Ranger Tales

Chapter 17: Return of the Astro

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban/Disney, Carri Hillard and all things relating to Carri, including Jessica McClintock, belong to KJ with many thanks. Azazel belongs to Eric Kripke. Gol and Marx belong to me. Much thanks to KJ for helping me with the ideas for the planet Geeta and the name of the chasm.

A/N: This story is set in an alternate universe where the Alien Rangers arc never happened, although the Alien Rangers do exist. I used Phaedos as the source of the Ninjetti Powers, but Ninjor exists and is the acknowledged creator of Ninjetti. Also, this story has nothing to do with my previous two. The episodes in which Billy went to Aquitar did not happen in this fic. In this fic, Tommy and Kim have not broken up. Timeline wise 1997 is at an end and '98 is getting ready to begin. Zhane's introduction is pretty much the same as in the show, just with Ashley absent. Also, "Red with Envy" will take place after this chapter, however "The Silver Secret" and "A Date With Danger" have already happened, just to let everyone know of the timeline change.

As always reviews are appreciated.

Christmas had come and gone and the Rangers, both Zeo and Astro, had been searching for Ashley. They hadn't heard from her or anything since the ship that she, Tommy, and Jason had been on was attacked. The two Zeo's explained that about what had happened, leaving out Jason's excursion in the Infernal Chasm, as they didn't want Emily to worry. The last thing they remembered was the a bright white light filling the ship, then a bright yellow light engulfing them. The next thing they knew they were waking up in Kat's house. When they had a moment alone with Andros they told him further details, such as the chasm and Ashley's use of her powers.

The red Astro looked deeply concerned. He wouldn't admit to it, but he loved Ashley, and everything pointed to her being dead. Their ship had been attacked, that had been a week ago, and there had been no word from Ashley. If they weren't in the middle of a war then he'd admit to loving her. But for now he felt as though those feelings were best locked away. The more he thought about the possibility of her being dead, the more his heart sank. He found himself wishing he'd said something sooner.

Zhane, the silver Astro Ranger, had been apart of the former Astro team that Andros lead. He had nearly sacrificed his own life in an attempt to save Andros. The red Astro had him cryogenically frozen though, healing him slowly. It wasn't until the day after Christmas that he had been released. The other three Astro's had accidentally stumbled upon the hidden room where he lay. They were losing a battle on another planet when he was thawed out and joined the attack. Since then he had had a limited morphing time, due to being frozen while morphed, but that had gotten straightened out. He had also had a few dates with Astronema. Even though she attacked him for being late, he still held onto her picture and often daydreamed, and dreamed, about her.

Zhane could see that the missing yellow Ranger was seriously bothering his friend. He'd tried getting him to cheer up, but to no avail. It seemed as though the only thing that was going to cheer him up was seeing the yellow Astro again. Zhane sighed, they'd been searching for a week. The original blue Ranger had even gone to Aquitar to use their advanced scanning equipment, and still nothing. Zhane was close to saying what no one else would, that maybe she was dead. He didn't know her, but he was still worried about her as a fellow Ranger, but still. The hadn't heard anything in a week. It seemed to be the only logical explanation. If she had been captured then surely her captor would've have contacted them with demands by now. On December thirty-first all the Rangers, and Emily, were gathered at the newly joined Surf Center, and Zhane was about to open his mouth to say something when the ground began to tremble.

Ashley looked out the window of the ship. She had been on course for Earth for a week now, and it was finally in her sights. She had disposed of the little machine prince and his two followers, Klank and Orbus, fairly easily. A simple kick to his face sent the little princes head rolling, yet it did not killl him. As he began threatening her as a disembodied head she leaped in the air and landed on his head, crushing it. Klank and Orbus entered the room to see what all the commotion was about, and she quickly split Klank in down the middle and stomped on Orbus, listening to the metal crunch beneath her feet. Defeating them had been easy. She wanted a challenge. She wanted to fight and kill the Power Rangers, which is why she was headed to Earth. She smiled as her ship began to land upon the moon.

Zedd sat in his throne, tapping his fingers along the arm. His wife had given birth a couple of months ago, and Rito had taken their son. He was to be sent through a wormhole, after being artificially aged, that way he could grow strong and help his parents conquer Earth. Zedd had named him Thrax, after the ancient evil warrior. They hadn't heard a peep from Rito ever since then. He had taken Thrax and vanished. It was possible that he had been sent back as well, and Zedd truly hoped that was the case. It would mean his headaches would quit coming.

He looked over at Goldar. The golden baboon had been itching for a fight, it had been weeks since they attacked Earth. "Goldar," Zedd said.

