Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #46: What has gone before, T)
Thirty more chapters to go, and soon things shall start to really heat up. ^_~
This chapter was interesting to write mainly because I had to think about who was the 'worst' Sixth Ranger ever, attitude-wise. I say Cruger wins, but Eric's an extremely close second. Merrick's a good third, and Trent gets an honorable mention.
I have the urge to make some sort of award graphics for those now. o.O
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force moving into S.P.D., multiple Rangers from each season
Characters/: Wes (Time Force), multiple Rangers from other teams (Literally too many to list)
Pairings/: Post - Wes/Eric, Rocky/Adam, Shane/Dustin, Hunter/Cam, Carter/Dana, Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, Carlos/Ronny, Jason/Taylor, Conner/Ethan, Justin/Rose, Tommy/Kimberly, Tyzonn/Mack, Cassie/OC, Nick/Maddison, Zack/Aisha, Trent/Kira, Post - Billy/Cestria. Future Ryan/Carter and Billy/Hayley. More couples will most likely be mentioned, but not shown.
prompt/: #46: What has gone before
Rating/: T (For non - graphic mentions of people having babies and being violent with one another)
Disclaimer/: I don't own the Power Rangers, but if Disney's hiring any new writers I volunteer.
Summary/: When Wes' life starts to fall apart, an accident gives him a chance at a fresh start in New Tech City, with Space Patrol Delta. But even a new life has its ups and downs - and weird friends. Meanwhile, Eric tries to move on.
Warnings/: A mentally handicapped person living in a medical facility, angst, male and female slash, non-cemented couples (In otherwords, pairings that will be separated), children created by scientific means, character death
Author's Notes/: This didn't come out quite as I'd hoped it would, unfortunately. -Sighs- But lecturing Cruger was still fun. ^_^
"I can't believe we finally found a worse Sixth than me," Eric muttered as he and Ryan prepared the 'ambush', for lack of a better word.
"Merrick was worse than you," Ryan reminded him.
"No, Merrick was brainwashed by an evil mask, and then avoided his team like the plague out of guilt and the fact that he didn't know how to deal with life a century after he was supposed to have died," Eric retorted. "I was just a jerk."
Ryan gave him a dirty look. "Tried to destroy my own sister?"
"Raised to believe your family abandoned you to demons," he returned.
Ryan frowned. "Ko-lin."
"You mean the mysterious Phantom Ranger who almost sacrificed herself for the forces of good - twice, and only avoided talking to her team because she was so traumatized by the last one she thought they'd destroy her if they knew who she really was?"
"Magna Defender."
"The tragic hero who was semi - brought back to life by Mike Corbett and later sacrificed himself for the sake of Terra Venture, or Mike Corbett, who sacrificed himself for his team? Also twice."
"Trent ... ?"
"Technically, he's not a Sixth - it was a five-man team. And either way, he was possessed by an evil rock."
" ... Tommy?"
He gave him an incredulous look. "Did you seriously just say that? Tommy Oliver, who was brainwashed to serve evil and later sacrificed his Powers and nearly his life for the sake of the planet?"
Ryan threw up his hands. "Fine. You're the worse Sixth ever next to Cruger. Happy?"
He rolled his eyes.
"You really need to stop spending so much time with Wes, by the way; all that brooding is catching."
He stiffened. "That was out of line," he growled.
Ryan paused, glancing over at him. "Sorry," he said quietly.
They worked in silence for several minutes.
"I've got Tommy, Jason, and Zhane on Comm 1," Eric spoke up at last.
"Cam's standing by on Comm 2," Ryan said after a moment.
Eric lifted his morpher. "Hey. Squealer. You ready?"
"On our way, Fish-Face."
Eric looked up, narrowing his eyes at Ryan as the other man snickered. "What?"
"Nothing," Ryan chuckled. "So should I stand clear of you two when Karone gets here?"
"We agreed to a temporary ceasefire," he informed him, perfectly serious. "This discussion is more important."
The ongoing prank war between him and Karone had become legendary at S.P.D. for several reasons. For one, no one had expected either of them to hold a grudge for roughly five years now. But they had; ever since the day he'd retaliated against Karone's nosy interference in his life when he'd needed it most by covering her office in fish, and she'd later responded by coming to find him and slapping him across the face with one of said fish.
Their war was taken very seriously by both parties, and had silent 'rules' involved. Pranks were only to be made against each other, and never involved innocent bystanders. No one else was allowed to help; they had to come up with their plans on their own. And most importantly, all effects must be temporary, and never truly harmful.
The rest of S.P.D. watched them with something between awe and disbelief. Hot-headed, self-centered Eric Myers, reduced to meticulously gluing furniture to ceilings and spray painting an entire office lavender? Sweet, curious Karone re-labeling his workspace in seventeen different alien languages, and setting loose a litter of Harunian Fluffballs in his office just before dousing him in sugar, their favorite treat? There was no way this could last forever.
