Disclaimer: As much as I would like for it to be, Power Rangers is not my creation.

Phantom Rogue: It is cute. Everything will work out.

Star Fata: Here's more.

Slytherin-Angel44: Glad you liked it. You'll find out in this chapter.

A/N: Only one more chapter to go. Enjoy.

Ch. 34 Taking Charge

The next day came quickly for the rangers. They had stayed up late running system checks and scans for any signs of Dark Specter. Andros had stayed up past the other rangers and had practically been beating himself up since he hadn't been able to contact Karone. He had a bad feeling and it just wouldn't go away. Ashley had tried several times along with his siblings to get him to go to bed but he had refused and they had eventually given up.

"Has anything shown up?" Ashley questioned as she took a seat beside Andros.

"No," he answered, the unease obvious in his voice. "I still can't shake this feeling that something's happened to Karone."

"Same feeling you had when she was kidnapped?" Bryce asked and Andros nodded. "Don't worry they wouldn't do anything bad to her. They need her to get to us." The alarms began blaring and they looked to DECA expectantly.

"There are a thousand Velcofighters heading for Earth," the A.I. announced. "The rebels are being attacked as well as every other civilization that had any interaction with Zordon."

"We're on it," Andros stated. He ran to the controls and pushed them both forward. "Hold on, Earth. We're on the way." He quickly made his way back to his controls as the other rangers filed into the room. "Everybody ready?"

"All systems on line," T.J. reported and Andros nodded.

"Fire at will," he commanded, quickly finding their ship in the middle of a large group of Velcofighters. It wasn't long before he found that they weren't getting the results they wanted. Too many were making their way to Earth. He turned to Bryce and Zarkin and asked, "You guys think you can handle everything up here while we go down?"
"Are you kidding?" Bryce replied, pushing T.J. and Carlos out of the way. "We've been waiting to drive this thing again." Andros smiled but quickly reverted to his leader mode leading the other rangers into action.

"Alright, guys," he began as they made their way to Earth, "we'll have to spilt up. We have to get all these innocent people out of the way." He felt more than saw everyone's nod. He could feel their nervousness. They had never been through anything like this before, he had, he knew what had to be done. He wouldn't allow Dark Specter to win against him twice. He and Ashley ran towards a group that was filled mostly with small children and quickly pushed the Quantrons back making room for the children to run. "Go find your parents."

"Ah, my son, the failure," he heard an all too familiar voice state behind him. He felt his body freeze and he slowly forced himself to turn around. He couldn't believe what he saw. His father was standing there with Darkonda at his side. He was covered in battle gear similar to Karone's and a sword dangled easily in his hand. "I hope you don't think you're coming out of this alive."

"You had something to do with Karone's disappearance," Andros concluded and his father clapped.

"Glad you finally figured it out," Amor replied. "I thought about getting you but I knew it would hurt you more if I took Karone."

"Why?" Andros found himself asking.

"Both of you were burdens," his father answered simply. "We never wanted you. Why do you think we tried to get rid of you so many times?"

Ashley, who was standing beside Andros, placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "It's okay, Andros. He'll pay for what he did to you." He shook his head, trying to clear it. He couldn't fight with anger it had already caused him to lose too much. He followed Ashley as she began to walk away, hoping to give himself enough time to cool down.

"You're not going anywhere, rangers," Darkonda hissed, throwing a blast at them. They hit a pile of debris behind them and demorphed. They tried to fight of the Quantrons that surrounded them but they couldn't and soon found themselves in a small cell on the Dark Fortress.

"Andros!" Karone yelled from a corner. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he answered, kicking the bars in anger. "Guess this is why we haven't heard from you?"

"Yeah, they caught me after I told you about Dark Specter's attack plan," Karone explained. "They threw me in here and told me I would pay."

"Who put you in here?" Andros asked, already knowing the answer.

"Some new guy," his sister replied. "He seemed familiar but I don't know why."

"He's our father," Andros whispered. Karone's wide-eyed look confirmed her surprise and she wrapped her arms around her brother.

"Why would he do this?" she questioned although their past was already starting to replay in front of her. "I remember what he used to do to us." Tears ran freely down her face and Andros pulled her to him.

"It will be okay," he whispered, "I promise." He had promised her so many things in their lives but this promise he intended to keep no matter what it cost him.

"Andros," Ashley whispered from the other side of the cell, pointing at something in the next room. Andros made his way to her side, mouth dropping when he saw Zordon. He knew Zordon had seen them but his friend wouldn't look at them, instead he kept looking the other direction. Andros listened closely, barely able to make out to voices talking. He knew the voices immediately, both making him sick to his stomach.

'Andros,' he heard Zordon whisper silently. 'You have to break my energy tube. It's the only way to safe the universe. There's a sword lying to the left of me use it.' He saw Zordon glance in their direction and he nodded once.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked quietly.

"I'm going to put an end to this," he told her. He reached out with his telekinesis for the keys he had seen one of the Quantrons put on the other side of the wall. He could feel them but without being able to see them he had no idea if he was attracting any attention. He smiled slightly when he felt the cool metal of the keys in his hands and he could still hear his parents arguing. "You two stay here. I'm going to do what I should've done a long time ago." Ashley and Karone tried to stop him but he put a stop to their efforts by locking the door back. "I have to do this." They both nodded and watched him go. He walked over to Zordon's tube and picked up the sword, making sure to make enough noise to get his parents' attention.

"What do you think you're doing?" Amor questioned.

"Something I should've done a long time ago," Andros replied, letting the sword drop to the ground but still close enough that he could grab it if he needed to. "For years I let you beat me and Karone. I thought I deserved it for some reason but now, after much convincing from several people, I've come to see that I didn't. Now, I'm going to put an end to the control you have over me." He picked the sword back up and prepared to break Zordon's energy tube. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he brought the sword down and gold light engulfed the room.

A/N: Please Review! Sorry for the wait. Real life sucks.