"Soul's Bonds", Chapter 18
*chug chug mc-chug*
Chapter 18 (Sky)
Bridge and I quickly set back out into the city on our motorcycles to find Z, both of us morphed and in S.W.A.T. Mode, not willing to risk going out unarmed in case of another attack. My stomach was still hurting, and I was sure it wasn't entirely due to being struck in it so hard...
"I'm feeding the trace on Z to your helmets," Kat informed us as we drove. "She's slowed down, probably getting tired from her searching, and I'm no longer detecting her clones, either. Be careful, though, she may be followed by the assassins."
"10-4. Thanks, Kat," I told her, and we followed the signal toward the docks.
"I really hope... she's not... being followed. I've had... enough fighting... for one day," Bridge groused when we'd stopped and gotten off.
"You know those're the breaks," I said, activating my thermal scanner. "Buck up and let's go." We didn't have far to look before we found Z, who had demorphed and was sitting on the ground next to a dumpster, looking downtrodden. My scans revealed no signs of the assassins; indeed, there were no other lifeforms nearby, save for something digging through the dumpster. As we powered down, I could see (much to my disgust) that it was Piggy, who had accumulated a small pile of trash- or treasure, in his case, I guess- beside Z. Bridge pulled off one of his gloves and waved his arm, presumably reading everybody's auras.
"Z's tired... depressed... and angry," he reported. "Piggy won't give us... any trouble, though. He's as happy as... a pig in shit... if you'll... pardon the expression." The two of us warily came up to Z, kneeling down beside her.
"Hey," I said as she looked up. "We're here to get you. You look exhausted; are you OK?"
"Yeah," she sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. "I just cloned myself one too many times in frustration. I try not to do more than two or three at a time because it drains my energy and splits my focus in too many directions. I'm sorry for running off like that. Things seemed to be going so well, we were winning, then they still managed to get away with Syd... I guess I lost it."
"I understand," I said, standing erect and offering a hand to help her up. "All the same, don't do it again. Wandering off by yourself in a fit of rage isn't the smartest thing to be doing right now, because our enemies are still out there. I guess you didn't see any sign of them...?"
"Nothing, not a damn thing," Z said, taking my hand and pulling herself up. "It's like what happened when they snatched you, Bridge, except this time there're no taunting notes or ransom demands to go along with it."
"Didn't really expect... anything different," said Bridge, frowning. "We didn't get... anything... back at the base... either. Probably want... same things... they wanted... when they... had me, though." We started walking back to our motorcycles, before I went back over to the dumpster and pulled Piggy out by the collar of his tattered jacket.
"Hey, hey, ow, what's this all about? I'm not doing anything wrong," he protested.
"Then be sure you don't," I said. "I know you were listening in on us. Let us know if you find anything out, and if you tell the wrong people that Syd's missing... you know what'll happen."
"I'm long out of the information-trading-with-the-evil-guys business," said Piggy huffily, gathering up his "treasures" when I set him down. "You know I am. Have I ever given you any reason not to trust me? ... Wait, don't answer that."
"Good, because we'd be here all day. Be sure to keep an eye out for us," I told him. "Even if you don't deal with the bad guys any more, you still sometimes see and hear things we don't. Oh, and could you let Jack know what's happened, too? I'd do it myself, but we have to get back to the base." He gave me the thumbs-up as he walked away. "Er... thanks, Piggy."
"Is Tessie alright, at least?" Z was asking Bridge as I joined them, and he shrugged as he put his motorcycle helmet on and clambered on his bike.
"OK in the... not dead sense... I guess," he replied. "But. We think... she had... a bad concussion... which would... put her out... for a while."
"Oh, swell. Perfect. This just keeps getting better and better," growled Z. "So the three of us are the only ones left?"
"The three of us plus Cruger," I reminded her. "We'll be alright, we scraped by when Bridge was out of commission, remember? And Tessie will only be out for a week if we're lucky. Are you doubting our ability to handle this?"
"I know we're awesome fighters, and all, but we're not lucky, Sky," Z said, rolling her eyes as she slapped a helmet on her own head and got on behind Bridge. "We haven't been lucky in quite a long time. We stopped being lucky the day Ka'ladra kidnapped Bridge the one time in his entire career at SPD he was unarmed and powerless. These guys are so strong and so clever, every Ranger unable to fight is a big blow against us."
