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

first thing about fighting. But Kreia didn't have the strength to finish this, so she told me what to do."

Zordon blinked. "WHAT WILL YOU DO?"

Alexis glanced up at the floating head, her brow creased with slight puzzlement. The sight of Zordon made most humans quite uncomfortable, but on some level Alexis knew what he would look like.

She had a hard time delineating her memories from the flood of knowledge Kreia had granted her.

"The monster is powered by energy falling to Earth from the moon," she explained, "If we can somehow block that energy, it should weaken."

Zordon nodded. "YES... EREBUS IS A CHAOTIC. THEREFORE, IN ORDER TO MANIFEST POWER IN THE MATERIAL WORLD, HE MUST BE CONSTANTLY FED WITH CHAOTIC ENERGY. I KNOW OF NO DIMENSIONAL RIFTS ANYWHERE NEAR HERE."

"Then... maybe it's not near?" Alpha suggested.

Zordon's eyes widened with realization. "OF COURSE! EXCELLENT, ALPHA!"

The small robot giggled sheepishly.

"What is it?" Tommy inquired.

"WHEN I LAST ENCOUNTERED EREBUS, HE WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO DECIMATE AN ENTIRE PLANET OF WARRIORS IN LESS THAN A DAY. HE HAS NOW BEEN ON EARTH FOR NEARLY AN HOUR, AND HASN'T DISPLAYED ANYWHERE NEAR THE POWER LEVEL I KNEW HIM TO HAVE."

Trini shivered, glancing at the bandages wrapped around her abdomen. "He's... usually stronger than this

?"

"MUCH STRONGER. BUT, IF HE CANNOT BE FULLY CHARGED WITH HIS NATIVE ENERGY, THEN HE CAN'T MANIFEST HIS TRUE POWER. THE BEAST THE RANGERS FACE IS BEING FED SPARINGLY, LIKELY BECAUSE OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN EARTH AND THE CLOSEST RIFT BETWEEN THE MATERIAL AND CHAOTIC REALMS."

"And somehow, this 'chaotic energy' is hitting the Earth from the moon," Tommy deduced, folding his arms, "Alpha, can these scanners detect exactly what

this chaotic energy is? And maybe shield it?"

"THERE IS ALREADY A SHIELD AROUND THE COMMAND CENTER, BLOCKING US FROM MAGICAL SCANS FROM THE MOON. THE BATTLE SITE IS ONLY .59 MILES FROM HERE, SO IF WE RECALIBRATE THE SHIELDS AND EXPAND THE PERIMETER, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BLOCK ALL LUNAR ENERGIES COMPLETELY. EXPANDING OUR OWN SHIELD IS MUCH EASIER THAN CONSTRUCTING AN ENTIRELY NEW ONE."

"But... if we include the battle ground in the shield, then Erebus will see us!" Alpha stated, "Can we be sure he'll be weak enough to destroy?"

Zordon's obscured face folded into a deep frown. "EVEN WITHOUT DIRECT ENERGY TO FEED IT, EREBUS CAN EXIST FOR A SHORT TIME. THE SHIELD WILL ONLY STOP REPLENISHING HIM, MEANING HE CAN SUSTAIN INJURY WITHOUT IMMEDIATE REGENERATION. BUT HIS POWER IS GREAT ENOUGH THAT IT MAY TAKE THE RANGERS A GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT TO INFLICT ENOUGH DAMAGE TO BREAK HIS HOLD TO THE MATERIAL REALM."

"And that will give the monster plenty

of time to destroy the Command Center," Trini observed. She grimaced as she sat up, and turned toward the Viewing Globe. "Maybe if we summon the Megazord, we'll have enough power to hit Erebus really hard, really fast."

"The Megazord is much too slow," Tommy noted grimly, "It'll be really hard to keep up with the Erebus. He's already too fast for the Rangers to keep up with!"

Alexis leaned against a console, staring hard at the mark on her palm. Her eyes widened as an idea struck her.

"If you can erect the shield, Tommy and I can destroy Erebus."

Tommy's eyebrow rose. "How?"

She smiled excitedly. "We're the Dragon and the Eagle! We have combined attacks just as powerful as the other five. I doubt that monster can take a full-blown Maelstrom!"

"A... a Maelstrom?"

Alexis' eyes widened, and she turned to Zordon. "He doesn't know about the Maelstrom?"

"TOMMY HAS NEVER SERVED WITH A PURPLE RANGER BEFORE," Zordon explained, "AND NOW THAT THE RANGERS USE MORPHERS, THEIR ABILITIES ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. TOMMY CAN NO LONGER SUMMON THE DRAGONHEART PULSE. THE ENERGY FOCUS ON THE RANGERS' PALMS NO LONGER EXISTS, LIMITING THEIR INDIVIDUAL ENERGY MANIFESTATION ABILITIES."

Alexis' jaw dropped. "Wait... so I can't use the Eagleheart Pulse either?"

"I... I AM NOT CERTAIN," Zordon admitted, "IN YOUR CASE, YOU SEEM TO HAVE RETAINED AT LEAST SOME MEASURE OF KREIA'S EXPERIENCE. SO YOU KNOW HOW TO MANIFEST THE EAGLEHEART PULSE AS SHE DID. KREIA WAS A SORCERESS AS WELL AS A RANGER, AND EVENTUALLY LEARNED HOW TO SUMMON THE PULSE EVEN WITHOUT MORPHIN'. ALL THESE FACTS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WOULD LEAD ME TO ASSUME THAT YOU CAN CREATE A PULSE, EVEN WITH A MORPHER."

She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Well, I don't have a Morpher now. And neither does Tommy. The coin's inside his body, and it's got enough energy in it for at least one more fight at full strength."

