Chapter Text
Z’s breath catches in her throat.
She thinks she should probably feel kind of relieved that the alien seems to take the most pleasure in squeezing Sky like a chew toy, but it’s hard to do that when Sky looks like he’s about to break down crying.
It’s a Somnirev, an alien which primarily exists in a dream state, but this one has entered the waking world and is dragging everyone's nightmares out with them.
There’s a tall blond pacing back and forth as Sky curls up in a ball on the floor, and from the way he’s talking, Z’s starting to piece together that the man must be his dad that he idolizes.
Bridge is the only one who can get anywhere near the actual alien, something about his psychic powers picking him up, but even the split-second delay it takes for him to speak the location is too long for anyone else to get close.
That’s why Cruger called in Sam, and when Z hears the familiar sound of the Omegamax cycle, she can’t help but smile. With that morpher of his, he’ll be able to help Bridge capture him.
Sam quickly leaps off his bike and approaches Bridge, and…
And then Sky’s nightmare dissipates, and Z hears the sound of laughter.
Bridge quickly runs over to help Sky up, and Sky clearly can't breathe, but it seems like it’s over.
And then the Somnirev speaks again.
“You… now, I bet you have some fun nightmares.” He laughs, and Sam revs up his Morpher.
“I’m not scared of anything!” He starts, and the Somnirev practically cackles.
“Well, well.” The Somnirev starts. “Then let’s just test that, shall we?”
And then there’s footsteps.
“Well, well. Little Samuel Swanson, as I live and breathe.” A familiar voice rings out, and Sam freezes.
“…N-No.” Sam whispers. “No, it can’t be.”
“Oh, but it is.” The voice starts again, and there’s a flash of pink as the source approaches.
“What?!” Syd snaps. “That’s me!”
“Seriously?” Sky groans. “Your worst fear is Syd?”
Sam’s still frozen, and the other Syd tosses her hair.
“Oh, don’t call me that. I’m not pathetic little Syd Drew. Not anymore. I’m Sydney.”
“What?” Jack starts, and Sam starts genuinely shaking.
“No… No! What are you doing here?!” He snaps, and Sydney laughs.
“Oh, Samuel, you can’t expect to throw a party with all your worst nightmares and have me not show up.”
And then Sydney puts on this… sadistic smirk.
“And I brought some friends~”
The sound of more footsteps approach, and Sam looks like he’s about to have a panic attack.
“No, not them! They’re dead!” He snaps, and Sydney’s smirk gets wider.
“Oh, yes. Little Miss Nova made sure of that, didn’t she?”
Sam freezes, and Sydney chuckles.
“That’s right. She had them~”
And then from the shadows, a flash of red.
And then blue.
And then green.
“What…?!” Jack starts.
“What the hell’s going on here?!” Sky manages to snap, and Bridge almost drops him.
It’s… them. A second Jack, Sky, and Bridge.
“No! Nova would never have let you have the morphers!” Sam snaps, and the second Bridge brushes his hair out of his face.
“Oh, no. Not as long as she lived, right?”
Sam freezes again.
And then he lets out the most heartbroken screech.
“No! She’s not dead! I don’t believe you!”
Sydney chuckles again.
“She was loyal all the way to the end, you know? Holding my armies off until the portal closed so I couldn’t follow you back. Oh, darling little Nova. So cute. It was almost a shame I had to snap her neck.”
“Keep her name out of your goddamn mouth!” Sam snaps, and the fake Bridge gets that same sadistic smirk.
“You know, she did love you.” He chuckles. “You didn’t hear her after she pushed you into the time portal.”
“Sam, you’d better survive this.” Sydney mocks. “I just wished I had the courage to tell you I loved you too~”
“Stop! Don’t talk about her! She… she was…!” Sam starts, and Z finally finds her voice.
“Sam, focus! They’re just nightmares! That’s what you’re afraid happened!”
And then suddenly there’s a sharp knee in her stomach and it's like she’s run directly into one of Sky’s force fields.
“Did that feel like a nightmare?” The other Sky starts. “Let’s take ‘em out.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” The Somnirev chimes in. “Kill them all!”
And then Sydney raises an eyebrow.
“…We don’t answer to you.”
“H-Huh?”
“We’re the emperor’s top generals. We don’t answer to anyone but our lord.” The other Jack starts, stretching his arms out behind his head.
“But—”
“Ugh, boring.” The other Bridge mutters, and the other Sky cracks his knuckles.
“Sydney, may I?”
Sydney curls her hair around her finger.
“You must have read my mind. Let’s do it.”
And then she snaps her fingers, and her eyes flash pink.
The last thing she sees of the other Sky is his eyes flashing a dark blue, and then the other Bridge pulls off his gloves and drags the Somnirev into the real world.
“Finally, some entertainment!” The other Jack laughs, and it’s so fast that Z almost can’t process it.
The Somnirev evaporates, almost as if he was never there, and Sydney turns to point at Sam.
“We’ll be back!” She laughs. “And you’ll get to see big sis die in front of you all over again!”
And they all evaporate in a burst of color, and Sam collapses to his knees.
Jack rushes over to help Z up, and together they hobble over to Sam and help him to his feet.
“Who the hell were those guys?” Jack asks, and Sam demorphs and dims.
“…They were from my world.” He whispers.
And then he practically leaps into Z’s chest, sniffling, and Sky finally seems to pull himself together and back to his feet.
“Let’s get back to base.” He starts. “I don’t think we’ve seen the last of those guys.”
~
As Z paces around the command center, she’s getting increasingly worried.
The little light ball is completely black, and no matter what she says or does, he stays that way.
“Sam, come on, we can’t figure out what to do if you don’t help us!” Sky snaps, and Z glares at him.
“Will you shut it?!” She snaps back, before turning her attention back to Sam. “Is he sleeping or something?”
Jack shakes his head.
