Return of Astronema

by PowerHero432

With Karone suffering from horrible nightmares about Astronema, Andros recommends her to go on Terra Venture and explore the universe with new people. But her past is not that easy to escape and with her dark side fighting for control, Karone must master control over her mind or fall back to the dark side.

10. The Magna Defender

Sorry I didn't upload last week and to be honest there is no real excise for it other than I'm bad at prioritizing. Sadly because I'm an idiot it will probably be like this for the next couple of months as I got bad results on my examines so will have to up my revision. But I won't forget you guys and will keep trying to get more chapters out. Sorry to annoy you with this gibberish but I just thought I'd let you know. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 10: The Magna Defender

Karone was awoken by a knock at her door. Rolling out of bed, rubbing her eyes, Karone made her way over to the door to see who would be at her door so early in the morning. Karone pressed the 'open door' button and the door slide open, Damon standing in his green jumpsuit on the other side.
"Morning" said Damon cheerfully, with tools in hand.
"Morning" groaned Karone back, not fully awake. It was then she remembered that she had agreed to meet up with Damon so that he could help her to fix the Mega Ship. "Let me just get dressed" said Karone waving for Damon to come in. He followed her inside and dropped his tools by the door, which closed behind him. Karone went to her closet and pulled out her normal leather jacket and pants, before then vanishing into her bathroom to change in privet.
Now left along in the room Damon sat himself down on the sofa, with coffee table in front. In the centre of the table was a bowl of fruit, Damon could feel his stomach growl as he looked at the bowl. He probably should have eaten before coming over, but when he got working he usually forgot his hunger. However staring at the fruit now he couldn't resist the temptation to take a bite. He reached over and pulled out a banana, pealing it he licked his lips before he bite down on the soft banana.
Shortly before finishing the banana, Karone returned, fully dressed in her normal attire with purple headband to hold her hair back. Looking over to Karone as he finished the banana, he saw Karone watching him, with her hands on her hips and raised eyebrows.
"Help you're self" said Karone sarcastically, with a grin.
"Sorry" muttered Damon, his mouth full of banana, making Karone shake her head while smiling.
"It's fine" said Karone holding up her hand, so that the palm of her hand was pointing at the bowl of fruit. Suddenly the apple on top of the bowl shot across the room and into Karone's hand. The two smiled at on another before Karone bite into her apple. Damon then picked up his tools and with Karone, headed to the hanger where they had hidden the Mega Ship and Astro Shuttle.
It didn't take long for the two reach the hanger. Terra Venture was quiet and the roads were clear as Damon drove the two seater car, everyone was still asleep this early in the morning. Pulling into the parking spot, Damon and Karone got out and made their way to the secret hanger.
Karone and Damon set to work fast; the ship was going to need a lot of work if they were going to fix it today. Damon got to work on the rear engines and Karone made herself useful on the bridge, rewiring the controls in hopes of getting them to work. She had been going for nearly twenty minutes with her wiring job when she heard a voice.
"Rebooting program initiated" said D.E.C.A as the little camera in the corner of the room came to life with a dim red light in the centre of its lens.
"D.E.C.A!" said Karone happily as she slide out from under the control consol and looked up at the camera. "You feeling better?"
"Unable to answer. I do not feel like you Karone" responded D.E.C.A in her robotic female voice.
"Well you seem ok to me" said Karone giving the camera a look, which she wouldn't understand anyway. "What's the diagnostic of the ship?" asked Karone sliding back under the control consol to continue with her work.
"Beginning scan. Engines down. Life support down. Scanners down. Food generator down" stated D.E.C.A going through the list of broken features.
"How about you tell me what's working" suggested Karone.
"Would you prefer that?" asked D.E.C.A.
"Please"
"As you wish. Lights functional. Doors functional. That is all" informed D.E.C.A.
"You forgot yourself D.E.C.A" pointed out Karone.
"I'm afraid to report that I'm not at functional power level as of now. Estimated two hours before basic functions are restored" said D.E.C.A.
"Shame my powers can't help fix the ship" mutter Karone to herself as she reconnected two wires causing a spark.
"Flight controls restored" informed D.E.C.A suddenly.
"Thank you" said Karone to herself as she closed up the panel under the consol and slide out before opening up the panel of the next consol and beginning her job again. Just over an hour's amount of work past and then Damon walked into the bridge, rubbing his hands with a cloth.
"You about done there Karone?" asked Damon as Karone closed up the panel and slide out from underneath.
"Just finished" said Karone perkily as she stood up and smiled. She looked to the small camera before continuing. "D.E.C.A, you close to finishing your reboot?" she asked hopefully.
"Basic functions are nearly restored" reported D.E.C.A making Damon jump.
"What's that?" asked Damon shocked as he looked at the red glowing camera.
"Oh! Sorry. This is D.E.C.A" said Karone, presenting the small camera in the corner of the room.
"Hi..." said Damon with an awkward wave, unsure of how to respond to the computer.
"Hello Damon" replied D.E.C.A.
"It knows my name?" said Damon, even more shocked.
"I've been watching you on the ship for a while now, per Karone's orders" said D.E.C.A to which Damon looked over to Karone.
"I may have asked her to do that" said Karone playing innocent as she put her hands behind her back and fluttered her eyelashes. Damon just laughed at her acting and moved on.
"Anyway, I've got the engines semi repaired. She should be good to fly but I wouldn't be taking her out for any long distance runs"
"Will I be able to for the Megazord?" asked Karone hopefully, with an uneasy smile.
