1. I hope you had fun and relaxed yourself, folks, 'cause here begins a multi-chaptered rollecoaster, at the end of which we'll be cleared to start a war. Nice, don't you think?

2. Oh, and do you remember those graphics I promised like ages ago? Well, I have them scanned all right. The following are available: (1) Concept art of Phoenix, (2) Ejernor emblem, old version (described in text), (3) Ejernor emblem, new version (no way am I spelling out this!).

There're a couple more, but they haven't appeared in story so far. I'll let you know when they're relevant.

So, if you want any of these, email me and tell me which ones (if you have preferred file formats, also tell me), and I'll email them to you. Note, it may take me several days up to a week before I get to check my mail, so please be patient. I promise I'll get around to send it to you before the next chapter airs.

3. I have a correction to make. The A/N complaining about the lack of reviews for "No Fights" was written before Chibi cel-Chan's review (thanks, girl) ever came in: I knew I won't be home for the "update weekend", and therefore left a prepared chapter, complete with A/Ns, for a friend to update for me (he updated more chapters than you know).

4. Buckle you seatbelts, fellows, 'cause here we go!


7. Wake Up

"Early morning, she wakes up

Knock, knock, knock on the door

It's time for makeup, perfect smile

It's you they're all waiting for"

"Lucky", performed by Britney Spears


"This is not a good time, Shiera". Andros leaned on the doorframe of his quarters, openly exhausted.

"There's something you need to know"

"It's 04:15 a.m."

"It's the only time I can talk to you without anyone knowing"

"What's so secret?"

"Karone's current identity and whereabouts"

This effectively jerked Andros awake.

"Come on in"

Tired as she was after carrying through the "Tracy" act in front of the entire Power Rangers team, Astronema didn't sleep very well that time. No sooner did she fall asleep than she was woken by a headache or a nightmare she couldn't recall. Therefore she was wide-awake when the intruder showed up in her room. She only had time enough to grab her staff before the intruder vanished. Astronema got up from her bed and crouched by the small parcel the intruder dropped on the deck.

It wasn't a parcel really, but a small rectangular box of dark, polished wood, bearing an emblem foreign to her, and a short note. Astronema tried to open the box, but it was locked. She turned to the note, which was written by a strong, swift hand. Her eyes widened as she deciphered the old-fashioned lettering.

Zordon knows where your brother is. Your heirloom attached; Keep it with you at all times!

Her thoughts gushed. She was summoned to a strategic summit on board the ShadowRunner, Dark Specter's mobile base of operations, that very day. She happened to know that Zordon's tube was currently located on board the cruiser. It would be relocated after the summit. No one would suspect if she came into Zordon's storage room: anyone who might see her would assume she came to mock the prisoner and taunt him. She got up, box and note clutched firmly in her hand, and carefully hid them in her formal gear.


Andros and TJ were on board the Astro Mega Ship's bridge, plotting new scanning tactics, when DECA alerted them.

"An interference was detected in Angel Grove"

"On screen", said TJ.

The main screen flashed on.

"Darkonda", muttered Andros.

"Storming through the Park shouting and blasting trees isn't really his style, isn't it?" said TJ, brows furrowed. "DECA, increase the volume please"

DECA did as asked, and now they could hear Darkonda quiet clearly.

"Red Ranger!", he shouted, "You show yourself at one, red Ranger!"

"Where are you going?" demanded TJ, as Andros turned swiftly to the door.

"To finish him off"

"He'll finish you off if you go on your own. We're coming with you"

"No, you're not". There was some new strength in Andros's voice that made TJ hold back his protest. Andros continued. "Gather the rest of the team, but don't come in unless I'm in mortal danger – nothing less. Understood?"

"I don't like this"

"Understood?"

"Yes", acknowledged TJ, and added, talking to the elevator's doors as Andros was already gone: "I still don't like this"


"Red Ranger? Are you afraid, little human? Come out, red Ranger!"

"I wasn't hiding", said the red Ranger coolly. Andros, morphed, holding his spiral saber, was standing some 30 feet behind Darkonda. The bounty hunter turned to face him.

"Finally!" he snorted.

The two enemies begun circling each other.

"Five days ago, red Ranger", said Darkonda, "Someone grabbed me from behind and killed me, saying "The first, for my planet" "

"What does this have to do with me?" asked Andros chilly as he and Darkonda charged at each other, swords crossed to the hilt.

"The second day", hissed Darkonda, "It was "The first for my planet, the second for my people" ". He released his sword and directed an attack to the red Ranger's throat. As the attack was meant to provoke rather than to kill, Andros avoided it easily and replied with his own set of blows, all of which were diverted.

"What does this have to do with me?", he repeated.

Darkonda replied with a fiercer attack, making Andros step back.

"The day before yesterday, the attacker – who I still didn't see – added a third verse: "The third, for Karone"

Andros tripped, but managed to roll aside and rise to his feet before Darkonda could slice his midsection open.

"Still wondering "what you have to do with this", red Ranger?" Shouted Darkonda. "Here's your answer. Yesterday, Phoenix attacked me again". Darkonda charged forward, landing a heavy blow with each verse: "The first, for her planet; The second, for her people; The third, for Karone; The forth, for Andros!"


Up on the Astro Mega Ship, the six Rangers scrambled to their feet and grabbed their helmets as Darkonda stomped on the fallen red Ranger and pressed his sword to Andros's throat. Before they could act, however, what looked like a small supernova exploded behind Darkonda. Only it wasn't a supernova at all, but a feminine figure clad in a mostly white armor with golden ornamentation. The armor covered her completely, hiding her head and face.

