I'm hungry and gay

Jason and the kids dropped the shields as they closed in on Astronema, Jason pulled out a set of glowing, green handcuffs and secured them around her wrists. As Trini turned, she remembered the others. She ran towards the team, Trini helped the boys get up before turning to an unconscious Kim. 

“Kimberly,” Trini shifted Kim’s head into her lap, “hold on babe, just hold on. Zack help me!” 

Zack rushed over to them, pressing his palms over Kim’s temples. Black lines ran down from the boy’s palms to Kim’s body.The bleeding immediately stopped, but a large scar was left in its place. 

Zack put his fingers over Kimberly’s pulse. “Trini I’m not feeling anything,” he said, worry etched on his face. 

Trini placed her hands on Kimberly’s face, her vision blurry with tears. Trini felt as though all the air in the world had vanished. She felt the boys standing behind her, Zack stroked her hair gently as she let out a sob. Trini touched Kim’s forehead with hers as she choked back the tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Kim, I couldn’t protect you,” Trini cried.

A sputtering cough brought Trini back to the present. Looking down, Trini saw Kimberly’s coy smirk as she blinked her eyes open.

“Damn, you really love me huh Trin?” The pink ranger laughed softly. Trini gasped as Kimberly sat up.

Kimberly ran her fingers over the new scar. “That bitch really did a number on me. It’s not too bad though right? I’m still hot?” 

Trini laughed, running her fingers through Kim’s dirt and blood covered hair. “Yes baby you still look hot.”

Trini helped Kim up as they turned to where Jason was walking along with the kids. The children varied in ages, some looking as young as 7 and others as old as the rangers. The main 5 circled up, dusting each other off and catching their breaths. 

“Well, I guess our team just got a lot bigger,” Jason said

“What’s gonna happen to them?” Billy asked, rubbing his shoulder.

Trini looked to the kids, who were standing a couple feet away, unaware of what they should do. “I mean they’re rangers right? We should take them in.”

The others turned and gave her a questioning look.

“Look, I know they don’t have coins or anything, but these kids are just as much power rangers as we are, whether we like it or not, they’re the next generation and they need to be prepared just like we are.” 

“I love you Trin, I really do, but are you crazy?” Kimberly said, waving her hands.

“We’ll start an academy to train them. We can use Astronema’s base and repurpose it.” 

“What about our identities? They’re gonna wonder who we are.” Zack pointed out.

“We’ll tell them, after all, they’re our team now.” Trini said, looking out at all of them. Trini motioned for the kids to come over.

The oldest ones took the younger kids by the hand as they walked over. Trini counted out twenty five of them as they came closer. A native girl wearing a green jacket walked up to Trini.

“You know, you guys look a lot less cool up close.” She said in a cool tone. The girl pulled out a green power coin from her jacket pocket, “I’m guessing this has something to do with you, because it keeps burning the shit out of me.”

 Trini’s eyes widened as she looked up at the others.

“How did you get that?” Trini asked in a commanding voice. 

“My family moved here a couple weeks ago, I found it in the mines a couple days before the first earthquakes started. When kids started going missing, I tried to go investigate on my own but Astronema found me and turned me. It was only earlier in town when you guys showed up that I was able to break out of her spell.” 

Trini glanced at the others through her visor. The others nodded subtly and Jason turned to the girl.

“What’s your name?” Jason asked, stepping forward.

“Tommy, Tommy Oliver.” 

Jason pulled his visor down and shook Tommy’s hand, “None of the kids had power coins, only powers. It sounds like you’re one of us, welcome to the team. I’m Jason.” The others dropped their armor and introduced themselves.

“Rita had the green coin, but I guess weirder things have happened. C’mon we have to talk to the kids,” Kim said, shaking Tommy’s hand with a smile.

Tommy stood with them as the kids walked up to the team of, now six, rangers. 

“Hi, what’s your name?” Trini asked one of the smallest kids.

“Maya.” The little girl flinched as Trini bent down.

Trini brought her helmet down as she brought a hand up to the girl’s shoulder. “You were really brave out there, Maya. You’re the one who had that cool fire sword right? You go to my brother’s school.” 

The little girl nodded and gave Trini a small smile. Trini stood and addressed all of them, “I know you guys have been through a lot and you really wanna get home, but we have some stuff to take care of first. If you older guys could hold onto the little ones, we’d appreciate it. Everyone follow us.”

The team walked together, the Zords following behind. 

“Hey new girl! Wait up.” Zack jogged ahead to talk to Tommy.

“Oh god, what is it with Zack and his attraction to cool girls that he has no chance with?” Jason groaned.

The others laughed as they watched the two joke and get to know each other. Kim threaded her fingers with Trini’s, leaning on her.

“How’s the head babe?” Trini said, running her fingers down the scar.

