The End
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"So the Silver Ranger has awakened." The dark emperor rumbled in his deep voice. "Thus raising their available battle strength seven. Not precisely an auspicious number for us, my son."
"I know, father." Damien gazed up at the magnificent being before him. "If I had been able to retrieve the Yellow Ranger's morpher, or even keep her around, she might have become quite useful in time.
His father only waved a hand carelessly. "There will always be other times, my son. You will have to secure the heritage of our family line one day, but I think we would all be better served if that wasn't done through a Ranger's bloodline."
"Very true." Damien felt a mild sense of distaste; he had no real interest in any female, and never had. He didn't prefer males either; his entire life had simply been focused on learning combat skills. Romance and procreation wasn't in his syllabus. "I think we can wait however."
"Very true." Dark Spectre nodded in agreement. He hadn't much enjoyed dallying with the human woman he'd had to in order to produce Damien, but he had done what he had to do.
Damien snickered softly, thinking. "You know, Father, the humans have this thing they call 'soulmating'. I've read about it in my research. Wouldn't it be so much fun if I had one...and it turned out to be one of those pesky Power brats?" He smirked. "Just imagine all the fun I could have playing with her mind and heart..."
His father approved. "You are truly my son, Damien." The evil emperor had seldom been prouder of his offspring. He was glad he had chosen to claim and acknowledge him, and not go elsewhere for an heir, as Darkonda had so urged him all those years ago. I wonder where that bounty hunter is, anyway. I haven't seen him since he delivered Damien to me. Ah, he's probably holed up in some seedy tavern somewhere trying to bargain for his next meal.
"I know, father." Damien's dark smile was just as corrupt and evil as Dark Spectre's. For a moment he wondered just how it had been that someone as large and powerful as his father had produced a son that was effectively so small and weak. Then he put the thought out of his head, as he had so many times before. It was all his mother's fault. He felt a spurt of anger towards her, and controlled it. Emotions were weakness, and he was never permitted weakness. "How goes the draining of Zordon, by the way?"
"Without a problem." Dark Spectre chuckled. "You have been keeping the Rangers so busy chasing their own tails that they haven't been able to make the slightest bit of progress at finding him, so everything is going quite well. I have never felt this powerful before."
Damien nodded; he knew for his father, that was saying a lot. Dark Spectre was over three hundred thousand years old, and had been steadily growing in power since the beginning. That reminds me, his birthday's coming up soon. I wonder if the severed heads of the Power Rangers would be a nice enough present. No, he's already got some of those. I'll have to think of something unique.
"I must go now, son," Spectre enjoyed spending what quality family time he could, but he also had a very vast empire to oversee. "Be careful in what you do with the Rangers. They've been falling for your tricks and traps so far, but they could change direction at any moment, leave Earth to it's own devices and hunt down their mentor."
His son smiled, a cold and crafty sight. "I know, Father. But I don't think they will. They're too attached to Earth for some silly reason." He shrugged, toying briefly with a long, thin-bladed dagger in one hand. "I think I might harass the Yellow Ranger a little more. I don't really want her for a permanent plaything, but it might be amusing to play with her anyway. Just imagine the pain that would cause the Silver Ranger!" He barked out a cold spurt of laughter, thinking of how close Ashley and Andros had seemed in the last week. He would do almost anything to annoy that thrice-blasted Silver Ranger, who should have been dead two years earlier.
"Do as seems best to you," his father advised. "But don't forget, your primary task is keeping the Rangers away from me and my draining of Zordon."
Damien stood up and bowed low and respectfully. "As you command, Father." His father vanished, and Damien's twisted smile returned. "And as will amuse me the most."
"T.J.?" a lazy, sultry voice spoke from behind him and a hand landed on his shoulder. "Is something wrong? You can't possibly be having second thoughts about what we're doing."
He shook his head. "No, of course not, Divatox. I just would like to know when we're going to be attacking the Rangers." His eyes sparked crimson for a moment as he put his arm around her bare shoulders. "I know how happy that would make you."
"Mmmm, yes," Divatox wiggled a little against him, enjoying the sensation of flesh on flesh. It had been quite some time since she'd ever experienced something like this, and she was enjoying it. Actual caring touches between two living beings...she wondered somewhere in the back of her mind if this was what two humans who were in actual love felt like towards each other.
With effort she jerked her mind back to what T.J. had said. She had, after all, had a real purpose in what she'd done to him and the others. Showing up that little twit Damien. She considered her options. "I don't think I want you all fighting with the Astro Rangers just yet."
"You don't?" T.J. was confused. Wasn't that why they'd been made Rangers again in the first place?
"Not yet." Divatox felt a plan slowly forming and smiled. "I want to make Damien look bad. Very bad. Dark Spectre will learn a few manners." Her own eyes glowed purple at the memory of how harshly she'd been dismissed by the Emperor of Evil. She would have gladly given up T.J. and Rocky and all the other playthings that she'd kept just for one moment with someone like him...Oh, who am I kidding, I was in it for the power.
Her current plaything looked faintly confused. "My queen, just what is it that you want us to do?"
"I'll tell you when it's time." She leaned against his shoulder for a moment, letting the idea slide back into the recesses of her mind. Something far more important was starting to stir within her, something she'd never experienced before. "We have other things to do until then, my dear T.J. My dark Red Ranger." She ran her fingers across his broad back lightly. "Unless of course you'd like to do...something else?"
T.J. turned slightly, his arms going around her as he did so, and bent to place a light kiss on her lips. "I think I can think of a few things for us to do, my lovely queen." He picked her up as if she were as light as a feather and carried her to the wide bed only a short distance away. "I think there are many things that we could be doing until duty calls."
Later...much later...Divatox lay awake, with T.J.'s. arms around her and the sound of gentle breathing in her ears. A faint smile curled her lips, one of contentment and peace, two emotions she had never known for more than an hour or two at the time. It's so much nicer now that he's evil...I only tie him down when we both want it like that. And the things he can do... Despite having experienced them nightly for a week, she was still amazed by his skill, the more so because she had taught it all to him.
Slowly she ran her fingers across his bald head and smiled. She'd permitted him to keep his head shaved; she'd always liked that look on him anyway. T.J. just didn't look right with hair. She cuddled a bit more into him and sighed. Things were turning around for her, she could feel it. She had a lover who was incredible, a team of Rangers who were going to put her right back on top of the evil heap, and if things went right, she would not only be rid of Damien, but of his lava-crusted father as well.
"It's so good to be Queen," she murmured to herself. "Queen of the universe..."
Carlos had definitely noticed the change more than any of them. Since their arrival on the MegaShip months earlier, he had seldom been able to take his eyes off Karone. He did his best to keep it a secret, since she obviously wasn't interested, but with first Cassie and the Phantom, and now Ashley and Andros almost literally hanging off each other, he was starting to realize in far more detail his own depressing lack of a social life.
