Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

O HAI. *dusts off story* I can't believe I haven't updated this in six months. I think I've learned to stop promising fast updates, but that was a really long wait. Thank you everyone who's still here and reading! I love all of you, and for five years now you have made my life better. (Uh, five years referring to my time in fandom, not my time on this current story. My New Year's Resolution was to finish it before the year is up so I don't actually spend five years on this story. *grins*)

Chapter 41

He hadn't seen this many velocifighters since KO-35, and that wasn't a memory that he wanted now. For just an instant he was burning again, and he shuddered as painful prickles seared his skin. Zhane clutched the controls as he struggled to shrug off the thoughts threatening to fatally distract him.

But it was there at the back of his mind as he and Deca battled the velocifighters. He'd thought he was going to die--he thought he had died, when all he'd had were hazy dreams that took him from moment to moment.

The Megaship shuddered so fiercely the controls nearly slipped from his grasp, and Zhane cursed under his breath. He would be dead, and permanently this time, if he didn't focus.

There had been no hope for KO-35. He knew that now. So much had gone wrong... so many mistakes had been made... He knew that Andros was just as haunted

It had been a miracle that they'd managed to save what they had, and it was a miracle that his people were still alive and still fighting, and they still had hope that one day they would return home.

This was a different battle, worlds away from the one he didn't want on his mind. Things were different now--everything was different. This team was unified, and Andros was the leader Zhane had never doubted he could be.

If they had survived KO-35, they could survive this. They would survive this.

Zhane braced himself as the Megaship swerved around an exploding velocifighter. This wasn't working. There were too many of them--Astronema must have sent out every fighter she had, and though he had taken out several dozen, there were at least a thousand more and they were wearing down the Megaship.

"Shields, Deca." He spared a second to glance at her nearest eye.

"Seventy-five percent," she replied calmly.

"Are they holding?"

"Negative."

It was the answer he'd expected, but that didn't make it easier to hear. He was gripping the sides of the console just to stay on his feet now.

"This isn't working." He eyed Deca again. "Do you have any ideas?"

The next blast made the lights flicker. The Megaship tilted so sharply he couldn't keep his balance this time, and he landed hard. Groaning, Zhane rolled over onto his stomach and tried to catch his breath. He needed a better plan.

"Incoming transmission," Deca said suddenly, and Zhane looked at her strangely.

"If that's Astronema calling to gloat, you can tell her to--"

"From the Phantom Ranger," Deca continued.

"Oh," he said, as he locked the Megalasers onto another velocifighter. "Then tell him we'll each take five hundred."


Just for an instant, he was weightless, the adrenaline and the pounding rush of blood in his ears all that he knew.

Just for an instant.

He felt every bruise the instant his body slammed into the wall, though muted by the effects of the Power. Wincing, Andros staggered back to his feet. All the aches were becoming more noticeable now, and he tried not to think about how long he'd been morphed--or how much longer it would hold.

"Andros!"

Ashley's voice, and even in the midst of battle it lightened his heart to hear it. He couldn't see her, but she must have been nearby if she'd seen him go down...

There. He saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye and turned toward her automatically, only to find himself fighting off yet another quantron.

There were too many of them. He couldn't fight his way towards her and he couldn't afford to be distracted right now, but he took notice every time he spotted on of his teammates--Ashley was the closed to him, but he thought that was Cassie and Carlos fighting back to back several meters away. He'd seen TJ just a moment before, and Zhane out to still be on the Megaship.

Zhane...

His stomach turned as he blasted another quantron away from him. He couldn't do that and he shouldn't be thinking of that now--this was a different battle and a different time and a different team, but the thought of staring at his best friend like that again, cold and lifeless and trapped in that box, had pushed its way past everything else and--

Ashley screamed his name again, this time in warning, and he was too slow to turn. He saw the streak of the laser but by then he was already on the ground, crying out in pain as his shoulder throbbed. He hadn't even seen that one coming and now he was scrambling to get back on his feet before Ecliptor reached him.

He managed, barely, and he swung his saber up just in time to block Ecliptor's descending blade. The impact jarred his shoulder and he grit his teeth together to bite back another groan. The Power hadn't muted that as much as he'd hoped it would.

He pressed forward and Ecliptor pushed back, and the quantrons backed away to give them room to fight. He still wondered about that, sometimes--if they'd worked together he would have been overpowered, but there was nowhere for him to hide from the quantrons if he managed to beat Ecliptor, anyway.

The next blow caught him across the chest, and Andros staggered back. The saber slipped from his hand and sparkled as it fell. Andros closed his eyes even as he straightened up, knowing what was coming.

He felt his suit vanish and all the little aches blossomed into real pain. He grit his teeth and steadied himself because there was nothing to do but to keep fighting, but he was weakened from the last several hours of battle, and wasn't quick enough.

Ecliptor caught him in the stomach this time, and as he doubled over, wheezing, Andros heard Ashley again. She was closer this time, fighting her way towards him.

"Red Ranger!"

Andros froze.

Ecliptor growled something under his breath as he whirled furiously to face Darkonda. "He is mine."

He should have run. Ecliptor had turned away and Darkonda was still arguing with him, but Andros fell into a defensive stance and raised his head defiantly--only to be surprised when Darkonda, instead of attacking as Andros had expected, lunged forward and seized his arm. Andros had only a split second to realize what was happening before everything dissolved into the rush of teleportation.


Andros was going to kill him, and this time Zhane wasn't sure that he wouldn't deserve it.

Glumly, he picked himself up and surveyed the damage.

It could have been worse.

Maybe.

Somehow.

Deca had retreated without his orders, and he hadn't exactly objected. How she had gotten them to the moon in one piece, he had no idea. It hadn't been without cost, though; their shields were gone and the engine was overheated, and he wasn't sure that half the consoles hadn't shorted out.

The lights were still flickering, and as annoying as that was, it didn't bother him nearly as much as the silence.

Deca would likely kill him, too, once her voice was repaired.

Frowning, Zhane tapped at his communicator. He hadn't seen or heard from the Phantom Ranger since Deca had pulled them out of the fight.

"I'm going out there," he said aloud. "If there's no sign of Phantom, then the others need my help in Angel Grove."

He waited a moment, not sure if he was hoping for a reply. None came, and he went to summon his glider.


"Karone."

Oh, not again. Astronema dragged her eyes away from the viewing globe with a sigh. She could hardly bear to look away when things were going so well for her. But he wouldn't leave her be, and it was spoiling her victory.

Not that she was victorious just yet, but it was coming. She had no doubts.

It was perfect just yet. There was Darkonda, who was being more of an annoyance than she cared to admit. She hadn't counted on him abducting the Red Ranger. It wasn't the abduction that she objected to, but now she had no idea where he'd gone to, and as powerful as the Psycho Rangers were, they couldn't destroy Darkonda if they couldn't find him.

"You can still stop this," Zordon continued.

She smiled faintly. "Still imploring me to see reason, wizard?"

"Your Psycho Rangers have drained Dark Spectre of the last of his energy," he informed her, and her lips curled up into a full smile. "He will not last much longer. You'll no longer be under his control."

She sniffed. "He does not control me."

He wouldn't for much longer. She turned to fully face Zordon, meeting his calm gaze with a smirk. "Why would I stop this?" she demanded of him. "I am Astronema."

"It is only a matter of time," he said, and that, at least, she agreed with.

Dark Spectre would be no more.

She would be glorious.

She would be queen.