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

across the water, and slammed into Tusk's back. Tusk was shaken by the attack, and accidentally dropped Kat. Suddenly, the ground itself came to life, and four walls of dirt and rock stretched forth from the earth and enclosed Tusk within them. Jason collected his bearings and ran to Katherine, who was lying unconscious on the ground. He checked her pulse, and breathed a little easier when he determined she was alive, although the wind was knocked out of her. Jason then looked towards the bushes, and saw the Red Ranger step toward him slowly.

"What happened, Bro?" asked Jason, leaving Kat to help Tommy. Tommy leaned on Jason's broad shoulder, and Jason saw the blood drip from the wound. "Tommy, you're hurt!"

"I'll be okay," said Tommy. "It's just a flesh wound. I'm a little dizzy is all. We need a minute to get it together."

"I don't think we'll have a minute," said Jason, glancing towards the earthen prison that temporarily held their enemy. It wasn't long before a long crack appeared on the face of one of the walls.
Chapter Twenty-Seven

Aisha Campbell was biting her nails nervously as her total attention was monopolized by the events occurring on the Viewing Globe. She witnessed in horror as Jason plunged into the lake, Tommy was stabbed in the back, and Katherine was slammed against the shore. Aisha's face contorted into a determined frown when she saw her friends push past the pain of their injuries to continue the fight. She turned around, and saw Billy and her father Doctor Benjamin Campbell wash their gloves from the Adam's blood. It was easy to tell that the operation was over.

"Is he okay?" she asked, walking towards them.

"He should be," said Doctor Campbell, taking off his face mask and looking down at his daughter. "We managed to take out the Zeo crystal shard as delicately as possible, and with minimal incisions. Then, Billy used some kind of device to close the wound. It left a sizable scar, as you can see."

Aisha looked down at her friend, and cringed at the scar that ran along Adam's bare chest.

"The scar will fade," said Billy, who was washing off the Zeo crystal in a basin of water. "Now that the crystal is out of the way, I have programmed the Med-unit to repair all of Adam's internal tissue damage, as well as the external scarring. He should be good as new in less than an hour."

"That's good," said Aisha. "Too bad I can't say the same for the others."

"What do you mean?" asked Doctor Campbell. "The fight isn't going well?"

"That's an understatement," Aisha said with a sigh, "Kat, Jason, and Tommy have all been injured, and Tusk is as powerful as ever! They're not used to fighting such a vicious monster without help!"

"Now that Adam has been taken care of," said Billy, hurrying over to his desk, "perhaps I can try the Multiversal Scanner. Hopefully, the Multiversal passageway had calmed down enough for us to get a clear reading. If so, we may be able to locate Kimberly and Zack."

"Somehow, I doubt we'll be so lucky," Aisha muttered, turning back to the Viewing Globe. She watched silently as the monster broke out of its earthen prison, and began its attack again in earnest. But Katherine was still unconscious, and Tommy and Jason were still a bit disoriented. They didn't have a good chance of coming out of this battle alive.

"Oh, I can't stand this!" Aisha suddenly yelled, frustration evident in her voice, "I feel so...helpless

! I can't just sit here and watch this."

"Aisha," said Doctor Campbell, placing his arm around her shoulders. "The best thing you can do is be here for your friend Adam. The battlefield isn't your place anymore."

"Maybe it is," she said quietly, a sudden glimmer of inspiration in her dark eyes. She stepped away from her father, and looked intently at the green Zeo shard. Billy looked up from his computer, and jumped up immediately.

"Aisha!" he called. "What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, turning to face Billy, "Tommy, Jason, and Katherine need help. We still have no idea how we can reach Kim and Zack, provided we even can reach them, and Adam sure isn't morphin anytime soon. That leaves one candidate...me

."

"But, it's not that simple!" Billy protested, hurrying to Aisha's side. "When the Terran Rangers were first formed, Zordon told us it was the destiny of the six rangers to receive the Power. Not just anyone can be a Terran Ranger."

"So I've heard. But, I have been a Power Ranger before. I should have the necessary bio-chemical alterations to let be absorb a crystal."

"But, each shard was destined for each ranger. I have no idea what the consequences of your absorbing the green shard will be."

"Then," she said, turning back to the gemstone, "there's only one way to find out."

