THE JOURNAL OF WILLIAM CRANSTON by Joe Rovang (jrovang@mindspring.com) Legal Disclaimer: I acknowledge that I am using concepts and characters from "Power Rangers Zeo" without the knowledge or permission of Saban Entertainment, Inc. This story was written solely for entertainment value and may not be distributed for profit of any kind. When reproducing this document, all parts, including this disclaimer, must be kept together in their original, unaltered state. Note: This story takes place immediately after "Good as Gold". --- [Following are the last few pages of the journal of William Cranston.] Sorry I haven't been writing in this journal very much lately. I haven't had a whole lot to write about. But I do now. I couldn't write about it at the time due to our temporal displacement, but recently, Master Vile turned back time, and we became children again. I used a regeneration device to restore my proper age, but before I could restore the others, Rita and Zedd broke the device and destroyed our Power Coins. I'm not sure why we weren't all killed, since our life energies were linked with the coins. Maybe it had something to do with our temporal displacement. Anyway, since I was the oldest of the group, I became the leader. I stayed behind in the Command Center while the others searched for the Zeo Subcrystals. I'm not sure why, but I got the feeling I could do even more good staying behind the lines in the Command Center than actually being a Ranger. So when time was restored, I chose not to take a Zeo Subcrystal. Instead, I will stay in the Power Chamber and help out that way. I hope I made right decision. But if I didn't, I can always be a Ranger somehow. I need to explain about the Power Chamber. See, once time was restored, Rito and Goldar planted an implosion device beneath the Command Center which destroyed the entire complex. The Zeo Crystal then rebuilt the outer structure, and our base of operations moved underground into a new facility known as the Power Chamber. I had seen plans for it in the mainframe, but I never imagined it would have been so amazing. It is truly a step up from the Command Center - it's a great place to work. Maybe that's part of the reason I gave up my chance at a Zeo Subcrystal. I gave "my" crystal to Tanya. She was sent here in Aisha's place with the Yellow Zeo Subcrystal. I guess it was pretty arrogant of me to just assume that the crystal would have gone to me just because I had been around longer. Still, I did not take it. I think Tanya will make a great Ranger. Of course, I do miss Aisha. But I've already talked about her enough in this journal. --- The ZeoZords are finally finished! I hope the Rangers will like them. I designed them from a Ranger's perspective, thinking about what I liked and disliked about the various Zords I piloted in my Blue Ranger days. Speaking of which, I like Rocky better in red. Anyhow, I am very proud of the ZeoZords. Zordon gave me free reign for designing them - he only helped to assemble them. And I have to say, they turned out beautifully. I have yet to test the Battle Helmets, a new feature I designed, but I'm sure they will work fine. --- It seems as if my life has been turned upside down. It all started yesterday afternoon, when Mr. Kaplan called me into his office. He told me that I had already exceeded the school's requirements, then he handed me a diploma and shoved me out the door. What was I supposed to do now? My life was a blur. The next morning at a party the guys whipped up for me, Cestro came to me in need of my assistance. He needed help constructing a weapon to use against the Hydro Contaminators, a race of beings attacking Aquitar. The weapon would need special modifications to work on Aquitar, and Cestro would have been unable to make those modifications. So I decided to go to Aquitar. I told my dad and Lisa (I haven't talked much about my stepmom, have I?) that it was very important that I go somewhere far away for a while. They were a bit confused, but in the end my dad convinced Lisa that I was a responsible person and that I could go if it were as important as I said it was. Some people might say he was an irresponsible parent for letting me go off to some unknown place, but I'm happy to know he trusts me so much. As I write this, I am aboard Cestro's spacecraft. It's a bit small, but Cestro insists that the trip won't take that long. But Aquitar is light years from Earth - we must be using some sort of hyperspace travel. I've got to ask Cestro how it works. I will once he wakes up. --- Aquitar was incredible. I'm not sure how long I was there. As the Alien Rangers' compound lies far beneath the surface of the water, my only cue about the time of day would have been the color and brightness of the water outside. But as it turns out, Aquitar rotates very slowly, so the water remained pretty much the same the whole time I was there. I went through five sleep cycles, so I figure I was probably on the planet for six days or so. I never saw Cestro sleep. Either Aquitians never sleep, or their Circadian rhythms are very long. Something else interesting about Aquitians is their growth. Aquitians mature at about the same rate as humans until they're eighteen or so, at which point their aging slows down tremendously. I believe the Alien Rangers are several centuries old. What's odd is that, during my stay, I never saw an Aquitian who looked older than thirty. I wonder if they're immortal. Other than these differences and their limited telepathic abilities, Aquitians have relatively the same anatomy as humans. (The Alien Rangers are unique among other Aquitians in their telekinetic abilities.) Anyway, on to the main reason I went to