Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Who is the third who walks always beside you?

When I count, there are only you and I together

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you

Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded

I do not know whether a man or a woman

But who is that on the other side of you?

— T.S. Eliot

Prologue

“Give it up, Tomars,” Jack shouted. The rest of his team lined up beside him. Tomars was cornered, trapped between five rangers and a tall metal fence. “There’s nowhere else to run!”

“This time, we’re taking you in,” Sky added and drew his blaster.

Three months had passed since Tomars teleported Jack and Sky to a parallel universe. Boom had managed to bring them home, and nobody — not even Piggy — had seen or heard from Tomars since then. Sky had assumed that the criminal was trapped forever in a parallel universe. He was wrong.

“We’ll see about that, rangers,” Tomars sneered. He lifted a silver laptop in one hand and shot them a slippery smile. “I think you’ll find that my new inter-dimensional hyper-speed relocator is… magnificent.”

Bridge suddenly clutched his head. His blaster slipped from nerveless fingers and dropped to the ground. In that moment, Sky forgot all about Tomars and the relocator. He forgot about their mission.

“Bridge!” The green ranger wavered on his feet, and Sky reached out to steady him. “What’s wrong?”

Bridge shook his head. “I don’t know.” His voice shook. “Something…”

Several things happened at once. Tomars drew a blaster from his ragged coat just as Jack activated his morpher.

“S.P.D. Emergency!” Jack deflected the first blast and returned fire. The red blaster beam streaked toward the criminal, but Tomars held up the relocator as a shield.

There was a brilliant flash of light. The metallic surface of the relocator rippled as it absorbed the blast, leaving Tomars unharmed. The criminal’s clawed hands shook where they gripped the relocator, but his expression was triumphant.

“See,” Tomars said. “I told you it was perfect.” As if to contradict him, the laptop sizzled with purple electricity. Tomars gave a pained yelp and hurled it at the closest ranger.

Sky instinctively raised his arm to deflect it.

“Don’t!” Bridge shouted.

It was too late.

Sky touched the inter-dimensional hyper-speed relocator. It was like being struck by lightning. Every muscle in his body seized and froze. An invisible force was tearing him apart, and he couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t even scream. The last thing he saw was Bridge reaching toward him before the world fell away.

The laptop slammed into the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces. Bridge stood stunned, his hand still outstretched. Where two rangers had once stood, there was now only one.

“I lost him,” Bridge said. Sky was gone and, in a flash of premonition, Bridge knew he might never return. How had a simple mission gone so horribly wrong?

Jack covered the ground in three quick strides. He lifted Tomars by his shirt. “Where did you send him?” Jack demanded. Tomars whimpered as the red ranger slammed him against the fence. “Bring him back!”

“I can’t!” Tomars tried and failed to squirm away from the iron grip. “He could be anywhere in the multiverse!”

Jack spoke into his morpher. “Sky? Can you hear me? Come in, Sky!” But there was no response, only an ominous, empty silence.

Law & Disorder - Chapter 1

It was the strangest thing.

One moment Sky was battling Tomars in the streets of Newtech City, and the next, he was back at S.P.D. as if he had never left.

He took a step and had to steady himself against the angular wall. He fought back a sudden flash of vertigo and nausea. The last few moments were hazy and faint. What happened? Where was everyone?

This was S.P.D. headquarters. He was sure of it. He walked this hallway every day. Just around the corner were the science labs. Kat and Boom were probably there, right now, working on their newest invention.

The door slid open.

Kat was alone, seated at a low table scattered with mechanical parts and half-assembled components. It took him a moment to realize that she was in a wheelchair. Her hands were shaking as she set down the device she was working on.

As he stepped forward, Kat moved swiftly, maneuvering the table between them.

“Kat?” Something was terribly wrong. There were a thousand questions he could have asked, but he blurted out the first one that came to mind. “What happened to you?”

Kat — mentor, friend, and ally for as long as he could remember — stared at him with a mixture of surprise and deep sadness.

“You happened to me, Sky,” she said, just as three armed cadets burst into the room.

Sky had never been on the other side of an interrogation before. A C-squad cadet had confiscated his cadet blaster and carried it away in an evidence bag. He now sat in a hard metal chair, hands cuffed behind his back as Cruger paced the length of the bleak, grey room.

The overhead light was too bright. Sky shifted at the edge of the seat, but there was no angle where he could avoid the reflection off the polished table. His head throbbed, hammering in time with his too-fast and too-loud pulse. From the way Cruger’s fin-like ears twitched, the Commander could hear it too. He probably thought Sky was moments away from breaking down into an admission of guilt.

“You’ve been absent without official leave for years,” Cruger was saying in his coldest voice. Sky recognized that tone. It was reserved for the vilest, most degenerate criminals in the galaxy. “Where have you been?”

The tiny red light of a camera blinked from the ceiling. One wall was made of impenetrable black glass, and Sky wondered if Kat was watching, safely hidden behind the mirror.

“I don’t understand,” Sky repeated for the fifth time. The room was freezing, but a thin sheen of sweat still formed on his forehead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just here!”

Cruger abruptly changed the topic. Sky recognized the tactic. It was intended to keep him off balance, to catch him in a lie. “Where did you get this forgery?” Cruger slammed his morpher onto the table, and Sky flinched at the sound. “Did you steal the uniform and weapons, or did your friend Dru get them for you?”

Forgery? Theft? Sky was so stunned by the rapid-fire accusations that he barely managed to stammer a defense for one. “Dru? Dru’s been contained for months! What’s going on?”

“You know perfectly well what’s going on,” Cruger barked.

“No, I don’t,” Sky insisted. When the interrogation began, he hoped against all reason that Cruger would believe him, but that hope was quickly fading. “We were fighting this alien, Tomars. He had this machine… there was a bright flash of light… and then, I don’t know.” He remembered Bridge’s raw fear and confusion. The green ranger had been afraid of something — but what?

He remembered pain.

“So what are you saying?” Cruger’s dark eyes narrowed with suspicion. “That you were… ‘transported’ here?”

Sky nodded. “I don’t know how it happened, but yes. Ever since I touched the relocator, everything’s wrong. You, Kat… everything.”

Cruger’s expression hardened when he mentioned Kat. “You’re a liar, Sky, and you’ve always been a liar. I don’t know what you and Dru are up to, but trust me, I will find out.” He reached out and ripped the S.P.D. badge from Sky’s chest. “You don’t deserve to wear it, and you never did.”

There was a strange tightness in his chest, a prickling behind his eyes. “Commander…”

Cruger cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it. If I could have you arrested, I would.” The Commander unlocked his handcuffs. He gave Sky a look filled with scorn and loathing. “Now get out of my sight.”

Tiny droplets of rain stung his face. Sky scrunched his hands into his pockets against the cold. He had no money, not even for a bus fare. As an S.P.D. ranger, everything had been provided for him. And now…

Now he might as well be homeless. The day was overcast and damp, the weather matching his mood exactly. There was a sodden newspaper abandoned on the sidewalk at his feet. He could still make out the date: August 1, 2028.

Cruger was telling the truth. He had been gone for three years.

Sky ran his fingers over his morpher. It was a nervous habit, something he did when he was struggling with a problem. Every angle and curve of the morpher was etched into his memory. He knew how it fit into his hand, knew the electrifying feeling of morphing into the B-Squad Blue Ranger. It was familiar and comforting, almost an extension of himself.

He activated the communicator mode. “Sky Tate, reporting in. Is anyone there?” There was no answer. Maybe the communications frequencies had changed in the last three years. Or maybe his morpher had been disconnected. Cruger had been so certain that his morpher was a fake — and a poor one, at that. The Commander had even allowed him to keep it.

He flipped to transformation mode. “S.P.D. Emergency!”

Nothing happened. Not even the lights flashed. There was no sign that the morpher had ever been anything but a lifeless hunk of plastic.

“I don’t understand,” Sky muttered to himself and paced the length of the sidewalk. A passerby shot him a furtive glance and hurried to the other side of the street.

He remembered nothing of his supposed absence. But whatever happened, it must have been terrible. Cruger, furious and overprotective, and Kat in a wheelchair…

He had to find Tomars. Tomars could fix this. Tomars could send him back, and if the alien was anywhere in Newtech City, Piggy would know about it.

As always, he smelled Piggy’s restaurant before he saw it. The odor of garbage and carrion drifted on the wind, making him want to gag. The steady buzz of voices, in a dozen alien languages, went suddenly silent as he stepped into view. Many wary eyes followed him as he stepped up to the counter.

“What can I get you?” Piggy asked without looking up. A pile of crusty, multi-sectioned shells lay discarded to his side. Piggy reached into a basket, picked up a squirming insect, and peeled it in one quick motion before tossing it into a steaming pot. The unfortunate creature let out a high-pitched scream before going silent.

Sky cleared his throat.

Piggy glanced at his uniform and froze. His eyes moved up to Sky’s face. There was a flicker of recognition.

“Go away!” Piggy cried. His hand darted for the metal shop shutters. Sky caught the shutter with his hand and pried it back open.

“I’m not here because of S.P.D.,” Sky said, but that seemed to upset Piggy even more.

Piggy glowered at Sky. “What do you want?” The alien demanded. He lowered his voice. “Haven’t I done enough for you already?”

Sky had no idea what Piggy was talking about. “I need to find an alien. His name is Tomars — sound familiar?”

“Don’t know him,” Piggy said, tight-lipped. “Don’t wanna know him.”

Sky turned to face the gawking customers. “Listen up, everyone. S.P.D. is on their way!” Tables and plastic chairs were upturned, tossed aside in the mad rush to escape. Discarded napkins and plates scattered the pavement. The parking lot was empty before he finished speaking.

Piggy eyed Sky like he was the devil incarnate. “Fine. I’ll tell you what you want. Just go away — and don’t come back this time!” He hastened to add.

“If you tell me the truth, I won’t have to,” Sky countered.

“When have I ever lied?” Piggy said with a long, snot-filled sniff. “I would never, ever, ever, cross my three hearts and hope to…”

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

“Save it, Piggy,” Sky interrupted. Piggy could — and probably would — swear on his life, his honor, and all the possessions of his ancestors, but Sky knew better than to trust him. “Just tell me about Tomars.”

Piggy muttered something under his breath about manners and kids these days and, oh, what the city was coming to?

“Tomars eats here sometimes.” Piggy gestured vaguely with a scaly orange hand. “I don’t know exactly where he is, but I heard he often hangs around the warehouses on the River East Docks.”

“Thanks,” Sky said. He remembered something Bridge once said: Piggy was unreliably reliable… or was he reliably unreliable? Thinking of his friend brought a pang of loss, but he refused to dwell on it. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Piggy grimaced like he had just eaten the sourest fruit in the galaxy. “Bah!” the alien said and retreated inside his trailer.

His feet were aching by the time he arrived at the docks. Motorboats bobbed slowly in the murky river water, and the damp wind sliced through his jacket. The entire area smelled of rotten fish and something faintly metallic. Across the river, in the distance, he saw the hazy skyline of western Newtech city.

Sky heard a vehicle rumbling up the road behind him and ducked out of sight, flattening himself against the wooden side of a shed. The truck passed his hiding place and turned down a narrow road. He waited a few moments before following. The road led to a chain link gate, secured by a heavy chain. The top of the fence was secured by spirals of razor wire. Beyond the gate ,there were several squat, somber buildings — the warehouses.

He squeezed around a corner and followed the edge of the fence. A short distance away, his sharp eyes spotted a gap in the fence, where someone had cut their way through the wire links. He wasn’t the first uninvited visitor — probably not by a long shot.

