For the time being, life in Angel Grove was good. Well, close to it considering the Zeo Power Rangers were keeping the evil Machine Empire at bay. Finally, comfort was felt in Angel Grove. Families were going on nature outings. Friends were having get-togethers at the movie theaters and pizzerias. Bulk and Skull were even enjoying themselves with a break off of doing detective work. Even the Zeo Rangers were enjoying their free time at the lake. Everyone in Angel Grove was happy and didn’t feel any contempt, except Billy.

Billy felt as if the whole universe was against him. With Jason as the new Gold Ranger and the new SuperZeo Zords, one would think Billy should be happy, but he wasn’t. One constant thought ran through his mind, and it was tearing him to pieces mentally. *Why didn’t the Golden power choose me to bear its power? *

Yes, Billy knew the factual, scientific reason as to why, but it still baffled him. The power was perfect for him though, a chance to be a ranger again, to be back in action with his friends. Of course he loved the fact that Jason was back, but he took a spot that Billy really wanted. He let Tanya keep the Yellow Zeo Ranger power although the offer was very tempting. He really desired Rocky’s Zeo power because it was his color, blue. But he settled with being a Power Chamber assistant. Why did he even stay around the rangers since he wasn’t one of them anymore? Because they were his friends, and he didn’t want them to feel bad because he wasn’t in action with them. Although he was happy being with his friends, not being a total part of the group was tearing him apart.

For sometime now, Tanya and Jason had been trying to get Billy’s attention.

"Yo, Billy!" said Jason.

"Billy, Billy!" said Tanya as she snapped her fingers in Billy’s face. She finally broke Billy’s line of thought.

"Huh? Oh, yes Tanya?" Billy asked.

"We were worried there for a minute," Tanya stated.

"Yeah, so we were going to start a volleyball game. Do you wanna play or take score?" Jason said. He also added, "Kat said that she’s undecided."

"All right, I’ll play," said Billy as he proceeded to the volleyball court.

Jason immediately took control. "All right, Billy, Adam, and me against Tommy, Rocky, and Tanya. Everyone agree?"

"Agreed," voiced Rocky as the others just nodded their heads.

"Well, let the games begin," said Jason. Shortly after this statement, the volleyball game began.

The traveling camper that Zedd and Rita were traveling in had made a stop on the moon.

"When are we going to get there?" asked an impatient Rito.

The group of evil villains ignored this comment.

"Zeddy, I still don’t understand why you put that spell on Billy when it hasn’t even started to work yet. Is it a dud or what?" asked Rita.

"My darling villainess, the spell is authentic and it works. It has begun to pay its toll on Billy’s mind now. The time will come when it will fully activate itself. Then the fall of the Power Rangers will be by our hands and not the Machine King, Mondo," said Lord Zedd.

"Well, you better make sure. I don’t want to waste my time on nothing Zeddy boy," stated Rita as she walked to the camper to get some rest.

"Don’t worry. Billy will play directly into my hand. The Rangers are done for," said Lord Zedd quietly as he moved to join his wife.

Things were going slower than usual at the Machine Empire’s base.

With the transferal of the Gold Ranger power from Trey to a former Ranger named Jason, King Mondo virtually had no way of obtaining the power for himself. Trey had delivered a serious blow to Mondo’s plan by introducing the SuperZeo Zords to the Zeo Rangers. Now, they posed a serious threat to his plan to dominate their world. Mondo had basically run out of ideas. There was only one choice left, and Mondo had to think about the choice circumspectively.

After minutes of deliberation, the Machine King announced a statement to his wife Queen Machina, his son Prince Sprocket, and his right-hand men Klank and Orbus.

"I have decided to use the Sword of Damocles to destroy the Power Rangers once and for all," stated Mondo.

"Mondo dear, you know what happened last time you used that sword. We can’t afford for history to repeat itself," Queen Machina noted.

"I will have to suffer the consequences of my actions then. The Rangers have fried the last circuit board in this machine. I will bring them down at all costs!" shouted Mondo.

"You go Dad!" praised Prince Sprocket.

"Quiet Sprocket," scolded Machina.

"Your majesty, what you are proposing won’t be necessary," said Klank.

"What do you mean Klank?" King Mondo asked half-interested and half-annoyed.

Orbus quickly spoke for Klank. "What Klank means is that we have devised a monster great enough to destroy the Power Rangers."

"Continue," spoke Mondo.

"We have combined the strength and systems operations of Silo and the intelligence and technology of Mean Screen to develop an extraordinary monster. We present to you SiloScreen," said Klank. A monster with the body of Silo but the face and arms of Mean Screen walked into the command room.

Mondo was shocked by what he saw. "What exquisiteness Klank and Orbus," said Mondo as he performed an external scan of SiloScreen. "What a great combination of Mean Screen and Silo. You’ve convinced me not to act irrationally, and you’ve impressed me."

"Thank you sire," replied Orbus and Klank.

"Sire, the monster is not completely finished, and Orbus and I ask for you to finish the hardware and software modifications," Klank asked.

"Of course Klank. I’ll take this monster as a private project. I’ll take him to my private study and finish what needs to be done. In my absence I want you Machina, to send a monster from the rejection pile to battle the Rangers. That way neither Zordon nor Alpha will detect anything unusual happening here. Proceed as ordered," voiced Mondo as SiloScreen and himself left the command room.

"Well guys, that was a great game," said Tommy.

"Yeah, Billy really came through to give us game point," replied Adam.

"It was nothing Adam. Remember, we’re a team," Billy stated.

Soon after Billy’s statement, Tommy’s communicator beeped.

"Yes, Zordon," answered Tommy.

"This is Alpha, Tommy. Zordon and I need all of you in the Power Chamber immediately."

