This story will covers from Deep in the Shadows till the end of the season. Even though this is about Ryan it wont just be Ryan's perspective, there will be a fairly even amount of Capt. Mitchell, Dana and even some Carter.

This first chapter cuts some corners; giving in between and extended scenes from Deep in the Shadows. So if you've never seen Lightspeed, sorry, I'm not going to right up the stuff from the show that I didnt change, at least from that episode.

Captain Mitchell's Office

"How is Carter?" Capt. Mitchell asked as he and Ms. Fairweather entered his office.

"He'll be fine soon enough, Captain, but it took a lot out of him."

"Hopefully we'll have more success with the other rangers."

Ms. Fairweather stopped. "What?"

"The other rangers, one of them might be strong enough."

"With all due respect, Captain," Ms. Fairweather said gripping the Titanium morpher, "We both know that none of them are. Carter…no, even Carter didn't have a chance. The rangers have their own morphers, individually formatted. Even if you had allowed us to search for another person with compatibility I don't think it would matter, no one can use it."

Capt. Mitchell paused, then turned and sat at his desk, "But we won't know that for sure unless we continue testing."

In frustration Ms. Fairweather practically slammed the morpher down on Captain Mitchell's desk. "I don't think we should continue testing the Titanium powers. The circuitry is too powerful for an ordinary human."

Capt. Mitchell gently picked up the morpher, his eyes never leaving it. But the Captain has always known that, thought Ms. Fairweather, frustrated. That was how he had always wanted it. Why did he insist on testing it knowing that no one could handle the power? Ms. Fairweather sighed and turned around, heading out of the room.

Finally looking up, he called to her, "It would have been fantastic," he said, seemingly trying to justify all their hard work.

Ms. Fairweather slowed her exit and at the door turned back to him. There was something in his eyes. She couldn't place what it was but she felt a strong desire to reassure him. She smiled, "Yes, it truly would have." She waited, seeing him relax a bit. "Good night, Captain." And it would have, she thought as she turned out into the hallway, if there was actually someone who could wear it.

Skull Cavern

"I sensed great power coming from the Ranger's base a moment ago," Diabolico announced joining the other demons in the main chamber. "The rangers are seeking to increase their numbers."

"How can you be sure? What if it's only a new weapon?" asked Vypra.

"I can tell the difference between a weapon's energy and a rangers'," Diabolico sneered, "And it is the way with all power rangers. They ebb in battle and are suddenly empowered with another member. But this time they will be stopped before their power increases."

"But if you sensed the power from their base then they already have it." Loki complained.

"No. This power was too intense for a mere human to wield. It was fleeting. They could not keep it contained."

Loki remained skeptical, "Even if we could wield their human technology, we can't reach their base under the water to retrieve…" Loki's voice faded out as a figure emerged from the shadows behind Diabolico. A knowing smile began on Vypra's lips.

"Aaah, but we can do both," Diabolico brought his hands up and curled them into fists, "Now is the time to put our wild card to use. Now is the time to cripple and destroy the rangers! All as it…" he paused sensing the boy behind him, "…should be."

Aqua Base- Night

A lone figure kept to the shadows of the darkened hallways leaving water puddles in his tracks. He could avoid the humans easily enough he had honed the skill of sensing the simplest of energy's years ago, thanks to Diabolico. Not that he really needed that skill now; the central hub of the base was devoid of every human but a few unintelligent sentries. He sneered at them as they passed him by. Pathetic. He knew he was to remain undiscovered until he revealed to them their loss the next day, but he had wished someone might have the skill to find him. To begin their end right then and there.

He quickly turned his focus back to his mission. Finding the office was not a problem, the humans had everything labeled. Not to mention maps of the entire base secured to a number of the walls. A large, golden bird and a name plate adorned the door that made barely a sound as it let him in and closed behind him. The lights were off but he had no trouble seeing every corner of the room.

As he was making his way around he noticed something odd. On top of the desk sat a short white cylinder with pieces missing from it. Leaning in to get a closer look a sweet smell entered his nose. He almost jolted back in surprise. The tomb, where he had spent most of his life, was musky, the smell of it almost never changed. This base was sterile. He had only noticed the smell of human sweat on his way here. This sweet scent was almost completely foreign to him… but... a memory tugged at his mind. A cake. For celebrations. The memory surprised him. He remembered so few things of that life. Without thinking he brought his finger forward to the icing. It stopped millimeters from the cake. A celebration. Without him. He fought the urge to throw the cake across the room. There would be no more celebrations for them.

