Author's Note: And here's part two. Please give feedback. Hope y'all like it!


Angel Grove Youth Center

Angel Grove, CA

3:29 PM

Adam Park pulled his friend Rocky off the floor for the sixth time that day, shaking his head.

"Rocky, you need to focus," said Adam seriously.

Rocky cracked his fingers, getting into his fighting stance again. Ever since he approached Aisha that morning, Rocky had been completely out of it. He nearly set his lab partner on fire in chemistry, read the wrong excerpt in English class, went to the wrong class for precalculus, and was pretty sure he bombed his physics test.

All in all, his day completely sucked.

Rocky blinked hard, his world upside down as he now was staring at the orange ceiling of the Youth Center. Adam suddenly came into view, shaking his head. Rocky made a face before moving to his feet.

"Again."

Adam looked at him. "You crazy? I'm not trying to give you anymore brain damage."

Rocky scowled. "Come on, man. I'm focused."

Adam walked away from him, grabbing his towel from his chair.

"I'd rather not." He reached down, grabbing his water bottle to take a sip of water. "You're not even remotely focused. You're too jumpy about your little talk you're going to have with 'Sha."

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Please. I'm not jumpy because of 'Sha."

Adam shrugged. "Okay, then go talk to her. She just walked in." Rocky's eyes bugged as he turned around, only to see Aisha nowhere in sight.

Adam snickered. "You were saying?" Rocky scowled.

"Not funny." Adam shrugged. "I don't know, Rock. Got a few chuckles out of it."

Rocky rolled his eyes, grabbing his own towel to dry off. Adam looked past his friend, smiling as Kim and Aisha entered the building. Adam looked back at Rocky. "So you're gonna tell Aisha you're in love with her?"

Rocky flushed. "Don't say it so loud."

Adam grinned. "So you do love her."

Rocky couldn't help the smile that crept across his face before nodding.

"Well, she's over by the juice bar right now. And she's staring over here." Adam took a long swig of his water.

Rocky rolled his eyes. "The same trick in less than five minutes? I thought you were supposed to be smarter than that." Adam shook his head with a laugh.

"He's not lying, Rocky." Rocky nearly jumped out of his skin as Kimberly appeared behind him in a pink leotard, one of Tommy's jackets around her waist. "Aisha's over there with Ernie waiting on you."

Rocky shot a look at Aisha, waving meekly. She gave him a nervous smile in return.

"Well," he sighed. "Guess it's now or never." He headed over to the yellow ranger.

Adam and Kim watched him leave. She cocked her head to the side. "He's dead," she muttered before moving to the balance beam. Adam merely nodded his head in agreement.

Rocky smoothed his hands over his sweatpants, not wanting to appear gross from how badly his palms were sweating. He grinned as he was within a foot of her. "Hey Aisha." His voice sounded strange to his ears.

She grinned. "Hey."

Rocky looked around. "Can we talk somewhere more private? Like… out by the park?" Aisha nodded, saying goodbye to Ernie before she followed Rocky out of the Youth Center with her backpack, biology book in hand.

Aisha studied her friend as he walked in front of her. She and Rocky had been friends for fifteen years and counting, so she could tell as clear as day that he was about to jump out of his skin from nervousness.

Rocky was jittery. He had asked out plenty of girls before, this should be a piece of cake… except none of them were Aisha Campbell. He was terrified of crossing that line with Aisha, not sure if being more than friends would completely destroy their friendship. At the same time, the idea of being just friends with Aisha for the rest of his life… Rocky wasn't sure he liked the option either. Not if he never tried to be more.

The two found an unoccupied spot in the park and stopped. Rocky turned to face Aisha, opening his mouth to speak before closing it to begin pacing in front of her. He was muttering to himself, and Aisha raised an eyebrow in confusion. He would glance over at her every so often, only to start shaking his head and resume pacing. Aisha could only half understand him, as he spoke to himself softly in a mixture of Spanish and English.

Rocky was sure he looked like a complete lunatic to Aisha. He didn't want to scare her, but he didn't know how to even begin to approach the topic. Running a hand through his hair, Rocky swore softly. Dammit, he was the red ranger of the Power Rangers. He was second-in-command of one of the strongest forces for Good in the galaxy. And here he was, having a freak-out in front of his best friend.

