Chapter 29 – Those They Left Behind

Billy ran forward, hands moving quickly over Alpha 5's damaged form. "Alpha, what happened?" Furious beyond anything he'd felt before, he grabbed the front of Trevor's suit, "What did you do!"

Trevor, surprised by the normally calm Billy's vicious outburst, held up his hands in mock surrender, "Hey, I didn't do anything. I found him this way!"

Billy dropped Trevor's suit and went back to Alpha 5. He knelt down, taking Alpha 5's rusty metal hands in his own, "Alpha, what happened?"

Alpha's dome lit up sporadically, "I…You…" His lights went out for a few seconds then all came back on at once, brighter than before, "I was abandoned! I woke up in the Command Center but there was no one there! You were gone! Zordon was gone! I tried to look for you in the viewing globe but there was no power! I waited…I waited…I waited…I waited…I waited…"

Realizing he was stuck in a loop, Billy gently knocked Alpha 5's dome.

Alpha jumped and continued as if nothing had happened. "I waited for days, hoping someone would show up! I thought we were still under attack! I thought…I thought…I thought maybe you had all been hurt or…or…or… killed! And when you still didn't come, I went to look for you."

Trevor interrupted, "I found him at the bottom of a really big hill. It looked like he fell down it. More than once."

"I was trying to…trying to…trying to climb higher and see if I could find you," Alpha 5 explained. "I remember Trini talking about what to do when you've lost someone. You get to a high place and look for them. I looked for you but I couldn't….I couldn't… I couldn't find you. You abandoned me."

Billy looked earnestly at Alpha 5, "Alpha we would never, never, abandon you like that. Never." He continued more gently, "You know that."

"But…but…but…" The lights on Alpha 5's visor spun around the rim like he was confused.

Billy looked back up at Trevor, eyes burning again, "Did he tell you that?"

Tommy, sensing that his gentle friend was about to lose his temper, took over. He firmly stepped beside Billy, "No more of this Trevor. We get it. We left these people behind, we weren't around to protect them. And that was wrong. If we could, we give our last breaths to protect them but it was a situation beyond our control." Tommy paused and nodded, "Though you were right, we didn't spend every waking second trying to get back to them and we should have. We forgot about our responsibilities and let other things take forefront. We owe these people a very lengthy apology. But I swear if you don't stop parading us around to wallow in the mountain guilt we're all feeling, I'll take you down right now."

Alex, quickly walked forward, "Tell us what you want. Now."

Trevor hesitated. He hadn't actually planned on confronting the Rangers. They were just supposed to wither away from their guilt, go live in the forest or something. They weren't needed just yet. He wished suddenly that he'd just had them thrown out of the city the moment they showed their helmeted faces at least then he could have had an excuse to fight them. And win. Give the people a moral boost. But now that he'd gotten to know them, he…somewhat admired them. How would he create the perfect world if he admired the very people he was out to get rid of? Well, he'd brought them in to boast and now he had to deal with the consequences.

He blinked, stumbling on an idea. He motioned for the Rangers to enter the mansion, "We'll talk about it inside."

Billy stood stubbornly next to Alpha 5, "I'm going to fix Alpha 5 first."

Trevor shrugged, "Well, we can talk in the lab. Plenty of tools and stuff in there." Plus a small surprise. He wondered how they'd react. If their reaction to Alpha was anything to go by, the next few minutes would be tense.

Billy nodded and helped lead Alpha 5 inside.


The Operation Overdrive lab had been redecorated since the last time Mack had been in there. "Again, dude, what did you do to my house?" He stared at the lime green walls and glowing blue lights, the chrome furniture and bright purple floor. "And were you insane while doing it?"

"Hey, I didn't do this," Trevor said, leading them further in. "I just gave them the space."

"Them," Chad asked. "Them who?"

Three figures appeared from around the corner, arguing.

One of the two women was chastising the sole man between them, "I don't care what you meant by it, I took offense to it."

They noticed the Rangers and stopped.

Recognizing one of them, Chad started forward instantly. He opened his arms to embrace her, "Angela! Angela! You're all right!"

The woman on the right stared at him suspiciously, "How do you know my name?"

Chad's sprint slowed, "Angela?" He reached her and she took a step backwards, still regarding him with suspicion. Chad gestured to himself, smiling, "Angela, it's me." When Angela showed no recognition, he repeated the gesture with a wider, more desperate smile, "It's Chad… Chad Lee." Angela took another step backwards and her companions began to move towards him. He tugged on his uniform, "The Blue Lightspeed Rescue Ranger!"

Angela's eyes cleared, "Oh! That's my team, isn't it?"

Chad nodded, extremely confused. "Yeah…"

Angela held out her hand, smiling, "Angela Fairweather, nice to meet you Chad Lee."

