The Terran Rangers/X-Men by Heather Ray (chromebook ebook reader .TXT) 📖

"I'm bored! I want to attack now!!"

"Stop whining, idiot!" Goldar roared, leaning towards the skeletal creature, "I'm in charge here, so I make the decisions!"

"Well then, Tough Guy," scoffed Rito, folding his arms. "Who died and made you king?"

Suddenly, the wind picked up in the throne room, and both Rito and Goldar took cover. At the ceiling, a black portal opened, and two forms fell to the ground -- Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. They stood up, and brushed the dust from their clothes.

"See?" said Rita, "I told

you it would work! Our palace is in one piece!"

"Fine," said Zedd, "but that trip through the Multiverse took ages! Goldar! Rito! Stop cowering and tell me the date!"

Goldar blinked, and then stood up from behind the throne. He walked over to Zedd and bowed humbly.

"Welcome home, Master!" he declared, "I believe it's December 9, 1996."

"December 9th!" bellowed Zedd. "You mean we were in the Multiverse for a whole week!"

"Well, it's better than being stranded in that awful future forever!" screeched Rita.

"Perhaps," said Zedd, walking to his balcony, "but the ramifications of that kind of manipulative spell on such a fragile construct as the Multiverse can be devastating. I have yet to figure out exactly what kind of Multiversal damage you've caused, Rita!"

"Oh, stop talking like such a boy-scout!" Rita muttered. "After all, we're villains! We're supposed to destroy things!"

Not all that exists, Zedd thought to himself, "I shall keep an eye on the Power Rangers," he said out loud, "I'm curious to see what they've been up to the past week. Perhaps they truly believe we left."

"Yeah," said Rita, starting to laugh. "RIGHT!"

Zedd muttered angrily and watched the Earth below twirl on its axis. Much to his surprise, he saw a flash of black energy right outside the palace. He stared in shock as the energy formed a black portal, and began sucking in the matter around it like a vacuum. Seconds after it appeared, it vanished into nothingness. Zedd stared for a few more moments at the spot where the portal had been.

Rita DID

do damage the Multiverse! That was a random Multiversal portal, like the one that sent Kimberly to the 1800's. But I didn't create it, nor can I control it! If someone falls through, there will be no way to find him! I hope Rita gets sucked into a portal, and ends up in Utopia! Now, that would be a laugh!

Chapter Three

It was noon in Angel Grove, and Adam, Billy, and their friend Zack Taylor sat at a booth at Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar, waiting for the usual group of friends to meet and have lunch.

"So," said Billy. "Where are the others?"

"Jason, Tommy, and Rocky are at a martial arts competition in Los Angeles," said Adam. "They should be back tomorrow afternoon. Katherine is at try-outs for a school ballet, and Tanya went with her."

Zack didn't say anything. He was too busy frowning and staring at his menu. Billy studied his friend's grim expression curiously.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked. Zack grunted.

"Angela and I were supposed to go to the Blackstreet concert next month," he said bitterly, "but today, she told me she couldn't make it. She's ready to 'see other people', or something like that."

"That's tough," said Adam, "but you'll get over her."

"Will I?" he asked glumly.

"Hey gang," said a cheery female voice, "I'm here! And look what I found!"

All three young men looked up, and they all stared in surprise. They all stood up, and greeted their old friend with warm hugs.

"Aisha!" said Adam excitedly. "What're you doing here? Are you visiting?"

"No," she said, taking a seat. "we moved to Angel Grove permanently."

"Yeah," chimed Kimberly. "She's the new student the school's talking about!"

"Really?" asked Billy, "I didn't know your father was a heart surgeon."

"Well, as it turns out, he went back to school in Cairo when we lived in Africa. Our entire lives have changed. Basically, I have lived in Africa since I was twelve years old, when my family moved their from Stone Canyon to help with the plague and stuff. So, I had an entire life in Africa for five years."

"But, if that's the case, then you've never lived in Angel Grove!" said Zack.

"Exactly. I haven't lived in Angel Grove before. That's why most of the student body at school today didn't recognize me."

"Then, how come we remember you?" asked Kimberly.

