Power Rangers: Bloodlines

Netherworld

Ryan awoke to the sound of nearby water. He opened his eyes, revealing a world of red, one he knew all too well. As he sat up, Ryan looked around at the location, The Sanzu River of the Netherworld. "Good, you’re awake," a voice spoke from behind, startling Ryan, who turned to see Meka. "Got worried it might have been too late." She admitted before sitting beside Ryan and looked at the river. The two sat in silence for a moment. "You saved me back there. Why?" Ryan questioned, breaking the silence. Meka looked at Ryan. "Same reason you never turned us over to Master Xandred," She replied. "We half-Nighlok need to stick together," She explained. "Besides, now that Xandred knows, he'll be coming for you."

Ryan nodded in understanding. All of this felt bizarre to him. All his life, Ryan had served under Master Xandred for as long as he could remember. "There's something you should know," Meka told Ryan. "Before I brought you here, a couple of rangers saw me." She warned. Ryan knew what she meant and felt worried. "Which means they probably think you’re with Master Xandred." He added. Meka nodded in confirmation. "And it won't matter that I brought you here in order to save you," She replied. "They will always see Nighlok as monsters." She warned. As much as Ryan wished he could argue with that, Meka wasn't wrong. The team didn't even know what he was, and his mission was to destroy them from the inside. "We're not all like your parents, Ryan," Meka told him. "We don't have any choice of our lives." She said. Ryan looked at her with an odd expression. "My parents?" He questioned, unsure of what she was implying. Meka looked at him and nodded. "Deker and Dayu," She replied before noticing the confusion on Ryan’s face. "You didn't know?" She questioned. Ryan didn't answer, but Meka knew it wasn't safe for them to talk about this out in the open. "Come on, we need to find the others." She stated. Ryan was still processing the idea of his rival being his father, but nonetheless, he chose to follow Meka as they left for another part of the Netherworld.

Back at the command center, the rest of the rangers were trying to figure out how to find Ryan. "What we need to do is go down to the Netherworld and deal with those Nighlok." Jen stated. Zeke nodded in agreement. "There's just the problem of how to get there," He stated. "We're not Nighlok, so we can't just transport ourselves over there." He explained. "Zeke’s right, Jen," Rebecca commented. "Besides, if we even touch the water there, we'll be burned to a crisp." She added.

"I thought you didn't know anything about the Nighlok." Zeke claimed to Rebecca. "Actually, i came across it during my research," Tommy admitted. "If something or someone who isn’t from the Netherworld touches that water, it burns them into flames." He explained. "Which going to the Netherworld, we'd be surrounded by it." Zeke concluded. "Exactly, which is why we can't rush into this." Rebecca stated. Tommy walked to the group with his tablet, revealing the recent data on Ryan. "And if any of these genetic markers mean anything," He told them. "Whatever Xandred has planned for him isn't good." He added. Jen took the tablet and looked at it. "What is all of this?" She questioned. "I'm not sure," Tommy admitted. "Ryan seems to have some sort of genetic mutation that's something other than human." He explained.

"I think I might have an idea," Rebecca commented. "Mind if I see that for a second?" She questioned, extending her hand towards Jen. Jen looked at her for a moment before giving her the tablet. Rebecca then began to mess around with the files, looking for something specific. "What is it?" Tommy asked. "Just following a hunch." She said before opening a couple of files, and her expression turned to worry. "What's going on?" Zeke asked. Jen looked at her with uncertainty. "What did you find?" She questioned. Rebecca looked around at the group before showing the tablet screen, revealing a DNA structure similar to Ryan’s. "It's not what I found, it's who," She claimed as she pressed a button, revealing the identity of the other sample. "This belongs to Deker." She claimed.