DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers in Space, Andros, TJ, Carlos, Ashley, Cassie, Zhane, Alpha, Dark Specter, Astronema-Karone, Ecliptor, Elgar, Darkonda, Bulk, Skull, Professor Phenomenus, and Adelle are not mine. If they were I would be living in a mansion in southern California. They are the property of Saban and Fox, I am not making any profit off of this story, so don't sue me.
Author's Note: This story is the first part in my new series "The Purple Sibling Series" and takes place immediately after "Dark Specter's Revenge, Part 2. This has no relation what-so-ever with my series "Power Rangers: The Galactic Saga." Please let me know what you think about it.
Andros sat on the bridge moping about looking at a picture of him and Karone in their space uniforms. They had it taken shortly after the others had made her an honorary Power Ranger. Andros then started to cry. 'It's not fair.' he thought. 'I just got you back, had rescued you from that life of evil and now they brainwashed you again.'
Just then Ashley walked onto the bridge and saw Andros looking at a picture of him and Karone and crying. Ashley immediately went over to him. "Andros." she said quietly.
Andros quickly turned to face Ashley and tried to regain his composure. "Hi Ash." he says weakly. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Actually I thought that I could do something for you." Ashley says. "I can see that losing Karone again is really eating you up. Would you like to talk about it?"
"It's just that...I spent most of my life searching for her and then when I finally find her, she's taken from me again after mere days." Andros says. "It just makes me so frustrated."
"Andros, I can only imagine what you must be going through right now." Ashley says. "But Karone is still inside of Astronema somewhere, all we have to do is get past that cybernetic programming."
"I know but how to do it, that's the problem." Andros says. "I don't really know that much about cybernetic programming. But there must be someone who does, maybe someone on Earth..."
"You're probably right." Ashley says. "But right now, how would you like to do something fun to take your mind off your problems?"
"That sounds like a good idea." Andros says. "But would you mind if we talk to Zhane first, he's taking Karone's brainwashing hard too."
"Why would Zhane be taking it hard? He wasn't even here when we found out Astronema was Karone." Ashley asks confused.
"He and Karone sort of dated while she was still Astronema." Andros says. "That's what he meant when he said 'I knew there was something good about her' on the bridge the other day. I think he's in love with her."
"But they only saw each other a couple of times." Ashley says. "How could they be in love so soon?"
"On earth, you have a saying 'love at first sight'. It's when two people meet and they instantly fall in love." Andros says. "On KO-35 there is a similar concept except it's more well documented. People on my planet belief that everyone has a soul-mate, someone they are destined to fall in love with and because we are trained to enhance our mental skills when we are still young, we can recognize that person immediately."
"Really?" Ashley asks.
"Yes." Andros says. "It's one of the mental skills we develop along with our telekinesis practice. People on earth have it too but it is not as well developed as it is on KO-35 due to the fact that most people are not trained to develop those mental skills."
"Does everyone on KO-35 have this ability?" Ashley asks.
"Yes. My people just have the natural ability to know who there soul-mate is going to be when they first meet them." Andros says and then pauses for a second. "It's the way I felt about you when I first met you."
Ashley stands there stunned for a few seconds. "Really?" Andros nods his head in answer. "If you felt that way about me then why did you wait so long to even ask me out on a date?"
Andros stands there silently for a second before answering. "Well first of all, I rode alone on this ship for years by myself with only DECA for company and after the fall of KO-35 and what happened to Zhane, I promised myself I would never let anyone get close to me again because I thought something awful would happen to them just like Zhane and Karone."
He then pauses for another second. "Also, I didn't know much about Earth customs. On KO-35 when two people met and make a connection they automatically go out on dates until they decide to be married. But I didn't know anything about Earth dating rituals or how you felt about me, so I waited until I learned enough about Earth customs."
"Andros, I don't know what to say." Ashley says. "When I first met you I felt something too but I didn't know what but as I got to know you better and the feelings only intensified, I knew I was in love with you. But you were so shy around everyone I could never really tell how you felt about any of us. In the beginning I felt you were barely tolerating us."
"Ashley, I know I may be shy around you and the others sometimes but never doubt this, I love you." Andros says.
"And I love you too." Ashley says. The two then lean towards each other and share a passionate kiss.
********
Elsewhere on the Megaship, Zhane is lying on his bed staring at a picture of Karone wearing her space uniform and smiling. 'Oh Karone, how I love you.' Zhane thinks. 'If only you were still here, if only you didn't go to the Dark Fortress to avert that asteroid, if only I got back here with the Mega Winger a few hours earlier...'
"It's not fair." Zhane thinks out loud. Zhane then begins to think of how the two of them had fallen in love. The campfire was a lovely scene and the two of them were toasting a marshmellow. Astronema then took the marshmellow and ate it and she smiled a beautiful smile, not one of evil glee but a true happy smile, one that showed him that she was not completely evil and that there was a part of her that was good. Then right before she teleported away she thanked me for saving her.
'Then I returned to the ship and stared at a picture I had taken of her with my camera, I also took one of myself and gave it to Astronema. All I could do was stare at her beautiful face and wonder if she was thinking of me.' Zhane continues to think. 'But before I could dwell on it for too long, two female Rangers who had had way too much caffeine came into my quarters and literally drag me to earth to see a movie.'
Zhane chuckles at the memory. 'That was a great movie, it was a perfect representation of how he felt about Astronema.' He then remembers how all he could do after the movie was to think about how I could think about kissing Astronema and how it would feel. 'But before I could think about it for two long, I bumped into a girl who looked eerily familiar.' Zhane then looks at the picture of Karone and chuckled again. 'If only I knew how right I was. If it wasn't for that monster that Ecliptor or Elgar or Darkonda or whoever else would send a monster to earth, we would have had our date and I might have discovered the truth about her a lot sooner.'
"Well no use on dwelling on what might have been." Zhane says out loud. "I have to get to work."
"DECA," Zhane starts, "scan the earth for any references to cybernetic implants and who might be able to develop a way to remove them."
"Working." DECA replies.
********
Meanwhile on Earth, Professor Phenomenus and his two assistants, Bulk and Skull, were addressing the press on live TV.
"Professor, what can you tell us about your latest invention?" a female reporter asks.
"That's a good question." Professor Phenomenus says as he pulls a white sheet away revealing a high-tech device. "This is a device that will defeat the treacherous plots of evil space aliens."
"What does it do, Professor?" the reporter asks.
"Ah, that is simple." Professor Phenomenus says. "I have reason to belief evil space aliens are kidnapping humans and using cybernetic devices to control them. They then get all the knowledge out of them and once that is done, they use them as slave labor in their plots to conquer the earth! As of now, the number of humans they kidnap is minimal but once the process is perfected, they'll turn all humans into mindless slaves!"
"That's terrible." another reporter says.
"How will your device protect us from this horror?" another reporter asks.
"Simple, this device will neutralize any cybernetic device implanted in humans." Professor Phenomenus says. "With it no space alien will be able to use their evil cyber-devices against the human race!"
"But what if the space aliens try to destroy the device?" asks a sinister looking reporter with a mustache.
"Don't worry about it, my two assistants will take care of any space monsters that try to destroy the device."
"Is that so?" the reporter laughs as he transforms into Darkonda and a group of Piranhatrons carrying sledge-hammers appear behind him. "Well, let's see them try."
"M...M...Monsters!" Bulk and Skull scream. All the reporters drop their cameras and flee for the exit while Bulk, Skull, and Professor Phenomenus are surrounded by the monsters.
"Go get them boys." Professor Phenomenus says.
"Are you kidding?" Bulk asks.
"Yeah, nowhere in our job description does it say we have to fight an army of space monsters." Skull says.
"Well, it seems you three will offer no challenge to me." Darkonda says. "Now you can give me that device willingly or we could do it the hard way." he says as he lifts his sword.
"Never, evil space monster." Professor Phenomenus says. "This device will never fall into your hands and with it we will prevent you turning the world into mindless cyborgs."
"Really?" Darkonda taunts. "I think not. Piranhatrons, get them!"
"We need the Power Rangers!" Bulk screams.
********
Back on the Megaship, Zhane is waiting for DECA's response to his inquiry.
"Zhane, I have completed the data search you requested." DECA says.
"And..." Zhane says impatiently.
"Professor Phenomenus Ingenius and his two assistants Farkus Bulkmier and Eugene Skullovich have created a device that can remove cybernetic implants." DECA says.
"That's great!" Zhane says.
"Zhane, I have additional information." DECA says. "Darkonda and a squad of Piranhatrons have surrounded the three and are trying to destroy the device."
"Oh no!" Zhane shouts. "If they destroy it, then Karone will never be freed. Alert the others."
"Right." DECA says.
Zhane then takes his Digimorpher out and flips it open. "Let's Rocket!"
********
On Earth, the Piranhatrons have surrounded the three and are preparing to strike them with their sledge-hammers. "This is it guys!" Bulk says.
Just as the first Piranhatrons are about to strike them, silver bursts of energy come out of nowhere, striking the Piranhatrons down. The Silver Ranger then leaps on the scene hitting Darkonda with his Super Silverizer. "Darkonda, leave these people alone!"
"I will as soon as I destroy their device." Darkonda laughs.
Darkonda then blasts the Silver Ranger with energy from his eyes and then hits him with his sword. "Now you will die and I will be the new monarch of evil!" he laughs.
