Small mutters and the occasional tapping of keys was all that filled the silence of the basement when Kira and Trent made their way downstairs with cups of coffee in each hand. Conner and Tommy seemed to be more than knee deep into their work and had been for the entire morning, as well as the majority of the afternoon.
"How's it coming along?" Kira asked as she came over to Conner and placed one of the cups by him. She put a hand on his shoulder and massaged it gently.
"Slowly, very slowly," Conner said, his eyes not leaving the large computer screen before them. Tommy nodded in agreement.
"Have you been able to locate anything?" Trent asked as he placed Tommy's cup in front of him. The older man shook his head.
"Unfortunately, no we've had some spotty location grabs, but they're so sporadic that it could be anything." Tommy replied as he tapped a few more keys.
"Sporadic?" Kira questioned. "How so?"
"Every time we think we've got a trace on this psycho in green, the reading just disappears off the map as quickly as it appears," Conner explained.
"What do you think it means?" Trent asked.
"Well, both Dr. O and I suck at this, or we're dealing with Nightcrawler here….my feeling is it's the former," Conner sighed.
"Well, isn't it possible that he's got teleportation like you do Conner?" Trent asked. Kira looked at Trent and then to Conner.
"It would explain how he got from here to my house that night." She replied. "I mean it's not like he could have taken a plane or anything... So unless he has super-speed like Conner used to, I think it's something we should consider." Kira finished. Tommy looked up, his fingers pausing on the keyboard.
"That does make sense," he said. He shifted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "When Danny was telling us about Max's confrontation with the green ranger, he did say that the green ranger seemed to just appear out of nowhere." Conner stopped.
"Okay, so we're dealing with someone who is not only a homicidal maniac but can also appear anywhere he wants to in the blink of an eye," Conner said.
"Unfortunately, this doesn't help with trying to track him," Tommy said. There was silence for a few minutes before the alarms began to sound.
"Right, as if we didn't have enough to deal with." Conner grumbled as he pulled up the video screen. The scene that appeared before them was that of total destruction. They saw a horde of creatures in white from head to toe terrorizing citizens in the center of town.
"What are those things?" Kira asked, taken aback.
"My guess is, the white creatures Carter and Danny talked about," Tommy replied as they watched the carnage. Trent stood up from where he'd sat on one of the empty computer chairs.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing! We need to go and fight." He told them, putting his coffee cup down. Kira nodded.
"I agree... Whatever those are, they're killing people and we need to stop it." She replied. Conner looked at both of them.
"We don't have any powers... The morphers aren't ready yet." Trent shrugged.
"We can do it." He replied. Tommy looked at them all.
"Strength in numbers guys." He commented, also standing. "We need to make sure that what happened to Max and Ryan doesn't happen to us." The trio before him nodded.
"Let's do this." Conner replied as they headed upstairs. The shouts and screams of the innocent victims spurned them onwards.
Once upstairs, they raced outside to Conner's car, where they all piled in as Conner sped away from the house. What seemed like forever later, the group filled rolled up a few streets away from the attack. They quickly unloaded themselves from the car and took off at a run towards the core of the city. Once they got there, they saw total mayhem before them. The creatures in white were, mysteriously and perplexingly, no where to be seen. But the streets and sidewalks reeked of evidence of their brutality. All around them, there were dead bodies and some injured people withering on the ground. Some of those with less serious injuries were trying to tend to those in need. Cars and structures engulfed in flames littered the space between them.
"All right," Tommy said. "We need to help these people." The others nodded and spread out, going to the streets. Tommy went towards the curb, trying to see if there were people trapped in cars.
"Ugh!" He heard someone yell, followed by the sound of someone yanking on the handle of a car door. Tommy looked through the fumes coming off the flames and saw the back of a female with long dark hair, tying to force open a car door. Tommy went over to her.
"Hey, you need to get out of here," he said as he approached her. The girl turned to look at him. Tommy saw that she was relatively young, at least compared to him, and of Asian descent.
