Business as Usual
Unfortunately, this is the only Astronema Icon I have at the moment. So while it doesn't exactly fit the mood .... Um, yeah. c.c;;
Disclaimer: I own Tommy Oliver! And EvilTommy! And Lord Zedd, 'cause he was there. And Mack, who's in storage in Southern California. I may not own the Power Rangers, but I can own their action figures, damn it!
This PlotBunny fought me every step of the way, but I wasn't allowed to give up on it. -Glares in
purplestripe66 's direction- So even though I'm not sure how happy I am with it, here it is. It came out a lot angstier than was originally intended.
I'm not sure if I'll ever find the urge to play in this particular universal sandbox again, but for anyone else who would like to, feel free to grab a shovel.
The line 'They believe you are stupid because you are beautiful. Prove them wrong.' is credited as a semi-steal of a line from The Most Noble Order of the Table, by elecktrum. If you read Chronicles of Narnia fanfiction at all, go find her. She's amazing.
Business as Usual
It wasn't exactly the greatest undercover mission she'd ever done. The club was sleazy, the girls were catty, and the drinks were terrible. And she was hard-pressed not to teach a lesson to the customers who kept eyeing her like a piece of meat.
But at least the tips were good.
She'd always been very conscious of her body, especially as Astronema. She *knew* she was gorgeous; it was part of why she had such a fondness for leather. And Ecliptor had taught her that her deadly beauty was her greatest asset.
They believe you are stupid because you are beautiful. Prove them wrong.
Oh, Ecliptor, she sighed to herself, closing her eyes for a moment in the pretense of feeling the music. I miss you so much. Would you still be proud of me, knowing that I gave up the power to rule galaxies for a chance at a family that I abandoned just a few months later?
No. She hadn't abandoned them. She was finishing their mission. It wasn't her fault she happened to know better places and ways to get information on the missing Quasar Saber. And it wasn't her fault that she'd already known what the Rangers would think if they knew what she was planning to do - let alone where she was going.
Andros had said that they owed Kendrix and her team for saving Cassie's life. While they all had a haunted look in their eyes when they returned from Terra Venture and the Galaxy Rangers, none of them had matched Cassie's tortured expression. And Zhane's sudden guilt for staying behind with her at Andros' request - her new brother had an infuriating dislike of leaving her alone for any decent amount of time - hadn't helped any. And if Zhane was at fault for not being there to help, then *she* was at fault for keeping him with her.
She suppressed the frustrated growl that threatened to emerge with a violent forward thrust of her hips, ignoring the ensuing catcalls. One of the first differences she'd come to understand between life as Astronema and life as Karone was that unlike Astronema, Karone could feel guilt - and lots of it. It was annoying, it was irritating, and as Zhane cheekily liked to remind her, it was part of being an ordinary human.
If this was humanity, she'd like to go back to being a sorceress now.
She sighed, turning her head and batting her eyelashes seductively as she let the top to her vest slide off her shoulders. Cassie's despair over Kendrix's sacrifice was upsetting Andros, and she was coming to realize that she didn't like seeing her brother upset. It was a strange thing to get used to after all the years she'd spent trying to kill him.
Which is how she found herself here.
Drawing her attention back to what she was doing, she offered her audience her sexiest smile. If she wanted better tips tonight, she needed to focus. And while she may not *need* the money, it didn't hurt.
And making the best tips out of all the girls here wasn't bad, either.
She thrust out her chest to allow the vest to slide back off her arms and fall to the floor. Arching her back and curving her hips forward, she slid her hands up to her bright pink curls, lifting them just enough to show her neck without revealing she wore a wig. She rocked her hips for a moment before spinning around and dropping down to grab her ankles. Her hands dragged along her calves and up to her thighs as she straightened slowly, pausing to slap her butt to show how firm it was. The flirty smile and wink as she did it earned her a few howls from the group of Sirians in the corner.
Tucking her thumbs into her miniskirt, she slid it down to the floor with another sensual rock of her hips along the way. She stepped out of it delicately, hooking the toe of one of her lace-up stiletto heels on the hem. She sent it flying with a sharp kick that showed off both her calf muscles and butt, and smirked as several customers promptly started a brawl over it.
