Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all related characters are owned by BVS Entertainment.

PRLG: A Different Shade of Pink
Episode XXXII. A Different Shade of Pink, Part I: A Robotic Reunion
by Green Senturion

Andros looked over at Cassie gliding alongside him. She hadn’t spoken a word since they’d left Terra Venture, and he had a strong indication of why. Gathering the courage to speak up, Andros quickly murmured, “Cassie…you all right?”

“Huh?” Cassie asked dazedly, almost slipping off her Glider as she spoke. “Oh…nothing…I’m fine.”

The four other rangers exchanged affirmative nods of the head before Ashley spoke up:

“Look, Cassie, what happened to Kendrix…it isn’t your fault. I’m sure she’s in a better place now, and you should know…”

“It’s not THAT!” Cassie snapped, then shook her head and said, “Sorry…I’m kinda tired. Is there any chance we could find someplace to sleep already?”

Andros looked up and spotted a small, gray, moon-like planet in the distance. “Well, I guess that planet’s as good as any. Shall we land?”

T.J. drooped his head, and then brought it up and nodded, “Yeah…I’m feeling kinda tired too. Let’s just land there and find some place in the woods to sleep.”

The Rangers steered their Galaxy Gliders toward a forested part of the planet, and within about ten minutes had landed on the soft forest floor. As they prepared to lie down, a voice shouted out, “HALT! Who goes there?”

The Rangers looked up to see a bright light shining in their eyes. They couldn’t tell who was holding it though. “Identify yourselves,” the voice spoke again, “Who are you?”

The Rangers nodded at one another and simultaneously nodded. “We’re the Power Rangers,” Carlos said assertively.

“You mean…oh, hey guys! I didn’t know it was you. Turbo Down!” A red flash of light blinded the teens further, and upon blinking and hearing a click, the teens saw T.J’s doppelganger right in front of them. “Hey, how goes it?”

Andros raised his fists, but T.J. calmly placed a hand on his shoulder. “Relax, Andros. This guy’s a friend. He’s a robot ranger. Remember when I told you that I knew of a guy we could leave Lightning Cruiser with? Well, this is he.” T.J. powered down, stepped forward, and shook his robot clone’s hand. “So I see that Lightning Cruiser had the Turbo Morpher inside, just like I thought it would.”

“Sure did!” Robot T.J. confirmed enthusiastically. “And the powers are working fine again. I’m glad that the two cars kept a copy of your and Justin’s Turbo Morphers. How lucky is that?”

“Would have been luckier if we’d known before Divatox captured them…but that’s beside the point. Everything worked out all right in the end. So, I take it we’re on Eltar then?”

“That’s right. Everything’s going pretty well here, thanks to you guys.” Robot T.J. confirmed with a smile.

T.J. frowned, “Then what’s with the morpher?”

“Well, to be honest…we’d heard that an alien spacecraft was terrorizing a space colony only a few lightyears from here. We were assured that they didn’t need help, but we wanted to be on our guard just in case. But anyways, let’s not stand out here in the cold! Aren’t you guys tired?”

“Yes,” Andros said, “At least…some of us are.”

Cassie looked away, and T.J. leaned over to his robot duplicate and said, “So…do you think you could hook us up with some place to sleep?”

“No problem!” Robot T.J. exclaimed. “Follow me. We have a campsite just a few minutes from here just for such an occasion. Shall we go?”

Cassie turned over in her bed. She still had her eyes closed, but didn’t feel that she could fade into unconsciousness. She heard Ashley snoring beside her, so she knew that she couldn’t wake her up to talk. Despite what she told her teammates, she WAS still sad about Kendrix. But what could she do? It was out of her hands now, and that…

“There IS something you can do, Cassie.”

Cassie awoke with a start and looked around frantically. Seeing no one, she closed her eyes and heard the voice once more.

“Cassie…please.”

She didn’t want to get up, but didn’t know what to do. She turned over a few more times, before seeing a bright glow in her head. As the glowing faded, she saw a specter of Kendrix before her.”

