Three days had passed since Nicole first woke in the hidden hospital deep below Sinclair Industries. Whatever that strange wand did, Nicole felt better than she had any right to, and the provided physical therapy was almost unneeded. She was being attended to by actual medical staff now, and had only seen Kelly once since their talk while Sinclair was busy with other matters. Again, Nicole didn’t truly trust them, but there was only so much she could do from a hospital bed.

  At least she wasn’t being restricted from having visitors. Grace remained a constant companion through that time, though she was currently up above waiting for the team to arrive. Nicole would be getting released from their care and the entire team promised to be there for when it happened.

  The other side of that coin was that Sinclair and Rivers would be speaking with them again, not that Nicole had the foggiest idea of what it might be about. Despite how forthcoming they had been in the original conversation, it was clear they had ulterior motives beyond helping humanity survive the coming storm.

  Because if there was one thing that Nicole had come to accept after her battle with the Sylan elite, it was that even if all the Rangers of the world were to band together, they would only be able to buy time at best. Bartran was unbelievably powerful, and faster than a normal Ranger by a significant margin. Hell, if it wasn’t for Guiana, he would be the swiftest thing she had ever seen.

  Guiana however, was controlled perfection with a blade, and had the speed to make anyone who crossed her path regret it for the bare instant it took for her to put that needlepoint through their eye. Nicole could hardly believe that she had kept up with such visceral speeds, yet she had not only done that, but exceeded her for the barest of moments.

  The Sylan Empire likely had hundreds of fighters that could be counted in the same power brackets, yet they hadn’t brought them all to this invasion. Just how many conquests were being waged across the stars? Why had their supposed Commander stepped in personally for a backwater like Earth?

  Those were the ideas that plagued Nicole as she got dressed for the first time in normal clothes. She still had a few aches, but they were little more than normal soreness after a hard day on the gymnastics mat. Nicole could have stayed longer, but she wasn’t allowed any visitors in her room, only Grace had been given the exception. She was eager to see her friends again, even if she was worried how they might act now that she had lost her morphing capabilities.

  A gentle knock sounded just as Nicole pulled her shirt overhead. “I’m decent.”

  Kelly Rivers stepped in, a gentle smile on her face and tablet held loosely in her arm. The woman was sharply dressed as per usual, though she lacked the white lab coat she had favored on her prior visits. One thing that Nicole noted about her was that despite the rather fancy pants and top, she wore combat boots instead of something that matched.

  The choice in footwear didn’t surprise Nicole much given the nature of the operation Sinclair seemed to be running. If the facility were ever attacked, the researchers would need to be able to evacuate swiftly, fancy shoes would be counter productive at best, deadly at worst.

  “I’m glad to see you up and mobile,” Kelly said, grinning as she looked her over. “Still favoring your left side a bit?”

  “Not as bad as yesterday,” Nicole confirmed. “I’m amazed at how quickly I’ve recovered, even with your fancy tech.”

  Kelly’s smile faltered slightly. “Yes, you’ve exceeded my predictions as well, to be honest. I have a few theories about that, but I’m unsure if I should mention them.”

  Nicole swallowed. “I’m guessing some of them might make me worry if I knew?”

  “Something like that,” Kelly confirmed. “Once we know conclusively we’ll inform you of the findings.”

  The worry wort within Nicole wanted to go over the worst case scenarios, but that would only lead to madness. For now she would focus on seeing her team again, and after that she could collapse into her own bed, preferably with a warm Grace cuddled up next to her. Thankfully Kelly was quick to go over the discharge process, which was mercifully shorter than an official hospital would be, and included a final sweep with that glow stick of Source powered healing. It didn’t even have a proper name, just a prototype designation that was a string of ten digits and three random letters.

  Needless to say, they weren’t ready for mass production.

  “Alright, ready to head up to the lobby?” Kelly asked.

  Nicole nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Kelly was quick to exit the room, her stride tight and professional. Nicole followed, her body protesting with the dullest of aches, but she had no issues keeping pace. They entered an elevator moments later and then they were rising. There were no floor displays, Kelly had simply tapped a card to the reader and the thing seemed to know exactly where it was going. Was it a one destination elevator?

  Obviously the basement of their building was a secret, one they didn’t want out, but they hadn’t extracted any guarantees that Nicole or Grace wouldn’t speak about it. Then again, doing so would just invite a Sylan attack against them. Maraline had seemed fascinated with the device that saved her, and it brought some suspicions about the level of research that was actually happening in the depths of their labs.

  Stepping out into the lobby, Nicole blinked when she saw her team arrayed across from two people that had their backs to the elevator. Grace was the first to notice her arrival, but didn’t react other than eye contact, which suggested that things were serious. The lobby was still closed to the public as the building was repaired from the fire.

  A fire that they had caused through a malfunctioning prototype. Nicole tried not to place the blame for that on anyone present, but a part of her really wanted to. So many deaths, and it was all an accident from a prototype bootleg space magic device.