Now clad in a brown leather bikini and her matching lace-up heels, she worked her way back to the pole standing upright in the center of the stage, dancing provocatively the whole way. When the clothes came off it was time to dance. And dancing was where she earned her tips.
She wrapped a leg around the pole, grabbing it with both hands and grinding her body against it. Falling back again to hook her ankles around it as well, she yanked herself up and around in a swift spin. She dropped her hands against the ground as the spin ended, walking them closer to the pole and pushing ankles higher up the pole in a graceful sort of handstand, earning another round of exuberant cheering. Unhooking her ankles at last, she held the handstand for a moment before arching over into a backbend. She pushed her arms up while sliding her legs into a perfect split. It wasn't a comfortable maneuver, but it tended to get her more money on the nights she did it.
A particularly loud cat call caught her attention from one side of the stage, and she saw a flash of paper out of the corner of her eye. Coins and gems were the most popular currency on Onyx, but being that they were hard to stuff in clothing, most customers exchanged them for coupons at the door. Not everyone liked the inconvenience, so the girls had made a point of going to the customers who bothered with the exchange first for a little 'extra' attention.
She gave them her best hip-swaying walk as she crossed the stage, intent on getting as much money out of them as possible. One of them seemed to be trying to hide his face in his hands, while his companion poked his sides tauntingly. She smiled, easing herself down to her knees and slowly crawling towards them.
First-timers were always the most fun to tease.
She lowered her head as she neared them, peering up coyly through her eyelashes. She made sure to stop just in front of the shy one, pausing with her breasts pushed forward between her arms. Making a soft, seductive sort of purr in the back of her throat, she looked up slowly, waiting expectantly for the inevitable awkward fumbling against her chest.
Her eyes met brown.
For a moment, she and her brother simply stared at one another, frozen in shock. She could feel herself paling in horror, and saw him flush in anger or embarrassment - she wasn't sure. Wig or not, there was no way he couldn't have recognized her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zhane staring at her, his hand still paused in mid-air, holding up a coupon.
It only took moments for her to recover herself, but it felt like hours. She reached for Zhane's hand, deliberately helping him to stuff the paper into her bikini top without actually meeting his eyes. She straightened up with a haughty smile, tossing her hair in a way that allowed her to look over their heads before moving on.
She made her way around the stage for tips, but her heart wasn't in it anymore. Her movements were almost mechanical, something only one of the other girls, maybe the manager might have noticed. She ended her dance earlier than usual, grabbed her remaining top, and headed back stage again to the cries of protest she always heard.
"I'm done for the night," she informed the girl by the curtain, waiting her turn. "I don't feel well. Let someone else take up my spots."
"Feel better," the girl murmured back distractedly, more interested in inspecting her outfit.
She didn't feel bad about skipping out for the night - any of the other girls would jump at the chance to make more money. She couldn't dance anymore. Not now. Not after ...
"Someone wants to buy your time for the night."
She kept walking. "I don't do that."
A three fingered claw grabbed her arm, and she grabbed it, spinning around to jab a sharp elbow into the offender's stomach. As he stumbled back, she pinned him to the wall with a foot pressed against his neck. "We have rules here, Garren. And mine is that you do *not* touch me," she hissed softly.
He held his arms up in surrender even as he scowled at her. "They offered a good price!" he argued.
"To me? Or to you?" she sneered.
His scales flushed purple in embarrassment, and she rolled her eyes, lowering her leg at last. "I sell myself to no one, Garren. I dance. That was our agreement, and nothing else," she reminded him. She left him without bothering to wait for a reply, ignoring his angry protests behind her.
She took her time before going to her room, stopping for a long shower in the communal bathroom. It was rare to have it all to herself, and she relished in the chance to take her time without fighting to protect herself from anyone. She had well established herself as a loner and a drifter not long enough after she'd come here, refusing all offers of companionship - male or female. Unfortunately, not everyone liked to take no for an answer, and she often had to 'remind' them just how strong a fighter she was, despite her delicate looking appearance.
She leaned back against one of the walls with a soft sigh, letting the warm water wash over her. Eventually she let herself slid down the wall, slowly sinking to the floor to hug her knees. She buried her face against them for a moment, trying not to cry.
