Chapter 35 – Last Night
September 12 1998 – Downtown Angel Grove
TJ, Carlos and Cassie set the Megaship's auto pilot for the desert before abandoning ship. They dropped down behind the remains of an office building and demorphed. Their street clothes were frayed in places and they had several large bruises developing. Carlos was the worst off of the trio, he was sure that an attack from Darkonda had cracked a rib or two. He sat down on a piece of fallen rubble and held his arm around his chest. TJ lent up against a building as Cassie paced back and forth nervously, chewing on her nails in the process.
After a few minutes, Cassie turned back towards the square, "Hey where do you think you're going?" TJ called out.
"We need to go find the others", she replied, "they could be seriously hurt".
"Cass you heard what Dark Specter said, there's probably hundreds of people surrounding the wreckages hoping to claim the bounty on our heads", TJ stated.
"He's right", Carlos groaned, "we can't guarantee they won't turn on us if we go back now".
Cassie through her arms in the air, "We can't just sit here and do nothing".
"I'm sorry Cass but I don't think we have much choice", TJ replied. He looked up into the sky at the setting sun, "The sun will be down in about an hour, I promise we'll go looking for them then". The pink ranger wasn't too happy but she reluctantly agreed to follow TJ instructions. For now they tried to make Carlos as comfortable as possible.
The trio guessed that about half an hour passed when they heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching their position. Looking down the increasingly dark alley, they saw the unmistakable shape of the green Turbo ranger. He stumbled and crashed into a pile of discarded wooden pallets before demorphing, revealing Justin Stewart. He was breathing heavily and looked scared for his life.
"Hey I think I saw him come down here", a male voice called out. Four men appeared in the shadows, all of them armed with an improvised weapon of some kind.
"You idiot, it's just some kid", one of the other males said.
"Well maybe he is a ranger", the third added.
"Not even the rangers would make a kid a Power Ranger", the last male said, "that's the best chance to claim the reward gone".
The three rangers couldn't believe what they were hearing, it had taken barely any time at all for some of the residents of Angel Grove to turn against them.
"Hey leave him alone", a familiar voice said as a furious looking Zhane and Charlotte came into view. Trailing behind them was someone they didn't expect to see. It was Dana Mitchell and she was carrying a medical bag, "Didn't you meat heads hear me, I said leave the kid alone", Zhane shouted again.
"Yeah what's it to you blondie", one of them replied.
"That's my brother you're haressing", Charlotte spat. The man didn't like the tone of her voice and immediately swung for the blue Turbo Ranger. She reacted instantly and grabbed the man's arm before pushing his elbow upwards. There was a crack as the man's joint snapped and he cried out in pain. Another one of the gang came to his defence but Zhane punched him in the face, knocking him out before he even had the chance to blink. The rest of the gang looked nervously at the newcomers before deciding any bounty wasn't worth this. They dragged their fallen friends by the ankles and ran away as fast as they could.
"Damn sis, you're scary when you're angry", Justin said.
"No one threatens my family", she replied as she helped him to his feet, "speaking of family", she saw three of her friend a little further down the alley. TJ and Cassie ran up to them and hugged them as tightly as possible.
"We saw the wreckage of the Mega Voyager", Zhane began, "we thought you were gonners".
"You've been to the wreck", TJ asked and Zhane nodded, "any sign of Andros or Ashley?" Zhane took a deep breath and shook his head. The rangers heads dropped at the news that their friends were missing, maybe the roving gang of bounty hunters had already gotten to them.
"Sorry I would stand up but I'm in a lot of pain over here", Carlos called out.
Everyone immediately rushed to the aid of the black ranger, with Dana Mitchell giving him a quick examination, "I'll give you something for the pain and then we'll get those ribs probably tapped up".
"Does your Dad know that you're here?" Cassie asked. The young wannabe doctor paused briefly before continuing to work on Carlos' ribs, "Justin told me trouble was brewing in the city, I couldn't sit back and do nothing".
"Nice avoidance of the question", Cassie chuckled.
