Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!
WARNING! More character death is in this chapter. Also, I think it's pretty gruesome in some parts, but I will try to keep that to a minimum, again.
And this is another super long chapter...so please bear with me. But, I hope you all enjoy it!
Kim used her Power Bow to shoot at a tiyanak that was standing over Ethan. She ran over to him and helped him up.
"Thanks, Kim."
"No problem, Ethan." She and Ethan ducked behind a large piece of rock and waited until they saw an array of arrows fly over their head. "I guess they haven't heard of new weapons, have they?"
"Good thing for us," said Ethan. He peeked over the top of the rock. "I think we could come up now." He and Kim looked at each other and held their respective weapons. They jumped up, holding their weapons in front of them. Ethan ran in Conner's direction to help him fight off a group of ekeks.
Kim yelled out in surprise as a couple of tiyanaks jumped in front of her. She used her Blade Blaster to cut through the arms of one of the tiyanaks. It fell to the ground, crying out as blood spurted out of its arms. Kim started to fight the other tiyanak. She threw her arms up and blocked her head from the attack. Adam ran to her side and used his Power Axe to take the tiyanak down. The two of them jumped back when the tiyanak's arms flailed helplessly at their feet.
A look of disgust crossed over Adam's face underneath his helmet.
He put his hand on Kim's shoulder. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before running off to rejoin the fight. Adam ran through a long line of tiyanaks and ekeks, using his Power Axe against all of them.
Kim ran to Aisha's side, seeing her struggle against a group of aswangs. "I'm here, 'Sha." She used her Blade Blaster as she ran, killing the aswang closest to her friend.
"Thanks Kim!" Aisha slapped hands with Kim before the two of them continued to fight the aswangs. She jumped and kicked an aswang. Aisha looked around quickly and saw the crowds of aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks slowly thin out. "I think we're actually getting somewhere!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, 'Sha!" Adam called out. He continued fighting the tiyanaks that were closest to him, kicking and flipping around.
"Of course not, Adam!" Aisha punched an aswang in the gut and ducked as it swung its arm across Aisha. She yelped as she felt an aswang kick her back. "Definitely not getting ahead of myself," she said to herself. "Watch it, Kim!"
Kim did a couple of backflips to get away from an ekek. She twirled around and used her Blade Blaster to kill an ekek that she saw bent over a body. Kim groaned and felt nauseated at the sight. She felt even more sick when the ekek dropped down with a strip of flesh from its mouth. Kim turned from the sight and recomposed herself. She heard herself yell out as she saw a tiyanak strike Conner as he fought a couple of other aswangs. He dropped his hands to his abdomen and looked at them in surprise as he saw them covered in blood.
Jason felt himself growing more out of breath with each blow. "It has seriously been a long time," he thought. He looked around and thought the crowd of tiyanaks, aswangs, and ekeks were growing by the minute. He passed by Rocky, who seemed to be holding his own against a group of aswangs. "Do they multiply by the second?" he asked.
"I don't know," said Rocky, quickly as he punched an aswang. He kicked behind him.
"It--" Tommy kicked a tiyanak and did a backflip. "--looks--" He punched an aswang. "--that way!" He flipped again and dropped down to kick again. He flipped over and saw Michael kick a tiyanak down. "Seriously, guys, who is this kid?"
"Kinda looks like he's keeping up more than we are," Rocky said, huffing.
"Speak for yourself." Jason kicked another aswang and used his hands to block an attack from a tiyanak. "I'm fine."
"Yeah, whatever--" Rocky stiffened himself to brace for the attack and used his hands to block the brunt of it. "Mr. 'it's been a long time.' " He ducked and pulled out his Blade Blaster as he jumped through the air, shooting at the tiyanaks.
"Well--" Jason kicked. "--it has--" He punched a tiyanak. "--been a long--" He punched the tiyanak again. "time." He turned around and punched another tiyanak. "At least I--" Jason ducked to avoid a blow. "--went to the--" He kicked another tiyanak. "--moon mission."
Tommy laughed as he fought an aswang.
"Shut up," came Rocky's curt reply.
Andros jumped on his Galaxy Glider and started to blast aswangs and tiyanaks from the air. A group of flying aswangs headed towards him, screeching and holding their arms outstretched. They spat in his direction and Andros blocked it. He turned around on his Galaxy Glider, facing the aswangs head first. He took out his Astro Blaster and used it to kill the group of aswangs that were flying across from him. They immediately fell about fifty feet to the ground. Andros looked down and flew down to rejoin his teammates.
He stood, shoulder to shoulder, with TJ, Ashley, and Cassie, facing the rest of the enemy forces.
Wes and Eric were standing, back to back, surrounded by a massive group of tiyanaks. They fought in sync with each other, knowing the other's movements from knowing each other for so long. Wes ducked to avoid a punch from a tiyanak.
"Watch out for their arms, you guys!" Lucas called. "They're deadly!"
Wes looked again at the tiyanak's arm and saw instead of fingers, it had sharp spikes protruding from its hands. He groaned in disgust as he jumped back and used his Chrono Saber to protect himself from the tiyanak's arms. Its arms fell to the ground and Wes drove his Saber through the tiyanak, making its body fall to the ground. He looked around and saw Taylor flying through the air in her yellow ranger suit.
She was holding her Crystal Saber in one hand and her Golden Eagle Sword in the other hand, flying alongside aswangs. She swung them around her sides, killing a group of them in the process. She doubled back and flew through another group of tiyanaks, using her saber and her sword against them.
Karone yelled out in pain as she felt an arm graze against her own. She held it and used her Transdagger against the aswang that struck her. She jumped over the aswang and flipped backward to kick the aswang down. She saw a large boulder get thrown against the aswang and a tiyanak and looked behind her to see Mack wiping off his hands. They nodded to each other and ran in opposite directions to fight some more.
Mack jumped and lifted another boulder, throwing it in the direction of a group of tiyanaks that seemed to be feeding on a couple of dead bodies. Mack shook his head as he ran after the group, using his Drive Lance to strike the rest that were standing, down. He looked around him and closed his eyes and stood for a moment as he saw three bodies lying next to each other, covered in blood and spit. He opened his eyes and felt sick, seeing the sight of the open torsos of the body. He noticed that one of the bodies was even missing an arm and looked away. Mack looked up, not really knowing what to do, and ran away, trying to take down as many tiyanaks as he could.
He and Zack crossed weapons as the two of them tried to kill the same tiyanak at the same time. Zack looked at Mack and nodded as he continued to run off. He saw Tori, using a manipulated stream of water to take down a group of ekeks. She didn't see a tiyanak run behind her and use its arm to stab her in the back.
People screamed as a building collapsed on the Tokyo street. Billy ran through the hordes of people of all different colors, trying to get to the other rangers. Billy nearly tripped, but looked down and saw a young girl wrapped around his leg. He tried to pull the girl up, but couldn't since she was wrapped around his leg so tightly.
"Hey there," he said softly, trying to pry the girl from his leg. He slipped his hands underneath her arms and struggled to pull. He closed his eyes to maintain his balance through the running crowd. Billy used his hand to bring her face up and looked at the tears streaming down her face. "Are you lost? Where are your parents?"
The little girl screamed and held onto Billy's leg even tighter. Billy winced, feeling the circulation in his leg slowly disappear. He wiggled his toes beneath his boot, to regain the feeling in his leg.
"Come on, you have nothing to be afraid of." Billy gently grabbed her arms and pried them away from his leg. He hooked his arms underneath hers and lifted her up, around his waist. The girl immediately buried her face into Billy's shoulder. Billy put a hand on her back, feeling her long, soft, jet-black hair. "Let's find your parents, okay."
Billy immediately started to frantically look around, trying to spot a mother or father who was calling for their child. Unfortunately, everywhere he looked, he saw somebody crying out for another person. He couldn't understand what they were saying, though, since mostly everyone was yelling in Japanese.
He ran to the closest person, an older woman, probably in her early 40s, and gestured to the child he was holding. "Is she yours?"
The woman looked at him in surprise and shook her head frantically. She thrust a picture of a teenage boy in his face and said something.
"I'm sorry...I don't know..." Billy stammered, shaking his head. The woman's eyes filled with tears and she turned away from Billy, looking around frantically and calling out her her own son. He felt the little girl bury her face in his shoulders and could feel the vibrations from her sobbing.
"It's okay..." he said, trying his best to soothe the girl. He ran to the next woman and pointed to the girl in his arms. "Is..." The woman screamed in his face and abruptly fell to Billy's feet. Billy followed the lady's trajectory and saw an arm protruding from the woman's back. He looked up and used one of his arms to shield the girl. He raised his Blade Blaster with his other hand used it to take down the tiyanak before him. Billy felt the girl scream in his arms.
He looked around and saw an army of tiyanaks and ekeks descending down upon the city. He again covered the girl's head as another building above him collapsed. He looked around some more and saw even more people screaming and running away. Billy searched through the dust and debris for the familiar suits of yellow, pink, or blue, but couldn't find any. He exhaled and ran part way down the street, on the lookout for any of the other rangers or even anybody who seemed to be looking for a child.
