"Ray!" Hilary screamed from the sidelines, helpless to do anything but watch.
Flames engulfed him, the plating disintegrating as the heat stripped them from his body. The gauntlets shattered, the thrusters bursting apart in a rain of fresh debris. By the time Ray hit the ground, any remnant of the armor now wafted to the sky as remnants of the smoke.
And all could do was lie there.
His world was turning black, eyes refusing to open as his body no longer obeyed his commands. He could feel his suit still on him, the air nipping at his skin through the tears, and by now he guessed if he could even open his eyes, the crack in his visor would have shattered into a gaping hole. Every inch of him throbbed, aching with desperate begs to stop, his chest twinging with every breath.
His ears were muffling, trying to drown out the ringing as all other noise slowly pulled itself from what felt like cushioning cotton. But as it did, Ray wished he'd stayed deaf.
"…to defeat me? Is this all you can muster?"
With a groan, Ray slowly pulled up his head and peeked through the hole in his helmet. Gideon stood there, the center of the crater, steam wisping from his body as he crowed before the Rangers. His arms were open, smile sickeningly broad in full celebration of his victory.
"And here it ends!" he cheered. "In the ruins of your stronghold, your greatest warrior broken and defeated. Here, I will finally bring an end to the Power Rangers!"
He felt a hand on his back, a soft shaking in desperation.
"Ray?" it was Hilary, panic seeping from her voice. "Ray, please be okay!"
"I wouldn't worry, Yellow Ranger," Gideon sneered. "You'll all be sharing the same fate soon enough. Your battle was admirable, your defense noted. But there was nothing you could do to stand in my way. Not forever. My victory, my ascension; it was inevitable!"
"You're wrong…"
Hilary gasped as the wheezing defiance past Ray's lips, Gideon's face contorting to angered confusion as he heard the Ranger speak again. With all his strength, every movement fighting him and begging him to stay down, Ray's fist clenched tight as he rose. He pulled himself tall, despite the protests of his back, as without a word his battered teammates took his queue and turned with him. Then he stepped, more limping than he'd have liked, as the Rangers formed ranks and stood together.
Together in defiance.
To the very end.
"You can't defeat the Power Rangers," Ray said proudly. "Because there'll always be Rangers."
"There'll always be people to take you down!" Hilary agreed.
"Prepared to fight for what's right!" Ben announced.
In lockstep, Johnny stepped forward, thumb pointing right to his chest. "We'll always hold strong in the face of evil!"
"We'll never give up!" Jake declared.
"And when you think you've brought us down," Kyle warned. "We'll always get back up!"
"Because once a Ranger," Ray declared.
"ALWAYS A RANGER!"
Ray's heart was pounding, adrenaline racing through every limb as his pain began to numb and he stood beside his friends. His team, his strength; his rock. Gideon glowered, eyes narrowing as the six stood before him again, Ranger suits torn, and helmets cracked, all of them hunched to brace their battered bodies. But standing they remained.
And remaining they would until they dropped for good.
"Foolish," Gideon snarled. "But if you're so determined to meet your end, so be it."
"Ray?" Ben hissed. "You got a plan to go along with that speech?"
His eyes scanned the wreckage, now surrounded by ruins caused by the ricochets and rebounds from his energy clash. But through the rubble, he spied Doc, hunched beside some ruined concrete and in sprinting range of the Digitizer.
In a moment, they locked eyes. A single second, barely more than breath, of shared understanding.
And they nodded.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "We're going to hit him with everything we've got."
"That's the plan of attack?" Johnny realized. "'Attack'?"
But Hilary placed her hand on the Black Ranger's shoulder, nodding at her boyfriend. Their leader.
"We're with you," she affirmed. "Let's do it."
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "We've got your back!"
"Whatever it takes," said Kyle.
Ray took another look at Gideon, already bracing for another round. Exactly what he needed.
"Then let's put it together!"
"RIGHT!"
