The Rangers made their way through an internal corridor towards the panel room. It was the main panel room. Even several feet before the door, they could hear a lot of movement as convention guests started to find their seats. They didn't need to be able to see to know that they would be facing a massive crowd. One of the organisers met them at the door.
"Alright, we're just trying to get the guests settled, it's just taking a little longer than we expected." She informed them. "Some of them are kind of excitable, and it's just taking a bit to get them in their seats."
"How many are there?" Noah asked. The organiser just looked to them.
"There are about five hundred seats." She told them, causing all of them to look a little stunned. "But we've got plenty of standing room as well, don't worry."
"F-f-five hundred?" Troy stammered nervously as he heard this. "There are over five hundred in there?"
"Unfortunately we're kind of limited by fire safety regulations..."
"Five HUNDRED?" Noah reiterated. The woman saw the expressions on their faces.
"Are all of you alright?" She asked.
"Um...yeah...it'll be fine I'm sure." Gia replied, acting as calmly as she could under the circumstances. "It's all for charity right?"
"Alright then, I'm just going to head out and check on things." She told them. "I'll be back to tell you when you can take your seats at the table."
With that she headed out, taking care not to open the door far enough to let the crowd get to see the Rangers too early, and closing it behind her. Troy just leaned back against a wall as they started to let their nerves get the better of them.
"Is anyone else thinking this was a mistake?" Noah said, starting to breathe rapidly.
"I knew there'd be a few people, but five hundred?" Orion asked.
"Come on guys, we used to fight monsters that could vaporise planets!" Gia reminded them. "Why are we all panicking like this over a few people asking questions?"
"Maybe we should have gone with one of the magazines or TV shows." Troy stated. "At least then there'd only be a couple of people..."
"Guys, I know it's scary but...it's for charity right?" Emma reminded them. "The money's going to the restoration fund."
"I...guess we used to play a lot of our soccer matches in front of crowds about that size." Jake finally offered.
"And...I guess some of my tournaments had audiences around that size." Troy agreed, trying to get his nerves under control. In a lot of ways, they all realised how silly it seemed. They had fought and survived a war, and here they were worried about facing a live audience that were there to ask them questions. The organiser came back and they could hear a cheer from the room.
"Alright, we're ready for you now." She told them. "Just remember, speak into the mics, try to stay cool if someone throws a question at you that you're uncomfortable with, and don't worry if anyone gets a little enthusiastic. There are a lot of fans out there, and some of them can be scarier than the haters."
"That makes me feel SO much better." Jake muttered under his breath as they prepared themselves to head into the room.
As they arrived in the room, the light was almost blinding, and it took a moment for them to get their bearings and adjust to it. There were a couple of flood lights either side of the stage to allow the Rangers to be seen on the stage. More lights attached to television cameras there to capture the event for the media made it worse. The effect was completed by the flashing of hundreds of cameras as they entered. They could hardly see through the light to the room, but they were emboldened by a huge roar from the crowd. It took a second to register, but with few exceptions, the crowd were cheering for them as they arrived. They all grinned broadly as they made their way to the table, waving to the crowd as they arrived.
"It seems like most of them are happy to see us." Gia whispered to Troy.
"Well, it's going to make things easier I guess." Troy admitted as he reached for a glass, pouring himself some water. "So, what do we do?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, although I'm sure they need no introduction, here's who you've all been waiting for, the Corsair Rangers!" The organiser announced. "Now, you'll all get your chance to field your questions, but first, let's have the Rangers introduce themselves shall we?"
Orion looked down the table and the others just shrugged. Noah, a guy who had regularly attended Cons, albeit on the opposite side of the table, led off, leaning forward and taking his microphone.
"Hi, I'm Noah Carver, and I was the Blue Ranger." He stated. Emma was next, and leaned towards the microphone in front of her, holding her hair back as she did so.
"Hi, thanks for coming out, we're all really honoured you all turned out today. I'm Emma Goodall, and I was the Pink Corsair Ranger." She introduced herself, turning to Jake, who was the next in line.
"Hey folks, Jake Hollings, Green Corsair Ranger here!" He announced, pulling off his shirt, and throwing it aside, revealing his old Harwood soccer jersey. "And I'd just like to say, Harwood High School soccer team, current league champions ROCK!"
This got a massive reaction from a lot of the audience. While a number of the attendants came from out of town, since it was being held in Harwood, it was only natural that most of the audience would be from Harwood.
"Well, that was a cheap pop." Gia teased Jake as he posed for a second, taking amusement in how quickly his feelings on the panel had changed. Jake always did love being the centre of attention, and now that he could see most of the audience was happy to see them, he was milking it for all he was worth. "I'm Gia, the Yellow Corsair Ranger, and I just wanted to say that it's really great seeing you all out here to see us today."
"Hi, I'm Orion, the Silver Corsair Ranger." Orion introduced himself. Troy stood up last, picking up his microphone as he did so.
