Billy stood stock still, staring down at the gruesome sight in horrified comprehension, as the terrible revelations exploded one after another in his brilliant brain.
Tommy had been fitted with the same cybernetic mind-altering implants as Astronema.
He hadn't been under a spell at all.
Justin had lied to him.
He had never given Justin any kind of a bio-scan, because the captive Psycho Ranger had insisted that only the forcefield was shielding him from the mind-control spell.
By failing to lower the forcefield and subject Justin to a thorough physical examination, he had missed the chance to detect any cybernetic implants beneath the epidermis and so disprove Justin's story.
"Billy! Billy!"
The calling of his name seemed to come from a long way off, penetrating dimly to his perception.
Only when Delphine actually physically seized his shoulders was he able to actually focus on what she was saying.
"Aurico is dying! We need your power as well to help us heal him!"
She all but hauled him over to where the Red Ranger lay, the other Rangers already gathered around their fallen teammate. As if in a dream Billy joined hands with them and concentrated on directing the Great Power into Aurico, using it to heal him just as he'd helped heal Zordon all of those years ago.
A few moments later Aurico began to move, slowly sitting up. The other Rangers cheered, Delphine actually leaning down to embrace him.
"Billy?' Justin asked, moving to the other Blue Ranger's side.
He almost snapped at him, almost screamed at the young android, catching himself at the last second. This wasn't Justin's fault, not this Justin's. Not any Justin's, really. Billy knew whose fault this tragedy was.
"What is it, Justin?" he asked, his voice free of hostility. Free of any life at all, actually.
"When I was fighting the Green Psycho Ranger I managed to hit him until his morph dropped."
"And you saw he had cranial cybernetic implants before you killed him?" Billly prompted listlessly, already knowing the answer.
"No! I mean, yeah, he had implants on his face. I didn't kill him, though. Like you told us it would be, it was Adam! So I just crushed his morpher with my hammer."
"Wait, you what?" Billy asked, his attention fully on Justin now.
"I crushed his morpher. And most of his wrist," Justin admitted, sounding embarrassed. "He passed out and then I came here to help like you said we should after we beat our Psycho Ranger."
"Go get him and bring him to me," Billy ordered. With a nod Justin transformed into a pillar of light and shot upward.
Looking over the remaining Rangers, Billy realized one was missing: Cassie. He called her on his comm and received no response. His eyes dropped to the remains of the Phantom Ranger as he felt the loss of yet another two Rangers.
The few who remained here, Delphine, Aurico, T.J. had gathered before him, as if they were expecting him to tell them what to do.
Fine, then.
"The Psycho Rangers are gone. Help beat back the Quantrons," he told them. Without a word of dissent, they commed to find out where they were most needed and teleported away, right before Justin teleported back.
And in his arms was an unconscious Adam Park, his visage marred by the same cybernetic implants Tommy had and his right wrist a shattered, blood-soaked mess.
There had never been any spell controlling the Psycho Rangers, only cybernetic implants. Why they hadn't been visible on Justin's face was a good question, but ultimately irrelevant.
"Come on, help me get him to a medical center," Billy ordered.
Although the attack on Tegalak had been underway for only a few hours, the planetary medical facilities were already full of wounded soldiers. Billy therefore teleported Adam to the nearest shipboard infirmary. A pang of guilt struck him that he was occupying himself here rather than helping fight off the invasion, and he was quick to tell Justin to join in the fighting. He stayed, however.
It was actually possible Adam could be saved, really saved, if he didn't die of shock or blood loss. Billy could not let that opportunity pass by, especially not now.
While the Healer stabilized the Psycho Ranger medically, keeping him sedated according to the warning she'd been given, Billy had the technology he would need teleported to him from his lab on Aquitar. He also arranged for the Phantom Ranger's remains to be sent back to Eltar.
Lastly he tapped into the military network feed to get an update on the current situation from the surface forces and the fleet. The Blue and Gold Psycho Rangers had reportedly returned to the Envenomed Blade, along with the Red and Pink ones, though he knew personally that the Red Ranger was no longer alive. The flagship had then immediately retreated back into UAE territory while the attacking fleet had ceased its advance.
