"Have either of you guys seen Carter?" Chad leaped up, nearly smacking his head on the ceiling, and Ally clapped a hand over her mouth as she laughed. "That was rich."

"I thought you had morning classes, but no! You just pop up out of nowhere, like, 'Surprise!'" Joel clapped a hand down onto Chad's back, he too recovering from his laughing fit.

"Sorry, Al, he's not here. It was his turn to go grocery shopping, but I'm pretty sure he said he'd be back soon."

Ally waved her notebook in Joel's general direction, dapping him up as he passed by her. "At least someone was helpful. And yes, technically I did have my class, but it finished two hours early." At this, Chad frowned.

"Damn. Maybe I should've gone to college," he muttered.

Ally rolled her eyes.


Just like Joel had said, Ally had only to wait before the door swung open and Carter stumbled in, loaded down with bags. "Geez. How much did you buy?" Chad questioned, rushing to help his roommate with the groceries, and Ally rubbed at her eyes.

"Ugh. Talk about an unpleasant awakening." Chad glanced over to her, a grin forming on his face.

"You snore-" She hurled a pillow into his face. "Forget I said anything."

"What's the reason for the visit?" Carter asked, already reaching into a bag and peeling open a banana. "Need boy advice?" Despite herself, Ally blushed. Truth be told, she'd never been in a relationship, not that either of the guys needed to know that, but his words had caught her off guard.

"No, but what I do need is an interview with the one and only ex-firefighter Carter Grayson." Chad's eyes widened as he tore open a bag of napkins, replacing the dwindling amount on their dining table.

"This for your documentary class, 'Lys?" She nodded, gestured to her camera and tripod that she'd hauled in here.

"Of course. I wouldn't voluntarily come visit you guys unless it was an emergency. What do you say, Grayson?" He scratched the back of his neck, wrinkled his nose, and Chad and Alyssa exchanged exasperated glances.

"I dunno. What about Joel? I'm sure he'd be down for an interview anytime." Ally shook her head.

"My professor said it can't be an interview with a celebrity, since apparently at least one in twenty Mariner Bay residents either knows or is a celebrity. Is that true?" Chad and Carter exchanged a glance this time, then both shrugged.

"Dunno," Chad replied, grabbed up a towel from where it hung on the back of their chair, "I'm gonna give you guys some privacy for the interview. Let me know how it goes!" As soon as the door closed, Ally reached for her camera, ignoring Carter's exclamations of protest.

"Hey, hey, calm down," she retorted, "He practically volunteered you-" Their morphers beeped in unison, and Carter practically collapsed in relief.

"Carter, Alyssa, code red."


Ally seriously wondered what was up with Diabolico and making his creatures look like overgrown Battlings. Much like the Battlings that were attacking them now. She bobbed lightly on her feet, the memories of her boxing classes coming back in full force (or more like the memories of the many punches she'd endured from them). Her muscles easing back into the motions, she swung a few punches square into the face of the Battling that rushed at her, and ducked beneath a kick from another. Before it could put its leg down, she grabbed its foot and flipped it right into the ones that were left standing, and before long, she'd defeated all the ones that crowded around her.

Admittedly, Battlings were getting easier and easier to deal with, and Ally much preferred it over the fights she'd found herself in afterschool as she tried to defend her younger siblings from their bullies. Most of the time, it'd been Leon who'd gotten them out of it, using his "scary high school senior" card to frighten away the cocky eighth graders and middle schoolers, but sometimes, he wasn't there. And so, Ally had to hurt others. She hadn't liked it, and often woke up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, having dreamed about not only hurting people, but putting them into the hospital.

Even though she knew she would never do such a thing in the real world, Ally knew that she could, and that scared her enough to keep her eyes wide open for the rest of those long nights.

She was immensely glad that, as much as she had to juggle her two different worlds, that at least she was fighting aliens.

"That was just a warm up! See if you can handle this!" The bat-like creature flung its wings wide as it launched out balls of flame, and Ally leaped out of harm's way, before placing herself just underneath Dana while the others lifted her into the air. That way, if they dropped her (which had happened during training, no thanks to Kelsey's sneeze), she could support her before she hit the ground.

