After Dark Specter's attempt to take-over the universe, Kalika was able to escape the wave of good power and ends up being the only evil being in the universe. Demolishing the few quantrons who also escaped the wave of good, she keeps Eclipter locked in a laboratory in order to create more like him.

With her new army of Stormwings, she takes off on a path of destruction bringing back to life, her mother, father, and brother to join her. It is here this story begins....

* * *

"Well, Kalika's still out there. We have to stop her." Karone said looking out one of the megaship's large windows. "She might not return to Earth or KO-35, but what if she attacks some other planet out there?"

They were on their way out into space after helping the KO-35 rebels complete their move back to KO-35.

"Karone's right, some of the planets out there have no defenses and gave up easily when Dark Specter launched that full attack. What'll they do if Kalika attacks?" Sirena sided with Karone.

Andros shook his head. "Tideus said to wait. Besides, it won't be easy.

She's got all the dark energy in the universe now. We won't be able to stop her alone. Not if she's as powerful as Dark Specter was. And maybe even more."

"But can't we go after her? With or without Tideus' permission."

"Yeah, but it's best to listen to him." Andros murmured. "Even if it's not the best advice in the world."

The space rangers all took a time to review their options. Stay and protect Earth and KO-35 in case it needed, or go after Kalika. If they went after Kalika, Earth and KO-35 would be without a ranger team. KO-35 would fair better than Earth is one of the other planets decides to expand their territory, but Earth would fall. Not exactly an easy choice to make.

"You guys," Sirena spoke up seeing how the others were feeling. "Karone and I can go after Kalika alone. We'll leave the Astro Megaship so you'll be able to go back and forth between Earth and KO-35."

"No." Cassie said firmly. "We're a team, we stick together. We can't split up. Besides, Andros sure wouldn't rest well over the fact that his little sister is all alone out there." She added teasingly.

Andros glared. "I just don't want any boozoo who's high on drugs taking advantage of her sweet innocence. Plus, I can't lose her again. Not when she hasn't met our mom and dad yet."

"We'll be fine. Have DECA call me when they get to KO-35. I'll be there before you can say, 'Karone, our parents are here.' Sirena's gonna need my help going after Kalika. Not when she's that powerful." Karone assured.

"Look, Andros, I know how you feel about this and I'm not exactly sitting well with this situation either. Why don't we just wait and see what Kalika does, if she attacks somebody out there, we go after her. But for the time being, let's just stick to our part of the universe." Zhane spoke up.

Karone piped up quickly. "Zhane, that's the most intelligent thing I've heard from you in a long time. That would be a great solution, just that what if Kalika attacks and kills the somebody?"

"Karone has a point there. We're rangers, we can't stand idly by and watch someone get hurt or killed. Not when we know Kalika's going to do something." Sirena cut in with something more serious. "It's our duty."

Andros sighed. "Look, let me sleep on this idea for the night. I'll have an answer in the morning." He hoped he'd have an answer in the morning as he prepared to get some sleep.

* * *

Kalika smiled as she tested her new powers. "Being the only villain in the universe has it's benefits." She thought as she blasted yet another quantron with her eyes. "First things first, replacing Astronema's worthless army with my own. Then, bringing back her now dead family to help me in my travel of destruction. Lastly, destroy the power rangers." She ticked off her list mentally. A simple look towards a quantron blew it to pieces. "It's just a shame some of these powers don't work on rangers." She mused thinking of how wonderful it would be to just look at a ranger and blast it to pieces like the quantron. Especially Sirena and that once evil Karone. "I'll have my fun soon enough." She reminded herself.

A quantron tried to sneak away by crawling behind some packages. With expert aim, Kalika destroyed. him. From her fingers, black energy came out snaking around a dozen quantrons and crushed them. She sent out another wave of energy towards another dozen or so quantrons crushing them also. She sighed softly. It was already growing quite boring.

"Take care of the rest." She ordered to her own, personal army of Stormwings, half bird and half robot creatures that were created through a mistake. "I don't want to see any of them anymore." She made her points clear by blasting a Stormwing into a gazillion pieces.

The Stormwings nodded and began herding the quantrons out. Kalika watched them for a moment before heading off to another part of the ship.

"Eclipter?" Kalika said making her voice as sweet as possible. "Tell the dear doctors the secrets Dark Specter used to create you." She ordered.