Goldar jumped up, hoping this was a battle related assignment. "Yes my Lord?"

"I want you to go to Earth. Attack the Rangers. I don't care how, just shake them up a bit."

Goldar took a swift bow and said "As you wish my Lord." He disappeared in a gold flash, followed by a small army of Tenga's.

Zedd sighed, his plan to destoy Dark Specter failed, what's more is Azazel terminated their alliance, throwing his other plan out the window. It looked as though things were just going downhill for him. He'd have to work under Dark Specter after all. He sighed again, this was going to be a long existence.

Jason and Tommy were pacing back and forth in the Power Chamber. Neither one had morphed since their time on Geeta, there hadn't been any attacks so there had been no need. They felt responsible for Ashley's disappearance, like they could have done something to prevent it. But the truth was that they would just be where ever she was right now. Jason sighed as he leaned against the console. He knew tha hanging around the Power Chamber wouldn't make results come in any faster, but it made him feel better.

Carri teleported in a few minutes later and found the red and green Rangers hanging around. "Guys, you know a watched pot never boils." She said as she crossed the room and went to check on the systems. It was what Billy had asked her to do while he was away, keep him updated on the systems.

"Then what're you doing here?" Jason asked, although he knew the answer. She was there doing what Billy asked her to.

"Checking the systems." She said absently as she typed in a few words. Just as she finished, the alarms went off. "Huh, Goldie finally wants another beating. Took him long enough."

Tommy looked over at Jason who nodded. "It's morphin' time!"

"Zeo Ranger II, yellow!"

"Zeo Ranger IV, green!"

"Zeo Ranger V, red!"

Tommy and Carri morphed, quickly teleporting off to the battle. Jason stood stunned, he'd called out the activation code, he had his morphers in perfect sequence, and yet nothing. He tried it again, still nothing. He contacted Tommy and told him he wouldn't be able to make it to the battle, his morpher was on the fritz. Tommy said he understood, he also had an idea as to why it wasn't working, but he'd share that with Jason when they returned to the Power Chamber.

Jason let out a huff and went to work on scanning his Zeonizer and his Zeo crystal for problems.

Tommy ducked under Goldar's sword, following up with a punch. He then kicked the golden ape away. He was fighting Goldar alone, which was fine with him. Rocky, Carri, and Kim were fighting the Tenga's, and Jason was unable to battle. He summoned his sword and began clashing blades with his nemesis. "You will not win red Ranger." Goldar snarled, confident in his abilities.

Tommy thrust his sword at him, missing. "Yeah right, how many times have I heard that? And how many times have I won?"

Goldar let out a growl as he attacked. "This time will be different!"

Tommy let out a mock laugh. "And if I had a nickel for every time I heard that," he blocked the oncoming blade, "I'd be rich."

Goldar was tired of these games, he wanted to put an end to Tommy's existence right now. He threw his entire body into what was supposed to be his final thrust. To his surprise the red Ranger moved out of the way and countered with a power kick, sending him flying. Disgusted, Goldar stood and said a few choice words before vanishing. Tommy looked over at his friends, they were finishing up with the Tenga's at the moment. Once they finished they all teleported back to the Power Chamber.

When they returned Jason informed them that according to the scans his Zeo crystal was out of energy, therefore leaving him powerless. The only thing he could think of was the purification of the Infernal Chasm; that had to be what drained his power. It made sense, that liquid that filled it did turn green after all. He hated being powerless. He decided to tell the others about why his crystal was drained, and just as he was about to open his mouth the alarms sounded again. He quickly brought it up on screen.

"That can't be..." Carri said as she took in the image of Ashley attacking people in the park. She didn't want to believe it, but there she was. On one hand she was glad her friend was back, but on the other she wasn't as it appeared she was now evil. "Should we alert the Astro's?"

Tommy shook his head. "No. They have their mission at the moment." It was true, they had gotten a lead on Zordon and were half way across the galaxy checking it out.

"Right, well, back to action!" Rocky shouted as they all replaced their helmets and teleported off. After they were gone Jason slammed his fist into the wall, he hated not having his powers. He wanted to be out there fighting with them, he should be. He punched the wall again in a different spot and a small door slid open.

The Zeo's landed in the park, ready to try talking with Ashley, but also prepared for a fight. Ashley looked over at the Rangers and sighed. "Well you're not the team I was hoping for, but you'll do." She smiled evilly as she thought of what to do first.

"Jason," Kim said "do a scan of Ashley, see what kind of spell is over her." Jason replied tha he was on it and Kim turned her attention back to Ashley. The yellow Astro stood there in the same clothes that she had been wearing when the ship exploded.

