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.

14. Shadows of Our Self

Chapter 14: Shadows of Our Self

It had been weeks since Karone last saw Astronema, true she'd been feeling her presence for a while but never thought that she'd manifest in this form. But she had and now the Queen of Evil was sitting opposite her on the control consol, legs crossed with her sly grin across her face, sending a shiver down Karone's back.
"Cat got your tongue Karone?" asked Astronema with a tilt of the head. "You must have known I was coming back. I left you more than enough clues" continued Astronema as she looked over her black leather glove hand, as if examining her nails.
"You're not real" mutters Karone to herself as she closes her eyes and tried to wish away Astronema.
"You're not real" Astronema repeats in the same voice mockingly as she pushes of the consol.
"You're not real" repeats Karone, Astronema again repeats it in the same irritating voice. Trying to push the darkness from her mind, Karone continued to repeat "You're not real" too herself, each time Astronema copying her. Karone continued to keep her eyes closed tightly, as if not seeing Astronema would make her disappear, while Astronema circled around her.
Then gradually Astronema's voice faded and she stopped walking. Was she doing it? Was she able to repress the darkness? Was Astronema gone? Opening her eyes she was met with the wide eyed stare of Astronema who's laugh caused Karone to stubble backwards and fall on her back.
"Come on Karone, you know it's not that easy to get rid of me" said Astronema as she turned towards the window at the front of the bridge, walking around the consoles so that she was right up against it. Groaning as she got up to her feet, Karone rubbed her back while Astronema looked dreamily out the window. Her face hidden by her long flowing purple hair.
"Is everything all right Karone?" asked Alpha as he walked into the room, Karone and Astronema turning to face him.
"Afraid not Alpha. You see our dear friend Karone has started seeing things" explained Astronema as she walked over to Karone's side, gripping her by the shoulders as she continued on with her wide smile. "I think it might be time for someone else to take the wheel, maybe me?" suggested Astronema with a grin at Karone as the girl shrugged off Astronema's leather gloved hands.
"Karone?" asked Alpha, not being able to see Astronema, all he had heard was Karone's silence.
"I'm fine Alpha" answered Karone, looking towards Astronema, but to Alpha she was staring into space.
"Oh don't lie Karone. You know better than that" taunted Astronema in a mother like fashion. Shaking her head Karone walked out the Bridge, leaving Alpha behind. She'd hoped to lose Astronema too, but every corner she turned there she was, smiling at her, enjoying her suffering. Taunting her at ever chance she got. Karone knew what she was trying to do. Astronema was trying to get her angry which Karone presumed would make it easier for Astronema to take over her body. So she had to stay calm and just ignore her.
Once she got back to Terra Venture she would be able to talk to her friends and they'd help her get Astronema back under control and everything could go back to the way it was. "You really think so?" asked Astronema as the door to Karone's room opened. This time Astronema was lying on Karone's bed, her hands resting on her chest with her ankles crossed as she stared at Karone.
"Can you just leave me alone please?" asked Karone, rubbing her head as she felt a migraine starting to come on.
"Sure" said a perky Astronema as she jumped off the bed, "Just give me back MY body and you never have to see me again" she adds, causing Karone to sigh.
"It's my body, not yours" she responded as she walked past Astronema and dropped onto the bed. The flight back to Terra Venture was going to take all night and they'd arrive around early morning. Karone had originally planned to spend sometime in the bridge doing odd jobs, but with Astronema bugging her she thought it best just to get an early night. Hopefully when she woke her nightmare would end.
"We both know that's not true" said Astronema as she turned to face Karone with folded arms. "I've done far more bad things combined than you'll ever do good. WE have killed thousands, if not tens of thousands of people. You think being a 'Power Ranger' makes that all better, it doesn't. You're still evil, I'm still evil. So why not just give in now and let's have some fun?" asked Astronema, leaning down above Karone, her purple hairs dangling down and tickling Karone's features.
"I will never let you come back" replied Karone, to which Astronema giggle and stood back up.
"Forever's a long time Karone" Pausing a minute as she looked around Karone's room, memories filling her head of all the times she'd been trapped inside Karone's dull little minded head while she was out 'living'. "You really think they'll take you back?" asked Astronema, facing away from Karone. Listening to the silence, Astronema could her Karone's thoughts in her own head. What's she talking about? Astronema smiling to herself as she heard Karone's scared and naive voice, she was too easy to manipulate at times.
Turning back to Karone, Astronema hid her smile beneath a worried frown and concerned voice. "I mean, after you killed Furio" Astronema pauses and puts a hand across her heart, a heavy and sorrowing sigh followed. "They might think you're beyond saving" Glaring at Astronema, Karone knew she had a point but wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of admitting it to her. She then of course realised that Astronema could read her thoughts and knew what she was thinking and closed her eyes with a sigh.