Tommy's grim expression lit up. "Really?"

Alexis nodded, a small smile appearing as she noted his excited expression. She then glanced quickly to Trini, who was struggling to her feet despite Alpha's protests. A thoughtful frown creased her brow. "You're the Yellow Ranger," she realized, digging through her memory, "The one Erebus nearly crushed."

Trini nodded, a faint grin on her lips. "Trini Kwan. Nice to meet you, Alexis."

Alexis nodded, accepting the greeting. But her slight frown remained. "How are your injuries?"

Tommy's frown mirrored his new partner's as he caught on to her train of thought. "Will you be able to fight, Trini? We might need you guys to combine your weapons in case the Maelstrom isn't enough."

Trini nodded. "I'm up for it."

"And the Black Ranger?" Alexis asked. The last time she saw him, he was knocked out cold.

"We're keeping an eye on his vitals," Alpha reported, "He wasn't wounded enough to break the Morph, so he's actually regaining consciousness as we speak."

"Then let's get that shield reprogrammed," Tommy decided, hurrying to one of many computer consoles. "Show me how to help."

Chapter Six

Zack groaned quietly, his eyes fluttering open. A dull, throbbing pain assailed his senses, tensing the muscles in his face. He rasped inward, pushing past the pain to sit up as best he could.

He cringed as he recalled the enormous reject from a Scooby Doo movie digging its impossibly sharp claws into his shoulder, dragging him along the ground before pulling him helplessly into the air.

Slowly, Zack pushed himself to his feet, flexing his arms and legs to assess the damage.

"Nothing broken... the bleeding's stopped."

He shivered just thinking about how a Morphed Ranger could even bleed.

He gazed out of the mouth of the cavern, peering into the distance at the flashes of red energy that continued to flare at a patch of darkness.

"Jase is going for a distance strike with his Blade-Blaster," he realized, "but... where are the others?"

Zack swallowed fearfully, leaping from the cave to the ground. He reached his hand high over his head. "Cosmic Cannon!"

The Power Axe materialized, automatically adjusted for long distance energy fire. Zack hurried closer, steadying the large barreled weapon as he planted himself on his knees.

"Suck on this, Creep!" he growled, firing the weapon. Searing white energy leapt from the mouth of the canon, pushing Zack back with sheer force. The blast barreled through the unsuspecting monster's wing, tearing a gaping hole through the leathery skin.

"All right!" Zack shouted, "Now it's on

!"

The monster was forced to draw back, giving the Rangers a few moments to regroup. Zack hurried to the location the red laser blasts had originated, and ducked into a small canyon where the Red Ranger took cover, the barrel of his energy pistol still smoking from excess use.

"Zack," he greeted, his tone heavy with exhaustion, "Good to see you're on your feet."

"Where's everyone else?" the Black Ranger asked worriedly.

"Trini's in the Command Center, and Billy is taking care of Kimberly. She's been encased in some kind of magical cocoon. We can't send her to the Command Center, because we don't know the nature of the cocoon. We may contaminate the computers or something."

Zack scowled, following Jason's gaze toward the monster. He gaped in surprise as the hole in its wing steadily sealed itself.

"Whoa... he regenerates fast

!"

Jason nodded, leaping out of the crevice. "We have to hit him hard, and fast enough to counteract his healing. It we don't give him time to regenerate, maybe we'll be able to finish him off."

Zack obeyed, but he could tell from his tone that the Red Ranger had little faith in their chances.

Erebus turned his crimson gaze toward the two foolish beings that dared move into close proximity. Taking a moment, the grim beast tested out his freshly-healed wing.

Of course, it was perfect.

The Chaotic snarled, revealing dozens of razor-like teeth.

"FOOLS!" he growled, speaking to his opponents for the first time, "WHAT CHANCES DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE? THERE ARE ONLY TWO OF YOU LEFT!"

He stretched his wings to their fullest extent, catching a wind current to lift the large creature into the air once again. He breathed in, gathering energy to launch another assault of element-melting black fire.

Suddenly, a glint of energy in the distance caught his eye.

Stunned, the beast turned his attention to the top of the nearby cliffs, where a large complex flashed into existence.

Erebus blinked in surprise as his senses were flooded with new perception. He grinned wickedly when he recognized one particular energy.

"ZORDON OF ELTAR..." he whispered, almost trembling with excitement, "OUT OF HIDING, I SEE."

The energy was slightly different than before. Zordon almost seemed... greatly distant. But Erebus was certain his senses were correct. Zordon was nearby, within the large building.

The beast released a mocking laugh as the Black and Red Rangers noticed what he had seen.

"No!" Jason shouted, shocked beyond belief, "What happened to the shields?"

"PERHAPS YOUR MENTOR HAS REALIZED THE FUTILITY OF THIS BATTLE," Erebus proposed, "HE IS MY TRUE PREY. YOU ARE JUST THE APPETIZER."

And with that, Erebus streaked towards the cliffs. Faintly, he perceived a marked decrease in visible light, as well as a slow deterioration of the energies that kept him vital. But he ignored these somewhat alarming sensations... all he could focus on was his target.

Until he felt some form of energy crash into his head, sending thunderous currents of energy into his entire body.

Startled and overwhelmed, Erebus couldn't maintain his flight any longer. He crashed into the rocky ground, digging up several feet of debris upon impact.

With a slight groan, he rose to stand upon six limbs. His face wrinkled with confusion... how could a puny Ranger hurt him so much? He was almost... dazed.

Then, he realized with immeasurable astonishment what had happened. The moon was gone.

And without the moon, the reflection of the Dark Light evaporated.

"Tommy! How'd you do that?" the Red Ranger