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

any way you or I could reach one of the rangers?"

"Have you ever mentally communicated with any of them? You know them better than I do, and since I've never mind-spoken with them, they may simply reject my call."

"Can you hold off Onslaught for a few minutes? I'll give it a try."

Kimberly continued to run, as Nate stopped in his tracks. He turned around quickly to face the approaching behemoth. He created a lance out of psionic energy, and stood to fight the beast. Onslaught cackled madly.

"Do you really think you can stand up to me, X-Man?" he roared, "I am invincible!"

"We've gone down that road before. Let's see how you manage in a fair fight."

Onslaught smiled, revealing enormous fangs, and swung his clawed hand. Nate blocked the attack and countered with a swing of the lance. Boy, I'm lucky Will taught me how to use this!

Kimberly stopped running when she could no longer see Onslaught or Nate. Still, she heard Onslaught's roars, as well as Nate's smart-aleck comments. She closed her eyes and concentrated on one thing -- Tommy. Last time she had done this, he had heard her thoughts, despite the fact that she was without the aid of the yellow Zeo shard. Hopefully, she could manage to reach him again, even though they are on two totally different planes of existence.

Chapter Twenty-Three

In the CAC, Tommy lay unconscious while Adam had finished mending his ribs with the regenerator. In his feverish dream, Tommy saw himself sitting alone by the lake in Angel Grove Park -- the lake where he went whenever he needed solace. In the still waters, he saw Kimberly dressed in a flowing white gown, walking down an aisle beside her father. At the altar was a young blonde man with aqua-blue eyes and a euphoric smile. His stomach wretched when the two of them kissed at the permission of the minister, sealing a pact before God and men, to be together forever. Tommy sat alone on the bank of the lake, completely powerless to stop the events occurring on the water. He wanted to cry out, to tell her that she was the world to him, but something inside of him kept him from uttering a sound. He couldn't say what needed to be said, and now it was too late. He had lost her, to a man who better knew how to express love.

*Tommy*

came a faint whisper from the heavens. Tommy looked up to see a pulsing sphere of gold light descend from the sky and come to a stop about four feet above the surface of the lake.

"Kimberly?" he managed to choke out.

*Tommy, listen to me. This is extremely important. Nate and I are in big trouble, and we need the help of Zordon to defeat Onslaught. Please, Tommy, you must wake up and ask Billy to inform Zordon of the battle that is taking place on the Astral Plane. If Zordon knows what he's looking for, he should be able to find us. Hurry, Tommy, we can't last much longer...*

With that, the bright golden energy sphere faded into nothingness, leaving Tommy alone once again with his thoughts. The images on the pool of water vanished as well. Tommy shook his head and stood up, approaching the water.

"Enough of this!" he declared, "I've got work to do!"

Tommy dove into the clear waters of the lake, and at the same time, in the Central Access Complex, Tommy's hazel eyes fluttered open. He found himself resting peacefully on a cot, dressed in what was left of his red shirt and cream colored shorts. He sat up, and immediately prepared himself for the fire in his chest he had become used to. However, the pain never came.

"Amazing," he whispered, touching his chest gently, "I don't feel the slightest pain!"

Adam, who was busy mending Trevor's broken nose, looked up to see his leader sitting up on his cot. Adam immediately ran to Tommy's bedside.

"You're awake!" he cried in amazement.

Tommy looked at his friend with a confused expression on his bronzed face.

"You slipped into a coma over an hour ago. I didn't know what to do since Annie is still in critical condition. You pulled out of it all by yourself!"

Tommy stretched his arms and back, still in amazement as to his miraculous recovery. He then looked around the CAC, and to his surprise, he didn't see Kat, Alexis, Jason, Aisha, or Rocky.

"What's going on?" he asked Adam. "Where are the others?"

"Well, once you slipped into a coma, Aisha had fainted. She lost a great deal of blood, and Billy said that a side effect of her using my Zeo shard is that she doesn't heal like the rest of the Terran Rangers do. He sent her home to rest, since that's all he could do. Jason, Lex, and Kat were all seriously stressed out about you, and Billy started to get annoyed at them, 'cause they were getting in his way. So, he ordered everyone home, except for me. I'm here to keep an eye on you and Trevor while Billy monitors Annie, Nate, and Kim."

"Kim!" said Tommy, standing up from the cot/ "That's what happened! Kim reached out to me and pulled me out of my coma!"

Tommy rushed past the confused Adam and hurried to Kim's still body. He clutched her small hand in his as tightly as he could without causing any harm to her.

"She said that she needed Zordon's help to defeat Onslaught," he said, turning towards Billy. "Do you think you can contact him and tell him what's been happening?"