"If you are so powerful, should not you be able to create more of me on your own? With your newfound powers?" Eclipter retorted. He could finally now show his dislike for her. "You have the power to, don't you?"

"Believe me, I do. I also have the power to destroy you." Kalika answered angrily. "But the secrets to creating you are old ones. Ones lost to me forever and everybody else in this universe." She stopped to lower her voice dangerously low. "Tell me how Dark Specter created you, now."

"Never." Eclipter spat out. "You'll have to find out for yourself. You won't find out from me, that's for sure."

Kalika studied him for a few seconds her eyes glowing red. "Fine." She turned on her heels and left. "I can see that low mongrel is still loyal to that Astronema." She thought distastefully to herself.

* * *

"Dimitria, how long do you think it shall be before a new wave of evil appears in the universe?" Daurius sat waiting for the woman's answer. "The rangers won't be needed anytime soon, right?"

"That is true. It shall be a while before rangers are needed again." Dimitria smiled knowingly. "Go and spend some well deserved time with your daughter, Daurius. I know you miss her."

Daurius smiled. "Thank you, Dimitria. Please let Trey know I'm with Sirena if he calls." He morphed as he talked.

Dimitria nodded. "I will." Before he even got to leave, a young boy with an urgent message ran in. "What is it?" Dimitria asked. She kept her voice as calm as possible. Something about the urgency of the message told her it was not to be taken lightly.

"The space rangers called with some of the most disturbing news." The boy rushed on. "Kalika escaped the 'Wave of Good.' She's taken off from Earth to start her own reign of terror. Tideus thought I should best get it to you."

"He thought right." Dimitria murmured thoughtfully. "What have the space rangers to say about this?" She coaxed from the boy. "Are they going after her, or awaiting orders of what to do?"

"The purple and gold rangers want to go after her. Tideus said they'd better wait until he thought of something." The boy could say no more.

"That's all I know. But I think no matter what Tideus says, they'll still go after her. I heard some of the other rangers saying that the Astro team never listen and do what they're told. They do what they want to."

Dimitria nodded. "You may go." The boy nodded and left. She aimed her next comment at the now morphed Darius. "Well, I suppose your time with Sirena will have to wait. I have a feeling no matter what anyone says, she'll still go after Kalika. With or without Andros or Tideus' permission. Or even mine." She added ruefully.

Phantom Ranger nodded. He understood how she felt. "I suppose I should go and make sure she doesn't do anything rash, right?"

Dimitria nodded. "I'll let the council know where you are going. They'd probably approve since Sirena has never listened to anyone. Come to think of it, she's always had an itch to what she think is right regardless of what others think. And Andros won't be much of a help in stopping her."

Phantom Ranger nodded and left.

After Daurius/Phantom Ranger had left, Dimitria sighed quietly. She and almost everyone else that knew a thing or two about evil energy that with all other villain's gone, Kalika would be more powerful than ever. With their vessel's gone, all evil energy had gone to reside in Kalika. Like Dark Specter, an ancient prophesy foretold of her coming to power. It also foretold of her defeat.

"Only when the universe is on a brink of chaos will the chosen one step forward and destroy her." Dimitria quoted softly. For years the chosen one had been thought to be Sirena. "It is not Sirena Lightstar." She thought grudgingly. "If not her, than who?" People knew that answer would be revealed later.

* * *

"All right Andros, what's your decision?" Sirena demanded. Both she and Karone had cornered him on the bridge. "Are we going or not?"

"Disobeying Tideus is like disobeying the entire council." Andros muttered trying to think of something better. "What Tideus says, he means. He's the grandest and most respected elder in the universe." He tried.

Karone sighed. "Look, we only want to go after Kalika and stop her. Do you want to stand idly by while she destroys a planet or two?" No response.

"What about tearing some family apart?" She demanded hitting a weak spot.

"All right, all right. We'll go after her." He said reluctantly giving in.

The thought of having another family torn up like his was a nightmare.

"Thanks Andros, you're the best." Karone yelped with joy. I'm going to go tell the others about our change of plans." She gave her brother a hug before running off to find the others.

Sirena also gave Andros a hug. "Thanks. You know how much stopping Kalika once and for all means to me, and maybe Karone." She gave him a smile.

