Author's Note: Just finished writing 'Weather or Not' and decided to bring you 'Kick into Overdrive Part II' with two familiar faces from Aliyah's past making an appearance, and one of them becomes an Overdrive Ranger – can you guess which one? Oh, and Aliyah gets snappy with Hartford.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended in the making of this series. I simply own my OCs and anything that is unrecognizable from the show. Power Rangers belongs to Saban although Operation Overdrive was created by Disney. Enjoy.
Big thank you to the following: Starpower21, Grapejuice101, CamaroDude1989, Emergency70, Dandelion657, Pinkrangerfan, TWD, Mr-Saviour009, Dueling God, Hector4349 and Summer490 for adding this story and/or me to their alerts. Appreciate it mates.
Warning: Rated T for safety.
Title: Secrets and Lies
Summary: Aliyah thought that Rebecca and Tyler were the only family she had left until she landed in San Angeles six months ago. Now, after being approached by a man who claims to be her mother's brother, she's pulled into another life and death battle for Earth.
"We can't let him get away," argued Will. "We have to go after the crown!"
"No, there are people to be saved first." Andrew interrupted.
"But the crown!" protested Ronny.
"It wasn't the real crown," said Andrew. "Now, you need to split up."
"Woah, wait a minute," said Aliyah. "What do you mean it wasn't the real crown?"
Andrew sighed. "I'll fill you in back at the house," he said. "Rose, Ronny, and Dax, find a way to stop the volcano at the source."
The yellow, pink and blue Rangers nodded and run off in the direction of the base of the volcano.
"Alright then Mack and I'll go to town and see how we -" started Will, heading towards the city.
"Wait," said Andrew, looking at his son. "Mack has done enough."
"No, dad, I started this." Mack said, shaking his head. "I'm gonna finish it."
Aliyah smirked and nodded as she bypassed her uncle, her arms folded over her stomach. "Spoken like a true red Ranger," she said. "Let's go," she added to the two guys.
"Woah, hold on," said Andrew, grabbing her arm. "You're not going anywhere. You're not a ranger, and I promised your mother that, if the time came, I'd keep your safe."
"Yeah, well my mother is dead!" snapped Aliyah. "Where the hell were you eighteen-years-ago, huh? You can stand there and give me a load of bullshit about how your promised her that you'd always be there for me, or that you'd keep me safe, but the fact remains is that no one was there after she died, no one was there for me - you weren't there for me," she shook her head and shrugged lightly, before adding in a light, but broken whisper. "I don't need you now."
She ripped her hand from Andrew's and run off towards the city. Mack and Will exchanged looks and followed her, while Andrew and Spencer watched them leave.
"He'll be fine, sir," said Spencer, reassuringly.
Andrew nodded, half-heartedly, but for once, it wasn't his son that he was worried about.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
People ran screaming as thick molten lava flooded their streets, destroying everything it touched. Cars and buildings were incinerated, while the glass from store fronts were blasted out under the intense heat.
In the chaos, a brunette woman lost her footing and hit the ground as the rest of the city thundered around her, no one stopped to see if she was OK or if she needed help, they were too afraid and wanted to get themselves out of the way of the danger.
Self-preservation was powerful thing.
Sliding over a car hood, Will landed beside the woman. He was fully morphed, so that the woman couldn't identify him, and grabbed her shoulders. "C'mon!" he urged her, helping her to her feet. "Go, get out of here!"
The woman nodded and raced off down the street.
Due to the immediate evacuation of people, cars had been piled high and left abandoned; some even had their engines still running. One car had even crashed into the driver's side door of another, and had trapped a woman and her baby inside.
Aliyah felt her breath catch in her throat at the sound of the baby's frantic cries. Her heart hammered a mile a minute, but her body was reacting faster than anything. She raced across the road to the car and looked in through the window; the mother was banging the window, screaming for help.
"Please, please help me!" she cried to Aliyah.
"I'm going to help you," said Aliyah, trying to quickly assess the situation. The lava was getting closer, sliding over the cars like water in a bath. "What's your name?"
"Samantha."
"Alright, Sam, i'm Aliyah," said the Ninja. "I'm gonna get you out - somehow," she added to herself. She looked to the car that was trapping Sam and her baby, and then over her shoulder, neither Will nor Mack were close by in order to help her move it, which meant that she needed to use an alternative. "Hold on!" she urged the terrified mother.
