Author's Note: Normally I would've skipped this chapter, but I did that with Abby Holloway: Back to Action and I really hate repetitive storylines, plus I would've had to write it for Lightning Sister Saga: Behind the Scenes. So, see you all at the bottom.
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.
Dedications: Big thank you to the following: Ringgold913 and AnonymousShadowReader1.
Warning: Rated T for safety.
Title: Secrets and Lies
Summary: Aliyah thought Rebecca and Tyler were the only family that she had left until she arrived in San Angeles six months ago. Now, after being approached by a man who claims to be her mother's brother, she is pulled into another life and death battle for Earth.
"You know how I said that the artifact that the Fearcats had found looked familiar?" Cam asked Aliyah as he sat opposite her at the breakfast table.
"Yeah?" Aliyah asked, finishing her cereal.
"Well, I found it," Cam said, placing a leather-bound book on the table. He opened it to the page he had marked and pushed it across the table so she could see it.
"The Octavian Chalice," Aliyah read. "So, what's so special about it?"
"It's a legendary receptacle that can synthesize the energy of three other ancient relics," Cam explained, he had already read the chapter on the chalice; just to be sure that it was the correct one.
Aliyah dropped her spoon into her empty bowl and stood from the table. "Then the Fearcats will be after those relics next," she said, crossing over the dishwasher and putting her bowl inside. "Do we know what relics they're looking for?"
"Yeah, the Minerva's staff, the root of Hesper, and the sands of Silla," Cam answered. "According to legend, if these are placed inside the chalice, it will unleash a power that can destroy worlds."
"It must be the ultimate plan," Aliyah said, gripping tightly onto the work station and closing her eyes.
Cam frowned as he watched his girlfriend hunch over. "Are you OK?" he asked, concern growing inside him as he heard her breathing turn shallow.
"Yeah," Aliyah said, as best she could. "Just a stomach ache. Do we know where these relics are, by chance?"
"I've initiated a global scan for them," Cam explained, standing up and approaching her. He placed his hand on the bottom of her back and looked down at her. "Are you sure you're OK?"
Aliyah forced a smile and looked up. "Who, me?" she asked. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Suddenly Cam's wrist watch beeped.
"The satellites are picking up traces of the staff," the Samurai said, checking the face.
"OK, then," said Aliyah. "I'll grab the others and we'll head out."
"I don't think you should go anywhere," Cam said, "and that's not me holding you back, that's me showing concern for the fact that you look like a ghost."
Aliyah frowned. She had no idea what her face looked like, there was no mirror around for her to check, but she was aware of the growing knawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was almost like a dull-ache accompanied by a sharp stabbing pain with every move she made.
Reaching for her tracker, Aliyah opened a connection with Mack and spoke into the speaker. "Mack, we have a lead," she said. "Take Ronny, Will and Rose with you. Ty, you, Dax and T meet me in the base."
"Copy that," Mack replied.
"On our way," Tyler confirmed.
Aliyah replaced her tracker on her shoulder and looked up at Cam. "Just this once," she said. "I'll let you hold me back."
"Come on," Cam said, wrapping his arm around her waist and helping her to the lift. "I'll have Spencer take a blood sample for analysis."
"Awesome!" said Aliyah, sarcastically.
*Secrets and Lies*~
Once down in the base, Cam helped Aliyah to a nearby stool and explained to Spencer what had happened upstairs in the kitchen. While the butler agreed to take a blood sample from the white Ranger, the Samurai approached the computer and started to search for the other two relics.
"What's going on?" Tyler asked as he, Dax and Tyzonn arrived in the base. "Why aren't we out treasure hunting?"
"Because there is more than one relic," Aliyah replied.
Tyler frowned at his cousin and slowly made his way over to her. He wasn't afraid of needles, per say, but he didn't like blood one bit. "Are you OK?" he asked. "Why's Spencer drawing your blood?"
"I weren't feeling well upstairs," Aliyah explained.
"Unwell? Unwell how?"
"Just a simple stomach ache."
