Alright everyone, I can't even begin to say how sorry I am that this update took so long. I promise I've been really busy but the story was always in the back of my mind. Another reason why this chapter took so long is because it is the final chapter aside from the conclusion. You have all been sooo good to me with your reviews and don't think they went unnoticed. I'm extremely lucky to have such amazing and supportive readers and I truly want to say thank you. So this one is a long one and everyone must promise that they will see this thing to the end and read the the conclusion, which will end the story.

When Kimberly opened her eyes chaos erupted around her. Tommy had already made his way to Lord Zedd and had successfully deterred him away from her. Behind their battle, raged on another one between Goldar and Jason. But, it was good news because Jason had possession of the gold sword and Goldar was pretty much useless against him.

Rita on the other hand was in no mood to give up on Kimberly's destruction. With a snap her staff appeared in her left hand and the expression on her face was one of determination. Kimberly watched as Rita approached her and prayed silently for someone, anyone to set her free from the ropes which binded her to the tree. Rita had always appeared to be psychotic but for some reason today she appeared to be even more unstable than ever. Kimberly had never really been afraid of Rita personally, just of her magic. However, things had a funny way of changing lately.

"Time's up Kimmy!" screamed Rita with a screech of unparalleled terror. She rose her staff in the air and quickened her pace significantly. The only hope Kimberly had now was the small chance that the wicked witch would trip over that hideously ugly thing she called a dress.

Kimberly looked to Tommy and screamed for help, but he was no better off than she was because Lord Zedd had the advantage, his staff. Next, she looked to Jason and pleaded for his assistance excitedly, and she at least received a response. But, he was too preoccupied trying to knock Goldar off of his feet to make it over to her in time.

"Hold on Kim!"

Didn't Jason know that she didn't have time to hold on? Kimberly understood he was busy, but she needed him, and now. Kimberly braced herself, planting her feet firmly in the soil below her and clenched her eyes shut. Prepared for the worst she awaited her destiny. It came in the form of a horizontal stroke of lightning, which zapped the rope so fast that she never even felt it loosen. Kimberly immediately ducked down, causing Rita's ray to miss her by mere centimeters, but the tree was fried. Following the smoke's path Kimberly realized who had saved her. It was Tommy, and while wrestling with Zedd for possession of the silver staff he had somehow managed to redirect the beam towards the tree, and lucky for Kimberly his aim was impeccable.

Tommy had a difficult time in his struggle against Lord Zedd. There was no doubt that he was a very worthy opponent, possibly the worthiest opponent that Tommy had ever battled, but Tommy would never actually admit it. He had been bruised and battered beyond belief by the monster and yet he was so far from giving up. The moment Tommy set Kimberly free from the constraints of the rope Lord Zedd faltered and let his guard down in frustration. This opened up the perfect opportunity for Tommy to tighten his grip on the elusive staff and separate it from its owner with one powerful jerk. Lord Zedd recovered huffing and puffing and then starred at his archenemy in utter disbelief.

Inspired by Jason and Tommy's triumphs, Kimberly immediately charged at Rita, feeling pretty optimistic that she and the guys were finally in charge. It didn't take much for her to free Rita's staff from her tight clutches, just a few punches and even a kick here and there. Kimberly was surprised at what a pathetic fight Rita put up, especially considering how feisty she had always been. But now, finally, Rita cowered before her like a scolded puppy.

Regrouping, Tommy, Jason, and Kimberly formed a line. Each one of them possessing a power source from the enemy. Lord Zedd, Goldar, and Rita paralleled their line, and were still bent on bringing destruction to the three heroes. The evil bunch knew that they had allowed their egos to get the best of them and had it not been for their big headedness the tables would have been turned. In spite of this Lord Zedd knew that his doom was not yet meant to be.

"I must applaud you rangers," began Lord Zedd, "I never thought I'd see the day when you losers would have us in the palms of your hands."

"Well, you have to admit it was long overdue," replied Tommy confidently as he admired the shine of the staff in his right hand.

"That may be," snapped Rita, "but you haven't seen the last of us!" She was pouting like a baby.

"Oh no?" questioned Jason, "I think you're wrong." Jason locked eyes with Tommy and smirked.

"Uh-oh," interrupted Goldar as he began to slowly back away from the humans. He was prepared to desert his master in a second.

"Not so fast Goldar!" shouted Kimberly as she pointed Rita's staff at the goon. "Let's finish 'em guys!"

