A new day had started as Michael woke from his bed. He was groggy and his body was sore from the previous day. He slowly made his way off the bed and opened his door to see the light on in the kitchen. "Tobias? Are you awake this early?" He said moaning.
"Yeah I couldn't sleep at all last night. I've been up the entire night so today is going to be a fun day for me." Tobias responded who was flipping over his omelet he was making in the kitchen. Tobias began sprinkling shredded cheese as he lowered the temperature on the stove.
Michael walked into the bathroom as he began splashing his face with water and opened up the medicine cabinet to grab ibuprofen. He was using his arm that was all healed to open the lid. "I'm guessing it wasn't a dream. That major fight really did happen."
"Hey Dad, you want me to make you any breakfast?" Tobias said freaking Michael out.
"Shit! Sorry you scared me for a second." Michael said startled.
"Sorry, just curious if you wanted any breakfast? It's pretty early and you're usually sleeping." Tobias replied apologetically.
"Nah I have some cereal I'm probably going to eat." Michael said.
"Are you sure? Your dominant arm is broken I can make something easier to ea- Wait a minute." Tobias then noticed that his dad was using his arm to open up the pain reliever bottle.
"Look I'll explain but let me wake up first. You know to give me some space when I get up this early in the morning." Michael said as he closed the bathroom door. Tobias went back to the kitchen to grab his food and poured himself a glass of orange juice as he went to the living room to eat. Michael spent some time in the bathroom. About fifteen minutes passed and he walked out into the living room and sat down. Michael couldn't tell him the truth and had come up with a lie about how he went to the Power Grid and was able to get healed from a certain power source he had found there. Tobias believed it all but deep down he knew his father wasn't being entirely honest with him.
"I'm not going to prod further on this. His arm is fixed which means he can help out in the next fight. Everything seems to be okay so I shouldn't be worried. Also if he's not being honest with me then there is a very good reason behind it." Tobias thought.
"So ignoring my problems how's everyone holding up from yesterday?" Michael asked.
"We are all on board with at least giving this a chance to take down Mesogog. Zach was greatly against it yesterday until we had another monster attack. I and he fought a creature calling himself Jade Gladiator and in the midst of the fight Zach's pet dog Firestorm was killed. Zach has been in a depressed state since and he's currently staying with Xander and his family for a while because it's hard for him to sleep at his apartment at the moment." Tobias explained.
"You've lost your mom, Brett watched his relative get killed in front of him, Xander lost his girlfriend, and now Zach lost something precious to him. This is all getting pretty insane." Michael said.
"I'm kind of glad I have the day off. I couldn't sleep last night because I've been worried about Zach and how he is handling all of this right now." Tobias said yawning.
"Let's go do something to cheer him up. What is something we can do to help him?" He asked.
"Right now I think giving him space is the best thing. I've told him should he need anything to give us a call." Tobias replied.
"Glad to see we are all going to keep fighting. Changing topics, I was thinking of something. You know how our powers were created by Benjamin Pappert? It was never explained but our suits were created through his image as well wasn't it?"
"Yeah that's kind of what I thought. I figured he made the Zords because of Lucas's drawings. His son had this imagination of superheroes so I would think that our suits were created through that same aspect as well. Why do you bring that up?" Tobias asked.
"Well, I was thinking of why dinosaurs? We could have a variety of other powers but he chose dinosaurs like if it was me, I would probably do one about pirates!" Michael said cheerfully.
"Pirates? A pirate is a very bad comparison to dinosaurs strength wise." Tobias laughed.
"But what if they were Space Pirates?! That would be cool." Michael said pretty excited with the conversation and thought.
"Space Pirates? Seriously? I just don't see that idea of power setting be able to stand up against the power of dinosaurs to be completely honest." Tobias said with a chuckle.
"What if the Space Pirates could utilize the powers of our dinosaurs though? They can utilize the powers of everything Earth has to offer. Powers of animals, space, time, ninjas, even samurai! Their power is not just one source but of many! That would be pretty cool wouldn't you think?" Michael said getting pumped at his idea.