"Hate to... say it, but... I think... she's right," Bridge agreed. "The four of us... are good... but they're... even better."
"Aren't we all just the happy optimists, then? I'm trying to keep our morale up, but if you guys want to give up now, I won't stop you," I said irritably, revving up my bike and taking off ahead of the others. As soon as we got back in, I called the command center on my morpher. "Sir, this is Tate, Carson and Delgado reporting back in. Do we need to be debriefed?"
"Not yet," he replied. "I wish to speak with Cadet Delgado one-on-one first. Cadets Carson and Tate, please report to the infirmary; Dr. Felix just told me that Cadet Herdman has woken up, and he needs some help determining if she has amnesia. You should also find out if she can give us any more details about Syd's capture."
"Yes, sir. Red Ranger out."
"Well, time for my requisite chewing-out," Z said gloomily. "I'll be by to see Tess as soon as I'm done if I'm not sent to scrub out toilets or something. By the way, Sky... I'm not ready to admit defeat yet."
"I know. It's hard to be optimistic at times like this; I sympathize, I really do, but defeatest attitudes could be our downfall. I don't want to hear any more of that kind of talk... from either of you," I said and nudged Bridge, who smirked at me in return. "What?"
"Oh, you just... look so sexy... when you're being... all authoritative... like that," he said, making me roll my eyes. Z snickered and waved at us before she went off toward Delta Command.
"Good luck with Cruger," I said, waving back, then Bridge and I headed to the infirmary. Upon entering, we found that Dr. Felix, SPD's tiger-like chief medical officer, was fussing over Tessie, checking her wounds as she loudly protested. She had demorphed, but her green uniform was just as torn up as her Ranger suit had been.
"I'm tellin' you, I'm FINE, Doctor!" she grumbled. "Aside from a big freakin' headache and my body full o'holes and sliced up like raw hamburger, of course..."
"Miss Herdman, SIT STILL," Dr. Felix told her, exhasperated. "Just because you feel fine at the moment doesn't mean you're out of danger. Now, do you recognize who these men are?" he asked, pointing to us, and she squinted hard.
"Can't recognize much of anythin' without my glasses, but I can see red an' blue, and brown hair, so that must mean it's Sky and Bridge. Tell him I'm fine, you two," she said, crossing her arms and pouting.
"No can do, little buddy. Stop giving Dr. Felix a hard time," I told her sternly. "He knows what he's talking about, and he's boss in here, not me or you. He's just trying to look out for your health." Tessie kept pouting, but stopped resisting.
"Much appreciated, Mr. Tate sir," said Dr. Felix. "She's been giving me fits ever since she woke up. Don't push her too hard when you interrogate her; stress could irritate the aftereffects of the concussion."
"Interrogate me? 'bout what?" she inquired.
"Commander Cruger wants to know if you remember anything before you fell unconscious," I replied. "The assassins managed to take off with Syd, and we need to know if you saw anything."
"Oh, are you frickin' kidding me?" cried Tessie, throwing her arms up. "Just when I thought things were finally startin' to go our way... 'fraid I can't help you, though. The last thing I remember is me and Syd pulling up to investigate a disturbance, then nada. I don't remember the battle at all, or how I got here." I sighed, unable to help feeling disappointed. I was hoping she'd seen SOMETHING useful, because I didn't want to go through another period of mental anguish like we'd had when Bridge was missing... not knowing where he was, if we'd ever see him alive...
"Small periods of amnesia are not unusual," said Dr. Felix, nodding. "Now, Miss Herdman, I know you're not going to want to hear this, but you will to need to be on bedrest and observation for the next week at least to make sure there are no lingering symptoms."
"What?" Tessie demanded as the door creaked open and Z joined us. "But I feel-"
"-fine, I know," he finished impatiently. "It seems as though you had a pretty severe concussion, however. If you were any rank but B-Squad, I could clear you for light duty, but you are getting into more and more fights nowadays. Another blow to the head could leave you with serious brain damage." Tessie pouted some more and flopped back down onto the bed, knowing that with me in the room, she had to comply or get in trouble.
"Yessir," she said glumly.
