jaguarranger
06-21-2005, 04:40 PM
It took me forever to finally sit and work hard on this, but I finally did and its done. When JYB came and hung out with us a few months back I decided to do a tribute fic where Adam goes down fighting. I finally sat down and worked on it, and its finally done and its finally here!
Adam Park sat by himself in his garage. The lights were dim and all was quiet. Adam was sitting at a worktable with repair tools in his hand. The object lying on the table before him was his Zeonizer. Just recently, Adam had once again morphed into the Black Power Ranger in order to protect his successor Carlos. Using his damaged Power Morpher had been dangerous and could have killed him. That had not stopped Adam. He would do it again in a heartbeat. Of course he would have preferred to have been able to use his Zeonizer. That, however, had been impossible at the time.
Only Adam knew about this, but a short while earlier he had needed to use his Zeonizer again, to fight off a small group of Quantrons he came across that were on some errand for Astronema. Adam had fought them off and forced them to retreat, but his Zeonizer had been damaged in the process. Since then, he had been staying up late, working secretly on his Zeonizer.
Adam sighed. His friends had all moved on with their lives, but for him it didn’t come so easy. Becoming a Power Ranger was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and after being one for so long, it became part of who he was. He couldn’t just give it up and walk away because he had been deemed too old by Dimitria. Because of that, he’d been secretly moonlighting as the Green Zeo Ranger, at least until his Zeonizer had been damaged. But now repairs were almost complete. He would be morphing again by tomorrow night at the latest.
Unknown to Adam, a pair of eyes watched him through the window. They gleamed in the moonlight, peering in and beholding what lay on the worktable in front of the young man. It was confirmed. This was without a doubt what he had been sent to find. Its mission accomplished, it slunk off into the night to report to its master.
In space, Carlos was onboard the Astro Megaship. He fiddled with the control console at his station on the bridge, making adjustments to the ship’s flight path. But though his body was on the Megsaship, his thoughts were elsewhere. He couldn’t believe the great risk Adam had taken in morphing using a damaged morpher. It could have destroyed him! Granted, the action had saved Carlos’ life, and he was grateful, but he didn’t want Adam to put himself in that kind of danger. He’d been doing it long enough. Suddenly the bridge doors opened and Carlos, along with T.J., Cassie, and Ashley turned as Andros strode into view.
“Carlos,” he said, “I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
Carlos left his seat and followed Andros into the hall. “What is…” he said, but was cut off by Andros.
“Shhhh!” Andros’ voice was a dark whisper. “Quietly.”
“Sorry,” Carlos whispered. “What is it?”
“We’ve got an incoming call,” Andros said, his voice still soft. “Follow me.”
Carlos followed Andros down the hall for a few feet, and then paused as Andros opened up a door to their left. When the door was open, they went inside. Andros punched a button on a console and a holographic image flickered to life on the wall. The person in the image was a young man, with blonde hair and a build that suggested physical fitness but also the mind of a scientist.
“Billy,” Andros said, “thanks for calling back so quickly.”
“Not a problem,” Billy replied. “Always glad to help out a friend. I’ve finished analyzing the blood sample you sent me.”
After Adam morphed using his damaged morpher, Andros had collected a blood sample and sent it to Billy for analysis of its effects on Adam. “And?”
Billy’s voice became glum. “I’m afraid it made him allergic, for lack of a better word, to morphing. Any other attempt at morphing will cause a fatal reaction.”
“But he doesn’t have any other means to morph, does he,” Carlos asked. “He gave up his Turbo powers to me so he shouldn’t have anymore, right?”
“Not true,” Billy said. “Before he and the others received their Turbo Powers, they used the Zeo Crystal to battle the Machine Empire. He should still have his Zeonizer.” Billy sighed. “I should have expected something like this. Zordon told me about the power transfer, and how Adam never seemed too happy at the idea of giving up his powers.”
“Crap,” Carlos shouted.
