Disclaimer: No Rangers Here

A/N: A double update, because I didn't upload Phantom's yesterday like I meant to. Also, the ATVs are there to take the place of the Radbug. Were they acquired as claimed? Unknown. Although I do avow that they were not stolen. Also, the longest chapter of the Ashley Arc, and probably the whole thing. And if you need clarification on the Power thing, just ask, I'll try to explain it. Enjoy!


Ashley shivered as she stood in the midst of the wreckage of the Power Chamber. It was so horrible, especially since there was so little to be seen of what it had been. Beside her, Carlos had the look she so often saw when he was thinking or speaking of his father; fear, anger and stubborn determination. TJ, across from her, also looked angry and afraid, while Cassie was more afraid than anything. Justin was in shock and Ashley felt numb. Like when she had…Ashley mentally shook her head to chase those memories back. "Justin's got a good idea," Cassie said, "but I don't see why we shouldn't ask for help."

"And admit that we lost," TJ said, "Cassie, they trusted us to look after Earth. Besides, can any of them still morph?"

"The Zeo Rangers can," Justin interjected, "Adam told me that. Because of how they got the Zeo Crystal, they'll always have that option. They didn't tell anyone because they didn't want you to depend on them to always save the day."

"And," Cassie said, "They have access to ships to go to Eltare or the Sumerian Planet."

"This is our responsibility," Carlos said. "We have to be the ones to do it right."

They all looked at Ashley, "What?" She asked stupidly.

"What do you think?" TJ asked.

"I, why?" Ashley looked at them, "Why are we doing this? We failed."

"What?" TJ began.

"Ashley," Carlos said, he put his hand light on her shoulder, "are you ok?"

Hearing the question that had so often been on her lips from him broke her, with a cry, she threw herself onto Carlos as tears poured down her cheeks. Warm, comforting arms enveloped her. "I just want it to go away," she sobbed, "I don't know what to do."

After a few moments, Ashley pulled herself together, "I'm sorry," She told Carlos as she pulled away.

"It's ok," Carlos said.

"I think I got snot on your shirt," Ashley pointed out.

"Won't be the last time," Carlos said, grinning at her.

Ashley turned to look at the others, "We should change," TJ said, "we're all a mess. Then we'll decide what to do. We say nothing to everybody."

"What about Alpha?" Justin said.

Glances around the group, Ashley cleared her throat, "Alpha, we can use the bikes, but I don't think you'll fit behind somebody."

"I will walk," Alpha said.

"We can meet back at the bluffs," Carlos said, "it is secluded enough people won't notice us hanging around with a robot."

"Sounds like a plan," TJ said. "Do you know where we're speaking of, Alpha?"

"Of course I do," Alpha said. He turned, "I'll meet you there."

"Let's go," TJ said. He led the others down the side of the mountain to a large boulder that rested at the base of a cliff. Together, he and Carlos boosted Justin, Cassie and Ashley up, and then helped each other up. Crouching down, TJ cleared a handle set in the stone and they all reached in to lift the trap door. It lead down and then, after a drop off, into a cavern where three dirt bikes and a four wheeler rested. These had been brought out by the teens after the teleportation system had gone down once and they had been forced to walk back across the desert. Picked up by TJ and Carlos at a salvage yard, they had worked with Justin to get them working, and painted. TJ, Carlos and Cassie took the bikes, settling their protective gear as Ashley and Justin doubled on the four wheeler. Justin had wanted his own bike, but had been voted down after a rather heated debate.

They mounted up as the solar powered, hidden entrance opened and started their rides up moments later.

TRARTRAR

A crash brought Ashley out of her thoughts, spinning, she found Andros sprawled in her door way. "Oops," Mike said, he stuck his head around the door, "Ashley? Hi! What are you doing here?"

"Just, getting the last of my stuff," Ashley said, standing and walking over to offer Andros her hand, "What happened?"

"I may have kicked him," Mike said.

"Either that," Andros said as he stood, "or I just got run over by a Galaxy Glider."

"One time," Ashley said, "and you never let me live it down."

"Why should I?" Andros said. "You had all of space, and you had to hit me!"

"It was an accident," Ashley replied. She turned to Mike, "Are Mom and Dad home?"

"Not yet," Mike said, "are you not talking to them?"

"I'm not fighting with them," Ashley corrected him. "I don't think they ever recovered from finding out I was a Ranger."

"I don't think they really believed it," Mike said, "not until the Battle." He pointed, "What's that?"

Ashley looked down at her Turbo morpher and blinked, "My Turbo morpher," she said, holding out her hand. "It's powerless; but I'm not even sure what I did with the key anyways."

"Cool," Mike said, he picked it up, "looks like it's been through a war or something." He paused, and flinched, "Sorry."

"That's ok," Ashley said, she turned to Andros, "and why are you here?"

"Avoiding the comm.," Andros replied promptly.

"And who is calling that you don't want to speak to?" Ashley probed.

"Nobody," Andros said. "Need any help?"

"I just need to check the closet and under the bed," Ashley said, "but I think I've got everything."

"What's going on?" Mike asked.

Ashley flushed, "Oh, well, since Andros and I are swearing our life vows, I felt I should make sure I had everything I wanted out of here."

"What are life vows?" Mike asked.

"It's like being married," Ashley temporized, "but it's not religious."

