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

The dizziness soon left her, and Alexis was able to focus her gaze once again.

But before she could clearly see anything, she could hear

what was happening before her. She heard the grunts, screams, battle cries, and choked roars.

She could even hear the sound of that deadly sword smash into the pavement time and again.

At least that was a good sound. If the sword hit the pavement, then it wasn't

hitting Jason.

Jason...

She tried to reach out, to steady herself enough to stand, but to her astonishment her arms were trapped at her sides. She gasped, struggling against the faint energy that held her body in a cocoon.

"Dammit," she growled, grinding her teeth. She continued to push against the gold energy desperately, in the hopes that she could free herself, and possibly call for help? which she should

have done much earlier, if she hadn't been rooted to the ground!

Frustration settling in, she decided to give up trying to break the cocoon. Instead, she struggled against the ground she lay on, shifting her body to turn herself around. That she did manage to accomplish, and soon she was lying on her stomach, holding her head up to see the fight before her.

She shuddered when she saw a terrible knee-thrust from the monster connect with Jason's gut, followed by his clenched fists pounding into Jason's back. The boy collapsed at that point, falling limply to the ground.

The monster cackled as it placed its enormous foot upon Jason's back. He watched in amusement as Jason tried to push himself off the ground, but the added weight made it impossible. Then, he pressed.

Jason groaned as the weight crushed his body. Still, he managed to lift his face just enough to lie on his cheek, enabling him to see Goldar through the corner of his eye.

"This is how our last battle should have ended, Red Ranger," Goldar spat in a low voice, "You at my feet, begging for mercy."

Jason rasped for breath, but his frown remained. "Beg? Not on your life, Dogbreath."

Goldar chuckled. "You Humans are a proud race, aren't you?"

"Stop it!" a desperate voice cried, startling both Goldar and Jason. Both turned, and saw Alexis staring wide-eyed at them, once again struggling against the magical bonds that held her.

"Now this is precious!" Goldar remarked, throwing his head back with deep laughter. "You really were in the wrong place at the wrong time, girl. And you certainly picked the wrong boy to befriend. His time has expired, and unfortunately... he's dragged you into this too."

The laughter grated on Alexis' patience as nothing else ever did, and the slowly-brewing rage began to boil over. The terror, confusion, rage, and panic stewing in her heart exploded, and a strange new feeling poured through her body, giving her an almost electric surge.
Suddenly, her body was not her own.

It almost felt like she was a stranger looking in, like her dreams, which were her observations of another life, but from within. She watched in mute intrigue as her body somehow shattered the magic bonds, dispelling the energy almost thoughtlessly.

Goldar stared at the scrawny Human as she stood up, mockingly cracking her neck and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She then fixed her ebony gaze at the beast.

Impossibly, a strange aura of her own began to crackle, building around her clenched fist and throwing her shoulder-length hair in a feverish dance.

"Goldar... still targeting the defenseless, I see," she commented with a disdainful twist of her lip.

Despite himself, the warrior shuddered. The voice with which the human girl spoke was not her own. At least, it wasn't the same voice she used when she was speaking earlier. It was cold, sardonic. And inexplicably... familiar.

The girl gazed at Goldar from a distance. "You are a weak coward, little Titan. As you always were."

Goldar felt his rage building, despite the frightful new appearance of the seemingly helpless girl. She dared

mock him, an elite warrior of
Lord Zedd?

Who was

she?

The girl lifted her slender arm, the tight fist slowly opening high over her head.

Her eyes shuttered closed.

"Eagleheart Pulse!" she summoned.

Goldar's breath caught in his throat as a crackling sphere of energy erupted from the girl's open palm, streaking at him at the speed of light and crashing into his unprepared body dead on. The impact was incredible... the pain blinding as all the breath escaped his lungs in one agonized scream. He kept flying back, helpless against the force of the explosion that rocked his organs. Then, his body crashed against the hard asphalt, and everything slipped into a dazed blackness.

It was at this tense moment that four streams of bright color appeared at the park.

"Ohmigosh!" the Pink Ranger gasped, "Jason!"

She hurried to the side of the wounded young man, still lying on the grass in a spot that seemed imprinted with Jason's body shape. She gently rolled him onto his back, cringing as a sharp rasp of pain passed through his teeth.