In a flash of light, everything seemed to stand still. It was almost as if time had frozen.
Kim ran to Conner and caught him before she hit the hard surface of the ground. Adam, Aisha, and Ethan ran to their side.
Trini ran to Jason's side as he fell. Tommy and Rocky stood behind them, standing guard over them. Michael followed them shyly.
Ashley surveyed the ground in front of her. She saw many fallen bodies, enemy and those she protected, all lying on the ground. She looked around and saw Andros, TJ, and Cassie doing the same. The four of them stood next to each other, ready to face the next wave of attacks.
Lucas jumped over a tiyanak and manuevered himself to stand with Wes, Eric, and Taylor.
Tori was on the ground, bent over, with one hand holding her right arm close to her chest. Mack was at her side, shielding her from any other attacks. Zack and Karone saw Tori on the ground and immediately rushed to her side.
Sky jumped in front of Sky and Z, both of whom were unaware that the building they were standing beside was getting ready to collapse. They turned around just as Sky put up a forcefield between the three of them and the building. "Hey!" Syd yelled, seeing Billy with a child in his arms. "Over here!" Billy saw them and ran to their side, with Sky briefly dropping the forcefield and putting it back up a split second later.
A moment later and all of the tiyanaks, ekeks, and aswangs disappeared. The rangers looked at each other in surprise, wondering exactly what was going on. Nobody said a word as each of them stood closer to each other, looking around, expecting something to pop up out of nowhere.
Another moment passed and nothing happened.
Adam knelt next to Kim, shifting some of Conner's weight onto him. Trini used both of her hands to pull Jason to his feet. Ashley, Andros, TJ, and Cassie continued to look around them. They, being the most experienced with Rita's mother, knew that something was still on the way. Lucas, Wes, Eric, and Taylor seemed to accept the disappearance of the enemy.
Tori was lying still on the ground. Zack could hear her heavy breathing through her helmet and he and Karone struggled with the clasp on her helmet so that she could breathe easier. Mack applied pressure to the wound on her back, trying to control the bleeding.
Billy looked around frantically, still trying to find the little girl's mother.
"Who's this?" Z asked, gently patting the little girl's back.
"I don't know," answered Billy. He looked grimly at Z thorough his helmet. "I think she got separated from her parents during the attack and now...well, I don't know where they are."
"RANGERS..." All of the rangers, including Michael, jumped back at the sudden voice. They heard a strong, sickly sweet, girly sounding voice around them. The rangers looked around, again wondering where the voice was coming from. "I know you have been fighting." Her voice sounded more dangerous as it grew louder with excitement. "However, that is just a taster. Your suffering will be twice as mine! Be prepared, rangers. I will be coming for you." The rangers looked at each other. "Each and every one of you."
Michael looked at the yellow, white, and the two red rangers he was standing with. Trini saw in his eyes, fear that wasn't there before. When Trini first saw him, a few short hours ago, she noticed a look of cockiness and determination in his eyes. Now, fear replaced that look. He didn't even seem to retain his child-like innocence that he had, seeing so much death in a few short hours. Trini felt for the kid. She knew that he was among his people, people from his hometown. And while Trini was from Angel Grove, it wasn't her town anymore. She didn't know anybody. But she knew that Michael at least recognized some of the people who were in the park.
"Michael..." started Trini, softly. "Hurry and find your parents. Leave town now. It's the safest thing for you."
Michael stared at the rangers, at a loss for words. One of the red rangers stepped forward.
"Yeah, go," Rocky said. "Save yourself and try to find your parents and your brother. They're not after you. They're after us."
"You've got a lot of nerve, kid," said Jason. He held out his fist. Michael looked at it in surprise and bumped his fist against Jason's. "You're very brave."
"Not as brave as you guys..." he breathed. "I don't.."
"The best thing to do is to save yourself," Tommy cut in. "Listen to the others. Find your parents and get out of town as soon as possible."
"But what's to say that once they finish destroying Angel Grove, they won't go down to LA? Or even to the rest of the world. These things are pretty powerful." Michael gestured down to a few deep gashes along his arm. "There's no way we could defeat them without the Power Rangers."
Tommy nodded. He put his hand on Michael's back and gently pushed him in a direction. "Just go ahead and go. Leave it to us."
"But..."
The four rangers stood next to each other and turned to leave.
Tommy looked back at the sight of Michael standing there. He gave him a slight nod. "And Michael? Thank you. You really did help us a lot out there."
In a flash of light the four rangers disappeared.
Elsewhere around the world, all of the Power Rangers disappeared, leaving behind a trail of devastation that merits no fault of their own. As they left, the people of the various places they had been fighting began to peek out from their hiding places. They jumped out from inside deep trenches and behind large pieces of debris. Some of them began to run around, looking for their own loved ones, their friends, family, children, brothers and sisters. Some were rejoiced as they reunited with their loved ones and everyone grieved as they found another one of their own dead.
Zack was holding onto Tori as they were the first to appear in the main room of their safe haven.
"Oh my god!" Kira exclaimed as she jumped up. She ran over to Tori's side and tried to hold her other hand. She saw Tori's eyes swimming with tears. Tori took her hand and held it with all of her might. Kira winced a bit at the pain, but forced herself to look into Tori's eyes instead of looking at the growing pool of blood surrounding her. "What happened?" she asked frantically, not looking at Zack. She tried to move Tori's long, blonde hair out of the way. "Hayley!" she yelled. "Hayley, I need you here!"
Hayley and Amy ran out of the medical room. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. She immediately ran to the other side of Tori. She looked up at Zack. "What happened?"
"I don't..it was so...I don't..and then.." Zack felt himself breathing heavy. He sat down and put his head between his hands, trying to alleviate the pounding headache that seemed to grow with every second.
"Where are the others?" Amy asked. She had a worried look in her eyes. Trent stood up and sat down next to Zack. He patted him on the shoulder a couple of times.
In another flash of light, Mack and Karone appeared. The two of them immediately dropped to Kira and Hayley's side, while Tommy, Trini, Rocky, and Jason appeared.
Amy immediately threw herself in Trini's arms, giving the yellow ranger a tight hug. "How are you guys? Where's everyone else? What's happened down there?"
Tommy looked around. "We were attacked...where's everyone else?" He looked down at Tori and his breath stopped in his throat.
Trent looked up at his former teacher. "There were attacks in other places too. TJ, Zack, Kim, Adam, Aisha, and Billy went to go help the others after leaving Angel Grove." He exhaled and looked at Jason. "They haven't come back yet."
"We've got to move her," Hayley said.
The sound of heavy footsteps and heavy breathing attracted their attention. They turned around and saw Bridge struggling at the doorway of the medical room.
"No," Hayley said sternly, walking towards Bridge. "Get back in bed."
"I--cou--could--" Bridge grabbed his chest as he struggled for air. "I--cou--hel--help."
"No." Hayley grabbed him around the shoulders and gently pushed him towards his bed.
Jason and Rocky looked at each other and knelt around Kira to try to pick Tori up. Jason hooked his arms around Tori's shoulders while Rocky knelt at her feet. Mack gently took hold of Tori's waist and the three guys counted to three to lift her at the same time. They slowly walked over to medical room with Kira following closely.
Tommy watched them for a moment before sitting down on the couch with Zack and Trent. The three of them sat in silence for a bit as more rangers appeared before them.
Tommy and Trent jumped up as Sky, Z, Syd and Billy, holding a little girl appeared before them.
"Who's that?" Trent asked, pointing to the child in Billy's arms. She didn't budge from her position, holding her face steady in the nook of Billy's neck. She was shaking as she sobbed in his arms.
Billy shrugged as much as he could. He again tried to pry the girl from his grasp, but she again did not move. Z walked over and tried to help him. She succeeded, but the child immediately buried her face in Z's neck. She and Billy exchanged a look and she sat down, holding the child in her arms. Billy stretched out his arm, which was sore from holding the little girl for a long time.
"How are you guys?" Tommy asked, giving Billy a brief hug.
Billy glanced at Sky, Syd, and Z and answered. "I think we're fine. It's just..." He looked at Tommy. "We were in Tokyo and the buildings started to collapse. A bunch of people got freaked out and started to run away and this little girl was left by her parents. I couldn't find them and then...they all disappeared. We've got to bring her back."
Sky nodded. "I agree. As soon as possible."
"But what if her parents died?" Z protested from her seat. "We can't bring her back! She'll be devastated. She's already--"
"What else are we going to do, Z?" Sky shot back. "We can't keep her. She has a family in Tokyo. And besides, what if her parents are alive?"
Syd bit her lip and looked at Billy and shrugged. She saw the mess of blood on the floor and walked to the medical room. She saw the three guys gently setting somebody down on a bed that was furthest from the exit. Hayley was insisting Bridge go back into bed. She was pulling the covers over him as Bridge kept throwing them off.
Hayley looked at Syd and gestured to Bridge.