He forked pancakes into his mouth by rote, his real thoughts on things that were to him, far more important. Saving the world had been far more important than school work when they'd left, but now they had started to reapply themselves. They hadn't revealed who they were, but with some careful juggling of data and a few other things, he and the other Earth Rangers now took classes via e-mail. I wonder when that book report's due...I wonder if Karone's ever read War of the Worlds...
It was getting to be an obsession. And he did not like it. Karone was a beautiful woman, very definitely his type, but she was about as interested in him as he was in...Ashley! Not that there wasn't an attraction there once... It had burned out before they'd become Turbo Rangers, though.
He remembered a conversation he'd had with T.J., not all that long after the Phantom Ranger had left, and taken Cassie's heart with him. The then-Red Ranger had told him honestly that he'd once thought of Cassie as more than a friend. But when she had fallen so hard for the Phantom Ranger, and mourned him so much when he left...then he had known it was never meant to be.
"All you can do then is just suck it up and go on with your life. Trying to make someone love you when they love someone else only makes everyone hurt."
For a moment Carlos' hand trembled on his fork as he wondered where and what his old friend was doing now. He tried not to think of what Divatox had to be doing to him. But had she kept him? Or had she gotten bored and gotten rid of him somehow? Karone had told them that there was a very good price out for all former or current Power Rangers, and one who'd been through captivity with Divatox, especially a male one, would bring in nearly double that.
"Carlos?" He looked up at the calling of his name to see Cassie looking at him with worry in her dark eyes. "You okay, you look a little out of it. Did you sleep all right?"
He blinked a little, trying his best to clear his thoughts of his eyes so no one could tell. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his thoughts or his worries over their friend, but they all had enough to do without worrying even more. The most they could do was just hope that they ran into Divatox long enough to be able to take T.J. back from her without causing too much damage.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He grinned his usual grin at them, making sure not to spend too much time looking at Karone. "So what are we going to do today?"
"You are going to be doing the dishes." The Phantom grinned mischievously at him as everyone started to get up. "Because in case you didn't notice, it's your turn."
"Hey, wait a second!" Before he could do much more than that in protest, everyone scattered through the various doors, Cassie and Phantom heading for the Simudeck, it looked like, with Ashley and Andros off to...wherever it was they went when they wanted to be alone. There were things he didn't ask. Justin and Karone were obviously headed for the bridge; they had first watch today. He sighed and stared down at the piles of dirty dishes. If this was the life of a Power Ranger...he'd been grossly deceived.
He tossed his hair back, letting it ripple and grow til nearly waist length, turning silver-white as it did. That was much better. He didn't even bother to check it in the mirror; he knew he was fantastic. Father wants me to produce an heir someday. Bah. Annoying as it is, he's right. For a moment he toyed with the thought once more of locating a consort. He dismissed the Rangers and ex-Rangers right out of hand. Why bother having one that you had to keep chained down half the time?
Maybe there would be someone suitable on Earth or in the entourage of one of their allied empires. No, Earthlings were too annoyingly self-centered; they all thought that they were the only intelligent life form in the universe. In his opinion, they weren't even sentient. Just little bugs running around doing little errands and thinking they actually made a difference in the universe.
And the allies aren't much different. They do think they're the only intelligent life, and they all think they're the ones to rule over it all. He'd heard all the things they'd called themselves. Rita Replusa and Lord Zedd had named themselves Queen and Emperor of the Universe many times. The Universe didn't appear to know or care about this. The Machine Empire thought it was such hot stuff since it wasn't organic. A couple of good rust spells, and they'd be of less use than an Earth toaster in no time. Divatox...
His mind drifted to a halt at the thought of the Pirate Queen. She was useful on occasion, and she had almost been kin; his uncle Maligore had wanted to marry her, or so he'd heard. Then Uncle got himself toasted by the Power Rangers. What a joke.
Ever since then she'd been nothing but a pathetic lust-filled hag, greedily reaching after more and more and winding up with less and less. Oh, yes, she had that ex-Turbo Ranger, but really...how satisfying could playing with just one of them be? I have a team of seven I want to amuse myself with... His eyes glinted for a moment as he thought of them all. He could torment the Yellow Ranger with memories of what they'd had...it would be quite amusing to see what effect that would have on her disgustingly perfect relationship with the Silver Ranger. Just the thought of that two-toned, seemingly unkillable freak made his blood boil.
I'm going to kill him. Damien decided firmly, flicking a switch and bringing an image of the Silver Ranger up on the screen. Andros of KO-35. Dark Spectre's son curled his lip in disgust. What kind of a person goes by the name Andros. There was nothing to incite fear in the hearts of those who heard it. It was...nothing. Pale. Pallid. Weak. Just like him. He smirked slowly as he flicked another switch, and the image of Ashley Hammond joined that of her annoying boyfriend and soulmate. Hurt one and I hurt the other.
With that thought, he recalled something else he heard. Another couple of motions brought up the Phantom Ranger and the Pink Ranger. His eyes darkened as he nodded slowly. Yet another soulbond. The Blue Ranger is too young for such a thing to have manifested, and Karone's too much of a stone-cold bitch to even care if she has one. But... A final flick brought up the last of the group that was of interest: the Black Ranger. Damien smiled slowly and darkly. The ultimate weak link.
A couple of swiftly typed commands were all he needed to do, then the computers were off searching for every scrap of information on soulmates and the Black Ranger he could possibly find. This could very well be a most interesting little scheme.
They fight so well together. She was proud of them for that more than anything. And proud of herself; she had effectively done Zordon one better. A group of disparate individuals, some of whom knew each other very well, some of whom had barely met, not all highly skilled in the martial arts, but with a great willingness to learn, had been honed into a fighting force that would catapult her to the victory she longed for.
Her eyes tracked T.J. for a few moments, and she let her lips curve slowly into a smile. He had not lost one bit of his edge during the months before she had granted his powers back to him. His muscles still moved with the clean precision of youth and vigor and the Power, and he was obviously having as much fun crushing this place as he had defeating her Piranatrons in the old days.
She barely noticed the others, beyond the fact that they were doing well. T.J. kept her attention. She had noticed that about herself recently. No matter what was going on, when nothing else more important had her occupied, her eyes and thoughts always drifted to her Red Ranger. Not just to how good he was in bed, but to the way the light reflected off that head, to the way he moved when he walked, to the sound of his voice, like the sweetest of music to her ears. To how he saw things, to his opinions, sometimes different from hers, sometimes the same. Sometimes, she missed when he'd argued with her, before she'd enspelled him. He made her feel odd things when he was near, be he good or be he evil. I haven't ever felt like this before. I wonder what it is.
If she didn't hate her mother so much, she probably would've asked her about it. But, she reasoned to herself, it was more than likely nothing, really. Just physical attraction. Then why am I not thinking about his body and am thinking about his mind? His..his soul? She had no answers to those questions.
Divatox had never been in love before. She had never experienced the tender emotions that came with caring for someone else more than you did for yourself. If she had, even once, she might've recognized the feeling welling up in her heart. As it was, she was forced to struggle through it all alone.
