A.N. LilMissFerret here! Sorry for the delay everyone! I've just not been in the writing mood lately. Anyway, here's part three, and there's at least another part (probably two, I'm guessing) left of this crossover. I do hope everyone is enjoying it!


Episode XXVII

It Came from Outer Space!

Part 3

Billy stood outside of Confetti's, waving his friends goodbye as they headed back to their homes, the wild pack of children had thinned down to his own two. Stellan and Citali both looked worn out. It had been a hard day on all of them, and although he had not made any progress on his mission, he did feel more content.

The agony of his return had dulled, and although he had promised to keep in touch, he had a lingering feeling that it wouldn't ever really happen. He might think about them every now and then, but he would never actually make that call.

Maybe in another fifteen years he'd come back, just to see what had changed and what hadn't, or maybe he wouldn't. He led a happy, productive life on Aquitar, and it wasn't until the decision to join up with the Earth rangers had been made that he had even started to feel homesick.

He gave his children a sad smile. "Come on, you two, lets get back to the ship and get some rest."

The twins didn't protest, they were far too exhausted to do anything more than nod. The ride back to the ship was quiet as the children faded off into a restless sleep, but he was happy to find that the old radio still worked.

The music, like everything else, had changed dramatically, and he spent a few moments searching for the Oldies channel, which now played songs from his youth.

The ship was dark when they arrived, the sun beginning to set, and the rubble of the Command Center faded into the surrounding rocks. He parked in the shade of the ship, and then went to unload his cargo. He took Stellan first, as he was lighter than his sister, although it wouldn't be long before he hit his next growth spurt and surpassed her.

Citali was a bit more stubborn, groaning loudly as he scooped her up. His back complained, but he just shook his head, amused. Once the pair were all settled, and he had checked in with the others on board, he slipped back outside to gather his thoughts.

o.O.o

"What are we going to do, Alex?" Ellie asked, rubbing her hands together. The night had settled over the desert like a blanket, snuffing out the day's heat and turning the air almost frigid.

"I don't know," she answered, peeking over her rock to check on their supposed victim. "He's just sitting there."

"Maybe we should just go talk to him," Jaime suggested.

Ian laughed, earning him a group glare. Alex smacked him upside the helmet. "Shut up, you idiot. You're going to give us away!"

"Well, I don't know why we're sneaking around in the dirt anyway. This guy used to be a ranger, you know. Hell, he's still kind of a ranger and he's old," he reminded them huffily.

"What if he finds out who we are?" Spike asked, his whisper coming out much louder than he obviously meant it to as he slapped his gloved hand over his mouth plate. The smack reverberated off of the stones, echoing across the desert.

Everybody tensed, hunkering down further. They stayed like that for several tense seconds, but nothing seemed to happen.

"You are all terrible at stealth. Fucking terrible," Alex muttered, standing up and dusting off her green skirt. She glanced up when she was done, "Well? Are you guys going to come or what?"

Alex turned on her heel, no longer trying to be quiet as she made a beeline for the older man perched on his car hood. The others clambered to their feet, struggling to catch up to their leader.

They came to a stop about twenty feet from the hulking mass of the space ship, fanning out on either side of Alex. They all tended to strike a pose when they found themselves in this kind of predicament, although it was usually a monster they were facing and not some random dude their parents went to high school with.

"William Cranston!" Alex shouted, deepening her voice. "We," she told him, gesturing to the others on either side of her, "are the Vendian Rangers, and we have come to greet you."

After being shouted at, Billy had slid off of the car and turned to face them. He didn't seem as old as he was. Still strong and brilliant, he seemed to stand over them, reminding them all that they were really just a bunch of kids beneath their suits.

Billy watched them closely for a moment while they waited on him to speak. He studied their suits, but he seemed especially interested in the smooth lines of their helmets.

Self-conscious, many of the teens looked down at their own suits, but nothing caught their eyes. The suits were shaded in the night, while the nearly full moon cast a shiny glow over them. Jaime looked the most spectacular with his black suit, because the shiny silver details of his stripes almost shimmered.