"Enter Phoenix", murmured Shiera.

"The first, for my planet". Phoenix's flare sent Darkonda flying forward. He crashed to the ground some 40 feet from his original location, unconscious. Phoenix kneeled by Andros and held her hand over his chest. A thin golden mist enwrapped around the red Ranger. When it disappeared, Andros lay unmorphed, unconscious and uninjured on the grass. Phoenix's torso hid her hand as she tucked something into Andros's pocket.

Meanwhile, Darkonda staggered to his feet. Phoenix saw this and, standing up, she said "The second, for my people" and shot a fistful of orange flames at Darkonda. He diverted some of the attack with the energy beams he shot from his eyes, but enough of Phoenix's light survived to scorch his shoulder into coals.

With a small leap, Phoenix rose into the air, flaming wings of white and deep gold stretching behind her back as she flew over Darkonda. "The third, for Karone", she said as she shot white sparks at Darkonda. The sparks went right through his body, leaving bleeding holes behind them. Her next verse – "The forth, for Andros" – was accompanied by an energy stream directed at Darkonda's chest.

The flaming wings folded, and she landed at Darkonda's side.

"Do you know who I am?" she inquired, speaking quietly.

"Phoenix", breathed Darkonda. He was scorched and burnt from head to toes. His muscles were torn, no strength left in them.

"So you have forgotten", she said. She kneeled by him. "Don't you remember me?"

"I have never encountered such powers"

Bringing her head very close to his, she whispered: "I was not so strong as a four-years-old, wasn't I?". Her visor folded back for a brief second, revealing her face.

"You… No…" choked Darkonda. He wished himself away, but his broken body obeyed him no longer.

"Me, yes", she agreed, standing up. She unsheathed her sword, a thin long blade made of a substance that looked like yellow, smoked ice. "The fifth, for me", she said loudly. With that, she struck her sword through his chest. "You have no more incarnations left"

Dense white smoke filled his body from within, Darkonda gasped and sputtered, but to no avail. The white smoke consumed his entire body until, finally, the bounty hunter died.


Andros, still unconscious, was lying on a medical bed in the ship's infirmary. The other six Rangers stood around him, most of them nonplussed: Ashley was more the a little anxious, Zhane was brooding, and TJ and Shiera were poker-faced. The air in the small room was hot and unpleasant, but none of the Rangers was willing to leave. It was lucky, than, that Andros came around quickly.

His eyes opened quite suddenly. The other remained silent as he looked around, taking in his surroundings.

"What happened?" he finally asked.

"Phoenix killed Darkonda, for good" replied TJ.

"Healed you, too" added Zhane.

Andros set up. "Where is she now?"

"Gone", answered Ashley, "As soon as she rid us of Darkonda"

"Good riddance", answered Andros. "So", he added, lowering his feet to the deck but not getting up, "Who was the fifth for?"

"Herself", answered Cassie. "It kind of seems logical that you and Phoenix know each other from somewhere"

Andros shook his head. "I don't recall ever meeting her before. She must know me, though. It's a pity she didn't stick around. Now, if you guys don't mind…" he stood, "I'm still feeling a bit off, and I'd rather rest in my room"

"Sure", they chorused, and cleared him a path.


Once secured in the privacy of his quarters, Andros reached into his pocket and brought out the small thin box. He stroked the strangely familiar emblem on it: a circle and a triangle crossing each other. The three ends of the triangle were colored, respectively, in red, blue and yellow. The three main arches of the circle were purple, green and orange. So were the small arches to the inside of the triangles. The rest of the circle's inner plane was bright white. The combination of geometrical simplicity with the intricate coloring had a calming effect on his turbulent thought stream. Unwillingly, he returned the box to his pocket.

"DECA", he said.

"Yes, Andros?"

"I'll be leaving the ship now. I'm shutting down my communicator. You will not tell the others that I left unless they specifically ask where I am or if I'm on the ship"

"Confirmed"

This was all Andros needed. A simple promise, no complicated rewiring. Two lonely years have turned the human and the computer into good friends. If DECA promised, it was good enough for Andros. He teleported to the exit tubes.


There wasn't much for her to do on board the speed yacht, as the Quantrones could fly it easily enough. She spent most of the trip staring outside the window. Ecliptor suggested that she used the time to prepare herself to the summit, browsing through the maps and battle plans, but she knew she didn't need to. Her memory was perfect; she memorized the maps at a single glance. As for reviewing the battle plans, she has already done that; it did not take her long to analyze the pros and cons of each tactical deployment. She was a warrior princess more by her steel-trap mind than by her hand-to-hand skills. She won her first grand battle when she was 12. That victory made her the princess of Evil, and earned her more enemies than she could count. Enemies who would love to see her fall short of her reputation as the finest military mind of the age.

Still, on her way to a very important meeting, the mind of princess Astronema was not occupied with the matter she would soon have to discuss. Rather, it wrapped itself around the note and the box in her pocket. She longed to roll the note between her fingers, to read it over and over. She was immensely curious to know what was locked inside the wooden box. Yet she knew, that while the Quantrones were loyal to her, Dark Specter would be able to extract any information he'd want from them, and she did not want him to know her reasons for speaking to Zordon. Indeed, even Ecliptor was not informed of her midnight visitor.

She laid her hand on the pocket were the note was hidden. It won't be long now, she though. It won't be long.


Next time: "What does Zhane's crush has to do with Andros's sister?"