“Please, Cassie. You must protect my saber. It’s in the wrong hands, and I fear that if it goes to the hands of the wrong people, the colony may be in trouble.”

“But…what can I do…” mumbled Cassie dreamily.

“You must go find it. It is on the planet Onyx. Please Cassie, protect my saber. You must!”

Cassie finally leapt out of bed and looked around—but Kendrix was nowhere in sight. But what she’d seen had seemed so…real. It must have been. That’s it—I’ve GOT to go. Putting on her boots and uniform, Cassie parted the sides of the tent and was about to morph when a hand touched her shoulder.

“Why are you leaving?”

She turned around to see a small young boy of about thirteen with a mushroom haircut. She smiled, and said, “Look, Robot Justin. I have something I need to do. PLEASE don’t tell the others, okay?”

“But I…”

“Please.”

Cassie’s big brown eyes were hard to resist. Robot Justin sighed, looked down, and then said, “Okay, fine. I won’t. But I’ve been on guard? What should I say happened to you?”

“Just…tell them I’ll be back soon, okay? LET’S ROCKET!”

Cassie leapt into the air and as she did, swirls of pink energy encompassed her body. She landed atop her Galaxy Glider, which flew in to catch her just as the morph was completed. “Thanks Justin!” she whispered to him as she flew away into the night sky.

“You know that lying isn’t right,” a female voice spoke from behind him.

“Cassie?”

“If I know me…and I do,” Robot Cassie spoke with a smile, “She’d want you to tell the others. She needs the help of her friends right now, and you can’t lie. Am I right?”

“Yeah…I guess so.” Robot Justin said looking down.

“Okay then. You know what you have to do.”

Aboard the Scorpion Stinger, tempers were flaring. Trakeena was slamming any wall in sight, while Kegler was running around in circles and Villamax was muttering angrily to himself. The Stingwingers just stood nearby and mumbled.

“My queen,” Deviot said walking in from a corridor of the ship, “I heard the news about Psycho Pink. I’m so sorry about the Psycho Rangers my queen. I had thought…”

“Quiet, Deviot!” Trakeena spat angrily. “Yes, the Psychos weren’t up to my expectations. But they did do one thing right. They took out the Pink Ranger. And,” Trakeena said, an evil smile forming upon her lips, “We still have one Psycho left.”

“We do, my queen? But I just finished telling you, Psycho Pink…”

“I’m not talking about that hotheaded buffoon, you dolt!” Trakeena yelled. Walking down the hall with her robot minion close in toe, she said, “I’m talking about him.”

Trakeena gestured to a teenage boy of about twenty. He was blonde and pale-skinned, and was wearing a black uniform of some sort. His hands were tied behind his back, and a length of gray cloth was gagging him. He sat behind the bars of his prison unconscious.

“And let’s not forget the famous woman who brought us the Psychos.” Trakeena pointed to the cell adjacent to the man’s, where a blonde haired woman in a leather outfit who was about the same age as the boy was bound and gagged. “She will be instrumental in bringing the final Psycho Ranger to life.”

“Ah, how brilliant my queen! I’m glad you instructed me to capture them when they tried to stop us from finding the Psycho Rangers’ Data cards. And their teammates still haven’t found them!”

“Yes,” Trakeena said evilly, “These two will be the ones who will make my Psycho Ranger plan a success. They are…”

“Karone and Zhane,” Andros said, shaking his head, “Our mission was to find Karone and Zhane. And then Cassie just runs off like that? What could she be thinking?”

“She’s thinking,” Ashley interrupted, “That she wants to help her friend Kendrix.”

“Yeah,” Carlos added, “You saw how upset she was when she was destroyed. It makes sense.”

“But why would she just leave without telling us?” Andros asked. He really had no idea what was going on in Cassie’s mind.

“Most likely, she’s gone back to help the Galaxy Rangers in some way. I don’t know for sure. But whatever she’s doing, we should be backing her up…even if she isn’t sure she wants us to,” Ashley sighed.

