Disclaimer: I do not own PR SPD.

When the Grim Reaper Knocks

Chapter XIII

Sky knew that if he agreed to Xyrthias' proposition, he'd have quite a fight on his hands especially since they'd be battling one-on-one. On top of that, Xyrthias had said that it would be a fight to the death. Sky hated to admit it, but that little piece of information scared him to no end. It's not that he wasn't confident in his own abilities because that was hardly the case. It just seemed to be too much of a risk because should he happen to fail, Jack, Syd, and Bridge would also be affected with the lethal disease, and Sky wanted to avoid that at all costs, even if it meant having to pay the ultimate price.

"I'm waiting for your answer ranger!" Xyrthias snapped growing more and more impatient with every passing moment.

Jack, Syd, and Bridge looked at Sky waiting to hear what his decision would be. It was a tough decision to make, and they had no clue what Sky would decide to do.

"You don't have yourself a deal Xyrthias. That's my answer," Sky replied.

Had they not been wearing their helmets, Sky would have been able to see that his teammates' jaws dropped in shock at his response. Realization had sunk in as to what this decision would ultimately mean.

"Sky! No! You can't be serious!" Bridge exclaimed.

"I am serious though Bridge. I may not be able to beat him on my own, but together, we can take him. I would never be able to live with myself knowing that I sentenced the three of you to your death. Syd was right when she said that it was too big of a risk. Even if I managed to destroy Xyrthias, I would've only had a 25 chance of picking the antidote. Those odds aren't exactly very promising. Sure, Kat could run some tests to see which of those test tubes is the antidote, but what if by doing so, there's not enough antidote left for it to work effectively? She could do some tests to see what went into making the antidote, but the only individual who knows that is Xyrthias. So even if she was able to find that information out, there would be no way of telling how much of each ingredient to put into the antidote for it to be effective. If I agreed to his proposition, I'd be putting four lives on the line, but at least this way, only one life is on the line, my own. I'm sorry, but it's the only way," Sky explained.

Jack, Bridge, and Syd were shocked that Sky was sacrificing himself just to be certain that they would be safe. He was more concerned about their well being than he was about his own well being.

Xyrthias let out an evil laugh. "Oh, well. It's your funeral," he remarked as he chucked the antidote into the pond. Now there was definitely no way they'd be able to salvage the antidote. The test tube had to have broken, and now the antidote was more than likely far too diluted to be of much use.

Jack, Bridge, and Syd tried to forget about how shocked they were that Sky was sacrificing himself. They knew they needed to focus on the upcoming battle. They needed to see to it that Sky's sacrifice would not be in vain.

13-13-13

Back at the command center, Kat and Sophie were equally shocked as they watched what was happening from a viewing screen.

"Why? Why would Sky do that?" Sophie asked her voice cracking.

Kat felt that Sky made the right decision. She still knew what the consequences of his decision would be; Sky would sooner or later die from the disease Xyrthias infected him with back when he was a kid.

"He did what he thought was best for the team. The old Sky back when he was first made an active ranger would probably have agreed to Xyrthias' proposition without a moment's hesitation. Xyrthias probably hoped he could coax Sky into accepting his proposition. The old Sky would probably never back down from a challenge. The old Sky would probably always feel like he had to prove how good of a fighter he is and how much he deserved to be the red ranger. However, this Sky is much more of a team player. He knows he doesn't need to prove himself to anybody. I don't blame him for saying no," Kat replied.

Sophie looked appalled by what Kat had said. To Sophie, it was almost like Kat didn't even care that Sky would die. Furthermore, she knew how deeply this would impact Bridge since he was Sky's best friend. Without a doubt, when Sky passes away, Bridge will be completely devastated.

"What if even the four of them still can't defeat Xyrthias? What if they end up getting hurt like Z and Cruger? Or worse, what if they end up getting killed? Did Sky ever consider that? If he's as concerned about the well being of his team, then he would have agreed to Xyrthias' proposition!" Sophie retorted.

Kat didn't doubt that Sky had considered the situations Sophie had mentioned as being possibilities. After all, Sky had given Xyrthias' proposition a great deal of thought. She was still convinced that Sky was sacrificing himself for the benefit of the team, and although he would eventually pass away, Kat was proud of Sky for his noble intentions.

"Tell me this then Sophie, what would you have done had you been in Sky's situation? There was no easy way out. Every fathomable option had its downfall. It took a lot of courage for Sky to do what he did. You have to respect that. We have to believe that the four of them will be able to confine Xyrthias this time around. This isn't the first time they've faced Xyrthias. The four of them will have a better idea what to expect from Xyrthias," Kat said.

