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

future. Not 'the'

future. There's a big difference. I am not the Kim you know, and there is no reason to believe that I am the woman that she will grow up to be. Our circumstances and environments have a big impact on the people we become, and you live in under entirely different circumstances that I lived in at your age."

"But that doesn't matter. All that matters is -- I'm gonna lose her. I don't know how or why, or even when, but I know I'm gonna lose her. Its only a matter of time before she realizes she doesn't love me, and that she'd be happier with Trevor Monroe, and then my whole life is over."

"Tommy, don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?"

"Do YOU

think I'm exaggerating?!" he cried, his knuckles turning white, "I love her more than anything! I'd do anything for her! Absolutely anything! And just yesterday, I thought she felt the same way about me! But now I know that's not true. Deep down, she loves someone else."

"That isn't true!" cried Kim. "She loves you! Can't you tell by the way she looks at you? By the way she talks to you? By the way she treats you? Do you know how she panicked when she thought you were dead? Do you realize the limits she pushed herself to in order to save you? If it wasn't for Kim's self-sacrificing love, you wouldn't be standing there right now."

"But what about Trevor?"

"What ABOUT

Trevor? Just because I love him, doesn't mean that she

loves him! One reason why I broke up with my Tommy is the fact that he was always quiet and reserved as regards to "us"

. I mean, I knew he loved me, but we never really defined our love, and our future together. I lived in Florida, and he lived in California. We needed more than just love to keep us together. We needed communication, plans, stuff like that. The kind of things that cement relationships together. Our relationship became so weak that a petty argument caused me to decide that maybe Tommy isn't the one for me. I looked at Trevor, and I saw something else. Maybe we could have patched things together. Then again, maybe it was beyond fixing. All I know is, in my time, we're both happy with our lives. We've both found our purposes, and we've both found love. We've found happiness in one way, you and Kim can find it in another way. Its up to you, Tommy. What can you do to insure Kim that you want to be together forever? What will you do when she leaves? Although she probably won't return to the Pan-Global Games, she'll have to go to France eventually. You don't have forever to make your move."

Tommy stood quietly and absorbed this food for thought. She's right, I guess it's my move. Do we take this relationship to the next level? Will it survive at the level its at? I need to think...

Tommy then looked again towards the teenaged Kim's limp body.

Only I won't be able to think straight until I know for sure Kim's okay!

On the Astral Plane, Nate and Kimberly stood their ground, after running for what seemed like forever. They managed to uphold their personal psionic shields, and thereby protected themselves from any extreme harm from Onslaught's attacks. However, their attacks were useless against his mighty red and purple psi-armor, and it looked like Onslaught was merely playing with them.

"There's no way I can keep this up much longer," said Kim, falling to her knees from exertion. "My shield is weakening, Nate!"

"Kim, you've gotta stay calm and focused!" ordered Nate, sweat dripping off his chin, "I can't help you!"

While Onslaught continued to fire beams of deadly psionic energy, lighting up the orange sky. Suddenly, a chasm appeared right beneath Nate, causing to fall. He managed to grab onto the side of the canyon, and held on for dear life. His psionic shield is down, and he is now helpless.

"Nate!" cried Kim, dropping her own shield and running to him. "Hang on!"

"Get out of here, Kim!" he yelled angrily. "You can't save me!"

Onslaught approached the two heroes, laughing maniacally.

"Out of my way, girl," he yelled, swatting Kimberly away like a gnat. "It is the X-Man I want."

Onslaught picked up Nate Grey and lifted him to eye-level.

"Not so cocky now, are you Boy?" he mocked, his eyes glowing gold. "Now to finish this."

Nate's psionic armor was peeled off his astral form piece by piece, leaving him unprotected from any further attacks. Then, a gold energy surrounded Nate's form, causing him to cry out in pain. The cry stirred Kimberly back to consciousness, and she forced herself to her feet.

"I...I've got to do something," she whispered, steadying herself against a boulder. "But what?"

She turned her head and studied the boulder carefully. It was about seven feet tall, and ten feet across. She wouldn't have been able to lift such a massive rock in the real world without the Zeo shard, and on the Astral Plane telekinesis was even more difficult.

"I have to try. It's Nate's only chance."