“When Sam sleeps, he dims, but he doesn’t turn black like this. He’s usually like a little nightlight.”
Bridge scans Sam’s aura, and he almost falls over.
“Bridge, what’s wrong?” Jack asks, and Bridge looks up at him with wide eyes.
“Sam’s having… flashbacks.” He says. “Terrible flashbacks. To them.”
“Did you get any information about them?” Sky asks, and Bridge nods slowly.
But it seems like he can’t figure out the words.
“That was us.” He mutters. “Kind of.”
“There’s no way that was us!” Syd snaps, but Bridge holds up his hands.
“You’ve read about the RPM rangers, right? The ones from the other dimension?”
“Where the world was taken over by a computer virus?” Sky asks, and Bridge nods.
“Yeah. Them. And you remember how the black ranger was a cyborg with no memories?”
“Yeah?”
“That was… kind of us. Devastation killed us. Then Gruumm stole our bodies and… and he desecrated them. Turned us into that. Cyborgs who had completely different personalities and were servants of Gruumm and oh my god Syd killed Sophie—”
Bridge looks like he’s about to cry, Jack and Sky share a glance, and Syd stares at Bridge like she can’t believe what he's saying.
“What… what about me?” Z asks. “What happened to me?”
Bridge looks down.
“You got lucky.” He finally says. “Jack… he sent you off to take Sam to a safe house. He knew it was a suicide mission and knew you’d insist on coming with him and he couldn’t handle you dying too.”
Jack crosses his arms.
“Sounds like me.”
“You’d send me off before you went on a suicide mission?!” Z snaps, and Jack looks her dead in the eye.
“Yep. Not you, Z. I’d rather die a million times over before I’d let you get hurt.”
“The rest of us… you told us that it was okay if we didn’t want to come with you, if we didn’t want to die too, but Sky said that you’d get yourself killed without reason if he didn’t come along and help you do some real damage and Syd and I refused to let you two do this alone. It didn’t help, though.” Bridge breathes. “Morgana came for Z and Sam after she’d killed the rest of us. Z shoved Sam into a bush and faced Morgana alone, trying to avenge us, but she got stabbed. She made a clone and pretended that she didn’t die, and she gave Sam her Morpher. Told her that he’d know what to do with it, and died in his arms. He teleported her body and took her with him to the safe house, and… and he dug her grave alone. Buried her. And she got lucky, because Morgana thought she was still alive and therefore didn’t look for her corpse. Sam hid out for years, just training until he took up her mantle and fought with the resistance as the Yellow Ranger. No one knew he wasn’t Z. She was like a folk hero— Everyone was praying she’d save them, so he kept the legend alive.”
“So Z becomes a folk hero and we get brainwashed into being evil.” Sky starts. “She really was the lucky one.”
Jack puts his head in his hands.
“Did I think it was Z too?” Jack asks, and Sam’s voice suddenly rings out.
“Yeah.” He says, flickering with dim light. “Yeah, you did. We… we figured out a way to bring you guys out temporarily. The real you guys. You were conscious in there the whole time, but you weren’t able to stop yourself from doing what you did.”
“That sounds horrifying.” Kat gasps.
“Only Gruumm would stoop so low…” Commander Cruger growls.
“He kept your head on his ship.” Sam mutters. “Your sword and your head were his trophies.”
Commander Cruger looks away, and Sam keeps going.
“We didn’t realize you were in there for a long time. It was… about thirteen years in when we realized. Sophie had come home from the Theta Quadrant, she wanted to fight. Nova… she’s a girl like us.”
“Like us?” Syd asks, and Sam shakes no.
“No, like me, Jack, and Z. A street kid. She was abandoned by her parents when an accident happened and half her face was burned.”
Jack looks up.
“Mary.” He says, and Sam bobs up and down. Yes.
“She’d changed her name to Nova by the time we met. She’s a whiz with gadgets, she’s actually the one who made my Omega Morpher. But, all three of us, we were fighting Bridgerton— That’s Bridge, you guys all have new names— and he almost had us. Sophie was on the ground, and he was about to kill her, but then she just… she looked up at him. Next thing I know, the real Bridge managed to take control for a second and threw his blaster into the bushes, and yelled for Sophie to run. She tried to tell him to fight Bridgerton, but he couldn’t. Not for more than a few seconds. Nova and I had to drag her away, she was screaming.”
Bridge actually starts to cry at that. Fat tears dripping down his face.
“Nova, she built a device.” Sam continues. “It was meant to interface with the cyborg systems, using your Morphers as an access port. Try and suppress the monsters that Gruumm created and free you from the torment. But… but it didn’t work like it was supposed to. It could only give you freedom for a few short minutes. We…”
Sam takes a breath, and then he speaks in his normal cheery tone.
“We had to kill you!” He says. “Sophie was the one who killed Bridge! The last thing you said to her was ‘I love you!’ Nova killed Jack— she told you it was time to finally rest now and then the last thing you said was asking Z if she’d come to take you with her! I killed Sky, and you actually told us all that we were better rangers than you ever were! We couldn’t bring Syd back, though! Sydney was the last one they made, and so she didn’t have the flaw we exploited for you three! She killed Sophie immediately after Sophie tried to help her!!!”
“I think he’s having a psychotic break.” Bridge whispers.
“I’m not!” Sam says. “I mean, if I stop smiling I’ll cry, but hey! I don’t have eyes anymore, so I don’t see your grateful smiling faces just after I murdered you every time I close them! Actually, I really like not having a physical body because it makes it so much easier to repress everything!!”
“He’s definitely having a psychotic break.” Sky adds.
“I promise I’m not! I don’t need therapy! It didn’t happen, I changed the past!”
“Okay, but you still remember it.” Jack adds. “Like just from hearing that I think I’m gonna set up an appointment with Dr. Tyzonn.”
“Also you’re going to have to fight them again.” Sky says, and Sam chuckles.
