Fractured Fates (S.P.D./inSpace Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt 12 ~ losing control, PG-13)
-Trying not to snicker too loudly- I'm in my room with the door shut, and I can still hear my brother trying to lecture my cat to stop climbing all over the furniture. For some reason she listens to me and our roommate, but she totally ignores both guys. Apparently Brother hasn't figured that out yet.
Title: Fractured Fates
Author: Tsukino Akume
Relationship: Zhane/Sky Tate, Jack Landors/Syd Drew
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, because I probably wouldn't have done this to it even if I did. This is all purplestripe66's fault.
Warning: Character with depression/health issues
Summary: When Andros put Zhane into cryogenic stasis, he didn't wake up until he was completely healed - twenty-four years later. Zhane finds a new team, and S.P.D. tries to deal with the aftermath.
List of 22: 12 ~ losing control
Author's Notes: This is not the prompt I was planning to write, but for some reason I really love this chapter anyway. Love to BlackCrimsonLight, purplestripe66, phantom_blue, and challon86 for all their input.
"Gold, cash, and jewelry, all taken in broad daylight, while people were present and *no one* saw anything."
"Maybe the thieves are invisible," Zhane offered innocently. He saw Jack and the girls hiding smirks while Bridge looked thoughtful. Sky and Cruger just glared at him.
"The thefts have been going on for *weeks*," Cruger continued. "And - "
The alarm cut him off, red lights flashing. Zhane flinched and tried not to cover his ears at the sound. Dang, that was loud.
"Where is it, Sir?" Jack asked.
Cruger turned to glance down at the computer readout in front of him. "411 West Road. Zhane, I want you to go and make sure - "
"We'll *all* go," Jack interrupted. "Sir."
Zhane eyed him, but said nothing. Who was he to complain about a group get-together?
The race down to the hanger amused him, if only for the fact that no one else seemed to think anything of Jack's insistence that they all accompany him. "Don't trust me, Jack?" he murmured as he jogged beside him.
Jack gave him a funny look. "Actually, I was thinking that you're new in town so you don't know the area, and no one knows you. It wouldn't be the first time someone's impersonated an S.P.D. officer."
He grinned faintly. "Looking out for me? That's so sweet!" he cooed as he reached for his morpher. "Let's Rocket!"
He almost missed Jack's eyes rolling through the bright flash of light.
"Why'd you morph?" Syd asked from behind him as they rounded the corner.
He glanced back at her. "I prefer my own rides, and my Galaxy Glider doesn't work as well without the Power. Besides, Jack has a point. This way people will at least recognize me as a Ranger, if not S.P.D."
"Huh," Z said thoughtfully, grabbing the back of the Delta Cruiser and throwing herself over the side. Jack and Syd followed, Bridge taking the wheel. Sky went for the patrol bike without the fancy colors, he noted.
"Galaxy Glider, Hang Ten!"
The Cycle may have been more practical on the streets, but something about the feel of his Glider made him feel just a little bit more rebellious as he shot past the Cruiser to the front of the caravan and hovered just in Sky's line of sight.
****
"Stop! Thieves!"
"S.P.D. Which way did the thieves go?" Sky demanded as the rest of the group jogged up to question the man who'd shouted. Silver Ranger lagged behind, glancing after Bridge, who'd detoured to the right. He debated following him for a moment.
"It's hard to say, really. I ... I didn't actually see them. I just saw cash floating out of my store," he heard distantly.
"Guys! I got one over here!"
He cursed silently, racing to see. The others crowded around him just in time for them all to see Bridge flail his arms wildly and go flying back into a table with a cry.
"Bridge, what are you doing?" Jack shouted.
Bridge's answer was to climb back to his feet and launch himself at something, swinging his fists. He knocked it back into a pole with a loud 'clang'. There was a shower of sparks, and a large, reptilian creature appeared.
"Hah!" Silver Ranger crowed. "Invisible thieves! Told you!"
