Chapter 54: It's Real
Andros stormed onto the bridge with the necklace clutched in his hand. "DECA! Search Ashley's communicator signal," he ordered.
"Locating now," DECA replied.
Andros sat down at his console and pulled out his datapad to begin his own search. "Her signal appears to be lost," DECA informed the Rangers.
"How is that even possible?" Carlos asked.
"They could have her out of our frequency," Andros answered.
Andros stood up from his seat. "DECA, expand the search," he ordered.
"Expanding search now," DECA replied.
Somewhere else, Ashley's head was spinning as she woke up and she just had a light shining in her face. She tugged on her wrists and she realized she was strapped down to a chair. Her head was pinned back with a band across her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her Morpher and her communicator on a tray next to the chair. "Well, look who's awake," Psycho Yellow said with a laugh. She stood in front of Ashley with her arms crossed. "Now the question is, which one are you?" she asked. Before Ashley had even a chance to react to what was happening, Psycho Yellow struck like a cobra, her hand clamping onto Ashley's head.
Ashley couldn't even try to jerk her head away and her head started to thump as Psycho Yellow searched her memories. The pain was even more excruciating without her helmet protecting her. "Well?" Psycho Red asked as he entered the room. Psycho Yellow released Ashley's head and her breathing came out in pants.
"It's her," Psycho Yellow informed him.
"Good," Psycho Red said with a sneer.
His hand went around Ashley's throat and she felt his grip tighten just a little, constricting her airway. "I wonder what it will take to get you to scream his name," he commented. Ashley glared at him and Psycho Red tightened his grip on her throat and he took pleasure in watching her eyes grow wide when her face grew redder from the lack of oxygen.
"Back off!" Psycho Yellow snapped, shoving him back.
The shove forced him to release his grip and Ashley started coughing. "She's mine to play with!" Psycho Yellow snarled.
"Fine, play with your little toy, but I want you to make her scream his name," he answered.
"Why?" Psycho Yellow demanded.
"I told you, I want to break him and having him hear her scream for him…" he started laughing, "It would the best way to do it."
Ashley swore that if she could, Psycho Yellow would be smirking. "We have a deal," Psycho Red reminded her, "And don't try double crossing me, Yellow. I know your tricks better than you think I do. I'm NOT Pink."
"Pink was weak," Psycho Yellow answered.
Ashley watched as Psycho Red grabbed Psycho Yellow by her throat, lifting her up off the floor like she was nothing and yanked her face closer to his. "Do I?" he snarled at her.
"No," she gagged out.
Psycho Red dropped her and Psycho Yellow held her throat, coughing. Psycho Red crossed his arms and Psycho Yellow walked over to Ashley. "Get ready, Yellow. You've just entered your nightmares," Psycho Yellow laughed as she undid the strap on Ashley's head. She grabbed a hold of Ashley's head with both hands and instead of taking energy, she was pumping it into Ashley's system. It felt like electric volts shooting through her body.
Ashley's hands turned into fists and she tried to pull her head back but there was nowhere for her to go. "Increase it," Red told her.
"Don't tell me how to do this!" Yellow snapped.
Psycho Red watched as the girl was barely whimpering. She cringed, she moved, but she wasn't giving them the results. "Damn you, Yellow!" he snarled, "LIKE THIS!" He shoved Yellow backwards before he grabbed onto Ashley's head and threw his own energy into her.
Now there was a sensation and a pain that Ashley never experienced before. She realized she was hearing a sound. It took her a second to realize it was her screams filling the dark room.
On the Megaship, Andros was checking the results when suddenly his head started to throb. Carlos saw out of the corner of his eye Andros holding his head. "Andros?" he called to him.
Psycho Yellow snarled to see Red going after her target. "FINE!" she snapped. She took her hands and pressed them hard against Ashley's chest. When more energy pumped right into her chest, Ashley thought she had just died and she couldn't even scream as the air was ripped right out of her lungs.
Andros felt the sharpest pain he ever felt rip through his chest. It felt as though someone had reached into his chest and was trying to yank his heart right out. TJ saw Andros's face turn ashen as his hand went to his chest. "Andros!" TJ called out. Carlos grabbed him as he was sinking to the floor.
"Can't breathe," Andros grunted.
"What the hell is happening?!" Carlos exclaimed.
Cassie rushed over, pressing her fingers to Andros's neck. "His pulse is erratic," she told them.
"We need to get him to the infirmary," TJ answered, moving to grab his other arm.
As soon as they tried to lift him up, Andros felt like a lightning bolt struck him and he let out a shout of pain. "Put him down!" Cassie ordered in a near panic. They set him back down and the pain dulled but it was there. His hand went back to his chest. "Andros, what's going on?" she asked, her hands pulling his head up.
"Something's happening," he answered.
Andros let out a sound between a grunt and a gasp and Cassie's heart went into her throat when his eyes went from hazel to almost completely dilated. "Get Zhane! Get him now!" Cassie told both Black and Blue rangers.
