Chapter 21

Shots Fired

Where was that stupid pen?

Scrubbing his hands over his face, Billy took a break from his work in the lab and let out a deep sigh. All of the work was starting to eat away at him. But when he got started on an experiment, on a sort of project, on something that he absolutely needed to figure out, and then he couldn't get it out of his head. And in this case, it was Diabolico.

He had heard Fred call after him and Bailey when they had morphed and teleported out of the Command Center to confront him, but when they had arrived at the coordinates they thought the evil spirit had been, there was nothing there. Yes, Billy was aware there hadn't been any klaxon or warnings or sirens that had gone off when they left—not that it mattered much as Zordon and Alpha were during their recharge, but one he had seen the thing that had hurt his mother….

He sprang into action.

His body reacted well before his mind did and before he knew it, the purple ranger had been back at the Command Center, working on their weapons once more, ignoring the pointed silence that Fred had sent their way, unsure of what to say after he had been proven right. And now he found himself in the lab, pouring over books about mythology and trying to figure out how it was possible for Diabolico to be there, to have been there before, when he was supposed to have been locked away.

What is it you're missing? Billy thought, drumming his fingertips on the side of his work bench. It's always right in front of you; it's just a matter of working through every solution until you figure it out. He let out a sigh. But this time it was escaping him and the thought of not understanding was driving him crazy.

He blinked and looked up as a hand waved in front of his face and turned to see Avalon standing next to him, her arms crossed and a jacket draped over her arm. He gave her a small smile, turning towards him.

"How long did you call my name this time?"

"I didn't. I just went right to making sure I had your attention, Smurf," she replied. Pulling back the stool next to him, she gently perched on top of it. "By the way, I just used your truck to take Bailey to Fred's house while we're at the party. There are no scratches that haven't already been on there."

"I'm not worried about you scratching my car, Ava; I'm worried about you not being able to see over the steering wheel." He smiled a little and the orange ranger reached out and shoved him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, but even Kim is short and she doesn't need a phone book to sit on to see."

"Kim is still, about, three inches taller than me. It's not my fault. Besides, what I lack in height I make up for in an astronomical sense of confidence."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." He laughed lightly before turning back to his work. "Is Dad shut in his room again?" At the silence he received, he knew the answer to the question and nodded. "That's about right. I keep pushing him to go back to work, but I don't want to rush him or anything. So I guess it's good that he's at least moving around the house now."

Avalon tilted her head to the side, regarding Billy with a long look before righting herself and clearing her throat. "Speaking of, here's your coat." She handed it over to him and he took it with a questioning look on his face. The orange ranger gave him a pointed look before sighing. "The party? We're all going to that big party, remember?"

"Party. Right. Sorry. I guess I forgot. I've been so busy."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said quickly and leaned over, giving her a quick kiss not he cheek to prove his point. "Really. I've just had a lot on my mind, a lot of things I need to do." He glanced at his cluttered work bench. "A lot of research that your father could help me with, actually," he said. "Bailey explained to me what happened to Ryan," he said and the orange ranger nodded. "And, what Diabolico really is…we…I think we saw him earlier, on the viewing globe. But when we went to the place where it was, he wasn't there. I'm trying to figure out, how can he be here when he's in captivity?"

Rubbing the back of her neck, Avalon sighed for a moment. "I could give him a call if you'd like," she said. "I don't know how much it'll help because I don't know what work he's been doing with that, yeah?"

"Yeah…" Billy agreed. He chewed his lower lip, looking at his notes once more, but as he saw them start to wiggle around and cross before his eyes, he shook his head and turned away. He needed some time off. Some time to himself and to have fun, and not worry about anything else. For once in his life he was going to turn his brain off. "Well, we should get going to this party. God knows Kim is going to be on us if we're late." He started to get up, but the orange ranger grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"Before we go, there's something I have to tell you. And if I don't say it now it'll eat away at me like a bloody leech." The blue ranger looked over at his girlfriend—is that what they were?—and waited for her to continue. She paused for a minute. "For the past couple of months, every now and then, I'd get a letter in the mail…from Chase." Billy's eyebrow rose. "I never opened them but he kept sending them…and then, not long ago, I thought I saw Summer and Skye back here. I told Lt. Stone but he said there was no news on them being back in town. So I went to jail to visit him, to be sure he had nothing to do with it."

"And?"

"He says he didn't."

"And you believe him?"

Avalon hesitated for a moment before responding honestly, "I do."

"Okay." Billy got up from the stool and started to pull on his jacket. He shrugged into it then adjusted the collar. Avalon stared at him, eyebrows rising as he turned towards her. His eyes shifted. "What?"

