Chapter 36
"I'm getting weird déjà vu," Stevie sighed, casting her gaze through an observation window into the hospital bay. Once again, she was staring at the sickly body of AJ, "she looks worse than last time," she added.
"She used her powers at lot," Taylor slowly approached the blue ranger, "the doctor says she much worse than earlier."
Stevie nodded and continued to stare through the window, almost hypnotized by the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, "How is she really," the blue ranger finally asked, "it feels like you're keeping something from me."
"I think you should talk to her," came Taylor's delayed response.
"Doesn't answer my question," Stevie said shortly, "I'm eighteen now, I'm not a kid," she added defiantly.
Taylor sighed and placed a hand on Stevie's shoulder, "I know you're not," the Major began gently, "I think you know the answer." Stevie chewed her lip and her eyes began to moisten, "Talk to her, you might not get another chance," Taylor continued, "join us in the control room when you're ready, we're working on a plan to deal with Viper."
"You can't kill him," Stevie injected, "that really would finish her off."
"I'm not suggesting that," Taylor placed her other hand on Stevie's shoulder, "that would make us no better than the Vyglass." Taylor hesitated briefly before adding, "Unfortunately if he's as ill as his sister, Viper might not survive our attempts to free him."
"Yeah," Stevie replied sadly. She spotted AJ moving on her bed, "I'll talk to her, she said this armour comes from her home dimension, maybe she knows how to free him."
Taylor nodded, "Don't just talk business though, remember what I said," Stevie took a deep breath to compose herself, "you're a brave woman Stevie, remember that."
As composed as she could be, Stevie turned and open the hospital bay door. Almost immediately, AJ turned in her direction, "We've gotta stop meeting like this," she smiled weakly.
"Making a habit of this," she returned the smile with a weak one of her own. She pulled up a chair and sat next to AJ's bad, "Tell me the truth, how sick are you?"
"No foreplay, I'm a little disappointed," the blonde wheezed.
"Stop avoiding the question," Stevie snapped, a small tear forming in her eye, "what are we talking about, months?" AJ shook her head, "Weeks?" the blonde turned and stared at the ceiling, "Just tell me the truth," Stevie demanded hotly.
"I don't know," AJ hissed, screwing her eyes tightly shut, "truth is I'm living on borrowed time," she wiped her eyes roughly, "doctors back home said I should've been dead months ago but here I am, still alive and kicking," a cough exploded from her mouth, causing her to chuckle grimly, "definitely not kicking as hard as I used to."
Stevie nodded tightly, "Thank you for being honest," her gaze quickly focused away from the blonde, "what is it, cancer?" she asked.
"They don't know," AJ said quietly, "no ones ever seen anything like it before. It could be due to all the radiation and chemicals in our atmosphere, could be related to whatever Trivium did to us."
"We have different technology here," Stevie began, "maybe there's a treatment that's not available in your home dimension."
AJ turned to face the blue ranger, "I wish I still had your optimism," she offered the teen a watery smile, "the docs here didn't have a clue either. All they could do was offer palliative care but I refused."
"Why?" Stevie demanded, "don't tell me you've given up."
The blonde suddenly sat up sharply, "That's something I'd never do willingly," she hissed sharply, "but I'm tired Stevie, I'm tired of fighting all the time."
"I bet you are," Stevie reached over and grasped her hand, "let me fight for you, there must be something I can do."
AJ sighed and reached over to a small side table near her bed, "Unless you can fix this," she tossed her broken respirator over to the blue ranger, "this is what's been keeping me going for these extra months."
"We can take a look," Stevie looked the device over, "Jazz and Ricky are geniuses with technology and engineering."
The blonde chuckled dryly, "They can try but that breathing device was specially created to help my symptoms using artefacts from my home dimension. Unless you can find the same things here soon," her voice trailed off, leaving thoughts of her rapidly reducing lifespan hanging in the air.
"Does your home dimension have lots of magical artefacts then," Stevie asked, "do you know something about Viper's suit of armour?"
"Nothing definite, most agencies and resources that dealt with that sort of thing disappeared during the initial invasion," AJ sighed. "I do know that it's fuelled by the wearers negative emotions and that no one in history has ever willingly taken it off."
"So its not a mechanical suit them?" Stevie asked.
AJ shook her head before sinking back into the bed, "Sorry I couldn't be of more help," she mumbled.
"It's more information than we had," Stevie patted the blonde's hand, "I'll let the others know, do you mind if I take this with me?" she waived the respirator in the air, "you never know."
