The lights were off, and projected on the opposite wall was the picture of a young man. A teenager really, she thought after a moment, well muscled for his age but something in the kid's eyes gave away his youth.
"Jason Lee Scott." Mulder didn't bother acknowledging her with a hello. He sat behind the projector with a studied casualness. "Age 17. His likes include the martial arts, junk food, hiphop music, and the color red."
"And this is important because?"
Mulder looked over at her. No change in expression. Looked back. "Last Saturday, he said good-bye to some friends and disappeared."
"A runaway?" Scully waited for the other shoe to drop.
Mulder pressed the projector button. Another teenager. "Zachary Taylor, age 17. Last seen walking along a bike path, putting up posters of Jason Scott. That was Monday."
Another slide. A girl this time. Asian. Very pretty. Mulder's jaw tightened. "Trini Kwan, sixteen years old. Grabbed in a park by four assailants, dressed in black. The kid that witnessed it was run down by the kidnappers' car. No serious injuries. That was Wednesday."
"Have there been any ransom demands?" Scully was truly puzzled. "Is there any connection between the three?" What she wanted to say was, is there more to this? Is it an X-file?
Mulder flicked on the lights. "They're best friends. And, they're gone, missing in a community that has no crime to speak of. The school principal actually laughed when I brought up the idea that it might be drug related."
"No crime?"
He tossed a thin file at her. "Angel Grove, California. Population of roughly fifty thousand... the only significant deviation from the norm is a rather high percentage of Japanese immigrants. No drug problem at all, no murder, no assault, no domestic violence, not even much of a divorce rate. These kids... good students, model citizens... and the evidence strongly suggests abduction."
Scully set the file down, unopened. "Mulder, unless there's something you haven't mentioned, this is a matter for the local authorities."
He smiled. "Did I mention that the whole city is under protection of a band of vigilantes called the Power Rangers?" He reached over to the file and flipped it open to a news article. She looked at the picture, more puzzled than ever. Six costumed figures, the colors of the outfits bright enough to blind a bat.
"So... costumed vigilantes. It's not that unusual."
"The townspeople believe that they are protecting the city from alien invasion."
She closed the file. "I was wondering when the aliens would enter. Mulder, this is obviously an abduction case."
He took the file from under her fingers. "The police department asked for FBI assistance and this is where the case ended up. Now, these people haven't had a real case in years and there are three kids missing...." He waited until she nodded in defeat. "Our flight leaves in two hours."
"Just one thing, Mulder." Scully decided to be forceful on at least one point. "We're going to help find these kids. No looking for aliens, or costumed vigilantes, or werewolves or anything else."
He grabbed his coat. "Scully, no one said a thing about werewolves."
~*~
By the time they reached the center of town, the cityscape was matching his mood quite well. Downtown Angel Grove appeared to have been recently totalled. Debris was everywhere, though he couldn't help but notice how cheerful all the workers seemed.
"What could have done that?" Scully pointed to a smokestack on one of the factories. It looked as though it had been gnawed off. Mulder shook his head. It didn't look like earthquake damage, that was for sure.
"We're stopping at the school first." Mulder said as he steered the car around the wreckage. "The local police know we're investigating and have no problem with our taking over the investigation."
Scully made a scoffing noise. "What investigation? The report says on page two that they intend to let these Power Rangers handle the situation."
"Did you see the part about the rival gang? The Putties? The chief told me that we should just run if we see them." Mulder chuckled, despite his unease.
They pulled into the school parking lot. The school was as surreal as the rest of the city. The agents entered just as classes were letting out. The hallways were filled with well dressed, neat looking teenagers. There was no shoving, no cursing, and as they walked by the restrooms, they could not smell cigarette smoke.
The principal's office was quiet. An older man, wearing what had to be the worst toupee either Scully or Mulder had ever seen, was fiddling with a filing cabinet. He looked up as they entered and smiled pleasantly. "Can I help you?"
Mulder stepped forward and held out his FBI identification. "I'm Special Agent Mulder, and this is Special Agent Scully. We spoke on the phone."
The man extended his hand. "I'm Victor Kaplan, Angel Grove High's principal. I'll help you in any way I can."
"Well, to start with, these kids...." Mulder opened his file to a page with the three missing teens' photos. "What do they have in common and who are their friends?"
