Odd Couples

New Alliances is the thirty-eighth episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Summary
In Scrimshaw, various people start realizing the relationships they've gotten themselves into.

Last time in Scrimshaw
The Ethereal Rangers landed in the mountains, where they were met by a desperate Tyler. They couldn't decide whether to trust him, so he returned to the airport as Tauza and her forces arrived. There, Anya launched an attack and was met by Reggie, whose fighting impressed her enough to make her join him when the Ethereal Megazord intervened. Tyler tried to retrieve Sienna in the chaos, only to be caught by Dean, who told him how to treat her and let them go.

March 3rd, 9 Korimako Cove, 4:22 pm
Susana double-checked the address in her hand against the number on the mailbox. Yes, they matched. There was no car in the driveway; maybe Tyler and his family were out? Making sure nobody was watching, Susana drew on her powers. The blue glow cast her shadow behind her.

There were three people in the house, all in pretty good moods. One seemed both excited and worried; she recognized Tyler's aura after a moment. Satisfied, Susana came up the walk and onto the porch. There was no doorbell, so she knocked.

A woman probably in her forties opened the door. She looked surprised to see Susana standing there. From what Tyler had told them when he'd settled them in their hotel, Susana guessed the woman was his aunt.

"Hi—I'm Susana Callaghan, I came to see Tyler," Susana said. "Is he here?"

"Yes, he's in his room. Come inside," the woman said, with a welcoming, if surprised, smile.

Susana entered. It was a nice enough house, small but not crowded. A staircase stood just in front of the entryway, and the woman leaned into it.

"Tyler!"

"Coming, Aunt Vera!" After a moment, Tyler came down the stairs. Behind him Susana glimpsed a younger boy who looked very like him. That would be his brother Westley.

"Hi," Tyler said. "Everything okay?"

"Fine. I came because I was hoping I could go with you to meet Sienna. This is the time you usually go, right?"

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Sure, you can come. Do you mind waiting a bit? Uncle Bryce is running errands and he has the car."

"Not a problem," Susana said. Glancing around, she spotted a living room to the left, and entered it, sitting on a sofa. From here she could hear Tyler and Westley as they went back upstairs.

"Who's she?"

"Friend of Sienna's, just got out of the foster care system," Tyler replied. Susana flinched; he was a lot closer to the truth than he knew. "We're helping her and some friends of hers find a place to stay."

"Why would they come here?"

"I don't know. Maybe they want to be in a movie."

"Ha ha." Westley said sarcastically. When he spoke again, though, he sounded serious. "How's Sienna doing?"

"Pretty good, but still weak. She'll need to stay in the hospital for a while longer."

"She really tried to sneak in and rescue the hostages by herself?"

"That's what they're saying on the news. Knowing her, I'm not surprised."

Westley laughed a little. "Hope I can meet her soon."

"You can come to the hospital too," Tyler suggested.

"I've had more than enough of hospitals, thanks."

"Right, sorry." Tyler's footsteps thudded down the stairs, and Susana got up, joining him at the door. He was carrying a bag this time.

"Say hi to her for me!" Westley called down the stairs.

"I will!"

Tyler opened the door for Susana. She wondered if it was because she was a girl, or he was just polite. Either way, she didn't pick a fight over it, just walked out. A pickup was coming down the street; Susana guessed it was Tyler's uncle's car.

"If you don't mind my asking, why not just go yourself? We've got a lot of friends in the hospital," Tyler said in a low voice. "They'd let you in."

"I'd rather she first meet me with you, not as a stranger. Have you told her much about us?" Susana asked.

Tyler shrugged. "Not really, but she's been watching the news, so she knows you're here and on our side."

Susana nodded. By now the pickup had pulled up in front of them. Once more, Tyler got the door for her, quickly enough that she guessed it was habit. She climbed in.

Archery Range, Scrimshaw, 8:22 am
Dean hid behind a shed of weapons, watching Alice shoot at targets. He'd noticed her coming here a couple of times in the past, and decided to try it today. He wanted to talk to her—or try to, anyway. Things had gotten busier with Tauza's arrival, and this was the first chance he'd had to slip away since the deathtrap.

Running out of arrows, Alice headed towards the shed. Dean shrank back into the shadows, and felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. Before he could react, the stranger seized him and swung him around in a judo hold. He hit the ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of his lungs.

Dean could hear running footsteps coming towards them. Craning his neck, he saw Alice skid to a halt, staring in bewilderment at his attacker. He didn't blame her: the stranger was a muscular Japanese-looking woman dressed in rather skimpy animal skins. This must be Archer; he'd heard about her in debriefing.

"Red Ranger," Archer said, planting a foot on his chest. "You have one minute to explain what you're doing down here."

"Nothing!"

"Somehow, I find that very hard to believe. The Rangers told me about you." she bent down, digging her foot into Dean's ribs. "Have any particularly good reasons I shouldn't just kill you right now?"

