Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, but Shade and his ship are mine.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated, as promised, to bRaInWaVe aka Mara for her birthday, which was a few days ago. Happy belated birthday Mara! (Wow, it seems I can never update on someone's birthday. :S )
Charmedfan90: Here's the next part, I hope you enjoy!
bRaInWaVe: I'm glad you are sticking with it, even after a long wait.:) And once again, happy birthday! (now belated) I hope you like how the chapter turned out!
Mita427: Here's what happens next! And it's so nice to meet you, I'm enjoying our random chats.:)
Alexandra Khayman: Hehe, I love writing cliffies! And I'm glad you're still reading.::hugs::
Phantom Rogue: Hehe, you catch on fast, but you'll have to wait a little longer to find out who Shade is. ;)
Behind the Mask
Chapter 8: The Escape part 2
The rangers and Astra hurried down the hall until they came to a door on their left. Astra threw up her arm to stop the other three.
"This is where I saw them put the morphers." she whispered.
Carlos frowned at the lock on the door. "But how are we gonna get in?" he questioned, his voice as soft as Astra's.
With a look that clearly said 'duh', Astra summoned her staff and blasted the lock open. She rushed forward and pushed open the door, holding it for the others to come through. She heard Carlos mumble something about magic as he and Ashley stepped into the room. "We'll have to hurry, someone might have heard that blast."
"Right," Andros agreed looking around the room. "Where are the morphers?"
Astra let the door close behind her and walked over to a table sitting in the middle of the room. She put her hand on the table. "They were right here in a box," she said with a confused look on her face. "I don't understand, why would he move them?"
"Maybe he didn't move the morphers at all, maybe they were never here in the first place," Carlos accused looking straight at Astra.
Astra was in his face in seconds. Despite her injuries she could still move fast, "Look, I'm in the same situation as you, I want to get out of here just as much as you do."
Andros stepped between them and gave them both The Look. "We don't have time for this. We all have to trust each other if we want to get out of here...Alright?" he said looking at each of them in turn.
Ashley nodded with a small smile when Andros glanced at her. He grinned in return and looked at Astra. "Alright," she said easing back a little, her eyes still on Carlos. Carlos sighed audibly. "Fine," he muttered.
"Okay," Andros said stepping back from Carlos and Astra. "Astra, do you know where Shade would have moved the morphers?"
She shook her head. "Well, if it were me, I'd keep them in my sight."
"Not good, that means they're probably...on the bridge?" Ashley said slowing down on the last three words and turning it into a question. The three rangers looked at Astra. Her expression was grim and the rangers knew that Ashley's guess was most likely right.
Astra sighed. "The bridge is on deck one, I'll go get your morphers and meet you in the cargo bay." Almost knowing what Carlos was going to say before he even opened his mouth, she said, "You can trust me, we're all in this together," she paused, then noticing that the rangers weren't totally convinced, she continued. "Look, with me going after the morphers, Shade will be more worried about losing them and recapturing me than going after you...and if I fail, then you guys get away and I'm still a prisoner. Do you trust me?" she asked looking straight at Carlos. Carlos nodded, followed by Ashley and Andros.
"Alright," she said, jumping back into leader mode. "The cargo bay is two decks down, there should be some Shadow-Fighters located on that deck. I'll get your morphers back and meet you in the cargo bay. Be ready to leave as soon as I get there."
"Okay," Andros nodded.
"Astra?" Ashley said as she turned to leave them.
She turned to face them again. "Yes?"
"Will you be okay alone?"
She grinned at her. "I'll do my best, I promise." She turned and opened the door peering down the hallway before stepping outside the room. The others followed suit. Glancing over her shoulder, Astra whispered, "The access ladder chutes are at the end of this corridor, they will take you straight down to the cargo bay."
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" boomed a loud, unfamiliar voice. "Not trying to escape are we?" It was one of the guards that had been guarding their cell. He turned his back to them and yelled, "The prisoners are trying to escape! Sound the..."
Andros placed the guard in a headlock and eased him to the floor when he lost consciousness. "Don't you know not to turn your back on your enemies?" he inquired. He would have gone on, but at that moment, red lights lit the corridor and an alarm sounded throughout the vessel.
"Come on, we've got to go. We don't have much time." Astra said leading the way to the access ladders.
Once they reached the ladders, Astra turned to face them. "Okay, the bridge is three decks up, I'll meet you in the cargo bay once I get the morphers." She turned and reached up to grab a rung on the ladder.
Ashley put her hand on Astra's arm. "Are you sure about this? Maybe one of us should go with you. It's not that I don't trust you...I do," she hurried to add. "It's just that, well you said yourself that Shade will be more worried about you and the morphers than us."
"I have this," she said holding her hand out. Her palm was sparkling with purple energy. "I'll be fine."
"But...," Ashley started, but Astra cut her off. "Look, if I'm not back in ten minutes, then go without me."
"No!" Ashley argued.
"Astra, we won't leave without you." Andros said as he stepped forward. "You're the reason that we are out of that cell, we won't leave you."
"It may be the only chance we have," she replied with a somber look. "We can't afford to be captured again."
Andros sighed. "Fine," he reluctantly agreed. Astra turned to climb the ladder. "And Astra...," Andros called. He waited for her to turn back toward him before he continued. "Be careful."