"No problem," the Pink Ranger taunted, "See if you can handle this!" Ally waited as Dana soared through the air, pulled out her blaster and fired, all before landing on the opposite side of their opponent. She rushed over, holding out her hand for a fist bump.

"D, you're a badass."

"Takes one to know one, sis."

"Man, I hate hitting the pavement," the creature muttered, "Why don't you give it a try?" Ally had about enough of terribly strong winds after their bout with the tornado monster from a few weeks ago, but alas, here was another wind monster. She covered her head with her hands, flinching as the tiles smacked against the rest of her body. No doubt they'd leave bruises. Once the winds died down, though, Carter didn't waste a second, instead pulling out his blaster.

"Fire!" The combined strength of their blasters got rid of their foe in seconds, and Ally breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing at a sore spot on her bicep. And after she'd worked out, too. Not fun. "Nice job, guys. He won't be bothering Mariner Bay again." Joel nodded as they holstered their blasters.

"You got that right."

Ally was ready to head back to Aqua Base, catch up on the sleep she'd lost studying the night before, but before they could so much as take another step to the Rescue Rover, she paused. "Hear that?" Dana stopped, raised a hand to her ear.

"Yeah, actually. It's really faint, though."

"What is that?" Kelsey murmured.

They got their answer as it rounded the corner. Or rather, as she rounded the corner. Vypra sat behind the wheel of a strange looking vehicle, one with mounted lasers on the top and sides. "Try this." Ally threw up a hand, ready for the oncoming attack, but the laser beams didn't quite reach far enough to hit them. She frowned. Weird, but okay. Whatever worked in their favor, worked in their favor. She yanked out the blaster she'd just holstered and fired at Vypra, but when the smoke cleared, the vehicle was left unscathed.

"Not even a scratch," Carter muttered. As Vypra revved the engine of her vehicle, Ally dared to give her ground, taking a wary step back.

"Uh… anyone got any ideas?"

"I do," Joel replied, leaping into the air and firing down at the top of the vehicle. It did absolutely nothing, and apparently, he hadn't jumped high enough, since Ally saw his foot get caught. He went tumbling out of the air, and she would've rushed to his aid if not for Vypra driving right at her. She grit her teeth and dove out of the way, but all the bat-woman did was change direction, and as Ally hit the ground, the car scraped against her suit. Sparks showered into her eyes, and the burn of whiplash echoed through her body.

"It's just what I thought," Vypra purred, "In my Vypari, I'm invincible." With that, she hit the gas, zooming off to who knew where, and Ally cursed under her breath.

"We need to go after her-"

"I'm faster on my City Rescue bike. I'll go ahead."

"Ally," Dana began in a tone that sounded way too much like the commander's, "All of us combined were no match for her."

"But she's getting away! And you guys will be right behind me on the Rover, won't you?" Carter marched up to her, and Ally glared up into his helmet. She wasn't scared of him.

"The longer we spend talking, the less time we're out there making sure she doesn't hurt innocent civilians." He had a good point, she had to admit. But all the same, her own still stood.

"But I-"

"Alyssa. Get in the Rover." None of them ever called her by her full name, unless they were pissed. She stared for a second longer up at Carter before huffing and climbing into her seat in the yellow car.


Their blasters' lasers had no effect, even when Ally was certain their aim had been perfect. Again, she thought, if she'd been on her bike… but Carter was already fuming. "Dammit, she's getting away- what?" He slammed on the brakes harder than usual, and Ally steadied herself against the side of the Rover.

"Where'd she go?" Kelsey murmured, and Ally was careful to keep her blaster raised just in case.

"Well, she didn't just disappear," Carter bit back, and she flinched as he slammed his hand onto the wheel. Oh yeah, he was pissed. She didn't have time to dwell on her guilt, though, since the telltale screech of wheels behind them told her where Vypra had gone.

"There she is!" Joel reported, and Ally spun around, already raising her blaster. She wasn't about to fire without a command, though. Not when her leader was already mad at her.

"She snuck up behind us!"

"Carter, just give the okay."