Kimberly stood back, and put her fingertips to her temples. A wide beam of gold energy projected from her forehead, and immersed the boulder completely. Then, the boulder rose about a foot off the ground. Sweat began to form on Kim's forehead, and her knees wobbled under the exertion, but she refused to drop the boulder. Suddenly, the energy around the boulder switched from gold to green, and the boulder flew at Onlsaught at blinding speed. The boulder hit Onlsaught square in the back, knocking both him and Nate into the chasm. Nate, however, floated back to the surface, encased in green light. He was unconscious, and the few bits of armor he still had on were bent by Onslaught's mighty fingers. Kim fell to her knees in exhaustion.

"Are you alright, Kimberly?" said a familiar, fatherly voice. Kim looked up, and saw a middle-aged man clad in a sparkling silver robe, and carrying what looked like a wooden staff. He was bald and pale, but his eyes shone with gentleness and concern.

"Zordon?" she gasped, taking his hand and rising to her feet. "Is that you?"

"Indeed. Billy contacted my home base in the Alpha Centauri system, and told me that you and another young telepath were fighting an extremely powerful evil on the Astral Plane. Let us check on your friend."

Kim nodded, and the two hurried over to Nate, who still lay unconscious. Kim knelt beside him and shook him gently.

"Stand back, Kimberly," ordered Zordon, lifting his staff, "I shall revive him."

Kimberly did as she was told, and a beam of bright green light shot from the staff. Nate's body floated off the ground and was bathed in the green light. In a few seconds, there was a flash of blue light coming from Nate himself, and he was once again dressed in his sapphire armor. Zordon descended Nate to the ground, and he immediately stood up and examined himself in shock.

"You...you restored all the psionic energy I used during the fight," said Nate incredulously, "bringing me back to full power. How did you do it?!"

"Like the creature you now battle, I am trapped on the Astral Plane. What you see is not merely my psionic form, but rather the only body I have. I was in a duel against Ivan Ooze on the Astral Plane, when one of his henchmen decided to kill my physical body. So, all my power was transported into my astral form, giving me a vast amount of abilities here. One is the ability to restore other psionic beings without draining my own life force."

"What about Onslaught?" asked Kim, looking over the edge of the chasm. "Is he dead?"

"I very much doubt it," said Zordon. "He is a more powerful telepath than I could ever hope to be, and since we both are trapped on the Astral Plane, we both can summon our full range of abilities. My only advantage is my vast experience on the Astral Plane. I have dwelt here for centuries, whereas Onslaught has only existed for a short period of time. Both of you, stand back and take cover. Onslaught will be back soon."

Kimberly was about to protest, but Nate grabbed her arm and led her to the base of a mountain,where they could watch the battle without being seen. They took cover, waiting for Onslaught to re-appear. Sure enough, as soon as Nate and Kim were in place, a huge blast of golden power heralded Onslaught's return. He flew out of the hole at an alarming speed, and released a roar that would terrify even the bravest lion. But Zordon didn't flinch. He stood his ground, holding out his wooden staff. Onslaught studied his new opponent curiously.

"So," said Onslaught, "Nate and his friend have called reinforcements. You cannot hope to survive this battle, old man. You power pales in comparison to my own!"

Onslaught swung his clawed hand at Zordon. Zordon deflected the attack by slapping Onslaught's approaching hand with the wooden staff. When the staff hit Onslaught, a spray of green sparks lit up the area, burning Onslaught painfully. Onslaught clutched his injured claw in his other claw, and stared at Zordon in anger and surprise.

"The only way for you to create such an attack is if you exist only on the Astral Plane, as I do." observed Onslaught.

"You are correct, Onslaught. I too am a prisoner here, so your little tricks will not cause me harm."

Onslaught's gruesome fanged mouth curled into a wicked smile. "Finally, a challenge!"

Onslaught hurled his golden energy at Zordon, who retaliated by hurling some of his own. Kimberly and Nate watched in awe at the massive amount of power the two beings displayed.

"We've got to do something!" cried Kim in frustration. "We can't just sit here and watch!"

"I know how you feel, Kim," said Nate, not taking his eyes off the battle, "but there isn't anything we can do to help!"

Kim leaned against the rock, twirling a lock of her hair over her index finger in thought. An excited smile appeared on her face as she leaped to her feet.

"Nate!" she cried. "You said that Onslaught had tapped into the energy of the Astral Plane itself when he made himself grow, right?"

"Yeah," said Nate, still not turning from the fight.

"Well, is there any way to somehow cut Onslaught off from the power he steals from the Astral