Aquitar. I went to Aquitar to build a weapon - I left a bringer of peace. I didn't do much; all I did was to locate an uninhabited water planet for the Hydro Contaminators to live on. But I went down in Aquitar's history as the being who saved their planet. I don't think I did a lot, but the Aquitians would disagree. While I was there, I met Cestro's niece Cestria. She was very kind and intelligent. I wasn't sure how to act around her, partly because I was from an entirely different culture, and partly because I was intimidated by her beauty. I was tempted to stay on Aquitar, but Cestria convinced me that Earth needed me more than Aquitar did. So here I am, flying through space toward Earth. Hopefully my trip home will be uneventful... --- Something amazing has happened. I'll start from the beginning. Mondo tried to divide and conquer the Rangers, and it was working. Suddenly, we started getting interference from space, and Mondo withdrew his troops. I detected that the source of the interference was a giant gold pyramid with unimaginable power. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that its energy signatures perfectly matched the energy of the Zeo Crystal. This could be my chance to be a Ranger, I thought. After the pyramid landed on Earth, I went out to get a fix on its location. While I was waiting for the system to calibrate, I wandered away from Tommy and Adam. Suddenly, a golden light enveloped me, and I found myself in a strange chamber - inside the pyramid, I presumed. Standing before me was a being in a black suit with golden armor - a new Ranger! He told me that he was the Gold Ranger, and he had come to Earth from a distant planet to help the Rangers in their time of need. He told me that he had heard of me from Aquitar and that he needed my assistance. He said that he did not have the capability to monitor danger on the Earth as I could from the Power Chamber. I agreed to serve as his informant - I would radio him at the first sign of trouble. He told me he had enemies, and that I should keep my association with him a secret. He then returned me to the Power Chamber, where I set up a small communications link in the private chamber Zordon had made for me when he designed the Power Chamber. When I emerged into the main room, the Rangers told me that they had encountered the Gold Ranger. I pretended I did not know of him, as he had instructed. And that's how I met the Gold Ranger. Now, whenever there's trouble, I alert him. I wonder if the Rangers suspect me of being the Gold Ranger, what with my major Clark Kent syndrome. Oh well, it won't hurt them to wonder. --- Yesterday Tanya asked me where I was when she tried to call me the night before. I would have told her about the handheld temporal flux device I've been tinkering with in my spare time, but it's nowhere near completion. So I just told her I was working on a project. She didn't seem too satisfied with my response. Then, today, the Rangers asked what had been going on with me. Like I had told Tanya, I said that I was working on a project. Then Rocky accused me of being the Gold Ranger because of my Clark Kent act. Now, I like Rocky, but I wouldn't have thought he would be the first one to suspect me. Maybe he was just the first one to say anything. --- I turned down the chance to be a Ranger today. The Gold Ranger was being hunted by cyborg bounty hunters known as the Varox. He crashed on Aquitar and came to Earth for help. We discovered he was Trey, lord of a planet of trifold beings known as Triforia, and his battle with the Varox splintered him into his three essences, preventing him from using the golden powers. The Treys decided to pass the golden powers on to me. "Billy, are you ready to receive the power of the Gold Ranger?" they asked. "I am," I replied. "I'm truly honored." I thought about the great responsibility they were giving to me. Why me? Because of what they had heard from the people of Aquitar. And in all honesty, the Aquitians exaggerated. They held their staff out to me. "Gift of power take flight," they said. "Billy, the Golden Power Staff is now yours." I brought my hand up to the staff. I could feel its power tingling through my hand. The Aquitians exaggerated. I am not a galactic savior, I am not a noble warrior. I am Billy Cranston, a simple Earthling. And I am not worthy of the golden powers. "I can't," I said, pulling my hand away. I took a deep breath and apologized for not being able to accept. Zordon told me that it was my decision, and that I should not be pressured into doing something I didn't want to do. He had taken it well, but what could I tell the Rangers? That I simply chose not to help them? Before I had a chance to think, the Rangers came in. "Billy, what happened?" Tommy asked enthusiastically. "Did you transfer powers already?" I spun around, my mind racing. I had to think of something. "I'm afraid I've got some bad news, guys. The power of the Gold Ranger can't be infused into me," I told them. Off the top of my head, I made up a ridiculous excuse that surely they would never buy. Yet they did. (Negative proton molecules? Did they sleep through chemistry?) I didn't enjoy lying to them, and I don't imagine Zordon much liked it either, but he went along with my story. I might regret turning down the opportunity to be the Gold Ranger, if my refusal wouldn't have given Jason the opportunity to be a Ranger again. I think he makes an excellent Gold Ranger - I'm glad it turned out this way. It's good to have him back. I pulled the Rangers out of battle yesterday. They would have destroyed the ZeoZords in battle if I hadn't. I know it's selfish, but that's the main reason I did it. The ZeoZords were