On Tegalak, the Quantron force were being annihilated by the newly Great Power-empowered Light Rangers. Reinforcements were already being sent in from nearby UAE ships.
There was also a message direct to the Rangers from an Eltarian private named Sedler. He had used his anti-fighter cannon to kill the Pink Psycho Ranger and apparently to cut Cassie half in an incident of friendly fire.
So Kat had died too. Only Justin and Fred had survived the trap.
Shaking the thought away for now, Billy immediately sent the order to have Cassie's remains teleported to this ship, to the same cargo bay his equipment had been sent to.
A quick examination of the damage done to her revealed that while Cassie had gone offline because of the destruction of her internal generator, her memory banks remained fully intact. There was no reason her body couldn't be repaired and her mind brought back online!
Billy teleported Cassie inert form back to his Aquitian lab before returning to the medical bay.
"He will recover," Healer Telara told him first of all, "but his right wrist was completely crushed. I don't know if he'll ever be able to use his right hand again."
"I need to see him," Billy cut in.
"He's resting now, and he was sedated as you ordered," Telara countered, her voice a bit affronted.
"I don't need to speak with him; I just need to examine his cybernetic implants."
"The patient is resting," Telara reiterated firmly.
"This is vital to the war effort," Billy told her, pushing past her. "As overseer of the Light Rangers, I am overriding your authority under Aquitian Legal Code Section 83, paren 2."
The Healer left in a huff while Billy knelt down next at the Green Psycho Ranger's bedside and went to work. Twenty minutes later he had finished and had a thorough working understanding of the mechanical operation of the implants, even if he couldn't say exactly how they affected the recipient's mental processes.
He finished by deactivating the implants, entering the order that the patient be put under guard, be restrained for his own safety, and that he be given access to a Mind Healer as soon as one was available.
He logged back into his commfeed and found that the UAE ground reinforcements had made no difference; the Rangers and defending troops continued to obliterate them, and the UAE ships had fallen back into recently conquered territory, unwilling to continue to advance with unsecured hostile planets at their back.
He wasn't needed down on Tegalak; he could stay here and wait for Adam to wake up, try to get him through what he'd be feeling now that his implants had been deactivated.
Or he could do something about the remaining Psycho Rangers.
The plan came together in his mind all at once. The Phantom Ranger's cloaked ship on Tegalak, the two remaining Psycho Rangers presumably even now returning to the Dark Fortress, his understanding of the implants, the materials he had available here and in his lab, the electronic map of the Dark Fortress the Phantom Ranger had so painstakingly compiled . . . and how the remaining Rangers would undoubtedly be demorphed when they went to sleep tonight.
He could do this, Billy told himself, his heart pounding. He could potentially eliminate the last of the Psycho Rangers and bring them both back to the side of good! It would have to be done now, though, tonight; even with the Phantom Ranger gone, it was all too likely Justin would soon upgrade the Dark Fortress' security systems to protect against invisible intruders. Then, too, there was only a vanishingly brief time window of time in which there would both be only two Psycho Rangers and during which he could be relatively certain of their location.
It would be an exceedingly risky and even reckless venture, Billy had to acknowledge, unsanctioned by anyone but himself. It could even be seen as a violation of the Ranger code! Power Rangers were expected to always defend, never to attack.
Yet was this really an attack? Zordon, ultimate arbiter of the Ranger way, had never objected when they had sought to liberate a captured Ranger, and that's what Justin was! And Fred had been a potential Ranger, so the same considerations should apply to him too.
For all of his wisdom, all of his vast knowledge, all of his logic and preplanning, Billy's decision to act was made at once and almost without conscious thought. He would do this. He HAD to do this.
Rising from Adam's bedside, he started toward the door to the medbay, only for it to slide open before he reached it. The other Blue Ranger, still fully morphed, stepped into the room, the viewplate on his helmet turning from Billy to the pale figure lying motionless on the bed, and then back again.
"How is he?" Justin asked in almost a whisper.