"Ishala once told me that my true friends were 'protected by the Power, and so their memories shall not fade'

. That's why I knew you guys would recognize me. I'm so glad to be back in Angel Grove! I really liked Africa, but nobody can replace you guys!"

"We're glad to have you back, Aisha," said Adam. "We've been friends since grade school! It was hard watching you leave."

After a bit more conversation and lunch, the group of friends headed out the door back towards the high school. They walked along the wall of the building, until suddenly, a piece of the wall in front of them vanished, leaving a mysterious black hole. All the teens stopped in their tracks.

"What is that?" asked Kimberly.

"I have no idea," admitted Billy, "but I doubt it's a good thing."

"C'mon," said Zack. "We'd better check this out."

"Right," said Aisha. Adam looked at her.

"You and Billy stay back," he said. "You don't have the Power to protect you in case something bad happens."

Aisha was about to disagree, but Billy grabbed her wrist gently. Kimberly, Adam, and Zack walked cautiously over to the mysterious hole in the wall. Zack and Kimberly were soon only inches from the strange black hole, and Adam lingered a bit behind them.

"Don't get too close," Adam cautioned. "We have no idea what this thing is."

"It doesn't look like its anything," said Zack. "Nothing's happening."

As if on cue, the portal opened, creating a vacuum of power, sucking everything near it. Both Kimberly and Zack were instantly sucked in, but since Adam was a bit behind, he was being pulled towards the hole. Then, just as suddenly as it opened, the portal closed, and vanished from view. Adam suddenly gasped, and fell to the ground, convulsing madly. Both Aisha and Billy, who witnessed the whole thing, ran over to Adam urgently. Billy checked his pulse, and tried frantically to keep Adam calm.

"Billy?" asked Aisha in panic. "What's wrong with him?!"

"I...I don't know," he said, "Adam's going into shock! We have to get him to the CAC immediately!"

"But, what about Kim and Zack?"

"There's nothing we can do from here!" Billy said, activating his wrist device. In flashes of white light, all three vanished from the scene.

Chapter Four

In seconds, Billy and Aisha materialized in the Central Access Complex. Adam was transported directly to the med-unit, and Billy immediately got to work, scanning Adam from head to toe. During the scan, Adam lost consciousness completely, and his pulse stopped. Billy's eyes widened as his friend also stopped breathing.

"Billy?" said Aisha. "He's not breathing!!"

"I know," said Billy tensely. "My only chance is to place Adam in stasis, before he dies!"

Billy began madly pressing buttons, and then a clear force field surrounded Adam's body, about a quarter of an inch away from his flesh. Through the field, Billy was able to continue studying Adam's internal systems. Billy gasped audibly, and stared at the computer screen in utter shock.

"What?!" cried Aisha in panic.

"I...I don't believe it," Billy whispered, "Adam's Zeo Shard has materialized... inside his body!"

"What do you mean?" asked Aisha.

"When the Terran Rangers accepted their powers, they absorbed the physical Zeo crystals into their hearts. But the crystals become intangible when inside the body, and exude their energies directly into the heart, which then pumps the energy into their systems. For some reason, Adam's shard became tangible while inside his heart! Its like having a knife in the heart! It may have something to do with the portal that nearly trapped him..."

"What...what can we do?" she asked, starting to cry.

"I haven't a clue," said Billy. "He'll die in seconds if I take down the stasis field, but I can't conduct any kind of med-unit function on Adam while he's in stasis. The energy exuding from the Zeo crystal is throwing off the med-unit's more precise functions. And, I am by no means capable of open-heart surgery!"

"You're not saying he's --"

"I don't know what I'm saying!" Billy snapped, "I'm sorry, I'm just tense right now."

Billy stepped away from the med-unit, and began pacing around the darkened CAC. He then walked over to the communicator, and began pressing buttons.

"I must contact the other rangers," he said finally. "They need to know what's going on."

"What about Kim and Zack?"

"They were sucked through a portal. It could easily be a Multiversal portal, but I have no idea how we can track it. Once the others get here, we can start coming up with ideas."

Aisha nodded, and touched the force field surrounding Adam, right over where his hand is. You've gotta get well,

she thought, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. You just can't die...

Chapter Five