TITANUS SPEAKS by Joe Rovang Legal Disclaimer: I acknowledge that I am using concepts and characters from _Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers_ and _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 in the Power Rangers Zeo storyline, between "A Golden Homecoming" and "Where in the World is Zeo Ranger 5?". Only Billy and Titanus appear in this story. If you're looking for action and intense battles, this story probably isn't for you. But if you're looking for a story which tells the history of all things Power Rangers and ties together a lot of loose ends, read on! --- It took both hands for him to flip the cumbersome master switch. As he did so, hundreds of spotlights high above filled the enormous hangar with light. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and gazed upward at the robotic dinosaur he planned to dissect. The monstrous entity towered over him, dwarfing him with its sheer magnitude. It was over fifty stories tall, he guessed. And yet, he, an insignificant speck worlds below the beast, would meticulously dismantle the colossus until nothing but parts remained. It was all very ironic, he had to admit. His tan hiking books treaded silently on the smooth concrete floor as he walked toward the lift which would take him up to the giant's head. He stepped onto the iron grating of the lift and flicked the control switch into the up position. The motor whined as it came to life and sent the lift on its journey upward. His emerald eyes absently fell upon the behemoth's dull white armored hide as he mentally planned out his journey down the creature's elongated neck and into its core, removing vital pieces all the way. After he'd extracted everything of value, he could use the cranes to disassemble its body into its component materials. Such was the fate that had befallen all of the others before this dinosaur. And now it was the last of its kind. The lift jerked to a stop as it reached its peak, and he found himself staring down the jaws of the beast; its teeth alone were half his height. He bent down and opened a black case which lay at his feet. From it he removed a large apparatus, which he strapped to his back, connected by a thick black cable to a high-powered laser gun. He clutched the gun tightly and looked up into the dinosaur's blank red eyes. The old creature had served them well, but now it was of no more use to them. He held the laser close, pressing it against his black turtleneck, and stepped toward the beast's mouth. Suddenly, the metal jaws came to life. "Billy," echoed the noble voice of the dinosaur, "what are you doing?" Billy gasped in alarm and threw himself backward. His back slammed against the iron railing of the lift, and he quickly released the laser gun in order to grip the railing behind him. The laser fell and struck the floor of the lift, sending a clatter echoing through the immense hangar. "T..Titanus!" Billy exclaimed. "You're operative!" He blinked and tilted his head forward. "And you can talk!" Titanus paused for a moment to consider Billy's observation. "Are you telling me Zordon never explained to you who I am?" he asked. Billy took a moment to take a deep breath and compose himself. He then replied, "Zordon doesn't tell us a whole lot." "Well then," he said with growing enthusiasm. "I'll explain it all from the beginning. The history of everything from the Power Coins to the Zords to the Zeo Crystal." Billy frowned in confusion but decided to go along with the dinosaur. "Okay," he agreed. Titanus cleared his throat. "Where do I begin? Ah, I know." Billy nodded to tell Titanus to go on. "All right, ten thousand years ago, Zordon and I were both peacekeeping beings sent from Eltar to watch over this sector of the galaxy. He lived in a temple on the Earth, and I lived in a temple on the moon." "I guess your temple must've been pretty big...?" Billy asked. Titanus was silent for a moment, as if to savor the humor of Billy's question. "No, I didn't always have this form," he soon replied. "Zordon and I were originally humanoid beings, similar to you in size and shape." Billy glanced over the edge of the lift to look at the fifty stories of robotic mass below, and Titanus continued. "There was also another being named Ninjor, whom Zordon befriended by giving him a home in a pocket dimension which Ninjor would name Zordnia in Zordon's honor. "And then," said Titanus, "Rita Repulsa arrived. In order to help Zordon defend the Earth, Ninjor used two magical swords, the Sword of Light and the Sword of Darkness, to create seven Power Coins - red, blue, black, yellow, pink, green, and white. As Ninjor meditated in his temple in Zordnia, putting the finishing touches on the coins, Rita attacked and caught him off guard. She crippled Ninjor and stole the Power Coins. I confronted her outside the temple, and I sacrificed myself to win back five of the Power Coins for Zordon - Rita still had the green and white coins, and I was trapped in a pocket dimension. When Rita tried to use a powerful spell to banish Zordon to a similar pocket dimension, Zordon used the Power Coins to