"We're a few hours work away from that. The ship won't be completely fixed for a few more days but, I recon we'll have it Megazord functional by the end of the day" said Damon with a grin to which Karone smiled.
"Back to work then" said Karone before she slide under the third consol and Damon made his way to the outside of the ship to repair some of the holes and dents.

Awhile later in the mountain dome, Leo had returned to cave where he had found the box which they had believed contained the Lights of Orion, until Trakeena had opened it up. Since then Leo had been thinking. The cave was clearly important, why else would they have the door that guarded it. They wouldn't have bothered to put in the door if they didn't want to keep people out, or keep something in. By that logic there must be something more important in the cave. Something that might lead them to the lights. It certainly wasn't in the box. Kai and Kendrix had run several tests through the night and none of them had given them any answers as to where the Lights might be. So the box wasn't it, so what was the cave really hiding.
Standing before the cave's entrance, Leo couldn't help but feel uneasy. Considering the last time he had been here was when Mutantrum had been disguised as Mike and stolen the box from him, it wasn't hard for this place to make him feel uncomfortable. Thinking of Mike these last few days and then seen him hadn't made getting over the loss of his brother any easier, but after his discussion with Karone he wasn't whole sure Mike was dead. Perhaps he was back, and if he was this cave was definitely a clue to finding him. Leo could feel it in his gut.
Leo couldn't decide whether to morph or not, he wasn't sure what to expect but a fight was one of the more likely options. And since no one knew he was here it was unlikely his friends would be coming. Kai, Kendrix and Maya were all at work and Damon had the day off and was helping Karone with the Mega ship. His plan was to check the cave and then head over and help the two with the repairs, but if there was a chance at finding Mike he was going to take it. He knew Karone would understand, like she said she had to once search for her brother to. When she was Astronema, it had taken her awhile to find out it was Andros. She knew what it was like to lose family and then to go searching for them in hopes that they weren't truly lost.
"I'm coming Mike" said Leo as he walked into the cave, whatever he found, Leo was ready. Walking carefully and slowly through the cave, Leo kept on looking around, just encase he caught a glimpse of something, anything. He quickly reached the spot where the box had been the first time he entered the cave, only now it was much darker and there nothing to be found.
Continuing on only slightly further, Leo found himself at a dead end. Pressing against the wall in hopes of another secret entrance like before, he found no such luck and was forced to turn around. He cursed several times as he walked slowly back along the cave, hoping that he might spot something that would help him. But nothing.
Stepping out into the fresh air and warm sun Leo felt only disappointment. Perhaps he'd set his hopes to high in wanting to find a direct link to Mike, it was most likely that Mutantrum had only changed into Mike to lower his defences. The cave had no link to Mike.
Leo was snapped out of his thoughts from a sudden attack from behind that sent him flying away from the cave. Looking up he saw the nearby the cave's entrance was Furio, who looked as if he had been waiting for Leo to come out.
"Why hello Red Ranger" said Furio mockingly as he stood up and walked forwards so that he stood in front of the cave's entrance, looking down on Leo.
"What do you want?" asked Leo getting up.
"Same as you, the Lights of Orion" said Furio as he drew his sword. "Though I'm guess you found nothing in there. But perhaps that's just because you weren't looking in the right places" teased Furio before suddenly charging at Leo.
"Go, Galactic!" announced Leo, transforming into his Ranger suit just as Furio knocked him back down him. Rolling across the ground, Leo managed to recover and get back to his feet pulling out his saber in turn. "Let's do this Furio" said Leo with fight in his voice as he ran forwards and clashed blades with Furio. He could have taken his chance to call for help but he was confident he could take Furio on his own; he might later come to regret that decision.
Breaking away from his attack, Leo had to switch to defence as Furio swung at him horizontally. He managed to lean back and avoid the attack but only had a second to recover before side stepping the next attack and then rolling under the third attack. Rising back up Leo had to block Furio's next attack with his saber, but then got his chance for a counter attack. Moving quickly he managed to attack Furio from the right, then the left, then with a downwards slice, all of which Furio blocked. The two collided again, weapons locked in the heat of battle.
"That all you got Red Ranger" mocked Furio, despite the sweet on his brow.
"You wish" snapped Leo, Furio clearly getting to him. Breaking off the attack he dropped down and slashed at Furio's feet, forcing him to retreat backwards. Leo then continued through with his attack by swinging at Furio from all sides, after seven or eight hits he finally manages to break Furio's defences and hit his arm. Then twirling around while Furio was off balance Leo managed to strike Furio's waist with a clear blow. Furio groaned in pain as he slashed back hitting Leo across the chest and forcing him backwards.
The two stopped for a moment catching their breath before raising their weapons for the next round. However, before the two got within striking distance of one another they were both shot down. "What was that?" asked Leo to himself as he looked up to see that Furio was also on the ground. But if it wasn't Furio then who was it? It couldn't have been the other Rangers. They wouldn't have hit him and it couldn't have been Sting Wingers as they would never hit their leader.
Looking over he found who had shot them. A black armoured warrior, with yellow horned helmet, green emerald chest plate and black cape with red underlining. In his hand he held a black and yellow blaster, which he pumped like a shotgun to reload.
"Who are you!" demanded Furio standing up to face this new opponent. The stranger didn't answer him, instead he just pointed his blaster at him and fired another burst of shots knocking Furio back down.