“Yeah, but this time they’re not real! They’re just copies, so we can just shoot them to death! And Sophie’s not here, so I don’t have to hear her screaming and sobbing when we kill them again!”
“Look, Sam, listen to me.” Sky says. “I used to think I was the most repressed person here, but you just stole my crown. You have a problem.”
“Look, even Sky’s saying it!” Syd says. “Sam, please talk to Dr. Tyzonn!”
Sam just laughs again, and then he turns black and immediately crashes back onto the console.
“…I think he just fainted.” Jack says.
“I… I don’t even know how to react to this.” Syd says.
“Repress it all and never think about it again. Always works for me.” Sky says, and Syd just looks at him.
“Sky, that’s not healthy.”
“I’m not even listening to you, I’m already fine. How are we going to kill these guys?”
“Cadet Tate, I believe you require an appointment with Dr. Tyzonn as well.” Commander Cruger says.
“I’m fine. But we have to figure out how to beat these guys.”
Something falls out of Sam’s light ball, a memory chip of some kind.
Bridge seems to recognize it instantly and scoops it up.
“…This is Sophie’s.” He says. “I’d recognize it anywhere.”
Bridge immediately slips it into the computer, and inputs an access code.
And the computer laughs.
“Hi, Bridge~” Sophie’s voice rings out. “Your last system’s access was on June 15th, 2025!”
“You have a unique access code for her system?” Sky asks, and Bridge nods.
“Bridge, I think she might be a little in love with you.” Z says.
“We’re just friends.” Bridge says, and Sky puts his head in his hands.
“Sam said your last words to her were ‘I love you.’”
“Yeah. Platonically.” Bridge says, and Sky seems to just give up. “Now, why did Sam give us a memory chip from Sophie?”
“I’m assuming those four big files on the top?” Kat asks, and Bridge nods.
“Right! Good thinking, Kat!”
“That one’s labeled ‘Bridgerton.’” Sky says. “Sam said that was your cyborg name.”
“Yeah, he did.” Bridge says. “So then I guess ‘Jackson’ must be Jack, ‘Schuyler’ is Sky, and we know that ‘Sydney’ is Syd.”
“I kind of hate how my and Sky’s cyborg names are literally just our full first names.” Syd starts, and Sky nods.
“Definitely. That guy’s disgracing me and my dad.”
Bridge clicks on the Bridgerton file, and suddenly the screen flashes red.
“I don’t think you want to do that, Bridge!” Sophie’s voice rings out, and Syd looks at the screen.
“Is she in there?”
Bridge shakes his head.
“No. These are pre-programmed responses. …My guess is she knew she might die and she set this up after the plan to send Sam back in time. In case past me— or current me, but to her it was past me, but I’m not really her Bridge, I’m from a completely different timeline and—”
“Shut up and override the lockout.” Sky says, and Bridge nods.
He types in a few commands, and the screen flashes red again.
“I can’t let you do that!” Sophie’s voice rings out again.
Bridge types in a few more commands, and the screen flashes even redder.
“Seriously, Bridge! You don’t know how bad that file is! I’ve wanted to erase it from my memory banks on more than one occasion!”
Bridge keeps typing, and the screen turns completely red.
“Stop it! Stop trying to traumatize yourself! I don’t know how much Sam has told you, but whatever it is, it’s more than enough! I’m not going to let your curiosity get the better of you— You’d better prove to me that you really need this if you want to open this file!”
Bridge types something in, and suddenly the screen turns green.
“Error! Error!” Sophie’s voice keeps ringing out. “Situation not accounted for! Lockout released!”
“What did you do?” Kat asks, and Bridge shrugs.
“Told her everything that happened.” He says. “I think it broke her.”
Bridge opens the Bridgerton file, and he stumbles back as the first video clip plays.
“Nice try, robot.” He hisses, and Sophie kicks him away.
“Get back!” She screeches.
There’s a large variety of clips in there, of him fighting with Sophie, with Sam, with another girl that Z vaguely recognizes as Mary— No, Nova now.
“He fights like Bridge.” Syd starts. “But a lot faster. And it seems like he’s stronger too.”
And then there’s one clip that’s longer than the others, and Bridge seems really hesitant to watch it, but he plays it anyway.
“You know, I see why he liked you~” Bridgerton teases. “You’re beautiful, feisty…”
“Don’t touch me!” Sophie snaps.
“Oh, come on. You’ve dreamed of this, haven’t you, robot? Why don’t you let me reprogram you? You can be my beautiful queen.”
“I do not like the way he’s touching her hair.” Syd says, and Bridge looks ready to scream.
“Hey, don’t! Get off me!” Sophie snaps.
She kicks him. Hard. Between the legs. Jack winces sympathetically.
Bridgerton grunts in pain, and he glares at her.
“Crazy bitch!”
“Go to hell!” Sophie snaps back, and the clip cuts off there.
“Great. I’m also a sexual harasser.” Bridge groans.
“Honestly it seems like you’ve kind of turned from a nerd into a frat boy.” Syd cuts in.
“I don’t like that.”
“I think all of us except Z are going to hate our other selves.” Jack sighs.
There are a few more clips after that, and then there’s the one Sam mentioned.
“Oh, look at that, robot. You’re at my mercy.” Bridgerton teases, and Sophie flinches back.
“You… no…”
“Now, let’s finally pay you back for that kick, huh?”
And then Sophie takes a breath.
“Bridge. It’s me.” She starts. “It’s Sophie.”
Bridgerton looks unimpressed, and then he crackles with green energy.
He looks like he’s in pain.
“No…!” He grunts, and then his eyes turn from malicious to kind and he throws the blaster into the bushes. “Sophie! Run!”
“B-Bridge?” Sophie asks, and Bridge grabs at his neck.
“I can’t hold him off for long, go!”
“Yes, you can! You can fight him!” Sophie starts. “I believe in you!”