“Hurts, but a lot less than before. I don’t think this one’s going away, something about alpha power I guess.” Kim shrugged.

“Yeah well, I beat her ass, so you don’t have to worry.” Trini said, lightly kissing Kim’s hand.

The team rolled out of the garage and made their way through the countryside. Trini was in front, watching the horizon for anything out of the ordinary. They were running at a quick pace, trying to find any sign of Astronema or her minions.

“Guys I think I found where Astronema is transmitting the signal from. It seems to be coming from one of the old radio towers on the other side of town,” Billy said over his mic.

“Take Jason with you. Kim, Zack, and I’ll take on Astronema and buy you some time to take it down,” Trini commanded.

The team parted as Trini’s team took off headed downtown while Jason and Billy went uptown. The zords came to a screeching halt as they saw the destruction that led into the city. Buildings were completely destroyed and others were on fire. Smoke was everywhere and there seemed to be nowhere that wasn’t covered in a thick layer of dust. 

“We gotta stop her or Angel Grove is gonna be completely destroyed,” Zack said as they climbed out of the zords to get a better view from the ground.

People were rushing to get out of buildings and to safety. In front of the buildings was a giant nano monster. As soon as they stepped into the square, the smoke cleared and Astronema stepped out from a portal.

Astronema laughed as the rangers stood in front of her. “So glad you could join us rangers. Now that you’re here, the party can really start.”

She snapped her fingers and a large, blue portal opened behind her. Dozens of nano monsters and rows of children with identical ranger armor on, except all of theirs was black with blue accent lines. They stood without their helmets on, emotionless and awaiting command. The nano monster towered over them, ready to attack. 

Astronema raised a clawed hand. “Kill them.” The children and nanos ran out of the portal, charging at the team with no hesitation. 

“Okay new plan, kill the nanos and subdue the kids,” Trini yelled over the chaos.

“What about jumbo over here?” Zack said trying to fight his way through the kids and monsters. 

“Leave him to me!” 

A little girl jumped on Kim’s back, putting her in a chokehold.

“Watch out Kim!” Zack yelled as he ripped the kid off her back and threw her a few feet away. The girl landed on her feet effortlessly. She swung her arm out and a sword made of fire emerged.

“Aw shit, we’re screwed,” Zack sighed, pulling his ax out.

Trini climbed her way up a building, not yet sure how she was gonna take the monster down.

“Tri- Trini can you hear me?” Billy said through the coms, his voice cutting in and out.

“Kind of, what’s wrong?” 

“We nee- time. There’s- can- get through.” He cut out. 

_____

 “Bil, you’re gonna have to hurry up!” Jason yelled as he used a shield to try and keep the ranger kids from breaking down the door to the radio tower.

“I’m going as fast as I can, but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The whole thing is written in some kind of alien code.” 

Jason grunted as he used his body to hold the shield in place. The force on the other side of the door eased up for a moment, until the kids used their weapons to break the door down completely.

“Jason!” Billy cried as his friend flew through the room, landing with a loud thump. The kids moved into the room and closed in on Billy. Jason groaned as the kids pinned him against the wall.

“Get off him!” the boy yelled as he hurled a ball of electricity towards them. The ball hit the kids directly and they fell to the ground, unconscious. Jason stared at Billy in wonder as the other boy kept working.

“You okay Jase?” The blue ranger called over his shoulder. 

“Yeah I’m good, focus on taking the signal down,” Jason said as he checked on the kids. He took the chips out and made sure they were all breathing. Billy pumped his fist as the tower signal came down, in the distance they could hear Trini roar. 

“Where am I? Stay back!” One of the kids woke up and threw up a shield around her and the other kids.

“Bill, get Trini on the line. I’ve got an idea.”   

_____

“Billy? Billy! Shit,” she said out loud, “guys, Billy and Jason need more time to bring the tower down.” 

“We’ve kinda got our hands tied down here Trini!” Zack said, trying to take down two kids that were attacking his left side. Zack felt his control slipping away and as the next thing he knew, the kids were knocked out.

“Zack! Remember how you were able to heal Kevin? Maybe your healing powers can be used to knock them out too!” Kim said panting.

From Trini’s position, she could see Astronema move away from the square and make her way towards Krispy Kreme. Running out of options, Trini whistled for the zords. 

“Guys get out the way; I have an idea!” 

Kim and Zack jumped up to higher positions as the zords came crashing through the town square. Trini jumped from the roof and into her cockpit. Her zord opened its mouth and roared. The ranger kids’ chips shattered as they fell to their knees. 

“C’mon, Astronema’s getting close to the crystal,” Zack said, jumping into his zord.

“What about the kids?” Kim said as her pterodactyl hovered above them.

“Leave them, we’ll come back.” Trini instructed as they all made their way after the mega nano.

The three made their way to the crystal, where Astronema’s monster was digging a hole where the Krispy Kreme used to be. The nano was slow in its movements, as though it didn’t exactly understand her command.

