"Z, what's the point of having an older brother or sister if all you do is fight with them?" Thirteen year old Sam asked one day he was down visiting B Squad.
"Well Sam, It's like having a friend but you come from the same family. Don't you fight with your friends sometimes?"
"Yes, but what about Jack? No offense but you two don't look that alike." The boy stated.
"We've uh… Jack!" She said as the ex-red ranger walked in the door and looked over to her in confusion. "Sam has a question for you." She told him before exiting the room fast.
Jack looked over at the boy. "What's wrong Sam?" He asked.
"How are you and Z related?" Sam rephrased
"We aren't technically related. When we were on the streets together, we knew we could rely on each other if things went bad. We trusted each other enough to tell each other our secrets. One of Z's being that she always wanted a family." Jack said. "I told her that, if she wanted me to, I could be her brother. Then all the teasing started. It was fun and brought us closer."
Sam looked thoughtful for a moment and Jack could almost hear the gears grinding in his head. "Does she still want a family?" Sam asked with a mischievous smile which Jack copied.
The two planners looked around the corners on their way to the command center. Sam was following at a slightly slower pace, making sure they weren't being followed. When they got there, they weren't surprised to see only Kat and Doggie around as it was between shifts. The duo then proceeded to tell them the plan they had, the older pair happy to help iron out some of the smaller details that got over looked in the excited haze surrounding the younger pair.
Sky and Syd got called into the Command Center with a confuddled Bridge. None of them knew why any of them were being summoned.
"I can feel Sam and a lot of excitement." Bridge said before they entered the room and confirmed the mini-ranger was there.
Soon, everyone was informed of Jack and Sam's plan. Everyone except the recipient of it.
Z was in her room trying to remember what little she could of the family that didn't want her. She could always remember bright flowers and a man with glasses. Z always wondered what it would be like to celebrate father's or mother's day with the people who gave her away, like most of the kids in the foster care system, but settled for her and Jack's own holidays, brother's and sister's days.
Come to think of it, siblings' day is coming up soon. Maybe I can get the guys something nice. The yellow ranger pondered quietly.
Over the following couple of days, everyone was keeping a secret plan from Z and Z was keeping a secret from the guys. If any of them saw one another while they were in New Tech City, the seer would then go and hide out of sight until the person passed.
10/04/2026 – Parent's Sibling's Day
Z Delgado had wrapped her gifts the night before. It took her the rest of the first day coming up with ideas for each of the guys. Bridge, Sky, Boom and Jack were the easiest. But finding something for Sam and Syd was harder than she thought. She tried looking in almost every shop in the city but when she didn't find anything, she made something. She placed all the wrapped gifts into a small bag but just as she was leaving, a D Squad cadet walked up to her, handed her an envelope, saluted and walked away. Z cautiously opened it and saw a card inside.
Where 5 was once three
Is where you need to be.
Z was confused then she remembered B Squad used to only have three people in it before she and Jack joined its ranks. Z then went down to the cells and found another envelope. Happy Father's Day was written on the cover but the "Parent" part was crossed out and replaced with the word "Sibling" in familiar writing. Z smiled and opened the card.
Happy Parent's Siblings' Day, Z.
I'm teaching them now go find a teacher's bot.
J.
Z creased her brow in thought and looked at the other side looking for a clue.
Think like an anagram.
Syd's loopy cursive said as it clicked with Z where she was going next. All she had to do was find Sophie. Maybe she's in the command center. She thought before heading that way.
"Guys! She's coming early!" Bridge said as everyone froze.
"Right now?" Jack asked.
"Cadets, evasive maneuvers. Hide this stuff." Doggie ordered as Sky, Syd, Bridge and Jack ran into a closet in the lab, carrying most of the decorations with them. Kat, Doggie and Boom were barely into their normal places when Z walked in.
Z looked around, momentarily confused. "Did I hear Jack a moment ago?" She asked.
"I'm sorry Z, I haven't seen him all day." Kat told her.
Z was saddened by the news and turned to Doggie. "DC, have you seen Sophie today?"
He looked thoughtful for a moment before responding. "I believe she came in here earlier looking for you Z."
"Oh." Z said. "Did she say where she was going?"
"I believe she said something about trying to find you in your favorite places. Try those." He said as Boom nervously knocked over a beaker beside him. One of Z's doubles appeared near him and caught it, getting a bit of the liquid on her hand. She didn't notice and handed the beaker back to the trembling guy.
"Are you OK Boom?" The yellow ranger's duplicate asked.
"Y-yup. Why wouldn't I be?" He replied.
Z2 raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything else on the matter and disappeared back into the original.
"Bye guys. Tell Jack I was looking for him if he comes please." She said before exiting the Command Center.
She exited the room scratching her wrist. After which, the other rangers, Sam and Jack almost fell out of the closet.
"What's in that beaker, Boom?" Jack asked him.
"Well it's either the control for an experiment or..."