Aisha stared at him before she finally had enough. "Rocky!" He stopped, his eyes wild. "You brought me out here to talk. I'm assuming it was something important." She stood there, giving him a poignant stare, arms wrapped around her bio book.

Rocky stopped, studying her for a few seconds before coming to a decision. "A la mierda," he whispered before cupping Aisha's face in his hands and kissing her firmly. (Fuck it)

Aisha gasped in shock, though it was muffled under his lips. It took several seconds for the shock to wear off before she began to kiss him back. Aisha felt herself melt under his kiss, her limbs turning to jelly. As a result, the biology book slipped from her arms.

And slammed right on Rocky's foot.

Rocky pulled back from her, letting out a painful groan. "Hijo de puta," he moaned in agony. (Son of a bitch)

Aisha was stunned, still dazed by the kiss. When she noticed the pain on Rocky's face and the book on the ground, she snapped into action. "Rocky!" she moved towards him. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" The book was extremely heavy, so he had to be in tremendous pain. She looked around, seeing a nearby park bench. She led Rocky over to the bench, sitting both of them down.

"Shit, that hurt, 'Sha."

She glared at him. "I already apologized, Rocky. Plus, it was your own fault." He threw her a disbelieving look. "You kissed me!" Saying the words out loud silenced them both. They sat in awkward silence for a while.

"W-Why did you kiss me?" she asked softly.

Rocky concentrated on his foot, ignoring her gaze. "Why'd you kiss me back?"

She had no response.

Rocky sighed. "Look, Aisha," he began with far more confidence than he actually felt. "I like you. Well, I always liked you. But I mean I really like you… as in like you like you." Rocky could kick himself. What was he - seven?

He shook his head. "I have feelings for you, Aisha. Real feelings. I've always felt this way… since I guess we were twelve." Her eyes widened in shock. "I didn't really know what it was at the time, but it only grew stronger as the years went by." He breathed deeply, feeling lightheaded from his confession.

"Why didn't you ever say anything if you always felt like this?"

Rocky winced. "Truthfully? I didn't know until last week." Rocky grabbed her hands. "Aisha, my emotional range is very limited. We both know this." She giggled. "I'm familiar with certain feelings. Others… not so much." His face became serious. "It wasn't until we went to Phaedos that it became clear… when we – when I almost lost you."

"I couldn't live with myself if you had died and I never got the chance to tell you how I feel about you." He ran a hand through her hair. "I've been blessed with the opportunity to do that now, and I'm taking it." Aisha stared at their hands.

"I just want to know…do you feel anything for me?" he asked softly.

Aisha laughed, her eyes watery. "You couldn't ask a more stupid question," she sniffed. "I'm crazy about you, Rocky. Always have been." She smiled. "It's ironic. I've been building up the nerve to tell you how I felt, scared you wouldn't return my feelings… and you beat me to the punch."

Rocky smiled. He felt warmth spread through his chest, down his arms and legs. "Thank you for telling me."

Aisha threw him a look. "Please, you had the hard part. Once you said it, telling you was a piece of cake." He laughed. Aisha intertwined their fingers. "Rocky," she whispered. He looked at her. "I'm going to kiss you now."

He grinned, bending down to meet her lips in a soft kiss. They stayed pressed together for a while, and his hand moved to cup the side of her neck. Rocky pulled back, grinning happily.

"I could get used to that," he admitted.

"Me too."

"So does this make you make you my girlfriend?"

Aisha bit her lip. "I don't know."

Rocky stared at her. "You… don't know?" he repeated slowly.

She released his hands. "Just listen to me, okay?" He nodded, trying to remain calm.

"You and I have been friends a really long time Rocky. Since we were practically babies." She took a deep breath. "And even though we have feelings for each other, I'm not sure if pursuing a relationship is worth the risk of our friendship," she finished in a rushed breath.

Rocky thought about what she said. "I get what you're saying, Aisha. Trust me, I agonized this just like you did. But I think we should give it a shot."

Aisha shook her head. "I'm not so sure."

Rocky threw a look her way. "Why are you fighting me on this?"

