Jake, Gia, Troy and Noah were locked in a desperate battle with Dream Snatcher, testing everything they had learned to the limit. Even with their Ultra Mode, and with Dream Snatcher having lost all the power he had gained by eating the dreams of dozens of citizens, they found that they were barely able to keep pace.
Dream Snatcher for his part was becoming a lot more confidence, feeling himself believing in his impending victory. Although he had now regurgitated all the energy he had taken in from the dreams of the people he had attacked, the Aurora Box had already magnified his power a hundred fold. Even without any additional power, he could feel his strength was greater than pretty much anything the Rangers threw at him.
"He really wasn't kidding about all that extra power." Jake complained as Noah helped him back to his feet.
"You said it." He responded. "I don't know if the four of us are going to be enough."
"Four, four hundred, what's the difference?" Dream Snatcher replied as he ran through them all, sending them to the ground, their armour only barely saving them as they fell. "I've got all the power I need to destroy all of you myself!"
"Let's test that theory out shall we?" Emma called out as she and Jordan flew into view. Jordan flew past him, Emma lashing out with her Ultra Sword, slicing him down. She leapt into the air, landing on her feet a little way off as Jordan turned back into his combat mode.
"You two took your time." Noah remarked.
"Sorry, we were taking a little nap." Emma told him.
"We were getting back to our roots." Jordan added. Noah just face-palmed.
"Alright, that's it. I am SO starting a lame pun jar in the Command Centre." He grumbled. "I'll be a millionaire in a week."
"OK guys; is everyone still in the fight?" Troy asked as he spun away from Dream Snatcher after launching a wind blast full of dust into his face, blinding him, keeping him busy just a little longer while his friends assembled.
"You know it." Jake stated.
"Then in the absence of a better plan, you know what to do!" He called out.
"I'm in." Jordan told them, attaching his Vulcan Bullet to the Robo Blaster. "Best not take any chances with this guy."
Dream Snatcher cleared his vision; he turned in time to see the combined energy of the Ultra Strike and the Knight Dynamic attack flying straight for him. He smiled and held his arms open, preparing to catch it. Unfortunately, this time, his power just wasn't enough. It burned straight though him. He just stared at the wound in disbelief, before falling face-first to the ground. The Rangers all surrounded him, looking down on him, completely exhausted.
"I'll still never get used to seeing that." Emma responded breathlessly, seeing the charred remains of their opponent.
"We need to catch our breath." Gia reminded the others. "He nearly clobbered us. No way Vrak's not going to give a powerful guy like that a second round."
"He said Vrak increased his power a hundred fold." Jake stated, looking to the others. "It definitely felt that way, even Ultra Mode barely let us keep pace with the guy."
"If they still have that Aurora Box, then they could use it on any of their monsters." Gia interjected. "I think we're going to have to talk to Gosei about some extra firepower."
"I think that conversation's going to have to wait." Troy replied as he pointed up into the sky, where a swarm of Zombats were descending. "It looks like Vrak doesn't believe in rest breaks."
"So, how are we going at this?" Jordan asked. "Gosei Great Grand...?"
"He's powerful, maybe he's too powerful, we need to utilise any advantage we can get." Troy said as he considered their options.
"Maybe if we hit him from more than one direction." Jordan suggested. "It's like the faked flank play in soccer. If you send in two fronts, the defence doesn't know where to expect the pass."
"Wow...you actually can use that head for something other than a punching bag." Gia stated. "It's a pretty solid plan."
"Great, we'll go with it." Troy agreed. "Call the Zords, but don't assemble right away. Jordan, you get the Knight Brothers Megazord and draw his attention."
"Decoy, got it." Jordan agreed, pulling out his Power Card and slamming it into his morpher as the Rangers all called their Zords, ready for battle.
Back in the city, General Edwards was just getting home after his recovery, stumbling into his house. As he got there, he staggered over to the couch and flopped down onto it. After the day he was having. He was close, so close to finding out who the Rangers were, and yet he had been stopped just short of finding out two of their identities. He was sure that if he did, he could have found a way to 'convince' them to reveal who the others were.
Now though, he was sore, he was exhausted, and most importantly, the last thing he wanted to think about was Power Rangers. He turned on his TV.
"Here we are, this is Caitlin Starr reporting for Total Movie Secrets, or TMS. I am here discussing the exciting new development of a Power Rangers movie." The reporter declared. General Edwards rolled his eyes. "And while the details, including the cast have been kept a closely guarded secret, I have been given an exclusive interview, and can reveal the director behind the project. Making his Hollywood Directorial debut, former Ranger Dax Lo!"
General Edwards got up from the couch, and headed to the fridge, looking for a cold drink. He pulled out a beer, and cracked it open, returning as the interview began.
"So...yeah, it's been a while coming, I've been directing the soap opera 'The Gold Diggers of Venice' for three seasons, and then I got a call from Dr Hartford's studio offering me the chance to write and direct a Ranger feature film, and I just figured it was time to move on and show the world what I can do as a director."
