65I do not own Power Rangers
Chapter 19 – Reversion
The tension in the command centre was so thick that it might have been possible to cut it with a knife. All those that had recognised 'Saffy' as Karone were staring in complete shock, while those who did not or had not were looking on in confusion.
"Wait I thought Karone was supposed to dead?" Ryan said confused looking between the blonde in question and the Space Rangers wondering what the hell was going on. The blonde in question just looked on as confused as he was while Andros kept blinking as though this was some illusion that would disappear if he did so.
"We thought she was." Zordon said and for once he was as much surprised as his rangers at his protégés sudden and unexpected return.
"Who's Karone?" 'Saffy' asked not understanding what was going on. Even Dana who had brought her here was standing there looking as lost as she was. The man in the red jumpsuit that had called her by that strange name seemed familiar but the sensation vanished like dissipating smoke when she concentrated on it.
"What do you mean? Don't you know who I' am?" Andros asked, now that his shock was starting to wear off elation began to take root in his mind at his sister who he had thought was lost to him again, this time forever was standing here in front of him. He was almost about to rush over to her and wrap her in as tight a hug as he could manage when she stopped him with words that deflated his good mood in much the same way a pin would burst a balloon.
"I'm sorry I don't. What's your name?" She asked innocently not realising what was going on and was confused by how crestfallen the man looked at her words. Then the large face in the tube that dominated the far wall spoke up.
"His name is Andros and you are his sister Karone. A bright young woman and a power ranger." He told her. He did seem familiar to her too, whenever she looked at him she felt…safe. She knew that this being was something incredible and good that would never let her come to harm. "I' am Zordon and for a time I was your teacher." He told her and her eyes widened at the name, the sisters back at the temple had spoken of the Great Wizard Zordon and how he had led the struggle of good against evil for over eight thousand years and had created the power rangers. She then realised what he had said.
"I'm a power ranger wow." She said, nothing really sinking in yet as too much was being assimilated at once.
"What is going on?" Ashley asked Zordon, she too had been shocked then delighted to see her former team mate apparently return from the dead only to be confused at how she was acting. The rest of the space rangers including a rather hurt looking Andros and a quick scan of Karone's mind told Zordon all he needed to know.
"It seems that when Karone transported out of the Star Train Megazord in the final battle with Dark Spector she must have been injured in some way. She has forgotten her life before that point." Zordon told them as Karone or Saffy as she had become known wandered around the command centre aimlessly to see everything she could.
"Everything?" Leo asked, as spooked as he was at her sudden appearance he couldn't deny that he was happy to see her again.
"Everything." Zordon confirmed. Kendrix then spoke up.
"Well can she still use the Sapphire?" Zordon shook his head.
"To use the Sapphire Star requires special discipline and training. It is easily the most power single source of energy in the known universe."
"Well could we just remove it and give it to someone else and then give them a crash course?" Carlos asked and Alpha 6 answered that one.
"No, once the gem has bonded to a person it can't be removed unless they are killed." Everyone in the room blanched at the thought and demised that option immediately. "Besides it takes a minimum of two weeks to gain the necessary mental and spiritual discipline to channel the power safely. In her current state Karone can't even start the process." The small robot said depressed, seeing his friend in this state was heart-breaking. He had mourned her for so long now and to see her here alive was a miracle but a bitter one when everyone realised that she had no memory of her life before. Or in fact any memory of them at all.
"So what are we going to do?" Carter said, dismayed that their only chance at defeating Malum was an amnesiac who had the only power that could stop him and no knowledge of how to use it.
"There is an option." Zordon told them as he looked at Karone who was looking at the star map with curiosity. "I can use my telepathy to force her to relive her life up until the present day in stages. She will remember her true past but it is a difficult method and will be hard on her given the life that she has lived." He said sadly knowing how hard this would be for her. In any other situation he might have let her go one being ignorant of her past given all the guilt he had felt inside Karone despite how hard she had tried to hide it. But in this situation they needed her back.
"Well then let's do it." Maya said thinking that this was going to be the answer to their problems but Zordon turned his sad eyes on Karone who had turned to face them.
"Karone I can restore your memories of your true past, you will know everything. But." He said seeing her look at him with hope in her eyes that this great being could provide the answers she wanted. "It will be difficult, even in the current situation though I won't force you to do it. I will only try if you want me too." Zordon told Karone who was now giving him her sole attention.
