Episode 11, Chapter 5 – Will

Will's mind worked quickly, but the others followed his train of thought (so to speak) and agreed that they had little choice. There just wasn't enough time to come up with a Plan B. His plan was based off a few too many guesses for anyone's liking; if they weren't so desperate, no one would have ever gone along with it, Will least of all.

But they were out of time. T minus two minutes until the train arrived.

The others leapt to their tasks with that kind of vigor that only desperation could produce. Jess pulled her sword from a fiery building and used it to sling fireballs at the back of the Void Weed's head. The monster turned and gave chase. Jack slipped past, leapt up to the train rails, and set to work bending them in the right direction. April held out a hand, and her sapphire trident exploded from the flooded street. She dipped its head into the water and sent a cresting wave at the monster. The tide clashed against Jess' fire and sent a pillar of steam over the area, outlining the monster in the mist and obscuring its vision while Will and Jack worked frantically at the next part of their insane plan.

When are we going to see your weapon, White? Jess asked.

I… don't think I have one. Will had been wondering the same thing all night, but each time he thought of a sword, or a spear, nothing felt right. Maybe the White Ranger just didn't get a weapon. Or maybe he just wasn't doing it right.

We could all die, Will thought to himself. I told the others I was sure this would work, but… I have no idea what I'm doing.

All of Will's insecurities flooded his thoughts and blinded him to the task he was supposed to be doing. This whole night had been one long exercise in improvisation. Will was supposed to lead the Power Rangers, but how was he supposed to lead others when he couldn't even lead himself? In his old life he had gotten into a pre-med program, but that wasn't medical school yet. His grades this past semester weren't good enough for the programs he thought he wanted to get into. But did he even want to be a doctor? Was that how he wanted to spend his days? He didn't know. He simply didn't know. He couldn't guess what kind of future he wanted; how was he supposed to know what to do in the present? Being a Power Ranger was a class with no teacher, where a failing grade meant the deaths of millions and possibly the destruction of the world. How was anyone supposed to do this and not panic?

Will felt a quiet wave of energy from April's direction. It wasn't anything tangible, but Will's doubts began to lighten. Honor shone through his insecurity and cast a spotlight on that part of him that was willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of others. His master's voice echoed through his thoughts, something he always said when Will felt unsure: your parents named you Will for a reason.

And, just like that, he tumbled through time and space and fell into the broken body of the old White Ranger.

Pain seared through his entire body. His right leg lay several feet away in a bloody pool, and both arms hung broken at his sides. His Ranger's hood was down. Blood stung his eyes, but there was no way to wipe it away.

Rita Repulsa, clad in a gown of black silk that fluttered in a light breeze, stood over the White Ranger and laughed. Cruelty filled her cat-like eyes, and wisps of smoke flitted off the ends of her dress.

"Where is Zordon now?" she taunted. "He has abandoned you."

The White Ranger fought to speak, but the pain and his own weakness were too much.

Rita absent-mindedly poked at his leg stump with her black staff. The Ranger cried out. Blood gushed from his mouth and washed over the lion emblem on his chest. Were it not for his suit, he'd have been dead long ago. He wondered if he shouldn't just remove the suit and be done with it. But then Rita would win. He had to hold out, at least a little while longer.

"You think you're so clever," Rita continued, "banishing my minions like you did. You have only delayed the inevitable. I will find them again, and their return will complete my domination of this world which has spurned me for so long."

The Ranger's heart fell. Zordon had warned him that Dark Energy had taken control of Rita, but what she just said confirmed all of his fears: the Dark Energy's control over Rita was complete. She was no longer a human; she was hardly more than a puppet.

"Earth teems with conscious life demanding for someone to rule them," said the Dark Energy through Rita's mouth. "Once I claim this world, other systems will fall to my might. I will have my revenge on the world which spawned Zordon's kind. I will conquer all until only they remain, an insignificant blot of light within a sea of perfect darkness. No one can stop me!"

Her talk of planets and banishments had given the Ranger an idea. It would end his life, but he had lived hundreds of years. All of his attachments to his former life were long gone. And he would die soon, anyway. He set to work for one final banishment while the Dark Energy continued its blissful monologue.

