"I owe you one," Ally said as soon as the door slid open, revealing Chad standing there. "If you hadn't decided to wake Kels up at an ungodly hour, I'd have missed my first class."

"It's not that early."

"Says you." He shoved her, and she shoved his shoulder right back. "I'll see you guys after class."

"Have fun!" Chad called after her as she walked down the hallway, and Ally spun, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Just for you, I won't!"


The class had been interesting, especially since they'd discussed the marine life of Mariner Bay, but the less fun part had come after. Ally was just about to open her car door when she heard someone calling her name, and she glanced up, peering over at them. It was one of the older students, whose name she didn't know since she'd never been paired with him. He had short blonde hair, and often wore clothes that made him seem like a skater. (She figured she had to introduce him to Kelsey sometime.)

"Hey. You're Ally, the Purple Power Ranger, right?" Oh. She hadn't been expecting that. Most of the time, all she got were people doing double takes towards her, a few wide-eyed stares, and more than the occasional cat-call (although that wasn't unusual for any woman in California).

"Uh… yeah, I am. It's nice to meet you…" The man held out his hand.

"Luke. I, uh, think you're really badass." Ally blushed. It'd been a while since she'd gotten a compliment like that from someone who wasn't already her friend.

"Well, Luke, at least based on your style, I'd say you're pretty badass, too," she replied, but he shook his head, smiled, and it was almost like she'd been hit with a beam of sunlight at how bright it was.

"I just skateboard. You? You literally beat up monsters for a living. I'd honestly ask you out, but I don't know if you have the time, all things considered. And because I don't know if you and that Blue Ranger guy are together." Ally frowned, trying her hardest not to gag. That idea was about as revolting as someone suggesting she date her own biological brother.

"What makes you think that?" Luke shrugged again.

"Dunno. You guys are just… similar." She wasn't sure what to feel about that. Was this random guy insinuating that she and Chad were dating just because they were… Asian.

"How so?"

"I mean… you guys are both, what, Chinese?" Ally's jaw dropped, and Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "What? You guys are Chinese, aren't you?"

"I-"

"Rangers! There's been an attack in the downtown area."

"Looks like you've got a secret mission. I won't keep you any longer." Ally tried her best to smile, but she wasn't sure if it looked like a scowl, since that was what matched her inner emotions. "It was nice to meet you, Ally."

"Thanks." She got into her car, and slammed the door shut.


"... work on getting that fire out." For once in her months as a Ranger, Ally hadn't heard a word Carter said. "Uh, Al?"

"Sorry, gonna need you to repeat that for me." Carter sighed.

"Help those people outside the building. Get 'em into safety, you know the drill." That she did. She nodded, rushed into her Street Rescue's docking station and sped out onto the road. Even as she swerved between piles of debris, checking to make sure there was no one trapped underneath, her thoughts stayed on the interaction she'd had earlier. In Hawaii, racism and fetishization was few and far between, thankfully. (And when it did happen, it was often perpetuated by tourists, if she was going to be completely honest.)

Ally knew that coming here, she'd experience it a lot more often, but combined with the fact that she was a Ranger… why couldn't people just see that, instead of seeing her as a woman? As some sort of thing to ogle at like some sort of-

"'Lys, the alley you just passed by, there's some people trying to clear some debris off of someone!" She cursed under her breath. Of course she'd missed it.

"Alright," she replied, yanking her bike around in a clean 180. "Thanks Joel."


"That was some stunt you pulled back there, Kels," Chad remarked as they met back up after putting out the fire and rescuing the people trapped in the building, and Ally nodded, gesturing to the Blue Ranger.

"Mr. Scuba Diver here has a point, y'know."

"I swear to God-"

"Yeah," Carter interjected, wrapping Kelsey in a playful headlock, "Try telling us next time you're gonna do something crazy like that, huh?" Ally laughed, rolling her eyes at their antics.

"Playtime's over, Rangers!" Of course it was.

"What are you doing here, Smogger?" Honestly, she'd stopped getting scared of creatures, especially when they were normally sized. But this one? This one was downright terrifying. It looked like some sort of cross between a demon and an overgrown praying mantis, both things that frightened her to no end, and Ally shivered.

"This!" Ally wasn't quite sure what that was, up until the whooshing sound of Battlings forming behind her caught her attention. Before they could cling onto her arms and legs like they had done to the others, she pivoted, blasted them to bits, and turned to face Smogger… who wasn't there anymore. Instead, she spotted him rolling down the street in the form of some kind of ball.

