Ashley was captured again, once again in shackles. She stood up, but wasn't hit with a dizzy spell like she was last time. She felt an odd sense of déjà vu. She was here before, suddenly she saw Andros run in and saw him frantically looking for her. She knew this was just a memory, and she didn't want to relive Andros nearly getting killed by Psycho Yellow. It was like she was looking in spirit form. She had definitely been watching too much Charmed. "Ashley," Andros gasped and he lifted her up.
"Andros?" Ashley whispered.
"Ashley, it is me," he whispered back. Ashley knew he was going to be ok…but something seemed different.
"No, Andros you need to get out of here…it's a trap," Ashley murmured. "Get out of here! Go!" Something was definitely different. Psycho Yellow didn't act all smug; instead she sneaked up on him, sword in hand. "Andros!" she tried calling out, but she knew that Andros couldn't hear her. Andros gasped in pain as the sword went through him. "Andros!" Ashley screamed and suddenly she gasped finally shaking herself out of the dream. She felt strong arms wrap around her shaking body.
"Ash what's wrong?" Andros asked her, his face covered in worry. She didn't answer; she was still recovering from the shock of the nightmare. Tears were spilling from her eyes, and Andros desperately wanted to help her. He cupped her chin with his hand, turning her face towards his.
"Andros?" she asked, finally seeing he was there holding her. Instead of saying anything, she just buried her head into his shoulder.
"Ashley…. what's wrong?" he asked rubbing her back in calming circles. She sniffled, but still didn't say anything. Ashley finally pulled away, and started to wipe at her eyes. Andros gently started to wipe more of the tears away, and she sighed.
"It's nothing…" Ashley whispered.
"Ashley…please just tell me what is wrong," Andros pleaded with her.
"It was just a nightmare,"
"Looks like it was more than that," Andros gently said. He knew that she would just keep whatever she was hiding until it exploded out of her.
"I was back in the Dark Fortress, and when you came in to save me…." Ashley trailed off. "And instead of you saving me…Psycho Yellow she…."
"What happens?"
"She stabs you while you are trying to save me," Ashley whispered, finally letting it out. Ashley felt tears stinging at her eyes again, but was instantly cut off as Andros tightened his grip on her, bringing her close to him. "I don't want to lose you…" she murmured.
"I am right here," Andros whispered to her, kissing her on the lips softly. "Nothing is going to happen to us,"
"I love you Andros," she murmured.
"I love you too," he kissed her again. She soon started to fall asleep again, Andros still holding onto her.
"Andros?"
"Hm?" he yawned as sleep started to overcome him as well.
"Thanks…" she whispered as she laid her head onto his chest. Andros smoothed the hair from her face, and gave her a smile, soon falling asleep with her.
Andros woke up and saw Ashley still sleeping peacefully. Andros was glad that she was sleeping peacefully and not having any more nightmares. He hoped that she was doing ok now; just a couple hours ago she was in hysterics. Andros felt bad that she cried that much, and he wanted to make it up to her. He smoothed her hair out, once again showing her face, and gently kissed her on the forehead. Her eyes fluttered open, and she gave Andros a weak smile. "Hey…"
"Morning," he whispered back, and brought her closer to him. She still looked a little shook up from a couple hours before. "You doing ok?" he questioned softly. She stayed silent and just squeezed his arm. She nodded her head, but continued to stay silent.
"Sorry about last night," Ashley whispered.
"There is nothing to apologize for," Andros gently said, still hugging her. Ashley continued to let Andros comfort her, still not wanting to talk. "Ash, you sure you are ok?"
"Honestly…still a little freaked out," Ashley sadly said.
"You want to talk about it?" Andros asked, rubbing her arm.
"Can it hold off for a bit? Can you just hold me for awhile?" she asked biting her lip. Andros nodded and continued to hold her. Andros was worried about Ashley; normally she would love to talk, but he honored her wishes and continued to hug her. He couldn't help, but feel responsible that she had that nightmare. "Andros?"
"Yeah?" he asked turning her so he could see her face.
After a moment, Ashley answered, "Andros…I'm sorry that the nightmare was about you…."
"Ash you couldn't help it…" Andros wiped at her face where tears were starting to come down. "Don't cry," he whispered, and gently kissed her on the lips. "You're ok," Ashley wanted nothing more than just to stay in bed, with Andros holding her, but she knew that she had to come out of bed eventually.
"Thanks Andros…" she started to wipe at her eyes again. "I love you…"
"I love you," Andros whispered. After another moment, she started to pull away.
