falling through the wormhole and meeting the Dino Thunder Rangers. "Syd, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Z asked. Sydney could only nod. She'd met her father shortly before he'd married her mother and had her.
"What happened?"
"Tommy and Kim got married about a year after Tommy retired from Dino Thunder, shortly after your guys got sent back," Jason grinned. "They'd been apart for nearly ten years but had rekindled their romance. They had you a year later. And then everything went to hell in a hand basket."
Sydney sat a little straighter on Sky's lap, looking down at her parents, thinking how much they'd been through together to get where they were.
"When Earth started to allow aliens to live here, Commander Cruger and Dr. Manx sought out each of the former Rangers of Earth – Mighty Morphin, Zeo, Turbo, Space, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, Wild Force, Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, and whoever else came after," Katherine explained. "Most everyone volunteered to work as Ambassadors for those aliens coming to live here, while a select few were chosen to wield a set of powers much like Command Cruger's Shadow Ranger powers."
"Chosen to be Rangers again?" Sky finally asked.
"Yes, Sky. Your parents were two of them, with your dad being put in command of the very first S.P.D. Earth Team, and your mother backing him up as Pink Ranger," Jason told him. "By the way, how are Wes and Jen?"
Sky grinned. "They're fine, Sir."
Jason nodded. "Tommy, Kimberly, Rocky, Aisha, Billy and Adam were chosen as team two of S.P.D., but they were a team who worked in secret. Only a handful of us knew about them."
"How come?" Jack asked, genuinely interested.
"During the era of the Morphin Rangers, the six of them, and later myself, had Ninja Powers," Katherine told them. "We had thought they'd been destroyed along with the Morphin powers when we went Zeo, but they weren't. I didn't have Ninja powers anymore when Cruger talked them into joining S.P.D. because Kim had simply given me hers when she'd left the team. Kat used those powers to create Ranger powers for them."
"That doesn't explain what happened," Sydney growled, irritated.
"They died in battle, trying to save me," Jason started, bowing his head. "Your mom and I are actually your godparents, Syd. Kim and Tommy had to go out on a mission one afternoon, so Kath and I took you so we could watch you for them. Kath got called away to a business meeting downtown, so you were with me. You were about four or so at the time."
The Rangers watched the pain seep onto Jason's face. "We got caught in the crossfire. Some alien Emperor who had taken over the M-51 Galaxy, Emperor Visvajita, had come to Earth to destroy the Rangers and enslave the people. Sky's dad, lead his team in to destroy the base while Tommy led the Ninjetti team in to destroy Visvajita. Billy and Adam had to come back because Rocky and Aisha were both hurt during the fight, leaving Tommy and Kim to fight him alone."
"He killed them, didn't he?"
"We're not sure what killed them. They ended up at the park, where we were, and a fight ensued. They got taken back to Visvajita's ship. It exploded ten minutes later, thanks to the explosives the other S.P.D. team set. They never got out, and I never saw either of them again."
Sydney started crying, hard, and turned to bury her face in Sky's neck.
"Tommy and Kim had their wills made shortly after you were born. They left sole custody of you, to the two of us," Katherine told her. "Jason and I have raised you like you were our own, and both of us knew at some point we'd have to tell you. When you became the Pink Ranger for B Squad, we both panicked, especially me. Sydney, Kimberly and Tommy entrusted your life to me, and to Jason. It wasn't the first time your mother had left something so important in my hands; I was so scared we were going to lose you the way we lost them. That's why I freaked when you decided to come back to S.P.D."
Without a word, Sydney flung herself out of Sky's lap and into Jason and Katherine's arms. The trio sat together for long moments, hugging, while the Rangers looked on.
"RANGERS REPORT TO THE COMMAND CENTER!"
Syd pulled back and let Sky help her up. "Duty calls. We'll be back soon."
Jason and Katherine nodded, knowing this was Sydney's destiny, just as it had been theirs, and just as it had been Tommy and Kim's.
Emotionally draining, this last part. Hope it sheds some more light on the situation. As for those of you wondering how Syd did the nifty changing of her hair and eye color, the answer to that was vaguely given in the earlier portions of this chapter….did you catch it?