Disclaimer: Not mine, please don't sue me, I have no money anyway.

Jenny: Okay, yes, that was Ravenna. And I'm not sure if this is right, but I think a bounty hunter kills people for money. And for this chapter, a vigilante is someone who kills people for revenge. I think.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: I didn't say that you did. Moving on . . . Glad you love it. I'll update the second that I finish writing it, I promise, but again, if you scream, I won't hear you. : P

Juzblue: Aria is the best one. : P

Chapter 12: Playing Charades

The bridge

Over the next three months, Andros made several trips to Onyx, in hopes of buying information on his sister, but found nothing. Nevertheless, he refused to stop searching, and continued traveling halfway across the universe.

"Deca, set a course for Onyx," he said, sighing. He couldn't give up, but he was starting to lose hope. In his heart, he knew that Karone and Astronema were the same person, and it was a painful experience every time that he was forced to fight her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ashley said, appearing out of nowhere to sit next to him.

Andros looked into her warm, caring eyes, and felt like bursting into tears, despite the fact that he had not been feeling particularly depressed a moment before. He shook his head, and sighed. Ashley took his hand and tugged on his arm gently.

"Do you really feel like sitting here all the way to Onyx?" she asked.

Andros shook his head, and let Ashley pull him along.

"Where are we going?"

Ashley shrugged. "It's a big ship. Have we even seen all of it?"

"You have not," Deca said. "Not even you, Andros."

"Let's go explore," Ashley suggested.

Andros shrugged and nodded. Ashley slipped her arm though his, leading him.

"Where haven't we been, Deca?" she asked, heading onto the lift.

"Just a few places, to start," Andros added hastily. "Someplace interesting."

"I believe that you would find the Light Room interesting," Deca said after a moment. "It is on Megadeck 1."

The Light Room

"Wow," Ashley breathed, stepping into the Light Room. "This is awesome."

From the outside, the Light Room looked like a small storage closet, but once Andros and Ashley had stepped into it, they'd found themselves in a huge room positively glowing. Ashley was bathed from head to toe in a brilliant golden light the instant she stepped into the room, and Andros stared at her, struck speechless by her beauty.

"Hey, you're glowing," Ashley said, pointing at him. Andros looked down, and saw that he was surrounded by a dark crimson light.

"Deca, what is this place?" Ashley asked.

"The Light Room was created to show aura," Deca said.

"But why?" Andros asked. "And why was this room hidden so well?"

"The Megaship was designed in part by the Esselia," Deca said. "As you know, the Esselia are a very superstitious race."

"Oh," Andros said, beginning to understand. "The Light Bearers?"

"Yes," Deca said, disapproval resonating in her voice. "They built this room in hopes of detecting the Light Bearers."

"Andros?" Ashley said. "What am I missing?"

"KO-35 was a new colony," Andros said slowly, unsure of where to begin. He sat down against the wall, motioning for Ashley to join him. She did, and for a moment, he forgot what he was doing, and stared at her, wondering how he had ended up with her.

"What?" Ashley said. "Andros? Are you okay?"

"Oh, right," Andros said, snapping out of his daze, and blushing a little. "The Karova system was fought over, and the Esselia won. This was a couple hundred years ago, but the Esselia never got around to colonizing until about twenty years ago, and with only five hundred people."

"Were you born there?" Ashley asked, suddenly realizing that she didn't know how old Andros was. "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen," Andros said. "I was the sixtieth person born there."

"So who are the Light Bearers?" Ashley asked.

"The Esselia version of Power Rangers," Andros said. "I think."

"So they built a room on the Megaship to test people for their ability to be Light Bearers?"

"No," Andros said slowly. "They built a room on the Megaship to check and double check that they had found the right people. Everyone has the potential to become a Power Ranger. Not so with the Light Bearers. They were chosen by destiny."

"And you don't believe it?" Ashley asked knowingly.

"Of course not," Andros said.

Ashley shrugged. "So, how do you tell who the Light Bearers are?"

"I don't know," Andros said.

Ashley rested her head against his shoulder, and Andros wrapped his arm around her.

"You're beautiful," he said softly, and a littly shyly.

Ashley sat up and looked at him, smiling, the golden light she was glowing with making her more gorgeous that he'd ever thought was possible. Andros kissed her gently, holding her face in his hands. Ashley leaned into him, pressing herself as close to him as possible, running her fingers through his hair.