"It shouldn't be difficult," said Billy, hurrying to the communications relay. He activated the interplanetary communications system, and after about ten minutes, Zordon appeared in the Viewing Globe.

^BILLY,^

he boomed. ^IT IS GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU. TELL ME, HOW ARE THE TERRAN RANGERS FARING AGAINST LORD ZEDD AND RITA REPULSA?^

"Rita and Zedd are at least temporarily out of the perverbial picture," explained Billy, "Solar has struck again, and it turns out that Solar is an amalgam of two independent beings -- the human Trevor Monroe, and a mutant tyrant called Onslaught. Onslaught is a mighty telepath, and at this moment, he is fighting our ally Nate Grey and Kim on the psionic plane."

^INTERESTING. I THOUGHT I FELT A STRANGE PRESENCE ON THE ASTRAL PLANE. BUT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT KIMBERLY IS DOING THERE. SHE IS NOT A TELEPATH, THEREFORE SHE SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE PLANE.^

"Kim is a telepath," explained Tommy, "and she told me that she and Nate need help in defeating Onslaught. She said that if you knew what you were looking for, you'd be able to find it."

^THAT IS TRUE -- SINCE I NOW KNOW THAT KIMBERLY IS HERE ON THE PLANE, I CAN FIND HER, SINCE I AM FAMILIAR WITH THE PSI-PATTERNS OF ALL MY RANGERS. I SHALL ASSIST THEM AGAINST ONSLAUGHT. FAREWELL, FOR NOW.^

With that, Zordon's face disappeared from the column shown on the Viewing Globe. Both Tommy and Billy turned away from the Globe, and noticed Adam sitting on a chair, his eyes closed and his head tipped slightly. Billy smiled and jostled his friend.

"Adam," he said, "I am very grateful for your assistance here today. However, you seem tired, and since the only injured one left is Annie, I should be able to handle it without your help. Go home and get some rest."

"But, I'm fine," protested Adam, yawning. "You may need me when Kim and Nate wake up."

"Adam, we can handle it," said Tommy. "Now go home and get some sleep. That's an order!"

Adam chuckled slightly at Tommy's use of authority, and nodded his head. He activated his wrist communicator, and in a beam of white energy, he vanished from his seat.

"Guys!" cried Trevor, who was standing beside his wife, "Kim's waking up!"

Billy and Tommy hurried over to the med-unit, where the EEG read that Annie's brain waves were back to normal again. Her eyes were open, and she moaned a little as he hand absently reached for her forehead.

"What happened?" she whispered. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Central Access Complex," said Billy, running a small instrument over her forehead to see if all the damage had been healed. "What is the last thing you recall?"

"I...I was on the moon, in Zedd's palace. I was with Trevor. I was hugging him, then the whole world went blank. Trevor! Oh Gosh, where is he?"

"I'm here, Kim," he answered, leaning over the side of the cot and into her view. She squealed happily and sat up to embrace her husband tightly. Both their eyes swelled with tears of joy now that they've finally been reunited. Billy and Tommy watched quietly, smiling at the utter joy the two star-crossed lovers expressed. Tommy then wistfully turned towards the teenaged Kimberly, who was still lying still on the cot. He bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you both so much for everything," said Trevor, extending his hand. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you so much on the moon, Tommy."

"It's forgotten, Trevor," said Tommy, shaking the older man's hand.

"Kimberly, you really should remain on the med-unit for another few minutes and get some rest," suggested Billy. "You were near the brink of death, you know."

Kim nodded mutely and rested her head against the pillow on the med-unit. Billy then took Trevor by the arm and escorted him to another side of the vast CAC.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take some scans on your brain patters, as well as DNA. I am curious as to any permanent effects being bonded to a creature like Onslaught will have on a human body. We cannot be too careful."

Trevor nodded, and in a few minutes, Billy was hard at work creating a complete medical profile on him. Tommy stood quietly on the elder Kim's bedside. Kim was still completely conscious, and noticed with ease that Tommy was upset.

"So," she said, trying to start a conversation. "How are Kim and Nate doing?"

"I don't know," he answered quietly. "They still aren't awake yet. We asked Zordon to go and help them battle Onslaught on the Astral Plane. Hopefully, him being there is turning the tables on Onslaught."

"How are you, Tommy?"

"Well, my ribs have all healed, thanks to Adam, and I'm awake and on my feet."

"You know that's not what I meant, Tommy," she said gently, "I want to know what you're feeling."

"How do you think I am, Kim?" he asked in an almost bitter voice, "I mean, before you got here, everything was fine. Then suddenly, I'm slapped in the face with the future, and I don't like it one