Outraged Series: Chapter Four
Written By: Liz Donovan
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Rocky quickly stepped forward and grabbed both of Billy’s arms, restraining him from striking Kat again. "What the hell do you think you’re doing, man!" he cried
Billy struggled again Rocky’s grip, but Rocky over powered him. He glared back at Kat, who got to her feet and then he spat out: "Get your fucking hands off me Rocky!"
"I’m not so sure that’s such a good idea." Rocky replied.
"Perhaps I should rephrase that." Billy hissed. "Get your fucking hands off me before I break your freakn’ neck!"
"Perhaps I should rephrase that." Rocky spat. "I’m not so sure if that is a fucking good idea. Okay, asshole?!" he finished and tightened his hold, making Billy nearly double over in pain.
"Sure whatever." Billy muttered, wincing. He struggled some more and then finally ceased, seeing it was futile. Adam looked up to Zordon.
"What should we do with him, Zordon?" he asked, rubbing his arms.
"Alpha," Zordon boomed. "put Billy in a containment field and run a diagnostic on him. We need to get to the bottom of this."
"Right away, Zordon!" the robot replied.
"You can’t keep me in a cage forever." Billy growled.
"No," Adam answered, looking at him sadly. "but we can try."
Rocky dragged Billy to where Alpha had established the restraining cage. He shoved Billy inside and Alpha quickly sealed the opening off. The small droid waddled to the computer console and picked up a small scanner. He walked back to where Billy was standing and began to scan him. Rocky hugged himself and walked over to Kat. He lifted her chin and looked at her bloodied face.
"Are you going to be alright?" He asked her. Kat wiped her tears and looked at Rocky. She sniffed and glanced at Billy.
"I think I’ll be alright. Thank you, Rocky." She answered softly.
"No sweat…" Rocky murmured. He reached into his pocket and handed Kat a Kleenex. She took it and wiped the blood from her nose.
"Don’t even think of putting that thing on me you little shitty tin can!" Billy cried out as Alpha came closer.
Alpha ignored him, and clamped a thick bracelet onto Billy’s wrist. It flashed red and yellow occasionally. He looked at it and then his eyes rolled into his head and he slumped down onto his knees, unconscious. Alpha stood up and looked at Billy. He feel onto his face and remained there.
"Well that went faster than anticipated!" Alpha happily chimed.
Adam and Rocky both looked over at Billy’s sleeping-like form somewhat puzzled.
"What did you do to him?" Tanya questioned.
"I gave him a sleeping ring." Alpha answered. "It decelerates the heartbeat and puts the wearer into a state of frozen animation until someone removes the bracelet. It just worked a little quick on Billy. His resistance to the serum must not be very strong."
"So you drugged him?" Tanya questioned.
"Generally speaking, yes." Alpha stated.
"Cool." she replied.
"Alpha," Adam started. "how is drugging Billy going to help us?"
"Well, for one thing," the robot began. "it will make scanning him and testing him for spells much easier. Plus I can remove the containment field and I won’t have to work through the energy bars."
"I thought we all agreed he wasn’t under a spell." Adam questioned.
"Looks can be deceiving, Adam." Zordon boomed from his tube. "We cannot be positive that Billy is acting on behalf of his own intuitions. Therefore we must scan him for any traces of spells, sent by the Machine Empire."
"Suit yourself, Zordon." Adam replied, shaking his head.
"Guys…I think that Tommy should have just gotten out of the operation room a few minutes ago…perhaps one or two of us should go down and see him…" Tanya said, and then gestured to the Viewing Globe.
"That idea is a well suggested one, Yellow Ranger." Zordon spoke. "Rangers, there is nothing more you can do here. Go to Tommy, if anything materialized, I will contact you."
"Alright Zordon." Adam answered. The four stepped back and were teleported out in flashes of Blue, Yellow, Pink, and Green.
"Oh…Zordon, nothings showing up!" Alpha mournfully called.
"Keep scanning, Alpha." The mentor of the Ranger said.
* * *
Four columns of light appeared behind a parked car in the Angel Groves Medical Parking Lot. Momentarily four teens walked out from behind the car. They headed rather slowly towards the Hospital doors. "This place gives me the creeps. I can’t imagine Tommy waking up here alone." Kat muttered as they all walked.
"Don’t worry Kat, that’s why we’re here, so he won’t wake up alone." Rocky reassured her.
"Let’s hurry then." Kat added.
The four teens quickened their step and boarded the nearest elevator going up. Rocky pressed floor 18 and the elevator began to ascend. The doors opened once to allow a young nurse to board at floor 9, and then traveled all the way up to the 18th floor.
The doors opened again and all four teens stepped out into the blanch sterile white walls of the hospital hallways. The turned right and began to walk down an endless, windowless corridor of doors. Their footsteps echoing to infinite beyond them. Adam stopped at room 1034, where Tommy was recovering. He knocked softly and then slowly turned the handle. The heavy white door swung inward and Adam cautiously entered, followed closely by Kat, Rocky, and Tanya.