"I'll take care of it," she said, pulling up a seat next to Bridge's bed.
Before heading to Tori's bed, Hayley glanced out the medical room into the main area. She saw Ashley, Andros, TJ, and Cassie appear before her eyes.
Andros looked meaningful at Tommy and the two of them walked out to sit in the smaller room to talk.
"Any idea where Kim, Aisha, or Adam are?" Trini asked, looking around. She looked at Amy.
"We haven't heard from them, yet," answered Amy. "Or any of the others..."
Lucas, Wes, Eric, and Taylor appeared in the main room. The four of them looked around frantically.
"Are you guys okay?" Trini asked.
Lucas nodded, sitting down. Eric gestured towards a big gash on Taylor's arm and led her into the medical room. Wes looked around and saw Andros and Tommy speaking to one another in the other room. He and Billy walked over to join them.
"Sometimes it just doesn't feel like we're getting anywhere," Lucas said, sighing out loud.
Amy looked around, taking in the scene. Tori's blood still covered the floor. She wasn't sure what to say, having never been a part of any ranger battles. Amy stood up, worried about her boyfriend, Kim, Aisha, Conner, and Ethan. She stood at the doorway to the medical room, unsure whether or not she should walk in or stay in the main room with mostly with people that she had just met.
"Amy?" Hayley saw Amy in the doorway. "Can you help me in here?" She gestured to Zhane across the room from standing over Tori. "Could you check on Zhane?"
Amy nodded, walking in the room and up to Zhane's bed. She stood over him and looked into his eyes, unsure of what to say, if she should say anything. Jason saw Amy come into the room and walked over to help him.
"You doing okay?" Jason was asking Zhane, but looking at Amy.
Zhane struggled to answer, but Jason put a hand on his shoulder, signaling to stop. He looked at Amy, who shrugged.
"I'm not really sure...I don't really know how to feel right now."
Zhane's eyes rolled up to look at Amy. She pursed her lips and looked at him, giving a small smile. Zhane looked like he was trying to say something, but just settled in rolling up the sides of his mouth in an effort to smile.
Jason gave Amy a smile. "It's hard. I know it is. Even I admit, I thought it was gonna be another one of those fights that we always have. None of them are ever easy, but...fighting them today, I didn't think it was gonna be this hard. These things, these monster things that we have to fight...they've never been as powerful or as strong as they are. You kick them and they come back ten times stronger. It's hard, Amy. I know it's hard. It's hard for us and I can't imagine how hard it must be for you." He put his arms around Amy and gave her a hug. "You're tough, Amy. Tougher than we've ever given you credit for, I think. Thank you."
Amy smiled at him, at a loss for words. She pulled away from Jason's arms and looked over Zhane.
"I think Hayley said that she wanted me to check on Zhane."
"Okay." Jason gestured to the door. "I'll go and see if the others are back yet."
Amy nodded. "Let me know if Adam..."
"Of course," Jason said, stopping at the door to look back at Amy. He walked out of the medical room, over to Trini. He put his arm around Trini and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He looked around. "Guess the others aren't back yet, are they?"
Trini shook her head. Jason moved over to sit between Zack and Billy. He put his arm around Zack's shoulders. "You okay?" When Zack didn't answer, Jason patted his back. "It's not your fault, you know. Tori. There's nothing that could've been done."
"You weren't there." Zack looked at Jason as he spoke for the first time in a long time. "I could've done something.. Warned her. Blocked it. Something. Anything."
Jason was about to say something else, when another flash of light appeared before them.
"Help!" Adam yelled, dropping to floor, holding the bulk of Conner's weight. Billy, Zack, Trini, Jason, Trent, and Lucas jumped up. Trent immediately ran to Conner's side, next to Kim. Ethan and Aisha appeared next to them.
Amy, Hayley, Rocky, and Kira ran out of the medical room. Kira yelped as she ran to the crowd surrounding Conner. She tried to push her way through next to Adam, whose hands were covering the wound on Conner's abdomen.
"Is he awake?" Hayley asked.
"I'm not sure," Adam answered. He looked at Conner's eyes, which were still very much full of life, though they were also filled with extreme pain. "Yeah, he is."
"Let's move him inside. Be careful with how you move him. Try not to shift him. Even by a little bit."
Adam nodded. He kept a hand on Conner's wound as he used another hand to support the weight of his head. Trent moved around, so he could lift Conner around his shoulders and Jason held his legs. They listened to his breath grow more shallow.
"Hurry," Adam said. He tried to look around as he held onto Conner. "Where is everybody?" Amy walked over to his side and put her hand on his back. She gave him a small smile as the group manuevered themselves into the medical room. She looked back and walked over to her friends.
Kim was still kneeling on the floor, a portion of her body covered in blood. Aisha bent down to lift her up as Ethan and Kira followed the others into the medical room.
"You okay, Kim?" Amy asked. She looked over Kim and Aisha. The two of them sported a vast array of cuts and bruises. "You guys should really go and get yourselves looked at. At least get something for your cuts and get some ice on those bruises."
"I just want to sit down," Aisha said, taking a seat on the couch.
Amy gave Kim a hug and Trini walked over to join them. She sat down next to Aisha and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm glad you guys are here," she said softly.
Adam walked back out of the medical room, with the front of his shirt and his sleeve soaked in blood. Amy jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. Adam gave her a kiss and a small smile before disengaging himself from her arms. He nodded to Kim, Trini, and Aisha before heading out of the room to join Tommy, Andros, and Wes. Jason followed him a few minutes after.
Amy, Aisha, Kim, and Trini sat in silence for a few minutes. They were interrupted by an argument that increasingly grew louder and louder.
"She needs to go back, Z," Sky was saying.
"Let's at least wait a day or two," Z shot back.
"No, we've got to bring her back as soon as possible. Who knows where are parents are going to be in a day or two?"
Z opened her mouth to speak, but didn't even get a chance to before being interrupted by Billy.
"Sky's right. She has to go home now."
"But what if she's hurt or something?"
Billy looked at the child sitting in Z's arms. He thought for a bit. "I don't think she's hurt. Maybe really scared."
"And what if her parents aren't a--"
"What if they are?" Sky protested.
Z closed her eyes and gave the little girl a hug. "Billy, I want to come with you."
"Okay. That's fine." Billy pointed to the room where Jason and the others were gathered. "I'll just let them know. I don't think it'll be a problem." He walked out and returned a couple of minutes later. He looked at Z. "Let's go." She stood up next to him and in a flash of light, Billy, Z and the little girl disappeared.
Hayley stuck her head out of the medical room and gestured to Kim and Aisha. "Come on, you guys, you need to get cleaned up, too."
Reluctantly, Kim, Aisha, Trini, and Amy stood up from their seats and took lazy steps in following Hayley into the crowded medical room. Hayley sat Kim, Aisha, and Trini in a chair and pulled out an enormous first-aid kit. Amy handed Trini an ice pack and she covered a growing bruise on the side of her face with it. The two of them patched their friends up in silence, listening to the sounds coming from the other sides of the room.
Syd was talking quietly to Bridge, who was still unsuccessful in replying. Sky joined Syd and the two of them began reminiscing about some of their SPD memories with Bridge.
Karone, Cassie, and Ashley were sitting beside Zhane's bed, talking quietly to each other.
Kira was openly crying at Conner's bedside, with Trent and Ethan sitting beside her, with their heads bent down in a silent prayer.
Mack was sitting at Tori's bed. She seemed to still have some bit of consciousness. Her eyes were open and everyone heard her heavy breathing.
Rocky walked over to his wife and knelt down before her. He took her hands into his own and kissed them. He looked at Kim and nodded as he patted her on the knee.
She stood up when Hayley finished applying the last bit of tape to her face. She looked at the bed furthest from her. "Who's that?" she asked quietly.
"Tori," answered Hayley in a whisper.
"How's she doing? And Conner?"
Hayley shook her head slightly. "Not really good."
Kim exhaled and headed over to Tori's bed, with Hayley following. On her way there, she stopped by Conner's bed and gave a brief hug to Kira. She sat down at Tori's bed, across from Mack and looked down into Tori's ocean-blue eyes.
"You're a fighter, from what I hear," Kim said softly. She smiled at her. "Adam and Kira told me."
Tori's eyes began to water. She opened her mouth to speak. "If..." Tori's voice came out weak and a violent surge of coughs overcame her. "If...i...if...I...te...tell..."
Kim shook her head. "You're going to get through this, Tori." She looked around the room. "All of us will." Tori nodded her head as best she could before she slowly drifted off to sleep. Mack and Kim exchanged a glance over Tori's sleeping body.
"It's a little surreal, you know?" said Mack. "I mean...no matter how many times...this," Mack gestured to Tori, Conner, Bridge, and Zhane. "Has never happened. We always seemed to be fine afterwards." He thought for a bit. "Except for when we lost our powers...but that turned out for the best."
Kim smiled. "Mack, right?" He nodded. "The pink on your team...Rose? She's one of the...of the prisoners, right?" Kim sighed. "I'm sorry."
