The battle was growing fierce; things did seem to have gotten better after Broodwing had been defeated. But all of them knew this was only the beginning. The darkened sky and loud rage of thunder and lighting gave little hope that this would be over anytime soon. Already they had lost several members of SPD and of the branch from Silver Hills.
Eric tried not to think about the losses as he fought off Troobian forces, slashing them with his sword with quick flashes of moves and then quickly switching to blaster mode. His face was covered with blood; Broodwing had cracked his helmet and he had no choice but to toss it to the ground.
But it was hard not to think about them. He knew most of them by name, they had families, lives, and now… Eric shook his head; he needed to stag focused on the battle, everyone was depending upon him to lead them. And from the look of things they were going to need him. "Stand together, everyone, we're going to get through this!"
Sam and Nova fought side by side, watching each other's backs. Ever since they were young teenagers they had trained together, learning each other's moves; they knew everything about each other, the perfect duo. They too, like Eric, were growing tired, like many of their fellow SPD comrades, but unlike the others they had been faced with battles like this day in and day out. Their whole life had just been a battle to survive. It was why they were both sent from the future in hopes of saving it.
"We have to get through this, Sam. We have to win this!" exclaimed Nova as she watched as three Troobians surrounded her and Sam, growling and making mocking remarks to them. "I can't go back to the future that we came from."
It was a horrible place where they had come from. A place Gruumm had taken for his own, and unlike the other planets he had destroyed, he decided to keep Earth intact and use its inhabitants as his slaves. And anyone who got in his way paid for it with their life.
"We'll get through this. We've been through worse." Sam and Nova moved quickly and worked together, combining their moves, and took out the three Troobians that had been surrounding them. "And besides, we have one of the best fighting along with us," he announced proudly.
Sam turned and watched Eric as he led the cadets straight into an army of Troobians, leading them as if he had done it all his life, as if he were born to lead. Nova walked up behind him; she too watched as Eric the Quantum Ranger one of the best Rangers there ever was fight valiantly. It was breathtaking, he seemed unstoppable. "He is one of the best, isn't he?"
"He sure is!"
Cliff and Cruger made their way through the ship that appeared empty. The Krybots mostly had already left for Earth, but Gruumm still remained aboard the ship that was nearing Earth. And an even greater source of evil could be felt as well….
Cliff stopped still in his tracks, finally realizing what he was doing and just who he was with. Ever since he had joined the academy, he had resented Cruger, he despis him; or was taught to. He had been raised to believe Commander Anubis Cruger, was his enemy and he had still thought that just hours before, but now… "Sir…" He felt that there was something he should say, something he should do. Try to explain the damage that had been done, but he knew no amount of words could undo the mistakes that he had made. There was so much blood on his hands. Things he would never be able to take back.
"Don't worry, we'll figure it out later, " announced Cruger looking over his shoulder knowing that Cliff was still coming to terms with everything, but dealing with that would have to wait. The fate of the earth and the universe depended upon them. "Right now, Gruumm is our primary task."
"Of course, sir." Cliff nodded his head and they started back on their way. Today would be the day he would avenge his parents' deaths, his friends and their family. Gruumm would not be allowed to repeat the cruelty that had been imposed upon him and the others. No other would grow in the horror he had grown up believing. He would not allow Gruumm to see the light of another day, even if that meant…..
"We're back!' exclaimed Z, as one by one she and her teammates appeared, back on Earth. They had landed near the area where they had fought against the A-Squad. They didn't even notice the missing bodies of the A-Squad. They were too overjoyed to be back home; everyone was hugging each other and thankful they had all gotten away in one piece.
Syd look around, noticing that they were missing someone. Sky… She looked around a second time, but still he was nowhere in sight. Where was he? He should have come right after her. "Has anyone seen Sky?" Her voice broke up the joyous moment and soon the smiles faded as they too could not seem to find their friend.
"Sky!" yelled out Jack. "Where are you?" He turned around in circles, but still saw no sign of their young friend. "He didn't already head back to the academy, did he?" It wouldn't have surprised Jack knowing how much SPD means to Sky, but given what they had just all been through together Jack just couldn't see Sky heading back without them.
"He came through the portal with you, right?" asked Z, walking up to Syd knowing she would have been the last one to have seen Sky.
"Ye- I…" And then Syd remembered and it finally hit her. She turned around to face Isinia, who would have been the last of them who would have seen Sky. "He did come through with you, didn't he?"
