This movie is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America. Contains some swearing and a little more violence than my other stories.
Note: This story is set after "Personality Conflicts" and "Fathers and Sons." Read them in that order, or you'll be really confused. : )
Shadow Dancers
It was late afternoon
on Aquitar. Billy Cranston, formerly one of the Power Rangers of Earth,
was on one of the many islands in the Nebian Sea, repairing a sensor array
and trying to enjoy the warm, golden sunlight. He was a little too angry
to properly appreciate it, however. In his mind, he was still turning over
the recent argument he had had with Tommy Oliver, Red Ranger and leader
of the Power Rangers.
You're a
coward, Tommy's voice hissed in his memory. When the danger got
to be too much for you, you gave the power to Tanya and ran.
Stop that!
he ordered himself. Tommy apologized. You've worked it out. It doesn't
mean a thing. He was afraid that it did, though. Not for the first
time, he wondered if Tommy's comments had stung so badly because there
was some truth to them. He had been afraid, and he had been a little relieved
to be off the front lines. That didn't make him a coward, though. His fear
hadn't been the primary factor in his decision, had it?
Shaking his
head, he tried to put the thoughts out of his mind. Just then, he heard
a rasp, like a stealthy footstep, behind him. Turning, he reached for the
laser pistol that he always wore on his belt. Although Aquitar was not
under constant attack like Earth, it was not without dangers. For this
reason, the Aquitian Rangers had given him the pistol and instructed him
in its use. Now he was an excellent shot.
When Billy finally
caught sight of what was creeping up on him, he gasped and snapped off
three shots in quick succession. The creeping wave of darkness simply absorbed
the shots as if they were nothing at all. Like a towering black tsunami,
the wave crashed over him. Billy barely had time to scream before the world
turned black.
On Earth, a great
distance away, the teenagers known as the Power Rangers were enjoying a
rare moment of Saturday relaxation with their friends. The Rangers, Tommy's
adopted sister Chelsea Oliver, the former Gold Ranger Jason Scott, Rocky's
girlfriend Katarina Petronov, and Tommy's brother David Trueheart were
all in their bathing suits, lying on the sands by the lake, not far from
Ernie's Beach Club.
"Mmm," Tommy
sighed. "This is the life. No monsters, no alarms, nothing but peace and
quiet, right, Jase?" His question was answered by a soft snore. Lifting
his head, Tommy realized that his best friend had dozed off in the warm
sun. Gesturing to the others not to wake him, Tommy moved down the beach
to join his friends, a few paces away from the slumbering Jason.
"Is it me,"
Chelsea asked worriedly, "or does Jason sleep a lot nowadays?"
Rocky De Santos,
the Blue Ranger, shrugged. "Well, you know, losing the Gold Powers took
a lot out of him. He's going to need time to recover."
Chelsea sighed.
"I know. It's just so hard for me to see him like this. I remember Jason
as this incredibly energetic guy, who could stay up all night without a
problem and who could outlast everyone at a party. Now he's so tired and
washed out that it's scary."
The current
Gold Ranger, Trey of Triforia, put an arm around his girlfriend. "Don't
worry about it, Chelse. Jason's tough. He'll be just fine."
"I'm asleep,
not dead," Jason groused, never opening his eyes. "Do you think you could
keep it down?"
"I think you've
slept long enough," Tanya Sloan grinned. The Yellow Ranger shot a mischievous
glance at Adam Park, her boyfriend. The Green Ranger nodded his approval
and moved into position. Tanya took Jason's ankles while Adam took his
shoulders. Lifting him, they threw the bigger boy into the chilly lake.
"Whoof!" Jason
spluttered, surging to his feet. "I'm going to get you for that!" Grinning,
he swept a huge splash towards the shore, drenching everyone. Katherine
Hillard, the Pink Ranger, shrieked and promptly charged into the water
to give Jason a ducking. The resulting water war was so fierce that David
had to charge into the water to save his girlfriend. Tommy was watching
from the sand and laughing when his communicator toned.
"Shit. Cut it
out, you guys. Zordon's calling." Luckily, everyone on the beach knew that
the six teens were the Power Rangers. "We read you, Zordon," Tommy sighed
as the others gathered around him.
"Rangers, you
must teleport to the Power Chamber, Zordon rumbled. "I have just received
an incoming transmission from Aquitar, and it appears to be a matter of
some importance."
The Rangers
regarded each other worriedly. "Chelse, Dave, Katya, you'd better come
to the Power Chamber with us. We don't want Mondo or Zedd getting any ideas
while we're gone, right?" The other three teens nodded, and the whole group
teleported out.
When they reached
the Power Chamber, the Rangers were somewhat startled to see a very worried
Delphine on the viewing globe. "Delphine, what's the matter?" Tommy cried.
The Aquitian
sighed. "Rangers of Earth, I am afraid I have some very bad news. Aquitar
has been invaded by an evil organization known as The Shadow Empire. Unfortunately,
they were able to slip through our sensors completely undetected. We did
not even know of their presence until they kidnapped Billy."
"They what!"
Jason cried, his jaw plummeting. "When? Is he all right?"
Delphine shook
her head. "He was fixing a sensor array on one of the islands in the Nebian
Sea when he was attacked by a wave of darkness. It fell on him and apparently
carried him off."
"Delphine,"
Adam asked, "how do you know this? Was somebody with him?"