Their weapons flashed to their hands, the team spinning around each other as they locked the blaster piece in place. Hammer and Axe, locked together, the staff folded around with sais gripping at the sides, the swords combined, shunting the middle as they aimed the completed cannon at their foe.
"DATA BLASTER!" they declared as one. "HYPER MODE!"
"This again?" Gideon scoffed. "I suppose that repeated action is the definition of insanity."
Lightning began to curl in his fists.
Good.
"When we fire, keep it going," Ray told them. "You've got to hold on, no matter what. Whatever it takes."
"Got it," Ben confirmed.
"'Til the end of the line," Johnny nodded.
With the team ready, they braced against the canon, Ray resting his finger on the trigger. "FIRE!"
The blaster erupted, a continuous beam of energy searing across the sky toward Gideon. Gideon's lips curled to snicker as it fired, lightning crackling around his fists as he unfurled a striking bolt to meet it. The two beams clashed, bulging where they met in a mid-air collision. Even bracing, the Rangers shifted back, the force dragging as their feet skidded on the dirt.
But still, they held.
The ground began to shake, wind rushing from the center of the blast as neither side relented and the ground continued to tear apart beneath them.
"FOOLS!" Gideon bellowed. "How many times must you fall? How many times must you see the extent of my power?"
"We get it!" Johnny yelled back. "You're big and tough!"
The whole blaster was shaking, shuddering in their hands as they funneled their power to come torrenting from the barrel. The twisted helix of six-colored light kept pushing on, brashly charging in defiance of Gideon's attack. But in the center, neither beam was gaining ground, both locked in conflict as the glowing ball of energy only grew.
Just as Ray had hoped.
"Keep pushing!" he ordered, pushing more and more of his power into the weapon as the others did the same beside him.
"YOU THINK THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES TO DEFEAT ME?" Gideon roared. "HAVE YOU TRULY LEARNED NOTHING?"
His hand snapped away, again reaching to the Digitizer to pull more power from it. The energy snapped to his command, sizzling into a blinding chain as it surged through his body out into the colliding blast. The clash in the center grew, forcing the Rangers' blast backward as they used all their might to keep their ground.
But still, they continued.
"KEEP GOING!" Ray commanded, and the others obeyed without question. They were in this together. All of them to end.
But their power was draining, the force of the blast ripping at the nano-fibers as every ounce of data flowed from them into the cannon. Their suits were vanishing, helmets cracking as the six stood strong against Gideon's enveloping hurricane. They were holding, but it wouldn't be for long.
Trusting his team to hold, Ray dared a look at the Digitizer. The light was practically seeping from it, blinding lilac flowing in all directions like a plume of water in a fountain. The build-up, it was too much. It was going to blow, and Ray was going to help it along.
Eyes drifting, he caught Doc, having again dived as Gideon drew from the machine, the two shared a look.
It was time.
"Guys!" Ray warned them. "On my count, we're going to move the beam!"
"We're going to what?" Johnny demanded.
"Just trust me!"
"We've got you, Ray!" Ben affirmed.
"On your mark!" Jake agreed.
Gritting his teeth, Ray tightened his grip, drawing on the final reserves of his power and throwing everything into the clash. Gideon cackled below them, lighting only growing in size and intensity as he drew more and more from the Digitizer, forcing the Rangers back, inch by inch.
"THIS WILL BE YOUR END! AT LAST, I WILL BRING ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE THORN IN MY SIDE! THE COMPLETE OBLITERATION OF THE POWER RANGERS!"
Barely a week ago, Doc had warned them of the Digitizer's risks, of what would happen if they pushed it to its limit.
"… We can't risk it overloading. It would pulse."
Bigger than the night they got their powers.
"… If the Digitizer overloads with this much buildup, it would be more than a wave of Digital energy. It would be electromagnetic, frying every device in the vicinity."
They'd seen it happen before, mere hours earlier when a mighty burst had ripped apart everything digital. Everything in Kelgar.
"The Zords have a manual deletion protocol, a mass purge sequence that'll unleash a burst of digital energy as they flush everything from their systems. Get close enough to Kelgar, and it should delete his absorbed data as well!"