"Good lady," Dr. Felix said, turning to go into his office. "Well, it looks like that's all for now. Rangers... if you need me for anything, you know where to find me. If you're going to be here for a while, if you don't mind, keep asking Miss Herdman questions- if she remembers who everybody is, what day it is, that sort of thing."
"Thanks, Doctor," I said as his door shut, then I turned to Z. "So, how'd it go with Cruger?"
"He reminded me that, while he does know why I freaked out, I'm a team player and that I should have had that pounded into me during S.W.A.T. training, but he'd be glad to send me back to Silverback if I'd forgotten," she replied. "Also told me that I should practice what I preach about using our powers responsibly, oh, and that it was incredibly stupid of me to go running off after Syd knowing they'd vanished as usual. Then he gave me booty duty for a week. I was hoping he'd lightened up for good after Bridge got kidnapped, but no dice."
"Owtch," I said. "Yeah, I guess since we're all together and healthy again, we've got no excuse to slack off on being obedient."
"What's booty duty?" Tessie piped up, blinking owlishly.
"Our... less than affectionate term... for night watch," said Bridge. "It kicks you... right in the ass... after a few days straight. But. 'Booty duty'... flows better... than 'ass duty'." Tessie snorted as she cuddled her Spider-Man doll.
"I'm sorry, Z, I feel bad for you, but that really is funny," she giggled. Z had opened her mouth to respond when Commander Cruger walked in, so we all fell silent and saluted him. He nodded to us before he went over to Tessie.
"Cadet Herdman, I'm glad to see that you're awake. Do you know who I am?" he asked her.
"Sir, you're Commander Cruger," she replied, trying and failing to not sound annoyed. "Even though I can't see much of you."
"Just checking. Were you able to tell your fellow cadets anything useful?" he asked, and she shook her head 'no'. "Thank you anyway. Please rest and focus on your recovery now; the last thing we want is you getting injured more severely. Your duties will all be covered, so do not worry about them. Understood?" She nodded and 'yes, sir'ed. "The rest of you, please follow me." The three of us did so, me wondering what was coming next. My dread about what could be happening to Syd, even as we stood here, was growing steadily.
Chapter 18 (Sky)
Bridge and I quickly set back out into the city on our motorcycles to find Z, both of us morphed and in S.W.A.T. Mode, not willing to risk going out unarmed in case of another attack. My stomach was still hurting, and I was sure it wasn't entirely due to being struck in it so hard...
"I'm feeding the trace on Z to your helmets," Kat informed us as we drove. "She's slowed down, probably getting tired from her searching, and I'm no longer detecting her clones, either. Be careful, though, she may be followed by the assassins."
"10-4. Thanks, Kat," I told her, and we followed the signal toward the docks.
"I really hope... she's not... being followed. I've had... enough fighting... for one day," Bridge groused when we'd stopped and gotten off.
"You know those're the breaks," I said, activating my thermal scanner. "Buck up and let's go." We didn't have far to look before we found Z, who had demorphed and was sitting on the ground next to a dumpster, looking downtrodden. My scans revealed no signs of the assassins; indeed, there were no other lifeforms nearby, save for something digging through the dumpster. As we powered down, I could see (much to my disgust) that it was Piggy, who had accumulated a small pile of trash- or treasure, in his case, I guess- beside Z. Bridge pulled off one of his gloves and waved his arm, presumably reading everybody's auras.
"Z's tired... depressed... and angry," he reported. "Piggy won't give us... any trouble, though. He's as happy as... a pig in shit... if you'll... pardon the expression." The two of us warily came up to Z, kneeling down beside her.
"Hey," I said as she looked up. "We're here to get you. You look exhausted; are you OK?"
"Yeah," she sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. "I just cloned myself one too many times in frustration. I try not to do more than two or three at a time because it drains my energy and splits my focus in too many directions. I'm sorry for running off like that. Things seemed to be going so well, we were winning, then they still managed to get away with Syd... I guess I lost it."
"I understand," I said, standing erect and offering a hand to help her up. "All the same, don't do it again. Wandering off by yourself in a fit of rage isn't the smartest thing to be doing right now, because our enemies are still out there. I guess you didn't see any sign of them...?"
