Saving Ronny
Disclaimer: I do not own them.
Summary: Takes place a few weeks after Ronny on empty. What if Ronny's energy hadn't been restored?
Author Note: I apologize for my writer's block on some of my other stories that are unfinished; I will try to finish them as soon as possible. I just want them to be good. Enjoy and review! I haven't seen much of this series so please excuse any mistakes.
"From now on, I only want you to attack the yellow ranger. Leave the others alone for the Lava Lizards." Moltor commanded the Fear cats. "Once she is destroyed, the others will fall quickly."
"Why the yellow ranger? Why not the red ranger?" argued Mig who had a vengeance against the red ranger he wanted to pursue.
"Because since we captured last time, her energy has been slowly draining. A few more battles and she will be useless. The other rangers will be so bent on saving her that they won't have time to stop me." Moltor grinned evilly as he waited for the next part of his plan to unfold.
"Ahh." Mig and Benglo agreed to the plan in unison, as they set to prepare for their opportunity to destroy the yellow ranger.
"Good job guys." Mack cheered on his teammates as another one of Flurious's monsters fell at the hands of the power rangers.
"Yeah," agreed Will "Way to go." The black ranger shouted excitedly as he high fived the others. The last battle had been tough but they had been able to outlast the monster sending him to its destruction with a blast from the battle fleet mega zords.
"How about a celebration?" Dax suggested as they powered down into their civilian wear.
"We certainly earned it." Rose remarked happily, surprising the others with her willingness to join the group in a social outing. The pink ranger was very friendly; it's just that she preferred her books to people most of the time, a habit Tyzonn was trying to break her of. "It's been a rough few weeks" She added truthfully, she needed the release as much as the rest of them.
"Alright!" Tyzonn exclaimed, eager to leave the memories of battles behind for much happier ones. He turned to the unusually quiet yellow ranger who was lagging behind the group. "You coming Ronny?" he asked hopefully. Since the two of them had gotten over their differences, they had become good friends.
His question caused the other rangers to turn and look at the blonde ranger. If she looked tired, they attributed it to the fight they had been engaged in. "I'm going to head back to the mansion." She excused herself. "I'll see you guys back there later." Ronny waved goodbye to her friends as she headed in the opposite direction. However, once she hit the bed though she didn't move until her alarm went off the next morning.
Ronny woke up just as exhausted as she had gone to bed. She was starting to wonder if going to sleep was worth it because she did not feel any better the next morning. Determined she set out to keep her daily routine despite the fatigue. She tied her running shoes and headed past the kitchen where Tyzonn was eating breakfast, hoping her run would rejuvenate her.
The blond ranger looked up just as she walked by. "You feeling better?" Tyzonn questioned Ronny as she passed by on her way outside for her morning jog. She nodded quickly to avoid his kindness. The mercury ranger always seemed to know when something wasn't right, and she didn't want to answer more questions, especially when she didn't have any answers to give.
While all the rangers were active, running was an activity that only Ronny enjoyed. She said it gave her time to think. And she had a lot on her mind recently. It was only a few days before that she had turned down the opportunity to go out with her friends because she was tired. Normally being tired wouldn't stop her from having fun, but this tired was different. It was an all encompassing exhaustion, she hadn't told the others that even after training exercises she would be completely wiped out. She was too proud to admit that the all-American athlete turned race car driver who also liked to compete in triathlons was tired. They probably wouldn't believe her even if she did tell them. Besides she was hoping for a few days off from attacks to make her feel better.
She took a few minutes to stretch her weary muscles and body, cranking up her iPod expecting the music would pump her up. She was one mile into her run when the cramps hit and she grabbed her stomach painfully. "Push through it Ronny." She coached herself as she forced herself to breathe and kept going ignoring the pain in her sides.
She started to worry when the trees started to sway as her vision blurred. She slowed down to cover her eyes waiting for the dizziness to pass. Her body refused to cooperate as darkness swept in and her limp body collapsed to the ground motionless.
A loud beeping from the medical center alerted Spencer right away that something was amiss. He stopped his inventory of medical supplies to check the Vital Signs data board that tracked the ranger's life forces. Everything looked fine until he saw the yellow line was flat and unmoving. "Find Ronny." He commanded the computer urgently as a vision of the yellow ranger unconscious on the forest floor filled the screen. He pulled the emergency alarm to bring the rangers to him quickly.
"What is it Spencer?" Dax demanded, hating to be interrupted from breakfast as they gathered around.
"Not what, who." The butler corrected him as he brought the image of Ronny to the middle screen of the command center. "Ronny needs your help." He directed them immediately to the forest.
She was coming to when the other rangers arrived on the scene. She accepted Will's hand up, even allowing his support to lean against. "What happened?" Mack queried, looking around for any sign of Moltor or Flurious.
