Some Things are Better Left Alone
BY: Jeni
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. I wish I did, but I don't, so I'll just settle for being a ranger instead. Shoot! Can't be that either…
Author's Note: Okay, as you can see, Phantom won the vote! Don't kill me, I just tallied up the nominations and this is what I got. So here it is! The sequel!!
She awoke sometime later in a darkened cell- Astronema's dungeon, she realized, and the chilliness alerted her to the fact that she was no longer morphed. A slight movement beneath her startled her, and she struggled to lift herself into a sitting position when a glove hand pressed her firmly back down.
"Hold still, Cassie. You've been hurt."
She gasped. That voice… "Phantom?"
"Yes, Cassie." The soft voice is her ear reassured her to the fact that it indeed was the Phantom Ranger whom she missed so much.
"What… what are you doing here?" she managed to gasp out. Between the pain in her head and the shock of being captured she was still not thinking as clearly as she would have preferred, but her numb mind had somehow latched onto his presence and was not willing to let go. Please don't be a dream... she thought frantically. Please be here…
"Being held prisoner, same as you." he replied with a hint of amusement in his voice, and she frowned. Phantom had a sense of humor?
Biting back a snide reply to his answer, she asked instead, "How long have you been here?" She felt, rather than heard, the other ranger's sigh, and she squinted up at him through pain-filled eyes.
"Too long," he replied. "But in a strange way I'm glad I am here. Now we can work together to escape this place." As if to emphasize his point he surveyed their small prison through his visor.
Cassie shook her head ruefully. "I'm afraid I won't be much help," she admitted softly. "I can barely think, let alone-" she broke off with a gasp as she attempted to sit, and she slumped back into the strong arms of the mysterious ranger. "I can barely move," she finished unnecessarily. She closed her eyes in attempt to shield off some of the fiery pain coursing through her, feeling as if one of the Borg in Star Trek, the show that Carlos liked, had begun to assimilate her, but had never finished.
"I'm afraid that is a side effect of the drug you were given." Phantom said almost apologetically. "I was unable to prevent them from administrating it to you. I am sorry."
Cassie smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. Unfortunately, she was in so much pain she couldn't be sure if it looked more like a smile or a snarl. "It's not your fault." she replied, not willing to let him take the blame. "You had no control over it." She saw the black clad ranger shake his head, dismissing the speech she had heard Ashley tell Andros over and over again, and for a fleeting moment she wondered at how alike her leader and her present companion were.
"Did they inject you when you first came here?" she asked in genuine curiousity.
Phantom shook his head, and she had the distinct feeling of him frowning beneath his visor. "No," his voice remained impassive, but whether he had done so out of habit or just so she couldn't understand what he was truly thinking she wasn't sure. "That is why I am uncertain as to why they did it to you."
Cassie frowned through her pain. This was the first time she had ever been captured, but she vaguely remembered Andros mentioning something about… she sighed, unable to think clearly or even recall what her leader had said about his time as a prisoner. Not that he had said much to begin with, of course, and what little he did say had been practically dragged out of him. She returned her attention to the task of puzzling out Astronema's motives with a sigh; one of these days she would learn. She felt her lips twitch upward slightly to reveal the beginning of a grim smile. One of these days, but not today.
The door to the cell hissed open, and she shifted her gaze to see Astronema enter the rangers' prison, Ecliptor following obediently.
"So," the Princess of Evil stated when she reached the two prisoners, twirling a strand of purple hair around her finger smugly. "The Pink Ranger is awake."
Laying flat on her back as she was, Cassie still managed to glare at her hated enemy, feeling Phantom tense beneath her. "What do you want, Astronema?" she snarled.
Astronema grinned sweetly. "My dear Pink Ranger," she began, arrogantly tossing her hair across her shoulder. "I should have thought that obvious, even for a human with as little brains as you."
The remark should have angered Cassie, but she found herself strangely detached from any emotions. She searched her mind in attempt to form a response when Phantom spoke up, voice harsh. "It appears the only one with very little brains here is you, Astronema. You should know her friends will come for her."
Astronema stared at the two rangers for several moments, so long that Cassie began to think she wouldn't respond at all, when she threw back her head and laughed in bitter irony.
"I honestly hope they do," Astronema smirked. "I have many subjects who wouldn't mind obtaining their powers."
"Why, you-"Cassie surged up, ignoring the pain that shot through her body. "You leave my friends alone, you hear?"
Astronema regarded her in faint amusement. "You are in no condition to be making demands," she smiled sweetly. "I'm afraid your friends won't be able to help you now. If they try, they'll suffer the same fate as you."
Cassie sank back against Phantom, exhausted and in pain. "You'll never have my powers," she muttered defiantly.
Astronema stared at her for several seconds, twirling a finger around her long purple hair absently. Slowly she walked forward to crouch beside Cassie, and the pink ranger felt Phantom tense beneath her. She felt strangely comforted, knowing that he was ready to protect her if need be.
