Misplaced

Disorienting. The vortex was disorienting to Z's senses as she spun around in a bright white tunnel. She had only been sucked into the tunnel for a minute but the time she spent spinning around felt endless. Z felt like she was going to hurl. Just when she thought she lose her breakfast, the end of the vortex opened and Z finally fell out.

She landed on her right side on cold hard cement. She groaned as she struggled to get up, her legs wobbly and her head spinning from the ride to wherever she had landed. Z dusted herself off and massaged her temples, hoping to ease her dizziness. At least she didn't feel like throwing up.

When Z finally came through she took a look of her surroundings. But what she saw surprised her.

It was downtown NewTech. Or at least, some parts of it looked like NewTech City. Some buildings looked the same but some parts of it looked new or modified. Z was confused. Did she travel to another dimension or not? Not wanting to continue this internal debate, Z decided to call her friends. She took out her morpher.

"Sky? Do you copy?" Z asked into her morpher. The only reply she received was static. "Bridge? Syd, Darian? Anyone copy?" Again, no answer, just static. Z put her morpher away and decided to do the next best thing.

If this was indeed an alternate dimension of NewTech City, then perhaps she would try her luck at this world's S.P.D.. Assuming this world had an S.P.D. headquarters. But having no other options, Z made her way.

To Z's surprise and relief, there was, in fact, an S.P.D. in this dimension.

Well, at least this place looks the same, Z thought as she approached the building. But the walk to S.P.D. was a long and tiring one, so Z decided to rest a bit outside before going inside. Z sat on a bench situated near the front entrance and watched as several cadets were running across the S.P.D. grounds. Some of them gave Z funny looks, some whispering and pointing at her. What's their deal? Z rolled her eyes and ignored them.

"Z?" a familiar voice asked.

Z turned to her left as soon as she heard the deep and familiar voice of one her friends.

It was Sky. He was in the Red Ranger uniform. That's still the same, Z thought.

"Z? Is...is that really you?" Sky asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Um, I guess so," Z replied as she stood up.

Sky stood there, frozen in place before he ran to Z and hugged her tightly. Z gasped, completely caught off guard as Sky, or possibly this dimension's Sky, hugged her.

"I...I can't believe it's you. But how?" Sky pulled backed to look at Z, his eyes on the verge of spilling tears.

"What do you mean?" Z asked him.

"What do I mean?" Sky raised a brow. "You're supposed to be...dead."

Z slightly paled at the last word. Dead? What did this Sky mean, dead? Was the Z of this world supposed to be dead?

"What do you mean I'm supposed to be dead?" Z pulled out of Sky's arms. "Hold on. I need to explain a few things to you first."

"Well, yeah, like how you're here and talking to me, alive and well," Sky said gesturing to Z.

Before Z had a chance to speak, another person wearing a ranger uniform approached the two.

"Hey, Sky, who are you-" It was Darian. However, he was wearing the Blue Ranger uniform. Like Sky, his expression became a surprised one, his eyes wide and mouth agape at the woman before him. "Z?"

"Yeah. It's me...in a way," Z replied and bit her lip.

Both Sky and Darian turned to look at each other and then back towards Z.

"How? You're dead," Darian said, just as Sky had earlier.

"Yeah. Well, you two are probably not going to believe this, but it's the truth." Z took a big breath before continuing. "I am Z, but I'm not the Z you're probably hoping for."

Darian furrowed his brows and Sky sported a blank expression. Z gulped before continuing.

"Listen, I was sucked into a vortex after fighting an alien. When I exited the vortex, I landed here, in this place. I tried to use my morpher to call my friends but it's not working. So, what I'm saying is, is that I'm from another dimension."

Darian and Sky didn't say anything, they both stared at Z. Z felt uncomfortable under their gazes. Maybe I shouldn't have come here. Z lightly tapped her foot, waiting for one of them to speak up.

"You're right. That is difficult to believe," Darian said, finally breaking the silence between the three of them.

"But...it's the only possible explanation as to why you're here," Sky added.

Z nodded slowly.

"Well, I guess we should take her inside to see Krueger and Kat. Have them check her out," Darian proposed. Sky nodded in agreement.

"Sure," Z complied.

Maybe I'll ask about the being dead thing later on, Z thought as the three turned to walk inside S.P.D. headquarters.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. My writing skills aren't that great since I haven't written for so long, so I apologize for some mistakes or confusion.