“Come on,” Andros told him, “we’ve got to get down to Earth right away and warn him. We’ll take the Galaxy Gliders.” Andros rushed back to the bridge with Carlos behind him. “Something’s come up,” he told the others. Carlos and I are on it.” Turning to T.J., he said “T.J., you’re in charge until we get back.” Then he and Carlos were back in the hall, running to the Galaxy Gliders.
“Let’s Rocket,” Andros shouted.
Carlos echoed his cry. “Let’s Rocket!” The two morphed into the Red and Black Space Rangers, hopped on their Galaxy Gliders and screamed into space towards Earth.
Meanwhile, on the Dark Fortress, Astronema listened to the report from Ecliptor. “One of our Quantrons has found the location of the Ranger whose been harassing us,” he informed her. “Furthermore, it appears that he and the Black Ranger who foiled one of our earlier plots are one and the same.”
“Really,” Astronema said coldly. “Our revenge on him must be doubled. Send down the Quantrons to set fire to his house. Make sure any who are trapped inside do not escape.”
Ecliptor bowed. “At once, Princess,” he said solemnly.
Andros and Carlos caught up to Adam in the park. Carlos nearly tripped himself over to get to him. “Adam,” he shouted.
Adam quickly hid away his repaired Zeonizer and turned around. “Carlos, Andros,” he said pleasantly. “What’s up?”
“We have something important to tell you,” Carlos told him, having to catch his breath from running and shouting.
“It’s about when you used your damaged Power Morpher,” Andros said. “You’ll recall that after the battle I took a sample of your blood. I sent to Billy for analysis and…”
“No way, Billy,” Adam interjected. “How’s he doing?”
“Not now, Adam,” Carlos said. “This is urgent.”
Andros went on. “It turns out that…” He was cut off again by the sound of screams and the sight of smoke rising in the distance.
“Come on,” Adam said, “let’s go check it out.” They ran towards where the smoke was coming from and Adam couldn’t believe his eyes. “No way,” he said. “This is my house!” Suddenly Quantrons were everywhere.
“There’s Quantrons all over the place,” Carlos shouted.
“They’re not going to stop me,” Adam said with determination. He pulled out his Zeonizer and prepared to morph, but was stopped by Andros and Carlos grabbing his arms.
“What are you doing,” he screamed.
“We can’t let you morph,” Andros shouted. “This is what we were trying to tell you. Your last morph left you allergic to morphing. If you try it again it’ll kill you!”
The face of a young girl bursts through the flames outside a second-floor window. “Somebody help me,” she screamed. Then she was drug back into the fire by a pair of Quantrons.
“Cindy,” Adam shouted. “I have to go, my sister’s still in there.”
“Then let us go,” Carlos told him.
Suddenly T.J.’s voice came over Andros’ communicator. “Guys, Ecliptor’s on the rampage downtown. We need you down here right away.”
“Damn it,” Andros said. “Astronema planned this from the beginning.” Turning to Carlos, he told him, “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
“But what about Adam,” Carlos asked.
“Nothing we can do about it right now, we have to go take care of Ecliptor,” Andros replied.
Carlos nodded reluctantly. “Alright.”
“Adam, stay here,” Andros instructed. “We’ll be back to save your sister, I promise. Let’s Rocket!”
“Let’s Rocket,” Carlos repeated.
Once they were gone, Adam pulled out his Zeonizer. “I don’t care what it does to me,” he said, “I will save Cindy! Zeo Ranger IV, Green!” In a flash of green light, Adam was transformed into the Green Zeo Ranger. He immediately went for the nearest Quantron, to his left. Ducking under the attack he picked it up and threw it over his back onto the ground, then stomped its face. As Adam headed towards the burning house his suit suddenly sparked and he fell to the ground.
“Ahh! What is this,” Adam screamed in pain. “The Quantron didn’t hit me.” His suit sparked again, and this time it was followed by a burning sensation as if his body was boiling. “So this is what Andros meant,” he said slowly. “But I won’t let it stop me.”
