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

eyes shut, desperately trying to tune out the anguished screams that floated around them. "It's just like the power plant," he realized, "There's too much energy floating around. No signals can get through."

"I guess we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way," Tanya grumbled.

"I got an idea!" Justin contributed, turning to the Pink Ranger. "Kat, do you have any idea where Zedd spent most of his time?"

She grimaced thoughtfully beneath her rose helmet. "His study is directly behind the throne room, and he definitely wasn't in there, or we would've heard them when we arrived." She chewed her lip. "I'm sure Zedd has private quarters, though I never saw him sleep while I was here." She shook her head. "I was more Rita's servant than Zedd's; I rarely even saw him personally."

Adam folded his arms. "Guys, even if Kat did have a perfect memory of the palace, there's no way we can be sure that floor plan is still valid. Remember, after Zedd and Rita left, the Machines swarmed the place. If they did enough damage, Zedd might have redone the entire place. Especially if Rita's no longer with him."

Tommy growled low. "You're right, Adam. When Zedd first came to the moon, he reshaped Rita's palace in a matter of seconds. There's no telling which hallways lead to where, and which rooms even exist anymore."

Then suddenly, abruptly, the screaming ceased. Tommy's breath caught in his throat, terror lancing through him.

"We'll split up," he gritted through clenched teeth, moving to the left tunnel, "Justin and Kat, you're with me. Adam, you and Tanya go right."

Before anyone could protest, Tommy bounded down the left hallway. Katherine watched him disappear into the darkness, her eyes stricken with grief as she listened for any more screaming… any evidence that Kimberly still breathed.

"Good luck," she murmured, before hurrying down the hallway after her leader. Justin was right at her heels, and the Green and Yellow Rangers departed in the opposite direction.
Chapter One Hundred Nine

She had stopped screaming simply because she couldn't waste what precious breath she still had.

Kimberly lay on the cracked, blazing floor of Lord Zedd's private quarters, her eyes squeezed shut and mouth hanging open in a silent cry. Her throat was raw from wailing, and her muscles had fallen into such spasms they were now numb and trembled of their own accord.

The Emperor restrained the current, giving her a fleeting respite. She could feel his penetrating, crimson gaze on her, watching her heart beat frantically, watching her desperately try to swallow the precious air her lungs screamed for.

Yet, he had already given his ultimatum, and she refused. She didn't want

his mercy, and she made it crystal clear to the vile monarch. And she knew that, no matter what he felt for her, he surely wasn't so sentimental to keep a half-sane, tyrannical, too-powerful upstart alive.

She tried valiantly to catch her breath, and even tried to gather her legs under her. Her head inched upward, elbows pressing the floor at either side as she pushed her listless body off the ground.

"You will not die yet," he decided, his voice clinically detached. "It should only take your friends a few minutes to find us." He folded his arms over his broad, immobile chest. "The last sight your dear, devoted Rangers will see is your agonizing death. And then, they will die themselves."

His tone had wandered from observational to triumphant. Kimberly's whole body tensed, the anger suffusing her soul yet again. Faintly, her skin began to glow anew, as she urged the Flame to burn despite the protestation of her weary bones.

The Emperor of Evil laughed at her exertion. "Tenacious, aren't we?"

She didn't even get a chance to open her eyes before the consuming lightning bit into her flesh again. She wrenched her head back to scream, but stubbornly gnashed her teeth together.

"Regardless of your efforts, you will

die shortly. You can either suffer agony these last few moments, or make peace with whatever gods you worship."

By some miracle, amidst the anguish dulling her mind and the outrage that screamed between her ears, Kimberly managed to find the ability to think. He doesn't want to kill me yet. He's…keeping his power low enough to only hurt me. If can muster…a little more power, I can break free…

She tensed, stubbornly begging the Flame for just a little

more…enough to turn the tables, and throw Zedd off balance just long enough

for her to recover.

Please…just…a little more

…

She searched the length and breadth of her soul for the true might of the Flame, the power of Maligore that terrorized nearly every alien she'd met during her brief foray into the galaxy. The power she knew was inside her… somewhere.

I need it all…please…I need the strength…NOW

!!!

The fire leapt over her skin, wrapping her in a blaze so dazzling it burned pure white.

For the first time in his entire existence, Lord Zedd was utterly floored. His jaw hinged open, his cold, calculating mind in a whirl as suddenly, a protective cocoon enveloped his erstwhile bride, forcing his furious electricity to web harmlessly outside it.