"And I'm Troy Burrows, the former Red Corsair Ranger." He introduced himself. "Now, I understand you'll all have a lot of questions, and we'll try to answer as many of them as we can. Now, since most of you have kindly made donations to the restoration fund to be here, I'd like to concentrate on questions from the audience, so we've already agreed to take five questions from the press, and then we'll take questions from the audience. Alright...let's begin over here."
"Alan Fisher, Channel 18 news." A man introduced himself, standing up from his seat. "I think I speak for a number of people here when I say that I doubt many of us would have imagined that the Power Rangers, those that were charged with our protection would be so...young. How exactly did you all get chosen, and didn't you think it was odd that of all the people in the world, teenagers were chosen?"
"Um...well...we were basically kind of press-ganged into it initially." Troy admitted. "We were taken from Ernie's Brianfreeze and told we would be responsible for turning back the invasion of the Warstar."
He looked to the others, and back at him.
"I do have to admit, it was quite a lot to take in when we were told what we were facing." Gia added. "None of us believed it at first...well...it did sound a little out there considering the fact we were only just getting over what happened in Panorama."
"When we were thrown into all of this, we were told that we had been chosen for the special qualities we possessed, but it was quite a lot to take in." Jake told them. "Up until then, the most important things I had to worry about were getting a good position on the soccer team, getting decent grades in school and...well...I'm sure you can imagine the kind of distractions for a teenage guy."
There was a small laugh from the audience, before Noah took the mike.
"When this started, it was like...the whole universe opened up. We started to see how small, how insignificant all our old concerns really were." Noah told them. "We all grew up a lot on our journey. We had to grow pretty quickly. Thinking about it now, while a lot of bad stuff happened, it really was an unforgettable experience; I can't think I would trade it for anything."
"Alright, next question." Troy said, pointing to the next reporter.
"Hi, Megan Jacobs, Reefside Daily news." She introduced herself stepping forwards. "Um...my question is for Orion...you didn't show up right away, and your name is pretty unusual. Of all the Rangers, you're the one we know the least about. I was wondering if you could tell us a little about yourself."
"Certainly, my name is Orion, and I'm from Andresia originally." Orion began as he looked out onto the crowd. "I'm sure by now most of you will have read in the paper about my people. Our planet was destroyed by The Armada a few years ago. For a long time, I thought I was the only survivor, but Gosei and the Robo Knight...Jordan to all of you...found the last of them and brought them to Earth."
He looked to the rest of the team and smiled.
"It's slow going building up new lives for ourselves out here, but we're finding Earth to be a good home for us." Orion replied. "I've found a lot about this planet I really like. I've managed to find myself some amazing friends, and we're starting to build ourselves new lives. I think we're going to be really happy here."
"Josie Winters, Mariner Bay Times." Another reporter announced, standing up. "Now, I know that you've all no doubt seen the huge interest in you from fans, and it has led to a lot of speculation about you all. People have made some fantastic art work and written a number of fanfictions about you."
"Yeah...some of that stuff is really good." Jake admitted. "But...I do have to admit some of it is pretty...um...well...let's just say that I would really worry about some of the people writing this stuff."
"Well, I think what we'd all like to know is...you spent all that time on the ship together, and you all were young...was there ever any...you know..."
"Um...to be honest, there really wasn't." Troy told them. "Most of us were already involved in relationships with other people when our identities were revealed in the battle with Vrak. Noah, Jake and Gia already had girlfriends out with the team, Emma and I...we were together for a bit over a year, but we ended up drifting apart."
"Alex Carter Silver Hills Journal." A man snapped as he stood up, cutting everyone off. It was a paper with a very distinct reputation. It was very heavily slanted towards the political Right. "My question is for the Yellow Ranger. This isn't the first time you've been in the headlines, indeed before any of this Ranger business came to light, you were in the local news in relation to an incident involving your father..."
"Yeah, anyone with a Google connection knows what happened." Gia interrupted him. "What's your question?"
"Given the number of impressionable young people that look up to you, do you really consider yourself a good role model?" He asked. Gia just looked to the others. They knew not all of the questions would be friendly, but this one got to her. She just furrowed her brows.
"Can I ask why in particular you directed that question to me?" She asked him. "Why would I in particular be a bad role model?"
"I'm just saying that a lot of the people that look up to you are going through some very confusing and difficult times." He stated. "Do you really think given the influence you have that...?"
"Why don't you just ask her what we all know you're asking her?" Jake interrupted him sharply. "No one is unfailingly good all of the time. I spent a few weeks in Juvenile Hall because of an anger management problem, but I don't see you asking me about that! If I'm ever fortunate enough to have kids, if it's a choice, I know I wouldn't prefer them to be a young offender!"
"To be honest, as much as I respect your right to your beliefs and your opinion, I find your question offensive." Gia added. "Now, my girlfriend is here today...in fact I can see a lot of you wearing the shirts she designed!"
"I'm here, GIA!" Cat called out, waving frantically. Gia just smiled, seeing her.
