The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 5 by Heather Ray (novel24 .txt) 📖

I did. Actually, I got a letter from her this morning. She said she's coming back Saturday afternoon."

"That's great!" Rocky repeated. "That gives us plenty of time to plan a Welcome Back party for her!"

"Good idea, Rocko," said Tommy. "Any ideas?"

Everyone turned to Jason, who looked at everyone curiously.

"Why are you looking at me?" he asked.

"Well, she's your girlfriend," said Adam. "Who knows her better than you do?"

"Yeah," chimed Aisha, "what would she like to do?"

Jason thought silently for a minute. What does

she like to do for fun?

"I've got an idea," Rocky said, "how about we throw her a party at the indoor ice rink in Stone Canyon? She likes to roller-skate, but she loves to ice-skate! And she'll be surprised, because she probably isn't expecting to be able to ice-skate in California!"

"That's a terrific idea!" said Zack.

"Yeah," said Adam. "Good thinking!"

"Right," said Jason quietly. Why didn't I think of that? I can' believe I didn't remember how much Alexis loves to skate!

"She said in her letter that her mother's picking her up at the airport," Kimberly continued, "so I figured we could meet her there and say hello. We should have the party on Sunday because she'll probably be really busy Saturday, what with all that unpacking and all. I think I'm gonna help her."

"Me too," said Aisha with a grin. "It'll be fun!"

"I'll help," Jason offered. Kat locked her eyes with his.

"That's a good idea," she said, a hint of coldness in her voice, "I'm sure you and Alexis have some catching up to do."

Jason looked away from Katherine uncomfortably. All the rangers could feel the tension in the air, but only Kimberly understood why, recalling Katherine's reaction to hearing about Alexis.

Uh oh,

the Pink Ranger thought, chewing her fingernails, this is gonna be trouble!

Chapter Three

Meanwhile, upon the Moon, Rita Repulsa, the notorious Empress of Evil, watched the scene in the Juice Bar through her Repulsascope. She stepped back from the telescope, and tapped her chin.

"There's a Purple Ranger?" she thought aloud, "I don't recall there being a Purple Ranger! GOLDAR!!

"

The golden plated creature marched into the throne room and bowed.

"Yes?" he asked, impatience in his voice. Even though Goldar used to serve Rita Repulsa exclusively, he could no longer fathom being faithful to her. Now, he only served her because his master, Lord Zedd, was her husband.

"Have you ever heard of the Purple Power Ranger?" she asked. Goldar rose his head, with surprise on his face.

"Yes," he said. "Not long after Zordon created the White Ranger, Lord Zedd retaliated by re-creating the Purple Ranger. A young woman who moved to Angel Grove was in possession of the Eagle coin --"

"I have a feeling I know where this story is leading," Rita sighed, rolling her eyes. "Zeddie kidnaps this girl, planning on restoring the Purple Power to the coin and creating an evil Purple Ranger. However, the Power Rangers break the girl out of the spell, and she joins their ranks, increasing the number of rangers to seven."

"You're almost right," Goldar said. "The Power Rangers saved the girl before she ever became evil."

Rita snarled, and tapped her foot impatiently. "And Zeddie has the nerve to chide me about trying to make Tommy an evil Green Ranger. At least he was

evil for awhile! But, where has this Purple Ranger been? The Terran Rangers have mentioned that she is returning to Angel Grove."

"I...I do not know exactly what happened to her, but she disappeared. She left the team for some reason, and took her Power Coin with her."

"And now she's coming back," Rita sighed, "making the Terra team even more

powerful! We can't even beat six rangers, for Evil's sake! How will we destroy seven?!"

Goldar remained silent, knowing that any answer on his part would surely bring Rita to hit him over the head with her magic wand. Rita paced around the throne room, with her hands clenched behind her back. "Goldar," she said finally, "where's Zeddie?"

"Regenerating."

"Good," she said quietly. "Do you know where he put all those wedding presents we received from villains throughout the universe?"

"Um...I think he asked Finster to find a place for them. Many of them were left unopened."