She stood up. "I'm not fighting you, Rocky. I'm just being realistic. If we started dating, we would more than likely break up." Rocky raised an eyebrow. "I've seen the relationships you've been in, Rocky. None of them lasted long at all, and you don't talk to any of those girls anymore."

He rolled his eyes, knowing this was true. But why couldn't she see she was different?

"I don't want to date you just to have three weeks of fun erase fifteen years of history."

It was Rocky's turn to stand now. "Aisha, it's that very same history that makes us being together different than those other relationships I was in," he stated fiercely. "Those other girls…" he made a face. "I'm not proud to admit it, but I only went with them for superficial reasons. They were pretty faces with nice bodies that were easy."

He shrugged at her glare. "It's not pretty but it's the truth, okay?"

He moved towards her. "I don't feel for you anything remotely close to what I felt for them. They didn't make me smile like you do, 'Sha. They didn't make me angry or happy or drive me insane like you." He grabbed her hands. "They didn't keep me up at night wondering if they were thinking of me just as much as I was thinking of them. That was only you, Aisha. It was always you."

Aisha looked down at the ground, unable to see clearly due to the water in her eyes. "I'm scared of being hurt, Rocky," she whispered. "I'm scared of losing you."

He smiled sadly. "You're not alone, 'Sha. I'm scared shitless just like you, but I'm more scared of never finding out 'what if'." He ran a hand along her cheek. "Don't think on the negative, Aisha. I can't promise you I won't hurt you anymore than you can promise not to hurt me. All I can promise is that I'll give it my best shot."

Aisha closed her eyes as his words washed over her. "I want to be with you, Rocky..."

He opened his arms. "Then you can have me." Aisha stared at him for several seconds before moving slowly, walking into his arms. She brushed a light kiss over his lips before wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. Rocky held her in his arms, his large hands rubbing her back comfortingly.

They had a lot to talk about and several obstacles to overcome, but right then, he felt a lot better about his future with Aisha.


Angel Grove Youth Center

Angel Grove, CA

4:02 PM

Adam slammed his fists into the punching bag, executing several combos in rapid succession. He eyed the clock on the wall. It had been about half an hour since Rocky and Aisha had left the Youth Center, and he wasn't sure if he should take the fact that they were still gone as a good or bad sign.

Moving away from the bag, Adam walked over to Kimberly. She was walking along the beam, concentrating on her routine.

Adam stood off to the side. "Rocky and Aisha aren't back yet."

Kim nodded, executing a back flip on the beam. "Yeah, I know."

He took a sip of water from his bottle. "Think she killed him?"

Kim chuckled softly. "Rocky's too loud for a quiet death; we'd have heard the screams." She turned around on the beam, executing three front flips in a row. Her last flip was a bit shaky.

Adam looked up at her. Kimberly looked… tired. Adam peered closely. Her eyes weren't as bright as they usually were; her posture not as graceful.

"Kimmie, you okay?"

She looked at him, confused, before nodding. Kim did a jump, wobbling terribly as she regained her balance.

Adam was now on full alert. "Kim," he said sternly. She moved into a handstand, doing a split with her legs.

"I haven't been… sleeping that well," she admitted hesitantly. Her arms burned as she held her pose, shaking slightly from the exertion.

Adam's eyes widened. "And you're practicing on the beam?" he asked incredulously. She rolled herself upwards, standing fully on the beam.

"Adam, it's fine. Honestly."

He rolled his eyes. "Kim, it's not fine." His voice lowered. "It's because of the visions, isn't it?" Kimberly lost her footing, turning quickly to regain her balance. She said nothing, continuing with her routine.

"Kim, it's all over your face, okay? You need to rest."

She looked at him sharply. "I'd love to Adam, but that's not really a luxury for me right now," she uttered through gritted teeth. He gave her a wounded look.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Just wound up." She moved to the edge of the beam, preparing to dismount. Adam moved quickly, standing near where she would land.

Billy and Tommy entered the Youth Center then, coming to get some smoothies after a particularly rough practice. Tommy got sacked three times, and three of his passes were completely off-target. Coach Madison had to sit him out for a while, letting the rookie quarterback take a turn while Tommy got his bearings together.

Billy pointed out to Tommy that it would be best if they could stop by his garage to run some tests on his abnormal behavior; a suggestion Tommy shot down vehemently. Tommy chalked it up to having an off day and headed instead to the Youth Center, indicating that the subject was closed for discussion.