Sky shook his head. So much for security. “Amateurs,” he said and slipped inside.

Then he waited.

He waited until the clouds began to thin and the setting sun glimmered weakly from the horizon. After what seemed like forever, he heard the rattle of chains and the scrape of metal on concrete, and then the patter of footsteps.

Tomars hurried past, clutching something tightly against his chest. The alien stopped at an unmarked door and then hesitated, as if sensing his presence. Sky ducked out of sight and held his breath. There was silence, and then a door opened before slamming shut.

Sky hurried over and kicked open the door. He found himself in a laboratory, surrounded by shelves of scientific equipment and exotic devices. He recognized a few devices so dangerous, their mere possession warranted ten years' confinement.

There was a crash from deep within the warehouse, and then the high-pitched whine of a weapon charging. Sky threw himself to the side. The blast seared through the metal wall, leaving a ring of glowing, liquefied metal. Sky hit the ground and came up in a roll.

“I don’t want to fight you!” he shouted. The next blast vaporized part of a shelf. Sky covered his head as shattered glass rained down on him.

“You stalk me to my lab, break down my door, and you just want to talk?”

Sky reached for his striker and panicked. For that crucial second, he forgot that Cruger had confiscated it from him, locked it away in some impenetrable vault along with his badge.

And his morpher — well. He would just have to defeat Tomars the old-fashioned way.

Sky took cover behind a large shipping crate. The next time he heard the blaster charging, he counted. Three and a half seconds before the blast. Again. Four seconds. Then six. Each time, he moved a little closer. Soon, he was close enough that he could hear Tomars cursing and fumbling with a blaster that was almost comically oversized.

Tomars spotted him an instant later. Sky created a shield with a flick of his wrist, and the blast deflected into the ceiling, leaving a meter-wide hole. A puff of smoke came from the blaster. Sky darted forward. A quick kick, and the blaster went flying into the air.

Sky caught it with both hands and barreled it into Tomars’ chest. The alien went sprawling on the ground, his chameleon-like eyes rolling in surprise.

“Don’t move,” Sky warned, brandishing the blaster like a club.

“S.P.D.,” Tomars grated out, staring at his uniform. “I should have known. I’ll have you know that I have diplomatic immunity. If you arrest me…”

Sky brushed off the empty threat.  Diplomatic immunity for alien criminals? Things really had changed in three years. “I’m not interested in arresting you. Now start talking about the inter-dimensional hyper-speed relocator.”

Tomars looked genuinely confused. “The what?”

“It’s your machine, and that’s what you called it,” Sky grated out. “You sent me here, and you’re going to send me back.”

“Oh, that. I never got it to work... or did I?” Tomars mused. The alien gave him a cunning, speculative look. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you. I don’t have it anymore. It didn’t work anyhow, so I sold it for parts. I’m afraid you’re stuck here.”

Tomars paused, and his mouth slowly twisted into a grin. “And you won’t fire that blaster. You don’t have it in you.”

With nimble fingers, the alien drew a tiny canister from his pocket and smashed it against the floor. Clouds of noxious white gas billowed out. Sky reeled, coughing. His eyes stung. He tried to straighten, but Tomars threw a vicious kick at his head. Everything went black for a moment.

“Very effective, isn’t it? It’s my new formula,” Tomars said. He sounded almost bored. “Debilitating to humans, but harmless to my species.” The criminal lifted Sky and pinned him against a wall. “And now you’re going to tell me all about that hyper-speed relocator.”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Sky managed. The words sent him into another coughing fit. Tomars suddenly released him, and Sky slid to the floor, still partially blinded by burning tears.

“Well,” Tomars said, towering over his victim. “That’s unfortunate for you.” He raised a threatening fist. Sky raised his arms to protect his face.

A deep, rumbling roar came from above, shaking the building to its foundations. Sky looked up and, through the hole in the ceiling, saw the edge of a blue propeller. ‘The blue delta runner,’ Sky realized dimly. ‘My zord.’ The city alarms were blaring, warning citizens to take shelter.

Tomars lowered his hand and stepped away. “Sounds like your friends are here to save you.” He retreated, never taking his eyes from Sky. Tomars slipped out of a side door, disappearing from of sight.

“Thanks to you,” Sky said to the empty warehouse, “they’re not my friends.” He wanted to feel angry at the realization, but only felt numb.

He stumbled outside and watched as the Delta runners came together to form the Delta Squad Megazord. He wondered who had replaced him so thoroughly, so completely. Did the other rangers remember who he was? Could their friendship really be wiped away by three years, three years that passed in a single instant of blinding light?

The Megazord and a one-eyed giant robot were trading blows, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to care. Sky turned away and began to walk. He walked and walked, not knowing where he was going. The city returned to life as the alarms went silent. The street lights turned on one by one as night fell.

At last, he stopped in front of a familiar gate, shaded by oak trees. He walked inside, retracing old footsteps down a dimly lit path. As he walked deeper, the sounds of the city fell away, leaving only the wind and his even breathing.

He passed rows of perfectly aligned tombstones and remembered how his mother clutched his hand, how her face crumbled when the coffin was lowered into the ground. He remembered the officers with their crisp uniforms and shining rifles, come to pay their final respects to a hero.

Sky stopped in front of a simple grave, unadorned by flowers and overgrown with weeds. He brushed aside years of grime on the tombstone to reveal a name.

Ryan Tate

Loving father, devoted husband, and a kind and true friend.

1978 - 2006

It all came back to the inter-dimensional hyper-speed relocator. He realized it then as he stood, head bowed, over his father’s grave. Tomars said that the relocator could transport anyone to any location in the universes. The universe he visited before had been empty, oddly devoid of human life. But maybe there were other universes, much like his own, but different in subtle ways…

A familiar voice came from behind him. “Who the hell are you?”

Sky spun around and took a step back in surprise. Even in the dim light, the similarities were striking. The man facing him could have been his twin. His hair was longer and a bit scruffy, and he wore a lumpy black jacket over civilian clothes. He had a hard set to his jaw and carried himself like an experienced fighter.

“You look exactly like me,” the other man said and recoiled in shock. “You are me!” He drew his blaster and studied Sky closely. “What is this, some sort of trick? Did Cruger send you?”

“There’s no trick,” Sky said. All the pieces were beginning to fall into place. “I am you, but from another world, a parallel universe.” A horrible, sick feeling grew in his gut. “And Cruger — Cruger thought I was you, which means you must be with…”

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

“Put your hands up,” Dru warned. He gestured with his blaster. “There's two of us and only one of you.”

Sky obeyed. He stepped away from the grave. He bit back a protest as Dru roughly patted him for weapons and took the morpher from his belt. Dru studied the device, tracing the logo with a gloved finger. His dark eyes, cold and calculating, flicked to Sky’s face.

“He looks exactly like you,” Dru commented.

“He says he is me, but from a parallel world or something.”

“So it’s true,” Sky said to his counterpart. He tried — and failed — to keep the desperation out of his voice. “You left S.P.D. to work with him. Dru’s not your friend. He’s just using you to…”

The other Sky went stiff. “Shut up. You don’t know anything about it,” he snapped, with an intensity that took Sky by surprise. “You’re just one of Cruger’s lackeys.”

“I know what you’re here to do,” Sky told them. He had never hoped so fervently that he was wrong. “and I won’t let you it.” If this universe was anything like his own, Cruger — and by extension, S.P.D. and everything they fought for — was in terrible danger.

After his confinement, the Dru of his universe, facing life without parole, had broken down and told them everything. If this Dru had also gone missing, he probably already met Broodwing. And Sky — the other Sky — showed the same blind loyalty he had once felt toward the Tangarian. He remembered when he, too, had blindly defended Dru and would hear nothing against him.

“You’re not going to stop us, either,” Dru said. There was arrogance and scorn in his reaction, but no surprise. His finger tightened on the trigger of his blaster.

“Wait!” The other Sky suddenly said. “He may be an S.P.D. agent, but he’s still me. We can’t kill him. Not now.” He nodded toward the grave. “Not here.”

Dru shrugged. “If you say so.” He turned to Sky. “Start walking. If you try anything, I’ll shoot you.” Sky did not doubt that he meant every word.

So he walked, guided by the occasional curt order from Dru. Dru and the other Sky walked behind him, and it took all of his self-control not to look back. If they were going to shoot him, Sky realized, they would have done it already. He hoped.

They approached a car parked on the street, an aging gray sedan with tinted windows.

“Open the trunk,” his counterpart ordered from somewhere behind him. Then something hard and cold hit the back of his head. Sky pitched forward as everything went black.

Sky woke with a start. He lay motionless and kept his eyes closed, feigning sleep. He felt the cool metal floor beneath him, along with the faint hum of engines. There was a faint, lingering smell of ozone and something sulfurous — the unmistakable smell of outer space. Was he even still on Earth?

A hard steel-toed boot nudged him. “Is he awake?” That was Dru, speaking from directly above him.

“No,” said the other Sky. It made his head hurt worse to think of his counterpart that way. The man who had threatened him and kidnapped him at gunpoint — and yet, in a perverse way, saved his life — wasn’t Sky. There was only one Sky, the B-squad blue ranger, under the command of Anubis Cruger, who, along with his hopes and dreams and loyalties, was lost between dimensions. This other man was someone else. Tate, his tired brain supplied. He would call him Tate.

“Watch him,” Dru said. Tate muttered an affirmative. Then Sky heard footsteps retreating away. A door closed and locked with a click. Sky waited a few more minutes until he was sure they were alone before stirring.

He was in a spaceship cargo bay, sprawled out on the floor. Tate was leaning against the wall, watching him with an unreadable expression. Sky sat up with a groan.

“You have to listen to me,” Sky said, with heightened awareness that Tate was hefting a blaster anything but casually. “You don’t want to do this.”

Tate rolled his eyes. “Is that all you have to say? Seriously, it’s getting old.” There was a tense moment of silence between them.

“Let me guess,” Tate said, and his voice dripped with sarcasm. “You’re from the parallel universe where everything’s perfect. Dad lived instead of dying a hero, Mom stayed on Earth, you grew up in a nice house in the exo-suburbs with a white picket fence.”

“No. My life was hard too. But I stayed at S.P.D. and tried to help people, to make a difference.”

“I know,” Tate said, almost amiably. “In your universe, you’re Blue Ranger.” His counterpart flashed the morpher at him before concealing it in his jacket. “Yeah, I already tried it,” he said, answering the question that Sky had been about to ask. “It doesn’t work.”

“What are you going to do with me?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem right to kill you, but I can’t have two of me running around either.” Tate thought for a moment. “Maybe a one-way ticket to the Perseus colonies — by the time you work off your debt and manage to fly back to Earth, I’ll probably be long-dead and you’ll be ancient.”

It bothered Sky that Tate could speak of his own death so casually. “So you’re… what? A mercenary?”

Tate nodded.

“Why? You used to be an S.P.D. Cadet. What happened to protecting and serving?”

Tate shrugged. “After being expelled from the academy, there weren’t many other options.”

“Expelled?” Maybe he had been a little wild during his first years at the Academy. He had spent more than one weekend marching punishment tours around the grounds. But he had never done anything that merited expulsion. “Why?”

“Does it matter?” But Tate’s voice shook slightly with remembered pain.

Maybe it didn’t matter. But the universes were so similar, and Tate was so different. There were thousands of events in a lifetime — thousands of choices that could have had a slightly different outcome.

It was hard to wrap his mind around. This Tate had the same childhood. His father had died serving S.P.D. He owed everything he was to S.P.D. and yet, here they were.