"That's all you have to say?" She asked. "When I tell you that I went and visited my slightly sadistic ex-boyfriend in jail and saw two people who more than likely tried to kill me, all you have to say is 'okay'?" She used air quotes around the words before crossing her arms. "What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"I don't believe you."

Billy laughed. "There's nothing going on, Ava. Don't worry about me." He reached out his hand and plucked out the keys she had been holding on to. "Actually, there will be if Kim notices we're late. You know how she is with punctuality. Let's go." He stepped around her and left the garage.

Avalon frowned as she followed the blue ranger through the house and out to his truck, calling back to David that they'd be back later. Starting to pull herself up into the passenger seat, she paused, a cold chill suddenly running down her spine like cold fingers. She took a step back and looked around for a minute, taking in the dark shadows that stretched across the lawn as the sun set.

Nothing.

And yet, she couldn't stop the feeling that she was being watched. She recognized the feeling immediately, noticing it was the same sort of feeling she had seconds before having Summer and Skye block her path. Shaking her head, the orange ranger too one last glance around the yard before climbing into the truck and pulling the door shut behind her. Buckling herself, she slid low in her seat, subconsciously trying to keep herself out of sight.

Why did she have to worry about it now? Chase said he had nothing to do with them being around, Lt. Stone said he hadn't heard anything about it. But then again, Skye and Summer had been Chase's right and left hand men, they knew the best ways to get around the city without getting caught and knew how to track someone to the point their entire schedule was found out. It wouldn't surprise her if the two really did want to get some sort of revenge on her for the High-Flyers getting the upper hand and taking over their territory in Los Angeles. But what was the point? Usually after someone got out, they were out and no one bothered them again.

It was why she hadn't gone with her first instinct to leave Angel Grove and go back to Australia. To run away like she usually did, so that she didn't have to constantly look over her back once more. But the fight against Ivan had taken her mind off of it and the other things that had plagued them since their rangering had increased in difficulty. Now they had to worry about Rito, Goldar, Scorpina, and all of the tengus, the same that had managed to destroy their zords.

There had to be at least one point in time where they didn't have to worry about anything. Hopefully the party was going to do that for them.

Billy parked on the street a few houses down from the party and the two got out and strolled into the house. Kimberly immediately noticed them and bounced over, practically dragging Kat behind her. Their new friend appeared very uncomfortable, pulling at her skirt every few seconds as she looked around their classmates and schoolmates that milled around the house.

"Hey guys," Kimberly greeted them. "Look who came!" She pulled Kat to her side and smiled sympathetically. "She still doesn't know a lot of people here, but I thought that inviting her to this party would be good for her to meet some people."

"It would be," Kat agreed. "If things still weren't so…awkward. "She rubbed her arm. "I'm sorry, but parties aren't really my thing. I don't get the whole…drink 'til you puke thing."

Billy laughed lightly. "That's a common misconception people have about America, Kat," he said kindly. "Because of the shows and movies that glorify that sort of thing. But most of the parties that are thrown around Angel Grove are pretty tame. Nothing that the police are usually called for."

"Well, I don't know." Kat's nose wrinkled as she stepped out of the way of a senior that stumbled by, being held up by two of his buddies. "I was just thinking of going. I've been here a little bit already."

"Aw, but you're going to miss the fun of watching people fall over all night long," Avalon remarked with a half smile. "Should remind you of home, yeah? I haven't seen an Aussie Barbie not end with half of the adults face-planted in the sand.

Kat laughed and nodded in agreement. "I see you've met my Uncle. I love him to death, but he can't seem to hold himself together after he has a few drinks in him. You should see when he tries to Barbie after that. Not only does everything seem to burst into flames, but we've now come to expect it so much that we bring about five fire extinguishers just in case."

Kimberly beamed, clasping her hands together. "Oh, good, looks like you two are finally talking." She turned as Tommy appeared behind her holding onto two plastic cups of soda. "Thanks, Handsome." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss before clutching the cup of soda tightly in her hand, taking a quick sip.

"You're welcome, Beautiful," Tommy replied, sharing her smile. He looked around before addressing the pink and blue rangers. "The others haven't gotten here yet?"

"Ava and I just got here," Billy replied. "We haven't seen any of the others yet. Though considering how packed this place is, it wouldn't surprise me if it took a while to even get through the front door." He laughed, running a hand through his hair. "We were just talking to Kat about the way these parties work. Apparently they're not that different from those in Australia."

"They are when it comes to the quality of the food," Avalon finally said. She turned to Tommy and gave him a quick hug. "Hey bro."

"Hey sis," Tommy replied, hugging her back. "By the way, Mom and Dad wanted to know if you and Bailey would come over for dinner this weekend."