Ashley looked over at the red Zeo, deciding to start with him. "Where's your little green friend?" she asked as she charged him, leaping into a kick. Surprisingly he dodged it and caught her ankle, throwing her to the ground.

"Busy." He replied simply. Ashley's eyes flashed yellow and she kicked the red Ranger in his side as she pulled herself to her feet.

The others gathered around her, ready to capture her and take her back to the Power Chamber as soon as Jason had an answer for them.

Jason looked in the little door that opened up and saw a brown box with gold trim around the edges. He reached in and pulled it out, opening it. Inside sat slivers of the five Zeo crystals. He lifted the green sliver up, and placed it with his Zeo crystal. He instantly felt the crystal re-energize, and disappear into his body. He called out the morphing sequence once again, and to his surprise it worked. He was about to teleport off when he heard Kim's voice asking him to do a scan on Ashley. He agreed and went to work. Surprised at what he found, a spell had been placed on Ashley that unleashed the latent evil energy from the Muranthian pit. He quickly began to contact Lerigot.

Ashley was throwing the Rangers around like toys. To her they were nothing more than playthings for her amusement. She played with one of them until it bored her, then tossed it aside and moved on to another. She had already beaten the blue, red, and pink Rangers. She saved her own color for last. "Canary's turn." She said with a smile as she walked towards Carri. Carri threw a punch at Ashley once she was close enough, hitting the yellow Astro square in the face. Ashley frowned and kicked Carri in her stomach, sending her flying into a nearby tree.

The blue Zeo saw that and quickly tried to pull himself to his feet, but Ashley was on top of him in an instant. She had seen him stirring and she quickly made her way to him, stomping on his helmet. "Now, now. We can't have you getting up, that's not part of the plan." She made a tsk tsk sound as she applied pressure to his helmet, cracking the visor.

Rocky noticed that the longer the fight drew out, the more insane she became. He didn't have long to think about it as a sharp pain shot through him, she was adding weight to his head, he saw his visor crack through his squinted eyes. He was afraid that this was the end. For some reason she was more powerful than a morphed Ranger. He was close to blacking out again when suddenly the pressure was relieved.

Ashley raised her foot, ready to stomp down again when out of nowhere the green Zeo Ranger tackled her. "What the?" she asked as they hit the ground. Where had he come from? He should not have gotten the drop on her like that, it wasn't right.

"Now!" Jason shouted. Lerigot made an understanding sound and raised his wand. Yellow sparks flew out of it and circled Ashley's head. A few seconds later she quit resisting and passed out. Jason sighed, he hoped that meant she was cured, or purified, or whatever. He helped Carri and Rocky to their feet before the trio teleported everyone out of there.

Back at the Power Chamber they strapped Ashley down to a medical bed and began running the necessary tests to see if Lerigot's spell had worked, luckily it had. After they unstrapped her and left her to sleep the four Rangers began playing twenty questions with Jason, they all wanted to know how he ahd regained his powers. He explained about the box and the slivers of the Zeo crystal that could apparently recharge the sub crystals. They also asked about Ashley, what he had found out. He sighed, it wasn't his story to tell so he told them to ask Ashley when she woke up, as it was her story and not his. Tommy nodded, he had an idea of what had happened.

Ashley awoke a few hours later, apologizing like crazy to the Zeo's. Especially to Rocky. She then explained to the yellow, pink, and blue Rangers about the trip they all took to Muranthias, how she had been thrown in, gained powers, and about how they had been attacked by Prince Sprocket of all beings. From there she explained about how she saved the boys, but for some reason she is unable to teleport herself so she had to stay behind, and how Sprocket put a spell on her.

After she finished her explanation they contacted the Astro's to let them know about her "safe" return, opting not to tell them about her evil stint. They decided that if she wanted them to know, she could tell them. She said that she would at least tell Andros, what she didn't say was that she wanted to date him and wanted to be honest with him about things.

After all that they contacted Aquitar to tell Billy that he could return home now that Aquitar's scanners weren't needed. He declined though, saying that in the week he'd been on Aquitar he had become interested in someone named Cestria. He apologized and said that he'd come back and visit some. The others understood, ever since Trini left he hadn't shown any interest in any girl. If he could find a companion in Cestria, then that's where they wanted him. Where he'd be happy. It was sad to see yet another friend go, but he assured them that he would continue to search for Zordon using the Aquitarian's scanners. They all said their goodbyes and all went back to their normal everyday lives, except for Ashley. She stayed behind in the Power Chamber to rest and wait for the rest of the Astro team, including the new silver Ranger.