"No, Adam. You
see, when Aquitians are in love, they share a telepathic bond. Billy and
Cestria also have this bond, for despite the fact that he is human, he
is also a gifted telepath. He simply repressed his ability because it would
have been considered freakish by other humans. Cestria experienced everything
that Billy felt through that bond, but now the bond seems to have been
cut off. Cestria fears the worst; she has gone to her room and will neither
eat or sleep."
"Well, we're
not going to write him off so easily," Rocky replied grimly. "Do you know
where he is?"
"Yes. On Sharia,
the largest of our three continents, an inexplicable anomaly has arisen,
a castle made entirely of obsidian. We could not sense it until just recently."
"Why were you
unable to rescue him?" Trey asked, his eyes narrowed. As Lord of Triforia,
he had had first-hand experience with the skill and courage of Aquitian
warriors.
"The Shadows
have somehow surrounded the castle with a desert, not a very big one, but
too dry for any Aquitian to pass."
"But not for
a human," Tommy finished, smiling.
"Indeed, but
they have also planned for that. An energy-blocking field surrounds the
castle. Only one endowed with Morphin energy and no other type may pass."
"But we don't
have the Morphin power," Kat protested. "Our Power Coins were destroyed."
Delphine smiled.
"Katharine, you may be unable to morph, but you still possess the Morphin
energy. Once given, it never leaves your spirit. Unfortunately, your Zeo
powers will not pass the barriers around the castle. We are at loose ends,
Rangers of Earth. I hope that you can help us." With those words, Delphine
signed off.
"Hmm," Tommy
mused. "We need someone who has held the Morphin power, but not a Zeo Ranger."
In unison, everyone turned to look at Jason.
"No, Rangers,"
Zordon boomed. "I am afraid that Jason is still simply too weak from his
brush with the Gold Ranger powers. He would not survive this encounter."
"Then there's
only one answer," Tommy declared. "I'm going."
"No way!" Rocky
yelled. "You've got Zeo powers, remember?"
"So I'll give
them to David. He held the powers before, and did really well."
"Tommy, let
me go," Adam broke in. "We can't risk losing you."
Tommy shook
his head. "Adam, I'm the leader. This is my responsibility. I chose to
take it almost a year and a half ago, when I accepted Zordon's appointing
me as White Ranger and leader of the team. Billy may no longer be on Earth,
he may no longer wield a power, but he is still my teammate, and I owe
it to him to go. David," he turned to his brother, stripping off his Zeonizers,
"here's the Zeonizers. You still remember what to do?"
David nodded,
swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yeah, I remember. Listen, bro, don't
get yourself killed out there, okay? I couldn't handle the responsibility."
Tommy smiled
at his brother. "Don't worry, Dave. I'll be fine." He then turned to his
sister, who was biting her lip in an effort to keep from crying. "Chelse,
take care of Teddy for me, and make my excuses to everyone. I'll be back
soon, promise." Then he turned back to Zordon. "All right, Zordon, I'm
ready."
"Then prepare
to teleport, and good luck, Tommy." As the teleportation system took over,
Tommy's form faded into a crackle of white light. Chelsea's eyes narrowed.
Was it her imagination, or was that white light faintly tinged with green?
Tommy's first
sight as he reformed on Aquitar was five very worried Aquitian Rangers.
Cestro in particular seemed upset, probably because he was closest to Billy
and very worried about Cestria, his niece. As his vision cleared completely,
he saw an unfamiliar humanoid woman in odd purple-blue coveralls that bore
a strange insignia, shaped something like a silver star, emblazoned on
the left side of the chest. She stood in a corner, watching him in obvious
surprise.
"Tommy!" Delphine
cried. "I am glad that you are here. But who then is serving as the Red
Zeo Ranger?"
"My twin brother
David. We met not too long ago, and he's filled in for me before. Who's
this?"
"Tommy," Aurico
hesitated, pulling nervously at his red tunic, "this is Lieutenant Maris
D'saio, of the Intergalactic Police Force. She was vacationing on Aquitar
when all this began and has lent us her considerable knowledge of the Shadow
Empire."
"Lieutenant,"
Tommy acknowledged, extending his hand to her. She shook it briskly and
turned to Delphine.
"This
is the help you called for? He's barely more than a child!"
"I'm seventeen
Earth years old," Tommy acknowledged, "but I'm not a child."
"And he's from
Earth! You called a teenager from a backwater, off-limits planet to fight
with one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the known galaxy?"
"Look," Tommy
broke in, beginning to get annoyed. "I may not be seven thousand years
old, like some Rangers, and I may not be from the center of galactic society.
But I have led the Zeo Rangers in countless battles against the Machine
Empire, a threat which is certainly not child's play!" His declaration,
intense but not loud, finally drew her attention. Making sure he kept it,
he stepped forward, using his height to emphasize his words. "Now, I don't
know anything about the Shadow Empire, or Intergalactic Police, or anything
except that those Shadows have my friend and I plan to get him back, with
or without your help. But it would help if I knew what you know about them.
So let's sit down and you brief me about these suckers, okay?" Lt. D'saio
nodded, a slight smile on her face. She waved him over to a chair at a
nearby table and the two sat down.
"I like you,
Tommy. You have backbone. I'm sorry that I was so rude, but you're much
younger than any of the Rangers I've dealt with in the past. Rangering
isn't exactly for children, or even teenagers, really."