"You got it!" confirmed Tommy; he raised the giant Z high into the air, signaling the other two to fallow his lead. The three heroes aimed and fired.

As Billy, Zack, Aisha, and Katherine approached the clearing they were feeling rather exhausted and unsure of their fate. They had managed to hold off the tengas and Scorpina quite successfully with their blade blasters, but if they didn't find relief soon then the battle would very easily shift out of their favor. They were physically drained and several of them had already stumbled over their own feet more than once. But, just as they were sure all hope was lost, things took a turn for the better.

"Hey look," declared Zack, "the fog is dissipating!"

"He's right," huffed Katherine as cheerfully as she could manage, "I can see the clearing."

"And look, there are the Dino Rangers!" added Aisha in relief.

The teens across the way appeared to be just as tired and distressed as the other team, but like their seniors they weren't finished yet.

"Look you guys!" declared Kira in elation. "There they are!" she pointed at the multi-colored figures through the trees.

"Snap!" cheered Ethan in relief.

"Come on guys, let's move it," ordered Conner as he immediately took lead of the Rangers.

But, Trent was not distracted by the news; he never once faltered from his duties of holding the putties off.

The two teams finally joined up in the clearing, each one complete with excess baggage. They greeted each other briefly with sighs of relief and cheer. But, everyone quickly forgot about the creatures that pursued them once they realized the events which were unfolding on the other side of the clearing. Tommy, Kimberly, and Jason had just blasted Lord Zedd, Rita and Goldar with their very own weapons. The reaction caused a gigantic explosion, which surely could have been seen and heard from miles away. The Rangers could even feel the heat radiating through their suites. The blast sent Tommy, Jason, and Kimberly to the ground, and remarkably it even alleviated the fog.

Jason lay on the dark, moist soil, covered in dust and debris and felt completely exhausted, but that didn't stop the smirk from spreading across his face. On the other end of the clearing the Rangers watched in amazement as one by one the putties, tengas, and even Scorpina disappeared into thin air. Kimberly quickly sat up, ignoring the aches, which consumed her body. Immediately she began searching frantically for Tommy to make sure that he was okay. He had landed nearly thirty yards away from her but she was relieved to find him sitting up, and he appeared to be quite alert as he searched for her too. Once the couple locked eyes, smiles engulfed their faces. It was finally over; all of the uneasiness of never knowing if today would be the day that the dreaded Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa would return. Everyone could finally have peace and happiness.

Kimberly and Tommy simultaneously stood up and rushed into each other's arms, while everyone else looked on in satisfaction. As the couple embraced tightly, Kimberly felt an indescribable feeling of relief wash over her. Zedd and Rita were finally gone and now she was free to love Tommy and to be loved by him in return. The two separated briefly and gazed into each other's eyes. Not speaking a word Tommy took Kimberly's face in his black and dirty hands. He gently wiped a single tear from under her eye, and in its place he left a thick black streak of dirt. But, she didn't care about the dirt, she was just happy to be with him. Tommy raised Kimberly's face to his, preparing to give her the most sensual, earth shattering, heartfelt kiss, but his lips never reached hers.

Kimberly was mortified as Tommy fell limply into her tired arms; tiny bolts of lightning surged throughout him. He never even felt the blast because if he had he surely would have called out in agony, but he didn't make a peep. His body weight quickly grew much too heavy for Kimberly to support any longer and she was forced to ease herself to the ground with him. It was like a bad dream, a horrible scenario, but it was true. She could hear the frantic screams of her friends behind her and she could feel the cold wind pick up around her. It whistled in satisfaction and the chill pierced her skin with vengeance. Soon everything began to grow dark and for a moment Kimberly wondered if it was really dark outside or if it was just in her mind. Her world had gone dark; the flame inside of her had burnt out the moment her one true love fell helplessly into her arms.

Cradling Tommy to her chest, Kimberly buried her face between his neck and his shoulder, just as he had done to her before. Her cheek rubbed harshly against the stubble that coated his chin. It felt like sandpaper against her soft skin but the scratches couldn't keep Kimberly away. For a moment she couldn't understand how it was possible that he was gone and yet she could still feel him, touch him, smell him…She could hear and sense the commotion around her but she was too afraid to look up and accept Tommy's fate…her fate. Kimberly longed for that last kiss. Why had she been so naive? Why couldn't he be holding her now? She just wanted to be alone with him forever.

