Chapter Four

Mega Mission IV

Casey slowly opened the door to the house, waiting for her parents to say something about being late. Her dad had always instilled a sense of punctuality into her. He was early for everything—though she as also sure it was a brief point of anxiety for him if he were ever to be late or let anyone down. Casey had watched multiple times where her mom worked to calm him down when he would anxiously hover while she did Casey's hair for an event or an outing. Reminding him that it didn't matter if they were a few minutes late.

Then again, she was also the one who managed to put her own day on a strict schedule and timetable, somehow finding time to do everything she wanted in a day without breaking a sweat. Who else was able to wake up early to work out, make breakfast—if they allowed her—, make their lunches, go to work, get home from work, clean the house and keep it clean, and do her own hobbies and interests all in one day?

Superwoman, that was who.

She was also the one who was quick to notice any tardiness when she was expected at a certain time. So much so that Casey was surprised when she pushed the door open far enough to note that she couldn't smell any dinner being made. The second thing she noticed was that she didn't hear her parents' voices anywhere in the house. Typically, they were in the kitchen together after a hard day of work, briefing each other about their day.

But when Casey went over to the kitchen, she found it empty. "Mum?" She called. "Dad?"

Frowning, she turned back and headed to the living room, expecting to find her dad pouring over the newspaper or working on something on his laptop. Not there, either. Nodding, Casey hurried to her room. The last thing she wanted was to deal with another confrontation about her abrupt departure.

Mimi had already torn into her when she got back to cheerleading practice. She had figured out how to teleport on her own will, this time landing on her feet, and raced back to the gym. Just in time for her cheerleading squad to leave, their bags slung over their shoulders, speaking excitedly to each other. Some of them looked at Casey with smiles at she went by, others looked at her with…pity?

Then she found Mimi, who looked at her, then continued her conversation with the freshmen girl just to her side. When the conversation ended, Mimi turned to Casey and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her. "And where did you go?" She asked.

"I'm sorry," Casey quickly apologized. "I had something I needed to do. Something I forgot—"

"—What could've been more important?" Mimi snapped. Casey took in a calming breath, used to it at this point. When Mimi was angry, there was almost nothing that would calm her down until she calmed herself down. And when it came to cheerleading, anything short of perfect could set her off. Not that it was a surprise, Mimi was a type 'A' in everything, and cheerleading was at the top of that list. "You just ducked out of practice!" Her face softened slightly. "One minute, you were there and the next…"

Casey had simply nodded. Couldn't respond.

It'd be too hard to explain.

Even as she sat at her desk in her room, opening her backpack at her desk to get started on the day's homework, she found her brain immediately replaying the events of earlier that day. Where she morphed into a power ranger along with the others…saved the city…

Casey groaned along with the others as she was slammed to the ground. Placing her hands on the pavement, she pushed herself up, looking around at the others as they worked to bounce back from their disorienting teleportation trip. A harsh ringing sounded in her ears. She winced, bringing up her hands to press against the sides of her head, hoping to block out the sound.

It slowly faded away while she managed to get back to her feet. But not so that she didn't wonder who and what the green monstrous things wiggling around in front of her were. "Bloody hell." Reaching up her hands, she brushed her hair from her forehead, relieved to find there wasn't any blood smeared around.

She looked over as Troy hauled himself to his feet in a impressive kip up before turning to the others to examine them as they slowly got to their feet as well.

"Is everyone okay?" His voice was tight, pinched with the worry of everyone surrounding him. Or else still trying to work out what they'd just been told before they were magically whisked away to…where? Casey scanned the area, trying hard to work out what she was saying.

That was the downside of moving so quickly, she supposed. That she hadn't been able to learn the city and where she was on a daily basis. If she ever needed to get her parents to pick her up, she'd have no idea where to send them. I reckon I could just have that giant tiki head send me wherever I need to go.

