Disclaimer: Not mine
Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Nope, that's not good at all. I couldn't end this with the cliffie I wanted to, either, or else I would have changed my mind, and worked out a different ending. :P
Piper xox Leo: Yeah, pretty much. Here's more. :P
Chapter 23: Victory's Price
Andros's first hint that they were in deeper trouble than they had realized came when Aria demorphed. The instant he saw his sister's white suit sparkle and vanish, his heart seemed to jump into his throat, and he became more tense than he was already. In all the time that he'd fought alongside Aria, he had seen her demorph in battle once, maybe twice, at the Countdown battle, and then possibly when they had fought against the Psycho Rangers.
"Aria!" he heard Cathan shout, leaping between Samael and Aria as their leader struggled to her feet.
"I'm all right," she said determinedly, falling into a defensive stance. "I didn't come this far to surrender now."
"There is no surrender," Samael told her. "Not for you."
"Happy to hear that," Aria shot back as she continued fighting. She was weaponless and powerless, but never in her life had Aria been defenseless.
"Karone, look out," Gabriel warned, grabbing the purple ranger by the shoulder as a wave of energy came her way. She stumbled, but was unscathed.
"Thanks," she gasped, as Gabriel steadied her. "Come on."
"Andros," Zhane shouted, seeing his friend fall back. Justin and Aria formed a wall in front of the red ranger as Zhane pulled him back up.
"Come on, you guys," Aria said encouragingly. "We can do this. There's seven of us, and only one of him."
"You've already lost to me, White Ranger."
"Not this time," Aria replied, her tone one of complete calm. "I don't make the same mistake twice."
Justin and Karone were swept aside as Samael advanced towards Aria. She took a step back, her fiery hazel eyes meeting his soulless ones not only defiantly, but fearlessly as well. He raised his sword, and brought it down hard, but too late. Aria had already dodged him, remorphing as she did so.
As soon as Samael's back was turned away from him, Andros leapt at him, landing a solid blow to his shoulder. Samael whirled to strike him hard across the chest as he was attacked from behind again, this time by Aria.
The force of the blow sent Andros sprawling backward. Zhane grabbed him by the arm, and he felt Karone on his other side, hauling him back up to his feet before he could be caught defenseless.
"Ready?" Karone glanced at Andros and Zhane as they raised their weapons simultaneously. "Now!"
The three of them charged at once, distracting Samael as he dealt Justin a hard blow. Gabriel and Aria pulled him out of the way as Cathan moved in on the other side. Attacked from both sides, Samael howled with rage, and stumbled. Justin had recovered enough to attack again, and with Aria and Gabriel flew at him, swords raining down on him.
"Cathan, this isn't working," Aria told him, though she knew he already knew it. "He's not getting weaker, he's just waiting for us to be too exhausted to fight."
"We have to keep going," Cathan insisted.
"Did I say anything about giving up?" Aria retorted.
Andros groaned and doubled over, the wind leaving him as he was kicked hard in the stomach. He kneeled over, gasping for air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Justin hovering near him, but his brother was too distracted to stand guard over him for long.
He was too powerful, and they couldn't stop him. A part of himself had always known it, known it since the first battle, but he never had allowed himself to believe it, and now he had led them to their deaths.
"Ashley," he shouted, seeing his wife stumble, driven back by the force of the blow she'd just taken.
"I'm okay," she gasped, leaning on his arm as she steadied herself. "Can't give up."
"You have lost, Red Ranger," Samael said.
Berating himself for being so unaware, he realized that they had become isolated from the rest of the team. He could see Zhane and Aria running towards them, but he knew that they would never make it in time. Shoving Ashley behind him, he braced himself for the blow that he knew he couldn't possibly survive.
"Andros, get up!"
Zhane was shouting at him as Karone struggled to hold off Samael. Andros scrambled to his feet as the vision dimmed, filled with a renewed fury. This monster had killed Ashley.
He flew at Samael, consumed with a rage driven by love. He couldn't allow it to happen again. Samael laughed, knowinginly, and in a split second, all the other rangers had been knocked back by a tremendous force that seemed to radiate from his very being.
"So you think to save her, do you?" he sneered. "The White Ranger has given you false hope, Red Ranger. I will kill her again, and I will take every last bit of joy from your life before I come for you."
"Andros!"
He heard Ashley's scream, and he felt himself stumble, but he wondered why he hadn't felt the blow. He opened his eyes and found himself on the ground. Ashley stood between him and Samael, her body rigid.
"Ashley," Andros cried, staggering to his feet, his eyes widening by what he saw. Her hands were clutching at her side, but he could see the hole that had been torn in her suit. He could see the blood, although he would have given anything not to have.
WIthout thinking twice, he demorphed, catching Ashley in his arms as she slowly toppled, her yellow suit sparkling cheerfully as it vanished. Her eyes were fixed on his, and she was struggling to speak to him, but no words would come.
"Ash, no," he whispered. "Stay awake. Ash, you can't die on me. Please..."
Andros snapped out of his vision to realize that he was being dealt blow after blow. Slumping over to the ground, he saw the other rangers struggling even to stand. They would never make it in time. He had been lucky so far, but this time, there was no one left to save him.
He couldn't move without feeling terrible pain, but he almost welcomed it, knowing that it meant he was still alive. He had to hang onto life as long as he could, for Ashley, for his children. He couldn't just let them go.
The final blow never came. Andros didn't raise his head, in his heart knowing why. He didn't want to see, but he had to, and slowly, he opened his eyes, his heart nearly stopping.
Fully morphed, Ashley stood between him and Samael, putting up as strong a fight as he had ever seen from her, and for a second, it almost seemed to be working. Then a small hole in her defense caused her to take a hard hit, and she fell. Andros struggled to get to her in time, but found himself nearly paralyzed as she was dealt several more savage blows.
"Ashley!" he heard Aria scream, and saw that his sister was demorphed again, her white crystal clutched in her fist. "Andros!"
"Let me do it," Cathan said, leaping to his feet as he realized what Aria was about to do.
"It's my team," Aria hissed. "My family."
Not taking another step forward, she tightened her grip on the crystal for a moment. Then she threw it. Cathan murmured something under his breath, channeling the light magic, adding his power, and the power of the other rangers to Aria's, and the night seemed to swell with light as the white crystal fell.
Andros didn't see the crystal as it fell in a smooth arc, shattering as it landed hard on the cold stone streets of Onyx. He only saw the faint rising and falling of Ashley's chest, and the sword poised to come down on her yet again. Then he saw the yellow light that streamed from her motionless body, and the red that was surrounding him, blending with the colors green, blue, purple, silver, black, and white.
The blow never came. Instead, Samael staggered back, the light growing brighter as he grew weaker. Andros closed his eyes as it became painful to keep them open, and behind his closed eyelids, he could still see the blinding rays of pure white.
When the light faded, he felt as though he had been completely drained, and the world, now dark and silent once again, began to spin. Distantly, he heard a voice scream, "Aria!" and another shouting Ashley's name, and then his own, but the voices were far away, and growing fainter.