Strange Distant Stars: Ten things that did not happen to Bridge Carson. In this chapter: what if the villains of SPD had been a little more cognizant of their nemeses? What if they knew all of SPD's weaknesses…and what if they actually took advantage of the situations that arose?
Warnings: A hint of slash—you can miss it (or ignore it) if you blink. Images of violence but nothing too bad (I hope).
Notes: AU from the
episode Missing, spoilers for the end of the series.
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Chapter Four: Lost
Emperor Gruumm, the ruler of over fifteen star systems and the terror of countless galaxies, sat in deep complementation on his spaceship, hovering above Earth. He sat in total silence, intently observing an image displayed on a screen in front of him. The image emitted no noise but showed a human male dressed in green pacing anxiously in what appeared to be a tiny cell block.
"So...an opportunity finally arises," Gruumm murmured. "When one of Cruger's precious Rangers is all alone and completely defenseless. Interesting."
"Sire."
Gruumm dismissed the image of the SPD Green Ranger with a wave of his hand.
"Who disturbs me?"
"Reporting as ordered, Sire," an orange head robot bowed submissively before Gruumm.
"Yes…" Gruumm turned to face his robotic general.
"Bork, that nefarious space criminal, has one of the Rangers trapped on Earth," Emperor Gruumm informed the orange head. "I have located his position."
The robot nodded. "I shall get him."
"No. Just make sure no one else gets to him," Gruumm smiled evilly. The orange head nodded and moved to leave.
"No…Wait!" Gruumm's shout brought his servant back.
"I…I have changed my mind," the Emperor's voice sounded slightly pained. "Why should I…Of course I am not questioning….but what can this boy mean to your plans…" Gruumm addressed the air above him with a wave of one of his boney hands.
"Your orders?" The orange robot questioned.
Gruumm ignored his subordinate.
"…Of course. I obey," Gruumm's eyes flashed once before he turned to the robot before him
"Bring me the Ranger. Now!"
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"Hang in there buddy. I'm gonna find you!"
Bridge Carson felt his heart lift at the determined tone in Jack Landor's voice. 'I know you will, Jack,' Bridge thought to himself as he heard the communication terminate. For the first time since he woke up from Bork's attack, Bridge allowed himself to relax.
"I feel better," Bridge said out loud to himself.
The tiny room he was trapped in was completely bare and covered in dirt and grime, with odd strains covering the walls at various angles. Yet it wasn't the condition of the room that bothered Bridge, but the utter lack of noise in the small room. He wasn't used to silence; Bridge couldn't even feel nearby presences with his psychic powers. That meant he was someplace removed from Newtech City…and from Jack. 'I have a feeling this could be a while,' Bridge mused.
"Well…" Bridge sighed. "Nothing else to do now but sit back and relax….take it easy…" Bridge leaned against one of the walls despondently. "Wait for Jack."
A sudden loud thud above Bridge startled him, causing him to stumble. He heard loud scrapping noises and the sound of digging above his head.
"Ah….that was fast," Bridge smiled. "Jack? Jack, I'm down here!"
A sudden explosion above Bridge shook the walls of the tiny cell, knocking Bridge to the floor. He heard before he felt part of the ceiling give way. A large cloud of dust quickly filled the room, completely obscuring his vision.
"Agh…maybe a…a little less guns next time, Jack," Bridge coughed as he got to his feet. "Not that I don't appreciate…guns….ah….Jack?" Bridge peered into the dust cloud. "Hello?"
Bridge heard a whirling mechanical sound just before a metal fist parted the dust to land a punch square in Bridge's midsection. Bridge cried out before falling to his knees. As he knelt catching his breath, another metallic arm moved to punch Bridge in the face; this time he was able to duck the blow and roll to his feet.
"Ah..I'm guessing you're not Jack," Bridge addressed the troop of Krybots now standing his cell.
"Seize him!"
Servos whirled and the Krybots beeped in compliance before rushing the Green Ranger.
Being weak from the previous attack by Bork and outnumbered in a tiny room, Bridge was quickly overtaken by the robotic soldiers. While trying to escape the grasp of one Krybot, Bridge felt two more seize him from behind and one of the robots kick Bridge's feet out from other him. In desperation, Bridge attempted to remove his communicator from his pocket while struggling with the robots pinning him to the floor of the cell. Just as the tiny morpher stumbled into his gloved hands, a heavy foot slammed against the side of Bridge's palm, causing the Green Ranger to cry out and the communicator to drop from his grasp.
"Jack's not coming," the orange head mocked before he crushed the communicator with his heel.
"Bring him to Gruumm!" was the last order Bridge heard before something hard was slammed against his head, knocking him unconscious.