Noah pushed his glasses up his nose, quickly cleaning the dirt and dust from them. "I think so." He hugged his crossbody bag closer to himself and then dusted off his blazer.

"Look!" Emma suddenly cried.

All eyes turned toward the green creatures that wiggled and waved around, stabbing the air with the swords that appeared attached to their hands. And may have been, from what Casey could see. Either way, they weren't anything she'd ever seen before.

"Uh…aliens?" Jake asked. He looked over at Noah, who practically pushed him out of the way to lean forward and get a better look.

Noah pushed his glasses further up his face, staring in awe at the monsters that wiggled around in front of them. "Fascinating!" As soon as the word left his mouth, it appeared that the green monsters heard him, as they all suddenly snapped the way of the rangers and started to converge upon them. "Uh…um, I'd like a closer look, but I didn't want that close of a look."

"Well, it looks like these guys are trouble," Gia remarked. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides. "And it looks like they don't come in peace." All at once, the monsters converged on them, immediately breaking apart the group as they did so. Gia was the first to run back towards the monsters. She moved as fast as she could, hoping that her speed would blindside them.

Thankfully, it seemed to work as the first monster she punched in the face didn't have time to react. She knocked it to the ground before turning on her heel and punching another that tried to come up behind her. Then, there were a few of them a few feet away, slowly converging toward her.

"Watch out!"

Gia turned in time for Jake's call, for a soccer ball to whiz by her head and smack into the monster's face. She watched as the force of the hit bounced the ball back toward Jake, who trapped the ball against his chest. He dropped it to his feet and kicked toward the monsters once more, knocking down two others like bowling pins the second they were struck.

Troy rolled over hoods of cars to take on the monsters before him. When he was clear from any of the monsters, he pressed his back against the car behind him to catch his breath. It only lasted a second before he was grabbed by the arms and flung toward the ground. Lifting his feet, Troy did a quick backflip, which loosened the grip on his arms and allowed himself to gain balance on his feet and lash out, kicking a monster in the chest that sent it flying from him.

Noah ducked around a car, getting a close look at once that fell nearby. He knelt, studying it closely. Taking in the green and black markings over the monster's face. The black markings that resembled a bull's head, the head of the monster being a pukey-green and yellow color, the rest of the body being a solid green. Resembling…a loogie of some sort. A strong tug at his bag flung Noah onto his butt on the ground. He looked up and scrambled for his bag, just in time to use it to block his face before a punch would hit him. He threw his bag, knocking down another monster, before scrambling to his feet and running to safety.

Emma used the side of the cars to flip herself over, out of the way of the monsters that tried to attack her. When they came close to her again, she lifted the camera around her neck and took a picture. The flash was instantaneous, blinding. Made the monsters turn away, placing their hands over where their eyes should've been, and gave her the opportunity to kick the monsters over and away from her.

Casey used a combination of her cheerleading moves to evade the monsters before her. With flips and low ground tumbling moves she evaded them the best she could before sweeping their feet out from below them and sent a strong punch into the monsters so that they stayed prone on the ground. All before she was grabbed by the arms and flung into his arms.

The rangers gathered once the monsters suddenly, confusingly, backed off…seconds before they whipped out their blasters and stared to shoot upon the rangers, knocking them off their feet.

They slowly climbed back up, watching as the aliens came closer. "Follow my lead." Troy declared, pulling out his morpher. "It's morphin' time!" The other rangers did the same, pulling out their morphers as they stood beside Troy.

"Go Go Megaforce! Ha!"

"Megaforce Red!"

"Megaforce Blue!"

"Megaforce Black!"

"Megaforce Pink!"

"Megaforce Yellow!"

"Megaforce White!"

"Earths' defenders, never surrender!"

Casey smiled to herself as she sat at her desk, pen in hand, absentmindedly tapping the science notebook that sat in front of her. Homework she could finish in mere minutes sat untouched in front of her as she thought of the battle they'd been part of that day. Of the new adventure they were starting.

