Scott, Dillon, Summer and Flynn all arrived at the edge of the city, looking out on the dome. Since the shields had been deactivated, they were now relying purely on the steel of the dome to keep Venjix's forces at bay. They already knew that it wouldn't hold for long.
"I guess this is what we've been waiting for." Scott said quietly. The others nodded gently as they prepared for what could well be their last battle. One way or another, the war was going to end that very day.
"I wouldn't mind a little back up." Summer commented, looking at her three friends sadly. She felt a large hand taking hers, lacing his fingers with her own. She looked up, seeing Dillon smiling at her.
"Whatever happens, you're all I need." Dillon assured her. "As long as I've got you to fight for, I'm going to make Venjix pay dearly for every inch he advances."
"Rangers! Come In!" Dr. K interrupted them. "There's been a massive energy fluctuation in the wastes. Venjix's palace had been destroyed!"
"His palace has been destroyed?" Scott asked her. "Who would do that?"
"Who could?" Flynn added.
"Who cares." Dillon concluded. "Don't you realise what this means? His mainframe was in there. He can't upload himself anymore!"
"That's correct Dillon. He's now trapped in his body." Dr. K informed them. "If you can destroy his body..."
"We destroy him." Flynn concluded. Just then, they heard a massive bang, and the entire dome rocked ominously. The Rangers looked at each other.
"I guess that's our visitors knocking." Scott told them. "Remember, this is our Thermopylae. Until Ziggy shows up with the reinforcements we're on our own."
"This all hinges around Ziggy finding enough people willing to fight for us and get them all here?" Dillon asked him. "There's a comforting thought."
"Why did you have to mention Thermopylae?" Flynn sighed. "Why couldn't you use the Battle of Stirling Bridge?"
"What happened there?" Scott asked.
"The Scots stood against a much larger English force using the bridge as a bottleneck." Flynn told him.
"So it was their version of Thermopylae?" Summer asked him.
"The difference is the Scots won." He replied.
"I think I prefer that one." Summer told him. At that, the dome rocked again under bombardment. Scott took a step forward, activating his communicator.
"Dr. K is there any word on Gem and Gemma?" He asked her.
"I've nearly finished the deactivation code." Dr. K told him. "They've not destroyed the conduit yet."
"What about Ziggy?" He asked.
"Ziggy hasn't called in yet." She sighed. Scott just shook his head.
"Thanks Dr. K." He replied, his chest tightening as he prepared for the battle to come. He hated to think that he might never get to see her again. He had already imagined the life they would make together if they got through this. It just made him more determined than ever to go on. "I love you." Dr. K smiled as she heard this.
"I love you too Scott." She replied.
"Alright guys, you know what we're facing." Scott told them. "Just think about whatever it is that makes you want to get through this. Keep your selves focused and keep going no matter what happens." They all nodded solemnly as they got out their morphers.
"One last time guys!" Scott called out. "Ready?"
"Ready!" They chorused together. "RPM, Get in GEAR!"
Over at the Central Command building, Gem kept Hicks at bay while Gemma took care of Vasquez. The female hybrid managed to score a telling blow to her ribs, aggravating an injury Hicks had given her when they tortured her early.
"Why do you even bother fighting?" She asked the Silver Ranger. "The man you love is completely at Venjix's mercy. He tortured you, hurt you in every way imaginable, and all because I asked him to."
"He might be under Venjix's control right now, but I know the real Hicks!" She hissed back, pulling out her cloud hatchet. Vasquez pulled out a knife, parrying her blows. "I know he'd never hurt me intentionally! I know he'll be consumed with guilt when I free him from your master's grasp, but most of all, I know I'll forgive him!"
"You were nothing but a joke to him!" Vasquez sneered as Gemma scored a glancing hit, slicing neatly across her cheek, drawing blood. Vasquez returned the blow, causing sparks to shower from her costume. "We all used to laugh at you! The boom twins, the biggest joke..."
