CHAPTER TWELVE: Relying on Others/Stranger Ranger

They arrived on the outskirts of Harwood, where the bug was busy smashing the main freeway into pieces. "Our planet is not your playground!" Troy yelled at him.

"Yes it is!" the bug yelled back.

"What is this, kindergarten?" Gia rolled her eyes.

The bug responded by sticking its tongue out at them. "You got lucky last time, but your luck just ran out!"

"Let's get him, guys!" Troy ordered. He took a step and a slash toward the bug, but his sword met the metal claw of Creepox instead. "Hey!" Troy yelled in protest.

"Nice try, but I'm not Dragonflay," Creepox told him.

"Good. 'Cause you're the one I'd rather fight anyway," Troy told him. He was mad at getting lost in his memories and getting sucked back into old feelings. He felt bad for ignoring Emma. He was tired of this situation with Jordan, and he was sick of this stupid bug destroying Harwood. In short, he was looking for a way to vent, and Creepox provided the perfect opportunity.

"We've got Dragonflay!" Noah told him, and Troy nodded, trusting his team to get it done. He turned to face Creepox again. "Time to send you back under the rock you came from."

"Some of my best friends crawled out from under rocks. We insects were on earth long before you were, and we'll be here long after you're gone!" With that, Creepox took off for a parking garage near the bus stop, and Troy followed him in. The garage was dark despite the fact that it was the middle of the day. Troy's first sight of Creepox was sparks from his bladed hands against a white car. Troy jumped onto the roof of the parked Acura and swung his Dragon Sword at him. He got him on the shoulder, but Creepox battled back with his bladed hands. He caught Troy on the chest and sent him flying into a small maintenance cage. Troy hit the orange grating and landed face first on the pavement.

"Give up. Humanity's time on this planet is over." Creepox said menacingly.

Troy climbed to his feet. "You've come across the universe just to be disappointed. We'll never stop fighting," Troy promised.

"You're a worthless species who will soon be wiped out!" Creepox picked him up and threw him into a wall. "The future belongs to the insects!"

Troy was cornered. He couldn't dodge the next slashes from the bug, several hard-hitting ones across the chest. He couldn't help it-he cried out in pain. He slumped to his knees, but faced Creepox. "You don't understand us at all," he ground out. "We have the ability to learn and get better! Even if we fall a hundred times, we never stay down."

"I'll make sure you stay down!"

"No way." Troy used every ounce of strength he had left and grabbed a hanging sign listing the clearance as 10 feet, and launched himself over Creepox. He twisted back with his sword and hit Creepox hard across the back.

The bug staggered. He looked at Troy and roared. "This isn't over!" Creepox told him, before disappearing again.

"Go on," Troy whispered. "Run away." Troy's uniform disappeared in a blast of light. He fell forward, in pain. He took a few deep breaths. Tears stung his eyes. God, that hurts!

"Troy!" Emma came running into the garage, the others on her heels. "What happened?" she asked him, helping him stand. Noah came on his other side and helped him the rest of the way.

Troy took a short breath. "Battling Creepox took a lot outta me. He got away. I'm sorry."

"Then we won't let this one!" Emma told him. "If you can morph again, we'll finish him with the Megazord!" The others nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Troy agreed, wincing in pain. He pulled out his morpher. "Go Go Megaforce!" he yelled, and was instantly his Red Ranger persona. He followed the others into the MegaZord cockpit, practically collapsing in his chair.

"Where'd he go?" Noah wondered, looking around with the heads-up displays, but not finding the bug.

The MegaZord rocked. "You're going down, quick as a wink!" they heard the bug announce. Pretty soon Dragonflay hit them in the back, then on the sides.

"We need to be quicker." Troy said quietly. At the next rock of the Zord, he cried out, and a second later, he was out of morph again. "I-I can't do it. You guys have to take over."

"Troy!" Emma said sympathetically.

"We won't let you down," Gia promised. "Jake, our zords are the feet. This is our game. Ready?"

"Yeah, we'll show him when the going gets tough, we get tougher," Jake said. Shoving their controls forward, Gia and Jake pushed the Megazord after Dragonflay. Jake launched the snake zord's head. It bit Dragonflay hard in the ankle, but it didn't slow him down much.

"It's gonna be tough without Troy's power," Noah said worriedly.

"We'll find the speed we need!" Gia replied. Emma put a hand on Troy's shoulder. Troy was barely awake.

"Trying to give me a run for my money?" the bug taunted. He took off out toward the state park again. Gia and Jake fought to keep the Megazaord on his heels.

"Just a little more," Gia said. The throttle was all the way down. Just then, Troy noticed the console in front of him starting to glow. "Hey, guys," he said, nodding to them. "Look."

Gosei's voice entered the cockpit. "These new power cards will increase your propulsion," he told them. They heard Tensou chattering in the background.

"Sweet! Let's try 'em out!" Jake yelled.

Gia punched the card into the slot. "Land brothers, activate! Jake, check it out! Dino, beetle and rhino zords." They started to catch up. On the display, Troy watched as the Megazord's feet were replaced by the new Zords. They gave them the extra boost, and Noah shot a shark-shaped hand out and caught the bug.

"I'm getting nowhere fast!" the bug complained.

"Yeah, that's right!" Noah said hotly.

"Dynamic victory charge!" Gia called out, signaling for their final move. The blast enveloped the giant bug and it exploded into nothing. Gia looked down at their leader. "Can I say it?" she asked Troy. Troy nodded with a grin. "Mega Rangers, that's a mega win!"

