"So what did your family say?" Ally waited patiently for Kelsey's response to Dana's question, taking a sip from her water bottle. A few days ago, their dorms at Aqua Base were finally finished, and so after a bit of convincing, she agreed to move in with the others. Somehow, she'd still managed not to share too much about her home life back in Hawaii, but Ally knew she would have to eventually. The problem was, she wasn't sure if she was prepared for that.

"'What are you, crazy?'" She cringed. Kelsey's mocking tone sounded familiar. "Everyone said to me, ever since I was a kid. I always answered, you have no idea. I mean, it's such a rush hanging a thousand feet up a cliff." A shiver ran down Ally's spine, and she swung her legs over the side of her bed, resting her feet on the ground.

"To each their own, Kels."

"Check this out," Joel began, "When I was eight, all I wanted, more than anything, was to fly like a bird." He spun around dramatically, and Ally tried her best not to laugh, "So I built me a set of wings, and jumped out of my second floor window." A giggle burst out of her mouth as she stepped into their living room to join the others. They'd been asked to prep for training, something she was dreading almost as much as the exam she had later on today.

"That's not just crazy," Carter joked, "That's stupid."

"Makes sense, coming from our Joel," Ally agreed, reaching up and tugging his cowboy hat over his eyes.

"What about you two?" Dana asked as they stepped out of their room, and Ally almost froze in her steps. "Did you always wanna make movies? Be a firefighter?" As quickly as she could manage, she filtered through the information she could divulge and the information she couldn't, and finally, she shrugged.

"I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I think I even have a story in an old notebook about a fly and a gecko," Ally admitted, "I was, uh, kind of an inside kid, too, so I spent my time reading, watching cartoons, that kinda thing." Not to mention, she didn't have that many friends up until her second year of high school, where her parents had finally folded and sent her to a different school, "Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to create something that made people feel. You know?" When she glanced up at the others, Dana's eyes were wide, and Carter and Joel were exchanging a glance. Finally, the Red Ranger pouted, and Ally raised an eyebrow at this odd reaction.

"Aw, look at our baby. All grown up." He reached forward, ruffled her hair, and Ally shoved his hand away, making a face.

"Dana and I are the same age, in case you forgot."

"And in case you forgot," Joel argued, grinning the cheeky grin Ally had grown accustomed to, "She was born a few months before you. Which still makes you the youngest."

Her shoulders slouched. There was no winning this argument. She would know: they'd had it multiple times already. "What about you, o wise leader?" Ally asked, desperately trying to change the subject. She'd talked enough about herself. (Way too much than she'd like to, honestly.) "What made you decide to train to be a firefighter?"

He paused, shrugged. "Not really much of anything, honestly. There was this one time, though…" Ally knew that look. He was shutting down, closing himself off.

She knew because she'd done it many times before.

"Ah, forget I-"

"A time when what?" Chad prompted, and Ally didn't realize she'd been glaring at him until he held up his hands in apology.

"Uh… nothing. When nothing." Carter's grin didn't faze Ally in the slightest. But she wasn't about to pry.

"Nothing?" Dana repeated, incredulous, and with that, the others all started pestering their leader, egging him on.

"Guys-"

"Rangers!" Thank God. "Head to the training area. Double time!" Ally took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Here we go.


She couldn't help the old memories that piled up, even as she weaved through the hay bales that blocked her way. Kelsey rode on the back of her Rail Rescue motorcycle, while Dana took up the sidecar, and Ally knew she couldn't afford to be distracted. Not when they were being tested. But all the same, the conversation earlier had brought up past words and thoughts she'd thought she'd gotten over.

Daddy's money, the mean girls had taunted her.

How far did talent really get her? Her classmates had gossiped.

She won't make it without her parents. The critics had whispered at the first screening of her first film.

"Ally!" She snapped out of her thoughts just in time to swerve away from the oncoming hay bale, saving her mirror in the process, and deposited the girls just in front of the burning building training area.

