(playing the Romero "Family" song from Ninja Steel) This is more of a perfect choice to use than anything else. (looks at the camera) Sorry this took so long, I had some stressful holidays, crazy workloads, whiny baby family issues, and everything else in between. Anyway, I thought I'd make this chapter a little more special by having this song because in a way, JDF was like family to all the Ranger nation. So this special episode, I dedicate to you, Jason David Frank, a Ranger and icon forever. (pulls Disclaimers over)
Disclaimers: I don't own Power Rangers as it is a product of Hasbro as of May 1, 2018.
(In loving memory of Jason David Frank
Born Sept. 4, 1973 - Died Nov. 19, 2022)
(Rowan's POV)
It had been a pretty crazy time since the "Battle of the Bands", but nothing I didn't completely expect. I think to explain this better, we need to get back to where the kibosh of sorrow started.
It was a few days after we defeated Syrenix, but I had a feeling we weren't done with everything just yet. Something was telling me that everyone was in a lot of danger, or worse… somebody could die.
I had just finished my vlog for the week and laid down to rest a little bit, thinking over the things that had changed since I became a Ranger; I was more of a mentor for everyone else while also learning many things myself, I was working well with everyone else and sharing some sympathies with them, but it was going to be something else that would shake the rest of the Ranger worlds forever.
As I fell asleep and curled up in my bed, I started having a strange dream where I saw several people waiting above in the clouds. A closer look told me that they were past Rangers; Shane, Trini, Udonna, Zenowing, and Master Phant. All of them seemed to be discussing about something, but it was hard to figure out what.
"Uh, guys? What's going on?" I tried to get their attention, but to no avail. "Hello?" I waved my hands, but no one responded.
Suddenly, I saw my surroundings change dramatically to where I was standing in front of the Tribunal of Magic, and I quickly went to them. "Tribunal, what is going on? Why did I see the Rangers who had passed away?"
The Red Magician looked at me. "Because we're afraid another will be joining them soon."
Black nodded to me. "We've spoken with the Morphin' Masters and the time is growing closer. Drayven will make his return, but he will be stronger than the last time."
"Drayven?" I frowned worriedly. "I thought the Ninja Steel team took him out with the help of Tommy and the others!"
"Indeed, but a part of him still lingers within the dimensions, biding his time until he can strike again with a more powerful army than before, an army made up of several former enemies wanting to seek revenge in their own ways as well. It will take your team and several others to finish him off for good, but a sacrifice shall have to be made." White explained to me.
"A sacrifice? What sacrifice? I don't understand!" I shouted worriedly.
"Then you will have to experience it for yourself!" Black warned me.
Red looked at him. "Patience, Black. We may be able to give her a hint of what is to come."
White nodded to her fellow companions and looked at me. "Seek out the Green Ranger of Team Megaforce, and gather allies from other realms. If we are right, the combination will prove enough to destroy the evil of Drayven once and for all. But beware of the loss you and Megaforce Green shall suffer."
I saw the dreamscape fading and looked at them. "But what if I still don't understand?! Wait!" I tried to get to them, but couldn't reach them.
I woke up in a cold sweat and immediately grabbed my phone, calling Talia's number and waiting as the line rang. "Come on, amiga. Pick up, please!"
The answering machine came on the line instead: "Hey, you've reached Talia! I'm probably busy doing something like saving the world or who knows what, so leave a message and I'll get right back to you!"
I hung up and inwardly cursed, knowing that if she didn't have her phone on her, then it was bad news. Quickly I sent a message to Solon to get the group together before I immediately got out of bed, got my shoes and jacket on, and headed downstairs, right into my dad. "Whoa, jeez!"
Dad caught me quickly. "Hey, you tried Talia too, right?"
I nodded quickly. "Yeah, no response. Something bad is gonna happen. I know it. The Tribunal warned me."
He nodded in response. "I got an alert from Kimberly: She went to wake Talia up, couldn't find her anywhere, and her gear was still on her dresser. Let's get to your base. Hopefully the others will be there soon." He grabbed a hold of my shoulder as I activated the teleporter and sent us both off to Dinohenge.
(Izzy's POV)
When Javi and I saw the others coming into the base from Solon's alert and noticed Rowan coming in as well as her dad, we were confused about the extra visitor, as I looked between the two. "Uh... What's with your dad being here, Ro?"
Rowan shook it off. "Long story, but a good friend of mine is in trouble." She was quickly typing on the computer, contacting what looked like several previous Rangers.
