DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE (AS MUCH AS I'D LIKE IT TO BE) SO DON'T SUE ME
Chapter 15: The Battle For Earth
Zhane spotted the Megaship with relief. Galaxy Gliders were fast, but he couldn't outrun the Velocifighters for much longer. He dodged their fire, but they were catching up.
"Deca," he yelled into his communicator. "Fire the Megalasers!"
He let out a breath as the Velocifighters were destroyed.
"The rebels have been captured?" Andros repeated.
Zhane shook his head. "They surrendered. They figured it was their best chance for survival if we lose."
"I'm picking up a fleet of Velocifighters," Carlos said grimly. "Heading - heading for Earth."
Andros closed his eyes for a moment. "So this is it."
He took a deep breath.
"Let's rocket!"
Cassie and Carlos were fighting together, and they were doing well for quite awhile. Several dozen Quantrons fell beneath the blast of Cassie's Satellite Stunner and Carlos' Lunar Lance.
"Watch out!" Cassie cried, and Carlos ducked, allowing Cassie to zap the Quantron behind him.
"Whew," he sighed.
Then they were both thrown backward when the ground shook under fire from the Velocifighters.
"Duck!" T.J. shouted as the started to climb to their feet again.
"Where's Zhane?" Cassie demanded. "I thought you two were together."
T.J. pointed to the sky. The Mega Winger had taken on the Velocifighters.
"He'll be all right," T.J. said. "Let's go."
They nodded, and took turns sheparding the frightened citizens of Angel Grove to safety.
Andros knocked several Quantrons out of the way and looked for Ashley. They had been fighting side by side on a rooftop, but had been separated by the masses of Quantrons. He groaned as he saw Ecliptor and Darkonda both coming his way. He figured he had a few minutes before they made their way up from the ground. He was startled to see them stop, but then he understood when he saw the familiar blast of Ashley's Star Slinger.
"Red Battlized Ranger!" he shouted, leaping off of the roof. Ashley was stronger than he was, and he knew it, but he wasn't about to let her take on Ecliptor and Darkonda alone.
He sent several rockets into Darkonda, who had just sent Ashley sprawling. He turned to fire at Ecliptor, but Ecliptor had vanished.
"Red Ranger!"
Andros swore as he heard Ecliptor's voice behind him. He was hit from behind even as he started to turn. His armor disappeared as he fell. Andros landed hard across the hood of a car, then tumbled to the ground.
"Andros!"
Ashley elbowed several Quantrons out of her way to get to him.
"Let's get out of here!" she said, pulling him to his feet.
"You're not going anywhere!" Ecliptor and Darkonda cried together.
Andros was hit by Ecliptor's blast and flew backwards. Ashley landed next to him, wincing with pain from Darkonda's. As they lay there trying to catch their breath, their suits vanished.
"Run!" Andros shouted, as he and Ashley managed to get to their feet. They got away only because the sheer numbers of Quantrons prevented Ecliptor and Darkonda from chasing them.
Zhane was in trouble. The Mega Winger had been able to withstand the Velocifighters for almost two hours, but the tide was turning. There were simply too many of them for Zhane to catch, and the Mega Winger was taking too many hits.
He knew he wasn't going to last much longer.
On the ground, Carlos, T.J., and Cassie knew it too. They had been fighting back to back, and it had kept them from taking too many hits, but their exhaustion was starting to show.
"No!" Cassie screamed suddenly, pointing.
The Mega Winger was toppling. They saw Zhane jump, but were unable to get out of the way themselves. They realized too late that Zhane had told the Mega Winger to self-destruct.
Hundreds of Quantrons were taken out, but the ensuing blast caught the three rangers on the ground as well. The force of the blast demorphed them.
"Retreat!" T.J. yelled, and they took off as the Quantrons followed in pursuit.