Isinia was silent, as all eyes were on her. She smiled faintly, she could see how much Sky met to the four, maybe even more to some. "I am sorry, Rangers, but he chose to stay behind and defeat Gruumm."
"Great," sighed Jack, though not all that shocked. "I should have known this would happen." The thought had occurred to him as they were walking towards the portal that Sky would find some way to stay behind. There was even a part of him that agreed with Sky, that his teammate should be allowed to face off with Gruumm, but even he knew Cruger was right for not wanting Sky to join him in facing off against Gruumm. Jack just thought that Sky had a little more sense than this, especially given what's happening here on earth.
"I can't really blame him," annouced Bridge, who probably was one of the few who totally got Sky, mostly because of his pychic abilities. He knew things about Sky that the others probably didn't know or wouldn't even believe. He knew deep down that Sky did consider all of them his friends and cared a great deal about them, even if he didn't really show it. "Gruumm did give the order to kill Sky's dad."
"Still, that doesn't give him the right to just ditch us!" exclaimed Z frustrated and slightly angry, as she crossed her arms against her chest. "This is just like him, to go off and do his own thing." Then again, she knew if she were in Sky's shoes she'd probably have done the same thing. But a part of her still felt that Sky had abandoned them.
"Did he say anything?" asked Syd. She wasn't sure why it would matter or not. It wasn't like she was in love with him or anything, right… But they were friends, teammates, they had been for years; that had to count for something. They had already been through so much together this past year alone, all of that couldn't have been for nothing. At least it hadn't been nothing to her; didn't Sky feel the same way? Why did it feel he was pushing them away again?
"Only that he was sorry…" Isinia was about to say something else, until a new voice interrupted.
"Jack come in, if you can hear me…" It was Sam. "I'm picking up on your signal; are you and the others back on Earth?"
"Yeah, we're back," answered Jack. "What's up?"
"You need to get over to the academy as fast as you can. We have defeated most of the Troobian army, but an army of Krybots are heading our way."
"We'll be there right away. Just hang in there, Sam!" exclaimed Jack sensing the urgency in their friend's voice.
"Will do. Nova, Eric, the cadets, and I will hold them back until you can get here. Sam out."
"Who's Nova and Eric?" asked Z; those were names she had never heard before.
"Don't look at me. Never heard of them." Syd shrugged her shoulders.
"I wonder if Eric is the same guy that's Sky's uncle," said Bridge, who knew that Sky did have an uncle by that name. "Which would make sense; he's the Quatum Ranger. He was Sky's dad's partner, back when SPD first started here. My parents told me about him. I also read about him in old newspaper-"
"Bridge!" yelled Z, who was starting to get more than a little annoyed with her young green friend. "We get the picture." Z got into the truck, along with Syd and Isinia who had taken their places in the back. Jack hopped into the driver's seat.
"Sorry Bridge, you're going to have to take Sky's bike," annouced Jack.
"But won't he need it?" brought up Syd, as Bridge got onto the bike and put the helmet on his head.
"Do you see Sky here, Syd?" responded Jack. If his voice had been a little harsh, he didn't mean for it to be, he was just a little frustrated and tired…. He sighed heavily; he needed to put that behind him for now. There were more important things to be concerned with. He started up the engine. "Let's go save our home." Jack put the truck in gear and sped off with Bridge following close behind him.
With the others back on Earth, Sky roamed the ship in search of Gruumm. This was it, his chance to get back at Gruumm for what he had done. Sky didn't care what Cruger would have to say about it or even if it would cost him his place at SPD. He didn't even care what his friends would think of his actions, it wasn't like they even wanted to get involved in this to begin with. They didn't understand why this meant so much to him, no one understood. Finding and defeating Gruumm was more important to him than anything in the world.
Sky came upon a chamber room where he heard voices. Thinking it was Cruger and Gruumm he entered, but what he found was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was an alien of some type, that looked like an overgrown brain. It was Omni. He had heard stories, but never thought any of them to be real. He pulled out his blaster, knowing Omni was one thing that shouldn't be kept alive. "Nighty-night, freak!"
"Not so fast, Schuyler Tate!" Omni's eye moved right up to Sky's face, scaring the living hell out of him. "Or should I call you Schuyler Collins; that is your real name, isn't it?"
Sky took a deep breath, and got a hold of himself. He couldn't let Omni see that he was frightened. "How do you know who I am?" he demanded.
"I know everything about you," he hissed. With his only eye he could see everything about Sky. He could see his past, his memories, even his worst fears. "I know you feel that Cruger doesn't give you the respect you deserve, treats you like a child, doesn't think you're worthy of being the red Ranger, like your father. That your friends resent you and don't understand you."
