Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers; I do own Andrew (he's mine!), Scout Rin, Daniel Cade, Rhine, Zayla, Jaden, the Glaph, Damek, Gael, Hertia's Mall, Kaen Slan, Eara, Mallory C., KRA, the plot, the feelings and everything else you don't recognize!
A/N: Here we go, another step to the end, I'm actually starting to feel melancholy. I'll miss the idiot. Can you believe I'm writing this trilogy for a little more than a year? I was supposed to finish this whole trilogy by December '06 XD
By the way, do I have any British readers?
DizneeDol: thanks, I had three versions of that bloody encounter with Andros and to be honest, I loved them all… I hope you'll enjoy this one, too.
GinaStar: thank you very much and I don't really hate this story- only in the chapters that take me ages to write :D (that's more than half the chapters in the story, but alright:P )
zepurple: hey, I tried to make it powerful, but if you didn't notice, they hadn't really talked about everything and you'll see next chapter, how Andros is still insecure, but they're on the right track when Andros makes a sacrifice…
Slytherin-Angel44: there's nothing that make me happier than making you guys cry, it means I touched you, that Andrew touched you and I'm glad about it.
BellaCordelia: I just hate him because he's a stubborn git (very much like myself), and because he forces me into writing things that I shouldn't (like when I wrote a whole chapter of him being a nine years old and now I don't know what to do with it!).
SilverMau: an A on his nape, and Pepe Le Pew on one of his shoulder blades. The guy lost his powers, I know it's not clear enough but exactly why it happened would be revealed next chapter ;) thanks for the review.
bRaInWaVe: thanks :D and thanks for the comment n my myspace :P I hope you'll find this chapter enjoyable.
Quest into Space III: Serenity
by DarkHonda aka Tal
Chapter 37
I woke up with a terrible headache, blinking quickly, endlessly. The pain was beginning to rise in me and I felt the urge to throw up. I got up on my feet, for the first time noticing I'm not in the cool infirmary but under the hot reign of the karovan sun. I tried to stand up but fell on the dusty ground, the dust entering my nostrils. It was the first time I saw the blood coming from my face, but I didn't care. I tried to get up again, groaning from pain as I rose on my feet, successfully, this time. I looked around, searching for my mates, they were all laying unconscious on the ground; Damek was laying the closest to me, I checked his pulse crazily, it was there, quick, steady, relaxing. I hurried to the others, checking their pulses and thank god, no one was dead. They were all alive, not that well, but alive. I scanned Gael's body, his leg rested unnaturally on the ground, I suspected it was broken, his shoulder seemed injured as well; Eara was bleeding from an open wound on her arm, it seemed like a really bad fracture. Damek seemed to have been knocked out, but he had no visible injury and Mallory- she seemed like an angel, my angel, sleeping peacefully.
Looking like she's been asleep, the only difference were her bruises all over and the blood coming from her nose, the scratches and burns on her arms and a particular one nasty scratch on her forehead. I took out my morpher, I tried to morph, pressing the buttons again and again in a shaky hand, nothing happened and that was when I realized I wasn't a ranger anymore. That I was given a job and for the first time in my life, I failed and I failed because I wasn't good enough. The sense of burning failure and disappointment risen in me, such a loser I was, such an idiot. I wanted to cry but the agony of losing my powers was immediately pushed away as the agony of seeing my friends like this- nearly dead- washed me. I was responsible for them, I was responsible to their injuries, if I had come fast enough, like I was supposed to… maybe everything could have been different. All I thought about was me, my parents, my brothers, how could I do this to my friends? My other family?
Not knowing what else to do I pushed a few buttons on my morpher, trying to contact the Karovan Ranger Academy, a weird beep was heard, I've never heard it before. After five tries, I finally let myself realize the connection was cut off. I just hoped nothing happened to the Academy, to my home; I felt like a little boy, so scared and confused, helpless. All I wanted to do was kneel beside my friends and cry, but I knew I shouldn't give up, that I can't let them down, that it's my responsibility to them, to their families to keep them in one piece, alive. So I pushed a different button.
"Deca? Decs? Are you there?" I asked in a hoarse voice.
"I am here, Andrew." She said, there was something overly comforting with hearing her voice. I needed my friends to be safe again, at least until they're healed and the only place I could think of, the only place that was really safe to me was the Megaship.
"Teleport four to the megaship's infirmary." I said watching as my friends shimmered to the megaship, I felt my heart go weak as their bodies disappeared. "Teleport one." I then commanded and I felt my body disappearing into shimmering red sparkles before muleculizing againt on the megaship's bridge.