Mack shook his head. "It's not your fault. And I'm sorry, too. I know your friends are also..."
Kim nodded. "You know...it's so weird. I look at you and Tori, even Kira and the others and I just think of how young you guys seem. Then I always have to remember that I was actually younger than you guys are when I first started."
He smiled. "I must say...it was pretty weird when the others came to help us. but being here with you and Jason, and Tommy and everybody else, it's just...it's really out of this world. Still pretty unbelievable that you guys are the first ones that ever had the power and here I am, one of the members of the last team."
"Thanks, Mack."
Kim's attention turned away from Mack when she heard Tommy's voice behind her.
"Conner?" Tommy approached the bed slowly. He stood next to Trent. "Hayley?" He looked around frantically. "How is he?"
Kim stood and walked over to Tommy. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. She felt a couple of drops of hot tears fall onto her shoulder. She knew how close Tommy was to his former students and couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. He put a hand on Conner's shoulder gently, hugging Kim close to him with his other arm.
"Well...I can't say, Tommy," Hayley said, crossing her arms in front of her. She moved next to a machine that was hooked up to Conner and pressed a few buttons. "His vitals are stable, but...he's lost a lot of blood."
Tommy glanced at the bed next to Conner's. "What about Tori?"
Hayley pursed her lips. "Same."
Kim let go of Tommy and bent down to give Kira another hug. She knew how close Kira was to Conner and Tori and knew that she hated being left out of all the action.
Conversation ceased as Bridge sat straight up in his bed. Everyone turned their attention to him.
"Bridge!" Sky scolded, trying to force him back down. "Lie down."
"I'm fine, Sky." Bridge knocked Sky's hand away from his shoulder. His voice came out clear and strong. The coloring in his face had returned to normal.
"Come on, Bridge," Syd said. "Just a few minutes ago, you were moaning and groaning. Just lie back back down."
"No, I'm really fine, Syd." He scrambled around, looking for something. "I am," he reassured. "Now, where are my gloves? You guys are seriously going through the roof."
Syd handed him his loves. Everyone continued to look curiously at Bridge. He jumped up, swinging his legs off of the bed. He immediately turned upside down, and exhaled in relief as the blood began to rush into his brain.
Despite the seriousness of the situation they were in, everyone started to laugh. Bridge looked around, not quite understanding exactly what transpired around him and then he asked for a large stack of buttery toast.
"It helps me think better," he said.
Sky and Syd rolled their eyes as Syd walked out to get it for him.
Hayley, holding her stomach from laughing, walked forward to Bridge. "Can I just check you over, first?"
He flipped over into standing position. "Sure." He jumped onto his bed. "I do feel good, though. And thanks for taking care of me. I do appreciate it."
"No problem." Hayley smiled.
Bridge looked at her, holding out his arm. "So, what's your name?"
Everyone laughed again.
"My name is Hayley," she said, smiling and taking his arm.
"Right," he said. "I remember you. You helped out Dr. Tommy Oliver's team. Kira's team."
"Here you go, Bridge," Syd said, walking in with Z, holding a plate full of toast. "Extra buttery, just for you."
Bridge grinned. "I love buttery-" he brought his hands up to his mouth and wiggled his fingers. "toast."
"Bridge!" Z exclaimed, throwing an arm over his shoulders.
Sky smiled, watching the members of his team. Z and Bridge were talking very animatedly to each other, with Syd sitting off to the side, tasting a piece of toast.
"I don't get it," Kim said. "Exactly, what just happened?"
Sky turned around, overhearing her question. "Bridge...he's...he's a little odd. We all are actually, except Bridge, maybe a little bit more than us, though." He smiled a bit. "Well, the four of us, and one of our old teammates were born with, for lack of a better word, gifts. Our parents all happened to work on the creation of the Delta Morphers, altering our DNA. I'm going to guess that it had something to do with Bridge's speedy recovery."
"So what about Conner and Tori? Weren't they given, like, 'special powers' too?"
Sky shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Their abilities came with their powers." He gestured to him and his team. "We were born with ours."
A couple of hours later, most of the rangers were hanging out in the main room. Tommy, Jason, and Andros were talking quietly to each other on one side of the room. Adam, Billy, and Rocky were deep in conversation with Bridge and Sky. Kim, Aisha, Trini, Zack, Z, Ashley, Cassie, and TJ were taking naps in their respective bedrooms. Syd was talking to Mack and Wes. Kira, Ethan, and Trent were still gathered around Conner's bedside, with Hayley hovering around them, looking over Conner, Tori, and Zhane.
"How's everybody doing?" Andros asked.
Jason and Tommy glanced at each other. "Well, we have been a lot better," answered Jason. "No doubt about that. But, I mean...I think above all, it's just been kind of a wake up call, I guess."
Tommy gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
Jason shrugged. "I think we're all just worried about..." He glanced toward the medical room. "Them. Getting out of this thing alive. Protecting the places where we live. And we just seem to be dropping like flies."
"Don't say that, Jason."
"Zack blames himself.
Andros looked down. "It's not his fault." He looked around the room. "I think we're all kind of blaming ourselves for this. If we had been able to stop her when she was taking over the outer galaxies, it wouldn't have come to this. Carlos would still be here. Zhane would be fine. Your guys' lives wouldn't be interrupted."
"We want to help, Andros. You can't change that."
"Sometimes I look at Kim and I think that she's blaming herself for Alyssa." Andros exhaled and looked around the room. "And I'm trying my hardest to rest because there is no way we could take this on without energy, but...I just...sometimes I have no idea what to do. If I'm doing the right thing. If I'm leading my team to victory. Or if I'm leading them to their deaths."
x
Across the room, Bridge and Billy were exchanging a lot of "techno-speak" to each other. Adam, Rocky, and Sky were looking at each other with confusion written all over their faces.
"It is really...I guess, inspiring to be here with you guys, you know," Sky said. "We learned about you guys and it's just pretty amazing to be here with all of you."
"I just think it's pretty amazing that we're actually studied in the future," Rocky said.
Adam nodded in agreement. "So what do you guys actually do? I mean, I know you're rangers and stuff and Bridge told me that you guys had to go to some academy?"
Sky nodded. "Me, Bridge, and Syd were all students at the academy. Our commander--"
"A dog, right?"
Sky nodded again with a smile while Rocky looked a bit confused. "Our commander gave us morphers and we became the B squad. The A squad was, the 'best of the best' at the academy."
"But what about Z?" Rocky asked.
"She came in later. Her and Jack, our former red ranger, were a couple of street kids who also had genetic powers. Our first assignment when we became rangers was to pick them up. I hated the fact that they became rangers without even going to the academy. I hated them even more when Jack was chosen as red ranger when it was something that I had wanted all my life. My father was a red ranger."
"You guys got to choose your colors?"
Sky shook his head. "No, we didn't, but I won't deny that there were certain colors that I would've rather had. Red, of course. My father was red and some of the greatest rangers in history was a red ranger."
Rocky smirked at Adam. "You hear that, Adam? Some of the greatest rangers in history are red."
"But of course, that doesn't mean anything. Some of the greatest rangers were also black, green, pink, yellow, and every other color there has ever been. I learned that the year we became rangers. Heroes come in all colors. Mine just came in red." His eyes looked to Wes, sitting across the room, with Syd. Sky exhaled and looked back at Rocky and Adam. "But, you know, you guys were always my favorites."
Adam smiled. "But what happened to Jack? Bridge alluded to something when we were in San Angeles, but...he didn't really go into anything."
"He decided to leave. He started up a business to give away clothes to the poor. And I respect that. Not to mention that I became the red ranger."
"Right," Adam said, remembering. "And Bridge said something about a bird going to Florida and the dog promoted or something and you got moved up, too?"
Sky smiled. "Yeah, something like that. Birdy was the commander of SPD and he retired, promoting my main commander, Doggie to his spot. I got promoted to commander of SPD Earth and now Bridge is the red ranger. Although any one of the members of the team is capable of leading the rangers."
"Bridge is a little on the...I guess, weird side," said Rocky.
Sky laughed a bit. "Bridge is just himself. He's a great ranger and he has a lot of good instincts and a trusting heart. He just...thinks a little differently than we do. But it all leads to the same end, usually."
"So, do you guys have a new blue and green ranger?" asked Rocky.
"Yeah. They're still back in the future. We couldn't leave it without protection. B Squad is the highest rank after Doggie retired A Squad."
"Why?"
"They turned out to be corrupted and we battled them. So now B Squad is the highest ranked ranger team at SPD."
"Interesting," Adam said.
"Not as much as you guys. I mean, the two of you went through how many power changes? That's pretty cool. I can't imagine not doing this."
A bright light interrupted all of their conversations. Mayari appeared before them, looking more godly and ethereal. Her long, black hair flowed at her sides, shining brightly in the light that surrounded her. She also looked extremely sad.
"I know you have been through a tough time, rangers," she said in her familiar, soft voice. "But this isn't the end."
"Do we know when she's going to attack next?" asked Andros.