What ever study Billy had been conducting must have bore fruit. One second he was scrutinizing them, and the next he was laughing. "You must be the kids," he told them.

The rangers looked around at their fellows, confused and just a little bit amazed. "How did you know?!" Spike squawked, breaking the awkward silence.

Biting her lip, Alex pressed a few keys on her wrist morpher, effectively dropping her suit. She couldn't see there faces, but she knew the others were gawking at her under their helmets.

"What?" she asked them. "He already knows who we are!"

One by one the others did the same, dazzling her with their faint spark of color as they demorphed.

Billy hung back from them, although he still looked amused. No matter, Ellie bounded straight up to him, a sheepish look on her face, "We're sorry we missed everyone earlier."

"No worries," he assured her. "So, what can I do for you all?"

"We picked up your signal earlier, when your ship landed," Jaime started. "Our mentors sent us to, uh, invite you back to Earth."

"And to see if you needed anything," Ellie added with a bright smile.

While the five of them talked, none of them happened to see Logan and Ian slip off to the side to poke at the ship.

"Look at this thing!" Ian said with a whistle of appreciation. "Its huge!"

Logan poked the hull gingerly, "Its still hot too."

About that time the hatch opened with a loud hiss, scaring them both. In their backward scramble, both boy fell, landing heavily in the sand.

They found their feet just as a slender pair of legs came into view. They stared as the woman stepped off the ship, the light behind her giving here an ethereal glow.

"She's hot," Ian muttered under his breath, and Logan had to agree, if it wasn't for the exposed brains.

Clad in a tight white outfit, Delphine approached them. "Hello, Earthlings," she greeted, her voice bubbling through the air as if she had been underwater. "I am Delphine, leader of the Aquitian Rangers."

"Um, hi," Ian managed, despite his unhinged jaw. Logan settled for a nod of acknowledgment.

Delphine watched them strangely for a moment, head cocked to the side. Whatever it was that she wanted to question, she seemed to think better of it, and instead turned to the others still clustered around the car.

o.O.o

After an hour and a half of discussion, the rangers had made their way home. Although they had made a handful of new allies, they were half-starved and exhausted by the time they crawled into bed. They all had to get up early too, if they were going to be able to get to school.

Sure enough, the sun hadn't even started to rise when they were all on their way to the Big House, and they were all dragging.

"Can't we just skip today?" Ian groaned dramatically as he slumped onto one of the couches in the living room.

"That looks suspicious," Ana answered him as she handed out muffins. "Especially if you all just disappear."

She didn't look any better than they did, with her hair pulled up in a messy knot that looked as though she had slept in the ponytail, and her wrinkled, holey pajamas hanging loosely from her frame.

She hadn't even made the muffins they were eating. They were simply leftovers from the day before.

"But-"

"Oh, get over yourself, Ian," Alex growled, cutting him off. "We're all fucking tired."

To prove her point, Ellie let out a tiny snore. The pink ranger had promptly curled herself on Logan's lap, buried her face in his chest, and nodded off. To his credit, Logan had wrapped an arm around her, joined her for a nap.

The others weren't much better. Spike had taken one of the offered muffins, and proceeded to eat it with his free arm over his eyes, and his head flung back on the cushions.

Jaime scrubbed at his tired eyes, and said irritably, "You're giving me a headache."

Alex rolled her eyes, and turned to Ana, "Where is everyone else anyway?"

The woman shrugged, taking a bite out of one of her own muffins, "Asleep, I suppose. They be in soon, I'm sure."

o.O.o

In fact, they waited another twenty minutes before Billy and the alien rangers appeared, and the rest of their mentors, minus Tony who was off in Tahiti, came shuffling in.

Cain was the only one that looked half decent. But then, they were half sure he was actually some sort of angry robot. Or vampire.

Either way he led them down to the Batcave in irritated silence, as if he were unhappy about the strangers entering his sacred space.

"This is your base?" Delphine asked, taking in the space, before turning to her pair of scientists. "Will this do?"

Cestro continued in his deep, bubbly voice, "It is... Interesting?"

"Very," Billy agreed, as he went to their mostly empty work table. He hardly looked up as he began unpacking the bag he had brought with them. "Earthly technology has evolved quite a bit since the early nineties."