"Stay down" ordered the stranger, but he didn't sound like he cared what Furio did. Leo got to his feet slowly but like Furio was shot down again only this time was sent flying back across the ground. Lying on his back Leo watched as stranger made his way into the cave and Furio teleported out and retreat back to the Scorpion Stinger. He was now alone on the battlefield. Trying to get back up, Leo couldn't find the strength and as he dropped back down he lost his powers and his suit faded away in dim flash of red. He was now unconscious on the ground.

A sudden beep from their morphers brought Karone and Damon out of their working mind sets. The beep repeated, four beeps then a pause before repeating again and again.
"What's up with this thing?" asked Karone looking at her morpher with confusion.
"It's the emergency signal I programmed in encase one of us got knocked out when we were alone" said Damon as he pressed some buttons on his morpher. "The signals coming from Leo's morpher" the mention of 'Leo' caused Karone to jump instantly into a state of panic.
"What! Where is he?" she asked in a panic as she grabbed hold of Damon's arm tightly, her finger nails digging into his skin through his green jumpsuit.
"Ow!" said Damon looking at her and then down at her nails, to which Karone realised her grip. "It says he's in the mountain dome" said Damon. And with that Karone was off, running out the Mega Ship at full speed, wanting to get to Leo before anything happened to him. "Hey wait up!" shouted Damon as he followed.
Upon reaching the mountain dome, Karone jumped out of the car before Damon had even pulled it to a stop. She raced across the hills with a rather tired Damon not far behind. While in the car Karone had managed to pin point Leo's location with help from Damon and she was now just couple of meters from sight of him. Running up the hill she took a sort moment to catch her breath as she scanned the ground a head for Leo. She spotted him easily, lying on the ground unconscious and demorphed.
"Leo!" Karone shouted as she started running down the hill as Damon just caught up to her. Sighing in between his exhausting deep breaths, he continued onwards towards his friends. Sliding down on her knees, Karone stopped by Leo's head and pulled him up so that his head rested on her knees. "Leo. Leo can you hear me?" asked Karone but Leo didn't respond. Damon then arrived and bent down on one knee to examine Leo.
"We need to get him back to the Mega Ship so we can bandage him up and check for any internal injuries" said Damon looking to Karone, who just lightly nodded. Karone gave Leo's forehead a light kiss before switching with Damon, who carried the weight of Leo's upper body while Karone carried his legs. Together the two made it back to the car and put Leo in the passenger seat strapping him in so that he wouldn't fall out.
"There's not enough room for both of us" Damon pointed out. With Leo in the car there was only room for the driver now.
"You go" said Karone.
"Are you sure?"
"You know what you're doing. Go back, get the others and make sure he's ok" said Karone sternly.
"Sure thing" said Damon going around the car and sliding into the seat. "Want me to come back for you?"
"I'll find my own my back. Just keep him safe" said Karone with a half smile before Damon drove off back to the main dome, only a trail of dust following him. Once the car was far enough away, Karone turned back and headed towards the cave, where Leo had been. She didn't know why he had been there but there was a reason and she was going to find out what it was. Plus she wanted to get a little pay back for Leo. He still hadn't recovered from their previous encounter with Mutantrum and was weak, whoever he'd fought took advantage of that and was going to pay for hurting him.
Back at the cave, Karone was examining the area were Leo had been lying. From the footprints around the area she could see that Leo had only been fighting one opponent. They had fought for a bit and then both went down at one point or another, indicated by the sandy craters of two bodies. Looking around Karone found another set of footprints, but whoever these belonged to hadn't been involved in the fight. The tracks were as fresh as Leo's meaning he might have noticed him and left him, or he was the one who ended the fight.
Curiosity drove her to follow the tracks into the cave, were it instantly got harder to follow because of the lack of light. Going deeper into the cave, Karone could hear a banging of sorts, metal against rock. Was someone mining in here? She wondered following her ears towards the echoing 'tin, tan' noise up ahead. Reaching the back of the cave, she found what she was looking for. It was a man, of sorts, in black armour and cap mining with a rusty old pickaxe.
"Hey!" shouted Karone, over his mining so that he could hear her. The stranger turned around sharply and dropped the pickaxe, looking at him now Karone saw he wore a helmet with yellow horns on the side and had a green emerald in the centre of his chest plate.
"You should not be here" said the stranger threateningly.
"Why?" asked Karone curiously as she looked at the stranger before her. What was he looking for in this cave and why didn't he want her or anyone else to be here. She was forced to lean back suddenly when the stranger wiped out his sword and swung forwards, Karone only narrowly dodging it. "Hey! What's your problem?" asked Karone annoyed by the sudden attack. But the stranger ignored her pointless question and swung again, this time to avoid it Karone cartwheeled backwards and when she came back up she got into a fighting stance. Again the stranger came at her with a swing of the sword but this time Karone grabbed hold of the swords handle, stopping the attack. The stranger easily pulled the sword from Karone's grip but she just needed to get close to him. She kicked low forcing the stranger to lose ground and then followed with a round house kick which the stranger blocked with his sword hand. Losing grip of his sword, it flew across the cave and hit the floor.
Now that it was a fair fight Karone went in hard with several jabs most of which the stranger blocked, but some got through. Eventually the stranger caught one of Karone's punches with his hand and took hold. He pulled her in and grabbed Karone by the throat with his free hand. Karone tried to pull herself free with her free hand but it was no good. He was to strong and began tightening is grip around Karone's throat, she couldn't breathe.
"You should have stayed out of my way" snarled the stranger as he watched the life begin to leave Karone.
