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eirenicalDinner last night was a blast! My 32 week old niece was adorable in her little dress and tights. *_* She's got a smile that could make Morla (from Neverending Story, for those who didn't catch the reference) grin like a goofball in response. ^_^ And she was so well behaved! She didn't make any noise until right at the end when we'd been there for almost 1½ hours, and even then it wasn't much noise... and she wasn't the only one getting fidgety by then. ^_^
And they had this carrot cake... *_* *drool* Suffice it to say... it was good. And totally worth the 8 points for the half of my Uncle's slice that I ate. *_* Sometimes, you just have to splurge a little. Besides, the fact that my sister and I spent 80 minutes working to clean up my parents' basement and hauling out trash earned me a few activity points. ^_~ Scary thing? We hauled out 7 full bags of trash... and only barely put a dent in what we need to throw out. But you can see part of the floor! It's amazing. Anyone who knows me in real life and has seen that basement... you understand what a monumental task we've undertaken. O_O
And I forgot to mention! My niece is officially crawling and able to sit up on her own! *beams* How freakin' adorable is that? :D ^_^ :D
OMG... I'm in such deep shit. She's already got me wrapped around her little finger... and she's barely over half a year old. -.-;;; G-d help me when she's actually old enough to ask for the things she wants... *twitch*
Fandom: Power Rangers
Pairing: Andros x Zhane, TJ x Ashley... and beyond that, I'm not telling. ^_~
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: Total -- 56,556; shortest part is 3866 words, longest is 6831, most fall somewhere in between. I tried to keep them uniform... it just didn't quite break down that way. :-P
Warnings: Slash. Not mine. Don't sue.
Summary: Andros and Zhane have fought many battles together, both with and against each other. And no one can cause you pain like the one you love, a lesson they have to learn the hard way. Add in three other Ranger teams and a long-lost sister and even that lesson won't be easy. Sequel to Taking Root and Forget Me Not.
April 16, 2010: So, this is the first official "new" part of the fic. ^_^ And this is also the first scene where we have every single one of the Rangers in one place. O_O I felt like I was trying to corral a flock of demented sheep after this chapter. 19 Rangers in one story... what the hell was I thinking? Still, this chapter was a hell of a lot of fun to write and I hope you enjoy it.
Reviews...? Reviews for the poor...? :-P OK, I'll shut up about it, now...
A Rose By Any Other Name, Part 6
by Renée-chan
Jolting awake to the sound of the Red Alert klaxon was decidedly not Zhane's favorite way to get up in the morning. And on this particular morning, he was in no mood for this. Fighting his way out of the blankets, he yelled for an explanation, "DECA! What the hell's going on?"
DECA's soothing alto voice sounded just a bit more harried than usual as she replied, "Alpha and I have detected six monsters in Angel Grove: three in the downtown vicinity, one in the warehouse district and two in the park. The others have been alerted as well and are on their way to the Jump Tubes."
Swearing up a storm, Zhane started pulling on his clothes. Six monsters? What the hell was the Dark Princess thinking? Had the whole world suddenly gone mad? In truth, Zhane had always feared what would happen if one of Dark Spectre's minions did exactly what Astronema was trying right now. Of everyone on the team, only he and Andros had the power and training to take down a monster on their own and it was far from a sure thing that even they could. To expect each of the others to do the same? Preposterous. Well, Lady Aerin... looks like we'll be calling on you sooner than expected...
When Zhane reached the Glider Bay, he discovered that he had not been the only one to have had that thought. Andros was speaking into an old-fashioned communicator, requesting assistance of someone named Kimberly. Kimberly? Wait... that was the name of the Pink Earth Ranger! He stepped up to join the group just in time to hear Andros cut off communications.
As though sensing his arrival, Andros jerked his eyes up to meet Zhane's. For just a moment, there was a panorama of pain visible in those eyes, but it shut down quickly. There would be no thought spared for his own anguish until the current crisis had been dealt with. Nodding at the Silver Ranger, he merely said, "I had occasion to meet up with two of the Earth Rangers yesterday. They offered assistance. Given the current dire odds, they have agreed to help and to contact the Zeo Ranger team, as well. With the Ninja and Thunderzords' more agile nature and the Darkstar Rangers currently at their disposal, they will handle the three monsters downtown, the Zeo Rangers will take the one in the warehouse district and we will take the two in the park." Turning to include the rest of the team in the next instructions, he finished with, "Is everyone clear on the plan?" As everyone nodded, he leapt up to the jump platform, "Then may the Power protect us all. We need to beat this stratagem severely enough that no one attempts it again. It is fortunate that we have three Ranger teams at our disposal today. We won't always be so lucky. Let's Rocket!" With that last battle cry, Andros disappeared down the Jump Tubes, the rest of his team hot on his heels.
Jason had more than a few choice words as he and his mother sprinted full out to join up with the rest of their team. This whole situation was maddening. One of the monsters rampaging downtown apparently had the ability to block a teleport. They had been less than pleased to discover themselves barred from the vicinity of the fight and had been forced to redirect their teleport to the outskirts of the downtown city limit. Calls from Billy and the rest of the Earth team confirmed that they were having similar trouble. Jason didn't slow his sprint, but did turn his head towards the Green Ranger, "Tell me that if we beat these things into next week, they'll give up on this tactic."
Aerin, her attention still focused forward simply said, "If we beat these things into next week, they'll give up on this tactic."
Though she couldn't see his face through the helmet, Aerin could sense her son's frown as he answered, "Right. Now tell me you believe even one word of what you just repeated back at me."
A short huff of laughter, "I wish I knew, Jason. Back in my day our enemies were sane. They didn't pull this kind of crap." Finally turning her head in her son's direction, she added, "Maybe she's having a bad hair day?"
