The Corporation: Chapter 3

Author's Notes: It's been a while, hasn't it? Don't worry, the wait between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 won't be nearly as long, heh! Well, here you go with Chapter 3! Please note that if I don't get a good number of reviews, I won't be continuing with this story. Anyway, onward!

The five core Astro Rangers were on the bridge of the Astro Megaship, trying to figure out just what was going on.

"The Green Astro Ranger is Tommy." Andros said to himself. "This Tommy is a responsiable fellow?"

"Usually." T.J. replied.

"He didn't seem to be in very good control of his motions when he encountered this Kat person." Andros pointed out.

"He's distraught." Cassie said. "According to this news brief, the original Pink Ranger, Kimberly, is missing. The two were very close, I remember Kat telling me that."

"Kat, the enemy?" Andros asked her.

"I don't know what's happened to her." Cassie said sadly. "She used to be so kind."

"Well, whatever it is, we can't show her mercy." Andros said. "If she's a threat to the world, she must be elimnated."

"You're suggesting killing a human?" Carlos asked, shocked.

"A former Power Ranger!" Cassied yelled out.

"Misslecon killed at least a few people and injured many others, and that was apparently her doing." Andros replied. "If killing her is what we must do to stop her from hurting anymore innocent people, then it is what we will do."

"Andros does have a point, guys." Ashley said, stepping in. "But for now, let's worry about finding her first, and also finding out what that weird headband thing she was wearing was."

"It seemed powerful, whatever it was." T.J. said.

Kat paced back and forth in her lab in the Darkhaven Corporate Building.

"Perhaps it is time the Astro Rangers met the Robotic Ranger." Kat said. "That will surely draw Tommy out, and then she can kill him for me! After all the Astro Rangers- including Tommy- are dead, I'll return her memories and let her have the guilt of killing the one she loves!"

Kat pressed a few buttons on the nearby console as red eyes lit up in the metallic helmet and the wires removed themselves from it.

"Are you active?" Kat asked her.

"Yes, my Queen." the Robotic Ranger repiled in a distorted version of Kimberly's voice. It sounded like it was being said through a voice-box. "I am ready to eliminate the Astro Rangers."

"Good." Kat said. "Go and attack people on the beach to draw them out."

The Robotic Ranger- Kimberly- nodded, and teleported out in a similar flash of black.

"This will be so much fun, I just have to go watch!" Kat said happily, and put on the mysterious black headgear, then teleported out again.

"We have a major problem, guys!"

The other Astro Rangers all turned to see Cassie standing in front of a monitor onboard the Astro Megaship.

"An unidentified, new Astro Ranger is attacking random people in Angel Grove Park." Cassie said. "It looks kinda....robotic."

"Well, we have to go stop her!" Andros replied. "If it's robotic, Kat might have sent him....or her.....or it....let's just go stop it!"

"LET'S ROCKET!" all five said in unison.

The five Astro Rangers, all morphed, teleported in back of the Robotic Ranger just as she had a mother and young daughter (around 5 or so) cornered.

"You can thank your precious Rangers for this." the Robotic Ranger said in a distorted version of Kimberly's voice. "If they had showed up by now, I wouldn't have to terminate you."

But suddenly, the five Rangers pulled out their blasters and shot the Robotic Ranger. It didn't seem to have any effect on her, but she did notice and turned around.

"You're here." she said. "Good then. Just let me kill these two, and then we'll...."

"Not a chance!" Carlos yelled out.

The Robotic Ranger smiled underneath her helmet.

"You Rangers can't win this time." she replied. "I wasn't designed to lose!"

The Robotic Ranger ran foward, and easily thrashed all five Rangers in hand-to-hand combat. She then pulled back, and out of the two sockets in her helmet, sprayed electricity at the Rangers, knocking them to the ground with harsh explosions.

"Pathetic!" the Robotic Ranger said as the other Rangers attempted to pull their battered bodies off the ground. "Kat said you would be easy, but she did not say you would be as easy as this!"

