SPD Grounds, The Funeral
The entire outside funeral was set up by the track behind SPD; a makeshift stage was set up to hold the casket and the podium. A large wall was the backdrop of the stage to hide the track behind them. Ten chairs were lined up on the stage and seven were filled with the bodies of SPD rangers then the podium and then the casket. Cruger stood at the podium and was speaking about the duty of a ranger, the first two chairs were empty and then Sky, Jordan, another empty chair and then the rest of the rangers by rank and color. In their dress uniforms they sat up straight and uncomfortable, and Syd had rejoined the ranks, despite not being back on full duty quite yet. Jen, Ashlynn and Noah were sitting in the front row of the fold out chairs below the stage, where the rest of the former rangers and family were sitting.
"… and we will always remember her sacrifices and dedication to SPD." Cruger finished to light applause from the crowd. He turned and sat down and Sky stood up and walked to the podium to start to speak. Before he could say anything, the sound of an explosion and the clashing of weapons came from behind the backdrop. He turned away and the whole crowd suddenly saw two figures fly over the barrior and crash on the wooden stage. The red and blue rangers demorphed and Meghan and Bridge got to their feet quickly, striking fighting poses toward the casket.
"Nice landing Bridgy." Meghan grinned as the other rangers stood up in surprise. The crowd had collectively gasped at the intrusion and some had gotten up to see what was going on. Suddenly a creature jumped the barrier after the two rangers and landed in front of them, grinning evilly. Sky's face paled and his fists clenched when he saw who it was.
"Mirloc." He muttered, falling into a fighting stance next to Meghan. Cruger yelled at the crowd to leave quickly.
"Hello," Mirloc grinned evilly, "I see I'm visiting the Collins family again." Meghan closed her eyes and grabbed Sky when he tried to lunge at the monster. She grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her.
"We don't have any time, just trust me." Her face was filled with panic as Sky nodded. She nodded back. "You'll know when to back us up. Ready Bridge?"
"Ready." He replied, not taking his eyes off of the monster that stood before them, grinning wickedly. Instead of morphing, Meghan stepped in front of Bridge and swung her arm in a circle, creating a shield with her genetic powers and ran forward at Mirloc. The monster dodged the attack but Bridge blocked his escape behind her, throwing him down on the ground below the stage into a few vacated chairs. The crowd wasn't that far away, most of the former rangers were watching the younger ones with interest but Jen was at the front with Ashlynn and Noah, watching.
"SPD Emergency!" Bridge yelled, vaulting off the stage and flipping over Mirloc's body. "Deltamax Striker" He finished, shooting Mirloc directly in the lower abdomen.
"No!" Mirloc shouted as sparks started to be emitted from the location. He stood up with a hand on the panels.
"Delta Blasters!" A suddenly morphed Meghan vaulted off and shot both of her blasters at the same location Bridge had. Mirloc yelled in pain as both doors swung open and in a bright white light, a dark shapeless thing landed at the end of it. At the other end of the field Jen stepped forward as two people stood up and faced Mirloc, only a hundred feet from the only two morphed rangers. Sky stepped to the end of the stage and stared at the two people who Meghan and Bridge had freed from the second set of mirrors. One was the familiar blonde hair of his sister and the other was a face he hadn't seen in almost ten years.
"Dad?" He whispered, stunned. The other rangers heard him and exchanged shocked looks between them.
"Alright Mirloc, this is the end." Wesley Collins pointed at the monster angrily. "Ready Mira?" He turned to Miranda who shook her head. She looked up at Sky and motioned him to join them. Sky jumped down and was standing with his father and sister in a minute. "Alright you two, show me what you got." Wes grinned and Sky nodded deftly, not really comprehending what was happening. "Ready?" He asked his two children who both nodded.
"Ready." They answered.
"SPD Emergency!"
"Time for, Time Force!"
The red Time Force ranger, SPD red and green each attacked Mirloc at once, all three taking advantage of his weakened state. Meghan and Bridge backed up to the stage where the other rangers had jumped down and they all watched it, all of them staying demorphed, Meghan and Bridge had already demorphed. Against three Collins' Mirloc was losing, and fast. After only a few minutes, the three had him on the ground, each with a blaster aimed directly at him. The red SPD ranger stepped forward, holding out his morpher.
