Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban. Any other characters are my own creation.

Part Six

"Ow, watch your elbow!"

"Shh! You want him to hear you?"

"Move over!"

"I can't!"

The seven Rangers were cramped in a tiny crevice outside Darkonda's lair. It would be difficult enough for two people to fit, but seven was nearly impossible.

Karone fidgeted, wishing there were fewer Rangers. It would be much less conspicuous that way. She felt a foot nudge her ankle. She looked up. It was Zhane. He jerked his head towards Ecliptor, meaning, "Pay attention." Karone nodded and tried to focus. As the closest people to the opening, she and Zhane would be leading the others inside. But it was hard to watch Ecliptor in danger. She certainly didn't want the job, but unfortunately she'd ended up with the position. She sighed. Andros, who was next to her, squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Ecliptor glanced their way. They all nodded for him to go ahead. He cleared his throat. "Darkonda!"

* * * * * *

Darkonda paced the floor of his lair. "Oh, missy, I have great plans in store for you." He laughed. "Actually, I have great plans in store for me."

A teenage girl in a green dress, which was almost black with dust and dirt, with light brown hair and brown eyes, looked up at him fearfully. She was chained to a long pole that stuck in the ground. "My name is not missy, it's Emma. What do you want from me?" she cried. He laughed again. She trembled. Whatever it was he wanted with her, it was apparent that it was not good.

"Well, Emma, what I want from you is revenge. And from my revenge will come a new power over the dark forces, and then the universe. Not that you'll live to see my reign, mind you. But when your father comes to rescue you, that is, as soon as I find that coward, you'll have the pleasure of watching me destroy him. I can't wait!"

"My father's alive?" Emma gasped. Her mother had told her many stories, about how he was a brave man, who fought against evil, and most likely died doing so. She never believed there could be a chance that he was alive and just never returned. Her face flushed with anger.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure Daddy still loves you, even if he did replace you."

"What did he ever do to you?" she asked. No, she would not believe this awful creature for a second. Her father would not leave them. There has to be a logical explanation, she thought to herself, and I bet he knows it.

"Ours is a long and dreadful rivalry. Surely you do not want me to bore you with the details." He paused. "But since you asked so nicely…" He snickered. She glared at him fiercely, less afraid than she had been. I'm getting sick of him, she realized. For the past week he'd been tormenting her, torturing her. He barely gave her any food, just enough to keep her alive. And everyday she'd had to endure his awful comments and cruel jokes, which made him laugh like a hyena. I wish it were like the first week, when I was unconscious.

"Well, your dear father and I were enemies since we first met on the battlefield. Ecliptor and his honor, it made me sick." He spat on the floor. Emma made a face at the puddle of green slime there. "He was always getting in my way. So one day, when you were just an itsy, bitsy little girl, I decided to turn him into one of my own, a monster. Grant it, he was supposed to be a harmless monster. I'd thought I'd seen the last of him, until I kidnapped a little girl and brought her to Dark Spectre. And, surprise, surprise, the man that was to care for her was good old Ecliptor, still alive, strong as ever and on the dark side. I'd thought peasants with torches had killed him already, you see, and I never expected him to join with us. Probably because he had no where else to go. The little girl became Astronema, princess of evil, and your replacement in your father's heart. But the little witch got too big for her britches. So, in order to destroy Dark Spectre and take over, I had to destroy her too. But Daddy dearest wasn't about to let that happen, no, no. Of course, slight occurrences have happened since than to make things easier for me. But I still won't rest until I defeat your father, once and for all. Any questions?"

"One, when was the last time you took a bath?" She wrinkled her nose. He pushed her, knocking her head against the pole.

"I suggest you be nicer to me. You'll live longer if you do." Emma glowered at him.

They heard a call from outside. "Darkonda!"
"Well, looks like he's found me. I can't wait for your tearful reunion. It'll be the first and last time you see him."

"Darkonda!!!"

Emma strained to see outside the dark cave. That voice sounded so familiar. Could it possibly be?

* * * Flashback * * *

Five-year old Emma glanced out the window. She ignored the smells of her mother's cooking that wafted from the kitchen. She spotted someone coming up the hill towards them.