"Deca, I need a full report of why the KRA isn't responding to my communicator," I sighed, "I'm going to take care of my friends." I said and hurried over to the infirmary. The door swooshed open and I was facing four unconscious people who happened to be my best mates in this whole universe and their lives were up to me. I couldn't see them die, I couldn't. I grabbed the vital scanned and the first one I scanned was Eara, it turned out I was right; she had an open fracture on her arm and a light concussion. I quickly reached for the medical Synthetron and got a few bandages and some painkillers for her concussion. I cleaned her wound and bandaged it with steady hands, I knew I couldn't let myself go wrong, I couldn't make a mistake anymore. I tried to avoid thinking of them as my friends as long as I took care of them.
Knowing that sleep was some sort of way the body uses to relax, I just made sure Eara won't hurt, I injected the painkillers to her arm and sighed. Bandaged and asleep, she looked a little better. I stroked her forehead once, not able to stop myself from trying to encourage her, trying to tell her that I'm there, right next to her and that she has something to wake up for.
The next I took care of was Gael, he worried me a lot with his leg and detached shoulder, I scanned him quickly and it confirmed my suspicions- broken knee, detached shoulder and apparently he suffered from a medium concussion as well. He was the one making me feel most scared, being some kind of a little brother to me, I was very protective of him, although I was sometimes hard on him. I love him a lot and it hurt me the most to see him like this, his injuries probably the most hurtful and his voice echoed in my head, when he spoke to me on the morpher beginning to say he was scared. Scared to die? And I wasn't there for him, I wasn't there to protect him like I should have. I reached for the medical Synthetron again, the only thing comforting me a little was the fact that now I know that just two out of the four weren't dying on me…
I bandaged Gael's knee, knowing I'm not qualified enough to fix it and that all I can offer him is painkillers and a bandage to protect the wound, but nothing more. I could tell he'd need an operation for his knee, or at least the help of the Power. Sighing miserably I injected him stronger painkillers, knowing the pain would not subdue easily and that he had to wake up so I could amend his detached shoulder. My informal little brother. I stroked his hair and kissed his forehead once before moving to Damek's bed.
This time I was a little relieved, Damek was suffering from a serious concussion, a thing I knew how to deal with, knowing what to do, I got fluid painkillers and put them on the little drawer near Damek's bed. I knew what I had to do.
"Damek, wake up! Wake up!" I called a little louder, shaking him as gently as possible, "Damek wake up now!" I called and he woke up with a started, his hands on my arm.
"Wha- Drew! Eara?" he asked, I nearly choked him with the medicine I forced down his throat, I was so happy he was up and it meant he was more than alright if he's thinking of Eara.
"She'll be okay," I tried to reassure him, "I've already taken care of her and bandaged her," I commanded and he nodded, trying to seat up when he nearly fell, I caught him. "Listen to me," I demanded, "You suffer from a serious concussion, you have to rest but you can't fall asleep. Do you understand me?" I asked and he nodded. "You can't fall asleep." I repeated and he laid back and nodded.
"I won't." he said and I smiled at him and moved to Mallory's bed.
"How-where are we?" he asked as I scanned Mallory with the Vital Scanner.
"We're on the Astro Megaship," I answered, not so sure if I should reveal what happened, then decided I shouldn't hide such important information from my friend. "I don't know what happened to our powers or why the hell the KRA isn't answering, but maybe Deca has an answer. Decs?" I asked, turning to the medical Synthetron, knowing I'll need ointments, bandages, disinfection materials and painkillers.
"Deviot has placed a force field around the Karovan Ranger Academy. Entrance and exit from its territory is disabled." I nodded as I reached for Mallory's bed and put the medicines and bandages on the drawer next to her. I turned to look at Damek, his eyes were closed.
"Damek!" I barked, making sure he wasn't asleep, he jumped and set up a little.
"I'm up!" he said quickly, blinking rapidly.
"Where is the source of the force field?" I asked Deca while attending Mallory; first, I injected the painkillers, then I started to clean her scratches.
"Deviot's ship, it is currently traveling between the seven lost galaxies." She said, I cursed under my breath, what Deca said in other words was- his ship is unreachable. I looked down at the sleeping Mallory before me and I felt a little hopeful, she made me hopeful. I slowly began to put the ointment on her burns and bandaging the serious ones. She didn't seem like she was in pain.
