A Face From The Past

A few days after the battle with Olympus, an urgent meeting was called. Ryan, Alia and the other Rangers awaited Captain Mitchell to tell them what the problem was. After a while, he came out of his office looking quite serious.

"Rangers, Alia, I have a very important assignment for you," said Captain Mitchell. "I want you to take a day off."

Joel laughed. "Nice joke, Cap," he said. Then he noticed no one was laughing. "You're kidding, right?"

"Absolutely not," said Captain Mitchell. "You've all worked very hard and you deserve it. Do anything you want. Dismissed."

Everyone started laughing and cheering and hugging as they got their stuff ready and headed to the beach.

Alia wore a one-piece blue swimsuit with her hair in a loose ponytail while Ryan wore some black swimming trunks. Everyone—except for Carter who never took a day off from training—was having fun.

Chad and Kelsey were catching some waves while Joel signed several autographs for his female admirers. After Dana buried Ryan in the sand, he got out and went to join Alia in swimming.

"Oh this is great," said Ryan, smiling as they swam.

"You said it," said Alia. An evil smirk came over her face and then she splashed Ryan without prior warning.

"Oh, you're going to regret that, Lia," said Ryan.

They then engaged in a water fight, which Alia won once she conjured a large wave that splashed down on Ryan.

"Hey, no magic" he said. "I'm going to catch you!"

Alia let out a little squeal as she ran out of the water as Ryan chased her. When he finally caught her when she fell onto their beach towel, he tickled her until she yelled, "You win! I surrender."

Ryan grinned. "Said I'd catch you, didn't I?"

"That you did," she said. She pulled him for a sweet kiss that he returned. "I love you, beloved."

"I love you too," said Ryan.

"Hey, guys get a room!" said Joel.

Ryan and Alia exchanged a look and then Alia waved her hand and then Joel was suddenly doused with cold water, which made everyone laugh at him.

"Never annoy someone with magic," said Ryan, smirking.

"Serves you right," said Kelsey.

"I've never either of you so relaxed and laid back," commented Dana.

"Well, when you're being raised by demons, 'fun' is rarely in the agenda. The demons' idea of relaxing, is just sleeping and eating," said Ryan, stretching as he lay on the

"Yeah and heaven forbid, I actually get a day off to just relax with my family," said Alia. "You've no idea how nice it is to unwind in the sun after so many years in that dark pit."

"I think I can guess," said Dana. "Want to help me build a sandcastle?"

"Sure," said Ryan.

The sandcastle was barely finished when a dark storm was seen on the horizon and their Morphers beeped.

One of Jinxer's demons, Shockatron, was attacking the Mariner Bay Power Plant. The damage was bad enough that a fire had started and some kids on their first-grade field trip were trapped inside.

Carter and Captain Mitchell were already there when Ryan, Alia and the others arrived, getting civilians out of the burning building. When Shockatron moved to the next facility, the Rangers and Alia headed for it to stop him on Captain Mitchell's orders. When they arrived, Shockatron was waiting for them.

"The Rangers and the traitor, how predictable," sneered Shockatron.

"We're here to shut you down!" said Carter.

"No one can stop me! Batlings, attack!"

Batlings came out, which they destroyed quickly and then Ryan managed to attack and wound Shockatron with his Titanium Laser. Then they summoned the V-Lancers which they used to destroy Shockatron before heading back to the other power plant to help Captain Mitchell.

When they arrived, they found out that there was still a little girl trapped inside the building and Captain Mitchell had gone to rescue her, but had yet to return.

"We have to help him!" said Carter. "Alia, can you put out the fire?"

"No problem," said Alia. She waved her hands and then a storm came, dousing the building with water and putting out the fire. "The fire's out, but that building is still going to collapse!"

"Ryan, Alia, with me!" said Carter.

The three of them ran inside and found Captain Mitchell holding a large pipe that was about to fall and the little girl, Jenny, unable to move out of fear. Carter scooped Jenny into his arms.

"Dad!" said Ryan. He lifted up the pipe and with Alia's help, resealed it back into place before they got Jenny and Captain out and to safety. Dana was extremely relieved, having been worried sick about her father.

Jinxer then brought Shockatron back to life and enlarged him and the Rangers and Alia ended up destroying him with the Max Solarzord before heading back to the Aquabase to freshen up and then head back to the beach.

