The Terran Rangers/X-Men by Heather Ray (ebook e reader .txt) 📕

Katherine's eyes slowly opened, and the first thing she noticed was a throbbing pain on her head. Fortunately for her, her skull wasn't shattered, thanks to her protective helmet. Nonetheless, being repeatedly slammed into the ground was a painful experience.

"Why won't the ground stop moving?" she moaned, sitting up. She was near the shore of Angel Grove Lake, at the heart of the large park. Not too far away, the Black and Red Terran Rangers were battling the fiersome Tusk, Zedd's latest creation. Even though she still couldn't see straight, Kat could tell her teammates were losing this battle.

"Hey Kat!" called a familiar voice from behind. "Are you okay?"

"Aisha?!" said Kat in surprise, turning around. The Green Terran Ranger bent down, and helped her to her feet. "Why are you wearing Adam's costume?"

"You guys needed backup," Aisha explained, "and Adam's not going anywhere anytime soon. So, until he's back on his feet, I'm the Green Ranger."

"But, I thought only the six of us could use the Terra powers."

"Billy's looking for any side-effects," said Aisha, "but since I served as the Yellow Power Ranger, my body has sustained the necessary biochemical alterations for me to be able to support a Zeo shard. So far, so good. Can you stand, Kat?"

"I can do more than stand," she said, determination in her voice. "Let's break up this little testosterone party!"

"You got it!" said Aisha, a confident grin on her face. "Wind Shield!"

The silver and green shield with a spiral design on its face appeared in her hands. Aisha pointed the shield towards the fight, and the spiral began to turn. The faster it turned, the stronger the wind current that it created, until a powerful cyclone streamed forth, Both Jason and Tommy felt the wind pick up, and looked past the monster to see the Blue and Green Rangers. They both knew it was time to move.

"We'll be right back," said Tommy, flipping over the monster's head. Jason followed, and they both jogged out of harm's way. Before Tusk could figure out what was happening, he was trapped in the center of the powerful cyclone. The winds lifted him off the ground, and spun him at merciless speeds a few feet into the air.

"Boy," said Tommy, "am I glad to see a Green Ranger."

"You sure have a sense of timing, Aisha," said Jason. "Now, let's finish this!"

Jason and Tommy both lifted their Terra weapons into the air.

"But we can't build the Terran Tempest without the Thunderbow and Lance of Light!" said Katherine.

"Hopefully, we don't need that much raw power," said Tommy. "Double wammy?"

"You got it," said Jason. The two young men crossed their swords, forming an X. At the point where the two swords touched, a stream of red hot flames, mixed with a concussive blast of seismic energy, shot forth. It flew straight into Aisha's cyclone, and a pained scream indicated they hit their target. Aisha let down the cyclone, and the monster fell limp to the shore. It groaned, and slowly rose to its feet.

"Now that you boys hit him with heat," said Katherine, "I'll hit him with cold! Ice Daggers!"

Twin silver blades appeared in Kat's hands, and she pointed the tips at Tusk. Small pieces of hail bombarded the monster, and he continued to step back towards the lake. While he angrily swatted at the hail, Aisha held her shield with one hand, and aimed carefully.

"Just call me Warrior Princess," she said, throwing the shield like a frisbee. The shield soared through the air, and sliced through both of the monsters razor sharp tusks. It roared in pain, and fell to its knees. Then, it exploded in a ball of flames.

"Haven't lost my touch," Aisha said with a smile. "Great job, gang!"

"Nice move," said Jason, "I guess you get Xena on television in Africa?"

"We have a satellite," Aisha giggled, holding out her hand. The shield picked itself off the ground, and flew into Aisha's grip.

"We'd better get back to the CAC," said Tommy. "Hopefully, Billy will have some news for us."

"Right!" said the others in unison, and all four Terran Rangers vanished in streaks of bright light.

"Okay," whispered Cyclops, "here we are. This is the containment chamber. Hopefully, only Holocaust himself will be inside. I'll stay out here, and make sure no one gets inside to back him up. Can you five take him alone?"

"In a heartbeat," said Shadow coolly. "Let's go."

"You'd better be careful, Billy," warned Nate. "You ran out of bullets when we were fighting the Mutates. Dark Beast may have believed you were armed, but Holocaust is another story."

"Here," said Cyclops, handing Shadow his energy rifle, "you can use this. I always have my optic blasts. Besides, you'll need heavy artillery when dealing with the likes of Holocaust."

Shadow took the weapon, and nodded his thanks to Cyclops. Cyclops then turned to the wall, and typed in a seven digit code, to unlock the chamber door. It parted, revealing a huge room, with a large crystal, about the size of a human being, against the wall on the far end. A tall creature, encased in translucent yellow armor, turned around when he heard the gate open.

