Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Operation Overdrive
Mack was the first of them to fall.
It was ironic, really. Mack, who’d fought harder than the rest of them, who had valiantly lead them, who’d given his life once before to save the world, was gone. Only five years since their last battle as Power Rangers– since Mack had been given a second chance at life– and now the world had fallen into chaos yet again.
But this time, even with their Ranger Powers at their sides once again, they didn’t stand a chance.
Ronny tried to go after Andrew after the man saw his son fall. Before long, the two were surrounded by the machines. Andrew alone wouldn’t have stood and chance–and worse, he’d doomed Ronny with him.
With two of their fellow Rangers and their mentor down– gone before they could even believe their eyes–the rest of the Rangers knew that the was chances of saving their city was slim.
“This is impossible…” Rose said, her breath labored. Her suit was damaged and she barely feel her left arm. “They just keep coming.”
“We are not giving up!” Will shouted, using his Drive Slammer to destroy a group of the strange machines that were trying to get behind the three remaining Rangers.
“Will…” Rose trailed off. She shot her Drive Geyser at one of the machines that tried to attack Dax before she continued, “We need to retreat–head back to the mansion. Something . If we stay here–”
“If we stay here, we’ll end up like Ronny and Mack and Mr. Hartford,” said Dax, uncharacteristically serious. His eyes were clouded and his expression was numb as if he were in shock. His suit was torn and he was holding onto the side of his torso, flinching in pain every time he moved.
Will flinched and looked into the direction of their fallen friends. There were tons of these damn monsters and the ground was littered with so many destroyed body parts that he could barely see their bodies anymore–much less try to recover them. Sighing deeply, Will turned away from his deceased friends and lifted his Drive Slammer to clear more of the mechanical monsters out of their way.
“Let’s go.”
By the time the remaining Overdrive Rangers arrived at the Hartford mansion, they were all injured, as well as severely exhausted. In addition to their previous injuries, Dax had injured one of his shoulders and was limping; Rose was having a harder time breathing, and neither Will nor Dax were sure what happened. Will, in the best shape of them all, still had a wound on his leg–which would not stop bleeding–as well as had other minor wounds.
The mansion itself was in shambles. None of the mechanical monsters were in slight, but it was clear that in the hours in which they’d been fighting, the mansion had been attacked and overrun.
“Oh no!” Rose shouted, running towards the mansion and the figure lying by the doorway. “Spencer!”
Dax froze at the sight of the old man. The butler was lying face down on the ground, blood pooled around his torso. It looked as though he’d been dead for at least an hour–maybe more. They should never have left him here alone. Someone should have stayed. Someone could have–Will put a hand on Dax’s uninjured shoulder.
“We should gather supplies and go,” the Black Ranger stated. He moved towards Rose but had to turn his head away from the sight of Spencer. “We need to go before more of those mechanical maniacs come back–and they will be back. I can hear them.”
“We can’t just leave Spencer like this! Not like Mack or Ronny or Mr. Hartford!” said Rose, raising her voice before she ended up coughing in pain.
“ They’d want us to live, Rose,” said Dax, gently. “After everything we’ve been through, they’d want us to live.”Walking inside the mansion, Dax found a blanket and grabbed it. Saying a Buddhist prayer that he remembered from his own grandfather’s funeral, Dax carefully placed the blanket over the older man’s body.
“Thank you for everything you did for us,” Rose murmured, tears flowing down her cheeks as she tried to catch her breath. “We’ll never forget you.”
“We’ll never forget any of them.” Will said, before moving deeper into the house. Before he could gather other supplies, he knew he needed first aid supplies. Luckily, the Hartfords’ had been prepared for anything and everything– God, that was so like them –and there were enough bandages and other medical supplies to go around.
When Will went to give Rose bandages, she handed them back to him, shaking her head. As a result, she let out a deep cough, leaving her out of breath. Her tanned face looked a tad blue and the woman looked as though she was going to pass out.
“Ros–“ Dax began but was interrupted by her.
“I have a pneumothorax,” said the Pink Ranger, carefully making her way over to the couch. “One of my lungs collapsed. And while Mr. Hartford may have the equipment, there’s no way we can reinflate it and I can recover before those metal monsters come back.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Will said, at the same time that Dax said, “Like hell!” They had just lost more than half their team– like hell they were leaving anyone behind–much less one of their most intelligent Ranger.
Rose smiled at both Dax and Will. She thought about her life before all this–before being a Ranger. She thought about how she was lonely–how she never felt special or important.How she’d never felt as though the things she did actually mattered. But now, in this moment, she felt everything–special, important, and most of all– loved .
“Yes. Yes, you will,” said Rose, with tears flowing down her cheeks once more. “The two of you are going to leave this house–leave this city–and you’re going to live. Because that’s what I want you to do,”
Will flinched away from his friend, willing his own tears to abate. Dax, on the other hand, let his tears flow freely, sitting next to his companion on the couch. Rose smiled at Dax again, wiping the tears from his face with the sleeve of her shirt.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” the brunette murmured, more to herself than to her friends. Willing herself to calm down, Rose attempted to breathe out softly before continuing, “Dax, Lift up your ankle. Let me bandage it. Will, get me a wrap–I know there’s one here somewhere.”
Nodding, Will gathered the wrap that Rose asked for as well as other supplies. He grabbed canned foods, bottled water, and other miscellaneous supplies he thought could come in handy, and placed them into two backpacks–holding back tears when he nearly grabbed three.
After Rose bandaged Dax’s ankle, the three remaining Rangers sat in silence, mentally absorbing what had just happened. That within just a few hours, everything went to utter shit. To think, this time yesterday the group had just arrived to celebrate Mack’s fifth rebirthday. And now–and now four members of their team were dead–and Rose would soon be joining them.
“You guys need to go,” Rose said softly, shifting her position on the couch slightly. “ Before those monsters start coming this way,”
“But–“ Dax began before being interpreted by Will.
“She’s right. I can hear them coming.” Will said, lifting both his and Dax’s backpacks onto his shoulders. He looked at Rose, frowned, and turned towards the door. “We need to go.”
“Rose…” said Dax, as Will helped him get off the couch. The two gathered the rest of what they needed and started to leave the house to get to Dax’s ATV.
Remembering what Adam had said to the Overdrive Team once before, Will turned to Rose before leaving and said, “May the Power protect you. Always.”
Shortly after they left San Angeles, Dax was gone. Just like that, all his friends were gone and Will was alone again. He’d been alone since he was eighteen years old– this shouldn’t bother him. He was used to it. Or rather, he had been used to it, before he became a Ranger.
The two of them had been ambushed by those metal monsters shortly after the ATV had run out of gas. At that point, they’d been low on food and they didn’t have time to find another vehicle before Will had heard the monsters coming their way.
With Dax’s sprained ankle, it was no surprise when the two of them didn’t get very far. Before Will knew it, Dax was on the ground, demorphed, and chest unmoving.
Looking at his friend's body, he knew there was nothing else he could do except flee–leaving behind the last of his friends.
There was nothing left for Will, except the echo of the radio’s message going through his mind:
This is a signal of human origin broadcasting on all A.M./F.M. frequencies from the domed city of Corinth, 71 degrees 5 minutes 52 seconds North Longitude; 42 degrees, 20 minutes, 46 seconds West Latitude.
Yes, maybe Will would try to make it there.