Power Rangers Zeo - Venusian Encounters, Heather Ray [best thriller books to read .txt] 📗

Island.

Yet, there was another feeling that erupted from Kimberly's first visit to Tommy while in college. Jealousy. She was happy that he was finally at peace, but she couldn't help but set up the comparison between them. While Tommy could move on with his life, Kimberly couldn't. She had to remain the Queen of Venus Island, and that occupation would never change. She had to continue to hone her skills as a Ninjetti warrior. There was no fulfillment... just routine.

For months afterward, the routine was practically endless. She remained on the island most of the time, separated from mankind. Now that her friends had moved on, the Power Rangers were suddenly strangers to her. There was no Home anymore, where she would feel welcome and surrounded by people who really knew her.

In fact, the next time she really entered the world of humanity was during their darkest hour... the infamous Countdown to Destruction.


Chapter Six

November 1998

"Surrender, Power Rangers!! Or else, this entire planet will be destroyed!"

The tumultuous threat reverberated through the crowded streets of Angel Grove. People gasped in horror at the prospect. The entire universe had surrendered to the forces of Astronema, the newly-proclaimed Queen of Evil. Without Dark Specter around, she was calling the shots... and as unbelievable as it may sound, she displayed even less mercy that the famed wizard and pure incarnation of evil.

Kimberly Hart, the Queen of Venus Island, and Ninjetti master of the Crane, clenched her Whistling Sticks all the tighter, and stared out from her vantage point to the top of the office building, where the armored villainess stood, leaning against her magical staff and glaring down at the thousands of Angel Grovites with contempt and impatience.

This was the first time Kimberly had lain eyes on Astronema. This was also the first time in several months that the Venusians were about to interfere with human events.

Once Divatox had destroyed the Power Chamber, she left planet Earth inexplicably. One would think she would try and conquer the planet, but something called her away.

Kimberly desperately wanted to help the Power Rangers. She wanted to send them on a quest to Phaedos, to gain strength from the Great Power, and renew their mission to battle evil in all its forms. Yet this third generation of Power Rangers was quite innovative. Even without Alpha or Dimitria to help them, and even stripped from their powers, they cleverly came up with a plan to seek Zordon, who had been captured.

The fact that they were powerless didn't hinder them, and they went to NASADA for transportation into space.

Kimberly couldn't help but be surprised that the Power Rangers didn't seek assistance from her. Had they wanted to contact Venus Island, all they needed to do was call Tommy. He had a magical mirror, which allowed him to 'call' Venus Island whenever he wished. It was her graduation present to him.

Could it be that Dimitria never told them about the Venusians? True, they were no longer often involved in the Rangers' missions directly, but could they actually have no knowledge of their culture?

Kimberly found that notion distasteful, to say the least. And so, she vowed to take a more definitive position in the affairs of Earth. When the Power Rangers left for space, she decided to insure that Earth would be safe.

And it was.

The Venusians had discreetly prevented several invasions from becoming outright attacks, which enabled the Power Rangers to leave Earth for long periods of time in their search for Zordon. Still, they didn't actually step into the open. Venusians were still hidden from view, from both the Rangers and humanity at large.

"I want the Power Rangers!!" Astronema screamed with frustration.

Kimberly knew the stakes had never been higher, as she beckoned her team of Venusian warriors to prepare for their attack.

"We are the Power Rangers!" came a powerful voice, unfamiliar to Kim. She craned her head, and saw five teenagers standing in a row atop a nearby building.

She recognized T.J., Ashley, Carlos, and Cassie, since she had heard a great deal about them from Tommy. She assumed the fifth was that new Silver Ranger that had been popping up on occasion.

She gasped. They were revealing their identities to the entire world!

They had just opened Pandora's Box.

The five Rangers morphed, and leapt to the street, fighting the scores of Piranatrons and Quantrons. Although they put up a valiant fight, and even though the Angel Grovites were eager to help, the odds were still overwhelming.

"Let's move!" Kim ordered, leaping into the air. Her sheer pink wings held her aloft like a hang-glider, allowing her to sail through the air freely. While her forces went directly to engage the ground forces, Kim approached Astronema and her right-hand servant Ecliptor.

Astronema growled with contempt as Kimberly landed gracefully on the rooftop, brandishing her Whistling Sticks in an unspoken challenge.

"So," Astronema commented in a smooth voice, "this is the famous half-breed Queen of Venus Island. I've heard much about you."