Tommy nodded. "Zordon
told us once that he chose teenagers because we were old enough to be good
fighters and responsible about the use of our powers, and young enough
to accept new things easily. Plus, since we weren't adults, our lives would
not be as totally disrupted by the need for secrecy. That's the one thing
I've never understood, though. The villains all knew who we were, so why
did we need to keep our identities secret? None of the other Ranger teams
we've met or heard of had to."
"The need for
secrecy is unique to your type of world, it's true. You see, Earth is much
younger than most of the worlds in the galaxy. As a result, its culture
has not developed as far as, say, Eltare's. Exposing the people of Earth
to galactic culture all at once might result in disaster. Zordon had himself
posted on your world to protect it in case an evil ever threatened that
your people could not defeat on their own. The posting of a Ranger team
is the only interference from our culture allowed."
Tommy nodded
again. "That makes sense, thanks. I don't really know that much about the
IGPF, either. What do you do, exactly? What separates you from Rangers?"
"Rangers are
basically military in function. They defend worlds against invasion and
annihilation. The IGPF is the police force. We don't have jurisdictions
around here. The Force can chase a criminal anywhere, although they have
to go undercover if they want to chase him to a planet like Earth. We arrest
those accused of crimes, while Rangers fight off attacks and represent
the Power. If you should actually manage to capture one of your enemies,
rather than destroy him, you would turn him over to us to be taken to stand
trial."
"Oh, I see.
Okay, let's move onto the Shadows, shall we?"
"All right.
The Shadow Empire is what you would call a criminal organization. They're
responsible for numerous crimes around the galaxy, robberies, assassinations,
you name it. Nobody knows exactly what they are. Some people speculate
that they're an evolutionary dead end, some theorize that they were created
by a wizard's spell gone wrong- or worse yet, gone too right. All anyone
can agree on is that they are basically living shadows.
"They have a
particularly nasty way of killing people. They reach inside you and absorb
your spirit. Not your soul, but the energy that powers you, makes you live.
Your planet has also called it chi, or life-force. Once the spirit is gone,
the body is just a lifeless husk. Very nasty; I've heard it hurts like
hell.
"They're solid,
thank goodness, so they can't ooze through walls. However, they're amorphous,
taking any form they want, as long as it's the same size. Not even the
Shadows can violate conservation of mass. And, somehow, when they take
someone's spirit energy, they can reach inside them. The solidity
doesn't seem to matter."
Tommy bit his
lip. "Anything else?"
"Yeah. They're
damn hard to kill. Energy bolts don't even faze them. I'd suggest a bladed
weapon if you're going in there. If worst comes to worst, you can chop
the things apart. That should stop them. Do you know how to use a knife?"
He grinned.
"Actually, yes. My sister taught me. Her martial arts class covered knives."
Delphine poked
her head back into the chamber. "Tommy, everything is in readiness for
your trip to the castle. It's time to get going."
Tommy stood
up. "Thanks for the information, Lt. D'saio. Now let's see if I listened
well enough to keep my skin intact."
In the newly
formed Sharian desert, a mile or so away from the Castle of Shadows, Tommy
Oliver appeared. Unfortunately, this was as close as the Aqutians' teleportation
system could drop him without setting off the Shadows' sensors. Sighing,
he checked his supplies and began to walk.
Not long afterwards,
he came into sight of the castle and stopped, appalled. It was tall and
jet-black, with twisted spires everywhere, a complete monument to evil.
Staring at the desolation around him, Tommy suddenly remembered a line
from the poem "Ozymandias," which he had read in English not long before.
"And round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone
and level sands stretch away." Shivering, he grinned slightly. "Looks like
Rocky is rubbing off on me," he muttered. Continuing his walk, he soon
found his way to the castle wall, but could find no door. After hunting
around for a while, he found a black portal into the stone. Gingerly, he
reached out and put his hand into it. The blackness was cold, but yielding.
Gathering his courage, he stepped through and found himself inside the
castle.
Tommy was surprised
to find that the hallway he had entered was well lit with what appeared
to be burning torches. "Makes sense," he muttered. "You can't have a shadow
without some light to cast it." Stealthily, he crept down the black corridor,
noting with some apprehension the dark, warped versions of himself reflected
in the polished obsidian walls.
Despite his
furtiveness, luck was not with Tommy. Rounding a corner, he came face to
face with a sentry. It would be hard to say who was more surprised, Tommy
or the Shadow. Tommy recovered first, however, pulling his knife from the
sheath on his belt. His adversary was completely jet black, about the size
of an orangutan, with a vaguely humanoid body structure. There all similarity
to a human being ended, however. The creature's fingers and toes were tipped
with extremely sharp talons and its head resembled that of a dragon, with
empty pits for eyes, pits that seemed even blacker than the rest of it,
if possible. Completing the picture was a long, whip-like, wickedly barbed
tail. All in all, the Shadow had taken a form designed almost perfectly
for fighting.
Recovering its
aplomb, the Shadow launched itself at Tommy, loosing an inhuman screech.
Faster than the eye could follow, Tommy struck with the knife, scoring
a nasty slash along the thing's ribs. Although the cut was deep and did
not disappear, nothing- neither blood nor ichor- leaked out of the wound.
