Power Rangers: Public Enemies
Chapter 24: Civil War, part 2- Nameless Heroes.
"Mommy!" A child cries out of the chaos. She keeps running against the masses of people that pay no attention to the fact that a little girl is lost and scared. However, they too are scared, as they flee in terror from the wrath of the remaining Mystic Force Rangers, who kept destroying everything in their paths.
"Mommy!" The child keeps crying out, having long since been separated from her patent. She looks up at the sky, and sees the Pink Mystic Titan flying in the sky. She sees how Vida grabs a helicopter by the tail, and throws it against a building. The girl screams as falling debris hits several citizens. She cowers in fear, not realizing that the out of control crowd is about to trample her to death.
"Kid, watch out!" A skinny, scraggly teenager grabs the girl before she is trampled by the stampeding crowds. He rushes her away, carrying her in his arms. "Kid, what the hell?"
"I can't find my mommy!" The little girl is inconsolable.
"Where did you last see her?"
"At the plaza..." She sniffles. "I saw some toys, and I let go... and then the giants attacked (hiccup)and I got scared (sniff) and now I can't find my mommy!"
"The plaza?" The teenager thinks for a second. "I... Your mom must have been found by one of those nice soldiers! Come on, let's go to where they are grabbing people, OK?"
The teenager and the child rush towards an area where many soldiers are gathering people. They watch as a helicopter slowly descends in front of a desperate crowd.
"Priority to children!" A Soldier calls out via megaphone from within the helicopter. "We don't have much room!"
"Please, save my baby!" A woman lifts up her child, barely three months old. "My brother lives in New York, please send her to him!"
"Come on, kid. We need to get you to that chopper." The teenager takes the young girl with him, running towards the helicopter.
"We're full!" The soldier yells out before the teenager and the girl could get to it. "Lift us up, Chuck!"
The helicopter attempted to lift of, but various desperate souls clung unto its landing skids.
"We're too heavy!" Chuck attempted as best he could to keep the helicopter in balance. "Hang on tight, kids!"
The teenager watched in horror as the helicopter kept losing balance. Not one of the hanger-ons let go of the skids, in spite of the soldier's pleading.
"Shit, Barry, do something!" Chuck uses all his might to keep the chopper steady. "We won't be able to lift off with all this weight!"
"Kids... close your eyes..." Barry sorrowfully takes out a pistol, and begins shooting some of the hanger-ons. One by one, they fall to the ground. Barry only had to shoot two, the rest let go either of their own free will, or because they could simply hold on no longer. None of them survived. The teenager covered the girl's eyes to protect her from such a ghastly scene.
"Shoot... come on, kid, we'll just..." The teenager could not finish that sentence, as a car had been thrown at the helicopter, courtesy of Vida. A mother's cry is drowned out by the screams of dozens of people as they scramble to escape the falling debris. As the helicopter crashes onto the ground, it explodes, killing a few people, including a young mother...
"Shoot..." The teenager watches a giant cloud of dust. "Can't go that way..."
"The plaza's that way!" The child begins to hyperventilate.
"Come on, kid... I heard a nice soldier say that no one in the plaza got hurt!"
"Honest?" The little girl looks up at the teenager, tears in her eyes.
"Over here!" They hear a soldier cry out. "Over here!"
The two rush towards the subway, where the soldier was calling to them.
"In here, quickly! It's safe down here!" The soldier escorts them down the subway station.
The subway station was filled with many wounded people. Some were mortally so, even. The teenager kept the girl close to him, for her safety.
"Ronald Reagan closed down my mental hospital!" A scraggly, filthy old man yelled at the top of his lungs. He had many bald patches on his head, the result of years of scalp abuse.
"Sir, please! Calm down!" A female soldier found herself overwhelmed by the responsibility of calming down the old man.
"Hey Chappy! Want a Snickers?" The teenager takes out a fun size Snickers bar from his pocket, and gives it to the old man. "Excuse me miss, old Chappy here can only be calmed down by a candy bar."