"Want to go some breakfast?" she asked him, once again smiling. Andros smiled and offered his arm, to help her out of his bed. They headed for the Mess Hall, ready to grab something to eat, but stopped when they passed the infirmary, and saw Cassie sleeping peacefully next to Carlos. Ashley just imagined Andros sleeping peacefully next to her just a couple days…she was hurt, just like Carlos. Andros looked at her, and he noticed she was just staring off into space.
"Ashley…" Andros asked gently, shaking her out of it.
"Sorry, uh…lets go," she said weirdly. Andros gave her a questioning look, but chose to ignore it. As they left, Carlos started to wake up, and saw Cassie next to him still. He was about to wrap an arm around her to bring her close, but instantly, pain shot up his ribs and onto his arms, letting out a groan of pain, waking Cassie up.
"Carlos…" Cassie said sleepily, looking at him, and then she remembered his cracked ribs. "Oh my god Carlos…I knew I would get you hurt," she said once again guilty, trying to get up.
"No…that was my own stupidity," Carlos said, staying her on the bed. "Come on Cassie, don't go," he pleaded. Cassie saw past her guilt, and gave Carlos a smile and lay back down.
"It's not hurting too much anymore is it?" Cassie asked after a moment.
"Nah," he said giving Cassie a smile, "not too much anyway, with me all on medication, then with you here, yeah…it is much better than being alone while healing," Cassie laid her head on his shoulder, and sighed happily.
"Carlos…" she said after a couple minutes.
"What is it Cass?" thinking something was wrong.
"I was just going to ask if you were hungry…" Cassie supplied after hearing the worried tone in Carlos's voice.
"Oh," he said, chuckling after a moment. "Yeah, food sounds good right now," he said giving Cassie a grin.
"Ok, I will go grab us something to eat," she said giving him a quick kiss on the lips and gently hopped off the bed. Carlos sat up, and was starting to slowly get up, but Cassie steadied him. "Carlos, maybe you should just rest here…I will be back really quick you will see…" she said worrying about him getting hurt.
"Cassie, I have cracked ribs before, and I know how to maneuver around," he said gently. "Besides, I don't want to stay in this place alone, any longer than I have to," and got onto his feet. He walked over to Cassie, still a little unsteady, but otherwise didn't really need much help. Cassie grabbed his hand, and they slowly headed for the Mess Hall as well.
Karone woke up, still in Zhane's arms. She was glad he was there, just holding her. She never had the comfort of anything normal growing up in the Dark Fortress. Just Karone, all alone…thinking that the Red Ranger had killed her mother, father, and her older brother…until Andros himself had come onto the realization that Karone was his younger sister from Karone's locket.
She then thought about first meeting Zhane…first time someone was ever so nice to her. Then their almost date…but it had been ruined when a monster attacked, causing Zhane to be late, and while being Astronema she exploded at Zhane, and literally attacked him. Reminding her of that, she is going to have to make that up to Zhane… "What are you thinking about?" Zhane's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up to see Zhane looking down at her.
"Just…what kind of life I am leaving behind me…" Karone answered after a moment, "and what kind of life I have now…" she added after seeing Zhane's eyes cloud with sympathy. Zhane smiled, and squeezed Karone closer to him.
"Still having some difficulty adjusting?" he asked her after a moment.
"Yeah…" she whispered. It was weird not being surrounded by the noises of the Quantrons…Ecliptor showing up unexpectedly to check on her. "Just getting used to not being surrounded by Quantrons…or Ecliptor, before he went and got himself changed by Dark Spector, checking in on me…" she trailed off. "But I am glad for where I am now though…seeing my brother, having new friends…and finally being here with you," she said the last part shyly.
"I am glad that you are here too," Zhane whispered, kissing the top of her head. "Other than that, you are doing ok?" he asked after a moment, when she seemed reluctant to talk about anything.
"Um, Yeah," she said reluctantly. She didn't want to just keep blabbing on about her own problems. That wouldn't be fair to Zhane if she just babbled about Ecliptor being held against his will. Karone once again fell silent, and Zhane knew something was bugging her still. He brushed the hair out of her eyes with his hand trying to get a good look of her face, but she turned away. Just as Zhane was about to ask her what was wrong, she untangled herself from his arms and headed for the bathroom. Zhane threw off the blankets, and was about to knock on the door, but he figured she just needed to go…or wanted to take a quick shower. Zhane decided just decided to wait for her to hop out and see what was wrong with her.