The fact of the matter was that Tommy lay lifeless in her arms and there was nothing more that she could do about it. The only defense she had to stay sane was to deny the truth. She kept telling herself that he was okay and she kept swearing to herself that she could feel his heart beating against hers, but it just wasn't so. She had lost what she had looked so hard to find and she had never even had a chance keep it, not even for a little while.

Time passed, Kimberly had no idea how much, but eventually she was forced into reality as she heard the wicked and hateful sound of Lord Zedd's voice once again. Pulling herself away from Tommy, Kimberly opened her eyes and accepted what couldn't be changed.

Standing before her was Lord Zedd, only he wasn't just Lord Zedd. Somehow the blast had supercharged him, causing him to grow nearly ten feet tall. His muscles swelled beyond recognition and the silver, which had originally adorned him, had somehow been transformed into gold. He had always been frightening and intimidating, but nothing compared to the being he had morphed into now.

To his left was Rita, her once puke brown dress now appeared ebony velvet. Her headdress, although massive before, was now more elaborate than anyone could ever imagine. Rita too was adorned with gold and onyx and her face was even uglier than ever; it was much more sinister.

To Lord Zedd's right stood Goldar, who had also grown in size, matching his master's height. Goldar's sheen was blindingly shinny and his armor was now encrusted with incredible jewels, in particular there was a large red jewel in the middle of his chest. It appeared to be some sort of power source. But regardless, Goldar seemed to be even more powerful than any force they had ever reckoned with.

"Ha, ha, ha…" laughed Lord Zedd loudly, causing the ground to shake below him. "You should have quit while you were still ahead Pink Ranger. But, now it's too late and your honoree persistence has cost you your one true love's life…ha, ha, ha…"

Kimberly starred up at the three beasts, too shocked to react and too scared to let go of Tommy. She didn't care about revenge anymore. But soon, the Rangers gathered around her, creating a barrier between her and Tommy and the monsters. Kimberly was surprised to see that amidst her confusion Jason had assumed his Red Ranger powers and was now morphed.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Tommy!" threatened Jason to Lord Zedd.

"And who's going to make me?" questioned Lord Zedd with a mighty roar.

"We are!" answered Kira strongly.

Lord Zedd looked down at her slowly and along with Goldar and Rita, exploded with laughter.

"Ha!" screamed Rita; "you are all powerless against us!"

"We'll just have to see about that!" declared Jason, "Let's bring 'em together guys, We need Dinosaur power now!"

Everyone followed Jason's lead, a little shocked that he didn't wait for Zedd to grow twenty stories tall before calling on the gigantic machines. Raising their hands to the sky in unison the Rangers waited for their larger than life vehicles, but they never appeared.

"What's going on? Where are they?" shrieked Aisha.

"I don't know," responded Billy in complete confusion.

"You fools!" replied Lord Zedd, "My new powers are more powerful than any of you could ever imagine, do you think I would allow you to waste my time with those silly little robots?"

"He must have put some kind of block on our signal," announced Billy.

"Can he do that?" asked Conner.

"Well, he just did," answered Zack.

"What are we going to do?" questioned Katherine in terror.

"I don't know," replied Jason. "But what I do know is that we need Tommy."

All of the Rangers turned around to stare at the tragedy behind them. Kimberly hadn't budged, she continued to rock Tommy back in forth softly.

"Is he…you know?" asked Kira sadly; she gripped Trent's arm tightly.

"It's looking that way," replied Jason as he choked back his frustrations.

"No!" screamed Kimberly in a fit of rage, taking everyone by surprise. She starred up at her friends with bloodshot eyes in anger, "He's not dead, he's not! He can't be! He just can't be!" She slapped the ground fiercely with her fists causing nothing but loose soil to fly up a few inches. The realization of her weakness forced her to break down into sobs once again.

Zedd, Rita, and Goldar once again shook the ground with their evil snickers. Normally Lord Zedd would have already annihilated the Rangers, but he enjoyed seeing their agony and nothing pleased Rita more than to see Kimberly broken.

Everyone continued to stare at Kimberly for a moment. None of them felt it to be their place to attempt to bring comfort to her because it just wasn't possible. Eventually it was Conner who took the initiative and walked over to Kimberly slowly. He knelt down beside her and offered her a look of condolence but didn't speak a word. She looked back at him puzzled. She barely even knew who the kid was, what in the hell was he doing? But then he reached down to his belt and from it he pulled out a small reflective object, Tommy's power coin. His hands shook as he handed it to Kimberly. Graciously she took it from him and conveyed her appreciation with a simple, "Thank you." Conner nodded, stood up and resumed his place in between Kira and Ethan.

