Author's Note: Thanks to the folks that reviewed/followed/favorited. "Mega Mission" continues...

Chapter Two: Being the New Guy/Mega Mission

"Okay class, let's start the year with a science brainteaser." Elton Burley pushed his glasses up on his nose and looked at his class. Twenty faces started idly back at him, caught in the first day of school stupor that was first period Biology. He did a quick mental role call in his head. There was one student missing-a new transfer with the last name of Burrows. Late on his first day, Burley thought to himself. No doubt filling out paperwork."What species will outlast all others on earth?" Mr. Burley continued his question.

Emma Goodall raised her hand. Emma was sitting in the front row, in the same seat she sat in for all his classes. Burley was glad to have Emma back. The young woman was passionate about the earth and her studies. Burley pointed at her and Emma said, "Insects. They'll survive all the bad stuff we're doing to the environment." She smiled. "Some have lots of legs. They'll be the last ones standing." He nodded approvingly, and turned to write her suggestion on the board.

Noah Carver raised his hand. Curly-haired Noah was another fine student, maintaining a straight-A average like Emma, and a member of the school's Science and Technology clubs.

"Dude, take it easy. You'll hurt yourself," Burley heard Jake Holling joke from behind Noah. Jake played on the school soccer team. The young man was a gifted athlete, albeit not always a gifted student. He and Noah were an unlikely pair, but they were best friends.

"She's wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong," Noah hissed back. He was practically hopping out of his desk now.

"Noah. You have a different answer?" Burley asked, amused.

"Robots," Noah announced, and the class snickered. "Robots powered by perpetual motion engines."

"Robots are machines, technically, they're not a species." This observation came from Gia Moran, who was sitting across from Emma. In the senior yearbook next year, Gia Moran was Burley's pick to be voted Most Likely To Succeed-at least from the faculty's standpoint. Gia was a wonderful student, a volunteer after school, and dabbled in martial arts during the school year. A very well-rounded young lady.

"Beautiful and smart," Burley heard Jake sigh and he made a mental note to keep an eye on the young man's crush on his classmate.

"And wrong," Noah countered.

"How am I-" A hand on her arm from Emma made Gia pause in her argument, and Burley sighed, about to remind them about talking out of turn, when the door to the classroom opened, and a young man stuck his head in the door. He wore jeans and sneakers, a red shirt and a black leather jacket. He had a red and white backpack slung over one shoulder. "Ah, you must be Troy," Burley said pleasantly. "Our new transfer student. Perhaps you can answer our brainteaser. What species will outlast all others on Earth?"

Awesome, Troy groaned inwardly. He hadn't even sat down yet and was already getting put on the spot. And there were forty eyes staring at him. No pressure, he thought, taking a breath and letting it out. "Us. Humans," he said finally.

Twenty pairs of eyes looked around the room at each other, then at the teacher, and then back to him.

"How's that, Troy?" Burley asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"If we work together, we can overcome anything," Troy said. He heard someone in the back snicker.

Burley considered his answer, and then nodded with a smile. "Interesting," he said finally, nodding to the lone empty seat in the room. Troy felt eyes burning into the back of his jacket as he sat down, setting his backpack on the floor. He ignored them as he watched Mr. Burley writing his answer on the board. "Well, Troy, I hope you're right." Burley continued. "Now, if everyone would please turn to page 30, where your journey into biology begins…"

Troy pulled out the book, happy to oblige. At least, for the moment, all eyes were off him.

Lunch was the worst. Troy was fine being ignored in classes-it wasn't like you could make friends with anybody in the five minutes before class started-but now came the fun part, where he walked into a crowded cafeteria and played the Hot Seat game-where could you sit and not be picked on, or not be in someone else's spot…He went through the line, choosing a boring ham sandwich, carrots and a little carton of milk, and found a spot in a far corner.

He spotted people he remembered from classes…there was the guy who had a soccer ball glued to his hand, or his knee, or his foot, or the cute blonde with the white sweater in his computer science class that didn't know how to turn the machine on…Across the way, he saw a girl in a black leather fashion jacket and skinny jeans talking to a girl in a denim jacket and pink shorts. The girl in pink had a camera in one hand as she balanced her lunch tray with the other. They were laughing about something. The girl in pink looked up and caught his eye. Troy ducked his head, but a moment later, he heard, "Can we sit with you?"

