Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

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Four Ways to Die

Sky woke up, yet again, from his recurring nightmare, only to find that it was half-real. There was a little tray with stale bread and stagnant water on it in front of the door to their cell. He was starving, but Sky figured he would see how much Z wanted first. The idea prompted him to wonder why there was no warm body next to him under the little blanket. He cursed and raced to the bars. He looked down the long hallway as far as he could, trying to find out if she was anywhere nearby. Nothing moved except the usual rats.

Sky sighed, hating himself for falling asleep. Every time they took Z, she came back worse. He was afraid that eventually, she would not come back at all. That was what happened in his dreams, anyway: He would find their cell door open and hear Z screaming, "Sky! Help me! Somebody please help me…" while Morgana laughed. He ran toward the noise, but every time he would arrive seconds too late. He'd run into the room and find Z lying dead on the ground. Morgana would mock him, "Sky! Sky help me! You're too late, ranger; you've failed again!" She would raise her gun, but Sky never bothered to move. He just sat there holding onto the dead girl, waiting to join her. Sky was never able to; he always woke up as soon as she pulled the trigger.

Sky blinked; something was moving at the end of the hall. As they got closer, he recognized Broodwing and three krybots – one carrying an unconscious Z. "Not again," he whispered.

Broodwing stopped in front of the bars. "Back up, ranger, or I'll have to leave your girlfriend to the krybots. Sky backed up, gathering strength to attack. The gate opened and he attempted to lunge at Broodwing, but the krybots threw Z into his arms. "How sweet of you," sneered Broodwing as he locked the bars.

"She's not my girlfriend," Sky hissed. "And just you wait; as soon as I get out of here…"

Broodwing cut him off, "Oh, then I don't need to worry at all." Laughing maniacally, he disappeared down the hall followed by the krybots.

Sky bit back a retort; even if he had managed to get out of the cell, he would have been forced to leave Z behind if she could not walk on her own. Carefully, he lowered his teammate to the floor.

"Please wake up soon, Z," he whispered. "I don't want to be alone, even if it means being with you."

One brown eye half-opened. "That's comforting."

"You're awake! And alive!" he exclaimed, trying to pull her up.

Z yelped when he moved her too quickly, grabbing her side. "Not so fast, Sky; I was only out for a minute, but I had no intention of letting the krybots know I was alive; I would not have been able to fight Morgana anymore. My side hurts…I think something's bruised."

"Or broken," Sky added, "or ruptured, or cut. Let me see."

Z smirked, "I'd rather leave my shirt on. What could you do, anyway?"

Sky turned bright red. "That's not what I meant, Z. I might be able to help you, but I won't know unless I see where you're hurt. Please, leave your shirt on as much as possible."

Z rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Doc." She pulled her shirt up just past her lower ribs.

Sky put his hand lightly against the giant bruise that plagued a good portion of her skin, carefully inspecting it. He pressed a little harder, trying to feel what was out of place. He heard her inhale sharply. "Does that hurt?"

"What do you think, genius?" she snapped. "There's a reason it's black and blue."

"Sorry," Sky replied. "I think you've got two, possibly three, broken ribs…which is bad." He grabbed the blanket and ripped off a long piece. "I better wrap your ribs. It won't work as well without the appropriate material, but it will be better than nothing."

"Eh," Z shrugged. "I'll be fine. Do your worst, Doctor Tate."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Cruger, Kat, and the remaining rangers stood in the command center, waiting for their transmission to go through. It had been a week since Sky and Z were kidnapped – they planned to find out if Sky and Z were alive, healthy, and being held according to the Galactic Prisoner Standard. Most of these were highly doubted.

Grumm appeared on the screen, "Ah, Commander Cruger; to what do I owe the displeasure? Are you ready to accept my demands in exchange for your rangers?"

"Skip the pleasantries, Grumm. I want to see my rangers," Cruger demanded.

The alien's face darkened. "See them?"

"Yes, I want you to prove to me that you're following all the galactic standards. One of those would be allowing the opposing commander to see…"

"I know the laws, Cruger!" shouted Grumm. "You will need to allow me a bit of time to retrieve the cells; they are being held on the opposite side of the ship."

"You've got ten minutes, Grumm!" barked Cruger.

Grumm scowled, but nodded. The screen changed to black with a rotating SPD symbol. Without realizing it, Cruger had given his own rangers the death sentence.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"What are you doing?! You are going to kill her!" Sky bellowed. This time both of them had been removed from their cage and taken to a separate room. Sky immediately recognized the tube-shaped chambers filled with green liquid. It was where they should have been placed at first, unaware of their predicament until their return to SPD or their deaths. He also knew, having read the entire galactic handbook several times over, that the liquid amoragan filling each chamber was very unstable. With all of the beatings she had received since their arrival on Grumm's ship, the amoragan was sure to poison Z.