“Work faster you idiot!” Astronema yelled frantically as they approached. She turned her head and gave a sinister smile, “Rangers! I’m so glad you could be here to witness the beginning of a new earth. As we speak, my rangers are being driven out of Angel Grove and to government facilities all over the country. When they wake, they have instructions to covertly hypnotize all other personnel in the facilities, then make their way through every major city in the country. With the zeo crystal and an army of minions, not even you will be able to stop me!” The enchantress cackled.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Trini said as Kim’s pterodactyl swooped low and fired missiles at the mega nano.

Zack rushed behind her and used his zord to push Astronema’s monster back from the pit. Trini followed, using the Sabertooth and slashed at them.

“Enough!” Astronema yelled. The monster got back up and with a roar, pushing all the zords back. Astronema’s eyes took on an icy blue and dozens of nano monsters came running out through a portal. 

The monsters weren’t as sturdy as before, they were confused and were fighting sloppily. They began flinging themselves at the zords, ripping into them and trying to take them down. Trini looked up, Kim’s pterodactyl was being swarmed with nanos on the wings.

“Kim do a loop!” Trini said through the mic. Kimberly tried her best to shake the nanos, but the majority of them hung on.

“Shit look out!” Zack yelled as Astronema’s monster began flinging balls of fire at them.

Kim was doing her best to fly through the chaos, but the monster threw a large fireball at her and the pterodactyl began losing altitude, “I need some help over here!” she screamed as the zord dipped lower.

Trini used the Sabertooth to chase after Kimberly, when she was low enough, the tiger jumped into the air to cushion Kim’s landing. Kim’s left wing was hanging on by a couple steel beams, with the cockpit almost completely torn out. Zack screamed behind them as the mega dragged his zord into the pit which was now on fire.   

“Zack hold on,” Trini said as Kim jumped into the Sabertooth with her. The tiger rammed into the mega’s side, making it lose hold of Zack.

They were locked in a hold, Trini and Zack’s zords using all their strength to hold back the mega nano. They could feel themselves sliding back as they heard Billy over their comms.

“Trini! We got the signal disrupted, her powers should be weakened. Jason and I have an idea.” 

Billy’s zord ran to them as a high pitched screeching noise filled the air. The nano monsters all shrieked as their body’s began to crumble to the ground.

“Guys go down, I think we can take them from the ground,” Zack said, ejecting himself from the Mastodon.

Astronema watched as her monsters began to fall apart, desperately trying to use her powers to get them to move. The rangers closed in on her as she struggled to regain control.

“It’s over Astronema, you lost.” Trini said as she stood to her full height.

“Lost? Oh no children, you’ve only delayed the inevitable. You see, even without my rangers, even without my nanobot monsters, I am still an alpha, still a ranger. That kind of power can’t be taken away.” 

Astronema brushed herself off as she took a deep breath. Immediately, Trini’s hair stood on end as her alpha sensed something, “Grab her!”

Trini lunged at her as Astronema’s body began levitating in an eerie blue light, a forcefield shielded her and Trini got thrown back. As the enchantress opened her eyes, an evil smile stretched her face, fangs poking out. A silhouette began forming around her, taking on the shape of a giant blue wolf almost two times the size of an elephant. The shadow engulfed the enchantress and in her place stood only the wolf.  

“Now you will see what a true alpha looks like!” She cackled as the wolf let out a howl that left the others clutching their ears. 

Astronema charged at them, fangs drawn as the team moved to get out of the way. Astronema leaped at Trini, jaws snapping at her throat. Trini wrestled with the wolf, trying to push her off when an arrow lodged itself in its back. The wolf snarled as she turned around.

“Hey bitch! Get off my girlfriend,” Kim yells, bow drawn with a pink arrow already knocked in place to shoot again.

The wolf growled as it jumped off Trini and headed for Kim, a ball of electricity hit her in the side. Billy raised his hands as the electricity flowed from one hand to the other. The others surrounded her, weapons raised. Zack with his axe and Trini with her claws out. 

Astronema laughed as a puff of blue smoke surrounded them. A scream was heard through the smoke, but Trini couldn’t see anything in front of her, “Guys! Where is she?”  Trini stumbled forward, feeling around for her team. A yellow light covered Trini head to toe.

Her hands bumped into a body, “Kim? Guys, is that you?” She said getting closer.

“Trin- Trini I can’t move” Zack said, coughing. Trini looked down, Zack had deep cuts running down his torso, his legs were being pinned in place by the blue smoke and his armor had dematerialized. Next to him, Billy groaned as the smoke pinned him down on his back, his shirt torn up and covered in blood. A cough alerted Trini to someone behind them. 

“Trini, help me,” Kimberly sputtered out. Trini crawled her way to her girlfriend, Kim was laying on her back, a large cut ran from her forehead to just below her eyebrow. 