"Right Alpha," said Tommy. The Zeo Rangers and Billy teleported to the Power Chamber.

Once the Rangers and Billy were in the Power Chamber, they were greeted by Zordon’s voice.

"Rangers, I must speak quickly. Mondo has sent yet another monster. But what troubles me is this monster is the type Mondo usually rejects," said Zordon.

"Maybe Mondo flipped his lid," Rocky replied.

"Maybe or it could be a part of a larger plan," stated Tanya.

"Excuse me guys. Although those possibilities have the probability of being true, the monster is still loose on Angel Grove. It needs to be stopped," Billy pointed out.

"Billy’s right guys. We’ll worry about the monster’s purpose later. It’s Morphin’ Time!" cried Tommy.

"Zeo Ranger One Pink!"

"Zeo Ranger Two Yellow!"

"Zeo Ranger Three Blue!"

"Zeo Ranger Four Green!"

"Zeo Ranger Five Red!"

"Gold Ranger Power!"

cried Katherine, Tanya, Rocky, Adam, Tommy, and Jason as they morphed into their respective Zeo Ranger suits.

In the park, the new monster named Run Over was waiting for the Rangers. They finally showed up.

"It’s about time you got here. Now I can prove to King Mondo my worthiness!" exclaimed Run Over.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but the only thing you’re going to ‘run over’ is you shadow," declared Blue Ranger.

"Let’s get him guys!" commanded Red Ranger.

"Right!" agreed the others as they began to attack.

Run Over was great at defending himself thus not allowing the Rangers to gain an offensive hit.

"Now, my special attack!" voiced Run Over as he began to charge at the Rangers. He knocked the Pink, Blue, Yellow, Red, and Green Rangers down. The Gold Ranger summoned his Golden Power Staff and called on a Gold Rush. He blasted at the charging monster before it could get close to him.

In the Power Chamber, Billy was viewing the battle.

*Man, only if that could be me, * thought Billy as he watched Jason in battle. A surge of energy went through Billy, but it was faint to the sense that Billy didn’t realize what happened. Then he decided to contact Jason and the other Rangers.

Gold Ranger’s communicator beeped. "Yes?" answered Gold Ranger.

"This is Billy, Jason. Tell the others to call on the Zeo Power Cannon. If you fire the Golden Power Staff along with the Zeo Power Cannon, the monster will be defeated."

"Thanks Billy." Gold Ranger terminated the com link. "Guys, Billy said to call on the Zeo Power Cannon. If we fire together, the monster will be destroyed."

"He’s got a point there," said Pink Ranger.

"All right guys. Zeo Power Cannon!" called the Zeo Rangers except Gold Ranger.

"Zeo Power Cannon, energize!" voiced Red Ranger.

"It’s time for a Gold Rush!" called Gold Ranger.

"Fire!" yelled the Pink, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red Zeo Rangers.

"Fire!" yelled Gold Ranger.

The blasts connected with the monster and totally decimated it. The Rangers teleported back to the Power Chamber.

While the Zeo Rangers were completing their final battle sequence, a spell-induced thought erupted in Billy’s mind.

*Alpha could have easily told them what to do. They only need me around for the incredibly hard matters. I’m really around for nothing. I have no Ranger power, * thought Billy. Suddenly the Zeo Rangers were inside the Power Chamber.

"Zeo Down!" called Red Ranger as all the Rangers demorphed.

"Man, that was an easy monster!" exclaimed Rocky as he took a seat by the area where the old Ranger costumes were located.

"Yeah, I’m glad the fight was finished quickly though," Tanya replied as she sat beside Rocky.

"Zordon, what do you think of this?" asked Katherine.

"As I said before, Run Over isn’t the type of monster Mondo uses. He could be trying to sidetrack us while he devises a better monster scheme," Zordon stated.

"Well he won’t get far. Billy, I want you to search the surface of the moon for any strange happenings at the Machine Base," said Tommy.

As a last result of the spell imposed on Billy by Lord Zedd, Tommy’s comment struck a match and set a fire of fury in Billy’s mind.

"You ‘want’! Try ‘I’d like for you to.’ You use me like I’m your do-boy. Do this Billy. We need you Billy. Ask Alpha for goodness’ sake! And Alpha you fall in the same category as them. You act as if you’re completely helpless. If you really need my help in clearly everything, why are you still here? You’re a worthless automaton," said an enraged Billy.

Everyone was in a total state of shock. They couldn’t believe that Billy was saying these mean things to them.

Zordon was the first to respond. "Billy, I don’t understand why you are upset, but you must calm yourself before you act irrationally."

Billy quickly responded. "You don’t understand? You have the audacity to say that! You should be the primary person to know why I’m upset. Remember saying that I will always be a part of the Ranger team, and I could still receive the Zeo Ranger power. Did I with the Gold Ranger power? No! You know what? I believe this was staged from the time the Power Coins were destroyed. You knew that the Zeo Crystal as a whole would restore the planet, but you also knew that the new Ranger power would come from the Zeo Crystal. Each Zeo Subcrystal would support each separate Ranger power. You could have told me ahead of time about my fate. But did you? No! You probably wanted me to suffer as being a non-Ranger. If you really wanted me to be a Ranger, you would have done the same with me as you did with Tommy when you made him the White Ranger. I guess I’m not as important as Tommy. Well, I don’t care. There’s an upside to this for me, and I’m taking advantage of this. I’ve gathered all the information I need to help my cause. No one will stop me, especially you Zordon."

Billy walked towards the teleportation console and set the coordinates for his teleportation.

"Stop Billy! Please stay!" reasoned Kat.

"Sorry, Kat. A boy’s gotta do, what a boy’s gotta do," said Billy as he teleported away from the Power Chamber.

until the next fic.