Streaks of Purple Saga Volume Four, Heather Ray [accelerated reader books txt] 📗

/> "I don't want you to get involved in anything over your head... again

."

"I don't like the idea of you parading around town as a Power Ranger."

"I guess it's all moot now," she decided, rolling her eyes.

She came to a screeching halt as a black form stepped out of the shadows before her.

"You're rather slow today,"

he muttered, "Not on your game, eh, Trini?"

Despite the panic quickening her breaths, she gasped loudly at the shocking revelation. "What

did you call me??"

A hand tapped her helmet from behind. "Oopsie,"

the other Misfit sneered, "Looks like we let the cat out of the bag."

The light tap converted into a pounding blow so quickly, Aisha could do nothing but grunt as she fell face first into the grass.

"So, this isn't the Yellow Ranger?"

the first Misfit realized. He stepped closer to Aisha. "Boy did you

pick a bad time to play Poser."

He wedged his foot under her arm, forcing her to flip onto her back. His head quirked at the hiss of pain that caught his ear.

"What have we here?"

the second Misfit murmured, standing on Aisha's other side. "Sounds like someone has an injured arm."

"Sounds like. And I'm sure it needs special attention!"

The first heel that dug into her arm pulled against the stitches, winning a shriek of pain. The second reopened the wound completely, causing a spurt of blood to darken the bright yellow spandex in an ever-expanding stain. The third cleanly snapped the bone beneath the muscle, ripping another scream from Aisha's aching throat. The fourth drove one sharp end of the bone through tissue, penetrating through even the skin.

Before the fifth blow even fell, Aisha couldn't feel anything at all.

Thankfully, the sixth blow never connected. Instead, a piercing beam of laser struck the Misfit square in the chest, bowling her over with enough force to send her crashing into a nearby tree. The second Misfit turned in surprise, catching an arrow in his shoulder. Spinning from the momentum of the arrow, he stumbled away from his victim.

The White and Pink Rangers descended from the roof of the Youth Center in a controlled leap.

"Aisha!" Kim cried, dropping the Power Bow as she kneeled beside her new friend. "Oh gosh... there's so much blood!"

With the utmost care, Tommy unlatched the yellow helmet. He inhaled sharply at her face, moist with tears and wan from her injuries. "Kim, I need you to contact Zordon, and ask him what we should do about Aisha. I'll keep these things busy."

Kim's face tightened beneath her helmet. "Be careful, Tommy," she pleaded, "I'll be right with you."

Tommy nodded before snatching Saba by the hilt and racing to the recovering Misfits. Kim swallowed a lump of fear before raising her communicator to her mouth. "Zordon? Do you read?"

^YES, KIMBERLY. ALPHA AND I HAVE OBSERVED YOU IN THE VIEWING GLOBE.^

"A friend of ours has been hurt pretty bad. I know it's kinda against regulation, but can you take care of her? She was hurt trying to help us."

Zordon responded without hesitation. ^ALPHA WILL TELEPORT YOUR FRIEND DIRECTLY TO A MEDICAL WARD.^

Kimberly watched as Aisha's form dissolved into particles of white light. As if a monumental weight had been lifted, Kim was able to focus on the task at hand. Grabbing her Power Bow, the Pink Ranger leapt back into action.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

one mocking voice sang.

"Oh stop it!"

the other voice hissed. "What's the fun of Tag if you don't hunt them down?"

The two creatures exchanged no more words. Alexis felt her heart sink as she realized she much preferred their banter to the eerie silence that followed.

"Tag," she breathed, shaking her head, "Great idea, Rocky."

He shrugged helplessly. "Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have given them any bright ideas. At least I got them off of you."

She grimaced, feeling a twinge of guilt for criticizing him. After all, if he hadn't interfered when he did, the two creatures would've torn her to pieces.

They're definitely strong enough,

she reflected, rubbing her shoulder to ease the strain. Still, if Rocky wasn't

here, I could just Morph and wipe out these punk monsters, no sweat!

Which posed a problem, since by all appearances Rocky had no plans of going anywhere.

"They're going to find us," Alexis whispered.

Rocky grinned. "Aren't you

a ray of sunshine?"

Her temper began to flicker. "This is serious, Rocky! We have to do something, or else we're just sitting ducks."

He leaned closer, his irreverent smile fading. "Do you have a plan?"

She nodded. "We should split up. That'll confuse them."

She watched as his copper eyes slowly widened. "That's a terrible

idea! You should never split up when you're being chased."