"I've just passed out, that's all." Ronny explained embarrassed. "You're lucky you weren't hurt when you fell." Tyzonn commented as he checked her carefully for any obvious sign of injury.
"You know better." Will chided her seriously as he helped his teammate back to the Hartford mansion. She intended to sneak away back to her room to avoid Mr. H and the questions he would ask, but he was waiting for them when they arrived.
"Ronny, are you okay?" he asked, concerned for the teenager. He was the one responsible for all the ranger's well being.
"I'll be fine, Mr. H." Ronny tried to reassure him. "I didn't sleep well last night." She admitted easily without giving a reason why. She had been having nightmares every night since she had been captured of Moltor draining her powers. No matter how Mr. H had reassured her that Will had destroyed the machine that had taken her powers, she still had her doubts.
Ronny was more shaken than she cared to admit. And she knew she should tell Mr. Hartford what was happening, but it was so surreal. She didn't want to believe it. Without warning, her powers were slowing fading. She had been fearful of this since she had been captured by the Fear cats a few weeks ago, but truth hit her like a ton of bricks today when she went to go into her super speed mode and nothing happened. 'Give it a few more days.' Her stubborn mind persuaded her as she tried to give her exhausted body a rest. But thoughts of what would happen to her if she could no longer be a ranger haunted her. Would she go back to race car driving? Would that even be possible considering her condition? She was 18 years old and the possibility of life ending before it had even begun terrified her.
"Get some rest." He directed the yellow ranger. Ronny quickly agreed and left before both Will and Mack could argue.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" Mr. Hartford demanded seeing the uneasiness settle among the other rangers as soon as the yellow ranger was out of sight.
"Well…" Dax began hesitantly, "Don't you think it's weird how tired she's been lately? I mean last night she went to bed at 4 in the afternoon and didn't wake up until this morning." He informed their leader sheepishly.
"Is this true?" Mr. Hartford questioned his team seriously. They all nodded their heads yes. "Should I be concerned?" this time he asked Mack for his opinion. He knew his team, if there were reason for concern his son would tell him.
"It's been a rough few weeks for all of us. I'll tell Ronny to take it easy, to save her energy for battle." Mack decided, coming to Ronny's defense. Mr. Hartford accepted Mack's decision and headed back to his computer to run scans in finding the other jewels of the Aurora Corona.
She was surprised at their concern, not that they weren't friends, but she knew she wasn't the easiest person to get along with. She was used to people leaving her and it was hard for her to break the habit of pushing people away to avoid the inevitable hurt that would come with getting too close to someone. Being a race car driver didn't afford her many opportunities to make friends. She was the only female race car driver and the guys on the tour either tried to get in her pants or were unusually harsh towards her because she was a girl in the "boys club". Yet when Mr. Hartford offered her the yellow overdrive tracker she didn't even hesitate and even made some great friends on the ranger team.
Despite their differences, Rose had become a close confidant, someone Ronny knew she could rely on, once she got over her trust issues that is. The black ranger was someone she could be herself around, never having to pretend. Ronny felt bad that for as close as she was to Will, he still didn't know her deepest secrets. Sighing she thought of Tyzonn and how badly she had judged him. He had been willing to forgive her and was one of the most compassionate people Ronny had ever met. Dax, how could she explain Dax? He was crazy, impulsive and loyal. He never let one of his teammates go into battle alone. Finally she felt a little sad as she thought about Mr. Hartford. He was always looking out for her, like he knew more about her than she thought. It wasn't in anything he said exactly, more like how he looked at her when she would seem to be miles away. It must be a trait he passed onto Mack, because the red ranger always knew when she needed space, someone to walk beside her, or just a chance to release some energy in competition.
'I'm going to have to find a way to hide this tiredness from the rest of the team, especially Will and Mack.' Ronny decided, worried about her lack of energy. She had never once before collapsed while running. She had been completely run down the last few weeks from the intense battles they had faced. The usual soreness and fatigue that accompanied each battle seemed magnified, and harder to recover from than usual. She was relieved when she arrived back at her room and fell onto her bed willingly. She didn't even move until a few hours later when Rose came in bringing in some lunch and inviting her to join the others in the recreation room.
"Anyone want to play foosball?" Mack queried his teammates. Rose was reading a book, and Dax and Will were engaged in a video game. "Ronny?" He asked the yellow ranger, the only one not involved in another activity. The usually active and competitive girl stood frozen in front of the Bay window overlooking the front yard of the Hartford mansion. She had strangely quiet all day. When she didn't answer, the red ranger went to see what was wrong. Ronny never turned down a chance to kick his butt in foosball, which she often did. Not to mention the incident from this morning when she had passed out on her morning run. She had managed to convince them she was fine, but he was starting to wonder.
"What's going on?" Mack asked quietly, trying not to draw attention to his conversation with Ronny. Luckily, Will and Dax were making so much noise no one would notice anyway.
