DISCLAIMER: Not mine: Saban, DC Comics, Columbia Pictures Television, Screen Gems, Lumiere, Universal Television/MCA, and others I can't remember right now. This was originally one whole tale, but a friend of mine made me realize that I could spotlight each aspect of the tale by splitting it into 8 chapters. Here's no. VII…
THE RESISTANCE CHAPTER 7: FINAL BATTLE CRIES
By C.A. TURNER
"It all ends today. The teams of Power Rangers are going after their villainous groups of Rogue Rangers, and creepy henchmen. We are going to keep our families safe…and stop the new Legion of Doom. We also must stop Superman…at all costs. We've lost him. He won't listen to any of us…and he won't tell us why. It may come down to…but let's hope not. I'll try and find out why he's acting like this." Batman spoke up. The Justice League had assembled in front of the Hall Of Justice, along with the Titans…and varying teams of Rangers. Their allies had gone to the Nuclear reactor safe house to get everyone ready for the teleport to the Egyptian Pyramids.
Wonder Woman looked over at Greg Westfall. For some reason she was nervous. Not for herself, but for him. –He'll be careful, Hal taught him well. So why am I so worried?-
"Everyone get ready to split up!" Keith Partridge shouted. Although new to this, the Red Lion ThunderCat took to being in charge like he had been doing it all his life. "All Ranger teams head for the Washington Monument!"
Jason Lee Scott, the Red Tyrannosaurus Ranger, looked at his protégé and sighed. –This new creep must have really gotten under his skin. It's almost as if…OH, MAN! No wonder he's pissed!- Jason tried to talk to him. "Keith…" he began.
"JASON, I'M FINE! Sorry, I know you want to help. But I'm not sure if this creep really is Danny. I have to stay in focus…for all our sakes." Keith turned away.
Jason was still mulling all of this in his head when he got a summons from Black Canary. "It's all about to go down. Is Isis there?"
"I'm here, and I've been ready to end this since this all began. Well?" Isis asked.
"You need to ask? We now do whatever it takes to stop Superman. I still can't believe we have to put him and his army down. Ready?" Jason Lee Scott asked.
"Ready." As one Kimberly Hart, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, Tommy Oliver, Samantha Dean, and Billy Cranston nodded. The Morphin Rangers stood ready.
"All set on our end." Adam Park said sadly. The team he lead, the Zeo Rangers; Kat Hilliard, Tanya Sloan, Rocky DeSantos, David Truehart, Jamie Zedden, and Trey of Triforia, stood with their teammates; The New Teen Titans.
"We're ready too. Give the word." Andros spoke up just then. The Rangers from various teams: Space Rangers, Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, Wild Force, Dino Thunder, Mystic Force, Operation Overdrive, and Jungle Fury, along with the ThunderCats, were ready to fight, having gone to the Washington Monument.
Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the other Justice Leaguers stood ready. Wonder Woman looked at Greg, and thought about last night, praying he'd get through this.
Isis took charge again. "Everyone! One of our own thinks that by trying to control the United States, he could succeed where we have failed! He is wrong! The world will not live under those conditions! Whatever happens, win or lose, we make a stand for our planet! Today, we win back our country, our choice, and our freedom! Today, win or lose, we must make a stand, even if it is our final stand! As John F. Kennedy once said: 'Let Us Begin!'"
Gotham City:
Hawkman led the charge in the skies against Sinestro and his team of robot drones. He, Hawkwoman, Hal, Greg, Wonder Woman, and Titans Troia, Starfire, Raven, and Kyle Rayner were engaging several other villains and had the upper hand…until Superman attacked. Knocking out the Titans, he then plowed into the Hawks, then trashed all three Green Lanterns, and Diana, knocking them all out.
Before he arrived at the reactor, Batman was able to contact those inside. "Hit the teleport switch, NOW!" A inaudible, steady hum started the teleporting, sending the families safely to the underground location under the pyramids of Egypt. But, before he could tell the others, Batman was knocked out by flying debris, caused by Superman when he destroyed the reactor.
Unaware that his loved ones were safe, Flash screamed "NOOOOOOOOO! You son of a bitch, you're gonna pay for this!" With those words, the gloves were off, and everyone began to attack, hoping to be the one to make the Man of Steel surrender…to no avail. Flash, Cyborg, and Nightwing fell like tenpins.
