Return of an Old Evil
Disclaimer: Same as before.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate it. Be prepared for this chapter has some Andros/Ashley fluff and one hell of an ending!
Chapter 19
Billy was hard at work. They had discussed Ivan's machines for nearly two hours and then had decided to relax while they could. But Billy had other ideas. An idea had come to him as they were leaving the bridge and he had gone straight to the supply closet in the hangar bay, after a quick stop in his quarters to get his tools. It hadn't taken him long at all to find everything he needed, and once he had, he had set right to work.
Now, almost forty-five minutes later, he was almost finished. Mumbling to himself as he worked, he plugged away at his device, knowing it was crucial that he finish it as soon as possible.
Meanwhile Andros and Ashley were heading for the hangar bay. Andros wanted to do a couple of system checks and Ashley had decided to join him.
"I can't wait for Zhane to be okay," she told him, taking his hand. "He's really having a hard time not being able to fight these battles with us."
He nodded at her words. "I know. And we really could use him and his Mega Winger against Ivan's machines."
"The Mega Winger would be a huge help," Ashley agreed.
"You're right. And if Astronema can get Ecliptor to fire the satto-lasers and make the others grow, we actually might stand a chance."
"Do you really think she can?" Ashley asked him.
"I don't know," he answered. "It all depends on depth of Ecliptor's loyal to her. And speaking of Astronema, what do you think about her and Zhane being together?"
"I don't know. It's all happened so fast and with everything else that's happening, I really haven't had much time to even digest it. But I will say this; they really seem to care about one another."
Andros nodded. "I know. And that makes for a very weird situation when this is all over. I mean, will she go back to the Dark Fortress, and if she does, what does that mean for Zhane?"
"That's a good question. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer."
"Neither do I. And another thing, what kind of impact will it have on the others? There's a chance they won't want to have anything to do with them, and you can't really blame them if that's what happens. Astronema is an evil villain and our enemy," Andros said thoughtfully.
"Well, maybe she won't go back. Maybe she'll want to stay with Zhane," Ashley pointed out.
"Maybe you're right," he said, giving her a kiss. "I mean, I never want to leave you. I want to always be with you." His voice was tender.
Ashley's heart warmed at his words. "I want to be with you always, too," she replied, slipping her arms around him and kissing him hard.
His arms came around her as he kissed her back. She leaned into him and reached out and pulled his ponytail loose so she could run her hand through his hair.
He reveled at the feeling of her hand running through his hair as he began to kiss her hungrily, running one hand up and down her back.
She moaned and began to kiss him back just as hungrily. She never knew it was possible to be so much in love with someone as she was with Andros. She wanted to stay in his embrace forever.
Andros let his lips slide down to her neck and began to gently kiss the soft skin there, relishing the taste as he worked his lips over every inch of her neck, pausing occasionally to take a fold of skin in his mouth and gently suck on it for a moment or two before releasing it.
She leaned her head back some to give him easier access and moaned every time he sucked on her skin. Damn, it felt so good to have him doing that to her. Just then he sucked harder on a fold of skin, making her tremble and moan louder as she leaned her head back a little more and pushed her neck closer to him. "Oh Andros, that feel so good. Don't stop!" She cried breathlessly, putting a hand on the back of his head and gently pushing it closer. He responded by moaning and taking another fold of skin in his mouth and sucking even harder, causing her to buck against him and moan his name loudly.
Upon hearing that, he released her neck and crushed his lips to hers, kissing her hard and deep. She kissed him back just as hard and deep, tangling her hands in his hair.
"Oh, Ash, I love you so much," he murmured softly and kissed her harder as his body began to fill with the need for so much more. He was just about to rub his groin area against hers when a loud crash sounded from up ahead of them.
The noise startled them so much that they both jumped a mile and nearly banged heads.
"What the heck?" Andros asked, irritated at being interrupted like that, as they both stood there trying to get their breath back.
"What in the world was that?" Ashley asked after a few moments, still breathing a little hard.
Andros shook his head. "I don't know, but let's find out," he answered. He pointed ahead of them. "I think it came from up there."
She nodded and they took off, not stopping until they heard someone muttering angrily.
Andros looked at her. "Do you hear that?"
"Yeah, I think it's coming from the hangar bay," She replied.
"I think you're right," he told her. The hangar bay door was only a few feet in front of them. They hurried to the door and threw it open. Both were shocked at the sight that greeted them. There was a huge mess of tools scattered by the main supply closet. Billy was kneeling in the middle of it, muttering as he picked them up.