Meanwhile, the Green Astro Battleship was orbiting the Earth, as Tommy was in his private chambers, attempting to get some sleep. However, an alarm soon woke him up, and Tommy saw on the screen that he had been using as a TV that the other Rangers were under attack.

"I guess I should go help them." Tommy yawned. "Maybe I'll run into Kat again- cause something tells me that if Kat's gone evil again, she's got something to do with Kimberly's disapperence."

Tommy held up his Green Astro Morpher and put in the combination.

"LET'S ROCKET!"


As the Robotic Ranger prepared to thrash the other Astro Rangers even more, suddenly she was nearly ran through by a powerful streak of green energy. Tommy appeared on the other side, morphed and holding the Green Astro Saber.

"Tommy!" T.J. yelled out.

Tommy nodded, then turned his attention back to the Robotic Ranger.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm telling you now to stop!" Tommy said. "If Kat sent you, you go back to her and tell her we're not going to fight her! We have no reason to fight, because all evil has been defeated, thanks to the Power Rangers!"

"How wrong you are!" the Robotic Ranger replied. "Evil is in the hearts of all of humankind! You Rangers did not defeat evil- evil lives inside of each and every one of you right now!"

The Robotic Ranger drew her double blades, dubbed the Robotic Astro Blades.

"Prepare to fight me, Green Ranger." the Robotic Ranger said.

"If you really want to fight me.....then you'll get your wish!" Tommy replied.

"Tommy....let us help you!" T.J. yelled out.

"No, this is between me and....well, by the voice, I'd say it's a she." Tommy said. "Let me handle this, I'm more than capable!"

T.J. nodded and Tommy and the Robotic Ranger charged at each other. The fight was on.

Meanwhile, Kat teleported in behind a tree nearby, watching the clash begin.

"This is just too perfect!" Kat said with a smug grin. "According to my scanner, they're both at equal power levels- hopefully, they'll just destroy each other!"

Tommy and the Robotic Ranger began a back-and-forth duel, each countering each other's swordplay with solid attacks.

As it appeared even, Tommy went for the trump card, sticking the Green Astro Saber into the ground and releasing a powerful green energy wave. The Robotic Ranger leaped over it and her double sabers became one, which came down to slash Tommy with a black energy wave. Tommy fell backwards, landing hard.

"Well, it looks like I'm just the better warrior, Green Ranger." the Robotic Ranger laughed. "And now, to end this fight."

Her blades seperated again, and she placed one at Tommy's throat and the other over his head. But Tommy kicked her away, surprisng her, then sliced at her ranger suit with his sword, causing visable damage.

"Ugh!" the Robotic Ranger yelled out.

But before Tommy could do anything else, he was blasted by a black energy wave. It came from the eyepatch Kat was wearing- the one that extended over her right eye from the strange, metallic headband she was wearing around her head.

"Hey!" T.J. said. "That's not fair!"

"Since when did I ever claim to be fair?" Kat countered.

The Rangers nodded to each other and opened fire with their blasters- but the fire was simply absorbed by some strange, invisiable shield that was around Kat!

"Always be prepared, that's my motto." Kat said, pointing at the headband. "Powerful little piece of equipment, ain't it?"

The Rangers growled angrily, while Tommy and the Robotic Ranger continued to stare each other down.

Suddenly, the Robotic Ranger leaped- well, practically flew- into the air, finally landing on top of a nearby office building. Tommy followed, leaving the Astro Rangers alone with Kat.

"Why are you doing this?" Andros asked her. "If you were once a Power Ranger, as my fellow Rangers claim, how can you accept such evil practices?"

"Well, duh, for the money of course." Kat replied. "And, I do have a personal interest in the newest Astro Rangers."

The Rangers looked up to the building rooftop where Tommy and the Robotic Ranger were dueling.

"The Robotic Ranger isn't exactly a willing servant, is she?" T.J., the first to figure it out, asked Kat.

Kat mockingly shrugged her shoulders.