"Thanks, Kels!" Ally shouted up at her friend, who was somehow already rushing out of the second floor door, the fake baby in her arms. Geez, she thought as she vaulted off the back of her motorcycle, dug into the storage compartment for the first aid kit Dana needed. Speedy much? She tossed the kit to Dana who caught it flawlessly, and then the two ran over to meet Kelsey. Ally watched carefully as the medic administered CPR, checked for breathing, and nodded. As soon as she saw that nod, she stepped over to the Yellow and Pink Rangers, saluted. The Captain clicked off his stopwatch, and Ally held her breath.

This was all too familiar to the occasional tests in her self-defense classes, one's where she'd been just as nervous as she was now to succeed. That was one stereotype about life on Hawaii that she'd shoved down to the others: it wasn't all fun, all sunshine and shave ice and snorkeling. If half the people there were chill, "go-with-the-flow" surfer dudes, then the other half were practically tiger parents. Almost every single Asian family pushed their kids to the extreme, and whether or not it was explicitly said, failure wasn't condoned.

Ally realized this allowed her to fit right in to becoming a Ranger, but she didn't know whether that was sad or appropriate. "Two minutes," the Captain announced, and Ally felt a spark of pride in her chest at his slight smile, "Not bad."

Not bad. Not good, either, but not bad. She let out the breath she was holding and held out her hands for hi-fives from Dana and Kelsey.


Carter Grayson, at least to Ally, was a perfect mix between chill surfer guy and tiger dad. In the brief time they'd roomed together, he'd already smacked her over the head with a pillow when he'd caught her watching tv instead of doing assignments.

Then he'd glanced down at her homework, noticed that it wasn't having to do with her film studies, and asked if he could watch with her.

But now, watching him do his training exercise, Ally saw nothing but their powerful leader. Her parents would like him. And then probably proceed to wish she was at least a little stronger, a little faster, just like Carter.

"Fifty two seconds." Unlike with their results, Captain Mitchell sounded vaguely impressed, which was a feat in and of itself. Ally grinned, joined the others in celebrating as he walked over to them. Sooner or later, she'd have to teach- more like force- Joel to do a chee-hoo. That would be a sight.

"Best time so far, huh?" Ally scrunched up her nose, crossed her arms.

"No need to rub it in." The laughter of her team washed away the exhaustion already setting in, and her smile grew even wider. (There was no way in hell she was gonna let her parents meet her friends.) "When we get home, I call the shower. I've got an exam later on." The others all looked like they were about to start arguing, but before they could, Captain Mitchell shouted for Carter, and they turned to wait.

And while Ally couldn't catch the exact words of the conversation, what she did hear startled her: "Sometimes the obvious choice is the wrong choice."


"Alright, pens down." Having finished the exam ten minutes earlier, Ally jolted awake, immensely glad she'd chosen the seat at the back of the giant lecture hall. "You can each put your answer sheets into the baskets at the end of each row, and have a good rest of your day," her science professor, a Mr. Lee, instructed, "You can trust that I won't, having all these papers to grade." The joke was kinda bad, she had to admit, but the class laughed anyway, nearly hiding the sound of her morpher beeping an alert to her.

She was the first one out the door, lifting her morpher to her face as she slipped behind the vending machine at the end of the hallway. "Purple Ranger here."

"Alyssa, the others are coming to get you. There's been a situation." Ally nearly groaned. So much for going home and getting some much deserved sleep.

"Alright, I copy."


The woman standing atop the flight of stairs looked straight out of a low budget horror flick, and Ally almost grimaced. Thankfully, she managed not to, since she was sure the action would've enraged their opponent even further. "Well well, if it isn't the Power Rangers." The bat woman snarled their title like it was some kind of curse, and Ally resisted the urge to just leap into battle. She may not be satisfied with her duty as Purple Lightspeed Ranger, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let this lady with wings talk down to her and her friends, either. "I am Vypra. I'm glad we finally met."

"I'm not," Ally muttered.

"So I can destroy you!" Oh, she thought, that made sense. "Battlings, attack!"

Location, Ally decided, was already in her favor. Besides tagging along with her older brother, Leon, on his motorcycle, she also followed along with him on his parkour runs. She'd gotten her adventurous spirit, admittedly a late-blooming one, from him, and he'd made sure she was safe on their escapades.