Alia was using a spell to heal the Captain's wounds after some firm insistence on Dana and Ryan's part who wanted to make sure he was okay.

"Dad, you have to hold still," said Ryan, as the Captain squirmed under Alia's touch. "It'll be over in a minute."

"I can't help it. It itches," said Captain Mitchell.

"It'll stop in a moment," said Dana. "Just stay still."

Alia then removed her hand. "There, you're all better. I'd removed that old burn scar if you'd let me, but you're a very stubborn piece of work, you know Dad."

"Guess it runs in the family," he said. "Thanks, both of you."

"You're-Welcome," said Alia.

"Alright, now, get out of here, shoo," said Captain Mitchell, smiling. "It's still your day off."

"Okay, love you, Father," said Dana.

The three of them left the medical bay and headed back to the beach as Carter went to talk to the Captain, having realized he was the fireman who saved Carter's life and was an inspiration to him. After a long talk and warm fuzzies all around, Carter headed out too.

XXX

At the beach, everyone was enjoying a game of Frisbee.

Dana tossed it to Kelsey, who tossed to Joel. But Joel didn't catch it, Carter did. His appearance shocked everyone as he was just wearing some black shorts and a red and white Hawaiian shirt.

"Hey, Carter, what're you doing here?" asked Kelsey.

"Hey, it's my day off too," said Carter.

"You mean, you're actually here to have fun?" said Dana.

"Maybe Olympus is impersonating Carter," joked Alia.

"Ha-ha, very funny," said Carter. "You guys seriously think I don't know how to have fun?"

"No," said Dana, Joel and Ryan in unison.

As if to prove them wrong, Carter grabbed a water gun and began squirting everyone. They continued having fun until it was nearly sundown and had to head back to the Aquabase.

XXX

A few hours later, Ryan and Alia had gone on their usual walk together, were gone far too long. They were declared missing and a search went underway until Ryan staggered into the Aquabase, badly injured.

"Ryan!" cried Captain Mitchell. He ran forward and helped his son to stand. Ryan was a mess of burns, bruises and blood. A few gentle presses on his torso revealed a broken rib or two as well. "What happened to you? Who did this?"

"Alia's been taken," whispered Ryan. "The demons took Alia."

And then he passed out from the pain.

XXX

Two hours later, Ryan was treated for his injuries. His body was heavily bandaged, there was an IV in his arm and he had yet to awaken. Everyone was at his side, sick with worry.

"How is he?" asked Captain Mitchell.

"He has multiple abrasions, lacerations, a minor concussion, two cracked ribs and one broken rib, a slight fever and he lost a lot of blood. If it wasn't for his strength and Titanium powers, he could've been much worse," said Dana. "The odds are a bit slim, but he should make a full recovery if he rests for a few days, maybe a week."

Just then, Ryan woke up and nearly sat up, but then lay back down when pain coursed through his body.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy," said Captain Mitchell. "You need to rest. You took a big hit this time."

"Dad, have you found Alia? Is she safe?" said Ryan.

Everyone exchanged looks and sighed.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but there's no sign of Alia anywhere," said Joel. "We'll keep looking, though."

"I have to find her."

He tried to get up again, but Ms. Fairweather pushed him down. "You have to rest for a bit and tell us what happened."

"Alia and I were on our usual walk when we were attacked," said Ryan. "These demons were nothing like anything we'd seen before. We didn't recognize them. The demons were cloaked from the monitors and infused with magic. We fought them when they attack, but they were too quick, too strong, for us and we lost. They beat me to a pulp and then when Alia was down, they took her."

"I don't understand. Why would they take Alia?" asked Joel. "She said it herself, she's not as valuable as Olympus. She's only a half-blood."

Ryan was quiet and averted his eyes.

"You know why they took her, don't you?" asked Dana.

"Ryan, tell us," asked Carter.

"I can't," said Ryan.

"Can't or won't?" asked Kelsey.

Ryan was silent.

"If there's something we need to know that could help save Alia, then you need to tell us, Ryan, please," said Captain Mitchell.

Ryan sighed. "Just swear to me that you won't yell or kick Alia out when I tell you about this."

"We swear it, Ryan," said Captain Mitchell, as the others nodded.

"Okay." He took a deep breath and said, "Alia…is Olympus's half-sister. She's Queen Bansheera's daughter."