Disclaimer: Same as the last three chapters.
Best Friends
Chapter IV: The Secret's out
Sky, Lily, Kim, and Boom had finished running their five miles around the track. Well, all of them but Boom that is. Boom had only finished running two miles by the time everyone else had finished. Kat and Cruger told everyone to hit the showers and be ready for class in an hour. Boom was just glad that he didn't have to finish running the remaining three miles. Sky was about to leave the training area, when Cruger pulled him aside to have some words with him.
"I saw the blue light come from your hands once you slammed your fist on the ground. I was wondering what that was," Cruger said.
Sky looked down at the ground because he didn't dare look Cruger in the eyes. Sky had hoped that nobody saw his little display of power. He had no idea what it was either. That was the first time, Sky was even aware he had any powers. He was afraid that it might jeopardize his chances at the Academy.
"How about we just pretend you didn't see that?" Sky suggested nervously.
Cruger glared at him. Cruger was fascinated by Sky's power and wanted to learn everything fathomable about it. Not just to appease his curiosity either, but for Sky's sake as well. The more Sky understood his power, the better he would be able to control it. On one hand, Sky could become a kind of secret weapon with his newfound power. On the other hand, he could be a security risk to the entire Academy especially if he didn't learn how to control his power. Then of course, there's the possibility that if other cadets found out about Sky's power, he might get picked on and ostracized.
"I think it'd be best for you to just not use your power until we are better able to understand it. Kat and I can help you to understand your power too. All you have to do is set some time aside to come to the S.P.D. lab so we can explore every facet of your power," Cruger said.
Sky didn't like the sound of that. What Cruger was basically telling him was that he had to put in more time than the other cadets did all because he had some power that Cruger was curious to learn about. Sky couldn't guarantee that his power would be kept a secret. He had no intentions of showing off his power, but still he didn't exactly know how to turn his power on and off either. It was all so new to him.
"No offense, but how can you and Kat help me to understand my power if you two don't have any powers yourselves?" Sky asked hoping that Cruger would just forget about Sky even having powers.
Cruger glared at Sky once again. Here he was trying to help Sky and Sky wasn't willing to accept any help. True Kat and Cruger didn't have any powers of their own, and they certainly didn't have the power that Sky had, but still they could help Sky to learn how to control his powers through experimentation.
"I won't keep you any longer. Go hit the showers and just think about what I said," Cruger said before leaving the training area.
XXXXXXXXXX
An hour later, D-Squad was in one of the many classrooms that the Academy had. Kat was the instructor. She distributed copies of the S.P.D. handbook to each of the cadets.
"This is your S.P.D. handbook. In it you will find all of the rules and regulations that every S.P.D. cadet is expected to know," Kat said.
D-Squad was flipping through the pages and noticed how tiny the print was. It didn't like this would be good reading at all. There were so many rules and regulations to be memorized. The S.P.D. handbook itself looked like it was a paperback novel rather than a textbook, but there were still plenty of pages to be read.
"I suggest you start reading it tonight because you will be having a test on it tomorrow. You will need to know the first one hundred regulations in the S.P.D. Handbook for tomorrow's test. There's some good news though. It will be a matching test," Kat announced.
D-Squad groaned. None of them expected having homework when they first decided to join S.P.D. They expected becoming an S.P.D. cadet would require physical training, but they were completely caught off guard by the academic training.
"The test might as well be fill-in-the-blank. It probably wouldn't be any more difficult," Kim whispered to Lily.
Unfortunately for Kim, Kat had really good hearing being a feline alien.
"I'm sure that could be arranged," Kat said.
Kim's teammates glared at her. A matching test would be bad enough, but a fill-in-the-blank test would be even worse. Kim sank in her chair upon being glared at by her teammates. She didn't know Kat would be able to catch what she had whispered.
"Rule number one of the handbook states that everyone at S.P.D. answers to their commander with no questions asked. Rule number two states that…" Kat said as she read the first one hundred rules and regulations to the D-Squad cadets.
Once she had finished reading all one hundred rules, she noticed that Lily, Kim, Sky, and Boom had fallen asleep with their heads down on their desks. The only member of D-Squad that was awake was Dru. She scratched her nails across the chalkboard, and that did the trick as the four woke up upon hearing the rather displeasing sound.
"Now that you are awake, you are to report to the training center in half an hour where Cruger will have you do some simulation training," Kat said.
All of the D-Squad cadets groaned. They were practically being worked nonstop. They had an idea that the first day of training would be rough, but they had no idea it would be this rough. It was worse for Sky, Lily, Kim, and Boom though because they were operating off very little sleep.
XXXXXXXXXX
A half an hour later, the members of D-Squad were in the simulation room of the training center. Cruger had initiated a simulation where krybots were attacking D-Squad to see how they stacked up in terms of their fighting skills.
Dru dodged a punch from a krybot and elbowed the krybot in the back of the head. He then swept the krybot's legs with a leg sweep. He punched a second krybot in the chest sending it flying backwards. Cruger was impressed with Dru's fighting abilities.
Lily's best bet was to use her legs as weapons considering she was five foot ten inches. She attempted to kick one krybot, but the krybot responded by catching her leg. Lily used her free leg to kick the krybot in the back of the head. Cruger watched on from the sidelines and thought that was a very resourceful counter that Lily had used.
Kim's strength lied in her quickness and agility. Two krybots were charging her one from in front and the other from behind. Kim leapt into the air and stopped them in their tracks with a midair splits kick. Cruger found the height of Kim's vertical leap to be remarkable given her short height.