The lava was getting closer and closer by the second, and the more time Aliyah let slip, the less time she would have to rescue the mother and baby, but she was lost.
"Oh, god! Oh, god!" Aliyah panicked, running a hand through her hair.
"Please, get us out!" Sam cried, hysterically.
Aliyah looked up at the lava flow and then back at the car. She rushed around to the passenger's side door, but found that it had been crushed too. The door wouldn't budge, even when she did try it. She considered smashing the glass, but couldn't chance it with the baby in the car.
Near to tears herself, Aliyah finally realized that she couldn't do this by herself. Her anger at Andrew was clouding her better judgment, and she wasn't thinking as straight as she should have been which was resulting in Sam and her baby being seconds away from the lava flow.
"Aliyah!" Sam cried, looking over her shoulder. "It's getting closer."
"I'm trying!" Aliyah said her voice breaking.
She grabbed onto the handle of the passengers door and tried to pull it open again, but no matter how much she tried, the door just wouldn't budge.
"COME ON!" Aliyah shouted, frantically. "STUPID PIECE OF FUCKING CRAP!"
"Someone seems to have forgotten her manners," said a voice.
Aliyah jumped and spun around, sighing as she saw it was Tyler. "I'll retrieve my manners after I save Sam and her baby," she said. "But the door won't freaking open!"
"Did you ask it nicely?"
"Don't screw with me, Ty," said Aliyah. "Their lives are in danger. Help me open the freaking door!"
"All you had to do was ask," said Tyler. He climbed down from the abandoned car he was kneeling on and grabbed the handle of the passenger's door, Aliyah did the same and together they managed to pry the door out of the frame. When it was clear, Aliyah climbed inside and quickly unstrapped Sam's seatbelt.
"Come on," said Aliyah.
Sam passed her son over, and Aliyah passed him to Tyler, she then grabbed Sam and pulled her out.
The lava was a mere few meters away.
"We're not gonna make it," said Sam, terrified.
Aliyah looked at Tyler. "We'll make it," she promised, silently telling him that they had no choice but to use Ninja-streak.
The former head-master of the Lightning Academy nodded and, clutching the baby boy to him, he took off in a blur of black. Aliyah followed him, with Sam clinging to her arm.
"Thank you," cried Sam.
"You'll be safe here," said Tyler, stepping out of his streak on the top of a tall building. It was tall enough to see all over the city, and was also way out of reach of the lava, unfortunately, while Sam and her baby were safe the rest of the city, plus Mack and Will, had been cornered by the two lava flows.
Aliyah looked down over the side of the building; just in time to see Will summon his drive slammer and crack open the ground. It caused a crevice in front of the cornered people, and let the lava fall over the sides.
Aliyah and Tyler sighed in relief as the crisis had been averted.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
Back at Hartford manor, the new team of Rangers was introduced to Tyler, while Mack became aware that he had more family, aside from Aliyah, outside of San Angeles.
"We did what Moltor asked us to do - be heroes." Dax grinned.
"But the bad guys got away." Will said, shaking his head.
"There will be another day," said Andrew, reassuringly. He hadn't been that surprised to hear that he had a nephew, as Tyler's mother, Phoebe, had written to him and told him that she was pregnant 24-years-ago, but he had never met the baby... until now. "But today - today you guys were great."
"We were great?" Rose questioned. "Mack was the one who was great. He led us to victory, and saved everyone's skins, including yours."
Andrew smiled, weakly. "Yes," he nodded. "Great job, Mack. You wanted to be a ranger, and you were one. Now it's time to put away that fantasy. I'll take that."
He took the Overdrive morpher from his son and walked out of the room, leaving the Rangers and two Ninjas to watch him leave.
Aliyah shook her head as the elevator doors closed on Andrew, and then turned to Mack. "Don't worry, dude," she said, squeezing his shoulder. "You earned the position of red Ranger today. We'll get your morpher back. I promise."
Mack smiled weakly, unsure on how she was going to pull through with that kind of promise.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
"Incredible!" Will exclaimed, touching a square on the globe and looking back at the computer and Rose. The place he had touched on the machine, lit up like a Christmas tree on the flat screen behind the pink Ranger. "I thought only the defense department had this type of global tracking capability."
"This one's way better." Rose grinned. "It's got a network of 27 satellites, wide-area augmentation system, parallel multichannel design, and a differential GPS accurate to one inch or less."
