Mighty Morphin Power Rangers by Heather Ray (early reader chapter books TXT) 📖

polluted. It was her nature to remain spotless. So, with the blessing of her people, Purity remained to prepare for the Conflict. All the other Servons elected to return home, knowing they wouldn't be able to help in the eventual war. Yet, one decided to remain with Purity.

Thanatos was, and had been for milleniums, the Servon of Death and Time. Truly a dreary existence, his purpose was to guard the river of Time, and along with that, bear witness to the time of Death for all humans. For it is at the point of death that an individual ceases to exist, and therefore has in effect departed from the river of Time.

It was his nature to watch and wait. And so, he decided he would remain in this solar system, if for nothing else than to watch the events that passed, and aid the young Servon of Purity in any way he could.

The sound of heels clapping hurriedly along the marble floor sliced through his hazy consciousness. It was the first time in centuries that the solitary sentinel heard the presence of another being in his abandoned, timeless lair. Well, at least it felt as if centuries had passed. Considering the odd time fluctuation within the palace, it could have been much more.

For the briefest of moments, joy awoke within the core of his cold being at the thought of something to alter the monotony of his existence. However, reality struck him when he realized there was more than likely a dire reason for the visit.

Her rich blue half-cape following each graceful step she took, the Huntress walked into the dim, bland chamber of the sole inhabitant of the barren Pluto. She came to a halt before the throne, and nodded slightly in greeting.

"What brings the fair Castimonia, Servon of Purity, to my humble abode?" Thanatos said, his dark voice echoing slightly in the mostly empty marble chamber.

"A terrible calamity," the blonde visitor answered, her usually measured voice still slightly shaky. Thanatos' navy eyes widened slightly when he realized how distraught his guest was, and straightened in his throne to grant her his full attention.

"What happened?" he asked in a gentle tone, throwing aside formality for the moment.

"Thanatos, my Chosen has perished."

Thanatos blinked in surprise at hearing the news. "How?"

Castimonia swallowed, and took a breath to compose herself. "That is why I have come to you. As the Servon of Death, you see the deaths of every human being in existence. I only felt his death through my bond with him as my Chosen, but I must know the circumstances of it. It is crucial to the future Conflict."

Thanatos nodded, and extended his hand, palm up. His eyes flashed with murky energy, and the surrounding mists within the chamber began to gather at his palm, and swirl in a maddening cascade of dark mist, vaguely spherical in shape. Finally, another flash from his eyes caused the sphere to materialize, trapping the dark mists within a blue tinted glass ball about the size of a soft ball. The sphere continued to revolve, hovering about an inch from the black gloved hand of the Servon of Death. Finally, Thanatos' piercing gaze turned from his creation to his companion.

"You realize of course that several hundred humans have perished this day," Thanatos said grimly, rising to his feet. He stepped down the few steps of his raised platform, his flowing ebony cape brushing the marble ground behind him. He descended the last step, and locked eyes with Castimonia's matching ones. "I can capture the image of one death within this Death Orb, so you can see the occurrence from both the deceased's perspective, as well as my own. However, I must know his name to identify which death you wish to witness."

"Tommy Oliver," Castimonia whispered sadly, "Red Zeo Ranger V."

Thanatos nodded in response, his cold demeanor not revealing the slight emotional shudder that passed through his ancient yet miraculously youthful form. Indeed, he had witnessed the death of the young human, and he also knew of his exploits as the White and Green Power Rangers, and later the Red Zeo Ranger. Out of all the deaths he was obligated to record that day, the death of the leader of the Power Rangers was the only one that greatly affected him. After centuries of watching billions of people die, rarely was any particular death especially emotional. Yet, Thanatos greatly appreciated the young man's efforts. He was one member of an exclusive group of humans, so selfless and noble as to risk their own lives on a regular basis to assure the continuance of humanity. And they certainly made a difference, considering how many hundreds of lives they've saved just from monster attacks... not even considering the possible full-out invasions the Power Rangers had prevented. It didn't come as a surprise that this notable hero was in fact Castimonia's Chosen...

...and considering how the young man died, Thanatos pitied him as well as all those he left behind.

