Song for the Wicked, the Damned, and Those Lost in the Wind...

The ten heroes all stood in silence. They crowded over the body of Alice. She looked like a crimson angel, blood bloomed from her chest. The stain had dried some, but that didn't seem to affect the livelihood her corpse carried.

David knelt down to her body. He ran his fingers across her cold arm. She had died for him, and the thought of that left a giant hole in his chest. He felt hollow like an empty soda can rolling across the road.

"I know what you're thinking." David said in a raspy voice, "But forget it. Zoltar wasn't the reason she died, the Armored Riders didn't end her life. She loved me, and that's what killed her."

David held back the tears. Years ago his father had ruined a young girl's life, getting her pregnant and running off. For years he resented his father for that. Was he any better? David lifted himself up. "I'll bury her. It's better you guys run off. Take care of yourselves."

The heroes all nodded in agreement, each one slowly slipped into the shadows. Except for one.

"I said leave," David said to his half brother. "Leave."

"Sorry." Reese said, "I can't let you do this alone."

"Why?"David asked weakly.

"Because you've been alone your whole life, and I know you're about as tired of it as I am."

David grew silent, and when Reese retrieved them shovels he didn't object. While digging through the dirt Reese looked around them. Stone Canyon had been completely destroyed. The damages would be in the billions, would it even be worth it?

"Did she love you?" Reese asked David, "You know… more than a crush?"

David paused, carefully considering his answer. "Yeah, I think she did."

"Then she wouldn't want you sulking like this," Reese said grimly.

The two of them finished their work in silence, then departed their separate ways.

David felt his pulse hammering throughout his body. His entire frame shook, and his breath was rapid. Slowly and carefully he knocked on the door. For a few moments there was silence, then a slight rustle, then the door opened, and the authoritative man in a suit gazed at David with distant eyes. "Excuse me, do I know you?"

"Kinda…" David said, "You knew my mom, to say the least."

The man's face grew red. After several seconds he mumbled. "David?"

"Can I come in?" David asked.

David's father slowly opened the door and welcomed his lost son inside. The two of them sat together in the living room. It was surreal for David, he hadn't expected this moment to come.

"Reese told me where you lived." David clarified.

"You've met Reese?" There was baffled look on his father's face.

"It's a long story." David said, "Not why I came here."

"Why did you come here then?" His dad asked with a raised eyebrow.

David shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He had somehow hoped he'd never have to ask the question. "How do you feel about my mother?"

"It felt right at the time." David's father explained, "But she wasn't the right person for me, we're radically different individuals."

"You loved her, though," David said with some confidence, although his voice quivered with his next question. "Do you still?"

David's father looked to the ground. "Sometimes I think I do."

"Anyway." David said, regaining some composure, "That's not the only reason I'm here." David took a deep breath. "I'm going on a business trip, and I'm not sure what's going to happen there. So in case there's some freak accident I want to make something clear. " David stood up and moved over to his dad's location. Standing over his father David held out his hand, "I forgive you. I understand now that if things had played out the way I fantasized about as a kid we'd live in a worse world. Reese is a good kid, and I'm willing to sacrifice a pampered childhood so that he gets his."

David's father smiled, a reaction that made David beam. David's father stood up and wrapped his arms around his son. "You've grown into a man, I'm more than proud of you." He then produced a card and handed it to David. "That's my number. Call me if you need me, anytime."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." David knew it was time to leave. He moved to the door, watching the smile on his father's face and the starlight hidden in his eye.

***1

Len, Kit, and Maya all stood together. All of the Riders had faced what was probably the hardest day of their lives. A lot had happened, a lot had gone wrong, and none of them really knew what to do next.

Maya seemed to be the most shaken, she just stood still, her eyes locked on the ground. Kit watched her for awhile, almost as if trying to read her thoughts.

After a few moments, Kit did what he should have done all along. The Rider grabbed the poor girl and held her tight. She softly cried into his shoulder as they rocked back in forth.

Len watched silently. The three of them were bastards of fate. They didn't choose to be Riders, they didn't decide to have their humanity ripped from their open chests.

"I know what you're going to ask." Len said in a soft voice, "We aren't done."

The two didn't dare look at the man. They simply held each other tighter, as both of them wept.

"Kit still has to find out who he is." Len said, "And we still have to stop Dr.X."

"Can't this be over?" Kit managed to ask, "Haven't we given him enough?"

"No," Len said, then after a few seconds he added, "You're looking at this the wrong way."

"The WRONG WAY?" Kit bellowed, "Look at what happened to us! We're freaks now! I just want to go on with me life and pretend this never happened."

