In the Terror Spacecraft, Sky was weakly defending himself against Mora's powerful kicks and punches. Even with his force shield shocking her on impact, Mora was able to buckle Sky's legs with one heavy blow. Mordom took a seat against the wall and watched his old student and his new student spar. Sky anticipated Mora's attack and slammed the shield against her leg at an angle, sending her down to the floor.
"Ow!" Mora said.
"Sorry, Miss Mora, but you should have seen that coming." Sky said. His charming smile peeked up beneath the bandages, calming Mora's temper. He dropped his shield and helped Mora up with his good arm. His left arm was trashed, but still useable. Mora was a miracle worker with the right medical supplies; Sky went from heavily damaged to being able to stand and carry on a small fight in a matter of hours.
Mordom enjoyed the playful match, but was heavily weakened. Bridge had managed to peel straight through his mental control, leaving Mordom with little control from the neck up, barring sudden emotional surges. Bridge's natural mental draining capacity kicked in halfway through as well, which began to drain off his consciousness. The two shots to Bridge's chest were just an excuse to let go of him. Mordom, in all, was tired.
However, Grumm didn't care about how they felt. He wanted results.
Grumm barged into the sparring room and spotted Mora and Sky sparring.
"What is the meaning of this?" Grumm asked, grabbing Mora by her injured arm. She cried out, and Sky stepped in by grabbing Grumm's arm and tossing it off. Grumm then grabbed Sky's arm and tossed him against the wall.
"Grumm, watch the boy! I need him." Mordom shouted.
"Keep him under control if you wish to keep him alive." Sky slowly got up, but collapsed to his knees. Mora ran to his side and helped him up.
"Emperor, he's a guest and Mordom's assistant! We must be gentle and friendly. We can't have upset guests."
"Why are you fighting with them? Are you planning to fight the Rangers yourself?"
"I'm still drawing! I just want to be a good fighter, too. Besides, he has a weak defense and I'm helping him build it up."
"Why haven't we defeated the Rangers yet?"
"My old student has allied herself with them, and she's been guarded by them all along. I plan to draw her out and get rid of her, and then the Rangers will be weak and defenseless. I need a monster and some Krybots to keep the Rangers busy while I take care of my student."
"Agreed, but this will cost you."
"Money means nothing. This is a fight between me and her; the Rangers don't need to be involved."
"That is something I like to hear." Mordom stood up and began to search through his suit for his billfold.
Down on Earth in the SPD Base, Stella was sitting in the Commons Room, sitting on the couch and thinking about the note. She knew that she had to go, but she feared her demise. It was her fear to die and leave those she cared about behind, especially when it came for doing it for SPD. She didn't want to die under Cruger's badge; she didn't want to sacrifice her life under Cruger's watchful eye. She feared the change that was coming, she feared the pain she had inflicted upon her friends. She wanted to run again, run and never be found this time. She remembered what good trying to save those she cared about the last time; Sky put her in jail the second she caught his eye, even after she had saved him from Grumm's attack on the Tantalus only a year beforehand. She didn't want to be a Ranger; she wanted to fade into the background and let others be the heroes. She wanted nothing but the peace her home didn't have. She wanted a home with no fighting, no pain, and no sorrow, but Grumm and Mordom would never let her have it. Mordom wanted nothing but power, Grumm wanted nothing but supremacy, and she threatened both of their desires with her presence. She had to do something, but she wanted to do nothing. She sighed as she looked at the note, and decided to take a nap on the couch. She was going to need the energy either way.
Several hours later, Stella awoke and walked into the infirmary where Bridge still lay sleeping. She sighed and looked around, making sure nobody was around. She wrapped her hands around his left hand, her bright red shield keeping them a fraction of an inch apart. She sighed, knowing that her chance to give him a proper goodbye were over.
"Thanks Bridge, for being there," She softly began to say as she softly ran her fingers over his hand. "for standing up for me, and for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself. You've given me courage to move forwards in life, and I thank you for that. I wanna thank you for making me feel human for the first time in my life; for my first kiss, and for my first real embrace." She blushed slightly at the short memories, then continued onwards. "In this life or another, we'll meet again, I promise. I promise that we'll both be perfectly normal human beings and we'll get to live together like everybody else does, and there will be no shields - emotional, mental, or physical - to make us unable to show how we feel. I know you like me, and I feel that way too. But I can't stay. I've caused you too much pain. I've caused the entire B Squad too much pain. I have to do what I feel is right, even if nobody supports me. I'm sorry." Stella laid a soft kiss upon his forehead, then turned to leave. She then stopped, took the note out of her pocket, and set it on the nightstand before leaving for the lab.
