DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POWER RANGERS
Yes, I'm awful for not updating this sooner and yes, I promise to update it faster next time…Anyways, hope you enjoy the next installment :P
All Bridge could do was stare, his mouth slightly open as Sky and Z made out in the corridor, "That's just..." he struggled to find the right words. "...Not right." he finally decided with quite an unmistakable sigh, ignoring the highly intrigued glances drifting their way from passing cadets. Waving the onlookers away, the Green Ranger approached the two apprehensively and lightly tapped Sky on the shoulder.
Instead of stopping to give Bridge his full attention, the Blue Ranger merely opened one eye and directed it towards Bridge, whilst eagerly continuing his game of tonsil tennis.
"Uhm..." Bridge's eyes flicked meaningfully between Sky and Z, "Why are you doing this exactly?" Sky merely shrugged before refocusing his attention on the Yellow Ranger.
"Right...OK." Bridge replied to no-one in particular in a slightly subdued tone as he left his teammates to their 'activities' and proceeded towards the Command Center.
"Hey Syd!" the Pink Ranger turned from her place in the corner of the Rec Room as she searched for the missing Z, only to find a beaming Jack stood at the door.
"Oh God..." she muttered to herself, whilst sweeping her blond hair out of her face. "Here we go again!"
"Did I ever mention that I love you sooooo much?" Jack skipped over and tackled Syd to the floor in possibly the biggest bear-hug Syd had ever received.
"Ah-...ugh...yeah...maybe," Syd gasped back as she struggled for breath, finally shoving the Red Ranger off her, his pupils way too dilated to be considered normal. "Listen, i'm going to find Z," the Pink Ranger turned and began to walk away, but as she did so, Jack lunged forwards, clamping his arms securely around her legs and Syd slammed face-first into the floor.
"Oomph!" she reflexively put a hand to her face and looked over her shoulder to see Jack still there, using the puppy-dog eyes to full effect. "Jack!" she tried to wriggle free but to no avail. "Let...go!" The Red Ranger said nothing, yet still held on.
Syd clumsily pushed herself back to her feet and finally pulled one leg free. Heading towards the door, she dragged her right leg along behind her, with Jack still clinging on for dear life.
"Commander?" Bridge poked his head through the door, but was met by an unusual silence. Normally, the Command Centre was a hive of activity and the big blue dog could normally be seen strolling between workstations.
"Kat?"
The lift pinged cheerily to reveal the person in question and Bridge raised an eyebrow at Kat's more-tousled-than-normal hair and generally frustrated appearance.
"Hi Kat."
The feline's eyes narrowed slightly and she tilted herself away from him suspiciously. Bridge's eyebrow went even higher as he watched Kat's bizarre behavior.
"Uhm, what's up?"
By this point, Kat was beginning to wonder if Bridge had also recovered from the effects of the hallucinogen. "Nothing, I was just…updating the systems," she made up.
"Oh, okay. Where's Commander Cruger?"
"He's…out of action for a few hours." Kat was now almost certain that Bridge was back to his normal self.
"Why is something wrong?"
"No, no he's just taking a break, that's all."
"Really?" the Green Ranger replied, yet his eyes were fixed on something behind her. "Because I'd say that he'd been getting dressed in the dark…" he pointed and Kat followed his finger…
The illustrious Doggie Cruger was apparently suspended from the top of Delta Command by a solitary rope and was currently swinging backwards and forwards in front of the window; still wearing Syd's dress.
"Z? Sky? Bridge?" Syd called down the corridor. She could hear familiar voices that undoubtedly belonged to the Blue and Yellow Rangers. With a sigh, she looked down to her right leg, where Jack still hung on tight. "You wanna let go yet?"
The Red Ranger merely shook his head with a lop-sided grin and held on even tighter. Groaning, Syd dragged him along towards the voices and they rounded the corner to a rather revealing sight…
"Sky!"
The Blue Ranger merely stood there, dressed in only his underwear and utterly perplexed at Syd's reaction.
"What?" he replied innocently.
"I-…What-…Where are your clothes?"
Sky shrugged, "It's against my religion."
"What is?"
"Wearing clothes."
Syd's cheeks reddened as she averted her eyes and resisted the urge to slap her hand to her forehead. The Blue Ranger ignored her and bent down to peel off his socks.
"Sky!" she exclaimed again. "Please don't do that…at least go back to your room first."