Adam took over the explanation for her. "Rowan and I were contacted by some old allies and they warned us that an old enemy is coming back: Lord Drayven."
Zayto seemed shocked to hear the name. "Drayven?! How is he still alive?"
Amelia looked at Zayto. "You've fought this Drayven guy before?"
He nodded in response. "About two years before the Sporix Wars, Drayven attacked Rafkon with an army of robots. We managed to chase him off, but I never thought he'd target Earth next."
Ollie did a double take. "Wait a second! Didn't the Ninja Steel team and several past Rangers defeat Drayven before?"
Adam nodded. "Yeah. They faced off against Drayven and Tommy dealt the final blow with his Falcon Zord's help, but somehow that villain managed to survive within the dimensional rift between Ranger worlds itself. If what we've heard is right, then we've got more trouble up our sleeves than we think."
Rowan suddenly spoke up. "Uh, guys? We've got a big problem."
"How big?" Javi went to Ro's side immediately, as did the rest of us.
Rowan pointed out some messages from the Ranger group chat. "Several Rangers have been taken by the enemy, not just Talia." She quickly compiled a list of the missing Rangers.
I looked at the list in surprise. "The Dino Charge team was taken? All six of the main members?"
"Looks like it." She typed again and noticed something that sent a chill through her spine. "Is that a freaking Fury Crystal?!"
Ollie checked the photo against the Ranger database. "Yep, sure is." He did some of his fancy techno whiz thing and pulled up other power sources of past villains that the Rangers on the list had faced before. "Looks like Drayven isn't holding back this time. He's using different sources of energy to do something big, maybe even resurrect something powerful."
Amelia frowned slightly as she looked at the list. "But who could be that scientifically smart to help Drayven with his ultimate plan?"
Rowan's face was one of concern. "I could think of a few villains."
(Carli's POV)
I rode in the cockpit of the Plesio Zord with Ms. Morgan as we traveled towards the old moon palace, frowning slightly as I kept trying to raise the team on my Dino Comm. "Ugh, nothing. This is getting really concerning."
Heckyl nodded a bit beside me, having gotten his own powers via the Dark Energem in the interim between Ranger team ups. "I've got a seriously bad feeling about this."
Kendall nodded in agreement before she heard a beeping on the monitor and checked them. "We got incoming! Brace yourselves!"
Suddenly, the Plesio Zord was rocked by explosions, knocking us off balance as I looked at the monitors and saw warships. "Armada warships?! They should have been destroyed in the Legendary Battle!"
"Apparently not!" Kendall said before she took her stance. "Activate Plesio Charge Megazord!"
[Plesio Charge Megazord, Engage!] The Zord shifted into its own battle mode quickly. [Plesio Charge Megazord, Ready!]
"Let's go!" She commanded us as we nodded and blasted down warships left and right.
"Hold on, guys! We got your back!" Suddenly, blasts came from behind the three of us as the Astro Ninja Zord and the Legendary Megazord flew by, Preston and Gia piloting the Zords in question respectively.
"Good thing we got the call from some of the others." Gia said. "Didn't think we'd have to fight an old enemy though."
"I doubt any of us thought that." Kendall agreed.
I looked at the others. "Stay focused! We've got way more heading in our direction!"
Heckyl nodded. "Then let's get them before they get us!"
Kendall activated the Dino Super Drive Saber and together we charged up the blast. "3! 2! 1! Galactic Blast!" We launched the finisher and took out a few of the ships, Gia using the Super Mega Starburst to take down a handful more.
I looked up and saw some more warships before I frowned slightly. "Presto?"
"I'm on it!" Preston combined the Astro Zord with the Ninja Steel Megazord and activated the Super Steel Blaster. "Cosmic Blast: Final Attack!" He fired a shot quickly and destroyed the incoming fleet.
"Whew. Several warships down, several more nuisances to go." I said in relief.
Gia nodded. "Good thing we called Mik up, see if she could get her Shuttle Drive Zord going to bring some of the others."
Kendall smiled in agreement. "Hopefully she, Mack, and Mr. Hartford are all working on something to help save the others."
I heard my comms going off and picked up quickly. "Go ahead."
"Carli, it's me, Rowan!" I heard the familiar voice of my friend. "Did you find Talia? Is she okay? What about the others?"
"Whoa, slow down, Dragon Ball." I quipped. "We just slaughtered a massive swarm of Armada warships."
Kendall explained what was up: "We think we've got their location; on the old moon base where Rita Repulsa operated."
