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Chapter Text

Captain Mitchell’s Office

“How is Carter?” Capt. Mitchell asked as he and Ms. Fairweather entered his office.

“He’ll be fine soon enough, Captain, but it took a lot out of him.”

“Hopefully we’ll have more success with the other rangers.”

Ms. Fairweather stopped. “What?”

“The other rangers, one of them might be strong enough.”

“With all due respect, Captain,” Ms. Fairweather said gripping the Titanium morpher, “We both know that none of them are. Carter…no, even Carter didn’t have a chance. The rangers have their own morphers, individually formatted. Even if you had allowed us to search for another person with compatibility I don’t think it would matter, no one can use it.”

Capt. Mitchell paused, then turned and sat at his desk, “But we won’t know that for sure unless we continue testing.”

In frustration Ms. Fairweather practically slammed the morpher down on Captain Mitchell’s desk. “I don’t think we should continue testing the Titanium powers. The circuitry is too powerful for an ordinary human.”

Capt. Mitchell gently picked up the morpher, his eyes never leaving it. But the Captain has always known that, thought Ms. Fairweather, frustrated. That was how he had always wanted it. Why did he insist on testing it knowing that no one could handle the power? Ms. Fairweather sighed and turned around, heading out of the room.

Finally looking up, he called to her, “It would have been fantastic,” he said, seemingly trying to justify all their hard work.

Ms. Fairweather slowed her exit and at the door turned back to him. There was something in his eyes. She couldn’t place what it was but she felt a strong desire to reassure him. She smiled, “Yes, it truly would have.” She waited, seeing him relax a bit. “Good night, Captain.” And it would have, she thought as she turned out into the hallway, if there was actually someone who could wear it.

Skull Cavern

“I sensed great power coming from the Ranger’s base a moment ago,” Diabolico announced joining the other demons in the main chamber. “The rangers are seeking to increase their numbers.”

“How can you be sure? What if it’s only a new weapon?” asked Vypra.

“I can tell the difference between a weapon’s energy and a rangers’,” Diabolico sneered, “And it is the way with all power rangers. They ebb in battle and are suddenly empowered with another member. But this time they will be stopped before their power increases.”

“But if you sensed the power from their base then they already have it.” Loki complained.

“No. This power was too intense for a mere human to wield. It was fleeting. They could not keep it contained.”

Loki remained skeptical, “Even if we could wield their human technology, we can’t reach their base under the water to retrieve…” Loki’s voice faded out as a figure emerged from the shadows behind Diabolico. A knowing smile began on Vypra’s lips.

“Aaah, but we can do both,” Diabolico brought his hands up and curled them into fists, “Now is the time to put our wild card to use. Now is the time to cripple and destroy the rangers! All as it…” he paused sensing the boy behind him, “…should be.”

Aqua Base- Night

A lone figure kept to the shadows of the darkened hallways leaving water puddles in his tracks. He could avoid the humans easily enough he had honed the skill of sensing the simplest of energy’s years ago, thanks to Diabolico. Not that he really needed that skill now; the central hub of the base was devoid of every human but a few unintelligent sentries. He sneered at them as they passed him by. Pathetic. He knew he was to remain undiscovered until he revealed to them their loss the next day, but he had wished someone might have the skill to find him. To begin their end right then and there.

He quickly turned his focus back to his mission. Finding the office was not a problem, the humans had everything labeled. Not to mention maps of the entire base secured to a number of the walls. A large, golden bird and a name plate adorned the door that made barely a sound as it let him in and closed behind him. The lights were off but he had no trouble seeing every corner of the room.

As he was making his way around he noticed something odd. On top of the desk sat a short white cylinder with pieces missing from it. Leaning in to get a closer look a sweet smell entered his nose. He almost jolted back in surprise. The tomb, where he had spent most of his life, was musky, the smell of it almost never changed. This base was sterile. He had only noticed the smell of human sweat on his way here. This sweet scent was almost completely foreign to him… but... a memory tugged at his mind. A cake. For celebrations. The memory surprised him. He remembered so few things of that life. Without thinking he brought his finger forward to the icing. It stopped millimeters from the cake. A celebration. Without him. He fought the urge to throw the cake across the room. There would be no more celebrations for them.

He opened one of the drawers hoping to find something to help him open the rooms safe. He stopped, momentarily shocked. The key to the safe lay there in the open drawer. With a smirk he picked up the key and tossed it triumphantly in his hand. They were making this too easy. Curious he picked up the object that had been beneath the keys. Turning it over he froze. It was a picture. A man held a young girl in his arms. His mind drifted for a moment and he absently caressed their two faces with his thumb. Then he noticed the second child and his eyes narrowed. He quickly placed the picture back in the drawer and turned to the safe. The memories these objects brought to his mind were unsettling and all he wanted to do now was get out of there.

He unlocked the safe and opened it revealing various documents and the morpher. As he retrieved the morpher he caught sight of one of the documents. Titanium Ranger Project: Top Secret. Smirking, he grabbed the folder and closed the safe. They cleared out, left the doors unlocked, gave me the keys and left the manual; I need to remember to thank them… before I break their necks.

It was too bad he wouldn’t be here to see their reactions when they realized what had happened. He quickly put the keys back in the drawer and was about to close it when the picture caught his attention again. A part of him wanted to destroy it more than the cake, yet another part…

Aqua Base

Monitors buzzed and the staff busied themselves checking systems in the command center as Capt. Mitchell watched the battle between Vypra and the rangers, transmitting from their helmet cameras. He turned his attention to the paperwork he had been handed. The rangers could easily handle Vypra and a few Batlings.

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away,” Vypra was saying, “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. The moment you meet your match!”

As she spoke a thunderous cloud formed in the air between the two opposing sides. Capt. Mitchell quickly turned back to the monitor. “What on earth…” As the cloud descended and grew brighter shock waves sent the rangers sprawling to the ground. A form, illuminated with power, emerged from the cloud and as the light faded.

“Titanium Ranger?”

Aqua Base- Lab

Ms. Fairweather stood at a lab table covered with a puzzle of pieces that would eventually be the rangers’ new weapons. Inspired by the Titanium powers, Ms. Fairweather wanted to show Capt. Mitchell that he didn’t need to obsess over finding someone to give all of that power to. They could still have a weapon just as powerful, maybe even more powerful. The key was not to concentrate all that power in one devise but in separate weapons that could later combine their energy. They will be powerful she thought to herself, but I can’t do any more with them until I get the ‘V’ transmitters working. Her thoughts were interrupted as Capt. Mitchell came running into the lab.

“Ms. Fairweather!”

“Captain, what is it, what’s wrong?”

“Quickly,” he exclaimed gesturing for her to follow him, “The Titanium Ranger is fighting the other rangers!” Capt. Mitchell exclaimed.

“What?!” Ms. Fairweather exclaimed, dropping her scanner and following, “But that’s not possible!”

A noticeable silence had fallen over the command center and many of the staff stood motionless watching the battle as the two rushed in. “Oh, no!” Ms. Fairweather exclaimed seeing the titanium clad ranger now for herself.

Aqua Base- Conference Room

Captain Mitchell stood at the entrance to the room. Inside he heard the rangers’ heated discussion. “Then it had to be someone in Lightspeed!” Kelsey said

“Yeah, but nobody would do that,” Joel pointed out.

“Who else?” Kelsey countered. The room fell silent. No one wanted to believe that someone at Lightspeed was a traitor but since the demons didn’t know where the secret entrance was and the only other way in was by water it seemed to be the only possible choice.

“Alright,” Capt. Mitchell said, entering the room and walking to the table. “We’ll worry about how it was stolen later. For now,” he leaned across the table, “We have got to get it back… fast.”

“That won’t be easy,” Ms. Fairweather said and the group turned to her. “For hand to hand combat purposes we currently don’t have anything anywhere near as powerful as we will need.” Ms. F looked at the Captain, “The Titanium ranger is too powerful, he would just swat them away like you saw him do with the Rescue Bird.”

“Um, you saw,” corrected Chad rubbing his shoulder, “we felt.”

Carter spoke up, “Ms. Fairweather?”

“Yes, Carter?”

“How can anyone use the morpher? I mean, if they were human it wouldn’t be possible, right? And demons can’t use it since it’s designed for humans, so…” he paused, glancing around at everyone, “who’s in the suit?”

Silence once again filled the room as everyone mulled the information around in their minds. “Well,” said Ms. F breaking the silence, “It wouldn’t be impossible for it to be a human, but for someone to be strong enough and to also know of the morpher’s existence, it’s extremely unlikely. “However,” she continued, “It’s not impossible for it to be a demon either. In ranger history there have been many accounts of Putties, the equivalent of our Batlings,” she clarified, “taking on human form. That could be enough to confuse the power and allow them to use it.”

“Whoa!” Joel said putting up his hands, “Are you saying we just got our butts handed to us by a Batling?”

“No matter who it was,” Capt. Mitchell interrupted, “the fact remains that Diabolico has the morpher, and the Titanium power.” He turned once again to Ms. F. “Are you sure there is nothing we have that could make a difference?”

Ms. Fairweather hesitated and then sighed, “There may be something, Captain, but they’re not finished yet.”

“Then get every able hand on this base working on it. Rangers, I need you out in the city. We can’t waste any time when he shows up. We need to be prepared for the next attack.”

Aqua Base- Capt. Mitchell’s office

Capt. Mitchell sat at his desk. It was nearing the end of the day and still no sign of attack. He couldn’t keep the rangers out there forever. He would have to think about calling them in soon if nothing happened. He sighed. What a mess this all was. The Titanium powers weren’t suppose to be a menacing threat, but a fantastic addition to Lightspeed. Thinking of this, his mind drifted and for the second time that day he opened his right side drawer and tried to pull out his family’s picture. His hand froze and he quickly looked down into the drawer. It wasn’t there. Frantically he searched the rest of the drawers. Nothing. He was about to open the safe when the intercom in the room went off.

“Capt. Mitchell! It’s the Titanium ranger, he’s attacking!”

He hurried from the room toward the command center, his mind racing. What had happened to the picture? Why would someone take something so personal? Before he could think about it any further the lift opened and he hurried through the command center and into the conference room. Seeing the fight on the monitor his mind focused on the task at hand and he put his head set on. The Titanium ranger easily cut down anyone who came up against him.

Not only is he more powerful but his fighting skills seemed to be unmatched as well.

As the rangers were knocked to the ground by an intense blast the captain opened the comm. link to the lab. Why hadn’t the V Lancers been sent yet? Ms. Fairweather, we are out of time.” A moment later her face appeared on the screen, “But we haven’t finished testing it.”

“That’s a luxury we can’t afford.”

“Alright,” Ms. F agreed, reluctantly.

Capt. Mitchell turned back to the screen with the rangers. They were contacted and quickly called on the V lancers. At first they seemed to make only a small difference, and then the titanium ranger lost his weapon. Still showing immense skill his fended them off but was quickly knocked back by a team effort. Capt. Mitchell smiled slightly. He was proud of the rangers. In these few short months they had really become a formidable team.

The Titanium ranger rose from the ground and made a dash for his weapon. Guided by Ms. Fairweather, the rangers switched to blaster mode and created their weapons’ Spectral Blast just as the Titanium ranger was about to open fire. There was a huge explosion and he fell to the ground. The Captain heard cheers from the other room but they quickly quieted when they all watched in amazement as the Titanium ranger slowly began to rise.

Capt. Mitchell couldn’t believe it. At their current level setting the power was greater than the titanium power. How was he even moving? On the screen the Titanium ranger slowly turned around and faced the rangers, his visor down. Capt. Mitchell, feeling like he had been hit it the stomach, rose from his chair. “No.” he whispered. The eyes that stared at him from the monitor were cold, hate filled and shockingly familiar. As the Titanium ranger made his way toward the other rangers, blaster in hand, each step seemed to cause him great pain.

Capt. Mitchell’s mind filled the missing piece to all of their questions. Only a human could have made it into the base through the water. His missing picture. And, most of all, how the thief had been able to call on the power and join with it so perfectly. The last one only Capt. Mitchell knew the real reason for. But…

William turned his head from the screen, NO! his mind cried. It couldn’t be. This wasn’t the way he had imagined this reunion. Not the merciless enemy before him. He had given up hope of ever seeing him again. When the demons had been released earlier than they had planned, William had readied himself to see those eyes, to explain the years of lying to everyone, but nothing had happened. Diabolico didn’t gloat, ransom, or hint to anything. He was dead. What other explanation could there be? William had lived with that possibility for 14 years. Part of him could accept that end… but this?

“Lock on!” he heard Carter yell, which pulled his mind back to the screen. The Titanium ranger staggered ever closer to the rangers, seemingly ready to collapse at any moment, but having an overpowering stubbornness keeping him up. “Target locked!”

That stubbornness will get you into trouble some day.

The memory pulled him out of his frozen state. “Don’t fire!” William cried into his mouthpiece.

“What?!” came Carter’s surprised voice, “Please repeat, sir!”

“Hold your fire!” he repeated

Cries of disbelief came from the other rangers.

“Don’t shoot,” he reaffirmed.

The rangers reluctantly stood down. As the Titanium ranger collapsed in the street, so did his father, back into the chair, the shouts from his metallic clad son, not wanting the fight to end, echoing in his mind.

Chapter Text

Tomb

The young boy slowly opened his eyes and they quickly adjusted to the dark room. Realizing that he was in an unfamiliar room, his body froze but his eyes darted around taking everything in. The only light in the room came from two torches hanging by an opening in front of him and from what he saw it looked like he was in a cave. He felt the cold hard ground beneath him but seeing his height to the wall realized that he was lying on a stone table. He pushed himself up, his clothes sticking to the surface of the rock. He looked around. There were two ways out of the room, both were dark and uninviting.

Where’s dad? Is he here too? What about Dana? His mind began to panic so he took a deep breath, like his dad had taught him, to calm himself down and to focus. He shivered involuntarily; not just because of the eerie feeling his surroundings gave him but because he couldn’t shake the feelings his dream had left him with. He wanted to cry but voices from down one of the entryways made his breath catch in his throat.