Washington DC, Washington Monument:
Boston was a sea of chaos. The Rangers, ThunderCats, Charmed Ones, and Isis all had their work cut out for them. Prue, Piper, and Paige were concerned. Their teamwork was new…it wasn't like Phoebe was with them. Paige was especially nervous. "Where do we start? I mean, I've never done this before, this is really kind of freaky."
Piper shouted, "We try and find Faust. He's around here somewhere. We take him out, we take out Superman's immunity to magic. But first, we help Isis and the others."
Brainiac started the whole mess with mind controlling the police. Circe tried to get them to attack the heroes. Captain Cold and Fatality then tried to turn the city into a cemetery.
"No way! Let's take these beasts!" Jason shouted. He and Keith both began their attack by taking out their pack of henchmen, then went to work in freeing the police from the mind devices. While this was happening, Laurie and Kimberly tricked Circe to turning her powers of deception on herself. Using a laser arrow, she had Circe believing a mirrored image was Kimberly, while the Pink Ranger had Circe believing she was about to attack the Pink ThunderCat. The result was: Circe's death dealing blast hit the mirror, and bounced right back at her. Circe was knocked out of the fight.
Zack, Chris, and Isis went after Captain Cold using intense heat. The Egyptian Goddess increased the temperature to 109 degrees, while Zack & Chris used the laser cannons from their axes to melt the ice he had created. In turn, Fatality was nailed by the team of Trini and Tracy. Daggers were thrown to confuse her, while karate kicks to the jaw laid her out.
Bill, Billy, and Paige helped Prue and Piper end the threat the stormtroopers caused, leaving the new enemy, who then went after Bill…with a vengeance.
-Something about this new creep seems…my god!- Keith then changed tacks. Helmet computer: filter out Jackal's voice distortion. The end result was that: Although they had an idea, it's still pretty shocking to find out.
"Mask!" Paige shouted, sending the cowl flying, revealing the truth.
Danny Partridge, a/k/a the Jackal, was responsible for the heroes going on the defensive to protect their families, by revealing the location of the safe house to Superman and his team. "Why did you do it?" Prue asked.
"I was supposed to be the Blue ThunderCat! I WAS, not HIM!" he yelled, pointing a blaming finger at Bill. "It was my birthright, not his! What gave Zordon the right to do this? What's wrong with using your power to make yourself rich. Booster Gold did it, so why not?"
Prue glared at him. "Because you would corrupt the power by doing that, don't you understand? Besides, Booster may have started out being greedy, but he actually tried to help those in need!"
Chris looked at Zack. "He understands, he just doesn't care. Zordon made the right call."
"No, he didn't! I am a Partridge, not him! It should be ME!"
"You still don't get it. All your money grubbing plans and schemes, your profiteering off of others, and now your scheme for revenge: It's only poisoned you." Laurie stated.
"I agree. I will be DAMNED if I take that path! Bill Engvall happens to be one of the coolest men I've ever met. You'd know that if you had ever given him a chance!" Keith finished.
Danny, however, wasn't having any of it. "Worse: Mom knew, and didn't think to see how I would feel. To hell with all of you!"
"No, Danny. To hell with you. You asked for this. LEO!" Piper shouted.
Dan and Isis came over as Leo, Piper's husband, and Whitelighter, orbed into view. "What's going on?"
"We found the leak. Can you put him in the facility?" Isis asked him.
"Done." In a flash of glittering lights, Danny was orbed into a maximum security part of the metahuman prison, his new weapons gone. Smiling evilly, he said "Joker was right: All it takes is one really bad day. But, I've been in worse spots before…and I've always gotten out."
Dan looked at the ThunderCats. "Is everyone OK?"
"Right now, we're worried about mom, I mean, how is she gonna handle this?" Keith said sadly.
Dan started to say something when a flash of worry went across his face beneath his helmet. Bill looked at the Shadow ThunderCat. "What's up, man?"
"Greg. He's in trouble! We've got to get back to Gotham, NOW!"
Washington, DC; Capitol Building:
Snickering to himself, Superman started to walk to Batman, when he was hit by a rather painful green bolt of Oan energy. Hal had recovered, and he and Wonder Woman both plowed into their one time friend, neither speaking. Hal got in close, as Wonder Woman matched him blow for blow. Martian Manhunter joined them, and for a minute, it looked like they really could win.
