The Terran Rangers/X-Men, Heather Ray [best fiction books of all time .TXT] 📗

the ground, and stood beside Zack. When her eyes opened, a flash of golden light shot forth, and bathed her in blinding light. The light transformed her clothing, dressing her in a shimmery gold form-fitting armor, with a black stripe going down the center of her chest, from the black-metallic collar down to the black belt she wore. She also had black armbands, shoulder pads, and knee-length boots, with stripes of gold. Her helmet was gold and black.

The two rangers stood side by side, neither one moving, until Roma nodded her head once. Then, they suddenly woke up, and stared at each other in surprise.

"What...what happened to you?" asked Kimberly, staring at Zack.

"Me? Look at YOU

!"

Both teens removed their helmets slowly, and examined their costumes with the utmost curiosity. Then, they simultaneously turned towards Roma.

"You are no longer the Yellow and White Terran Rangers," she declared, "I have altered your Zeo crystals at a molecular level. This transformation will only wear off once the six shards are re-combined to form the Zeo Crystal. You will still be able to use your Terra Zords as well as weapons, even though you will not be able to control the force of the elements. From this day forward, you are the X-Rangers."

"X-Rangers?" repeated Zack.

"Yes. I have channeled the mutant powers of your companions into your Zeo shards, as if you possessed the X-Factor yourselves. Therefore, you are X-Rangers."

"So, we're mutants?" asked Kimberly.

"No, for in order to be a mutant, you must be born with these powers. However, you do have access to your new powers when not morphed, but only in a limited sense. When you morph, your abilities are magnified tremendously. Zachary Taylor, formerly the Black Power Ranger and White Terran Ranger, you are X-Ranger One, in command of magnetism."

"Whoa," said Zack, clenching his fist. It began to glow with silver light, and pulled the metal in all the others' costumes towards him. Zack relaxed his hand, and the magnetic pull ceased. "Cool."

"Kimberly Hart," continued Roma, "formerly the Pink Power Ranger and the Yellow Terran Ranger, you are X-Ranger Two, in command of telepathy and telekinesis."

Kimberly smiled enthusiastically. "Thank you, Roma."

Roma smiled at all four, and held out the Zeo Crystal to Kimberly. "Here. Go back to Earth, and combine this crystal with the larger M'Kraan Crystal. Once this is done, simply hold onto the completed crystal, and envision the throne room you see now. The crystal will bring you here."

Kimberly strapped her helmet back on, and held the Zeo Crystal with both hands. Zack put his helmet back on as well. Roma turned to Magneto and Nate.

"You two, along with Forge and Shadow, are to make sure the X-Rangers reach the M'Kraan Crystal. Your powers will not be weakened in the least from the power transfer. I merely used your powers as the templates to create theirs."

"It shall be done," said Magneto, "Apocalypse's reign of terror is over at last!"

Roma waved her hand, and a black portal appeared against the wall. The Gold and Silver X-Rangers, Nate Grey, and Magneto all leaped in one at a time.

Chapter Twenty-Five

"I...I just don't understand!" said Shadow angrily. "They're gone! There's no trace of Nate, nor Erik, anywhere! What is the limit of these scanners, Alpha?

"These scanners are capable of reaching every corner of the Earth!" he answered.

"Then, it's safe to say they aren't on Earth," said Forge.

Just then, a black portal appeared in the center of the room, and four beings stepped through. Two of them were Magneto and the X-Man, but the other two were unfamiliar.

"Who are they?" asked Forge. The Gold Ranger placed the Zeo Crystal on a console, and together, she and the Silver Ranger removed their helmets.

"I SEE YOU HAVE RETRIEVED THE ZEO CRYSTAL,"

said Zordon. "BUT HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO RECEIVE NEW POWERS?"

"Roma gave them to us," said Zack.

"Aye yi yi!" shrieked Alpha Five. "You actually saw the Multiversal Guardian?!"

"Yeah," said Kimberly, "She teleported us to Otherworld as soon as we found the Zeo Crystal. She gave us these new powers, and told us how to fix everything! Once we place the Zeo Crystal inside the M'Kraan Crystal, we can teleport it to Otherworld, and then, Roma will send us home!"

"AND WHAT ARE THESE NEW POWERS ROMA GAVE YOU?"

"I control magnetism," said Zack.

"And I'm a telepath and telekinetic," said Kimberly.

"INTERESTING. ROMA RE-CREATED THE POWERS OF MAGNETO AND NATE GREY IN YOU?"

"I guess," said Zack.

"So," said Shadow, "Now that we have the Zeo Crystal, can we get going? Apocalypse keeps the M'Kraan Crystal inside his headquarters. We'd better get moving."