"Nothing, not a damn thing," Z said, taking my hand and pulling herself up. "It's like what happened when they snatched you, Bridge, except this time there're no taunting notes or ransom demands to go along with it."
"Didn't really expect... anything different," said Bridge, frowning. "We didn't get... anything... back at the base... either. Probably want... same things... they wanted... when they... had me, though." We started walking back to our motorcycles, before I went back over to the dumpster and pulled Piggy out by the collar of his tattered jacket.
"Hey, hey, ow, what's this all about? I'm not doing anything wrong," he protested.
"Then be sure you don't," I said. "I know you were listening in on us. Let us know if you find anything out, and if you tell the wrong people that Syd's missing... you know what'll happen."
"I'm long out of the information-trading-with-the-evil-guys business," said Piggy huffily, gathering up his "treasures" when I set him down. "You know I am. Have I ever given you any reason not to trust me? ... Wait, don't answer that."
"Good, because we'd be here all day. Be sure to keep an eye out for us," I told him. "Even if you don't deal with the bad guys any more, you still sometimes see and hear things we don't. Oh, and could you let Jack know what's happened, too? I'd do it myself, but we have to get back to the base." He gave me the thumbs-up as he walked away. "Er... thanks, Piggy."
"Is Tessie alright, at least?" Z was asking Bridge as I joined them, and he shrugged as he put his motorcycle helmet on and clambered on his bike.
"OK in the... not dead sense... I guess," he replied. "But. We think... she had... a bad concussion... which would... put her out... for a while."
"Oh, swell. Perfect. This just keeps getting better and better," growled Z. "So the three of us are the only ones left?"
"The three of us plus Cruger," I reminded her. "We'll be alright, we scraped by when Bridge was out of commission, remember? And Tessie will only be out for a week if we're lucky. Are you doubting our ability to handle this?"
"I know we're awesome fighters, and all, but we're not lucky, Sky," Z said, rolling her eyes as she slapped a helmet on her own head and got on behind Bridge. "We haven't been lucky in quite a long time. We stopped being lucky the day Ka'ladra kidnapped Bridge the one time in his entire career at SPD he was unarmed and powerless. These guys are so strong and so clever, every Ranger unable to fight is a big blow against us."
"Hate to... say it, but... I think... she's right," Bridge agreed. "The four of us... are good... but they're... even better."
"Aren't we all just the happy optimists, then? I'm trying to keep our morale up, but if you guys want to give up now, I won't stop you," I said irritably, revving up my bike and taking off ahead of the others. As soon as we got back in, I called the command center on my morpher. "Sir, this is Tate, Carson and Delgado reporting back in. Do we need to be debriefed?"
"Not yet," he replied. "I wish to speak with Cadet Delgado one-on-one first. Cadets Carson and Tate, please report to the infirmary; Dr. Felix just told me that Cadet Herdman has woken up, and he needs some help determining if she has amnesia. You should also find out if she can give us any more details about Syd's capture."
"Yes, sir. Red Ranger out."
"Well, time for my requisite chewing-out," Z said gloomily. "I'll be by to see Tess as soon as I'm done if I'm not sent to scrub out toilets or something. By the way, Sky... I'm not ready to admit defeat yet."
"I know. It's hard to be optimistic at times like this; I sympathize, I really do, but defeatest attitudes could be our downfall. I don't want to hear any more of that kind of talk... from either of you," I said and nudged Bridge, who smirked at me in return. "What?"
"Oh, you just... look so sexy... when you're being... all authoritative... like that," he said, making me roll my eyes. Z snickered and waved at us before she went off toward Delta Command.
"Good luck with Cruger," I said, waving back, then Bridge and I headed to the infirmary. Upon entering, we found that Dr. Felix, SPD's tiger-like chief medical officer, was fussing over Tessie, checking her wounds as she loudly protested. She had demorphed, but her green uniform was just as torn up as her Ranger suit had been.
"I'm tellin' you, I'm FINE, Doctor!" she grumbled. "Aside from a big freakin' headache and my body full o'holes and sliced up like raw hamburger, of course..."
"Miss Herdman, SIT STILL," Dr. Felix told her, exhasperated. "Just because you feel fine at the moment doesn't mean you're out of danger. Now, do you recognize who these men are?" he asked, pointing to us, and she squinted hard.