"We have arrived at Onyx," Deca announced.

It was several minutes more before Andros finally released Ashley.

"We should go now," he said reluctantly. He thought he could spend his entire life here with her.

"All right," Ashley agreed. Andros pulled her to her feet, wishing that the trip had been just a little longer.

Onyx

She slipped into the tavern quietly, with the fluid grace that had come to be associated with her, the newcomer who had proven herself so quickly. She sat at a table and waited.

Sure enough, they entered only a few moments after herself. They were rangers, and so far they had hidden it well, though for how long they could manage to pull of their charade, she didn't know.

A figure loomed over her, and she looked up quickly, ready for a fight. Her nerves settled as she saw who it was.

"Lord Darkonda," she greeted. It was a laughable title, but for fifty thousand credits, she could wait to laugh.

"You are Ravenna?"

"I am," she confirmed. "You have a proposal for me?"

"That depends," Darkonda said, sitting across from her. "How long have you been in this business?"

"I completed my first mission two and a half months ago," Ravenna said smoothly. "And I have done a dozen others since then. I am currently unemployed."

"Thirteen missions in less than three months," Darkonda mused. "Impressive, but who from?"

Ravenna rattled off the names of several of the more respectable clientele. Darkonda sat for a moment, surveying the cloaked young woman before him. She would do nicely for what he had in mind.

"I believe I do have some work for you," Darkonda said. "It involves the Power Rangers."

Ravenna sat forward slightly, but made no audible reply.

"Andros of KO-35 is the red ranger, the leader," Darkonda said. "As I'm sure that you know. What you may not know is that he had a twin sister, Karone of KO-35, who everyone had intended to make the yellow ranger."

"I have heard rumors," Ravenna said. "What is it that you want? Karone of KO-35 is obviously not the yellow Astro Ranger."

"Yes," Darkonda said. "She is not. Were you aware that there were two more siblings, Amara and Jadon, who were chosen as the pink and blue rangers?"

"They were listed as deceased after Dark Specter's initial invasion," Ravenna said. "Get to the point," she added, a little boldly.

"I need you to keep an eye on the rangers," Darkonda said. "It would not suit my interests for them to discover the truth. It is bad enough that they know that Karone of KO-35 and Astronema are the same."

"All I have to do is keep them from the truth?" Ravenna asked. "Nothing more?"

"There is one thing more," Darkonda said. "And if you ever beathe a word of it to any living creature, I will have your life for it."

"Condition accepted," Ravenna said instantly. "I do not talk."

"Amara and Jadon did not die in the invasion," Darkonda said in a soft voice that chilled her to the core. "I will pay you ten million Yaruni credits for their heads."

"Ten million?" Ravenna repeated, stunned. "Yaruni credits?"

Yaruni credits were worth double the common underworld currency.

Darkonda shoved a parcel at her. "In here is all the information you need to begin your search. Meet me here in a weeks time. I want some progress."

"Yes," Ravenna said. "I will be here."

Darkonda vanished instantly, and Ravenna started shaking. Ten million Yaruni credits. Darkonda had made his first mistake, thinking that ten million Yaruni credits would blind her to the crimes that he had commited. Ravenna was not a common bounty hunter. She was a vigilante with one very specific goal in mind: the destruction of Dark Specter and his entire army.

She shoved the parcel into one of the many pockets of her long robe, and stood up, heading for the table at which the red and silver rangers sat. Their backs had been to her and Darkonda the entire time, and she doubted that they had ever noticed her.

"Red and Silver Rangers," Ravenna said softly. They ignored her, but the one who was Andros twitched.

"I am not here to harm you," Ravenna said, slipping into the seat across from you. "I have some information for you regarding your family."

"Who are you?" Andros demanded in a voice that was not too greatly different from his natural one.

"Ravenna," she said, wondering how long she could pull off her own charade.

What had she gotten herself into?

A/N: I felt like putting stuff about prophecy in here, in case your wondering about the whole Light Bearer thing. Sorry. At most, the Light Room is just Andros and Ashley's secret place, and it will stay that way, unless everyone starts begging for it to actually be part of the plot. Anyway, hope you liked it. Please review. Oh yeah, and if any of the words that I'm making up are bad words in some other language, please tell me. And I just remembered that I have to practically live at school for the next two weeks, so don't expect updates until Friday, but I'll try. Sorry.