He could practically *see* Sky glaring from behind him.
Almost as if in answer, a large crowd of Krybots appeared between them and Bridge, lead by a Bluehead.
"Okay, Sky. You and Zhane take the big lizard," Jack ordered. "Syd, Z, and I will take the rest."
"Right!" Sky agreed.
"Ready?"
"Ready!" the others chorused. "S.P.D., Emergency!"
He was only slightly distracted by the multicolored flashes of light. Their morph took a little longer than his, he noted. Something to keep in mind later.
Red, Pink, and Yellow launched themselves into the Krybots, while Blue followed him to help Bridge. He got there just in time to see Bridge go flying and the giant lizard cry "I'm out of here!" before running off giggling to itself.
"Oh, no you don't," he growled under his breath.
"There he is!" Blue shouted, pointing as they closed in on the guy.
"Let's do it!" he agreed, raising his fist.
Cornered, the alien swung at them wildly. He found himself exchanging blows for several minutes. Just when he thought he was gaining the upper hand, a large fist snuck into his defenses, knocking him flying into a wall. He cried out without meaning to, curling into a ball as he dropped to the ground.
"Zhane! You all right?" he heard Blue demand.
"Yeah," he forced out, trying to blink the spots from his vision.
He climbed to his feet, pushing back the pain searing through his left shoulder. The Power would take care of it soon enough.
"Come on!" the lizard goaded, making a 'come here' gesture.
"Super Silverizer!" he shouted. He leapt into the air, slashing hard across the alien's shoulder. Hey, a little payback here and there couldn't hurt , could it?
He saw Blue snag the guy's shoulder, and made a point to squeeze the injured one painfully tight as he lowered his Silverizer.
"You are under arrest!" Blue lectured. "You have the right to remain silent."
"Yeah, yeah. Like I haven't heard that one before," the guy sneered back as he continued to recite.
****
Bringing 'Al' back to S.P.D. was the easy part, once they'd put him in cuffs and stuffed him into the back seat of the Cruiser with a Z on either side him - and Zhane would really *love* to know how she'd learned to do that. Syd had given her seat up to Jack, electing to ride on the back of Sky's bike instead. He felt strangely disappointed for some reason.
"Let's get him into interrogation," Sky spoke up as soon as they arrived back at the base.
"You guys go on ahead," he spoke up, offering an easy grin as he finally powered down. "Interrogation isn't exactly my strong point. I'll catch up with you later. Besides, my Glider could use some maintenance. Can't have Sky thinking he can beat me, after all," he added with a teasing grin in Sky's direction.
Jack nodded as the two Zs and Sky began to move Al along toward the elevator, and paused tilting his head with a slight frown. "Hey. How'd you know he was invisible, anyway?"
He shrugged a shoulder, grin widening. "Lucky guess," he returned cheerily.
Jack shook his head with a smile, rolling his eyes. Bridge seemed to consider his answer seriously, giving him a thoughtful look. "Later," Jack told him as he followed the others.
He waited until they were all gone before his smile faded. He had no desire to tell any of them that when you live in a war zone, on a planet constantly on the verge of being invaded, you tended to learn to expect the unexpected. Sometimes you learned to even expect the obvious. But that wasn't something he wanted any of them to learn the way he had.
At last he took a slow, deep breath, setting his hands on either side of his Glider, flicking off the safety, and slowly maneuvering it toward one of the work areas. The moment he was out of sight of the cameras, he let the wince he'd been fighting show on his face as he lightly touched his left shoulder. The skin was tender to the touch, and he knew there'd be an impressive bruise there by morning.
Why hadn't the Power healed it already? It should have been gone before he even made it back to S.P.D. Why was his shoulder still throbbing like he'd just hit the wall?
He frowned down at his morpher. This ... could not be good.
****
He was on his way back up to find the rest of his team when he happened to see them through the glass wall of the elevator - on their way back down. And they were dressed in civilian clothes. He tried to wave to catch someone's attention, but they were too busy talking to notice him.
