Race Against Time
Chapter 12: Shattered Dreams
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: April 6, 2006
Summary: Spoilers for Endings Pt. 2 - 5 yrs. post Endings Pt. 2, and the infamous B Squad Rangers are invited to celebrate Cruger's reassignment to General and head of SPD HQ and Sky's promotion to Commander, but something goes awry, and they have to race against the clock to save one of their friends before it's too late.
Ships: Syd/Sky, Bridge/Z, Jack/Ally, Cruger/Isinia, Kat/Boom
Rating: M – changed for Adult Themed Situation.
AN: This is it. All that's left is the epilogue. Thank you for joining me on this insane journey! Chrissy, Jamie, thanks for being my test audience and for encouraging me!
--
Sam and Nova crept down the dimly lit hallway inside the cave that wasn't really a cave. It looked more like a secret underground military base. In her hands, Nova carried a small device that was silently giving them direction to Sky's morpher. "Do you think she's ok?" Nova asked suddenly, her mind not on her current task but on the woman they'd just left behind.
"Sydney?" Sam asked. Nova nodded. "Heck yeah!" Sam grinned under his helmet. "She's one of the B Squad who beat Gruumm; she's more than capable of handling those goons on her own."
Nova nodded, and swallowed hard. She was starting to finally feel scared, now that they were so close to accomplishing their mission. "We've got to turn left here," she whispered. When they saw left was a staircase down, they gulped and stared at each other.
"Ready?"
"Yep."
Nodding once, they cautiously made their way down, never once looking back.
--
"You sent my ten year old into danger?" Kira growled. In her stance, and more importantly her eyes, Kat could see the barely suppressed anger.
Seeing it, Kat acknowledged it, but she also fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Kira, Nova's destiny was set a long time ago. She's meant to be a Ranger."
"I don't care what you think! That's my daughter! I know the danger she's going to face! Do you?"
Conner gently took Kira's arm, and pulled her to him. In the twenty plus years they'd been married, and even more than that being friends, he'd learned how to soothe his other half and handle her like no other. "Kira, honey, I don't think Kat was finished."
The former Yellow Ranger glared at her husband. "Thank you, Conner. Kira, she's protected; she has one of the new morphers, and Sam is with her."
Kira's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"I wouldn't have given it to her if I didn't think she was capable of handling it. Not to mention, she asked to go. She knows Master Vile better than any of the Rangers on the mission. She's an asset to their team."
"She's not the only kid to ever be a Ranger," Conner muttered softly, his eyes looking down into Kira's teary and worried filled ones. Kira opened her mouth and then promptly closed it, thinking of Tommy's video diary and Justin Stewart's time as a Ranger. She knew Conner didn't like the idea of their daughter going into danger anymore than she did, but she really hated the fact that he had moments where he made actual sense and was, in fact, right. This was one of those times.
"I still don't like it," Kira grumbled. "She's just a little girl."
"No one said you had to," Kat told her, reaching out to take her hand. "To be quite honest, I didn't feel entirely comfortable letting her go, but Kira, she has powers, just like B Squad, just like you and Conner did during your time as Rangers. That's why Master Vile took her from you."
Nodding, a numb Kira turned and buried her face in Conner's chest, her arms wrapping around his waist. Conner held his wife tightly, his eyes on Kat's. "They've gone in, Kat," Boom called out suddenly. "The others have also engaged the criminal downtown."
"Of course," Kat murmured, turning back to the computer.
--
"Something's happening!" Z called out as the walls and ceiling shook around them, causing dust to fill the air.
"Bridge?" Sky asked, helping steady Doggie.
Bridge took off his glove and held out his hand, feeling for something. "I think...I think Sam and Nova are close, but the walls block so much of my powers."
Jack's facial expression darkened, wondering exactly what was happening. "What?"
"There's more. I can…feel...Syd...but...there's something other than the walls keeping me from her. It's like, something's surrounding her, pushing me out."
"GUYS!" Sam's voice interrupted, bringing momentary relief to those in the cell.