Well, she thought, that was one way to have effective transportation. "Chad, Kelsey, Ally, don't let him get away!"


Maybe she did need to take Dana up on those daily runs, Ally realized as she sprinted a little behind Chad and Kelsey. Her stamina was practically nonexistent. "He's heading towards that building!"

"Great, not much farther," she puffed out, and nearly tripped over when they suddenly stopped in front of a steel door.

"He's in there," Chad reported, pointing towards the doors.

"Alright, now we've got him," Kelsey replied, drawing her blaster, "Stand back, guys. I'm gonna blast him out of there." Ally shook her head, squinting at the door.

"Kels, that thing is some kind of exploding bug," she explained slowly, holding an arm in front of her friend, "If you fire, chances are he's got some kinda thing rigged to blow."

"Al's right," Chad agreed, "Let's think this through-"

Kelsey glanced between them, then raised her blaster. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Fear sat like a piece of bad food in her gut, and Ally exchanged a worried look with Chad. "Watch this."

"Kelsey!"

"Kelsey, wait!" Despite their warnings, the holes that her lasers made in the door secreted some sort of white steam (smog, she realized). And that smog was being sucked back into the room. Admittedly, Ally wasn't sure what the hell was happening. "No, don't go in! It looks like a backdraft!" She figured this sort of thing was like a tsunami, Ally reasoned as she rushed forward, as soon as the water receded, nothing good could follow. She felt her fingertips brush the sleeve of Kelsey's suit, but as soon as they did, an explosion knocked her out of her feet.


Chad Lee usually didn't complain about pain. In fact, he had quite a high tolerance for it, especially after becoming a Power Ranger. But nothing could compare to the ache he felt in every cell of his body as he tried his best to get up after the explosion-

"Ally!" His first instinct was to push himself to his feet, prepare himself for this new threat, but when the boy ran up to his friend, Chad knew he couldn't possibly pose any danger. The blonde boy, dressed in torn jeans and a black vintage t-shirt, lifted her gently from the ground, and Chad frowned. Did she have a boyfriend?

"And you are?" He really hadn't meant to sound so rude. He really didn't. But when this random dude just ran out here as if he knew Ally made him uncomfortable. (And Chad really did mean it when he said that he'd gladly beat up any of her boyfriends if they were weird.)

"Luke, her classmate." The guy didn't even take his eyes off of her as he spoke, "Hey, Ally. Hey, wake up." Chad held his breath as Ally's eyes fluttered open, but as soon as she spotted Luke, she reached up and slapped him away. "What-"

"What are you doing here? Get off me!" Luke didn't budge an inch, and despite the pain clawing at his body, Chad let go of Kelsey and shoved the other guy off of Ally.

"She said to get off her, man! What the hell is-"

"Oh, so you are her boyfriend-" Chad wasn't sure what had come over him, but he reached forward, clutching at the guy's collar. "I'm gonna take this as a no."

"You'd be right, Luke. Now get out of here before things get any more dangerous."


"He said what?" While Ally understood Chad's anger, it was also extremely unlike him. So it took her a few seconds to nod her confirmation as she gazed down at Kelsey's sleeping form. Of course, since her friend had taken the brunt of the explosion, she was in the worst shape of the three of them.

If only she could have pulled her out of the way…

Chad scoffed, and Ally stood up. "Chad, it's okay. It's in the past. And better yet, we probably won't even have to see the guy again."

"You're in his class." She shrugged, taking one last glance at Kelsey.

"A class of over one hundred fifty students. I'll make sure to stay far far away from that weird guy." In times like these, Ally tended to get quiet, especially when she knew one of her friends or family members was stewing with anger. But knowing Chad, she figured the best thing to do for him was to keep talking. She let a shiver pass over her body. "But the biggest red flag was when he thought we were dating. I mean, the implications of that are disgusting, but so is the thought of actually dating you."

He swatted at her head with his hand as he closed the door of Kelsey's hospital room, and they walked in silence to the others. Then, Chad sighed. "This whole thing is my fault. I should've stopped her." Ally shook her head.

"We were both there. Even more so, this shouldn't have happened." Joel scoffed.

"You guys are kidding me, right? You know that nothing can stop that girl from doing anything once her mind is made up." Ally realized that Joel was right, but that still didn't put a stop to the guilt that sat like a pebble in her chest.