"Anything that'll keep me from having to eat his guacamole hamburgers again." The orange ranger pointed her thumb over towards Billy, who rolled his eyes. "They were fine the first time, but now I'm wondering if his taste buds haven't completely dropped off by one too many chemical clouds blowing up in his face from his experiments."

Kimberly and Tommy laughed as Billy merely smirked. Kat, who still felt that she was on the outside looking in, cleared her throat before taking a step back, grabbing the rangers' attention. "Hey, I think I'm going to head out. I'll see you guys at school."

"You're not going yet, are you?" Tommy asked. He put his arm around Kimberly's shoulders, hugging her to his side. Kimberly beamed and wrapped both of her arms around his waist, hugging him back. "Stay a while. I know these things can be kind of rowdy sometimes, but it's a great way to meet some more of our classmates." He gave her a sheepish smile. "I can introduce you to some people. It's the least I can do after being so late for your first day at school."

"Um…" Kat's cheeks flushed lightly as she shuffled her feet. "I guess…I can stay a little while longer. I don't really have much to do other than homework, so I guess putting it off a little bit longer isn't going to hurt."

"I see you've been spending a lot of time with this one," Billy joked, pointing to Avalon, who elbowed him in the side. "Ow! I was kidding."

"I know; I wanted to do it anyway." Avalon brushed her hair behind her ears and bobbed and leaned back and forth, trying to get a good view around the teenagers that crowded the living room and spilled back and forth from the kitchen and the back yard. "Where'd you get the drinks?"

"Backyard," Tommy explained. "The picnic table to the left. But be careful. There are some people who are using the hot tub as practices for their cannon balls; you don't want to get hit by the tidal wave." He grimaced slightly. "The football team is trying it this time."

"Good to know." Avalon shuddered slightly before stepping around the group and pushing her way out to the backyard, elbowing anyone that came to close to her as they tried to move through the packed house. She stepped outside and looked around the party, frowning slightly as she looked around the teenagers milling around there.

They looked so…peaceful, so stress free. The only thing they were worrying about was who was going to win the first football game of the year, Angel Grove High or Stone Canyon High. They probably didn't worry much about the monster attacks considering how quickly the power rangers usually took care of it. No, instead they were the ones that were able to act like normal teenagers and dream about what colleges they would find themselves in within the next year.

An as the orange ranger strolled across the backyard, she felt that familiar foreboding feeling once more. This time it was different, more eerie. She was surrounded by people; almost everyone in the school seemed to have come, and yet she could still feel as if there was a pair of eyes on her. Her shoulders slowly started to rise towards her ears as her steps slowed to an almost stop. She twisted back and forth, trying to see through the crowd, hoping to find someone that stood out. It wasn't until her second pass over the backyard that she noticed two figures standing off towards the side of the group, as if having just come through the door in the fence.

The orange ranger became transfixed on the two figures and she pushed the partygoers out of her way as she surged forward, coming upon them. She let out a low growl when she finally reached Summer and Skye, who calmly watched her approach.

That part worried her the most, had her red flags flying up in seconds, and was that they didn't try to appear that they weren't supposed to be there. That they had waited for her to get close enough, as if they had arranged the whole meeting days prior. No, it was that and the calm, confident expressions on their faces. Her warning siren was going haywire at that moment, causing her to clench her hands into fists; moving one of her feet back so that she had a means to turn and run in case they lunged towards her.

"Hey," Skye greeted her.

Avalon's eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Bet you didn't think you'd see us again," Summer added. She made a show of placing her hands on her hips, pushing back the sides of her vest.

Avalon's eyes were immediately drawn to the butt of a handgun that poked out of Summer's pocket.

"Wow," Adam said as he followed Rocky and Aisha into the house. "This place sure is packed." Which was an understatement. Having had arrived shortly after the other rangers had, the party had gone into full swing by that point. There weren't very many places for people to sit, stand or talk. Couples littered the stairs, some talking, some making-out, and others continued to stream up and down stairs exchanging sly looks as they went. Others were standing in the living room as they conversed with each other; some with plastic cups in their hands, others with beery bottles.

"Looks like it's been going on for a while, too," Aisha agreed. She practically had to shout to be heard, causing Rocky and Adam to lean towards her to hear her. "Something tells me that the place is going to be completely trashed by the time the party's over."

"Yeah, well, we should have fun while it lasts," Rocky pointed out. "Before you know it we're going to be called back to fight some sort of monster or something." He rubbed his hands together as he looked towards the kitchen. "Now, what kind of food do they have?"