Gosei had warned them, that there were aliens that were trying to take over the planet and it was only them who could stop it. Who needed to keep Earth protected from the threat. They had the responsibility and they needed to live up to it.

Which meant…

Casey brought her hand to her hip, where her morpher sat. She traced her fingers over the raised edges, of the bumps and ridges that formed a replica of Gosei's face. His words repeated in her head, words he'd spoken after they finished their fight.

"Congratulations on a job well done. You rose to the occasion and unlocked your powers. Do not doubt yourselves. You were chosen and for good reason. This morning, you were regular kids with normal lives. But now you must master your new powers and live extraordinary lives."

Which meant she could never tell her parents about it.

"I'm glad you were able to come see me," General Norquist said, leaning back in his seat. He tapped the top of the cane next to him and grinned a sly grin toward Avalon and Billy. "An old man doesn't really get much company lately, but you tend to run like clockwork. Power Rangers show up and I know you're not too far behind."

"Old habits die hard," Billy remarked. He leaned back in his seat, crossing his legs at the knee. "And, as it is, you've already been aware of a power signature that had been emitting from Angel Grove and that's what brought us back here."

Avalon rolled her eyes, lightly knocking her husband on the arm. "He's messing with you, Billy."

General Norquist's smile widened, and he laughed a wheezing laugh. After a second, his smile faded, and he tapped his fingers against his cane. "Well, I can understand your worries. The moment NASADA found the power signature back here, they contacted me so that I could call you rangers. I did anticipate Tommy to be the first one back here, however." His eyes grew kind. "He seems to be the one who couldn't leave the life behind the most."

"I reckon he couldn't even if he wanted to, yeah?" Avalon remarked. She folded her arms over her chest. "It's not something that's just going to go away. It's a big part of our lives. And, evidently will always be." She rolled her eyes.

Billy rolled his eyes as well, his reasoning more for his wife's response—which he saw coming a mile away—compared to anything else. "Avalon saw a monster in the woods today, when she was following the main outsource of the power signature," he explained to General Norquist. "It led to a cave on the beach."

"I couldn't get anything more than that," Avalon explained. "I ran into this girl in the woods who was being attacked by the monster, and when I turned around, she was gone." She paused for a moment, bobbing her head. "I can only assume, if anything, she was taken in as a ranger."

"Then you'll have to watch her closely," General Norquist said with a slow nod. "If she's a ranger, she'll know who the others and it'll be best to keep an eye on them."

Billy's eyebrows came together. "You mean, reveal ourselves to the new team of rangers?"

"That's up to you. It couldn't hurt to know them to know there are people out there who went through the same thing. But that's entirely up to you."

Avalon smiled slightly and changed the subject. "But it brings up the subject of who, or what, would lead another attack in Angel Grove. The city has only just gotten back to its feet. Why would it get taken over again?"

General Norquist's mouth turned up in a smile. "You sound like you already have an idea, my dear."

She shrugged. "Just that, Rita and Zedd had been revived once before. How do we know that they don't have a hand in this? That this isn't something that's being targeted for the first rangers again? A way to lure them back in and we fell right into their bloody trap?"

"I think that's merely a coincidence," Billy said. He reached out, placing his hand on Avalon's knee and squeezed it gently. He ignored the smirk she shot his way. "But I agree it's something we should keep an eye on moving forward, especially if we have an idea of who one of the rangers could be. There might be other forces at play here, we found that out after Astronema came on the scene."

"Well, there is one thing I haven't told you about this power signature," General Norquist said, lifting a finger. He cleared his throat. "It's very similar to the one that Zordon used to output. So I can't say if its him or…"

Avalon frowned. "That's impossible. Zordon died when Andros cut open his tube, sent the Z-Waves over Angel Grove."

