Laser-fire! Sparks! Rapid explosions! And a whole multiverse torn asunder.
The battle had raged for days, maybe even weeks. In this timeless place, where reason and logic had evacuated along with every non-color-coded hero, nobody was really sure.
All they knew was that they'd battled tooth-and-nail with the otherworldly entity consuming the crimson sky like a malignant growth, and they were losing.
Rangers from across time, space, and the multiverse itself gathered themselves and their ragged comrades. Many had never known each other before the Dark Ascension, but staring in the face of total annihilation had the fortunate consequence of forging comroderry between even the most polarizing figures.
"We can't keep this up much longer," Jason Scott breathed in a withering tone. His armored crystalline helmet was shattered, revealing the blooded face of a mere teenager underneath.
He was not the Jason Scott of the prime timeline, but his words nevertheless reverberated through their ranks.
"He's right," a Trini Kwan clad in red agreed. "This thing… it doesn't stop… no matter how hard we fight… how many of us sacrifice everything. It doesn't even slow down."
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Ryan Mitchell, with an empty visor demanded through the muffle of his respirator. "Just give up and let that thing win?"
Dark Infinus stood like a black moon cast upon the crimson sky. His writhing limbs danced like a mass of hungry maggots squirming across the corpse of reality itself. Countless tentacles clouded the sky, but countless more reached through the thin veil of existence. He infected everything, every timeline, every universe. A cosmic plague that would consume all of existence.
"He's right," Blake Bradley growled. "We fight until the bitter end." The navy ranger clutched the crimson disc of his fallen brother.
"We have lost too much to surrender to this fiend!" Ivan of Zandar declared with his sword drawn.
Agreement buzzed electrically in the air.
"Now wait," Jason said. "I'm not saying we should give up. The opposite in fact. We need to find a new way to beat it."
Silence fell.
Meanwhile, Dark Infinus seemed to finally notice the fleet of colored bodies collecting. Impossibly long tendrils rained down from the ruined heavens, spearing the ground and sending dark sparks racing across every Ranger struck by the attack.
Dozens of bodies lay, finally reaching a point past recovery. Meanwhile a wave of the strongest Rangers met the tendrils head on.
Even the Power itself couldn't protect them from this blight.
"I… have an idea," a voice spoke up.
All eyes fell upon the figure. A blue ranger clad the visage of a triceratops. Billy Cranston. Though one in a heavily armored suit otherwise quite recognizable.
"But I don't really like it…"
"Well spit it out," Eric Myers said.
"If one of us were to absorb the collective grid energy of the rest of us and spear Dark Infinus head on it might be enough."
"Might?" Ayion asked.
"This is all conjecture," Billy said. "There's really no way to know unless we try it."
The air on the battlefield grew thick with tension.
Finally, Jayden Shiba, using his sword to dismember as many tentacles as could, spoke up. "I say we go for it."
"I'm with Billy," Trini said. "Otherwise we're all gonna die anyway."
"Affirmative," another Billy agreed. "Though my vote is a tad biased."
"But who's gonna bite the bullet?" Eric asked.
"I will."
His voice seemed to suck the air out of the area.
All eyes fell upon the Ranger adorned with the iconic golden shield.
Tommy Oliver. The one ranger ubiquitous across the multiverse.
A strange, almost peaceful silence settled around the Rangers.
"Each and every one of you has fought hard, but it's time to end this," Tommy spoke. This Tommy wasn't one of the prime timeline, or at least not of the current time period. His green ranger suit was more armored and cast in an emerald green. His voice seemed ancient.
Nobody found the strength to object. Even those who would much rather see themselves make the ultimate sacrifice had no choice but to bow to the finality in his voice.
Instead, the rangers all converged on Tommy. Dozens of hands reached out to touch him, offering the last of their strength.
One by one their suits exploded in light, sending sparks of shimmering color into the frail air.
Tommy absorbed all of it. Colored fractals orbited around his form.
Then, once the final ranger offered themselves to him, there was a brilliant explosion of light. Colors blended in beautiful, unexplainable ways.
What was left was a Dragon Ranger of pure white with a halo glowing of every color imaginable. A being nearly identical to the dragon ranger of old save for a cape that extended behind his iconic shield.
"Thank you all." Tommy said softly as he raised his hand to the crimson sky. "And may the power protect you. Always."
The legendary Ranger dissolved into a beam of white energy that struck Dark Infinus head on.
And the entire multiverse quaked in mourning.