Kimberly held the coin tightly and then opened her hand. She starred at the coin for a long time and somehow became hypnotized by it. It held so many memories and more importantly it radiated so much energy; so much of Tommy. Finally Kimberly closed her hand once more and slowly but carefully eased Tommy off her lap. She made sure to place his head softly on the dirt and she arranged his arms so that he appeared comfortable. Next she leaned over him on her hands and knees and looked down into his handsome face. Her tears fell onto his cheeks but he didn't notice. Lowering her face down to Tommy, Kimberly kissed him gently on his warm, and surprising soft lips, and sweetly whispered "I love you," into his ear. Rising to her feet Kimberly was ready to finish what she had started.

"Let's do this guys," she mumbled as she stepped forward.

The Rangers stared at her bewildered but she paid no attention. Instead she cut through the group and made her way to the front.

"Okay Zedd, you want me gone? Why not make good on your promise?"

"Very courageous my dear but I never thought you to be so stupid," replied Lord Zedd as gigantic darts of rain began to fall at his command.

"Well, sometimes people can surprise you, " Kimberly shot back, as she clutched the power coin tightly behind her back.

"Alright then," began Zedd, "you asked for it so I suppose I will finish you off first!"

"Kimberly, No!" screamed Jason as he lunged to pull her back, but Billy and Zack wouldn't allow it. They knew that Kimberly had made her decision and her own fate was now in her own hands.

Lord Zedd raised his staff high into the air and Rita and Goldar mimicked his motion. A pyramid of light was created by the three and would eventually result in a blast much larger than was necessary to finish off the girl. At Lord Zedd's command the trio shifted their aim towards Kimberly and fired an amazing blow.

The beam shot at Kimberly quickly, but determined to succeed she reacted even faster. Kimberly pulled Tommy's power coin out from behind her back and extended it in front of her. The tiny gold coin shinned brightly with rays of white, green, red, and black, which were blinding to the human eye. Kimberly was forced to turn away but the Rangers were shielded by their visors. The coin reflected all of the evil energy away from Kimberly, but not without strain. Kimberly's body convulsed violently but she remained strong for she knew that this was what Tommy wanted.

In a rapid response Jason led his team of four to mimic Kimberly's gesture. It all occurred in a split second but the beam reflected off of Tommy's coin, then it hit Zack's coin, next it reached Katherine's coin, Aisha received it eagerly, and finally Jason redirected the beam back to Zedd, Rita, and Goldar. As the beam traveled from one Ranger to the next it collected energy and grew in size and vibrancy, and each Ranger was left powerless. By the time the energy was returned to Lord Zedd all five Rangers were nothing more than civilians. Each person dropped to the ground in exhaustion, barely able to stay conscious to watch the final destruction of Lord Zedd and Rita. It all happened so quickly, but in one spectacular show, the three monsters went up in flames like a wild fire, they never even had a chance.

Immediately the flames spread throughout the forest and the group of heroes were directly in the middle of it. Too tired and drained to save themselves they lay on the forest floor coughing and gasping for air, that is everyone but Kimberly who was motionless. Jason gestured for the Dino Rangers to help her but none of them saw him because they were too preoccupied with trying to contain the flame.

Charred and smoking, the forest smelled like a campfire. All of the flames were gone and the fire hadn't done too much damage. Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Trent stood tall, not out of pride but out of assurance to the other Rangers. Without a word Conner led his team towards their mentors and one by one everyone was tended to.

"Just leave me here for a few weeks and I'll be fine," choked Zack to Ethan as he helped him to sit up.

"Sorry man," replied Ethan, "it's not that easy. Rangers code of honor, you must help everyone."

"Especially a fellow Ranger," cut in Kira as she dusted Aisha off.

Aisha erupted into a coughing fit as she looked around the battlefield. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes when they finally settled on Kimberly. Her best friend was so still and so peaceful.

"Help her," whispered Aisha to anyone that was listening.

Jason was the first to respond feeling re-energized at the sight of Kimberly strewn across the debris. He made his way over to his friend and immediately checked for her vitals. Everyone waited in anticipation, but after a delayed response from Jason their hopes were pretty much shattered.

"Strange isn't it?" asked Conner dryly, "Do you suppose they're together now?"

Everyone understood what the Red Ranger had meant and the world seemed to go silent.

"I would imagine they are," said Katherine finally.

"Come on," began Billy in reverence, "we should get them out of here, it won't be long before the fire department shows up to make sure the fire's completely out."