Robot Carlos, Carlos’ mechanical twin, then spoke up “Remember, Rangers always stick together.”

Robot Ashley then walked over to her human counterpart and said, “I think you guys should go. Whatever mission Cassie is on, I don’t think she’d be on it if it weren’t important to you guys.”

Andros looked down, and then looked up again. “All right,” he said, “Then that settles it. We’ll communicate with her as soon as we get into the air, and if she doesn’t respond, you can always track her. Right Ashley?”

Ashley nodded. Andros looked out after glancing at each of his teammates, and then yelled:

“LET’S ROCKET!”

As the teens all boarded their Galaxy Gliders, T.J. looked out to the metallic versions of themselves and said, “Thank you, Robot Rangers. We appreciate what you’ve done for us.”

“No sweat,” Robot T.J. said with a smile, “Don’t be a stranger, now.”

As the teens flew into the sky, a shadowed figure looked out at them from the woods. “I must follow them,” the deep male voice spoke, and then ran off deeper into the woods.

“Wake up. Wake UP! WAKE UP NOW!!!”

Disturbed by the evil princess’ yelling, the two teens groggily got up, collapsing for a moment due to the stiffness of having to sleep while tied up. Trakeena walked closer to their cells and said, “Now see here. You two are going to help me make a Psycho Ranger or else.”

The young man looked away, not giving Trakeena the time of day. “Oh, Zhane,” she spoke with a laugh, “Can’t do anything now that it’s not a joke, huh? And you, Astronema-has-been,” Trakeena grunted, gesturing to the girl, “You know how to make Psycho Rangers. After all, you made them in the first place, right?”

Karone looked away, not wanting to say or do anything that could bring her harm. “Do-gooders,” Trakeena said, rolling her eyes, “Villamax! Deviot! Release these two losers and take their gags out.” The two henchmen pressed buttons on the wall that removed the iron gratings from their chambers. They roughly lifted the teens up and un-gagged them, and then threw them to the floor as an army of Stingwingers buzzed in to block their escape.

“Foolish children…even though you’re retired as Rangers…not that you ever were one, Karone…you followed the Stinger to the planet where the Data Card exchange was being made.”

Karone narrowed her eyes at Trakeena, and spoke, “I entrusted those Cards to that creature—he was a friend of Zordon’s…and you bought him off and destroyed him without a second thought! When he told me about the offer you’d made him and his uncertainty, I knew we had to follow him, but I couldn’t risk getting the other rangers involved.”

“But even without our help,” Zhane said, “They felt the Psycho Ranger’s presence when they returned. They destroyed your Psychos and soon they’re going to find us and destroy you!”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Trakeena said as she rolled her eyes. “All they know is that you ran off without an explanation. They’ll never find you here.” Trakeena then turned over to Karone and said mockingly, “So tell me, Astronema…How DO you make a Psycho Ranger?”

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you,” Karone spoke defiantly, narrowing her eyes up at Trakeena.

“You good guys always want to make it hard for yourself,” Trakeena said, rolling her eyes again. “Deviot, the remote please.” The robotic underling handed Trakeena a remote and then fastened a collar on Karone, but not before Zhane furiously kicked up at him and yelled “Keep your hands off her!”

“None of that!” Deviot yelled, blasting him in the arm with his laser. Zhane cried out in pain, and then rolled back onto the ground reeling.

“So,” Trakeena said, circling around, “You won’t talk. Well, we can fix that. Deviot, press the remote.”

As he did, an electric shock surged through Karone’s veins. Karone yelled out as pain seared through her body. “Care to talk now?” Trakeena mocked.

“NO!” Karone yelled, gasping for breath. “I told you, I DON’T KNOW!” While I was Astronema for a while, Dark Specter had control over my mind. So I really don’t know what I did as Astronema or how I did it!”

“Is this true, Kegler?” Trakeena asked, looking down at the barrel-shaped toady beside her.

“Yes, my queen, I believe so!” Kegler said, bobbing with excitement.

