Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Saban.
Author's Note: I've been binge watching Zeo this weekend and well, I've always had a soft spot for Billy (on the playground playing PR with the guys when I was a kid, I was Billy. Just saying), and I'm seriously impressed at how David Yost played him during that season and so, I decided to get a little introspective on my favorite Blue Ranger, like how he felt at the end of Alien Rangers, or giving his Power to Tanya, or the whole Gold Ranger thing..."True Blue" is what came out of that.
Chapter One: Out of the Blue
Angel Grove Swim Beach
The five Aquitian Rangers disappeared in five bursts of colored light, leaving Billy Cranston and the other "Rangers of Earth" on the swim beach, alone. The five of them were quiet, contemplating the events of the past few weeks, Billy especially. He had grown close with the alien Power Rangers and despite having his own friends back, was going to miss the fascinating insights the Aquitians had brought with them. And the antics. Going through the car wash of all things...
"Billy?" Tommy spoke up. "Ready?"
Billy blinked and turned, realizing the others had started walking without him. He shivered in his plaid button down, the breeze coming off the newly-restored lake a bit chilly as evening settled. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, we better get back. I'm sure Tanya is wondering why we all took off so fast." He was eager to get to know the newest member of their team. He jogged to catch up with Tommy, Kat, Adam and Rocky, and the five of them disappeared in their own multicolored beams of light.
A moment later, Billy felt the beach sand give way to the hard tile floor of the Command Center, and the quietness of the beach was harshly interrupted by Alpha's panicked, "Ai yi yi yi yi yi!"
Tommy grasped the little robot by the shoulders. "Alpha, what's wrong?"
"Goldar and Rito have stolen the Zeo Crystal!" Alpha chattered. Billy jaw dropped and he glanced over to Tanya, who was looking very pale. It had to have been quite the shock; he remembered the first time he'd come face to face with Goldar-Rita's golden lackey was terrifying up close. His eyes fell on the empty modulator, his heart sinking. That much power in the hands of Rita and Zedd...there's no telling what they could do with it.
He was thrown off his feet as the Command Center rocked violently. Zordon's image wavered in his tube and sparks flew around the room as warning bells sounded, echoing off the walls. Billy slammed sideways into one of the consoles. Pain radiated up his arm.
"What's happening?" Tanya gasped, terror laced in her voice.
Billy's logical mind raced through scenarios. The explosions were coming in evenly-spaced bursts…A bomb? Detonators. They planted detonators. It was bold, really bold, for Rita and Zedd's standards.
"Rangers, you must evacuate the command center!" Zordon's deep voice cut through the alarms and explosions, and Billy looked up at the Eltarian, trapped in his time warp. If the building comes down…
"We can't leave you!" Adam protested, echoing what Billy was thinking in his head.
Billy felt small hands on his back- Alpha, pushing him out of the way. "Get out of here now!" the little robot was telling them. "Hurry!" Alpha would never leave Zordon. We can't…I can't just leave them here like this!
Rocky, it appeared, had the same thought. "Come with us, Alpha!" he was begging him
"Alpha. Teleport them out now!" Zordon commanded. Another explosion rocked the room, and Billy had to hold onto the crystal modulator to keep upright. Around him, the others were trying to stand together, to do something, anything, to prevent the inevitable.
Billy saw Alpha going for the console for the teleportation sequence. No. We're not leaving! "Alpha!" He surged forward, trying to reach it before the robot. "No!" The console sparked and fire erupted in front of him. He threw his hands over his eyes.
He thought he saw a flash of blue before the world went black.
The next thing he knew, Kat was calling his name. His fingers scrambled for purchase in the sand…sand? He opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground, outside. He turned his head, looked up.
The Command Center exploded, erupting in smoke and flame. The shockwave pounded him back into the sand. No. No! Please! He hadn't realized he'd screamed the final two words out loud until Adam was grabbing him around the waist to keep him from running back up the rocks.
The six of them stared mutely at the towering column of smoke. Rubble rained down around them, but nobody noticed or cared.
"It's…gone," Adam choked out.
Billy gaped at the smoking precipice that he'd practically been living in for the past few weeks, working tirelessly with Delphine and the other Aquitar Rangers to restore his five friends back to adults, to destroy Hydro Hog…A place that had always felt like….like home…A place where he'd stood with some of the most important people in his life, through the most important moments in his life, where he'd done some of the most important things in his life...
"Zordon and Alpha," Rocky breathed, pain etched in the words.
"Do you think…they could've survived?" Kat whispered, looking up at Tommy. The White Ranger ran a hand through his long hair, his face blank.
"I dunno," he said finally, and it shook Billy. "I don't know" was something you didn't really want to hear from your leader.
"What are we gonna do?" Kat asked tearfully. Tanya put an arm around her waist, trying to offer some comfort, but Billy could see that the newest arrival was in shock herself.
"This…" Tommy began, then paused, choosing his words carefully. "This could be…the end…of the Power Rangers."
Billy shrugged out of Adam's grip. "No!" he said, more forcefully than he intended. "No, I refuse to believe that!" He started running back up to the Command Cen-where the Command Center had once stood, ignoring the protests of the people behind him as he ran with a one track mind, ignoring the pain in his side and the pounding in his head. All he could think about were his mentor for the past four years and the little robot he considered family…
He scrambled to the top of the point and skidded to a stop as the full scale of what happened had hit him.
There was no Command Center. It had been reduced to the foundations…piles of rock where the giant white walls had once stood, like a medieval castle on a hill. His knees shook and he had to actually tell himself to stay standing.
Behind him, he heard gasps and swearing from the others. For a few minutes, they were silent, the only sound coming from crackling flame and crumbling rock.
"I hope Zordon and Alpha survived," Tommy said, but the sentiment seemed hollow as they looked around. There was nothing left. No signs of Alpha, no signs of Zordon…no signs of anything recognizable.
"I thought….I thought the Command Center was the one safe place Rita and Zedd could never touch…" Kat admitted, brushing tears out of her eyes as she surveyed the scene.
"Yeah," Adam said bitterly, "now look at it."
"There's gotta be….something…that we can do," Rocky spoke up.
"I wish I knew what," Billy said aloud. If Alpha hadn't teleported me out. If I could've somehow isolated the explosions. If I had just been in there, I could've done something!
I could've saved them...
To be continued...