ACTER greeted her as she entered, and Stella replied with a smile.
"I'm going, ACTER." Stella said with a hint of joy in her voice.
"But…but…why?"
"I must do what is right…you can stay here and work for the B Squad just as I programmed you to do."
"But…I can't let you go without doing something for you in return!"
Stella smiled. She knew ACTER wouldn't give up until it did something for her. She thought the whole thing over, then an idea bubbled up to the surface. She gasped as the brilliant idea flashed in her mind. She ran for a spare parts drawer as she began to shout. "Just give me three hours and you will give me the best assistance you can give me!"
"Oh glee!" ACTER said as Stella began to tinker around with various combinations of wires.
Back in the infirmary, Z walked in to check up on Bridge. Kat was standing, looking at a piece of paper, turning it about as if hoping to find a hidden image.
"What's that?" Z asked.
"It looks like Sky's handwriting…" She handed it to Z, hoping that she'd be able to make sense out of it.
You are cordially invited to a tea party at the Sacred House tomorrow at dawn. You may not bring a Ranger friend along, or instant removal is guaranteed. Perhaps a little heart-to-heart talk can commence between us, and I'm sure that we can make this a lovely reunion, just the three of us. I hope to see you soon.
Z stared at the note and began to wonder if it was the one Mordom gave Stella. She didn't think Sky would address Bridge in the same manner; she didn't think that they were on that level of friendship, even though they had been friends for years. It made her question Sky and Stella's relationship a bit as well; were they once in love? The letter sounded too personal and caring to have gone to just a friend.
"Do you have any clue what the 'Sacred House' is?" Kat asked, hoping that Z's time on the streets would give her some sort of access to code names of buildings.
"Well, it could be a church of some sort…but I've never heard of a building referred to by the name 'Sacred House' before…you want me to ask around?"
"If you can find out anything, let me know." Kat said as she turned around to study the machines scanning Bridge's vitals.
"Okay." Z walked out and walked to the Commons Room. Five minutes later, she arrived to find Jack and Syd watching the video chip over, this time not skipping over the performance.
"Sky could've been a pop star with his voice," Syd began as Z sat next to her. "he could have even been more famous than me."
"Sky? A famous pop star?" Jack had to restrain a fit of laughter while questioning Syd's statement. "As if his ego wasn't big enough already…"
"Well, look who's talking." Z replied, flashing Jack a playful look.
"I am not egotistical!" Jack defended.
"Yeah, and I'm not blonde." Syd replied. Z and Jack looked at her, which made her squirm in her chair. "…So I use only a bit of bleach…" They looked away. "It's not that much!"
An awkward tension filled the room for a moment, then Z broke the silence to ask about the note. "Have either of you ever heard of a building called the 'Sacred House'?"
"The 'Sacred House'? I've heard of the Sacred Heart Church down on Main Street…but I don't think that's what you're asking about."
"Well, what's the context?"
"Kat found a note written by Sky on the nightstand next to Bridge's bed…bit I think Corona left it there for him to see, because if not, it's just a bit awkward-"
"Oh, I gotta see this!" Jack said, pulling the note out of Z's hand. He smoothed it out, cleared his throat, and began to read it aloud.
"Let's see here…'You are cordially invited to a tea party'…well, sounds normal enough, I guess. Does Sky drink tea?"
"I didn't know Sky even ate anything at all." Z joked.
"Ha. Okay… '…a tea party at the Sacred House tomorrow at dawn.' So this place is a building, possibly called the Sacred House. So whomever the note was going to knows what the place is. Got that. 'You may not bring a Ranger friend along, or instant removal is guaranteed.' Well, if we're considered friends of Corona-"
"Didn't Bridge call her Stella earlier?" Syd asked as the thought crossed her mind.
"Huh?" Z questioned. She remembered Bridge shouting the name earlier, but she had dismissed it as a fleeting thought racing through Bridge's mind in a time of crisis. However, Bridge wasn't one to make mistakes when he was sure of things.
