Disclaimer: The insanity's still mine.
Author's Note: I'd forgotten about this little jewel for a long time now. I think I wrote it while still in the same weird mood that caused me to write the first chapter, but I wasn't sure how people would react to this semi-serious, semi-funny blend. :)
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"I didn't take Sky to be the type to sunbathe."
Syd jumped at the sound of Z's voice, and quickly turned around to shush her. "How did you find this place?" she demanded in a whisper.
"Easy. I followed you," Z gave the Pink Ranger a weird look. "So what is 'this place'? Your secret rendezvous spot?"
"No. This is where Sky goes when he wants to be alone. He doesn't know that Bridge and I know about it."
"Is what why you're spying on him through the bushes?"
"Yeah. I want to go and make sure he's okay, but then he'd know we know about this place. I—I think he'd be upset."
They were in the thicket that grew along the southeast border of the training fields, on the edge of a clearing that was well hidden by but not too deep into the trees. It was a wonderfully secluded spot, lit by sunlight in the center where the canopy of the surrounding trees couldn't reach. In this patch of light lay the Blue Ranger, stretched out on his back with his arms laid straight out on either side. His eyes were closed and his expression was that of someone deep in concentration. He was dressed in full uniform.
"How did you guys find out about it?" asked Z.
"Same way you did. Bridge followed him one night, and then he told me about it."
"Way to keep a secret."
"We had to do it!" said Syd defensively. "We didn't know anything about him, but we were expected to work with him as a team. Our promotions depended on it. Besides, when a guy is as interactive as a brick wall, it's hard not to sneak around behind his back."
The Yellow Ranger started to nod, but suddenly ducked her head, and pulled Syd down with her as well. "Shhh! He's awake!" She had seen Sky's head turn on its side, his sharp green eyes scanning the woods like a hawk. The two female Rangers continued to watch him through their leafy screen, becoming still as statues when his gaze fell right on the spot where they were hiding.
"That was close," whispered Z after he finally looked away.
"What is he doing?"
The Blue Ranger had his eyes closed again, and his chest rose and fell with one very long, slow breath. A dome of translucent blue rose up over him and immediately popped, like a soap bubble. Syd and Z jumped in surprise. Sky's forearms were glowing blue.
"Practicing his forcefields?" suggested Z as they watched another blue bubble form and disperse.
"I have never seen him do anything like that before," Syd whispered back. "He looks like he's…photosynthesizing or something. You know, like those little fish in the ocean."
Z gave her a completely blank look, but a new voice behind them offered, "I think what you mean is he's bioluminescent. That's what those little fish in the ocean do; they give off their own light. I had no idea that you—"
Syd clamped a hand over the chatty Green Ranger's mouth. "Ssssh! You're going to get us all caught!"
When he was allowed to speak again, he gave Z a curious look. "We weren't supposed to tell anyone," he whispered a bit nervously with a sideways glance at Syd.
"I followed her," explained Z, sounding not at all guilty for it.
"Yeah." Syd shot her an annoyed but resigned look.
The three peered into the clearing again, watching with fascination as more blue translucent domes appeared and dissipated at irregular intervals. They varied greatly in size; sometimes nothing more happened than his forearms flaring blue for a moment.
"You think this has anything to do with that tub of torture you forced down his throat?" Syd mused aloud.
Z was about to retort but Bridge interjected first with a confused, "What?"
"Z made Sky eat an entire gallon of ice cream because he lost a bet."
Bridge looked horrified. "Z, he's lactose intolerant!"
Z, who had been trying to get a word in during their exchange, rolled her eyes. "That's exactly what Syd said. And for your information, I didn't force him to do anything. He had every opportunity to tell me that my terms for the bet would make him sick, but he didn't. He probably wouldn't say anything even if ice cream could kill him, the proud jerk."
Syd immediately opened her mouth to defend the Blue Ranger, but no sound came out. After a silent pause, Bridge conceded, "She's got a point."
Syd looked ready to argue for all of another second, and then she too conceded with a reluctant nod.