Just as Darkonda raises his sword to finish him off, the other Rangers appear on the scene. Before Darkonda can react they have pulled out the Quadro Blaster and Spiral Sabre.
"All right Darkonda, you mess with my best friend and you're going down!" the Red Ranger shouts.
"Yeah." the Black Ranger agrees. "Quadro Blaster Fire!" he shouts as a powerful blast of energy comes out of the weapon.
"Spiral Sabre Fire!" Red Ranger says and an equally powerful blast comes out of his weapon.
The two beams of energy hit Darkonda simultaneously, causing him to explode. Meanwhile the Silver Ranger has gotten back onto his feet and used his powerful weapon to slice the remaining Piranhatrons into space dust.
The three scientists then come over to them to thank them.
"Thank you Rangers." Professor Phenomenus says.
"Yeah, you saved us from imminent destruction once again." Skull says.
"Don't mention it." the Blue Ranger says. "We're just doing our job."
"Yeah but that still leaves the question of why they were attacking you." Red Ranger says.
The Silver Ranger starts to say something but is cut off by Professor Phenomenus. "That's simple, they were after this" he says, holding up his device.
"What is it?" Yellow Ranger asks.
"It's a device that will remove cybernetic implants from humans." the Professor says.
"Yeah, the Professor invented it to prevent aliens from turning humans into mindless cyborgs." Bulk says.
The Rangers all look at each other.
"Does it really work?" the Pink Ranger asks.
"Absolutely, we have tested it in the laboratory and it will remove any cybernetic implants with 100% accuracy." the Professor says. "I have my lab notes right here." he says as he pull out a brown folder.
"Professor do you mind if we borrow the device?" the Red Ranger asks.
"Sure but if I may ask, what for?" Professor Phenomenus asks.
"We have a friend who was recently turned into a mindless cyborg." the Silver Ranger says. "We have been working on a way to remove the implants but your device will save us a lot of work."
"All right!" Bulk says. "Our work is finally going to help save the Earth from total destruction!"
"I knew it! I knew it!" the Professor exclaims happily. "I knew that my device would come in handy."
The Professor then walks over to the Red Ranger and hands him the device and his notes. "Here Power Rangers, use the device to free your friend and any others who have been turned to cyborgs."
"Thank you, Professor." the Red Ranger says. "Now we must go. If you need any help again, we'll be there."
The six then get into formation, shout "Power Rangers", and then disappear in flashes of colored light.
"OK guys, let's call it a day." Professor Phenomenus says. "Tonight we celebrate!"
"All right!" Bulk and Skull shout in unison.
********
Back on the bridge of the Megaship, all the Rangers and Alpha were gathered around the device.
"Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi." Alpha says examining the data.
"What is it Alpha?" Andros asks.
"According to this data, the device can remove the cybernetic implants from Astronema, I mean Karone, or whoever she is. Oh Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi." Alpha says.
"Yes!" Zhane says. "Then we can free Karone from the clutches of evil."
"Yes but first we have to get to her." Andros says. "It looks like we'll have to return to the Dark Fortress."
"But you can't!" Ashley says. "It's too dangerous."
"Don't worry Ashley." Andros says. "Darkonda has been exiled from the Dark Fortress."
"Yeah, even under cyborg control, no one can stand to have that guy around." Zhane jokes. "But seriously, they won't be expecting us to come back, at least not so soon."
"Yeah, but what if you're discovered before you reach Karone?" TJ asks. "And how are you planning to escape? You barely made it out last time."
"Don't worry about it, I've had Alpha modify the teleportation circuits. With it we'll be able to teleport directly on to the Dark Fortress' Control Room, blast Karone with the device and teleport directly back here." Andros says.
"Well OK." Ashley says. "But be careful."
"We will." Andros says.
"Alpha are you ready?" Zhane asks.
"Yes I am." Alpha says. "But with the special modifications to the teleportation system, we'll have to replace a lot of circuits when you're done."
"If it would get my sister back, I'd be willing to personally replace every single circuit on this ship." Andros says. "Ready, Zhane?"
"You know I am." Zhane says. "Let's get to it."
"Right." Andros says.
"Let's Rocket!" Andros and Zhane say in unison.
A second later the Red and Silver Rangers stood there, fully morphed. The Red Ranger then picked up the device.
"Alpha, initiate teleportation now!" the Red Ranger says.
"Coordinates locked." Alpha says. "Teleporting now."
The two Rangers then disappear in twin flashes of light.
"Good luck, Rangers. Come home safely." Alpha says.
********
'Andros, Zhane, help me!' cried a small voice in the back of Astronema's head. Karone was beyond frustrated as she was trapped in her own mind, experiencing sheer pain as the one known as 'Astronema' was in control of her body creating a weapon which the Rangers would never be able to beat. 'You can't hurt Andros, he's my brother. And the other Rangers, they trust you, went so far as to make you an honorary Power Ranger. And Zhane, you love him with all your heart. You must stop this!'
Karone kept trying to regain control of her body but to no avail. To her dismay Ecliptor walked in. It pained Karone to see her protector like this. In all her years of being evil, he was the closest thing she had to a friend, he even risked his own life to see that she escaped Yotoba safely. But with him reprogrammed just as she was now, he too only lived for evil. What she heard however, lowered her spirits even further.
"Astronema, the new weapon is nearly complete." Ecliptor says. "It will be ready within the hour."
"Excellent." Astronema says evilly. "Soon the Rangers will be no more! And Ecliptor when the Rangers are finished off, make sure they finish them off very slowly, I want them to suffer."
'NO!!!!!' Karone shouts in her mind. 'You cannot destroy them! You CANNOT! Fight! FIGHT!' Karone mustered all her strength to fight against the evil programming but to no avail.
"It will be done, my princess." Ecliptor says.
"And Ecliptor," Astronema begins, "save Andros for last. I want him to suffer the most."
"Of course." Ecliptor says as he leaves to carry out the orders.
"It is only a matter of time." Astronema says. "Soon I will be the new Queen of Evil!"
'NO!!!!' Karone shouts in her mind. 'No.' she says again, this time very weakly. If she were still in control of her body, she would be on the verge of tears, she thought.
Just then too beams of light appeared in front of her. One red, the other silver. 'Could it be?' Karone thought to herself. Before she finished asking her question, the lights disappeared and the Red and Silver Rangers appeared before her. 'It is them, they've come to rescue me. Andros, Zhane, help me!!!'
"Power Rangers!! Here?" Astronema asks. "Well I was going to destroy you later, but instead it looks like I'll have to destroy you now!"
"Karone, this may hurt a little but it's for your own good." Andros says as he holds up the cybernetic-implant remover and aims it for Astronema's head. He fires it at Astronema and her entire world went dark.
********
The first thing Karone noticed when she awoke was she wasn't on the Dark Fortress anymore. She looked around and realized where she was. "I'm in the Rangers' medical bay." Karone says out loud.
Karone then paused for a second and then on impulse reached to her forehead, where she noticed her cybernetic implants were missing. "They're gone! Oh my gosh, they're gone! I'm free! I'm free!" Karone says happily as she gets up.
"Yes, you're free Karone." Andros says.
Karone then looks around and sees all the Rangers as well as Alpha standing around her. "Guys you did it, you freed me!" Karone says happily.
"Yep we did." Andros says. "How do you feel?"
"I feel fine." Karone says and then looks down at herself. "Except for one thing, could you get me the uniform you gave me, I never want to wear this thing again."
"Sure." Andros says as he goes over to a draw. "I brought it down here for you."
"Thanks." Karone says. "Now Alpha, could you please set a course for the nearest black hole?"
"Sure but why?" Alpha asks.
"That's where I want to throw my Astronema outfit." Karone says.
Everyone then breaks out into laughter. "Sure thing Karone." Alpha says as he heads to the bridge.
"All right, you change into your uniform and we'll be right outside if you need us." Andros says as all the Rangers head for the door to leave.
Five minutes later, Karone emerges from the medical bay wearing her Ranger jumpsuit and communicator. Her hair is once again her natural color. "Wow!" Zhane says as this is the first time he has seen her in a Ranger uniform except in the picture he has.
"I guess I should apologize to all of you guys, so I just want to say I'm sorry." Karone says.
"Don't think anything of it." TJ says.
"Yeah, you were trying to save the inhabitants of Earth by diverting the course of that asteroid." Carlos says.
"Yeah, going back to the Dark Fortress even after everything that happened to you was one of the bravest things anyone has ever done." Cassie says. "That's the true mark of a Power Ranger."
"Yeah it wasn't your fault you were brainwashed again." Ashley says. "We still consider you a friend and a valuable teammate."
"I don't know what to say, except that you are the best friends I could ever have hoped to have." Karone says. "So does this mean you still consider me an honorary Power Ranger?"
"No." Andros says.
"What do you mean?" Karone asks in horror. "Have you decided to kick me out?"
"No it's nothing like that." TJ says.
"You tell him, Andros." Ashley says.
"Well while you were out, we discovered that the device we used to extract the cybernetic implants also removed all the mystical energy Dark Specter gave to you and stored it." Andros says. "We used the energy to create a new Astro Morpher that will create a Purple Ranger." he says pulling out a morpher.
"As of now, you're a full-fledged Power Ranger." Andros says as he hands Karone the morpher.
Karone takes the morpher and looks at it in disbelief. "I don't belief it." Karone says. "Me a Power Ranger." she says.