"As you wish," Thanatos said, his eyes flashing once again. The blue-tinted sphere suddenly pulsed yet again, and the dark mists took shape. Thanatos commanded the orb to float towards the seemingly young Huntress, whose delicate hands were outstretched to accept it. The sphere floated above her slender fingers, and her complete attention was dominated by the serene picture of a clear night in California, along an empty mountain road brimming the cliffs beside the Pacific Ocean...
Chapter Three

"Man, I can't believe I'm so late!" Tommy muttered to himself, watching the cliffs whiz past his red Jeep as he flew along the narrow road just slightly above the speed limit, "I hope Billy will understand..."

An amused grin tugged at his lips. Surely, his close friend would understand. In fact, chances were the young scientist would expect Tommy to be tardy for their appointment. After all, he was late for just about every single appointment he ever had.

"I wonder what all this is about," Tommy reflected, "It's all a bit... weird. And, I don't get why I couldn't tell the others about this..."

Tommy thought back to the phone call he had received only an hour ago. Apparently, Billy Mitchell, trusted assistant to the Zeo Rangers, had called him with an urgent finding on the Moon. Due to some distortion caused by the altitude of the cliff and the present state of remission that the Power Chamber was in, Billy asked Tommy to drive to his location, and witness what he had found via his telescope. Billy had a tone of dire seriousness in his voice, and almost a bit of fear as well. He also asked Tommy not to tell the other Zeo Rangers anything.

"Maybe he doesn't want to alarm the others unnecessarily," Tommy reasoned, "and I guess it's possible that the teleporter is offline. My wrist unit wasn't working quite right all day..."

Oddly, the Moon, whose silvery glow was illuminating the sky only a few moments ago, was blocked by a thick patch of dark clouds. Fortunately, with the streets abandoned at this time of night, he could rely on his high beam headlights without fear of blinding another traveler. And so, he slowed down slightly to move around a particularly sharp turn.

That was when he heard it... a rumbling sound from above. The pace of his heart quickened when he heard small objects clanging against the metal of the roof of his car, until one particularly large object, which he discerned as a rock from the cliff, smashed into the windshield, creating a web-patterned crack that made it impossible for him to see.

Surprised and alarmed, Tommy's foot pressed firmly on the brakes, knowing full well how dangerous the cliffs were, despite the metal bars lining the edge to prevent a vehicle from skidding off. However, to his horror, his car continued to plane along the street, and even began to spin, gaining momentum.

A shriek of panic escaped his lungs as his car impacted with the sturdy bars along the edge of the street, tearing through the metal and launching the car off the side of the cliff. As the ground below got increasingly closer, everything faded to blackness.

Chapter Four

Disbelief clouded her vision, forcing her to blink several times to clear it. Then, her gaze focused once again on the crystal orb, whose black mists once again began to swirl like a spinning gale wind, devoid of form or substance. The image replay had finished, and she was more than upset at what she saw.

In fact, she was infuriated.

"My Chosen was killed in a car accident?!" she wailed in white-hot rage, her wide blue eyes gazing searchingly into Thanatos' cool ones.

"I'm sorry, Cas --"

"No," she interrupted, her emotions overwhelming her reason, "This is impossible! He is my Chosen! He is the one I deemed worthy... the only one able to take the Zeo Crystal from its dormancy and tap its powers!! He passed his test, and must be the Champion of Purity in the Conflict!!"

She whirled around again, her hopeless expression shattering Thanatos' calm countenance. "What do I do now? How could this happen?"

Thanatos shook his head sadly. "Castimonia, I may be the Servon of Death, but I am not empowered to choose who lives and who dies. You know I am not to blame for his untimely death, and you know I cannot change it. There is nothing that can be done."

The Huntress sighed deeply, and sank to the cold marble floor weakly. The sphere still hovered, lowering itself as well to land on the ground beside her. Thanatos stood speechless, unsure how to comfort his guest in her time of grief.

"It is a rule of the coming battle that I cannot fight myself," she reminded him, "Both the forces of Purity and of Corruption must not directly interfere. Since this battle decides the fate of mankind, it was decided that only mankind could directly participate. All the pains Tommy Oliver suffered, and all the evils he conquered both within himself and from others, forged him into a champion! Now how will I forge another warrior in time?"