Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Chapter 20

"I don't like it," Karone said flatly. "You know they're baiting you."

"Yeah." Andros wouldn't quite meet her eyes. "I know."

"But you're planning on going down to meet them when they call for you."

"Yes," he answered evenly. "It's what I have to do."

"It's what you have to..." Karone's words ended in a growl of frustration. "Do you remember that conversation we had after Ashley rescued you from the Dark Fortress? That time when you promised no more sneaking off on your own?"

He didn't, actually, but she didn't need to know that. "I'm not going to just walk straight into their trap, whatever it is."

Karone raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "You have a plan?"

"You could say that."

"Let's hear this plan of yours," TJ broke in. He set down the panel he was welding back together and straightened up, arms folded across his chest. "Well?"

"We set our own trap," Andros said.

Karone stared at him dubiously. "You really think they won't expect that?"

Her brother smiled faintly. "Lyra doesn't seem to think I'm capable of too much."

"But we're not dealing with just Lyra," Karone objected. "And I wouldn't be surprised if that was all an act."

"I would." Andros sighed. "Look, I know Lyra better than any of you. I think she's underestimating us."

"And what about Cosmos?" TJ pressed. "I don't think he'll fall for the same tricks as Lyra. Assuming that you can fool her in the first place."

"I... I don't know about him," Andros admitted. He glanced towards his sister. "What do you think?"

"He managed to fool everyone for two years," Karone said, frowning in thought. "I... I think we need to be careful of him."

"So what exactly is this plan of yours?" TJ demanded.

Andros shrugged. "I'll go down alone--"

"You will not," TJ and Karone snapped together.

He regarded them in amusement. "I wasn't finished. I'll go down alone. The rest of you follow me, and--"

"No." Karone shook her head. "No, I'm going with you."

"Karone--"

"He's my brother too," she told him quietly. "I have just as much right to be there as you do."

"I--Fine." Andros nodded unhappily. He didn't like this turn of events at all, but Karone was right. As much as he hated the idea, he didn't have the heart to talk her out of it. "You're right."

"I'm not going to lose you too," Karone said sharply. "You're the only family I've got left."

"I know," he said quietly. "But I don't want to lose you, either."

"You're not going to," she promised. "We fight together, remember?"

"I do." Andros smiled a little, and sighed. "I'll be okay."

"You'd better be," someone else said fondly, and he glanced up to see Ashley limp into the room. "We've finished the engine room repairs, by the way."

"You're still hurt, Ash," he said with a frown. "You shouldn't be--"

"I wasn't." She sank into the nearest chair. "They won't let me do anything, either."

"Good." He laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him. "We've just been making some plans."

"Or not making them," Karone put in. She smirked at him from where she stood behind Ashley. "Ash, tell him he's not going to fight them on his own."

"You're not going to fight them on your own," Ashley repeated obediently, then added, "And if you even think about it--"

"I never said that I was," he protested.

"You implied it," Karone retorted. "And you know you don't stand a chance against them."

"Nice to know you have some faith in me," Andros grumbled, and she just laughed at him.

"Anytime, big brother."

TJ and Ashley laughed at them both. "Now that's almost how siblings are supposed to act," TJ said smugly. "We were starting to think you weren't really related."

Karone stared at him, amused. "This is nothing. You have no idea what a stubborn pain in the ass Andros can be... Well, maybe you do," she added to Ashley, who tried very hard, and didn't quite manage, not to giggle.

"Seriously? We've never really had any trouble getting along." Karone shrugged. "I guess we're lucky."

"Or weird," Ashley teased.

"You're not helping," Andros complained. "I--"

"The Psycho Rangers are attacking Angel Grove."

"Again?" TJ whined. "Didn't we just beat them an hour ago?"

"Your last battle was twelve hours, twenty-seven minutes, and--"

"Okay, we get it," he silenced Deca. "Let's go, guys. Ash, you're still injured."

Ashley sat back down with a sigh. "But only this time."

"Until Deca says you're allowed to fight again," Andros corrected her. He glanced over at TJ and Karone. "Get going. We'll monitor the situation from here."

TJ and Karone vanished in a stream of their respective colors. Andros watched them go and then started pacing, ignoring both the battle onscreen and the looks Ashley was giving him. He hated this.