"Do you accept it?" TJ asks.
"Of course I do!" Karone says happily. "I've never been so happy in all my life."
Karone then looks around at all the Rangers, first at Andros, then TJ, Carlos, Cassie, Ashley, and Zhane. She stops short at Zhane and looks at the ground.
"Um...Zhane." Karone begins quietly. "I guess I should really apologize about zapping you into the mud on our date...."
"DATE?!?!" TJ, Cassie, and Carlos all shout at the top of their voices. This causes everyone else to jump back a few feet.
Alpha then comes running frantically into the corridor. "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi." he exclaims. "What's wrong? What's wrong? I could hear your shouts all the way on the bridge."
"Calm down, TJ, Carlos, and Cassie were just shocked that Zhane and Karone had a date." Ashley says.
"You knew about it?" Cassie asks, pointing at Ashley. "How did you find out and since when did you know?"
"Andros told me about it right before Darkonda attacked Bulk, Skull, and Professor Phenomenus." Ashley says.
"And how did you find out about it?" Cassie asks turning to Andros.
"I told him when he asked me about what my 'interest' Karone was." Zhane says.
"Hey, someone has to protect his little sister from guys." Andros says defensively.
"First of all, I'm only one year younger than you. Second of all, I can date whoever I want. Third of all, I was kidnapped by evil forces and brainwashed to fight against you and you're worried about me dating your best friend?" Karone says.
"Hey, I think it's great you're dating Zhane." Andros says. "He's a great guy, I know he was my only friend for years on KO-35. Besides it could be worse, you could have fallen in love with Elgar." he jokes.
"Since when did you develop a sense of humor?" TJ asks.
"Why shouldn't I be in a good mood?" Andros asks. "I finally have my sister is finally back, my best friend is back, I have a terrific girlfriend, and three great new friends. I haven't felt this happy since the day before Karone was kidnapped." he says, his voice completely free of trouble.
"Wait a minute three new friends, what am I chopped liver?" Alpha asks, hurt.
"I'm sorry, I mean four great new friends." Andros says.
"What about me?" DECA asks.
"You too, DECA." Andros says.
"Wait a second, I have a question when did you two date?" Cassie asks Karone and Zhane.
"Um, the day you took me to see the movie 'Star-Crossed Lovers'." Zhane says.
"Wait was your date when we were fighting Horrobull?" Cassie asks.
"Yes." Zhane answers.
"No wonder you got out of there so fast." Carlos says.
"Yeah, if it wasn't for Ecliptor sending that monster..." Karone begins then looks around sad.
"What is it Karone?" Andros asks concerned.
"It's just that Ecliptor was the closest thing I had to a friend during all my years of being evil and how he risked his life to save me on Yotoba." Karone begins. "I was wondering if we could free him with that device."
"Sorry we can't." Andros says. "The device was specifically designed for humans, it would take a lot of modifications to work on Ecliptor."
"Oh." Karone says sadly.
"But I'll have DECA work on modifying the device, one day we will be able to free Ecliptor." Andros says.
"Well that's good, I just hope I never have to see the Dark Fortress again." Karone says. "I remember trying to fight against the brainwashing, I could hear and see everything that was going on but I couldn't do anything about it."
"Well don't worry about it any more." Andros says. "I promise that you'll never become Astronema again. And if any evil force kidnaps you again they'll have to answer to me."
"And to me." Zhane says.
"And to all of us." TJ says, speaking on behalf of the four Earth Rangers.
Karone then starts to cry. "Thanks guys, you truly are the best friends I could ever have hoped for."
"You already said that." Andros says.
"I know but it's true." Karone says. "It may take me some time to get used to all of this. I'm not used to caring about people or people caring about me."
"Hey don't worry about it." Ashley says.
"Yeah, if you ever want to talk about anything feel free to knock on any of our doors." Cassie says.
"Thank you all." Karone says. "I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you. But right now I'd like to spend some time alone with Zhane."
"Sure." TJ says. "Carlos, Alpha, and I have some work to do anyway." he says as he, Carlos, and Alpha head for the Glider Holding Bay.
"Tomorrow would you like to come to the mall with Ashley and me." Ashley says. "We could hit the shops and introduce you to Earth customs."
"Sure." Karone says.
Cassie then walks off, heading for the bridge.
"Andros, we'll talk again later, OK?" Karone asks.
"Sure." Andros says. "And I just want to say I'm happy for you both, I think you'll make a cute couple."
Zhane and Karone both blush at this. "Um, thanks Andros." Zhane says a little embarrassed.
"You two have a good time." Andros says. 'Come on, Ash. What were you going to show me before we were interrupted by that monster attack?" he asks as the two walk off, holding hands.
Karone turns to Zhane. "Um..I don't know what to say." Karone says. "I'm really sorry about zapping you in the mud. I know you must hate me now." she then lowers her head in sorrow.
"Karone, I don't hate you." Zhane says, walking over to Karone. "When I first saw you, I knew that you were special and weren't meant to be evil."
Karone lifts her head up as Zhane continues. "I don't know how much you remember from KO-35, but our people have the ability to know who are soul-mate is when we first see them. That was the way I felt about you when I first saw you."
"What are you saying?" Karone asks, not believing her ears.
"I'm saying that I love you." Zhane says.
"Oh, Zhane." Karone says. "I love you, too."
The two then lean forward and come close to kissing but Karone breaks away at the last second and then looks away.
"Karone, what's wrong?" Zhane asks concerned.
"It's just that this is all so perfect." Karone says. "What if it's not real, what if it's just a dream and I wake up to find myself still trapped inside my own mind with 'Astronema' still in control of my body and trying to destroy all of you."
"Karone, you don't need to worry." Zhane says. "You're not dreaming, this is real. And I promise you that you will never be alone again."
"Really?" Karone asks, still unsure.
"Really." Zhane says reassuringly. The two then lean forward again to kiss and this time they don't break away. After about a minute the two break apart, leaving them both gasping for air.
Karone sighs contentedly. "This is without doubt, the best day of my life." she says happily. "I don't know how things can get any better."
"I do." Zhane says. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?" Karone asks.
"You'll see." Zhane says.
The two them then walk throughout the Megaship until they reach the Simu-Deck.
"What is this place?" Karone asks.
"It's called the Simu-Deck." Zhane explains. "It can simulate any environment."
"Why'd you bring me here?" Karone asks.
"Because of this." Zhane says and then hits some buttons on the control panel. When he is finished, the Simu-Deck is replaced by an exact replica of the campfire on earth including the picnic Karone had set up from their 'first date'.
"Oh Zhane!" Karone exclaims happily. "It's perfect!"
"Thank you." Zhane says. "I thought you would like it, especially since we never did get to finish our date."
Karone then starts to look depressed again. "Yeah, I'm so sorry about that." Karone says.
"Shhh!" Zhane says. "You don't have to apologize to me anymore."
"OK." Karone says, cheering up. "So, do you have the marshmellows?" she asks.
"Sure do." Zhane says, producing a bag of marshmellows.
"OK, then lets start roasting them." Karone says. "I'm hungry." she jokes.
"OK." he says picking up a stick and placing a marshmellow on it.
********
Meanwhile back at Darkonda's cave, Darkonda exits his recharging chamber and walks over to a table. He picks up a pen and looks at his life-chart, he sees that five of his heads have an X mark crossed over them. He then groans and put an X over the sixth mark.
"Six lives gone." Darkonda complains. "Only three left. And to think, I had all nine lives two and a half months ago. At this rate, I'll be dead by the end of November."
Darkonda then starts pacing around in his cave. He goes to the far wall and prepares to hit a hidden switch when Dark Specter appears on his holographic communications device.
"Darkonda." he screams.
Darkonda immediately stops what he is doing and walks over to the communications wall. "Yes, Dark Specter. How may I serve you?" he asks.
"Those blasted Red and Silver Rangers have boarded the Dark Fortress and rescued Astronema." Dark Specter growls. "She is Karone once again and to make matters worse, they used the powers I granted to her to make an Astro Morpher. Now I cannot get that power back!"
"I told you that she could not be trusted." Darkonda says. "What of Ecliptor?"
"Ecliptor is still on the Dark Fortress awaiting further orders from me." Dark Specter says.
"We should destroy him now!" Darkonda says.
"No, Astron-I mean Karone still cares for him, we can use that to our advantage." Dark Specter says.
"Yes, my lord." Darkonda says. "Does this mean I will be in control of the Dark Fortress now?"
"No." Dark Specter says. "The Rangers are getting too powerful. I am sending my ultimate weapon to destroy them once and for all. I am assigning my loyal servants, Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, Divatox, King Mondo, Queen Machina, and their minions to deal with the problem. They will command the Dark Fortress."
"But what about me?" Darkonda asks.
"You are being reassigned to guard Zordon." Dark Specter says. "You will report to my coordinates immediately. With Astronema and Zhane on their side, those Rangers are going to present a greater threat to my plans then ever before."
"Agreed." Darkonda says as Dark Specter's image disappears.
Darkonda then walks over to the secret panel and pulls out a trunk containing a glowing green gem. "Soon Dark Specter will be no more and I'll be running this show." he laughs. "And the first thing I'll do is to destroy Ecliptor!"
