This has been taken with some liberties from the Bad Wolf plot from Doctor Who. The following happens before Billy's go to Aquitar, but I have taken some liberties with that also, so just bear with me. First Power Rangers fic, let's see how this works.
"Rangers," their encased mentor, Zordon, said to the Zeo Rangers, "you must search the desert terrain thoroughly but quickly."
A new threat was baffling the Zeo team. A high source of energy was found in a Californian desert. So far, the power was untouched, but fears of the Machine Empire looming overhead, it was determined that action had to be taken now. It was the fearless leader, Tommy's, decision to head down and see what exactly was emitting such a force.
The young blonde genius standing in front of Zordon's energy tube turned to face his friends. "I couldn't get a complete examination of the area- there must be something blocking the signals," Billy Cranston uttered under his breath," but that only raises more notion that whatever is hiding there." Adam moved closer to the control panel where Billy just was, to see if he could spot anything. Tanya moved not far behind him. Kat, who was standing not too far near Tanya, looked ready to collapse.
The rangers looked nowhere near close to accepting the challenge before them. Rocky DeSantos, the Blue Zeo Ranger looked like he'd just woken up from sleep; Tanya Sloan and Adam Park, Zeo Rangers Yellow and Green respectively, were both adorning matching looks of high alert with smears of pencil marks over their arms and face. Tommy Oliver, Zeo Ranger Red whose best method was to practice defense tactics, was sweating head to toe after a long workout at the Community Center. And Kat Hillard, the Pink Zeo Ranger, was standing wearing a lab apron and goggles. It's was the week before midterms.
"Kat, are you okay? Is everyone ok?" Billy questioned.
Kat put her hand up before starting. "I'm fine Billy, we all are, I'm sure. It's just pre-exam stress."
"But now, we gotta turn our attention to something more important," Tommy declared, with such a tone showing that the stresses of exams would not interfere in the way of their ranger duties.
"Be careful, Rangers!" the small robotic assistant, Alpha exclaimed.
Billy added, "We will be able to teleport you to a location somewhat outside the desert, but since I can't get a good grip on the location, I'm afraid you'll have to travel the rest on foot. Once I'm able to hold down any signal…"
"You'll let us know," Tanya finished for him. Billy gave her a slight smile and a nod in appreciation.
"But right now, the only danger we have to face is really awkward tan lines," Blue Ranger Rocky commented.
Tommy rolled his eyes, before taking a step forward. "We'll let you guys know if something's up."
"Good luck," Alpha chimed.
"Alright guys," Tommy called as Tanya and Adam repositioned themselves on either side of their leader, "It's morphin' time!"
Flashes of pink, yellow, green, blue, and red streaked the room as the young blonde genius returned his attention towards surveillance of the area.
The five suited rangers found themselves standing in the middle of a barren desert.
"Well, looks like nothing is here. Now I can go back to my nap..." Rocky surveyed quickly.
Tommy reached out a hand to stop him. "Not so fast, Rocko. We haven't even started, and by the looks of it, we got a lot of ground to cover."
"Zordon did want us out of here fast," Adam commented.
"And for a good reason too," Tanya said. "This place gives me the creeps ." She moved closer to Adam.
Tommy gave a quick glance around before turning and facing his team. "We need to split up. Two people to stay here and survey the land on foot, three to head up to those mountains," he said pointing to the rocks," and see what's up there."
"Kat, Tanya and Rocky, you guys are climb team. Me and Adam will be ground team," Tommy assigned. "Communication signals are blocked, so we'll meet up back here. If you find anything at all," he cautioned, "go back to the place where we were able to teleport in. You should be able to get a hold of Billy and the Power Chamber and teleport back."
"Right," the rangers said in acceptance.
"Okay, let's go."
With that, the rangers split, Adam and Tommy on the ground, Tanya, Kat, and Rocky to the mountains.
On top of the mountain, there was a small gap. The three Zeo rangers took off their helmets to get a better look.
"I think there's something down there," Tanya said.
Rocky scoffed, "Yeah, dirt and sand." That received an elbow in the ribs from Tanya. Kat sat herself down after the arduous climb.
Tanya looked over to her teammate. "Kat, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Tanya. Just all this stress from exams is getting to me," she said stating the same reason she gave previously to Billy.
Putting his hands on his hips, Rocky affirmed, "The sooner we're done with this, the better."
"Yeah," Tanya nodded in agreement. "Let's check out that hole, and then make it back to the teleportation point."
"I'll go." Kat stood up and faced them. "I'll check out what's down there."
"But Kat…" Tanya responded.
"I'm small enough to fit in there, I can get in and get out, and then we all can get back to studying."
"Yippee," Rocky said sarcastically.
Kat made her way over to the hole before Tanya grabbed her wrist. "Are you sure about this, Kat? I could go down there. Rocky could go down there."
"I'll be alright, Mother Tan," Kat chided. "Besides, Rocky's claustrophobic. He freaked out that one time when shoved him in the storage room at Ernie's, remember?"
"That mop was looking at me funny," Rocky defended.
Kat slowly descended down the small hole, finding her footing easy. However, she felt a strong pull as she climbed lower and lower. Once the small closing should have been completely dark, she found it illuminated. She stepped off the wall, finding stable ground, and stared at the source of the light.
"Kat! Kat, did you find anything?" Tanya yelled.
