A/N: Just a one-shot I thought of in my head. A 'what if' of when Troy was about to be 'executed' by Damaras under Mavro's orders in "Emperor Mavro". Implied Jake/Gia, but mostly Troy/Jake friendship...stuff *wink wink*. The beginning is from the episode "Emperor Mavro" itself, but you'll catch the deviation when it comes.
Also, I write too much. I don't know why, but I do. (This was actually supposed to be shorter than what it really is.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers.
"I don't think so!"
Damaras had held his blade into the air as he fired a round of slashes at Noah, Orion, Emma, and Gia. Jake could only watch in horror as they were flung around and he cringed as they slammed into the ground and demorphed, the four Rangers lying there practically lifeless.
"Now to finish you, Red Ranger!"
Jake's head snapped as he looked between the 'most powerful warrior in the universe' Damaras and Troy, who was getting to his feet. Seeing Damaras' blade in the air as it was absorbing power, Jake ran towards his leader.
"Troy! Watch out!" The Green Ranger shouted, and as he had gripped both of Troy's arms, the attack was fired. The two shouted as the impact of the attack sent them flying into a structure nearby. They dropped to the ground and demorphed, lying on their backs and groaning. Jake then stopped as he heard Troy fall silent. Looking over, he saw that his leader's eyes were closed and he laid on his side unmoving.
Saying nothing, Jake placed a hand on Troy's shoulder and began to shake him, shouting loudly in his mind. Troy! Troy! Dude, wake up! You have to be okay!
"Pathetic." Damaras scoffed before laughing.
Jake got to his feet and stood in defense over Troy's body. "Back off!"
"Get out of my way." Damaras spoke coldly, his gaze fixated on Troy. In anger, Jake charged at Damaras with a ready fist, to which Damaras dodged it. He also stopped an attempted kick as he threw Jake to the side like he was a rag doll. He yelped as he rolled on his back.
"Red Ranger." Damaras began as he dug his hand into Troy's leather jacket, pulling him up to his feet. "You will pay dearly for the demise of the prince and the destruction you have rocked on my army."
Troy, just then regaining consciousness, made it an instinct to go for his morpher to go into Super Mega Mode. "It's Morphin' Time...Gah!" His exasperated voice croaked as Damaras knocked his morpher and key out of his hands.
"You will never morph again!" Damaras decreed as he threw Troy backwards into the air, the Red Ranger crying out as he felt his body slam into metal boxes that broke his fall. As he fell to the asphault, Troy felt his vision go black as he fell unconscious once more. Damaras released a deep laugh as he loomed over the downed Red Ranger.
"Troy...!" Jake uttered out as he tried to get to his feet to help his leader, falling to his knees and elbows a second later.
"...Perhaps you're more useful to me alive." Damaras pondered as he then grabbed Troy and flung him over his shoulder, the Red Ranger's hands just barely touching the start of Damaras' black cape.
"N-No!" Jake cried as he found the power to get to his feet, running at Damaras. He kept shouting the same word as Damaras turned his back and teleported away. The Green Ranger stood there and looked around as he let Troy's abduction run through his brain. He bent down and took Troy's morpher and key into his hand. Jake ran around the corner to find the Blue, Silver, Pink, and Yellow Rangers still down and out.
"Guys!" Jake shouted in despiration and exasperation as he had his free hand on Gia's shoulder. "Guys, wake up! Wake up!" He pleaded as he watched Emma, Noah, and Orion moved around slowly as they weakly nursed their injuries, their eyes still closed.
"Gia..." Jake then pulled the Yellow Ranger up slightly, and she seemed to be unconscious completely. Jake then looked outward with a worried expression.
Troy's been kidnapped, and everyone else is extremely hurt...what do I do now?!
"Gosei, Tensou, I need an emergency teleported for the five of us." Jake spoke into his Gosei morpher.
"Five?" Tensou asked.
"It's a long story." Jake concluded as he and the four other Rangers teleported away from the battlefield.
Damaras threw the still-unconscious, blindfolded, and hands-bounded-behind-him Troy to the ground of the bridge of Emperor Mavro's ship. He could hear a soft yet jolting breath from the human male.
