Disclaimer: still don't own it…
Author's Note: The e-mail chain that I had going around was deleted from my outbox… if anyone was apart of that, please let me know and I'll add you back on.
Well, after a four month writer's block on this, I am glad to say I have come to a satisfying start to an ending, I do sincerely hope you enjoy!
The Mutiny, part 1
The sun rose slowly over a disaster-stricken skyline. Fires left over from the previous evening's battles now slowly smothered to an orange-yellow ashes and small puffs of smoke escaped slowly from the crevices. Battered cars and chunks of concrete lay scattered, thrown around like toys, without disregard from the owner. Slowly, rays of sunlight leaked through the openings and bathed the city in highlights of gold.
He sighed lowly, his warm breath cast a frosty shadow across the glass as the ruined city reflected across his eyes. The actions and news of the previous night's activities were still fresh in Sky's mind. The city was in ruins, his thoughts were in disarray and above all, Syd was pregnant.
How could that have happened? They had been so careful that night, but obviously something went wrong. Not to mention the fact that Grumm, Excavious and Doomtron were still on the loose, and they were nowhere near close to capturing the deadly trio. Now that Syd was out of commission they would be one Ranger short.
He closed his eyes and bit his lip. Why did things have to happen now? Why did Grumm have to come here now, and not in another few hundred years?
"It's strange what the times can do to us."
Sky turned his head slowly to the left and saw Syd standing in her hospital gown and a small smile on her face. Her blonde hair rested lazily on her shoulders as she took a small step towards where he sat and took the vacant chair that rested across from where he sat. Syd brought it closer to him and took his hand in his.
"Don't be afraid, Sky," she whispered softly, "Everything will be okay."
His eyes fell down to the ground as he stood up and walked towards the window and glanced out at the wreckage again. "I don't want to be afraid, Syd," he sighed. "But I can't help it. I don't know if everything will be okay."
Syd stood up and snaked her arms around his and put her cheek against his shoulder. "Sometimes we can't help knowing if things will work out the way we planned. We can only work to make sure they go the way we want them to." She squeezed him softly.
Sky slowly took her hands in his as she held him close. "Abigail," he muttered.
"Abigail?" Syd asked curiously as Sky turned around. He gave her a small smile as he rested his hand on her abdomen.
Sky shrugged. "If it's a girl, Abigail Jennifer. If we have a boy- Jackson Wesley, Jake for short. Just thinking of possible names for our baby."
Syd's lips curled into a smile as she chuckled. "I like that, Sky." Syd kissed him softly as he pulled her into a tight hug and he kissed her forehead.
Silence surrounded Eric as he sat by the window in his hospital room, carefully chewing over his thoughts and the events that happened within the past few hours. SPD Headquarters was heavily damaged, the city was in ruins, and his best friend's son is going to be a father, not to mention the nagging voice inside his head to call her.
"Get out of there," he muttered and lightly smacked his forehead with his hand. "You need to stop thinking about her,"
"About who?" came a voice. Eric looked over his shoulder to see Wes standing in his doorway with two cups of coffee in his hand and a grin on his face. "You better stop talking to yourself, Eric. I hear there's an open bed on the psych floor," Wes chuckled and handed Eric the cup.
"Yea, that'll be the day." He sipped the cup slowly. The hot liquid ran down his throat as the aroma surrounded his nose. There was silence between the two. Eric was not a big fan of silence. "You're getting old, Wes. I hear you're going to be a grandpa."
Wes smiled at the thought. "I assume Jen told you last night?" Eric nodded and took another sip of his coffee. "I'm happy for them. I just wish we didn't have to take Syd out of the battle."
"She's pregnant Wes, she can't fight. Even I won't allow it. That's a big thing coming from me." Eric saw a grin escape from the Red Ranger's lips.
"Well, I appreciate your concern, Eric. If you're lucky, maybe I'll let you baby-"
"Wes, Eric!" hollered Katie as she came barreling down the hallway. "It's Excavious and Doomtron! They're back!"
Wes and Eric looked at each other, and then threw down the cups onto the table.
In the lobby, Jen had the team already assembled and ready to go. Seeing Katie coming back with Wes and Eric at her heels, Jen turned to the others. "Alright, let's move out!"
