The Terran Rangers/X-Men by Heather Ray (short books for teens TXT) 📕

the computer.

"Kimberly Hart -- Yellow Ranger -- Lightning! Thunderbird on-line!"

The zord gave a final cry and the thrusters activated. The door to the hangar opened, and the zord flew out the door, headed to the Moon.

"I hope you two are buckled up," said Annie, "I haven't done this in a while."

Kimberly absently buckled the seat belt, and continued staring at "Annie"

. She then turned to Nate, frowning.

"Why did you lie to me, Nate?!" she demanded. "Why did you lie to us all?!"

"Well, I really didn't want you, any of you, to know too much about the future. I needed her help to stop Solar, but I also wanted to preserve the future. So, I disguised her."

Kimberly crossed her arms angrily, mumbling to herself. She then sat up again, her doe eyes wide with surprised realization.

"Are you really Solar's wife?" she asked the Yellow Ranger.

"I'm Trevor Monroe's wife, Kimberly," she answered.

Kimberly fell back against the back of her seat, still overcome with shock. "What happened to Tommy?" she asked quietly. "What could have possibly happened between us? I always thought eventually..."

"Kim, the future isn't written in stone," said Nate. "In her timeline, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa disappeared in the winter of 1996, so the team disbanded. She went back to Florida, and...well..."

"I fell in love with Trevor," said the Yellow Ranger matter-of-factly, "and I don't regret it in the least. I love my husband. If I didn't, I wouldn't be risking my life for him now."

"But, what about Tommy?" asked Kimberly quietly, "Did you...dump him, or was it some kind of mutual separation...?"

"I'm the one who officially ended 'us'

, but I'm sure we both knew it was over."

"And...are you and Tommy...happy with your lives?" asked Kim, rubbing her arms for warmth.

"Yes. We're good friends now, and I'm happily married. Tommy's wedding is next week."

"Who is he marrying?" asked Kimberly, her curiosity piqued.

"Maybe it's better that you don't know," interrupted Nate. "It doesn't matter anyway. He never would have fallen for her if he and Kim stayed together. Besides, we have work to do. Don't forget, both of you have loved ones trapped in that castle. Kim, how close are we?"

"About half an hour," she said. "If we go any faster, we may be detected. And by the way, you'd better just call me Annie. We don't want to get confused, do we?"

"We're certainly cutting it close," said Kim worriedly, "Tommy only has another fifty minutes left, before --"

"We know Kim. We're doing our best."

Chapter Twelve

Solar angrily marched into the laboratory. He telekinetically crushed the iron door and lit up the whole room with his bright blue psionic fury. He leaned over Tommy, staring him in the eye.

"Give me your Zeo crystal shard NOW

!!" roared Solar, his eyes glowing fiercely with a strange aqua colored power.

"Never," whispered Tommy weakly.

Solar scowled in anger and punched Tommy in the chest with all his might. Tommy groaned loudly, and nearly lost consciousness.

"I should tear you apart limb from limb, Tommy," said Solar angrily, "I owe you that."

"What are you talking about?" whispered Tommy. "What have I ever done to you?"

Solar sneered. He telekinetically ripped Tommy off the lab table and threw him against the cold wall. Tommy crumpled against the wall, hearing bones break in his body.

That's probably another rib or two,

he thought grimly, I don't know how much of Solar's wrath I can survive. His voice sounds so...human

, so in pain

. And his powers aren't gold anymore -- what does it mean...?

Solar stood above Tommy, still glowing with rage.

"You dare ask me what you've done to me?" he roared. "You're the one thing standing in the way of what I love most of all! You both are so young, so in love! And even in my time, you still love her, and she still loves YOU

!! If I kill you right now, you can't keep us apart anymore! You will no longer come between us!"

Tommy could barely understand a word Solar said, since he was fighting to stay conscious. A dozen thoughts were racing through his head as he tried to focus enough to morph. However, the energy draining process had left its mark, and even though he wasn't completely drained, he couldn't muster the strength to even stand up.

"Calm down, Trevor," whispered Tommy, "I only want to help you."

"HELP ME?!"

cried Solar. "You're the one who needs help! You took everything from me! She is the world to me, did you know that?"

"Trevor, please. You know you don't want to do this. Annie, your wife, told us you're a good man. Help us help you, Trevor. Help us stop Onslaught. You're his pawn!"

