Author's Note: So Smallville has ended and I have no idea what show I'm going to watch on Fridays at that hour. I will forever miss this show and its great cast, especially it's now deceased Tess Mercer/Lutessa Lena Luthor or as I like to call her, a kick-ass villain-turned- hero. Chloe Sullivan, you will forever be in my heart and mind. She inspired me to cut my hair and donate it to a local charity to make wigs. I love my new bob! And to Lois Lane, keep on being sarcastic and a true hero without powers.

Chapter 23- A Little Mud Has Never Hurt Anyone

Upon arriving at the scene, the Rangers took their weapons out and pointed them at Shellshock, the alien who had trapped them in their dreams and left them to the mercy of their own imaginations. The alien just laughed loudly and began shooting its infamous poisonous spikes. The Rangers dodged and blasted the spikes directed toward them.

Shellshock didn't seem surprised, almost like he knew they would eventually figure him out. Lucky for him, he didn't need to fight this battle all by himself. A little help from the Troobian Emperor and Broodwing was all he needed to defeat the Rangers, or so he boasted to Grumm a few hours ago. He made a small metallic orange orb materialize in his hand and pressed a button. When the orb hit the ground, another one of the Emperor's creations came crawling out. The Rangers had seen their fair share of Krybots over the past few weeks, but this one seemed different. And it wasn't only because it was orange.

When the orange Krybot-like robot began attacking, they now knew what it was capable of. The Krybots not only lacked the orange, they also lacked the fighting and agility that this one had. It moved more gracefully and packed a much stronger punch than the standard Troobian robot. The determination was also present. While the normal Krybot attacked them mindlessly and completely unaware of the opponent's moves, this one seemed to have the ability to fully dodge its opponents' attacks.

After a few minutes into the battle, the Pink Ranger took a few steps back into an alley and fell to the ground. The fight wasn't what tired her out, but the previous savings she had done had been enough for her. She grabbed her blaster and began firing some rounds at the alien, grabbing its attention. Shellshock walked over to her and kicked the blaster far out of her reach. She groaned and tried to reach for her Deltamax striker, but as soon as he put her hand on her belt, the alien turtle stepped on her hand.

"I don't think so, Princess."

"Don't call me Princess." She snarled through her helmet.

Shellshock didn't waste any time and fired three spikes at the defenseless Ranger. She let out a small scream as she felt her suit disappear. Lucky for her, the Ranger suit had taken most of the damage and destroyed the spikes. But now she had nothing to protect herself with. The ugly turtle let out another laugh which was soon cut short when someone fired a few shots at him. The stranger opened fire again after a few seconds, which caused him to release Syd's hand. She smiled when she who had fired.

"Thank you, RIC."

The dog leaped over to her side and barked, wagging its tail. Sydney retrieved her laser gun and pointed it at Shellshock. "Don't move."

She bent down and cuffed him, walking back to the others, who were still fighting the orange robot. She had only seen one of those before and they were only in the process of being developed. Grumm had certainly begun to step up his game.

"It is an Orangehead Krybot."

The Blue Ranger ran to her side. "Syd, are you ok?"

"I'm fine; I'm just weak from the dreams and the fight." She stated as she leaned against a brick wall and took a deep breath. Then, she ran over to the Orangehead and punched its torso with her fist, which was turned into brick. The robot stumbled backwards and kept its eyes on the Pink Ranger as she walked away. The Green, Yellow and Red Rangers didn't lose any time and took out their respective Deltamax strikers and began firing at it until it became nothing more than a pile of machine parts.

Sydney let out a loud gasp when her body hit the ground again. The Blue Ranger demorphed and quickly came by her side. The Yellow Ranger approached the criminal and ran a judgment scan on Shellshock. A red X appeared on the screen. "Guilty, as I suspected."

"I have an idea." The Green Ranger whistled. RIC ran to where they were standing and transformed in a matter of seconds into a weapon they had never seen before. "I call it the Canine Cannon."

"Judgment mode!" The Canine Cannon fired a bright shot of light directed at Shellshock after Bridge pronounced the words. And soon, the criminal was trapped inside a containment card. The other Rangers demorphed and came to their friend's side.

"Guys, I'm fine." The blonde repeated. She recovered just enough strength to get back on her feet.

"No, what you are is tired." Jack responded. "You need to rest."

"I'll only go if Bridge promises that I can be the next to use the Cannon."

The Terror

In a dark corner of the galaxy, the Troobian leader sat at his throne, both disappointed and proud of the scheme he had had planned to get his servant back. He had now made a significant advancement by invading her dreams and modeling them to his own will with a little help from his new ally, Dreamcatcher.