"I'm afraid I'm already on my way to obtaining your powers," Astronema smirked. "The drug is working perfectly. And since you don't know anything about it, you won't be able to stop it." The evil princess stood up and stared down at the two rangers in scorn. "Soon your powers will be mine, and I'll be the pink ranger." Astronema turned away and began walking for the cell door.
Cassie opened her mouth to protest when Phantom spoke. "I hope you do get her powers," he commented. Cassie's mouth dropped open in shock, and Astronema whirled around, fury on her face.
"Don't play games with me, Ranger!" she snarled. "The reason I haven't been able to defeat you yet is because your powers are different than mine. Once I morph not only will I understand them and be able to counteract them, but I will be able to take other rangers by surprise. They'll recognize me as a friend, and by the time they realize otherwise it'll be too late!"
Undaunted, Phantom continued, and Cassie had to admire his courage. Even if she didn't quite understand what he was doing. "No, really!" he exclaimed, and Cassie wished she could see his expression. "I think you should take her powers. Become the pink ranger. I dare you. Then, once you've become a ranger, you will have become what, by your master's law, must be destroyed."
Realization as to where Phantom was headed struck Cassie, and she bit her lip to keep from giggling. Astronema continued to stare at the rangers suspiciously, arms folded across her chest.
"So, when you have become a ranger, you'll have to destroy yourself or break Dark Spectre's law. Then we'll get the morpher back and none will be the wiser. Except…" Phantom's voice grew hard. "Everyone will hear of how the power rangers destroyed the supposedly all-powerful Princess of Evil, and everyone will know the tale of how she let her stupidity get the best of her."
Astronema shrieked in anger and stamped her foot. "You! Why you-" she reached up and tugged her hair angrily, not seeming to realize her face had now grown bright red.
Ecliptor simply stood watching her, not saying anything, which was probably wise.
He had seen his Princess's fits of anger before, and right now he wished he were somewhere else. Maybe even battling the power rangers. At least they didn't zap you with electricity because someone made them mad. Well, unless you were the one who made them mad. And even then they didn't zap you. They blasted you.
* * *
"Now this is going to hurt a little bit," Andros informed the yellow ranger calmly.
Ashley was sitting on the medical bed with her leg propped up. Her gray slacks had been pulled up to her knee to reveal several long, nasty pointed quills deeply embedded in her leg. The yellow ranger had been struck directly above her ankle, and several of the quills were still in her leg.
"What do you mean, 'a little bit?'" she growled. "It hurts A LOT!"
"Sorry," Andros offered. Moving quickly, he grabbed the quill and plucked it out her leg, laying it beside the two other in a small bowl which T.J. held. The red ranger didn't seem to notice her yelp of pain. "But I can't give you any pain killers. You know that."
Carlos looked up from where he stood next to Ashley. The black ranger had volunteered to let Ashley squeeze his hand when the pain became strong so she wouldn't thrash about. It was hard enough for Ashley to keep her leg still even while crushing Carlos' hand. "Why is that?" he asked. "Will it hurt her if she does have pain killers?"
"No," Andros replied a-matter-of-factly. He reached out and plucked another quill from his teammate's leg, ignoring the gasp of pain that escaped her lips.
Carlos frowned. "Then why don't you give her one?"
Andros shrugged and moved his hand forward slowly. "We're out," he stated simply. "DECA's synthesizing some more, but it'll take a few hours, and these quills need to be taken out as soon as possible."
"What do you mean, we're out?" TJ demanded.
Andros turned away from the injured leg and faced TJ, face a hard mask. "I mean we're out." He stated. "What am I, speaking Kerovian all of a sudden?"
"I checked the med bay yesterday," TJ informed his leader, voice as hard as stone. "And we weren't out."
Andros shrugged. "I checked it this morning," he said as he turned back to Ashley's injury. "And we still had some left."
"But you just said we were out!" Carlos exclaimed. "Which means we wouldn't have anymore."
"And we don't," Andros agreed.
"What?" Both Carlos and TJ exclaimed.
"You're not making any sense!" TJ added.
Ashley tensed as Andros gently grabbed hold of yet another quill. "I think he means we're out of the kind for me," she muttered through clenched teeth. The quill slid smoothly out, stained a light pink from her blood, and she winced as the hole in her leg began to bleed.
Andros glanced up at her in surprise, saw her expression, and smiled encouragingly. "I'm almost done," he said gently, and TJ's head jerked up in surprise.
Andros… being nice? TJ met Carlos' gaze, who looked just as startled as he felt, and the black ranger smiled weakly.
"It's okay," Ashley's words of reassurance drew TJ's attention back to the yellow ranger, and he was surprised to see her release Carlos' hand from her grip.
"I'd just appreciate it if you'd warn me before you yank it out," she continued.
TJ winced. He could recall a time when he had been injured, and he had asked for a little warning as well.
And had gotten creamed. The red ranger had been furious, face turning nearly the color of his uniform, and his hand had shaken slightly in his fury. But he had granted TJ his request, even if it seemed as if it had nearly killed him.