Listening to his words, Karone or Saffy which ever name she was called felt conflicted. The person she had been according to them had been a power ranger. A guardian of all that is good in the universe, a brave and noble person that had been willing to give her life to save others. She wasn't sure that she was that person any more and more importantly she was still concerned over what else her previous life had carried inside her. What life had she lived, what experiences had she had? Power Rangers could be evil as well as good although they were predominately the latter. She felt herself becoming torn; stay in blissful ignorance and live her life as Saffy without any of the baggage that her past might have had. Or she could accept his offer and discover her past and have to face whatever came with it, good and bad. As possible visions of what her past might contain spun around her mind, she realised that even if she chose to stay ignorant, she would always wonder what had her life been before. And that maybe she was overreacting at whatever might be there. These people seemed to think she had been someone good back then, power rangers, robots and great space wizards all.
So she slowly nodded.
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An hour later, a chair was bolted to the floor of the command centre. The Alphas carefully checked the restraints on the arms on the arm rests and chair legs that would hold Karone's arms and legs. Dana led Karone back into the room but when both women saw the chair, they sent alarmed looks at Zordon. Seeing their fear and concern, the great space wizard told them.
"The chair is intended to make sure that Karone cannot hurt herself during the process. Also to make sure that she does not leave before the process is complete, don't forget what I said Karone will relive her life in stages and we can't risk her running away before her memory is fully restored with Malum out there." His great voice echoed. Despite his words Karone and Dana continued to look at the chair with apprehension, Dana turned to face Karone and told her with wide eyes full of worry.
"You don't have to do this! You can walk away, go back to the nuns. We can find another way." She said. Karone looked her in the eye for a moment and then back at the chair. And despite her nerves she could see the best and perhaps only chance at regaining her past. And more importantly, the only way to save the power rangers from Malum the Devourer. The nuns had told her stories of him during her time with them and what he did to people. Despite her fear, she could not let such good men and women die when she had a chance to prevent it.
"No I'm going to do this." She said to Dana. "It is the only way."
Zordon nodded and said. "Take a seat, Alphas strap her in. Be careful not to hurt her." With her shoulders tense she walked forward and sat in the seat. The two little robots walked forward and carefully closed the restraints. One of the little robots looked up at her and told her in as soft a voice as his circuits could manage.
"It will be alright Karone, just try to relax."
"Thank you." She said finding comfort in the robot's words but had to ask. "Did we know each other before?"
"Oh yes." The robot answered. "You were my friend, we used to talk all the time on the megaship." He told her proudly and she smiled at his enthusiasm.
"Karone." Zordon said bringing her attention back to the moment. "There will be some discomfort as we move from one stage to another." She nodded.
Then all she knew was pain.
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But a moment later, it stopped and she looked around to see that she wasn't in the command centre anymore but in a field of lush green grass and trees, she caught a glimpse of her arm and realised that it was small, like a child's and dressed in some kind of yellow suit. She paused to look around when she felt information begin to seep into her mind. This was City Centre Park on KO-35, it was a symbol of pride to the people of the capital city to have the most beautiful park anywhere. Her parents loved taking her and her brother here every weekend to have some family time. She sat on the ground as more information started to flood in; about her home planet, her family, her brother and herself. How she and her brother had dreamed of being power rangers and how they used to come here to this grove to practice their telekinesis.
"Karone?" a young voice asked from her left and she turned around to see Andros, her older brother sitting there holding some kind of ball. Smiling she said.
"Yes big brother?" He then smiled too and asked.
"Want to practice?"
"Yes." She said excited, she loved her telekinesis and wanted to impress her parents when they went home. Andros started first, floating the ball over to her where she reached out with her mind and started levitating it between them. Andros joined in her efforts and they kept the ball floating between them for a while. Then a strong and sudden gust of wind blew the ball away before the two of them could catch it. Andros got up and went after leaving her alone in the clearing, she smiled after her brother but then she heard a rustling from the bushes. She looked over just in time to see a huge monster coming right at her.
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In a recreational area of the command centre, the rangers were waiting for Zordon to finish trying to restore Karone's memory. Dana had come in looking a bit pale but refused to tell them what was going on up there. Sitting around playing cards, reading books or just pacing as with Andros they were all buzzing with anticipation when the alert siren sounded. They were about to rush up to the control room when Alpha 5 appeared in the doorway.
"Rangers, Malum is attacking Mariner Bay." He said in his electronic tones.
"We're on it." Carter said but Alpha said quite quickly in alarm.
"No you mustn't. Without the Sapphire Star you can't harm him." Alpha said.
"We can't just let him tear the city apart. The people need us." Kelsey added and looking around the gathered three teams, Alpha could see the feeling was mutual.
"Be careful." He urged as the rangers rushed past him.
