PS: Kudos if you recognize the reference to Batman Forever, and not the overly obvious one.
 
 

   Billy put down his wrench with a sigh, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to finish working on the zeo zord tonight. If I stopped now I could still be able to catch the end of the chat. That thought in mind, he teleported to his lab, where his computer was already logged on to his favorite chat site, a room where many young inventors, geniuses and know-it-alls joined forces to bounce ideas off each other a, generally, gathering support for facing the outside world. As 'geniusboy' had put it, "it's hard to face the day sometimes, knowing that others envy your smarts."

    Of course, 'nuttiegirl' had immediately scoffed at the idea, saying that geniusboy just didn't know how to relate to other people. Billy felt that they both were partially right. There were many times that he could tell that others hated the fact that he was smarter, but he also had a close group of friends that didn't care how smart or dumb he was. Yeah, had being the operative term. They hardly even notice me anymore. Especially ever since Jason took the Gold Powers. I've just been there to fix their broken toys. With a frustrated sigh he logged in, trying to ignore the fact that the other 'geniuses' once again didn't acknowledge his arrival. He had a hard time making friends, and feeling the coming loss of his current group, he was hoping to find a new set on the web.

    One person, to his surprise, not only noticed he joined the group, but sent an invitation for a personal chat. Surprised, he looked at the screen name. Hmm, AnnaBrie, the name was familiar, and as he sent his acceptance, he tried to remember where it was from. Finally, as he entered the personal chat, he remembered. She was the one who had quizzed him one time on his knowledge of astro-physics, an assortment of knowledge that had come from years of working on the zords and making sure they were space worthy if needed in the fight against Rita and Zedd, now the Machine Empire. He had done his best to make sure that there was no reference to the power rangers, or how he got that information. If she, erroneously, believed that he had come up with it all on his own, then she was just misled by a lack of complete information.

    Therefore, it was much to his surprise that she didn't start out drilling him over the information. Instead she seemed almost apologetic about pulling him aside. It was thus that their online conversation pursued.

AnnaBrie: Sorry about the private chat if you don't want to. I just had to get away from there for a while but didn't want to waste good chat time. Geniusboy was really beginning to get on my nerves. Does he really think that we are all social inepts who can't make friends?

LoneWolf: No Problem. She actually just wanted to talk to me? Man, I guess that I'm not the only one who can't stand him. Although I don't know about the social inept. I sure seem to be having a hard time myself. I can understand where he's coming from. It's obvious that he hasn't allowed himself to find a close group of friends that understand him and who he is. I know that's the only way I survived jr. high and high school.

AnnaBrie: I understand completely. If it hadn't been for my brothers I definitely wouldn't have gotten through those years myself, although I didn't attend either high school or jr. high.

LoneWolf: I take it you had tutors instead and took the GED. How do you like the university?

AnnaBrie: Well, El Universidad del Le Conte is one of the best, but I'm here mainly because of family. And you?

LoneWolf: I was forcefully graduated ahead of my class. Apparently I have taken all the credit hours I needed and they kicked me out the door, literally. I'm at Angel Grove University for now. I'm still trying to convince my dad that I'm okay to leave and go back east. So a little white lie wouldn't hurt. And it isn't like she could use the information about my location to do anything. There are almost 20,000 students at AGU, and a good number of them Williams, not that she even knows my first name. Besides, she had told me where she was. I would kill just to get the change to tour ULO, the scientific university run by one of the foremost scientists in the world, Tobias LeOrte.

    He looked up to see that Anna Brie had replied, and was replying again to make sure he was still there.

AnnaBrie: It's a good place, although a little stifling at times. Hey would you mind proofing a few of my papers. Toby is a stickler for details and loves to go after a few on occasion. I would feel better if someone else, not associated with the university, proofed them. Half the time I feel like one of the other students is waiting to stab me in the back and steal my ideas.

AnnaBrie: Umm, LoneWolf, are you still there?

LoneWolf: Sorry, my dad just yelled at me, nothing important. I'd love to proof some of your work, only turnabout is fair play.

AnnaBrie: I'd love to look at some of you papers, or musings as half of mine are. If you have any suggestions I'd enjoy the help. Half the time I get an idea half thought out before getting stumped. It's one of the cases where in my gut I know it should work, but I don't know how to prove it.

LoneWolf: I understand the feeling. Here's my email <LoneWolf@agu.edu>, just send them to me whenever you are ready.

AnnaBrie: Sending files now, thank you so much. Here's my email: <AnnaBrie@floridakeys.com>. Send when ready.

LoneWolf: I got your files and am sending mine.

    His communicator chimed much to his irritation at that moment. With a soft curse he returned to the screen.

LoneWolf: My dad's yelling again, I've got to go. I'll email you my ideas. Say we meet again tomorrow?

AnnaBrie: I'd love to, I gotta run also. Seeya.

    Billy didn't even notice her reply, knowing that his computer would save it, he was already teleporting to the Power Chamber, arriving just in the nick of time, before being missed by the others. He immediately consulted the nearest console, trying to not let his excitement show. The other rangers would try to pull it out of him. And give him hell about it. He knew it already, besides, it wasn't as if they were flirting or anything. He had just agreed to proof some of her ideas and she the same with his. For all he knew she could be married or something. His heart suddenly dropped as he remembered what she had said earlier. "I'm here mainly because of family," yeah, she had to be married or engaged or something. Someone as wonderful as her just couldn't be single. Oh well, maybe he would have a chance later to ask her.
 

    Jason noticed that his friend seemed a little distracted, yet he couldn't tell why. He spends all his time in the Power Chamber or in his lab. We're lucky to drag him to the juice bar when we have the chance. Not to mention that he hadn't been there lately. Maybe we should invite his there later. Satisfied with that solution for the time, he turned his attention back to the problem at hand, Mondo's newest monster, the Deforminator, who took the cake in the cheesy monster category. With a fluid motion, he and the other rangers morphed as one and teleported out to the battlefield.

    Looking like a reject from either ID4 or MIB, the Deforminator tromped around the park, waving lasers and generally scaring the public. The zeos rushed headlong into battle, Tommy and Jason after Deforminator as the others began working on taking out the cogs along for the ride.

    "So, the little rangers have come out to play, how nice to see them." Deforminator cackled as the red and gold rangers attacked him. He easily brushed Tommy off with the sword in his right appendage, no one noticing the small nick in the ranger's suit. Jason rushed to strike him, almost hitting home, but instead the hit just glanced off the armor without making a scratch.

    Kat was finally able to push off her last cog, rushing to the monster, only to take a hit herself before another cog grabbed her from behind. As she turned her attention to the new cog she didn't notice the spot on her arm where Deforminator's sword had nicked her. With the help of the blue ranger she was able to get away from the cog and turned her attention to the other cogs that had entered the area, unable to return to helping the red and gold rangers.

    In the Power Chamber, Billy groaned to see what was happening. Tommy and Jason were barely holding their own and it was going to be a while before the others could help. Cogs were showing up as quickly as the rangers were destroying them. It was obvious that Mondo want Tommy and Jason to get any help. Billy looked back up to the screen as Rocky asked the other rangers, between breaths.

    "Just how did this guy get his name anyway?"

    As if in answer, the Deforminator lowered his laser and aimed a beam at Rocky. He was instantly raised in the air by the power beam, writhing in pain, as he was mysteriously unmorphed. He fell to the ground, reached instantly by Tanya and Kat who moved to protect him as the monster made a flourish.

    "Ta ta for now!" and disappeared.

    All the rangers were instantly teleported back to the Power Chamber, Rocky on one of the med tables as the others stood there in a stunned silence. Rocky moaned in pain as Billy gave him a sedative, which took him into a deep, thought restless sleep.

    It was Jason who spoke up. "It caused Rocky to unmorph. It could have killed him."

    "But it didn't." Billy was curt, replying before Zordon had a chance. Already at his console, his fingers flew as he brought up data from the battle. "By releasing massive amount of energy onto Rocky he caused the blue crystal to go into an overload and, well, short circuit. Its natural reaction was to power down.

    "And leave Rocky defenseless." Tommy cut in, glaring at Billy.

    "No, save his life. It Rocky had remained morphed and his body forced to assimilate all that power it would have killed him, short circuiting/ overloading/ however you want to call it, his life energy. He, nor any of you, would have been able to survive that blow while remaining morphed."

    "And unmorphed we would?"

    "He's still alive isn't he?"

    "Because the Deforminator let him."

    "And we have to hope that either he will continue to be that merciful or that it's a part of his programming until I can find a way to protect you from the ray or a weak point you can take advantage of."

    Tommy wasn't happy; Billy could feel his glare boring a hole in his back. But in the reflection on the screen in front of him he could see Jason put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "C'mon, there's nothing we can do but sit and wait, we need to come up with a cover for Rocky. He's going to be here for a while, isn't he Billy?"

    At Billy's terse nod, never looking up from the console, the others teleported out leaving him to his work studying the battle data.
 

    Billy dropped yet another readout to the ground. It was getting late yet there was no progress in the search to find a way to reroute the energy to prevent the overload not to mention any in Rocky's condition. With a sigh of frustration he pushed all the readouts away and sat at the PC he had installed in the Power Chamber a few months earlier. Maybe a break would help a chance to look at the information from new insight.

    It was by pure habit that he navigated his way to the chat room. He could recognize several others there, including genuisboy, nuttiegirl and AnnaBrie. Before he had a chance to say anything, though, genuisboy started in.

geniusboy: Did anyone see the Power Rangers fight today? One got demorphed in the middle of battle. Must suck to be him.

AnnaBrie: Now really, gene, think about it and the laws of physics. If he hadn't demorphed that immense amount of energy could have ó no would have ó killed him. It is probably a defensive mechanism on the part of the powers he holds

geniusboy: still, they should have been able to kick butt with that overgrown tin can

AnnaBrie: saying you wanna try?

geniusboy: no, but I don't think they could hack it

    Billy didn't wait to see AnnaBrie's reply, he was already sending to her for a private chat. Perhaps a chat with her can help me figure out what it is that I am missing. Afterall, she is a very intelligent young woman.

LoneWolf: Heard what you said to geniusboy, it's kinda along the lines of what I was thinking.

AnnaBrie: don't mind gene, he's just a blowhard looking for a fight.