Aliyah blinked as she and the others stared at Rose.
The pink Ranger looked around at everyone as she felt their eyes on the back of her head. "What?" she asked.
"Dude, you sound like a computer," said Aliyah. "There are only two other people that I know that could know all that, and one of them is not Hartford."
"So, I guess i'm the only one who memorized the data manual." Rose said.
"I haven't even opened it," said Aliyah.
Ronny shook her head and turned back to the computer. "Now, where are these amazing vehicles that they said we'd be using?" she tapped at a few keys and gasped as the screen revealed the Zord bay, showing the new team an array of assault vehicles that were at their disposal.
"Wow." Rose gasped.
"I think you found them," said Tyler.
"Those are for us?" Ronny asked, waving her hand in front of her face. "I may need to lie down a minute."
Aliyah snickered and glanced at Tyler. "Ronny Robinson," she said, pointing at the yellow Ranger. "Champion Racer."
"I know who she is," nodded Tyler. "Congratulations on your latest victory."
"Thanks," grinned Ronny.
Aliyah rolled her eyes and pretended to gag. "Do you two want to get a room?" she asked. "This is a public base, you know."
"I thought it was a private base?" Tyler asked.
"Private to the rest of the world," retorted Aliyah. "Public to the occupants of this house. If you want to flirt, take it upstairs!"
~*Secrets and Lies*~
While Aliyah and Tyler bickered down in the base, and Ronny blushed at the insinuation of her flirting with the newcomer, although she would admit that he was really cute, Mack had retreated into the back garden of his home. He was still bummed that his father had taken his Overdrive tracker from him.
"What, no book?" Spencer asked, as he found him.
"I don't feel like it today." Mack answered. "Guess I'm just tired of reading about everyone else's adventures."
Spencer nodded lightly and descended the steps. He pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and set it on the steps beside his young charge, and then sat down. "Nasty place, the outdoors. Mack, I can see you're upset," he added to the boy beside him.
"I'm not upset." Mack answered. "I'm confused. My father's kept me sheltered my whole life, he doesn't even tell me that I had extended family outside of the country, and then suddenly he brings back a complete and total stranger, telling me that she is my cousin and that she's staying with us for the time being, and on top of that, I finally get the one chance to prove myself worthy, I do, and he takes it away."
"Look," sighed Spencer. "I know you don't understand this, but he's only doing all this to protect you. Your father is the most fearless man I've ever met. There's only one thing I know he's afraid of. Losing you."
Mack paused and looked up.
"He's already lost his parents," added Spencer. "His sisters. So if sometimes you feel like just one of his possessions, remember that, with all his wealth and his treasures, you are the one thing that remains irreplaceable to him."
"But Aliyah and Tyler -"
"Could never replace you," said Spencer, with a shake of his head. "You are his pride and joy, Mack. Just you."
Mack frowned in thought, before nodding lightly. "Thanks, Spencer," he said, jumping to his feet and racing inside.
The butler smiled to himself.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
After discovering the disappearance of his father, Mack frantically paced the Overdrive base. "He's gone, and his office is trashed," he said, wringing his hands nervously.
"How did none of us hear this?" Dax wondered.
"Maybe because we're several thousand feet below the manor?" suggested Tyler. "But, Dax does raise a good point, I mean, doesn't this place have any alarms that alert you guys to evil? Every other Ranger team had some form of an early warning system."
"Could we have disabled it when we were playing around with the computer?" Aliyah asked.
Rose shook her head. "All systems are up and running," she said. "The early warning system is focused mainly on the rest of the planet, not us."
"Well, that's stupid," muttered Aliyah.
"Who could have taken him?" asked Will.
"It's got to be those lava freaks," said Mack.
"At least he has his locator watch with him," said Spencer, before adding dismally." That is, if he hasn't broken it already."
"I'll program a search pattern, starting with the west-coast grid," said Rose. "I can widen it if necessary."
Mack nodded, although he was still terrified for his father's safety.
"Don't worry, Mack, we're going to get your dad back." Dax reassured his friend.
"Thanks." Mack smiled. "I just wish he hadn't taken Red's tracker."
"Ah, yes, the tracker," said Spencer. "What a pity it's in your father's office. Locked in a foolproof safe. Impossible to crack."
Aliyah grinned as Spencer turned to Will, just this morning he had boasted about being hired to break into Hartford's own personal vault in Brazil, now they needed someone to break into Hartford's safe, if anyone was the man for the job, it was Will Aston.