Bridge looks panicked, and then he shouts in pain.
“No! Please, no—!” He starts, and then his eyes turn cruel again. “Nice try, robot.”
Sophie’s vision is shaking.
“Bridge! No! I know you’re in there! Come on!”
“He’s not coming.” Bridgerton starts, stalking over to her, and then Sophie’s arms are grabbed from behind and she’s dragged away.
“No! Please! Please, Bridge! Fight him! Fight him!!”
Bridge looks away, and Sky stiffly pats his shoulder.
“You’ll be okay, buddy.” He mutters.
The last file is the longest one, and Z’s starting to get worried.
This is probably the mercy killing Sam mentioned.
“Came looking for me, robot?” Bridgerton asks, and Sophie freezes.
She’s staring at his face. Looking for any trace of Bridge.
“Yeah.” She finally responds. “Today’s the day I defeat you.”
“Ooh, tough girl.” Bridgerton laughs. “But your boyfriend’s not going to come out and save you today.”
Sophie drops into a fighting stance, and she starts kicking and punching like her life depends on it.
“Is this how she sees a fight?” Sky asks. “Numbers, statistics, and predictions?”
“Yeah.” Bridge says. “She’s a marvel, really.”
And then she kicks the Morpher off of Bridgerton’s waist, and she dives for it before he can react.
She snaps it open, and she jabs a key of some kind into the analysis port.
Bridgerton crackles with green energy and drops to the ground, and Sophie disengages her fight mode.
“Please…” She sighs. “Please, Bridge.”
And Bridge looks up at her.
“Soph?” He asks, and Sophie sighs in relief and drops to her knees.
“It’s you.” She breathes. “It’s really you. After so long.”
Bridge smiles at her.
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s me.”
“You must have been hurting.” Sophie whispers. “It’s alright now.”
And Bridge’s face turns dark.
“It’s not, Soph. He’s still in there. I won’t be able to hold him off forever.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Sophie starts.
“No, Soph, you don’t get it— He’s been in there too long. This is his body now, not mine. You can’t get rid of him. You can’t separate us.”
Sophie shakes her head.
“There has to be a way to destroy him!” She gasps. “There has to be!”
Bridge motions to his Morpher.
“There is. Break that, and he’s gone.”
“But that’s what’s keeping you alive! If I break it, then you—!”
“Sophie, please! There’s no other way!”
Sophie freezes.
“I won’t accept that. I won’t! There has to be another way, a way we can fix this! A way we can save you!”
“He’s suffering, Sophie!” Nova’s voice rings out. “He’s spent thirteen years as a walking corpse, unable to stop Bridgerton! It’s the only way to save him!”
Sophie looks toward her, and then back toward Bridge.
“Come on, Soph.” Bridge says.
“…I said I was always going to be your player 2.” She pleads.
“Well, hey! Now you get to be player 1!” Bridge laughs. “You get first pick of your main in Mariokart, get to have the default skin in Smash, get to stream without people harassing you— Really, Soph, you’re winning here.”
Sophie starts to shake, and her vision gets blurry.
“Hey, don’t cry! It’s okay!” Bridge pleads. “Come on, I don’t want the last thing I see to be you crying!”
Sophie wipes away her tears and looks at Bridge.
“…I’m sorry.” She breathes, and Bridge laughs.
“For what? I should be saying sorry to you for everything I’ve put you through for the last thirteen years. Now, come on. Just do it.”
Sophie flinches slightly, but she reaches down to her belt.
She pulls out a screwdriver, and she hovers it over the Morpher.
And then she shuts her eyes, and Bridge screeches in pain.
And then she opens her eyes again, and she looks down at Bridge.
And he’s smiling. A big, goofy grin.
Sophie rushes over to him and just… holds him. Tenderly.
“Hey, Soph?” He breathes.
“Yeah?” She asks, and Bridge smiles at her even harder.
“I love you.”
Sophie’s clearly trying to restrain her tears.
“I love you too.” She finally says, and Bridge’s eyes fall shut.
But that grin doesn’t fall off his face, and Sophie scans him for a pulse.
And she screeches. It’s heartbreaking. She’s screaming like a banshee, like she’ll never smile again.
“No… no!” She screams, gently pulling Bridge’s body close to her chest. “No…”
She’s full-on sobbing, and Z can feel tears pricking at the sides of her eyes.
Syd’s actually crying, Jack seems to be in the same state as Z, and even Sky looks away from the screen.
But Bridge keeps staring at his own lifeless body, held in Sophie’s arms, like he can’t believe it.
Z can’t blame him. It must be jarring to see your own death.
Bridge steps away, his cell phone in his hand, and everyone else sits in a tense silence.
“…That was messed up.” Jack finally says, and Sky sighs.
“…That girl, Nova. She was right. It was the only way to end his suffering.”
“Doesn’t make it any easier to watch.” Syd says. “And hey, would you say the same if it was you?”
Sky turns to her, his eyes flashing with a blue fire.
“It was me.” He hisses. “It was me, and you, and Jack— Gruumm put us through almost fifteen years of hell. After something like that? Death is a mercy.”
“Sky’s right, Syd.” Jack starts. “No offense, but I don’t think you’ve been through anything that made you wish you were dead. That made you fall asleep and hope you wouldn’t wake up.”
Syd’s eyes soften.
“You… you’ve felt that before?” She asks, and Z chuckles.
“Yeah. A lot.”
“It’s the loss of hope.” Sky mutters, like he’s detaching himself from the situation. “When you wake up and realize that there’s nothing but pain waiting for you outside, logically at some point you’ll want to stop waking up.”
“Talking from experience there?” Jack asks, and Sky looks away again.
“Something I read in a psychology paper.” He says, but you don’t have to be Bridge to know what’s really going on in there.
“Maybe we should take a break.” Kat says, but Sky shakes his head.
“No. They could pop up at any second. We need to know how to fight them.”
