Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers.

Author's Note 1: Okay, in the last chapter T.J. made mention of not liking having Justin on the team, and here I am to clarify since it seems to have irked some people. While I personally never liked Justin (and had Andros say he never did in BCWYWF, so this attitude should not come as a surprise), T.J. did, just not as a Ranger. Justin was a kid and the extra responsibility of having a kid fighting in the battle would have been hard for any leader. Ch'heeka just voiced my own opinion that Justin was annoying.

Author's Note 2: Now that that's taken care of... There's only one chapter left so I hope you like it, and... um... well, I'm sorry. Really, the ending (to this chapter) just sort of happened while I was writing. Now go off and enjoy!

When It Rains…

Chapter 15 - Escape

"Astronema," Dark Specter said when he saw the young woman's image over the comm. link, "or should I say Karone?"

"Either will do nicely Dark Specter," Karone said confidently.

"Were you hoping to be accepted back into the fold?"

"No," Karone laughed, "I'm here to accept you into mine. You see: I've been busy while you were gone. I managed to trick those pesky Rangers I was good while they got rid of all the competition for me. Now I'm the evil leader of the Milky Way."

"I don't believe it," Divatox cried.

"Quiet!" Dark Specter snapped. "Tell me more."


"It's working," Zhane muttered.

"What, did you think your girlfriend would let you down?" Carlos asked, moving slowly through the sewer.

"No, I just don't like that it's so easy for people to accept her as being evil again."

"Don't worry," Ashley whispered from up ahead, "it's just an act."

"I know that," Zhane snapped, "but it's still annoying."

"Quiet!" Andros called back. "We're here." He slowly reached up and opened the shaft above him.


"Dolly?" a small voice asked.

"Parix," Cassie smiled as light washed into the small room. She didn't bother standing, not wanting to waste the energy.

"How did you know it was me?" the man asked, closing the door behind him and turning on a hand lantern.

"You're the only one here who would call me that."

"Oh. What would the others call you?"

"'Power Brat,' maybe."

"I mean, what's your real name?"

"Cassie, Cassie Chan," she winced, feeling one of her injuries flare up at the movement of her lungs. She shifted her position, trying to ease the pain in her shackled wrists. "I'm the Pink Astro Ranger, though you've probably heard that by now."

"So Dolly Levi was just…"

"Was just a name I used to get information. It was the name of a character in one of my favorite musicals as a kid," Cassie continued wistfully. "There was this song called 'Hello Dolly.' I thought it would be funny when people said that to me."

"And it always was, you always smiled."

"Yeah."

"You were looking for Zordon."

Cassie frowned, so they were back to reality then. "Yes."

"I was just a pawn."

"I didn't mean for you to be. You were nice Parix, nicer than a lot of guys that came in there. You just happened to be the one who knew where he was."

"Did you ever…?"

"No," Cassie said, realizing what he meant. "The invisible man, he and I are together."

"Ah, mystery."

"Yeah," Cassie smiled, thinking back on her original attraction, "among other things. I'm sorry Parix."

"So am I." Parix raised a blaster, aimed directly at Cassie. "So am I."


"Okay," Carlos called over the din, knocking a Quatron back into the wall, "so we've locked the hallway down, successfully keeping the Quatrons from spreading word of our presence, but how do we get to Cassie?"

"You don't!" a voice from above called.

"Cassie!" Phantom's voice was positively ecstatic. Cassie dropped down from the ventilation shaft and into Phantom's waiting arms as the other Rangers formed a protective barrier around the two. "Here," Airek said gently, handing her her morpher.

"Thank you," Cassie said, morphing in his arms and resting her helmet against his.

"Hey! Did we forget about me?" an unfamiliar voice called.

"Who is this?" Zhane asked, catching the man in his arms.

"This is Parix, he freed me."

"Then I owe you a great debt," Phantom said, setting Cassie down.

Parix looked from him to Cassie and back. "Get me out of this galaxy, and we'll call it even."

"Guys!" T.J. called over his shoulder just as Ch'heeka yelled, "Gentlemen!" The two sent each other smiles.

"I think that means we need to get out of here," Carlos yelled.

