Chapter 35 – ...And All Things Will End

June 12 1996 – Angel Grove Youth Center

It had been four months since the Power Rangers had last been seen in the city of Angel Grove. No one knew where they had gone, all they really cared about was that there hadn't been any monster attacks for months. Business owners felt that the time was now right to begin new ventures, without the risk of them getting destroyed by one of Rita Repulsa or Lord Zedd's monsters.

Even though the city was now in an emerging era of prosperity, it still surprised Aisha to see a banner hanging up outside the Youth Center. "Under New Management", she muttered to herself, before entering the building. She had asked her friends to meet her at their favourite hang out to give them some exciting news. She wasn't expecting to see a sign announcing that Ernie has sold the Youth Center.

When she got inside, she saw all of her friends gathered around one table in the corner. Billy had his arm around Trini and whispered something in her ear. Aisha smiled to herself and mentally wished the two lifelong friends the best for the future. Next to them sat Rocky with his girlfriend Yuri, who had come for a visit from Blue Bay Harbor. She was pleased that her childhood friend had found someone who was a calming influence. Slightly surprising that it was a thousand year old ninja who had tried to kill them but Rocky never had done thing the easy way.

Her gaze then shifted to Jason and Adam, who were chatting away in an animated fashion. Probably talking about the latest martial arts move they had learned, or what to teach their students next. Finally she saw Tanya and Kat giggling away as they spoke with each other. With her cousin staying in Angel Grove for her senior year, she was pleased that she had found a friend in the Australian.

The only disappointment was that Tommy wasn't with the group. He had taken the destruction of the Command Center the hardest and had gradually drifted away from the other former rangers. According to Adam, he had given his karate students over to Rocky so he could focus on his latest hobby, stock car racing. He had spent most of his free time down at the local track and she assumed that's where he was today.

"Hey guys", she announced her presence.

"Hey cuz", Tanya replied, "what's the big news".

Aisha took a deep breath, "Well I've been talking with your parents about their time in Africa. There's a new animal sanctuary opening and there's a position available for a student vet and they chose me to fill it".

Tanya jaw dropped, "No way", she exclaimed.

Aisha nodded, "I leave in a month. It's only for a year but I have the option to stay if I want to"

A round of congratulations followed from everyone at the table along and Aisha hugged them all in appreciation. "I think this calls for a celebratory shake", Rocky announced.

"Yeah I saw the banner outside about new management", Aisha began, "what happened to Ernie".

"I'm still here", Ernie said from behind Aisha, "but I've decided to expand the business. I'm opening a new juice bar down at the lake and I'm going to be running that one day to day. I still own this place but I needed someone to manage it for me".

"Well don't keep us in suspense Ernie, who is it?" Jason asked.

"Me", a female voice stated from behind Ernie. To the surprise of the teens Aimi Miyamoto stepped out from behind him with a smile on her face.

"Aimi came to me a few days ago looking for a job", Ernie began, "I knew about her experience with the IRS, so I thought, who better to look after the running of this place for me". Aimi looked a bit sheepish when Ernie mentioned the IRS, the cover story for the three agents when they first arrived in Angel Grove. "I see you've got them some drinks already", Ernie said as he saw the tray in her hand.

"I have indeed", she replied, "I'll take it from here boss", Ernie nodded and left Aimi to distribute the drinks amongst the former rangers.

Everyone eyed her suspiciously, Jason most of all, "Ok what's the story here, is this cover story or something".

"Nope this is now my job", she stated as she placed a strawberry shake in front of him. "I quit the agency remember".

"We haven't seen you around in a while", Billy added.

"Well I tried to lay low for the first couple of months", Aimi replied, "I was sure that Harmon and his goons would be out to arrest me for desertion but there's not been any sign of them". She put the last drink down in front of Tanya, "I was still receiving a paycheck until last month, when that stopped I needed to find a job. That's when I paid a visit to Ernie and he offered me the manager's job here".

"Do you know how to run a juice bar?" Kat asked.

"How hard can it be?" Aimi laughed, "my first act as manager is to offer you these drinks on the house, just don't get used to it".

The teens thanked Aimi and took a sip at their drinks, "This isn't too bad", Rocky stated.

"Just as good as Ernie's", Aisha agreed.

"So have you heard from Xander and Kris?" Adam asked.

"Xander's got himself a job at the High School starting in September, working in the IT department", she replied. "As for Kris", she paused briefly, "I haven't heard from him at all. I wish he would get in contact, I get the feeling I have him to thank for staying out of prison".

"And still getting paid" Yuri added.

"Yeah probably", Aimi's thought drifted to her former boss. He had staying behind with the remains of the Command Center and probably struck a deal with Harmon to keep her and Xander out of prison. He had been a pain in the ass sometimes but she had come to like him. She considered him one of her best friends and now it looked as if she wouldn't see him again.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Rocky's voice, "Well I would like to propose a toast", he began, "to Aisha and her new adventure".

"And to all Zordon and Alpha", Jason added, "for bringing most of us together", he paused before continuing, "and for saving our lives".

Everyone nodded before Kat raised her glass, "Here's to a peaceful and monster free senior year". All the teens cheered and clinked their glasses together.

From the entrance of the Youth Center, Marcus Bentley smiled at the show of friendship before he left the building. On his back was a large backpack filled with all the possession he could carry. As he walked towards the bus station, he heard a familiar voice, "You are leaving?"

"Very observant of you Omega", he replied.

"But why", the man from the future replied.

"My work here is done", he said simply, "you asked me to watch over them in their early days. Even though their ranger powers have gone, they have mastered their ninja abilities. From what I understand they can still call on them but they won't need me to train them". He continued walking with Omega following him a few paces behind him. After a few minutes he turned to face Omega, "Why are you following me?"

Omega tilted his head, "You are running away".

Marcus sighed, "I know Sensei Watanabe said he wouldn't inform the Thunder Academy where I was but I would feel safer if I was on the move". He dug around in his pocket and produced a credit card sized piece of plastic. He threw it over to Omega, "This is the keycard to the warehouse, I left all the equipment in there. If anyone needs to use any of it give them that".

Omega placed the card inside his jacket pocket, "Where will you go?"

Marcus smiled, "If you need me, you'll know where I am", deciding that walking was too slow he ninja streaked away, leaving Omega standing by himself.

Omega lifted up his sleeve and activated his teleporter, landing in the desert. With Rita and Zedd defeated it should have shifted the timeline, however, it was still exactly the same. Whatever caused the near collapse of human civilisation was still yet to happen. Unfortunately the changes he had made meant that he no longer belonged in his own time. When he had returned Jason and Billy to their own time, he had been discovered by the council. To evade their capture, he had used his time device and he was now force to travel through time and space.

As he scanned the desert, he know that Zordon hadn't really been destroyed, he would've felt it. The change to the timeline he made ten thousand years ago meant that they would be linked forever. His gaze fell onto a building in the distance and, for the first time in a long time, he smiled. In the crater left by the explosion at the Command Center had been, now sat a fully rebuilt Command Center. Maybe, Omega thought to himself, there was still hope for his future yet.

A/N –And there is it, the end of Strike of the Ninja. A quick epilogue to say goodbye to a couple of character and set the stage for Zeo. I know that Tommy didn't start racing until Turbo but I felt like shifting it the Zeo season. The reasons will become clear in the next story.

Thank you to everyone who's supported, read and reviewed this story. As it stands it's on 99 reviews, so one more would be appreciated to push it over 100. I've been extremely productive and written the first five chapters of the third story in the series already. Most because I'm working my notice period at work so I'm using the time to write rather than actually working. So the follow up story Rage Against The Machine should be up on Sunday.