Chapter 21 – Silver
Previously - "Don't worry I brought some protection with me", she reached into her boiler suit and pulled out a silver and black cell phone.
Andros sat upright, something he instantly regretted due to the severe pain in his chest, "Where did you get that?"
"Doesn't matter, it'll save your lives", Karone replied.
"Ah Astronema good to see you here", Darkonda smiled, "I assume you heard Dark Specter's command". Karone stood up and looked defiantly at Darkonda, "Come to say goodbye to your brother I see. Any last words for him?"
"Just two", she smiled. She held the cell phone in her left hand and brought it up to her chest. To the shock of Darkonda she thrust out her right arm and called out loudly, "Let's rocket".
A flash of silver light temporarily blinded those in the immediately vicinity. Andros in particular struggled to raise his arm up to shield his eyes. When the light cleared a silver ranger stood where Karone had been a moment ago. The suit was mostly silver with gold accents around the shoulders. There were five green squares in the middle of her chest and a small skirt completed the suit.
"What is this?" Darkonda roared.
Underneath her helmet Karone smirked, "You're worst nightmare Darkonda". Charging at the bounty hunter, Karone unleashed a flurry of kicks. Darkonda blocked most of them but one roundhouse kick caught him in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. Ecliptor jumped into the battle, hitting Karone in the stomach with a strong kick. The silver ranger backed away in defence, reluctant to fight against the person who protected her as a child. "Ecliptor please, it doesn't have to be like this", she pleaded but this fell on deaf ears. Ecliptor tried to grab her but Karone slipped out of his grasp, kicking him in the back.
Darkonda was back on his feet and he was furious. With an animalistic roar he unleashed a vicious punch combo that Karone struggled to repel. One of the punches caught her on the side of the head, staggering the silver ranger. Darkonda sensed this opening and drove his foot into Karone ribs, sending her sprawling across the dirt.
"Karone you're outmatched, we need to retreat", Andros croaked.
"It's not over yet brother", his twin replied as he got to her feet, "Super Silverizer, Blaster Mode", she called. A brace appeared around her right wrist and at the end was a blaster. Firing the weapon, a torrent of silver energy was unleashed on the villainous duo. Darkonda was able to deflect the blasts with his sword but not Ecliptor. He was hit directly in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
Growling in frustration, Darkonda charged up his sword and unleashed an energy blast of his own at the silver ranger. Most of the blasts missed Karone but that was Darkonda's intention. He used the distraction to charge towards Karone, catching her in the chest with his sword. She cried in pain and sunk down to one knee. Darkonda swung his sword again but the silver ranger rolled out of the way. Unfortunately she had forgotten about Ecliptor and the creature grabbed her around the chest, pinning her arms in place.
"I think you're more trouble than you're worth", Darkonda groaned. He placed the tip of his sword under Karone's chin and tilted her helmet toward his face, "Dark Specter did say that he wanted the rangers killed and since you're now a ranger", he gave Karone a vicious smile. He raised the sword above his head and Karone prepared for the killing blow.
Suddenly a blast of laser fire knocked the sword from his hand. Everyone searched for the source of the blast and they were amazed to see Andros on his feet with a blaster in hand. He fired again at Ecliptor arms, causing the creature to loosen his grip on Karone. She elbowed him in the ribs and placed the barrel of her blaster into his stomach and pulled the trigger. Ecliptor sailed through the air and crashed to the ground, completely motionless.
Darkonda's gaze shifted between the Karovian siblings, "I curse the day I ever came to your planet", he growled.
"So do I Darkonda", Karone spat back, "Silver Silverizer, Blade Mode", she called. Out of the end of her blaster, a long blue blade appeared. Karone charged the blade up and brought it down across the chest of the bounty hunter. He collapsed to his knees and looked up to see the silver ranger standing over him, "Take this message to Dark Specter; I am not his property, not anymore. I've made it my personal mission to bring his Alliance crashing down around his rocky ears".
"Dark Specter will not cower from the likes of you or your ranger friends", Darkonda spat.
"Perhaps he should", Karone said simply. Mirroring the attack that Darkonda used on her brother, Karone swung her Silverizer upwards and sliced through Darkonda's chest and head. The bounty hunter crumpled to the ground, his head separate from his shoulders,. The two pieces of his body burst into flames, another one of his lives were gone.
