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

shaking her head. She then dug into her backpack for a brush and hastily touched up her hair in an attempt to appear somewhat normal.

“Something tells me this isn’t going to be a good day,” she muttered, heaving her bag onto her back. She then exited the bathroom, weaving her way through groups of students to reach her locker.

To her surprise, she saw a familiar form in red leaning against it.

“Jason?” she gawked. Still, as the name passed through her mouth, her lips automatically curved into a smile.

Her heart leapt when he met her gaze with a warm grin.

“Morning, Alexis,” he greeted, moving out of her way. She stared at him incredulously, standing before her locker.

“How’d you know where my locker was?”

“I asked around,” he confessed with a shrug.

“Really?” Alexis asked, her smile widening. “Why?”

“I wanted to apologize for being rude to you outside the Youth Center last week. I just wasn’t myself that day.”

Alexis nodded. “I know where you’re coming from. And you’re ‘yourself’ now?”

Jason nodded proudly. “Absolutely, I think I’ve gotten over my…issues.”

Alexis couldn’t help mirror his elated expression. “That’s really terrific, Jason. Congratulations.”

Then the first bell rang, alerting the students to go to homeroom.

“I still feel I need to thank you for your help,” Jason decided.

Alexis shook her head, opening her locker. “You just did.”

Jason shrugged. “Well, not enough. How about a smoothie after school? I could show you what you missed in Chemistry when you went to your grandmother’s birthday party.”

Alexis startled, turning to him in shock. “How’d you know that?”

Jason grinned mysteriously. “I have my ways. So, I’ll meet you here at three?”

She giggled. “Sounds terrific.”

“See you in Chem!” Jason called, hurrying down the hall. Alexis continued to shake her head in disbelief as she absently fished through her locker’s contents.

Maybe this wouldn’t be such an awful day after all.

Chapter Three

"Aye yi yi," Alpha whispered, his stubby fingers tapping away at various buttons. He then pushed a switch, causing the scanner to hum to life.

He still couldn't believe it. The Purple Coin? But... how? True, the Power Coins were much more than pieces of metal. They were magically forged, designed to channel incredible power beyond mortal understanding. They were a reflection of the ultimate Power. It wasn't so impossible for a Power Coin to survive an explosion, even one that had put an end to Rita Repulsa's wicked schemes for ten thousand years.

But the "how" of the matter wasn't what really bothered Zordon's faithful assistant. The real question was... why?

Why had the coin mysteriously appeared now?

Ten thousand years was quite a long time, and it couldn't take the coin that

long to return to Earth.

Why couldn't Zordon sense its existence before? When Kreia had destroyed the Moon Palace, Zordon lost all connection with the Purple Ranger. It wasn't just that the physical coin was gone, but the energy behind it seemed to be muted somehow.

Everyone had assumed it was part of the Ascension. Not only had she nearly killed Rita and her henchmen, but she razed the magical palace and killed herself in the process. She expended the full extent of the Purple energies, far beyond the limits a Power Ranger should have. The intensity of the Ascension caused Zordon to redesign the Morphin' Grid, to ensure that the five remaining Rangers would never be able to Ascend.

But there was no evidence that Kreia had died in the explosion. When Alpha and the others had explored the ravaged moon, they couldn't find a sign of Kreia or Erol. They had assumed the two were obliterated.
After all, there was no possible way Erol, even within the protective shell of the Green armor, could have survived. And as for Kreia... well... she couldn't have fared better.

They knew that because young Kreia wasn't the first Power Ranger to Ascend. There was one before her... of the generation before her. That Ranger was the one that defeated the Shadow Lord of the Morpheonites.

His name was Ghedaliah, the Red Power Ranger.

Alpha didn't know him... he was sent to Earth after the historic battle. But during the years he served Regita, he had heard the former Purple Ranger tell the story of that great battle many times.

The Shadow Lord was all but omnipotent. He had armies of otherworldly monsters, fierce generals eager to do his bidding, as well as the unspeakable power of his magical crystal. So many dozens of Rangers had died trying to destroy him.

Regita's story still caused the small robot to tremble. The battle, long and fierce, against an unbeatable opponent. Still, the seven Rangers were determined to do their utmost.

The Shadow Lord had made the deadly mistake of challenging the Rangers to their limit. He had somehow discovered the true identities of the Rangers, and his thirst for information led him to their families.

