"Karone?"
Andros was staring at Astronema in disbelief. His mortal enemy just couldn't be his baby sister. It wasn't possible.
I had a brother, Astronema thought. Parents and a brother. No, it's all a trick, the red ranger killed my family. He destroyed them. Ecliptor told me. Ecliptor raised me. He is my father now. The red ranger killed my family. He is not my brother.
It wasn't true. She realized this with a sudden shock. The red ranger was her age. He couldn't have killed her family. He hadn't even shown up until she was fourteen and had started attacking KO-35. But Ecliptor wouldn't lie to me . . .
"Andros!" She heard Zhane yelling. Zhane was safe. He would protect her until she could think.
Andros and Astronema were both on their knees in the sand wearing identical expressions of shock and disbelief. Both Andros and Ashley were unmorphed, and Ashley was standing so that she could pull Andros out of Astronema's way if she needed to.
"What's going on?" Zhane asked, out of breath from running.
Ashley bent over and gently freed Astronema's locket from Andros' grip. She handed it to Zhane. His eyes widened as he stared at his girlfriend. He'd known that she wasn't evil, but was this possible?
"Give it back," Andros and Astronema whispered together.
"Andros?" Ashley said gently. "I'm giving it to her now, okay?"
Andros nodded. Ashley approached Astronema cautiously, like she was approaching a frightened animal.
"This is yours, isn't it?" she asked. Astronema nodded. Ashley offered it to her, and Astronema snatched it out of Ashley's grasp.
Zhane went to Astronema's side and dropped to his knees beside her. "Look at me," he said. "Look at me."
Astronema raised her eyes to his. "Do you believe him?" he asked. "Do you think he's your brother?"
"I- I don't know," Astronema whispered. "Ecliptor told me that the red ranger killed my family. Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted revenge for that. But the red ranger didn't appear until three years ago. And he's my age. How could he kill my family when he was five or six?"
"It's okay," Zhane said, taking her hands. "You can think about it."
Astronema sat silently for several minutes, trying to remember. Her brother had the same hair as Andros, she remembered after a few minutes. She looked past Zhane to stare at him.
"We had a ball," she said. "We were playing."
Andros could only nod.
"You left," she said. "Darkonda. It was Darkonda. He took me to Dark Specter. He made me the Princess of Evil."
"Karone?" Andros asked. "You believe me now, don't you?"
It could all be a trick. But in her heart she knew it wasn't.
"My princess!"
They all whirled around to see Ecliptor charging toward them. Ashley and Zhane took defensive stances, but Ecliptor was not there to fight.
"Princess, Dark Specter has been watching," he said. "He will destroy you if he finds you. Go with them. They are your family."
"Ecliptor," she whimpered. "Why . . .?"
"Take care of her," he ordered the rangers. "I love her like a daughter. Do not let Dark Specter kill her."
Then Ecliptor was shattered as Darkonda appeared, firing at him with several laser blasters. He turned to the rangers.
"Deca!" Zhane shouted into his communicator. "Teleport four to the Megaship!"
"Affirmative," Deca replied just as Darkonda raised a blaster. The laser passed through empty space.
"Astronema!" Cassie and Carlos cried together as the four appeared on the Megaship.
She shook her head. "I am Karone now."
"Karone?" they repeated. Zhane and Ashley nodded slightly. Andros was staring at the floor, and Ashley suspected he was crying.
Zhane watched as Astronema shifted into the blond woman that she had been a few days before. Karone looked at him shyly. "What do you think?"
Zhane hugged her hard. "You look beautiful."
Ashley checked to make sure Andros hadn't seen Zhane hugging his sister.
"Andros?" Karone asked. "Can we talk?"
Andros nodded happily. Karone had come back to him. "Come on," he said.
Ashley glanced at Zhane. "You're a dead man."
"Aw, he won't even notice," Zhane said, shrugging and grinning nervously. "And if he does, he can't hit me too hard."
"And why not?"
Zhane grinned. "Karone would hit him back."