"And you shouldn't underestimate me" said Karone, though not much of it was understandable as her throat was begin squeezed. She closed her eyes and tried to muster up some kinetic force to push the stranger away but none came. She tried again but still nothing. She would pass out unless she did something fast, but she couldn't think. Her vision was going blurry and she couldn't hear anything. Still trying to claw herself free the stranger wasn't fazed by her pathetic attempts to free herself. Suddenly she grabbed hold of the stranger's arms, and then used it to help swing up and kick the stranger high in the head.
The stranger let go and stumbled back holding his head as Karone dropped to the ground breathing heavily, taking in as much air as she could. She lay on the ground for a while, waiting for the stranger to attack her. But he didn't. Once confident enough Karone rolled over and looked around, but there was no one in sight. He was gone. But why? He had her dead to rights and he just up and left after she got lucky.
Lucky was definitely the word to describe it, if her instincts hadn't taken over she'd be dead. She dusted herself off after her breathing returned to normal and stood up. Walking over to where the man had been mining, Karone ran her fingers along the large crack he had made. Whatever was in this wall, Karone had to get it before the man returned. She pulled out her Phoenix Saber and with a few slashes against the rock it fell away reviling a small egg like stone inside. Pulling it out Karone looked it over; it was giving off a kind of heat and was warm. This must have been what he was looking for, but why was this rock so important? Karone knew the best people to ask would be Kai and Kendrix. She put away her Phoenix Saber and carried the small rock in both hands as she made her way to the nearest train station in order to get back to her friends.

Arriving back at the Mega Ship, Karone found all of her friends in the medical bay with Leo on a table and Kendrix checking his injuries.
"How's he doing" asked Karone as she pushed past Kai and Maya to Leo's side with Kendrix and Damon on the other side of the table.
"He seems to be fine. A few injuries, but those should heal over time. What he really needs is rest" said Kendrix looking up from Leo and to Karone as she talked.
"What's that?" asked Maya noticing the egg shaped rock in Karone's hand.
"I'm not sure. I was hoping that Kai and Kendrix could run some tests on it" said Karone turning to Kai and holding out the rock.
"That shouldn't be a problem" said Kai taking the rock and rolling it over in his hands. "It's warm" he commented looking at the rock, slightly bewildered.
"Leo's stable so me and Kai can go now and start running our tests" said Kendrix as she walked around the table and head for the door with Kai. "Call us if he changes" ordered Kendrix as the two left the others in the medical bay.
"Has he said anything?" asked Karone looking to Damon across the table, but Damon could only shake his head.
"He's been out the whole time" he answered.
"Any idea when he'll wake up?" asked Karone.
"Kendrix said it could be an hour, maybe more" said Maya, a look of worry on her face.
"What do you think happened?" asked Damon looking at Leo's wounds.
"Probably another of Scorpius' monsters" suggested Maya.
"I don't think so" said Karone aloud, unaware she had attracted the attention of both Maya and Damon.
"Why?" asked Maya.
"There was some guy in the cave, black armour. He told me to leave and when I didn't he tried to kill me" said Karone looking from Maya to Damon.
"We'll have to keep an eye out for this guy" said Damon as he walked around to leave. "I'm going to get back to fixing the scanners"
"I'll help" said Maya abruptly as she followed Damon out, leaving Karone with Leo. She stood by him and stroked his cheek. She wished he'd wake up so that she could find out what had happened to him. Then perhaps they might find out who this new stranger was. She pulled up a chair from the side and sat herself down next to Leo and just watched him, breath. In, and out. In, and out. As he slept she smiled at her cute boyfriend. He'd be fine, she knew it, Leo wasn't the type to give up after something like this. He'd only get stronger as would she, they were a team.

Later in the Command Centre for Terra Venture, Kai and Kendrix were in the lab sector running tests on the mysterious egg shaped rock that Karone had brought to them. So far none of the tests were giving back any unusual results, so they still had no idea what was causing the heat coming off the rock.
"That's it!" announced Kai in frustration as he grabbed the rock and took it over to another table before setting it down and grabbing a handle laser with a long wire attached to the wall.
"What are you doing Kai?" asked Kendrix who ran over and snatched back the stone. "You can't just break it open"
"Come on Kendrix. We're not getting anything out of the tests other than 'it's a rock'. We might as well break it open and see if there's something inside that we can run tests on rather than run more tests that just tell us the same thing" pointed out Kai. Kendrix could see the logic in his argument but was cautious as she didn't want to miss anything.
"Ok" she finally said, unwilling to admit her eagerness to find out what was inside. She put the rock back down and then she and Kai put on protective goggles before activating the laser. After a minute or so of attempting to cut through the rock and getting nowhere Kai turned off the laser and both leaned inwards to inspect the rock.
"How is this rock still in one piece?" asked Kai bewildered. "This is the strongest laser we've got and it did nothing"
"Unbelievable" said Kendrix holding up the rock and examining the spot where the laser had hit it, not a scratch on it. "I think we're going to need to run more tests" said Kendrix who then put the rock in a box and sealed it up. "I'll take it to the other lab and get started, you go and check on Leo and Karone. Make sure they're doing ok" said Kendrix, concerned.
"Sure, but they'll be fine. You know those two, tough as nails" said Kai with a reassuring hand on Kendrix's shoulder. The two smiled at one another before they realised that they were having a moment and quickly pulled away.
"I-I-I'm..." Kendrix stuttered in embracement.
"Ye I should-should... you know" Kai said, also stuttering from embracement.