Kaplan moved away from the filing cabinet and picked up a yearbook. "That's easy enough. This has all the activities they belong to and pictures of them with their friends." He thumbed through the book and held it out, opened to a large photo of six teenagers.
"And we'd like to talk with their friends." As Scully spoke, a young girl walked into the office and unobtrusively started making photocopies. Scully looked at the group picture. Same girl, and almost the same pink outfit.
Mulder, missing that, continued with,"We also would like to speak with the witness to Trini Kwan's abduction... a William Cranston... the police didn't take down his address."
"William...? Oh, you must mean Billy." Kaplan looked over to the girl. "Kimberly, is Billy still here?"
"No, Mr. Kaplan."she said, carefully removing her copies from the machine as she spoke. "He and Tommy went to the Youth Center. We're going to meet up there as soon as I finish these, and hang them up." She held out one of her copies. It was a"Have you seen these children" poster with the three missing teens' photos.
Mulder looked at the caption in the yearbook. "You must be Kimberly Hart. Could we ask you some questions?" The girl nodded, a little suspicious. She stepped back towards the door. "What do you want to know?" There was an edge to the kid's voice. Something, Mulder thought to himself, is going on here.
"Your friends..." He pointed to the picture. "Were there any problems, any trouble at home? Something that might make them leave?"
"Absolutely not." Kimberly glared at him. "Look, I'm late as it is." With that, she turned and almost ran out the door.
"Is it just me, Scully, or was she rather evasive?"
Scully nodded. "A little, and did you notice the lack of enthusiasm that we were investigating? I'd thought she'd be falling all over to help us."
Mulder thumbed through the yearbook. "These six kids... they're close. They're in a lot of activities together." He paused, pondering his thoughts. "It's connected somehow."
"Agreed, but how?"
"We're missing pieces to the puzzle." He pointed at the picture, to the two boys they had yet to meet. "Let's find the youth center."
~*~
The center was dominated by a juice bar. There was a large samoan behind the bar, and unlike most of the citizens the agents had run into, he did not give them a friendly smile. He didn't glare or even stare, but it was obvious that they were being well watched. Mulder, feeling oddly pleased by the Samoan's reaction, decided to talk to the guy.
"We're looking for these two kids. Have you seen them?" Mulder held the yearbook open to the class photos of the two boys.
The Samoan looked. "Who wants to know?"
Scully whipped out her badge. "The FBI." Mulder added his ID as the Samoan scrutinized both.
He looked up, his eyes a bit more friendly. "I didn't mean to be rude, but... someone's grabbing kids, you know. Can't be too careful." He pointed to a table off near some video games. "They're right over there."
The boys saw the bartender point. It was painfully obvious to the agents that had there been an easy way out, the kids would've bolted like deer. Mulder and Scully exchanged a look. Something wasn't right here. They walked over casually, hoping to set the boys at ease.
They were nice looking kids, Mulder noted, though Angel Grove seemed to have more than its share of attractive children. The dark haired boy (Tommy Oliver, he placed the name from the yearbook) had the fluid muscle tone of the martial artist the yearbook said he was. Dressed in green sweatpants and a white t- shirt, it was surprising to Mulder that none of the young girls were attempting to flirt with him. The blondish kid, Billy Cranston according to the pictures, had a more awkward look, not quite as nerdy as the yearbook photos suggested, but not in the same league as his jock friend. The type, Mulder remembered from his days in high school, that the teachers liked and everybody else hated.
Unlike the rest of the kids in the youth center, these two were not smiling. They both seemed unnaturally nervous. Billy (a little old to be called Billy, thought Mulder) had a bandage taped above his left eye, and puffy bruises around his eyeglasses, no doubt from the car that kidnapped Trini Kwan. Tommy seemed to be on the edge of complete exhaustion. Again, Mulder felt that warning twinge, something was very wrong about these kids.
"Tommy Oliver, Billy Cranston?" Scully made the first move. The kids nodded almost imperceptively. "I'm Special Agent Dana Scully, and this is Special Agent Fox Mulder. We'd like to ask you both some questions about the recent..."
"ID's."Tommy said sharply. They were both taken back by the curtness of his voice. "Now, or we walk."
The agents handed over their badges. Tommy barely glanced at them, but Billy scrutinized them carefully, and to Mulder and Scully's amusement, wrote down their numbers.