"Something's not right." She admitted softly. "I don't know what it is though…" She murmured as she kept her back to the red ranger. Now Mack was concerned, it wasn't like Ronny to be worried about things. She was usually carefree and dealt with things head on. She wasn't one to back down from a confrontation. More often than not, she was the first one into the fight.
"Do you think it's Moltor or Flurious?" he questioned seriously, placing a hand on her shoulder. Ronny grimaced at his train of thought. She had actually been thinking about herself, about how she had been feeling the last few weeks, but she let Mack believe she had talking about their enemies. If the others found out she wasn't feeling quite like herself, they would tell Mr. H, and then he would make her go for some tests for sure. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle yet, just a little fatigue and headaches.
"Rangers, there is a monster destroying downtown. You must go at once." Mr. H reported over the intercom to the game room where the rangers had been relaxing.
"We're on it." Mack declared as he led the team down the poles and into the command center.
"Ronny, maybe you should stay here…" Will attempted to persuade the stubborn yellow ranger from joining the fight. He had not forgotten what she had looked like that morning, sort of how she looked when he had rescued her from Moltor's hideout.
"Yeah right." She retorted quickly, shaking off his suggestion. "Let's go." She directed the team as they sped off to fight yet another battle.
"Not you guys again." Ronny sighed as she sighted the Fear cats. "You're not tired of losing yet?" She taunted them as she braced herself for their attack. Meanwhile, the other rangers were busy battling against Moltor's lava lizards.
"You're the one who should be afraid yellow ranger." One fear cat replied grimly as they circled around her, slowly moving her away from her teammates.
"I don't think so." Ronny replied as she went into Overdrive mode. "Overdrive-Accelerate!" She shouted not a minute too soon as a blow from the fear cat's swords blasted her across her chest. The strength of the hit caused her to fly backwards and land awkwardly on the ground. Resolute, she pushed herself back up and charged the Fear cats, using her drive claws to inflict some damage. She managed to get a few hits in, but the longer she was engaged in the battle, the more exhausted she became, slowing down just enough for the Fear cats to get in some dangerous blows.
"Let's Ranger up!" Mack shouted to his teammates. Three heads nodded in agreement. "Overdrive Accelerate!" Four voices shouted in unison as they transformed. The Lava Lizards were succeeding in their plan to keep the rangers occupied while the fear cats battled the yellow ranger.
Mack and Dax were fighting 10 lizards while Will and Rose battled another 10. They were so preoccupied with the Lava Lizards that they were oblivious to the trouble Ronny was in.
"Is it just me, or are there more lizards today than usual?" Dax called out to Mack as he tossed one over his shoulder.
"One or twenty it doesn't matter." Mack responded a little out of breath. "They will be destroyed." He vowed as he sent three lizards flying.
"I can't breathe." Ronny panicked as she tried desperately to get some air to her lungs. A sharp pain in her head brought Ronny to her knees as she cradled her head in her hands. The pain was excruciating but she hoped it would pass before any of the others saw her. Stubborn as she was she tried to ignore the pain and stand up. Nausea overwhelmed her as a wave of dizziness caused her to stumble a few steps before collapsing with a loud groan. "Aaahh…" The yellow ranger cried as she hit the ground.
She was out of breath, and all alone.
She braced herself for the next hit, but the Fear cats disappeared as fast they had come. Relief filled her as she realized she was still alive, yet fear ran through her as she knew she could not ignore the pain her body was in any longer. Without warning she demorphed, and the power that had been sustaining her was gone as she slumped to the ground, unable to move.
"Guys, they're gone." Rose said relieved as the Lava Lizards disappeared right after the Fear cats.
"Great." Will responded eager to get back to his intergalactic battle with Dax in the game room. "But, where's Ronny?" He asked looking around for their yellow ranger as the blue and red rangers joined the pair.
A yellow figure crumpled on the ground caught Mack's attention. "No!" He screamed in disbelief. "Ronny!" he called her name as he raced to her side, demorphing as he went. The others demorphed as well, as they hurried to their fallen teammate. She was pale and her skin clammy as sweat poured down her face. She struggled to keep the tears out of her eyes before anyone saw them as the pain overcame her.
"Are you okay?" Rose questioned with concern, kneeling down next to the other female ranger. Ronny tried to save face and stand up to prove she was just fine, when she fell over. Luckily, Mack was quick to grab her before she could hit the ground again, wrapping his arms around her waist and gently catching her weight.
"She's not okay." He stated troubled as he was the first to realize she may be in danger. He gathered the weak girl in his arms protectively and immediately headed back to the mansion. He was concerned at the lack of fight Ronny put up, and how lifeless she seemed in his arms. He tried to keep the worry from covering his face but it shocked him to no end. The others followed their leader solemnly, noting that his silence meant that Ronny may be more injured than they thought.