"I didn't do anything," Dean said. He arched his back, trying to throw Archer off, but she delivered a resounding right cross to his jaw, snapping his head sideways. He tasted blood in his mouth.

"Hey!" That was Alice, grabbing Archer's arm as she hauled back for another punch. "Stop it!"

Dean watched, bewildered. After last time he'd thought Alice mad enough to attack him herself—that was one reason he'd stayed hidden for so long. He realized he could just generate a geyser and blast Archer away, now that she was distracted, but not while Alice was this close.

Archer gave Alice a death glare. "Let go."

"Not if you're going to try to kill someone."

Archer started prying Alice's fingers off her arm. She spoke in measured tones, as if explaining herself to a child. "This man is one of the people responsible for all the attacks on your city. I want to be sure he isn't here to launch another."

"I know all about that, and I want you to calm down and let me talk to him."

Archer stopped up short, gripping Alice's wrist. "Why you?"

"Because I actually know him, and maybe someone just talking will work better than hitting him."

A few birds twittered nervously in the trees as the two girls stared at each other. At last, Archer let go and stepped back, off of Dean's chest. She drew a bow and set an arrow to the string, giving Dean a warning glance. With a huff, Alice plunked down in front of Dean, rubbing her wrist as he sat up.

"What are you doing here?"

"I . . . I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't want to interrupt."

Alice didn't look impressed. "So, let me see if I have this straight here. Taking a bunch of innocent people hostage, then poisoning the person trying to save them is fine, but interrupting me while I'm shooting? That would just be rude."

"It's not like that," Dean protested, but Alice cut him off.

"Isn't it? Make up your mind; you can't be a nice guy who just happens to do terrible things."

"I'm doing the best I can! I never wanted the deathtrap to work, and I made sure it didn't—I underdosed the Yellow Ranger and I told Orange how to save her when he showed up to rescue her." Dean caught his breath, realized he was shouting, and lowered his voice to normal. "Ask them, they can confirm it."

Alice looked surprised. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. "Are you serious?" Dean didn't say anything. "Then . . . why?"

Dean looked down. The answer to that question seemed suddenly very weird and kind of silly.

"Answer the question," Archer interrupted, raising her bow. "Unless you want me to put this shaft through your hand."

Alice gave her an incredulous look. "Are you always like this?"

"When I'm dealing with people like him, yes."

Alice shook her head, and scooted a little closer to Dean. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I shouldn't have come."

"Then why did you?"

Dean mumbled something vague and turned away, only to feel a hand on his arm. He stiffened as if he'd gotten a shock of static electricity. It was the first time she'd touched him with anything like gentleness since before she'd known who he really was. The rational part of his mind said it wasn't important, but the rest of him wasn't buying it.

"So . . . you wanted to make sure I understood that you were secretly helping the Rangers during that fight?"

"What do you want?" Dean snapped. "A confession that I'm not really bad, just misunderstood, and I wouldn't go that far? Or is it supposed to be about you—that I held off because somehow I didn't want to upset you?"

"Did I ask for anything?" A smile was playing around the corners of Alice's mouth, though she tried to look sober.

"Stop it."

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything."

"You know perfectly well," Dean grumped. "That thing with your eyes and mouth."

"You're not making any sense," Alice said. "Go find someone else to be vague at."

She made a shooing gesture with her hands. Archer, who'd been watching with even more confusion that Dean, straightened.

"He's not going anywhere." She raised her bow again.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You still want to shoot him?"

"Nothing has changed." Archer took aim, drawing the arrow back until its fletching brushed her cheek.

"Just you try it," Dean snapped, and teleported away. He almost saw her loose the arrow as he vanished, and Alice spring to her feet with a shout of protest. Then he was back aboard the ship, surrounded by silver and black metal.

Stepping off the teleportation pad, he resisted the urge to slap himself in the face. What had he been thinking? He'd almost gotten himself killed, and made himself look like a fool. Wait, why should he care? If Archer thought he was an idiot, she'd be more likely to underestimate him, and Alice was just a dumb civilian; it didn't matter what she thought.

Only it did. More and more, Dean was starting to realize it. This time he actually did slap himself; the smack echoed around the room.

"What's the matter with me? She's nobody!"

"Vhat are you talking about?" Reggie's voice made Dean jump.

"Nothing," Dean said hastily, facing him and looking him up and down. The Black Ranger was out of uniform, sweaty and breathless. "What have you been doing?"

"Sparring with ze new girl. She's very good; I'm surprised she didn't trounce you more often," Reggie replied. "Did you just teleport up? Vhat vere you doing in Scrimshaw?"

"Supply run—for my poisons," Dean said, thinking fast.

Reggie nodded. "I see. Good, you'll need zem—after your failure last time, you'd better make certain vhatever you're using is potent."

"Right, right." Dean shoved past Reggie, heading up the hall.