"Gee, I'd really love that but there's a kid stuck in here," the woman snapped at him. Tommy got closer, sure enough there was a girl, who looked to be about Allison's age, sitting in the backseat of the car, staring up at them with wide fear-filled eyes. In the front of the car, a woman Tommy assumed was the little girl's mother, sat with her head pressed against the driver side window, a large bleeding wound on the side of her head.
"You know them?" Tommy asked as he went to one of the doors and tried pulling it open.
"No," The woman said. "I heard the kid screaming and came over," she said. "Don't bother with the door; I've already tried them all."
"Please help mommy," the little girl said, her voice coming from one of the windows being open just a crack. Tommy cursed slightly under his breath. The opening wasn't big enough to try and get a hand through to open the door from the inside.
"We will," Tommy said, speaking to the girl in a soft voice. "What's your name?" He asked the little girl. She looked at him, tears in her little blue eyes.
"Abby," she said.
"Okay, Abby, my name's Tommy," he said. "Do you think you can open the door for me?"
"Child lock," The Asian woman said from the other side of the car. "Told you, I've already tried." Tommy sighed. The woman's attitude wasn't helping the situation. He looked around, pausing when he saw a trashcan on its side. He stopped pulling on the door he was at, standing up straight. He looked at the woman.
"Tell her to get down and cover her head," he told her as he rushed to the trashcan. Behind him, he heard the woman standing by the crack in the window, relaying the message. He picked up the trashcan and brought it back to the car. He stood by the back windshield. He saw that the girl was curled under the backseat, lying on her stomach, covering her head with her little hands. "Get back," Tommy told the woman. The woman took a few steps back. Tommy hefted the trashcan in his hand and smashed it into the back windshield. The glass shattered beneath the can. Once the glass was done away with, Tommy threw the can aside and reached his arms into the car. "Come on," he gently coaxed Abby. Abby peaked up at him. She went to put her hands on the backseat to pull herself up. "Don't touch the glass," he warned softly. He leaned further into the window, hissing a bit as he felt shards of glass dig into his arm. Abby reached for his outstretched hands and Tommy pulled her to her feet. Once the girl was standing, he wrapped one arm around her waist and put the other behind her head as he slowly lifted her up, pulling her over the backseat. He pulled her out of the broken window head first, carefully guarding her from the shards of glass. Once he had her out of the window, he set her down on the trunk of the car, where the woman was there to pick her up. "Get her out of here," Tommy told the woman.
"What about mommy?" Tommy heard the girl protest. Tommy looked at her.
"I'll get her, don't worry," he said. With that said, he slowly climbed in through the window. He tried to avoid the broken glass to the best of his ability. He climbed through to the front of the car, sitting in the passenger seat. Beside him, he heard soft moaning. Tommy was a little relieved at the sound, indicating that the woman in the car wasn't dead.
"Ma'am?" Tommy said, leaning over to her. He carefully put a hand under her neck and slowly tilted her head towards him. "Ma'am, can you hear me?" He asked her. The woman moaned, scrunching her face as she slowly came to.
"Ye….yes…" she said. She kept her eyes closed as her hand came up to touch the wound on her head. "Whe…….where's my daughter?" She asked.
"She's all right," Tommy assured her. "We need to get you out of here," he said. "Can you sit up?" He asked. The woman nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I think so," she said. She opened her eyes, slowly shifting in the seat as she sat up.
"Good," he said. "Your doors are stuck, you're going to have to climb out the back, can you do that?" He asked. The woman nodded. Tommy leaned back as the woman unhooked her seatbelt and shifted, crawling out of her seat towards the back. Tommy heard her groan slightly as her hands came in contact with the broken glass. Once she was at the backseat, Tommy shifted and went to follow her.
