"That planet sure looks inhospitable." Carlos noted as they saw it on the view screen. It was as black as night and it looked to be rather windy, based on all of the dirt swirling around on the ground. "But what makes it so safe?"
"We have to accept the fact that nothing short of throwing these objects," Fairy Godmother indicated the samurai weapons that bore the spirits of the samurai monsters, both legendary and not, that were on the table. "Into a sun or black hole there is no way to guarantee total safety."
"Why not do just that then?" Emily wondered.
"Black holes really are known for being notoriously unsafe Em." Mike said to her with a small laugh as he squeezed her shoulder gently.
"Intense gravitational forces would probably crush the weapons, but if anything goes wrong it would kill whoever was trying to deliver them into the black hole." Karone explained, as much for Emily's benefit as everyone else. "And a sun isn't much safer to approach either."
"Alright, so back to Carlos's question then; what makes this place a good option?" Mal asked.
"The atmosphere is highly corrosive to metal for starters, a fact that Tommy, Kat and the others learned when Master Vile exiled their ninja zords to that planet." Karone answered. "So the weapons won't have any chance to repair themselves though I suspect they're strong enough to not be destroyed completely. Second, this planet is located in the M51 galaxy which is largely left alone since most people won't go near it because Master Vile used to rule that part of the galaxy before Zordon's wave."
"Who is…was Master Vile?" Amy asked now.
"A cruel ruler. He was also the father to Rito Revolto and Rita Repulsa." Karone explained. "His daughter would be purified by Zordon and would become a figure for good that calls herself they Mystic Mother and is responsible for the creation of the Mystic Ranger's powers."
Jay snickered a little. "That's some irony for you." He remarked.
No one thought to ask what happened to Rito.
"Do people have that reaction often?" Aziz asked Karone. "To the places that evil had control over."
"Some do." Karone said and her demeanor seemed to slip a little.
"Do some people react to you differently because of your time as Astronema?" Audrey asked now. She remembered how she treated Mal, Jay, Carlos and Evie when they had shown up in Auradon. She regretted that now but she knew Chad hadn't, and truth was she suspected there were others who still felt the way Chad did.
"Yes." Karone finally responded. "Some do."
The Auradon rangers exchanged glances. They would have been lying if they said that they weren't curious but they didn't want to upset any disturbing memories.
But Karone looked at them, specifically at the five isle kids, and took a deep breath. "Not long after the fights were over, before Terra Venture left in search of another world to colonize, the space rangers and I were trying to help get some of the galaxy back on its feet." She leaned back against the console. "One of the races who's world suffered great damage from me under orders from Dark Specter to subjugate that world wanted me to stand trial for what I'd done."
"That wasn't you though." Lonnie said.
"Wasn't it?" Jordan asked, not unkindly. "I know she was raised that way, but it wasn't like Ben where it was all mind control or anything like that."
"That was their reasoning too." Karone replied. "And for what it's worth I was willing to do it. It was the others who fought for me." She looked to them all. "Not just my brother, or Zhane. Not even just my friends. The others, the former rangers from Tommy and Kat to Jason and Kimberly. They fought for me too. So did the Aquitarian rangers and Trey and the turtles."
"You had a lot of good support." Amy said softly. "It must feel nice to have that kind of loyalty behind you, even if you feel you don't deserve it."
"So they backed off then?" Will assumed.
"Yes." Karone replied. "In the end the fact that the rangers had done so much good for the galaxy even then just had too much of an impact to force the issue, no matter what I said I would do."
"That's really harsh." Emily said. "They shouldn't expect you to answer to Dark Specter's crimes. Darkconda kidnapped you, you didn't ask to be evil."
Karone smiled at them, knowing that kind of attitude was what she received every day from those who followed in their footsteps. She then looked to the isle kids. "That's the price of evil, not being judged for what your parents did but for what you do." She walked over and placed her hands on Mal and Amy' shoulders. She looked to the two boy and Evie. "You five were never truly evil, you never had the chance and that's a good thing. Remember that, with whatever challenges you face."