Billy hadn't planned on having this conversation, especially now, when every second counted. Best to end it as quickly as possible.
"He's going to sleep for a few more hours. When he wakes up, though, he'll-," unexpectedly Billy had to stop and clear his throat. "He'll be Adam again," he finished.
"Really? You turned him back?!"
The pride and hope in that young voice hit Billy like a punch to the gut. Justin had no business acting like that toward him, not when Billy had been so easily fooled, not when his gullible stupidity had cost Tommy's life!
He managed a nod and started moving toward the door again.
"You don't have to leave," Justin told him. "The Quantrons are pretty much crushed; the others are mopping up the last of them now, that's why Aurico let me come up here."
He paused for a few seconds, looking over at the sleeping figure again. "I should go, though. Adam won't want to see me here, not after what I did to him."
"What you did to him saved his life," Billy couldn't help pointing out as he reached Justin, maneuvering around him to get at the door.
The reply was voiced so softly he almost didn't hear it. Even then he could have ignored it, could have simply kept going. Except he'd spent years trying to fulfill the role of mentor to this team and this wasn't something he could ignore.
"Justin, why do you think he'd hate you for saving his life?" Billy questioned, turning and starting straight at the android. The helmet turned to one side, and Billy felt the temptation to leave, and ignored it.
"Because now he has to live with what he did when he was a Psycho Ranger," Justin replied. "How can you do that? How do you live knowing the terrible things you've done, the things you're capable of?"
The note of raw anguish, of self-loathing in his tone warned Billy that they were no longer only talking about Adam. Consequently, he chose his answering words with care.
"Adam is going to feel horribly guilty over what he's done since he became a Psycho Ranger. Eventually, though, he'll come to realize the things he did weren't his fault, no more than it'd be your fault if someone reprogramed you. That's what these implants did! They changed him, and he couldn't help that. It doesn't make him a bad person. And what Justin's done doesn't make him or you a bad person either."
It was surprisingly difficult saying that, despite knowing in his head that it was the truth.
The Blue Ranger abruptly removed his helmet, shrinking down to about five foot five. "How can you say that after how he lied to you? After what he did to Cestria?!"
"I never met him while he was a Turbo Ranger," Billy admitted, "but I got to know Justin Stewart through you. That's how I know this isn't his fault, that he'd never do what he has of his own free will. Because YOU wouldn't!"
He placed a hand on the small android's shoulder as Justin started up at him and finally gave a tight nod.
Billy began to leave, the door opening before him. He was less than half a foot from the corridor when Justin asked, "Where are you going now?"
He should have been ready for the predictable question, should have had a smooth, plausible lie just waiting for him to give voice to it. And if he'd carefully planned out this mission in advance, he would have.
For once, though, he was acting more on snap judgment than on rational thought and so he froze in the doorway as his normally agile mind scrambled frantically for a suitable falsehood.
Say he was going to going to join the other Rangers in battle? No, Justin had said they were almost finished with the fight. Say he was going back to Aquitar to begin repairing Cassie? No, then Justin would ask to come along. Say he was going for a holo-conference with the admirals? No, then Justin would likely wait outside the door. Say he was going back to see his wife? Justin would respect that, but then he'd have to teleport back to Aquitar and the Phantom Ranger's ship was here.
In the end his uncharacteristic reaction and delay in responding cost him any chance he might have had to deceive his teammate. He had spent the past few years as mentor to his team, getting to know them, but they'd spent the same amount of time getting to know him. And when he heard Justin's voice again it was laced with discomfort and wariness.
"Billy? What are you doing? What's wrong?"
He'd almost made it out, Billy told himself as he again turned to face his teammate. Yet he couldn't let this stop him; he knew what he had to do.
"I have a plan to free the last two Psycho Rangers," he told his fellow Blue Ranger bluntly, "but I need to go now."
"What, by yourself?! No, that's crazy, you've got to take us with you!"
"Why, so I can get the rest of you killed too?" Billy demanded sarcastically before he could stop himself. He took a deep breath and went on. "Justin it's a one-person job; there's no reason to risk any more. Once Cassie is back online there will be five Light Rangers again, all possessing the Great Power! You'll be able to stand up to the new Psychos if I fail."