Dreamcatcher kneeled before him when she entered the throne room. He rose from his throne and came to stand before her. "We're making progress. She'll be back in no time."

"We have to get her out of there before she gets too attached." Grumm shook his head at her suggestion.

"You forget, she's already too close." He chuckled. "Feelings are one of humanity's many weaknesses."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"It's no fun if we get her back before the right time comes." He sighed and looked her in the eyes. "You see; the closer she gets to the Rangers, the more she'll hurt when she's here, back with us."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Exactly, my dear." He paused and then continued, "The more she hurts, the more I'll enjoy ripping her heart out."

"You mean that figuratively, right?"

"Of course, why would I kill my own creation?" He extended his hand. She took it and stood up.

"I think I have a plan, my Lord." The skeleton paid closed attention as Dreamcatcher unraveled her plan.

SPD Academy

After getting a well deserved nap, Sydney went into her bathroom to make herself presentable. She applied some makeup and began brushing her curly blond locks. Something curious caught her eye as she brushed a strand back. A lock of her hair looked extremely light, almost white. 'That's weird, it looks like…'

As she examined her hair more thoroughly, she realized the white-blond wasn't something random. In the short time she had been checking her mane out; she had found that almost 30% of her golden curls had been replaced with the new color. She made a ponytail with a pink elastic band and prayed that no one would notice.

She wondered how her hair had lost its original shine and color. Z sometimes made pranks, but at that point, Sydney knew that he friend would never do this to her.

She exited her bedroom and made her way to the REC Room to find her roommate. Z was going through the pages of a book when the blonde walked inside. "There's something wrong with me, Z."

She immediately put the book down. Syd's face had distraught written all over it. "What is it?"

"That's the problem. I don't know exactly."

The Yellow Ranger just gave her a quizzical look and followed her outside to the fountain, where they both sat. "Something happened this morning while I was brushing my hair."

"Let me guess, a few hairs came off your pretty little hair. It happens to everyone." Z said in an attempt to lighten up the somber mood that the conversation had taken. Apparently, her friend didn't take the joke so well. Sydney just glared at her and crossed her arms.

"And I thought I was the sarcastic one." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I'll just go straight to the point."

The brunette listened carefully as she told her story. When she was done, she lowered her voice and whispered, "You have to promise that you won't tell anyone, not even Sky."

She hesitated for a moment before accepting but ended up agreeing in keeping it a secret between them. Even though Z couldn't relate to what Syd was going through, she understood how difficult her life had been and the position she was in now, trying to find her own identity and which side she stood on, wasn't any easier.

They both parted ways a few seconds later. Sydney got on her feet and began walking towards her room. She intended to go for a run in the training course to get her mind off things. There was something about the mud that just seemed appealing to her at the time, even though she had never been a big fan of the course or the mud.

She made her way to the course after changing into her sportswear and grinned when she saw Sky wiping mud off his blue SPD t-shirt. "It won't come out until you wash it."

"I know that." He muttered under his breath.

"Who did you piss off now?" He had a tendency to get on people's nerves and push them over the edge. This was mainly due to the reason that he was just so anal and such a perfectionist.

"I made a cadet run the course twice. I knew he could make a better time if he pushed himself."

She scoffed, "I wouldn't have thrown mud at you."

"I know that. You would run and make a better time." He stated convincingly.

"No." Syd smiled and approached him. "I would have thrown you in the mud and made you run that second lap for me. Have you ever tried running with your clothes soaked in mud?"

He stayed silent, "Wait, don't answer that."

Sky smiled warmly at her comments and took off his blue jacket. Sydney could tell by the expression on his face what he wanted at that moment. He wanted to have yet another race in the course. She didn't exactly object, she needed to feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins and the rush she felt when she ran was exactly what she needed to forget her troubles.

Sky took off without telling her, loudly laughing as she tried to keep up. Cheater. She had never known that the Blue Ranger had a mischievous side to him. He certainly didn't have that type of reputation among the cadets, who considered him a by-the-book, class- A jerk but an excellent Ranger. But he had many layers, just like her. The layers of Sky's tough exterior were beginning to disappear. Sydney was beginning to see the real Sky, the one who she had played with when she was little.

They both reached a small clearing surrounded by grass at the edges. The mud was especially thick in that area, making it harder to run fast. Both their muscles ached and their throats screamed for water, but not one of them was ready to back down. They exchanged a challenging glance and resumed their race after the brief, almost nonexistent, rest.