"They would never do that. They're my friends"
"They Were your friends. Now thought..." Astronema grimaced and shook her head in disagreement with Karone's answer. The purple haired woman then dropped to her knees next to Karone's bed and folded her arms on the bed so that they acted like a pillow for her head. "You ran away Karone. You're the one that abandoned them. It wouldn't surprise me if they never wanted to see you again" Trying again to ignore her dark sides thoughts, Karone rolled over to face the wall, but Astronema continued to monolog. "Especially Leo" Astronema's words brining back all the horrible things Leo had said, causing her to run off in the first place. She could feel her insides wavering as the words passed through her, Karone's whole body fighting the urge to break down and cry at the thought of Leo. "All those mean things he said. He seemed to be done with you already" continued Astronema, a grin tugging at her lips as she saw the fright and waiver in Karone's eyes. "Why not get back at him. Show him what it's like to get hurt like that, let me help you get revenge"
"NO!" screams Karone flipping over and diving towards Astronema. But as if she were a ghost, Karone passed right through her and clumsily collapsed on the floor. Astronema laughing as she stood over Karone, clutching her sides because she found it so funny.
"Oh Karone. You and I are going to have a lot of fun" said Astronema as she smiled down menacingly at her good side. The good side which was slowly succumbing to the darkness and would soon be gone unless Karone could find a way to stop her. But how could she stop any enemy that lived inside her head and knew her every thought and reaction before Karone knew what was happening. The fight had only just started, and already it looked like she'd lost.

The smell of freshly baked food drifted into Damon's nose as he awoke, a delightful smile forming on his face. Following his noise blindly, he'd forgotten where he fell asleep the previous night and fell right off the couch and onto the floor with a hard thump. Groaning aloud he opened his eyes to find his face inches form Maya's, who'd been woken up by his own clumps actions.
"Morning Maya" said Damon cheerily, but Maya wasn't as happy to see him and didn't like to be woken up so abruptly. She'd been one of the last to go to sleep after they'd brought Leo home. All five Rangers had slept in the guy's room and though they'd all drifted off not long after Leo, Maya hadn't let her guard down the whole night. It wasn't until the early hours when Kendrix woke up to go for her morning run that her friend had finally convinced her to get some sleep.
Maya had gotten a whole two hours before Damon had landed in front of her and woke her from her peaceful dreams. Growling like a wolf at Damon, the man quickly got to his feet and scurried over to the kitchen. Once Maya stopped the wolf act and closed her eyes, Damon slowed in his scurrying and pulled himself up onto one of the chairs around the counter top. On which Kai had laid out a delicious looking breakfast for all five of them. Damon reached forwards with a drooling mouth for some of the roasting food, but was met by Kai's hand which slapped his wrist.
"Ow" said Damon pulling his hand back from the food. "What was that for?"
"We're waiting for Leo to get up" answered Kai as he continued to cook from the kitchen. "I'm hoping that this atmosphere will help keep him calm. I don't need you eating all the food before he wakes up"
"Don't see why I can't have a nibble" said Damon, once again reaching for the food and being hit by Kai. "Alright, I'll wait" agrees Damon moodily.
"Damon, if you don't shut up. I'm going to come over there and cram that whole table down your throat" moaned Maya into the floor as she tried to get back to sleep. With that said Damon fell silent and not to long later Maya drifted back to sleep.
Following that Kendrix returned from her morning run dressed in a pink tank top with back trackie bottoms and running shoes which matched. She still had her glasses on and had clearly worked up a sweat and hunger as she headed straight for the sink to get a glass of water. After gulping half of the glass down, she then processed to take one of the still roasting pancakes and bite into it. Damon made a move to complain but then heard a growl like snore for Maya which made him stop.
"How was your run?" asked Kai, ignoring Damon who from the corner or his eye was making faces, annoyed that Kendrix had been allowed to eat and he hadn't.
"Good thanks" said Kendrix biting into the pancake, right in front of Kai who said nothing. Annoyed and hungry, Damon pushed his friends' opinions and requests aside and went for the pancakes. Grabbing two in one hand he rammed the soft warm floppy disc into his mouth and biting down before anyone could stop him. Ripping at it like a mad man or wolf, Damon tore apart the pancake before crunching it in his mouth and swallowing it near whole.
Stopping when he saw Kai and Kendrix staring at him, Damon quickly noticed it wasn't him they were staring at. Turning slowly he looked over his shoulder to see that Maya was up and standing right behind him. In his munching furry on the pancake, Damon had accidently sent a plate of cut tomatoes flying across the room where they landed on Maya. Two slices of tomato still sliding down her face leaving a trial of red juice like a slug.
"Damon..." growled Maya who's eyes had turned red with rage. She grabbed him by the neck and was about to pull him from the chair when they heard Leo groan and awake. Freezing, they all watched as Leo got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. However when he looked out across the room from the top bunk he was surprised to see that Maya was in the process of attacking Damon.
"Is everything alright?" asked Leo, to which his friends all replied in unison.
"Yes" they all answered despite the fact that Maya still had her arms wrapped around Damon's throat.
"Ok" said Leo as he climbed off his bed, while Maya released her grip on Damon. For the sake of Leo she had let him go, not wanting her friend to get angry again but she was planning on getting Damon back for what he'd done. Passing Leo she smiled at him as she climbed into the middle bunk and attempted to get some more sleep while Leo joined the rest of his friends in the kitchen. "Smells good" commented Leo as he sits down next to Damon and takes a bit of everything to eat. Kai and Kendrix sit themselves down opposite Damon and Leo and the four dig into the warm morning breakfast.
