The Terran Ranger Saga - The Preliminaries Volume 3, Heather Ray [urban books to read .TXT] 📗

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Alexis gave the morpher to Alpha, then looked up to Zordon.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be incapacitated. It could be a permanently power loss. Maybe you can find someone else to be the Purple Ranger. Rocky, Adam, and Aisha would all make excellent Power Rangers. Alpha, could you teleport me back to the hotel, please?"

Alpha silently started typing coordinates into the computer.

"Tell Jason and the others I said goodbye," she said quietly, as she was bathed in white light.

"MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU, ALEXIS,"

said Zordon in as quiet a voice as he could, "ALPHA, PLEASE TELEPORT THE THREE TEENAGERS HERE."

"Yes, Zordon," said Alpha, activating the teleporter.

Chapter Seven

It was late Thursday evening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although it was past midnight, the city was illuminated with bright neon lights, and the sky was murky and starless. The chill November winds cut through the city like a knife in the back, causing all its inhabitants who dared wander the streets at night to button up their winter coats to keep out the cold. But one young woman wasn't trying to keep out the cold. Rather, she welcomed the cold, hoping it would numb the burning fire in her heart. Alexis Darling stood atop the roof of her sister's apartment complex in West Philadelphia, leaning against the short wall and peering out at the city. The city of her birth. She welcomed the cold like a long-lost friend, hoping to find solace within.

It's been almost a whole week since I came back to Philly, she muses, staring absently at the city below, Its not so bad being here. In fact, I kinda missed the cold. It can be so--refreshing in its own way.

The strong winds changed direction, now blowing directly into her face. The cold numbed her red cheeks, stung her emerald eyes, and whipped through her short red hair. Her purple robe blew wildly in the strong winds, but Alexis paid no heed. She was too immersed in thought to feel anything. Her gaze turned from the busy streets of the city to the pale and eerie glow of the heavens.

I hate it that one never sees the stars in a big city, she thought with a sigh, The glare of the street lights reflects off the pollution and particles in the sky, obscuring the view. At least, I think that's what Billy had said. Being up here, the wind in my face, it almost feels like I'm flying--free as a bird. Free as...an eagle. A purple eagle. With golden Mercury wings...

Alexis' eyes began to glaze over as she envisioned herself soaring through the fluffy white clouds and pale blue sky of Angel Grove California, clad in a glittering purple armor that clung to the body like a second skin, granting full range of motion. The golden shield glittered in the sunlight, with the majestic emblem of a proud bald eagle on the chest. She had to admit, she was happy in Angel Grove. Although she had only lived there for three weeks, she made six life-long friends, who made her feel welcome and loved. And of course, they were super-heroes, and they all risked their lives daily for one another. They were more than just a group of friends--they were a family, united in love and power. And although Alexis still loved them all, she didn't share in the power anymore. She wasn't a Power Ranger anymore.

"Stop it!" she scolded aloud. "Stop thinking about it! You did what was necessary to preserve the Power Rangers! You'll probably be incapacitated forever, and there's no point in keeping that coin when someone else can be the Purple Ranger. You have to put the needs of the team first. That's what Tommy would say."

She then remembered what Tommy had said, back when he had caught up with her before school:

"I just want you to know that, well, the six of us are here for ya, and we understand what you're going through."

Tommy would be able to understand this feeling of--emptiness in the pit of my stomach, this lingering feeling of depression. I guess it has something to do with separating with the Power Coin, and considering how weak I've been of late, its just been murder on my body. Denise is really worried about me, since I haven't left the apartment this whole week.

Alexis glanced down at her watch. Wow, its already three in the morning. So its midnight in Angel Grove. Midnight on Friday, the day that Jason, Zack, and Trini up and leave to Switzerland. I really should've called them or something. I didn't even tell the guys face to face that I was leaving, or anything. I didn't even say goodbye, to the people that really brought out the best in a nobody from Philly...