"Well, I can't let you go by yourself that's for sure. I don't want your dad coming back and finding out that his daughter got hurt under my care." Andros shrugged and was rewarded by a soft shove.

"Come on, you know he knows you would never let anything happen to me." Sirena slung her arms around his neck. "We both know that."

Andros couldn't help smiling also. He gave her a kiss before pulling away. "I suppose we should start getting the course plotted before the others, especially the girls, come in and get some wild ideas."

"Yeah, I don't want Karone or Ashley or Cassie asking me if I'm gonna sleep with you or not." Sirena muttered trying to make it sound like a joke. But obviously from Andros' red face, it hadn't sounded like one. "Sorry. I forgot how you felt about that subject."

In answer, he swept her into another kiss. Shrill whistles and some sighs from the doorway broke their kiss.

"Oh man." Sirena mutter silently as she turned around.

Crowded around the door was Ashley, Cassie, and Karone. TJ, Zhane, and Carlos were in the background trying not to notice anything. Karone was grinning wildly as she had this look in her eyes.

"Are we going to hear wedding bells?" Ashley couldn't help asking. "Cause if we are, I'm the maid of honor."

Karone's eyes widened when she heard that. "And who said you get to be the maid of honor?" She demanded in a jokingly manner, hands on hips. "Sirena is going to be my sister-in-law, I should get to be the maid of honor."

"No fair!" Ashley protested, smiling. "Just because you're related to the bride does not mean you automatically get to be the maid of honor. Why don't we let the bride pick? Then we'll see who's maid or not."

"God, Andros and Sirena aren't even engaged yet and they're already fighting over who gets to be maid of honor. Next thing I know, they'll be planning the wedding too." Zhane whispered to TJ and Carlos. TJ and Carlos let out a small belly laugh.

"I think the only level-headed girl here is Cassie." TJ muttered. Cassie smiled an 'I told you so' smile at Ashley and Karone.

"We heard that." Karone and Ashley said in unison. "It is not true. I'm gonna be the maid of honor."

"Nobody is going to be the maid of honor." Sirena broke in after her face was back to it's normal color. "There's no way either of you is gonna be maid of honor cause I'm not getting married, yet."

"Well then, we'll have to change that. Andros, propose to Sirena." Karone demanded, she smiled at the others, seeing the others share the smile. "And I mean now."

"What?" Andros looked bewildered.

"You heard the girl, bend down on one of your knees and say, 'Will you marry me?' It ain't that hard." Ashley put in her urge too.

"Um... Ashley, traditional KO-35 proposals are always done in front of the parents of the future bride and groom." Sirena said casually. "It's different from Earth's. So I guess we can't do it."

"Plus," Cassie added. "He has no ring. You can't propose without an engagement ring. Well, you can, it's just a lot nicer with the ring."

"Dang!" Ashley pretended to think. "Let me see now, Phantom Ranger can get here pretty fast if we took the time to call him. As for Andros' parents, we need to find them first."

"Then I'll call Kinwon and see if he can help." Karone said brightly.

"Aren't we suppose to be going after Kalika?" Andros asked desperately trying to get a subject change.

Sirena caught on real fast. "Yeah, we are. Let's go. She might be making some trouble right now."

Zhane jumped in taking his cue. "ACTOM, set long distance scanners and search for the Dark Fortress or any sign of Kalika."

"Searching." After the huge fight they had in protecting Earth, ACTOM was starting to get more and more serious. "Dark Fortress located in sector 6, quadrant 9-1-8-7." ACTOM replied promptly.

"Setting course." DECA already knew what was going to come out of Zhane's or anyone's mouth next. "Hyper-rush velocity on-line. Hyper-rush ten." The roar of the engine ceased all talk.

"Let's go." TJ grabbed the piloting controls while the rest of the rangers took their stations. "Waiting for your command." He called to Andros.

"Ready." Andros began working on one of the scanners trying to figure out some of the activity on the Fortress.

A few seconds later, the engines died as they came out of hyper rush. It was DECA and ACTOM's way of letting them know the Dark Fortress was close by.

"I'm getting some high energy readings emitted from the Dark Fortress." Sirena called from one of the side computers. She whistled. "Wow, I hope she knows what she's doing. If something goes wrong, the Dark Fortress and everything else within a light year or two of distance are going to be blown sky-high."