LoneWolf: Yeah, I noticed. I observed some odd reading on one of my instruments at the time of the fight and was wondering if you had any ideas. I think you are right, it appears to be a beam of pure energy that short circuited the zeo power during the assimilation process.

AnnaBrie: Uh-huh. And I don't think it could have been prevented either. Still, an energy beam like that, no matter how strong should, theoretically, be capable of being blocked.

    Billy stopped, all his work had been on rerouting the energy to prevent the overload, not blocking it. AnnaBrie was right, though, theoretically he should be able to build a shield to protect the rangers. On screen, he nonchalantly passed it off as a good idea, his mind racing.

LoneWolf: Hmm, never thought of that, though, it makes sense.

    Wanting to get back to his work he quickly though of a way to get offline without being noticed.

LoneWolf: gotta go, dad needs phone line back

    He was back on the floor, digging through the readouts before seeing her reply.
 

    Rocky awoke with a groan the next morning, his head throbbing and all his muscles in nearly as much pain. Before he had the chance to sit up he heard Billy's voice.

    "There's a glass of water and ibuprofen on the tray next to you, as well as breakfast if you're ready for it." True enough, there they were, Rocky took the two pills and water, eyeing the sugarcoated pastry. It just looked too sugary for breakfast.

    "I'll pass on food, I'm not sure my stomach could handle it." He looked over to his friend who had a bunch of papers spread out over the table, making notes and reading several at once. Walking over and glancing at one, he gave Billy a quizzical look. "What are you working on?"

    "Proofing a paper on an extension to the theory of relativity for a friend." Once getting started on AnnaBrie's idea, it hadn't taken him long to create a shield for the zeos and their zords. When it was finished, he had been to excited to sleep, opting instead to watch over his friend and look over the papers.

    "Oh," It was all over Rocky's head, which was a little fuzzy as it was. Suddenly he realized that he had been out of it for quite a while. "What time is it?"

    "A little after seven, if you hurry you can make it to school today, although I suggest that you teleport first to Adam's to find out what your cover is. You've been here all night, so it's my guess that they told your mom that you stayed that his place."

    "They didn't tell you?"

    "No, I was busy working on some stuff."

    Puzzled, Rocky teleported out, arriving in Adam's bedroom to get the story from him. Once everything was straightened out, and he told what had happened at the Power Chamber, he teleported to his backyard, going inside his house with plenty of noise to let his family know that he had returned to get ready for school.
 

    It was after school that Rocky tried to get the whole story from the others. It had upset him to see that Billy had no idea what his cover was, not to mention that he hadn't seemed to surprised to not know. I know that we haven't been seeing him much, but does he really feel that left out that he's come to expect it? "Guys, why didn't you tell Billy the story you told my mom. I mean, I had to go find Adam to figure it out. I could have really blown my cover if he hadn't told me to talk to one of you."

    Everyone stopped. Jason groaned inwardly, Tommy must have forgotten to tell him. Their leader had agreed to stop by the Power Chamber to tell Billy the story and check on Rocky. But it was Tommy's response that stunned them all.

    "He didn't need to know. Afterall, he needed to work on finding a way to defeat Deforminator."

    "Oh," Rocky was still confused, especially noticing Tanya's frown. "But that's not what he was working on when I woke up. He said that he was proofing a friend's paper on something about an extension to the theory of relativity."

    Tommy laughed as the others looked at Rocky, "Billy's smart, but not that smart. You must have dreamed it up. Besides, he has to find a way for us to defeat that monster. He has no business doing anything else."

    "Do you expect him to have stayed up all night working on it?" Tanya burst at Tommy angrily. She may not have known Billy as long as the others, but she had no use for the verbal abuse Tommy was dishing out now.

    "If that's what it takes, yes." Tommy could feel the others glaring at him at stormed out of the juice bar before any of them could say anything else, not noticing as he rushed past a very stunned Billy who was standing around the corner, listening to their conversation.
 

    Before any of the others could notice him, Billy teleported back to his lab, turning on his computer and nothing else to do began to check his email. His mind was reeling, he had always known that maybe Tommy didn't like him as much as he made it out to be. He had especially noticed that since Tommy and Kim had broken up. Probably because he no longer has Kim there to stand up for me. Afterall, she is probably my best friend. His reverie stopped to see a message from AnnaBrie. Opening and reading it, glad to have something to take his mind off his troubles, he read her appraisals of his ideas, as well as her thoughts on them. Apparently she had been just as surprised as him to find that they shared many ideas, and she offered to work on some with him, through their correspondence. Excited at the idea, he immediately began to form a reply, only then noticing something. The last paragraph of the letter, which he had skimmed over, was not about either of their ideas or any projects. Instead, she wrote:
 

    Billy looked at the screen in amazement. She was talking to him as if he was a friend, but isn't that what you wanted? It was almost sad, coming when he was certain that all ties to the rangers, other than professional, had just been broken. She'll be good to bounce ideas off of, and Weslianna Brianna is a pretty name. He forced himself to stop before ANY daydreams set in, otherwise he'd be good for nothing for the rest of the day. And I don't need that, especially if Mondo attacks again. He quickly typed a reply, wishing her luck and offering to help with anything he could do in his lab. Signing it, Billy, he was about to send it when he stopped. There was something left out, but he wasn't sure if she really wanted to hear about his bad day. Regardless, he added his own final paragraph.
 

    He sent the message, sure that she was going to think he was a dolt or something of that nature. Still, it had felt good to talk to someone about it, even if it was just his computer screen. Humming a short tune, he teleported up to the Power Chamber to start running more tests on the new shielding mechanism for the zords. If he was correct, they were battle ready, but he still wanted to run more tests to be sure.
 

    He was in the Power Chamber when the Machine Empire decided to strike again, with Deforminator back in the park creating the havoc that all monsters were so skilled at. Billy returned from the holding bay just as the others teleported in to be briefed by Zordon. He refused to look at any of them, still reeling from what he had over-heard earlier at the juice bar. As Zordon finished telling the rangers about Deforminator, he began his part.

    "I've built a shield that should protect you and your zords from the effects of the energy beam that Deforminator gives off. It has been built in to your armor, so it should activate as you morph, same with the zords. The shield should activate when you call upon them." He never looked up from where he was monitoring the actions of the monster, not expecting them to say anything, but still not expecting them not to. So, in a way, he was surprised when they teleported out with out a word to him. Billy ignored it though, concentrating on finding a weak spot on the monster for them to take advantage of. Whether we like it or not, we are still teammates and it is my duty to help them destroy the monster.

    It was a good ten minutes before he could find something, it only came to him after Tommy yelled at him several times over the communicator for a weak spot. There it was, hidden among all the data, the fact that the monster was just as weak to high-energy beams as the rangers were. Hmm, so in a way he was exploiting his own weak spot. Klank must have figured that the rangers would be unable to hit him with such a beam while being continually demorphed. It's a shame that his plan didn't work. Still, there was a problem with it. As long as they were not in their zords they would be unable to create a beam with enough energy in it to damage the monster.

    "Guys, I've found a weak spot, only you're going to need to be in your zords to take advantage of it. This monster is just as susceptible to a high-energy beam as you are, however, only in your zords will you be able to create one of enough magnitude.
In other words, you're going to need to damage him peripherally enough to make Klank and Orbus enlarge him, then you can defeat him."

    "Great," Tommy's voice came over the communicators, "just tell us to do the impossible, why don't you. We'll get on to it."

    Billy was stunned, not only at the defeated sound in Tommy's voice, but also by what he said. Does he really think I'm asking them to do the impossible. By my charts here they have done quite a bit of damage to the monster. Just a few more good hits and Klank and Orbus will probably enlarge him for 'safety's sake.' He just shook his head and returned to the readouts, looking for any other way to help the rangers.

    In all, the battle was a job well done by the rangers. As Billy had predicted, after a few more hits, the Deforminator had been enlarged, making it possible for them to destroy it. As they returned to the Power Chamber, they were congratulating themselves on destroying the monster. Zordon quickly excused them, only Jason hanging around. "Hey, Billy, thanks for the help with the monster. I thought for sure that we would have been done for without your help."

    "Sure, Jason." Billy smiled at his friend for what Jason thought was the first time in weeks. "That's what I'm here for, 'tech support.'"

    "You want to come to the juice bar for a bite to eat? You are welcome to if you want to."

    "Nah, I need to get started on the repairs on zeo zord five. I also have a research project I need to work on in my lab. My partner is expecting some results here soon. But thanks for the invitation. I'll keep it in mind later."

    Jason just shook his head at the retreating form of his friend heading to the holding bay. Something needed to be done, Billy was just plain antisocial anymore. I can't get to the bottom of it by myself, and it appears that no one else around here cares. Hmm, I can think of a few people a teleport away that might have some ideas.

    "Zordon? I have a question about the policy of ranger use only for the teleporters. There's something going on, and its tearing the team apart. I have an idea, but I need to talk to some others." He quickly outlined his plan to Zordon, the mentor agreeing with him about the distance between Billy and the rest of the team.

    "Jason, I believe that it is a good idea to consult them. You have my permission to use the teleporters and may leave now if you wish. Give my regards to them when you get there." Jason nodded to their mentor as the teleportation beam gripped him and sent him across the ocean.
 

    Jason landed with a start in a shady corner of the campus, near their dorms. He hoped they would be home and not have company, he was counting on it. Hoping that no one recognized him, he headed to the dorm. Luckily, someone was coming out the side door as he walked up and held it open for him. Good, now I don't have to go through the lobby and run into someone I know. Running up the steps, he arrived first at the second floor and found room 221. Grimacing at the lack of an answer, he returned to the steps and headed up to the forth floor.

    At the door to room 453 he said a short prayer that they would be there before he knocked. A girl's voice answered. "Just a minute."

    The door opened, with the girl's head turned away from him as she was talking to someone else. Jason could see Zack through the doorway and smiled as Trini turned around. "Jason! What are you doing here?"

    "I came to visit, what else. That and I need some help. How's the Zack-man?" He turned to his other friend after hugging Trini, giving the other boy a handclasp before pulling him into a hug.

    "Need some help? What's wrong?" They both looked concerned especially when he closed and locked the door behind him before elaborating.

    "There's been some, I don't want to say trouble, but something's been up with the team."

    "With the rangers? What's wrong?"