“Jesus, Kim what happened?” Trini kneeled over her, pressing her hand over the wound. 

Kim groaned underneath her, “She jumped me before the smoke spread.”

A large paw emerged from the smoke and clawed at Trini’s back, slashing through her undershirt and ripping into her skin. Trini let out a shriek that made Kimberly’s blood run cold. The alpha dropped to the floor as Astronema pulled her claws out from Trini’s body.

“Trini!” Kim screamed as the wolf stepped over Trini’s body and walked towards Kim.

“Leave them alone! Get away from them.” Zack yelled as he fought against the weight of the smoke.

“I have grown tired of the games little rangers. You will submit to me, or you will die trying to save this pathetic town.” Astronema paced in front of her with a wolfish grin.

Astronema raised a giant paw, setting it down on Kimberly’s wound. “Such a shame really, I thought your little alpha would’ve put up more of a fight. Guess she didn’t love you as much as you thought.” 

Astronema ripped her claws down the side of Kimberly’s head. Kimberly and the boys screamed as Astronema put a hand on Kim’s windpipe. “After I kill you and your team, there will be no one left to stand in my w-”

A thunderous roar boomed through the street. Astronema whipped her head around as a gigantic  yellow Sabertooth jumped on her back, large teeth sinking into her neck. The two rolled around before Trini pinned Astronema to the ground. 

“Enough! You think I'm weak? You think I won’t kill you? How dare you threaten my family.” Trini growled.

Astronema shifted one of her paws into a hand and threw a hard punch to Trini’s jaw. Trini stumbled back as the enchantress circled her.

“I’ve defeated much stronger alpha’s than you Trinity Gomez. I have watched the very best ranger teams fall. What makes you different?” The wolf said, grinning. Trini shook her head and gave the villain a toothy smile.

“Because you just fell for our trap, bitch.” A large explosion came from behind them, the ranger kids came running towards them with Jason leading them. Jason threw up shields around Astronema, boxing her in. Trini jumped into the ring as Jason and the kids held them up. The kids who didn’t have shield abilities had weapons drawn. Trini circled the enchantress, her eyes blazing yellow. 

Astronema lunged at Trini, sinking her teeth into the girl's shoulder. Trini cried out in pain as she tried to get away. Trini snapped her teeth at the wolf’s hind leg and Astronema tumbled to the ground. She took several steps back, a deep growl coming from her throat. They stared each other down, eyes blazing. Blue and Yellow lasers shot from their eyes, blinding Jason and the kids. 

“You think you’re more powerful than me? I’ve had worlds bow before me!” The wolf growled out.

“You’re weak. We know you’re weak, you know you’re weak. Last time you fought one of our teams they left you scrambling.”

“Silence!” Astronema yelled as she lunged at Trini, Trini dodged as Astronema hit the side of Jason’s shield. A bright light flashed and suddenly there were three people in the ring: the wolf, the sabertooth, and Trini in her human form. 

Trini pulled her claws out and beat the wolf repeatedly into the shield wall. Astronema gnashed her teeth as Trini whipped her claws across the wolf’s face and neck while her sabertooth circled them. 

“You’re weak and everyone knows it.” Trini dragged Astronema to the middle of the ring and threw the wolf down into the dirt. The sabertooth pinned Astronema to the ground as Trini’s hands wrapped around her neck. Trini felt her eyes turn yellow. 

Astronema’s eyes glowed blue, and as Trini kept her eyes locked. “Your time as alpha has come to an end, I am the alpha ranger and you will submit to me!” Trini yelled as the sabertooth roared. A ball of light encased them, a mysterious wind blew as they levitated into the air. 

Trini ripped her claws across the wolf’s chest, her Sabertooth bit hard into its wolf’s shoulder. Trini reached into the wound and pulled Astronema’s spirit out. The wind and the light died down as they drifted down to the floor. Trini’s Sabertooth stood at her side as Astronema tried desperately to merge with the wolf, who was on the floor whimpering as though it were dying.

“What have you done? What have you done!” She shrieked.

Trini and her alpha merged. “I’ve stripped you of your alpha and taken your powers. You’re nothing more than a human now.”

“Trini, Zordon would like a word with you.” Alpha said through her earpiece.

She descended into the cave, confident in herself to fulfill the mission.

“Trini, alpha five’s scanners have picked up a very large heat signature coming from the other side of the mines. I am recommending you take the zords with you as backup.”

“Will they even follow me? I figured Kim’s only did it because of our bond.” She said to the wall.

“Like your team, the zords follow the lead of the alpha, trust that they will help you in battle.” 

Trini turned to walk out of the control room when Zordon spoke up.

“Remember Trini, the alpha will always fight for their team, until their last breath. Bring your team home, you’re their last hope.” 

