Chapter 21: Weekend Visit II

They were back at the Power Chamber, Ashley rushed over to the computer and started scanning for Tommy. Kimberly was standing behind her. "Anything?" she asked worriedly. Ashley was silent for a few more minutes, but then she shook her head.

"He's…not here," she signed.

"Do a global search," Kimberly insisted.

Ashley turned around and gripped her sister's shoulders. Kimberly stared her quizzically and the younger girl shook her head. "Kimberly…he's not HERE," she signed, then showed her the Earth on the main viewing screen. Kimberly's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"Then where the hell is he?" Jason asked.

"I am working on it," Ashley signed.

She turned back to the computer and started working on trying to find Tommy's signal. Kimberly stood there anxiously, biting her lower lip when Jason walked up behind her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "We'll find him," Jason assured her. She nodded, gripping his hand tightly with a nervous sigh. "He'll be okay," he added.

Ashley frowned as she was searching for his signal, shaking her head slowly. She looked over at Zordon. "He could be anywhere," she signed to him.

"You can't lock onto his communicator?" Kat asked.

Ashley shook her head. "It's possible whatever source of energy that teleported him off Earth is blocking his communicator's signal," she signed.

"So what do we do?" Tanya asked.

Ashley was thinking about it. "I have an idea," she signed as she walked over to a box that was sitting over on one of the tables with other pieces of technology Ashley had been working on. She opened it and pulled out what looked like a scanner of some sort. "Perhaps, the energy left some sort of residual trail. If it had, then you can pick it up with this," she explained, holding up the scanner.

"What you pick up you can bring back here and we can feed it into the computer to find where they took Tommy," Zordon put in.

Ashley held up the scanner to Jason. Jason took it, but then he handed it over to Kat. "We'll be back," he told the team before they teleported out of the Power Chamber. Ashley looked back at the computer, letting out a heavy sigh as she looked over at her sister. Kimberly walked over and Ashley gripped her hand tightly with a reassuring smile. "Well, at least I can see the new Power Chamber," Kimberly commented, "I was just hoping to see it during better circumstances."

"Well, we are happy to see you, Kimberly," Alpha said happily.

Kimberly smiled, resting her hand on Alpha's shoulder. "Ashley and Billy worked really hard to putting the Power Chamber back together, you should be very proud," Zordon put in. The former Pink Ranger smiled at her younger sister.

"I always am," she replied, making Ashley smile.

When Jason and Kat returned, Ashley stared at her completely destroyed scanner. "Cogs ambushed us in the middle of scanning," Kat explained as she placed the pieces on the table.

"Can you get it back together?" Jason asked.

Ashley started examining the pieces of the scanner. "It will take time, but I can," she signed to them. Kimberly sighed in relief, but then the alarms began to blare. The main viewing screen showed that the Machine Empire had sent another monster down and was attacking Tommy's uncle.

"Alpha, send the other Rangers to the beach," Jason instructed the robot.

Then he looked back at Ashley. "Don't worry, I've got this," Ashley signed reassuringly before going right back to work.

"Be careful," Kimberly told Jason and Kat.

The two of them nodded. "Back to action!" Jason called out before they were teleported out of the Power Chamber again.

Rushing over to her tool chest, Ashley searched through what she had before she found what she was looking for. Grabbing a rolling chair that she had at one point brought for herself, Ashley immediately sat down before she took her feet and kicked off one of the computer consoles back over to the table. "Can you fix it?" Kimberly asked nervously.

"As long as nothing is cracked or any of the pieces are missing," Ashley signed before she went back to work.

Kimberly looked back at the main viewing screen as the team fought the monster. She hated this, being on the sidelines than being right there to help them. She felt so helpless with Ashley working on her scanner and the others were out there fighting. "Everything will be okay, Kimberly," Alpha reassured her.

"I know," Kimberly replied, "But I can't help but worry."

Ashley hissed a little when she cut her finger on one of the broken wires. She cursed in her mind as she checked the injury. This was more damaged than she had expected it to be and it was frustrating. Damn those cogs! She cursed under her breath, but then she had an idea. She swung around on her chair, looking at Kimberly. "Do you know where Trini is?" she signed.

"She's at the mall picking up a few things…" Kimberly replied slowly.

She saw the idea on her sister's face. "I'll go get her," she answered. Alpha teleported Kimberly out of the Power Chamber and Ashley turned around to get back to work.

When Trini arrived, the team had to return after the monster had released a toxin on them. Ashley got up from her seat as Trini was examining the broken pieces to the scanner. "How is it coming?" Kat asked.

"Slowly," Ashley signed, "We'll get it working again."

Jason nodded and Ashley gripped his hand reassuringly. "Ashley," Trini called to her. Ashley rushed over to Trini's side. "We're missing a piece right here that would be at the top to hold everything together," she informed the younger girl.