"What kind of energy?" Karone asked coming over. "The Dark Fortress isn't built to hold a lot of it. I've never even been able to use my full powers either." A quick look gave her shivers. "I don't like the looks of things."

She confirmed. "I don't recognize the energy either."

"Andros, our controls are going crazy." Cassie said looking up. "Whatever energy is coming from the Fortress is affecting the megaship's computers. I can't get the shields or weapons up."

"And we've lost visual and scanner." Ashley said as her fingers moved over the console.

"Stop all systems and the ship." Andros ordered. He didn't like doing it, but he'd rather not fly into a battle without weapons or shields. "Sirena, Karone, continue working on the energy coming from the Dark Fortress. Cassie, work on trying to get the weapons on-line. Ashley, work on the scanners and visual. We'll need it if the Dark Fortress gets any closer. The rest of you, come with me and we'll try to get closer to the Fortress."

Without waiting for any responses or protests, Andros turned and left with TJ, Carlos, and Zhane following.

"Great, we get stuck on the sidelines watching while the guys have get all the action." Sirena muttered.

"Hey, you can't blame Andros for worrying about you," Cassie shrugged.

"And Karone." She added hastily as the gold ranger gave her a look.

"Wouldn't forget her on purpose."

"Besides, wouldn't Andros want a bride to come home to?" Ashley asked giggling ducking the shoe Sirena threw at her.

"I'm not marrying Andros. He hasn't asked me yet." Sirena protested. She grabbed the shoe Cassie handed back and tugged it on.

Karone's eyes brightened on something. "So you'll say yes if he asked you?"

She asked with a soft smile playing her on lips.

"Yes, but only if he does it on his own, without not needed pressure from you girls." Sirena added stubbornly setting her chin. "I don't want him to feel like he has to ask it or something."

"Don't worry, we won't." Ashley said sweetly. Way too sweetly for Sirena to rest easily for the next few days. "We'll just drop hints for him." She gave a sweet smile.

"I hope I don't regret what I said." Sirena said softy as she turned around.

* * *

All four of them stopped at the sight of the supposed black and green ship as it began turning different colors. First red, then green, then white, then black, then blue, then purple before retaining it's normal black with green lines.

"Um.... I suppose that's the power Sirena and Karone were talking about, right?" Zhane looked uncomfortable. "What's Kalika trying to do? Or better yet, what's going to happen?"

"I don't like the looks of things either." TJ said, truly nervous for one of the few times in his life. "Do you think we should get closer?" He directed the question at Andros.

"I don't know, what do you guys think?" Andros asked at a loss of words.

Carlos shrugged. "I don't like it either, but I guess it might be more useful if we got closer to see what's going on."

"All right, let's proceed with caution." Andros instructed. Before he could say anymore, a blast of energy came from the Dark Fortress. As everything died down, nothing seemed harmed or broken.

"I say we could watch right where we are." Zhane did not like the sight of the blast. "Who knows what another one of those could do to a ranger."

"I second that." TJ added.

"Let's stay here then." Carlos agreed. "Besides, what would Sirena do to us if we came back without Andros." He teased.

"Killing us would be a very good guess." Zhane smiled inside his helmet. "I know she still wants a groom at her wedding." He continued.

"Sirena and I, aren't getting married." Andros protested. "Why can't you guys pick on someone else?"

"You're the only one of interest right now. One that's interesting to talk about, and with a relationship to gossip about." Zhane pointed out.

"Besides, I was just kidding about the wedding thing. tsk. tsk. You're too touchy. But then Ashley and Karone think there's going to be a wedding."

"Well I'll just have to change their mind." Andros turned his attention back to the Dark Fortress. "Uh oh, it's moving towards us."

"Oh really!?! Since when did you figure that out?" Zhane kidded as the Dark Fortress got closer. "So what do we do now?"

"Back to the ship and prepare for a battle." Andros ordered as he turned his glider around. "We need to warn the girls on the megaship since scanners and visual are off-line."

Before even reaching full range of the megaship, the Dark Fortress stopped where it was. Another one of the stray exert blast came hitting the main hull of the megaship and a second one followed destroying one section of the two docking bays.