reflect the spell back at her. The result: both Zordon and Rita were banished to alternate dimensions. Zordon, Ninjor, and I took measures to allow us to keep an eye on your universe. Zordon established a teledimensional link to this universe inside his temple on Earth, Ninjor assumed an armored body, and I assumed the form in which you now see me." "Woah," Billy remarked. "Zordon told us you were a friend, but I had no idea you were partners!" "Fearing that Rita would one day return," Titanus continued, "I created seven robotic creatures similar to the robotic form I had taken, each creature powered by one of the Power Coins. I named them 'Zords' in Zordon's honor." "Seven?" asked Billy. "The Tyrannosaurus, the Triceratops, the Mastodon, the Sabertooth Tiger, the Pterodactyl, the Dragon, and Cyclopsis," Titanus replied. Billy thought about it for a moment, then asked, "But why would you make Zords for the coins that Rita had?" Titanus answered, "I created them in hopes that Zordon could one day reclaim the green and white coins and use the power of the Dragon and Cyclopsis against Rita. I buried them, along with the other Zords and myself, deep within the Earth. From there, I watched as the galaxy evolved. "I watched as three ancient beings used a magical golden staff thousands of years ago to create the Zeo Crystal, a powerful object with five different wavelengths of power, as insurance against the forces of evil. They buried the Zeo Crystal beneath my old temple on the moon. Following my example of creating Zords powered by the Power Coins, the beings created their own robot warriors powered by the Zeo Crystal - they were known as the Super Zeo Zords. The beings locked the Zords within Super Zeo Gems, tiny fragments from the Zeo Crystal, and hid them within a giant pyramid Zord on their home planet of Triforia. The robot known as Warrior Wheel was then created to guard the pyramid, Pyramidas, and the golden staff of power was passed down through the royalty of Triforia." Billy shifted his position slightly and listened intently as Titanus continued. "I watched as, centuries ago, the Aquitar Rangers lost their mentor in a fierce battle with a new enemy and sought the help of Ninjor. Also following my example of creating Zords, Ninjor constructed robot warriors to help the Aquitar Rangers in battling their new foe. These robots, dubbed Battle Borgs, were based on creatures Ninjor had encountered on one of his many visits to Earth. The Red Battle Borg was based on the ape, the Blue Battle Borg was based on the wolf, the Black Battle Borg was based on the frog, the Yellow Battle Borg was based on the bear, and the White Battle Borg was based on the crane. The Aquitar Rangers eagerly accepted their new weapons, and Ninjor, pleased with his proficiency at constructing such robots, designed a stronger version of the Battle Borgs, known as the ShogunZords, as well as a fleet of animals known as the NinjaZords, to serve as backups for the Battle Borgs. Finally, he constructed the mighty FalconZord, lord of all his robot creations and the key to the NinjaZords and ShogunZords. Ironically, the Aquitar Rangers, using telepathic modifications, used their Battle Borgs so efficiently that they never needed the replacements Ninjor had built for them." Billy stroked his chin in contemplation. "You're saying the NinjaZords and the ShogunZords were just unused Zords originally designed for the Alien Rangers?" Titanus nodded. "But what about our animal spirits?" Billy asked. "I thought they were the basis for the NinjaZords." "Actually," said Titanus, "it was the other way around. You modeled them after the Zords." "But..." Billy protested, "the animal spirits felt so real! I could feel the wolf within me." "I do not doubt that," Titanus told him, "You may not have been born with the animal spirits, but, as you inherited the NinjaZords and the power of Ninja, the spirits of your animals were born within you." Titanus fell silent, expecting Billy to respond. There was a moment of awkward silence, then Titanus asked, "Billy, are you all right? I didn't mean to disturb you." "I'm fine," Billy said, shaking his head. He stated, "Just because we created the ninja spirits within us after we became Ninja Rangers doesn't make it any less real than if we'd been born with them." "Right," Titanus agreed. "Please, go on," Billy insisted. "Very well," said Titanus. "A decade ago, King Lexian of Edenoi, growing old, announced that he would pass on the powers which enabled him to become Masked Rider to his young grandson, Dex. Zordon, hearing the news, watched from afar as Dex's uncle, Dregon, infuriated that he was not the heir, had his own brother killed and planned to do the same to young Dex. Zordon secretly warned Lexian of Dregon's plan, and Lexian immediately banished Dregon from the planet. To show his gratitude for warning him, Lexian sent Zordon one of his finest robots, Alpha Five." "So Dregon spent the next few years in exile, brooding over his banishment," Billy concluded, "until he had enough power to overthrow Lexian and enslave the Edenoites?" "Correct," Titanus