Chapter 9: A Nightmare
Karone came storming into the Command Center. "KINWON!" She shouted. Kinwon looked up from his work.
"Karone…what is it?" He asked.
Karone walked up and hit Kinwon hard across the face. "You knew! You knew that this was dangerous!" She hissed. Zhane ran over and grabbed Karone by her arms before she could do anymore damage to him. "YOU KNEW!" She screamed. Kinwon looked at Karone.
"I knew that the mission was dangerous," he answered.
Tears fell down Karone's face again. "Then why…why did you tell us…" she trailed off.
"Because you two were my only option," he answered.
Karone let out a sob. "My brother could die because of this," she whispered. Kinwon looked at Karone. "My brother was captured by the enemy to save me. I might never see him again," she sobbed.
"We're doing all we can to find him," Tykwa informed.
"It's not enough."
Karone pushed Zhane away from her and ran out of the command center.
(The Park)
Karone ran as fast as she could through the park before coming to a familiar spot. She collapsed to her knees on the ground, wrapped her arms around herself, and cried. Her sobs were loud, loud enough for anyone that was close to where she was could hear her. She rocked herself back and forth, her short blonde hair falling in her face.
Zhane walked through the park trying to find her. He stopped when he heard her sobs. He pushed back the bushes to find his good friend on the ground convulsing because she was crying so hard. "Karone," he called softly. Karone stopped for a minute and wiped her tears away.
"Go away," she answered.
"Karone, you need to come back."
"I don't need to do anything."
"We need your help to find Andros."
Karone stayed where she was, not looking at him. "I said go away and I mean it. Go away, Zhane," she hissed.
"This won't help find Andros," he pointed out.
"I don't want to hear it."
Karone stayed where she was on the ground. "You guys aren't working hard enough to find him," she mumbled.
"We may have advanced technology, but we can't find someone in the speed of light," he answered.
"My brother could be dying."
"Then help us."
Zhane walked over and grabbed Karone's shoulders. "If you won't help us find him for us, then do it for Andros," he told her. Karone sat there for a minute longer. "Please, Karone, please help us," he insisted. She just sat there staring at the trees in front of her.
(Divatox's Ship)
Andros groaned when they threw him into his cell. "Well, that was fun. Hope we can do it again soon, which is most likely," Divatox laughed. Andros slowly went over to his corner and lifted up his shirt. He found her scratches on his stomach and felt pain all over his body. He stayed in his corner and pulled his shirt back down. He traced the headband that Divatox had placed on his head, preventing him from contacting Karone. He laid down and was just hoping to get some sleep.
Darkonda walked down the hall and swung the door open, nearly blinding the young man in the corner. "Get up," he laughed. When he saw that Andros wasn't making an effort to move, he walked over and grabbed him by his arm, practically throwing him to his feet. "I said get up," he snapped. Andros groaned when Darkonda pushed him out of the room, almost hitting the wall. "Get walking," Darkonda ordered. Andros was acting like he couldn't walk before he elbowed Darkonda in the stomach.
"Not this time," he snapped.
Darkonda grabbed Andros's wrist and twised his arm behind his back. Andros cried out in pain when Darkonda threw him to the floor. Before Andros could react, Darkonda brought his sword down, making a huge gash on Andros's back. "That's just a warning," he snapped. Andros was on all fours trying to get up, but the pain in his back was almost unbearable.
"Why don't you just kill me?" Andros asked.
Darkonda pulled Andros up by his hair. "That'd be too easy," he answered. Andros felt the blood going down his back from Darkonda's sword. "You'd like that wouldn't you, traitor? You would love for me to kill you?" Darkonda asked. Andros just stood there silent. "I thought so, get moving," Darkonda ordered. He pushed Andros to get to walking. Andros turned and started walking down the hall.
(Three Hours Later)
A beaten Andros was thrown back into his cell, he could hardly move from all the pain. He crawled over to his corner and collapsed. He closed his eyes and sleep came easily, but his mind was full of nightmares.
(KO-35)
Karone let out a sigh and she kicked the console. "Hey, hey, calm down," Zhane told her.
"I can't calm down, Zhane," she answered.
"We'll find him."
Karone was silent. "Get some sleep, Karone, you haven't slept in twelve hours," Tykwa informed. Karone shook her head.
"No," she answered.
She tried to walk from the console when exhaustion took over her. Zhane caught her before she hit the floor. "Get her to her room, "Tykwa instructed. Zhane nodded and picked her up in a carrying position.
Zhane carried Karone to her room and set her down on her bed. He removed her boots, jacket, and morpher. He saw something fall out of her hand. He saw that it was a locket and took it from her hand. He opened it to find the pictures of her and Andros when they were kids. Zhane looked at Karone's sleeping face and wiped the stray tear that was on her face. "We'll find him, I promise," he murmured. He placed the locket on her dresser, kissed her forehead, and left her along to sleep.
