Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

When the Grim Reaper Knocks

Chapter III

Cruger was in the infirmary still holding Sky's hand. Then out of nowhere, the blankets that were covering Sky flew off of him and a force sent Cruger flying backwards. After Cruger picked himself off the ground, he noticed something bizarre. Sky appeared to be glowing a faint blue. Cruger walked over to Sky and noticed that Sky was grabbing his head in pain. His screams of agony echoed through the Academy.

"Help me! No! Make it stop!" Sky yelled over and over again while clutching his head.

Kat had heard Sky's screams and came rushing into the infirmary. She saw Sky tossing and turning on the stretcher while holding onto his head. She wondered if maybe Sky was having a nightmare because his eyes were shut. Then, Kat noticed the same thing Cruger noticed earlier. Sky was glowing a faint blue. She walked over to Sky and put a hand on his forehead when she was thrown backwards. Cruger ran over to her and helped her to her feet.

"I don't believe this! It appears as though Sky has encased himself in a force field," Kat stated.

Cruger looked at her with a puzzled expression written on his face. Kat was just as confused as Cruger though. There was nothing she could do so long as Sky had enclosed himself in a force field. If she couldn't even touch him, there was no way for her to be able to help him. Besides even if she was able to touch him, she had absolutely no clue how to even begin to help him. Kat had never seen anything like this before. She knew that Sky was the only living human on Earth who could create force fields with his mind, but she wondered what had caused Sky to put up the force field in the first place. It made even less sense because Sky had been unconscious. Sky continued to shout the same thing over and over while writhing in pain clutching his head.

"Kat, we've got to do something to help him!" Cruger exclaimed his voice full of concern. Cruger hated feeling helpless. He hated that Sky was shouting for somebody to help him, and he wasn't able to. In a way, Cruger felt like he was letting Sky down.

"We can't do anything for him with his force field up!" Kat responded. Tears started to form in her eyes. She hated to see Sky in so much pain. This was not how she anticipated Sky's birthday turning out. At this rate, Sky wouldn't get to celebrate his birthday at all. Today was supposed to be the day where everyone makes Sky feel special. However, instead he had a seizure and now this. Kat couldn't even begin to explain what was happening here. She wasn't able to do anything at all to help Sky. All she could do was sit back and watch this horrific event unfold before her very eyes.

3-3-3

After they had finally finished crawling underneath the net, the four other rangers had finished their five mile run through the mud course. All four were bent over with their hands on their knees panting. They were exhausted. Syd, Z, and Bridge thought back to the time when Jack had first found out that he was in charge of B-squad. Jack had milked his position for all it was worth. He had cadets do his laundry and bring him food while he lounged around reading comic books all day. Jack even had the nerve to send the rest of B-squad on a five mile run through the mud course.

"See Jack? The mud course isn't very fun!" Syd remarked. Syd hated getting dirty. She was what people would call a girly girl. Syd was the type of girl who would fuss when she broke a nail. Whenever she got dirty she would comment on how she was so going to the salon afterwards.

Jack had a confused expression etched on his face. "What are you talking about Syd? I never said this was fun!" Jack replied.

Z rolled her eyes while Syd and Bridge let out a frustrated sigh. Bridge and Z knew exactly what Syd was getting at. The mud course was the hardest training course that the Academy had. More often than not it was used more as a disciplinary tool to punish misbehaving cadets than as a training resource.

"I seem to remember awhile back a certain red ranger made the rest of us do the exact same five mile run through this course while he slacked off," Z commented.

Jack was somewhat taken aback. He thought they were over that by now. He made a mistake then. He admitted it. He apologized to them back then and thought everything between them was cool. "Yeah well it's not like I haven't run this course before. Sky got retribution by making me run five miles through the mud course in order to teach me a lesson and believe me, lesson learned," Jack answered.

The rangers fell silent after Jack had mentioned Sky's name. The condition of their friend and teammate begun to dominate their thoughts once again. Cruger had sent the four of them on a five mile run through the mud course to get their minds off of Sky. That was the idea at least. The entire run, Sky was at the center of their thoughts. When Z, Bridge, and Syd ganged up on Jack, their minds were finally able to concentrate on something other than Sky that is until Jack had to mention his name. Nothing could be heard except for the heavy breathing of the four rangers. Then, they heard the sound of footsteps running towards them. They looked up and saw Boom. By the time Boom reached the four rangers, he was out of breath. There was a reason Boom flunked out of the Academy after only three days.

"Guys, Kat, Cruger, Sky, just follow me!" Boom instructed. The four rangers exchanged glances with one another before following Boom into the Academy.

3-3-3

In the infirmary, Sky's condition hadn't changed. In fact, it was very much still the same. Sky still had himself trapped beneath his own force field. He still tossed and turned in his stretcher. He still grabbed his head in pain. Sky still screamed the same thing over and over again.

