Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Power Rangers. If I did things would be a lot different from the current situations. Try to sue me but the most valuable thing I own is my five year old stereo system. Anything not recognizable is probably mine, but it could also just be pop culture infiltrating my barriers.

Author's notes: This one is VERY violent. There will be blood and gore represented as well as some rather creative use of four letter words. Please don't read this if you don't like this or if you're too young to cope with this. Oh, yeah it is about the length of a novel at this point, a complete accident (all my fics start out as ten-fifteen page ideas that seem to go into thirty or so... in this case sixty something) All hate mail goes to my e-mail

unefemme@onebox.com

Another Time and Place
By Symbolic Agony

"How much further is it?" Rocky sighed as he glanced out the window seeing the same trees repeat themselves with hardly another car to break the monotony.

"I would guess about another half-hour at the most" Jason replied from the drivers' seat. He had to plead with his mom to get the van for the weekend and was not going to risk so much as a ticket while he was in it.

"Billy, toss the Doritos up here, Tommy called from the front passenger seat. He was relieved to be away from the duties demanded by Angel Grove. All the guys decided to go camping near the California/Nevada border. The girls had minimal interest in joining their male counterparts. Tanya even used the term "caveman" in her rejection.

Billy tossed the bag from the back seat, only to have it intercepted by Rocky who took two large handfuls and placed them in his lap before surrendering the remains to Tommy.

"Hey, I asked first for a reason." Tommy joked.

"So, how is life on the outside Billy?" Jason said.

"What?" Billy replied.

"You know, being cooped up in the Power Chamber." Jason explained, "You've barely seen the light of day lately."

"It is quite refreshing to escape the confines," Billy admitted, "But it really doesn't affect me one way or the other."

"I don't know how you and Adam do it." Tommy interjected "I couldn't deal with being by myself all the time. Don't you get depressed?"

Rocky quickly glanced backward toward Billy and noticed Adam completely knocked out beside him. He had curled himself into a ball to avoid crowding Billy on the back seat. His head rested on one arm while the other hung over the seat to the floor. "Speaking of Adam, check him out. Hey, sleeping Beauty, time to wake up." he said, shaking him slightly, only producing a faint moan.

Tommy looked back as well, "He's exhausted."

"Rocky, don't wake him up." Billy pleaded, "His parents have been arguing lately and he told me this morning that he's been sleep deprived."

"How come he didn't tell the rest of us?" Tommy asked.

"He doesn't want everybody to know his personal life." Rocky explained, "It's been like this for years. I'm surprised he spoke up at all."

The group remained silent for a moment with the exception of Rocky munching on his chips and the hum of the engine. It was awkward as they hardly looked at one another as the final destination became closer and home further and further.

"What am I doing here?" Billy muttered quietly.

"Hmm?" The others added.

"I don't belong here. I only came because you guys pestered me into doing it."

"Of course you belong here." Tommy added. "We need lives outside of Ranger duties."

"But I'm not a ranger anymore." Billy sighed. "I'm merely the lost cause in the closet."

Jason noted the tone of resentment in Billy's voice and initially vowed to say nothing. Still, he knew the matter wouldn't blow over easily. "Hardly. Yeah, you got cheated with the Gold Powers. Still, without you we would've all been dead a thousand times over before Tommy even became a ranger."

"That's right." Rocky agreed, "You're still a ranger. We all are and will be long after we leave."

The others snickered at the serious tone Rocky had taken. It was such a rare feat for him to concentrate on anything in particular. "You sounded almost philosophical" Tommy joked.

Billy shook his head in a manner that would have indicated disbelief. "It's not like I can hold my own on the battlefield. Physical combat was never my specialty. If I had inherited the Gold Power, I would have jeopardized all of you."

"Billy, you're being ridiculous." Tommy exclaimed, "You were the first choice for a reason. Thing just didn't work out. Stop being so insecure about yourself. You would've done fine. Your worst flaw is you never give yourself credit."

Billy wanted to protest further but merely took to staring out the window, hoping that once he got to the camp grounds there would be enough room for him to avoid another conversation of this manner. Nobody knew him well enough to tell the truth. They wanted to be kind and not offend him like he had been for so many years. It was easier to retreat than to continue the debate. The others noted that and figured it was best not to push matters further. The silence continued for twenty more minutes until the 'green monster' pulled up to the sparse wooded area they were to set up camp.

"Hey, Dad, Take a look at the rangers." Sprocket insisted as he spied on the conversation in the vehicle.

"Must I have any interest in what those petty humans are doing?" Mondo replied, "Unless they've been dismantled I don't want to bother with them.

"But this could be good." Sprocket continued, "Billy is doubting his ability as a ranger."

"What else is new?" Mondo said scornfully, turning his attention to a cog that had lost his left leg in battle with the rangers and cautiously replaced it.

"That gives me an idea." Sprocket exclaimed as he watched his father reattach the machine's limb. "We could capture the rangers and use one of them to tear them apart."

"What a horrid idea my son." Mondo dismissed, "It would take much effort to capture them and detain them. Remember what I said that you should never bring your enemy home with you."

"But Dad..." Sprocket urged, "If we could just get them for a few minutes we could place one of them under a spell. We could lock them up and let him take the other rangers out in front of us. They won't be able to fight back against their friend so it wouldn't be so easy for them to escape."

"Still, it is risky. How do we get all of them together and what will we do with their bodies or the one that's left. I don' particularly want a human bothering me, even if he is on our side." Mondo contemplated.

"Hmm..." Sprocket thought, "I know, We only need the male rangers and their all together now along with Billy. The girls will be vulnerable without them and we should have no problem in destroying them. As far as what to do with the humans we could get rid of them once their beaten up badly enough and send them back to Earth so their families could watch them die. The one left would have such a guilty conscience that he would be permanently incapacitated."

"It could work." Mondo considered. "But who would we use for the spell. It would need to be one who's emotionally weakened so once the spell is released they will break down."

"Well, Tommy wouldn't be a good idea; he might just get up again to get back at us. Same thing with Jason, especially if we kill one of his buddies. Rocky might just be too dumb to get what he did and wouldn't suffer as much. Either way, I'd like to see that goofball die."

"So you're suggesting between Adam or Billy." Mondo said.

"Yes, they both are similar in that they lack self confidence and I'm sure either one would fall apart once they realize that they murdered their fellow rangers. Still, Billy is slightly resentful that he doesn't have powers any more. He does have a hidden resentment toward Tommy and would be a perfect tool. He's also bigger than Adam and given the proper training could inflict more permanent damage."

"So be it. You have my approval." Mondo accepted, "But you must not fail. The last thing we need is for five rangers loose in my palace causing chaos. It is entirely up to you to carry it out. You have complete use of the cogs and any battle machine you wish. I just want those pesky humans out of my planet for good."

"No problem Pops." Sprocket confirmed, "I'll be sure Zordon's rangers will be no more."

"It's about time." Rocky exclaimed as he jumped out of the van "I thought we were never gonna get here."

"It's good to be able to stretch out my legs again" Tommy confirmed.

Billy gently shook Adam who was still sound asleep in the back seat. "Come on, were here Adam. Time to wake up."

Adam groaned slightly and then seemed to return back to sleep. Jason came around to the storage area behind them and made his attempt. "Adam..... Adam. Come on. Are you feeling alright?"

"Hmm... I'm fine.... just tired." Adam muttered.

"We need help setting up camp. Come on, the fresh air will do you good." Billy urged.

Adam grudgingly sat up, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the light. He wanted to sleep a few hours more but managed to pull himself up and came out the van.

"Look who's awake." Tommy smirked as he began sorting out several poles to one of the tents he had sprawled out in front of him. "Could you give me a hand with these?"

"Sure." Adam said, now being about half-awake.

"It's pretty nice here." Rocky commented, "Still I'm not sure if it was worth the five hour trip."

"Hey," Jason defended, "It gets us away from Angel Grove. We haven't been able to get away for awhile."

"I just hope Mondo will let us have this little vacation time." Rocky replied "I don't want to have to teleport back to deal with some monster." He was immediately given four looks that clearly meant 'Don't jinx us you idiot'. "What?"

"Common sense." Tommy explained, "Every time we wish these guys will leave us alone they are sure to cause trouble. We don't need any of that right now."

"We're going to need firewood." Jason stated, "Who wants to go?"

"I'll go." Billy offered.

"I guess I'll go too." Adam added, "I'm no good at setting up these stupid tents."

"Alright. Have fun." Rocky yelled as the two walked off together into the woods. "If you guys aren't back in two days, we'll get the FBI looking for you."

Both Billy and Adam headed cautiously along the path in the woods, picking up a variety of dry sticks. The trees stood surprisingly tall in the dry sandy soil and shielded them from the majority of the midday summer heat. "It'll take some time to gather the quantity needed for the fire" Billy said.

"It's still better than trying to set up the tents though." Adam replied.

"I suppose." Billy agreed.

Neither of the boys saw nor heard the swarm of cogs that were gathering about a hundred feet further up the trail. They hid just around a curve and waited for their pray to come to them. There were nearly forty all together along with a tall, skinny machine behind them. "Now listen up gear for brains. I'm going to give the order to attack. Once I do I want you to take out the green ranger. Leave the brainy pest to me. Once the others come, rough them up a bit and capture them, but no serious injuries. Gasket wants that pleasure."

The cogs nodded in unison as the two teens came closer and closer to the target area. "Wait.... Wait...." the leader machine said until they were within twenty feet "Now... go attack them!"

"What the hell?" Adam said as the team of cogs made a rush for him.

"How many of them are there?" Billy questioned.

"Too many." Adam answered, "Get out of here, get the others!"

Billy instinctively reached for his communicator and received nothing but static. "Shit... I can't reach Zordon or the others. The frequency is being blocked by something."

"Forget about that! Get the hell out of here." Adam yelled again. He backed up further, coming ever closer to a drop of about ten feet just beyond the trail.

"No way. You can't handle them on your own!" Billy cried out.

Three cogs made their first attempt at attacking Adam, who was unable to deflect all the blows. A decisive kick to the chest sent him tumbling over the edge of the drop and he fell hard on his left leg.

"Adam!" Billy called out, wondering why they weren't attacking him at all or showing any notice to his presence.

"Ahh..." Adam cried out as he attempted to stand. "I think I just broke my leg. Go get the others, please!"

The cogs were quickly making their way down toward the fallen Asian boy who frantically attempted to morph to no avail. "Damn it. I can't morph."

Billy quickly noticed the seriousness of his friend's injuries as he saw him frantically scramble away from the approaching enemy, lashing his right leg out wildly in his attempt to send them back. He considered going in to help but quickly realized that it was like a death sentence for them both if he did. He quickly turned away to run but was almost immediately intercepted by the head machine monster. "Going somewhere?"

"Get away from here!" Billy demanded vainly.

"Oh, you must be naïve to think that I would listen to a petty human." the monster cooed, "You don't know who I am. I am Dranscla and I am feared across most of the galaxy. If you don't struggle I won't hurt you and you shall live, for now."

"I'm not afraid." Billy whispered to himself as he took a fighting stance.

"You should be." Dranscla returned as he tackled Billy and before he could put up a fight was securely restrained and dragged over to the drop where Adam was losing badly to the Cogs. Billy was forced to watch as he saw his friend get kicked and punched numerous times and unable to connect a proper blow. Blood dripped down his forehead as he grew visibly exhausted. One final kick to the head sent him out, and he laid on the ground, unmoving.

"No! Get up!" Billy pleaded as he once again attempted to struggle against Dranscla's iron grip.

Dranscla chuckled at Billy's frantic attempt to save his friend, "Such sentimentalism is making me sick. Don't worry. HE isn't dead. You'll see him soon enough." And the two disappeared in a flash of blood red light.

A faint rumble could be heard from the camp ground and swarms of birds fled from deep in the woods. It was almost immediately followed by an explosion.

"What's that?" Jason asked aloud.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good." Tommy said. "We better go check it out."

"Right." Rocky and Jason agreed in unison.

The three took off racing down the path, as fast as their legs could carry them. They continued to hear the chaotic noises as the got nearer until they came face to face with more cogs than had ever been set out on them before. They completely surrounded them with ease, giving no hope of retreat.

"Time to take care of business." Tommy grunted as he sidekicked three of the cogs, only to have them replaced by several more.

"Shit, there's Too many of them!" Jason cried as he was kicked. Another cog quickly added another blow, sending him flying down the same drop. The wind was knocked out of him as he rolled an the ground in pain. When he came to his senses, he noticed the cogs once again approaching him while Tommy and Rocky were being quickly overpowered like never before. He stumbled backward and tripped over something, sending him tumbling toward the ground. He quickly recognized the boy in Green "Adam?" he said, shaking him without response.

The cogs kept approaching him gradually, taking their sweet time as though they knew they had the upper hand. "Come on, Adam? You gotta wake up!" He pleaded. A sudden fear struck him and he frantically Adam's neck for a pulse of some sort. He was relieved to find that his companion wasn't dead but then realized that Billy was nowhere to be found.

"Ahhh... it hurts." Rocky gasped as clutched his right shoulder that had been torn from its socket. "These guys are for real this time."

"I know." Tommy agreed, blood trickling from several wounds throughout his body, "There isn't much we can do. They must've managed to block out the communicators. We're royally fucked."

"I... Don't think I'm going to be able.... to keep this up much longer." Rocky said, between labored breaths.

"We CANNOT give up!" Tommy retorted. A cog came up behind him and delivered a strong kick to the base of Tommy's spine, sending him crashing down in a heap of pain.

"Tommy!" Rocky cried out. He looked around the chaos and noticed he was the only one left standing. Tommy laid barely conscious just in front of him, unable to put up the fight any longer. He saw Jason being dragged limply by two cogs who laid him next to Adam. The only one who wasn't present was Billy. Rocky hoped he had managed to get away, even though he doubted it. He felt his body grow tired, refusing to listen to his orders to continue with the fight. He felt the cold metallic hands grasp him and he was unable to do anything about it.

"So? Is the guest comfortable?" Sprocket taunted as he stood over Billy, who was restrained by his wrists and ankles onto a steel table. A slew of machinery, mainly consisting of old parts from destroyed monsters and cogs along with some leftovers from Rita and Zedd.

Billy wanted to cry. It was his own fault for him being here. He had to stand there and watch Adam get pummeled. If he had just run right away they all would have had a better chance. "I would hardly consider myself a guest here."

"Oh, but you are going to play the primary role in disposing of the rangers." Sprocket countered, "and you don't even have to thank me."

"Not in this lifetime." Billy replied, attempting to hide the fear and uncertainty he held.

"It's not like you have a choice." Sprocket explained, bringing out a huge syringe filled with a deep red fluid that nearly matched blood. "Once I give you this, the bio-agents will render you a mere puppet to us. I want you to kill your friends and you will. Don't try to fight it; it'll only weaken you against your task."

"No!" Billy shouted again and again as Sprocket injected the fluid into his arm. Almost immediately his head swam and he couldn't focus on anything. "Please don't make me do this!" he pleaded with tears in his eyes as he noticed the lack of control he had over his own body as he drifted off into a deep sleep."

"Soon, Billy it will all make sense. Just enjoy the ride." Sprocket chuckled.

"Hey girl, what's up?" Tanya said to Kat as she greeted her at the youth center.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just bored." Kat answered.

"Tell me about it." Tanya said in a slightly hushed voice, "We haven't been bothered by the machines for a few weeks. And we don't even have the guys to mess with."

Kat greeted her with a mischievous grin "Or a particular one." she taunted.

"Who?" Tanya defended, "Me and Adam?"

"Who else?" Kat replied, "It's pretty obvious."

"It's not like that" Tanya spelled out, "I wish it were but Adam said that he didn't feel for me quite like that. He's afraid that if we started going out things would get weird between the two of us on the battlefield."

"It isn't like that with Tommy and me at all." Katherine countered.

"I know, but maybe he isn't ready yet. I don't want to push it, besides, it's kinda nice being single again."

Kat nodded in reply. "Yeah, I miss them, but it's nice to get them out of our hair for a few days. We should hang out tonight and rent a bunch of movies. There're a ton that I want to see but Tommy won't because they are 'chick flicks' according to him."

"Hopefully things are going alright for them." Tanya thought aloud, "And I hope you-know-who won't cause any shit."

"Don't worry. They can take care of themselves. Besides, if something were to happen in that matter we would know." Kat ensured, gesturing to the communicator on her wrist.

"Where the hell are we?" Tommy said as he came to in a dark room where he and the other guys were hanging about a foot or so off the floor by a heavy rope tied around each of their hands.