In a show of immeasurable wickedness, the Shadow Lord had determined to execute every single person remotely connected to the Rangers.

Ghedaliah's loved ones were the first to suffer. The despot had killed everyone... the Red Ranger's family, friends, and even the religious shrine that he had dedicated so many prayers to.

The emptiness that filled Ghedaliah's heart pushed him over the edge.

His rage was unspeakable as he challenged the Shadow Lord, within the very palace of the alien ruler. The other Rangers, as well as Zordon himself, followed the brash young man, and the resulting cataclysmic fight was truly a show of power the likes of which the Earth had never seen, nor would see again. If it weren't for Zordon, the Rangers wouldn't have lasted long at all against such a foe.

But Zordon had died... or rather, his body was destroyed. To the Rangers, though, it seemed their beloved mentor and father-figure had perished, in an effort to save his children.

That was the final straw for Ghedaliah.

White light cracked his red armor, which instantly flashed the core Rangers' armor out of existence. Suddenly, the humans were severed from the Morphin' Grid. All save Ghedaliah, and the Purple and Green Rangers, were completely helpless, and struck silent in awe.

His power erupted like a volcano, morphing his physical body and immersing him in a blinding whiteness.

That was the last Regita had seen of his friend Ghedaliah. It was also the last he ever saw of the Shadow Lord.

The six other Rangers knew one thing... they had to leave

. The rage flaming in their leader's heart was too much. Thanks to the sustained power of the Green and Purple Rangers, all save Ghedaliah managed to flee, racing through the winding hallways, weaving their way between dozens of panicking Imperials who felt the quaking of the castle and the dark omen it brought.

The six remaining Rangers escaped the palace only seconds before the white light obliterated everything.

Ghedaliah was never found. Neither was the Shadow Lord. Nor Zordon's body.

So, it was assumed that Kreia suffered a similar fate. But there were no witnesses to her incredible power. And, they had

been able to find the Red Coin amidst the vaporized hole that was once the Shadow Lord's great palace.

Therefore, it wasn't hard to believe that the Purple Coin existed. But that still didn't bring Alpha any comfort.

"Where has it been all this time?" he wondered, "And why hasn't Zordon been able to sense it before?"

He cast his gaze toward the Transdimension Cylinder. Faint sparks of energy flashed within the thick smoke, showing that Zordon had temporarily terminated his link to Earth.

He was searching once again. Searching for any further sign of the coin.
Alpha sighed quietly, shaking his head. He could almost feel the desperation Zordon felt at this incredible find.

He knew deep down, Zordon blamed himself for Kreia's fate. He was, after all, responsible for the lives of each and every one of his Rangers, even the ones he didn't select personally. Over the few months of their acquaintance, the ancient wizard couldn't help but be impressed by her indomitable will.

He owed it to her, and to her predecessors, that the Purple Ranger would serve again. Perhaps he felt that restoring her coin to active service was one step in the right direction to letting the ghosts of the past finally rest.

A faint beeping sound drew the small robot from his thoughts. He examined a small computer screen that showed a rough map of Angel Grove and its immediate territories.

"ZORDON!" Alpha shrieked, "I FOUND IT!"

The shout somehow reached the being, who once again fused with the physical plane through his tube. His eager gaze fell upon his assistant.

"WHERE IS THE COIN?"

"It's... in Angel Grove," Alpha reported, "I've narrowed its location to a four-mile radius. It's somewhere between the high school and the border of Angel Grove and Stone Canyon."

"SO CLOSE?" Zordon marveled, his ethereal face folding into a thoughtful frown. "INTERESTING..."

Chapter Four

"And while the majority of you managed to pass this test, I still feel as if you failed. The average score was a 72, which is appalling for such simple

subject matter."

Wilbur Wilton raked his icy blue gaze across the classroom, watching as several students winced at his sharp rebuke. The balding blonde Chemistry teacher rose from his seat, straightening his tie before leaning forward against his desk. "We're only six weeks into the school year. The exams will only get harder

. This is Chemistry here... not English. You will be handling dangerous chemicals. If you can't hack a simple test of basic mathematical understanding, then you certainly can't handle flammable materials."

That said, he grabbed a small pile of papers and he stalked to the students. He glanced down at the papers, stopping at the third desk from the front.

"Eric Henderson... 59 percent," he announced, dropping the paper on the boy's desk. Eric winced, sinking slightly in his seat in embarrassment.