Trini sat in the chair next to the bed where the mysterious girl lay. The doctors said she'd be fine but was just unconscious. The girl had no ID on her so she was listed as Jane Doe for the time being. It was the lack of ID and the fact she found her was why Trini stayed with her. She also couldn't shake this sense of familiarity.
She appeared to be the same age as Trini so it was possible they may have known each other as children. Trini thought it could've been they met as kids but that didn't satisfy the feeling.
"She kinda looks like you," Trini's mom said.
"Really?" Trini asked not convinced.
"She also seems to have some Western features too but her Asian side is the most prominent."
Trini got closer and examined her face. "I guess," Trini said. "But maybe that's because we're both Asian."
Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open, startling Trini and her mother. Trini backed up hoping not to scare the girl.
"I'll get the doctor," Trini's mom said.
The girl looked around before sitting up. She looked around the room which looked modern but yet dated. She noticed the tubes attached to her arm. She started to remember what had happened. Her eyes finally settled on Trini and then they widened.
"Do you know me?" Trini asked. The girl nodded as she lowered her head. She let her hair hang over her face to hide her trembling lip. "From where?"
"This is impossible."
"What do you mean?"
Before the girl could answer, the doctor and a nurse rushed into the room. The nurse went to the IV pump and wrote down some information. Trini and her mother backed up out of the way.
"Glad to see you're awake," the doctor said. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Minh."
"Last name?"
Minh looked over at Trini before lowering her eyes again as tears started to make their appearance. "Kwan."
Trini tilted her head as she looked at Minh. They shared the same last name but that couldn't just be a coincidence.
"Is she related?" Trini whispered to her mother.
"No," her mother said shaking her head. "We were the only ones to make it out of the country. The rest of the family didn't make it. Her last name has to be a coincidence."
"Do you know where you are?" the doctor asked. Minh took a deep breath to compose herself. She wiped the tears away before looking at the doctor.
"A hospital obviously," Minh said trying to hide her emotions. "I'm assuming Angel Grove."
"Why do you assume Angel Grove?"
Minh gestured to her surroundings. "Hospital rooms all look the same and I can't see much from my window."
"Okay, good," the doctor said. "There doesn't appear to be any brain damage. Do you know what happened?"
Minh wasn't sure how much she should reveal. "Someone attacked me and then I ended up here."
"Do you know who it was?" Trini asked. She regretted asking the question when the adults in the room looked at her.
Minh shook her head. "No, I couldn't see her face."
"We'll have to bring the cops in to take a report about the attack," the doctor said.
"No, it's fine. It wouldn't do much help anyway since I couldn't see her face," Minh said. "I need to get out of here."
"We should contact your parents and let them know where to find you."
"You can't," Minh said fighting back her emotions and trying hard not to look at Trini. "They're not here."
"Is there someone you can contact?"
Minh shook her head.
"You can stay with us until your parents come back," Trini's mom said.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Minh said.
"Do you have a better idea?" Trini asked. Minh didn't say anything. "Didn't think so. You're coming with us until we can contact your parents."
Trini sat with her mother outside the hall as they waited for the police to come and take Minh's report. The medical staff prepared her discharge papers.
"It's crazy to think she has the same last name as us. What are the odds?"
"I didn't give it much thought," her mother said. "It is an interesting coincidence."
Two uniformed police officers came down the hall. They nodded to the two Asian women before knocking and entering the room. They reappeared seconds later.
"She's gone," one officer said.
"Gone?" Trini asked. "We've been here the whole time."
The officer ran down the hallway to the nurses' station. The nurses then came running to the room to confirm what the officers reported.
"We need to find her," Trini said.
Minh walked through Angel Grove Park. She tried to make sense of what was going on. Seeing a teenage version of her mother was hard to comprehend. The only explanation was she time-traveled with that red ranger. She needed to find her and go back to her own time. Of course, she had no idea where to even start. She was in a different time with no way to get back and no way to find the one person who had the ability to send her back.
She sat down on the grass and leaned against a statue that was in the shape of a fist. She watched a group of people play football nearby as she rested her chin on her arms.
"Hey, you okay?"
Minh looked up to see Riley standing over her. Minh nodded. "Yeah, just thinking."
"Do you go to Angel Grove High?"
"Yeah." It wasn't a complete lie just not how she knew the girl would take it.
"My brother and I also go there. I'm Riley."
Before Minh could say anything, the ground shook violently. Many people who were standing fell over, including Riley. Minh grabbed her before she cracked her head on the statue.
Red lightning danced across the sky. Some bolts slammed into the ground creating explosions and knocking people off their feet. It was followed by ominous laughter that echoed all throughout the city.
Minh recognized that laugh and her eyes widened. "Oh no!"
Riley looked at her as she fought to stabilize herself. "What is it?"
Minh's fists tightened as she saw a figure hovering in the sky. Her anger seethed as she glared at Rita Repulsa.
The red orb on the staff glowed crimson before unleashing beams of energy at surrounding buildings. The beams acted as tractor beams bringing the buildings together. There were more explosions and the quakes increased in intensity as the red beams sliced through the city.
Ryan ran up to Riley and they both stared up at the sky as Minh slowly moved away from them. She needed to get to the command center.
"You all will bow down to me," Rita said. "Angel Grove belongs to me now." She recited an incantation and the city was encased in a red-tinted dome.
Once Minh had separated herself from the twins, she pressed the buttons on her communicator and disappeared in a yellow column of light.
Moments later, she appeared in the command center, the predecessor to the one she knew. This one was smaller and appeared less advanced considering its buttons, switches, and lack of touch screens. Even Alpha looked antiquated compared to Alpha 9.
"Zordon, we have an intruder," Alpha said in a panic.
"Alpha, don't worry," Minh said. "It's okay. I'm a ranger."