Andros and Ashley stumbled into the makeshift camp the others had sent up, leaning on each other to walk. They had managed to evade Ecliptor and Darkonda, but had had to fight their way through the Quantrons to escape.
"You're alive!" Cassie exclaimed as they appeared. "We were so worried about you."
"We're fine," Ashlely said weakly, sitting down on an overturned telephone pole. "Or at least we will be."
"So . . . what do we do now?" T.J. asked. "We're too weak to just go back out and fight, but we can't just sit here and do nothing."
"Duck!" Ashley said suddenly, crouching down, and pulling Andros and Cassie with her. The others looked mystified, but did as she said as the sky began raining molten lava.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked.
"Ay yi yi yi yi," came Alpha's voice over their communicators. "Rangers, Dark Specter has been destroyed by Darkonda!"
They stared at each other, stunned. Then some relief settled in. Two of their greatest enemies were gone.
"If Dark Specter's gone," T.J. said, "Then who's in charge?"
As if in answer to his question, Astronema's image appeared in the sky.
"No!" Zhane whispered. Andros nearly collapsed.
"Karone!" he cried.
The other rangers looked at each other, lost about what to do.
Night came, bringing temporary relief from battle. Astronema had granted Earth twenty-four hours to deliver the rangers to her, or else she would destroy earth.
The rangers were still discussing possible strategies.
"I could get onto the Dark Fortress," Andros said. "I'm sure that I could get through to Karone."
"No," the other five responded as one.
"It's too risky," T.J. said. "We can't afford to lose you."
"I can take care of myself," Andros protested. "And the Dark Fortress will be empty. They're all down here."
"You don't know that," Carlos said. "You can't take that chance."
"We still have some time," Ashley said. "We're not beaten yet. We can figure something out."
As the others huddled together, Andros slipped away. He opened his Delta Morpher and stared at it for a long time.
"What are you doing?"
Andros jumped when he heard Ashley's voice.
"Oh, I was just . . . umm . . ."
"Andros, you can't leave," she said, stepping closer. "Please. We need you here."
"I have to try," Andros said. "There's no other way."
Ashley said nothing, but kept shaking her head no.
"Ashley," Andros said. "If I don't . . . see you again-"
"No," Ashley said, covering his lips with her hand. "I will see you again."
"Thank you for letting me do this," Andros said. He wanted to hold her one more time, but he was afraid that he would change his mind if he thought about it for too long. Ashley seemed to understand.
"Go," she said, doing her best not to cry while he was still there. After he was no longer in sight, she swallowed hard, and went to tell the others that the fate of the plantet now depended on just the five of them.
Day brought new struggles for the rangers. Without Andros, T.J. had assumed the role of leader, but they were even more weakened without him. As the twenty-four hour mark approached, they still had no plan. Surrender was never an option. There was no guarantee that Astronema would let the planet survive if they did.
"People of Earth," Astronema declared. "I see no rangers. I will ask one more time. Where are the Power Rangers?"
"I'm the yellow ranger!" a woman in the crowd shouted.
"I'm the pink ranger!" Adelle cried.
"I'm the blue ranger!" Bulk declared.
"I'm the black ranger!" Skull said.
"I'm the silver ranger!" a man called.
"I am the red ranger!" Professor Phenomous shouted shakingly. Astronema raised an eyebrow at that.
"I'm a ranger too!" someone else shouted.
"So am I!"
Within seconds, the cry had spread as each and every one of the citizens of Angel Grove proclaimed that they were Power Rangers.
"This is unbelievable!" Ashley said. Goosebumps ran up her arms.
"You guys know what we have to do," Zhane said. "Come on."
"Destroy them all!" Astronema declared. She vanished.
The crowd scattered and ran for cover as her footsoldiers attacked..
"Enough!"
The world turned to look at the rooftop where Astronema had been standing.
"We are the Power Rangers!"
