The Terran Rangers/The Spectrum Force/Sailor Moon - The Preliminaries Volume 5 by Heather Ray (lightweight ebook reader .txt) 📖

be ready!"

The other five rangers nodded and Tommy ran towards the bus. He stopped a few yards behind the bus, and measured his angle exactly. He stood on one of the sides of the bus, and five Tengas were rocking the bus, all along the side in a straight line. Tommy's face mask hid his smile, since the Tengas didn't even realize he was there.

"Ninja Corkscrew Kick!" he cried, leaping into the air. His body flew parallel to the ground, with his legs rotating and plowing through the five Tengas all in a line. The Tengas were knocked back harshly, and as soon as they reached the ground, the Pink, Red, Blue, and Yellow Ninja Rangers began their attack. On the other side of the bus, four other Tengas were rocking the bus. Since the Tengas on the other side weren't pushing in the opposite direction, the four Tengas were about to push the bus over. Kimberly heard the children screaming even louder, and turned to see the bus nearly on its side.

"Oh my Gosh!" she shrieked. "The kids!"

"I'm on it!" said Aisha, leaping into the air and leaving the Tenga she was fighting dumfounded. She landed beside the bus and leaned against it, pushing it back onto four wheels.

"I...I can't hold it against those Tengas!" she cried.

"I've got them," said the Black Ninja, hopping over the bus and landing beside the other four Tengas. They all smiled and approached him menacingly. Aisha put the bus firmly on the ground, and jumped in delight.

"Woo-hoo!" she cried, "I AM

the bear!"

The Black Ninja were soon accompanied by the White Ninja, and they stood side by side against the four Tengas.

"You might as well give up," shrieked a Tenga. "You're outnumbered!"

"Actually," said Tommy, "I think the odds are on our side!"

Tommy faced off against two Tengas while Adam battled the other two. Both teens used expert martial arts moves, enhanced by their heightened strength, speed, and agility while morphed. Soon, all four Tengas were unconscious on the ground.

"What's the matter?" asked Adam. "Got a frog in your throat, Tenga?"

The final Tenga groaned and soon all four vanished, leaving nothing but a shower of black feathers. Tommy gave Adam a high-five.

"Nice one, Adam," he said.

"Piece of cake!" said Adam. They turned to the bus, where the children were shrieking and cheering for the rangers. Tommy noticed the sky above the other side of the bus also filled with black feathers.

"I guess Kim and the others managed fine against the rest of the Tengas."

They jogged around to rejoin the group, and both laughed when they saw the Red, Blue, Yellow, and Pink Ninja Rangers surrounded by dozens of middle school students, begging for autographs and drowning the heroes with questions.

"I guess this is the fruit of victory!" laughed Adam. Suddenly, the sky grew dark, as large gray clouds formed from nowhere. The children gasped audibly, and the six rangers looked up in surprise and worry.

"Get back into the bus, kids," ordered the Pink Ranger. "And hurry! It looks like Zedd and Rita aren't done playing for today."

The students obeyed the Pink Ranger without dispute, and soon everyone was in the bus. The Blue Ranger boarded the bus after all the kids were in and had sat down.

"Is the vehicle functional?" he asked the driver. The driver blinked nervously.

"Can the bus drive, or has it been damaged?" the Blue Ranger repeated in Laymen's terms.

"Uh, I think so," answered the driver, turning the ignition. The engine purred to life, and the Blue Ranger leapt out the door and closed it behind him, signaling the driver to peel out. The driver obeyed the Blue Ranger's silent command and returned to the road, leaving the rangers to deal with this new threat.

"At least the kids are safe," said Kimberly quietly, gazing up at the sky. The clouds began to flash with bright lightning and roar with rumbling thunder.

"That's one heck of a storm brewing," said Rocky.

"I can tell you one thing," said Aisha. "This isn't a natural storm!"

The lightning began to flash more often, and soon dozens of individual bolts coalesced into one disk of blinding white light. Then the disk began to spin, and soon it was a vacuum.

"Everyone, get back!" yelled Tommy over the force of the winds. The rangers obeyed, and Tommy brought up the rear. The winds picked up, and seemed to focus on Tommy only. Tommy was soon airborne, being blown up towards the vortex. The five remaining rangers turned around and followed Tommy along the ground.

"Tommy!" cried Kim frantically. "NO!!"

