In that instant, Blue's world shattered.
As he hurtled through the unstable energy field, confusion and betrayal surged through him. She kicked me? His mind raced, struggling to grasp why Red would do such a thing. But before he could process it, the asteroid began to erupt. The reactor went critical, and in the split second before Blue was pulled completely through the portal, he experienced it all: the blinding light, the terror gripping Red. They didn't... they didn't make it out.
The teleport sequence was more violent than Blue had anticipated. His body felt stretched and pulled in every direction. His suit, once resilient, began to tear under the strain, cracks forming as armor sparked in the chaotic warp.
Nova's presence flickered in his mind; it felt like his neurons were on fire. Like she was being ripped out of me. Every nerve was ablaze, and he sensed her pain. Was it an aftereffect of Blood Plague? A consequence of the unstable warp? He couldn't make sense of it.
Each moment in the teleport stream was pure agony. His muscles screamed, and his bones felt simultaneously crushed and elongated. The suit, designed to withstand extreme conditions, was barely holding together—sparks flying from exposed wiring as his HUD flickered with critical system failures.
But the worst pain was emotional. The deeper Blue fell into the chaotic maelstrom, the more he began to lose. He could feel it—the shared connection between him, Nova, and the other Rangers fraying, unraveling like synapses being ripped from his mind.
"Red… Black… Pink… Yellow…" Their names echoed in his head, slipping further away with each second. Desperate, he reached for them through the link, but it was crumbling. The once-vibrant presence of his teammates faded into the void.
Each moment felt like losing a piece of his soul. The bonds he had forged with them—camaraderie, trust—were being torn apart. Red's leadership, Black's strength, Pink's precision, Yellow's agility—they were all slipping from his grasp.
"Blue..." Nova's voice came, distorted and weak. "W-We... We're losing... them..."
Her words struck him harder than any physical blow.
The pain was unbearable. It was as if the very essence of his being was being ripped apart. The connection he shared with the other Rangers had always been more than tactical; it was a family bond. And now, one by one, they were slipping away, leaving a gaping void where their presence had once been.
The last tether snapped. Blue gasped, his breath catching in his throat as the final connection faded. He was utterly alone.
The silence that followed was deafening. Where there had once been the hum of shared thoughts and emotions, there was only emptiness—a hollow, aching void. It was like standing in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by the fallen, with only the wind and distant echoes of what had been. The isolation was suffocating.
"Red…" he whispered. No response. He couldn't feel her anymore. The fiery presence that had anchored him in battle was gone.
"Black…" The laughter and strength he had always counted on faded at the edges, barely real now.
"Pink…" Her cold precision and sharp focus—he could no longer sense them.
"Yellow…" The agility and unwavering determination—gone.
And Nova… her presence flickered weakly in his mind, distorted and faint. Their shared link felt severed, leaving only a fragile connection that barely held together.
Blue's body was being pulled apart by the teleport sequence, but it was the emotional devastation that shattered him. Each second felt like a lifetime, each loss stripping away his identity. He reached out for his teammates, but the void swallowed him whole.
Then, with a final, jarring impact, Blue was hurled out of the teleport stream and into reality. He crashed onto the cold, hard ground of the Sangara operations facility, rolling uncontrollably before coming to a painful stop. The sound of his broken armor scraping against the floor echoed through the chamber, followed by the sharp hiss of air escaping through the cracks.
He lay there, gasping for breath, every inch of his body screaming in agony. His suit was catastrophically compromised—shredded beyond repair. Blood trickled down the inside of his helmet, dripping into his eyes, blurring his fading vision.
Pain radiated from every limb. His ribs were definitely broken, and he could feel the sharp burning in his right arm—a fracture, maybe worse. His legs were barely responsive, feeling like every bone in his body had been shattered. The only thing holding him together was the tattered remains of his suit.
"Nova…" Blue whispered, though his voice was barely audible. "Are you… still there?"
There was a moment of silence, then a faint, garbled response. "B-B-Blue… I'm... here... but... we... are... compromised…" Her voice was weak, distorted by static, as if she were struggling to maintain any connection.
Blue closed his eyes, a wave of despair crashing over him. He had never felt so utterly alone. The constant presence of his team was gone. He reached for them again, but there was nothing—just an aching void where their minds had once been.
"Red…" he thought, his mind drifting back to her. She had kicked him—saved him—against his will. Why? Why had she chosen him? Why had she sent him through the portal while she stayed behind? The betrayal stung deeper than the physical injuries. He wasn't supposed to be the one to make it out. They had always fought together. Together.
But now, he was here. Alone.
Sangara's military personnel rushed into the room, but their shouts sounded distant, like they were miles away. Blue's vision swam, the faces of the medics and soldiers blurring together as they approached. He could hear them talking—something about getting him to medical, about stabilizing his condition—but it was all a blur. He didn't care.
None of it mattered. Not without the others.
His body trembled as the medics tried to lift him onto a stretcher, the pain of his broken bones flaring up with each movement. All he could think about was the void—the loss of his family.
Nova's voice, though faint, echoed in the back of his mind, trying to reassure him. "We... made it... Blue... we're... alive..."
But Blue barely heard her. His mind was trapped in that endless void, the loss of his team like a knife twisting in his chest. He had lost them. They were gone.
And now, all that remained was silence.
As the world around him faded to black, Blue's final thought was of Red. Her fiery presence, her leadership, her strength—gone. The void where she once stood was more painful than any injury he could ever endure.
"Nova," he said, it feels like you're dying. "Don't leave me too. Take everything you need from me."
And with that, Blue finally succumbed to the darkness.