"Mirloc, you're under arrest for assault on an SPD officer, kidnapping of two SPD officers and the destruction of property. Judgement." The red X and blue O flashed over him, landing on the bright red X.
"Guilty." All three rangers declared and the two morphers clicked and the familiar blue vortex engulfed Mirloc and he disappeared into the new containment cards Kat had designed for Sarah, completely indestructible. The demorphed and without delay, Miranda jumped into Wes' arms. Sky silently wrapped an arm around them as Ashlynn sprinted across the lawn and vaulted herself at her Dad and sister. After a while Wes looked up and untangled himself from his children and locked eyes with the woman he'd loved for years.
"Jen." He murmured as she threw herself into his arms. Miranda watched for a moment before turning to the other rangers. Bridge walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, smiling the whole way.
SPD Command Center
All ten rangers stood at attention in front of Cruger, seven dressed in their dress uniforms, Meghan and Bridge in their regular uniforms and Miranda stood in the line in her jeans and t-shirt from the day before. He was overcome with joy that the ten were still together, Bridge's hand was completely intertwined with Miranda's despite her parents being in the room. Wesley and Jennifer Collins stood to the side; arms wrapped together and listened to the story.
"Bridge noticed it first." Meghan started, stepping forward a little from the line. Bridge grinned and stepped forward next to her, releasing Miranda's hand.
"Her ring was on the wrong hand." He shrugged, "And the tan line was on the right hand too."
"And then we checked her ankle." Meghan grinned and Miranda gaped.
"You didn't."
"Sorry, but it helped save your life." Meghan grinned as the blonde rolled her eyes. "You seriously can't tell me you regret getting that tattoo."
"Of course I do, I was peer pressured into it! By you!" Miranda crossed her arms and glared at Meghan.
"Sky didn't complain nearly as much as you did." Meghan muttered under her breath, earning herself a squeeze on her side from Sky that made her jump.
"Now I'm curious." Z grinned. "Tate, err Collins I guess, has a tattoo."
"Anyway." Bridge inserted. "Meghan and I spent hours going through medical records to see if anyone else had ever had this anomaly. It took ages and ages and I got this really bad cramp in my side from sitting on the floor. Or maybe it was from the filing cabinet I was leaning against, those metal bars really hurt."
The rangers just grinned as they let Bridge ramble. It'd been a while since he'd done this because of just everything that was going on and seeing him be the old Bridge was like a breath of fresh air. But after a while Meghan set her hand on Bridge's forearm and he got back on track. "Oh yeah, so then we came across the only file in the past ten years that had a 'mirror' effect on their body."
"Wesley Collins." Meghan nodded. "His wedding ring was on the wrong hand. But then it kinda clicked." She grimaced. "It had to have been an alien with mirror powers."
"But we put Mirloc away over a year ago on Verinox 12." Syd interrupted.
"Someone let him out." Bridge grimaced.
"So we started sprinting toward the funeral we were already late for when he stopped us." Meghan added. "Apparently Mirloc's lower panels switch the reflection with the real person, trapping the person inside."
"You two used your heads and figured it out, not only did you save your teammate, but a former member of this team." He nodded toward Wes who was watching his children like only a proud father could. "You may all return to RangerCon and complete the weekend. Dismissed" Cruger finished and the rangers all celebrated quietly before he turned back to them. "Meghan, I need a word." Meghan rolled her eyes and stepped up to Cruger while the others left the command center, Miranda and Sky not leaving their father's side.
Next Day, RangerCon Final Show
"Good Evening, and welcome to RangerCon!" The voice echoed throughout the arena. The place had been transformed into what looked like the Grammy's, only less glamour as everyone was dressed in jeans and t-shirts. The stage was simply dressed, and their host wasn't a professional comedian, but he was definitely entertaining. Adam Park stood in front of the crowd with his mike just like every other year. The crowd cheered loudly to humor Adam. "Alright guys, we all know this has been a pretty interesting year." He paused slightly before continuing. "And now here's something new. From the ranks as rangers we've seen a few musicians succeed in the business, but never an entire team." He grinned. "They play for fun between fighting evil, covering old songs and working with new ones, here they are, SPD's A-Squad… Power Surge!"