It's the survival of the fittest, Sky thought to himself as he ran ahead of her. He occasionally looked back to see how she was doing. It seemed that after each step he took, she was literally behind him, which in turn made him go as fast as he could. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and the rush he was feeling could only compare to the first time he had gone over the mud course. It was one of the best and worse experiences of his life.

You can rest when you're dead, Greyson. Her body felt like it could fall apart at any given moment, but letting him win was not an option. Losing was never an option, that's what Grumm always told her. Thinking of her former mentor was something she did every day, thinking of his next move, trying to predict his plans… It could get frustrating. She got her mind back on the current objective. Kicking Sky's ass. Now that would be fun and something she could brag about for the next few days just for the sake of it. A small smile appeared on her face when a mental picture of his face when she beat him popped up in her mind.

She suddenly felt a rush of energy rushing through her body that no longer made her feel human. Sydney now felt like a cheetah running to catch its prey in the wild Savannah. She locked her gaze on Sky, trying to predict what his next move would be. I would kill for Bridge's powers. Anything to beat him would be useful at this moment.

But not even having Bridge's ability could have predicted what happened next. While running through the mud, she didn't notice a log in the middle of the path. She tripped over it and landed on her stomach. Grabbing the sleeve of her pink shirt, she wiped the sticky substance from her eyes and groaned. I just fell because I couldn't stop looking at him, she thought to herself. All her hopes for winning had vanished at the moment her face hit the mud. And the fact that her opponent had just finished the course could also contribute to that. She groaned and crossed her arms as she made her way to where he stood.

He had a bright smile on his face. Just what she needed. "Stop gloating."

"I'm not gloating. I'm just happy." He shot her a grin. In return, she glared at him.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine. You won."

"I even got a better time than the last time I ran. I beat my own time by a full minute, can you believe it?" He said proudly. Sydney thought that he was almost a bit too nonchalant about her losing.

"Feel free to stop rubbing it in whenever you want…" She was interrupted when Z joined them. The brunette couldn't help but laugh at Syd's appearance, much to her dismay.

She stifled her laughter after a few seconds of non-stop laughing with the Blue Ranger. "What happened to you?"

She replied sarcastically, "Oh, you know, I went to the spa and got a facial with mud. It really does leave your skin soft as a baby's bottom. Want to try?"

Sydney took some mud off her face with her index finger and placed it close to the other girl's face. "The offer's tentative but I think I'll pass."

Sky cleared his throat and boasted, "She's just pissed because I beat her. We had a race earlier and for a moment there, I thought she would win but then, Sydney…"

"I tripped over a stupid log and he won." She interrupted.

Z and Sky both began laughing again. The unexpected happened when Sydney joined in. She had come to realize that losing like that was something worth laughing over. When their morphers beeped, they became quiet and listened to Kat's instructions.

"Cadet Delgado, I need you to go to Luna Park immediately. Cadets Carson and Landors need assistance." Z closed her morpher and made her way to the parking lot while the other two Rangers awaited instructions.

"Cadets Tate and Drew, report to the Command Center for further instructions." Kat's voice died down.

"Can you stall Kat for a few minutes? I can't go to the Command Center looking like this." She motioned to her clothes and her face and began walking away. Sky looked down at his clothes. He shrugged and ran to the command center. When he entered Syd was already there, looking clean and presentable. Her hair was wet and she even seemed to have had a bit of time to apply some makeup.

She shot him a smug smile, "Gee, I didn't know that mud was part of the uniform."

"Stop gloating." He muttered under his breath.

Both saluted Commander Cruger when he entered the Command Center. Sky began to feel uncomfortable when the Commander noted his appearance. He held his head down. "I need you two at the diamond deposits."

"But that's, like, out in the desert."

Cruger raised his eyebrow, "Is there a problem, Cadet Drew?"

"No, I was just saying." The Blue Ranger forced himself to stifle his laughter. When the Commander turned around, she punched his shoulder. She put a smile on her face when he faced them again.

He put a video on one of the screens and pointed at it, "Morgana and other members of Grumm's army have been spotted by the security cameras around the area. This has been going for some days now."

"We'll head there now, Sir." Sky piped up. The Commander cleared his throat and pointed at Sky's outfit. "I meant, we'll head there after I change."

Sydney giggled and winked as he walked away. After a few minutes, they met at the garage. "I'm driving."

She motioned for him to take the driver's seat and gave him a smug look. She may have lost the race in the course, but one thing that Sky shouldn't have done was underestimate her.