Everyone silently agreed and rose slowly to their feet. Aisha and Katherine required assistance from Kira and Ethan to walk, while Trent and Conner set out to collect their fallen leader. Jason insisted on carrying Kimberly.

Just moments later everyone was interrupted by Conner's shouts, "Hey guys, where was it that Dr. O landed?"

"What do you mean?" yelled back Kira, "He's right over there!" she pointed towards a giant charred tree.

"He's not there!" returned Trent in confusion.

"I swear!" cursed Kira. "These boys are just so useless sometimes!" She braced Aisha against Ethan. "I'll be right back."

Kira jogged over to her friends in annoyance, shaking her head in disgust the whole way. When she finally reached them she began to understand their dilemma.

"He's gone," she announced puzzled.

"Gee Kira, nothing gets past you," replied Conner sarcastically.

"Hey cool it," said Trent in Kira's defense. "Billy!" he yelled, "Can you come over here, please!"

Billy made his way over to the teenagers as quickly as he could while the other's waited, wanting to know what the problem was but were too exhausted to investigate it themselves.

"Guys we really don't have time for this…" began Billy as he reached them but suddenly became silent. "Where's Tommy?"

"That's what we were hoping you could answer," replied Kira.

"He landed here, right?" questioned Billy.

"I thought so," answered Conner. Trent nodded in agreement.

Billy turned to his friends sheepishly, "Uh guys, I think we have a problem!"

"No, we don't," replied a voice.

Everyone shifted their gaze towards it, and were delighted to see that it was Tommy.

Tommy carefully pulled himself off the ground with the assistance of a sturdy tree trunk. He had been behind a bush halfway between the former Rangers and the current Rangers.

"But how…" began Katherine in utter relief.

"I have no idea what happened, one minute I was holding Kimberly in my arms and the next minute I saw Rita and Zedd go up in flames," Tommy rubbed his throbbing temples. "Then I tried to find Kim but it was impossible with all of the smoke."

"The white power coin," began Billy ignoring the mention of Kimberly's name, "it must have rejuvenated you in the process of destroying Zedd in Rita."

"I don't know," continued Tommy, "whatever it was, it was strange," He looked around at all of the familiar faces and found it difficult to pinpoint everyone considering the darkness, which had just set in completely.

"Where's Kim?" asked Tommy, allowing a small smile to spread across his face.

Everyone held their breath in terror; Tommy didn't know what had happened.

"I hate to break it to you man," started Billy, "but…"

Jason walked up to his friends slowly with Kimberly limp in his arms. He didn't say a word he just presented her to his best friend.

Tommy starred at her perplexed. At first he didn't quite comprehend what they were trying to tell him. He was so close to bliss that the idea of misfortune was just not something that he could understand right now.

"Give her to me," he snapped at Jason as he grabbed Kimberly from Jason's arms. "Don't ever try to scare me like that again!" he ordered.

"Tommy," cut in Katherine from across the way.

Tommy looked up towards her in the darkness. "What?" he asked dryly.

"I'm sorry," she said before allowing her emotions to overtake her.

Tommy was clearly in denial and all of the Rangers knew it but Tommy. He pretended not hear Katherine's sympathetic condolence, lowered Kimberly to the ground and rested her in his lap. Taking her head in his hand he raised her face to his and said, "Hey beautiful it's time to wake up."

But there was no response. He clenched his eyes shut tightly, positive that things would turn out okay. He opened his eyes and once again repeated the phrase, "Hey beautiful it's time to wake up."

But still there was nothing.

"I'm sorry, bro," interrupted Jason, "but she did it for you."

Tommy looked up at his best friend in disgust, "Is that supposed to make me feel better or something?"

Jason looked away trying to hide his tears, "Of course not, but I just thought you'd want to know that Kimberly loved you more than anything in this world, even more than her own life."

Tommy starred down at the ground, not bothering to conceal his emotions. "How?" he asked looking up at Jason, expecting a valid answer. "How? How did this all happen? How in the hell did everything happen!"

"I don't know man," replied Jason as he lowered himself down to his best friend and wrapped a brotherly arm around his shoulder. "I just don't know."

The forest was quiet and there was no sound but the sound of Tommy's pain. Soon the silence was broken by the faint scream of a siren in the distance.

"That's the fire department," announced Billy. "We better get out of here."

I know, I know you are all calling me vicious and nasty names in your heads but you promised before you read this chapter that you would see this thing through, and I'm holding you to it. Please come back, I promise you will be satisfied with the ending.