Until DECA broke in.
"Two of the Rangers have returned," she reported.
A figure with dual-toned hair swiveled in his seat. "Who is it?"
"Ashley and Zhane. Karone is with them."
The figure froze, heart and mind racing. 'Of course, the Criminal and Yellow were with Silver all this time. He's been suspicious far too long. He must have hid the women at the same time I was hiding Black, Pink and Blue. But why return now? What are they planning?'
"Where are they, computer?"
"They are headed for the bridge."
"Well, seal the doors, I'm not ready!"
"Unable to com--" DECA's voice was cut off by a resounding BLAM! The MegaLift doors buckled inward, and smoke poured out.. The Impostor whirled.
"Hello again old friend..." purred the evil voice from his darkest dreams. "Did you miss me?"
There she stood in all her terrifying glory. Behind her, subdued and fearful, were the Silver and Yellow Rangers, bound by metal restraints. Andros's double felt his knees grow weak and his color drain. This couldn't be happening...
"What trickery is this??" he cried, in the human voice of Andros.
"I assure you, it's no trick," she smiled. "Just ask them."
The Yellow Ranger scowled murderously, but couldn't do anything more.
"No!" he cowered. "You're no longer Astronema, Zordon saw to that! Where are your Quantrons? Your Wrath Staff? You're nothing but a simple human now!"
"If only!" shouted Silver.
Astronema ignored him. "I may be human, but I'm far from simple. You see, I'll never forget my days as the Empress of Evil. And sometimes, I just feel like reminiscing..."
She began to circle around the rear control deck, coming to get him. He maintained his distance, circling the same way to keep the barrier between himself and her.
"Ah memories..." hissed the evil woman. "I remember you...your people..."
"NO!" he screamed. "Do not even speak the name of my people! Trelaya lies in ruins because of you!"
Astronema's eyes barely flickered at the mention of the planet's name. "Such a lovely world. So much life. Too bad it was between me and the Trelynn Scepter..."
"Bitch! May you die in the cold of space!"
One brow curved upward. "I've died once already."
All of a sudden, the two Rangers were upon him! He had all but forgotten them, and they took him by surprise as Astronema got his backed turned towards the Megalift. Before he knew it he was slammed down on the control bank and restrained by cold steel.
Yellow Ranger's voice was even colder. "Alright you bastard, its time to cough up some answers."
"Number one," said Silver, "Tell us where Andros and the other Rangers are."
Enraged and panicking, the Impostor cried, "You'll never find them! Not in your lifetime!"
Astronema took his face in her leather-clad hand. "It's me you want. Give them their answers. Maybe you'll get a chance to deal with me yourself."
His only reply was to spit at her. "One day someone will take my place, and deal with you for good..."
No one knew how to respond to that. If there had been time, they would have kept on dealing and threatening, but instead the Impostor sealed his own fate. He held his breath and closed his eyes, and suddenly Ashley and Zhane jerked away as if burned. With inhuman strength, the Impostor ripped apart the handcuffs and threw his arms in the air, letting out a ringing cry of triumph...
..and then the world flashed white-hot, and all became still...
Karone and the Rangers blinked their watering eyes. The Trelayan was no more. He had left only a scorch mark on the floor, and a cooked-flesh smell in the air around them.
The realization set in that he had taken his own life; become a Martyr for a cause that did not even exist. They still didn't know where Andros and the others were. Dead and gone already? There was no one left who knew.
Karone clutched her head in misery. "This can't be happening..." Retreating to the center chair, she slumped into it, resting her head in trembling hands. Zhane was with her in an instant, trying to be positive. "C'mon, don't punish yourself for this." She hardly seemed to hear him, so he gathered her up in his arms. "We'll get him back somehow." Stroking her tangled hair gently, he looked up at Ashley for support.
But Ashley could tell him nothing. She was almost out of hope as well. She wanted to curl up and cry alongside Karone. But that wouldn't do. Zhane was begging with his eyes for some of Ashley's strength, but all she could do was kick the nearest bulkhead and mutter,
"Rats..."
A moment of silence came.
"Rats...?" sniffled Karone, lifting her head.