She raked her eyes once again across T.J., and smiled. I wonder if he'd like to have dinner in my chambers tonight. He had generally always eaten with her, but the plans she had in mind were far more in the line of candlelight and soft music than anything else just now. She knew he wouldn't turn her down, but for a moment, she wondered what would happen if he could ...or did.
"Divatox!" The sudden sharp voice rippled through the air as Dark Spectre appeared before her. Her heart went cold at the sight of him. What does he want?
"Yes, my lord?" her voice held nothing but servility and concealed all the contempt she had for his overblown pompous wind...er..firebag.
The evil emperor looked down from his lofty height on her servants, who hadn't stopped in their onslaught. "I see you have claimed a team of Rangers. I had thought the Turbo powers destroyed."
"I had Porto make these, using the nearly defunct Red Key as the base," she explained quickly. "Aren't they magnificent?"
"Indeed." Dark Spectre would have been purring if he could. "An excellent gift for my son."
Divatox went cold. "Dark Spectre? Your Majesty?"
"I am going to take these Rangers to Damien." The lava-encrusted emperor declared, his eyes glowing faintly. Divatox felt herself crumbling inside at the words. "He could use them to distract the Astro Rangers. Inform them, Divatox."
Trembling within from rage, she motioned briefly, knowing her warriors would see it. "Dark Turbo Rangers," the words were controlled and frozen as always. "Dark Spectre has chosen you to serve his son, Prince Damien. Go with him and obey his commands as you would mine."
With that spoken, she teleported immediately back to the SpaceBase. She couldn't bear to look at any of them now: especially T.J. They trusted me and I destroyed it. Yes, I made them trust me, it was part of the spell, but still...ohh, T.J...
For the first time in her memory, Divatox cried herself to sleep.
She would die before she let that happen, however. She had not been able to prevent the capture of Zordon, nor to effect his release, and in the months since their brief mental contact on the Cimmerian planet, she had begun to wonder if anyone would ever free him.
If it is meant to be, it will happen, Dimitria. The voice touched her mind with all the strength and power it had ever had and if she had been less composed and less of an Inquirian sorceress, her eyes very well might have bugged out of her head in shock.
Zordon??? She immediately reached back to touch his mind in return. In all these months, she had never tried to contact him, lest Dark Spectre's minions, or the evil one himself, get hold of her mind. She trusted that would not happen this time, however. Are you all right? What's going on? She reflected briefly she sounded quite a bit like those Rangers she had once mentored.
His response, so calm and controlled, made her remember old days and old celebrations together, when the most they had to worry about was a minor attack by whatever the minions of whatever evil they were facing together were. I am currently in the 'company' of Rita and Zedd. I truly had no idea how much they could bicker over the smallest of things. I was raised not to eavesdrop...but that is not easy when their screeching could penetrate the very walls of the multiverse itself.
She wanted to laugh for a moment. Only Zordon, that proud, strong, incredibly brave person, could find humor in something like this. We're all worried about you. Are there any messages you wish me to send to anyone? She didn't even bother asking if he were going to try to escape. He had already told her that things would fall out as they had to with his freedom. Therefore, unless it were part of this grand plan he knew about and virtually no one else didn't, he wouldn't say anything.
Not at the moment. I simply wished to see how it has been with you, Dimitria. It has been quite some time. In his mental voice was all the love and compassion they had shared for one another in the old days, and still did. She remembered endless nights of bliss they had spent together, and all the grief she had wailed out to the uncaring stars when Rita Repulsa had locked him into the timewarp.
I miss you too, Zordon. To any of her old students hearing her, she would have sounded far more human than she ever had to them. She had practiced a distant manner with them, as she had ever since Zordon's long-gone banishment to the timewarp, mainly as a defense against the emotions she knew she was prey too. I've missed you since ...well....
He understood. He had always understood so easily, so much. It was part of why she loved him with all her heart and soul. I cannot say if the day will come when we are together again, my flower. But if it does...
The sentence was unfinished, but she knew how to end it. As they always had, and always would. If it does, when it does, we will never again be apart. She would always regret that when he had been freed from his time warp by Lerigot, the only person who could properly mentor his Terran students had been her. She had wanted time with him, time to tell him. . .but there would never be time now until he was freed from his captivity. She felt his love and his warmth surrounding her, and returned it with everything in her soul. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that someday, they would be together someday.
Be it in life or in death.
Damien was going to enjoy having these fighters to order around, he knew. His son was loyal to the bone, having been raised, trained, and taught that way. No magic had been involved in his cementing his son to the side of darkness, most of it had been taken up by ensuring that Damien remembered nothing of his past before coming to serve him.
If he knew the true reason that he has no memory, would he hate me? Dark Spectre truly had no idea, and truly cared even less. Love or hate were all the same to him, so long as Damien obeyed. The thought of his son's disobedience had been what had drawn him to claiming him from his mother.
He returned his gaze to the Dark Turbo Rangers, raking each of them with his mage-sight. He had to know if any of them were soulbonded to another; that form of link could cause trouble if not properly dealt with. Soulbonds couldn't be severed, but they could be buried if one knew the proper spells. Dark Spectre had written those spells.
He also very nearly lost his jaw when he saw that all five of the Rangers before him were soulbonded. This is madness! I have never before seen.... His thoughts jammed to a halt before he finished as he remembered something. The Power sees to it that all Rangers have a soulmate somewhere. It is part of their reward for serving 'The Powers Of Light'.
The evil Emperor glanced more carefully at the five of them, tracing where each soulmate bond went. This must be the greatest coincidence since the dawn of time! Though when he reviewed how each of their lives had went prior to meeting their soulmates, it did seem to make some form of weird sense.
Emily and Jason were soulmates, and at some level of their minds were aware of it as well. They had no desire to ever be with anyone else again. That would do nothing to harm Dark Spectre's plans; with careful management of their thoughts, he could arrange for them to believe that the only way they could be together would be for them to serve him and Damien. That was something he could accomplish with a flicker of his talons.
The same principle held true for Rocky and Kimberly. Both of them had been through tremendous emotional damage, most of which was hidden from the world at large behind smiling faces and cheery, bubbling personalities. The bond, though not sentient, was going to help each of them heal if they were given the time and chance. They can have that time and chance in between battles, Dark Spectre decided. He didn't need Rangers with incapacitating emotional wounds.
It was the last that was the most interesting, however, and that had truly gone the farthest towards pushing his believability. He could sense that T.J.'s other was someone special, but just who it was, he didn't know yet. He gazed long at T.J. Johnson, trying to figure out just what it was that would cause him to have a soulmate like he did. It only took a moment to figure out that it was going to take much more time than he had allotted to this to discover that. He had seldom encountered something of this nature or magnitude, but the few times he had, had convinced him there were things that it were best even he did not know.
His large eyes widened just slightly as he traced the soulmate bond and discovered who was destined to be with him. If it were possible, his jaw would have dropped down to his ankles in pure shock. T.J. Johnson is soulmated to Divatox??
