IMPORTANT NOTE: This story is in canon with my other story, Psycho Rangers: In Space. I advise reading that first.
TL;DR version (spoilers): Psycho Yellow alone manages to survive the events of In Space, finds herself turned good by the energy wave. The Power Rangers find her and she winds up a prisoner on the Astro Megaship at the end of that fic.
In the time since Zordon's sacrifice had turned the collected forces of evil either to dust or to good, the human race had rapidly recovered. The technology the evil forces had left behind had swiftly been reverse-engineered by the ever-resourceful human race, and before long the giant colony ship Terra Venture was ready to leave to find a new world.
With humanity preparing its first colony ship, Andros had decided to follow the Terra Venture for a little while to make sure it at least started its journey safely. Their morphers were dead, still depowered after Zordon's sacrifice, maybe for good. Nonetheless, Zhane, Ashley and Karone had easily agreed to his suggestion of protecting the colony. The others had decided to stay on Earth after everything they had gone through, but with the Astro Megaship's speed and long-range communications they would hardly be out of contact.
Unfortunately, there was one other resident on the Astro Megaship at the moment. Since finding her alive in the wake of the energy wave, Psycho Yellow had been an unwanted guest. Nobody wanted her there, but equally nobody had been willing to let her loose on an unsuspecting Earth, regardless of her protests of turning good. After everything she had done, they had reluctantly decided to keep her around - and keep an eye on her, at least for now.
With barely a few hours to go until the Terra Venture left Earth forever, the Astro Megaship was running some final systems checks in the Earth's orbit. Nobody on board was expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen, and the checks were perfectly normal to make sure the ship was prepared for its journey, and to defend the colony on the off-chance something happened to it.
Andros was alone on the bridge, idly checking systems without paying too much attention, when an alarm blared. He barely had time to look up when the source made itself clear - on the viewscreen a hole opened in space, as if someone had pulled a plug from a huge drain in front of them. He felt the engines surge into reverse, but even DECA's nearly instant reactions were unable to stop the ship in time.
The Astro Megaship shook violently as a wild mess of colours flourished on the viewscreen for several long seconds. It cleared as the doors opened and Karone, Zhane and Ashley ran to join him on the bridge. In front of them was a planet, looking remarkably normal and somewhat similar to Earth, or his own homeworld of KO-35. He felt the engines firing again, DECA bringing them into a safe orbit around the mysterious world.
"What happened?" Ashley asked, putting voice to everyone's confusion.
"I don't know," Andros replied with a shrug. "We just... got dragged through a wormhole of some sort." He glanced at a viewscreen full of scan results, but even without asking he could see that DECA's assessment of what had happened would be no clearer than his own. "DECA, where are we?" he asked instead.
"Unknown. I am trying to calculate our position." DECA was silent for a moment, and a quick glance at the viewscreens showed that she was running scans. "Rangers, I am detecting some strange energy readings on the planet below, with a monster very close by."
Andros frowned. "What kind of energy?"
DECA was silent a moment longer. "One I have never detected before," she replied eventually.
As the former Rangers exchanged worried glances, Alpha looked up from another screen full of scan results. "The wormhole should remain stable for some time," he reported.
Andros nodded, his mind made up. "All right, let's check it out. We need to figure out what brought us here."
Ashley reached instinctively for her wrist, to check the morpher that used to be there. "I'll get the Astro Blasters," she said instead, all of them deliberately not thinking about the monster DECA had detected below.
Andros found his sister blocking his path to the elevator. "Andros, don't even think about leaving me behind," Karone said, her tone leaving no room for argument.
He hesitated, desire to protect his sister warring with the knowledge that she could more than take care of herself. "Of course not," he replied eventually.
They were met in the hangar by Ashley; once she had passed around the Astro Blasters they headed towards the Galaxy Glider, Zhane borrowing the Green and Karone the Pink, to investigate the strange readings DECA had found.
