Disclaimer: Okay, this chapter got snapped in half. I should have the next chapter up sometime today. But for now, I have this for you. Thanks for everybody r+r'ing…you've really made this an amazing experience for me. I'm happy to be writing something that both my audience and I can enjoy for the first time in…whenever. So, continue enjoying!
Bridge arrived in the Commons Room and found Z, Jack and Syd waiting for him.
"So…how'd it go?" Z asked in that tone that always suggests a full-on interest that is only satisfied with tons of juicy details.
"It was okay. We found out that her computer set us up on a date-thing, and a trio of black-aura'd people tried to split us up. Needless to say, it was weird."
"Ooh. Which one do you wanna divulge into first?" Syd asked.
"Neither."
Bridge sat down on a couch and began to muse on about the empty-shelled monster that had disguised itself as a nun, and why the children had such negative auras. The little girl didn't seem so bad, to be honest, but she was dressed up for a charity ball rather than a diner. The boy was noisome and grating. The sudden jumping of topics should have been a warning sign instead of an impediment. He had to keep on his toes; all suspicious activity was going to be thoroughly scanned until Mordom was caught, he decided.
He then sighed and frowned quickly, thinking about Corona's condition. It was a sad one, but nonetheless a beneficial one for Bridge. He was actually feeling a bit better about being around her, knowing that he couldn't harm her if he accidentally slipped while wearing a tee shirt or something else that would be incredibly unfortunate and potentially deadly in any other circumstance.
"…Bridge?" Z called out directly next to his ear, disrupting his train of thought. He suddenly looked up and blinked.
"What?"
"Tell us how breakfast went. Now. We're interested." Z replied with a hint of authority in her voice.
"Yeah, as your commanding officer, Bridge, I demand that you tell us all the juicy details." Jack added. Bridge frowned slightly; Jack had never used his 'authority' on him yet, but there was always a first time for everything, it seemed.
"Okay…fine…" Bridge huffed.
However, aboard Grumm's ship, all was not happiness and gossip. Mora pouted as the 'nun' patted her and her little boyfriend on their heads. The little boy, with a snap of his fingers, changed into a small Crybot, and the 'nun' changed its appearance as well. With a black cloud of smoke, its appearance changed to that of Mordom.
"We didn't get that blasted Power Ranger away from that girl!" She pouted. "I was in my nicest dress and everything!" She threw a hissy fit, knocking her Crybot friend off the right guardrail into the never-ending pit below.
"Miss Mora, do not fret." Mordom said as it patted Mora gently on the head.
"Mordom, I'm upset! We were supposed to get that girl and make her have tea parties with me!"
"You insolent child!" Grumm shouted as he barged in. He had been awaiting the arrival of Mora and Mordom, and he was livid that they failed to retrieve the woman. "The pirate girl Corona is not a play toy! She is part of my grand scheme to rule Earth! How could you let her slip through your fingers?" His eyes glowed red.
"She has an SPD escort with her, Emperor Grumm." Mordom replied. "We were unable to peel him away from her."
"Why didn't you just attack the SPD escort?"
"He was a Ranger, Emperor. One must be stealthy when dealing with SPD. We tried to draw their attentions away from each other, but they were too intent on staying a pair for us to make our move."
"Curses! Cruger is testing my patience, and he will pay dearly for it! I want you to do everything within your power to bring the girl to me, do you understand Mordom?"
"Yes, Emperor." Mordom answered, giving a slight bow out of respect. As Grumm began to walk off, Mordom cleared his throat. "Emperor, I do have good news for you if you wish to hear it."
"Tell me."
"I have a second student here on Earth. If you wish, I can also attempt to get in contact with him. He is much more…open to persuasion…than the girl is, and he is at the same level of skill as the girl."
"I would prefer the girl, but this other student of yours sounds promising. How much more would I need to pay you for both of them?"
"Oh, this is on the house. I would love nothing more than to have my students back under my wings, and I would love to see my bright little boy again." Mordom said in a warm tone.
"If you want, I can send Krybots with you to distract the Rangers while you spirit away your students."
"Oh, that would be most wonderful, Emperor. But I warn you, I will not be able to just…'spirit away' my students in mere moments. I wish to send out a massive attack to both distract the Rangers and give me time to retrieve my students."
"This will cost you, you know."
"I am willing to pay the price, my Emperor."
"Then I will need your assistance in my next attack. That will be your payment."
"As you wish, my Emperor." Mordom quickly bowed.
Back at the SPD's B Squad Commons Room, Bridge was finishing up his lengthy report about the scene at the diner.
"So I scanned their auras…it was weird. The children had these big black auras…and the nun…she was nothing but a shell."
"What do you mean, 'a shell'?" Syd asked.
"Like, the only kind of aura that showed up was a shell; it's like, there's a barrier around the body, and the middle is empty…the aura is incomplete because the body is nothing but what you see on the outside. Do you get it now?"
"Oh. How weird!" Syd replied.
"So the nun and the children were trying to split you two up? Crazy." Z added.
"Well, I think they were monsters. Especially the little girl; that one tried way too hard to fit in."
"Oh, fun." Z said. She seemed to not particularly care about the way the girl looked. "Well, we should all get down to weapons trai-" The alarm sounded. "well, forget that, then." They got up and went into the Command Center.
Sky was there ten seconds later than the rest of the Rangers; he entered with an irritated look on his face which briefly was focused on Bridge, but then dropped and replaced with his 'perfect soldier' façade as he stood at attention and looked up at Cruger.
"Rangers, there is a disturbance at a small oil refinery. I need you to stop the Krybots from causing any accidents from happening there. Hurry, on the double."
The Rangers saluted silently and ran to their vehicles.