I still miss him. Gods, it hurts to look at Ashley and Andros, then at Cassie and Phantom, and all those other couples I see every time we go to Earth or any other planet with sentient life on it, and I get reminded each and every time that my soulmate is dead!
Tears, hot and burning, splashed onto the table, and she ignored them. Only when they threatened in the presence of others did she block them, but now she was alone, and now she gave vent to the storm of emotions within her. "Oh, Zhane..." she whispered softly. "I love you so much....and I will never know you as a man...as anything we were meant to be together."
She never knew how long she had cried before strong hands landed on her shoulders. There were only two people who could've gotten that close to her without her knowing it, and one of them wasn't there just then, and never would be. She leaned back against her brother, and continued to cry. "Andros....I miss him...I'll always miss him..."
"It's all right, Karone," the Silver Ranger whispered softly. "I understand. Remember how miserable I was back before the battle? Before I knew there was such a person as Ashley Hammond in the world?"
Karone twisted around to deliver a deathly glare to her brother, then sighed. "Yeah. But at least you did find her one day. You didn't know who she was, but you knew that your heart belonged to someone. My someone is gone forever."
"I know." He touched her hand lightly and she felt the strength that had always existed between them, the bond that could never be broken, though it could and had been strained. I'm just worried, and sad. We've already lost Zordon to Dark Spectre, and we haven't been able to find him in all these months. Every time we get close to him, Damien gets in the way. I know he's just a distraction, but we have to protect Earth. This can't last forever.
It won't. His mind touched her easily. Everything's going to be fine, Karone. You worry too much.
Part of the job description. I am the leader, no matter how much it gets on my nerves at times. You should try it sometime. Her lips quirked just a little at that. Andros had never believed himself to be cut out for leader duty, which was one reason he was the Silver Ranger and not the Red. He far more preferred supporting his sister and just being a fighter to anything else.
Andros chuckled a little. No, I don't think so. But there's a fine line between worrying over your team and worrying too much. Relax. Trust me. Do you think I'd let anything happen to my friends? Or to my dearest and best sister?
Flatterer. Karone grinned mischievously. I'm your only sister.
Doesn't mean it's not true.
She smiled softly, then stretched a little. "I'm going to the workout room. I've got some tension to work off, and I think tearing a few holographic versions of Damien apart should do nicely. What about you?"
"I think I'm going to see how Ashley's doing," Andros decided. "She's been kind of jumpy ever since we got her back from Damien. I'd like to spend some more time with my soulmate, anyway." He grinned. "Maybe she can show me some more things about Earth."
Karone's sapphire eyes twinkled. "Maybe some Earth dating rituals?" she teased her brother, who turned redder than the shirt she was wearing. "You two behave yourselves. The last thing we need is to have you two running off half-dressed to morph."
As she swept out of the room, she was treated to the rare sight of Andros sputtering and turning deep purple with mixed rage, humor, and embarrassment. She made a note: do that more often, it was rather amusing.
She certainly understood why it had been avoided by so many minions of evil for so long. Love destroyed the edge of evil, weakened it and crushed it into oblivion. Love was the ultimate weakness: and the ultimate addiction.
The pirate queen wanted more of this love stuff. It hurt, yes, but that was because the person she loved wasn't with her. It was really very simple. Be with T.J., be in love, no pain. Be without T.J., but still in love, lots of pain. Pain from not being with him and pain from having to keep it a secret. Not to mention pain from knowing that if the Rangers went up against the Dark Turbo Rangers, the odds are about right for her Rangers to not only get their butts handed to them, but their spells broken, and fast. And if his spell were gone...he would hate her.
So what was she going to do about it; that was the next question. Did she just sit around here and mope, waiting to see her prized creations...and the person she wanted more than anything..stolen from the side of evil by the side of good? They were already stolen from me once, I don't think I could stand to see it again.
It did seem rather inevitable, though. Evil Rangers never stayed that way. She'd been more or less reconciled to the fact her Dark Turbos would somehow be freed from her control, but had hoped by the time it happened, they'd be so thoroughly corrupted, preferably a few centuries in the future, even with the spell-breaking they wouldn't care. Or at least he wouldn't care. She could abandon the others if she had to, and it would cause very little wrenching pain. The thought of losing him permanently tore her up all over again inside.
What was she going to do? If she did nothing, then she would lose T.J. forever; once he was good again, he wouldn't even consider having a relationship with someone like her, much less with her. In fact, once the spell was broken on him, she fully expected him to head for the nearest shrink to get counseling for all that she had done to him. Then I've lost him no matter what. Divatox felt herself dying inside as she realized that. She could never regain him from Damien, if she even tried, then Dark Spectre could view that as treachery if he wanted, and would destroy her.
I have to do something for him. I can't let Damien keep them... She knew that the Rangers would free them...if they could. The particular spell she'd used wasn't one of the common controlling ones, she'd researched it specifically to keep it from being broken too easily. I don't know how much information on spellbreaking they have, and I can't exactly ask them.
She leaped from her chair and started to pace back and forth in her chambers, her mind working hard. She hadn't wanted to lose T.J., but the simple fact was, she already had. And since she didn't have him...could anyone else have him? She didn't think she was that possessive...but did it really matter?
As she toyed with her thoughts, something exploded in on her mind, something that very nearly sent her reeling. No. I can't do that. I'd be destroyed if I did...destroyed by Dark Spectre...in the most painful way he can imagine, and I know how his imagination works. She gripped the back of her throne with long fingers, trying to grasp all the implications of what had occurred to her. If she did it...if it worked flawlessly, she might make it through in one piece, if done the right way. But if so much as one thing went wrong, if the wrong people discovered it...then she was worse than dead.
Perhaps it was that which decided her. Perhaps it wasn't. But slowly, she came to the conclusion that the only way she could do what was truly best for T.J., what she really wanted to do for him....was to help the Power Rangers.
But this was definitely worth the shock. His eyes glowed faintly as he gazed at the five before him, each silent in their armor, each a deadly machine. Part of him wished he'd done this for himself instead of having them handed to him, but he wasn't going to look a gift Quantron in the source programming. My own Rangers. And it's not even my birthday!
"Excellent." He practically purred the word out as he stared at them. Five trained fighters, or at least powered fights. "You will serve me well in my conquest of the Rangers."
"We exist only to serve you, my lord." The Red Turbo spoke in a monotone, and Damien nodded with pleasure. "What are your commands?"
The evil prince smiled, then summoned up an image of Earth. "The Rangers are planning on leaving Earth again for more searching for Zordon." He smirked mentally; he knew that they'd not get that far, not if he could do anything about it. Perhaps he would set up some false clues and hints to lead them off in several wrong directions. It would be quite amusing to see them running around like the Terran proverbial 'chickens with their heads cut off'. The most amusing part was that even when they knew that he was capable of doing this, they couldn't take the chance of any of the 'clues' he left being something accurate.