Pretend to be asleep, his mind cried. Maybe they’ll leave!

Run! cried another voice in his head.

He tried to breathe softly but he began to shake as he slowly crawled off the table and stopped at the entrance where the voices were coming from. They were just outside the room but didn’t seem to be getting closer. He peeked around the corner. The large hallway was even darker than the room. He saw only one torch lit and the voices seemed to come from just beyond the light’s reach.

“The Destiny Card led you to that weak human child?” a woman’s voice asked. He almost shrank away. He had a feeling they were talking about him.

“You know the power of the Destiny Card, Vypra. It didn’t lead me to just any human child. He is stronger than you have perceived.”

“Human strength is nothing compared to our power!” a deep voice joined in.

“Never forget that humans sometimes have more than mere physical strength. If that were not true we would not be trapped within this cursed place!” Silence followed this statement, then the voice continued, “The power led me to one connected with our destiny. By finding him, more of our future was revealed. I now know when we shall be released from this tomb.”

“What? How can -” the woman’s voice cut off as they heard the gasp that had escaped the boy’s mouth. As she had spoken the woman stepped into the light revealing her demonic appearance to him. Her body seemed to be human with long wavy black hair; he almost thought she was human but then he saw the large reptilian wings extending from her back. Her fingers extended to hard silver points that matched the silver scaled armor that covered her body. The eyes of her helmet seemed to follow him, mirroring the woman’s own white snake eyes.

Two other creatures came into the light, one large and black with glowing yellow eyes. The other was golden, taller than the black one, with razor sharp teeth. Huge silver horns rose from its’ head but also from another face on its’ chestplate.

Monsters! He stood frozen in place for only a second then he turned and ran back through the room and out the other side.

“Ryan!” a deep unfamiliar voice called after him, “Come back!”

He almost stopped when he heard his name but, realizing it was one of the monsters, ran faster through the blackness. How do they know my name?!

He turned down random passageways hoping to lose the monsters in the dimly lit corridors but only managed to confuse and frighten himself further. He stopped when he couldn’t run any more, a sob escaping as he tried to catch his breath. Everything looked the same; every turn, every tunnel. Hopelessness washed over him. Was he running in circles?

He jumped back when a voice called to him from the shadows in front of him. “Ryan,” the golden monster stepped forward, his hands palm out, “don’t be afraid.”

Ryan moved into a defensive stance out of habit, but knowing he couldn’t do anything against the monster’s advance. He whirled around hearing a deep laugh behind him. “Ha, he doesn’t look so tough!”

“Loki!” the gold monster warned.

Ryan could just make out the large black creature’s face as he stopped smiling and took a few steps back into the darkness.

“He will not hurt you, Ryan.” The voice called his attention back to the monster with the red glowing eyes.

“How do you know my name?” Ryan asked, trying to sound brave.

The monster’s face now showed confusion, “Don’t you remember me, Ryan? Don’t you remember the car crash?”

Scenes from his dream flashed through his mind, “Crash? But… I only dreamed…” he shook his head, “Where’s my dad and my sister?”

There was a pause but the red eyes never stopped looking at him. “They are safe. Your father saved your sister. They are with other humans by now, I imagine. But…”

Ryan’s heart was racing; he fought the tears as they began to fill his eyes, “Why am I here? When can I go home?”

“I know this must be hard for you, Ryan, but you must understand, your father didn’t save you. He didn’t want you. He let you fall.”

“He wouldn’t!” His dad was hero, he always saved people.

“He did, Ryan. He let go of you and you fell. I saw it myself.” Diabolico declared moving his hand to his chest.

“I… I was holding his shoe,” Ryan’s voice quivered, his stance faltering.

The monster smiled, revealing long, razor sharp teeth. “You are a very strong and resourceful boy, Ryan; you did that yourself.”

The images were clearer in his mind now; him asking for help, his dad not doing anything, then a ghostly light appearing. He looked at the demon. “You…”

“Yes. I, Diabolico, came to save you but your father sent me away. He refused my help and let you fall.

“But…” Tears began to fall down his cheeks.

“But I wouldn’t leave you, Ryan. I saved you from the fall. You remember, don’t you?”

Ryan was falling fast through the air, the fire on the ground growing closer and closer. Then, that same ghostly light was flying quickly toward him.

Ryan crumbled to the ground, sobs wracking his body. “Why didn’t he save me? Why didn’t he let you help?” his small voice cried.

Diabolico kneeled next to Ryan, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know, Ryan. He must have loved your sister more than you, to hold onto her and let you go. A father who truly loved you would have been there for you, he would have saved you.” The sobs grew more intense and Ryan latched onto Diabolico’s knee, burying his face in the armor. The pain in his chest grew. His dad didn’t want him, didn’t love him. He didn’t know for how long he cried but Diabolico kept his hand on Ryan’s back; never moving, saying nothing until the sobs finally grew quiet.

“I will always be here for you, Ryan. I can see your great potential; even if that man could not.” Finally, releasing the knee, Ryan looked up. Diabolico brought his other hand to the boy’s shoulder. “I will take care of you.” He said slowly pulling the boy to his chest.

Ryan let himself be pulled in. His eyes were dry and swollen. He couldn’t cry anymore. His head pounded and an emptiness grew in place where the pain had been.

“Come,” Diabolico ordered, gently pushing the child away and rising, “there is much to be done.” Then, almost as an afterthought, he leaned back down to Ryan and spoke to him slowly. “But first, you must tell me… when were you born?”

Skull Cavern

Ryan’s eyes flashed open. He could feel beads of sweat falling from his bare chest onto the rock beneath him. He lay still, on the stone tablet where he slept, staring off into the darkness that his eyes were, now, forever adjusted to.

The beginning…or the end; It depended on the day how he felt about when he was brought to the tomb. Usually in his dreams he only saw the memories from a distance but since coming back into the mortal world his past feelings were soaked into each one. He cursed the memory as he sat up. He hated remembering the fear. It was so intense when he was a child. His weakness had only been tolerated for so long among the demons. Vypra and Loki would constantly point it out to Diabolico; the human weakness that would always be there. Ryan’s jaw clenched. After everything Diabolico had done for him, he was repaid with disgrace. Remembering his constant tears and self pity, it was no wonder Diabolico finally lost patience with him. He didn’t regret the encounter but saw it as the true beginning of his training.

The staff caught Ryan hard in the stomach, sending him sprawling across the room. Diabolico had begun teaching him within the week of his arrival, simple at first, and then more intense as the first then second year came upon him. Those sessions usually ended with Ryan whimpering in the corner.

“Get up,” Diabolico ordered.

Ryan struggled for breath, “I can’t.”

“You will not give up! Not again!” Diabolico thundered, gripping his staff tightly with both hands, “You are stronger than that! Get up!” Ryan held his stomach not moving.

Diabolico snarled, raising his staff. “Now!” A bolt of electricity erupted from the staff, connected with Ryan, and threw him through the air, pinning him against the cavern wall. Ryan writhed and cried out in pain, unable to free himself. He was held there for a second more then released. He crumpled to the ground moaning. “You’re pathetic.” Diabolioc sneered, pacing slightly in front of Ryan. “How did you survive that night long enough for me to find you? If I had known that you wouldn’t even try, I would have let you die.”

Ryan struggled to get up; rising only to his knees, “I am trying, Diabolico, please…”

His anger seemed unquenchable, “You call this trying?! You crumple at every blow!” The staff swung horizontally at Ryan, striking his face and knocking him once again to the ground. His head spun, he wanted to vomit, but his stomach was empty. He forced himself to recover faster this time, slowly rising to his feet.

“Maybe Loki and Vypra are right. Are you just another weak human?”

“No.” Ryan said flatly, through clenched teeth.

“And if I think you are? You have done nothing to show me otherwise.” Diabolico stated, hitting Ryan again with another, but shorter, electrical burst. He was knocked against the wall but refused to fall.

“I wasn’t power or strength I sensed, just stubbornness. You are weak,” he goaded, powering up the staff again, “just like you father.”

Ryan’s head snapped up. His mind raced in the few seconds it took the staff to charge. He saw the scene. A fight he and his father had had. He didn’t want to go to bed and refused to give up his markers. They were never pried from his hand. His father, covered with marker lines and looking tired, had dragged him to his room. “That stubbornness will get you into trouble some day.” His father said angrily, before slamming the door.

Anger flooded his mind. The energy gathered to the tip of the staff. His father was weak. He wasn’t. He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t his father! “NO!!” he yelled, throwing his hands up as the energy shot toward him. Instead of entering his body, the blast stopped in front of him, gathering in his palms.

Diabolico’s eyes widened slightly. He had begun teaching the boy about using and sensing energy but not to this level.

Ryan could only hold the globe for a few seconds before the energy overtook him; entering his arms, he made a choking sound as it raced up to his throat and head. As the energy dissipated he slumped against the wall; hurt from the blast and drained from the power it had taken to control it.

The room grew silent. Diabolico studied Ryan, his glowing eyes not breaking their gaze for several moments. He brought his staff once again parallel to himself. “Or,” he declared, thoughtfully, walking over to Ryan, who had pushed off the wall but was still breathing heavily, “I just haven’t been training you hard enough.” He placed a hand on his shoulder, “Well done,” he softly praised, then turned and exited the training room.

Ryan stood there, taken aback by the praise, a cut by his eye bleeding and his arms still pulsating.

That moment had felt greater than anything he’d done before. All because of Diabolico. His father would never have been able to help him gain such power. His father. The only reason the rangers would have stopped their attack was if he had ordered it. He knows who I am. Good. It will work out the way Diabolico has planned. But losing to the rangers was unacceptable and had only disgraced Diabolico further. He was only allowed to stop Diabolico’s staff blasts while training, a fact he had only forgotten once and would never forget again. Sleep however had helped him recuperate from the battle and the punishment for his failure afterwards.
Perhaps thinking Ryan’s loss was because his was becoming weak from being around the humans again; Diabolico had once again brought up the night of the accident. New rage had filled him with each word that was spoken. Instead of battle he was sent to rest. With the hatred still raw he could only sleep for so long. They will all pay.

He could no longer wait for the new day to dawn. He grabbed his shirt and left the room. He would make it begin.

Chapter Text

Aqua Base

The rangers, minus Dana, sat quietly together in the mess hall eating their breakfasts. After Capt. Mitchell’s revelation the day before they had been quieter than usual. The base, as a whole, wasn’t told the reason for Capt. Mitchell’s new orders about the Titanium ranger but rumors had begun to spread.

Joel broke the silence, “Did you know that people are saying that the captain is so afraid of the demons now he won’t let us fight them?”

Kelsey looked surprised, “Really?

“Anyone who knew the captain would know that wasn’t true.” Carter said defensively.

Joel put his hands up, “I’m just telling you what people are saying. I know it’s not true. We heard it from the horse’s mouth.”

There was a pause then Chad spoke, “I’ve never seen the captain like that before. He always had that… structure. He was always so put together, but yesterday…”

“Well how would you be if you had to give your kid to a demon to save his life and he came back and tried to destroy the city?” Joel quipped

“Guys,” Carter cautioned, looking toward the door. The other rangers looked over and saw Dana half way in the room looking over to where they sat. Kelsey tried to wave her over but Dana turned around and left the room. Carter sighed, “Stay here,” he said, as Kelsey began to rise, “I’ll go talk to her.”

Hall

She had only made it around the corner before Carter caught up with her, “Dana, wait up.” She kept walking like she hadn’t heard him. “Dana,” he cut her off and she finally stopped. “Dana, you know the team is here for you, right?”

She looked up at him, “How can you help, Carter, when you have no idea what I’m going through.”

“We can try, Dana. Give us a chance,” He pause when she looked away, he hesitated, then said more softly, “Give me a chance.”

She turned back to him, searching his face.

The air suddenly erupted as the base’s alarm went off. Kelsey was the first one out of the mess hall. She rushed past them, and then paused, looking at them expectantly.

“Let’s go,” Carter said reluctantly, wishing he could finish talking with Dana.

Command Center

The rangers rushed into the command center and over to the city monitors. “It’s the Titanium ranger, he’s back!” On the screen it showed the evil ranger advancing on civilians.

Carter turned to Capt. Mitchell’s assistant, “Where’s the Captain? What does he want us to do?”

“He left this morning without saying anything. He didn’t even look at the base reports.”

“You mean Capt. Mitchell didn’t tell anyone where he was going?” Joel asked, surprised.

“That’s not like him,” Carter mussed.

“What are we supposed to do?” Kelsey asked, “We can’t attack the Titanium ranger.”

“But he’ll destroy the city!” Chad protested.

“This is an emergency; we’ve got to do something!” Joel pressed

Without the Captain there it was Carter’s responsibility to send out the team. Loyalty to the captain and his duty to the city fought in his mind. Why wasn’t Dana speaking up? He turned to the back of the group but she wasn’t there. “Where’s Dana?” Why wouldn’t she be here? This was her brother, she….. it hit. “She’s going after him,” he said racing out of the room, “Come on!”

They raced around the corner to the lab with the Rescue Rover just in time to see it being lowered with Dana at its wheel. “Dana, wait!” he called out. She turned and looked at him, anger in her eyes; it was like a slap in the face. Why won’t she trust us to help?

“Dana!” Kelsey cried, as they rushed forward, but she was gone.

Street

Dana jumped out of the Rover and passed people as they ran away from the onslaught of the Titanium ranger. She quickly morphed as she rounded a corner and onto the scene of attack. Her brother had some people cornered and, with his axe in its’ laser mode, was firing at them. Oh, no. She rushed forward unsheathing her rescue blaster and switching it to baton mode. As her brother fired again she intercepted and deflected it with her weapon, Good thing it wasn’t on full power, she thought as she sent the people away.

I know I can reach him. I have to! “Ryan, wait, please, you don’t have to do this.” she pled.

The Titanium ranger came forward pointing an accusing finger at her, “It’s you, isn’t it?! After all these years I’ve been waiting to meet you again, sister, waiting for this moment. It’s time to see who really deserved to survive that night!” He brought his blaster up and fired at her.