"The moon palace?" I heard Adam's voice. "Should have figured that'd be a prime choice for them to hide the Rangers."
I nodded a bit. "Mikayla is activating her Shuttle Drive Zord. She'll be swinging by the base to get you all and debrief you, along with some of the others."
"Roger that. We'll make sure we're waiting." Rowan responded in kind before hanging up.
(Rowan's POV)
As soon as I hung up, I heard the sounds of the Shuttle Zord up above the base and looked at the others. "Let's go meet some more Legendary Rangers." I teleported all of us, Solon included, up to the surface and when I saw the bay doors open, I immediately ran over and gave Mik a hug. "Glad to see you again, Mik."
My brunette friend hugged me back and replied, "It's wonderful to see you as well, Rowan." She let go and walked over to Dad with a smile. "Good to see you again, Adam. I hope your preparations for the Space Patrol program are going well?"
Adam nodded. "Yeah. We've even been finding some great candidates who want to learn how to protect the Ranger universes."
Mik nodded a bit. "Excellent." She turned to the others and nodded to them. "Greetings, Dino Fury team. I am Mikayla Hartford, also known as the White Operation Overdrive Ranger."
Zayto nodded to her. "It's an honor to meet you, Mikayla. I'm Zayto, leader of the team. And this is Solon, Amelia, Ollie, and brother sister duo Javi and Izzy." He indicated each of the others in turn.
Solon stepped forward and bowed her head to Mik. "Greetings."
Javi frowned a bit. "Mack never mentioned he had a sister."
Mik nodded a bit. "I would expect he hasn't, given that I generally don't go anywhere outside of my lab except for missions and emergencies."
I nodded a bit. "Let's hope you haven't lost your touch." I quickly boarded the Zord and went to the cockpit, buckling up in the copilot's seat and seeing the others following suit as Mik pulled out her golden Overdrive Tracker and activated it with the morphing call of "Overdrive Accelerate!" and morphing into a space shuttle styled suit that was similar to Tyzonn's suit with the cyan and magenta details and lines.
As the team gathered in and took their seats, Mik started her Zord up and turned on the overhead microphone. "Please remain in your seats until we have reached the outskirts of the atmosphere. If you feel nauseated, there are some bags by your seats. Use them as needed. We will be engaging liftoff in five… four… three… two… one."
As Mik counted down and activated the platform, I caught Amelia squealing in excitement behind me and smiled a bit. She always wanted to go to space, now she had that chance.
"Ignition." Suddenly, the thrusters fired and we took off quickly, shooting into the sky at a speed of what felt like Mach 5 (but was really only about as fast as Mack's Sonic Streaker Zord) and causing everyone, including myself, to hold on to the armrests tightly.
We all remained like that for a few minutes, before we started to slow down to cruising speed and Mik started up the gravitational field. "Gravitation established. You are now free to move around the cabin."
Amelia was the first to get up and she bolted to the window, looking outside in amazement. "Whoa. I can't believe we're actually in space!"
I smiled and got up, going to her. "It's amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is!" She seemed as giddy as a school girl.
I looked over and saw Mik getting up and heading to the rear of the Zord, punching in a code to let the others go through it and we all headed to the back, being greeted by Dad's old friends and former teammates; Talia and JJ's parents Kimberly, Kat, and Tommy.
I immediately ran over and hugged the trio happily, glad to see them again. "I missed you guys so much!"
"We sure missed you too, Ro." Kat smiled as she smoothed my hair.
Kimberly chuckled slightly. "Definitely. You don't think we wouldn't miss out on saving Talia, did you?"
I chuckled slightly. "I didn't doubt it for a second." I looked over and saw a couple of other familiar faces in Nate, Isabel, Gemma, and Jarrod, rushing over and giving them each a hug in turn.
Isabel chuckled slightly as she smiled. "So wonderful to see you again, Rowan. You're looking so much more lively than the last time."
Jarrod smiled a bit and nodded. "Yeah, I bet it's gonna be kinda wild with this group."
"It's all ready, Tommy." I saw Alpha coming in and quickly sat down as the others joined me.
"Good. We'd better get started." Dr. O said, pressing a remote button and summoning an image. "Three days ago at 9:37 in the morning, the Samurai team was attacked. The dojo was safe thanks to their protection symbol, but Jayden refused to go down without a fight. He hasn't responded to his Morpher, but we gained video evidence of who was there when the ensuing chaos went down." He moved the video forward and we all saw a familiar face on screen: Void Knight.