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Karone was sitting in a dark and cold room, she was remembering more and more about how she had gotten here. That monster had grabbed her from the park and she had been taken somewhere else and given to a large monster named Dark Spector. The name alone made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, he had done something to her and her memories had become hazy. Now they were clear again. It was cold and wet and damp and she had so wanted to go home.
She had wanted to see her brother. But they told her that he was dead, killed by her idols…the Power Rangers. That was when she had begun to hate the power rangers.
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In Mariner Bay Malum was blasting buildings, cars and anything else in sight as the city's population fled in terror at the unstoppable killing machine. From their galaxy gliders and jet jammers the Space and Lost Galaxy rangers screamed down from the sky towards Malum, firing their weapons while on the ground the Lightspeed Rangers charged at him with their Lightspeed cycles. All their shots despite how much they were firing bounced off of him just like before. The helmet that encased Malum's head looked up and then straight ahead of him. He drew his sword and the wicked nicked blade began glowing with orange light before he swung it in two wide arcs; one at the Lightspeed rangers and the other at the rangers approaching from the sky. Each swing produced an orange wave of energy that slammed into the rangers. Above the rangers attacking from the sky were forced to leap from their craft as they lost power and became uncontrollable, slamming moments after being abandoned into either the ground or nearby buildings. On the ground the Lightspeed rangers were thrown from their bikes as they hit the wave with the force of steel barrier being hit by a car. Quickly recovering the rangers got to their feet and all stood in a line opposing Malum who just stood there. Drawing their weapons the rangers took a steadying breath each before they charged.
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Karone's next set of memories were of a dojo, the place she now remembered where she had been trained by Ecliptor after Dark Spector had messed with her head. She used her staff to block his blows while she moved with a dancer's grace around his larger and bulkier form to find weaknesses to attack.
"Well done." Ecliptor said as she managed to land a blow on him for the first time ever. "You show your progress, I will have to make harder challenges for you in the future." He said with pride, causing her to smile in glee at pleasing her surrogate father figure.
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In Mariner Bay, things were going from bad to worse for the rangers as the battle against Malum continued. Drawing their blasters they all pelted him with all every scrap of power they could but like before all the shots didn't even phase the creature. Getting close the rangers switched to melee weapons and in groups of three they used their superior numbers to quickly hit and run constantly without letting up. But like with their blasters the attacks just bounced off Malum who stood there taking it without complaint till after the twelfth attack when he suddenly and without warning swung his sword sending TJ, Kelsey and Zhane to the ground before beginning his assault on the others.
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Karone meanwhile had reached a point in her memories where she discovered a part of her past that the others had been eager to avoid mentioning…Astronema.
In her full warrior princess of evil garb she stood on the Dark Fortress as her forces subjugated a world for Dark Spector. She felt a cold weight settle in the pit of her stomach as she began to recall all the things she'd done under the orders of Dark Spector. Her worse fear, that she had been a bad person had become a reality. She felt such remorse and shame and guilt which she had been previously free of that she felt tears coming down her face. The others had told her that she had been a good person, a power ranger that was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for others.
All untrue…she had been a horrible person.
"That's not true Karone." A great booming voice said and Karone looked up to see an old man in long flowing robes of stunning white, silver and gold holding a long staff the colour of bronze. Looking at him, Karone's face showed her astonishment. This was a figure that she had only ever seen in very old pictures shown to her in the history lessons at school or the bed time stories read to her by her parents when she was a child.
"Zordon." She said in almost a whisper she was so in awe. His true appearance before he had been caught in the time warp.
"It is not true that you were a completely evil being Karone." Zordon said to her. "Yes you did some terrible things but only because you were brainwashed by Dark Spector. The moment you discovered the truth, you threw off his grip and did all you could to help. You released me from his prison, you spirited me away from danger, you took on the enormous responsibility and task of mastering the power of the Sapphire Star and fought for good across the galaxy till in the final battle you were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and give your live to stop Dark Spector. You may have been corrupted for a time by darkness but your heart is pure." He told her and as he spoke more memories began to filter into her mind of the events that he was describing, all of it as the last pieces of the puzzle in her mind slotted into place.
She felt her reality shift and then looked down to see herself in full ranger costume. Zordon smiled and told her.
"This is who you are. A power ranger, a warrior for good." As the world dissolved around her, Karone smiled.