replied. "Then, three years ago, Rita escaped and took over my old temple as her base of operations. Zordon then gave his five Power Coins to you, Jason, Zack, Trini, and Kimberly to become the Power Rangers. Rita, having obtained the Sword of Darkness with her evil powers, used it to corrupt both Tommy and the green coin and create the evil Green Ranger. When Jason destroyed the Sword of Darkness, Tommy's mind was cleared of evil, but Rita still had control of the green power through Tommy. This is how she was able to use a magic candle to sever his connection to the green power. But when Tommy gave Jason the green coin, Rita no longer had access to it. "Giving up on the green coin, Rita turned her attention to the white coin. Without the Sword of Darkness, Rita was unable to gain full control over the white coin's powers. However, she did manage to manipulate its power to allow Goldar to use it to pilot Cyclopsis. When Cyclopsis was destroyed, Zordon seized Cyclopsis' remains and the white coin, planning to create the White Ranger to pilot Cyclopsis once it was repaired. To prepare the white coin, Zordon created a new underground research facility which would eventually become the Power Chamber in which you now operate." "Aha, my theory was right!" Billy realized. "That chamber I found where Zordon and Alpha were making the White Ranger _was_ the Power Chamber!" "Yes, that is where he prepared the White Ranger," Titanus answered. "But in the meantime, Tommy again became the Green Ranger using some of Zordon's energy. If Tommy had been reconnected to the green power, Rita would have again had control over it. Then, when Lord Zedd arrived, Zordon and I realized your Zords would not be powerful enough to combat his monsters. Therefore, I called forth my energy from my dimension and upgraded the Zords into ThunderZords whenever they were needed." "Why 'Thunder'?" Billy inquired. "The 'Thunder' was coined by Zordon when he noticed that the summoning of my energy resembled bolts of lightning." Billy smirked, having trouble imagining Zordon being creative. "The Tyrannosaurus became the mighty Red Dragon," continued Titanus, "the Triceratops became the Unicorn, the Mastodon became the Lion, the Sabertooth Tiger became the Griffin, the Pterodactyl became the Firebird, and Cyclopsis became the White Tiger. The DragonZord was not upgraded since the ThunderZords required more power to operate than Tommy's temporary powers could have given." "Okay," said Billy, "but why was the Lion green? It even had a green lightning bolt. And yet it belonged to the Black Ranger." "You're very observant, Billy," remarked Titanus. "I failed to mention that Ninjor's construction of backup Zords for the Aquitar Rangers prompted me to design a set of backup Zords as well, the ThunderZords. When I originally designed the ThunderZords, the white and black ThunderZords - the White Tiger and the Pegasus - were both non-essential Zords, meaning they weren't crucial parts of the MegaZord; the green Lion was. When I learned that there could be a black ThunderZord but no green ThunderZord, someone had to pilot the Lion, as it was an essential part of the MegaZord. So I gave the Lion to the Black Ranger, and the Mastodon became the Lion instead of the Pegasus, as was originally intended. Had the Green Ranger ever been able to power a ThunderZord, his DragonZord would have been upgraded into the black Pegasus." "Are you serious?" Billy asked. "A Pegasus ThunderZord?" "Indeed." Billy thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Sorry, go ahead." "After Tommy's temporary powers ran out," Titanus proceeded, "Zordon gave him the white coin and the White Tiger. Zordon then used the untapped green power to..." "Hold on a second," Billy interrupted. "Who or what was Saba?" "I was Saba," replied Titanus. Billy blinked. "Excuse me?" "My essence was Saba," said Titanus. "My essence was also Tor, whom Zordon powered by the untapped green power." "Wait, I thought the Lion used the green power." "No, the Lion was a green Zord powered by the black power," Titanus explained. "The Lion was originally created for the green power but ended up being powered by black. This type of situation happened again later with the Crane NinjaZord, but I won't go into that now." "Okay," Billy said, ignoring the issue for the moment, "so you remotely controlled Saba and Tor?" "Yes," Titanus answered. "Now, when Jason, Trini, and Zack resigned, Zordon had to acquire the lost Sword of Light, as it was the only way to remove their connections to their respective powers. Morphers may have been handy for infusing you with power, but they did a messy job of it and made the process difficult to undo." "Okay, here's something I've wondered forever and could never get a straight answer out of Zordon about," Billy stated. "What happened to the green coin after Jason gave up his powers? The next thing we saw of it, it was in the hands of evil when they cloned Tommy." "A very good question," said Titanus. "When Jason gave up his powers, the now unowned green coin, finally being acted upon by the power of Rita's