The sight wasn’t what the teens had wanted to see. Tommy lay motionless on the hard-looking hospital bed. A nurse hovered next to him, checking his readouts. She turned when Adam arrived. She nodded at him and silently left the room. Adam walked to the right of Tommy’s bed and looked down at him. Tears started to form in his eyes, but he angrily blinked them back. Kat, Rocky and Tanya stood around Tommy as well.
He looked terrible up close. His face was puffy, swollen red and purple. He had medical tubes coming from his nose, and his mouth. An IV sat next to his bedside, feeding liquids into his body by a needle in his wrist. He wore a white medical gown and on his side, a blue brace was fashioned, where one of his ribs was cracked. His nose too, looked disfigured, and was most likely broken. His hands rested gently on his chest, which rose and fell as he breathed. His eyes were closed and noticeable dark purple rings hung below the right one. His long beautiful brunette hair lay about his head in a sprawled, tangled, ratty mess. Several other machine were hooked to his chest and arms. A sack of red looking blood, a yellow waste bag, more bags of clear liquid, and a monitor that beeped every few seconds keeping his heart rate as he slept.
Kat stifled a cry as she took it all in, she turned away, tears streaming down her face. Rocky hugged her and she buried her face into his chest. Adam shakily sat down on one of the three mauve chairs in the room. He did not do good around emotional things. Only Tanya remained by Tommy, lifting his hand and holding it in her own.
Tommy’s communicator sat on a metal tray not to far from Adam. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. He thought of the watches creator. A sly, cunning, ruthless teen, who masqueraded as a shy, lonely, friendless teen. Adam shivered and dropped the watch. It clanked on the tile floor and Tanya looked over at him. Adam stood.
"I just can’t bring myself to believe that Billy would do this." Adam whispered aloud. He softly spoke, looking down at Tommy’s battered body. "Of all of us…" he continued. "never would I thought Billy could…he’s always been so quite, so to himself. But under that facade lived a tormented person, someone none of us understood. Not one of us. We took what he told us for granted…and he…he lived a lonely life, alone and afraid without a true friend in the world…and he kept it bottled inside him…waiting for his chance to show the world what he could really do…and I…we took that chance from him…all of us. Took it from him so long…and he couldn’t keep up with us." He paused sadly a moment. "Just look at what our own greed has done." He gestured to the bed ridden Tommy and then sunk back down into the chair, weeping silently. Kat looked up from Rocky’s chest and over to Adam, then at the communicator on the floor and over at Tommy.
"He may have been lonely, but he didn’t have to do that." Kat stated, sadly. She looked at Tommy and shuttered. Adam looked upwards, a scowl on his face.
"But he did." Adam replied. "Don’t you see…he did. Oh, you won’t see…you can’t see. So many people can’t look beyond the pain he caused Tommy. You won’t understand what I’m going to say, but someday you might…" he moved, and stood. "Billy…is a very shy person, lonely and afraid. He most likely made his first friends as a Power Ranger, but three of them left not long after he met them. We came, and Kim and Aisha left. We bumped Billy down positions in which he should have had.
"Recently we bumped him from being a Ranger altogether. Billy has been too nice to ever request a position that he wasn’t given. Yes, nice. Billy is very nice, so nice he gave up his powers for Tanya, someone he’d never met! I don’t know that I could have done that. But being nice only goes so far. My mother once told me ‘Kindness Kills’ I always thought that meant if you were nice to someone who was mean to you, they’d stop bugging you, but now I see that saying in a different light. If you are nice, and no-one ever returns what you give them, you can be brought to the point of killing. Even your own friends."
Everyone looked at Adam. The tears in his eyes had gone. He looked across the room at his fellow friends…he sighed remorsefully and picked up the communicator. He laid it on Tommy chest. "I can’t handle this any longer." He stated. "I’ve got to get out of here."
The remaining rangers watched Adam teleport himself out. They remained silent for awhile and then Tanya spoke. "Perhaps Adam is right…I don’t really know Billy…but he does seem like a tortured soul. Maybe, just maybe, everything will turn out alright…"
* * *
Alpha turned the containment field off that surrounded Billy and began to check him more extensively for drugging or spells. Billy remained motionless on his stomach, his face smashed against the cold Command Center floor.
"Zordon, absolutely nothing is registering on the scans! I’ve checked every bypass, nook and crevice and nothing! I believe Billy really did what he did on his own accord." Alpha warily cried.
"Then Billy truly has turned against the Power Rangers. Alpha, strip him of his powers." Zordon gravely replied.
"Yes Zordon." Alpha answered.
"No, wait!" A voiced called. Adam appeared and ran forward, having interrupted the move.
"Adam, what are you doing here?" Zordon questioned.