Tate seemed to be thinking the same thing. “How about you answer a question of mine, and I’ll answer yours? If our universes really are the same, why would you stop us? What has Cruger ever done for you?”

“It’s my duty,” Sky said. “And I respect the Commander.” And it’s what Dad would have wanted.

“Respect, huh.” Tate gave a bitter chuckle. “As to how I got expelled... Dru and I decided to play a prank on some instructors. Things got out of hand.”

“A prank…?”

He was interrupted by the bay doors sliding open.

“How’s the evil twin reunion going?” Dru asked, looking between the two of them. The edges of his mouth quirked into a smile.

Tate looked both annoyed and long-suffering, and Sky felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. Dru’s sardonic humor was part of his charm. Even after everything which happened, Sky still missed his oldest friend.

“Glad this is so funny to you, Dru, but I’ve got better things to do,” Tate huffed and left without a second glance at his double.

Dru looked exactly as Sky remembered. The same smirk, the same easy confidence, and the same dangerous glint in his green eyes.

The alien eyed Sky, and lifted an eyebrow. “A ranger from another universe, huh?”

Sky reminded himself that the Tangarian’s human form was a choice; every aspect of his appearance was intentional and calculated to deceive. “So what?”

“Is that the only difference?” Dru asked, with genuine curiosity. “What about me? From your universe, I mean?”

“I thought you were my friend, but you betrayed S.P.D. You betrayed everyone, even me.”

Dru shrugged. “I didn’t betray S.P.D. They betrayed me. Cruger threw me and Sky out like trash for one mistake, and then turned around and recruited two known criminals to be rangers. How is that fair?”

Dru was right. It hurt to have Jack, a common criminal, promoted to red ranger before him. In the end, all his years of experience and loyalty meant nothing. He understood the reasons better now, but it still wasn’t fair.

Dru took his silence as an answer. “So now you’re here. Sky wants to send you to some backwater colony... but that would be a waste.”

“How so?”

“The way I see it,” Dru said, tapping his fingers thoughtfully, “Cruger won’t be happy to see you. You’re nobody in this universe. In fact, we’re all you have. I’m all you have.”

What was Dru trying to do? “What about your Sky?”

Dru shrugged. “He’s... undisciplined. But you — I can tell that you have the training and skills to really get things done. Let me tell you a story. One version of Sky Tate completes this job and has a bright future: money, his own spaceship, and, most importantly, freedom. At the same time, a different Sky Tate spends the rest of his life in prison for the assassination of the Commander of Earth. Which Sky are you?”

The betrayal was so predictable, but somehow, he was still disappointed.

“I’ll never help you,” Sky said. “I swore to protect and serve the galaxy, no matter what.”

“Maybe, but that was another life. You’re all alone now... and you can only count on yourself. The situation has changed.”

“I’m not like you.” The words came from between gritted teeth. His fists were clenched at his side. “I’m not a killer.”

Dru smiled. After all, there was nothing he loved more than a challenge. “I’ll give you some time to think about it. Not too long, though.” His eyes glittered in wicked anticipation.

To be continued.

Chapter Text

Dru was right about one thing. He was running out of time. He had to get off this ship, and fast. After that — well, he wasn’t sure.

Sky studied his surroundings. The room was dotted with shipping crates, but they were all either empty or securely locked. There was nothing he could use as leverage to pry the doors. Set high in the ceiling, too far to reach, were ceiling vents pumping cool, fresh air.

‘Good,’ Sky thought. At least that meant that he was at least still on Earth and not hurtling through space.

The only remaining option was the floor. Sky pried up a metal grate and studied the tangle of wires below. It ran in a long line before angling down and disappearing into a conduit leading towards the lower-level engines.

There was a small access panel leading to a crawlspace. Sky could barely fit his shoulders through. He inched his way forward in the darkness until he heard voices approaching, and then held his breath until they passed. He emerged in a narrow hallway. There was a door ahead with a security scanner.

Sky took a chance and approached. The green laser zig-zagged across his eyes before the door opened. “Confirmed,” a robotic voice said, and the door opened. He was in Sky’s personal quarters. The tiny room was sparse and bare, much like his own room at the Academy.

Sky felt a bit guilty at the invasion of privacy (not that his counterpart deserved any consideration, after kidnapping him!), but he searched every corner of the room. He found a small stash of local currency from various planets and countries and took it. When he reached the closet, he paused. He should change clothes entirely, but… somehow he couldn’t bear to be parted with his cadet uniform. It was one of the few things he had left from his own universe. Instead, he shrugged into an oversized hoodie.

Now that he was equipped well enough to pass as a civilian, Sky set out down the hallway. On this class of starship, he remembered, most space was allocated to cargo. There was usually a single personnel entrance near the front of the ship, between the cockpit and the living quarters. Since he came from a cargo bay, that couldn’t be much further —

His only warning was the hiss of hydraulics, an instant before the heavy exterior door creaked open. He could hear Dru from the outside in an animated one-sided conversation with… someone.

“Yes. I’m absolutely sure…” The Tangarian walked onto the ship, balancing a paper bag filled to the brim with Earth snacks in one hand and a phone in the other.

Sky pressed himself against the wall. It was futile — the hallway was too small. If Dru so much as looked his way, he was finished. Luckily, Dru turned the other way towards the cockpit and continued his conversation. “No, it’s not a problem. Yes, I’ve received the deposit. The work is in progress.”

He slipped out the exterior door before it closed with a tired creak. The ramp was already retracted, so he dropped the short distance to the ground and set off at a run for the distant line of trees. Only when he reached cover did he look back. The ship was gone, invisible to his eyes. The only hint that there might be something there was the scraggly weeds that peeked from between the cracked concrete. They lay at an unnatural angle, flattened by a great force. A plastic bag drifted by and caught on an invisible wall.

Stealth technology. Illegal on earth, but when had that bothered Dru?

Sky climbed through the underbrush until he reached a walking path. A jogger shot him suspicious looks as he climbed out of the woods. Once she passed, Sky raised his hood, put his hand in his pockets, and tried to stroll casually rather than march.

Eventually, he reached a bus stop. He got on the first bus without looking at the destination and paid the fare in cash. As the bus wound through unfamiliar suburbs of Newtech City, Sky pondered his next steps.

Somehow, he had to make someone at S.P.D. believe him. But Cruger — Cruger would probably confine him on sight. Kat as well. Sky sighed. That eliminated his two best options. He couldn’t see anyone on the squads defying their commanders on his word, either. His story was ridiculous, and with his counterpart’s record, he would need some kind of proof, unless…

It suddenly occurred to him that Bridge could read auras and would know that he was telling the truth. He had no idea how to find him, though — was Bridge even part of S.P.D. in this universe? If he were, he would appear in the directory, which meant that he had to risk returning to S.P.D.

With a new purpose, Sky transferred at a transit station to a downtown express train and headed back in the direction of S.P.D. Headquarters. It was already late morning by the time he made it back. In the wide entrance with the thousand tiles he had once polished with Jack’s toothbrush, there was a large flat screen that displayed a map, along with departmental contact information.

As he approached, the computer greeted in with a brisk, feminine voice. “Welcome to S.P.D. How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Bridge Carson,” Sky said. “Does he work here?”

“Bridge Carson is a research assistant in Science Division Alpha,” the directory informed him.

“Direct communication, please,” Sky ordered, hoping this one thing was the same between the universes. “Authorization delta-three.”

“Confirmed, I am connecting your call.”

The screen went black for a second and displayed a rotating three-dimensional S.P.D. logo as he waited. A moment later, Bridge appeared. This world’s Bridge even looked the part of a crazy scientist — his hair was even more ruffled than usual, with the too-large white lab coat making him look even more rumpled. His face was set in a confused frown.

“Hello? Who are you?”

He only had one chance at this. “Bridge, please hear me out. Cruger and Kat are in danger. You have to help me warn them.”

Bridge blinked. “I — I don’t understand. I’m just an assistant, you must have called the wrong person or…”

“No,” Sky interrupted, his voice sharp with urgency. “You — you think best up-side down. You love buttery toast. You were born with psychic powers, but even without those, you notice things no one else does. You don’t know me, but in an alternate universe, we are friends.”

Bridge bit his lip in indecision.

It didn’t take psychic powers to tell what he was thinking. These were suspicious and possibly unbelievable circumstances. On the other hand, if there was even the tiniest chance Kat and Cruger were at risk… could he really take that chance?

“Okay,” Bridge said. He fixed a fierce glare on Sky. From someone else, it might have been intimidating. “I hope you’re not lying to me because if you know about my powers, you know that I will definitely be able to tell.”

Sky let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Bridge said. His head snapped up at a faint noise that barely carried over the connection. The scientist lowered his voice and said the rest in a rush. “I’m about to go on my lunch break. There’s a place a few blocks from the east side of headquarters. They sell coffee and pastries, and I go there sometimes, when I’m not at work. Meet me there in 30 minutes.”

The connection cut without any other details, but Sky knew exactly the place. It was a bit far from the usual cadet haunts. When he arrived, there was a human civilian playing a holographic board game with an alien on an outdoor table under the cafe canopy. They were absorbed in their game, and neither glanced at him as he passed. The only person inside was a veiled barista from Inquiris (Do you know what you’d like, friend?) who handed him a cup of black coffee with practiced grace.

Sky retreated to the back of the shop. He sat in one of the too-low velvet chairs in the back corner and waited. Bridge arrived a few minutes later. The scientist greeted him with an awkward wave before sitting down.

“So…” Bridge ventured, fidgeting in his chair. “Who are you? How do you know these things about me? And what’s going to happen to Kat?”

It was hard to know where to begin. With the truth, he supposed. “My name is Sky Tate. I’m from another world, a parallel universe. Back home, we are B-squad rangers. We’ve been protecting the planet together ever since A-squad went missing in action.”

Bridge looked torn between caution and curiosity. “If I believe that — which I’m not sure I do, by the way, since parallel universes are still theoretical — how did you wind up here?”

“There was an accident with an alien device,” Sky said, “but that doesn’t matter right now. What’s important is that the other Sky, the one of this universe, is in Newtech City as well. He’s working with an alien named Dru, and they’re planning to kill Cruger. And if Kat gets in their way, they’ll kill her too. If you scan my aura, you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”

Bridge hesitated and then removed a glove. He swept his hand towards Sky in a quick motion. “Your aura is strange. It’s a calm blue, but it also has flecks of green and… something else. I’ve never seen that before.” The scientist frowned and replaced his glove. “But what’s important is that I can tell you’re a good person and that you’re telling the truth.”

“Will you help me?”

“Of course,” Bridge decided, with a firm nod. “I can’t let anything happen to Cruger and Kat. I’ve only met the Commander a few times, but he’s done really great things for our planet, and Kat is the kindest person I’ve ever met.” Bridge blurted out the next question all in a single breath. “Am I really a ranger in your universe?”

“One of the best,” Sky said, and meant it.

Bridge smiled at that. His eyes sparkled like a childhood dream had come true. Sky felt a bit light-headed all of a sudden. Had Bridge’s eyes always been that blue, his smile that bright? Sky blinked. Where had that thought come from? This wasn’t the time to get distracted!

“So, what’s the plan?” Bridge was asking. In truth, Sky hadn’t planned that far ahead. “Shouldn’t we just tell Cruger?”

“He won’t believe us,” Sky said. “I already tried it. I think Cruger will have me arrested on sight.”

“I could tell Kat,” Bridge suggested. “She would believe me.”

Sky shook his head. “Not once she hears you learned it from me. Then you might get in trouble, too.”