"So Leo, how you feeling?" asked Damon while they eat.
"Better. Less angry, but still a little weird" admits Leo as he munched on a strip of bacon.
"Want to go and see a doctor?" asked Kendrix, Leo shaking his head in response.
"Nah, if I act out again then it would probably be a good idea but I'm hoping that after a few days I'll be back to normal" said Leo with a smile to Kendrix, letting her know that he appreciated her concern.
"Well in any case, I think you should take an off day. We don't want you exploding at some three year old because he kicked you in ankle" said Kai.
"That only happened once and I maintain that it hurt worse than some of the monsters we've gone up against" protests Leo with a smile, making the rest of his friends laugh with him.
"That's not how Karone told it" said Kendrix and at the mention of her name Leo's smile faded, as did the others. "Sorry" apologized Kendrix, Leo nodding to show he accepted the apology. He just missed her, he loved her and he'd been the one to drive her away. It was what made him so angry, that he'd lashed out at her, his best friend and the closest person to him. He just wanted to know where she was and that she was ok, but none of the Rangers knew where Karone was or if they'd ever see her again. The rest of the breakfast was in silence, which suited Maya as it made getting back to sleep a lot easier.

Walking off the Mega Ship, Karone found that Astronema was waiting outside for her. Rolling her eyes, Karone continued on, trying to ignore her as she walked out the hanger where she'd parked the Mega Ship. With Astronema following her, Karone walked through the twisting corridors which she still remembered how to navigate and exited into the open streets of Terra Venture. Taking in the holographic sun above her and the artificial heat that was filling the air, Karone felt oddly at home.
"It's going to be fun destroying this place" said Astronema as she stepped up to Karone's side, causing Karone's homecoming smile to vanish. In the sort time that Astronema had been back in her life, the purple haired witch had made every moment a living hell for Karone.
"Do you have to follow me everywhere?" asked Karone.
"Well it's that, or formulate a plan to take over the universe. You're choice?" teased Astronema smiling slyly at Karone sighed and walked off, leaving a giggling Astronema. Popping up again as Karone turned a corner Astronema fell into step with her, the light and the dark walking side by side through the streets of Terra Venture. "So where are we going?" asked Astronema, even though she already knew the answer. Karone remained quiet, determined not to play Astronema's little mind games and let her convince her not to do what she should do. Unfortunately, Astronema didn't need Karone to speak in order to have a conversation. With their minds linked she was able to read Karone's thoughts when Astronema asked her questions, so she got a response one way or the other from the young woman. "I'm not sure they'll want to see you" hummed Astronema in a high pitch irritating singing voice.
"Their my friends, of course they'll want to see me" responded Karone with a glare.
"If you say so, but let's just remember what happened last time you saw me and I was around your friends" said Astronema, causing Karone to stop dead in her tracks. Astronema had gone a few steps ahead before noticing that Karone had stopped and turned back to face the wide eyed girl. "Oh I'm sorry, had you forgotten that I got out and attacked your friends. And since you killed Furio it should be that much easier to do it this time. One slip up, one wrong thought, one wrong action and I might slide on in and kill them all" elaborated Astronema with a sinister grin, watching as fear gripped Karone she knew that Astronema had won.
"You win" mutters Karone as she turns and walks off in the opposite direction of her friends' apartments.
"Well of course I won" said Astronema, now speaking from inside Karone's head. "The only question is how long until I win back my body?"
"I won't let that happen" said Karone as she made her way towards the mountain dome. She would sooner die than let Astronema back out into the world, and she knew just who to ask to make sure that that was what would happen.

Meanwhile back at the apartment, the guys were cleaning up the breakfast while Kendrix sat on the couch reading a magazine and Maya continued to catch up on her sleep. Leo had offered to clean up once they'd finished, but Kendrix had said it would be too much for one man so had volunteered Kai and Damon to help. They'd set aside some leftovers for Maya when she woke up, but currently she was snoring away like sleeping beauty and showing no signs of waking up.
That was until the guys approached finishing their clean up and Damon's morpher went off. He looked at it and gasped, stopping what he was doing and rushing over to his laptop. He typed quickly and the others, noticing his alert mind set, gathered around him.
"What is it Damon?" asked Kai looking over his shoulder with Leo beside him while Kendrix looked over the other shoulder.
"I linked my morpher to the motion sensors in the hanger where we stored the Mega Ship so I'd know if anyone found the Mega Ship" explained Damon as he typed.
"So, the Mega Ship isn't there anymore" pointed out Leo.
"Yes, unless it's came back and that's what tripped the motion sensors" said Damon, grabbing everyone's attention, all looking to the screen as he brought up the security footage. They could all see that the Mega Ship had returned but that wasn't what they were concerned with. Waiting a moment the ramp to the Mega Ship lowered and then she stepped out, Karone walked off in strides. She was back, Karone had returned to Terra Venture.