Kat suddenly remembered what she had seen when she analyzed Sky's blood sample. "Doggie, when I viewed Sky's blood through under a microscope, I saw that his blood cells were glowing blue. It's almost as though his blood cells are encased in a force field just as Sky has encased himself in a force field," Kat stated.

Doggie couldn't think of anything to say in response. He just stood by her side staring at her. It was at this time that Boom and the other rangers entered the infirmary. Their attention immediately went to the stretcher where Sky lay. Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened. Looks of horror appeared on their faces.

"What's happening to him?" Syd asked her eyes never leaving the blue ranger.

"Help me! No! Make it stop!" Sky continued to shout again and again.

Bridge then noticed that Sky was glowing a faint blue. He had been too focused on Sky's screams of pain and the way he was tossing and turning on the stretcher while grabbing his head in pain to notice that Sky was glowing before. "Is that a force field?" Bridge asked.

Syd, Z, and Jack all saw how Sky's body was encased in a faint blue light. They hadn't noticed that before either until now. They wondered the exact same thing as Bridge.

"Yes it is, but I don't know how to get Sky to release it," Kat responded.

Jack walked over to Sky. He reached his hand down to touch Sky.

"Cadet Landors don't! You'll just get thrown backwards by his force field!" Cruger warned.

Jack ignored Cruger's warning. He phased his hand through Sky's force field and gently gripped Sky's shoulder. He gripped Sky's other shoulder with his other hand. Sky stopped tossing and turning but proceeded to grab his head in pain. He still shouted the same thing over and over again. Jack could still see the pained expression on Sky's face. He could feel Sky tense up even though he was no longer tossing and turning. Sky was still glowing a faint blue color.

"Sky, listen to me. It's ok. We're all right here. Come on man. Whatever this is, you can beat it. We'll all help you as best we can," Jack said.

Sky must've heard Jack. Sky must've felt Jack's hands on his shoulders. After Jack spoke to Sky, Sky stopped clutching his head. He stopped shouting the same thing over and over. Jack noticed that Sky was no longer glowing blue. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. There was no longer an expression of pain on Sky's face. Sky was sleeping peacefully. Holding up a force field like he had exhausted him.

"I didn't know you could do that Jack," Z stated.

Z wasn't alone in that sentiment. Nobody knew Jack could phase through Sky's force fields. Not even Jack. Jack just had an idea to try to phase through, and so he tried it. He figured there was no harm in at least trying to phase through.

"I had no idea Sky meant so much to you," Bridge added.

Neither did anyone else in the room. It was a well known fact that Jack and Sky didn't exactly get along with one another. There was always this tension between the two of them when they were in the same room. They didn't like one another. They barely managed to tolerate each other. They only reason they tolerated each other was for the sake of the team. Sky and Jack were on the same page when the rangers defeated Gruumm, but if their lives hadn't been on the line, they probably wouldn't have been on the same page. Although Sky had told Jack that he no longer resented him for being the red ranger, Jack had a feeling that he always will. That bugs Jack to no end because Cruger was the one who made him red ranger. He had no say in the matter. It wasn't his decision. As for Jack, he hated to admit that Sky was a better fighter than him. Jack told Sky that once and man did he regret it. Giving Sky a compliment like that only fuels his already enormous ego. That is the root of the problem for Jack and Sky. Both young men have gigantic egos. Their pride gets in the way and so the two of them clash a lot. However just because Jack may not like Sky doesn't mean that he'd want anything bad to happen to him. He's sure Sky feels the same way about him. After all, they are a team.

"You all should probably leave Sky so he can get some rest," Kat said.

The other rangers reluctantly did as they were asked leaving only Kat and Cruger in the infirmary with Sky.

"Sky's not quite out of the woods yet is he?" Cruger asked.

Kat looked away. She couldn't bring herself to look at Cruger directly. "No he's not. I'm afraid his troubles are only beginning. His white blood cell count is really low and I believe that his body is attacking his very own blood cells because with the force fields around them, his body doesn't recognize them and thinks they are foreign," Kat answered. Kat and Cruger looked over at Sky and both wondered if he will ever wake up.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review my fic. It means more to me than you will ever know. Beautiful-Me89, Synalm Halomyn-Faerie Queen, BLUERANGER1983, Psycho Tangerine, Mandee1, Mystic Smallville Rain, Jessie13, lgbabyblu, Blake-Tori88, sky's girl forever, dixie15, and skyblue266, you all are awesome! Mystic Smallville Rain, skyblue266, and SPD Yellow, I am touched that my story is on your favorite list. Thank you so much. Please R&R and no flames please. Thanks.