Transdimensional Archives

 

And So Life Goes On Part 4
By ZeoViolet

Cassie materialized in the starship of the Phantom Ranger. As soon as the pink glittery swirls cleared from her vision, she looked around, squinting in the dimness. Her very senses screamed "Danger!", and she was in no mood to be ambushed as she drew her Satellite stunner and began to creep down the hall.

The place was a wreak, as far as she could tell, and the dim lights cast eerie shadows in the corners and branching-off hallways. Chills crept up her spine as she tiptoed along, starting at every sound that reached her ears. She dared not even call out for the one who had claimed her heart from the very day she had first seen him, in a pickup mirror, apparently for her eyes alone. And she had loved him even more since then, her feelings even doubling when she saw him in distress on Hercuron. How she wished she could be with him, or if it was their jobs keeping them apart, she at least wanted some explanation!

*It can never be*, the logical part of her mind insisted. *Remember his words to you? 'I go where I am needed, and stay for as long as I am needed?' What reason more had he to stay, after giving us new Zords and aiding us in defeating that monster?*

But the other part of her brain, the one that did not contend much with logic, insisted on remembering what his message had told her on Hercuron: "Please, don't forget me. I'll see you soon."

*What did he really *mean*?* her mind questioned, almost angrily. *Why was he trying to reassure me in particular? It seems so unlikely that he could actually mean he–*

Only the tiniest part of her brain, a part she was barely aware, insisted that the message had meant he cared for her, and truly wanted her to know he felt that way. Her logical mind banishedthe thought instantly.

A loud THUMP! startled her out of her thoughts, and she stifled a jump of surprise just in time. It sounded like a body hitting the floor, and a faint groan sounded like one of suppressed pain.

*Phantom!* her mind shreiked, and she took off down the hall, no longer walking, but running at top speed.

It did not take her long to find the corridor turned around a bend sharply, and she stopped just shy of turning. Faint shadows, plus loud growls, thumps, and ki-yuh's, told her she was just short of walking right into the middle of hand-to-hand combat. She drew in a deep breath and peeked around the corner, afraid of what she would see.


Astronema, her willowy back straight, and her long green hair being arrogantly tossed over her shoulders, paced the room, for a long time saying nothing, only holding the weapon in her hand, the light in the room catching on the glistening skull embedded in the top of the device, the perfect effect for causing chills to run up Ashley's spine.

And she continued to pace, the echoing footsteps of her high heels getting louder and louder in Ashley's head, the rest of the room eerily silent, until Ashley almost screamed "Stop it!"

Just as the hollow sound of Astronema's footsteps got as loud as the pounding of her blood in her ears, the woman paused. An evil grin crossed her face, and both hands clasped the ball in front of her.

"Good," she laughed. "Just a little work-out before I really test this thing on you. I want to be in shape, and I want your minds in the proper shape, too. Now, to begin–" she waved her hand, and two more quantrons entered the room, bearing a struggling, almost-growling Johnathan.

"I found him prowling around a little temporary hideout I had near the NASADA compound," she announced cooly. "Imagine my surprise when a hypnotizing spell revealed that he was your brother, Ashley. Though I might as well have some fun with him before I do away with him. It can get so…*boring* on the Dark Fortress at times, you know." Her lower lip pulled out in the epitome of a pout, then she grinned. "Toss him with the others. Did you find the Black Ranger yet?" she demanded of her henchmen.

They said something in their unintelligible language and shook their heads, cowering when her face went dark with anger.

"You idiots! Can't you get one thing right?! Find that kid before he gets off my station. I don't want him informing the others!" They hurriedly ducked their heads in acknowledgement and ran for the door.

Astronema turned toward the group again, all traces of anger diappearing from her face and an almost sunny smile replacing it. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, this little device here." She held up the Emotion Wrangler. "My, oh, my, Andros, you are just full of pain already, aren't you? I just thought Ecliptor was wrong in thinking you were no more than a fool in red tights, trying to fight for what could not be gained. But it seems *you*, my dear ranger, have plenty of negative emotions, and guilt. And whatever you were guilty for, I assure you it was your fault."