Getting back to his feet, he blocked an attack from a Quantron and kicked it in the gut. As he charged towards the doorway, two more Quantrons suddenly appeared. Adam plowed right through them, knocking them to the ground with dual thuds. Reaching the doorway, Adam rolled inside and drew his Zeo pistol. Seeing no Quantrons, he headed for the stairs. His suit began to spark again, and it ripped this time. The flames jumped onto his exposed skin, leaving painful burn marks. But Adam kept on going, fighting through the pain. Struggling up the stairs, he began to feel dizzy. He stumbled and nearly fell back down the stairs. Picking himself back up, Adam made his way to the top and down the hall, forcing himself on against the pain that grew stronger each moment, his head throbbing, skin boiling, feeling like he was on an out-of-control merry-go-round. Tripping, he slowly got up to find himself facing a Quantron. Adam was to slow to dodge the hit; he went back down with a hard thud, breaking several bones. The Quantron leapt on him to press the attack, plowing its mechanical fists into Adam’s helmet, he felt his visor shatter and the next blow made contact with his face cutting him above the right eye, sending blood down over Adam’s body. Refusing to back down, Adam brought his Zeo pistol up and fired a shot into the Quantron’s chest. It went down with a smoking, sparking hole in its torso.
Getting back up, Adam staggered towards the door on the left, where his sister was. Bursting in, he found her held hostage between the two Quantrons that had taken her back inside. The Quantrons flanked him and charged. Adam was unable to block or dodge, both Quantrons flew into him with fury. Adam was sent flying across the room, his suit sparking from the both the attack and his body’s negative reaction to the morph. When Adam got back up he couldn’t see the Quantrons. Then he felt dual blows as he was hit hard from the right. “Of course,” he realized. With blood covering his right eye, he was unable to see, making him blind to whatever was on his right!
Adam quickly whirled so the Quantrons were on his left and lashed out with a kick that was intercepted, resulting in him being flipped over, he felt his knee crack as he hit the ground. When he got back up, Adam was rewarded by a punch in the gut, as he doubled over, an elbow plowed into his back and he felt his rib collapse as a kick made contact with his chest. Adam was picked up and slammed against the wall. He saw the Quantrons move in for the kill, looked beyond them and saw his sister, who was frozen in fear, coughing from the smoke she had inhaled. “No,” he thought. “I will not die without saving my sister!” Standing up, fighting against the pain and dizziness he drew his Zeo pistol and shot the Quantron on the left clear through the head. He then took advantage of the other one’s surprise and charged. He launched a roundhouse kick into its chest then picked it up and slammed it over his back against the floor, and followed up with a punch to the face. The Quantrons vanished.
Rushing over to his sister, Adam hugged her to himself and asked, “Cindy, are you alright?”
She nodded, but slowly said “Adam?”
Adam’s voice had given him away. He nodded and said, “Yeah, it’s me. Come on, we’ve gotta get out of here.” Taking his sister into his arms, he turned and stumbled out the door, just escaping the room as it collapsed behind them. “Crap,” Adam realized, “we don’t have much time.”
Cindy screamed in terror as Adam carried her down the stairs, the roof collapsing after them all the while. It was a race against time, a race that Adam must win, or his efforts would be for nothing. Drowning out Cindy’s screams, fighting off the pain and dizziness he constantly felt, Adam kept his attention on the doorway ahead, keeping one step ahead of the collapsing roof. As he neared the doorway, he discovered in horror that a pile of debris blocked his way. Turning so his shoulder was angled towards the debris he charged and smashed through, escaping just as the burning house collapsed into rubble.
Panting, Adam carried Cindy several feet onto the lawn and put her down gently. Looking at her through his good eye, he asked her “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Then it was…was…worth it,” Adam gasped. Suddenly a green glow surrounded his body and he screamed in pain as his suit shattered into pieces. His body was in terrible shape, blood covering one half of his face, his skin pale and burned, bruises everywhere, several broken bones, and extreme dizziness. He looked at Cindy and took his last breath.