    "I don't understand it completely, but I'll try to explain." He launched into a detailed description of what had taken place over the last few days and weeks. "I don't want to say that it's just Billy," he finished, "but there is something up. With him and with the others. It's like he's not a part of the team anymore. As he put it today, he's the 'tech support.'"

    "What did Rocky say he was working on when he got up?"

    "He was proofing a friend's paper on an extension of the theory of Relativity."

    "Billy is working on stuff like that? That might be part of it. That is Tobias LeOrte's area, and he is Billy's idol, ranking just under Einstein. If he's working on that, he may be working on an entry project to the University. And a project like that can and will take up a lot of time." Trini hypothesized, pacing the room as Jason sat on the bed and Zack on the desk chair.

    "But," Zack interjected, "it's not like Billy to put anything of his own before the rangers. At least, not the Billy I knew."

    "How badly injured was Rocky?"

    "When we last checked at, oh, 10:00 there had been no sign. No improvement, but neither did he get worse."

    "Here's my theory. Billy probably stayed up all night. It's something he would do, or at least would have done when we where there. Especially if someone was injured badly. My speculation is that he worked on and finished the improvements to protect you rangers. Then, not wanting to leave Rocky in case he got worse, he stayed there, working on proofing the paper and, well, babysitting Rocky. He never stops to think about taking care of himself, I bet he just didn't sleep that night."

    "That's kinda what I was figuring. But, there still the way Tommy's been treating him. All I can say is that if looks could kill, Tanya would have gotten Tommy in the juice bar today. And I feel the same way as she does. Billy has, or at least should have, a life outside the Power Chamber. Zordon used to always kick him out if he stuck around too long. I can't help but wonder if we've been taking advantage of him in a way. We've always expected him to be there, good 'ol Billy, to fix al our problems."

    "Yeah, and now, the team doesn't think about him outside the Power Chamber. I don't know what could have gotten into Tommy, maybe you better talk to him." Zack rubbed his forehead. "Man, I figured that the team would always be able to get along, you know, other than the usual spells and such. I never thought that it could possible fall apart."

    "And that's just something that we've always assumed. Think about it. We were all good friends before we were chosen to be rangers. There was no need to get to know anyone. Now, with the changes on the team, it's always been friends that have been the replacements, but no one as close as the original team was. But we've always assumed that we'd still be good friends."

    Jason smiled at Trini's observation of the team. "Yeah, I know that when I returned, it was a little weird. I mean, Kim and Aisha were gone and Tommy is dating Kim's replacement. It was like shell shock. Having Billy still there helped at first, until I noticed that he was never around except for in the Power Chamber. Now, I can't even get him to leave. He always has a repair to do on the zords or something like that. And that's because the only time I see him in during and after a battle. Tommy doesn't help, insisting that Billy should fix everything immediately. I know that there is always a threat of attack. But, I also now that the zords have the ability, with time, to fix themselves. And that used to always get done long before a new battle. It's like Tommy doesn't want Billy to hang out with us. Or maybe Billy doesn't want to hang out with us. I just can't help but think that he must be getting lonely, he's cutting off all his friends."

    The three friend talked longer about many things, the change in the ranger team, the changes at the Peace Conference, with Zack giving Jason an update on the girl who had taken Angela's place in his heart. Finally, noting that in Angel Grove it was approaching 6:00, Jason excused himself. "Mom and Dad are going to wonder if I'm not home in time for dinner. It was good to see you two and thanks for the help. Hopefully we can take things from here and get it all worked out."

    Both Trini and Zack wished him good luck and promised to help in the future if he needed any. After saying goodbye one last time, Jason teleported out and into the Power Chamber so he could go home.
 

    The next day was very uneventful, as it usually was after a monster fight. But that didn't ease Tommy's mind any. Something was wrong, something was up, he just didn't know what. And talking to Jason wasn't going to help any this time, the other boy was Billy's one remaining champion on the team, besides Tanya on occasion. Jason wasn't going to understand how he felt. Tommy paced his room, he didn't know why, but he just didn't trust Billy. Ever since giving up the powers, the other boy had seemed withdrawn and distant. Not to mention just plain ignoring them. It was as if he had an ulterior motive. He looked up to see Kat teleport in.

    "Hullo love. What's up?" There was something different about Kat as well. It was unsettling to Tommy to think about it, it was almost as if she had a crush on Billy. Nah, it couldn't be. He's a worthless free loader who couldn't handle loosing the power.

    "I was thinking about Billy, he seems different."

    "Oh, he's just probably under a lot of stress."

    "No, I don't think that's it. I don't trust him. I think he's up to something."

    "Billy? He's harmless, he's a sweetie. I seriously doubt he could think up something to do. Not to mention that he probably couldn't hurt a fly."

    Tommy just stared at his girlfriend. She's standing up for him! They're definitely up to something. That much is for sure. Hmm, I wonder? "Do you really think that I'm just over reacting? I mean, he likes you, trusts you. Maybe you could talk to him and see what's up."

    "Yeah, I suppose I could. After all, he is a friend. Maybe he's just been having a bad week." Kat teleported out in a flash of pink, other things on her mind. As she left Tommy snorted to himself.

    "More like a bad month."

    Kat returned to her room, still unsure why Tommy has wanted to talk to her. If he had wanted her to talk to Billy, he could have just called her. It was as if he wanted to see her reaction to something. Well, it would be good to have someone check on Billy. Maybe I'll go over later. Her parents weren't home and wouldn't be until Sunday, she had every intention of taking advantage of that fact and taking a long bath. With only one bathroom in the house it was a rare occurrence that she got the chance and she planned to enjoy every minute of it.

    Finally dragging herself out of the bath a good 45 minutes later, after the water had gotten almost too cool to be bearable, she pulled on a baby-doll nightgown and settled onto her bed to think about what had happened earlier. Why Tommy wanted her to talk to Billy was beyond her, but now was as good a time as any. Getting up and reaching to her dresser she pulled her hand back as if burned. "Ouch!"
 

    Billy was just shutting down his computer when Kat teleported in, wearing a robe and what looked to be a skimpy nightgown underneath. His flush rising, he stood to talk to her. "Uh, Kat. What are you doing here?"

    She blushed and pulled the robe tighter around herself. "Sorry to bother you, but, oh, this seems silly..." Her voice trailed off as she stood there, shaking her right hand as if it stung.

    "But I got a splinter from my dresser. It's in deep and, well you know how well I like needles and such. My parents are gone and can't help me, I was wondering if you would like to operate."

    "Sure, let me look at it." He was a bit uncomfortable with the situation, but eased up once he started looking it over. "Hmm, you're right it is deep. I'm going to grab my first aid kit. I think there's a needle in it."

    However, all there was in the kit was a pair of tweezers, nothing to try to dig the splinter out. With a frustrated sigh, he looked up to her. "I'm going to check inside. I think there is a sewing needle in my mom's old mending kit. Dad keeps it in the kitchen to take care of buttons that come off. I'll be just a sec."

    After he rose, Kat looked around the lab a bit. There were papers that she couldn't understand strewn across the lab bench, she flipped through them as she sat before loosing interest. Slipping her robe off, it was getting rather warm, she told herself that there was noting wrong with that, it's just Billy. She was sitting and looking at the pictures on the edge of one of his shelves when he returned.

    Billy was surprised when he opened the door to his lab. There stood Kat, robe on the floor in just her nightie, a rather see-through. His mouth went dry as he tried to push all thoughts from his mind other than that she was just a friend. He was rather uncomfortable with the fact that Tommy's girlfriend was standing in his lab in very little clothing, but he ignored that fact as he entered. "Ready."

    "Yeah, I just want to get this thing out of my finger." She stood up so he could sit on the stool, leaning over her hand. She stood close to him, almost too close for comfort, he thought to himself. Still, he kept his mind on the task at hand, not the sent of her shower gel. Finally, as he finished getting the splinter out, he looked up to see her smile.

    "Thank you."

    "No problem." He caught his breath when he realized that she was still standing so close to him, too close. "Umm, Kat."

    All thoughts were cut off as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his. Before he knew it his arms were wrapping around her and her hands were in his hair. The kiss deepened as she pushed him back onto the stool. The feeling of the cold seat underneath brought him back to his senses. He knew they needed to stop and he pushed her away and off of him. Something must have happened between her and Tommy; they needed to talk about what happened and what it implicated. "Listen, Kat."

    "Hmm?" She turned and was going to silence him with a kiss when he gently pushed her away.

    "Katharine, we need to talk." He sat her down on the cot he kept in the lab and took the stool. "What happened between you and Tommy? Did you two have a fight?"

    "You could call it that." She looked away sadly, not sure what or how she was feeling. She knew she loved Tommy and they hadn't really had a fight, but he was acting weird and she didn't like it. What has gotten into me? I just kissed one of Tommy's best friends, no former friend. Who knows why he doesn't trust him? Still, it was wonderful, he's a better kisser than he looks, and I want more. "Please Billy, just hold me."

    For all he wanted to, he knew that he didn't have the kind of feelings for Kat that she needed. "Katharine, Tommy loves you very much. The two of you have something special. You need to talk to him and work it out." The pleading look in her eyes was almost too much for him to bear. "Really, Kat. You don't have any feelings for me. You're just hurt about the fight. Talk things out with him."

    "But what about what just happened?"

    "It's your call. You can tell him if you want. But, if he asks, I will tell him the truth." Billy took her hands and helped her up from the cot. "It's for the best and you know it."

    "Yeah, thanks." She teleported away, as Billy collapsed onto the cot.

    "Good lord, what have I done?" If Tommy had any reason to hate me he sure does now. He got up and went to bed for the night, certain that there would be a visitor the next day.
 

    It was afternoon of the next day when he returned to the lab, hoping that by avoiding it he could avoid what had happened the night before. Finally he had forced himself to return, knowing that there were projects that should be attended to. Still uncomfortable with what had happened earlier, he logged on to talk with AnnaBrie, hoping that she had a solution or at least a friendly ear to listen. Much to his relief, she was in the chat room and quickly answered her inquiry for a personal chat.

AnnaBrie: What do you mean you just screwed up?

LoneWolf: You know I mentioned that one of my friends has been, well, distant with me.

AnnaBrie: Uh-huh.

LoneWolf: Well, something happened last night. I kissed Kat.

AnnaBrie: His Girlfriend?!?

LoneWolf: Yeah. I know. I can hear the lecture already. It was a mistake.

AnnaBrie: I'll say.