He stopped the elevator on the next floor, frowning. "What are they doing?" he muttered, heading for the stairs to follow them.
He bumped into someone and heard a sharp cry, followed by the sound of multiple objects falling to the floor.
He glanced down with a sigh, offering a smile. "Hi, Boom. You all right?"
The young tech blinked rapidly, at last looking up at him. "Oh. Zhane. Hi. Did I walk into you? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - "
"I'm fine," he cut in, grinning a little. "No bruises." He crouch down to help pick up the data pads Boom had dropped. "Hey, do you know where B Squad's going? I just saw them all take off."
"Oh, the commander told them to investigate the benefit for Newtech University's Science Center. Mysticon - the one that Al guy was working with - is supposed to be putting on a special show there," Boom said immediately. He paused, looking up wide-eyed. "Was I supposed to tell you that?"
Zhane shrugged and offered him another smile. "Well, it's a mission for B Squad, right? And I'm supposed to be part of B Squad."
Boom frowned a little. "That's true ... "
He clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for the tip, Boom. I appreciate it."
As he headed off, he could hear Boom muttering behind him "Why do I get the feeling I just did something really bad?"
Now. Where to find clothes ... Sky was about his size, right?
****
Zhane growled as he saw Syd standing frozen, her eyes blank as Krybots surrounded her. He recognized that glazed expression: brainwashing. Someone had taken away Syd's freewill.
'Someone' was going to pay.
"*You're* coming with *me*," he heard someone declare, and suddenly Syd was moving away from him. There were people in the way, and that same voice shouting "Out of my way!"
"Hold it right there!" another voice shouted. He thought it was familiar.
Syd was still frozen and blank, a short distance away from him. There were things in his way. He summoned his Silverizer, slashing blindly. He growled in annoyance when something struck his shoulder, throwing it out of his path.
There was a flash of pink light in the corner of his vision, and the Pink Ranger was staring at her hands. Good. She was okay.
But that didn't change what they had done to her.
The alien who had dragged Syd off was trying to run away, but he grabbed the back of his cape and yanked - hard. The moment the guy was on the ground, he shoved his knee into his rib cage and hovered over him. The silver danced around the edges of his visor again, and distantly he saw his hands closing around the alien's throat and squeezing.
Someone was pulling at him, trying to shake him away. He shrugged them off, leaning forward and pressing harder against the throat in front of him.
The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back and staring up at the sky.
He squinted. No, wait. That was ... Sky?
"Did you know that your eyes are the same color as the Sky, sky?" he asked muzzily. His head was ringing.
"You back with us now?" Red did not sound amused. At all.
" ... Yes?" he guessed, sitting up slowly. He groaned, putting a hand to his helmet. When had he morphed? "Ow. Did I go somewhere?"
"You tell us," Yellow said shortly. She was crouched down beside him, her helmet resting against one hand. "You tried to strangle Mysticon. He got away while we were all trying to calm you down. Sky finally had to hit you to bring you out of it."
"That's probably why your head hurts," Green added helpfully. "He punched you really hard, and then your helmet sort of bounced of the ground. It looked kind of painful, actually. You might want to get that looked at later."
"I'll keep it mind," he muttered, still blinking the stars from his eyes. He glanced up at Blue again. "Seriously. Ow."
"Are you going to be all right?" Pink asked, sounding concerned.
He blinked again, finally turning to look at her and frowning a little. "Shouldn't we be asking *you* that?"
"I'm fine. It's *you* I'm worried about," she argued, setting a hand lightly on his arm.
His response was cut off by the sound of something very large, and very loud moving through downtown Newtech City. He looked up. "Oh. Zord battle. Great."
"You should sit this one out, Zhane," Red told him.
He snorted. "Yeah, right."
Red folded his arms. "That wasn't a suggestion."