********
Back on the Dark Fortress, Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, Rito Revolto, Goldar, Finster, Squatt, Baboo, King Mondo, Queen Machina, Prince Sprocket, Klank, Orbus, Prince Gasket, Archerina, Divatox, General Havoc, Rygog, and Porto arrive in the docking bay.
"Ah, the Dark Fortress." Lord Zedd says. "The most advanced evil space-craft ever built."
"Ah yes, the big time." Divatox laughs. "Now to find Elgar, I have a few words I'd like to share with him."
"Ah, Zedd." King Mondo says. "I'd like to have a few words with you about your blowing me up."
"Ah save it." Rita says. "You're just lucky Dark Specter decided to rebuild you and allow you to rejoin the UAE after you left it and set out to conquer the universe yourself."
"Yeah, sis and Ed were just doing their jobs as loyal members of the organization of evil." Rito chimes in.
"ZEDD!!! ZEDD!!! For the final time it's Lord Zedd!" Lord Zedd yells.
"Got it Ed!" Rito answers.
"Oh why do I even bother?" Lord Zedd asks himself.
"Well I'm just glad that Astronema hussy is gone." Divatox says. "When we capture the Power Rangers, I want her all for myself."
"Sure." Prince Gasket says. "There will still be plenty of Rangers to go around."
"OK. Now let's get to work." Finster says. "Dark Specter says that he has built a grand weapon to use against the Rangers."
"Ah yes, he said it was exceptionally evil." Lord Zedd says. "I can't wait to see what he has cooked up."
Just then Ecliptor and Elgar enter the room.
"Hello my new evil lords." Ecliptor says tonelessly. "How are you doing?"
"We're doing fine." Divatox says. "But, Elgar I want to talk to you about why you jumped ship."
"Hey, I was just doing what Dark Specter told me to do." Elgar says. "He told me that Astronema could use someone who had recent experience with Earth, so he sent me."
"Yes but why did you call Astronema 'the smartest boss I ever had.'?" Divatox asks annoyed.
"Because I was only working for her for a few months." Elgar explains. "I needed to say something to get in her good graces. Besides she was the only female in the UAE who I wasn't related to or who wasn't married and she did look awfully sexy in that black leather."
"OK, Elgar." Divatox says. "I'm willing to spare you this time but only because you're my nephew and because you came up with acceptable responses to my questions."
"OK, now if we're settled with this pointlessness, let's get to work." Queen Machina says.
All the villains then silently make their way to the areas of the ship they were assigned to. Lord Zedd, Rita, King Mondo, Queen Machina, Divatox, and Ecliptor made their way to the main control room; while Finster, Porto, Klank, and Orbus went to the laboratory, and the others just hung around in the lower decks.
When they reached the control room, all the villains gathered in front of Ecliptor. "It is time for me to reveal Dark Specter's grand weapon. The evil Psycho Rangers."
All the villains gasped as five sinister-looking creatures walked out. There were five of them, one for each of the original five space Rangers.
Rita stepped forward first. "An evil team of Rangers?" Rita scoffed. "Ha, I tried that twice and it failed both times."
"That's because you used weak putties to transform into Power Rangers. These Psycho Rangers are completely different." Ecliptor says. "They are made out of the strongest monsters we could find and enhanced by Dark Specter's powers. They are based on information we gathered on the Rangers' weapons and powers. They are stronger and faster than the regular Rangers. They also posses the ability to drain the Rangers' knowledge directly out of them and they have the ability to learn from their mistakes. They are the final solution to the Power Rangers."
"That's all well and good." King Mondo begins. "But what about the Purple and Silver Rangers? Why don't have Psycho Rangers for them?"
"That's because the Purple Ranger was just made a few hours ago after we already finished construction of the Psycho Rangers. And because the Silver Ranger is so powerful and been in so few battles, we haven't been able to get enough data on his powers to create a silver one but rest assured these five will be able to deal with all seven Rangers." Ecliptor says.
"Well that's reassuring." Rita says sarcastically.
"Quiet Rita!" Lord Zedd commands. "Ecliptor's right, these Rangers do seem like the best thing we could have hoped for to defeat the Rangers."
"Yes let's begin the attack at once." Divatox says.
"No, no." King Mondo says. "First we need to plan our attack. Just attacking without a battle plan is what led to most of our defeats."
"He's right." Lord Zedd says. "Let's get to work."
"Well, what did you have in mind?" Divatox asks.
"Well, I have this idea. We can...." King Mondo says as he begins to outlay his plan.
********
Back on Earth, Andros and Ashley were on the beach dressed in civilian clothes. It was a beautiful night with the sky full of stars and a full moon out. The two of them were on an isolated part of the beach with no other people around.
The two walked on the beach hand in hand. "You're right, Ashley. This is relaxing." Andros says.
"I knew you'd like it." Ashley says.
"That is one of the reasons I love you so much." Andros says. "You always know how to cheer me up."
Ashley begins to blush a little. "You flatterer." Ashley replies.
"No, it's true." Andros says as he stops walking. "Even when I was at my lowest, you always made be feel better and now when I'm at the highest you make me feel even happier."
Ashley then blushes a little more. "Why thank you, Andros." she says. "You always know how to cheer me up too."
"Why thank you." Andros says and then looks down at his watch. "It's getting late. Did you want to go back to the ship?"
"In a little while." Ashley says. "Right now, I just want to enjoy being with the person I love under a moon-lit sky."
"All right." Andros says as the two continue their walk on the beach.
********
Back on the Megaship, Zhane and Karone continued to have fun on their date in the Simu-Deck. The two were laughing and talking.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Karone asks finishing off the last of her meal.
"Well, do you remember what happens on KO-35 when two people admit their feelings towards one another?" Zhane asks.
"Let me see." Karone says. "It's been a long time."
Karone stands there thinking hard until she remembers. "Oh no! Not that! Anything but that!" she says in mock-horror.
"Yes." Zhane says with mischief in his eyes as he points his fingers at her and concentrates causing her to be levitated in the air.
"Come on, Zhane. This isn't fair." Karone says.
"Yes it is. This is a time honored tradition on KO-35." Zhane says. "Everyone who is in love does it."
"Yes but I haven't lived on KO-35 for years!" Karone shouts. "And besides the colony has been abandoned for two years!"
"I know but it's still tradition." Zhane says.
"But I don't think Andros made Ashley do this." Karone says.
"That's because she's from earth and not from KO-35 and has only recently begun learning telekinesis." Zhane says.
"OK, if you really want to do this, then watch out." Karone says as she points her arm at her, she then start concentrating, and she looks like she is straining with all her might. Unfortunately she only lifts Zhane about one foot off the ground.
"Ha, you're way out of practice." Zhane taunts.
"That what you think." Karone says, her face dropping the signs of struggling. "I was trained thoroughly in mental discipline during my years as Astronema and I learned a few things."
Karone then uses her arm and lifts Zhane a few more feet off the ground, to Zhane's surprise. Karone then concentrates a little more and causes Zhane to fly around the room.
"OK, if that's the way you want to play it." Zhane says with mischief. He then increases his mental concentration, causing Karone to spin in circles in the air, first vertically and then horizontally. As soon as Zhane stops spinning Karone, she gets a little upset.
"OK, now you've done it." Karone says as she increases her mental concentration, causing Zhane to move to the top of the Simu-Deck with his back to the ceiling, Karone then lets him drop and stops him from falling just before he reaches the floor. She then raises him to the ceiling again and drops him again. She repeats this a few more times.
After Karone is done with this, Zhane continues with his move, making Karone fly around him in circles. After a few minutes of this, the two stop moving each other, and just levitate each other in mid-air.
"Ha, this is fun but I think can think of a better way to have fun." Karone says, moving Zhane closer to her.
"What is that?" Zhane asks as he floats directly under Karone with their lips only inches away from each other.
"This." Karone says as she leans down to kiss him on the lips. The kiss begins gentle but then becomes more deep, shortly after this the two lose all mental control and they fall to the ground with a thump. Karone barely notices as she continues kissing Zhane with fury. After a few minutes, the two break apart, gasping for air.
Karone is the first to regain his composure as the two get to their feet. "Well, was that fun?" Karone asks slyly.
Zhane, who is still trying to catch his breath, manages to respond. "Yes, that was an incredible kiss." he says. "I told you this would be fun."
"I should have listened to you." Karone says.
"Hey I have an idea about what we can do next." Zhane says.
"What?" Karone asks.
"We can have a galaxy glider race." Zhane says.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Karone asks.
"Sure I am." Zhane says. "Besides you need to get used to your new powers."
"OK." Karone says. The two of them then walk to the Glider Holding Bay where they find Carlos, TJ, and Alpha finishing adding two new tubes to the set-up, one purple and one silver. The purple one was on the far left and the silver one was on the far right.
"Hey guys." TJ says, noticing the two of them walk in. "We were just finishing up here."
"Yeah, we wanted to make it easier to access you gliders." Carlos says. "Now instead of having to go to the side room to get to them, you can access them from here, like the rest of us."
"Thanks guys." Zhane says.
Before anyone else can say anything, Andros and Ashley return to the ship in twin flashes of red and yellow, respectively.
"Hey, Andros, Ashley." Zhane says.
"Hi everyone." Andros says, his face free of its' normal worry.
"I see you two have been having fun." Zhane says.
"Sure have." Ashley replies. "So, what are you two up to?"
"We were just about to go out on a galaxy glider race for a test of my new powers." Karone says. "Do you want to come. It can be sort of a double date."