Andros hurried over to him with Ashley right behind him. "Need some help?" He asked.
Billy gave him a grateful look. "Yes, thanks you two," he replied as they bent down and started to help. Billy pointed to his toolbox and told them that's where they went.
"What happened?" Andros asked after a minute or two.
"Well, I had just finished the device I had been working on for the past hour and went to set it down so I could clean up when I bumped my toolbox, and it crashed to the ground and everything in it spilled everywhere." He smiled wryly. "One of these days I'll learn not to leave it open on the edge of a table."A few minutes later, all the tools had been picked up and put away.
Andros then spotted a small gadget sitting on the table and picked it up. It was shaped like a flat circle, about one inch in diameter, and about an eighth of an inch thick, and was similar to a computer chip in appearance. "Is this it?" He asked Billy, holding it out.
Billy took it from him and looked it over. "Yes. "This little device is crucial to our victory," he said.
Ashley was lost. She couldn't imagine how that little thing could be that crucial. "Huh? I don't get it. How is that thing crucial to our victory?" she asked.
"Well, Ashley, it's like this. This thing is a homing device," he told her.
"How is a homing device going to help us?" Andros asked, voicing Ashley's own question.
"That's simple," Billy replied. "We attach it to one of Ivan's machines and when it's returns to Ivan's base, it'll lead us straight to it, thus enabling us to free the captives and destroy it," he explained.
"That's brilliant, Billy!" Andros exclaimed. He then frowned as something occurred to him. "But how do we make sure it doesn't get detected?"
"Well first off, it won't activate until I press the activation button on the remote control I linked it up with. Second, the signal is very subtle and is hidden inside a duplicate of the machine's own transmitting signal, which means the transmitting signal would have to be shut off in order to detect the homing signal. And since the transmitting signal can't be shut off until it reaches its destination, so even if Ivan finds, it we'll already know where his base is."
"There's just one thing. What if he moves his base the minute he finds it? I mean, he could teleport everything and everyone away in a flash," Ashley pointed out.
Billy nodded. That had already occurred to him. "Then I simply activate the back-up program, which will lock onto Ivan's and his machines energy signatures simultaneously the instant they reach the base, so he does teleport everything in a flash, we'll be able to track them wherever they go."
"But how can it do that if Ivan destroys it?" Andros asked him.
"Once it locks onto the energy signatures, it'll transmit the data back here which means we will have the information within several milliseconds after it locks on, so after then it doesn't matter if it gets destroyed because it'll already have done its job," Billy explained.
Andros shook his head in wonder. "That's incredible, Billy," he said.
"Yeah, Tommy and the others weren't lying when they said you were a super genius," Ashley added.
Billy blushed and looked at the ground. "Well, I don't know if I'd go that far," he mumbled.
"Well, I would," Andros said with conviction.
Billy started to reply when the wailing of the alarms sounded.
"DECA, what is it?" Andros asked, yelling to be heard over the racket.
"Ivan's machines are back in Angel Grove," the AI replied immediately.
"Shit!" Andros swore. "DECA, tell the other Astro Rangers to get to the launch tubes and the others to teleport down there now!"
"I shall do so at once, Andros," she told him.
"Ashley, Billy, come on! We have to go now! Billy, is the homing device ready?" He shouted, running for the door.
"Yes, Andros, it is. I've got it right here," He held it up along with the remote as he and Ashley followed him out the door.
Less than two minutes later they were in Angel Grove all morphed. They called their zords and they responded instantly and the rangers jumped in the cockpits; Andros and Ashley in the MV, Carlos, TJ, and Cassie in the DM, Rocky, and Kat in the ZM, and Tommy, Adam, and Tanya in the SZM.
Jason, Zack, Kim, Trini, and Billy all stood slightly off to one side along with Astronema, waiting for the right moment to implement Astronema's plan.
"All right, guy, let's do it!" Andros shouted.
"Yeah, it's time to finish these maggots once and for all!" Rocky added. With that, the ZM kicked Lionator and the battle was on.
Dragonitor breathed fire at the SZM and it ducked and slashed it with one of its sabers. Tyrannotron fires its eye-lasers at the MV, who dodged and blasted it back. The DM fired its blasters at the flying Hawkitron. It managed to evade them and return fire.