green candle, was transferred into the ownership of evil. This didn't concern Zordon, however, since Tommy, the only possible way evil could get to the green power, was currently the White Ranger. As long as he remained the White Ranger, his connection to the green power was blocked, similar to painting over a pre-existing color. Zedd and Rita got around this, however, by cloning Tommy - the clone was able to use the green coin." "Okay, something else I've always wondered..." Billy said. "When the clone turned good and took the green coin with him into colonial times, wouldn't that have created two green coins for a while, from the time the clone arrived in the past up to the present when the clone departed for the past? Shouldn't there be a green coin somewhere that's been lying around ever since the clone eventually passed away in colonial times?" "Indeed," Titanus responded. "But where is it?" "Billy, something tells me that there's more than scientific curiosity behind that question," said Titanus. Billy shrugged. "Well, naturally. Of course I'd like to find a way to be a Ranger again. But even without powers, I'll always try my hardest to help. I guess powers or no powers, I'll always be a Ranger at heart." "Exactly," Titanus agreed. "So, what happened next?" asked Billy. "The ThunderZords got destroyed?" "Yes. When all of the ThunderZords, excluding Tor, were destroyed," said Titanus, "the power surge overloaded the Power Coins, cutting off their connection to the Great Power. When you went to Ninjor for help, he recharged the coins by relinking them to their respective powers, as well as linking them to your life forces for a new bond with the coins, the Ninja Ranger powers." "What exactly is the power of Ninja that Ninjor referred to?" Billy inquired. "It is the concept of honor which served as the basis for the creation of the Great Power. It lies at the heart of the Power Coins. In linking the coins to your life forces, Ninjor put you in touch with the force of Ninja." "Ah," said Billy. "You know, I had a dream about us losing our powers and getting the Ninja powers the night before it actually happened." "Oh?" asked Titanus. "Yeah. It was like a premonition," Billy said. "I didn't remember it at first, but then when it actually happened, I had a sense of déjà vu that eventually grew into my memory of the dream." "What happened in the dream?" Titanus inquired. "Well, our problems started when a new villain arrived," Billy explained. "Only instead of it being Rito, it was some weird slime guy. And our power suits were different, and we had these weird weapons. Anyway, we tried to stop him, but he ended up wiping out our powers and knocking Zordon out of his time warp, and he was an old, dying man. Which is weird, because Zordon's just a transmission from another dimension, and I knew that when I dreamed this up. Anyway, we went to another planet, where a woman in a green bikini told us about the animal spirits deep within us. I guess that's where I got the idea that we were born with the animal spirits within us." "Interesting," Titanus remarked. There was an awkward silence for a moment, until Billy chuckled and said, "Sorry. Please go on." "Well," said Titanus, "since you were without Zords, Ninjor decided to give you the unused NinjaZords. However, as there was no pink Aquitar Ranger, Ninjor was short a pink NinjaZord. His solution was to give the FalconZord to the White Ranger and the white Crane to the Pink Ranger. Similar to the black-powered green Lion, the Crane was a white Zord powered by pink power. Since Tor was designed to link up solely with ThunderZords, I took its place by helping you in person and linking up with the NinjaZords and, later, the ShogunZords. "Then, when Rita and Zedd stole Kimberly's Power Coin, the danger of Ninjor's linking the Power Coins to your life forces was revealed, as Kimberly began to die with her coin in the hands of evil. To save her life, Alpha used the Sword of Light to sever Kimberly's connection with the pink power, similar to what the green candle had done to Tommy. And like Tommy temporarily using Zordon's energy to become the Green Ranger, Kimberly temporarily used the combined energy of the other Power Coins to become the Pink Ranger." Billy nodded, and Titanus continued. "Now, when Rita and Zedd stole the ShogunZords from Zordnia, the ShogunZords would not work for two reasons. First, they were not connected to a source of power. Second, both the ShogunZords and NinjaZords were designed to operate only when they were owned by the owner of the FalconZord. Therefore, Rita and Zedd stole the FalconZord, thus cutting of your access to the NinjaZords, and then kidnapped Ninjor so that they could connect the ShogunZords to your Power Coins through Ninjor." "Ah, that makes sense," Billy remarked. "After you seized the ShogunZords and FalconZord from Rita and Zedd, Kimberly's temporary powers were not strong enough for her to power the White ShogunZord, as she had done with the white Crane. Instead, Tommy powered the White ShogunZord, and Kimberly rode along with him. When Kimberly