"Shoot! You know Andros, I think the girls have it figured out by now that the Dark Fortress has moved closer." Zhane said dodging a short blast from one of several half bird and half robot creatures coming from the Dark Fortress. "Now what are those ugly deformed birds?"

"We'll have to take them before getting back to the megaship." TJ pulled out his blaster. "Whatever those are, they certainly are not on our side. And if Kalika created them, man she needs to get her eyes checked. Or even get new contacts."

"You're telling me." Carlos fired hitting a robotic bird right on target, only to have the blast bounce off the shiny, mirror-like surface. "What the heck!" Both Andros and Zhane fired with first blasters, then the Spiral Sabre and Super Silverizer, only to have the same thing happen. "Our weapons don't work!"

"Carlos, I think we figured that out already." TJ said. "Who votes we get our butts back to the megaship and find another way to deal with them?"

A white blast came from behind, firing at the Stormwings. The rangers turned to see the Phantom Ranger's ship de-cloak. It fired a few more times doing no good. The Stormwing's mirror like armor was unpenetrable.

* * *

The girls braced themselves as another blast hit them.

"DECA, damage report!" Ashley yelled.

"The first blast hit and breached one layer of the main hull. The second destroyed a section of docking bay one." DECA said as a printout of the damages came to Ashley. "My sensors indicate that these blasts are not coming from the weaponry of the Dark Fortress, but from the blanket of power wrapped around it. Clearly it is not a planned attack and Kalika is not even trying to attack."

"You guys, another ship just showed up on the radar. It's," Karone paused as the readout printed. "The Phantom Ranger's ship." She looked over at Sirena. "Your dad's here."

Sirena frowned. "I wonder what he's doing here." She thought aloud. Another stray blast brought their attention back to the present. "Let's move the megaship out of harms way. We're lucky that blast just missed us by a couple of inches."

Cassie nodded as she reached for the piloting controls. "What about the guys?" She asked finally remembering them. "They're still out there."

"If they wanted to come on, wouldn't they be here by now?" Ashley asked irritated. "I think Andros would be happier if his bride was out of the line of fire then if he had to fly a shorter distance back to the megaship. Plus, my scanner here shows some activity out there that's probably keeping them busy."

"And Phantom Ranger's ship is out there too." Karone pointed out.

Cassie nodded as she pulled the two steering wheel type sticks moving the ship a good distance away. "Sirena, any idea as to what Kalika's trying to attempt to do?" She asked as the ship leveled off and no stray blasts appear to hit them.

Sirena shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm not all that familiar with magic or any of the sorcery she's using right now. I've had no training in magic period, I'm a ranger, not a sorceress."

"Karone?" Ashley asked the once evil sorceress. "You did use a form of magic as Astronema. I think..."

"True," Karone shrugged. "But I wasn't the best. From what I can tell, I think Kalika's trying to attempt some really big magic. The frequency of magic given off that Sirena's collected ever since we got here, I think she's trying some form of resurrection."

"Great! If Kalika blows this up, I think we're going to have the dead walking around the entire universe." Sirena threw her hands up in the air. "What more could go wrong?"

* * *

"Dark powers of sorcery, I, Empress Kalika command that you open the Vortex of Doom!" The multicolored gateway opened before her drawing the power it needed to stay open from her. "Warlord Gothar! Queen Tarfaria! Heed my call!" The voices of all those who had been thrown into the Vortex of Doom came crying out. "I seek Warlord Gothar and Queen Tarfaria!" She commanded once more.

From deep within, a low voice boomed outwards. "I am Warlord Gothar! Who dares to call my name?"

Kalika smiled. "Don't tell me you don't even recognize the voice of your youngest daughter."

"Kalika dear, is that you?" A feminine voice asked.

"Yes mother, it's me."

Gothar's voice boomed once more. "Well what are you waiting for girl!?! Get us out of here! And make sure you don't leave your brother Menacis behind."

Kalika raised her arms once more. "Vortex of Doom, I am Empress Kalika! I demand that you release the souls with the names, Warlord Gothar, Queen Tarfaria, and Prince Menacis!" Three multicolored tentacles slowly extracted from the Vortex pulling away to take form. "Powers of sorcery, I command that you close and lock the Vortex of Doom for eternity!" The multicolored gateway slowly grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared. By then, the entire process had taken less than twenty minutes. Kalika lowered her arms tired. The three multicolored forms in front of her slowly lost it's color revealing three persons.