If they were intelligent, they'd just abandon Earth and concentrate on finding their mentor. One small loss for a greater gain, if they just thought like sentient beings instead of ...well, whatever it is they are. None of the usual insults seemed quite enough. They were so focused on defending one planet they were forgetting that the rest of the universe was falling to the forces of evil. That will be their downfall and our victory. He reminded himself with a mental smirk. And once they were all defeated...his mind provided all manner of amusing fantasies to deal with his enemies.
With a shake, he brought himself back to what was important at the moment. "Before they can do that, I want you to attack Angel Grove, their dear old hometown." His voice filled with rich mocking. "They'll outnumber you, there's seven of them and only five of you. Use every dirty trick you've got, and then some." His eyes glowed a brilliant violet and the smile, if the expression could be said to be one, was positively demonic.
"As you command, my lord." Red Turbo seemed to be the leader, and Damien nodded briefly.
"Go....and if you should happen to see the Yellow Ranger...let her know that I have some interesting plans for her." Damien chuckled as his warriors teleported away. And now to finish the spell. This could take a while.
He glanced up as a shadow moved into the room, and Ecliptor joined him. "You have a team of Rangers?" his trainer asked in that soft voice of his. "I did not know this."
"They're from my father, apparently Divatox gathered them up first," Damien told him. "He liked the way they performed, so he commandeered them and gave them to me."
Ecliptor nodded slowly. "And I presume you have sent them to do battle on Earth?" That was rather a silly question, but he'd wanted to be sure.
"What other reason would evil Rangers exist for?" Damien gave him a curious look; that sort of thing was practically demanded by all evil ones everywhere! "And just what have you been up to, Ecliptor?"
"Taking care of personal business, my lord. What is that you have been doing?" Ecliptor's eyes were on the notations before the dark prince.
Damien's eyes glittered coldly as he looked back down. "These humans are so obsessed with finding 'true love' that I'm going to use that desire to ..." He paused smirking. "You'll see, Ecliptor. I wouldn't want to spoil it ahead of time. But there's something I need you to do for me in this fight."
"I am yours to command."
The thought wasn't a comfortable one. It was easy to kill in simulation. Easy to know that these things were just computer imagery. But to be on the battlefield, to be facing living beings and not constructs of magic or robots...that wasn't something that could easily be done and still sleep at night. Not for the kind of people who became Rangers, at least.
She tried not to think of the legends. Of Rangers who had killed and become addicted to the killing. Who had abandoned their oath to their worlds and slaughtered indiscriminately. It made her sick even to let the thought consider passing through her mind. She wasn't going to become one of those. She refused.
How would Zhane have dealt with this, she wondered? How would he have handled Damien and his father? With a grin and a wave of whatever weapon was handy, she knew. That was his answer to everything. They'd been so young and she still remembered every line of his face...It's pathetic. It's a soulbond. And it's something I'll never fully know.
"Karone?" It was Carlos. The Black Ranger was looking at her with a faintly worried expression on his face. She hoped there wasn't more trouble; the last thing they needed at the moment was something else coming to bite them on the rear.
"What is it?" She glanced briefly to one side as she answered. "DECA, end program." As the room returned to it's normal neutral state, she came over to the door where her teammate was watching. "Is something wrong?"
The Hispanic Ranger shook his head. "No, you were just looking so serious and sad." He hesitated for a moment. "Are you all right?"
She was about to tell him she was fine, that nothing was the matter. Something in the kind gleam in his eyes, the sense that whatever it was, he'd listen, and not judge, made her say something that wasn't at all like she was used to saying to him. "Not really, Carlos." A lifted eyebrow was the response, and a wordless request for more. "I don't know if I can do what I might have to in order to stop Damien. What if the only way we can stop them is to kill them? Rangers aren't supposed to kill. Not if we can help it."
Carlos looked at her for a moment, weighing what she said. His response struck home in her. "You already answered yourself. Rangers aren't supposed to kill, if we can help it. But if there is no other way...if by killing them we can save more lives than you or I either one can imagine."
She thought about that. Rangers save lives. That's what we've always done. But maybe in this one case, to save lives...we might have to take them. She looked over at Carlos. Until he had come into space, he'd barely been out of his own country, much less off his planet. And he had just shown her a way to deal with something she'd been fighting with for months now, in just a couple of moments. I was staring so hard at the answer I skipped right over it.
Her lips curved into a silent smile, then she met Carlos' dark eyes once more. "You're right. Thanks." She started out of the Simudeck when he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Any time, Karone." He smiled just a little. "Hey, if you're not too busy this weekend...think we could go---"
His words were cut off suddenly as a klaxon began to blare, and DECA's voice rose over it. "There is an attack in Angel Grove. All Rangers report to the bridge at once. I repeat, there is an attack in Angel Grove."
Karone started towards the bridge as fast as she could move, and Carlos sighed momentarily. Whatever this monster is, it has rotten timing. Then, he, too, headed off to do what he did best.
Red. Gold. Silver. Purple. Black. Each one deadly, each one obviously evil, and each one of them bent on destroying the Turbo Rangers. Phantom shook his head slightly as he gazed on them from his spot between Cassie and Ashley. "I feared this would happen when T.J. was captured by Divatox. She has warped the energy of his Turbo Key into making Dark Turbo Rangers."
"We'll figure out how to save them later." Karone's voice was crisp and authoritative. "Right now, what we need to do is stop them."
The Dark Turbos were currently attacking the main square of Angel Grove, sending people running in all directions. It had been years since the attack of an evil Ranger, but old habits returned swiftly, and people got out of the way as fast as they could, trusting to the Rangers they had come to know over the last few months to save them.
"T.J." Cassie stared at the Red Ranger for a moment, then shook her head. This wasn't her friend. This was some spell-induced nightmare version of him, something that would make the real T.J. sick to his stomach once they broke the spell on him. And at least he's away from Divatox. We can figure out how she did this and why later.
With a battle cry erupting from Karone's throat, the seven Power Rangers ran into action. Karone and Carlos found themselves crossing blades with the Gold Turbo Ranger, who was obviously built under his uniform. Phantom and Cassie teamed up against the Silver Turbo Ranger, who had a feminine form and looked to be the least skilled in fighting. Justin and the Purple Turbo Ranger seemed to be about evenly matched, though his skill was a trifle more honed than hers. Ashley and Andros were going up against Red Turbo, who Ashley knew had to be T.J. It looked to be a decent fight, though who would win, neither side could tell just yet.
Karone had never seriously fought another Ranger in her life. The closest she had ever come was sparring with the others in various sessions. Evil Rangers were so few and far between that they'd taken on the dimensions of legends at times. And these five were definitely living up to the dark tales of their predecessors.
They refused to be separated, no matter how hard the Astro Rangers tried. They stuck together, back to back, with Red Turbo calling out orders like a general. "Up!" His voice cracked, and the five of them leaped up and over the seven Rangers, landing behind them to deliver stunning blows. It was almost as if they were fighting one mind with five bodies to land blows of such near perfect timing.