Alexis immediately went on the defensive. "Like you've done this before!"

"No... but I've seen enough movies."

Alexis shook her head fiercely. "We have to split up. Maybe one of us can slip by them, and call for help! All we're doing now is waiting for the inevitable!"

Sudden movement in the bushes behind them startled both teens. "And it looks like the inevitable has arrived."

The Misfit grinned ruthlessly as Rocky and Alexis leapt to their feet. He crushed the surrounding shrubbery, and closed his fist. "Tag,"

he muttered. The punch sank deeply into Rocky's stomach, forcing all the air from his lungs. "You're It!"

Rocky released a hoarse cough before crumbling to the ground.

"Rocky!" Alexis screamed. Emerald eyes narrowed as she glared at the Misfit. "You're in for it now!"

She reached for her Morpher, only for a black hand to wrap her wrist in a vice-like grip.

Alexis bit back a scream as the edge of her communicator pierced her skin.

"Big talker, Alexis,"

the second Misfit mocked, lifting her by the wrist. Alexis squeezed her eyes closed as the pain intensified.

"Ooo... does the Purple Ranger have a boo-boo?"

the first Misfit scoffed. Beady eyes followed the thin trickle of blood that seeped from beneath his partner's black grasp. "These humans are certainly fragile, aren't they?"

"Let me go and I'll show you 'fragile'," Alexis snarled.

Her goading earned another tight squeeze against her wrist. She shrieked aloud as the metal clasp snapped, biting deeper into her flesh.

"Hey,"

the other Misfit called, "Don't humans die from slicing their wrists?"

The Misfit holding Alexis smiled widely. "I think we just found a new game to play..."

Alexis squeezed her eyes closed, an icy terror numbing her senses as she waited for the next wave of pain to strike. Instead, she heard a shrill howl, followed by a dizzying sensation of free fall that was quickly replaced by a solid warmth against her skin.

She opened her eyes warily, and stared at the bold white diamond that rested proudly against crimson armor. "Jase..."

"You're gonna be fine, Lex," he murmured, his deep voice vibrating through his chest. Alexis relaxed in his arms, eyes drooping closed as he carefully set her on the grass.

"Alexis!" he said sharply, "Stay with me!"

She shook her head, fighting against the exhaustion that seemed to swallow her whole. "I'm... with you."

His gloved hand cradled her chin, forcing her eyes to his. "Lex, Zedd has sent six monsters to Earth. Six.

So we'll need the whole team to take them down."

His gaze shifted from her glassy eyes to the rich crimson seeping from numerous small gashes in her wrist. "What happened?"

"My communicator," she whispered, blinking her injured arm into focus, "It cut into my skin. I... guess it fell off."

"Zordon," Jason called into his wrist, "Alexis has been wounded. Please teleport her in for treatment."

"Wait," she gasped, eyes widening to full consciousness, "Rocky! Is he okay?"

"Relax, Lex," he urged, watching her vanish from his arms, "I'll take care of everything."

"Will

you now?"

two voices chorused.

Jason rose to his feet, his expression darkening as he turned to face the two waiting Misfits.

Chapter Thirty

Adam watched as Zack leapt into the air. His feet plowed into the chests of both black creatures, causing them to stagger and earning the young man precious moments to regain his balance, and raise his guard.

Incredible...

he mused, staring openly at Zack's focused, attentive frown, He's so composed, you'd think he fought for his life every day!

As the creatures recovered, Zack began shifting his feet, almost like a football player itching to dash across the field. Then, his entire body bent, narrowly missing an angry fist from one creature, only to lean back into place just in time to fire another fierce kick.

His moves were almost serpentine in their agility.

What kind of style is that??

Adam then shook himself from his awe. There were more important things to do than gawk at an unfamiliar fighting style.

Thankfully, the children were out of harm's way. When the two quiet ones had knocked down the door of their first house, the others nearly panicked. It only took a few moments to designate one of them the leader, and ask her to guide the others back to the Youth Center.

True, that meant six unsupervised children would have to walk nearly a quarter of a mile, but there were few places in Angel Grove more dangerous than that quiet front yard at that moment. Also, he couldn't let Zack face such a threat by himself.

The two young men were able to keep up a decent contest for ten minutes. But the mocking grins of the creatures spoke volumes... they were merely playing.

And when they did

choose to hit with full force, Adam quickly realized he and Zack had no chance of overwhelming them.

Adam dusted himself off from his latest tumble in the grass, and rubbed the dull ache across his chest where the last blow had landed. He then took a