"Are they real?"Tommy asked.
Billy nodded slowly. "They appear to be authentic."
As he took his badge, Mulder said,"Can we ask you some questions, now?"
Billy pushed his glasses up, about to speak, when Tommy gave him a scathing look. Some sort of unspoken conflict took place, and then Tommy spoke,"Have you asked for permission from our parents to speak to us?"
Scully and Mulder were taken back. "What?"asked Scully, not quite sure she'd heard correctly.
"According to California State Law," began Billy, "Federal investigators are required to get parental consent before interrogating minor children. We are minors, and your unfamiliarity with this law suggests that you are either not actually FBI agents or that you have not obtained parental consent. Either way, we are under no obligation to answer any questions."
Mulder tried again. "We wanted to ask you about what you witnessed when Trini Kwan was abducted."
No hesitant glance to his friend this time. "I gave a full description to the police. If you're really an FBI agent, I'm sure you can gain access to that report."
Scully decided to try a different tack. "Your friend Kimberly was very helpful." Not a lie, she told herself, an enhancement of the truth.
It backfired. Both kids turned a deathly shade of grey. For a moment, she thought that Tommy was going to faint. Then, they looked at the agents with something between rage and fear in their eyes.
"Kimberly was supposed to meet us here an hour ago." Tommy said slowly. "She always calls when she's running late."
"But she hasn't called," added Billy. That killed the conversation for a few seconds, as Scully and Mulder considered the implications. Then, two chimes went off. The kids looked at each other.
"Our beepers."said Tommy as they rose to leave. "You understand." They flew out the door before either Scully or Mulder could comment.
"Geeks."
"Dweebs."
Mulder and Scully turned around to find two leather clad teens leering at them. Or, to be precise, leering at Scully.
"Boy, would I like some of that," said the skinny one as he ogled Scully's breasts. Mulder grinned.
The heavy kid jabbed him. "We heard you talking to the dweebs."
"And?"said Mulder.
"We can help you." The heavy kid seemed supremely confident of that.
Mulder was amused. "How?"
"You're new here. You don't know how to find them." The heavy kid gestured grandly. "Those geeks don't know anything."
"Geeks," agreed the skinny one.
"Now, Skull and I," added the heavy kid, "have been on this from the start. We have photos, footprints, eyewitness testimony."
"Eyewitness," chimed Skull.
"Anything you want to know about the Power Rangers, just ask us," finished the heavy kid.
"Well, actually, we're investigating the recent disappearances of..." began Mulder.
"The other dweebs," finished Skull. "Bulk, tell him your idea."
"The Power Rangers will rescue the missing geeks." Bulk waved his hands to indicate how obvious that was. "Then, we can catch the Power Rangers and find out who they really are!"
Skull leaned in and stage whispered, "We think they're aliens."
Scully was getting impatient, and even Mulder, though intrigued by their first real information on the mysterious vigilantes, felt the need to get moving. "Give us a call if you do find out who they are." He handed his card to Bulk, who seemed almost flabbergasted to be taken seriously, and left.
Outside the Youth Center, Scully blew up at her partner. "You gave them your card? Mulder, I hope you're not seriously considering any of this... this garbage!" Mulder ignored her, and then suddenly took a great interest in her shoes.
"What?" She looked down.
"Those papers..." He pointed to the papers blowing around the lot, and picked one up. It was a copy of the sign that Kimberly Hart had been making. They were all over the ground, as if they'd been dropped. "I think we've got another missing child, Scully."
Before she could respond, the earth began to shake. A flood of people ran outside of the various buildings and were pointing at the sky. The agents looked up. What appeared to be a giant cockroach was battling a samurai-like robot. Just as itseemed as though the roach would destroyed the beleaguered samurai, there was a mighty roar from the seafront. A giant mechanical Godzilla entered the fray and bashed the roach with its tail. The robot high-fived with Godzilla. In seconds, all three giant creatures disappeared, leaving wreckage behind.
"They've got an interesting urban renewal plan here," commented Mulder. "So, I'll find the Cranston' house, and you'll take the Olivers'?"
Scully gaped at him. "Mulder, Godzilla and a Transformer Robot just fought a giant roach in the shopping district!"
He shrugged. "Where's Raymond Burr and Voltron when you need them?"
