Not As It Seems
Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers. I don't think I own the name Solaris either. I'm pretty sure I heard it somewhere else.
Summary: AU. Karone and Zhane, along with four new astro rangers search for Karone's lost brother. Meanwhile, Ashley's new boyfriend seems perfect, but he's hiding something that could destroy her, the rangers, and himself.
Pinkrangerfan: Lol! Yeah it's pretty messed up, and it gets worse.
JasonLeeScottFan: They really are! Cassie, TJ and Carlos should have stood by Ashley, but they were too stuck on the things she did in the past when it comes to guys, and they still aren't over the ditching thing. But you gotta hope for the best. Just not in this chapter. Lol!
LunarFairyPrincess1989: Lol! I love your outrage. Here's the next chapter.
Chapter 7
The Surf Spot
Solaris sat at a table in the back of The Surf Spot. He was getting nervous. Ashley should have been here by now. He thought to himself. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone wrong. He breathed a sigh of relief when his cell phone rang. "Ashley?"
"Sorry, your precious yellow ranger can't talk right now. She's a little tied up." Ecliptor taunted.
"What have you done to her?" Solaris demanded.
"Nothing as of yet. Though it seems that the other rangers have abandoned her and left her powerless and so very vulnerable, but I'm willing to make a wager. Your life for hers. Come to the clearing in Angel Grove Woods. We'll be waiting."
Solaris turned off his phone and tried to avoid eye contact with the people he passed by. It was hard to control the crimson in his eyes when he was this angry and he didn't need any attention drawn to himself. He just managed to get his eyes under control and step out of the diner, when he bumped into the last people he wanted to see.
Just Outside the Surf Spot
The rangers appeared on the side of The Surf Spot, demorphed.
"I thought DECA said Solaris and Ecliptor were on Earth." Carlos stated. "I don't see them fitting in here."
"Maybe they separated." Karone suggested as they made their way to the front of the building. She was just about to open the door when someone rushed out nearly knocking her down.
Solaris couldn't believe this. Of all the people on Earth, he had to run into them. He simply glared at the purple one and kept walking.
"Well that was just rude." Cassie commented as she and the others began to walk inside.
Karone stood where she was, staring at the stranger's retreating form. He glanced back again before turning the corner. And that's when she saw it, the glowing crimson in his eyes. She grabbed Zhane before he entered the building. "That was Solaris."
"Are you sure?" Zhane asked.
"Positive. Get the others." She took off after Solaris before Zhane could respond. She turned the corner, but was grabbed from behind before she could make another move.
"I figure you'd follow me." Solaris held the purple ranger in his grasp.
"Let go of me." She struggled.
"I don't think so princess." He hissed. "We're gonna make a little trade." Solaris vanished in crimson right with Karone in tow.
Zhane and the others reached the side of the building right as the red light disappeared.
"Karone?" Zhane called in a panic. "DECA, where's Karone?"
"Solaris has taken her. I cannot pin point their whereabouts."
"What about Ecliptor?" TJ asked.
"Ecliptor's signal is also being blocked."
"I don't like this, guys." Carlos commented.
"We need to get to the ship. I have to concentrate." Zhane stated. "I may be able to pick up on Karone telepathically."
"Right." They agreed and teleported back to the ship.
Angel Grove Woods
Solaris threw Karone against a tree. She groaned at impact and looked up as Solaris transformed back to his true form.
For some reason she was conflicted. There was something about him, that nagging feeling that she knew him. But as he stood over her, she pushed those feelings aside. She moved to get off the ground but was shoved back down.
Solaris moved quickly, striping her of her morpher and communicator. "You won't be needed these." He mocked. He put the morpher in his pocket and put the communicator on his wrist.
"You won't be able to get to the ship. Only ranger's can use the communicators and morphers."
"I'm not trying to take your ship." He stated and pointed his staff at her. "Get up." He ordered. His crimson eyes flared as he glared at her. But underneath that, he felt something familiar. He couldn't focus on that now. His main priority was Ashley.
"What are you going to do to me?" Karone asked angrily. "The same thing you did to Ashley." Wrong thing to say. Before she could react, Solaris grabbed her around the neck
and held her to the tree.
"This is your fault!" He spat. "Ashley came to you for help and what do you do? You take her powers and leave her defenseless. I warned her. I told her you wouldn't listen." His smile was all mockery. "But she trusted you, and look where that got her."
Karone was more than confused as Solaris forced her through the woods towards a clearing. "No. Ashley!" Karone tried to run towards the bound Ashley, but Solaris grabbed her.
"Ecliptor!" Solaris called.
Ecliptor looked at Solaris, and the person he had with him and smiled on the inside. "What do we have here?"
"I wanna make a deal. Her for Ashley." Solaris stated as he moved further into the clearing.