"And the doctor said she's going to be fine," Dana added, but she was still unsure of what to say. But it turned out that she didn't need to say anything in response, since their morphers beeped.

"Carter here."

"We've located the Smogger. He's in the Main Street tunnel."


"Blue Ranger," Chad read. Ally had convinced Carter to let her tag along with Chad as he ran off to do whatever this letter requested of him. After seeing Kelsey, one of the toughest people she knew, as injured as she was… she couldn't rest easy, knowing the next toughest person was alone against an unknown enemy. "Under the guidance of our new master Vypra, we now have the skills to defeat you. We challenge you to fight us, and this time we will be the victor."

Only one name at the bottom of the list was familiar: Luke. The other, Brian, was unfamiliar, but apparently Chad knew them all too well.

"Brian?" Ally asked.

"Some guy that recognized me while Kelsey and I were out earlier. Thought he could one-up me." She rolled her eyes.

"As if. Come on. We have scores to settle."


The entire way there, Ally listened as Chad prattled on and on about "not needing to settle the score". He had a point, especially because their main goal was getting Brian and Luke out from under whatever hold Vypra had on them. But, she still thought that getting even with Luke would be quite satisfying, whether or not she'd tell Chad that, lest she subject herself to another scolding.

But now, as they stalked over the field, they were quiet. "Vypra!" Chad shouted in a tone more fearsome than Ally had ever heard him use before. "Let them go."

"Just in time. I see you've met my… new warriors." The appraising glance she sent towards Brian and Luke turned Ally's stomach.

"Come on, Brian. I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Luke," Ally began, "You don't want to fight us. It's just Vypra in your head-"

The skater laughed. "Us? I'm only here to fight him."

"And I'm not going anywhere," Brian yelled back. "You're going to fight us."

"No," Chad pleaded, "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, they do," Vypra snarled, "Get him!" Ally gritted her teeth. Two-on-one was almost never a fair match, no matter how skilled Chad was. (And he was, in fact, skilled. During training, he'd pretty much beat her every single time. And by pretty much, she meant every time. It wasn't fair.) So as Brian went high, and Luke went low, Ally stepped out, pivoting in front of Chad and blocking Luke's punch.

"C'mon, princess. I'm fighting for your favor against this… this…" Ally let out a breath as she strained to hold back his arm.

"Idiot? Yeah, I know." The moment she felt Luke tug at her pull, she let go, and he went stumbling back. "Look, man. I don't wanna fight you, as weird and ignorant as you are. Just come with us."

Luke shook his head, and Ally noted the pale gray tinge to his skin, the redness in his eyes. Vypra let out a cackle of glee, which only served to make her angrier. "I answer only to my mistress. And if you stand in my way…" He straightened up, then bent his knees as they paced around each other. "I'll defeat you, too." Ally braced herself too early. Luke waited a second after he spoke to rush forward, and the air whooshed out of her as he knocked her flat onto her back. "Just give up!"

She wasn't down for long, instead doing a kip up to get back onto her feet. "You first." He moved fast, no doubt something he was already capable of thanks to his skating skills, and Ally barely managed to dodge out of the way of his punches. Finally, she managed to land a punch against the side of his face, and for a split second, she hoped it wouldn't bruise (although she knew it would. He was very handsome.) Both Luke and Brian stumbled back, and Ally and Chad exchanged knowing glances. Their opponents weren't about to go down easy.

"You're coming with us," her friend began. "Even if we have to do this the hard way." In one smooth motion, they took off their jackets and flung them to the side. The extra layer of clothing was too bulky, and was possibly restricting their movements before this point, Ally realized. And of course, Chad would be the one to notice. (She vowed to never take him up on his sparring invitations anymore. It would save herself some after workout pain.)

Then, with matching battle cries, Ally and Chad rushed forward.

And just as she'd expected, Luke played dirty. Instead of running at her, he directed his first kick at Chad, but she was there, knocking his foot to the side and throwing him off balance. He went tumbling to the ground, but somehow, even his fall was graceful, and Ally knew there was no time to waste. As he regained his balance, he swung out a fist, but she ducked, sweeping out a leg and knocked his feet out from under him. Chest heaving and cursing her lack of stamina, Ally placed a foot on his chest. "I don't appreciate you playing around with us. Just stay down."

"Pathetic humans," Vypra snarled, and Ally risked a glance up at the villainess. "I should have known." Considering Luke hadn't grabbed her foot and took her down with him, though, Ally figured he knew he'd lost the fight. So, she stepped off of him, reached out a hand.

