The Terran Rangers Saga Volume 1 by Heather Ray (smart ebook reader .TXT) 📖

since now they would no longer be blamed for their blunder earlier.

"Finster!" ordered Zedd, raising his fist to the air. "Send down my Viper Putties!!"
Part Seven

Chapter Eight

After Kim placed the sixth Zeo shard into the crevice, the six teenagers waited patiently for something to happen. Something did happen, although not quite what they had expected. After a flash of white light, ten of Finster's new Viper Putties appeared, surrounding the teens.

"What ARE

those things?" asked Kimberly.

"We'd better not take any chances," said Jason. "Fighting positions, everyone!"

"Wait!" objected Tommy, holding Jason back. "They may be after the Zeo Crystal. Each of us will have to guard our own shard. If a Putty attacks, fight back. Let them make the first move!"

"Good idea," said Adam. "Let's move!"

Each ranger stands in front of his of her crystal shard while the Viper Putties circle them. One Putty suddenly attacked Adam.

"You picked the wrong fight, Clay-Brain!" he cried, knocking the Putty down with a powerful tornado kick, but the Putty leapt to its feet immediately and splashed Adam's hiking boot with its venom. Adam fell to the ground, his brow dripping with sweat.

"Adam!" cried Kat, "what's wrong?"

"It...it's eating through my boot!" he cried in panic. Zack picked up a large twig and ran to Adam's side.

"Adam, hold still while I pry off your boot," he said calmly, wedging the twig in Adam's boot. They managed to get the boot off Adam's foot before the acid ate through the leather.

"Whew," sighed Zack, helping Adam to his feet. "That was close, Bro."

"Are you two alright?" asked Tommy, who was busy fending off the Putty that dared come too close.

"Yeah," said Adam weakly, watching as his hiking boot slowly disintegrated into a steaming brown puddle. "Guys, we're really in trouble here."

"Guys!" yelled Jason. "They're charging!!!"

Sure enough, the eight Putties who hadn't yet attacked suddenly leapt at the teens all at once. They divided themselves among the rangers: with two attacking both Jason and Tommy while one attacked each of the others. The rangers bravely confronted the Putties' advances, but with extreme caution for fear of the deadly venom that nearly relieved them of a Green Ranger. Unfortunately, each time a Putty was hit, it just got back up again.

"They just won't stay down!" cried Katherine in frustration. "What do we do?"

"We improvise!" cried Jason, running to a pile of rubble left from the Command Center, "Adam, Kim! Cover me!"

Both Adam and Kimberly engaged the two Putties that were previously attacking Jason, giving him a chance to search through the rubble. Soon, he pulled out a sharp steel pole, about as long as a bo-staff. He skillfully spun the pole in his hands, and charged at a Putty that was overwhelming Katherine. With one mighty slash, the Putty's arm was separated from it's shoulder.

"Looks like we're gonna have to play hardball!" said Jason, sticking the pole in the ground and helping Katherine to her feet, "Kat, you okay?"

Katherine stood up and brushed the dirt off her blue blouse. "I guess -- Jason! Look!"

Jason spun around just in time to see the Putty he had dismembered suddenly grow a replacement arm from his severed shoulder. All the teens witnessed this, and were utterly shocked.

"Oh, God," whispered Kimberly. "What do we do now?"

As if in answer, a huge gust of wind blew, dragging the light weight Putties out of the circle of Zeo shard pillars. The wind continued to blow, and the rangers watched stunned silence as the Putties disappeared off the cliff.

"What's going on?" yelled Zack over the wind.

Suddenly, the ground began to quake violently, knocking all six teenagers off their feet. Then, from the center of the circle, a silver pyramid about ten feet tall rose from the ground, with a crevice near the top and a large carving of Earth on the side. Then, a beam of golden light from each pillar streamed towards the center pillar, transporting each Zeo shard to the center. Once all six shards were in place, they merged into the ultimately powerful Zeo Crystal, glowing with powerful golden light. The six rangers rose to their feet and stood side by side in front of the pillar and watched as a face appeared above the Zeo Crystal.

"GREETINGS, POWER RANGERS!"

it said.

"Zordon!" cried Zack. "You're alive!!"

"YES, AND I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU ALL. YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED IN UNITING THE MIGHTY ZEO CRYSTAL ONCE AGAIN. THIS TIME, HOWEVER, WITHOUT THE MORPHIN GRID TO FOCUS THE POWER, THE ZEO CRYSTAL IS AN UNPARALELLED SOURCE OF NATURAL ENERGY. YOU SIX WILL BE ABLE TO HARNESS THIS POWER BY ACCEPTING THE SHARDS OF ZEO INTO YOUR HEARTS. FROM THERE, THE POWER WILL COARSE THROUGH YOUR VEINS, ENABLING YOU TO CALL ON YOUR POWERS WHENEVER YOU NEED THEM. UNLIKE YOUR POWER COINS, THE ZEO SHARDS CAN NEVER BE FORCED OUT OF YOUR BODIES. THEY SHALL BE A PART OF YOU. YOU SIX ARE THE LEGENDARY TERRAN POWER RANGERS, DESTINED TO FREE THE WORLD BY UTILIZING THE UNADULTERATED POWERS OF NATURE. I CHOSE YOU SIX BECAUSE I FEEL YOU HAVE THE QUALITIES AND PHYSICAL STRENGTH TO HOUSE THIS POWER. YOU HAVE ALL SERVED AS EXCELLENT POWER RANGERS UNDER MY SUPERVISION, AND NOW IT IS TIME TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL. YOU NO LONGER NEED MY MENTORSHIP..."

