Chapter 21: Fire with Fire

Astronema smiled as she walked around the monster. "Give me the powers," she ordered. The monster opened it's mouth and a red orb sat inside. The Princess of Darkness sneered as she reached inside and pulled the orb out. "Ah! Perfect," she commented with a grin.

"What will you do with the powers my princess?" Ecliptor asked.

"That's fairly simple, Ecliptor, fight fire with fire," she answered.

Astronema walked around with the orb in her hand. "You see, as long as I hold the orb, I have control of the powers. I can easily defeat the Rangers," she explained. A smile came across her face as she sat down. "And the more powers I use, the more energy is drained, and the less chance that the Red Ranger will come out of this alive," she added.

(Megaship 3:50 AM)

Zhane walked around the Megaship to check on Andros when he saw someone on the bridge. He walked in and saw his sister trying to find the Dark Fortress. "Ashley, what are you doing?" He asked.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" She asked.

Zhane sighed. "I swear you're becoming more like Andros every second you spend with him," he commented.

"A little hard now since he's dying," she answered.

"What are you talking about? He's not dying," Zhane insisted.

She stood up. "Don't you dare sit there and try to lie to me! I know how to read statuses on the human body!" She snapped. Just then, they heard alarms going off in the infirmary. "Oh God!" She gasped.

They ran into the infirmary. "Ashley, there's a medical took that's almost shaped like a gun can you give that to me?" He asked. Ashley ran over and found it.

"What's this going to do?" She asked.

"His heart stopped, hopefully this'll jump start it again," he answered.

"Hopefully?" She asked.

Zhane tore Andros' sleeve and injected whatever was in the medical gun into his arm. Ashley looked up and let out a sigh of relief when she saw his heart beating again. "Thank God," she sobbed. She held his hand. She looked at Zhane. "Why is this effecting him more than it did me?" She asked.

"I already told you why, it's because his life energy melded with his powers. His powers are part of his life force now," he answered.

"So…if we don't get the powers back…he will die?" She asked.

Zhane sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Yeah," he answered. Ashley shook her head and placed her hands on Andros' face.

"Andros, you have to fight okay? You need to fight this," she insisted.

Only the sounds of the machines answered her.

(Later that Afternoon)

Ashley was in the simudeck playing with Selena when the alarms went off. "Astronema is attacking Angel Grove," DECA informed.

"Sweetie, stay here with Alpha," she instructed.

Selena nodded and watched as she ran down the hall.

(Angel Grove)

Astronema watched with a sneer as the Quantrons attacked the civilians. "HEY! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Ashley shouted. Astronema turned around with a smile.

"Oh, look at this, five little Rangers, but aren't you missing one?" She asked with a sneer.

Zhane placed his hand on Ashley's shoulder. "Give him his powers back!" Ashley demanded.

"Now why would I do something like that…when I have more use for them?" She asked.

They saw the red orb on her belt. "No!" Zhane gasped.

"Oh yes, you know what this means, Silver Ranger," she laughed

She held her staff up, aiming it at Cassie. "CASSIE!" TJ shouted, pushing her down. A red energy ball left her staff and barely missed Cassie, destroying the tree behind them. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," she answered.

Astronema laughed as she aimed her staff at Ashley. "STAR SLINGER!" Ashley shouted. She fired, but then Astronema's powers hit Ashley's powers, causing a huge explosion. Ashley cried out as she hit the ground. Carlos charged at Astronema, but was defeated easily.

"GUYS NO! WE HAVE TO RETREAT!" Zhane shouted.

He helped them up and they went back to the Megaship.

(Megaship)

TJ pulled off his helmet. "What was all that?" TJ asked. Zhane set his helmet on the console.

"We can't fight her," he answered.

"Why not?" Carlos asked.

"Didn't you see the orb on her belt? Those are Andros' powers! His powers and life energy!" He exclaimed.

They were quiet. "Don't you get it? With her fighting Andros' powers against us is deadly! Our suits don't even protect us! One fatal blow and that's it," he explained. Ashley sat down with her head in her hands. "The worse part is, the more powers she uses, the more fades and the less chance we have of saving Andros," he added. Tears pressed hard against Ashley's eyes.

"So…how can we get them back?" Carlos asked.

Zhane sighed and leaned against the console. "We have to find a way," he answered. He watched as Ashley went to the infirmary. "We have to," he added.

(Infirmary)

Ashley sat next to Andros' still form, holding his hand. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you can. Astronema's using your powers against us, Andros. I know that you're going to die without your pwers and I know why you gave them up anyways…" she trailed off. Tears fell down her face. "But I need you…you can't leave me yet, not now, not after all this time of trying to find you," she sobbed. She pressed her forehead against the side of his head. "You can't leave me yet, we're supposed to be old and can hardly move when dying happens," she whispered. She placed her hand over the bracelet she gave him. "Selena needs you yet…she needs her father," she added. She placed a kiss on his lips. "I need you,' she whispered.

Later that evening, Ashley was sitting at the table after giving Selena her dinner. She was pushing he food around on her plate, she wasn't able to eat during the past few days since Andros fell into his coma. She played with the necklace around her neck and closed her eyes. Zhane sighed as he placed his hands on his sister's shoulders. "Ashley, it's getting late," he told her.

"I'm not tired," she murmured.

"You haven't slept in three days," he answered.

"Zhane, I'm not tired," she insisted, getting up.

Zhane sighed as he reached into his jacket, pulling out a sedative. "Sorry, but I need to do this," he told her.

"Wha--" she started.

Zhane gave her the sedative. "Zhane what the hell!?" She exclaimed. Zhane watched as the sedative took affect and caught Ashley before she fell to the floor. He sighed as he carried her out of the mess hall and into her room.

Selena was in her bunk when she saw Zhane carry her mom in. "Is mommy okay?" She asked.

"She'll be fine, she just needs to sleep," he answered.

He placed Ashley in her bunk and covered her up. He kissed his niece's forehead before leaving the room.