"Go for it," AJ nodded, "it's not doing me any good."
Stevie rose from her chair and headed for the door, "Don't go dying yet," she said as cheerfully as she could, "we'll get your brother back."
"Gallows humour, I like it," AJ called weakly as the door closed behind Stevie.
The blue ranger made sure she was out of sight before stopping and leaning against a wall. She slowly sank down with a muffled sob, banging AJ's broken respirator against her forehead. After several moments, her tears dried up and she slowly got back to her feet. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she continued towards the control room.
Pausing at the door, she took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Immediately upon entering everyone went silent and six pairs of eyes flashed in her direction, "So, do we have a plan?" she asked, "cause I promised AJ we'd have a plan." Everyone looked silently at each other, "Please don't make me go back and tell a dying girl don't have a plan."
"We don't really have a lot to go on," Mark began, "every database on the planet doesn't have a record of anything similar."
"Matches what AJ said," Stevie continued, "the suit isn't mechanical and it feeds off negative emotion, that's all she knows."
"We can scratch electro-magnetic pulse off our list then," Jazz sighed, scribbling roughly on her pad of paper, "which brings us back to approximately zero solutions," she added whilst dropping the pad on her desk.
"We've got nothing at all," Stevie said weakly.
Harley looked at Mark who stiffly shook his head, the black ranger rolled his eyes before turning to Stevie, "Nothin' that'll keep blondie's brother alive anyway," the red ranger huffed and walked towards the corner of the room, "she had a right to know," Harley added firmly.
"And thank you for telling me," Stevie plopped into a chair next to Ricky, "so next time Viper shows up, we blast him to pieces like he's just another monster," the blue ranger huffed.
"I don't like it either," Mark sniped back, "the only other option is to capture him and lock him away until we find a way to remove the suit."
"Not a lot better but he'd still be alive," Rachel added.
"Probably not for much longer," Stevie frowned, "if he's as ill as AJ, he won't have long left."
"How long are we talking about?" Ricky asked gently.
Stevie weakly shook her head, "Put it this way, I don't think she's making any plans for tomorrow."
A grim silence descended on the room until Harley put everyone's thoughts into words, "This is the shittiest day ever," he grunted, "which comin' from me is saying somethin'."
"Play the battle footage one more time," Mark said to Jazz, "perhaps Stevie can spot something that didn't."
"Alright," Jazz tapped her keyboard, "but we've only got footage from your suit helmets, it's not the best quality."
"We'll try and stay still next time we're in a fight," the blue ranger replied dryly. The battle replied on screen, it got to the point where Stevie smashed Viper with a giant hammer when the teen leaned forward, "Go back a few seconds, right to the point where he grabbed her around the neck."
Jazz obliged and rewound the footage, "Seen something?" she asked.
"Maybe," Stevie began, "I remember hearing AJ plead with Viper but didn't register his reaction until now."
"Too busy smashin' him upside the head," Harley nodded in approval.
"Stop there," Stevie cried and the video paused, "the eyes on the suit have dimmed, it looks like he's hesitating."
"So," Ricky said, "he barely stops for five seconds, it could be anything."
Taylor got up from her chair and looked at the video closely, "Maybe but I think Stevie's onto something," the Major began, "if the suit is powered by negative emotion, maybe a powerful positive emotion will release its hold."
"We're going to use the power of love," Harley rolled his eyes, "this ain't no kids TV show Major."
"Do you have a better idea?" Taylor challenged the black ranger, Harley huffed but didn't respond, "I'll admit its corny but it's worth a shot."
"Fine but there is one problem," Harley countered, "his sister is currently on her death bed down the corridor. Are we gonna wheel her out on a gurney next time he appears?"
"There's also no guarantee he'll show up any time soon," Mark added.
Stevie groaned with frustration until she remembered the broken respirator, "AJ told me this was keeping her alive," she placed it on the table in front of Ricky, "any chance we could get it working?"
The yellow ranger picked the device up and closely examined the inside, "Maybe, depends what's broken." He spotted something near the mouthpiece, "Hang on, what's this?" he pointed as some symbols etched into the material.
Jazz looked over his shoulder, "Makers mark maybe," she looked a little closer, "looks like runic symbols, like the ones from that card game you like to play," she teased the yellow ranger with a nudge.
"Let me have a look," Taylor took the mask from Ricky, "I remember seeing something similar around the Animarium," she continued.