Boom tried punching a krybot, but the krybot sidestepped and Boom connected with nothing but air. The same krybot kicked Boom in the back of the knee bringing him down to a kneeling position. A second krybot came over and the two krybots helped Boom to his feet. They monkey flipped Boom causing Boom to land hard on his back. Cruger shook his head in disapproval at Boom's fighting prowess or lack thereof.
Sky nailed a krybot with a tornado kick. Two krybots threw punches at Sky one after the other. One threw a high punch first followed by a second krybot throwing a punch a little lower. Sky blocked the first one with his fist, which also caused blue light to emerge from his hand again. Sky brought that same fist down to block the second krybot's attack. The first krybot had by then threw another punch, so Sky brought his fist up to block that, which in the process had created a force field that sent both krybots flying backwards. Sky was frightened by what he had just done and his teammates had seen it as well and stood there stunned as Cruger abruptly ended the simulation. Like everyone else in the simulation room, Cruger wondered what had just happened as well.
"What the heck was that? What are you some type of freak?" Dru shouted being the first to break the silence.
Although they didn't leave immediately, the rest of Sky's teammates eventually ended up leaving the simulation room since the simulation had been turned off. That left just Sky and Cruger in the room.
"Look, Sky…"Cruger started to say before Sky interrupted him.
"I didn't mean to ok? It just happened! I don't even know how it happened!" Sky shouted.
Cruger could see that Sky was clearly shaken up about what had just happened. To make matters worse, it seemed as though his teammates were afraid of Sky now that they discovered he had some sort of power. This is exactly what Cruger feared would happen. In all of the history of mankind, humans were never good with dealing with others who were different from them.
"It's ok. Don't let what Dru said get to you. You aren't a freak ok? We'll find a way to help you learn to control your power. It may take some time, but we will. As for the rest of your team, it may take some getting used to, but eventually they will come to terms with the notion of you having a special power," Cruger said trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Sky.
Sky was grateful that Cruger was trying to support him and comfort him in this difficult and trying time. However, Sky never felt more alone than he did right now. Nobody could possibly understand what he was going through. It's not like anyone else at the Academy, or for that matter anyone else that Sky knew had any kind of special power.
"Don't let it get to me? How could I not let it get to me? I am a freak! I don't blame Dru or anyone else for being afraid of me. I wouldn't be surprised if you were afraid of me too. If roles were reversed, I'd be afraid of me too!" Sky yelled before going off for a walk to clear his head.
XXXXXXXXXX
The rest of D-Squad was in the recreation room. They were all in shock at having seen Sky's power. They didn't know how to act around him anymore. Do they go on like nothing happened? Do they comfort him? Do they even mention his power at all? Do they flat out ignore him?
"There's no way I'm going to be on the same team as some freak!" Dru remarked.
He hoped that Sky's little slip would get him kicked out of the Academy. That way Dru would no longer have any competition when it came to who would become red ranger.
"Great! Well don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Kim commented.
Dru glared at Kim. He didn't get why she was always picking fights with him. Dru was older than Kim. Dru was taller than Kim. Dru wasn't certainly going to let some girl push him around.
"What is your problem with me? You shouldn't have a problem with me. It's Sky that you should have a problem with!" Dru retorted.
Boom wasn't afraid of Sky, but rather he sympathized with Sky. Boom could kind of relate to how Sky must be feeling. Boom had been teased and tormented for as long as he could remember for being fat. While that may be a completely different situation from what Sky was currently going through, it wasn't so different. Boom still knew what it was like to not fit in, which is probably how Sky felt.
"Why should I have a problem with Sky? What just because he's different? According to your logic then I should have a problem with you given that you're not even human!" Kim hollered.
Lily couldn't believe that Kim and Dru were at it again. They shouldn't be so focused on tearing each other apart. They should be focused on being there for Sky. If ever there was a time when Sky needed friends Lily thought it would be now. Lily was never the confrontational type of person. If anything, she was the mediator always trying to get people to at least be civil to one another.
"Sky's not normal Kim! Can't you get that through your thick skull?" Dru fired back.
Kim couldn't stand Dru. He was always so pushy bossing the rest of his team around just because he was the oldest. She and Dru always seemed to be getting into fights with one another. She hated how Dru went around thinking that he was always right. Kim had never met someone more full of himself than Dru. She was sure Dru thought he was a shoo-in for the red ranger position.
"You have three moles over each of your eyebrows. That isn't exactly normal either! Besides, the only one who is dense in here is you. You haven't even given Sky a chance. You just automatically think that because Sky has some power that he should be kicked out of the Academy. Sky's powers might even give us an added advantage on the battlefield," Kim said.
Dru couldn't believe it. Was he the only one who didn't feel comfortable being on the same team as Sky? The rest of his team was defending Sky. Well, only Kim was defending Sky. Lily and Boom weren't exactly backing Dru up either so they might as well be considered as defending Sky too. Dru had enough of Kim and went to Cruger to talk to him about switching roommates.
To Be Continued…
A/N: There you have it. I finished another chapter. I hope you liked it. StarTraveler, DV2, and Wisewing, thank you for reviewing the last chapter and thanks for sticking with me. DV2, thanks for adding my story to your favorites list. Wisewing, I tried to develop the characters of Kim and Lily more this chapter. I understand that it's harder to understand them since there are no TV characters to base them off of. Hopefully, this chapter gave you a better idea of what kind of characters those two are. If it didn't, there will be plenty more chapters for the two girls to get character development. I appreciate any reviews that I may receive, so if you are reading this story, I'd love to know what you think. I just ask one thing of you if you decide to review, no flames please.