"A ranger?" Alpha asked. "You mean you're a – but how?"
"Ah, yes," Zordon said. "I can detect the power coin you possess. The Sabertooth Tiger coin."
Minh looked up at the head in the blue tube peering back at her. She had only heard the stories about him from the other rangers but she still felt unprepared to actually meet him. Just looking at him, she could feel the wisdom emanating from him.
"But Zordon," Alpha said. "We still have all five coins here."
"That is true, Alpha."
"Zordon, I'm from the future. You made my mother a ranger to battle Rita and I'm carrying on her legacy."
"How did you come to this time?"
"I'm not actually sure myself. All I know is it involved some other ranger."
"Another ranger?" Alpha asked.
"Yeah, but this isn't from the original set. It's different. But there's more. Rita has been released and I don't think she was supposed to be yet. She's attacking Angel Grove."
"Our sensors haven't detected any attack," Zordon said. "Alpha, manually scan Angel Grove."
"Confirmed Zordon," Alpha said checking the computer. "Angel Grove is under attack. There is a mass influx of chroniton particles that are affecting our scans."
"That would explain why our sensors didn't automatically detect Rita's arrival."
"You need to create the Power Rangers now. I know who you pick to become the first time."
"What you are suggesting will disrupt the space-time continuum," Zordon said. "We have to be very careful about this."
"That time-traveling ranger has already messed things up and released Rita."
"Yes, the situation has forced me to recruit rangers earlier than they should have but I want you to know this may change your timeline in countless ways."
"ZORDON!" Alpha said. "Rita is forming a dome over Angel Grove."
They looked at a crimson-colored dome taking shape over not just Angel Grove but the surrounding area as well, including the Command Center.
"Why would she do that?" Minh asked.
"To isolate the area from the rest of the world," Zordon said. "Alpha, can you scan beyond the barrier?"
Alpha pressed several buttons. "No, I can't."
"Luckily, the rangers are all from Angel Grove," Minh said.
"We can't teleport anyone here because our sensors are being scrambled," Alpha said. "We'll need to do it manually."
"I know where to find one but I don't know about the others. Once I give her her coin then she can help find them."
Minh teleported to the juice bar knowing her mom often went there during her teenage years. This area of Angel Grove hadn't been attacked yet. It was vastly different than downtown as if they were entirely different cities.
Minh walked in to find it had been turned into a relief shelter. People lying on blankets and cardboard boxes filled the area that was usually used for working out, dances, and other random events. The upper area was used for supplies. Minh spotted her mother on the other side of the room next to the arcade games. She was setting a box on the counter that Ernie took and set out of sight.
Minh grabbed a few blankets from a nearby box, hoping they weren't being used, and gave them to a young couple that was standing near the door who looked like they just escaped the gates of hell itself. They nodded to her before moving on to find a place to rest.
"Hey," Trini said approaching her. "I didn't expect to see you again. I'm glad you're here to help. It's crazy out there, whatever it is that's going on."
"Crazy doesn't even begin to describe it," Minh said. "Hey, can I talk to you a moment outside?"
"Sure, I guess," Trini said following her outside. They passed a few more people straggling into the building. Trini directed them to Tessie who was writing down the names of everyone who entered just in case their families came looking for them. Tessie was one of the waitresses who helped Ernie during the juice bar's busier hours.
"Do you know what's going on?" Minh asked.
Trini shook her head. "No, just that we're being attacked by someone but I don't know who. They seem to have advanced weapons. I don't know of any country that could do this."
"It's not another country. It's actually space aliens."
"You shouldn't be making such jokes now. And don't waste my time if you're going to joke around like that." Trini turned to leave but Minh grabbed her arm.
"What country do you think could do that?" Minh asked pointing off to the Angel Grove skyline where a palace of some kind had been constructed on top of a building. "That is not normal. How do you explain the red barrier surrounding the city? We can't get out and no one can get in. We are completely cut off. So we have to fight."
"Okay, say I believe this is the work of space aliens. How do we fight back? There's no military force here. The police can't handle something like this."
"You're right, but you can," Minh said reaching into the pouch Alpha had given her to hold the morphers. She pulled out the morpher holding the Sabertooth Tiger power coin. It was the same morpher as her own.
"What is that?"
"It's a power morpher. It will transform you into a Power Ranger and you can fight off the aliens."
"Just me?"
"No, there are four more on your team. We need to find them."
"Okay, but why me?"
"Because you're supposed to be. Look, I'm from the future and I can't tell you everything because it will cause problems for me in my time. You have to trust me on this."
Trini stared into Minh's eyes and despite not knowing her, there was that sense of familiarity that was so overwhelming that Trini believed she should know this girl.
"Okay, so who are the others?"
"Jason, Zack, Billy, and Kimberly."
"My best friends and I become Power Rangers and we save Angel Grove?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
'That's convenient," Trini said taking the morpher. She looked it over focusing on the coin itself. She had never seen such a device before but she felt like it belonged to her already. Her eyes shot to Minh realizing there was a problem. "Wait, you said no one can get in or out?"
"Yeah."
"Damn it," Trini said dropping her arms. "They're not in Angel Grove right now."
"Who isn't?"
"Jason, Zack, Kimberly, and Billy. They're in San Francisco for a martial arts tournament."
Minh mirrored her mother's actions. Her stomach twisted inside her as she thought about the situation.
"We need the Power Rangers," Minh said. "Or everyone here is going to die."
"As much as I'd like to have my best friends be with me on this, we'll have to find others. Are these things only work with specific people?"
"Not that I know of. I think anyone can use them once they link to you or something. I'm not sure. I just recently became a ranger. But I'm worried about changing the future." She looked at Rita's palace on top of the building. "But we might not have a choice but to find new Power Rangers."