A/N: So sorry for the long update time! Been really busy lately.
Sky awoke the next morning and headed for the cafeteria for breakfast. It was no surprise that Bridge was absent. The green ranger had been ignoring him ever since their encounter the evening before. He even refused any conversation during the car ride back. It had been three hours of nothing but complete and awkward silence. "He told me he ate early; said he had a project to work on with Boom before his patrols and training with C squad today," said Jack, interrupting his thoughts.
He gave him a confused look. "Don't act like that," Jack continued, "I know what you're thinking. It's written all over your face. Plus, I've seen how you two have been acting towards each other since last evening. What happened?"
Sky contemplated whether to tell Jack about the circumstances of the new quiet game he and Bridge were currently playing with each other and decided against it. "It's nothing," he assured him, "We just had a small disagreement last night. I'm sure it'll blow over after a while."
Jack nodded and returned to eating his oatmeal.
It was only a few moments until the command center alarm sounded. "B squad cadets! A suspect is attacking the city! Take immediate action!"
It looked as if breakfast wasn't going to happen that morning.
xxx
The roaring of sirens announced the rangers' arrival as they pulled in front of Newtech City's federal bank. They had arrived just in time, as a familiar figure was storming out of the building with large sums of cash pouring out of his arms.
"Zortech!" Sky shouted, "The game ends here!"
The other rangers looked at him, confused. "How do you know his name?" asked Z, "We've never battled him before!"
"No time to explain!" he replied, "I think it's time to suit up!"
The rangers pulled out their morphers and were in their trademark spandex suits and helmets. They all withdrew their weapons and charged towards the monster. However, their efforts didn't stand a chance. Just as before, nothing was able to pierce Zortech's armor. "He's too strong!" Syd shouted, "How the hell are we supposed to stop him?"
"Well maybe we need to get stronger!" Sky replied, "It's battleizer time!"
The other rangers nodded. "SWAT mode!"
With their weapons upgraded, they made their move. Unfortunately, even with the most advanced SPD technology at their hands, it was still no use. "Pathetic rangers!" the monster roared, "Nothing can defeat me! It's time I leave!"
With that, he threw up his arms, sending many grenades into the air. Then, everything seemed to freeze. Sky saw them coming, but his feet felt as if they were glued to the ground. There were too many surrounding him to escape. He yelled out to the other rangers, hoping that they were to suffer a better fate than him, but his voice seemed to be lost in the air. No one could hear. The grenades hit the ground as he watched in horror. Five. Four. Three. Two. Boom.
Fire erupted around them all as they were thrown fifty feet into the air. He instantly felt the protection of his suit vanish as he de-morphed mid air. Screams from his friends were the only sound he heard around him. Then, he felt nothing but searing pain as his body came into contact with the pavement. Moments after, his left leg was still hurting immensely. Looking down, he saw flames devouring his flesh. He frantically tore off his uniform jacket and covered them. Luckily, he was able to put them out.
Then, more sounds came. First the laugh. It was terrible. He wondered how anyone, even the most evil of villains could manage to laugh at such suffering. It filled the air and he wanted nothing more than for it to stop. No one, not even Grumm was that low. Next came the footsteps. He could do nothing as he watched Zortech step over his fallen body and teleport away. They had lost yet again.
Sky finally managed to sit up and inspect the damages to himself. He was lucky. Besides the burn, the only serious injuries present were bruises and scrapes. However, his friends were in no better shape. The whole left side of Syd's face was scratched up and bruising from her fall from the grenades. It also had a few small burns. Her lip was busted open and bleeding. It was already beginning to swell. Z lay facedown on the pavement, groaning in pain. It was obvious that she had broken her arm, for it was at an extremely unnatural angle. Bridge was at her side trying to calm her, but he didn't look like he was doing any better. The right sleeve of his jacket was sliced open, revealing severe lacerations down the length of his arm. He had his hand firmly placed over them in a sorry attempt to help the bleeding, but it was no use. His hair looked sticky from blood, as there was some dripping down the side of his face from his hard fall to the pavement. However, Jack was the worst. He was lying on the ground, far away from everyone else. He wasn't moving. Biting back tears, Sky hurried to his side. "Jack!" he shouted, "Can you hear me?"