"Negative, Alyssa. Do not fire." She lowered her weapon, having no choice but to obey even as much as she disagreed (which seemed to be a recurring theme in her life), and the second she did, Vypra fired.


As soon as the lift deposited them back into the docking bay, Ally stood up, vaulted out of the Rover, and stalked away, ignoring Mrs. Fairweather's look of concern. "What happened?"

"Vypra… has a new battle vehicle," Carter reported, and Ally spun around. She'd had it.

"One that I could've stopped, if you'd just let me go after her on my bike!" He shoved open the car door, the others flinching as it slammed, and he marched over to her just as he had earlier.

"You would've gotten hurt!"

"So fucking what? I would've caught up to her!"

Carter's jaw dropped, but she just stared right at him. It wasn't often she fully disagreed with an order he'd given, but considering there'd been no official order from the Captain… wasn't there a chance she'd been right all along?

"Alyssa! Carter!" They both spun, backs straightening at the commander's tone. The others slipped quietly out of the docking bay, and Alyssa resisted the urge to run. "What is the meaning of this?" She wasn't even sure where to start.

"I was just following orders, sir."

"Not well enough," Carter muttered, and it was Ally's turn to be utterly shocked. What had happened to his typically overly pleasant and chill surfer guy attitude?

"Ay, screw you, Grayson!"

"Screw you, kid!" She flinched back, and the Captain stepped between them, raising his hands in warning.

"Both of you, go cool off. Preferably somewhere outside of my Aqua Base."

"But sir-" Ally and Carter protested, both knowing that they'd still have to give a briefing on the events.

"I trust that the others will give an accurate account of what happened today. You two," he paused, leveling his trademark cool glare at them both, "will not. Go.


Carter wasn't used to being the oldest. It'd always just been him and his parents, and when he moved out, only him and his roommate, who'd been his age. But despite their only three year age gap, Carter cared about Alyssa like she was his younger sibling. (Although, he would be lying if he said he hadn't thought she was pretty when he first saw her on that street all those weeks ago. But once he'd talked to her brother Leon on the phone, he figured he should stay away.) So as he walked along the pier just outside of Aqua Base, he wanted to kick himself. He'd phrased all his words wrong, the only thought in his mind after hearing Alyssa's own words was that she valued the mission more than her own safety.

But wasn't the same true for all of them? Wasn't that why they were all Rangers?

But also, wasn't that why he was their leader? To keep them all in check, and most importantly, to keep them safe? He launched his foot back, kicked it into a rock, and watched it skitter across the pavement.

He'd keep her safe, he promised to himself. He would.


Admittedly, when she'd first seen him, Alyssa had thought Carter was pretty cute. At least, for a Haoli. But that idea quickly died out when they'd become close after his ordeal during training, and then in the following fight (and pep talk). They were better off as friends, she decided quickly, and then as they grew closer, better as siblings. Maybe not by blood, but by their bond.

That being said, it only upset her even more that he couldn't understand where she was coming from. She trusted that if any of them would agree with her plan, it would be him. (Or Joel and Kelsey, seeing as how the two were even crazier than she was, not to mention more often.) But he'd fought her, forced her to stay put, and now look where they were: with an out of commission Rescue Rover.

But she'd hurt him. Somehow, she had. She wasn't quite sure what it was that she'd said, but she'd definitely hit a nerve somewhere, and Ally almost couldn't bring herself to feel all that bad about it. Her parents had taught her yes, to listen to her elders and superiors, but that those elders and superiors could also be very, very wrong. And that was why she'd held to her own plan with so much conviction that where she'd typically feel bad about all of this, instead she felt… mad. "Um, miss? You're wrinkling your book." Ally glanced up, spotting the waiter carrying her cup of Earl Gray tea.

"Oh. Thanks." It was only after the waiter set down her drink did she realize she'd bought Carter's usual tea order.


It was only by some odd stroke of luck that Ally didn't fall once as she rushed to the scene on her longboard. But when she got there, she realized her luck had run out. Flames crackled all along the patches of grass, and some even burned right on the asphalt. Civilians lay on the ground, wounds and burns coating their arms and legs, and despite knowing her duty to help them, for a second she backed away.