  Of the two figures, Xavier Sinclair was immediately recognizable even from behind, but the other person wasn’t. She was tall, with dark hair and tanned skin. She wore a black leather jacket and jeans, nothing special compared to Sinclair’s fitted suit. Given the way that Devon seemed to be glaring at her, Nicole was starting to get a suspicion as to who she might be.

  The question remained, why were they all meeting the Yellow Ranger out of her uniform?

  “Nicole, it’s good to see you up and about,” Sinclair said as he turned. “I’ve already introduced the others to Miss Rentaria here.”

  The woman turned, brown eyes filled with mirth. “We’ve met. Hard to forget carrying a girl from danger like that.” Her statement was then punctuated with a flirtatious wink. Grace actually growled at that which only set the woman into a fit of laughter. “God, you’re all fun to tease. This assignment is gonna be great!” She then thrust out her hand. “Anita Rentaria, Yellow Ranger at your service and on loan to assist in keeping the city safe while you’re down a member.”

  Devon hesitantly accepted the hand, still glaring harshly at the woman who had once threatened him out of uniform. With the suspicion confirmed, it only brought up a large number of questions that Nicole wanted to ask, but she would see what information would be volunteered first before she decided to let her displeasure be known.

  “Do we need a fifth Ranger?” Kayla asked. “No offense, but you did threaten a member of our team.”

  Anita shrugged. “Eh, I wasn’t the one to threaten him. That was Maria.”

  Everyone paused whatever they were about to say as Anita’s carefree grin suddenly shifted into a scowl. “Oh no, that bitch isn’t about to blame this on me. I don’t care how much she bitches later about the forced swap, I’m not letting that slide.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Nicole’s mind raced at the completely different tone, facial set, and how she even switched fucking accents. She hadn’t met anyone who was plural before, not in person at least, but she was aware they existed and this certainly seemed like the people she’d talked to online described.

  “Obviously it was you who threatened me,” Devon snarled.

  Anita, or rather, Maria, sighed. “Yes, I was out front when the threats were delivered. Though the entire thing was her idea. Anita thought it would be funny to mess with your bitch of a girlfriend.”

  “You have no right to call her that,” Devon said, stepping into Maria’s personal space. “If you ever—”

  It was a case of blink and you might miss it, but Devon was thrown to the ground with an arm pinned behind his back. Several flashes of color spanned the room and even Nicole had reached for the watch that was no longer there. The realization sent a pang through Nicole as she relaxed her hands, unable to do anything about the Rangers ready to fight all around her.

  Maria’s expression remained in place, almost seeming disinterested with what happened.

  “Please don’t do that again,” Maria said wearily. “I have problems with men getting close. I’m going to let you up now, but next time I’m breaking something.”

  She stayed true to her word and backed off with some speed. Nicole’s team moved almost immediately. Kayla and Grace moved to keep Maria from closing the distance again while Jeff helped Devon back up. Neither Sinclair or Rivers had moved to intervene, and if anything, the pair seemed more amused than anything.

  “Why didn’t the two of you do anything?” Nicole asked.

  Kelly shrugged. “Honestly? This is going far better than expected. Rentaria volunteered for the assignment before we even asked her. They were informed that it would be up to your team if anything was to be approved.”

  Nicole regarded the woman again, who was back to the irreverent displays of Anita, and let out a sigh. “Well, now I’m almost glad I’m benched.”

  “Don’t count yourself out just yet,” Xavier said with a smirk that promised something terrible. “There is one more test I wish to conduct before you depart, if you’re feeling up for it.”

  Nicole eyed the man warily. “What sort of test?”

  A bright yellow flash followed and the Yellow Ranger stepped forward. “He means me. He wants to see if you can still fight despite what happened.”

  “Absolutely fucking not!” Grace snapped. “She’s not even fully recovered yet for fuck’s sake!”

  “All true,” Sinclair agreed. “Yet I wish to see if she ended up like me, or if something else is at work.”

  Curious at what he meant by that, Nicole held up a hand. “Explain.”

  “I will after you have a short spar,” Sinclair said.

  “Promise not to hurt you,” Anita added cheekily. “If anything I’m hoping you manage to hurt me.”

  What? How the hell did they think she could hurt a Ranger in a straight fight? Sure, they had added unmorphed practice into their drills, but the few times she and Grace had tried sparing with such a discrepancy in power, it had ended up being a completely one sided curb stomp.

  “Humor me,” Sinclair implored. “It’s the easiest way to confirm one of Kelly’s theories she no doubt mentioned when she wasn’t supposed to.”

  Oh, that was such bullshit. “Now I know she mentioned them on purpose.”

  “Acting petulant won’t change things,” Kelly said.

  “She’s right, you know,” Anita said, then her fist blurred out.

