Chapter 17: The True Red Ranger

Another month went by and Andros was completely healed physically and somewhat mentally. As long as no other women came too close to him he was fine, but other than that, he was ready to come back as the Red Ranger.

Andros walked into the base and nodded to everyone who greeted him. "Andros, welcome back," Kinwon greeted. Andros nodded to him.

"Thank you, Kinwon," he answered.

Karone smiled at her brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is a slight problem though," Kinwon informed.

"What is that?" Andros asked.

"It's Elid, he refuses to give up his morpher," Zhane replied.

Andros let out a sigh. "That's because I'm the real Red Ranger," a voice commented. They looked over at the door to see Elid standing there.

"You're no longer the Red Ranger, Elid," Tykwa informed.

"Wrong, I am the Red Ranger," Elid answered.

Elid walked behind Karone. "Besides, wouldn't it be a pity for your sister to lose her boyfriend?" He asked. Karone felt sick to her stomach when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Get your hands off her," Andros ordered.

"Oh…going make me?"

"Get your hands off my sister."

Karone tried to walk away when he grabbed her arm. "HEY!" Karone shouted. Zhane walked over and pushed Elid away.

"That's enough, Elid," Zhane instructed.

"I don't take orders from you."
"I said that was enough."

Andros went after Karone when she hurried out of the command center.

"Karone!" Andros called. Karone stopped and looked over at him. "You okay?" He asked. She nodded and rubbed the sore spot on her arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied.

Andros sighed. "Here, let me look," he told her. Karone sat down and removed her jacket. Andros lifted her sleeve to see the bruises on her arm. "Karone…" he trailed off.

"They're fine," she assured him.

Karone placed a hand over his. "I can handle him, okay? He's been on my nerves ever since he joined the team," she told him. Andros gave her a quizzical look.

"Karone…has he…" he trailed off.

"Oh God no!" She answered.

"Good."

"But he has hit me."

"HE WHAT!"

Karone jumped and grabbed Andros's arm. "When?" He demanded. Karone shrugged her shoulders.

"Um…about three weeks after he joined the team. He didn't like the fact that I was still searching for you," she replied.

"But…"

"He pinned me okay? He pinned me and when I pushed him off he reeled back and punched me. Then Zhane came in."

Andros leaned against the wall. "Remind me to thank Zhane," he commented. Karone laughed and pulled on her jacket "I'm serious, Karone, he could've done something much worse if he didn't come in," he added.

"Andros, I'm a Power Ranger. I think I can handle him," she assured him.

Andros sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Your fears would be confirmed, Andros. Your sister would be just as pathetic as you are. Except, girls are weak, not men. They don't usually allow women to rape them," Elid sneered.

"Shut up, Elid," Karone snapped.

Andros glared at him. "You have no idea what kind of torture they put me through," Andros snapped.

"Right what did she do?" Elid sneered.

"She had one of her friends beat me every day so she could take advantage of me. She made sure I wouldn't be able to fight her," Andros snapped.

Just thinking what Divatox and Darkonda did to him nearly made him collapse. "Then I challenge you, Andros, son of Adran," Elid snapped.

"What?" Karone asked.

"I challenge your brother to a duel. If he wins, I leave the team and he gets his morpher back," Elid informed.

"What do you get if you win?" Andros asked.

Elid grinned evilly. "I keep my place as Red Ranger…and I get your sister," he replied.

"No way! Not happening," Andros objected.

Zhane placed his hands on Karone's shoulders. "I'm not betting my sister's freedom for the spot as Red Ranger," Andros objected.

"Too bad, that's the deal," Elid answered.

Karone placed her hand over Zhane's for a brief second before walking over to Andros. "It's okay," she murmured. Andros looked over at her.

"I'm still weak from my torture, Karone. He has a bigger chance of winning. I'm not going to let that animal touch you," he insisted.

Karone bit her lip and let out a sigh. "Andros…you can't let him torture you either," she pointed out.

"But…" he trailed off.

"Just do it."

Andros nodded. "Okay," he answered. He looked over at Elid. "It's a deal," he informed.

"Good," Elid answered.

Elid threw Andros his morpher. "We'll fight Red Ranger against Red Ranger," he informed. Andros placed his morpher onto his wrist.

"LET'S ROCKET!" Andros shouted.

"LET'S ROCKET!" Elid shouted.

Andros got into a fighting stance after morpher. "SPIRAL SABER!" Andros shouted. Elid laughed as he pulled out his own Spiral Saber. Karone bit her lip and Zhane held her hand as they watched the two of them go at it.

"You can't beat me, I know all there is to know about being the Red Ranger," he sneered.

Andros kicked Elid in the stomach. "Yeah? Have they taught you this one?" Andros asked. Andros pulled out his blaster. "SPIRAL SABER BOOSTER MODE!" He shouted. Andros aimed it at Elid. "FIRE!" He shouted. He watched the blast hit Elid and watched him fly back against the wall.

"He did it," Karone whispered.

Elid de-morphed and saw that his morpher was destroyed. "NO!" He shouted. Elid stood up and Andros put both blaster and spiral saber away.

"Power down," Andros instructed.

Andros de-morphed and he looked over at Karone. Karone smiled as she hugged her brother tight. "You lose, Elid," Zhane informed. Elid glared at Andros before walking off. Kinwon walked over to Andros with a smile.

"Welcome back to the team, Andros," he congratulated.

Andros nodded. "Thank you, Commander Kinwon," he answered.