Amy placed her hand gently on Karone's hand. Mal placed one of her hands on Karone's shoulder. "And you have us to fight for you too, even if you feel you don't deserve that."
"Which you do." Evie added.
Karone smiled fondly at them all. "Thanks. I've worked past a lot of that doubt though, I had to when I became the pink galaxy ranger." She admitted. She knew she hadn't worked past it all and didn't think she ever would. "But right now, let's get rid of these weapons." She said.
"We're just going to leave them on the surface?" Ally wondered.
"No for it's worth I'm going to link your system with the megaship's systems and then Alpha will transport the weapons underground, leaving just enough of a hole to make sure the atmosphere can still contaminate the weapons." Karone answered.
"Then I guess after that we're going home." Mike said.
"Oh, no." Audrey interrupted. "Remember, Ben promised you dinner and I bet he's going to deliver."
"You got that right." Ben said with a small smile. "Audrey, can you and Lonnie take the girls for their dress fittings?" The two princesses nodded. "Will, why don't you and Aziz take the guys for their tux fittings?" They nodded in agreement. He looked to Alex and Ellie. "You two should probably go too so we can get your measurements and make you something too."
"We have some of our own stuff." Alex pointed out.
"But it's probably different from Auradon's." Ellie replied. "We should have something region appropriate." She looked to Ben. "I'll accompany them."
Alex rolled his eyes a little but nodded. "So will I." He said.
The samurai ranger's left the command center with the Auradon princesses and the two boys. Ben strode over to Mal and put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her gently. "I hope you know that if anyone tried to persecute you or your friends, none of us or our families would stand for that." He said.
Mal nodded. "Yeah, I know." She replied and kissed him on the cheek softly. "I think Karone wanted us to know that despite our parents, we really don't have a real idea about the being truly evil." She shrugged a bit. "It's kind of a nice thing to hear."
Ben laughed softly and kissed her cheek again. "All of you have more good in you than ever realized." He assured her.
"Do you really think Alex and Ellie don't have anything good to wear?" Amy asked now, though she didn't want to interrupt her sister and her boyfriend.
"Don't know." Ben answered. "But they might find something they like better. Besides, even if they don't there is still one thing that they need now." Mal laughed in understanding as she remembered that they all had their team insignia on their formal dresses and tuxes now.
"This is so incredible." Emily noted breathily as she looked at the dress options they had available. Mia looked pretty impressed too as she ran her hands over something that Serena thought looked like silk.
Lauren was looking at a couple of dresses but clearly didn't share in the wonder. "They look nice." She allowed. "But it seems so…so strange to me. This just isn't how I grew up at all."
"I think you'll be fine." Serena promised her as she was looking at a few dresses of her own. " She didn't entirely feel that comfortable with it either, though far more so than the red ranger did.
"Didn't you ever read fairy tales when you grew up?" Mia asked as she pressed one of the dresses against herself and looked into the mirror to get an idea of what she looked like. "I mean I always wanted to be a princess and find the prince of my dreams."
Emily laughed a little. She knew that one for fact. She remembered when Daiyu had been kidnapping brides and so both she and Mia had posed as ones to catch her. The female Nighlok had been so focused though on ruining Mia's 'wedding' that she had overlooked her capturing Emily and that had helped stop her plans.
"It all just takes time." Serena replied evenly. "Almost no one ever gets their true love right off the bat." She frowned as she struggled to remember something. "What was it that Amber said…oh right, we can't all be like Cory and Topanga."
"What does that even mean?" Lauren asked.
"It's from an old tv series I think." Serena supplied.
Emily felt the material of one of the dresses. "This feels different." She noted. "I wonder if this a material that is only here on Auradon." She mused.
"Remember what Karone said." Lauren replied. "Whatever we choose we can use whenever we're here but we won't be able to take them to Earth with us." She ran her hands over a dress that felt like velvet. She had never worn a dress in her life though and wasn't sure what would look good.