  Nicole barely managed to fall back, her whole body ached in protest but instincts took over as Nicole rolled back to her feet and brought her hands up defensively. Yellow’s head tilted a bit and Nicole couldn’t tell if they had switched who was out front or not, but they were now all business with their posture.

  “What the fuck is wrong wi—”

  The words were cut off as Nicole was forced to block a rapid punch combo. The impacts stung, but she managed just barely, keeping up with the blatantly telegraphed strikes. It was a small mercy that Yellow was taking it easy on her, ramping up slowly from human norms. There was no focus to spare for how her friends were handling it, but she knew that if it looked truly dangerous that Grace would step in.

  Kicks joined the punches and it was obvious that Yellow was picking up the pace. Nicole raised both arms to catch a roundhouse, then grabbed the leg and shoved the Ranger back. Yellow twisted in the air and landed in a three point crouch, laughing.

  “Not bad,” Yellow said, standing as she rolled her shoulders. “Think you’re up for more?”

  Nicole heaved out a few breaths, already starting to feel rather warm from the exertion. Not that she was about to admit it in front of the assholes subjecting her to this shit. “That’s rhetorical, isn’t it?”

  Another chuckle and Yellow was back into motion.

  The strike was faster than any of the previous ones, grazing Nicole across the cheek as she barely managed to shift aside. Her eyes narrowed as she tightened her focus, bringing it all down on the arrogant Ranger that was simply toying with her.

  Reaching for the rhythm of Yellow’s strikes, Nicole snaked her own fist out with a discordant blow, striking the Ranger in the rib. Nicole felt the kinetic barrier flex, but it didn’t come close to giving out.

  Nicole danced back almost immediately, playing for distance even as she heaved for breath. Despite the two exchanges taking only a few moments she was still winded as all hell. She turned a harsh glare upon her benefactors, particularly Rivers.

  “That good enough?”

  Kelly tapped something on her tablet, then smiled. “I do believe it was. Thank you for putting up with that, Nicole. It would appear that we have some answers for you now.”

  “The readings?” Sinclair asked, leaning over to view the tablet.

  Kelly flicked through several screens before stopping on one in particular. “The sensors definitely picked up a spike, something we never quite observed with you.”

  “Interesting,” Sinclair said. “Nicole, are you aware of the results of my own spars with Yellow while she is morphed?”

  Curious where he was going with that, Nicole shook her head. “How could I be?”

  “Then you’re unaware of what you just did,” Sinclair said with a smile that almost seemed predatory. “You might have lost your morpher, but much of that power has remained with you, changed you. It’s why you healed so quickly, and why Yellow struggled to land a hit.”

  Struggled? “She was toying with me the entire time.”

  “Nope,” Yellow said, dismissing her morph. “I can assure you, I was doing my best to hit you during that second exchange.”

  A shuddering thump hit Nicole in the chest as she sucked in a breath. Were they really suggesting that she could still reach the heights of a Ranger? This had to be some cruel trick, a final jab at her from the uncaring void that was the universe itself.

  “Couldn’t Sinclair do all this?” Nicole asked carefully.

  The man grimaced, but it was Kelly that spoke up.

  “You severely overestimate Sinclair’s ability. He’s only a hair over baseline, something that’s different about your entire group. It’s why we took an interest in you, you continued to produce Source energy even while unconscious.”

  Nicole stumbled back, strong arms hooking under her before she could fall. Just what the hell had happened that she was apparently producing the energy that Rangers used even after her morpher was all but scrap metal. She wasn’t even wearing it, Sinclair had kept the damn thing for research purposes.

  “I got you,” Grace whispered, helping Nicole find her feet again. “So what does this mean? That our entire team is different from most Rangers?”

  Kelly smiled, though it was a bit rueful. “All Ranger teams have something about them that is unique. It seems to be the one consistent thing across all teams, the lack of consistency in ability. Some are stronger, some weaker, and you lot can channel far more Source energy than others.”

  “Another anomaly in the baselines,” Nicole muttered, quoting the Commander as she thought back over everything said during the battle. “They always mentioned data while fighting us.”

  “Exactly,” Sinclair said. “It always struck everyone as strange that an entire invasion was halted in the face of a single Ranger team, then few questioned why so many others began to appear to counter the continuing attacks.

  “The leading theory among the Pentagon was that the attacks remained focused on Rangers since they were a known element, yet random attacks against hard targets continued despite the vast majority being aimed at Rangers. Can you guess why that is?”

  Nicole thought she was ready for the conclusion, but she was wrong. It made a disturbing amount of sense and everything said to her by the Sylan elite shifted, falling into place in a weave that all lined up almost perfectly.

  “They didn’t stop because the Rangers were a threat, they shifted focus because the Rangers were the goal.”

  “Exactly,” Sinclair said gravely. “They aren’t trying to fight against the Rangers, they’re cultivating them in an effort to study the Source.”

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