Trini nodded as she walked out of the room to the “garage” where they kept the zords. When she walked in, her Sabertooth dropped its giant metal head for her to pet. The rest of the zords looked at them, as though waiting instructions. Trini took a breath, and let her powers take over. Her yellow eyes looked into those of her zord. Bright yellow lines spread throughout the Sabertooth as it stood with its head tilted upwards. The rest of them bowed to the tiger as Trini climbed into the cockpit. 

“Let’s go get them back.” 

_____

  “Get those pods onto that truck now! I’ve made it this far, I can’t afford anymore slip ups from you idiots.” Astronema yelled at Kim and the boys. 

A dozen government agents were at the mines getting ready to transport the kids. Pods were rolled out of the cave and onto trucks.

“And you’re sure they won’t wake up ‘till we get back to base?” A man in a black suit asked Astronema.

“Of course, the pods were designed to keep them in a sleep-like state until they’re opened.” Astronema said, faking a smile.

The man smiled sinisterly and hit the side of the truck. The other agents followed his lead and started climbing into their vehicles.

“The boys back at HQ are gonna love these.” He said out the window with a chuckle.

The engines rumbled, before they could go anywhere however, Trini stopped the Sabertooth zord right in front of their path.

“You’re not taking them anywhere.” Trini snarled. Trini stood on top of her zord with her claws extended.

“Sir what do we do?” one of the agents yelled from a jeep.

“Take her out you idiots! It’s one person, she can’t be invincible!” Their leader yelled.

Trini let out an ear-shattering roar, sending the men flying backwards. Trini ran to the back of one of the trucks and threw the door open. Trini hopped up and ripped the covers off as many pods as she could. Right away, the kids opened their eyes as the government men got back up. Trini helped a girl out of the pod, she felt a tug in her chest as the girl looked at her pocket and retrieved a green power coin.

“How’d you get t-” Trini had no time to finish as the agents started firing their weapons at them. She howled in pain as a bullet nicked her in the shoulder.

“I’ll cover you, go get the others!” A yellow glow wrapped itself around Trini as the agents aimed all their weapons at her. She used her claws to take out the three machine guns that were mounted on top of their jeeps. They took to the ground, trying to corner Trini, but she was too fast for them to get a good shot.

Trini saw the girl get the last group of kids off the truck and head towards the woods. The girl turned for a moment and nodded her head to Trini, she returned the sentiment as the girl took off with the kids. 

Suddenly, the ground shook violently and threw them all to the floor.

“Retreat! Everyone go, now!” The agents’ leader yelled. They all piled into whatever vehicles they could and took off down the road.

Trini had no time to chase after them however, because Kimberly and the boys ambushed her.

“Good to see you again Trini,” the three of them said unanimously, an eerie voice echoing out of their mouths, “unfortunately, you are disturbing my plans and we can’t have that now can we?” 

Lights matching their coins glowed from their hands and like magic, Trini’s team held new weapons in their hands. A black ax, a pink bow, a red sword, and a blue staff.

“Looks like you guys got an upgrade, too bad I did too.” Trini smirked as the yellow glow enveloped her once again. Her suit looked different to the others now, it was a tighter fit than the armor, her helmet had ears now, and the visor was more of a mask with eye slits. Her gloves had claws that could be retracted and the suit itself had brown stripes. 

The boys rushed her, each hitting from a different side. Trini had no problem taking them on with her newfound strength, except that Kim had sent an arrow flying right into the back of her leg.

“Fuck!” she yelled out in pain as she went down on one knee.

Zack swung his ax at Trini’s head, ready to strike. Trini rolled out of the way as the others closed in on her. 

“Sorry guys, your ears might hurt after this.” she said out loud. Trini let out a glass-shattering roar at the team. 

The boys went down all together, but Kimberly had rolled out of the way just in time.

“Never send a boy to do a girl’s job I suppose.” Kimberly said in a seductive tone, her arrows piercing Trini’s armor. 

“I know you’re in there, babe, fight it.” Trini grunted as she pulled the arrows out.  

Kimberly walked up to her and leaned in, cupping Trini’s face. “Oh Trini, don’t you get it? I’ve taken your little team and made them into soldiers. And when I’m done with them, there won’t be anything left.” 

A growl ripped through her throat as Trini tackled Kimberly to the ground, her eyes blazing yellow. Kimberly’s smirk fell into a grimace as she realized what Trini was about to do.

“No, no, no! You can’t do this!” She yelled as Trini gripped her face.

In an instant, Kimberly’s body dropped to the floor, unconscious. Trini threw her over her shoulder and walked over to the boys. The ground shook as something large headed towards them.

Trini nudged Jason’s ribs with her shoe. “Jase, Jase? Jason wake up.”

Jason stirred and sat up. “Trin? What happened?” The boy groaned as Trini helped him up.