A throaty chuckle from off to their left announced Kimberly and Tommy's arrival, "A bad hair day, Aerin? Remind me to try that excuse next time I want to go on a little rampage."
Aerin just laughed, "Will do, Kim." She then leaned forward to include the younger Green Ranger in their friendly banter, "Tommy you want that reminder, too?"
Tommy didn't even dignify that with a response, he just shook his head and picked up the pace. Kim laughed again, "No fun, I tell you. No fun at all." Then she let out a frustrated half-scream as she saw the flashes of Yellow, Navy and Platinum up ahead and heard their battle cries, "Aw, man! They beat us here! Come on, guys -- before there's nothing left!"
Jason couldn't help but laugh in response, "Well, you heard the lady!" Seconds later there was no more time for banter as they all leapt into the fray.
Well... It's a good thing there are never many people down here... Aisha thought as she watched yet another gout of flame go shooting past. Though they only had the one monster to handle, Astronema had sent it down with a veritable army of Quantrons, including a few Velocifighters. This is ridiculous! Clearing a path around her, the Red Zeo Ranger called on her team, "OK, guys! Time to regroup! We can't let them split us all off like this! Zeo Rangers to me!"
She was a little ashamed to admit that with the Turbo Rangers around last year, they'd gotten a little lax in their training regimen. Amazingly enough, of all of them, Justin was the least out of shape. Then again, she had loaned him to TJ to help keep the zords in repair and to round out the Turbo team after the others had left. And even though the Zeo Rangers volunteered, TJ and the others never seemed to need their help. Well, at least Rocky worked in a martial arts dojo as his day job... She winced as Kat was thrown back from her attempt to engage the monster, hitting the pavement hard. Apparently ballet dancing wasn't enough to keep in fighting form. It was times like this that she cursed her inexperience as a Leader. She should have known better!
Tanya stepped up next to her and elbowed her in the side, "Enough, Aisha!" Aisha having once been a Yellow Ranger, herself, often found that Tanya's kindred mind provided a much needed ground for her lack of confidence. In truth, Aisha had done a good job leading the Zeo team, and she was so vehement in her support of them that they never doubted their own abilities, but when it came to her own... Tanya often found her in need of a little reassurance. Once she had her Leader's attention, she continued, "I recognize that droopy posture. It is not your fault that we're a bit out of practice. It's our own. Well, lesson learned. In the future, I'm sure you'll organize us a brutal training regimen. For now, however, we need to focus on the fight. I'm sure this thing has a weak spot, we just have to find it and exploit it, OK?"
Aisha offered the other girl a brilliant smile from behind her helmet. Trust Tanya to know exactly what she needed to hear. She nodded, "Thanks, Tanya. You're right. Let's take this thing down!"
Finally hearing that exuberant confidence in their Leader's voice, the Zeo Rangers shared a fierce grin. It was time to take out the trash.
Three hours later (and a few million dollars in damages), the exhausted Ranger teams met up in the park. The Earth and Darkstar Rangers, having had the toughest fight by far, all but fell over as they reached the others. The Zeo Rangers, though they had had an easier fight, were nearly in as bad a way. The Earthborn Lightstar Rangers weren't much better off. In fact, within minutes of everyone's arrival in the park, only Zhane, Andros, Aerin, Jason and Tommy were still standing. They looked around at their heavily puffing teams with expressions ranging from sympathy to annoyance. Jason was the one who said it, "Good grief, I hope we never have to do that again!"
A chorus of "Amens", followed by some exhausted laughter was the Rangers' only response.
Though relieved to have the fight over with, Andros shifted uneasily from foot to foot. Unsurprisingly, the sight of 19 Power Rangers in Angel Grove Park was starting to draw a crowd. Zhane picked up on his distress and leaned over to whisper to the Green Darkstar Ranger, "Aerin... I know everyone's exhausted, but I really think we need to relocate. We're going to draw too much attention here. The last thing we need is to get mobbed."
She nodded, "Agreed. You're all welcome in my home... but even my living room isn't big enough to hold all of us comfortably."
Before Zhane could even ponder the issue, Andros supplied the answer, "We'll head up to the AstroMegaship. The Simudeck can hold us all easily."
Zhane laughed, "Yeah. What he said. We can teleport up in groups of six. I don't think the system can handle more than that at once."
Billy looked up from his spot on the ground, falling back into techno-speak due to his own mental exhaustion, "I was certain that the technical schematics indicated otherwise. If you have no objection, I will endeavor to ascertain if there is a malfunction once we have reached a consensus on a further strategy."
Before anyone could even get up the breath to ask him what the heck he meant, Trini sighed and began to speak, "What he means to say is--"
And that was as far as she got. Andros waved her silent, "I understood what he said, Yellow Ranger. I'm grateful for any assistance he cares to give. Lightstar Rangers, it's time to move out."
Once they were gone, Jason shook his head, "That boy needs to relax."
As everyone else laughed, Kim leaned over and tapped Trini's shoulder with a perplexed expression. Too busy laughing herself, however, she failed to reply. Seeing her confused look, Justin took pity on her, "What he said was that the plans for the ship show that it should be able to teleport more than six Rangers at once and he'd be happy to look into it once we've all agreed on what we're gonna do next."
"Oh!" Turning to look accusingly at Billy, she added, "Well, why didn't you just say so?"
Billy hung his head and muttered grumpily, "I did."
Through another round of laughter, Aerin gathered up her moping teammate, her son, Trini, Tommy, Kim and Zack and sent them up to the Megaship. "Good grief... at this rate we'll never get anything done." After sending up Adam with the Zeo Rangers and one last survey of the Park, Aerin finally teleported after them.
Of course it had been Zhane's idea to turn the Simudeck into a copy of the park they'd just left -- complete with picnic blankets, baskets and replicated food. Andros generally frowned on such frivolity, but relented when he noted the increase in morale among all the teams when they saw what the Silver Ranger had planned. Everyone demorphed and settled in groups on the brightly colored blankets. Andros remained standing.