"Give me your hand," he heard someone say ahead of them. He looked up to see the woman he had left Abby with reaching her hand in to help Abby's mother out. He saw the top of Abby's head just below the line of the car, indicating that the little girl was most likely clinging to the woman's leg. Abby's mother reached out and let the woman pull her out of the broken windshield.
"Mommy!" He heard Abby exclaim once her mother was out of the car. He saw the mother quickly pick up her daughter, hugging her close. As Tommy accepted the outstretched hand that waited for him, the mother looked at them.
"Thank you, thank you both so much," she said. Tommy climbed out of the car and slid off the trunk, letting his feet touch the ground. He put a hand on each of the women's shoulders, leading them to the curb.
"You're welcome," he said to Abby's mother. "Now get out of here, both of you." Abby's mother was more than happy to oblige as she clutched her daughter close to her, running away from the wreckage. Tommy then turned to the woman.
"You need to get out of here as well." He commented. She blinked, her eyes staring at all the destruction on the streets.
"Those things…" she muttered. "They were ruthless. They didn't care who they were hurting……..kids……elderly people……" Tommy sighed.
"Even more reason why you need to go," he said. The woman blinked, looking at him before slowly nodding.
"But what about you?" She asked. Tommy shook his head.
"I'll be fine, just go." He insisted. The woman stared at him, flabbergasted as to why he wouldn't take his own advice.
"Fine," she said. "Whatever you say, Mr. Hero," she added, rolling her eyes as she stepped back. "Be careful," she said with a shrug, as if trying to decide what would be appropriate parting words. With that, she turned and left, meshing into the crowds of uninjured people who were running away.
---
Not too far away, Trent was jogging through the wreckage. He stopped when he saw a man about his father's age sitting on the street, holding his head. He kneeled down by the man.
"Sir, are you all right?" He asked. The man looked up at him, dazedly.
"My head…" he muttered. Trent could see blood seeping out of the hand he had placed on his forehead.
"Can you walk?" He asked. The man looked uncertain. Trent stood up; taking the man's other arm. He put his hand on the man's back and gently pulled the man to his feet. "You need to get to a hospital," he said. He looked around. He knew the man couldn't leave on his own, as he could barely stand, but Trent couldn't leave the others to take him. He saw two boys who looked to be in their late teens, trying to get away from the wreckage, coming towards him. "Hey, hey," he said, getting them to stop. "Can you two get this man to the nearest hospital?" The boys looked skeptical, as if helping the man would hinder their escape, before one of them nodded.
"Yeah," he said. They came over as Trent shifted the man to them. Each boy took one of the man's arms and put them over their shoulders, holding him up as the three slowly left. Trent looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else in the same state as the man. He paused as he saw a young man, about his own age if not a little younger, who looked to be of Native American stock, with long hair pulled into a braid, crouching over an unconscious elderly man, pushing on his chest in an attempt to do chest compressions. Trent quickly went over to the scene, his hands reaching out and stopping the man's hands.
"You're doing that wrong," Trent informed him when the man gave him a sharp look. Trent crouched down beside the young man and looked down at the elder. He looked to also be of Native American heritage, with long gray, almost silver, hair.
"He's my neighbor," The young man said. "I was trying to get him out of here when he just collapsed….I think he had a heart attack." Trent placed his hands on the elderly man's chest as he resumed the young man's action, except this time he was pushing down harder on the man's chest.
"Breath into his mouth, and pinch his nose." Trent commanded. The young man nodded and did as he instructed. "Did he complain about any pain?" Trent asked as he continued the chest compressions. The young man gave him a blank look. "On his left side, any pain on his left side," Trent added quickly. The young man shook his head.
"No," he said. He saw Trent give him a nod, indicating to perform mouth to mouth again. He leaned over and breathed into his mouth. "But he's had heart attacks before," the man added after a few minutes. "Even still, he's too proud to admit to any discomfort, even if he was having any pain."
"Well, we'll keep trying this, and hopefully it'll work." Trent replied as he continued to push on the man's chest. After some time, Trent froze as he felt the man below him flinch before groaning and raising his hands to his chest.