Billy pointed at Kim on the beam, rolling his eyes as Tommy smiled like a kid at Christmas seeing his girlfriend practicing. Her dismounts were always impressive, and he was glad they managed to catch this one. He gave a nod to Adam, who shook his head. Tommy raised an eyebrow as Adam cocked his head towards Kimberly.

Taking a deep breath, Kimberly began, attempting to execute her most difficult dismount yet, a double back handspring followed by a full twist flip.

Adam watched in horror as Kimberly lost her balance after the second handspring, throwing off her flip completely. He ran forward, catching her as she came crashing down to the ground. She fell back against his chest, her head connecting painfully with his chin. He grunted at the pain.

Tommy and Billy raced over to them, the white ranger well ahead of Billy as he had begun moving as soon as he saw Kim waver in her handsprings. Carefully, he pulled Kimberly off of Adam.

"Beautiful, are you okay?" he asked gently.

Kim shook her head. "Yeah, I just… I don't know what happened." She seemed dazed.

Tommy pulled her to him, encasing her in his arms as she leaned back against his chest. "Thank you, Adam." Adam nodded, holding his chin.

Ernie came over to them with two bags of ice, having seen the collision from behind the Juice Bar. He handed one to Adam for his chin, the other to Tommy for Kim's head. "You guys okay?"

"Affirmative," answered Billy. "Neither seems to have any major injuries. I'm sure these bags of ice will be sufficient. Thank you, Ernie."

The owner of the Youth Center looked at the four teens worriedly before walking away slowly. "Let me know if you need me to call an ambulance or something. I mean it."

Tommy nodded, lips pressed firmly against Kimberly's forehead as he held her to him.

"What happened?" asked Billy.

Adam removed his bag of ice. "Kim was practicing on the beam. I noticed she was a little shaky; her jumps weren't clean like they usually are."

Tommy glared at him. "And you let her stay on the beam?"

"You know as well as I do no one lets Kimberly do anything," he sneered. "She insisted she was okay and wouldn't get off the beam. It's a good thing I had sense enough to stand near her landing spot or this could've been a lot worse."

Tommy took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for jumping down your throat."

Adam waved him off. "I get it, man. You're worried about her."

Billy studied Kimberly as he asked his next question. "She was shaky?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah. She was really wobbly. Shaky limbs." He glanced at his friend. "She said she hadn't really been getting any sleep either."

Billy nodded, shooting Tommy a knowing look. "Anything else?"

Adam shook his head. "Not that I can think of."

He clapped Adam on the back, moving to look at Kimberly. "Kim, can you hear me?" She nodded. "Can you see me?" She rolled her eyes.

"Billy, I'm fine."

"If you're fine, why didn't you land on your feet?"

She said nothing, choosing instead to turn more into Tommy's arms.

"I've just been really tired lately, Billy," she finally replied.

He looked up at Tommy. "Think now might be a good time to have those tests?"

Tommy hugged Kim closer to him, ignoring Billy's withering glare.


Medical Bay

Command Center

5:26 PM

Tommy pulled on his shirt, happy to be finally unhooked from all the machines in the med bay. Billy had run a complete physical on both Kimberly and him. The rangers routinely got physicals every six months and after every mission, so Billy was going to compare it to their readings from the beginning of the year, as well as against their physicals after their mission on Phaedos.

The long-haired teen sat on the cold steel table, annoyed by all the beeping, colorful machines around him. He hated hospitals ever since his grandfather passed. The medical bay was the same; different name, different building, alien technology, but it served the same purpose.

He buttoned up the shirt to his chest, fixing the collar. In his peripheral, he could see Kimberly sitting on the bed nearest to him. He walked over to her, grasping her smaller fingers in his hands.

"Don't you know you're supposed to land on your feet?"

She smiled lightly at him. "Yeah I know. Thought I'd try something new for a change."

Tommy shook his head, resting his forehead against hers.

"Don't scare me like that again, Kim," he whispered softly.

She released his hands, spreading her legs so he could stand between them as she wrapped her arms around his waist. But Tommy pulled away softly, using his hands to push her hair out of her face. "I can't lose you."