Looking out at those assembled, he couldn't help but feel a sense of... Moment. It was rare, indeed, that this many Rangers -- born to the Power or otherwise -- met in one place. And what they'd accomplished together... He was still somewhat in awe. He was forced to reevaluate his opinion from that long ago day when he'd met his current team. If all the Rangers across the Universe could band together like this, Dark Spectre's minions, no matter how many he gathered, wouldn't stand a chance. For the first time in years, it gave him hope.
Once everyone was settled in and the chatter had dwindled down, he cleared his throat. They all turned to look at him. Well, start simple, "I can't thank you all enough for your assistance today. Without you, we could never have prevailed."
There was a chorus of "Not true's" and "You'd have found a way's" from the rest of the Rangers, but Andros waved his hand to cut them off, "While I and my team appreciate your votes of confidence, let's face facts. It is hard enough to take down one monster, let alone six. We'd have been in dire straits without your assistance."
Andros turned to take in all the faces spread out before him and suddenly had occasion to note how young they all looked. Examining that thought more closely, he had another jolt when he realized that, with the sole exceptions of Aerin and Zhane, he was the oldest of the Rangers gathered here. And he and Zhane had begun fighting when they were just adolescents. It made him wonder, not for the first time, if the guiding force behind the Power was mad. He caught Aerin's eye and she saluted him with her glass, an ironically bemused expression on her face as she guessed the cause for his staring. Of course... She'd been recruited to fight when she was just over 300 years old -- among her race, that was the emotional equivalent of a 12 year old. No wonder she hadn't protested Justin's involvement.
Shaking off those useless thoughts, he continued, "Unfortunately, now that we have just shown how well we work together as a group, I fear I must ask us to separate." After the murmurs died down he explained, "I had occasion to discuss tactics with Kimberly last night." Of course that wasn't all they'd discussed, but he certainly didn't want to air that dirty laundry here... in front of Zhane, "As I explained to her, our largest problem in this fight is that Astronema knows that she can disrupt all of our most carefully laid plans by sending us running across the galaxy every other week to protect our respective home worlds. We wouldn't have this problem if Earth and KO-35 had protectors. Now that you are all back, Earth, at least, has a reliable defense team. KO-35, on the other hand, does not."
Billy raised a hand to get his attention, "Andros, I don't understand. Why does KO-35 not have a Ranger team of its own? I thought every planet had one."
Andros nodded, very much subdued, "That is usually true..." Taking in everyone's confused looks, he asked, "How much do you know about the origins of the Power Rangers?"
The Earth Rangers all looked at each other. Trini finally offered, "Dulcea taught us some of the legends while we were on Phaedos, but even in a year, she couldn't cover everything." He motioned for her to continue. She settled back, trying to recall, "In the beginning, the Universe was much smaller, its people closer, far less spread out. What Evil existed was easily contained by the people of each settlement. But as people started to spread out, to colonize other worlds, Evil grew as well. The first Ranger team was formed on Phaedos. I think they were the Ninja Rangers..." She let her voice lilt upwards, uncertain if that was correct.
Andros nodded, "The Ninja Rangers were first, the Zeo Rangers followed them. There were several other primitive teams after that before the current system was developed. One team for each planet and colony and one team to act as a communication link between all the others." A deep breath, "When a new planet is colonized, it takes time for a Ranger team to be born. The colony has to develop its own distinct culture and personality before the Morphing Grid can settle around it to call its Rangers. Sometimes that takes years, more often than not decades, and sometimes even centuries. My own home colony is actually a much younger colony than you probably think, and its Ranger team has been slow to form."
"But what about my mother and her team? Weren't most of them from KO-35?" That came from Jason.
Aerin was the one who supplied the answer to that one, "Most of us may have been from KO-35, but we were still a Space Team. We weren't a Kerovan team, no matter how much their ruling government tried to make us one."
Andros nodded, "KO-35 is a colony made up of many races, several of which have been sources for the Space team over the years. The problem is that KO-35, itself, while a valuable resource for the non-aligned teams, has not been united enough, thus far, to birth its own Ranger team."
Aisha frowned, "Then wouldn't it make more sense to just find the team that should be protecting KO-35?"
Andros turned his face away from her, pausing as though contemplating what to say in response. He finally settled on, "That would be true, except for one problem. The remaining colonists of KO-35 fled the planet after Dark Spectre's attack. Even I don't know where they've gone."
Aerin frowned. There was far more to the story than that. It wasn't simply a problem of finding those Rangers. They needed to be taken to Phaedos to secure the roots of their Power, all five together... And there was only one reason to leave out that information. Only one reason that made sense: Andros might not know where the colonists were, but he did know who the Kerovan Rangers were supposed to be... and they weren't all with the colonists. She decided to force it out in the open, "And even if we were to do so, we would need to find all five of those Rangers to secure their Power so that they could morph. Andros, I take it you know who they are?"
The Red Ranger jerked as though slapped and he turned haunted eyes on the older Ranger as he spoke, "I do. I know them all. I've known them for years."
As she'd suspected, "And they know that you know?"
A nod, "It has caused... certain frictions between us. But the fact remains that we can't do anything about it."
The rest of the Rangers were watching this new interplay like a tennis match, feeling the undercurrents of the conversation, but not understanding. Aerin frowned, "Why not? If you know who they are, all we need to do is search the morphing grid to find them. That should lead us to the colonists, we can drop the Zeo Rangers off to watch them while we take their Rangers to Phaedos and Voila, problem solved."
Voice getting gruff and posture hunching, Andros got this out, "It isn't that simple, Lady Aerin. I wish it was."