"I couldn’t handle it at the hospital. I’m glad I got here." He answered. Then looked to Billy’s sleeping form.
"I watched what took place in the hospital on the viewing globe. I still do not believe that Billy can be trusted." Zordon answered matter-of-factly.
"He’s just frustrated!" Adam pleaded.
"I plan to give you control to the Red Zeo Powers," Zordon answered, ignoring Adam. "and when Tommy recovers, to give them back to him. Billy has-"
"I don’t want them!" Adam cried out, interrupting Zordon. "Give them to Billy!
"I do not see the margin of merit that you are planing." Zordon replied.
"I think if you strip Billy of his powers completely he will be furious," Adam began. "and we may be destroyed without his ingenious inventions. Let Billy be the Red Zeo Ranger. He deserves his seat in the throne. I think you’ll kill two birds with one stone this way. You’ll find a replacement Zeo Ranger V and Billy will cool off. It’s worth a try, and if he does anything, then strip him of his powers."
"It may be too late then." Alpha sadly stated.
"Adam, you are willing to give up the Red Ranger Powers for yourself, to give Billy?" Zordon asked. Adam nodded and Zordon continued. "Then I commend you for you sacrifice, you truly could be a powerful leader."
Adam bowed his head. "Thank you Zordon."
"Alpha," Zordon commanded. "remove Billy’s wrist brace."
"Right away, Zordon." Alpha happily answered.
Alpha bent over and unfastened the wrist band from Billy’s wrist. He immediately moaned and fluttered his eyes open. He lifted his face, which was still smooched against the floor and rolled over.
"Man, what happened?" Billy groggily said.
Adam extended a hand to help Billy up. Billy took it and Adam pulled him to his feet. He wobbled a little and grabbed his head. "Man, I feel woozy." He added.
"You did fall rather harshly." Alpha commented.
Billy looked around and then seemed to realize why he was laying down on the Command Center floor in the first place.
"Oh Shit!" he cried out.
Adam looked up at Zordon, then to Billy. He took a deep breath. "Billy, I’ve talked I through with Zordon, and I’ve told the other rangers. They seem iffy on the situation, but I believe in you."
Billy blinked at Adam. "What are you getting at?"
Adam continued. "Zordon granted me the powers of Zeo Ranger V temporarily, but I declined…I told him to give them to you. I think you deserve them."
What?!" Billy squeaked.
"I understand what you are going through to a certain extent. I don’t think you consciously intended to hurt Tommy, but your emotions just boiled over. It happens to the best of us, you just vented it on Tommy instead of a punching bag…" Adam answered, confidently. Billy looked amazed at Adam and then at Zordon.
"Prodigious!" he cried out. "This is most unanticipated! Er…I mean, wow. Are you serious about this?"
Adam, grinning, answered: "Most serious."
"Billy," Zordon said, "you have disappointed me by your recent actions, but Adam has brought to light several legitimate reasons as to why you have been acting this way. I too realized I had not justified you enough. You are now the only remaining member of the original Power Ranger team, and I feel that that deserves more than the positions I have been giving you. Originally I had not giving you positions that put you in the line of fire. You were far younger, and less equipped with the experience to be a leader. Now though, I have just shunned you, for no adequate reason. Today, I shall change, if you shall."
"I will, Zordon. I will." Billy promised, nodding his head.
"Then hold the Red Zeonizer above your head." Zordon commanded.
Billy removed the chain from around his neck and held it out above him. Zordon, closed his eyes and a stream of light fluctuated from his container into the small medallion in Billy’s hands. Billy glowed red for a second and then was instantly morphed in the Red Zeo Rangers uniform. The medallion disappeared and Billy looked down at his gloved hands. The uniform was not quite the same of Billy. It had a maroon tint to it, and blue accents. Billy flexed his fingers and sighed.
"I had forgotten how energetic the Morphin Grid makes you feel." Billy remarked in awe. Adam look over at Billy. Billy grabbed his hand and Adam smiled at him. "Thank you Adam. You’re the best friend a person could have." He added.
"Thanks man." Adam answered.
Billy unsnapped the helmet and shook his hair out. "How is Tommy?"
"Pretty bad." Adam answered. "He’ll probably recover in a few weeks. But a rib got broken and I think so did your friendship."
"I’m really sorry about that." Billy said, sighing, bowing his head. "I never intended to inflict that much damage to him. But once my adrenaline got pumping, I couldn’t stop myself. It was like I was blaming him for everything anyone had every done to me. It was impulsive."
"I understand." Adam replied. "I don’t know that anyone else will, but I do."
"Thank you for your support, Adam. I am truly sorry for blaming you earlier. That was wrong and unprecedented." Billy apologized.
" Its no sweat man. What do you say we go visit Tommy?" Adam replied.
"That would be most enthusiastic." Billy answered. "Perhaps he may even forgive me in time." He added.
"You never know until you try." Adam replied smiling.
Epilouge
