No one speaks as I watch HPD's captain recount the death of my brother.
He'd been shot. Just once in the heart, and by something that resembled a laser blast. No one uses that kind of weapon except for a Power Ranger.
Except for the Titanium Ranger.
"I'm sure… I'm sure that there's some… some sort of-" Even though Miss Fairweather has chosen to be here, instead of running around with the rest of Lightspeed, trying to locate the titanium morpher, her words still sting like thorns in my side.
"No." Again, none of my teammates bother to stop me. "The Titanium Ranger murdered my brother." How I'm holding it together is absolutely miraculous. "He's going to pay."
For once, neither Joel nor Kelsey is fidgeting. Instead, both sit at the conference room table, eyes trained on me. As if they're ready to leap at me and hold me down if I decide to leave right now to find the son of a bitch.
I'd like to see them try.
Dana sits next to Kelsey, concerned gaze sickening me. To Joel's left, Chad sits, staring at his clasped hands.
Carter sits closest to where I stand, gaze glued to the news feed.
Seconds pass, and the news drones on, and no one speaks or moves or says anything and the world is still spinning, time is still progressing, and somehow the universe hasn't imploded for anyone else but me.
"There'll be no retribution, Alyssa."
"Then you're all too good for your own good," The words slip out before I can stop them. "None of you know what this feels like."
If I didn't know any better, I'd think Captain Mitchell's about to disagree.
I fucking dare him. "Ally," Dana whispers, "I know this must be hard, but if we kill him, there'll be no one else to use the morpher."
If I thought Miss Fairweather's words hurt, this feels like Dana had just punched me in the face. "To hell with the fucking morpher. To hell with all of you, if… if you're going to…"
Realization settles over me, and Carter realizes this immediately. He stands. "I'll undergo the tests again."
Miss Fairweather shakes her head. "Not happening. The consequences would be fatal."
"I don't see any other alternative."
"There must be," Kelsey speaks for the first time since the news story had begun, "Isn't there?"
The silence tells me all I need to know.
We'd donned our Lightspeed jackets as soon as the news story flashed onto the television. Dana was already wearing hers when she ran into medbay. About did months ago, I'd put mine on for the first time.
Now, I take it off, and stare at the 6 emblazoned on the sleeve. When I look up, Joel's staring into my eyes with an intensity I've never seen before. "You're not a quitter, Sakamichi." The words he'd spoken to me not three months ago.
I hate when this group of people gets quiet. Then I can hear the newscaster, the tick of the clock, and remember once again that unfortunately, life waits for no one.
Neither does death.
Carter's already staring down at me, not expectantly, but almost… in dread. Like he knows what I'm going to do, and hates it. "It's been an honor."
He takes my jacket, then my morpher, those gray-blue eyes boring into me all the while. "There is an alternative." I stare right at Captain Mitchell as I speak, "Lose me to build a rapport with a murderer." The door slides open as I step towards it. "Good fucking luck."
There is nothing to do but wait, and Carter Grayson is sick and tired of waiting.
Waiting for the signal from the Titanium morpher to reappear.
Waiting for the next attack.
Waiting for Alyssa, his sixth, the team's dreamer, to come back.
He hasn't slept. In between stops at command to see their progress with tracking the Titanium Ranger, sessions at the gym, sweat and tears blurring his vision, and delivering statements as the first Lightspeed Ranger, Carter just doesn't have time.
They've had their differences, their arguments, sure. But he'd take everything back in a heartbeat if it meant he could know that she's safe.
He tells himself it's the instinct of a leader to ensure his team's wellbeing. Insists that it's all it is.
But then Carter remembers the late nights he'd find Alyssa toiling away at the kitchen counter, glasses reflecting the light of their desktop computer as she edited her latest project. He would refill her water bottle without a word, and when she snapped out of her intense focus to thank him, he swore no one had ever looked at him that way before.
The early mornings with shared cereal, quiet teasing over coffee, and his stupid fantasies of a life they could share.
He remembers, despite the duty he shoulders, the threat he almost died to extinguish, that there is light.
It's been three days since Alyssa left, and Carter is tired of waiting.
The first lie I tell is to the building manager at the apartment I lived in six months ago. With my chin held high, I strolled into the lobby and asked if any units were still available. He'd immediately offered me a one-bed one-bath apartment at half the price.
When he thanked me for my service, I told him the discount on my rent was thanks enough, and rolled my suitcase to the elevator.