Damn! Tommy thought. These things don't bleed! Unfortunately,
I do! Even as he thought this, the Shadow struck out with its claw-tipped
hand, catching Tommy along the thigh. Even as the pain of the strike burned
through him, Tommy was conscious of an intense cold beginning to radiate
from the wound site. The cold of deep space, he thought incoherently,
of shadows that have never known the sun. Shaking his head to clear
it, he pulled himself back to the battle, but too late. Leaping from the
ground, the Shadow struck Tommy in the chest. Its weight bore him crashing
down to the flagstone floor. Unable to rise with the Shadow sitting on
his chest, Tommy could only watch as the creature reached towards his heart,
preparing to drink his spirit. Chittering obscenely to itself, the creature
reached out and slipped its hand effortlessly into Tommy's chest. Tommy
felt a piercing cold begin to spread through his body. The Shadow laughed
triumphantly, began to absorb Tommy's spirit-
And howled.
Not a howl of triumph, or ecstasy, but one of pure pain. Lying on the floor,
looking up at the creature, Tommy tried to figure out what was happening.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and the Shadow popped out of existence.
Tommy was reminded of the way light bulbs expire. A brilliant burst of
light, and then nothing.
Groggily, Tommy
shook his head and picked himself up off of the floor. What in the world
happened? he asked himself. Grinning, he answered his own question.
I think I gave it indigestion. Sighing, he moved off along the corridor
again. He had a friend to find, and if his recent dinner guest had managed
to get off an alarm, he didn't have much time to do it.
Billy slowly
swam to consciousness, only to discover that he couldn't move. As he came
fully awake, he realized why. He had been completely encased in some kind
of crystal. Interesting, he mused to himself, I don't seem to
need to breathe. I wonder if this crystal is supplying my bodily needs?
A crystalline life-support system. He kept his mind occupied with this
for quite some time. It was certainly better than dwelling on what the
situation was doing to his rampant claustrophobia. It was strange, but
ever since he was a child, he had been uncomfortable in tight spaces. The
only cramped area that had never made him at least slightly uneasy had
been the cockpit of his Zord. Of course, in the Zords, you had a definite
distraction, he thought wryly. Monsters were good for keeping your
mind off of your fears. When the Rangers had brought Jason to the Power
Chamber after he had been turned to gold by the Midas Hound, however, he
had been so sickened at the thought of being frozen that he had almost
been unable to help. His trips to and from Aquitar in those spaceships
had been pure torture. Billy, he asked himself with a mental shake
of the head, what is a guy who can't stand tight spaces doing on a water
world when he can't breathe water? Sometimes he wondered about that decision.
Love alone wasn't enough to explain it.
Outside the
crystal, the Shadows were still running around, chittering at him occasionally.
Now and then, one of the larger ones went past. One of those, around the
size and general shape of a human, approached him now, and laid a hand
on the wall of his prison. "Hello, Billy," it hissed. The Shadow's voice
was cold and menacing, the type of sound you might hear if radio static
could talk.
How am I
hearing him? Billy wondered. Does the crystal send vibrations to
my ears? Or is it some sort of telepathic communication?
The Shadow made
a low, breathy sound that Billy realized, with some horror, was a laugh.
"Something like that. I can hear you very well, at any rate. Oh, but don't
expect your Aquitian girlfriend to be able to trace you here. The crystal
prevents telepathic contact with anyone not touching it."
What do you
want? Billy sent defiantly.
"Oh, Billy,
you cannot begin to understand your usefulness to us. You are our hostage;
with you in our possession, the Aquitian Rangers will not dare attack us.
Your brain will also be a very great prize. Once we have absorbed your
intellect, we will possess not only your incredible intelligence, but your
telepathic skill as well! The Shadows will be able to enter any mind, any
place, think through anything! We will reign supreme and sweep all lesser
creatures from our path!"
Oh, yeah,
I've heard that one before, came the sarcastic reply, accompanied
by images of Zedd, Rita, and Mondo. The Shadow chuckled.
"You have a
sense of humor. Most engaging. It will be most enjoyable when your essence
has been absorbed into our beings."
Suddenly, the
Shadow's head snapped up. "Oh, now this is interesting. A Morphin energy
signature has just entered the castle. It looks as though your Aquitian
friends are trying a rescue after all. I'm sure that their spirits will
feed our hunger immensely." Suddenly, a howl cut through the castle, the
sound of a creature in excruciating pain. "What was that!" the Shadow cried,
its black eyes flashing. "That was no Aquitian! That spirit- hmm. Perhaps
we can turn such a one to our advantage. Step up the treatment!" it called.
"I want this one totally separated as quickly as possible!"
With those instructions
ringing in his ears, Billy's consciousness swam back down into darkness.
One thought followed him into oblivion: who had come to rescue him?
Some time later,
Tommy made his way into the chamber where Billy was being kept. Upon seeing
the crystal prison his friend was being kept in, he let out a strangled
shout and ran across the room. "Oh, Billy," he sighed, heedless of the
Shadows filling the room behind him. "Man, you've got to be spazzing out
in there." Tommy had only seen his friend's reaction to confined spaces
once or twice, but that was all it took. Billy's claustrophobia was not
something to be taken lightly.
"Gee, Tommy,
someone might almost think you were worried about me," Billy's voice drawled
from behind him. Tommy turned, the hint of malice in the voice tipping
him off that it would not be his friend he was facing. Behind him stood
what appeared to be Billy, but his normally warm green eyes were ice blue
and seemed to glow with an inner light. Plus, Billy's warm and open features
were twisted into a mask of malice and disdain.
"Who are you?"