"Why not say you're getting married?" Mike asked.

"Because Andros doesn't believe in God," Ashley said, she lifted her hand, "most of the known universe doesn't, Mike. Only places like Earth, that are isolated from Galactic Society, have religion."

"What do you believe in?" Mike asked, turning to Andros.

"The Power," Andros said, "its influence in our lives and its occasional intervention. It's not a religion, it's a belief. We do not worship the power."

"We also don't have a lot of time," Ashley pointed out, turning towards her closet, "do you mind looking under the bed and seeing what's there, Andros?"

"Not at all," Andros replied.

Within twenty minutes they had finished Ashley's room and teleported back to the Mark II, "Are TJ, Cassie and Carlos back yet," Ashley asked, tilting her head toward the deck cam.

"TJ has returned," TARAS replied, "Cassie and Carlos have not."

Ashley kissed Andros's cheek, "I'm going to go put this up," she held up her bag, "meet you in the glider bay?"

"Sounds good to me," Andros said, kissing her lightly.

Ashley walked down the hall quickly and into her and Andros's room. The lights brightened automatically as her eyes swept over the shelves that held pictures and mementos of their life. She pulled the turbo morpher from her pocket as she walked over and placed it next to her old yellow banded communicator. Beside it was a picture taken shortly after their journey into space so long ago, a time she remembered as if it had been only yesterday.

TRARTRARTRAR

The Rangers gathered at the base of the Angel Bluffs, where Alpha waited with their ATVs. "What are we going to do?" TJ asked as he checked out a boulder before settling on it.

"The first question is," Ashley said, "do we hand this mess over to the old Rangers or do we try to fix it ourselves." She was seated on the four wheeler, facing backwards towards her friends. "I don't like the idea of admitting failure, but I also don't see how we can avoid it. If we have a good option, I think we should do this ourselves." She pointed at Cassie, "What do you think?"

"I think we should let the old Rangers deal with this," Cassie said and joined TJ on his rock, "but if you guys can make a good plan for what we should do, I'll go along. We're in this together."

"Justin?" Ashley said, pointing at the youngest member of their group.

"I think we should get NASADA to let us use their shuttle, go to Eltare and get help reactivating the morphers," Justin said as he sat on one of the dirt bikes, his forearms on the handlebars; "and if not Eltare, there's Javor, and a whole bunch of places with Rangers who could help us."

"Thank you," Ashley said, "Carlos?"

"We should follow Justin's plan, but go to the Samarian Planet," Carlos said, he leaned against the tree that shaded their group; "We can at least find out who Dark Specter is and deal with Divatox."

"TJ?" Ashley asked.

"I like Justin's plan," TJ said, "but I don't think that Eltare or Javor would work. Eltare is under attack, and Rocky's on Javor. If we went to the rangers, they'd send us to Rocky who'd stall us while he told Jason."

"Where else could we go?" Carlos said.

"How do we get the shuttle?" Cassie asked. When everyone looked at her, she raised her hands, "What? If we're going to do this, we need to know things like that."

"Good point," TJ said, "how do we get the shuttle?"

"We can't just walk up and ask for it," Carlos said, "not like we could if we were morphed."

"Actually, we can," TJ said. "The shuttle we want isn't a new design; it was a gift from Eltare. A thank you to America for hosting Zordon like they did, even if that wasn't the official wording. There's a clause, however, that if Rangers ask for it, they have unlimited use. There's actually a code that we give the mission commander, only two people know it, me and him. If Justin goes in and tells him that code, he'll clear the way for us to get on board. Actually, any of us could go in."

"But I'm the best choice because I'm a kid," Justin said, "Nobody will expect me to be a Ranger."

"All right, we've got the shuttle," Ashley said, "Where do we go?"

"The shuttle can be preprogrammed," Alpha said, holding up the black box he'd reclaimed from the Power Chamber, "With these codes, we can search out the nearest power source and head there."

"That might be the best way to go about this," TJ said, "because I don't know how to get anywhere."

Cassie raised her hand slightly, "I'm starting to agree here. It sounds like trouble like this was planned for."

"Not really," TJ replied, "Jason and Tommy were going to give me pilot training, which is why NASADA got the shuttle. The rest, we're making up as we go along."

"We should let them know," Carlos said. "Not right now, but we should send them a message at some point."

"Right," TJ said, "so we're going to go get our shuttle from NASADA then?"

"What about our families?" Ashley asked.

Silence fell for a long moment, and then TJ said, "I'm for just going."

"It is easier to ask forgiveness than beg permission," Carlos agreed.

"My dad's out of town," Cassie pointed out, "it's not like he's here for me to talk to."

Ashley hesitated, and then sighed, "I'll explain when we get back. I'm sure they'll understand."

Justin nodded, "Yeah, it's not like my dad's always around anyways. Maybe he should spend time waiting on me."

The four teens looked at each other for a moment, and then TJ stood up, "All right, let's head over to NASADA. We can walk there easily, and taking the back roads, nobody will see Alpha either."

"Agreed," the others said.

"What about the bikes?" Carlos asked.

"We'll be back soon enough," TJ said, "and if they get stolen, it's not like we bad retail for them."

"Right," Carlos said.

Cautiously determined, the five teens, and one robot, set off to meet their futures.