Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.
Dissension within the Ranks
Chapter 11
At Grumm's ship, Sky was lying unconscious in his cell. Giganis entered and looked at his former best friend.
"You know how easy it would be for me to kill you right now," Giganis said.
A voice interrupted him. "But you won't,"
Giganis turned around to see Grumm standing behind him.
"I don't understand my emperor. What do you plan to do with Sky?" Giganis asked.
"That is not your concern," Grumm replied. "All you need to be aware of is that if I find out you have harmed him, I will have you vaporized!"
Grumm left and headed towards another part of the ship leaving a very confused Giganis.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at the Academy, Bridge was still worried that Sky hadn't shown up by now, so he went to talk to Cruger.
"What is it Cadet Carson?" Cruger asked.
"Sir, I was able to contact Sky hours ago, and he told me he was fine and on his way here, but I haven't heard from him since and he's not here," Bridge answered.
"Maybe it's for the best," Cruger said.
Bridge had a confused look on his face. "Did you just say what I think you said?"
"He's a criminal that needs to be brought in or destroyed so I don't see the problem with him not being here," Cruger explained.
"He's not a criminal. He's a power ranger just like us. His mind is being controlled," Bridge retorted.
"Did he say that?" Cruger asked.
"Yes," Bridge answered.
"And you believe him?" Cruger asked.
"Of course. He's my best friend," Bridge replied.
"Then you're a fool," Cruger remarked.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this. Don't you care about him at all?" Bridge asked.
"Of course I do, but that doesn't change the fact that he attacked you guys and that will not go unpunished," Cruger answered.
Bridge let out a frustrated sigh. If looks could kill, then Cruger would have a hole drilled through him due to Bridge's intense gaze. Bridge had heard enough and left the command center.
XXXXXXXXXX
Sam, Z, Jack, and Syd were eating dinner in the cafeteria. Syd wasn't speaking to Jack. She wouldn't even look at him. Sam and Z weren't exactly on speaking terms with each other either after the fight that the two of them had. Z still felt uneasy around Syd after Syd had attacked her.
Jack was the first to break the silence. "We shouldn't be sitting here doing nothing! We should be out there looking for Sky!"
"What for? He attacked us!" Sam exclaimed.
"Oh, and I suppose you agree with Cruger that he should be contained or destroyed?" Z asked.
"If it stops him from causing trouble then yes," Sam answered.
Syd slid her chair back and stood up from the table. "Causing trouble? I've known Sky longer than you three and the Sky that attacked us wasn't the Sky I know."
"What is it with you and constantly saying that you've known Sky longer than we have?" Z asked irritated.
"Why is that a problem?" Syd asked.
"Yeah!" Z exclaimed.
"What are you gonna do about it?" Syd asked.
"Alright knock it off you two!" Jack ordered.
Syd looked at Jack and said, "Don't tell me what to do!"
"Fine. We'll try it the other way. I'm red ranger and that's an order!" Jack said in a firm tone.
Boom was watching the news and a particular story caught his attention. "Hey guys, I think you should come take a look at this," Boom said.
Bridge was now in the cafeteria and the five rangers gathered around the television.
"In tonight's top story, sixty year old William Morrison was found dead today in the front yard of his own home. Mr. Morrison was the Tate family's butler. Eyewitnesses claim they saw a woman in purple armor, a skeleton with one horn, and a dark blue monster in the driveway. They also claim seeing the blue ranger being thrown through a window and later into a semi by the skeleton creature. Reports also say that the skeleton creature killed Mr. Morrison by shooting him in the back with his staff. Mr. Morrison's funeral will be in three days."
"Did you guys hear that?" Boom asked.
"No doubt the three aliens were Morgana, Grumm, and Giganis," Z said.
"Yeah, but why would Grumm attack Sky? I thought Sky was working for Grumm?" Sam asked.
"Only when his mind is being controlled," Bridge answered.
"What?" Syd asked.
"I contacted Sky earlier today and he told me that his mind was being controlled. He said he was fine and was on his way back to the Academy, but that was hours ago and from the looks of things, Grumm found him before he could get back here," Bridge said.
"Do you still think Sky is a criminal?" Z asked Sam with hands on her hips.
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at Grumm's ship, it was time to give Sky another shot.
Grumm handed Broodwing the needle. "Here give this to the blue ranger before he wakes up."