Right now, all that energy was in one spot, tethering Gideon to Rangers. His powers, their powers; all of it.
And it was ripe for the picking.
"NOW!"
With all their might, the Ranger heaved the weapon around, beam still surging as it carved through the ground. With their beams still linked, Gideon's lightning followed, energy too intertwined to disconnect. He didn't realize until it was too late. With all their might, the Rangers swung the cannon, the combined energy slicing through the air as it surged toward their new target.
The Digitizer.
"NO!" Gideon screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Then the canon's beam collided with the machine and carved through its form.
An earth-shattering boom erupted from the impact, flames unfurling in a blazing bloom that unleashed a shockwave like a tidal surge. With its casing shattered, the Digital Energy had nowhere to go; nowhere but out, and a split second later, the pulse followed. It blossomed into a lilac dome, shattering outward in a dazzling display. In the crater Gideon shrieked, hands shielding his face as he whimpered, almost begging it not to come as it reached and consumed him.
Ray looked away from his enemy to share a look with his friends, a moment no longer than a heartbeat and yet a moment he would have held forever, and all shared a glance of acceptance as they braced for the pulse to come. Their helmets were gone, their faces covered in cuts and bruises. But all of them were in agreement; they were ready. Ready to be hit as well. And then, in the blink of an eye, it hit them.
The cannon shattered in their hands, ripping from their feet and hurling them back as the pulse enveloped them completely. Blinding light pummeled Ray's vision, now in helpless freefall and completely at the mercy of the flinging force and gravity. His suit was torn from his body, shredded by the merciless energy of Digitizer, the final ounces of his power sapping away.
And then, it was as if time had stopped; like he was floating, drifting on a breeze as he felt the last strands of power within his grasp. The final strands of the grid unlatched themselves as they pulled away. Ray reached out, almost on instinct, like the hand of a departing friend.
A friend he'd miss forever.
And then it was gone.
In a final flash, the pulse vanished, gravity taking hold and hurling them to the ground. He thudded and bounced, rolling along the concrete as his suit, not his Ranger one, gathered up the dust beneath him. Then, as at last he finished rolling and fresh bruises ached all up his body, something clattered on the ground in front of him.
It was his Morpher.
With his wheeze from his painful chest, Ra y slowly crawled to his feet and stared at the device on the ground. The screen was shattered, and parts of the outer red casing were blacked and broken as if something had burst out from within. Nothing now but a hunk of ruined electronics.
Off to the side, he heard a groan, a soft whimper at an unexpected bruise.
Hilary!
Ray rushed to her side, finding her lying across the sundered concrete, her long gold dress now dirty and torn, and her bare arms sporting bruises all the way along. He probably didn't look any better.
"Hey," Ray said, kneeling to gently place his hand on her shoulder, desperate to not let the panic seep into his voice before it was needed. Hilary rolled over, wheezing to take the weight off her chest as she looked up at her boyfriend in a daze. Her lips slowly rose into a soft, welcoming smile.
"Hi," she replied, staring back at him with her deep, mystifying blues.
But the moment between them was cut by the sound of shifting rubble, more grunts of injury as his head whipped around to see the others regaining their footing. All of them looked just as bad, their fancy formalwear ripped and ruined. But they were okay; they all were.
At last, Ray let go a sigh of relief, morphing into a laugh and then a cough as his chest protested. Taking Hilary's hand, he helped her to her feet, and the two hobbled over toward the rest of their team.
"Everyone all right?" Ray asked.
"Yeah," replied Jake. "I think."
"Okay, here," Kyle confirmed.
"I mean, I've definitely been better," Ben noted with a weary grin. "But I'm still in one piece."
"I'm good," finished Johnny, his face shifting into confusion as if trying to explain something, a sensation that no words existed for. "I feel kind of… empty."
"Well," Jake admitted, pulling a face as he held up his own ruined Morpher. "It might have something to do with this."