Tommy asked suspiciously, staring at the figure before him.
"I'm Billy,
just as much as that lump of meat in that crystal over there. I would have
thought you'd know all about this sort of thing, Tommy, considering your
never-ending troubles of the same sort."
Now Tommy understood
what he was looking at. Somehow, the Shadows had distilled all the anger
and pain in Billy to create the creature he was facing. Standing before
him was Billy's dark side made flesh, and he was big trouble.
"Billy, I know
you can hear me. I know you're in there somewhere, so listen to me. I'm
here to help you, but I can't do it alone. You're going to have to help
me. Billy, do you hear me?"
Shadow Billy's
eyes flashed and in three quick strides, he crossed to face Tommy. "Oh,
I hear you. The question is, why would I ever do what you say? You've always
treated me like a second-class citizen. Well, I'm the one with the
power now, and I'm finally going to use it." So saying, he backfisted Tommy
across the face, knocking the other boy to the ground. Raising his hand
to his cheek, Tommy was not overly surprised to find a spot of freezing
cold. Slowly, he lifted himself to his feet.
"Billy, listen
to me. We are friends. I said a lot of things I shouldn't have, things
I didn't mean, and things I know now aren't true. I was wrong to say those
things, and I admit it. They're not true, Billy. You're not a coward; in
fact, you're the bravest person I know. That's why I want you to fight
this. Not for me, but for you. Is this really what you want out of life?
To be a Shadow?"
Shadow Billy's
lip trembled. Sounding far more like Billy usually did, he sighed. "Shadows
don't feel fear, Tommy. I'm so tired of being afraid, waiting for some
villain to drop his monster of the day on me or my friends. I just want
it to end."
"Billy, it's
all right to be afraid. It's normal. The trick is not to let your fear
control you. You never have. Shadows don't feel fear, true, but they don't
feel pleasure, or love, or friendship, either. Are you going to run away
from all your feelings just because you don't want to be afraid? If you
can really do that, maybe you are the coward I called you," Tommy finished
coldly.
"SHUT UP!" Shadow
Billy cried, lunging at Tommy. Neatly catching the other by his wrists,
Tommy swung his assailant around and pinned him against a wall. Ignoring
the burning cold in his hands, moving himself so that he could look into
Shadow Billy's eyes, he began to speak again.
"I know you're
afraid of the dark side of yourself. The evil we're capable of is a scary
thing. You're thinking, why not let the Shadows have it? But you can't
do that, Billy. You can't separate the good and evil aspects of your personality.
I tried to deny the dark side of myself once, and it almost ended up tearing
me apart. The same thing will happen to you. 'A house divided against itself
cannot stand.' Remember when we learned that in Freshman History?"
"Lincoln," Shadow
Billy mumbled. "Abraham Lincoln said that."
"That's right.
If you try to divide your spirit into good and evil, you'll collapse. You
have to look at your darkness and accept it. Say 'That's what I can become,
but I won't. I don't have to be the worst I can.' Look at yourself, Billy.
You're not perfect, you're human. But is that really so bad?"
Shadow Billy
stared into Tommy's eyes for a long moment, and then began to dissolve.
Soon there was nothing left of him. That was when three things happened
at once.
Tommy's hands,
cold-burned by the contact with Shadow Billy, began to hurt in earnest.
The Shadows,
who up until now had ringed the room, began to close in, chittering menacingly.
And the crystal
which held Billy prisoner gave a shattering crack, and Billy tumbled free.
Tommy moved
back to stand by the unconscious Billy, wondering how on Earth he was going
to get them out of this one. He might be immune to the Shadows' spirit-drinking
touches, but he very much doubted that the same could be said of Billy.
Besides, the things still had very sharp talons and weren't afraid to use
them. Desperate, he racked his brains looking for a solution.
Suddenly, things
that other people had said to him came back in a rush. Ninjor. Your
animal spirits are a part of you. Zordon. Ninjor has linked your
Power Coins with your human energies. Delphine. You still possess
the Morphin energy. Once given, it never leaves your spirit. "That's
it!" he cried aloud. "The powers are still a part of us! Maybe I can call
on mine!" Which left him with the question of which power to call. Only
one color, White or Green, had bonded to his spirit and would respond to
his call. The way the Shadows were advancing, he'd only get one shot at
it. Time to find out which it was.
Closing his
eyes, Tommy tuned out all external distractions, reaching inside himself
for the energy he knew was there. When he found the core, he allowed it
to flow through him. Now all that remained was to call it by name.
"Dragonzord!"
A flash of green
light filled the room. When it cleared, Tommy stood garbed all in green.
Loose green pants, a green tunic top, green split-toed ninja boots, and
a green headband. In his hand was a green-handled katana. Set into the
middle of the chest of his uniform was a large golden coin, emblazoned
with the symbol of the Panther. Smiling wickedly, Tommy, now the Green
Morphin Warrior, turned towards the Shadows and hefted his katana. "Let's
rock." The Shadows charged him, and the fight was on.
Billy slowly
awoke to the sounds of chittering and "sie-kyuh!" "That must be Tommy,"
he mumbled, pushing himself off of the floor. "He's the only person I know
who says 'sie-kyuh,' instead of 'ki-yah.'" As his vision cleared, Billy
looked up to see Tommy clad in a strange green uniform. It somewhat resembled
the uniforms that the team had worn as Ninja Rangers, but Tommy's face
was completely visible. It looks like a Ninjetti uniform, Billy
thought to himself. Then he frowned. What the hell is a "Ninjetti?"