I couldn't even press the button before an announcement came over the intercom. A streak of light seen beaming across the sky. Shelter in place, that sort of thing. Once the announcement ends, my phone immediately starts buzzing, and I don't even need to look at the contact to know who it is: Carter.
I'm not sure why I even pick up because now, I just look like a fool, standing in the lobby of an apartment I ran to to escape my problems. "Whatever you're going to say-"
"We need you. We can't beat this guy alone."
The scoff I let out tastes acidic in my throat. "You don't even want to." Someone's camera noise clicks through the space, and I watch a college student fumble to turn their ringer off. "Unless something's suddenly changed."
The second lie I tell is to one of the only men who's ever looked at me and seen me. Not Alyssa Sakamichi, director, or Alyssa Sakamichi, Power Ranger. Just Alyssa. "And also, if it's not clear enough, I don't need you."
He's quiet just long enough for me to hear something crash into the pavement outside of the apartment building.
Against everyone else's better wishes, Chad brought Alyssa's morpher to the scene. He doesn't so much as know, but rather hopes, that she'll show up. That if all else fails, the moral compass he knows she has will prevail against the storm of emotions she must be feeling.
The past three days had stretched like eons for all of them, each in different ways, but he finds himself missing a part of him. He's never had siblings, so Alyssa filled that void, which he now finds empty again.
Just hopefully not for long, since they're getting beaten to a sorry pulp. They can't dive out of the path of the Titanium Laser's bullets, and the ones that go astray set the car behind them ablaze, throwing them off their feet with the ensuing shockwave.
Chad's gaze immediately sweeps over his teammates, assessing their conditions, something Carter assigned to him in dire situations like this. When one leader isn't enough.
Spotting the Red Ranger himself struggling to get to his feet, Chad assumes he's not the only one trying to fill a void. "Carter," Miss Fairweather's voice breaks him out of his own head, "Activate V-Lancers." Right. The new weapons they've been testing,
Finally, they manage to stand, and Chad closes his eyes. As much as he understands Alyssa's quandary, it's one they all share: ensure the safety of Mariner Bay by taking down this new Ranger once and for all, or ensure it by sparing his life?
As he holds his arm in front of him, ready to clear his mind to summon the weapons as they were shown, Chad realizes something.
Wouldn't he do exactly what Alyssa did by walking away if the Titanium Ranger had killed her, someone who he can confide in, lecture, and tease all in the same breath?
And isn't he leaving her alone in what must be the worst time in her life? Aren't they all?
He twists his hand in unison with the others, feeling the V-shaped weapon grip in his palm, and realizes the answer is Yes.
I care too much. Way too much, even knowing these people don't deserve an ounce of pity. If they're willing to throw away the past six months of friendship all for the sake of their own power and arsenal… then I shouldn't be here.
Guess I'm banking on it being a big if. I'm sheltered behind a pillar of a nearby building, watching as Carter, Chad, Joel, Kelsey, and Dana take turns clobbering the Lightspeed Ranger, as we had drilled in training to use these weapons.
A stroke of jealousy floods through me, knowing the kind of energy that must be filling each of them right now. New weapons will do that, give you an immense amount of power that surpasses the previous amount you thought was insurmountable.
My morpher hangs from Chad's waistband. He'd brought it.
I refuse to cry, but a tear finds it's trail down my cheek regardless.
And as another falls, the Titanium Ranger stands, rushing for their blaster, and the others swap their lancers into their own gun forms.
Seeing the others outside of the fight is weird enough, but to see their new attack is a whole different thing altogether. I wouldn't say I miss it. I'd say I miss them. Don't know if they'd say the same.
I do know that seeing my brother's murderer lying face down on the pavement sends a jolt of satisfaction through me. But even though he'd just been hit with what must've been their most powerful attack since, the stranger stands, mask revealing his gray eyes.
"Stand down," I think I hear Carter shout, "We don't want to kill you, and I don't think you want to kill us."
The Titanium Ranger's mask lifts, and so does his blaster. The others' weapons rise to meet his aim, and a realization strikes through me: I can't let them fire.
I need to be the one to end his life.
But before I can run out and pretend to want to fight alongside these people once more, they hesitate. A dangerous move, one that sends my heartbeat racing, even as I know exactly why they're doing this: because they can afford to lose me, but not him. A stranger.
As they walk back the way they came, I turn and take the long way back to my apartment, knowing that the if I'd been depending on wasn't enough.