"Beats me." Rocky responded.

"Is everybody alright?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know." Rocky answered truthfully. "Neither Adam or Jase have woken up yet. They did get pretty beat up back there. No clue as to where Billy is right now. How's your back?"

"Fucking sore as hell right now." Tommy grumbled.

"My arms hurt." Adam said quite groggily as he collected his senses.

"That's 'cause they have us hanging up here like wild game." Rocky replied. "You okay? You got your ass kicked back there."

"I know." Adam replied. "What do they want with us?"

"Wish we knew." Tommy replied. "We don't even know where we are or what time it is right now."

Jason had gradually began coming to and didn't bother saying a word. He knew that nobody had any answers to his questions.

"You think the girls are alright?" Tommy thought aloud.

"I hope so." Adam stated, "Seems like they were concentrating on us for the moment. I think they deployed every single cog they had on us. Anybody know where Billy is?"

"Beats me." Tommy replied, "I would've thought you would know since you were there. He was gone when we got there and you were out."

"He must've disappeared after I blacked out. Funny thing is none of them actually went to attack him at all. They were all busy taking me out. I just hope the fact he isn't here means he got away."

"We really need to be thinking about how we're going to get out of here." Rocky noted, looking around the small cell. "I personally don't want to know what they want to do with us here."

"Great, so what's you plan, Rocky?" Jason cracked, "Bite through these ropes? Oh, I got it... maybe if we ask really nicely they might let us go!"

"We really don't need sarcasm right now bro." Tommy urged, attempting to reduce the chance of a heated argument. "I don't see any way out of here at the moment. They got us tied up pretty good."

Adam attempted to get one of his arms out of the roping. His didn't seem as tight as the others' were and he was quite flexible "I might be able to get my wrist out of here if I can just get it through this loop."

"You sure?" Rocky exclaimed, "We don't need you breaking your arm trying to get out."

"Not like I can help much if they attack anyway." Adam scoffed, "In that cog attack I fell and I think one of my legs are broke. Might as well have an arm to match."

"It won't be so fun when you're in a wheelchair 'cause you won't be able to use the crutches." Tommy joked.

"It's not like we have any other options." Jason added, "If he wants to try let him. Things can't get much worse than it is right now."

"No.... I said to follow through like this!" Sprocket yelled as he took the sword from Billy and thrust it through the stuffed mannequin, the blade exiting through the other end. "You'll inflict more pain and damage that way, especially when you take it out."

"Yes master." Billy replied soullessly "I shall not disappoint you again. I will make sure the rangers will feel every bit of pain I give them."

"Yes, just remember, there's a force field around them that will keep them alive as long as you don't do anything too extreme like decapitate them. WE want them to go home and let them die where their friends and families will witness their very painful deaths."

"Yes, my Prince, I shall obey your command." Billy droned as he once again took the sword and in a quick flurry of decisive swipes reduced the mannequin to pieces, with cotton stuffing flying out everywhere. "Will that do?"

"Yes!" Sprocket cheered, "You're ready. Time for me to introduce you to your targets."

"I would very much like that." Billy grinned.

Sprocket took the sword from Billy's hand and replaced it with a long, thick bull whip. "Here, this is one of the most painful items to use on human flesh. It would make a good start. Make sure they won't be able to fight after this, especially Tommy."

"Tommy will feel all the pain for what he has done over these years." Billy agreed, "That glamor hog will be the first one to feel my hand around his throat and cry as he starts to die."

"Yes." Adam whispered.

"What?" Jason replied.

Adam wriggled his right hand to demonstrate what he had done.

"You son of a bitch." Tommy exclaimed, "You actually managed to get your hand out of there."

"At least that's something." Rocky replied "If I hang here for another five minutes, I think my arms will fall off."

All four of the guys heard footsteps approaching just then. They sounded heavy, like they belonged to one of the machines. As the figure came closer they could tell that it was human after all.

"Billy!" Tommy gasped, "What're you doing here we thought...."

"YOU thought I was captured, that I couldn't take care of myself." Billy interrupted, brandishing the whip and swinging it within inches of Tommy's face. "You were so wrong. Now you can't control me. I've been set free. Now its time for all of you to get what you deserve."

"What... are you doing?" Rocky stammered, his eyes focusing on the whip that seemed to be dangerously close and in the wrong person's hands.

"Duh... what does it look like you fucking moron?" Billy screamed, taking the object and demonstrating its use on the blue ranger's abdomen. Rocky yelped in agony as blood began to flow onto his shirt. "That's what a bullwhip is made for."

"Rocky?" Adam cried out. "Are you okay?"

"And look at you" Billy sneered, "I should've told them to be careful of you. Too damn agile for your own good, perhaps even too smart. To say the least you know more than these dumbasses combined!"

"No, you don't want to do this. This isn't you!" Adam protested and was greeted with a whiplash to his chest, but he withheld any sound."

"I'm going to teach you to try to get out of things when your not told." Billy continued, taking out a small dagger from his belt. "I said I wouldn't resort to knives just yet, but since you wouldn't scream for me and was trying to get away..."

"Please don't do it." Adam whimpered as the small dagger came ever closer to to his arm, not sure of what the enraged former ranger would do.

Billy firmly grasped Adam's arm, which struggled frantically as the knife dug into his flesh just above the elbow and traced a line down along the bone until he reached the wrist. He smiled with pure glee as he saw the tears begin to pour not only from Adam's eyes but the others' as well. "Such sentiment you have for one another. It's sickening. I haven't even begun hurting any of you yet."

"Knock this shit off right fucking now!" Jason screamed, deliberately attempting to get his attention away from his badly wounded partner, "You don't want to kill any of us. Stop being a puppet for them!"

"A puppet?" Billy crooned as he turned his attention on the muscular brunette, "Wasn't I that when I was with you? A machine who merely saved the day so you and Tommy could take all the glory?"

"You're gonna hate yourself after this is through." Jason blurted, "Knowing that you killed your friends."

"I shall only cry out of boredom once you're gone and in the dirt." Billy returned.

"Fuck you! Isn't one of us enough?" Jason yelled, looking over at Adam who continued to bleed extensively and seemed almost delirious.

"Don't worry, he won't die, just yet." Billy explained, "We want you to live through the worst attack and then you'll have the pleasure of dying in a hospital on Earth with your parents by your side. At least you'll be granted that honor."

"I hate you!" Jason screamed, prompting Billy to lash the whip several times over Jason's body. Jason also bit back his screams, determined not to grant Billy the pleasure of watching him in agony. When no reaction came Billy continued to whip, faster and harder, not sparing a single region; arms, legs, body and face were all drenched in thick red blood."

"No!" Tommy choked out. "Leave them alone."

Billy then advanced on Tommy once again a look of twisted contempt drawn on his face. His face had traces of blood as well, but obviously not his own. "Trying to be the hero once again? It's too late!"

"Come on, Billy. Try to remember that we aren't your enemy." Tommy pleaded, "We're not the ones you want to go after."

"Listen pretty boy, I'm tired of you influencing me to do what you say. Never again will I stand in your shadow. Nor will I lose what is entitled to me to your best friend. It's over and you cannot stop me." Billy said, dangerously calm examining Tommy's vulnerable body. "Where do I begin with you? I could always start with that face of yours." Billy took the whip and slashed it harder and faster than he had previously directly onto Tommy's left cheek. He lifted it again and marked his forehead in blood. Another time he let it fall directly onto his groin, the last bringing about the only cry of pain he would permit himself.

"That is enough for today." Billy determined, taking his knife and cutting the four battered rangers down from the ceiling. "But don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow to give you all another lesson." And as casually as he came, he left back down the corridor, the energy bars separating the components reappeared. Each of the four boys fought back the urge to cry openly not only because of the pain but also the dreadful idea of who was doing this to them and the fact they may never see their loved ones again.

Rocky was the least injured of the bunch and looked over each of the three others who laid on the ground barely able to move. "God. Guys, just hang in there. We'll find a way out."

"I know we will." Adam croaked very weakly. The bleeding was beginning to slow, which Rocky wasn't sure if it was good or bad. He scrambled to his friend of eleven years and looked into his wound. The bone was visible at places in the cut and not much less deep anywhere else.

"Please, hang in there. Just a little longer." Rocky pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'll be alright." Adam said shakily, holding Rocky's hand with his un-mangled hand which trembled greatly, "We'll make it through this. Then we'll laugh about it later. "

"How can you joke at a time like this?" Rocky said, dismayed. He suddenly realized that it was all his friend could do to keep awake; it was the only thing he had to hold onto. He realized that if he didn't play into it, it was very likely Adam could die in front of him. "Yeah, you'll be fine. You'll probably have a really nasty scar, but maybe the chicks will like it."

Adam chuckled slightly as his eyes began to close. Rocky panicked for a moment, "No, stay awake, whatever you do stay awake." But his words were lost as the smaller Asian boy fell into a deep sleep.

"He went out already?" Jason gasped, clutching his own wounds as best he could to stop the bleeding.

"Yeah." Rocky said, removing his shirt and tying it tightly around Adam's arm, placing his head on his lap. "He probably isn't gonna wake up."

"Didn't Billy say something about we won't die in here though?" Tommy asked.

"We're fucked either way." Jason moaned.

"Don't talk like that!" Tommy exclaimed, "We have to stick together. That's what they want. If we don't we're going to be dead no matter what happens. Once the girls find us they'll get us out of here."

"Is it worth it though?" Jason demanded, "If we're completely crippled. I don't want my folks to see me like that!"

"It's better than being here." Rocky replied. "Don't give up on yourself just yet. We'll make it through this somehow."

"Yeah, bro. Let's just hope that they're right about us not dying in here. At least it'll buy us some time."

"I'm just going to sleep. At least I won't have to think about anything." Jason muttered.

"I'm kinda exhausted too." Rocky agreed. "We need to try to rest."

"We'll figure out what to do tomorrow." Tommy added.

"Goodnight." they all said in near unison.

"Didn't they say they were going to be home by five?" Kat asked Mrs. Oliver about her son's whereabouts.

"That's what I was told but you know Tommy about as well as I do." Virginia Oliver answered, "They probably got caught up doing something out there and are running a couple hours late."

"Still, it's almost eight now. He would've called, or at least Adam or Billy would've. None of their parents have heard a word from them."

"Don't worry dear. I'll have him call you once he gets in. I'm sure they're all just fine."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Kat said with a great deal of uncertainty. "Bye."

"So, no word from any of them?" Tanya said, having overheard the conversation.

Kat put the phone down and looked over to her best friend. "Funny thing is they haven't called at all. Tommy and Rocky I understand, but the others..."

Tanya put a comforting arm around the tall blonde's shoulder. "We can't do anything. If something machine related happened, we would've been called by Zordon. They might've had the van break down on them or something."

"I just don't like the feeling of this." Kat returned.

Beep-beep beep-beep-beep beep went the girls' communicators as they waited in Kat's living room. "Hey, Zordon, what's up?" Tanya replied.

"Tanya I need you and Katherine here immediately" Zordon's voice boomed, "We have a dilemma at hand involving the other rangers and Billy."

Both of their hearts skipped a beat as they heard the urgency of the message. "We'll be right there."

"Zordon, what's going on?" Kat exclaimed as she and Tanya teleported into the Power Chamber. "Did something happen to the guys out there?"

"Unfortunately" the floating head boomed, "All of the male rangers and Billy were kidnapped my King Mondo's forces shortly after their arrival."

"What the fuck?" Tanya blurted, "Why didn't they call us? Why didn't you tell us they were under attack?"

"I apologize but a solar flare disrupted communication between us and you over the past two days. We had no means of informing you that any of this was happening."

"Are they alright? Have you found them?" Tanya insisted.

"We believe that they are being held captive on the machine empire's moon base. We've managed to pick up life signals but I'm afraid two of them are significantly weakened." Alpha explained.

"Who?" Kat asked.

"We are unable to depict who owns which life signal. The only indicator that it is them is that no other living beings are on the base at this moment. I fear that the Rangers are in grave danger."

"Then if you found them can't you teleport them back?" Kat asked once more.

"I'm sorry rangers, but we're still trying to override the protective shield that is preventing them from teleporting out."

Tanya went over to one of the computer consoles and began typing into the equipment as quickly as possible. "We gotta find them now!"

"Anybody else awake?" Tommy called out as he awoke, his face still sore as could be.

"Yeah." Jason groaned. He had weakened over the night visibly as he was sweating profusely.

"You okay bro?" Tommy asked.

"No." Jason admitted, "My whole body hurts and I think I'm getting sick."

Tommy crept over toward him and placed a palm over his forehead. It was warm... too warm. He also heard Jason wheeze slightly with every breath. "You're burning up man. Just take it easy."

"How're Rocky and Adam doing?" Jason inquired.

Tommy glanced over toward the two of them, still laying side by side like they were when he went to sleep. "They're still sound asleep I think."

"We should go check on them." Jason stated and followed with a deep hacking cough that burned his chest and throat.

"You should stay here bro." Tommy urged. "You and Adam got it the worst. I'll go check on them." He went over the couple feet to where both boys laid. Tommy secretly knew Rocky would be fine considering he had only one whip lash administered. He was half-expecting to find that Adam died in his sleep but he still was breathing. He also seemed to have the same wheezing Jason had and a hand to his forehead confirmed that he too was running a very high fever. He cautiously removed the shirt that was tied around his wound. -It's getting infected, really badly- he thought as he saw the white/yellow pus forming in the crevice and the deep discoloration. He then rewrapped the injury and left him to sleep, heading back toward Jason.

"Are they still alive?" Jason asked, wanting it to be a joke but knowing that there was a seriousness and reality to it.

"Yeah." Tommy confirmed. "Rocky seems fine. I think he's been taking care of Adam as best he can. I'm surprised that he even made it through last night. He got whatever you have. Must be 'cause you two got beaten the worst by him."

"Yeah," Jason said, his voice quivering, "sorry about last night. I know I haven't been very pleasant through all this but... it's just... I don't wanna die up here. Not like this.

"I hear you but we have to tough it out." Tommy responded, "None of us are in our prime right now."

"Honestly you look like shit." Jason blurted.

"Yeah," Tommy sighed, "I don't think I ever wanna see myself in a mirror anytime soon. You don't look so hot yourself."

"neither of you were ever were that attractive to me." Rocky interjected.

"Hey," Tommy called, "How you doing?"

"Sore, but a lot better than you guys look." Rocky confessed.

"Did you see Adam's arm yet?" Tommy questioned.

"Yeah, I saw it a few hours ago, while you guys were still sleeping." Rocky replied, "It looks pretty bad."

"Don't be surprised if he goes." Tommy stated. "It looks like he could any minute."

"Hey," a voice whispered, "I'm not dead yet and don't plan on it anytime soon."

"Adam?" Tommy exclaimed in disbelief.

"Are you doing alright?" Jason inquired.

"I'm fine." Adam lied. He felt absolutely horrid at the moment but he knew that he was beaten badly and it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was the primary worry at the moment. "My arm is feeling better."

"Don't lie." Rocky demanded, "We saw." Adam began to sit up, only to be forced back down by Rocky. "You and Jason aren't gonna move. Don't wanna have to haul two dead corpses out of here. Do you understand?"

Adam just nodded his head slightly as he laid on his back staring at the ceiling. "What are we going to do about Billy? He'll be back eventually."

"What can we do?" Jason said bitterly, "We can't fight him. Even if we wanted to I don't think any of us are in that shape right now."

Everyone nodded in conferment. "We just have to hope that we can get out of here before something all of us will regret." Tommy said, looking at the hard metal floor. "I couldn't fight Billy. I never would want to. And it isn't him in there doing this."

"We'll get Mondo back for this!" Rocky swore.

"Then get him for me too." Adam replied softly.

"Don't start talking like that now!" Rocky exclaimed, "You'll get your chance once we get out of here."

Adam laughed slightly, which gradually turned into a painful coughing fit. Once he had finished he answered "I don't think I'm ever gonna fight again. Even if I live through this."

"What?" Tommy exclaimed, "Don't worry. I'm sure we can patch you up in no time. We'll all be back to normal eventually."

"Yeah," Jason added, "You made it this far."

"Thanks guys." Adam responded, "But let's face reality. My arm's shot. It doesn't hurt because I can't feel it. I'm ready to accept that it will probably take me out of commission permanently."

The other three only looked at him and realized how true his statement was. Who was to say any of them would ever be able to fight again after what was done and if Billy were to strike again it could very easily be the end of the Power Rangers. "We'll get him for you, don't worry about that." Rocky said.

"Any clue as to getting out of here?" Jason inquired.