"Mr. Hawk?" The young man spoke. The elder man groaned in response. "Mr. Hawk, are you all right?" He slowly helped the man sit up as he tried to breathe. Trent looked up as he heard sirens coming closer. He squinted as he saw a few ambulances coming to the scene.
"There's some help coming," Trent said. He put a hand on the young man's chest. "Make sure he gets in an ambulance," he instructed. The young man looked at Trent and nodded. Trent got up and went to see if anyone else needed help.
"Wait!" The younger man called as Trent began to walk away. Trent stopped and turned around. "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me," Trent said. "You just make sure your friend's all right and then get out of here," he advised. The man opened his mouth to protest when Mr. Hawk stopped him.
"Leave him, Mounted Warrior," he spoke in a raspy voice. "Your paths are not to converge just yet." Trent furrowed his brows, unsure what the man was talking about and was ready to simply toss it aside as something random spoken by an ill, possibly senile, older man. But something about how the younger man looked down at his companion and took what he said to heart struck him as even more strange than the phrase itself. The man nodded and looked back at Trent.
"Thank you," he said. Trent simply nodded and continued on his way, pushing the words aside as he focused on helping others. Not far from where Trent and Tommy had been, Kira was moving as quickly as she could to help those who had been injured. She'd never seen so much death and destruction before, not even in her days as a ranger... It was strange to see it, that much she knew. She hurried over to a young female who was huddled against the wall of a building, crying and holding her neck. Kira rushed over as quickly as she could, dodging a dead body of an old woman. Kira cringed; somehow she knew that they were too late. She dropped to her knees next to the younger girl.
"Are you okay?" She asked, putting her hand on top of the girls, on her neck. The girl shook her head.
"No, something cut my neck." She cried. Kira put her arms around the girl in an awkward hug.
"It'll be okay." She replied.
"Cassie!" Yelled a voice, Kira looked up to see a tall man who looked to be a few years older than the girl next to her. Kira had to blink for a second, taken aback by how much he resembled Conner back in their high school days. He ran over to them, sliding to his knees as he reached them.
"Whoa, whoa, settle down," Kira said as the man tried to reach for the girl.
"She's my little sister," the man stated.
"Hayden!" The girl sobbed. She tried to collapse in her brother's arm, but Kira's hold on her kept her still. "Hayden, I lost mom….We……we got separated……"
"Shh, shh," Hayden soothed. "It's okay. Mom's all right. She's just worried about you. What happened?" He asked. Cassie closed her eyes as more tears spilled out.
"Mom and I were running in a crowd…….and those white things were behind us……I felt something cut my neck and I fell……I…..I nearly got trampled by all the people." Hayden sighed and pulled his sister out of Kira's arms, holding the girl to him as she sobbed, gripping at her brother's shirt with her free hand.
"You're okay now," he told her. "I'm here, Cass, I'm right here," he soothed. Kira sat back and watched the siblings cling to each other. She looked over and saw a few ambulances coming to the wreckage. One parked not to far from them as two paramedics came out. Kira stood up and jogged over to one of them.
"There's a girl over there that's got a neck wound. It looks pretty deep. I don't think she should be moved or anything until you guys have a look at her," she informed him. The paramedic looked over Kira's shoulder and saw the scene Kira had just left. He nodded.
"We'll take care of it," he said. He motioned for his partner who was carrying a large med-kit to go over to the pair. Kira stood back and watched as the other paramedic kneeled by Hayden and Cassie, coaxing Hayden to let his sister go so he could examine the wound.
"Make sure they're okay," Kira said softly. Before the paramedic could tell her it was best she vacated the premises, Kira went off to see if there was anyone else who needed assistance. After a couple of hours, the scene was cleared. The seriously injured were taken away by the ambulances; the injured who were still able to walk were looked over by paramedics and sent off. Now all that remained was the dead, who the paramedics had left behind to make room for those who still had a chance. The streets covered with dead bodies chilled Kira down to her very core as she walked around, trying to see if anyone alive had been left behind.