As the black Ranger left the base, the computer beeped alerting the Rangers to Hartford's current location.
"I've found him!" Rose exclaimed.
"Oh, wonder of wonders." Spencer smiled. "For once, Mr. Hartford remembered his locator watch."
"Yes!" Mack cheered.
"Rotuma Island. Never heard of it." Ronny said, shaking her head.
"It's a remote island in Australasia," said Tyler. "Approximately 465 kilometers north of Fiji."
Aliyah stared at him in surprise.
"What?" Tyler shrugged.
"How the hell did you know that?" Aliyah asked.
Tyler rolled his eyes. "I, unlike you, actually read," he pointed out.
"Ooh. That was cold," said Aliyah, although her grin gave away her facade. "OK. So, we know were Hartford is, the question is now, how the hell are we gonna get there?"
Everyone, including Mack, looked at Spencer.
"Well, the fastest way would be to use the special hydro/aero recon craft," said the Butler. "Which Mr. Hartford loves to call the 'SHARC'," he patted Dax's shoulder and pressed a button on the computer's console. A sleek aircraft carrier appeared on the screens, causing Ronny's eyes to light up with excitement.
"Sweet. I'm driving," said Ronny.
"Yeah, I'm going too." Mack added.
"Me too," said Aliyah. "Hartford may not be my biggest fan right now, but blood is thicker than water, and he is the closest thing I have to a parental figure at the moment."
Tyler smirked. "Moltor doesn't realize what he has let himself in for," he said to Ronny, Rose and Dax. "Aliyah's gonna go nuclear."
"Don't try and stop us, Spencer," said Mack to the Butler.
"I wouldn't dare, sir," said Spencer, aghast that he would think such a thing.
"Hey, hotshot," called Will as he returned to the base. "If you're coming along, you might need this." He held up the red Overdrive Tracker and tossed it to Mack.
"My Tracker!" Mack grinned.
"Oh, you did it!" Ronny laughed.
"Was there any doubt?" Will asked.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Alright, guys, let's hit it," she said. "Before Will's head gets any bigger and we can't get him on the plane."
The black Ranger threw her a glare, while the others laughed and followed her out of the base.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
"This baby rips." Ronny gushed from the SHARC controls.
"We're getting close." Tyler called back. He was sitting alongside Ronny at the controls, while the other Rangers and Aliyah sat in the back.
"Setting course for Rotuma Island." Rose called to the front.
"Got it." Will said, searching the area.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Aliyah asked.
Ronny grinned. "You just said the magic world," she said, pushing down on the throttle and ripping it through the skies.
"Ohh!" every cried, save for Ronny who cheered, happily.
"Whoo-hoo!"
Tyler craned his neck to look at her, laughed and shook his head.
Aliyah smirked as she caught the look from her position at the back. Her cousin had a crush, and she was going to take full advantage of it.
Within seconds the SHARC had left the Hartford mansion and landed on the beach of Rotuma Island, the Rangers, Aliyah and Tyler left the comfort of the plane, and walked along the beach. Aliyah wrapped her arms around herself as she remembered the last time she had been on an island, it was back before she was a Lightning Ranger, but that Island had been sinking, thankfully this one wasn't - she hoped.
"Now what?" Ronny asked.
"Let's look around," said Mack.
"That could take all day," said Dax. "I mean, this place is huge!"
"Allow me." Will said, stepping forward. He used his new super powers to scan the whole island, before pointing ahead of him towards the centre of the island. "I think I found it. There's a cave entrance on the west side of the volcano. But wait, I think I heard -" he broke off as a group of Lava Lizards jumped out from behind the rock formations surrounding the beach. "Lava Lizards!"
As the lizards descended upon them, the Rangers, Aliyah and Tyler, struck defensively and fought back. The battle was unfair, for most of the team, Will, Dax, Ronny and Rose had their abilities to fall back on, while Aliyah and Tyler were highly skilled Ninja's, unfortunately, Mack was neither a Ranger, nor did he have any super-enhanced abilities.
But he still managed to hold his own.
"Guys, if you can you hold them off," Aliyah shouted to Ronny, Mack, Rose and Will. "Tyler, Dax and I can get to the cave."
"Yeah, alright, go!" Mack shouted back.