Karone turned on the shower, but didn't go in. She just needed the time to think alone, and not get encouraged to talk about something that may get Zhane angry with her. She sighed, might as well hop in while she was at it. She shed her clothes off, and went into the comfortable spray. As soon as she was done washing herself, she threw on a pair of slippers, and a bathrobe. Karone tried to remember how to work the little drying system that would dry her hair off like Ashley taught her how to do, but couldn't seem to remember completely since her memories of when she was last here on the ship, were fuzzy. Karone sighed and turned to the bathroom closet, were her old Astronema outfit was.
Karone didn't know if it was normal to feel this way…she was much happier here, and actually could speak her mind whenever she was. She felt the leather in her hands…and suddenly her old communicator started to buzz. She instantly picked it up, but hesitated. She knew that this could be just another trap to lure her back to the Dark Fortress. She was about to put it away, but she accidentally turned it on, establishing a connection to whomever was calling her. "Princess," Ecliptor's voice came in instantly. She was in numb shock…he sounded like his old self. She didn't answer…and was just about to disconnect, but his voice came back, "Help me…" his voice was weak, and Karone couldn't help but respond in a low voice.
"Ecliptor…what's wrong?" she asked, nervousness filling into her voice. Karone knew that Zhane was probably still in her room, so she turned on the sink to drown out her voice.
"I cannot keep up this up much longer for Dark Specter…I need an out," he whispered silently. Karone wasn't sure if she should believe him or not, especially if Andros found out. Then again…she owed something to Ecliptor, he had taken care of her when she was a child, but in contrast to that Ecliptor had turned her back to Astronema.
Despite that, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and try to help him out. Karone still wanted to help him. "Where are you? I am sure I can convince the other rangers to help me come get you…" she started.
"No…it has to be you, and you alone," he said instantly.
"Why?" Karone asked after a moment, grimacing at his sudden attitude change. "It would be smarter if I came with someone no?" Ecliptor was silent for a moment, before giving an answer.
"I don't want to draw much more attention to myself than I already have," Ecliptor sighed, and Karone swore she could have heard some disparity in his voice.
"Fine, where are you?" she broke down finally.
"Angel Grove Park…" Ecliptor said after a moment. Before Karone could answer, she heard a knock on her bathroom door.
"Karone are you ok in there?" Zhane asked behind the locked door. Karone finally did notice that she was taking a long time, and she turned off the sink before it started to overflow.
"Yeah…just drying my hair," Karone lied. She whispered into the communicator, "I'll be there as soon as I can," and disconnected it, and tossed it back on the closet, and walked out to grab some clothes. She flashed Zhane a quick smile and started to grab some clothes, when she felt Zhane's hand on her shoulder. "Hey Zhane…" Karone started, thinking of something he could do so she could sprint as fast as she could for the teleportation room.
"Yeah?" he asked, still wondering if she was ok. Karone turned away to bite her lip as she formed her lame fib.
"Could you go grab me something to eat? I am not feeling too well," she said truthfully, even though she was lying. Zhane looked a little worried and started to feel her head. "Um…. what are you doing?" she asked out of curiosity.
"Checking for a temperature…" he said as if it was obvious. Karone raised an eyebrow, she had never heard of that before. "Oh right," he said after a moment. "I guess I will let you change, and I will go get you some breakfast," he said giving her a quick kiss before getting his shoes on and heading out of her room. Karone instantly felt bad that she lied to Zhane, but she knew it had to be done. She quickly threw some clothes on, and pulled on some shoes. She took one last in the mirror, knowing she didn't look too good, but hopefully she will be in and out of the park before anyone noticed.
She quietly went out the door, and headed for the teleportation room, going the long way around so she didn't pass the mess hall. Karone finally reached the teleportation room, and teleported back down to Earth, forgetting to tell DECA to keep her mouth shut on where she was. She found Ecliptor in the more woodsy part of the park. He still had all those machine parts covering his face, but at least he wasn't coming at her like he was the last time she saw him as herself. "Ecliptor…" Karone said softly. He started to walk towards her, but started to stumble. She jogged and caught him. "Oh my god what happened?" she asked as he saw he was wounded.
"Darconda…" he started but then a hand went up to his head, "Princess get out of here now!" he shouted suddenly.
"Wh-What?" she asked.
"It is a trap, get out of here!" he pushed Karone away, and she knew that he was fighting Dark Specter's control.