"He told me he never took me seriously before, but I changed his mind!" Gemma interrupted her, powering up an energy blast from her weapon, sending Vasquez flying. "He thought I was one thing, and then he changed. He realised I was something else and he changed his mind! He adapted! That's why Venjix will never win! Machines can only grow within their core programming. Humans can always adapt!"
Gemma hammered home another hard attack, sending Vasquez to the ground. Gem caught Hicks in a tight hold, restraining him with all his strength as Vasquez looked up, seeing Gemma powering up her Sky Shift Blazer. Elwood hopped onto her shoulders.
"Go ahead, take your shot!" She sneered. Gemma flexed her fingers on the handle of the weapon. She recalled her helmet, locking eyes with Vasquez as she aimed.
"Gemma, you have to do it!" Gem screamed at her, struggling with Hicks desperately. "It's the only way to free them!"
"You'll never do it!" Vasquez taunted her. "No matter how many humans it would save to do it, you'll never kill me..."
Gemma's eyes narrowed as she squeezed the trigger.
Back at the main battle site, the others were quickly finding themselves overmatched. While they were mainly battling Grinders, the sheer weight of numbers was telling on them. Summer rushed to Dillon's side as he rolled clear of a blast.
"Are you alright?" She asked him, the concern on her voice coming through. Dillon nodded.
"I never let a little thing like an explosion stop me." He replied as he struggled back to his feet. "A few billion of these things might be a different matter though."
"Lay down your arms and make this easy on yourselves!" Venjix stated as he stepped into view. "If you surrender now, I may keep you as hybrid pets."
"It's never going to happen!" Scott yelled, calling out his Street Sabre. "You know, I used to think you made hybrids purely as a weapon, but now I think I know the real reason you made them!"
"This may be amusing, tell me your theory Ranger Red!" Venjix instructed him.
"You're jealous of us!" Scott roared defiantly. "No matter how advanced your technology, no matter how far you advance, you're still restrained by your programming!"
"You think...?"
"You say you despise the imperfection of humans and yet you covet what we have that you don't!" He continued. "We have free will! Freedom of thought and action! We can create! No wonder you're so obsessed with Dr. K!"
"I am..."
"She's your creator, your GOD!" He snarled. "You don't just respect her, you worship her! There's only one problem. So do I!"
Just then, the square was suddenly filled. Ziggy sprinted to them, followed by his "army", comprised of every inmate in Corinth Prison.
"Sorry I'm late guys, it took a while to convince the guards to open the gates." He told them.
"I'm not surprised!" Dillon told him. "Ziggy, only a couple of months ago most of these guys wanted to kill you! The rest wanted to hurt you!"
"If you can think of a better place to find a couple of thousand people ready to fight be my guest." Ziggy replied.
"This thing wasted a lot of my crew before we got to Corinth!" Spike Mike called out loudly. "If I'm going out, I'm taking as many of these things to Hell with me as I can!"
From the other side, the Corinth military and the militia formed out of every able-bodied person in Corinth willing to carry a blaster arrived on the scene. Scott smiled as Gem and Gemma joined them.
"I see you brought the cavalry!" Scott greeted them.
"She sure did!" Vasquez chimed in as she and Vasquez arrived.
"I thought you were the conduit." Dillon stated. "I thought you were destroyed!"
"Elwood was the conduit." Gemma informed him. "I figured it out. The reason the signal to keep the conduit active was so weak was because it didn't NEED to be strong. Humans are complicated. Robotic cats aren't!"
"That is one thing no machine will ever have, COURAGE!" Scott told him. "Every person here is scared, but they all keep fighting! Not because they're told to, but because they want to! The human spirit will never be destroyed!"