"Annie?!" asked Solar, glowing in rage. "Who is Annie? You're trying to trick me, Oliver! Our little 'friendship'

ends now!"

Tommy's squeezed his eyes shut, and tried desperately to concentrate, and pushed past the pain that threatened to make him pass out. Gotta think fast! Gotta find something to think about to calm him down. Before he kills

me.

Tommy focused his mind on Annie, the woman who fell from the portal earlier that day. She had claimed to be Trevor's wife. He forced himself to visualize their conversation with her:

"Trevor Monroe?" said Kimberly with a gasp, "I know him! He works at the gym I trained at in Florida. He's a nice guy, definitely not capable of being Solar."

"Trevor isn't capable of evil," said Annie. "The creature called Onslaught has taken over my husband's body! We have to find a way to destroy Onslaught while not harming Trevor..."

Solar cut off from Tommy's mind and fell to his knees, clutching his head in his hands.

"Kimberly," he whispered in his human voice, "she's here! She came for me...to help me."

Tommy's eyes shot open, and stared at Solar in absolute amazement.

KIMBERLY?!?!

Of course! That explains why she sounded so familiar, and also why she hid her face from us. It makes sense now. Everything. But, why did Kim marry this guy? What happened to US

? Is this what the future holds for us?!

"No!" cried Solar, his voice quickly deepening. "The woman means nothing to me! I am Solar, the ruler of the Multiverse! She must die! They must all DIE

!!"

Solar lifted his head from his hands, his aqua eyes glowing gold. His face was unexpressive, and his glowing eyes displayed pure, unfathomable power.

"Nice try, Human," he said, "but I am stronger than Monroe. I am Solar, and I think for myself. I can keep my halves under control. And I will have the Zeo Crystal."

Solar stared at Tommy, and a glow of pure gold energy surrounded the Red Ranger. Tommy was lifted into the air, and placed onto the stone bed. The restraints quickly wrapped around his appendages, limiting his mobility. But Tommy was already too weak to resist. Solar then reactivated the machine, which continued to drain Tommy's energy. Tommy immediately passed out, and lay unconscious on the table.

"He is too weak to survive much longer," said Solar flatly. "Now is the time to go and claim the Zeo shards."

Solar walked to his throne room, where Holocaust was observing Earth from the balcony.

"Where did you go?" asked Holocaust.

"I had a little...issue

to settle with the boy," he said calmy, "I had to teach him a lesson."

"Oh? How did it go?"

"Well," Solar said, sitting on Lord Zedd's throne. "Actually, the best word to describe it is...therapeutic

. Now is the time to strike, my friend. Go to Earth, and wait for the Power Rangers outside the ruins of the Command Center. I shall contact them through the Viewing Globe. If they refuse to surrender the gems, destroy them all."

"Very well," said Holocaust, stepping through the portal of light Solar made for him.

Chapter Thirteen

In the Central Access Complex, Jason, Alexis, Zack, Katherine, Aisha, and Billy waited anxiously for any kind of message from Nate, Kimberly, or Annie.

Billy worked furiously on his scanning systems, trying to find a way to register if there was any human life on the Moon.

Zack and Aisha paced around the room in frustration, occasionally checking the Viewing Globe, which now kept count of the minutes until the one hour deadline.

Katherine sat in a corner of the CAC with a grim expression on her face. Alexis stood beside her, with a look of dread as the time ticked down.

Jason stood silently in the center of the CAC. He was holding Kimberly's Zeo shard, and was lost in deep thought.

We only have twenty minutes left! What if they don't get back in time? What do I do? I can't surrender to Solar! If I do, the whole universe is at stake. But, I can't let anything happen to Tommy. He's always been a brother to me, and I know that he would do anything in his power to save me if I were in his place. But I doubt Solar would actually return Tommy to us if we give up the crystals -- heck, we've played that game too many times. But, at least Solar won't have a reason to kill him, and then maybe we could send a distress call to Zordon, or the Aquitians, or even the Spectrum Force. But, do we have time? I doubt it...

Everyone was pulled out of their reverie by a bright light shining from the Viewing Globe. Everyone turned around to see Solar's face once again glaring at them, his eyes glowing gold.

^Hello, Power Rangers. As you must realize, your time is nearly up. I don't think poor Tommy will last much longer.^

Solar started to chuckle maliciously, further infuriating the rangers who listened.

^Now is your one and only chance to rescue the Red Ranger. I have sent Holocaust to the ruins of your Command Center above you. Give him the five