Ch 26
Andros could have stayed in bed all day, but he had agreed to meet Camilla on the Simudeck. For what, he still didn't know, but he was going. Besides, he wanted to see her too. Only, he wouldn't stare at her like it was a miracle that she was standing in front of him. Not to her face, at least.
He still didn't have any new memories, which was strange. How was he supposed to fit in with his new self and new timeline without any memories to go with it?
His friends were alive, and he still had no idea when Arcadia had decided to tell him about her pregnancy or why she had fought and endangered their daughter that day. When had Zeke and Tylan forgiven him? Had they forgiven him?
But in some ways, Andros was glad to have the old memories. He already missed his old teammates. They had gone through quite a bit together, and Andros hadn't appreciated them the way he should have. He had waited way too long to befriend them –the Veo Tech Rangers too. And now they weren't here.
Ashley wasn't here.
"Hey, Andros."
Andros' eyes widened and he turned as Carlos, T.J., Cassie, and Ashley walked up to him. The look of what Andros could only assume was shock must have concerned them because their smiles quickly faded as they reached him.
"You okay?" Cassie asked. "Zhane told us you hit your head."
Andros struggled for a reply, finally deciding on the only one that kept playing in his head. "What are you doing here?"
T.J. gave the others a worried glance. "Simudeck practice," he answered slowly. "We're still on for that, aren't we?"
"Yeah, of course." Andros attempted a reassuring smile. He couldn't be too sure that it worked because he was really looking at them now and T.J.'s shirt wasn't blue. In fact, all of their uniforms were different. They were black, like Zhane's, but their shirts were different colors. And T.J.'s wasn't blue. It was gold. Carlos was wearing green, and Cassie's shirt was white. Ashley –
Ashley's shirt was pink.
"I'm still waking up from my nap earlier, I guess. Go on inside, I'm right behind you."
Everyone seemed to buy that, or at least pretended to, and headed to the Simudeck, except Ashley, who looked around briefly before walking right up to him and taking his hands in hers.
"You sure you're feeling okay?" she asked.
Andros nodded. Why was she standing so close and holding hands with him? Why was she the Pink Astroranger instead of Cassie?
"Listen, if you're not up for tonight, just let me know. I figure Arcadia might want to keep you close with you being hurt and all."
"I'm… not hurt." There was an undertone to her words that quickly alerted Andros to what she must have meant by 'up for tonight', and Andros dropped her hands and backed away from her like she was a live wire.
Except, he didn't.
He had made that choice for himself, but hadn't gone through with the motions. Ashley remained close. Her hands remained in his, and he was even gently squeezing them now.
Andros chuckled and shook his head to himself. This couldn't be right. Surely, this wasn't what it looked like. He was not cheating on his wife –the love of his life and mother of his child –with Ashley. Not in this timeline. He wouldn't do that.
No.
Andros' ears perked up at that. That 'no' had been loud, but unmistakably in his head. He waited for more, but there was just silence and Ashley was looking at him like he was insane.
"I'm fine, Ashley. Why don't you head inside? I'll let you know if we need to cancel, okay?"
"Okay." She gave his lips a peck and joined her friends on the Simudeck.
Andros closed his eyes a moment and listened again. That 'no' hadn't been one of warning, but of protest and fear.
"Andros?" he whispered. "Was that you?"
-0-0-0-0-0-
Kimberly teleported to a hallway, hoping that she was in the right place. The last time she had teleported, this was called the Command Center, but that had been destroyed and then rebuilt into the Power Chamber, Tommy had told her once. But wherever she was, she knew she was close to Zordon. She could hear him speaking to Billy and Alpha 5.
She followed the voices down the hall to a set of doors. She stood there a while. Maybe she shouldn't do this. What if she wasn't supposed to do this? What if this was some sort of test?
The communicator beeped. And all the talking in the next room stopped. Kimberly covered it with her hand just before it went off again.
The doors in front of her whooshed open and Kimberly jumped and let out a little yelp as Billy came through them, his brows furrowed first in anger and then in confusion.
"Kimberly?"
"Hey, Billy." Kimberly walked past him and into the room, looking around at the control center of the Power Chamber that was much bigger than the Command Center that she remembered.
"Ai-yi-yi-yi! Kimberly!" Alpha 5 toddled over to give her a hug. "I missed you."
"Missed you too, Alpha."
"It's good to see you, but what are you doing here?" Billy asked. "Aren't you supposed to be in Florida?"
"I am." Kimberly nodded. "In fact, if you use the Viewing Globe, you'll find me practicing with Coach Schmidt at Gator Roll Gym right at this second."
Following a brief moment of hesitation, Billy began pressing buttons on the console in front of him until an image of Kimberly on the balance beam came up on the screen.
"How is that possible?" he asked. "Who are you?"
"Rest assured, Billy, this is Kimberly –just not the Kimberly Hart of our time," Zordon answered.
"Of 'our' time?" He doesn't sound as surprised as Kimberly had expected. It's not like Billy hadn't traveled through time himself. It had lost its novelty after the third or fourth time. "So, you're from the future?"
"I am, but only a few years," she replied. "See, there's this prism –the Veo Prism –and it's very powerful and can send people through time. And for some reason, it sent me here. I figure it's to warn Zordon about Dark Specter."
"Who's Dark Specter?"
"Dark Specter is a very powerful being whose only goal is to be the supreme ruler of the universe," Alpha explained. "He sends his armies from planet to planet, destroying everything in their path. Many have fallen trying to stop him."
Kimberly looked up at Zordon. "And he's going to capture you on Eltar, and then he's going to drain your powers. It takes a long time, but eventually –"
" –the Power Rangers will cease to exist," Billy finished, shaking his head. "We can't let that happen."
"I'm afraid we must," Zordon replied.
"But Zordon –"
"What must be must be or else we risk changing the future or even potentially shattering the space-time continuum. But your courage and loyalty are commendable, Kimberly. And I appreciate your efforts."
Kimberly nodded, smiling a little through her tears. Was that it? Zordon was really going to just follow the same path and let Dark Specter kidnap him? Honestly, she hadn't really expected anything different. If this Zordon remembered what had happened with Wan, then of course he wouldn't want to risk changing anything.
Billy shook his head again. "It doesn't make any sense. You said it sent you here for some reason, which means that you didn't choose this moment in time. And if we don't change anything, then what was the point of sending you back here?"
A beep sounded and Tommy's voice came over a speaker. "Zordon, Mondo's dug up a giant sword."
"The power of Damocles' sword is once again all mine!"
That second voice definitely wasn't Tommy. "Who was that?" Kimberly asked.
"King Mondo," Billy replied with a weary sigh, typing until a glowing yellow sword appeared on the screen before them. "The real question is what's the 'Damocles sword'?"
"Ai-yi-yi! Not the Sword of Damocles again," Alpha exclaimed. "You'd think King Mondo would have learned his lesson after the last time."
"Damocles?" Kimberly repeated to herself softly. Tommy had mentioned it before very recently. It was on a list of weapons that he wished were still around. Tommy had called it powerful, but unstable. It was too unpredictable to let it fall into the wrong hands ever again, which was why they had destroyed it. But it could have been powerful enough to maybe stop Dark Specter in his tracks.
Was she supposed to get it somehow?
Billy looked down at a flashing button before turning to Kimberly suddenly. "The others are on their way back," he said. "I don't know if –"
Kimberly shook her head. "I don't want to risk it. I was never here, okay?"
"Sure."
"And Billy? If there's a way to stabilize that sword, let me know… no matter what year it is."
She waited until Billy nodded before teleporting away.