"Yes. Our sources gather that the next point of attack will be in Angel Grove."
"Do we know if she's going to attack Angel Grove only or if it'll be like last time, when she attacked everywhere else, also?"
"We have reason to believe that she will only attack Angel Grove." She exhaled and looked even more sad than before. "Our sources also tell us that the Phantom Ranger, the Blue Senturion, and Ninjor have been...they've been killed."
The rangers looked at each other with shock and surprise written on their faces. Nobody knew what to say, if there was anything to say.
"When is she going to attack?" asked Andros.
"We believe that she will begin her attack in approximately twenty-four hours. We also believe that she has captured more prisoners."
"That's not really like her, though. She usually just goes straight in for the kill, doesn't she?" Andros looked around and shook his head. "I just...I just can't believe this. Any of it."
"Rest up, rangers. You will most surely need it."
In another flash of light, Mayari disappeared. Everyone was still. Then Jason turned to Tommy suddenly and whispered in his ear.
"When this is over, I'm asking Trini to marry me."
Tommy grinned. "Why don't you ask her now?"
"No." Jason shook his head. "I don't want...if either of us...just...no."
"So does this give me permission to ask Kim?"
"You've always been allowed to ask Kim. Ask her whenever you want. There's no doubt in my mind that she would say yes. But as your future best man, I hope, and whenever that may be, I was just merely advising you."
Tommy rolled his eyes and clapped a hand on Jason's back.
About twenty-four hours later, most of the rangers were gathered in the main room, talking amongst themselves and playing card games. Kira, Trent, and Ethan never wavered from Conner's side, though he never regained consciousness. Tori, on the otherhand, woke up at numerous times throughout the night and day, each time to a different ranger sitting beside her. Zhane made very little progress, though he was conscious and was able to communicate with the other rangers by blinking his eyes once for 'yes' and twice for 'no.' Amy had taken over for Hayley in the medical room, who was working with Billy and Wes to try to give the rangers more power when they were morphed. Those who had been napping when Mayari appeared before them were quickly brought up to speed on what was going on.
Syd was talking to Kim in one corner of the main room. She seemed to be fascinated by the pink ranger, asking her a multitude of questions.
"So you were a gymnast and now you're a singer?" she asked. Kim nodded. "Annie H has always been one of my favorites. She was the one who inspired me to become a singer, also. And of course, you, Kimberly Hart, has also been one of my favorites." Syd laughed at Kim's confused expression. "At the academy, we learned all about the old Power Rangers." She continued to speak, not noticing Kim wince at the word 'old'. "And you've always been my favorite. The first pink ranger. So, is it really true that Lord Zedd tried to make you his queen?"
Kim's eyes widened. "You had to learn about that? And yes, it is true."
"Really? And did you guys really lose our powers and had to become ninjas?"
Kim nodded. "I can't believe you guys actually learn about us."
Syd nodded and she and Kim continued to exchange ranger stories until Mayari appeared before them again.
Immediately, everyone stood up and faced her. Billy stuck his head into the medical room and Kira, Trent, Ethan, Taylor, and Cassie walked out.
"Rangers, you must go to Angel Grove immediately."
"Are there any attacks anywhere else?" Andros asked at once.
Mayari shook her head. "You must hurry. It appears that she has also brought along those whom she is holding captive." She disappeared in a flash, but a beam of light lingered. "Be careful, rangers. And may the power protect you all." The light dimmed as her voice faded.
"I'm coming this time," Trent said, determinedly, looking at Andros.
Amy walked out of the medical room, hearing Mayari's announcement. She watched the rangers from the doorway.
Andros looked at Tommy, who shrugged. "Fine," he said. "But you've got to come back if you aren't feeling well."
"Wait, what about me?" Kira protested.
"Fine," Tommy repeated, impatiently. "But the same rules apply."
Adam looked at Amy. He nodded to her and looked away, seeing the tears well up in her eyes. Hayley put an arm around her after giving Billy a long hug.
In another flash of light, the rangers morphed into their suits. Before Hayley and Amy, there stood four pink rangers--Kim, Cassie, Karone, and Syd; five blue rangers--Lucas, Billy, TJ, Ethan, and Sky; only two black rangers, Adam and Zack; two white rangers--Tommy and Trent; six yellow rangers--Trini, Ashley, Aisha, Kira, Z, and Taylor; and last, but certainly not least, seven red rangers led by Jason, and with him stood Andros, Rocky, Bridge, Wes, Eric, and Mack. They disappeared in a swift moment and Amy dropped to the floor.
"What if they don't come back?" she whispered, with tears streaming down her face.
"We just have to hope and pray that they do," Hayley said, pulling Amy up to her feet
Meanwhile, Angel Grove looked like the face of destruction. Cassie was reminded of how Angel Grove looked when Astronema was trying to take over. There was debris everywhere, buildings had collapsed, and everything was wrecked. The people of Angel Grove had also gathered together in the center of town, where they all pretended to be Power Rangers to confuse Astronema during her planned takeover.
Now, as Cassie walked through the streets of Angel Grove, she couldn't help but remember that day. Their powers were weak and couldn't sustain the longer they continued to battle. She shook her head, trying to get the memory of the day out of her head.
"It's like a ghost town," said Jason, noting the eerie feeling of the seemingly abandoned city. He and Tommy walked a little ahead of everybody, with Andros, TJ, and Adam directly behind them. The rest of the rangers walked cautiously behind the five of them, gazing around with wary looks and keeping one hand on their weapons. Sky brought up the back of the group, walking backwards, keeping an eye on everything behind the group.
"This is really weird, you guys," Kim stated.
"Yeah," agreed Adam. "It's quiet."
"Too quiet," Tommy echoed.
Jason held out his arms suddenly to stop everyone from moving. He turned to the other rangers and raised a finger to his lips. "Do you guys hear that?" Everyone was silent. Aisha and Kim shook their heads. Slowly, everyone heard the sound of lips smacking growing louder and louder. Adam gestured to Bridge to come forward.
Bridge looked where Jason was pointing to and circled around the group, with his hand outstretched. He stopped next to Sky. "Whatever it is, it's all around us," he said, loud enough for only the rangers to hear. They all nodded and proceeded into their ready stance as they stood in a giant circle, facing outward. All of a sudden, a large group of aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks jumped up from all around them. Some even emerged from underneath the broken concrete.
Sky immediately put up an enormous force field, protecting all of the rangers, causing the aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks to jump back. In their confusion, Sky took the force field down and the rangers charged into the groups of aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks.
"How are you feeling?" Amy asked Zhane, taking his hand. "Blink once for the same, twice for bad, and three times for better." Instead of blinking, Zhane squeezed her hand. "Okay...squeezing my hand was not an option, but I'm going to take that for feeling better." Zhane gave a her a small smile and pulled on her hand to help him sit up. Amy moved forward so Zhane could put some his weight on her. Amy leaned over and reached for a cup of water, sitting on a nearby table. She picked it up and put her arm around his back and lifted the cup up to Zhane's lips.
He took a long sip and finished the entire contents of the cup. He cleared his throat a couple of times and focused his eyes on Amy. "So, who are you?" he asked in a weak, but clear voice. He coughed a couple of times.
Amy smiled. "I'm Amy. I've just been...helping out a bit."
He looked around and saw the rest of beds, but couldn't make out anybody. He exhaled. "Who are they?"
"Conner and Tori. They were injured in battle."
"Where's Bridge? Did he--he didn't--" Zhane's eyes widened at the thought.
"No, he was feeling better, so he left with the rest of them."
"Where are they?"
"They went back to Angel Grove...apparently, there's another battle."
Zhane slowly moved his arm to lift the sheets off of him. He slowly moved his legs from the bed, but managed to get only his right one off the bed.
"What are you doing?" Amy asked, gently pushing him back into bed.
"They need help," he said. "I'm not doing any good helping from here."
"And you won't do any good fighting in this condition."
"She's right, you know," Hayley said, walking into the medical room.
"Hayley." He looked at the two ladies standing on either side of him. "Thank you." He thought for a bit. "Where's Karone? And Andros?"
"They're on Angel Grove, too," said Amy. "I think all of them are down there. I don't know...how they're doing or anything."
"Okay...now can I at least get out of bed?" His voice sounded a bit stronger. "How long have I been here?"
"A pretty long time, it seems," Hayley answered.
"And I really don't think it would be advisable for you to get out of bed or walk around or move or anything. Your wound still isn't healed. The stitches are still pretty new, I don't want them to burst or anything." She gestured to the left side of his body.
"You had a pretty deep gash over there. It took a bit to control the bleeding." Hayley gave him a look as she left his side to check on Conner.
Zhane exhaled. His eyes followed Hayley to Conner and over to Tori. "So...who are they? Conner and Tori? Where are they from? What team?"
"You've never met them?" said Amy, surprised. "I thought all of the rangers knew each other." She looked over to Conner. "That's Conner. He's a red ranger from Tommy's team." She looked back at Bridge suddenly. "Wait, you do know Tommy, right? He's--"
"I know Tommy. So Conner's the red ranger from the Dino team?"