Mia decided on the dress that she had been looking at in the mirror but also saw her friend's indecision. She walked over and stood beside her. "Come on Lauren, let me help you sort through the intricacies of picking out a great dress."
Audrey and Lonnie had left the girls to get ready for themselves. She had returned to her room but stopped as she came in and glanced out the window. She recalled what Karone had just said in the command center and despite it being basically a lifetime ago she felt shame again at judging Mal, Jay, Evie and Carlos for the crimes of their parents.
For just an instant she wondered if Karone could possibly talk sense into Chad but dismissed it. Karone was taught to be evil at a young age and made the decision on her own to turn her back on the dark path. Meanwhile Chad had done the opposite, taught to be good and chose evil of his own accord. There was no way she could see to bring back the guy that she and Ben had been friends with. She never stopped to think about whether or not she could ever be okay with him again even if he did somehow return to the side of good; it was no secret that she had become a dark and dangerous obsession for him.
She remembered almost telling Mal, Amy, Evie, Ben, Alex and Ellie about hearing Chad's voice at night before the samurai crisis presented itself. She wondered still if she should. She marveled at how strong Evie and Amy had become since becoming rangers and she was impressed with how Mal was always so loyal and brave through it all. And yet, somehow she felt that she was becoming weaker, more susceptible to Chad's physical attacks, and possibly mental ones if his voice wasn't just some cruel trick her own mind was playing on her. She wondered if it could be possible to become weaker after being a ranger.
"I don't know if I should tell them." She reflected softly to herself. "I don't want them thinking I've become too weak to be a power ranger." She already knew she had to work hard to get Amy to change her mind. She didn't want to give her any reasons to make it harder that that task already was.
She reached for her make up kit and happened to glance at the mirror and let out a frightened gasp as she saw Chad in the middle of the room staring at her. She turned to face him and found something even more frightening in her mind…she was alone. Chad was not there. She looked back into the mirror and saw the same thing; she was alone in her own room.
She let out slow breath, not sure what was more prevalent; the feeling of relief that he was not standing in her room or the fear she had seen it at all.
Everyone met at Audrey's castle for dinner this time. They had the place to themselves relatively speaking as Aurora and Phillip were out on a date and her grandmother was not home either. Privately that suited Mal just fine as she had a feeling Audrey's grandmother, while not falling on the same extreme as Chad, had still not been as accepting as her granddaughter had learned to be.
Mike, in a simple but elegant black tux with a green button down shirt and green cuffs, had been more than impressed with Emily's dress despite the fact it was relatively simple. Except for the silky feel of the fabric it was almost like a prom dress that she could have found at home.
Mia had gone the opposite route, having a very frilly and layered dress that was all in pink. She made a nice little twirl and took an elegant bow. "What do you think?" She asked the guys.
"I guess you were born to be a princess." Kevin remarked with a small chuckle.
Karone smiled a little too. It was actually kind of ironic to her because at one point she had been a princess, just not the good kind.
From out of nowhere Jayden, in a tux very much like Jason's when he had been there except with the samurai symbol instead, held out his hands and asked, "Walk you to dinner, my lady?"
Mia gave him her arm, "The pleasure would be mine kind sir." She answered.
Mal rolled her eyes. "So over the top." She commented. That got laughs from Evie and Carlos.
"Perhaps you would like an escort to dinner?" Karone now heard. She turned to see Zhane coming in from another side of the castle, looking dashing in a silver tux and a black shirt, emblazoned with the space symbol on the upper left side.
"When did you have that made?" Karone asked in surprised delight. He hadn't been with them the last time the space rangers had been there, when they along with the power rangers and zeo rangers had backed up the Auradon teens in getting the four isle kids back, along with Amy.
"Surprise." Ben said with a smile. "I requested that Zhane come here to be your surprise date.