The ten Rangers quickly made their way out of the lobby, when a voice called from behind them. "Wait for me!"
Sky turned around to see Syd running from behind them, still trying to hop into her uniform. "No, Syd," he walked over to her. "Stay here, please."
"I can still fight, Sky, trust me." Syd said in defense and placed her hands on her hips.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Jen turned her head to see Syd standing there with her uniform on, and a determined look on her face. Jen simply shook her head and walked over.
"Syd, listen to me," she said calmly. "Morphing will only endanger both you and the baby. You suit is designed to protect you and you only, not the baby."
Syd tried to respond back, but she couldn't.
"I know you want to help, believe me, but this is for your safety and the baby." Jen placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder. "I know the feeling, Syd, trust me. There's always going to be a fight to win, but today, this is not your fight."
"We need to get moving, Jen," Trip called to her.
Jen nodded and turned back to Syd. "I'll protect my baby," she looked at Sky then back to Syd, "Only if you promise not to fight and protect yours. Deal?"
Syd bit her lip, and then smiled. "Deal. Be careful, guys. Come back safely." Sky jumped in front of Jen and gave Syd a quick kiss.
"As always." Sky muttered. "Let's go!" With a hop in their step, the Rangers turned around and ran out the hospital in pursuit of Doomtron and Excavious.
"Rangers, be careful out there," Cruger said into the microphone.
"No problem, Commander, don't worry about us," said Jack as he rounded a corner on his bike and continued speeding forward. To this right he saw Jen's Vector cycle pulling even with his. She nodded to him as she pulled in front of him.
About half a mile away, Doomtron could be seen throwing laser blasts over the city. Buildings exploded as men and women ran for cover.
"Look alive back there, kids, here we go," Jen's voice came into their ear pieces. "Let's take him down hard and fast. The quicker we take out Doomtron's cannons, the better."
Wes's voice added in. "Stay sharp. Don't think, feel."
"And don't get dead," Lucas concluded with a smile on his face.
"Today, we make history," Sky said, his head raised high.
"For some us, saving history," Katie added.
The ten of them drove down the street as Doomtron came further into view. The robot turned and eyed them, then sent out a barrage of bullets flying towards them. Breaking off from the pack, they all split into different directions.
"Let's finish this!" Jack cheered as he fired his own weaponry, but they did nothing more than merely tarnish the robot's surface.
"Lasers to full power!" Sky called. The cannons on his cycle glowed blue as lasers followed behind Jack's fire power, but again, did nothing.
Excavious grinned from inside Doomtron's head. "My turn," he flipped a switch and rockets flew out in every general direction.
Exploding by the Time Force Ranger's wheels, they were sent flying in the air, and landed hard. Krybots surrounded them.
"Kat, bring the new weapon online," Trip's message transmitted. He ducked the fist of a Krybot and thrashed another with his Chrono saber.
"Trip, it's not complete, the hardware hasn't finished uploading all the new programs yet-"
"Damn it, Kat, we need that weapon now, we're getting killed!" Trip responded angrily as he, Jen and Sky ducked under a pile of debris as Doomtron sent down a shower of glass from the buildings above.
"But the danger it could instill-l is it worth risking it?"
"If it saves our asses, I'll try anything," Z said.
"Kat, bring it online, we'll worry about the consequences later," Trip said and ran from the concrete walls.
"Received, Trip. I'm bringing online now," Kat's voice said into his ear.
From down the street, the SPD Rangers were having a difficult time as well, fighting off both the Krybots and Doomtron's attacks.
"Rangers, I'm sending you the data for a new weapon, upon full download, you will have access to it."
Sky threw down a Krybot and grinned. "New weapon?"
Bridge nodded. "Trip and Kat were working on it for weeks now," he paused, "it sounds like they're still working on it.
"I think not!" Excavious said and barraged them again with lasers, bullets, and anything that was in his path.
"Break!" Sky screamed and they all went in separate directions yet again.
Jack panted as he ducked into a building crevice with Katie. The Yellow and Red Rangers grinned. "Kat, when is that download going to finish?"