And it nearly killed Aerin to see it, but Zhane was the one to step up and put a hand on Andros' shoulder, "Tell us the rest, Andros. We can't help if you don't."
It took another long moment before Andros could bring himself to speak, just seven words... but they changed everything, "Their Red Ranger should have been Karone." Then he whirled away from them all and marched off into the wooded area of the Simudeck park.
Aerin and Zhane's eyes met and she managed to sum up their feelings in two words: "Well... Fuck."
Zhane stared after Andros' retreating back and wondered exactly which god of fate they had pissed off that week. He put a hand to his head and began massaging his temples. This just kept getting better and better. It would be bad enough, having to deal with starting a new Ranger team at the current time. Trying to start one minus their Red Ranger? Impossible. And not to mention that it wasn't as if they hadn't been trying to find Karone. Andros had spent 17 years already on that very mission. Not only had finding her been nearly impossible, but Andros guarded that search jealously and wouldn't want anyone else interfering. At least the reason for her kidnapping now became a little clearer. With her gone, KO-35 would have no Ranger team until the next generation could be Called, leaving them extremely vulnerable to Dark Spectre. And it had worked.
The other Rangers were already deep in discussion with new plans to search for Karone. He raised a hand to get their attention. This he would have to halt in its tracks -- after all, hurt me once, shame on you. Hurt me twice... shame on me. And he'd been burned by this particular pain a few times too often already. Once he had everyone's attention, he said simply, "I hate to be the one to throw a wrench into this planning session, but Andros will not welcome more hands in the middle of this." Left unspoken was what had happened to him -- allegedly the person that Andros cared most about next to his lost twin -- when he had last tried to interfere, "He already has this 'search for Karone' thing down to a science, and in truth, it's almost a moot point. It would be nice to have the Kerovan Rangers available to watch KO-35, but it isn't necessary. We have an available team to do it, and to be brutally honest, we can't waste the time right now." Andros had understood that and had allowed the other Kerovan Rangers to use him as a scapegoat for their hatred and frustration because of it. He probably felt he deserved it. But at this point, the damage was already done. He'd just have to hope that eventually they'd be able to fix that PR disaster...
The other Lightstar Rangers stared at Zhane, astonished. It was so easy to forget that, like so many Rangers, he'd essentially been raised as a soldier. It was equally easy to forget that, like Andros, he could get a little mission obsessed. He was so fun-loving, so easy-going at heart... it was only at times like these when he coldly and forcibly reminded them of it that they remembered. They weren't just talking about a tactical situation, here -- they were talking about finding his lover's long-lost twin! This was the very issue that had caused his and Andros' fight just yesterday. It was eye-opening to see the extent to which even Zhane could force his own emotions into the background to deal with the mission at hand. It was almost scary.
Ashley was, predictably, the one who objected, "But, Zhane... this is Andros' sister we're talking about! We should do our best to help him find her."
Zhane sighed, "Ashley... I understand where you're coming from, believe me I do, but this isn't the most important problem we're facing right now. And it isn't as though we haven't been looking for Karone. Andros has spent the better part of 17 years doing exactly that. This isn't a new problem to him, even though it is to you." Funny how he could so fully support Andros' right to keep this obsession to himself when just yesterday, he'd been fighting to get him to share it...
Aerin sighed, "Ashley, I'm afraid I have to agree with Zhane. This is almost academic at this point. As long as we have a Ranger team to protect both worlds, starting a new Kerovan team will just have to wait until we can devote time to the search." She turned towards Aisha, "But that really depends on you. Will you and your team be willing to take this on? It'll leave you alone on an abandoned world for an unknown duration..."
Aisha looked at each of her teammates in turn. Kat had graduated high school and had yet to decide on whether to pursue college or a career. The same was true of Tanya. Rocky had his job at the dojo, but should be able to take a sabbatical without too many questions being raised. Aisha herself wasn't even "officially" back from Africa, thanks to Aunt Aschala. They could all get away with little to no fuss. In truth, she had a feeling they had all anticipated Ranger business getting in the way with the smooth progression of their lives and had deliberately left themselves available. The only one who would have a real problem was Justin. He was so young to ask this much of him...
Before she even had a chance to voice her opinion, however, the young Green Zeo Ranger beat her to it, "Aisha, if you even think of leaving me out of this, I'll give your zord a computer virus before you go."
Tanya and Kat started to laugh and Rocky placed the younger boy in a headlock, "Have some respect for your elders, kid!"
Letting out a small chuckle, Aisha shook her head, "Well, on the upside, it'll give us plenty of time to practice..."
Aerin smiled, "Good. Then if that's settled, why don't you all enjoy your picnic, and I'll see what I can do to get Andros out of the mood he's in." The Silver Ranger looked like he might object, but Aerin ran right over him with a quiet, "Zhane, let me handle him for once. I think you've taken enough of his grief for one week. Don't you?"
Zhane could only meet her eyes for a moment before he looked away and slowly nodded, "All right. I suppose I can let you run interference for me... just this once."
Aerin beamed him a smile as she got up, "Good. Glad that's settled." With no further ceremony than that, she went off to find the wayward Red Ranger.
A/N:
Jason: *thud* Oh, good grief... tell me we won't ever have to do that again. Between the fighting and the emotional angst, I'm not sure I can take much more...
R-chan: *wince* Then I don't think I'm gonna tell you about the next chapter.
Jason: O_O Why? What happens in the next chapter? O_O
R-chan: *innocent whistle* Oh... nothing. Not really... Eh-heh...
Jason: O_O *lil' voice* Why do I feel this sudden need to go hide under my bed?
Trini: *smirks* No, no, Jason. In the closet.
Jason: O_O OK... now I'm really scared.
R-chan: *eg* *mimicking Yoda* You will be... You will be.
Master Post and Chapter List
Questions, comments, cantaloupe?