"Nope, doesn't sound any better when you say it," Troy teased weakly. He closed his eyes as the cockpit spun. "Get me outta this thing."


Carter and Dana stood in the mall's small covered lot, leaning against their truck. "Where the hell is he?" Carter wondered worriedly. "He left before we did. He should be here."

"There he is," Dana said, pointing as their son came through the automatic doors. He was trying to hide it, but both of them could see he was hurt. "Troy, what happened to you?" Dana asked him. She looked him over. "Are you all right?"

"Fine, Mom," Troy replied wearily. "People panicked, there was a stampede in the mall. I guess the big bug thing or whatever the rangers were fighting almost stepped on the building." He shrugged, though the movement hurt. "I got caught in the middle of it. The cops just cleared everybody out."

"Come on," Carter said, gingerly putting a hand on his son's back. "Let's go home. I've had enough of being at ground zero for one day."

"Sounds good," Troy replied. If only he knew how close he really was.


Troy collapsed on his bed the moment they got in the door. Everything hurt, from his head to his feet to his ribs to his pride. It had been reckless, taking on Creepox like that, and he was paying for it. He had just closed his eyes when there was a knock on his door. "What?" he asked, sounding harsher than he meant to.

The door opened and both of his parents stepped into the room. "Troy," Dana began, "we need to talk to you." Carter stepped in and took a seat backwards in Troy's desk chair. Dana sat down on the edge of the bed.

Troy sat up carefully. "What about?" he asked.

"How about why you've been lying to us since school started?" Carter offered.

Troy bit his lip. "What do you mean?"

Dana sighed. "You know, you could've just told us you were one of the new rangers," she said finally.

Without meaning to, Troy breathed a sigh of relief. That instantly radiated pain down his body. "I don't get it," Troy drew his knees up to his chest. "How did you-"

Dana and Carter exchanged a knowing smile. "You forget your parents were rangers," Carter said. "For one thing, today you were conspicuously absent when the rangers were out."

"And the jeans with the holes and the shirts with dirt and rips and blood?" Dana smiled. "I'm a doctor, Troy," she reminded him. "You're not hiding bruised ribs from me."

"The 'emergency alert' on your cell phone?" Carter continued.

"Before that monster bug appeared?" Dana continued. "Nice to see that part didn't change much," she told Carter.

"Nope. Oh, and the obscene amount of red clothes you've been having in your laundry," Carter finished.

Troy sighed. "Are you mad?"

Dana shook her head, resting a hand on his leg. "Not mad. Worried, maybe. Terrified-"

"Proud," Carter cut in. At his wife's glance, he added, "Well, and all that other stuff too."

"It's not like I can tell you to not save the world," Dana said. "Even though I'd like to. I just wish you'd have told us." She sighed. "Nobody would understand better than us."

"I just wanted to protect you," Troy said, now able to get a word in edgewise. "I didn't want you getting into trouble because I'm a Power Ranger. I just thought it'd be easier to pretend it was bad stuff at school instead of what it really was."

"So you were pretending to be something you're not?" Dana couldn't resist. "Sounds like someone else we knew of this morning…"

Troy nodded. "Yeah. I know."

"Promise us two things," Carter asked his son. "One, that you're always careful and don't take unnecessary risks."

"Okay," Troy nodded.

"And two, that if it's ever too much for you, you tell us." Carter ticked off his finger. "I know you've got your team, but if you guys ever need someone 'in the know' so to speak, you talk to us."

"Who is your team?" Dana wanted to know. She was pretty sure she already knew.

"Um," Troy said. "Jake, Noah, Gia, Emma-"

"Thought so," Dana said triumphantly.

"You may want to mix up your wardrobes," Carter offered. "Trust me, you'll get sick of the same thing every day."

"Tell me about it. After we turned our morphers in, I burned everything pink I owned," Dana said. She looked at Carter. "I kept my boots though. They were cute boots."

"You didn't burn everything…" Carter said with a grin.

"Stop!" Troy covered his ears. "I don't need to hear any more."

Carter grabbed his son's foot and shook it. "I meant a shirt, you goof! You feel up to some dinner, kid? Or do you need to sleep today off?"

Troy was torn. "Sleep," he finally admitted. "Mom, could you tape my ribs for me again?"

She nodded. "Sure, kiddo." She helped him lift his shirt. "Good Lord, Troy," she exclaimed, looking at the dark purple bruises. "What did that?"

Troy gave her a rundown of the fight with Creepox. "He's weird, you guys," he told his parents. "He comes looking for a fight, and then disappears halfway through it."

"He's testing you," Carter decided. "Looking for weaknesses. He's just a bully." He looked at Troy. "And you're more than capable of handling a bully." He stood up and disappeared from the room. They heard the bathroom door open.

Troy nodded. "I know," he said. "Next time he won't get away. I'm done getting picked on and I'm done getting split off from my friends."

"That's our boy," Carter said with a proud smile, returning to the room with the pre-wrap and the tape. He tossed the roll at Troy, who didn't bother trying to catch it. He let it bounce off his head and onto the bed. He raised an eyebrow at his dad and stuck his tongue out at him.

Dana hit her husband on the arm. "You did that on purpose," she accused. "Get out. Doctor's orders."

Troy winced as he lifted his shirt again for his mom to get to work. "Mom, seriously, you have no idea how much better I feel now that you guys know. It was really hard to hide it from you. School is amazing, my friends are great. I'm okay with us moving." He looked at her. "I just wanted you guys to know that."

Dana tore off a piece of the pre-wrap and started working on the tape. She smiled. "That's good to hear, Troy."

Carter was leaning against the wall in the hallway. He smiled.