"When she ran in the room, didn't he shout the name Stella?" Syd added to her previous comment.
"Why does this matter? You wanna figure out this letter or not?" Jack shot in. Both of the girls looked at Jack with displeased looks. "Fine, go on with your thing."
"Well Jack, don't you think that Bridge calling somebody he's spent a lot of time around lately by the wrong name seems a bit out of touch? Do you think it's possible that she lied about her name?"
"Well, Sky was called Nova in the video clips, so it's possible that her name is Stella. I'm more concerned about this letter and whatever juicy details we can get out of it."
"Ugh. Doesn't it interest you as to why, even after she left the ship, she kept the name?" Z asked.
"We can talk about it afterwards, okay?" The girls nodded. Jack then began to read the note once more. "'Perhaps a little heart-to-heart talk can commence between us…' ooh! How out-of-character that is for Sky…"
"If it's supposed to be for Bridge, it's all icky." Syd commented.
"Hey, if it's for him, then it's cute." Z replied.
"…'and I'm sure that we can make this a lovely reunion…', a cute little lover's spat! How juicy and blackmail-worthy! If it's Bridge, we're learning how to unlock that door and embarrass the hell out of them."
"Jack!" Syd shouted. "That's disgusting!"
"Oh Syd, it's the 2020's. It's totally normal for roommates to have above-friendship levels with each other." Z said, poking Syd in the arm gently.
"But it doesn't mean that it's still not gross." Syd replied.
"Ugh, get over it!" Z said. "Jack, finish it up."
"Well, that ruins it." Jack said. "He mentions a third party."
"…Ménage à trois?" Z replied with a slick grin.
"Ugh!" Syd got up and left.
"Well, whatever. We're still no closer to figuring out this damn thing." Jack said, turning the movie off. "I wish that some one could figure this out for us…"
"Me too, but it's late. We should head to bed."
"But I just woke up…" Jack whined.
"Go back to bed."
The next morning arrived, and Stella was long gone and approaching the meeting spot. She walked past the multitude of long-gone heroes, warriors, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. The wrought iron gate she had left open was now being bolted shut by Krybots as she walked down the lane, to the building surrounded by beautiful oak and willow trees. A pair of figures were camped out in front of the marble structure, apparently having a tea party with real cookies and tea. Stella brushed her black SPD cadet's uniform off, making sure that everything was just perfect. If anything was going to go down, she wanted to be prepared.
Sky was wearing a red and black body suit with a silver sleeveless cloak; his eyes cold and heartless, and his hair appearing to have been drawn straight up in a multitude of directions. The dark rings around his eyes made the irises look almost white and turned his face paler than before. The slashes from before were gone, but the presence of Mordom could be seen throughout.
Sky's companion Mora had opted to wear her hair up in small buns and to wear her lacy black dress that she loved so much. Beside her sat Cindy Sunshine, who was dressed in a freshly washed yellow dress for the occasion. Mora was the one to notice Stella.
"Good morning, Miss Stella…we've been waiting for you …" Mora said softly. Her voice was smooth and cool, but a lurking tone of demise for all who heard it seemed to slither into it.
"Good morning…" Stella replied back in a snippy tone. She hated it when people who weren't close to her called her by her real name.
"You want some tea?" Sky asked, picking up the pot.
Stella knew that she was stepping into a trap, but she wanted to try and be as diplomatic as possible. "Of course."
Z awoke sharply as the sun began to rise. She leaped out of bed, quickly did her morning bathing rituals, then practically tossed her uniform on. She ran down to the lab, hoping that Stella was still around.
"Stella…?" She called out, getting no response. She noticed that RIC was sitting next to her desk, waiting for her. Z bent down and began to stroke the top of RIC's head.
"Where's Stella, RIC?" Z asked the robotic canine. RIC just turned her head, unsure of what she asked. Z frowned; obviously RIC didn't know who that was. Kat scared Z by tapping her on the shoulder. Z stood upright and faced her.
"Are you looking for something, Officer Delgado?"
"Where is she?" Z asked.
"She hasn't come in yet. Have you found out what the letter means?"
"We're not a step closer to figuring it out."
"Well, the note was addressed for today."
"We know that, but nobody knows where this place is, or even what it is!"