Everyone had severely underestimated how stubborn they both could be.
"What is the meaning of this, Captain Karone?"
"It's an intervention, Commander," Karone replied smoothly as she led Cruger into the meeting room.
"What sort of 'intervention'?" Cruger asked suspiciously.
"A Ranger one."
Eric glanced at the Comm screen Tommy was sitting in front of looking solemn, Jason and Zhane on either side of him. "Anubis Cruger, what you did today was unacceptable, and it can't happen again," Tommy continued.
Cruger stiffened, and Eric silently cursed. His eyes flicked to Karone to make sure she'd locked the door to keep Cruger from trying to leave. She nodded; whether he liked it or not, Cruger was *going* to listen to this.
"I don't see how I handle my Squad is any of your business, Mr. Oliver," Cruger growled.
Jason moved to say something as his eyes narrowed, but Tommy put out a hand to stop him. "S.P.D. Newtech Commander or not, I'm still Ranger Commander, Doggie," Tommy told him quietly. "And in this case, you answer to me."
"And what, exactly, do you feel I have to answer for?" Cruger snarled back.
"You're a Sixth Ranger now," Zhane spoke up, his voice so calm and patient that even Eric wanted to hit him. "That means you have a different set of rules to follow as a Ranger. You have to work harder, and you have to be better than anyone else on your team."
"The Sixth is there to strengthen the team," Cam put in, pushing up his glasses on his nose with an annoyed expression. "We receive our Powers when the team needs them most."
"The Sixth Ranger is an entity outside of the team. We can fight alone when it's necessary, but we can combine our strength with them when it's needed." Ryan added, his eyes a bit distant.
"The Sixth doesn't get to pick and chose their battles," Eric added, scowling at his morpher. "They fight when they're needed. If the call comes, you go."
"The Sixth Ranger exists to protect the team. Once they become part of it, they fight with them until the enemy is destroyed." Tommy finished.
"This has nothing to do with B Squad being Ranger Kids," Jason informed him, still frowning over the implication that B Squad was Cruger's now. "You're not just the Commander of S.P.D. Newtech anymore. Now you're a Ranger, and that changes how you react to situations."
"I reacted to the situation as their Commanding Officer," Cruger snapped. "B Squad believed that with me to 'protect them', they no longer had to work to defeat Grumm. That is unacceptable in any situation."
"It is," Zhane agreed. "And they should be punished for that. But it has nothing to do with your position as a Ranger."
"It's hard to go from a mentor to a teammate," Tommy said quietly. "Believe me, I know. You have to be their teacher, their protector, and their friend all at once. But that's what we do. You just have to figure out your own balance to it."
There was a moment of silence, which was at last broken by another soft growl. "Do you actually expect me to believe an actual set of rules for being a Ranger exists?" Cruger demanded at last.
"Would you like to see the Eltarian, Edenite, Triforian, Bavarian, or Earthian translation?" Karone offered immediately.
"S.P.D. isn't the first place to teach Rangers, Doggie," Tommy reminded him. "The Ranger Collegiates have existed for centuries, just as the Power Rangers have. We each have our own way of doing things, but we all have an edict to follow. There's a reason we have Color Tradition, just like there's a reason we have the Ranger Etiquette Laws."
"It's more than tradition; it's a way of life," Zhane insisted.
Karone stepped forward, pressing a datapad into Cruger's hand. "This has every Ranger Etiquette Law on file, translated into Sirian and Earthian," she told him softly. "Earthian is a little different; a lot of rules were adapted by Zordon to fit with the Earthian way of life."
"You’re a Ranger now, Doggie," Tommy said again. "And that changes things."
Cruger looked down at the datapad in his hand for several minutes. At last he looked up, glaring furiously at them all. "Is this intervention of yours finished then?"
Tommy sighed. "Yeah. Let him out, Karone."
They all watched him storm out of the room, still snarling under his breath.
"Well, that went well," Cam sniped.
"Do you think he'll read it?" Zhane asked, glancing at Tommy.
"He'll read it," he sighed. "Doggie may not admit it, but tradition matters more to him than you'd think. He's just embarrassed at having to be lectured by people he thought were his subordinates."
Eric humphed, feeling just the tiniest bit smug. "Not anymore."
"How's the search?" Karone asked.
Zhane just smiled grimly as Tommy sighed and Jason looked away. "Could be better," he told her with a shrug. "How's the defense going?"
Eric tuned them out as he leaned against the wall. Cruger better have learned his lesson. Promise not to interfere or not, as long as he had a morpher, he wasn't going to sit back and let B Squad get hurt again.