"What does Void Knight want with Legendary Rangers?" Izzy frowned worriedly.
Isabel shook her head. "Who knows? It's been concerning me for the past few days, and it hasn't been doing me any favors, that or my little one." She rubbed her stomach slightly.
I frowned slightly, knowing exactly what she meant; she and Jayden were having their second child and she wasn't going to let her husband get hurt… even if she had to fight while pregnant.
Tommy nodded and continued, "then about thirty hours later, the Dino Charge Rangers suffered the same battle loss, only this time, there were more captives: the main team plus the Gold Ranger were taken. Kendall, Carli, and their newest team member Heckyl all went on a scouting mission in the Plesio Zord and tracked the missing Rangers to Rita Repulsa's old lair." He showed us an image of the moon palace.
"Oh bueno. If we aren't careful when going in there, we could all be sitting ducks." I muttered slightly.
Nate nodded and used his computer to pull up some images, transferring them to the holo-screen as he explained: "I checked all the corridors in the palace. There's still at least two dozen active booby traps in the vicinity, and about 1,000 soldiers patrolling the exterior and interior of the castle. There are a couple of entrances we can use to avoid all of this though: Here, here, and there." He pointed out three spots, all of them probably 70-75 feet away from the palace.
Dad nodded as he chipped in. "That's what we'll use then. We can split up into three groups and take one tunnel each to get in."
Javi sat up in confusion. "But wait, there's like 20 of us that are gonna be the rescue team. How do we deal with this?"
Kimberly smirked slightly. "That's what we've got Megazords for." She brought up a different screen. "The Super Mega Skyship, Plesio Zord, and Astro Ninja Zord are deployed along with the corresponding Megazords, and Mikayla has volunteered to allow her Shuttle Drive Zord to assist them."
Mik nodded in agreement. "I'm more than willing to help fight the villains that Drayven has summoned."
Kat smiled slightly, explaining why the destroyed Zords were back in the fight: "Billy was able to tap into the energy of the Morphin' Grid with some help from the Morphin' Masters and he was able to recreate some of the Zords that had been destroyed over the years, plus thankfully we've got some tech wizards of our own on the Ranger side."
Solon nodded a little and sighed softly, contemplating a bit, "If I knew where the Cosmic Combo Raptor Zords were, maybe we could use them to our advantage as well in this battle."
I patted Solon's shoulder and smiled. "Hey, we've got a lot of help to rescue the Rangers who've been kidnapped. I'd say we can handle anything."
Solon chuckled slightly and took my hand. "I wish I had your optimism, Rowan. We could really use it at this point."
As I smiled back, suddenly we all stumbled slightly as the Shuttle Drive Zord was rocked by explosions.
"Ay yi yi yi yi! Armada warships are on the attack!" Alpha alerted us.
Mik immediately dashed to the cockpit and jumped in the pilot's seat, turning on the overhead speakers. "Everyone, brace yourselves! We're charging into battle!" She got working on the controls quickly, navigating through the warships and firing back at them.
I immediately got up and focused on a battle plan. "Okay, we need every available asset among us to do the infiltrations." Turning to Solon, I asked her, "Can you help Alpha with keeping the Zords stable in the battlefield out here?"
Solon nodded quickly. "Absolutely. No warship is gonna get past us!"
Tommy nodded and looked at us. "Let's do it!" He looked over at Alpha. "Hit it, Alpha!"
Alpha complied by pressing a button and teleporting us off into three groups to get into the base.
(Amelia's POV)
I landed at the first tunnel with Ollie, Isabel, Tommy, and Jarrod, the five of us immediately sneaking towards the building before I stopped them and motioned for them to take cover, all of us hiding as we saw a small platoon of Hengemen guarding the vicinity and making me cuss inwardly. "Should have figured we'd have trouble." I went to change my Saber into Dagger mode before Isabel stopped me.
"I've got an idea." She turned to Tommy and Jarrod, nodding to them as they nodded in agreement before they started forward, leaving me and Ollie alone to watch.
(No POV)
As the Hengemen patrolled around the vicinity, an unseen force struck the first five down, alerting the other twenty as they got into defensive positions, but before they could do anything, ten more were struck down by Isabel and her Spin Sword while Jarrod took down the remaining ten with his lion spirit.
As the duo caught their breaths, Tommy reappeared by their side, having used his invisibility to his advantage to take the first five soldiers out. "Too easy."
Amelia and Ollie were shocked by the well executed plan; clearly the Rangers of the past knew their stuff! Smiling at each other behind their helmets, they quickly moved forward to join the others.