When had the opinions of other people begun to matter so much?
She had come here for the sake of her brother and his team. People who used to be her enemies, that she was now suddenly expected to consider her friends. She didn't know how she was supposed to do that. She was used to doing whatever she wanted, simply because she wanted it. And if someone else got hurt in the process, well, that wasn't her problem.
But now she had a conscience, and guilt, and feelings she didn't like to deal with. She had people she ... worried about. She had come here, offering herself up in this situation because she couldn't stand the haunted look in Andros' eyes, or soft crying coming from Cassie's room every night. Because she couldn't stand to see Zhane's broken look when he tried to comfort his friends over the loss of someone he'd never even met.
Zhane. God, why did *he* have to be here? Zhane was so many levels of complicated she couldn't begin to figure them out. And when she tried, her chest ached almost as badly as her head.
She didn't know which image was worse: her brother's red face as he stared at her, or the blank look on Zhane's as he remained frozen.
She sighed softly, pushing herself back up. Avoiding this wasn't going to help anything, and the longer she lingered here the more she only put off the inevitable. Rinsing the last of the soap from her body, she toweled off and dressed slowly before finally heading for the closet that had been designated as her room here.
The moment her door shut behind her she was on guard, her eyes slowly going over the shows of her room. "Come out," she ordered. "I know you're there."
"We tried to do this the easy way, you know." The tone was almost conversational, and she had to clench her fists to keep from responding to it.
"I don't want you here," she informed them, tossing her head haughtily in a way that she knew would remind them of Astronema.
"Karone ... "
The pain in her brother's voice made her pause, and she had to fight to keep from looking at him. "What?"
He hesitated, and she knew he was struggling for words. "Why?" he whispered finally. "Why did you just ... leave? Why are you *here*? Is it ... is it something I .... "
She held in the urge to swallow down the tears that threatened her eyes, knowing that would give her away in an instant. "I'm not some sort of kept pet, Andros. I do what I want, and go where I want, when I want." She forced herself to laugh. "Did you really think I would stay with you forever?"
There was a startled breath that she refused to look to see, moving instead to her dresser. She sorted through for something racy and scantily clad, absently removing her top without bothering to warn them. "You actually thought that just because I'll answer to your sister's name now that it changes the person I am? That I'm someone else? I've always been *exactly* who I am, Andros. That isn't going to change. If you don't like me, then obviously I'm not the person you were looking for." She turned, barely anymore dressed than she'd been a moment ago, and met her brother's distraught gaze directly. "I'm not a child, Andros. Stop expecting me to still be that little girl."
It was the truth, and she could see he knew it in the way that the light slowly died from his eyes with a slight nod. "I'm ... sorry to have bothered you then," he said stiffly. "We'll be leaving. Come on, Zhane."
But Zhane didn't follow him right away, instead watching her with an expression she couldn't read.
"What?" she demanded, trying not to show how uncomfortable he was making her.
He was invading her personal space before she had time to think, his arms wrapped around her in a loose hug. "I don't know why you're really here or what you're up to Karone, but I'll be waiting until you can tell me," he murmured in her ear. "And for the record? I liked you before you knew you were Karone. Andros will, too - you just have to give him time."
And then he stepped back, looking her in the eyes with that searching stare that unnerved her far more than his words had. "Goodbye, Violet."
She waited, watching him leave before moving to lock the door quietly behind him.
Violet. Her stage name was Violet Princess - a way of protecting the Astro Rangers as best she could. And maybe ... maybe a way to hold on to just a bit more of her life as Astronema.
She looked over her tiny room, the dresser full of clothes that showed every line and curve of her body, the bed that took up most of the floor space in hopes that she might change her mind one day about sharing it, the small table in the corner. Her eyes found the floorboards under her bed and the panel in the wall that hid the scraps of information she'd managed to gather on the missing Quasar Saber and the ones trying to find it. This was her life now. No matter what she thought of it, this was her life, until her mission was complete.
She crawled into bed, curling up into a ball and hugging her pillow. As her tears silently soaked into it, she fought to hold on to that one sliver of hope she had left.
