Blast to the Past (Book Four of the Chosen Universe)

Chapter Twelve: Epilogue

LABY

He'd been more than a little surprised when Jaybert had called for the Rebels to retreat and leave Divatox to her own devices. Now, the Rebels stood gathered at the Base.

"It is over," Amareese said, shaking her head. "Divatox has perished. I no longer feel her on Earth, and only feel the piece of her that belonged in this time line to begin with. Her destiny is set. After the battle in the future, she will cease to exist. The Power Rangers have succeeded in preserving the time line."

"We abandoned her," Laby said. "She stood no chance alone. That's why Zell came to us to begin with."

"She would have dragged us down with her. I knew once the Rangers escaped from your labyrinth that it was over," Jaybert said. "I had to do what was best for this team. I agreed to do what we could, within reason, to help her complete her assignment, but the Great Wizard knew I was not agreeing to a suicide mission. It was time to jump ship."

"She was our ally, Jay," Draze said softly. "We could have at least warned her we were leaving."

"It was over, Draze. We had to escape with our lives," Jaybert insisted.

"How could you be sure it was over?" B'Danna asked. "We were ready to continue fighting. I don't disagree with the call you made... Things were getting bad in the house when we finally left with the rest of you... But why were you so sure she'd fail?"

"I weighed every scenario possible," Flekt said. "The odds of her survival were slim. Once the Rangers escaped, they had faced their deepest fears and won. Nothing we did at that point could have stopped them. Jaybert and I discussed it and agreed we would be damning ourselves to perish along with Divatox if we remained at that point."

Laby sighed. "Guys, Divatox was in over her head. She didn't have much of a chance of succeeding to begin with. I think we helped her survive a little longer than she would have on her own, but Jay and Flekt made the right call. We did as much as we could." He opened up a can of soda and raised it in tribute. "To Deevs... May she be at peace. At least we saved her from Zell killing her himself. That would have been a lot worse for her. This was kinder."

Amareese manifested a candle out of thin air and echoed, "For Divatox."

Tiffani bowed her head respectfully, but remained quiet. Laby was worried about her. "Come on, Tiff," he said. "Let's raid the fridge. Battles give me munchies." He led her to the kitchen. When they were alone, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I just... I know no one really liked Divatox except for, maybe, Amareese and Draze, but shouldn't we have done more? Draze is right... We could have tried to give her a fighting chance."

"We did everything we could, Tiff. In the end, Deevs made her own choices, and this is where they led. Staying by her side would have knocked all of us off of our destined paths and changed too much in terms of the future... I know it's hard, but sometimes, you just can't save everyone."

"What about Ronnie?"

"What do you mean?"

"What happens to her now? Divatox dying should have freed her, but she was practically catatonic when we got back here. My father sent her to rest as soon as we were all together."

"First of all, I'm glad Jay thought to bring her with us. If he left her with Divatox, she'd have gotten killed, and since Ronnie's from this time, I'm guessing that's not her destiny. Second, Amareese gave Divatox that charm, so while Ronnie was primarily loyal to Divatox, she was also loyal to the Rebellion. With Deevs gone, Ronnie's probably under Jay's control."