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

of us is dying today,"

she resolved. "There's no way in Hell

I'll let you walk away from this after everything you put me…us

…through!!"

"Fine." The Ruler of Phlegethon, Emperor of Evil, galactically feared Lord Zedd raised his hands. Lightning crawled along his fingers, slithering to the sterling tips.

Kimberly howled as her body was suddenly shocked by more voltage than the whole city of Angel Grove used in an entire day.

The fierce Titan warrior was having the time of his life.

True, he had to struggle to maintain consciousness, still reeling from the fist Kimberly launched into his face. True, his tongue still burned from his fight with Tommy on Earth. True, his entire body was sore from the back-to-back battles.

But battle was what any Titan warrior lived for, and nothing was sweeter than facing a worthy, deeply-hated nemesis.

Yes, his hatred Tommy Oliver burned like the sun. The boy had insulted him by becoming Rita's prize warrior. The powerless human had infuriated him by stealing his sword to escape the Dark Dimension in which the Green Candle flickered. The obnoxious White Ranger humiliated him time and again, tossing bristling insults while cleaving holes into the warrior's pride.

However, Tommy had been beaten. Lord Zedd himself had designed the perfect revenge. Did it truly matter that his Master's intentions were still blurred? So what if vengeance was secondary to quenching his thirst for the girl? The end result was the same: the leader of the Power Rangers would suffer a heartache that would only be healed by the release of his own demise.

But Jason was another story.

The original Red Power Ranger wasn't part of Zedd's ultimate plan. Therefore, his fate hadn't been decided; and Goldar was more than eager to interminably end the human's heroic career.

Jason had also humiliated him, by leading a group of young, inexperienced, inadequate new Power Rangers to victory time and again. Only a few months into his Ranger career, he had survived one-on-one combat with the bloodthirsty Titan in Rita's Dark Dimension, without his friends or his powers to come to his aid. They fought again in the Dark Dimension, the fate of the Green Ranger hanging in the balance. Goldar took a small measure of pride in the fact Jason had failed to extinguish the Green Candle. Only, it was a small

victory, for Jason wasn't actually defeated in that confrontation. He elected

to leave, choosing his friend's life over his powers. And once again, Jason walked away from a battle with the mighty Goldar of Titan, unscathed despite fighting without

the Power to protect him.

There was far less shame in losing to the White Ranger, armed with magical armor and the Great Power, than losing to a single, powerless human boy in his own alien domain.

His duty called him to simply seal the Red Ranger in the Dark Dimension, and see to the escaped prisoner and the other Turbo Rangers that were predictably waiting for their leader to return. Yet his warrior's heart yearned for satisfaction. He had to wait years

for the opportunity to exact proper retribution against Jason. The boy had left the Rangers before Goldar demand a final showdown, and there was no sport in simply murdering the boy without the Power. In order to prove himself, Goldar had to confront the boy in all his glory.

Now, the gods of Vengeance have smiled upon the Titan. There was no escape for the Red Ranger. They would fight, no holds barred, until one of them was dead. The only way for Jason to rejoin his friends was to defeat him, and force the sword from his cold, unfeeling fingers.

A mighty swing managed to smash the Red Ranger's sword to the high right, leaving his vulnerable abdomen open. With a feral grin, one heavy, armored foot plowed into his solar plexus, earning a grunt of pain and throwing the human into the nearest wall.

"Your fighting skills have atrophied, Jason," Goldar gloated, watching the Red Ranger regain his bearings. "It's been a while since you've last been in a lethal situation."

Jason steadied himself on his feet, stretching his shoulders to ease the soreness of colliding with unyielding rock at forty miles an hour. "Not as long as you'd think, Goldar."

Unlike Tommy, who enjoyed ruffling Goldar's feathers with taunts like "Dogbreath"

or "Monkey Brains,"

Jason had a grudging respect for the warrior. He enjoyed the purity of a battle between two monumental powers, unblemished by childish insults or mockery. True, Zack's influence helped the serious young man develop the ability to find the humor in a bad situation, but he never let levity spoil the grim beauty of a good fight.

Yes, Jason was anxious to save his friends. Yes, Jason was worried to the core for Kimberly, and the horrifying reality that he may never see her again. Still, despite all the urgency that demanded he expedite his victory, a significant part of him yearned to indulge in the simple art of a meaningful duel between two worthy opponents.

