Disclaimer: I don't own them, but if I did there'd be more dvds and most definitely more special features.
Quick chapter summary- Andros and Zhane explain the situation
A/N: Just recently I read some quotes from PRiS eps and I found one where one of the girls try to shake hands w/ Zhane and when he's reluctant he explains by saying that he's never met a female ranger before. Well, just forget that ever happened. Lol. Zhane has met female rangers before, they were the pink and yellow rangers from my little make-believe "original" space ranger team. Okie? * winks *
Chapter 2 – Who's Next?
ON BOARD THE ASTROMEGASHIP – IN THE INFIRMARY"ANDROS! Andros! Can you hear me? Andros? Come on, man, open you eyes… please…"
Andros could hear Zhane begging for him to wake up but he really didn't want to. As soon as he started to get any coherent thoughts together, all he felt was pain. He didn't want to feel pain. To wanted to go back to being unconscious until he healed enough to not have any pain or at least not as much. He must've given some sort of response, whether it was a slight movement of the hand or something else, he didn't recall, but he heard Zhane tell Alpha that he must be rousing. Then he heard something he didn't expect… he heard beeps. Not just the lone beep he should have heard from his monitor, but 2 other same-sounding beeps.
"Alpha, how is Ashley's heart-rate? Has it slowed at all?"
"Yes, it isn't nearly as erratic as it was before."
Ashley… Carlos… CASSIE… TJ… It started to come back to him… Forgetting all about his pain, Andros shot bolt upright in bed, ready to take on Ecliptor and… "Where is he? Where is Wasvat?"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down there. Sit back. You need to calm down. Just relax," Zhane said trying to quiet his best friend; then he did a double take. "Did you say Wasvat?"
"Yes, Zhane. He's back."
After about an hour, Ashley and Carlos had finally woken up, much to Andros and Zhane's relief. It wasn't until all 3 rangers seemed to be nearly fully recuperated that anyone tried to explain anything. Andros told Zhane everything that had happened up until the energy beams that held them delivered a shock strong enough to knock them out cold. "Well, I guess that's how we were knocked out. No one fired anything at us. In fact they pretty much ignored us. They were only concerned w/ Cassie."
"Andros, as soon as we heard that laughter and Cassie ran to us, it seemed you knew what they were planning; or at least, what the intended end result was," Carlos said hesitantly. 'Cassie's death,' but he couldn't say it out loud. "Have you dealt w/ this monster before?," he asked. Andros winced… he really didn't want to answer that question. It was too painful.
Zhane saw the pain on his friend's face and so he answered the question before Andros was forced to retell the tragedy. "Yes, Carlos we have dealt w/ him before." He took a deep breath before proceeding. "I know that you've all thought it was odd that Andros and I were the only space rangers when you came aboard, well, you didn't know about me yet, but that's odder still, just one ranger. After all, there were four other morphers, why wasn't anyone using them? In truth, you all are not the first to use the black, yellow, pink and blue morphers. Their previous owners are dead. I'm sorry, no, not all. Yellow is alive, although she's in a mental institution."
"No."
"What? Andros, what do mean "no"?"
"She's dead. She commit suicide." Andros looked at Zhane w/ an expressionless face. "The girl hadn't responded to any stimulus for a year, couldn't bathe, clothe, or feed herself. Then one day, she gets up from her chair, walking on her own for the first time in a year, walks over to the window, opens it, and jumps out from 5 stories up." He paused, lost in thought. "I couldn't visit her much during the attacks or shortly after you were injured. Then they took her off planet during the evacuation, and I lost track of her. When we met w/ the rebels, I investigated her whereabouts. I was able to locate her file." Andros tried to suppress a shudder. "There were many pictures." He avoided everyone's eyes because he could tell from the slight sniffles coming from Ashley's direction that she was trying her best not to cry. He didn't dare look at Zhane. He figured Zhane must be very angry w/ him for not telling him about the girl. He was surprised when he felt Zhane's hand on his shoulder and then give a short squeeze. At that, Andros himself almost lost all of his well-kept composure. He looked to see tears streaming down everyone's faces. He too reached and brushed away salty tear that had managed to escape.