"SAM!" Z cried happily to her young friend.
Nova grinned at them under her helmet, seeing the startled expression on their faces. "Hey guys!"
Doggie grinned, seeing the morphers on the pair's wrists. Jack raised an eyebrow, wondering whose bright idea it was to send them, while Bridge and Z laughed. Sky just shook his head. "Do I want to ask?" Sky started.
Nova shook her head. "Kat. Sam, give them the gifts."
Reaching into the velvet pouch at his side, Sam pulled out four devices. "Kat thought you might need these."
Just as Sam handed the morphers over, Nova pitched forward with a scream, having been hit from behind by laser fire. "NOVA!" Sam cried out, catching her before she hit the ground.
"You're going to have to deal with me, pathetic children." Sam looked up, seeing Klank standing a few feet away. Both he and Nova instantly wondered how the metal lackey got away from Sydney.
"We'll see about that," Sam growled, setting Nova down and then springing to his feet. "OMEGA MORPHER! ELECTROMODE!"
Klank watched in shock as Sam slammed his hand, palm down, to the floor. With a sense of self-preservation, Klank attempted to back up when a stream of electricity traveled toward him from Sam's morpher.
"AHHH!"
"Guys!" Nova cried meekly, her body aching in places she didn't want to think about to closely.
A silent agreement passed between the former teammates, each nodding in response to Jack's unspoken question. "Ready Rangers?" the former Red Ranger called out, a sort of déjà vu settling over them all.
"READY!"
"SPD EMERGENCY!"
Once they were morphed, Doggie pulled out the Shadow Saber and sliced through the bars of their cell, before letting Jack step forward with his blasters, hoping to get the bars to break with a few well placed blasts. "DAMN!" Jack cured when the bars didn't break and his shots nearly hit Sam and Nova.
"Power down!" Sky called. "Sir, try your sword, one pass above and below the one you made before."
Doggie did as Sky asked. Once that was done, Sky closed his eyes and prayed his idea worked. Moving forward, and taking a deep breath, Sky concentrated hard. His next move made the others gasp – he threw up a shield, and then used it to push against the bars, causing the pieces Doggie cut to fall on the ground.
"Nice Sky!" Z laughed, jumping through the hole and kneeling next to Nova. "You ok, kiddo?"
"That hurt," Nova complained.
"Takes some getting use to," Z told her, sitting her up. "Come on, Sam and Syd need us."
"Syd said to get you and get out," Nova argued, Syd's words coming back to haunt her.
Sky swung around and faced her, his eyes flashing with something Nova couldn't describe. "What?"
"She's going after Master Vile on her own!" Sam called from where he and Klank were still going back and forth with each other.
Klank laughed maniacally. "She'll not live to see the end of the day once the Master gets hold of her!"
Jack and Bridge stood guard over Z and Nova while Doggie pulled Sam out of the way when Sky started striding toward Klank, murder blazing in his eyes.
"Neither are you," Sky growled.
"Try me, Laddie. You'll not be able to destroy me!" Klank taunted.
Sky shook his head, to clear the anger and allow himself to think clearly. "SPD doesn't destroy, we contain, so you can stand trial," Sky calmly told him, brining his morpher up. "JUDGEMENT MODE!"
Klank tried to back up, to avoid what was happening, but the device paralyzed him. "NO!"
"You're charged with assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder," Sky hissed. The others watched on as the device debated back and forth before finding Klank guilty.
"NO!"
"GUILTY!" Sky called. "CONTAINMENT MODE!"
In a split second, Klank was nothing but a containment card. Sky grabbed the card off the floor and turned to speak to the others only to be silenced when the walls and ceiling began to shake again. "SYDNEY!"
--
"Very impressive, Pink Ranger."
Sydney was on her knees, wispy tendrils of pink power haloed out around her. Her chest moved quickly as she struggled to calm her breathing. From the moment Sam and Nova had bolted inside, she'd been fighting her way to face this moment. Master Vile had cruelly taken her life from her, as he had many others, now Sydney knew it was up to her to take him down.