"They're really gone?" Ben realized. "Our powers?"
"Seems that way," Hilary confirmed. "I don't think anything's getting these things back online."
"So, our powers are gone," Kyle recounted. "But what about…?"
The air was silent, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. With a single look of shared importance, the Rangers hurried to the edge of the crater. But any concerns that lingered were eased when they saw what awaited them.
Gideon, or the man who once had been.
A figure lay at the center, flat on his back, limbs splayed outwards as he stared blankly at the night sky. His clothes were large and baggy, his hair still red but devoid of the blazing hue. With a pitiful wheeze, he rolled, flumping to his hands and knees to slowly crawl from the site. The attempt foiled was by a warning shot, a single red beam from Ray's eyes that bounced off the rock beside his head. Gideon froze, hands shaking as he slowly turned, eyes wide with fright as he saw what stood before him.
All six, standing above him, looming menacingly like they were ready for more. Gideon's jaw dropped, hands slowly raising in a desperate bid for mercy.
"Now," Ray grinned. "About that surrender…
The military moved in fast after that. They'd seen the pulse light up the sky, refusing to avoid risk any longer and descending on the site. By the time they'd encircled the crater, the Rangers were standing proudly with sad and defeated Gideon in front. Freeman wasted no time ordering his men to throw on the cuffs.
"All right, Tony," Freeman laughed as he steered the criminal over towards the encircling cars. "Let's go for a ride, shall we?"
As the soldiers led him away, Gideon turned his head, taking one last look at the Rangers with a hateful glare.
"Just to think," Hilary giggled. "He might have gotten away with it if it wasn't for us meddling kids."
The six of them cackled with glee as their humiliated nemesis was carted away.
Having pulled himself from the rubble, Doc made his way to the Rangers, beaming with pride. "You got my message!"
But all Ray could do was shrug bashfully. "I figured it out."
"So, what about our Morphers?" Jake asked. "Think you can fix them?"
Doc looked over to the device in their hands, eyes softly lamenting at their crumbling forms.
"I could," he admitted, "But with the Digitizer gone, there'd be nothing to make them work. They'd just be fancy pieces of electronics, with no connection to the grid."
"Besides," Freeman added. "With Gideon finally out of the picture, I suppose you won't really need them anymore."
Gideon gone, no more powers. It was all over. Freeman was right; they wouldn't.
"You know, it's funny," Johnny admitted. "Barely two weeks ago we were all talking about how we couldn't give this up. But I guess we don't have a choice now."
"We still had a fight then," Jake pointed out. "But now…"
"It's really over, isn't it?" Ben realized.
And yet, this time it felt different, even to that morning when they had only thought that it was over. Maybe it was the adrenaline crash or the throbbing bruises that cloaked every muscle and joint, but as Ray looked back at his friends, he felt at ease. A tranquil calm at the thought of it all finally finishing. And from the smiles on their faces, he could tell the others felt the same.
"Your country owes you a great debt," Freeman told them.
"And I owe you a personal one," Doc agreed. "Before all this started, months ago, I didn't think I had a prayer's chance at stopping Gideon. And then five of you came crashing into my warehouse."
"We had a good guide," Hilary noted.
"Plenty of sage advice," Ben agreed.
"And you know," Kyle chuckled. "A not-too-bad roommate."
One by one, they laughed and nodded. They could do this, the sudden and forced retirement. And now it was time for them to discover who they were without it.
"Sorry about your night," said Freeman. "I know you only ever get one senior prom."
But as he said it, a creeping smile crept to Ray's lips, a daring idea as he looked to the others. Each one of them with the same, cheeky smile.
"I mean," Ray decided as he turned back to the lieutenant. "We do have something to celebrate…"
"All right, everybody!" Kira called into the microphone, "That's most of the country sweetheart, Taylor Swift. Why don't we kick things up with some Avril?"
Nodding to her guitarist, the musician ripped out the opening chords of Sk8ter Boi as they began their third impromptu cover set.