"Summers?" he called. "Is that you?"

"Not quite!" said Nate, flying into the chamber, his body surrounded with an aura of yellow telekinetic energy. He hovered over the door, as the rest of his allies followed him inside. The chamber door sealed itself behind them.

"How did you get in here?!" Holocaust roared. "It matters not. You won't be leaving."

With that, Holocaust pointed his arm cannon at the intruders. The five heroes split up, and avoided the stream of hot plasma. It crashed full force into the wall behind them, leaving a large dent in the metal.

"Ouch," winced Kimberly, gazing at the dent, "Holocaust's arm blaster packs a punch!"

"Stay back, Kimberly," said Zack. "And whatever you do, don't let anything happen to the Zeo Crystal!"

Kim nodded as Zack leaped into the air towards Holocaust, and prepared to deliver a powerful kick. But, Holocaust's reflexes were even quicker than the Silver Ranger, and he swatted Zack out of the sky with his arm cannon. Zack sailed towards the hard metallic wall, but right before impact, he suddenly slowed down and gently landed on the ground. He looked up, and saw Kimberly wave to him.

"Good thing she was watching my back!" he said.

Holocaust ran to where Zack had landed, preparing to deliver a final blow, but he was intercepted by a powerful blast of energy. He pushed against the energy to approach its source -- Forge and his energy rifle. Forge scowled as he realized his weapon wasn't powerful enough to harm Holocaust.

"Are you ready to die, old man?" Holocaust threatened, still approaching. But before he could take another step, another, more potent burst of energy plowed into his back, and flung the villain into the wall across the way. He looked up, and grinned as he saw Shadow, snarling angrily and holding a smoking barrel weapon with Apocalypse's seal upon it.

"So," Holocaust laughed, standing up, "it's you again. The little X-Man who just couldn't live without killing me. Still so desperate to avenge the death of your wife?"

Holocaust fired his own energy, which Billy intercepted with the weapon. The two were at a standstill, with flaming plasma burning between them. While they fired at each other, Nate flew over to Kimberly, who was still standing by the door.

"I'll help hold Holocaust off," he said. "Do you think you can make it to the M'Kraan Crystal?"

"You bet," she said, holding the crystal against her chest. She ran across the chamber, and Holocaust caught her movement in the corner of his eye.

"The crystal shard!" he said in surprise. "You found it!"

"You got it," said Nate. "And now, we're gonna put an end to your father's empire!"

"We'll see about that," muttered Holocaust. While still firing against Shadow's weapon, Holocaust opened his other palm, to reveal a small circular device. He threw it at Kimberly, who quickly deflected it with her telekinetic power. The plasma grenade exploded in mid air, throwing everyone off their feet. Kimberly, who was the closest one to the bomb, was knocked unconscious, and the Zeo Crystal fell to the ground not far from her. The first to stand up was Holocaust, who quickly approached the Zeo Crystal. He laughed triumphantly as he stood above it.

"Now, this great power source belongs to the High Lord Apocalypse!" he declared, bending over to take his prize. But as soon as his hand touched the crystal's surface, a bolt of hot energy shot through his arm. Holocaust shrieked in surprise and pain, and pulled his arm away from the crystal.

Zordon was right,

thought Nate, only someone protected by the Power can safely wield the Zeo Crystal. Now's my chance to finally take Holocaust down!

Nate soared through the air, and launched an innumerable amount of small telekinetic discs, which struck Holocaust like large hail. Holocaust growled, and leaped into the air. Nate was surprised by how quick Holocaust was, and wasn't able to move before he was struck on the head by Holocaust's arm cannon. Nate fell to the ground, fighting to stay conscious. Holocaust smiled as he charged his arm cannon for the final blow.

"No!" Forge cried, scrambling to his feet, "Nate must not die!"

Forge ran into the path of the pulsing energy, blocking its intended target. The hot plasma seared through Forge's brown robes, and penetrated his chest. He grunted as he fell to the ground, completely lifeless. Nate and Shadow witnessed Forge's sacrifice in mute shock.

"No," Nate whispered, his blue eyes filling with tears. "NOOO!!!"

"Forge!" cried Billy, running to where his friend lay. But Forge was already dead, and smoke still poured forth from the terrible wound.

Zack was helping Kimberly to her feet when this occured. They too were shocked into silence.

Holocaust laughed heartily, as his arm cannon once again began to charge. "The old man sacrificed himself for nothing! You will all die this day!"

Nate's bottom lip trembled, and he stared at Forge's still form. Then, he turned towards Holocaust, blinded by bitter tears.

"You're going to pay for that," he whispered. "This game's over!!"

Nate stood up, and telekinetically lifted the Zeo Crystal from the ground across the room. Billy's eyes widened as