"It's her" said Kendrix in amazement and surprise.
"She came back" added Damon with a smile on his face. Behind them though, Leo's face went hard. It didn't take him long to decide what he was going to do, grabbing his jacket and putting it on Leo headed for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Kai as Leo opened the door.
"I have to talk to her, it's my fault she left" explained Leo before he stormed out.
"Leo wait up!" Kai called after him as he ran after him. Leaving Damon and Kendrix behind, Damon closed his laptop while Kendrix shock Maya awake, knowing she'd tear off Damon's head if he tried to wake her.
"Maya... Maya wake up" said Kendrix softly as Maya awoke, Damon standing behind Kendrix for safety. Groaning as she woke, the young woman sat herself up in the bed, rubbing her eyes.
"What's going on?" asked the half awake Maya.
"Karone's back" answered Kendrix and Maya jumped out the bed, now fully alert.
"Seriously? Well let's go" said the suddenly energetic Maya as she runs past her friends. Running after the Yellow Ranger, Kendrix and Damon joined her, Leo and Kai as they searched for Karone, having no idea where she was now.

Climbing up the mountain, Karone was beginning to feel breathless as she powered on up the steep slope. This had been the second mountain she'd climbed in hopes of finding who she was looking for, the person who could kill her if Astronema got in control. She wasn't even sure if she'd find him but she figured that he had to rest somewhere, and were better than atop a mountain where you can see someone coming from a mile away.
"You're looking a bit tired Karone. Are you sure you don't want to stop and have a rest?" asked Astronema who was perched on a rock up a head of Karone. Sitting on the edge of the large bolder, Astronema swing her legs out in front of her as she watched the exhausted Karone climb the mountain.
"I'm fine" replied Karone, but was trying to convince herself rather than Astronema. Not only had she skipped breakfast that morning but she had been going none stop since she arrived back on Terra Venture, searching all over for the person that would hopefully help her.
"You know there's no guarantee that he'll help you" pointed out Astronema as Karone dragged herself past the purpled hair villainess. A gap suddenly filled Karone's stomach at the thought that her evil self was right, that he wouldn't help and would let Astronema run free. After all Karone really didn't know much about him, he was a mystery in many ways. But he was her best shot, none of her friends could do it and she couldn't get anyone evil to do it because if they knew why then they'd run in fear of Astronema's wrath.
"I won't know unless I try" said Karone stubbornly as she continues on, leaving Astronema behind until she inevitable appeared again. Continuing up for another mile, Karone slowly approached the top, with Astronema once again reappearing at her side and joining her at walking pace.
"So what are you going to say to him?" asked Astronema nosily as they walked.
"To kill me if you come out" snarled Karone.
"Why not get him to just kill you now, unless... you don't want to die" said Astronema with a grin.
"Of course I don't want to die!" snapped back Karone, "But it's better than letting you back out into the universe"
"Or maybe you don't want to die because you want me to come back" suggested Astronema with a mischievous smile and twinkle in her eye. "You like the dark side, you want me back. I am, after all, the best version of you"
"But you're not me" retorted Karone, coming to a stop and turning to the purple haired devil. "Don't you get it. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, you're not getting back out. And no matter what I think or do, none of it makes me anything like you. We are two different entities. I'm good and you're bad"
"That's just a matter of perceptive Karone. To me, evil is good and good is evil. You know about Yin and Yang, that good cannot exist without evil without good. I will always be a part of you, just like you'll be a part of me. Only difference is I know how to push you, deep, deep down, so that I never have to hear you again. And do you want to know why I can do that? It's because I'm the stronger half, I'm the real you and that's why I will always win in our little quarrels. Because when you let your true self out. That's ME" finished with her monolog, Astronema took a deep breath and recomposed herself, straightening up and putting on the sly twofaced grin she always wore.
A moment of tense silence pasted before the two as they stared at each other, each waiting for the other to speak first or give some hint as to how they felt. Catching her breath Karone thought about how she could respond, but everything she thought off she knew Astronema could twist and turn it back on her. So with that in mind Karone remained quiet, gathered herself, and continued on up to the peak of the mountain.
Walking up she found who she was looking for, looking out over the valley below he stood at the edge of the cliff. The Magna Defender. Having fought alongside him once before, Karone felt like she knew him better than most people. He hadn't noticed her yet and had his back to her as he looked out over the cliff side, his arms folded and his cape flowing behind him.
"Oh dark and mysterious? Good replacement for Leo" comments Astronema causing Karone to snarl at her subconscious.
"He's not replacing Leo" said Karone, alerting the Magna Defender to her presence. Spinning around swiftly to face Karone, the Magna Defender went for his sword and pulled it out, ready to attack. Putting her hands up in peace, Karone tried to explains but the Magna Defender was on her too quickly. Swinging with his sword, Karone leaned back avoiding the attack and then stepped back to avoid the second swing.
"Wait! Please! I just want to talk!" shouted Karone as she danced around the Magna Defender, avoiding all of his sword swings. All while Astronema watched from the sidelines and laughed, enjoying the turn of events that had befallen Karone.