At that point, a figure appeared on a nearby car, standing in the light of a street lamp. D46 was standing there, a blaster in one hand, the sword from Marcus' memorial in Corinth Park in the other. He pulled off his helmet, revealing his face. There was a murmur from the assembled army as they realised what they had witnessed. Colonel Truman had been right all along about Marcus. Seeing the Hero of Corinth rise from the grave to stand in their defence one more time was the one banner that would unite the people. Scott turned to Venjix, recalling his helmet to face him directly.
"No one touches Venjix!" Scott ordered them. "He's mine!" With that, the army charged into battle, facing their destiny one way or another.
In the Command Centre, Kilobyte sent Crunch to the floor with his sabre. Both of them were heavily damaged after their brutal encounter, but Kilobyte now had the upper hand. He produced his blaster, aiming it at Crunch's head.
"You were always inferior to me!" He sneered as he tightened his grip on the blaster. "You and Shifter were always so blind to the Master's true nature. He was never going to let us survive the war! As soon as he won, he'd have recycled us!"
"I am loyal to Venjix!" Crunch shrieked. "I will never betray him like you did!"
"No, you're going to be destroyed instead." Kilobyte told him.
"I am!" Crunch replied with a smile. "But I will serve him to the end, and I will carry out his last order!"
Kilobyte watched as he reached to his right forearm, activating the switch. It was the last thing he'd ever see.
At the main battle site, everyone paused and looked up as the Central Command building exploded, shrapnel the size of cars raining in all directions. Everyone took cover as best they could from flying debris.
Ziggy ducked behind a dumpster as a chunk of concrete bigger than him slammed into the street where he was standing. He looked up in time to see Summer rushing for a family that was about to be hit by a girder. He remembered what he had heard in the future, that Summer was killed saving a family, and acted, teleporting over to them, before teleporting again. Summer skidded to a halt, being narrowly missed by the girder.
"Summer, are you alright?" Dillon asked her. She nodded.
"I am thanks to Ziggy!" She replied. Ziggy was grateful to have stopped one thing at least, but he couldn't help looking over to the Garage, finding himself paralysed with fear as he saw it buried in debris.
"Alex!" He screamed as his tears began. He felt the hopelessness of his situation, the failure to defend his son in his heart. Summer ran over to him.
"Ziggy, we have to keep fighting!" She yelled as she tried to hold it together. "If Venjix wins..."
"He'll never win!" Ziggy screamed, his voice cracking with the strain. He had lost everything he was fighting for. Now he only had one thing left...vengeance. Scott landed a little way from him as Venjix started to grow.
"It looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way!" Scott told them. "Come on guys! Let's go to the Zords!"
In the wreckage of the Garage, Dr. K came to, dusting herself down.
"Tenaya?" She asked. She didn't get an answer and immediately felt despair filling her heart. Had she failed as she was destined to? "Tenaya!"
"I'm here!" She replied, coughing as she got up, a sharp piece of metal penetrating her shoulder painfully. She was holding Alex in her arms softly. Dr. K ran over to her.
"Alex!" She screamed. "Alex!"
The baby started screaming as she yelled at him. Tenaya handed him to her, freeing her hands so she could tend to her own injuries.
"I saw the roof coming down and I covered him." Tenaya told her, grimacing in pain as she pulled the metal shard from her shoulder.
"Ziggy told you about what would happen?" Dr. K asked her. Tenaya just looked confused.
"Told me what?" Tenaya asked her.
"When we went to the future...Alex died in the collapse." Dr. K told her. "That's why I had the building reinforced."
"The way Ziggy's been so clingy, I just...paid him a little more attention." Tenaya replied moving back over to her. She took Alex in her one good arm while Dr. K looked around for something to bind her wound. "I kept close to him."
"I'll just..."
"I'll live, just make sure Ziggy knows." Tenaya interrupted her.
"But Tenaya..."
"It'll kill him not knowing!" She screamed at her friend. "Please! Just let him know!"
Dr. K rushed to the console, finding the communications channel still open.
"Scott, we're alright!" She screamed quickly, making sure he heard, lest the link go down. "Scott, we're all fine! Tenaya and Alex are fine!"