"They're energy bars all over the exit. There's no way to get through them." Tommy noted after taking a quick glance around the barren cell.

"Not to mention we'd still have to get out of this place" Jason added, "I don't think any of us could make a run for it right now."

"You did well your first time out." Sprocket gave his approval to Billy, "But I want you to go after Tommy. He needs to see the life dripping out of him very slowly and painfully. And you barely touched Rocky, but you at least got his friend quite well. Today I want you to take the sword and make sure that he is defenseless for good. Don't worry about any of the others unless they try to jump in and stop you. They'll have their time."

"Sire, I doubt that they will allow me to strike just one of them." Billy rationed, "Wouldn't it be best if I took all of them out immediately to get things over with now? That way you won't risk losing them if the others come to rescue them."

"The others won't be able to get to them." Sprocket said with a laugh, "They know where they are but there's no way for them to teleport in or out of the cell. Just take your time. If you do too much at once they begin not to feel anything."

"As you wish, master." Came the reply from the tall blonde man with the cold blue eyes.

"Get anywhere?" Kat asked Tanya and Alpha, who worked through the night attempting to break the force field trapping the five male companions.

"No." Tanya replied, "I've been trying every command and code Billy and Adam have ever shown me. There doesn't seem to be a way to penetrate this thing."

"It might be wise to go home and get some rest." Zordon advised, "You won't be able to help them if you're exhausted."

"What about their parents?" Kat inquired, "They're getting worried since they haven't heard from any of them last night. The police have been called even."

"How do we tell them?" Tanya exclaimed "... Oh, hi just dropping by to say that alien machines picked up your sons and are holding them prisoner on the moon. Why? Oh.. I forgot to tell you they're power Rangers!"

"We have to tell them something, even if it does give their identities away." Kat countered. "We just have to make sure that they won't tell anybody else."

"How?" Tanya demanded, "In case you haven't noticed, the media has been trying to figure out who we are for years now. If it weren't for the change in rangers from time to time, we would've all been found out a long time ago. They still want to know and let's face it people can be bought."

"Zordon." Kat pleaded, "What are we going to do about this? They have the right to know, but Tanya has a point there. Should we give ourselves away?"

Zordon pondered this all for several moments before speaking once again, "This is a difficult situation. Upon becoming rangers you vowed not to reveal you identities, but never had a situation come up where there was a legitimate reason for breaking this vow. There is a risk involved in telling the families, but you are officially released from the vow of silence as of now. The two of you must decide for yourselves what is the best option and be prepared to accept what may occur as a result."

"So, what do you want to do?" Tanya asked Kat.

"I don't know," Kat admitted, "I think we should. At least there would be some type of relief. We know they're all alive."

"We could always try to swear them to secrecy but there wouldn't be any promises." Tanya grumbled, still fairly critical of doing something so drastic so quickly. There has to be another way of doing this.

"Well, what could be so bad if it did happen? I mean, yeah, we'll get bothered by the media for awhile but things would cool down eventually."

"I like having my privacy." Tanya argued, "I don't want anybody following me with every person I date. I don't want people to suddenly like me just because of this. I want to keep a normal like to a certain extent."

"Still, wouldn't your parents be scared half to death if it were you in that situation. Wouldn't you want them to know the fucking truth if it happened. I know I would like them to know that about me."

"I wouldn't put anybody else in the position to decide for me." Tanya yelled. "Just do what you want, but be careful about it. I still don't want the whole planet to know."

"Neither do I, but I think it's the right thing to do right now." Kat answered.

"What did you want all of us here for?" Mrs. DeSantos asked as she, Mr. And Mrs. Park, Mrs. Oliver, Mr and Ms. Scott and Mr. Cranston all met in the Hillard's living room.

"There's something you need to know. It's about Tommy, Adam, Billy, Rocky and Jason disappearing." Kat began, "Thing is... I know who kidnapped them. It's those machines that keep coming down to Earth and attacking Angel Grove. They took them once they got to the campground. They're being held captive on the moon, and there's no way to get them back. I knw they're all still alive, but I don't know anybody else."

"Why would they take them, though? There are so many kids they could've took." Mr. Cranston

"And how would you know about this?" Mr. Park demanded, "You seem to know more about this than the authorities do."

"Well, you see..." Kat continued, "except for Billy, they're all Power Rangers, and Billy was one until recently but still helps us out. Tanya and I are also."

"What?" Mrs. Scott asked, "You mean all this time..."

"We couldn't tell you... for obvious reasons." Kat explained. "And I am begging you all to keep this secret to yourselves. It would be a disaster for all of us if we ever got found out."

"Of all people, it had to be my son." Mrs. Oliver sighed, "That's why he disappeared all the time and got detentions for ditching class. All this time I thought he was doing drugs or something but could never prove it."

"It answers a lot of questions." Mrs. Park thought aloud, "Like where he was disappearing to all the time and wouldn't tell us anything. Are you sure though? I mean Adam hates to fight."

Kat wanted to say something in reply. None of them liked going into battles but they always did it since they were the only ones who could stop every monster that was sent down. "It's true."

"What are you going to do to get them back?" Mr. Scott asked firmly, "I don't want Tommy to be up there a second longer. Please get him back safely."

"We're trying, but it isn't easy." Kat replied.

"What time do you think it is?" Rocky asked. "How long have we been in here?"

"Beats me." Jason replied, "I bet we should've been home by now. Damn, our folks are going to be worried as hell about us."

"I don't want to know how long we've been stuck here. I would guess a couple days now." Adam gave his estimate. He once again went into a coughing fit that receded after a few seconds.

"I think I lost track of time once I came in here. It's had to of been at least a day and a half though." Tommy added.

"You're wrong Tommy," a sinister voice interrupted as the owner entered through the energy bars into the cell. "It's just time for you to die."

"Over our dead bodies!" Jason screamed in response.

"If it has to be so it shall. But I can easily dispose of all of you in your weakened condition. All I want is Tommy... this time around." Billy grimaced as he took several long strides over to Tommy, who attempted to scramble away. Within a second Billy had harshly gripped Tommy's long hair and gave it a hard yank.

"Knock this shit off!" Rocky screamed as he leaped and tackled Billy to the ground. The two young men wrestled for a minute until a sharp object pierced Rocky's abdomen, and then he was kicked forcefully in the chest, sending him down in a heap of flesh and blood.

"Don't toy with me, Rocky, I have three times the intellect and twice your strength right now." Billy sneered as he twisted the sword in him, Rocky screaming like he never had before in pain. He then quickly removed the blade as he heard Jason attempting to sneak up on him. "You want to fight me?"

"You're not going to kill any of us. I'll kill you first." Jason threatened.

"This is how you treat a friend?" Billy mocked the Gold ranger.

"You're not Billy anymore." Tommy called, standing directly next to his best friend of several years. "Now what're you going to do."

"What I was meant to do..." Billy said, "Kill you." He lunged at both Rangers who attempted to double team him but were tossed away like rag dolls. Jason fell into the energy bars, which shocked him and sent him convulsing on the ground. Tommy landed on top of Adam, his elbow landing in the ribs. Tommy heard the bones crack and saw the Asian boy's face contort.

"You okay?" Tommy asked, much relieved when he got a slight nod in response. "Damn you. Leave them out of this. You want me."

"Sure, I want you, but it's more pleasurable for you to see, for it to be your fault that your friends are like this." He spat, gesturing to the bodies laying about the cell.

"You're fucking insane!" Tommy hollered. "Stop this right now!"

Billy didn't reply but instead delivered a hard blow to Tommy's head. When he stuck the ground, Billy commenced kicking the body repeatedly, ignoring the bruising and swelling that was occurring or the snapping of his bones. Tommy made a kick in desperation, but Billy took it without flinching and once more took the sword that was already stained with Rocky's blood. "It's all over for you. Why don't you just stop struggling and make it easier for yourself?"

Tommy stared into Billy's hateful eyes and realized that he was going to face the sword. He closed his eyes as he raised it and gasped as it pierced his chest. He shook violently and the blood oozed out of the wound. His chest throbbed as his lungs and heart struggled against the foreign object embedded within him.

Billy saw Rocky begin to stir slightly. He was obviously still stunned by his attack, unable to know what was occurring. Billy grabbed him forcefully and dragged the heavy body like a rag doll and held him over Tommy's mangled body. The fearless leader was now completely helpless and every one of them was at the mercy of their former companion.

"Tommy!" Rocky chocked out, "Please... Billy, don't"

"Don't do what?" Billy replied nonchalantly, "You mean this?" Billy said, placing his foot over Tommy's throat, waiting until his face began to turn colors before removing it just as casually as when one steps on a cockroach.

Rocky couldn't find words for his grief. His lips quivered slightly, the action beyond his control. He prayed inwardly that this was it and he would either stop here or be gracious enough to take all of them out of their misery.

Billy once again took out the small dagger he used in the last attack that sliced Adam's arm, "Let's see, what should you get? This would be an appropriate last vision for you." Billy crooned as he neared it ever closer to Rocky's widened eyes. The blue ranger attempted to struggle against what he knew was next to come, but the gaping wound in his abdomen prevented him from stopping the dagger as it went past his clenched eyelids and everything in front of Rocky became a painful black as he rolled about on the floor, unable to decipher what was once evident to him.

"Stop whining you pathetic idiot." Billy screeched as he delivered a forceful kick to the groin for good measure, guaranteeing a further yelp of an even greater magnitude.

Suddenly there was a charge at Billy as Jason succeeded in knocking him off his feet and delivering several blows while he was on the ground. Billy eventually was able to take the upper hand once more when he kicked Jason headfirst into the steel wall. There was a audible thud. Billy failed to hesitate on his advancement and once again stuck Jason's head into the wall. He repeated it again and again for good measure until blood pored from numerous places, matting his hair instantly and his body hung entirely limp in Billy's hands of death. "You're all going to die for that."

"Why?" a voice cried out. "Why must you do this?"

"After all I put you through you're still alive Adam?"

"You have to fight this." Adam whispered, "It isn't you in there."

"No..." Billy defended, "You never saw the real me. This is who I am. I'm not walking in any of your shadows any more!"

"It isn't you." Adam continued, "Billy wouldn't want to harm anybody. I know him. He's the insecure genius who saved all of our asses so many times I lost count. Don't tell me you're him."

"Shut up!" Billy demanded, his face a brilliant red, a great contrast with the sandy hair.

"Not till I get my friend back." Adam said, attempting to suppress yet another bout of coughing. "Or you kill me."

"Enough of this bull... I'll make sure you die like all the others. Call it your punishment for being too resilient." Billy exclaimed as he kicked Adam square in the jaw several times, until the heard a loud snap. He then took the already critically injured teen and turned his stomach to the ground. Billy pulled his back around his knee, his smile widening with Adam's frantic flailing of his arm. He edged it further and further, very gradually, as to ensure the pain would become unbearable. With one movement, the vertebral column shifted and only then did Billy release him.

"Very good." Sprocket said with glee, "A little too soon, but most entertaining. Especially when they tried to talk you out of hurting them any more. I wish I had a camera for that so I would be able to create a museum of my success in ridding Earth of the Power Rangers.

"Could always use their heads as well." Billy suggested.

"True, but too messy, especially after what you did to some of them. You did your job. Now you can return to your goody two shoes self." Sprocket declared, sprinkling some dust over the blonde man in gray. He then turned around and headed out back to the heart of the palace, leaving Billy trapped with the four dreadful bodies.

"What did I do?" Billy screamed after pondering everything for about ten minutes. "Can any of you hear me?"

"Billy?" he heard Rocky's voice strained, "You're back?"

Billy rushed over to the muscular Latino. There was a horrid stench in the cell, a mixture of dirt, blood and sweat from the four boys who hadn't bathed in several day. He took his hand and placed it firmly over the wound in Rocky's stomach where blood still fell out, a desperation attempt to stop the bleeding. "Hang in there, I'm so sorry."

"How're the others?" Rocky asked, lacking all the strength he usually held.

"You all look absolutely gruesome." Billy sighed, taking a quick glance and figuring that the others had to have died from what he did. He had a full memory to every even and was a firsthand witness to what had just occurred. He tried to peel open Rocky's still clenched eyes. "Can you see anything?"

"No." Rocky confessed, "What happened after his happened?"

"I.... I don't know what I did." Billy cried, "They made me do these things. I killed my best...."

"Shhh......." Rocky attempted to soothe his friend, "It wasn't you. We'll get through this all somehow. Go check on the others and make sure there're still...." there was no need for the last word. They both knew what they were looking for.

Billy made his way by every one of his fallen comrades, each body bringing back even more memories of what exactly happened those past days. His mouth dropped open when every single one of them had a pulse. Jason was fully out of it but both Tommy and Adam showed some sign of awareness. Billy thought about the force field Sprocket said would keep them all alive for the time being and wondered how long they would survive once they exited it."

"I think I found a way to unlock the force field surrounding the rangers." Alpha cheered, "It should only take several minutes."

"Great!" Kat and Tanya both cried, exchanging a huge hug, something they needed over the past several days.

"Oh, no!" Alpha said suddenly, prompting both girls to end their celebration prematurely.

"What is is Alpha?" Tanya inquired.

"Something's terribly wrong. I managed to get past the force field, but something happened to the rangers. Billy seems to be fine but the other rangers are critically sick or wounded. Their life signal is too weak for them to teleport."

"What?" Kat queried.

"I'm afraid that the machine empire placed Billy under a spell." Zordon explained. "He was entirely under their influence and he was forced to attack the rangers at such an extreme level... it is quite possible that they are all dying. The force field is what is keeping them alive currently. To get them out, you must teleport in and bring them out. They will all need to be immediately brought to a hospital if they are to have any hope of survival."

"No!" Tanya bawled, "After all this we still are going to lose them?"

"Pull yourself together girl," Kat urged, "We have to go and get them. While we're at it we could get back at them."

"How?" Tanya asked.

"You know that explosive Billy came up with a few weeks ago?" Tanya nodded, "We could plant it in the palace and then we won't have to worry about Mondo any more. Only catch is once we plant it we will only have a minute to get out of there."

"It could work, but we'd have to time everything down to the second." Tanya agreed.

"True, and we still don't know exactly what condition the guys are in. It might be difficult for us to move them without killing them."

"Well, I think we should go there and see what can be done. If it happens where we could use the explosive we will, but if we would be pushing our luck in doing so, it can always wait for another day." Tanya rationalized

"Alright." Kat confirmed, "It's morphin' time"

"Zeo Ranger one, Pink!"

"Zeo Ranger two, Yellow!"

"Good luck rangers, bring them all home safely." Alpha pleaded.

"May the Power protect you all." Zordon said as the two girls teleported out of the Command Center.

"Rocky?" Billy asked.

"What?"

"I was thinking, when... well, if we ever get out of here do you think any of us will ever go back to fighting monsters?" Billy pondered.

"I don't know." Rocky replied, "If I'm ever able to I would, but I don't think I could like I am."

"Damn!" Billy shouted, "It's my fault."

"No!" Rocky insisted, "Listen, not one of us blames you. If you weren't under a spell we would've kicked your ass in a moment. Whatever is going to happen to us will happen, just make it through, alright?"

Billy saw Tommy stir and both boys heard him whimper. Billy rushed over to him and took his hand and noticed how his friend initially flinched upon seeing him. "It'll be okay. Just don't move at all. You have a bad wound, but I'll all be fine after awhile."

"You're back." Tommy groaned with a slight smile. He then began to cough agonizingly and tears were brought to his eyes. He breathed with much labor and he coughed up small amounts of blood.

"Oh, god." Billy grimaced, knowing very well that meant his sword had penetrated Tommy's lung and it still stuck within him due to the fact that even the multi-skilled Billy could remove it without imposing a greater risk.

Tommy continued for another minute and abruptly became calm again. "Not....T-that bad." he encouraged.

"You're overly resilient, aren't you?" Billy joked. "Just try to stay awake and try not to move. I don't even want to hear you attempt to speak."

Tommy nodded in reply and took a shaky hand and held Billy's softly, his grip hardening occasionally as bursts of pain went through his body.

Kat and Tanya immediately felt like vomiting upon materializing in the center of the cell as they saw the battered bodies and smelled the repugnant odor of blood and sweat. They couldn't tell if any of them besides Billy were still alive. "Guys!" Tanya shouted.

Kat ran up to Billy and Tommy. She carefully looked at Tommy and her gaze immediately fell onto Billy. "It... was me." he confessed. "I couldn't prevent it. They coerced me into.."

"I know what they did." Kat comforted, "You didn't have a choice with this. I need you to help us with them."