"This is not good…" Kat said with a frown. Kat walked to her desk, and both Z and RIC followed her. "Doggie's not gonna like the news…"
"…So I take it she left…?" A meek voice called from the doorway. Kat, Z, and RIC looked up to see Bridge. Z sighed and nodded. "I guess my dream was a premonition…" Bridge gave a look suggesting that he was torn up by his last statement. He turned to leave, but Z walked over and stopped him.
"Bridge…do you know anything about this note?" Z handed the note over to Bridge.
"I've never seen it before…was this the one Mordom gave Stella?" Bridge asked as he took the note.
"Oh, so her name really is Stella?"
"Well, that's what Cruger called her, and that's what she told me it is, so it has to be right." Bridge replied. He then began studying the note intently. "Interesting…"
Back at the Sacred House, Mora was about to leave as Stella arrived.
"You two have fun now, okay? Cindy Sunshine and I are going to gather up our friends to send them later."
"Have fun!" Sky replied in a cheery tone. Mora teleported back to the Terror Spacecraft, and Stella sat down where Mora had been sitting. Stella looked down and grabbed a ladyfinger to nibble on. She was well aware that anything could happen in her current situation, but she was concerned that Mordom hadn't attempted to make a move. She poured herself some tea, then stared at it, hoping that if there was poison in it, that she could make it visible.
"It's orange pekoe." Mordom said politely. "Do you need some sugar?" Stella didn't respond; she was thinking of how she could get her own conversation going. After a few seconds, she looked up.
"Why do you hate me?"
"Child, I don't hate you! I just want what's best for you. You're squandering your meaningful life working for SPD. You could rule the galaxy as a top general in Grumm's army, yet you waste your time repairing weapons and Zords for the puny SPD!" Mordom replied.
Stella sighed. The wrong listener replied. She decided to ask later.
Back at the SPD Base, Bridge was sitting in a lab chair, spinning about as he read. Jack and Syd had joined in, and Boom was paying more attention to Bridge's nausea-inducing spinning than on what Kat had asked him to do.
"A…'Sacred House'…" Bridge said. A flash of one of Stella's memories raced across his mind; the image of the boy at the funeral. He suddenly stopped spinning and got up, promptly doing a headstand, hoping that the boy would come back to his mind. Why had he shown up, anyways? After less than ten seconds in the headstand position, the memory came back.
"Stella, turn around." A voice called up from above. Stella only wanted to stare at the boy who was staring up at the stars.
"Schuyler…? Are we going to be alone now…?" Stella asked. The boy looked at Stella with a cold look on his face. "We're never alone, Stella. We have each other, and we have our friends and the stars…the stars look over us…he's up there watching us…" Stella smiled at watch as the coffin carriers sealed the mausoleum up. "This is a sacred place now, Stella…"
"Sacred?"
"If we're ever alone or scared, we come here, got it?" Sky's voice was serious, even in his young age.
"Of course. This is a sacred house now…"
"Of course!" Bridge said as he came out of the headstand. "A mausoleum!"
"Mausoleum?" Kat asked. Bridge's comment seemed completely out of the blue.
"Well, the meaning of the phrase has to be known by both people to some extent, right?" Bridge asked, his hands beginning to take the trip of explanation that they shared with both Bridge's mouth and brain. The group knew that he was onto something.
"Yeah, or else it's meaningless." Kat replied.
"So you have to think of a house that would be considered sacred to Sky as well as Stella. Since we know so little about Stella, you gotta then think of the things Sky reveres."
"Okay…" Z commented.
"Well?"
"You want us to think about it?" Syd asked. Bridge sighed.
"One thing he reveres the most is his father, right? Now, his father's died and moved on, and they put his body in a mausoleum."
"How would you know this?" Kat asked.
"Long story." Bridge quickly brushed it aside and continued with his explanation. "Now, a mausoleum is a building that houses the dead, right? So it could be considered a house. If somebody very important is in it, then it could be considered a sacred house. End of story."
"But what I don't get is how you knew all of this." Kat asked.
"Well…" Bridge started becoming nervous. "When the accident happened, my powers must have reached deep inside her subconscious, diving for whatever it could. I have a few of her stronger memories in my head, and from what I've seen, she could have a few of mine."
"Oh, that's great." Syd said. "I can only imagine the thoughts of hers you've got up there."
"Actually, We broke the link pretty quickly, so probably not much more than what I know about."
"You wouldn't mind if I ran some tests on you later, would you?"