Coming to the decision that a good offence was also a good defence, Karone twirled around and lifted her foot high catching the Magna Defender on the side of his helmet. Stumbling back the Magna Defender recomposed himself and aimed his sword at Karone, who struck a fighting stance, ready to defend herself.
"I don't want to fight" pleaded Karone, but the Defender didn't listen and swung at her. Dodging the attack, Karone grabbed hold of the Magna Defender's sword in an attempt to get it away from him. The two tussled back and forth until the Defender got the upper hand and pushed Karone off. Lying on the ground defencelessly, Karone watched as the Magna Defender went to cut her down with his sword.
"Let me help" said Astronema stepping closer to Karone and touching her shoulder. A sudden flash of purple later and the Magna Defender was on his back. Astonished by what had happened, Karone looked to Astronema who was holding her shoulder with a devious smile and purple glowing eyes. Much like the ones Karone currently had.
It then hit her that whenever her Phoenix powers acted up or started uncontrollably it must have been Astronema. The evil witch had had control of her powers all this time and was merely allowing Karone to use them when she wanted to. Looking down to Karone, Astronema smiled, knowing that she'd just realised what she had been doing all along.
Vanishing from sight, Karone was now alone with the Magna Defender and got up to her feet. Approaching the Magna Defender cautiously, she reached out to help him up and surprisingly he allowed her to. While he steadied himself, Karone picked up his sword and handed back over to the Magna Defender who holstered it. He nodded in thanks, but said nothing.
"Sorry about that" said Karone with a friendly smile. The Magna Defender said nothing, shrugging of his defeat like every tough guy.
"I just wanted to talk" explained Karone, brushing aside her hair which blew into her face.
"Then talk" said the Magna Defender as he folded his arms and looked at her, listening. Though it was hard to tell if he really was with his helmet on and visor down. Gathering her thoughts together Karone prepared herself to explain her situation to the Defender.
"Do you know who I am?" asked Karone.
"You're Karone" answered the Magna Defender.
"That's not completely true..." this caught the attention of the Magna Defender. "I was also once Astronema" the mention of the name caused the Magna Defender to quake with fear and instinctively reach for his sword. "But that wasn't the real me!" exclaimed Karone, quickly putting the Magna Defender at ease. "I was kidnapped at a young age and brought up to be evil. Now I'm worried that the Astronema might come back, take over my body again" explained Karone, fear gripping her chest as she admitted this not only to the Magna Defender but herself.
"And what do you want me to do about it?" asked the black armoured man, Karone feeling his eyes on her. His hand still gripping the handle of his weapon.
"I want you to make sure that that doesn't happen. If it looks like she's going to gain control or if she does, I need you to kill me" her words caught the Defender of guard and he fell speechless.
"Why not ask your friends?" questioned the Magna Defender once he got a hold of himself.
"I can't trust them to go through with it if I needed them too" answered Karone.
"Why would you want them too?"
"I don't want Astronema getting back out. And if she does then I'd be trapped in the back of her mind and be forced to watch as she destroyed everything and everyone I care about. If she gets out I don't want to be saved. I just want her to be dead" said Karone with tears welling up in her eyes, fearing that what she was asking the Magna Defender to do might actually need to be done for the good of the universe.
"I'll do it" said the Magna Defender, conveying no emotion while he hid behind his thick black armour. Smiling at him Karone thanked him and sat herself down on a nearby rock, the Magna Defender following her over and standing next to her while she wept.

Meanwhile, the other Rangers had entered the mountain dome of Terra Venture, following what security footage they had found of Karone. Sadly though they couldn't access the security to the mountain dome without raising questions as to why they wanted to, so now they had to look for her the old fashioned way.
"Why'd you think she came here?" asked Damon as the five entered the spacious dome with looming mountains ahead.
"I'll be sure to ask her when we find her" said Kai with a smirk at his friend.
"Do you think we should split up?" asked Leo.
"No, I think it'd be best if we stick together" said Kai quickly.
"Translated, you don't trust me" said Leo with a light smile.
"Can you blame us, you did stab me remember" pointed out Maya, still feeling some pain in her chest from the stab wound that had healed quickly thanks to her powers. "Plus last time you saw Karone you went all crazy"
"Perhaps it's her that caused it" suggested Kendrix. "Not intentionally of course, just when you see her, that's what sets you off"
"So we'd rather find her together encase that is what happens and then we can keep you under control" added Kai.
"Plus, who knows how she'll react to seeing you" said Damon, everyone stopping and glaring at him. Knowing his innocent joke had been taken the wrong way Damon looked shamefully at the ground before feeling Leo's hand on his back. Looking up he saw his friend smiling and knew it was ok.
"He does have a point. We don't know who she'll react to seeing us, so let's take it slow when we find her" said Leo, the others nodding in agreement.
"That's if you find her!" shouted a monster as it jumped out in front of them, the Rangers instinctively getting into fighting stances. This new monster was dressed in a red robe with long white sleeves, baggy red and white stripped trousers with matching white shoes. His hands were covered in white gloves and atop his head was a golden squid like hat with two long tails that trailed down to his waist. His face was grey looking with pointy chin and features that resembled a Chinese man.