"Could the Princess help us?" Jazz suggested.
"With the symbols maybe but I'm not sure about the technology," Taylor sighed, "its an amazing piece of engineering, combining modern technology with ancient magic."
"Anyone in the wider Ranger family who could help?" Mark asked the Major.
"Potentially, there were a couple of teams who used magic extensively," Taylor replied, "but they're not always the easiest to get hold of."
"So back to square one, again," Stevie slumped back in her chair. As she sulked in silence, a thought began to form in her head, "I'm getting an idea," she caught Jazz's eye, "but I don't think you're going to like it."
It took a few moments for Jazz to tune into Stevie's wavelength, "No, absolutely not," she said firmly, "I can barely control my powers as it is, I'm not being responsible for her death."
"It might be her only chance," Stevie pleaded, "AJ's dead if we do nothing, this could be hers and Viper's only chance."
Jazz spun in her chair, grasping the back of her head, "I could also blow it up," she cried, "stopping us from getting it to someone who could help."
"We don't even know if anyone else can help," Stevie pleaded, "I wouldn't ask we weren't desperate."
The Scot stopped spinning and looked at the Major, "What do you think?"
"From what I've heard your control has improved," Taylor replied slowly, "but you know how risky this could be. Only you can make this decision Jazz."
"Helpful," Jazz muttered, she placed her hands across her cheeks for a couple of seconds before dramatically cracking her knuckles, "put it down in front of me," she demanded.
"Thank you," Stevie responded and put the broken respirator in front of the Scot.
"Don't thank me yet," Jazz sighed, "everyone should back up," her hands hovered just above the device, "and I need absolute silence if I'm going to get this right."
She closed her eyes and began to breath slowly and deeply. A faint green glow emanated from her hands, something that mirrored by the face mask, "I'm doing something," Jazz muttered, "but I'm not sure if its working." She shifted in her seat and flexed her fingers, "OK, just a little bit more."
The intensity of the glow increased, and small sparks crackled around her fingertips. Jazz's face twisted into a grimace, a sheen of sweat covering her forehead, "She's putting too much into this," Rachel whispered to the Major.
"She's got this under control," Taylor responded confidently.
A sudden, loud crack made everyone jump. The respirator scuttled across the table as a woozy Jazz wobbled in her chair, "Hey, I got you," Mark was the quickest to react, grabbing the Scot around the shoulders, "did you do it?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," she replied weakly, "there's only one way to find out."
The base alarm blared loudly throughout the room and everyone immediately covered their ears. Taylor's desk phone rang, forcing her to scramble back, "Yes, what is it?" she shouted over the siren, "Understood, you can turn that noise off now, you're giving me a headache."
As requested, the base alarm turned off, "And I thought I had a headache before," Jazz grumbled.
"We have a visitor at the main gate," Taylor switched the screen to a security camera feed, "looks like Viper's come for his sister," the image showed the armour suited Viper blasting at the guards on duty.
"Tell those MPs to pull back, they don't stand a chance against him," Mark said to the Major, "we'll deal with him."
"Can you four handle this for now?" Stevie asked, grabbing the respirator from the desk, "I need to get this back to its owner."
The red ranger nodded in agreement and led the team out the door with Stevie at the rear, "If it doesn't work," Jazz called to the blue ranger, "tell her I'm sorry."
"I won't need to," Stevie replied confidently and split away from the other Rangers and headed in the direction of the medical bay.
When she got inside AJ's room though, she found the blonde surrounded by two doctors and a nurse, "What's going on?" she asked nervously.
"She's having trouble protecting her airway," one doctor replied, "we're going to intubate to help her breathe."
"No need," Stevie waived the respirator towards them, "I've got all she needs right here."
"With due respect, I'm not sure that's going to help," the other doctor replied.
Stevie snorted, "This is Ranger business buddy so step away before you have to extract my foot from your ass." The three medical personnel looked apprehensively at each other, "Look either step aside or I get Major Earhardt down here to tell you."
The trio stiffened at the mention of the Major, "You have five minutes," the first doctor began, "but if she stops breathing you step aside immediately, understood?"
"Yes boss," Stevie barged passed the doctors and carefully lifted the unconscious AJ's head up, "we fixed this up for you," she whispered to the blonde, "your brother's here so you'd better wake up."
Stevie fixed the respirator in place and stepped back nervously. Seconds turned into minutes but there was no visible change, "O2 level still critically low," the nurse muttered to the doctors.