resigned, the pink coin was linked to Katherine, and the pink powers could be used again. Therefore, when the NinjaZords were needed to battle Master Vile's Globbor monster, the pink power was able to power the Crane. The rest of you simultaneously powered your respective NinjaZords and ShogunZords, with Tommy powering the White ShogunZord and the FalconZord." "Was it the added power of Ninja that allowed our coins to power two sets of Zords at once?" asked Billy. "You are quite right," answered Titanus. He then continued, "When Master Vile set his sights on the Zeo Crystal, Tommy had to prove that he was pure of heart in order to take the Zeo Crystal from beneath Rita and Zedd's castle. Once the Zeo Crystal was obtained, Tommy, with the assistance of Zordon's energies, broke it into its subcrystal components. Zordon then sent the subcrystals through a portal in space- time, which scattered them to various locations and times on Earth." "Various?" Billy questioned. "Why did the five subcrystals go to the places of each of the other Rangers' origins except mine? Why was I excluded from the very beginning?" "To understand the reason behind this," Titanus said, "we must first look at what happened when the Orb of Doom turned the Earth back five years. Everything was affected, with the exception of the Power Coins, the Zords, and your memories and physical locations. Your bodies, however, _were_ turned back - to the time before they were ever linked to the Power Coins. Now, when you, Billy, used the energies of the Power Coins to age yourself, you became a temporal anomaly - you would not have been able to possess a subcrystal. Thus, the subcrystals were linked to the five other Rangers when they retrieved them in the past. Then, five years later, when Tommy broke the Zeo Crystal apart and Zordon sent the subcrystals through time, they were already assigned to the other Rangers." Billy waved his hand out, as if to protest. "No, wait, that can't be," he said. "An event can't be its own cause. It's impossible." "Each event was actually caused by the previous event," Titanus tried to explain. "At one point, there _was_ some other origin before this loop occurred. But it is now invalid, as we're inside the loop." Billy blinked and thought about it for a moment. "Wow, you're right," he admitted. He tilted his head and said, "You know, when the other Rangers were on their quests for the subcrystals, I happened to notice that all of them but Rocky never actually went into the past to retrieve their subcrystals." "That is true," replied Titanus. "Even though the subcrystals arrived at their locations at some time in the past, they remained in that same location as time passed. Therefore, Zordon was able to simply teleport the Rangers to the locations of the subcrystals, where they remained to that day. This was the case for all of the subcrystals except for Rocky's, for his began causing volcanic disturbances upon arriving in the past. Rocky was transported back in time to the moment just after his subcrystal had arrived so that he could prevent the disturbances. He then returned to the time from which he left, whereas time elapsed as the other Rangers retrieved their subcrystals." "Ah, so that's why Rocky came back so much quicker than the others," Billy realized. He then frowned and said, "Hold on. You said the other Rangers didn't time travel when they retrieved their subcrystals. For Adam and Tommy, I can buy that. But what about Kat and Aisha's quests?" "Katherine was in present-day Australia," Titanus said. "The older versions of herself that she saw were simply apparitions created by the pink subcrystal to test her sense of compassion." "Okay, that explains that," said Billy. "But what about the Aisha and Tanya situation? I lost sleep nights trying to figure out the implications of Aisha never moving to Angel Grove!" Titanus chuckled gently. "Let's see if I can explain this well enough," he said. "All right, when Aisha went to Africa for her subcrystal, she was simply teleporting to the 'present-day' Africa, which, to you and me, means the Africa of five years ago, since when she went there the Earth was five years in the past, correct?" "Right," Billy agreed. "Okay. According to the original history of Aisha's family, the Campbells moved to California because of the animal plague. They would have moved shortly after the time when Aisha showed up. Now, that would mean that, at the time the Rangers sought out the subcrystals, Aisha should have still been living in Africa, since that was before they moved, right?" "Yeah," said Billy. "Well, as you know, the Power Coins caused the memories and physical locations of the six of you to remain the same as they would be in the time before the Orb of Doom activated. Therefore, Aisha should have been in Africa at the time, just as Tommy, Rocky, and Adam should have been in Stone Canyon at the time, and Katherine should have been in Australia. They all should have been where they were five years ago, but they weren't, due to the Power Coins." "I gotcha," Billy told him. "Okay. So Aisha teleported to Africa, where