"Father's home!" She exclaimed. She flung open the door and ran into his arms.

"Hey, pumpkin!" He squeezed her tightly. She grinned at him and buried her head in his shoulder.

* * *End Flashback* * *

"Father!" she screamed.

"Be right back!" Darkonda disappeared.

"No! Father!"

* * * * * *

Darkonda appeared just outside the entrance to the cave.

"So, he's arrived at last," Zhane said under his breath. Sidra hushed him.

"I see you've undid my little experiment. That's a surprise."

"Release my daughter!" Ecliptor commanded.

Darkonda laughed. "Fight me for her."

Ecliptor lunged at him, slashing his newly repaired sword at his chest.

"We just have to wait until his back is turned," Karone whispered to the others.

"No, our morphers have a stealth mode. We can use it to get past them."

The Earth Rangers looked over at Andros. He shrugged. He didn't know about this feature either.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Zhane hissed. "We could've avoided this."

She shrugged. "You never asked."

Karone frowned under her helmet. "Well, never mind that. Let's go. Stealth mode.'

"Stealth mode," they whispered. Their uniforms slowly disappeared into nothingness and themselves along with it.

"Cool!" Ashley said. But whether or not they could hear her, she couldn't tell.

They filed out and looped around them. Then they slipped into the cave.

* * * * * *

Emma pulled on her chains, but it was useless. They were made of some metallic alloy found in space that even the Incredible Hulk probably couldn't break. At least, that was the way it seemed to her. Emma didn't care so much about what happened to her anymore, what mattered was that her father was a live and less than a hundred feet away. And he was in danger.

"Help!" she cried out desperately. She saw a bunch of shadows out of the corner of her eye. They looked like people. "Is somebody there?"

Like magic, seven people appeared before her. But not just any ordinary people. "Power Rangers!" she exclaimed.

"Power Down!" shouted the Purple Ranger. The Power Rangers disappeared and seven teenagers were in their place.

"Are you all right?" Karone asked.

Emma nodded. "I'm fine. But, I don't understand. Darkonda said my father…"
Andros scowled. "Don't listen to what he says about anything."

Karone patted her shoulder. "Your father will be fine. And he's our friend. He never was really evil; I know that for a fact. Ecliptor, your father, he's been there for me a lot." Karone's eyes were full of concern for him, and Emma had a slight feeling that'd she'd met the replacement Darkonda had been talking about.

Meanwhile, Carlos was examining her chains. "I've never seen metal like this before." He glanced at Andros. "Can you break it?"
Andros nodded and placed his battlizer on his wrist. He pressed 1 and broke them with one quick karate chop.

Carlos took off her shackles and helped her up.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"No problem," he said, blushing slightly. Apparently he'd noticed that, a bit more than the others did, that she was every bit as pretty as her mother, perhaps more so. Ashley giggled.

"We'd better get out there," Karone said. "Ecliptor probably needs us."

"Right!" The others chorused. They remorphed.

"You can protect Emma," Zhane said mischievously. Carlos nodded solemnly, not noticing his tone.

"Let's go!" TJ said. The others followed him outside. All the Rangers (except for Carlos, who took Emma to hide under a tree nearby) jumped into the battle, using their weapons on Darkonda. Karone grabbed Ecliptor and brought him over to his daughter where he would be safe. They hear a loud explosion behind them. Karone knew that meant they'd destroyed Darkonda. "Hopefully for once and for all," Karone muttered to herself. The other Rangers rushed over and joined them, demorphing as they did so.

They congratulated eachother with high fives and loud cheers.

"Quiet!" Karone said. She pointed to Ecliptor and Emma.

Emma's lip quivered. "Father!" She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug."

"Oh, pumpkin," Ecliptor said. There were tears in his eyes.

Karone rubbed her eye to stop her own tears. She was happy for them, extremely happy. But she couldn't help feeling that she'd lost something important. Ecliptor really had done a lot for her, but it wasn't the same. Emma was his real daughter, not her.

Andros came up behind her and squeezed her shoulders. "Don't worry, Karone. If Mom and Dad are alive, we'll find them," he said. "I promise you that."

To be continued…