Kimberly still laid on her back, until the power of the Flame actually intensified beneath her, pushing her to her feet. She hovered about an inch in the air, her hair swaying in a golden-brown storm around her face, the white flaming nimbus swirling around her, crackling where it came in contact with Zedd's slowly dwindling power.

Then, her eyes finally opened…solid white.

"Burn,"

she hissed, her voice rising over the cacophony created by the power filling the air. "Burn, you bastard…you monster

from Hell…BURN

!!!"

She lifted her arms, channeling the fire along her hands. The unnatural blaze leapt from her trembling fingertips, flying in a continuous, searing stream of unadulterated power.

Lord Zedd was barely able to erect a shield of his own, refocusing his power to intercept her barrage of fire with an answering column of lightning. The point where the two powers met was itself a maelstrom, steadily growing as both incrementally pushed their power further, trying to gain the upper hand. The palace walls shook violently, causing dust to snow down from the ceiling. The walls slowly cracked, the floor dipped downward. The entire room strained as the intense power swelled within.

Chapter One Hundred Ten

A fierce joy brightened Tommy's face as the walls began quaking. He continued his breakneck run unimpeded, feeling the chips of stone tap against his head and neck, and squinting against the chalky dust shaken from the walls and ceiling.

So long as the palace shook, Lord Zedd fought. And so long as Lord Zedd fought, Kimberly was alive.

How much longer could she hold out? An icy fear had gripped him when the screaming had ceased…only a few minutes ago, though it felt like an eternity of anxious waiting.

How big is this place?

he groused, slowing down to turn a corner. It's like a maze…if I wind up in the same place I started, I'm gonna bash some heads in!

Tommy Oliver was not by nature a violent man…but his frustration kept his fuse very short.

The Pink and Blue Rangers had raced ahead, using their preternatural Turbo speed to explore side tunnels and keep him abreast of their search. His heart weighed him when he considered how much he'd slowed his friends' progress, but there was no way he would sit this rescue out.

"Tommy! Justin!" an urgent cry sounded, "I found something!"

Tommy picked up his already hazardously fast pace, following Katherine's voice until he found himself at the open entrance of one of the chambers lining that particular hallway. Katherine stood near the wall, the bright pink of her uniform contrasting sharply to the dull gray of the furniture and draperies, and the ashy brown cloak hanging from the old man sitting beside her….

Old man?

"Who's that guy?" Justin wondered, standing a few feet away from Kat. "One of Zedd's monsters?"

The man smiled gently, lowering his head in a polite bow. "Hello. Power Rangers, I assume?"

"He looks human enough," Tommy spoke, moving into the room to join his friends. "Kat?"

"I've never see him before," she reported. "He must be a new addition to Zedd's team."

The three teens watched suspiciously as the man extended his hand. "Is this not how Earthbound humans greet each other?"

Tommy stared at the offered hand, and then the shining green eyes of its owner. "Who are you?"

The man drew back his hand, folding it with the other at his lap. His smile didn't waver. "My name is Egeon. And yours?"

The palace shuddered violently, forcing Tommy, Kat, and Justin to crowd against the wall for balance. Yet the old man was un-phased.

"Dude, what's your problem??" Justin demanded, exasperated. "Why're you so happy?"

"I can be nothing but happy," he explained serenely. "My Lord Zedd has taken away my pain."

The Rangers' faces collapsed into expressions of abject horror.

The room shook again, this time dislodging several bricks from the ceiling. Justin blurred into motion quick enough to catch the one that nearly crushed the Karovan's cranium. If anything, he seemed slightly amused that he had just come a hair's width to death.

Katherine stared piteously at the man who could only feel happiness, and gently took hold of his arm. "Sir, you have to get out of here. It's not safe."

He cast his cheerful gaze toward her. "And where will I go, young lady? This is my home now."

The words sounded like they would have been mournful…over the loss of his true home. Yet he had no ability to inflect anything even similar to regret. It was oddly chilling to hear.

"Look, Mister, the palace is falling apart," Justin informed him. He then turned to Tommy. "Ya think Zordon can fix him?"

Tommy found himself oddly captivated by the glazed, overly bright green eyes. "I…I don't know, Justin…but we'll give it a try."

He then stepped closer to Egeon,