Chapter 21- Sydney in Dreamland
When Sydney opened her eyes, she was no longer inside SPD. She found herself lying on a very comfortable bed with a soft pillow against her head. She sat up and instantly regretted her decision. She put her head against the pillow, trying to ease the strong pain shooting trough her brain. She sat up, more slowly this time, and eventually got on her feet.
She turned back and found five more identical beds beside hers. There were a few medical framed posters hanging on the beige-colored walls. Everyone one of them showed one of the systems, like the muscular or the respiratory, that made the human body work. Just a few steps away from her bed a white curtain hung from a metallic bar. She instantly assumed it wasn't just for decoration. She pulled it open and got even more surprised by what she found behind it.
The room was the exact same color as the section with the beds, but this one had a large window beside a set of white drawers and cabinets. A large wooden desk was placed to the other side of the cabinets. There was a large leather chair behind it and two other chairs facing the desk. She would probably need to snoop around to get some more answers. She was just glad that the place was empty.
She opened some of the cabinets and found some medicines, like aspirin and cough syrup, bandages, syringes and other stuff related to medicine. She knew she was in a doctor's office. "It's official; I'm becoming Nancy freaking Drew. I'm getting good at this detective crap."
Afterwards, she walked to the large window and stared outside. She had a pretty clear view of a street and of a pretty big front lawn with a massive block of cement, that looked like it hadn't been painted in a very long time, placed it right in the middle of the grass. She thought it was pretty tacky. She began wondering why a person would put such a grotesque thing in the middle of a lawn… that was in front of a building. She did a double take and frowned when she realized where she actually was. She let out a small laugh and looked down at her clothes. She was in a uniform, but it wasn't the one she usually wore. This one consisted of a plaid skirt and a white button-up shirt. She was also wearing black tights and moccasins she thought were absolutely hideous.
"Bridge, I'm going to kill you when I get out of here." She muttered at herself and turned around when she heard someone open the door to the office. A chubby, elderly woman walked inside and smiled brightly at her. The old lady walked up to her and handed her a red lollipop. Sydney declined at first, but the elderly woman kept on pushing, so the Pink Ranger finally took it and put it in her pocket.
"Are you sure you're all right, dear? You hit yourself pretty hard on the head."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'd love to stay and chat but I need to go or I'll be late for my next class. Please excuse me." Everything she had just said was a complete lie. She was not fine and that woman was too pushy for her taste. And as far as attending classes went, she would only be attending one: Finding Bridge 101. She made her way through the empty hallways without problems. As she passed by, she made sure to check every classroom she passed by. They were all empty, which was strange for a high school. But then again, this wasn't a real high school; this just was a figment of Bridge's subconscious which was mild compared to her wild and dark one.
For the next couple of hours, if it were really hours that passed, she traveled up and down the building looking for Bridge in every classroom, laboratory and office. And still no sign of him or the red door. She sat down by a locker and put her head between her hands, trying to ease her headache. Instead of looking for Bridge, she began wandering around the halls in search of the red door.
She opened a door that led to a single flight of stairs. She went down the stairs and found herself inside a dark room with brick walls. A single white light flickered on and off as she moved closer to what looked like a hollow space. She began getting closer and caught a small glimpse of red. She didn't want to be wrong so walked all the way over and put her hand against something that stopped her. When the light flickered over her, she smiled and threw her fists in the air when she saw the red door.
She couldn't celebrate yet, not until she found her friend. She went back upstairs and retraced her steps when she began hearing a male voice, which wasn't her friend's voice, coming from the boys' bathrooms. She put her ear against the thick door and tried to listen. She couldn't hear anything definitive because of the door.
The voice was huskier and deeper than Bridge's from what she could make out. She turned the knob on the door a few times but it wouldn't budge. Someone had locked it form the inside. She recalled seeing an ax inside the fire emergency case so she went to the nearest one and tried to convert her hand into steel by holding a door knob made from the same material. When it didn't work for the first time, she wrapped her hand around and nothing happened. She opted for barbarism and broke the glass with a single blow. "You have an evil subconscious, Bridge."
As she walked back to the bathroom holding the ax, she couldn't help but feel like a bad-ass. Once the door was in sight, she took a few strong blows at the knob, until it finally blew off its hinges. Her irritation was clear when she entered the boys' bathroom but it faded away as soon as she saw Bridge sitting in the corner with a purple eye and a bloody nose. A guy who looked the same age as her friend stood in front of the sink. He was removing blood, probably Bridge's, from his hands. He turned and looked at Syd with an evil grin plastered all over his face.
"And who is this, Bridgey? Is she your girlfriend?" The guy took her by the arm. She groaned loudly and tried to pull away from him, but he was too strong and physically built for her to handle.