Ashley watched in horror as Andros's eyes suddenly widened in terror, and then fill with pain and anguish. A shriek of pure emotional torture escaped his lips as he clutched his head, as if trying to block out sudden painful memories he did not want to be repeated. But repeated they were, and they never seemed so taunting, so full of pain, so obviously his *fault*, as they were then.

"No…" he whimpered, sinking to his knees. "Please, no…."

Astronema went on ruthlessly pounding shortcomings into his head. "Yes, Andros, it was *you*! You were the driving force behind your guilt, you caused your own pain by doing things you should not have done! You know you should have done the right thing, don't you? But no, like a fool, you did the *wrong* thing, caused you and who knows how many others pain you could probably have prevented, in the end." Astronema only lauged as he whimpered, tears filling his hazel eyes and rolling down his cheeks.

"Leave him along!" Ashley cried, torn between wanting to run to Andros and pummel Astronema furiously for what she was doing to him. But Astronema was guarded, by Ecliptor and the quantron, so she only knelt beside Andros. "Andros, don't let her do this to you. You must fight it, please…."

"Step away from him!" Astronema barked. "Okay, Ashley, your turn!" without blinking an eye, she released Andros from the effects of the Wrangler. He fell completely over onto the floor, not making a sound but sobbing his heart out nonetheless.

The pain hit Ashley before she could take more than two steps. Like lightning, but much more quickly, the memories roared to the surface.

*The crash right in front of her house, Clyde's bloody body, the paramedics shaking their heads–*

"No! Clyde!" She shreiked, no longer aware of her surroundings.

*I should have been there!* her incoherent mind cried. *If I had gone with him, like he had asked me to, he would never have touched that drink, he would never have impaled that empty car while under the influence of the first drink of his life! And his *last*!*

*Yes, you should have stopped him!* her mind mocked her. *He deserved to live, and you do *not* deserve to live, because you let him die!*

Andros watched, completely helpless, as Ashley sank to her knees, hunched over, face in her hands. The only words, "No, Clyde, no, it is my fault, I am sorry!" that seemed able to escape her lips were thick with torment. "Please, Clyde, forgive me…." He desperately wanted to go to her, to comfort her like he doubted he could ever be comforted, but he dared not move, could only watch numbly as tears continued to slip unheeded down his face.

Finally, even Astronema seemed to tire of her torture. She released Ashley at last and turned back to Andros. "Your turn again. You are just a deep wellspring, pretty boy, and I want you to experience every last ounce of pain all over again…." Her laughter mocked him almost as much as the background laughter of the monsters on KO-35, that day that Zhane had given his life for Andros's.

*No, Zhane, I should have stopped you, forgive me, my friend, forgive me!…*


The Phantom Ranger was under attack. Cassie felt her heart flip entirely in her chest as the two monsters he battled continually flipped him over the railing, or over a chair, or slammed him against a wall. Each time, more and more weakly, he would get back up and fight again. It was more than Cassie could stand.

"Saellite Stunner!" Her weapon coalesced effortlessly in her hand, and before the monsters were aware of what had hit them, she had fired.

"Whooooaaah!" they yelled as the bolts of energy fired from her weapon sent them flying. Cassie ignored them, and stumbled over to the one she loved. "Phantom Ranger? Are you okay?"

"Cassie?" he gasped, trying to rise from where the monsters had hurled him. "What are you doing here? You are in grave danger lurking around here. Why did you come?"

"Do you think for a minute I would let you stay here and face those goons alone? Forget it! I could never do that to you! I care about you too much!"

The last sentence came out of her mouth before she could stop it. It caused the unexpected reaction of him stiffening.