Having taken care of Ecliptor, the Space Rangers arrived to find Cindy weeping over the body of her brother. Firefighters were on the scene and ambulances were arriving. “No,” Carlos screamed.
“We were too late,” Andros muttered. The Space Rangers bowed their heads in sorrow. “Damn it,” Andros said through clenched teeth, “Astronema’s going to pay for this.”
“We will avenge you, Adam” Carlos said through tears.
The Space Rangers bowed their heads for their fallen comrade. “Come on,” Andros said glumly after a few moments. “There’s nothing more we can do here now. We have to go.”
“We’ll need to contact the other Rangers,” T.J. said.
Andros nodded. “I’ll take care of it. Let’s get back.”
Several days later, after Adam’s funeral, all current and former Rangers had gathered at the cemetery to remember their comrade. Even the Alien Rangers had sent Delphine as a delegate. They stood in a circle around the tombstone, their eyes wet with tears, their hands clasped for support. Tommy, who Adam had followed throughout his Ranger career, stepped forward into the circle. Glancing at Adam’s tombstone, he turned to face the others and began to speak. “Adam was a great Ranger, but an even greater person,” he said. “His heroic sacrifice teaches us that though one may have finished being a Ranger, that one is never finished being a hero. As Power Rangers, we’ve always had to live up to a high standard. Adam has raised that standard even higher. Let us honor his memory and live up to this higher standard.”
“I won’t let you down, Adam,” Carlos said. As Adam’s handpicked successor, Carlos felt the burden left by Adam’s legacy more powerful than before and was determined to live up to it.
Rocky DeSantos, who had been Adam’s best friend even before they became Power Rangers, spoke up. “Adam, you’ll always be my best friend, no matter what. I am prepared to honor your memory no matter the cost. And I think I speak for everyone here when I say that they feel the same way. Everyone else nodded; there was no shadow of disagreement. They dispersed and began to walk away, each vowing never to forget Adam, who had been a hero from beginning to end.
Adam Park sat by himself in his garage. The lights were dim and all was quiet. Adam was sitting at a worktable with repair tools in his hand. The object lying on the table before him was his Zeonizer. Just recently, Adam had once again morphed into the Black Power Ranger in order to protect his successor Carlos. Using his damaged Power Morpher had been dangerous and could have killed him. That had not stopped Adam. He would do it again in a heartbeat. Of course he would have preferred to have been able to use his Zeonizer. That, however, had been impossible at the time.
Only Adam knew about this, but a short while earlier he had needed to use his Zeonizer again, to fight off a small group of Quantrons he came across that were on some errand for Astronema. Adam had fought them off and forced them to retreat, but his Zeonizer had been damaged in the process. Since then, he had been staying up late, working secretly on his Zeonizer.
Adam sighed. His friends had all moved on with their lives, but for him it didn’t come so easy. Becoming a Power Ranger was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and after being one for so long, it became part of who he was. He couldn’t just give it up and walk away because he had been deemed too old by Dimitria. Because of that, he’d been secretly moonlighting as the Green Zeo Ranger, at least until his Zeonizer had been damaged. But now repairs were almost complete. He would be morphing again by tomorrow night at the latest.
Unknown to Adam, a pair of eyes watched him through the window. They gleamed in the moonlight, peering in and beholding what lay on the worktable in front of the young man. It was confirmed. This was without a doubt what he had been sent to find. Its mission accomplished, it slunk off into the night to report to its master.
In space, Carlos was onboard the Astro Megaship. He fiddled with the control console at his station on the bridge, making adjustments to the ship’s flight path. But though his body was on the Megsaship, his thoughts were elsewhere. He couldn’t believe the great risk Adam had taken in morphing using a damaged morpher. It could have destroyed him! Granted, the action had saved Carlos’ life, and he was grateful, but he didn’t want Adam to put himself in that kind of danger. He’d been doing it long enough. Suddenly the bridge doors opened and Carlos, along with T.J., Cassie, and Ashley turned as Andros strode into view.