"So, uh, are we gonna fight now, or just stand around and talk?" Kat asked them.

"I say fight." Ashley said.

"Fine by me." Kat replied.

She snapped her fingers, and four Dark Quantrons appeared.

"Take all but the Red Ranger." Kat said. "He's mine."

The Dark Quantrons nodded and each paired off with a Ranger, their hand-to-hand skills more than enough to keep that Ranger occupied. Meanwhile, Andros and Kat circled each other.

"I'm not going to hesitate to kill you, in order to defuse the threat to Earth's well-being." Andros warned her. "Even if you are human and you are a former Power Ranger, your species and your past service as a Ranger do not give you the right to do such evil."

"Well, in order to make good on your threat, you'll have to defeat me first, and I just don't see that happening." Kat said with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Tommy and the Robotic Ranger continued their duel on the rooftop, dead even so far.

"I'm going to finish you off, Green Ranger!" the Robotic Ranger shouted.

She put her two Robotic Astro Blades into an x-shape.

"ROBOTIC DARK ENERGY!" she yelled out, and a wave of dark power came from the center of the X formed by the two blades.

Quickly, Tommy remembered one of the maneuvers the Phantom Ranger had taught him.....

"GREEN REFLECTER SHIELD!" Tommy yelled out, and the black energy wave bounced off an invisable green shield.

The energy wave struck the Robotic Ranger in the chest, and with a loud explosion, she fell to the ground, unconcious.

"Now, it's time to find out just who you are." Tommy said, leaning over the unconcious Ranger.

He pulled the helmet off......and to his horror, found the beatuiful face of Kimberly there. He dropped the Robotic Ranger helmet in shock.

"Kimberly....you're alive!" Tommy said, and began crying tears of pure joy.

Sure, she was an evil Ranger, but that's not what mattered to Tommy now. He cried as he held Kimberly's unconcious head to his chest, tears falling on Kimberly's black (Kat had it dyed when she brainwashed Kim, to seperate her from her old persona) hair.

Tommy grabbed Kimberly and teleported out with her.

Back down in the park, Andros pulled out his Blaster and tried to blast Kat again, but the shots were simply absorbed by her shield.

"Stupid Ranger." Kat said. "Now THIS is how you blast someone!"

Andros narrowly dodged several dark energy blasts that came out of the eyepatch, then pulled out his Spiral Saber.

"Ah, so the Ranger wants a swordfight." Kat said mockingly. "Well, I can more than grant that little wish, Red Ranger."

More black energy shot out of the eyepatch, but this time it took form of a black energy saber in Kat's right hand.

"This handly little headband happens to enchance my combat abilities." Kat said. "It's just like a Ranger suit, only without the tacky clothing."

Kat and Andros clashed swords- although whenever Andros got a shot in, it didn't get past that invisable shield around her- and Kat had the upper hand, getting a few good slashes in. However, Andros got the upper hand back soon after, and finally did a super slice that broke her invisable energy shield.

"Ugh, you stupid Ranger, that's going to take hours to recharge!" Kat said angrily, stepping backwards a bit. "Next time.....ah, forget it, that's so cliched!"

Kat disappered in a black flash, as did the Dark Quantrons the other Rangers were fighting. The other Rangers all ran over to Andros, who was gasping and had smoke coming out of his suit's swordholes, from Kat's energy saber.

"Are you alright, Andros?" Ashley asked him.

"Yeah." Andros replied. "She retreted after I broke her energy shield, but man, she was tough!"

The others all looked up to the building rooftop, where they noticed Tommy and the Robotic Ranger were gone.

"Wonder what happened to Tommy and the Robotic Ranger?" Cassie said.

"Good question." T.J. replied.

A few hours later, Kimberly woke up. She was in Tommy's private chambers, sleeping underneath the coverse alone in his bed.

Where the hell am I? Kimberly wondered. Oh, green covers, that probably means.....

"GREEN RANGER!" Kimberly screamed. "YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR TAKING ME HOSTAGE IN YOUR....."