"I have brought you the Red Ranger." Damaras bowed to Mavro. "I thought maybe you might like to decide his punishment."
"Excellent." Mavro responded as Troy then woke up, gasping slightly as he took in the darkness around him, only to quickly realize his vision was obscured by a blindfold.
"So this is the famous Red Ranger." Mavro pondered. "It seems hard to believe."
"What's going on? Where am I?" Troy asked as he strained his neck and turned to and fro.
"Silence!" He heard a booming and gruff voice shout as he was pulled to his feet. He let his head lean backwards as something held his jacket the same way Damaras did. The one holding Troy in that same way, Redker, looked to Mavro. "Shall we destroy him?"
"It doesn't matter what you do to me..." Troy muttered out loud, agitation behind his voice.
"Actually, it might." Damaras chimed in.
"Maybe we should put that to a test." Mavro offered, and Troy could feel his anger growing. "The Red Ranger is quite a hero on Earth. I wonder if his people will give up their world to save him."
"The Rangers will come for me..." Troy then stated, but he was cut off by Mavro.
"Take him back to Earth and put him on display. Let's show the Earthlings that we are in control."
"Gah!" Troy felt himself being thrown into two pairs of rough arms as he fought being dragged away. "This isn't over! We won't stop!" He looked over to where the sounds came from. "I'll come back for you!" Troy vowed as a guard roughly slapped his shoulder and the other guard pushed him forward. Mavro simply laughed, and Damaras had followed the guards, who had stopped in a large space.
"Stop fighting." Damaras ordered as Troy wriggled in the guards' grip. "You know you can't win this one."
"So what? Doesn't mean I can't try!" Troy argued.
"Silence!" Damaras shouted as his hand covered Troy's mouth in an instant. As Damaras lifted Troy off of his feet slightly, his Megaforce morpher fell from his body.
"What's this?" Damaras asked as he picked up the item, his other hand still covering Troy's mouth. "A second morpher? Or is this the one the Earthlings recognize you more by?"
Troy made no kind of response as he still fought for control.
"Turn him around." Damaras ordered, and the second Troy's back and hands were to Damaras, the monster had placed the now-opened morpher into the Red Ranger's hand, also finding a card on the ground. Placing it in, Troy now wore his original red spandex, but his helmet was missing due to the blindfold and the intrusion of Damaras' hand.
"There we go. Much better." Damaras laughed as he removed his hand. Troy still fought as Damaras motioned for the royal guards to follow him.
"Let's go."
Sounds of moans and gasps filled the Command Center as Jake tended to Orion, then Noah, then Enma, and finally Gia. Upon teleporting into the Command Center, Jake saw that the same beds from Skeltox's attack had reappeared, and with the help from Tensou, Jake was able to get his friends into the bed. Currently, he was cleaning their faces with a wet rag and an accompanying bowl of water.
"Any word from Troy?" Gia asked in pain as Jake lightly dabbed her forehead with the wet cloth.
"Not yet, but we're gonna find him, okay?" Jake told her as he blindly set the cloth down in the bowl. He looked to the tiki head on the wall in front of them. "Right, Gosei?"
Gosei did not say one word as a sudden video transmission appeared on the red panel that was connected with Troy. The video appeared to show Damaras' face, and at that moment, the injured Rangers were leaning on their elbows, watching along with Jake.
"Earthlings, listen closely." Damaras ordered. "The fate of your world depends on it."
The monster then moved to reveal Troy, who was chained to a thick white beam, to the many people watching the message from the sky and to the Rangers, and while the five could tell it was Troy, no one else could due to the blindfold.
"We have your Red Ranger, your most revered fighter, the protector of the Earth!" Damaras laughed. "You have one hour to surrender your planet to the Armada, or the Red Ranger is history!"
The video transmission then ended.
"We have..." Noah stuttered as he tried to sit up. "...to save Troy!"
Emma huffed in exhaustion. "He needs us..."
"We've got to go!" Gia shouted as she tried to sit up.
"No." Jake told them sternly. "I'll save Troy. You guys are in no condition to move."
