It didn't take them long to find the A-Squad, or former A-Squad, seeing as how they were no longer with SPD. All they had to do was follow in the direction people were running away from. The four of them sat in the jeep just watching for a moment as the A-Squad stood still watching them, waiting for them to make the first move.
Sky pulled up next to them on his bike and pulled off his helmet and set it on the ground next to his bike. His eyes glared towards at the former A-Squad, former cadets he recognized, all familiar faces to him he had seen in the halls, at lunch, in the lounge. They had been some of the top cadets turned top officers, when he had just been a rookie. It was hard for him to accept that they had turned against SPD, against everything he had believed in of what it met to be a Ranger. How could a Power Ranger be so evil, to betray the very people they had sworn to protect?
"You guys ready for this?" annouced Jack, knowing full well that they were going to face their biggest battle yet. The A-Squad was highly trained, trained to win. They had far more experience than them combined. This would not be like any of the threats they have faced before. In fact A-Squad could prove to be more dangerous than Mirloc.
"I don't think we have much of a choice," answered Z, as she got out of the jeep. Jack followed her lead, with Sky right behind him.
"They're going down!" exclaimed Sky, who was angry at Charlie and the others. They had been trained by the very Rangers his father had chosen and trained. He felt it was disgrace, that all his father's hard work, his sacrifice, had been for nothing. They should have been part of his fathers legacy; carrying on the tradition of a Ranger.
"They're going to pay for giving Power Rangers a bad name," announced Syd, as she got out of the jeep with Bridge right behind her.
Bridge eyed the five all carefully, seeing the anger and rage flow through their bodies. He waved his hand once more, seeing their colors were once again off, like they had been the last two times, but this time he saw a flash of something else. Something he had never experienced before. Quick flashes, of frantic cries, death, fury and pain all mashed into one. He almost fell back, but Sky and Syd caught him before he fell.
"You okay?" asked Syd, full of concern.
Bright got a hold of himself. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think."
"Did you see something?" quesriined Sky, as he helped Bridge stand on his own.
"I-I don't know what I saw," Bridge answered unsure. He had never experienced flashes like those he had just seen. It was much stronger than what he usually was able to pick up on. "It was unlike anything I have ever felt before." He stepped forward a few feet. "So much pain and anger." He had no idea what it could mean, but one thing was for sure, something terrible had happened to the A-Squad. That much he was sure of. The question was how long had it been there?
Jack leaned over to Z. "I think he's finally lost it."
"Are you going to stand there all day, or are we going to get this on!" yelled out Charlie, who was getting eager to begin the destruction of the B-Squad.
Sky was the first to step forward. He was going to make sure they knew exactly what being a Ranger was supposed to mean. "Oh, we're ready for you!" he exclaimed as he faced them letting them know they were ready. "You're going to be sorry for making a pact with Gruumm."
"Easy, Sky," Jack announced not wanting Sky to blinding go into anything. He stepped forward in front of Sky, whether becaus he was the leader or out of protection he wasn't sure. "But first they have the choice to surrender." Jack eyed the A-Squad. "The choice is yours; come quietly with us or be prepared for one hell of a battle."
The A-Squad laughed. "Hah, surrender to you?" Charlie smirked. "What is that, a joke? You can't be serious."
Jack just shook his head. Some people never learn. "Fine." The others soon joined him and Sky. "Guys, let's show them what real Power Rangers are made of!" announced Jack as he and the others morphed.
"Come and get us!" snarled Charlie as she and her teammates morphed.
Commander Cruger was locked away in a cell with his hands bound in chains. He had no way to escape. He couldn't even break through the bars with his bodily strength; a powerful electric force field surrounded the bars, making it impossible, not even Jack would be able to escape. His thoughts were of the Rangers, of how they would fare against the A-Squad, who were highly trained with more years of experience. He knew Sky and the others were good; some of the best he's ever seen, but even they might not be ready for the wrath of the deadly A-Squad.
All he could hope was that they would make it through alive, or maybe they could learn the truth about the A-Squad, but even he hadn't known until just an hour ago. It was impossible, unless of course Bridge would be able to pick up on anything from the A-Squad unlocking the darkness from their past, but even he wasn't sure just how far Bridge's abilities could go. Cruger knew even if Bridge did, he wasn't so sure the Rangers would even be able to get through to his former cadets, who were filled with so much hate. How could anyone possibly reach the minds of ones who were brought up in darkness who had been stripped on their innocence at such a young helpless age?
All seemed hopeless now; it was Sirius all over again. …He could lose them, just as he had lost Andros and the others. He had failed then, just as he had failed now….
