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

Tommy moaned quietly as he came into awareness. His eyes slowly opened, but there was nothing to see -- everything was pitch black. He felt a searing pain in his chest, and tried to feel if he was bleeding, but his hand wouldn't respond. He then realized that both his arms and legs were restrained. He felt the chill winds blowing against his bare arms and legs, and noticed that he was no longer wearing his insulated Power Ranger uniform. He was lying on his back, wearing his red tank top and beige denim shorts, that reached just below his knee. He struggled against his restraints and tried to cry out, but his voice cracked and he was suddenly out of breath. Breathing became painful and difficult.

I hope I didn't puncture a lung, he thought gloomily, I can tell I have at least one broken rib.

Tommy shut his eyes tightly when a bright light flashed from nowhere. When his eyes adjusted, he lifted his head to see two forms approaching him from an enlightened entrance.

"Hello, Tommy," said the tall one, "I'm glad you're still alive. I was worried I had used too much power. I do hope you're comfortable on Finster's work table."

"Whatever you're looking for...I'm not gonna help...you find it!" wheezed Tommy painfully.

"You're so brave, Boy," chuckled the shorter figure. "But what I have planned for you doesn't require your consent."

Tommy squinted to clear his vision. He recognized Holocaust's mocking voice immediately, but the other voice wasn't clear. He saw a man, about six foot two, with sandy blonde hair and a rather muscular build. He had aqua colored eyes, and he wore a red, white, and blue armored uniform with a gold badge on his chest. Tommy recognized the figure immediately.

"Solar," he mumbled quietly, resting his head back against the cold stone lab table.

"Aren't you surprised to see me?" asked Solar, grinning maliciously. "After all, I'm sure you thought you killed me during our last encounter. I see your hair has gotten even longer!"

"Cut to the point," grumbled Tommy quietly, trying not to show how much pain he was in.

"Fine then. I plan on separating the red Zeo Crystal shard from your body."

Tommy looked up at Solar in surprise. "Why? The shard only responds to its rightful owner -- the one destined to wield its powers."

"Not true. You see, I plan on collecting all six shards to re-create the Zeo Crystal. Then I'm on my way to possessing the M'Kraan Crystal. You have a choice. If you surrender the shard willingly, it will be a painless procedure. If not, then I'll have to extract it myself, which will certainly cause you incredible pain and quite possibly death."

"Do what you will -- you're not getting any help from me," Tommy said weakly, but sternly.

"Fine. Holocaust, hook him up to that device we found in the laboratory."

Holocaust connected a few wires to the bed that Tommy was lying on, and activated one of Lord Zedd's old power-absorption machines. This particular one was the one Zedd used to drain the last vestiges of pink power from Kimberly during her last days as the Pink Ranger.

"This machine will transfer the energies of the crystal into another vessel," Solar explained, grinning. "Once all the energy within the crystal has been absorbed, then I can extract the crystal from your body without worrying about the possible hazards of doing so. Then the energy will be returned to the crystal. Of course by then, you'll be dead. The process should take about an hour to drain all your energy. You have that much time to change your mind. Your body cannot withstand the incredible stress of having the gemstone lose its power while still in you heart. If you surrender the gemstone willingly, I'll let you live."

With that, the two villains left the laboratory and shut the door behind them, leaving Tommy in darkness.

"It won't work!" growled Holocaust. "The boy has too much spirit. He will never give you the gem. You should have just killed him quickly and taken the gem from his corpse."

"How many times do I have to tell you that it might not work?! I refuse to take any chances. Besides, he may not surrender to save his own life, but he surely will to save the lives of the other rangers, and they'll surrender their Zeo shards to save him. Friendship is the humans' greatest weakness. They'd do anything to save each other, even let evil win."

In the Central Access Complex, the six remaining Power Rangers arrived. Annie immediately hid her face behind her mask and visor, and both Billy and Nate turned around in surprise.

"What're you doing here?" asked Billy, "I didn't call you yet."

"Where's Tommy?" asked Nate frowning.

"You don't know?!" cried Kimberly in rage, "Holocaust kidnapped him! He also nearly burned down the whole school! Four students are seriously injured, and the building will take weeks to repair! Its a miracle no one was killed!"

"Impossible," said Billy, running to his personal desk and activating his PC. "If there was any release of powerful energy, the system would have alerted us!"

"Solar probably cloaked the whole thing," said Nate, slamming his fist into a console. "And Holocaust snatched Tommy too?"

"Yes," said Jason. "Our friend Angela saw the whole thing."

"What do we do?" asked Katherine.