That one day, she'd be free of this place.
One day.
Disclaimer: I own Tommy Oliver! And EvilTommy! And Lord Zedd, 'cause he was there. And Mack, who's in storage in Southern California. I may not own the Power Rangers, but I can own their action figures, damn it!
This PlotBunny fought me every step of the way, but I wasn't allowed to give up on it. -Glares in
purplestripe66 's direction- So even though I'm not sure how happy I am with it, here it is. It came out a lot angstier than was originally intended.
I'm not sure if I'll ever find the urge to play in this particular universal sandbox again, but for anyone else who would like to, feel free to grab a shovel.
The line 'They believe you are stupid because you are beautiful. Prove them wrong.' is credited as a semi-steal of a line from The Most Noble Order of the Table, by elecktrum. If you read Chronicles of Narnia fanfiction at all, go find her. She's amazing.
Business as Usual
It wasn't exactly the greatest undercover mission she'd ever done. The club was sleazy, the girls were catty, and the drinks were terrible. And she was hard-pressed not to teach a lesson to the customers who kept eyeing her like a piece of meat.
But at least the tips were good.
She'd always been very conscious of her body, especially as Astronema. She *knew* she was gorgeous; it was part of why she had such a fondness for leather. And Ecliptor had taught her that her deadly beauty was her greatest asset.
They believe you are stupid because you are beautiful. Prove them wrong.
Oh, Ecliptor, she sighed to herself, closing her eyes for a moment in the pretense of feeling the music. I miss you so much. Would you still be proud of me, knowing that I gave up the power to rule galaxies for a chance at a family that I abandoned just a few months later?
No. She hadn't abandoned them. She was finishing their mission. It wasn't her fault she happened to know better places and ways to get information on the missing Quasar Saber. And it wasn't her fault that she'd already known what the Rangers would think if they knew what she was planning to do - let alone where she was going.
Andros had said that they owed Kendrix and her team for saving Cassie's life. While they all had a haunted look in their eyes when they returned from Terra Venture and the Galaxy Rangers, none of them had matched Cassie's tortured expression. And Zhane's sudden guilt for staying behind with her at Andros' request - her new brother had an infuriating dislike of leaving her alone for any decent amount of time - hadn't helped any. And if Zhane was at fault for not being there to help, then *she* was at fault for keeping him with her.
She suppressed the frustrated growl that threatened to emerge with a violent forward thrust of her hips, ignoring the ensuing catcalls. One of the first differences she'd come to understand between life as Astronema and life as Karone was that unlike Astronema, Karone could feel guilt - and lots of it. It was annoying, it was irritating, and as Zhane cheekily liked to remind her, it was part of being an ordinary human.
If this was humanity, she'd like to go back to being a sorceress now.
She sighed, turning her head and batting her eyelashes seductively as she let the top to her vest slide off her shoulders. Cassie's despair over Kendrix's sacrifice was upsetting Andros, and she was coming to realize that she didn't like seeing her brother upset. It was a strange thing to get used to after all the years she'd spent trying to kill him.
Which is how she found herself here.
Drawing her attention back to what she was doing, she offered her audience her sexiest smile. If she wanted better tips tonight, she needed to focus. And while she may not *need* the money, it didn't hurt.
And making the best tips out of all the girls here wasn't bad, either.
She thrust out her chest to allow the vest to slide back off her arms and fall to the floor. Arching her back and curving her hips forward, she slid her hands up to her bright pink curls, lifting them just enough to show her neck without revealing she wore a wig. She rocked her hips for a moment before spinning around and dropping down to grab her ankles. Her hands dragged along her calves and up to her thighs as she straightened slowly, pausing to slap her butt to show how firm it was. The flirty smile and wink as she did it earned her a few howls from the group of Sirians in the corner.
Tucking her thumbs into her miniskirt, she slid it down to the floor with another sensual rock of her hips along the way. She stepped out of it delicately, hooking the toe of one of her lace-up stiletto heels on the hem. She sent it flying with a sharp kick that showed off both her calf muscles and butt, and smirked as several customers promptly started a brawl over it.