Once, she had been called Psycho Yellow. That was, in fact, still technically her name, but it scarcely seemed to fit any more. Nonetheless, it was the name they still used to address her - if they called her anything at all. Eventually, reluctantly, the Rangers had decided they could not keep her chained up forever, and so she had found herself left with a small room and mostly ignored. Eavesdropped conversations had revealed they were unwilling to risk letting her leave the ship unguarded, and she could almost understand. Everyone else would be safe anyway, I only ever wanted Yellow...
She shook her head to clear it of the thought. Her mind was left a fuzzy mess - her human mind now, thanks to that wave - and the violent urges were gone for good. She could hardly blame the Rangers for their mistrust though, and besides, where would she go? So instead she stayed, a prisoner in all but name, doing her best to avoid the others and be forgotten. The ship's computer DECA was the only one who seemed to pay her any attention - of course she was, Andros had ordered DECA to keep a constant eye on her.
To her surprise, DECA had proved an unlikely ally, easily accepting her reluctance to meet the others and helping her avoid them on the rare occasion she left the room. Usually this was only for food, and with her hearing worse than it used to be, she found herself appreciating the heads-up when everyone else was busy and she could slip to the recreation room and back in peace.
Her hearing was definitely sensitive enough, though, to pick up the sound of a conversation in the hangar, followed by the crash of the door opening, then the quiet sound of the Galaxy Gliders leaving. She waited a few moments longer, but heard only silence. "Where are they all going?" she asked, not really expecting a reply. "What just happened?"
The reply came without hesitation. "The Astro Megaship fell through some kind of spacial anomaly. I detected a monster and a strange energy signal on the planet below, and the others went to investigate."
With nobody left on the ship to avoid, she slowly opened the door to her room and headed towards the hangar curiously. "I wasn't expecting an answer."
"Nobody has forbidden me from telling you," DECA replied as she walked through the ship's corridors.
With only four others living on the ship, there was still one Galaxy Glider - the blue - left. "Guess they forgot about me," she muttered, mostly to herself, as she tried to resist the start of a really bad idea.
"That was your stated goal, Psycho Yellow."
She smiled despite herself, and nodded. For a moment tried to head back to the door, but something she could not quite describe kept her frozen in place. Surely just a quick look wouldn't hurt, she thought. Something she could not quite describe, even to herself, was telling her to go down after the others - just for a moment, just for a look. After another moment's thought, she gave in and threw common sense to one side. "Show me where they went."
DECA displayed the information on a nearby screen. "Andros, Ashley and Zhane will not be pleased if you leave the ship," she warned.
"I know." She waved off the computer's worry. "I won't let them see me. I just have to go down there..."
There was no reply from DECA, and the computer made no attempt to stop her as she launched the blue Galaxy Glider. It only took a brief experimentation to work out how to steer the thing, and she headed down towards the location she had been shown. She was still wondering what she was doing and why, but she really would return before anyone noticed her absence. At least, that was what she told herself.
With the four Galaxy Gliders parked in a convenient forest clearing, Andros led the way towards the mysterious energy readings DECA had detected. Unfortunately, it was the monster they found first, a tall, blue-scaled creature in somewhat garish red armour, glaring with angry yellow eyes at a group of cowering native villagers. In one hand, he gripped a viciously barbed sword, and with the other he was gesturing towards a large stone with five swords oddly sheathed in it.
There were several smaller creatures surrounding him, mutated hybrids of men and insects. Their bodies were twisted into a cruel mockery of a human's, with arms ending in long, sharp hooks and bulging red compound eyes set in misshapen wasp's heads. They emitted a constant angry buzzing as they swarmed around.
The monster was brandishing his sword at a large group of cowering, helpless natives. "I've had enough," he shouted, clearly angry. "Tell me how to release the Quasar Sabers or I'll destroy your whole planet!"
Only one, an elderly sage, dared to reply. "You'll never release them," he replied, with his voice shaking only a little. "You weren't chosen."
Brave as it was, the reply would be a fatal mistake as the monster raised his sword to strike. "You will pay dearly for such insolence!"
Andros raised his gun to fire, too far away to physically interfere, but before he could shoot a native woman had thrown herself in the way. "Stop! Don't touch him."