Parting the doors, Ben and Jake hurried back in, searching for their abandoned dates. Both girls were by the punch table, eagerly engaged in excited conversation. As Ben and Jake braced themselves, uncertain how they were going to explain either their sudden disappearance or their shambled states, neither girl looked the least bit bothered as they arrived.
They looked amused.
"So," Josie asked slyly. "Where did you boys run off to?"
Their looks were expectant, arms folded across their chests as the boys glanced nervously at each other.
"Well…" Jake began.
"Hilary tried skipping the line for the bathroom," Ben decided.
"….and she didn't realize that the second-floor doors lock from the outside…"
"…So being a good big brother I ran to help get her out…"
"…and I know that he doesn't always think things through, so I went with him…"
"… anyway in an attempt to get Hilary out we got locked in ourselves…"
"…leaving the drainpipe the only way out…"
" …and so then we had to climb down it," Ben finished. "And help Hilary too."
For a moment, just one, it looked like they bought it. And then, Josie's eyes flicked to Sam's, and both girls' composures shattered as they burst into laughter.
"You got locked…" Josie wheezed between her chortles. "…on the second floor!"
"…And you climbed down!" Sam cried, leaning on her shoulder.
Both boys could stare as their two dates embraced in a fit of hysterics, mouths gaping as they tried to comprehend what was happening.
"Oh boy," Sam decided, wiping a tear from her eye. "That's too good."
"So," Josie grinned. "You guys get the bad guy?"
Then their jaws really dropped.
"Wait," Jake stammered. "You know?"
"Oh please," Josie scoffed. "You're telling me that you and I got attacked by killer robots for no reason, you happen to be a kung-fu prodigy, and the other Power Rangers knew exactly where to find and save us?"
"Ummm…?" Jake shot a desperate look to Ben, who in turn could only shrug in equal confusion.
"Wait, hang on," Ben pointed at Sam. "So how do you know?"
"Oh, the whole school knows," Sam chuckled. "We've had a fun time trying to guess who figured it out and when."
"Yeah," Josie admitted. "You guys aren't that subtle."
"Always going to the bathroom whenever robots attack the school," noted Sam.
"How they only ever attacked the Shak when you guys were in there," Josie added.
"Or that you'd always have some sort of emergency requiring you to leave at the same time."
"Hang on," Ben replied. "If you all knew, how come no one said anything?"
Then it was the girls' turn to be sheepish, looking somewhat bashful as Josie finally fronted up to the truth.
"You guys were doing so much good," she replied. "Helping the city. You obviously didn't want it getting around, so we kind of kept it to ourselves."
"It was the least we could do," Sam agreed.
Confidence restored, Jake stepped over and offered his elbow to Josie.
"Well then, Miss Pierce," he grinned. "May I have this dance, to make up for lost time?"
"I would gladly," she giggled.
Her arm looped into Jake's, being whisked off immediately to leave a still-stunned Ben behind.
"So, tell me," he grinned as they hit the floor. "Was it finding out that I was Ranger that convinced you to give me a chance?"
"Oh no, that put me off big time," Josie admitted. "Those robots were really dangerous! You're just lucky you're cute."
"Works every time."
As Jake and Josie tore it up, Ben and Sam walked over to the drinks table where Kyle had been approached by Bulk and Skull. The jaws of the two café owners dropped as they saw their state.
"What happened to you guys?" Bulk gasped.
"Yeah," added Skull, "You look like you just ran a marathon."
"Ran into some old friends," Ben told them, "But they're gone now."
"For good," Kyle added.
"Wow, Mr. Mason," Sam giggled. "That must have been some problem you had to run off and deal with."
Kyle was about to stammer out a reply when Ben cut him off. "I'll save you the embarrassing excuse," he said. "She knows. Apparently, everyone does."
"Ditch me on prom night, and then ruin my fun," Sam laughed. "Some date you are."
And then she turned back to Kyle.
"In all seriousness Mr. Mason," she said sincerely. "Thank you for helping keep us safe."