~*~
"What exactly can I help you with, Agent Mulder?" Mr. Cranston was a tall, older man with glasses. No doubt about paternity in this home, Mulder thought to himself.
"I need your permission to question your son, Mr. Cranston."said Mulder,"And I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." It seemed easier to pump the father for information than going after the boy.
"Sure,"said Mr. Cranston,"but please call me Ward. And have a seat."
Ward, Mulder cringed inside as he sat down, it figures. "Ward, have you noticed anything different about your son lately?"
Ward thought for a moment. "Not really... oh, well, he's been a little out of sorts since he was hit by that car but that's understandable. Otherwise, he's been fine."
"Hasn't been cutting school or anything like that?"Mulder wondered if Ward was even aware enough to know, but asked anyway.
Ward laughed. "Billy? Skip school? I'm afraid someone's been misinforming you... My son does not skip school. When he's not with his friends, he's usually doing his homework or working in his lab. He's a straight A student, you know."
"His lab?" Mulder perked up. High school kids seldom had their own labs.
"Oh yes." Ward brightened. "He's so inventive. He built his own computer and... well, all sorts of things. The school wanted to accelerate him but we felt that would put too much pressure on him. So, we let him use the basement for all of his experiments. He has quite a set up."
"Can I see this lab?" His curiosity was rising.
"Sure." Ward led him through the house to the basement door. "It's right down there. I'll send Billy down to talk to you if he comes home."
It was not a brightly lit basement but the glow off of numerous electrical devices made pulling out a flashlight unnecessary. He stepped over a small pile of electrical junk, being careful not to disturb anything. The kid's computer was homebuilt and rigged quite professionally, and Mulder wondered with amusement what the boy might have in the way of illicit software. He didn't know what he was looking for, except some insight, and it didn't help that the kid didn't place a high priority on neatness. He threw out several empty boxes of take-out in an attempt to clear the worktable. He thumbed through a stack of papers, impressed with the sheer volume of mathematical equations.
"Get away from that! Put your hands up!" Mulder spun around. Billy stood on the stairwell, pointing a gun in Mulder's direction. Mulder felt his heart stop. Then, he got a better look at the gun.
"That's a flare gun, Billy." Nevertheless, he did raise his hands. He'd seen the damage a flare gun could do.
Billy stepped off the stairwell. "I'm aware that it's a flare gun. I imagine it would be quite painful, if not deadly at this range. Please leave before I decide to find out."
"Your father said I could talk to you."
"My father has no idea who or what you are." The kid waved Mulder over to the stairs. "Idon't want to speak with you. I want you to leave me alone."
Mulder felt his temper rising. "I'll leave," he said angrily, "But I want you to understand something first. I'm trying to figure out where all your missing friends are... I'm not out to get you, I'm trying to help, and frankly, I seem to be the only one who gives a damn that there's a bunch of kids missing. Tell me, Billy, are you like the rest of the pop-people in this town? You think the Power Rangers will save the day? Is that it?"
The flare gun wavered in the kid's hand. "No," he said. "I don't think the Power Rangers can do anything about this."
~*~
"Oh, we don't put limits on him," they had said. "Tommy is very responsible... why no, we don't have a problem with you talking to him... when will he be home?... oh, well, we don't really know... he keeps irregular hours."
It made her want to scream. She wasn't a parent herself, and yet she knew that there was something wrong with the idea of letting the kid run wild. Not to mention just how frustrating it was to deal with the average Angel Groveite. They seemed so... pleasant... so happy. She wondered if maybe there was some natural source of Prozac in the water.
She got up and walked around the room. It made her feel better to at least be moving. She didn't know what else to do. Her specialty was forensic evidence and there was precious little of that so far. All they had were the flyers that Kimberly Hart had dropped.
She looked out the window, hoping to take in some of the scenery. Perched in a tree about ten feet away, at almost eye level to her second story room, were the two delinquents Mulder and she had met earlier. They waved at her.
She closed the curtain as Mulder walked in. "I saw your fan club out there. They asked for nude photos. Offered to exchange pictures of the Power Rangers for them... I was tempted, Scully, very tempted."
She glared at him. He got the point, and as he handed her his notes, he changed the subject.
"Cranston was a wash." He ran his hand through his hair. "Odd kid."