“Then I won’t tell her it was you,” Bridge decided and stood. The scientist’s unassuming appearance hid the same determination and stubbornness of his ranger counterpart. Once Bridge had made a decision, he would see it through his way. “It sounds like there’s no time to waste, and since there’s been no robot attacks today, she’ll still be in the labs.”

They walked together back towards headquarters. At the edge of the broad greenway path that led to headquarters, Bridge turned to Sky. “You should wait here. Maybe hide in plain sight or something. It sounds like it would be bad if Cruger spotted you. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Sky chose a park bench that was partially obscured by an overgrown shrub and settled in to wait. He sipped on his cold coffee and watched the flow of visitors. People from all walks of life from across the galaxy were here. A posse of Aquitans hurried by, and Sky caught some grumbling about the low quality of the local water, followed by a tiny Liaran clutching with a magical tome, accompanied by a human lawyer in a sharply tailored suit.

A gaggle of new Academy recruits jogged past, and Sky shifted slightly so his face was angled away from the D-squad cadet who was training them. They passed without noticing him, but a feeling of unease stayed with him.

This was taking too long.

The megazord warning siren suddenly sounded. The crowds hurried for shelter, and soon the greenway was empty. On the other side of the river, hazy from distance, an alien robot towered over the buildings. The ground below him shook. A moment later, the Delta runners zoomed past.

The Delta Base was on lockdown. Officially, nobody should go in or out except on critical business, but…

The breeze picked up. He spotted Bridge, a lone figure on the path, fighting against the wind to reach him. The scientist stopped beside him and fidgeted with his gloves. He seemed even more nervous than before. “I don’t know if Kat believed me, so she — she wants to talk to you.”

Sky hesitated. “How am I supposed to get in there?”

“I know all the back passageways,” Bridge said. He glanced behind them at the ongoing megazord battle. “Besides, with the base on alert and the rangers gone, nobody will notice you.”

True to his word, Bridge got him into the building unnoticed. Bridge’s hands were trembling as he scanned his security card, but the lock light flashed green. Soon they were walking through the narrow service hallways, some of which Sky never knew existed. After several flights of stairs and an equally dizzying number of turns, they emerged into the main hallway near Kat’s lab.

Sky stepped forward. The doors slid open.

“Welcome back,” Dru almost purred. At his feet, Kat was slumped on the floor. There was no injury he could see, but she was unmoving, dark hair obscuring her pale face. Tate was next to the door, and the mercenary made a sharp gesture with his blaster.

Bridge stepped aside, hands held high in surrender.

“I’m sorry,” the scientist told him, fighting back tears. “They were already here, and I couldn’t let them shoot Kat. I guess I’d make a really bad ranger after all.”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

Tate gestured at the far wall with the blaster. His face was set into a deep scowl.  “Both of you, over there. No sudden movements. Hands behind your head.”

Sky obeyed, and Bridge shuffled alongside him. Kat didn’t stir as they passed, but his trained eye noticed the slow rise and fall of her chest. Half hidden behind a table were the scorched remains of R.I.C. Every once in a while, an exposed wire sparked on the robotic dog, and a tendril of acrid smoke wafted upward.

Syd would have been furious.

“You should’ve just stayed on the ship,” Dru said. “Sky probably would have let you go. He’s soft like that.”

Sky didn’t respond to the Tangarian. Instead, he glared at his counterpart, who returned the glare defiantly.

“You are so arrogant,” Tate snapped. The mercenary stalked over to Sky. “That’ll get you killed one day. What gives you the right to judge me, anyhow?” He punctuated each word with a jab of the blaster.

“I am you,” Sky replied. The edges of his mouth twisted with scorn. “The only difference between you and me is that you make bad choices.”

Tate scoffed and turned away. “Whatever. If you’re lucky, we’ll get to Cruger before he finds you.”

Bridge was trembling. “Please don’t hurt Kat,” the scientist somehow managed. His teeth chattered with fear. “We’ll do whatever you want.”

Dru chuckled, almost to himself. “Now those are my favorite words. You, other Sky — you should listen to your friend. He’s smarter than you.” He picked up Kat with one arm, hoisting her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing at all. He strode back through the main doors. Tate followed behind him, but his blaster never wavered from Sky.

The doors slid shut behind them. A moment later, the security lock sparked with electricity and went black.

Bridge let out a deep breath and slowly lowered himself to the floor, head in hands. “I’m so sorry. I should have done something — ”

“You did the right thing. The only people responsible for this are Dru and the other Sky.” Sky looked around the lab for anything he might have missed. “Is there any other way out?”

Bridge quirked a humorless smile. “Not by a human. There’s only one door, and the walls are reinforced to withstand a beam cannon blast.” He gestured at the scattered devices across the tables. “I do know a bit about teleportation devices, but unless you want to risk dematerialization, I guess we’ll have to wait for someone to bypass the locks.”

His eyes drifted to the empty wheelchair. “I hope Kat will be ok. She’s — she’s the only person who ever believed in me.” He made his way to a chair and slowly spun himself in a circle before facing Sky again. “What’s it like, in your world?”

Sky was taken off guard by the question. “Um — it’s — nice? I’m B-squad blue ranger. I’m on a team with you and three others. We’re… friends.” Friends. It felt different to say it out loud. Like the world was a little less lonely, even though he might never see them again. His chest felt tight at the thought.

“I’m sorry,” Bridge said. “I can tell you really miss them.”

Sky nodded and swallowed back the lump in his throat. “So… how did you wind up as Kat’s assistant?”

“And not as a ranger?” Bridge gave a small smile to show he wasn’t offended. “I was always good at science and handy with machines. I joined the Academy to become a ranger, but it wasn’t right for me. I didn’t fit in with the other cadets — I aced my exams but chose to take a position in science instead.”

Thinking back on his own time at the Academy… he had few friends to start, and Bridge had even fewer. That was one of the things that originally drew them together as cadets. Their powers attracted both jealousy and fear from their human classmates. Sky didn’t care what others thought, but Bridge’s powers meant that he experienced many of those negative emotions firsthand.

From outside, they could hear someone banging on the door. “Dr. Manx?” A muffled voice asked. “Are you ok? Dr. Manx!”

Sky grimaced. “Look, when they break down the door, you have to blame it all on me. If Cruger thinks you’re working with me, you’ll lose your job and probably wind up confined. So just tell them that I kidnapped you and Dru took Kat.”

Bridge shook his head. “If you surrender, then what? Dru and the other you will be free to do whatever they want.”

Sparks flew as a laser cutter began to cut through the door locks.

“I guess it’ll be up to you. You’ll have to save Kat and Cruger.”

A sword blade abruptly sheared through the metal door. The blade sliced through the left side and across the right.

“I can’t just abandon you!” Bridge said, but Sky knew what was coming next.

The door was kicked inwards. They were staring down a small army of cadets. In the center, larger-than-life and almost incandescent with rage, was Doggie Cruger.

The Commander strode forward, Shadow Saber in hand. His eyes swept over the room, taking in the damaged robot and empty wheelchair before turning to Sky. “Where is Kat? What have you done with her?”

“I haven’t done anything,” Sky insisted. He held his hands up in surrender.

“I should never have let you go,” Cruger said, a containment card already held between his fingers. He raised his sword. “This time, you’re going to prison where you belong.”

“He didn’t do anything!” Bridge said. He jumped between Cruger and Sky, arms stretched wide. “You have to listen to him.”

“Bridge, no!” Sky hissed at the scientist.

“Get out of the way, Bridge,” Cruger barked, towering over the human. His voice was cold with fury. “I don’t know how you’re involved with this, but I promise you will be punished to the full extent of the law.”

The unassuming scientist stared down the commander. “I won’t let you hurt him. Please just listen! Then you can arrest us both if you want.”

Cruger paused. Beside him, a tall cadet C-squad cadet with golden-brown skin and neon blue hair snapped to attention. “Commander, we can handle this. Should we… take them both into custody?” Her bushy brows furrowed as she stared at Bridge. Sky suddenly noticed a Tangarian coil encircling her wrist.

“Wait,” Cruger said. “Bridge… why are you doing this?” His forehead furrowed in confusion. “Sky doesn’t deserve your loyalty. He was expelled from the Academy for seriously injuring Kat. He’s been missing for three years, and who knows how many people he’s hurt in that time.”

“No, that’s the other Sky!” Bridge insisted, gesturing wildly. “There really are two of them — the other one kidnapped Kat and is planning to kill you too, and it sounds crazy, but I saw it myself.”

“So you’re telling me this,” Cruger gestured towards Sky, and somehow managed to infuse each word with derision, “is not Sky Tate?”

Sky spoke then, keeping his hands raised. “I am Sky, but I’m from another dimension, a parallel world. A world with a different you, a different Kat, and a different me. I wasn’t lying to you before. In my world, I am part of S.P.D.”

“I didn’t believe it either until I scanned him,” Bridge hurried to say. “But he’s telling the truth, and I don’t think we can get Kat back without his help.”

Cruger hesitated for a tense moment before sheathing his sword. The containment card disappeared into his uniform jacket. “I don’t trust you, but for Kat’s sake, I’m going to give you one chance. Now, where is she?”

“I don’t know,” Sky said, “but they aren’t interested in Kat. They’re only using her to draw you out.”

Another cadet shoved his way to the front of the crowd. He was out of breath, cheeks flushed. “Sir, you really need to see this.”

He handed a hologram disk to Cruger. Cruger activated it with a gloved finger and tossed it to the floor. A translucent image of Dru flickered in front of them.

“Hello, Commander,” the hologram said with a sardonic smile. “I’m sure you already know what’s at stake here, and what you have to lose. If you want Kat to stay in one piece, meet me at the empty construction site on Anchor Street in an hour. Don’t bother bringing your S.P.D. lackeys.” Dru faded away, with a final bow to the audience.

Doggie Cruger crushed the holograph disk underpaw, and then leveled his gaze at the imposter. Nothing was ever simple when Sky was involved. There was too much grief and too much loss in their relationship. He sighed. Maybe if he had called for backup a second sooner, perhaps Officer Tate would have survived…

Maybe Bridge was right, and that history was clouding his judgment.

“Sir, you can’t go,” Sky-but-not-Sky said. “It’s a trap.”

The low growl that formed in his chest was involuntary. “I have to. Dru will not be fooled by an imposter, and I won’t leave Kat to die.” Dru had left them no time to prepare.

“Maybe, but… you don’t have to do it alone. We can help!” Bridge said.

“You’ve helped enough,” Doggie said. The tone was harsher than he intended, and the scientist recoiled. “Bridge, until further notice, you’re relieved of your duties and confined to base. Cadet Taln,” and he gestured at the blue-haired cadet still hovering nearby, “will accompany you and make sure you obey orders.”

“But — ”

“He’s right,” the imposter said. “You’re not trained for things like this. You could get hurt.”

Bridge looked furious at the betrayal. Doggie could hear his heart pounding, too fast. “Fine,” the scientist grated out, “but if I’m going to be unofficially detained, I’m going back to my office.” He stomped away, Cadet Taln trailing behind him.

With that problem out of the way, Doggie turned to the other C-squad cadet with the tablet. “Cadet Wilson, what’s the status of the rangers?”

The cadet made a few quick taps on the screen. “They’re currently battling their second robot. Should I call them back?”

“No,” Doggie said. “Their first responsibility is the defense of Newtech City. As for you…” He turned to Sky and frowned. He had a distinct sense of deja vu. “Search him.”

Another cadet roughly searched the imposter for weapons. “He’s unarmed, sir.”