"HAHAHAHAHA that's hilarious to say the least! But I think that's all going to be a fantasy that will never come true. But the idea of that happening would be nice to see one day." Tobias said with a huge smile on his face.
Michael was laughing with Tobias as he was getting red in the face and when he began to calm down he was laying on his back looking at the ceiling. "You know I wonder how our lives would've been if this whole Power Ranger thing never happened. Have you ever thought about the future and where we could all end up one day?" His father asked.
"I never tend to think about the future that much. The future is always changing and I'm not one to believe that it is all set in stone. I believe it can be changed. The smallest thing can make the biggest changes so I never believe things like that." Tobias said.
"Yeah I used to think like that too until recently. Tell me son, if you could ever change one thing that you've been through in your life, what would it be?" Michael asked.
"Hmmm I'd say I would go back in time to do a better job at saving you. It's something that has been hanging in my mind and if I was ever given the chance to save the you from before, I would take it." Tobias responded.
"You know that was the whole thing with Barry Allen and his mother in The Flash comics right? You watched the CW show of that, don't you remember how he changed everything and changed the timeline in a worst way? Do you think that could happen to you?" Michael responded.
"I mean that's just a TV show. It's just a type of drama played up to make the story great. I highly doubt it would actually happen." Tobias said.
Michael kept staring at the ceiling, "Yeah maybe your right. Hey want to go see that new horror movie that came out this week or are you busy today?" He asked.
"Yeah let's go see the movie. We've had so much go on this week I think we both deserve a break and have some well needed time away from Bowling Green. We haven't done it in a very long while but do you want to go to Texas Roadhouse and I'll pay for lunch as well?" Tobias offered.
"Hell yeah! I could go after a huge steak after everything. Why don't you go get yourself a shower and I'll get ready for us to head out. Do you want to super speed over there?"
"Let's just go run. We can spend more time outside of the city if we take our time." Tobias said as he got up to get ready.
Mesogog was writhing in pain on the ground as most of his laboratory was destroyed from the constant electric attacks shooting out everywhere. Sheela was standing in front of him.
"What do you want you wretched woman!?" Mesogog snarled.
"Watching you writhe in pain is quite amusing. It makes me almost want to feel sympathetic for you. But then again I guess this is how you felt when you killed everyone in your path." She said to him.
Mesogog started to slowly stand up off the ground as the light of the Power Cube would glow bright and then dim. "I almost have this thing under my control and when it's all mine and not fighting back, I'll be wiping out the last bit of hope you had left to stop me." Mesogog growled.
"Everything is falling into place as it should. You can't keep this façade up much longer." Sheela said to him.
"HahahaHAHAHA If only I could turn back the time just to watch the death of your planet once more. The terrified look on your face, the lives lost, and the very corpses I stepped on that became our battlefield. Humans are considered weak in the galaxy, and your clans of aliens are compared to be five times stronger than them, so where do you find any hope that these wretched five have any power to overtake me?" Mesogog said with an evil snarl.
"I've already seen the future, I've seen the path that has already been taken and the end result is your defeat." Sheela said with an air of arrogance. With that Sheela vanished again as Mesogog began to control the pain coursing through his body and within moments after, the Power Cube finally calmed down and Mesogog began breathing normally without any fear or pain from the Cube.
"Heheheh I've finally after all these days, mastered the Power Cube. With this the Power Rangers and Sheela's hopes for the future will be nothing more than the stones beneath my feet." Mesogog said.