This was her fault. She barely caught her jacket as Joel tossed it to her, but all she did was stare down at it. These people were hurt because of her and her inaction.

"Ally," the pilot murmured, uncharacteristically quiet, comforting, "Come on."

"Joel, I can't." He stepped closer to her, gripped her shoulders.

"Yes, you can." Joel let go, but didn't move away. "I didn't take you as a quitter anyway, Sakamichi."

She smiled as best as she could. "That's because I'm not." The first person she tended to had a nasty cut on their leg, one that required a tourniquet, which Ally tied above the wound quickly. "You're going to need to get that checked out at the hospital. Do you need us to call you an ambulance?" When they shook their head, Ally nodded. "Alright. Take it easy, sir-" As the smoke lifted away from the scene, she thought she caught a glimpse of Vypra in her Vypari, and with a jerk of her head, she beckoned her to follow.

So follow she would. "Captain, do I have the go-ahead to take my Rail Rescue in pursuit?" She sensed more than heard Carter stalk up to her.

"Well, you don't have the go-ahead from me-"

"You're clear for pursuit, Alyssa."


No matter how fast she pushed her Street Rescue, Vypra still had a head start. A warning flashed up onto her dashboard, displaying a very slight overheat in her engine, but Ally couldn't let up. "Ally, our readings indicate that you're overheating," she heard Mrs. Fairweather over her helmet comms, but she shook her head.

"I've almost got her, Mrs. Fairweather-"

"Ally, stand down!" She was going too fast to be able to risk a glance behind her, but Ally knew that voice: Carter, the telltale roar of the Rescue Rover following soon after.

"I'm closer than you are, Grayson. I have a better shot at doing this." She flicked the safety of her lasers off, and aimed her lasers directly at the ones on the Vypari- Before she could fire, Vypra was gone.

Again.


"We didn't have a chance to stop her," Carter reported, and Ally glared over at him. Why was he looping her in with him? "She's too fast. Sir, by the time we got there, the whole area was destroyed." Her fault. "People were hurt." Her fault. "The next time she shows up, the whole city's fair game."

And that would no doubt be her fault, too.

"I take full responsibility for it all, Captain," she blurted out, ignoring Carter's eyes on her. "If I'd only managed to catch her earlier, none of this would have happened." This was another thing she'd learned back home: taking responsibility for your actions. But instead of agreeing, the Captain shook his head.

"You may have failed this time, but you won't fail again." He paused, glanced at Carter. "Carter, you may not agree with me, but Alyssa was right." A surge of triumph swept over her. "Not about the mission coming before her safety, but about the key to defeating Vypra. Get the other Rangers. Meet me in the transport." Ally stood up. "But only after you two talk this out."

With that, the Captain walked out of the room, and Carter sighed. "I said stuff I shouldn't have."

"So did I, and I'm sorry I did, Carter."

"I'm sorry, too. It's just, when you said that you didn't care if you'd gotten hurt, that just…" He shook his head. "It would've been on me for giving the okay. I don't know what I would do if any of you got hurt on my watch." Ally couldn't help but grin.

"Come on, C. We're too good for that." Carter met her gaze, and laughed.


Mrs. Fairweather took one glance between Ally and Carter, and nodded to herself. "Oh, good. I'm glad you two aren't screaming at each other in my lab. Again." They cringed.

"Sorry, Mrs. Fairweather. Won't happen again," she promised.

"I second that," Carter added, and the scientist stepped away from her work station.

"Now that that's settled. Every now and then, my job gets… personal," she glanced around at each of them, and Ally saw clearly the concern in her eyes, "This is one of those times." Mrs. Fairweather stepped over to the display case, brought the lights inside of it up. "It is my honor to present to you the newest weapons in your arsenal."

Ally's jaw dropped. "My team and I have been working around the clock to build them for you. You'll find they'll be quite useful against Vypra. She'll never see you coming." Inside the transport were five cycles, and while they did have slightly different designs from hers, they were still freaking cool. "You may notice, there are only five cycles here. That's because we took a look at Alyssa's Rail Rescue and decided it didn't need any more adjustments, besides for the engine that someone decided to let overheat." She cringed. "That being said, Ms. Sakamichi has the most experience behind the wheel of a cycle. All of you, listen well to her orders in the field. Do I make myself clear?"

