Disclaimer: I do not own PR SPD.
Best Friends
Chapter IX: An Unsuccessful Talk
The next morning, Sky, Dru, Kim, and Lily went to the training facilities to find only Kat waiting for them. For some reason, Cruger wasn't there.
"Good morning rangers. Cruger is away on business, so I will be in charge of overseeing your training this morning. However, before we get started, there is something that I need to tell you. I had a talk with Commander Cruger about promoting the four of you to C-Squad. He decided that promoting you was a good idea, and that the four of you were deserving of becoming C-Squad, so congratulations C-Squad," Kat said.
The new C-Squad gave each other high fives and exchanged excited glances with one another. They were that much closer to fulfilling their dreams of becoming power rangers.
"However, I don't want the four of you to be under the impression that you'll be promoted to B-Squad in four days time. You still have a lot of training and regulations to memorize in order for that to happen. Now, stretch yourselves out, and then give me eight laps around the track," Kat ordered.
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Cruger walked up to the door of a two story house in downtown New Tech City. He knocked on the door, and a woman answered the door. She had brown hair and blue eyes. She stood about 5'4". She was in her mid to late thirties.
"Hello. Mrs. Carson is it?" Cruger asked.
The woman looked at Cruger perplexed by how he knew her name. After looking Cruger up and down, she recognized him.
"Cruger? What are you doing here?" Mrs. Carson asked.
He knew that he had wanted to come to see if her son, Bridge, had shown any signs of having powers yet. That wasn't the only reason for his visit though. He also wanted to try to persuade the Carsons into letting Bridge enroll at S.P.D. in the future. The question was how does he say all that without scaring Bridge's mom?
"Perhaps I should come in. I really think we should sit down for this. Do you mind?" Cruger asked.
Cruger could tell from the look on Mrs. Carson's face that she was uneasy about his unexpected visit. The last time she had seen Cruger was nineteen years ago back in 2001.
"Yeah, sure. Of course. Come in," Mrs. Carson replied.
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"Six minutes and forty-seven seconds," Kat said after Sky had finished running four laps around the track.
Dru came around the final stretch and finished his fourth lap soon after Sky had.
"Seven minutes and eleven seconds," Kat announced.
Kat was pleased to see that there was no foul play this time around. She liked it better this way. It enabled her to see their natural running speed.
Kim and Lily were on the second to last turn of the track. They were still on their fourth lap. Despite Lily having longer strides than Kim, Kim was doing a real good job of keeping up with Lily. They made their way around the final turn into the final straightaway.
"Eight minutes and thirty-six seconds," Kat announced as Lily finished her fourth lap.
Kim finished her fourth lap soon after.
"Eight minutes and forty-nine seconds," Kat read off her stopwatch.
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Cruger was sitting on a couch, and Mrs. Carson was sitting in a chair across from Cruger. Mrs. Carson was a stay at home mom. Her husband was at work, and their only child, Bridge, was at school.
"Your son's name is Bridge correct?" Cruger asked.
"Yes. Why?" Mrs. Carson replied.
Mrs. Carson still had this confused look etched on her face. From the way she was sitting in the chair, she looked to be very uncomfortable.
"Has he displayed any sort of superhuman powers recently?" Cruger asked.
"Superhuman powers? What are you talking about?" Mrs. Carson said almost too quickly.
Cruger was curious as to why she had answered so quickly. He wondered if it was because Bridge had shown he had developed some sort of powers and she was just trying to cover that fact up.
"I think you know," Cruger stated.
Mrs. Carson sighed. "Look, even if he has, which I'm not saying he has, it's none of your business, so just get out!" she shouted getting up from the chair and shooing Cruger to the door.
"I'm not done talking yet," Cruger commented.
"Well I am!" Mrs. Carson exclaimed before pushing Cruger out the door and slamming the door in his face.
"That went well," Cruger thought to himself.
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"Thirteen minutes and fifty-one seconds," Kat read from her stopwatch upon Sky finishing his eighth lap.
Dru rounded the final turn and was heading down the final straightaway. Without question, he and Sky were the two fastest runners of the group.
"Fourteen minutes and eight seconds," Kat announced as Dru finished his final lap.
Lily and Kim were on the opposite side of the track with Lily having increased the gap between her and Kim. Lily rounded the second to last turn. It's not that Lily and Kim were slow runners. It's just that they weren't as fast as Sky and Dru. Kim rounded the second to last turn a few moments later just as Lily rounded the final turn.
"Hey Kat, where did Cruger go anyways? Or are you not allowed to tell us that information?" Sky asked.
"He went to talk to the parents of two kids who he believes should be displaying powers soon," Kat answered.
Sky and Dru both looked at each other in shock.
"There are other people with powers like me?" Sky asked.
"Seventeen minutes and twenty-four seconds," Kat read from her stopwatch as Lily finished her final lap.