As one of the creatures dove for her, she took a running start and kicked off of the wall, using her momentum to launch an extra powerful punch into its face. The Battling fell, and she spun, kicking down another that approached her from behind. Her last opponent thought it was sneaky, coming at Ally from her blind spot, but thankfully, her vision was good, including her peripheral. She pulled her blaster from its holster, dispatching it, and shook her head. "We're not all blind as bats."

The horde of Battlings slowly beginning to thin out, Ally took a quick glance around at the others. They seemed to be okay, but she realized with a jolt that Carter wasn't there (and she assumed she'd be able to see his bright red suit from where she stood.) "Guys!" She called out. "Anyone see our wise and gracious leader?" Dana tucked and rolled, dodging an attack, and popped back up, immediately firing at the Battling that had just missed her.

"He went after Vypra!" Just as the Pink Ranger finished speaking, the door next to the staircase slammed shut, and Ally swore under her breath.

"I'm gonna give him some backup."

She didn't wait for any of them to give the okay- since they looked like they were winning, anyway- and dashed up the stairs.

"Carter, you good?" He didn't turn to face her, and Ally frowned. Where was Vypra? "Carter?" Finally, she realized why he hadn't spoken: he was staring at the young boy who lay on the asphalt, injured, his mother cradling him in her arms. Despite herself, a gasp escaped her, and her hand flew to her mouth. Footsteps sounded behind her, and Ally barely even registered Joel and Dana's voices as they reassured the mother, comforted the kid.

After years of helping her younger siblings up when they'd fallen and gotten strawberries on their knees, of listening to Leon rant about girl (and the occasional boy) problem, Ally prided herself on being good at this comfort thing. So, she stepped forward, peering closer at Carter's helmet, as if she'd somehow be able to see through it to his expression. "Hey. It's not your-" He let out a frustrated shout, shoved her away with enough force to make her stumble back into Chad who steadied her again, and stormed off.


"He's not back yet?" Ally, along with the rest of her team, glanced up at Kelsey as she emerged from the bathroom, hair still dripping wet. She shook her head, but glanced pointedly at the water droplets collecting on the floor. The brunette sighed, grabbed some paper towels and mopped them up.

"Did you see what happened?" Chad asked, and Ally shook her head.

"No. All I knew was that Vypra wasn't there, and Carter just seemed… out of it." No one spoke after that.

"Well," Joel was the first to break the silence, "I'm going to head to the gym." Even with his attempt at lightening the mood, the smiles and nods from her teammates were anything but natural.


If there was anything that would cheer up the injured little boy, it would probably be food, Ally figured. So, armed with a blue raspberry Icee and some freshly made spam musubis (only one of which she was 100% confident he would like), she made her way to the hospital.

But when she knocked on the door and opened it up, she saw he wasn't alone.

"The place was on fire," Carter explained, and Ally guessed he hadn't heard her walk in, "it was so hot… I couldn't breathe. I was so scared, I didn't know what to do." Something told her that she wasn't privy to this conversation, that it probably had to do with what they'd been prying him about earlier today, but she couldn't move, curiosity keeping her rooted to her spot. "Then suddenly, he was there. Then, out of nowhere, a beam fell from the ceiling. Thanks to him, I made it out just in time. He saved my life. I never knew his name, but ever since that day, all I wanted was to be just like him. He would've made sure you were safe. I'll never be that good. He would have rescued you. Just like he did me."

Ally wasn't sure what to say. She'd always seen the Red Ranger as just that: the freaking Red Ranger. The fearless leader of their team, unafraid to call them out on their bullshit, but also prone to his own at times. She figured he'd had some pent-up things he hadn't shared, but nothing like this… she raised her fist, knocked gently on the wall, and Carter leaped up. "Bad time?"

"How much of that did you hear?" Ally shrugged, trying her best not to show her guilt on her face.

"Enough. Enough to know that you're doubting yourself for no reason," she added before he could argue, "Look, before you complain about the baby of the team giving you advice, I have an older brother who I often had to scold for being stupid. This?" She gestures around, then to him, "This is that. You're just not Japanese." Carter smiled, but didn't laugh, and Ally sighed, placing down the food she had brought onto the bedside table. "No one's perfect, Carter."

"I feel like I have to be." Ally laughed.