She rolled out of the way of the blast and it hit a pillar instead, shattering it. He’s using full power now, she thought grimly, and rushed forward to meet him. She blocked his strike and flipped over him. She barely had time to land before she was struggling to block the flurry of strikes that came down. How can he do this? How could he hurt all of these people? He forced her to one knee laughing. “You’re pathetic!”

“You can’t be Ryan!” she cried, straining to hold his axe away, “No brother of mine could be as evil as you are!”

Ryan twisted the axe making it grip the baton and quickly pulled it from Dana’s grasp. Without a weapon she twisted out of the way of a kick only to be hit in the chest with another. She was unable to get the upper hand; he continued to drive her back, blow after blow. With a final kick from Ryan she flipped backwards and landed on her feet by her baton, panting, as he laughed at her. “It looks like he should have let you go instead, sister.”

“Ryan, father didn’t let you fall,” she said, shocked by the revelation, “He loves you! There was nothing he could do!”

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re the one that survived the night on the cliff!”

This isn’t working. “But now it’s over, Ryan,” she said, lifting her baton.

“It’s over for you.” He leveled his weapon at her.

I hope I know what I’m doing. Dana sheathed the baton and stood up. “He loved you! You wanted to grow up to be a fireman just like him.”

“Get your weapon out!”

“No!” she cried rushing to him, “What’s the matter with you?! Don’t you remember anything?”

“I remember enough,” he said, stiffly.

“If what you remember gives you reason to kill me,” she said, gasping the laser and pulling it to her chest, “then do it.”

She couldn’t see his face but she saw him falter slightly. “You’re just going to stand there while I kill you?” he asked, unbelieving.

“You’re my brother, Ryan. I won’t fight you anymore.”

Slowly his weapon lowered and he turned his head away from her. “In that case,” he said softly. She heard a click and Ryan’s axe was brought across her chest, creating a shower of sparks and sending her backwards to the ground. Through the pain she heard the click again as it was switched back to laser mode. She looked up as he aimed. “This is going to be easier than I thought,” he said, firing. Pain was everywhere. Her eyes were closed but she could feel her vision darken. Nothing. She could feel nothing. Her mind was floating in it. Then… a ringing began to grow in her ears. She wanted to block it out but she didn’t know where her hands were. The pain began to throb everywhere again. She became aware of gravity but it felt wrong. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Through her hair she saw the ground, slanted, almost upside down. Cuts on her hands were bleeding. Her hands. She wasn’t morphed. Her lungs burned. Breathe! She coughed, forcing her lungs to work, and then breathed as deeply as she could. As she strained to push herself up Ryan’s boots walked into her vision and stopped in front of her.

“Still alive?” His hand came forward, took a hold of her neck and lifted her off the ground. “Not for long.” His grip tightened, stopping her air. As he lifted her higher her head leaned back, making her hair fall back from her face. Dana felt a jolt move through her brother and his arm began to shake. He continued to hold her neck but his grip loosened. Her feet felt the ground and she focused all of her strength to stand so that she could breathe. Ryan seemed frozen in place. His quiet, strangled voice cut through the silence, “Mom?”

Dana’s eyes widened and she felt her mouth go slack. Movement behind Ryan caught her attention. The other rangers were racing into the courtyard, Carter in the lead. “Ryan! Don’t!”

Ryan’s head turned quickly toward the fast approaching rangers then back to Dana. He released her, letting her fall to the ground, and took off running in the opposite direction.

“Dana!” She was suddenly surrounded by the others. Carter supported her as she got to her feet. “Are you alright?”

Every part of her body throbbed. She tried to speak but ended up coughing; the pain of hurt throat, now more noticeable. She tried again. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice raw and weak, “but…” She stepped forward, only to be caught by Carter as she stumbled.

“We need to get you back to the base.”

“No,” she protested, watching her brother move out of sight, “I’ve got to go after him.”

“But...”

Dana looked at Carter “I have to,” she said, unmoving.

Seeing that he couldn’t change her mind, he consented, “Fine. But we’re all coming with you this time.”

She nodded, looking into his eyes, “Alright.”

Chapter Text

Park

At a park, by the edge of the city, the siren could be heard echoing in the distance. It had only begun minutes before but the park was now empty, as people headed for safe locations during the battle between a giant monster and the power rangers. No one was there to see the Titanium ranger come to a stop in the parking lot.

What happened? His sister’s face wouldn’t leave his mind. It was so familiar. Not his sisters’. The eyes. The mouth. He had seen someone else the moment her face was revealed.

His mother. But she didn’t look like that. Did she? Ryan let out a strangled cry and punched a tree, cracking it down the middle. All those years, there was only Dad and Dana. His enemies. The reasons for his pain. He hadn’t thought about her in over ten years. He paused, thinking. Had it been that long?

Diabolico never mentioned her. Why would he? She wasn’t a factor anymore. The only time mothers were even mentioned was… Jinxer.

He went to him several times when he was too injured to train. Begrudgingly he had helped heal Ryan but only under Diabolico’s orders. One time he wasn’t in his usual place so Ryan had wandered around the tomb. The tomb seemed to have never ending corridors so he was never able to figure out how large it was. He knew basically how to find his way around; as long as he didn’t go too far from his quarters. He realized that he had gone too far too late and seemed to be hopelessly lost. He dared not yell for help fearing the punishment for being where he was not supposed to be. Before he had time to panic further he heard the sound of Jinxer’s voice coming from a nearby room. Relieved he ran to the entryway and peered in. Jinxer was pacing the room mumbling to himself. Just beyond him there was something laying on a stone table. It looked like a cocoon of some kind.

“Take care of Impus, heal the human child! Uh! I am not a nursemaid!” cried Jinxer.

Ryan slowly entered the room, “Jinxer?”

Startled, Jinxer spun around to face Ryan, “What are you doing here, human?” As he turned he revealed a sleeping face to the cocoon.

“Diabolico sent me to find you.” It was true enough. “Is that a baby? How come I’ve never seen it before?” he asked, trying to peer around the mosquito like demon.

“Because he is none of your concern,” Jinxer said, sounding like he wasn’t sure quite how much he was suppose to reveal. “This is Impus, Queen Bansheera’s son.”

“Queen Bansheera has a son?” Ryan looked at the cocooned infant in surprise. He had heard of the Queen, they all served her. She wasn’t trapped in the tomb with the rest of them though; no one was really sure what had happened to her.

“I just said that! Now you need to leave.” Jinxer huffed.

But Ryan didn’t move. He seemed transfixed on Impus. Had he been away from her all this time? Did he even remember her? “She’s his mother?”

Jinxer was growing impatient now and started ushering him out of the room, “Yes. Mother. You’re acting like you’ve never heard of one. You have a mother don’t you?”

“No.” Ryan said, turning to Jinxer.

“No?” Jinxer paused, then continued to push Ryan out, “Of course you do, human. Everyone has a mother. Now leave!”

But he didn’t. What happened to his mother? He strained his mind. She had died but…he couldn’t remember how. He tried again to picture her face but it was no use. Every time he tried to see her he only saw Dana.

Ryan!

On instinct, Ryan spun around, but realized the voice was in his mind. He quickly dropped to one knee and lowered his head, “Yes, Diabolico.”

You left without orders.

“Forgive me, Diabolico, I couldn’t wait. I wanted to catch the rangers off guard.”

Then they are destroyed.

Ryan paused. It was a statement but he could tell Diabolico knew that wasn’t the outcome. He wanted Ryan to say it. “No… they aren’t. But I would have…”

Done nothing. We noticed your absence just in time to catch the end of that pathetic fight. You let her go.

“The other rangers -”

Were far enough away that you could have easily snapped her neck and dealt with them.

Ryan could feel the ripples of anger from Diabolico in his mind.

You will give me an explanation when you return but not yet. I have located your father. He left the ranger’s base and has journeyed to the cliff. I sent Vypra and a monster to distract the rangers so you should have no trouble finally destroying your father!

The cliff. Diabolico didn’t have to specify; there was only one. “I will not fail you.”

Do not fail yourself.

Road Side Cliff

Ryan came to a stop beside the road and powered down. This way of traveling was so slow; so very human. But until he was shown how to transport himself, this or having portals opened by the demons would have to do. As he took a few deep breaths he looked out at his surroundings. The edge of the cliff lay before him with guard rails lining it. It does give a false sense of security, doesn’t it? he thought. Humans must feel very safe thinking that weak metal would stop them from going over. For a moment he forgot why he was there and walked to the railing looking over edge. There was a steep decline that dropped off suddenly a few yards down. All these years and here he was; at the beginning again.

“You don’t remember, do you?” a voice called from behind him.

Ryan spun around to face his father. He saw little difference between the man he remembered and the man that was walking toward him. Good.

He laughed harshly, “That would make it easier for you, wouldn’t it, if I didn’t remember anything? I may have been only six but I remember enough to condemn you. But what memory changes the outcome?” he asked, looking out at the open air beyond the cliff then back to his father, “You didn’t save me, you didn’t even try!”

“That’s not true!” His father cried, pain evident on his face. “When we went over the cliff you were hanging onto my leg. I couldn’t reach you. I tried, but there was nothing I could do.”

“Nothing. Really? How was it then that Dana was in your arms while I clung desperately to your leg?” Ryan tried to keep his mind calm but his anger began breaking through.

“I…” William Mitchell’s voice faltered as he held back the mental anguish the memories caused him.

Ryan closed the distance between them, “You let me go!” he yelled into his father’s face. He grabbed the lapel of his jacket, pulling him closer, speaking lower and more harshly than before, “You let me go to save yourself.”

“No!” William cried, his mental state crumbling further.

Ryan flinched. Sensing humans was easy but being this close to a blood relative while all of the walls fell from the mind…he never had to keep someone’s mind away like this. Focusing on his task, he attacked again, “But you saved Dana!”

“I tried to save you both!”

“Of course! That must be why she remained in your arms and I fell to my death.” He pushed his father away and got a thoughtful look on his face. “Aah, my dear sister. The years she has spent out here will make her death all the more slow.”

William was shocked by his son’s words. “Ryan, you can’t! She’s your sister!”

“Yes, she is, but that didn’t stop me earlier.”

“Earlier?” William went pale.

“While you wallowed in self pity out here you could have been helping your daughter. It looks like you’re not there for her either. I would have finished her off if the other rangers hadn’t shown up. Besides, what is blood? It didn’t mean anything on this cliff before, but since it seems to hold some kind of meaning to you now I’ll be sure to drain it from her body; so there will be nothing to tie me to her.”

Though he enjoyed the look of shock plastered on his father’s face he didn’t know if he could actually fight his sister again, let alone kill her. Keeping the bluff up, he continued, “Nothing, that is, but you. And I’ll fix that soon enough.”

William was now backed up against the railing as Ryan advanced on him. Before his father could voice a protest Ryan stopped, tilting his head as if listening for something. He gave a short laugh, “Your rangers have timing; I’ll give them that.”

Puzzled, William listened as well. At first there was nothing but the swirling wind, and then he heard it, the rumble of the rescue rover. With Ryan distracted he tried to reach him again, “You don’t want to do this.”

“I don’t?” he laughed harshly, returning his focus to his father, “I have thought of nothing else through the years but revenge.”

William looked longingly at his son. He had only seen his eyes at first; saw in them his hurt and lost child, but now he took it all in. The baggy black clothes made him look smaller than he was; made William continue to think of his young son. In actuality Ryan was lean and solid, his unnaturally pale skin so out of place in the sunlight. He could see small discolorations on his arms and some on his face. Scars collected over the years. He spoke slowly, “I am so sorry, Ryan.”

“It’s a little late for that don’t you think?” he sneered.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry for my powerlessness and that you were left with nothing but a shoe to hold.” William spoke, close to tears.

“You can stop now,” Ryan said, his hands clenching, “I’m getting tired of your pitiful ramblings.”

“I’m sorry that you had to experience the hell that you’ve obviously been through.”

“I said shut up!!” he yelled, taking a threatening step forward. The rover was easy to hear now. Any moment it would be turning the corner. Ryan turned his attention back to his father and met pleading eyes.

You’re weak, just like you father.

No. He would not fail again. “Everything that happened was your fault! You were powerless. You’re weak. And I am nothing like you and never will be.”

“Ryan…”

“Never!” Ryan ran forward as the rover roared around the corner. Before it could stop, Ryan slammed into his father knocking them both over the metal guard and over the edge of the cliff.

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

Dana watched in horror as her family fell from view. “Noooo!” she screamed, jumping from the rover, but she only made it a few steps before she collapsed. Joel and Kelsey ran to the railing while Chad and Carter stopped by Dana. Her eyes were wide with shock, staring at the cliff.

“Dana…”

“Not here,” she said, shaking her head, “Not again.”

“We can’t see them,” Joel yelled, as he Kelsey ran back to them. “We need to get to the bottom.”

Carter grabbed Dana’s arm, pulling her to her feet, “Dana, we have to go!” Still dazed, Dana ran with her team back to the rover.

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

They tumbled faster and faster down the sloping cliff. Sagebrush and rocks tore at their clothes while bludgeoning the father and son. The ground suddenly disappeared leaving nothing but air beneath them. Just as the air began to rush past, Ryan felt a pain as his arm caught on something leaving him hanging from the cliff face staring down. After the dizzying tumble his distance from ground only made him more nauseous. The grip on his arm tightened. He looked up to see his father grasping a protruding root with one hand and onto him with the other. William groaned from the strain, “Hold on, Ryan! Hold on!” An image hit Ryan harder than the cliff had.

Rain was falling hard around him. His arm throbbing in pain. His daughter’s arms holding tight around his neck. Daughter? Dana!

He was back at the same cliff, the sun hitting his face, his father holding his arm and fire lacing through his head. No. His father’s mind was panicking. “Don’t…” The memory hit him again.

