Chapter Five

The video quality was grainy- at best. The audio quality was crystal clear- at worst. There were hours of film that they could choose to look at, but only a small time frame for when this must have happened. Five days ago- between 7pm and 7 am. Five days ago something had happened to their friends. Tommy paused as he moved back to that time frame on the videos. Could he do this? Could he sit through this and be able to function on the other side? He doubted that functioning like a normal human being was possible anymore, but he would like to believe that functioning like a Power Ranger was still within his grasp.

"Hey- you're not alone," Kim stated and he knew that his face had given him away. He knew that she could read exactly how bad this was for him and how much he was dreading the coming hours. "I can do this if it'll break you."

"Kimberly- I can't ask you to do that," Tommy whispered as he wiped his eyes again and he began the video. While Kimberly had left the ranger life behind, he had always depended on his fellow rangers. These men where his friends. These men did not deserve to die the way that they did. And these men deserved justice- justice that no judge and jury could give them. He was the only one that could really give them justice now and maybe Kimberly, if she was willing to help. "I have to know."

"Okay," Kim mumbled as she settled down in the chair next to him and placed a bottle of water in front of him. He forced a smile and then took the bottle. He knew that he had to take care of himself now, but he was not sure that he wanted to do that anymore. He was just sure that he had to keep at least one ranger alive. He had to be able to do something to stop this from killing all of them. "Why was I not in your program?"

"I saw you on the news every morning. I knew that if anything major happened to you- I wouldn't have to hunt for it," Tommy responded and he risked a look over at her. She was looking at him. Looking at him as if she was trying to read his mind. Her eyes were red rimmed from tears, but he had not seen her cry since last night. She was holding it together for him and he had no idea why she would do that.

"No," Kim whispered as a being materialized in Jason's cabin. He snapped his attention back to the screen and began capturing and recapturing small snippets of the video for enhancement. He focused on that task over the next three hours and only after it was over did he look for her again. He did not have to go far as she had buried her face in his back and tried to block all of it out. He had been able to distract himself with capturing information, she had not had that luxury. He would process all of this later, she was processing all of it right now.

"We will get this being," Tommy muttered and he paused the videos to turn around and embrace her. He needed someone to hold on to that would ground him in this world. That would ground him and force him to understand that this was real. It was not fair that she was that person, but there was no one else that could be that person anymore.

"Did you see it? Did you realize who that was?" Kim forced out and he blinked down at her. How could she recognize the being? He had barely been able to look at the screen long enough to capture the images that needed to be enhanced. Apparently- she had watched the video far more closely than he had. "It's Billy."

"No. There's no way- he's not on Earth anymore. He hasn't been for over ten years," Tommy denied and he pulled away long enough to open several of the pictures that he had captured. As he looked at the pictures, the feeling in the pit of his stomach grew worse. The being did look like Billy- but it couldn't be him. There was no way that it was Billy. "We can contact Aquitar."

"And do what? Ask if they've let a homicidal maniac version of Billy loose on the ranger population?" Kim retorted. He closed his eyes and tried to think past the pain that was threatening to overtake him again. There had always been something about Billy that was different than all of them, maybe that was something that they needed to investigate further. Because he could not believe that Billy had actually done this. The Billy that he knew- would not have it in him to kill all of the rangers.

"We have to know. We have to know if this is really Billy. Because if it is really Billy- he knows about you. He knows that you are a ranger and some other things would have had to change- namely him no longer being human," Tommy replied and his spine stiffened. He would watch Zack's video as well. He would know everything that happened to him in the same details that he now knew what happened to Jason, but he must follow this lead first. He must not waste time when there was a valuable piece of information in front of them. "Do you remember Aquitarian customs?"

"No. I wasn't a ranger anymore," Kim said and he watched her wring her hands together. Any other time- he would have welcomed the discussion of why and how she had walked away so fully from being a ranger. Today, he did not welcome it. Today, he could not entertain that discussion unless it lead them closer to where they needed to be. "Tommy- you have to process this. You can't hold it all in."

"I will- tonight. I know I'm no good to us if I hold all of this in," Tommy stated and he quietly pulled her in to his side. He needed to feel and know that there was still another living ranger. He was surprised at that she did not resist this action. At any other moment, he would have paused to wonder what this meant. What it could mean that she would accept his touch so readily, so greedily almost. Instead, he used his other hand to work through the process of contacting Aquitar. The link had not been used in over a decade and he could only hope that it would still work.

"Tommy, Kimberly," Billy responded as he materialized on the screen. "I am afraid you may have discovered my secret."

"The secret that has you killing our friends in the middle of the night?" Kim spat out as she stepped in front of Tommy to glare at the screen. He vaguely recognized that she was protecting him. That she was putting herself between him and someone that could be seen as an enemy, even if only a few hours ago they were certain that he was their friend. He also could see the weariness in Billy's eyes, quickly followed by the pain. No. He had not killed their friends, but he knew who had. He knew what was happening.

"No, Kimberly. You've discovered that I'm not human," Billy stated and the two of them went silent. Billy wasn't human? How could he not be human?