"I'm very surprised, my dear. You've never show that kind of power in our previous meetings."
The Pink Ranger inclined her head so she could take in the being feared across the known universe. The second her eyes landed on the snake-like creature, she cried out in pain. It was as if an explosion had gone off inside of her head. In automatic defense, she brought her hands up to hold her head.
"You see, there was one flaw in your plan, you pink wench."
"Yeah? What's that?" Syd snarled.
"I have control over you. The machine I put you into every day did more than brainwash you, it allowed me to use my own powers to take control of your body."
Sydney gasped, realizing for the first time, that the voice in her head had been Master Vile the entire time. "I'm going to destroy you, Vile, even if it means I go down with you."
"We shall see, little girl!" Vile called, extending his hand toward Syd. The Pink Ranger cried out in pain when he started glowing, his powers surrounding her. "DIE PINK RANGER!"
--
"We need to form the MegaZord!" Claudia called to Nick as the five Rangers' zords were knocked around by the criminal they were facing.
"Right! MegaZord Formation Now!"
"Right!"
Once the Rangers had their zords together, they began their attack.
--
"Kat?"
"Sam and Nova have found the others, but Sydney's missing!" Kat called to Isinia, who nodded.
"Boom?"
"The Rangers have just formed the MegaZord!" Boom informed them, monitoring the younger Rangers.
"Keep monitoring them Boom!" Kat ordered her eyes on the computer that was displaying a group of colored dots that were moving.
--
"We've got to find her!" Z called as the team rushed through Master Vile's makeshift base. Sky had morphed after they'd caught Klank, and now they were looking frantically for Sydney.
"Does she have her morpher?" Sky asked Sam.
"Not the one you're thinking of!" Sam shot back.
"What?"
The seven slid to a halt, the older members of the team turning their eyes to Sam. "She's got a morpher, just not this morpher," Sam told them, pulling the last device from the velvet bag.
"How the hell is that possible?" Jack asked, confused.
Nova took his hand, waiting for him to look down at her. "She has the one from her mission. It's called the Phoenix Morpher."
"Ok, now we really have to find her!" Z responded. A second later, the Yellow Ranger cried out when Bridge fell to his knees. "BRIDGE!"
The Green Ranger was gasping for air and clawing at his helmet. Sky quickly dove for him, pulling the protective gear off, allowing his friend to breath. Bridge's face was contorted in pain and fear. Even through the confines of his suit, he'd felt Sydney.
"Syd's in trouble!" he gasped.
--
"AHH!" Sydney screamed. Master Vile continued to walk around her in circles, forcing his powers to put pressure on her brain and her body.
"You are at my mercy, Pink Ranger. With my prize, and you pathetic Rangers gone, I'll control the universe. Planets will bow to my power; none will question me."
"Your prize?" Syd managed to mutter. Her head was throbbing, her pulse was racing, and her vision had blurred. Her whole body seemed to ach, but she still had the presence of mind to try and get as much information out of him as she could.
Master Vile smirked even as he continued to pace around her. "My prize, the little girl you call Nova."
Something inside Sydney seemed to snap. It was one thing for him to threaten her, but to threaten a little girl was an entirely different matter. Nova was just a child, an innocent child. "Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged!"
--
"We're lost," Nova whined when the team ran into yet another dead end. They'd been searching for Sydney for a good twenty minutes. They'd plowed through several battalions of cogs, had managed to avoid Vile's other minions, but they were still no closer to finding their Pink Ranger than before.
"Bridge, can you try and feel out Syd?" Sky asked. He knew Bridge had been having difficulty identifying where Sydney was, or how she was.
"I can try, but I need to power down."
"Go for it."
"Power Down!"
While he'd been able to feel her before, Bridge knew in order to actually track Syd he couldn't have his Ranger suit in the way. Taking a deep breath, Bridge pulled off his cloves, handing them to Z, and then let the tight control he kept on his powers go.