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The first thing he became aware of was the sound of singing; horrible off key singing. He was lying on a hard metal surface, which clacked with the movement of footsteps.
"Ring around with Cindy,
Around the beat-up Bridgey.
Ashes! Ashes! The Ranger falls DOWN!"
The last word of the song was shouted in Bridge's ear and he jolted to complete awareness. "Wha?"
"Oh goody! You're awake now!" A shill voice giggled. "I was wondering when you were gonna wake, sleepy-head."
Bridge groaned and sat up—and suddenly found himself face to face with
"Morgana!"
"Oh you remember me!" Morgana smiled. "No brain damage then. Rats."
"What…how do you know my name?" Bridge found himself asking as he remembered Morgana's song.
"Oh please. Just because Mr. One Horn is completely obsessed with Cruger, doesn't mean I don't know your name, silly," Morgana scoffed. "We know all about you," Morgana sing-songed.
"You…you do?"
"Yup. Including where you were born, who your roommate is, your psychic powers and your every weakness…even your strange fascination with toast."
"…"
"What? We villains get bored too, ya know." Morgana defended herself to the astonished Bridge.
"R..ight…Makes sense," Bridge said cautiously.
"Now I would invite you to a tea party with Cindy but Gruumm has ordered me to bring you to him as soon as you woke up," Morgana sighed and crossed her arms in anger. "I really had a nice dress for you to wear too! Oh well, it will have to wait I guess."
"Or you could, you know not…not bring me to Gruumm I mean not yet, cause I think I wouldn't mind the dress…much."
Bridge rambled, backing away from Morgana. He winced when he suddenly bumped into something large and metallic; the orange head robot from earlier who grabbed Bridge's arms and twisted them behind him into a tight hold.
"Hmm, yes the dress did match your eyes," Morgana smiled evilly. "Lots of lace with a pretty ribbon sash. You would just love the wig I got for you to go with it; makes you look a bit like your blond Sydney friend."
The orange head began to force march Bridge down the hallway.
"Oh I know!" Morgana called to Bridge's retreating form. "When you're done with Gruumm, I shall dress you up and take you to visit Sydney and Elizabeth…If you're still alive that is!"
Morgana's laughter echoed in Bridge's ears as he was dragged to another part of the ship.
A few rapid turns and twists in the ship and Bridge found himself being thrown into a dark red room that was illuminated by tiny pulsing lights that snaked like veins across the walls. Bridge squinted into the darkness, making out a dark figure sitting on a throne like chair in the center of the room. A figure he'd only actually encountered once before. Gruumm.
"We meet again, Green Ranger," Gruumm hissed from his seated position. "And I see nothing has changed since I last saw you."
"Ah…really? Cause the last time you saw me, I was morphed and on my bike which is very different from being unmorphed and slightly bruised…unless you have been spying on me, like Morgana," Bridge shuddered at the thought.
"Silence!" Gruumm jumped to his feet and slammed his iron staff into the ground. "I do not want to hear you speak, Green Ranger! If not for the order to spare your life, I would not stand to have you breathe in the same room as me!"
"…Ordered?" the question rolled out of Bridge's mouth before he could stop it. He winced and threw both gloved hands over his mouth.
Gruumm growled and pointed his staff dangerously at Bridge. "Why are you so special? I already have an SPD Green Ranger as my servant! We do not need another!" Gruumm addressed this last statement to the ceiling. "He is not necessary, my master."
'Another Green Ranger? Master?' Bridge mind was whirling.
"I could kill him. Send his body in pieces back to Cruger. Right now!" Gruumm pleaded to no one.
As if in response, the air in the room began to hum and Bridge began to feel a tingling sensation, almost like being accidentally electrocuted, in his brain. Bridge winced and backed away from Gruumm, who appeared to be more affected by the strange buzzing sensation.
"My lord…"
A sudden rush of psychic energy filled the room; something dark and evil. It was like being suddenly overwhelmed by a dark wave in a bottomless ocean and Bridge nearly fell to the floor in shook. In front of him, Gruumm screamed and looked like he was trapped in a state of either agony or ecstasy; Bridge couldn't tell.
One word seemed to pulse through the room.
'Mine.'
Then the electrifying presence vanished from the room, leaving Gruumm gasping on the throne.
"What…what is that?" Bridge gasped, clutching at his head as if to rub the memory of the horrible pressure out of his mind.
At Bridge's words, Gruumm suddenly came to life on the throne, sitting up and roaring something unintelligible to Bridge. Faster than the Ranger thought possible, Gruumm moved across the room and a heavy hand suddenly grabbed Bridge's neck and threw him up against the wall.
Bridge's gasp was silenced as he felt himself lifted off his feet and the air nearly crushed from his throat.
"Why?" Gruumm's voice was inches from Bridge's ear, a loud serpent hiss.