"Of course... I'll just take this to the lab then" said Kendrix grabbing the box before racing out of the room and heading to the lift that took her back down to the main dome. Her checks had gone red hot, but were slowly cooling down as the lift moved. Moving past her moment with Kai, she straightened herself up and pushed her glasses back up her noise before the lift doors opened. She had to stay focused for now, this rock was clearly important. There would be time later for her and Kai to walk around their obvious attraction to one another later.
Kendrix made her way over to one of the small cars and turned on the engine, sitting the metal case with the rock inside on the passage seat while she drove. The lab was located on the edge of the dome and was quiet a drive, but Kendrix didn't mind. She enjoyed driving through the city and watching the buildings and people go by.
But while driving, a sudden attack forced Kendrix to dive from the car as it spun out of control and crashed. The rock was then sent flying from the case and landed on the ground ahead of Kendrix who now lay on the ground. Looking up Kendrick saw a blue ball shaped alien rummaging through the car, searching for something.
"Where is it? Where is it?" muttered the alien to himself as he looked up and spotted Kendrix, and the rock in front of her. "The Lights" said the alien with his blue tongue sticking out and leather cloths that covered his legs and chest, but not his arms.
"The Lights" whispered Kendrix looking at the rock, astonished by this sudden knowledge that it contained the Lights of Orion. The alien advanced on her eyes fixed on the rock. Kendrix crawled forwards and covered the rock with her body, holding it close to her chest.
"I'll be taki-" the alien was cut off by sudden laser fire that sent him flying into the nearby flipped car Kendrix had been driving. Looking back Kendrix found the source of the blasts, a man dressed in black armour all over. He walked with his blaster in both hands and stopped, Kendrix directly to his left. Then a sharp turn and he held out his hand, for her to give him the rock, resting the blaster on his shoulder. Kendrix knew what he wanted and got to her feet shaking her head and stepping back, the stranger following her step for step.
"Give it to me" demanded the stranger his voice ruff and heavy. Then he was suddenly hit by two purple feathers which exploded on impact and sent the armoured man backwards. However he did not fall, only skid backwards on his feet. He looked up to see that a full morphed Karone and three other Rangers had arrived and formed a protective line in between him and Kendrix, who still had the rock.
"Who's this?" asked Maya.
"I don't know but he wants the rock" said Kendrix, holding it tight to her chest.
"He's the guy I fought in the cave" pointed out Karone stepping forwards, "And I bet he's the same one how attacked Leo" she added.
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"Looks like us, only red" said Damon jokingly but it seemed to jog the strangers memory.
"You mean that pathetic excuse of a warrior" said the stranger dismissively. Karone gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip on her saber and swung forwards, but the stranger easily side stepped her attack and took her out with a single shot. Karone rolled across the ground, losing grip on her saber and demorphing from the direct hit to the head. She was unconscious.
"Karone!" shouted Damon in concern while Kai and Maya jumped up, slashing downwards with their sabers. The stranger however managed to block easily with his blaster before kicking away Kai and then twirled backwards and shooting Maya back into Damon. He then holstered his weapon on his belt and pulled out the back of the blaster to reveal it was also a sword.
Kai once again ran at the warrior swing his saber but again the stranger blocked every one of Kai's attacks before countering with a slash across the chest, a cut to the arm, slice against the leg and a final kick to the chest finished him off.
Three Ranger now lay down, near defeated, one unconscious and the last unmorphed one protectively holding a rock.
"I won't ask again. Give me that rock" ordered the stranger advancing on Kendrix, sword in hand. Kendrix had no time to decide as the two were suddenly blaster by the alien that had been watching the fight between the Rangers and the black armoured warrior. Kendrix lost her grip of the rock and it flew over towards the alien who caught it with ease.
"Thanks, you guys 'rock'" joked the alien before teleporting away.
"You fool" said the stranger striking Kendrix with punch to the face, knocking her back down before she could get up.
"Stop!" shouted Kai as he tackled the stranger, but he didn't have the strength to take him down. The stranger acted quickly and clasped his hands together before slamming them down on Kai's back with such force that Kai all but instantly dropped to the ground defeated.
"Stay out of my way or next time you won't be getting back up" snarled the stranger as he stepped over Kai's body and picked up his sword which he'd dropped when Kai attacked him.
"Wait" said Maya from the ground reaching up to the stranger. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm the one who's going to kill Scorpius" said the stranger who then walked away leaving the defeated Rangers behind.

Elsewhere the alien that had stolen the rock was meeting with Furio and another alien named Samuron who dressed in black and red Chinese style armoured, like an old fashioned samurai.
"Well done Ruptor" said Furio taking the rock from the blue ball alien. "Time to open up this rock and retrieve the Lights of Orion" said Furio placing the rock down on another larger rock, like a piece of bread on a chopping board.
"Oh goodie, this is going to be great" squealed Ruptor in excitement as he jumped around. Fruio pulled out his sword and then raised it above his head before slamming it down against the rock with all his might, sending out sparks and a large cloud of smoke. The three aliens coughed as the smock cleared, only to reveal that Furio hadn't even left a crack.
"What!" exclaimed Furio in amazement as he grabbed the rock and looked at it.
"Allow me Furio" said Samuron, before slashing at the rock several time with his spear but again nothing came of the violent attack.
"Why don't we try together" suggested Ruptor to which Furio nods.
"Three. Two. One" Furio counted down and then the three all attacked the same spot of the rock at the same time, all then getting sent flying by the dust cloud.