Troy looked up into a pair of pretty brown eyes. The two girls were staring at him, waiting patiently for him to reply. "Uh….sure," Troy replied. He motioned to the chairs across from him. "Have a seat."

"You're the new guy," the blonde announced. "Troy, right?"

He raised an eyebrow. She shrugged. "Burley said your name in Bio." She picked up her soda. "I'm Gia." She pointed with her can to the other girl. "This is Emma." The girl with the pretty brown eyes looked at him shyly and said, "Hi."

"I'm Troy," Troy said, and winced. Duh. The two girls exchanged looks.

"Yeah," Gia said with a smile at Emma, "we know."

"Right." Troy coughed and stared intently at his sandwich.

"So you just moved here?" Gia asked, content to carry on the conversation. She popped the tab off her soda can and set it on her tray.

"Yeah," Troy said. "Last week."

"Do you like it?" Emma asked him, munching on a carrot. She lifted her camera from around her neck and put it next to her on the table.

"So far," Troy replied noncommittally. "People seem nice. School's okay." He pointed at their food. "Cafeteria food doesn't suck."

The girls grinned. "You're getting it on a good day," Gia told him, and Troy grimaced at the thought. "So where you from originally?"

"Ah, Mariner Bay," Troy replied quietly. He paused. He could see Emma's mouth start to form the question, the question that everybody asked upon finding out he was from Mariner Bay, and decided to beat her to the quick. "No, I don't know the Power Rangers. They were a little before my time." Like, before I was born.

"Why'd you move here?" Emma skipped over the question easily.

Troy finished off his sandwich. "Um, my mom got a job at the hospital. She's a pediatrician."

"Oh, so she's replacing Dr. Weaver," Emma said, and she and Gia nodded knowingly. "Small town," Emma said off Troy's confused look. "Who's your mom?"

"She goes by Dr. Mitchell," Troy replied. It wasn't a complete lie. His mother hyphenated her name, so technically, it was a half-truth. "And my dad's a firefighter," he added before they could ask.

"Cool," Gia pronounced.

Just then, two more people plopped down next to Troy, Gia and Emma. "Ladies," Jake Holling announced, setting his soccer ball on the table, as Noah Carver put his tray down across from Emma. "New guy," Jake added, looking at Troy.

"Hi to you, too," Troy replied dryly.

"Who invited you over here?" Gia asked Jake.

"Jake wanted-" Noah was cut off by a slap to the back of the head by Jake. Troy caught Gia and Emma exchanging a look.

"Troy, this is Jake and Noah," Gia introduced the two boys, pointing to each of them. She looked at Troy. "Don't mind them-they don't have manners." Troy looked at Jake, who was busy pulling his ham sandwich apart with his fingers.

"Troy was in Bio with us this morning," Emma reminded them. "Jake and Noah, this is Troy. His mom is replacing Dr. Weaver."

"Cool," Jake said. "She's a kid doctor."

"Pediatrician," Noah corrected.

Jake shrugged. "Whatev." He picked up a carrot and twirled it in ranch dressing before popping the entire thing into his mouth. "You play soccer?" he asked Troy.

Troy shook his head. "No. I'm um….not really a teams guy," he said.

"Darn," Jake said, not really sounding upset about it. "We're looking for another player."

"Sorry," Troy shrugged.

"Where'd you move from?" Noah asked, and before Troy could rattle off his usual spiel, Emma cut in with, "He's from Mariner Bay, and no, don't even ask." She looked at him and offered him a smile. He nodded at her in thanks.

"How are you liking school so far?" Jake asked.

"It's not bad," Troy admitted. He pointed at the four of them with a carrot. "People seem nice."

"Yeah, we're okay once you get to know us. Even Noah," Gia teased.

"Hey!" Noah pushed his glasses up on his nose. Troy laughed.

By the time the lunch bell rang, he felt like he knew four people in the school he could be friends with. Or, at the very least, people who wouldn't ignore him in the halls. That would be a nice change from Mariner Bay, he thought to himself as he dumped his tray in the garbage and headed off to his afternoon classes.

Author's Note: Gosei's thoughts on why Troy was chosen as Red Ranger were never really fleshed out in the series (along with lots of other things, character-wise). You can probably guess which road I'm taking. More will be explained as we move along. Thanks for reading!