He raised his eyebrows behind his helmet, pushing himself to his feet. Man, where was the Power when you needed a pick-me-up these days? What did they *do* to it in fifty years? "And I'm not taking it as an order, either. See Jack, if you haven't figured out by now that I do my own thing when it comes to the rules, you really don't know me at all." He raised his morpher. "MegaWinger, Online!"
The line-of-sight teleport to his Zord cockpit wasn't exactly something he'd done in recently, and he hadn't really had a Zord of his own since the Astro Megazord. He was glad that the other Rangers weren't there to see him land behind his pilot's chair and stumble, falling on his butt. "Ow," he muttered, pride bruised. He scrambled into his seat just in time to see the robot dancing around the Delta Megazord.
"You can't capture the Great Mysticon!" taunted the robot's speakers.
"That's what you think!" Red retorted.
"My turn!" Silver declared. He kicked in the turbo boost, setting the MegaWinger in a tight spin around the robot. The ensuing whirlwind was enough to make it stumble and flail wildly, but not enough to bring it down. He growled and fired his wing lasers at it in frustration. "MegaWinger, Transform!"
The moment the transformation was complete, he removed the jet wings from the MegaWinger's back and shot again. This time he was rewarded with return fire. He tried to dodge and nearly slammed into the Delta Squad Megazord. "Hey, watch the paint!" he protested.
"Me?" Red exclaimed. "It wasn't my fault! You should have followed - "
"Guys!" Blue interjected. "Come on. Let's rush him both at once!"
"You got it!" he agreed.
"You don't scare me!" came from the robot. It fired a blast of blue electricity.
Silver launched the MegaWinger to the left- the Delta Squad Megazord went to the right. The robot spun in confusion. He shot into its back right as the other Megazord fired their blaster at the very same spot. The robot staggered, and the voice inside cried out.
"Judgment Time!" Blue called.
The world went dark, and he was dimly aware of the others declaring 'guilty'. But by that point, he wasn't really sure *what* was going on. The MegaWinger could tell him the robot and the Zord were still there, but there was some sort of containment field around them both keeping him out.
All he knew was when it was over, and Cruger's voice came over his comm system. "Zhane. I wish to see you in the Command Center immediately."
"Oh, great," he muttered to himself.
****
"You deliberately avoided reporting in with your team!" Cruger snarled from behind him, circling him like he was some sort of prey. It was making him twitchy. "What's more, you decided to join in a mission that I did *not* send you on without any notice whatsoever to myself, your team leader, or Kat. And most especially, you actually tried to *strangle* the criminal you were supposed to be bringing in. If your fellow Rangers had not stopped you, he would not be alive to even be in containment. I have half a mind to dismiss you from S.P.D. entirely. I have no room for Rangers who do not respect my authority, or the lives of others!"
His fists clenched so tightly he could feel the silver bangles he'd borrowed from Syd jingling from the tension. The sound no longer amused him. "My team left without me," he said softly, deliberately. His tone was like ice. "That is not acceptable under *any* circumstance. My job here is to protect them, and to protect Newtech City. *That's* what I joined S.P.D. for. Syd lost her freewill today - do you have any idea what that's like? Do you even *care*? I went after Mysticon because he hurt my teammate. Maybe I lost control, but I am *not* ashamed of myself for protecting her!"
"Cadet Drew can handle herself," Cruger snarled into his face.
He glared right back up at him. "She has a team. She doesn't have to. And as far as I'm concerned, feel free to fire me. I don't care. I don't need you to monitor what I do. My morpher has nothing to do with S.P.D., and you can't take it away from me. So either I work for you, or I become a Rogue Ranger. Either way works for me."
He literally could smell the lunch on Cruger's breath as the commander growled at him. "Get out of my sight before I throw you in containment!"
"Fine by me," he snapped back. He headed for the door, ignoring the stares around him.
He paused just inside the doorway, staring at the hallway rather than looking back. "And let me make one thing perfectly clear," he spoke up, his voice deadly quiet again. "The S.P.D. Rangers are my friends. My team leader, is *Andros*."
