Author's note: Sorry, guys, I know I missed update last weekend, but here's two chapters to make up for it!
Hey, Chylea3784, thanks for the review!
In which Syd goes a bit berserk, and the plot thickens.
Jack and Z were waiting when Sky and Syd arrived. Sky glanced around the doorframe, taking in the scene at a glance before hunkering to join the others.
"That's the machine?" he asked. A large cube was pulsing in the center of the room, throwing odd shadows around the area.
"This is the address." Jack agreed.
"It's hurting Bridge?" Syd asked.
"Yeah. We think so." Jack said carefully.
Syd morphed in absolute silence, and the Pink Ranger's helmet tilted to look down at them. "Then why are we standing out here?"
"Wait." Jack said firmly, and she waited impatiently while they morphed.
Jack glanced at Sky, nodding slightly, and Sky fell into step with Syd. Jack and Z fell in behind them, spreading out as they entered the building.
The Krybots inside seemed surprised to see them, and they took advantage, destroying them in huge numbers. Still they didn't seem to be making any headway; Sky and Z found themselves more and more watching Syd's back, as the Pink Ranger was almost berserk.
"Jack, this isn't working!" Sky yelled, fending off two Krybots and shooting another that was coming up behind Syd.
"Ya think? I'm open for suggestions!" Jack hollered back.
Z took a blow meant for Syd and stumbled back, crashing into Sky. He steadied her automatically, eyeing the crowd around them. Jack fought his way across to them, clearing a space around Syd, who barely seemed to notice. She was firing steadily at the machine, taking absolutely no notice of anything around her and making absolutely no impact on it.
"Syd, stop!" Jack yanked her weapon out of her grip.
"It's hurting Bridge!" She snatched at it, but he held it away from her.
"You're not thinking straight. Help us get rid of the Krybots first, Ok?"
On cue, Sky crashed to the ground in front of them. Jack set himself to cover them, letting Syd help him to his feet. "You Ok?" Sky asked under cover of the movement.
"I think I'm supposed to ask you that."
"This is soooo touching." a new voice commented. "I just love this stuff."
"Morgana." Z snarled, backing automatically in line with the others.
"I want you to meet my new friend." she continued.
"We're sick of your friends!" Jack yelled. Quieter, he added, "Anyone see her?"
"Oh, but I think you'll like this one."
"There!" Sky pointed up. Morgana was perched on a beam above their heads. Automatically, the Rangers backed out of her range, though Syd grunted in frustration as they moved away from the machine.
"I brought him specially for you guys." Morgana continued, rising to her feet. It put her mostly in shadow, and they couldn't really see her as she continued, "I was hoping you'd show."
"You could have just called." Z teased. Behind her, Jack was slipping silently away, trying to move behind Morgana without being seen. "You didn't have to lay on such a big welcome."
"I like to make you feel appreciated." Morgana smirked.
"Well, it's working!" Jack fired at her from behind and she crashed down, landing amidst a cloud of dust.
When it cleared she was back on her feet and surrounded by Krybots. "That wasn't very nice." she pouted. "Here I went to all the trouble of making you a friend to play with…"
"That line didn't work on Sam, it's not going to work on us." Z said firmly.
Morgana shrugged. "Worth a try. Attack!"
An alien appeared to lead the attack as Morgana vanished. B Squad squared off, ready to fight.
Ten minutes later, when the alien made it to a robot, they finally admitted they were in trouble.
"Kat!" Jack called. "We need some help out here."
"Shadow and Omega are on their way." Kat said. "And the Runners are coming, but you won't be able to form the Megazord."
"All right. Ready, Rangers?"
"Ready!" they chorused, jumping for the Runners.
Ten minutes later, the Runners ejected them and headed back towards the base. The Rangers demorphed involuntarily, landing a short distance from the fight.
"Rangers!" Shadow called. "What's going on?"
"Beats me sir!" Jack glanced at the others. "Anyone do that?" At their headshakes, he added, "We didn't trigger it, sir. Kat must have done it."
"Kat? Kat!" They could hear Shadow and Omega calling the base, but no one was answering. "Something's wrong." Shadow said finally. "Rangers, head back to base and see what's going on. Omega and I will finish up here and join you as soon as we can."
"Aye sir." Jack agreed, looking around at the others. "Ready?" he asked.
"Ready." they agreed.
Jack took a step closer to Syd. "Syd?"
She raised her eyes to meet his. "Yes."
"Ready?"
She smiled then, calmer now; during the fight they'd managed to step on the machine, crushing it to bits. "Ready."
"Good." He grinned at her again before turning to the others. "Let's go!"
They made it back to base in about seven minutes flat, regrouping half a block away. From here it looked almost normal, but there was no one outside, no guards on the doors.
"Ok." Jack said after studying the building for a moment. "We're going to split up. You guys go in the front; it doesn't look like there's anyone on guard, so you should be Ok. Find Bridge and get to the Command Center. Z'n I'll find another way in and meet you there."
"You sure?" Sky asked.
"Yeah. We'll meet you there. Come on, Z." The two headed off at a run, and Sky gave them five minutes before he and Syd moved.
The lobby was empty, and they made it up two floors before meeting any resistance. The Krybots were surprised to see them, and they were destroyed before they managed to raise any kind of alarm.
Two more floors and three groups of Krybots brought them to the infirmary, where a BlueHead was conducting a search. Sky watched through a gap in the door-frame for a moment before backing up.
"Bridge isn't here, and they don't have him." he told Syd. "There's a BlueHead in there searching, we need to morph right now."