"Of course not." Bridge replied.
"But we have to go-" Suddenly, the energy monitor on Kat's desk began to screech, indicating that an energy surge was occurring. She looked down and gasped.
"A massive Troobian energy surge…at the Memorial Cemetery." Syd, jack and Z looked at Bridge in awe.
"Well, what can I say? When you're right, you're right." Bridge shrugged as he reached for his morpher.
Back in the cemetery, Mordom had grown tired of waiting. He smiled and began to sip his cup of tea. "Can I confidently say that you shall be joining us back to Grumm's flagship?"
"No." Stella confidently replied. Mordom set the cup down.
"Then I guess you give me no choice." He fired a shot straight at Stella, knocking her roughly thirty yards backwards.
If she hadn't have anticipated the attack, she would've literally lost her head. Her shield all but diminished from the blast, but it was still functioning enough for Stella to use her shield spike. She quickly sprung to her feet, feeling within her a second sense of the entire situation beyond her own. She charged forward, shield spike prepared and ready to strike. She took charge and bounded through the picnic set, taking a quick swipe at Mordom as she came close. The attack was blocked and countered by Mordom grabbing her wrist. Her immediate reaction conflicted; she initially tried to pull away, but she then opted to windmill out of the move and reply with a shove. This way of fighting was completely hopeless; she dropped her blade and clenched her right fist, producing a blinding white light. She then took a new fighting position and began to charge once more.
She whipped out a roundhouse kick, followed by a leg sweep. Mordom was taken aback by the sudden switch in fighting style; Stella had almost never resorted to kicks before. A clean right hook was next in order, which took both Sky and Mordom by surprise this time around. Mordom drew up Sky's shield and began to shield bash Stella with it, sending sparks flying around the field. Stella took several steps back, then changed her style once more. She backed up and made a running jump over Sky's shield, gripping her right hand and firing off a light blast once again. While Mordom was distracted by the light, Stella grabbed had landed behind him, grabbing his waist and tossing him to the ground. As he got up, she used the light blast once more, then soccer kicked him in the head several times. "Stay down!" she shouted as she quickly took a position in front of the mausoleum. Mordom growled as he whipped out several shurikens and tossed them at Stella.
The Rangers arrived just as Stella began to kick Mordom while he was on the ground.
"Stay right where you are!" Syd said, firing off her Striker at the large crowd and striking several Krybots.
"That's right! We're not letting you crash the tea party!" Z commented, Following Syd's lead and unloading several shots into the crowd.
"This is not your place anyways!" Bridge added, firing at the lock on the gate door and shattering it. The Krybots were more focused on destroying the Rangers than going in, so they didn't notice.
"It's time for us to get rid of you guys!" Jack finished off the dialogue with several quick shots from his Delta Blasters and picking off several more Krybots.
Bridge spotted Stella being struck by the shurikens; the sparks flew through the air as she was picked up off the ground by the impact. "Guys! Stella's in trouble!"
"Well, so are we! There's a lot of Krybots here!" Z said, firing off several more shots and taking out a few more Krybots. It seemed as if every time one Krybot fell, three replaced it. Bridge pulled back over to the Delta Cruiser and hopped in the back. Jack quickly put the Patrol Cycles in a safe place before joining Bridge.
"What do you girls say we turn this dilapidated old buggy into a rolling vehicle of Krybot doom?" Bridge commented.
"Sounds good to me!" Z said, revving up the engine and backing up. The Krybots that began closing in were quickly picked off by the combined laser blasts. As they drove forward, the previously gunned down Krybots were crushed under the wheels; both the pistols and the front end of the Cruiser mowed down the Krybots behind them. The Cruiser slammed into the gates, knocking the doors down just as Bridge spotted a truly horrifying sight.
Mordom fired off a final blast as Stella had finished removing the shurikens from her body. She didn't have the time to defend herself, and the blast forced a river of sparks to erupt from her. She shrieked as she was sent flying through the mausoleum door, drawing a smile across Sky's face.
"Well well, it seems like I finally won." Mordom said with a pleased tone in his voice.
"Stella!" Bridge screamed as he leaped out of the cruiser. Z stopped the cruiser and followed up after him on foot. Syd and Jack joined Z. The remaining Krybots were catching up to them now that they were on foot, but nobody seemed to notice.