Aliyah nodded and turned to Dax and Tyler. "Let's go," she told them, Ninja-streaking away. Tyler followed her example, as Dax used his enhanced skills to chase after them.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
Moltor led the way into the lava chamber inside the Volcano.
"Bring him here," he ordered his lizards, which were supporting a struggling Mr. Hartford between them. "I'll give you one more chance to come to your senses. Will you help me find the jewels or not?"
"For the last time," said Mr. Hartford. "I'll never help you."
Angrily, Moltor grabbed a near-by lizard and tossed him off of the cliff, and into the bubbling lava below. He hit the hot thick substance with a splash, but re-emerged and scaled the cliff to rejoin his master two seconds later.
"Unfortunately for you, Mr. Hartford," said Moltor. "Lava Lizards can survive molten lava, you, one the other hand, cannot."
He grabbed Andrew's shirt and shoved him over the cliff.
"Gotcha!" someone said, and Andrew felt an arm wrap around him. He saw the lava coming closer, but soon it was going away as whoever had hold of him landed on a rock, very close to the surface, and bounced back up into the chamber. They landed on a ledge, and Andrew looked up to see it had been Aliyah who had saved him.
Moltor growled and blasted her with a burst of energy from his head.
"Lightning strike!" Aliyah retaliated, firing a beam of white lightning at him from the palm of her hand. During her training at the Lightning academy, before it had been destroyed, she had learned how to control her Lightning powers and how to conduct them without being in a thunderstorm.
The two blasts hit one another, causing the whole mountain to shake.
"ATTACK!" Moltor ordered his lizards.
They complied and started to scale the walls leading to the ledge that Aliyah and Hartford and landed on.
"I'm guessing if I push them into the lava pit," said Aliyah, kicking a near-by Lizard off of its perch. "They're just gonna get back up?"
"You'd be correct." Andrew nodded, as the lizard returned.
"Frack!" Aliyah cursed. "WHERE'S MY BACKUP!"
Another blur entered the cave, bounced through the lizards and knocked them into the lava pit, they just returned, angrier than ever.
Tyler landed beside Aliyah and Hartford. "Come on," he said, helping his uncle climb down to where Dax was waiting. Aliyah jumped and landed in front of them, dropping down and sweeping a couple of lava lizards off of their feet.
"Let's get out of here!" said Dax, leading the way outside.
"We'll follow you," said Tyler, hanging back to help Aliyah.
Moltor snarled and fired at them again.
Tyler grabbed Aliyah and dragged her through the archway.
"Run!" he shouted, forcing her ahead of him.
"You can't run from me!" Moltor shouted after them. "Lava Lizards!"
The Lizards snarled and chased after their prey.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
Mack flipped a lava lizard as Dax and his father came running towards him. The latter was very surprised to see his son fighting on the beach.
"Mack, what are you doing here?" he shouted.
"Saving you butt." Mack answered.
"Look, I thought I told you -" started Andrew, but cut off as Moltor jumped down from the volcano and faced them on the beach.
"You'll never escape this Island." Moltor told them, as a black blur streaked overhead, kicked off from the side of the mountain and flipped backwards. It landed in-between Moltor, Andrew, Mack and Dax, and kicked the overgrown lava lizard in the stomach, sending him stumbling away.
"Call to the beast inside!" shouted the new-comer. "Unleash the Eagle!"
A black aura surrounded the new person, and a giant black eagle burst from their chest. It soared through the air, opened its beak and blasted a huge energy orb at the hot-head. Moltor staggered as the orb hit him dead in the chest.
"Who are you?" he growled.
"Mack, how did you -" Andrew said, as Mack drew his tracker.
"Sorry, dad, you'll have to finish yelling at me later," said Mack, racing off to join his team-mates. They each regrouped and prepared to morph.
Meanwhile, Andrew turned to the newcomer.
"What are you doing here, Rebecca?" he asked.
"You didn't heed my warning," said the newcomer. She turned to Andrew and removed her face mask, revealing Aliyah's older sister, Rebecca to be underneath.
"She's not ready."
"She's more than ready," said Rebecca. "She's a veteran. She's been trained. She's fought the biggest battle of her life, and survived with the prophecy intact. You said you needed help, so I sent you two of the Lightning Academies best fighters, what you do with them is up to you, but I am telling you now, Aliyah is more than ready to protect the Corona."
Andrew sighed. "But your mother -" he started.