"Let her go!" Sky struggled against the troobians and krybots who held him back and attempted to prepare him for the same suspended animation. "Z, don't let them get near you! The tanks are filled with poison!"

Z's eye glowed yellow. With the help of her doubles to keep the soldiers busy and Sky's shields blocking them from harm, the two rangers managed to fight off their attackers. Unfortunately, with an army prepared to sedate two starved and weakened rangers, it was not long before Z's doubles disappeared and Sky was too tired to concentrate on his shields. Both rangers were captured and drugged. Medical tubes were connected to their bodies so that they could breathe and 'eat'…or at least so machines could do it for them.

The soldiers ignored several very important standards and all guidelines that made sure the rangers would be as comfortable as possible, enabling them to complete the process within five minutes. Sky and Z were easily transferred to Grumm's throne room.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Where are they, Grumm?" growled Cruger as soon as the screen came back up.

"Patience, Commander, patience," smirked Grumm.

"I've been very patient; now show me my rangers!"

Grumm cackled, "Very well, Commander. They are here…" Grumm motioned with his hand. Two krybots pushed two large, greenish tanks into the room. Each tank held one ranger, floating eerily in the green liquid with tubes running from their bodies to the outside of the tanks.

"Z!" Jack whispered, knowing the image was sure to haunt him for the rest of his life. His sister, his best friend, looking dead in a tube of green chemicals.

Cruger raised a hand to silence him, and leaned in closer to the screen, gesturing for Kat to do the same. She did, doing her best to scrutinize the sleeping rangers through a holographic screen. "Tell me what their health readings say," commanded the doctor.

"Ah, I thought you would be there, Ms. Manx. They're fine, as you can see; we've obeyed every one of the…"

"Read the statistics!" Kat hollered, making everyone in the room and on Grumm's ship wince.

"Yes, of course," Grumm replied. "Morgana!"

Morgana stood in front of the tubes and read from the small screens attached to each, "Both read: heart rate - 90, nutrition - 66, respiration – normal, blood content – slightly under normal, and amoragan reading – um…uh-oh…"

Grumm slapped his forehead, groaning, "Morgana, please tell Dr. Manx and myself why that last one was an 'uh-oh'?"

"Er…the reader is…um, broken, yeah, it's broken! I remember one of the krybots elbowed it, so the reader is messed up," Morgana explained quickly.

"See now?" Grumm said. "Everything's perfectly fine. That is, except for the fact you're your rangers are out here with me, rather then at home with all of you."

"Liar," Kat muttered.

"I need to discuss things with my assistant, if you will allow us a moment," Cruger growled.

"I shall give you the same time you allotted us; ten minutes!" Grumm replied. Cruger hit a button and the screen changed back to the image of a spinning SPD badge.

"Well?" Cruger turned to Kat, who looked furious.

"Those…those…oh, I can't even think of something bad enough!" Kat yelled. "They were obviously lying, commander. For one thing, the heart rate was normal for a troobian My bet is they made up everything on that chart! Sky and Z have not been in suspended animation for more than ten minutes and they were extremely underweight. The rangers should not have had the same readings, since there is no possible way two people would have the exact same reaction. That 'uh-oh' sounded like a one-of-the-prisoners-is-sick uh-oh. Amoragan poisoning is deadly, commander. If either of them has it, we need to get them back here within the next 72 hours, or they will be dead before anyone can help them."

Cruger pounded his fist against the console, bringing the screen back. "GRUMM! You cheat!"

"A great insult, commander!" shouted Grumm. "I am being more then fair to you and your rangers."

"LIAR!" Kat shouted. "They are in very poor condition! You must return them immediately, or you are going to kill them!"

"Yes, that was the intention, Ms. Manx, but only if you do not…"

"I don't give a damn about your intentions! You are the worst kind of creature Grumm; a selfish, vile, treacherous…" The rangers and Cruger gawked at Kat; she never cursed.

When she was done, there was a moment of stunned silence before Grumm laughed, "Well thank you for the compliment, Ms. Manx."

"Well now I know where the ranger learned her manners," Morgana said.

Grumm growled, "Morgana!" She slapped a hand over her mouth.

Kat hissed; if Morgana had been able to hear the rangers speak, they must have been awake. "Grumm, you are in direct violation of…" Cruger began.

Grumm interrupted, "…many things, Cruger, and I plan to make it many more. So we haven't been keeping exactly to the code, we never do. This changes little, except that you may want to hurry up your surrender so that your rangers don't die accidentally. Oh, isn't amoragan poison contagious? Pity…would you like us to shoot one ahead of time so that you will still have one for us to return?"

Grumm laughed, and turned off the screen before Kat could shout any more curses.