She had told him about Ecliptor briefly, though she was more interested in what Andros had to say about their parents.

And then he had seen what transpired on Yotoba. And now, something made him check the monitors. Watching. There were only a few Piranhatrons left, but Ecliptor wasn't standing anymore.

"Andros?"

"We should go back."

"What?" TJ asked. He glanced up at the screen. "For... Ecliptor? You're kidding, right?"

"No, TJ, I'm not," Andros stated. "I can't let him die. He raised Karone. They care about each other. A lot."

TJ looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"He took her in after Darkonda kidnapped her."

They heard soft footsteps and turned around. "What are you talking about?" Karone's voice trailed off as she saw the screen. Her eyes widened slightly.

"I want to help him," Andros told her. "We've got everything here, I know we can."

"Y—you want to help Ecliptor?"

Andros smiled. "Yeah, I do. TJ, you coming? Grab Carlos, will you?"

"Andros, wait." Karone grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Thank you."

Andros gave a half-smile. "Don't thank me yet."

"Well, thank you for the thought, at least. Do you want me to come?"

"No! Don't do that," Andros exclaimed. "It's not safe. We'll get him, I promise."

"Hi, Karone. Hey, do you know where the guys are?" Cassie wondered. Karone's eyes were glued to the monitors.

She turned around. "Yes. Andros—"

Ashley walked in at that moment. "Not here, either." She looked at Karone and Cassie. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt?"

"They went back," Karone said softly. "Andros and Carlos and TJ. They went back to Yotoba."

"Why?" Cassie asked.

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "They didn't tell us anything. What's going on?"

"I told them it was a bad idea," Alpha muttered. Karone looked guilty.

"Andros wanted to go back, to help Ecliptor. He was already in bad shape, and that was before the Piranhatrons got to him."

"But he's—"

"Your enemy?" Karone finished. She stood up, slowly walking towards Ashley and Cassie. "I know. But I don't know what I'd do if Andros didn't intervene. If something happened to Ecliptor, I wouldn't… I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

They had known more about Astronema than Karone, and Astronema didn't really care about anyone. But clearly Karone did. "You two are close," Cassie inferred.

Karone nodded. "After Darkonda kidnapped me, he left me on Ecliptor's doorstep. Ecliptor's been my father ever since." She glanced back at the monitors. "But I promise, he's not going to do anything to any of you. Not since I'm on your side now."

"I hope they can get to him soon, Karone," Cassie said.

"And safely, too," Ashley added. "We don't want to have a rescue mission for their rescue mission!"

"What if he doesn't cooperate?" TJ wondered.

Andros kept walking. There was no time to overthink things. Not when a life was on the line. They walked in silence until they reached the clearing after a few minutes. "Ecliptor?"

Ecliptor made an effort to move once Andros crouched down beside him. Carlos and TJ stood around them, weapons ready in case of another Piranhatron attack.

"Red Ranger, what... are you... doing?"

"We're here to help you."

"I... don't... want your... help."

"You look like you could use some help," TJ grumbled. "To think we came all this way…"

Andros ignored him. "Look, Ecliptor, you saved me once, remember? So I owe you. Plus, you raised my sister. This is the least I can do."

"Leave."

"No," Andros countered. "I won't let you die, or worse. You know what can happen to you, don't you?"

"I don't... need... your... help..."

Andros suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Karone wants you to come back with us and we'll help you with the repairs. Now come on. Let's go before Dark Specter comes back."

It was embarrassing, demeaning, and humiliating having to be assisted, let alone by two of his enemies, in walking. But there was no other option, he hated to admit it. He needed their help, else Dark Specter, or worse, Darkonda, would intervene.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ashley exclaimed. "This was the plan?"

"Did you think this through?" Cassie asked. "Willingly letting him on the ship?"

"Yeah," Andros replied, just as matter-of-fact as he was when he let Astronema on board. "There was no other choice."

"Ecliptor!" Karone ran over to them. "I was so worried about you. Thank you for helping him, really. Thank you."

"Of course," Andros said. Carlos and TJ smiled at her.

"Karone..." Saying the name felt as foreign to Ecliptor as it did to Karone when she heard it. It had been so long. "You're… safe."

"I am, Ecliptor," she replied, smiling. She reached to hug him, but shrank back, not wanting to hurt him worse. She touched his hand lightly. "They're going to help you, and you'll let them?"

Ecliptor groaned in consent, too weak to keep trying to talk.

"Karone," Andros started, pulling her aside. "Do you know anything about what happens after he gets damaged?"

She shook her head. "He never let me see what he did to repair himself, and I never wanted to. It was always kind of scary."