"I'll say... he pulled a gun?"
"He seemed tense." Mulder allowed. "Something is going on here... I'm convinced that those two kids know something."
"You don't think they're responsible?" It didn't seem likely to Scully, despite all the suspicious behavior. The kids were afraid, yes, neither seemed guilty acting to her.
He shook his head. "No. I think they know who is though... or at least think they do... did you get to talk with Tommy?" She shook her head. "Figured as much... you should see the basement in the Cranston' home... it makes Frolik's look pathetic..." He looked through the curtain and glanced at the park. Turning to Scully, he said,"Let's check out the park. I have a feeling that that's where the action is."
It was full dark by the time they reached the center of the park. They carefully avoided the extensive workings of Bulk and Skull, who were haphazardly stringing Christmas lights across a field. Scully was curious and when she laughed, Mulder chuckled.
"Rows of lights have been known to attract UFOs"he explained. "I thought it would keep them away from your window for a while." As he spoke, they walked across a low rise, and spotted Tommy, seated at a picnic table. Scully and Mulder ducked behind a tree, and waited.
Scully felt something was wrong with the situation. It was too odd, even for Angel Grove. A young boy, sitting alone in a park, at nine o'clock at night. The question was why?
Mulder tensed. A car was coming up over the hill. It was too dark to really see what it was, but they could see the lights. Mulder checked his gun.
Tommy was oblivious to the car at first. As it drew closer, he stood and waited, apparently he wanted to see who it was before he ran. The car stopped. Mulder saw the boy turn and sprint. Four men dressed in black poured out of the car. One of the men lifted a bulky weapon and fired. The kid jerked and ran a few more steps before dropping to his knees, grabbing wildly at his back.
"Hey!"Mulder shouted as he took cover. He fired at the men, as did Scully. The men in black all stopped, very surprised. Mulder took aim on the closest and fired. Blood spurted from the man's chest. His friends ran back to the car and drove off. Scully started to run down the hill, towards Tommy who was still kneeling and grabbing at his back. Mulder saw the flash before he heard the shot.
"Scully! Tommy! Get down!"
Scully dove. The kid was not so lucky, taking a hit in the shoulder. Mulder squeezed off a few rounds at where he saw the flash and ran to Scully.
She was already with the boy. "He's bleeding but it's not too bad."she said as she applied pressure to the wound. "Take a look at this." She handed him a tranquilizer dart. "It was in his back."
Mulder stood back up. He looked around, hoping to catch sight of the second gunman. Much to his surprise, he spotted Billy skulking about on one of the many knolls that surrounded the area. Their eyes met. Billy stopped short, sliding a little on the wet grass. Without a word, he turned and ran.
"Wait!" Mulder took a few running steps but he knew that the kid was long gone. He turned around and went over to the man that he had shot. The man was dead and there was no identification on the body... though Mulder hadn't expected to find any.
Scully was still working on the kid. The boy's eyes were glassy, from shock or whatever was in the dart. Mulder knelt down beside the boy.
"Tommy..." He waved his fingers in front of the kid's eyes. "Tommy, what were you doing out here all alone?"
Tommy's eyes focused on him. "Phone call... said meet in the park... Billy..." The boy reached over painfully and undid his watch. Pressing it into Mulder's hand, he whispered, "Important... get... Billy... no way to know... sorry... didn't trust...." His eyes closed.
"Mulder, we've got to take him to a hospital." Scully didn't look up, she was busy. Mulder slipped the odd looking watch into his pocket and then ran to the car.
~*~
He had nothing to do. He'd gone back to the park to investigate but the body of the man he had shot was now missing. The local police were better able to track down Billy Cranston. He flipped on the TV, hoping to at least catch the news.
Instead, he got footage of a giant transformer robot battling a gold monkey with wings. After a moment, he realized that it was some sort of local documentary. He watched with interest. The locals, while not exactly reluctant to discuss the whole Power Ranger mythos, were not very informative. He noted that the robot displayed a different fighting style the day before as compared to the news footage. Its reflexes were much slower than the previous day. He filed that away. You never know, he thought with a grin.
"Hey!" He spun around to see the bartending Samoan enter the waiting room. "Do you know how Tommy is?"
Mulder shook his head. "I haven't heard...."
