Streaks of Purple Saga Volume Three, Heather Ray [good non fiction books to read TXT] 📗

arms around him tightly. Tommy eagerly returned the gesture.

The other Rangers exchanged knowing smiles.

Once Tommy lifted Kimberly to her feet, the group congregated together once again.

"Man, awesome!" Zack gushed, "Simply awesome!"

Kim giggled in speechless agreement.

"SO POWER RANGERS, MAY I ASSUME YOU ARE PLEASED WITH THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE POWER TEAM?"

Jason's smile just couldn't get any wider. "This is just... incredible!"

"I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING SECRETIVE. ALPHA AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PROJECT FOR MONTHS, BUT I FEARED IT WOULD PROVE UNSUCCESSFUL. WE DECIDED NOT TO MENTION THIS TO YOU UNTIL WE WERE CERTAIN THE WHITE RANGER COULD BE BORN."

After what seemed like forever, Alexis recovered her voice. "But... how?" she wondered, "I thought Tommy lost his powers."

Alpha stepped forward to answer. "Not Tommy, the Green Ranger's

powers were gone for good."

Alexis grimaced.

Alpha didn't notice the Purple Ranger's reaction, and continued. "The new Ranger will control the White Tiger Thunderzord, a Zord of strength and ferocity. Also, he will carry an enchanted sword known as Saba, who will assist him in battle as well as help him control the Tigerzord."

"EXTEND YOUR HAND, WHITE RANGER," Zordon directed, "AND ACCEPT ALL THAT HAS BEEN GRANTED TO YOU."

Tommy did as Zordon asked, and a majestic saber materialized in his waiting palm. Tommy lowered his arm, a new smile lighting up his face as he took in the intricate tiger's head engraved in the marbleized handle. "Man, it's good to be back!"

Suddenly, the alarms screamed to life. Alpha jumped in surprise, and activated the Viewing Globe. He gasped when he saw the lithe Nimrod monster at a titanic height, chuckling deeply as it rampaged. "Aye yi yi! What's going on?!" he stammered.

"IT APPEARS LORD ZEDD TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE MORPHIN' GRID'S DISRUPTION," Zordon realized, "I KNEW HE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO RESIST."

"So you know that our powers are acting funny?" Zack realized.

Alpha nodded. "In order to fully integrate the White Ranger Powers with yours, we had to physically add him to the Morphin' Grid. That process compromised your powers."

Alexis frowned. "But my powers worked fine."

"UNLIKE THE CORE RANGERS, THE PURPLE AND GREEN RANGERS WERE NEVER PART OF THE MORPHIN' GRID, AND AS SUCH CANNOT BE AFFECTED BY ANY FLUCTUATIONS IN THE GRID."

"But now that I'm ready for action, the Grid's good as new, right?" Tommy inquired.

Zordon nodded. "YOUR POWERS HAVE BEEN RESTORED TO FULL, RANGERS. NOW, YOU MUST TAKE ACTION BEFORE THIS NEW MONSTER CAUSES FURTHER DAMAGE. THE CREATURE YOU SEE BEFORE YOU IS NIMROD, THE SCARLET SENTINEL. I HAVE SEEN HER BEFORE, AND SHE IS A GREAT THREAT."

Tommy frowned curiously. "What makes this monster so special?"

"NIMROD IS ONE OF AN ELITE FEW CALLED THE 'CLASS-A MONSTERS,'" Zordon revealed, "UNLIKE THE MORE TYPICAL CREATURES, THIS BEING IS ACTUALLY ALIVE. LORD ZEDD USES CLASS-A MONSTERS SPARINGLY, SINCE THEY CANNOT BE REANIMATED ONCE KILLED. THESE CREATURES NEED TO INCUBATE, BY POURING THEIR ESSENCE ONTO AN INANIMATE OBJECT FROM WHICH IT DRAWS ITS STRENGTH AND ATTRIBUTES."

"Essence..." Trini murmured, "That must've been the green slime we saw!"

"YES. NIMROD IS AN EXCEEDINGLY WILY CREATURE, SO WE MUST TREAD CAUTIOUSLY. THE CORE RANGERS WILL ADVANCE WITH THE THUNDER MEGAZORD. ALEXIS AND TOMMY WILL REMAIN BEHIND FOR NOW."

Tommy blinked. "Why? I'm ready to go!"

"Yeah!" Alexis chimed.

"YOU MUST FAMILIARIZE YOURSELVES WITH YOUR ZORDS BEFORE YOU ENTER THE BATTLE," Zordon pointed out, "NIMROD IS TOO DANGEROUS AN OPPONENT TO ENGAGE WITHOUT SOME PRACTICE."

Tommy nodded, but his disappointment was obvious.

"Don't worry," Jason said, squeezing his best friend's shoulder. He then threw Alexis a reassuring grin. "We'll tenderize her for you."

He then pulled out his Morpher, and glanced at Tommy again. "Care to do the honors, Bro?"

Tommy smiled weakly at the irony of Jason's request. I guess from now on... it'll be my job to say it...

"It's Morphin' Time!"

The six un-Morphed Power Rangers banded together, each calling upon his power source in turn. Tommy watched numbly as the core five vanished, his eyes lingering on the faint afterimage of Jason's departure.