"And Tori's a ninja ranger, I think. I didn't really understand it or anything. I mean, I always just thought that the rangers were just rangers. I never knew that there were different teams or powers or anything."
"Wait, sorry, but who are you?"
"I'm Amy. I've been dating Adam for a while now...and I just found out about him and Aisha and Kim and Trini, Jason, Rocky, and everyone else being a ranger and they disappeared and I was looking for them and then I appeared here with Jason, Billy, Zack, and Tommy and--"
"Wow, okay, a lot of information to take in. So, you're not a ranger?" Amy shook her head. Zhane nodded. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
"You should rest," Amy said, standing up.
Zhane gave a little smile. "But I'll see you soon, right? When I'm ready to help them in Angel Grove."
Amy smiled. "Take care, Zhane."
"Watch out!" Aisha and Trini looked back and ducked as Jason jumped over them, blasting a couple of tiyanaks down. They jumped up and the three of them were fighting the tiyanaks together. Aisha and Trini pulled out their Power Daggers and used it while they fought. Jason rammed his Power Sword through the tiyanaks and they fell, blood spurting from their bodies.
Kim flipped over an ekek and kicked it in the back. She pulled out her Power Bow and used it to take down a short row of ekeks. Tommy ran over to her side and the two of them started to fight the ekeks together. He faced at her, smiling underneath his helmet, and held out his hand.
"May I have this dance, Beautiful?"
She laughed as she took his hand and he swung her around to kick a group of ekeks coming around them. He took out a silent Saba and proceeded to use its powers to shoot down the group of ekeks.
"Just like old times, huh, Handsome?" Kim said, flipping away into a series of backflips. She landed side by side with Billy and Ethan. The three of them jumped at the same time, hitting the same tiyanak in the head three times in a row. It staggered backward and fell to the ground with a loud, hard thud, unmoving. She proceeded to glance around quickly.
Andros seemed to be taking out all of his anger and guilt on everything around him. He was in his battilized mode, using his wings to his advantage, and stabbing his Spiral Saber into whatever came his way. He fought his way through about twenty or so tiyanaks, each trying to take a bite of the red ranger. But he stopped them before they got to close to him or anybody else.
Cassie and TJ were fighting a particularly strong aswang. The two of them used their blasters to no effect. Cassie screamed out as the aswang took a bite of her arm. She kicked it away and TJ used his Astro Axe to cut off its head. It rolled away, its mouth in the midst of a scream, open and threatening. "You okay, Cass?" TJ asked, running to her side.
She held her arm, covering the wound. She stood up, shakily, and nodded. Her arms dropped to her side and she raised her fist in solidarity. "I'm fine," she said, determinedly. TJ glanced at the wound on her arm and took a step toward her. Cassie took a step back and shook her head. "I'm fine, TJ. Now watch out!" TJ turned around suddenly and Cassie kicked the ekek who threatened to attack.
Jason, like Andros, took on a large group of aswangs at once. He seemed to be flawlessly moving his way through the group of aswangs, without taking his weapon out. He squatted to the ground and performed a series of kicks, dropping the aswangs, one by one.
The blue rangers, minus TJ, helped each other against another group of tiyanaks. Lucas and Sky knelt while Billy and Ethan jumped over their shoulders, kicking at the tiyanaks. The four of them jumped apart as an explosion occurred behind them.
Adam, Zack, and Rocky jumped in sync with one another as three aswangs tried to attack them. Zack pulled out his blaster and used it to kill one of the aswangs. Adam and Rocky fought the other two aswangs side by side. Adam pulled out his Power Axe and used it against them.
A loud, raspy sound of laughter caused everybody to momentarily look up. The rangers saw Baruk standing atop one of the buildings that has not yet been demolished by the attacks.
"Very nice effort, rangers," he said in his raspy voice. He looked more disgusting than ever as spit flew out of his mouth with every bit of laughter. "You do remember these people, don't you?" He snapped his fingers and in an instant the six people he held captive appeared beside him atop the rooftop.
Gasps were heard from all of the rangers. Kim closed her eyes painfully and gripped for the ranger closest to her--Adam. She saw Kira stand beside her, looking up. Jason and Tommy ran ahead of the group, towards Baruk.
"Let them go!" Tommy's authoritative voice came. Jason nodded in agreement.
Baruk looked at them with amusement. "Surely, you know by now that that's not how it works."
One of the aswangs screeched and Eric cried out in pain. Kim turned and saw one of the aswangs attacking Eric from behind. Its arm, so deadly and dangerous, plunged into the left and right side of his abdomen at once. He fell, unmorphed, in seeming slow motion, to the ground. Taylor screamed and ran to his side. She used her Crystal Saber to behead the aswang that attacked Eric and proceeded to stab its body until there was almost nothing left of it. Blood spouted out everywhere, landing on the other aswangs, the other rangers, and her own body. She ran to Eric's side, where his body was lying, writhing in pain.
"Eric..." she said softly. Kim could hear the pain and fear in her voice. "Eric...please be all right." Andros walked to her side and put his hand on her shoulder. He bent and and said something in her ear. In a swift moment, she was unmorphed and she held Eric's hand as the two of them disappeared.
Baruk laughed again. "How sweet. And how sad that he's still alive. Fortunately, it won't be for long." He laughed and grabbed the person closest to him.
The rangers stood closer together and Sky put up a forcefield around them, protecting them from the other aswangs, ekeks, and tiyanaks that were barricading themselves around them. Jason and Tommy stood closer together, in front of the group, trying to whisper to each other as quietly as possible.
Baruk violently held up Rose Ortiz.
"Rose..." said Mack. He took a step forward.
Sky dropped the forcefield and fell to his knees, tired and out of breath. Syd put her arm around him and helped him up. The rangers were overcome with the groups of aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks that had surrounded them while they were protected by Sky's forcefield. They all resumed fighting against them, except for Jason and Tommy, who no one, with the exception of Andros, noticed the two of them slipping away in the mass of confusion and fighting.
They snuck away to the base of the building that Baruk was standing on.
"You got a plan, Bro?" Jason asked. Tommy shook his head. "All right! Making it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind." Tommy gave him a pointed look that Jason couldn't see. "How are we getting up there?"
"I'm not sure..." Tommy opened the door a bit and and peeked inside.
"It looks a bit abandoned," said Jason, whispering and peeking inside. "Hey look." He pointed to a corner in the first room. "We could probably sneak up that way." Tommy nodded and pushed open the door a bit. The two of them held their blasters in front of them, walking in carefully.
"HELP!" Taylor yelled as she and Eric appeared in the main room. He started to cough up blood over the floor and Taylor's lap.
Immediately, Amy and Hayley ran out of the medical room and saw the two of them in the main room. Taylor's face was bright red, smudged with dirt and grime, tears running down her face. Her hair was matted to her head with sweat as she held Eric's head in her lap. Hayley took one look at them and disappeared into the medical room, coming out a moment later with a gurney-looking bed.
"Come on. Let's try not to move him too much," said Hayley as she adjusted the bed to reach the ground.
"He-he-he...he...his side--"
"Which side?" asked Amy, gently.
Taylor's hands were shaking as she held them out in front of her. "Bo-bo-both...both of--of-of--both...si-sides..." she stammered out.
Hayley reached out and grabbed Eric around his waist while Amy pulled Eric around his armpits. On the count of three, they lifted Eric up and transferred him to the bed. Hayley wheeled him into the medical room as Amy put an arm around Taylor, the two of them following Hayley.
"Let them go," Tommy repeated himself, in the same dark and authoritative voice. He and Jason held their blasters on Baruk in one hand. Tommy held Saba out in the other while Jason was holding his Power Sword in the other. All of their weapons were facing Baruk, ready to be used at the sound of 'go'.
"Let them go," Jason echoed in the same voice.
Baruk turned around at the sound of the white and the red rangers' voices. He took one glance at their weapons and shook his head. "Wrong move, rangers." In a brief moment, one in which Jason and Tommy were momentarily paralyzed, Baruk raised his own sword and yelled out in anger as he beheaded the nearest prisoner. The former ranger that he held up a few moments ago.
Rose Ortiz.
Jason closed his eyes briefly, seeing Rose's head roll to a stop in front of Kat.
The next few seconds passed by in slow motion as Mack happened to glance up and see this action happen. He yelled in pain and tried to make his way up to Baruk.
Tommy and Jason were speechless. Baruk faced them, with a dangerous tint lining his voice. "Tried to be the hero, didn't you?" Baruk spat in their direction as he casually tossed aside Rose's body. "Thought you'd be able to free all of them?" He gestured toward the rest of the prisoners. Only Skull and Tanya seemed to be conscious and were following Baruk's every step. Once in a while, they would glance at the rangers standing before them, wondering what their next plan of action would be. "Well, rangers. It is your fault that this one is dead." He cocked his head toward Rose's body. "Can't be the hero all the time, can you?"