"Who are you?" asked Kendrix as they all took a step back from the new monster.
"I am the Wisewizard" the monster introduced himself with a bow.
"You don't seem as intimidating as Furio's normal monsters" commented Leo with a grin.
"Furio is dead. Cut down by one of you lot. Scorpius has sent me to get revenge!" shrieked the Wisewizard as he pulled out a notepad. With a quill in hand, he quickly scribbled something thing down and then ripped the paper from the book, throwing it at the Rangers. Landing on the ground in front of them, they were confused as to its purpose, all it had on it was a Kanji symbol. Then before any of them could ask aloud, the paper exploded and sent them flying back.
"Ok, going to admit... I didn't see that coming" said Damon as he got back up with the other Rangers.
"Ready?" asked Leo aloud.
"Ready!" replied the others.
"Go, Galactic!" shout the five Rangers in unison and then they transform into their Ranger suits. Drawing their Quasar Sabers, the Rangers charged at the Wisewizard as Sting Winger teleported in around him.
"Attack!" ordered the Wisewizard and the Sting Wingers ran forwards to meet the Rangers in battle. After several weeks of fighting Sting Wingers the Rangers had begun finding it easy to fight them off unless they were in huge numbers. But the Wisewizard only had a handful of them and the Rangers were cutting through them like second nature.
Seeing his army getting destroyed so easily was making the Wisewizard feel uneasy. He quickly wrote something on his notepad and then repeated it on another four pages before ripping out the five pages. Holding them in his hand, he waited for a chance to strike while the Rangers danced around the battlefield, slashing and hacking down the Sting Wingers three at a time.
He spotted an opening with Kai as he swings his saber and knocks down two Sting Wingers. Taking his chance the Wisewizard threw one of the pieces of paper and it caught Kai on the chest. Looking down at the paper now sticking to his chest, Kai went to remove it but was then hit with an electric shock causing him to drop down to the ground paralyzed.
"Kai!" shouted Kendrix as she ran to assist him, now also getting hit with one of the Wisewizard's notes. Continuing to run, Kendrix was hit with the same paralysis spell as Kai and dropped down, skidding across the ground to Kai's side. As for the other three Rangers, they had grouped up as the Sting Wingers surrounded them. But then bug army suddenly parted allowing the Wisewizard a straight path to the remaining Rangers. Before they could react to the sudden change in the enemy's plan, the Wisewizard hit them with the last of his notes and the three dropped down in a static frenzy.
"Yes!" shouted the Wisewizard as he jumped up slightly, the Sting Wingers also buzzing in joy. This was the first time in a long time that they'd actually had the Rangers defeated and trapped. Truthfully the Wisewizard hadn't expected his first encounter with the Rangers to go this well, he'd thought he would have been sent running after the first battle and would have been lucky to get a second chance. However he'd defeated them, so easily that he couldn't help but feel he was missing something.
"Wait a minute... There's only five Rangers here! Where's the other one" shrieked the Wisewizard as he looked around frantically for the sixth Ranger. "Well don't just stand there you idiots. Go and find her!" ordered the Wisewizard, to which the Sting Wingers got to work, searching the nearby grounds. If she was nearby then the Sting Wingers would find her and if not, then he could focus on making the other Rangers suffer while he waited for her to show up.

Meanwhile in the mountain tops, the Magna Defender had decided to move from the peck and was walking down the mountain with Karone behind him. He hadn't asked her to follow him or assist him in anyway, but she had decided to follow him all the same. They were about halfway down the mountain when the Magna Defender finally spoke to her, no that she'd been speaking much either.
"Is there a reason you're following me?" asked the Magna Defender coming to a stop, his hand resting on the handle of his sword as he turned to face Karone.
"Not really" answered Karone as she stopped opposite the Magna Defender, half expecting him to attack her again. However he did not attack her, only snort and continue on with Karone behind him. "Where are we going?" asked Karone in an attempt to keep the conversation alive.
"I'm getting off this mountain. I don't really care where you're going" answered the Magna Defender sourly.
"Why are you so angry?" Karone's question caused the Magna Defender to suddenly stop, as if contemplating on life. She knew something bad had happened to him, just like it had to her, people that go through life changing events tend to have a sixth sense for others who've gone through a similar experience. Even before she became Astronema she had suffered in losing her brother and parents, maybe that was what drove her to evil when it opened its arms to her.
"I lost someone" answered the Magna Defender, suddenly opening up.
"Who?" asked Karone, her voice quiet as if it were a great secret.
"My... my son" answered the Magna Defender, gripping his sword tightly as the memory of his son flashed before his eyes. "I swore I'd avenge him... at any coast"
"Sounds like you might have a regret in that statement" comment Karone, noticing the gap in his sentence.
"I had to do something I wasn't proud off" admitted the Magna Defender. Before either of them could continue, Karone's morpher beeped and both of them looked to the device on her wrist. Pressing some of the buttons on her morpher, Karone discovered it was a distress signal from her friends.