It didn't take long for the battle to become fierce and highly intense. Punches, kicks, and energy blasts were traded back and forth, with the zords getting the worst of it. The ZM slashed Dragonitor, managing to get a good hit on it, but was blindsided by a barrage of laser fire from Tyrannotron, which resulted in the ZM sparking and smoke filling the cockpit as it tumbled backward to the ground,
"Rocky, are you guys all right?" Tommy cried after seeing the ZM go down.
"I think so," Rocky replied, coughing a little from the smoke in the cockpit. "We're getting no where fast with these machines!"
"I know!" Tommy shouted. "But hang on, I have and Idea. I need the Red Battlezord now!"
Immediately launching from the old holding bay for all the Zeo Zords in the side of a mountain, it swooped down from the sky and landed next to the SZM.
As soon as it landed Tommy turned to Adam and Tanya. "Are you guys going to be okay in here in the SZM by yourselves?" He asked them.
They both nodded. "We've got it, Tommy," Adam told him and Tommy then immediately teleported himself into the Red Battlezord.
(Author's note: RB is the Red Battlezord.)
"All right you mechanical misfits, it's time for a pounding," Tommy stated and the RB stomped to Tyrannotron and punched it repeatedly, one hand after the other for a full three minutes. Then it stepped back a couple of paces and fired energy bursts from its hands at point blank range. They struck the machine dead center, sending it flying to the ground amid smoke and sparks.
"All right, Tommy! Way to go!" Tanya exclaimed.
"Yeah, it desperately needed to get acquainted with the ground!" Rocky added gleefully. That comment caused a few snickers from various rangers.
"Guys, stay focused, it's not over yet; not by a long shot," Tommy said sternly.
"Tommy's right," Andros spoke up. "This is definitely no over." Just then Hawkitron swooped low and raked its talons over the DM.
Cassie shrieked as there was a grating sound of metal on metal and the Dm swayed on its feet and the lights in the cockpit flickered a couple times.
"Guys, are you okay?" Andros asked urgently.
Carlos glanced at the cockpit control panels and at Cassie and TJ. "Yeah, I think so, but the DM is going to be out of the battle for several minutes until we can determine the extent of the damage," he replied, sounding slightly shaky.
"Well, I hope the damage isn't too severe because we need you and the DM in the battle," Andros told them.
"So do we," TJ answered. Just then Tommy spoke up.
"What do you say, Andros, time for our sneak attack?" He asked the red Space ranger.
"You're right, Tommy," Andros answered. He pushed a button on the MV's control panel. "Astronema, it's time. Contact Ecliptor," he told her.
She nodded. "Right," she answered him. "He goes," she mumbled to herself and opened communications to the Dark Fortress. "Ecliptor, fire the satto-lasers on me at once!" She commanded.
"Astronema!" he gasped in surprise. "But Dark specter---"he began.
She interrupted him. "Don't worry about him, just do it, Ecliptor, now!" She yelled.
Ecliptor hesitated for a brief second then pushed the button that activated the satto-lasers. He just couldn't betray Astronema; she was like a daughter to him.
She turned to the five rangers. "Hold on to me," she told them as the ray appeared in the sky, heading straight for them. They did and an instant later, it hit and engulfed them. When it dissipated a second later all six of them were as the same size as the Zords!
"Wow, this is cool!" Zack exclaimed.
"You said it, bro," Jason told him.
"Now those machines are history!" Kimberly shouted.
"This is an experience I know I'll never forget," Billy put in.
"This is awesome! Now let's get these overgrown junk magnets!" Trini yelled.
"Right!" Jason said as Astronema raised her staff and prepared to strike.
Just then, black clouds blocked out the sun and the sky grew dark. "What the hell is going on?" Rocky asked.
"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about it," Kat answered.
Astronema was having more than just a bad feeling about it, for she knew exactly what was going on. HE was coming. Sure enough, the next instant he appeared in the sky. He resembled a giant black scaly lizard and it looked like his insides consisted of fire. Every second it seemed like a burst of flame found its way between the scales and burst forth. When he opened his giant mouth that was full of razor-sharp teeth, all you could see was fire in the back of his throat.
He was truly a terrifying sight.
"Who_ is _that?" Tanya stammered.
Astronema answered, and her words brought chills to all of them, even Andros who had seen him before. "It's Dark Specter."
A/N: I apologize if my physical description of Dark Specter is off. I did the best I could. What do you think of the appearance of the Red Battlezord and the others growing giant-size? What do you think Dark Specter will do? Please press that little button and tell me what you think!