Disclaimer: Not mine
Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Of course everything will be all right. Until I decide to have someone almost die. Yes, Arrow did it, but that's not until much later.
Maresia Eterna: I know it. Being evil is fun. You'll find out how they get together in a few more chapters.
Jenny: Yeah, they're linked, but Andros is still too stubborn to accept it. I never liked Darkonda much either. I liked Elgar though. He was cool.
GreenDayfan1: You're half right. : )
Miss Natalya: Sorry. I use cliffhangers a lot. : )
Chapter 12
The hidden underground base
Arrow laughed. He motioned with his arm, and a sword appeared, glinting dangerously in the dim light. In one swift motion, he cut down Darkonda.
"He was useless anyway," Arrow said lightly as Darkonda erupted into flames. "Although he was successful in abtaining your morphers, leaving you all defenseless against me."
He glanced down at the pile near his feet briefly, and Andros started forward, but Arrow twitched his sword arm, and Andros stopped.
"Very good, Red Ranger," Arrow said. "You realize that you are outmatched."
Andros bit back a retort.
"Blue Ranger," Arrow said. "Step away from the others."
TJ made no move.
"Now," Arrow snapped. "Or I will kill them. Darkonda was my ally. Would you like to see what I do to my enemies?"
TJ slowly moved to where Arrow pointed.
"Join him, Pink Ranger."
Cassie followed TJ.
"And you, Black Ranger."
Carlos stepped over to where TJ and Cassie were, leaving Andros and Ashley standing together, Ashley still supporting Andros.
"What are you doing?" Andros demanded. "It won't work."
"We'll see," Arrow laughed.
His gray suit shimmered for a moment, and Andros had a glimpse of the man beneath it. The cold gray eyes chilled him.
"No," Arrow shouted. "Not again."
Andros allowed himself to breath a little easier. This wasn't going according to plan. There as a chance that they'd all be okay. Then Arrow's suit solidified, and Andros found the point of the sword at his neck. Instinctively, the arm that Ashley had around him tightened.
"I've waited a long time for this, Red Ranger," Arrow breathed. His helmeted head turned to Ashley. "Step away from him, Yellow Ranger."
Ashley took her time moving, desperately trying to think.
"Why are you doing this?" she demanded, moving to the left, but pulling Andros with her. "What did he do to you?"
"You mean you don't know?" Arrow asked.
"I have no idea what happened," Ashley said, speaking as slowly as she could. She hoped that Arrow's ego would be unable to resist the chance to tell his story.
"I am not of this dimension," Arrow began, and Ashley started breathing again.
"In my dimension, I am the ruler. I own the universe. There are no rangers like yourselves to ruin everything that I stand for. My scientists found a way to create space mirrors, and I stepped through into the other dimensions. I was apalled by what I saw. Good ruled evil."
He paused, and Andros felt the blade dig a little deeper into his skin. He said nothing, watching the sword out of the corner of his eye.
"One by one, the other dimensions yeilded to me. I came to this one, intending to take it as well. I did not count on being stopped by two children who barely understood the power that they were handed."
"We understood," Andros said. "That's why we risked our lives to stop you."
"Quiet, Red Ranger," Arrow warned. He pressed harder on the sword, and Andros bit his lip hard as he felt it draw blood. Beside him, he felt Ashley slowly inching her way to the left, tugging on his arm gently.
"Yes, you stopped me," Arrow admitted. "But not for long."
He laughed. "You may be a good fighter, Red Ranger, but you are all too gullible."
Arrow laughed again, a sound that was cut off abruptly as several shots hit him from behind. The instant he whirled to see who was shooting at him, Ashley leaped forward, seizing his wrist, and pulling the sword away from Andros, who dove for their morphers. The other rangers quickly formed a wall around Andros, who was Arrow's main target.
"You all right?" TJ asked.
Andros nodded, reaching up to touch his neck, grimacing when he saw blood on his hand.
"It's only a little," Cassie assured him.
"Andros!" Ashley gasped. "What's going on?"
He followed her gaze, and nearly fainted.
"Zhane?"
"Who else?" came the laughing voice of his friend. "Woke up from my little nap, and Deca thought you could use some help."
"Ready?" Andros asked the others.
"Let's rocket!" they cried.
Arrow half-turned, firing at them with a laser blaster. Carlos, Ashley, and Cassie managed to dodge the shots, but one grazed TJ's ribs before slamming into Andros' chest. Pain filled his mind, and he fell hard, landing on his side. He heard several voices shouting his name, and then it became much harder to hear anything.
"Andros!" Zhane shouted, managing to hit Arrow squarely with several blasts. Arrow's suit shimmered again, and he howled with frustration.
"I will be back for you, Red Ranger," he vowed.
He teleported out, and Zhane went to where his friend was lying motionlessly on the floor. The blast had demorphed Andros, and he was lying there with his eyes closed, but he was still breathing. The other rangers had demorphed as well.
"Come on, wake up," Carlos said.
"Andros, wake up," Ashley said. She was kneeling by his side, her hand gripping his. "Come on, you're stronger than this."
"Not to mention just plain stubborn," Zhane added. "Think of how satisfied Arrow will be if you die."
"Let's get him back to the Megaship," TJ said, and they all nodded.
The Megaship
They teleported directly into the medical bay, not wanting to move Andros any more than they had to. Deca ran several tests on him before announcing that he should recover, but she couldn't tell them when he would wake up.
"He'll be fine," Zhane assured them. "It is unbelievably hard to kill him."
"Not to be rude," Carlos said. "But who the hell are you?"
"I'm Zhane," he introduced himself. "I'm the silver ranger."
He looked at their faces. "Andros didn't tell you about me, did he?"
"He told me," Ashley said softly. "Or at least, he mentioned you."
"Can someone explain for the rest of us?" TJ asked.
"We've got plently of time," Zhane said.
At these words, they all glanced at the bed where Andros was lying motionlessly, the only sign that he was still alive the beeping that signaled the beating of his heart.
