Fury spluttered and coughed as he started to slowly come to. He could barely see anything. Even if his vision wasn't blurry, there was smoke everywhere. There were some fires around about, and some of the systems were sparking from broken electronics. He tried to move, but he was pinned down by a fallen support beam.
He was pinned, face-down, having been taken down by the beam as he tried to direct the panicking minions as the ship came down. He braced his hands against the floor and tried to push up, but his strength failed him. He saw a dark shape coming towards him through the smoke.
"Please...help me..." He croaked out as he coughed some more. As the figure came closer, he could see the silhouette, it wasn't a Spike Ball, his preferred choice to help try and free him given their strength. Hell, right now he'd even take a vivik, but as he saw the huge, floppy hat, he groaned aloud. As the figure stepped right up close to him, he could see white stuffing flopping out of a large tear down his leg.
"Fury!" Curio said as he saw the fallen feline warrior.
"Just my luck YOU would be one of the few that survived!" Fury grumbled.
"Well, I AM made mostly of cushions." Curio reminded him. Fury just growled in frustration.
"Go and fetch someone useful will you?" He demanded.
"Now, that's not a very nice thing to say." Curio said as he said as he looked on the prone form of Fury. "Especially not when you're looking so...vulnerable!"
Fury realised what he meant. Right now, he was trapped, pinned to the ground, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. Curio got a wicked look on his face.
"Now, I seem to remember a certain incident when you had me in a vulnerable position. How did that end again?" Curio asked him. "Oh...let me refresh your memory. Wrench spent the day stitching me back together!"
Fury started to struggle, stretching out with his one free arm for his sword, but his fingertips barely grazed its handle. Curio saw him reaching and snatched up the sword. Fury could only look up at the creature as he held the sword tightly.
"I just wonder...can YOU be stitched back together so easily?" Curio mused, before turning the sword point-down, gripping it tightly with both hands. "I guess there's one way to find out!"
Fury could only lose his eyes as the sword came down, only to hear a loud clang. He opened his eyes to see that the point had been driven into the floor beside him. Curio strained against the sword, using it to lever up the girder.
"PUSH!" Curio called out. Fury braced and pushed up as hard as he could, helping with the lift, before sliding out. Curio held it up for a moment, allowing Fury to slide out, before dropping the girder with a loud crash. Curio grabbed Fury and helped him to his feet.
"Have you seen anyone else? Is anyone else around?" Fury asked him. Curio just nodded.
"Poisandra is around, she's looking for Sledge." Curio told him. "There was a hole in the side of the cockpit; we think he might have been sucked out!"
"Is anyone else here?" Fury asked him.
"I saw some Spike Balls and some viviks...most of the monsters in the cell blocks are fine." Curio informed him. "Sledge definitely built this thing to last!"
"Good, then once we get this place back into some kind of working order; we have forces to take revenge on the Rangers!" Fury told him as they walked through the corridors.
"You think so?" Curio asked him, kicking a piece of debris down the hall as they headed for the cell blocks. "Because...this place is pretty messed up!"
"It'll be a long time before it's going anywhere, but it shouldn't take too long to get most of the systems back online...once we find that useless lump Wrench."
"So you still want to fight the Rangers?" Curio asked him.
"I want the Energems!" Fury yelled at him.
"But we've already barely survived once..."
"Well, WHAT THE HELL ELSE ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Fury demanded angrily. "They LITERALLY burned our ship! We can't exactly go home; we're stranded here because of them!"
"So, if we are going to be sticking around, who's going to lead us?" Curio asked. Fury just glowered at him.
"I think THAT should be obvious!" He responded as he shoved him down the hall, past the door to the solitary block. "Now, find some guards and take a roll call and an inventory! Let's see what we still have at our disposal!"
As they went on their way, they didn't notice a pair of glowing eyes just a little way behind the huge door to the solitary block.
"Interesting, VERY interesting!" A gravelly voice stated. "It's MY turn now!"