"Let me go!"
His heart skipped a beat. That voice. He knew that voice. It was a voice he hadn't heard in years, a voice he believed he would never hear again. It was impossible. It couldn't be…..
"Unhand me!" Cruger watched as Gruumm and two Krybots came forward, dragging someone he thought he had lost forever.
"Isinia!" He couldn't believe it. She was alive. And she was just as surprised to see him as well.
"Doggie!" Her eyes filled with tears. She lashed out at Gruumm, but the Krybots quickly pulled her back. "You told me he had died on Sirius!"
Gruumm laughed. Not only had he tortured Cruger for years, believing his wife was dead, he had also tortured her. "What can I say, I lied." He looked back at Cruger, wanting to see the fury and agony in his eyes. He hissed, "You took something of mine." He pointed to the missing horn on his head. He then grabbed a hold of Isinia's arm. "So, I decided to take something of yours."
"So, children weren't enough for you!" Cruger angrily exclaimed never in all his years had he met someone so vile.
Gruumm laughed, as a grin came across his face. "Children do need a mother." Cruger's eyes fell on Isinia, whose face dropped into a great sadness. Gruumm unlocked the cell and tossed Isinia in. "Enjoy the last few moments you have with each other, because by the end of the day, you'll both be dead." Gruumm then left the two in the growing darkness of what was to come.
The alarms were going off throughout the entire academy, cadets and officers were running through the halls, running past the younger student cadets, who were all huddled together in a group. Young Sam was one of them.
The Omega Ranger, AKA older Sam, came running towards them. "This way. I'll get you some place safe." He then led them to the underground of the academy, a protective area that had been created in case an attack like the one they were experiencing now happened. While they were running away, they heard heavy blasting going on. "In here," they heard the Omega Ranger yell. He stepped aside, making sure that everyone got in. "Okay, keep on going through the tunnel until it ends. When this is over, someone will come and get you."
"I want to help!" exclaimed Sam who moved his way back to the entrance to face the Omega Ranger, who unbeknown to him was actually him from years in the future. "My friends are the other Rangers."
The Omega Ranger knelt down in front of the younger version of himself who was still young and had not yet seen the terrible darkness he had grown up in. In his world the other Rangers had died, long before this attack had taken place. He had lost his childhood when his friends had been killed in battle. But now things could be different, he had already prevented them from dying in the attack that had changed his life, but now this had happened, and he had no way of knowing what would happen next. He was in uncharted territory.
The only thing he knew was if something were to happen to his younger self, then it could change everything that had happened up until now. "Not this time, Sam." He gripped the boy's shoulders. "Right now, I need you to make sure that you and the other students are safe. The future of SPD depends on it."
But young Sam's thoughts were not for himself, but for the friends who had befriended him. The ones who had been there for him when he was in trouble, and caught up in the mess with Gruumm. Back when he didn't know who his friends were, didn't know who he could trust. But they kept on trying, especially Z. She tried the hardest and was able to show him who his real friends were.
For so long after his mother had died, he felt alone in the world. But that all changed when he met Z and the other Rangers, and came here. He had a family again. The Rangers were his family. "What about the other Rangers, they're in trouble, they could-"
"They're the best, aren't they?"
"Yeah," answered Sam softly. "I guess."
"Then you have nothing to worry about." The Omega Rangers stood up and looked over his shoulder and saw two Troobians coming towards them. "Hurry! Get to safety." Once young Sam and the other kids were all securely inside, Sam of the future closed the door behind the children and stood in front of it, making sure nothing else would get in. "Bring it on!" he roared, as he got into a fighting stance, fully prepared for what was to come.
Cruger and his wife sat in an awkward silence, neither one knew what to say or do. Both had thought the other had been dead for years. And then Cruger found out that his wife, the woman he loved, had helped raise the A-Squad and Mora, with Gruumm. He felt sickened in his stomach at the thought.
"We have to talk about this, Doggie," announced Isinia, breaking the silence.
"I can't believe you could raise such monsters-"
She sighed heavily; part of her did feel responsible. They had been young back then, she still could have… "It wasn't like that, by the time I met Charlie and the others they were already the puppets Gruumm had intended them to be." Her voice was soft and gentle. Even she didn't know where they had come from. What kind of lives they had before Gruumm had taken them. Whether there was someone out there looking for them, wondering where they were or if they were all right. "I couldn't help them." No matter how much she wanted too.
Cruger sighed heavily. Perhaps he had been too harsh, too quick to judge, for all he knew Gruumm could have had the children since they were babies. "And Mora?'