"Is dead." Rebecca interrupted. "And yes, I am aware that you promised her that you'd protect Aliyah, but Aliyah doesn't need protecting. Trust me; I learned that the hard way. Protecting Aliyah is going to do nothing more than push her away, and right now, she needs all the family support that she can get; apparently I didn't give her enough. So, please, don't make the same mistakes I did."
"Are you sure this is the only way?" Andrew asked.
"You want to uphold the promise you made to my mother, yes?" said Rebecca. Andrew nodded. "Then this is the only way. I need Aliyah to continue this Ranger legacy. It is all the training that she is going to need in order to survive what her destiny holds for her. The prophecy still plays a huge part of her life, Uncle Andrew, I need her strong enough in order to survive part 2."
"Does she know?" Andrew asked.
Rebecca shook her head. "Neither of them do," she answered, referring also to Tyler's knowledge. "I'd like to keep it that way, at least until the moment is right."
"Secrets and Lies, Rebecca," said Andrew, shaking his head.
"Secrets and Lies is all I know how to do," admitted Rebecca. "Especially when it comes to my baby sister."
~*Secrets and Lies*~
With Moltor defeated and Rebecca heading back to Ocean Bluff - she had gone before her sister and cousin could see her - the Rangers, Aliyah, Tyler and Hartford climbed back into the SHARC and returned to the mainland's.
Spencer was waiting for them in the base when they returned.
"Thank goodness you're all right, sir, I was really getting worried about you," said the butler as he spotted his boss.
"Spencer, are you turning into a softy in your old age?" Hartford teased.
"Never, sir." Spencer gasped, outraged by the idea. The team laughed at the pair, before the alarms blared; alerting them all to a 30ft monster that was trampling the very same island they had just left.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Well, what do you know," she said, sarcastically. "A giant sea creature is attacking Rotuma Island."
"Sounds like it's time for the big stuff," said Ronny.
"All right, Ronny," agreed Hartford. "Guys, get your DriveMax Zords and go."
"Oh yeah!" Ronny cheered.
Mack followed after them, but Mr. Hartford stopped him. He didn't want to lose his son, which was why he didn't want him a part of this team.
"Just let him goes," said Aliyah, rolling her eyes. "He's already proven that he's the red Ranger, and they can't form the Megazord without him."
"But he -"
"Will be fine," said Aliyah. "This is why the Rangers are a team, and not individuals, they protect each other from harm. Nothing is going to happen to him. You can't shelter him forever, Andrew, you need to let him live, let him breathe, or you're gonna push him away."
Andrew sighed as he remembered Rebecca had used similar words back on Rotuma Island, she had said that by trying to protect Aliyah was only going to result in pushing her away, was that what he was doing to his own son too?
"Mack, be careful," smiled Hartford.
Mack grinned and raced off to join his team; he caught Aliyah's eye on the way out of the base and smiled at her. If it hadn't been for her, he'd never have his father's approval to officially become the team's Red Ranger.
As the Rangers left to deal with the sea monster, Andrew turned back to Aliyah and Tyler.
"I think it is time we talked," he said.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
Tyler looked to his left at Aliyah and Mack; the three of them were stood between two metal poles that were slowly altering their genes.
A faint red squiggle rippled over Mack's chest, as a white one rippled across Aliyah, and a green one zoomed around his chest, it had been an hour since the Rangers had returned from their battle with the sea monster, and Hartford had suggested that he and Aliyah join the team as the sixth and seventh Rangers.
At first, Aliyah hadn't been too thrilled by the idea, but Andrew had insisted that the team may need a veteran's help from time-to-time, and there was no one he trusted more than her. Aliyah had caved and agreed, but only if Tyler agreed to the idea too. He had done so in a heartbeat. While he had never wanted to be a Ranger in the past, he knew that being one now meant that he could protect Aliyah both on and off the battlefield, something that he had promised his mother before she had died five-years-ago.
"Your DNA sequencing is now completed," said Spencer as he switched off the machine. The poles quivered as the energy died out of them, and they moved away from the three new Rangers.
"I don't feel any different," said Mack, putting on his new jacket. "Do you guys?" he asked his cousins.
Aliyah shook her head and looked at Tyler. "Do you?" she asked.
"Nope."
"Well, it takes a few minutes to kick in," said Ronny, remembering what it had been like for her. One minute she had felt normal, the next she was racing around the place at top speed.