"Covers?"

Tommy was in the other side of the room, sitting in a nearby chair.

It's him! Kimberly thought. The face who I can't identify!

"Wh-Who are you?" Kimberly asked him. "And why are you tormenting my mind?!?"

"I'm not torementing anything, Kim." Tommy replied. "I'm trying to help you."

"What did you call me?" Kimberly asked him. "My name is the Robotic Ranger!"

"Yeah, that's your Ranger name, Kim." Tommy said. "At least, now it is. But when you're demorphed, your name is Kimberly, and you're demorphed right now."

Kimberly looked down at herself, and realized he was speaking the truth. She hadn't even noticed, as she was not used to being demorphed- all of her sleep came in suspended animation while still in her Ranger suit.

"I suppose I could use a name for when I am demorphed, and Kimberly sounds alright. Thank you, whoever you are." Kimberly said. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to this. I was born and raised to be the Robotic Ranger, a servant of Emperess Katherine, so I'm not used to being demorphed. I apologize, whoever you are."

"I'm Tommy, Kimberly, and none of that is true." Tommy said.

"What?" Kimberly replied, confused and now growing angrier.

"You're name is Kimberly Hart, and you're not a servant of Kat." Tommy said.

"Empress Katherine!" Kimberly said. "Her name is Emperess Katherine!"

"No, Kim, it's not." Tommy said, shaking his head. "I'm going to try and help you regain your real memories- but to do that, we need to go back to Kat's base and find out a way to give you back your real memories."

"You're the Green Astro Ranger, aren't you?" Kimberly said with a laugh. "Like hell I'm going to trust you, I know that you're my greatest enemy out of all the Astro Rangers! I'm getting out of here!"

Kimberly tried to sit-up and leave, but held her stomach in pain.

"Don't try and get up, Kim!" Tommy said. "You're a Ranger so that should heal faster than normal, but you still need to rest!"

Tommy got up and helped her back down. When he touched Kim's right hand with his, he stopped. The two drew closer to one another- but Kimberly suddenly pulled back.

"Why- Why am I doing this?" Kimberly said out-loud confused. "You are the Green Astro Ranger, my mortal enemy, but yet am I drawn to you."

"You mentioned that my face haunted you?" Tommy asked her. "I'm guessing that's becuase your love for me was the one memory that was too strong for Kat to erase, at least not completley. Dig deeper into those feelings, Kim, and you'll realize I'm telling you the truth."

Kimberly tried- and she suddenly experienced a rush of feelings and images. She held her head in pain, and screamed out.

"Kimberly!" Tommy yelled, and was at her side instantly.

Kimberly rose from the bed, sitting up. Her eyes told the story of how weak she was- but she pulled Tommy in closer, and the two kissed.

"The feelings....they are there." Kimbelry said. "They feel more real than anything else I have ever experienced- or, at least, remember experiencing. I will trust you, Green Ranger. Or rather, Tommy. As soon as I am better, we will go to Emperess Kat-"

"Kat." Tommy said, correcting her.

"-Kat's base, and we'll sort this out." Kimberly said.

"I'll be at your side, no matter what." Tommy said. "Just know that."

"Then.....before, when we are better, will you help me carry out my plans- help me destroy the Astro Rangers?" Kimberly asked him.

Tommy pulled away from her.

"If you are truely as dedicated to me as you claim, then you will help me fullfill my mission!" Kimberly yelled out. "Before I trust you enough to betray my Emperess, you must prove your loyality to me! Help me fight the other Rangers."

After a brief pause, Tommy turned back to her.

"Fine." Tommy said. "I will. But for you. Always for you."

Tommy leaned in and kissed her again.

"Just make sure you get better, Kimberly." Tommy said. "We won't stand a chance against the Astro Rangers unless you're 100%."

Kimberly nodded and closed her eyes again.

This emotion.....this must be love. Kimberly thought happily as she drifted asleep.

To Be Continued.....