Chapter Four: A Legacy Lives On/Mega Mission

The next thing Troy knew, he had landed unceremoniously in a heap on top of four other people. He made out a familiar black sweatshirt with HCH on the back, a blue polo, a black leather jacket….he scrambled off Jake, Noah and Gia and stood up quickly. They all backed away from each other awkwardly.

"How the…" Jake trailed off, looking around. Troy followed his gaze. The floor was smooth gray rock. The walls were gray and black, speckled with quartz or some other shiny mineral that glittered in what little light was around them. "What happened?" Jake asked, asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I don't know, but it was scientifically impossible," Noah said, checking his glasses to make sure they were still intact. Then, he grinned. "And awesome."

Troy looked around, studying the cave. "How did we end up here?"

"Just where is 'here'?" Gia asked him, crossing her arms over her chest. Troy shrugged.

"It worked!"

All four teens jumped sky-high as a tinny, mechanical voice started chattering away somewhere below their feet.

"What is that?" Troy yelped, pressing his back to the cave wall and looking down.

"Wow!" Noah spotted it first. It rolled into a patch of sunlight that filtered in from a natural gap in the ceiling. A square-shaped thing with two grips, two wheels, and four small units that looked like…eyes. "An old school robot like in the movies!" Noah said excitedly, bending down to inspect it. As he did, it giggled and rolled out of the way. Troy saw flickering out of the corners of his eyes, and lights came on around them.

"What's happening?" Noah stood up. The four of them looked around the room.

"Why is there electricity in here?" Gia demanded. "Where are we?"

"Whoa…." Jake whispered. Soccer ball in hand, he stepped toward something on the wall. Two square patches of green light and a thin strip of orange. As the lights grew stronger, the shape of a Hawaiian tiki statue came into view in front of him. Jake shuddered and stepped back. "Freaky tiki," he muttered.

Troy hardly noticed the tiki, because his eyes were on the small statues lining the room. Small, people-shaped figurines of red, white, blue, yellow, black, green, pink and other colors. He stepped up for a closer look. I've seen these before… Something caught his eye, and he ran a hand over one set of the figures. Red, green, blue, yellow, pink and silver.

The Lightspeed Rangers. His mother and father's team. What the hell is going on here? A flash of the dream snaked into his mind-his dad, leading the Lightspeed Rescue team into battle against...against what?

"This is amazing," Noah said, coming up to him and snapping him out of his thoughts. He jerked. "Yeah, amazing," Troy said, turning to focus on Noah instead of the figures on the ledge.

"Welcome humans!" A booming voice made the four of them jump again. Troy whipped around to see the tiki on the wall. "I am Gosei."

The tiki talks.

"Your lives are about to change forever," the tiki head announced.

"The tiki is talking," Troy heard Jake whisper to Gia.

"Let me explain," the tiki head-Gosei -said. "My mentor Zordon placed me here to be guardian of this planet. I am of the earth and embody all of its mystical powers."

"Guardian?" Troy asked. Jake frowned at him.

"He's talking to the tiki," Jake whispered to Gia. Gia hit him in the arm, a clear indication to shut up.

"The earth is faced with an extraordinary threat-" Gosei began, but Jake held up a hand.

"Um, listen dude…You look like something off one of my dad's Hawaiian shirts."

Gia nudged Jake and this time she did say, "Shut up."

"I took this form to communicate with humans." Gosei told Jake. "This is a perilous time for mankind. The earth needs you."

"What are you talking about?" Noah asked, for what seemed like the eighth time in ten minutes.

The giant talking tiki Gosei didn't say anything for a moment. Then, he said, "Aliens have already landed, and the earth needs to be protected."

Troy looked at the others. And then everyone started talking at once.

"First a talking tiki, now aliens, you gotta be kidding me!" Jake was the loudest of them all. He turned to find the nearest exit, and jumped back as another figure landed in a flash of pink light on the cave floor. Emma Goodall brushed herself off and stood up, checking to see that the lens of her camera was still in one piece. Satisfied, she looked at the others.

"He's not kidding," she said flatly.