"Tensou will help you." Gosei told Jake, to which the Green Ranger looked at the tiki head and nodded after quickly looking over at Tensou. The two then raced out of the Command Center.
"Your time is up, Red Ranger." Damaras stars as he walked towards Troy. "I guess being a hero doesn't count for much on Earth."
"It's never been about me." Troy told him as his head gazed at his surroundings. "We all fight for the Earth, and that fight will continue...with...or without me!"
Damaras laughed. "Fight all you want; look how far that's gotten you! Soon, X-Borgs will flood every corner of the Earth and conquer it. The Armada always gets what it wants in the end." As he spoke, Troy's fists tightened their grip.
Damaras turned his back. "Finish him!"
A whir entered the air, and Damaras suddenly deflected two incoming power blasts with his blade.
"Troy!" Jake screamed as he blasted down the X-Borgs on the ground.
"...Jake?" Troy asked.
Damaras grunted in anger before looking at the two guards. "What are you doing?! Finish him now!" That was when Troy felt something incredibly sharp enter both sides of his abdomen. He coughed as his head bent downward. The staffs were pulled out, and blood dripped from their tips. Jake could only look in horror.
"N-No..." He whispered as the staffs went into the same place again, Troy coughing and moaning, but with blood gently coming out of his mouth. Some splattered on the ground beneath him as a skinny trail of blood ran down from the corner of Troy's mouth.
His anger seething, Jake morphed into the Black Megaforce Ranger and into Super Mega Mode, where he donned the Green Mystic Force Ranger suit. He moved down a collective amount of X-Borgs until they were all destroyed, and Damaras took notice.
"Grr...that Green Ranger..." Damaras growled as he pulled the royal guards away from Troy. The Red Ranger's white spandex was nearly crimson at the hip and thigh areas, as well as a sort of line of coughed-up blood forming near his feet. The skinny stream of blood from the corner of his mouth grew wider.
"You defeat the Green Ranger; I will handle the Red Ranger myself!" The monster commanded as he quickly drove his blade though Troy's stomach, the boy caughing out medium-sized clumps of blood and gagging. The blade was shoved in deeper as Damaras tightly latched onto Troy's chin with his free hand.
"Do you feel it, Red Ranger?" Damaras asked. "Do you feel the pain of my blade slicing through your insides? This is how it felt for every monster you destroyed, and this is their revenge!" Damaras then hastily shoved the blade suddenly, to which it appeared from Troy's back, coated in red. The Red Ranger cried out in a moan, and Jake looked up at the scene in horror.
"TROY!" The Green Ranger screamed before seeing the two guards who were attacking Troy previously march towards him with their bloodied staffs. Growling in anger, Jake hissed as if he were a snake and quickly jumped the guards, destroying them instantly. He looked up at Damaras with an angry expression.
"This is it for you, Red Ranger!" Damaras laughed loudly as he quickly pulled the blade out of Troy's impaled body, the boy almost screaming as loud as he could. Damaras then wielded his blood-covered weapon at the spot where Troy's heart was. "Once I cut through your heart, your days on Earth will be over insantly! Say goodbye!"
"Hey Damaras, too chicken to fight me?!" Jake snapped, to which Damaras stopped and looked over at him.
"Chicken?! I will pulverize you!" Damaras jumped from his spot into the ground and charged at Jake, who had turned back into his Super Mega Green suit. He charged back as their blades clashed.
"I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to Troy! You and the other aliens up there will pay for attacking him like that!"
"Those words are empty." Damaras laughed before Jake kicked him backwards.
"There are two people that can take you, the most powerful warrior in the universe, down: One is Troy, and two...is me!"
As Damaras got to his feet, Jake's blade launched powerful attacks on his body. Meanwhile, Tensou had rushed over to Troy and was destroying the chains.
"Super Mega Final Strike!" Jake cried as he slashed down Damaras, the monster falling into his back and exploding. That was when Tensou had broken every chain, and Troy had slumped over far enough to fall over the ledge.
Jake watched as his leader floated down to the ground like a piece of paper, but in Troy's case, he was torn in the middle, and Jake couldn't help but know that everything that happened to Troy wasn't the Armada's fault, but his.