Sophie fell silent. She knew Kat was right. Still she couldn't shake the feeling that things were going to end up worse than Sky had envisioned when he had turned down Xyrthias' proposal.

13-13-13

Back at the city plaza, Xyrthias was getting ready for round two. He was upset that it wouldn't just be him and Sky facing each other. He shot a laser beam out of his eye.

"Too bad you missed by a long shot," Jack remarked.

Xyrthias let out a sinister laugh. "Too bad I wasn't aiming at you," he replied.

The rangers noticed a loud sound that sounded like a tree was being uprooted from the ground and was falling over. They looked up to see a huge tree about to fall on top of them. Jack, Bridge, and Syd were frozen in place. Sky quickly powered down and threw up a force field to protect himself and his teammates.

The blood in Xyrthias' veins boiled when his plan didn't go as he had intended it to. This may not be a one-on-one battle like he had hoped for, but he wasn't going to walk away from this battle until he was either victorious or defeated.

"S.P.D. Emergency!" Sky shouted becoming the blue ranger once again after the tree had toppled over.

The rangers were hit by Xyrthias' horns as he charged them with incredible speed. That separated them a bit. Xyrthias took this opportunity to go right for Sky. He shot a laser beam out of his eye just as Sky was picking himself off the ground. Sky leapt out of the way just in the nick of time. While in midair, Sky took out his Patrol Baton and threw it like a spear at Xyrthias' eye. The sword popped Xyrthias' eye as blood began squirting out of the monster's eye. Sky's weapon was still embedded in his eye. Xyrthias howled in pain. He had been blinded by the blue ranger.

The rangers formed rank alongside each other. Jack threw a bone up into the air. "Canine Cannon! Fire!" the four rangers shouted in unison.

Despite Xyrthias being blinded, he was still able to hear, and that allowed him to pick up where their voices were coming from and jump out of the way.

"No way!" Jack exclaimed surprised that the Canine Cannon hadn't done the trick.

Xyrthias finally yanked Sky's Patrol Baton out of his eye and flung it on the ground. Blood was still squirting out of his eye like crazy. He ran with incredible speed to where the rangers' voices had come from and rammed his horns into all four of them knocking them to the ground. The rangers had no idea how Xyrthias was still managing to put up a good fight in spite of the fact that he could no longer see.

Xyrthias managed to grab a hold of a ranger. It happened to be Syd. Xyrthias pulled the pink ranger to her feet and forced his horns into her stomach. Once he felt his horns penetrate the ranger suit, a malicious grin appeared on his face as he removed his horns.

"Syd!" Sky shouted as he watched in horror as Syd sank to the ground as her ranger power left her. Blood trickled out from her wound and accumulated underneath Syd as she lay face down on the ground.

Though Xyrthias was disappointed that it wasn't Sky who he had rammed his horns into just now, at least he got Sky to yell thus making his whereabouts known to Xyrthias.

As Sky ran towards Syd, he picked up his bloody Patrol Baton off the ground. He altered the path that he was running ever so slightly. Xyrthias thrust his horns into what he thought would be Sky's body, but instead he got nothing but air. Sky took full advantage of Xyrthias' miss and with one powerful downward swing of his Patrol Baton, Sky lopped Xyrthias' horns right off him. Xyrthias screamed out in pain. His two primary modes of attack were now gone thanks to Sky. How was he going to win now?

Jack and Bridge went over to Sky's location carefully so as to not let Xyrthias know where they were. Jack threw the bone into the air again. This time they didn't shout "Fire!" but just fired without saying a word. Xyrthias didn't know what hit him until it was too late and he was confined in a containment card. At long last, the nightmare was finally over. Xyrthias was captured. Kat had already dispatched a medical team to the scene after she had seen Syd get injured.

13-13-13

One morning two weeks later, Bridge woke up and what he saw made his heart sink. Sky was still in his bed. This was a déjà vu for Bridge. It was too eerily similar to what happened when Sky showed his first symptom to Xyrthias' disease on the morning of his twenty-first birthday. Bridge was afraid to, but he walked over to Sky's bedside and placed two fingers on his chest to check for a heartbeat. There wasn't one.

"N-no! This can't be happening! Sky! Wake up! Please!" Bridge shouted.

He took off his glove and scanned Sky's aura, but when Sky had no aura, it confirmed what Bridge had feared, Sky had passed away. Tears started to form in the corners of Bridge's eye, and some rolled down his cheeks. Bridge's legs felt like they were made of rubber. He knew he should tell Kat what happened, but his body wouldn't cooperate. Bridge's legs trembled, and gave out on him as Bridge sank to the floor beside Sky's bed.