Where was Ryan?! He fell out of my hands. “Dad, please help me!” Ryan’s voice cried below. My foot! Thank goodness! “Ryan, hang on buddy!” “Dad, I’m slipping!” “No, hang on, Ryan!” “Daddy, I’m scared,” Dana cried.”Please help me Dad!” “Somebody help! Please, somebody help me!”

Ryan twisted in the air and he gasped for breath. “Hold on!” he heard his father cry again. He tried to yell at his father to stop but he could only gasp as his mind twisted. He could barely hold onto his father’s arm. His vision blurred again.

“Somebody help!” His hand wanted to slip off the water drenched root but he forced his grip to tighten around it. He gasped as a golden light suddenly swirled down from the sky stopping in the air before him, taking the shape of an armored monster.

“I can help you.”

The golden figure seemed familiar somehow, but as he stared at it his mind screamed warnings. “Go away!”

“Consider my offer, for he will soon fall. But, know that if I save his life he belongs to me!”

Belong to this creature? He looked down at Ryan, who, once again, cried out for help. “Never!” It was unthinkable.

“The choice is yours.” The creature said as the light dissipated.

“Stop!!” Ryan yelled at his father, at the same time almost slipping from his grasp.

“I’m Slipping!” Ryan cried. He could feel the shoe sliding. He flexed his foot trying to stop it. “No, hold on!” “Dad! Please!” The shoe moved down further, “No!” He heard Ryan cry out in fear as the shoe finally fell off completely, causing Ryan to plummet down. Horror gripped his chest. “Ryan!!!” He couldn’t watch his son die!

“Save him!!!”

As soon as the words left his lips the light appeared again, racing down to Ryan at an incredible speed. The creature scooped up Ryan, just missing the wreckage, and flew back up to the cliff. William looked at his son, unconscious, cradled in the arms of the monster, as it laughed triumphantly. What had he done? “Please, I’ll do anything. Just give me back my son."

“You have no claim on him.” The creatures eyes grew wide as if it had discovered something, then it spoke again. “You will not see him again until his twentieth birthday. He belongs to me now.” The light grew bright then shot up through the air.

“Noooo!!!!”

His vision sharpened and he was alone in his mind again. What was that? That wasn’t how it happened. His father let him fall. He never agreed. He searched his mind. It was so long ago. “Ryan!” his father’s voice cut into his thoughts, “Ryan I can’t hold you; you’ve got to climb up to the root!” He could feel his father straining to pull him up farther. Ryan grabbed his father’s coat using both to pull himself up to the root. The wood was bone dry like the dirt holding it in the cliff side. Facing each other, caked in dirt, they hung from the root. William searched his son’s eyes and was surprised to find his son doing the same; though unlike his father, desperation gripped his mind. He didn’t save me. He was always told this. But was it true? Was he too far away to hear his father’s plea to Diabolico? But Diabolico told him… A realization hit. The memory couldn’t be false. His father’s mind was too unfocused to create something like that. Diabolico could lie, very easily, but his mind refused the thought.

Dry dirt suddenly crumbled around the root letting it slip a foot out of the cliff. Ryan’s grip slipped on his right hand but he quickly regained his hold. The root was no longer held tightly in the ground. Ryan could feel the earth still giving way. “It’s not going to hold!” he yelled searching for something else to hold but finding nothing.

“Not both of us,” his father said. It was said so simply that Ryan turned back to him, confused. His father searched his eyes again then spoke, “I would have done anything to save you, Ryan.” With no other warning his father let go of the root.

Surprised at the action, he watched his father fall, in shock. All of the sudden his father’s memory and the present fused. Through the sunlight and the rain he watched his father and himself fall. Panic and desperation gripped his chest and he heard his father cry out, “Save him!!!”

Chapter Text

Quarry Floor

“Do you see them?” Chad asked as they raced toward the cliff where Ryan and Captain Mitchell had gone over. His question was met with silence. Finding an entrance to the quarry floor was more difficult than they had liked so they had abandoned the rover on the side of the road, slide down an incline too steep and high for the vehicle and set out on foot.

As they came over a rise a figure in black came into view struggling to his feet. “Ryan!” Dana cried as the group came to a stop, unsure of how to approach him. He turned to them and Dana’s breath caught. In some part of her mind she had expected to see the face of the young boy that she remembered; but the face was lean and rough, surprise in the eyes that had held so much hatred the day before. The air twisted and Vypra suddenly appeared beside him. She sent the rangers a deadly gaze then spoke to Ryan. The rangers were too far off to hear her but as she spoke they saw her reach out and grip his bicep tightly. Nodding, he looked over at Dana, then to the spot he had been staggering from. Dana followed his gaze to a motionless body. “Father!” she exclaimed rushing forward, the other rangers quickly followed after her. As they got closer Vypra disappeared with Ryan in a swirl of purple light. Dana reached her father first and knelt at his side. “Father?” She heard a low moan escape his lips. Thank god. She breathed a sigh of relief. “He’s alive,” she announced to the others, who had gathered around.

“But how?” Kelsey asked, looking up at the cliff top, “There’s no way he could have survived that fall.”

“Not by himself,” Carter said, looking at the group then turning to where Ryan had disappeared.

Skull Cavern

“Explain to me, given your opportunities, why your father and sister are still alive.” Diabolico asked, as Ryan knelt before him. He had sent the other demons away, wishing to speak to Ryan alone. Vypra and Loki left begrudgingly, eyeing Ryan. He had spent so many years working to gain their respect but their faces now reminded him of how they looked at him as a child. The weak human. He lowered his head, not willing to look Diabolico in the eye. Nothing could excuse his failure. He could almost feel the gold demon’s grip tighten around the staff. “Ryan…” He prodded; a dangerous edge to his voice. He wouldn’t accept silence.

“Forgive me, Diabolico. I have shown you nothing but failure.”

“Yes,” he sneered, “this I have observed but I want to know why. Revenge was within your grasp, yet you did nothing with it.” Ryan hesitated, making Diabolico watch him more closely.

“I,” he hated having to explain his weakness to Diabolico, “I don’t know what happened. I was breaking him down but his mind overwhelmed me. I tried to hold it back but…”

“Impossible,” Diabolico interrupted, “I trained you myself. Their weak minds wouldn’t be a threat to you.”

Ryan flinched slightly, remembering the lessons where Diabolico had forced his mind on him. He looked up, “I believe that’s why I couldn’t keep them back. You have taught me to block focused attacks. My father’s mind was panicking, it was unfocused, unpredictable.”

There was silence as Diabolico thought this through. It made sense but… his red eyes studied Ryan. Returning with such a failure he had expected him to be penitent, yes, but also angered and frustrated by it. Instead he was quiet and unsure.

“What did you see?” he asked, as he began to circle him.

“What?” Ryan asked, twisting his head to follow Diabolico’s movement as he walked behind him.

“You said that you were overwhelmed by you father’s mind. What did you see?”

He was still trying to completely understand what he had seen on the cliff. What it meant. “I saw the night of the crash… from my father’s perspective.” That it had been from his father’s view was obvious but he said it to make it clear what he had seen.

“And?” Diabolico prodded.

He continued, watching Diabolico as he came full circle, “My father tried to save me, as I fell he agreed to let you help, then begged for me to be returned.”

“How like a human to enter into an agreement and then try to weasel out of it,” Diabolico said, stopping in front of Ryan again.

Ryan became bolder, “You said that he never agreed, that he let me fall.”

Diabolico turned to him, his eyes narrowing, “So he saved you then?”

“No, I -”

“Whether he agreed or not, you fell and he could do nothing about it. His weakness would have been your death if I had not come. Would you prefer that I had let you fall?”

Sometimes. Unsure if Diabolico had heard this, he answered out loud, “No.”

“And if he had saved you? What then? You would have grown among the humans having an empty life, seeking after their meaningless objects, striving for their power that is nothing compared to our own.” Diabolico lifted his hand, waving it in the air and spoke more slowly, eying Ryan, “I suppose their world is tempting, though, with their… celebrations… and sweet treats.”

Ryan flinched. He never knew when Diabolico was watching him. He had dreamt the other night about the cake he had seen in his father’s office. He had been with his family.

“But would it have been enough, Ryan?” he asked, cocking his head slightly, “You know as well as I that you would never quite belong, never be satisfied with what they could give you. You know why.” Ryan lowered his head. “With them you would never reach your potential, you would have remained as lost and meaningless as they are. Do you believe they would have understood your hunger, Ryan? That they would have accepted the darkness that we both know is inside of you?”

Ryan’s stomach tightened. No. He was too different from the humans now. He could never live among them.

“Return to your chamber until I call for you. Contemplate what your next move should be.” Ryan rose, nodded to Diabolico and turned to leave. Almost as second thought Diabolico spoke again, “Ryan.” He stopped, but didn’t turn around. “The same thing happened with your sister?”

He saw Dana struggling to breath as he tightened his grip, then her hair fell from her face. “Yes, Diabolico.”

“I see. We will work on your control later.”

Ryan nodded again and exited the cavern.

Aqua Base Med Lab

Capt. Mitchell lay unconscious on a med bed while the rangers and Ms. Fairweather grouped together on the other side of a curtain. “How is he?” Carter asked, speaking for the team.

“He hit his head pretty hard but other than some cuts and bruises he’s fine. Which surprises me after hearing how far he fell.”

A moan sounded from the other side of the curtain. Then they heard the captain’s voice mumble, “Ryan?”

Dana broke from the group and ran around the curtain, “Father! Thank goodness you’re awake.” Her voice was hoarse and she had to suppress the urge to cough; that would only intensify the pain in her neck.

William looked up, “Dana,” he paused and brought a hand up to his head to ease the throbbing. “Dana, where’s Ryan?”

The smile left her face and she moved closer to the bed, “He’s not here, Father.”

“Where is he? I need to see him.” He thinks Ryan came back with us. William saw the sadness enter Dana’s eyes. “Is he alright?” he asked, fear in his voice. Behind the curtain they heard the door close as the rangers and Ms. Fairweather quietly left.

“Father, he’s not here. When we reached the bottom of the cliff Vypra came and took him back to the demons.”

“What?” William’s heart tore. “Why would he go? He believed me. I know he did. Why else would he have saved me?”

Dana leaned in, grabbing her father’s hand, “So he did save you?”

He squeezed her hand back, “Yes, he morphed and took most of the impact of the fall.” He closed his eyes and gently rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Why?” he asked mostly to himself.

“Father, he’s not the Ryan we remember. Who knows what he’s been through all these years. As much as we want him to be that little boy who played with fire trucks and…” her voice broke, “and always protected me…”

William had been only aware of her presence before but now he really looked at her. Her skin was scratched and raw on her cheek and over her arms, with some bandages covering the worse ones. But what got his attention were the patterned bruises around her neck. “Dana,” he brought his hand up to touch them and looked into her eyes, “you went after him didn’t you?”

She looked down, “I thought I could reach him but…”

“You could have been killed.” His stomach turned to think Ryan could have done that to her.

She looked at her father and raised her eyebrows, “What were you doing on the cliff?”

William opened his mouth to defend himself and sighed, “You’re too much like me.”

“Good,” Dana smiled, “I’ve got that going for me at least.”

William shook his head, “Your mother would never have been as reckless as me.”

Dana looked at her father, concerned. He never spoke about her mother. Never. But she took the opportunity he presented her. “Do you think I look like her?” She had been told by Earl that she did, and she had pictures, but only saw her mother when she looked at them.

He didn’t look at her right away but seemed to stare out at nothing. “Ryan really did… when he was a child, but,” he finally looked at her and cupped her cheek in his hand, “you seem to take more after her now, in your eyes and your smile.” A tear rolled down into the creases of his hand but she quickly gripped his arm, her voice insistent, “Then Ryan isn’t lost to us Father. I know how we can reach him.”

Skull Cavern

Ryan sat up on the stone slab shaking his head and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He had tried to meditate, tried to sleep; anything to keep his mind from dwelling on the events of the day, but it wasn’t working.

Nothing has changed. My loyalty is still to Diabolico. The rangers are still my enemies.

Not all of them.

The pink ranger. His sister. He wished he could forget her face. Could he even fight her again? He groaned and pushed himself off the slab. This morning he wouldn’t have hesitated, but now… and even his father.

His father had wanted to save him. He agreed to let Diabolico help. But did it matter? Diabolico hadn’t even flinched when Ryan revealed what he had learned. He was more angry at Ryan’s wavering than worried about the revelation. He had lied to Ryan, but was that really a surprise? He had been taught that everyone lied, to never turn your back on anyone. He had basically been told not to trust Diabolico, but everything he ever said made sense.

He understood why he had lied. Diabolico needed an unwavering warrior, one that was completely loyal. Telling him that his father had wanted him might have shaken that resolve. But saying that it didn’t matter…

Ryan shook his head. He now remembered that night as if he were William Mitchell. He had seen it through his eyes. His father loved him. He cared about him. He hadn’t been shown that level of concern since… he suppressed the memory before it could surface.

Rubbing his temples his sighed, he needed to focus. It didn’t help that his head was pounding. Usually meditation and sleep replenished his energy but it didn’t seem to be as effective since leaving the tomb. He quickly exited his chamber. He needed to get out of the cave to somewhere he could think, where he didn’t feel like he was constantly being watched. He would just have to hope that no one would be looking for him until he returned.

Aqua Base

Capt. Mitchell and Ms. Fairweather entered the command center together, quickly making their way to a main monitoring console.

“I really don’t think you should be up and about yet Captain.” Ms. F argued.

“You’re the one who told me to get some sleep; now I’m not tried.” He turned his attention to the attendant, “When did he show up?”

“We picked him up on the scanner just a few minutes ago, Captain. We called you right away.”

“Why hasn’t the base been put on alert?” asked Ms. F.

The attendant hesitated but Capt. Mitchell answered for him. “I told them to let me know first if they monitored anything strange about the Titanium ranger. So?” he asked as he leaned over the console looking at the screen.

“Honing beacons were put in all the ranger’s morphers including the Titanium rangers’. We can’t seem to track him when he’s with the demons, where ever it is they go.”

“Yes, yes,” said Ms. F impatiently, “I put them in myself, what is your point?”