Broodwing took the needle. He turned to head for Sky's cell but then stopped in his tracks. "You do realize that this is the last shot right? If you want more, you'll have to pay for it," Broodwing said.
"Pay for it? I've already given you enough money! Need I remind you who the emperor around here is?" Grumm shouted.
"Well, if you're suggesting I give you more shots for free, then you need to find yourself a new mercenary because I don't give things away for free," Broodwing said.
Grumm's eyes glowed red. "I'd think twice if I were you Broodwing. I can have you vaporized in a heartbeat!" Grumm roared.
Broodwing clenched his fists and let out a growl. He then turned on his heels and headed to Sky's cell to give him his shot.
XXXXXXXXXX
In the command center of the Academy, Cruger and Kat had also seen the news.
"So, do you still want Sky captured or destroyed?" Kat asked.
"Cadet Carson was right. This is all starting to make sense now," Cruger said.
"From the way things sound, whatever is being used to control Sky's mind is temporary, but the real question is how long the mind control is in effect?" Kat commented.
Cruger hadn't heard what Kat had said. Instead he was lost in his own thoughts. "I can't believe I had wanted Sky contained or destroyed! I should've known that our Sky is still somewhere in his mind trying to get out! Kat was right. Sky is like my son and what I had ordered the rangers to do to Sky makes me no different than Grumm," Cruger thought to himself.
"Doggie?" Kat asked trying to get Cruger's attention.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Cruger replied.
XXXXXXXXXX
Over in the cafeteria, the rangers were still reflecting on what they had just seen on the news.
"Sky's family had a butler? I never knew Sky came from a rich family," Syd remarked.
"Unbelievable," Z commented. "After everything you just saw in the news, the only thing you can talk about is money!"
"We have to help Sky. Grumm's controlling his mind somehow, and we have to stop him!" Bridge exclaimed.
"Bridge is right," Jack added.
"Whoa, since when did you start caring about Sky's well being?" Z asked.
"I can say the same thing about you!" Jack replied.
Z stuck her tongue out at Jack. Just then the alarms went off.
"Rangers please report to the command center immediately!" came over the intercom.
It wasn't long before the rangers stood at attention before their commander.
Cruger pointed to the viewing screen which showed Sky, Morgana, and Giganis had returned. Sky had a bunch of civilians trapped beneath a large force field. Sky was cutting them off from fresh oxygen. He was slowly suffocating them. What the rangers saw was mass chaos. People were running for their lives. However, they couldn't escape. They were thrown backwards when they came into contact with the boundaries of Sky's force field. All the civilians were shown gasping for air.
"What is he doing?" Sam asked.
"Rangers, you have to hurry or else those people will die!" Kat said.
"Ready?" Jack asked.
"Ready!" the other rangers answered.
"S.P.D. emergency!" they shouted simultaneously.
XXXXXXXXXX
In downtown New Tech City, Morgana and Giganis liked what they were seeing. It would only be a matter of minutes before the civilians were suffocated to death.
"Good work," Morgana said.
"Yeah keep it up old friend," Giganis added.
The sound of approaching sirens was heard. Then came a voice "Stop right there!"
"Well, what do we have here?" Morgana asked looking at the rangers that just arrived.
"Sky, you have to release your force field!" Syd pleaded.
"I'm afraid not. Soldier boy won't release the force field until all the people trapped beneath it are dead," Giganis said.
"You shouldn't worry about him though, you should worry about us!" Morgana said sending a purple energy blast at the rangers.
The blast sent the rangers flying through the air. They hit the ground with an impact.
"Five against two? I don't like these odds! Let's even the playing field!" Giganis said before throwing a metal ball down on the ground. A bunch of krybots appeared.
"Spread out!" Jack commanded.
Jack and Sam paired up against Giganis. Z and Syd paired up against Morgana. Bridge worked on taking out the krybots.
Bridge took out one krybot with a corkscrew kick. "One!" He took out a second one with a leg sweep. "Two!" A krybot threw a punch, but Bridge dodged it before connecting with a punch of his own. "Three!"
Morgana sent shock waves from the two daggers she held in her hands at the yellow and pink rangers. The female rangers were implementing acrobatics to avoid contact.
Morgana let out a frustrated sigh. "Stop that!"
Z and Syd pulled out their patrol batons. Swordplay ensued between the three. Morgana was successful in blocking, but the pink and yellow rangers were so relentless, that Morgana hadn't been able to do anything but defend.
Giganis sent Jack flying with a stream of electricity.