Bridge's shouting had got the attention of Jack as Jack raced to see what was the matter. When he got to the room that the blue and green ranger shared, he saw the blue ranger in bed with his eyes closed and the green ranger on the floor next to his bed visibly shaken up.

"Bridge what's wrong?" Jack asked worried.

"It's Sky, he's…he's…g-gone!" Bridge got out in between sobs.

Jack couldn't believe it. No, he didn't want to believe it. He put his hand to Sky's chest in hopes of hearing a heartbeat, but there was none. Jack staggered back a few feet looking absolutely mortified. Then he took off to find Kat.

13-13-13

Later that day in the infirmary, Syd, Cruger, and Z regained consciousness. They noticed the sullen looks on the faces of Jack, Bridge, Kat, and Sophie.

"Kat, what is it? What's wrong?" Cruger asked being the first one to speak.

Jack, Bridge, Kat, and Sophie didn't bother to answer Cruger's question. Instead, they stared at the ground.

Syd noticed that someone was missing, Sky. "It's Sky, isn't it? Oh God! What happened? What happened to Sky?" Syd shouted.

Z noticed that Jack, Bridge, Sophie, and Kat had tears streaming down their cheeks. Something horrible had to have happened. There was no other explanation

"I'm afraid that Sky passed away last night in his sleep," Kat answered in a voice so soft, it was almost a whisper.

Syd leapt out of her medical bed and made a beeline for Sky's room not caring that she disconnected herself from the various machines that she had been hooked up to in the process.

"No! You're lying! How could you say that? Sky can't be gone! He just can't!" Syd yelled before being overcome by her sadness.

Jack pulled Syd into a hug that was more to restrain Syd than anything. Syd pounded on Jack's back with her fists saying "Let me go Jack! Let me go!" all the while.

While Syd had an idea that this would happen, this caught Cruger and Z off guard. They weren't aware of Xyrthias' proposition much less Sky's answer to his proposition. They were unaware that by refusing Xyrthias' proposition, Sky condemned himself to death just so his teammates would be safe.

13-13-13

Three days later, Sky had his funeral. All of the staff and cadets of S.P.D. attended his funeral. All of Sky's friends and family outside of S.P.D. were there as well to say their goodbyes. Nobody spoke. Everyone was reliving all the fond memories they had of Sky in their minds.

The casket was about to be closed and everyone but the rangers had said their final goodbyes to Sky.

Bridge went up first and Sophie went along for moral support. "I don't know what to say Sky. I'm going to miss you more than you'll ever know. I'll never have another roommate like you. You were my best friend. God, I don't know what I'm going to do without you. You were the best. I'll never forget you Sky, ever," Bridge said as tears rolled down his cheek.

Cruger and Syd were next. "Your father would've been proud of you Sky. You not only saved your teammates, but you saved the world from a deadly disease. All of S.P.D. is proud of you Sky," Cruger said.

"He can't be gone!" Syd shouted. Though it had been three days, Syd still wouldn't accept the fact that Sky had passed away. Just when she was about to do something about her feelings for Sky, he passes away. She was beyond heartbroken that she will never be with the person that could very well have been the love of her life. Syd cried hysterically and couldn't bear to look at the coffin any longer.

Last was Jack and Z. "We'll miss you man. Nobody could replace you. Man, why did you have to die? You were so young! You had your entire life ahead of you!" Jack said as his vision was impaired by the formation of tears.

"Nobody ever questioned your dedication Sky. The fact that you were willing to pay the ultimate price to keep Bridge, Syd, Jack, and for that matter the rest of the world safe just shows exactly how dedicated you were to S.P.D. and to us. I'll miss you. Rest in peace," Z said before she was overcome with grief too.

The lid to the casket was shut and everyone watched as the casket was lowered six feet into the ground. All that could be heard were the sobs of everyone in attendance. The casket was covered in dirt and everyone left. Life wouldn't be the same, but they had to go on living. It's what Sky would have wanted them to do.

The End

Sorry to all the Sky fans. Heck, I'm a Sky fan too! You had to see it coming though. First of all this is categorized as a tragedy. Secondly, I mentioned previously about Sky going to die before his twenty-second birthday. Thirdly, though I brought an antidote into the equation, the odds weren't that great. Please let me know what you thought of the chapter and/or the fic as a whole in a review. Thanks for reading. No flames please.