"All right," Andros agreed, and TJ's jaw nearly touched the floor. From across the room Carlos grinned and snickered at him in amusement.
Neither Ashley nor Andros seemed to notice the other two rangers' reactions. It was if they were the only two existing people in the universe.
Still gazing at Ashley, Andros murmured, "I'm going to try and pull it out now. Tell me if it hurts too much."
"But-but…" TJ sputtered. He was completely ignored by the red and yellow rangers, but Carlos had obviously heard, for the black ranger burst out laughing from his position next to TJ.
Turning, TJ stared at the black ranger until the laughter died, and he demanded, "When did you move? Last time I looked you were over with Ashley!" he crossed his arms and muttered, "And you can go back over there, too, for all I care."
Carlos grinned. "Aw, come on, man! Your face was hilarious!" Copying the other ranger's posture perfectly, Carlos sputtered, "But-but… But why?" before promptly bursting into laughter once again.
TJ sighed, resuming his watch of his leader removing the quills from his fellow teammate's leg. The red ranger had just finished removing the last quill, and he lay it on the table next to Ashley.
TJ watched, now slightly amused, as Andros grabbed the bottle of antibacterial solution and gently dabbed some on a white cloth. He pressed it against Ashley's leg with his hand, and with his free hand he squeezed her arm sympathetically when she gasped in pain.
After several moments, Andros removed the cloth and grabbed a cream-colored bandage. Dislodging his hand from Ashley's shoulder, he whispered something TJ couldn't quite hear, and began wrapping the bandage around the yellow ranger's injured leg.
The whole process took less than two minutes; gently Andros helped ease Ashley into a standing position beside the bed. Once certain she could stand on her own, Andros' gaze sought TJ's and met it.
"I'm going to go scan for Cassie," the red ranger announced quietly.
TJ sighed. The icy exterior that had briefly melted while tending Ashley's injury was back- the red ranger had returned.
TJ nodded in acknowledgement. "We'll be right there."
Andros glared at him before giving a curt nod, and he spun on his heel and strode out the med. bay, leaving three rangers staring after him, one with a dreamy look on her face.
~*~
Immediately after exiting the medical bay Andros leaned against the hallway wall. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself. What just happened?
It had started out innocently enough; his removing the quills from Ashley's leg, but it had turned into a sort of… flirt session.
He had known the yellow ranger liked him, but he had thought she was merely his friend-a word he used tentatively, and he hadn't thought himself capable of anything more. The thought of him becoming close to anyone-her especially, was beyond scary- it was terrifying.
His old teammates had been both his friends and family. Unbiddingly, memories of them surfaced, torturing him in the knowledge that they were lost from him forever, and gleeful in their play.
Tyline, the ever cocky prankster, was always up for a challenge. Both he and Zhane had slaughtered each other(and everyone else, for that matter), in their prank wars aboard the megaship. And Zyle, the black ranger, had loved showing off for Tsarmina, the yellow ranger. Both of Zyle and Tsarmina had declared their love for each other the day before they'd been destroyed.
And then there was Desira, the pink ranger. With her long black hair and brilliant green eyes there was no doubt about it: Desira was stunning.
She had been like a sister to him, and while she could never have taken Karone's place, she had captured his heart. He found himself loving her as an older sister, and she had treated him as her brother. But all that had been shattered with her destruction.
Zhane had been his only companion for months. The two of them had already had a strong bond between them-stronger even than the bond of two brothers- and it had increased as they were forced to defend their planet alone, nursing their grief of their lost teammates.
And then Zhane had fallen, wounded so critically no one thought he would survive. But Andros hadn't been willing to give up. Before KO-35's evacuation he had place Zhane in a cryogenic tube on board the megaship, where the silver ranger remained to this day.
Andros whimpered, turning his head to gaze at his new team. They were still in the medical bay and in the same positions as he had left them. They were talking about something, too quietly for him to hear, and he closed his eyes against the pain.
He liked them. Admitting it to himself was hard. He hadn't admitted to liking another person since his team's defeat. But he couldn't hide from himself any longer. He liked them, wanted to be their friend, but every time he got too close he backed away, hiding once again behind the icy exterior that was his only protection against more pain.
He couldn't become their friend, no matter how much he wanted to. To laugh, to lower his icy shield, to be himself… it just wasn't possible. Even if he wanted to be friendly, he couldn't. His old self was buried too deeply within his soul, and it would be nearly impossible to retrieve.
He pushed himself away from the wall and headed toward the bridge. His new self would remain cold to the new rangers.
It was better that way.
* * *
"Ecliptor."
The green and black henchman turned to regard his queen.
Astronema smiled in wicked eagerness. "Begin the power transfer," she twirled a strand of purple hair around her finger. "Soon the little brat's powers will be mine, and the other rangers will be destroyed."
The evil queen began to laugh, and Ecliptor, seeing the irony of the rangers being destroyed by their own weapons, found himself laughing just as loudly as his mistress.
Soon the rangers would be no more.
To be continued…