she should have been at that time, in search of her subcrystal. She ran into Tanya, who, in the original timeline, would have grown up in Africa. But, by sending Tanya to the Command Center in her place and staying to use her knowledge from the future to help the animals, Aisha changed the course of time." Billy frowned. "This is where it gets a little confusing." "When the Zeo Crystal was united," Titanus explained, "it restored the Earth to the proper time. But, in order to rid the timestream of a possible paradox, the Zeo Crystal only updated the Campbells' tribe to the temporal changes. Everything and everyone else, including Aisha, remained the same. Think of it as if the tribe is the only group of people who are currently valid in this timeline. Everyone else is like an abnormality left over from a previous, invalid timeline." Titanus paused to see if Billy understood. "Okay, so Aisha remembers moving to California five years ago and becoming a Power Ranger, while her family would swear that they, including Aisha, have always lived in Africa?" Billy asked. "Precisely." "And that leads me to believe that Tanya also remembers her original yet invalid history, in which she grew up in Africa," Billy continued, "while the tribe would not remember seeing Tanya after she teleported to the Command Center with the yellow subcrystal five years ago." "You are correct," said Titanus. "Great, there's one mystery solved," Billy stated. "Now what about the Power Coins? When Rita and Zedd destroyed them, we should have died, since they were linked to our life forces, right?" "While the six of you were in the past," Titanus answered, "you were not yet linked to the Power Coins. Therefore, when Rita and Zedd destroyed them, you suffered no consequences. However, when you returned to the present, the six of you would have died, had the Zeo Crystal not, when it restored time, unlinked your life forces from the destroyed coins. It did this to save your lives. In addition, the Zeo Crystal, in restoring time, made you, Billy, no longer a temporal anomaly." "Now, when Rito and Goldar stole the Zeo Crystal and blew up the Command Center," Billy said, "what happened? How did the Zeo Crystal end up in the rubble of the Command Center, and how did Rito and Goldar end up in Angel Grove with no memories?" "Ah, you knew about Rito and Goldar?" Titanus asked. "Of course," Billy replied. "I had to fine tune the alarm in the Power Chamber so that it wouldn't go off every time those two wandered out of Bulk and Skull's garage. I showed Zordon that they weren't a threat anymore, and he gave me permission to reconfigure the alarm's sensors." "Interesting," Titanus remarked. "Now what happened is that when Rito and Goldar picked up the Zeo Crystal and began to teleport, the crystal reacted to the evil within them. In mid-teleport, the Zeo Crystal ended up wiping their memories and redirecting their teleport destination to Bulk and Skull's neighborhood. Itself immune to the magic of evil, the Zeo Crystal resisted Rito and Goldar's teleportation and reappeared in the Command Center, only to be lost within the chaos of the detonating implosion device." "During which I absorbed antiprotons which repel Zeo energy," Billy added with a sigh, "denying me of my last chance at being a Ranger again." "Billy," said Titanus, "if there is one force in the universe which can overcome all, it is the power of hope. Remain positive, and anything can happen." Billy looked down, taking in the dinosaur's words of wisdom. "And now, Billy," Titanus spoke, "I grow weary. It is time for me to sleep." Billy looked up into his deep red eyes. "I thank you for taking the time to speak with me," said Titanus, "and I wish you well on all your endeavors." "Thank you," Billy whispered. He watched with a sad smile as the mighty creature grew still, and silence fell upon the hangar. He gazed at the majestic giant for what seemed like hours. Finally, he looked down at the laser gun which lay at his feet. He frowned in disgust at the ridiculous idea of cutting apart such a wise and noble creature, and he quickly slipped the power pack from his shoulders and dropped it to the floor of the lift. With a flick of his finger, Billy sent the lift earthward. As he descended, he watched the dinosaur's strong, brilliant white armor go by. Soon, the lift jerked to a stop as it reached the floor. Billy walked over to the hangar wall and put his hand on the master switch. He took a final look at the dinosaur. "Good night," he said softly, "and thank you. I'll never lose hope." He flipped the switch, and all went dark. He began to walk through the darkness toward the exit. As he made his way toward the exit, his foot kicked something in the darkness. He bent down and picked it up - it felt like a small box with a bow on it. He blindly untied the bow and removed the lid of the box. Feeling around the inside of the box, his hand brushed against something metallic. He held it tenderly in his hand and identified it to be a coin. He felt the three claw designs on the surface of the coin. It was the mark of the dragon. THE END