A/N: Well, I'm back! Sorry I didn't update anything sooner- but I had a run in with a basketball that basically meant I ended up being carted off to A&E with a broken finger. But, I'm here (albeit with a strapped up finger) and I'm ready to update.
I also want to give a shout out to my newest reviewer: Dekabreak101. Thanks for reviewing, your words inspired me to get up and write. This one is for you
Disclaimer: Well, it's a funny story. I was just getting my chequebook out to buy Power Rangers when an evil portal came out of nowhere and sucked my chequebook away! So, sadly, it still belongs to Saban/BVE/Disney.
And now, enjoy!
Sky swallowed nervously. The other Rangers stared at her, waiting for an explanation.
"Well?" Wes asked.
"Er, surprise?" She said, the words coming out as a question as she grinned at them sheepishly. There was a beat of silence until Katie let out a squeal and, before the others could hold her back, the yellow Ranger ran up and engulfed Sky in a bear hug. Sky winced as pain flared up in her injuries but she smiled anyway, embracing the older woman like an old friend. Katie tightened her grip on the teenager and started bouncing up and down with excitement. Jen couldn't help but snort with amusement at the desperate look Sky shot her way. Trip smiled and Lucas shook his head fondly as Wes smirked in good humour. Sky meanwhile could feel her breathing cutting off. "Katie..." She croaked out. "Can't...breathe..." She gasped. At once the overly excitable Katie released her. Sky cracked her back and rubbed her ribs absently. She then winked. "It's fine, no broken bones." She joked. She looked around at the others with a smile. Shaking his head, Wes came up and hugged Sky. The others all followed and soon she was buried underneath the other Rangers. Sky smiled and Destiny glowed with happiness.
"Looks like you've got a proper little family now." She noted. Sky hummed her agreement in her head, but didn't reply. She was still hurting about leaving all her friends and family behind for a strange universe she didn't know anything about, but when the other Rangers were being so friendly and understanding...the pain was dulled a great amount. And, since this had all happened, Sky felt like she could really genuinely smile again. Everyone pulled away and Sky looked at them all.
"Look, how about we head back to the Clock Tower?" Jen suggested. Trip nodded.
"Yeah, then she can tell us what happened." He added. Katie slung her arm over Sky's shoulder.
"And we can get to know the newest Ranger." She teased. All of them laughing, the small group of six headed back to their home.
Meanwhile, back in Sky's home universe, people were panicking. They'd lost contact with Sky around 2 hours ago and they hadn't been able to trace her either. Natalie was terrified that she'd lost her friend and Max had sent her to wait in the Jeep, for fear that she'd do something rash to find her friend. He was suffering with his own inner turmoil. He whirled around to another scientist.
"Have you found anything?" He asked for the hundredth time. The female scientist sighed and shook her head.
"I'm afraid not. We can't even pick up a heat signature with our scanners." She informed him with regret. She peered at the frustrated man. "You do realise she could be-"
"Yes, I'm well aware that Sky could be dead." Max cut across angrily. "Thank you for reminding me of that." He spat. The young archaeologist leant over his desk. "Get the spare equipment ready." He ordered suddenly. The scientist looked shocked.
"Max..." She murmured. He turned to face her, eyes blazing. Striding purposefully across the room, he fixed the intelligent woman with a glare that made her heart stop momentarily.
"Listen..." He glanced at her nametag. "Alex, that girl is my cousin. She is the closest thing I have to a sister and she is my best friend." He declared fiercely. "If anything has happened to her I will never forgive myself but I'll always hate myself if I never even tried." He stared out of the open tent flap. "She would do anything for me, our family, our friends, even strangers. She'd always try, even if she knew it was hopeless. And I will not let her down by not even attempting to try and find her." He stated confidently. "Now, get the equipment. I'm going down that tunnel." He repeated. Alex nodded numbly and scurried away. Max sighed and ran a hand through his honey blond hair. He hadn't been lying when he'd ranted at that woman. A brief smile flitted across his face when he remembered that one night 3 years ago...
He was out with a couple of his old school friends. He'd come back for the Christmas holidays and he'd met up with a couple of guys from his school years. They were laughing and messing about when Max noticed the time.
"Hey, listen guys, it's been really great but I've got to go. My folks are expecting me back in like 5 minutes." He explained regretfully. "I'll catch you later." He promised. Waving goodbye Max turned and started back for home. Noticing a side alley he ducked through it hoping to be home faster. But, as he started walking he heard footsteps. Worried, he picked up his pace before something grabbed the back of his jacket and shoved him into the wall. Looking, he saw a group of around 5 thugs, all wearing hoodies, blocking his escape routes. With worry he spotted they all had weapons on them, switch blades and a couple were holding guns.
"Give us your money." The one holding him snarled. Max was terrified and couldn't respond at first. When he didn't reply, the thug growled and pressed a blade to Max's neck. If Max was terrified before, his fear became amplified. "I said, give us your money." The thug yelled, shoving him into the wall.
"I-I don't have any!" Max confessed. The thug laughed coldly.