"It's great to have to guys on the team," said Rose, handing over the three Trackers that she was holding.
"I can't believe this is really happening." Mack grinned, excitedly.
"Yeah, well, don't take it for granted," said Aliyah. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
"Unless, of course, your name is Aliyah Logan," added Tyler.
Aliyah glared up at him. "Shut up," she growled. "I didn't ask for this stupid Ranger gig to follow me around, if I had known I was gonna be a Ranger six times after Ninja Storm, I would have told Rebecca exactly where to shove the Lightning Morpher and walked away when I had the chance."
Tyler smirked and wrapped his arm around his cousin. "You love it really," he said, before pausing. He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his head from side to side, cracking the bones in his neck.
"What's up with you?" Aliyah asked, frowning.
"I dunno," said Tyler. "I just got this weird feeling all of a sudden."
"Weird feeling? Like what?"
"I don't -"
CRACK!
The Rangers, plus Spencer jumped, as Tyler disappeared from beside Aliyah.
"Dude, where'd you go?" Aliyah shouted, looking around for her cousin. "Ty?"
There was another loud crack, and Tyler reappeared. "Whoa," he laughed. "That was awesome!"
"Where'd you go?" Ronny asked, looking surprised. "Was that your new power?"
"I think so," said Tyler.
Spencer smiled. "Teleportation," he nodded. "Nicely done, sir."
"Thanks, Spencer," grinned Tyler. "What's your power?" he added, looking at Aliyah.
"I dunno," she shrugged. "Spence?"
Spencer smiled. "I think you will find refreshingly familiar, madam," he said. "After all, if anyone can go through any phase, it is you."
The rest of the team frowned at the riddle, but Aliyah gasped, her eyes growing wide. "No way?" she asked, trying to contain a squeal, but failing. "Oh, My God! Tyler, hit me!"
"What?" Tyler asked, surprised. "I'm not gonna hit you."
"Do it!"
"No, you'll hit me back," said Tyler, "and you hurt."
Aliyah grinned. "I promise I won't hit you," she said. "Besides, I highly doubt I'll feel your punch."
"Hey, i'm not that weak." Tyler defended.
"Just hit me!" Aliyah groaned.
Tyler sighed. "Fine!" he said, making a fist. He hesitated and looked at the others. "Are you sure -?" He broke off as he ducked a fist from Aliyah. "Dude, wa -" he jumped backwards as Aliyah aimed a kick for his side. "Alright, that's it!" he said, rushing at her, he reached out to grab her but instead of his hands closing around her shoulders, they went straight through her - as did he.
"Holy crap, what was that?" Dax asked, staring at the new white Ranger. He walked towards her and tried to poke her, but his hand went straight through her. "How are doing that?"
"I can phase again!" Aliyah grinned, looking down at her hands. They looked normal to her, but to everyone else they looked transparent, like they were there, but they weren't solid. "Yes! I can phase without the help of a gem. Spencer, you're the best!"
Spencer bowed his head. "I do try, madam," he said with a light smile.
"So, what about me?" Mack asked, looking down at his own body. He suddenly felt a shiver down his spine, and turned to Spencer. "Hang on, I think I just -" he picked the Butler up by the collar, so that Spencer's toes were brushing against the tiled floor.
"Whoa!" Spencer yelped. "When I asked for a raise, this is hardly what I had in mind."
The team laughed at his expense, as Hartford entered the base from the elevator. "I see you've given Mack, Aliyah and Tyler their enhanced powers," he said, hiding a smile. "You can put Spencer down now," he added to his son.
Mack complied and set the Butler back on the ground.
"Thank you." Spencer said, quickly seeking refuge behind his boss, as Mack, Aliyah and Tyler turned to the rest of the team. "I had the resequencer calibrated especially for Mack, sir," he added in a low whisper.
Hartford nodded and looked back at his new team. Dax was still poking Aliyah, unable to get over the fact that his hand was going straight through her.
Aliyah glared at the blue Ranger, as she managed to maintain a firm control over her powers, and his hand hit her in the shoulder. Dax smiled, sheepishly, rubbed the back of his neck and quickly stepped away from her.
"Listen up, Rangers, it's time to get to work," called Andrew. "Our enemies have the crown, and now they're going to be after the jewels. It's going to be the mission of Operation Overdrive to find them first."
Copyrighted ©
Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Chapter updated Wednesday, 11th September, 2013 at 02:57am