After Tommy passed through the portal, the winds once again picked up, plucking Adam off the ground. Adam yelled and Rocky grabbed onto his hand, trying to anchor his best friend. The other rangers formed a chain, with Aisha holding onto Rocky, Kimberly holding Aisha, and Billy holding Kim by the waist. Still, the wind continued to pull Adam, and dragged the other rangers along the ground. Then, the wind wrapped around Adam's body in a cyclone, breaking Rocky's grip and causing the other rangers to fall. Once Adam passed through the vortex, the sky immediately cleared, and everything returned to normal. The rangers stood up and brushed themselves off. Kim couldn't take her eyes off the spot in the sky where Tommy and Adam vanished. Billy placed his hand consolingly on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," said Billy, "Tommy and Adam can both take care of themselves, and Tommy's been kidnapped so many times, I've lost count. We'll get them back."

"Yeah," said Kim, "but this makes no sense. If Zedd wanted to send us to some Dark Dimension, why didn't he send us all? If the vortex didn't close, we all would've been sucked in."

"Maybe Zordon can help us," said Aisha.

"Yeah," said Rocky, "let's get outta here."

With that, the four remaining Ninja Rangers teleported to base.

Part Two

Chapter Two

In Langstrum Alps, California, four members of the Spectrum Force -- Jocelyn Armand, Keith Maloy, Craig Gillis, and Matthew O'Conner -- honed their physical skills at Wimbel Gym on the UCLA campus. Keith and Craig practiced karate on the mat while Matthew tried to teach Jocelyn gymnastics. While sparring, Craig lunged at Keith with a mighty punch. Keith dodged the punch easily, and swept Craig to the ground. Keith smiled and offered Craig a hand up. Craig accepted and stood up, tightening the knot on his orange belt.

"Craig, you're really improving on your karate, but you always seem to rely on your fists. Some of the most powerful attacks are kicks, ya know."

"I know," said Craig with a smile, "but I've always fought with my fists. My upper body strength is my weapon."

"Then it's time to broaden your horizons, my man," said Keith, taking his position and bowing. "So, ready for round four?

"Now you're talking my language!" said Craig, taking his position. On the other side of the large practice mat, Matthew was planted in a perfect hand-stand, and he had been for three minutes and counting. Jocelyn stood next to him, rolling her eyes impatiently as Matt began walking around the mat on his hands.

"Remember, Joce, balance is everything. If you can maintain your balance, you can stay on a hand-stand for hours."

"You really don't need to demonstrate," sighed Jocelyn, "I get the idea. I just can't pull off a decent hand-stand."

"Just find your center of balance. You're the physics whiz, so you should know all about gravity!"

Jocelyn shrugged and prepared to try another hand-stand. When she planted her hands, her ring suddenly began to glow yellow. Jocelyn stood up, and Matt lost his balance and fell to the mat, startled. They were soon joined by Keith and Craig.

"You guys got the message too?" whispered Craig.

"Let's get out of here," said Jocelyn. "We have to reach Tamara now!"

The LA Botanical Garden was a magnificent array of lush greenery from all around the globe. Different sections of the tourist attraction were devoted to different types of plants. In the section of the gardens devoted to temperate trees, a slender creature with a hideous lizard-like countenance and extremely flexible limbs continued to dodge a barrage of yellow darts of light. Tamara Fox, the Yellow Enforcer, began to get frustrated, stopping her flight of energy beams. The monster stopped dodging and landed atop a Douglas Fir tree. He grabbed his sides and began laughing uncontrollably, his squeaky voice filling the green house.

"Give up so soon?" it laughed. "Yellow Girl weak! Ha, ha!"

"Oh, shut up!" groaned Tamara. "That voice is driving me nuts! WOOD BOOMERANG!

"

Tamara threw her gloved hand in the air, and a flash of brown light heralded the appearance of a large wooden boomerang with yellow bands on the tips. Tamara pulled back her elemental weapon, aiming carefully.

"Me too fast for stick!" screeched the creature, leaping off the Douglas Fir.

"Maybe," said Tamara, throwing the boomerang at Rythe. "Maybe not!"

The Wood Boomerang soared through the air at blinding speed, aimed right for Rythe's head. But Rythe easily dodged the projectile, and landed on a branch of a tree. The boomerang suddenly changed directions, and began circling the tree at tremendous speed, forming a ring of yellow light around the tree. The branch that Rythe was standing on miraculously came to life, throwing the monster off balance by shaking violently. Then, the surrounding branches enclosed Rythe in a wooden cage. Tamara smiled and raised her hand to the air once again, calling the boomerang to return to its master. The remainder of the Spectrum Force arrived just in time to witness Rythe's capture by the branches.

"Nice going, Tammy," said Jocelyn. "That's a creative strategy."

"Well, considering that my Elemental Armory weapon controls wood, what else could I have done? What took you guys so long anyway?"

"We were at Wimbel Gym," said Keith. "That's on the other side of LA!"

"I had a meeting