“Well then…we have a little situation here.” Trakeena said, “Deviot! Do you think that maybe a little extra dosage could trigger some…unwanted memories to reappear?”

“NO! Don’t do that!” Zhane cried, the fear visible in his eyes.

Deviot looked over at his queen and said, “I believe that just may do it. She may have shut the memories out of her mind, but a little extra pain might just do the trick!”

Karone screamed louder and louder as the electroshock treatment continued. After about fifteen seconds, Zhane screamed, “STOP! She doesn’t know anything!” Five seconds later, Karone collapsed to the ground and yelled out, “DARK SPECTER!”

“Turn it off,” Trakeena calmly instructed with a quick glance over at Deviot, “Tell me more.”

“His energy,” Karone gasped, hyperventilating as she spoke, “I used his cells to create the Psycho Rangers.”

“Excellent,” Trakeena said with a smile, “Deviot—you can put that remote away for now.”

“But my queen,” Villamax protested, “Dark Specter was destroyed! What do you propose we do?”

“That may be, but his rubble was scattered all over the universe,” Trakeena said, and then added, “And if I know aliens like I think I do…they’ll consider it valuable. And you know where valuable things always show up. Stingwingers, guard these two! Deviot, Villamax…let’s set a course.”

This is the place, Cassie thought to herself, as her Galaxy Glider descended. She was in back of the Onyx Tavern—she knew the location, for Andros had told her how to get there in one of his many stories about infiltrating enemy bases. But how to get inside was another story all together…

“My queen!” Villamax shouted from the control room, “Look at what’s headed in front of us!”

Trakeena looked on the screen, and then gasped, “The Space Rangers? But what could THEY be doing headed for Onyx? And with only four of them? Well, whatever they want, they aren’t going to find it.” Trakeena pressed a few buttons on the dashboard, and lasers flew out from the ship’s “fangs” towards the Rangers. The Rangers were only a few lightyears ahead of the Stinger, but in their concentration they hadn’t noticed the evil ship coming up behind them. As the laser nicked Carlos’ thrusters, he shouted “Whoa, guys! Time to turn on the juice! That ship is right behind us!” The Stinger loomed closer to the Gliders, and Ashley yelled, “We can’t get away! It’s coming too fast!” As the Rangers turned around and desperately tried to blast the Stinger away with their blasters, a fiery explosion erupted from the ship’s tail.

“What? Who DARES to fire on our ship when our back is turned?” Deviot yelled.

“Oh, I DARE!” Damon yelled from the helm of the Megaship. As he steered from behind the Megaship and pulled the ship in front, he yelled “Eat laser, freaks!” The blast hit the ship square in its front, and another explosion engulfed the ship, this time at the front.

“My queen! With our lasers and engines damaged, we cannot stand up against the Rangers’ ship. We must retreat!”

Trakeena grimaced, and then yelled, “Don’t you worry, Rangers—I’ll be back!”

As the Stinger took off, the door to the Megadeck nearest the Space Rangers opened. The Space Rangers flew into the Megaship and were greated there by a morphed but helmetless Kai.

“Hi there,” he breathed, “Nice of you to show your faces around here again,” he said with a smile.

“How did you find us?” Ashley asked, removing her helmet.

“We were headed toward Onyx,” Kai spoke, and then added, “Is that by chance where you’re headed?”

“Yeah…Cassie ran off during the night, and I used my tracker to find out that she’s…”

“She did?” Maya asked, entering the Megadeck while morphed but also helmetless. “Did she say anything about…a vision from Kendrix?”

“No,” T.J. said, “But I wouldn’t be surprised if she had.”

Maya and Kai nodded, and then said, “Come on. Let’s put this bucket into overdrive.”

Cassie trembled, as she ducked back into a corner after seeing an alien approaching the tavern. She had been waiting for what seemed like nearly an hour without going in. She didn’t know how to make an entrance—she would lose if she tried to take on the whole tavern by herself. Andros was better at this…

“Ah, I see you’re failing without my expertise to guide you.”

