Chapter 2: Explanations and Old Faces

Author's Notes: Hoping for a review this time. I know this got added to someone's Favorite Stories list, so hopefully can someone pleaseeee give me a review? Thanks if you can. Now on with Chapter 2!

A confident smirk could be seen on Araken's face as he looked up and down at the two young teenagers standing before him.

"So, these are two of the prophesied Rangers?" Araken huffed. "Well. I can't say that I'm impressed. Are such puny little things really the last hope of Earth?"

"What the hell is he babbling about?" Ada whispered to her younger brother.

"I have no idea." Tristan whispered back.

"Well, go on, become the Red Ranger and fight him!" she whispered.

"Like I know how!" Tristan replied, a little louder than he should have.

Araken's smirk grew wider as he approached the two teenagers. Before either one knew what to do, each looking at the other one for an answer, suddenly they were teleported away from the subway tunnel, disappearing in the familiar flashes of red and pink, respectively. Araken rushed forward to where they had just stood and, seeing there was now no trace of either one, punched his fist into the subway wall in a rage, causing the very foundation to shake in response.

"You can run, but you can't hide, Power Rangers!" he screamed, the rage clearly evident in his eyes.

Tristan and Ada landed on a cold floor in a heap, and the two siblings began to look around, wondering what had happened.

"Where are we?" Tristan asked, trying to take it all in.

"I don't know..." Ada admitted, looking around. "All I see is darkness. Aren't there any lights in here?"

"Ask, and you shall receive."

Before either teenager could even wonder where the voice had come from, suddenly the room they were standing in came to life with light. The original Command Center was now on full display, the console beeping and buzzing while the two teenagers watched in awe.

"Ai yi yi yi, you're finally here!" came another, far more high-pitched voice.

Both siblings turned and saw a robot walk up towards them.

"Ahh! What is that thing!" Tristan yelled, jumping backwards.

"I'm not a 'thing'!" Alpha-5 protested. "The name is Alpha-5, and I'm at your service!"

"It looks like a pretty harmless robot to me." Ada giggled at Tristan's fright.

"Oh, shut up sis, you know I've always had a thing about robots..." Tristan said, clinging to his sister's jeans behind her.

"I promise I won't hurt you." Alpha said.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Tristan slowly stood up from his position behind his big sister, and she took that opportunity to laugh at him again.

"Shut up!" Tristan yelled at her. "But hey, wait a second, where did that over voice come from?"

Suddenly, the giant tube in the middle of the Command Center came to life, and inside of it appeared a floating head, much like Zordon's. The only difference was, this head appeared to be quite a bit younger. The transparent head looked down at both of the teenagers in front of him and smiled.

"So the day is finally here." he said, looking them both over. "Welcome, Power Rangers."

"AHHH! A FLOATING HEAD!" Tristan screamed, and went back to hiding behind Ada again.

"Are you going to be scared of EVERYTHING here?" Ada said with a sigh. "Wait a second, head-thing, did you just say Power Rangers? As in the plural version?"

"That I did." he nodded. "Maybe an explanation is in order!"

"I'm in the middle of a weird room with a robot and a floating head." Tristan said. "I think an explanation is long past due!"

"Okay, okay." he laughed. "The two of you are standing in the same Command Center that the original Power Rangers stood in so many years ago. You see, Power Rangers from around the galaxy have been battling the Zarset Empire for many years now. We learned how this frightening power works, and we determined that they would eventually reach the planet of Earth. We also learned something very strange."

"Strange?" Ada asked, interested.

"Yes, Ada." he replied, leaving her wondering how he knew his name. "Very strange indeed. You see, the Zarset Empire's power began causing a strange reaction in the Morphing Grid from the moment they began to near us, maybe a few years ago. We discovered for the first time ever that remnants of the original Ranger energy are held within the original Rangers, and some of that energy are passed on to their children. We thus hypothesized that when the Zarset Empire placed its energy draining shield around the planet, the reaction in the Morphing Grid would bring the original Ranger powers back to activity."