"Kat!" Tanya called from across the cell. "We have a problem."

"What's wrong?" Kat replied, a slight tinge of worry forming within her.

"There's no way we can move Jason or Adam. Jason seems to have serious head injuries. I can't even wake him up. Adam might have a broken back; look at how it bends right in the middle. I don't have a good feeling about this."

Kat turned her attention to the other boys and saw what Tanya meant without much examination. There was dried blood over much of Jason's head and face and multiple open wounds, not to mention the bruising she saw over the rest of his body. Adam was awake, although he couldn't seem to focus on anybody in particular, was seriously injured as well. His jaw was swollen and obviously broken. His right arm was slashed and showed all the signs of a severe infection. Then there was the spine.... the way he was bent on the floor just wasn't natural at all. "What happened to them Billy?" she asked.

"I.... I first slashed open Adam's arm with a dagger. I used a whip on the others. Then there was what I did with Jason. He tried to stop me from hurting Tommy any worse so I.... I began bashing his head in the wall." Billy paused to point to an area on the wall streaked with dried blood where he had done the deed. "I attacked Tommy with a sword and then punctured Rocky's eyes. After that Adam tried to talk some sense into me, he couldn't even try to fight back even then, and I bent his spine further and further back.... I didn't stop until I heard something crack."

"You remember all this?" Tanya inquired with amazement. Usually when one of them came off a spell they had little to no memory of what they had done.

"Unlike the other spells, this one makes sure that I remember everything I did to them." Billy explained, "They want me to know that I was the one who did this."

Kat put her arm around Billy. "Listen, we all understand. What we need now is help getting them out of here. We're going to get them back home where they can recover, but we need your help right now."

Billy nodded and first turned to Rocky. "Rocky.... wake up. Time to go home."

"Home?" Rocky mumbled.

"Yeah. Tanya and Katherine are here. They're going to get all of us home." Billy explained. "Can you get up on your own?"

"I...think so." Rocky replied, struggling to steady himself on his feet and Billy coming behind him to offer extra support. "Can you help me figure out where I'm supposed to go?"

Billy though for a moment, "Where should I place Rocky?" he asked.

"Rocky... I want to to sit down over there." Tanya instructed, pointing to a corner of the cell not too far away from both Jason and Adam.

"Um... Could one of you guys help me?" Rocky asked.

Kat looked at Rocky, who appeared to be fine outside of a few cuts and bruises. She wanted to yell at him as he stumbled around with his eyes clenched shut. "It would help if you opened your eyes."

"Believe me." Rocky returned, "If I could I would. Even if I did I don't think it would help my being able to see."

"What?" Tanya exclaimed, taking Rocky by his hands to the spot that was indicated.

"I'm blind! Okay, I just had my eyes slashed open. Is that fine with you Ms. Hillard?"

"Please tell us you're joking." Tanya pleaded as she carefully peeled open Rocky's eyelids, Rocky crying out in anguish at her action. When she saw the deep cuts in both it confirmed the worst. It was barbaric at best what had been done to them all. "Damn. I don't know about you Kat, but I think we should use that damn explosive even if something goes wrong."

"Um... would you mind giving me the details of this?" Billy demanded.

"Oh, we took that new explosive you showed us a few weeks ago. We're going to use it here to get rid of the machine empire. Just call it payback."

"No!" Billy yelled, "We can't use that. Do you have any idea of what that thing could do?"

"We know it can pack a punch." Kat said, "That's why we're going to use it.

"That thing could very easily destroy the moon." Billy reported, "When I developed it, I had no clue that it was scientifically possible to develop such an explosive weapon that lacked all nuclear components. It would be similar to using several hydrogen bombs. I never intended for it to be used."

"That's going to change, I guess." Kat told him.

"Do you understand that there could be a detrimental effect on the planet? We have no idea what could happen if we went through with this."

"In case you haven't noticed, Earth doesn't stand much of a chance if we don't get rid of the machines now." Kat spat back, "There aren't going to be six Power Rangers to save the day. Two of us are left and I don't think I can do it anymore. Look at what has become of the others!"

"It is a kamikaze style mission." Billy told, "Once one of us sets it up, nobody will be able to teleport. For it to be used one of us would have to die."

"But...." Kat stammered, "You never mentioned it to us at all!"

"Like I had previously mentioned, it was never intended to be utilized. It was merely an invention intended to alleviate the boredom since I graduated early and haven't had much to do." Billy explained.

"That settles it." Kat declared, "We're going to just get these guys back and hightail it out of here."

"No." Billy replied. "Just get them out of here. I'll stay."

"What? Are you nuts? " Katherine cried, "You just said..."

"That it is a suicide mission." Billy finished, "I am quite aware of it. However, you are correct that the machine empire is potentially more dangerous than before considering the situation. If anybody is going to die, I'm the best option. Before you tell me I shouldn't just understand that this is my choice entirely. I don't think I could continue to live on knowing what I did. If I had no memory of these events things would be different. Just make sure that you give the guys the best shot.... and tell them.... I love them and I'm sorry."

Kat merely nodded; once Billy's mind was decided, he generally stuck with it. "How's it going Tanya? Can we be getting out of here soon?"

Tanya shook her head in disgust, "This isn't good. Just how bad they're injured and the fact that they all have completely different wounds is a problem. I'm afraid of taking out that sword out of Tommy's chest and I'm afraid if I touch Adam or Jason I'm going to cause more damage to them.... perhaps even kill them."

Kat turned her attention to the boys laying on the ground. She helped Tanya slowly lift Tommy and place him near the others as Billy began setting up the bomb. "Once you leave, I'll initiate the bomb timer."

Tanya only took a quick glance at Billy, "Thanks, for everything. I'll see you in the next life."

Kat tried to position Jason so it would be easy to move him without causing any extra damage. She noticed about a foot away, Adam attempting to say something. "Tanya, get him to rest, alright." she ordered.

Tanya turned from Tommy to Adam to see him painstakingly attempting to move his mouth. She took his good hand in hers and he held it as tightly as he could. "Hey, hon. We're going home. Okay.... You'll be alright. I just need to know something. Can you feel your legs at all?"

Tears quickly began to fall down his bruised cheeks and was enough of a response for Tanya. "Okay. Maybe the doctors can fix it." There was more doubt in her voice than she would have liked to express, but it was all she could manage.

"I think they're as ready as they could be." Kat muttered as she made the final movements with Jason and grasped Rocky gently by the hands. She then placed them around Tommy. "Don't let go of him or else he won't teleport with us."

"Who.... Who do I have?" Rocky stuttered.

"Tommy, why?" Kat replied.

"I was just curious. Let's just get home." Rocky answered.

"Okay, Billy, you're sure about this?" Tanya inquired.

"Just leave this to me. I can handle it." Billy replied.

"It won't be the same without you." Kat finally admitted.

"Don't worry about me. You guys still are going to live your own lives. Don't dwell on this."

He shielded his eyes as the teens all disappeared in a rainbow of light.

"Okay, time to get this thing started. I'm sorry about lying to you guys, but it's all for the better that I go with this place." He said, attaching the last of the wires and sitting down casually. As the timer ticked away, each second an eternity, he contemplated teleporting out himself if the shield was not reinstated. He knew they had let them get away. It was Sprocket's plan to have them suffer longer than necessary. Now it was necessary of him to die with them for his crime, the bomb proving to be an adequate alibi. It was surely less painful and honorable than suicide.

"So, you've left us a gift?" Mondo boomed, startling Billy in his moment of contemplative calm. "Well, I'm flattered, but if you wouldn't mind I've decided to return it."

Billy viewed the time left on the bomb.... thirty-eight seconds. He figured that even he, not a magnificent fighter by any means, could at the very least hold off an oversized robot for that long. "Well, I insist that you do take it with you. Call it my going away present."

"Young man, I'm afraid you're underestimating me. I could dispose of you and your fancy weapon with ease." Mondo replied, a series of cogs gathering behind him. They then began the charge on the former blue ranger.

Billy met them all full on. He attempted to recall every lesson Jason had ever given him, every stance, punch and kick he mastered until sit was perfected. All the hours he had spent in front of the mirror to correct his form. It was all going to boil down to one final battle where he knew death would come even in victory. He sent several cogs to the ground with a skill he had not thought he possessed. His newfound ability in desperation would have been enough to please, perhaps even impress Jason, who calculated every blow, Tommy who had always been a stickler for the rules, Adam who knew how to use his seemingly disadvantages into strengths, Kim and Aisha who wasn't afraid of anybody or anything, and Rocky who was so effective in using his sheer strength in sending any foe to the ground without breaking a sweat. They kept coming at him, one after another, relentlessly. He kept holding them off as he kept one eye aware of the timer ticking down. Then Mondo struck him directly, sending him to the ground, the adrenaline beginning to fade. Five.... four..... With one last effort he kicked the machine in the chest and sent him several feet away, in a daze of his own.

"You'll never defeat me!" Mondo growled.

Two... One.... Billy closed his eyes in preparation as a quick white heat enveloped him and he suddenly felt nothing more. The palace and the moon entire shook violently, not just dismantling but disintegrating entirely. Within several minutes everything had cleared and the moon simply ceased to exist, not a trace remaining to indicate who had triggered such a feat.

"God, Zordon, you mean there's nothing you can do for any of them here?" Katherine exploded.

"I'm sorry, but they are in far too critical condition for the equipment we have here. Our medical bay is only sufficient in treating minor battle injuries, not fatal wounds."

"Ai-ai-ai" Alpha cried, "Not only are they hurt but they all have pneumonia as well. Talk about a double whammy!"

"Come on, Kat." Tanya stated, "We should be getting them to the hospital ASAP. We're losing them waiting here."

They suddenly heard a loud thundering noise and felt a vibration similar to a mild earthquake. It continued for several seconds and everything was as it was once more.

"Do you think?..." Tanya gasped.

"Billy." Kat whispered, "He did it."

"Oh, no!" Alpha cried, "Tommy's going into cardiac arrest. He's also stopped breathing. You need to get him to a hospital immediately."

"We'll go in uniform so it won't be as suspicious." Tanya stated.

"Okay, I'll take Tommy and you get Jason. Then we'll come back and bring the others." Kat ordered.

Tanya jogged over to the medical table where Jason still slept, completely unaware that he was at home and no longer in the putrid cell that nearly became his deathbed. Kat went in the opposite direction to where Tommy laid motionless. Together they replaced their helmets and teleported out of the Command Center.

"I need some help here!" the pink ranger shouted as she emerged from nowhere into the trauma unit of the Emergency room at Angel Grove Memorial Hospital. It was a slow night as no serious injuries had come in yet that evening and several nurses merely sat around their pit catching up on their daily logs.

"Good heavens!" One nurse shouted, "What happened to these boys?"

"He and the other boy are two of the boys that were reported missing four days ago." pink ranger said quickly as she carefully laid Tommy on the gurney brought over to her and another one toward the yellow ranger where she laid Jason and were instantaneously were surrounded by swarms of doctors and surgeons.

"We have the other two we need to get over here as well." yellow ranger interjected.

"Get them over here now, especially if they're anywhere near as bad as these two!" The nurse urged.

The two female rangers teleported out and within a minute reappeared with Adam in the yellow ranger's arms and Rocky being steadied by the pink ranger. They too were brought back and immediately attended to by doctors and nurses of every type.

The pink ranger looked over to the first bed where the doctors had succeeded in restarting Tommy's heart. She couldn't help but stare and cry as she saw them run a breathing tube down her boyfriend's mouth and the large crew carefully removing the sword from his chest cavity. She was suddenly quite grateful that she was wearing her helmet at the moment.

"....Yes." she overheard the yellow ranger explain to the nurse, "they were all out camping and they were captured and tortured pretty much. We just were able to find them and get them all out. The one with the long hair is Thomas Oliver, eighteen years old. The one with the head injuries is Jason Scott. I don't know if he's still seventeen or eighteen... pink?"

"Oh, he turned eighteen already as far as I know." the pink ranger replied, still unable to take her eyes off the hectic proceedings being done on her friends.

"Thanks." the yellow ranger returned, "Now, the Asian boy's name is Adam Park. Let me remember.... he's still sixteen... yeah, he's the youngest by about a year. The other one is Rockwell DeSantos. He's seventeen."

The nurse hurried away to assist one of the doctors working on Jason while the two rangers were left as onlookers. "I'll call their parents." the pink ranger said.

"What about Mr. Cranston?" yellow ranger inquired, "How are we going to explain what happened?"

"Tell him the truth." Kat answered, "I intend on leaving out the spell part, but I'll be honest and say that he willingly stayed on that moon base to plant that last bomb."

Yellow ranger nodded as her pink counterpart teleported out of the hospital.

"Ow! That hurts!" Rocky yelped as a nurse inserted an IV needle into his left hand.

"Just relax." Another nurse said, her voice like that of a prepubescent girl as she took a pair of scissors and snipped off Rocky's pants, which were stained from blood and urine. "We're going to help you." As she continued to cut, someone slipped a mask over his face for oxygen.

"We're going to open your eyes up for a moment and I'm going to ask you some questions, okay?" An older sounding man asked.

Rocky braced himself as the doctor peeled open his eyelids, screaming as loud as he could despite his best effort to repress his instinct. The misery was beyond anything he ever knew. It by far surpassed even the sword wound in his stomach, which at the moment didn't bother him at all. "Shit.... Owwww...."

"You're going to be okay." the doctor insisted as he took a light and brought it close to Rocky's slashed eyes. "I need you to tell me if you can see this light at all, even if you can't make out anything but shadows."

Rocky knew there was nothing they could do. There was only an impenetrable blackness which the light couldn't overcome. "I can't see anything."

The doctor was silent for a moment,"Your pupils aren't responding at all. Not to mention the infection setting in through here." he gestured to the other nurses and resident doctors, to the darkened area surrounding the incisions. "There is most likely nothing we can do as far as restoring vision, however, we can attempt to reduce the infection."

"Mama..." Rocky cried.

"Don't worry, we'll call her in a little bit." An older sounding nurse assured her patient, "We need to make sure you're fine first."

The doctor then began examining the sword wound in Rocky's abdomen. Rocky groaned slightly but held back much of his vocal outcry. "We have a large puncture wound in the abdominal region. It very likely could have damaged any number of organs of the body cavity. We're going get an MRI of the entire area to see exactly where internal bleeding may occur. I also want some blood-work done on him. I want a palette count as well as blood type, white cell count and check for any signs of blood poisoning. Once we know what we are dealing with I want to send him to the OR."

"What's your name?" Rocky inquired.

"It's Dr. Perez. Why do you want to know?"

"I just... want to thank you."

"Don't start with the thanks until you're back walking around." Dr. Perez replied.

"Rockwell, right?" another nurse asked, this time a male, "I'm going to give you something to make you go to sleep for a little while." Within a moment the nurse had injected him with a sedative. It only took three minutes for it to take effect and send him into a sound sleep.

"Okay, we need to get this done!" Dr. Perez ordered, "I don't want to take any chances with his condition." Several orderlies quickly wheeled him away for tests to determine the extent of damage that had been done.

"What do you mean that Billy stayed behind?" Mr. Cranston demanded.

"That explosion on the moon..." Kat explained, "He was the one who set it off. There was no other way. It destroyed the moon, but also the machine empire that had been attacking over the past year, but he's... gone!"

"Why?" Mr. Cranston huffed in a bombardment of tears, "Why'd he have to go as well?"

"What about the others? You said that they were all at the hospital." Mrs. Oliver asked.

Kat bit her lip for a moment as she tried to determine the best method for explaining what was happening. She didn't want to overreact, yet she couldn't hide the seriousness of their conditions. "They're all in really bad shape."

"What do you mean?" Mr. Scott fumed, "How bad is 'bad'!"

"Rocky's the best out of them. He has a sword wound to his stomach but... his eyes were slashed and he's completely blind. Jason has really bad head injuries, he was unconscious when we went to retrieve him. Adam.... god? I don't know what's all wrong with him. He was awake but I think his jaw was broken or something 'cause he couldn't speak at all. He might be paralyzed, but how much I don't know. They also slashed open his arm clear through. Then Tommy.... had a sword in his chest. When I brought him in his heart was already beginning to fail, he could already be dead... I wouldn't be surprised if none of them make it through this." The last sentence was said as flat as anything of he normal.

All the parents looked at each other, trying to picture what was being described, "Please, no." Mrs. Park whispered, "It can't be true, it just can't." Her husband put his arm around her, some type of truce for the moment.

"I'm sorry." Kat croaked, "If I could change things I would but...."