"You and the studio have been very tight-lipped about the details of the movie; even the cast list has been kept under wraps, with a lot of speculation and even bets being made. Rumours abound of contracts with legally binding non-disclosure agreements so restrictive that it puts the Pentagon to shame." Caitlin said with a smile. "Can you tell us anything?"
"I really don't want to spoil anything for the audience." Dax chuckled, waving it off. "All I can say for now is that I am basing the team's costume design and powers on the current team, and I can confirm the rumours that while most of the scenes have been filmed, we are going to be filming a lot of scenes in the very near future. Going for ultimate authenticity, we're going to be filming in Harwood County."
General Edwards had to double-take hearing that. They were filming a movie based on the Rangers...in the Rangers' home city? He turned up the volume.
"Alright, so that begs the question...you can tell us...have you had any co-operation from the current team?" Caitlin asked him. "You can tell us...go on."
"I'm afraid that even if I knew who they were, I couldn't tell you." He responded with a little chuckle. "Not every Ranger team has had their identities open to the public like I have, and I respect their right to that. To date, none of my team has even revealed the identities of the team that substituted for us. I will confirm though that I have been in contact with others who have worn the Spandex, and with the exception of a few, most are enthusiastic about the project and have wished me well."
"So...you're telling us that other former Rangers are involved in the project?" Caitlin asked, shifting a little closer. She was clearly fishing.
"Like I said, I couldn't confirm that if it was true." Dax assured her. "I respect those who have done their tenure as the Rangers too much to reveal them. If they choose to do so themselves is another matter."
"You're not really telling us much about the movie." Caitlin responded. "Can you even give us some preview footage?"
"I just so happen to have it right here." Dax replied. As they started to play the footage, General Edwards smiled. A former Ranger was going to film a Power Rangers film, based on a currently active team in their home town. With a little luck, their own arrogance would lead them to observe the production just in case it came a little too close to the mark.
Back at the site of the battle, Dream Snatcher smashed his Fork weapon into Jordan's Megazord, damaging it badly. It fell to the ground, narrowly missing a building as he went.
"This isn't good guys." Jordan told them. "My power's hitting 36 percent."
"Just a little longer." Troy told him as he and Emma buzzed the creature's head in their zords, blasting its eyes to blind it temporarily. "You three are up!"
Gia's Tiger Zord bit into Dream Snatcher's foot, while Jake looped the Snake Zord around behind its legs. Noah sent torpedoes flying into his chest, knocking him down.
"He's down, but he won't be down for long." Troy stated. "Jordan, are you ready?"
"I sure as hell hope so." Jordan replied. They formed up the Gosei Great Grand Megazord. Powering up its Spear, they faced the monster.
"He's getting up." Jake told them.
"Just a little longer." Troy told them. "We'll need everything..."
"We need to..."
"A little longer, I can feel it!" Troy reiterated. He saw that Dream Snatcher was now back on his feet, and trying to clear his vision. "NOW!"
"Victory Charge!" They chorused together, unleashing their final attack. Dream Snatcher took it full on. They watched in horror as he didn't immediately fall.
"That...that was everything we had!" Noah protested.
"Power up again!" Troy told them.
"With what?" Jake asked him as his control console all but exploded in his face. "We've already maxed out every power cell we had! If we try again..."
"We might fry the Zords, but we need to stop him!" Troy reminded them as Dream Snatcher started to shuffle slowly towards them, smoke billowing from his chest as he raised his weapon. "Power up again!"
"Troy, there IS no more power; it's taking what little we have just to keep this thing upright!" Noah told him. "Everything's toast! Even if we use everything we have..."
Just as he got to them, Dream Snatcher pitched forward, falling lifelessly to the ground. Troy breathed a sigh of relief.
"Noah, please tell me we have enough power to get these things back home." Troy told him.
"We do...barely." Noah told him. "It's just as well Tensou doesn't get pissed."
"So...was that a Mega Win?" Jake asked.
"It was a win." Troy replied, looking down to Dream Snatcher's charred corpse with a sigh, realising how lucky they'd been. He was gone, defeated, but it had taken literally everything they had. However, he knew that their victory was more down to luck than anything else. "That's going to have to do for now."
Later in the night, the Rangers, together with Quinn, all raced up the hill. Taking the damaged Zords back to the Command Centre had taken a lot longer than usual, and they were now only barely going to make it in time for the Meteor Shower. They were all carrying as much of the gear as they possibly could, in order to make it in one trip.
"Alright, this is the spot." Noah told them as Emma started setting up her tripod. He set up a table and opened up his laptop. "Jake, are you nearly done with that telescope?"
"Almost." Jake replied, looking to the note on his hand he had made of the co-ordinates. "That should just about...done!"