"What is this, a secret meeting of the forest Rangers now?"
Three pairs of hands grabbed Jack and pulled him to the ground, their owners shushing him urgently. When they finally let him go, he straightened his jacket a little and gave them all a look like they'd grown an extra head each. Z put a finger to her lips pointedly and then directed him in the quietest whisper, "Look through there."
Jack still looked like he thought they'd all gone bats, but he reluctantly crawled forward and peered through the foliage. He watched for several minutes before drawing back.
"Interesting," was all he could say.
"Any guesses on what he might be doing?" asked Syd.
Jack shrugged. "If he ran all the way out here to do it, I'm guessing he needed to blow off some steam without killing anybody." He thought back to that one time he had the pleasure of running into one of Sky's shields. "Those forcefields aren't something to play around with."
"We've never seen him do anything like this before," said Syd, and with a sly look at Z that Jack didn't miss, "But then again, he's never eaten himself sick before."
At Jack's raised eyebrow, Z explained rather exasperatedly, "He lost that bet he made with me, so he had to finish one of those gallon buckets of ice cream. And he just happens to be lactose intolerant, which he never deigned to tell me himself."
"Would you have let up even if he told you?"
"Yes," she replied to the ground dubiously.
"Uh, guys?"
Three heads turned to look at Bridge, but he merely pointed behind them repeatedly with wide eyes. They swiveled their gazes around and took on a similar look when they saw the very large, translucent blue wall that was rapidly encroaching upon them. It was a part of a massive dome that was already pushing against the edges of the clearing, its apex as high as the treetops.
"Time to go." Jack was the first on his feet.
The four Rangers went tearing out of the thicket, not stopping even when they glanced back and realized the dome wasn't expanding beyond the borders of the clearing.
"You think he heard us?" asked Syd after they came to a halt on the track that circled the training field.
"I wouldn't be surprised. You three weren't exactly quiet as mice when I showed up," said Jack. "I didn't know he could do that. Did you?" The others shook their heads. "It'd be a handy trick in a fight."
"It takes energy, a lot of energy." Bridge had that thoughtful tone in his voice that meant his brain was firmly latched onto some new idea. "Energy he normally wouldn't have. What happens when a lactose intolerant person eats lactose?"
The other three Rangers didn't answer right away, uncertain of whether the Green Ranger was just musing aloud or actually asking them.
"He feels sick?" Syd answered hesitantly.
"Stomachache?" Z offered.
"And…the runs." Syd wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Can we stop talking about this now?"
"They have gas," replied Jack, very matter-of-factly. "Causes the stomachaches, the queasiness, and…yeah, sometimes it gives you the runs." When the others blinked at him in surprise, he added, "I had a younger cousin who was lactose intolerant, which he found out the hard way. Where are you going with this, Bridge?"
"It's something Sky explained to me once," he replied. "We were talking about when people, uh, when they pass wind—"
"When they fart," corrected Jack.
"He was trying to be polite, Jack."
"And I'm being to point. Besides, how polite can it be when it's about flatulence?"
Syd turned up her nose. "Boys. If it's not about girls' breasts or butts, it's about inappropriate bodily noises."
"Hey, I wasn't the one sitting around talking to my roommate about people farting."
"People do it because their bodies have to release that gas," Bridge went on hurriedly in explanation. "Our metabolism can't do anything else with it. Sky explained to me that his body can burn things other than just food as fuel for his forcefields, things that other people can't burn. Things like—"
"Gas," said Jack.
Bridge nodded. "He doesn't release it; he burns it to make forcefields. And since he did just eat a very large amount of lactose…"
"Are you telling me," Jack was having a very tough time maintaining a straight face, "that with those forcefields of his, he is, in his own way, farting out in the middle of the woods?"
"Silent but deadly?" Bridge cracked, and the four of them doubled over helplessly.
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Author's Comment: Yes people. I wrote a very elongated fart joke. But personally, I don't think this was nearly as clever as chapter one. Just weirder.