"And you think I like doing this?" Len asked dryly, the young man wanted to yell at Kit, but he knew, in the end, it wouldn't do much. "Look kid, he isn't going to stop. Men like him never stop. That's why people like us have to stop him. That's our responsibility now. I know it isn't fair, but sometimes you just have to play with the cards you're dealt."

There was a long period of silence. Finally, Len turned his back to Kit and Maya. "One more round…after then we can all go home." Len started to walk away.

For the first ten feet, Kit simply watched him. Then the young boy sighed and started to follow.

Maya looked recently to the destroyed city behind her. She quickly caught up with Kit and wrapped her arms around his arm. The three Riders walked away from Stone Canyon. The first battle was finally over, but the war had just begun.

***1

Rocky took one last look at his Dojo. Much like the rest of the city, his Dojo was entirely trashed. The sight of his livelihood laying in complete disarray left Rocky with conflicting feelings. On one end Zoltar was finally finished, but on the other end, it cost him everything.

"What now?" Vega asked.

Rocky quickly whipped around, he hadn't noticed her arrive. She stood next to Luke, their hands were interlocked. The site left Rocky with a smile on his face. "I'm not sure." He admitted, "Maybe I'll relocate to Angel Grove."

"I think that might be cool." Luke agreed;

Vega shrugged, "It doesn't really matter to me, I'm stuck with you anyway."

Rocky watched into his ruined Dojo. The place seemed strangely ghost-like,and he felt like a dream walker. He sifted through the rubble, looking for anything he could salvage. A small picture lay among the plaster. Rocky shook off the glass and lifted the picture into the half-light, it was of him and the rest of Zordon's Rangers. The sight stirred a bit of nostalgia in his chest.

"Maybe I should retire," Rocky said to himself.

"You can." Luke said in a teasing way, "but I'm still young."

"Yeah." Vega agreed. "A Ranger's job is never done."

"You can think that." Rocky said, "But eventually you'll get tired of fighting monsters." Rocky knew what he said was true, but he also knew something else. It was because of youth like them he could afford to take a break. The enthusiasm of the young paved the road of retirement for the old. There was something else buried deep inside his chest, a dark emotion that he tried his hardest to ignore. No matter how much he wanted to stop he knew it wasn't time yet.

***1

Cameron was casually strolling through the rubble. His apartment had been trashed, so he'd probably have to find somewhere new to live. The idea bugged him, but considering the fact he almost died at least a handful of times he really didn't have much to complain about.

Using his normal, rather eerie stealth, Billy Cranston appeared behind Cameron. "Hey," Billy said dryly.

Cameron jumped back and made eye contact with the strange man. "Hey…"

Billy didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk. He seemed focused like he had a job to do. "I've got something for you." Billy lifted his arm up, revealing a metal suitcase.

"What's that?" Cameron inquired.

"My mentor Zordon had a habit of creating backup plans. In fact, I'm pretty sure every move he made was some rendition of one his million backup plans." Billy offered the suitcase to Cameron. "This is one of my backup plans."

Cameron very diligently took the suitcase, it felt pretty hefty in his grip. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"There's a small suburb of Mimi called Reefside. I need you to take this there."

"You want me to go to Florida?" Cameron asked.

"I have a lakefront cottage already rented out to you," Billy explained. "I just need you to take this and wait."

"Wait for what?" Cameron asked. The entire situation was becoming incredibly overwhelming.

"You'll know," Billy said with a knowing grin. "I left you a decent car as well, I figured you'd like that better than the motorcycle you've been using." Billy held out his hand. Cameron took it and the former Ranger looked right into Cameron's eyes. "May the power protect you." Without another word Billy swiftly left, leaving Cameron alone in the destroyed city.

***1

Devon felt himself slipping in and out of reality. He'd wasted every ounce of his energy in a vain attempt to destroy the Rangers, and now he didn't have enough calories left. He fell to the ground, he gave up and allowed the pathetic feeling in his chest to overtake him. Maybe he could just die, at least that would be better than being virtually reduced to a slug.

A candy bar fell in front of Devon's face. He dashed as quickly as he could. Grabbing it and tearing open the wrapper. As he finished showing the sweet chocolate into his mouth he looked up to see it's source. A man in a black suit stood calmly over Devon. The Devon didn't recognize the man, but he carried the particular aura that all men of his profession carried.

"What do you want?" Devon asked the man.

"You have shown yourself to be a powerful individual," The man said in a very melancholy voice. "And my employers are looking for someone of your description."

"What do your employers want from me?" Devon spat. He'd been used by more than his fair share of shady politicians.