"Tommy? You okay?"

"Yeah, Lex," he murmured, his voice disturbingly weary. He pulled his own helmet on, and turned to Zordon. "What do we do now?"

"NOW, IT IS TIME TO SUMMON THE WHITE TIGERZORD AND EAGLEZORD."

Chapter Twenty-Four

A pair of dark brown eyes stared outside, watching the sun disappear behind the line of buildings along the visible horizon.

The sight triggered a yawn of absolute boredom. She pursed her full, red-glossed lips together in a vain effort to stifle it.

Thankfully, she didn't draw too much attention to herself.

She glanced at her wristwatch. This is so

much more fun when Rocky and Adam are here... but someone needed to stay at Mom's store today...

"Miss Campbell?"

She lurched into full wakefulness.

"I can't find the 'Any' key."

The instructor smiled at her student's distressed expression. She leaned over the boy's shoulder, quickly reading over the white text sitting boldly on the solid black screen.

"The error message says 'Non-system disk or disk error.' You checked the floppy drive?"

He nodded.

"Good. Now, when the computer says 'Press any key to continue,' it means any of the keys on the keyboard. It doesn't matter which one."

The boy sat dumfounded for a second, until he heard the poorly veiled snickering of his peers.

"Okay," the instructor said loudly, standing at her full height and gazing at the dozen students, "That's enough! What did I say about laughing in the classroom?"

"Save it all for Rocky!" the group chorused.

"Good. And since Rocky's not here today, you'll have to make sure to laugh twice as hard at him next week."

Some of the children giggled at that. Then, the young woman turned to the boy she was helping, and patted his shoulder. "Any more questions, Justin?"

The boy shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, Miss Campbell. I don't have a computer at home-"

She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "There's never any harm in asking a question. And in a few weeks, you'll be a computer whiz. I can tell you're a natural!"

He smiled widely. "Thanks, Miss Campbell!"

She wagged her finger in mock-reproof. "And that's enough 'Miss Campbell' stuff," she admonished, "I'm not that much older than you. Just call me Aisha."

The shy boy nodded obediently, and smiled.

Aisha backed towards the window, scanning the classroom carefully.

The Elementary School Computer Class had been Rocky's idea, and the three lifelong friends managed to pull it together. Adam, Rocky, and Aisha always had a soft spot for children, and holding computer tutorials in the high school computer room after hours was a stroke of brilliance. Due to the outlandish amount of tax money spent on repair of monster attacks, the Angel Grove- Stone Canyon Regional Board of Education had to make due with a very limited budget. Simply put, furnishing the area elementary schools with enough computers to hold classes was out of the question. The logical solution was to hold classes in the high school laboratories.

Four local children were signed up once the program was initiated, and over time other parents heard of the program, and the three responsible, good-natured teens that were spearheading the initiative, and soon the program tripled in size. Even kids from Angel Grove had begun attending.

"Okay class," she announced, digging a handful of sheets from her backpack, "once everyone gets into Microsoft Works, turn off the screens. We're starting with a typing drill, and I don't want anyone to try and look at the screen. Keep your eyes on the sheet, and copy the text word for word. If you finish before I yell 'time,' start again."

She began passing the practice sheets out, when suddenly a tall cup of pencils toppled from the teacher's desk. Aisha turned around, watching the yellow wooden sticks roll along the floor.

That's really weir-

She froze completely when a shrill bell rang in everyone's ears.

The emergency alarm.

"Kids," she said, trying her utmost to keep her calm, "I think it's time we-"

Only moments later, a more powerful tremor shook the building.

The children screamed in panic, tripping over themselves to get out of the room.

Aisha inhaled sharply. "EVERYBODY STAY CALM!!"

The children froze at the surprising volume of their petite instructor.

"Rosa!"

The young Mexican girl with long brown pigtails stared up at Aisha.

Aisha knelt before her, tuning out the chaotic noises flooding her senses. "Honey, you've been to the gym before, right? To see your big brother in those martial arts contests?"

She nodded mutely.

"Good. I need you to do me a favor, Rosa. Show the other kids how to get there. I'm going to follow right behind you."

Rosa nodded quietly.

"I'm counting on you, Rosa," Aisha murmured, hugging the young girl tightly.

Rosa DeSantos then went to the exit, trembling as she fought against the desire to break into a terrified run. Aisha watched her students leave, mingling with the other people evacuating in the hallway, before turning back to window, now cracked by the continuous impact.

Wasting no time, she leapt out the window.

Outside the thick walls of Stone Canyon High School was a sight only seen on cheesy B-movies... or Angel Grove.

Even in the dim twilight, Aisha saw the cause of the chaos. An enormous creature stood less than a quarter mile from the school, waving what looked like a large red pole. The pole struck everything in its path; buildings, helicopters, and cars alike.

What's going on?

She knew the drill. The school had practiced for Monster Attack just like every other school had fire drills. Line up in single file, go to the underground shelter from the gym.

She yelped as a surprisingly harsh footfall made her lose her balance.

The creature had purposely stomped on a patrol car.

Shaking her head to orient herself, Aisha dragged herself to her feet and dashed back toward the building.

"It's coming this way," she gasped, her heart throbbing in her chest, "It's coming right for us!"