The Storybook Dimension

Title: The Weakest Color
Summary: Bridge, the SPD Green Ranger, is forced to betray the Power Rangers in order to save humanity.
Author: Seren Maris
Genre: Angst/Action/Adventure
Rating: T

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Chapter 20: Choices and Decisions

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Sometimes, Cruger felt like his job consisted of arranging the pieces of a large and impossibly complex puzzle. There were a thousand clues, a thousand pieces of information. And he had to put it all together, no matter how many pieces were missing.

“I have the report on the lab accident,” Kat said, entering his office. Cruger sat up a little straighter. Whatever she found must be important; Kat almost never asked to speak to him privately. “The explosion was a diversion. Around the same time, the camera outside of your office was disabled. I also checked your computer – someone has hacked into it to steal important files.”

“Which files?”

“Everything on the SWAT upgrades.”

Cruger growled under his breath. That information was undoubtedly in Troobian hands by now; so much for that secret weapon! “We should modify the SWAT upgrades,” Cruger decided. “There’s still a chance that we can add something and take them by surprise.”

It all depended on how much time they had left. Cruger would bet his Shadow Saber that Gruumm was planning something big, and the Troobian was nearly ready to make his move.

“Most of my equipment was damaged in the lab explosion, but I’ll see what I can do,” Kat said. “If possible, I’d like to borrow Sophie as well.”

“Take whatever you need. This project is to have the highest importance.”

Kat hesitated. “Doggie, there’s something else.”

—

Even in the most isolated corner of the Troobian spaceship, Broodwing could neatly place Mora in her playroom. For some reason, her pointless chatter seemed to penetrate through the walls, following Broodwing everywhere he went.

Broodwing had risked death and imprisonment many times – all in the name of profit, of course! At the moment, however, he would rather fight down the entire ranger team than deal with Mora. The pint-sized menace was currently playing house with a small army of krybots, and she intended for a very particular bat to play the “baby”.

Which was why Broodwing was lurking in the shadows of an empty storage room, at the far end of the ship. A troop of krybots passed his hiding place before continuing onwards, and Broodwing could hear another one on the level below.

Broodwing waited until he heard the soft, ever-present hum of the engine increase in pitch, signaling that the teleporter was in use. Leaving his hiding place, he quickly made his way to the teleporter room. “You’re here,” Broodwing observed, eyeing the newcomer. “That’s quite risky, considering how things are at SPD.”

Bridge shrugged. “Mora called me. I had to come.”

“Yes, I know,” Broodwing said. “You’re good at doing things for Mora and Gruumm but now it’s time you did something for me. Piggy is here, in one of the prison cells on the lower level. It would be suspicious if I… disposed… of him, which is where you come in.”

“What do I get out of this? I don’t have anything against Piggy.”

“We had an agreement,” Broodwing hissed. “If you don’t want to hold up your end of the bargain, I might have to tell your friends at SPD about you.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Bridge said. “Gruumm would kill you for ruining his plans.”

Bridge couldn’t see it, but he knew that Broodwing was smiling. “Gruumm finds me useful, but he is also oblivious to the large part of what I do. If he found out, it would be a setback – but nothing compared to what your so-called friends would do to you.”

Before Bridge could respond, Mora arrived. The pictomancer eyed them both suspiciously, before turning to Broodwing. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“I was just leaving,” Broodwing said condescendingly. He swept from the room, but not before catching Bridge’s eye. ‘Don’t even thing about disobeying me,’ the bat seemed to say.

Bridge ignored him. “Why am I here?” he asked Mora. “Was there something wrong with the information I sent?”

Mora shook her head, and her pigtails flopped from side to side. “No, Gruumm just wanted to give you your next assignment in person. He really wants to talk to you. I mean, he wouldn’t even let me play with you first.” She brightened. “But that doesn’t matter, because once you come back, you’ll be able to play with me all the time.”

Bridge wasn’t sure he wanted to do that. “You know,” he said, “I think they’re onto me. They’ll figure it out really soon.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Mora said. “You see, this will be your last assignment. Once you’re done, no more sneaking around and no more SPD.”

—

Sky liked things to be black and white.

There was good and there was evil, there was SPD and there was everything else. There were also the things he knew, and the things he didn’t.

In the category of things he knew, Sky put the following facts. First, there was a spy somewhere within SPD. Cruger said it could be anyone, which meant that it could even be one of the rangers. He knew that sometimes, on nights like tonight, the green ranger would sneak from their room and return hours later, exhausted.

Bridge had also developed new powers, but didn’t seem interested in practicing with them or even understanding where they came from. Bridge was always curious — why had that changed? It was almost like Bridge already knew the answer and choose not to tell anyone.

The green ranger seemed to be hiding a lot of things lately.