Sky felt his heart skip a beat, as a shiver went down his back, while he continued to listen to Omni as if he had some kind of hold on him.
"Cruger's a fool for not appointing you red Ranger." Omni had ways to get control over those that he wanted, but his ways were subtle. He made it so that it didn't appear he had any hold, a trick he had learned long ago. "It should have been your birthright," he hissed his words into Sky's ear. Already he could tell that Sky was an easy target. The young man was filled with so much anger and pride, all he had to do was play into Sky's emotions, make him eat up his words. It would be like taking candy from a baby.
"My birthright?" Sky played the words over and over in his mind. His father had been red Ranger, it had always made sense to him that he would one day be red Ranger, but then Cruger had crushed that dream by appointing him blue Ranger.
"Yes…" he hissed. "Stick with me, Sky, and you'll be more powerful than Gruumm, you coul be the the most powerful being in the universe. I'll give you the strength of ten red Rangers, more power than you ever dreamed of. That would be more than enough power for you to defeat Gruumm."
Sky gulped in heavily, as his hands shook. His fingers tightened around the trigger. His eyes began to drift; he was losing his focus and he had no one around to give him any backup. With that kind of power he would be able to defeat Gruumm once and for all. It was almost too much for him to resist the offer, but somehow he knew his father wouldn't aprove, no matter how great it sounded.
He shook his head snapping back into reality, finally realizing what was happening. Omni was trying to gain control of him, by giving him the power he desired. He wouldn't allow Omni to trick him the same way he had allowed Mirloc. He could not let his guard down. "So is talking all you got? Because from the look of things, it seems you're missing your body. Meaning you're an easy target." Sky's eyes became sterner as he tightened his hold on his blaster. "You could offer me the power of a thousand red Rangers and my answer still would be no."
Omni was silent for a moment, as if he was searching for something deeper, something meaningful and that's when he found it. He laughed inside of himself. He had found the one key piece that would bring Sky falling to his knees. It was the one thing he knew Sky could not resist. "Perhaps that isn't what you really want."
"You have no idea what you're talking about. Now shut-up and I'll make it quick," Sky snapped in reply. He was growing tired of Omni toying with his mind and just wanted to end things once and for all. "Now, any last words before I blow your brains to pieces?"
Omni laughed. "I like that, straight to the point. A quality that Gruumm has yet to learn." He waited for a few moments. He could hear Sky press his fingers against the blaster. "What if I gave you the one thing that no one else can give you…"
"Do you ever not talk-"
"…I can give you back your mother and grandfather." He waited a moment and then, "…and as an added bonus," his eye leered closer sending chills down Sky's spine. "Your father."
Sky's blaster dropped to the ground and the room became silent. He was dead still, not moving a muscle. Omni had picked up on the very thing that he wanted back more than anything. The one thing no one, no matter how hard they tried, could ever give back to him, not in a million years. "Y-you're lying."
"Am I?" Omni moved his eye away from Sky and then began to use it to project pictures, of Sky's grandfather, father and mother. His mother, Sky about lost it when he saw her face. He had forgotten her face, the way she smiled, her long brown hair and the sound of her voice when she whispered. It was like she was really there. He swore he could smell the scent of her perfume, a smell he had long forgotten.
It about broke his heart when he saw his grandfather appear in the images, the man who had raised him for seven years, the man who had tried so hard to make him the happiest boy in the world. Sky broke down when his father appeared in the flashes, his hero, his everything. "You see, Sky, I can give them back to you. All you have to do is leave and your family will be returned to you."
It seemed all too easy…. Sky hesitated. He didn't know what to do. His eyes remained content on the images flashing over and over, becoming glued into his mind. He was beginning to forget what was right and wrong, everything he had ever learned was starting to drift further and further away. "Mom…Grandpa….Dad…" He could almost hear their voices, calling his name. He could almost see all of them together, like they had never spent a day apart.
"Just say it, Sky, and they are yours forever. Forget SPD! Forget Cruger, and the other Rangers!" excliamed Omni as he continued working his way into Sky's thoughts. "They never really cared for you. They didn't understand about your friendship with Dru, or why being red Ranger was so important to you. They're not your real family."
Sky felt his knees give way and he dropped to the ground. And for the first time, he didn't know what to do. His heart was torn at the decision he had to make, one that could have drastic results. He either had to abandon his friends or lose his family forever…..