"Yes, you fought valiantly. Isn't that what you want to hear? Honor. Pah! Zordon's ideals are a joke. Humans are base creatures, good for but one purpose: enslavement. Your Honor has only led you to this moment. Tell me… was it worth it? Do you feel honorable? Those who loved you in life are long dead. No one remembers you now. Without others to tell of your deeds, your Honor is as worthless as your broken body is now." Rita stepped on his shattered arm. He screamed and began to choke on his blood. He would die in a matter of seconds; it was now or never.

The White Ranger thought of teleportation – light travel. He felt the glow from his bloody chest emblem. Rita stomped on his chest and knocked the wind out of him, but he wouldn't need breath anymore. He focused all his consciousness inward, through his brain, down his spine, and then – bam! – out his chest in a rush of white light that blinded Rita and carried her up into the stars, as far as the Ranger's consciousness could take her before he died. His vision darkened as a small red planet approached. The Ranger's concentration faltered; his body was shutting down.

You will not stop me, said a dark voice. I will return! So long as I am connected to this world, there is nothing you can do to prevent my rise. Darkness will fall upon your world. I will blot out your pathetic sun. I will drown your kind in the seas, bury them beneath the earth, cut them to ribbons with the air itself. They will burn until all is ash. You have failed, Power Ranger. Here you banish me, but not because of Honor. You do it as a legacy to yourself. Pathetic excuse of a Ranger. Your weakness only proves my point: humans are nothing without a greater power to guide them.

The White Ranger's body failed him. Despair filled his thoughts during those last seconds, as the truth behind the Dark Energy's words sapped his will to see this banishment through. Honor, the last of the great Rangers, had failed. His light crashed into the red planet's northern pole just as darkness, sorrow, and death fully engulfed the Ranger.

Will fell back into himself, gasping for air. The sweet relief from pain overpowered him, and for a moment all he could do was fall to his knees and breathe.

White, thought Jess, you okay?

He had a vision, thought April. A difficult one. But you have to get up now, White Ranger. The train's almost here.

Will wondered how he was supposed to do anything after what he had just seen. I died, he thought, not caring if the others heard his despair. I mean, it wasn't me, but I've seen death and felt pain unlike anything I could have imagined. He was so alone at the end… Was that what my parents felt when they died? Or my sister? Will had never allowed himself to think about his family on the night they died, but the stress of today had broken down his old walls.

Will, urged Jess, not even caring about keeping their identities hidden in case Rita could hear their thoughts, come on, snap out of it. The train's like thirty seconds away.

I just… he thought, but there was no way to explain the profound sense of hopelessness that still bled into him from the old Ranger's memories. He couldn't bear to think of his family feeling the way he did now; the mere thought crippled him and kept him on his knees, barely remembering to breathe.

There's a time and a place to mourn, said April with the kind of gentleness that only someone who had been there before could have. But right now we have a war to fight.

Tracks are in place, thought Jack. Yellow, get ready to get out of that train!

Sure thing, thought Ewan. As soon as I get this monkey off my fucking face!

Void Weed's out of position, said Jack. Red, it's not following you anymore.

Shit! thought Jess. She threw more fireballs, but the Void Weed had lost interest in the fire it couldn't see. It began whipping its tentacles through the air.

It's absorbing the steam, said Jack.

Will, thought April. She didn't need to say anything else; the warmth in her voice was enough. Will was not alone.

He hauled himself to his feet. His HUD located the Void Weed through the cloud of steam. The old Ranger stared into the abyss, he thought, and he did what he had to do, but his doubt at the last minute cost him dearly. That won't be me! There would be a time and place to mourn, just as April had said. But first things first. Misery had no place within the mind of a Power Ranger.

Get rid of the steam, he thought.

The Red and Blue Rangers did so. Will leapt dangerously close to the Void Weed and fired a volley of white pistol blasts. The monster lashed out at him, but he ducked under the tentacle and backed up, dodging more and more swipes. Jess tried to join him, but April held her back. The more Rangers, the more likely they could get tangled up with each other.

A few more feet, White, said Jack. Train'll be here in ten seconds!

I can't get Baboo off me! yelled Ewan.

Just get out of there! April thought back. Don't sacrifice yourself to kill her!

Sacrifice, thought Will. I do what Honor demands. He held still in just the right spot. A black tentacle ripped through the disappearing fog and grabbed him around the waist. This is for my family.