"So how about it?" Zhane asked her and then smiled. "Unless you'd rather blast me with Jane's magic wand." That drew looks of confusion from them but Karone remembered her first attempt at a date with him, back as Astronema. She had waited, not realizing Ecliptor had sent a monster down and they had to defeat it. She had figured she had been stood up and attacked him a couple of times with her wand before leaving in a huff.
That was then and this was now however. "I'd like that." She said to the silver space ranger and placed her arms around his.
Jay hadn't noticed as he sensed that Audrey seemed distracted. He took her arm gently and pulled her to the side. "Are you okay?" He asked her softly.
She hesitated. Of the team Jay was the only who knew about her hearing Chad's voice in the night, which made for a restless sleep. She found herself afraid to tell him about what she assumed was a hallucination in her bedroom as she was getting ready. "I'm alright." She said, but she couldn't help but lay her head on his chest.
That made Jay all but sure she was not alright.
Amy sensed it too from Audrey but couldn't tell what. One thing she had learned since coming to Auradon Prep was that some people could train themselves to be harder to read. She had learned Ben and Audrey were two of those people. Still, no one could completely prevent her from feeling their emotions and she could feel Audrey was very uncertain.
"Allow me to walk you to dinner Ms. Shiba?" Antonio said with a flashy yet rather elegant bow.
Lauren hesitated a moment as this was all very unfamiliar territory to her but the final offered him arm. "That sounds very nice An…Mr. Garcia." She replied.
The group walked to the dining hall, most arm in arm. Ben of course had Mal around his arm. Doug was with them and nervously took Evie's arm, she seemed to have no problem with it. Jay had Audrey around his arm and she seemed very relieved about that. Carlos had offered his arm and Jane had accepted it. Aziz had Ally on his arm. Alex had offered his arm to Amy and after a moment of surprise she had taken it. Will had Lonnie on his arm. That left the unattached girls and Kevin to bring up the rear.
They all took a seat at the large dining table, which Emily noted with some amazement could have sat at least another three teams of rangers. They each had a relatively simple meal, chicken with mashed potatoes and wild rice though with their own choice of drinks.
"So Ben was telling me you guys had a grand old time." Zhane remarked. "Two groups of samurai trying to kill you guys and everything."
"It was a grand party." Lonnie said deadpan. "But something tells me you guys know all about that one."
"Sadly we do." Emily said. "It's sometimes kind of weird. I mean, we have so many teams of rangers in our world the galaxy never seems to stop bringing about evil." She reached for her glass of sprite. "I mean I know good can't exist without evil, the whole balance thing. But it still feels like we should be making some headway."
"I know what you mean." Carlos replied. "Our team has grown. But it never seems to be quite enough to overwhelm Paradias. For everything we do they seem to recover and sometimes even get one step ahead of us."
It made Amy think of one of their next tasks; taking back the warzord from Gregory and the others. And taking the gray ranger powers back.
"How are things on your side of the tracks?" Jane asked them. "It seems like it's relatively safe over there, and yet you all have your powers."
"There was some problem with a group of aliens called the Armada." Jayden explained. "At the final portion of the battle we all took up our powers again to help out and just haven't given them up since."
Amy could sense that it was only a half-truth. The samurai rangers seemed to have only recently reacquired their powers but she could feel that that that might not have been the case for some of the others, like Karone and Zhane.
"We've been really grateful for your help." Audrey said to them. She glanced at the Samurai rangers. "Amber and the others told you that all of the rangers are honorary citizen of Auradon, right?" She asked.
Emily smiled. "Yeah, she told us." She replied.
"Mia nearly fainted." Kevin said teasingly. The pink samurai ranger gave him a small glare but the truth was she had been ecstatic to learn she was a part of a kingdom, even if she may never be a real princess.
"You've hardly touched your food." Serena noted as she looked at Amy. "Are you feeling okay?" She too hadn't eaten too much but her appetite was still off from being sick for so long.