"Cassie…?" It seemed to be more of a question to himself than to her, but he reached up and lightly touched her helmet.

"Awww, how cute," snarled one monster, who had managed to stumble to his feet. "Much as I'd like to see this little romantic scene play out, we have a job to do. So sorry, Missie, but you have to die."

Cassie promptly turned on him, her weapon raised. "Not so fast, mister. Have you checked the status of your fleet of ships lately? Most are destroyed or disabled. My friends are finishing them off right now, even as we speak."

One monster, with ugly blue…skin (if it could be called even that) flew a tentacle to his scanner and checked the readouts. "She's right. We are no match for her friends here, even if we did succeed in destroying these two. The others would be after us at this range."

"And just what do you suggest we do about it, huh?" snarled the other monster, his seven eyes glittering with rage. "They are witnesses. We just can't leave them here."

"That is true, but I still prefer to keep my own skin intact." The blue monster thought for a moment, pacing while his companion held his weapon raised at Cassie in a stand-off. "I just might have an idea…." he turned and whispered something neither Cassie nor the Phantom Ranger could hear.

"Good idea!" the other exclaimed. He turned back to the two rangers, raising something in his palm. "How do they say it on your world? 'Say goodnight, Gracie'?"

A moment later, Cassie felt blackness surround her as the device exploded.

*Phantom Ranger…* was her last conscious thought.


Finally, when Andros was curled on the floor and even he had ceased shaking from her continual onslaught, Astronema turned the focus of the weapon off. Ashley could see his face, it was completely blank, only his eyes showed he was locked in some sort of strange void where the Emotion Wrangler had put him. When the spell released him, he slumped further, closed his eyes, and did not move.

Though the memories of Clyde's deat still beat at her vision and her sense of guilt, her logical sense struggled for dominance, and she did her level best to ignore the tears streaming down her face and focus on Andros and Johnathan, who had been watching the whole scene, horrified but unable to do anything.

"Come on, Andros!" She whispered fervrently in a low tone. "Come on, you have to beat this thing. Don't let it control you…"

"…Ashely…?" It was barely a whisper, but enough so Ashley knew he had heard. "Hurts…"

*It's okay!* she wanted to tell him. *Everything is going to be all right!* Though she wanted to say those words, to comfort him somehow, she knew that they would be false promises. Everything was *not* okay. Even if they could get free, it would still not be immediately all right. They would have a load of long-suppressed pain and guilt to deal with all over again, only much more so….and it was all Ashley could do even now to fight down the barrage of emotion deep into her psyche. Now was not the time. They had to do something, and now.

Astronema had been watching them, a satisfied smile on her face as she watched two of the trio struggle for sanity. "Ashley, my dear yellow ranger. Your turn again, I'm afraid." She pretended to pout for a moment before focusing the Wrangler on her again. Ashley shreiked as the pain crashed forward again. She fell to the floor.

"How about something new? Even better than memories, when the whole thing is live?" Astronema jeered. "How about if I destroy your brother here, Ashley? Won't that be fun, a little more…no, a lot more…pain that you could enjoy, since you would be powerless to stop it…again?" With that malicious grin, she stepped mockingly toward Johnathan, who stiffened in a yeah-you-just-try-it! posture.

Something inside Ashley snapped. The thought of losing her other beloved twin was more than she could stand, and unbeknownst to Astronema, she felt herself surged with a new strength. Suddenly, she understood the Emotional Wrangler's weakness. It fed on memories, negative emotions, and the like. It rejected love, and gave the victim an advantage as a result. This was something Astronema either did not know about, or had forgotten about, for the control the device had over Ashley snapped.

For a split second, she did not move, her frayed brain trying to gather it's bits of sanity and figure out what to do. It came to her again that Astronema would hurt her brother, and pure instinct bolted through her limbs, causing her to growl and tear at the woman with a visciousness she never thought she had in her. She crashed into Astronema, heedless of her own safety

~*~

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