Jake darted over to Troy as he was about to hit the ground and held him in his arms as Jake sat on his knees. Removing the blindfold, he shook the Red Ranger and either held or gently yet rapidly slapped Troy's cheek. "Troy! Troy, wake up, man! C'mon, dude, stay with me..."
"Oh no..." Tensou whined as he rolled around Troy and Jake.
"Tensou, teleport us back to the Command Center. Now."
"Uh, r-right away!" Tensou chirped as the three disappeared.
The same moans and gasps were present in the Command Center before they heard a loud thudding noise, and they looked from their beds to see Jake on the Command Center floor, Troy on top of him. Tensou was rolling around them.
"Gosei!" Tensou called. "He needs help! Troy needs help!"
"What?!" Noah, Gia, Orion, and Emma asked in a gasp.
"Calm down." Gosei assured everyone. "Tensou, pull out an extra bed. Once he does, Jake, you lay Troy on it and I'll see what I can do for him." The bed was the laid horizontally to the four vertically placed beds, and Jake did was he was told. By that point, everything white on Troy's spandex but his gloves were soaked in red.
"Jake, what happened to him?" Noah asked. Jake didn't respond as he stared grimly at the Red Ranger.
"Jake?" Emma asked curiously.
"Are you alright?" Orion followed up. There was still no reply.
"Hey, Jake!" Gia called. "Listen to us! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jake muttered loudly.
"Is Troy okay? Is he still alive?" Gia asked.
"I can detect life signs from his body." Gosei answered and the four Rangers looked at him. "It's weak, but it's there. In order for this to happen, Troy must have lost a lot of blood."
"He did." Jake spoke again. "Those guards drove their staffs into his abdomen and pulled them out, repeating it. They came down and fought me after Damaras decided to finish Troy himself."
"How...?" Orion breathed as his eyes looked at Troy with fear.
"He took his blade and shoved it right through Troy's stomach, and it came out of his back soon after. I couldn't do anything but watch...Troy was in a lot of pain, I felt it..."
"Can we help?" Emma asked gingerly as she and the other tried to stand up.
"No!" Jake shouted at them. "You guys are still too hurt! And besides...it's my fault..." the latter was whispered.
"What?" Gia asked.
"It's my fault!" Jake screamed, and it startled everyone. "It's my fault Troy was captured, and it's my fault he's like this now! Troy's dying because of me!"
The room was silent.
"Jake...no it isn't." Gia told him.
"Yes it is, Gia! I couldn't find enough inside of me to stop Damaras from whisking Troy off with him and I just stood there watching as the blade entered Troy's stomach!"
"Weren't you hurt, though?" Noah asked. "You were just as injured as we are now, so you not saving Troy from being kidnapped was supposed to happen...and as for you watching the blade go into Troy...I think that was meant to happen too."
"Yeah, sure." Jake scoffed. "Like that's supposed to make me feel better."
"He's trying to help." Emma defended. "It really isn't your fault this happened, Jake."
"Just...stop." Jake told them. "You rest up, and I'll have Tensou and Gosei help me tend to Troy."
Gia looked at him in stern concern as she watched Jake pull Troy to his feet. She never saw the Red Ranger's facial expression look so...at peace before.
"Girls, look away." Jake told Gia and Emma, to which they did, understanding what Jake was doing. Troy was undressed and his thighs and legs were completely cleaned off. The Red Ranger was laid back down on the bed after Jake had dressed him in his pants. The bed's blanket covered everything up to the top of Troy's waist. Tensou had given Jake gauze, and after clearing Troy's abdomen of the blood, he was currently wrapping the white tape-like item around the wounds left behind.
"Gosei, is Troy going to be okay?" Orion asked as he looked at the team's mentor.
"Troy will need time to rest and recover, as well as to get back the blood he lost, but I believe that Troy will be able to survive."
"He better." Gia replied, staring at the Green Ranger. "For Jake's sake."