"Oh, and Dean?" Reggie's voice halted him. "Friendly vord of advice: be careful. Vhat vith ze Academy turning against Korassil, ve Terra Ninjas are in a slightly precarious position."

Dean whirled on Reggie. "The Academy did what?"

"Oh, didn't you know? After Alex killed Nico ze whole school rebelled. Zey're locked up in Korassil's ship just like ze others," Reggie said.

Dean didn't know what to say to that. The entire school? He'd dismissed Nico as a rebel without a cause, like he usually was, but. . . Was Dean really representing Terra Academy, if they'd decided not to keep working with Korassil?

"Even the teachers?"

Reggie snorted. "Sensei Blackfeather started it." His watch began beeping, and he checked it. "Never mind zat now; ze Thinker vants to see if we can figure out a Megazord combination vith the Penguinzord. Follow me."

Dean obeyed, though with less than half a mind for the task. As they walked, he heard a voice coming from behind one of the closed doors—he thought it was a cargo bay. Thanks to the echo, it took him a second to recognize Tauza.

". . . Chiratheon's already sent her to shore; the Ethereal Rangers should find her soon." There was a pause, as if Tauza was listening to someone else on a telephone. "No, but soon. I'll approach the others about an opening soon."

"What was that about?" Dean asked Reggie, as Tauza's voice faded behind them.

The Black Ranger shrugged. "None of my concern."

That wasn't like him, but Dean guessed more questions would only annoy Reggie. Slipping back into his own thoughts, he walked on, leaving Tauza and her strange conversation behind.

Stewart Memorial Hospital, Scrimshaw, 5:12 pm
Sienna leaned back against the hospital bed's pillows, trying to make it look like a casual move, not like she was tired. According to the doctors she was supposed to rest, but she hated letting it show.

"You went to Harvard?" She asked Susana incredulously. "On scholarships?"

Susana shrugged. "Not for very long. I liked the Ethereal Academy a lot better—what I saw of it, anyway."

Sienna nodded. "That's how the Season Academy was for me, too. I miss those guys."

Everyone was glum and quiet for a while, remembering everyone the space ninjas had taken prisoner. Looking down, Sienna picked at a crocheted yellow-and-red blanket that covered her bed; it stood out against all the bland hospital bedding. It had been here ever since she'd first woken up after getting poisoned, and she had a vague idea it had been there while she was still basically out of it.

"Where'd this come from?" She looked up. "Tyler?"

"My aunt made it. She's been doing one for each of my family in the hospital, and as soon as she heard about you, she said you'd need one. Actually I think she started it back when we were fighting Glacia," Tyler said thoughtfully.

Sienna laughed. "Tell her I love it." Her smile faded. "Has Anya even talked to you since . . . you know."

The change of subject threw Tyler off. "No. Why would she?"

"You mean she couldn't see it?"

Tyler gave Sienna a blank stare. "What are you talking about?"

"You've been crushing on Anya since you met her!"

Tyler looked as if he'd been slapped. Clearly uncomfortable, Susana muttered something about needing air and slipped out of the room. The door swung shut behind her with a faint click.

Sienna hesitated, taken aback by Tyler's reaction. "I mean, it's okay, caring about her doesn't make you a traitor or anything, but why else would you stick up for her so often? You haven't done that for anyone else, or even spent time with anyone as much as . . ."

Tyler stood up abruptly, but stopped as Sienna trailed off. He watched her, unblinking, with terrible anticipation.

The pieces started to click in her mind: Tyler coming to visit her every day while she was in the hospital—both times; spending his free time with her; occasionally throwing himself between her and an attack. ..

Sienna's eyes went wide, and she looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. "You—" she flopped back on the bed with a thump, covering her reddening face with both hands. She groaned, "I am such an idiot."

"Sienna?" Tyler didn't seem to know whether to be hopeful or just scared.

Lowering her hands, Sienna looked at him again. "You overestimated me, Ty. I don't do subtle, if you want to get my attention you have to do something like this."

Leaning over, she slid her hands around his neck and pulled him in. Before he could even look confused, she kissed him squarely on the mouth. Tyler stiffened with surprise, and then seized Sienna in a crushing hug that yanked her heart monitor clean off. Neither of them noticed.

"Hey, Tyler—" Susana stopped up short, halfway through the doorway. "Oh."

Tyler and Sienna broke apart, both breathless and Tyler rather pink. Sienna finally noticed her screeching heart monitor, and began fumbling to get it back on. Clearing his throat, Tyler faced Susana again.

"What is it?"

"Actually, never mind, we can handle it," Susana said, starting to back out.

"No," Sienna interrupted, "if it's Ranger business we should at least know."

Susana nodded slowly, and raised her morpher to her mouth. "Kerri, Easton, get to the hospital—an ambulance just brought in an unconscious woman in an Ethereal Ninja uniform."

"On our way," Easton said.

Allies

 * Alice Harod
 * Archer
 * Westley Thorne

Villains

 * The Thinker
 * Spider Drones
 * Tauza