Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.

Several weeks had passed since he had moved to Angel Grove and Andrew hadn't really made friends, he was content to be left alone though he had developed an interest in the Power Rangers, their zords, if not the actual people.

He often examined areas where they had been sighted but found nothing and Arcee couldn't find anything that was useful.

He couldn't find anything about the Zords and he was sure the Rangers wouldn't answer his questions if he asked them.

Arcee observed her father's people, humanity, they were an odd bunch, his cousin Kimberly was obviously worried about her father saying how he was slipping away from them it seemed and how he wasn't acting like himself.

She wondered how he was supposed to act? He spent time with her after all but what was he like before? At least her parents weren't calling Arcee the walking accident any more at least and allowed her to drive her father.

Kimberly always seemed to force her father into social activities with her friends and, despite the incredible unease he felt with them, she kept trying to get him to hang out and sometimes she wouldn't really give him a choice.

Andrew wasn't cold, he was worried about the oddness of his life and why he felt so distant from others, he'd have glommed onto them weeks ago but he simply didn't care now.

As he walked out of the house he saw Kimberly and her friends in a group and they were talking about a party.

Andrew sighed as he snuck into the garage and whispered, "Arcee, let's go to the dump, I want to check out the parts that Skull's uncle was insisting that I might want to look at this old car, he wanted to see if I could fix it up."

"Ooh," she said, "Let's go but I think Kimberly wants you to spend time with them."

Andrew paled and said, "No, we'll do that later."

Kimberly heard the bike rev up and said, "Oh no, he's going to be gone for the whole day."

Andrew drove past them and Xander sighed, this went past Sunnydale syndrome, he was cold and his family was being super nice to him and he barely reacted, other than look uneasy. He wondered if Andrew was possessed but that wasn't possible as the boy wasn't killing people and there weren't bodies appearing or even animals.

When Andrew met Skull's uncle the older man led him to an old car, the car looked nice and the man said, "You know kid you got talent by way you fixed up that old bike."

"Which, by the way, I love how it looks Andrew," the man said smiling, "You did a good job."

The car was bright red with flame decals on it and Andrew instantly felt the spark pass, he looked at Skull's uncle and said, "How much?"

"It's free, if you can fix it up," the man said with a smile.

"Thanks Mr. Skullovitch," Andrew said happily.

As the man left Andrew gestured for Arcee to transform and help him transport the car to their workplace.

Andrew smiled and said, "Arcee, this is where you were born, in a sense."

She nodded and Andrew began to work.

Several hours passed as Arcee helped Andrew rebuild the car, she wielded the metal and helped Andrew put the new parts in the car.

As Andrew put the weird red symbol on the side Andrew felt odd and Arcee backed off as she saw his eyes glow and the car activate as some sort of energy flow from him.

He looked at her and said, "I'm fine."

The car began to rev up and Andrew watched as the large car transformed into a cheerful looking robot.

"Hey, hey," the robot said smiling, "You're dad, aren't you?"

"Yes and this is your sister Arcee," Andrew said, "And what do you want your name to be?"

Andrew looked at the robot as it thought and he said, "Alright Dad, I'm going to be Hot Rod."

"Rod for short," Andrew said, "You picked a good name."

Arcee smiled and said, "Now, umm, dad, we have to go home."

Andrew looked up and said, "Why? It's not that late, it's… oh crap, it's seven? Wow, it's not that late."

"No father," Arcee said smiling, "Kimberly had a party planned for you and, umm, it starts soon."

Kimberly frowned as she glared at the clock, Rocky smiled at her and tried to get her to relax when they heard Andrew's motorbike rev in.

As Andrew came in Kimberly gave him a glare and said, "Andrew, you were supposed to be home by now."

"Umm, I'm sorry," Andrew said, "I lost track of time."

As Andrew was being congratulated for his birthday Arcee and Hot Rod looked at each other. Arcee made a face and said, "Andrew's cousin wants him to be like her; open and eager to make friends but he's never been comfortable with her friends."

