Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Heather Ray [read ebook pdf TXT] 📗

surface. But her best friend didn't give her the chance to just drop the subject; the foundation of Katherine's pain had been exposed.

"That's it, then," Tanya realized, "That's what it all boils down to."

Katherine squeezed her eyes shut. "I know I'm being childish...but I have to know! He's always been a little bit absent-minded...and I could live with it, you know?...but ever since this whole nightmare with Kimberly started, he can barely look at me."

Miraculously, Tanya managed to balance the coffee cups in one arm, freeing one hand to cradle Kat's shoulder. "He's feeling guilty, Kat. You know better than the rest of us how he views his so-called 'failures.'

Whenever anything goes wrong, he blames himself...and this time, something major

went wrong."

But he's not just blaming himself. He's blaming me; I'm sure of it. If I had just kept my distance, Kim would have no reason to suspect him.

But there was no point in burdening her best friend with her innermost thoughts. Commiseration was the last thing she needed. What she needed was resolution

; something only Tommy himself could offer.

Somehow, she found a smile. It wasn't heartfelt, but it was brave...and Tanya had to respect her wish to drop the subject. "Let's join the others," she said aloud. "Coffee's no good lukewarm."

The Yellow Ranger looked like she was going to push further, but decided against it...for the moment, at least.

Chapter Eighty-Four

"OW!!"

"Aye yi yi! I'm sorry!"

Justin jerked his hand away, his face pinched in an irritated scowl as he rubbed his nearly-healed wrist. "S'okay, Alpha. Sorry I yelled."

"It might take another treatment to soothe the ache," the robot analyzed, "and keep the swelling down."

"Yeah, yeah," the boy grumbled.

Adam glanced up from his calculations, and smiled sympathetically. "You'll be good as new this time tomorrow," he encouraged, "Hang in there."

"I wish I could get some practice in," Justin mourned, hopping anxiously off the medical cot. "Get the blood pumping, you know?"

The Black Ranger watched as his young friend began shadowboxing, careful to avoid aggravating his tender wrist or leg. Clearly, the youngest member was eager to burn off some nervous energy.

We could all use a distraction,

the second-in-command noted, running his fingers through his lengthening curls. He cast a meaningful glance at Tommy, who stared at a monitor across the room with unblinking eyes, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Some more than others.

"Alpha, ready to work on this shield with me?"

Alpha continued replacing delicate medical equipment in their proper storage locations, and waddled to the computer relay that formed Adam's workstation.

Moments later, columns of yellow and pink energy brightened the relative darkness of the Turbo Chamber. Adam, Alpha, and Justin turned to see the last two members materialize.

"The food train's here," Tanya announced, holding up the two trays of beverages. "This ought to sustain us for a few more hours."

"All right!" Justin squealed, rushing to Katherine. The blonde couldn't help an amused grin as the boy grabbed the box of doughnuts. "You guys got me Boston Creams, right?"

Tanya quickly made the rounds, depositing the requested beverages at each person's station. "So," she spoke, hovering over her boyfriend's shoulder, "what's the status?"

"Alpha and I are still trying to isolate the frequency pattern of the shield covering the Lunar Palace," he explained. "Until we can penetrate the shield, we can't scan to see if Kim's even there."

Tanya glanced up at Zordon. "And when we get through the shield, what do we do? If Kim and Zedd have joined forces, I doubt we'll be able to force her back to Earth."

The wise sage nodded. "WE CANNOT TAKE ANY ACTION UNTIL WE HAVE DEVELOPED A PLAN TO COUNTERACT MALIGORE'S INFLUENCE OVER KIMBERLY,"

he informed his team. "WE MUST UNDERSTAND HOW THE FLAME OF DESTRUCTION HAS ALTERED HER, AND HOW THAT INFLUENCE CAN BE BROKEN."

"And have we gotten anywhere on that?" Katherine wondered, her voice soft. She consciously directed her question to her mentor, and not the person actually conducting the research.

"TOMMY?"

Zordon queried.

The Red Ranger snapped out of his focused analysis, and turned to Zordon. "Huh

? Uh..I'm still sifting through all the ancient legends of the Flame of Destruction. Unfortunately, most of these legends are so vague, they're useless. They generally describe Maligore's reign of terror in various systems. But I think I'm getting somewhere...I need to finish reading them."

"What do you have so far?" Adam wondered.

Tommy rubbed the bridge of his nose, soothing away the tension. "I have a hypothesis..." He sighed deeply. "But...I sure hope I'm wrong."

The foreboding in his tone caught the entire team's attention. As one, the group congregated around Tommy, who shifted the screen to show an image of an ancient cylindrical tablet, with the English translation flowing beside it.