"It's Ernie." They shook hands. "His parents went out of town last night and asked me to take care of any problems." He shook his head. "I never imagined something like this."
Mulder had an idea. "Ernie, have you seen Billy today?"
"Yeah. He had breakfast at the Juice Bar. He seemed kinda... out of it."
"How so?"
"Just... quieter than usual. Tense." Ernie sighed. "I can't believe what's been going on in this town."
"I don't suppose Billy mentioned where he was going?"
Ernie nodded. "Yeah, he said he was going home to do some work..."
Mulder was out the door before Ernie even finished.
~*~
"Ward, what's going on?" He gestured to the police car.
Ward pointed at his house. "We've been robbed! Someone went through our house and took things and destroyed everything they didn't want." He pulled Mulder into the house.
Ward, Mulder realized after looking at the destruction, was right. The place was trashed. Mulder was not so sure about the robbery. Lots of valuable items were broken but not gone. "What's missing?"he asked.
"Some money... my service pistol from Vietnam." Ward shook his head. "My wife and I went out last night and when we came back, the place was like this."
"What time did you get back?"
"Around two."
"Well, what about your son? Was he here?" Mulder somehow doubted it.
He was right. "No, he left a note saying that his friend Tommy invited him over for the night." Ward shook his head. "He doesn't even know about this yet."
Don't be too sure, Mulder thought grimly. "Can I look around?" Ward nodded. Mulder made straight for the basement. It was thoroughly trashed. All the papers were thrown on the floor and the computer was in pieces. It was exactly as Mulder expected. Someone had been looking for something, and had staged a robbery to do it.
There was a different scent in the air. Before, the place had had a vaguely electrical smell. Now... Mulder turned over some papers on the worktable. There was a pile of cigarette butts there.
Someone, Mulder thought, forgot to clean up their calling card.
~*~
More and more, Mulder wondered if he had misinterpreted the situation. According to the school's records, Billy Cranston was not just a bright student, he was brilliant. Mulder didn't like it, but the possibility was there that the kid had cracked and was now acting out some bizarre scenario. There was an old saying about how geniuses have the most creative breakdowns. Mulder hoped that wasn't the case.
On the other hand, there was a lot of evidence suggesting something more sinister. Arranging hits on one's friends was a bit much for a sixteen year old with little cash. The body of the man in the park disappearing... and the cigarettes... and the watch that wasn't. Mulder just didn't know. He examined the watch more closely.
"Walk away, Mulder." The voice came from beside him. Mulder knew enough not to turn and look.
"Why?" he whispered to the black man seated next to him with a paper held in front of his face. "What are you hiding?"
"It doesn't concern you." Mr. X glanced at him. "Just let it go."
"A mistake, Agent Mulder."
"Mistake?"
Mr. X handed him a newspaper clipping. Mulder glanced through it. It was about the Angel Grove High science fair. Mr. X pointed to a device in the corner of the picture. "We wanted the kid that made the cold fusion reactor."
"Cold Fusion..." Mulder could see how that would be useful. Mr. X got up and left as Scully walked through the door. She glanced at him, and then looked to Mulder for an explanation. "Not here." he cautioned.
She nodded and patted her purse. It seemed fuller to Mulder. "You've got to see this."
~*~
"I think Billy Cranston did it." Scully gestured to the files. "It happens sometimes... genius is unstable."
Mulder shook his head. "No. There's too much evidence suggesting government involvement."
"Mulder, your informant has lied before."Scully said impatiently. "He could be covering for the kid, did you consider that? The kid has a breakdown and the government covers it up because they still need the kid's ability..."
"I'll agree that it's possible." Mulder said slowly, "but unlikely. Did you get anything from Tommy?"
Scully had walked over to the window and was looking out. A frown crossed her face. "No."she said, her tone distracted. "Excuse me." Without waiting for an answer, she left the room, stopping only to grab an unopened can of soda on the desk.
Mulder looked out the window, and understood what had driven Scully out. In the dark, he could just make out the figure of a thin, leather jacketed teen sitting in the tree.
He got outside just in time to see Scully peg the kid in the head at twenty yards with the can of soda. The teen toppled out of the tree, hitting the ground with a bone cracking thump. Mulder trotted up to Scully, who was honestly shocked at what she'd done, and said,"Batter hit by pitch, Scully. Now you have to let him get to first base."