He walked on, silently regretting the fact that automatic doors couldn't slam shut behind him.
Title: Fractured Fates
Author: Tsukino Akume
Relationship: Zhane/Sky Tate, Jack Landors/Syd Drew
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, because I probably wouldn't have done this to it even if I did. This is all purplestripe66's fault.
Warning: Character with depression/health issues
Summary: When Andros put Zhane into cryogenic stasis, he didn't wake up until he was completely healed - twenty-four years later. Zhane finds a new team, and S.P.D. tries to deal with the aftermath.
List of 22: 12 ~ losing control
Author's Notes: This is not the prompt I was planning to write, but for some reason I really love this chapter anyway. Love to BlackCrimsonLight, purplestripe66, phantom_blue, and challon86 for all their input.
"Gold, cash, and jewelry, all taken in broad daylight, while people were present and *no one* saw anything."
"Maybe the thieves are invisible," Zhane offered innocently. He saw Jack and the girls hiding smirks while Bridge looked thoughtful. Sky and Cruger just glared at him.
"The thefts have been going on for *weeks*," Cruger continued. "And - "
The alarm cut him off, red lights flashing. Zhane flinched and tried not to cover his ears at the sound. Dang, that was loud.
"Where is it, Sir?" Jack asked.
Cruger turned to glance down at the computer readout in front of him. "411 West Road. Zhane, I want you to go and make sure - "
"We'll *all* go," Jack interrupted. "Sir."
Zhane eyed him, but said nothing. Who was he to complain about a group get-together?
The race down to the hanger amused him, if only for the fact that no one else seemed to think anything of Jack's insistence that they all accompany him. "Don't trust me, Jack?" he murmured as he jogged beside him.
Jack gave him a funny look. "Actually, I was thinking that you're new in town so you don't know the area, and no one knows you. It wouldn't be the first time someone's impersonated an S.P.D. officer."
He grinned faintly. "Looking out for me? That's so sweet!" he cooed as he reached for his morpher. "Let's Rocket!"
He almost missed Jack's eyes rolling through the bright flash of light.
"Why'd you morph?" Syd asked from behind him as they rounded the corner.
He glanced back at her. "I prefer my own rides, and my Galaxy Glider doesn't work as well without the Power. Besides, Jack has a point. This way people will at least recognize me as a Ranger, if not S.P.D."
"Huh," Z said thoughtfully, grabbing the back of the Delta Cruiser and throwing herself over the side. Jack and Syd followed, Bridge taking the wheel. Sky went for the patrol bike without the fancy colors, he noted.
"Galaxy Glider, Hang Ten!"
The Cycle may have been more practical on the streets, but something about the feel of his Glider made him feel just a little bit more rebellious as he shot past the Cruiser to the front of the caravan and hovered just in Sky's line of sight.
****
"Stop! Thieves!"
"S.P.D. Which way did the thieves go?" Sky demanded as the rest of the group jogged up to question the man who'd shouted. Silver Ranger lagged behind, glancing after Bridge, who'd detoured to the right. He debated following him for a moment.
"It's hard to say, really. I ... I didn't actually see them. I just saw cash floating out of my store," he heard distantly.
"Guys! I got one over here!"
He cursed silently, racing to see. The others crowded around him just in time for them all to see Bridge flail his arms wildly and go flying back into a table with a cry.
"Bridge, what are you doing?" Jack shouted.
Bridge's answer was to climb back to his feet and launch himself at something, swinging his fists. He knocked it back into a pole with a loud 'clang'. There was a shower of sparks, and a large, reptilian creature appeared.
"Hah!" Silver Ranger crowed. "Invisible thieves! Told you!"
He could practically *see* Sky glaring from behind him.
Almost as if in answer, a large crowd of Krybots appeared between them and Bridge, lead by a Bluehead.
