Chapter 20: Saving the Morphers

Caspar entered the room to find Andros asleep near the nearly finished weapon. However, Hayden wasn't with Andros. Caspar walked over and shook Andros gently. "Andros," he called. Andros woke up and sat up.

"What?" He asked.

Caspar shook his head slightly. "Have you seen Hayden? Ashley's looking for him," he informed. Andros realized that Hayden wasn't in the room with him anymore and stood up.

"He was here last night," Andros commented.

"We'll find him don't worry," Caspar assured him.

Andros got up and went to find Hayden.

He went down to Ashley's quarters and he found Hayden sitting on the bed with his stuffed dog in his arms. "Hayden," Andros called quietly. The young boy looked up at his dad when he came into the room. "Are you okay?" He asked. Hayden nodded his head slowly and Andros sat across from him.

"Daddy…is mommy going to die?" Hayden asked.

Andros bit his tongue, not sure how to answer that question. "No, she's not going to die," he replied. Hayden looked at him.

"Daddy, are you scared?" He asked.

Andros let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I'm scared," he replied. Hayden put his stuffed dog down and he walked over to Andros. He picked Hayden up and the young boy hugged him tight.

"Mommy says it's okay to be scared," Hayden commented.

Andros kissed the top of his son's head. "Come on, your mom wants to see you," he answered. He set Hayden on the floor and they walked to the infirmary.

Ashley looked up when Andros came in with Hayden by his side. "Hi, mommy," Hayden greeted. He got up onto the medical bed and Ashley hugged Hayden with a smile.

"Hey, baby. You being good for your dad?" She asked.

"Yeah," Hayden replied.

Andros watched as Hayden started to fall asleep with his head on Ashley's shoulder. Ashley looked at him. "He hasn't been giving you problems has he?" She asked.

"No, just gave us a little scare this morning running off," he replied.

She nodded her head slowly. "How are you feeling?" He asked. She tried to push back the pain that was starting to course through her.

"Still in pain," she replied.

She gasped when it started to get bad again. "Andros…take him!" She gasped. He carefully picked Hayden up, tried not to wake him and watched as Ashley curled up in a ball whimpering in pain. "It's getting bad!" She gasped. Caspar came in and Andros carefully handed Hayden over to his father before hurrying over to Ashley's side. He pulled Ashley into his arms and stroked her hair. However, his heart stopped when he touched her face. She was growing cold.

"No…" he whispered.

Ashley held onto Andros's hand crying out in pain. "Dad, could you take him out of here?" Andros asked. Caspar nodded and left the room. Andros held onto Ashley and winced when he felt her nails digging into his skin. He looked down at his arm to see that she was drawing blood.

"It's getting worse! You have to beat him!" She told him.

Andros nodded and kissed her temple. "I'll defeat him, Ash. I promise," he assured her. Andros let her go and looked over at the others to see that the pain was growing too much for them again too. "I have to get those morphers back," he murmured.

He walked down the hall and into his workroom. Hayden came running in when he saw his dad storming into the workroom. "Is mommy okay?" He asked. Andros looked at Hayden.

"She will be when I get her morpher back," he replied.

Andros finished putting his weapon together and he looked at Hayden. "You stay here with your grandfather okay?" He asked. Hayden hugged Andros around his waist.

"I love you daddy," he told him.

Andros hugged Hayden back with his free arm. "I love you too, Hayden," he answered. Andros let Hayden go and he lifted his wrist to get ready to morph. "LET'S ROCKET!" He shouted. Andros morphed and he looked at Hayden. "Keep an eye on your mom okay?" he asked. Hayden nodded. Andros then ran out of the workroom and went to find Hashim to defeat him once and for all.

Hashim laughed when he saw Andros. "Welcome Prince Andros," he greeted. Andros got in a guarding stance, his weapon sitting in a holster on his side.

"Hand over the morphers," Andros ordered.

"Now why would I do something like that?" Hashim asked.

Hashim stared at the blaster on his side. "What you get rid of that little puny blaster?" He taunted. Andros glared at him and he pulled the blaster out only to have a blast hit his wrist, making the weapon fly out of his hand and landed at least five feet away from him. Andros held his wrist and he looked at Hashim. "You won't be able to save your precious Ashley," Hashim laughed.

"We'll see," Andros snapped.

Andros held up his Delta Morpher. "POWER PUNCH!" He shouted. He pushed number one and he tried to hit Hashim in the chest only to have the sorcerer grab his fist and threw him onto his back. Before Andros could stand up, Hashim stepped on his throat.

"This will be your end, Prince Andros of KO-35," he laughed.

Andros was almost waiting for that final blow, but then Ashley's face came into his mind. How he promised to bring her morpher back. "Ashley," he whispered. Andros looked up at Hashim. "Not this time," he snapped. He lifted his leg and kicked Hashim off him. He held his throat and stood up. "RED BATTLIZED RANGER!" He shouted. Andros morphed into his battlizer and he went up into the air and grabbed his weapon. "I'll get those morphers," Andros snapped.

Andros flew over into Hashim's lair and saw Adyna standing there. "You won't get those morphers," she snapped. Andros glared at her and he pushed her out of the way.

"FIRE!" Andros shouted.

He shot at the weapon and covered his face when it blew up. "NO!" Adyna shouted. She ran over and jumped on the Red Ranger.

"GET OFF!" Andros shouted.

Andros threw her off his back and he ran over to collect the morphers. "STOP HIM!" Hashim shouted. Adyna tried throwing blasts at Andros, only he was faster and moved out of the way. Andros had all five morphers in his hands. Andros then flew off back towards the base. "I'LL GET YOU PRINCE ANDROS!" He shouted.

(The Base)

Andros ran back into the infirmary. "Dad, give these to the others," he instructed. He still had Ashley's morpher in his grasp and he walked over to Ashley. "You're going to have to move, Hayden," he informed. Hayden got off the medical bed and Andros placed the Astro Morpher back onto Ashley's wrist. Andros stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. Just then, the alarms went off.

"Andros, we have to go," TJ informed.

Andros nodded and he left to try to defeat Hashim once and for all.

(Battlefield)

Adyna kept the other Rangers busy. "Follow me, Prince Andros," Hashim sneered. Andros looked at the others before running after Hashim.

Hashim stopped at a cliff side and he looked at Andros with a sneer. "What do you want?" Andros demanded.

"I want KO-35," he replied.

"Not happening," Andros snapped.

Andros pulled out his weapon again, but it was once again thrown out of his grasp. "Did you drop something?" Hashim sneered. He lifted his hands and threw a large blast at Andros, making the Red Astro Ranger hit a tree. Things went fuzzy for a minute. It came to the point where he couldn't even stand up. "This is your end," he laughed.

"STAR SLINGER!" A voice shouted.

They looked up to see Ashley standing there fully morphed and held her Star Slinger in hand. "I thought you would've been dead by now," Hashim snapped.

"You can't bring a good Ranger down," Ashley answered.

Ashley ran over to Andros. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he replied.

Ashley stood up and she glared at Hashim. "You're tyranny ends here," she snapped.

"Oh, I doubt it," Hashim answered.

Andros's eyes widened when he saw a blast going right for Ashley. "ASHLEY!" He shouted. Ashley covered her face attempting to try to block the blast, but she never felt it hit.

"YES!" Hashim shouted.

Ashley opened her eyes and she gasped in horror. "NO!" She screamed.