"Unless this is just a thing that happens to Hawaii residents," she began, "Feelings lie." Although she was planning on eating the extra musubi herself, Ally dug into her bag, grabbed the wrapped rice ball, and tossed it to Carter. He looked at it suspiciously. "Trust me when I say that trying to be perfect is freaking exhausting." With that, she stood. She'd already said much more than she'd like. "I'm headed back to Aqua Base. You coming?"

Carter glanced down at the musubi, and Ally rolled her eyes. "It's just spam and rice. It won't kill you."

"I can tell you have an older brother."

"Aw. Thanks."


She didn't make it more than a few blocks, since the others pulled up with a screeching halt. Apparently Vypra was at it again, and Ally sighed. "Was he there?" Chad asked, not daring to take his eyes off the road as he drove. Ally was glad for that.

"Yeah. I think he just needs time."


Unfortunately, that was time they didn't have. The Battlings were easy pickings for the most part, but what they lacked in strength, they made up for in sheer numbers. "That's it," Joel huffed after Ally helped him up after being knocked down, "I'm calling Carter." She watched his back as he lifted his morpher up. "Carter! We need your help!"

As she raised her right arm to block an oncoming punch, Ally held her breath, waiting for his response. He had to come through. He would. "I'm on my way." She exhaled a breath of relief, only to be kicked straight in the back by another Battling, nearly ending up face-planting into the gravel. Then, before she could fully regain her balance, a blast of blue flame erupted from Vypra's mouth, surrounding them in a shower of sparks.

Her suit, Mrs. Fairweather had explained, would take the brunt of enemy attacks, but they would still feel the pain as if the injuries were there. Ally wished that wasn't the case, because the burns hurt like hell. She knew her Sensei would tell her that the wounds were, quite literally, in her head, but that didn't change the fact that she, and the rest of the team, was still down for the count. So they could do nothing but watch as one of the Battlings handed Vypra a hammer.

If she pounded that last stake into the ground… "No!" Joel shouted, as if that would convince their opponent to change her mind, "Don't do it!" Ally couldn't look away, no matter how much she wanted to, and just before Vypra could hammer in the last stake, the blast of a laser came flying out from the other end of the tunnel.

"Alright!" Dana cheered, and Ally scrambled to her feet, spotting Carter there.

"I've had enough of your games, Vypra. We're putting an end to this." Despite the burning sensation still lingering over her limbs, Ally smiled. Their fearless leader was back. She watched as he dodged Vypra's first attack with ease, leveled his blaster at her face. "I know what you're up to, Vypra." He holstered his blaster.

"Come on, Red Ranger!" The bat lady was probably more stupid than they'd thought, if she assumed Carter would fall for a simple taunt.

He shook his head. "Now's not the time." With that, Ally watched as he dove through the crowd of Battlings, swiped up the stake from the ground, and tossed it into the air, using his blaster to destroy it. "We have to destroy the spikes!"

"Right," Chad acknowledged.

"I knew that," Joel muttered, and Ally scoffed in response, rolling under a kick from the Battling behind her. As she came back up, she gripped the spike she'd spotted there and tossed it into the growing pile they'd accumulated.

"Rescue Blasters!" She grabbed her blaster out, following Carter's order, and before Vypra could do much of anything, they fired at the spikes. The smoke cleared away, Ally glanced at the bits of metal that'd been left behind, and grinned as she placed her blaster away once more.

"Destroy them all!" She stopped smiling.


Ally still wasn't having that fun of a time, even when they'd defeated all the Battlings that were left, since when they emerged from the tunnel, they were met with a giant, freakish looking monster.

Now, she found herself atop her Rail Rescue as their Megazord took shape. The monster didn't waste a second, but neither did they: they met the creature head on, pummeling it into the ground before it could wreak any major damage, but Ally frowned as it grabbed onto their foot.

"Lightspeed ladder arms, power up!"

"Adding extra stability now!" She announced, flicking the switch that would keep them grounded, and as soon as she did, Chad activated their Megazord's ladder arms, spinning them around. The monster flew through the air, knocked to the ground once more, and Ally nodded to herself.

"Blaster grips, lock on! Lightspeed Megazord saber!" Her eyes widened as the emblem on their chest floated out in front of them to form a sword she'd only seen in tests. "Ignite!"