"We lost our powers, Drew, what are we going to do?" Damek asked the one question I wasn't sure how to answer, buti turned to look at him, telling him the nly answer I knew was right for me.
"Look, for now, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, but one thing is for sure." I paused and looked stubbornly down at Mallory. "I'm fighting until death." I touched her cheek, her skin was soft, as if she wasn't injured, as if her skin hasn't been burnt. I sighed and looked around me, finding a chair to sit on, it was going to be a long day and a long night for me, waiting they would wake up and ask the hard questions once more. Yet before I let myself relax for a moment or two, I noticed Damek was dozing off…
"Damek!"
"I'm up, I'm up…" he said sleepily and I shook my head.
I woke up the next day, disoriented and a little confused, I nearly fell off of my chair. The first thing I did was to check up on my friends again, I walked over to Eara who was awake, looking a little pale yet her hand in Damek's. I smiled at them, she looked alright, and I knew Damek has already checked up on her and probably much better than I'd ever do. A little relieved I walked to Gael who was staring at the ceiling aimlessly, I smiled at him and cleared my throat. His eyes wandered to me and he smiled at me.
"Any pains yet?" I asked him and he shook his head, "How are you?" I asked again, reaching for the Synthetron for a glass of water. I handed it to him and he drank a little.
"Better, I think." He answered and I smiled at him, then sighed as I remembered I had to attach his shoulder. I knew it's not going to be a pleasant experience for him.
"Gael, your shoulder has to be re-attached to your shoulder joint again." I told him and he looked at me, a little hesitated.
"Is it in some kind of surgery?" he asked and I shook my head.
"No, all it takes is a person who knows how to do that and I know how." I said and gulped slightly, I wasn't about to mention I learnt it back when I was twelve when one of mum's doctors asked me if I'd like to accompany him for the rest of the day and how hard that woman screamed when he put her shoulder back in place… Gael still looked a bit scared and put my hand on his healthy shoulder. "It's going to hurt but I'll give you the strongest painkillers the Synthetron has to offer." I said and he nodded.
"I-I trust you, Drew." He said and I nodded. He trusted me in healing his shoulder and there was nothing else that mattered more to me in that moment. I reached for the medical Synthetron, getting the strongest doze of painkillers there is and then handed it to Gael who drank it and nearly gagged, yet he swallowed it in the end, making a very horrid face.
"Disgusting." He said and I smiled and shook my head.
"I'll go see how is Mallory doing, until the painkillers would have an affect, alright?" I asked and he nodded.
"Thank you." He smiled and I messed his hair with a smile of my own.
I walked to Mallory's bed, she was laying there looking a whole lot better than yesterday. When our eyes met, I smiled at her, she only managed to give me a small smile, I hugged her gently. "How are you? Are you okay?" I asked her and she lifted a pair of cloudy eyes at me, she was looking into my soul.
"Are you hurt?" She asked, making me smile at her, I touched her cheeks gently.
"No, but you are… for a while then, I thought you were all going to die…" I whispered and she shook her head.
"I thought you'd never come." She said and I felt a whole burning through my heart. I abandoned my friends. I nearly got them all killed!
"I'm sorry, I know I should've been there from minute one, there is no excuse for what I did and I'm sorry, I'm sorry I wasn't there to –" she put her finger on my lips.
"I'm glad you were late, if you hadn't, we were all dead and what good would that make?" she gave me another small smile. "I was worried for you." She admitted and leaned her head on my chest, I held her. "I thought Deviot had gotten to you before us and-" she couldn't complete her sentence.
"He didn't. Mallory, I was so scared for you." I admitted with a shaky voice and she hugged me.
"I was scared for you too." she said and I held her tighter, not saying anything else, just enjoying her presence and her touch against my skin.
"You're beautiful." I dared telling her after a long while and she blushed. I kissed her lips briefly and pulled back from our hug, "I have to attend Gael's shoulder." I told her and she nodded with a slight smile, I could see clouds of worry heaving her eyes.
"Damek, I need your help." I called him and Damek nodded, standing at my side in no time.
"What do we do?" he asked and I gave him a serious look.
"We need to put Gael's shoulder back to one piece. I'll be doing it but I need you to hold him as hard as you can, because reattaching a shoulder is very painful and he can't moved or else I might hurt his shoulder even more." I said and he nodded.
"I understand. Shall we?" he asked and I led the way to Gael's bed.