Sheer minutes later, they were running through the dusty catacomb of Gowings' basement, calling out their friends' names over and over again. Each time they stopped to listen, they heard nothing but silence, and the ringing of their ears.
Karone thought out loud as she ran. "It had to be them! There were no rats, it was them! This is the best hiding place in the city, The Impostor had to have put them here!"
"Take it easy, Karone!" Ashley insisted.
Karone stopped to rub her temples and catch her breath. Silence was allowed to fall.
"Hey...what's that noise?" Zhane wondered aloud. The building wasn't silent after all; there was a machinery hum in the background.
Ashley cocked her head to the side. "It must be a boiler room."
"This way, I think I saw more stairs before!" Zhane took off down the hall. Ashley and Karone glanced at each other and followed.
Jackpot.
"In here! I found them!!" Karone hollered. The noise from the boiler room was loud, but the gladness in her voice was unmistakable. Zhane and Ashley followed her into the dank vault and were relieved to see the faces of their four missing friends.
They were all tied to the tall boiler assembly; Cassie to a fluid drum at the bottom, TJ to a ladder just above, Carlos to a grate above the Blue Ranger and Andros to a thick pipe, as he stood on a catwalk above it all. They were all gagged, but when the Rangers first rushed in, they were still banging loudly on the nearest piece of equipment.
Cassie was the first to be ungagged. "What took you so long??" she cried. "I thought I was gonna run out of brain cells banging my head against this thing!"
"It's good to see you too," laughed Zhane as he untied her. Karone was already climbing the boiler to get to Andros. She stopped to untie Carlos on her way. Meanwhile, Ashley saw to TJ's ropes and then watched brother and sister reunite.
In a move only a sibling would think of, Karone left the gag on while she reached over Andros's head to free him from the pipe he was tied to. She worked at the knots while he stared at her, caught off-guard by the costume she was in. For her part, she had all but forgotten that she was Astronema today. Finally her brother was free to embrace her.
He ripped the gag off himself. "I am so glad to see you," he rasped, throat dry from lack of water.
"I messed up Andros," Karone confessed. "We almost didn't figure out where you were, until Ashley--"
"Ashley?" His eyes darted down to where the Yellow Ranger was throwing down TJ's binds. She had done it without looking, staring upwards the whole time. TJ took one look at them and shoved her towards the ladder. "Get up there!"
Andros let go of his sister and jumped the six feet to the deck below, landing with a bang! Ashley climbed the ladder three steps at a time, her footsteps resounding, and they met halfway between. In all her life, Ashley had never been snapped up into a hug as tight as that one.
Andros had been captive for six whole days, so he understandably didn't smell too good. And his arms were cold, since they'd been over his head so long with the blood draining out...but by golly, he was hugging her! Ashley's heart was full and brimming. She let him take a fistful of her hair and bury his face in her neck.
"You don't know how worried I've been..!" he murmured.
"I could say the same," she squeaked, realizing she was crying again. "You know its a bitch to have your boyfriend replaced by an alien on a revenge crusade?"
He pulled away to stare at her, confused, but she shook her head to show it didn't matter.
"What matters is you're you, and you're okay, okay?"
"Okay..." he nodded, then kissed her on the lips. Ashley almost wished this happened more often....at least the reunion part. All doubts about his feelings were washed away in those few minutes they were together again.
The others gave them some time, then made their wishes clear. "How long are you guys gonna be?" Carlos complained.
"Yeah, I could eat a horse," Cassie chimed in. "So I don't even wanna think about how hungry Teej is."
TJ pretended to chew her arm until she fought him off, and the three of them began to joke and wrestle their stress away, bringing Zhane into the tussle as well. It had been a long day for everyone...
There was another bang as Karone dropped down from the catwalk. "I'm ready to go home," she said.
"Anywhere but here is fine with me," Andros agreed. "Er...not because of the company, that is."
"Nice save," said Ashley with a smile.
Author's notes, February 2002: As I reformat this fic for publishing on Fanfiction.net, I realize it's a pale ghost of the story it could have been. I think I would have liked to expand the Impostor's story most of all, the whole thing should have been longer, and most of the dialogue makes me cringe. But it's about three years old now, and I don't think I'll be going back to perfect it. If you're reading this, you liked it enough to bother finishing it, and I thank you. Cheers!