Adam laughed lightly as he followed Rocky further into the house, looking for the other rangers. Aisha had followed Rocky to the kitchen and before he knew it, was by himself with hundreds of teens pressing in all around him. Not to say that Adam particularly disliked parties or hanging out, but he wasn't someone that enjoyed having a lot of people around. He didn't do well with big crowds, having a small group of friends was typically how he operated.

For a long time he didn't have many other friends besides Rocky and Aisha. The three were the ones that went through school together as their own little group; popular, but not so popular that everyone liked to be around them, but not complete outcasts either. Not that Rocky and Aisha ever had that problem. They were both very outgoing, always knew how to talk to people; always had smiles on their faces, a joke, or a funny story on the tips of their tongues. And Rocky was always using that talent to meet new people—girls especially—but would never brag about it. Aisha, on the other hand, always had a bunch of girls that ere around her, talking about clothes and makeup and the committees and clubs they were a part of. It was no wonder she fell into being friends with Kimberly so easily.

But Adam, on the other hand, was the quieter one. In large groups he rarely spoke up unless there was something important to say. In smaller groups he talked more often, but still had a quieter tone to his voice. Strong and silent. That's what people said to describe him, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it. How cold everyone else around him be so comfortable in who they were, know how to navigate their lives and he was the one that seemed to be on the outside looking in, wondering when he was going to get the memo and be the same way.

"Hey! Adam!"

Adam looked up and gave a grateful smile when he spotted Kimberly waving towards him. She, Tommy, Billy, and Kat had managed to get the chairs and a couch on one side of the living room, enough space for all of the rangers. The black ranger went over and sat down in an empty spot towards the end of the couch. "Hey guys," he greeted them. "Some party, huh?"

"I'll say," Tommy agreed. "But it's nice to be able to have some time to ourselves for once."

"I know what you mean," Adam agreed. He was really starting to wonder when it was that the rangers would get the chance to act like normal teenagers. How many monsters could be brought down that they could take out in seconds before they got a few minutes to breathe? How long would they be able to hold up the responsibility that had been bestowed upon them before they all cracked under the pressure?

Being a senior was hard enough with all of that stress, but being a ranger made it that much harder.

"But there's always something going on," he added. "Football games, sporting events, some sort of dance." He wrinkled his nose a little. "There seem to be a lot of dances at this school."

"Oh, good!" Kat's eyes lit up as she sat up in her chair. "I love to dance. That should be a lot of fun."

"They are," Billy agreed. "The Student Life Committee always does their best to top the dance that was put on the year before. The other events that we have for homecoming and stuff should be just as entertaining."

Adam looked up as Rocky and Aisha came over to their friends; the red ranger held a platter of sandwiches in his hands while Aisha carried a small bowl of chips. Placing the two items down on the table between the plastic cups that lined the table, the yellow and red rangers joined the group. "What are we talking about?" She took a handful of chips before passing the bowl to Billy who passed it around the circle; Kimberly mimed taking a handful before passing the bowl when it was her turn.

"Dance," Tommy explained. "Kat was saying that she's a dancer."

"Really?" Aisha's eyes widened. "That's so cool!"

Now Kat appeared embarrassed, ducking her head so no one could see her face, saying modestly, "I wouldn't say that. I just like to do it for fun."

"No, really," Rocky said with a full mouth. He smiled warmly at Kat. "That's really cool. What kind of dancing are you into?"

"I don't know; a lot I guess. Ballet, jazz, tap…"

"Really? That's really cool."

"Thank you."

Aisha huffed and sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. Adam gave her a sympathetic smile, to which she gave a fleeting one in response. But Adam could see that the damage had already been done, especially as Rocky and Kat continued to talk about the different dance styles she participated in. On the other side of the group, Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy were talking about something as well. Adam clasped his hands together between his hands, unsure of what to say to jump into the conversation, unsure he even wanted to. A part of him just wanted to get up and leave, to go back to his martial arts practice that he had been doing before having gotten taken out of the house by his friends.

I know they're trying to help, but still. Adam reached out and picked up one of the cups on the table. He brought it to his mouth and managed to swallow half the cup before the bitter taste hit his taste buds. Is face immediately screwed up before he registered that he had just drank some beer rather than soda as he thought the dark colored liquid was. It's not a big deal is it? He asked himself. People have been telling us for years not to drink, what it can do, but it doesn't taste so bad. I don't feel any different. He stared at the cup for another moment before tilting his head back and finishing the rest of the drink.

It was a big gulp and the contents hit his empty stomach a lot quicker than he anticipated. A strange, tingly feeling came upon his head and slightly down his arms and it made him smile. He felt warm, loose; looser than he usually did in large social gatherings like this one.

