Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are not mine.

Chapter 3

Her feet touched ground again just seconds after she teleported, golden sparkles her releasing her back into the world. The grass had more give than the metal decks of the Megaship and Ashley bounced across the softer ground happily, making a beeline for the picnic area she had left her friends at.

The cover of trees that had made the location ideal for teleportation thinned out a moment later, and she was just able to make out the party in the distance when voices behind her had her glancing over her shoulder. Ashley couldn't spot anyone and shrugged it off; probably the sound had carried farther than she'd thought. She turned and kept walking, only to leap back in alarm when something dropped down in front of her.

Ecliptor straightened up while she fell back into a defensive stance. Cosmos appeared to her left a second later and Lyra to her right, all three advancing together. Ashley reached for her morpher without hesitation.

"Let's ro--"

Lyra lunged forward, knocking the morpher from her wrist and sending the both of them tumbling to the ground. Ashley landed hard on her back, the grass cool and slightly damp beneath her skin. Allowing herself only a second to catch her breath, she arched her back and snapped herself back to her feet, hands raised instinctively to block the arm swinging straight for her head.

Surprise flitted across Cosmos's face when she caught his fist, but Ashley didn't pause to gloat over it. She twisted around and threw him over her shoulder, sending him sprawling across the ground on his back. Lyra was waiting for her and Ashley threw herself into a flip to avoid being knocked upside the head with a hurricane kick.

She dropped down into a crouch the moment her feet touched ground again, leaping back up to kick Ecliptor away. He staggered back, not nearly as far as she'd hoped, but enough, and Ashley leapt forward, eyes locked onto the morpher still lying where it had fallen.

Someone landed on her back and Ashley dropped like a stone at the sudden weight, the wind knocked out of her when she hit the ground on her stomach. Lyra scrambled up before Ashley could recover, brushing grass off of herself while Cosmos and Ecliptor hauled Ashley to her feet.

"Hold her still, would you?" Annoyance crossed Lyra's face as she climbed back to her feet. "Body Switcher!"

She snapped her fingers and a monster was at her side in an instant, this one a dark blue creature with red and silver wings. Ashley grit her teeth, bracing herself for what she thought was coming, but to her surprise, Lyra didn't order the monster to attack.

"Her," she said, speaking to the monster. "Make me into her."

"Oh, that's an easy one," he laughed.

Lyra smirked, but Cosmos didn't look pleased. Ashley wasn't so thrilled herself when the monster of the week zapped Lyra and the name 'Body Switcher' suddenly becoming a whole lot clearer. She blinked in surprise when she found herself staring at herself, glancing down to make sure of who she was. She was still Ashley--but so, apparently, was Lyra.

"Perfect."

Ashley gaped; despite Lyra's new appearance, she was still startled to hear her voice emerge from the other girl's mouth. Smiling to herself, Lyra waved away the Body Switcher, who vanished immediately, presumably returning to the Dark Fortress--

The Dark Fortress. That had to be where they were taking her. Ashley lunged forward, ripping one arm free from Ecliptor's grasp, but Cosmos tightened his hold on her other arm before she could twist away from him. Lyra ignored them all, stooping down to retrieve Ashley's morpher.

"This should do it," she declared, slipping it onto her wrist. "Get her out of here."

Ashley had barely opened her mouth to either scream for help or snap a retort when her world disappeared into a shower of gold.

---

"Are you gonna eat that?"

Andros rolled his eyes when Zhane dropped down beside him, blue eyes affixed to the paper plate in his hands. "There's plenty of cake right over there. Get your own."

"But you got the corner," Zhane whined. "The other pieces don't have as much frosting."

"I told you that wouldn't work." Karone joined them at the picnic table, laughing quietly. "Here," she said, and passed him a plate that held the remains of a slice of cake. "Frosting."

"Why thank you." Zhane grinned and accepted the plate, feet braced against a nearby tree as he leaned back against the table to eat. "You're sure you don't want this?"

She pondered over that for a moment. "You're sure that you do?"