Once the black ranger had been probably taken care of, TJ helped him to his feet and they began to explore the city. Several blocks of the financial district had been totally destroyed and all of the road and rail links out of the city had been blocked. Quantron's patrolled during random intervals, hoping to catch anyone planning an insurrection. People were huddled around small fires, desperately trying to salvage whatever food they could. Periodically someone got some bad news that one of their loved ones didn't make it. There was no outpouring of grief, everyone was still too shell shock to process exactly what had happened.
"It's the same in the suburbs", Justin said to the others, "I tried to hold as many of them off as possible but I was overwhelmed. Fortunately most of the property survived, I guess they didn't see too much value in destroying it".
Eventually they reached the construction site that was the old Youth Center. The replacement building was still under construction but it would do for a temporary shelter. Forcing their way through the chain fence, they went inside the shell of a building and found a seat on whatever they could. Cassie, Zhane, Charlotte and Justin went off to find some fire wood, leaving the others behind. "Tell you what doc, those were some good painkillers you gave me", Carlos said rather groggily.
"Hmm perhaps I gave him too much", Dana stated and looked inside her bag, "he'll be fine, he just needs to rest for a few hours".
Suddenly the sound of someone breaking through the fence startled the trio. TJ stood protectively in front of Carlos and Dana, slightly fearful that the Quantrons had found them. To his shock, Andros and Ashley stumbled into the building site, "Guys, you're alright", he exclaimed. The red and yellow rangers were holding onto each other for support but Ashley looked to be the worst of the pair. As TJ approached them, Ashley practically collapsed into his arm.
"TJ put her down here", Dana commanded, pointing to a point next to Carlos.
The blue ranger did as he was told and carefully placed Ashley on the ground. He then turned back to Andros, "We thought you were dead", he said.
"It was close", Andros replied, "we teleported out got before Dark Specter hit us. We weren't really concentrating where we were going so our landing was a bit rough. When we came to, we were on the outskirts of the city and we had no choice but to walk back".
TJ nodded, "Have you heard about Dark Specter's ultimatum?"
Andros sighed and nodded sadly, "We bumped into a gang of thugs who were trying to force people to admit they were rangers".
"Yeah we had our own encounter", TJ replied, "fortunately Zhane and Charlotte scared them away".
"Zhane's alright", Andros began, "what about Karone?"
"We haven't found her yet", TJ replied sadly. Andros's head dropped with the news, "Don't worry man, she's a survivor".
Dana finished her examination of the yellow ranger, "She's got a concussion but due to your accelerated healing, she should be fine by the morning".
TJ nodded but Andros looked confused, "Little young for a doctor aren't you?"
Before Dana could replied, several footsteps were heard at the back door. It was the party that had left to find some fire wood. To say they were surprised and pleased to see the red and yellow ranger was an understatement. Several rounds of happy greetings were exchanged but then they noticed someone was missing, "Where did Zhane go?" TJ asked.
"Guess who I found", Zhane called from the doorway. He staggered into the room with Karone by his side, the silver ranger had her arm around his neck for support. Her other arm had a large cut that was bleeding extensively and it hung limply at her side
"Here take a seat", Dana said to her fellow blonde.
Andros knelt down beside his sister and placed his forehead against her's, "I thought I'd lost you again", he whispered.
"Takes more than a little crash to get rid of me", she replied. She winced as Dana applied some iodine to her wound.
"Did the Mega Winger survive?" Cassie asked out of curiosity.
Karone shook her head, "It's damaged but I think it can be repaired", she paused and sighed, "just not before sunrise though".
Once Doctor Dana had finished bandaging Karone's arm, the others got a fire going to provide some heat. They left Carlos and Ashley sleeping off their injuries in the corner of the room. The atmosphere amongst the group was bleak, "Alright I'm just going to say it because we're all thinking it", TJ began, "we're down two rangers and only have one Megazord working. There's more Quantron's out there than we can handle and we've been declared public enemy number one". He looked around at everyone else, "Did I miss anything?"
"No I think you summed up our situation nicely Captain Pessimist", Cassie snapped.
"He's right though", Zhane replied, "we've got until sunrise to come up with something, otherwise the planet is toast". Even the usually optimistic Zhane was struggling to see a way out of their current situation.