No response. "No…" he choked, "Jack!"
He didn't move. "Bridge!" Sky screamed, "Come here! It's Jack! I think he's… He can't be but…"
Before he could finish, Bridge was there. Syd and Z attempted to follow, but due to their injuries were unsuccessful. He winced as he raised his arm to remove his glove and then waved it to scan Jack's body. "…There's no signs of life in him," he whispered.
"What did you say?" Sky asked.
"Jack is dead," Bridge stated, with almost no emotion. He didn't know what to feel.
The words hit him harder than a freight train. They were completely foreign to his ears. Jack dead? No. It was impossible. Whether he was the red or blue ranger, Jack Landors couldn't die on duty. It just wasn't how he was supposed to go. Sobs wrenched out of his body as he lifted his fellow cadet off the ground. "It's okay buddy," he said frantically as he pulled his morpher off his belt and dialed it, "We're going to call Kat and take you back home. She's going to fix this, you hear me? You're going to make it. You can't die like this. Do you understand? It isn't supposed to end this way for you!"
"What's the matter Tate?" he heard Kat ask from his morpher.
Given the situation, he almost forgot he dialed it. "It's Jack," he said trying to hold back his emotions in order to get through to her better, "He's fallen and he's in critical condition. Please tell me you can fix him. You have to!"
Kat sighed, "I'm sorry Sky, there's nothing I can do," she said, sadness taking over her words.
Sky let out a scream of agony and threw his morpher to the ground, shattering it. "Listen Jack, I'm sorry I was such an ass to you all the time! You deserved to be the red ranger, not me. There was no one better than you for the job. As much as I'd hate to admit it, I think blue was the best color for me. If you're going to die on me, at least leave knowing that."
With that, he slowly rose to his feet with his fallen teammate in his arms. It was going to be a hard ride back to the base.
xxx
Jack looked completely different in the infirmary bed than he had lying in the road earlier that day. He looked more as if he had passed in his sleep rather than being struck down by an evil monster. Kat had cleaned most of him up and put him in a fresh new uniform to prepare him for the mortuary. His funeral was to be held later that week. "He didn't deserve this," Syd mumbled between sniffles, "He as such a great ranger."
Z nodded in agreement. "He was also the greatest friend anyone could ask for," she added, "I don't know what I'm going to do without him now."
For the first time, Bridge was beyond words. Everything was still sinking in for him. "Goodbye Jack," was all he managed to say before choking up. Before leaving, the three of them gave their last goodbye gestures. Syd pushed a few stray hairs out of his face and gave him a small smile. She didn't want to leave him with nothing but sadness from her. Bridge gave him a hug. It wasn't just the living that he was very up close and personal with. And his best friend gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "This isn't goodbye," said Z, "You'll always be with me."
She left the room crying harder than ever.
That left Sky. Once he was alone, he grabbed Jack's hand and fell to his knees, sobs instantly taking over his body. "I regret so much…" he started, "I should have not been so cruel to you. You were an amazing ranger Jack and I hope you left us knowing that. I know all of us are extremely proud to have fought by your side and I know you will still be with us every time we go into battle. It's not fair that you had to go this way and I promise that I will bring Zortech to justice. Your death will not be pointless. I'll make sure of that."
Suddenly, he felt something in Jack's hand. Carefully opening his fingers, he reached inside to retrieve the mystery object. What he saw astonished him. Now in his own hand was the same black stone he had taken off of the monster before he entered this strange mystery world. But he knew he couldn't leave just yet. No. He had a mission to complete.
Letting out an angry snarl, Sky reached for Jack's belt and took his morpher.
A/N: I presume you all hate me now. Am I correct?