A cry of pain caught Karone's attention and she ran over to her brother. He had collapsed to his knees and was coughing up blood. The silver ranger looked over the other rangers, they too were in a bad way. She pulled out the Digimorpher, "DECA, six to teleport directly to sick bay", she said to the ships computer. In a flash of light the rangers were teleported back to their waiting ship.
Astro Megaship
A day had passed since the incident on Polaris 7 and the injured rangers were all on the road back to fitness. TJ and Ashley had suffered concussions from Dark Specter's knockout attack and they would be restricted to light duties for a couple of days. Carlos had fractured his left wrist and Cassie had sustained severe bruising on her upper body. Fortunately accelerated ranger healing would take care of those injuries within a day or so. Andros had suffered to most severe injuries out of all of them. Darkonda's attack had broken three of his ribs and punctured a lung. Even with ranger healing he would be out of commission of a least a week.
The red ranger though wasn't a person who followed doctor orders that well. Deciding that a day in bed was sufficient enough rest, he discharged himself from sick bay. He pulled on his top, trying to ignore the great physical discomfort he was in. The jacket of his uniform was proving to be a challenge too far so he settled for draping it over a shoulder.
He shuffled through the Megaship, cradling his injured ribs with his arm, searching for the other rangers and his sister. None of them were in their quarters, the cargo bay or the Simudeck. After finding no one on the bridge, he theorised that they were in the galley. Sure enough Andros found them sitting around the table with a light meal in front of them. The others looked at him with a hint of confusion, although they didn't help him into a seat.
Gently lowering himself into a chair, he noticed that everyone was still looking at him, "I know what you're thinking", he stated.
"That you should be in bed like Alpha instructed", Ashley replied.
"Well yes", Andros began, "but you're also wondering why I didn't tell you about the Digimorpher".
"It had crossed our minds", TJ stated flatly.
Andros groaned as he lent forwards, "The silver powers are arguably the most powerful ever created by Zordon. They belong to my best friend Zhane, he had a background in the Karovian military and he was chosen to use them by the Karovian High Council".
"What happened to him?" Cassie asked.
"I don't know", Andros shrugged, "during the attack on KO-35 he wasn't able to retrieve his morpher so it remained on the Megaship". He paused to catch his breath, "His name wasn't listed on the KO-35 casualty list so I don't believe he's dead but I haven't heard from him since that day".
"When we were choosing our morphers, why wasn't it offered to us?" Carlos asked, "there were six of us there and technically six morphers available".
"Remember how I wasn't sure if your morphers would accept you as they were designed for Karovian use", the others nodded, "the Digimorpher can only be used by a Karovian due to its power. If it was given to one of you or to Charlotte, it probably would've caused irreversible damage".
The others took a few moments to absorb this information before TJ spoke, "So what happens now, does Karone get to keep the morpher?"
"No offence to you sister, I mean we can see that's she's not evil anymore, but I'm not comfortable with her using the most powerful morpher in existence", Carlos added.
Andros sighed, "I don't know, I need to discuss this with her", he looked around, "where is she anyway". The others shrugged as they hadn't seen her since they were discharged from sick bay.
The sounds of footsteps from outside the galley got their attention, "Hey guys", Karone smiled, "I've finally chosen my new outfit". She was wearing a pair of leather trousers with a pair of black knee high boots tucked into them. Her outfit was completed by a silvery grey vest top and a couple of silver bracelets. "Plus I thought if I'm going to be part of the team, I needed to look the part", she flashed them a black jacket that was similar in design to their space ranger uniforms.
The other rangers muttered under their breath and gave Andros a look, "Karone we need to talk about the morpher".
Her expression changed was one of delight to confusion, "I don't understand, I saved your lives".
Andros sighed, "The morpher doesn't belong to you", he began, "you don't have to the proper training to use it".
"Neither did everyone else", she pointed at the rangers from Earth.
"But they were rangers before", Andros defended his decision.
Karone nodded a couple of times, "I get it, you still don't trust me", she threw her jacket to the floor, "that's the last time I help any of you", she turned and stomped off away down the corridor.
Andros groaned and it wasn't from the pain in his ribs, "That went well", he said, he struggled to get up from his chair.
"Andros I think you should give her a few minutes", Ashley suggested.
"Don't worry, it'll take me that long to get up from this chair", he groaned. He slowly dragged himself up from his seat and set off after his sister.