"I understand. Don't worry," Andros assured her, noticing the fear creeping back into his sister's face. "He's going to be fine. Promise."

"Karone?" Andros called out. It had been several hours since she last heard from him. She was busy exploring the ship, getting a feel for her new surroundings.

"I'm here," she responded, following the sound of his voice. She admittedly had gotten a bit turned around. "Is he...?"

"Yeah, good as new. He wants to talk to you. Come on." Karone followed her brother to the infirmary, where Ecliptor stood stiffly. She could tell he was incredibly uncomfortable in his surroundings. She had felt the same way. "I'll see you in a bit?"

Karone nodded. "Red Ranger," Ecliptor said, stopping Andros in his tracks.

"Yes?"

Ecliptor briefly glanced at Karone. "Thank you for helping me... Andros. I didn't know you Rangers had that in you." The soft smile on Karone's face quickly faded at that comment. She shook her head in both amusement and disbelief.

Andros shrugged. "Yeah, it was no problem. Glad we could help." He somewhat awkwardly turned back to leave.

"Thank you for letting them help you," Karone said after some time. "I was really… scared."

Ecliptor sighed. "I know, and I apologize, Prin—Karone."

Her face brightened again. "It's going to take some getting used to again, isn't it?" He knew it would. But it was all worth it, to have his little girl back. To have her be exactly who she was always meant to be, and who she had always wanted to be.

She hugged him then, tightly, almost afraid to let go. "I'm so glad you're ok," she murmured.

"I am too. And I'll be right here with you, no matter what you choose to do. I'm proud of you, Karone."

"Really?" She sounded almost shocked.

"I knew you were destined for something greater than being a servant of Dark Specter's."

Karone's mouth almost dropped. "You think this," She gestured to her jumpsuit, a far cry from the outfit she was so used to wearing. "Being an honorary Ranger is greater than being a servant of Dark Specter's?"

"You were born to be good. The little girl so full of love and happiness didn't deserve to be hidden behind the shadows and darkness of evil. I'm sorry it had to be that way."

"Don't be, Ecliptor. I know you did it for my protection. And it's ok now, it all worked out. And we're safe, now. If Dark Specter or Darkonda or someone comes after us, the Rangers will help. We can be a team," she added quietly.

"As appealing as that sounds, Karone, I don't think it's best."

"Why not? We can keep destroying Darkonda until he's out of lives, and there's enough technology on my ship and this one to find something big enough to end Dark Specter. Unless…"

Ecliptor studied her for a moment. "Unless what?"

"Unless you don't want to work with them? Your 'enemies'?"

Ecliptor wouldn't respond.

She gave him a smug smile. "I think you should try to get along with them. I'm one of them now, and if they trusted someone who was formerly Astronema, they'll trust you one day, too. Anyway, we could use some friends."

"I support you, Karone, and they have every right to accept you onto their team. They also have every right to give me my space. I personally have no use for 'friends'. And I'm sure they would be glad to not have to pretend to like me. We've tried to kill each other on more than one occasion."

"If I remember correctly, you've also ended up trusting them with your daughter, the most important person in your life."

"As long as I don't harm them, and they don't harm us, that's good enough."

"You know, Andros would be willing to accept you as one of them like he did with me. Once he knows you're truly on their side. I think it'd be nice if we all got along."

"It's different, Karone. You weren't built for evil. 'Good' isn't in my programming. I'm only here for you. If you had no ties to the Rangers, they'd be dead."

"Would they? A lot of things weren't in your programming, like raising a child. You'd have 'good' in you if you wanted to."

Ecliptor sighed deeply. "I didn't ask for their help. This was too much. My staying here is too much."

"Hey." Her voice brought Ecliptor to full attention. "I know how you feel. It was really weird and alien to me, too. But you can't leave, not with this target on your back now. I really need you to try to adjust like I'm trying to. I know Andros and the others will help me, but you understand me. They don't. They've known me for only a couple days. You've known me almost my whole life. I need you here, so please. Try to adjust?"

"I'll try," he replied, almost grudgingly. "For you, and only for you."

Karone flashed him a smile. Ecliptor couldn't tell if it was more of gratitude or victory, and he didn't want to know.

"I don't trust him," TJ said. "I'm sorry, but I don't. I can't."

Andros sighed. "I don't know if I do or not, but I know he won't do anything. Not as long as Karone is here."

"That's what she told us, too, but how can you tell for sure?" Cassie wondered. "It was one thing bringing your sister on board, but him?

"Cassie's right," Carlos continued. "We know nothing about him."

"I know that he raised Karone almost her whole life. He's the only parent she's known, and I wasn't going to let him die, not when they're so close."

"Andros," Ashley murmured, laying her hand on his shoulder. "Don't let her cloud your judgment. He can't stay here, you know that."