Cassie whirled around with a start to see her four teammates morphed and standing behind her. “How did you find me?” she whispered.

“Please…tracking is my thing,” Ashley bragged, “And besides…just like the real thing, Robot Justin cannot tell a lie.”

Cassie shook her head, “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him,” she laughed.

“Look,” T.J. said, “We’re not exactly sure what this is about, but you’re our teammate, so we trust you. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Carlos added, “And don’t forget: rangers always stick together,” he said, echoing his Robot clone’s words earlier that night.

“So,” Andros said, “Step into my office.”

A cloaked figure walked into the tavern. This better be worth it, Andros thought to himself. As he walked around, he spotted the similarly cloaked figure holding the Quasar Saber. “Hey, you,” Andros spoke to the man, “Beat it, kid,” the guy spoke, “This thing’s mine.”

“I’ll play you a game of cards for it,” Andros offered. No one in the Onyx Tavern had ever beaten him at cards.

“No,” the man said, “Go away.”

As the man began to walk out of the tavern, Andros said, “Wait…I’ll wager THIS against your Quasar Saber,” Andros offered, showing him the Red Astro Morpher.

“Red Ranger?” the man asked, “Is that…”

“RANGERS!!! Here, in the tavern!” a female voice yelled from up on the balcony.

The two cloaked men turned to see Trakeena pointing down at them vindictively with her staff. “Don’t just stand there,” she yelled, “GET THEM!”

“Here,” the stranger said, shoving the Saber into Andros’ hands, “I know you can take care of it.”

“But I? Who are you…” Andros started, but the figure held up his cloaked hand and panted, “Not now! Get out of here!” As Andros turned to run, he looked back and saw the man fighting off a legion of Piranahtrons and other footsoldiers that were attacking him. As Trakeena blasted him with her staff, he turned to run back and help, but a blast from the cloaked figure’s laser back at the queen changed his mind. He can take care of himself, thought Andros.

He raced outside the Tavern and threw off his cloak. Hopping onto his perched Galaxy Glider, he flew around a couple buildings to the parked Astro Megaship. Boarding the ship from the front, he ran up to control room and breathed, “I got it!”

The stranger continued to blast the strangers around him with his laser. After a few swift kicks and punches, he too escaped the tavern. Villamax leapt off the balcony and went to stop him but Trakeena yelled, “No! Forget him. Take the Stinger to capture the Red Ranger!” He nodded in approval before running outside the tavern doors. Annoyed by all the commotion in the tavern, Trakeena aimed her staff at the ground level and fired off a large blast that made a hole in the floor. Upon impact, everyone turned up to face her.

“Now here this,” Trakeena proclaimed, making her voice boom so that ALL in the Tavern could hear her, “I am Trakeena, daughter of the late King Scorpius. And I too wish to purchase something from one of you.” She licked her lips, and then went on, “About a year ago, the leader you call “Dark Specter” was destroyed.” Upon making this remark, she made half of the audience before her shudder. She laughed. Someday, my name will make people do the same, she thought. “Now, when he was destroyed, his great body of molten rock exploded and was scattered across the universe. Now, my question to you is: which one of you holds a remaining piece of the mighty Dark Specter?”

She looked down to see a robed alien, verifiably a priest, step before her. “I do,” he spoke meekly, but then quickly added, “But I need it to revive…”

Trakeena rolled her eyes and said, “Give it to me, and I can reward you beyond your wildest dreams—and I have the power,” she said looking up into the sky.

The creature trembled with excitement, and then threw the piece up to her and yelled, “HERE! Now where is my reward?”

Trakeena laughed, and then said, “Ah, yes…your reward. Here it is.”

Trakeena turned around, and then turned back quickly, firing a powerful blast from her staff at the robed priest, completely incinerating him robe and all. As the audience before her gasped, Trakeena’s face turned serious as she yelled “KNOW THIS! I, Trakeena, shall soon rule this galaxy. Deny me what I want and you will meet the same fate at this pathetic creature here.” With a final laugh, Trakeena teleported back to the Stinger in a purple flash of light.