AnnaBrie: Well?

LoneWolf: Well what?

AnnaBrie: You better not just tell me that you kissed a friend's girlfriend and not expect to give me any details. Expound!

LoneWolf: There's not much to tell. She came over last night in a see-through nightie and a splinter in her finger. She needed help getting it out. And, well thing progressed from there.

AnnaBrie: And the two of you just started making out for the fun of it?

LoneWolf: No, I helped her with the splinter and before I knew it she was kissing me.

AnnaBrie: So, your former friend's girlfriend just tried to seduce you last night.

LoneWolf: Umm, yeah.

AnnaBrie: That's going to go over like a lead balloon. One word about last night and she's going to say it was all you. And you know whom he's going to believe.

LoneWolf: In other words I should skip town before the 4^th degree black belt finds out?

AnnaBrie: 4^th degree black belt? Shit, get of there now. Seriously, though, do you think he would try anything?

LoneWolf: Yeah, I think the shit's going to hit the fan. He's been acting lately like he doesn't trust me. Not telling me stuff and such. Last thing he needs to find out is that I kissed Kat.

AnnaBrie: But that he would hurt you?

LoneWolf: He has a temper, a good one.

AnnaBrie: Then he's not worth having as a friend. Seriously, LW, be careful.

LoneWolf: Don't worry, I can take care of myself, I hope.

    Billy looked up to hear footsteps coming up the driveway. They were quick and heavy. Tommy and he's mad.

LoneWolf: He's here, I've gotta go.

    He quickly stood from the computer, moving to a workbench to the side of the lab, out of the way of things. He didn't want to admit it on AB, but he wouldn't put it past Tommy to try to hurt him. Or break things. Hopefully nothing much will get broken. Just as the door to his lab opened, the thought of teleporting to the Power Chamber crossed his mind. But this isn't Zordon's problem. He never had the chance to see what AnnaBrie type frantically as Tommy entered the lab.

AnnaBrie: LW!

AnnaBrie: LW, are you there? Get the hell out of there if he's going to hurt you!

AnnaBrie: Damn.
 

    Tommy scanned the lab, finding Billy not at his workbench, but arranging some stuff on a shelf to the side. His anger rose to see him so nonchalant. He thinks that he's so great, having made a pass at  Kat and all. "Billy, I need to talk to you."

    Billy looked over his shoulder, "Oh, Tommy. Is there a problem with the adjustments with zeo zord five?

    "No, the problem is with Kat." As Billy rose, Tommy could contain his anger no longer, lashing out and punching the other boy in the face. Billy's now broken glasses fell to the floor, pieces of the right lens making scratches in his face around his eye.

    "I see, Katharine spoke with you. I was hoping that the two of you could talk through you fight."

    "Fight? What fight?" Tommy struck again, with Billy deftly blocking, but still getting a second punch in.

    "Oh, I was sure that she told me the two of you had had a fight." Billy was confused, why did Kat lie to me? Or is Tommy the one lying? Apparently he does know about last night. He did his best to block the next punch, but he was not black belt, and Tommy quickly got the better of him.

    "You just had to go and make out with my girlfriend. Probably made up the fight on your own to make you feel better, like you had comforted her." Tommy punched again, this time knocking Billy to the ground. He had started kicking him when two strong hands grabbed him.

    "Tommy! What the hell are you doing? Billy is not your personal punching bag." He turned to see Jason holding him back, Kat in the background, obviously frightened and crying.

    "You-" he pointed at her, ready to try to hit her if she came close enough. "You slut, bitch. You just had to go and make out with him."

    He pulled away from Jason, glaring at the two of them, not noticing Billy slowly getting up from the ground. Tommy teleported away with Kat following him. Jason was confused about what had happened, all he knew was that Kat had come to him, crying saying that Tommy was going to kill Billy. If the two of them kissed? Man, I'm glad I'm not Billy. "What happened last night?"

    "Nothing."

    "Some nothing."

    "It is not your business," Billy had turned his back to Jason, not wanting to look at his friend. Jason didn't need to know that he was now crying. He had just definitely lost a friendship here, if not two. And probably another here soon.

    "When Kat showed up at my house crying it became my business. Man, Billy. Why did you kiss her, or did you?"

    "Yes, however, she did her share of deception, she had led me to believe that she and Tommy had gone through a fight."

    "And so you kissed her."

    "She gave me little choice, she can be very persuasive in those matters."

    "Billy, that's beside the point. You kissed Tommy's girlfriend. And apparently don't feel any remorse."

    Billy took a ragged breath, steadying his voice, yet still never turning to look at his friend. "Get out."

    "Billy, listen man, we just need to talk. Obviously something has been bothering you. But you don't need to go and kiss-"

    "Get out."

    "Billy-"

    "I said get out!"

    Jason turned away, not sure what was wrong with his friend, but determined to find out. He left the lab, slamming the door behind him, already planning to speak with Zordon and maybe consult some others. If no one go to the bottom of this soon it was going to tear the team apart.
 

    Billy collapsed to the floor of the lab as the door slammed shut. The tears flowed freely as he mourned the loss of another friendship. Well, now he hates me too. His body hurt all over, but he was not going to give the others the satisfaction of his going to the Power Chamber to be healed. It had just become very obvious to him that the other rangers needed him only for 'tech support' and didn't care at all about how he felt. As he pulled himself up, using the bench for support, he noticed that his communicator had been broken when Tommy attacked him. Dropping it onto his bench, he headed back into the house. He could fix it later and his father wasn't going to be home until late. Billy had every plan of taking a hot shower to try to help the pain in his sore muscles and then go to bed. It was early, that much he knew. But if he left a note, his father wouldn't worry. He glanced at his computer screen before leaving, but decided to handle AnnaBrie later. She's going to be mad at me also.
 

    On the other side of the equator, Weslianna was frantically packing bags, trying to get things together. A head poked in her door and Grady opened his eyes wide in amazement. "Just what are you doing?"

    "Billy's in trouble?"

    "I noticed. You do realize that you do have a project to finish before the weekend?"

    "And he's getting beaten up by a forth degree black belt as we speak."

    "And rushing off now isn't going to help him. You aren't sweet on him are anything, are you?" Grady sat on his sister's bed next to her.

    "No, I'm just worried. He did something stupid, but he wasn't the only one. Only thing is that he's the one that going to get in trouble for it."

    "By a forth degree black belt?"

    Wes grinned at her older brother as she explained. "Billy kissed his girlfriend."

    "Whoops."

    "I know, he logged off saying that the guy had just shown up at his lab, oh and that he has quite a temper."

    "And you want to go make sure he's okay. You do realize that this is a guy you've been corresponding with over the internet. Do you even know where he lives or what he looks like?"

    She blushed, pulling a file folder out of her bag. "Well, here are copies of last year's yearbook picture and some newspaper clippings and his address andÖ"

    "So, you're stalking him?"

    "No, actually, this is Uncle Toby's file, or a copy of it. I didn't realize until after we'd been working together who he was. Toby wants to recruit him to come to university."

    "And you figured this out how?"

    "Some of his project ideas, they were ones that Toby had in his file on him. Not to mention that not many young men in Angel Grove that are my age named William were graduated, forcefully, ahead of his class." She showed the clipping about the graduation to her brother before pushing the file back into her bag.

    "Wes, you can't just run off to take care of him. He, at least, doesn't know who you are."

    "That can be taken care of."

    "And he doesn't know who I am. You, young lady, have a project to finish with a deadline. Give me the file and I'll fly up to Angel Grove to check on him."

    "You would?"

    "As long as you promise not to run off and try to save his life."

    "Promise."

    "Good, I'll go get the lane prepped and radio the mainland. The file?" She handed her older brother the file and watched as he left the bighouse for the small landing pad. I just hope that Billy's okay. Who knows what Tommy could do to him?
 

    Billy was almost feeling better, it had been almost a week and most of his bruises were gone and the black eye was healing nicely. He had purposely avoided the other rangers, turning on a contraption he had created a long time ago that blocked teleportation into his house/lab and locking all the doors. His father hadn't said a word about it all, even when he said that he didn't want to talk to them when they came over or called. And they had called several times, or at least Adam had. Who knew about the others, they hadn't left any messages for him. He knew that he had missed at least one monster fight, but with his communicator broken, he hadn't gotten around to fixing it, he hadn't been called in to help. He figured that if things were bad enough they guys would force their way into the lab to get him. If they even miss me, he snorted to himself.

    AnnaBrie had all but refused to talk to him, never logging on to chat and answering his message with a short reply stating that she had a large project that needed to be finished soon, she couldn't take too much time off. Billy swore softly to himself about wrecking another friendship as he looked out his kitchen window. A young man, probably in his mid-twenties, was standing on the street, reading the house numbers and looking at a piece of paper in his hand. As Billy silently hoped he would go across the street to Kat's house, he instead turned up his walk. Knowing that he had been spotted at the window, Billy answered the door when the man rang the bell.

    "Hello?"

    "Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm lost. I think I got turned around here somewhere. I'm looking for 1516 McCain, is that around here somewhere?"

    Billy spotted a curtain at Kat's house move and could see her and Tanya peering out at him. "Yeah, you have the right block, this is the 15 hundred block, but this is Ratone street. McCain Lane is three blocks to the west, that direction." He pointed in the direction of McCain Lane, hoping the young man could take a hint.

    "Hey, thanks. Umm, you don't look too good there. Girlfriend take swipe at you?"

    Billy almost laughed at the thought, actually grinning for the first in a long time. I could like this guy. "No, I don't have a girlfriend, an experiment blew up in my face in my lab."

    "Oh, sounds like my younger sibling, Wes. By the way, I'm Grady Jenkins, thanks for the help."

    "Billy Cranston, no problem. I hope you find your friends." He shut the door as the young man turned away, noticing the door on the house across the street opening and Tanya and Kat leaving. Grimacing as he locked it, he headed down to his basement, where he knew that he wouldn't be able to hear the doorbell. The last thing he needed was to talk to any of the others, no matter who they were. And he knew that he would let Kat have it when he saw her. She lied to me about their fight and used me for, oh I don't know what.

    Pulling the drapes to the street facing windows, he could see them coming up the walk. He moved to the back room of the basement, windowless and dark. Shutting the door and leaving the lights off, he tried to ignore the bell ringing above him. There, in the dark, he sat on the couch, turning on the radio and trying to think about other things.