“I’ll explain later, grab the boys we gotta go,” Trini said as they jogged to a nearby cliff.  

Trini put two fingers in her mouth, summoning the zords to their position. Trini’s Sabertooth led the charge as the others followed behind as a huge monster made up of nanobots slunk out of the cave, followed closely by Astronema and some kids. 

“Don’t let them escape!” Astronema cried out as the team ran to a clearing. Trini threw Kim into her cockpit as Jason got the others in. The giant nano monster and hypnotized kids flanked them from all sides.

“Cover your ears,” Trini said. Trini put her hands on the control board of her zord, the giant sabertooth opened its mouth and let out an incredible roar.

The nano monster roared in pain as pieces of it fell apart. Astronema let out a scream as the rangers made their way back to the ship.

_____

  “Ugh I feel like I got hit by a truck.” Zack groaned as he opened his eyes. Trini had been sitting in a chair next to his cot, waiting for him to wake up.

She handed him a glass of water. “Well what did you expect? Astronema had you guys under her spell for hours and then I had to kick your ass.” 

Zack snorted as he sat up from the cot. Everyone had been resting up since Trini rescued them. It was late morning when they had all gotten back to the ship.

“I’m gonna go check on Kim, you gonna be okay?” Trini stroked his hair as Zack nodded as he dropped back into the cot.

Trini made her way through the ship to go find Kimberly, on her way out, she passed Jason and Billy in the control room monitoring the scanners.

“Trini, come here for a sec,” Jason said from where they were bent over a computer.

“What’s up guys?” She asked, coming up behind. She saw they had taken apart the earpieces Astronema had given them while they were under her control.

“We were taking a look at the earpieces Astronema put on us and we think she might’ve been weakened the last time she had to fight a ranger team and that’s why she’s been having trouble with the hypnotized kids. The weird thing is, the kids didn’t have earpieces, they had nanobot chips on the back of their ears. Jason and I think that the earpieces could only be used on actual rangers.”

“Actual rangers? What do you mean?”

“While we were under her spell, we learned that the kids don’t have power coins like the rest of us do. The kids all got their powers because they were exposed to radiation from the Zeo Crystal,” Jason explained.

“That can’t be right, I found a girl with a green coin. She helped me get the pod kids out of the trucks.” Trini rubbed her face.

“But I thought Rita had the green power coin? Whatever, we’ll get back to that. We think your roar is strong enough that it can disrupt the signal to the bots, which is why the giant nano monster was falling apart after your zord roared at it,” Billy said.

“Holy shit guys, great job. Keep looking into it and let me know if you find anything else,” Trini said on her way out. She could faintly hear Jason and Billy talk about the green coin and what it could mean for the team.  

Trini spotted Kim a couple feet away from the cliff, sitting under a tree on their rock. 

“You okay princess?” Trini asked, wrapping her arms around Kim’s middle. The pink ranger shrugged her shoulders as Trini sat with her.

  “It was so weird Trin. She was in my head, it’s like she was controlling my body, but I could see everything she was making me do. After you got away, the guys,” she stopped to take a breath as tears started to flow from her eyes, “the guys dragged me to her. When she was looking into my eyes, it was like every muscle in my body was burning. When she got inside my head, she showed me every bad thing I've ever done or thought. The boys were like robots, I thought we’d lost them forever, I thought I'd lost you forever.”

 Kim tucked her head underneath Trini’s chin, the tears falling silently. A soft purring sound came from Trini’s throat as she stroked Kimberly’s hair.

“It’s okay Kim, I got you.” 

Soft footsteps and a cough came from behind them, “Zordon’s asking for us,” Jason said, giving the girls their space.

_____

  “Rangers, I’m glad to see you all safe. I am afraid your mission has not ended yet. In the past couple hours, the earthquakes have come more frequently and at stronger levels in the city. Alpha and I think that Astronema is preparing her forces to lead an attack on Angel Grove.”

“You saw what she did to us last time, what chance do we have of beating her now?” Zack said nonchalantly. 

“Why are you thinking like that? We have no choice but to beat her Zack,” Jason argued.

“I’m just being realistic, how are we supposed to beat her?” 

“Enough! You need to come up with a plan, Astronema is probabl-” 

An earthquake shook the mountain before Zordon could finish. Dust shook from the ceiling as the rumbling only got worse. Lights lit up on the control boards as the whole ship continued to shake. Billy pulled up his chair to the computer to map the source of the quakes.

“Guys we have a giant monster walking straight through downtown.” 

“The time is now rangers! Go forth and save your home.” Zordon’s voice shook through the quakes.

  At midnight, the rangers were set up around the town square, watching nanos as they moved silently, stalking their way out of several apartments. Children slung unconsciously from their shoulders, they made their way to the ground where the same little boy from before opened a portal near the town square. 