The day had stretched on, with the Rangers finally being able to get to their feet and walk again, to Jake constantly fussing over Troy. As Noah and Orion paid their due respects and left the Command Center, Gia and Emma stayed behind, Emma for Gia, and Gia for Jake.
"C'mon, Jake, let's go home." Gia put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not leaving until Troy is okay."
"Jake." Gia spoke loudly, and he looked at her. "There's no difference made if you stay by Troy's side or if you go home. He'll still be the same either way."
"I know, but..." Jake sighed as he looked over at Troy, who had yet to regain consciousness after the blood stopped leaking out of his body. "...I just hate seeing him like this."
"We all do, but we know that Troy is a true fighter. I just know he'll make it out okay. And if there are any internal complications, Gosei could probably fix them." The Yellow Ranger looked over at the tiki head. "Right?"
"I can't say that I can medically repair Troy on the inside, but I'll see what I can do."
"Good." Gia nodded before looking at Emma. "You go on home. I'll stay here with Jake."
Emma smirked, which gained a look from Gia, before leaving them be.
"Jake, please, just let go of Troy's hand."
"No." The Green Ranger had held the Red Ranger's limp hand ever since he had finished wrapping the gauze. Troy's fingers never hooked with Jake's and simply hung over the edge of his back hand.
"C'mon, Jake..." Gia weakly begged. "For me."
"...Fine." Jake had let go and laid Troy's hand down at his side. He and Gia got to their feet and decided to leave together. Jake took one last look at Gosei. "Please, just take care of Troy and don't pull anything funny. We'd appreciate it if our leader was still in one piece when we come by tomorrow."
"Understood, Jake. Troy is in good hands." Jake nodded as he and Gia left. They found themselves walking home side by side, to which Jake couldn't help but feel blessed on top of being worried.
"Why are you like that with Troy?" Gia asked randomly.
"What do you mean?" Jake asked back in confusion.
"Protective. Why are you protective of Troy like that?"
"Loyalty, I guess. Gia, he's our leader, so big masterminds would come after him first. I just wanna make sure Troy is safe from whatever excessive harm is thrown his way."
"Guess that explains why you stuck up for him when Robo Knight called him out." Gia laughed quietly.
"Hey, it wasn't cool of you to swoon at him after he called Troy out." Jake stated, and Gia shrugged. "...and, uh, I wasn't exactly jealous when you said that..."
"Yeah, sure." Gia shook her head. "I'm sure that explains why you said we 'can't abandon him' when he ejected us and why you congratulated him after we took Vrak out."
"It's the same for everything we go through." Jake explained. "Troy's still new to Harwood, so I just want to make him feel like he belongs and that we need him with us. I'm sure the last thing we need is Troy getting too ahead of himself while we're in battle."
"Ditto." Gia smiled. "Um, Jake...?"
"Y-Yeah?" The two then stopped and looked into one another's eyes, brown to green.
"Um, well...I need to admit something to you."
"What is it?" Jake felt excitement rise inside of him.
"Well, just seeing you looming over Troy the way you did...it made me a bit jealous."
"Jealous?" Jake asked as he saw that Gia had walked far away from where she stood. He called out to her. "What do you mean by jealous, Gia?"
He got no answer.
He sighed as he continued to walk home alone, so reaching his destination. He spent the next few hours with his parents and siblings before they all decided to turn in for the night. Seeing as it was incredibly late, Jake decided to change into his pajamas and fall asleep, but all he dreamt about was the events of earlier. After a few more attempts at going to sleep, he knew it was futile and knew what he must truly do.
Jake knew he had to stay by Troy's side.
Getting up, the Green Ranger put on his black slippers to match his shirt and pants before sneaking out of his house. He power-walked down the sidewalks of Harwood County before finding himself at the beach. Stepping inside of the Command Center, he found that the moon was illuminating the room, Gosei and Tensou being fast asleep. Finding Troy's bed in the darkened room, Jake sat on his knees and held the Red Ranger's hand once more.
"Hey, Troy." Jake whispered quietly. "I'm back."
All he heard was soft breathing.
"I...I had a dream earlier today...and it was about what happened to you. I just can't shake the feeling of me letting you get hurt out of my head. I know the others have said it wasn't my fault, but I know it is."