"Right," she said, walking out of the throne room. "FINSTER!! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Chapter Four

It was Saturday afternoon, and in Angel Grove International Airport, a rather large welcoming committee was waiting at the gate of flight 545, from Philadelphia. One of them, Amanda Darling, was awaiting her two daughters Alexis and Denise, as well as her grandson Jonathan. The nine teenagers were also awaiting Alexis, who was their close friend and fellow Power Ranger. As the airplane pulled into the gate, they all rise to their feet and waited by the entrance itself. After only a few minutes, all three individuals entered the airport, with Denise carrying her son, and Alexis carrying a number of carry-ons. As soon as Alexis saw her friends and mother, her green eyes lit up, and a wide smile crossed her face. She didn't get far before she was caught in a large embrace by Kimberly and Aisha.

"Welcome back, Girlfriend!!" Aisha exclaimed. "We missed you!"

"Right," said Kimberly, taking a bag from Alexis, "What's up?"

"Aw, same old, same old," Alexis said, glancing at her mother. Amanda was excitedly talking to Denise, and at the same time coddling her grandson.

As Kimberly and Aisha led Alexis into the crowd of friends, both Katherine and Jason maintained a considerable distance. As Jason watched Alexis chat excitedly with her friends, he couldn't help but steal a glance towards Kat. Kat was wearing a friendly smile, but it was obviously plastered to her face. He didn't get a chance to think any more of the awkward situation, as Alexis ran up to him and embraced him warmly. He smiled as he returned the hug.

"Hey, Red," he greeted. "Long time no see."

"Too long," she answered.

"Here, let me take that." Jason reached over and took the duffel bag hanging from Alexis' shoulder. Then, Alexis slipped her hand into his, to return to the large crowd of friends and family. It was then that she noticed a stranger.

"Hi," Alexis said, bringing Jason with her as she approached Kat.

"Hello," Kat said politely. She then turned to Jason expectantly.

"Oh," Jason said, "uh, Katherine Hillard, this is Alexis Darling. Kat is a member of the Terran Power Rangers."

"Right," Alexis said, "I remember you mentioning her. Pleased to meet you, Katherine."

"Likewise," Kat answered, shaking the redhead's hand. "My friends call me Kat, by the way."

"And my friends call me Lex," Alexis said, still beaming with an excited smile. "So," said Amanda, "are you kids going to the Youth Center?"

"Actually," said Kimberly, "Jason, Aisha and I are going to help Lex unpack and stuff."

"Great!" said Alexis. "We can catch up on all that I've missed!"

Then Kimberly, Jason, Aisha, Alexis, Amanda, Denise, and Jonathan went towards the baggage claim after saying brief good-byes. Jason waved weakly at Kat, who nodded in response. She then sighed lightly, and rejoined the remaining teens as they left the airport.

"Hey," said Adam, "you okay, Kat?"

"Oh, sure," said Kat, "I'm fine."

"What did you think of Lex?" asked Tommy.

"Well, based on a first impression, she reminds me a lot of Kimberly," Kat said honestly. And just like Kimberly, she's got a solid relationship with a great guy. Why does this whole experience feel like deja vu?

As the group left the airport, they all glanced at the sky as a loud thunderclap sounded.

"Looks like a thunderstorm," said Rocky.

"That's odd," said Billy, frowning, "the forecast predicted clear skies."

"The forecast isn't a guarantee," said Kat.

"Still, it's odd. The sky was blue only minutes ago."

Chapter Five

Meanwhile, Rita laughed deeply, gripping tightly to her Repulsascope to prevent her from falling backwards. In her other hand she held a clear crystal orb, about the size of a tennis ball. She laughed so hard that she didn't notice when her husband, Lord Zedd, stepped into the throne room. He stretched his arms, and yawned.

"Ahh! That regenerative sleep sure hit the spot!" he declared. "Now I'm ready to do some major evil!"

He turned to his wife, who was trying to compose herself. He glared at her.

"So," he said, approaching her, "what have you been up to?"

She smiled at him. "Well, for starters, I found out that you created a Purple Ranger!"

Zedd snarled. "Everyone makes mistakes. Besides, at least the ranger I helped create didn't go on to become the most powerful, dedicated ranger on the team! Also, I didn't give the coin to the human. She had it to begin with."

"Whatever," she said, waving away the argument. "Anyway, that Purple Ranger is back in action in Angel Grove. If you had any brains, you would have taken care of her while she was separated from the team!"

"I had bigger fish to fry," he retorted. "And besides, she could have summoned aid from the remainder of the team."

"Fine. So, I decided to come up with a plan, and so