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

/> *Well, Kim, I'm gonna give you a crash course in battle on the Astral Plane! I think Tommy's managing to pull Trevor's consciousness to the foreground, which will make Onslaught weaker. If I can pull him onto the Astral Plane and destroy him there, then we're done! But I don't think I can do it alone. He already beat me there earlier. Are you ready?*

*Ready for wha --?*

Before she could finish her thought, she could feel her body grow numb. She fell back on the lab table, her legs and arms dangling off the sides. Suddenly, her vision blurred, and when it cleared, she was standing on a barren wasteland.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud.

*You're on the Astral Plane*

said Nate telepathically, *I'll be there with you shortly. First, you'd better put some armor on. Vision yourself with some kind of armor on.*

Kimberly looked down at herself. She was entirely gold, as if she was made of golden energy. She then noticed she wasn't wearing clothes. Her face turned a brighter shade of gold.

"Armor..." she said, thinking hard. When she opened her eyes, she found herself wearing a glittering gold armored costume, much like that of Xena: Warrior Princess

. She had the breastplate, boots, skirt, shoulderpads, and instead of a sword, she was holding a long bow.

"Practical and fashionable," she commented proudly, gripping her energy bow, "I think I may like this Astral Plane!"

Meanwhile, Nate stepped away from Annie, and telepathically reached into Solar's head. Solar froze as Nate invaded his mind, and therefore couldn't dodge a powerful jab to his face from the Red Ranger. Solar's body crumpled to the floor in a daze, and Onslaught's essence once again took form on the Astral Plane. Kimberly watched in mute horror as a cloud of purple and red fog formed into the towering and monstrous form of Onslaught.

"Now that's something I wouldn't wanna meet in a dark alley," Kim muttered with disgust.

Onslaught turned to face his new enemy, his eyes glowing in golden power. Kim shrunk back.

"So," he scoffed, "Nate sent his little apprentice to fight me. Now that's a laugh! How do you, a rank amateur, plan on defeating me, the most powerful telepath in existence, on the Astral Plane? You couldn't even beat me in the real world. Here, the advantage is mine!"

Kimberly stood defiantly and pulled back on the drawstring of her bow. "Eat psionic energy, Creep," she muttered, releasing an arrow crackling with golf energy. She was shocked as Onslaught caught the arrow and tossed it aside like a toothpick.

"Uh, oh," she whispered as Onslaught dove at her.

Chapter Twenty

In the throne room, Tommy removed his helmet and looked around in surprise. He saw Solar's body, lying still beside the throne. Annie was still crumpled and motionless, and Nate was barely conscious, rubbing his temples vigorously. Tommy ran to Nate and knelt beside him.

"What did you do to him?" he asked, pointing to Solar, "I know my punch isn't that strong."

"I...I sent Onslaught to the Astral Plane," he explained in a voice barely above a whisper, "It takes a lot of effort to force a body onto the plane, and I just forced two. Give me a minute."

"What do you mean two?" asked Tommy. Then his jaw dropped. "You don't mean--"

"I sent Kimberly to the Astral Plane."

"You did what

?!" cried Tommy enraged. "So you're telling me she's trapped there with that monster, all by herself!"

"Not for long," said Nate, standing up, "I'm going to join her there."

Nate walked over to the throne and sat down. Tommy followed.

"I'll go with you," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Impossible. You'd be powerless there -- the only super ability that can be utilized in the Astral Plane is psionic. Stay here and keep an eye on Annie and Trevor. Now that Onslaught is no longer in his body, he may awaken soon. Make sure nothing happens to either my or Kimberly's body while we're gone."

With that, Nate closed his eyes, and his body slumped lifeless into the throne. His body reformed in the Astral Plane, encased in his full body sapphire armor. He watched from a high vantage point for a moment as Kimberly battled Onslaught.

She's a pretty fast learner,

he thought to himself. He then noticed Kim's armor. Someone sure watches a lot of television, he chuckled to himself. Okay, time to do some damage!

Nate leaped to the ground, landing about three yards behind Onslaught, who was advancing on Kim while firing a deadly barrage of psionic bullets. Kim was so busy deflecting them by twirling her bow like a baton, that she didn't notice Nate's stealth entrance.

"So, little girl," mocked Onslaught, moving closer to Kim, "are you prepared to die?"