The Blue Ranger looked at the floor before glancing back up at Syd with his best attempt at puppy-dog eyes. "Sky…" she warned, trying not to look at him directly. "Come on," she held out her hand and wiggled her fingers, gesturing for him to hold on. He obliged and Syd led him down the corridor. "Let's take you back."
Luckily, the Rangers' rooms were not too far away and Syd entered her access code that allowed them to enter. She led Sky inside before turning to Jack where the door had automatically tried to close itself, except that the Red Ranger's legs were still stuck out into the corridor.
"Ow…ow…ow…ow…ow…ow…" Jack whined as the door repeatedly opened and shut against him.
"For the love of…" Syd restrained from finishing her sentence as she dragged Jack fully back out of the room, leaving Sky safely shut inside for the time being.
"OW!"
Syd rolled her eyes and didn't even bother looking down as she hobbled down the corridor, "Jack, stop complaining…"
"It wasn't me!" he replied earnestly.
Syd sighed again and turned around in time to see Z catapulted into the opposite wall. "What the-…Z!" she hurried as fast as was currently possible over to her friend. "Are you OK?"
"HOW DARE YOU TELL ME-…YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" the Yellow Ranger roared to no-one in particular as she propped herself back on two feet.
"Z, what are you doing?" Syd stood back and watched with quite an amused look of astonishment on her face as Z fully punched herself in the face. Wincing at the contact, Syd put a hand forward in an attempt to stop her doing it again. "Z, listen-…"
"CAKE IS NOT A LIE!" she bellowed, not taking a blind bit of notice to Syd as she ran herself into the wall.
The Yellow Ranger crashed to the floor and blinked stupidly, trying to refocus her eyes before resuming her outrage. Syd took advantage of the momentary lapse in concentration and quickly secured Z's arms firmly behind her back, so as to stop her from trying to beat herself up again.
"Hey!" the Yellow Ranger protested and began violently trying to shake herself free of Syd's grasp.
"Not yet!" Syd replied back sternly as she struggled to drag the weight of two Rangers into the Rec Room.
"Wow…" Bridge had just listened to Kat's explanation of the events of the last three hours. "So, erm…what happens now?" he was struggling not to be distracted by Cruger pulling grotesque faces against the window behind Kat.
"We wait; there's nothing else we can do," the feline sighed defeatedly. "In the meantime, I suggest that you help Syd in watching over the rest of the Rangers."
"There!" Syd wiped her brow and let out a long breath as she dumped the now calm Z on the floor inside the Rec Room.
"Ah!"
Syd looked down, almost uninterestedly as Jack let out a small shriek, "What now?"
The Red Ranger's quivering hand pointed in the direction of the nearest sofa – the same one, in fact, that Sky and Bridge had almost destroyed earlier on.
"What?" Syd failed to see the point.
"It's gonna eat me!" Jack blurted as he finally let go of Syd's leg only to cower behind her instead.
"Don't be stupid, the sofa can't eat you!" Syd rolled her eyes at the Red Ranger's fearful expression and pointed to the furthest corner of the Rec Room before bending down to his current eye level. "Why don't you go and sit over there?" Jack's eyes glanced over. "You go sit down and, I dunno…sing a song or something; that way, the sofa can't hurt you." she gazed at him earnestly and he finally gave, scuttling away into the corner.
"Hey Syd." Bridge approached the Pink Ranger calmly and noticed her take a step backwards. "Don't worry," he held his hands up dismissively, "I'm fine now".
Syd relaxed and was about to speak when a thunderous crashing noise broke her words off. Upon hearing what direction the noise came from, she immediately knew the source…"Sky!"
"What?" Bridge looked confused.
"I locked him in your room!"
"Uh oh…"
Syd quickly glanced down at Z and couldn't help but laugh. She had placed herself on her back, yet her arms and legs all stuck straight up into the air and her tongue hung lazily out of her mouth.
"She's fine," Syd surmised and the two Rangers bolted out of the Rec Room and skidded around the corner to find a large hole covering most of the bottom of Bridge and Sky's room door. Seconds later, Sky crawled triumphantly out of the opening, still clothed in nothing but his underwear, followed by a quacking RIC.
"What did you do?" Bridge looked between the nearly naked Sky and the door.
"I whistled and he came for me!" the Blue Ranger replied happily, patting RIC's robotic head in reward.
"That's great Sky, so how about you come with us for a treat?"
"Yeah, we've got something special for you!" Bridge chipped in.
"Really?" Sky's blue eyes widened in glee.
"Sure, come with us…"
And there goes Chapter 9! Hope it's still keeping everyone amused