Billy Cranston always knew he'd end up here eventually. He just envisioned it as something he'd do when the time was right, a little later down the line.
Unfortunately, the current situation was forcing his hand. He just hoped it would still end up favorable.
As Billy pulled into 1992 Valencia Road he swerved around a bicycle. The house was large but modest, just barely out of town.
He couldn't help but smirk as he parked next to the large black vehicle. Tommy had traded his sports car for a minivan.
It was Kat who opened the door. She instantly smiled.
"Oh my gosh, it's been forever, Billy!"
The former blue ranger smiled meekly. "Sorry to just pop in like this."
"No, no problem at all," she said. "I just started a pot of coffee if you want some."
Billy wanted to reject the offer, after all, he was in a time crunch, but it was impossible to even consider saying no with the look on Kat's face.
"Yeah, that sounds nice."
As the two stepped into the living room Billy spotted a young boy on the couch and his father on the recliner beside him.
"Oh, gotcha!" The boy exclaimed as one of the figures on the television was knocked out of the frame.
"Hey, cut me some slack," the boy's dad said. "Back when I was your age our controllers had half the buttons."
Billy looked at Tommy, unsure of what to even say.
"Doctor Cranston?" Tommy's son asked with a sparkle of excitement.
"I already told you J.J, Billy works just fine for me," the tech giant said as he reached into his pocket and tossed a cartridge at the young man.
"Beetleborgs Reloaded? This game won't come out for a few months."
"It's an advanced copy, courtesy of Cranston Industries. Just, uh, don't show your friends. And don't go online with it either."
Billy couldn't help but smile at the unadulterated joy plastered on J.J's face. There had been a time he and Cestra had discussed having children…
He quickly shook the dark thoughts away.
"J.J why don't you go get that game installed in your system upstairs," Tommy said.
J.J nodded and shot like a homing missile up the stairs.
"Now," Tommy said once his son was safely out of earshot. "Am I safe to assume you didn't just show up out of the blue to deliver my son a gift?"
"Affirmative," Billy barked automatically. He blinked a few times. Over the years he'd tried to iron out a lot of his older vocal quirks. He found they made him less personable. But around Tommy, it was hard not to fall back into old habits. "Well, to be more accurate I have more than just a gift for J.J.''
Tommy flashed Billy a look, but before the genius could elaborate Kat arrived with a steaming white mug. Billy took a sip of the dark, bitter, liquid and flashed a smile at Kat. "Thank you."
"So Billy I hear you've been working with Anton on a top-secret project," Kat said with a raised eyebrow.
"It wouldn't be very top secret of him to just talk about it to whoever asked," Tommy replied.
"I'm not just anyone," Kat said. "Since when did we lose top secret privileges?"
Billy resisted the urge to wince. He'd almost said something nearly identical to Tommy. But Kat was right… had they really drifted that far?
"It's not THAT secret," Billy said with a wink. "I'm borrowing a lot of Anton's bio-zord technology to make Zords of my own."
"Zords of your own?" Kat asked. "Does that mean what I think it does?"
"It does," Tommy said and cast a firm glare Billy's way. "And that's why he's here. And before you can even start I'm going to tell you no."
"Wait Tommy let me-"
"No," Tommy snapped. "No matter what you say to me it won't change my mind."
"Thomas Oliver," Kat hissed, "that is no way to treat a guest, let alone a lifelong friend."
Tommy sighed. "Look, Billy, I'm sorry. I just, I can't help you. After what happened with Anton I swore I was done with all of this Ranger business."
"And I have nothing but respect for that," Billy said. "However, if the need arose, or if there were some kind of emergency that forced your hand. I want you to be ready."
Billy reached into his pocket and revealed a large metal buckle. An empty power morpher with a glowing green inside.
"It's a Master Morpher," Billy explained. "It'll allow you to access all of your precious powers."
Tommy just stared at the Morpher for a while.
"I'm sorry about the timing, I know you've been having nightmares."
Tommy's gaze shot back towards Billy. "How did you know that?"
"It's not just you," the genius explained. "There's been a massive influx of dark energy. It's affecting everyone."
"Just some more than others," Kat said in a soft voice. Billy noted the dark look in her eyes.
"That's right," Billy said. "I'm sure you heard about the earthquake in Angel Grove, and what happened to Emily. All of it is connected "
A wave of tension rolled through the room at the mention of Emily.
"So you built me this morpher," Tommy said. "What's the catch?"
"No catch," Billy said. "I know you're retired and I have no intention of disrespecting that. I just want you prepared. " He then reached into his other pocket and revealed a second Morpher, which he placed down in front of Kat. "You as well."
Kat took the Master Morpher and carefully examined it. Meanwhile, Tommy had yet to touch the one before him.
Billy couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. He didn't know what he expected but he'd hoped for something a little more positive. Maybe a thank you at least.
"Hahaha what a cute little reunion!" A dark voice exclaimed.
In a matter of breaths, the three former Rangers were on their feet scanning the perimeter for the source of the voice.
"You'll have to forgive my sudden intrusion. Hahahaha. I just couldn't stand to miss out on all the fun!"
In an explosion of dark smoke, a cloaked creature appeared. Beneath the creature's hood was a disturbing yellow vistage with a glowing orange mouth and eyes.
The figure was unmistakable.
"I was hoping you'd keep your ugly mug in the 90s," Tommy growled.
"Now, why would I do that? When there's finally room for expansion?" The creature asked.
The creature, who had once managed to create one of their greatest adversaries, a clone of Tommy Oliver, raised his wand which began to pulse with dark energy.
Kat and Billy both raised their morphers into the air as the entire room was swallowed by black smoke.
A/N: Happy Power Rangers Day! Here's the start of a short story that takes place in my Dino Charge universe!