"I still have one minute," Stevie pleaded, "she's not getting any worse." The doctors said nothing but looked dismissively at each other, "Come on AJ, do this for me."
The final minute passed but there was still no noticeable change, either on the machines or the unconscious blonde, "OK time's up, we really need to intubate now," a doctor said.
"Wait," the nurse stopped them, "heart rate and blood pressure are normalising, oxygen stats are rising."
With a rasping, muffled breath, AJ's eyes opened and she sat bolt upright on the bed, "I knew it would work," Stevie exclaimed, throwing her hands around the blonde's neck. It took AJ a moment but she gratefully returned the hug, "Viper's trying to blast down the gate, we need you outside."
The blonde nodded, swung her legs off the bed and grabbed her hoodie, "Hang on," a doctor called, "she's only just woken up," he added whilst blocking exit to the room.
"I need to see my brother," AJ said through her respirator.
"I'd advise you not to upset the person who can turn anything into a weapon," Stevie added. To emphasise her point, AJ ripped the arm off a chair and it turned into a baseball bat. Sheepishly, the doctor stepped aside.
The two girls ran down the corridor, laughing all the way, "We make a great team Stevie," AJ grinned behind her mask.
"Care for one more team up then," she added whilst activating her morpher, "Jet Force, Take Flight," she called, morphing on the run.
"So, what's the plan?" AJ asked as the pair sprinted through the hallways, nearly knocking several service members out the way in the process, "How are you going to get my brother back?"
"We're not, you are," Stevie replied to a confused AJ, "you nearly got through to him during the last fight, we think you can again."
"My ribs beg to disagree," AJ commented dryly as the women burst through the main entrance door and out into the blazing desert sun. Regular security personnel were scrambling to safety as the Rangers battled the armoured Viper, "Doesn't look like he's in the mood to talk," the blonde sighed.
"You can do this," Stevie gently squeezed AJ's shoulder, "I've got your back," she added whilst drawing her Jet Blaster. AJ nodded firmly and they jogged towards the raging battle.
They were stopped in their tracks by a stray laser bolt that crashed into the ground right in front of them. Stevie grabbed AJ under the shoulders and lifted her over the flying dirt, setting her down between the other Rangers, "You're looking better," Mark said to the dimensional traveller.
"Your friend did a number on my life support system," AJ replied, spinning her bat in the air, "I haven't felt this strong in ages."
"No unnecessary risks," the red ranger warned, "we're the ones with the protective suits, let us take the hits." AJ responded with a sloppy and slightly mocking salute, "You two are perfect for each other," Mark said to Stevie with an audible sigh.
The armoured suit wasn't interesting in waiting, sending a blast towards the group that sailed over their heads. Stevie pulled AJ down protectively, "No offence but I really want to take a chunk outta that suit," the blue ranger grumbled.
"Well, what are we waiting for," AJ snatched Stevie's blaster and fired towards the suit containing her brother, "better keep up if you want to protect me," she teased.
Harley chuckled, "Now we're talkin'," he fired several blasts from his weapon that temporarily halted the armour's advance. AJ swung her bat directly into the torso of the armour, staggering the suit momentarily, "She could play for the Diamondbacks with that kinda swing," the black ranger added.
AJ swung against with a loud grunt, this time knocking the suit around the head which dented two antenna protruding from the top, "Come on brother," she pleaded, "this isn't the first time I've had to knock some sense into you." She tried a third swing but the suit grabbed the bat in its hand and proceeded to spit a large quantity of venom over the weapon. AJ let go and scrambled away as the bat slowly began to dissolve, "I don't think this is working," she said to the Rangers.
"There's no plan B," Rachel slid over to the blonde, standing protectively over the dimensional traveller.
"I know," AJ sighed, scrambling over to a burnt out Jeep, grabbing a piece of piping in the process. With a flash it turned into an oversized blaster, "He wouldn't want to hurt innocent people." She fired a blaster towards the suit, almost falling over from the powerful recoil. The suit was knocked back a few paces but continued stalking towards them, "What's it going to take to damage this thing?" she cried.
"I'll let you know when we find out," Mark replied, his Jet Gauntlet now attached to his arm, "Electro Burst," a stream of electricity shot forwards and wrapped around the suit. It twitched uncontrollably for a moment until another volley from its laser eyes broken the connection and knocked the red ranger to the ground, "We're running out of options," he sighed, "we're just not getting through."