"Uhh…" Kyle said nervously. "Just doing my job, kid."
"Speaking of jobs," enquired Skull. "Thinking of sticking around to teach high school?"
"Honestly?" he admitted, "I don't think I'd thought that far ahead. But Wes did mention something about the Silver Guardians while he was there, and there is another matter I need to sort out with them. So maybe I'll start there?"
"Well, with your experience" Bulk grinned. "They'd snap you up in a second."
Meanwhile, Samantha had clearly decided she'd had enough talking as she began eagerly eyeing the dancefloor.
"Now, Mr. Heroic," Sam decided, slapping Ben's hand on her arm and dragging him away. "You have some lost time to make up for."
Ben grinned back, shooting a look at the table.
"Hey, what can you do?" he grinned. "Duty calls."
With the music pumping, the two grooved and moved across the floor, joining Josie and Jake in the center, joining with their smugly knowing cohort to dance the night away. Joining in the celebration of the end of an era.
They'd made it.
Backstage, Ray and Johnny raced to the greenroom, greeted by an amused Gary and Travis sitting on the gear cases.
"Guys," Ray said pleadingly. "We're so sorry."
"You know we wouldn't miss this thing unless it was it was an emergency," Johnny insisted.
"I mean, come on," Ray added. "Johnny's sister's playing, there's no way we'd miss that unless it was an-"
"Guys?"
The boys whipped around, seeing Hilary standing at the stage door, holding her phone in her hand and pointing to a text from Kyle. "They know."
Then in a single motion, Ray and Johnny whipped around, eyes bulging in unison as both of them exclaimed.
"What?!"
And neither the drummer nor bass player could hide their amusement.
"Oh yeah," Travis confirmed. "We were the first to know."
"Did you think we wouldn't get suspicious of both of you guys skipping practice right as there was a monster attack?" Gary prodded.
"Without fail?" Travis added.
"Without fail."
Stammering, Ray and Johnny looked at each other, gasping as they also looked back to Hilary. As the blonde teen shrugged in uncertainty, Gary grinned and put his arms around the pair of them.
"We can talk about it later," he explained. "Right now, we have a crowd waiting." And with that he hurried to pick up his bass, signaling to Kira on stage that at last Ray and Johnny had arrived.
"I better go thank her with everything I've got," Johnny decided, noticing Hilary slowly sidling up to the stage curtains. "I'll give you two a moment."
He scurried away, less than subtly leaving Ray alone with his girlfriend. Hilary's arm slowly wrapped around his waist, her head falling into his chest as Ray turned into her embrace.
"It's over," she said softly. "It's really over."
"Yeah," he agreed. "It really is…"
They stood there in silence, softly swaying as Kira strummed the final bars of Complicated and the crowd gave a final cheer.
"You think it will change things?" Hilary asked him. "With us? Now that we're not Rangers anymore? For good, this time?"
Ray's breath caught in his throat, his heart skipping a beat as he realized he didn't know how to answer. Being Rangers was what brought them together and awakened the courage to act on the feelings buried inside. What did it mean for them now their powers were gone for good?
"I don't know," Ray admitted. "But I'm willing to find out if you are."
Hilary's face lit up, beautiful and perfect, still with every gash and bruise that mirrored his own. Grabbing Ray's tie, she yanked him into a deep and tender kiss before she pulled him deeper still.
"You know it." She grinned, as at least she pulled back for a breath.
A breath that Ray stole just as quickly, kissing her back as the two held each other tight.
"Uh, guys?"
The two whipped around, heads parting as they realized Johnny and the band were staring at them.
"We've kind of got a crowd waiting," he pointed out nervously.
Hilary's checks flushed scarlet, and Ray realized he must have been doing the same as warmth pickled his own. "Right," he acknowledged awkwardly. "Sorry."
But as Johnny handed over the red Stratocaster, Hilary's hand shot out to take Ray's and pull him back for one last moment.
"Ray," she said gratefully. "Thanks for coming back for me."
"Of course," Ray replied. "Thanks for having my back."