“Alright everyone, let’s move.” Jason said through their comms. 

The team snuck their way through to the center, slowly creeping behind the last nano going through the portal. Jason made a hand gesture that signaled them to move quickly.  

The blue light of the portal was blinding. In a flash, the light was gone and when Jason opened his eyes they were in an underground cavern. Zack pulled the others behind a stack of large crates. He shushed them as he peeked over the crates to watch the nanos.

“All right, everyone stay together. We’re outnumbered so try to stay unnoticed.” Jason whispered.

They waited until the monsters rounded a corner before walking along. They moved silently, Jason taking the lead with Trini behind the others. The team came upon a fork in the path.

“Okay here’s the plan, Billy’s mapping system thinks we’re in the original mine shafts from before the town was officially built. Trini, you and Kim go to the left. Billy, Zack, and I will go to the right. Billy’s put the map schematics into our arm tech so don’t worry about getting lost. Everyone keep your comms on and make sure we meet back at the portal spot in twenty minutes.” Jason said. 

The team split and the girls went down their path. The hairs on Trini’s hair stood on end as they came to a door.

“Kim wait I have a ba-” 

Before Trini could finish, the door opened and a squad of nanos marched out. Kimberly squeezed Trini closer to her. Kim looked around to find somewhere to hide, but saw nothing, her breathing came in short bursts. Trini could feel Kim thinking herself into a panic attack. 

“Calm down, it’s gonna be okay just breathe.” Trini soothed her. 

Kim took in a big gulp of air and when she closed her eyes, a pink dome-like shield cast itself around them. Trini inwardly panicked as the monsters looked directly at the two girls. One stared directly at them, its green eyes staring directly at them, though it didn’t seem to even see them. When they rounded the corner, Trini and Kim separated and looked at each other.

“Did you just make us invisible?” Trini smiled.

“I- I don’t know. Maybe? I felt this warmth spread around my body and I thought of a way to hide us.” Kim said.

The girls quieted down as they entered the room the nano monsters had come out of. The room was covered wall to wall with steel pods, each with a child inside. The room was insanely cold and seemed to be two floors tall. Trini walked up to one of the pods.

“Babe come look at this.” Kim said, her hand brushing across a pod.

Trini turned her head, inside the pod was a little girl. Trini recognized her as one of her brother’s friends from school. 

The girls ducked as the door opened again. Trini pulled Kim behind the pod as Astronema walked in with a Sabertooth at her side.

“Oh kitty, it’s so hard to be me. Those little brats keep breaking my gaze somehow,” she said dramatically, stoking the tiger, “I fear if I don’t act soon, the rangers will uncover my plans. Those military bozos won’t have the transport ready for another twenty four hours. OH and on top of that, I haven’t even found the Zeo Crystal yet.” 

Her tiger perked its ears and growled. 

“Oh? Yes I do think so, let's go greet them shall we?” Astronema laughed as she and the tiger went through a mini portal.

 Trini grabbed Kim and they raced back out the door, running through the dim hallway they came from.

“Guys? We gotta go. Kim and I found some crazy shit.” Trini said through their comms. All that came back was static.

The girls came to a screeching halt as a blockade of nanos and kids stopped them. 

“Leaving so soon Power Rangers?” Astronema said, the wall of her minions parting for her to pass. 

Trini and Kim took a fighting stance.

“Oh come now, surely you can’t leave without your friends can you?” She chuckled. Stepping over, Astronema wove a hand and Zack, Billy, and Jason walked forward, their armor gone and their eyes completely blue and devoid of any emotion.

‘What’s wrong girls? I just took your little friends and enhanced them.” Astronema cackled as she ran her nails down Jason’s jaw.

A low growl made its way through Trini’s throat. She shifted her body to shield Kim.

“Awe. It’s endearing how you think you can protect her, or any of them for that matter,” the enchantress said in her smooth voice, “but it won’t help you. Once I get rid of the two of you, I’ll be free to send the kids off to infiltrate the government, then I can dig up the crystal and no one will stop me!” 

“Why would you bother telling us your whole plan?” Kim said from behind Trini.

“Why?” Astronema cocked her head. “Well pinkie, that’s because you two won’t make it out of here alive.” Astronema gave them a wolfish smile, she lifted a sharpened nail. “Destroy them,” she said, cackling.

Kim gripped Trini’s hand as they ran through the maze of a mineshaft. Behind them, they could hear the thunderous footsteps of both the hypnotized children and their teammates. Kim looked down at the map on her arm, they were headed for one very large pit.

“We gotta think of a plan soon Trin! There’s a giant hole coming up!” Kim said in one breath.

Trini wracked her brain for an idea. She knew there was an opening above the pit, but the jump would be too high for Kim to make. The lightbulb went off in her head.

“Get on my back, quickly!” Trini said as they made it to the edge of the pit.