Tears began to spill over onto her frozen cheeks, and for once, she didn't try to stop them. She just let them fall, at first one at a time, until they streamed out freely: the tears she held back when she moved to a new city thousands of miles from everything she knew; the tears she denied when she was captured by Lord Zedd's Putty Patrol; the tears she forced back when she saw two of her best friends, Billy and Kim, fall into a sand pit on the beach; the tears of fear she contained when she fought the monstrous Dracola all alone in her Eaglezord to no avail; the tears that threatened to fall when she decided to risk her life by using the Supreme Bomb Attack to eliminate the Dracola; the tears she hid when Zordon and Billy told her that the bomb drained so much of her personal energy that she wouldn't be able to morph; the tears she almost couldn't hold back when her mother told her about her only sister being deathly ill; and finally, the tears she tried valiantly to ignore when she handed over her Power Coin and communicator--the two items that symbolized her newly established identity--back over to Zordon, symbolically cutting herself away from the life she led during the three best weeks of her life.

She had always held back those tears because she had to be strong. Not for her own sake, but for everyone else's--for her family, for Angel Grove, for the team. Now that there was no one there to bear witness, Alexis Darling, the tall, mighty, and unwavering Purple Ranger, gave way to tears. She bowed her head in grief and shame, allowing a seemingly infinite amount of tears to streak down her rosy cheeks and be absorbed in the purple cotton of her bathrobe. She stood there for hours on the roof of the apartment complex, weeping in silence, so that no one would ever see her cry. When she couldn't shed another tear, she picked herself up, her shoulders slumped in defeat, and dragged her weary body to her bedroom, where she fell into a dreamless sleep. After all, all of her dreams had been shattered.

Chapter Eight

The next morning, Kimberly was helping Trini Kwan, her best friend since fifth grade, pack her worldly possessions to leave on a trip that may very well take a year. Possibly more.

"Well," said Trini, taping one last cardboard box shut, "I think I've got everything."

"No you don't," said Kimberly, her eyes glassy and a weak smile on her face. She was holding something behind her back.

"Kim, I don't have time for this," said Trini, trying hard not to start crying. It was very hard for her to be leaving Angel Grove, her friends, and being a superhero behind, but she had to. There was so much war going on throughout the planet, and if the nations of the world don't unite in peace soon, they will never be able to defent themselves from an intergalactic threat.

Kimberly looked hurt, and pulled out a stuffed troll doll from behind her back.

"Ticklesneezer!" shrieked Trini, grabbing the doll and hugging it affectionately, "I thought I packed him last night!"

"Well, you didn't--he was under the bed. I was waiting for you to say something about him."

Trini could no longer hold back. She smiled gratefully at her best friend, tears filling her onyx eyes to the brim. She leaned over on the cream carpet and embraced Kimberly warmly. They hugged for a good five minutes, neither wanting to let go. Both girls knew that most of the deepest friendships were broken by one moving far away. And one can't move much further than Switzerland. A quiet knock on the door startled the two girls, and they broke the embrace immediately to look up at the intruder. Billy blushed furiously at the girl's stares, and looked down at his feet.

"Good morning, Billy," said Trini sweetly, standing up to greet her shy friend, "I didn't hear you come in."

"Salutations, Trini. I trust that everything is in readiness for this afternoon's excursion?"

"Huh?" asked Kim, standing up and looking at her best friend curiously.

"He asked if everything was ready for the trip," she translated.

"I don't know what we're going to do without you, Trini," said Kim with a smile. She then grabbed both her friends' arms and led them out of Trini's room. "Everything's ready here. Let's go to the Youth Center and meet up with the others, okay?"

Both Trini and Billy nodded mutely and allowed their petite friend to authoritatively drag them out of the house to Billy's spruced-up car--the Rad Bug. Kimberly sat in the back while Billy politely opened the door for Trini. He then circled around and sat in the driver's seat. WIth a puch of a button, the engine started.

"So, how fast can this baby go?" asked Kim. "On the ground, I mean."

"Maximum ground speed is 214 miles per hour," said Billy, adjusting the mirrors, "I could probably push it to 250, but it is insignificant, since neither velocity is permitted by local authorities."

"Trini?" asked Kim, raising her eyebrow.

"It can go 214 MPH, and maybe 250 with the pedal to the metal. But it doesn't matter,