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In Mariner Bay the battle was turning into a one sided slaughter, between energy blasts and slashes from his sword Malum was cutting the rangers down without mercy. Their powers failing as they were hit, all falling to the floor unable to move their bodies were so sore. The last three standing were the red rangers all using their battlizers. As they got ready to use every last shred of energy that they had left, Malum thrust out his left hand and all three of them were thrown clear off their feet and out of their ranger forms by a powerful energy blast. Andros, Leo and Carter all groaned from the aches they had all over, around them their fellow rangers were in a similar state. They watched helpless as Malum raised his hand up into the air and a sickly orange ball of energy appeared in the palm of his hand. It grew larger before beams of the same coloured energy shot out of the orb and connected with each of the rangers. The rangers all screamed as it felt like their insides were being put through a blender. Malum still without any reaction at their cries of pain and turmoil as he began to drain them.
Then suddenly he stopped.
The rangers although grateful as the pain began to recede looked up to see Malum was staring intently at the road where the Lightspeed rangers had come. Standing there was a single figure, a young woman with blonde hair stood there her face deadly calm and her blue eyes as hard as clips of marble.
"Karone." Andros said trying to get up to wave her away and tell her to run but thanks to his injuries from the fight a moment ago and the brief drain of his powers he was barely able to speak.
"Andros." She said looking at her brother and other fellow rangers. Turning her gaze towards Malum, the faceless and soundless warrior faced her. She briefly looked at the Sapphire Star on her wrist and said.
"It's been a while since I did this, hope I haven't lost the knack." She clenched her hands into fists and looked back up towards Malum. Grim determination straightened her back and focused her mind.
"Sapphire Star, light up." She called out and like warm water surrounding you in a relaxing bath, she felt the energy move around her, wrapping her in the protective cover of her uniform. The downed rangers and the few civilians that had not fled looked on as the flash of sapphire light faded and revealed the Sapphire Star ranger standing there in all her glory. Karone felt the energy surging around, she smiled inside her helmet, welcoming the warm feeling that came with this power like an old friend. She drew her sword and charged straight at Malum, who drew his sword and charged also, as she got closer, her costume seemed to take on an almost ethereal sapphire coloured glow reacting to Malum being so close. As the two of them ran towards each other, those watching held their breath as Karone, waiting till the last possible moment before sliding to the floor and allowing the momentum to carry her between Malum's legs. Quickly stopping before the monster could turn around, she leapt to her feet and slashed into his back. This time when the sword hit, Malum staggered from the attack that had managed to cause damage to his armour. Just like Zordon had said, the energy radiated by the star was causing the bonds that made up Malum's armour to weaken, making him vulnerable for the first time since his awakening. Not letting up, Karone pressed the attack delivering several more cuts before Malum was thrown clear enough to turn around and engage.
He countered with his own sword trying to use his superior strength to batter her defences but she used her grace and agility to dodge his attacks knowing that even with the sapphire star she could only channel a portion of its power safely without injuring herself and she wasn't sure how much protection her ranger powers would give her. The star may weaken Malum, but it could not kill him that was her job. Doing a quick backflip away from an overhead slash, Karone saw the superficial damage done to Malum and realised that it was not enough to just attack him like this.
"Inferno." Karone called out, activating the extra power granted to her by the Kroton Dragon zord. The golden light streamed out of the bracelet and covered her in the golden armour and replaced her single sword with two curved blades. Finishing her backflip she charged again and channelled the energy into her two swords which quickly became enveloped in fire. Dodging left at the last moment to avoid an attack from Malum, she counterattacked with a series of blindingly quick cuts and jabs on any part of him that she could hit. Malum staggered as her attacks did even more damage fuelled by the Kroton Dragon's power before for the first time since the rangers had met him he made a noise. He deep and primal roar that was filled with rage and anger, his body began to glow the same orange as his energy blasts and Karone got ready to dodge in case he fired but instead of discharging energy at her, he started growing till he was bigger than any skyscraper in the city. Karone and the still injured rangers as well as anyone else that was looking were scared at his increase in size. Karone was about to call for the Star Train out of habit when she suddenly remembered it had been destroyed. Gritting her teeth she wondered what on Earth they were going to do next?
Then she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of the two swords in her hands. They were both decorated with carved dragon imagery. Looking back up at the monster which was still growing, Karone sheathed her blades and pulled an ornate looking metal flute out of a holster on her belt. She had never had the opportunity to use this the last time she had been in battle and she hoped it would be enough. As the defeated rangers stumbled to their feet, she started to play. Had the rangers of the original Angel Grove team been there they would have found the tune the flute made sounded eerily similar to the one used by the green ranger to summon the Dragon zord. For a moment there was nothing but then a large golden vortex opened nearby. Out of it emerged a creature that sent everyone except for Malum and the rangers running for cover.
