Disclaimer: Not mine

Jenny: The next 243 hours? Yay, I only took 48. :P What happened to updating three times a day? I found out how fun it is to make all of you wait. I'm evil, I know. And proud of it, too.

Sreym: I'm happy I updated too. :P Thanks.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Evil-pregnant-Ashley-killer? But I didn't kill pregnant Ashley. Well, not in this story, and technically not in any other story, either. :P Besides, everyone thinks I'm going to kill her. It takes the fun out of it. :P

the-power-of-love: Thanks, here's some more. It's only been a few days. That's just enough time for you to wonder if I'll let Andros kill Ashley. :P

Arwennicole: Of course I won't kill Ashley. :P

DizneeDol: Here's some more.

Melissa: Thanks. And I don't care if Jenny meant 24 hours, she said 243. :P

Chapter 12

"Ashley!" Andros screamed telepathically, feeling tears spilling over his cheeks even as his hands crushed her throat. "Ashley, please don't die. Stop me. Don't let me kill you."

"Fight him," he heard her say faintly, almost inaudibly. "Andros..."

"Ash, please," Andros begged her. "Don't let me kill you. Don't let me kill our baby."

He felt Ashley's presence spark more strongly for an instant, and knew that she was trying to summon up the strength to fight him off. Andros tried to fight as well, but found that Sol's hold on him was nearly absolute.

Then suddenly, Andros realized that he was dying along with Ashley. In his panic, he hadn't felt it, but now he did. If he killed Ashley, he was killing himself along with her. As Ashley grew weaker, so did he, and it was the only reason she was still alive now. Sol might be controlling him, but there wasn't enough strength left in Andros to strangle Ashley.

As Sol realized this, Andros was freed from his control, and his body slumped forward, half-covering Ashley, who was gulping down air, her hands at her throat. Andros listened to her uneven breathing as his head spun, not sure what was happening around him.

"There are other ways for you to die," Sol said smoothly, as the Psychos hauled them both to their feet. "You will watch her die, Red Ranger."

"I can't," Andros said, too drained to find it odd that he should be happy about dying. "If you kill her, you kill me at the same time."

Sol stopped to think, but couldn't seem to find a way around it. In the end, he shrugged. "So be it."

Outside

"They've got to be around here somewhere," Karone said, her scanner nearly in her eyes. "Keep looking."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Zhane muttered, morphed with weapon in hand. His other hand clutched his own scanner, picking up two power signatures, but unable to pinpoint them, meaning either that Andros and Ashley weren't morphed, or that the storm was interfering with the effectiveness, most likely both.

"Over here," Karone shouted suddenly. Zhane looked to where she pointed, and groaned.

"This isn't good," he warned her, staring at the dark cavern. Every time there was a flash of lightning, he could see the outline of several figures just as well as Karone could, and he had a bad feeling that he recognized too many of them.

"My creation," he heard Karone growl in a low voice. "The Psycho Rangers were mine. My mistake."

"Whoa," Zhane said, catching ahold of her arm as she started forward. "Karone, hold on."

"There's not time," Karone insisted. "I can stop them."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Karone assured him, her hands glowing purple. "I know what I'm doing."

"Be careful," Zhane pleaded as they took off. Karone nodded wordlessly, and they crept silently towards the place where their friends were being held.

Zhane saw Ashley before he saw Andros, and from the way her eyes refused to glance in his direction, he knew that she'd seen him too, and was trying not to give them away. When he was close enough, Zhane fired several shots, managing to catch the Psychos by surprise.

They reacted instantly, dropping Andros and Ashley without a second thought as they charged at Zhane and Karone. Zhane was by no means weak, but when engaged against two Psycho Rangers, he was definately coming out the loser.

"Any time now, Karone," he muttered, dodging Psycho Yellow only to be winded by Psycho Red.

"I'm working on it," Karone shouted back to him. She was completely surrounded by purple now. "Hold on."

Any reply Zhane might have made was lost as he flew backwards through the air, landing on his back. The two Psychos advanced towards him as Zhane heard Ashley's cry of "Let's rocket!"

Several shots from her Star Slinger distracted them long enough for Zhane to scramble out of their path. He headed straight for Ashley, pulling her down and out of the way as a wave of purple shot past them. The wave solidified once it surrounded the Psychos, and contracted sharply, and then again, and once more, until the two Psychos were gone.

Zhane let out a low whistle of admiration. "Where were you when we fought them the first time?"

"Where's Andros?" Karone demanded, coming up behind them, ignoring Zhane.

Ashley gasped, and turned back to the cave. "I left him..."

They didn't wait for her to say any more, and sprinted over to where Ashley pointed. Andros was lying where he'd fallen, still conscious, his face nearly gray with a mixture of pain and exhaustion. Sol stood over him, Ecliptor's sword resting against Andros's heart.

"I will do it, rangers," he taunted. "If any of you move so much as one muscle, I will kill him."

"Andros," Ashley whispered. Her hand was on her Star Slinger, but it wasn't raised, and there was no way she would be able to get to him in time. "Andros."

"It's all right, Ash," came his reassuring voice. "Don't worry about me. Just shoot him."

"And let him kill you?" Ashley retorted. "Never."

"I won't die." Andros almost sounded confident enough for her to believe him.

"How do I know that?" Ashley demanded.

"If he kills me, he kills you," Andros said simply. "I won't let that happen."

Ashley took a deep breath, willing herself to trust him. "When?"

"Now."

Ashley reacted as soon as Andros spoke, her movement catching Sol off-guard. He hadn't expected any of them, especially Ashley, to risk Andros's life. Before he could react, Andros brought his left arm downward, distantly feeling the blade cut through both his chest and his already injured left arm. The instant he was free of the sword, Andros rolled out of the way as Zhane began firing as well.

Karone caught Sol in another magic net, and Ashley fell to the ground beside Andros, demorphing as she did so. He tried to smile at her weakly, and wondered why she was crying so hard. Then he saw the blood on her hands and winced as he realized that it was his blood.

"It's not that bad," he mumbled dazedly, his right hand reaching up to pry her hands off of him. "Don't do that, it hurts."

"I'm sorry," Ashley whispered, swallowing her tears. "You're really okay?"

"I told you," he said. "I'd never let him kill you."

"Andros?" Karone spoke up. "What do we do with him?"

Ashley gently eased Andros into a sitting position. He saw Sol glaring at him, surrounded by Karone's purple magic. "I can't think of anything horrible enough," he heard Ashley hiss, her grip on him tightening protectively.

"It won't hold forever," Karone warned them, the net thinning even as she spoke. Sol broke free, and Ecliptor's sword was in his hand in an instant. Before any of them had a chance to react, Sol drove the sword through skin and bone.