"Well, it's so nice to see you all here," came a voice behind her. Kira gasped and spun around, stumbling back as she saw a figure dressed in a green ranger uniform. "It saves me the trouble to having to track you down," he said. Kira's eyes widened.
"You," she whispered as a rush of emotions came to her. "What are you doing here?" She demanded. The green figure chuckled.
"I'm finally going to finish what I set out to do last time I tried to kill you, pretty yellow ranger." He snarled as he stepped forward.
"Stay away from her!" She heard someone scream fiercely as a body slammed into the green ranger, tackling him to the ground.
"Conner, no!" Kira screamed, fearing the green ranger would hurt him. She raced forward and grabbed Conner's hand, helping him up into a standing position. Conner stood beside her, the two instinctively falling into defensive stances as the green ranger stood up. He looked at them and chuckled, shaking his head.
"You can't be seriously thinking you can fight me and win," he said.
"We can try!" Conner snapped back at him. Kira just rolled her eyes at Conner's attitude. The green ranger just laughed.
"Bring it." He commanded.
"We intend to," said a voice. The green ranger turned to see Tommy and Trent standing behind him. The green ranger laughed.
"Oooooh, you've got me surrounded. I'm utterly petrified," The green ranger sneered.
"Shut up and fight." Kira growled. The green ranger turned to face her and laughed.
"You really that impatient to die?" He asked.
"You going to talk down to us all evening or actually fight, you piece of crap?" Trent growled.
"Apparently he can only fight if he's got his buddies in white helping him out or a bomb handy," Conner said, glaring at the green ranger. "Dude has no honor, apparently." The green ranger turned slowly to face Conner.
"You are the one who has no honor! All you fight for is to destroy, and you don't care about anything else!" He shouted. Kira looked at him.
"What are you talking about? We fight so that we can save the world from freaks like you." She replied.
"You're the one who's been a little too destruction happy," Conner snapped. "Answer me this, do you just get off on killing innocent people?" He shouted, looking at the streets littered with dead bodies. The green ranger laughed again.
"I'm not the bad guy here. Believe it or not, if my master and I ruled the world, things would be so much better for everyone. No more violence or insubordination from people like you. Every evil that any ranger has faced has had the same ideals. But you foolish idiots get in the way and ruin everything!" He replied, venom in his voice. Trent looked at him.
"You seriously think that by forcing everyone to follow someone's sick and twisted idea of normal would stop that from happening?" He questioned. The green ranger nodded.
"Yes. But every time anyone with that idea tries to make it work, you pesky multi-colored freaks get in the way and ruin everything."
"Says the psycho in ranger's clothing," Conner muttered. The green ranger's head snapped towards him.
"I am nothing like you pathetic insects," The green ranger growled.
"You got that right," Tommy stated.
"Enough of this!" He shouted as he faced Conner and Kira again. "Now, we fight." He snarled as he moved towards them both quickly.
"Good," Conner said, his eyes narrowing. He placed a hand on Kira's wrist and pulled her behind him as he charged at the green ranger. He launched into a roundhouse kick. The green ranger laughed before snatched Conner's leg and flinging him away like a rag doll.
"Conner!" Kira exclaimed. Conner groaned as he fell to the ground, bouncing a bit on the pavement. Kira glared at the green ranger as he went to Conner. Kira growled as she ran at him, punching and kicking him.
"Stay," she grunted as she landed a punch to the green ranger's arm, "away," a kick to the ranger's leg, "from my," a kick to the ranger's side. "boyfriend!" One last kick to his groin. The green ranger stumbled back slightly before standing up and facing her.
"You stupid woman." He snarled as he walked forward.
