Part Ten

Chapter Five

With the threat to Dragon Island over, the dragons drifted back into the city to pick up the pieces and resume their lives as normal. By the time Sharkman regained consciousness, he was surrounded by a small army of the dragon king's finest soldiers. We all tensed, expecting another fight. But for his part, Sharkman seemed to respond to the dragons better than he'd ever dealt with people, and he readily cooperated.

He couldn't recall the exact moment he'd been brainwashed, but he did seem to be aware of everything that had happened while he'd been under the Shadow King's control. It wasn't something the Rangers and I wanted to think about too much. But he was so grateful that Billy had saved him from the bomb that he agreed to stay in a water-filled holding cell here on Dragon Island, at least until we got back to the mainland and told the authorities where he was.

The librarians from the island's archives helped us load the crates of books and scrolls into the Phoenix, and then it was time to say goodbye.

We stood in a line before the Phoenix as Kulak shook our hands, one-by-one. "Farewell Rangers," he beamed. "What a glorious morning! I haven't had this much fun in months!"

"Thank you for your help," Jason replied, and nodded back to the zord. "This could prove critical."

"Think nothing of it," Kulak said. "After defending the island today, we owe you a debt. Another one."

"We'll get these straight back to you," Teresa said.

"And we won't at all make copies and add them to Zordon's archives," I said.

"Whelp," Kulak laughed.

"Give our apologies to the prince," Scott continued. "We'd stay until he returned and catch up, but…"

"But your present mission is too urgent," Kulak nodded. "He'll understand. He admires the twelve of you immensely, you know. Good luck Rangers," and he folded his arms across his chest.

We turned and stepped into the Phoenix. As everyone climbed the ramp, Kim glanced to Jason. "One for the books," she said.

"I think I killed Moby Dick," Jason replied. "Don't tell my English literature professor. Scott, can you definitely mention that in your journal? This time tomorrow, I don't think I'll believe it."

Billy and I waited until last. Just as we were about to board, Kulak stepped forward. "One last thing, friends?" he called.

Billy looked back. "Yes?"

"If you do manage to find this Shadow King," Kulak said. "On behalf of everyone on Dragon Island, please kick him in his nether regions. Twice, just to make sure."

We both laughed. "We'll do our best," I said.

With that, we climbed into the zord. Once the hatch had closed, the Phoenix lifted off and shot away towards the western horizon as Kulak stood waving us goodbye.

The deep blue of the Pacific flashed beneath us as the Phoenix took us home, with all the scrolls and books from Dragon Island safely aboard. Once we were far enough away from the island's enchantments, Kim called the Command Centre to let them know we were returning. We demorphed, and Teresa stepped into the cockpit to tell Zordon everything that had happened, and see if we'd missed anything in the meantime.

While the rest of us were exploring everything Kulak had let us borrow, Scott looked up and registered that somebody was missing. Glancing around, the younger Blue Ranger noticed Billy, sitting by himself at the back of the cabin with a thoughtful expression. Tapping me on the shoulder, Scott nodded to Billy, and we got up. Seeing me leave, Jason passed the scroll he was reading to Zac and joined us.

"Hey Bill," Scott began, as we sat down beside him. Broken out of his thoughts, Billy looked up. "Everything okay?"

"It was a testing day," Billy said. "I'm looking forward to seeing Trini again, and relating the morning's adventure."

"You did an awesome job today," Jason said. "One of these days, Bill, you're gonna stop impressing us. Today definitely wasn't that day."

"It was nothing," Billy replied, but we could see blush creeping across his face. "Just another day in the life of being a Ranger."

"Seriously though, you stared down the Shadow King and didn't blink," I said. "Through the eyes of a possessed mutant shark, no less."

The Australian eastern seaboard appeared on the horizon, rapidly approaching. We could just see cities and roads, with a lighthouse standing watch over the beach. It was a few more seconds before Billy replied.

"Can I confess something?" he asked, and we nodded. "Until today, at least, the threat of the Shadow King has been largely academic. And I can do academic. Our enemy is using our failings and insecurities to hurt us. It's something we're all vulnerable to, right? Fear is such a basic human reaction. The fight-or-flight instinct has been hardwired into the collective human consciousness since the Palaeolithic Era. But honestly, until today, none of that concerned me."

"So what was different about today?" asked Scott.

Billy hesitated. "I know this sounds odd," he began. "I am sure, one day, when people are counting on me to solve a problem, that I won't be capable of the task. That I will fail and people will get hurt. That should worry me. But what concerns me is that when that happens, I will disappoint you all, and you will no longer value me as a companion. I think the thought of that frightens me more than I know how to express."

For a minute, none of us could think of anything to say.

"After all this time, that's still something you're unsure about?" Jason asked.

"Fear isn't rational," Billy replied. "It's deeper than that, it's something primal. Jason, I lost half my family once. I have no desire to lose anyone else."

"Billy," Scott began, resting a hand on the older Blue Ranger's shoulder. "If you're ever trying to figure out the chances of us not wanting you in our lives, and you get an answer other than zero?"

"Then you need to recalculate the equation," Jason nodded.

Billy smiled despite himself. "Thank you," he said, and laughed. "You even used an algebra metaphor. Where am I going to find friends like you?"

Jason glanced at the red desert the zord was now cruising over. "It was a close thing today," the Red Ranger said. "I admit, I was nervous."

"Still," I said. "The dragons came through for us. And there has to be something in all this that's useful."

"Yeah, we definitely came out ahead today," agreed Scott.

"Unfortunately, the Shadow King anticipated everything we were going to do before we did it," Billy began, and gazed around the three of us. "From the very beginning, the Shadow King has been a step ahead of us. He's had eons to plan for every eventuality and he is skilled at covering his tracks. And I have this thought that won't stop troubling me, even after today's victory."

"Billy, what are you saying?" I asked.

"In layman's terms?" Billy began. "What else are we doing that's playing right into the Shadow King's hands?"

And none of us could answer.

To be continued.