"Definitely," Ashley seconded.

"Then let's move!" Andros yelled. "No point in being cautious now. DECA, teleport nine! Now!"

During Andros' call to DECA Ch'heeka turned to T.J. "Thirty-seven."

T.J. knocked a Quatron back just as the transport overtook him. "Thirty-eight."


"I cannot believe we made it," Carlos sighed, falling into his seat on the bridge as they entered the wormhole. He had been too full of adrenaline during the race towards it to sit down.

"I knew we would," Zhane said, pulling Karone close.

"How?" T.J. asked.

"Because it was Karone's plan."

T.J. and Carlos groaned.

"Come on," Ashley said, pulling Andros out of his seat.

"What? Where?" the Red Ranger asked tiredly.

"To the jump bay. I refuse to practice my telekinesis on an empty stomach and I'm sure," she sent a meaningful look at Carlos, "that there is food left from the last wormhole trip."

"There is," Carlos said, as if insulted that she would even suggest he had eaten it all.

"Let's go," Karone said, pulling Zhane out of the room as well.

"Where?" the Silver Ranger questioned, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"To talk to Zordon."

Zhane groaned, he did not want to celebrate defeating their greatest enemy by talking to an old guy.

"Why did Zordon insist on coming anyway?" T.J. asked. "He just stayed on the ship."

"I can answer that," Alpha said.

"Alpha!" Carlos accused, "you're supposed to be offline while we're in the wormhole."

"Don't worry, I'll power down in a minute. Zordon just thought you'd like to know what he did."

"What?" T.J. asked.

"He sent an energy wave at Dark Specter's fleet as we entered the wormhole. It should have wiped out the fleet and destroyed Dark Specter's forces throughout the Cerxus Galaxy."

"Wow," Carlos marveled. "Where'd he get the power for that?"

Alpha seemed to hesitate, but he was answered when Karone and Zhane raced onto the bridge. "Zordon's gone!" Karone cried.

"His tube's been shattered."

Ch'heeka sunk into one of the seats. "The interphasic shield," she said softly.

"What?" T.J. asked.

"She's right," Karone said. "Why didn't I see it?"

"Would someone please explain to me what's going on?" Carlos demanded.

"The shield," Zhane explained, "it emits a slight sound wave, but since it is used on space ships it usually doesn't cause any problems. But in the wormhole there was air, some form of it anyway. The vibrations don't affect humans or even most solid objects but…"

"But they could affect an interdimensional shield," Karone finished.

"He knew," Ch'heeka said, "he knew that when we reentered the wormhole the shock of the vibration coming back would be enough to finally break through his shield."

"He had me open the cargo bay doors to let it out and close them afterward so that DECA wouldn't have to remain online in the wormhole," Alpha said. "He didn't want to endanger your lives further."

Ch'heeka stood quickly and hurried from the room. Alpha sighed and powered down. Parix sighed and walked out, he hadn't known Zordon, but he had seemed nice enough.

"I-I'll go tell Andros and Ashley," Zhane choked.

"I'll come with you," Carlos said.

"What about Cassie and Phantom?" Karone asked when they had left.

"They were behind us," T.J. said. "They would have felt the blast."

"Why didn't we?" Karone asked.

"Maybe we did," T.J. said. "But most of it would have gone out towards the evil. I know Zordon well enough to know he would have sent it that way. Anything that was released into the ship would have been barely noticeable and with the battle and the power going off and entering the wormhole, I doubt any of us would have noticed."

Karone nodded, hugging her knees to her chest. "You should go after Ch'heeka."

"Why me?"

"Because you like her, and she likes you," Karone answered matter-of-factly. "You should go."

"Are you gonna be okay?"

Andros walked into the room just then and took his sister in his arms. T.J. nodded, no longer needing an answer.


Author's Note 3: After the review I got for Justin bashing I feel I must say "I love you, Zordon!" Really, I love him, I didn't even watch LG at first because I didn't understand how the show could exist without him, and then I moved on. I didn't think Zordon was going to die until it happened, really, I didn't. I was all psyched for him to survive and go back to being all mentor-ey. Okay, go and be mad at me in your review.