"Great, just in time." Emma told them. "The meteor storm should be coming overhead any minute."
"I've just got time to set up..." Gia said as she started tapping something on her tablet. "Cat! Sorry I'm late."
"It's OK; I got the traffic report up here." Cat replied, using their code. Traffic Report was how they indicated news relating to Ranger battles. "I know it must have been hard getting there on time."
"I really wish you could be here." Gia answered.
"Well, I have the next best thing." Cat told her. "I'm at the observatory! My brother got me tickets! According to him, I'll be able to see the shower from here! We'll be able to watch it together!"
Emma just smiled and shook her head as Jordan came over to help her with her camera.
"Gia just couldn't miss her Skype chat with Cat." She told him. "I'm really glad things worked out for them, it must really suck being so far apart."
"I guess it must." Jordan answered. "Emma, can I just say something?"
"Sure, what is it?" She asked.
"I just wanted to say, I know I was kind of a jerk about the whole dreams thing." Jordan acknowledged awkwardly. "I just didn't get it. I know I travelled a lot as a kid, and because I met a lot of people with different religions and cultures I liked to think of myself as all enlightened and stuff. I just didn't realise that it was so important to you, but after today...I totally get it. I had no right to bag on you for it."
"It's alright. I know sometimes I can be overbearing too." She told him. She looked to him sadly. "I guess we both had a different experience."
"I'm not sure I..."
"We both lost our moms really young." Emma reminded him. "We've both had to grow up without that in our lives."
Jordan just sighed and nodded.
"I have to apologise too. I guess I haven't talked to you that much, that I might have presumed we'd have a lot more in common, and was a little disappointed we don't. I guess it's because...I guess one thing I never got was the fact that you and your dad aren't that close."
"Emma..."
"When I lost mom, it left a huge part of our lives just...empty." Emma explained to him. "Dad talked to me a lot, convinced me that even if mom wasn't here, I still had to live my life, because that was the gift mom had given me. Dad and I are really close; we have been ever since my mom died. I guess I didn't really get that wasn't the same for you."
"Maybe it's because I took mom from him." Jordan stated.
"You don't believe that do you?" Emma asked him, looking horrified. "Jordan..."
"I don't, I know that it's not my fault mom got sick." He assured her. "But she got so weak, and she died so soon after I was born...I guess I could understand if maybe dad did blame me."
"Has he ever...?"
"Don't worry this isn't a whole Freudian thing." He told her. "He's never said anything like that to me, but I guess I could understand if on some level, that was how he felt. What you and your dad have is really special. I guess I thought I accepted a long time ago that we were never going to be that close."
"Maybe it'll happen one day." She replied. "You could always..."
As she pointed to the sky, he just smiled.
"Well, you did show me that dreams give people strength." Jordan replied. "If dad found out though, he'd probably tell me dreams don't get anyone anywhere. It's only ambition..."
"Well, do you know what ambition is?" Emma asked him. He shook his head. "Ambition is just a dream someone works towards. It all starts with a dream."
"I hadn't thought of it that way." He answered with a smile.
"Guys, it's almost about to start." Troy told them. Emma and Jordan joined their friends, sitting on the hill. Noah had just finished setting up his computer to record the shower. He sat with Quinn, who offered to share her blanket with him. He gratefully accepted. Troy did the same with Emma, while Gia just held her tablet closely. Jordan sat with Jake.
"So, you and Emma made up?" Jake asked him. Jordan nodded.
"I guess I just need to remember that not everyone's going to believe what I do." Jordan told him.
"Hey...hey it's starting!" Noah told them, pointing upwards. The Rangers all looked up, watching as the first of the stars started streaking across the sky.
"I hope everyone remembered their wishes." Emma told them, unfurling her list. Jordan noticed a couple in different coloured ink.
"You added a couple since this morning?" He asked her. She just nodded.
"What can I say? I believe in the power of dreams." She answered him. He just smiled as he looked back to the shooting stars.
Emma drew in closer to Troy, noticing the troubled expression on his face.
"What is it?" She asked him.
"That Aurora Box is still out there." He reminded her. "We barely made it through this time. If that's the power it has..."
"Well, tonight's the night for making dreams come true right?" She asked. He just held her tightly, thinking that so many of his wishes had already come true, maybe she had a point.
"So, how about you?" Quinn asked Noah, kissing him softly. "What are you wishing for?"
"What could I have to wish for when I'm here with you?" He asked, looking to the heavens. However, there was one wish he was making, just not out loud. He had seen firsthand the power the Aurora Box had bestowed on the Mutants, but he knew there was more than one way to put out a fire. If his latest work with Tensou worked, he was on the verge of a breakthrough with his work. If his creation worked, no more innocent victims of mankind's carelessness would have to be destroyed. He was so close to creating a retro-mutagenic agent, he was almost ready to test it. If all went well, he would end the threat of the Toxic Mutants for good.