“Sky, not now.” Jack says. “We can’t fight them if we’re too mentally fucked up. Let’s take a bit, and then—”
“‘Take a bit?’ You saw how powerful those guys were! If they show up while we’re just sitting around, we’ll never be able to defeat them!” Sky snaps.
“You sure you don’t just want to kick Schuyler’s ass because it’s easier than kicking your own?!” Jack snaps back, and Sky straight-up flinches.
Z and Syd share a glance, both immediately knowing that this is going to blow up with both of them.
Sky opens and closes his mouth for a second, as if he can’t form words, and Jack immediately softens.
“Sorry. That was uncalled for, I shouldn’t have—”
“Go to hell, Jack.” Sky says, and Jack raises his hands in surrender.
“Yeah, that’s fair.”
Sky just looks away.
“You guys can leave if you want, I’m going to keep studying them.”
“Hey, no.” Jack says. “I’m not letting you do that alone.”
Bridge walks in after a couple more seconds, slipping his phone in his pocket.
“I’m okay now.” He says. “Let’s just… let’s go.”
“You sure?” Z asks, and Bridge nods.
“I’m sure. I promise.”
Jack’s file is next, and Bridge opens it almost mechanically.
Same thing— Jack’s fighting style, but faster. Hit hard, hit fast, dodge out of the way before you get hit.
“Aw, come on~” Jackson groans. “This is boring. Did you get worse, Z?”
Sam, pretending to be Z, just kicks him in the face.
And then Sophie jumps out of the trees and tackles him, and he spits.
“Seriously? You’re not strong enough to do it yourself? Eh, guess that’s his fault. He’d never let you do anything alone. Always running in to save his baby sis.”
“Go to hell.” Sam says, and Z flinches back.
“He sounds like me.” She mutters, and Bridge shakes his head.
“It’s a voice changer. A pretty good one, too.”
Jack just sighs.
“I do run in to save you a lot, don’t I?” He mutters, and Z laughs.
“Only about every day.” She responds. “It’s what you do, Jack.”
Jack just sighs.
“I can’t help it. I see you in trouble, my brain turns off. You’re too important to me, girl.”
“Is your brain ever on?” Z asks, and Jack chuckles. “…But, seriously, this guy is nothing like you. He might be wearing your face, but he’s someone else.”
“Yeah.” Sam finally cuts in, flickering to life very slightly. “Jackson’s one of those ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ types. If we’d still had a government, he’d be Republican and oppose welfare programs.”
“Wow.” Jack starts. “I really hate that.”
“Join the club.” Bridge mutters.
They get close to the final file again, and Sam leaps over and slams a button.
“You don’t need to see that!” He starts.
“Mercy kill?” Jack asks, and Sam doesn’t respond.
“You actually don’t even need to keep watching! They fight like you guys, just stronger and faster!”
“And like… what about their personalities?” Syd asks. “Anything we can use to defeat them?”
“Uh… honestly, Schuyler’s kind of boring, but Sydney’s the leader, because she’s the most advanced and powerful of the four! She’s… how do I say this…”
Syd tilts her head slightly, and Sam chuckles awkwardly.
“Uh, so… she’s kind of exactly like you? She likes cute things and plushies. Though she’s a sadist, unlike you— She loves inflicting pain on people.”
“Why am I exactly the same?!” Syd snaps, and Sam chuckles awkwardly again.
“I think Mora just wanted a big sister that would have tea parties with her.”
“I hate this!” Syd starts, and Sam rolls over a little.
“Yeah, you’re gonna hate fighting them too. Their genetic powers are severely enhanced— Bridgerton can sense you from a mile away and Sydney can do a lot of raw damage since she doesn’t have to worry about organ failure if she turns her entire body into metal. Plus, since her body is already partially steel, she doesn’t need to touch it to transform.”
“Great, so how do we beat them?” Sky asks, and Sam turns into his Omega Ranger form.
“It’s simple, really.” He says. “You’ve gotta get their Morphers away from them. If you smash it, that’ll kill them instantly.”
“Oh, that easy, huh?” Sky quips. “Really?”
“Really!”
“How the fuck are we supposed to do tha—?!” Sky starts, but then the alarms go off. “Fuck. They’re already back.”
Sam runs ahead and leaps onto his Uniforce Cycle, and everyone else rushes behind him until they hit where the alert was coming from.
And Sydney’s right there, in a black bodysuit with pink accents.
“Well, well, well.” She starts. “You’re back already.”
She snaps her fingers, and Schuyler, Jackson, and Bridgerton appear out of nowhere.
Sam steps in front of them, and he falls into a fighting stance.
“Is that supposed to scare us?” Bridgerton asks. “Come on. Sydney already told us about you.”
“Too bad we didn’t find it out earlier~” Jackson teases. “Think about how nice it would be to have a fifth member of our team.”
Schuyler stays silent, and Sydney straight-up cackles.
“Alright, then. Why don’t we finish this, hm? I have a tea party with Mora planned~”
“As you wish, dear.” Schuyler mutters, and Sky immediately turns to him.
“‘Dear?’” He starts. “What is wrong with you?”
“I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand.” He hisses, and Sydney taps his shoulder.
“No need to argue with him, love. He’ll be dead in a few minutes.”
“‘Love?!’” Syd snaps, and Sydney chuckles.
And then she pulls herself up and starts making out with Schuyler, and Sky and Syd are both screaming.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you that part…” Sam mutters.
“Why are they straight?!” Sky finally snaps, and Sam crosses his arms.
“Uh, well, they’re not just cyborgs under Gruumm’s control, you know?” He mutters. “They’ve got likes, interests, and apparently sexualities.”
“You remember she straight up murdered Sophie, right?” Bridge starts. “Is this really worse than that?”
“Yes.” Syd says, with no hesitation.
Sydney shoots at her with a pink beam without even taking her lips off Schuyler.