"Sure I'd love to." Ashley answers eagerly. "What about you, Andros?"
"Of course, I wouldn't miss an opportunity to spend an evening with my three favorite people in the universe." he says.
The four of them then jump into the tubes to have some fun.
"Excuse me but during that conversation, did you get the feeling they forgot the three of us were here?" Carlos asks.
"Yes." TJ answers. "But under the circumstances I can't blame them, they all look so much in love with each other, Andros and Ashley & Zhane and Karone."
"Yeah and Cassie is still mooning over the Phantom Ranger, we're the only two people on this ship without a love interest." Carlos says.
"Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi." Alpha says. "I have an idea. Why don't you get Cassie and go down to earth to have some fun?"
"Well it is pretty late but I heard that tonight, Adelle is hosting a dance." Carlos says. "It could be a good place to meet some women."
"Yeah. We haven't spent that much time on earth lately." TJ says. "In fact the last time any of us went to the Surf Spot when was Ashley had you pretend you were her boyfriend for the sake of her grandmother."
"Hey, don't bring that up." Carlos says. "And the worst part was after it, I was grilled about it by Andros for half-an-hour about what my feelings towards Ashley were. And then he gave me strict instructions not to tell Ashley."
"You're kidding?" TJ asks.
"No." Carlos says. "I think that Andros has liked Ashley from the beginning just like Ashley did with him. He's only better at hiding his emotions then Ashley."
TJ then laughs a little. "You're probably right." TJ says. "I remember him being kind around her even in the beginning."
"Well no use on us talking about that now." Carlos says. "Let's go get Cassie and see if she wants to go."
"Right." TJ says as the two head for the exit.
********
Meanwhile, the Red, Yellow, Silver, and Purple Rangers were in an asteroid field on their Galaxy Gliders. The four were at the beginning of the field, standing still on the Gliders.
"OK everyone." Andros says. "These are the rules, the first one to get through this asteroid field is the winner. No shortcuts through the hyper-tunnel will be allowed and you must go through the field and not exit it during the contest. Agreed?"
"Agreed." the other Rangers all said in unison.
"OK. On your marks, get set, go!" the Red Ranger says, sending the four Rangers flying through the field.
The Red Ranger took the lead, flying far past all the others. However the Yellow and Silver Rangers were doing well too with there being neck and neck through the field. The Purple Ranger however, wasn't faring well. This being her first time on the Glider, she was taking it slow, falling way behind the others.
Everything was going fine until a squadron of Veloci Fighters came into the asteroid field and started firing their lasers on the Purple Ranger. Karone, seeing this, immediately began panicking. Since she did not have the necessary experience on the glider, she was essentially a sitting duck.
"Guys, there are Veloci Fighters on my tail." the Purple Ranger says into her communicator, frantically. "I need back-up!"
The other Rangers upon hearing this quickly turned around and headed back towards their friend.
"Don't worry Karone." the Silver Ranger says. "We're on our way."
While the three Rangers were speeding towards Karone's position the Veloci Fighters managed to surround her on all sides, there was one above her, one below her, and one on each side of her. She had no way out.
Then one of the Quantrons spoke. "Traitors are to be eliminated." it said in a mechanical voice. "You will now be destroyed, Astronema. Good-bye."
The Purple Ranger quickly drew her Astro Blaster before the Quantrons could open fire and fired on the one directly in front of her causing it to explode. She then quickly sped on her glider, getting out of there before all the Veloci Fighters opened fire on them. This caused the lasers of all the ships, except the one behind her, to hit each other and explode in a great fireball.
The Purple Ranger increased her speed to hide in the asteroid field while the remaining Veloci Fighter stayed directly behind her and continuously fired its' lasers, giving her no time to attempt a counter maneuver. She managed to expertly pass all the asteroids in her way, while at the same time avoid the lasers of the fighter that remained on her tail.
Meanwhile, the Silver and Yellow Rangers had managed to catch up to the craft and were now directly behind it. The two saw the Purple Ranger handling her glider like a pro to avoid the asteroids and laser shots.
"Way to go Karone." the Silver Ranger says proudly. "Ashley, you draw your Astro Blaster and prepare to fire on my mark, I'm going to draw his fire away from Karone and confuse him.
"Right." the Yellow Ranger says as she draws her blaster.
The Silver Ranger then increases the speed of his glider and goes in front of the craft, he speeds past the pilot and starts circling the center of the Veloci Fighter with his glider. This causes the Quantron to get confused, stop firing his lasers and start to go around in circles. The Silver Ranger realizes that his plan has worked and breaks away from the Veloci Fighter.
"Ashley, now!" the Silver Ranger shouts.
The Yellow Ranger immediately responds by firing her Astro Blaster at the fighter causing it to explode. The Red Ranger then finally catches up to her and are shortly rejoined by the Purple and Silver Rangers.
"Well that wasn't exactly what I had in mind for practice." the Purple Ranger says. "But it sure was exhilarating."
"It sure was." the Red Ranger says. "And I must say that you passed with flying colors."
"Yeah, but I didn't start doing well until after the Veloci Fighters showed up." the Purple Ranger says.
"Don't worry about it." the Yellow Ranger says. "I took it slow my first time too but when there are enemy soldiers after you, you're more likely to learn things faster."
"I guess you're right." the Purple Ranger says. "But right now, I want to go back to the ship."
But before anyone could respond DECA's voice broke in over their communicators. "Rangers, the leadership of the UAE has sent their forces to Earth. They are attacking the Surf Spot. Carlos, TJ, and Cassie are there now and cannot morph because of all the panicking civilians."
"Oh no!" the Purple Ranger says. "I completely forgot about it!"
"What?" the Silver Ranger asks concerned. "What is it?"
"Well, just before you rescued me, I was putting the finishing touches on a new super weapon for Dark Specter." the Purple Ranger says, worriedly. "It was supposed to be the final solution to the Power Rangers."
"What is the weapon?" the Red Ranger asks concerned.
"It's a group of five evil Rangers called the Psycho Rangers." the Purple Ranger says. "There's a counterpart for each Ranger except for me and Zhane. They were built using data I collected on you during all our battles, they were built to be stronger and faster then you. They also have the ability to learn from their encounters with you and drain knowledge directly out of your brains. They also have twisted versions of your weapons."
"They sound like they'll be difficult to defeat." the Silver Ranger says.
"Yes, but we do have two major advantages." the Red Ranger says.
"What are they?" the Yellow Ranger asks.
"We have two more Rangers then they do and Karone helped build them, so she'll know their abilities and weaknesses." Andros says. "Right?"
"Right." the Purple Ranger says. "I was the one in charge of their construction so I can help you build a weapon to defeat them."
"Um, I hate to break this up." the Silver Ranger begins. "But we have to get to Earth to deal with the monsters at the Surf Spot."
"You're right." the Red Ranger says. "Let's go."
The four Rangers then accelerated on their Galaxy Gliders, went through the Hyper-Tunnel, and headed for Earth.
********
Meanwhile back on Earth, the three Rangers were gathered in a group caught in the mass of people who were panicking. The five Psycho Rangers, the Data Scanner monster, and a group of ten Quantrons had covered all the exits, leaving no way out for all the people who were at the dance. The three Rangers were discussing their options.
"We have to find a way to morph." Cassie whispers. "It's the only way we can help these people."
"Yes, but we can't morph until the people are out of here or else we might be seen." TJ says.
"I know but the monsters will start their attack at any moment." Carlos says. "Innocent people will get hurt if we don't do something."
Just then Bulk, Skull, and Professor Phenomenus come by where they were hiding.
"We're in serious trouble." Bulk says.
"Yeah, we need the Power Rangers." Skull says.
Just then the Red Psycho Ranger came forward. "I am the leader of the Psycho Rangers." he says. "And I am announcing that unless the Power Rangers show themselves immediately, I will start killing innocent civilians."
The crowd all breaks out into gasps.
TJ then whispers, so only Cassie and Carlos can hear. "We don't have a choice." he says. "We have to morph now."
But before either Cassie or Carlos could respond, the Red, Silver, Yellow, and Purple Rangers teleported into the middle of the building.
"All right Psycho Rangers!" the Red Ranger says. "It's us you want, not these innocents civilians."
"You're right." Red Psycho says. "We don't want these people, we want you."
"Yeah but fighting us won't be that easy." Black Psycho says.
"If you want to fight us, you've got to catch us." Pink Psycho says.
"Psycho Rangers, begin Phase 1." Red Psycho commands.
"Right." the other Psychos agree. Then the five Psycho Rangers burst into a blur of speed and crash through a wall of the Surf Spot. The Data Scanner, creates a big flash enveloping everyone in a white light that lasts for a second. When the flash is over, Data Scanner disappears. Confused, the Quantrons teleport back to the Dark Fortress. The Rangers then go to see if the civilians are OK.
"Is everyone OK?" the Red Ranger asks.
Adelle steps forward to answer him. "Sure, everyone here is fine." she says. "Just a bit shaken up from the attack."
"That's good." he says and then turns to the crowd. "Everyone should go home now, in case they come back."
"Don't worry." Adelle says. "I'll see that everyone leaves and gets home safely. You just stop those evil monsters."
"Right." the Red Ranger says.