(Zayto's POV)
I navigated through the second tunnel to the second entrance with Gemma, Izzy, Kat, and Nate, and soon enough, a Yellow Dino Charge Ranger who I assumed was Rowan's friend Carli landed beside us. "Aren't you supposed to be helping with the space battle?"
Carli shrugged a little. "Ms. Morgan can handle herself in the Plesio Zord. Tali's far more important to the cause than any of you rookies understand."
"Rookies?!" Izzy said in shock, ready to attack Carli before I stopped her and pointed out the obvious: Guards heading our way.
Gemma looked at us calmly. "Leave this one to us." She led Kat, Nate, and Carli into battle.
Izzy watched before she looked at me and whispered, "Rookies? Really? They were a lot like us when they started out."
I shrugged slightly, deciding not to question it, and instead led her down the hallway quickly.
(Rowan's POV)
I was already fighting off guards with my dad, Javi, and Kimberly, Heckyl having joined us in the fray in the meantime, and as I stood back to back with the former villain, I smiled a bit. "Gotta say, it's definitely better to have you with the good guys, Heckyl!"
"Feels good to be a hero too!" He quipped back, the two of us using our bladed weapons to our advantage as we cleaved our way through the footsoldiers.
Once the last one was down, all of us stumbled as we felt a shaking throughout the building.
Dad looked up in concern. "That is not good." He led the way down the hall, the four of us following suit quickly and soon enough, we all made it to the laboratory, where several machines had been set up with each of the captured Rangers locked up in a machine of sorts.
"Whoa, that is some bad news." Javi spoke up, and quite honestly, I couldn't agree more with him at that point.
Kimberly ran to a monitor and quickly hacked into the system, seeing what the true plan was. "Oh yikes. He's siphoning the Morphin' energy from the others to fuel something big. It makes sense why Taila was taken too because she's got the largest amount of Morphin' energy from me and Tommy."
I shook my head and switched my blade to Dagger mode. "No way am I letting this happen." Nodding to Heckyl and Kimberly, I launched my Dino Dagger at the machines on the left, Heckyl launching his boomerang at the machines down the opposite side, and Kimberly aiming a shot at the core drainage device, releasing the arrow and destroying the containment jar completely.
As soon as all the machines were off, the doors opened and the captive Rangers were released, Tyler being the first one to wake up as he shook his head slightly. "Whoa. What's going on?"
Dad went over and helped him up. "You guys were having your energy drained. Good thing the calvary's here in enough time to stop whatever is going on."
Tyler got up and helped the others come out of their stupor, everyone seemed to be okay… except for Talia.
"Tal?" I quickly dashed over and checked her pulse, frowning nervously when I saw how pale she was. "Oh, this is no bueno. She must've had her power drainage put at maximum. Now she's lost too much power."
Kimberly looked at Talia nervously and scooped her up bridal style before she looked at the rest of us. "We'll worry about restoring the power later. Right now, we all gotta get outta here."
"Too late for that!" A familiar face came in with several more Hengemen and blocked the entrance, causing us all to get into defensive stances.
"Figures Scrozzle would be one of the geniuses!" I snarled in annoyance, ready to throw down with him.
Javi recognized the second familiar figure next to Scrozzle before making a face. "Whoa? Vrak fused with Xandred?"
"Surprised, Rangers?" Vrak spoke menacingly. "Scrozzle was able to assist with bringing me back by using his technology and by accessing our own little villain database, he combined me with the leftover essence of the Nighlok lord, Xandred. I must say, it was quite ingenious in that respect, because now we can crush you all!"
I heard Jayden growling behind me. "Don't they ever stay down?"
Dad stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll take care of them, guys." He looked at Kimberly and nodded, as she nodded back before passing Talia to Chase and speaking with him: "Make sure she's safe."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Hart." Chase promised her before he led the rescuees around the enemies as I stayed by my dad's side and the others rejoined me.
"Anyone know what time it is?" I quipped calmly, a smirk coming to my face.
"It's Morphin' Time!" Dad shouted, all of us activating our Morphers quickly. "Zeo Ranger 4!/Pink Ranger Power!/Unleash the power!/Link to Morphin' Grid!"
With a quick flash, we all morphed into our suits and rushed at the enemies, and I could hear Dad battling Scrozzle as I slashed through the Hengemen quickly, using the Muscle Boost Key to knock them down while Javi equipped the Shield Boost Key and fought by my side while handling Vrak.