Her face saddened again. "For a while I was able to help her, keep the child within her, but Gruumm soon became aware of it and then locked me here. I haven't seen her since." She bit her lip. She laid awake meaning nights thinking of her, worrying about her. "She probably doesn't even remember me."
Cruger leaned his head closer to her, doing what he could to comfort her. "You did what you could."
"I've missed you so much," she cried.
"And I've missed you."
Hayley sat in her living room with her three children and Drake's daughter, Jenny, who had been spending the weekend with them since Drake was out of town on business. Megan's eyes were glued to the TV as she listened to the report about the attacks that were happening all over in Newtech City.
"Several attacks have been appearing all over the city." The camera then moved closer towards where the SPD Academy was. "As you can see, several Troobians have already surrounded the SPD Academy." The camera then moved back to the newscaster. "This is just in, apparently, the A-Squad Rangers, who have been missing for months, are fighting in battle against the B-Squad who had stepped up when the A-Squad had disappeared. Details are unclear; when we have more information, we will get back to you. Stay tuned…"
"Mommy, isn't that where Sky is?" young Wesley asked his mother as he climbed in her lap. He hadn't really met Sky, he had been too young to remember him, but he knew who he was. He was the son of the man he had been named after. And he knew well enough that he was very important to both his father and mother.
"Yes, honey," answered Hayley softly. She then began to wonder if Eric had heard about the attack. She knew if it was bad enough that would have sent word to the smaller headquarters in Silver Hills.
"Sky's a Ranger now, right?" asked Erin as she turned her head away from the TV over towards her mother. She was sure she had overheard her father telling her mother that Sky had become the blue Ranger.
Megan looked over at her mother, she might be only thirteen almost fourteen, she knew if the report was right and the A-Squad and B-Squad were fighting against each other, that Sky was in trouble.
"Yes Erin, Sky's a Ranger now." She smiled faintly. "But don't you worry; he's going to be just fine. Isn't that right, Megan?"
Erin turned to her older sister and waited for her to reply. "Yeah. Sky's the best." But even Megab knew that even the best don't always make it through, at least that was what she had learned from her father. Her uncle, the man she never got to know, had died in battle, like so many before him. "Erin, why don't you and Jenny go take Wesley and play outside for a little while," Megan suggested knowing that being glued to the TV right now was not good for them.
Wesley jumped off his mother's lap. "Yeah!" He went running over to Jenny and grabbed her hand. "Come on Jenny, let's go play."
"Okay. We can play tag." Jenny got up and the three headed towards the front door. As they were going out the door, the phone started to ring. Hayley picked up, thinking that it was probably Eric, wanting to know if they had seen the news.
"Hello…. Mike?...Yeah, we just saw it." A few moments passed. Her eyes then widened with a look of fear and fury. "He did what!"
Megan didn't have to ask what that meant. She knew her father well enough to know what he would do in this kind of situation, especially if it involved Sky. Her parents had never shielded her of her fathers past as a Ranger. Megan knew that he long retired father had come out of retirement. The Quantum Ranger was back in action.
Some place far, far away….
"Come on Sam, where are you?" asked the Nova Ranger out loud, as she used her tracking device to get a lock on her young friend. When they had lost contact with him, she had been sent on after him to bring him back home. But that was months ago, and since then she had been going in and out of different time periods, trying to reach the year 2020, but her tracking/portal device had been damaged just before they sent her through the portal.
She pulled off her helmet, needing to get some air, letting her long dark hair blow against the wind. Her greatest fear was that Sam was dead and that she would never find him. He was just a year younger than her, still had so much life to look forward to, although the kind of life they have been living was more surviving than living.
They had gone into the underground, after Gruumm had defeated the B-Squad and most of SPD. It was a sad day for all of them. She was just a young girl, watching it on the news; to this day she could still see the horrified look on her parents' faces. There was destruction everywhere, no one was safe.
There was a joint resistance among humans and aliens alike that tried to throw Gruumm and his army out; many of them lost their lives in the first wave of battles, her father and uncle were two of them.
To this day, she knew that was the reason she had joined the underground resistance of what was left of SPD, going against her mother's wishes. It seemed so long ago now that she had seen her mother, her siblings. She sighed heavily, having to put that behind her; right now she had to concentrate on locating Sam. If Sam did reach the year 2020 and was able to prevent Gruumm from killing the Ranger, then that could mean that the future had changed. They would all be alive again. Her father could still be alive. If she ever made it back home, she would see him again. She put her helmet back on and continued to work out the bugs of the device. One of her specialties was fixing things, a talent she had gotten from her mother, while everything else from her attitude to her fighting techniques from her father. "I'm coming for you, Sam."