"Oh no you don't!" Tommy said as he and Trent went at him. Each man took hold of one of the green ranger's arms, holding him back from Kira. Tommy's knee came up, striking the green ranger in the stomach. Kira took her free chance to run over to where Conner was still lying. She kneeled beside him as he groaned, pulling himself to a sitting position.
"Are you okay?" She asked. Conner looked at her and nodded.
"Yeah," he said. He smirked a bit at her. "Remind me never to tick you off while you're PMSing," he kidded, relying on his high school persona and trying to lighten the mood. Kira rolled her eyes.
"Come on," she said as she stood up, pulling him up to his feet. Conner slowly climbed to his feet and looked over to where Tommy and Trent were barely holding their own. The green ranger flung Trent off into a mailbox, his body denting it before crashing to the ground, and he flung Tommy up against a light post. Conner ran to Tommy as Kira went to Trent. They helped their friends up to their feet as the four regrouped, facing the green ranger.
"None of you will ever be able to defeat me! This ends now, and you all would have been wise to have left with your pathetic friends!" He laughed before moving back slightly. The rangers looked at each other for a few seconds before a deafing explosion filled their ears and they all began to fall forwards.
---
There was darkness for a bit before Kira realized what had happened. 'That bastard, he set off a bomb'. She thought as she slowly sat up and looked around her. It seemed as if the ground had exploded in upon itself and brought them all down with it. The more she thought about it, she realized that it was better that the road had collapsed inward instead of outwards and hurting even more people. Slowly she stood up and looked down at her legs. Her jeans were covered in concrete dust and blood. Kira sighed.
"Guys?" She called out. She blinked as her eyes fought to see through the darkness. "Is anyone there?" She called again. "Conner? Trent? Dr. Oliver?" She tried. She began to get fearful as her calls were unanswered. She continued to move forward slowly as she came across someone lying face down in the mess of concrete. It was Conner! "Conner!" She exclaimed as she dropped to her knees, ignoring the shooting pain that followed. She shook him lightly. "Conner, come on, wake up," she pleaded. "Don't do this to me," she whispered as tears came to her eyes. She heard a soft cough come from under her. She held her breath, praying it was real and she wasn't just letting her hopeful mind play tricks on her. She sat back as Conner groaned and put his hands on the concrete, slowly pushing himself up. He shifted on the ground until he was sitting facing her. He looked at her.
"Kira," he said, coughing a bit from the dust he had inhaled. Kira closed her eyes and practically flew into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Conner was nearly knocked backward but was able to maintain his balance as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Don't ever scare me like that again," she whispered in his ear. He rubbed her back comfortingly.
"Sorry." He replied as she pulled away. She quickly checked him over and minus a few scraps and bruises, he seemed to be okay. Conner frowned at her before placing a hand on her cheek and turning it slightly.
"You're bleeding." He commented. Kira looked at him.
"What?" She replied. Conner nodded looking at her more closely. She had a deep cut above her right eye and another on her cheek. Her face seemed to be covered in more little minor cuts. There were a few gashes and bruises on her arms and one near her collar bone.
"Jesus..." He whispered. He then noticed that the bottom half of her jeans were torn and covered in blood. "Oh god, Kira," he muttered. Kira sighed and put a hand on under his chin, lifting his face back up so their eyes met.
"I'm okay," she said softly. Conner shook his head.
"Baby, you're…you're bleeding all over," he said. Kira sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm fine," she said. "It doesn't hurt," she lied. Conner looked at her for a moment, not fully believe her.
"Alright." He said cautiously. "But the minute you start to feel pain.."
"I'll tell you." She promised. She felt bad lying to him that it didn't hurt, but she knew that he'd fuss and try and get her out of there as soon as possible, before they found Trent or Tommy. She knew that there was something stuck in her skin near her collar bone, and also in her legs, but she'd suck it up for now. "We should find the others," she said. She felt Conner nod as he stood up, making her sit up. He reached down and helped her up. "Ah!" She cried out as she put weight on her legs. Conner looked at her. Kira looked down. "I'm fine," she insisted. Conner sighed and put her arm around his shoulder. If she was going to be stubborn about her pain, he'd at least try his best to ease some of it.