"DECA, send a transmission to Zhane's communicator," TJ ordered, "Tell him we need him here, Ashley's gone and something's wrong with Andros."
Andros was seeing flashes race through his mind.
A dark room. Psycho Red. Psycho Yellow. Their hands. And Ashley's SCREAMS!
Cassie winced as Andros's hands gripped her arms tightening in a vicelike grip. His grip only tightened harder to the point she thought he would break her wrists. "Andros, let her go," TJ told him. It was like he couldn't even hear them. "ANDROS!" TJ shouted, prying his hands off Cassie.
As though he were in a trance, Andros swung out and his hand nearly connected to TJ's face if it weren't for TJ grabbing his arm and shoulder, pinning him back down. Cassie saw Andros's shoulders sag but then his eyes rolled back. "TEEJ!" she shouted. Cassie grabbed Andros around his waist to keep him from falling to the side and have his head collide into the console. TJ had a hold of Andros's arms to keep her from having to hold onto his weight on her own.
"I hope Zhane knows what's happening," TJ commented, "This is way out of our league."
"No kidding," Cassie answered.
Back in her prison, Ashley had passed out and the Psychos released her. Her body fell back in the chair with her head colliding to the back with a loud thump. Psycho Red cackled as he looked at the unconscious young woman.
"WE?! WE aren't doing ANYTHING. I'M going to make the last days of her life a living Hell," Yellow replied.
"You'll have plenty of time for that, didn't you see what happened?" Red asked annoyed.
"What?" Yellow demanded.
"We were able to project to what we were doing to her to him," Psycho Red said with a cackle.
Psycho Yellow turned to Ashley and she cackled at the revelation. "Well, this will be a lot more fun than we thought," she commented.
"Exactly my thought," Psycho Red answered.
Back on the Megaship, Zhane had arrived and they had moved Andros to the infirmary. Zhane was examining his friend. "His vitals are still erratic," he commented, checking Andros's pupils. He checked Andros's pulse and looked at the screens. "This happened after Ashley was taken?" he asked.
"He was acting like he was having a heart attack," Carlos replied.
"Do you know what this is?" Cassie asked.
Zhane looked at his friends. "I don't," he replied honestly. He then gestured behind them. "But he does," he added. The three teenagers turned and saw Alec standing there. Alec bypassed his son's friends and stood over Andros.
"My boy," Alec murmured, his hand touching his forehead.
Alec checked Andros's vitals. "How long has been like this?" he asked.
"It's been about two hours now," TJ replied.
"He's been erratic, unstable," Carlos admitted.
Alec let out a breath. "Zhane, remove the morpher and communicator," he instructed him, "He doesn't need anything else restricting him." Zhane immediately removed the morpher and communicator from his wrists. Alec was touching his son's hair and they watched as slowly Andros's heart rate was coming back down. "I can only do so much," Alec told them, not looking up from Andros's face.
"What's happening to him?" Cassie asked.
"Do you know what happened to Ashley?" Alec asked.
"The enemy took her," Carlos replied.
"They're called the 'Psycho Rangers', they're completely the opposite of us," TJ explained.
"They took Ashley when she was alone," Cassie finished.
"These Psycho Rangers, what can they do?" Alec asked.
Zhane cleared his throat. "Admiral, they can take energy, we're not really sure what other abilities they are capable of displaying," he replied.
"His vitals are showing signs of physical trauma," Alec stated.
He looked back at them. "Like he's been electrocuted," he added.
"Do you think…" Cassie asked, looking at TJ.
"If they're trying to get to Andros they'll do whatever it takes," Carlos replied.
"Which means they know about their telepathic bond," Alec stated.
"Wait," TJ said.
He walked around Zhane and stood in front of Alec. "Are you telling me Andros is feeling everything Ashley is feeling?" he asked.
"No," Alec replied firmly.
His brown eyes were dark as he stared at TJ. "He's experiencing it," he added. TJ stared at him confused. "Terrans call what Andros and Ashley a 'soulmate connection'. KO-35 it is not that simple. Karovans love once and only once," he explained, "And it's deadly."
"Wait are you saying that if Ashley dies, so does Andros?" Carlos asked.
"That's…exactly what he's saying," Zhane replied, looking at his team.
"But Andros's mom died…" Cassie started to say.
"I had a son to live for," Alec corrected her.
Alec held onto Andros's hand giving him his energy and his strength. Cassie watched as Andros's vitals were slowly going back to normal again. "Andros and Ashley don't have kids…" Cassie said quietly. Alec shook his head slowly. "Can you wake him up?" Cassie asked.
"It's unadvisable while he's in this state," Alec replied.
"We need to find her," TJ said.
"Without Andros we can't find Ashley," Carlos answered.
"Andros and Ashely aren't our only computer whizzes," Cassie said.
Back on Earth, Cassie and Zhane rushed up to a door and Cassie started ringing the doorbell immediately. Mr. Stewart opened the door and looked surprised. "Cassie, what a surprise," he commented.
"Hi, Mr. Stewart, is Justin here?" she asked.