"Ga?" I asked and he raise a little unfocused green eyes at me, the painkillers has taken their affect by now. "Are you ready?" I asked him and he nodded. "Okay, take off your shirt and Damek, hold him." I ordered and Damek help Gael rid his shirt and then held him as if he was hugging him with both hands from the side, not touching the hurt arm.
"On three; one, two, three." I said and took Gael's arm, lifting it and forced it back on his shoulder joint, Gael screamed and started to cry. Damek looked terrorized yet still held Gael tight while I checked the range of movement in his arm. It seemed alright. I looked at Damek.
"Let go." I ordered and Damek jumped back, still shocked from Gael's screams and now, crying. I hugged Gael immediately, trying to comfort him as best as I could.
"It's okay, it's okay, it's over, Gael, it's over…" I told him and he buried his face in my chest, still crying. I knew that he needed to cry, he needed this to let everything out- our lost, our powers, his injuries, his fears. I knew I had to be there for him. "Shh… it's okay, Ga, it's over…" I whispered to him and he still clung to me, not saying anything but crying. "I know, I know it hurts, I wish I could take your pain, I wish." I told him gently, Eara stared at us, crying at Gael's pain, Mallory trying to blink them away. I kissed Gael's hair, stroking his hair until he relaxed a little. I pulled back only slightly, making him look at my eyes while I wiped his tears.
"I wish I could heal you painlessly," I begged him, "but I can't, all I have to offer is painkillers and I already gave you the strongest. You have to deal with this pain for a while, until I find a solution to your knee." I told him and tears started to appear on his face again, "I know you're hurting, Gael, but I promise you: I'll do anything to make it disappear as fast as I can, so you trust me enough to do that?" I asked and he nodded, I squeezed him to me gently before letting go of him. I stood in he middle of the infirmary, looking at my friends and teammates quite stubbornly.
"All of you are spending today and tonight here with no exception." I ordered and they nodded. "I'll be here the entire time with you, you can ask for anything." They nodded. "Now, any questions?" I asked.
"Whe-Where are we?" Gael asked, stuttering, his voice a little hoarse from crying, I smirked at him.
"You don't recognize it here?" I asked and he shook his head, I chuckled. "We're at the bestest, coolest, grooviest place in the whole wide universe!" I told him, making him laugh, I guess he was a little surprised from my tone. I was trying to cheer everyone up a little. "Deca, would you remind everyone who they are and where they are?" I told her, looking at her red eye with a knowing smile. "Youngest to oldest!" I declared and everyone laughed.
"Gael of KO-35, Green ranger, sixteen years old." Deca paused, Gael laughed a little.
"Eara of KO-74, Pink ranger, seventeen years and six months old." She paused again, Eara blushed.
"Damek of KO-74, Blue ranger, eighteen years old." She paused yet again, Damek seemed to grow a few inches taller.
"Mallory Corbett of Mirnoi, Yellow ranger, eighteen years and six months old." Mallory smiled.
"Decs, stop, please." I ordered. "You don't need any powers to be Power Rangers," I explained, "the Power comes from inside, not from a morpher! For a long time, when I was blind, I thought I lost my dream to become a ranger, but you know what I understood? That having a morpher is a right but being a ranger is natural. All of us are rangers at heart and we can win everything we choose, if we're willing to try and try again even if we fail." I said and they nodded, I walked to Damek.
"You're my blue ranger to me, you don't need that." I said and took off his morpher.
"And you're my pink ranger and that little device has nothing to do with that." I said and took off her morpher.
"And you're my annoying green ranger and you don't need a piece of metal to tell you that." I took off his morpher.
"You're my yellow ranger, no matter what." I told her and took off her morpher. I took off my morpher too.
"You're my red ranger too, Drew!" Gael said eagerly and I smiled.
"Yeah, mine too." Damek said.
"Me three!" Eara announced.
"And don't forget you're my red ranger too!" Mallory said with a smirk. I laughed and put the morphers aside.
"We're all rangers and once you're healed, my ranger-friends, we're going to train full time. We can win this and we don't need a morpher at all, but I won't lie to you." I paused, "The new fights are going to be harsher, crueler and much slower to heal from, you would endure more pain than you've ever had." I said and they nodded. "This is why I'm freeing you from your ranger service." I said and they al lgaped at me.
"What?!"
"You're here and you're fighting because you want to, I won't ask of any one of you to sacrifice his life unless he wants to. Understood?" I asked and they nodded.
"Count me in." Damek said.
"Me too." Mallory quickly said.
"Me three!" Eara declared and we all looked at Gael who was smirking.
