The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 2 by Heather Ray (jenna bush book club .TXT) 📖

as she is, and there is no reason for me to try! I am not Kimberly, I'm Katherine, and now, I'm no longer a replacement! I AM

the Blue Ranger, and I'll show you what kind of a fighter I can be! TERRA WATER POWER!!"

This time, Katherine's anger and frustration managed to conquer her fear and insecurities, and her Zeo crystal shard, embedded in her heart, obeyed her call for power. A wash of bright blue light crashed into Katherine's body like a wave, and when the light faded, the Blue Ranger stood ready for action. Kat raised her gloved hands to the sky, and her two Water Daggers appeared in her palms. She stood ready to strike, with both daggers pointing menacingly at Envy.

"If you've hurt Jason, I'll --"

"You'll what?" asked Envy, beginning to grow impatient. "You still cannot match me, Power Ranger or not! You've never had to face a monster without help, and I doubt you could!"

"We're about to find out!" said Kat, diving at Envy and releasing her rage through her daggers. Envy was shocked by Katherine's anger, since Kat is usually calm. But Kat had had enough of manipulation, and Jason's last words rung in her ears -- Zedd's attacking Angel Grove, and we can't stop it without the Blue Ranger! We need you...

I'm on my way, guys,

said Katherine to herself, blocking Envy's claws with her daggers. Kat then lifted her blade high, and swung down at Envy's hand, slicing the foot long claws down to about an inch in length. While Envy shrieked angrily at the loss of her primary weapon, Kat immediately sliced off the claws on the other hand. Envy fell back, staring at her hands in mute shock.

"You...you should not have been able to do that."

"Why not?" said Kat, grinning beneath her aqua and gold helmet. "After all, this is my mind! I can do anything here, and so I shall! Now that Envy has lost her sting, we'll see how strong she really is."

"We'll see about that!" said Envy, diving backwards and hiding in the dense fog. Katherine chuckled to herself, and raised her left dagger to the air. Immediately, all the fog began to float towards the dagger, and soon all the fog on the Dreamscape was circling the dagger, and it all vanished in a single flash of blue light. Envy, who was no longer under the cover of the dense fog, looked up at Katherine from the ground.

"I thought you knew better, Envy," said Kat. "As the Blue Terran Ranger, I am the mistress of water. That includes water vapor, and that is what fog is, for the most part."

Envy growled and stood up weakly. Katherine's surge of self-esteem has depleted Envy's strength, and she knew there was no way she could avoid defeat. Kat held out both her daggers at Envy. The silver metal of the blades glowed, and became shards of clear ice. The ice of the daggers stretched, and swiftly cut through Envy's chest on each side. Envy screamed in pain, and then melted into a cloud of green gas. Katherine sheathed her Water Daggers.

"I've always believed that revenge is a dish best served cold," she muttered to herself, watching the cloud of gas fade away slowly. "And I doubt a colder dish has ever been served."

Chapter Eleven

In the Central Access Center, Jason woke up and found himself lying on a cot next to Katherine's. He looked around, and saw Billy busily reading some computer printout at his desk.

"Billy," said Jason weakly, sitting up on the cot. "What happened?"

Billy sighed with relief and walked over to Jason, scanning his head with a small device that greatly resembled a calculator.

"While you were in Katherine's mind, you virtual image was injured severely. Although no damage was done to your physical body, all your senses were attached to the image. In short, you felt the pain of being sliced in half by a laser beam, and you lost consciousness."

"How long was I out?"

"About ten, maybe fifteen minutes. Katherine has yet to regain consciousness. What did you see while you were in her mind?"

"Kat was fighting this green woman who called herself Envy. Kat looked like she was losing the fight, so I tried to encourage her, and let her know that this was all in her mind. I don't know if I did any good, because Envy sliced me in the back before I could finish."

"Well, I think you managed to get through to her. Her life signs have been improving, and her sleep seems to be less disturbed. Right now, I'm more worried about the other rangers."

"What's happening up there?" asked Jason, hopping off the cot and running to the Viewing Globe. He gasped when he saw a figure of a man, completely black, and flying through the air, surrounded by a red flame. This new creature was battling the Yellow, Red, White, and Green Rangers, and from the looks of the ruined stadium, the monster was winning.