He opened one of the drawers hoping to find something to help him open the rooms safe. He stopped, momentarily shocked. The key to the safe lay there in the open drawer. With a smirk he picked up the key and tossed it triumphantly in his hand. They were making this too easy. Curious he picked up the object that had been beneath the keys. Turning it over he froze. It was a picture. A man held a young girl in his arms. His mind drifted for a moment and he absently caressed their two faces with his thumb. Then he noticed the second child and his eyes narrowed. He quickly placed the picture back in the drawer and turned to the safe. The memories these objects brought to his mind were unsettling and all he wanted to do now was get out of there.

He unlocked the safe and opened it revealing various documents and the morpher. As he retrieved the morpher he caught sight of one of the documents. Titanium Ranger Project: Top Secret. Smirking, he grabbed the folder and closed the safe. They cleared out, left the doors unlocked, gave me the keys and left the manual; I need to remember to thank them… before I break their necks.

It was too bad he wouldn't be here to see their reactions when they realized what had happened. He quickly put the keys back in the drawer and was about to close it when the picture caught his attention again. A part of him wanted to destroy it more than the cake, yet another part…

Aqua Base

Monitors buzzed and the staff busied themselves checking systems in the command center as Capt. Mitchell watched the battle between Vypra and the rangers, transmitting from their helmet cameras. He turned his attention to the paperwork he had been handed. The rangers could easily handle Vypra and a few Batlings.

"Wild horses couldn't drag me away," Vypra was saying, "This is the moment I've been waiting for. The moment you meet your match!"

As she spoke a thunderous cloud formed in the air between the two opposing sides. Capt. Mitchell quickly turned back to the monitor. "What on earth…" As the cloud descended and grew brighter shock waves sent the rangers sprawling to the ground. A form, illuminated with power, emerged from the cloud and as the light faded.

"Titanium Ranger?"

Aqua Base- Lab

Ms. Fairweather stood at a lab table covered with a puzzle of pieces that would eventually be the rangers' new weapons. Inspired by the Titanium powers, Ms. Fairweather wanted to show Capt. Mitchell that he didn't need to obsess over finding someone to give all of that power to. They could still have a weapon just as powerful, maybe even more powerful. The key was not to concentrate all that power in one devise but in separate weapons that could later combine their energy. They will be powerful she thought to herself, but I can't do any more with them until I get the 'V' transmitters working. Her thoughts were interrupted as Capt. Mitchell came running into the lab.

"Ms. Fairweather!"

"Captain, what is it, what's wrong?"

"Quickly," he exclaimed gesturing for her to follow him, "The Titanium Ranger is fighting the other rangers!" Capt. Mitchell exclaimed.

"What?!" Ms. Fairweather exclaimed, dropping her scanner and following, "But that's not possible!"

A noticeable silence had fallen over the command center and many of the staff stood motionless watching the battle as the two rushed in. "Oh, no!" Ms. Fairweather exclaimed seeing the titanium clad ranger now for herself.

Aqua Base- Conference Room

Captain Mitchell stood at the entrance to the room. Inside he heard the rangers' heated discussion. "Then it had to be someone in Lightspeed!" Kelsey said

"Yeah, but nobody would do that," Joel pointed out.

"Who else?" Kelsey countered. The room fell silent. No one wanted to believe that someone at Lightspeed was a traitor but since the demons didn't know where the secret entrance was and the only other way in was by water it seemed to be the only possible choice.

"Alright," Capt. Mitchell said, entering the room and walking to the table. "We'll worry about how it was stolen later. For now," he leaned across the table, "We have got to get it back… fast."

"That won't be easy," Ms. Fairweather said and the group turned to her. "For hand to hand combat purposes we currently don't have anything anywhere near as powerful as we will need." Ms. F looked at the Captain, "The Titanium ranger is too powerful, he would just swat them away like you saw him do with the Rescue Bird."

"Um, you saw," corrected Chad rubbing his shoulder, "we felt."

Carter spoke up, "Ms. Fairweather?"

"Yes, Carter?"

"How can anyone use the morpher? I mean, if they were human it wouldn't be possible, right? And demons can't use it since it's designed for humans, so…" he paused, glancing around at everyone, "who's in the suit?"

Silence once again filled the room as everyone mulled the information around in their minds. "Well," said Ms. F breaking the silence, "It wouldn't be impossible for it to be a human, but for someone to be strong enough and to also know of the morpher's existence, it's extremely unlikely. "However," she continued, "It's not impossible for it to be a demon either. In ranger history there have been many accounts of Putties, the equivalent of our Batlings," she clarified, "taking on human form. That could be enough to confuse the power and allow them to use it."