"There's nothing you could do." Mrs. DeSantos assured, "At least you brought them home. We'll make it through this somehow."

"We're losing him!" Dr. Hopkins cried out as he watched the heart monitor lose all sense of rhythm.

"The trauma to the chest is too severe." A nurse rationalized. "I don't know if there's anything we can do for this boy."

"We have to attempt to do something." Dr. Hopkins replied. "We can't wait for the tests to come back. Get a transfusion started on him. Prepare him for surgery, if we can't close the incision it won't matter what we do."

Tommy laid entirely unaware of the proceedings around him. His body was ready to give in to death, who hovered above him, yanking at his heart. The various machines and IV's had no effect on him as he dwindled slowly away. He lost blood as quickly as they could force it into his veins. Oxygen was pumped into is lungs through his mouth. They began wheeling him to the operating room when his heart monitor gave yet another alarm.

"We have cardiac arrest." One nurse exclaimed as a crew came in to attempt to bring the long haired teen back.

"Clear!" They repeated over and over again as they sent jolts of electricity into his heart, hoping to get it to beat just once on it's own. Several minutes pass and they still couldn't lure him back to the realm of the living. With each attempt he instead drifted further away.

"I think that's all we can do. List time of death at 12:42 AM." Dr. Hopkins finally concluded.

Adam moaned loudly as a nurse began cleaning the deep wound to his right arm. For the most part it was numbed, but the antibacterial liquid they were using caused the pain to ignite again.

"Sorry, hon." A nurse said sympathetically, wanting to grimace at the black areas around the wound but forcing a smile for her patient's sake"We need to clean this out. We'll be done in a minute."

Adam wanted to distract his attention elsewhere, but since he was immobilized entirely with neck and back braces, all he could do was stare with puzzlement at the proceedings around him. He felt tears falling down his face as the pain continued to increase. Unintentionally, he began to flail his other arm, only to have another nurse hold it down. The pain was maddening in that he could do nothing to escape it.

"Hi, Adam?" a young woman with dark auburn hair said. She looked to be in her thirties and seemed a bit shorter than the others around her. "My name is Dr. Angela Davis. I'm the one taking care of you."

It was an awkward moment for Adam as he tried to focus on her and he detested that she was speaking to him like a child.

"I'm going to ask you some questions, yes or no. If it's yes I want you to squeeze my hand if it's no, do nothing. Can you do that for me?" Dr. Davis asked.

Her patient gently squeezed her hand.

"Okay, my arm is on your shoulder. Can you feel that?" Adam squeezed the left hand.

"Now, it's at you stomach. Can you feel it?" No response.

Dr. Davis was somewhat expecting that. She had just gotten several x-rays back that showed two shattered vertebra in the center of his spine. It was now a matter of finding out exactly how far up the young boy was paralyzed. After several minutes of question and answers she realized that Adam had no sensation below the chest.

A few minutes later a technician came in with some test results. "The patient has very low red and white cell counts. In addition to that the infection in his arm is gangrene. There's also a mild infection in the blood and he has a moderate case of pneumonia."

Dr. Davis nodded and looked over the results herself. Over two hours her patient has maintained relatively stable, and had it been any one of these complications she would have felt fairly confident. Still, usually when there was numerous complications arising so quickly it generally meant that a downturn was inevitable.

She retreated to the nurses' station where they had dug up whatever medical histories of the boys that could be obtained. She searched Adam's and cursed to herself when she saw a mention of severe allergic reactions to anesthetics. She knew he would require extensive surgery on his spine and most likely have to amputate the right arm. Even then she couldn't give him a great chance. Now things seemed next to impossible.

As Dr. Davis returned to her patient she announced her plan, even though she wasn't sure if the choice she was about to make was the best option, but there were none left. "We can't operate on him yet. Prepare a full blood transfusion, type AB-. We're unable to give him any sort of anesthetic so we're going to have to use several painkillers and sedatives. The broken jaw is going to have to be readjusted and wired shut. Increase the patient's oxygen levels and make sure he remains stable. I want to get the results from the CT scan to determine if there is any possible internal bleeding. Have his parents been contacted yet?"

"Yes, they're in the waiting room with the other parents." A nurse answered the final question.

Dr. Davis nodded. "Good. I'm going to inform them of our proceedings and have them sign the necessary consents." She then turned to her patient who seemed to stare absently at the ceiling. He knew what was happening and figured it was best to be honest. "You're a very lucky young man. We're going to do our best, but... I can't promise anything. We need to try to put you to sleep and then we are going to have to do surgery on you. Mainly the spine, but you also might lose your arm. It's not going to be easy but hopefully you'll beat the odds. I'm going out to speak with your parents, okay."

"Mr. and Mrs. Scott?"

"Right here." Mr. Scott called from where the two were seated in the waiting room."

"I'm Dr. Daniel Kim. I tended to your son Jason."

"How is he?" Mrs. Scott asked.

"We can discuss this in a private room right over there." Dr. Kim replied, indicating to a door leading out of the waiting room. The two concerned parents obediently followed him in the room. "Your son Jason is in critical condition. There were numerous fractures to the skull and all the scans we have performed thus far has shown significant brain damage, most likely permanent. He is comatose and on life support and I need to discuss if you want to keep him alive or not at this point. He does have a very limited chance of recovery from what I've seen."

Both parents looked at one another not sure what to make of this situation. He had promised them all that he would be fine going camping so far away. They figured if anything were to happen it would have been a car accident or someone spraining an ankle or the like. They weren't supposed to end up kidnapped and tortures for days only to be sent back to die. "I don't think I could do that." Mrs. Scott finally said.

"Is it possible for us to see him?" Mr. Scott requested.

Dr. Kim thought for a moment. "Not yet. He's still showing some signs of instability. Once we asses the risks for complications we will let you see him."

"How long will that take?" Mr. Scott demanded.

"Depends on how long it takes for the test results to come in. It could be a couple hours or as many as 24. We can't be sure since things have been quite hectic here with so many trauma injuries. I can assure you that we are doing all that we can for your son and we will inform you of any changes."

"Thank you." Mrs. Scott whispered as she cried quietly into her husband's shoulder.

"Mrs. DeSantos?"

"Yes?" Came the reply from the short, pudgy mother. Her neck and back was sore from slouching in the hard plastic chair in the waiting room for hours.

"Your son came out of surgery."

"How is he?" she demanded to know.

"As well as can be expected. We are keeping him in the ICU until we can ensure that he is stable, but we think he will make it. However, we need to discuss... some of the issues you and he will have to deal with."

"The blindness..." Mrs. DeSantos thought aloud.

"Yes. Rockwell will need to learn how to do nearly everything over again. He will be able to do many of these things again over time, given the proper therapy. There was also extensive internal damage from the laceration in his abdomen. He will have to be fed intravenously until he fully recovers, which could be anywhere from one to four months. We can't risk a serious infection from this. He also has mild pneumonia, so we'll be treating him with antibiotics until that recedes."

"Can I see him?" she asked flatly.

"Yes. He will more than likely wake up over the next several hours and he would want his mother with him. I should warn you though, that he doesn't look well right now."

Mrs. DeSantos frowned, "As long as he's alive it doesn't matter."

The hospital worker guided Mrs. DeSantos down the sterile hallways of the intensive care unit and came to a stop in front of room 1612. "Are you ready?"

Mrs. DeSantos nodded as she opened the door, revealing a figure in a single bed, surrounded by numerous machines and tubes. His eyes had bandages over them as did several of the deeper cuts on his body. Several IV needles ran into his arms, dripping a variety of fluids into him. Much of his face, arms and legs were bruised in various shades of black, blue, purple, green and brown. The heart monitor charted his heartbeat on a nearby screen.

Rocky didn't respond to his mother coming near his bed, taking his hand in hers. He did nothing to remedy her tears as she took the seat next to him. "Baby... God, why did this happen to you?" she whispered.

"I called Reverend Smith. He said that we could hold the funeral Tuesday morning." Mrs. Oliver whispered.

"Do you need any help with this?" Mr. Cranston asked, having come over to check up on his friend.

Mrs. Oliver shook her head, "No, thanks though Charles, but he's my son. I'm the one who has to deal with it."

Mr. Cranston took her in his arms, "It's okay Emily. This isn't easy. Believe me, I learned too many times already."

Mrs. Oliver sat down and put her face in her hands, "Why did it have to be them? They're all fucking dying right now, but I didn't even get to see him."

"Did you honestly want to see Tommy like he was? When I went to identify the body he... didn't look anything like Tommy. It was probably for the best that he went quickly."

"You're right." Mrs. Oliver mumbled in agreement, "Still..."

"It hurts." Mr. Cranston finished, "Believe me, I know. When Jenny died, I didn't know what I was going to do, especially since I still had Billy to deal with. Now he's gone too. I know what you're going through."

"And you're taking things better than any of us." Mrs. Oliver replied.

Mr. Cranston frowned, "I just accept what has happened. This is killing me as well, but there's no way I can do anything to change things."

"To think our kids were the Power Rangers and we never figured it out, even after all these years of it." Mrs. Oliver said with a slight chuckle. "It makes sense now... the constant disappearances I thought was drugs. The unexplained bruises he said he got from 'practicing'. And how he never seemed to be around when one of those creeps came, always running into it."

"They were good, that's for sure." Mr. Cranston admitted.

"If it weren't for that though, Tommy would still be alive now." Mrs. Oliver thought bitterly.

"Can't change the past Em, you just can't."

"You're the one who told him he could go!" Mrs. Park screamed at her husband.

"That's right, it's always MY fucking fault. Ever thought it was because you were so damn overprotective of him that he did this?" Mr. Park argued in response.

"You have no damn right to say anything!" Mrs. Park continued.

"He's OUR son Laura! I have every right to say something about this!"

"No." Mrs. Park countered, "Where the hell are you all the time? All you do is work. Adam barely knows you!"

"Don't begin putting words in Adam's mouth!" Mr. Park contended.

"Don't ever want to hear the truth, do you you good for nothing shithead!" Mrs. Park yelled.

A nurse came up from behind the couple and said softly "We have patients here who need their rest. If both of you don't calm down I'm going to have to make you leave."

"We've been waiting for this doctor for hours now! We want to know what's going on." Mr. Park demanded, turning his attention away from the argument temporarily.

"She should be with you in just a moment,." the nurse replied in her tiny voice and began heading to the nurses' station to finish her duties.

"Mr and Mrs. Park I presume." Dr. Davis called out.

"What's the verdict?" Mr. Park stated glumly.

"Not good. His jaw has been wired shut so the fractures can heal properly and we attempted to stabilize the spine as much as possible without irritating the other wounds. I'm afraid it isn't enough though since Adam will never walk again, even with physical therapy. We were forced to amputate the right arm due to a severe infection. Since we were unable to give him general anesthetics, we sedated him with other drugs. Because the surgery was so long he did become conscious momentarily. We nearly lost him twice during the procedure and I would give him about a thirty percent chance of survival at the most. I'm sorry but there's nothing more we can do, we gave it our best shot."

"What do you mean he woke up in surgery?" Mrs. Park questioned.

"When he arrived he was fully conscious, the reason behind it is beyond all understanding, but he was coherent of what was happening around him. We hesitated operating on him because of this but if we didn't when we did he wouldn't have made it at all. Unfortunately in doing so, there was that risk and it did occur. We did what we could as quickly as possible, we never want a patient to wake up in such a situation." Dr. Davis replied.

"At least he was awake..." Mrs. Park held a hopeful thought. "When will I be able to see him."

Dr. Davis looked at the couple for a moment to decide what was best. "I suppose it would be in Adam's best interest to have both of you with him right now, but I want absolutely no commotion like you just had here. If that does happen I will have both of you tossed out."

"Yes doctor." Mr. Park agreed and the parents were led down a couple hallways and to a hospital room.

"I should tell you what you should expect." Dr. Davis warned, "He is on a lot of machines, life support and monitors. As I mentioned before, we nearly lost him, after he woke up he went into shock and stopped breathing on his own. Hopefully he will come around and begin improving, but I wouldn't get my hopes up right now."

"We understand." Mr. Park said as he opened the door and headed in first.

"Doesn't it look so different out here?" Tanya mentioned as she, Kat and Alpha stood on the edge of the cliff on which the Command Center stood.

"Think what the rest of the world is thinking about this. They must be thinking the apocalypse is coming. They don't know why the moon is gone so suddenly." Kat said.

Alpha looked up at the sky, the first time in a millennia since he had been outdoors. "Billy." he whispered.

Tanya looked over at her robot friend and sighed, "Don't worry Alpha. He did what he had to do. At least the Machines are gone as well as Zedd and Rita."

"Finally." Kat muttered, "Now we can try to live normal lives."

Tanya gave a suspicious glance, "Do you honestly think we could? After all that just happened? I don't think I'll ever be able to get over all this."

"Once the funerals are all over we can begin getting over with it." Kat solemnly stated.

"Excuse me?" Tanya exclaimed, shocked by what her best friend had just suggested, "How can you be like this? Billy and Tommy are gone but that doesn't mean the others are going to also... give them a fucking chance to live!"

Kat shook her head, "It's best if they did die. You saw them when they came in. They were all almost gone as it was. I merely accept what's happened. It isn't fair to any of them to live on like that!"

"That isn't your damn decision to call!" Tanya gasped.

"You saw when Zordon pulled them up on the viewing globe. They're just hurt too bad. I don't want to admit it either, but it's true. Rocky will probably make it but really, what type of life can he live if he can't see anything? Then there's Jason.... he probably would end up a complete vegetable for the rest of his life. Adam is probably in the most pain right now and if he does pull through he is just about completely crippled... He'd never be able to do anything for himself again, none of them would!"

Tears had begun falling down Tanya's face as the brutal reality hit her hard, "Still, who knows what's going to happen. They might end up better than anyone thinks they could!"

Kat's tone softened as she gripped Tanya gently, "It isn't easy to deal with, but what can we do? We're only human."

"Don't you believe in miracles?" Tanya inquired.

"Given another place and time, I would." Kat began, "But now, either fate or some goddamn divine being decided to twist everything and fuck with our damn heads! We knew we could lose one of us... we fucking knew, but all those years of luck caught up to us. None of us believed it would, except maybe Billy or Adam. They were the only ones who ever seemed to think about this yet they still did it!"

"I think whatever happens will be the right thing." Tanya murmured, "See how the cards all fall."

"Are you two going to be okay?" Alpha finally asked, having heard both girls express their feelings of the entire situation. He observed much more than anyone wanted to admit, even himself. He knew how Kat cared for Tommy and the tenderness he gave her once he got over Kim, and then Tanya was always trying to get Adam's attention but he couldn't seem to accept it and instead pretended he didn't know. It wasn't even all his fault, Alpha equated Adam's cynicism on love from the constant bickering with his parents and girlfriend after girlfriend pass with Rocky. Rocky was always the optimist, kind of a balance to Tommy's dark side, Adam's dim perspective of humanity, Kat's insecurity and Billy's seriousness. Billy, how many years he had done so much? He was the lone dog. For awhile he managed to get close with Trini, perhaps even more than close, but they never made it entirely certain. To think Alpha would never be able to hear his philosophical arguments or hear the latest inventions he developed saddened him.

"Yeah." Tanya assured, "It's just going to be hard on us for awhile."

"At least we won't have to deal with any monsters for now." Kat quietly stated.

"Mama." Rocky cried out, "Are you here?" Just speaking caused pain to rip through the most unexpected regions of his body. Everything ached beyond belief and his imagination raced as he attempted to imagine his surroundings, to find a haunting internal image.

"Baby." Mrs. DeSantos cried with her son, firmly taking his hand and stroking his forehead gently. She always did it to calm her children down when any ailment came their way. She realized just how rigid and tense every muscle in the seventeen year old's body was. "I'm here."

"Mama. It hurts." Rocky whimpered, "It hurts too bad."

Mrs. DeSantos wanted to take her son in her lap like when her husband died and tell him everything would be okay, but she could only sit next to him and only make gentle motions to show her presence. She knew everything would not be okay; nothing was the same.

"I'm so sorry Mama. I didn't want to hurt you." Rocky continued.

"No!" Mrs. DeSantos stated, "Listen to me. We'll make it through al this. What you've done for all these years... I couldn't be prouder. My son the brave power ranger."

Rocky wanted to cry, wanted to hide from the world at that moment until everything ended, but it didn't happen. "I was so scared."

"When?" Mrs. DeSantos asked, taken quite aback at what her son had just said.

"All the time." Rocky answered. "I just kept going too long." Just then he screamed aloud in pain and he clutched his abdomen as everything rushed through him until it was overwhelming. He squeezed his mother's hand with all his strength as Mrs. DeSantos hurriedly pressed the call button for a nurse.