"My friends are in trouble" said Karone, looking to the Magna Defender. Turning to leave, he took two steps before stopping as Karone called out to him. "Please" he didn't turn to face her, but stopped to listen. "They're my friends. Will you help me?" she asked, but he didn't answer for quite awhile. Eventually though he turned to look at her and nodded.
"But this is a onetime deal. After this the only thing I'm required to do is kill you if Astronema comes back" said the Magna Defender with a pointing finger, to which Karone smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Where is she?" snarled the Wisewizard as he grabbed Damon by the shirt and pulled him towards his face. The Wisewizard's Sting Wingers had been searching for nearly an hour and had found no sign of the sixth Ranger, this was causing the Wisewizard to worry. The longer the sixth Ranger remained hidden the better chance she'd show up and save her friends.
"I don't know?" answered Damon, the Wisewizard throwing him back down to the ground with force and moving on to Maya who sat next to him. Grabbing her in the same fashion as he had Damon he asked the same question.
"Where is she?" to which Maya spat back in his face. Releasing her and stepping back, Maya went to attack the monster but was quickly grabbed and pulled back by two Sting Wingers. "You stupid girl" growled the Wisewizard as he punched her in the chest, the Sting Wingers letting go and allowing her to fall to the ground.
"Maya!" exclaimed her friends in horror at her friends poor treatment.
"Shut up!" snapped the Wisewizard at the Rangers.
"Why don't you make me" retorted Leo, quickly silenced by a Sting Winger whacking him on the back of the head.
"I could destroy you here and now if I wanted to!"
"Then why not take of the cuffs and fight me!" shouted Leo as he got up, instantly being pushed back down by the Sting Wingers behind him.
"You clearly don't know who you're talking to. I'm in charge and if I want you dead then you Die!" shouted the Wisewizard, leaning into Leo's face. Taking a step back he nodded to the two Sting Wingers behind him and both grabbed Leo forcing him up to his feet. Pushing him along towards a large rock they stretched him out by pulling his arms in opposite directions, after untying him. Quickly the Wisewizard jotted something down on his notepad and then ripped out two pages. Throwing one at each of Leo's wrists, the paper stuck to his wrist acting like binding restraints against the rock. Tugging at his wrists, Leo found the paper to be stronger than steel and was unable to move from the rock he'd been tied up against.
As the two Sting Wingers left Leo's side, the Wisewizard scribbled something on his notepad again. Again ripping off two pages, he threw one to the side and everyone watched as it exploded in the air as it hit the ground. Gasping as they watched the explosion, the other Rangers watched as the Wisewizard held out the second piece of paper towards Leo. "And I want you dead, so you die" snarled the Wisewizard with a sly grin at Leo who tried to break free of the bindings, frantically trying to escape his impending demise.
The other Rangers try to get up and stop the Wisewizard, screaming at him to stop, but the Sting Wingers hold them back while the Wisewizard tauntingly aims his piece of paper at Leo. Slowly moving his hand back and forth, flecking his wrist, he finally lifts his hand back and throws the page through the air straight at Leo. Cutting through the air with his friends' screams behind it, Leo closed his eyes as the paper approached only for his ears to then fill with the sound of a laser blast.
Opening his eyes he found a small smock cloud dispersing in front of him. Someone had shot the paper out of the air just before it could hit him. "What?!" shouted the Wisewizard in annoyance as he looked around for Leo's saviour.
But it was Kendrix who spotted him first, shouting as she pointed up towards hill ahead of them. Everyone turned and looked to see the Magna Defender at the top of the hill with his blaster in hand, giving it a pump as he reloaded and aimed it down towards the Sting Wingers. Firing off several shots, he took out the Sting Wingers surrounding the four Rangers without harming them. "NO!" shrieked the Wisewizard as he wrote something else down and ripped out the page. "Take this!" he shouts throwing the paper towards the vulnerable Rangers, but before it could connect it exploded in the air after being hit by a purple feather. Looking over the Wisewizard saw the Karone had appeared nearby in her purple Ranger suit with her saber out. Swiping forwards, the Wisewizard stumbled backwards to avoid the attack and fell onto his back.
"You know for a 'Wise' wizard, you're not that smart are you?" mocked Karone as she balanced the blade of her weapon on her shoulder, watching as the monster before her scurried along the ground away from her.
Skidding down the hill towards Leo, the Magna Defender watched as the four other Rangers dodged incoming Sting Winger attacks while Karone attacked the Wisewizard. The Phoenix Ranger was too preoccupied with the main monster to notice that her friends were defenceless against the Sting Wingers as their arms were still tied behind their backs and they couldn't morph. Rushing to Leo, he pulled his sword out the back of his blaster and sliced the restraints off Leo's wrists and freed the young man.
"Thanks" said Leo as he rubbed his wrists.
"No time, come on" ordered the Magna Defender, leading Leo towards his friends to help them against the Sting Wingers.
Meanwhile the Wisewizard was now back on his feet and fighting Karone, throwing his notes at her as quickly as he could write them, which turned out to be very fast. His hands moved along in a blur as he wrote the note, ripped it out, and threw it at Karone all before starting again and doing the whole process three times in a second. Flipping to the side in cartwheel form, Karone continued on doing three full rotations in ordered to avoid the explosive paper being thrown at her.