"Let's go!" said Kimberly, putting her helmet back on. She then picked up the Zeo Crystal. "Zordon, could you teleport us as close to Apocalypse's palace as you can?"

"CERTAINLY. ALPHA, PREPARE THE TELEPORTER."

"Yes, Zordon," said Alpha, pressing buttons, "teleporting now."

Kimberly, Zack, Nate, Magneto, Shadow, and Forge all vanished in streaks of colored light. The Zeo Crystal itself vanished in a rainbow colored flash of light.

Chapter Twenty-Six

In Angel Grove Park, a rather large, powerful-looking creature amused himself by terrorizing the people who took advantage of the beautiful winter afternoon by relaxing by the lake. Presently, it was not doing anything important, basically because it was sent to Earth by Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa for one purpose -- to destroy the Terran Power Rangers. The two evil alien rulers who presently resided upon the moon were well aware that Kimberly and Zack vanished, and that Adam was incapacitated. To put it simply, no villain in his right mind would pass up this golden opportunity, and vanquish the three remaining rangers. So, a large creature, vaguely resembling a wooly mammoth, was sent to Earth to do the job. This creature was about eight feet when it stood upright, and it was covered in thick dark fur. On its face was a powerful trunk, and two long, sharp tusks, each about as thick as a person's leg, and about that length. This physical feature is what dubbed him Tusk.

In a bright flash of multicolored light, the Blue, Black, and Red Terran Rangers appeared in the park. It didn't take them long to find the creature, simply by following the screams of the innocent civilian who were in the wrong place as the wrong time. The Red Ranger stepped forward, and hereby took command.

"Blue Ranger," he ordered, being wary of the dozen or so people nearby, "make sure these people get clear from the area! I don't want anyone hurt! Black Ranger, you're with me."

"Right," said the Blue Ranger, her voice revealing a subtle but clear Australian accent. She tried to calm the panicking populace, and led them as far away from the lake as possible, where the creature seemed to be waiting. The Red and Black Rangers quickly caught up to the monster.

"Ah," said the monster in a deep rumble. "The Power Rangers have finally decided to grace me with their esteemed presence."

"We're here to send you back to Zedd and Rita!" threatened the Black Ranger. "In pieces."

Both rangers simultaneously held their right hands to the sky, and at their silent command, their Terra Weapons appeared in their hands. Jason brandished his Earth Sword, while Tommy firmly gripped his Flame Saber. The Red Ranger nodded, and the two young men rushed the large monster, holding their weapons high. But Tusk was surprisingly fast for a creature of his size, and dodged the Red Ranger's low strike, and at the same time hindered the Black Ranger's high attack by catching the ranger with its powerful trunk, and tossing him into the lake. Now, Tusk focused his attention on the Red Ranger, and blocked all Tommy's sword strikes with his razor sharp tusks. While the two fenced, the Blue Ranger appeared nearby, and saw that Tommy was at a serious disadvantage. She ran towards them, and pointed at Tusk with her hand. In answer to her command, a stream of water from the river leapt forth, and plowed into Tusk with all the fury of nature. The stream was so accurate that Tommy wasn't even sprayed.

"Tommy," said Kat, running to him, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Perfect timing."

"Where's Jason?" she asked, looking around for the Black Ranger. Tommy looked towards the lake, and saw a dark form on the shore not too far from them.

"Over there!" Tommy said. "C'mon, he may be hur --"

Before Tommy could finish his statement, he felt a sharp object pierce his back. His uniform protected him, though, and prevented the object from slicing right through him and coming out the other side. Katherine shrieked as she saw Tusk lift Tommy by the tusk, and toss him into a group of bushes opposite the lake. Tusk laughed, as red blood dripped from his ivory tusk.

"Those uniforms are certainly tough to penetrate," he said in a deep, earth-rattling voice, "but I'm sure I can cut deep enough."

Tusk trust his tusks at Kat, but she nimbly back-flipped out of harm's way. She ducked low, to avoid Tusk's next attack, and stretched up to kick him in the chin. He wasn't hurt, but he was stunned just long enough for Katherine to summon her Ice Daggers. Tusk quickly reached out with his trunk, and wrapped it around Kat's waist in a powerful squeeze. Kat gasped as she felt the oxygen forced out of her lungs.

"Now I've got you right where I want you!" Tusk declared, as he raised the Blue Ranger as high as he could, and slammed her against the hard ground with all his might. He lifted her again, and once again slammed her into the dirt. Unbeknownst to him, the Black Ranger was regaining consciousness from nearly drowning minutes before.

"Kat..." he whispered, shaking his head to focus his thoughts. "Gotta act fast!"

The Black Ranger stood up, and pointed his Earth Sword at Tusk. Invisible waves of seismic energy pulsed forth