"And that results in a needle now, does it?"
Aliyah smiled and shook her head. "No, but ever since Moltor's attack and his threat, we can't be too careful," she explained. "I mean, my stomach ache may not be a natural occurrence."
"Huh, I didn't think about that," said Tyler. "If I'm honest, since you didn't react that much to Moltor's attack, I just left it to empty words, you know? I mean, if he had wanted to cause you serious damage wouldn't you have felt something before now?"
"He did say that I wouldn't feel it instantly," Aliyah said, tensing slightly as Spencer withdrew the needle from her arm. He wiped away the small bubble of blood, and added a Band-Aid to her arm. "Thanks, Spence," she said, smiling at the old man.
Spencer bowed his head and stood up. "I shall personally deliver this to the lab," he said. "I will let you know if I find anything... abnormal."
"Maybe you should let us know if you find anything normal," Tyler teased.
"Bite me," Aliyah shot back, pulling down her sleeve. She jumped almost a foot in the air as the computers beeped loudly, alerting her and the others to another presence. "What is it, Cam?"
"The computers have found another relic," Cam answered. "Whoa, wait a minute, that's... the other relic! It's not that far from the second one."
"Then we split up," Aliyah said. "Ty and Dax, you find the root of Hesper, while Tyzonn and I'll go after the sands of Silla. Cam, contact Mack, tell him what's going on."
Cam nodded and linked the computer to Mack's tracker, while Aliyah and the others headed for the elevator. If what Cam had said about these relics and the chalice were true, and Aliyah had never once known him to be wrong, then the sooner they found the relics, the safer the world would be.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
Kamdor grunted as he pulled an old chest out of the sand. He held his breath as he undid the latch and opened the chest to reveal a glass ball full of sand.
"This must be it," he chuckled.
"The sands of Silla," Miratrix grinned. "Now that the Fearcats have the chalice, I know they'll be looking for this."
"It may prove to be a valuable bargaining chip," Kamdor grinned.
"Not so fast, Kamdor!"
Kamdor and Miratrix looked around in alarm as Aliyah and Tyzonn jumped into view. They were both fully morphed and ready for battle. Kamdor growled in annoyance, pulled his sword from behind his back, and attacked the two Rangers, cutting them down before they had even landed.
"Ahh!" Aliyah groaned, clutching her stomach and rolling over onto it. If it didn't hurt before, it definitely hurt now."
"Ali, you OK?" Tyzonn asked.
"Yeah," Aliyah said her breathing heavy but shallow. "Just give me a minute. Get the relic."
Tyzonn nodded and jumped to his feet. "That's going to a museum, where it can't cause any harm," he said, pointing at Kamdor.
"You two again!" Kamdor growled. "I grow tired of this planet, and of you Rangers."
"Let me handle this, Kamdor," Miratrix said, taking a step forward.
"No!" Kamdor yelled, stopping her with his sword. "It's time I show these Rangers that I am a force to be reckoned with." He handed the sands of Silla to her, and rushed at Tyzonn.
Tyzonn run forward to defend himself and Aliyah, but Kamdor disappeared in a blue blur. "Huh? Where'd he go?" Tyzonn asked.
"T, behind you!" Aliyah shouted.
Tyzonn turned quickly, but was a fraction too late. He cried out as Kamdor sliced across his chest with his sword, knocking him backwards with an array of sparks.
"Leave him alone!" Aliyah shouted, struggling back to her feet. Her stomach hurt like hell, but her friend needed help. She couldn't stand around and do nothing. Unsheathing Saba from her hip, Aliyah rushed forward and tackled Kamdor to the ground. She raised her sabre above her head, but before she could strike Kamdor grabbed her by the throat.
"You're the most annoyingest ranger of them all, white Ranger," Kamdor growled, throwing Aliyah over his head. She landed on her back and rolled back to her knees, quickly raising Saba above her head to block Kamdor's sword.