She ignored him. Her intent had been to distract the drooling Skull, not hurt him. She ran over to the body lying face down in the grass, and turned him over. She gasped in surprise.
Mulder walked over. He could understand her surprise. Despite the change in clothing, it was pretty easy to tell that Scully had bagged the wrong kid. It was Billy Cranston.
"Nice shooting, Scully,"he said as they dragged the kid discretely into their hotel. "Shall we stuff the whole body or just the head?"
~*~
Mulder had prudently handcuffed Billy to a chair as soon as they got into the room. Before they made any effort to awaken him, they had searched him. Now, nicely displayed on her bed was a flashlight, duct tape, a pistol (no doubt the one missing at the Cranston home) and a can of mace. She wondered if the kid had cracked after all.
She grabbed the ammonia inhalants and hesitated. "Mulder, what are we doing? This is illegal."
"So's assaulting a minor, but I notice that didn't stop you." Mulder paced around the chair. "Look, something bizarre is happening in this town. Take the giant robots."
"I thought we agreed that wasn't relevant." Scully didn't even want to think about that. "Besides, it was probably mass hallucination... we just got caught up in it."
"Well, what about this?" Mulder held out the coin they'd found on Billy. "And just what was he doing on the grassy knoll when Tommy was shot?"
"I got a phone call..." Mulder and Scully turned around. Billy was awake and looking much worse for wear. "It sounded like Tommy. He asked me to meet him in the park. When I got there, it was dark. I saw the car pull up to Tommy and then the shots..."
"Why'd you run?"Mulder asked. He still wasn't sure that the kid was sane.
"I was scared." Billy said quietly. "We had thought that you two were the ones behind the kidnappings."
"If you saw the shooting then you must've realized that we weren't the ones after you."
"Well, yes, but... you had a gun, she had a gun, and the guy with the rifle was taking aim on me... that's why I got a gun. Would you prefer if I had waited and gotten shot too?" Billy glared at them. "You know, you're hardly engendering my trust at the moment. I was just trying to signal you and look... I'm handcuffed to a chair with a concussion."
"What happened to your house?"
"It was trashed when I got back. I left a note so my parents wouldn't worry, took Dad's gun, and hid. Later, I convinced Skull that it would be to his advantage to trade clothes with me... look, is Tommy all right?" Scully nodded. Billy looked noticeably relieved.
"Look," he said to the agents, "These people seem to be after me. I don't know who they are or what they want but I need help." He nodded to Mulder. "You said that you were on my side... I thought you were lying, but I don't have many options left."
Mulder held out the coin he'd found on Billy. "What about this? What is it? And what's with the watches that aren't watches?"
The kid looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry... I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Mulder shook the kid hard.
"It's a secret." Billy was almost apologetic. "Can't you understand that? I promised not to tell... we have rules..."
"Rules..." Mulder slapped the wall in frustration. "You have rules... you made a promise... for god's sake, you're sixteen years old! This isn't a game we're playing! Is it that important?"
"You don't understand." Billy tried again. "I can't just tell you..." There was a sharp knock on the door.
"Open the door! Federal Marshals!"
They all looked at each other.
"We've got to get out of here."said Scully. "Those aren't Feds."
Billy nodded. "Agent Mulder, do you really want to know about those coins?"
Mulder nodded and the boy continued with,"Then grab the other coin and watch and then both of you grab hold of me."
The agents looked at each other and then did it. They grabbed hold of the kid's arms. Mulder looked down just in time to see Billy manipulate his own "watch" beneath the handcuffs. Then he saw nothing but blue light.
~*~
Rising above them was a giant, floating, blue head. It was frowning. "Billy," it said, its voice booming through the weirdly lit chamber, "I thought we discussed involving others in this situation."
Billy looked up, seemingly at ease (or at ease as much as one can when handcuffed to a chair). "It was necessary. They were placed in danger because of me. I couldn't leave them there, Zordon."
"Zordon? You're explaining yourself to something named Zordon?" Mulder stood, a bit shakily. "I knew that acid I took in college would catch up with me someday."
Scully also stood. "I guess we're not in Kansas anymore. I'd like an explanation. Any explanation."
Zordon ignored them. "Were you able to retrieve Tommy's power coin?"
