Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie by Heather Ray (beach read book .TXT) 📕

step inside. The room was utterly overwhelming, more reminiscent of an arcane laboratory than a bedchamber.

In the furthest corner of the triangular apartment, a flat bed of solid concrete sat amidst deep shadows. Tubes of bubbling liquids cast an eerie glow over the area, and long tubes ending in three-inch needles lay coiled around a separate protrusion.

Egeon swallowed his disgust. The chamber only proved how vile... how alien the Emperor of Evil truly was. He was a creature, feeding of magical chemicals rather than Nature's gifts. He was nothing like a human, save for the mere fact he had two arms, and two legs. How could he empathize with a human's pain...or a father's loss?

He can't. But perhaps...he can ease them with his powers...

In truth, he had no other alternative.

"I take it you have news for me?" a deep voice rumbled.

Egeon turned around to stare into the darkness of one corner. There, he finally saw Lord Zedd himself, standing beside a small granite podium with vials and flasks above it.

The human managed to recover his bearings before he spoke. "I have done all you asked. The girl is awake, and healed from her wounds. She awaits you in her chambers."

The silver-plated head nodded curtly. "Excellent. Once again, your skills have reinforced your value, Egeon."

Egeon remained silent, his overly bright eyes suddenly darting around the creepy chamber nervously.

The Emperor noted his servant's distraction, and lifted his hand. "Sit."

The scientist blinked, following Zedd's outstretched finger with his eyes. He stared at the Lord's restorative bed in confusion. "Why?"

Zedd answered the bold question directly. "Your service has been exemplary, my friend. You have earned your reward."

Egeon shuddered. That was the first time he'd ever heard the Emperor of Evil use the "F"

word...and it made his skin crawl.

"What is my 'reward,'

Zedd? What exactly have I earned?"

Zedd gazed at the Karovan for a brief moment, before turning the podium behind him. He lifted a clear crystal bowl, at the bottom of which lay a thick, black tar.

"I promised you I would relieve you of your pain. You have had your revenge, so your anguish no longer serves a purpose. I can numb you to your pain, with a spell I have been researching. It took me some time, but I believe I've perfected it."

Egeon looked at the Emperor in astonishment. "You actually put effort

into this? For me?"

Zedd smiled, though his mask hid his face from observance. After all, the naïve fool didn't need to know his true motivations for the immense amount of time and power he invested into this little project.

"I had never performed such a spell before," Zedd explained, again gesturing to the flat bed. "Once I found record of a spell designed to numb certain emotions, I needed to refine it for the human nervous system, and adjust what would be blocked. It is finally ready for use."

He held out the bowl, so Egeon could clearly see the contents. "I will activate this salve with my powers, and insert it directly into your brain. It will coat certain very specific synapses within your cerebral cortex and temporal lobes, muting some of your emotional responses and erasing some key memories."

The Karovan swallowed anxiously. "I don't want to forget, Zedd," he stated, his voice fell but steady, "I will never forget the lives of my family. I refuse to let them...disappear

."

Zedd regarded the human for a moment. "Then I will leave your memory intact. You will be free to remember your loved ones, without suffering the emptiness or guilt your mind associates with those memories. You will finally be able to live again, without the handicap of raw anguish." He paused, letting his reassurances sink in. "Isn't that what I offered? What you want?"

The Lord of all Evil waited patiently as the scientist perused the startling proposal.

Finally, Egeon released a long, tired sigh. It ends today.

His decision made, he silently moved to the bed, and sat carefully on the cold, hard surface.

Smirking in triumph, Zedd dipped his razor claws into the dense black lacquer. Then, the shadow of his powerful frame bathed Egeon in darkness, as sharp fingers carefully penetrated skin and bone.

Egeon sat silent, eyes wide in mute terror as those fingers began to glow with vibrant electricity, power burning into his very mind...altering him forever.

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Ten minutes after the strange man left, Kimberly's anxiety made it utterly impossible to sit still an instant longer. She hopped off her luxurious bed; energized by the refreshing sleep she'd enjoyed, yet shaken by the bizarre interest Lord Zedd had taken in her.

She stepped to the balcony, and stared at the brilliant expanse before her. The stars shimmered in the sky, their light unmarred by atmosphere or pollution.

Yet she wasn't in the mood for quiet reverie. Three minutes later, she turned her attention to the room she inhabited.

For now...

she reassured herself.

She spent some time sifting through the elaborate closet, utterly dumbfounded by the variety of clothing. Everything from silk gowns to leather jackets to fleece pajamas greeted her, and hundreds of clearly alien fabrics and styles brought a grimace, a grin, or even a blush to her face.

