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

Chapter Thirty

Nimrod's cackle wheezed into a groan of pain as the thick tail of the Red Dragon speared into her abdomen, just beneath the rock encasing.

The monster's eyes narrowed when he noted the appearance of the Griffin, Unicorn, and Lion, all carefully gliding down the emptied streets of the abandoned neighborhood.

The Scarlet Sentinel responded to the new challenge with a cruel smirk. "Time to up the stakes, Rangers!"

Faster than any Zord could respond, Nimrod flipped into the air. All the Rangers could do is watch in horror as the behemoth dropped to the ground... right into the east wing of Stone Canyon High School.

"Oh my God!" Kimberly gasped, "The school!"

Chapter Thirty-One

Miles away, the White Tigerzord stood stationary, head angled towards Angel Grove. Its eyes glowed faintly, as if it were staring past the horizon.

Even from the distance of the cliffs bordering the coast, columns of thick smoke were visible.

Within the Tigerzord, the White Ranger got a far different view... thanks to the satellite link that allowed the Zord to see anything that happened on the face of the planet.

^Oh my God!^ Tommy heard his girlfriend fret, ^The school!^

Tommy clenched his fist in anger as he silently poured over the situation.

"Let's move, White Ranger!" Saba huffed, "I thought your job was to protect

people."

"Maybe if you and I worked together

, we might actually be useful!" Tommy hissed, his voice uncharacteristically dangerous.

Saba blinked his ruby eyes. "Well... I suppose-"

"If we dash head first into Stone Canyon, we'll only make things worse," Tommy rationalized, "I'm new at the wheel, and I might wind up leveling buildings just trying to reach the others. We need to get that thing to a reasonable battleground."

Tommy chewed his lip, fingers hovering hesitantly over a panel of keys. "Uh... is this the control panel for the view screen?"

"Yes, but you don't know how to use it," Saba pointed out.

"Then you do it."

Saba didn't answer, but Tommy saw the keys depress on their own. The view screen that displayed the horrifying destruction of Stone Canyon pulled out, covering a greater area but neglecting detail.

"Keep going," the White Ranger urged, "We're looking for a wide open space. Anything... so long as it's pretty close to the school."

"How about this," Saba asked. A white cube appeared over a green patch. "It's Stone Canyon's athletic field. Over 130 yards of empty space, and it's nearly a quarter mile from the school, up a hill."

Tommy huffed. "What's near it?"

"No houses, if that's your concern. The football and soccer fields are about a hundred yards apart. There are metal bleachers and food stands, but definitely no people visible on satellite."

"Perfect. Thanks, partner."

The edges of Saba's mouth quirked up just a little.

"Jason, this is Tommy. Do you read?"

^Yeah, Bro... tell me you're ready to rumble.^

"Definitely. But not there! Listen Bro, think you can carry Nimrod?"

^If she's as light as she looks, I can probably get her off the ground. But not for long.^

"There's an empty football field about a quarter mile north of where you are. It's on a hill... you might be able to see it."

^To the north? Yeah... I see it.^

"I'll meet you there."

Tommy then switched off the direct link to the Red Dragon, and connected to the all-call. "Okay everyone, new plan. Head for the football field north of Stone Canyon High."

Chapter Thirty-Two

^She's moving too fast,^ Jason groaned over the communicator, ^I can't get my claws on her!^

Kimberly frowned, hands clenching on the steering rods. "Maybe I can help."
She held her breath, and released it slowly as she pulled closer to the wily Nimrod. The last time she'd gotten particularly close, the beast nearly knocked her clear out of the sky. Her ears still rang from the deafening clang of metal on metal as the rod smacked the underbelly of the Firebird as if she were a golf ball.

"All right, big, tall, and gruesome..." she murmured, steering the agile Zord above Nimrod's head, "let's see if you like a visit to Oz."

She smirked, watching Nimrod's head angle up towards her. "Firebird Cyclone... Activated!"

Kim pressed the commands, and watched as pink energy swirled below her, creating a tornado that spun Nimrod so quickly it blurred out of view.

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Eaglezord," Alexis gasped, her eyes watching the glint of metal that descended from the twilight sky, "you're beautiful..."

The Zord delivered a shriek, trumpeting its return to Earth's atmosphere after ten thousand years of exile on the barren lunar surface. The Zord's wings were spread open, the mirror-like feathers resembling highly-polished sterling silver. Countless metal feathers lay nestled together, the top layers changing tint to purple hues. The body of the Zord was sleek, individual metal feathers ranging from deep purple to glistening silver, with a fan of ivory white feathers as the tail. Finally, the head of the Zord was covered in sheets of perfect white metal, its curved beak gleaming in the remaining sunlight.

The Zord was so incredibly bright it was almost impossible to look at directly. The polished metal reflected all the light directed towards it, and its own purple luminescence trailed like a comet's tail as it streaked downward.

After it cleared the height of the Command Center, the Eaglezord angled horizontal to the Earth, wings flapping once as its silver legs hung downward. However, rather than land on the dry ground, it hovered in the air at eye level with the floating Purple Ranger.

Alexis stared as the ruby eyes of the Zord seemed to glow. Maybe it was her imagination... but for some odd reason, those eyes seemed to stare right at her.

The Purple Ranger blinked to break the illusion, but that eerie glint of intelligence remained.

"Maybe I have a partner after all..."

Chapter Thirty-Four

Nimrod murmured quietly, gasping to reorient herself as the towering skyscrapers of Stone Canyon buzzed passed her in a sickening swirl. Thankfully, the beast had no digestive system to speak of, or whatever would have been in it would surely have seen the light of day once again.

The Sentinel continued stumbling helplessly, even after the streaks of pink laser vanished from sight. Slowly, her dazed thought process recognized that meant the Pink Ranger's surprise attack had run its course. But while the winds rapidly died down to normal, Nimrod still couldn't find her footing.

Before she could collapse into an uncoordinated heap, she gasped as razors pinched into her shoulders.

Suddenly, she was airborne, hanging limp as the decimated school building grew smaller and smaller.

Nimrod blinked, watching the smoldering building disappear, slowly replaced by a parking lot, stretches of concrete, wide planes of grass, and finally... a row of Thunderzords silently awaiting her arrival.

The sight of the Power Rangers shook the creature to his senses. Quickly, her arms reached up, catching the cold iron claws that held her in the air.

"Think you can hold me, Ranger?" she hissed. Balancing her weight through her arms, Nimrod swung her body forward. The rocking caused the Red Dragonzord to waver in its path towards the green field, pulling the Zord closer to the ground.

The Scarlet Sentinel chuckled at her impending victory. "You're grounded,

Red Ranger!"

With unnatural speed and precision, Nimrod plowed her heavy feet directly into the neck of the Red Dragonzord. The machine screeched, sparks and flames jutting from the terrible hit it had taken.

Nimrod giggled cruelly, wiggling out of the Red Ranger's loosened grip. She dropped lazily to the ground, and watched gleefully as the Red Dragon began to spin uncontrollably.

The sickening echo of crunching metal tore through the air as the Thunderzord crashed into the bleachers, reducing the grid into a pile of smoking, melted, twisted metal.