"Your time's almost up, Zhane."
The cry was scarcely finished when the ball raced towards Cassie's outstretched hands. It was only inches from her, when Andros snatched the ball from the air. Twirling around, he rebounded the ball to Ashley who slammed it into the hoop.
"Wohoo!!" cried Ashley giving Andros and Carlos a high five.
"Don't celebrate yet," called Cassie from the side of the court where she was grabbing a drink from her water bottle. "We still have one more round to go."
TJ picked up the ball and tossed it back to Zhane.
"Let's go!" he said and the two teams quickly got back in position.
This time Zhane faked to Cassie before he completed a successful pass to TJ. TJ in turn passed to Cassie who was next to the net. Cassie turned towards the basket to find Andros in her way.
****
High above the earth in a dark fortress, a sinister voice commanded, "Begin the test."
****
Cassie danced around trying to find an opening as Andros blocked her attempts at shooting a basket. She was about to try a pass back to TJ when an arm came down slamming against her neck. The ball fell to the concrete floor. It bounced along the court until it reached the grass of Angel Grove Park and rolled away. Cassie impacted the ground her skin scraping against the rough ground. She placed a hand against the pain before looking up in shock at her attacker.
Andros looked back in equal shock. He glanced up at the rest of his friends, frozen with the same feeling of shock; then, his eyes locked onto his right hand, which he held against his body, his left hand around the wrist.
"Andros?" Zhane whispered, quietly approaching him.
Ashley and Carlos remained silent, still frozen.
"Why the hell d'you do that?" TJ demanded. He went over to help Cassie up while glaring at the person who he had thought was their friend. "Cassie could've…" he started to shout.
"Teej," Zhane who had reached Andros' side cut him off with a warning tone. TJ gave him a confused look, but didn't say anything more.
"Andros?" Zhane asked again.
Andros shuffled away. He shivered and looked around edgily. "Cassie…. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Zhane reached out to comfort his friend, but Andros flinched away. "I'm sorry," he said again. Turning away, he ran off into the park.
"Andros!" shouted Zhane. He gave a quick look at his teammates before running after his best friend. The others swiftly followed.
****
When the rangers finally caught up with Andros, they found him standing in the middle of the small bridge that crossed Angel Grove's only river. He was staring down at the rushing water, his hands clasping the rail. Zhane walked up to Andros and stood next to him. The other rangers approached, but Zhane indicated for them to stay back.
Zhane studied his best friend's face. Andros was pale, his teeth clenched together, his eyes almost seemed glazed over as he stared unblinking at the river. There was a hint of pain in his eyes visible only to Zhane.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," grumbled Andros
Not believing him, Zhane followed Andros' gaze downwards to the river. In doing so, he saw that Andros' hands were shaking. Distantly, Zhane remembered how Andros had been rubbing his wrists after the battle the other day. He gave his friend's face another quick glance before grabbing Andros' right arm and pulling up his sleeve. The rangers gasped at the burnt black symbols on the reddened skin.
"What the hell?" breathed Carlos as Ashley ran over to Andros' side. Zhane kept her back.
"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked as he started reaching down to check Andros' other wrist.
****
"No! The rangers have found it out already. Reactivate it! It's time to finish the Silver Ranger."
***
Andros blocked Zhane's hand and grasped Zhane's neck with his right hand. Squeezing Zhane's throat, Andros pushed him backwards until Zhane was bending over the rail towards the water.
The other rangers rushed over to help Zhane, but he called out through his strained throat "Stay back!" Staring into, Andros' eyes, Zhane found no malice or anger only fear.
Suddenly, Andros pulled Zhane back from the edge and threw him onto the floorboards of the bridge. Zhane landed on his back his eyes not leaving Andros', but Andros squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed his head, his face contorted in pain.
"Andros?" said Zhane reaching out towards him.
Andros lunged for Zhane as if to attack him again then abruptly stopped. He screamed, "No!" and threw himself off the bridge.
Zhane and the others ran to the edge. Their screams flowing down the river with their friend.
(Flashback Ends)
****