Adam stepped off the stage and the lights dimmed to black when a guitar started playing in the background. After a bit the lights went up, revealing the five members of A-Squad. Meghan stood in the front with a microphone dressed in blue jeans and a silky red top that skimmed across her chest and her hair fell in its old bright red curls over it. Miranda and Isaiah were directly on either side of her, both also wearing jeans, Isaiah wearing a black button down shirt that was only buttoned halfway, his black hair sticking out in all directions. Miranda's blonde hair was straightened and feathered around her head looking normal with her lime green t-shirt and the black and white bass electric guitar strapped over her shoulder. Lynn sat at the piano decked out in white pants and an hot pink shirt with several bracelets on her wrists, reaching down to lacy white gloves that she had on instead of the normal leather ones. Jordan sat at the back with the drums, wearing denim shorts and a blue t-shirt.
I'm in the business of misery, let's
take it from the top I
waited eight long months, she finally set him free Whoa, I never meant to brag Second chances they don't ever matter, people never
change Well there's a million other girls who do it just like
you Well
I refuse, I refuse, I refuse! Whoa, I never meant to brag I watched his wildest dreams come
true Whoa, I never meant
to brag Whoa, I
never meant to brag
She's got a body like an hourglass that's
tickin' like a clock
It's a matter of time before we all run
out...
When I thought he was mine, she caught him by the mouth
I told him I
couldn't lie, he was the only one for me
Two weeks and we'd
caught on fire
She's got it out for me, but I wear the biggest
smile
But I got him where I
want him now
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
To steal
it all away from you now
But God does it feels so good
'Cause I
got him where I want him now
And if you could then you know you
would
'Cause God it just feels so...
It just feels so
good
Once a whore, you're nothing more, I'm sorry that'll never
change
And about forgiveness, we're both supposed to have
exchanged
I'm sorry honey, but I passed it up, now look this way!
Looking as innocent as possible to get to who,
They want
and what they like, it's "easy if you do it right"
But
I got him where I want him now
Whoa, it was never my intention to
brag
To steal it all away from you now
But God does it feel so
good
'Cause I got him where I want him right now
And if you
could then you know you would
'Cause God it just feels so...
It
just feels so good...
Not one of them involving you
Just watch my wildest dreams
come true
Not one of them involving...
But I got him where I want him now...
But I got him where I want him now
Whoa, it
was never my intention to brag
To steal it all away from you
now
But God does it feels so good
'Cause I got him where I want
him now
And if you could then you know you would
'Cause God it
just feels so...
It just feels so good
They finished their song and bowed to the seriously cheering crowd. The post-Zordon era rangers knew the Paramore song better than the older ones did, but nonetheless the song rocked the house. They waved and moved over to stage right where they grouped around Adam.
"That amazingly didn't suck." He said, facing Meghan who rolled her eyes.
"Gee, thanks."
"Nah, I owe you one anyway, that was great you guys." Adam grinned at the five people who exited the stage. "Alright, now here's the time where we enjoy torturing the children that tortured us. The Talent Show, where we make the kids sing or do whatever they want to try to win this year's prize. And this year's prize is… an all expense paid day at the amusement park nearest to your hometown!" Whistles and cheers erupted from the crowd and Adam settled them down with his hands. "Now I'd like to introduce the two judges I blackmailed into judging for us tonight. They're the winners of the 2017 Ranger Talent Show, Christopher Collins and Meghan Corbett!" Adam grinned as Meghan and Sky came out from behind the curtain and walked up to him, standing on either side.
"So, you're paying me in cash right?" Meghan leaned on his shoulder and glared at him.
"After we watch your winning performance on the big screen!" Adam shouted happily, making Meghan wince and turn to the large white screen. A film started playing of her and Sky singing at the talent show, both 13 years old and wearing red. The audience laughed at all the right moments of their singing, which wasn't half bad. When it finished Meghan shook her head.
"I believe you have improved." Adam nodded and the two left the stage. "Now, let's let the games begin!"