my finest creation ever, and the Rangers realize how much they mean to me! You know, I think I might be spending a little too much time in the Power Chamber. I should get out. --- Mondo was defeated today! I don't know what will happen now, but it's nice to know that there's one less villain out there. Oh, I took my own advice and took some time away from the Power Chamber. This morning I showed up at the Youth Center early and waited for the guys to show up. I considered asking Jason to teach me a new kata. While I waited for the guys, I tinkered with my flux device, which I had brought along to occupy me. While I was working on it, it shorted out and vanished into the timestream. I think it went a short distance into the future. I'll have to wait and see if it ever shows back up. If I don't ever recover it, I'm not particularly worried, as it will be inoperable when it arrives at its destination in time. If someone were to find it, they would mistake it for junk. Besides, I don't even know what I would have done with it if I had perfected it. --- Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything in here. A lot has happened recently. It all started when I was studying the Golden Power Staff. I figured out a way for the staff to regenerate its energy. The more I thought about it, the more I suspected I could use what I had learned to help Trey. I had Zordon teleport me to Triforia, where I conducted experiments with a new type of energy. My experiments failed, and Trey still was not unified. To thank me for trying to help, Trey showed me a vast amount of Triforian technology, all of which astounded me. I had never seen such technology! I learned a great deal while I was there. Then Zordon called and told me I was needed on Earth. My mind was filled with so many new ideas that, as soon as I returned to Earth, I went straight to the ZeoZord interface terminal to see how I could incorporate my new ideas into the Zords. I was so preoccupied with my new ideas that I forgot that Zordon needed me. I was soon reminded that I was needed, and I went to the main chamber and helped solve the crisis of the day. After it was over, I returned to my work and began a flurry of inventing and upgrading things in the Power Chamber. I don't think I got any sleep that whole week. Many times Zordon warned me that if I didn't go home and rest that I would burn myself out. I ignored him. He said my parents were probably worried about me. He didn't know that I had told them I was on a vacation in Europe. Then it happened. I started aging rapidly. Alpha did a scan on me and found that the regenerator device I'd used to restore my age in Master Vile days had caused my aging. As far as I can tell, the regenerator's side effects remained latent until my inventing craze, during which my exhaustion made the aging process kick in. I couldn't let my parents see me in my current form, so I was unable to check my lab at home for any inventions that might help me restore my youth. Then I remembered my lost flux device - I might be able to modify it to help me. Hopefully it had shown up at the Youth Center by now. I checked the lost and found, but it was not there. I returned to the Power Chamber to find that Cestro and Delphine had come to Earth with a regenerator cannon. Their cannon failed to restore my youth, so they tried something else. Cestria came from Aquitar with water from their Eternal Falls, which Delphine told me is Aquitar's version of the Fountain of Youth. I could feel the water working, but I needed more. I agreed to go to Aquitar for further treatment. And now I wait. This is my third day of treatment, and I believe it is working. Cestria has stayed by my side and comforted me through it all. We have talked for hours upon hours and grown very close. She is so tender and caring. I think I love her. --- The Eternal Falls have worked - I am young again. Part of me wants to stay here on Aquitar with Cestria, but I feel compelled to return to Earth. I've detected strange fluctuations in the Gold Ranger powers, and the Rangers have the Machine Empire, Gasket and Archerina, and Rita and Zedd all to contend with. They need my help. I don't know what to do. --- Today I made the most important decision of my life. I've decided to stay on Aquitar with Cestria. I met with the oracle of Aquitar, a being known as Lera. She allowed me to look into the near future, and I saw what would happen to the Power Rangers. As a result of a rule within the Golden Power Staff planted there by its creator, Jason would lose the Gold Ranger powers when Emily figures out his identity. Gasket and Archerina would run away, the Machine Empire would be destroyed, Trey would be reunified and would reclaim the Gold Ranger powers, Jason would lead a normal life with Emily, Tommy and Kat would become a couple, and the Rangers would be able to handle Rita and Zedd. All would be well. So I have decided to stay. Now I just have two things that I need to do before I can settle down. First, I need to set up a communications link through the Power Chamber to Angel Grove's phone lines so that I can call my parents and tell them I've been hired by a computer company in London. With this link, they'll be able to call a number at any time which will connect them to the Power Chamber, where the signal is sent here. No sweat. Second, I have to tell the Rangers I'm not coming back to Earth. I'll probably be grinning the whole time. Not because I won't miss them - I really will. But because I know how well things will turn out for them. They're really lucky. And so am I. I think this will be the last entry in this journal. It's been fun. THE END [scribbled out] THE BEGINNING