"So that means...Tristan and I are..." Ada said, piecing it together.

"...children of Power Rangers." Tristan finished, looking up at the head in awe. "Whoa, that's kinda cool."

"I don't know if I'd call that 'cool'." Ada said, her fists clenching a bit. "Anyway, head-thing, what do we call you?"

"Call me Zordon." he replied, grinning. "Somehow, I just can't see it any other way."

"Well, Zordon." Ada began. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"Yes." Zordon agreed. "You two are the children of the original Green and Pink Power Rangers."

"Wait, so then how did I end up the Red Ranger?" Tristan asked him. "Shouldn't that have gone to the kid of the original Red Ranger?"

"Apparently it doesn't work that way." Zordon replied. "From what best I can tell, the colors of the current set of Rangers do not always match up with their parents'. Which is actually good for us, because not all of the original Rangers have children on Earth."

"So what you're telling us is, we're both Power Rangers?" Ada asked him.

"Well, we know Tristan is the Red Ranger, as we saw him morph. However, we can only hypothesize that you are indeed the Pink Ranger. Until you find the power within you and morph, we cannot say for sure."

The power within me... Ada thought to herself.

"So you saw me totally kick those minions' asses, didn't ya head-man?" Tristan grinned.

"Yes, and first off, the name is Zordon, not 'head-man'." Zordon replied with a sigh. "Secondly, what kind of Power Ranger doesn't even know how to morph! Didn't your parents teach you anything?"

"Our parents abandoned us when we were very young." Ada said, her voice serious and harsh in tone. "So no. They didn't teach us anything."

"I'm sorry." Zordon said quietly.

"Zordon, do you know where our parents are?" Tristan spoke, as Ada turned her head away.

"Unfortunately I do not. The original Green and Pink Power Rangers both disappeared many years ago, fighting the Zarset Empire. I hope to see both of them return soon."

"I don't." Ada said under her breath.

"Ada, I know you have contempt in your heart for both of your parents, but I want you to know this." Zordon began, as Ada turned her head up to look at him. "I knew both of your parents very well. And I know that they would not have abandoned you had they not had a very good reason."

Tristan smiled to himself, but quickly turned his head away when he realized Ada was glaring at him. Just as she was about to turn her head back towards Zordon and yell at him, however, the sirens went off in the Command Center.

"Ai yi yi yi!" Alpha-5 yelled. "Take a look at what's being broadcast around the globe!"

The viewing globe suddenly came to life, and Tristan and Ada turned their heads to look at the picture of Araken, standing underneath the Statue of Liberty just outside New York City.

"Red Ranger." Araken spoke. "I know you can hear me. I challenge you to come and face me here, in front of this statue. If you do not, then I will order the mothership to fire upon this city, eradicating everyone you've ever known. You have an hour before that order is placed, and no more."

The transmission suddenly cut off, and Tristan turned back to Zordon in a panic.

"What do I do!" he asked him.

"You only have one choice, Tristan." Zordon replied. "You must morph and teleport there, and accept his challenge."

"What if it's a trap?" Ada suddenly yelled up at him.

"No, I know Araken well." Zordon replied. "It's no trap. He's too honorable of a warrior for that. He wants to test himself against the Red Ranger and see if he can defeat him in combat, alone."

"How could you possibly know that for sure?" Ada demanded of him. "We're supposed to just believe in your stupid little hunch and send my little brother off on a suicide mission!"

Zordon looked down at both of the teenagers before him, Tristan looking very uneasy with his sister's confrontational attitude, and Ada looking very angry at the whole situation.

"Ada, I hate to tell you, but you don't get the floating head gig by having 'stupid little hunches.'" Zordon said with a grin. "Araken will not double-cross your brother. I'm sure of it."

Tristan looked over at his older sister, who looked back at him with a mixture of fear and concern in her eyes. He knew she didn't want him to do this...but for all Tristan knew, his foster parents were still in New York. And he couldn't let them be wiped out like that.

"Tell me how to morph, and I'll do it." Tristan said, stepping forward towards Zordon. "I'll fight Araken."