 
There will be no consolation prize
this time the bone is broken clean
no baptism, no reprise and no sweet taste
of victory. All the stars have fallen
from the sky
and everything else in between
satellites have closed their eyes, the moon
has gone to sleep
unloved....unloved....unloved....unloved

    He peeked his head out the door, quickly pulling back. He could see their legs as they stood at his front door. He hated the fact that he had now become, once again, the Yellow ranger's charity case. He liked Tanya well enough, but he could take care of himself. All he needed to do was cut all ties from the rangers. He was sick of the orders from Tommy, he was sick of having no life, he was sick of becoming every other monsters' bait for the rangersÖ He bit back the sobs that told him all he was doing sitting there in the dark basement was lying to himself.

 

here I am inside a hotel choking on a
million words I said
cigarettes have burned a hole and dreams are
drunk and penniless
here I am inside my father's arms
all jagged-bone and whiskey-dry
whisper to me sweetly now and tell me I will
never die
unloved....unloved....unloved....unloved

    "It's not." Kat looked away quiltily as Tanya looked at her quizzically, wondering just what her friend was keeping from her.

 

hoping that the kindness will lead us
past the blindness and
not another living soul 
will ever have to feel
unloved....unloved....unloved....unloved
unloved....unloved

    "Tommy beat the crap out of him." Kat looked away, certain that now Tanya, as well as Tommy and Billy must hate her. She still had no idea why she had done it, but it was done. And there was no way to undo the damage that had occurred.

    "What?"

    "Oh, Tanya, I'm not sue what came into me. It was an accident, nothing serious. If I had known he would blow up, I wouldn't have told him. But, Billy said I should be honest with him."

    "Honest with him about what?"

    "I kissed Billy. It wasn't anything, at least it wasn't meant to be. I think we both just lost control for a minute. Then he pulled away and we just talked."

    "You just talked?"

    "Yeah, he asked if Tommy and I had a fight or something. He went on to say that we had something special and shouldn't lose it. I didn't really want to tell Tommy, but I felt guilty. He's acted lately like he didn't trust Billy, he even told me that he didn't trust Billy. I wanted him to know that Billy wouldn't do anything to hurt him, wouldn't let me do anything to hurt him. Billy said it was my choice to tell Tommy, but that he would tell the truth if asked."

    "So, you told Tommy."

    "Yes, I thought he would be more understanding. Instead he flew off the handle. He teleported out of there and, I guess, went to Billy's. I went and got Jason, by the time we got there, Tommy had knocked Billy to the floor and was kicking him. Tanya, he could have killed Billy and wouldn't have cared. I've never seen him so angry, so violent. I really think that he could have killed Billy."

    "So, that would be why he is avoiding the rest of us."

    "Most likely. Tanya, this is all my fault. If I had only just, oh, I don't know. I'm not even sure why I kissed him. I just did."

    "What do you mean that you're not sure why you kissed Billy? You have to have wanted to or you wouldn't have."

    "I, just, I. Well, I guess that it's a case of the fact that I've always thought that Billy was cute, even since I moved to Angel Grove. But he's always just been a friend, or always acted like he just wanted to be a friend. I wanted to know what it was like to kiss him. See if what I had really were feeling for him or not."

    "And?"

    "I don't know. Right now I despise Tommy for what he did to Billy. But I still have feelings for him. And as for Billy, I don't know what I feel. That kiss was just so wonderful, but it was wrong and I feel like Billy must hate me now."

    "He probably doesn't hate you. He just probably upset at us, all of us, right now. Haven't you noticed lately that he's not been hanging out with us. And I don't think it's his fault, not completely. When was the last time we stopped and thanked him for his help in defeating a monster? I'm sure we wouldn't have defeated Deforminator without his help. When was the last time we invited him to join us at the juice bar after a fight? Instead, it's just a case of 'here, Billy, fix our broken toys.' If it was me, I'd start to feel a little unappreciated and start finding new friends. That might be what he's decided to do."

    "But, he never leaves his house and lab."

    "That's the spoiler to the theory. Maybe he talks to them on the phone or emails them. For all we know he could be emailing Trini and Zack at the Peace Conference all the time."

    "True. I just hope that he starts talking to us again."

    The two girls sat longer on the front porch of Kat's house before Tanya finally left to go home. After admonishing her friend to stop blaming herself, she decided to talk to Jason. He seemed to be the one to take control when Tommy wasn't around, and after what Kat said, she doubted that Tommy wanted to discuss Billy.

    Jason wasn't home when Tanya called, so she left a message with his mom asking him to call her back about a homework problem. She hated to lie to their parents, but they wouldn't understand why she, Adam's girlfriend, would call Jason. Turning her mind to other things, she forgot about the silent crisis that the team was facing and returned to her homework.
 

    Meanwhile, Jason was back in Geneva, thinking that under any other circumstance, the gaping faces Trini and Zack were making would have been funny. He hadn't wanted to bring the newest development to them, it really wasn't their problem. However, it had been a week since the altercation and Billy refused to speak to any of them, even Adam.

    "He's completely avoiding you guys, you're sure? It's not a case of him not being home?" Zack asked, his mind still reeling from the idea of Billy kissed someone else's girlfriend.

    "Yeah, on several occasions we would wait at Kat's until we saw him at the window and then head over. We've even had Rocky wait out at the back door to make sure Billy wasn't leaving that way to avoid us."

    "And his dad is in on it?" Trini couldn't believe that Hank Cranston would do such a thing, but Billy was his only child and he just might.

    "Yeah, several times he's taken messages for Billy when we've known that Billy was there."

    "Did he say anything to you after the altercation between him and Tommy?"

    "Just that Kat didn't give him much choice in the matter and that she had told him that she and Tommy were fighting. She didn't say any of that to me, and Tommy thought that Billy made up the whole part about the fight. That's the thing that got to me. It was as if Billy had no remorse over the fact that he and Kat had, well, made out."

    "Could he maybe thinks that it wasn't his fault? If Kat did tell him that she and Tommy had a fight and she was the one to instigate the kiss, well, let's just say that I wouldn't blame him for feeling hurt. Especially if Tommy almost tried to kill him. If things hadn't been going well between him and the team, if you guys were, and I'm not saying you did, using him and that happened, I can see why he's avoiding you. I would probably do the same thing."

    "Me too," Zack piped up. "I'm not saying that I like it or that it's the most mature thing to do, but Tommy did fly off the handle. Someone needs to talk to him, especially if he's not been treating Billy well lately."

    "I figured you were going to say that. Only other thing is to figure out how to get Billy back, and not just to fix our zords. Although, I thought Tommy was going to go down and try to kill Billy all over again when he wasn't there to clean up after us. We're getting a harsh reminder about just how much Billy does for us and how much we used to take advantage of that. And I am ready to strangle Alpha the next time he waving his arms around saying 'Oh dear, oh dear. I do wish Billy were here.'" With that Jason launched into an uncanny imitation of the robot's actions lately, causing his two friends to laugh at his plight.

    As he prepared to leave, Trini had a few more things for him. "Listen, Jason, I've a bad feeling about this. If anything happens, have Alpha call us and we will be on our way. I just, I had a weird dream last night, and it worries me." She didn't explain, just giving her friend one last hug before he teleported away.

    Jason received Tanya's message when he got home, a bit confused at first. Tanya and I don't have class together, and even if we did, she'd probably go to Adam first. It was then that he realized that she probably wanted to discuss the problems on the team. He set the paper aside, planning to call her after dinner and he joined his family for the blessing and meal. They had just finished and were discussing the day when his communicator beeped. Though he didn't realize it, both his parents ignored the noise as he excused himself, smiling to each other once he left.

    The newest monster being unleashed on Angel Grove was of the ugly type, Jason thought. It looked like Mondo had tried to bring a robotic version of the bug and ugly from the movie Jurassic Park to life. It truly looked like a robotic version of the velacoraptar that was tearing up the park. Somehow, Jason wasn't surprised when Zordon introduced the monster to the Rangers as such. With one motion all the rangers morphed and teleported to the park to face the machine empire's newest monster.
 

    Billy sighed as he heard the sounds of a new monster attack. It was about time for a new monster, Mondo was one for staying on schedule. Quietly, as to not garner any unwanted attention, he gathered together his papers and began to walk away. It was then that he saw the monster, it looked like a large, metallic velacorapter. At first he wasn't too worried, Tommy and Jason were getting the most of the hits in at the monster, it just blocked the hits and swiped at them occasionally, yet it didn't really attack. The other rangers were fighting the cogs and holding their own. See, they don't need me after all. He told himself, turning to head home, however, as he turned, a flash of light caught his eye. Turning back, he saw two other monsters, hiding among the trees of the park. The monster closest to Jason began to move silently, trying to reach a better angle to attack his prey. "No," Billy said softly to himself, dropping his bag. He may not be a ranger any more, but that didn't mean he was going to let Mondo kill his best friend.

    He moved into cover, trying to get distance between himself and the two other monsters while also getting closer to the fight. Keeping an eye on the hidden monsters, he forced himself to time it right and wait for the others to make their first move. With a sudden rush, the metallic beast closest to Jason suddenly charged, but reached there too late, as Billy had thrown himself out there to push Jason out of the way. However, for all his help, he was hit in the back by the large beast's metal tail and fell to the ground unconscious. Realizing that their first tactic wasn't going to work, the three monsters disappeared back up to Mondo's sky base.

    Jason lifted his friend up from the ground and immediately teleported to the Power Chamber. As he arrived there he was glad that Adam had followed, he had no idea how to work the med equipment in the medical wing and it was obvious that Billy had been seriously injured. With Adam's help, he set him down on the nearest cot as Alpha began to scan Billy for injuries. He demorphed, not even needing to look to Zordon for permission. He could already tell that it was bad, Adam was going to need help.

    He teleported into Trini's room, surprising both her and Zack as they were finishing a project. Both grew serious, however, when the saw the look on Jason's face. Trini was the first to speak, grabbing his arm and forcing him to sit on her bed. "Jason, what's wrong?"

    "You know how you said that you would help if we ever needed it? Well, we need it. Mondo sent down a new monster, a metallic version of a dinosaur, the velocirapter to be exact. We were fighting it in the park when two more ambushed us. I should have known that the fight was going too easily. It's only that, well, the only reason that I'm still alive is because Billy saved my life. He must have been in the park at the time, but when the second monster charged me, he was suddenly there, pushing me out of the way."

