This story came to me on the spur of the moment, and I'll continue it if I get a good response. I was a big fan of power rangers as a child, and I have recently been watching clips online (as well as finding the full Green Ranger Saga ).

Seeing this dark ranger got me thinking, what if there was a tale of a Ranger who was left to save a world already lost? Who never wanted to be a Ranger in the first place? Who had gained what he never had only to lose it? This is that story.

IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!

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Chapter 1:

How my sun rose and died.

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This is a tale unlike any other. In this story, there are no heroes defending the world, fighting off evil together and saving the day. There are no animal spirits and cheering crowds, nor will there be any grand Deus Ex Machina.

The world has been conquered, evil has triumphed, and the day has been lost.

This is, however, a tale of hope within despair, of one last chance. There will be no last minute rescues, as the last minute has gone, but time has not yet stopped.

This is the story of the last ranger.

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Days had once been better. I can still remember a time when the sun shone. I had been unhappy then as well. I had been going no-where in life. No friends, no family to speak of. I had lived without hope, without honour, and without care. Then I picked a fight with what you could call the right person.

After she had beaten me into the ground, she had given me a chance to put my abilities to use in a project she was involved in. Make no mistake, this was no 'I can see some good in you' sort of project, this was more of a 'you'd make a good guinea pig' type project. But she said she'd pay me, and I was more than willing to take a job that didn't involve robbing someone, a honest day's work for once. Or so I'd thought.

I had been shipped off to the deserts of Egypt, and led into an ancient tomb, turns out she was part of some secret agency working on a secret project none the less. There was a sarcophagus there (the markings interested everyone else, but as far as I had been concerned, it was just another coffin). Looking back now, I am rather ashamed that all I had been able to think about was how much it could all be sold for, I have certainly learnt about what is truly valuable in the time that has passed since then.

There was a small laboratory set up within the tomb, they had been experimenting with some relic they'd found that was generating power, and they believed it may be able to transform a human. Who better to test it on than a street fighting thug no-one would miss if everything went wrong?

I had been sceptic, looking at the blend of ancient gold and modern technology that was strapped to my left wrist. Placed within a secure chamber, I was told to hit the little red button on the side. With a sigh, I did as he was bid, and at this moment my life was changed forever.

I learnt there were four others like me. The fact they were now each a 'different colour of the 'bow' as one of them once put it didn't amuse me. We were tested upon, and trained and given a mission, though this was mostly after realising that the miscreants they had lashed these little weapons to were the only ones who could use them now. Why had I gone along with it? Three reasons. The first was that it paid; the second was that I got to fight; the third was the simplest. An explosive collar strapped to my neck didn't leave me many options.

The biggest question had been why these devices had been created, and why they had been scattered to each corner of the ancient world, buried in tombs of Egyptians, Celts, Aztecs, Samurai, and Roman. One day thought, the answer presented itself, and we were all sorry we had asked. A force from another world came, to finish a job it had begun centuries ago. I won't say we humans have always treated this world with great respect, but these beings planned to rape our planet of every resource, and use us as once giant factory planet. Every nation fought against them, but at times they proved too strong for conventional forces. That was when we were brought in.

These powers we had, the five of use, allowed us to fight on even terms with the mightiest warriors our enemy could send. Warfare returned to a medieval state, with swords and skill deciding battle, rather than missiles and bombs. We fought many times, drawing on talents and skills we never knew we had. The five of us forever resented our superiors, save for the woman who had brought us all together. The six of us made a kind of surrogate family. Each of us had lived our lives alone, and in each other we found comfort. It was with her I fell in love, or relationship a secret to all those who we didn't count as 'family'. She was not a 'ranger' as we had been dubbed, but she was our leader. And for awhile, things looked good. We developed new weapons to keep us up to speed with their advances; we had great tactics and team-work. I dreamed of the day when the collar would be removed, and me and my love could put this behind us and have a normal life.

Then began the days of darkness.

Our enemy had a new weapon, one that was like one of us, a white ranger. Each of us were engaged in combat, singled out and forced to fight one on one. To give them credit, the battles were fair, and we were outclassed. One by one we all fell. In the end, two rangers remained, and the world was on the verge of collapse. We had lost the Morphers (as they had been called) of our comrades, taken by our foe (my love compared it one night to a Samurai taking the swords of his dead foes, their souls within the weapon), we had one last hope, and it was snatched away. Our base was found at last, and our foe, that shadow ranger had led the assault. My love, my comrade, and myself fled as the building collapses around us. When escape was within our reach, the White Shadow cut it off. My comrade, may her soul rest in peace, stepped forward, engaging in the death match with the foe who had cut down our friends. Despite the battle my comrade put up, the outcome was the same as all the others. I am ashamed to say I did not stay for to see, for I fled, seeking to protect my love. But when the White Shadow appeared, pursuing us beyond the complex, the head of my comrade was in one hand, and their morpher in the other.

To this day, I cannot full remember what happened. The battle was a blur as we clashed, I in my deep blue, clashing with the white shadow out in the rocky plains. I gave everything I had, if I were to lose, everything was lost, but I was no match. Battered, tired, and weak, I was pushed back and my foe prepared to put a hole in me to end my life. My life did end, my blood still flows, for my love threw herself before me, absorbing the blow in my place, and pushing me off the cliff and into the sea below.

Years have passed since then, the Earth has become a planetary factory. The people, those who escaped death, live as slaves, cogs in a great machine. Once, there was a time when I would have offered my power to the victor, using it to my advantage. Power and wealth were all that mattered to me once, but that is a life that is gone now. I had gained things more precious than gold, and they were stolen from me. I can never get them back. The sun that rose in my life in my time as a ranger has died, and I can never bring back that light. But I can restore it for all others. I will clear away the smog and let the sun shine again.

I am Kenneth Gate.

I am the Last Ranger.

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Who is this enemy? What powers does Ken have? Can he do anything? Who is White Shadow?

These are the questions I'm left asking myself ( ; ) but if there is a demand for this to become a true story, then I will try and continue.

Bonus Feature: Keyo's thoughts.

The original Red Ranger has always been a favourite of mine, and I wanted to make Ken a red ranger too, but I felt that was too conventional and predictable. I also considered making Ken a girl, and while I felt that too would be a good break from tradition, I was worried I would write her terribly and get complaints. So I decided to start of with a male protagonist. I am worried he'll come out moody and morbid, but I'm going to try and avoid making him too much like that.

I hope you've all enjoyed this first chapter to Last Ranger. The next one will have some actual dialogue and character building to it, as this one mostly served to give an explanation of the world and the events that led to the story's true beginning.

Bonus Feature: Next Chapter Preview

In the next chapter, we'll meet some of the beings who now control the earth, as well as learn of the power struggle amongst them. Ken will be seen in action, and we'll get a glimpse of the power possessed by the Last Ranger.

Until next time

POWER DOWN!