"Just gimme one last chance," AJ asked the red ranger who slowly and reluctantly nodded. The blonde lowered her weapon and inched cautiously towards the suit, "Hey Viper, remember that scrap in the ruins of San Diego, we protected some kids from the mutant remains of a Vyglass monster?"
The suit raised its arm but stopped moving, "I think its working," Stevie whispered, "keep going."
"Got yourself a gnarly scar from that one," the blonde continued, "docs at base camp told you not to be so reckless but do you remember what you told them?" The suits red eyes slowly began to dim, "You told them where to stick it, told them you'd never give in to the Vyglass." She moved as close as she dared before adding, "You can fight this Viper, I need my big brother back," she pleaded.
The suits eyes dimmed and sparks cracked across its antenna and for a moment, it looked like the plan had worked. But just like the earlier battle, the suit regained control and spat acidic venom towards AJ. Stevie anticipated this and lunged forward, wrapping her arms around the blonde and rolling her out the way. The pair tumbled across the ground, ending with Stevie on top of the blonde, "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, thanks to you," AJ smiled weakly, "he's gone isn't he?"
"Not completely but I don't think he can break free," Stevie replied.
AJ's eyes moistened slightly, "He wouldn't want to be a slave to Trivium and the Vyglass," she began quietly, "do what you have to do."
"Are you sure about this?" Stevie asked hesitantly.
"There's no other choice," AJ sighed, "do it."
Stevie nodded slowly, "Jazz, send the Jet Bazooka," the blue ranger called over the radio.
"On its way," came Jazz's subdued response.
It took seconds for the Jet Bazooka to arrive, converting from vehicle mode to weapon in a matter of moments. Hesitantly, the Rangers gathered around the weapon, "We can keep trying to reach him," Mark said to AJ.
"Don't try and talk me out of this," AJ responded quietly.
"Still doesn't feel right though," Rachel sighed, taking her position around the Bazooka.
"I know," Mark activated the weapon, "we tried our best, sometimes that's all you can do." The Rangers nodded mutely and finished taking their positions around Jet Bazooka. AJ symbolically placed her hand over Stevie, "Fully charged, ready to fire," the red ranger called.
"Wait," Jazz shouted, "no time to explain but see the stalks on top of the suit, you need to destroy them, now."
"Hang on, why?" Stevie asked the Scot. AJ frowned in confusion, she wasn't linked into the Ranger's radio, "Jazz wants us to destroy something on top of the suit," the blue ranger filled her in.
"Don't ask, just do it if you want to save Viper," Jazz cried.
By now AJ was already charging towards the suit, using her blaster to destroy a laser attack from the armour, "Catch," Stevie bellowed, throwing her Jet Sword towards the blonde. She plucked it out the air, "Sever the things sticking out the top," she added at full volume.
AJ leapt into the air and with a spinning strike, scalped the top of the suit. The antenna rolled away and AJ destroyed them with a blast from her other weapon. She backed away as cracks began to form in the suit, growing larger with each second. There was a loud cry and it suddenly burst open with a flash of light, revealing a pallid and exhausted Viper. He wobbled before collapsing onto the ground, "Viper!" AJ cried and scrambled over to her brother, "you're alive."
"Thanks to you," he croaked weakly, "I tried to fight but it was too strong,"
"We got you in the end," AJ smiled and wrapped her brother in an enthusiastic hug.
"Can't believe that corny power of love stuff actually worked," Harley snorted, slowly relaxing his grip on Jet Bazooka.
"Melting your jaded heart, one day at a time," Rachel teased, patting the side of Harley's helmet, "how did you know about the antenna Jazz," the white ranger asked into the radio.
"Seemed out of place on a snake themed suit," the Scot replied, "a quick analysis showed them delivering a power boost whenever the suit hesitated. Took a punt that it was reasserting control over Viper's will."
"And by destroying that, it enabled Viper to properly fight back," Mark added, "job well done, shall we pack up and get back inside."
Suddenly the suit sat up by itself, surprising Rangers and dimensional traveller alike, "But we stopped it," Ricky said to the others.
"We freed Viper but the suit must have some autonomy," Mark theorised.
"So there's no one inside it right now?" Stevie asked and the red ranger shook his head, "Then what's stopping us from blasting it?"
"Absolutely nothing," Mark smiled beneath his helmet and restarted the firing sequence, "Ready, Aim," the weapon whirred brightly, "fire," he called, sending a powerful blast straight through the suite, turning it into dust and burning embers. AJ looked towards Stevie's visor and offered the blue ranger a grateful smile at finally ending her nightmare.