“Carlos,” he said, “I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
Carlos left his seat and followed Andros into the hall. “What is…” he said, but was cut off by Andros.
“Shhhh!” Andros’ voice was a dark whisper. “Quietly.”
“Sorry,” Carlos whispered. “What is it?”
“We’ve got an incoming call,” Andros said, his voice still soft. “Follow me.”
Carlos followed Andros down the hall for a few feet, and then paused as Andros opened up a door to their left. When the door was open, they went inside. Andros punched a button on a console and a holographic image flickered to life on the wall. The person in the image was a young man, with blonde hair and a build that suggested physical fitness but also the mind of a scientist.
“Billy,” Andros said, “thanks for calling back so quickly.”
“Not a problem,” Billy replied. “Always glad to help out a friend. I’ve finished analyzing the blood sample you sent me.”
After Adam morphed using his damaged morpher, Andros had collected a blood sample and sent it to Billy for analysis of its effects on Adam. “And?”
Billy’s voice became glum. “I’m afraid it made him allergic, for lack of a better word, to morphing. Any other attempt at morphing will cause a fatal reaction.”
“But he doesn’t have any other means to morph, does he,” Carlos asked. “He gave up his Turbo powers to me so he shouldn’t have anymore, right?”
“Not true,” Billy said. “Before he and the others received their Turbo Powers, they used the Zeo Crystal to battle the Machine Empire. He should still have his Zeonizer.” Billy sighed. “I should have expected something like this. Zordon told me about the power transfer, and how Adam never seemed too happy at the idea of giving up his powers.”
“Crap,” Carlos shouted.
“Come on,” Andros told him, “we’ve got to get down to Earth right away and warn him. We’ll take the Galaxy Gliders.” Andros rushed back to the bridge with Carlos behind him. “Something’s come up,” he told the others. Carlos and I are on it.” Turning to T.J., he said “T.J., you’re in charge until we get back.” Then he and Carlos were back in the hall, running to the Galaxy Gliders.
“Let’s Rocket,” Andros shouted.
Carlos echoed his cry. “Let’s Rocket!” The two morphed into the Red and Black Space Rangers, hopped on their Galaxy Gliders and screamed into space towards Earth.
Meanwhile, on the Dark Fortress, Astronema listened to the report from Ecliptor. “One of our Quantrons has found the location of the Ranger whose been harassing us,” he informed her. “Furthermore, it appears that he and the Black Ranger who foiled one of our earlier plots are one and the same.”
“Really,” Astronema said coldly. “Our revenge on him must be doubled. Send down the Quantrons to set fire to his house. Make sure any who are trapped inside do not escape.”
Ecliptor bowed. “At once, Princess,” he said solemnly.
Andros and Carlos caught up to Adam in the park. Carlos nearly tripped himself over to get to him. “Adam,” he shouted.
Adam quickly hid away his repaired Zeonizer and turned around. “Carlos, Andros,” he said pleasantly. “What’s up?”
“We have something important to tell you,” Carlos told him, having to catch his breath from running and shouting.
“It’s about when you used your damaged Power Morpher,” Andros said. “You’ll recall that after the battle I took a sample of your blood. I sent to Billy for analysis and…”
“No way, Billy,” Adam interjected. “How’s he doing?”
“Not now, Adam,” Carlos said. “This is urgent.”
Andros went on. “It turns out that…” He was cut off again by the sound of screams and the sight of smoke rising in the distance.
“Come on,” Adam said, “let’s go check it out.” They ran towards where the smoke was coming from and Adam couldn’t believe his eyes. “No way,” he said. “This is my house!” Suddenly Quantrons were everywhere.
“There’s Quantrons all over the place,” Carlos shouted.
