"I'm fine. You can go."

"But, I--"

"Andros! I'm okay!" She turned quickly from the doorway of her room on the MegaShip, wishing the door was one she could actually slam. She sighed and turned back to her older brother. "Andros, really... don't worry about me. I'll be okay." She smiled at him and he gave her a half-smile in return. She pushed him down the hallway, "Go see that girlfriend of yours. She's been waiting for you, you know."

She stayed at the door, watching as he shuffled off down the hallway. When she was sure he was finally leaving she entered her room and the door shut behind her. She turned to look into the dark room at her unfamiliar surroundings.

She had been in the bedroom before. When she had confronted her past life, she had spent one night down in the engine room and the next in that very bedroom on the MegaShip. The next day had been her failed attempt to enter the Dark Fortress and reprogram the asteroid headed for Earth. Instead she had been reprogrammed, turned against her family and new friends. Just as she had begun to settle in, she had been ripped away again. Evil had kidnapped her for a second time in her short life. Freedom had been snatched from her, forcing her to again try to remember who she was.

Remember who she was? That was a laugh! 'Karone' had ceased to exist on the day she had been kidnapped. 'Astronema' had lived the next 13 years of her life. And 'Astronema' had died that morning. Who was she now? Was she Karone? She couldn't be; Karone was a 4-year-old child. The woman standing there was seventeen. Could she bridge the gap between the child and woman? Did she want to? Did she want to become someone she didn't know, that she couldn't remember? On the other hand, she wasn't Astronema either. She had been an innocent child and the Queen of Evil, and now she was neither.

She wanted to do some serious thinking, to put things in perspective. She paced the room pensively before finally sitting down on the floor, crossing her legs and propping herself up against the walls in a corner. From there she had a clear view of the entire room, anything in it, and anyone who might enter it. And with the lights off, it also gave her the advantage of her seeing them, without them seeing her. It occurred to her that that was a rather defensive, wholly untrusting, and extremely paranoid way of thinking. She didn't need to think like that anymore. She was no longer the leader of the forces of evil. She was only a girl, trying to figure out who she was... and wishing that it was not something she needed to do alone.

Maybe she should quit pretending she was fine and talk to someone. Andros would have been the logical choice and she had just sent him away. Andros had his own problems to solve. Ashley and he had come just a few words away from losing it all. Obviously the word 'home' meant more than anyone had truly realized.

It had taken the MegaShip leaving without him for Andros to realize his home was with Ashley. He had not said it aloud; he had not had to. She could see it written all over his face as he turned his troubled eyes in hers and Zhane's direction, silently telling them what he had to do. And they had agreed.

After all, KO-35 wasn't home to Zhane either. From what she had been told, he had spent the last two years in stasis, trying to heal from fatal injuries inflicted by her former minions; injuries he had received sacrificing his life for her brother's. Where else would he go but with Andros?

And as for her... well, had she ever really had a home? She had been taken from her family at the age of 4. She had no true memories of her childhood home. The few things she knew about it were from Andros' stories. The only 'home' she had ever known was the Dark Fortress, and she didn't particularly wish to return to the deserted evil base. She had no family except for Andros, and no friends except for his. She could have stayed on KO-35 with the Rebels as they rebuilt the planet, but they were strangers to her. Actually, everyone was a stranger to her, including Andros. He was her own brother and she knew nothing about him other than he was one year older, and he had been her enemy up until that morning... up until he had killed her that is. After that, well, it really didn't matter who was whose enemy then. She shivered and once again tried to push her recent brush with her mortality out of her mind.

Every time she remembered the events of that morning she flashed back to the tightness in her chest, the freezing of her heart, her inability to breathe. It was a terrifying new feeling for her. She had been the all-powerful Queen of Evil. She had believed no one could harm her. And so she had never feared death... until it had claimed her. Her demise made her yearn for company, but her lack of identity caused her to seek out solitude. She felt she needed time alone to reconcile her past, present, and future, but alone was really the last thing she wanted to be.