"Well Kalika dear, you've certainly achieved a high level of power. Tell your dear mother what happened. And where are your sisters?" Queen Tarfaria asked sitting down in an offered chair by a Stormwing.

Kalika looked annoyed for a few seconds. "Binah, and Denby are gone. Binah was residing on Earth when Dark Specter found her. She was exiled for falling in love and consulting with a ranger. I don't know what became of her, dead probably. Denby on the other hand, she was destroyed by Dark Specter for speaking ill of him. As for my power, I have Zordon to thank for that. The old fool released his power in hopes of destroying all evil in the universe, I escaped on the Dark Fortress to the Dark Dimension. His power passed me and I returned with my own personal army I saved to replace Astronema's worthless quantrons. And being to the only evil in the universe, all evil power now resides inside of me."

Menacis had a feeling of jealousy flash through. "And you're to say you now rule the entire universe?"

"Jealous are you? No, having all evil destroyed, I must start a path of destruction all over again. Unfortunately, the space rangers are on my tail, during your resurrection, a squadron of my Stormwings left to keep a few of them at bay. Now the Phantom Ranger has shown up." Kalika blew a Stormwing up with a look showing her disgust.

Gothar patted his wife's hand affectionately. "I'm sure you'll manage Kalika. Now to reclaim my realm and spread word that Gothar is back. With Dark Specter gone, I can spread my rule." He was already beginning to imagine his new empire.

"No!" Kalika said sharply. "You are forgetting that I, hold the power now! It will be my empire you're talking about."

"Why you ignorant little girl!" Gothar felt his face heat up, he lifted the jeweled sword he had up. "I should teach you a lesson!"

"You're going to get it now." Menacis grinned. He had always detest his little sister, and with the recent developments, he hated her even more and with good reasons also.

"I should think not!" Kalika snapped her fingers. From one of the many entrances, a menacing warrior entered. He was built in looks like Eclipter, but unfortunately without the information on how Eclipter was made, it was the closest Kalika could come. While Eclipter was black with green lines, this guy was black with red lines. In each hand was a big sword.

"My name is Villirin. I am the first general of her royal highness, Empress Kalika." The warrior announced. "I stand by her faithfully and do what she bids me to do, whether it sends me to death or not."

"Dear, calm down." Tarfaria patted her husband's hand. "I'm sure we'll straighten this out without any bloodshed. Remember this is our daughter we're talking to and she's accomplished a lot while we were gone."

Gothar gave a low growl before he sat back down. "And what is happening to obedient children these days. In my time, children were seen and not heard. We always did what our parents told us to, when they told us to, and how they told us to."

Kalika sighed. "Not another of your 'in my days' lectures, please. Those days are long past. We aren't stupid and ignorant of things like in your days." She sat down in a large chair that had served as her throne.

Gothar fought to keep his anger in control. "Then why bring us back from the Vortex of Doom? Or do you not need any reasons now?"

"I needed help in my travel of destruction. Knowledge of places I've never been that once served as your empire, father. But I can always throw you and Menacis back into the Vortex and gain this knowledge elsewhere."

"No!" Gothar yelled. "I mean, I am willing to help." He corrected himself lowering his voice.

"Good, I was hoping you would say yes." Kalika smiled. She snapped her fingers again and four Stormwings came in. "Show our guests to their rooms."

She ordered. The Stormwings nodded and soon she was left alone with Villirin.

"My Empress, is it safe to trust them so much?" He asked once Kalika's family was gone.

"No, but don't worry, I won't let them influence me too much. They're only good right now for information. Not until they prove themselves loyal will they be able to know all my secrets." Kalika admired her long black nails.

"Now leave me, I have other work to do." Villirin nodded and backed out of the room. "Yes," Kalika thought silently. "Be at rest my family. I won't and can't harm you. Prove your loyalties when I demand it and you shall prosper greatly."

A soft shimmer of aquamarine magic shown to life in a corner and disappeared to report back to its mistress.

* * *

Cassie pointed to the screen. "Look, the guys are in trouble." The screen showed a scene where strange bird-like characters had encircled the rangers and Phantom's ship. "And what are those things they're fighting?" Sirena frowned.