"Nothing can hurt more than this, we're going to kick some alien butt!" Gael said and we all laughed. "But, hey, you still haven't told us where are we!"
"Decs?" I asked.
"You are currently on the Astro Megaship's infirmary. The Astro Megaship is the belonging of Andros of KO-35 and Ashley Hammond of Earth and currently is used for the benefit of the Karovan Ranger Academy." She answered and they all gaped at me and Deca. I laughed.
"Hey, Deca, you haven't introduced Drew yet!" Eara said and the others laughed, I smiled, but then I realized how much Deca knows about me and that she can't tell them before I do. I realized that this is it, this is the time to come clean and tell them all about me.
"Andrew Zhane Ha-" Deca started.
"Deca, stop." I said and Deca silenced herself, the others stared at me confused. I inhaled deeply before I started talking. "It's about time you knew the truth about me." I told them and they all looked really confused; Eara and Damek were staring at each other with expression of pure wonder on their faces, Gael was biting his bottom lip with a slight frown and Mallory looked interested.
"What do you mean, 'the truth'?" Damek asked and I looked at him.
"I mean I wasn't completely honest with you. Except for the Glaph and the Kaen, no one at the KRA knows anything about me, the real me." I said and they were all frowning, I sighed and explained. "Don't you think the Glaph has made a really strage decision to take a stranger to such a high ranked position such a red ranger?" I asked them, Damek and Mallory nodded.
"But you said you fought Deviot before, you said he blinded you." Mallory countered and I nodded.
"Exactly, don't you ask yourself what a normal guy like me has to do with Deviot? I told you Deviot hurt my family, didn't you ever wonder why?" I asked them and Damek nodded.
"I asked myself why, in your first few months." He said and I smiled.
"It's actually pretty simple," I said with a little smile, "Deviot never wanted to hurt me, he wanted to hurt my parents and my uncles and aunts, because, well, my full name is Andrew Zhane Hammond. I was born on Earth to –"
"Ashley Hammond, the yellow ranger…" Mallory completed and I looked at her and nodded. "But isn't she married to—" Mallory froze and looked at me with a strange expression, Damek and Eara seemed confused, Gael looked amused. "But they got married, what, six years ago?" she said in a weak voice.
"Five." I corrected.
"What are you talking about?" Eara asked and I smiled at her.
"My mum and dad, they're Ashley Hammond of Earth and Andros of KO-35." I explained and she made a slight "O". They all gaped at me, except Gael. "You know." I told him and he nodded. "For how long?"
"Since I visited Zayla, I met Ashley and it wasn't too hard to complete the rest of the puzzle. I knew you need time." He said and I messed his hair even more.
"Why are you telling this to us now?" Mallory asked, I could feel her resentment, I hoped I could make it go away with a well explanation.
"I came to the Academy by accident, the Glaph and the Kaen knew I'm my dad's son, they said they couldn't ignore the amazing physical resemblance and the-"
"OH MY GOD! YOUR BLOND STRIPES ARE NATURAL! YOU'RE NOT DYEING!" Eara exclaimed, making everyone laugh.
"Oh yeah, I got it from my dad," I said, feeling my cheeks turning a little red. It has been ages since I said this sentence, 'I got it from my dad'… the last time we were on this very same Megaship. "I ran away from home about a year ago, I had issues with my parents and I accidentally came to the KRA, I didn't plan to." I said, apologized, "But two weeks ago, I finally decided to go back home and yesterday I met my dad for the first time in a year." I said and they gaped at me once more, I ran a hand through my hair, I was embarrassed. "That's why I've been late… I'm sorry for that, guys, but I was so scared to let him know I'm a ranger." I said and they nodded, Eara even got up and hugged me.
"It's alright, we're happy you and your parents are talking again." She smiled at me and then walked back to Damek's side.
"Thank you," I told them, "for understanding, in the past year, you have no idea how hard was it to be away from my family and not being able to tell you the whole truth…" I said and Mallory hugged me.
"I love you." She whispered to me.
"I love you too." I said, kissing her temple. I held her close, smiling at my riends when I finally said: "Hey, Decs, how about telling who am I now?" I asked.
"Of course, Andrew," She answered then carried on, "Andrew Zhane Hammond, Red ranger of the second karovan ranger team, Green ranger of honor of the first ranger team-"
"WHAT!?" Gael shouted. "GREEN IS MY COLOR!" We all laughed.
A/N: I give it four more chapters. I hope the end doesn't seem too rushed…