"What…does…he…want…with….you!" Glowing red eyes moved into Bridge's eyesight; the rest of the world seemed to gray as Bridge struggled in vain for oxygen.
"You're weak!" Gruumm's hand shook Bridge like a doll.
"Vile." Another shake.
"Pathetic."
"Human!"
Gruumm roared again, and suddenly Bridge found himself flying through the air and colliding with the wall on the other side of the room. Bridge screamed as he felt his arm snap under the pressure.
"See how weak it is! How…fragile humans are. How it bleeds!"
Bridge bit his lip against the sob building in his throat and struggled to sit up. As he lifted his head, he saw Gruumm standing in the center of the room, staring up at the ceiling.
"I would crush him if he were not yours, this tool of Cruger's! How I want him dead! You know that. You do not answer. You enjoy my rage! You do not answer!
...Fine. It is your will, my beloved. Still I am yours… Magnificence."
Gruumm reached out a bony hand as if to grasp at the air and then clenched it into a fist. He turned to Bridge with glowing eyes.
"You."
Bridge shook slightly as he attempted to pick himself off the floor.
"So weak. So very….pretty. Such bright blue eyes," Gruumm spoke in a mocking tone.
He strode over to Bridge and laughed when the Ranger scrambled with his back against the wall from the psychopath.
"A pretty little toy. Cruger's favorite perhaps? Huh, pretty Green Ranger? Perhaps that might explain my Master's desires for you.
Yes I see it. I see it clearly now. This changes nothing! So what if He has chosen another vessel! He has you, just like I have Cruger's wife! Just like we shall have everything!"
"I don't…I don't understand what you're talking about," Bridge said, struggling to stand. "But I'm not yours!"
Gruumm's eyes flashed. "Yes, quite right, Ranger. Not mine."
Gruumm raised his hand and suddenly Bridge felt himself lifting into the air. Bridge panicked and began to fail about, holding his bad arm to his chest. Gruumm stared up at Bridge, glaring at him with red eyes.
"His."
Bridge abruptly dropped towards the floor. He groaned, dazed, when Gruumm suddenly lifted him up like he weighed nothing. Gruumm slung him over his shoulder and strode out of the tiny room.
Morgana was waiting just outside the door. "Where are you taking him?"
"To the chamber."
"But no one is allowed in there!"
"Silence, woman!"
Bridge lifted his head to see Morgana's face pout as they went by.
"Ohhhh…and I so wanted to have tea with him first."
More dark corridors and strange pulsing lights blurred past Bridge as he and Gruumm moved deeper into the ship. The further they went the quieter the corridors became; even the slight hum of the ship seem to fade from Bridge's ears. A stagnant silence--not even the sound of Gruumm's breathing was audible.
In the dark and silent halls, Bridge began to feel the same electrifying pressure from before starting to build up inside his mind. The silence fed into the dark wave that threatened to drown him and just when Bridge thought his head might explode, he found himself being slammed back onto his feet in front of a large decorative door.
With lightening fast movements Gruumm had Bridge's hands pinned in his own. The sudden jolt to Bridge's broken forearm caused the Ranger to scream and tears to fall down his face. Bridge was so caught up in the pain that he barely felt Gruumm remove the leather gloves from his hands.
"Your master awaits, Ranger." Gruumm snarled.
"Not…master…."Bridge gasped as he swayed on his feet.
Gruumm snorted, and with a touch gentler than anything Bridge had felt from the Emperor previously, Gruumm guided Bridge to the door.
"He shall have you…" Gruumm whispered into Bridge's ear. "And he shall make you destroy every human being on this planet. Every living thing that moves shall turn to dust. Parents, friends, children; he will make you destroy every human that looks like you, that once felt like you, that once breathed like you. You shall be the harbinger of death to your entire planet."
Gruumm paused and raised one boney hand to wipe at the trail of tears that remained on Bridge's cheek. Bridge flinched at the strange cold touch and the utter lack of any warm emotion.
Then the heavy doors of the chamber creaked opened and with sudden ferocity Gruumm shoved Bridge into the room.
"Then, when you have destroyed everything that you once were, when you revile the very sight of yourself; your psychic powers, your body, your pretty pretty eyes….then and only then will you truly know Ommi as your master."
The heavy door slammed shut, hiding the dead Emperor from view and silencing Bridge's screams.
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And if this story was too dark for you, I also uploaded a more humorous Z story to offset this chapter. /end shameless plug
The next chapter might take a while since I got bit by another plot bunny, which just won't leave me alone! Coming eventually, an AU story of the episode Recognition.
"Bridge knew that his relationship with Sky had started to flounder ever since Jack Landors joined SPD. Its almost like he was losing his best friend…." (Bridge/Sky)