Coming Soon: The Space Rangers have taken off for parts unknown, leaving the Earth Rangers behind to guard the planet. But something is wrong... and only Trini seems to notice. Fortunately, she won't let go until she's gotten to the bottom of things.
And they had this carrot cake... *_* *drool* Suffice it to say... it was good. And totally worth the 8 points for the half of my Uncle's slice that I ate. *_* Sometimes, you just have to splurge a little. Besides, the fact that my sister and I spent 80 minutes working to clean up my parents' basement and hauling out trash earned me a few activity points. ^_~ Scary thing? We hauled out 7 full bags of trash... and only barely put a dent in what we need to throw out. But you can see part of the floor! It's amazing. Anyone who knows me in real life and has seen that basement... you understand what a monumental task we've undertaken. O_O
And I forgot to mention! My niece is officially crawling and able to sit up on her own! *beams* How freakin' adorable is that? :D ^_^ :D
OMG... I'm in such deep shit. She's already got me wrapped around her little finger... and she's barely over half a year old. -.-;;; G-d help me when she's actually old enough to ask for the things she wants... *twitch*
Fandom: Power Rangers
Pairing: Andros x Zhane, TJ x Ashley... and beyond that, I'm not telling. ^_~
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: Total -- 56,556; shortest part is 3866 words, longest is 6831, most fall somewhere in between. I tried to keep them uniform... it just didn't quite break down that way. :-P
Warnings: Slash. Not mine. Don't sue.
Summary: Andros and Zhane have fought many battles together, both with and against each other. And no one can cause you pain like the one you love, a lesson they have to learn the hard way. Add in three other Ranger teams and a long-lost sister and even that lesson won't be easy. Sequel to Taking Root and Forget Me Not.
April 16, 2010: So, this is the first official "new" part of the fic. ^_^ And this is also the first scene where we have every single one of the Rangers in one place. O_O I felt like I was trying to corral a flock of demented sheep after this chapter. 19 Rangers in one story... what the hell was I thinking? Still, this chapter was a hell of a lot of fun to write and I hope you enjoy it.
Reviews...? Reviews for the poor...? :-P OK, I'll shut up about it, now...
by Renée-chan
Jolting awake to the sound of the Red Alert klaxon was decidedly not Zhane's favorite way to get up in the morning. And on this particular morning, he was in no mood for this. Fighting his way out of the blankets, he yelled for an explanation, "DECA! What the hell's going on?"
DECA's soothing alto voice sounded just a bit more harried than usual as she replied, "Alpha and I have detected six monsters in Angel Grove: three in the downtown vicinity, one in the warehouse district and two in the park. The others have been alerted as well and are on their way to the Jump Tubes."
Swearing up a storm, Zhane started pulling on his clothes. Six monsters? What the hell was the Dark Princess thinking? Had the whole world suddenly gone mad? In truth, Zhane had always feared what would happen if one of Dark Spectre's minions did exactly what Astronema was trying right now. Of everyone on the team, only he and Andros had the power and training to take down a monster on their own and it was far from a sure thing that even they could. To expect each of the others to do the same? Preposterous. Well, Lady Aerin... looks like we'll be calling on you sooner than expected...
When Zhane reached the Glider Bay, he discovered that he had not been the only one to have had that thought. Andros was speaking into an old-fashioned communicator, requesting assistance of someone named Kimberly. Kimberly? Wait... that was the name of the Pink Earth Ranger! He stepped up to join the group just in time to hear Andros cut off communications.
As though sensing his arrival, Andros jerked his eyes up to meet Zhane's. For just a moment, there was a panorama of pain visible in those eyes, but it shut down quickly. There would be no thought spared for his own anguish until the current crisis had been dealt with. Nodding at the Silver Ranger, he merely said, "I had occasion to meet up with two of the Earth Rangers yesterday. They offered assistance. Given the current dire odds, they have agreed to help and to contact the Zeo Ranger team, as well. With the Ninja and Thunderzords' more agile nature and the Darkstar Rangers currently at their disposal, they will handle the three monsters downtown, the Zeo Rangers will take the one in the warehouse district and we will take the two in the park." Turning to include the rest of the team in the next instructions, he finished with, "Is everyone clear on the plan?" As everyone nodded, he leapt up to the jump platform, "Then may the Power protect us all. We need to beat this stratagem severely enough that no one attempts it again. It is fortunate that we have three Ranger teams at our disposal today. We won't always be so lucky. Let's Rocket!" With that last battle cry, Andros disappeared down the Jump Tubes, the rest of his team hot on his heels.
Jason had more than a few choice words as he and his mother sprinted full out to join up with the rest of their team. This whole situation was maddening. One of the monsters rampaging downtown apparently had the ability to block a teleport. They had been less than pleased to discover themselves barred from the vicinity of the fight and had been forced to redirect their teleport to the outskirts of the downtown city limit. Calls from Billy and the rest of the Earth team confirmed that they were having similar trouble. Jason didn't slow his sprint, but did turn his head towards the Green Ranger, "Tell me that if we beat these things into next week, they'll give up on this tactic."
Aerin, her attention still focused forward simply said, "If we beat these things into next week, they'll give up on this tactic."
Though she couldn't see his face through the helmet, Aerin could sense her son's frown as he answered, "Right. Now tell me you believe even one word of what you just repeated back at me."
A short huff of laughter, "I wish I knew, Jason. Back in my day our enemies were sane. They didn't pull this kind of crap." Finally turning her head in her son's direction, she added, "Maybe she's having a bad hair day?"
A throaty chuckle from off to their left announced Kimberly and Tommy's arrival, "A bad hair day, Aerin? Remind me to try that excuse next time I want to go on a little rampage."
Aerin just laughed, "Will do, Kim." She then leaned forward to include the younger Green Ranger in their friendly banter, "Tommy you want that reminder, too?"