“Whenever we have been able to track the Titanium ranger he has been somewhere deep in the city. Currently he is on the outskirts of the city and heading farther away.”

“The mountain pass?” asked the captain.

“No sir. Just in the mountains, probably a dirt road or a trail.”

Ms. F looked perplexed, “What is he doing?”

The attendant took a deep breath. “Well ma’am, from what I’ve observed since we picked up his signal,” he paused, “it looks likes he’s out for an evening run.”

This time Ms. F leaned closer to the screen, “What?”

Capt. Mitchell put his hand on the young man’s shoulder, “You made the right decision. Keep this quiet for now but call in the rangers, we need to send them out.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Ms. Fairweather pulled William off to the side, her voice quiet, “Why is this being kept quiet? If the rangers get into trouble we need everyone at the monitors.”

William glanced at the young man as he called the rangers, then back at Ms. Fairweather, “Ryan’s identity is getting out. This operation is now being closely watched. If my superiors don’t like what’s going on or they don’t feel like I can be trusted, then I could be replaced.”

“Replaced?” she asked, alarmed. She shook her head, “They wouldn’t do that Captain, you’ve been a part of Lightspeed since its creation. You’re the reason it was created.”

“That may not be enough anymore. Now they’ll think that I had ulterior motives behind everything that I’ve done.”

Angela paused, giving him a funny look, “But you have Captain. When I was brought into the Lightspeed program I could tell right away that something else was driving you. That it was more than just following orders or wanting to save the world. I just never figured it out until now. He’s your son, Captain; they should realize that would motivate someone more than anything else. You’ve expected nothing less than the best from this operation and you’ve given nothing less than your best. The advances we’ve created wouldn’t be here if you weren’t there pushing us, even the Titanium powers were…” She trailed off her face calculating. Suddenly she looked a William, her eyes wide, “My god, Captain. It was for him, wasn’t it?” she asked, almost accusing. “I couldn’t understand why you wanted the power levels so high, so specific, too high for a human handle. But somehow you knew, didn’t you? You knew he was compatible.” Williams face was unreadable. “How? How could you know?”

“Captain!” They turned to see Carter and the other rangers enter the command center. He glanced back at Angela “We’re going to need you at the labs monitor,” he said, then went to fill in the rangers.

Her eyes stayed focused on the captain a moment more, then she quickly made her way to the lab. How could he know that Ryan was compatible to the morphing grid? He was taken long before the first power rangers even showed up. Before we figured out how to tap into that power.

Mountains

Ryan ran. The trees flew past him, creating green streaks in his vision. He didn’t know why he chose this place to clear his mind. All of the open space made him uneasy. The city was just as bad. He had grown up around, what, five demons? There were so many humans they practically lived on top of each other. He felt secure in the cave with the walls surrounding him.

The sun rested just over the horizon. That made him feel better at least. The constant light only furthered his headache. As shadows merged in the forest the air grew cooler. He felt tired. Why wasn’t meditation rejuvenating him anymore? It helped but he still felt weak afterwards. His vision suddenly faded out, his senses became numb and distantly he felt himself impact the ground.

He remained motionless on the ground as his vision returned. What the hell was that? He began to get up but once again his head became light and he dropped to the ground. He waited a few minutes for the dizziness to subside then slowly rose to his knees. What was happening? He took his time getting to his feet. Maybe he shouldn’t have ignored his weakened state.

Ready to head back down the trail he paused as he noticed a cabin in the direction he had been running. Surprised that he hadn’t seen it earlier he slowly walked toward it for a closer look. There were no lights on and no sign of any humans. A breeze rushed by as he past a tree and from the corner of his eye he noticed some movement. He turned, ready to attack, but let out a short laugh as he saw a swing attached to one of the branches. About to dismiss it he heard distant laughter in his mind.

Higher, Ryan!

He glanced around expecting to maybe see someone but the voice was in his mind. Not his mind, a memory? Wary now he walked up to a window, searching the inside. It was dark inside but he could see it clearly. Sheets covered furniture and it looked like it hadn’t been lived in for a while.

Thanks Grandma!

He pushed back from the window, startled.

A fire truck! Yeah!

Another one, Mom?

Now, Bill, if your son wants to be just like you, he’ll get no discouragement from me.

He continued backing away from the house, his eyes wide. He looked at the swing then back to the house, he knew this place. Pain suddenly coursed through his body as a bolt of electricity knocked him to the side and into a tree. He shook his head to clear the daze and looked up at his attacker.

“You dare disobey me again?!” Diabolico thundered, his staff charged and shot out another wave of electricity. He knew better than to block it but jumped clear as it collided with the tree behind him, breaking it in half. He watched the tree as it crashed to the ground taking the swing with it. He turned back just as the staff hit his head and everything went black.

He became aware of the ground beneath him, then his vision and senses came back to him. He was once again in the dirt; the pounding in his mind had intensified so his head actually felt like it was pulsating. He was farther away from the house. He must have been thrown there. As Diabolico descended upon him Ryan realized that this was the second time that day he was involved in a scene like this. Earlier, though, he had been the one attacking and his sister on the ground. He turned away; waiting for Diabolico to strike; but it never came. Turning back he saw Diabolico only a few feet away, standing, his staff beside him, waiting.

Slowly, painfully, he rose from the ground to his knees and lowered his head in submission. Silence. A moment passed but he dared not look up. The staff moved again, he flinched slightly, and then electricity shot into him. Instead of knocking him back it pressed him harder into the ground. At the close range the blast was more concentrated, he couldn’t help but cry out as it cut at his insides. It ended abruptly leaving Ryan shaking.

“I thought you had learned obedience long ago, Ryan. But it was my mistake I guess, trusting in a human.”

He felt sick. He body continued to shake. “Forgive me, Diabolico.”

“Forgive you; it seems that is all I have done since calling you from the tomb. Have all these years been wasted? All the training? So you could came back and fail?”

“I… didn’t expect this,” Ryan confessed.

“Expect what?” Diabolico asked, his voice suspicious.

He tried to find the words, “That…they would…”

“Who? Your family?” Diabolico made a sound similar to a snort. “You think they care for you? Of course they would try and convince you of this. You have the power to destroy them.” He stopped and looked at their surrounding. His eyes showed recognition.

Does Diabolico know this place?

He turned back to Ryan and studied him. “What are you doing here?” his voice accusing.

“I needed to clear my mind. So I ran and ended up here.”

“And you find this more effective than what I have taught you?”

“I meditated but it didn't help.” Ryan said, trying to defend his actions somehow.

Diabolico took in Ryan’s tired appearance, his shaking body. He addressed him, his voice still suspicious, “What’s wrong?”

He wanted to laugh. What’s wrong? Nothing had been right since he had fought his sister, “I don’t know.”

Diabolico’s jaw clenched. “I am trying to help you Ryan but you haven’t told me everything about today. I suspected as much since your return.” He let go of his staff, which continued to stand alone, and closed the distance between them. “Since you seem unwilling to tell me, we will just have to begin your lessons sooner.”

His body went rigid. His mind froze. No! I don’t have the strength to hold him back. “I…”

“Was given an opportunity,” he said, stretching forth his hands. He didn't need physical contact to look into Ryan’s mind, but it helped.

As soon as the hand was on his shoulder his surroundings disappeared. Images whirled through his mind. It felt like layers of skin were being peeled from his mind. He tried to somehow pull away but he was underwater with no surface to reach.

The events of the day flew by him together. He was fighting Dana, he picked her up and broke her neck. The image had split showing what he had wanted to do and what actually happened with variations splitting off of that. In one the blast had killed her; another he broke bone after bone as she cried out in pain. These images appeared intangible, not as solid as the true image. “Mom?” It sickened him how weak his voice sounded. He was on the cliff with his father. He killed him a hundred different ways.

“Ryan?” Dana lay on the ground coughing up blood and the image suddenly changed. A different girl lay in Dana’s place. Her long dark hair covered in dirt. She reached out for him with a tanned bloody hand. “Ryan.” Her voice was quiet, strained, pleading. She shouldn’t have been able to talk at all; blood flowed from the cut in her throat. “Ryan.” He couldn’t close his eyes, this was in his mind. She screamed, “RYAN!”

He hit the ground, rolled once, and came to a stop. All of his strength was gone. His vision pulsed in and out. He looked up and saw laser blasts hitting Diabolico, forcing him back. “Ryan!” He knew that voice.

The rangers were suddenly at his side. “Stay away from him!” Dana commanded.

Diabolico looked at the rangers’ leveled weapons, then to the right. The staff was still standing alone out of arms reach. He narrowed his eyes, looking between Ryan and the rangers. Ryan knew he would be slightly weakened from probing his mind. Diabolico snarled in fury, “This far from over rangers. You’ve won nothing. He is still mine.” With that threat he disappeared in a swirl of golden light, followed a second later by his staff.

“No,” Ryan moaned, trying to lift himself.

Dana knelt beside him, “It’s alright, Ryan,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder, “We’ve got you now.”

He threw off her hand but a wave of blackness swept over him and he collapsed, unconscious, to the ground.

Chapter Text

Aqua Base- Med Bay

Ms. Fairweather looked up from her folder as Capt. Mitchell walked into the Med Bay. “How are the rangers?”

“Tired.” William answered, a sigh in his voice. Moments after the rangers returned to the base with an unconscious Ryan, the alarms had sounded. Diabolico had wasted no time venting his anger toward the rangers and had sent a demon to the city. An hour later the rangers had returned looking dead on their feet. “I sent them all to their quarters to rest.”

Noticing the circles forming under William’s eyes, Angela wanted to order him to do the same but knew he wouldn’t listen to her concern. “And everyone went?” she asked.

William almost smiled. He knew she was referring to Dana. “Eventually.”

Angela tried to smile as well but ended up with a sad expression. The Pink Ranger was so much like her father. They had both been going through so much the past few days and she regretted that even though they now had Ryan in their custody and the Titanium powers safely locked away that it didn’t mean things would be getting better for them.

William wandered over to the curtain that divided the room and drew it back slightly. An unconscious Ryan lay resting in the bed. His features, for the first time, were relaxed. “Do you know when he’ll wake up?” he asked, not wanting to take his eyes off of his son.

Angela walked up beside him, “No, Captain. His body was exhausted. His pulse was extremely weak when we brought him in. He’s on an IV now and I’ve given him something to help him sleep and let his body rest. But I don’t know how much of an effect it will have on him.” She hesitated; looking from Ryan to William, then went on. “He’s full of demonic energy, Captain, he could wake up at any time. But before he does there are some things I think we should go over.”

William finally pulled his gaze from Ryan and looked at Angela. “Alright.”

She opened the folder in her hands “As I said his body was exhausted when he came in. In very good shape but exhausted. We ran some tests and it seems that he hasn’t eaten.”

William gave her a confused look, “Something that simple?”

“No, Captain, I mean I don’t think he has eaten anything since Diabolico took him.”

“What?”

Angela passed the folder to William, a read out on top. “His system is completely clean. No food particles, no residue, nothing. I don’t understand how he could have survived, unless he’s been feeding off the same energy as the demons, but this starving of his system seems to have only started this past week. Other than this he seems to be in perfect health.”

“Perfect,” William said in a subdued voice. As Angela had spoken he had begun to flip through the folder and was now looking at physical shots they had taken of Ryan.

“He did sustain some injury in the recent confrontation with Diabolico, and some from fighting the rangers. Nothing serious. There is, of course, previous scarring but from monitoring his fights with the rangers and from our tests there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him. Physically.”

“There is one more thing you might want to take a look at.” She said, reaching over and flipping past some of the pages in the folder. “On the lower right side of Ryan’s back we found a tattoo of a cobra.”

“A tattoo?” he asked, staring down at the photo. The snake was coiled together, its’ head lifted, and its’ yellow eyes staring out at him.

“At least what looks like a tattoo. It’s not printed on his skin but seems to be beneath it. It was most likely put there by magic. From what we’ve learned over the years, when the demons were in power they would mark the humans that belonged to them. The symbols would vary according to which demon owned them. They were usually…” she hesitated, “branded into the forearm of the human. So far I’ve been unable to identify this particular symbol. The tattoo may not even be the same thing, Captain. Its’ placement and the fact that it isn’t a burn support this.”

William nodded, still looking at the contents of the folder. Ms. Fairweather’s voice faded into the background as she went on. … ones that belonged to them…owned them… branded… The words kept circling in this mind. Branded like an animal, like a piece of property. What was he to them? How had they treated him? Throughout these past fourteen years his thoughts would always find their way back to that night on the cliff, to Ryan and the demon that had taken him away. The unanswered questions and unknowable answers had eaten away at him. Why take Ryan? There had to have been something else that he had wanted. He would have given him anything else.

He remembered stories from a book of fairy tales that his wife used to read to Dana and Ryan. Evil creatures were always making deals with people unlucky enough to cross their path or need their help. In the stories they always seemed to want the person’s first born child. Why? The stories never explained why this was wanted and not something else.

He had never told anyone about the demon that had come that night. He had held on long enough for the rescue teams to get him and Dana to safety. No one had pressed the issue when he said that Ryan had fallen and Dana didn’t seem to remember anything other than holding onto her father. Not only was he too ashamed to tell anyone that he had allowed a demon to take Ryan but who would have believed him? Sometimes he didn’t even believe himself. Thinking his mind had come up with some fanciful story that still didn’t cover the fact that he had failed his son. He had no one to talk to. His wife had died only two years before. He had thrown himself into work, taking all the hours he could get at the firehouse. His mother could see he was beginning to fall apart and agreed to take care of Dana for a while, probably hoping that he would be able to pull himself back together faster by giving him fewer things to worry about.

He had wanted to die. He could admit that now. Every fire he had hoped would be his last. Finally, one was. They thought that everyone had gotten out but then a father tried to run back into the building, yelling that his son was still inside. He barely remembered running back in. He just knew that he had to save that man’s son. That it might somehow make up for failing Ryan. The smoke was thick but he found him. Carter. As he stayed back and watched the father take Carter into his arms a part of him woke back up. But saving him didn’t change the fact that his own son was somewhere else trapped in a burning building of his own; and he realized he would never be able to help Ryan the way he was.