He wouldn't do that to another team.
This chapter was interesting to write mainly because I had to think about who was the 'worst' Sixth Ranger ever, attitude-wise. I say Cruger wins, but Eric's an extremely close second. Merrick's a good third, and Trent gets an honorable mention.
I have the urge to make some sort of award graphics for those now. o.O
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force moving into S.P.D., multiple Rangers from each season
Characters/: Wes (Time Force), multiple Rangers from other teams (Literally too many to list)
Pairings/: Post - Wes/Eric, Rocky/Adam, Shane/Dustin, Hunter/Cam, Carter/Dana, Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, Carlos/Ronny, Jason/Taylor, Conner/Ethan, Justin/Rose, Tommy/Kimberly, Tyzonn/Mack, Cassie/OC, Nick/Maddison, Zack/Aisha, Trent/Kira, Post - Billy/Cestria. Future Ryan/Carter and Billy/Hayley. More couples will most likely be mentioned, but not shown.
prompt/: #46: What has gone before
Rating/: T (For non - graphic mentions of people having babies and being violent with one another)
Disclaimer/: I don't own the Power Rangers, but if Disney's hiring any new writers I volunteer.
Summary/: When Wes' life starts to fall apart, an accident gives him a chance at a fresh start in New Tech City, with Space Patrol Delta. But even a new life has its ups and downs - and weird friends. Meanwhile, Eric tries to move on.
Warnings/: A mentally handicapped person living in a medical facility, angst, male and female slash, non-cemented couples (In otherwords, pairings that will be separated), children created by scientific means, character death
Author's Notes/: This didn't come out quite as I'd hoped it would, unfortunately. -Sighs- But lecturing Cruger was still fun. ^_^
"I can't believe we finally found a worse Sixth than me," Eric muttered as he and Ryan prepared the 'ambush', for lack of a better word.
"Merrick was worse than you," Ryan reminded him.
"No, Merrick was brainwashed by an evil mask, and then avoided his team like the plague out of guilt and the fact that he didn't know how to deal with life a century after he was supposed to have died," Eric retorted. "I was just a jerk."
Ryan gave him a dirty look. "Tried to destroy my own sister?"
"Raised to believe your family abandoned you to demons," he returned.
Ryan frowned. "Ko-lin."
"You mean the mysterious Phantom Ranger who almost sacrificed herself for the forces of good - twice, and only avoided talking to her team because she was so traumatized by the last one she thought they'd destroy her if they knew who she really was?"
"Magna Defender."
"The tragic hero who was semi - brought back to life by Mike Corbett and later sacrificed himself for the sake of Terra Venture, or Mike Corbett, who sacrificed himself for his team? Also twice."
"Trent ... ?"
"Technically, he's not a Sixth - it was a five-man team. And either way, he was possessed by an evil rock."
" ... Tommy?"
He gave him an incredulous look. "Did you seriously just say that? Tommy Oliver, who was brainwashed to serve evil and later sacrificed his Powers and nearly his life for the sake of the planet?"
Ryan threw up his hands. "Fine. You're the worse Sixth ever next to Cruger. Happy?"
He rolled his eyes.
"You really need to stop spending so much time with Wes, by the way; all that brooding is catching."
He stiffened. "That was out of line," he growled.
Ryan paused, glancing over at him. "Sorry," he said quietly.
They worked in silence for several minutes.
"I've got Tommy, Jason, and Zhane on Comm 1," Eric spoke up at last.
"Cam's standing by on Comm 2," Ryan said after a moment.
Eric lifted his morpher. "Hey. Squealer. You ready?"
"On our way, Fish-Face."
Eric looked up, narrowing his eyes at Ryan as the other man snickered. "What?"
"Nothing," Ryan chuckled. "So should I stand clear of you two when Karone gets here?"
"We agreed to a temporary ceasefire," he informed him, perfectly serious. "This discussion is more important."
The ongoing prank war between him and Karone had become legendary at S.P.D. for several reasons. For one, no one had expected either of them to hold a grudge for roughly five years now. But they had; ever since the day he'd retaliated against Karone's nosy interference in his life when he'd needed it most by covering her office in fish, and she'd later responded by coming to find him and slapping him across the face with one of said fish.
Their war was taken very seriously by both parties, and had silent 'rules' involved. Pranks were only to be made against each other, and never involved innocent bystanders. No one else was allowed to help; they had to come up with their plans on their own. And most importantly, all effects must be temporary, and never truly harmful.
The rest of S.P.D. watched them with something between awe and disbelief. Hot-headed, self-centered Eric Myers, reduced to meticulously gluing furniture to ceilings and spray painting an entire office lavender? Sweet, curious Karone re-labeling his workspace in seventeen different alien languages, and setting loose a litter of Harunian Fluffballs in his office just before dousing him in sugar, their favorite treat? There was no way this could last forever.