“They’re not going to stop me,” Adam said with determination. He pulled out his Zeonizer and prepared to morph, but was stopped by Andros and Carlos grabbing his arms.
“What are you doing,” he screamed.
“We can’t let you morph,” Andros shouted. “This is what we were trying to tell you. Your last morph left you allergic to morphing. If you try it again it’ll kill you!”
The face of a young girl bursts through the flames outside a second-floor window. “Somebody help me,” she screamed. Then she was drug back into the fire by a pair of Quantrons.
“Cindy,” Adam shouted. “I have to go, my sister’s still in there.”
“Then let us go,” Carlos told him.
Suddenly T.J.’s voice came over Andros’ communicator. “Guys, Ecliptor’s on the rampage downtown. We need you down here right away.”
“Damn it,” Andros said. “Astronema planned this from the beginning.” Turning to Carlos, he told him, “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
“But what about Adam,” Carlos asked.
“Nothing we can do about it right now, we have to go take care of Ecliptor,” Andros replied.
Carlos nodded reluctantly. “Alright.”
“Adam, stay here,” Andros instructed. “We’ll be back to save your sister, I promise. Let’s Rocket!”
“Let’s Rocket,” Carlos repeated.
Once they were gone, Adam pulled out his Zeonizer. “I don’t care what it does to me,” he said, “I will save Cindy! Zeo Ranger IV, Green!” In a flash of green light, Adam was transformed into the Green Zeo Ranger. He immediately went for the nearest Quantron, to his left. Ducking under the attack he picked it up and threw it over his back onto the ground, then stomped its face. As Adam headed towards the burning house his suit suddenly sparked and he fell to the ground.
“Ahh! What is this,” Adam screamed in pain. “The Quantron didn’t hit me.” His suit sparked again, and this time it was followed by a burning sensation as if his body was boiling. “So this is what Andros meant,” he said slowly. “But I won’t let it stop me.”
Getting back to his feet, he blocked an attack from a Quantron and kicked it in the gut. As he charged towards the doorway, two more Quantrons suddenly appeared. Adam plowed right through them, knocking them to the ground with dual thuds. Reaching the doorway, Adam rolled inside and drew his Zeo pistol. Seeing no Quantrons, he headed for the stairs. His suit began to spark again, and it ripped this time. The flames jumped onto his exposed skin, leaving painful burn marks. But Adam kept on going, fighting through the pain. Struggling up the stairs, he began to feel dizzy. He stumbled and nearly fell back down the stairs. Picking himself back up, Adam made his way to the top and down the hall, forcing himself on against the pain that grew stronger each moment, his head throbbing, skin boiling, feeling like he was on an out-of-control merry-go-round. Tripping, he slowly got up to find himself facing a Quantron. Adam was to slow to dodge the hit; he went back down with a hard thud, breaking several bones. The Quantron leapt on him to press the attack, plowing its mechanical fists into Adam’s helmet, he felt his visor shatter and the next blow made contact with his face cutting him above the right eye, sending blood down over Adam’s body. Refusing to back down, Adam brought his Zeo pistol up and fired a shot into the Quantron’s chest. It went down with a smoking, sparking hole in its torso.
Getting back up, Adam staggered towards the door on the left, where his sister was. Bursting in, he found her held hostage between the two Quantrons that had taken her back inside. The Quantrons flanked him and charged. Adam was unable to block or dodge, both Quantrons flew into him with fury. Adam was sent flying across the room, his suit sparking from the both the attack and his body’s negative reaction to the morph. When Adam got back up he couldn’t see the Quantrons. Then he felt dual blows as he was hit hard from the right. “Of course,” he realized. With blood covering his right eye, he was unable to see, making him blind to whatever was on his right!