It was like she was getting whiplash by how quickly Mrs. Fairweather was spitting out all this information. "Crystal," Carter was the first to reply.


First they had to face a villain that looked like an oversized Battling, and now there was one that looked like an elephant? Ally was just confused at this point. Confused and sore, because when it stomped down onto the ground, the attack successfully launched them straight into the air. With its next attack, the elephant imploded a few buildings, and Ally scrambled up, eyes wide at the resulting explosion. Running forward together, they each dealt a few punches before diving out of the way, but Joel wasn't fast enough. So, Ally spun back around, fired her blaster, forcing the elephant to drop the Green Ranger.

"Thanks!"

"Don't mention it-"

"You think that silly gun can stop me?"

"One blaster can't, but this can," Carter replied, "Rescue Bird, Uni-Laser mode!" There was no time to even breathe, since as soon as their opponent fell, their morphers beeped in unison.

"Rangers. She's back." Ally grit her teeth.

"Let's do this, guys."


While riding side by side with the other Rail Rescues was cool and all, absolutely nothing could beat this, Ally decided. She led the charge, the others following closely behind on their own cycles, and she subconsciously checked her rearview mirrors to make sure they were all okay. As she expected, they were naturals at this.

"Fighting with fire, eh? Prepare to get burned." Vypra sped towards them, and Ally turned to glance at the others.

"What's the plan, Carter?"

"Let's go on defense, guys." That, she could do.

"Copy." Each of the blasts that Vypra let off missed as they swerved to the sides of the Vypari, and as she rode next to Dana, Ally could've sworn she heard her huff.

"Why do you get jets at the bottom of yours?"

"Because I'm just cool like that," she joked, giggling with the Pink Ranger.

"Rescue Blasters!" Kelsey called out, and Ally cut back on her speed, falling directly behind the Vypari as the other two came up at her sides.

"Ready?"

"Fire!" Ally ordered, and their lasers hit right on target. Vypra swerved, losing control for a moment, and she circled out of the way to keep from ramming right into the Vypari. That would've been one way to take her down, she thought, but it sure as hell wasn't ideal. (Also, the others would never let her live it down.) Especially not the boys, who executed their own plans of attack nearly seamlessly. Then, with one final strike from Carter's Lightspeed Cycle, Vypra sped away, smoke curling from the Vypari.


Ally peered into the weapons lab, spotting Mrs. Fairweather, and she turned to Dana, an eyebrow raised. "Does she ever…"

"Leave Aqua Base?" Her roommate finished her sentence, as they were often prone to doing for each other. Dana frowned as she thought, and somehow was still gorgeous. "Don't know if I've ever seen her ever do that before in my life." Ally snorted out a laugh, and Mrs. Fairweather glanced up from her work.

"I can hear you two." Dana cringed, stepped back into the hallway.

"I was never here." Ally sighed, mentally preparing herself.

"Sorry for blowing up in your lab," she murmured, glancing down at her fingernails. The pretty scientist, more times than not, often felt like a schoolteacher than a co-worker. So this was practically like detention. "And for brushing you away like I did."

Mrs. Fairweather offered an unusual kind smile. "We can all get carried away by our feelings from time to time. I was just surprised you were." Ally thought about this, realized how true it was. While she may be the youngest on the team, she wasn't prone to mood swings as Kelsey had noted. Chad had replied jokingly, said it was a blessing, and they'd laughed about it, even as it was true. "You and Mr. Grayson." Ally trailed after Mrs. Fairweather as she resumed her work, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.

"If you're insinuating what I think you're insinuating…"

Mrs. Fairweather shrugged. "You two are close. Doesn't take a scientist to figure that out-"

"Mrs. F!" Ally leaped into the air, and Joel, who'd wandered into the lab, burst into laughter. "Aw, man. Karma is amazing." Ally flipped him off, and he flipped her off right back, before she took a step back to where Dana waited in the hallway for her.

"I'll give you two some privacy." She grinned, ignoring the glare Mrs. Fairweather shot at her. "Have fun!"