"I didn't say it was Zordon, just that it's like Zordon's power. If that's the case, then the forces that are in Angel Grove right now, are probably going to be the strongest of those that any ranger team has ever faced." General Norquist's expression turned grim. "That's where my worry lies, and that's why I called for a ranger to come back and keep an eye on things."

Billy swallowed hard, nodding. He was afraid his friend was going to say something like that. Something so altering and yet…he sort of expected it. They'd seen the surge of power in the first place and knew it had to be something big. But if it were to attract something even bigger… "Do we have any idea of what that power will be?"

General Norquist got to his feet, using his cane to hobble across his living room. He went to his desk and picked up a laptop, carefully bringing it back to the coffee table. He opened it and turned the screen around so Billy and Avalon could see the picture of the green, yellow, and black monsters that had been attacking that day.

"There was a video on the news. I'm sure those at NASADA are starting to taking an interest in what ranger duties are going on, but you can't keep an old dog down." He tapped his fingers against his lips. "This looks to me to be the foot soldiers of whatever force is coming out this time. There was no monster sent down, but the rangers made their appearance early." He moved to another picture that showed the morphed ranger team.

Avalon leaned forward to study the picture. Her eyes squinted before she leaned back in her seat, shrugging. "Suits have come a long way since we were rangers."

Billy ignored her comment, studying the picture himself. Wondered who was it behind the helmets, wondered if they knew the sort of commitment they were bringing themselves into. No one could ever be prepared for something like that. It'd been years since he first became a ranger and it still surprised him how much he could handle back then.

"We'll keep an eye on things," Billy finally said. "We agreed to do that when we first got here and…it's a commitment we're going to keep. Whatever we can do to stop this evil that's coming."

"I knew you would." General Norquist smiled and closed his laptop. "Now, who's up for a game of chess?"

After a few rounds of chess between General Norquist and Billy, and a few between General Norquist and Avalon, they stayed a little longer to hear stories about the last few years General Norquist had at NASADA before retiring, and, finally, the couple left. As they walked along the car lined sidewalk to get back to their car, Billy reached over and grabbed his wife's hand.

"You know why we can't tell her," Billy said. Avalon nodded, seeming to have read his mind in the silence between them. Almost always being on the same page.

"I know," Avalon agreed. She squeezed her hand tightly in hers. "Just like I don't plan on telling her about the Vipers unless I have to. But this might be more dangerous. With rangers being here, we know there's a chance that the foot soldiers of these ones may have her trapped somewhere. Or us! The Master Morpher hasn't been completed yet, we can only morph if we're really careful, and the idea of her finding out…"

"She's not going to find out," Billy reminded her.

"It's not too much of a leap to go from TJ, and Cassie and them to us. They were the ones who bloody revealed themselves to the world during Astronema's attack. Then Carter and the others showed who they were and Bay…" she waved her hand in the air. "That's an entirely other thing, but it won't be long until Casey knows. She's smart." She gently poked him in the chest. "She's just like you."

Billy smiled in response.

Casey was just like him.

That was a good and bad thing.

He always wondered what it was like for his parents to have been told that he was a ranger later, if they knew ahead of time, if they had their suspicions. He remembered the mild surprise his father had shown when he finally told him he was a ranger. He knew all of that.

But had no idea how his daughter would react when he realized they'd been keeping a secret that big from her.

A/N: So, I decided not to show the entirety of the first fight, doing a bit of a time jump and then doing flashbacks, because I feel that the first episodes/fights are pretty formulaic as it is, and I wanted to do something different. Also, it appears that I can't write Billy without some sort of mention o General Norquist at some point, lol. But I really do like the thought that they would be in touch with ranger dealings and after.

Plus, the idea of General Norquist being an elderly man who continues to hold a friendship with Billy is something I think would happen. So, as I typically do with power rangers, some of this season will play out the same way, but there are going to change as well. Leading up to the mega battle at the end of Super Megaforce, we're going to see more past rangers come back (even ones I haven't written into any of my fics yet).

Thanks for being so patient between updates, guys!