    "Is he okay?" Zack knew the answer, but was hoping that he was wrong.

    "No, he was hit in the back by the things tail. For all I know he could be dead or paralyzed by now. He is the only one who really knows how to use the medical equipment in the Power Chamber. Adam was working on him as I left, but I think he's going to need some help."

    "Let me get a bag together, we can make up a story when we get there. Zack can you cover for me here?"

    "I can, but I'd rather go with you. How about we leave messages for our roommates. It's a three-day weekend, we can say we went on a road trip with some others. If it takes longer we can send a message that our car broke down."

    "Sounds good to me, you want to go get a bag together?"

    "I'll be back in less that five."

    Zack was true to his word, getting back to Trini's room just as she was finishing her preparations. "We'd better hurry, I think I saw Amy down the hall, we need to leave before she sees Jason."

    With that, they departed for the Power Chamber, surprising the rest of the rangers as they arrived. Adam was running scans on Billy and Trini quickly began to help him, receiving a quick smile of gratitude. "I think Billy was the only one to really understand these readings. I'm having a hard time with them."

    Seeing that Trini was soon engrossed in trying to help Adam, Zack and Jason began to talk with the others, making sure they were all right. Tanya was in shock and having Adam work on Billy and not be with her wasn't helping. Jason quickly introduced Zack to her and let the two talk their way through the problems at hand. Kat was staring off into nowhere, Tommy was pacing around, muttering something about how Billy shouldn't have been there in the first place and Rocky was working on what looked like, by the empty cans, his third Jolt. None of them knew what to do to help, yet none of them wanted to leave the Power Chamber.

    Finally, Trini and Adam were able to stabilize Billy, although they had no idea of the extent of damage. Trini told them to expect there to be quite a bit of spinal damage, the bruising on his back was evidence enough. Zordon and Alpha shooed them all out of the Power Chamber to go home for dinner, Trini and Zack going to stay with Adam, whose family was at the coast for the weekend. They wanted to avoid as many people as possible, which meant their parents as well.
 

    Billy woke up to a dark room he didn't recognize at first, lying on his stomach on a cot that definitely wasn't his bed and he wasn't a stomach sleeper. Then the events of the previous day came back to him and he instinctively groaned. But his back wasn't hurting as much as it had earlier, so getting up, recognizing the room he was in as in the medical wing of the Power Chamber, he went to the mirror and looked. The bruising was gone, completely gone from his back. There was a slight discoloration, a yellowish green in a few places along the spine, but it was gone. Astounded at Adam's abilities to use the medical equipment of the Power Chamber, Billy sat quickly on the cot. And noted that it didn't hurt, not at all. Then he saw the medical tray by his bed. On it lay an electric 'chart,' much like the charts found in hospitals, only this one was in a PDA style electronic machine, saved to a chip that would be identified as his and another piece of equipment he vaguely recognized.

    Surprised that Adam had found the machine, he had styled it after a Newton, yet only compatible to the Power Chamber's computers, he looked it over. The one and only entry was labeled midnight, and explained a process to heal the spine that used another machine that he had built yet not tested. Satisfied that both worked, and already planning to make more 'Newton charts,' as he called them, one for each ranger, he teleported home to sleep in his own bed.
 

    Jason was the first to get the call, early the next morning. It was Adam, he noted after taking the phone from his smirking mother as he looked at the clock in his bedroom. It was 8:00 and Adam better have a good reason for calling.

    "Jason, it'd Adam. Billy's gone."

    Jason sat straight up in bed, knocking his alarm clock to the floor, causing his mother to rush to the door, seeing he was okay, she went on downstairs. "What do you mean,'he's gone?'"

    "Well, we've looked in the Power Chamber, holding bay and medical wing, there's no sign of Billy. All we can find are what looks like a PDA and some other thingie."

    "Thingie? Is that a technical term?"

    "Well, we can't figure out what it is. Billy would probably know, but he's not here. Trini and Zack are reviewing the sec vid right now, but there aren't finding anythingÖ Wait, just a sec."

    "No, I'll be right there." Jason hung up, throwing on some clothes and rushed to the kitchen to grab a banana. "I'm gonna go, Mom. The project that Adam, Rocky and I were working on just fell subject to the hands of a six-year old at Rocky's. We need to get started rebuilding it."

    He rushed out before his mother could react, not that she would have, she had a pretty good idea where he was going. With a sigh, she turned back to the closet she was cleaning out.

    Jason teleported to the Power Chamber the minute he was out of sight. There were Zack, Adam and Trini, looking at some video from earlier that morning. "Hey, Jason. We found Billy."

    "Where?"

    "At home, in his own bed." The pointed to the viewscreen, where Billy lay in his bed, hardly moving. "According to the sec vid from earlier this morning, he woke up, found he wasn't too bruised, that's still a puzzler, and teleported home."

    "Not that I blame him, those cots are incredibly uncomfortable. But, how did he get healed? I thought he was in a stabilized coma when we left."

    "He was. Apparently it healed over night. It might be something left over from holding the power, you know that whole accelerated healing thing."

    "It looks like he's waking up." Zack pointed to the screen, where Billy had rolled onto his side and was looking at his alarm.

    "Alpha," Trini stood up and headed back to the medical wing, "can you teleport him to the med and call the others. Adam and I still need to run some scans on him, try to figure out how he was healed."

    "Sure thing Trini." The Billy on their viewscreen disappeared in a flash of light as the other followed Trini to the room Billy had been in earlier. Sure enough, as they got there they saw Billy and Trini talking and it appeared that Billy was trying to talk his way out of a scan.

    "Trini, really, I'm fine."

    "Billy, take off your shirt. I need to look at your back."

    "I said that I'm fine," yet he gave in, pulling off his shirt.

    "And your back is a pretty ugly shade of yellow. At least its not bruised anymore."

    "Exactly, I'm fine. Now can IÖ?"

    "No, Adam and I need to run some scans. Twelve hours ago we were afraid that you were going to have permanent damage to your spine and now all that's left the is remains of an ugly bruise. A big, ugly bruise and we don't know how it went away. You are going no where until I am satisfied that I know how you were healed."

    Billy looked at her quizzically. I thought Adam used my machine. Hmm, it was definitely what was used, just by whom is the question. "So, I should have the guys go get stuff for the next three weeks for me?"

    Trini just swatted him as the three boys stifled laughs, unsuccessfully on Zack's part. Billy looked up, only then noticing them. "Hey guys, did Trini pull you out of bed for this? Just tell her I'm fine, I have a project I need to go finish."

    "Why don't they go get that for you? So you can work on it while Adam and I run these tests. Then you'll have something to do to pass the time."

    "You sound like my doctor."

    "Hmm, I wonder why. Maybe if you stopped throwing yourself in front of monster I wouldn't have to run these tests on you."

    "I couldn't let that thing hit Jason. From my estimation of the angle at which the machine was attacking, a blow would have been enough to disable Jason, powers or none. Not to mention that the thing had teeth." Billy shivered unconsciously, remembering the day earlier. "Lots of them."

    Jason and Adam tried not to remember the monsters that had been attacking them the day before, but it did remind Adam of something. "Hey, Billy. Tanya and Kat found your bag in the park. We have it up here in the Power Chamber. Would that have something for you to work on in it?"

    "Yes, yes it would." He put his hands up to his temples for a bit before reaching down and grabbing the PDA at his bedside.

    "Good, cause we got it with us." The four of them looked up to see the others come in, Tanya carrying Billy's bag. "Alpha sent it with, said that you probably would try to come up with excuses to not let Trini run those scans on you."

    Billy grinned sheepishly as Tanya gave him a hug and then a stern look. "Billy Cranston, don't ever scare us like that again. I was worried about you!"

    "Sorry," he rubbed his temple again, finding in his chart what he was looking for just as Trini looked concerned.

    "Headache."

    "Yes, just get some ibuprofen. It's a side-effect of the machine used to heal my back." He re-read the words in his chart. Possible side-effects include muscle ache from the accelerated healing, headache from neuron overload and fatigue. Subject should take pain medication and rest for at least twelve hours, side-effects should be gone by then. Trini read the instructions over his shoulder before taking his bag from him and pushing him down on the cot. Adam handed him two small pills and a glass of water.

    "Get some rest, we'll check back in every hour." Billy was asleep before Adam even finished his sentence, the other rangers quietly tip-toeing out of the room so he could rest in peace.
 

    Once in the main chamber, the questions started flying at Trini and Adam, who did their best to answer them. It was Tommy who finally asked the question that had been plaguing them all. "How did Billy get healed?"

    Trini sighed, "We're not sure. No one entered the Power Chamber last night, the computers would know, and no one worked on him. He just woke up earlier this morning and went home to sleep in his own bed. There is an instrument by his bed along with a 'chart' sort of thing. He might have used those during the night to heal himself. He did keep detailed records on the use of the instrument, so we know how to use it in the future."

    "The machine healed him, how?"

    "It appeared to have stimulated neurons along his spinal cord, causing them to accelerate the healing of his injury. I'm not sure if it would be possible to use on other areas of the body, say a broken limb, or if it just works for the spinal area. Either way, it works and that alone is a big relief. It probably saved his life."

    "So, he's going to be okay?" Kat asked softly, avoiding the partial glare from Tommy.

    "Yes, he should be, he just needs to rest. That monster might have hit him over the side of the head pretty hard, also. That might be why he's not remembering using the machine to heal himself."

    They all seem satisfied by that answer and most of them left to continue their daily routines. Only Trini, Zack and Jason remained, discussing the mystery of the last few weeks. They checked on Billy hourly, finding him asleep every time, so they did not disturb him. Something was amiss, but they weren't sure what. Finally, gathering their bags from Adam's house, the two returned to Geneva, after extracting a promise from Jason to get them if anything else happened. After they left, Jason returned to the room Billy was sleeping in, wondering just what was going on with his friend and how the team was going to get through the whole thing.
 

    It was late the next morning when Billy finally woke. There was a note on the bedside table from Jason, saying that his father had been told that he was staying at Jason's. Grabbing a blanket from the bed, he padded into the Power Chamber, the idea of broaching the subject of carpet with Zordon coming to mind. He shivered, wondering vaguely if he had a fever, as he took his place beside Alpha. The rangers were fighting the dinosaur-like monsters again, but this time it appeared that they had the upper hand.