She had been alone for as long as she could remember. Everything on the Dark Fortress was a monster or a machine of some sort. She was the only human, and in her position as leader, she had never had a reason to interact with other humans. They were just something to be crushed.

Yes, she had always been alone, and yet she had never noticed or cared. And then she had encountered the Silver Ranger, the cocky, over confident, show-off of a Silver Ranger. With one act of selfless kindness he had changed her world. She knew she was alone, and she didn't want to be that way any longer. So why was she hiding from him now?

Zhane had changed her life forever. She who had never known love in any form was suddenly faced with more than just a physical attraction, but an overwhelming emotional bond unlike anything she had ever experienced. He had broken through to her somehow. He had reached the part of her untouched by her evil-upbringing; the part of her that felt something was missing in her life, though she didn't know what.

He had reached her and softened her heart. If not for him, she doubted Andros would have gotten through to her so quickly. Zhane had shown her that she was capable of feeling, of loving and of being loved. So when Andros came along and told her she was his sister, Karone, it didn't sound as far-fetched or as impossible as it once would have. She knew that her soul was tarnished, but not all bad, that she could truly be good at heart.

But whatever magical connection that had existed between Zhane and her, she was afraid she had killed it, just like she had killed the beautiful roses he had brought her. Leave it to the Queen of Evil to behave like a brat and not listen to his reasons for not showing up for their date. She had spurned his love, as her inexperience with emotions had left her wholly ignorant of the concept of forgiveness. She only knew retribution. She had been hurt, so she had hurt him in return.

And now she sat alone and scared, and wishing he was there. She would have given anything to turn back the clock and change that fateful day. So much might have been different then.

For far too long she had been at the center of the storm. She had fought her way up through the ranks of Dark Spectre's army, striving to prove that a mere human was worthy of the title of Queen of Evil. She had been her own sole supporter. She knew that she could only count on herself if something went wrong. Ecliptor had always been there for her in a pinch, but he was a robot, programmed for evil. She would always doubt when he might turn on her, poisoning Dark Spectre against her. Being on the side of evil taught you to always expect the knife in the back. She had learned the hard way that she could rely on no one.

She had learned that there was no one to turn to, no comfort except for in one's own self. She had learned not to look elsewhere. And yet, in her identity crisis, part of her desperately sought that outside comfort.

As much as she sought it, she pushed it away just as fervently. She wanted Zhane to be there and tell her everything would be okay, and yet she wanted him, and everyone else, to stay away. They would just tell her that she was Karone, a person that she knew didn't exist. No one would understand her confusion. No one could understand it. And why should they? As far as they were concerned, she was Karone, and that was the end of it. But she knew better. She knew that she felt empty inside; a body without a soul, a face without a name.

She started to reach out for Zhane with her mind, using the mental powers that came naturally to all natives of KO-35. But she stopped herself, doubt getting the best of her again. Would he hear her if she called? Would he come? Did he care? She remembered fondly the scant time she and Zhane had spent together when she had been Astronema, and she treasured every moment. She was afraid that he no longer felt the same toward her, and she had no idea how to find out the truth.

She felt that only by herself could she realize who she really was. Only she could make that decision. But part of her really wanted someone to talk, desperately. Andros may have been the logical choice, but he wasn't whom she wanted. She sighed and remembered just that afternoon, when she had followed Zhane onto the MegaShip as Andros rushed to the bridge to find Ashley. She had wished then, as she had wished many times in the hours since her rebirth, that she had spoken to Zhane when she had had the chance... while they were alone. She had blown her chance. She had walked quietly beside Zhane, never getting up the nerve to say anything. She had smiled and peeked into the Bridge as he had made his joke about hitching a ride, knowing she had missed her opportunity when she saw Andros in Ashley's arms. If she had dared to speak up, she could have been in Zhane's arms. But she had remained silent, and still did so.