"Okay, guys!" boomed Kira's voice through the speakers. "Now without further ado, hopefully, here are your school's finest musicians, The Argonauts!"
Hilary's face softened, and as lips parted into a loving smile that could have melted him on the spot, she said the words he'd longed to hear. Words he knew she could never take back; and he'd never want her to.
"Always," she said to him. "I love you."
With a last, final second before leaping to the stage, Ray reached out and pulled her in, heart roaring with triumph as he kissed her. As he finally pulled away, Hilary almost followed, eyes closed and pressing upwards on her toes up for her lips to keep going.
"I love you too," Ray smiled.
And then, as Hilary looked like she might faint, he finally released her hand and leaped out onto the stage to greet the crowd.
But what met them was silence. Ray knew he looked a mess, down to his red shirt and tie, sleeves rolled up with his ruined jacket abandoned. Beside him, Johnny had done the same, waistcoat hanging open and the top button popped. But as Ray stepped up to the mic, hearing the sudden feedback as the speaker caught his pickups, he realized that all eyes were watching.
Waiting.
He shot a look to Gary, who only gave a smug, affirming nod to confirm the sinking realization. A realization confirmed as a lone voice cut through tense silence, a question called deep within the body. "…Did you win?"
So, everyone really did know.
Without helping it, Ray let out a laugh, shooting a look to Hilary on the sidelines, and then Johnny on the stage. Out in the crowd, he could just make out the shapes of Ben and Jake at the center of the dance floor, both holding up agreeing thumbs up.
Well, guess it really was out of the bag.
"Yeah," Ray announced for all the hall to hear. "We won."
The crowd went wild. Screaming cheers of celebration echoed off the walls, a cacophonous elation that bounded out at him like a towering tsunami. All of them, their friends, their cohort. All of them had been rooting for them to win. The very people they'd been fighting for.
With a grin spreading from ear to ear, Ray raised a hand for the crowd to settle. The buzz only quietened, but enough for him to address them. As the cheering finally settled, Ray
"Cranston City High," he announced. "It's been quite a year!"
Again, the crowd erupted, cheering and chanting as feet began to rumble on the gym floor. Kira and Hilary were beaming backstage, and over at the drinks table, Kyle was grinning with both Bulk and Skull. Those two were smiling broad enough for everyone. Out in the center of the mass, Ben and Jake cheered, arms around their dates as the anticipation grew. Then standing in the doorway, he caught a glimpse of Doc, leaning against the frame where he assumed he was out of view. But as he joined the crowd in applause, Dr Julian Benson beamed like he was the proudest man on earth. The man who had changed their lives. And they, in turn, his.
Finally, he looked over to Johnny next to him, guitar in hand, ready to start the set.
"Just before we play, we'd just like to say a big thank you to every one of you," Ray announced, as at last, the audience settled. "To those whom we sit with in class, talk to in the locker room, play with on a team. And most importantly, for us at least, those that come to our shows. Cranston High would not be the place it is without the people inside it. Every bit of that, we owe to you. This one goes out to you, Cranston High, Class of 09!
Then he nodded to Johnny, who slammed the opening chords. The crowd cheered as the distortion hit their ears, leaping into an excited mosh that bounced in time to their rhythm. As Ray hit his notes, the rest of the band followed, jamming in their vibe as, at last, he stepped up to sing:
"Baby, get a little closer;
These are the days that we will never top.
But these times will change, and this will never stay the same."
"Let's go! Let's go!" cheered Johnny into his mic, revving the audience to follow.
"As we're standing toe to toe,
We'll be proud to say that we lived every moment!
These are the days that make us!
These are the times that we can say will change us.
We'll make these times
mean more than life."
"Mean more than life!"
"And if we ever leave this,
At least we know that we were there to witness
All these times.
These are the days that shape our lives!
We're taking everything right into our stride
There won't be anything
That we can leave behind.
We won't rest yet;
We're causing damage like a train wreck, can you see this?
Tell me can you feel this?