    "How're they doing?"

    "Billy, you scared me. You should still be in bed." Alpha gushed at the teen, but continued when Billy just looked at him. "The rangers are doing well. Because Mondo created three monsters, depending on their surprise attacks to wear the rangers down, they are not as strong as his monsters usually are. The rangers have defeated two of them and are now fighting the last."

    Billy and Alpha watched in silence as the fight progressed, with Klank and Orbus making the monster grow and the MegaZord defeating it. Once again, good had triumphed over evil. With a shrug, Billy turned to Alpha. "Tell the gang I said congrats, I'm going home to sleep. I didn't realize how much the accelerated healing would take out of a person. Something to think about in the future." He returned home, leaving a note his dad that he was back from Jason's and went promptly to bed.

    He wasn't expecting any company the next morning, but his dad, thinking that the feud with his friends was over since he had been at Jason's went ahead and let Jason and Tanya come in. "He's still in bed, I think, I was just on my way to work. Just go on up to his room, I'm sure you know where it is, Jason."

    Billy was just getting up and walking to the shower, boxers and all, when Jason and Tanya went up the steps. He didn't notice them until Tanya started giggling at his choice of sleepwear. "Jason, Tanya! You startled me."

    Billy was unsure why they were there, but he wished that he had been warned. Tanya continued to laugh, covering her eyes as Billy dashed back into his room and grabbed a robe. "What do you guys want?"

    "Just wondering if you wanted to go to the juice bar for breakfast. It's on me."

    "Billy, come on. You can't avoid us forever and what happened is behind us." Tanya pleaded with him, hand still over her eyes. "Umm, guys, Billy, are you decent yet?"

    "Yeah, close enough." He blushed when she uncovered her eyes with a sigh of relief.

    "So, are you coming?"

    "I, umm, need to shower and there is a girl between me and my bathroom."

    Tanya giggled again, he's almost as shy as Adam, she thought to  herself moving out of the way and heading down the steps. "I'll just let you two do your guy talk, or whatever it is and meet you at the juice bar."

    Jason sat on Billy's bed while he showered, he knew that they needed to talk, but he still wasn't sure about where they all stood. Tommy still seemed man at Billy at times, but he had been truly concerned about the other's well being when he was injured. It was his relationship with Kat that was the problem. That was evidently on the rocks, Kat barely spoke to anyone but Tanya and she refused to spill the beans to Jason or Adam. Something was going on and Jason was sincerely hoping that a love triangle was not going to tear the rangers apart.
 

    Billy was quickly out of the shower, wishing that he hadn't agreed to go to the juice bar with them. He really didn't need to watch Tommy glare at him for however long they were there. Something he was sure would happen. Well, I'll make an appearance and then come back, saying I need to work on my project. In fact, I'll tell them that I'm supposed to talk to Wes in an hour. That should be a good reason to leave them. That settled, he returned to his room, making small talk with Jason as he dressed.

    The youth center was quiet, most student were taking advantage of the nice weather and were at the beach, but all the rangers were there and greeted Billy and Jason as they entered. As they sat down Ernie brought over their usuals, and the group was soon lost in discussions concerning everything from the unusually nice weather to speculations on when the next monster attack would occur. Rocky was trying to read something from the paper outloud to Adam, who was trying to listen to Tanya's rendition of seeing Billy in his boxers. Kat was slowly drinking her slushie and Tommy and Jason were discussing the upcoming tournament. Billy slowly worked on his shake, trying to not let an intense feeling of lonliness come over him. Finally, after he had been there for a half-hour he got up to leave.

    "Hey, Billy? You leavin' already?"

    "Yeah, I'm supposed to teleconference with my partners on my project at 9:00, that's in ten minutes. I figured I probably better be home when they call."

    "Yeah, you probably should. See ya later." Rocky shook his head as their friend left. He wasn't sure what was up, but something wasn't right with Billy. He turned back to his newspaper, trying once again to get Adam's attention.
 

    Billy breathed a sigh of relief upon returning to his lab. He knew that he shouldn't have lied to them, but he had to get out of there. Turning on his computer, he sent a message to Wes, about how his friends were really beginning to act weird and then continued with his calculations. It was finally approaching dark when he looked up again. The tests were going well, he had passed his goal for the day and there was still some time left over. Hmm, maybe I should start my upgrade on the Power Chamber computers, afterall, it will probably take me a week to complete. That thought in mind he teleported to the Power Chamber and quickly lost himself in the paraphernalia that made up its computer system.

    It was while he was there that he began to think about the training sims and the training room. Zordon had always had them there, but they had never been utilized, all the rangers either already knew martial arts or were teaching each other. It had always been more fun to work together, rather than with a computer program. But, a computer program should be able to tech me enough to be able to hold my own against Tommy if he attacks me again. Looking at the progress he had made he decided to try the sims out, he could use a little exercise.

    Entering the training room, he started the sim program. A holographic control panel appeared in front of him, allowing him to chose what style of martial arts he wished to learn. To him all the names were the same, some weird oriental word that meant something like grace or balance. It was the last entry that caught his attention. Hmm, I wonder what Street Fighting is? He quickly started with that style, beginner level.

    In front of him appeared a holo of a young man, maybe older than him but not by much. To Billy's surprise, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt under a red silk jacket with an oriental print on the back. He immediately began to instruct Billy on the idea of Street Fighting, stating first that everything he had been taught about fair fighting he should forget.

    "Forget? But how can a fight be honorable if you do not fight fair?" he asked, a little of what Jason had taught him coming back.

    "Nothing about Street fighting is honorable. If you want to learn an honorable way to fight I suggest you return to the main menu."

    "No, I want to learn Street Fighting."

    "Good. Street Fighting is a relatively new form of martial arts that arose from a need for survival. It is the result of young people living on the streets, living the gang wars, fights and such that make up their way of life. As I said there is no honor to street fighting, there are no rules. If the move is illegal in any other form of martial arts, it will be utilized in street fighting. Today I will teach you the basics."

    The training session began, Billy loosing himself in it all. It was only when the safety buzzer went off- the sessions were never allowed to exceed two hours- that Billy realized how long had passed. He bowed to his instructor, saving the session in his name so he could start where he had left off the next day. Exhausted, he returned to the Power Chamber to finish reassembling the panels he had removed. With that finished he returned home and fell into bed.

    The next morning he fell into a daily routine. He worked on his project in the morning after meeting the rangers at the juice bar for anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. After lunch he normally went to the Power Chamber and worked on the new computer system. Whenever he got to his stopping point for the day he returned to the training room, to continue his training in the martial art form known as Street Fighting.
 

    It was a week later that he completed his upgrade of the computer system. Wires and components were strewn about when he took a break, sitting at his corner desk. He had automatically turned on his computer upon arriving, and restlessly navigated his way to the chat site. AnnaBrie was present and he desperately needed to talk to her. He sent out the message, saying he needed to talk and she was quickly on a private chat.

AB: I take it the friends were getting to you.

LW: That would be the delicate way of putting it. I went to the juice bar with them today. I felt like a fifth wheel. Adam, Rocky and Tanya were talking with each other. Kat was being really quiet, I'm worried about her, I think that she's feeling quilty about it all. And Jason and Tommy were discussing a karate tournament. It was like I wasn't there. I might as well have not been.

AB: So you left.

LW: What was I supposed to do? It wasn't like I was needed there.

AB: Have you ever heard the term, enjoy each other's company? It makes them feel better that you are there, like maybe you aren't ignoring them. And don't say that you don't ignore them. I have a feeling you do your share of ignoring.

LW: So? What am I supposed to do? It's like I don't know them any more. Especially Tommy and Kat.

AB: Talk to the Power Rangers.

LW: Huh?

AB: Come on, don't they have a bat signal or something like that? Listen, you live in Angel Grove, home of monster attacks. Two of your friends are acting very weird. Hasn't it ever crossed your mind that maybe they are not entirely acting under their own facilities? Would it be possible for them to have been caught in the cross-fire of an attack or something?

    Billy was out of his chair in a flash, at the Power Chamber's computers, trying to locate Tommy and Kat. Both were in bed and he had teleported to Kat's room before he saw AB's final messages.

AB: LW, did you hear me

AB: LW?

AB: Men.
 

    In Kat's room, Billy moved quietly, as to not awake her. With the medical equipment he had brought with him he drew a small straw of blood, just enough to test for a potion. Teleporting then to Tommy's room he repeated the procedure, not noticing Tommy waking up as he teleported out.

    Back in the Power Chamber, Billy immediately scanned the blood samples for unknown substances. He had talked himself out of believing Wes, there was probably nothing wrong with them. But the first sample, Kat's immediately came up positive. She was under the effects of a potion? But when was it adminstered? How long has it been effecting her? And how am I going to make an antidote? He pushed aside those thoughts as he ran the same tests on Tommy's blood sample. There he found the same toxin present. However, the tests gave him no information as to an antitoxin. So, I'm going to have to get more blood. He didn't relish the thought, at anytime that he was in their houses either they or a family member could wake up and find him. And he did not want to explain why he was in their rooms at 1:00 in the morning. Well, I guess that I'll start with Kat. He teleported back into her room, vial in hand to extract the amount of blood he needed.
 

    Tommy teleported into the Power Chamber, not sure what Billy was up to, but he didn't like it. Locating Billy in the viewscreen, his temper rose as he saw him, in Kat's room, where she was sleeping. With a growl he teleported back to his room, with every plan of returning. Billy returned to the Power Chamber soon after Tommy left and began the formulation of the antidote. His back turned to the main portion of the chamber, never noticing when Tommy teleported back in.

    It was the sudden pain in his back that got his attention. Turning, he saw Tommy standing there, literally shaking with anger. In his hand was a bloody knife, which he threw to the floor. "You just couldn't stay away, could you Billy boy? You just had to go back for another try."

    "Tommy, you don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what you are talking about." Billy tried frantically to reason with his angry friend, the pain in his back threatening to cause him to pass out. The words of his instructor came back to him, There is no such thing as a fair fight. Either you will have the upper hand or your opponent will. If you are injured, use that to your advantage. Be the one to attack, your opponent will underestimate you, thinking you are too injured to fight.