Ten minutes later, the Rangers arrived on the scene. Mordom was waiting for them outside.
"Ah, Officer Tate, how nice of you to visit me. You should have brought Miss Tantalus with you."
"She's where she belongs, and you'll be heading in that direction pretty soon." Sky retorted.
"Alright! Let's clean this guy's clock!" Jack said. The Rangers whipped out their Delta Morphers.
"SPD! Emergency!"
Within moments, they were transformed into Rangers and they were ready to battle.
"Ah, the children wish to play…I'll give you some new friends to play with!" Mordom replied. It then tossed two Crybot orbs into the air, releasing roughly two dozen Krybots onto the field between Mordom and the Rangers.
"Now, leave me alone! I have a job to do!" Mordom turned around and walked towards the plant.
"I can't let you do that!" Sky said, cutting a path through the Krybots.
"Sky! Get back here!" Jack shouted.
"This'll be quick, don't worry!" Sky replied as he approached Mordom.
"You dare to defy me?" Mordom said as he turned around.
Without moving an inch, Mordom damaged Sky and sent sparks flying through the air. However, that's only what it seemed like to the untrained eye. In reality, Mordom had moved and attacked Sky with his dagger so fast, that not even Sky had seen it coming. Sky stood up and configured his Delta Blaster. Mordom pulled out several shurikens and tossed them in Sky's direction. Sky, with his ever-watchful eyes and amazing reflexes, dodged all the shurikens and fired a direct hit to Mordom's chest simultaneously. Mordom was taken aback as it held its chest.
"Surrender now, Mordom!" Sky shouted. "We'll go easy on you."
"Oh, you should worry about your own health, Officer Tate." Sky spotted several Krybots pushing several drums of oil out of the refinery. Sky shot at the Krybots, piercing through it and striking a barrel, causing it to ignite the entire six-pack of oil barrels. Needless to say, the explosion was massive, taking out most of the parking lot, and all of the Krybots stationed in it. Mordom was rocked forwards from the explosion, and Sky was tossed backwards into a few Krybots behind him.
"Sky! I told you to stand down!" Jack said as he shot down the Krybots closing in around him.
Sky got up, making sure to take out the Krybots he landed on. However, Mordom had escaped in the mere moments it took for him to get back up. Sky threw a small temper tantrum.
"Dammit!" He shouted, tossing his Delta Blaster to the ground.
"Sky! Stop it!" Jack ordered.
Sky just stood in place, trying to calm himself down before he suddenly powered down, started tugging on his hair, and started howling madly in a vicious rage. After a moment, he picked up his Delta Blaster, powered down and headed back to his Patrol Cycle. He knew what was coming.
The Rangers returned, the blame was turned to Sky for messing up the mission, but somehow he was commended.
"Despite the loss of materials, you prevented Grumm from getting his hands on it. Furthermore, the destruction of said materials was nothing more than an uncontrollable accident. The shot went through the Crybot; it isn't like you intentionally meant to fire at the oil drums." Sky looked relieved for the moment, but Cruger had more pressing matters at hand. The oil refinery was nothing more than a distraction. The real trouble was hurtling towards Earth; in fact, it was striking the surface that that very moment. An alarm went off as a massive collision reading flashed on the scanners.
"Sir, the ship has crashed into an abandoned region outside of New Tech City, sir." Kat reported.
"Officer Carson, return to your post. Officers Delgado, Landors, and Drew, you are dismissed. Kat, you are also dismissed. Officer Tate, remain here."
The four dismissed Rangers looked at each other in awe; something happened, and Cruger didn't want them. As confused as they were, they bought into it and left. Kat, however, knew what Cruger wanted, and nodded silently before leaving.
As soon as the room was cleared, Cruger walked up to Sky and gave him a very warm look in an attempt to bring Sky to a calm.
"At ease." Sky relaxed his pose.
"What is it, Sir?" Sky asked.
"We saw that the S.P.S. Tantalus-"
"Sir, if you're asking me to-"
"Don't interrupt me, Sky." His tone was stern and cold towards his usually obedient officer.
"Yes, Sir." Sky's nerves were showing.
"Sky, I want you to go inside the Tantalus and retrieve any recorded documents or data entries that recorded the last moments of the ship."
"You do know that it was commandeered by intergalactic pirates nearly fifteen years ago, and therefore is no longer SPD property, Sir…?"
"Don't you dare question what I know again, Sky, or I'll put you on a permanent leave from active duty. Do you understand me?" Cruger was trying his hardest to maintain his temper, but Sky's relentless lack of respecting authority was severing his control slowly.
"Yes, Sir." Sky looked wounded by the comment.
"Now. Listen to me and keep your mouth shut. I know you are very unwilling to do this mission that I am assigning to you, but this is a one-man job and you're the only cadet that knows the insides of the shuttle. I want you to go in there and retireve any kind of backlogged information on the final moments of the ship. I want to confirm that it was Grumm who destroyed the crew. Do you understand, Sky?"
"Yes, Sir." Sky regained his composure, but not without a sense that a sudden draft of karma was flying at him.
"Now go. I fear that Grumm will have Krybots littered around the area, trying to salvage what they can, but I am confident that you will be able to defend yourself properly. Get going."
Sky saluted Cruger, then turned around to head for his Patrol Cycle.
"Sky, wait." Cruger said. Sky turned around. Cruger summoned his inner parental unit and began to talk with a soft voice. "Listen, I'm greatly sorry that I'm pressuring you with this assignment, but sending Corona alone would not only be a bad idea as far as morale and ethics goes, but it would give Mordom a chance to attack her."
"Sir, what about me?"
"You have SPD technology on your side, Sky. Corona doesn't. Now go, you're wasting time."
Sky nodded and left. He knew he was going to regret this day by its end.