Even as he rose to his feet, Billy saw Tommy looking back at him.
"Nice of you
to wake up," Tommy grinned, slicing through yet another Shadow that had
leapt at him. The two halves of the creature fell to the ground and disappeared.
"I was wondering, do you think you could give me a hand with these guys?
I don't think I can hold them off all by myself."
"What am I supposed
to do," Billy asked sarcastically. "Beat them over the head with a pocket
calculator? I don't have any powers, remember?"
"Yes, you do!
Remember how Zordon told us both, the various times we lost our powers,
that we would always be Rangers?" Tommy asked, never pausing in his battle.
"Yeah, so?"
"He didn't mean
just in an honorary sense. Billy, the power is still part of us, and we
can still morph! All you have to do is reach down inside yourself and call
on your power."
Billy thought
about this for a long moment, while Tommy hacked and slashed, keeping the
Shadows at bay. Then he reached down inside himself, looking for the core
of Blue energy inside him. Suddenly, a long, liquid howl burst from Billy's
throat. It sounded so frightening and wolf-like that the Shadows backed
away in fear. A burst of brilliant sapphire light filled the room, and
when it faded, Billy was the Blue Morphin warrior.
His outfit was
different from Tommy's. Billy wore a solid blue bodysuit somewhat like
the uniform he had worn as Blue Ranger. His knee-high boots were a darker
blue, as was the vest of an almost Kevlar-like material that covered his
torso from shoulder to waist. Set into the center of the vest was a golden
coin on which was emblazoned the symbol of the wolf. On a belt, he wore
a laser pistol, and covering his eyes was a light blue visor.
"Nice outfit,"
Tommy grinned.
"Shut up and
fight," Billy shot back, stifling his own smile. Pulling his pistol out
of his belt, he aimed at the press of Shadows homing in on them.
"Um, Billy,
I don't think a laser pistol's going to be much good against these guys.
They eat laser bolts for breakfast."
"Just watch,"
Billy smirked. He pulled the trigger and a blue beam of light shot out.
Where it touched the Shadows, it produced a zone of absolute zero. Even
the Shadows could not survive total molecular stasis. The unlucky ones
struck by the beam instantly disintegrated.
"Wow," Tommy
managed, suitably impressed.
"What now?"
asked Billy. "We fight our way out of here?"
Tommy shook
his head. "We blow this place sky high. Find me the power center of this
castle. Your visor can do that, can't it?"
Billy nodded,
and began scanning. "Out that door!" he pointed.
"Then let's
go!"
Billy thought
later that even if he lived to be a thousand, he would never forget the
two of them making their way down the hall. He shot at everything that
moved, unless it was green. Shadow after Shadow was destroyed, but there
seemed to be no end to them. Tommy seemed to be everywhere at once, slicing,
thrusting, and wearing a berserker's grin. As for the Shadows, they seemed
to have no strategy at all, simply attempting to bear the two boys down
under the weight of their numbers. Billy realized that the intelligent
ones, like the one who had spoken to him earlier, must be keeping well
back from the fray, sending what amounted to drones after the two Rangers.
Finally, the boys reached a barred door which Billy's visor told them was
the computer room. Two quick shots with Billy's pistol, and the door was
history. They ran inside, and oddly enough, the Shadows did not follow.
Once in, Tommy
and Billy both stopped dead. They couldn't help it. Towering above them
was the biggest Shadow they had yet seen, a huge amorphous blot of darkness
which twisted and writhed constantly. Billy looked away, nauseated, but
Tommy could not tear his eyes from it. It sickened him, but it fascinated
him, too.
Yesssss,_
the thing hissed, in the most awful voice Billy had ever heard. It somehow
conjured up images of nails on a chalkboard, screams of pain, and Lord
Zedd's mocking laughter. I see you are a mighty warrior, young Shadow.
With a horrified start, Billy realized that the thing was addressing Tommy.
"I'm not a Shadow,"
Tommy replied, but his voice lacked conviction.
Of course
you are, my child. Look into your heart. The light in there is equal to
the darkness, no more, no less. It has always been thus with those of the
Green Morphin Power, and some of those swell our ranks. Come to us. Join
with us. I know that you are tired of struggle, tired of fighting. Come
to us, and be at peace.
"No..." Tommy
shook his head, but more in confusion than in denial. "I have to fight.
I- owe it to my friends."
What friends?
Those Rangers back on Earth? The girl who deserted you for your brother?
The inexperienced child with no conception of who you have been? The silent
Adam, who watches you with such disdain? Rocky, who could never be smart
enough to comprehend what you have experienced? Perhaps you mean Jason,
who was quite content as leader of the Rangers- before you came along.
Maybe your brother, who now has EVERYTHING you ever had. Or perhaps-
and here the thing's voice began to drip malice- you are referring to
the genius behind you, who mistakenly blames you for all the failures in
his life. None of these are your friends. They laugh at you, they have
no conception of your abilities. They would all be happier without you,
and tell yourself the truth, Tommy. Wouldn't you be happier without them?
"No..." By now,
Tommy's voice was almost non-existent, and his eyes were dead and despairing.
Billy could see how close he was to crossing over.