Brett was sitting up against the wall staring at the giant Hitler frame in the training room. Next to Brett were bottles of mocha Frappuccino and a lit cigarette in his hand. He was down in the dumps as he kept staring at the portrait. "I wish I could've talked to you at least once. You were my family after all and not once throughout this whole ordeal did I ever get a chance to speak to you. Yet Benjamin, seeing you die in front of me shook me to my core. I was never told anything about you but yet I still feel this huge bond to you. Watching your death and then seeing what you've been through only made the pain of losing you even harder. I wish I could've bonded with you, spend time with you. I mean it's not every day you get to see a dead relative. Shit I would've like to spar with you so I could see where our strengths lied. Maybe if I was stronger than you I could have a bit more of my mind be at ease that this fight with Mesogog would be a bit easier." Brett inhaled his cigarette and blew the smoke out of his mouth into the air.
Xander walked inside the training room to see Brett sitting against the wall.
"Oh hey Xander. I didn't know you were coming." Brett rubbed his cigarette on the floor to put it out as he got up.
"I was wondering if I could get some training in today. I want to see how far I've come and what I need to learn to be ready to fight Mesogog. I'm not the only one Zach came with me today as well." As soon as Xander finished his sentence Zach walked in behind him.
"Hey Brett." Zach said with a somber tone.
"I can understand Xander, but do you really want to train today Zach? I thought you wanted to be left alone for a bit." Brett said.
"I'll have plenty of time to do so after Mesogog is gone. Until that happens I want to get stronger. My fight with Jade Gladiator yesterday has made me realized that I don't have time to mourn and grieve while the threat still lingers out there. I need to get stronger." Zach said.
"I wish I had your guy's motivation. I'm so lost myself right now and I'm not sure how to move forward." Brett said.
Xander looked at the portrait on the wall.
"How about we get rid of that disgusting portrait?" He suggested.
"What's that going to do for us?" Zach asked.
"Well what are we fighting for really? We've left that thing in here to end what Hitler created and in some sense I think it has caused us to hold onto the past. Emily told me that in order for us to move forward in our lives, we need to let go of the past. That if we keep living in the past we are only going to get dragged back further and not move forward. I feel like the portrait is a symbolic chain that is keeping us from progressing. Well that and I mean come on, we all think Hitler was a monster so why do we need to keep a photo of him here. Plus we aren't trying to fight Hitler; we are trying to fight Mesogog." Xander replied.
"You know Xander you make a very interesting point. Plus you are right, we need to move forward. I've been living in the past and I never once thought that I should stop and check to see where I was standing in this journey. I've always noticed that you two, Tobias, and Michael have all made strides and were miles ahead of me. Heh the Master becomes the student." Brett chuckled.
Brett walked over to the portrait as he lifted his arms and tried to pry it off. Zach and Xander quickly ran over to help. Zach activated his dino skin as he grabbed the side of the portrait and Xander was able to reach enough to pull it off. The three struggled with all their might as cracks were forming around the wall and a loud noise of something being torn from the wood was made. The portrait was finally ripped off as the whole thing slammed onto the floor and broke in four big chunks.
"Yes! We did it!" Xander said as Zach ran over and gave him a high five. Brett had a huge smile on his face.
"Seeing it like this makes me feel like some weight has been taken off my shoulders. It feels nice." Brett said.
"Oh hey I have an idea! Let's go burn this! There's an open space out in the countryside of the Bowling Green where people burn things all the time. It's like a camping spot for campers and is out on Haskins road. I'll grab the fuel and matches!" Zach said excited.
"Oh we should have marshmallows in the cupboards in the next room! We can roast them around the fire remains!" Xander said.
"Okay so maybe skip out on the fuel. We'll find something else." Zach said a bit down.
"I got something safe to make this a really nice time. Come on lets tie these up and we can take an Invisi-Portal over there. I'll bring some of my hot dogs so we can cook those too!" Xander said with a burst of excitement.