"Galaxy Gliders Hang Ten." the four Rangers command and the gliders appear in front of them. The Rangers then jump on the gliders and exit the building through the hole in the wall, the Psychos made. Meanwhile in the confusion, TJ, Cassie, and Carlos had left the building and were now in the alley behind the Surf Spot.
The other four Rangers, still on the gliders met them there. The Red Ranger quickly filled them in on what was going on and that it was imperative that they stop the evil Rangers.
"Oh man!" TJ says. "These Psycho Rangers sound like big trouble."
"They are." the Purple Ranger says. "It's going to take all seven of us to beat them but we better get a move on. Those no telling what those Psychos could be up to."
"Right." TJ says. "Let's Rocket!"
A second later the forms of TJ, Carlos, and Cassie are replaced by the forms of the Blue, Black, and Pink Rangers. The Rangers quickly summon their Galaxy Gliders and fly throughout the night.
"OK, everyone I think we should split up." the Silver Ranger says. "We can cover more ground that way."
"That's a good idea." the Red Ranger says. "OK, Ashley will come with me, Karone will go with Zhane, and TJ, Cassie, and Carlos will make up the last team."
"Right." they all agree. They then are assigned the search patterns and went their separate ways.
********
The Purple and Silver Rangers streaked over the waterfront distract looking over the abandoned warehouses.
"It looks pretty quiet down there." the Silver Ranger says.
"Yes, but we have to be careful." the Purple Ranger says. "The Psycho Rangers could be hiding anywhere."
"Well we just have to be careful." the Silver Ranger says.
"You're right." the Purple Ranger says. But before she even notices it, a black vortex opens up in front of her and she is sucked in to it. Before it closes she manages to get out a scream causing the Silver Ranger to see her disappear into.
"Karone!" the Silver Ranger screams. "KARONE!!"
********
As soon as the Purple Ranger exited the vortex she noticed that she was in a dark dimension.
"No." she says quietly. "Not again."
"Yes." comes the sinister voice of the Red Psycho Ranger. "And this time you're never going to escape."
"Yes." comes the voice of Divatox as a holographic image of her appears. "It's time to extract my revenge on you."
"What do you want Divatox?" the Purple Ranger asks.
"Simple, I'm going to send monster after monster after you." Divatox taunts. "And then when you're too weak to even to stand, I'm going to unleash all five Psycho Rangers on you."
"No!" the Purple Ranger shots.
"Yes." Divatox taunts.
Just then Rito rushes in the room. "Hey Divatox, look what I found." he says excitedly.
"What is it?" Divatox asks. Rito then hands her a photograph.
"It's a picture of Zhane, the Silver Ranger with a lip print on it. So what's so special about this?" she asks annoyed.
"I found it in Astronema's personal quarters." he says proudly.
"Ah, so our dear purple friend has a crush on the Silver Ranger..." she asks. "Or maybe she's in love with him."
"You do what you want to me but you leave Zhane alone!" the Purple Ranger shouts angrily.
"Ah, so she does like the Silver Ranger." Divatox says. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell him how bravely you fought at the end, right before I destroy him too."
"NO!!!" the Purple Ranger shouts.
"I see no point in continuing this conversation." Divatox says. "I'm going to enjoy seeing you suffer. Begin the festivities." she laughs as her holographic image disappears.
"Now joining us in the arena is Karone, the Purple Ranger formally known as Astronema, Princess of Darkness." comes the voice of Prince Gasket. "Tonight we were slowly be draining her energy fighting several monsters before summoning the Psycho Rangers to finish her off."
"No!" the Purple Ranger shouts again. "You can't do this to me!"
"Oh but we can!" Prince Gasket laughs. "Our monsters will be picked at random from monsters that were used previously in failed attempts to conquer the Earth. They may have failed in that task but they will certainly succeed in tiring our dear Purple Ranger out."
"I don't believe this is happening." the Purple Ranger says.
"And now to draw the first monster's name is my lovely wife, Archerina." Prince Gasket says.
"Why thank you." Archerina says as she goes to the bowl with the monsters' names in it. She then reaches into the bowl and draws out a name. "The first monster is Pumpkin Rapper."
"Ah, Pumpkin Rapper." Prince Gasket says. "Come forward."
Just then a monster that has an up-side down carved pumpkin for a head comes forward. "Hey, my name is Pumpkin Rapper and I'm here as a Ranger zapper. Just point me at that Purple Ranger and I'll give her some terrible danger!"
"Why did you have to pick that monster for the first one?" Rita asks. "It's too late for Halloween and his rapping is giving me a headache."
"Hey, don't blame me." Archerina says. "You're the one who invented him."
"It was Finster who invented him and it was only for Halloween." Rita complains.
"Oh, stop your squabbling." Prince Gasket says. "I want to see the Purple Ranger get destroyed."
"Yes, my darling." Archerina says.
"Sure, my darling." Rita says sarcastically.
"OK, send in the Pumpkin Rapper." Prince Gasket says.
At his command the Pumpkin Rapper teleports into the dark dimension with the Purple Ranger.
"All right Ranger, now you're in trouble. I'm going to turn you into a pile of rubble." the Pumpkin Rapper says.
"Ha. I could destroy you without even putting up a sweat." the Purple Ranger says.
"Oh yeah. I'd like to see you try. I'm going to turn you into a pumpkin pie." the monster says as he produces two pumpkins.
He then throws the two pumpkins at the Purple Ranger. Before they can hit her, however, she leaps in the air and catches them. She then throws them back at the monster and it explodes in the fiery blaze.
"Ha, told you I could beat him without putting up a sweat." the Purple Ranger laughs.
"Rito, pick the next monster and make it a good one." Lord Zedd says.
Rito goes into the container, draws out a piece of paper, and hands it to Prince Gasket.
"Minotaur." Prince Gasket says.
As he says this, the fearsome looking Minotaur appears in the Dark Dimension. He is holding a club and before the Purple Ranger can even react, he has hit her in the chest with the club. He then delivers a powerful blow to her head with his fist causing her to slam in the wall and fall to the ground in pain.
"Now this is more like it." Zedd cheers. "Go Minotaur! Go!"
The Minotaur charges to the fallen Purple Ranger and prepares to hit her with his club again when the Ranger rolls out of the way at the last second. The Minotaur doesn't have time to stop his attack and he ends up hitting the floor with his club. This causes the monster to drop his weapon and land on the floor. Meanwhile the Purple Ranger manages to get back on her feet and retrieve his weapon. She then leaps into the air, delivering the monster a powerful kick as it tries to get back to its' feet. She then hits the Minotaur with the club over and over again until she finds his weak spot, hits it, and causes him to explode.
Goldar quickly draws another name out of the hat which Prince Gasket reads. "Madam Woe."
Madam Woe appears in the Dark Dimension behind the Purple Ranger and the monster quickly grabs the Ranger and puts her in a chock-hold. She then uses her large nails to scratch Karone's uniform infusing it with evil energy. This causes the Purple Ranger to fall to the ground but she quickly gets up again. Madam Woe tries blasting her with a large beam of blue energy from her crystal but the Purple Ranger manages to avoid it and draw her Astro Blaster. She sets the blaster at full power, aims for the monster's power gem, and fires. This causes Madam Woe's crystal to explode taking her with it.
Klank is the next to draw a monster's name which Prince Gasket reads as. "Mantis."
Mantis then appears in the Dark Dimension and begins to use her Kung Fu attacks. She quickly delivers several kicks to the Purple Ranger causing her to fall down but she is quickly back on her feet. She then delivers her own punch to the monster which causes it to fall back a few inches. The Mantis counters by using her bladed arms to attack the Purple Ranger. This causes the Purple Ranger's uniform to explode with sparks. To counter this she summons her special weapon, which is her Astronema staff which is now called the Purple Power Staff. She hits the Mantis with it several times, causing it to explode in sparks. The Purple Ranger then falls to the ground, clutching her chest and trying to catch her breath.
"Look the Purple Ranger is tired after only fighting four monsters." Lord Zedd taunts. "Porto, the next monster."
Porto picks a name out of the container and hands it to Prince Gasket. "Soccadillo." he says.
Soccadillo then appears in the Dark Dimension in his soccer ball form and hits the resting Ranger. This causes the Ranger to fall to the ground, she then struggles to get to her feet as the monster returns to its' normal form. As the Purple Ranger gets up, Soccadillo rushes towards her to hit her but the Purple Ranger manages to raise her staff before the monster get there. She then hits Soccadillo with the staff causing him to fall on the ground. Unfortunately, Soccadillo changes back to ball form and quickly rushes towards the Purple Ranger. The Purple Ranger sees this and leaps over Soccadillo before he can hit her. On the way over Soccadillo, the Purple Ranger hit the monster with her staff which sent him crashing into a wall. As a result of this, the monster changed back to its' humanoid form. Before the monster could get back on his feet, the Purple Ranger charged her staff with purple energy and struck Soccadillo with it. This caused the monster to explode in another fiery blaze.
"Nasty Knight." Prince Gasket says, reading the name of the next monster.
Nasty Knight then appears in the Dark Dimension with his sword drawn and shield raised. He immediately charged the Purple Ranger who was still watching the final explosions of Soccadillo. Just as he was about to reach her, the Ranger leaped into the air and jumped behind him. The Knight quickly turned to see the Ranger raise her staff and fire several energy bursts at him. The energy bursts hit him, but his armor protected him from the blasts. He then raised his shield to protect him even further. He then started walking slowly towards the Purple Ranger, who was increasing the power of the blasts. When the Knight reached the Ranger, she tried to leap away but the Knight was too swift and hit her with his sword. This caused the Ranger to fall to the ground. While down the Knight put his foot on her chest and started hitting her repeatedly with his sword.