    Billy concentrated on centering himself, falling into a fighting stance, ready to block anything that Tommy threw at him. Tommy wasn't expecting this, and, trying to take advantage of it, quickly struck at Billy. Billy easily blocked the hit and, as Tommy passed, kneed him. Gasping, Tommy hit the ground, getting back up and trying again at Billy. Billy let him make the first move again, knowing that he could block anything that Tommy threw at him. This time Tommy had the knife in his hand, having grabbed it while he was on the floor. Billy grabbed the arm that held the knife and, using his legs, swept Tommy's feet out from under him. Tommy landed and rolled away from Billy, knife still in hand.

    Billy quickly flipped away as Tommy struck again, surprised that he was still able to do so. Hmm, maybe I should take this up with my instructor. He quickly pulled himself back to reality. He could tell that he was getting weaker, he had been loosing a lot of blood. As Tommy charged him again, he blocked the blow and punched the other boy in the stomach. As the wind was knocked out of Tommy, Billy struck him across the back of the head, knocking him out.

    Both of them fell to the ground, Billy's legs too weak to let him stand. The random thought of not believing that he had defeated Tommy crossed his mind, but he pushed it away. Grabbing a vial, he collected the blood sample he need and teleported Tommy back home and into bed. Using the last strength he had left, he finished the antidote for Kat and made Tommy's. The second went much more quickly than the first; it was evidently from the same original potions. However, due to the amount of time that it had been active, they had both mutated in small ways.

    Finishing the second antidote, Billy left a note for Alpha to call the rangers to the Power Chamber first thing in the morning. With that he teleported himself to the medical wing where he collapsed face first onto a cot, not caring about the mess of blood and instruments left about in the Power Chamber.
 

    The next morning all of the rangers responded to the cryptic message from Alpha to report to the Power Chamber. They arrived to find nothing amiss, and they stood there in their pajamas looking at the small droid. Kat, who had been first to arrive, was absently rubbing a sore spot on her arm. Tanya was leaning on Adam, her head on his shoulder and eyes closed. Rocky looked like he was doing his best to sleep while standing up. Only Jason was reasonably awake, wearing workout clothes, he had been preparing to go for his morning run when they were called to the Power Chamber. Tommy truly looked like he was going to tear the little droid in two. Alpha approached the rangers warily, but kept his distance in a way.

    "Alpha, what is it?" Jason asked, edgy to get back to his run and wondering where Billy was.

    "Jason, will you please restrain Tommy for a moment?" All closed eyes snapped open as Jason walked over to his friend. Grabbing and holding his arms in place, he quietly told Tommy that if he hurt the droid he would tear him apart. It is then that he noticed the bruises along Tommy's arms and on his chest. Hie eyebrows furrowed as he wondered just what was up.

    The droid approached the boy, preparing to administer the antidote Billy had left. Alpha wasn't sure what was going on, but Billy had insisted in his note that the antidotes be administered immediately. He had also said that Tommy might protest, which was why the droid has asked Jason to restrain him.

    "What the hell are you doing man? Alpha, what has gotten into you."

    Tommy lashed out at the droid as he approached and the machine jumped back out of range of his legs. Kat spoke harshly at him as Adam and Rocky immediately were there to help Jason. "Tommy, let him do it."

    The harshness in her voice startled them all, they had hardly heard her voice in the last two weeks, much less to hear her so angry. Alpha took advantage of that and quickly injected Tommy with the serum Billy had left for him. Seeing that it was done, the boys left him go and he collapsed to the floor. It was then that Jason questioned Alpha and Zordon.

    "What's going on here."

    "Billy was running tests and noticed anomalies in Kat and Tommy's blood. Both had been injected with a potion at some point in time, causing them to act erratically." Zordon explained. "It caused Tommy's natural emotion of jealousy to become stronger and take control. In Katharine itÖ"

    "It caused me to feel feelings of infatuation for someone other than Tommy. That's why I kissed Billy."

    "And Tommy's jealousy caused him to blow up beyond control and beat Billy up."  Adam and Rocky nearly fell over at hearing this. Neither of them really knew what had happened, just that something had caused Billy to avoid them for a week. Tanya knew a bit, but never realized a potion had caused it all.

    "Then where is Billy?" At Tanya's question the blood drained from Tommy's face.

    "Oh my God." He immediately took off for the medical wing, hoping to God that Billy was there.

    He was, the rangers gasped upon seeing him. He laid on his stomach on the cot, still unconcsious. His shirt was off, a blanket covering him up to his waist. On his back was a large stitched up scar, the cut that Tommy had inflicted on him the night before. Next to him once again was the tray, with the handheld computer on it. Tommy's legs gave out from under him as the night came back to him. Kat's arms were quickly around him as Adam and Jason rushed to where their friend lay.

    "Alpha, call Trini and Zack. I think we are going to need their help again." Adam said quickly to the little droid who had followed them in.

    "He already did," Trini pushed passed them and examined the scar. Grabbing the PDA she read the chart out loud, quickly skimming through the medical jargon.

    "'Patient experienced large a amount of blood loss. Administered transfusion of O+, patient is B+. Transfusion should be safe, there was no apparent rejection of the blood during observation. Discouraged by supply in facility such as this, no supply available at hand, had to use transfusion of own. Wound in back stitched and should heal within 48 hours due to accelerated healing properties of patient having held Power.'"

    Trini looked up at Alpha, "Did anyone enter the Power Chamber last night?"

    "No one other than rangers or Billy, the alarms would have gone off if there had been."

    "Damn. Whoever stitched him up was a professional, a doctor. I guessing the same person who healed him the last time, cause he sure thought that we had. How did this happen?"

    "That would be me." Tommy spoke up from his spot on the floor. "When he drew blood last night, I woke up. I watched in the viewing globe as he took blood from Kat and attacked him when he returned to the Power Chamber. I-I"

    "It was the effects of the potion," Jason said firmly, in a voice that disallowed any more discussion. "Has anyone checked the sec vids?"

    "Not yet," Zack said. "But it probably won't help. Whoever got in last time did a good job of looping them."

    That didn't stop the group from returning to the Power Chamber, leaving Alpha to watch over Billy. Trini noticed Billy's computer still on and sat down. There in front of her was the conversation he had been involved in before the whole thing started. As she looked it over, Rocky called out to her. "Here, Billy's getting up from his computer now, he look's like he's just had an idea."

    Trini pushed the pause on the sec vid before asking her question. "Do any of you know who AB is?"

    "Who?"

    "Someone, a girl I think, that Billy was chatting with on the internet. They've obviously chatted before; her introductory question was along the lines of his friends' getting to him. She was the one who had the idea that Kat and Tommy might be under the affects of the potion."

    "And if we ever find out who she is, we should thank her. I have monitored old battles and decided that it was when you fought Deforminator that the potion was administered. Had it gone unnoticed much longer, and I speculate that it probably would, it might have been irreversible." Zordon boomed from his warp tube above them.

    Jason shook his head as he pushed the play button to start the sec vid again. They watched at Billy teleported to Kat's and Tommy's, coming back and testing the blood. The saw him leave again and come back from Kat's, Tommy teleporting in and out while he was gone. All jaws, including Tommy's dropped, as Tommy reappeared with a knife and knife Billy in the back. They could hear him verbally accost the other teen throwing the knife aside.

    Tommy attacked Billy again, but to their surprise, Billy blocked the blow. Tommy winced, remembering the pain of the blow to the groin that followed. Rocky nearly hooted with laughter. "Tommy, Billy kneed you in the nuts."

    "I know, I remember. I also remember him beating the crap out of me." Eyebrows raised, but nobody turned from the screen where, indeed, Billy definitely had the upper hand in the fight.

    Zack was trying his hardest not to laugh at the plight of the onscreen Tommy, "Man, Billy is not someone I would have ever expected to see fight dirty, but look, he is and he's good. And he's getting more blows to connect. Nothing against you Tommy, but that had to have hurt. He is definitely one person whom I would not want to run into in a dark alley"

    "I know. God, I thought it had just been a bad dream when I woke up. I mean, I was sore, but it was all so cloudy that I thought it was a dream. I never would have imagined that it was real." He shook his head, burying it in his hands. "Man, he's really going to hate me now."

    "Not really. Just a little irked but not hate you. It was the potion." Billy stood in the doorway, holding onto the doorjamb for support. "I take it that Alpha was able to administer the antidotes and Tommy didn't take him apart in the process." He smiled wryly at his friend as Trini forced him to sit at the desk. He was glad to comply, he didn't think he legs would have been willing to hold him much longer.

    "Billy, one question. Who's AB?" Trini was reading again the chat that had taken place the evening before. Billy turned to the computer, smiling at seeing her last entry.

    "My partner in crime," he joked to their surprise. "She's the person I'm working on the new project with."

    "You must thank her for us, Billy." Zordon boomed from above, reiterating what he had told the others earlier.

    "I'll do so."

    "Billy, who doctored you up last night," It was Jason's turn to question their friend, who looked at them confused before turning pale.

    "I thought it was Trini or Adam. Wasn't it?"

    "No, someone else entered the Power Chamber, again, and fixed you up. I've found where they started the loop of the sec vids. Whoever it was happened to be in a hurry last night and didn't do so hot a job." Adam called from where he was working at one of the Power Chamber's many computers. He showed them the spot where the taping seemed bad and another where everything just changed, like the tape had been cut off.

    "But how did they get in. It's only possible to enter the Power Chamber if you hold the Power or an artifact of, if you are teleported in from inside or, in my case, through DNA recognition. I definitely didn't teleport anyone in, if there were any other artifacts of the power out there Zordon would know."

    "That leaves Billy's identical twin. Jees, why didn't you tell us about him." Billy smiled at Rocky's joke, wondering if there was any other way into the Power Chamber. It was Tommy who spoke up next.

    "Well, however it was, we're lucky they came. Trini thinks that they must have had medical training, well that it was a doctor. However they got in, I don't care as long as no one uses that shortcut for the wrong purposes. And I don't think this person is, they'll saved Billy's life twice. I say we all go home and put these last two weeks behind us. And you," he pointed at Billy, who was typing away furiously at his computer, "are going to go back to bed."

    Billy smiled sheepishly, finishing his note to Wes saying thanks for the help the night before, and that the Power Rangers had said that Tommy and Kat had been under the effects of a potion. He sent the message and stood up from his computer, nodding at Alpha to send him home. Upon returning he fell into bed, drifting off to sleep in no time.