Kicking it to the Max Part Four

Back at Maya's house, her mother and brother sat with one another in the living room, watching the local news. The projection of a news reporter displaying details of the kidnapping of Mary Cruz rocked the entire town. Adana was still stunned by it. She and other moms always respected the Cruz family and acknowledged them as wonderful people, so Adana grew to adore Max over the years. It was no wonder that a charming woman like Mary could raise what all the moms could agree was an eloquent and dashing young man.

"The police have yet to pick up a trace of possible suspects," the elderly reporter stated. "Though Cruz's whereabouts are currently unknown, no one is certain when the authorities can pick up a trace soon. However, one crucial piece of writing is evident to the crime, but have yet to..."

Pablo watched with his eyes glued to the screen. "Man, can't believe out of all people, Mrs. Cruz would be the bait in a kidnapping plot," he commented.

Adana nodded sadly as she motioned her son to put his head on her shoulder. "I know, Bebe, but one could only pray for her safe return. I cannot imagine what Max is thinking right now."

"That's IF she is currently safe," Pablo said.

Adana sighed as both she and her son leaned back against the couch. They both sat in silence for a few seconds before Pablo spoke up.

"Mamá?"

"Yes, hijo."

"Did Papá have a rough past before he met you," Pablo asked carefully. He was only 8 years old when his father passed, but it was painful for both him and his sister to manage, Pablo, unlike Maya, had always tended to have the habit of digging deeper into things. This has made him quite nosy at times. One example could be when he went through his sister's social media when he suspected she was having a sacred relationship with a boy. Now the boy was interested in his father's past, something he craved by was timid to even ask for so many years.

Adana giggled. "Let me tell you something about your father. ¡Era un semental absoluto!" She exclaimed, patting her son's chest as she laughed.

Pablo smirked. "He was that big of a stud."

"Si, mi amor. All the women wanted to get their paws on the one and only Diego Garcia, which was why I was shocked that he chose me. He normally would have on-and-off relationships, mostly just to..." she paused to find the right words to explain to her young son. "He only had short relationships just to...acortase." She whispered the last word in Spanish, but her son understood and was shocked.

"Oh my god," Pablo exclaimed before choking on a laugh. "My dad was that big of a player!"

"Hey, don't get any naughty ideas, young man," his mother warned, understanding what her son was thinking.

"I'm just kidding, Mom. I'm just surprised! Can you please tell me more?"

His mother smiled and nodded. "Si, mijo. Let's start with..."

Little did the two know, a suspicious figure was overhearing their conversation with a grim look. He sat outside, underneath the living room window.

"I knew it," he said venomously. "Maya Garcia is that putrid man's daughter."

The yellow-clothed boy began pacing for a moment, trying to get his anger in check before he sneered as a sinister idea came into his mind. "I finally got the answer I have been searching for so long...now it's time to start plotting my revenge."

With that, he ignited a smoke bomb before him, allowing him to evaporate into the air.

Max didn't know exactly what to think or feel at that moment. Time was running out, and he was tempted to reveal the prime location of the Rangers' base of operations to a psychopath for the possible exchange for his parents' safety, as the lever that was attached to the noose around his father's neck lowered to level two, allowing more water to pour into the vat his mother was chained to the bottom of. Now the front of her face was above water.

To make matters worse, it was apparent that the noose was causing Bobby stress, as his face was turning blue and his breathing was becoming shallow.

Just outside of the entire warehouse, Maya and DJ, still morphed, were pacing around the warehouse, desperately trying to find any method to rescue Max's parents. The broken windows of the warehouse allowed the two to see and overhear what was going on inside, and they were sent into a frenzy, realizing that someone had to make a move, or else Max would lose his parents forever.

They were on the far right side, just outside of the perimeter, where the warehouse's emergency exit was located at the far right corner.

DJ growled. "That little SNEAK!"

"We can't break through this door. It might set off an alarm, alerting Maxine." Maya said, shaking her head in defeat.

"Well, what can we do?"

"GUYS!" A familiar voice was heard. The Blue and Yellow Rangers turned and were shocked to see the twins rushing to them. Donnie was lagging, trying to catch his breath as his sister sped toward their friends.

Bonnie practically skidded to a stop as she spoke. "Ellie contacted us and told us what was up."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Well thank goodness. The more, the merrier." She said sarcastically. She didn't mind that the twins were here, as long as they were planning on putting their habit of bickering to rest, but the Yellow Ranger couldn't think of a scenario in which these two could help, especially since they had very little time.

Donnie made it to the three, putting his hands on his knees as he began panting for air. "We...have...a plan." He managed to get the words out.

"What plan?" The Blue Ranger asked.

"Easy," Bonnie stated, looking over at the emergency exit. She ran toward it, ushering the others to follow her. "Maya, you can use your powers to sense any movement on the other side of the wall. Donnie could use his senses to locate exactly where Mr. Cruz may be located."

The Yellow Ranger nodded her head. "Great idea, but I need everyone to be as still as possible for this to work." Everyone else obliged as she shut her eyes and connected her mind to the Earth. She then felt some sort of vibration coming from the other side of the wall. "It worked! I feel something here!" She said, putting a hand against the wall, exactly where she felt the vibration. She turned to Donnie and tilted her head. "Shouldn't you be morphed to use your bat senses?"

"Don't need to, as long as whatever is on the other side is near, I can detect its place," Donnie stated. "I need you guys to be extra quiet while I concentrate." The others nodded their heads as Donnie shut his eyes and opened his mouth to emit a series of supersonic cries. The waves traveled through the wall, and it was at that very moment, that Donnie jumped excitedly and exclaimed. "Max's father is on the other side! He is still on the block of ice, and it's melting!"