"No, we won't, not without you!" Justin insisted, his internal hydraulics producing the facsimile of tears on his face. He grabbed his mentor and Billy involuntarily winced as the crushing vise encased in a glove closed around his forearm. Like humans, Justin's didn't always know his own strength when he got emotional; it was a good thing Billy was still morphed, or his wrist probably would have looked like Adam's.
"There need to be six Rangers! You know that better than I do, you're the longest serving Ranger there is!"
Billy had to admit Earth's Ranger teams had functioned better in the past with six members rather than with five, but that wasn't enough to sway him.
"I have to do this, Justin. I started it when I created the Turbo Turbine, and now I'm going to end it."
"How? How can you do this by yourself?" Justin demanded.
"I know how to deactivate the cybernetic implants now. I'm going to take Phantom's ship to the Dark Fortress and when they fall asleep, I'm going to teleport into their bedrooms and turn their neural nets off."
Justin hesitated, and Billy would have taken the opportunity to break away if it wouldn't have meant leaving his arm behind. He'd told himself he couldn't let Justin stop him, but he hadn't anticipated the android Ranger actually physically restraining him.
"That's not a one person job," Justin surprisingly countered. "It's a two person job, one for each bedroom. What happens if the first Psycho Ranger hears you coming and wakes up? What if he goes hysterical when you deactivate his implants? The other one will be morphed before you can blink!"
"That's why you have to take me with you."
"What?" Billy asked incredulously.
"I can take care of one Psycho Ranger while you get the other one."
"Justin, no! You don't need to do this."
"Neither do you! You said it wasn't my fault, what Justin's done. What the UAE did with the Turbo Turbine isn't your fault! If you're going after them, then I'm going with you! And there isn't time to argue."
Damn it, he was right about that! The others would be back soon, and he knew they'd never let him take this risk, no matter who necessary it was. For the second time in ten minutes, Billy Cranston made a rash snap-judgment.
"Then let me go and come on," Billy told Justin curtly. Part of him couldn't believe he was doing this, since he had no desire to risk anyone's life but his own on this plan. Maybe he should abandon the idea altogether.
No. NO! If this worked, who knows how many lives he would be saving? He couldn't pass up the chance to do so much good, no matter what the cost.
Not even for Justin.
The duo hurried to the ship's cargo bay, Billy responding to Justin's questions about the cybernetic implants as they went. In the process the two come up with a back-up plan, one Billy was able to assemble for himself in only a few moments with additional teleported material. Given Justin's electronic composition he would unfortunately need to forego having one himself, but that couldn't be helped.
"Um, Billy, if you want to record a message for Cestria," Justin began awkwardly, "there's no one in the neighboring cargo bay."
It was a thoughtful reminder, and there was no doubt Billy wanted to leave something for his wife. Actually Justin's consideration could potentially solve more than one problem. He moved eagerly toward the door, but the other Blue Ranger unexpectedly interposed himself between the Rangers mentor and the exit.
"Just leave your Morpher here so I know you won't try to teleport to Phantom's ship without me," he put in, arms crossed over his chest.
Cursing internally, Billy reluctantly took off his morpher and handed it over.
It took him a few moments to compose himself enough to leave a suitable message. The thought of what it would do to her if he didn't come back was nearly enough to undo his resolve to go. In the end, though, he managed to leave a message which he hoped would help her to understand why he had to do this.
When he got back Justin returned his morpher and it immediately beeped, Delphine asking him where he was. He told them to meet him in this ship's medical bay, where Adam was. That wouldn't keep them occupied for long, but long enough. Soon after Billy sent his message to his wife she'd contact the other Rangers, and they'd know what he and Justin had done.
By then it would be too late to stop them.
Billy removed his helmet, and for a second the two Blue Rangers simply stared at each other, each seeing his determination and resolve mirrored in the other's fact. Then they teleported down directly into Phantom Ranger's ship, which cloaked, lifted off and sent a transmission to Aquitar.