Tommy yelled in anger and raised Saba against Baruk, who promptly deflected his shot with his own sword. Jason ran up behind him and Baruk pulled out another sword to block him. "What? Going to kill me, rangers?" He looked around. "If you kill me, who's going to say that you are all going to live? How do you know that my mistress's minions--" he gestured to aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks in front of him. "Will not hesitate to kill you and eat you? Some may even decide to eat you alive. Not that I would care, of course." He looked at Rose's body. "It is only through my good graces that this one is not dinner for any of them. Though how long that will be, I do not know. You are seriously trying my patience."
The two of them yelled again as they charged Baruk in two directions. He fought them swiftly, using both of his swords against the two rangers.
"Tommy! Jason!" Kim yelled, seeing the two of them fighting atop the building before them. She pulled Adam's arm. "Help me."
"What are you doing?" Adam said, impatiently. He followed Kim towards the building and saw Tommy and Jason above them. He exhaled and ran alongside her.
Kim shrieked as she reached the rooftop, seeing Rose's head a part from her body. Adam stopped himself behind Kim and felt a wave of nausea come upon him, seeing Rose's head. He took a couple of deep breaths and reached for Kim's arm. Tommy and Jason preoccupied Baruk on one side of the rooftop. None of them noticed the new arrivals atop the building with them.
Adam knelt down and reached slowly for Rose's head. He cradled it in his arms and he and Kim reunited it with her body. Kim reached out her fingers and as she did with Alyssa, reached to close her eyelids. In another swift moment, her body disappeared.
"Help me." She gestured to the other prisoners and saw that Skull was conscious. Immediately, she ran behind him and pulled out the gag that almost choked him. He coughed and his head rolled to his side, not able to hold itself up. Blood was running down the side of his head and his shirt was drenched with sweat. Kim unknotted the tight ropes that held Skull's arms behind his back and the ropes around his ankles. "Are you okay?" she asked, trying to help Skull to his feet. Skull wobbled a bit and Adam caught him before he fell.
"Come on..." Adam pulled Skull's arm around his shoulders, trying to transfer Skull's weight upon his own.
Kim moved on to Tanya, whose eyes were upon Kim with complete fear in them. Kim took out the gag and Tanya had the same coughing fit as Skull did just a few moments earlier. Kim untied the knot holding her wrists and Tanya threw them around Kim's neck, trying to pull herself up. Kim bent down, still holding Tanya up and untied her ankles. She, too, pulled Tanya's arm around her shoulders and tried to help her walk away. She screamed, seeing the door in front of Adam explode. Adam immediately shielded Skull's body from the blast, trying to take it mainly on himself.
"Just exactly what do you think you're doing, black ranger? Pink ranger?" Baruk's eyes flashed angrily as spit continued to fall out of his mouth. Jason and Tommy glanced at them quickly, looked at each other and used Baruk's lack of attention to them for their advantage. Tommy kicked Baruk down as Jason was raised his sword above him. Baruk used both of his swords to deflect this attack, allowing Adam and Kim to slip from his sight.
"We've got to get them out of here," said Kim. "We can't take them anywhere in Angel Grove."
"Let's just take them back," said Adam. "Hayley and Amy can look after them."
In another moment, the four of them disappeared.
The main room was empty, but Adam and Kim heard a lot of activity coming from the medical room. The two of them struggled with Skull and Tanya, leading them into the growing medical room.
"Amy..." Adam said, walking into the medical room.
Amy looked up from Eric's table and jumped to her feet when she saw Adam and Kim, holding two people that she didn't know. "Oh my god..." She looked around quickly, knowing in her mind that there were no more beds available, but to her surprise, she saw two extra ones further down, closer to Tori's bed. "Bring them down here." Kim and Adam followed Amy, looking out of curiousity at Eric's bed.
Taylor was crying uncontrollably at the side of his bed, while Hayley was standing over him, bandaging the left side of his body. Eric was still moving around, though he couldn't control it.
"Who are they?" Amy asked, helping Kim lower Tanya to the bed next to Tori's.
"That's Tanya," said Adam, softly. "She used to be a yellow ranger, after 'Sha. And this is Skull." He carefully lowered Skull to the bed next to Tanya's. "We used to go to high school with him in Angel Grove."
Amy quickly got to work on Tanya, pulling out the first-aid kit and cleaning out her wounds.
"We better go," Kim said. "Tommy and Jase are still up there."
Adam nodded. He took Amy's hand into his and looked deeply into her eyes, though she couldn't see it beneath his helmet.
"Take care, you guys," she said, tears filling her eyes quickly. "Be careful."
Adam nodded to her as he and Kim made their way to the door. The two of them stopped between Tori and Conner's bed, checking up on them, before stopping at Zhane's bed. He opened his eyes and saw the pink and black ranger standing above him. Smiling weakly, he lifted himself up, putting his weight onto his arms. "Take care, you guys. And just because I'm not there, don't think that you guys can't win." He laughed weakly, carefully lowering himself back onto his bed. Adam and Kim nodded to Zhane and emerged in the main room, disappearing back to Angel Grove.
They reappeared, seeing everything was pretty much the same as they had left it.
Kim ducked, avoiding Mack's angry swipe at a tiyanak with his Drive Lance. "Kat, Ernie, and Ms. Appleby are still up there," yelled Kim to Adam. He nodded and gestured for her to follow him back up. Zack saw where they were headed and followed them.
"I'm coming with," he said. Zack had seen the two of them disappear with Skull and Tanya and only guessed what they wanted to do. He pulled along Andros and the four of them proceeded to the roof of the building.
Andros pulled out his Spiral Saber and immediately joined in the fight between Baruk and Jason and Tommy.
Adam ran to Kat and lifted her up, pulling the gag out of her mouth. Kim ran to Ernie and Zack took out Ms. Appleby's gag.
"What the--?" Baruk exclaimed, seeing Zack with Ms. Appleby. In a quick moment, when Jason, Tommy, and Andros were not attacking Baruk, he used one of his swords and threw it in Zack's direction, hitting him squarely in the chest. Zack fell in surprise, pulling out the sword from his chest. Jason, Tommy, and Andros simultaneously yelled and the three of them all brought their weapons down on Baruk at once.
"ZACK!" Kim abandoned the knot that she was trying to untie from Ernie's wrists and ran to her friend's side. "Zack..." Zack threw the sword aside and lay in front of Kim, unmorphed. "I'll get you back, Zack. Don't worry. I've got you." She took his hand and the two of them disappeared into the main room of their safe haven. Kim carefully pulled Zack up and cautiously walked into the main room.
Zhane, Hayley, and Amy looked up from what they were doing, alarmed that someone has come so soon after Kim and Adam left. Hayley jumped up from Eric's bedside and helped Kim lead Zack to the bed nearest to Skull.
"I'm fine, you guys," Zack said weakly, allowing Kim and Hayley to tuck him into bed. Amy appeared next to Hayley and pulled open the black shirt that Zack was wearing, showing the open wound. She pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and began to clean out his wound as Zack groaned softly. "I'm fine..."
Kim shook her head. She touched Amy's and Hayley's elbows as she disappeared before them. As she appeared in the middle of the battle scene once again, she looked around quickly and ran as fast as she could to the rooftop.
Baruk used his sword to throw Tommy and Jason off of him and kicked Andros away as he bent down to pick up his other sword, layered with Rose's and Zack's blood. He faced Tommy and Jason, snarling menacingly.
Taylor's eyes were swollen and felt raw as she looked around the room. She was holding onto Eric's hand, praying silently that he and the other people in the room would be all right. Hayley and Amy were standing over Zack, tending to his wounds. Taylor heard a loud, ripping noise coming the direction of his bed as Amy tore a long piece of gauze to place over Zack. She heard strange beeping noises coming from the machines that were connected to Conner and Tori. She noticed two other people, who looked like they were sleeping peacefully. She couldn't really make out their faces though and wasn't sure exactly who they were.
She stood from her spot, gave Eric a kiss on the cheek, and walked over to Amy and Hayley.
"I'm going back now," she said. Amy and Hayley looked at her and nodded. A look of anger crossed her eyes. "The people--the things that did this to Eric...and...Alyssa..." She exhaled and morphed into her yellow ranger suit. She nodded at Amy and Hayley and disappeared to Angel Grove.
Zhane carefully sat up after seeing the beam of yellow light. He squinted his eyes in the direction of Amy and Hayley and slowly swung his legs over the side of his bed. He stood up and put his weight against the bed for support. He slowly made his way toward the two, using the beds of Eric, Conner, Tori, Tanya and Skull to sit down in the chair beside Zack.
"What are you doing up?" Amy asked. "You should get back to bed."
Zhane shook his head, slowly and winced as he grabbed the left side of his body.
Mack yelled out in anger and pain as he took his grief out on the tiyanaks that continuously fought at him. He used his strength to throw a few from his way and used his Drive Lance and Drive Defender to kill a few. He made his way through a large group of tiyanaks and threw them down as he released his pain.