"Why not? I told you, he's not going to do anything because she wouldn't want him to."

"I thought the purpose of bringing him here was to repair him, and then send him back," TJ replied. "Just because she joined us..."

"Let's just see how things play out, alright?" Andros cut him off. "We don't know what's going to happen, or what Karone wants to do now."

"Hey guys." The Rangers startled at Karone's voice. How both she and Ecliptor could sneak up on them in their own ship, they didn't know. And they didn't like it.

"Hey-y-y," Ashley said, plastering what she thought was a relaxed smile to her face. "How is he doing?"

"He—"

"I don't want you to trust me," Ecliptor interrupted.

"How much did you hear?" Carlos wanted to know.

"Some of it?" Karone answered, silently willing her father to not go off on them.

"I won't do anything, but we're not friends," Ecliptor continued. "Karone has chosen the side of good, and I chose to follow her. This doesn't mean I like any of you, nor do I expect you to like me."

"Wow, well there you have it..." Karone stated with an embarrassed smile. "Great start. You know, they did just save your life."

"I didn't ask them to."

Karone sighed, exacerbated. "They did for my sake, then."

"I've already expressed my gratitude."

"Look," TJ began. He was cut off by a sudden alarm blaring. In just a few seconds, everything was chaos. Out of nowhere, a giant asteroid had appeared. It nearly collided with their ship. The Rangers and Alpha began running around, trying to figure out how to handle it. Karone and Ecliptor stayed in the background, unsure of what to do.

And it wasn't an accident.

"You have something that belongs to me," Dark Specter growled, appearing on their monitor. "Return Astronema and I will spare you."

"She doesn't belong to anyone!" Andros retorted.

"Return her, return them, and Earth will be spared." Dark Specter disappeared with a laugh.

And they tried everything. Everything they could, all the weapons and attacks they could think of to throw the asteroid off course, or destroy it. It was hopeless.

"There has to be something we can do," Andros thought, worry lining his face.

"There is," Karone told him.

"Karone..." Ecliptor warned.

"Dark Specter sent that asteroid. That means it's been programmed to hit earth. I can get on the Dark Fortress and reprogram it."

"What?" Andros exclaimed. "I practically spent my entire life trying to find you. I don't want to lose you again."

"It might be the only way, Andros. I'll be ok. I can do it."

"We can do it," Ecliptor corrected her.

Karone smiled at him. "Right. We can do it."

Andros had a million different thoughts with a million different outcomes swarming through his mind. In the end, worst case, it would come down to the lives of everyone on that planet, or the life of his sister. Was that a risk he was willing to take? No. Was it a risk he had to take? Yes.

"Alright," Andros said at length. "What do we do first?"

The Rangers had a brief instinctive startle when Astronema emerged again. But they realized though she looked the part, it was still their friend. She was still their Karone.

They all hugged Karone good luck, thanking her. Ecliptor told them she would be safe. But something nagged at Andros. He didn't like it. He didn't want to send his sister back so close to someone who wanted to turn her evil again.

"Ecliptor's there," Ashley reminded him. "She's going to be fine. You know he won't let anything happen to her."

"I guess you're right." Andros shrugged. He didn't believe her and he didn't know why. He brushed it off as paranoia, and focused on the task at hand.

They were silent as they boarded the Fortress. Karone quietly updated the Rangers. She and Ecliptor both kept scanning the area. It was quiet, almost eerily quiet. "I'm at the computer," she told the Rangers. Ecliptor stood behind her, checking for any signs of movement. "Found it! Now, to—"

She was cut off by the sound of a horde of Quantrons appearing out of nowhere. They immediately surrounded Ecliptor like a swarm of ants, grabbing at him and preventing him from fighting back. "What are you doing? Release me, you fools! I command you!" They paid no heed.

"Ecliptor!" Karone gasped, running towards them. "Quantrons! Let go of him. Now!" Her orders were also ignored. She felt a clawed hand on her waist, pulling her back. Laughter rang in her ears.

"Isn't this just perfect!" Darkonda laughed, pressing her against him. She winced as his spikes dug into her back.

"I'll destroy you," Ecliptor threatened.

"I doubt it. Take him away. Let's go, Karone," he sneered, following the Quantrons to a cavernous room. Astronema never found a use for that room, and at that moment Karone wished she had.

Ecliptor and Karone were both restrained to metal tables, under blinding lights. Quantrons loomed around them. Never before had they looked as menacing.

Darkonda laughed again. "You two just came crawling into my hand! How perfect! Dark Specter wants you back into his fold, but I have plans of my own."

"What kind of plans?" Ecliptor demanded, the hatred in his voice laced with some fear.