“What? Trini there’s no way we’ll both make it. We’d be too heavy.” Kim panted as they heard the boys approaching.

“Dammit Kimberly there’s no time! We have to try.” 

Kim wrapped her arms and legs around the other girl as Trini took a giant leap at the cliff above the pit. Kimberly could feel them falling just as Trini’s fingertips grabbed the edge of it. Kimberly saw the boys and the kids standing at the edge of the pit.

“Trini?” Kim said as Trini tried to pull them up.

“Just hold on, I got it.” Trini grunted as she struggled to pull them both.

“Trini look at me,” Kim’s voice wobbled, “I need you to keep going.” 

Trini looked down at her girlfriend, realization dawning on her.

“No, no don’t say that Kim. I can pull us up just give me a minute.” 

“Trini we don’t have a minute! You need to get to the surface and find a way to stop Astronema.” Kim said, untangling her legs.

The hand that wasn’t gripping the ledge grabbed Kim’s thigh in an attempt to stop her.

“No! Don’t let go Kim, please. I can’t do this without you!” Trini cried out.

Kim looked over her shoulder, Jason and Billy were locking fingers to help Zack get a boost. They were out of time.

“Get out of here Trini.” Kim said.

“No please! Don’t do this Kimberly.” Trini cried, her grip slipping.

Kim kissed the top of her head, “I love you, I know you can do this.”

Kimberly launched off of Trini’s back. She used the momentum to send her body right into the path of where Zack and the boys were. On the ground, Kim threw punches restlessly, trying to take out as many people as possible. Trini watched in horror as Billy came up behind her and pinned Kim’s arms behind her back. Zack gripped her head as Jason stared into her eyes. Trini had to watch as her girlfriend’s kind brown eyes turned an icy blue.

She pulled herself up from the edge. The map on her arm told her that there should be an exit coming up soon. Trini ran, she ran so hard she thought her legs might fall off. The path seemed to go on for eternity, until finally she saw the moonlight illuminating the exit. Trini recognized the opening as being on the other side of town. She could faintly hear footsteps approaching behind her.

Thinking quickly, Trini put her fingers to her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. In an instant, Kimberly’s zord was above her. Trini climbed into the cockpit and flew as quickly as she could towards the ship. 

_____

  “Trini what happened? Where are the others?” Alpha asked as she walked into the ship.

She had to sit, had to think. She just wanted a moment to catch her breath. She laid down on the cot in the medbay, her hand brushing over something soft. She turned her head to see that it was one of the hoodies Kim had stolen from her months ago. Trini could feel the tears well up in her eyes.

She was so tired, and she didn’t know if she could go on without her friends. Especially without Kimberly. Trini closed her eyes, thinking of her friends, of how she could possibly take on the problem alone.

“Trini, Zordon needs you in the command room immediately.” Alpha said, entering the medbay.

Trini sighed, her limbs feeling heavy. She lifted herself from the cot and walked past alpha without a word.

“Trini, we must address the problem. Without the re-” 

“Shut up.” Trini cut him off.

“Trini this isn’t a game. We need a plan on how to handle this.” 

“I said shut up! Don’t you get it? Without the rest of my team i’m nothing!” The short girl yelled, balling up her fists at her sides, “without Billy, Zack, Jason, KIMBERLY! Without them I have nothing! I’m just some weird little mexican dyke with no friends who moves every couple months. My friends, my family, they make me who I am. Without them I don’t know what to do.”  

Trini felt the tears spill from her eyes, running hot down her cheeks. She could feel her claws dig into her palms.

“I don’t know how to do this without them Zordon.” 

The man in the wall said nothing for a beat, simply letting Trini’s words wash over him. 

“Then don’t do this without them. Do it for them,” He said softly, “Trini losing your team is not something I take lightly, but I know that you are one of the strongest rangers I have ever had the honor of guiding. There is a reason you have the alpha abilities, even when you didn’t have them, you protect those you love, even if it puts you at harm. So go, go save them, and prove to everyone that you are the alpha Power Ranger.” 

The tears had stopped running down her face. Trini took a deep breath to try and reel in her emotions. Her body felt heavy and she wanted so desperately to just stop for a minute. She knew he was right though, she had to fight to get her family back.

“Step onto the power grid, and finally feel the extent of your powers.” Zordon said in a booming voice.

Trini gripped the rails. Her feet felt glued to the spot as blinding yellow light filled her eyes. The power that coursed through her veins was unlike anything she’d ever felt before.She could feel the animal inside her stir, as though it were trying to claw its way out of her.

And it did, Trini opened her eyes and was met face to face with a yellow Sabertooth tiger. It stood in the middle of the grid, watching her. Trini stood, raising her chin at the beast. It bowed its head to her. Trini stroked its mane and touched foreheads with the giant tiger. When she pulled away, it was gone and Trini felt her strength come back.