Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers.
When the Grim Reaper Knocks
Chapter VIII
Sophie was walking down a hallway irate at Sky's attitude. The way he treated her bugged her so much that she wasn't paying attention where she was going. She was brought to reality when she collided into someone.
"I'm sorry," Sophie said immediately.
If Sophie looked to see who she bumped into, she would see a pair of very concerned eyes gazing at her. However as it was, Sophie was too preoccupied.
"Are you ok?" Bridge asked while resting a hand on Sophie's shoulder.
Sophie didn't know why, but she found herself throwing herself into Bridge's arms while shedding tears. Sophie may be a cyborg, but still she wasn't entirely a robot. There was still a human side to Sophie as well which is why she was able to feel and display emotions just like any normal human.
"Sky and I got into a fight. I'm not even sure what started it. All I know is that we both ended up yelling at each other and he took off on his motorcycle," Sophie said between sobbing fits.
Bridge rubbed Sophie's back in a circular fashion while gently shushing her and reassuring her that everything would be ok. At least he hoped everything would be ok. He wasn't comfortable with Sky going off by himself like he had. Even though he hadn't displayed any forms of sickness for an entire day now, there was still no telling if Sky would have another bout of sickness sometime soon.
"Do you know where Sky went?" Bridge asked.
Sophie shook her head no. Tears were still streaming down her cheek. Bridge put a gloved hand to Sophie's face and wiped away the tears that were falling down her face. There was something about Bridge's hand being on her face that sparked something inside Sophie. The next thing she knew, she had pressed her lips against Bridge's. At first Bridge was surprised, but after his initial shock, he returned the kiss. They eventually separated once they had got to the point where breathing became a problem.
"Wow!" Sophie said not being able to think of anything else to say.
Bridge had no idea how he and Sophie ended up kissing each other, but he knew that he didn't mind it the least bit.
8-8-8
Sky pulled his Patrol Cycle into the City Plaza. He parked his motorcycle and went over to sit on a bench next to the pond and collect his thoughts. Sky wondered if his plan to lure out the monster would even work. He hadn't really given it too much thought before though, but rather just acted on impulse. Sky wondered if maybe he should've done some research beforehand and at least figured out the name of this monster and the basics about what crimes he had committed. After all, criminal profiling was his expertise. Sky stared at his reflection in the pond when he saw the reflection of the monster appear behind him. He instantly bolted up from the bench and spun around to face the monster.
"To think I was so close to putting you out of your misery for good. Oh well one way or another you will be dead soon enough regardless," the monster said.
Sky's blood boiled as he was overcome with a burning hatred for the monster before him. What he had done to Sky was unforgivable. What he claimed he was going to do to the people of the planet was absolutely heartless. It was like this monster had no heart, or if he did, it was a black heart.
"Who are you?" Sky yelled.
The monster let out an evil, sinister laugh. He advanced a few steps on Sky, and Sky involuntarily took a few steps backwards.
"I am Xyrthias. Although in your case, I might as well be the Grim Reaper himself because I am the one who will destroy you!" the monster replied.
Sky grabbed his morpher from the pouch on his belt.
"S.P.D. Emergency!" Sky hollered.
Sky hadn't used his morpher ever since Gruumm had been defeated. None of the rangers had. They didn't see any reason to with Gruumm gone. The only criminals they dealt with committed petty crimes and didn't require the rangers to morph in order to be taken into custody.
"I've been meaning to thank you and the other rangers for defeating Gruumm. You did me a favor by doing so. That lowlife scum deserved to be destroyed. I used to work for him, and when I was taken into custody, he did nothing to free me. Instead he just let me rot in prison much like your dear daddy did. Oh wait. That's right. Your dear daddy is six feet under now. I guess he can't protect you anymore now can he?" Xyrthias asked.
"I'm not afraid of you Xyrthias! In case you didn't realize it, I'm not a helpless child anymore!" Sky screamed.
8-8-8
The alarms sounded at the Academy and the red lights flashed signaling a monster attack. The four other core power rangers rushed to the command center to see what the disturbance was. What they saw on the viewing screen confirmed their worst fears. Not only was there a monster attack, but Sky was trying to battle the monster by himself. They really did not think Sky should be fighting alone or for that matter at all.
"Ready?" Jack asked.
"Ready!" Bridge, Syd, and Z replied.
"S.P.D. Emergency!" they shouted in unison.
8-8-8
Xyrthias had Sky pinned up against the bark of a tree. Sky was trapped by Xyrthias' horns which had punctured Sky's uniform. Blood oozed from the two puncture wounds and gathered in a pool amidst the grass. The pain was excruciating to Sky. He kicked his legs at Xyrthias' head in an attempt to get him to release his grip. Eventually Xyrthias couldn't take Sky kicking him in the head anymore and flung Sky down on the grass.
"You were saying?" Xyrthias boasted.
Sky's breathing became labored and the two puncture wounds on Sky's torso hurt like hell. Sky saw the blood still pouring out from the two puncture wounds as well of the pool of blood on the grass beside him. The puncture wounds had to be pretty deep considering the size of the pool of blood next to him. His eyes burned with hatred as he picked himself off the ground.
"You haven't beaten me yet! S.P.D. S.W.A.T.! S.W.A.T. Mode! Delta Enforcer!" Sky yelled.
Sky blasted Xyrthias in the chest and sent him flying backwards right into the pond. All of a sudden, Xyrthias emerged from the water and shot a huge laser beam from his Cyclops eye. The laser beam nailed Sky full force causing him to drop his Delta Enforcer. Sky dropped first to his knees, and then fell face first on the ground as he demorphed. Xyrthias walked over to Sky and stood over the fallen blue ranger.
"S.P.D. We order you to halt!" Jack shouted upon arriving on the scene.
Xyrthias took this as his cue to leave, so he teleported away. The rangers ran over to Sky. They rolled him over onto his back and were horrified to see how pale Sky's complexion was. They noticed the two puncture wounds on Sky's torso and saw the blood leak out from them. Sky wasn't aware the rangers had arrived as he was unconscious.
"Oh God Sky! What did that monster do to you?" Syd asked as tears streamed down her face under her helmet.
Bridge noticed the rather large pool of blood by the tree where Xyrthias had Sky pinned earlier.
"Guys, look at this!" Bridge shouted.
Z and Jack went over to see what Bridge wanted them to see while Syd stayed with Sky. She was sitting on the ground next to Sky and had his head propped up in her lap and was covering his puncture wounds with one hand while stroking Sky's hair with her other hand.
"Holy shit! That's a lot of blood!" Jack exclaimed upon seeing the pool of Sky's blood that Bridge was referring to.
Z was rendered speechless. She was horrified by the amount of blood that Sky had lost. She kept thinking that Sky didn't deserve this. She wished that they had found Sky sooner. If they had, maybe he wouldn't be in so poor of shape.
Bridge contacted Cruger through his morpher.
"Commander, we need a medical team here A.S.A.P.!" Bridge said.
A/N: This is my shortest chapter yet, so I apologize for that. I thought that was a good place to end it though. I am completely floored by the response I have received for this story. This story almost has received as many reviews as my first story, and my first story is some 11 chapters longer! Just so you know, when I said that I'm not writing this story for the reviews, I by no means meant that I don't want people to review. I just feel that I should write because I love creative writing not to see how many reviews I can get. As I said in an A/N in another story of mine, whatever happens happens. I'd still like to know what you think though, so don't forget to R&R. No flames please because I'm already not the most self-confident individual as it is.