Chad shook her hand, with a frown, "You too…Angela."

Angela shook her finger, "That's Ms. Fairweather to you."

Chad nodded silently and made his way back to the others. His mind reeled, did Angela really not remember him? Sure, they hadn't been best friends but fighting the forces of evil with someone tended to leave a mark. The further he walked from her, and the more she didn't call out his name and laugh at the wonderful joke she'd just played on him, the more he was sure that Angela Fairweather honestly had forgotten all about him. He reached the group and stopped but continued staring off at nothing. His pain distanced him from his friends.

Trevor smiled sympathetically at him, although he felt a little smug inside, "Sorry, forgot to warn you. Found them like that too. No memories other than their names and a general background of their lives before they ever met any Power Rangers. The other two are Hayley, who helped run Tommy run the Dino Thunder team, and..."

"Daggeron," Vida said with a sharp snarl, watching the three mentors continue to argue about something they couldn't hear, "And the guy, that's Daggeron?"

Trevor nodded, "Yes." He pointed to the other side of the lab, "The tools are over there Billy, have at it."

Billy nodded in thanks and led Alpha 5 to the large wall of complicated looking machinery. "Don't worry buddy, we'll fix you up."

"What happened to him," Vida asked, watching Daggeron with a mixture of anger and sadness. Chad echoed the question, keeping Angela in the corner of his eye.

"I don't know. Like I said, I just found them like that."

"You say that a lot," Summer noted. "I wonder how often it's actually true?"

Chad leaned towards him, threateningly, "If you did anything, I mean anything, to hurt her…them…"

"Look, I don't want to hurt anyone." Summer rolled her eyes and he amended, "Hey, I don't want to hurt anyone but I will if I have to! I didn't hurt any of them. They came that way."

"Came from where," Tommy asked, hoping to gain some clue as to where they had been before being turned into action figures.

Trevor shrugged and sat down on a barstool sitting next to a long counter, "I guess you're wondering why I brought you here?"

"Well, I'm wondering about a lot more than that but it's near the top of the list," Alex said, taking a seat nearby. "So why did you put yourself in a position where the six of us can easily beat you up and without any of your minions to help you?" The other Rangers moved the slightest bit closer as if to emphasize his words.

Trevor realized how precarious his position was. He swallowed. His bravado had gone with the crowd, his confidence dropped slightly. Maybe this had been best discussed with a room full of trusted henchmen who wouldn't blab everything he was about to say. But, hey, you live and you learn. He started to explain. "Listen, I don't like you guys. I really, really don't like you."

Alex snorted, "Ooo, I never would have guessed that!"

Trevor glared, "I don't like any Power Ranger, Future-Boy, or anyone who would just abandon those they had sworn to protect." When Tommy opened his mouth to argue, he raised a hand to stop him, "You said that you didn't have a choice in the matter and I believe you but that doesn't bring those hundreds of people back to life. You failed them, no matter what the circumstances," His mouth twisted and he said bitterly, "and I've had to pick up your pieces and try to glue them back together." He stood and started pacing, "But see, the pieces don't fit anymore and now there's just a lot of them missing! I can't put the puzzle back together the way it was originally." He mashed his hand into his fist, "So I'm going to melt the old puzzle then reform it into a new one."

"One without us," Mack asked, remembering his earlier rant. "Without monsters and Power Rangers?"

"Exactly."

Summer shrugged, "I've lived in a world without monsters, for a few years. I wouldn't be opposed to living in one again. In fact, it's what I've been fighting for."

"Me too," Tommy agreed.

"And me," Vida added.

"Yeah," Chad said, still distracted.

Mack shrugged, "Me too."

They all looked at Alex who quickly joined in, "Yeah, sure, me too."

Trevor smiled, "So our goals don't conflict, good." He faced the Rangers but interrupted him again.

"We said we wouldn't mind living in a world without monsters, and trust us, we wouldn't but I can promise you that if that means anyone gets hurt, you'll find yourself facing half a dozen upset Power Rangers."

Haley, Daggeron and Angela all walked over. Haley looked Tommy up and down, "Like we're scared of you."

Tommy blinked, "What?"

"You heard me. We are not scared of big muscular men in spandex who sometimes have superpowers." She pointed at Daggeron, "We've got our own Solar Knight who could wipe the floor with you." She pointed casually to the far wall where Billy was working with a bunch of complicated looking machines, "And if I point any one of those things at you…well, you won't have a very nice day. Understand?"

Trevor held up a hand, "All right Hayley, they understand. I don't want anyone getting hurt just yet. We'll need them for later."

Mack thought Trevor's casual and straight forward attitude was kind of refreshing. He was upfront about how he wanted to use the Rangers but he still hadn't said exactly what for. Then again most of their enemies weren't the best at hiding their intentions in the first place. He wanted to get rid of the monsters and Power Rangers but how? Mack asked.