Adam quickly whirled so the Quantrons were on his left and lashed out with a kick that was intercepted, resulting in him being flipped over, he felt his knee crack as he hit the ground. When he got back up, Adam was rewarded by a punch in the gut, as he doubled over, an elbow plowed into his back and he felt his rib collapse as a kick made contact with his chest. Adam was picked up and slammed against the wall. He saw the Quantrons move in for the kill, looked beyond them and saw his sister, who was frozen in fear, coughing from the smoke she had inhaled. “No,” he thought. “I will not die without saving my sister!” Standing up, fighting against the pain and dizziness he drew his Zeo pistol and shot the Quantron on the left clear through the head. He then took advantage of the other one’s surprise and charged. He launched a roundhouse kick into its chest then picked it up and slammed it over his back against the floor, and followed up with a punch to the face. The Quantrons vanished.
Rushing over to his sister, Adam hugged her to himself and asked, “Cindy, are you alright?”
She nodded, but slowly said “Adam?”
Adam’s voice had given him away. He nodded and said, “Yeah, it’s me. Come on, we’ve gotta get out of here.” Taking his sister into his arms, he turned and stumbled out the door, just escaping the room as it collapsed behind them. “Crap,” Adam realized, “we don’t have much time.”
Cindy screamed in terror as Adam carried her down the stairs, the roof collapsing after them all the while. It was a race against time, a race that Adam must win, or his efforts would be for nothing. Drowning out Cindy’s screams, fighting off the pain and dizziness he constantly felt, Adam kept his attention on the doorway ahead, keeping one step ahead of the collapsing roof. As he neared the doorway, he discovered in horror that a pile of debris blocked his way. Turning so his shoulder was angled towards the debris he charged and smashed through, escaping just as the burning house collapsed into rubble.
Panting, Adam carried Cindy several feet onto the lawn and put her down gently. Looking at her through his good eye, he asked her “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Then it was…was…worth it,” Adam gasped. Suddenly a green glow surrounded his body and he screamed in pain as his suit shattered into pieces. His body was in terrible shape, blood covering one half of his face, his skin pale and burned, bruises everywhere, several broken bones, and extreme dizziness. He looked at Cindy and took his last breath.
Having taken care of Ecliptor, the Space Rangers arrived to find Cindy weeping over the body of her brother. Firefighters were on the scene and ambulances were arriving. “No,” Carlos screamed.
“We were too late,” Andros muttered. The Space Rangers bowed their heads in sorrow. “Damn it,” Andros said through clenched teeth, “Astronema’s going to pay for this.”
“We will avenge you, Adam” Carlos said through tears.
The Space Rangers bowed their heads for their fallen comrade. “Come on,” Andros said glumly after a few moments. “There’s nothing more we can do here now. We have to go.”
“We’ll need to contact the other Rangers,” T.J. said.
Andros nodded. “I’ll take care of it. Let’s get back.”
Several days later, after Adam’s funeral, all current and former Rangers had gathered at the cemetery to remember their comrade. Even the Alien Rangers had sent Delphine as a delegate. They stood in a circle around the tombstone, their eyes wet with tears, their hands clasped for support. Tommy, who Adam had followed throughout his Ranger career, stepped forward into the circle. Glancing at Adam’s tombstone, he turned to face the others and began to speak. “Adam was a great Ranger, but an even greater person,” he said. “His heroic sacrifice teaches us that though one may have finished being a Ranger, that one is never finished being a hero. As Power Rangers, we’ve always had to live up to a high standard. Adam has raised that standard even higher. Let us honor his memory and live up to this higher standard.”
“I won’t let you down, Adam,” Carlos said. As Adam’s handpicked successor, Carlos felt the burden left by Adam’s legacy more powerful than before and was determined to live up to it.
Rocky DeSantos, who had been Adam’s best friend even before they became Power Rangers, spoke up. “Adam, you’ll always be my best friend, no matter what. I am prepared to honor your memory no matter the cost. And I think I speak for everyone here when I say that they feel the same way. Everyone else nodded; there was no shadow of disagreement. They dispersed and began to walk away, each vowing never to forget Adam, who had been a hero from beginning to end.