"Hey," she whispered. "I'm not going anywhere." She pressed a kiss against his lips softly.

Leaning forward, Tommy captured her lips in a soul-stirring kiss. Kim moaned softly, her lips swaying lazily against his as the kiss went on for what felt like an eternity. He cupped her neck in his hands, deepening the kiss as he pressed himself fully against her, and she ran her hands up into his long hair. Their tongues dueled gently with hers, and he moaned as she sucked his tongue gently in her mouth.

Kim pulled away from him with a loud smack. She kissed him again softly before smiling against his lips. "Your tongue should be criminal, you know that?" Tommy laughed outright, heat creeping up his neck.

"Shut up," he mumbled playfully.

She grinned. "I love you," she said as she pressed another kiss against the corner of his mouth.

Tommy looked at her with an unreadable expression. He pressed his lips against her forehead, hugging her to him tightly. "I love you, too," he mumbled against her skin.

On the other side of the medical bay, Billy stood at the computer looking over the results.

"Computer, pull up the physical for the white ranger from the mission on Phaedos." The data appeared on the screen. Billy squinted. "Pull up the data from the mission on the Machine Empire."

Billy looked at the results. "Interesting. Computer, pull up the data from the Greece mission as well as the last scheduled bi-annual physical for the white ranger." Billy's squinted harder, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

"Computer, pull up the data from the physical run on the white ranger today." Billy rearranged the data in chronological order, eyes widening in shock.

"Computer, pull up all corresponding data for the pink ranger." He waited, rearranging the data for Kimberly in the same order as Tommy's.

Billy's eyes searched the data rapidly, trying to figure out how this escaped their notice. The vitals of his two friends were changing drastically.

Until their mission to Greece, their vitals were normal. After that, however, they began to change… and not for the better. According to their physicals from the Greece mission, all of their vitals were elevated, which Billy would imagine came from being in contact with the shard. Higher blood pressure, higher pulse rate, increased respiratory rate, increased energy level… everything was elevated.

The changes weren't drastic, so there was no real reason for worry.

Their vitals after the Phaedos mission were a bit lower. Their blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate… energy levels for both around 93 percent.

Their most recent physicals, however, had Billy highly concerned. Given their athleticism, they each had a dangerously low blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiratory rate. Their energy level had dropped to 81 percent of its maximum.

Their reflexes had deteriorated, both reacting slower than normal. It definitely explained their sluggish behavior: Tommy's terrible practice and Kimberly's fall off the balance beam.

Something was depleting their energy, and Billy had a pretty good idea of what might be the cause.

Both of them were actively fighting against the visions they were having… an understandable reaction but apparently not the best way to handle it. Fighting against the visions was depriving them of more than a just few hours of sleep.

It was depleting them of their energy.

It was literally killing them.

Billy was aware that the visions his friends were having were increasing in frequency and intensity, which would most likely require more energy to fight against. He ran a hand over his face in frustration.

"Computer, approximate when the energy levels of the pink and white rangers will be too low for them to survive, around 50 percent. Assume exponential decay as the model for this rate of depletion. Use this data to find a trend. Print out the results."

The computer made several noises, taking its time to process the data. Billy headed to the printer, removing the sheet once it was done.

He stared at the paper for a long time in barely concealed horror. He muttered the only thing that could sum up what he thought of the results, taking a page from Tommy's vocabulary.

"Oh shit."

Tommy's ears perked up, looking over at the blue ranger in amazement.

"Billy…did you just curse?" asked Tommy wide-eyed. Billy would have laughed if the situation was less dire.

"Affirmative. I believe being in your presence for so long has delivered quite a blow to my normally extensive vocabulary. It seems I've regressed and started speaking like you, Tommy, using that barbaric language…"

Tommy grinned. "I knew you'd come around." His smiled dropped. "Is everything okay? It had to be something serious for you to swear." Kimberly looked on in concern from behind her boyfriend.

Billy gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Everything is fine. I simply recalled that I have to help my father with a project in the garage. He wants me to see if I can come up with a practical solution to the 'gas guzzling effect' of the new SUV, short of purchasing a new vehicle." It wasn't a complete lie.

Tommy looked at him skeptically. "And that's why you cursed?"