She knew how he had felt about Astronema. She was sure he had loved her, just as sure as she knew she loved him, and she had never felt such a thing before. But she wasn't Astronema any longer. Had his feelings only existed for the Queen of Evil? She was not the person he had fallen for, so did that mean that he didn't care for her, that he didn't love her? Would the one person that had tried to love her despite her evil ways, not care for her when she had no identity? Andros may have tried to love her, but he had loved her for Karone. Zhane had loved her as Astronema, with Wrath Staff, monsters, and all. Some part of her told her she was being silly, but she didn't know any better than to doubt. She wished for the comfort only he could give her, and feared that he could no longer give it.

She found it unsettling that so much of her identity had always depended on how others viewed her. She knew how Astronema should act based on how she had been raised in the ways of evil. And she had acted accordingly. Anything else might have been perceived as a sign of weakness on her part. She had always been fighting to prove herself worthy of her position. She knew that others' perceptions of her mattered, and her life and rank hung in the balance. Problem was, she had no idea how the girl she was now should act. Karone was a child, and she was a woman, with no real world experience in relationships, or even normal social interaction.

She sighed and shifted a little into a more comfortable position, resting her head on the wall. Things had been so much easier for Astronema. There was such freedom in being the Queen of Evil. Yes, she had been Dark Spectre's servant, but she had been free from caring, free from loving. If others hated or feared her, so much the better. Fear meant they would obey her, hatred just gave her one more challenge, one more enemy to destroy. That was one part of Astronema she wished she could bring with her. She missed that freedom.

She finally drifted into a troubled sleep there on the floor. The barrage of questions fighting for answers in her mind was just too much for her after such a tiring day. As she drifted off, her mind still sought its answers in her dreams. The events of that morning came spilling back, replaying in her mind with her starring again as Astronema. In her mind's defense, her sorceress' powers kicked in, but they only ended up turning her dream into a frightening reality. She started to relive it all, detail by horrible detail, knowing the eventual outcome of the events, and powerless to stop it. This time Zordon's sacrifice could not save her. Only she could, by waking up. But she was too deep into her own dream to even try. She tried to scream out mentally for help, but she could not break through. She started to relive her own death, knowing full well she would not come back this time.

As the Red Ranger entered the Bridge of the Dark Fortress, Astronema hid behind a pillar, curious as to what the Red Ranger would do. She witnessed his conversation with Zordon. The Eltarian told the Red Ranger to destroy him, as it was the only way to defeat the forces of evil. She watched the Red Ranger's unsuccessful attempt to destroy the being of good, and saw the Red Ranger slump to his knees, claiming that he would not destroy Zordon.

Oh, what an opening! She thought, it was just too good to pass up. She stepped from behind the pillar and asked, "How about if I destroy you?!", pointing her Wrath Staff at the Red Ranger. She so enjoyed the reaction of fear and surprise as he turned toward her. This would be fun.

He had shouted some name at her, but she paid it no mind. As he got to his feet, he tried to reason with her, something about remembering who she was. She knew who she was! She was Astronema, Queen of Evil! He had had the nerve to claim to be her brother! She didn't like that. And he still had his Spiral Sabre tightly gripped in his right hand. He was still armed. She liked that even less.

A bolt from her staff sent him hurtling back, Sabre dropped, his hand filled with pain. He held his hand and looked at her as she placed herself between him and Zordon. She had won, he could not stop her, and she told him so. He was back on his feet, still clutching his hand, still calling her that silly name.

The exact movements of the fight were a blur to her as they went back and forth across the Bridge. He was always on the defensive, refusing to attack; she was always attacking, forcing him to seek protection.

He tried to tell her she didn't know what she was doing. Of course she knew! She was killing the leader of the Power Rangers, and quite easily too! No more silly, demeaning titles like 'Princess'. No one was above her, no one stronger or more powerful. As she had told Zordon; she wasn't just evil, she was the Queen of Evil! And woe be to those who stood in her way. The Red Ranger would pay for thinking she was weak-willed enough to fall for his ridiculous lies. Yes, he would pay dearly... pay with his life.