"Thanks for the ass kicking, Luke. Now let's get you back somewhere it's safe. Okay-" Before she could even finish her question, Battlings materialized, restraining her arms and legs. Her opponent's eyes widened, even as he leaped up.

"Now maybe you two dolts can finish the job," Vypra hissed, "Do it."

"What are you doing?" Brian shouted back.

"This wasn't part of the agreement, Vypra," Luke added.

Vypra only glared at the both of them, and Ally struggled against the Battling's hold. If she hurt those two innocent people… their pain would be on her hands. "You dare defy me?"

"This isn't right."

"Yeah. We won't-" Vypra pulled back her fists and launched punches into Brian and Luke's midsections.

"Brian!" Chad shouted.

"Your fight is with us, Vypra," Ally added, trying her hardest not to scream, "Not them. Stop being a coward and fight us!" She wasn't sure why she was expecting the woman to listen to her. But it was worth a try.

Vypra raised her blades up to Brian and Luke's necks, and Ally swallowed the bile rising in her throat. "Destroy them, or I'll destroy the both of you." Both mens red eyes snapped up to her and Chad, and every instinct in her screamed to run. Not that she could even do that, though. They stalked forward, and Ally closed her eyes, steadying her breathing. If she was about to be knocked out, or worse… there was no use fighting it. It would only hurt more.

But when she heard the impacts of the first punches landing, there was no pain that accompanied it. Instead, when she opened her eyes, Luke and Brian had taken out two of the Battlings holding them in place. "I'm really, really sorry for what I said earlier-" Another Battling dove at Luke's back, and Ally shook her head.

"Talk later!" She rolled under the Battling's leap, and when she popped back up, she jumped into the air, kicking it to the dirt. Soon, the four of them had knocked out all the creatures, and Ally rushed over to Chad, making sure he wasn't hurt.

"No one's gonna tell me what to do anymore," Brian shouted over at Vypra.

"That makes two of us," Luke added, but Vypra only raised her dagger at Ally and Chad's faces.

"You're going to regret this, Rangers." Ally watched as her foe clambered back into the Vypari and sped away, and when she was sure it wasn't a fake out, she turned back to face Luke.

"Thanks for everything, you two. And I'm sorry for what I said earlier," Brian apologized, and Ally shook her head.

"You're alright, Brian."

"I'm sorry, too," Luke mumbled, scratching the back of his neck, "I said something that was uncalled for."

Ally wasn't sure she'd ever forget those words, but she knew she could forgive him for saying them. She shrugged, smiled gently. "You're aware of it, and that's what matters. And I know you think I'm pretty, but I think there's someone you should meet who's even more of your type."

Chad frowned. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"


They were in fact, thinking about the same person. Ally and Chad watched as Kelsey and Luke zipped around the park on their boards, and upon spotting the smiles on their faces, she held out a hand for a fist bump. Chad gladly accepted it. "Was that your first time?"

Ally glanced over at him, eyebrow raised. "Matchmaking my friend? No."

"That's not what I meant." Oh, Ally realized. He'd meant…

"Getting treated like that because I'm Asian? Yeah." Chad sighed, and her heart lurched when she noted the wistfulness in his tone.

"Wish I could say the same. Hawaii sounds great." She wasn't quite sure what to say.

"It is. It's just one big melting pot of culture. If anyone dared to step out of line…" She shuddered. "The locals would have your ass in a second. But as much as it's a melting pot of culture, it's also a literal melting pot." Chad turned to her, and Ally grinned. "The food? Fantastic. The most authentic Japanese food you can get outside of Japan, one hundred percent. And don't even get me started on-"

"Look out!" She'd been so involved in her memories of the local cuisine that she couldn't move out of the way fast enough, and Ally was smacked on the head by a flying tennis ball. She rubbed at the spot on her forehead, launching out a foot and kicking Chad in the side as he cracked up.

"I was gonna say I could cook some for you sometime, but I take it back." He stopped laughing, and Ally watched as he got up from the grass, only to come face to face with the gorgeous tennis player who the ball belonged to. She blinked incredulously at the embarrassing sight of Chad trying to talk to her, and Kelsey pulled up next to her, staring at the conversation as well.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ally nodded.

"That he needs to have a lesson on talking to girls, and that you probably shouldn't be this active considering your injuries? Yeah. Yeah, I am."