Hot Rod frowned and said, "What's going on?"

"It's his birthday," Arcee said, "it's when his race celebrates the day of their activation, I think."

"Ah," Hot Rod said, "But why is she so angry at him?"

"Something happened to him before he came here," Arcee said, "But she babies him now and the others treat him like he's glass and they think he's antisocial and perhaps he is but something happened to him and he wants to find out what happened to him and why he's feeling so odd right now, we're going this weekend."

As the party continued Andrew frowned at the well-wishing he was getting from Kimberly's friends.

"So," Tommy said, "The long weekend's coming up, what are you gonna do?"

"Umm, go away for a bit to the mountains," Andrew said, "By myself. I, umm, left something up there."

Kimberly froze and said, "Andrew, you got badly hurt up there and you were in a coma for a week, remember?"

Andrew nodded and said, "I still have to go up there and I'll be careful."

"How about this Andrew," Kimberly said, "We'll go with you, if you want, that way if you get hurt you'll be found quickly."

"Umm, sure," Andrew said, "So tomorrow, maybe at Noon?"

As Andrew left Kimberly frowned and said, "Why does he want to go back to that awful place?"

Billy frowned and said, "Perhaps he has unresolved issues there."

Rocky nodded and said, "We'll be there tomorrow."

The next day Andrew woke up at five in the morning, careful to not wake his cousin up, he went outside and saw Arcee looking at him and said, "Let's go quietly now."

They both nodded and Hot Rod frowned and said, "They touched me, it was kinda creepy. They said I looked good and they couldn't wait for you to let them give me a test drive."

Andrew smiled and said quietly, "I want to do this quietly, alright? Without them hanging over my shoulders."

Later in the morning Kimberly woke up and knocked on Andrew's door, when she heard nothing she opened the door and grumbled, "Damn it Andrew."

She called the rest on her communicator and even asked Zordon if he could locate Andrew but Zordon couldn't find him.

A few minutes later the group showed up and Kimberly said, "Well I know the mountains he's going to as well and he's not going to be able to hide for long."

Meanwhile in the mountains Andrew felt happy as Arcee and Hot Rod followed him through the woods, as Andrew walked he started to remember a cavern that seemed to call him.

He remembered being excited to get going and explore while his father and Tucker walked ahead, his feet hurt but he wanted to explore the cave.

Arcee whispered, "Dad? Is something wrong?"

Andrew's eyes turned bright blue and he said, "Nothing is wrong. Come, I think everything will be explained soon, for all of us."

As they walked towards a cavern Andrew felt an odd warmth in his breast, the blue glow was making him feel welcomed and loved like he was coming home.

The cavern was large enough for Andrew and the robots to enter.

Andrew's mind was racing and he said, "There will be a metal wall coming up."

Hot Rod frowned and said, "Dad, this place, what is it?"

"I don't know," Andrew said softly, "I only know that its home for you guys."

In the Power Center Zordon looked at the rangers and Xander and said, "Andrew's last known location is this park."

"No," Kimberly said, "That's where Andrew disappeared before can we find him."

"No," Zordon said, "Something is blocking my sensors; something powerful, incredibly powerful."

Alpha shook his head and said, "It's nothing like I've ever seen before, I'm trying to locate Andrew but there is nothing here, nothing at all like we've ever seen. But it doesn't seem to be able to stop us from teleporting there."

"Take us there," Xander said, "I'm guessing that whatever is drawing him there is still there."

Zordon nodded and said, "May the power protect you."

Meanwhile Andrew looked at the metal wall and said, "This is it the wall that opened for me, I remember."

Arcee touched the metal wall which felt warm under her hand, she felt the door open and they walked in.

On the moon Rita laughed and said, "Zedd, they're going to be in the woods alone, I think we should plan a little welcoming party for them. Finster, we'll need several monsters."

"Of course my mistress," the little alien said happily.

Zedd looked uneasy, there was something unsettling happening, he could sense it but his fool of a wife couldn't sense it, he'd be quiet for now.

It might end up working well for him.

TBC

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