Now clad in a brown leather bikini and her matching lace-up heels, she worked her way back to the pole standing upright in the center of the stage, dancing provocatively the whole way. When the clothes came off it was time to dance. And dancing was where she earned her tips.
She wrapped a leg around the pole, grabbing it with both hands and grinding her body against it. Falling back again to hook her ankles around it as well, she yanked herself up and around in a swift spin. She dropped her hands against the ground as the spin ended, walking them closer to the pole and pushing ankles higher up the pole in a graceful sort of handstand, earning another round of exuberant cheering. Unhooking her ankles at last, she held the handstand for a moment before arching over into a backbend. She pushed her arms up while sliding her legs into a perfect split. It wasn't a comfortable maneuver, but it tended to get her more money on the nights she did it.
A particularly loud cat call caught her attention from one side of the stage, and she saw a flash of paper out of the corner of her eye. Coins and gems were the most popular currency on Onyx, but being that they were hard to stuff in clothing, most customers exchanged them for coupons at the door. Not everyone liked the inconvenience, so the girls had made a point of going to the customers who bothered with the exchange first for a little 'extra' attention.
She gave them her best hip-swaying walk as she crossed the stage, intent on getting as much money out of them as possible. One of them seemed to be trying to hide his face in his hands, while his companion poked his sides tauntingly. She smiled, easing herself down to her knees and slowly crawling towards them.
First-timers were always the most fun to tease.
She lowered her head as she neared them, peering up coyly through her eyelashes. She made sure to stop just in front of the shy one, pausing with her breasts pushed forward between her arms. Making a soft, seductive sort of purr in the back of her throat, she looked up slowly, waiting expectantly for the inevitable awkward fumbling against her chest.
Her eyes met brown.
For a moment, she and her brother simply stared at one another, frozen in shock. She could feel herself paling in horror, and saw him flush in anger or embarrassment - she wasn't sure. Wig or not, there was no way he couldn't have recognized her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zhane staring at her, his hand still paused in mid-air, holding up a coupon.
It only took moments for her to recover herself, but it felt like hours. She reached for Zhane's hand, deliberately helping him to stuff the paper into her bikini top without actually meeting his eyes. She straightened up with a haughty smile, tossing her hair in a way that allowed her to look over their heads before moving on.
She made her way around the stage for tips, but her heart wasn't in it anymore. Her movements were almost mechanical, something only one of the other girls, maybe the manager might have noticed. She ended her dance earlier than usual, grabbed her remaining top, and headed back stage again to the cries of protest she always heard.
"I'm done for the night," she informed the girl by the curtain, waiting her turn. "I don't feel well. Let someone else take up my spots."
"Feel better," the girl murmured back distractedly, more interested in inspecting her outfit.
She didn't feel bad about skipping out for the night - any of the other girls would jump at the chance to make more money. She couldn't dance anymore. Not now. Not after ...
"Someone wants to buy your time for the night."
She kept walking. "I don't do that."
A three fingered claw grabbed her arm, and she grabbed it, spinning around to jab a sharp elbow into the offender's stomach. As he stumbled back, she pinned him to the wall with a foot pressed against his neck. "We have rules here, Garren. And mine is that you do *not* touch me," she hissed softly.
He held his arms up in surrender even as he scowled at her. "They offered a good price!" he argued.
"To me? Or to you?" she sneered.
His scales flushed purple in embarrassment, and she rolled her eyes, lowering her leg at last. "I sell myself to no one, Garren. I dance. That was our agreement, and nothing else," she reminded him. She left him without bothering to wait for a reply, ignoring his angry protests behind her.
She took her time before going to her room, stopping for a long shower in the communal bathroom. It was rare to have it all to herself, and she relished in the chance to take her time without fighting to protect herself from anyone. She had well established herself as a loner and a drifter not long enough after she'd come here, refusing all offers of companionship - male or female. Unfortunately, not everyone liked to take no for an answer, and she often had to 'remind' them just how strong a fighter she was, despite her delicate looking appearance.
She leaned back against one of the walls with a soft sigh, letting the warm water wash over her. Eventually she let herself slid down the wall, slowly sinking to the floor to hug her knees. She buried her face against them for a moment, trying not to cry.
