Author's Note: This is a sequel story to the movie based five months after the events of the first film.

~o~O~o~

Chapter One: It's Probably Nothing

Alpha V was over sixty-five million years old. Technically obsolete. That being said, he was still lightyears ahead of anything Earth could whip up so he still felt pretty good about himself.

Usually.

Something was off today and he didn't know what it was. Which was odd as aside from dealing with the occasional threat created and mutated by the gold dust that used to be Goldar, there had been little in the way of anything that one would consider exciting or dangerous.

"Alpha V, status report." As usual, Zordon was blunt and direct, wasting no time on pleasantries or asking about his day. Although would it kill him to do so just once?

"Not sure yet, Master," the robot replied, "According to the ship's scanners, everything seems to be fine but… I don't know. I feel like that I'm missing something, there's something nagging at me."

"Are we under attack?"

"No." The answer was immediate. "There might be something going on out there but if we were under attack, we'd know. That would be very difficult to hide."

"What's your best guess?"

"Honestly, I think it could be something as simple as a starship passing through the system. They're cloaked because this is a pre-spaceflight planet and they don't want to be seen in the unlikely event Earth's scanners pick them up. I believe that there is something on Earth called the 'X-Files' that is in charge of that. That would explain the anomalies here. Our sensors are reacting to something, they just don't know what said something is."

"Well, just keep me informed of any developments. And alert Jason and the others. Tell them to be on standby, just in case."

"Ah well," the robot said philosophically, "Things were getting too quiet around here anyway."

~o~O~o~

Trini Kwang was sick.

The Power Coins were truly marvels. They could provide their owner with enhanced strength, reflexes, and agility. They could transform their owner into a Power Ranger, warrior of strength and virtue sworn to protect all life in the galaxy. They could even call upon the mighty zords, colossal vehicles of immense power.

However, they were utterly useless against the common flu virus.

With a throbbing headache, a nose that was somehow both blocked up and running with hot and cold sensations so intense she was practically a Katy Perry single, Trini was a mess.

Like every morning before, she was roused from sleep by the pounding of her mother's fist against her bedroom door.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Trini, get up this instant!" her mother shouted, "You're late!"

"Imglntingll." It was all the yellow ranger was capable of saying. As that was apparently not a satisfactory response, Trini's bedroom door swung inwards (no prizes for guessing who forbade her from installing a lock) to reveal her mother. She stalked towards the bed and ripped off Trini's sweat saturated sheets.

"What are you still doing in bed?" she demanded.

"I. Am. Sick." Trini had to force the words out one by one. Mrs Kwang narrowed her eyes suspiciously before laying a hand on her daughter's forehead to take her temperature.

"Well, you do have a fever," she conceded, somewhat reluctantly, "I'll call the school and let them know you won't be coming in today.

"I'll be fine." Trini tried to get up but her mother pushed her back down to the bed. "I'll just walk it off," she protested.

"Don't even think about it," Mrs Kwang said sternly, "It's your own fault. This is what happens when you stay out so late all the time. Where do you even go? Fine, don't tell me but you are staying in this room. You're father and I will be out at work but don't even think about leaving the house while we're gone."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Trini muttered.

Despite her well known sense of rebelliousness, within five minutes, the Yellow Ranger was snoring.

~o~O~o~

"Hey, have any of you seen Trini today?" Kimberly asked.

"No but odds are she's just playing hooky," Jason replied as he piled Angel Grove High's special Mystery Meat Stew onto his tray, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Hooky?" It was Billy. "What's that?" Kimberly and Jason exchanged a look.

"You don't know what playing hooky means?" Kimberly asked.

"To be fair, I don't know what it means either," Zack said carelessly, leading the group to their table.

"How do you two not that word?" Jason asked, "It's very common expression. Lots of people use it."

"Well good for them, it doesn't help me magically learn it," Zack replied smugly, enjoying the exasperated reactions of the team Mom and Dad.

"Faking sick, taking the day off, skipping class, taking a personal day," Jason recited, "Something like that."

"You should have just said one of those," said Billy, "Then you wouldn't have problems like this. Communication is very important. You are the leader, after all." If it had been anyone else, Jason would have assumed he was teasing but, knowing Billy, that seemed unlikely.

"Yeah, Jason." Zack was grinning sadistically as he sat down next to Billy. "You are the boss man, boss man."

"I give up," Jason grumbled as he started to dig into his lunch.

"Guys, I feel like we're just breezing past the 'have any of you seen Trini today' part of the conversation," Kimberly said.

"Kim," Zack said, his mouth mostly full, "Crazy girl is always, always going to be fine." Kimberly opened her mouth to respond when suddenly their power coins started to hum from within their pockets.