"Hey, you know they'll be okay," Ashley told him finally. "You're going to wear a hole in the deck if you keep that up."

Andros paused, looked at her, and then dropped down into the pilot's seat. "It's not that."

"Oh." Ashley sighed, and he heard her feet tapping quietly against the floor as she came up behind him. "Andros..."

"I'm sick of this," he muttered, as she slid her arms around him. "I should be down there, Ash."

"I know." She rubbed his shoulder soothingly, hugging him close as she leaned over the back of his seat. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks, I think." He tried to smile when her lips brushed against his cheek, but he couldn't quite manage it. "I hate sitting up here, Ash. I spent two years watching Zhane and Karone do all the work while I sat up here. I have the morpher back now--I should be able to fight this off."

"It doesn't work like that," she said softly in his ear. "You're as strong as you need to be."

"But--"

"No buts," Ashley said firmly. "And I don't care what Lyra said to you."

This time he did smile. "Thanks," he said again, squeezing her fingers. "I love you," he added, squirming slightly in his seat when she kissed his ear.

"Love you," she murmured, hugging him a little harder. "Everything will be okay."

He didn't have the chance to reply. Psycho Blue and Psycho Silver were suddenly the size of two skyscrapers, and Andros snapped back into action instantly.

"I'm not just sitting around for this," he told her, and leaned across the console to launch the Mega Winger.

"Neither am I," she said, and straightened up. "Deca, Astro Megazord transformation."

They slid into their seats in the cockpit just as TJ, Cassie, and Carlos teleported in. The Mega Winger landed on its feet beside them with a loud thud, and Andros tried not to laugh. Zhane would have done that on purpose.

"And so what if I did?" he heard in his mind. "Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass these Psychos have been?"

"Don't do anything stupid."

"I'll leave that to you," Zhane replied cheerfully, and brought the Mega Winger up into a double flip to dodge Psycho Silver's attack.

"Andros, look out," Cassie shouted suddenly, and he just barely kept them out of harms way.

"Sorry," he murmured sheepishly. "Everybody all right?"

"We're fine," Ashley assured him. "It's okay."

It wasn't; he should have been paying better attention. Andros sighed silently and frowned to himself, wondering if he was just distracted or if he was forgetting how to be a ranger. He really hoped it was the first.

Psycho Blue charged at them again, and this time Andros was ready. He swung the saber around in front of them, slashing the Psycho Ranger across the chest.

The zord didn't react quickly enough when he pulled back, and they stumbled. Andros couldn't keep the Astro Megazord from kneeling over, though he did manage to hold them upright. It wasn't enough.

Psycho Blue hit them hard as Andros pulled them back up, and this time he couldn't keep them from going down. The saber clattered down to one of the empty streets with a clang muffled by the crash the zord made when they landed hard.

Cement scraped against the armor as they slid for several blocks, slowing due to natural causes rather than anything Andros did. He couldn't get the controls to respond as quickly as they should be, and it was costing them far too much.

Psycho Blue kicked them back down when they struggled to stand up. Andros groaned as the zord shuddered; unmorphed he was also unprotected from the shock of impact. His head pounded as each blow reverberated around him and he grit his teeth, sweaty palms slipping as he fought against the zord for control.

It wasn't enough. Each time they were nearly on their feet, it was only to be tossed down again. Psycho Silver had wandered over to them and joined in, the two Psychos holding the Megazord between them and slowly tearing them apart.

"Andros." Zhane's voice was soft, and very urgent. "Get down and stay down. Trust me."

He didn't like the sound of that. At all, but there was no time to question it. Another few moments and the Astro Megazord would be in pieces. When the Psychos pushed them forward again, Andros threw the controls forward as well, breaking loose of the Psychos' grip.

They landed on their side, their auxiliary power nearly gone. The impact flung Andros up against the control panel, and he thought it was Ashley who screamed when his head connected hard with the console.

He didn't feel any pain, just an odd sensation of detachment from his body. Dazed, he blinked his eyes a few times and tried to see past the stars clouding his vision. When his sight finally cleared, it was only so that he could watch in wide-eyed horror as the explosion that destroyed the two Psycho Rangers swallowed up the Mega Winger as well.