Author's Notes: I used elements from the 2nd PR Megaforce episode "He blasted me with science." episode and tried tying that into this story. I also wanted to explore more into Troy's encounter with Creepox. That one scene in the episode really intrigued me so much so because it seems like it's going to be an intrinsic part of Troy's story-line.

I'm so intrigued by Troy Burrow's character and his past. There is much mystery and intrigue surrounding his character. I thought it would be fun to get inside Troy's head and explore.

Disclaimer: I don't own or profit from any shares from Saban's Power Ranger Franchise nor am I affiliated with Toei or any of its affiliates.

Strange Confrontation

Troy surrendered himself to the miraculous beat of his feet against the ground. The angry pitter-patter of the soles of his shoes hitting the pavement, running was always something Troy did to released his energy, and to clear his head. It elated, his soul, when he ran he felt free…

He could feel his heart pounding to the beat of his feet racing over the hard ground. Sweat beaded his forehead, causing his hair to cling to it as his throat ached for air. Troy stopped to take in the delicious rush of wind gusting through the air. He took a seat at a nearby bench stretching out his legs; it felt good releasing the tension that strained them. As he sat there he shut his eyes sucking in a long deep breath fighting the fatigue coursing through his body. Troy leaned back against the bench soaking in the peacefulness and serenity around him. The longer he lingered there the more his mind started drifting back to that dream. He peered into the bright morning skies recalling in his mind all the different teams of his predecessors fighting all together side by side against some common enemy. The longer he sat there the more question plagued his mind.

Was that dream a signal of events that were to happen in the near future?

If that was the case then it would the dream be considered more of a premonition?

How ironic was it that he not only had a dream/premonition of some power ranger war but he would become one himself?

He never thought in his wildest dreams that he would be chosen to become a super hero. Every kid dreams of being a super hero, but it's a different story when you actually become one, baring the faith of the world on your shoulders while trying to remember to turn in your homework in time was certainly a lot to bear. He sighed mentally recalling the vivid dream in his mind. Troy didn't know too much about the past power rangers, other than what he discussed with his aunt and uncle and what he had heard from others. He wondered if Master Gosei and Tensou knew anything about some Great War involving their predecessors.

Troy knew at some point if he wanted to find the answers to his questions he would have to reveal his dream to his friends and Master Gosei and Tensou. Opening up to others had always been a struggle for Troy; he wasn't used to having such attentive and caring friends in his life. Then again he was never in one place long enough to establish long-term friendships. Troy stood to his feet, glancing down at his watch he needed to stop lollygagging around if he wanted to finish his run before school started. He flexed his feet, and continued through the narrow pathway through the park…

Troy continued running for what seemed like longer than it should have taken to get back to the parking lot but he figured it was because of the extra time spent resting that he was falling behind his regular routine…

Seeing that distinct old dead tree around the path signaled that his daily run was coming to an end. Forcing his legs to push harder he kept his sprint, anticipating the relief of having a clear head once he finished his run. Troy rounded the bend in the path and came to an abrupt halt. Troy's breathing hitched in his throat making his already screaming lungs just about to burst.

Spotting the end of the pathway Troy pushed into a sprint just as he was rounding the corner a loud, angry growling noise from some nearby trees caught his attention. A wave of curiosity washed over him as he cautiously stepped off the pathway into the depths of the nearby forests. With his heart racing he stopped dead in his tracks once he spotted the source. He stood there a few feet from what looked like one of the alien Warstars that their mentors had described to them.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"My name is Creepox. Remember it!" the ugly mantis alien called.

Troy took a stance. "Alright, Creepox you still haven't told me what you're doing here…"

"I want to see what sort of creature dares to challenge us mighty insectoids!"

"So very soft with a single stroke…you'll be trashed!"

Troy didn't appreciate the not so subtle jab the creature was making at humans and calling them weak. For a moment he contemplated on if he should morph and prove Creepox wrong and show him that humans aren't weak but he remembered Master Gosei reiterating that they should not use their powers for personal gain so Troy decided in the interest of not starting something and being on time for school to skip out on this fight.

"Humans are a lot tougher than we look, but I won't fight you just to prove it!"

"Oh, you'll fight me…count on it!" Creepox said turning away disappearing into a whir of wind.

What the heck was that about?

What was Creepox doing lingering around the park?

What was his deal about fighting humans?

Did he have a vendetta against humans?