"Emma, you're mixed up in this too?" Gia ran over to her friend. Emma smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine, Gia. I swear." She turned on her camera and flipped the mode so she was scrolling through her pictures. "Before I landed here….I saw this."

Troy leaned over the girls' shoulders and studied the photo. Whatever….this was….it looked like an insect. It stood on two legs, with ugly gold and red wings. It was creepy and otherworldly…and Troy started to get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What gives?" Gia demanded, turning to face Gosei. "This can't be real!"

"This is very real," Gosei replied grimly. "You have been selected to form a team in the long tradition of the Power Rangers."

The sinking feeling in Troy's stomach intensified. No. Way.

"Tensou," Gosei's attention turned to his little robotic helper.

"On screen," Tensou said. Troy watched as five rectangular panels lit up in red, black, yellow, blue and pink. "Activated," Tensou told Gosei.

The pink screen lit up. "Emma," Gosei began, and Emma stepped over to the panel cautiously. "You're not only a great BMX cyclist….you truly care about the environment. You will soar up from the flames like a phoenix, to become the Pink Ranger."

Emma frowned. "Pink is my favorite color…." She looked up at Gosei. "But what's with this 'Ranger' stuff?"

Gosei continued, as the blue panel lit up. "Noah." Noah exchanged a glance with Jake and pushed his glasses further up on his nose. "Your thirst for knowledge is unequaled. Out future depends on great scientific minds like yours. As the Blue Ranger…your attacks will bit with the force of a shark."

"Fascinating…" Noah whispered. He turned to Jake as the black panel glowed. Jake held his soccer ball a little tighter.

"There is nobody with the boundless enthusiasm and athleticism as you Jake. I am making you the Black Ranger, who will fight with the stealth of a snake."

Jake gave Gia a small smile as the yellow panel lit up in front of her.

"Gia, you are calm under pressure and pursue excellence with the ferocity of a tiger. You will be the Yellow Ranger." Gia looked over at Emma and bit her lip. Emma offered her an encouraging grin.

Then, the four of them looked at Troy, as the red panel lit up and he stepped carefully forward. His mind was racing. He hardly heard Gosei's next words.

"As for you, Troy, your purity of spirit and strength are the result of great discipline. You have met adversity in your life with skill. You shall be the red ranger and as the dragon, you will serve as the leader of this team."

Troy felt his face get hot and his hands get clammy, and he looked around at the others. "There must be some mistake. I'm new in town. I can't lead people I just met."

"There is no mistake. You have been chosen because of your skills and character." Gosei said it so matter-of-factly that Troy couldn't come up with an argument. At least, not an argument he was willing to have in front of his new friends...teammates.

"Lining the room," Gosei continued, and they all turned. "You can see the rangers that came before you. You shall form a new team, given access to extraordinary powers to defend the earth." The panels slid back, revealing a piece of tech that looked similar to Gosei. Troy picked his up and studied it. Beside it, a card materialized, and Troy looked at it. "These are your morphers," Gosei told them. "With them, you will morph into Power Rangers and wield Power Cards to unlock powers and abilities. You will command mighty machines called MegaZords."

Power Rangers. Morphers. Troy tried to hide his lack of surprise. Never, in a thousand years, would he have picked himself to lead a team of Rangers. His father Carter had been a Red Ranger, but Troy…he wasn't prepared for this. He took a deep breath and returned to the conversation, where Noah was asking Gosei how they accessed their Ranger gear.

"If the earth is under attack and you think we're the ones to protect it….I'm in." Troy told Gosei, interrupting the conversation. "But I won't be their leader unless they agree to it." He looked at the others. "I know I just met you guys. You guys don't know me from that talking head on the wall. But I know we can do this, as a team."

"I'm with you," Gia said instantly, and Emma, next to her, nodded.

"Me too," Noah said, and he looked at Jake.

Jake tossed his ball in the air and caught it. After a moment, he said, "Let's do this."

Troy looked at Gosei. "We're in."

"Megaforce, your mission starts now," Gosei said, and Troy felt a tingling feeling in his legs.

And then just as suddenly as they'd arrived in the cave….they were gone again.