“You’ll come with me,” Cruger growled and grabbed Sky by the front of his hoodie. “If — when — I prove you had something to do with this, I’ll toss you into a cell so deep you’ll never see the light of day.” He released Sky with enough force to make the human rock back on his heels. “Now let’s go.”

Like Fowler said, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

There was only one abandoned lot on Anchor Street, although most of the other buildings looked like they’d seen better decades. As they passed crumbling storefronts in the white S.P.D. Jeep — the only vehicle that the Commander could comfortably drive — the residents hurried out of sight or pulled down the grates in front of their shops.

They slowly rolled to a stop at the rusting fence in front of their destination. The gate was open, a chain and lock discarded on the ground.

“Stay close where I can see you,” Cruger warned him. “No tricks, and I don’t want to provoke Dru more than necessary.”

Sky obliged but… “Didn’t Dru say no cadets?”

“Fortunate that you’re not a cadet, then,” Cruger said with a tight shrug.

Right. Sky felt naked without his striker, but he had no choice. They were exposed from so many positions — the roofs, the broken windows across the street, not to mention whatever surprises were waiting ahead. Cruger drew his own blaster, and the pair took a slow, cautious pace across the barren lot. Among the weeds and trash, something silver glinted in the afternoon sun.

“The site is clear,” Cruger said. “He’s not here.”

The Commander stopped in front of yet another hologram disk. He reached down to activate it.

“Wait —”

It was too late. The air shimmered with the energy lines of a teleportation beam. Sky threw himself at Cruger. He tried to grab onto the Commander, but he was already immaterial. The beacon clattered to the ground, and Sky was alone.

He picked up the device, but there was no hint as to the destination. Sky pocketed it just as sirens screamed around the corner. Syd and Z stepped out of the patrol Jeep, while the rest of the team dismounted from their bikes — Jack on the red, a cadet he didn’t recognize on green, and Sophie on blue.

“You!” Jack shouted across the field, “What did you do with the Commander?”

Before he had a chance to answer, a full squad of krybots teleported between them. Most of them ran towards the Rangers, but three immediately turned towards him. Sky ducked beneath a sword swing, the blade passing so close he could feel the air move. He swept the legs out from the cyborg with a low kick, followed by a disabling punch to the neck. Grabbing the fallen sword, he ran the next krybot through. A red laser blast seared by. The krybot that was about to strike him fell in an explosion of sparks.

“Freeze!” Sophie yelled. Their eyes met across the melee. Instead, Sky darted towards the vehicles. Something heavy hit him from behind, and he was thrown to the ground. He shielded his face from a stray kick and then rolled to the side just in time to avoid being skewered by yet another krybot.

More sparks flew. A krybot collapsed on top of him. Sky shoved the krybot aside. He tried to stumble to his feet, but Sophie struck him with her striker, sending him sprawling again.

“I guess your escape plan didn’t go as well as you hoped,” she said. Her squad lined up beside her, weapons ready and expressions stern. All the krybots lay defeated around them.

Jack drew his morpher. “Judgement mode!”

The moment the beam hit, Sky was transported to the empty judgment sub-dimension. It was bone-chillingly cold in that dimension, and his movements were sluggish, hindered by a gravity many times stronger than Earth.

Jack’s voice boomed as if magnified many times. “You are charged with kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder, and battery against an officer of the law!”

The indicator switched back and forth between red and green, guilty and not guilty. For a tense moment, it lingered on red before flipping back to green. The indicator alternated faster and faster, until the morpher glowed with white light and the judgement dimension melted away.

Jack stared, shocked, at the morpher in his hand, then back to Sky. “It doesn’t know? Kat said this thing was infallible!”

A sharp voice echoed from all five morphers. “Rangers, the city is once again being attacked by a giant robot!”

“Not again!” Z shook her head and scowled. The ground shook once, twice under gigantic footsteps. There was a faraway roar, followed by an explosion. The wire fence rattled and, across the street, several grimy windows cracked.

“We don’t have time for this,” Sophie said. “We have to find Cruger and Kat before it’s too late.”

“No,” Sky said, and they all turned to face him. “You have to protect the city. I have to find Cruger and Kat.”

The giant robot roared again, closer this time. Jack turned to Sky. “You have around ten seconds to convince me of your plan before the Delta Runners arrive. If I don’t like it, I’ll leave you here in cuffs for D-squad to pick up.”

Sky pulled the device out of his pocket and spoke quickly. “Dru used this teleportation beacon to abduct the Commander.” He didn’t mention his counterpart. It was too complicated to explain in ten seconds. “There’s a scientist at headquarters who can probably trace it back to its destination. I’m going to follow it to wherever Dru took them, and bring them back.”

Jack met his gaze and held it for a tense moment. “You’d better,” the Red Ranger said, and tossed Sky the keys to his patrol cycle.

To be continued.

Chapter Text

He left the red patrol cycle on the curb and strode back into headquarters. One of the C-squad cadets from before (Cadet Wilson, his mind supplied) was waiting. This close, he immediately noticed the small over-eye circles. This cadet was Tangarian, just like Dru, and also wore friendship coils.

“We’ve been ordered to cooperate with you, within reason,” Cadet Wilson said. His dour expression showed exactly what he thought of that order. “I’m supposed to escort you to the main labs.”

“I’ll need Bridge Carson’s help,” Sky said.

The cadet stopped in his tracks. “Look, Bridge is a good person. He’s helped my squad out lots of times, even when he didn’t have to, and for some reason, he trusts you. But you’re going to get him hurt, you realize that, right? You’re just using him like you’ve used everyone else. Yes, I looked up your records. It’s not right.”

Sky blinked. “I’m not trying to hurt Bridge.”

The cadet’s frown only deepened. “Some people don’t have to try and hurt others. They just do.” Sky sensed that the other cadet was speaking from painful experience.

“What are you going to do?”

The Tangarian huffed, but he turned away and resumed his march. He jabbed the elevator button, and they lurched upwards. “Follow orders, of course. This is just a… personal warning.” It seemed like Bridge had more friends than he realized among the cadets.

The doors to the main labs were still broken. A crew of cadets were carrying off the old doors, while two engineers were having an animated debate over the exposed wiring of the fire-singed control panel.

Bridge was already waiting inside. His arms were crossed over his chest. There was a red mark on his lower lip where he had bitten it. Cadet Taln stood a pace behind, eyeing Sky like he might transform into a monster any minute.

Sky ignored the pair of C-squad cadets. Instead, he spoke to Bridge. “Bridge, I need your help.” He held out the teleportation beacon.

Bridge kept his arms crossed. “I don’t know,” the scientist replied. “That’s not what you said earlier.”

Sky groaned internally. Just his luck; this was the universe where Bridge could hold a grudge. “Please, Bridge. I was wrong and I’m sorry. But Cruger and Kat need us.”

This time, Bridge accepted the beacon, rotating it, examining every side. The scientist took it to a table stacked high with gadgets and used a tool to pry open the casing.

“Can you make it work? You said you knew about teleportation devices.”

Bridge scanned the beacon with a handheld device and then swiveled in his chair to grab a tablet from the table behind him. The scientist responded without looking up. “I said I knew about them if you want to risk being dematerialized.”

“I’ll take that chance,” Sky said.

Bridge shrugged. He carefully removed all the tiny screws and inspected the inside of the beacon. “It’s not like you’ll be back to complain if it doesn’t work. You know,” he added, almost casually. “A teleporter works the opposite way you’d think. Most people think they push matter to a destination, but a beacon like this only tells the far side where and what to pull. Which is why it only takes a small amount of power on this end to retrace the location.”

He linked a wire to a battery and pressed something on the tablet. Nothing happened.

Bridge turned to Cadet Taln. “I need a blaster.”

“Absolutely not,” the cadet retorted, and her hand darted to cover her holster as if he might grab the weapon.

“I thought you were supposed to cooperate,” Sky commented.

She glared at him. “Reasonably. This is not reasonable.”

“Why?” Bridge said. “Cadet Wilson would still have his blaster. He can shoot me if I try anything.”

“Yes,” the Tangarian said tightly, “but I don’t want to be put in that position.”

“So you’d rather Kat and the Commander both potentially die?” Bridge said.

“No, but…”

Cadet Taln slowly unholstered her blaster and offered it to Bridge. The scientist deftly opened the weapon and added a small part to the rigged-up teleporter. He reassembled the blaster and set it aside. “There! If you touch the chassis, it should re-activate.”

The device hummed with power. Sky touched the teleporter without hesitation. He felt himself being pulled away.

“Not this time!” Bridge said. He touched Sky’s arm and, with the other hand, grabbed the blaster.

Cadet Taln cursed and tried to grab the scientist, but her fingers passed through his transparent outline. The last thing Sky heard was her teammate call for backup.

Their teleportation timing was a stroke of luck. If Sky had materialized a millisecond earlier, a laser beam would have seared through his chest. As it was, it passed through him during re-materialization, leaving behind only a strange stinging sensation. The tail end of the blast burned a small hole through his hoodie.

Sky shoved Bridge to the ground. Several more laser blasts, from various directions, flashed over their heads. He dragged Bridge behind the closest shipping crate.

“Here!” Bridge handed Sky the blaster. “I didn’t remove anything important; it should still work.”

Clever. He would never have thought Bridge, of any universe, would intentionally trick another cadet. Sky filed this knowledge away for the future.

Cruger was crouched behind another crate nearby, his own blaster raised. The Commander stared at them both. “Why are you here?”

“To save you, of course!” Bridge said.

Cruger gave him a long, unreadable look and shouted over his shoulder at the mercenaries. “Where is Kat? Let her go, and I’ll consider coming with you peacefully.”

“This isn’t a negotiation, Commander,” Dru returned from across the room, words punctuated by blaster fire. “Believe it or not, there’s actually a client who wants to kill you more than I do. We’re going to take you alive if possible… dead if not.”

“Not a chance,” Sky said. He fired back, forcing Tate to dodge behind another crate. A grenade flew through the air, hit the ground, and bounced to his feet.

There was no time to react. A blinding flash of light and sound followed, but no heat. Sky staggered, momentarily blinded, his ears ringing a high-pitched tone. The world was a blurry two-tone of light and shadow. One of the shadows shifted closer. Sky punched out, only to have a strong hand encircle his wrist and slam him into the side of the crate.

“It looks like you made your choice,” said the shadow. “It’ll be the last mistake you ever make.” Sky cast a shield — not to protect himself, but to protect Bridge. Dru only laughed. “Look, Sky! He’s even got your powers.”

Dru slammed a knee into his stomach with alien force. Sky doubled over, fighting back bile. Dru pulled him back upright before punching him again. The blaster slipped out of his nerveless fingers and, in the slightly lighter simulated gravity of space travel, slid out of reach.

A few paces away, Cruger swung the Shadow Saber, only to miss Tate by several inches. Under normal circumstances, the Sirian had much sharper senses than a human, but now those were working against him. Tate struck Cruger’s wrist with his baton, and the sword clattered to the floor. He followed with a powerful strike to the jaw. The Commander staggered and fell.

On instinct, Sky tried to rise again, but Dru stomped him to the ground. The Tangarian shook his head, clicking his tongue. “Still playing hero, when you can’t even win your own battles, huh.”

Tate reached down and handcuffed Cruger. Then he hefted the Shadow Saber, giving it a twirl. He met Sky’s eyes with a smirk. “Target secured. Now that was satisfying.”

“Leave them alone!” Bridge shouted, his voice steady despite the fear in his eyes. In his hands, he held the cadet blaster, forgotten in the melee. His aim drifted from Tate to Dru before steadying on the Tangarian.