Those were just some of the questions that stirred inside Troy's head. Nonetheless, Troy turned quickly back making his way back towards the pathway through the Harwood County Park…

"Hey G?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's your other half?" he asked closing his locker.

"Emma had a meeting with some classmates over at the Harwood Conservatory."

He nodded. It was cool to see how environmental conscience Emma was. Troy admired her passion for the cause.

"Hey we better get going Mr. Burly's class is about to start," Gia said sprinting ahead...

"Hey guys," Troy called sliding into the desk behind Jake and Noah.

"Hey what's up," Jake responded glancing back at Troy.

Noah threw Troy a quick nod.

Jake leaned over in his seat peering over at Gia. "Somehow…someday she is going to be my girl…"

"In your dreams…" Noah chuckled.

"Dude…can't a guy dream?"

Noah turned to his friend shaking his head. "Sure…but not in this case," he jokingly jibed.

Jake scrawled at Noah glancing back at Troy. "Hey I wonder what's up with him?"

"With who?"

"Who do you think?!"

Noah glanced at Troy and then back at Jake. "He's looking over his work…what is so strange about that?"

"Nothing…but it seems like there is something else going on with him…"

Noah shrugged. "Perhaps he is just reviewing his work…"

"Maybe…" Jake said turning his attention back to Gia.

She too, had her head buried inside of their science book. The sound of the school bell echoed inside the classroom. Mr. Burly stood scrawling something on the chalkboard and began passing out papers to each student. Jake sighed as soon as their teacher stepped away from his desk.

"Dude I hate pop quizzes."

"Stop complaining…and besides you know this stuff."

Troy didn't care all that much for pop quizzes either but since he had time to study the material for this chapter has wasn't all that worried.

"No talking during the test, just see me if you have any questions," Mr. Burly said propping up his lanky feet on top of his desk fiddling with a rubric cube.

Troy's eyes gazed over the first question, he knew the answer but his mind was stalling on churning out its answer. His encounter with Creepox started clouding his thoughts as it had been all day long. Troy shook himself out the daze refocusing his attention back on their pop quiz...

"Later…" Troy whispered out loud as he passed both Noah and Jake.

Slipping his quiz into the in box he quickly headed for the door making a quick nod at Gia as he slipped outside. Troy sighed leaning against a set of lockers. Thank goodness it was not Friday but because of their blocking scheduling this was their last class of the day.

"Maybe I should go back to the park and see if I can find anything…there had to be a reason for why Creepox was sneaking around the park…"

"I'm going to go find out," he said quickly heading down the empty hallway…

Over inside the main headquarters on-board the Universal Mothership Invader, Creepox along with his cohorts was discussing strategies on how to conquer planet Earth.

"Admiral Malkor?! I believe we should study these humans…and learn…their…weaknesses," Vrak suggested.

"I see…" replied Admiral Malkor.

They both turned at the sound of a loud hissing. "I already did that! I tested one this morning…and he wouldn't fight me!"

"They are WEAK…and we should begin the invasion at once and wipe all the humans!" growled Creepox.

Admiral Malkor turned to his cohorts. "You may have tested him but you did not fight him. Perhaps Vrak is right…" he said stepping away from Vrak and Creepox.

"Yuffo, I have need of your scientific skills."

Creepox and Vrak watched as Malkor summoned one of his universal insectoid monsters.

"An honor sir. How can Yuffo serve you…?" called the strange creature that looked like a bizarre metallic mash-up between a lady-bug and an unidentified flying object.

"I want you to find the humans' weakness."

"You're wish is my command, master of course I will need some humans to experiment on!"

"Go…and capture them as many as you need." Admiral Malkor commanded.

Spotting the old tree, Troy sprinted ahead down the familiar pathway making his way through the crowds of people casually striding through the park. He spotted the area where the confrontation between him and Creepox had taken place. Troy stopped, took in a long deep breath continuing down the pathway.

"There it is."

He picked up the pace skirting through some people passing through. A familiar resonance echoed in his back pocket. A pang of dread hit his belly as he stopped reaching for his morpher.

"Guys…we need help! We got trouble at the beach! It's crawling with loogies!" echoed Gia's distressed voice.

"I'm on my way!" Troy said running full speed down the pathway.

Looks like there would be no time for Troy to investigate his run-in with Creepox his friends were in trouble and he needed to get to them as soon as possible…

Creepox stepped over peering at the viewing screen scowling over at the Megaforce rangers defeat of Yuffo. Just as he predicted the Megaforce rangers had defeated another one of Malkor's insectoid monsters.

