((This is...sorta 
trans_9 canon for me, but it's sorta a little vignette that I don't want to spam the comm with. Anyone from that game's welcome to reply, and I'll put a link to this event on the wiki page so it's noted.))It was late at night, and something wasn't right.
Something aboard the Great Ship Stacy had decided it was time to draw one of her podlings back into sleep. Snagging and sedating the crew member to be removed was the easy part. Separating them from the other podlings' memories was slightly more difficult.
The probing force slipped into Billy Cranston's mind as he slept, inducing him to forget that one of his best friends had ever been here. It was painful, inducing someone to forget a person they'd cared deeply about before the Ohm attack. Thankfully, with podlings who'd known each other before, their happy memmories and bond from their home world were allowed to remain intact.
Even though the process wasn't as devastating as a total memory wipe, the lights in Billy's soulscape that represented his closest friends are triggered by the dimming of one of the black lights. All eight flare at once, columns extending through the ether that almost resemble a team teleporting to a friend's side---in this case, to his dark dream.
"Please don't break that! It's indicative of an important breakthrough, and if it's lost my family will---no!"
A young boy in baggy overalls and thick glasses, far smaller than the engineer Stacy's crew knew, could only watch helplessly from his human-shaped restraints as his great project was mercilessly destroyed. Its destroyers bore grins of boyish glee, delighted that their victim was oh so responsive.
"Gonna cry, geekoid? Oh boo hoo. So you'll just lock yourself up and build another one, what's the big deal?" The bigger one leered, leaning down to fix young Billy with an intimidating glare.
"Ne---negative," Billy tried, forcing back the tears with all the strength he could muster. He couldn't allow himself to cry. They'd just make things worse.
"Oh, really? Well, if that won't upset you, then how about---" The bigger one wound up for a punch to the little nerd's enormous nose, large body thrumming with anticipation of the boy's squeals. This was promptly halted by the intervention by a flurry of red limbs, forcing the attacker into a corner.
"You mess with Billy and you're messing with me," growled the red-clad boy, easily identified as resident protector Jason Lee Scott. Billy's expression turned into a wavery smile at the sight, growing when another familiar face pulled him free.
"Billy, my main brain! Were these knuckleheads bothering you?" There was Zack, smiling as always, but his eyes glittered with the usual concern.
"You may be giving them too much credit," chimed Trini, with a contemplative Adam hiding his smile behind a hand. They were both serious behind the jokes, Billy could tell.
"If they were knuckleheads, there'd be some weight to them in the first place!" roared Rocky , laughing self-congraulatorily at his own joke.
This left Kimberly and Aisha to roll their eyes and take Billy's arms. "You okay, Billy?" asked Aisha, brushing some imaginary dirt from his shoulder.
"I believe so," Billy finally answered, finding with some surprise that his body had reverted to its adult size. "I'm sorry about the trouble---"
Before the rest of the sentence could come out, Kim had strode forward and pressed her finger against his lips. "Don't even say it, Billy. It's not a problem to help you out."
"Right---it's payback for everything you've done for us," chimed Adam in his quiet way. Billy glanced at him gratefully, then nodded against Kim's finger. Satisfied, the Pink Ranger released him.
Billy stepped back to look at his friends, unable to restrain his happiness at seeing them after all this time. "Guys, what are you doing here?" He knew this scenario wasn't right. It was too perfect. He hadn't seen the Rangers in months and months, instead serving Stacy's crew and making his way in the world alone. Why wasn't he on Stacy, anyway?
Sensing his friend's mind brimming with questions, Tommy strode over and placed a hand on Billy's shoulder. "It's okay, Billy. We just came here to tell you something."
Billy's eyes shot wide open in alarm. "You're not staying?"
"I wish we could," sighed Adam, "but this is all we can do right now." Trini nodded and moved in close.
"What Tommy means to say is that we're always with you in here," the first Yellow Ranger soothed, resting her hand against the center of Billy's chest. He breathed deeply in response, eyes closed to process all of these sensations. When his eyes opened a moment later, they were all standing in his soulscape---on the same platform where their lights resided.
"Right," confirmed Jason and Zack as one, carefully nudging Trini out of the way and placing their own hands on Billy. "You've done us proud," smiled Jason, leaving Zack to nod beside him.
"But you could afford to loosen up a little," said Zack, looking expectantly at Rocky and Aisha to back him up on that point. They did with wicked smiles.
"Haven't you asked a girl to dance?" asked Aisha innocently. Rocky fluttered his hand over his heart and then draped himself over Aisha, as if claiming the other Yellow Ranger as his own dance partner.
"No," groaned Billy. "There were several parties, but..."
"No buts!" yelped Kim, shoving Jason and Zack aside to poke a finger at Billy's chest. "It's sweet that you care about us so much, Billy, but it's okay for you to enjoy life. We'll see you again someday, but don't wait up for us. Promise me that."
"Please," asked Jason. "We want you to be happy."
"Yeah, and you're representing all of us out there! We don't need your crewmates thinking we're all fun-challenged," grinned Rocky. Zack nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
"We know you can do it," cheered Adam, holding Billy's gaze knowingly. Since when had the quiet Black Ranger been so confident? Billy might never know, but...he was glad.
All eyes were on him still, and Billy felt the atmosphere change. It was charged now, with something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He locked eyes with each of them in turn, noting that they'd gathered into a circle with Adam on his left and Jason on his right. Kim smiled and finally backed up to stand across from him, taking her place between Tommy and Aisha.
Here, he knew what he had to do. "I promise," vowed Billy, "that I'll go on. I'll protect you all until we meet again. And I won't forget." Nodding, he extended his hand into the middle of their small circle. Eight hands piled on top of his---Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Kimberly, Tommy, Zack, Trini, Jason. Smiling as one, they crouched. And leapt a moment later, cheering "Power Rangers!"Billy awoke alone in his room, inexplicable tears clinging to his face and pajama top. He looked through blurry eyes at the empty bed across from him---it had always been empty, right?
Then why was he crying? He hadn't felt this sort of misery since the night after Jason, Trini, and Zack had departed for that peace conference. The memories of a night's dream usually would have faded, but tonight they were crystal clear. After all this time spent alone, he'd seen a glimpse of his closest friends. A manifestation of his subconscious's scattered thoughts, clearly, but...why did it feel so real?
And so he sat up on the bed, waiting for the sobs to peter out.
Just breathe and hope no one hears you, Bill, he thought self-critically.
A strange blue belt with five colored stripes sat unnoticed on his bedside table.
confused