"It must still be at the beach," Ashley signed.

She walked over to Alpha. "Alpha, you need to send me over there," she signed to the robot.

"Just be careful, Ashley, it's really dangerous over there," Alpha insisted.

Ashley nodded in understanding. "We're coming with you," Kimberly told her.

"We've got you guys covered," Adam assured them.

"Just be careful, all of you," Ashley signed to them.

"Same to you," Rocky answered.

Alpha teleported Ashley, Kimberly, and Trini out of the Power Chamber.

Now that they were back at the beach, Ashley immediately started searching the sand. It could literally be anywhere. She had to walk in the same area that Kat was fighting the cogs and started searching the sand by hand. Trini and Kimberly were searching the sand when they heard laughter behind them. "Looking for this?" Prince Gasket asked, holding up the piece from the scanner they needed. Ashley stood up and glared at him. "Cat got your tongue little girl?" Prince Gasket taunted her.

"How about we just stop with the back and forth insults and just give that back?" Kimberly suggested.

"You and what army?" Prince Gasket asked as cogs appeared.

The cogs surrounded the girls, forcing them to go back to back together. "Well, this is like old times," Trini commented.

"No kidding," Kimberly replied.

Ashley ducked when a cog took the first swing at the head. Another cog grabbed Ashley from behind, but Ashley easily elbowed it in the stomach before she turned around and did a jump front kick right into its chin. The cob stumbled and Ashley rolled across its back, kicking another cog in the stomach.

Kimberly did a series of back flips before she landed on her feet with grace, punching a cog in the chest. She turned to Ashley to see that she was blocking a series of punches at her head with ease, then she ducked again before she grabbed one cog by the midsection, throwing it over her shoulder. Trini did a roundhouse kick right into a cog's head, then when she was grabbed from behind by two of them, she did two flips before slamming their heads together, forcing them to release her.

Kimberly reached for Ashley's hand. Ashley easily grabbed her sister's forearm, allowing Kimberly to pull her off her feet and she kicked out slamming her heels into several cogs' head, sending them to the ground. Releasing Kimberly's arms, she let herself roll across the sand but then jumped to her feet as she was side by side with Trini. Ashley leaned forward and Trini rolled across her back with ease, throwing a side kick into another cog's back. Ashley did a back flip when a cog tried to kick her feet out from underneath her.

Soon, all the cogs were defeated and they looked over at the now terrified Prince. Ashley looked over at Kimberly and Trini then at Prince Gasket. "Cover me!" she signed to them. They nodded in agreement before following Ashley's lead.

Ashley ran straight for the Machine Empire's Prince, forcing him to retreat. "What I wouldn't give to morph right now," she could hear Trini say.

Seeing they were going downhill and the Prince was stumbling, Ashley had an idea and she started running after him. "Ashley!" Kimberly called to her sister. Using the momentum from running, Ashley let out a shout as she jumped and grabbed Gasket around his neck, sending them both rolling across the ground.

Ending up on top, Ashley saw he had dropped the piece and Trini immediately grabbed it off the ground. "Where is he?" Kimberly demanded, standing over the Prince. Prince Gasket only laughed at her.

"That is for me to know and you to find out," he replied cackling before disappearing.

"NO!" Kimberly shouted.

Ashley stood up from the ground, breathless from the fight. "We need to get back, maybe we can use his energy trail to find where he went," Trini suggested. They nodded and they ran back towards the Power Chamber.

They were able to repair the scanner, giving it to Kat and Jason to retrieve the energy trails. When they returned, Ashley immediately put them in the computer. "I'm getting something," she signed to them. Kimberly waited nervously as Jason stood beside her, wrapping his arm comfortingly around her shoulders.

"She's found him!" Alpha announced.

"Where is he?" Kimberly asked.

Trini was looking at the screen and frowned. "He's in another dimension," she replied. Ashley was trying to gather the coordinates to the dimension when she noticed something troubling. She gestured for Alpha to read them and the robot gasped.

"Ai, yi, yi! Tommy's mind is being altered!" he exclaimed.

"What does that even mean?" Kimberly asked.

"The Machine Empire has to be brainwashing him," Ashley signed.

"Can you find where he is so…" Kimberly started to say.

Jason saw the computer start to spark. "Ashley!" he called to her. Immediately, his arm wrapped around the younger girl, pulling her back as she let out a scream when the entire computer burst into sparks and flames. He covered her head waiting for the sparks to stop. Once they were done, he released her and Ashley looked at the destroyed console.

"No!" Kimberly gasped.

"Now how are we going to find him?" Kat asked.

"Even if we do…we might not like who we find," Zordon replied.

Ashley looked over to her worried sister and then at the screen at where they could last locate Tommy. How could they find him now?

To Be Continued…