"Yeah right. Little pretty boy like you, you're bound to be loaded. Now, cough up." The thug insisted. "Unless you want it to get ugly." He threatened, pressing the blade more firmly against Max's throat. As Max gasped and stuttered in fear, a new voice called out.
"Hey, did you ever learn to pick on people your own size? Or is nobody fat enough for you to do that?" A young, female voice challenged. The thugs all looked round. At the entrance to the alley, a short petite figure stood silhouetted against the light. The one holding Max laughed.
"Why lookie here boys, we've got a little runt pretending to be a hero." He snickered. His gang all laughed menacingly. The figure stood their ground.
"Leave him alone. He's told you he doesn't have any cash, so lay off!" The girl demanded.
"Why? Boys like him don't go out without money." The leader of the thugs replied cockily. He turned to the stunned and scared Max. "And it's boys like him who always give us what we want." He added, leering at the young explorer. Max's breath caught in his throat before he suddenly felt the hand holding him disappear as the thug was sent careering away.
"You should look at someone if they speak to you." The girl remarked. She grinned, her white teeth a stark contrast to their dark surroundings as she readied into a fighting stance. The gang helped their leader up before advancing on the girl. Her smile changed into a feral snarl. Max sank to the floor as his saviour started fighting off the gang. She was vastly outnumbered and was hit several times (with both fist and knife) but, by the end of a long fight, the gang were sent running off as she stood victorious. Turning to face Max, he stared at his hero and got the shock of his life.
"S-Sky?" He asked. She smiled and, with a little difficulty and effort, helped him to his feet. Once he was upright, Sky threw his arm across her shoulders and helped him home. Max was in shock. As they emerged into warm streetlight again, he saw how badly injured she was. Her lip was puffy, she had a large bruise blooming on her cheek and on her jawline. Her arm had been slashed by a knife and the wound was bleeding profusely as well as her top was ripped, exposing another bleeding cut. Her palms were scraped and her knee was also scraped as well. And yet, she still helped him home. "Why?" He asked as they reached the front door. Sky paused and shrugged.
"You needed help." She replied simply. Max had pondered those words all night. Her mother had been horrified at Sky's injuries, but the girl lied and said she'd gotten into a fight with some schoolmates. He was amazed that his cousin didn't tell the truth and allow him to get into trouble. A long time later, when the rest of the family had gone to bed, he went into his little cousin's bedroom. To his surprise she was awake, perched on the end of her bed waiting for him. He came and sat next to her.
"Thanks," He whispered. She smiled cheerily at him.
"You're family. Family look out for each other." She murmured back. They looked at each other before Max embraced Sky, pulling her into a hug.
Max's smile grew as he recalled that, after that night, he and Sky had been like brother and sister. All that week he'd helped her with chores and given her help until she'd forcibly made him stop. Straightening up, Max's face became set with determination.
"I won't let you down Sky." He promised. Just then, someone burst through the tent flap. He turned to see Natalie who was looking murderous. "I told you to go back to the Jeep."
"And I was doing until I heard you were going after Sky." She snapped.
"Listen, she's my family. Yes, you're her best friend but I can't risk it."
"I don't care!" Natalie retorted angrily. "Sky is like family to me, and I'll be damned if you go after her alone." She screeched. Without warning Natalie turned on her heel and ran. Realising what she was about to do, Max groaned and sprinted after the girl. He raced after his cousin's friend as she barrelled past both scientists and his archaeological friends as she jumped into the little pit. Max tore after her, jumping down also. But he was a fraction too late. Just as he reached out to snatch Natalie back the blonde girl dove into the tunnel, evading his grasp. Max turned to the scientists. One, Alex, threw a communicator to him.
"Go get your cousin!" She called. "I'll monitor from here!" She yelled to him. Nodding, Max squeezed into the tiny passage and began crawling after Natalie.
"I'm coming Sky, just hang on in there." He whispered, crawling further and further into the darkness.
But, back in the universe of the Power Rangers, Sky and the others were all sat eating pizza. Trip had insisted on redressing Sky's wounds and the others had agreed. Apart from Sky. However, she had soon been persuaded (although she called it hounded) into agreeing to it as well and then went through around 10 minutes of pain. Afterwards though they'd all ordered in their pizza which led into their current situation; Sky was explaining the story to the Rangers of how she'd obtained her powers and her morpher. She skipped out large sections of her story but gave them the general idea. However, one Ranger in particular picked up on a small detail missed out.
"But, what happened to your family?" Jen asked kindly. "I mean, I get the whole 'exploring and found the powers' thing," She said, framing the words in quotation marks. "But surely you have a family somewhere?" She asked. Sky's mind went into overdrive for a second, trying to come up with the perfect excuse. Suddenly, an idea hit her.