"Twenty-seven seconds, Jack, hold on,"
Eric groaned, "This had better be worth it, Trip,"
"I assure you, it is," the Green Ranger said. Eric thought he could see a smile from behind the Ranger's helmet.
"Now Rangers, download is complete!"
Jack, Z, Bridge and Sky all piled out from their hiding spots as Doomtron's cannons stopped briefly.
"Let's finish this!" Jack called. The four of the snapped their morphers open. "Power up!"
Syd stood eagerly by the TV as the news covered the unfolding battle. It showed the Rangers flying across the screen and Doomtron winning. She sighed, disgusted, and walked away from the TV and sat down.
"They need my help," she muttered and ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "But I promised Jen I'd stay back. She's taking care of her baby," she put a hand on her stomach, "and so am I."
"Power up!"
Syd's eyes snapped back to the TV just in time to see her fellow Rangers fall under a large pile of concrete. She looked away in pain as Excavious could be heard laughing.
The new weapon hadn't worked, which discouraged the Rangers even more.
"We're getting beat out here, Kat why didn't that work?"
It was Jack's voice that came over her morpher. Syd listened intently for the answer that she also had a question for.
"The download only worked for the four of you, a section of data is missing,"
A thought struck her mind. "A piece of data?" She sighed as she placed her morpher in her pocket and walked back out to the lounge to watch.
"What do you mean data is missing?" Jen said angrily. "You went over those figures twenty times,"
"This is not good, move!" Wes said and grabbed Jen's shoulders and dived beneath a car as Doomtron again sent out a never-ending missle launch.
"Kat, what happened?" Z asked.
"I-I don't know," her voice was frantic as she searched for an answer.
Sky banged his fist against the ground. "Damn it, we could have ended this by-"
Someone called his name as a section of building collapsed and fell onto him, or near him, rather. He felt another body roll besides him as he caught his breathe.
"Thanks, Je-" he stopped as he turned towards the Ranger. Her pink helmet reflected his eyes as he gasped.
"We're both going to bring him down, Sky," Syd said before he could speak, "Remember, we're in this together, for better," she cocked her head, "or for worse."
The Time Force Rangers ran to where Sky and Syd stood.
"Syd, are you sure you want do this, I mean, because of the baby," Jen asked the young woman. Syd nodded.
"I want to make sure that both my babies are safe," she looked towards Sky.
"It doesn't matter who fights, I will destroy you all!" Excavious yelled and barraged the Rangers again.
Ducking in all different directions, the Rangers grouped together, and tried to avoid the deadly laser blasts. Once his cannons were out again, the SPD Rangers stepped forward again.
Jack looked up towards the robot and had an idea. "Kat, try the weapon once more, just for kicks, while we have a few seconds,"
"I'll try Jack, but I can't guarantee anything this time around," a pause came, "Weapon trial 2.4 is up and running, give it a go,"
"This is it, guys, let's give this one more try," he whipped out his morpher as the five of them stepped forward. "SPD, SWAT mode!"
A bright flash of lights surrounded the Rangers as a thin, flexible armor covered their bodies, and their weapons appeared in their hands.
"Amazing job, Trip! This thing is awesome!" Z exclaimed as she eyed the armor.
Lucas grinned at the Green Ranger. His glance then turned to Jen who nodded. "Vector weapons, vortex blaster!" Their weapons materialized in their hands as she stood besides their fellow Rangers.
Excavious' grin slowly escaped this face, and slow was replaced by a different emotion. "No matter now many weapons you have, I will destroy you!" With his weapons at full power fired again, and the Rangers separated and took different positions among the street and fired. Doomtron was knocked back a few feet, but their weapons were still not powerful enough.
"We need more power, Kat. Can these things go any higher?" Syd asked.
Eric turned his head away as a thought came to mind. It was crazy, really. He was talking about a twenty-five year deactivation period. But Jen was right; it was the only way…
"I know how we can get more power, and stop that damned robot," he said and stood up. Raising his morpher to his mouth, he grinned at Jen and Wes, knowing this was it. It was time for an old friend to join the battle. He took in a deep breathe and spoke the words he hadn't said in almost twenty-five years.
"Q-Rex, arise…"
Chapter 17 coming up soon…