"What's going on here?" A nurse asked as she saw the patient thrashing on his bed and the middle aged Mexican woman attempting to calm him down.

"He's hurting too bad." Mrs. DeSantos exclaimed, still gripping Rocky as best she could, "Please give him something!"

The nurse scampered away and within a minute a team of nurses, orderlies and a doctor were busy restraining Rocky's body as they injected two medications into his body. After that it was a matter of moments before Rocky was fully sedated and in a deep sleep. Mrs. DeSantos nearly lost it as she cried in her hands, never taking her eyes off her eldest child who was in an uneasy slumber to escape his torture.

The elderly woman sighed. "You're not dead, but it's soon. Only a matter of days left. But don't worry. I'll look after you here."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Hei Park inquired.

"I know this is hard." Mrs. DeSantos began to explain, "But your brother is... really badly hurt. From what your parents said the doctors aren't sure what can be done for him. He might not make it."

Hei couldn't help but to hide the hint of disgust at not being notified by her own flesh and blood, "But, why didn't they tell me? I haven't heard a word of this!"

"I don't know, sweetie, you know you aren't exactly on the best terms with them." Mrs. DeSantos rationalized. "All I can really say is you need to come home."

"Still." Hei continued, "That's no excuse. They should've told me that this happened. He's my brother and they're my parents. This rift with them shouldn't be worth it."

"I know Hei, I understand them about as much as you do." Mrs. DeSantos attempted to calm the woman who was over three thousand miles away in New York City. The last time she had been in town was three years ago where she had to stay with the Campbell family because the family couldn't come to terms with one another.

"I'm catching the first flight out." Hei said. "Don't tell them I'm coming, I don't want them to try and pull anything with me."

"I wasn't intending on it." Mrs. DeSantos replied. "Just be prepared for dealing with them."

"What about Rocky? How's he doing?" Hei asked.

Mrs. DeSantos took a moment to collect her thoughts and figure just how much she was willing to say. "He's not doing so great himself. He's going to live thank God, but it's going to take a lot of adjusting. They tore open both of his eyes and now he's completely blind. He also got some internal injuries but they think those will heal over the next month or so. I feel... so helpless. The doctors keep him on so many painkillers and he still cries out to me in his sleep."

"And you said there were others in this?" Hei inquired.

"Yes, four other boys, you haven't met them, but two of them already died one of the others is in a coma. Of all of them Rocky was the luckiest of them."

"Thanks for calling me Marianna. I should be in tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest. I just need to cancel my classes for the summer semester. Someone else can take over it. It looks like I'm staying out west for awhile."

"Come home soon, you hear me."

"Jason, honey." Mrs. Scott said to her son. He laid completely still in his bed as he had for several days now. The ventilator tube in his mouth, reaching down through his windpipe was the only thing ensuring he was clinging to life. His arms held several IV's which dripped into him continuously. Monitors and machines surrounded him, waiting for some excitement to occur. The wounds on his face had progressed to harsh scars that created numerous lines across him.

"It'll be okay honey." She gently stroked his cheek and commenced holding his hand, becoming as still as her son was as she sat in her chair. She could feel him drifting further and further away from everything. The doctors had just confirmed that it was true. Jason was never going to wake up, not even reaching a vegetative state. It would only be a day or so before the bleeding in his skull would take him away.

Mr. Scott came in the room behind her. He sat silently with her, one strong hand on the railing of the bed. His back hunched over. He knew he was about to lose his only son and there was nothing more to be done. Neither could just let go of him until it was absolutely final. There was still room for a miracle.

"Rocky, how are you feeling Hon?" Marianna DeSantos asked as she noticed her son stir in the sterile bed. It took several minutes before the young Mexican boy became fully aware of his surroundings.

"Mama?" Rocky cried out.

"You back with us?" Mrs. DeSantos said with her good-nature. She figured it was best not to mention what had happened up on the moon just yet.

Rocky wished he could see his Mom and know that it wasn't a dream he was having, but the fact that everything was black was the proof that he was indeed awake. "I'm sorry about this." he muttered, wincing with the effort.

"No, I'm proud of you. This isn't something either of us planned on. Just try to relax and things will get better in time."

"What happened... with the others?" Rocky inquired, halfway needing to know and the other half afraid of what would happen."

Mrs. DeSantos contemplated whether or not she should tell him now, but there was no way to hide it, even if it was in his best interest. "The doctors are doing everything they can." Marianna hoped that that would be enough to pacify him for now until he has healed more.

"Mom, I can handle it. I need to know what happen." Rocky said, finishing it with a cry of pain that shot through his entire body, focusing on the eyes.

"You're not going to let us go around it." Marianna sighed, "Tommy died... only a little bit after being brought in. Jason is in a coma, the Scotts said the doctors told them there was no hope. Adam... nobody is sure of just yet. He's still touch and go from what I've heard. I called Hei and she should be here soon."

-That'll be interesting- Rocky thought. "Billy.... he did it, didn't he?" Rocky continued.

"Yeah." Mrs. DeSantos replied, "He took them all out. The whole moon is gone now."

"Really?" Rocky blurted in amusement. He didn't think that the thing could do such damage. At least they didn't have to worry for now since that meant Rita, Zedd, and Company were out of their hair for good.

"Is there anything they can give me for this. My whole body is killing me?"

Rocky's mom pushed the call button nearby and in about a minute a nurse had come in and had injected Rocky with a painkiller. "Is that better?" Marianna asked a few minutes later.

Rocky nodded slightly as he felt the strong medication beginning to take effect. He thought of how nice it would be to never feel this anymore. He figured that if he slept through this entire stay it would go quicker and be less painful. "But I'm kinda hungry." he added.

"Hon, you won't be able to have anything for awhile. Your stomach needs to get better." By the time she had finished the sentence it was apparent from how Rocky breathed that he was gone and out for the time being.

"Sleep well baby." Marianna said, kissing her son's forehead, careful not to knock the tubes in his nose out.

The first thing Adam became aware of was the throbbing pain in his arm. Then came the odd realization that his lower body felt fine, there was no pain or any feeling. He thought for a moment and realized again what it meant.... that cracking of his spine. He fluttered his eyes open gradually; he was not surprised that he was in a hospital room. He had a vague memory of Kat and Tanya coming and taking them away.

"Adam? You're going to be okay." Mrs. Park said to her awakening son. She still couldn't get used to the multiple machines that surrounded him, especially the breathing tube, which had to be inserted through a hole in his throat due to the jaw injury. The only one she cared for at all was the heart monitor because it was the proof the boy was still alive.

Adam wanted to reply, but it was impossible in his predicament. -Mom, don't try to kid me. I know I'm not fine and probably never will be. I'm sure I'll be hearing plenty of that 'You're going to be fine' crap over the next few days though.-

Mr. Park suddenly entered the room. Within a moment he was next to his wife by Adam's bedside, grasping his one hand firmly. "Hey, just take it easy. We don't want to lose you, alright."

Mrs. Park gazed at her husband with a menacing glare. "Don't say that!" she declared.

"It's true though." Mr. Park retaliated, "We have to accept that it could happen!"

"Not in front of him for crying out loud!"

-Please not again!- Adam thought, tears beginning to fall down his face as he tried unsuccessfully to block out the argument that had begun. -Can't they just stop with this? I'm so tired of hearing it. It's just too much.-

Eventually the argument became louder and the nurse had Mr. Park leave the room, quite tempted to just toss both of them out. There were other patients who needed their rest, including Adam.

About an hour later a woman came into the room. She was short, her long hair falling loosely to the bottom of her back. Her skin was a light golden tan just like her brother. However, the color began to drip from her face as she entered the room, being completely poured out of her by the time to reach the bed. "Adam? "

Mrs. Park stared sternly at her oldest offspring. "You don't belong here."

Hei shook her head in disbelieve that even now the stubbornness prevailed. "You should have told me."

-Great, could they give me something to knock me out? I really don't want to hear Mom bitch Hei out again. I wish I could go to sleep right now.- Adam said, tears falling out faster and faster from his eyes.

Finally Hei looked over at her brother and noticed his state. "Look, Mom. We got him crying!"

"He's probably in pain. I'm going to ask the nurse to give him something." Mrs. Park replied sternly.

"You really don't get it." Hei replied, "He doesn't want everyone arguing all the time. He wants us to get along."

Mrs. Park stood up and stood face to face with her daughter, her arms folded across her chest and her breathing was deep and rapid. "I'm not going to stay here and listen to my own child explain what her brother wants when she hasn't been around for who knows how many years." She turned away and walked out fuming.

Hei sat down in the chair her mother had abandoned moments ago. "I'm sorry about this, squirt, this has to be agonizing for you."

-Like no tomorrow- Adam thought sardonically. -I don't want to suffer like this. I know I'm going to die here. I can't even tell anybody this. I can't tell Mom and Dad to shut up when they're arguing in front of me and I can't just move away from it this time.-

Gradually, the heart monitor became more and more erratic as Adam drifted off further and further from consciousness. Several nurses and a doctor came in. They injected several drugs into him as they forced Hei out of the room. "Looks like he's going back into shock." The doctor determined. After a couple minutes the medications set in and the young man slowly stabilized once more, resting rather peacefully considering the situation.

"Mama... I want to go home!" Rocky complained as a nurse took several vials of blood from his arm for some test or another.

"I know sweetie, I know." Marianna DeSantos whispered, "But it's going to be awhile."

Rocky bit back another wave of pain. It seemed to get worse each day instead of better. "Damn."

Rocky's mother looked at him as the boy's body cringed. "Shhh baby. It'll be alright. Just tough it out." she tried to comfort him as best she could, afraid to touch him in any way as it might harm him worse.

The jarring bouts of pain were increasing as Rocky whimpered, which eventually led to full screams of absolute terror and affliction. "It's getting worse Mama."

A nurse came in upon hearing the cries and brought in a syringe with medicine with her. Rocky yelped slightly as she inserted the thin needle in his upper thigh and forced a stinging liquid into him. Everything became muddled slightly by the time the current doctor, Dr. McBreen came in.

"Mrs. DeSantos, I need to speak with you for a moment." he said.

"Yes?" Marianna replied.

"I just went over the current x-rays and MRI of Rockwell, sorry Rocky. It turns out that we ended up missing some aspect of the injury. We originally thought the damage was restricted to the stomach itself with the knife wound, but as these tests reveal, the small intestine was also struck as well."

"What does this mean?" Marianna demanded, secretly awaiting someone to tell her that her son was dying and there was nothing that could be done for him.

The doctor groaned, "We more than likely are going to have to put Rocky through more surgery, remove the damaged section of the intestine. There are numerous risks involved in such procedures. I'm not entirely certain as far as how successful it will be."

Marianna looked over at Rocky, who had finally fallen asleep from being drugged. She thought silently. Her oldest son, who was so much like his deceased father, was now so fragile. He used to be the one who could take any lick, emotional or physical. "When are you going to do it?" she asked.

"We are awaiting for a few final results to ensure it is the only option. We don't want to risk anything. The weaker the patient is when going into surgery, the more likely it is for complications to arise. If we can we would like to avoid this or at the very least postpone it until he has become more stable."

Marianna DeSantos read what wasn't being said. Her son more than likely wasn't going to get better, if anything he was going to progressively deteriorate from where he was until he would finally stop fighting. "Just say it. You can't do anything for him."

The doctor frowned at the truth. "I wish I could guarantee something, or at least give you a better set of options right now. We aren't eager to lose any of our patients but it still happens when there isn't something to be done to save them.

"How are you holding up, Em?" Mr. Cranston asked Mrs. Oliver.

Mrs. Oliver wouldn't take her eyes off the still loose soil that covered her only son's remains. "I don't know." she admitted. She had struggled in the days following Tommy's funeral to maintain some of her composure, but with very little success. Every night she woke up and found herself wandering over to his room and looking over the piles of stuff that had accumulated over the years.

"Yeah, I've been having dreams about Billy. Tells me he wants to go home. Then he ends up running off with Jenny. I want to think that I'm dealing with this fine, but it's insane to have to go through all this. Both of our sons gone, and their friends too... I wonder why the hell I've been left here."

"Because God must want you here. " Emily Oliver returned.

Charles Cranston sighed inwardly, "I hardly believe that. It is impossible for one being to preordain everything for six billion people. It is all a matter of luck I wasn't able to get."

Mrs. Oliver bent down and placed a small bundle of fresh wildflowers on Tommy's burial place before replying. "So you honestly think we're all alone on this planet."

"I don't know what to think. It isn't easy considering that I've lost everybody I cared about. I just wish at times things will go on being the same. Any good divine being would've granted me that much."

"You never know."

"Baby...." Mrs. Scott whispered. Jason laid in his bed in convulsions. He had been restrained as best they could to keep him from hurting himself but it didn't stop the barrage of seizures that had swept through him over the past six hours. Both parents remained at bedside, knowing it was only a matter of time before he would die.

Mr. Scott looked on, sighing at how wretched his son had become. "Nina, I think it's his time. It isn't fair that he be put through this. He isn't going to get any better."

Mrs. Scott sat in silence among the beeps of the machines for a moment before replying. She eased slightly as Jason once again became still. "I think you're right, but our son...."

Mr. Scott held his wife gently, "We can't change it. He didn't want this either, but we owe it to him to let him go in peace. I was hoping for a miracle to occur, but is just isn't gonna come."

"Peter, why?" Mrs. Scott asked.

"I don't know." Was all Mr. Scott could say in return. There were no easy answers for this.

Mrs. Scott remained motionless in his arms and said softly "I think we should tell the doctors our decision. Get a priest up here for the last rites and start arranging for the funeral."

"I suppose." Came the equal reply.

* * *

Hei greeted her brother with a warm smile as he awoke. "Awake again I see."

-Sis, come on, knock it off. I rather be sleeping right now but I can't.- Adam thought, frustrated at being robbed of all ability to communicate.

Hei noted the look in Adam's eyes "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. I suppose things aren't going to be settled easily. I miss them. I miss you. I only got to see you every couple years and...." Hei began to cry.

Adam reached up to his sister's face with his one remaining arm and struggled to wipe away a tear resting on her cheek. -It wasn't your fault. Once I turned eighteen I was gonna leave too. They're not the easiest people to get along with I know. Sometimes I think you're the only one who cares at all.-

"Don't try to move. That arm has too many things attached to it. I'll be fine. But I was thinking over the last couple of days..... Once you get out of here and begin to get better, if you want, I would take you with me to New York. Now that I got my professorship at NYU I will be able to support both of us financially. You would love my fiancee, Richard. We can make the most out of this." Hei said.

-That would be nice if Mom and Dad allowed it.- Adam thought as he attempted to relay his thoughts to his thirty-four year old, could be his mother, sister. One corner of his lips quivered as he attempted to give one of his lopsided grins, but he couldn't hold it for even half a second.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Hei remarked, having read Adam's gesture. She gently stroked his forehead as he drifted off to sleep, most likely until the next day.

* * *

"I don't want to have more surgery done." Rocky protested.

Mrs. DeSantos attempted to calm her son down, "I know sweetie, but the doctors missed something and they need to fix it before you can get better."

"How're the others doing?" Rocky asked, hoping for a real answer this time around.

"Jason just died, his parents had him taken off the life support. Adam's hanging in there but they don't think he's gonna make it either." Mrs. DeSantos explained, rather bluntly.

"I wanna see Adam." Rocky demanded, "I need to see him."

Mrs. DeSantos wished she had a better comeback. It was natural that they boys would want to see each other considering that they had been friends since Rocky was in first grade, Adam in kindergarten. They had been together through broken bones and hearts, now this. "I don't know. You're both really sick still. The Parks told me what he was like and it isn't good at all."

"What about me?" Rocky asked weakly.

Mrs. DeSantos frowned. Rocky was worse off than they all thought. They were beginning to suspect that he too wouldn't make it through the wounds. The operation they wanted to do was risky and even if successful could have severe complications. Rocky might be forced to be fed intravenously for quite some time. There could be infection that would spread to other organs and kill him. Internal bleeding, immune system responses and the list went on. If left untreated though, Rocky had about a week at most left.

Rocky noticed his mother's silent reaction; even though he was unable to see it he felt the tension, and read it for the worse. "I'm gonna die too, aren't I?" he said with a sigh. It would explain why he felt worse instead of better, and all the tests he had been going through for the past day or so.

"No." Marianna cried, holding her son's hand tightly, "But, that's why you need to do this... If you don't... you might. Please do this."