"You possess a very potent energy, and the people I represent would like to capitalize on that."

"What's in it for me?" Devon asked.

"Unimaginable power." The man said dryly.

Devon smiled, "Count me in then."

***1

Reese and Jonathan sat together under the setting sun. Jonathan was dressed in the rags of his leather jacket, and Reese wasn't in any better shape. Jonathan sighed as he took a drag of his cigarette, "Maybe I should quit these."

"Yeah?" Reese inquired, "Why's that?"

"I'll live a little longer," Jonathan said with a grin.

"Maybe," Reese agreed, "If you quit fighting monsters." The crushed cars, the toppled buildings. The Power Rangers really did a number on the city.

"So what now?" Jonathan asked.

Reese shrugged, "We go home."

"Home?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, my house is still there. It's far enough away from all the action. You can come too. We can live together, like an actual couple."

Jonathan looked like he just won the lottery. "And your parents are cool with that?"

"Sure." Reese said simply, "And If they aren't then we can find somewhere else to live."

"Then why are we sitting around like a bunch of bums?" Jonathan asked as he picked himself up. The two Rangers headed home. The crimson light reflected on Jonathan's face. They may not have been heading towards the sunset, but Reese felt like they did. The fight was finally over, and it was time to start new.

***1

Sankari stood over the city of Stone Canyon, the former hero felt something stirring in the wind. Somewhere, not too terribly far off, something terrible was about to happen. He had rumors of it before arriving on Earth, but he didn't think they were true.

The universe was going to end. The idea seemed silly, the universe had been around, well for a really long time, and the concept of it simply ceasing to exist was more than baffling.

Yet as the warrior stood among to rubble he could feel something sinister. The hairs on the back of his neck were raised, and he could taste something bitter in his throat. An infection had been born, and it might very well swell so big that it infects the whole planet, but then what?

For the first time in a while Sankari became afraid that Zoltar wasn't the real enemy, he was simply the catalyst to something far greater.

Sankari turned to see a man dressed in a pale colored trench coat, the man seemed to exist on an entirely different plane of existence, for he carried such a distance sense of awareness.

With a blink, the man was gone, but Sankari could swear he heard the echo of Zoltar's laugh.

***1

Dr.X knew that things had gone south. They were probably unfixable by now, his army was destroyed and Zoltar was gone as well. He really didn't know what to do next, he supposed all he could do is sit around and wait for the government to catch him. He was washed up and without allies, what else could he really do?

He looked at one of his remaining monitors, it displayed the destroyed city. The lone scientist smiled a tiny bit, he supposed if this was his last run he would go out in style.

It still irked him that Zoltar had been destroyed so easily. He hadn't thought the Red Ranger was much of anything, but then he suddenly changed. He had somehow become something more. It was an annoying curiosity.

"Sad, isn't it?" A voice asked from behind Dr.X. The young man panicked, he didn't know how anyone had managed to breach his fortress. It must be one of the Ninjetti Rangers, they were there to finish the job.

When Dr.X turned around he instead met a calm man dressed in a silver suit. The man simply smiled at Dr.X "Who are you exactly?" Dr.X asked.

"That's irrelevant at this moment," The man said while grinning. "But do have something to discuss."

"What's that?" Dr.X asked. He was interested in this man, he didn't seem threatening, yet Dr.X could see an unexplainable emotion buried in his eyes.

"You have a power you have only just begun to realize." The man clad in silver said, "You have the ability to craft the tool that will help unlock the true potential of our universe."

Dr.X could tell that the man was hiding something, but it really didn't matter to him, the proposition was far too tempting.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" Dr.X asked.

The man simply smiled, and Dr.X was suddenly under the impression that this man had somehow anticipated that question. "Close your eyes and breath." It took Dr.X a few moments to realize the man was being serious. Once he followed the command the man continued. "You can feel it, can't you?" The man asked in a strange voice, "The power you've managed to unlock. The world is changing, a great shift has begun to develop. We are at a very ripe time in human history, and it's time for those truly worthy to take up the mantle."

Dr.X felt slightly unnerved because his closed eyes didn't envelop him in total darkness, quite the opposite actually. Once the young scientist closed his eyes a jagged red line formed in his vision. At first, he thought it was something akin to lightning.

But then it hit him.

That thing was a crack…

Something was about to break.

A/N: I wanted to thank all of you for taking this trip with me, it's been a blast. Don't worry, though, my friends, there is more to come. We will continue the strange tale of the Ninjetti Rangers and friends, but first, we're going to take a trip to Reefside, where three teens are about to be thrown into a strange world of terrifying monsters.