Title: Raspberry
Disclaimer: I do not own any person, place or thing you may recognize.
Rating: T
Warnings: Ranger related violence; language
Series: Taste the Rainbow
Characters: Billy Cranston, William (Wild West Ranger), Cestro (Alien Ranger), Rocky De Santos, Justin Stewart, TJ Johnson, Kai Chen, Chad Lee, Lucas Kendall, Max Cooper, Tori Hanson, Ethan James, A-Squad Blue (SPD), Sky Tate, Bridge Carson, Madison Rocca, Dax Lo, Theo Martin, Flynn McAllistair, Kevin and Noah Carver; mentions of and appearances by the various other Rangers, Mentors, Allies, Civilians and Villains
Spoilers: Eventual for all 20 seasons
Author's Note: So, this is the latest in an idea that I had a while ago, to do a series of oneshot character studies focusing on each individual Ranger. This particular series focuses on the Blue Rangers, with the exception of Blake Bradley as his official designation is the Navy Ranger. As with the other pieces, this particular story is not a priority and will be updated as I have both the time and inclination.

Let me know what y'all think.
Fae


Title: Day of the Dumpster
Character: Billy Cranston
Word Count: 637
Author's Note: Does anyone else have trouble writing Billy? Ugh. I don't know if this is- technical enough for Billy, but it's the best I can do.

How, oh how did he keep getting into these situations? Sure, the technology in that command center was incredible, but fighting aliens? He couldn't even manage a single karate class without messing up. Jason and Zack were better suited this sort of thing than he was.

Even the girls were putting up a better showing than he was. He hit the ground, hard, and didn't bother getting back up. He would just be in the way. Besides, staying down provided him the perfect opportunity to catch Kim when she was thrown at him. He caught Trini next, then all three of them caught Zack.

When Jason stumbled back a few seconds later and landed on Zack and Kim, that was when Billy knew they were in trouble. If their best fighter couldn't handle these things, what hope did the rest of them have?

That was why, when Jason mentioned those morphers, Billy was willing to suspend his disbelief and give it a chance. The idea that these simple devices would transform them into an elite fighting team strayed a little too close to the realm of magic for his scientific mind.

It didn't seem feasible, though the- as Zack had called it- giant floating head in a tube did lend some credibility to the idea. So he gave it a chance, calling out the name of one of his favorite ancient creatures, the triceratops, and was pleasantly surprised when it actually worked.

They had barely morphed when they were being teleported back to Angel Grove proper to fight a flying monkey that Zordon had called Goldar

He didn't understand it. This didn't make any sense. How was it even possible that these small devices could manage something like this? More importantly, he could feel himself reacting on a level that he had never managed before. He somehow knew what he needed to do in a way that seemed natural for him.

It was unnatural. It defied science. He was unable to wrap his analytic mind around everything that was happening. This shouldn't be possible.

And yet, somehow it was.

The five of them had morphed into a team of multi-colored superheroes. They each had their own color, one that matched their personality. They dissolved into streams of multi-colored particles and flew through the air. Any skills they had previously were augmented, making them better than they were before.

They had access to large robotic machines called zords that they instinctively knew how to control. They could combine those zords to create a large megazord and, again, they instinctively knew how to control it.

This entire experience was surreal. Beyond surreal, even. He didn't understand it. He was having difficulty believing it, despite living it. If offered a second chance to officially become a Power Ranger, he was going to say yes, if only to have the chance at studying the technology behind the transformation, the suits, the zords and the fascinating equipment back at the command center.

Maybe he wasn't the strongest fighter, but perhaps there was something else he could offer the team. Someone had to help with maintenance and upkeep, after all, and as good as Alpha 5 may be, he was still a robot. Sometimes technology like that required a human touch for fine tuning and Billy was nominating himself for the position.

There was no one better suited for that role in all of Angel Grove, if he did say so himself. And if it meant that he'd be able to make sure his friends were safe by providing them with the best equipment possible- Well, no one could say he wasn't loyal.

And who knows. Perhaps the skills that seemed so natural to him while inside the suit would translate over to his ability in he wasn't morphed. Only time would tell.