Streaks of Purple Saga Volume Two, Heather Ray [story read aloud txt] 📗

bed. Her gaze saw only the box. “I need answers.”

Almost mechanically, she pulled the key from the chain around her neck, and unlocked the box. The coin reflected the faint light from the window, staring at her almost enticingly.

She gazed at the coin for a long moment, and then turned to the matching brand on her palm.

“You’re the Purple Ranger,” she whispered, her eyes widening with realization, “Kreia was the Purple Ranger, so many years ago. And that Power rests in you. And back there, in the park…you saved Jason. You.”

She swallowed, ignoring the warning that flashed in her mind. Slowly, she reached her hand to the coin. The moment her fingers touched the glossy surface, a brilliant wash of purple energy flooded the entire room.

Part Three

Chapter One

"Okay, okay... I am hopelessly

lost here!" Kimberly complained, pulling off her helmet. Her exasperated gaze scanned the entire Command Center, quickly noting each of her teammates as they also removed their helmets.

Her stare settled on Jason as Trini eased him onto a seat. Alpha immediately rushed to him, carrying a medical scanner.

"You're not the only one who's confused, Kim," Jason forced through clenched teeth, as Alpha cautiously probed his wounds.

"Sorry," Alpha whispered, holding Jason's arm above his head despite the tremors of pain that ailed the Red Ranger, "But I've got to assess how bad the damage is."

"And how bad is it?" Trini asked.

"Not too bad, all things considered," Alpha revealed. A general sigh escaped the worried Rangers. "Cuts and bruises, cracked bones, but nothing's broken. Looks like Goldar was just having some fun."

Jason frowned pensively at that. It hurt to admit it, but Alpha was right... he had been at Goldar's mercy from the moment he had arrived in the park. It was all he could do to keep away as Goldar launched attack after attack.

But with Alexis there, what could he do?

Alexis...

"Guys, we need to figure out what happened back there," Jason determined, his voice adopting the authoritative "leader tone" that all but demanded attention.

"Who is she?" Trini wondered.

"I think

it was Alexis Darling," Zack offered, a small frown on his face.

"What do you mean, you think?" Kim inquired.

Zack shrugged. "It looked like her, but... I don't know; she was creepy

back there. She looked like her as far as features go, but she acted really weird."

"AND HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW ALEXIS DARLING?" Zordon questioned, speaking for the first time since his Rangers appeared.

"Not all that well personally, but I know her through Angela. They're pretty good friends."

"It was

Alexis," Jason confirmed, running his hand through his disheveled hair, "I was walking her home after school when Goldar attacked."

"And then what happened?" Billy asked.

"I'm not sure. I was fighting Goldar, and Alexis was still there. I couldn't Morph with her standing there, and Goldar knew it. He cast this... energy bubble on her, freezing her in place so she couldn't run. But somehow, she broke free, and fired an energy sphere at Goldar."

Jason shook his head at the recollection. "It was so weird. Goldar was terrified, and with good reason. Suddenly, Alexis... generated an incredible power. I could feel the hairs on my arms standing up. She stood in the center of a cyclone of power, and then she shot Goldar with something she called an Eagleheart Pulse... almost casually, like she could cream him in her sleep."

The Rangers didn't notice, but at the mention of the Eagleheart Pulse,

Alpha dropped his scanner, shaking his head slowly with amazed denial.

Zordon remained silent.

"Then you guys showed up," Jason concluded. "That blast knocked Goldar into the basketball court. Alexis was frozen for a bit, but she finally seemed to snap out of it."

Zack nodded. "Yeah, that's when she screamed. And somehow, she took off into the sky. She flew

, Man... like a rocket or something. What are we dealing with here?"

"WE ARE DEALING WITH THE PURPLE RANGER."

The Rangers jumped at the startling announcement Zordon had delivered.

All five turned to him, gazing up at their trusted leader with mutually incredulous expressions.

Zordon nodded slowly, to affirm the stricken Rangers that they heard
correctly.

"Another Ranger?" Kimberly repeated.

Zack was thunderstruck. "First the Green Ranger, and now a Purple one? How many Rangers are

there, anyway?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, Zordon spared a smile at Zack's slightly irritated question. But his smile fell quickly, as he prepared himself to enlighten his Rangers of the grim past.

"AS YOU KNOW, YOU WERE NOT THE FIRST TO BE POWER RANGERS. THERE HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN MANY TEAMS OF RANGERS BEFORE YOU."
"Many?" Billy repeated. "How many?"

Zordon would have winced if he were able. "VERY MANY. YOU KNEW THAT RITA REPULSA HAD BATTLED A TEAM OF RANGERS NEARLY TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO, BEFORE SHE WAS TRAPPED IN HER DUMPSTER. BUT BEFORE RITA WERE OTHER, EVEN MORE DEADLY MONSTERS. THE EARTH HAS BEEN A SITE OF ALIEN INVASION FOR CENTURIES PRIOR TO HER ARRIVAL. I WAS GIVEN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CREATING A POWER STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEAT THE ULTIMATE EVIL. BUT I WAS SO YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED... I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. SO I WAS GIVEN TWO POWER COINS... THE DRAGON AND THE EAGLE."

Kimberly gasped quietly. "The Dragon? As in... the Green Ranger?"