Andros snuck onto the Dark Fortress and made his way down the halls. So far there had been no sign of any Quantrons, Ecliptor, or Karone. Suddenly, he detected the sound of Quantrons, and hid himself in a corner. A door slid open and several Quantrons marched out, followed by Ecliptor. Before the door could close, Andros slipped through it and locked it. Ecliptor glimpsed him as the door shut, and turned around.
"Red Ranger, let me in!" he demanded. Andros ignored him.
The room was bathed in a familiar light. A light shining from behind a curtain. Andros strode over and pulled back the curain.
"Zordon?"
"Andros, it is good to see you again," Zordon said. "There is not much time left."
"I know, Zordon," Andros said. "How can we win?"
"You must shatter my energy tube," Zordon said. "Only my good energy can destroy their evil. It is the only way to bring the world out of the darkness that it has fallen into."
"No," Andros protested. "I can't do it. We'll keep fighting. There's another way."
"There is no other way. Andros, you must do it!" Zordon insisted.
"I can't," Andros said desperately.
"Because I will kill you first," said Astronema, delivering a blow the the back of his head that sent Andros flying. Fortunately, his helmet protected his head.
"Karone!" Andros said. "You have to listen to me! I'm your brother. I'm Andros. You have to remember!"
"I am Astonema!" she said.
Andros realized that he was going to lose this fight. He couldn't fight his sister, and he couldn't accept that Astronema was Karone. The most he could do was block her hits.
"You're Karone!" he tried to convince her. "Do you remember Zhane? Ashley? Cassie?"
"I remember hating you!" she cried, slashing savagely at him with her staff. Andros fell, landing hard on his back.
"Goodbye, brother," she laughed.
Andros threw up his hands to protect himself. His Spiral Saber deflected the blow back at Astronema, and she collapsed limply to the ground.
"Karone!" he cried. "No! Karone, can you hear me?"
Even as he took her head in his hands, he realized that she was gone. Karone!
"No!" Ecliptor broke through the door. "What have you done? Your own sister! "
"It was an accident," Andros said, backing away. "I didn't mean to."
"My princess!" Ecliptor cried, kneeling at Astronema's side. "Red Ranger, you will pay for this!"
Andros didn't have the will to fight back, but he had to. For a moment he almost didn't care whether he survived or not, but then he remembered his friends. He picked up his Spiral Saber and prepared for one last fight.
Zhane stood in Andros' usual spot, flanked on one side by Ashley and Carlos, and on the other by Cassie and T.J.
"Them?" Bulk repeated increduously. "It's not possible!"
"Ready guys?" Zhane said.
"LET'S ROCKET!"
"Black!"
"Pink!"
"Blue!"
"Yellow!"
"Silver!"
The crowd erupted into cheering. They were saved.
"All right, rangers!" Elgar cried. (A/N: Elgar was my all-time favorite villian. I wish I'd put him in here more.) "C'mere!"
As one, they vaulted off the edge of the roof, ready to save the world for good.
"What are we waiting for?" Bulk cried. "Let's get in there and help them!"
"Yeah!" Skull shouted. "Come on!"
Ecliptor charged at Andros. Andros dodged, but his owned hit missed.
"Andros, you must shatter my energy tube!" Zordon ordered. This time, Andros didn't hesitate.
"Goodbye, old friend," he said.
"No!" Ecliptor shouted, too late to stop him.
Andros raised his Spiral Saber. He hesitated briefly, but his mind was made up.
Zordon's energy tube shattered into a million points of light. Ecliptor froze and crumpled, dissolving into sand.
The golden light washed over Angel Grove, taking with it the evil. A loud cheer went up from the brave people who had fought together with the rangers to save their home. As the golden light faded away, so did the rangers suits, leaving only five ordinary-looking teenagers who were heroes.
A/N: This chapter is almost word for word Coundown to Destruction, but I loved that episode, especially the scene where everyone says that they're a Power Ranger. I thought that was one of the most touching scenes ever. Hope you liked it!