"Let go of her!" The Green Ranger shouted. The guy took his hand off Syd's arm and sat down next to Bridge. He looked directly into his eyes with the same diabolical smile.
"What if I don't want to? Will you punch me if I don't?" Bridge glared at him. "That's better. Physical aggression doesn't suit you."
"Don't listen to him Bridge. This is only a dream." Sydney smiled at him. "This is your dream. You control what happens here. Don't let your fears beat you."
"Well, looks like Blondie is not only good in the sack, she also has brains." He sneered at the girl and put his lips to her. She closed her mouth tightly and gasped when Bridge pulled him off her and punch him in the nose. She hissed and stared at him. "Nice right hook, Bridge."
"You'll pay for that." He pushed her teammate against the mirror in front of the sinks and punched him in the jaw. She groaned and remembered all them times she had spent fighting for herself in the various training arenas Grumm set up for her. If she could handle some of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy, she could totally handle a despicable human boy with psychopathic tendencies. She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him away from Bridge, hitting him even harder. "That's for touching me."
She took her knee to his groin and smiled when he fell to the floor. "And that, my dear, is for kissing me. If you need any more of that, I'll gladly give it to you for free."
Bridge stared at her when he grabbed his arm and pulled him to the hallways, where they began walking together. "That was amazing!"
"Well, at least being a former villain has it perks. It keeps creepy guys away from you. Consider it the new Taser or pepper spray."
"Thank you for helping me." He said gently.
"Bridge, it was nothing." She stopped abruptly and looked him in the eyes. "You've got to learn how to fight your own battles. I mean, I loved helping you in there, but I, or the Rangers, won't always be there."
"I know. Kenneth, the guy you helped me take out, always bullied me during high school. He would constantly pick on me for wearing gloves and even made up a rumor that I had a disease in my hands that was contagious. People stayed away from me for a while."
"I would normally have good advice, but since I never went to high school, I can't say I relate." She thought it over for a second. "I do have Morgana constantly teasing me, but that's a different story."
"I keep coming back to this place in my dreams because this was the worst day of my life." He took a minute and then continued, "He locked me in the bathroom and hit me for not letting him copy homework for a class he needed to pass to stay on the team. He punched me several times and then left when he was satisfied."
"I'm sorry, Bridge." She said solemnly. She waited a few seconds for Bridge to compose himself and then resumed her walking when he opened the door that led to the staircase. He closed it behind them and ran down the steps with Sydney when they heard Kenneth coming behind them.
Once inside the brick room, they both began running to the red door with Kenneth running just a few steps away from them. Bridge stopped running and turned back. He threw his enemy against the floor and glared at him, staring him in the eyes. "I'm not scared of you anymore."
The figure of his enemy became ashes in a matter of seconds. Sydney smiled proudly and held the door open for him. "Bridge, before you go, remember that you and Boom have a project pending."
He nodded and went through the door and so did she, closing the door behind her.
Back in the real world, both Rangers awoke with a loud gasp. She soon fell asleep again and woke up in yet another strange place she had never seen or been in before. She let out a shuddered breath and coughed. She only remembered being this cold once, and the experience was unpleasant enough to want to forget. Sydney looked at the clouds of fog that came out every time she exhaled.
She stood up and stared at herself in a broken mirror. She was wearing a small black dress, glittery, thigh-high stockings and a pair of beat-up, black leather boots and a thick fur coat over her dress. She looked around the room and found only a bed in the small concrete room. She walked out and almost wanted to shoot herself for doing so. In the real world, she would never even get out of bed looking like she just came out of a three-day party at a club. But here, she would just have to conform; it was only her friend's dream after all.
Once outside in the freezing cold, she wondered where to begin looking for him. She hoped that it would be quick, the cold was unbearable and the snow that hit her skin was colder than the one of the real world. She did a small overview of the place and immediately recognized it as downtown Newtech, where Piggy and his merry band of disgusting aliens and criminals lived. She put her hands in her pockets and found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter inside. She had taken up smoking once when she was 16 and trying to rebel against Grumm. She laughed at that memory as she walked toward a moving van she had spotted a few seconds ago. She turned on the cigarette and put it to her mouth when she spotted Jack sitting on the back, looking at a blond girl down the street.
"Pretty, who is she?"
Jack jumped and stared at her. "Don't do that! May I ask what you're doing here?"
"Answer my question, then I'll answer yours, oh mighty team leader." She took a swig out of her cigarette."
"Since when do you smoke?" Jack asked with a genuine look of shock on his face.
"Answer the question."
"Fine, her name's Ally." He confessed and smiled when he turned to look at her. He moved over when Syd sat beside him.
"What does she do for a living?"
"Her father owns a company where people can donate clothes, food and other stuff. She works for him." He announced proudly as he took the cigarette out of her mouth and smashed it with his foot. She glared at Jack.