After several minutes of silence, Sam and Nova began to shift impatiently. Sky had his eyes closed, praying silently. Z's eyes were focused on her husband's face, and both Jack and Doggie were keeping guard. Bridge gasped suddenly, alerting the others that he had information.
"Bridge?"
"She's on the other side of this wall!"
Jack and Sky locked gazes, nodded, and set about their plan, silently. "Bridge, Ranger up," Sky ordered. The Green Ranger nodded and powered up, just as Jack powered down.
"SPD EMERGENCY!"
"Power Down!"
Now it was Jack who wasn't morphed. "Ok, here's the plan," Sky started. "Jack's going to faze each of us through the wall. We don't have time to blast through or find the entrance. Have your weapons ready, and be alert. We don't know what we're going to find."
Bridge, Z and Doggie pulled out their weapons while Sam and Nova powered up their morphers. Sky nodded to Jack, and then pulled out his own weapon.
Doggie went first, walking straight through the thick stone wall with Jack's help, Bridge and Z following almost immediately. "Guys, when you get through, try to get to Syd. The rest of us will create a diversion, ok?" Sky told the two, waiting for them to nod.
Quickly, Jack fazed the rest of them through. The scene on the other side that met them was almost unbearable for Sky and Nova to face. Doggie was already fighting one on one with Master Vile himself. Z and Bridge were attempting to reach Sydney, who was on the far side of the room, on ground, nearly unconscious. However, the fight between Doggie and Vile kept preventing their success.
"SYD!" Nova screamed, rushing forward toward her friend without thinking of the consequences of her actions, her only thought that she wanted to help Sydney.
"NOVA! WATCH OUT!" Jack barked, his eyes widening in horror even as he realized he wouldn't get to her in time.
Bridge and Z managed to slip past Doggie and Vile, only to find Cogs rushing in from the entrance. Sam nodded once to Sky, before he took off to help Nova. Sky and Jack, assured that Sam, Bridge and Z could help Nova and that Doggie had Master Vile cornered, attempted to get to Sydney.
"DIE DOGGIE CRUGER!" Vile screeched, sounding inhuman.
"NO!" Syd's voice seemed to shimmer with power as it exploded from her throat. The power resonating from her held so much force that it knocked everyone off their feet and back away from where she had pushed herself up to her knees.
"You dare defy me? You shall watch in horror, Pink Ranger, as I force you to destroy those you love with your own power!" Master Vile gleefully laughed like a deranged maniac. Sydney struggled to free herself from his mental control, but found it impossible.
"No! No! NO!" Syd screamed when Vile forced her hands up and aimed them at Doggie.
"Time to die, Anubis. Fitting it's by the hand of your Pink protégé, isn't it?"
"COMMANDER!" Syd cried, closing her eyes as her powers shot out from her fingertips. She couldn't bear to watch her own powers be used to kill the man who was like a father to her.
"CURSE YOU BLUE RANGER!" Vile hissed angrily.
Sydney shivered at the words and immediately opened her eyes, only to be met by a haze of blue. "Sky..." she managed to choke out, never more appreciative for her love's powers then she happened to be at that precise second.
"Let her go, Vile, or you shall pay the consequence," Doggie threatened.
"Never! She took something from me, and attempted to pathetically arrest me. She will learn what other Rangers have...I AM IMMORTAL! A GOD!" Vile bellowed.
The Red Ranger merely shook his head in disgust. "What you are, is a crazy son of a bitch," Jack voiced his opinion, blasters aimed at Vile's chest.
"We shall see, Red Ranger!" Vile grinned.
The team only had time to cry out in shock as Sydney's powers were suddenly shot at Jack, practically blasting the Red Ranger through the wall he'd fazed the team through. "JACK!" Z cried out in alarm when her brother didn't move.
"NO! JACK!" Syd cried eyes wide, a helpless expression on her face. That helpless expression turned to one of sickening dread as Master Vile whirled around to face her.
"Who's next?" he asked. "Let's see...how about you, GREEN?"
