"There she is," Alex pointed out as they passed the park. Eric turned around and parked the car across the street.
The two got out of the car and headed towards her. She was sitting down on a bench alone, not noticing the other people in the park.
"Need some company?" asked Eric.
Jen turned around and saw Alex and Eric walking up behind her. She scooted over giving a faint smile. "Sure."
The two sat down next to her; Eric somehow had managed to sit in the middle. He wasn't sure if he planned on that or if it just happened that way. Maybe he just figured that Alex and Jen still needed their space. He didn't know what had gone on between them the last few days, but he knew it had taken a toll on both of them.
Alex let out a sigh of relief, seeing that Jen was safe and sound. He wanted to say something to her, but what could he say? He had said everything to her that he could tell her, or had he? He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he should just say it. Say what he had figured out about Hexasaur.
But he knew if he did, Jen wouldn't be able to fight him, not with the way she felt. She would let her emotions get in the way of her better judgment. And although he knew Eric's will was stronger, Alex wasn't sure if even Eric could fight him while knowing the truth. He already knew the kids wouldn't be able to; they were young. How could he tell them the truth and then ask them to fight their friend, maybe even kill him? He couldn't ask them that. It was one thing putting it on his own shoulders, but he couldn't do that to everyone else.
He ran his fingers through his hair. "What am I going to do? he whispered to himself.
Eric turned his head. He had half heard what Alex said. He was just getting ready to respond when...
"We meet again rangers, but for the last time," said a voice.
The three looked up and saw Hexasaur standing before them. People nearby were screaming and running away, fleeing for their lives. Eric stepped forwards, getting into a fighting stance. "You got that right, except you'll be the one going down!" Eric turned to the others. "You two ready?"
Both Jen and Alex nodded their heads. In the next instant the three morphed, ready for action.
Conner and the gang sat outside on the porch of Tommy's house. After they had overheard the conversation between Tommy and Hayley they had snuck upstairs. All four of them looked terrible, sick to their stomachs, a feeling that wouldn't go away. Fear. Sure they'd all been scared and frightened before, and it seemed that all those fears had been conquered, but not this time. It was a different kind of fear, not a 'scared of the dark or Boogie Man under the bed' scared. This time the fear seemed more real.
"You guys don't think…" and even as Kira said it she couldn't finish. Trent wrapped his arm around her, wanting to protect her. He wanted to make everything better for her, for all of them, but he couldn't.
They all had heard Hayley very clearly. And as much as they hated to admit it, they knew she was right. They themselves had even witnessed it. Dr. Oliver had been more tired than usual and they had seen him having trouble focusing while teaching his classes.
"Conner, what are we going to do? We can't lose Dr. O," said Ethan.
"Yeah, he's done so much for us," added Kira.
Conner looked up at the two, alarmed and upset. "Me? I don't know. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be the red ranger." Frustrated, he stood up and walked around in circles. "I don't know what we should do." Angry and upset, he kicked one of the plants off the steps and watched as it flew a few feet and dropped to the ground, breaking the pot. "I hate this!"
Everyone bowed their heads down, sighing. None of them knew what to do any more than Conner did. They were young; they would be graduating soon, and be heading off to college to follow their dreams. They shouldn't be facing something like this.
Conner turned around, looking down at his friends. When had it come to this? Them, counting on him, him of all people. He was Conner McKnight the jock, not the guy with all the answers. He wasn't someone you could count on all the time. But somehow he had become that guy, someone you could count on. He had become more than just the school jock. For the first time his friends were looking at him differently, they were looking at him as a leader. Leader? Is that what I am? When did that happen?
He slumped down back next to them. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get upset." He sighed heavily. "It's just I really don't know what to do." He paused for a moment. "This is all really new to me. I don't know how to be a good leader. I never really ever thought that one day he might not be able to be there for us."
"Yeah. I guess we all just forgot he's still human," replied Trent. And they had forgotten. They had seen Dr. O, as this great power ranger, unbeatable, indestructible, couldn't be stopped by anyone. They had forgotten. He was like them, only human, with weaknesses and limitations.
The alarms were going off. "What's going on?" asked Hayley, leaning over Tommy's shoulder looking at the screen.
Tommy brought the image up on the screen. The screen showed Alex, Eric and Jen in combat with Hexasaur and from the looks of it Hexasaur was winning. Hayley felt her heart race as she watched Hexasaur slash Eric with his sword, sending the Quantum ranger flying backwards, hitting a tree.
"Eric," she whispered.