"Jack, I know this girl is not the only reason you're smiling about." He tried to say something but she put a finger to his lip and went on, "You like helping people but you feel that being a Ranger is not the only way of doing so. You're starting to doubt the choice you made."
"I don't doubt that I'm meant to be a Power Ranger." Jack declared. "What I don't know if this is my true calling to help people out."
"I see." Sydney said gently. "Have you seen a red door around here?"
"You're not going to give me any advice?" Jack asked anxiously as she followed Sydney back into the warehouse.
"It's your choice. Even if I told you the greatest advice in the world, you would still choose whatever you think is right for you." She smiled gently and went down a flight of stairs and into a basement.
"What are you doing in my dream?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later." They continued wandering around the factory for a while until they finally found the red door on one of the many rooms of the abandoned building. Sydney turned around and looked at Jack.
"Why was it easier to help you than Bridge?"
"You forget that our friend is a very complex person. I can't imagine being inside his brain." He smirked when Syd shrugged and opened the door for him.
"Yeah, he is." Jack turned back when she grabbed his arm. "Everything is your choice. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
She let his arm go free. "I won't and thank you for the advice."
"You're welcome. This is just my way of expressing how grateful I am for everything you and the other have done for me." The Pink Ranger shrugged and made her way to the red door that he held open for her. She smiled and teased, "Why thank you sir."
"No thanks needed, my dear lady." He smirked and bowed for hear. She giggled loudly and stared at him. "After you, my lady." She walked out the door with her friend in tow, getting back to reality only to fall back into another person's mind.
She woke up, for the third time in that day, lying on a pile of leaves in the ground. Sydney's eyelids fluttered for a few seconds until she finally opened her baby-blue eyes and stared at the bright sun in the sky. She took in its warmth and smiled. She lied there for a few more minutes, taking in her surroundings.
She was in the middle of the forest, or so she thought as she began walking around. What she had first thought of as a forest had now become a park, where small children were playing with their mothers. She immediately decided that this dream was the best she had fallen into all night. At least she was properly dressed this time. She sported an outfit consisting of a black leather jacket, a black and white striped t-shirt, skinny jeans and a pair of Doc Martens. 'At least you're not dressed as a hooker.' She thought to herself.
She stopped walking when she found Z, who was sitting by herself on a bench at NewTech public high school's basketball court. Her eyes were puffy and red, which meant she had been crying over something. Sydney sat beside her friend and took her hand. The Yellow Ranger quickly wiped away her tears and faked a smile, "What are you doing here?"
"It's a pretty long story. I'll tell you about it if you tell why you've been crying." She stated.
"There's something inside my eyes, that's all." Z answered. Sydney rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "I may be blonde, but I'm not dumb."
"When I was in school, people always bothered me. They thought I was a freak. Hell, even my teachers thought so too. Ever since I discovered my powers when I was 10, I was constantly a target for bullies, who called me names and said stuff about me behind my back that wasn't even true."
"Well, at least you didn't have Morgana when you were growing up. She could be a real pain in the ass sometimes." The Pink Ranger said in an attempt to cheer her friend up, who let out a small laugh in return.
"But growing up with powers did have its advantages." Z confessed with a smile. "As I learned to control them, I began using them to avoid the hurtful comments. It was simple; I would just duplicate myself and get out of school whenever anyone said anything about me."
"I wish you could have been there when Morgana made me train in the most horrendous planets. She hates me."
"She hates everyone." They both laughed at that. "How was Morgana's training worse than Grumm's?
"In every way possible. And if you take the fact that she cracks a joke, which is not even funny, every two minutes and laughs by herself, it only makes the torture worse."
"I'm grateful that we can talk so openly, even though we are in a dream and all." She paused for a second and then went on, "We should do this more often."
"That would be nice." Sydney helped her friend up. After telling her about the red door, both went inside the school after a futile search at the park. Z went by the halls with her head down as people walked past her, laughing and insulting her. Z was about to reach her breaking point. She didn't know much she could handle.
"Z, this is your dream. You control this world." She stopped walking and took her by the arms. "Don't let your own fears beat you. They are all in the past, they can't hurt you anymore."
The raven-haired girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. One by one, the people began to disappear into thin air, leaving no trace behind. After the vanishing act, she opened her eyes and gasped. The petite girl smiled and continued to help her friend through what seemed like an endless maze of classrooms.
After more futile wandering, Z stopped in front of the girl's bathroom and went inside. Syd just followed her inside and grinned when she saw Z standing in front of the red door. She twisted the doorknob and waved as she vanished through the door.
After going through yet another red door, she found herself in Sky's dream. The scenario he had created was less than ideal and something she wasn't prepared for.