"Lean on me," he said as he held her arm on his shoulders with one hand and put the other around her waist, holding her up. Kira sighed. 'Damn you pain system and betraying me.' She thought as she leaned against Conner and they started to walk through the lingering clouds of dust. Kira winced as the movement jarred her, making her think of her pain. Conner looked down at her. "Kira," he said. "Tell me the truth," he said, leaving it at that. Kira sighed.
"Conner, please, just…I'm fine. We need to find the others. Then we can worry about injuries," she said. Conner stopped walking.
"Kira, I'm not going to have you walk around here and make your injuries worse," he said.
"Well, I'm not leaving here until we find the others, so unless you plan on carry me, I-what are you doing!" She exclaimed as she felt Conner lean down, removing the hand on her waist and putting it under her legs as he hefted her up in his arms.
"Taking you suggestion," he simply stated. Kira opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it, having nothing left to say. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her.
"Guys?" They heard Trent's voice. Conner stopped and turned, seeing Trent slowly coming towards them. He rested against a cracked pillar, placing his hand across his torso as he held his side. "You guys okay?" He asked. He paused as he got a good look at Kira. "Oh my god," he muttered.
"I'm fine," Kira insisted. Conner rolled his eyes.
"What about you?" He asked, deciding not to address Kira's blatant stubbornness at the moment. Trent slowly walked the rest of the way towards them.
"I'm okay," he said. "Fell pretty hard on some concrete so my side's a little bruised, but other than that I think I'm okay," he said.
"Thank god you're okay." Kira replied honestly. Trent nodded.
"Any sign of Dr. O?" Trent asked. Both shook their heads.
"We haven't seen him," Conner said.
"Let's keep looking." Kira commented. Trent nodded.
"The sooner we get out of here, the better... god only knows that freak will probably come back if he finds out we're alive." He replied. The trio walked a bit further before the dust began to clear and they noticed a downed pillar. Kira was the first to notice that there was a set of legs sticking out from under it.
"Uh, guys.." She all but whispered, pointing towards the pillar. Trent's breath hitched in his throat.
"Oh god no." He commented before they moved forward quickly. There, pinned under the pillar with his eyes closed was Tommy. The pillar was covering 3/4 of his chest, but it looked like he was still breathing, albeit strained as best. Trent went to the far side of Tommy before kneeling down next to him. Conner belt down and slowly lowered Kira to the ground so that her back was resting against the pillar. He then knelt down beside Tommy as well.
"Tommy?" Conner called. There was silence for a moment before their former mentor slowly opened his eyes. He offered them a sad smile.
"You get need to get out of here." He told them softly, trying not to strain himself. Kira shook her head, trying to keep herself composed as she took his left hand in hers.
"No. We're gonna try and save you." She replied, her voice shaking. Tommy offered her a smile and shook his head.
"Guys... All three of you mean a lot to me, don't get me wrong. But that creep could come back at anytime. We lost Ethan, Max and Ryan to him... And you're about to loose me... You need to go." Trent shook his head.
"NO." He replied forcefully. Kira nodded.
"Once a Ranger..."
"Always a Ranger." Conner finished. Tommy smiled sadly before looking at Kira.
"Kira, take my ring and give it to Kim the next time you see her... Tell her I'll never stop loving her." He whispered as a tear slipped down his cheek. Kira, loosing her composure quickly, slid the ring off his finger and clutched it tightly.
"I'll miss you three very much." Tommy whispered. He felt Kira's hand clutch his harder, and Trent's hand press down harder on his shoulder.
"Tommy, what are we going to do without you?" He whispered. Tommy smiled at his former students.
"You'll carry on and keep going, everything will be okay eventually." He replied. And with that, his eyes closed, and his chest heaved for the last time... And he was gone.