"This isn't going so well." The battle had lasted five minutes, and the Astro Rangers each felt as if they'd been there for about five hours. The Power did what it could, but when these Rangers had been made, they'd been made well. Karone tried to catch her breath, her eyes dark worried behind her scarlet helmet. She would not withdraw, she would not pull her team off from these....these...fakes.
"You are going to regret ever choosing to be a Ranger." Red Turbo's voice was flat and uncompromising as he and his team stalked towards the forces of good. His Lightning Sword was in one hand, and the way he moved indicated he meant full business.
Andros narrowed his eyes. Karone, if we can take him down, the others might withdraw. We don't need to take him out, just make him back up enough. Starburst formation.
Think we can do it?
How many choices do we have?
There was no real answer to that, so she quickly glanced at the rest of the team, murmuring just low enough for them to be the only ones who could hear her. "Carlos, Justin, Cassie. You three circle around to their backs as fast as you can. Phantom, Ashley, you get to their sides. Andros and I will take the front. This is something we call the Starburst formation and it generally works. When I give the word, attack with everything you've got on Red Turbo."
She could see hesitation flaring up from those who had been former Rangers. It was Carlos who spoke. "We'll do what we have to do...but let's hope we don't do what we don't have to."
No one had to ask what he meant by that.
At a barked command, the troops moved out. They could move with blinding speed when they had to or wanted to, and now was the time for both having to and wanting to. In a moment, they had the Dark Turbos bracketed. Karone didn't dare wait for them to have a chance to move out of this or figure out what the scheme was.
"Starburst!"
"Lunar Lance!" Carlos leaped forward, his weapon slashing into T.J.'s back.
"Astro Axe!" Justin didn't back down.
"Satellite Stunner!" Cassie took her turn blasting at her former leader.
"Star Slinger!" Ashley joined in, her strike landing at the same time as Phantom's nameless weapon.
"Super Silverizer!"
"Spiral Sabre!" Andros and Karone's weapons landed at the exact same moment.
Knocked from one side to the other by the attack, with the rest of the Dark Turbos taken by surprise, T.J. stumbled to one knee, breathing hard, trying to figure out what to do next. The spell that bound his mind was being shaken, though not loosened. He could feel something odd...a sensation like being teleported...
"Damn!!" Karone swore creatively, first in English, and when that deserted her, in several of the other languages she'd picked up over her travels. Someone, somehow, had teleported the Dark Turbos away.
What a battle this is. Ranger versus Ranger. He had never seen a fight like this before, and he knew that the recorders in his personal chambers would be recording it so he could watch it again and again. The Astro Rangers are doing well. Much better than I had thought they would when faced with their former leader.
He had never really thought that much about the Rangers, despite fighting them for four months now. He cared very little about them, except as enemies. It was Damien who was his concern, and by extension, his nemesis and annoyance the Red Ranger. The others were just...there.
Perhaps I should have paid more attention. As he watched them pull off the Starburst formation perfectly, his immobile face did the very best it could to smile. They were warriors, just as finely trained and just as dedicated to their cause as he was to his. Who knew, perhaps in some other realm of existence, they were even friends or allies.
That wasn't what he had to deal with right now, though. He was there to find out if the rumor he had heard was true. He was no longer certain just where he had heard it from, he just knew that it had come to his attention, and it was something he had to deal with. If it were true...if it were true, he really didn't know what he'd do. But he would figure out something.
His eyes touched each of them with mage-sight. He had only done this once before, and only for the female Rangers. It was blatantly obvious that the bonds between the Phantom and Pink Rangers, and the Silver and Yellow Rangers, were shining with strength and clarity, signs that the soulbonds were acknowledged and accepted by both halves. There was a faint shimmer of a connection around the Blue Ranger, which didn't surprise Ecliptor at all. It meant that though the youngest Ranger had a soulmate, he hadn't as yet met this person, or if he had, neither of them had fully acknowledged it yet.
Then he shifted his gaze over to the Red and Black Rangers. This was what he really wanted to know, for himself and for Damien. He felt a tickle of surprise at the Black Ranger. His soul wasn't exactly bound to another's...but from the way his aura was fluctuating whenever he so much as glanced in the general direction of the Red Ranger, his heart most definitely was. And that was something that had never yet been seen, to Ecliptor's knowledge.
As for the Red Ranger herself...the warrior would have almost expected this in a way. Well, expected half of it at least. The half he wasn't very surprised by was a soulbond. The half he was surprised by was the fact it was...darkened somehow. I don't think I've ever encountered a darkened soulbond. In the language of the spirit, that usually indicates evil of some kind, or at least neutrality. And for a Ranger to be soulbound to someone who is evil... That went beyond what had never been seen and into the realms of had never happened.
He'd discovered what he wanted to know, what Damien had wanted him to find out: that the Black Ranger had no soulbond to anyone. He wasn't all that certain at the moment what his prince was going to do with this information, but based on those few hints Damien had dropped, he had the idea his prince was going to be doing some toying around with the Black Ranger's emotions. Emotional sabotage can be a useful weapon, but a dangerous one. Ecliptor concentrated briefly, then teleported back to the Dark Fortress. He would do what he could to advise his prince, sometimes weapons fought back.
"You have done well for a beginning." he told them. It was thanks to the Power that Red Turbo had survived, but Damien didn't much care. They hadn't been defeated or taken from him. That was what mattered at the moment. "But there is much more that remains to be done."
The Red Turbo stepped forward. "What are your commands, master?" His voice was utterly dead. Damien knew the others had more life to them, and remembered what his father had told them about each. This was going to require some careful handling, something the dark prince wasn't really used to.
"Mordant!" Damien snapped for his servant, who popped up at once. "Escort my Rangers to their quarters. You can demorph and rest until I need you in battle again." He glanced at the two couples. "You four can do whatever it is you want to do. Just don't exhaust yourselves, you'll be fighting more than likely tomorrow."
Jason, Emily, Kim, and Rocky all nodded and followed Mordant. T.J. glanced at him with a faint tinge of curiosity showing in his eyes as his crimson armor faded away. "And what of me, my lord?"
"You are soulmated to Divatox." The statement was flat and uncompromising. T.J. nodded, completely unsurprised.
"I love her." The voice was just as flat as Damien's. "I loved her all the time we were fighting her with Dimitria and I never let myself be aware of it. Whenever I was with someone else, I always envisioned it to be her I was dating. I wanted her to stop being evil..." There was a bitter taste of mockery in his tone as he considered his own current circumstances. "I never once thought of turning to her side."
Damien's lips quirked momentarily. "I can't let you go to her, for now. She will still be unbalanced from my father taking you and the others from her, and until he can make certain she hasn't forgotten her place, it would not be good for you to be with her. Undue influences and all of that."
Red Turbo only shrugged. "Whatever His Majesty and you wish is what I will do, my lord." There was not a trace of reluctance in his voice. When Divatox had transferred ownership to Dark Spectre, the great evil lord could have removed the spell that bound them already, but that would have caused undue stress on their minds. Just having them serve him and Damien because she wanted them to was simple, effective, and saved a great deal of time and effort on everyone's part.