"Did we do it?" asked Ruptor getting up slowly while Furio raced back to the rock, smooth as it had always been.
"Impossible!" shouted Furio enraged. "How are we supposed to get the Lights if we can't break through this stupid rock!" shouted Furio to the sky.
"Perhaps the Ranger could break through the rock" suggest Samuron.
"And how to you purpose we get them to do that?" asked Furio.
"We could ask him" said Ruptor pointing to the figure in black armour approaching them from across the field of rubble.
"It's him again" said Furio angrily. "We won't need the Rangers, he'll do. Samuron, get that man to break open that rock" ordered Furio throwing the rock over to Samuron who caught it as Furio retreated in a flash of green and left the two aliens to fight the stranger.

Back on the Mega Ship, Karone was just coming to, her vision de-blurring as she sat up.
"Easy now, you got hit pretty badly" said Kendrix who helped Karone of the table she had been lying on. As they walked out the room, Kendrix holding Karone the whole way until Karone released herself and gave Kendrix a smile to show she was ok.
"What happened exactly?" asked Karone as they walked through the corridor, her head still shaking.
"You got knocked out by the black armoured warrior and Scorpius' alien managed to steal the lights" said Kendrix sadly.
"The Lights?" Karone said confused looking at her friend.
"I think that stone may have contained the Lights of Orion" admitted Kendrix, defeat in her voice.
"And how's Leo doing?" asked Karone, which was the most important question in her opinion. There would be time later to retrieve the Lights of Orion.
"He's awake. Kai and Maya are helping Damon with the scanners and are trying to find the warrior so we can have a... chat I guess" said Kendrix coming to a stop outside the room Leo was being treated in. "I'll leave you and Leo alone" said Kendrix with a soft smile as she continued on down the corridor and left Karone who walked into the room were Leo was sitting up, waiting for her.
"Heard you got your butt handed to you" said Leo with a grin which earned him a friendly punch in the arm from Karone. "OW!" said Leo, overacting as he rubbed the spot where Karone had hit him.
"Oh shut up. You've taken worse" teased Karone before giving the spot a kiss, making Leo smile.
"All better" he said jokingly and the two laughed.
"You feeling better?" asked Karone.
"I'm great" lied Leo, Karone could see from just the number of bandages on his body that he wasn't anything above physical pain, far from ok never mind 'great'. "I would be out helping the others if Kendrix hadn't strapped me to the bed" said Leo nodding to the strap around his waist and legs, this made Karone laugh. "I've tried to get out twice already. She was getting sick of it so I'm here until Kendrix says otherwise"
"You poor thing" said Karone sarcastically, making a pouting face which Leo found amusing.
"Kendrix told me you fought the guy in black armour before"
"Was he the one who did this to you?" asked Karone, trying not to be too pushy, Leo nodded.
"He caught me off guard while I was fighting Furio"
"Leo" said Karone disappointingly as she shook her head. "... What were you doing up at the cave anyway?" she asked wanting to know.
"I was looking for clues, thought maybe I'd find something there linking to Mike" admitted Leo a tear in his eye.
"Oh Leo" said Karone, as she leaned in and hugged him before he let it out.
"I just thought that since Mutantrum was Mike and he led me there... I don't know I just wanted to find something linking to Mike" said Leo as he cried into Karone's shoulder.
"It's ok Leo" she said reassuringly as she rubbed his back. "I promise you Leo, the second we find anything linking to Mike. We'll all be there to help you. But we have to do it together" she said looking him in the eye, those sad tearful eyes.
"Your right" said Leo rubbing away the tears and putting on a brave smile. Karone wanted to tell him that he didn't need to fake smiles with her, but her intuition told her that it was more for him than her.
"You get some rest. I'll be back soon to check up on you" said Karone turning to leave. "I'll see what I can do about getting doctor Kendrix to let you out early" joked Karone looking back before walking towards the bridge of the Mega Ship.
On the bridge, Karone walked in to find the four Rangers all huddled around the scanner, watching something. She joined the group and got up on her tip toes so that she could see over them and at what they were looking at. It was the black armoured warrior, they'd found him.
"Where is he?" asked Karone making everyone jump, they hadn't heard her come in.
"Karone?" said Kendrix surprised that she hadn't spent more time with Leo.
"Where is he?" asked Karone again, this time more forceful. The four Rangers looked to one another before answering.
"We think you should sit this one out Karone" said Kai, since no one else would say it.
"Why?" asked Karone, hurt by their decision.
"This is too personal for you. They guy hurt Leo and you clear want to get back at him" said Kendrix.
"And you don't" snapped Karone, glaring at Kendrix.
"Karone hold on" pleaded Maya but Karone's anger was flaring up.
"Why should I. He hurt your friend and you just want to stand by and let him do whatever he wants"
"We're not saying that, we just want to talk to him first before we do something stupid" said Kai.
"Talking to him is stupid. You've seen what he's done to Leo and how he attacked us"
"Only because you attacked him" said Kendrix getting annoyed with the angry Karone. Karone quickly came to the realisation that Kendrix was right.
"Ok you're right... But I'm still coming" said Karone stubbornly, looking at the floor shamefully.
"Let's go then" said Kai, unsure of Karone, as he led the way out with the other four Rangers behind him.

"Hand over the Lights" ordered the stranger holding out his hand, with the other on the handle of his sword.
"Come and get them" taunted Samuron who held the rock in one hand and his spare in the other. "Sting Wingers!" he shouted and an army of them appeared in between him and the stranger. "Think you can take all of them?" asked Samuron smugly to the Stranger.