Suddenly, Superman just shrugged them off, throwing J'Onn into the reactor rubble, slugging Hal, and beating Diana mercilessly. "Some friends you are! Your lives end here…and you're the first, lady!"
But as Superman prepared the killing blow, another, more intense beam hit him, almost like that of Kryptonite, followed by a warning voice of "GET YOUR GOD DAMN HANDS OFF OF HER, NOW!" Capt. Greg Westfall had recovered, and arrived just in time to try and stop him.
"You are not killing anyone else today! It ends now!" Greg then charged Superman, coating his fists with a solid kryptonite field, which made a painful punch against Superman's skin. The one time hero returned the punches, and for a while, it was a stalemate. However, Greg's stamina wore out, and Superman attacked without mercy. Diana awoke to see something she would hate…and which made her desire revenge.
With one punch Superman put his fist through Greg's chest, punching out his heart. But, as that was happening, Greg used his willpower to find every bit of kryptonite on Earth, and used it to create a dagger to quickly plunge into his foe's heart.
"GREG!" Diana screamed.
Despite the great pain, Greg continued to pour every last ounce of willpower into forcing the kryptonite further into Superman's heart, shouting as he did "Man, I NEVER wanted to do this! But, if I don't, this world will never get another chance! You have to be stopped…NOW!" Hal was able to stop the blood flow and return his heart to it's proper place…but the damage had been done…and was too great.
A flash of twinkling lights, and Isis, the Charmed Ones, and the ThunderCats appeared, followed by Dr. Fate. Throwing off his helmet, Dan raced over to his fallen friend, followed by Phoebe Halliwell. "What happened?" he almost screamed.
Diana didn't hear anything. She just held him tightly, sobbing "Hold on, please. We'll get you to a hospital, just hold on, don't leave me…"
"No…no say in the m… matter, Di. M…my time's done." Coughing up blood, he continued "Don't…don't mourn m…me, don't be alo…alone all your life. F…find some…someone…"
Diana cried as Hal and Dan joined them. There was a primal scream that came from Dan as Hal held his best friend and protégé. "Come on, pal, we're together in this. Don't you give up on me!"
"N…not giving…up, y…you know me better than t…that. It's j…just over. Hal…it wasn't your…your fault. I knew the risks when I w…wore this ring. Dan, say some…something." Greg asked.
Dan smiled despite the tears. "You're buying the next round of beers. You're not getting out of it that easily."
Phoebe came over then. Greg looked at her, smiled, and said "P…Phoebe Halliwell…hold out you…your hand. The power ring soon floated onto her finger.
Phoebe looked at him grimly and said in a determined tone "I won't let you down, you can count on me."
Greg then looked at Wonder Woman. "A…all through the night, Diana. J…just one last time…"
Diana bent over and kissed him. Then backed away in shock. Capt. Greg Westfall had died in her arms, and she couldn't let him go. The mourning had begun for her, while Dan glared at the one time symbol for truth, justice, and the American way. Anger rising in him as he said this, he charged the enclosure, screaming "You…miserable…PSYCHOTIC…MURDERING…SON OF A BITCH!"
Batman awoke, and saw what Dan was about to do. While Hal and Phoebe tried to console Diana, the Dark Knight charged over and tackled the Shadow ThunderCat to the ground. "LET ME GO, DAMN IT! He' has to pay! For Greg, for our families…"
"They're safe, Dan. Isis and I arranged for the families to be safely teleported underneath the Egyptian Pyramids. As for Greg…he wouldn't want you to throw your life away like that. He gave us all a chance to help this country…this world. Don't let revenge throw away that chance."
Capt. Daniel Aydelott hadn't cried since he was 9 years old. Today, however, the tears just fell, as Batman let him and Hal sob out their feelings for the loss of their best friend.
The comn units rang. Kelly Garrett was on the line. We've found Faust's book of spells, and we've found huge deposits of cash hidden in the White House…along with a few other goodies. It seems that Superman had himself a hidden agenda. How are things there?
Batman sadly answered "All the families are safe, the villains have been stopped, and the war seems to be over…but…we've had a couple of casualties."