“This is honestly disturbing.” Z mutters, and Jack nods.
“I don’t know why, but this… really pisses me off.”
Z turns to him.
“It’s because you want to be the one making out with Sky.”
Jack rolls his eyes.
“No, I don’t. Why do you keep saying that?”
“Because you do.” Z sighs.
Jack just sighs and sits in denial, and Z rolls her eyes.
“Okay, you know what?” Sky starts, pulling his Morpher off his belt. “I’m done with this.”
He slams the button and is draped in blue, and Jack rolls his eyes.
“That idiot’s going to get himself killed.” He mutters, before pulling out his own Morpher and emerging in red.
“Hey, you’re not leaving us behind!” Z starts, and she, Bridge, and Syd all morph and join them up front.
Sky tries to tackle Schuyler, but he gets thrown back by a force field and hits the ground hard.
Same thing with Syd, she leaps over to Sydney, but she gets a steel leg right to the chest and gets thrown straight over to him.
Bridge is fast and flexible, but Bridgerton is faster. He knows what Bridge is doing before he does it, and he’s thrown across the street next.
And Jack. Jack is crafty, shrewd, and lightning-fast, but how does he face someone who’s everything he is and more? He’s thrown into the pile, and the impact demorphs all four of them.
And they’re all surrounding Z before she can think.
“Well, well~” Sydney purrs. “What a pretty sight. The yellow ranger.”
“You know, you’ve been a pain in the ass for us.” Bridgerton adds. “All this time, hiding away.”
“And Sam too.” Jackson purrs, and the familiar relief she feels at hearing Jack’s voice is replaced with stress. She never thought that could happen. “Pretending to be you, leading us on a wild goose chase… he’s pretty damn stubborn. He refused to give up.”
There’s an arm around her neck, and Z tries to break out of the grasp, but all she feels are hard shocks and force fields.
Shit… no!
Sydney’s giving her this… absolutely sadistic smile, and Z can feel her suit dissolve around her from the pressure.
The pressure on her neck only gets tighter, and she can’t scream.
And the last thing she hears before it all goes black is a blaster shot.
~
“Let her go!” Sam snaps, firing another shot from his blaster.
Schuyler flinches and drops Z, but it’s too late. She’s already out cold.
“Aww, look at that.” Sydney purrs, pulling Z up by the hair. “She’s so cute like this. I get why she liked her~”
Syd pulls herself to her feet, but Bridge grabs her arm.
“Wait.” He mutters, and he motions Sam over.
Sam keeps his blaster trained on Sydney, who just rolls her eyes as he steps back toward Bridge.
“We can’t beat ourselves.” He says, and Sky’s eyes flare with that blue fire.
“Bullshit.” He says, but Bridge shakes his head.
“We can’t beat ourselves. You remember how I made you watch Teen Titans?”
Sky sighs.
“This is not the time, Bridge.”
“This is exactly the time! Remember the season 3 finale?! They had to fight their own evil clones, but they couldn’t beat themselves! They had to swap who they were fighting!”
Syd blinks.
“That’s genius.” She says. “What the hell are you going to do with an iron knee to the crotch?”
Bridge nods.
“Exactly! And if I know when Jack’s going to phase, I can work around it!”
“And I can walk through Sky’s force fields.” Jack purrs.
“And I can block Syd’s iron fists.” Sky finishes. “You’re right, this might actually work.”
“But what if they go around you and try to…” Sam starts, before something clicks in his head. “Wait, I’ve got it! I need you guys to last for ten minutes, can you do that?!”
“More than that.” Sky starts. “But whatever you have better work.”
~
“What, finally done with your little strategy meeting?” Sydney purrs, still holding Z by the hair.
“You could have killed us while we were down.” Jack responds. “Why didn’t you?”
“Well, that’s no fun.” Bridgerton chuckles. “I want to kill you at your full strength. I want to break every last one of your bones, and then I’ll make you watch me kill your baby sister before I finally grant you the sweet release of death.”
“Your mistake.” Sky hisses. “We’re not going down so easily this time.”
“Good. You’ll make it more fun for us.” Sydney purrs.
Out of nowhere, two Orangeheads appear and drag Z back.
And then Sydney steps forward.
“Boys? Let’s take them down.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Jackson laughs.
“Allow me, Sydney.” Schuyler mutters.
“He’s even more boring than you are.” Jack sighs, and Sky rolls his eyes.
“Focus, Jack.”
The fight starts the same way, and Jack’s immediately overwhelmed by Jackson.
But it doesn’t matter. He phases right through, and he tackles Schuyler from behind, throwing him away from Sky.
Sky flashes him a look, almost… grateful?
He really wishes he had time to tease him about it, but he doesn’t.
He rolls Schuyler onto his back, and Schuyler tries to shove him off, but Jack phases through.
“Not gonna work.” He purrs, but Schuyler rolls him over and pins him to the ground.
Jack just phases through again and tackles him, and those pretty blue eyes of his flare with a dark blue light.
And then next thing Jack knows, there’s a mouth on his own and his body reacts on pure instinct, his eyes shutting and his lips automatically moving.
“Jack, you fucking whore!” Sky’s voice rings out, and Jack immediately realizes what’s happening and phases through Schuyler, trying to get his body under control.
“What… what the hell was that?” Jack asks, and Schuyler shrugs.
“He had feelings for you. And considering everything that happened, I thought it might have been mutual.”
“I do not have a crush on Jack!” Sky snaps, and Schuyler rolls his eyes.
“So uncouth, truly. All these messy feelings you have for even messier men. If you can’t admit to yourself that you adore whoever you do, then you don’t deserve them. And if you don’t worship at their feet, it’s only natural that they look for someone that will.”
“You don’t know anything about love.” Jack mutters.
“And you do?” Jackson laughs. “Come on, this brain used to be yours. I know everything. Every girl and guy you’ve gone on two or three dates with and then forgotten about. At least he has a long, committed relationship. All you do is play around for fun.”