Dru scoffed. “Are you really going to shoot me?” He took a step forward, and Bridge took a matching step back to keep the distance.

“Don’t — don’t move,” Bridge warned. His hands began to shake.

Dru took another step. His tone was carefully neutral. “There’s something you should know about me. I take having a blaster pointed at me very, very seriously.”

“So do I,” Bridge said, with quiet determination. “Now back away from them, right now.”

“Dru…” Tate warned in a low voice.

“He won’t do it,” Dru said. He looked Bridge up and down, then smiled, showing a perfect row of sharp white teeth. “Science division, huh. You know, one of the first things we learn at the Academy is to never pick up a blaster unless you’re ready to kill someone.”

“I know,” Bridge said and fired.

Two things happened at once. Dru flinched, but an energy shield materialized an instant before impact, deflecting the beam into the ceiling. At the same time, Bridge was jarred by the recoil. He fumbled the weapon, losing his grip.

In one smooth motion, Dru grabbed the blaster as it skittered across the floor.

“I hope you’re also ready to die,” Dru said. He turned the blaster on Bridge.

The trigger clicked.

Bridge flinched.

The blaster, however, only powered up partway before stalling, sparking with prismatic energy. Dru dropped the weapon with a gasp. The Tangarian doubled over, clutching his hand in pain.

At the same time, Cruger rose silently behind Tate. He headbutted the mercenary hard enough that there was a resounding crack of bone on bone. Tate crumpled to the ground as Dru spun with a curse. There was a flash of metal. Inches from impact, the knife deflected off a shimmering blue energy shield.

Sky lowered his outstretched hand. Cruger graced him with a small nod, and then his huge shoulders strained. The handcuffs broke apart like a toy. With a deft motion, Cruger swept up the Shadow Saber. He crossed the floor to Dru in three long strides.

Dru’s hand darted for a hidden blaster in his boot, but Cruger sliced across his arm, then struck him with the sword handle. Dru stumbled and fell backwards. He tried to catch himself, but the injured arm buckled beneath his weight. The Tangarian landed in an ungraceful sprawl.

“Now, Dru,” Cruger growled, lifting the tip of his sword to the fallen mercenary’s throat. “Where is Kat?”

“You won’t find her in time,” Dru spat. He was holding his upper arm with the burned hand, orange blood dripping from between his fingers. “I’ll never tell you. You won’t be able to save anyone, just like on Sirius.”

Cruger stiffened. He inhaled and then let it out slowly.

“You’re going to face justice,” the Commander said. He patted down Dru, discarding weapons as he went. “The judgment panel will decide your fate, but I’m confident you’ll get the lifetime in prison you deserve.” Satisfied that Dru was unarmed, he kicked the mercenary onto his back and handcuffed him.

“Bridge, are you hurt?” Cruger asked, turning to the scientist.

“I’m fine,” Bridge said, “but… Kat isn’t here. I already looked.”

Cruger then turned to Sky, but before he could speak, the ship's alarms blared to life. In a sudden flash, Sky realized that his counterpart was nowhere to be seen.

“Impact alert,” a cold, feminine computer voice informed them. “Impact alert. Impact with planetoid in fifteen minutes fifty-five seconds.”

Still on the floor, Dru began to laugh breathlessly, hysterically. “This is a pretty good show, don’t you think?”

Bridge looked horrified, but Sky only glared at the Tangarian, disgusted.

“The other Sky has to be piloting the ship,” Sky said. Dru was still laughing, quietly snickering to himself. The sound raised the hairs on the back of his neck. “We have the same biometrics, so I can probably get into the cockpit.”

Cruger nodded. “I leave it to you. Bridge and I will search the rest of the ship for Kat.”

Sky set off at a run. At the cockpit doors, his retina was scanned. The door opened partway. Tate glanced back and then jammed a button on the control panel. The door started to close. Sky grabbed the edge and leaned back, digging his heels in. He used his other foot as leverage to shove the door open by force.

“What did you do?” Sky demanded, and Tate rose to face him. The curve of a grey planetoid drifted into view outside the cockpit windows.

“Plan B,” Tate said. He produced a teleportation beacon from his jacket and quirked a smile. “Don’t you have one?”

“Your plan is to crash us into a planet?” Sky said, incredulous.

“Actually,” Tate replied, “The plan is to crash you into a planet. We can always pick through the wreckage later. It’s too bad about the ship, and our bonus.”

Sky felt a stab of anger. How could any version of him be so callous? “And it’s not too bad about the deaths of four innocent people?”

Tate shrugged, but there was a hint of discomfort beneath the false apathy. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. We would have let Kat go once we had Cruger, but you just had to interfere. So if they all die, it’s actually your fault.”

“The prank that got you expelled,” Sky asked, in a flash of insight. “It was Dru’s idea, wasn’t it?"

“Yeah,” Tate said slowly. “How did you know?”

“I remember it. I had never played a prank on a teacher, but Dru convinced me that Captain Layton deserved it.”

“He was a horrible teacher,” Tate said. “He gave us detention more times than I could count.”

“Nobody deserves what happened to Kat.”

Tate looked away, back through memory, and his jaw clenched. “I tried to go back and fix it. I really did. But I couldn’t. That’s the story of my life, you know? I didn’t know things would get so out of hand.” He huffed and met Sky’s eyes. “But you — you went back. You must have made it into the building, somehow.”

Sky shook his head. “No, I didn’t. The door was locked. I confessed everything and got detention for a whole year. Dru was transferred to the Nebula Academy because of his record.”

Tate studied him. “And you stayed on to become a ranger.” His mouth twisted. “Dad must have been proud.”

“He didn’t live to see it.”

Someone banged on the outside of the door.

Tate frowned. “I guess that’s my cue.” He twirled the teleport beacon in his fingers.

“Don’t do this,” Sky said. “I don’t pretend to understand the choice you’ve made, or what you went through after leaving the academy. But you’re not a murderer.”

Tate hesitated. The mercenary looked torn. “I can’t abandon Dru. He’s all I have.”

“You’re not abandoning him. You’re stopping him from making a terrible mistake. That’s what friends do.”

The Shadow Saber went through the biometric reader, and the door began to inch open. “Ten minutes until impact,” the computer said.

“Fine,” Tate decided at last. “I’m trusting you to make sure the big blue mutt doesn’t skewer me.”

The door opened fully. Cruger towered above him, sword at the ready, with Bridge behind him.

“Let me handle this,” Sky said to Tate. “Just go! You need to change our course.”

Sky positioned himself between the angry commander and his counterpart. “No! He’s trying to help.” This was a strange turnaround. Hadn’t Bridge tried to convince Cruger of the same thing about himself a couple of hours ago?

“He’s a criminal who needs to pay for his misdeeds,” Cruger said, steel in his voice.

“That can wait,” Sky reasoned. “He’s with us now.”

Cruger hesitated for a moment, growling under his breath, before sheathing the Shadow Saber.

“Sky, are you sure we can trust him?” Bridge said. “I mean, he’s like your evil twin or something.”

If only it were that simple, but Sky knew there was merely a split-second difference in decision between them.

Tate banged a fist on the console in frustration. “It’s not working. I can’t change our path. Something’s wrong.”

Bridge hurried to his side. “Let me see.” The scientist typed at the controls for a tense moment while the others looked on. “It’s locked. The codes only work one way, which means we’re definitely going to crash.”

Cruger glared. “I should have known. Another one of your tricks, Sky?”

“I’m sure those codes are right,” Tate insisted, and tried again. Their course remained locked.

“Dru probably changed them,” Bridge said. “He must not have trusted you to go through with it.”

Tate was momentarily stunned into silence. He looked away, towards the grey planet that loomed ever-closer. “He — he wouldn’t have done that.”

“Nine minutes until impact,” the computer chirped.

Cruger frowned. “We can get Dru to give us the codes.”

Tate shook his head. “He’s already gone.”

“Not unless he can escape titanium reinforced handcuffs.”

“Dru is very talented,” Tate replied. Cruger made a disbelieving noise in his throat, and the mercenary sneered at him. “You always were a blind old dog. You were too busy playing favorites at the Academy to see what was right under your giant nose.”

“Look,” Sky said, interrupting the argument before it escalated to violence. “We have to find Kat.”

“Follow me.” Tate slid past Cruger, never turning his back. Cruger let him pass, although his hand inched towards his sword.

They followed Tate deeper into the ship. He unlocked a side door to a utility closet, the wall shelves stacked high with food and supplies. At the back of the narrow room, huddled against the wall, was Kat.

She covered her eyes against the sudden light. “… Doggie?”

“Kat,” Cruger strode forward and lifted her, ever so gently. He carried her from the room.

Kat spotted Sky and hissed, her cat-like ears flattening. “Sky! And… Sky?”

“Believe it or not,” Cruger replied, “they came to rescue you. Both of them. They’re on our side,” and he looked between them and grimaced, “for now.”

Kat blinked. She craned her head to look at the final member of the group. “Bridge? What are you doing here?”

“It’s a really long story,” Bridge said, “and I promise I’ll tell you all about it when we get back to headquarters. But we have to find a way out of here right now.”

Dru snarled and stepped out of the shadows. “None of you are going anywhere.”

Chapter Text

Dru grew in height, and his skin rippled as he transformed into Giganis. The Tangarian’s true form looked different than Sky remembered, even more intimidating. Golden spikes covered his stingray-shaped body, each one curved and sharply serrated. The dark blue armor plates had a sinister crimson sheen to match the glint in his eyes.

Bridge was closest. He threw himself between Dru and Cruger, who still had Kat in his arms. Dru struck out with his razor-sharp claws. The scientist slammed into the door frame and slid down, leaving a crimson trail behind.

Tate grabbed Dru’s arm. “Don’t! It’s not worth it!”

Dru shook his hand off. He grabbed his partner by the front of his tactical jacket. “What the hell were you thinking! I even set up everything for you. All you had to do was teleport off the ship!”

“I — I thought it would be easy,” Tate said, “but I can’t do it. It’s just like back then. We wanted revenge, but things went too far.”

Dru scoffed. “If I’d known you were such a coward, I would have left you behind on Earth.” He backhanded his partner with a spiked fist. Tate’s head snapped back from the force of the blow, and the mercenary slid to the floor.

Cruger carefully placed Kat on the ground behind him and drew the Shadow Saber. “Dru Harrington, surrender now, and I may show leniency.”

“You’re not arresting me,” Dru said, with a sharp smile. “Only one of us is making it off this ship alive.” He struck out at Cruger with his claws. The Commander parried, but the Shadow Saber deflected off Dru’s armor with a sound like metal hitting glass.

Dru laughed. A blaster appeared somehow in his other hand. He fired at close range. The Commander staggered back and fell to one knee, learning on the Shadow Saber for support.

“Doggie!” Kat cried out from behind him.

“I guess this is the end, Commander,” Dru said, making a show of twirling his blaster. He turned to Sky. “I’ll give you one last chance to be on the winning side.”

Tate spat out blood as he stumbled to his feet. A long, jagged gash ran from just below his eye all the way to his upper lip. “You know,” the mercenary said, drawing a long, serrated knife from his belt. “I think that’s my line.”

Dru charged at him. Tate flicked his wrist to summon an energy shield. Dru struck the shield with his claws and then spun around to strike it again. Then he fired his blaster — once, then twice. Blue sparks flew.

“I know your limits,” Dru said, as the shield wavered. “You can’t keep that up.”