Tommy didn't even dignify that with a response, he just shook his head and picked up the pace. Kim laughed again, "No fun, I tell you. No fun at all." Then she let out a frustrated half-scream as she saw the flashes of Yellow, Navy and Platinum up ahead and heard their battle cries, "Aw, man! They beat us here! Come on, guys -- before there's nothing left!"
Jason couldn't help but laugh in response, "Well, you heard the lady!" Seconds later there was no more time for banter as they all leapt into the fray.
Well... It's a good thing there are never many people down here... Aisha thought as she watched yet another gout of flame go shooting past. Though they only had the one monster to handle, Astronema had sent it down with a veritable army of Quantrons, including a few Velocifighters. This is ridiculous! Clearing a path around her, the Red Zeo Ranger called on her team, "OK, guys! Time to regroup! We can't let them split us all off like this! Zeo Rangers to me!"
She was a little ashamed to admit that with the Turbo Rangers around last year, they'd gotten a little lax in their training regimen. Amazingly enough, of all of them, Justin was the least out of shape. Then again, she had loaned him to TJ to help keep the zords in repair and to round out the Turbo team after the others had left. And even though the Zeo Rangers volunteered, TJ and the others never seemed to need their help. Well, at least Rocky worked in a martial arts dojo as his day job... She winced as Kat was thrown back from her attempt to engage the monster, hitting the pavement hard. Apparently ballet dancing wasn't enough to keep in fighting form. It was times like this that she cursed her inexperience as a Leader. She should have known better!
Tanya stepped up next to her and elbowed her in the side, "Enough, Aisha!" Aisha having once been a Yellow Ranger, herself, often found that Tanya's kindred mind provided a much needed ground for her lack of confidence. In truth, Aisha had done a good job leading the Zeo team, and she was so vehement in her support of them that they never doubted their own abilities, but when it came to her own... Tanya often found her in need of a little reassurance. Once she had her Leader's attention, she continued, "I recognize that droopy posture. It is not your fault that we're a bit out of practice. It's our own. Well, lesson learned. In the future, I'm sure you'll organize us a brutal training regimen. For now, however, we need to focus on the fight. I'm sure this thing has a weak spot, we just have to find it and exploit it, OK?"
Aisha offered the other girl a brilliant smile from behind her helmet. Trust Tanya to know exactly what she needed to hear. She nodded, "Thanks, Tanya. You're right. Let's take this thing down!"
Finally hearing that exuberant confidence in their Leader's voice, the Zeo Rangers shared a fierce grin. It was time to take out the trash.
Three hours later (and a few million dollars in damages), the exhausted Ranger teams met up in the park. The Earth and Darkstar Rangers, having had the toughest fight by far, all but fell over as they reached the others. The Zeo Rangers, though they had had an easier fight, were nearly in as bad a way. The Earthborn Lightstar Rangers weren't much better off. In fact, within minutes of everyone's arrival in the park, only Zhane, Andros, Aerin, Jason and Tommy were still standing. They looked around at their heavily puffing teams with expressions ranging from sympathy to annoyance. Jason was the one who said it, "Good grief, I hope we never have to do that again!"
A chorus of "Amens", followed by some exhausted laughter was the Rangers' only response.
Though relieved to have the fight over with, Andros shifted uneasily from foot to foot. Unsurprisingly, the sight of 19 Power Rangers in Angel Grove Park was starting to draw a crowd. Zhane picked up on his distress and leaned over to whisper to the Green Darkstar Ranger, "Aerin... I know everyone's exhausted, but I really think we need to relocate. We're going to draw too much attention here. The last thing we need is to get mobbed."
She nodded, "Agreed. You're all welcome in my home... but even my living room isn't big enough to hold all of us comfortably."
Before Zhane could even ponder the issue, Andros supplied the answer, "We'll head up to the AstroMegaship. The Simudeck can hold us all easily."
Zhane laughed, "Yeah. What he said. We can teleport up in groups of six. I don't think the system can handle more than that at once."
Billy looked up from his spot on the ground, falling back into techno-speak due to his own mental exhaustion, "I was certain that the technical schematics indicated otherwise. If you have no objection, I will endeavor to ascertain if there is a malfunction once we have reached a consensus on a further strategy."
Before anyone could even get up the breath to ask him what the heck he meant, Trini sighed and began to speak, "What he means to say is--"
And that was as far as she got. Andros waved her silent, "I understood what he said, Yellow Ranger. I'm grateful for any assistance he cares to give. Lightstar Rangers, it's time to move out."
Once they were gone, Jason shook his head, "That boy needs to relax."
As everyone else laughed, Kim leaned over and tapped Trini's shoulder with a perplexed expression. Too busy laughing herself, however, she failed to reply. Seeing her confused look, Justin took pity on her, "What he said was that the plans for the ship show that it should be able to teleport more than six Rangers at once and he'd be happy to look into it once we've all agreed on what we're gonna do next."
"Oh!" Turning to look accusingly at Billy, she added, "Well, why didn't you just say so?"
Billy hung his head and muttered grumpily, "I did."
Through another round of laughter, Aerin gathered up her moping teammate, her son, Trini, Tommy, Kim and Zack and sent them up to the Megaship. "Good grief... at this rate we'll never get anything done." After sending up Adam with the Zeo Rangers and one last survey of the Park, Aerin finally teleported after them.
Of course it had been Zhane's idea to turn the Simudeck into a copy of the park they'd just left -- complete with picnic blankets, baskets and replicated food. Andros generally frowned on such frivolity, but relented when he noted the increase in morale among all the teams when they saw what the Silver Ranger had planned. Everyone demorphed and settled in groups on the brightly colored blankets. Andros remained standing.
