A/N: Ha, I know it's been awhile but just be glad I finally updated. I've been sick, busy with school and other fics lately…and I suffered a bit from writer's block, but I'm not going to give up till this story is finished. Thanks again for the great reviews…and for your patience. Enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 15
"Making the Save...Again"
A month has gone by and Sky Tate finally received word from Commander Cruger that his suspension time has run out. In the control center, Kat Manx handed him back his SPD badge and morpher and immediately was put to work. Z Delgado and Commander Cruger suddenly entered the room as Kat and Sky followed their gazes.
"Congratulations, Sky. You are the new SPD Blue Ranger and I appoint you as second in command." The cadet forces a weak smile although they all knew he wasn't exactly thrilled about it. "Today I'm putting you and Z Delgado in your first assignment." Sky peered at his leader from the corner of his eye. It's been awkward between them—in fact they barely spoken to each other these past few weeks. As much as Sky wants talk to her and hopefully work something out, he just couldn't handle the fact that she is the red ranger.
Once they were dismissed, Sky hesitantly follows Z out the Control Center where they officially begun their assignment. They were told to head over to the subway station where Kyrbots were previously located. The two took the SPD jeep where Z is behind the wheel and Sky settled for the passenger seat. He puts on his dark shades as they begin heading on out.
The ride was quiet for the most part. The only thing they would discuss is the mission itself. Other than that it was dead silence.
Luckily it wasn't too long of a ride as they got there in roughly fifteen minutes. As they got out of the jeep, they found the subway station completely trashed. "Who would do something like this?" Z whispers in disbelief as they struggle to get through wreckage and rubble evil has caused to the city.
"It has to be Grumm!" Sky finds himself clenching his fist in anger.
"Nah yah think!" Z exclaims in a rather sarcastic tone, allowing Sky to shot her a look. "It could have been anyone."
"Kat reported that Krybots were here." He informs his leader. "Grumm is obviously behind this mess." Z did not bother to respond as she begins cleaning up the rubble. "What do you think you're doing?"
She looks over her shoulder, "I'm cleaning."
"Why?"
"Well someone has to do it."
"But weren't we supposed to investigate on the crime scene here?"
"Look I'm just following Commander Cruger's orders, Sky. And we clean."
He looks away and scoffs ridiculously. "This is just great." Cadet Tate threw his hands up in the air. "First day on the job after my suspension and no action."
"You think that maybe being a ranger is more than just fighting. It's also about hard work and doing what you're told." Sky narrows his eyes at her. "Sheesh, it's no wonder you got suspended."
"What was that?"
Z rolls her eyes and groans. "Nothing, just forget about it."
"Oh it's something alright." Sky felt rather offended by her tone of voice. "You know if you want to say something, Z why don't you just say it to my face and stop avoiding it." Z turns around and faces him. "I mean, you're our leader right? Shouldn't you be honest with the team?"
She nods her head in dismay and chuckles. "You want honesty, Sky?" She smirks as he nods his head. "Okay, fine. You're a total jackass." His mouth fell open. "I mean why do you think you're not the red ranger? No one wants a pig-headed, arrogant jerk as their leader. Hell, I wouldn't."
"You don't know the qualities of a leader."
Z scoffs, "Neither do you, Sky. But Commander Cruger picked me for a reason so get over it."
"Why are you being so cruel, Z? My dreams of being a red ranger are shattered because of you."
"I'm being cruel?" The female red ranger releases a forced laugh. "Oh please, just because you didn't get your dream doesn't stop me from chasing mine. If being a true red ranger is what you really want, then you shouldn't even give up on that dream and patronizing others because you failed to reach for it. You're the one that's being cruel, Sky. All I want is to be a part of something bigger and when I finally get that chance, you're here totally jeopardizing it and being a senseless, selfish jerk!" His face expressed shock as his jaw dropped at Z's sudden confrontation. "I'm sorry that you're not the red ranger, really I am. But I'm just going by what Commander Cruger feels is good for the team and if that's appointing me as red ranger to lead the team then so be it."
"Well he made a mistake putting you and Jack in SPD the first place. You two don't have the experience or the proper training to even be here. It's just not fair!"
"Oh will you get over it!" Z stares at him in disbelief. "You know, I look at you and I see someone—that same someone I met for the first time near the park. And I honestly have to say that I really miss that guy—wherever he is." Her eyes soften as Sky looks down on the ground. "But now…I never thought the real you could be someone I detest so much right now."
"I'm not going to listen to this." Sky turns away to the opposite direction in frustration. "We got work to do." Z bit her lip as she and Sky begin clearing the area out.
"Well…well…well…" Sky and Z both turned around as their eyes slowly widen. "If it isn't SPD…"
"Broodwing!" Cadet Tate stares coldly at him. "What do you want?"
"Power...and to destroy you all…"
"What is it Commander?" Jack, Bridge, and Syd all entered the Control Center as soon as the emergency alarm went off.
"It's Sky and Z." Kat turns away from the computers to face the remaining cadets. "They are in trouble."
"Suit up, rangers!"
Jack, Bridge, and Syd nodded their heads. "Yes, Commander." They stated in unison.
"Ready?" Cadet Landors takes out his morpher.
"Ready!" Bridge and Syd chorused.
"SPD, Emergency!"
Meanwhile at the subway station, Broodwing takes the upper hand as he tosses the blue SPD ranger into the air where he landed on the ground and returned to his civilian form after the direct hit. "Sky!" The red SPD ranger kneels down next to him. They were able to hold their own for a few moments, but Broodwing was just too strong forcing them to call the others. "Are you okay?"
He nods his head and struggles to get up, "Yeah I'll be fine." He grunted.
"Oh no, you're hurt." Z gasps, noticing the deep cut on his uniform. "Don't go anywhere. I'll take it from here."
"No! I can still fight!"
"I'm red ranger and that's an order!" She argues back.
"I don't care! You're not going to fight him alone, Z!"
The red SPD ranger abruptly pushes Sky out of the way. "I can try!"
"Z! NOOO!"
"You are way out of your league, ranger." Broodwing says in his dreadful voice.
Z, still in her ranger form, gets into a fighting stance. "You haven't seen anything yet! How about some girl power!"
Sky watches on in horror as Broodwing slowly takes out some kind of deadly weapon from behind. "Z, don't do this!" He yells out desperately while holding on to his injured arm. "It's a trap!"
"Say goodbye, ranger."
Sky's eyes widen. "NOOOO!"
Z looks over her shoulder as Sky comes running towards her direction. A gasp escaped from her lips as she turns away and noticed a ball of light aiming directly at her. Her eyes widen and before she thought she'd take the hit, Sky came diving in front of her and makes the save…once again.
A/N: A little note, in the first few chapters you see Sky saving Z all the time in different situations prior to when they first met…so just in case you're wondering what I mean when Sky "makes the save…once again" now you know. I figured since it's been awhile since I last updated,some of you may have forgotten the first few chapters. Anyway…don't forget to review and I'll do my best to update the next chapter.