"You're hurt!"

But Jason ignored the Pink Ranger's revelation. His gaze was fixed upon
Alexis, who stood in the same position in which she blasted Goldar. Her aura had faded, though, leaving a normal-looking girl in its wake.
But the cold expression remained, and it chilled him even more than Goldar's earlier taunts.

"What happened?" the Black Ranger wondered, as he and Yellow surveyed the area. Zack's gaze fell upon Goldar, who lay completely motionless some twenty yards away on the barren basketball court.

Trini, on the other hand, kept her scrutiny upon Alexis. But Alexis was in a world of her own. Her body remained motionless, simply standing with one arm extended.

Intrigued, Trini approached. "Are you all right, Miss?"

Trini felt her concern rise as the girl made no response. Finally, she reached forward and touched her shoulder.

The Yellow Ranger yelped as a surge of energy ripped through her body, knocking her clear off her feet.

"Yellow Ranger!" Blue shouted, as he and Black hurried to help their dazed friend. The trio backed away slightly, staring in bewilderment at the frozen person.

"What's going on?" Pink inquired, directing her question to Jason. He frowned, struggling against the soreness in his body in an effort to stand. Kimberly perceived his intention, and leaned his body against her own. Together, they rose to their feet.

"Goldar attacked us," he recapped, "and somehow, she shot him."

Zack looked from Jason to the girl in amazement. "Alexis? Alexis shot Goldar? With what... a spit-ball?"

Jason's expression was dark as he shook his head. "No. She called it an Eagleheart Pulse."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kimberly mused.

Jason bit his lip, visualizing the crackling sphere of swirling laser energy that crashed into Goldar like a wrecking ball. It was almost identical to another blast he'd seen, many months ago.

The spherical energy attack the Evil Green Ranger had used.

With the single exception of the differing colors, the two attacks were identical.

The mental fog faded, pulling Alexis back to reality. But this time was different.

She had been watching, but the story wasn’t about some ancient Purple Ranger. It was a golden beast attacking, not some boy named Erol, but Jason.

Her

Jason.

She shuddered, feeling an electric wave ebb within her. Also, to her astonishment, an aching feeling built in her arm, that for some reason was extended before her.

Her eyes fluttered open, and her face wrinkled in sheer confusion. Before her stood four Power Rangers, one of them holding Jason on his feet.

“What…?” she gasped, her voice hoarse.

The pain in her hand continued to build, causing her to cringe again.

She finally grabbed her arm, gently rubbing the forearm and hand.

It was then that her emerald gaze fell upon her palm…more specifically, the black circular tattoo that stood boldly on her skin.

Her instinctive reaction was obvious: she screamed.

All she could do was gasp air into her starved lungs, forcing her sobs to quiet just enough to breathe.

What was happening to her? The dreams, the headache…and now this

?

This couldn’t be dismissed so easily. It felt like a dream, and it was impossible for it to have been real…but it was.

She wasn’t Alexis Darling any longer. She was something else. Something with power

.

She continued to shiver as she cradled her body against the wall in her bedroom. She didn’t even remember how she wound up there. Did she fly? Or magically transport her body? Or maybe even run at a phenomenal speed?

Or, could it all have been a really long, really horrible nightmare?

Maybe none of it had happened at all. No bizarre eye-color shifts, or blackouts, or visions…

But the tattoo remained. A circle on her skin, with an eagle with outstretched wings.

It was real. It was all

real.

And that damned coin had something to do with it.

Slowly, she recovered from the panic that had consumed all rational thought. She calmed down, sucking in air at a more regulated rate, and finally finding enough strength to rise to her feet.

Her green eyes narrowed as she stared at the wooden box that still sat upon her bed.

“It’s all you,” she whispered, swallowing hard. “It all started when Nana gave you to me. What the hell are you? A…a witch’s talisman? Or maybe you’re a spirit yourself. Are you…are you Kreia?”

The box didn’t answer her. But Alexis was undaunted, and she slowly crept toward the box, fixing the lifeless object with an accusing stare.

“I was just fine before,” she barked, her anger building, “I was normal. But now…now I’m some kind of freak. I can’t..I can’t tell what’s real anymore.”

She sniffled, leaning weakly upon her