A loud scream caused everyone, rangers, tiyanaks, ekeks, and aswangs alike to momentarily stop and cover their ears. Kira used this moment to take down a few aswangs with her Thundermax Saber. Trent and Ethan teamed up against a group of aswangs. Trent fought on one side, using his Drago Sword to fight off the aswangs. Ethan, overcome by a group of aswangs and tiyanaks alike, used his Tricera Shield to deflect some blows from the aswangs, but he did not see when one jumped on his back and took a bite of his shoulder. Immediately, Ethan dropped down and unmorphed briefly. His suit reappeared on him and he used his strength and thick skin to throw the aswang over his shoulder. He looked down at his shoulder and didn't see a blood nor a bite mark on his shoulder.
Ashley and Karone ducked as an aswang aimed a large rock at them. Karone took out her Transdagger and used it against a couple of aswangs. Ashley took out her Star Blaster and used it to take down the aswangs Karone was fighting.
A loud growl came from Baruk as he saw the black ranger on the rooftop, struggling with the bonds holding Kat captive. "Black ranger!" He threw a piece of debris in Adam's direction.
Adam glanced up and and rolled over to avoid it. Instead, it hit Kat's head and she cried out as she fell backward, unconscious. Baruk threw another piece of debris at Adam, who rolled again to avoid it. Tommy used this moment to hold Saba high above him and stabbed it into Baruk's throwing shoulder. Baruk turned his head and saw the white ranger over his shoulder. He used his other hand to grab Tommy around his neck. Saba fell to the ground, forgotten.
Jason and Andros jumped up and held their weapons in front of them, facing Tommy and Baruk.
"White ranger," he spat. Baruk looked at Jason and Andros, tightening his hand around Tommy's neck. Tommy started to struggle for breath. "What do you think you're going to do?"
Adam ran to Ernie's side and grabbed him and disappeared. He pulled apart the gag as they landed in the medical room and unknotted the ropes around his wrists and his ankles. Adam pulled Ernie to his feet and helped him into the medical room. Adam looked briefly at the empty bed where Zhane occupied. He looked around the room and saw Hayley, Amy, and Zhane surrounding Zack's bed. He pulled Ernie along, struggling under the dead weight as Ernie was unconscious. Hayley turned and saw Adam. He unmorphed and Amy looked in surprise at the bed that appeared next to Zack.
"Is this Ernie?" Hayley asked, helping Adam gently lower him onto the bed.
Adam nodded. He took a seat and lowered his head into his hands. Amy knelt in front of him and took his hands.
"We'll only be safe if you guys continue," she whispered to him. He looked up at her. His eyes looked tired and dark circles were slowly appearing around his eyes. He exhaled and shook his head. He pulled Amy up along with him and gave her a kiss.
"I love you. Remember that." Adam raised his hand and held her chin for a bit before morphing into his suit again and disappearing.
Adam looked around frantically and glanced up at the roof, where Baruk was still holding Tommy in his clutches. Jason and Andros seemed to be whispering to each other. Tommy looked at them over Baruk's shoulder and grabbed at Baruk's hands. The two red rangers raised their respective weapons simultaneously as Tommy lowered his hands and used his legs to kick Baruk in his chest.
Baruk staggered backward, surprised, and landed in Jason's outstretched Power Sword. Andros circled around him and drove his Spiral Saber through the front of Baruk's body. Baruk, still surprised, let go of Tommy, who landed promptly on his feet, rubbing his neck. He looked around and saw Kat's eyes blinking open. She was shaking her head a bit, trying to remember what happened and screamed out loud as she saw Baruk, Tommy, Jason, and Andros. She struggled against her bonds and called out for help.
"Kat!" Jason and Tommy yelled simultaneously. Baruk looked over at Jason and Tommy and began to laugh, blood coming out his body and his mouth. Andros looked at him in disgust. Baruk pulled his sword that he was holding and threw it in Kat's direction.
It pierced her in her right shoulder and she cried out in pain. Baruk laughed manically as life slowly drifted out of his body. His head rolled back and his mouth was wide open, spit still dripping from it onto his shoulder. Andros approached his body with his Spiral Saber in front of him. He kicked at the body and it flopped lifelessly in the air. He turned from the body and Jason and Tommy ran to Kat's side. Andros turned to help the nearest prisoner up, Ms. Appleby. He knelt down and pulled the gag from her mouth. He unknotted the ropes holding her wrists and her legs together. As he untied, her body weight fell onto Andros since she was unconscious.
"Kat..." said Tommy. He reached down and tried to pull the sword from her shoulder. She cried out in pain again as the sword moved through her sword.
"Tommy?" she asked weakly, recognizing the voice beneath the white helmet.
"Yeah. You're going to be okay, Kat. We'll get you somewhere safe." He looked up at Jason and nodded towards her. "Is it okay if you take her back, man?"
Jason nodded. He bent down and the two of them carefully shifted Kat's body weight onto Jason. In a flash, the two of them disappeared. Tommy bent down to help Andros.
The ground began to shake violently as the rangers struggled to hold their balance. Everyone looked around in worry as the tiyanaks, aswangs, and ekeks continued to fight the rangers.
A light appeared before Andros and Tommy. Sensing something bad, Tommy looked at Andros. "Try and get her back. I don't have a good feeling." Andros nodded and hung on to Ms. Appleby's arm. They disappeared in a flash of light and Tommy reached around and grabbed Baruk's forgotten sword, picking up Saba as he faced the dark light appearing before him. He got in his ready stance and was prepared when a pair of aswangs began to fly at him. He used the sword to cut off the pointy, sword-like arms of one aswang. It screeched and flew at Tommy, head-on. Tommy, surprised at the weight the aswang put forth, fell backward off of the roof. Kim ran to his side and gently shook him.
"How are you, Handsome?"
Tommy winced underneath his helmet, clutching his back, although he was still lying on the ground. He opened his eyes and looked at Kim, kneeling before him. "I think I'm fine," he said slowly. He reached for Kim's outstretched hand pulled himself into standing position. He stood partly in front of her, in a way to shield her from whatever was coming out of the dark light. The rangers all stood still, watching the light materialize into being before them.
The aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks stopped their fighting and kicked off the ground. They flew higher and higher until they were circling the rangers from the air.
Andros and Jason reappeared at the same time. Trini and Billy walked over and stood next to Jason; the three of them standing a bit behind Kim and Tommy. Andros huddled in with his own team, surrounded by Ashley, TJ, Cassie, and Karone. The other rangers gathered behind them. Adam, Aisha, and Rocky stood alongside Trini, Jason, and Billy. Each of the rangers were waiting for what was to come.
They heard a loud, angry laugh before they saw anything. "Power Rangers...I hate the Power Rangers." The voice sounded very shrill and raspy and very girly-sounding. It had a deep tone to it.
Instinctively, the rangers stood closer together. Sky raised his arm in preparation.
"You have deprived me of my daughter. My son. My husband. My son-in-law. My family. My friends. And everything else that I hold dear in my heart." A figure appeared from the dark light. At once, the rangers knew who she was. Her hair was gathered into two cones, on each side of her head, much like her daughter. "So I will do the same with you." She raised her own staff that looked very much like Rita's and pointed it to the sky. A black hole appeared on one side and a cage full of people appeared. It was suspended in midair, but it did not look like anything was holding it up.
The rangers turned their attention to the cage and saw a teenager standing at the forefront, with his hands trying to pull the bars apart.
"Michael?" called Rocky. He took a few steps forward, but stopped when a blast came his way from the staff. She laughed maniacally.
"Yeah," answered Michael. "I'm sorry...I tried to get everyone else out, but we were on our way to Stone Canyon and I tried to get everybody to head down to LA instead, but everyone was trying to go to Stone Canyon. I don't think anybody really believed me, but I tried, I really tried and I tried to fight them, but I couldn't. There were just too many of them and I couldn't fight them anymore."
Tommy held up his hands to try to stop Michael's talking. "It's okay," he said. "Just...we'll get you out of there."
"No, you won't," Rita's mother said, defiantly. "You and all of your little ranger fans will be destroyed."
Kim searched through the faces in the cage. There were definitely a lot of people that she recognized by face that were from Angel Grove, and maybe even some from Stone Canyon. There were also others that she had never seen before. They seemed to be very fearful, yet unharmed.
Rita's mother pointed her staff and a candle appeared. It was similar to the green candle that Rita had used to decimate Tommy's powers as the green ranger and he winced when it appeared, recognizing the similarities. Instead of it being green, it was simply a black, almost midnight blue color. She used her staff to light it and and suspended it in front of the cage. "When this candle is fully melted, your little friends will disappear forever into this black hole. There, they will spend eternity, feeling the pain that I have felt from the time my family was taken away from me." She raised her staff to the aswangs, tiyanaks, and ekeks and gestured to the rangers. "Destroy them all."
And here's the end of this chapter. It's going a bit longer than expected, but I guess that's better. This chapter was actually a lot longer, but I just decided to cut it at this part so I could get it out faster. I start school this week, so updates may be a bit longer to put out.
Hope everyone enjoys!!