"Or what Boom?" Crugar asked.
"O-or the actual experiment." Boom answered, looking at the floor.
"Boom, which experiment were you working on?" Kat asked him, seeing as the two overprotective men were getting nowhere.
"It was the one with about allergies I was telling you about. That was possibly the allergens but I don't know." Boom said, cowering under the glares Jack and Crugar were glaring at him.
"Which allergen were you using Boom?" Kat asked after glaring at the pair.
"Uh…egg whites. My mom is allergic and she always wanted to eat some cake" He said and looked at his feet.
"It was a nice gesture Boom but we don't know if Z is allergic too." Kat said calmly. "What happened when your mother was near eggs?"
"She told us that if it went near her, she could become itchy or her mouth and eyes could swell up. But she also said allergies depend completely on the person." He explained.
Z was walking along the halls absent mindedly scratching while she was looking for Sophie. She was miles away and didn't notice her until she bumped into her.
Sophie noticed her wrist. "What happened to you?" She asked.
"I don't know." Z replied. "It started getting itchy after one of my duplicates caught a beaker Boom knocked over. I'm sure it's nothing."
Sophie looks at her uncertainly but continues on with her primary reason for looking for the yellow ranger. "The mail carrier gave me a letter today with another envelope inside it addressed to you. There was also a note in it: Find her by 4 pm please and give it to-" Sophie was cut off by the alarms going off.
A GROUP OF KRYBOTS HAS BEEN SPOTTED. B SQUAD, PLEASE REPORT TO THE GARAGE.
"Will you hold this for a minute Sophie? I'll be right back." Z said, handing the bag on her shoulder to the girl before running off to the garage.
Z got there the same time as everyone else and they went to the market place. Soon they were all fighting Krybots.
"Ugh!" Z said. "Why is this suit so itchy?! Did either of you two do something to it?!" She said, looking at the two guys.
"Hey!" Bridge said as he dodged a Krybot.
"Why isn't Syd included in the blame game?" Sky asked.
"Because you two are the only two that know how these suits work well enough to rig something up!" Z almost yelled as she tried to simultaneously fight the Krybot and scratch her arm.
"Then stop trying to scratch your impossible itch." Bridge said, on the side. " If it's what I think it is, the more you scratch the worse it'll become."
They finished fighting the Krybots and demorphed.
"What the hell is wrong with my arm?!" Z yelled at Bridge when her arm appeared dark pink and slightly swollen.
"Z, don't panic. We need to get you to Felix. Now." Sky said, sounding more serious than normal.
"What? Why? It's just itching powder, right?" Z asked trying to keep calm but her mouth felt weird. "Guysh! My ton'!" She said to them.
"Syd, Bridge." Sky said turning to the pink and green ranger, "Take Z back to base. Fast. Bridge drive and don't crash. Syd, keep her calm. Allergies are moved faster when people are panicking." Both rangers looked confused but went to their jobs. Syd and Bridge brought Z to Felix in the medical wing.
"What happened to her?" Felix asked when he saw Z.
"Boom got an allergen sample on her earlier." Syd started. "The reaction happened faster than normal while we were morphed."
"She needs epinephrine." He said before sticking a needle of clear liquid into a vein in her arm.
"Can Commander Crugar, Jack Landers and Boom please come down to the med bay now." Felix said into the intercom when Z was placed on a cot.
Sky just walked into the med bay when Crugar walked in behind him. Jack and Boom were already there. Boom looked upset with Bridge sitting beside him, trying to cheer him up and Jack was sitting beside his sister figure.
"What happened here?" Doggie said, startling most occupants of the room.
"I - I - I'm really sorry commander! I didn't mean for this to happen!" Boom exclaimed
"I know Boom." Doggie said with a calm voice. "Unfortunately, unknown allergies are common when you live on the streets. I'm just glad Z got the necessary medicine in time."
"Yeah D.C." A weak voice said. Everyone turned to look at Z. "It was an accident Boom. I don't blame you a bit. In fact, I want to thank you. If this hadn't happened, I could have eaten some eggs and died from it." Z finished with a weak smile.
The door opened once again and everyone turned to see Sam almost running in with a yellow bag and an envelope.
"Z!" He said and went up beside her. "Did you know there's a lot of stairs between here and my room? And did you also know that Sophie left at three today?"
"No I did not know those things Sam. Did you look through my bag?" Z asked.
"Nope." He said proudly.
"Good boy, Sam." Z said before ruffling his curly hair.
Sam gave Z the bag and she opened it. She then pulled out 6 wrapped items. She handed Jack and Sam the red and white ones respectively then she threw a deep red one to Sky, blue to Bridge, pink to Syd and an orange one to Boom.
"Every foster kid always hated 2 days every year. Parents' day. Until I found Jack. Then we made our day. Siblings' day. Our version where we were grateful for each other and to have survived. These are my way of saying thanks.
They open their gifts carefully and the guys were soon laughing.