"Go to your quarters and rest," Damien ordered finally. "I know it won't be the same as having your soulmate, but if you please me enough, I'll see if I can find a temporary companion of some kind for you."
T.J. nodded briefly and headed towards the small room he had been given. Damien watched him go, a curious expression on his face. He had left many things unsaid. He wanted to ask what it was like to share part of your soul with someone else. Wanted to know if it weakened his connection to evil...though it couldn't in his case, really, since the bond was to someone who was evil. I wonder if I have a soulmate... The thought drifted through his mind, and he quickly squashed it. If he did have one, she was probably just as evil and vile as he was, so there wouldn't be any of this silly dancing around that he'd seen the humans deal with. But he wasn't going to bother himself with trying to find some mate that might not exist. He had enough to do keeping the Rangers away from any sign of Zordon.
I wonder if there's some girl he had a crush on while he was living on Earth that would do for a temporary playmate. Mind filled with ways to reward his new faithful servants, Damien headed for his own quarters. This was looking to be a most enjoyable situation.
"No kidding." Cassie carefully applied one of the Medical Bay's devices to an injury the Phantom had picked up, and watched as it started to melt away under her eyes. "I wonder who it was that sent them, anyway. It must have been Divatox, she has T.J."
Karone shrugged as she quickly checked herself over for injuries. "Don't be so quick to judge. The scanners picked up Ecliptor in the area, but he wasn't doing anything but watching. That could mean one of a dozen things.
"Great." Justin muttered acidly. "So what else is going to happen?"
Almost as if in answer to his question, DECA spoke up. "There is an incoming message for the Astro Rangers from a coded location."
Karone's eyes darkened briefly. "A coded location?" Normally that type of communication was sent only in times of need or if unusual amounts of secrecy were required. "Who's it from?"
"That information is not revealed." DECA almost sounded prime (did you want 'prime', or 'prim'?), and Karone rolled her eyes briefly. There were days when she really didn't like the artificial intelligence, and days when she knew they couldn't get along without her.
She glanced over at the others, seeing curiosity in every eye and face. "All right, DECA, let's hear whoever this is." With my luck, it's Damien, wanting to gloat about how we got our rears handed to us by those Rangers.
There was a flicker on one of the screens in the Medical Chamber, and then a face familiar to half the room appeared there. Divatox looked at them with what almost seemed to be nervousness radiating from her. "Rangers, before you say anything, the Dark Turbo Rangers are my creations, but I didn't send them. Dark Spectre took them from me and gave them to that bastard son of his. He's the one who sent them against you and they're probably lounging around the Dark Fortress now making plans for their next attack."
The seven Rangers stared, each in some form of open-mouthed shock. Karone recovered first. "And you're telling us this why?"
"Because I'm the one who first enspelled them and I doubt Dark Spectre would have changed them, it's too much of a strain on the human mind to do that. Which means I can break the spell: or provide someone else with the means to do it."
Ashley wasn't taking this at face value. "Why would you, though?" She remembered something she'd heard about what Divatox had been using T.J. for and frowned. "Because he took T.J. from you? Don't you usually just grab another bedmate when they leave?"
Whatever it was the Yellow Ranger might've been expecting in response, it wasn't what she got. "Because he took my love from me." The pirate looked down, for the first time looking ashamed of something. "And that is all you need to know Rangers. I'll give you the means to free the Dark Turbos, and what they do after that...is up to them."
She glanced up, the same fire and fury in her that had always been in her whenever they'd faced each other. "And if you want to be paid for it...." She reached out and flicked something out of sight. "Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster have just been released."
Justin's eyes almost bugged out. "What?"
"They're on Earth now. They're your payment for releasing the Dark Turbos." Divatox shrugged casually, as if this meant nothing at all to her. "If you want to free them, I'm transmitting the means to break the spell now." A small light began to flash as the transmission was received. "If you release them, tell T.J...." she faltered for a moment, then shook her head. "Tell him nothing." Without another word, her transmission ended, and the Rangers sat there staring at each other in shock.
"Definitely not what I was expecting." Carlos said finally. "Only one problem with this whole thing: she sent a spell. Anyone know how to work magic?"
The group glanced from one to the other, then Phantom cleared his throat briefly. "Before I became a Ranger, I studied a little sorcery with one of the mages of my homeworld." He said quietly. "I should be able to do this." He headed over to where the spell was laid out and started to study it. Karone took a quiet glance around, and in her eyes was all the hope that this would somehow work.
The bounty hunter looked perfectly calm and natural, as natural as someone as hideous as he was got at any rate. Dark Spectre didn't trust it. "What is it you want, Darkonda? Why have you returned to my court after all of these years?"
"Great lord, it is only proper that someone as powerful as you have someone in your court with my skills. Not only am I a skilled bounty hunter, but I am a warrior without equal." Darkonda's voice was pitched just right not to be annoying or pathetic. He sounded supremely confidant of what he was saying. The overlord was suspicious at once.
"I have many warriors without equal in my service." He replied dryly. "As well as a son who can and will destroy you if he feels it necessary...or if he's bored."
Darkonda didn't appear impressed or even disturbed. Damien's psychotic tendencies were well known, so Dark Spectre knew that wasn't news to him. He knows something I do not. This is not good. The hunter spoke. "I'm also capable of defending myself, against anyone, and I am a very excellent student of magic who is perhaps the equal of your talented offspring. I can bring you the Power Rangers on their knees if you wish, my lord. With no effort."
Dark Specter at once knew something was up. Darkonda was offering too much too soon. Keep him or drive him away? If he remains nearby, then that could be a weakness in my defenses, if he chooses to attempt to destroy me. If I send him away, I doubt he will side with the Rangers against me, but I won't be able to watch him as he schemes whatever he does.
The great monarch considered only for a moment. "Damien is in charge of dealing with the Rangers, and he will do so without anyone's aid beyond what I have given him for the moment. If he desires your company and your assistance, he will make that decision for himself. However, there are certain things I can use a being of your great talents for." Darkonda was not the only one who could heap praise where it was needed. "I offer you the position of Court Bounty Hunter, as well as performing whatever other tasks I might have that require your peculiar gifts. Do you accept?"
The hunter bowed low and compliantly as Dark Spectre nodded his head briefly in acceptance of the service. "It is to my honor that you have accepted me, my lord." He virtually purred the words out. "Is there some small task you might have that I can take care of for you?"
"There is something, but I don't know if you're quite the right one for it." The monarch said after some moments of deliberation. Cadence, timing of words, phrasing of sentences, all combined in the great dance of politics and power. When it might not be advisable to outright deny one's minions something, it could be more worthwhile to offer them something else.
"I assure you, my lord, whatever you have, great or small, I can deal with it far faster and more efficiently than you can imagine." Darkonda told him. The overlord nodded as if in total belief, then created the illusion of a planet covered in water. The hunter frowned slightly. "Aquitar?"
"Yes." Dark Spectre nodded. "Living on this world are a team of Rangers, the Inquirian Dimitria, and a former Ranger from Earth, William Cranston. I wish them all dealt with, and certain items the Inquirian has in her possession brought to me. The sooner you do this for me, the better."