"I'm happy to take full responsibility," Aliyah shouted, pushing up with all her might. She managed to shove Kamdor away and jump back to her feet, just enough to have a better leverage over the fight. Kamdor growled and shot at her with a lightning bolt. Aliyah smirked and absorbed the energy of the bolt, throwing it back at Kamdor tenfold.
Kamdor jumped backwards to avoid the hit. Time and time again he forgot that the white Ranger was also a Lightning Ninja, his main power attacks didn't work on her, and merely made her stronger. Managing to get back to his feet, Tyzonn rushed forward to help Aliyah.
Tyzonn struck Kamdor with his drive defender, but did very little damage. Kamdor laughed and tossed the Mercury ranger into Aliyah, knocking her down. "Ali, I'm sorry," Tyzonn apologized, rolling off of her and getting back to his feet.
"It's fine!" Aliyah said. "Just get him!"
Tyzonn nodded and rushed at Kamdor, swinging his defender. Aliyah quickly followed him.
Kamdor laughed at their blind attempts to stop him. He easily cut down Tyzonn and dragged his sword across Aliyah's stomach causing her to double over with pain. He had at least expected her to put up more of a fight.
Falling to her knees, Aliyah breathed heavily and glared up at Kamdor through her visor. "T, we can't give up!" she said, forcing herself to stand. Her legs were wobbly and felt weak, but she was too determined and stubborn to just lay down in defeat.
"Fool!" Kamdor shouted. "Just admit defeat."
"Never!" Aliyah yelled, tightening her hold on her sabre.
"Fine! Then you leave me no choice." Kamdor raised his sword, twisted it in a circle and slashed at the two Rangers. Aliyah and Tyzonn cried out as they were thrown backwards into a sand dune, and rolled down the side to the base.
Aliyah groaned and demorphed. Her energy left her quicker than the air out of a balloon. "T..." she breathed, reaching her hands out to grab onto Tyzonn, the tips of her fingers brushed against his arm, but essentially he was too far away and she had very little energy to inch closer.
"Too easy," Kamdor said, standing over the bodies of the two Rangers.
Miratrix joined him, holding up the relic. "So, we have the sands of Silla," she said, "and you defeated the Mercury and white Rangers. Not a bad day."
"The Fearcats don't know who they're dealing with," Kamdor agreed.
"Yah!" said a black and green blur as it sped between the two ninjas. It was Mig. He laughed as he landed between the two ninjas and the fallen Rangers; he was holding the sand of Silla. "Yes, we do. A couple of losers."
"Hey!" Kamdor yelled.
"Thanks for the sands of Silla," Mig said, turning fully to face Kamdor. He aimed his blaster at them and fired, knocking them off of their feet as easily as they had done Tyzonn and Aliyah. "And with two of the Rangers are down, it won't be long until the others will fall too." He laughed.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
The volcano exploded as a lava lizard burst from the top and landed on the surface near where Moltor was waiting for him. He knelt before his master and presented him with a plant.
"As you requested, master," the lizard said.
"Excellent," Moltor praised. "The root of Hesper. The Fearcats will never get their hands on this relic. Let's go." He turned his back, and started to walk away.
On the mountain top behind him stood two figures. One blue and one green. They just seen the end of the exchange, and were ready to remove the root of Hesper from Moltor's possession.
"Hold it right there, Moltor!" Tyler shouted. "Hand it over."
"Never!" Moltor yelled, sending his Lava lizards into battle.
Tyler and Dax exchanged looks, readied their driver defenders and jumped down from the rocky cliff. They landed and were soon surrounded by lava lizards.
Dax blocked an attack from a lizard and jumped up, kicking away another lizard that had snuck up on him from behind. He twisted his sword and rotated the lizard over, smashing him hard into the ground.
Tyler shook off the lizards he was fighting, and quickly flipped over as Moltor jumped at him.
"This isn't your business," Moltor said. "Stay out of it."
"Your business is always my business," Tyler replied. "Especially when you do something to my cousin that affects her long after the fact."