"He has called himself Hyperion," explained Billy, "and he is a monster in control of fire. Apparently, Zedd took advantage of Katherine's present state by creating a monster that her particular powers would be most effective against. She may be our only hope."

Before Jason could agree, a soft moan from Katherine cut him off. Both young men hurried to Kat's bedside, and Jason helped her sit up. She held her forehead, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked softly.

"The rest of the team is fighting a fire creature named Hyperion," explained Billy. "Are you ready to go to battle? How do you feel?"

"A little tired," she admitted, standing up. "But I'll get over it. Where are they?"

"At the track field at school," said Jason, "Zedd attacked the track meet with Viper Putties, and then he sent a new monster."

"I'm ready," said Kat, standing beside Jason. Both she and Jason threw out their fists.

"It's Morphin Time!" cried Katherine. "TERRA WATER POWER!!"

"TERRA EARTH POWER!!" cried Jason. The two heroes stepped out of the bright light, clad as the Blue and Black Terran Power Rangers. They immediately teleported to the track, leaving Billy alone in the Central Access Complex. Billy walked over to his desk, and continued to examine the computer printout he was reading before Jason woke up.

"Yes," he said to himself, "I think the Terra Zords are ready for combat. I just hope this battle doesn't escalate any further."

Chapter Twelve

The track field of Angel Grove High School was in flames. Only a short time ago, crowds of students and faculty, as well as spectators from around the county, came to this very field to enjoy the most competitive track meet of the year, the Crystal County Track Meet. However, the occasion was spoiled when Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa launched an attack against the good people of Angel Grove by first sending dozens of poisonous Viper Putties. After the Terran Power Rangers had defeated the Putty Patrol, a new, far more deadly terror struck -- Hyperion.

Hyperion was Zedd and Rita's newest monstrous creation -- a monster with the basic form of a man, but his body was completely immersed in dark flames. Since the Blue Terran Ranger, Katherine Hillard, was at the moment out of commission, they decided to take advantage of the lack of the Water ranger by creating a monster of Fire. So, the Red, Yellow, White, and Green Rangers did their best to keep the damage to a minimum, and to prevent Hyperion from injuring anyone until the two other rangers arrive. So far, the battle had been fierce, but from the appearance of the charred grass and melted metal bleachers of the track field, one could easily see that the Terran Rangers are barely holding their own.

"Guys!" shrieked Kimberly. "We gotta do something!"

"What can we do?" asked Zack, pointing his Light Lance to Hyperion. "Our powers don't seem to be doing any damage!"

The prism at the end of the lance began to glow, and a beam of pearly white energy shot at Hyperion. The blast knocked Hyperion down hard, but Hyperion merely shook off the blast and floated into the sky. He then threw a blazing fireball at the White Ranger. Zack managed to move out of the way before the fireball made contact, causing the ball to crash into the track itself, melting the asphalt.

"Wow," said Zack, staring down at the liquid tar. "We are in MAJOR

trouble here."

"You okay, Zack?" asked Adam, running over to his friend.

"Yeah, I'm good. But we really need a plan or something."

A whistling sound attracted the two boys' attention, and they turned around to see Hyperion spinning lengthwise about ten feet off the ground. All four of the rangers watched as he began spinning faster and faster.

"What's he doing?" asked Kimberly. Tommy immediately ran to her.

"Kim, guys, get down!" he ordered. "NOW!!"

The Yellow, Green, and White Rangers fell onto their stomachs seconds before a shower of red-hot fireballs flew from Hyperion, who was still spinning lengthwise. Tommy remained standing, blocking as many fireballs with his Flame Sabre.

"Take cover!" he yelled, "I'll watch your backs!"

"What about you?" asked Kim frantically.

"Fire can't hurt me!" he answered. "Now go!"

The three other rangers all immediately sprung to their feet and ran to take cover in the bleachers. Tommy dropped his sword and let himself get hit repeatedly by fireballs. Kim shrieked as he was thrown into the bleachers on the other side of the track. Tommy weakly stood up on his feet, his entire body glowing with a reddish-orange aura.

"It's time to fight fire with fire!" he declared, bringing his palms together. He channeled the flame energy he had absorbed, and created a massive fireball, about the size of a globe. He then threw the ball at Hyperion, knocking the flaming creature out of the sky and into the burnt grass below him. The three other rangers hurried