"Ronald Reagan closed down my mental hospital..." Chappy, on his knees with tears in his eyes, looks up at the young, female soldier. "I like candy..."
"Why does he keep saying that?" the female soldier asks the teenage boy.
"Dad told me Chappy used to live at a mental hospital that closed down back in the 80's. Chappy screams his blame for Reagan whenever he's too scared to understand what's going on."
"I want my mommy..." The little girl tugged at the teenager's pants.
"I know kid...what's her name?"
"Susan... Susan Storms..." The girl looks up at the teenager, a bit calmer than before.
"Hey, anyone here by that name?" The teenager's face falls when the soldier shakes her head. He picks up the little girl, and carries her on his shoulders.
"What's your name, mister?" The little girl asks.
"I'm Troy, you?"
"I'm Amy." Troy shakes her little hand, offering her a smile.
"Hey, kid!" A soldier calls out to Troy. "Leave the girl over there and come help us! We need extra hands!"
"On my way, sir!" Troy takes Amy to the direction the soldier pointed out. It was a corner with lots of kids surrounding a twenty something woman.
"Excuse me..." Troy shows her Amy.
"Hello young man, yes, give her to me." The woman smiles at Amy. "Hi sweetie, how old are you?"
"I'm six..." Amy refuses to leave Troy's side.
"Amy? I have to go, they need me." Troy kneels down in front of Amy. "So be a good girl, OK? Your mom is OK, I promise."
"No, I want my mommy..." Amy, teary eyed, refuses to let go of Troy. "You promised..."
"Sweetie, don't worry. Your mommy's OK. I know." The woman gave her a reassuring smile.
"Hey miss, take care of her, OK?" Troy quickly got away from Amy, trying his best to keep his composure.
"Such a strong kid..." The woman's smile disappears for an instant. "He's stronger than me..."
"Miss? What's your name?" Amy notices her sad face,
"Oh, I'm Amanda." The woman's smile returns.
Troy hurried towards the soldier who called him.
"Take these supplies, and distribute them amongst the wounded." The soldier commands. "And wipe that frightened look off your face."
"I'm sorry sir... I'm just scared." Troy's eyes water a bit.
"You should be, it's a war zone out there." The soldier pats him on the shoulder. "Good work bringing that kid here, son."
"I just saw that she was gonna be trampled." Troy looks at Amy's direction. "She lost her mom."
"Don't worry about her. Amanda's a strong woman." The soldier looks at Amanda's direction. "She volunteered to take care of the kids herself. No one else could, really."
"So many kids... how many are there?"
The soldier counts the kids. "I'd say 29. Maybe 31, tops."
"Damn..."
Troy distributed the pillows and blankets amongst the wounded. There were about 50 of them, at least. Troy himself was quite shocked at how many of them there were.
"Excuse me." Amanda approached the supply corner. "Are there any spare blankets and pillows?"
"Sorry miss, priority is for the wounded, and we are used up." The female soldier from earlier sadly shakes her head.
"Ronald, Reagan he... he closed down my mental hospital..." Chappy approaches the female soldier. "The...homeless we... got some blankets in the back rooms..."
"Get out of here, you bum!" The female soldier yells at him. "Someone give this guy a candy bar and get him the heck out of here!"
"Excuse me, ma'am? Chappy's right." Troy steps in. "There really ARE some blankets in the back room."
"Let me check." A male soldier checks the storage room. "He's right! I think there are, like, forty blankets or something here!"
"We can't use them, they might be filthy!" The female soldier objects.
"Actually, the manager of this station keeps the blankets well washed." Troy interjects again. "They're good. You have my word."
"Down here! It's safe down here!" Another soldier escorts an elderly couple down the subway station.
"Hey, you two just sit over there, and let us take care of everything." The female soldier offers them a weak smile. She, however, is emotionally drained.
"My goodness, Harry! Look at all the children!"The old woman is shocked at the sight of all the children.