She nodded and the rangers watched her climb up the ladder. As soon as she was on the next level, Andros grabbed the rungs and started to climb down, followed by Carlos, and then Ashley. They didn't run into any trouble in the access tunnels and soon found themselves in the cargo bay.
There were about seven or eight Shadow-Fighters lining the outer walls of the cargo bay. On closer inspection, the rangers figured out that each fighter could fit two passengers. Ashley and Andros helped Carlos into one of the fighters. Having The Power did give them healing abilities, but their morphers served as conduits for The Power and all the abilities that came with it. So, no morphers, no fast healing and that downfall was affecting Carlos the most.
Andros and Ashley were standing outside the fighter that Carlos was in, keeping a lookout for Shade and his minions. They could still hear the alarm, but it was slightly muted, there weren't any alarms in the cargo bay. The cargo bay was oddly unguarded, which made the rangers uneasy. Ashley was starting to get really worried.
"Andros, it's been almost ten minutes, we should go after her."
"No Ash, we can't. Astra was right, if we get caught, we may not get another chance."
"If we leave her behind, then what will they do to her? Will she get another chance? What if Shade finds out who she really is? What if he already knows...? We can't leave her, not after all that she's done for us."
Andros sighed. "Fine, I'll go see if she needs any help."
"No Andros, I'll go. You need to stay with Carlos just in case there's trouble here. You're the only one who can figure out how to fly these things, I'm gonna need you to guide me outta here when I get back."
"But you're-"
"I'll be hiding for the most part, not fighting...I'm just going to see if she needs help getting out, okay? Besides, I can move around more stealthily than you can anyway." she added with a grin.
"Okay, just be careful Ash," Andros replied sincerely.
This time she gave him a real smile. "I promise," she told him, then, turned and headed back the way they had come and disappeared through the doors.
-----
Ashley heard the sounds of battle outside the bridge as she approached it from the corridor. The alarm had been silenced, but the red lights in the corridors were still flashing their warning. It actually made it darker in the hallways, which made it easier for her move around discretely. She was leaning up against the wall trying to decipher what exactly was going on and where Astra was when she came stumbling through the raised bulkhead, crashing to the floor.
She saw Ashley and rushed over to her, pushing something into her hands. It was two of the morphers. Ashley looked up at her, confused.
Trying to catch her breath, Astra said, "They knocked the third one out of my hands, I'm going back for it. Go back to the ship and tell Andros to be ready to go in five minutes. If I'm not there in five minutes, then you guys get out of here, I can't keep them here much longer. Okay?"
Ashley hesitated for a minute, then, finally, she nodded. "Okay."
"Thank you for trusting me," Astra told her with a wane smile. "I'll get that morpher back, I promise."
Much to Astra's surprise, Ashley smiled and hugged her briefly. "We'll come back for you if anything happens, I promise." She smiled at her again before turning and hurrying back the other way.
Astra grinned shortly at Ashley's back and then whirled around when Shade's guards came pouring off the bridge. She jumped back into the fight, but there were too many guards. They were rapidly closing in on her and she was wearing down quick. She refused to use her magic in their presence, not wanting to give herself away. Within minutes, the guards hauled Astra to her feet and back onto the bridge to stand in front of Shade.
-----
Luck seemed to be on Ashley's side. Once again, she didn't have to avoid very many guards on her way back. She looked down at the two morphers in her hands and realized that they were hers and Carlos's. She put hers on her wrist and stuffed Carlos's in her pocket when she got to the access ladders. She climbed down as fast as she could and ran into the cargo bay.
Andros was in the middle of about ten guards, fighting for all he was worth and looking like he was almost on his last leg. Ashley hurriedly morphed and was at his side in seconds, catching him as he collapsed to the floor.
"Andros! Are you alright?" she asked, worried.
He nodded and she helped him stand. When the two of them had defeated the rest of the guards, Andros turned to face Ashley. "So what happened?"
Ashley demorphed and fished out Carlos's morpher, tossing it to him when she caught his eye. He had stayed on the small fighter during the fight, 'probably on Andros's orders', Ashley mused.
"Astra was able to get two of the morphers," she explained. "She gave these to me and went back for yours."
"So where is she?" Carlos asked. Getting his morpher back must have made him trust Astra a little more. This was the first time that he'd shown that he was worried about Astra since their scuffle earlier.
Ashley looked over at him sadly. "If she's not here by now, then she's been recaptured. We've gotta get out of here now, while we still can."
Andros nodded, "Alright...Ash, you take this fighter with Carlos. I'll be in the one right beside it. Get in and start up the systems, I'll guide you the rest of the way."
"Alright," she said climbing up into the cockpit. She flipped a few switches and heard the engines come online. A few seconds later, Andros was guiding her through the procedures for take off. Within minutes, they were free of Shade's ship and on their way back to the megaship.
A/N:Yay! A long chapter! Very exciting for me, the Queen of short chapters, hehe. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed part two and don't forget to wish Mara a happy birthday! Review please? Come on...you know you want to...:D Oh, and does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for what Shade's guards should be called? I want it to have something to do with shade, shadow, darkness, ect. My mind hasn't been very creative lately so for now, I'm just calling them 'guards'. If you have any suggestions, please, send them my way.