It had been so long since he flexed the Power. On Muiranthias, the Flame gave him a dark, corrupting power…not the brilliant, lofty pulse of life he'd experienced as a Power Ranger. And while he did enjoy his brief career as the Gold Ranger, on some fundamental level it just felt wrong

. The Gold Ranger Powers were designed for a Triforian, making them uncomfortable to wield. And even if those powers were flawless, there was something slightly off about fighting with a staff, or wearing anything but his signature color.

Now, he immersed himself in the utter satisfaction of being the Red Ranger again. Of fighting in crimson armor, arcing a peerless sword with the grace of instinct. The only thing better than experiencing the thrill of his former glory was exercising it against a foe he esteemed, and despised.

Jason had taken merely a moment to shake off the dazing effect of Goldar's last blow, and readied himself. The Turbo armor wasn't vastly more durable than the Morphin' uniform, but the greatest benefit to these new powers was the speed the Rangers were capable of reaching.

He knew he could end this quickly…he should

end this quickly. So, he commanded the Turbo Sword to dissolve, settling into a tiger stance. At least I got this last fight,

he reasoned, a grim smile pulling his hidden lip. This is probably my last battle as the Red Ranger…

And then, his form disappeared into a blur of crimson.

Goldar was reduced to groans of pain and growls of outrage as he was suddenly pummeled by a force that moved so fast, he was hard-pressed to retaliate. The blows rained on his armor, the dull pain reaching his skin, causing him to ache and keeping him off balance.

He swung his sword in a haze of anger, making his movements uncharacteristically sloppy. He tried to follow the pattern of the blows, but by the time he swung in the direction of a new pain, Jason was already doling the next blow.

Utterly overwhelmed, Goldar lifted his face and shrieked lividly. Jason came to a halt right beside the gargantuan warrior, his fist poised.

"You know, you really should consider adding a full-coverage helmet to the ensemble," he advised, before plowing his closed-fist into the blue snout.

The Titan stumbled, hands automatically flying to his face to stop the gout of blood from his nose.

Jason smirked as he picked up the abandoned gold long sword. "Goodbye, Goldar."

Before the Titan could even open his eyes against the pain, the Red Ranger cleaved a hole into the dimensional walls, reopening the fissure. With a grim salute devoid of any mockery, he stepped through the portal, and sealed it behind him.

He heard Goldar's passionate roar fade as he passed into Lord Zedd's throne room. Once both feet were secure on the smooth stone floor, he turned back to the fissure.

"This ought to hold you," he thought aloud, dragging the long sword along the fissure. The opening zipped closed, darkening the throne room ominously.

Jason pivoted full-circle. Where is everyone?

He moved toward the open wrought iron doors, the golden long sword still secure in his grasp, when a sudden, echoing shriek froze him in place.

His eyes widened beneath his helmet. "Oh God…"

The Red Ranger immediately burst into a run, navigating the eerie, torch-lit hallways as best he could.

The acoustics in the foreboding tunnels of Lord Zedd's palace were perfect for carrying the sounds of anguish. It almost seemed as if the walls themselves reveled in screams, echoing them through the walls so profoundly it almost seemed like the poor victim was merely inches away, when in reality miles of winding hallways could lay between them.

When such a tortured shriek drummed into Tommy's ears, an empathic agony far worse than any pain his own body endured weakened his knees. "Kim!"

he screamed, as loudly and urgently as he could. "We're coming!!"

Katherine, who led the group, stopped dead in her tracks as the tunnel through which they ran forked into two paths. "Uh oh…"

Justin stared to the left, peering into the seemingly endless path. "This place is huge!"

"With all the echoing, we can't even figure out where the…the voice

is coming from," Tanya noted, hands on her hips. "Kat, do you have any idea which way to go?"

The Pink Ranger shrugged helplessly. "I…I'm not sure." She pointed down the left hallway. "I know Finster's laboratory is that way, as are stairwells leading to the catacombs, as well as one tower. I'm pretty sure Goldar's rooms are that way too." Then she turned right. "Uh…I remember Rita's library was that way. I never spent much time there." She sighed heavily. "Frankly, they could be in either

direction."

The Green Ranger lifted his wrist to his mouthpiece. "Zordon? Do you read?"

The team congregated around Adam, waiting restlessly for a response. After several unbearable moments, Adam deactivated his communicator.

"No good," he reported, "There's too much interference."

Tommy screwed his