Andros looked at his morpher, "Look it's nearly midnight", he began, "let's try and get a couple of hours rest. Perhaps we'll think a little clearer after some sleep". The others were reluctant to agree with the red ranger but slowly they began to find places to sleep for a few hours. Cassie and TJ snuggled up together in the corner of the room whilst Charlotte lay down next to Carlos, resting her head on his shoulders.
The red ranger knelt down next to Ashley and brushed some loose hair away from her face. She looked so peaceful as she slept, "I love you Ash", he whispered, "I know we promised not to say anything until after the battle but I don't think I'm going to get another chance". She held her hand for a few minutes until he stood up and stretched his legs. He took another look around the room and smiled as he saw Karone resting her head on Zhane's shoulder whilst she slept.
Deciding to grab some fresh air, she stepped out of the shell of a building. Looking up at the starry sky, he could see the Dark Fortress hovering overhead. "I'm sorry Zordon", he said out loud, "looks like the rangers have failed this time".
Suddenly his vision went white and he found himself in a bright featureless void, "It is not over yet Andros", a voice boomed. An old man in robes appeared at the other end of the void. He had white hair and he was carrying a staff in one hand, "The power of good will always triumph over evil", he old man smiled.
It took Andros a few moments to realise who it was but the old man's identity suddenly struck him, "Zordon?"
The old man nodded, "This is how I used to look, before I was trapped in my time warp".
"But I don't understand", the red ranger replied.
"It is quite simple really", Zordon began, "I am speaking with you telepathically, projecting my thoughts onto your mind". There was a brief pause, "I have been following you and your team, I am very impressed that you've managed to defeat some of the strongest foes in the galaxy".
"It wasn't that much", Andros said, slightly embarrassed.
Zordon chuckled, "So modest with your achievement Andros. You have defeated Darkonda, Divatox, the Psycho Rangers and Lord Zedd", he smiled, "not to mention that you have found your sister and brought her back to the light side".
"But in the end it still wasn't enough", Andros cried, "Dark Specter is going to vaporise this planet in a few hours and there's nothing we can do to beat him".
Silence descended between the two men before Zordon spoke, "Then it is as I feared, it is time to put my final plan into action". Andros looked confused but Zordon continued, "I am going to ask you to do something for me Andros, be warned that it will be a heavy burden for you to bare".
Andros gulped, "What is it?"
"I need your help to sacrifice my life".
"What, no!" Andros exclaimed, "I spent the last two years trying to find you, I can't do that".
"Andros listen to me, there is not much time", Zordon began, "I have been studying an old Eltarian ritual for several millennium in case such a situation arose. By sacrificing my life, I can eliminate Dark Specter and all of his forces but I need one of my chosen warriors to complete the ritual".
The red ranger thought about this for a moment, "But why me? Why burden me with this task?"
"I have tried to reach all of my former rangers but you were the only one able to respond", Zordon replied, "I am currently on the Dark Fortress, I believe that Dark Specter knows what I plan to do. I will try and guide you as much as I can but the battles to come will be the fiercest you have faced so far".
Reluctantly Andros nodded, "Alright Zordon, let me rest up first and say goodbye to my team".
"You are a brave ranger Andros", Zordon replied and the room began to fade, "may the power protect you". Andros was back on the building site and suddenly he felt very cold and alone.
Karone wasn't sure how long she had been sleeping for but she suddenly woke with a start, "Andros", she cried out.
"Karone?" Zhane groaned, "what is it?"
"Andros is about to something very noble and very stupid", she looked at her morpher and saw that it was now 6am. She vaguely remembered having a weird dream involving Zordon and then felt someone whispering goodbye to her. That's when she picked up an unintentional telepathic transmission from her brother. She ran out of the building but she couldn't see him anywhere.
"Karone, you're scaring me", Zhane said as he placed an arm around her shoulder.
"My idiot of a brother has gone to the Dark Fortress alone", she replied.
"Why the hell would he do that?" Zhane exclaimed.
"I thought it was just a dream but it was actually a message from Zordon", she rambled, "Zordon is going to sacrifice himself to destroy Dark Specter but he needs Andros' help to do it".
Zhane's eyes went very wide, "We need to wake the others and quickly", the Karovian's rushed back inside. A small slither of the sun appeared on the horizon, indicating the start of what could be the final day for the human race.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N - Told you I'd get an extra chapter out before the weekend...