'Rangers.' They could hear Alpha V's voice in their heads. It was very uncomfortable. 'We are detecting what appears to be a ship passing through the star system. While it is probably nothing, Zordon wishes for you to be on alert, just in case.' Zack winced. It was really weird hearing a voice in his head when he knew that his ears weren't picking up anything.

"Alpha," he hissed, "What have I told you about this?"

'To stop or you'll dismantle me and turn me into a Nintendo. You know, that would be more threatening if I actually knew what a Nintendo was.'

The Power Coins stopped humming, letting the Rangers know that the conversation was over and that Zack's retort would go unheard.

"Well, I was going to head over for some training anyway," said Jason, "So how about we all just head over after school?" Both Billy and Zack agreed but Kimberly shook her head.

"You guys go ahead. I'll try to catch up but there's a few things I need to do first."

~o~O~o~

"Well, you're looking gorgeous." Trini forced her eyes open.

"Be honest with me," she asked, "How bad is it?" Kimberly grinned.

"Sorry, sweetie," she said wickedly, "I don't think you'll be winning any modelling awards in the near future." Trini chuckled before giving into a fit of coughing.

"Oh, don't make me laugh," she said when she was done, "Hurts. What are you doing here anyway?" Kimberly shrugged.

"Well, I heard you were sick so I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Aw, were you worried about little old me?"

"Nah, of course not," Kimberly said quickly, "It's just that, without you, there's no-one to operate the right arm of the Mega Zord so it's just cold-blooded pragmatism."

"Oh thanks." Trini's grin took out any possible scorn. "I feel touched." They were silent for a while until she realised something. "Wait, how did you know I was sick?"

"Your mom told me."

"And she just let you in?" Kimberly laughed.

"Oh not at all. She said you were 'having a sick day, not a fun day and that you would not be having any visitors.'" Kimberly did such a credible impression of Mrs. Kwangs's voice that Trini had to smother a snort.

"So how did you get in?"

"You'd be surprised just how many people leave their windows open. You shouldn't do that, there's scary people out there. Now, you're sick so I've brought what every sick kid needs; chocolates, a funny magazine, a can of Coke, a John Woo movie and a moist towelette to dab on your forehead. If none of them can cure you, I'm afraid you're a lost cause. So where do you want to start?"

"Well, I do still have a fever so the towelette sounds pretty good."

~o~O~o~

Rita Repulsa screamed.

Frozen, immobile, and hurtling through the endless vacuum of space she screamed silently into the void. Although she could still feel the blow of the metal giant's fist against her cheek, the pain was nothing next to the sting of her failure.

The Zeo Crystal had been right there! Not even twenty metres away from her and somehow, she had been defeated by five brightly coloured, half grown apes!

And Zordon.

Zordon!

Somehow that holier-than-thou hypocrite was still alive. She knew what she heard. Little Red had clearly said that Zordon would judge her. How he survived the impact of an extinction level asteroid she would never know but that was irrelevant. He was alive. If not for face being perfectly frozen in place, her lips would have been pulled back to form a furious snarl.

Her former comrade was alive.

His barely formed adolescents were alive.

Earth was alive.

And the Zeo Crystal was so far out of her reach that it might as well have been in another dimension.

She wasn't sure how long she had been hurtling through the inky blackness of space. As there was no way of measuring the passage of time, it could have been seconds, days, or weeks. For all she knew, she might have spent years plunging through the void. In space, once an object is in motion it stays in motion unless affected by an outside force. Sadly, the cold emptiness of space was rather devoid of external force. She wasn't even sure if she's cleared the Solar System yet.

She still had the Green Power Coin, for all the good it could do her now. She could not even move, much less call upon its power.

Suddenly, something burned through the darkness. The light was blinding, all consuming, burning.

She knew the odds. She knew how impossibly, mind shatteringly big space is. The chances of someone just stumbling onto a frozen body shooting across the stars was so slim that was not even worth considering as a possibility. Which meant someone was looking for her. But that brought her back to her first thought. Space was big. So big that there were not many people beings out there with the ability and resources to find her, even less with the inclination or desire to do so.

How did they find her? Who had found her?

Both questions were answered when her Power Coin shone fiercely in response, bathing her in green.

Rita knew of only one person who could track her through her Power Coin. Her theory was confirmed upon seeing the large Z emblazoned on the side of the ship's hull.

Rita Repulsa screamed.

~o~O~o~

Author's Note: The conversation regarding the phrase "playing hooky" is a word for word recreation of a discussion I recently had with some friends, I playing the role of Jason.

I really hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please remember to review.