That fire had been his last. He took a desk job, brought Dana back home and spent every moment he could researching the demon. He and Ryan were still out there and William was determined to find them. The search spanned years. In the beginning he was almost ready to admit that it had all been in his mind when he finally realized why the demon had been familiar.

Going through his wife’s boxes he found some research materials from college and a familiar description of a ‘golden god’ an ancient civilization had worshipped. He almost couldn’t believe it; information had been in his garage that whole time. He quickly got in contact with his wife’s college research partner, Andrew Hartford. That was when things really began to take off. Though he was young, Hartford was a millionaire, soon to be billionaire Indiana Jones. He told Hartford about his encounter with the demon, without bringing Ryan into it, and was surprised not only by Hartford’s ease believing him but by his willingness to help. He provided private funding and became his research partner. Whenever he began to get discouraged they would uncover some new information. When the normal methods began to fail to produce the results he wanted, he used military contacts he had made before becoming a fireman. But it wasn’t until the Power Rangers appeared that he finally got the attention of the right people.

“...brain scan.”

William stopped in his thoughts and turned his attention back to Ms. F. “What was that?”

“I took the liberty of doing some brain scans of Ryan and compared it to the Titanium morpher frequency, no surprise, they matched.” Angela sighed when William didn’t respond. “Captain, I don’t know when you’re going to feel like talking to me about this but you and I both know that I deserve an explanation.”

Capt. Mitchell closed the folder. “You’re right, Angela, you do deserve more than I’ve told you… but,” his eyes drifted over to Ryan, “not today. I… if I could just be alone with my son for now?”

“Very well, Captain. William.” Angela reached over and squeezed his shoulder, then turned and slowly left the room.

------------

A mist circled around Ryan’s feet as he ran past the seemingly never ending columns. Someone was looking for him. He didn’t know who it was, so he continued to run. He could feel his name being called. The voice seemed urgent but it was so distant that it didn’t even stir the mist.

The sound of water churning entered his senses. Looking up he almost stopped running. Two feet above him flowed a ceiling of water. The voice seemed to be trying to pierce the liquid barrier to reach him. He was so intent on the ceiling that he failed to notice the wall of water that appeared before him until he had run into it and was engulfed in the water. He thrashed around trying to find the exit but the more he spun around the brighter his surroundings grew. Pressure from the water began to make his ears ring. Its’ tone became clear, then it stopped. Seconds later a short burst rang through his ears, followed by silence.

Beep…..beep……beep….

Ryan could almost feel the light around him. It pierced through his eyelids making him groan. He tried to turn away but it seemed to be everywhere. He wasn’t in the cave. There would never be this much light. He tried to remember what had happened but his mind felt thick and heavy, making it hard for him to focus on anything but the repetitious high toned note.

Beep…..beep……beep….

What the hell is that sound? His mind yelled. Slowly, he tried to open his eyes. He waited for things to come into focus, to change some how, but everything remained a sickening white color. He turned his head slowly to the right, following the sound and found a square mechanical device with a time keeping, fluctuating line on the screen. Something that annoying could only be made by a human.

He remained silent but his mind groaned. His body felt stiff and sore. Each time he blinked he felt swelling by his left eye where Diabolico had hit him. His mind stopped. Diabolico had attacked him in the mountains. He tried to raise his hand to feel his face but his arm wouldn’t move. Looking down, he realized that his torso and wrists were restrained by thick leather bands. His legs were covered by a thin blanket but he could feel the bands around his ankles as well. The rangers. They had come to his aid. Ryan released a short laugh. They had thought they were helping him. He strained against the bands but they wouldn’t budge.

He hated feeling trapped. How was he going to get out of this? How had everything gone so wrong? It was all so much simpler in the tomb. Everyday was training for the time when they would be released. Everyday he worked at destroying the weakness inside of him. And yet here he was. A prisoner of the enemy. All that training seemed to be for nothing. He was still human. Maybe it was impossible to overcome the weakness that humans possessed.

Ryan shook his head. He couldn’t be thinking like this now. He needed to find a way to escape. His body still felt weak and sore. An irritation on his hand drew his attention. A tube with a clear liquid ran into a vein on the top of his hand. He tried to keep his mind calm but alarm shook his body. What were they doing to him? Once again he strained against the straps that bound him to the bed. Twisting his wrist, he attempted to somehow dislodge the tube. Beside him the machine’s beeping grew faster.

Be Quiet! His mind screamed at the device. He was still unsure of what the machine did but he knew one thing, it was going to get the attention of his captors if it wasn’t silenced. Frustration boiled inside of him. The straps wouldn’t budge. He was about to cry out in anger, when the curtain to the left of his bed flew to the side. Startled, he stopped struggling and turned to the intruder. There, with worry plastered across his face, stood his father.

Chapter Text

Level 4 – Cell Block

Dana veered through the hallways on level 4, holding a brown paper bag and a small folder, daring anyone to try and stop her as she headed toward the holding cells. She had wanted to see Ryan immediately after the demon attack but her father had ordered everyone to their quarters to get some rest; she would have resisted more if she hadn’t been so exhausted. By the time she had gotten up the next morning Ryan had already been moved to a cell.

Her father hadn’t said much about his meeting with Ryan; apparently there wasn’t much to say. ‘He won’t talk to anyone,’ he had said. What he meant was Ryan wouldn’t talk to him. He didn’t want Dana to even try because she had apparently turned to a porcelain doll since her last encounter with her brother and would break at the first spoken word. She fumed. She knew her last encounter with her brother had scared her father but did he think she was so weak that she couldn’t handle seeing him now?

She rounded a corner and saw a guard who had been sitting in a chair seconds before but was now startled to his feet by her appearance. “I’m here to see my brother,” she said, continuing toward the observation room door but the guard quickly stepped in front of her.

“I’m sorry Ms. Mitchell but Capt. Mitchell ordered that no one was to see the prisoner.”

Dana raised her eyebrows at the guard and frowned. “My father ordered you to stop me from seeing my brother?” she asked, disbelieving.

The guard looked unsure now. Being a ranger, she far outranked him and he knew it. Mentioning the fact that his Captain was her father and the prisoner was her brother clearly shook his resolve.

“I’m going to visit my brother,” she said grasping the door handle behind him, “Go ahead and report that to the Captain, maybe he’ll have me escorted to my room.” She quickly turned the handle, jerked the door open, making the guard move to the side, and stepped into a small dark room, closing the door behind her.

Almost the whole left wall looked like a glass window. Dana knew that it wasn’t glass though. The holding cells were built in case they needed to keep a demon in there. The “glass” was actually made of material similar to the zord armor.

Looking into the cell she saw Ryan sitting on his knees in the middle of the room, facing away from her. The room was simple and empty. Bed, toilet, sink. They were either built into the wall or, in the case of the bed, a big rectangle jutting out from the wall and the floor. Nothing to use for a weapon. A tray of food lay untouched beside him and even that was all finger foods. No utensils. Sighing she opened a slot in the wall, tossed the bag in and slammed it shut hoping to get his attention.

He didn’t flinch but a few seconds later he looked back at her. Something crossed his face but was quickly replaced by indifference. “I didn’t expect you to come and see me.”

“Why not? You’re my brother.”

His eyes shifted slightly down. They lingered for only a second then he looked away. Unconsciously she touched her throat. The bruises were almost gone but that was only because of her ranger powers. He had almost crushed her trachea. Almost, she reminded herself. He hadn’t been able to go through with it.

She lowered her hand and changed the subject. “I brought you something to eat and don’t say you’re not hungry because they told me about your completely empty stomach.”

To this Ryan turned around on his knees completely, “Did they?”

“Ryan, Father won’t let you starve yourself. If you continue to refuse to eat then he’s just going to have you strapped back to a medical bed with an IV in your arm. Do you really want to end up back there?”

Ryan looked down at the tray of food suspiciously.

“You don’t even have to eat that,” she offered, pointing at the little hatch on his side. “I brought you something.”

Still frowning, he got up, walked over to the wall and pulled the bag out of the compartment. “What is it?” he asked as he returned to his spot and pulled something wrapped in napkins out.

Dana smiled, “The best meatball sub you’ll ever eat.”

Ryan still looked doubtful but he cautiously pulled back the wrapping and took a bite. His eyes grew wide and he began coughing but he quickly swallowed the mouthful.

Dana looked thoughtfully at him. “You really haven’t eaten all these years, have you?”

Ryan ignored her and took another bite.

“How is that possible?”

He looked at her as he swallowed. “You really want to know?”

She nodded, “And unlike Father I won’t take silence for an answer. I can sit here all day every day. Beside my Ranger duties you’re on the top of my list.”

Ryan frowned in response. “You’re not going to leave me alone until we talk?”

“I’m very persistent.”

He seemed to contemplate her words for a moment then he set the sub down and leaned back on his knees. “The first thing I learned in the tomb was how to gather energy through meditation. That’s what I have been doing all these years instead of eating.”

Dana gave him a doubtful look. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It would if you would let me finish.”

Dana raised her eyebrows but remained silent. A smile played at the corner of her mouth.

“The spell used to keep the demons from getting out of the tomb was self sustaining. Any power or energy they used in there only reinforced it and was recycled back into the tomb. Each day I would expend energy only to get it back through sleep and meditation. It’s not as effective out here, I’ve realized. Energy isn’t contained out here like in the tomb.”

“So every day you’ve been out of the tomb you’ve been getting weaker and it didn’t occur to anyone that you might just need something to eat?”

“I kept my growing weakness to myself. And if you recall, I haven’t eaten anything for the last fourteen years so, no, it didn’t cross my mind.”

“If you were getting weaker does that mean the demons are getting weaker as well?”

Ryan smirked at her, “It’s not going to be that easy for you. No, outside the tomb some of the demons still meditate but like many other beings they survive by feeding on human emotions like fear, panic, and hopelessness. Did you really think that they were at their full power? They’re still re-energizing from their time in the tomb.”

Dana quietly mulled over this new information. This was news to her. Did her father and Ms. Fairweather know about this?

“Don’t waste your time trying to find a way to use this to your advantage. With each attack there is fresh fear and panic for them to feed on. They’ll continue to get stronger and stronger as this war goes on, while your hopelessness grows.”

Dana felt a chill got through her, not because of what he was telling her but because he believed it and seemed to be gloating.

“Finally starting to realize what you’re up against?” She had expected him to continue smirking at her, but his face, mainly his eyes, had changed as he spoke, and now held an emotion she couldn’t quite place.

“It doesn’t matter how powerful they are, we aren’t going to let them take the city.”

“Why not? It was theirs’ to begin with.”

“Sure, thousands of years ago when they were in power. They terrorized the world and kept the humans as slaves. If you haven’t noticed, things have changed. There are a lot more humans now and we’re not just going to give up and let them rule over us.” She heard a quiet snort as Ryan shook his head. She didn’t like being laughed at. “You make it sound like all they want is Mariner Bay and we’re being the bad guys for not giving it back. You know better than any of us what they’re like. Do you think they’ll stop at one city? One section of land?”

He remained silent.

“I thought so. Mariner Bay would be their foothold into this world, a point of command from where to take the rest of the world.” Dana felt a wave of sadness and frustration as she continued. “And you plan to be with them don’t you? Fighting us. Why? What exactly are you to them? Are you a general like Loki and Vypra?”

Ryan straightened his back, “I’m the highest rank a human has ever become.”

Dana crossed her arms, “So not a general.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not strong enough to be a general. Without the Titanium powers they can easily defeat me. Maybe. If I still had the powers…” He got a distant look in his eyes.

Instinctively Dana wanted to feel sorry for him but her anger was quickly building. “Then what are you? Why are you so willing to help them destroy us?”

“I owe my loyalty to them. Diabolico saved me. He raised me, taught me to fight. Everything I have I owe to him.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, “you are incredibly loyal to them. And realizing how hard it would be for you to fight against your own kind they must, in turn, show you the respect that you deserve.”

Ryan paused, surprised by the turn in their conversation, “Yes.”

“And exactly how much is that?”

Ryan began to get defensive, “Enough.”

“Enough for who?”

He tilted his head slightly as he continued to stare at her, refusing to look away, “For a human.”

Dana couldn’t help it; her emotions were beginning to seep into her words. “But you’ve been with them almost your entire life. You must be like one big happy family by now.”

Ryan’s expression darkened. “Be careful what you’re saying.”

“So that’s a ‘no’ as well.”

“I’m a human,” he said, pronouncing ‘human’ like it was a disease, “I don’t deserve the respect that they do give me.”

There it was. He wasn’t trying to convince himself. He said it like it was a fact. Like she was a fool for not thinking the same way. He had been taught that he not only deserved everything done to him but that he should be thankful. To despise who he was and leap at their command. Dana felt her stomach turn as she finally realized what her brother was. “You’re a slave.”

She wasn’t able to blink before the bottom of his fist slammed into the surface between them. She knew he couldn’t break through but his speed and sheer force made her take a step back. He wasn’t trying to hit her. It was a show of anger more than anything else.

“I warned you to be careful what you say.”

“Or what?” She was surprised by how hard she was pushing him. She hadn’t meant to talk to him about any of this and she wouldn’t normally act this way but she had finally had enough. She hated the demons for what they had done to her brother and he needed to realize what they were.

“You won’t be able to keep me in here forever,” he threatened.

“And then you’ll what, come after me?” Her voice softened. “Will you actually kill me this time?”

The anger drained from his face. His eyes once again fell to her neck and he quickly looked away as he stepped back from the wall. Right then she knew. He wouldn’t, maybe even couldn’t, fight her again.

“Ryan, they’ve treated you like nothing, made you think that any attention from them is a privilege. That’s how they think. Humans have always been their slaves. They wouldn’t know how else to treat you.”

“Leave.” He was still facing away from her but his voice was low and threatening.

Her resolve wavered but she continued, “Ryan, I didn’t…”

He turned toward her. “Now.”