Stepping into the control room, Trakeena asked, “Well? How far along are we?”

“We’re close, my queen,” Villamax spoke, “Very close.”

Damon looked into the rear screen, seeing how close the Stinger was to them. “We’re a low on fuel, so we’re gonna need to make a landing,” he spoke urgently, “What’s the nearest planet?”

“Umm…Rashon!” Cassie replied, reading the monitor.

“Good, then that’s where we’re headed,” Damon said, accelerating the thrusters.

“NO! Accelerate our ship’s speed!” Trakeena yelled to Deviot, “And whatever it takes, don’t let them get away!”

The Megaship rapidly approached the planet Rashon’s atmosphere, making a bumpy landing in the desert area.

“Nice one, Damon,” Maya groaned, rubbing her behind as she got up.

“Hey, it’s not MY fault someone forgot to remind me the fuel was low…LEO. Hey, where is Leo?” he growled, looking around behind him.

“I’m here,” Leo called from the floor, “What? I can’t lean against the wall on the floor if I want to?”

“Oh, hey, Leo—didn’t see ya there!” Andros exclaimed enthusiastically, seeing Leo leaning against the wall on the floor. “How have you been, buddy?”

“Fine, I…”

The ship rumbled as the Scorpion Stinger made a crash landing next to it. Mike ran in from the hallway opposite where Leo was sitting and said, “Guys, we’ve got company!”

The Rangers all nodded in agreement at one another, and then ran out. Cassie looked down at the Saber Andros had left on the dashboard, narrowed her eyes at it, and then ran out with it in hand.

Karone lay on the ground in a daze—the crash had been hard on her too. She got up and felt Zhane’s chest against her head, “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes filled with concern.

“I’m fine,” she said, “But we’ve got to get out of here. But how will we do it? We can’t move our arms, and we’ve got these…things blocking our way out,” Karone said, kicking her leg out towards a Stingwinger facing the hallway. “And who knows where Trakeena’s keeping your morpher?”

“Well…there’s only one way to find out,” Zhane said, groaning as he got up. “Hey ugly,” he yelled, causing three of the half-dozen Stingwingers to turn around and face him, “Think fast!” Zhane leapt into the air and delivered a flying kick to the Stingwinger’s chest, knocking all of them back for a domino effect. “Come on, let’s get outta here!”

Trakeena emerged from the ship along with Villamax and Deviot. “Rangers,” she said, “Today is your unlucky day. STINGWINGERS!” she called, and as she did, nearly two-dozen Stingwingers appeared before her. “You, Pink Ranger!” she yelled at Cassie. Cassie looked over to see Trakeena smiling evilly. She immediately raised the Quasar Saber and raced toward Trakeena. The Magna Defender took on Villamax, while the Red Rangers tackled Deviot, and the Blue, Green, and Yellow Rangers faced the Stingwingers.

Cassie raced toward Trakeena, still holding the Saber up high. Trakeena merely smiled, and blasted the ground before her with her staff. Cassie shouted and held up her hands in front of her face as dust clouded her vision. Trakeena then let out a battle cry, and ran over toward Cassie. She let Cassie have a kick in the gut, and then struck her in the back with her staff. Cassie tried swiping Trakeena’s feet, but Trakeena leapt into the air and twirled her staff around, knocking Cassie back about ten feet.

Leo and Andros exchanged turns punching Deviot, until he grabbed Leo by the throat and tossed him aside, and then blasted Andros in the stomach. Mike delivered an overhead slash to Villamax, and then attempted to blast him with the Magna Blaster in laser mode, but Villamax rolled aside, got up, and drew his sword from his side, ready for more swordplay. Mike raced toward him with the Magna Blaster back to sword mode as the other rangers punched and kicked the Stingwingers, trying to get in on some of the better action.

Zhane and Karone raced through the Scorpion Stinger, Zhane tightly gripping Karone by the hand. “How are we ever going to find our way out?” Karone breathed. “Just keep running,” Zhane said, narrowing his eyes. He then took off again with Karone closely behind.