For all of his intelligence and observational acumen, Billy never noticed the small, torn scrap of synth-skin lying near the pile of his equipment.
Synth skin was the artificial material which covered the Robot Rangers' internal workings, and it was only removed in order to access their electronic components.
ΩΩΩΩΩ
Justin leaned back in his chair in the wardroom, removing his helmet and placing it on the table in order to massage his temples. He had a bitch of a headache building up, and it was all the fault of the remaining Light Rangers.
The Great Power! Who would have thought they'd go after that?
HE should have, the teenage Psycho Ranger chided himself reprovingly. He knew the Rangers, knew their recklessness both from having been on one of their teams and from having opposed one for the past few years. He should have anticipated that they'd try for a longshot like the Great Power after their losses at Morrigan; it was literally their only hope. And if there was anything Rangers specialized in, it was capitalizing on their last hope, their final chance.
If he had a standard Psycho Ranger neural net Justin would have been too busy raging over his defeat, and the defeat of the Psycho Rangers as a whole, to draw any further conclusions.
As it was he was able to set aside his anger and hate and appreciate, with a kind of chilly detachment, the soundness and cleverness of the plan which had led to their defeat. Not facing them all at once and openly, as was the usual brainless Ranger way, but luring the Psychos off one at a time, surprising each one in isolation with the new power the Light Ranger he'd come to prey upon now possessed. Then, when he and Fred had refused to fall for their trick, descending en masse upon the two of them and Tommy.
What had happened next was the one bright spot, the single redeeming feature of this dark day. When he'd fed Billy the lie about Tommy being the linchpin of the spell keeping them all "on the bad guys' side", it had been in the hopes that their future targeting of the Red Psycho Ranger would give he and Fred a chance to strike, to fatally stab their leader from behind while the enemy was hitting him ineffectually from the front.
Instead the Light Rangers had actually succeeded in killing Tommy! Unfortunately, they'd killed most of the other Psycho Rangers along with him! And not only that, but they'd destroyed Adam and Tanya's morphers, robbing the UAE of the ability to fully replace their losses! The delicate process of combining powerful dark magic with advanced Morphin technology was of necessity long and complex, not something which could be rushed. For at least the next several months the Psycho Rangers would be down to four, and that was assuming they could find suitable recipients for Tommy's Morpher and Kat's morphers.
All of which was undoubtedly why Dark Specter had communicated through Astronema that he wanted to see Justin at once. Teleporting back would have meant giving up an ace in the hole he might well need, however, and so he had pled damaged equipment, citing the use of a new Ranger weapon which might have infected he and the Gold Ranger with energy particles which would render long-range teleporting dangerous.
Astronema had been happy enough to accept his lie, knowing the delay would only increase the Emperor of Evil's no doubt already considerable anger.
Before that frustrating conversation Justin had talked with Fred about what they had to be ready for once they arrived at the Dark Fortress. Of course that was only after he'd gotten done arguing with Fred about the decision to retreat. Even the Gold Psycho Ranger would have been eventually overwhelmed if they'd stayed, and he'd finally been able to persuade his proud friend of that.
Had they stayed, even Fred would have fallen. And before Fred fell . . . he would have! That fact alone was enough to break through Justin's icy control, and he slammed his gloved fists down onto the metal table in sudden fury, his helmet jumping from the force of his blows.
Billy hadn't been an active Ranger since leaving Earth! Even with the Great Power, he shouldn't have been any match for Justin!
Yet the truth was he had been. He'd succeeding in keeping the Blue Psycho Ranger on the defensive for most of their fight, had even drawn blood! When was the last time he had shed blood in a fight? His own, at least? He couldn't even remember!
It was worrying, even more so than his failure to anticipate the Light Rangers' move for the Great Power or their oh so clever trap.
It made him think he might be slipping.
He couldn't afford that, not now! He had to be at his absolute best, both for his meeting with Dark Specter and in the difficult days to come.