"With ease" said the stranger pulling out his sword. Unbeknownst to the many fighters below the five able Rangers had arrived and were atop a nearby cliff looking down on the battlefield.
"Get down" ordered Kai and all the Rangers dropped onto their stomachs and crawled to the edge of the cliff so that they could see the battlefield. A quick glace told them all they needed to know, that the stranger was out numbered.
"Should we help him?" asked Damon looking to the others.
"Why should we" snapped Karone looking down, secretly hoping the Sting Wingers would defeat the stranger. Kendrix looked over to Kai hoping he'd argue against Karone, but he just nodded his head in agreement.
"No sense in getting caught in the middle of him and that rock. At least not for now" said Kai, his eyes looking at the rock which Samuron held.
"Well, don't just stand there. Attack already!" shouted Ruptor and the Sting Wingers charged, the stranger not even flinching at the army ahead of him. He stood his ground and waited for his moment. Then just as the army was about slam into him, he struck.
He slashed from his bottom left and swung the sword up over his shoulder taking out the three Sting Wingers that ran straight into the sword's swing. He swiftly turned and then slashed back down taking out another two, before several Sting Wingers came at him from all sides. He bent down on one knee as the monsters clashed blades, their weapons catching on one another so they couldn't finish their attack. With one move he managed to take all of them out, by slicing them across the chest, spinning on the ground before arising over the fallen bugs.
Another one jumped at him and swung from above, however the Stanger saw it coming and caught the alien's blade with his free hand before throwing him over his shoulder towards the Sting Wingers behind them. He then turned back and blocked a low attack and then swung his sword back around and struck the attacking Sting Winger so hard that sparks came off the spot where he had struck the monster.
"WHOA!" said Damon impressed the warrior's fighting ability, "This guys something else".
"He makes it look so easy" added Maya.
"He's experienced that's for sure" said Karone bluntly, not willing to give the man much credit considering he had beaten her and the others once already. Watching him closely though, it was impossible for Karone not to be impressed. He moved like he had eyes on the back of his head, always knowing where the next attack was coming from. He knew where everything on the battlefield was and even when it seemed he would go down he never gave up.
The Rangers watched as five Sting Wingers crushed down on the stranger's sword, all five of their weapons pressing against the sword, but still the man did not give up. He pushed the five beasts off and then slashed across turning around and sending the Sting Wingers flying. After that the warrior put away his sword and pulled out his blaster, the sword now back inside the blaster. He gave the blaster one pump with his left hand and then aimed at the remaining Sting Wingers. With one blast he sent everyone of the creatures up into the air and watched as they fell back down to the ground.
"Who the heck is this guy?!" shouted Ruptor in shock as the stranger turned to face both him and Samuron, who had seem him easily destroy their entire army.
"I'm the Magna Defender" he announced as he once again pumped the blaster and aimed it at the two aliens, "and I want that stone" he demanded, standing his ground.
"Should we do something now?" asked Damon, looking to Kai. Kai's response was a stern nod.
"Right, Damon and Kendrix, you get that rock. Maya, Karone and I will deal with the Defender and try and cover you from the aliens once you got the rock" said Kai, looking to three of the four Rangers who nodded back to him in agreement.
"You ready Karone?" asked Kai looking to his other side, but Karone had vanished. "Karone? Karone?! Where did she go?" asked Kai looking back to the others who had found her. Karone had gone down to the battlefield and was meters away from Magna Defender, facing him sternly. It took a moment for the Magna Defender to acknowledge her, by turning his blaster on her.
"What do you want Ranger?" asked the Defender, clearly not happy to see her.
"I'm here to help" said Karone not intimidated by the Magna Defender's gun pointing at her.
"I don't need your help" said the Defender turning his blaster back onto the two aliens.
"Tough, I'm not going. So how about you don't attack me and I don't attack you" said Karone, the Magna Defender fell silent. Karone couldn't be sure but she could feel that out the corner of his visor the Magna Defender was looking at her.
"Fine. Just don't get in my way" he snarled.
"Same to you" replied Karone.
"Enough talk!" shouted Ruptor suddenly as he fired blue blots of lightening from his staff at both Karone and the Magna Defender. However both had seen it coming from a mile away. Karone dodged with a cartwheel to the left and the Magna Defender avoided the blast by rolling to the right, both passing each other before landing on their feet. Simultaneously charging forwards, the Magna Defender drew his sword and Karone shouted "Phoenix Power!" and morphed with her Phoenix Saber in hand.
Karone headed straight for Ruptor and slashed down but he blocked it with his staff, while the Magna Defender and Samuron clashed blades. Samuron managed to counter quickly and forced Magna Defender away from Karone and Ruptor, attacking fast and furiously while the Magna Defender blocked. He was losing this fight and need to gain control otherwise it could be a very short fight. He ducked under one of Samuron's swipes and then came up slashing upwards against Samuron's chest. But the alien would not be defeated so easily, as he struck back with a heavy swing that managed to hit the Magna Defender in the head. His vision was dizzy and he could feel himself stumbling backwards. He looked back to his opponent and then felt the next attack strike hit his chest. He fell to the ground, his sword skidding across the ground. He tried to reach for his sword but was pinned by Samuron.
"Now you die, Magna Defender!" shouted Samuron as he pierced the Magna Defeneder's armour, but not before Karone throw over four purple feathers that knocked Samuron away from the Magna Defender. He looks over as Karone who blocks an attack from Ruptor, the two meet eyes and Karone grins to herself as the Defender picks up his sword and continues his fight with Samuron.
