Wild Force Power Rangers: Ancient Warrior Saga

Episode 33 (A) The Soul of Humanity

When Lila had passed away, the sensation she experienced was quite difficult for her to describe. It was as if her essence, her memory and her soul had wound together, and were caught in a dream state. She had been able to recount any aspect of her time she had spent on Earth. Like how the sunlight bounced off crashing waves in the ocean, or the warmth and happiness of being near the people she loved. The soul wants for nothing when it is able to touch everything it has even known at once. Each of her needs and desires were satisfied, and what remained of Lila would have been content there forever.

Being pulled back to Earth came as easy as waking up from that dream. She had retained no memory of the time in her afterlife and had hit the ground running like she had never stopped at all; she'd known only that she was alive-

-and that she was definitely not dead now.

She felt her chest and gasped with enthusiasm when she felt her heart beating back at her. Wherever Animus had brought her, she was thankfully still living, which meant she still had a chance to get back to her friends.

Her dark eyes shot open only to be blinded by the brightness of the room. She blinked rapidly, bringing forth a never-ending expanse of plain, glowing white. She had de-morphed at some point and was alone, hearing nothing but her own breathing. She stood slowly, knowing that even though she appeared alone, she wasn't.

"...Animus...?"

"Welcome, my old novice. There is much I need to show you."

Animus appeared before her as a Megazord, the form Lila was accustomed to. He was just how she remembered him. But things were much different now than they use to be. She stared at him for a moment and felt her eyes begin to sting. She bit her cheek, attempting with all her might to keep her emotions contained as she could feel herself trembling slightly with anger. Her voice lowered as she spoke blankly.

"Take me back, now."

"No, Lila."

"TAKE ME BACK NOW!!" she screamed at him. Tears were now rolling hot and fast down her face with Lila entirely lost on how to stop them. She didn't care. She was furious with him.

"This was my second chance, why did you take this away from me!? Why did you take the Wild Zords away? You know the Rangers will be destroyed without them!! I- I don't understand, you were our friend, you were my mentor. Why would you do this??"

"It's like I told you Lila, you have not seen what I have. You are not supposed to be here, it was a complete accident- your revival, a fluke. After what you did 3000 years ago, leaving Animaria without leadership, I couldn't possibly let you stay on Earth with the other humans. Now come," he commanded her, his tone authoritative and filled with disdain.

"Let me show you what the humans have done, and what the Rangers have allowed."

The white room around them was changing. The floor beneath her feet was now sand, she could smell the oceans air. A beach, miles long faded in around them. For an illusion, it felt incredibly real, but Lila prayed it wasn't. Nearly every square inch of the shoreline was littered with plastic and garbage. More of it flowed in with every wave, and mounds of trash up to her knees were sitting in molding piles all around. She took careful steps forward and tried to comprehend how this could be, how it had ended up in such a state.

"I- I don't know what to say," Lila stammered out, horrified, "how much of the Earth look like this? Is this really how bad it's become?"

"There are islands of trash floating in the seas. Holes dug deep into the ground, just to be filled with garbage and buried. There seems to be no limit to what the humans will trample for their own selfish wants. More pollution creates more Orgs and thus, the humans create their own demise. It's funny how you humans tend to do that to yourselves."