Looking out at those assembled, he couldn't help but feel a sense of... Moment. It was rare, indeed, that this many Rangers -- born to the Power or otherwise -- met in one place. And what they'd accomplished together... He was still somewhat in awe. He was forced to reevaluate his opinion from that long ago day when he'd met his current team. If all the Rangers across the Universe could band together like this, Dark Spectre's minions, no matter how many he gathered, wouldn't stand a chance. For the first time in years, it gave him hope.
Once everyone was settled in and the chatter had dwindled down, he cleared his throat. They all turned to look at him. Well, start simple, "I can't thank you all enough for your assistance today. Without you, we could never have prevailed."
There was a chorus of "Not true's" and "You'd have found a way's" from the rest of the Rangers, but Andros waved his hand to cut them off, "While I and my team appreciate your votes of confidence, let's face facts. It is hard enough to take down one monster, let alone six. We'd have been in dire straits without your assistance."
Andros turned to take in all the faces spread out before him and suddenly had occasion to note how young they all looked. Examining that thought more closely, he had another jolt when he realized that, with the sole exceptions of Aerin and Zhane, he was the oldest of the Rangers gathered here. And he and Zhane had begun fighting when they were just adolescents. It made him wonder, not for the first time, if the guiding force behind the Power was mad. He caught Aerin's eye and she saluted him with her glass, an ironically bemused expression on her face as she guessed the cause for his staring. Of course... She'd been recruited to fight when she was just over 300 years old -- among her race, that was the emotional equivalent of a 12 year old. No wonder she hadn't protested Justin's involvement.
Shaking off those useless thoughts, he continued, "Unfortunately, now that we have just shown how well we work together as a group, I fear I must ask us to separate." After the murmurs died down he explained, "I had occasion to discuss tactics with Kimberly last night." Of course that wasn't all they'd discussed, but he certainly didn't want to air that dirty laundry here... in front of Zhane, "As I explained to her, our largest problem in this fight is that Astronema knows that she can disrupt all of our most carefully laid plans by sending us running across the galaxy every other week to protect our respective home worlds. We wouldn't have this problem if Earth and KO-35 had protectors. Now that you are all back, Earth, at least, has a reliable defense team. KO-35, on the other hand, does not."
Billy raised a hand to get his attention, "Andros, I don't understand. Why does KO-35 not have a Ranger team of its own? I thought every planet had one."
Andros nodded, very much subdued, "That is usually true..." Taking in everyone's confused looks, he asked, "How much do you know about the origins of the Power Rangers?"
The Earth Rangers all looked at each other. Trini finally offered, "Dulcea taught us some of the legends while we were on Phaedos, but even in a year, she couldn't cover everything." He motioned for her to continue. She settled back, trying to recall, "In the beginning, the Universe was much smaller, its people closer, far less spread out. What Evil existed was easily contained by the people of each settlement. But as people started to spread out, to colonize other worlds, Evil grew as well. The first Ranger team was formed on Phaedos. I think they were the Ninja Rangers..." She let her voice lilt upwards, uncertain if that was correct.
Andros nodded, "The Ninja Rangers were first, the Zeo Rangers followed them. There were several other primitive teams after that before the current system was developed. One team for each planet and colony and one team to act as a communication link between all the others." A deep breath, "When a new planet is colonized, it takes time for a Ranger team to be born. The colony has to develop its own distinct culture and personality before the Morphing Grid can settle around it to call its Rangers. Sometimes that takes years, more often than not decades, and sometimes even centuries. My own home colony is actually a much younger colony than you probably think, and its Ranger team has been slow to form."
"But what about my mother and her team? Weren't most of them from KO-35?" That came from Jason.
Aerin was the one who supplied the answer to that one, "Most of us may have been from KO-35, but we were still a Space Team. We weren't a Kerovan team, no matter how much their ruling government tried to make us one."
Andros nodded, "KO-35 is a colony made up of many races, several of which have been sources for the Space team over the years. The problem is that KO-35, itself, while a valuable resource for the non-aligned teams, has not been united enough, thus far, to birth its own Ranger team."
Aisha frowned, "Then wouldn't it make more sense to just find the team that should be protecting KO-35?"
Andros turned his face away from her, pausing as though contemplating what to say in response. He finally settled on, "That would be true, except for one problem. The remaining colonists of KO-35 fled the planet after Dark Spectre's attack. Even I don't know where they've gone."
Aerin frowned. There was far more to the story than that. It wasn't simply a problem of finding those Rangers. They needed to be taken to Phaedos to secure the roots of their Power, all five together... And there was only one reason to leave out that information. Only one reason that made sense: Andros might not know where the colonists were, but he did know who the Kerovan Rangers were supposed to be... and they weren't all with the colonists. She decided to force it out in the open, "And even if we were to do so, we would need to find all five of those Rangers to secure their Power so that they could morph. Andros, I take it you know who they are?"
The Red Ranger jerked as though slapped and he turned haunted eyes on the older Ranger as he spoke, "I do. I know them all. I've known them for years."
As she'd suspected, "And they know that you know?"
A nod, "It has caused... certain frictions between us. But the fact remains that we can't do anything about it."
The rest of the Rangers were watching this new interplay like a tennis match, feeling the undercurrents of the conversation, but not understanding. Aerin frowned, "Why not? If you know who they are, all we need to do is search the morphing grid to find them. That should lead us to the colonists, we can drop the Zeo Rangers off to watch them while we take their Rangers to Phaedos and Voila, problem solved."
Voice getting gruff and posture hunching, Andros got this out, "It isn't that simple, Lady Aerin. I wish it was."
And it nearly killed Aerin to see it, but Zhane was the one to step up and put a hand on Andros' shoulder, "Tell us the rest, Andros. We can't help if you don't."
It took another long moment before Andros could bring himself to speak, just seven words... but they changed everything, "Their Red Ranger should have been Karone." Then he whirled away from them all and marched off into the wooded area of the Simudeck park.