"I've got to go help them. Contact the kids," Tommy announced as he stood up and started to bolt towards the exit.
"Tommy!" Hayley called after him.
He stopped and turned around, expecting her to tell him not to go, that it would be too dangerous. But she surprised him, giving a faint smile. "Be careful."
He didn't answer back, just nodded his head and left.
"Conner, come in!" Conner looked down at his wrist where his morpher rested strapped around his wrist. He shared glances with the others, concerned. What could this be about; more bad news? "Conner, come in, this is urgent!" Hayley's voice came again.
Taking a deep breath he raised his morpher up to his mouth. "We read you, Hayley. What's up?"
"You four need to get to the park right away. Alex, Eric, and Jen are fighting against Hexasaur. Tommy just left a few minutes ago to join them."
More concerned glances were shared. Dr. O had gone into battle. Never did six words scare them more; never did they think that something like that would scare them. He had fought thousands of battles and always come back, but this time could be different, maybe this time he wouldn't be so lucky.
"Come on guys, we got to go help Dr. Oliver," announced Kira, jumping to her feet, pulling Trent up with her.
"We're on it, Hayley," said Conner into his morpher.
"Jen!" yelled Alex, as he and Eric went running to her aid. Hexasaur had just whapped her with his tail, sending her colliding with a tree. "Jen, are you alright?" asked Alex, kneeling down next to her, checking to make sure she had sustained no injury.
Eric stood in front of them, Quantum Defender in hand, his finger brushing against the trigger. His eyes were locked hard on Hexasaur who stood just a few paces in front of him, walking back and forth, laughing.
Jen sat up slowly, although she hadn't demorphed, the hit she had taken had weakened her. "I'm fine," she stated as Alex helped her to her feet.
"Just hang in there, we'll get him," replied Alex, patting her on the back.
"Ah, how sweet, compassionate rangers," mocked Hexasaur.
"Shut your yap, you freak!" yelled Eric, pulling the trigger on his Defender gun.
The blast headed straight for Hexasaur, but he was ready for it. He whipped around and reflected the blast back, but with even more power. Powerless and unable to stop it, Eric and the others just stood there motionless. The blast was only inches from hitting them when a bright black flash appeared before them.
It was Tommy! He reflected the blast right back at Hexasaur, but the mutant dinosaur was too fast. He dodged the powerful blast and watched as it hit a tree sending it into flashes. Hexasaur grinned. "Good, but not good enough!"
Fully recovered, Jen along with Alex and Eric, joined up with Tommy. "Looks like you got here in the nick of time, thanks buddy," said Eric as he patted Tommy on the shoulder.
"No problem, now how 'bout we finish this once and for all."
"Not without us you're not!" called out Conner, as he and the other Dino Rangers came running up from behind to join up with the rest of the team. Tommy noticed a little bit of harshness mixed with determination in Conner's voice, but for the moment he would have to ignore it, they had bigger problems to deal with.
"Wonderful. I'll be able to take the whole lot out." Hexasaur watched as the younger rangers joined up with the others.
"Good, Hayley got a hold of you guys just in time," said Tommy, just barely looking over his shoulder.
"Too bad it won't be enough to help you!" Hexasaur's skin began to glow and his eyes turned to a bright red. "Prepare to die, rangers!"
"What's he doing?" cried out Kira, never had she seen such power.
They all watched in fear as the area around them began to shake and the sky turned pitch black. The only light was the glow coming from Hexasaur, his powers growing massively, as he became brighter and brighter, lightning striking down around him and the rumbling sound of thunder.
Alex's heart raced. He needed to come to a decision and fast. What would Wes do in a situation like this? Taking a deep breath, "Guys, I have an idea." Everyone turned around to face him.
There was a moment when only a glance was shared between Tommy and Alex, a sort of acknowledgment between them, an understanding. "Combine our weapons together. If we each make a direct hit at exactly the same moment, it should be enough power to finish him once and for all."
Everyone seemed to be in agreement with that, nodding their heads. Tommy, on the other hand, wanted to be sure. "You sure about this, Alex, there's no telling what could happen!"
He was silent a moment, almost changing his decision. Could there be another way? He looked over all their shoulders and saw the terrifying Hexasaur still powering up, the sky getting darker and darker with every moment passing. He gulped in hard. "It's the only way."
Tommy nodded his head. For better or for worse, it was done. "Alright, everyone call forth your weapons!"