Once we all got the Hengemen beaten down, managed to destroy Vrak (for hopefully the final time), and chased Scrozzle off, there was another quake as we stumbled again, only this time the rumbling wasn't stopping.
"What's going on?" Javi looked around.
Kimberly and Dad looked at each other in concern before they went to us, Heckyl joining in as Javi and I teleported us all outside the moon palace.
(Carli's POV)
As soon as we were all outside, we tried to remain steady, looking on in horror as a familiar evil Zord came out from underneath the palace: Serpenterra!!! "Uh-oh!"
"That is definitely not good!" Ollie spoke up beside me.
We all heard a distinct and familiar laugh taunting us from inside Serpenterra. "Of course it isn't. You should have figured it out from the beginning!"
Koda spoke with a concerned tone. "That definitely Drayven inside big serpent!"
I clenched my fists angrily. "He used the Morphin' energy from you guys to recharge a newly rebuilt Serpenterra. That is so uncool!!!"
"And Serpenterra will be your demise!" Drayven shouted at us before the massive Zord launched a blast.
"Watch out!" Tyler shouted, prompting all of us to try and evade the attack, only for the aftershock to knock us off our feet with shouts of pain and shock.
As we all quickly recovered, I started thinking quickly as I heard Rowan speaking, "Oh man! If only we had a Megazord big and strong enough to take Serpenterra down!"
"Serpenterra is far stronger than any Megazord before or after it!" Kimberly spoke up. "Even if we combine our forces, we still wouldn't have enough energy to defeat both of them!"
"So what do we do?" Amelia said worriedly.
"You are going to be eliminated!" Drayven shouted again, laughing mirthlessly as he readied another attack.
"Dodge it!" I shouted quickly, getting everyone moving to different areas and taking cover with Shelby. "For crying out loud! Why do all the worst villains always come back for round two?!"
"You're asking that now?" She responded incredulously before we yelped in surprise and shielded ourselves from rubble due to another blast from Serpenterra.
I peeked over the rock and saw some tricks we could use, looking at the nearby Riley and nodding to him as we wordlessly figured out a plan before we dashed out together, continuing towards the palace despite getting attacked and dodging the shots as I shouted to Rowan, "Keep him distracted!"
(Rowan's POV)
"WHAT?!" I shouted in surprise as I watched the two run off before I quickly dodged another bit of rubble, shaking my head slightly and scrambling to my feet as I quickly pulled out my spare Key, along with a Key I had recently discovered. "I sure hope I can summon my Zord from space! Dragon Shogun Zord, activate!" I launched it up and used the unknown Key in my Morpher, and sure as I had hoped, my Zord came roaring through the cosmos via a portal as it landed on the moon. "Alright! It worked!"
Zayto came over to me and patted my shoulder. "Good thing you and Solon figured out what it was for the other day. Let's get up there!"
"Wait!" Ollie stopped us as he pointed out something within the portal. "Look! I think more Zords are coming!"
Sure enough, Tommy's Falcon Zord, Kat's Crane Zord, the Mach Megazord, Isabel's Thundering Rhino Megazord, the Tri-Stego-Ptera Formation Dino Charge Megazord, and the Beast-X Megazord came through the portal, all of them ready for battle.
"Phenomenal!" Nate cheered in excitement.
"Extra Zords means extra big backup!" Shelby spoke in agreement.
"Okay, guys! Let's go!" I shouted bravely, prompting all of us to jump up and join in the various Zords and Megazords, all of us charging at Serpenterra and fighting it valiantly, but even with the backup, it still wasn't enough to make even the slightest dent.
"Whoa!" Tyler shouted as he stumbled inside the Dino Charge Megazord cockpit. "Even if we've got the Megazords, we still don't have enough strength!"
I received a call from my comms and picked up. "Yeah?"
"Good thing Riley and I figured out where the source of the power is for Serpenterra." Carli spoke up. "About ten feet below the palace. But we'll need some backup in here!"
"On our way!" Dad told her, cutting off the conversation.
Kendall picked up on the line instantly after. "Tyler, use Rowan's portal to summon the Pachy Zord! We'll switch into Pachy-Rex formation for the Plesio Charge Megazord!"
"You got it, Ms. Morgan!" Tyler responded and soon, I saw the Pachy Zord appear from the portal, swinging its tail at Serpenterra and knocking it back before they changed up the Megazords to allow the other Dino Charge Zords to attack in their various ways while the gang joined Kendall in the Plesio Charge Megazord, reinvigorating the battle.
