Power Rangers Zeo: Venusian Encounter by Heather Ray (free e books to read online .txt) 📕

/> There was a hushed silence when a young teenaged girl was forced onto the marble stage by Scorpina, Syren's most faithful warrior. Scorpina threw the screaming girl into the iron cage, and two other Venusians turned a large wheel, pulling the cage up into the air and over the pit of fire. Kelly began to cry as the hot smoke of the fire stung her eyes and choked her lungs. The cage remained suspended above the pit.

"Kelly Trent of the house of Naya," announced Syren, "You are sentenced to de--"

Before Syren could finish her declaration, a small pink bird landed on the stage opposite the Venusian Queen. All present gasped as that bird transformed into a young brunette woman with a pink and black leotard, silver tiara and badge, and a pink feathery cape. Syren smiled.

"Kimberly," she said, "I was wondering when you'd show up. You almost lost your chance to say good-bye to your little cousin here."

"Let her go," said Kim menacingly. Syren merely chuckled and gestured at Scorpina and Dalal. They each grabbed one of Kim's arms, and Syren turned to her subjects."

"My friends, this child is Kimberly Hart, of the house of Naya. She shall be the next to die by the flames of justice."

"No, Syren," said Kimberly, "I won't die by the flames. I challenge you, Syren, self-proclaimed Queen of Venus Island, to a duel for the crown."

Syren laughed cruelly, and brought a glowing blade to Kimberly's neck.

"Don't try my patience, Girl," she said quietly, "You can never take my throne. You aren't even a full-blooded Venusian."

"Sisters!" Kim cried as loudly as she could, "Syren herself has proclaimed me to be a descendent of Naya, and Naya was the true Queen of Venus Island. Also, I am a Ninjetti, so the Great Power has acknowledged my worth. My garments are trimmed with silver, and I wear a silver tiara upon my brow. Syren's jewels are gold, so she isn't even adorned as a Queen should be. I deserve the chance to fight for my birthright!"

Syren glared at Kimberly angrily, and looked out to the crowds of Venusians. She saw in their faces that they agreed with Kimberly.

"Fine," Syren said quietly, "Give it your best shot, Hybrid. But, there is no way you can ever defeat me in combat. Once I have defeated you, I shall be rightful queen. Release her."

Scorpina and Dalal released Kimberly, and Kim stood upright and glared at the taller redheaded queen.

"Scorpina!" ordered Syren, "Get that brat out of the way, and clear the stage! The only things up here are me, Kimberly, and the flames that shall claim this little Crane's very life."

Scorpina did as ordered, and took Kelly off the stage. Soon, everyone silently watched as Kimberly and Syren faced each other. Syren grinned at tossed Kimberly a sword.

"That's a Hyperion Blade, Kimberly," she said, "and I have one as well. This blade can kill a Venusian, so keep that in mind. You can't heal from a wound created by flame."

Kimberly lifted up the sword and examined it closely. She then gripped it in both hands and pointed it at Syren. The two women circled each other for a few moments, and finally Syren made the first move, diving at Kimberly with her sword thrust out. Kim managed to leap out of the way, landing behind Syren and kicking her in the small of her back. Syren fell forward, but soon recovered and turned to face Kimberly. Her gray eyes began to glow, and a ray of golden energy shot forth at Kim. She leapt into the air, allowing her wings to catch the wind and keep her in the air.

Oh boy,

Kimberly thought to herself, this isn't gonna be easy!

Chapter Twenty-Four

Meanwhile, in Paris France, the five Power Rangers arrive outside the Louvre museum. As soon as they arrive, they hear crowds of people screaming and running madly away from the museum

"Well," said Rocky, "I guess it's safe to assume the monster is in there."

Just then, a tall creature with snow white arms and legs stretching forth from a gargantuan pair of red lips strolled out of the Louvre. Although it had no eyes to speak of, it scanned the area, and held her gaze on the five spandex clad Power Rangers.

"Well," she said with a thick Italian accent, "I figured you would show up to stop me! Of course, all I'm doing is taking a tour of this lovely city. After all, I've lived here for ages, and all I got to see was one wing of the Louvre. Not much of a life, is it?"

"You weren't meant to live!" said Rocky, stepping forward, "You're supposed to be part of an inanimate painting! Now, we're here to send you back where you came from! Zeo III Power Axes!!"

Two triangular blades appeared on the Blue Ranger's forearms, and he then crossed his arms. Rocky stepped back, and launched himself at the creature, cutting the monster's arms superficially with the razor sharp blades. Rocky then did a double back flip, rejoining his allies, while the monster examined the injury quickly.

"Ha!" she declared, "It'll take more than that to defeat me, Blue Boy!!"

