Streaks of Purple Saga Volume Three by Heather Ray (books for students to read txt) 📖

Chapter Twenty-Five

Two figures stood just outside the Command Center, peering down the steep, jagged cliff that elevated the secret base of the Power Rangers well above prying eyes.

"Let the driving lesson begin," Tommy murmured, pulling the saber from its hilt. He gazed at the sword in mute awe, again taking in the perfectly sculpted tiger's head that topped the handle.

"Didn't anyone teach you it's rude to stare?" a cultured voice suddenly spoke.

Tommy jumped, dropping the sword in surprise.

Both he and Alexis stared at the weapon that groaned "Oww" upon impact.

The Purple Ranger blinked. "Did that sword just... talk?"

"And it's even ruder

to drop someone on their face!" the saber growled. This time, the voice was more than a little miffed.

A faint white aura built around the blade, and suddenly, the saber floated to eye level with its new partner. "So, you're the White Ranger?" he muttered, "I take it you've never seen a talking saber before?"

Tommy blinked as his thought processes slowly digested this latest development.

"Alpha did

say I was 'enchanted,'" Saba pointed out, his tone slightly mocking, "What did you think that meant?"

"I... don't know," Tommy admitted, "I figured you fired laser beams or something."

Saba huffed. "Any saber worth it's steel can do that!"

Alexis felt her surprise fade, and began giggling. "I think I'll leave you two to get acquainted," she decided, golden wings carrying her into the air.

Tommy watched the Purple Ranger's timely retreat, and then turned his incredulous gaze back to his new "partner."

"Unless I misheard Zordon's direction, time is of the essence," Saba drawled, "Perhaps you should collect your limited wits and summon the White Tigerzord?"

Tommy frowned at the insult to his intelligence, but did as he was told. "White Tigerzord!"

In response to its master's voice, the earth rumbled as the powerful White Tigerzord raced into view, leaping into the air to gracefully land in the barren desert surrounding the cliffs.

"Whoa," Tommy awed.

"Teenagers," Saba sighed.

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Whoa," Alexis gasped, watching the gleaming white beast pause in the open field. From her vantage point, she could see Tommy's arms waving, possibly trying to communicate with the Zord.

Oddly, the Zord ran backwards, and somehow managed to flip onto its back, flailing its legs helplessly.

Tommy fell at the impact the Zord had created, and then seemed to direct his attention to Saba. Even from a distance, Alexis could hear Saba's screeching.

"I can't believe a sword could be so prissy!" she marveled, giggling at the very thought of it. But soon, the Tigerzord returned to its feet, and seemed to move smoothly after that.

"Okay, now for my

Zord," she whispered, closing her eyes. Even though she'd never encountered the Eaglezord first hand, a part of her felt the bond between her coin and the battle machine. Apparently, that link was just another aspect of the Power.

Time to wake up, Eaglezord... the world needs you again.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hundreds of thousands of miles away, the surface of the moon rocked. Sand and stone shifted under the spell of the tremor, startling Lord Zedd enough to leap from his throne in alarm.

Goldar raced into the throne room, eyes wide. "Sire! We're under attack!"

"Shut up, idiot!" Zedd hissed, steadying himself with his scepter, "The Rangers are occupied with the Nimrod! This is something... else..."

Carefully, the Emperor made his way to the balcony. Grasping the iron rail, red light flowed from his visor, magnifying the horizon from which the rumbling originated.

He gasped in surprise as a metallic bird shrieked to life, blasting from its dusty grave like a phoenix.

Before Zedd could even breathe, the vessel tore through the air, leaving a purple energy trail as it rocketed towards Earth.

"By all that is Evil..." he murmured, "There was a Zord buried on my moon

... and no one told me

?!"

Goldar wisely made himself as inconspicuous as possible.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Red Ranger gnashed teeth as he stared at the columns of dense smoke that rose from smoldering buildings. Dozens of police vehicles were nothing but crumbled sheets of metal, destroyed beyond recognition.

The creature had damaged several border neighborhoods of Angel Grove, culminating her wanton destruction in Stone Canyon itself... all because the Rangers delayed in doing something about it.

Jason swallowed as the Nimrod shook off heavy gunfire like rainwater, and continued her path of destruction...

...straight toward Stone Canyon High School.

^What the hell is she tryin' to prove?^ Zack growled over the intercom.

^We've got to stop her!^ Kim admonished.

^We're really low on space,^ Trini pointed out, ^If we fight in Megazord form here, we'll only make things worse!^

"New plan," Jason decided, "I'll try to redirect Nimrod. Kim, you help me out. Hopefully, since we're airborne, we'll minimize damage."

^And the rest of us?^ Billy inquired.

"Get down there. Make sure all rescue workers are out of the way, and check if anyone's lingering in the school. I see lights on in there."

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Ah!" Aisha hissed, drawing her arm back hastily. She cringed at the streak of red blood that quickly soaked through her sleeve.

There's glass everywhere...

she noted in dismay.

Biting her lip against the pain, she struggled to her feet once again, carefully maintaining her balance against the more oppressive pounding that shattered every single window on the east wing of the school building.

She looked up at the sky to see what had caused the newest rash of quakes. Her eyes widened at the blazing fire that lit the night sky, pouring from the throat of a red and silver leviathan that floated weightlessly in the heavens.

"The Power Rangers!" she gasped, the pain in her arm forgotten. She watched in awe as the mechanical beast wedged its glimmering teeth into the arm of the slim monster, catching its opponent halfway through a swing that could have sliced a building in half had it landed.

"Hey! Are you okay, Miss?"

Aisha jumped at the disembodied voice, turning full circle. No one was visible.

The speaker responded by leaping off the roof of the tall high school, somersaulting until she landed gracefully just feet from the startled girl.

"Yellow Ranger," Aisha gasped reverently.

Yellow's head tilted down, apparently noticing in the sharp glass that covered the grass.

She reached out to grasp Aisha's arm gently. "You're badly wounded."

"Not really," Aisha responded, gazing at the wound, "The amount of blood is misleading. It might need a few stitches, but I'm pretty lucky. I could've ruptured a vein."

Yellow gazed at her, clearly impressed. "You know first aid?"
Aisha nodded proudly. "My dad's a doctor, so basic medicine is what we talk about over dinner."

To demonstrate her knowledge of dressing wounds, Aisha tore the sleeve off her uninjured arm. Holding one end with her teeth, she deftly wrapped the yellow cotton around the wound tightly, knotting the ends together.

Both girls turned around when the screeching of metal assailed their ears.

"Pink!" Trini gasped, staring in horror as the Firebird Thunderzord collided with the red pole of the creature. The Nimrod laughed deeply, redoubling its efforts to knock the mighty Red Dragon from the skies.

Yellow shook her head to recover her bearings, and then grasped Aisha's shoulder. "How many people would be in the school after-hours?"

"By now... none," Aisha reported, "We've got an underground bomb shelter, and it's policy to evacuate when the Monster Alarm goes off."

Yellow sighed in relief. "Good. Then get yourself in there pronto."

Aisha nodded, hurrying back into the school. Yellow raised her wrist. "Guys, the building's been evacuated. There's an underground bomb shelter, so everyone should be okay."

^Good work, Yellow!^ Blue commented.

^Excellent!^ Black added, ^We're heading back to the Zords.^