(Adam's POV)
Rushing into the palace again with Kimberly, Jarrod, Jayden, and Heckyl, we joined Riley and Carli in fighting the Hengemen that were swarming the two, and I was understanding why Rowan said these guys were tough: They sure packed a punch.
As I blocked another attack, I launched a Hengeman into the wall with a well placed kick before running over and looking at Riley. "What did you guys find?"
He immediately used his Dino Charge Saber to point out some controls. "I figure one of those might be the option we need to lessen the power in Serpenterra."
I nodded and joined him quickly, using everything I knew to find the right option. "Okay, let's think…" Suddenly, I spotted the self-destruct button. "Bingo!" I went to strike the button, but I was cut off by one of the Hengemen and was forced to defend myself again, thinking quickly and looking at Riley and Carli. "Guys! Self destruct button right behind me!"
Riley nodded a bit. "We're gonna need a clear path!" Suddenly he dodged a flaming slash and the lion spirit, courtesy of Jayden and Jarrod.
Carli shrugged slightly and smiled. "That works." As she readied her Blaster, the rest of us backed away quickly to let her hit the mark.
"Dino Charge Morph Blaster, Final Strike!" Carli fired off two yellow beams that took the form of her respective Dinosaur and destroyed the button, activating the self destruction in the process.
All of us looked up as we heard the alarms: "Self destruct sequence has been initiated. Forty seconds until detonation."
"That's our cue!" Kimberly spoke up, leading us out of the palace.
Thankfully, we all made it through just before the explosion destroyed the entire place, and a moment later, we all noticed the energy flowing out to the respective former captives in the Megazords.
"Whoo! We kicked some tail!!" Carli shouted triumphantly.
(Talia's POV)
As soon as the energy returned to my body, I gasped and quickly jumped upright, being caught by Rowan's ally, Solon, who spoke to me, "Easy, Talia. You're safe. Everyone is safe."
I shook my head slightly and panted a bit. "How many others were captured?"
Alpha answered the question: "At least ten others. But everyone has been safely retrieved and they're fighting Drayven and Serpenterra now. I'd estimate that with the power drain, the evil Zord should be only slightly stronger than a Megazord."
I frowned slightly in concern. "That still won't be enough." Grabbing a communicator from my bag, I quickly contacted Rowan. "Ro, can you hear me?"
"Talia! Oh, thank God you're okay!" The relief in her voice was palpable and understanding to me, but I didn't want to have her be worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I reassured her before starting to explain: "Listen to me, even with combined attacks, it won't be enough to stop Drayven this time. Serpenterra is too powerful for combined attacks still."
I heard Mik up front speaking in conjunction with my thoughts. "So calculating our odds of victory, we'd only be able to stop it if one of us sacrifices ourselves."
There was a long pause on the communicator before I heard my dad speak, "Then I'll have to do it."
"Dad, no!" I immediately objected to him. "I don't want to lose you! What about Kat? What about JJ? They need you as much as I do!"
"We're not letting you do this, Tommy!" Kat was agreeing completely.
However, Mom wasn't speaking for a moment before I heard her voice, and it sounded like she was ready to cry. "Tommy, you realize if you try what Cole did back then, you might not make it out alive like he did, right?"
A solemn pause followed before I heard Dad speak again. "I know, Kimberly. But I have to try."
I immediately ran to the window to watch as the Falcon Zord angled itself towards Serpenterra's mouth and the cockpit started glowing a reddish color, tears escaping my eyes as Dad spoke again, "Talia, you know I always considered you as a daughter, even if I wasn't in your life much. You mean as much to me as JJ does. That's why I want you to protect the Master Morpher until he's old enough to use it. I'm giving you access to it as well if you ever need to use it to fight off evil across the universe. Look after your mom, Kat, and JJ for me. Be the legend I know you are deep inside and don't ever think you have to live in my shadow. You are your own Ranger. You are your own legend. You may be born out of a former relationship, but you're still one of the Oliver family. You know I mean it when I say that once you're a Ranger, you're always a Ranger. And that's especially true of our successors and how much they'll continue on with the legacy should they choose to. No matter what, I always hope and pray that the Power will protect us all."
"DAD!!!!!!!" I couldn't help but scream as the final attacks struck Serpenterra just before the Falcon Zord went down its gullet and self-destructed inside, destroying the evil Zord and Drayven with it.