Kat however gave no reply as the light seemed to grow brighter. Kat's blue eyes glowed, changing to a gold color, absorbing the light energy. As Kat's eyes glowed, the light in the hole diminished, until there was no more light. Kat gave a huge exhale, emitting gold dust. She looked down at her hands, feeling powered, stronger than she ever was or could be as a ranger.
She closed her eyes, hearing a lone wolf howl in the distance.
"Kat!"
"Kat!" Rocky's voice now joined in the frantic call. Has she been down there long? Time seemed endless now. Climbing back up from the hole seemed effortless, something she attributed to the newfound power.
Rocky and Tanya extended hands to help her up, but their hands went untouched as Kat was easily able to maneuver herself out. Rocky and Tanya both looked at each other in slight shock.
"Kat?" Tanya began. "Did you find anything down there?"
Kat shook her head, facing away from the pair as if her face would give off any clue. "Nope. Didn't see a thing."
Something seemed off to Tanya and Rocky. "She probably really isn't feeling well," Rocky suggested quietly to Tanya. Kat however was able to hear this and went with their train of thought. She turned to face them.
"Let's head back now, guys. I…" she hesitated, "I'm starting to get a headache."
Tanya and Rocky, both looking relieved to have an answer to her behavior, rushed up beside her.
"Of course, Kat," Tanya consoled.
"Let's start to head back down. Do you think you can make it?" Rocky asked, genuinely concerned.
She nodded so her voice wouldn't betray her. She could probably fly back down if she wanted; the power seemed to know no bounds. It filled her with excitement, giddiness, thrill, pleasure…
And it also scared her to her very core.
Teleporting back, they found Tommy and Adam already at the Power Chamber. Tanya rushed over to give Adam, who was near the control panels, a hug, and Tommy walked up to debrief on what he and Adam found.
"I don't even know what it is, but it seemed out of place," he explained. Rocky reached out to scan the foreign object himself. It was a piece of metal, very durable, very strong, with something written on it.
Rocky could only make out a few letters. "B D," he read on one line, "F?" was on the next line. "What does that mean?"
Billy replied, taking a hold of the metal piece. "I have no clue, but I think it's a message being sent from whoever controls the energy source. If we can find out what this means, then we're one step closer to tracking down this energy."
Kat looked around nervously. The rational side of her knew she should say something, but the powerful side was taking over, telling her to keep quiet and keep the rangers off her trail. If they knew she had absorbed the energy, they'd try to extract it from her. And she wanted it to stay, she needed it to stay.
However her nervous glances caught the eye of Billy. They made eye contact and Billy swore he heard his ninjetti spirit: a wolf, howl. He stepped forward as if something was drawing him towards her, something intimidating, something cunning, something lupine.
"My head," she murmured keeping her intense stare with Billy. Rocky quickly remembered Kat not feeling well and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder, much to Tommy's displeasure. But that gesture was enough to break the attraction between her and Billy, as Billy shook his head, trying to wrap his mind as to what just happened.
"You guys, Kat's not feeling well," Rocky explained.
Tanya walked over to her. "She started to get a headache on the mountain. I think this exam stress has been really getting to her."
"I think it's been getting to all of us," Tommy admitted. "Let's call it a night and pray Mondo doesn't decide to attack."
"Knock on wood," Rocky added.
"Come on, Kat, I'll take you home," Tanya reassured. Kat gave one last look to Billy before they left. Pink and yellow stripes decorated the Chamber.
Rocky stepped over to Adam, teasing, "Looks like your girlfriend's leaving you for another woman."
Adam gave a slight chuckle.
"Come on Adam," Rocky said, mocking Tanya, "I'll take you home."
Adam gave Rocky a light shove, all in good jest. "Hilarious, Rocko."
Tommy wanting to feel useful approached the control panels, but Billy stopped him. "Why don't you go to sleep, Tommy. You seem pretty worn out yourself," he suggested.
Tommy slowly nodded, feeling out of his element and delusional by his constant workout. "Okay, but let me know if there's any news."
"You'll be the first," Billy stated.
Tommy pointed both to Rocky and Adam before leaving. "You two, behave yourselves."
"Yes, Father," Rocky said jokingly. "Maybe if we behave, Father will let us hang with the other kids in the neighborhood!" he said to Adam, garnering a laugh.
"Rocky, I wouldn't let you near anything with a pulse," Tommy replied. A red flash marked his departure. Adam returned his attention to the control panel while Rocky took a seat on a nearby table. Billy however stood in the middle of the chamber, rubbing his chin.
"Billy, there's something wrong with this scan," Adam said with a slight frown. "There are no more energy readings from the desert."
Rocky stood with a confused look on his face. Billy turned around to read over the scan.
"So this means we went out there for nothing?" Rocky asked.
Adam shrugged. "I think I read the scans right."
"You did," Billy assured. There were energy readings before they left; now they are gone. And that weird incident with Kat just now….
"Would you guys mind staying for a few more minutes?" Billy questioned as frantic as his mind was racing.
"Sure Billy."
"Yeah, do you have a clue what's going on?" Rocky said.
Billy pulled out a chair and sat in front of the main access control system, his mind completely focused. "Well to know what's going on, I need to know what happened. Tell me everything that occured in that desert, leave nothing out."
The discarded piece of metal, now lying on a table a good distance away from the three boys, shined a faint gold, the words BAD WOLF barely visible in its glow.