Before Kim could answer, Onslaught suddenly fell forwards, his head landing mere inches from Kim's feet. She looked first at her downed opponent and the gray smoke that floated from his back, and then behind him, where she saw Nate clad in a shimmering blue armor.

"Took ya long enough!" she said in mock anger, leaping over Onslaught to land beside Nate. "So, is he dead?"

"I doubt it," said Nate, holding his head in his hands. "That was the most powerful psionic blast I could muster, but Onslaught is practically indestructable. This isn't over yet."

Suddenly, Onslaught's body became immersed in a powerful gold light, so bright that it momentarily blinded the two heroes. When the light died down, Onslaught stood before them, now towering twenty feet high as opposed to his previous stature of ten feet.

"What happened?" whispered Kim in horror.

"He's drawing power from the Astral Plane itself!" answered Nate, his voice tainted with awe as well as disbelief, "He has existed on the Astral Plane for so long, he knows how to manipulate it! I don't know how he managed it, but he did!"

Onslaught stepped towards them, each step shaking the rocky ground mercilessly. Nate and Kim mutually decided on a strategic retreat, running as quickly as possible away from the towering monster.

"So, what do we do now?" panted Kimberly.

"I'm thinking!" yelled Nate in frustration. "Just keep moving! To the cliffs!"

The two heroes ran towards the cliff, and in a few mighty and graceful leaps, they were at the top of the rock form.

"Wow," said Kim, "I'm even more agile here than when I'm morphed!"

"I don't know how much climbing this rock will slow him down," said Nate, looking down the cliff for Onslaught. "He's gone!"

"Uh...Nate," said Kim quietly, tapping his shoulder and staring in the other direction, "it didn't slow him down at all."

Nate spun around, and saw the monstrous figure that stood behind him.

"I'm through playing games," said Onslaught, firing a massive beam of energy. Both Kim and Nate managed to put on shields to block the energy barrage, but the attack was relentless, and it slowly pushed them closer and closer to the edge.

"You really got yourself between a rock and a hard place this time, X-Man!" cried Onslaught triumphantly.

Chapter Twenty-One

The Red Ranger paced around the throne room in frustration. It felt like hours since Nate went into the Astral Plane, and there was no way for Tommy to tell if his friends were winning against impossible odds or not. He had carried Kimberly's lifeless body into the throne room, and laid it carefully on the floor. Now, three unconscious bodies lay on the stone floor, and Nate was still slumped in Lord Zedd's throne. Tommy had tried to find medical supplies in Finster's lab, to treat Annie's and Trevor's injuries, but there wasn't any. Not really much of a surprise, considering monsters don't survive fights, and therefore never need medical help. Tommy, whose broken ribs had started to irritate him again, sat down and painfully clutched his chest.

So long as I draw on the Power, I'll be able to function,

he thought to himself, but I'm not sure if I'm doing any more damage to my ribs. I doubt rolling around the room wrestling Solar was good for me. I really oughta think before I act...

Tommy was startled out of his reverie by a low groan. He looked up and saw Solar sit up slowly, his hand lightly touching his nose. He drew back his hand, seeing it tainted with blood.

"My nose is bleeding," he said in a somewhat nasal voice. "What's happening here?"

Solar stood up painfully, stretching his back. He looked down at himself, and saw the red, blue, white, and gold armor.

"What the hell am I wearing?" he asked aloud, looking around in confusion. His eyes locked with those of a young man with long brown hair, wearing a red Power Ranger uniform.

"Are you alright, Trevor?" asked Tommy quietly.

"I...I don't understand what's going on here..." he admitted, blinking. "Last thing I remember, I was in my bedroom, going over some papers for a case, and then I saw a gold light --"

Trevor shut up when he saw two unconscious women laying side by side on the cold ground. His jaw dropped as he hurried to get a closer look.

"KIM!!"

he cried, dropping to his knees beside Annie. He touched her neck gently to find a pulse, and then lightly touched her forehead. He then glanced at the other girl, and did a double take.

"KIM?!"

he cried, this time in disbelief. He leaned over to study the features of the young woman wearing a mid-drift and shorts. She looks exactly like the Kim I met years ago...

Trevor turned around and stared at Tommy, his eyes filled with anger, confusion, and pain.

"What the #$%@

is going on here?!" he roared, approaching the Red Ranger. Tommy stood up to face the older man eye to eye.

"Why am I wearing this ridiculous costume? Where are we? What happened to my WIFE

? Who is that girl? Who are YOU

?! You're too young to