(Rowan's POV)
I watched as Dr. O sacrificed himself for the team, my eyes wide in horror before I dropped to my knees, the Mega Fury Saber clattering beside me. "No…"
(Talia's POV)
I broke down into tears in realizing that my dad was gone for good, hugging Mik as she came to hug and console me with Alpha and Solon joining her.
(No POV)
Everyone looked in shock and anguish as their reactions were all different yet similar: Isabel buried her face in Jayden's shoulder as he held her close, Tyler and the Dino Charge team were all shedding tears at the sacrifice, the veterans were silent as they wept for their legendary ally, Kimberly and Kat joined Talia on board the Shuttle Drive Zord to cry together with her, and Rowan just couldn't say anything, even as her team gathered around to console her, Javi and Izzy giving her a hug of encouragement.
(Cue the Romero song "Family")
I'm with you
As the three women of the Oliver family joined the rest of the Rangers on the recently arrived Astro Megaship, Talia held the Master Morpher close to her heart and let tears fall silently.
When you're far from home, still with you
Rowan walked over and placed a hand on Talia's shoulder, tear tracks staining her eyes silently as the two Ranger children embraced sadly, the former Megaforce Green bursting into tears again.
A family bond that won't break
Isabel watched them before she felt some pain and yelped slightly, holding her stomach as Jayden quickly helped her to the medical bay, aided by Kat and Adam.
I choose a star
Javi watched the action and looked at Izzy, speaking to her quietly. "I couldn't imagine if it was our dad who would do that. Could you?"
Izzy shook her head slightly and bit her lip. "No… but I'd be really proud of him."
He smiled slightly and nodded. "Me too."
The step-siblings gave each other a hug with smiles on their faces and tears going down their cheeks.
The light leads me home to be with you
Inside the medical bay, Dana was helping Isabel with the birthing and coaching her as Jayden supported his wife, the Thunder Samurai's screams of pain ricocheting off the walls.
All together, we are one
It was ten hours before the group returned to Earth and by that time, Isabel had finally given birth to a baby boy.
Together we are family
As Talia came into the room to see her friends, she smiled when she saw the newborn in Isabel's arms, the half Nighlok smiling joyously as she looked at her ally.
"Congratulations, you guys." The Megaforce Green Ranger told them.
Every day now, we grow stronger
Jayden nodded and slowly stood up, going to her. "So Belle and I were kinda thinking and… we decided to name our newest child Tommy after your dad."
In our hearts, always there forever
Talia couldn't help but smile. "I think that's perfect."
Isabel slowly adjusted the newly named Tommy in her arms. "And we also had an idea… well, we wanted to know if you'd be Tommy's godmother."
I can count on you
Talia looked at them before she started breaking into tears again, this time they were of joy as she nodded. "Yes!" She gave Jayden a hug happily.
You can count on me
Isabel gave Talia a one armed hug when she came over for a hug before she looked at Jayden, passing little Tommy to him.
Jayden took the newborn in his arms and let Talia see him, the young Oliver daughter smiling sweetly at her new godson.
Cause we will always, always be… family
Talia looked at the two and chuckled slightly. "He is so gonna be your son."
The Samurais laughed in agreement and smiled together.
Every day now, we grow stronger
In our hearts, always there forever
As Talia walked out of the medical bay a few minutes later, she was greeted by a happy Rowan, who embraced her and spoke joyfully: "Congratulations on the godmother promotion!"
Kimberly and Kat joined her and hugged her as well, the rest of the former Rangers from the Mighty Morphin' team joining in on the group hug.
I can count on you
You can count on me
Talia simply allowed the group to hug her before she wiped her tears away and looked at the group. "I know my dad might be gone now… but his spirit never will be." She looked at the Master Morpher and smiled proudly. "Once a Ranger, always a Ranger." She looked to the sky, the camera panning upward towards the clouds before we are shown an overlay of Tommy in his Green Ranger suit, the image soon fading after a moment.
Cause we will always, always be… family
(End song)
Ok... uh... wow. I honestly didn't expect that I'd be this emotional still after almost a year since his death. But yeah... Jason David Frank was more than an icon to a lot of us Ranger fans. To many, he was the Ranger we grew up with. The one we all wanted to be. And I'm happy his daughter Jenna is hoping to be the Green Ranger to follow his legacy in a way. I think it's completely fitting for her. And to those of you who might say I'm deviating from canon with Once and Always and all that, well... I'll figure out a way to explain it there.
Anyway, again, I'm sorry this took so long. Next episode will be getting back to the main season, so see you guys around.