Cassie used the saber as a cane in order to prop herself up. Trakeena chuckled to herself and said, “You’re causing yourself so much pain, Pink Ranger. And why? It’s not even worth it.” Charging up her staff for a few seconds, Trakeena ran toward the struggling Cassie and brutally knocked her forward twenty feet toward the rocky edge of the desert-like mountain upon which they were fighting.

Trakeena walked before her, and shook her head, saying, “Give me the saber Pink Ranger. I won’t ask again.”

“…N…Never…” Cassie spoke weakly, struggling to get up again.

Trakeena shrugged her shoulders, and then said, “Have it your way.” She brought her staff back, and then jabbed Cassie in the face with it. Cassie cried out in pain, rolled back over to the cliff’s edge, and de-morphed. Trakeena bent down to pick up the saber, as Cassie winced and groaned. “Any last words?” Trakeena hissed happily.

Zhane’s eyes darted furiously about the ship—where could the exit be? Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him call, “This way!” He turned around to see Karone tugging him toward a tunnel from which light was seeping through. “This must be a way out!” She called back. Zhane gulped as he saw the Stingwingers, increased to about a dozen in numbers, about ten feet behind them. “Better make this quick!” he called.

Trakeena brought down her foot hard upon the Pink Ranger’s chest and said, “I never really liked the color pink anyway.” Bringing her foot back, she forcefully rolled her toes over Cassie’s chest, knocking her right off the cliff. As Cassie gripped the cliff with one hand, Trakeena smiled and whispered, “Bye bye, Pinkie.” Blasting at her fingertips, Trakeena gave an open-mouth laughed while Cassie was forced to let go of the cliff. She fell downward, but snagged her morpher’s band on a twig. As she struggled to boost herself up, she fell again, leaving the morpher trapped on the twig above her. Her teammates looked over from their battles and yelled out in anguish as she fearfully screamed out in anguish. Anticipating for the end to come quickly, Cassie gasped as she stopped falling and began floating mid-air. Kendrix’s specter reappeared before her and said, “Did you enjoy your fall?”

“Kendrix,” Cassie whispered, “I thought…”

“I know. I can only stay for a short time. I came to give you this.” Kendrix waved her hand over Cassie’s wrist, and a Transmorpher appeared there. “I want you to take my place as the Pink Galaxy Ranger.”

“Kendrix, I can’t, I…”

“Please, Cassie. PLEASE. Do this for me.” Kendrix’s pleading eyes made Cassie bite her lip. Why am I such a pushover, she thought to herself? She looked down, and then replied, “Okay…I’ll do it.”

Kendrix smiled, and replied, “Thank you. Now…going up?” Cassie cried out excitedly as she began to float back up through the air. Noticing how Kendrix was looking up, Cassie managed to lean over and grab her Astro Morpher, slipping it into her coat so as not to offend Kendrix. As they landed atop the cliff, Kendrix proudly stated, “Good luck, Cassie. I know you will serve the Pink Ranger’s name with honor. You already have twice, after all.” And with that closing remark, Kendrix winked at Cassie and faded away in a shimmer of light.

The Rangers were still fighting, though only half-heartedly, as they thought that Cassie was now dead too. Trakeena laughed at them, and yelled, “Who’s next?”

“I’m not finished yet!” Cassie yelled back, a determined look on her face. The teens all looked over in amazement and cried out happily.

Karone looked out the door of the Stinger and spotted the Rangers looking over at Trakeena! “We made it!” she yelled looking back at Zhane. “Hey, gu…”

Her words were cut off as a Stingwinger brought its hand over her mouth. Two more grabbed her from each side and dragged her away. As she looked pleadingly toward Zhane, she saw that Stingwingers had grabbed him too and had his mouth covered. As they were dragged back up the ship’s entrance, she kicked and screamed, but to no avail—the muffled sound was too quiet to be heard by the teens, who were at least twenty or so yards away. As a Stingwinger closed the door behind them and Kegler looked at them angrily, Karone unhappily thought how the teens hadn’t even noticed them.