Malkor growled with fury. "Vrak, unleash your…pets!"

"My royal weapons…I will release my Zombats at once!" Vrak said turning to the poisonous one-eyed creatures circling around him like a halo of glory.

"Such disgusting creatures…where did you get such filthy abominations?!" Creepox said stepping away from the nasty swarm of bats.

There weren't a lot of things that disgusted Creepox, but the fact that those creatures were the living aspects of previous alien races he conquered sent chills down his harden spine. There was just something wrong about bringing back to life something that was once destroyed that bugged Creepox, then again there was something about Vrak that always bugged Creepox. He couldn't put a barb on it but there definitely something strange about his cohort nonetheless he would put up with Vrak until he could find some way to become his usurper.

"As royalty I have access to much more advanced technology," he said petting one of his creatures.

"They're robotic and far too complicated for you to understand…Zombats go!"

Creepox watched the creatures disappear, watching them swarm Yuffo giving him a second life…

Creepox, Vrak and Admiral Malkor continued watching the Megaforce rangers battle Yuffo's second life.

"Perhaps we have underestimated the powers these human possess."

"Ah…" Vrak sighed.

"They cannot be doing this alone."

"We must find learn whatever it is that sustain them…then we shall bend them to our will!" Malkor spewed…

Creepox, Vrak along with Admiral Malkor watched haplessly from the mothership Yuffo dissipate into a billow of smoke and fire. Both Vrak and Creepox took a step back watching Admiral Malkor unleashed his fury on some of their equipment on the mothership.

"Gah…well that was a failed experiment! If we are to conquer this planet…" Admiral Malkor said turning to them.

"We must get rid of those Power Rangers!"

Creepox stepped away from his cohorts shaking his head. If only they had followed his plan they wouldn't have been in this predicament. Nonetheless, Creepox rubbed his armored barbs together; although they failed to heed his plan he still made sure to carry out a little plan of his own with a little help from a distant velvet worm creature from their home planet that can not only invade but can manipulate their victims dreams. So all was not lost Creepox was hoping that human that he confronted earlier that day would experience the implements of his plan. From the knowledge Creepox was able to get on the humanoid race, dreams were a vital source of power, and ambition and often what drove humans to fight for their goals. Creepox figured by crushing their dreams and ambitions it would bring down their morale and their will to fight. It was be only a matter of time before his plan would be set into motion…

After their long, tedious battle everyone took refuge at Harwood town center before heading over to Ernie's. Troy took a seat between both Emma and Gia. He glanced around all his friends, happy that they had survived another battle against the Warstars.

"I'm proud of you power rangers," echoed a deep fatherly voice.

Troy pulled his morpher from his pocket, he and the others continued listening to the message from Master Gosei.

"Your bravery and teamwork saved the day."

"Oh boy you guys flew!" Tensou said excitedly.

Troy and his friends all chuckled at Tensou's usual overenthusiastic nature.

"Thank you Gosei," said Troy putting away his morpher.

"So…" Jake said turning to Gia, "We made a pretty good team out there."

"Hardcore monster busters," he chuckled.

"You are really going to go there? I saved your bacon at least twice monster buster…" Gia jibed turning away from Jake.

"Besides, we never should have gone alone by ourselves…we're supposed to a team…all of us."

Jake soaked in Gia's words. "You're right, it was much easier when we all worked together."

"We're each pretty awesome on our own," Emma added with glee.

"But as a team…" Troy said glancing between his friends, "We're unbeatable!"

Troy though for a moment about each of friends' words, while it was a true that they were good on their own they did function more cohesively as a team. Everyone let out a small chuckle of laughter; it was a great feeling knowing that his friends were all on the same page.

Gia stood. "I don't know about you guys but after that battle I could go for some good old ice cream."

"Yeah, right behind ya!" Jake agreed.

Gia shook her head trotting ahead towards the intersection.

"Hey guys wait up," Emma called.

Noah glanced at Troy. "We better get a move on it."

Troy nodded, slowly strolling behind his friends.

"Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"Is everything ok?"

He peered into her bright brown eyes with a puzzled expression. "Emma...everything is okay."

She nodded with a smile trotting alongside her best friend. Troy wasn't sure what that was all about, but it made him feel good knowing that his friends were looking out for him. The entire time while on their way over to Ernie's Troy pondered whether or not he should tell them about his strange encounter with Creepox.