"Oh, just a little attitude adjustment, my friend," Darkonda cackled. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing really. So! Who's first?" He inspected the drill intently before casually twirling it around.

"Do whatever you want to me, just stay away from her."

Darkonda tapped Ecliptor with the drill, laughing to himself. "You're pathetic, you know that? I had no idea you were so soft. Won't last long though!"

"Darkonda, stop!" Karone yelled. "What do you want from us?"

"You are both traitors, and traitors get punished. And you two need to come back to Dark Specter. You think he would show you mercy? Ha!"

Karone paused, composing herself, bringing the fire into her eyes again. "I am back. I am Astronema. We are staying here, on this ship, loyal to Dark Specter, and Dark Specter alone. And I will conjure up a monster right now to fight the Power Rangers."

"You expect me to believe that? You're a liar!" Darkonda sneered, suddenly beside her table.

"I said, stay away from her!"

"Aww, you think I'm afraid of you? And what are you going to do about it, huh? You're all talk. You are useless, and you both are completely at my mercy now."

"Look at me!" Karone ordered, channeling as much of Astronema as she could. "Ecliptor and I are back for good. Now release us. Should I tell Dark Specter you're holding us against our will? Or, how about you release us, and I will destroy you for your treachery."

"Karone," Ecliptor mumbled.

Darkonda shook his head. "Ooh, tsk, tsk. I thought she was Astronema."

"I am Astronema," she said through gritted teeth. "Leave Ecliptor alone. He is the only one loyal to me, and I need him here, completely unaltered. Do you understand me, Darkonda?"

"Alright, I'll make you a deal!"

She glared at him. "Yes?"

"I'll leave him alone, if, and only if, you kill your brother and your friends." A gasp almost escaped her mouth. "If you really are Astronema," Darkonda continued, running his fingers down her face. "Then you will have no problems, will you?"

"I—"

"Karone, don't do this. It's not worth it."

"I'm waiting," Darkonda said, tapping his foot impatiently, mockingly looking at his wrist.

"Karone, you can't do that to them. Your own brother."

"You're my father. What's Darkonda going to do with you? I can't let that happen!"

"He's going to do whatever he wants, regardless of what you do. You don't want to hurt them. Please, don't do it."

Karone felt a hot tear roll down her cheek. "Ecliptor…"

"You need to let me go, like I let you go."

She shook her head. "We can find a way out of this, I know we can."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Ecliptor turned to Darkonda. "She's not doing it. She won't destroy them."

"Ecliptor!" Karone cried.

"I love you, my child." She had never heard him sound so broken, so mournful in her life.

Darkonda laughed, clapping his hands together. "So, you've made your choice." He switched on the drill. "Wonderful!"

"Darkonda, don't!" Karone fought to free herself from the restraints, but the Quantrons held her down even more.

"It's going to be alright, Karone." Ecliptor forced himself to focus on her instead of the red light creeping closer.

That sparked a childhood memory to resurface, one of him comforting her after a nightmare. Soothing words, warm embrace, completely safe. But this time, it wasn't a nightmare, it was real. And it wouldn't get better.

"I love you, father."

It wasn't until his head was permeated by the drill that he cried out. A horrible and agonizing sound, sending chills down her spine and more tears down her face. A Quantron held her head in place. She couldn't look away. She squeezed her eyes shut. His body went limp.

She couldn't do anything. She couldn't help him. "Ecliptor, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," she repeated, hot tears spilling out of her eyes. Sorrow and fear mixed with rage. All she could hear was Darkonda's laughter. Laughter which increased every time she struggled to break free.

Darkonda hacked off Ecliptor's arm like it was nothing, tossing it in her direction. She jumped at the sound and screeched in horror when she saw what it was.

"You know, Karone, if you had just stayed on this side, none of this would have happened. But you just had to ask questions, and he," Darkonda began stabbing into Ecliptor's shoulder with each syllable, "just had to let you leave."

Karone was seething. There was nothing else she could do. "I hate you so much."

"Everybody does!" Darkonda boasted. "When I'm done with this one, you're next. Think of it as a massive upgrade. You two will no longer be the thorns in Dark Specter's side. Enjoy your last few moments as Karone." He laughed, becoming more pleased with his handiwork by the minute.

Karone didn't know how much time passed until Ecliptor sat up again. He looked off. So disfigured, so foreign. So empty.

She didn't realize Darkonda was standing over her until it was too late. "Are you afraid, Karone? Good. So was he."

His laugh was the last thing she remembered.

And then, darkness.

"Ecliptor, why do I feel ...different?"

"I am unsure myself."

"But it's a good different."

"You are right, my queen. We are better than ever."