"BRIDGEY!" Sydney shouted, even as she felt her power discharge from her hands again, slamming Bridge across the room to where Jack lay still. The remainder of the Cogs still in the room chose that moment to retreat, leaving Master Vile alone with the Rangers.
"BRIDGE! NO!" Z's voice ripped through the air, breaking each of the Rangers' hearts. "You're mine, VILE!"
Syd closed her eyes to the tormenting sight of Z's body crumbling under the power Master Vile was sucking from her. "No! No! Stop it! Leave them be! It's me you want!" Syd sobbed, tears seeping out of the corners of her eyes, down her cheeks, even as her suit and her helmet, which lay in two pieces on the ground, disappeared from her body.
"Ah yes, Pink Ranger! One of the aspects of the Power you were never told about – use it for evil, and you lose its protection!" Vile sneered happily.
Sydney saw Sam cradling Z while Doggie guarded the fallen three. Sky was unmorphed and in a defensive stance next to Nova, who appeared to be shaking. The Pink Ranger didn't know if it was from fear, or anger, but she knew Nova needed to be protected at all costs.
"Pick your next victim, Pink Ranger?" Master Vile asked, eyeing those still awake. "Will it be your esteemed Commander? Or how about one of the little brats you insisted on bringing with you? Better yet, the man you love?"
The blonde focused on Vile, her eyes bloodshot and filled with more tears. Her head throbbed, Vile's voice echoing within for her to hurt those she loved most. Turning, Sydney stared at Sky for a split second before she turned back to Vile. "Kill me. I've already hurt them, there's nothing more you can do that'll hurt me anymore."
"Oh, but there is!" Suddenly, Sam, Doggie and Sky cried out in pain.
"NOVA MORPHER! ELECTROMODE!" Nova's voice was a deadly whisper as she slammed her hand, palm toward the ground, to the floor, her morpher producing an electrical current that raced across the concrete toward Master Vile.
Nova's eyes widened when the attack seemingly bounced off her enemy's body and struck the rest of the team, harming them more. "NO!"
"You see, little girl, your man-made powers are nothing against me."
Sky was slowly struggling to his feet when he saw Syd and Nova lock eyes, the message between them clear to him. "No…NO! SYD! NOVA! NO!"
Nova's morph dropped suddenly and her body began to glow an eerie white light. Just when the little girl was almost engulfed in blinding light, Sydney's head snapped back, her mouth and eyes wide open as the screamed ripped from her throat. "PHOENIX POWER!"
As he watched the scene before him unfold, Sky felt his heart simply stop beating. Nova's powers flared once, blinding him, before drawing back and slamming straight into Sydney's body, the Pink Ranger seemingly absorbing the blast.
Just as Nova's limp body dropped to the floor, Sky heard Sydney loud and clear. "Your reign of terror ends here, Master Vile."
"You cannot destroy me! I AM MASTER VILE! I AM GOD!" There was fear in the alien's eyes, a fear he'd never experienced before. He wondered, through the haze of the new emotion, if for the first time he'd come up against something he couldn't beat.
Sky blinked the tears from his eyes as Sydney's eyes met his. He wasn't even aware that he was shaking his head back and forth in denial, he was only aware of the look she was giving him.
"I love you, Schuyler," she whispered. Turning her attention back to Vile, Sydney's body began to pulsate like a strobe light, her concentration centered on pooling all her powers into her hands. "SPIRIT OF THE PHOENIX!"
"SYDNEY!" Sky yelled just as the room exploded in blinding pink light.
--
"Kat any word on the others?" Nick asked as the Rangers skidded to a halt in the Command Center, each of them out of breath and worried for their friends.
Conner and Kira were on the floor, Kira's face buried in Conner's neck. The pair was rocking back and forth as Kira sobbed quietly. Boom was bent over a console, his eyes closed. Even from where he was, the Rangers could see the tears streaming down his cheeks and the uneven breaths he was taking.
Isinia and Kat stood staring at the computer, tears running down both of their faces even as their bodies shook. "We lost contact with them five minutes ago. There was an explosion in the area where they were. Their morphers are no longer online."
"No."