Back at the museum, the Rangers, except for Phillipe, were all sitting around in the ruins of the Dino Lab. Kendall had a large smile on her face as she brought over a stool, taking a seat.
"You know, you seem pretty upbeat for a museum director whose museum is pretty much wrecked." Riley stated. Kendall just shrugged.
"What can I say? The exhibits are pretty much undamaged, and that's the important thing right?" She asked in response. "Anton will cover anything the insurance won't, and all things considered, I'd say today's been pretty successful!"
"I'll say, now Sledge is gone for good!" Shelby announced. "With him out of the picture, there's no one to stop us searching for the remaining Energems!"
"Yeah...about that." Kendall said as she looked around the room. "This...this was all out of necessity. It was never meant to be a permanent deal."
"What are you saying?" Shelby asked her.
"Well, like you said, with Sledge gone, there's no real reason for the Rangers." Kendall informed them.
"But...the other Energems." Riley protested.
"Koda, Ivan and of course Kendall will remain to search for the remaining Energems." Keeper told them. "Prince Phillipe has kindly agreed to help where he can. He has resources through his political connections we do not."
"The fact is, you've all done an incredible job, and we couldn't have possibly asked for anywhere near as much as you've all given." Kendall continued. "Which is why, we can't possibly ask for anything more. You all have your own lives to be getting on with."
"But..."
"We've all taken you from your lives and your own pursuits, and you've been great in giving that up." Kendall complimented them. "Now, we can't in good conscience ask you to put your own lives on hold any longer."
The team all looked around each other for a moment. They had all known that the day would come, that their tenure as Rangers would be over. They had all complained at times about the sacrifices they made and how they wished for the danger to the world to be over and be able to return to their lives...but now it was here...
"I...guess it's been a long time since I've seen my mom and my brother." Riley answered. "Ms Morgan, your tuition here's been great, and I really love the city and want to come back but...I've missed home."
"I completely understand Riley." Kendall assured him. "Just know, Anton's scholarships are still real. You'll be able to come back when you want to carry on your studies."
"It's been ages since I've seen mum." Chase responded. "I'll stick around for a bit to get stuff ready, but I still have that open-ended ticket Chloe gave me to use."
"I can go back to looking for my dad." Tyler said quietly. Keeper reached out his hand.
"Until we find the bearer of the Aqua Energem and the Silver Energem, you will remain bonded to your Energems." Keeper told them. "They will call to you if you are needed."
"Until then...I guess this is it." Kendall responded as she produced a bottle of champagne. Ivan started to hand out the glasses as Kendall popped the cork. "Anton always makes sure I have a bottle or two of this in storage. I usually save this for when we've made a major discovery or something. I think this qualifies."
She started pouring the glasses as Ivan started to hand them out.
"Whatever you all decide to do, I want you all to know...you're the best dig team I've ever led." Kendall told them.
"We're the ONLY dig team you ever led." Chase chuckled in response. Shelby slapped him across the back of his head. It was true, before working for Anton; she'd been on many dig teams, but never actually led one.
"Thank you Shelby." Kendall laughed, knowing that she would miss this dynamic. She had grown to appreciate her team, even if they did drive her up the wall on numerous occasions. "What I was going to say is whatever you want to do now, just know...you'll all always have jobs here. To..."
"My family!" Koda squealed, tears running down his face as he ran across the room, scooping up Chase, Shelby and Tyler in a massive hug. Once again, Koda had managed to sum up much of what everyone was feeling in a very simple way. They would always be connected, no matter what happened.
The party went on for a while, late into the night. Keeper was the first to depart, going back to...wherever it was he disappeared to. It wasn't really a wild party, more of a low-key affair where they shared laughs and recounted tales from their tenure.
"We should probably be going." Chase said as he finished his glass and got up. "I'll stick around for a while, but I need to arrange a flight."
"I should probably be going too." Riley added. "If we leave early, I should be able to get most of the way back to Millport before the traffic gets too bad."