"Tommy!" he
shouted. "Don't listen to it! It's lying to you. You know Adam respects
you, and Rocky's not that stupid. Naive, yes, but not stupid. Tanya already
thinks you're one step away from perfection; she didn't need to know you
very long for that. And Katherine? She loves David, she didn't love you.
How happy would either of you have been? Jason, well, Jason might miss
being in charge, but he doesn't resent you for that. When Gasket had you,
Jason was the one pushing to find you. He could have stepped into your
shoes as leader then, but he didn't. David didn't take anything away from
you; Kat never belonged to you and you gave him the powers yourself.
"As for me,"
and here Billy's voice grew quieter, "I don't blame you for the failures
in my life. I don't blame anybody. Time spent in that crystal gave me time
to think. I've had bad luck, with women and life in general. You risked
your life and spirit to save me. How could I hate you after that? We've
been best friends before, and I would hate to see that go. C'mon, Tommy.
Fight it."
"I- I-" Tommy
looked confused. Sensing that it was losing its prey, the Shadow switched
tactics.
What do these
friends of yours know of your weariness, of the fear and pain you feel?
You are Shadow, always walking the thin line between dark and light. To
fall in either direction will cost you yourself. Come to us, and the fighting
will stop. No dark, no light, only twilight and eternal shadow. Pulling
from the part of Billy's mind that it had absorbed, the Shadow began to
quote. "What pleasure can we have to war with evil? Let us alone. Time
hurries onward fast. All things are taken from us and become part and parcel
of the dreadful past." Come to us, Tommy, and all your pain will cease.
"'Why should
we only toil, who are the roof and crown of things.'" Billy whispered,
quoting from the same poem. "Tommy, I know you're tired of walking a tightrope,
but falling to the Shadows is not a solution. Remember what you said to
me? Shadows don't feel pain, but they don't feel anything else, either.
Can you live without love?"
You don't
have to, the Shadow crooned. Come to us, and we can give you what you really
want. A Shadow stepped out, changing form as it did so to become a
girl, 5'2", with auburn hair and brown eyes. Tommy gasped. The form the
Shadow had chosen was that of Kimberly Hart.
"Tommy?" she
asked, mimicking Kim's voice perfectly. "I want you to come with me. I
miss you."
"Kimberly,"
Tommy croaked.
"Yes, Tommy.
I'm sorry I hurt you so badly. Can't we kiss and make up?" She smiled,
a perfect copy of Kimberly's smile. Billy felt sick. She was Kimberly down
to the last detail- except her eyes. They were cold and flat, the eyes
of an animal. Would Tommy see? He hoped so, but he couldn't interfere.
And distraction now might snap Tommy's tenuous resistance to the Shadow's
lure.
Tommy smiled
shyly. "I'd like that, Kim," he replied, his voice full of meaning. Smiling
again, she crossed towards him, ready to take him in her arms and kiss
him into oblivion- literally.
Except when
she came within arm's length, Tommy's katana whipped out, cutting her deeply
across the chest. Looking into the gaping wound, the two boys could see
nothing. No blood, no bone. This Kimberly was definitely not human. Her
eyes burning, the Kimberly-thing lost all color and definition, becoming
yet another Shadow.
"You're not
Kimberly. Kim would never willingly serve a monster. It's one of the things
I love about her," Tommy declared coldly. "You almost had me there, but
showing me Kimberly reminded me how much I love my friends and family.
I'm not such a coward as to give up when I get tired. Nice try." He turned
back to Billy. "Thanks, man."
Billy smiled
at his friend. "Hey, no problem. What are friends for?"
Tommy grinned.
"Great. Find me that power core and we can blow this pop stand."
Billy swallowed.
"Um, Tommy? My readings show that the power core is that giant shadow."
Smiling nastily,
Tommy cracked his knuckles. "Well, then, Billy, take some of these charges
and plant them. I don't think that thing can attack us; if it could have,
it wouldn't have wasted any time trying to convert us."
"What about
the little ones?" Billy asked nervously, a little frightened by the vengeful
expression on Tommy's face.
"Shoot 'em."
What followed
was straight out of a nightmare. Billy thought that he was going to be
pulled down by a horde of the little Shadows, but somehow he managed to
plant all the charges. He signaled to Tommy, who had just finished planting
his last one.
"Okay, let's
go!" The two boys rushed out of the castle, little Shadows at their heels.
Behind them, they could hear the explosions start, ripping through the
castle like a kid on Christmas morning. They vaulted out of the portal,
only seconds ahead of a huge fireball which fried all of their pursuers.
Tommy and Billy lay on the sand for a moment, stunned. Then Billy picked
himself up and looked at his friend.
"Well, that
was fun, Tommy. But what are we going to do next weekend?" The two boys
burst into giggles. They were still laughing when the dry weather pattern
that the Shadows had instituted to create their desert broke up. The sudden
downpour of rain only made them laugh harder, ecstatic with the knowledge
that the fight was finally over. When the Aquitian Rangers teleported in
to see what had happened, they found the two Rangers soaked to the skin,
laughing uncontrollably in the gentle rain.
Upon their return
to the Alien Ranger's headquarters, Cestria ran to Billy and threw herself
into his sodden arms. "Billy! You're alive!"
Billy, still
in his Morphin Warrior costume, wrapped his arms around her and held her
tightly. "Yeah. Thanks to Tommy."
"And I see,"
Delphine broke in with a smile, "that the two of you have discovered your
Morphin Warrior powers. These powers have bonded with you, making you stronger.