Jack raised an eyebrow and showed everyone his personal shirt. "Very clever Z. 'Born To Save' Is very original but I'll wear it." He said, swapping the shirt he was wearing for his new shirt.
"What is this?" Sky said, turning his gift around and inspecting it.
"It's a book light. You clip it onto your book and it's bright enough to read with and not annoy anyone else." Syd explained.
"Can I ask why I got it?" Sky said raising an eyebrow. None of the other cadets would look him in the eye. "Oh come on! It's not that annoying."
"Thanks for the CDs Z." Bridge said, changing the topic away from Sky.
"What did you put on them?" Syd asked.
"A bit of everything. A couple of your songs, Kira's, some hip hop, rap and a load more. There should be a list in one of the cases." Z explained.
"Aww! That was so sweet Z!" Syd said, hugging her roommate.
"Hey! I love my shirt Z! Boom said and everyone turned to see him holding up a shirt similar to theirs in orange. "How did you get it to go orange?"
"That was Jack's fault." Z explained.
"Hey, I never knew colors could run. And I thought it was hilarious, your face!" Jack retorted before bursting out laughing.
"And that is also one of the reasons he has been banned from all cleaning jobs." Z said with a smug grin as Jack stuck his tongue out at his sister, much to everyone's amusement.
"I like it Boom." Sam said, pulling out his present of an action figure out of its wrapping paper. "What is it?" He asked Z.
"It's an action figure. Basically, it's what I remember the boys at the children's home playing with." Z explained.
"Who is it an action figure of?" Sam asked.
"Well this one is of the ranger that left after we won against Grumm, Omega." Z explained.
"Who was he?" Sam asked again.
"Uh... Commander, Kat, could you please give us a bit of privacy? I need to ask the guys something." Z said, changing the topic.
"Of course Cadet."Can Crugar said before stepping outside with Kat.
Z pulled out a card from her bag and explained what they were supposed to do with it
"Some kids did this for the care home owners. It was special for them. All you do is sign the card however you want and add a message if you want." She explained showing them the card. "We're like a big dysfunctional family that they show on TV."
Syd hugged the brunette again and took the pen offered to her. She then pulled the card from its envelope and smiled at the cover. She used her loopy cursive to write a message and her name then she passed it to Jack who wrote something as well. After Jack it was passed to Bridge and Sky. Z wrote a message in it when it came back to her. When she slid it over to Sam, he picked up the pen and put it back down
"What do I write?" He asked.
"Whatever you want to tell them. Be it Mac and Cheese for dinner or…and he's gone." Jack said, noticing Sam writing.
When Sam was done with his message, Z put it into the envelope and sealed it. Bridge brought back in Doggie and Kat. Doggie noticed something slightly off about his rangers and Sam, they all seemed to share a certain glint of mischief in their eyes and something familiar.
"DC, you know how half of us don't really have parents per say?" Z said, stopping the looks they were giving.
"Yes cadet? How is that relevant?" Doggie asked bluntly, earning him an elbow in the gut from Kat.
"It's very relevant DC and Kat!" Sam said. Everyone smiled at him.
"It's because I have a –" Z started.
"Me too Z." "And me." Jack and Sam interrupted.
Z shot a look at them before continuing. "Ok, we have a question: Would you like you be parents to three pre-made kids?" A cough. "Ok, two teens and a kid."
"A-are you all sure about this?" Kat asked. The three in question nodded their heads, encouraging the Felid to release a few tears.
"One condition." Doggie said. Everyone looked confused at the Sirian. "Kat gets a shortened nickname as well." He said, dropping the serious façade. "Like 'KM'? It's only fair Kat." He said, seeing her face.
"I like it." Jack said and a wave of agreement followed.
"It's like out own version of 'Mom' and 'Dad'." Sam said.
Doggie turned to Z. "If you don't mind, I would like to borrow the boys for a moment."
Z looked confused but nodded. The guys all left Kat and Z alone in the med bay.
Ten minutes later, everyone was back. They were all carrying something party related but what struck Z most was the cake Doggie carried. A small, rainbow-colored cake. It was vanilla and was on of the sweetest things she'd ever eaten.
Another ten minutes later, the cake and most of the candy was gone. Z turned to Doggie and Kat and handed them the envelope.
"It was fun to do this without anyone else finding out until the last-minute. Except around Pinky. She kept snooping." Z said as Kat opened the card.
More tears welled up in Kat's eyes as she saw the messages her rangers wrote.
Doggie looked at the card over Kat's shoulder and his gaze softened at the kind words written about him and Kat. But he chuckled when he saw Sam's request. "What's wrong with your own one, Sam?" He asked.
"They aren't made for three, sir." Sam answered.
"Hmm..." Crugar looked thoughtful before nodding.
Sam looked ecstatic before jumping off the bed to run over to Doggie and hug him, making the five teens curious.
"You'll find out soon." Kat said cryptically when she noted the confused looks.