Power Rangers: Public Enemies

Final Chapter: Twilight has passed, and the darkness of the night is tamed by the radiant light of a new dawn

(Author's note: This is the final chapter, but there will be an epilogue, which will hint at two new sequels I've already planned out.)

"...guys, this is amazing, floating up here in space, staring at that big blue ball floating by in this huge, huge dark void. I see the oceans of our beautiful planet, and I have never seen them so calm, so blue, so beautiful. I can see the clouds and they are as white as snow, no gray clouds or black clouds from way up here, guys." John Hill's voice reached out across generations via an old tape that was playing. Lionel Smash listens intently to the recorder his grandfather, John, had left him, before he passed away. His face in tears, he sits in his kitchen, alone in the world.

"It's kind of hard to believe this, but...I keep looking at the continents, and I can't tell where each country ends or begins. I see South America, but it just looks like a giant land mass, not a collection of countries like in the almanacs we used in school. In fact, yesterday, I saw the continent of Europe, and I couldn't believe what I saw. I saw, just like today, a continent, just a continent. I couldn't tell where France was, or where East Germany and West Germany were separated...I couldn't even tell where the Soviet Union began..." John Hill sighs at this moment. The voice of Yuri Patlov says something in Russian, but Lionel can't understand what he says.

"I look at this world below me, and I can't help but realize something. Guys, we're alone here, all of us, we have all lived all our existence in this big blue ball that floats in a darkness. The entirety of our existence has been tied to that one little ball in the sky. We humans are to the entire Universe what a grain of sand is to the beaches of the world. So...why? Why do we keep trying to kill each other? I mean, by God, look at us. Here we are, alone in the Universe, no one to talk to but ourselves, and what are we doing? We're holding nukes above our heads, for no reason..." John Hill's voice gets angrier at this point, but it also sounds as if he is holding tears. Yuri Patlov says something at this point, again in Russian. The evident tenderness in his voice suggests he was speaking to someone he held dearly.

"Look at us, trying to kill each other over and over again. We've been doing that since the dawn of time, and always for no good reason. The first murder was because of sibling jealousy, for God's sake! We've been... I'm sick of wars. I'm sick of the Vietnam War, sick of the Cold War, sick of EVERY war ever! If it were up to me, maybe..." At this moment, John Hill breaks into sobs.

"Friend John Hill, please remembering. I believing that there are good people like there are bad people on home. In home of Omsk, there are lots of different peoples. There are some who open homes to the cold and hungry, like there are those who refuse work. I join the Party because I think Communism is answer for problems. All I know is what grandpa told me. Before Communism childrens walked barefoot. After Communism, shoes. I thought World still barefoot, still hungry. I did it for others, not for myself, because I think there are good people in World, and good is more than bad." The rest of Yuri Patlov's speech is in Russian, and clearly directed at whoever was listening at the other end of this communication.

"You're right, Yuri. Thanks. I think that too. I think there are good people in the World too. And even though there are also bad people, the good are worth more than the bad. My grandfather, Albert Tobias Hill, gave his life in World War 1, the War to End All Wars, so that my dad could live. My dad , Joshua Hill, died in the war that came after that one, World War 2. He died fighting those Nazis, giving his life...for me. Look at us all, we are all here thanks to the sacrifices of men like my father and grandfather. For my tomorrow, they gave their today...I have a today to give too. It's our turn. I hope, guys, that you can live to see a world free from nuclear danger, free from wars and poverty, free from intolerance and hate. A world where kids can grow up happy and safe, a world where a man and a woman an raise a child safely, a world where the black man and the white can live side by side as equals. A unified world, free from war, without nukes, without East or West, without borders. Tell the kids, for their tomorrow, many brave men gave their today." Lionel turns off the tape at that moment. Tears streaming down his face, he stares at his American flag. The message he had just played was recorded in 1969, six years before the end of the Vietnam War, twenty two years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, twenty four years before Rita Repulsa, Twenty nine years before the Countdown to Destruction, and forty two years before The Darkest Day.Between the moment that message was recorded and this very day there had been at least eight more wars, three more nuclear scares, at least two more genocides, dozens of ethnic conflicts...and the Darkest Day. Lionel Smash just collapses unto the floor merely thinking about it.

It's been a week since The Darkest Day. It's been a week since a billion people lost their lives to Baal. It's been a week since humanity had been forced to stare at the face of death, and live. It's been a week since every nation in the world merely collapsed with no way of maintaining their infrastructures. It has been a week since SPD had arrived on Earth after having saved it. It's been a week since they had abolished the world's national borders. A year from now, the world will remember that day with much solemnity. A decade from now, when life has become much more comfortable, television stations the world over will run specials detailing this day. Thirty years from now, school children will fall asleep in class as they are given a boring lecture on the importance of the Darkest Day. Fifty years from now, many children and adults will weep upon seeing the images of the places destroyed by Baal. But, for now, humanity can think of little else save for that awful day.

President George Sears was, like every other leader in the world, allowed to finish his tenure. As the last President of the United States, he decided the rest of his presideny would be spent fixing the damages done to America during the Darkest Day. There is no more room for politics, no more room for pundits, for Left or Right, Conservative or Liberal. The days of elections, of God Bless America and all that nonsense, that's over. George Sears sighs, thinking about if there was any way he could leave anything resembling a legacy. He looks over at his old desk, and chuckles at how everything he had done until now had been completely undone by a single day. Two hundred years of History, gone. He looks at all the bills he had signed. There's the Ranger Act, signed with his name. He reads it. He suddenly gains an idea...