And unfortunately, they hadn’t. The teens, and even the villains’ gazes were fixated on Cassie, who seemed to have escaped from certain doom. Trakeena gave Cassie an angry look, before raising her staff in one hand and the Saber in the other and yelling, “Come on!”

Cassie, a new vigor within her, blocked and defended each of Trakeena’s kicks and punches. As she went to slash Cassie with her staff and the saber, Cassie fell to the ground and did a back handspring, knocking both the staff and the saber into the air. As Trakeena stared up helplessly, Cassie kicked her in the stomach and knocked her back. Catching the saber upon its descent, Cassie looked up at Trakeena and said, “Get ready to see a whole new me, girl. GO, GALACTIC!” As new swirls of pink energy formed around Cassie, she knew that what she was doing was right. Trakeena shielded her eyes, and then looked up to see Cassie, the Pink Galaxy Ranger reborn.

“You haven’t won yet!” Trakeena yelled angrily.

“Oh no?” Cassie replied, “Ready, rangers?”

The four other Galaxy Rangers nodded toward Cassie, knowing what she meant. All at once they shouted, “Lights of Orion, activate!” The Lights gave the five teens their armor. As Cassie joined the four for an energy attack, Mike shot the unaware Villamax and Deviot, as the Space Rangers watched in surprise. The Galaxy Rangers transformed into spheres of energy and blasted Villamax, Trakeena, and Deviot all at once.

Reeling from the explosion, Trakeena shouted, “I will have my revenge on ALL of you. Mark my words!” She, Deviot, Villamax, and the Stingwingers proceeded to teleport into the Scorpion Stinger. A few seconds later, the ship took off into the air and fled through Rashon’ atmosphere.

The Galaxy Rangers stood breathing heavily, Cassie in particular. The four Space Rangers and the Magna Defender merely gazed in puzzlement. Cassie was the first to shout “Power Down!” and was quickly followed by the nine other teens.

Ashley looked over at Cassie in amazement and asked, “Well, what happened?”

“Kendrix,” Cassie spoke, gulping, and then added, “She…she wants me to take over as the Pink Galaxy Ranger. And…I said yes.”

Andros looked over at her and said, “No…but…”

“Well…” Carlos asked, “So…are you going to stay with us or with them?”

“I don’t know,” Cassie said looking down at the ground, “I just don’t know.”

“Well,” Leo said, “The four of you can stay with us until she figures things out.”

Andros narrowed his eyes at Leo, and then muttered, “Great. Thanks.”

“Meanwhile,” Mike said, “Don’t we need more fuel?”

Damon nodded and said, “Let me check to see how low we are.” A few minutes later, he returned outside with a puzzled look upon his face. “Actually,” he said, “The fuel supply seems to be at its highest.”

“But…who could have re-fueled the engines? We were all fighting!” Maya exclaimed.

The cloaked figure looked at the 10 teens from behind the Megaship and chuckled to himself. He then quickly turned around and raced off towards his ship, waiting to take off when the Megaship had gained a decent lead.

“They’re not tainted,” Damon added, “It’s a completely healthy supply of fuel.”

“Well…then let’s get going,” Leo said.

“We’re all behind you, Cassie,” Ashley said, “Whatever decision you make.

T.J. nodded in agreement as Cassie looked down and said, “I know…I do.”

“So, they tried to get away, is that right Kegler?” Trakeena confirmed, glaring at the two teens, who had been put back into their cells. “Well, it’s lucky I wasn’t here to witness it, or I would have done more than simply put you back,” she menaced. “But…that’s of no consequence now,” she finished. Grabbing a piece of cool molten rock from behind her, she spoke, “I’m not going to punish you. Because YOU have enough problems,” she said, gesturing to Karone’s collar, “And YOU,” she said, gesturing to an angry Zhane, “Are about to get the biggest attitude adjustment of your life.” She then proceeded to laugh evilly with Karone and Zhane staring up at her, a strong blend of anger and fear visible in their eyes.