“He doesn’t have to,” Sky replied, fists ready. He threw a side kick into Dru’s back, causing the Tangarian to stumble. When Dru turned towards him to attack, Sky summoned his own shield. In the same instant, Tate slid forward and stabbed the blade between a narrow gap in Dru’s armor, right where the abdominal plating met the side. Dru grunted with pain and pivoted again to strike Tate, only to be blocked again by another shield.

Cruger was back on his feet. He fired his own blaster, three shots in sequence that struck the weak spot in Dru’s armor. Two of Dru’s abdominal armor plates cracked, oozing blood. Dru staggered backwards, veering sidewise to collide with the hallway wall.

“Give up,” Tate said. He tossed Sky the knife and advanced on his former friend with blaster in hand. “You can’t beat all three of us. It’s over, Dru.”

“Never!” Dru growled, breathing heavily. He paused for a moment before darting at Sky with a battle cry. He was faster than his size would suggest, faster than Sky expected. The Tangarian was too close for him to shield, so Sky instinctively raised the knife. He expected Dru to block or to strike out… but Dru did neither. Instead, the Tangarian impaled himself on the blade.

Everything went silent. His ears were ringing. The knife slipped from his nerveless fingers. Dru staggered back a few steps, and he was laughing even as he shifted back into human form, knife still hilt-deep beneath his ribs.

Dru bared his teeth into a grin, and they were bloodied. “I win,” Dru said, looking up at Sky’s shocked face. “Now you’re a murderer, just like me.” With that, the Tangarian crumpled to the ground and lay unmoving.

Sky left Dru where he lay. Instead, he rushed over to Bridge. The scientist was slumped where he had fallen, half collapsed against the door.

“Sky — ” Bridge managed, as Sky kneeled beside him. His pupils were blown wide, and his eyes shimmered with tears. There was a dark, growing stain across the front of his shirt, red pooling through his lab coat.

“Stay with me,” Sky said. “You’ll be okay.” But he couldn’t be sure that was the case. He pulled off his hoodie and balled up the fabric to put pressure on the wound.

Bridge winced. The scientist then looked up at him and managed a slight smile. “You — you were right. I shouldn’t have come. But — I’m really glad I got to meet you.”

“Don’t say that,” Sky said, his voice tight. The ship trembled and then lurched as they hit the upper atmosphere of the planet. Sky had to steady both himself and Bridge against the wall.

“Five minutes until impact,” the computer informed them.

Tate approached on unsteady steps. He was holding one hand over his face to staunch his own injury. With the other hand, the mercenary handed him the teleport beacon. “Use this. It can carry two people. Dru has one as well — Cruger and Kat can take his, and you both can use mine. I can’t promise that where it leads is safe for a bunch of space police.” He glanced at Sky’s cadet jacket and grimaced, “But it’ll be better than here.”

It took him a moment to realize what Tate was offering. “We aren’t leaving you here,” Sky said. To die.

“He’s right,” Cruger rumbled. Kat was back in his arms, and the Shadow Saber sheathed by his side. “We’re all going to leave here together. Can your teleporter take three?”

Tate shook his head. “No. There isn’t enough power on the far end, you’ll be dematerialized.” He knelt next to Dru and retrieved the second beacon. Then he checked for a pulse. The mercenary glanced at Sky, meeting his gaze, and shook his head.

Sky looked away. He couldn’t think about that right now.

Tate offered the second beacon to Kat. “Take it. I’m — I’m not worth risking your lives like that further.”

“It’s not about being worthy,” Cruger said.

Kat took the beacon and finally spoke. “Depending on how far we are from Earth, I may be able to reprogram these to take us back to headquarters. There’s enough power on that end to carry all of us.”

“What do you need?” Tate said.

“A way to hook both teleportation beacons up to this ship’s central computer,” Kat replied, “and hopefully just under five minutes time.”

While Tate dashed around gathering supplies for Kat, Sky remained where he was, kneeling next to his friend. The other three relocated to the cockpit, but he didn’t dare move Bridge or let up the pressure even for a moment.

The scientist was pale, and his breathing shallow and rapid.

“Hey,” Sky said. He forced a smile to hide his growing fear. His own pulse was racing, and his hands felt strangely numb. “Do you want to know how I met the Bridge from my universe?”

Bridge gave a tiny nod. Sky clung to that — if he felt well enough to still be curious, maybe he would be alright? “It was the very first day of class at the Academy…”

He fell into the rhythm of telling the tale, never taking his eyes from Bridge. The scientist’s eyes fluttered shut, but Sky kept talking, hoping beyond all reason that Bridge could hear him.

“… And that’s how we became friends. You see, you can’t die. This Sky needs a friend.” A universe without Bridge was… almost impossible to imagine, and even harder to accept. That universe would be very lonely and empty indeed.

“Thirty seconds until planetary impact. Twenty-nine, twenty-eight…”

If he died here, the Bridge of his universe would never know what happened to him.

Kat and Cruger returned, with Tate trailing behind. Cruger set Kat down next to her assistant.

Cruger gently set Kat down next to Bridge. Kat fought back tears when she saw him. “Oh, Bridge.” She laid a hand on his shoulder. Her other hand held a teleportation beacon.

“The beacons are ready,” the Commander said. “We’ll send Bridge & Kat with one. The three of us will take the other.”

Kat activated her’s first. The engines hummed to life in a crescendo of noise. A few lines of energy discharge glowed around them, an iridescent cage of energy. Bridge was almost transparent, and then they were gone, translocated away to safety.

Cruger outstretched his gloved hand to Sky. “We have to be touching,” the Sirian explained. Sky took it, even as Tate laid his own hand on Sky’s arm, completing the physical link.

The Commander activated the beacon. The pull was slower this time. Sky had the unpleasant feeling of being dissolved, then reassembled, molecule by molecule. There was a deafening crack, and then the world tipped. All three materialized sideways, suspended in the air. They fell the remaining distance and smacked face-first onto the lobby floor of S.P.D. Headquarters.

Bridge was already being hurried away on a stretcher, surrounded by medical staff, along with Kat. As they got to their feet, Tate held out his hands to Cruger. Cruger unclipped his handcuffs from his belt and snapped them around Tate’s wrists.

“Commander — ” Sky said, ready to rise to the defense of his double.

Tate glanced his way. “No, I made a lot of mistakes. I’m ready to take responsibility for that.”

Cruger nodded at Tate. “Thank you.” He turned to Sophie, who was standing nearby. “Take him to medical and then process him.” Tate allowed himself to be led away by the B-squad cadet. The mercenary didn’t look back.

The remainder of B-squad arrived.

“Welcome back, Commander,” Jack said, and saluted. He turned to Sky. “Good work. You got them back and didn’t even wreck my bike.” He paused, and his eyes widened as he noticed Sky’s appearance.

Sky was suddenly aware of how he must look. His uniform was ruined. His jacket sleeves, wet with blood, clung unpleasantly to his skin. Now that the rush of adrenaline had passed, he felt wrung out, exhaustion making his legs shaky.

He hadn’t slept since arriving in this universe, however long ago that was.

The next question from Jack was not what he expected. “Are you okay?”

Sky answered the question with one of his own. “Am I under arrest?” Only a couple of days ago, the idea would have been antithetical to every fiber of his being, but now it almost sounded relaxing.

Cruger turned to face him. It was barely noticeable, but the Sirian’s movements were stiffer than usual. Sky suddenly remembered that Cruger had been shot. The commander hid the injury so well, he had forgotten.

“That depends,” Cruger rumbled, his voice revealing nothing. “Have you committed any crimes?”

“No, but…” Was it always this hard to formulate thoughts? “There’s only one Sky in this world. If we are legally the same, then we both have to be charged with the same crimes. I don’t have an identity here.”

“Hm, I see what you mean.” Cruger stroked his chin. “That is a complication. For now, consider yourself a guest under the protection of S.P.D. until your identity problems are resolved.”

Sky saluted out of habit, only to drop his arm awkwardly. He wasn’t a cadet, after all. “Sir… can I wait with Bridge?”

“You’re not being detained,” Cruger said. “You can go wherever you want.”

Sky left quickly, before anyone changed their mind. The elevators were crowded, so he took the stairs two at a time, up the 12 floors to the medical wing. He could barely see Bridge behind the flurry of activity around his bed. Sky took a seat against the wall, out of the way, and waited.

Time blurred together. He could have been there minutes or hours. After some time, the medical staff left to tend other injuries and emergencies. Nobody objected as he slipped into the chair beside Bridge.

“He’s lucky,” one medical-track cadet told him. “He’ll live. Was it you who applied pressure? Quick thinking — he might not have made it otherwise. We’re supporting him with fluids and a blood transfusion now. He should recover fully, although he’ll likely need physical therapy for that arm.”

The blue-toned overhead lighting made Bridge look even more pale than he was. He listened to the steady beeping of the monitors and watched the slow rise and fall of Bridge’s chest. He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until a gentle touch on his leg woke him.

Kat was beside him. The scientist gazed at him, concern in her green eyes, and then glanced back towards Bridge. “Doggie said you came from a parallel universe. What was that world like?”

Nothing was different, except for him. “It was a lot like this one, except you were never hurt. Bridge and I were on B-squad, along with Jack, Syd, and Z.”

Kat graced him with a slight smile. “I can tell you really care about Bridge.”

“In my universe, he’s the best friend I've ever had,” Sky said. “I didn’t — I didn’t always show it, but…”

But Bridge, with his enigmatic powers, had surely known, in his unique way of knowing things about people. Looking back on it, he had been hard on the other cadet. He was so laser-focused on combat skills and becoming Red Ranger that he hadn’t always respected Bridge’s contributions to their team. He had taken for granted that Bridge would always have his back.

Kat rotated in her wheelchair to face him. She handed him a folded cadet uniform. Sky was surprised to see the crisp lines and blue trim of his own jacket. On top lay a security badge emblazoned with a silver S.P.D. logo.

“I’ve assigned you a guest room on this floor,” Kat explained. “I thought you might want to be near him for a while.” Sky stammered out a thanks, but she waved it away.

He knew he was overstepping by even asking. As an individual whose powers literally pushed people away, it was hypocritical to ask something so personal. But he still needed to know. “Kat?” Sky ventured. “Do you think you’ll ever be able to forgive the other Sky, for what he did?”

“I already have,” Kat said. The doubt must have shown on his face, so she elaborated. “Everyone has done something in their life that they regret. After the accident, I was angry. I hated him for what he’d taken from me. But life — life goes on, and one day I realized how lucky I was. Against all odds, I was alive, one of only a handful of survivors from my planet. I was surrounded by friends and people who cared about me. I was working to make a difference, to save the world. There wasn’t room for hating Sky in all of that.”

Sky wondered if he could ever be that forgiving and thought of Dru.

“When you’re ready,” Kat said, “Come to my labs. I have something to show you.”

He felt more like himself after showering. The new uniform fit perfectly (how had Kat known?). The bed was tempting, but he could sleep later. Instead, he returned to medical to sit next to Bridge.

He could tell that the scientist would wake soon. Bridge shifted, and his face transitioned from the slack of unconsciousness to a frown. He opened one eye, then the other, and blinked in surprise as he spotted Sky.

“Sky? Did — did everyone make it?”

Sky nodded. “Kat is fine, and so is Cruger. I’m sure the Commander will give you a commendation for bravery.” He didn’t mention Dru.

Bridge gave a slight smile, but it soon faded. “What about Sky… the other one, I mean?”

“He’s confined right now,” Sky said. “He’ll have to go on trial for what he did.”

Bridge frowned. “That doesn’t seem right. He made a mistake, but he also tried to fix it. He saved our lives.”

Sky shrugged. He didn’t have a lot of sympathy for his counterpart. He was sure the judgment would be fair, but a personal testimonial couldn’t hurt. “Maybe you should tell Cruger that.”