"Still no flying cars though," Spike lamented. "Or hoverboards."

The young blue ranger could feel eyes on him, and looked up questioningly. "What? Have you never seen Back to the Future?"

"Flying automobiles are not so complicated," Billy interjected. "I built the RadBug when I was about your age."

"You have a flying car?" Jaime inquired.

"That's sweet!" Ian cut in before Billy could respond. "I want to fly it!"

The older man gave him a look, but didn't say anything. He merely reached into his bag for a wrench, and started putting his equipment together.

"Okay, so its four o'clock in the morning," Dinah started, ending that discussion with a sharp look around the room, "This had better be good."

The Aquitians didn't waste any time. Billy went into a tirade about the thieves that had broken into his lab, and his plan to get back his stolen equipment.

"Wait… So, you're telling me they flew out of there in a pirate ship?" Dinah asked skeptically.

"It was a galley," Billy repeated, as if that cleared up the confusion. "I have only ever seen them used as flag ships for the Armada."

"That can't be very aerodynamical, can it?" Del asked over his coffee.

Cain huffed from his desk chair, "There are work arounds."

Billy continued to put together his device, letting team mingle. If you could call his team huddling in a corner mingling. Cestro was the only one making any effort, and he was hurriedly conversing with the current Alpha unit in his native tongue.

"So, what does this do?" Spike asked, gesturing to the misshapen object.

"It will detect magic traces. Hopefully, we can use it to locate the pirates," he answered. Kim had been right, Spike did look like Skull's clone.

"And you're sure they came here?" Alex asked disbelievingly. "Why would they?"

Billy shrugged, "Their trajectory pointed in this direction. And this is the only occupied star system in 100 light years."

It was increasingly strange to be around the kids. They were similar enough to their parents to draw his memories of the past to the surface, but unique in their own ways. Even Jaime, who had to be the closest copy of his father, had his differences.

He continued to mull this over as he connected his tracker to the Grid, and set it to work. Now, there was nothing to do but wait.

o.O.o

Without its companions, the giant red ship looked out of place. It wasn't sleek or particularly graceful, but it was the only home they had.

They were nearing their destination now, a pale blue dot that was growing ever larger in front of them.

Like the ship, there was nothing spectacular about the planet, it was like so many others they had come across in their line of work. The difference wasn't something you could see from space, but this was another sort of home. The birthplace of their entire species.

"This is it? Seriously?" Lucy scoffed as she peered through one of the thick, circular windows in the hull. The delicate traces of brown and green were beginning to take shape beneath a thick blanket of clouds, but they could hardly see the traces of civilization.

"I think it's beautiful," Derrick returned lightly as he wrapped his arm around her tiny frame.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. You see beauty in everything."

It was supposed to be an insult, but he didn't take it that way. "Like you?"

"I'm a street rat from the outskirts of the seventh ring," she reminded him coolly. "There isn't anything special about me, Derrick, and you know it."

"If you say so," he shrugged. "Suppose we ought to get ready to land?"

The girl sighed, slipping out of his embrace. "If you say so."

The pair stepped away from the line of windows, making their way back towards the control room. When they entered, their captain was busily studying an old map. The paper was frayed at the edges, with faded ink and a nasty stain across most of the northern hemisphere.

Marvel looked up when he heard them enter. He looked displeased, but quickly masked the expression with a cheeky grin. "What have you been up to?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"Taking in the sights," Derrick replied, ignoring the dig.

Lucy didn't forgive so easily. "Nothing you haven't done, I'm sure. Or maybe had done to you?" She said as she batted her pale green eyes sweetly.

Marvel went a bit pink, "Either way, I think I've found our landing spot."

"Oh, nice save," Lucy laughed.

"Lucy," Derrick said, gently grabbing her forearm. He really is too soft for this sort of work, she thought.

She turned gaze to meet his, and nodded slightly. A silent promise to behave, for the moment.

"So where to, Captain?" Derrick asked.

"This white bit, here," he told them, gesturing to the white mass at the bottom of his map. "Some place called Antarctica."