"They look like they need help." Karone looked slyly over at Sirena.

Ashley was quick to shake her head. "Andros said no and he ordered us to stay here." She pointed out.

"Do we ever listen to orders?" Sirena asked pointingly.

Cassie grinned. "Occasionally, but that's only when things are going good. And things aren't going too good out there." She looked over at Ashley. "So Ashe? Are you coming with or not?"

Ashley sighed. "You guys always get past orders somehow. All right. Andros can't say I didn't try to follow orders."

"Let's go!" Karone raced to the jump tubes with the others at her heels.

"ACTOM, DECA, don't let anyone on the ship besides us and alert us if something happens." And they were gone.

They whizzed through space letting their gliders take them to the last coordinates where the male rangers were. Up ahead, they caught sight of laser fire and ranger uniforms against the black background. A sizable gray ship hovered nearby firing rapidly also.

"Why don't we show them what girls can do?" Sirena piped up. "It's obvious they don't know what they're doing."

Karone grinned behind her helmet. "You're on! We kick butt and they're suppose to know that. Planet Plates, blaster mode!"

"Satellite Stunner!" Cassie veered off to where TJ and Carlos were having a bit of trouble.

"Star Slinger!" Ashley followed Cassie.

"Meteorite Sword!" Sirena followed Karone over to where Andros and Zhane were. "Flame Tip Activate!" She zoomed in front of Andros destroying two hideous robot birds. "Missed us?" She called.

Andros stuttered. "Did I tell you girls to stay on the ship?"

"It was boring and you guys had all the fun." Karone said in a whiny tone. She gave Zhane's glider a nudge with her own. "Aren't you guys happy to see us?"

Zhane found himself smiling. "Never been happier. Right Andros?"

"Ack!" Ashley yelled frustrated from nearby. "Why won't these things just blow up!?"

Sirena frowned. She and Karone had been able to destroy the deformed robot birds easily. She beckoned with a jerk of her head over to where Ashley and Cassie were. Karone caught on and nodded. The two girls zipped over there lending a hand.

Cassie lowered her stunner. "Huh? How come they can take these things out easily while we're stuck here play bounce the blasts off a mirror?" To demonstrate, she shot at one of the approaching robots without destroying the thing.

Karone shrugged. "I think it's cause me and Sirena are actually swinging our weapons at the things."

"Purple Fire Staff, power up!" Sirena crossed her arms, sword in one hand, the staff in the other. The amethyst jewel at the end of her staff radiated with a purple glow. The light spread slowly down her staff and down her arms. "Blast!" A great mass of purple light seemed to burst from her out stretched hands. Each bird it touched was consumed by a purple fire and destroyed. Sirena suddenly looked tired. "Can we get back to the ship now? I'm tired."

Andros nodded as he floated over next to Sirena. "Going to need a hand?" He whispered. She shook her head as her two weapons disappeared. "Come on, let's get back to figure out a plan on confronting Kalika."

Back at the ship, all eight of them waited patiently at the doors to the docking bay for Phantom Ranger's ship to dock. The door slid open and Phantom stepped out. He nodded to each of them and held his arms out to Sirena. Without hesitating, she threw herself into them. All the previous fatigue was gone.

"Awwwww..." Cassie and Ashley grinned. "Isn't that sweet?" They poked the others in the ribs.

Karone ignored the two. "So what were those horrible robots we were fighting with out there?" She asked as Sirena pulled away to glare at Cassie and Ashley. "How come none of their weapons worked?"

"I am not sure what those were." Phantom said quietly.

Sirena tried to hide a smile. "Wouldn't surprise me if tried to create them and the spell blew up in her face. But I wouldn't worry too much about them.

They're only superb fighters in the air, on land, they stink. As for brains, I don't think Kalika gave them any."

Carlos frowned. "How do you know this?"

"When you've heard countless stories about her when you were younger, you know almost everything about her. Except for whether she's still sane or not."

TJ smiled a little. "If we go up against them again, you and Karone can do the work. The rest of us will just be peaceful bystanders."

Andros had been quietly considering the future events. "I'm not sure about you guys, but now that Kalika holds all that power, the future events are going to be pretty harsh. If you ask me, fighting with Kalika has just gone up on a whole new level and taken a whole new meaning."