Still, despite her inherent interest in clothes and shoes, the closet could only hold her attention for so long. She eventually began to pace anxiously, peaking under every piece of furniture as restlessness began to shift to paranoia.

By the time Zedd did appear, she was leaning far over the edge of the balcony, mutely calculating whether she could survive leaping straight down to the distant lunar surface.

"Leaving so soon?"

She managed to swallow a squeak of surprise at his sudden appearance.

"A girl can wait only so long before she gets bored,"

she retorted over her shoulder. She turned around casually, her expression neutral as flaming eyes fell upon the Emperor of Evil himself.

He stood just inside the open door, arms hanging loosely at his sides. "If you leave now, you won't know what I wanted to talk about."

Kim shrugged. "Yeah, that's what Gramps said...two hours ago

."

Zedd's voice carried a touch of amusement. "Egeon is by no means old enough to be your grandsire. He is forty-two of your years old."

Kim did her best to hide her surprise. "Sure didn't look it. Must've spent too much time soaking up UV rays."

"He has lived an arduous life, Kimberly." She still shivered at the sound of her name uttered in his voice. "He lost his daughter to a kidnapper, and his wife and son in a war that culminated in the desolation of his entire planet. Such suffering would age any human."

Kim stared at Zedd, wondering why he decided to share that information. But then, she recalled the frozen green eyes of the doctor who saved her life, and shivered anew.

She decided to change the subject. "Okay, Zedd, let's finish our 'conversation.'

"

She went so far as to gesticulate the quote marks with her fingers.

He strolled slowly into the room, his hands folded behind his back. "I offer you the one thing you cannot achieve without my aid: happiness."

Flame eyes narrowed suspiciously, hands unconsciously falling to her hips. "You sound like one of those corny self-help videos,"

she huffed. "Why would I need your help?"

"I understand the Flame, Kimberly."

She grimaced openly. Why the hell

does he keep saying my name like that??

"You can only feel dark emotions with the power of Chaos and Destruction. To wield that power, you had to sacrifice your purity: your ability to feel compassion, true joy, or most importantly, peace. There is no peace in the heart of Destruction."

Kim's jaw slowly dropped, the surprise blatant on her face. Was that true? Could that be the reason why she didn't feel any peace, when she stared Tommy's death in the face?

She knew she could be satisfied, and even temporarily gleeful...but happy? Content? At peace? The feeling of lull...true freedom from the anxieties placed upon her. When her hatred finally passed, when her enemies were dust at her feet...what would be left to fill that hole?

Every time her mind wound down that dark path, she'd yanked it back with bitter frustration. But now...staring in the face of the most dangerous man she'd ever known...she couldn't think up an acerbic retort, or ignite a surge of fresh anger, to get her passed the roadblock.

She looked away, turning her back from the Emperor and staring again at the glittering expanse of the celestial dome. But she couldn't hide her unease from Zedd's experienced gaze.

"You don't truly want to be incapable of happiness," he reasoned. "Or the other positive emotions the Flame has stripped from you, to fill you with the Chaos necessary to serve as its avatar."

"I sure as hell don't want the Flame

stripped from me,"

she hissed, absently wondering why she was even telling Lord Zedd anything

, "I like it."

Without it I'm weak; vulnerable to heartache, guilt...everything that touched me when Lerigot tried to break the spell...

He made his way closer to her, watching the faintest of trembles in her shoulder. "I have the power to selectively numb certain emotional reactions, letting you experience everything you miss. I can free you, Kimberly."

"Suuure

you can."

After all, she certainly wasn't dumb enough to take the Emperor of Evil's word at face value!

She heard his metal footsteps tap ever closer.

"I understand your hesitance to believe me. So, I ask you to give me a chance. I will provide you unequivocal proof that I can relieve you of your pain, so you can lead a fulfilling life without the sacrifice the Flame demands. Then, once we defeat the Power Rangers, and exact your revenge, you can live...how do they say it on your world? 'Happily ever after'

?"

Kim's hand slowly rose to her face, absently kneading the taut flesh of her forehead as she turned Zedd's offer over in her mind. Everything that happened since Zedd's 'rescue'

was too bizarre to fathom. What was he doing? Did he really

have the means to actually...help her? If so, why the hell

would he want to? But, if he didn't...why would he even bother

going through all this trouble to make her think so??

Her eyes narrowed. I'm missing something here...

She didn't turn to him when she finally spoke. "What's the catch?"

He answered without hesitation. "Be mine."

Finally, the spawn of evil whirled around, her eyes brightening as her anger began to flare. She fixed him with her most menacing glower, eyes burning with such intensity it would turn a lesser man's resolve to jelly. "I am no one's slave."