Jake didn't feel the soft grip on his hand as he continued to whisper.
"This all happened because of me, Troy, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I let Damaras capture you; I'm sorry that the Armada managed to attack you the way they did. I was being stupid, and I didn't think to jump in when I should've."
The Green Ranger sniffed as he let tears begin to fall from his shaky brown eyes.
"It should've been me that was captured, not you. You have so much importance to us, and you should've been saved. But you weren't, and I was forced to watch as you were taken from us...from me. I...I sat there like a sitting duck when I had the ability to jump up there and stop Damaras from stabbing you with his sword and from the guards using their staffs to attack you. I could've even got to my feet and saved you from Damaras taking you. I let this all happen, and I'm sorry!"
"Jake..." A faint voice croaked.
"I'm so sorry, Troy, I really am. This is all my fault, and if it means keeping you safe, I'll leave you be. I'm sorry for everything I've done." As Jake got up, he felt himself being pulled back towards the bed Troy laid on. Looking into the dim light, he could see a glint of light reflect at him. He smiled through his tears.
Troy had woken up.
"Troy...Troy, you're okay!" Jake had spoken in his normal voice as he leaned in to see Troy's face in the moonlight.
"Yeah, I am." Troy spoke ever so softly; it seemed that he didn't have enough strength to speak louder yet. "I heard what you said, and that's not true."
"Dude..."
"Jake, everything happened for a reason, not because you didn't try and save me. The world had you not do anything; it wanted this to happen."
"But..."
"Jake, you're a great guy, you really are. I don't want you to beat yourself up over what happened to me. All of this happened because it was destined to, and if this destiny was your fault, then I guess we have to grow from it."
"What?" Jake asked.
"I was put in this condition for a reason. If we believed that it really was your fault, which it wasn't, then we'd have to accept it as a mistake, and we use it to grow into being a better team than before. We use it as a reminder that we all make crucial mistakes, but sometimes those mistakes were the right ones."
"Are you saying that you ending up like this was a good thing?" Jake asked in confusion. "Because if it is, then I think you've really lost your mind."
"Maybe I'm saying that, maybe I'm not. The point is that this just...happened and we all need to move on and learn from it."
"If you say so, man." Jake smiled as he wiped his tears away with his free hand, his other still holding onto Troy's. "...So, are you really gonna be okay?"
"I think so." Troy smiled weakly. "Everything still aches like crazy, but with some well-needed rest, I feel like I'll be just fine."
"Okay." Jake let go of Troy's hand and got to his feet. He looked around. "Um...I don't seem too convinced that you'll be okay." Troy rolled his eyes with a smile. "Are there any beds still left out?"
Troy looked around before pointing. "That one."
"Sweet." Gently pulling the bed over close to Troy's, Jake settled in and outstretched his hand to Troy, who slipped his in. They held one another's hand in a solid grip. The boys smiled at one another.
"Hey, Troy?" Jake asked.
"Yeah?"
"If the others see us like this in the morning, what do we say?"
"You were looking out for me, just like you've always been." Troy warmly smiled at Jake, who gave a small one in return.
"It's what I do best when it comes to you." The Green Ranger spoke coolly. "Otherwise you'd be making all the wrong choices."
"Does this count as wrong?" Troy gestured to the two holding hands.
"Well...it really doesn't." Jake decided. "I'm just looking out for you, that's all. My feelings lie with Gia."
"Okay, right." Troy rolled his eyes before closing his eyes. Jake did the same, but seeing as he couldn't fall asleep, he looked contently at Troy.
"Troy?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for telling me that...and for finally coming to."
"Nature decided it was time for me to wake up again, and you're welcome. I don't want you to feel like it was all because of you, and it really wasn't."
"Right. Isn't contemplation your thing?"
"Good night, Jake." Troy stated in a specific tone as he closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep. Jake laid there in the darkness as he watched a smile creep onto the Red Ranger's face.
"Good night...Troy..." The Green Ranger sighed as he let his eyes flutter closed, finally being able to sleep in comfort as the details and scenery of today were pushed to the back of his mind for good.