Darkonda nodded quickly. "And is there anything in particular you wish for me to do with them, my lord?"
"Kill them. And bring me their heads in token of this." Barbaric perhaps, but it would get the job done. And that was what really mattered.
The dark warrior glanced at his servant. "No, Ecliptor. I just had some things on my mind." He sat up and noticed the files in the warrior's hands. "Is that what I asked for?"
"Yes, my lord." Ecliptor handed the files he'd made up from his observations over to his master. "Everything I could gain about the Power Rangers soulmate status. I think you'll find it fairly interesting."
Damien took the files and started to page through them, his eyes scanning each page quickly. "Ecliptor, do you mean to tell me that the Black Ranger has a crush on the Red?" Gleaming eyes looked up at the green and black fighter before him.
"Auras don't lie, my lord." His guardian told him calmly. "Whenever he would look at her, it flared in the fashion of romance." Ecliptor had made a study of auras, it was what gave him his edge in combat. Especially against opponents who had no idea how much they were giving away with their mere thoughts.
Damien narrowed his eyes briefly, then hurried into his control room. A few moments of typing across his command console brought up the rest of the information that he wanted and he nodded slowly. "According to the research into his past that I've done, he once had a crush on the Yellow Ranger as well, plus he has quite an admiration for the Pink. I think I might know just what I can use this for."
Ecliptor would have raised an eyebrow if he possessed one, and Damien merely smirked coldly. "Trust me, Ecliptor, I've got the perfect little scheme." He leaned back in his chair, a very satisfied and content expression on his face.
He remained that way for a moment, then flicked a finger, summoning the images of the Dark Turbo Rangers. "Red, Silver, Gold, Purple, and Black Turbo Rangers, I want you to go back to Earth. Bring as much destruction as you can, and draw out the Astro Rangers."
The voice of the Red Ranger came in answer. "Are there any special orders once we have done so, my lord?"
"See to it that you draw blood or hair or something I can use for a DNA sample from the Yellow, Pink, and Red Rangers." Damien ordered. "And once you do, teleport them to me at once. I need them for something."
Ecliptor's eyes narrowed briefly. It was rather obvious what his prince had in mind. A clone designed to be attractive to the Black Ranger, but loyal to the prince. It has been done before, but as long as the clone's loyalty remains Damien's, it should be effective.
The image of the Red Ranger bent slightly in obedience to the prince. "As you command, my lord and master." With a flicker, all of the evil Rangers had teleported out. Damien motioned briefly, and an image of the battle scene flared into existence above them.
"This is going to be quite amusing, Ecliptor." Damien purred softly, his eyes glowing faintly with enjoyment. He knew perfectly well that clones had been done to death, but there were a few things he had in mind that should keep this one under his control. They tend to think they're just as human as their originals. But with this one being a composite, a blend of different beings, it won't have that...sense of self. It will only have existed because of me, it won't even be a real person. A blend of their physical features, but with a heart of ice. My heart of ice.
Ecliptor watched for a few moments as the Dark Rangers did battle, if that was what one could call chasing terrified civilians around. A few moments later, seven beams of light transformed themselves into the Astro Rangers and the warrior almost smiled. This should be interesting. If he were right about the transmission he'd detected just before going to talk to the prince, this should be very entertaining. For him, at least. He doubted Damien would like it very much. And for once, this didn't bother him at all.
"Think you can do this, Phantom?" Cassie's eyes were all on the one she loved, and the mystery fighter nodded quietly and quickly.
"It isn't a very complicated counterspell, compared to some I've seen. It's strength lies in the fact that almost no one uses this particular spell, so the odds of someone figuring out the counterspell are fairly slim. If she hadn't told us, we probably would have spent the next few months trying to work it out, and that's presuming Dark Spectre didn't change it on us."
Karone slipped to her feet and looked at her team. "Let's do this." Underneath her calm there was a nervousness, a hope that she didn't dare give voice to, not wanting the others to feel it if things failed. But if this works.... She fought the notion back hard. They had to see how this came out first. If all went all..then..maybe.
A quick teleport later, the seven of them were once again facing down the Dark Turbo Rangers. Each of the ones bound by evil seemed just as calm and refreshed as if they'd spent several days relaxing, and not as if it hadn't yet been an hour since the ending of the last battle. Karone flicked out the Spiral Sabre.
"We aren't going to let you continue with this." She declared frostily. "You're Power Rangers, you need to fight for good!"
"Not what we want to do." T.J. said calmly, his Turbo Lightning Sword flashing out. "Dark Turbo Rangers, attack!"
Five swept towards three, and even though the forces of evil were outnumbered, they were obviously going to put up one heck of a fight. Phantom fought alongside his comrades, ready at Karone's word to cast the counterspell he had in readiness. I hope this works. This is the only shot we've really got.
Karone clenched her teeth under her helmet and parried T.J. quickly and efficiently. He hadn't trained the way she had, but the Power gave him enormous skill. This was going to be careful work. She swept her sword around in a maneuver that Dulcea had taught her, and was rewarded by seeing the Lightning Sword go flout of his hands and land quivering in the dirt. "Now, Phantom!"
The black-armored fighter quickly stepped back after throwing the Purple Ranger several feet away from Cassie. He spread his fingers out briefly over his ruby and demorphed; he would not be able to use his powers while doing this. His other hand pointed towards the Dark Rangers and he spoke five words clear and frosty in a language none of them understood.
For a moment it seemed as if nothing had happened. Then, T.J. slowly slipped his helmet off and stared at the others in shock. "Um...hello?"
Ashley looked at her friends, then back at the Dark Turbos. "You guys all right?" Was the only thing she could think of to say.
One by one, each of the Dark Turbos demorphed, and they started to wander over to the Astro Rangers. Kimberly shivered a little, her hand clamping tightly around Rocky's without even noticing it. "We were evil Rangers." She murmured.
"Not exactly how I dreamed of keeping the power," Rocky murmured, his hand closing around Kimberly's, just as unconsciously. "But I am glad to be away from..." He shivered massively, trying not to think too much about the years he'd spent with Divatox.
Jason pulled Emily into his arms and glanced at the Astro Rangers. "I think we need to figure out who is who and decide what to do next." He said calmly. "And I don't think right here is the best place to do it."
Karone nodded quietly. "You can stay on the MegaShip for a while, we have some room." The group gathered around the ex-Dark Turbos and teleported back, leaving only the remains of a battlefield behind them.
I don't know what I am or what I'm going to be...but I will be alone. Good-bye, T.J. I love you.
As the stories wound to an end, however, Cassie noticed one voice was silent. She looked around until she saw T.J. standing by a window, gazing out at the stars surrounding the MegaShip. She said nothing, feeling Phantom's warm and loving presence in her mind and in her heart, as well as next to her.
She could have fainted, however, when T.J. turned to look at them, and spoke one sentence. "I want to go back to Divatox."
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