Moltor laughed and tugged his arm away from Tyler. "So, the little white Ranger finally learns the lesson of playing with fire, does she?" he asked.
"What did you do to her?" Tyler demanded, slashing his sword at Moltor.
"She'll soon find out," Moltor said, ducking out of the way. He swung his sword around and hit Tyler in the shoulder with it. As Tyler fell backwards, Moltor rushed at him again.
Dax gasped as he locked his arm around a lava lizard and kicked the one in front of him away, he then twisted the arm of the lizard behind him, and elbowed him in the gut, knocking him away. He sighed as another mob of lizards rushed at him; holding the handle of his sword tightly, the blue Ranger spun in a circle and cut down as many lizards as he could reach. "Tyler, grab the root!" he shouted to the green Ranger. "Hurry!"
"I'm trying!" Tyler called back. He had locked blades with Moltor and suddenly pushed up, knocking both his own sword and Moltor's into the air.
Moltor growled and aimed a punch for Tyler's stomach, but he was blocked by a golden hand. Moltor growled as he looked up to see the Sentinel Knight standing beside them. "You!" he snarled.
The Sentinel Knight grabbed Moltor's wrist and shoved him away from Tyler.
"Lizards!" Moltor yelled, summoning more lava lizards from the volcano. "ATTACK!"
The lizards snarled and surged forward.
"Tyler, use my sword mode!" the Sentinel said, transforming back into a sword.
Tyler nodded and quickly picked up his defender from the ground, he then swiped up the sentinel sword and used both of weapons, plus his ability to ninja streak, to take out the lizards.
"You OK, Ty?" Dax asked, regrouping with his team-mate.
"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "You?"
Dax nodded and looked back at Moltor. "Just save yourself a lot of trouble, Moltor, give us the root!" he said.
"Don't make me laugh, Ranger," Moltor chuckled.
Dax growled and clenched his hand into a fist.
"Guys!"
Tyler looked around and was glad to see Mack and the others racing towards them across the surface. "Where are T and Ali?" he asked.
"We thought they were with you?" Mack said.
"They went to find the sands of Silla," Tyler explained. "They should be back for now. Unless..." he reached, panicking for his tracker.
"I'm sure they're fine," Will said, patting Tyler on the shoulder. "We've got more important things to worry about." He pointed at Moltor and the root.
"What about the staff?" Tyler asked.
Rose shook her head. "Bad news - Flurious overpowered us and took it," she said.
"We'll get it back," Dax said. "And don't think you're going to get them, Moltor."
Again, Moltor laughed.
There was a flash of snowflakes and Flurious appeared behind his brother. The Rangers prepared themselves for a fight, whilst Moltor turned, surprised to his older sibling.
"Hello, Rangers," Flurious laughed. "I see we're all relic hunters today." He held the staff in his two hands.
There was a blur of black and orange, and next second the staff was gone.
"Up there!" Ronny said, pointing to the mountain's face. Benglo stood over looking them, the staff tightly in his paws.
"Mine now," said Benglo.
"Give that back to me!" Flurious shouted, outraged.
"You're as slow as a glacier, Flurious," Benglo taunted. "Rangers!" he growled, spotting the team. "Be gone!" he swiped the staff across the air and blasted the team off of their feet.
"I'll take that," said Mig, streaking past Moltor and taking the root from him.
"What?!" Moltor snarled.
"Now we have all the relics," Mig said, holding up the sand and root, while Benglo held the staff. "Thanks for the help, losers."
"You guys are the lowest of the low!" Ronny shouted.
"Thanks, but we're just getting started," Benglo said. "Wait till you see what's coming next."
"Whatever it is, we'll stop you," Mack swore.
"Yeah! You won't get away with this," Rose agreed.
"Watch us," Benglo laughed. "With these relics, we'll create a beast so powerful it will wipe out the population of this planet."
"Then we'll easily find the jewels," Mig added.
"You double-crossed me again!" Moltor fumed angrily.
"You're not the only one they've crossed," Miratrix said as she and Kamdor arrived.