"But Zordon," protested Katherine. "How can we possibly do this without you?"

"YOU HAVE ALL GROWN UP SO MUCH SINCE I FIRST MADE YOU POWER RANGERS. YOU MUST RELY ON YOUR FRIENDS FOR SUPPORT IF YOU FEEL YOU NEED ADVICE. THE POWER OF TERRA IS SPECIAL IN THAT IT DEPENDS ON YOUR STATE OF MIND. IF YOU EVER BEGIN TO DOUBT YOUR ABILITIES OR YOUR RIGHT TO BE A TERRAN RANGER, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MORPH. ACCEPTING THE POWER OF TERRA MAY VERY WELL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF YOUR LIVES, SO I LEAVE IT UP TO YOU. DO YOU ACCEPT THE POWER?"

"Absolutely," said Kimberly.

"Without hesitation," said Tommy.

"Need you even ask?" said Jason.

"You can always count on me!" said Zack.

"I would be honored," said Adam with a respectful bow.

"Me too," said Kat with a smile.

"I KNEW YOU WOULD ACCEPT,"

said Zordon with a smile, "I HAVE CHOSEN WELL. EACH OF YOU WILL CONTROL A POWERFUL FORCE OF NATURE. TOMMY OLIVER -- STEP FORWARD."

Tommy nodded and stepped closer to the pillar. The red Zeo shard separated from the whole and hovered about a foot in front of Tommy.

"YOU ARE THE RED TERRAN POWER RANGER, LEADER OF THE TERRAN RANGERS, AND POWERED BY THE MIGHT OF FIRE. PUT THE CRYSTAL TO YOUR HEART TO CLAIM YOUR POWERS."

Tommy reached out and held the crystal in his closed fist. He then placed his fist on his heart, as if he were saluting the flag. Magically, the crystal began to glow, and became intangible, passing harmlessly through Tommy's hand and flesh, until it found a home in his heart, where it released its awesome powers, pumping them through Tommy's whole system. Tommy gasped as he felt the fiery heat pass through his entire body, and in a flash of fiery red light, he was morphed into his Red Terran Ranger uniform. The armor was red, with white gloves and boots. Both the gloves and boots had gold bands at the top, and his helmet was also decorated with gold trimming. He wore a snug gold shield, which encased his torso starting at his neck and stretching down to his belt, with an oval opening on his chest. On the gold belt, there was a small insignia on the buckle of a flame. He looked over his costume in awe and amazement, and his clenched fists began to glow and ignited with fire.

"Tommy, are you alright?" asked Kimberly quietly.

"I've never felt this...alive!" answered Tommy, still amazed. "It's unbelievable!"

"YOU WILL SOON ADJUST TO YOUR NEW POWERS. ALSO, THE FULL SCOPE OF YOUR POWERS WILL BE REVEALED TO YOU IN TIME. FOR NOW TOMMY, YOU MUST KNOW THAT YOU CAN COMMAND FIRE, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, CAN CREATE AND PROJECT FIRE, AND CANNOT BE HARMED BY FIRE OF ANY KIND. YOUR TERRA WEAPON IS THE FLAME SABRE, WHICH WAS TEMPERED IN THE HEART OF THE SUN ITSELF. A STRONGER BLADE NEVER EXISTED, AND IT CAN FOCUS YOUR FIRE PROJECTION INTO A TIGHT AND VERY POTENT LASER BEAM. KIMBERLY ANNE HART -- STEP FORWARD."

Kimbelry swallowed and stepped forward beside Tommy. The yellow Zeo shard floated towards her, and she did what Tommy had done moments earlier. Once the shard was absorbed into her body, she began to spark with electricity from head to toe, and soon, she was emersed with bright electricity. When the light faded, she was wearing her Yellow Terran Ranger armor, similar to Tommy's accept that it was lemon yellow, and the boots went to her thigh as opposed to her knee. She also had a short skirt with a white trim, and her belt bucklet was decorated with a bolt of lightning. Her body still sparked with powerful electric sparks.

"KIMBERLY, YOU ARE THE YELLOW TERRAN RANGER, GRANTED MASTERY OVER THE NATURAL FORCE OF LIGHTNING. YOU CAN SUMMON LIGHTNING TO CRASH FROM THE HEAVENS, AS WELL AS CREATE BIO-ELECTRIC BLASTS OF YOUR OWN. YOU CAN ALSO ABSORB ELECTRICITY IN ORDER TO STRENGTHEN YOUR ELECTRIC SHOCKS. YOUR TERRA WEAPON IS THE THUNDERBOW, WHICH, LEGEND HAS IT, WAS FORGED TO HARNESS THE MIGHT OF ZEUS' THUNDERBOLT. THE THUNDERBOW CHANNELS YOUR ELECTRICITY AND FORMS MIGHTY ARROWS WITH IT. USE THIS WEAPON WISELY. JASON SCOTT LEE -- STEP FORWARD."

Jason stood beside Kimberly, and accepted the black Zeo shard, which hovered in front of him. Once the gem was absorbed, the ground began to quake. His body was enveloped in a flash of black light, erupting from the ground below him. When the light faded, he stood tall, wearing a black uniform identical to Tommy's with a symbol of Earth on the belt buckle.

"JASON, YOU ARE THE BLACK TERRAN POWER RANGER, IN