Guilt pressed down on her heart as she saw his eyes. They were covered in anger but beneath that, she could see a heavy pain. Feeling that she had definitely worn out any welcome she might have had to begin with she began to slowing move toward the door and as she did so, remembered the small folder she had brought with her. She mentally kicked herself. Her rash words made it impossible to give it to him now. Feeling a sad regret she looked at him. “I still want to come back and see you,” she said, as he once again turned away. She opened the door but turned back before walking out. “I love you, Ryan,” she said quietly, then closed the door behind her.

Chapter Text

Level 4 – Cell Block

Ryan stared up at the ceiling of his cell. To his relief, the main lights had been turned off a few hours ago. Sunlight bothered him, but the constant buzzing of the lights had given him a headache. Well, at least added to the one that he already had since Dana left. He enjoyed being alone but the problem with solitude was that all he could do was train and go over and over everything going through his mind.

Dana, she understood nothing. How could she, she had spend her life out here with their father. When she looked at him all she saw was loss. She seemed to think that he needed to be fixed, that his life in the tomb had somehow broken him. She pitied him and he wouldn’t stand for it.

If anything, he should pity the humans. Their lives had no meaning. He was taught, trained. He was given a purpose. Was. He had a purpose but after the past few days everything had become muddled. Dana saw the world as light and dark. Ryan knew it was never that simple, he had lived in the shadows too long to believe that.

His indecision was the reason why he hadn’t contacted the demons yet. He had finally realized that the voice behind the water in his dream was actually Diabolico trying to reach him. Ryan wanted to answer him, to be given orders, to not have to think about anything, but he realized that he couldn’t do that anymore; he had learned and felt too much over the past few days. His plan now was… probably the most insane thing he had ever done.

He would need to go into Diabolico’s mind. The thought almost made him physically ill. It was a deep betrayal but Ryan needed to know more. He had been in his father’s mind and knew how he felt but Diabolico only revealed so much to him.

He had made the decision but now he had to wait. Diabolico need to be distracted for him to be able to do this. That meant he needed to wait for the demons to attack.

Mess Hall

The rangers sat at one of the mess hall tables finishing their food; Dana’s sat untouched. She looked around the table at the others. Her friends. She knew she had been distancing herself from them. After everything they had gone through together, she was treating them like strangers. It wasn’t helping the team and it wasn’t helping herself. It needed to end.

“I don’t understand.” Dana said in exasperation.

The others stopped eating and looked at her. Carter glanced around then back at Dana. He had been hoping that her self- imposed exile from the team would end soon. He could tell that she needed someone to talk to.

“We’re his family and he acts like it doesn’t mean anything that we love him.”

Kelsey finished chewing her fries and spoke up. “Maybe it doesn’t,” she said, then seeing Dana’s face, quickly added, “To him.” That didn’t seem to help.

“To demons.” Chad offered.

Dana gave him a confused look.

“I mean, that I don’t think the emotion of love let alone the word ‘love’ is used much by demons. From what we know about them and how Ryan acts it seems like loyalty is one of their big qualities. For example, the first thing they did when they were released, after being trapped for thousands of years, was try and get their queen’s land back. So I can see Ryan’s conflict. He’s a human. Our emotions define us. But he was told his whole life to forget his feelings, unless they are negative, and his only options are loyalty or death.”

Kelsey raised her eyebrows.

“I know it sounds extreme, but…”

“Not for demons,” Dana finished. Sighing, she mulled over the information.

“Dana, you’ve got to try and see things from his perspective,” Kelsey said. She thought for a moment then went on. “Imagine the state took you away from your dad when you were a kid and you grew up in a foster home. Now it’s not the best place but you grow up being told how horrible you dad is. When you get older they give the choice of staying with the foster family or going back to live with your dad. What would you choose?”

“My dad.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes, “You answered too quickly. You need to think about it.”

“He’s my dad,” Dana said, seriously.

“I can see ‘what if” scenarios aren’t your forte.”

“Well then who would you choose, Kelsey?”

Kelsey shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“What? But it’s your family!”

“They both are.”

Dana faltered, “Wait, what?”

“Dana, my parents didn’t raise me, I lived with my aunt and uncle.”

After a pause, Carter asked, “What happened?”

Kelsey shrugged, “Nothing, my parents just never stayed around long enough to take care of me. They’re real thrill seekers.”

Joel snorted.

“I know,” she said with a smile. “When I was older and they realized that I loved those things as much as they did they wanted to take me along. The problem was I couldn’t just up and leave my home. I loved my aunt and uncle. I ended up doing both. I spent the school year at home and left every holiday and break to be with my parents. It wasn’t the ideal situation but even thinking that I had to choose between them was too much for me.”

“But Kelsey,” Dana said, “this situation is different.”

Kelsey nodded, “You bet it is. For a while I may have felt like I had to choose between them but Ryan actually does. He can’t spend spring break with the demons. It’s our side or theirs’.” She stopped and looked Dana in the eye, “People probably think that because Ryan’s human he should be on our side. But how much does he actually remember of being human? I don’t think people understand why this decision is so hard for him.”

The other rangers had been silent as Kelsey spoke. She had obviously thought a lot about this but they weren’t used to seeing her be so serious. She always seemed to keep things lighthearted.

“What?” she asked, picking at her food. She wouldn’t have minded the attention if they hadn’t been giving her weird looks. “Am I really the only one that listens to the captain in his training sessions?”

Carter smiled at her then turned to Dana. “It’s only been a few days since he’s come back, Dana. Try and give him some more time.”

Dana looked down. Everything they said had made sense but Dana was reluctant to agree to anything. She just wanted her brother back so much.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the base’s alarm going off.

Level 4 - Cell Block

Ryan heard the alarm through the thick walls and took a breath. This was the moment he was waiting for. Diaolico would be distracted attacking the city. It wouldn’t give him much time but he believed he could find what he needed to see, as long as he didn’t alert Diabolico to what he was doing. He waited a few moments. He needed to give the rangers time to get to the city so that Diabolico would be focused on the battle.

Ryan closed his eyes and reached out with his mind.

The water didn’t slow him down in the least. He felt himself moving through space until he was next to Diabolico, then his surroundings changed. He recognized the feeling of entering a mind and concentrated on what he was looking for. It had to be simple; to guide the mind to the moment. If he was too forceful then it would alert Diabolico.

Finding Ryan.

The darkness shifted to that of the tomb. Vypra ran through the corridors followed by Diabolico and Loki. “What have you done Vypra?” Diabolico called after her. Anger evident in his voice but also something else…fear? Ryan looked on in confusion. This was defiantly not the right memory, so what had brought him here?

“I didn’t do anything… No!” Vypa screamed as she rounded a corner into a room. As Diabolico entered Ryan was able to take in the entire scene and his heart stopped. Vypra knelt beside a dark haired young woman laying face down in a pool of blood. She cried out in rage as she turned the girl over revealing a slit throat. Vypra looked up to Diabolico, her face dry, and yelled, “He killed her!”

Choking sounds from the far side of the room drew their attention. A sixteen year old Ryan lay by the stone wall, blood dripping from his mouth, his hands clutching his stomach. A growl escaped from Diabolico as he rushed to Ryan’s side.

“Not before she stabbed him,” Diabolico said, through clenched fangs. He put his claws over Ryan’s wound and began murmuring under his breath.

“Look at this!” Vypra said, grabbing the dead girl by the hair and lifting her partially off the ground. “What am I supposed to do? Do you know how long it took me to find one?”

Anger filled Ryan as he watched Vypra’s treatment of the dead girl but at the same time his stomach turned. He couldn’t take his eyes off the ashen face.

“You lost control, Vypra. You tried to push the joining and broke her mind. If Ryan dies because of your incompetence…” He left the threat in the air.

Vypra looked stricken and let the body fall back to the floor.

Ryan turned away. Of all things to see; he had been brought to his worst memory. He couldn’t stand to be here any longer. Diabolico had found him but not the correct memory. An idea entered his mind and struggling to keep his mind calm he sent out another thought.

Destiny Card.

The scene shifted and Diabolico stood before him holding a completely black card with a purple trim. “ I have already explained, I don’t have enough energy to use the card, I will need to borrow most of yours’ as well.” An unhappy looking Loki and Vypra came into view. “The energy will still be trapped here, you’ll get it back.” The pair took positions behind Diabolico and placed a hand close to his back and seemed to brace themselves.

Diabolico closed his eyes and began to chant. Purple and green energy flowed into him from his companions and then into the card. It took only a moment before Vypra and Loki had both dropped to a knee. Diabolico’s eyes flashed open as he flipped the card in his grasp and threw it before him.

The card stopped mid air, emitting bolts of purple lightning, and expanded until it created a shadowed doorway. “I will return.”

His surroundings once again changed. The shadows took the shape of trees. Moonlight filtered through them onto a house. Ryan’s eyes widened. It was the cabin he had run to the day before.

Diabolico looked around cautiously as he approached the cabin; his thoughts echoed through the air. What is this place?

This wasn’t good enough. He needed to feel what Diabolico felt, not just hear his thoughts. He hesitated as Diabolico reached the windows, and then entered the golden transparent form.

He came to a stop before the windows then on an impulse, walked through the wall into the dwelling. If he remembered correctly, the Destiny Card allowed him to view things while being unseen and unheard by others. He could of course expend more energy and allow himself a slightly more caporal form but that was not his intention. Entering the room he saw two humans, a man and an elderly woman, standing by the door leading outside, talking quietly.

“No, Mom, the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”

“Well of course there’s nothing wrong with the boy,” the old woman chided the man, “but there must be some explanation for his behavior sometimes.”

“He daydreams, Mom; gets distracted.”

A high-pitched squeal interrupted the quiet as two small children, a boy and a girl, ran into the room, toys in hand. Frustrated, he read the human’s energy levels. The man and the old woman were normal for humans; but the two children seemed much higher. He drew closer to get a better look at them. Why? They are only humans. Why would the Destiny Card bring him to this place? “What am I doing here?” he asked aloud to the room. The adults continued to talk but the boy’s energy suddenly spiked as he lifted his head, a frown on his face, and looked around the room.

Curious.

“Ryan, help! The bad guys captured Cloe!” The young girl jumped up and down on a chair pointing to one of her dolls on the floor.

“I’ll get her!” Ryan said, jumping up. He began kicking and punching at the air around him.

“Look out!” the girl yelled and jumping off the chair. Mid flight the scene changed. The girl morphed into a pink clad adult. Batlings swarmed around her but many were knocked away as a silver clad man joined her. “Thanks, Ryan.” As she spoke the scene reverted back and there stood the children once again. Ryan handed his sister back her doll.

“Power Rangers,” Diabolico spat. They had been fighting Batlings. The Card was showing him those whose destinies were intertwined with his. When he and the other demons were released from the tomb these children would be called as Rangers to fight them. That explained their high energy levels; they were compatible with a Ranger’s power source.

He watch as the boy, Ryan, began gathering up the toys. Still, as a power ranger, the boy’s energy was higher than most humans he had seen, including the ancient Rangers he had encountered.

He watched as the human family said goodbye to the old woman and left the dwelling in a metal vehicle that the man had called a car. The human’s technology had obviously become more powerful since their entombment. A cold rain continued to fall as Diabolico soared next to the car.

He could feel the Destiny Card weakening. His time here would be ending soon. Knowing Power Rangers would be opposing them upon their release wouldn’t shift things in his favor but knowing what the future held for the two children might. The family turned onto a road that ran beside the edge of a cliff. As he looked over the side a plan began forming in his mind. If they weren’t around to be chosen then that would be two less rangers that he needed to worry about. He wouldn’t be able to do much in this form but he couldn’t pass up this opportunity to sway the future in his favor.

He flew ahead of the car, up the mountain, until he came upon a car, at least three times the size of the one carrying the family, traveling in the opposite direction. He didn’t have time to discover how it worked but he didn’t need to; he cast a simple spell to keep it from stopping.

At the speed each car was going they were going to meet at the coming turn. He flew back to the small car. Gliding beside it, he smiled. A moment more and they would only be an afterthought. He watched the young boy, Ryan, take off his strap and retrieve his toy from the floor. His smile faltered as the boy reached for the strap again but stopped short, staring out the window overlooking the drop-off. He blinked once then turned and undid his sister’s strap. She seemed about to protest until Ryan put his finger to his lips and smiled like it was part of a secret game. She smiled back and they continued playing with their toys.

Confused by the boy’s actions, he looked on as the events quickly unfolded. The father looked back at his children but a horn blaring jolted his attention back to the road. The huge vehicle, unable to stop, was forced into their lane and was attempting to swerve back. Acting on what seemed like instinct the man turned the car to the right, barely missing the back of the other. He tried to stop the car but its’ wheels slid along the wet and icy road taking the car toward the edge of the cliff. The man’s strap was suddenly off as he climbed into the back seat and grabbed his children. Ryan was already at the door pulling on the handle when his father took him into his arms.

Diabolico watch in disbelief as they leapt from the car a second before it hit a metal barrier. They hit the wet ground, rolling with the momentum of the car and followed it over the edge. As they tumbled down the cliff Ryan broke free from his father’s hold but when the man grabbed hold of a protruding root the boy was able to take a hold of his leg.

Diabolico cried in outrage. What had happened? How could they…He stared at Ryan. He had done this. They would never have been able to make it out in time if their straps were still on. The child had known something was going to happen. Whether he foresaw it or was given an impression, somehow he knew. At least the humans had the sense to realize he was different. It was he the adults had been talking about when he had arrived.

He watched as Ryan slide from his father’s leg to his foot. He could see other humans on the cliff racing toward the crash. He wasn’t going to make it. The father and the girl would, but he could already see the shoe that Ryan was holding begin to slip. He would not be called as a ranger. This had been his intent but it was a shame the boy would not live, he had so much potential; he may have been a worthy foe. The power of the Destiny Card pulled at him. His time was up. He was about to give into the pull when he heard the father call out for help. He hesitated. If he chose to answer the call he would be starting a contract; the Destiny Card wouldn’t be able to pull him back until he was finished. He looked at the boy. Lose one of many enemies or gain an ally?