The three immediately began to put their worries to the side as they started packing up everything needed for their fire. Zach and Xander dashed back to their apartments to grab the necessary things needed. Zach burst through the front door and was painfully remembering why he had avoided his place for a bit. His sudden burst of excitement turned sour as he walked over to Firestorm's food bowl and picked it up. He was rubbing his thumb over the name on the bowl. "I really do wish you were here with me. Even if we take down Mesogog, the thought of you not meeting me when I get home is going to suck." Zach said as he began to pull himself back out of his depressive mindset. "I know you wouldn't want to see me sad Firestorm. I bet if you were here right now you would make sure I wasn't sad anymore. I'll have time to grieve when this is all over." Zach said to himself. He immediately began running over the apartment grabbing everything he needed and packing it all into a sport duffel bag.
Zach put the strap of the bag around his chest as he looked back into the empty living room space. "I'll be back Firestorm." He said. As he closed the door Zach didn't see the spirit of his dog sitting on the couch with a big smile on its face and as the door closed Firestorm vanished.
Xander quickly ran through his door, "Mom! Dad! I'm heading out to do a roasting fire with my friends! I'll be back later tonight!" He said with a joyful expression. Emily appeared in the room.
"They left with your little brother an hour ago. They went to go do shopping and to see some friends." She said.
"Ah okay I'll just leave a note on the fridge then. Thanks Em!" Xander said as he began scribbling on a piece of paper.
Emily was rubbing her thumbs around each other as she had a fearful expression. She watched as Xander was rummaging through the cupboards looking for food and grabbing drinks from the fridge.
"I wonder if I should bring the grape Kool-Aid or the fruit punch one. Argh I don't know I'll just take both!" Xander shoved the drinks into a basket and then noticed Emily who was terrified. "Hey Em what's wrong?" He said as he slowly put the basked down.
"I don't know I'm just scared for some reason about you going." She said to him.
Xander slowly approached her, "I'm going to be fine. We all needed this for a while. Is it Mesogog?" He asked her.
"I don't know. I just feel that if you go out that door and have fun…I'll never see you again. I don't want that and I feel like I'm going to lose you." She said holding her hands over her chest.
"Everything is going to be alright. I've been through worst and look at me, I've come out better than when I went in. I'm going to be with everyone so I'm not going to be alone." Xander said with a smile on his face.
"Okay just promise me you'll be alright?" She said still worried about everything.
"I promise everything is going to be okay."
As Xander turned around to finish packing up, Emily stretched out her hand to him as she tried to touch his shoulder but watched as her hands went right through him. "I want to touch you at least once. Just once…" She muttered.
"What's up?" Xander asked as he was still packing up.
"Xander, remember when you were telling me that the Ptera Zord didn't choose you like the other Zords chose the others?" Emily asked staring at the ground.
"Yeah what about it?" Xander said as he zipped the duffel bag with all the food he could grab inside. He placed the duffel bag on him as he was getting ready to walk out the door.
"That's because you weren't supposed to be the Yellow Ranger…It was supposed to be me." Emily said.
Xander had placed his hand on the doorknob and stopped from turning it as he started having a lot of questions run in his mind. "Wait…You? How?" Xander said with a break in his voice.
"When I snatched your Dino Gem away before the park, and I was home alone, the stone gave out a bright glow and I saw the Ptera Zord call out to me. The Ptera Zord told me everything that was going to happen as well as a man calling himself Austin, who we now know is Benjamin. Benjamin predicted what would happen if I was to not accept the call of the Zord. I couldn't bring myself to do it and I refused the power. Benjamin showed me what would happen if I was to accept the power. The person that would've been frozen in that ice would not be me…But you." She said as she pointed a finger at him.
"But the Ptera Zord told me why it chose me…That wasn't the reason…" Xander said shaking.
"I told it to not tell you. I begged the Zord to not say anything because I was scared of the outcome if you found out. I thought you would be mad at me and hate me at first, but I did all this because I didn't want you to die. I loved you too much to just watch you die if it meant I could become a Power Ranger. I changed time to keep you safe." She said as she began crying but with no tears falling down her face.
"What would of happened if you did become the Yellow Ranger? Would we be where we are now?" Xander asked.