During the fifth sword swing, the Ranger gathered all her remaining strength and grabbed the sword with her hands. She then summoned all her force and caused the monster to get off of her and fall to the ground. The Ranger then got up and charged the monster with its' own sword. Since the armor and sword were cast with the same magic, the armor wasn't able to protect Nasty Knight from it. The Purple Ranger kept this up until the armor was smoking with holes and fell down for the count, causing yet another monster to explode with a bang.
"Rhinoblaster." comes the voice of Prince Gasket.
Before the Purple Ranger could even catch her breath, Rhinoblaster in front of her and ran towards her at full speed. The monster forced the Purple Ranger up against the wall and started blasting her with sparks of yellow electricity.
Divatox, who was watching with interest along with the others started laughing with evil glee. "Viva La Diva!" she shouts. "This is what happens when you make the Queen of Evil angry at you!"
"You know, I have to admit that this is the most fun I've had in millenniums." Lord Zedd says. "We should do this with all the Rangers, one each night."
"Hmm." King Mondo says. "That just may be a good idea. But now be quiet, I want to watch the show."
By the time the villains turned back to the Purple Ranger, they noticed that she had already gotten free of Rhinoblaster and took out her Purple Power Staff. They just managed to catch a glimpse of the Ranger hitting the monster with her staff causing it to explode into a thousand pieces. The Purple Ranger then fell to the ground, exhausted.
Rygog then rushed towards the bowl holding the names of the monsters and picked one out. He then quickly handed it to Prince Gasket who read it. "Strike Out." he says.
Strike Out then appears in the Dark Dimension and gets into its' pitcher stance. "All right we're going to play a little game of baseball." the monster says. "The game is simple, you hit my fast ball back at me you win. You miss the ball three times you'll burn up in a flame of smoke."
"Sounds simple enough." the Purple Ranger says, trying to regain her composure. "Let's go."
"You got it." Strike Out says. "Oh just one more thing, I'll be throwing fifty balls at once." he laughs.
"Here comes ball group one." Strike Out says as he gets ready to throw the balls.
The Purple Ranger gets into a batter's position and raises her Purple Power Staff as a bat. Strike Out then releases his first barrage of balls, the balls approach the Ranger at blinding speed and before she can even move the Staff all fifty balls hit her at once causing her uniform to catch on fire.
"Ha!" Strike Out laughs. "Looks like I'm too hot to handle."
As soon as the Purple Ranger puts the fire out by rolling on the ground, she gets back into her batter's stance for round two. "Oh yeah. Well give me your best shot." she says. "I can handle whatever you dish out."
"Such cockiness, Purple Ranger." Strike Out says. "I'll knock that right out of you."
"Ugh!" Lord Zedd sighs in frustration. "With monsters like these, it's no wonder all of our plots have failed. I'll have to talk to Finster, Klank, and Porto about building monsters with more skill and intelligence and less witty repartee."
Meanwhile, Strike Out is ready to throw his second pitch. He throws the balls which race the Purple Ranger even faster then the first one. The Purple Ranger tries to hit it but misses and the impact of the balls causes her to fall to the ground yet again. She manages to get back to her feet and grab her staff for the final pitch.
"Ha." Strike Out says. "I told you I'd knock that cockiness out of you. Now prepare yourself for the end!"
"I don't think so." the Purple Ranger says as she gathers all her remaining power and uses it to focus her hand-eye coordination.
Strike Out then releases his final barrage of balls. The balls speed towards the Ranger with blinding speed but this time she is ready and using her enhanced power to see the ball in slow motion. She then swings her Purple Power Staff and hits the balls just as they reach her. This causes all the balls to reverse direction and hit the startled Strike Out.
"And the score is: Purple Ranger 8, Bad Guys 0." the Purple Ranger laughs weakly.
"Oh yeah, well we'll change that really fast." Divatox says angrily. "Ecliptor the next monster."
Ecliptor then picks yet another name out of the container and is read by none other than Prince Gasket. "Punchabunch." he announces.
"Ah, finally a machine made monster." King Mondo says.
"Yeah, he's one of my favorites." Prince Sprocket says. "I bet he'll be the one to send the purple pest packing."
Punchabunch then appears in the Dark Dimension, forcing the tired Purple Ranger to face yet another powerful monster.
The Punchabunch leaps right up to the tired Purple Ranger and starts using its' fast flying fists to hit her in the face. The Ranger is continuously hit by the punches and tries to avoid them but to no avail. After a minute of this the ranger falls to the ground. Punchabunch then runs forward to continue its' assault. The Purple Ranger tries to get back on her feet but cannot.
"I have to hold on." the Ranger says as she taps into the last of her power reserves. This allows her to summon her Purple Power Staff to fight the monster with.
The Purple Ranger manages to get back on her feet and prepares to strike the monster with her staff. Unfortunately, as she raises her staff the monster leaps forward and releases a fury of punches causing her to drop the staff. He then continuously hits the Ranger again, causing her to lose more of her strength. The Purple Ranger manages to break away by landing a kick to the monster's chest. She then decides to beat it at it's own game by unleashing her own series of punches aimed at the monster's head.
The Purple Ranger manages to back the monster up to a wall and then she dives for her fallen weapon. While she is doing this, Punchabunch rushes towards her once again. This time, however, she is too fast for him. She raises her staff and unleashes a stream of purple energy at him. The monster is caught up in this energy net and she then uses it to throw him back against the wall. She then rushes the monster and hits him with an energized blow from her staff causing Punchabunch to explode just like all the others.
After the monster is gone the Purple Ranger leans against a wall for support and pants heavily. She is completely out of strength and feels intense pain from all over her body. She knows that there is no possible way she can defeat another monster and silently prays that the other Rangers have managed to locate her and can teleport her out of there now.
Prince Gasket sees that the Purple Ranger is almost out of resistance and decides to draw the next name out himself. "Lizzinator." he says.
Lizzinator then appears in the Dark Dimension with the Purple Ranger. He then lives a big rock and throws it at the Purple Ranger. The rock hits her, causing the Ranger to fall to the ground in pain. The Ranger struggles to get back to her feet as Lizzinator prepares to throw another rock at her. The Purple Ranger tries to get out of the rock's path but is unable to and it hits her dead on. She falls to the ground and struggles to get up. She tries but can't even stand up. She is down on one knee when Lizzinator rushes forward and grabs the Purple Ranger. He then lifts her up and throws her half-way across the room. She lands there, where she remains unmoving. Lizzinator then lifts another rock and throws it at her. It hits her unmoving form, causing her to demorph.
Karone lay there in her space uniform, unmoving. There is a big gash on her forehead with blood coming out of it. She has several bruises on her body and her uniform is torn and scorched in several places. The Lizzinator stands there for a second not sure of what to do.
"I'm not sure but I think we got her." Baboo says.
"Finster go check her out." Divatox orders.
"Yes, Divatox." Finster says as he teleports to the Dark Dimension.
Finster goes over to Karone and checks her out with his medical scanner. He then reports back through the dimension. "Karone is alive but heavily injured. Her morphing powers have been overtaxed and will require at least 72 earth hours to recharge. She has a concussion, several broken ribs, mild internal bleeding, and several lesser injuries. She is now in a coma and if she doesn't require immediate medical attention, she'll die within the hour. Even if she does receive medical attention there is only a 42% chance of survival."
"Excellent." Divatox says. "Lizzinator teleport back here, we'll use you to attack the other Rangers. You can taunt them on how you killed Karone, I'm sure that will make them easy targets."
"Yes, my queen." Lizzinator says.
"Ah, this is perfect." Rita says. "Absolutely perfect."
Just then Klank and Orbus come running into the room, having left a few minutes ago to check on something. "My sire, I have important news." he says.
"What is it?" King Mondo asks.
"It seems that the Power Rangers have been monitoring our transmission and know of everything that has happened in the Dark Dimension." Klank says. "They're trying to break through the energy field and teleport the Purple Ranger away."
"Excellent." King Mondo says. "Lower the force field and let them have her."
"But, your majesty..." Klank begins. "We have her at our mercy."
"You idiot." King Mondo says in rage. "While you were gone, we defeated her. Even with medical attention she has only a 42% chance of survival. I want the Rangers to see with their own eyes exactly what we did to their friend."
Lord Zedd then laughs. "I like your thinking Mondo." he says. "Do it Klank."
"Yes my lords." Klank says as he rushes to turn the forcefield off.
********
While all this was going on, the other Rangers were concerned about her safety. As soon as the Purple Ranger disappeared into the vortex, the Silver Ranger called all the other Rangers to the site where she disappeared.
"This is all my fault." the Silver Ranger says. "I should have been watching her more closely."
"Zhane." the Red Ranger says placing his hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, there's nothing you could have done."
"You're wrong." the Silver Ranger says. "It is my fault. And what's worse is that we were practicing the telekinesis ritual before we went out on the Galaxy Gliders, which means she's probably exhausted right now."
The Yellow Ranger then turns to the Silver Ranger. "What telekinesis ritual?" she asks confused.
"I'll explain it to you later." the Red Ranger answered. "Right now we better get back to the ship and start scanning for Karone."