"My family are dead. I was orphaned almost as soon as I came into this world." She told them. It wasn't a total lie- just the truth being bent enough to allow her to escape more unwanted questions. Jen placed a comforting hand on Sky's shoulder and offered the girl a handkerchief, even though Sky didn't realise she'd been crying; silent tear tracks making their way down her face and dripping onto her hands. She accepted it gratefully and hurriedly wiped her tears away. "Sorry, but it's kinda raw." She explained to them all. She locked gazes with Wes. "All I wanted was a normal life, though I guess Destiny had other plans for me." She stated. Wes bit back a smile at the double meaning behind the words.
"Oi, watch it." Destiny warned playfully. "I may not have a physical form, but I can still annoy you." She reminded Sky. And as soon as she finished her sentence Destiny began a very loud and out of key rendition of 'We are One' from the Lion King 2. With worry she spotted the other Rangers looking around in confusion.
"Can anyone else hear singing?" Lucas asked, staring around the Clock Tower.
"Destiny..." Sky thought. Her spirit guide ignored her. "Destiny, hush!" She requested. Destiny continued to sing. "Destiny, SHUT UP!" Sky roared in her mind. Finally, Destiny was silenced. "The others could hear you." She explained. If a spirit could blush, Sky was sure Destiny would have been glowing red. She could feel embarrassment rolling off Destiny in waves. She smiled inwardly. "Just...tone it down a bit, eh?" Sky asked. Destiny agreed silently before retreating into the pendant once more. Sky rolled her eyes fondly. Her spirit friend was...quirky, in the extreme, but she loved her and knew that it was good to have someone to trust unconditionally. The Rangers- Sky included- all continued to eat their pizza in companionable silence. Whilst eating, Sky observed Wes and Jen repeatedly sneaking glances at each other when they thought no one was watching. Even to Destiny in her pendant, it was painfully obvious that the two liked each other, in more than one way. Destiny chuckled at Sky's frown. "No one can be that dense...can they?" Sky asked Destiny incredulously.
"It would appear they can." Her close friend replied. Sky shook her head in bemusement.
"And this is why I don't date." She declared in her mind, causing Destiny to laugh. Shaking her head again, Sky zoned back in on the conversation the others were having.
"...But seriously, why not?" Wes was asking. Jen tutted.
"Wes, we don't have time to go to a party. With our luck, Ransik will strike the moment we get inside!" She reasoned.
"What's all this about a party?" Sky asked, curious. Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Wes wants us all to go to a party his Dad's holding." He explained.
"But Jen doesn't think it's a good idea." Katie added. Sky sighed. She leaned across to Trip, who was watching the still arguing Wes and Jen.
"Hey, Trip!" She whispered. The Xybrian turned to her. "Are they always like this?" She questioned. Trip smiled at her and nodded. Sky had to suppress a groan. "Fantastic." She muttered sarcastically. Trip stifled a laugh when Sky turned to the still squabbling Wes and Jen. "Listen, maybe you guys should go to the party." Sky interrupted.
"What?" Jen asked while Wes looked on smugly.
"I think you should go. Look at it this way, you five can all go to the party and I can stay here to keep an eye on Ransik. I'm sure that I wouldn't be allowed in and besides, you guys need some time to relax." Sky reasoned. "If I stay here, then Ransik can't come and catch us unawares and I can contact you guys via your morphers." She pointed out. Jen gaped, all of her reasons for not going now void. Sky leant back, content. "There, so it's settled. I'll stay here whilst all of you go to the party. Problem solved, so let's eat without bickering; I'm getting a headache." She complained. The other Rangers all laughed and everyone soon returned to talking contentedly. However, Sky was suffering inwardly. She felt like the more she got to know the other Rangers, the less she thought of her family. The thought of forgetting her past life terrified her. She felt immense guilt and was unsure of what to do.
"Destiny?" She asked.
"What's up?" the spirit asked.
"What should I do? I can't forget my family and I can't pretend I'm not upset and hurt that I'll never see them again, but at the same time it's like...the more I get to know the Rangers, the lesser the pain is. But, I don't know if that's a good thing. Should I distance myself? Or just go with it? I just don't know anymore..." She explained, frustrated. Destiny sent feelings of sympathy across their link.
"Sorry, but I can't help with this problem. This is one little calamity that you'll have to deal with on your own."
"Why?" Sky asked, saddened.
"Because, although I'm your closest friend, only you can decide matters relating to your heart. I can't make these decisions for you. I'm sorry, really I am, but I honestly can't do anything." Destiny replied comfortingly. Sky nodded mentally, but said nothing more.
Meanwhile, on Ransik's ship, the mutant criminal was furious.
"Just who is this new Ranger?" He thundered. Frax looked around uncertainly.
"Well, they call themselves the Dragon Ranger, if that helps..."He muttered.
"Fool!" Ransik roared, pushing the robot to the floor. "I already knew that!" He bellowed. Leaning over the desk, he glared through his mask at an image of the Ranger, in their full silver spandex uniform. "I need to know who's behind the visor!" He snarled, eyes blazing as he stared at the holographic picture. His snarl turned into an evil smirk. "And I know exactly how to do it." He declared confidently.
Well, there it is! As always, leave a review as I forever enjoy hearing your opinion. Whether it is good, or bad, let me know. Just click that button there!
JJ x