Again he was on his feet. And again she swung her staff. This time when he grabbed at it, he would not let go. She tugged and pulled in total frustration, but his grip was too strong. He was still spouting off some nonsense to her about family and her own flesh and blood. She paused for only a moment, to make him believe he was getting through, and his grip on her staff eased slightly. It was enough.

"NO!!" she screamed, pushing him away with one hand. A swipe across his chest with her staff sent him flying.

Again he was on his feet. Infuriatingly, he refused to stay down. He continued to back away from her, making purely defensive moves only. She continued her attack, finally throwing him through a wall she had earlier slammed him against.

He lay on the floor before her, gripped with pain, helpless against her relentless assault. Had he really thought she would believe his lies? She secretly admired his courage for trying such a foolhardy plan, but she cursed his stupidity for sticking with it, even as it failed. She had hoped for more of a challenge when she destroyed the mighty leader of the Power Rangers. She thought him quite a disappointment, as he refused to fight her and could hardly defend himself against her.

She watched as he lay there, frantically scrambling away from her. She advanced slowly, raising her staff and building the charge within it. She wanted it to be strong, much more than what was needed to kill him. She wanted to watch him suffer; to watch as he died having failed in everything: saving KO-35, saving Earth, saving the galaxy, saving Zordon. She almost laughed; he couldn't even save himself. In her glee, she never saw his flirtive glance toward his sword, the Spiral Sabre. It lay just within reach of his right hand, exactly where it had been dropped early on in the fight.

"Good-bye "Brother"!!" she sneered and released the powerful bolt, its strength causing her to jump as it left her staff. Lightening fast his hand shot out and grabbed the Spiral Sabre. He held the small, drill-like sword in front of his body, hoping for the unlikely possibility that it might actually save him, hoping that he was holding it in just the right position to deflect the bolt harmlessly away.

It would, but he wasn't. It would save him, but he did not have it in just the right spot, it would not be deflected harmlessly away. She saw the bolt strike the Spiral Sabre and come rebounding back. She never had a chance. The bolt hit her square in the chest, and for a moment, everything seemed to freeze. Even with the power lost in being bounced around, the bolt was more than powerful enough to kill. And that's exactly what it did.

She felt an incredible fire lick through every nerve in her body simultaneously. Every muscle stiffened as her fingers locked in a true death grip on her staff. Her face held a look of quiet surprise and unspoken terror which she was sure was mirrored on the Red Ranger's face. He stared at her, disbelieving what he had done, even as she died before his eyes.

Then as quickly as it had started, it ended. Her stiffened muscles eased and laxed beyond their usual point of elasticity. Her heart no longer squeezed and pumped her blood. Her diaphragm no longer contracted to allow her lungs to draw breath. Her fingers continued to grip her staff even as her other muscles gave way. The weight of the staff pulled her arm down behind her at an odd angle. The tip of the staff hit the floor hard, finally wrenching it from her grasp. Her legs could no longer support her, as she dropped suddenly to her knees. In an instant her body's primary systems ceased to function, and one by one her senses followed suit.

The last thing she saw was the Red Ranger awkwardly regaining his footing as he began to rush, half running, half crawling, toward her, foolishly believing he could help her. Then her vision darkened, but her sightless eyes still stared at him accusingly. As her eyelids closed, her body slumped to the floor.

The last thing she heard was the Red Ranger... Andros... her brother... screaming her name over and over. And she knew it was her name. He had been telling the truth all along. The bolt had shorted out the reprogramming circuitry. For the briefest of moments she knew who she was.

Her last living thought was that she had tried to murder her own brother. And in self-defense, he had murdered her instead.

Astronema died on the floor of the Bridge of the Dark Fortress, never knowing she lay in her brother's arms as he cried over her.

As her life slipped away, the girl screamed.

The End