Trevor paused, again considering whether or not to tell the Rangers his plan for them. They might not like it. He looked at Angela, Hayley and Daggeron, they were watching the Rangers with distrust. He knew a little about their past, mostly from what he'd from some of the townspeople. They were the Power Rangers friends and, over the past few months, he'd come to think of them as his friends too. Once they regained their memories, as he had no doubt that they eventually would, he didn't want them thinking less of him because he put their friends into harm without telling them what they were up against. He sighed, "I've come to realize over the short walk through town that these people, these citizens you've protected for so many years, as enthusiastic as they are for wanting to live in a monster/Ranger free world… they aren't soldiers. I've turned them into a mob. I admit, I kind of enjoyed it, riling them up against you but the looks of sheer hatred…they're not soldiers. I can't take them into battle!" He stared upward at the ceiling, "I'll need your help."


Alex was vehement, "We are not helping him!"

"Why not," Chad asked, looking around at the other Rangers circled around them. "His goal is kinda the same as ours."

"Yeah, big on the kinda there Chad," Summer remarked. "Not that I wouldn't mind being normal again, but something tell me he would just turn on us after all is said and done. He looks the type. Besides, you all heard what Colonel Mason said about him. We can't trust him."

"Exactly," Alex exclaimed. "So, we're not going to help him!"

Mack coughed, "I think we should. I vote yes." And just like that it became a vote. Alex and Summer voting no, Mack and Chad voting yes while Tommy and Vida continued to think about it. Vida finally raised her hand to vote for while Tommy shook his head, "I vote no."

They turned to Billy for the tie breaker. Billy, who was still frantically trying to fix Alpha 5, started when he realized his friends were all staring at him. "What?"

"Were you listening to any of that," Vida asked.

Billy grinned sheepishly, "No."

Mack laughed, "Well we're trying to decide whether or not to team up with Trevor and take down the chick who started all this. We've got Alex, Summer and Tommy voting no and Chad, Mack and Vida saying yes. What say you?"

"No," Billy said, "no! We're not helping the guy who did this," he gestured at the damaged Alpha 5, "to Alpha! No way."

"He says he didn't do that," Vida pointed out. "He said he found him that way."

"I meant that he didn't even try to fix him," Billy said angrily. "He just let him suffer. I'm not helping him."

Realizing that the others were intent on not helping Trevor, Chad tried one more thing to convince them. "We'd be helping them," he said, covertly pointing at Hayley, Daggeron and Angela. "We'd be helping the people of our towns that we'd sworn to protect. If Trevor goes to war, they'd follow. They'd get hurt, or worse, killed. Don't we owe it to them, to make sure that doesn't happen?"

Summer frowned. She didn't think of it that way. But now that she was, it made sense. Colonel Mason and the rest of Corinth city was in danger, by proxy, yes, but still in danger. "All right."

Tommy nodded too, "Yes."

Alex and Billy glanced at each other. They each had their own reasons for not wanting to help the Trent's clone, Billy because his friend had been left to suffer and Alex because he heated the thought of teaming up with a bad guy. But the more they thought about the people they'd left here would get hurt, the more they softened. Finally they shrugged.

"Fine," Alex said. "But we have a plan ready for when Trevor turns on us too."

Vida grinned, "Deal!"


*AN*

Sorry guys! I know it's been a month since I last updated and I'm so sorry it took that long. Life's just been kinda crazy in more ways than I thought possible and I'm sure you don't want me monologing about them so we'll leave it at that. But since schools almost over and summers so close I constantly crave snow cones, this'll probably be the last time it happens. Again, sorry for the delay but thanks for sticking through it:)

*CL*

Mystery Universe Team

Billy Cranston - Mighty Morphin Blue

Tommy – Red Turbo but remembers Zeo

Chad Lee – Blue Lightspeed Rescue

Alex – Red Time Force

Vida Rocca – Pink Mystic Force

Mack Hartford – Red Operation Overdrive

Summer Landsdown – Yellow RPM

Mystery Universe Inhabitants

Fran – Friend of the Jungle Fury Power Rangers, helps run the Jungle Karma Pizzeria

Colonel Mason – Commander of Corinth in RPM

Ernie – Owner of the Juice Bar from Mighty Morphin to Zeo

Soldiers – from assorted seasons

Evil White Dino Clone(I'm calling him Trevor) – a 'soulless' clone of the White Dino Ranger Powers, which belonged to Trent, created by Mesogog(Dino Thunder).

Hayley – Co-Mentor to Dino Thunder Rangers – Lost her memory

Daggeron – Ancient Warrior who assists the Mystic Force Rangers - lost his memory

Angela – Scientist from Lightspeed Rescue - lost her memory

People from every city in Power Rangers history