"I don't know. Benjamin never told me what would change. But if it's anything like in movies then yes I think things would be greatly different. Mesogog may even be defeated. I put myself and my feelings first before everyone else because to me Xanny, you were the only thing that mattered. It has always been you and I think if given a second chance I don't know if I would change it because I want to always protect you. I valued your life more than I did mine and I know that's selfish and cruel and I should've come to you about this a lot sooner." Emily began sobbing as hard as she could as the guilt began to weigh heavy on her.
"I'm not mad at what you've done. No matter what one of us was going to get killed. If anything I'm just going to use this as a way to see this fight to the end. I don't want to see anyone else lose people they care about." Xander said. Emily began to slowly change her facial expression.
"I'm happy that I met you Xander. I'm happy that you were in my life." She said to him as she began to smile back at him.
Sometime had passed as Xander left the house and made his way back to Brett's apartment as the three gathered in the basement with an Invisi-Portal already activated.
"What took you so long Xander?" Zach asked.
"I thought something bad happened to you." Brett included.
"Emily was greatly concerned about me going to the campfire. We've talked it out and are cool. There's a lot to say but I really want to just get this thing started." Xander said as the three entered the Portal.
On the other side was a giant barn area and the three Rangers began to get started on trying to get wood together. The process of gathering things for the fire took about thirty minutes but they finally were able to get it all set up and Brett struck a match as he threw it on the oil covered wood. "This'll take a bit to get big so we'll have to be patient." He said as he tossed the match.
Some of the flame started wrapping around the wood as everyone began sitting around the fire. Xander was gently fanning the flame and throwing some pieces of old newspaper into it to keep the fire going.
The three watched as the fire got bigger and Zach took out the skewers and food. Brett had packed some shrimp that he put on some extra skewers and placed them near the fire. The three were sitting around a now well-lit fire as they started putting marshmallows on their skewers and keeping it near the flame to cook. The Rangers began coming up with jokes and funny stories while having a good time. Zach was starting to get distracted from losing Firestorm as he felt for a while a bunch of the weight lifted off his shoulders for a bit. Xander and Brett were coming up with some stories of their childhood about their experiences of camping. Zach had talked about how he used to go fishing in the ponds for dinner and barely catching any fish. He talked about how he slipped and fell in the pond after stepping on a catfish and it freaking him out. He even demonstrated how it looked that made the other two burst in laughing fits.
As the laughter died down Brett was looking up at the clouds in the sky.
"You know guys. What do you want to do in your futures?" Brett asked.
Xander was munching down on his shrimp as he swallowed it.
"I thought of joining the army recently. I want to pilot the planes into battle. But that might be because of me flying through the air with my powers. But for some reason being in the air has helped me clear my mind and feels therapeutic to me." He replied.
"Why not just be one of those pilots for an airplane?" Zach asked.
"I guess I like the action. Plus I think fighting for my country is more rewarding. I think being a Power Ranger has been very helpful on me. When we are done with finishing off Mesogog I want to continue helping the world. I may not ever have to use my powers after everything, but I think being a Power Ranger is more than just suiting up I think it's something you keep doing even outside the suit." Xander said.
"What about you Zach? Any big dreams you want to achieve after all of this?" Brett asked.
"I've always wanted to be in a band. That was a dream of mine since I was a kid. I want to be in a metal band or rock band. Being a Power Ranger has been helpful for me, but my dream of performing on stage in front of crowds of people has been a passion and dream for me. I don't want to give that up even after everything." Zach said as he started drumming with imaginary drumsticks in his hands. "What about you Brett?"
Brett gave a deep sigh as he started putting more shrimp on his skewers.
"I want to finish up my college degree in Business. I'd like to own or run my own company someday." He said as he blew on his food before eating it.
"Sounds like we all have our own dreams." Zach said as he spun his skewer around.
"I hope that one day we can all get to where we want to be. I wonder what Michael and Tobias's dreams are." Xander pondered.