Coming to a stop she was hit in the chest with a piece of paper knocking her to the floor. Spotting two more pieces coming her way, Karone rolled over, pushed herself up and pulled out a set of Phoenix feather to counter the notes heading towards her. Throwing the feathers, they collided in the air with the paper causing a smock cloud to form in between Karone and the Wisewizard. Continuing to throw paper into the smock, the Wisewizard didn't let up. It then came as a shock to him when Karone came through the cloud, lunging forwards with her saber and only just missing him as he jumped back to avoid the attack. Throwing up another note as Karone swung her saber, her blade caught the note and sent her skidding back as it released a pulse wave. Next thing she knew two more notes came her way and she only just managed to avoid them with a skill full jump and roll in the air. This monster was starting to prove more difficult than she'd expected him to be.
Back with Leo and the Magna Defender, the two were charging through the group of Sting Wingers to get to the other Rangers. As the Magna Defender sliced through the bug like warriors, Leo got a head and leaped over the rest to get to his friends. Heading for Kai first, the Blue Ranger turned his back to Leo who ripped of the ropes binding him before the two got to work free the rest of the team. All while the Magna Defender finished off the Sting Wingers that had know lost focus on the Rangers and turned on the black warrior that was defeating them with ease.
With the last of the Sting Wingers having fallen to the Magna Defender's Karone was about ready to finish of the Wisewizard, dodging another note that was heading her way. Then suddenly the paper stopped coming and Karone looked to her opponent to find that he was out of ammo. He'd used up all the paper in his notebook and had nothing left to throw at Karone.
Sauntering up to the Wisewizard, twirling her sword as she walked, Karone couldn't help but grin behind her visor. It had been all too easy to defeat this guy, all she had had to do was wait him out until he ran out of paper. Karone had been joking when she referred to him being stupid, but it was starting to look like he really was.
"No please!" begged the Wisewizard as Karone approached.
"Say good night" said Karone, lifting her saber over her shoulder and getting ready to finish him off. But then she froze. Thoughts suddenly racing through her head as everything around her then froze in turn, like time it's self was stopping and the only thing that was moving was her mind. What if this was what Astronema wanted her to do? What if every time she killed, whether it was good or bad, she gave Astronema more power. A greater chance of taking over and controlling. Beginning to question every decision she'd made since arriving on Terra Venture, she didn't notice that the Wisewizard was making a run.
Snapping from her thoughts, she came back to her senses and pulled out a Phoenix feather, ready to finish him off with that. But then she began questioning herself again when she spotted Astronema lurking out the corner of her eye.
"Go on. You know he has to die" said Astronema who stood at her side with a sly grin, knowing that whatever Karone did, she'd win in some way. "He hurt your friends, he deserves the same fate as Furio" said Astronema, gasping as she mentioned Furio and covering her mouth in an embarrassed like fashion. "Oh sorry. I know that's still a sensitive issue for you" teased the purple haired witch. Karone was running out of time, the Wisewizard was getting out of range and soon she'd lose him. "Just think about it" continued Astronema, leaning in closely, "All the people he'll kill just because you let him go. Then again it might not be as many as I'd kill if I got out, but still, all those deaths will be on you're hands. You could have stopped him, saved little Timmy or Lucy or whoever it is he-" suddenly stopping at the sound of laser fire, Karone and Astronema looked over to see that the Magna Defender had fired his blaster. He'd shot the Wisewizard and destroyed him.
"Damn... why'd he have to ruin the fun" moaned Astronema as she faded away from Karone's view.
"Why'd you do that? Karone had him in her sights?" asked Leo from beside the Magna Defender. The black armoured warrior turned to Karone, whose Ranger suit faded away in a flash of purple. He knew, he knew that she'd hesitated even if her friends didn't.
"She was taking to long" lied the Magna Defender turning back to Leo before marching off past Karone.
"Thank you" said Karone as he passed.
"Don't let it happen again" snapped back the Magna Defender in a low voice so the other Rangers didn't hear him. Continuing on, he vanished from sight over the hill, leaving the five Rangers and Karone alone.
Turning to her friends, she didn't know what to do. Should she go over and talk or just leave? Eventually she got her answer when Leo took a step towards her and she instantly took a step back. Then and there she and the others knew she wasn't ready to return to them.
"Karone-" started Leo.
"-I'm sorry" interrupted Karone, cutting him off. "But I'm not ready to come back. Some things happened while I was away and... I just can't come back to you guys yet" said Karone turning to leave. Taking a few steps away from her friends she stopped when she heard Leo's voice.
"We'll wait" he said and Karone felt herself begin to choke up. Not wanting to seem weak in front of her friends, she continued on in the direction of the Magna Defender before vanishing from the Rangers sights.
Unknown to them Astronema was standing in front of them as Karone walked up the hill.
"Don't worry Rangers. She'll be back soon, and when she comes back... That's when the fun begins" said Astronema as he face light up with all the evil plans she had in store for the Rangers and Karone.