Jack bites his lip.
He hates that Jackson’s right, but he is.
And then…
“Jack, don’t let him get in your head!” Sky snaps. “For fuck’s sake, what does your relationship status matter right now?! What does romantic love matter, when they’re trying to distract you from what’s really important?!”
Jack turns to his left, and Sky’s looking at him with those damn pretty blue eyes of his.
“My dad loved Ash as much as he loved my mother, just in a different way.” He says, his voice cracking. “Don’t you love Z in that same way?”
Jack gulps.
Sky’s right. He’s absolutely right.
How could he have been so stupid?!
There’s no fucking point in this right now. In debating crushes and romantic love.
Because Jack does know what love is. It’s that feeling when he’s tossing and turning because Z hasn’t come back yet, and he just can’t sleep until he knows she’s okay.
And the rest of his team too. It’s that flash of fear when Bridge throws himself between Jack and a hit, because he knows that Jack can phase through but he just cares too much. It’s that little spark of interest when Syd explains her astrology stuff, because they’re both Geminis now and that means something.
And as much as he hates it to admit it, it’s that look in Sky’s eyes.
The one that he can’t tear himself away from, not now.
It’s the pain he noticed when Dru betrayed him. When Mirloc took advantage of his emotions.
Something in him wants to rip them both to pieces. For fucking up that bitchy Blue Ranger and turning him from arrogant and self-righteous to absolutely broken.
And that look in his eyes right now— The one that says I trust you.
He’s worked too damn hard to see that look.
So, when it finally feels like time is moving normally again, Jack phases through one of Schuyler’s field-enhanced punches and wrestles him to the ground again, his mind running a mile a minute.
The morpher’s on his belt. It’s the one thing that keeps him here.
And before Jack can think, he’s grabbing it and pulling it away.
Jack’s about to break the damn thing, but then those blue eyes look at him.
He can feel them, hot on his skin.
“Jack, don’t.” He says, using Sky’s voice and those pretty eyes that seem to overwrite all his senses. “Please, don’t.”
That’s not Sky.
He knows it’s not Sky.
So why can’t he move?
And then there’s a hit at the base of his spine, and he goes crumpling to the ground, the Morpher skidding away.
Sky jumps for it, dodging past Jackson, but Schuyler’s faster and scoops it back up before throwing Sky back.
Jackson grabs Jack and throws him over to Sky, and he lands. Hard.
And then he’s yanked up by his collar, and by the pure rage in his eyes, Jack doesn’t even need to look at his clothes to know that this is the real Sky.
“What the hell were you doing?!” He hisses, inches away from Jack’s face. “You had him! Why didn’t you break the damn thing?!”
Jack doesn’t know how to answer. He doesn’t know how to explain how Sky’s eyes have such a power over him.
“I couldn’t hurt you.” He finally says, and Sky looks even angrier at that.
“He’s not me. Remember that, you idiot. He’s someone that’s taking my face and forcing me to do terrible things. Betraying everything I and my family stand for. He took my name, my father’s name, and he’s using it to spread fear and terror!”
And Sky looks like he just can’t breathe.
“You have to take him down, Jack.” He whispers.
And some part of Jack falls apart again. Those eyes of his overwrite everything.
Something shifts between them, but then that pompous smirk appears on Sky’s face.
“Haven’t you told me that I annoy you so much that sometimes you want to strangle me? Now’s your chance.”
And Jack can’t help himself.
“Do I get a kiss if I do it?” He teases, and Sky rolls his eyes and shoves him away.
“In your dreams.”
~
This is a bit harder than Syd thought.
She’s dealt with a lot of frat boys, but not psychic frat boys wearing her best friend’s face.
“You know…” Bridgerton laughs, pulling at one of her curls after dodging her fist. “You really are stunning. He had pretty bad taste, I don’t know why he’d go for the robot over you.”
Syd pulls away and decks him as hard as she can, and he just laughs as he wipes the blood away from his nose.
“Well, well.” He purrs. “Feisty one, huh?”
Syd dodges under his attack. She knows how Bridge fights from years of training together, he won’t catch her unaware.
The problem is, he’s in Bridge’s body. Has control of his mind. Every memory that Syd has, and he’s psychic to boot.
But… there’s one big thing that’s different now.
Bridgerton is, clearly, not Ace.
And Syd knows that Bridge’s emotions can get in the way of his powers.
So she hangs back a bit, twisting a curl around her finger.
“You know, you’re a lot different from him.” She purrs. “I mean, come on. Bridge is some geeky guy who probably wouldn’t know how to handle a woman.”
Bridgerton chuckles, and Syd keeps going.
“But a man like you— Oh, you probably know how to handle one. I’d like to see what you can do.”
Hah. Easy peasy.
He’s just a typical frat boy. Thinks with his dick before his head.
He pushes Syd against the wall, blocking her exit with one arm. Kabedon.
“How ‘bout I show you what I can do, baby?” He says, using his other arm to tilt her face up.
He’s completely distracted, and he doesn’t notice that the hands fiddling with his belt are actually going for his Morpher.
And when she has it in her hand, she absorbs the titanium anklet that she hid in her uniform pants and pulls her knee up as hard as she can, and Bridgerton’s eyes roll back into his head.
He collapses to the ground, and Syd flips the Morpher open.
If she just cracks it over her knee, it’ll—
There’s a pink beam, and Syd’s elbow flares with pain as the Morpher flies out of her hand.
“Gah!” She snaps, and suddenly Sydney dives away from Sky and grabs Bridgerton’s Morpher.
“Come on, on your feet!” She barks, and Bridgerton groans, sparking with green energy.
“I think she broke it.” He hisses, and Sydney rolls her eyes.
“Men. We’ll get you another one when you’re done killing her.”
Sydney shoots Syd back, and she crashes directly into Bridge.