Everyone had severely underestimated how stubborn they both could be.
"What is the meaning of this, Captain Karone?"
"It's an intervention, Commander," Karone replied smoothly as she led Cruger into the meeting room.
"What sort of 'intervention'?" Cruger asked suspiciously.
"A Ranger one."
Eric glanced at the Comm screen Tommy was sitting in front of looking solemn, Jason and Zhane on either side of him. "Anubis Cruger, what you did today was unacceptable, and it can't happen again," Tommy continued.
Cruger stiffened, and Eric silently cursed. His eyes flicked to Karone to make sure she'd locked the door to keep Cruger from trying to leave. She nodded; whether he liked it or not, Cruger was *going* to listen to this.
"I don't see how I handle my Squad is any of your business, Mr. Oliver," Cruger growled.
Jason moved to say something as his eyes narrowed, but Tommy put out a hand to stop him. "S.P.D. Newtech Commander or not, I'm still Ranger Commander, Doggie," Tommy told him quietly. "And in this case, you answer to me."
"And what, exactly, do you feel I have to answer for?" Cruger snarled back.
"You're a Sixth Ranger now," Zhane spoke up, his voice so calm and patient that even Eric wanted to hit him. "That means you have a different set of rules to follow as a Ranger. You have to work harder, and you have to be better than anyone else on your team."
"The Sixth is there to strengthen the team," Cam put in, pushing up his glasses on his nose with an annoyed expression. "We receive our Powers when the team needs them most."
"The Sixth Ranger is an entity outside of the team. We can fight alone when it's necessary, but we can combine our strength with them when it's needed." Ryan added, his eyes a bit distant.
"The Sixth doesn't get to pick and chose their battles," Eric added, scowling at his morpher. "They fight when they're needed. If the call comes, you go."
"The Sixth Ranger exists to protect the team. Once they become part of it, they fight with them until the enemy is destroyed." Tommy finished.
"This has nothing to do with B Squad being Ranger Kids," Jason informed him, still frowning over the implication that B Squad was Cruger's now. "You're not just the Commander of S.P.D. Newtech anymore. Now you're a Ranger, and that changes how you react to situations."
"I reacted to the situation as their Commanding Officer," Cruger snapped. "B Squad believed that with me to 'protect them', they no longer had to work to defeat Grumm. That is unacceptable in any situation."
"It is," Zhane agreed. "And they should be punished for that. But it has nothing to do with your position as a Ranger."
"It's hard to go from a mentor to a teammate," Tommy said quietly. "Believe me, I know. You have to be their teacher, their protector, and their friend all at once. But that's what we do. You just have to figure out your own balance to it."
There was a moment of silence, which was at last broken by another soft growl. "Do you actually expect me to believe an actual set of rules for being a Ranger exists?" Cruger demanded at last.
"Would you like to see the Eltarian, Edenite, Triforian, Bavarian, or Earthian translation?" Karone offered immediately.
"S.P.D. isn't the first place to teach Rangers, Doggie," Tommy reminded him. "The Ranger Collegiates have existed for centuries, just as the Power Rangers have. We each have our own way of doing things, but we all have an edict to follow. There's a reason we have Color Tradition, just like there's a reason we have the Ranger Etiquette Laws."
"It's more than tradition; it's a way of life," Zhane insisted.
Karone stepped forward, pressing a datapad into Cruger's hand. "This has every Ranger Etiquette Law on file, translated into Sirian and Earthian," she told him softly. "Earthian is a little different; a lot of rules were adapted by Zordon to fit with the Earthian way of life."
"You’re a Ranger now, Doggie," Tommy said again. "And that changes things."
Cruger looked down at the datapad in his hand for several minutes. At last he looked up, glaring furiously at them all. "Is this intervention of yours finished then?"
Tommy sighed. "Yeah. Let him out, Karone."
They all watched him storm out of the room, still snarling under his breath.
"Well, that went well," Cam sniped.
"Do you think he'll read it?" Zhane asked, glancing at Tommy.
"He'll read it," he sighed. "Doggie may not admit it, but tradition matters more to him than you'd think. He's just embarrassed at having to be lectured by people he thought were his subordinates."
Eric humphed, feeling just the tiniest bit smug. "Not anymore."
"How's the search?" Karone asked.
Zhane just smiled grimly as Tommy sighed and Jason looked away. "Could be better," he told her with a shrug. "How's the defense going?"
Eric tuned them out as he leaned against the wall. Cruger better have learned his lesson. Promise not to interfere or not, as long as he had a morpher, he wasn't going to sit back and let B Squad get hurt again.
He wouldn't do that to another team.