"Can't recognize much of anythin' without my glasses, but I can see red an' blue, and brown hair, so that must mean it's Sky and Bridge. Tell him I'm fine, you two," she said, crossing her arms and pouting.
"No can do, little buddy. Stop giving Dr. Felix a hard time," I told her sternly. "He knows what he's talking about, and he's boss in here, not me or you. He's just trying to look out for your health." Tessie kept pouting, but stopped resisting.
"Much appreciated, Mr. Tate sir," said Dr. Felix. "She's been giving me fits ever since she woke up. Don't push her too hard when you interrogate her; stress could irritate the aftereffects of the concussion."
"Interrogate me? 'bout what?" she inquired.
"Commander Cruger wants to know if you remember anything before you fell unconscious," I replied. "The assassins managed to take off with Syd, and we need to know if you saw anything."
"Oh, are you frickin' kidding me?" cried Tessie, throwing her arms up. "Just when I thought things were finally startin' to go our way... 'fraid I can't help you, though. The last thing I remember is me and Syd pulling up to investigate a disturbance, then nada. I don't remember the battle at all, or how I got here." I sighed, unable to help feeling disappointed. I was hoping she'd seen SOMETHING useful, because I didn't want to go through another period of mental anguish like we'd had when Bridge was missing... not knowing where he was, if we'd ever see him alive...
"Small periods of amnesia are not unusual," said Dr. Felix, nodding. "Now, Miss Herdman, I know you're not going to want to hear this, but you will to need to be on bedrest and observation for the next week at least to make sure there are no lingering symptoms."
"What?" Tessie demanded as the door creaked open and Z joined us. "But I feel-"
"-fine, I know," he finished impatiently. "It seems as though you had a pretty severe concussion, however. If you were any rank but B-Squad, I could clear you for light duty, but you are getting into more and more fights nowadays. Another blow to the head could leave you with serious brain damage." Tessie pouted some more and flopped back down onto the bed, knowing that with me in the room, she had to comply or get in trouble.
"Yessir," she said glumly.
"Good lady," Dr. Felix said, turning to go into his office. "Well, it looks like that's all for now. Rangers... if you need me for anything, you know where to find me. If you're going to be here for a while, if you don't mind, keep asking Miss Herdman questions- if she remembers who everybody is, what day it is, that sort of thing."
"Thanks, Doctor," I said as his door shut, then I turned to Z. "So, how'd it go with Cruger?"
"He reminded me that, while he does know why I freaked out, I'm a team player and that I should have had that pounded into me during S.W.A.T. training, but he'd be glad to send me back to Silverback if I'd forgotten," she replied. "Also told me that I should practice what I preach about using our powers responsibly, oh, and that it was incredibly stupid of me to go running off after Syd knowing they'd vanished as usual. Then he gave me booty duty for a week. I was hoping he'd lightened up for good after Bridge got kidnapped, but no dice."
"Owtch," I said. "Yeah, I guess since we're all together and healthy again, we've got no excuse to slack off on being obedient."
"What's booty duty?" Tessie piped up, blinking owlishly.
"Our... less than affectionate term... for night watch," said Bridge. "It kicks you... right in the ass... after a few days straight. But. 'Booty duty'... flows better... than 'ass duty'." Tessie snorted as she cuddled her Spider-Man doll.
"I'm sorry, Z, I feel bad for you, but that really is funny," she giggled. Z had opened her mouth to respond when Commander Cruger walked in, so we all fell silent and saluted him. He nodded to us before he went over to Tessie.
"Cadet Herdman, I'm glad to see that you're awake. Do you know who I am?" he asked her.
"Sir, you're Commander Cruger," she replied, trying and failing to not sound annoyed. "Even though I can't see much of you."
"Just checking. Were you able to tell your fellow cadets anything useful?" he asked, and she shook her head 'no'. "Thank you anyway. Please rest and focus on your recovery now; the last thing we want is you getting injured more severely. Your duties will all be covered, so do not worry about them. Understood?" She nodded and 'yes, sir'ed. "The rest of you, please follow me." The three of us did so, me wondering what was coming next. My dread about what could be happening to Syd, even as we stood here, was growing steadily.