"Okay, Sky. You and Zhane take the big lizard," Jack ordered. "Syd, Z, and I will take the rest."
"Right!" Sky agreed.
"Ready?"
"Ready!" the others chorused. "S.P.D., Emergency!"
He was only slightly distracted by the multicolored flashes of light. Their morph took a little longer than his, he noted. Something to keep in mind later.
Red, Pink, and Yellow launched themselves into the Krybots, while Blue followed him to help Bridge. He got there just in time to see Bridge go flying and the giant lizard cry "I'm out of here!" before running off giggling to itself.
"Oh, no you don't," he growled under his breath.
"There he is!" Blue shouted, pointing as they closed in on the guy.
"Let's do it!" he agreed, raising his fist.
Cornered, the alien swung at them wildly. He found himself exchanging blows for several minutes. Just when he thought he was gaining the upper hand, a large fist snuck into his defenses, knocking him flying into a wall. He cried out without meaning to, curling into a ball as he dropped to the ground.
"Zhane! You all right?" he heard Blue demand.
"Yeah," he forced out, trying to blink the spots from his vision.
He climbed to his feet, pushing back the pain searing through his left shoulder. The Power would take care of it soon enough.
"Come on!" the lizard goaded, making a 'come here' gesture.
"Super Silverizer!" he shouted. He leapt into the air, slashing hard across the alien's shoulder. Hey, a little payback here and there couldn't hurt , could it?
He saw Blue snag the guy's shoulder, and made a point to squeeze the injured one painfully tight as he lowered his Silverizer.
"You are under arrest!" Blue lectured. "You have the right to remain silent."
"Yeah, yeah. Like I haven't heard that one before," the guy sneered back as he continued to recite.
****
Bringing 'Al' back to S.P.D. was the easy part, once they'd put him in cuffs and stuffed him into the back seat of the Cruiser with a Z on either side him - and Zhane would really *love* to know how she'd learned to do that. Syd had given her seat up to Jack, electing to ride on the back of Sky's bike instead. He felt strangely disappointed for some reason.
"Let's get him into interrogation," Sky spoke up as soon as they arrived back at the base.
"You guys go on ahead," he spoke up, offering an easy grin as he finally powered down. "Interrogation isn't exactly my strong point. I'll catch up with you later. Besides, my Glider could use some maintenance. Can't have Sky thinking he can beat me, after all," he added with a teasing grin in Sky's direction.
Jack nodded as the two Zs and Sky began to move Al along toward the elevator, and paused tilting his head with a slight frown. "Hey. How'd you know he was invisible, anyway?"
He shrugged a shoulder, grin widening. "Lucky guess," he returned cheerily.
Jack shook his head with a smile, rolling his eyes. Bridge seemed to consider his answer seriously, giving him a thoughtful look. "Later," Jack told him as he followed the others.
He waited until they were all gone before his smile faded. He had no desire to tell any of them that when you live in a war zone, on a planet constantly on the verge of being invaded, you tended to learn to expect the unexpected. Sometimes you learned to even expect the obvious. But that wasn't something he wanted any of them to learn the way he had.
At last he took a slow, deep breath, setting his hands on either side of his Glider, flicking off the safety, and slowly maneuvering it toward one of the work areas. The moment he was out of sight of the cameras, he let the wince he'd been fighting show on his face as he lightly touched his left shoulder. The skin was tender to the touch, and he knew there'd be an impressive bruise there by morning.
Why hadn't the Power healed it already? It should have been gone before he even made it back to S.P.D. Why was his shoulder still throbbing like he'd just hit the wall?
He frowned down at his morpher. This ... could not be good.
****
He was on his way back up to find the rest of his team when he happened to see them through the glass wall of the elevator - on their way back down. And they were dressed in civilian clothes. He tried to wave to catch someone's attention, but they were too busy talking to notice him.
He stopped the elevator on the next floor, frowning. "What are they doing?" he muttered, heading for the stairs to follow them.