"I guess then there's only one thing left to do." Tyler said, stepping up to the crystal beds, and extending his hand, allowing the Red Energem to fly back to its housing. In turn, Chase, Shelby and Riley did likewise.
"It feels weird to not be taking it with me." Tyler admitted. "But I guess I've got more adventures to come."
Shelby, Chase, Riley, Ivan and Tyler all headed for the elevator, calling it down. It was only as they stepped onto the elevator that they realised that Kendall hadn't done likewise.
"Aren't you coming Ms Morgan?" Shelby asked.
"Yeah, I mean you'll need a ride back to the apartment." Tyler told her. "You might not be the size of a Barbie doll anymore, but somehow I think you'll have a little trouble reaching the pedals on the truck."
"I'll get a cab." Kendall told them. "I've got something to do here before I go home."
They headed up in the elevator, while Koda with a huge yawn made his way towards his cave, leaving Kendall alone in the lab once more. She looked around, feeling rather odd about how empty it seemed. She had been here on her own many times. For a lot of those instances, she actually preferred to be there on her own, so that she could work without distractions. No Riley and his stupid tennis ball machine going off every few seconds, no Chase insisting on treating her sterile lab as a mechanic's bench for his skateboard, no Shelby insisting on babbling to her asking about more journal recommendations or reading for her online courses. Now that it was quiet though...it almost seemed too quiet.
It did offer her one opportunity though. Reaching into her shirt, she pulled out the necklace she always wore, a simple key on it. She had worn it for a long time, being gifted it a long time ago, back when she was a young girl.
She looked around to make sure she really was alone. Once she was satisfied that she was, she went to one of her workbenches, and opened a secret compartment, pulling out a small, silver case.
She took the key, opening the case, revealing it to be a kind of communicator. Her hands trembled as she tuned it in. It was a while before she got an answer.
"Kendall?" A voice on the other end asked. It took a moment for the image to clear up. "Kendall, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." She responded. "I...I just wanted to talk to you."
"Kendall, I gave you that communicator for emergencies." The other person responded. Kendall smiled to see her face.
"Yes, I know Aunt Kendrix, it's just...something happened." Kendall told her, pulling out her Energem. "Something amazing happened. The Purple Energem...it bonded to me. I'm the Purple Ranger."
"Kendall, that's...that's wonderful!" Her aunt responded. Tears ran down Kendall's face, but she couldn't stop smiling as she told her aunt that she had followed in her footsteps. Kendrix had always been Kendall's idol, even before she had gone on the Terra Venture mission. She had been thrilled when she became the superhero Kendall always saw her as. She knew all about Kendrix's sacrifice, something that had devastated her as a young girl, but a source of pride. When she came back to help the Lightspeed team, she had been allowed to make a stop at home. One of the happiest days of her life was when Kendrix had turned up on her doorstep to explain her resurrection. "You're a Ranger? I knew you had it in you!"
"I...I still can't believe it myself, it just doesn't feel real." Kendall said, wiping away a couple of tears. "Almost all of the Energems have been found. I was starting to think it would never happen..."
"You should never have doubted yourself for a moment. I've always known you had it in you, ever since you were a little girl!" Kendrix complimented her niece. There was a crash in the background, and Kendrix looked around. "Will you two pack it in?"
"What was that?" Kendall asked her.
"Oh, that's just your uncle Kai and your cousin." Kendrix told her. "He's decided to teach her martial arts now she's going to high school. He seems to think now she's looking at boys she needs distracting."
"My cousin?" Kendrix asked her. She didn't contact her aunt often. The communicator had limited power, and would only last a few minutes at a time before needing to be recharged. "Kendall is...dating?"
"Not yet, but I can't imagine it'll be too long." Kendrix chuckled. "She IS 15 you know. It's one of the highlights of high school."
"Yeah, that wasn't really my high school experience." Kendall answered, resting her elbow on the table and resting her face on her hand. "So...how are the rest of the family anyway?"