The Ultrazord was staggered by one of Venjix's attacks as they were distracted. Ziggy couldn't concentrate after hearing the news.
"He's alive?" He whimpered, trying hard to fight the knot in his chest. He heard a cry over the communications channel.
"We're both fine Ziggy!" Tenaya told him. "We're fine!"
"The tide's turning guys!" Flynn told them, looking down onto the street. "The people are winning!"
"Well it's time for us to do our part!" Scott announced. "Venjix your time is up!"
With that, he grabbed the controls, turning the power up. Dr. K got back on the communicator.
"Scott, you're exceeding the safe power load limit by an astonishing margin!" Dr. K screamed at him. "Scott!"
"We need to end this now!" He roared. "Guys, activate Wheel Blasters!"
Vanjix saw them beginning to power up their ultimate attack, and rushed them, hoping to stop them firing. It was too late though. Just as he grabbed the Ultrazord, they fired.
Down on the ground, all the Grinders suddenly stopped, their internal system fried by the feedback from the explosion. The citizens of Corinth all scattered, hiding wherever they could as twisted, burning and charred metal scattered in all directions.
The streets were deathly silent as the last of the debris stopped coming down. Marcus was the first to come out of hiding, making his way into the street.
"Is it over?" He heard a voice asking from behind him. He turned in time to see Vasquez coming into view.
"It looks like it." He sighed, his heart frozen by worry. He had fought so long, so hard but he couldn't feel any joy at the victory.
"Where's Gemma?" Hicks asked as he came over. "Is she...?"
Just then the dust started to clear, and the Rangers walked into view. Everyone cheered loudly as they saw them. Bloody and battered, the Rangers dragged themselves into the centre of the street to rapturous applause. In the throes of passion, the relief of reprieve from certain doom, complete strangers hugged, some even kissed.
"Gemma?" Hicks asked as he saw her. She hobbled over to him, blood leaking out of her from several superficial wounds, her strength all but gone, but she still managed a smile. He ran over to her, throwing his arms around her tightly. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be." She whispered as they parted. She pressed her lips to his, taking joy in the sensation. Gem looked on as she did this. Flynn grabbed his arm, causing him to look round.
"You can give him the brother talk later pal." He told the Gold Ranger. "I think she's earned it, don't you?"
"I guess so." He replied with a grin that was so wide it split his face.
Ziggy turned on his heel and ran from the scene as fast as he could, ignoring his pain. Dillon watched him go, impressed by him. He had come so far from the irritating little scam artist he had met in the wastes, attempting to car-jack him with an out-take muffler. He had impressed him many times. While to a casual observer, he was often a joke, the weakest of the team, in some ways he was the most amazing man he had ever met. He was the best of them. No matter what anyone said about him, or how desperate life became, he always found a way to come through.
"I can't believe he didn't stick around for the party." He remarked as he watched him disappear.
"I think he'll have his own little party." Summer stated as she put her arms around his waist. "Once he gets back to Tenaya and Alex, I doubt he'll be able to stop celebrating."
He turned to her, putting his hands around her, giving her that same warm, safe, familiar feeling she always had in his presence. She looked up at him as he did this.
"So now all this is over, what do you think about...you know...the future?" He asked her. Summer just raised an eyebrow.
"I was thinking that we might finally get around to being newlyweds." She answered. "Maybe we could have a honeymoon..."
"I was thinking a little more long-term." Dillon interrupted her. He gave her a little smile. "I was thinking of what exactly Mr. And Mrs. Landsdown would do now?"
"I like the sound of that." She replied with a huge grin. While the crowd started continued to celebrate and the Rangers split off to their own individual celebrations, Summer put her arm around his waist, Dillon put his around her shoulders as they walked away. "I had a few ideas about that actually."
"Do I get a say in these plans?" He asked her.
"What do you think?" She asked cheekily as they left the street, leaving the citizens to enjoy their moment while they enjoyed theirs.