"This is almost as bad as WW2..." Harry sits on the floor. "In fact, if Schroeder himself rises from the grave, I'd say it's worse."
"Sh! Harry, speak of the devil, and he shall appear!" The old lady chastises Harry.
"Sorry Martha." Harry hangs his head in shame. Martha grabs him, and walks towards Amanda. Amanda herself looks quite tired.
"Excuse me miss, may we help you in any way?" Martha smiles at Amanda.
"Really?" Amanda smiles, perking up somewhat.
"Certainly, miss!" Harry winks at her. "We got, like, thirteen grandkids!"
"Harry, stop flirting with the young girl, you're making her nervous!" Martha furiously pulls Harry's ears. "How long have you been taking care of these kids, deary?"
"Oh, it's not big deal..." Amanda looks away. "I just have some experience in this kind of thing."
"Are you from around here, dear?" Martha puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I grew up in Angel Grove." Amanda offers a weak smile. Martha and Harry gasp in shock.
"My God..." Martha is speechless. Harry looks at the many wounded.
"Martha, miss... I'm needed." Harry tucks in his shirt, straightens his posture, and marches towards the many wounded.
"Don't worry, deary. Harry used to be a Field Medic back in WW2."
"Know what the worst part of all this is?" Amanda's smile disappears completely. Her face is sullen, and her eyes reflect the soul of a woman falling apart. "Growing up, I felt I could always count on the Power Rangers to save the day. Nowadays..."
Troy kept glancing at Amy's direction, making sure she was OK.
"Hey, she your sister?" The female soldier from earlier smiles at him.
"Just some kid I found."
"Nice." She touches his arm. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen, ma'am. You?" Troy is blushing madly.
"Nineteen." She smiles at him. She is quite beautiful, really. "Name's Jodie. You?"
"Troy." He's blushing like mad.
"You're quite skinny, kid." Her smile makes room for a concerned look. "Where are you from?"
"Here and there..." Troy looks away. "Ran away from home."
"Bad home life?" Jodie hugs him. "It's OK, hun. I understand..."
The ground above the subway station shakes.
"Pack it up, people! Things are getting sticky up there!" A male soldier calls out everyone. "Grab the wounded and get them to somewhere safer!"
"Is anyone coming to get us?" Jodie grabs a man with a broken leg.
"At the end of the tunnel! It leads outside!" The male soldier commands everyone. "Couple of choppers for the wounded, jeeps for the rest of us!"
"Harry!" Martha is very scared.
"You go on ahead, Martha! I have my duty, you have yours!" Harry grabs a wounded man, and carries him on his shoulders.
"Come on, kids! We have to go!" Amanda guides all the children towards the other end of the tunnel. Martha assists her as best she can.
"Mommy! Troy!" Amy is crying.
"Don't worry Amy! You go on ahead!" Troy tries his best to carry one of the wounded.
"I... help too..." Chappy grabs one of the wounded, and follows Troy. He looks at the man he was holding. "You look like Mister Keen. I once was good man, worked for mister Keen. I was smarty man... till I lost my mind... lived in a mental hospital that Reagan closed down..."
"Joe! What's going on upstairs?" Jodie runs alongside the male soldier.
"Like five Megazords showed up! Higher ups say there's gonna be a HUGE brawl coming up! Orders are to evacuate the city, save as many civilians as possible! ALL units are to help with the evacuation"
"We can't beat them, can we?" Jodie despairs.
"The Power Rangers...are invincible. We're at their mercy." Joe tries his best to fight the tears.
Chappy watches the people helping each other out. A thought enters his mind. For the first time in years, the voices in his head are silenced, allowing him to think coherently. "Even in our darkest hour, mankind is never in a shortage of heroes."
Meanwhile...
The Poseidon Megazord was confronting the Rescue Megazord. Bella tried her best to remain composed, keeping her team together.
Beneath the Rescue Megazord's feet lay the bodies of several people that were killed much earlier. One of these is a woman, aged about Thirty or so. Her purse is open, revealing her driver's license. It reads: Susan Storms...