The monster looked unimpressed. "And who's going to stop me?"
Three humans in some sort of military uniform ran to stand near the woman. One of them, presumably the leader, spoke calmly, his gun aimed at the monster. "All of us, that's who."
"Just the four of you?" The monster began to laugh derisively.
Andros charged, knowing the other three would be right behind him. "Eight of us." There would be time for introductions later - after the monster was dealt with.
The monster looked between the two groups for a moment, then gave a gesture to the creatures surrounding him. "Stingwingers, attack!"
The mutant insect-things moved at his command, and Andros barely had time for a single shot before the crowd was upon him, and there was no more time for shooting. Across the clearing, he could see the three uniformed humans, two similar-looking men and a woman, swiftly separated by the attacking Stingwingers. There was no time, no chance to help them - the Stingwingers were too fast, too numerous, and it was all he could do to stay away from those curved wrist-blades himself.
Mike Corbett was in a very similar dilemma. He could see his little brother hitting the ground, his 'borrowed' military uniform's stab-vest the only thing saving his life, and he could hear Kendrix shouting in pain, but before he could think of helping either of them, the monster's barbed sword tore his weapon from his hand, and a fast kick sent him flying through the air.
The monster stood above him, raising that cruel sword for the final blow. "I'm tired of toying with you."
Winded and desperate, Mike reached out blindly, trying to find something, anything, that he could use as a weapon - and his hand closed around the hilt of one of the five Quasar Sabers stuck in the rock. His heart pounding, he pulled the Saber out, and it slid free as easily as if from a perfect sheath.
As the Saber lifted free, its blade glowed with a steady green energy, and the monster stumbled in shock. Mike took advantage of the moment, pushing himself to his feet as the monster raised his own sword to strike. The Quasar Saber met the blow - and easily threw the sword aside, almost guiding Mike's hand as it blew the stunned monster backwards.
Mike stared at the sword in awe, unaware of the shocked murmuring of the natives around him and clueless of the three-thousand-year-old prophecy he had just begun to fulfil. He was joined by Kendrix and two of the others after a moment as the Stingwingers swarmed around them. It took him only a second to recognise Andros and Ashley, two of the former Space Rangers; there was his little brother, fighting back-to-back with the other two who had arrived with Andros and Ashley. He looked back to the Saber in his hand. "Guys..."
The gathering Stingwingers had by this point helped up the monster. It snarled in fury. "Give me that Saber and I won't destroy you!"
Kendrix looked between the monster and the other four Quasar Sabers. "Should we try?" Mike nodded, and to the watching natives' shock the Sabers slid out easily.
Ashley looked at her Saber as a familiar shade of glowing yellow ran down its blade. "Isn't this a bit... Excalibur?"
"Excalibur?" Andros echoed, his tone blank as his own Saber glowed red.
She shook her head. "Old Earth legend. I'll explain later."
Any further conversation was cut forth as the Stingwingers swarmed again, spurred by the monster to reclaim the Sabers for him.
The most convenient parking space for the Blue Galaxy Glider turned out to be where the other four had left theirs, and she left the fifth beside the others. Trying her best to be quiet, she headed towards where she had seen them fighting, only intending to watch.
The loss of her evil instincts was still something she was adjusting to, and it was a genuine surprise to realise she simply couldn't stand back and watch the former Power Rangers be destroyed by the monster. Still unnoticed, she ducked behind a bush and took stock of the situation. Everyone looked too busy to recognise her, and she could see a lone sword rather oddly stuck in a block of stone nearby. Lacking any better ideas for a weapon, she sprinted out of cover, throwing a group of Stingwingers out of the way before they noticed her.
As she ran, she kept a close eye on the Rangers she knew, but they were too far away and had their backs turned. Before she could reach the sword, though, a large group of the Stingwingers blocked her way. Apparently the sword was something important, then.
She fought as best she could, but outnumbered seven to one and without a weapon she stood no chance - until two of them were struck down in a single blow. Thankfully, it was someone she had never seen before, a woman who gave her a friendly smile as they fought together.