"We've all had enough of their treachery," Flurious said, glaring up at the cats.
"Ha!" said Mig. "You call yourself villains? You can't even hold on to your relics. Flurious the frozen fool go back to your igloo and cool off."
"Moltor, who's about as dangerous as wet match," Benglo taunted. "Kamdor and his silly sidekick, you two are just sad."
"Ouch," Tyler muttered. "And I thought Aliyah was harsh."
"None of you ever posed a threat to us," Mig said.
"Now watch and learn what real power looks like," Benglo said, holding up the chalice. He set it on the ground in front of himself and Mig, and started adding the relics to it.
"Look out!" Dax shouted, racing forward and firing his blaster at the chalice. The beam bounced off and the cats laughed, overturning the chalice and tossing its contents down onto the surface.
The liquid mercury covered everything in sight, before it started to grow and transform. By the time it had finished, a giant metallic monster towered over them.
"Rise, mighty Agrios," the Fearcats laughed.
"What is that?" Miratrix asked.
"It could be the end of us all," Kamdor answered.
Pushing himself to his feet, Tyler looked up at the newest creation of the Fearcats and shook his head. "This is not good," he said.
"That thing's massive!" Will said.
"Yes, and it's power is legendary," Mig said. "There is no creature on earth that can match its power."
Tyler shook his head. "I can think of one," he said. "The White Tiger Zord."
"But where's Aliyah?" Rose asked.
"I dunno," Mack said, shaking his head. He reached for his tracker. "Cam, any word from Ali?"
"She and Tyzonn aren't answering," the Samurai answered. "I'll keep trying."
"In the meantime," said Mack. "Send the Zords. We're going to need them."
"Sending DriveMax Zords," Cam confirmed.
As the Rangers formed their Megazord, the Fearcats jumped up into their spacecraft before merging with the Arigos monster.
"This should be fun," said Benglo, pushing down on his controls. "Go!"
The team tried to grab at Arigos and the Fearcats, but with the power of the chalice and the mighty monster, they could barely keep their grip.
"Argh!" the team shouted, as the Fearcats punched and slashed at the outside of their Megazord with their claws. Leaning forward, the Arigos monster head-butted the Megazord and knocked it off of its feet.
"Let's take it to the sky!" Mack shouted.
Tyler nodded and, combining his sonic streaker to the DriveMax Megazord, lifted it into the air.
"Not so fast!" Benglo said, pulling back on his controls. The arms of Arigos crossed over his chest and then he blasted the Ranger's Megazord with high-end beams from his chest.
"DriveMax, full power!" the team shouted, avoiding the blast and shooting back with their own. The fireball encased the monster and exploded, but the monster and the Fearcats walked away unscratched.
Will growled and punched the top of his controls. "How did he survive that?!" he yelled.
"It's not possible to survive that!" Mack said.
"Obviously it is," Tyler said. "We need Aliyah and the tiger Zord! Cam?!"
"I can't get a lock on her," Cam replied.
"LOOK OUT!" Rose shouted, but her warning came too late. Arigos had already powered up for another attack and this time ripped the Megazord a part.
The team cried out as they were ejected from the Megazord, and landed on the floor as the debris of their Zords littered the ground around them.
"Come on, Rangers," Mack said, struggling back to his feet. "We're not out of this yet. Cam, send the battle fleet."
"And the Flashpoint!" Tyler called.
The ground shook as the two separate Megazords arrived. Tyler took to the Flashpoint cockpit while the others jumped up into the ship. He knew that the flashpoint wasn't his Megazord, but he figured it couldn't have been that hard to control. Adam Park had managed to control it during his brief return as a ranger.
"You're wasting your time," Mig shouted. "Haven't you learned?"
"Nothing you bring can touch us," Benglo yelled.
"We'll see about that!" Tyler said, pushing the flashpoint forward. He kicked up at the monster, but was knocked away by Arigos.
"FIRE!" the others shouted, firing their cannons at the monster.
"Is that all you've got?" Benglo laughed.