"And this Wasvat did this? Killed 3 rangers and drove another insane?," Ashley said, finally trusting herself to speak.
"Yes," Zhane responded, still w/ his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Wasvat isn't an ordinary monster. He's smart; too smart, really. And he's the most sadistic bastard I've ever come across."
"And he works for Astronema?"
"He works for no one, unless there's something in it for him. And that something has to be big, very big, for him to be interested. He's a mercenary w/ very high prices. To be honest, he's such a scoundrel, I think Dark Spectre doesn't even trust him," Zhane paused, deep in thought. "Wasvat was the only monster to ever come so close to defeating the power rangers. Astronema must be getting VERY desperate."
"But I don't understand, he had four of us restrained, why didn't he destroy us? Why was he so intent on killing Cassie?", Carlos asked.
"Wasvat's weakness is his… process of doing things. He's extremely, how do I describe this, symbolic I suppose? Superstitious is more the right word for it. Our powers were not created all at the same time, they were made as they were needed. And for some reason, he's determined to destroy our powers in the order that they were created, or rather, in the opposite order. The pink ranger's powers were the last created. Therefore, they would be the first to be destroyed. This is, in a way a good thing and a bad thing."
"Good thing? How can this be a good thing?"
Andros spoke up this time. "He won't go after the next in line until Cassie is dead. The rest of us are safe at the moment. Also, TJ has her. TJ is extremely protective of her. If there's anyone on this entire planet Cassie is the safest w/, it's him."
"Speaking of, how did he escape to get to her? I struggled w/ all my might and couldn't budge the thing," Carlos asked.
"I have no idea, Alpha can you bring up a recording of the fight?", Andros asked. He was doing his best not to let the current situation affect him so much, but it was hard. Astronema was very good at hitting close to home with her attacks.
"I'm afraid there is none. The screen went black when you all were trapped by the beams, I'm guessing, by something Astronema did. Communications were also down and I wasn't able to contact Zhane until after the fight and whatever Astronema had did was lifted," the little robot said, as he nervously stepped in place, going from one foot to the other rapidly. It was a habit the rangers had thought he had broken. Imagine, a robot having a nervous habit! This particular habit seemed to be built into the Alpha robot line, since it's shared between both the Alpha 5 and their own Alpha 6.
"That's why by the time I got to you, you all were unconscious and there was nothing I could do to help anyone," Zhane said, bowing his head.
"So there's nothing?" Andros asked.
Alpha seemed to instantly brighten and said, "There's a chance that D.E.C.A. was able to track your energy signatures. If so, then perhaps we can learn Cassie and TJ's location."
Zhane rushed over to the nearest panel and began to enter commands into the computer. Sure enough…
"The energy signatures of the pink and blue rangers were last located inside the caves of Angel Grove beach," D.E.C.A spoke up.
Ashley gasped. "The caves! But they'll blow them up and kill Cassie and TJ just like that," she snapped her fingers.
"No," Andros shook his head, "they won't risk killing TJ. He isn't the next one in order."
"Then, who is?" When he didn't answer right away, she pushed, "Andros, who's next?"
"It's black, isn't it?," Carlos said, after piecing together the order in his head. "Pink, Black, and Blue were destroyed. Yellow wasn't killed was she was obviously attacked. Red and Silver weren't attacked yet. So that's the order, isn't it? Pink, Black, Blue, Yellow, and then Red and Silver or Silver and Red."
"Yes, Carlos. You're the next one they'll be after. Which is why you're not leaving this ship until Wasvat is destroyed," Andros said.
A/N: I suck at making up monster names, so if anyone has a better one than "Wasvat" * let me know. I'll give you credit, too. I won't be all like, "look at my wonderful monster name, aren't I so creative". LoL.