He bumped into someone and heard a sharp cry, followed by the sound of multiple objects falling to the floor.
He glanced down with a sigh, offering a smile. "Hi, Boom. You all right?"
The young tech blinked rapidly, at last looking up at him. "Oh. Zhane. Hi. Did I walk into you? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - "
"I'm fine," he cut in, grinning a little. "No bruises." He crouch down to help pick up the data pads Boom had dropped. "Hey, do you know where B Squad's going? I just saw them all take off."
"Oh, the commander told them to investigate the benefit for Newtech University's Science Center. Mysticon - the one that Al guy was working with - is supposed to be putting on a special show there," Boom said immediately. He paused, looking up wide-eyed. "Was I supposed to tell you that?"
Zhane shrugged and offered him another smile. "Well, it's a mission for B Squad, right? And I'm supposed to be part of B Squad."
Boom frowned a little. "That's true ... "
He clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for the tip, Boom. I appreciate it."
As he headed off, he could hear Boom muttering behind him "Why do I get the feeling I just did something really bad?"
Now. Where to find clothes ... Sky was about his size, right?
****
Zhane growled as he saw Syd standing frozen, her eyes blank as Krybots surrounded her. He recognized that glazed expression: brainwashing. Someone had taken away Syd's freewill.
'Someone' was going to pay.
"*You're* coming with *me*," he heard someone declare, and suddenly Syd was moving away from him. There were people in the way, and that same voice shouting "Out of my way!"
"Hold it right there!" another voice shouted. He thought it was familiar.
Syd was still frozen and blank, a short distance away from him. There were things in his way. He summoned his Silverizer, slashing blindly. He growled in annoyance when something struck his shoulder, throwing it out of his path.
There was a flash of pink light in the corner of his vision, and the Pink Ranger was staring at her hands. Good. She was okay.
But that didn't change what they had done to her.
The alien who had dragged Syd off was trying to run away, but he grabbed the back of his cape and yanked - hard. The moment the guy was on the ground, he shoved his knee into his rib cage and hovered over him. The silver danced around the edges of his visor again, and distantly he saw his hands closing around the alien's throat and squeezing.
Someone was pulling at him, trying to shake him away. He shrugged them off, leaning forward and pressing harder against the throat in front of him.
The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back and staring up at the sky.
He squinted. No, wait. That was ... Sky?
"Did you know that your eyes are the same color as the Sky, sky?" he asked muzzily. His head was ringing.
"You back with us now?" Red did not sound amused. At all.
" ... Yes?" he guessed, sitting up slowly. He groaned, putting a hand to his helmet. When had he morphed? "Ow. Did I go somewhere?"
"You tell us," Yellow said shortly. She was crouched down beside him, her helmet resting against one hand. "You tried to strangle Mysticon. He got away while we were all trying to calm you down. Sky finally had to hit you to bring you out of it."
"That's probably why your head hurts," Green added helpfully. "He punched you really hard, and then your helmet sort of bounced of the ground. It looked kind of painful, actually. You might want to get that looked at later."
"I'll keep it mind," he muttered, still blinking the stars from his eyes. He glanced up at Blue again. "Seriously. Ow."
"Are you going to be all right?" Pink asked, sounding concerned.
He blinked again, finally turning to look at her and frowning a little. "Shouldn't we be asking *you* that?"
"I'm fine. It's *you* I'm worried about," she argued, setting a hand lightly on his arm.
His response was cut off by the sound of something very large, and very loud moving through downtown Newtech City. He looked up. "Oh. Zord battle. Great."
"You should sit this one out, Zhane," Red told him.
He snorted. "Yeah, right."
Red folded his arms. "That wasn't a suggestion."
He raised his eyebrows behind his helmet, pushing himself to his feet. Man, where was the Power when you needed a pick-me-up these days? What did they *do* to it in fifty years? "And I'm not taking it as an order, either. See Jack, if you haven't figured out by now that I do my own thing when it comes to the rules, you really don't know me at all." He raised his morpher. "MegaWinger, Online!"