It was huge even by zord standards, easily covering several city blocks and its roar was loud enough to shatter most of the glass for nearly a mile. The rangers covered their ears and then braced themselves as the ground shook with each step it made. The large zord creature then came into view as everyone gasped when they saw it. It was walked on four enormous clawed feet that connected to a huge torso that was glistening in the sun with its golden scales. The torso had two large wings attached and a long neck that connected to its head. At the sight of Malum it roared at his, blasting the monster back nearly a mile. Feeling nervous but steeling herself, Karone leapt up with all her ranger enhanced strength to jump on to the zord's back before being absorbed inside. She found herself in a sort of control room but it had no control panels, merely an altar which had a slot where Karone inserted the flute, allowing her to take control of her zord.
Malum looked on with his giant sword ready, the Kroton Dragon braced itself at Karone's command as her Sapphire Star gem glowed even more brightly. As Malum charged at the dragon, it took flight, its great wings flapping furiously as it got into the air before gliding back down and slashing its claws into Malum who stepped back, not giving him a catch to recover the dragon flew a short distance before swinging around and firing a huge fireball which knocked Malum to his feet.
"Megazord mode." Karone said as she started the transformation. The dragon flew higher into the air where its two hind legs readjusted themselves so that the zord could walk on two legs. The tail detached and the neck retracted, allowing the head to disconnect and settle on the chest. Where the neck had been, a more human looking head appeared and the front legs readjusted to act as its arms, the detached tail then was caught by one of the hands.
"Kroton Megazord." Karone said. The rangers below looked up in astonishment at the huge megazord. Karone in the cockpit was focused solely on Malum who looked on ready to fight to the bitter end and so was she. She directed the huge zord forward to the enormous monster which also moved to meet it. Swinging their respective weapons the two parried each other until Malum managed to get in a hit which shook the zord but it managed to recover to block the next attack and use the wings to blast Malum with a strong gust of wind before striking with its tail sword. As they both continued this melee for a while, Karone began focusing the power of the sapphire star into the Kroton Dragon and as she felt the energy peaking called out.
"Sapphire Dragon Wave." The chest mounted dragon head opened its jaws and as its eyes glowed, energy gathered in its maw for a few seconds before it fired. The powerful beam of energy struck Malum head on, he struggled to get out of the beam when it struck him but could not break free. He roared in rage as he failed to escape. As the beam continued, cracks appeared all over Malum's body, getting wider and wider till at last the armour could take no more and split apart causing Malum to explode in a blaze of orange and sapphire blue.
There was silence for a moment as Karone took a breath to relax while the rangers on the ground below them stared at the strange coloured clouds.
At last it was over.
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When Karone had powered down and returned to the command centre, she only had a moment's warning before she was mobbed by the rangers. They gave her hugs, shook her hand and all started talking at once, pulling her firmly into the centre of the room where she smiled as she felt the sheer joy in the room, the elation at Malum's defeat. Andros was the first there and was the first to pull her into a fierce hug that she returned just as tightly. The rangers all quieted down when Zordon started speaking, with a big smile on his face.
"Well done Karone, you have done what was once thought impossible. Eliminating Malum the Devourer has saved so many lives today. I knew that you were the right one to wield the Sapphire Star."
"Thank you Zordon." Karone said with complete sincerity. "And again thank you for giving me my life back." Her eyes started watering as emotions built up inside her. "But there is someone else I need to thank." Karone said, turning to look at Dana. She walked over and pulled her into a close hug and told her quietly so only the two of them could hear. "Thank you for bringing me back."
"You're welcome." Dana said as Karone let her go.
"Well I think this demands a party." Damon said and a loud cheer from the others agreed with him. Looking around the room, Karone smiled even wider feeling better than she ever had. Leo came over and asked her looking nervous.
"I know it was over a year ago. But I would like to ask if we could reschedule that date, maybe this week." He asked and she smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek, the close contact making him nearly freeze on the spot and whispered in his ear.
"Yes."
Dana looked on almost giggling till Carter walked up to her and asked looking very nervous and he wanted to do this before he lost his nerve and while Ryan distracted by Maya.
"Dana I was thinking maybe we could go and catch a movie some time and then maybe some dinner?" He braced himself the moment that the last word left his mouth expecting rejection but Dana smiled and told him.
"I'd love too. Friday night?" She asked and he was temporally shocked at her acceptance of his offer but quickly rallied and said trying not to sound too excited.
"Yeah that will great."
Alpha put on some music as the rangers gathered around the command centre to spend the evening enjoying themselves. Evil would still come out from wherever it was hiding and they and those that might take up the mantle in the future would be waiting for it when it did. Even when one day they had to put aside their helmets and live normal lives, they could still fight the good fight and be extraordinary.
The End
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