Tell me can you feel this?"
"Let's go! Let's go!"
"As we're standing toe to toe
We're gonna live each day,
No matter what comes our way,
We'll always be the ones to say:
These are the days that make us!
These are the times that we can say will change us.
We'll make these times
mean more than life.
"Mean more than life!"
"And if we ever leave this,
At least we know that we're there to witness
All these times.
These are the days that shape our lives!
They hit the breakdown, music thrumming through his veins as his hands gripped the frets. His heart matched the rhythm, livened by the energy of the audience cheering them on. Cheering for them to succeed. The people that he'd fought for.
Gearing up for the final chorus, Ray leaped up to the lightbox, holding the mic up high for the audience to join him.
"THESE ARE THE DAYS THAT MAKE US!" They bellowed.
"THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT WE CAN SAY WILL CHANGE US.
WE'LL MAKE THESE TIMES
MEAN MORE THAN LIFE!"
Then he leaped back, heart alive as Johnny snapped the signaling chord and he belted out for friends.
"And if we ever leave this,
At least we know that we're there to witness
All these times.
These are the days that make us!
These are the times we can say will change us!
We'll make these times!
These are the days that shape our lives!"
The band readied the final chords, gearing up for the finale with the audience singing with him. Ben and Jake were being carried above the crowd, surfing with gleeful delight and their hands in the air without a care. Back on the ground, Josie and Samantha had caught their mood, moves to match their dorky partners as they livened to the electrifying crowd.
"These are the days that shape our lives!"
Life without a Morpher? He'd get there. He'd faced down awful monsters, soulless robots that wanted to whale on him, and a sinister man determined to make his life a living hell. And that was just high school. After being a Ranger, whatever was coming his way would be a piece of cake.
He looked back at Hilary, beaming from the sidelines in eager anticipation. Ready for whatever challenge was coming next. Whatever challenge they'd be taking on together. As Ray hit the final chord, he knew that whatever happened from there on in, whatever would happen, and he and his friends were ready.
Ready to take on the world.
"These are the days that shape our lives!"
The End
Days the Shape Our Lives (2009)
Written and Performed by and with Courtesy of: Me vs Hero
Afterword:
It's crazy to me that I'm here again, posting the final chapter of Power Rangers: Data Squad, just like I did once, fifteen years ago. It's been a long journey, to go back through a work so pivotal to me, to look back on who the young that first wrote this was, and review it with fresh eyes into the story I always wanted it to be. The story that I know hope it was for all of you.
To all of you who have read along, either from the beginning or after jumping, I just to say an amazing thank you. It means so much that my story and my writing were enough to pique your interest and keep you engaged. If you liked what you read, it would mean the world to hear from you. If you don't want to reach out, I get it, but would love to see this story on your favorite lists if you're willing. I'm just thankful that you were willing to read it all, and I hope that the story of Ray, Hilary, Ben, Jake, and Johnny brought as much joy to you in reading as it brought to me in writing.
Thank you all so much.
But where to from here? When I last wrapped this up fifteen years ago, this was where it stopped, but now it's only the beginning. Next year, I'll be publishing a sequel Data Squad, inspired by the rewrite and featuring a whole new generation of Rangers. But don't worry, some of our favorite Data Squad heroes will still be in the thick of it, and the rest aren't far away. I'll be posting at the end of the story when the first chapters of the sequel are live, so feel free to stay subscribed.
What are some of the things you'd want to see? What do you think comes next for teens who once made up the Power Rangers Data Squad? Feel free to leave your guesses and theories in a review. Who knows? You might not be far off from the truth.
But I'm not leaving you with nothing until then, because there's one loose thread that still needs tying off. A loose thread that has the fate of humanity in the balance. So join me again in two weeks, where we find out exactly what Doc did with that letter from the future. Where he and Kyle team up with Time Force and Lightspeed to uncover the sinister secrets of Alphabet Soup.
Coming Soon-
POWER RANGERS
Operation: Timeline Rescue
The Power Rangers will return.