In the next moment everyone called forth their weapons and got them ready. Alex stood in the center, his eyes locked right on Hexasaur. Please forgive me. "On my count, one….two…..three….FIRE!" shouted Alex. Eight brightly colored beams of light headed towards Hexasaur and united with his powers, creating a massive explosion. BOOM! A huge energy beam hit all around hitting the rangers and everything in sight.
The rangers dropped to the ground, going into a forced demorphing. It seemed like forever had passed, until each of them opened their eyes.
He felt dizzy and weak at first, but slowly felt his energy returning to him. He slowly began to sit up, seeing everyone doing the same. He half noticed the kids glaring at him, a hidden fear in their eyes. Do they know?
The sky was no longer dark. It was back to being blue. There were a few brush fires around them slowly starting to go out, but what caught everyone's eyes was what was in the center, hidden in a dark cloud of smoke. All they could make out was a body lying face down on the grass.
The rangers slowly stood up, brushing the dust and dirt off their clothes.
"Is it over?" asked Ethan.
"Did we win?" asked Trent.
They all tried to look through the dark cloud, but could barely see anything, yet alone make out any movement from Hexasaur. Eric drew his Silver Guardian blaster out, pointing it forward, getting it ready just in case or to make sure that the job did in fact get finished.
Tommy and Alex stood a feet back, their eyes right on the darkened area in the cloud where a body lay. Their hearts were racing, wondering if they had made the right decision, wondering if what they both had come to believe was true, was in fact true. Then they saw the body start to lift itself up from the ground, slowly at first. But it meant one thing, Hexasaur wasn't dead!
"Everyone, stand back. It's not over yet!" yelled Eric, getting in front of them all getting ready to shoot his blaster when…
"Eric, wait! Don't shoot! Scanners are picking up human DNA in the area within the smoke," yelled Hayley through the morphers.
"What?" said Eric in disbelief, lowering his blaster down.
Tommy and Alex turned to each other. Their worst fear had some true; Hayley had just confirmed what they both had been dreading.
"Hey, the smoke's beginning to clear away," announced Ethan
Everyone was silent as the cloud of smoke disappeared away and revealed a half bare body. Sure enough, as Hayley had stated, it was human.
Conner felt like his heart had stopped. "It can't be..."
"No way!" said Trent in disbelief.
"I don't believe it," said Kira.
He gulped in heavily. "Oh no," whispered Alex. It was true. He had been right all along.
"Oh man," sighed Tommy. "What have we done?" He ran his hand over his face.
"WES!" cried Jen as she ran towards him.
"Jen wait!" yelled Eric, trying to grab her, but she broke away from him.
She ran like she had never run before. She dropped down next to him. "Wes!" she called, turning him over to look at his face. Tears were in her eyes, as his eyes flashed open looking right up at her. "You're alive," she choked. After all this time he was alive.
But what should have been a joyous reunion turned into something darker. Wes lashed out at her, grabbing her by the neck, choking her. "Die, pink ranger, die!" he shouted.
"JEN!" she heard the others yell her name.
All of them stopped dead in their tracks, hearts racing. The only one with a blaster in hand was Eric. "Eric," yelled Alex.
He turned his head around looking at Alex. "You have to," he heard him say. Eric looked down at his gun, hand shaking.
Alex looked up ahead, watching Jen struggle to get Wes off of her. "There isn't any time," he yelled.
Eric nodded his head not answering. He turned back around and pointed his blaster gun pointing it directly at Wes. His hands were shaking with fear. He felt his fingers brush against the trigger, at any moment he could pull the trigger and Jen would be safe. But at a cost… "Come on Jen, you gotta help him remember," he whispered.
Moments past and he still handed pulled the trigger. Alex stepped up behind him. "What are you doing? He's killing her,"
"Just a little longer,"
She felt her heart racing. It was getting harder and harder for her to breathe. No, I won't accept that he's gone! She grabbed a hold of his hands, trying to pull them away from her. She looked right into his eyes. "Wes. It's me…It's me, Jen. Please, you have to remember!" she choked, trying to remove his hands from around her neck. After what seemed like forever she saw a dramatic change in his eyes, as what started out as a great evil filled with violence changed into a horrified look on his face.
"Jen?"
She slowly felt his hands loosen from around her neck and watched as his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground. "Wes? Wes!" Jen yelled repeatedly as she shook him. She didn't even notice that the others had joined her. When he didn't move, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her.
Eric sighed heavily. He raised his morpher up to his mouth. "Hayley, get a med bed ready and be prepared for anything…"