"Nate," said Annie, moving towards the zord hangar. "We'd better go now."

"You're right," said Nate, turning to face her, "Tommy's in great danger. Billy, is the Thunderbird Terrazord prepped for take off?"

"Affirmative," answered Billy solemnly. "The ship is cloaked from Solar's telepathic powers. You should be able to fly it close enough to the Moon Palace to enter it stealthily."

"Great!" said Kimberly, strapping her gold helmet back on. "Let's go!"

Annie looked to Nate, turned to her younger self, and sighed.

"Kim, you probably shouldn't come. Solar raised the stakes when he grabbed Tommy."

"There's no way you're going to the Moon without me. You need me."

Nate sighed and nodded his head. "She's right. We'll need all the help we can get."

As the trio ran towards the hangar, a face appeared on the Viewing Globe. A deep chuckle was heard through the audio systems, and Nate stopped in his tracks.

"Onslaught's laugh," he whispered, as he, Kim, and Annie ran back into the CAC. They saw the other rangers circled around the viewing globe. It was a close-up of a human with sandy blonde hair and aqua eyes.

"That's Solar?" asked Jason. "He certainly doesn't look that tough."

"Looks can be deceiving," said Nate quietly.

^Greetings, owners of the Zeo Crystal. I am Solar, the ruler of the Multiverse! I have a deal to offer you.^

The image shifted, and in a dark room, lying on a stone bed connected to a machine was --

"Tommy!" cried Kimberly. "What're you doing to him?"

^This machine drains the energies of the Zeo shard. The process will most likely kill Tommy, since the crystal is still in his body. He has one hour before the process is complete. Therefore, you have one hour to surrender your Zeo shards to me.^

The image disappeared, leaving the Viewing Globe blank.

"Jason," said Kimberly quietly, a golden glow transforming her out of uniform, "we need to buy ourselves time. If we don't come back to Earth before the deadline, give Solar the crystals."

"Excuse me?" said Jason incredulously. "We can't! We'll be helpless, and Solar will conquer the universe! I know how you feel about Tommy, but --"

"Jason, we can always get the crystal back, but once Tommy's dead, he's dead

!!" cried Kimberly, nearly quaking with fear and anger. She raised her arms to the air, and in a flash of yellow light, her yellow Zeo shard floated out of her chest and landed in her palm. She placed it in Jason's hand. Jason looked at her, and nodded in agreement.

"But, Kim, how will you manage to fight without your powers?" whispered Alexis.

"Her telepathic powers are part of her," said Nate. "They'll function without the Zeo shard."

"WHAT?!"

cried all the Power Rangers in shock.

"When Roma created the X-Ranger powers, she used my and Magneto's powers as templates. Magneto and I are both mutants, so, in effect, Kimberly and Zack can access their powers from within, even when the crystal is separated from their bodies. But, its not as powerful, and requires far more focus. But with practice, you can develop formidable natural skills."

"Roma did say that the X-Ranger powers were special," observed Zack.

"Wait a minute!" cried Aisha. "How do you plan to fly the Thunderbird without your Zeo shard, Kim? After all, the crystal is like the ignition!"

"Oh, I didn't think of that," said Kimberly quietly.

"It shouldn't be a problem," said Annie, "I can pilot the zord."

"How?" asked Katherine.

"I...uh," said Annie, searching for an explanation that didn't blow her cover.

"I created a device to allow Annie to pilot the Thunderzord," lied Billy, "just in case we decided that Kim should stay behind."

"Right," said Nate. "Now, we have lives to save."

The three heroes hurried into the zord hangar and sealed the door behind them.

"So," said Kimberly, "how are you going to activate the zord?"

"Simple," said Annie, lifting her arms to the sky, "TERRA LIGHTNING POWER!!"

After a blinding flash of yellow light, Annie was wearing the yellow uniform and golden shield of the Yellow Terran Power Ranger. Kimberly's jaw dropped.

"Yellow Thunderbird...ACTIVATE

!!" continued Annie, and the whole hangar was saturated with yellow light. The red eyes of the Thunderbird began to glow, and its beak opened, releasing a loud shriek. The beak remained open, and the three heroes entered the ship and climbed up the ladder, which lead to the cockpit. Annie buckled up at the pilot's seat as Kim and Nate sat in passenger seats in the back.

"Billy," said Annie into the communicator. "Is the cloaking device on line?"

^It will be, once you activate the voice identification scanner,^

said Billy's voice.

Annie turned off the communicator and flipped a switch.

"PLEASE STATE FULL NAME, COLOR, AND POWER SOURCE"

said