"Power coin?" Mulder fumbled with the coin. It all suddenly became clear. "Power coins... Power Rangers... you kids are the Power Rangers... this explains a lot."
Scully nodded. "Yes, it's all clear now... we've both gone mad. Mulder, this explains nothing."
"Umm..." Billy interjected. "Could you remove these cuffs? Perhaps I can explain this."
Mulder removed the cuffs, and Billy and Zordon attempted to explain. The boy finished with"...Lord Zedd is a lot tougher so we had to get new zords."
Scully leaned nonchalantly against a computer and said,"This seems rational to you?"
Billy nodded. "I don't have time to teach you the physics that would prove this."
"All right,"Scully decided to flow with it,"But what does this have to do with the cold fusion device?"
"Nothing." All the pieces fit together in Mulder's head. "The government was never after the Power Rangers... " he turned to Billy,"The cold fusion device that you entered in the science fair... "
Billy shook his head. "It was a group project, all our names were on it."
Mulder smiled. "Of course, let me guess, you did the theoretical work, everyone else helped build it, and since everyone's name was on it, no one knew who really did the thinking... did it work?"
The kid shook his head."I couldn't get consistent results... that's what this is all about?"
"Of course,"said Scully. "They kept grabbing the wrong kid... but now what do we do?"
Zordon spoke. "We know where the others are being held. There is a small military base outside of town where they are being detained."
"Well, why don't you just beam them out?" Scully asked. It did seem reasonable.
Billy shook his head. "That would be using our powers for personal gain. That's against the rules."
"How inconvenient," Mulder dryly muttered.
"Besides," Billy added," We already tried that... you have to have either the power coin or the watch because the power grid needs to focus on the matter/antimatter pulses being emitted from the quantum particles in the power coin. They don't have their coins."
"How do you know that?" Mulder asked. Billy pointed to one of the computers, where several coins were neatly stacked.
"We transported the coins when we tried to rescue them."
"Unfortunately," said Zordon, "Any of our methods would reveal the true identities of the Rangers."
"Let me guess... that's another rule?" Mulder rolled his eyes as the kid nodded.
Scully stepped forward. "I have an idea. Why don't we give them what they want?"
~*~
Mulder readjusted the lieutenants bars on the kid's collar. "Billy, has anyone ever told you that you think too much?" The kid shook his head, as Mulder adjusted his own uniform in the van mirror.
Scully's plan was simple. They go to the base, impersonating officers, and using clearances and orders provided by Frolik and company. They get the kids, using phony transfer orders, and leave behind the cold fusion reactor plans. Everyone gets what they want. Later, Mulder would contact Mr. X and assure him that all the kids understood how it was in their best interest to forget the whole incident.
As they drove up to the gates, Scully said,"Remember, I'm Major Kelly, Mulder is Captain Reynolds, and Billy, you're Lt. Garfield. Don't slip up." They nodded in agreement.
They passed through the gates uneventfully. Scully whipped off salutes like she'd been born to make them. Mulder had never realized what an effective liar she could be. They went deeper into the complex, until they found the checkpoint that both Frolik and Zordon had confirmed was where the kids were being held.
Scully stepped up to the desk. The guard straightened when he saw her rank. "I'm here to facilitate the transfer of the prisoners. Here are the orders. We've got a long way to go today, so let's push this through."
"Yes, Ma'am," said the guard. He examined the order intently. "This seems to be in order. I'll just have the project director okay this and we'll get the prisoners for you." He pressed a button on the desk. They stood and waited.
Mr. X stepped out from behind the closed door. He looked at Mulder. Mulder looked at him, feeling a wave of fear flash through his body. Mr. X casually thumbed through the transfer order, and examined the clearances pinned to their uniforms.
"This appears to be in order," he said slowly as he fiddled with Mulder's clearance badge. "Do you have something for me?" His tone was chilling.
"Yes, we do." Mulder jabbed the kid. "Lt. Garfield, give him the records."
Mr. X took the brown manila envelope from Billy and opened it. He glanced through the first few pages, and then looked at the boy. "This is nice work, Lieutenant. Perhaps we can work together sometime in the future." Before the kid could answer, Mr. X turned and said in passing to the guard, "They're clear. Do what the major asks."
~*~
Mulder smiled. He, like the Power Rangers, knew how to keep a secret.