"Does that mean that they will be coming to the Academy?" Sky asked before Kat had a chance to answer his first question.
Kim rounded the final turn into the final straightaway.
"Who's going to be coming to the Academy? What are you guys talking about?" Lily asked confused.
"Nobody's going to be coming to the Academy. They are too young to join the Academy right now," Kat stated.
"Time out. I'm still lost here," Lily remarked.
"Cruger thinks that there are others with powers like Sky's," Dru said.
"Seventeen minutes and forty-five seconds," Kat read from her stopwatch as Kim finished her eighth lap.
Kat made a note of Kim's finishing time on her clipboard just as she had done for the other three members of C-Squad.
"Alright, C-Squad hit the showers. Meet me in the classroom in forty-five minutes. Dismissed," Kat said.
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Cruger walked up to the front door of a mansion. He rang the doorbell. An elderly man, who Cruger could only guess was a butler, answered the door.
"Is Mr. or Mrs. Drew home? I wish to speak to them," Cruger said.
"Who are you?" the butler asked.
"I'm Commander Anubis Cruger of S.P.D. Earth station," Cruger answered.
The butler looked unimpressed. "We're not interested," he replied.
Just as he was about to shut the door on Cruger, Cruger stopped the door from shutting with his arm.
"I'm not selling anything. Is Mr. or Mrs. Drew home or not?" Cruger asked again.
"If you don't leave, I'm calling the police," the butler warned.
"I am the police!" Cruger countered.
The butler shut the door on Cruger anyways. 'So much for paying their parents a visit.' Cruger thought to himself.
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Back at the Academy, Kat had administered the exam to C-Squad. Another cadet came into the classroom and saluted Kat.
"Dr. Manx, Cruger is trying to contact you in the command center," the cadet said.
Kat followed the cadet out of the classroom and into the command center.
"Kat, come in Kat. Do you copy?" Cruger asked.
Kat pushed a button on the computer console. "I'm here Commander," Kat said. "So, how did it go?"
Cruger sighed. "Not as I had hoped. I guess I'll have to come up with some other way to talk to their parents. Maybe I'll try calling them. Or maybe I'll send them mail." Cruger said.
"Are you on your way back to the Academy then Doggie?" Kat asked.
"I am. By the way Kat, did you tell D-Squad about their promotion?" Cruger questioned.
"I did. They were excited to be promoted," Kat replied.
"Alright, well I'll see you in a little bit," Cruger said before the transmission ended.
Kat returned to the classroom and found that C-Squad had finished their exam. She collected them and began grading them. Once she was done, she informed them of their overall performance as usual.
"You four did really well today. The high was a perfect score. The low was an 87." Kat said. "Please come up to get your test when I call your name. Kim."
Kim retrieved her test and noticed that she got a 92.
"Dru," Kat said.
Dru fetched his test and found out that he got the 87.
"Lily," Kat called out.
Lily went up to get her test and saw that she got a 98.
"Sky," Kat said.
Sky picked up his test and found that he got the perfect score.
"Ok, you know the drill. There will be a test tomorrow on the next one hundred regulations in the S.P.D. Handbook. Simulation training starts at one o'clock sharp. Class dismissed," Kat stated.
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Once Cruger had arrived back at the Academy, he went to the S.P.D. lab to talk to Kat in private.
"I can't believe things turned out so badly today. I suspect that Bridge has already developed powers. When I asked his mom about that, she responded by shooing me out of the house. At least I was able to talk to her though. I wasn't able to talk to Syd's parents at all, so I have no idea whether or not Syd has developed powers yet," Cruger said.
Kat put a hand on Cruger's shoulder. "We can't force them to join S.P.D. Doggie. Don't give up hope. They might come around on their own," Kat remarked.
"Speaking of powers, I was thinking that during simulation training today, we explore Sky's powers further," Cruger stated.
Kat arched her eyebrows.
"What do you have in mind?" she asked.
"Well now that we have a pretty good idea of how long he can maintain a force field, how about we now determine how fast he can create one?" Cruger responded.
Kat looked hesitant.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea Doggie? We don't want another accident to happen as a result of us experimenting with his powers," Kat commented.
Cruger sighed. He knew she had a point. Still though, he couldn't help but be curious about every facet of Sky's powers. If he was to use his powers as a sort of secret weapon, he'd need to know all about his powers and how to control them.
"I'll tell you what, have Sky report to the command center, and we'll ask him how he feels about experimenting with his powers during simulation training today," Cruger said.
"Cadet Tate, please report to the command center immediately," Kat announced over the intercom.
I finally got this fic updated. I had a bit of a dry spell because I wasn't sure what to do with this chapter. Once I figured that out, I was able to finish another chapter. I apologize for not updating sooner. I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think in a review. No flames please. I appreciate you taking the time to read this.