"But is there really that much of a difference between jazz style of dancing and modern?" Rocky asked as Adam turned back into the conversation, picking up another cup and a handful of chips as well. "I mean, in the name, sure, but it seems like—"

"She just explained it to you, Rocky!" Aisha said with a bit more force than she intended, judging by the slight smile on her face when all eyes turned to her. "I mean, I knew you could be slow in some things, but I never thought forms of entertainment were one of them." Rocky shot her a small glare and she smiled sweetly in response.

"I think what she means is that it'd be cool if you showcased it sometime," Kimberly spoke up for her friend. "We have a talent show for spirit week every year. Why don't you do it then?"

"Oh, I couldn't," Kat said. "I'm too shy."

"That's alright," Adam spoke up, voice louder than necessary. Tommy gave him an odd look. "I'm kind of shy, too! But these guys have been great when it comes to making you feel welcome." He finished half of his second cup of beer and started to put it on the table, but missed and dropped it directly to the floor. "Oops!" He started to laugh as he watched the beer spill out around the floor. "My bad."

"Adam, are you feeling okay?" Aisha asked him.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Does anybody want a drink?"

Rocky, startled by Adam's near shout, jumped, knocking the tray of sandwiches to the floor. He made a whimpering sound as an expression like that of a wounded puppy slid onto his face. He seemed to decide whether or not to go after it and crossed his arms, slouching in his seat.

"Hey, why don't you lay off of that stuff a bit," Tommy said to the black ranger. Eyeing him with concern, the white ranger reached out and grabbed onto a few extra cups and pulled them back away from him. "Man," he said under his breath. "It's like he's hyper or something.

"No, I don't think that's it," Billy said solemnly.

Holding his hands over his mouth to keep back his giggles, Adam caught the eye of the rangers that were sitting across from him and started to laugh again, holding his sides as tears slipped out of the corner of his eyes and slid down his cheeks. He couldn't help it, they just looked so funny.

"Is he okay?" Kat asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah, he just needs something to eat." Rocky picked up a bowl of chips and shoved them into Adam's chest, causing him to giggle. The red ranger then turned back to Kat with a smile, albeit a nervous one. "So, Kat, I was thinking since Tommy wasn't really able to show you around the school, maybe I could—"

Aisha suddenly sat up straight, her eyes widening. "Did you hear that?" She asked.

"I didn't hear any—"

Billy was suddenly cut off by a loud scream and the rangers looked over to see the crowd starting to disperse, giving the rangers the perfect view of a Tenga. It flapped its wings and walked over to one of the leftover platters and started to peck at it, taking large bites of the food each time around. Another Tenga came flying from the kitchen, squawking and jumping around, causing kids to scatter. Most appeared frightened, but others appeared that they enjoyed the show the Tengas were putting on.

"Look!" Adam cried gleefully. "Tengas!"

"What are they doing here?" Kimberly asked.

"Who knows, but we have to stop them," Aisha said. The rangers got to their feet and as Kat got swept up by the increasing crowd, the rangers looked for a place where they could morph. Every place they went was occupied by their classmates until they finally managed to get into the master bedroom and bathroom after Rocky forced their way in. "Never thought I'd get the chance to say I morphed in a bathroom."

"Oh, like the locker rooms at Ernie's are any better," Kimberly shot back. She then looked around the group. "Where's Av?"

"I don't know," Tommy said, lowering his communicator from his mouth. "She's not answering her communicator. I hope something bad didn't happen."

"Well, something worse will if we don't get the Tengas out of here," Billy reminded him. "You guys go after them and Adam and I'll look for Ava." He reached out and placed his hand on the black ranger's shoulder as he seemed to start swaying back and forth. "Okay?"

Adam looked over at Billy and nodded before slowly leaning in towards the blue ranger, causing the smarter teen to lean back out of the way. "Hey…didn't you used to wear glasses?" He brought his hand up towards Billy's face, and the blue ranger immediately wrenched the black ranger's hand away from his face.

"We'll deal with whatever's going on later," Kimberly said quickly. "We have to stop the Tengas and figure out what they want."

"Right." Tommy nodded.

"Ninja Ranger Power!"

A/N: I meant to have this chapter up on Friday, but then FFN was down and…you know the rest. I hope the wait was worth it. So everyone knows the story is now rated 'M' because of language, violence that is coming from Goldar, Scorpina, and Rito, as well as some sexual themes such as the last chapter showed.

Thanks to I love power rangers7135, GenkiPlus, XoxMountainGirlxoX, Adela, Ashley, brankel1, TerraHart, Keren Olivero, and Rose Specktor for reviewing.

~Avalon