"You don't like it?" Zhane gasped in mock horror. "Are you feeling okay? You love sweet things."

"Chocolate," she corrected him. "This is too sweet."

"Says you," he retorted, the words losing some of their effect when his mouth was full. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, I think." Karone frowned when she caught Andros's eye. "You're not laughing at him," she noticed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Andros shrugged. "But it seems like Ashley's been gone for a really long time..."

"She's probably just saying goodbye to the kitten," Zhane told him, attention still on his cake. "She'll be back."

"I know that she'll be back." Andros glared at his friend half-heartedly. "But--"

"She's right over there," Karone cut in, shading her eyes with one hand as she peered off in the direction of the sun. "I think..."

"That's her," Andros confirmed, almost leaping to his feet. He heard Zhane mumble something that he couldn't make out around all the frosting, but Karone laughed quietly at his eagerness. He glared at them both, but shrugged, walking forward to meet his girlfriend. "Ashley!"

"Hey," she answered absently, brushing straight past him as she headed for TJ and Cassie. "Hey, guys!"

Andros stared after her, stung. Even when he'd deserved it, Ashley had never just ignored him like that. His stomach coiled anxiously as he wracked his brain in an effort to find what he'd done to bring it about, but he came up blank and sighed.

"What happened?"

Karone was at his side, one of her hands on his arm. He glanced over at his sister and shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what else to do.

"I don't know."

His eyes sought out Ashley again, and spotted her laughing with Carlos and Cassie while TJ brought them all some more cake. Their eyes met for an instant before she glanced away quickly, and his heart sank as he realized something.

"She's not wearing her necklace," he muttered, and let out a sigh. He'd thought that she liked it... "I think I'll go back to the Megaship now," he told her, starting off in the same direction Ashley had taken earlier. "I'll see you later."

"Andros," Karone called after him, and he paused. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah," he lied, walking forward without glancing back. "I'll be fine."

---

This was all working out nicely. Lyra wandered through the halls of the Astro Megaship, taking the time to re-familiarize herself with the ship's layout. The party had broken up not long after Andros had returned to the Megaship, no doubt to sulk.

He was on the bridge now, had been for some time, and would be there for a long time more, she suspected. Perfect. While he sat around brooding, she would take down his teammates, one by one.

She'd never met anyone quite that needy, she reflected with an annoyed sigh. Andros had never been jealous, exactly, but whenever they were together, he had always needed something from her. A hug or a kiss or some words of reassurance from her; he needed something every moment of the day, and not just from her. The team had supported each other without question, but Andros was clueless when it came to comforting someone. Almost as clueless as he was when it came to figuring out on his own what people were thinking without having it spelled out for him. And even then...

Lyra grinned to herself. With his brains, she'd have his entire team captured and be back on the Dark Fortress herself before it occured to him that anyone was even missing. Without a doubt, he would give whatever he was ordered to in order to save them, be it his morpher or his own life. Of course, the rangers could never be allowed to go free, but Andros wouldn't have a choice. He'd take whatever chances he had to in order to save his team, and then--

Her smirk widened at the thought of the once-proud red ranger on his knees before her and Cosmos, begging for their lives. He would beg and then he would watch them die--slowly, of course; slowly enough that their screams would be branded forever into his mind. By the time they were through, Andros would be begging them to kill him as well. And then they wouldn't.

Lyra frowned, pondering who should go first. His sister, maybe? No... Karone should be one of the last. The yellow and silver rangers too; they were the three that meant the most to him. He would be sick with fear for them after watching what they had in mind for the other three. Blue, pink, or black, then, she mused, and sighed. Choices...

"Hey, Ash," a voice called after her as she passed by the Simudeck. The door was open and she backtracked to see the black ranger working out in a gym. She hid a smile, deciding that there was no better place to start.

"Hey, Carlos," she responded with an easy smile. "Need some help working out?"

"Could you put a little more weight on this?" he asked.

"Sure." She nodded and took a step into the Simudeck, her grin uncontainable now. One ranger down already and Andros was completely clueless.