"Whoa!" Joel said putting up his hands, "Are you saying we just got our butts handed to us by a Batling?"

"No matter who it was," Capt. Mitchell interrupted, "the fact remains that Diabolico has the morpher, and the Titanium power." He turned once again to Ms. F. "Are you sure there is nothing we have that could make a difference?"

Ms. Fairweather hesitated and then sighed, "There may be something, Captain, but they're not finished yet."

"Then get every able hand on this base working on it. Rangers, I need you out in the city. We can't waste any time when he shows up. We need to be prepared for the next attack."

Aqua Base- Capt. Mitchell's office

Capt. Mitchell sat at his desk. It was nearing the end of the day and still no sign of attack. He couldn't keep the rangers out there forever. He would have to think about calling them in soon if nothing happened. He sighed. What a mess this all was. The Titanium powers weren't suppose to be a menacing threat, but a fantastic addition to Lightspeed. Thinking of this, his mind drifted and for the second time that day he opened his right side drawer and tried to pull out his family's picture. His hand froze and he quickly looked down into the drawer. It wasn't there. Frantically he searched the rest of the drawers. Nothing. He was about to open the safe when the intercom in the room went off.

"Capt. Mitchell! It's the Titanium ranger, he's attacking!"

He hurried from the room toward the command center, his mind racing. What had happened to the picture? Why would someone take something so personal? Before he could think about it any further the lift opened and he hurried through the command center and into the conference room. Seeing the fight on the monitor his mind focused on the task at hand and he put his head set on. The Titanium ranger easily cut down anyone who came up against him.

Not only is he more powerful but his fighting skills seemed to be unmatched as well.

As the rangers were knocked to the ground by an intense blast the captain opened the comm. link to the lab. Why hadn't the V Lancers been sent yet? Ms. Fairweather, we are out of time." A moment later her face appeared on the screen, "But we haven't finished testing it."

"That's a luxury we can't afford."

"Alright," Ms. F agreed, reluctantly.

Capt. Mitchell turned back to the screen with the rangers. They were contacted and quickly called on the V lancers. At first they seemed to make only a small difference, and then the titanium ranger lost his weapon. Still showing immense skill his fended them off but was quickly knocked back by a team effort. Capt. Mitchell smiled slightly. He was proud of the rangers. In these few short months they had really become a formidable team.

The Titanium ranger rose from the ground and made a dash for his weapon. Guided by Ms. Fairweather, the rangers switched to blaster mode and created their weapons' Spectral Blast just as the Titanium ranger was about to open fire. There was a huge explosion and he fell to the ground. The Captain heard cheers from the other room but they quickly quieted when they all watched in amazement as the Titanium ranger slowly began to rise.

Capt. Mitchell couldn't believe it. At their current level setting the power was greater than the titanium power. How was he even moving? On the screen the Titanium ranger slowly turned around and faced the rangers, his visor down. Capt. Mitchell, feeling like he had been hit it the stomach, rose from his chair. "No." he whispered. The eyes that stared at him from the monitor were cold, hate filled and shockingly familiar. As the Titanium ranger made his way toward the other rangers, blaster in hand, each step seemed to cause him great pain.

Capt. Mitchell's mind filled the missing piece to all of their questions. Only a human could have made it into the base through the water. His missing picture. And, most of all, how the thief had been able to call on the power and join with it so perfectly. The last one only Capt. Mitchell knew the real reason for. But…

William turned his head from the screen, NO! his mind cried. It couldn't be. This wasn't the way he had imagined this reunion. Not the merciless enemy before him. He had given up hope of ever seeing him again. When the demons had been released earlier than they had planned, William had readied himself to see those eyes, to explain the years of lying to everyone, but nothing had happened. Diabolico didn't gloat, ransom, or hint to anything. He was dead. What other explanation could there be? William had lived with that possibility for 14 years. Part of him could accept that end… but this?

"Lock on!" he heard Carter yell, which pulled his mind back to the screen. The Titanium ranger staggered ever closer to the rangers, seemingly ready to collapse at any moment, but having an overpowering stubbornness keeping him up. "Target locked!"

That stubbornness will get you into trouble some day.

The memory pulled him out of his frozen state. "Don't fire!" William cried into his mouthpiece.

"What?!" came Carter's surprised voice, "Please repeat, sir!"

"Hold your fire!" he repeated

Cries of disbelief came from the other rangers.

"Don't shoot," he reaffirmed.

The rangers reluctantly stood down. As the Titanium ranger collapsed in the street, so did his father, back into the chair, the shouts from his metallic clad son, not wanting the fight to end, echoing in his mind.