"Almost all of these legends seem to use the phrase 'Flame of Destruction'

and 'Maligore'

interchangeably...which assumes that Maligore is

the Flame. But, this one here says that the Flame is immortal...a primal force of Chaos that has existed since the timeless past. In fact, a lot of accounts confirm this. If the Flame is immortal, it can't die."

Justin grimaced. "Maligore sure did a good job of dying for an immortal."

"Exactly

; Maligore wasn't

immortal. He's definitely dead, but the Flame survived. It had

to, or Kim couldn't have still been empowered by it. So, it looks like Maligore wasn't

the Flame of Destruction. He was just a mortal being who somehow connected with that primal power."

Zordon watched the emotions play upon the veteran Ranger's face. "WHAT IS YOUR CONCLUSION, TOMMY?"

He leaned his head against his fist. "I don't really have evidence in the texts to support this yet, but...let's say Maligore was a mortal who somehow bonded with the Flame...maybe through some kind of ritual. He drew his strength from the Flame, and used it like we used the Zeo Crystal. Then, it's possible that Maligore created

a bond between Kim and the Flame, right? Divatox did call her and Jason 'Maligore's Children.'

Maybe he directly bonded them to his power; or at least...part of it?"

The entire team remained silent, absorbing the impact of Tommy's hypothesis.

"If he did grant them limited access to his energy source, those limits could've been broken when he died," Tanya mused, eyes widening. "That would explain why Kim got so much stronger after Muiranthias! If it were just an empowering spell, it would've faded when he died!"

Tommy shrugged. "That's what happened when we defeated Ivan Ooze. He had entranced all the adults in Angel Grove to serve as his slaves. As soon as he died, his spell was broken. It only makes sense: if the source of the power is destroyed, the power fades."

Katherine found herself chewing her nail again. "If all of this is true...then...Kimberly has become the mortal vessel for the Flame, replacing Maligore. She would have the potential to become as powerful as Maligore himself. Right?"

Five heads and one mechanical visor stared up at Zordon in askance.

Their mentor silently considered this for a few moments before answering. "HUMAN BEINGS ARE RELATIVELY FRAGILE, IN TERMS OF MAGICAL ENDURANCE. I DON'T BELIEVE IT IS POSSIBLE FOR KIMBERLY TO CONTROL, OR EVEN MANIFEST, THE POWER LEVEL MALIGORE DISPLAYED."

Tommy cradled his forehead in his hands, his greatest worries lining his face. "But...what if she tried

, Zordon? What if she was angry enough to push herself past her natural limits? What if she reached so deep into that power, she couldn't contain it?"

Zordon found it very difficult to directly answer the Red Ranger's desperate question. Instead, he lowered his eyes. "LET US PRAY SHE DOESN'T."

Chapter Eighty-Five

Two gleaming gold swords crashed against each other at such speeds they nearly blurred into flashes of light. The sound of clattering metal accompanied the soft tap of graceful footfalls, and deep grunts of exertion.

After a lengthy session of traded blows, one combatant managed to dodge a particularly unbalanced thrust. Without missing a beat, one sword landed at the nape of her opponent.

Raven eyes twinkled in amusement, dragging the edge against soft blue fur. "Lucky for you the blades are blunt...or you'd have a bald spot."

Her opponent huffed. "If the blades were sharp, I'd have no head

."

Scorpina shrugged one shoulder, tossing the practice sword to the edge of the arena. "There's really no point in sparring if you refuse to concentrate, Goldar."

The Titan's brow furrowed, bringing a similar expression on Scorpina's smooth forehead. "What's bothering you?" she asked.

Goldar breathed loudly through his nostrils, as he considered opening a potentially dangerous subject of conversation. Finally, ruby eyes locked with onyx. "What do you think of our Lord's plans?"

Scorpina stiffened. "I think our Lord's plans should not be questioned by his servants," she answered pointedly.

"Why do you insist upon such blind loyalty?" he growled, "Have centuries of service numbed your independent thought?"

The assassin bristled at the insult. "No

...but we would do well to remember our place. Our Lord hasn't asked us for our opinions."

"I asked you for your opinion. And Zedd is not here to take offense."

Scorpina studied her partner's face, watching the frustration twitch his snout. Finally, a slow grin spread her sanguine lips. "I can't believe you're so upset about the girl!" she confessed, shaking her head. "This is just Zedd's latest scheme to drive a sword into the Red Ranger's heart. Once he's had his fun, he'll just kill the girl, subjugate the planet, and finally be done with this misbegotten mudball."

The Titan warrior folded his arms. "This is not a new conceit, Scorpina," he revealed, "He intended to wed the first Pink Ranger before."

Scorpina stared incredulously at Goldar for a few moments. "He did?"

"Yes. Our Lord sent me to Earth to capture the girl when she was alone. He gave me a spell to cast upon her, to make her suitably evil to serve as consort to a tyrant. However, the spell wasn't able to darken her heart, and the plot failed."