"I can bet you that Michael probably wants to lead a normal father life with his son. To make up for all the lost time." Brett said as he poked at a log in the fire.
"I'm worried about Tobias. He's lost his mother and I'm pretty sure he beats himself up for taking down his mother. Do you guys think what might happen to him after Mesogog is defeated?" Xander said as he tossed some crumbled up paper into the fire.
Nobody could come up with an answer as they all stared at the fire.
"I think as long as his father is by his side I feel like Tobias will get through this a lot better than what we are thinking. He and Tobias are tight knit. I'm not worried about anything happening when those two are together. I mean those two are exceptionally powerful as Rangers." Zach said as stabbed his skewer into the ground.
The Power Rangers all began having fun at the campfire telling jokes and talking more about their lives as the day carried on.
Michael and Tobias walked out of the theater seeing the horror movie as they both had a huge smile on their faces. "Damn that movie was amazing! I thought it was a great sequel!" Tobias said.
"Oh yeah that was pretty fantastic! Oh hey wanna go zoom around the countryside?"
"Yeah I don't mind. Let's see who's faster! Tobias replied.
"Don't you work tonight?" Michael asked.
"Heh no I got today off. Apparently they are training some new people so my hours got cut this week. We got like five new people for mid-day to evening shifts." Tobias said.
"Hey you should order Chinese tonight since you don't have to work." Michael said with a chuckle.
"Man some Orange Chicken sounds really good right now." Tobias laughed.
"Hey have you ever thought of what you would do after we defeat Mesogog? Like what you want to do with your life?" Michael asked.
"Hmmm I've never thought of it. I never really thought about what I would do after everything. I failed out of college years ago and I don't really plan on going back. You know since I'm a superhero I could help with lowering crime in Wood County. Do some vigilantism like Marvel and DC heroes." Tobias chuckled.
"Heh sucks that won't pay the bills." Michael said sarcastically.
"It wouldn't but it would be nice to help others and make the world a bit safer of a place. As career wise I might get a job that can utilize my super speed abilities. I might do construction, join a sports team, I don't really know I just never took the time to sit down and think about my future." Tobias replied.
"Why haven't you?" Michael asked.
"Because I might not live to see the future and I don't want to make plans for anything if I'm not even going to be there. This fight with Mesogog is the thing I'm more concerned about. I think once he's defeated I will start thinking about what I want to do with my life." Tobias said with a sad tone in his voice.
"Let's put Mesogog to the side for a second. If we beat Mesogog would you want to settle down and have a family?" Michael asked.
"Hmmm. Yeah I would. I've had enough adventure in my life with this whole Power Ranger thing that I think settling down would be nice. I'd love to have a family and children. I'd want them to have a life that I lost and watch them grow up to be great kids. Be funny that my kids would have a superhero for a dad." Tobias began laughing. Michael began to laugh as well as he made fun of Tobias. "What about you Dad? What do you want to do with your future?"
He went quiet all of a sudden as the atmosphere around him changed. To Tobias he was deep in thought. He breathed a bit as he was prepared to given Tobias his response.
"I want to protect everyone. I want to get more powerful that I can protect everyone. I want to make things like this whole Mesogog mess never happen to anyone else." Michael said to him.
Suddenly a group of police cars came soaring down the road and the two began moving at super speed.
"What the heck is going on?" Tobias said as he looked at the direction they were heading in.
Down the road a giant black cloud was reaching to the sky and Tobias and Michael's morphers began beeping loudly.
"What is it?" Michael said tapping his dino gem.
"GUYS! GET HERE QUICKLY! MESOGOG IS ATTACKING US AND XANDER IS HURT! WE ARE OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMIT OF BOWLING GREEN IN A CORNFIELD!" Brett said concerned as blast and explosions were made in the background.
"So much for a break from everything." Michael said.
"Let's go end this Dad." Tobias said as the two stared at their destination and both quickly activated their powers to super speed to the destination.