"Omega Morpher Hyper Mode!" Sam shouted. Sam nailed Giganis with a swift flurry of punches. Giganis fell to the ground.
"You'll pay for that!" Giganis said getting back up to his feet and transforming one arm into a sniper. He fired. Sam tumbled out of the way.
"Ha! You missed me!" Sam boasted.
"Too bad I wasn't aiming for you!" Giganis replied.
"Huh?" Sam asked confused. Just then rubble came crashing down on top of Sam, burying him beneath it.
"Sam!" Z shouted looking over to his position. Seeing an opening, Morgana emitted shockwaves from her two daggers in the form of a purple X. It hit Z full force knocking her to the ground.
Bridge had formed his Delta Max Striker and was blasting the krybots. "Four! Five! Seven! Eight!" Bridge shouted after leaping into the air and shooting four krybots below him.
Meanwhile, Sky was on the roof of a building with the force field still up. Something had caught his eye though. Below him were a little girl and a little boy both five years of age. They were curled up in a fetal position holding each other's hands.
"I can't breathe," said the little girl.
"It's ok. I'm right here. We'll be ok," said the little boy.
Their little bodies twisted and writhed in pain as their breathing became more staggered. Sky's heart dropped at the sight of that and he released the force field.
"What am I doing? How could I hurt those little kids?" Sky thought to himself. He climbed down the ladder that ran down the side of the building. Sky was in shock when the realization dawned on him as to what he was doing a few moments ago. He decided he had to leave New Tech City. He had no idea where he was going to go, but he knew that he couldn't stay here anymore. As he was about to leave, a blast from Giganis' sniper had missed its mark and came into contact with the building Sky was just on top of not too long ago. The blast caused rubble to fall. Sky saw that the rubble was going to fall on top of the little boy and the little girl. He rushed over to them and waved his arm around in a circle creating a force field. The rubble rolled down the force field without any harm being done to the children.
"You saved us!" the little girl exclaimed hugging Sky's leg.
"You're my hero!" the little boy said.
Sky crouched down so he was at their level and the children hugged him.
"Where are your parents?" Sky asked.
"We don't have a mommy and daddy," the little girl answered.
Sky patted their heads. "I have to go," he said.
Morgana and Giganis noticed that Sky had released his force field, but couldn't see much more than that since Sky was onanother side of the building.
"Why did he release the force field?" Morgana asked.
"I have no clue, but I thought Broodwing gave Sky his shot?" Giganis replied.
"I guess we should leave seeing how we only came to keep the other rangers from getting to Sky and stopping him from suffocating the civilians," Morgana said.
Morgana and Giganis teleported away.
"What was that all about?" Jack asked.
"I have no idea," Z responded.
The rangers went to check on the civilians.
Meanwhile, Sky was walking down an alley when a caped figure appeared from behind the shadows.
"Running away from Grumm I see. Didn't you learn your lesson last time?" Broodwing asked.
"Broodwing, what do you want?" Sky asked.
"Not much really. Just the same as you," Broodwing replied.
Sky furrowed his eyebrows. Confusion was written all over his face. "Why didn't you give me my shot?" Sky asked.
"Did you miss it that much? If so, I can still give it to you," Broodwing answered.
"Look, I don't trust you," Sky commented.
"I don't trust you either, but you are trying to get away from Grumm and so am I, so why not do it together?" Broodwing asked.
"Why would you be running away from Grumm? I thought you two were on the same team?" Sky asked.
"I'm on nobody's team ranger. I provide my services to anyone who will pay me, but I owe my allegiance to nobody," Broodwing said.
"Why would you want to come with me?" Sky asked.
"It's simple. We stand a better chance of getting away from Grumm together," Broodwing answered.
Sky was deep in thought. "I can't believe I nearly suffocated all those people back there especially the orphan boy and girl! For what? All because I was following Grumm's orders because I was afraid of what he'd do to me if I crossed him again! I can't stay here. Mind control or not, I'm a criminal now. After what I just did, I doubt the people here will want me here anyways! They are probably afraid of me, a power ranger, and they have every right to be after my inexcusable actions!"
"So what do you say? Are we going to run from Grumm together or what?" Broodwing asked.
To Be Continued…
Note: Sorry I took so long with this update. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. Remember please be nice and keep in mind that this is my first fanfic so don't expect it to be the best of the best or anything like that. I'll try to update soon but between writer's block and schoolwork, that's easier said than done.