Aisha reached out, and quickly grabbed the green gem. She cried out in pain as green energy pulsed from the gem, and into her hand and body. Suddenly, the wind in the Central Access Complex picked up, creating a cyclone around Aisha and preventing Doctor Campbell or Billy from getting near her. The wind continued to increase in intensity, and glowed with bright green light, until the entire chamber was filled with blinding green light. When it faded, and the wind slowly died down, both Doctor Campbell and Billy were surprised to see Aisha, still standing, and apparently in perfect health.

"Aisha!" said Doctor Campbell, visibly relieved. "Are you alright?"

"I feel...amazing

," she said with a wide grin. "Like...I'm so invigorated

! It's an even stronger feeling than I had when I first became the Yellow Power Ranger!"

"Wait a moment," said Billy, taking out a medical scanner. "If you don't mind, I'd like to run a few tests, and make sure there aren't any hidden side-effects to your absorbing Adam's crystal."

Billy collected some information with his scanner for a few minutes, while Aisha waited impatiently and Doctor Campbell watched worriedly. Finally, Billy turned off the scanner.

"Well, there aren't any obvious side-effects," he announced, "but I do want to run some more tests, to make sure I haven't missed anything."

"Maybe later," said Aisha. "Now, I have a tail to kick! TERRA WIND POWER!!" Aisha raised her hands to the sky, and a small green energy cyclone formed at her feet. The energy continued to build, until the cyclone bathed her entire body in bright green light. Then, when the cyclone reached its peak, it flashed a blinding shade of neon green, and then slowly died out. Where Aisha Campbell was standing, stood the new Green Ranger. She was wearing the form-fitting pure green uniform of her predecessor, with solid gold shield, white and green helmet, and white and gold boots and gloves. But, there were obvious differences. For instance, her boots reached her thighs, as opposed to the knee-high boots Adam wore. Also, she had a small skirt over the green spandex tights. In short, her uniform was a green version of Yellow and Blue Terra uniforms.

"It's time for the Green Terran Ranger to leap back into action!" she declared, as she vanished from the Central Access Complex in a streak of bright green light.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Nate Grey, Magneto, Shadow, Forge and the Gold and Silver X-Rangers appeared not far from the grounds of Apocalypse's gargantuan palace, stretching proudly over a mile into the atmosphere, and easily dwarfing all other constructions on the planet. The huge palace is a towering spire, made of an impenetrable black metal that absorbs all the light that hits it. Surrounding the palace was an electrified fence, to keep out any annoying human insects. Also, hundreds of guards were stationed around the palace, to insure that no one gains entry without Apocalypse's permission. All this elaborate security was usually enough to destroy any hopes of attacking Apocalypse in his dwelling, but it didn't hinder these six brave heroes. They had Providence on their side.

"Zordon managed to get us this close," whispered Nate. "Now, we have to do the rest."

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Magneto. "We know for certain that Apocalypse has possession of the M'Kraan Crystal, but we do not know where he is keeping it, and how many guards have been placed to protect it."

"The Zeo Crystal will guide us to the M'Kraan Crystal," said Kimberly, tightly holding the powerful gemstone. "But, we have to get inside..."

"We'll go through the sewer," said Shadow, peeking out from behind the boulder that hid them, and staring out into the darkness. "Fortunately, Zordon teleported us to the east wing, where the sewer entrance leading to the laboratory is. That is how Cyclops managed to sneak you and Zack out of the fortress."

"Then it's settled," said Forge. "We'll enter the palace through the lab. Most likely there will be computers with vital information about the layout of the palace there."

"Then, there will also most likely be guards there," said Zack. "We'd better be really careful."

"How do we get all the way to the sewer, though?" asked Kimberly. "Without being seen, I mean."

"I could telepathically mask us," suggested Nate. "No one will be able to see or telepathically sense us."

"But that won't help much against the scanners," said Shadow with a frown.

"True," said Magneto, "but a magnetic pulse surrounding us will in essence cloak us from all kinds of mechanical scanning."

"Unfortunately, the magnetic distortion itself may be detected," said Forge. "But it's our only option. We'll have to move quickly, and take down the magnetic shielding immediately."

"If we have two smaller magnetic shields, that may be harder to detect," said Zack. "How about me, Billy, and Kimberly go together, and you three follow? Kim can telepathically cloak us, and I can create the magnetic shield."

"Very well," said Magneto. "Be cautious. Are you sure you two know how to use your respective abilities effectively? You've only had them for less than an hour."

"The Power tells us how to use it," said Kimberly. "We