Karone had made her way to the Simudeck and asked DECA to give her a relaxing environment. She found herself in the middle of a deserted park on a bright sunny day. Flopping to the ground, she stared up at the sky. After reflecting for a few minutes, she regretted stomping off away from the others. That was probably all the confirmation they needed that she wasn't ready to be a ranger. She finally felt that the others trusted her but it was still a sensitive issue for her. She was idly playing with the Digimorpher when she felt someone standing over her, "Mind if I sit down", her brother stated.
"It's your ship", she replied, Andros struggled for a few moments until Karone took pity on him and helped him down.
"Do you know where this is", he indicted to the park. Karone shook her head, "This is the park from our old neighbourhood on KO-35".
Karone took a closer look, "I thought this place was familiar", she squinted and spotted their old home in the distance.
"This was the last place I was happy", Andros began, "until I found you that was".
Karone snorted, "You tried to kill me if I recall".
"Yeah well, you started it", Andros smiled but Karone looked uncomfortably at the ground, "sorry it's probably too soon to be joking about that", Karone looked up and gave him a small smile.
The siblings sat in silence for a few moments until Karone spoke up, "Why don't you want me to be a ranger?"
He sighed, "I was being honest, that morpher doesn't belong to you", he paused for a couple of moments, "but since Zhane hasn't been seen for two years, I guess that's irrelevant. The truth is, I don't want to lose you again".
She grasped his hands, "Andros, nothing's going to happen to me".
"But it could", he replied, "today was probably the closest any of us came to dying", he took a deep breath, "I'm scared of losing any of you". Andros' affection for the other rangers had grown since they left Earth, he had come to view them as his new family.
"I can't promise that nothing will happen to us", Karone began, "but we've got a better chance with six rangers".
Andros thought about this for a few moments, "Alright", he replied. Karone squealed with delight and through her arms around her brother. Andros yelped in pain, causing Karone to instantly release him, "It's fine", he said as Karone apologised. "I'm not going to go easy on you during training", he continued, "I expect you to be ready at 0600 tomorrow". He reached behind his back and pulled out the jacket that Karone had dropped in the galley, "You'll need this, the Space Rangers need to be smartly dressed".
She nodded, "I won't let you down Andros", she helped her brother up and gave him a gentler hug. The Space Rangers now had a new member and Karone had sealed her position on the light side. With the injury suffered by Ecliptor and the loss of another of Darkonda's lives, Dark Specter had been dealt another blow.
Office of the Karovian High Chancellor
Since the evacuation of KO-35, the Karovian people had been on the run. Reduced to nomads they constantly moved around due to the fear of further attacks from Dark Specter. The ruling council tried their best to keep control of the population but the truth was that they had been struggling for the last two years. That was until the election of a new council and a new High Chancellor a few months ago. The Chancellor was young, vibrant and most importantly, he had a background in the military.
Today the Chancellor was in his office overlooking the tunnels of the Karovian's new temporary home. He wasn't pleased with this latest location, he felt that it reduced his people to nothing more than rats hiding from the world. But the council assured him that Dark Specter wouldn't be able to find them here. His office was dark and sparsely decorated but he did have a picture of his family, sadly lost during the battle of KO-35, and a picture of his best friend.
The Chancellor was looked at this picture when one of his aides entered his office, "Sorry to disturb you High Chancellor but I thought you would want to know about this", the aide handed him a piece of paper and left the office.
The Chancellor smiled as he read the message, "So the Digimorpher had been activated", he said, "that means that Andros must've found another Karovian out there". The light from a florescent tube caught his platinum blonde hair, making it gleam in the dull office, "I think I need to meet these rangers", he continued, "after all I need to find out who's taken my morpher", High Chancellor Zhane smiled. He sat behind his desk and began typing a written summons to the Astro Megaship.
A/N – So there is the ever elusive Zhane, we'll see more of him in the next couple of chapters. It was always my intention to have Karone as a ranger in this series. Initially I planned to have her a seventh ranger but I got bogged down in trying to invent powers and zords that fitted with the others. Then I saw an episode of Gokaiger where one of the ladies turns into MegaSilver and everything snowballed from there. Karone had been acting a bit bratting in the last few chapters, some of the "Princess" is still lingering in her personality. Maybe the new responsibily will help to wash that away.
In other news, I finished writing "The Final Frontier" today so I can confirm that it will run for 39 chapters, making it my longest story to date. I got into a zone writing the final battle and I practically wrote all the chapters in one sitting. Hopefully you'll read it and think its as suitably epic as I do.