Wade Miles looks at his son for the last time. Bed ridden and dying of radiation he had sustained from the bomb that destroyed Briarwood, he considers it Heaven's Justice that he dies along with the age he had helped bring to an end. He holds on to his Christian faith that, with his repentance, God will forgive him, but he does not fool himself. He knows what he has done is not at all easy to forgive, and when he dies and faces Him, he will have much to answer for. His only regret is not being able to hold his son one last time. Tears stream down his face as he watches his only son, Henry, struggle desperately against the doctors that are trying to take him away from the glass pane that separated him from his father. Wade can't move, all he can do is cry. Henry cries as well, desperately pleading with the doctors to let him be with his father. Wade himself is barely recognizable. His teeth have fallen, his hair is completely gone, his skin is sickly and full of tumors, his gums continously bleed, his eyes are dull and lack any sign of life. He watches helplessly as the doctors take away his son, knowing fully well that, as soon as he dies, Henry will be taken to a Foster Home, where he will grow up as just another kid in the System. That is when Wade remembers: there is no more United States. There is no more Social Services to send his son to a Foster Home, no more System to take care of him. His heart collapses from sorrow and regret, drawing his final breath, he attempts to voice his regret, but is unable. Flatline...

Jason sighs, looking at the ocean. Here he is, standing on a bridge overlooking the bay. He's thinking about it...

"No matter what, there's no guarantee that anything will get better." Tears fall down his face. This is his darkest hour. "I can't...I can't accept that I'm the last one...Why did I survive? Why am I still here? Why wasn't I with them?"

Jason attempts to climb over the railing. The soft breeze blowing in his facem the gorgeous sunset shining across the ocean as if begging him to reconsider. "I know I made a deal...but I just... I can't..."

"Hey!" Jason is surprised when someone grabs him and pushes him back unto the bridge. "You crazy? What the hell you trying to kill yourself for? You trying to take the fucking easy way out?"

"Huh?" Jason looks up and sees a young police officer looming angrily over him. However, the young man still offers to help Jason up.

"The hell is wrong with your life, dude? I don't know what's wrong with you, but suicide is NOT the answer!"

"I'm...alone..." Jason tears up again. "My friends...they're all dead..."

"I'm sorry." The young officer pats Jason on the shoulder. "I'm really sorry..."

"They died...last week..." Jason looks away.

"My God..." The young officer looks stunned. His badge reads 'L. Tate'. "Look...I know...it's hard. Believe me, I lost some friends too, in the line of duty...It always hurts...but killing yourself is not the answer. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

"Thanks..." Jason takes out his Morpher, thinking about happier times. He does not notice how Officer Tate's mouth hangs open upon seeing it.

"DUDE! YOU! You're the Red Ranger!" Officer Tate starts jumping around like a school boy. "You're my hero, man!"

"Huh?"

"Dude, you're the...you're the reason I ever became a cop! You're my idol, man!" Officer Tate jumps up and down like a fanboy. "Oh my God, you have GOT to meet my family! They are gonna FLIP when they see you!"

"No...I'm no one worth meeting." Jason looks away. "I'm no hero..."

"Dude..." Officer Tate grabs Jason by the shoulder. "You, the Mighty Morphing Red Ranger, were my inspiration when I was a kid. Whenever I was bullied at school, I'd think to what you would do, and summoned the courage to stand up to those bullies. Because you always inspired me to be the best I can be, I passed High School when no one else thought I ever could. I became a Cop only because I couldn't yet become a Power Ranger. You're my hero, sir. And, truth is, I still want to be a Power Ranger, even after all that's happened..."

"It's...I think..."

"I want to be the best I can be. And I know I can be a great Power Ranger if I try hard enough. I know this, because six years ago, you told me. Remember? You were at my city, as the Red Ranger, giving a speech on how we could be the best we could be if we gave it our all. That was the day..." Officer Tate looks down on the beach. "I have a kid, you know. Named him Schuyler, after my father in law. I hope you can be his hero too, as you are to me."

"No, Officer." Jason pats him on the shoulder, smiling. "I hope his hero will be you. Thanks...you've cheered me up."

Suddenly, there's a scream! A giant fish monster appears on the beach, terrorizing the citizens!

"This is Officer Tate, we have an emergency at the beach! It's a giant fish monster! He..." Officer Tate watches as Jason steps forward, Morpher at the ready.

"Stand down officer, let me show you how it's done!" Jason Morphs into the Mighty Morphing Red Ranger and rushes towards the fish monster! The woman who had screamed earlier watches in admiration as Jason defeats the monster.

"Wow..." The woman stares in amazement. "What a man..."

Having defeated the fish monster with ease, Jason lets out a sigh. It's not as fun as it used to be. But, something amazing happens. Everyone who had witnessed the battle suddenly began to cheer. Officer Tate was cheering the loudest of them all. The only person who was not cheering was the woman from earlier, who was staring at Jason with her mouth open. She approaches him.

"Hi..." She's shy. "You were incredible out there...uh...I'm Janet. Janet West."

"Jason Lee Scott." Jason blushes madly. It's not enough that Janet is absolutely stunning, she's wearing a bikini to boot. They shake hands...

About a week later, when Jason and Janet had just finished making love for the first time, the mail arrives. There were several letters. Jason walked over to get them and he was stunned at what had arrived. Several letters from the surviving Rangers, each saying the same thing:

"You're not alone. Call me when you need me."