They both tumble to the floor, and Syd hisses.
“Syd…” Bridge groans. “Your leg is still titanium…”
Syd immediately returns her leg to normal, and Bridge gasps in relief.
“Thanks.” He breathes. “This isn’t going as well as I’d hoped.”
“It’s going better than it was before.” Syd responds. “It was a good idea.”
Bridge just keeps flicking his eyes over to Bridgerton, and Syd sighs.
“He’s not you, Bridgey.” She says. “He looks like you, but—”
“I know.” He sighs. “I just… all those things he did to Sam, to Sophie, and I couldn’t sto—”
“None of us could stop them.” She says. “They’re terrible, they’re monsters, and we couldn’t stop them.”
And Bridge just sighs.
“None of that makes this any easier.”
“I know. And I also know Sam stopped us from watching the rest of their fights because of this— because he didn’t want this to happen. He doesn’t blame us. You shouldn’t blame us either.”
Bridge sighs, and Syd tilts her head.
How is she going to cheer him up?
And then it clicks.
“Didn’t you just get that RPG you were excited to play?” She asks. “You’ve been waiting for it since it was announced. And Sophie’s already halfway through and wants to cosplay one of the characters with you. Now, how are you going to play it and design a cosplay for that holiday con in December if you’re too busy moping around to win this fight?”
“Do I even—”
“Bridge, if we win and survive this, I will come to the con with you and wear whatever cosplay you design.”
That gets Bridge to light up.
“Really?!”
“Yes, really! Now go!”
Bridge takes off running, and Syd sighs with relief.
Syd just hopes she gets someone cute.
~
More and more time is ticking by, but Sam’s finally back.
He gets off of his bike and throws it into the bushes. He can’t have that if this is going to work.
And then he takes a breath and hits the button on his Morpher.
When he steps out of the bushes, Sydney just looks at him like she’s seen a ghost.
“What?!” She snaps. “How are you over there?!”
Everyone turns to look at him, and Jack’s jaw drops open.
“Z?!” He gasps, and Sam puts a hand on his hip.
“What, you think I’d go down that easily?” He chuckles. “That’s a double.”
He motions to the real Z, and Sydney growls and the Orangeheads throw her down to approach Sam.
“Get her.” She snaps, and Sam ducks under the first hit from their sword.
“Nice try, but you aren’t gonna take me down that easy!”
Apparently his illusion is good enough that it even fools Jack, who rushes over to him and stands back to back.
“What took you so long, girl?” He asks, and Sam looks away. He can’t bear to look him in the eye.
Jack can clearly sense that something’s wrong, and Sam just motions over to the battle.
“Focus on the fight.” He says, and Jack raises an eyebrow.
And then it clicks in his head. From this distance, Jack can tell. He’s not Z. No matter how good his mannerisms are, he’d never be able to fool Jack.
His eyes flick over to the real Z, whose eyes are starting to flutter open. Come on, come on…
She’s right behind Sydney. Sky’s blocking most of her hits, but his force fields are starting to fail. He can’t keep that up forever.
Jack tackles Schuyler and Sam dodges between the Orangeheads, and then Z’s eyes fully open.
And she tackles Sydney from behind.
“Gah!” She hisses, and Sky slams her in the face with a force field.
Sky grabs the Morpher off her belt and cracks it in half, and Sydney screeches in pain and collapses to the ground.
“Damn it!” Bridgerton starts, and Sam hits him in the face just as Syd sweeps his legs from under him.
Grabbed. Cracked over Syd’s titanium knee. Bridgerton screeches and falls to the ground, his eyes wild and angry.
Schuyler dives after Sky, but Jack tackles him to the ground, Z right behind him.
Z manages to grab the Morpher, and she tosses it to Jack, who hesitates for a split second before taking a glance at Sky and busting it.
And Sam and Bridge rush over to Jackson. He phases through Sam’s tackle, but not Bridge’s dive for his Morpher.
Jackson tries to snatch it back, but Bridge dodges out of the way of his hands.
And then he cracks it in half, and Jackson drops to the ground.
“Just in the nick of time.” Sky mutters. “Good job, you two.”
“It was a pretty good act, Sam.” Jack adds. “You had me fooled for a couple of minutes.”
Sam turns off the hologram, shifting back into Omega Ranger form.
“Eh, I spent fifteen years pretending to be her.” He says. “If I can’t trick you for a couple minutes, then I must have spent fifteen years getting everyone to pity me.”
Z chuckles, and she crosses her arms.
“What the hell did I miss?”
“Us getting our asses kicked.” Jack responds. “You woke up just in time, girl. We’d have been screwed without you.”
“And Sam!” Bridge adds. “It was a really smart plan!”
Z clutches her head, and Syd walks over to check on her.
“You okay?” She asks, and Z nods.
“Yeah, fine. I think just the knockout’s catching up to me.”
“We should get you checked out by Kat.” Jack adds. “Let’s head back to the base, guys.”
“Definitely.” Z says.
Sam sighs with relief.
It’s over. It’s finally over again.
And God willing, he’ll never ever have to think about them again.
~
Gruumm is not a man to be trifled with. He’s spent years conquering galaxies, almost having it down to a science.
Earth might be struggling now, but soon, it shall all be in vain. And he will—
“Have Doggie Cruger’s head as a trophy?” A woman’s voice rings out, and Gruumm spins on his heel.
“Pink Ranger!” He starts, grabbing his scepter, and the Pink Ranger tilts her head.
“I can see the confusion, Emperor.” She starts. “But, no. I am not the Pink Ranger. I was, once, but in my time, you… created me. From her corpse.”
Gruumm freezes for a second, and the woman drops to one knee in front of him.
“I am Sydney, and I am the last of your angels of death.” She says. “And I have a plan to destroy the Power Rangers. Starting with that ditzy blonde.”
Gruumm lowers his scepter.
This is interesting. Very interesting indeed.