Aerin and Zhane's eyes met and she managed to sum up their feelings in two words: "Well... Fuck."
Zhane stared after Andros' retreating back and wondered exactly which god of fate they had pissed off that week. He put a hand to his head and began massaging his temples. This just kept getting better and better. It would be bad enough, having to deal with starting a new Ranger team at the current time. Trying to start one minus their Red Ranger? Impossible. And not to mention that it wasn't as if they hadn't been trying to find Karone. Andros had spent 17 years already on that very mission. Not only had finding her been nearly impossible, but Andros guarded that search jealously and wouldn't want anyone else interfering. At least the reason for her kidnapping now became a little clearer. With her gone, KO-35 would have no Ranger team until the next generation could be Called, leaving them extremely vulnerable to Dark Spectre. And it had worked.
The other Rangers were already deep in discussion with new plans to search for Karone. He raised a hand to get their attention. This he would have to halt in its tracks -- after all, hurt me once, shame on you. Hurt me twice... shame on me. And he'd been burned by this particular pain a few times too often already. Once he had everyone's attention, he said simply, "I hate to be the one to throw a wrench into this planning session, but Andros will not welcome more hands in the middle of this." Left unspoken was what had happened to him -- allegedly the person that Andros cared most about next to his lost twin -- when he had last tried to interfere, "He already has this 'search for Karone' thing down to a science, and in truth, it's almost a moot point. It would be nice to have the Kerovan Rangers available to watch KO-35, but it isn't necessary. We have an available team to do it, and to be brutally honest, we can't waste the time right now." Andros had understood that and had allowed the other Kerovan Rangers to use him as a scapegoat for their hatred and frustration because of it. He probably felt he deserved it. But at this point, the damage was already done. He'd just have to hope that eventually they'd be able to fix that PR disaster...
The other Lightstar Rangers stared at Zhane, astonished. It was so easy to forget that, like so many Rangers, he'd essentially been raised as a soldier. It was equally easy to forget that, like Andros, he could get a little mission obsessed. He was so fun-loving, so easy-going at heart... it was only at times like these when he coldly and forcibly reminded them of it that they remembered. They weren't just talking about a tactical situation, here -- they were talking about finding his lover's long-lost twin! This was the very issue that had caused his and Andros' fight just yesterday. It was eye-opening to see the extent to which even Zhane could force his own emotions into the background to deal with the mission at hand. It was almost scary.
Ashley was, predictably, the one who objected, "But, Zhane... this is Andros' sister we're talking about! We should do our best to help him find her."
Zhane sighed, "Ashley... I understand where you're coming from, believe me I do, but this isn't the most important problem we're facing right now. And it isn't as though we haven't been looking for Karone. Andros has spent the better part of 17 years doing exactly that. This isn't a new problem to him, even though it is to you." Funny how he could so fully support Andros' right to keep this obsession to himself when just yesterday, he'd been fighting to get him to share it...
Aerin sighed, "Ashley, I'm afraid I have to agree with Zhane. This is almost academic at this point. As long as we have a Ranger team to protect both worlds, starting a new Kerovan team will just have to wait until we can devote time to the search." She turned towards Aisha, "But that really depends on you. Will you and your team be willing to take this on? It'll leave you alone on an abandoned world for an unknown duration..."
Aisha looked at each of her teammates in turn. Kat had graduated high school and had yet to decide on whether to pursue college or a career. The same was true of Tanya. Rocky had his job at the dojo, but should be able to take a sabbatical without too many questions being raised. Aisha herself wasn't even "officially" back from Africa, thanks to Aunt Aschala. They could all get away with little to no fuss. In truth, she had a feeling they had all anticipated Ranger business getting in the way with the smooth progression of their lives and had deliberately left themselves available. The only one who would have a real problem was Justin. He was so young to ask this much of him...
Before she even had a chance to voice her opinion, however, the young Green Zeo Ranger beat her to it, "Aisha, if you even think of leaving me out of this, I'll give your zord a computer virus before you go."
Tanya and Kat started to laugh and Rocky placed the younger boy in a headlock, "Have some respect for your elders, kid!"
Letting out a small chuckle, Aisha shook her head, "Well, on the upside, it'll give us plenty of time to practice..."
Aerin smiled, "Good. Then if that's settled, why don't you all enjoy your picnic, and I'll see what I can do to get Andros out of the mood he's in." The Silver Ranger looked like he might object, but Aerin ran right over him with a quiet, "Zhane, let me handle him for once. I think you've taken enough of his grief for one week. Don't you?"
Zhane could only meet her eyes for a moment before he looked away and slowly nodded, "All right. I suppose I can let you run interference for me... just this once."
Aerin beamed him a smile as she got up, "Good. Glad that's settled." With no further ceremony than that, she went off to find the wayward Red Ranger.
A/N:
Jason: *thud* Oh, good grief... tell me we won't ever have to do that again. Between the fighting and the emotional angst, I'm not sure I can take much more...
R-chan: *wince* Then I don't think I'm gonna tell you about the next chapter.
Jason: O_O Why? What happens in the next chapter? O_O
R-chan: *innocent whistle* Oh... nothing. Not really... Eh-heh...
Jason: O_O *lil' voice* Why do I feel this sudden need to go hide under my bed?
Trini: *smirks* No, no, Jason. In the closet.
Jason: O_O OK... now I'm really scared.
R-chan: *eg* *mimicking Yoda* You will be... You will be.
Master Post and Chapter List
Questions, comments, cantaloupe?
Coming Soon: The Space Rangers have taken off for parts unknown, leaving the Earth Rangers behind to guard the planet. But something is wrong... and only Trini seems to notice. Fortunately, she won't let go until she's gotten to the bottom of things.