True, he didn’t know where Bridge went at night. He didn’t know why Bridge’s powers were changing, or why he had suddenly become so secretive.

But Bridge would never betray his friends. Sky knew him better than that.

Didn’t he?

Sky lay in bed and wondered exactly when he had begun to suspect his closest friend of treason.

—

Cruger thought for a very long time before responding. “No, that’s not possible. I don’t believe he’s capable of such a thing.”

“I agree. He’s being framed or somehow manipulated.”

On one hand, this was the break they had been looking for. They finally had enough evidence to detain a suspect, which would appease Fowler and galactic headquarters. On the other hand, Kat was an excellent judge of character, and it went against everything Cruger believed in to imprison an innocent man.

But what if they were wrong? No matter what it took, Cruger couldn’t let Earth meet the same fate as Sirius. “He may be innocent, but can we really take that chance?”

For once, Kat was at a loss for words. “You can’t be considering…”

“I don’t have a choice. It’s for his safety, as well as ours.”

—

Bridge knew the Troobian ship well enough to find his own way to the throne room, but Mora insisted on escorting him. She skipped along the passageway, always keeping a few feet ahead and talking the entire time, chattering about krybots and Cindy and tea and wouldn’t he bring some toys from Earth for her, because she was getting so tired of the ones she had?

Mora’s monologue trailed off as they reached the throne room. As Bridge entered the room, he noticed something strange. Gruumm seemed to be lost in thought, and several uncomfortable seconds passed before the warlord noticed Bridge and beckoned him closer.

“It’s so close,” Gruumm said. “I can almost taste it. Soon, SPD will fall and Earth will be mine. And Anubis “Doggie” Cruger will be at my mercy.” The warlord looked at him.“How does it feel, human? To know that you are responsible for the conquest of Earth?”

“Not so great, actually,” Bridge said. “I betrayed my friends, the only family I had. But I couldn’t watch Earth be destroyed either, so I guess I made the right choice, although…” Gruumm’s eyes were beginning to glow angrily, so he trailed off.

“Why do you hate Commander Cruger so much?” Bridge asked bravely. “I mean, I know that you fought him before, but I bet you’ve fought lots of people, not just him, and you really seem to hate Cruger.”

Bridge didn’t really expect an answer, but Gruumm spoke again. “How much do you know about Sirius, ranger? I destroyed his world, but he took my horn. No one humiliates me and lives.”

Bridge privately thought that Cruger had been punished enough. His planet had been destroyed and, if the rumors were correct, his wife had been killed during the battle. Now Cruger stood to lose everything once more.

Gruumm, however, was clearly finished reminiscing about the past. “Deep inside SPD is a crystal. This crystal allows SPD headquarters to transform into the command megazord. You’re going to take it and bring it to me.”

“That crystal is in the most heavily guarded part of SPD,” Bridge objected. “There’s no way I can steal it without getting caught.”

“Didn’t I tell you this was your last assignment?” Mora piped up. “If they catch you, you’ll just have to fight your way out. Even you should be able to handle that. When you leave SPD, you’ll be teleported here.”

“I’ll do my best,” Bridge said. After all, it wasn’t like he had a choice.

“Of course you will,” Mora said and smiled. “You’ll do it, or you’ll die trying.”

—

Escaping his krybot escort was easy; the hard part was finding the correct room. The Troobian spaceship was a labyrinth of passageways and hidden doors, each made out of the same sinewy green material. Maybe the Troobians grew their ships instead of building them – he could always ask Mora, maybe she would know.

An orange-head krybot approached, and Bridge pressed himself against the wall, hiding in the shadows until it passed. Taking a winding set of stairs to the lower level, Bridge reached a doorway which opened into a large room.

At the far back of the room, Piggy was locked in a cage. Every once in a while, Piggy would pace from one side of his tiny prison to the other, looking anxiously at his two krybot guards.

Making sure the krybots couldn’t see him, Bridge took off his gloves. Green lightning leapt between the guards and both krybots slumped to the ground, smoke rising from their bodies.

Using his new powers was becoming easier, almost second nature. Bridge tried not to think about it; after all, maybe the powers themselves were evil, and the more he used them the worse he’d become.

Inside the cage, Piggy got to his feet and backed away as far as he could. “You. You’re here. And you’re working with Broodwing… and the Troobians?”

Piggy shook his head in amazement. “Honestly, I didn’t think you ranger types had it in you. I guess the whole justice and protecting the planet thing was just talk after all!” Oddly, Piggy felt a little disappointed.

“The protecting the planet part isn’t just talk,” Bridge said. “Although maybe the justice thing is. Anyhow, I’m here because Broodwing sent me to kill you.”

“Oh,” Piggy said ineloquently. What else could he say? “Well, you really, really, don’t want to do that.”

—

To Be Continued

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