Bonnie grinned as she stood in the front area of the wall in which Max's father was located behind. She knelt and spoke. "Listen, we do not have enough time. It's time to initiate this plan into overdrive

"And the plan is..." DJ ushered her to continue.

"The plan is...I use my civilian powers to lower to temperature of the wall, emanating a cold breeze toward the other side. That would indeed keep the ice from melting, and would buy ice more time."

"That is..." Maya muttered, before realizing the potential of Bonnie's plan. "That's genius!" She exclaimed.

Bonnie giggled in glee. Just then, a sinister laugh was heard, catching all the Rangers off-guard.

"What was that?" The Blue Ranger asked hysterically, looking around in a frenzy.

"It sounded like it came from the roof," Maya said. "It has to be Maxine!"

The Blue and Yellow Rangers immediately bolted toward the rolling ladder that led up to the roof of the warehouse, leaving Bonnie alone to use her powers to lower the temperature of the wall.

Max was shaking his head, panicking. He was desperate to find any solution to his situation. He looked away and gasped in complete horror as the lever was inching downward, just about to reach the next level. Max knew at least two more splashes of water, and his mother would ultimately drown.

He looked over at the vat and realized only his mother's nose and mouth were above water. Max grinned as he found a gap in Maxine's plan. He couldn't afford to morph in his mother's presence, but Max knew that she wouldn't be able to see or hear his morph if her eyes and ears were submerged underwater.

He pressed the gem on his wrist and morphed. "Call into Combat!" Red winds swirled around him like a tornado, morphing him into the red ranger. The lights in the warehouse shined over his reflective visor.

His father, just barely able to breathe, looked up and cracked a smile at his son. He couldn't fathom how much Max had grown over the years. He wasn't the little boy Bobby pushed on the swing, and he wasn't the same boy he dropped off at his first playdate with DJ. His son was now a man. A man of supreme honor.

Max looked over and realized the wall behind his father was emanating some sort of frosty gas, and he also figured out that the ice was becoming more solid than it was originally. Like an outside influence was halting the melting process.

But what? Or more importantly...who?

Max then looked up at the ceiling as the distant noises of grunting, stomping, and slamming caught his attention. The Red Ranger breathed out in exasperation. Maxine was here and was right above him, and there was no doubt in his mind who was currently fighting her.

The roofing of the large warehouse was composite, meaning it was assembled with insulation and support sandwiched between upper and lower panels, meaning that it was difficult for DJ and Maya to see who was over on the other side of a row of panels.

They climbed one upward and slid downward. Then upward, and downward, until they reached the center of the roof, which consisted of a narrow, flat surface.

"Where is she?" DJ asked, looking around.

"I don't know-" Maya was just about to finish her sentence when a huge gush of wind blasted them away. They both slammed against a tilted panel, before rolling to the ground.

They both grunted as they looked up and saw Maxine, fully in her suit, ascending downwards slowly like a rocket ship.

"You guys are nothing more but minuscule pieces in my game," she sneered as she landed.

The Blue Ranger growled as he jumped to his feet and pulled out his blade. He ran toward the Red Ninja, but before he could get near, Maxine pulled her war fan.

"How about I put her to bed?" She joked as she struck him downward. "Without a bedtime story, but don't worry, there will be a happy ending...FOR ME!" She swung her fan upward, slashing DJ away.

"HEY!" Maya screeched, averting Maxine's attention over to her. The Yellow Ranger pointed her bow gun at the red fiend and fired, but Maxine blocked the blasts with her fan, using her weapon to send another gush of wind toward the Yellow Ranger, slamming Maya harder against the roof panel.

"You PATHETIC WEAKLINGS! You really believe that you could play Superman and save the day! NO! Now Max's parents are doomed, and Po will TAKE this world for whit'sits worth!"

Maxine laughed and grinned triumphantly, not realizing the circumstances that were about to unfold that would trample her entire plan.

Bonnie's hands remained on the wall. Her plan was working.

Donnie emanated more sonic waves from his mouth and called out in delight. "It's working. The ice is not melting anymore."

His sister looked over at him and smirked. "I guess you were right. Using my brain does help at times."

Donnie knew this wasn't the right time to do so, but considering they had bought more time for Max and his parents, he figured this was the right time to make amends. As much as he did not like his sister's dirty antics, Bonnie was still his sister. No matter how many times she stuck gum in his hair, or how many wetwilles she would give him, or how many times she embarrassed him in front of girls he liked, he still loved her. It was a special bond between two people from the same womb that would restrain Donnie from ever telling his sister that he hated her because he didn't. He could never hate her.

"Bon'," he spoke, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"No, no..." his sister interrupted him, keeping her hands on the wall. "I'm sorry. I guess taking your money and shunning you out when you tried to call me out was too much. I always had this false junction that just because I was your sister, you would tolerate what I would do. I guess that's kind of why you stopped liking me."

"That's different. I could stop liking you for a while, but I could never stop loving you. You may be the most obnoxious sister on the face of this planet," he chuckled as his sister rolled her eyes, "but you are my sister."

Bonnie looked over at her brother and giggled. "Areu are going to hug me, or are you just going to stand there like a fool?"

Donnie laughed as he wrapped his arms around his sister's waist, laying his head on her shoulder. "I love you."

Bonnie gave him a peck on the cheek. "I love you, too."

With that, their bond was officially healed. However, the fanny pack Donnie had was beginning to glow. The two looked confused but then realized it was the box that Ellie had given them earlier, which was to open had they officially made up. Donnie pulled it out of the bag and realized that it had been unlocked. He opened it up and what was inside made him grin in excitement, he showed it to his sister and they both exclaimed in unison.

"OUR GEMS!" They cheered.

To be continued...