Zordon nodded. "THE PURPLE AND GREEN RANGERS WERE THE FIRST, AND FROM THEIR TEMPLATE AND SOME HELP FROM MY ALLIES I MANAGED TO CREATE THE MORPHIN' GRID, AND FIVE OTHER COINS THAT FORM THE CORE RANGERS. FOR MANY CENTURIES, SEVEN POWER RANGERS SERVED WITH ME. UNFORTUNATELY, SOME..."

He was silent for a moment, struggling for words... "DIED IN BATTLE, AND WERE REPLACED BY OTHERS. BUT THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SALVATION OF THE UNIVERSE CONTINUED FOR SO LONG, IT FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY." Zordon sighed sullenly, as the memories of the Shadow Era returned. Still, he pushed back his guilt and shame, and continued.

"EVENTUALLY, RITA CAME TO EARTH TO CONQUER IT IN THE NAME OF LORD ZEDD. THIS OCCURRED AFTER A GENERATION OF PEACE, SO A NEW TEAM OF RANGERS WAS CHOSEN. SEVEN IN ALL.

"THE BATTLE WAS FIERCE AS ALWAYS, BUT IT SOURED TERRIBLY, AND THE SCALES TIPPED AGAINST US. RITA HAD CAPTURED EROL, THE GREEN RANGER, AND CORRUPTED HIS HEART. DEEP DOWN, EROL RESENTED THE SACRIFICE HE HAD MADE IN BECOMING A RANGER, AND THAT RESENTMENT OPENED THE DOOR TO RITA'S EVIL. HE BECAME THE EVIL GREEN RANGER."

A chill crept down Kim's spine as she recalled the cruelty and brutality Tommy had been capable of as the Evil Green Ranger. Faintly, she wondered if the goodness in his predecessor's heart had been so horribly twisted.

"THE PURPLE RANGER, KREIA, LOVED EROL DEEPLY," Zordon resumed, "AND DESPITE ALL THE WARNINGS OF CAUTION I COULD GIVE, SHE LEFT FOR THE MOON PALACE TO SAVE HIM ALONE. I DO NOT KNOW ALL THE DETAILS, BUT SOMEHOW KREIA DESTROYED THE MOON PALACE, AND WOUNDED RITA AND HER HENCHMEN TO THE BRINK OF DEATH."

Silence fell, as the Rangers tried to imagine it. Rita hanging on by a thread? Defeated by a single Power Ranger?
Incredible...

"THE OTHER RANGERS TRAVELED TO THE MOON, AND TRAPPED RITA AND HER PARTY IN THE SPACE DUMPSTER. BUT THERE WAS NO SIGN OF KREIA OR EROL. SO WE CONCLUDED THAT THE ENERGY BLAST THAT DECIMATED THE MOON PALACE VAPORIZED THEM AND THEIR COINS. BUT IT IS CLEAR TO ME THAT WE WERE WRONG TO MAKE THAT CONCLUSION."

"Right," Billy mused, "It is only logical that the Purple Coin survived the explosion. After all, the Green Coin did. Rita must have had it on her person when she was captured, and she kept it until she used it to draft Tommy as her Green Ranger."

"But how did the Purple Coin get to Earth?" Trini asked, "And why didn't anyone know about it?"

"THOSE ARE EXCELLENT QUESTIONS, TRINI, BUT I MUST CONFESS... I DID

KNOW ABOUT IT."

"You knew?" Zack repeated, incredulously.

"I SENSED THE PURPLE ENERGIES PHASE BACK TO LIFE YESTERDAY," Zordon confessed, "I DIDN'T WANT TO ALARM YOU UNTIL WE HAD FOUND THE SOURCE OF THAT ENERGY. NOW WE HAVE."

Jason scowled. "Somehow, Alexis got a hold of the Purple Coin."

Billy chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Actually, that doesn't fit our scenario. Something much more must have happened. Merely holding a Power Coin doesn't result in infusing that person with power. How was Alexis able to manifest such power without Morphin'?"

Jason raked his memory for any clues. "She's been a little sick ever since she got back."

"FROM WHERE?"

"She went to England for her grandmother's birthday," Zack explained,

"She just got back yesterday."

"The same time Zordon sensed the Purple Power!" Alpha realized.

"Coincidence?" Billy posed, "I think not."

"What were her symptoms, Jase?" Trini pressed.

"She seemed kinda dazed, like she wasn't completely attentive to what was going on around her. And she said she had a killer headache."

He sighed again. "But the thing is, there was something about her eyes that seemed almost... spooky. I don't know; it doesn't make sense. Her eyes were black. That's not so unusual, but somehow, they looked wrong

on-"

"Hold up," Zack interrupted, a puzzled scowl on his brow, "You said her eyes were black?"

Jason nodded.

"Then something is definitely wrong," he decided, folding his arms.
"Alexis' eyes are green, guys."

"Are you sure?" Kim demanded.

"Absolutely. Angela once told me that she wished her eyes were green like Alexis' were. So I'm sure her eyes are green."

"Maybe she wears colored contact lenses?" Trini proposed.

"I guess that's not impossible," Zack conceded, "but I don't think so."

Jason then rose from his seat, despite the shots of pain that accompanied his movement, and began pacing. "We won't have any answers until we find Alexis," he decided, "We can't pick up