"She's simply the most amazing person I've ever met, and...I couldn't imagine my life without her." Gia told him. "So to answer your question, when I was just figuring out my feelings, what I am...if I'd seen someone that I admired, someone I respected and they helped me to have the strength to come to terms with what I was going through, I'd have been overjoyed. If knowing about me helps someone else, if someone feels like they can have the strength to be who they are because of me, if they took me as a role model, I would be honoured."
The reporter got a lot of heckling from the crowd as he sat down, having been put in his place by Gia and the other Rangers. Another reporter, the last with a question for the media stood up. He smiled as he got ready.
"Before I ask my question, I'd like to apologise for my colleague." He began.
"There's no need." Gia answered. "I have the right to my opinion and to believe what I want. If I'm going to enjoy that right, then I can't deny anyone else the same right."
"Well, my question is basically this...now that your time as Rangers is over, now that you have the freedom to do as you wish, we've all heard a number of rumours about opportunities you've been offered." He began. "I guess my question is what's next for the Rangers?"
"Well, we've all had a lot of thoughts about that, and we've received a number of interesting offers and opportunities." Troy told him. "I'm sure you've all heard some rumours, but after a lot of talking, we all decided...we'd really like to graduate."
"What?" The reporter asked, a little surprised to hear this. The Rangers were world-famous now. "Why? You...you've got the world at your feet! Jake...you've been receiving calls from soccer clubs all over the world!"
"Yeah, Man U and Real Madrid called a few times." Jake admitted.
"Troy, you're the poster child for overcoming adversity, Martial Arts tournaments, MMA companies have all been begging to give you a contract!" He continued. "Emma, every nature publication in the world would be falling all over themselves to give you a job! None of you have to do worry about working again!"
"But we want to." Noah told him. "I've received a lot of offers for lab work, but I'd much rather take a scholarship. I want to make my own way in the world, we all do."
"Yeah, Manchester's still going to be there in a couple of years." Jake said with a grin. "We're all going to take the High School Equivalency exam in a couple of weeks, and see where that takes us."
"After so long having our destinies mapped out for us, we want to make a few choices of our own." Troy told him. "Not to mention, I kind of like the idea of having a normal experience like going to college. Alright, now that's the media questions out of the way, let's get some from the audience...yes, there's a rather enthusiastic fan down there, in the third row!"
The guy Troy pointed to stood up. He was a kid, a couple of years younger than Troy, with kind of wild, fluffy dark hair, and dark skin. He stood up with a huge, bright grin on his face.
"Um...Hi...Uh...really excited to be here, and I'd really like to thank you all for coming." The kid told them. "Um...you probably don't remember, but...we actually met before."
"Really?" Troy asked, looking confused. None of them seemed to remember him. "Sorry but..."
"Well, I said we met...we didn't really talk or anything. I was under anaesthetic the whole time." He told them. "I was a heart transplant patient you helped transport to Silver Hills."
"That was you?" Gia asked. "Well, you're looking great now!"
"Yeah, the heart operation was a complete success, and I've got a whole new lease on life." He told them. "They said my recovery would take months, but the doctors were really impressed by my progress. Troy, everyone knows that you had your leg amputated, and you fought to come back. You showed strength and drive that was unbelievable, and...it inspired me to work really hard to get back into shape. I'm now back at school, working hard on my fitness, and I even earned my first black belt a month ago!"
"Congratulations!" Troy commended him as the room applauded.
"I just wanted you to know how much you inspired me and to thank you." He told him. Troy just smiled.
"Well...would you like to show me a few things?" Troy asked him. The kid's face lit up as Troy got up off his chair and made his way out onto a space on the floor.
"Are you serious?" The kid asked. "You...you want to spar with me? I get to spar with Troy Burrows?"
"If you want." Troy answered. The kid hastily made his way to the front, and took up position in front of him. Troy took on his guard, and led off; throwing a non-commital couple of punches his way. The kid blocked them all admirably, before throwing back a kick that almost caught Troy unawares. He smiled.
"That was pretty good kid." He said, sounding impressed. He began again, causing the kid to duck and dive away from his strikes, before finally catching him and throwing him to the floor. He held him in an arm-lock, holding it just long enough for the kid to tap out. As he let go, the kid kipped-up back to his feet. Troy led the room in a round of applause.
"You seriously only had a heart transplant a few months ago?" Troy asked him. The kid nodded.
"It was you that inspired me to get strong again." He replied. "Thanks for this, it was an honour."
"The honour was all mine." Troy told him. "What's your name kid?"
"Tyler." He replied. "Tyler Navarro."
"Well, I'm going to have to remember that name." Troy answered with a smile as he headed back to the table. "Alright, next question!"
Fin.
A/N: OK, first of all, sorry for the hiatus. A lot of family stuff needed my attention. This story has come to an end, but don't worry, I'm sure this won't be the last time I write about them. I loved the team, and I'm sure they'll show up in a story again soon. Thank you to all my loyal readers and reviewers, and thank you all for your patience.