Meanwhile she was having an easy time with Ruptor, he was a clumsy fighter and easy to trick. She blocked everyone of his attacks and had been toying with the alien for the whole fight.
"Die!" shouted Ruptor as he charged at Karone with the staff ahead of him. Karone easily sidestepped the attack and tripped the alien up before hitting him while he was down. Karone wasn't sure why she kept going, Ruptor was defeated but she continued to slash at the alien anyway.
"Please Stop!" screamed the defenceless alien from the ground as Karone cut away at him, showing no sign of stopping. She had no idea how long she had been going at him but if it wasn't for Kai grabbing her saber wielding hand she could have gone for hours.
"That's enough Karone!" he shouted and she was snapped from her trance, instantly demorphing and her saber vanishing with her suit. She was astonished by what she had been doing and looking at her friends' faces, it must have looked extremely violent.
"Sorry" she said, ashamed of herself for her violent outburst, looking at the ground.
"It's ok" said Kai reassuring her with a rub on the back. A scream from Samuron as Magna Defender's attack caught the attention of the Rangers. The Magna Defender was now clearly winning the fight as he slashed several times at Samuron's chest forcing him backwards. Samuron clutched his burnt chest as black smock floated away from the cuts across his chest.
"Time to finish this" said Magna Defender. He jumped high in the air, forward flipped three times and then cut down with the sword sending out a blue slash of energy that cut right through Samuron destroying him. As the smock cleared from what remained of Samuron, Magna Defender turned to the Rangers and pulled out his blaster and fired towards Karone.
She instinctively Ducked under the blast, unaware of the fact that Ruptor had gotten up behind her and was about to attack. The blast his Ruptor and sent him flying before exploding in a ball of flames. Looking at the now dead Ruptor behind her, Karone turned back to the Magna Defender who holstered his blaster on his waist. He was done. "We're even" said the Magna Defender looking at Karone, letting a moment pass before he turned away and walked off with his cape flowing behind him in the wind. He stopped on his way to pick up the stone, in his bare hand the stone broke in two and fell back to the ground. Empty, just like the box. "As I suspected" muttered Magna Defender, still better safe than sorry he thought before continuing on his way.
"That was amazing" said Maya watching in awe as the black armoured warrior walked away.
"And dangerous" added Kendrix looking at him with slight disgust for how he had killed both the aliens.
"Either way I don't think it's the last we've seen of him. Come on, let's get back to the Mega Ship and check on Leo" suggested Kai as four of the five Rangers turned to leave. Karone however waited for a moment, watching the Magna Defender. There was something about him, Karone didn't know what it was but she felt some kind of connection to this new warrior.
"Come on Karone" yelled Damon back to her, only just realising that Karone wasn't following.
"Coming!" shouted Karone as she jogged over to her friends and they continued on their way back to the ship.

"So once again we came to a dead end in our search for the Lights of Orion" said Leo shaking his head, summarising what Karone had told him. Karone couldn't argue with him and just nodded her head, with a 'fed up' face.
"Sorry I didn't get the Magna Defender, but I couldn't just attack him after he saved me" said Karone sadly as she stroked his check, Leo then took her hand in his and smiled at her.
"It's fine. I'll have a word with him next time we meet. But you did the right thing fighting with him to defeat Scorpius' monsters" said Leo with a proud smile.
"Thanks" said Karone blushing slightly as she looked away. "It was kind of cool to fight alongside him. But he's nowhere near as good as you" she added, leaning in for a kiss. Which Leo gladly granted her.
"Get a room" said Damon from the doorway, the other three Rangers behind him.
"I believe we already had one" said Karone looking over at him and grinning with Leo smiling behind her.
"Ye well, Leo's other friends would like to see him now" said Damon pointing to himself and the others.
"I don't know" said Leo unsure, "Without a kiss every minute I might die" joked Leo smiling at Karone who smiled back.
"I'm going to check on a few things. Make sure Damon has actually fixed my ship" said Karone grinning as she walked past her friends.
"I fixed it... at least I think I did" said Damon unsure that he'd done everything as he and the other surrounded Leo to chat. Karone could hear them laughing as she walked away from the room, but she had been look for something ever since they started repairs. An old friend of the previous Power Rangers and herself. She walked into the small dimly lit storage room, which was mostly filled with barrels. Karone wasn't entirely sure what was in the barrels, they had been there since before Andros had defeated Astronema, but in the corner of the room she spotted something. A tilted golden head, covered in dust. Moving aside the barrels that surrounded the robot Karone could now see the whole thing, his faded red body and rusting gold plates, it was obvious who it was.
"Oh Alpha" said Karone as she wiped off some of the dust from his head. He'd clearly been back here for a while and hadn't been turned on since the Space Rangers and herself had been travelling around. "Poor thing. Let's see if Damon will give me a hand fixing you, once I've cleaned you up a bit" she said smiling at the robot, knowing full well she was talking to herself. She dashed out the room to get some soapy water and a sponge and got to work cleaning her old friend. "Don't worry, we'll have you good as new in no time" said Karone as she rubbed the robots arm with the wet sponge. It would be nice to have another friendly face around the Mega Ship.

Tenth Chapter shout out!
This is a shout out to the "Power Rangers - Astronema/Karone's Journey" video I found on YouTube months back. I literally watch it every time I upload or start writing. The video is by 'shawrez' and I recommend you give it a watch especially if you are a Karone fan. J