Chapter Six

Sorona was shaken out of her thoughts as she heard the clang of metal footsteps against the stone floor. She looked up and saw three Cogs standing in front of her. One of them motioned for her to follow after the cell door had been opened. Sorona followed uneasily. The group walked into the upper levels of the Machine Skybase. Sorona felt her stomach drop as she found herself in the Machine Court throne room.
"Ah," Mondo said. "The prisoner is here. Good work Cogs."
"What are you going to do with her, father?" Prince Sprocket asked.
Brat, Sorona thought.
"Kill her. She is a friend of those pesky Power Rangers, and destroying her will bring them to their knees!" Mondo exclaimed.
"But, my dear, shouldn't we use her as a ransom, maybe?" Queen Machina asked.
"This is a more efficient way. Quicker, if you will. We cannot fail. Klank, hand me my sword," Mondo said.
The robot fetched the weapon and delicately placed it in the King's hands. Two of the Cogs that had brought Sorona from the dungeon pushed her to her knees. Her head was bent, giving Mondo a perfect place to decapitate the young woman. Mondo held the sword above his head and cackled cruelly down at Sorona.
Suddenly, pushing aside the mounting fear in her heart, Sorona felt the presence of the Frog closer than it was before. She almost thought that the energy signature was in the throne room, but hiding in the shadows. [Adam?] she telepathically asked the signature.
[I'm here, Sorona.] came Adam's voice in her mind, comforting and strong.
Sorona could hear Mondo's sword coming down in its arc. [Please, Adam, hurry.]
[Don't worry.]
Before the sword could reach its destination, a black figure flipped out of the shawdows and spin kicked the object to the floor.
"No!" King Mondo cried as the sword clattered to a still on the floor. He looked to the intruding warrior. "Who are you?"
Without answering, the warrior swiftly took Sorona in his arms and ran onto the Skybase balcony.

"Tommy!" Adam cried into his communicator. "Teleport us into the Pheonix! And quick, Mondo's on our tail!"
^Read ya loud and clear, bro,^ Tommy replied.
A second later, Adam and Sorona disappeared from the balcony in a flash of black and green. They reappeared in a small room behind the cockpit inside Zeo Zord V.
Adam looked down at Sorona, who was now lying on the floor, curled in a fetal position. He fought with everything he had not to break down at the sight of her in such a pained state.
"You okay?" he managed after finding his voice.
Sorona only nodded.
Adam brushed his hand softly against her cheek. "I'll be back. I have to go talk to Zordon."
Again, Sorona nodded. Adam half-smiled and stood up, walking into the cockpit moments later.
A morphed Tommy turned. "She okay?"
Adam nodded. "Yeah. Though, she has a really big cut on her cheek, I think she'll be alright."
"Good. Let me open the communications so we can give Zordon a report."
"Alright."
Tommy tapped at the controls and Zordon's voice came over the intercom.
"HAVE YOU SUCCESSFULLY RETRIEVED SORONA?" he asked.
"Yes, Zordon. without any casualties as well," Adam informed.
"WONDERFUL. HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL YOU REACH THE POWER CHAMBER?"
"A couple minutes," Tommy said.
"ALL RIGHT. YOU WILL ELABORATE ON THE RESCUE THEN."
"Yes, Zordon."
With a beep, the communication link closed.
"I'm gonna go back and check on Sorona," Adam said.
"Hey, Adam?" Tommy said as Adam turned to leave.
"Yeah?"
"Do you love her?"
Adam let the question hang. He had been asking himself the same thing ever since they discovered Sorona had been captured. "I shouldn't."
"Hey, you can't help who you fall in love with," Tommy reminded.
Adam nodded solemnly. "But, what about Tanya? I don't want to hurt her."
"If she cares about you, she'll understand. It's like when Kim broke up with me. Because I cared about her, I decided that whatever made her happy was fine with me. I know Tanya will feel the same way about you."
"I guess. Thanks man," Adam said.
"No problemo." Tommy grinned underneath his helmet as Adam walked back into the small room.
Adam looked down on Sorona, who was now sitting up, her knees drawn up to her chest, with her skirt perfectly covering her legs. He sat down beside her and sighed.
She looked at him. "What did Zordon say?"
"Not much. Um, listen, Sorona-"
"Adam, don't. You're with Tanya, and I respect that. I couldn't come between you guys."
Adam frowned. "But you're the one I love, Sorona. I know that I've only known you for maybe a few hours, but I feel so drawn towards you. A feeling that I know is love."
He placed a loving hand on her face and stroked her cheek softly. Sorona sighed from underneath his touch. Adam raised an eyebrow as he noticed the large cut across her right cheek.
"What happened?" he asked, lightly touching the cut.
"Let's just say, a not-so-friendly confrontation with King Mondo." She laughed. "He talked about Dulcea, so I bad-mouthed him, and got what was coming to me."
"Man, that's something Rocky would do. I can't believe you stood up to Mondo like that," Adam said.
Sorona smiled. "Well, a certain little frog gave me the courage."
Adam wrapped an arm around her waist, returning the grin. Sorona's body relaxed as Adam led her lips to his. When they kissed, a surge of love and passion rushed through both of their bodies. In Adam's embrace, Sorona had never felt such a need for someone or as much passion before.
They parted, feeling the definite need to breathe.
"Sorona?" Adam asked.
Sorona looked up, a smile playing across her face. "Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."