Rocky dreaded going through any other procedure; it wasn't helping him at all and only caused more pain. Still, he wanted to live, and surely didn't want to put his mother through anything else. He had been the father figure in the family for nine years, ever since his own father died with seven other children who were then from eight with Rocky down to Marie whom Mrs. DeSantos was only two months pregnant with at the time of the accident. "Okay Mama. I'll do it."

* * *

"I don't know if I can go through with this." Mrs. Scott said.

Mr. Scott nodded and went into Jason's room. He didn't want the task of emptying it, but he also didn't want to be one of those parents who never touch their child's room once they died, letting dust collect on everything and reminding them daily of what had occurred. "I know Nina, but we gotta do this."

He started with the floor, picking up the various magazines and clothes that laid about on the floor and placing them in the garbage can they had brought upstairs. Books, pictures, trophies, posters, CD's, college applications were all tossed away. The sheets on the bed were removed to be washed eventually. Mr. Scott wasn't sure about what to do with the various weapons that Jason once practiced martial arts with, as they were too valuable to be tossed but had nowhere to go. He left them in the now empty closet for the time being.

When he was finished he found his wife laying on the couch of their living room, staring at the senior picture of her son. "I'm done." he announced. He hadn't bothered to bring down his son's belongings just yet.

"Everything's going to be different. Why? Why couldn't he have pulled through? It wasn't fair that he was stuck defending the world from... I don't even know what to call them. He just turned eighteen. Now... now, look at this!" Mrs. Scott said, wiping tears from her face once more, but still not looking away from the picture. It seemed ridiculous to her that for so many years, the fate of the city and planet solely relied upon teenagers, namely her son and his friends.

"But we have to deal with this. It wasn't his fault, or ours. Just call it fate or bad luck..." Mr. Scott rationalized

"Aaron, honestly, how is it fate to end up like this? Nobody is destined to fight creatures from other planets. Not to die like that. Only in bad science fiction does this happen. This is real life." Mrs. Scott countered.

Mr. Scott hated not having any answers either, at least good ones, but making such excuses did make it hurt less, make just a little sense. Their son was too young to die. But it happens for a million causes every day. Jason's case was just more unusual, yet more honorable than many of the reasons young people died. There wasn't The easy solution his wive yearned for, nor was there closure to this. That was years away. But, it was all he could do to save his own sanity until the closure did come for him. "I wish I had an answer for you Nina, I really do."

* * *

"Tanya, are you going to eat?" Mrs. Sloan asked. She had been concerned over the past couple weeks about her daughter, ever since her friends ended up missing. She didn't eat at times, was sleeping at odd hours of the day and had become strangely quiet. She did tell her mother finally about her 'job' and how she found all of her male friends beaten and battered beyond belief. It had taken a toll on the girl but ever since that conversation she had barely spoken about it at all.

"No, I'm not hungry." Tanya replied quietly, with as much warmth as she could manage toward her mother.

"Talk to me Tanya. What's going on?" Mrs. Sloan pleaded, "I know it hurts what happened to your friends, but you need to move on."

Tanya just stared from the other side of the table, completely ignoring the delicious food that had been prepared. She was in all honesty drained emotionally. "It's not that easy when...." she cut herself off.

"When what?" Mrs. Sloan encouraged. She knew there was something more than what Tanya had initially claimed but exactly what she didn't know. "Please, tell me what it is. You'll feel better if you do."

Tanya realized that there was no getting around it. She didn't want to hide it anymore before she truly did become insane. "It's... I never got the chance to tell one of them how I felt about him."

"Adam?" Mrs. Sloan guessed.

"Yeah. You see, he doesn't date. He said he doesn't see the reason of getting 'too attached' to anybody. So, I never bothered to say anything about this. I know he wouldn't laugh at me for it, but he's just beyond anyone's reach. I wanted to but kept chickening out. Now... I saw him like that, with all the others.... they all looked so horrible. He was the sweet one. Now I can't say it to him." Tanya said.

Mrs. Sloan cam over and hugged her daughter. "You never know, you might get your chance. Just keep praying for him."

"Mom, you didn't see. Rocky's mom said what she heard. They were hurt too bad, none of them will make it. I'll never see any of them again."

Mrs. Sloan didn't know what to say. It was true there wasn't much hope. Still she didn't have the heart to say that. "Just wait for your chance. You might be surprised."

Tanya did feel a little better from talking about it all. She didn't even realize until then that she was holding her mother tightly, something she hadn't done since she was a small girl, before her parents disappeared. "Thanks Mom. I'll be fine."

* * *

-Tommy, will you just go away? I don't need you reminding me of what happened up there. I saw enough damn it! I miss you but hell, you were the one who dumped me a few weeks ago, saying you weren't over Kim yet and you were wrong for 'using you as a replacement' as you put it. You're dead, that's that. Can't change it but don't expect any sympathy from me.- Kat thought as she held Tommy's picture and then tossed it into the garbage. The breakup had been mutual. She wasn't sure why it hurt now. She managed to avoid breaking down but none of it was easy on her. Not only did she lose him, she lost Billy and Jason and it seemed the remaining two were going to follow. The only way to deal was to just forget.

-I'm sorry about this, but you'll understand. I have to move on now. Only way I can is to leave this. I won't forget, but don't expect me to carry this with me. I have other things to do with my life than grieve over friends who are gone now. Please try yo understand what I'm saying, all of you. It's not abandonment, don't dare take it like that. It's just goodbye, making sense of this.-

-Oh, I wish it didn't have to be quite like this... I wish we could've at least been friends Tommy. What can I say though. It's not like we can anymore. You're who knows where and now I'm on my own. I have to deal with this. Maybe later on I can look at your guys faces like before, but that's a long ways off now. Don't worry I'll be fine.-

* * *

"What do you want Hei?" Mrs. Park asked as she answered the doorbell, only keeping it open a crack.

"Mother, will you please not act like this." Hei pleaded "This whole thing has gone on for too long. Don't you think it's time we resolved this."

Mrs. Park opened the door more, her face in a stiff frown, enhancing the age shown in her wrinkles and graying hair. "It is too late for apologies."

Hei was frustrated at this remark, she never regretted what she did to upset her parents, but she didn't like how long it has gone on. "In twelve years I haven't regretted what choices I have made. I'm not here to apologize in the least but I do want to make some type of amends with you."

"We have nothing to discuss. You chose to go to college across the country, to study philosophy of all things after your father and I warned you of the consequences. You were rebellious and disobedient. I don't thing you realize we only tried to do what was in your best interests." Mrs. Park retorted.

Hei stared at her mother, determined yet unwilling to bend. She was just like them in that respect, it was all a matter of tact. "I know you meant well, but... you have to realize that I needed to make the right decision for me. I know I could've become an engineer like dad, or a doctor or lawyer. I just wasn't for me. You were worried about my being able to find a decent paying job in that field. I teach at NYU of all places. I'm engaged and you're going to be grandparents in about six months. My life turned out fine. I just want you to accept me for that."

Mrs. Park sighed as she motioned for her daughter to come into the house. She pointed to the couch in the living room. "Take a seat. Thank you for at least being there for your brother. You at least did that."

Hei nodded, "He's my little brother, of course I was going to be there right now. I spoke with him about every week since I did leave. I just timed it so you and Dad were at work. Where is he anyway?"

"He has this major project. They've fallen behind so he had to go in." Mrs. Park answered.

"I was supposed to be holding a class for the summer semester, but I was able to get someone else to teach it. Basically I have this summer off. And there was something I wanted to ask you about." Hei said.

"What?" Mrs. Park said, lacking all emotion. She wasn't entirely warming up but she was going to be civil.

Hei paused for a moment, hoping everything would go well. "I was thinking, since you and Dad work so much, that if Adam pulls through and gets out of the hospital that he comes and lives with me in New York. I asked him and he seemed happy about the idea."

Mrs. Park sighed. She knew her daughter had good intentions but it was a difficult task. "I know you mean what's best, but please understand what an undertaking that would be... he won't be able to do much for himself. He would need someone looking after him for the rest of his life. And you shouldn't be getting your hopes up. They don't think he's going to make it."

"Mom, I know, but what's your plan if he does pull through? He's just about to turn seventeen. You don't have the time for him. My fiancee is a physical therapist. We might be able to help him live a somewhat normal life. If anything he would be able to finish up high school and go to college...." Hei argued. Her mom was the pessimist of everything and it was a matter of convincing her and the father that she was capable. She knew she was. Her fiancee was willing to as well.

"He might be better off in a facility designed to handle cases like his... Do you know how difficult it would be for Adam to finish school? And what about a normal job?" Mrs. Park countered.

Hei thought for a moment. "He is NOT going to some nursing home where he can rot away. I worked at one before and it is depressing. The people there have nothing to look forward to besides an occasional visit from some friend or family member at a specified time for about thirty minutes. They don't feel human and I won't let that happen to him. He could do something with his life. You don't even know what he wants to major in when he gets to college, do you?"

Mrs. Park wasn't sure what to make of this. "Last time I asked he said he wasn't sure."

Hei suspected Adam would've lied to his mother to avoid a conflict. "He wanted English. Ever since he was thirteen he wanted to teach it. He could do that even if he is crippled." she hated having to use that term but it was just so true.

Mrs. Park was stunned at this. She knew her son loved to read and writing was a fetish he treasured but the fact that he wouldn't tell her. She knew why, neither her or her husband would accept that. They wanted to see a second generation engineer or perhaps a doctor out of him. Another teacher or professor was not in their plans. "I'll... talk with your father about it."

* * *

"Marianna, good to see you back." an employee mentioned, "How's your kid doing?"

Marianna sighed. It was her first day back at work. She felt bad at leaving the hospital while Rocky was still in surgery, but she was assured that she would be contacted if anything happened. "Not so great James. He's in surgery right now. They don't know yet what's going to happen."

James smiled, Marianna DeSantos was one of his best lawyers. It was just like her to come in even in crisis. "Listen, if you really need it, you can take some more time off, I understand. We can let some of the rookies help you out with your caseload."

Mrs. DeSantos smiled for the first time in over a week at the offer, still hovering over a casefile "Thanks, but I need to get this one done. I don't want any rookie in this one, and it gets my mind off things."

"Hospital too depressing, huh?" James suggested.

Mrs. DeSantos didn't answer that. She didn't want to push the topic of her son. Her sister was helping out with the other kids as much as possible and it was time she moved on. She especially didn't need the reminder considering she was already thinking about all the things that could happen. The fact that the doctors delayed it as long as they could proved that it wasn't the greatest way, but the only one left. "I suppose you could say that."

"Just don't overdo things, alright." James replied.

"Will you just stop pestering me already. I know you're a partner but don't you still have work to do?" Mrs. DeSantos joked.

"Ah, you got me. I'll see you later."

Mrs. DeSantos attempted to keep her mind on the piles of paperwork before her. Her heart jumped every time the phone rang, expecting it to be the hospital saying Rocky had died in the surgery or some other bad news. Generally drowning herself with work was a good method of getting rid of her pain. It helped, especially after her husband died nine years ago, when he was caught in the middle of a pile-up accidents. Twenty-seven cars, six dead, a hundred injured. Now it was only five, but it was no different.

The day seemed to drag on forever. She didn't take lunch since she was too far behind in her cases and bluntly, she just wasn't hungry like usual. She also didn't want to risk having to explain the situation to her co-workers or by chance miss the telephone call once Rocky did get out of the operating room.

It was about three in the afternoon when the phone rang for about the two-thousandth time. "Hello, Marianna DeSantos speaking, how can I help you?"

Mrs. DeSantos's hear leaped, "What's going on? Is he out of surgery yet?"

She was waiting for something like that to come out. All morning long she had a hunch that something was going to go wrong. "What... Is he... alright?"

The mother cursed to herself. He had made it so far and now he wasn't being given any hope. She had lost her husband and now her oldest child. "Are you sure?" she asked, hoping for just the slightest sign of doubt.

"Yes. Thank you." Mrs. DeSantos said, trying to withhold her tears.

Mrs. DeSantos hurriedly grabbed her things and packed them into her briefcase. There was no way she was going to stay at work knowing what was happening. She approached James' office. "I need to go back to the hospital. Rocky's gotten a lot worse and they don't think he's going to make it at all now. I'm taking some of my case files home to review but I probably am not going to be in for the next couple of days."

"Are you going to be alright?" James asked.

"I'll be fine." Mrs. DeSantos lied. "I just need to go."

"Don't worry about it. We'll see you when you come back, alright. Take care."

"Thanks. I'll see you."

* * *

"What?" Kat exclaimed in disbelief.

"We didn't see the harm in it. I mean... most of the city suspected it by now. This news guy offered a good sum of money for anybody who knew. Since it's over I figured it couldn't harm anybody." Mr. Hillard replied.

"But you didn't have to tell them that we were Power Rangers! They could think it but you just proved it!"

"It isn't that big of a deal. I'm sure not that many people will care."

Kat couldn't believe this. They kept their identities secret to protect them. If the world found out they would never be able to live normal lives. The fact that they were able to avoid getting found out for as long as they did was nothing short of a miracle, but the fact that it would be a parent to leak the info was beyond Kat's comprehension. "Dad! Everybody is going to know who we are! I don't want to become some commodity for every guy I meet. I wanted to live a NORMAL life after this."

"Don't speak to me like that young lady." Mr. Hillard said sternly.

"No, I will speak to you how I like. You literally just ruined my life. Couldn't you've picked a better time? You know, like not while all my friends are getting buried! Didn't you think about their families?" Kat said. Her voice was dangerously vicious. To think he didn't understand why she felt like that. She began to head for the door.

"Where do you think you're headed? It's after ten." Mr. Hillard reacted.

"Don't follow me." she warned, "I need to get out of here. I hate you so much right now. As far as I'm concerned, I have no parents. Parents can keep as secret." she teleported out from the doorstep, knowing it no longer made sense to hide it any longer.

"Ai Ai Ai" Alpha exclaimed when Kat arrived and explained the news to Zordon and himself. "But why?"

"I don't know." Kat admitted, leaning against one of the consoles that encircled the room. "I thought I could trust my parents. The whole planet is going to know within a day. Hell, even the aborigine tribes back home probably have noticed the moon was blown up. It's going to be of public interest who we are."

"But, Katherine, what do you intend on doing knowing that it is quite possible for such a large number of people to know your identities?" Zordon inquired. He was concerned that some group would blame the moon incident on the rangers, find the place and destroy the center.

Katherine thought for a moment. The news had caught her so far off guard that she hadn't had the time to think about where she was going to go from here. She knew she had better tell Tanya eventually but now was not the time. "I don't know. I never thought this was going to happen. We were always so careful about things. And my dad of all people. Somebody offered money to whoever knew our identities. He honestly doesn't see what's wrong with it."

"This is quite disturbing news that has dire consequences for both you and Tanya. You must learn how to cope with the attention this will cause." Zordon informed. He knew her grief but not even he had the ability to halt the inevitable.

"How are the guys doing?" Kat asked, trying to change the subject and hoping for some good news.

"Not good." Alpha said meekly, "Both of their life signals are dropping. We tried to use the power to help jump start their recovery.... but it isn't having any effect except keeping them alive longer. We can't do it forever and I'm afraid they aren't going to heal."

Kat bit her lip as she always did when she was nervous or on the verge of crying. In this case it was a little of both, but mostly the latter. They were trying so hard to get at least one of the boys to survive and it was failing miserably. "Does Tanya know."

"She doesn't know about our attempts to save them. She does know about their current conditions and is heading toward the hospital to try to see them." Alpha replied.

Kat knew this was harder on Tanya. Kat had been able to get over the deaths of Tommy, Jason and Billy. But she was closer to Rocky and Adam, especially Adam. She knew how she felt about the silent green ranger, but he always pushed her away. The reason was a mystery, but Kat knew it was harder when they were hanging so close to death for so long. The longer this lasted, the more painful it would inevitably be once it did occur, once they did all die. It wasn't a matter of if any longer. "I hope they let her. She's been taking this harder."

"Katherine, do you believe you have gotten over this?" Zordon questioned.

"No." Kat confessed, "But I can live this way. She's become a zombie. Ever since we found them up there. And the explosion. I'm worried. I just don't think about this when I don't have to. If I deal with it just a little bit at a time, it won't be so bad in the long run."

"That sounds like a fairly lonely method though." Alpha remarked.

"I suppose, but it works for me. Alpha, you're a machine. You can deal with this easily. Wait... that's not the right term. It isn't easy on you but... it's different. Your emotions are programed. We don't know how we are going to feel. I'm sad, but also angry at Billy for doing what he did, and the others for letting themselves get kidnapped. It's absurd, but I just feel that way and there are no explanations for it." Kat explained.