“I will,” Bridge said, but his eyelids were heavy. Sky stood to leave, but Bridge reached for him. “Please — don’t go. Just stay a bit longer.”

Sky agreed. Bridge drifted off first, but soon they were both asleep.

He was back on the spaceship. Dru ran towards him, and in a too familiar motion, he raised the knife. But instead of Dru being impaled on the blade, he looked down and was horrified to see Bridge.

“Isn’t it magnificent?” murmured the dream-Bridge. When he looked up at Sky, blood dripped from his eyes.

Sky woke with a start, a scream caught in his throat. A sheen of cold sweat covered his forehead. He looked over at Bridge beside him, quiet and pale but still breathing in the slow cadence of sleep.

He needed some air. Sky stumbled to his feet and half-dashed for the doors.

The night air was cool and damp. It cut through his jacket, and somehow, Sky couldn’t stop shivering. On this upper balcony, the sounds of the street were muffled. The city lights glimmered like diamonds, suspended in the air, stretching as far as his eye could see. Above the glowing skyline hung an oppressive, starless darkness.

Sky leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath. His heart was racing, pounding in his ears. He felt dizzy, somehow disconnected from his body. His legs buckled, and the ground rose to meet him. Was he dying?

A commanding voice came from nearby. “Sky. Listen to me. Breathe.” Someone grabbed his shoulders and held them firmly. “Count with me. 1 — 2 —”

Sky obeyed. Eventually, his breathing evened, and he realized that Cruger was crouched beside him. Sky flushed with embarrassment at this display of weakness.

“S— sorry, sir.” Sky stammered, mortified, and pulled away from the warm, strong hands.

Cruger studied him before rising. “You’re not under my command. You don’t need to call me sir.”

“Sorry,” Sky apologized again. He got to his feet. “Force of habit.” The Commander didn’t speak further; instead waited for Sky to gather his thoughts.

“I just — I can’t stop thinking about Dru and how — how he died,” Sky finally said. “We’re supposed to confine criminals and make sure they face justice. Not kill them. Our job is to protect and serve, and I didn’t do either.” He shuddered and drew his arms in on himself. “Maybe Dru was right, and I am just like him.”

Cruger shook his head. “As hard as it is to accept, you can’t save everyone. That is also part of the job. Dru knew exactly what he was doing, and under the circumstances, you couldn’t have done anything different.” The Commander looked off into the distance, into memories. “One day, in the future, you may face a similar situation. You may have to make difficult choices about who lives and who dies. If that ever comes easy to you, you will really have become like Dru.”

Cruger handed Sky something. It took Sky a moment to realize that it was his morpher and badge. His hand tightened on this last precious connection to his world.

“You’re a good ranger, Sky,” the Commander said. His voice softened. “I’m glad I was wrong about you.”

To be continued.

Chapter Text

Word must have travelled. Everyone was polite enough, but underlying it were whispers and near-open suspicion, particularly from the cadets. It was clear he didn’t belong here.

Bridge was still under observation in medical, so Sky wandered to the science labs in search of Kat. He found her at a lab bench, deep in conversation with a white-haired scientist. The man gave him a curious, speculative look as he approached, at stark odds with the hostility of the cadets.

Kat introduced them. “Sky, this is Dr. Frost.” True to his name, the scientist was humanoid, but his skin and hair, even down to his bushy eyebrows, were coated with a thin layer of ice. On his forehead were two small horns. “Dr. Frost theorized that travel between universes was possible several years ago. He’d actually been working on a prototype in his spare time and, after we learned about you and your predicament, we decided to take a closer look at getting it to work.”

“Nice to meet you.” Dr. Frost had a booming voice, just like an old-time radio show host. “It’s so interesting to speak to someone who actually travelled between universes and has met his alternate.” He paused. “Did you notice any… ill-effects when you met the other Mr. Tate?”

“Not really…” Sky said, and then remembered his morpher. “Except that my morpher doesn’t work in this world. Not for me, or for him.”

Dr. Frost looked fascinated by the possibilities. “It’s interesting that neither of you can morph, but Dr. Manx mentioned you were both still able to use your genetic powers. There’s a lot we still don’t know about the morphing grid, even with your…” He trailed off as Kat gave him a look. “Regardless, you’re here to see my prototype!”

He led Sky to another table, where a laptop was connected to a glowing alien cube. On the screen was a slowly rotating wireframe outline of a wormhole, and below, lines of code and complex formulas scrolled by, too fast for a human to read.

“This is our inter-dimensional relocator,” Dr. Frost said, and his chest puffed up with pride. “We’ve successfully been able to open an inter-dimensional portal, and I can confidently say that it leads… somewhere.”

“I can go home?” Sky asked, hope rising.

Kat hesitated. “Possibly. We weren’t able to collect much data on the far side. The portal goes somewhere. It may go back to your universe, or somewhere completely different.” She frowned at him. “I want you to be aware of the risks. We have no way of knowing what’s out there.”

Which meant, for all they knew, he could be jumping into the center of a star.

“You don’t have to leave, you know,” Kat said softly. “I spoke to Doggie. There’s a place for you in this universe. You can even be a ranger, if that’s what you want.”

Sky shook his head. “Thank you, but my own team needs me. I have to try to get home, even if it’s dangerous.”

“I understand. Well, it’s ready for you, whenever you want to leave.” Kat said, and Dr. Frost bobbed his head in enthusiastic agreement.

Jack, as usual, was the exception.

The Red Ranger was unfailingly friendly and welcoming in every interaction — frankly, to a fault.

“Hey, I know what it’s like,” Jack told him. He took a seat at the otherwise-empty cafeteria table next to Sky. “Unlike most of the Boy Scouts here, I had a life before all of this, and it wasn’t always on the side of the law. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Sky asked about Tate. It turned out that his counterpart had already been released on probation. Jack even gave him an address, which is what brought Sky here, to the Newtech East Community Center on a gorgeous, bright afternoon.

Inside, within the antiquated but well-kept game room, Tate was talking to a scruffy-looking teenager. The room was filled with youngsters from a wide assortment of species. Most of them, especially the aliens, stared at him with open hostility.

A girl with dark eyeliner and vampire-like fangs spotted him first. “Hey! Sky! You didn’t say you had a brother… and that he’s a space cop!”

“It’s a long story,” Tate said. “I’ll be back in a bit, guys.”

They stepped outside.

“Why are you here?” Tate asked. He crossed his arms and scowled. “I thought you’d be heading a ranger team by now.”

“Not in this universe,” Sky said. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”

Tate snorted. “Well, it was time for a career change. Cruger had the court give me community service instead of jail time. I had a couple of choices, but I volunteered to work here. Thought that maybe I could make a difference for someone.”

“What are you going to do after?”

“My community service is for a year, but I think I might stay after that if they’ll have me. It’s nice being part of something, you know? Especially since Dru…” Tate trailed off.

“I’m sorry about Dru,” Sky said, in the uncomfortable silence that followed. “If I could have saved him, I would.”

His counterpart’s jaw clenched. “Nobody could ever stop Dru once he made a decision,” Tate said, and half-turned away. “That’s the only reason I’m not beating you to a pulp right now. Dru may have been obsessed with money and power, but he was still my friend.”

Sky winced. “I know,” he said. He swallowed hard. “He was mine once, too.” The moment passed. He fell easily back into the familiar role of S.P.D. cadet. He held out his hand, and his counterpart shook it. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

By the time he returned to headquarters, Bridge had been released. A science division cadet directed him to a small, out-of-the-way office. That was where he found the scientist, surrounded by cardboard boxes and scattered mechanical parts. The door was propped open by a pile of dense technical manuals. Sky had to step over a partially disassembled large-scale model of Headquarters to enter.

Bridge waved one gloved hand in greeting. The other arm was bound to his chest with a sling. “Oh, hey!”

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” Bridge said with a smile. His face was still pale, but had begun to recover its color. “The doctors told me that you saved my life, and you also saved Kat, and the Commander, too. So, thank you for everything.”

“I was just doing my job,” Sky said.

“As an S.P.D. cadet?” Bridge asked, and Sky nodded. “Actually, about that. You were right. Cruger gave me a commendation for bravery. He also gave me the opportunity to join D-squad, so…” He gestured at the half-filled boxes.

“You decided to become a ranger?”

Bridge nodded. “I didn’t accept right away. I actually was going to turn it down, but then I spoke to Sophie about it and she made me realize I could maybe make more of a difference as a ranger than a scientist.”

“Congratulations,” Sky said. “I’m sure you’ll be a great ranger.”

Bridge gave a small shrug. “I’m still not sure I’m ranger material, but I’m going to give it my best. That’s why I have to move into the dorms. At least I didn’t have that much stuff to begin with here or at my apartment.” He paused, then frowned. “You’re leaving soon, too, aren’t you? I saw Kat working on the inter-dimensional relocator.”

Sky nodded. “I have to go back to my own world.”

Bridge’s shoulders fell ever so slightly. “Oh. I guess — I guess that makes sense.”

When they first met, Bridge had mentioned that he didn’t have many friends. Hopefully that would change once he was part of a squad, but… “Can I ask you for one last favor?”

Bridge nodded.

“Look after the other Sky for me, okay? He’s all alone in the world right now. He could use a friend.” And so could you.

“I will,” Bridge said, then hesitated. “Sky — I heard what happened with Dru. I was kind of fading in and out by then, but Kat told me everything. It — it wasn’t your fault.”

“He did it so I would be just like him,” Sky said. “A killer.” He shivered. “I guess I am.”

“No,” Bridge said firmly. He met Sky’s eyes. “You’re nothing like him, and you never will be. Trust me… I know these kinds of things.” And he wriggled a gloved hand.

“Yeah, I guess you do,” Sky said. Somehow, more than any words, that was reassuring. He picked up a book that had been haphazardly discarded on the floor. “So, where does this go?”

Sky had never been good at goodbyes. He would have preferred to leave quietly, but Bridge insisted on accompanying him. Kat and Cruger were waiting near the inter-dimensional relocator, along with Dr. Frost and a posse of other scientists who were far more interested in the device than him.

“Are you ready?” Kat asked. “Again, it’s not too late to change your mind.”

Sky shook his head. “I belong in my universe. This world already has a Sky.”

Cruger made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a snort. Sky smiled. “Try to give him another chance. He might surprise you.”

Bridge stepped closer, something in his hand. “Sky, I wanted to give you this. It’s been in my family for generations.” He handed Sky a charm on a chain. It was a five-fingered hand made of blue glass and metal, with a porcelain eye in the center. The charm felt heavy and warm to the touch. “Keep it, for protection.”

“Bridge, I can’t take this,” Sky said.

Bridge shook his head and lowered his voice so only they could hear. “Precognition is not my strongest power, but… I know you’ll need it. Maybe it’ll protect you from whatever you find out there, in the universes.” The scientist hesitated again. "It sounds weird, but you were meant to have it. Objects have auras too, and this one was somehow always meant to find its way to you."

Sky clasped the chain around his neck and concealed the charm beneath his shirt, next to his skin. “Thank you.”

“Activating the portal now,” Kat said, and Dr. Frost pressed a button. Everyone stepped back. The machine roared to life, creating a swirling vortex of darkness.

Ever-shifting colors of light cut from the edges like a broken mirror before spiraling into the singularity. Inside, hundreds of tiny pinpricks of light — stars, perhaps, or galaxies — reflected and refracted like a kaleidoscope. As Sky stepped past the event horizon, he thought he heard something. A whisper, perhaps, or the hum of a song.