Disclaimer: Power Rangers is not owned by me.
All Syd, Bridge, Kat, and Sky could do was stare at the two Z's as they stared at each other.
"What happens now?" they said in unison.
Kat paused to think, "Well, we're going to continue running tests and keep you under observation for a little longer. What do you remember?"
"I remember…." They both started.
"Wait, one at a time. We don't need an explanation in stereo."
The Z's looked at each other again. "I think you only have to hear it from one of us," the one on the right started, "I remember being on the ground in pain. He destroyed one of my replicates and then pointed his gun to my head. There was a flash of light and then I woke up here."
Bridge looked at the other Z, "Is that what you were going to say?"
"Exactly," she nodded.
"Which one is the replicate?"
"I can't tell. We both have the same memories. I don't even remember calling a replicate."
"Kat thinks you did it subconsciously." Syd replied. The Z's kept staring at each other, "One of us should be gone." They said together.
"But you're not," Sky paced around the others, "Can you replicate any other Z's?"
"I'll try," they both sat still for a few moments. No replicates appeared.
"That's what I was afraid of, all your energy is going into maintaining an extra body." Kat looked pensive, "Maybe if we input more energies into your systems, we can reverse the process." She frowned, "You wouldn't know how much energy and at what wavelength?"
The right Z replied, "Sorry, I was too busy cowering for my life to ask him that."
"Hey, no need to be rude." The other one glared at her twin.
"It would be too dangerous to try to experiment with different energies. We don't want anyone to blown up." Kat looked at the charts again. "There really is no need to keep you two here any longer. I guess you can go back to your quarters."
"No way!"
"Syd!"
"I have to live with one Z, there is no way I'm rooming with two."
"She's right," one Z piped in, "There isn't enough room for three of us in that room."
"I guess we're going to need another room." Kat called Cruger to make the arrangements.
-+-+-
Early morning, the next day, Z woke up and yawned stretching and relieving the tension built up over the night. She shook out the cobwebs in her head and shuffled to the bathroom. She took a shower and dried her hair with a slight damp towel. She brushed her teeth and noticed that the toothbrush felt cold as she put it in her mouth. She stumbled back into the room and grabbed a uniform out of the closet. Z zipped up her jacket and walked to the full length mirror in her room. Sleepily, she ran a hand through her hair and rubbed her eyes. Then she realized that there was no mirror in the bedroom.
"Damn it! What do you think you're wearing?" She asked herself.
"My uniform, I always wear it." The other Z said meekly.
"I know. I always wear mine too."
"We're gonna confuse everyone aren't we."
"Well, they're used to seeing lots of clones around right?"
"Yup," one Z sat on the bed.
"We need a way to distinguish ourselves."
"So that they know that we're not clones, right?"
Z paced around the room, "Go straighten your hair. I'll keep mine curly."
"Will that be enough?"
"It will have to be. We are not showing up for duty wearing civilian wear. For all purposes we are both Z." She went up to the Z sitting on the bad and grabbed her hands. "We're going to be okay. SPD is working on this."
"I'm still worried. What about Jack? Shouldn't he know what's going on?"
"Not yet, the problem might be solved soon. We don't need to upset him."
"That makes sense. I'll go do my hair now." Z walked to the bathroom.
The other Z looked after her, "This is going to be rough."
-+-+-
"Cadets, we are in a very dangerous situation. We were already vulnerable with the green ranger position unfulfilled but now we seem to be down a yellow ranger too." Commander Anubis Cruger addressed the rangers as they gathered in the room. Everyone gave both Z's a second glance as they walked into the room. Though it was not unusual to see more than one Z, it was strange to see two Z's look completely different.
"Delgado!" Cruger yelled.
"Yes Commander!" They both answered.
Cruger shook his head, "This won't work. We can't call you both Z."
They looked at each other; the one with the straight hair spoke up. "Well, I, I mean we used to be called Lizzie when we were younger. I can go by that."
Bridge looked at her thoughtfully remembering the time he went with her to the cemetery. "That's what your parents called you."
"Yes."
"Well, I can't call myself Z if you don't. I guess I'm Beth." The curly-haired Z interjected.
"Lizzie Beth, Elizabeth. I think that works." Syd said as she twirled with her hair.
"Ahem," Cruger coughed to get everyone's attention, "The problem is that we can't have both of you morphing into the yellow ranger. Kat?"
"Yes Commander," Kat said as she pointed to a computer screen. "Each ranger has a distinct energy used to morph. While it's possible to have more than one ranger of the same color, hence A squad and B squad, two people attempting to use the same morphing energy could possibly destabilize the morphing grid. Only one of you can use the morpher at a time."
"So who's it going to be?" Sky asked.
"I'll do it," Beth stepped forward, "I'll be the yellow ranger."