When had the opinions of other people begun to matter so much?
She had come here for the sake of her brother and his team. People who used to be her enemies, that she was now suddenly expected to consider her friends. She didn't know how she was supposed to do that. She was used to doing whatever she wanted, simply because she wanted it. And if someone else got hurt in the process, well, that wasn't her problem.
But now she had a conscience, and guilt, and feelings she didn't like to deal with. She had people she ... worried about. She had come here, offering herself up in this situation because she couldn't stand the haunted look in Andros' eyes, or soft crying coming from Cassie's room every night. Because she couldn't stand to see Zhane's broken look when he tried to comfort his friends over the loss of someone he'd never even met.
Zhane. God, why did *he* have to be here? Zhane was so many levels of complicated she couldn't begin to figure them out. And when she tried, her chest ached almost as badly as her head.
She didn't know which image was worse: her brother's red face as he stared at her, or the blank look on Zhane's as he remained frozen.
She sighed softly, pushing herself back up. Avoiding this wasn't going to help anything, and the longer she lingered here the more she only put off the inevitable. Rinsing the last of the soap from her body, she toweled off and dressed slowly before finally heading for the closet that had been designated as her room here.
The moment her door shut behind her she was on guard, her eyes slowly going over the shows of her room. "Come out," she ordered. "I know you're there."
"We tried to do this the easy way, you know." The tone was almost conversational, and she had to clench her fists to keep from responding to it.
"I don't want you here," she informed them, tossing her head haughtily in a way that she knew would remind them of Astronema.
"Karone ... "
The pain in her brother's voice made her pause, and she had to fight to keep from looking at him. "What?"
He hesitated, and she knew he was struggling for words. "Why?" he whispered finally. "Why did you just ... leave? Why are you *here*? Is it ... is it something I .... "
She held in the urge to swallow down the tears that threatened her eyes, knowing that would give her away in an instant. "I'm not some sort of kept pet, Andros. I do what I want, and go where I want, when I want." She forced herself to laugh. "Did you really think I would stay with you forever?"
There was a startled breath that she refused to look to see, moving instead to her dresser. She sorted through for something racy and scantily clad, absently removing her top without bothering to warn them. "You actually thought that just because I'll answer to your sister's name now that it changes the person I am? That I'm someone else? I've always been *exactly* who I am, Andros. That isn't going to change. If you don't like me, then obviously I'm not the person you were looking for." She turned, barely anymore dressed than she'd been a moment ago, and met her brother's distraught gaze directly. "I'm not a child, Andros. Stop expecting me to still be that little girl."
It was the truth, and she could see he knew it in the way that the light slowly died from his eyes with a slight nod. "I'm ... sorry to have bothered you then," he said stiffly. "We'll be leaving. Come on, Zhane."
But Zhane didn't follow him right away, instead watching her with an expression she couldn't read.
"What?" she demanded, trying not to show how uncomfortable he was making her.
He was invading her personal space before she had time to think, his arms wrapped around her in a loose hug. "I don't know why you're really here or what you're up to Karone, but I'll be waiting until you can tell me," he murmured in her ear. "And for the record? I liked you before you knew you were Karone. Andros will, too - you just have to give him time."
And then he stepped back, looking her in the eyes with that searching stare that unnerved her far more than his words had. "Goodbye, Violet."
She waited, watching him leave before moving to lock the door quietly behind him.
Violet. Her stage name was Violet Princess - a way of protecting the Astro Rangers as best she could. And maybe ... maybe a way to hold on to just a bit more of her life as Astronema.
She looked over her tiny room, the dresser full of clothes that showed every line and curve of her body, the bed that took up most of the floor space in hopes that she might change her mind one day about sharing it, the small table in the corner. Her eyes found the floorboards under her bed and the panel in the wall that hid the scraps of information she'd managed to gather on the missing Quasar Saber and the ones trying to find it. This was her life now. No matter what she thought of it, this was her life, until her mission was complete.
She crawled into bed, curling up into a ball and hugging her pillow. As her tears silently soaked into it, she fought to hold on to that one sliver of hope she had left.
That one day, she'd be free of this place.
One day.