Disclaimer: the usual…………..

CHAPTER 13

At Odds

"LINA WAIT!" Carlos cried to the Red Inferno Ranger as she started racing towards Samantha, in the clutches of Alagor. Alagor laughed in satisfaction.

"Right where I wanted you," he said before firing a light ball at Lina. She took a direct hit to the chest and fell to the ground. Carlos did not have time to let shock consume him. From the short time he had known Lina, he knew she was a good enough fighter to have been able to avoid an easy hit like that, but when it came to an innocent person you care about it, he knew all too well that emotions could get the best of any fighter.

"LINA, NO!" Sam cried as she saw her friend fall. For all she knew, that blast had killed Lina. Carlos collapsed next to Lina and cradled her to him.

"Lina, can you hear me?" he asked to the unconscious figure he held. He glared up at Alagor and the Dones. He quickly stood up and Alagor immediately recognized the hand motions he went through as the morphing motions for the Space Rangers.

"Don't bother ranger. With her out of the way, the realms of all of you are at my mercy. The Storm Callers WILL NOT complete the Gemini Sword. HaHaHa!" Alagor declared before disappearing along with the Dones and Sam.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Sam cried before disappearing with Alagor. Carlos glared after the figure before turning back to Lina. He quickly put his communicator to his mouth.

"Alpha, two to teleport to the ship. No one's around, do it now," Carlos said urgently.

"You got it Carlos," Alpha responded. Seconds later, Carlos was engulfed in black light as Lina was engulfed in red light and whisked away to the Astro Megaship. They landed in the main cockpit where Alpha immediately reacted.

"What the..Lina? What happened Carlos?" Alpha said as Carlos scooped Lina into his arms and began to walk briskly to the medical room.

"Some new guy attacked her. She said something about needing our help before he showed up with this little girl that she knew. Lina ran straight at them and he fired this energy ball at her. She took a direct hit to the chest," Carlos explained as he laid Lina on a medical bed. Alpha immediately went to scanning her body while Carlos watched nervously.

"Is she going to be okay, Alpha?" he asked. Alpha read the scanners and sighed.

"With plenty of rest, she should be, but she's going to be out of it for a while, Carlos. I don't know where this will put her on her mission though," Alpha explained. Carlos sighed and clutched the unconscious Lina's hand as Alpha put an oxygen mask over her.

"CARLOS!" screamed the familiar voice of Andros. Carlos' head popped up at the sound of his name.

"I'm in here!" he cried, before turning his attention back to Lina. He heard the doors open and footsteps.

"What happened?" asked a voice that was unfamiliar to Carlos. He glanced up and immediately jumped into a defensive stance as he saw five unfamiliar faces.

"Whoa, down boy!" Corey cried.

"It's okay Carlos," Ashley said.

"These are the rest of the Storm Callers," Andros said. Carlos lowered his stance as Seth came through the crowd and went to the other side of Lina.

"What happened to her?" he demanded, glaring up at Carlos. Zhane glanced over and noticed that Luke was glaring at Carlos too, but he wasn't sure why. He knew Seth was Lina's brother and that Lex and Barry were their cousins. But neither Corey or Luke were related to them. He noticed the glare intensified and saw that it was because Carlos had retaken a hold of Lina's hand. Zhane held back a chuckle as he had gathered an idea of why Luke was glaring at Carlos.

"Some guy named Alagor showed up once I found her. He had this little girl with him that Lina called Sam. She ran straight towards them and took a direct hit from him. He still has the little girl," Carlos explained.

"Now what do we do?" Lex asked.

"We have to get Lina back on her feet, save Sam, and find some way for Lina to get the stone she's supposed to get in this realm," Barry said.

"That's not going to be easy with her unconscious, ya know," Alpha pointed out.

"No kidding you walking tin can," Seth said.

"Hey, watch it. You may be an ally but that doesn't mean we have to take the sarcasm," Andros said sternly. Seth just glared back at them before turning to his sister.

"Let's leave them alone for a little while, maybe we can track Alagor or the little girl," TJ suggested to his teammates. The Space Rangers reluctantly left the Storm Callers alone in the medical deck. Cassie had to drag Carlos out of the room. Zhane hung back a little and noticed that Luke was still glaring at Carlos as they left the room.

"Hey Luke, can I talk to you for a second?" Zhane asked of the Black Lightning Ranger. Luke, a little surprised because he hadn't said one word to Zhane since he got there, followed the Silver ranger out into the hallway.

"I know it's not my business, but if you've got feelings for Lina, you should tell her," Zhane said. Luke was a little taken back by what Zhane was saying. Not even his teammates had been able to tell how he felt towards their sole female ranger, and now a complete stranger was telling him what to do about it. He recovered the only way he knew to recover.

"You're right, it's none of your business," Luke retorted before walking back into the medical room with his teammates. Zhane shook his head before walking towards the main cockpit where his fellow rangers were working.

"I'm not sure if I can work with them," Corey said.

"I know the feeling," Lex replied.

"But everything we've done so far is so petty, we should be able to work through it with them. We can't do this by ourselves. We couldn't even keep Alagor in our own realm for crying out loud, how are we supposed to get him back there by ourselves?" Barry asked of his teammates.

"They are so arrogant!" Andros screamed in frustration.

"They are nothing like Lina was in our Turbo days," Carlos said.

"Well you guys are returning the favor with your attitudes. Lina's used to this, they aren't. They haven't come face to face with another team before," Ashley said, defending the boys from the Storm Callers.

"Not to mention the fact that everything here is from television in their realm," Cassie said.

"Well how are we supposed to help them if they don't want help?" TJ asked.

"We might just have to help them in our own way, whether they want it or not. This fight effects us as much as it effects them," Zhane said. The Space Rangers sat in silence, contemplating on what part they could play in this new fight.

Meanwhile, Astronema observed from her ship the activities of Alagor and his Dones. She was very curious, as she had no idea who he was either.

"Ecliptor, have you been able to find out who that it?" Astronema asked.

"Not yet, my princess. We have been unable to track his origins, but I assure you that we are working on it," Ecliptor said.

"Make sure it stays that way until I get my answers," Astronema sneered. Ecliptor bowed before walking off. Astronema kept watching as she saw Alagor terrorize Samantha. Her face softened at the sight of Sam. Flashbacks from when she was little came back to her. She grabbed her head in pain.

"Make it stop, make it stop," she whispered, in almost a desperate tone.