When Ashley saw Solaris with Karone, she instinctively struggled and regretted it when the chains got tighter. As if sensing her pain, Solaris met her gaze and his eyes flashed that beautiful hazel for an instant before he turned back to Ecliptor.
"The purple ranger? Interesting." Ecliptor could barely hide his excitement at this turn of events.
"You bastard!" Karone shouted but stayed in Solaris's grasp. "I know it was you!"
"I don't believe I know what you're talking about." Ecliptor stated indifferently.
"Liar. You took my brother! You took Andros. Where is he?" She demanded.
Solaris froze. That name. Andros. It seemed so familiar to him. He tried to shake away the feelings coming over him when Ecliptor spoke again.
"Closer than you think." His laugh was menacing. He turned his attention back to Solaris. "Send her over and I'll release your Ashley." He said her name with such distaste. "With this little capture, Dark Specter may let me kill you myself."
Instead of pushing her forward, he pulled the purple ranger closer. He couldn't do it. There was something in his gut that wouldn't let him do it. He couldn't leave without Ashley…or the purple ranger.
Ecliptor knew Solaris could sense something was wrong. The boy was too powerful not to sense it. "Let's make this quick." He pointed his sword at Ashley and laughed when the girl groaned in pain.
Ashley bit down on her gag as the chains gradually grew tighter. Tears flooded her eyes as the pain intensified.
"No!" Solaris shouted. He heard the purple ranger yell beside him as well.
"Let's make this even more exciting." Ecliptor stated and four quantrons appeared before Solaris and Karone.
Without giving it a second thought, Solaris reached into his pocket and pulled out the purple ranger's morpher and handed it to her. "Don't make me regret this." He told her.
"You get Ashley. I'll take care of these guys. Let's rocket!" She went after the quantrons as Solaris went for Ashley.
It was getting harder and harder to breath, and Ashley knew some of her ribs were broken, she felt it as it happened. Her breath came in short spurts and the gag wasn't helping. She tried her best not to give in and let go.
Solaris raced to Ashley but was stopped as bright lights appeared in front of him. "You have got to be kidding me!" He yelled.
"More quantrons!" Ecliptor ordered as the other rangers appeared.
"Help Karone!" Zhane ordered the others. "I've got Solaris." He ran and confronted Solaris. "Super Silverizer!" He called his weapon forward.
Solaris met the silver ranger with his staff. "I don't have time for this." He quickly blocked the silver ranger's attack and knocked the ranger on his back. He went to go for Ashley, but fell to his knees groaning in agony instead. "Ashley." He barely whispered. He looked over and saw Ashley hanging limply, the only thing holding her up was the chain. "No!" Everything stopped, ranger, quantron, and monster alike as Solaris's voice resounded. Crimson light surrounded Solaris as his breathing became erratic.
"What's happening to him?" Zhane asked as the red light engulfed Solaris.
"Maybe it's Dark Specter." TJ suggested.
"No." Cassie answered. "Ecliptor looks just as surprised as us."
"Karone what do you think?" Carlos asked her. "Karone?"
Karone didn't hear him. She was too busy focusing on the other presence in her mind, one she hadn't felt in so long.
A shockwave of crimson came from Solaris, destroying the quantrons and knocking the rangers and Ecliptor off their feet. The rangers fell to the ground demorphed.
Karone looked up and was the first who saw Solaris standing in the clearing, but it wasn't Solaris anymore. His dual colored hair blew in the wind and his hazel eyes glowed. "Andros." She whispered.
"Your true form." Ecliptor grunted as he pulled himself from the ground. "I should have killed you when I first snatched you from that planet."
Andros looked to the staff that lay on the ground and reached out his hand causing the staff to float in the air. He quickly pointed it to Ecliptor. "Yeah, you should have." Andros sent the staff forward at a blinding speed, impaling Ecliptor.
Ecliptor screamed and fell to his knees. "This isn't over." He called before he disappeared along with the quantrons.
Andros's focus went to Ashley. The chains around her had disappeared once Ecliptor left. He quickly made his way to Ashley and cradled her in his arms. When he removed the gag, blood poured from her mouth. He looked up when he saw the other ranger's coming towards him. "Stay back." He ordered.
"No way!" Carlos called as he and the others continued forward.
Andros held out his hand towards them and sent them flying backwards. He then cradled Ashley in his arms and used the communicator he took from the purple ranger to teleport.
The others watched as Andros and Ashley disappeared in crimson light.
"How is he able to use that?" Cassie asked.
"He took my communicator." Karone answered somberly as she stepped forward.
"But I thought only rangers could use the communicators." Carlos commented. "How did Solaris use it?"
"Don't you guys see?" Zhane asked with frustration. "That wasn't Solaris. It was Andros."
"What do you mean?" TJ inquired.
"He means," Karone started. "That Solaris is Andros. He's my brother." She turned towards the others. "And the red ranger."
(A/N: Intense chapter huh? Hope you liked it!)