Billy rolled his eyes. "You do remember how my father was when he first bought his Explorer, correct?"

Tommy winced. He had never seen David Cranston so hyper in all the years he had known him.

Kim spoke up. "So Billy, are we free to go?"

"Affirmative." Tommy helped Kimberly down from the bed, and the two teleported out of the medical bay, happy to leave.

Billy massaged the bridge of his nose, attempting to ward off an impending migraine. These results had to be wrong, but the data did not lie. Of course, to be safe, Billy would require more data to see if the trend he noticed was in fact true.

Quickly, Billy walked to the main control room. Zordon peered down at him. "YES, BLUE RANGER?"

"Zordon, I have a concern." He handed the results to Alpha. "You are aware that Tommy and Kimberly were just here in the medical bay."

Zordon nodded. "YES. THEY WERE HERE TO HAVE A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION."

"Correct. Looking over the results of their exams, it appears that Tommy and Kimberly may be…in danger." Alpha paused in his typing.

"IN DANGER HOW?"

Billy crossed his arms over his chest. "I did an analysis on their vitals over the last few missions."

"FOR WHAT PURPOSE?"

"Tommy and Kimberly have both been physically drained as of late. Today, Tommy was extremely tired, falling asleep in nearly every class and was not at all prepared for football practice." He paced the floor. "Kimberly has apparently been suffering from a similar fatigue. She could've seriously injured herself today at the Youth Center due to her lack of focus and energy."

"WHAT WERE YOUR FINDINGS?"

Billy looked up at his mentor. "Zordon, Kimberly and Tommy's vitals have been depleting ever since the Greece mission." He noticed his mentor's expression did not change.

"AND YOU ARE SURE OF THIS?"

Billy looked down. "Well, no. Not entirely. I would require more data to make a true diagnosis, but I imagine any additional data would simply support my hypothesis."

"WHICH IS?"

"Which is that the shard we found in Greece…the one that Tommy and Kimberly made contact with…it's killing them."

The room was quiet save for the light tapping of Alpha's fingers on the keyboard.

"HAVE YOU RULED OUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT TOMMY AND KIMBERLY ARE SUFFERING SIMPLY FROM THE NORMAL FATIGUE OF A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT? OR FROM THE STRESS OF BATTLE?"

Billy made a face. "Forgive me, Zordon, but nothing about our lives is remotely normal. And we've had hundreds of battles in the past. Understandably, we are tired after fighting, but our energy recharges after rest. Their energy has dropped by 12 percent since the Phaedos mission."

Zordon said nothing.

Billy sighed. "Zordon, I'm concerned about them. If their energy continues to drop at this rate…they only have a little over three weeks left."

"BILLY, I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN OVER THIS SITUATION. TOMMY AND KIMBERLY ARE HIGHLY VALUED RANGERS, AS ALL OF YOU ARE. HOWEVER, I SEE NO REASON TO BE CONCERNED. IT WOULD BE BEST IF YOU COULD FIND MORE DATA TO SUPPORT YOUR CLAIM. IN THE MEANTIME, IF TOMMY AND KIMBERLY ARE FACING AN ENERGY LOSS, THEY CAN SIMPLY USE THEIR ANIMAL SPIRITS TO BOOST THEM."

Billy shook his head. "Zordon, that is not a viable long-term solution to this problem, if it exists. The Ninjetti powers can give us an energy boost, however too much of it is taxing on our bodies. Our organs cannot handle a strain of such energy, and given how their energy is depleting, they will need a significant amount to function as time progresses. You are already aware of this."

Zordon considered his words. "I KNOW, BILLY. BUT AT THE MOMENT, THIS IS THE ONLY OPTION WE HAVE. UNTIL YOU CAN FIND BOTH PROOF AND A SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM, THIS IS WHAT MUST BE DONE. NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ENDING THIS WAR." His tone indicated that the discussion was over.

Billy's jaw clenched in anger. Alpha walked up to the silently seething teen, handing him the results he printed earlier. Billy balled the paper in his hand, willing himself to calm down, despite Zordon's apparent careless attitude over his friends' condition.

"Here you go, Billy. I hope you find a way to help Tommy and Kimberly," said the small robot.

Billy said nothing, teleporting out of the command center in a flash of blue, paper crumpled in his hand.