"It is more common than you think Katherine." Zordon replied, "I've seen it all too many times with those lost long before this generation of rangers." His words were strangely soothing in a way that couldn't be explained.

* * *

"Okay, let's see how his arm looks today." Dr. Lawrence said. Over the last couple days Adam's arm had begun getting infected and signs of blood poisoning were present. They had begun to drain his lungs out as well to remove the fluids the pneumonia was building up. He had ordered for the strongest antibiotics available to be used and hoped that there would be some improvement from the last few days.

A nurse was busy taking temperature and blood pressure on the boy while the doctor removed the thick bandages and gauze where they amputated. Over the last few days he also had a high fever and was becoming more and more lethargic when he was conscious, another task that was becoming more and more rare as time progressed. Even when he was awake he couldn't seem to focus on any object or person and barely seemed to recognize when he was being spoken to. "Temperature is still at 103.7." she announced, "and blood pressure is still falling."

The doctor nodded as the remainder of the bandages finally came off. He couldn't help but frown as he saw what was happening. The arm still continued to darken, much of it a black/purple tone. Red lines also ran up in the veins past the shoulder. The wound itself was infected, despite the best efforts to keep it clean. Pus still oozed out after countless applications of antibacterial cleansers. "No improvement. Patient still in critical. Main concern is blood poisoning making its way past the arm. No possible treatments are known at this time. Most likely won't survive more than another forty-eight hours." he mumbled as he wrote it into the large file he carried.

The doctor made his way over toward the waiting room where his father had gone when the doctor began the daily examination. "Mr. Park? Can I please speak with you in private."

This had become nearly a daily routine. Everyday the doctors looked over the boy and reported that there was no change, no improvement, nothing. Just that he wasn't getting all that much worse. "How's he look today?"

The doctor frowned at giving the report. "forty-eight hours or less left. We don't have any options left as far as treating the complications. I would advise that you prepare for the worst at any time. Family and friends should say their final farewells as soon as possible."

"So, it's finally come to this." Mr. Park thought grimly. "After this long you're telling me he isn't going to make it. Damn! Why him?"

"I am sorry there is nothing more to be done. We tried everything. It is a miracle he pulled through this far." the doctor stated. He left the man there, his hands holding his head as he slouched in the chair. Then, for the first time since his son was reported missing... he cried.

"Dad?" Hei asked as she entered the room a couple minutes later. They had finally made peace with one another and were on terms where they could speak to one another civilly. "What's going on? Did Adam..."

"No." Mr. Park quickly confirmed, "But he isn't going to make it. The doctor just gave up. Just like that. On his birthday of all days."
Hei felt her heart sink right then until it was along with her father's near her knees. She kept hoping for something over these past couple weeks, now it was over. "Does Mom know yet?"

"No." Mr. Park answered. "I haven't told her. She needs to rest at home. She hasn't slept well since this whole ordeal began."

"At least something good happened after all this." Hei said, "If anything we're family again. You and Mom haven't been fighting like you guys usually did. Just is amazing how the circumstances had to be."

"I suppose." Mr. Park admitted, "Are you going to stay for awhile once... it happens."

"Only if I'm wanted." Hei remarked. "Next semester doesn't start until last week in August. If you want I could stay until then."

"That would be nice." Mr. Park replied. He paused for a moment, hugging his daughter, still crying, but now for other reasons. He stopped after a minute rather abruptly "Say... I need to run home for awhile, could you stay with Adam for awhile."

"Sure. I'll let you know if he wakes up at all."

* * *

"I am looking for the rooms of two of my friends in pediatric intensive care." Tanya said.

"What are the names?" the receptionist asked, fingers on the keyboard of the computer.

"Adam Park." Tanya answered, "and Rockwell DeSantos."

"Rooms 1234 and 1451" the receptionist stated, giving Tanya a visitor sticker.

"Thanks." Tanya replied.

On the elevator Tanya wondered what to expect. She knew that there would most likely be a whole bunch of equipment attached to them. It frightened her to think of it, why she hadn't visited until now. It was what kept many people away, instead sending flowers and cards of all types.

The elevator stopped once to let in some doctors discussing golf or some other menial topic. Tanya just continued to stare at the number lights that continued to change as the elevator passed one floor at a time. It didn't take long to reach the twelfth floor, but it seemed much longer than it was. One of the doctors got off with her, bidding farewell to the others who continued up.

Once off the elevator, Tanya looked for signs leading to the rooms. Left was rooms 1200-1260 and the right was 1261-1299. Tanya turned left and passed by the repetitive sequence of doors, broke occasionally with a nurse area. She found the room easily and hesitated for a moment before knocking lightly on the slightly open door.

"Come in." an unfamiliar woman answered and Tanya stepped into the room. Her first instinct was to run away, get away from everything. She shut the door for a moment to regain her composure, hoping that Adam was sleeping or didn't notice. After a moment she finally entered and saw a woman, she guessed to be in her mid-twenties in a chair next to the bed. She looked a lot like Adam, even with the pale skin and curly hair. "Hard to deal with. Isn't it?"

Tanya just nodded as she took a seat in another chair after dragging it closer to the bed. She saw that Adam indeed was asleep. "God, I didn't think it would be this bad."

"He's seen better days. You must be one of his friends. I'm Hei, his sister."

Tanya was a bit surprised. She knew Adam had a much older sister but there was no way this woman could be in her thirties and a professor. "I've heard so much about you. I'm Tanya."

Hei smiled slightly for a moment. "The quirt's mentioned you as well. I wish you didn't have to see this."

"I wanted to. I felt like a chickenwuss for not coming sooner." Tanya said, slightly ashamed at herself for waiting so long. She took hold of Adam's hand and rubbed it gently. After a minute or so she noticed a tear coming out of his eye, which she wiped away.

"He might be waking up. He's been in and out a lot." Hei said, also hopeful her brother would awaken at least once more. He hadn't for almost two days and everyone questioned if he ever would at this point.

Sure enough, Adam's eyes gradually flickered open. He gazed around for a moment, dazed from the drug combinations they were giving him around the clock. Even with them, he still felt worse than he had before. It took him several minutes for him to focus on what was happening.

"Hi." Tanya said, mentally kicking herself at being unable to say anything more.

-What? Tanya? Why?- Adam thought. He reached behind him and pulled the pillow from behind his head and placed it over his face as much as he could without knocking into the tubes. -Please go. I don't want you seeing me like this.-

Tanya carefully took the pillow. She knew exactly why he was doing, that he knew how bad he must've looked. "It's okay, I don't mind." she lied.

"I'm going to leave the two of you alone right now." Hei said and she headed out the door.

Tanya nodded and placed the pillow back under the boy's head. "There that's better."

-No it isn't. I'll probably be dead soon anyway. Just let me be. I don't want anyone crying for me. The rents and sis do that enough as it is.- Adam thought

"I... just came to tell you something." Tanya said, leaning over to him and kissed Adam on his cheek.

-What was that?-

"I... I..." Tanya stammered, "I kinda... well, like you. I wish.... I wish I had said it sooner but..." she trailed off.

-You figure I wasn't interested. I know. I figured that's how you felt but I pushed you away. You don't need to get close to me. It's worthless now, I'm... crippled.- Adam scorned

"I'm sorry. I know you think I shouldn't bother trying to get close to you, but... I don't know. I wish I knew why you were like that. Whatever happens I'll be here. If... you get... better, maybe I can get you to open up." Tanya said, smiling toward the end. She half expected him to start arguing with her about it, but her heart sank when she realized that he couldn't. She again went over to him and carefully gave him a quick peck on his lips.

-Why is she doing this? Why do I like it? Damn. There is no way I'm falling for her. I can't.- Adam thought, his thoughts becoming more and more jumbled. He was drifting off once more and he knew it. It was worse this time around though. There was no control this time.

Tanya smiled as she noticed Adam fall back asleep, his only true relief. She placed his hand from the railing over toward his side before leaving him. She cried when she was out of sight and earshot. She knew she couldn't see Rocky in her present state and she left the hospital.

* * *

Every family member within commuting distance had each taken their turn visiting Rocky. He was lasting longer than they thought, but everyone figured it was best to get the final goodbyes out of the way first. A Catholic priest had anointed the teenager for the Last Rites.

"Baby, things will be alright. Just rest until God takes you away. We all love you." Mrs. DeSantos cried. She was determined to stay until the final moment came. Her son laid on the bed, even more motionless than before, a whole new bunch of monitors and machines keeping him alive as long as possible.

Rocky twitched slightly but then became still again. The doctors doubted he would ever awaken. He was officially a vegetable until his body quit clinging for life.

"It'll be alright. Just a little longer baby."

* * *

"He finally died." Mrs. Park sighed. The doctors just delivered the news.

"I'm sorry. It was nothing short of a miracle that he survived as long as he did." the doctor answered.

"We knew it was going to happen." Mr. Park responded, "There wasn't anything that could be done from the beginning."

Hei had never cried as much as she had in the last several minutes. It was the same for both the parents. The little shy squirt was gone. It had become overwhelming.

* * *

"Tanya, I gotta tell you something." Kat said as she entered Tanya's room.

Tanya nodded silently.

Kat wasn't sure how to explain what happened. She wasn't sure how Tanya was going to take it. Adam had just died and now Rocky was still left, apparently getting closer and closer to following all the others. "The world knows." she said flatly.

"What? You mean they know who..." Tanya exclaimed.

Kat nodded, "My father told someone from the press. It was all over the newspapers this morning. Our secret's out."

Tanya was stunned, "But, why? I mean.... how could he..."

"Beats me." Kat admitted, "I wish I had an answer, but they offered anyone money. All mighty dollar won again."

"What are we going to do? After all that just happened now this?" Tanya pondered.

Kat sighed, Tanya wasn't taking it well either. She wanted to wait because of everything still happening. Still, now there was much less peace for either of them. She was wondering what was going on, and it became evident that she couldn't hold it in any longer. "I know. I hate him for that. I thought I could trust him. I was wrong. We're going to have to leave here you know."

Tanya stared at Kat in disbelief, "No! I'm not going to make a run for it. I don't think it matters where we go at this point. Someone will know about us. This is home for me."

Kat nodded. It wasn't an easy decision to make but it was the best option left for the time being and it would get them all away. Both of them would have a better chance of a normal life away from all the action, and where they were well known. "I don't know, but one day maybe we can come back, but to stay here is asking for a disaster. People are capable of doing what happened to the guys. Some are crazy enough. I don't want to end up like that!"

"Neither do I!" Tanya exclaimed, "But I don't want to have to run. I want to be able to go to their funerals, finish school, go on to other things... move on."

Kat was sympathetic. Still, it was quickly becoming a madhouse for her. A basic trip to the store involved stares. Men wanted to hit on her who never looked at her before. There wasn't going to be any sanity until things settle down and people forgot. "I know, damn it, I know! But believe me it will be better this way. Even Zordon advised us to go at least for the time being. I promise we'll eventually be able to go back."

Tanya felt tears welling up in her eyes. She always wondered how they would deal if their secret ever did get out. Nobody accounted for it or made up a plan. Still it seemed so drastic to go underground in hiding, like criminals. "I... I'm a little worried about what's going to happen. I mean, are we in that much danger?"

"I think we are. People are going to bother us forever because of this, but there are some idiots out there. John Lennon was killed by one of his fans! People react like animals half the time, and just irrational the other half."

Tanya agreed with that statement. "Fine, but I need to say goodbye to my Mom first." She hoped everyone would forget soon.

The heart monitor was going frantic. The doctors had already rushed Mrs. DeSantos out of the room as they attempted one last time to save the teen's life. It was no use as within twenty minutes Rocky passed away, like his friends had over the past three weeks. Their abilities were not enough this time.

Mrs. DeSantos looked as an older woman in a white coat approached her. She had stopped trying awhile ago figuring out the names of each doctor. It changed everyday and whenever a new problem was figured out. She was beginning to wonder exactly how many 'specialists' there were in the building.

"I'm sorry, your son just passed away." The doctor said with nearly no emotion.

Another family member who was near her held her as she wept. Everyone knew it was going to happen but him holding out for three weeks, four days after surgery they said would kill him over the night. There was hope in that which was completely stolen away for good. "It's okay Marianna. Rocky's not hurting anymore." he said.

Mr. Hillard sighed as he read the letter. He never thought his mistake would come to this. He sat on the chair at her desk in her bedroom and kept thinking to himself. Had he the opportunity, he would take back his mistake. He only now thought of what type of consequences would come out of it.

Regardless of what Katherine said, he was worried. He wouldn't know where his daughter was or when she was going to come back. It could be weeks, months or even years. There was no telling what would happen to her. If something did, he wouldn't know. If she died he would only get the call from the coroner and no chance to say goodbye.

Trying to focus, he began banging loudly on the desktop, knocking off a jar of pencils. It did nothing to relieve the pain and after a minute he found himself having to go to the freezer to put his hand in ice. It wasn't a bright move at all.

A woman walked up to the grave. She placed a small bouquet of flowers, yellow, red, some white on the grass. She squatted down , her legs not quite reaching the ground. She read it entirely. "Thomas James Oliver December 23, 1979-May 3, 1997 May he live in eternity as he did in life." The woman wondered how she had manages to stay away for so long. Twelve years had passed since then. She was just now reclaiming her life.

"Is he the last one?" a man inquired.

"No, there's one more but he's not at this cemetery. Don't worry Andrew. It doesn't take long to get there. Ten minute drive and a few walking." she replies, finally getting up.

The man frowns, "Tanya, you never even explained this to me. I don't care about how long it is taking. I just wonder why you won't tell me anything. Isn't seven years together long enough?"

Tanya laughed, "That was a whole other time and place. After this it's over and I can move on."

Andrew put his hand to his face, "Can you at least explain who they are."

Tanya smiled, "Former-co workers. They all died from an accident."

"Come on, on the same night when the moon was blown up and in this town. I'm supposed to believe they all died by luck!" Andrew exclaimed.

"No, they were involved. I'm not saying anything else. Just follow me, alright hon." Tanya loved teasing her husband. He was shy but not acting like it now. In front of her he was much more open. It came back though when she kissed him, and he blushed, even though the cemetery was abandoned.

Tanya drove to a wooded area and parked her car. Andrew was about to ask her what was going on, but she just pointed to a path that went further into the trees. They proceeded silently until they came across a cliff. Tanya stopped at its edge and began mumbling incoherently.

"Hon, what's this?" Andrew asked again.

"The last of my friends." Tanya explained, "He was my first love. He died in the accident too, but his parents told me it was his wish to be cremated and have his ashes tossed out this cliff. He used to come here to meditate all the time, he liked it here."

"That Adam guy?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah." Tanya said, still staring out to the layers of rock and the foaming sea below which crashed into the rock, carving it more and more. She continued her mumbling and finally announced, "I'm done. We can go back home now. I paid my respects and am finished with this." -Kat, I hope you did this too. I hope you moved on.-

* * *

Kat stared at the picture. She thought she had lost this one years back. She couldn't help but notice the stark contrast between then and now. In it she was seventeen, beautiful, blond bombshell, surrounded by her closest friends. It was taken the spring break a couple months before the accident occurred. Now here she was, sixty four still thinking about it.

She thought she pushed the incident out of her mind years ago, but when she heard about Tanya dying from a stroke a few months ago, it had begun to recur once more. Then a week ago she found the picture. She finally remembered the incident that caused her to run for a few years before settling back in California. Tanya and her had split up after a year of the traveling, insisting upon remaining in one place, a big city where she wouldn't be noticed regardless. Chicago was that but she continued on.
It took awhile to get over everything, begin dating again. She didn't settle down at all until she had her first child at twenty-eight years old. She married the father a year later but it ended in divorce six years after that.

Now here she was thinking bout the past, her hands showing their age as she traced out each face. Rocky, the goofball. Tanya, Talented and cheerful. Adam, so shy except when fighting. Jason, fierce yet gentle. Tommy, the passionate in love and battle. Billy, the genius she was afraid to love. She missed them all and would've given anything to get them back just long enough to say goodbye.

The moon was her daily reminder of the sacrifice Billy made, and the beginning of the struggle for the others. They all tried to pull through but one by one they failed. Zordon kept them hanging on until the Zeo crystal was giving out. It was their best shot and it failed. Funny thing was only now was she guilty, or at least felt it.

-I'm sorry. I did love you all. I didn't mean to forget you, but I had to move on. I couldn't think about you and do that. Please forgive me. At least I made it, hopefully you guys are proud of that.-

Finally the END