"That's normal." Mal said as she stroked Amy's hair. "She's never been one to eat a lot, and she can be picky." Amy felt her cheeks flush a little even if it was true and her older sister's voice as full of affection.
"I know that feeling." Serena said as she smiled over at Emily. "Emily has always been a light eater too and it was hard to get her to try new things." She laughed a little. "When Emily left home to take my place as a power ranger she didn't eat shrimp for example. But after she came home she was suddenly eating it."
Amy sensed a bit of unease. She realized it came from Jayden and Lauren. "Are we upsetting you?" She asked the two red samurai rangers.
"No." Jayden said. "We're alright."
"Are you sure?" Ally asked now.
"It's just that they don't know each other all that well for siblings." Mike said nonchalantly despite the looks from Mia and Kevin trying to hush them.
"You didn't?" Amy asked. She couldn't imagine not having ever grown up with Mal. She hated the time she had been separated from Mal, despite that fact that was when her powers had become what they were. Will likewise couldn't imagine life without his sister Whitney either.
"As the oldest I was moved away from Jayden so that I could learn the sealing symbol that we thought we needed to defeat Xandred." Lauren explained. "Meanwhile Jayden was trained to be…well like a decoy. To make the Nighlok's think that he was the one with the sealing power."
Amy felt sad for them. "So you grew up apart." She said softly.
Jayden nodded. "Yeah, we did. We're only now getting to really know each other." He admitted.
"Then thanks even more." Mal said. "For taking the time to help us when you have your family to worry about."
"Your family too." Mia reminded them. "Rangers together, remember."
Karone thought sometimes they forgot that. It was hard to do when you hadn't been a power ranger for that long. And she was sure it was hard for the isle kids to remember since she was willing to bet they couldn't even rely on their parents as they grew up.
Dinner was finished and cheesecake was brought out again, this time with a choice of toppings. Audrey knew Amy would like the strawberry topping while she and Evie would like the chocolate sauce. She was sure that Mal would want a combo of the two. She had learned that Jay just preferred regular cheesecake, which surprised her a little bit.
"This is good." Mia said. "Can I get the recipe before we leave?"
"Sure." Audrey said and got up to make that request to one of the guards to get it from the kitchen.
"Another one for Mia to mess up." Mike said in a whisper to Emily, who elbowed him to keep him quiet.
One of the chefs brought it over to Mia and she thanked him but had to keep in on the table as her dress had no pockets. They talked a little bit about their school as they ate dessert. Soon enough it became late enough that the rangers had to change so they could leave.
"You ever think one of these days someone is going to decide they don't want to leave?" Evie wondered.
"I don't think so." Lonnie answered her. "To them there are certain magical aspects to this world, just as I'm sure we would think that about aspects of their world. But in the end their homes, their families and I many cases their lives are there. I don't think they could give that up."
"I'd love to get a look at the megaship someday." Jane said with a smile. "Just imagine all the things we could learn." Carlos laughed but it was clear he agreed with her completely.
"Can you imagine reading our parents stories from their perspective?" Ben asked as he had his arm around Mal's shoulders. "I wonder what we would learn that we might not learn about in school or from our parents."
"That might be kind of interesting." Mal replied with a small smirk. "Assuming that everything they have is true."
The rangers came down in their original clothes, though they had been laundered during dinner and the team walked them outside. "I'm sure we'll see each other again." Emily said as she gave Amy a hug that the girl returned; she liked the yellow samurai ranger. In some ways they were a lot alike.
"I hope you continue to get well." Mal said as she hugged Serena. She found she liked getting to find and learn about other purple rangers.
"Like my sister said, I'm sure we'll all see each other again." Serena said. "And the next time that happens I'll be even stronger."
They opened the gateway and with waves of farewell the earth rangers returned to their world.
The team started back to the school. Ben stroked Mal's hair as they walked. For that moment all seemed peaceful though they knew it would only be a matter of time before that peace would be shattered.