"Give it up, Lisa!" said the Green Ranger, "We don't want to hurt you!"

"First of all, I'm not

the Mona Lisa! Lisa is the person that DaVinci captured on canvas centuries ago! I am Labius, the lips of that famous work! Now, although you seem to be trying to intimidate me, I know you won't hurt me! After all, I am the most famous part of the most famous painting in history! Here! Have a kiss for luck!"

With that, Labius spread her arms, and leapt into the air, soaring over the Power Rangers heads. When she was directly above them, she pursed her lips, sending a wide beam of red energy at the rangers.

"Scatter!" ordered Tommy, as the rangers leapt in varying directions to avoid the power beam. As Labius landed, the Red Ranger stood before her, clutching his Power Sword.

"Let's see how you like a taste of my energy beam!" he yelled, allowing a pulse of energy to accumulate in the handle of the sword. The energy passed into the blade, and the Red Ranger swung the blade in the air, releasing a powerful blast of energy in Labius' direction. Labius leapt to the side, allowing the beam to pass her and crash into the side of the Louvre.

"Be careful!" cried Katherine, joining Tommy, "We're in the middle of Paris! We could easily do more damage than Labius ever could if we don't watch ourselves!"

"Guys!" yelled Tanya, "She's coming around for another volley!!"

Sure enough, Kat and Tommy looked above them, and saw the monster once again purse her lips.

"I can handle this!" said Katherine, "Zeo I Power Disc!!"

The small shield appeared in the Pink Ranger's hand, and she leapt into the air, holding the disk in front of her. When Labius released the energy beam, the Power Disc deflected the energy back into Labius, knocking the monster out of the air. Katherine then landed nimbly on the street and rejoined her friends.

"Nice job, Kat," said Tommy.

"Yeah," said Rocky, "That was really quick thinking."

"What do we do about Labius?" asked Tanya, watching as the monster crashed into the pavement, "Now's our chance!"

"To do what?" asked Adam, "If we use the Zeo Power Blaster, we could destroy the lips! The Mona Lisa will be ruined!"

"Well, we can't let Labius ruin Paris instead," said Katherine. Suddenly, Labius rose to her feet and walked towards the Power Rangers. The rangers all struck fighting stances and began to circle around the monster warily.

"You've missed you chance!" said Labius, "I knew you wouldn't destroy me! Now, I'm free of that prison you humans call a masterpiece, and I have to power to do whatever I want! And the first thing I want to do is kill the five of you!"

That said, Labius drew a deep breath and then released it, creating a powerful hurricane wind. The wind knocked the Zeo Rangers off their feet, and let them fall unceremoniously into a line of garbage cans.

"Eww!" moaned Tanya, removing a banana peel from her helmet, "This is so gross! Of course we're here, battling an evil monster, on garbage pick-up day!"

"Well," said Adam, "It could've been worse. We could've landed in something alot harder than garbage. Like solid concrete!"

The rangers stood up and cleaned off their uniforms from any solid refuse.

"I am going to have to soak for a week to get this smell off me!" yelled Rocky.

"We'll worry about that later," said Tommy, once again forming his Zeo V Power Sword, "Right now, we've got a real problem. Our only option is to destroy Labius, and in the process permanently ruin the priceless Mona Lisa."

Chapter Twenty-Five

Meanwhile, Jason watches the fight between the Zeo Rangers and Labius in the Viewing Globe. He winced when the rangers crashed into the garbage, and chuckled when Tanya lifted the banana peel off her head.

"That looked like it hurt," he observed, "Alpha, any luck analyzing that monster?"

"Ay yi yi!" shrieked the small robot, "That monster seems to be completely formed out of energy, giving her an unlimited supply of energy to throw at the rangers! Paris is doomed!"

"But, if Labius is made completely from energy, then how can it be the lips of Mona Lisa?"

"THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL CASE, JASON. USUALLY, LORD ZEDD TAKES AN OBJECT AND MAGICALLY MANIPULATES IT INTO A MONSTER. WHEN THE MONSTER IS DESTROYED, USUALLY THE OBJECT IS RETURNED TO ITS PLACE OF ORIGIN UNHARMED. IN THIS CASE, THOUGH, ZEDD CREATED THE MONSTER FROM A PAIR OF PAINTED LIPS. THEY AREN'T REALLY AN OBJECT, JUST AN IMAGE ON A PIECE OF CANVAS. THE MONSTER ISN'T CREATED FROM THAT CANVAS, BUT THE IMAGE OF THE LIPS. THEREFORE, IT IS MADE OF ENERGY. ZEDD HAS LINKED THE ENERGY FROM HIS STAFF TO THE LIPS ON THE