Justin's quiet contemplation (or brooding) was interrupted by the entrance into the wardroom of the Gold Psycho Ranger. Fred had gone to his room to shower and, now remorphed, he paused momentarily in the doorway, the faceless front of his helmet angled down towards Justin's uncovered face.
Then he stalked gracefully forward and slide into the chair opposite the Blue Psycho Ranger.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he offered.
Justin sighed. "Just that we'd better not slip up when we meet with Dark Specter. He's going to be furious about this."
"Are you scared?"
Justin's temper almost flared up again, though there had been no taunt in Fred's tone, just neutral inquiry.
"Yes, I am. Are you?" Justin shot back sarcastically.
He expected a flippant negative, an airy expression of disregard. Even with the Light Rangers having won the Great Power, Fred was still the single strongest Ranger in the galaxy and keenly aware of that fact.
What Justin didn't expect was for Fred to reach up and remove his own helmet, setting it down on the table next to Justin's. The eyes of the two teens met, and Fred replied simply, "Yes."
"I don't think you're in any danger," Justin told him honestly. "You've barely begun as a Psycho Ranger and you've already done great; he'd be a fool to replace you."
"He'd be a fool to replace you too!" Fred pointed out.
"Maybe, but he's going to want someone to blame for this."
"Then let him blame Tommy!" Fred suggested. "Anyway, what do you mean, 'maybe'?"
Justin was silent, knowing better than to willingly reveal vulnerability, but something about Fred's steady gaze drew the words out of him.
"I didn't see this coming, Fred. I didn't realize the Rangers would go after the Great Power, and I didn't realize their trap until it had already mostly closed us on us. Hell, I couldn't even beat Billy in battle!"
"First, not even you can think of everything the enemy might do in advance. And you caught onto their trap in time to save me from falling into it. Plus, remember, you played Billy for a damn fool the whole time he held you captive, and you even managed to get away on your own!"
"Okay, so you weren't able to put Billy away today," Fred conceded. "How many times have you fought him before?"
"None. He was gone by the time I became a Ranger, so we never sparred, and today was the first time he ever came onto the battlefield."
"How many times do you think he's seen you fight? From watching the Light Rangers' battles, hell, from watching your android duplicate in action! Aren't you always saying knowledge is power?"
"It is!" Justin insisted.
"Exactly. Billy had a lot knowledge of how you fight and you had none about how he fights. So he scored today. This isn't the end of the game, though, and I know who my money is on."
In spite of himself, Justin felt a smile of gratitude tugging at his lips.
"How did I ever get along on this team without you?" he asked facetiously.
"Luck!" Fred answered, with such speed and emphasis that Justin burst out laughing.
"Feeling better now?" the Gold Psycho Ranger asked with a knowing grin. "A little more ready to face Dark Specter and Astronema?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Because remember: with you as the brains and me as the brawn, the two of us are fucking unstoppable!"
ΩΩΩΩΩ
He looked so peaceful asleep. Almost innocent.
Looking down at him like this, it was hard keep in mind how much death and destruction Adam Park had dealt out.
Delphine had to remember that none of it had been by choice. This human, Billy's old friend and teammate, was a victim here, as much as anyone else who'd been targeted by the United Alliance of Evil.
Once it became known that the Green Psycho Ranger was in custody, there would be a call for swift, brutal "justice", but Delphine was confident wiser minds would prevail. She herself would join her voice in protest of any harsh penalty, if necessary.
Quite apart from the moral considerations Delphine used to guide her entire life, there was a very strong practical reason to spare the dark-haired human: Like Billy, he had won the Great Power through his valor. If they could reignite the sparks of that energy within him, he could actually become a Light Ranger himself! They were certainly in need of more teammates, she thought with a sharp stab of sorrow.
The news that Cassie could be repaired and reactivated had come as a great relief; she had already lost more friends than she'd thought her heart could bear in the last few weeks.
A wave of weakness swept over Delphine and she leaned against T.J.'s solid, reassuring form. She and Aurico would need to rehydrate very soon, but she'd wanted to meet Billy here first. Where were he and Justin?
As she wondered about their absence Delphine's comm sounded, with a call from Aquitar.
ΩΩΩΩΩ