Chapter 28
'What did you just say?' Karone rounded on Zhane, fury burning in her eyes.
'I said that maybe we're overreacting,' Zhane repeated calmly.
'Overreacting? Seriously? How can you say that when you know what she's done?!'
'Because that's the whole point, isn't it? I don't know what she's done and neither do you,' Zhane held up his hand when Karone was about to protest. 'We've heard stories of what she supposedly did. But those are stories as perceived by someone. There might be a whole other story behind it.'
'Wait, why are you so easy to forgive her?' Carlos demanded.
'Because for the simple fact that no morpher would work for someone who is truly evil. I heard from a reliable source that she was raised by Darkonda. What if she's one of the Stolen Children as well? I just think there's more to it than we know and it might be worth to find out what we're missing.'
'Don't!' Karone growled. 'Don't you dare suggest she's like Andros, just don't. How can you sink so low to even suggest that? And the Power must have made a mistake. Her not being evil just makes things worse. It means she's done everything she did out of her own free will.'
'I disagree,' Zhane shook his head.
'Well, you're the only one,' Cassie snapped. 'If I never see her again it will be too soon.' She stomped off the bridge in anger.
'I agree with Cassie,' Carlos agreed and followed her.
'Face it, Zhane,' TJ said more calmly than the others had. 'She betrayed us.'
'And with the way you're acting, I can't blame her for not telling,' Zhane muttered as he watched TJ and Karone leave the bridge too. 'Deca, do we have Ashley's address on record?'
'Yes,' Deca replied hesitantly. 'What are you planning?'
'I'm going to talk to my friend before I pass judgement,' Zhane told her. 'Could you teleport me down to a safe place nearby it?'
It took Deca a moment to answer. 'There is a disrupter active around the area. I'll have to teleport you at the edge of it and you'll have to continue on foot from there. However, I would advise not going as I will not be able to track you once you step inside the disrupter field.'
'I will take my chances,' Zhane shrugged. He waited patiently for Deca to see things his way. Finally she gave him the address before teleporting him down.
It took Zhane half an hour to locate the actual building. Only one of the bells wasn't labelled with a name and he figured that was a good place to start. A few moments later the speaker crackled to life.
'Hello?'
'Ash,' Zhane smiled at hearing her voice. 'May I come up?'
She didn't answer, but he heard the door buzz open. When the elevator dinged open, she was waiting for him at her front door, a guarded expression on her face.
'What do you want?' Ashley demanded coldly.
'To talk to my friend before I pass too hard a judgement without hearing her out.'
Ashley hesitated a moment, but stepped aside. Zhane shot her a smile and entered the apartment. It was sparsely, but comfortably furnished and all kinds of technology and valuables half hidden. A guy Zhane had never seen before was leaning against the kitchen island. Locks of brown hair fell into the hazel eyes that were observing him. Zhane nodded at him and supressed a smile when the guy uncrossed his arms. His eyes slid away from Zhane and the Silver Ranger turned around. Ashley had entered the room behind him.
'Talk,' she told him, crossing her arms.
'I don't think you're half as bad as your reputation makes you out to be,' Zhane stated bluntly. Ashley arched an eyebrow and he continued. 'I have heard some things about you that are not as widely known. My sources I won't reveal, but putting that next to the girl I've hung out with for the past few months. Well, I think you're trying to look tougher than you are. You're definitely not evil.'
'Says who?' Ashley demanded.
'Those morphers you've been using,' Zhane shrugged. 'They won't work for someone truly evil.'
'Earth has seen an evil Green Ranger, plus Tommy was temporarily turned evil by the Machine Empire,' Ashley pointed out.
'Yeah, I heard that stories; spells and trickery. The person holding the morpher wasn't evil at heart. Why do you think Rita had to give the Green Ranger coin to someone she controlled with a spell instead of giving it to Goldar, for example?'
Ashley stayed quiet and Zhane knew his point was made.
'Anyway, I've looked into your file. Seems to me you're mostly into thieving. And if you do stray to other things, it's stuff that undermines the Alliance of Evil and sabotages them. You keep them pissed off with each other enough that it prevents them from truly uniting. Either Dark Specter doesn't realise what you're doing or he's highly entertained by it, but I doubt you have many friends in the Alliance.'
'I don't have friends,' Ashley replied automatically and saw a look of hurt flash over Zhane's face. 'Well, I didn't use to have any,' she corrected. 'Things like Love and Friendship have no place in the Alliance. Caring about anyone but yourself is seen as a weakness. Rita and Zedd are an aberration created out of trickery. Carlos was the first person to show me what friendship was. What it's like to care about someone else.'
'What about Orion?' Zhane inquired curiously.
'An ally,' Ashley shrugged.
'More than just an ally if the rumours are correct,' Zhane winked playfully. 'But you do trust him?'
'With my life,' Ashley agreed without missing a beat. 'He is about the only person I could trust for a very long time. I can't remember not knowing him.'
'Then why would he suddenly ally himself with Darkonda? Everyone knows you hate his guts.'
'Because he didn't like Carlos asking me out and kissing me,' Ashley replied. 'I guess the good thing about the situation is that Darkonda is down another one of his lives.'
'Lives?'
'Darkonda had nine lives. How he got them, I don't know. But he was stupid enough to have me find out. I've taken three of his lives already. He should know better by now and just stay far away from me.'
'Darkonda is too hard headed,' the guy in the kitchen spoke up for the first time.
'Obviously,' Zhane agreed. 'I just hope Orion isn't stupid enough to hurt her again or he'll have to answer to me.'
The guy let out a laugh and Ashley cracked a smile.
'I'm serious,' Zhane pushed, catching the guy's eye. 'Hurt her, Orion, and I'll hurt you. I don't care how you two were raised. You don't hurt the people you love. Deny it all you want because it's not how life works for you, but you love her and she loves you. The fact that you are here right now proves that. So now I'll leave to allow you to continue grovelling and cleaning up the mess you've made.'
The other two looked shocked and Zhane just smiled, pressing a quick kiss to Ashley's cheek. 'You are my friend and you will be until you show me my trust in you is misplaced. If you need anything, even if it's just to talk, come to that one rock at the lake in the park.'
With that, he left.