Kimberly shrugged her eyebrows. "Well, I'm afraid I've heard hardly anything about you, Astronema."

The young Queen of Evil smirked. "Then I guess the advantage is mine. I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood for a confrontation just yet." Her smirk widened. "I've already promised Divatox the privilege of killing you, the great-grandchild of her hated sister."

Kimberly was forced to take a step back as massive purple thunderbolts struck from the clouds, allowing both Ecliptor and Astronema to vanish into the hovering Dark Fortress. Kim gazed at the enormous ship bitterly, and then turned her attention back to the ground.

She duly noted the Yellow Ranger was losing ground to the twelve Quantrons that surrounded her.

Kim flipped into the air, and fell sharply towards the ground feet first. The flat heels of her boots slammed into a Quantron's head, reducing the robot to a pile of sparking wires and circuits. The Yellow Ranger startled as Kimberly expertly decapitated another Quantron with her Whistling Stick, while in the same fluid motion striking another with a devastating roundhouse kick. The Yellow Ranger soon snapped out of her bewilderment enough to assist as the befuddled Quantrons were annihilated speedily.

"Who are you?" the Yellow Ranger panted, observing Kimberly from head to toe.

Kim couldn't help but feel slightly hurt at the girl's ignorance. Her suspicions were correct... none of the newer Power Rangers knew anything about Venus Island, and the allies they had.

"A friend," Kim answered, turning away from the Yellow Ranger. She then proceeded to destroy any monsters that dared come within her reach.

With the help of the Venusian forces, the alien beings were held back long enough for Zordon's purifying energy to sweep over the universe, and cleanse all of creation from evil.

The repercussions of the Countdown to Destruction were incredible. First and foremost, it spelled the tragic end of Trini Kwan and Zack Taylor, who were aboard a trans-Atlantic flight back to America when the Velocifighters began their aerial assault. Their plane was one of the seven or so to be shot down, and there were no survivors. It was a horrible tragedy, which still plagued Kimberly. Their deaths were so pointless it sickened her. They were the first of her close friends to go.

In addition, Zordon, friend to the Venusians long before Kimberly was born, was now dead. Also, all evil was vanquished, including Divatox herself. She still lived, but the darkness within her was erased. She was penitent, and her sentence was to remain on Phaedos with Dulcea, so she could learn the true code of the Ninjetti. Divatox was a sorceress, so learning the Ninjetti was a trial to her. Yet, it widened her spiritual horizons, and helped forge a noble heart in the woman who was once manacled by rage and bitterness.

Also, there were amazing ramifications regarding the Power Rangers. Once the world knew the faces of the Astro Rangers, they were able to connect names and identities to them. For months the six teens were hounded by reporters and curious citizens, who wanted to know what being Rangers was like. For a long amount of time, the teens managed to avoid the public eye, and T.J. even once begged the world to just leave them alone, since their service had ended.

Yet the media-hounding didn't end there. Since T.J., Ashley, Carlos, and Cassie were discovered to be high school sophomores of about sixteen years of age, it was easily determined that they couldn't

have been the same Rangers who first came to Angel Grove in 1994. Also, since they were all humans, it was safe to say that the previous Rangers were human too. And so, the hounding began again.

The first discovery was the Astro Rangers' connection to Justin Stewart. He was known to have been close friends with this circle, and his intelligence and martial arts prowess made him a good candidate. That connected Justin to Tommy, who was like an older brother to him, and even taught young Justin a good deal of self-defense. And from there, the web continued to spread, until finally, in a historic statement on the first anniversary of the Countdown, Tommy, Katherine, Tanya, Jason, Justin, Adam, Rocky, and Aisha gathered in Washington DC, and admitted to formerly being Power Rangers. They also made mention that Kimberly, Billy, Zack, and Trini were also Rangers, and were in fact the majority of the original team. A large section of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia was chosen to be a memorial to the Power Rangers, and plaques memorializing the dead Trini Kwan and Zack Taylor, as well as the believed-dead Kimberly Hart and absent Billy Mitchell, were constructed. In addition, marble statues of each of the Power Rangers, both in and out of costume, were displayed in a small museum nearby. The day of the Countdown was a day celebrated as Universal Independence Day, and annually each of the Ranger teens were thanked by everyone they came in contact with, and were sought for parades, fresh interviews, and all the other burdens of fame.

They were the most famous humans in our modern era.

Chapter Seven