"Ecliptor come with me Alpha can fix you up…" she said, trying to grab his arm once again.
"No…get out of here before I lose control," he snapped weakly. Karone felt tears stinging at her eyes…him telling her to leave him behind a fourth time. "Princess go…" he said gently.
"Well it seems like Ecliptor needs some new parts," Darkconda's voice appeared out of nowhere. Karone turned around and saw her kidnapper.
"Karone, run!" Ecliptor finally pushed her out of the way, sword drawn to fight Darkconda. Karone started to get out her morpher, and in an instant, Ecliptor was thrown backwards, and Darkconda was on her.
"Get off of me!" she shouted, managing to elbow him in the gut, and throwing him off of her. "I am not the little girl you kidnapped," she snapped at him. Suddenly she felt a pair of cold hands put her in an arm lock. "Ecliptor, let go of me!" she cried out, as she felt him tighten his grip on Karone's arms. She struggled in his grip, but couldn't get him to break it. Karone knew she shouldn't have fallen for an obvious trick, and felt bad that she never apologized to Andros for being so mean to him for him obviously protecting her, and also to Zhane for lying to him.
MegashipZhane walked into the Mess Hall and saw that everyone else was already up, and gave them a smile. He grabbed a plate for Karone and started to pile some food on it. He probably should have thought to ask about what she wanted to eat, so he just grabbed a little of each Earth breakfast food that he liked. As Zhane piled up the food, Andros couldn't help, but think about how Karone was doing. Ashley gave Andros an understanding smile, "Go ahead and ask him how she is doing," she said giving him a nod. Andros pecked Ashley on the cheek and walked over to Zhane.
"Hey," he said, and Zhane turned around.
"Hey Andros, what's up?" he asked.
"Um…how is Karone doing?" Andros asked after a moment.
"She wasn't feeling too well this morning…so I decided to bring breakfast in bed for her…" he said after a moment. "I don't think she is that mad at you Andros…I got the feeling she was mad at herself about Ecliptor being changed like he was,"
"Yeah…I wish she would just talk to me…"
"Well I finally did calm her down last night it was ten, and she was tired," Zhane explained. "She really does want to apologize," Zhane hoped that it would comfort his friend, and it looked like it did. "Why don't you come with me? I bet Karone would like to see her older brother when she isn't feeling too well," Zhane offered. Andros nodded his head, and grabbed a mug to get some tea for Karone. Andros heated up some tea and they headed for her room.
Since Zhane had his hands full, Andros knocked on her door, and he put the input code to open the door. "Karone?" Andros said softly as they entered the room. Zhane looked perplexed as he turned on the lights, not seeing Karone in her room.
"Maybe she is in the bathroom," Zhane said, putting the plate down on the end table. He saw the bathroom door was open, and she wasn't in there either. "She isn't in there Andros…" Zhane said. Andros put on a worried face and addressed DECA. "DECA, where is Karone?"
"Karone is currently at Angel Grove Park…" DECA started.
"Why is she there?" Andros's voice instantly darkened.
"Ecliptor contacted her…" Andros was instantly out of Karone's room and towards the teleportation room.
"Andros wait up," Zhane called after him, instantly following him. Andros waited a moment, but was instantly down the chute. Zhane rolled his eyes, and headed down to Earth. They were instantly morphed into Power Rangers, and saw Karone being attacked by Ecliptor and Darkconda. Andros was instantly on Darkconda fighting him off. Zhane landed a punch on Ecliptor's face, and wrenched his grip on her arms, finally freeing Karone. Ecliptor tried to slash Zhane, but Karone kicked the sword out of his hands.
"Let's Rocket," Karone muttered, and she instantly morphed and got into the battle, but still tried to get the real Ecliptor to come out. "Ecliptor stop," she pleaded, dodging a fist flying at her face.
Andros was still trying to hold off Darkconda by himself, but was he was slowly getting the upper hand. Zhane started to notice and went to help his friend, but stopped when Ecliptor knocked Karone down, he was instantly pummeling him. Karone got back up and saw Darkconda throw Andros to the side, and then attempted to kick him in the ribs, but Karone finally came to her senses, and launched herself onto his shoulders. Karone knew that she couldn't save Ecliptor right now…
Zhane knocked Ecliptor back, and him and Andros managed to push Darkconda away from Karone, and Andros teleported them back to the Megaship. They were unmorphed, and Karone could tell Andros was mad, and it was because of her own stupidity. "Andros…" she said tentatively, hoping he wasn't way too mad.