The sword slipped easily from the stone as she pulled, not suspecting for a moment the significance of what was she had done. She spun, swinging the sword and slicing one of the Stingwingers clean in half. Her reflexes were slower than they had been before the energy wave changed her, and it was only the friendly stranger's quick parry that saved her from another's attack. As they faced the remaining four Stingwingers, she made a mental note to practice fighting and get used to her slower, more sluggish reflexes.
Suddenly the Stingwingers retreated from her, called back from by their frustrated master. He raised his sword as it began glowing and sparking with his power. "If I can't have the Sabers, then no-one will!" The sword fell, stabbing straight down into the planet's surface. Nothing happened for a second as the sparking energy spread out into the soil - then in its wake the soil turned to stone.
Mike stumbled backwards, away from the growing circle, as the monster laughed. He was joined by one of the others who had arrived earlier - someone he very abruptly recognised as Andros, the former Red Space Ranger. "Who took the last Quasar Saber?"
Mike looked back at the now-empty stone. "I didn't see." He stepped backwards, hoping against hope that Andros had a way off the planet. "We have to go."
Andros nodded, spurred into action. "Run!" he shouted, loud enough to be heard by the others. "With us, back to the Galaxy Gliders!"
"Leo, Kendrix, Maya! This way!" He saw his brother and Kendrix running, following the former Yellow Space Ranger through the forest, but Maya had fallen behind trying to help an injured civilian. He watched, horrified and unable to help, as the awful stone circle spread outwards, swallowing both Maya and the stumbling man in its wake. Within moments they too had been turned to stone, and Mike could do nothing but run after the others.
They ran, outpacing the stone wave as they went, only to skid to a halt as the monster teleported in front of them, surrounded by his Stingwingers. He laughed in derision and raised his sword as it sparked again with the same evil energy as before. "Did you really believe you could run away from me? Never!" The sword fell again, slamming into the ground - only this time instead of turning to stone, the ground split wide open into a huge chasm.
The others managed to throw themselves out of the way, but as Mike tried to jump aside the ground crumbled beneath him, and he could barely grab a small rocky outcrop as he fell.
"Mike!" His brother was stretching out a hand, just out of reach. "Mike, give me your hand!"
He tried to stretch up, but all he achieved was losing his fragile grip and slipping even further from Leo. "I can't hold on," he gasped, trying and failing to find any kind of toehold.
Leo tried to reach lower, desperate and frantic. "Give me your hand!" The crumbling rock sent a shower of small fragments tumbling down into the foggy depths. "You can do it!"
At that moment, looking up at his brother's pleading face, his hand too far out of reach, Mike knew there was no chance. He reached up with the Quasar Saber instead - the only hope left was that maybe it could be saved before he fell. "Leo, take the Saber."
Leo ignored it. "Your hand," he begged.
Mike's hand was starting to cramp painfully, and he forced himself to try to ignore it. "I can't hold on."
"Don't give up!" Leo found a slightly better position, managing to reach down a little further, still stretching to take his brother's hand.
It was not enough, and Mike knew that. "Take it!"
"I can't." Desperation, fear, and a suddenly visible feeling of inadequacy were clear on Leo's face as he hesitated.
"Of course you can." Mike pushed aside the painful cramp, trying to be encouraging in what he knew were his last moments. "You have to."
Leo hesitated, and nodded. "Okay," he said quietly, with clear reluctance. "I'll try." He reached out, barely managing to grab the Quasar Saber. The moment it was safe, his focus turned back to his brother. "Got it! Mike, you can't let go."
Mike's grip slipped again, and he knew he was out of time. He remembered the horrible things he had said when he had discovered his little brother stowing away on the Terra Venture, and tried desperately to hold on for just a few moments long - long enough to fix what he had done. "It's okay, you can carry on for me. You can do it. I've always been so proud of you Leo, I always will be."
His fingers slipped for the last time, and he fell screaming his brother's name as the fog swallowed him in its murky depths. The last thing he saw was the chasm closing above him.
Author's Note: I love reviewers.