“No!” Ryan screamed as he fell out of the memory image of Diabolico. “No,no,no,nonono!” Diabolico had caused the car crash. He had tried to kill his family. His mind spun, screamed, cried. His surroundings wavered and began to warp. Diabolico knew something was wrong. He tried in vain to calm his mind but the scene continued silently before him. He saw the desperation, the fear on his father’s face. Then he fell. He couldn’t…he couldn’t…

“RYAN!” The scene blew apart. Diabolico knew he was there.

He pulled back as fast as he could. Retreating from Diabolico’s mind, out of the Skull Cavern, through the earth. It was too much. An accident. It was suppose to be an accident. But it was only an accident that they were alive. His family should be dead. He was saved from the fall as an afterthought. He tried to fully grasp what had happened but he felt himself slipping, his mind becoming cold. He made it to the beach before a fiery hand took hold of him and began to tear his mind apart.

Chapter Text

Aqua Base- Conference Room

Captain Mitchell sat in the conference room watching the monitors as the rangers fought a giant demon in the city. It didn’t appear to be anything special. The demons, it seemed, were still venting their anger, not actually making planned attacks.

Every few minutes he would glance at the monitor showing the feed from Ryan’s holding cell. Ryan was still on his knees. He hadn’t moved in the last 30 minutes. He seemed to be meditating but… something just didn’t seem quite right and it kept him from shutting off the feed.

The sudden explosion of the demon drew his attention back to the rangers. He let his body relax. Another battle won. He ordered the rangers back to the base. They were going to be exhausted. The demons were hardly giving them time to sleep. Joel was the only one to complain openly about it, the others kept their worries either to themselves or within the team. William sighed and looked down at the paperwork in front of him. There would be more coming. With each attack came a new stack of papers to sign. Property damage, reports on ranger suit and zord battle performance, the list went on. A small smile lit his face; he would feel bad for the amount of Ms. Fairweather’s paperwork except for the fact that they all needed his signature as well. He walked over to turn off the monitors but stopped short, a gasp escaping his lips, as his eyes locked onto the monitor showing Ryan’s cell.

Ryan was no longer on his knees. Instead he lay, convulsing violently, on the ground, his hands pressed against the sides of his head.

“Mitchell!” he called as he ran out of the conference room. People looked up from their stations as he ran by. He rounded a corner and nearly collided with his assistant.

“Captain?” Mitchell asked, alarm evident on his face, as William gripped his shoulders.

“Contact Ms. Fairweather and tell her to meet me at the cell block on level four!”

Looking confused, Mitchell opened his mouth to reply but was cut off as William pushed past him, calling back, urgently, “Now!”

William raced through the corridors and into the turbolift. He had seen Ryan shaking like this before but not nearly as extreme. He remembered the moment when the rangers reached his mother’s cabin; it had been displayed on the monitors from the helmet cameras. At first he thought Diabolico was shaking Ryan, then he realized that he was convulsing. Was this normal for Ryan? Was there something wrong with him that they didn’t know about? He felt his anger rise at the other possibility; the demons were doing this to him.

The lift came to a stop and the doors were barely open before he was, again, running down the hall.

Ms. Fairweather was running toward him from the opposite direction. Her lab was much closer to this area of the base. “Captain, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Ryan!”

-----

“Human!” “Slave!” A thousand different voices tore through Ryan’s mind from all directions. "They're attacking!" “Nooooo!” “Weak!” “Traitor!” “You will pay!”

He needed to get to the water. He was deafened by screams of pain, agony, sorrow. Flesh was ripped, burned; he choked on its’ stench. This was all from Diabolico’s mind. It was breaking him down, but he couldn’t let it. Through the pain he tried to will himself to the water. If he could get there he might have a chance.

-----

Ignoring Ms. Fairweather’s protests William opened the cell door and rushed in. Ms. Fairweather paused only a second at the entrance, her eyes wide, then her instincts kicked in and she rushed forward. It wasn’t just that Ryan was lying on the ground, his hands gripping his head as he thrashed back and forth; it was the sound. Ryan’s face was contorted in pain, his mouth was open wide in an almost silent, chocking scream that came to life in short bursts with each jerk of his body; as if he was being whipped.

William put his arms around Ryan and tried to hold him still. “Ryan? Ryan!” He became aware of Ms. Fairweather at his side.

She pressed his head back and forced an eye open but was met with nothing but white.

“What’s wrong with him, Angela? What’s happening?” William asked, trying to keep his panic from taking over.

“He’s seizing, but I don’t know…” She stopped when she noticed blood beginning to drip from Ryan’s nose. “His brain is hemorrhaging, Captain, we need to get him to the Medbay.” She got up and hurried to the door to call the officer in when Ryan let out a final cry and suddenly his body relaxed in his father’s arms.

-----

He felt the dim lights even before he realized that he was in his cell. He heard himself moan as he held his head. His mind felt slow but as everything began to come back to him, the unseen world around him spun, his body began heaving, trying to expel the wrongness within him. He felt himself being moved across the floor but gave it little thought as the contents of his stomach came up. His body continued to heave even after it was empty. Hearing the echo of his voice, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself leaning against the toilet in his cell. How had he gotten here? Feeling a hand on his back he slowly turned his head and locked eyes with his father.

He never loved you. He saw his father smiling back at him from the front seat. He was weak. He felt his father’s fear as he held onto the root, the wood tearing into his hand, but he wouldn’t let go. He let you fall to save himself. He heard his father yelling for help, desperately pleading with his son to hold on. All of your pain is his fault. Diabolico flew beside the car, a look of anticipation on his face. A horn blared. All of his pain is your fault.

“No!” Ryan pulled away from his father, pushing himself backward across the floor, a hand still holding his head, as his vision blurred in and out. “No.” He looked across the room at Ms. Fairweather, who stood silently at the door looking between him and his father.

“We need to get him to the Medbay, Captain.”

Ryan shook his head but stopped as the room began to spin. “What are you doing here?” Just let me be alone.

William inched closer to his son, his hands beginning to reach toward him. “Ryan, you’re bleeding, you need to come with us.”

Ryan slowly looked himself over, “Bleeding?” he asked, groggily. The burning pain in his mind had finally begun to dull to a scald. His mind. He raised his hand to his nose and brought it back with a streak of blood across it. He closed his eyes and pressed his palm to his forehead. It had been close.

William tried again, “Ryan…”

Ryan’s face twitched, his jaw clenched, “I’m not going anywhere!” Why are they even here? “Just leave! I don’t want you here!” His voice broke as he yelled. “Please.”

William took a deep breath and nodded at Ms. Fairweather, who gave him a worried look and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The room was still; the only sound was Ryan’s deep, controlled breaths as he tried to calm his mind. Pushing against the wall, he attempted to stand. Before his father could try to stop him, the color drained from his face and he dropped back to the ground with a frustrated sigh.

William watched his son. He doesn’t want to be seen like this but he can’t hide the pain he’s in. It hurt to be so close to him after all this time and yet still be unable to touch him.

Ryan’s head stayed down, his palms on either side of his head. Finally he spoke. “I… I’m sorry.”

William grew even more concerned. A day and a half ago Ryan was still openly hostile and defiant when around others. What could change his behavior so dramatically? He wasn’t apologizing for yelling, it seemed to be about something else, he might not have even been talking to him.

Ryan struggled within himself and finally he let his hands fall and gave into the side seeking help. “I thought the crash was a dream, at first,” he said, staring off at nothing. “I… was alone. He said that you didn’t love me; that you let me go because you didn’t love me. It was one of the first things he said to me when I was brought to the tomb.”

William felt his jaw tighten. “Diabolico.” He knew that the demons were deceitful, that they had twisted Ryan’s loyalty and, from what he had seen, his mind as well, but it sickened him to hear how soon the manipulation had begun and how heartless it was. “It was a lie.”

“I know,” Ryan said. He closed his eyes as a look of disgust crossed his face. “I survived for the wrong reasons.”

William ached to hold his son but he dared not move any closer for fear of breaking Ryan’s trance and losing this chance to talk to him. “What do you mean?”

Ryan shook his head, “I hated you so much.” He looked at his father then at the floor in front of him, unable to hold the gaze. “You and Dana. It was how I survived; knowing that someday the tomb would be opened and I would get revenge; that I would make you pay for letting me fall. But everything was a lie.”

“Ryan, what happened to you? It looked like you were having a seizure.”

Ryan nodded his head, “I probably was. Diabolico said I was gifted, but even then, there is only so much a human mind can take.” Seeing the confusion on his father’s face he continued. “I betrayed him. I wanted to know the truth, so I went into his mind without his consent. I’m lucky to be alive.”

William continued to stare at Ryan. “I don’t… you can read minds?”

“Look into them,” Ryan corrected, “Apparently, that’s the only reason Diabolico saved me.”

William felt sick, “He told you that?”

“No, but his memories don’t lie.”

William’s mind reeled as he tried to process everything he was being told. “That’s what you were doing a moment ago, looking through Diabolico’s memories?”

Ryan nodded.

“Can you do that with anyone?”

Ryan paused, and then, shook his head. “No.” But now he knew why.

“You said you were looking for the truth,” William asked, “Did you find it?”

Ryan gave a short, humorless laugh but his face quickly changed to a frown as he nodded. “I guess next time I go looking for the truth I should probably make sure I can handle it first.”

William didn’t speak but his silent question hung in the air. A minute passed before Ryan was able to build the courage to continue. “The crash wasn’t an accident.”

William felt his heartbeat quicken.

“Diabolico wanted to know when they would be released so he used a spell card; it brought him to… our family, that night. He saw that Dana and I were going to be rangers in the future, so he…tried to kill us.”

William’s entire body was tense.

“But,” Ryan took a breath to calm his emotions, “he saw something in me,” he shook his head, his anger building, “he just wanted a tool; someone to use against you. Someone he knew you would never fight. I was never anything more than a pawn to him.”

At the last statement, William drew his attention back to Ryan and studied his face. Seeing the pain, the sadness, he felt the bile build in the back of his throat as he realized what Diabolico could have meant to Ryan, what Ryan had wanted him to be, and how much he had hurt his son. He was alone, he had said it himself, and had nothing but a hope; that if he became strong enough, the demons would finally become the family he had lost. For Ryan, Diabolico had been some kind of twisted father figure. To believe, all these years, that Diabolico had actually cared about him only to discover that it had meant absolutely nothing, William felt for his son.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both caught in their own thoughts, and then Ryan took a deep breath and began, again, to use the wall to stand.

William came forward to help him but stopped, his heart dropping, when he saw that the closer he got, the more rigid Ryan became.

Ryan was able to make it to his feet and, as the room came back into focus, he finally asked the question he had been wondering since he had been brought to the underwater base. “What are you going to do with me?”

William thought carefully about what to say, “That depends a lot on you, Ryan.” Knowing that he was probably going off wishful thinking, he continued. “The Rangers could use your help.”

Ryan thought over his father’s statement. “I could teach them some techniques to use when fighting demons, but would you really let me help train them?”

William couldn’t help but give a small smile at Ryan’s interpretation of what he had said, “The training is a good idea, and, yes, I would, but that’s not what I had in mind.”

“Besides my inside knowledge, I’m not much help to anyone anymore.”

William looked at Ryan intently, “What if you had your morpher?”

Ryan gave a bitter laugh, “Don’t you mean your morpher?”

William raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Suddenly Ryan had no desire to laugh, “You’re serious.”

“Very.”

Ryan tried not to appear shaken. “Why would you do that?”

“As you pointed out to Dana, the demons are only going to get stronger, and you’ve already proven yourself to be a skilled fighter.”

“By attacking humans,” he pointed out. Ryan could hardly believe what he was hearing. His father was letting his feelings cloud his judgment. “I’ve given you no reason to trust me. I could end up taking the morpher and rejoining the demons.”

William already knew the answer but paused before asking, “Would you?”

Ryan gazed down for moment, and then shook his head. “No. I would never go back now; not after this.”

“Then you can have the morpher back.” William said, simply.

Ryan shook his head, “You can’t do that.”

“I’m in command of this base, Ryan, I have the authority to -”

Ryan cut him off, “I don’t want it!” Silence. He sighed, “I don’t deserve it. You want to trust me. You want to care about me, but you shouldn’t. I’m not the son you lost, I’m nothing like him.”

William tried to put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder but he jerked away.

“You see what you want to when you look at me. If you saw what I really am you would leave me in this cell to rot.”

“Never, Ryan.” William’s heart ached to hear his son talk like this. “You may not be able to see it, but I can. I can see the goodness inside of you, just waiting to break free.”

“You’re wrong. Any goodness I might have had died,” Ryan’s eyes grew sad, as if he were remembering the exact moment, “a long time ago. Only the darkness survived the tomb.”

William wouldn’t give up. “I don’t believe that.”

“You would, if you knew the things I’ve done.”

William took another step forward and Ryan, likewise, took a step back and hit the wall. As he realized that he had literally worked himself into a corner he felt fear crawl up into his throat. He kept his gaze down, refusing to look at his father as he came closer.

“I don’t care, Ryan.” William said as he slowly brought his hands up and grasped Ryan’s shoulders.

Ryan flinched at his touch but didn’t pull away; he had nowhere to go.

“I love you,” William said, as he pulled Ryan forward and finished wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace, “and nothing will ever change that.” He felt Ryan’s body tense but he didn’t see the panicked shock on his face.

Ryan stood frozen, not knowing how to react. The last time he had been this close to his father was when he had tackled him over the cliff’s edge. He wanted to push him away, to hide from him, but at the same time he yearned to hold him back. As he took a strangled gasp, he breathed in his father’s scent and was suddenly caught up in a hundred different memories of being in his father’s arms. A sob he didn’t know he had been holding escaped his lips as he dropped his head on his father’s shoulder.

After the first break William thought Ryan’s shield would crumble but he could feel him shudder as he held his emotions back. William opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, but stopped, his worry forgotten for the moment, as he felt his son’s arms come up around him, returning his embrace.