The line-of-sight teleport to his Zord cockpit wasn't exactly something he'd done in recently, and he hadn't really had a Zord of his own since the Astro Megazord. He was glad that the other Rangers weren't there to see him land behind his pilot's chair and stumble, falling on his butt. "Ow," he muttered, pride bruised. He scrambled into his seat just in time to see the robot dancing around the Delta Megazord.
"You can't capture the Great Mysticon!" taunted the robot's speakers.
"That's what you think!" Red retorted.
"My turn!" Silver declared. He kicked in the turbo boost, setting the MegaWinger in a tight spin around the robot. The ensuing whirlwind was enough to make it stumble and flail wildly, but not enough to bring it down. He growled and fired his wing lasers at it in frustration. "MegaWinger, Transform!"
The moment the transformation was complete, he removed the jet wings from the MegaWinger's back and shot again. This time he was rewarded with return fire. He tried to dodge and nearly slammed into the Delta Squad Megazord. "Hey, watch the paint!" he protested.
"Me?" Red exclaimed. "It wasn't my fault! You should have followed - "
"Guys!" Blue interjected. "Come on. Let's rush him both at once!"
"You got it!" he agreed.
"You don't scare me!" came from the robot. It fired a blast of blue electricity.
Silver launched the MegaWinger to the left- the Delta Squad Megazord went to the right. The robot spun in confusion. He shot into its back right as the other Megazord fired their blaster at the very same spot. The robot staggered, and the voice inside cried out.
"Judgment Time!" Blue called.
The world went dark, and he was dimly aware of the others declaring 'guilty'. But by that point, he wasn't really sure *what* was going on. The MegaWinger could tell him the robot and the Zord were still there, but there was some sort of containment field around them both keeping him out.
All he knew was when it was over, and Cruger's voice came over his comm system. "Zhane. I wish to see you in the Command Center immediately."
"Oh, great," he muttered to himself.
****
"You deliberately avoided reporting in with your team!" Cruger snarled from behind him, circling him like he was some sort of prey. It was making him twitchy. "What's more, you decided to join in a mission that I did *not* send you on without any notice whatsoever to myself, your team leader, or Kat. And most especially, you actually tried to *strangle* the criminal you were supposed to be bringing in. If your fellow Rangers had not stopped you, he would not be alive to even be in containment. I have half a mind to dismiss you from S.P.D. entirely. I have no room for Rangers who do not respect my authority, or the lives of others!"
His fists clenched so tightly he could feel the silver bangles he'd borrowed from Syd jingling from the tension. The sound no longer amused him. "My team left without me," he said softly, deliberately. His tone was like ice. "That is not acceptable under *any* circumstance. My job here is to protect them, and to protect Newtech City. *That's* what I joined S.P.D. for. Syd lost her freewill today - do you have any idea what that's like? Do you even *care*? I went after Mysticon because he hurt my teammate. Maybe I lost control, but I am *not* ashamed of myself for protecting her!"
"Cadet Drew can handle herself," Cruger snarled into his face.
He glared right back up at him. "She has a team. She doesn't have to. And as far as I'm concerned, feel free to fire me. I don't care. I don't need you to monitor what I do. My morpher has nothing to do with S.P.D., and you can't take it away from me. So either I work for you, or I become a Rogue Ranger. Either way works for me."
He literally could smell the lunch on Cruger's breath as the commander growled at him. "Get out of my sight before I throw you in containment!"
"Fine by me," he snapped back. He headed for the door, ignoring the stares around him.
He paused just inside the doorway, staring at the hallway rather than looking back. "And let me make one thing perfectly clear," he spoke up, his voice deadly quiet again. "The S.P.D. Rangers are my friends. My team leader, is *Andros*."
He walked on, silently regretting the fact that automatic doors couldn't slam shut behind him.