While you are not so powerful as true Rangers, you should have the ability
to defend yourself against most threats.
"Delphine, I
don't understand something," Tommy frowned. "Why didn't Zordon tell us
about this when we lost our Power Coins?"
"Because, Tommy,
the Morphin Warrior powers do not provide you with the strength or durability
that you need to fight Zedd's monsters. You see, no Ranger can tap the
Morphin Grid without a transformation artifact. The power needed to make
a Ranger is simply too strong to be fed into a living being without some
sort of filter. Now you are drawing unfiltered Morphin power, and therefore
can draw only about half of what your coins would provide."
Tommy nodded.
"I see. We couldn't have faced Mondo with our old powers, much less half-strength
ones. The Zeo crystal was necessary to be strong enough to fight the Machine
Empire. One thing that still puzzles me, though is why that Shadow couldn't
absorb my spirit. It reached inside my chest and then went poof!"
"I can answer
that," replied Lt. D'saio, coming to the front of the gathering. "From
your outfit, Tommy, it would appear that you are a Green Ranger, right?"
"Something along
those lines," Tommy agreed.
"Well, every
power of light must have a shadow. The Green Power is the shadow of the
Morphin spectrum. The Green Rangers have all walked the line between dark
and light. The Shadows couldn't absorb a shadowed spirit, and it was like
you or me biting into an iron file hidden in a loaf of bread."
"I think it
was more than the Green Power doing that," Billy interjected, startling
them all. "Tommy, when you had your split personality, you divided yourself
along lines of dark and light. When you integrated your two personalities,
it resulted in a total integration of darkness and light, making you pure
shadow."
Chewing on his
lower lip, Tommy considered that. "I get it. Thanks, Billy."
Billy smiled.
"No problem, man. It's what I'm here for."
Tommy shook
his head. "You're here for more than that, Billy. You'll always be a Ranger,
and I'll always be proud to have you on my team."
After a few more
explanations and a round of goodbyes, Tommy was teleported back to Earth.
The desert, he was assured, would soon return to its former rain forest
state under Aquitian ecological management. Soon after Tommy's departure,
Cestria noted that Billy was nowhere inside the Aquitian Rangers' compound.
Placing a firm check on her panic, she went to the island above and found
him there, staring up at the sky.
"Billy," she
called quietly. He looked up at her approached, smiled, and motioned for
her to sit beside him.
"Do you see
that star?" he asked, pointing over her shoulder. "That yellow one, there.
That's my sun, my home star. Millions of generations lived and died there,
and not one of them has ever seen it like this. It looks so small, but
it's so important to them, so full of life."
"Billy, are
you homesick?" she asked him shyly. He sighed.
"Cestria, I
can't answer that question. I don't know where home is anymore. I used
to think it was Earth. After all, I was born there, I grew up there, I
had every expectation of dying there. Then I thought it was Aquitar. Now
I'm not so sure. I mean, I'm rampantly claustrophobic! What am I doing
on a planet where ninety percent of the civilization is underwater? Where
everything's closed in? The only thing that's keeping me here is you, and
how I feel about you. I love you, I really do. It's just-" Billy took a
deep breath. "Today, I came closer to dying than I have in a long time.
All I could think about was the people I'd never see again. My dad, my
friends, you." He shook his head. "I guess you could say that I'm Earth-sick,
Cestria. I love it still, even if it isn't home- and I don't know that
it isn't. I'm just confused."
She put an arm
around his shoulders. "Whatever happens, remember that I love you."
"I will." Arms
around each other, they watched as Aquitar's two suns went down and the
brilliant, alien stars came out.
On another planet,
another boy watched the stars appear, tracing the old, familiar patterns
with the ease of long acquaintance. He didn't even look away as another
boy slid down the desert slope next to him. "Hey, man," Rocky De Santos
called quietly. "What are you looking for?"
Tommy chuckled.
"Nothing, really. Just looking. Rocky, do you ever think about those stars?
How they're a part of us? People used to navigate by them, and use them
to tell time, did that for hundreds of centuries. They hardly seem to change,
so you're seeing what your ancestors saw a hundred or a thousand years
ago. Through our stars, we're connected. But Billy's on Aquitar, looking
at stars no human has ever seen. I was just thinking how lonely that must
be."
"Hmm," Rocky
mused, coming to sit by Tommy. "You miss him, don't you?"
"Yeah. I didn't
think I would at first. When he left, I figured it'd heal over, like losing
Jason, Trini, Zack, and- and Kim. It didn't. It still hurts. I guess- he
was my last link to the past, like Lita said. With him gone, I'm sort of
adrift. Jason's great, but he's not part of the team, and he seems so distant
now. I miss Billy, a lot."
"Did you work
things out between you?"
"Oh, yeah. That
probably saved our lives. If I hadn't forgiven him, he would have stayed
a Shadow, and if he hadn't forgiven me, I would have been one. I never
realized how much of a rock Billy was, always. He was calm, he was rational,
even when the rest of us were freaking out. I didn't know how much I needed
it until he was gone."
Rocky put a
comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "He's still alive, man, and he's
still our friend. No distance- no amount of stars between us- can change
that."
Tommy smiled.
"You're right, Rocky. Thanks."
"No problem,
amigo. De nada." The two boys fell silent then, staring up at the desert
sky for many hours, thinking of friendships lost and found. Above them,
the stars shone on.
The End... for now