A couple of days later, the Rangers along with Taylor and Jazz were standing outside the base's main gate. A brand new black four wheel drive vehicle stood behind the group on the main road back to Aaronsdale. The base doors opened and AJ and Viper emerged, flanked by two military police officers and a dark haired doctor, "They're good to go," the doctor said to Taylor.
"We're as healthy as we're going to get," Viper muttered, earning him a light slap from his younger sister.
"Thank you, Doctor Carter," Taylor replied, "we'll take it from here," the officer's saluted the Major as they and Doctor Carter returned inside. Taylor beckoned the siblings closer, "Are you sure about this?" she asked, "I have contacts across the multiverse, we can try and find your home dimension."
"Thank you Major Earhardt but we accepted this was a one way trip when we left," AJ looked at her brother, "we'd like to spend whatever time we have left together."
"But that doesn't mean we can't help," Viper interjected, "the snake armour and healing runes might not be unique to our Earth. Maybe your Earth holds secrets that can be used against the Vyglass."
"I understand," Taylor replied sadly, "I've arranged transport and some money to get you going. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything else."
"You've been more than generous Major," AJ smiled warmly. Her gaze turned towards Stevie, who was dressed surprisingly smartly in trousers and a light blue blouse. The blue ranger was scratching at the ground with the tip of her shoe.
"Why don't we show you the car Viper," Mark called out, sensing the awkward tension in the air, "the best the Air Force can spare at the moment."
"The best General Harkness won't miss from the budget at least," Taylor chuckled, leading Viper towards the waiting car. Everyone else began to drift away, leaving Stevie and AJ alone.
The awkward silence between the pair continued until AJ finally spoke, "You look nice."
"Thank you," Stevie replied, "my High School graduation is in a few hours, Mom said I should look smart but give me a pair of trainers any day." AJ laughed softly, "You could come," the blue ranger asked, "it wouldn't delay you too much."
"Stevie," AJ sighed, "I can't stay, it's not because I don't want to-"
"Then why?" Stevie said desperately, "You haven't given me a good reason why."
"Stevie, I'm dying," AJ responded firmly, "Jazz worked wonders on my respirator but like I told you, its not a permanent fix." Stevie nodded slowly whilst chewing her lip, "You should fall in love with someone you can spend the rest of your life with, not someone who might not last the month."
"That should be my choice though," Stevie's voice cracked, "you don't get to make this decision for me."
AJ glanced at the ground, "Tell me this, if I stayed would my condition distract you from fighting the Vyglass." Stevie didn't respond, "We're on different paths Stevie, maybe we should both be glad that they briefly crossed."
Stevie nodded slowly before quickly closing the gap and placing her lips firmly against AJ's. The blonde was hesitant at first but quickly melted into the embrace, snaking her arm around Stevie's waist. The blue ranger reluctantly pulled away, a tear running down her cheek, "Something to remember me by," she whispered.
AJ smiled, wiping away Stevie's tear with her thumb. With her free hand she pulled off her pink bandana, "Something in return, I'm sorry its not blue," she said. Stevie laughed, her head resting in the crook of AJ's neck. The blonde stroked the blue ranger's hair for a moment until she reluctantly whispered, "I should go, otherwise I won't want to."
"This isn't goodbye," Stevie said, "we'll see each other before the end."
"You can count on that," AJ quickly pecked Stevie's lips and slowly stepped away. After a few steps she paused and turned around, "April Jean, that's what AJ stands for," she called, "April Jean Marshall."
"Good to meet you April," Stevie called weakly.
"A version of me exists on this Earth," AJ added, "I looked myself up, maybe you should too." Stevie didn't reply, just nodded slowly as AJ continued down the path. She watched as AJ reached her brother, who gave her a firm hug. They got into the car and drove down away with just an occasional glance out the window.
Stevie looked at the pink piece of cloth in her hand before wrapping it around her right arm like a wrist band. She vaguely registered the other Rangers slowly approaching, "This way when I fight the Vyglass, she'll always be with me," she said to no one in particular.
"It'll be alright Stevie," Rachel began, "it might not feel like it today but trust me, it'll be alright." The blue ranger nodded mutely and blankly until her face fell and she broke out in a loud sob. Rachel grabbed the teen and pull her close as the others expressed their sympathy to the heartbroken Ranger. Her teas continued to fall long after the car containing AJ disappeared into the distance.