"Hydro Blast!" Tyler shouted, unleashing a barrage of fine streamed water at the monster. It raised his arm and broke through the jets, knocking Tyler off of his feet.
The green Ranger cried out as his controls sparked dangerously.
"What a joke!" Mig said, charging forward.
Mack maneuvered the Battle fleet so that it stood in front of Tyler. "ROLLERS!" he shouted, turning the wheel on his Zord. The left hand of the Megazord started to spin wildly, but the Fearcats halted it when they grabbed it.
"Now we've got you."
"Let's finish this."
The Fearcats pulled back on their controls, lifting the Battle fleet off of their feet and causing them to spin around rapidly. The Fearcats laughed and spun in a circle, letting the Megazord go and throwing it into the flashpoint. The Rangers cried out in alarm as each of their Zords exploded, ejecting them from inside.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
As Mig and Benglo threatened their former comrades, the Rangers dug themselves out from the wreckage that was their Megazords. Tyler carefully eased himself out from underneath a shard of broken metal, and then quickly rushed to help Ronny. "Are you OK?" he asked her, noticing the appearance of blood on her forehead.
"Yeah," Ronny nodded, sitting down on a rock and looking around. "But our Zords are going to need a lot of work."
"Our Zords will be fine," Tyler said. "It's us we need to worry about, not to mention our two missing Rangers."
"You don't think anything bad has happened to them, do you?" Rose asked, dragging herself out from underneath the piece of debris.
"I don't know," Tyler said, helping Dax to his feet. "All I know is that I've got this bad feeling inside that is telling me something is wrong. Aliyah's never miss a battle like this."
"And if Cam can't get a lock on her," Mack said, jumping to his feet and walking over. He was holding his arm.
Tyler shook his head. He didn't want to think of the alternative. "She should never have left the base," he said. "There was something wrong with her this morning, something that was worthy enough to result in a blood sample; she said it was just a simple stomach ache, what if it was something worse?"
"Cam wouldn't have let her go if it was worse," Rose said. "You remember what happened last time."
"Yeah, but -"
"I'm sure, wherever she is, she's safe," Mack said, reassuringly. "Like you said, right now we need to worry about ourselves; the battle fleet's been trashed."
"Along with the DriveMax," Will added.
"What are we going to do?" Dax asked.
Mack sighed and looked down at his tracker, it was the only piece of ranger equipment he had that was still intact, but for the life of him he had no clue what to do with it given the current situation.
~*Secrets and Lies*~
Meanwhile, Aliyah had started to come too.
She could feel the heat on her face. The sun seemed brighter and warmer now than it had done during the fight against Kamdor and Miratrix, it had to be high in the sky. She knew that she had to get out of it soon or risk being burnt by its UV rays.
With a painful groan she managed to force her eyes open, and raise her hand to block out the light. She frowned as she saw the sky was a calm blue and not the roguish red it had been during the battle. She fairly understood the concept of science and knew that the sky was blue because of scattered light, but out in the desert light looked different because of the change of scenery.
Rolling over onto her stomach, Aliyah braced her hands against the ground and pushed herself up to her feet. She blinked and looked around. She recognised nothing. Where there had once been sand, there was now grass. Where there had once been dunes, there was no trees, and Tyzonn was nowhere to be found.
"Tyzonn?" Aliyah called, jumping up instantly and looking around. "Dude, where are you?"
Tyzonn didn't reply.
Aliyah sighed and looked around herself again. The place was very strange, even for her standards, and she'd seen some very strange places in her years as a Ranger. The place she was in now didn't strike her as a different dimension, definitely not like the one she'd found herself in when she'd been chased by Catastros, or the place where Vida had described she'd and the others had followed Serpentina too... not to mention to Snow Prince's dimension.
All those dimensions had been real. They had felt real.
This place however was not real.
But if it's not real, Aliyah thought, still looking around. What is it and, more importantly, where is it?
TO BE CONTINUED...
Copyrighted ©
Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Chapter updated Monday, 17 November 2014 at 3:35am