"You're right, Andros." the Silver Ranger says. 'And if anything happens to her, I'll hunt down those responsible to the ends of the universe.' he silently vows.
The six then return to the Megaship where they greet Alpha on the bridge.
"Alpha, have you been able to pick up any signs of her yet?" TJ asks.
"Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi." Alpha says. "No I haven't. But I have DECA's scanners running on maximum power to search for them."
Just then DECA chimes in. "Rangers, I have found something that may interest you." she says. "It is a program on the frequency of the UAE."
"Put it on screen." Andros orders.
As soon as he said it the screen switches to an image of Prince Gasket. They watch in silent horror as they hear his plans for the captive Purple Ranger. They then watch as the scene switches to the Purple Ranger standing in the Dark Dimension and the hear Karone's pleas for help.
"We have to do something!" Zhane says frustrated. "DECA, can you determine where the signal is originating from?"
"Negative." DECA says. "The transmission source is being hidden by a powerful scan-blocking device."
"Well maybe we can get past that scanning device." Ashley says.
"It's worth a shot." Cassie says as she heads towards her post. "I'll see if I can modify our sensors."
Zhane, however stands transfixed at the image of the Purple Ranger handling the first two monsters. He notices that she does exceptionally well but cannot keep that up forever. Meanwhile, everyone has manned their posts to help search for Karone. After a minute Zhane goes to his post to join the search, still looking at the viewscreen every few minutes.
The Rangers continue to work their hardest on trying to free Karone but an hour later they are still no closer then before. Zhane looks up to see the Purple Ranger facing off against Punchabunch. He notices that she looks very weak and can not fight much longer. The Silver Ranger is about to give up hope when Alpha says something.
"Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi." Alpha exclaims. "Rangers, I have pinpointed the dimension that Karone is in."
Andros rushes over to the android. "Can we teleport her out?" Andros asks hopeful.
"No." Alpha says sadly. "The dimension is being protected by the UAE's most powerful forcefield. The Megaship doesn't have enough power to cut through it by itself."
"What if we combine all the zords' power to punch a hole through the shield?" Zhane asks. "Will that work?"
"Maybe." Alpha says. "But we would have to bring all the zords together and form a circle around the area where she disappeared."
"OK. Let's do it." Andros says. "Alpha, DECA initiate remote Astro Megazord transformation. Zhane you go to the Mega Winger. Everyone else to your Voyager ship."
"Right." everyone agrees.
The six Rangers waste no time in morphing and teleporting directly to the cockpits of the zords. In record time the four zords are at the specified area. On the Mega Winger and the Voyager Mega, the Rangers are about to try the procedure when they notice the transmission on the ship's viewscreens as Karone demorph and lay still on the ground.
"No." the Silver Ranger says quietly in the cockpit of his zord. "She can't be."
They then watch in horror as Finster comes in with his medical device. They all breath in relief as he pronounces she is still alive but there joy is cut short as he finishes his prognosis.
"I swear, by all that is good in the universe, I will make them all pay for what they did to Karone." the Silver Ranger vows. "But right now we have to initiate the procedure and tend to Karone."
"Right." the Red Ranger says from inside the Mega Voyager.
The four zords then begin focusing their energy, trying to puncture the energy field when it suddenly disappears. Karone is then teleported to the medical bay. Once she is there, all the Rangers teleport there while DECA returns all the ships back to their proper holding bays.
The Rangers all gather around Karone with Zhane and Andros being at the front of the line. They notice Alpha working on her, hooking her up to medical equipment and taking a scan on her readings.
"H...H..How is she?" Andros asks nervously.
"I'm afraid she's not in good shape." Alpha says sadly. "Finster wasn't lying, his medical diagnosis was completely correct. She only has a 42% chance for survival."
All the Rangers lower their heads while Andros and Zhane move closer to her.
Zhane is the first to speak. "I'm so sorry, Karone." he says. "I should have been watching you more closely or shouldn't have tired you out so much. If I hadn't, if you were still fully rested you may have lasted longer and we could have teleported you out with less fatal injuries."
Zhane pauses before he continues. "I don't know if you can hear me but if you can, you must fight. We need you, I need you." he says. "I love you and I know you're going to pull through. You have to."
It is then Andros' turn to speak. "Hey, Karone." he says sadly. "I know you're life didn't turn out how you expected it to. Neither of ours did. I know you never wanted to be Astronema and live out your childhood on the Dark Fortress as the Princess of Darkness. It was Darkonda and Dark Specter that made you do that. But now you have your life back and you can do all those things you never got to do. I know you're a brave person, you're also a fighter. If you weren't you would never would have had the courage to betray Dark Specter and do what's right or face that horde of monsters to the very last. Now I'm asking you to use that same courage to fight yourself well. Come on, fight and one day we'll be reunited with our parents and I know they'll be very proud of you."
Ashley is the next to step forward. "Hey Karone." she says. "I don't know where to begin. I haven't really known you that long and I know that me and the other Rangers from Earth weren't very kind to you when you first came aboard...but since then I've come to see that you are a true friend and a valuable teammate. And I know that you can pull through this."
"That goes for me too." Cassie says.
"Yeah." Carlos says.
"That makes it unanimous." TJ says. "We're all pulling for you to get better and we know that you will because your a Power Ranger and Power Rangers don't give up."
********
Three days later, Karone was still in the medical bay with some improvement, mostly in the area that her morphing powers were almost back to full strength and her chances of survival had increased to 76%. She was still in a coma and being feed intravenously. Alpha estimated that as her morphing power increased her minor injuries would begin healing by themselves.
So far, two of her broken ribs had mended themselves due to the power's return but nothing else. Alpha said he could increase the rate of her healing with some special devices once her powers had returned fully, which according to scans should be in a few hours. Unfortunately, he said there was nothing he could do about waking her from the coma.
Andros and Zhane hadn't left the medical bay since Karone was brought in. The two had managed to get a full eight hours sleep every night and eat three square meals a day but that was only because Ashley delivered the food to them at meal times and stayed until they ate all of it and Alpha forced them to take sedatives to put them to sleep.
The only reason the two agreed to it was because the villains had been keeping a low profile because of what they did to Karone. Andros noted that it wasn't because they felt guilty but because they were gloating. And the two knew that once they were done with that they would come back in force and the two didn't want any of the other Rangers to get injured because they weren't taking care of each other.
Zhane then began to sigh. "Andros it's been three days, what if she never wakes up?" he asks beginning to lose faith.
"Zhane, you of all people have to have faith." Andros says. "You were in a coma for two years and woke up from it. I have to believe that she'll be OK too. I spent most of my life searching for her and I'm not about to lose her again!"
"I know. She's strong and she will wake up from it." Zhane says. "Even if the two of us have to search the entire universe for a cure, she will make it!" he shouts.
"Will you two keep it down?" Karone asks annoyed. "I have a splitting headache."
"Sorry Karone." Zhane apologizes. Zhane pauses a second and then realizes what just happened.
"Karone!" Zhane shouts. "You're awake!"
"How do you feel?" Andros asks. "Do you need anything? Anything at all, just name it and I'll get it."
"Calm down you two." Karone says. "I feel like I've had better days but I'll live. So what happened?"
"Don't you remember?" Andros asks concerned.
"Let me see. I was flying on my Galaxy Glider with Zhane looking for the Psycho Rangers." Karone says. "And then...and then I got sucked into a dark dimension where I was forced to fight monster after monster."
"Yes." Andros says.
"Oh, that was so scary." Karone says. "The only other time I was so frightened was when Ecliptor attacked me and put the cybernetic implant in my brain."
Zhane then looks away from her. "Oh Karone I'm so sorry." he says as he turns towards her and takes her hand. "It was my fault you got captured, if I had been paying more attention you wouldn't have gotten captured."
"Zhane it wasn't your fault." Karone says. "It happened so fast, it wouldn't have mattered if you saw the portal opening or not, I would still have gotten captured."
"Yes but if I didn't tire you out so much then you might have been able to resist long enough for us to get you out safely." Zhane says.
"Listen, Zhane." Karone says. "You have to stop blaming yourself for things you had no control over. Do you blame me for what I did as Astronema?" she asks, a little unsure.
"Of course not." Zhane quickly answers. "You had no control over what happened to you."
"Yes and neither did you." Karone says. "What we did before I was captured was the most fun I've ever had in my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"You wouldn't?" Zhane asks surprised.
"No." Karone answers firmly. "In fact you're the only reason I fought back, you two and the other Rangers. Andros, my brother, who spent years searching for me and trusted me when he learned the truth. And you, my one true love, the one I would want to marry someday and raise a family together. And TJ, Cassie, Ashley, and Carlos, my newfound friends from earth." she says and then spots Alpha and one of DECA's cameras aimed at her. "And Alpha and DECA too." she says.
"Why thank you." Alpha says.
"Yes, I also consider you a friend." came the computerized voice of DECA.
"Now where were we before that interruption?" Zhane asks.
"I believe you were about to tell each other you loved one another, share a kiss, and give this story a happy ending." Andros says, trying to keep a straight face.
"That sounds like a good idea." Zhane says. "I love you, Karone."
"And I love you too, Zhane." Karone says.
The two then lean towards each other for a passionate kiss, their lips touch, and a wave of complete and total joy washed over them and they knew then and there that there would be no obstacle which the two of them could not defeat together.
The End... for now
