The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 3 by Heather Ray (macos ebook reader TXT) 📕

, gang."

"You said it," said Adam, "I remember it like it was yesterday...you, me, Tanya, Tommy, Kat, and Billy were digging through this mess, searching for the entrance to the hidden passageway leading to the Central Access Complex. If memory serves, the tunnel is near the staircase...which means this way!"

Adam led the rangers to the location of the tunnel opening. They found it just as it was over a decade ago, a lone manhole cover sticking out of the earth. Jason and Tom pulled off the cover, revealing a dark staircase.

"Funny," said Kimberly. "This all seems spookier than it did last time around."

"Okay, gang," said Tom, "we'll split up into two teams, and search for the CAC. I don't think any one of us remembers the exact layout of the underground maze, and we don't have forever to fumble around in the dark. We should divide the team in terms of who has the special equipment, so how about...me, Kimberly, Rocky, and Zack take one route, and Jason, Adam, and Katherine go the other way?"

"Sounds good to me," said Jason, "I'll go first, and Adam and Kat can follow me. We'll take the left path."

With that, Jason crawled down the ladder into the thick darkness. He waved away the hot steam from his face, and peered into the tunnel. He then pressed a button on his belt, and a wash of bright white light filled the dank tunnel. Right behind him, Katherine and Adam crawled down the ladder.

"You said the left tunnel?" asked Adam, activating his belt flashlight.

"Yep," said Jason, walking into the tunnel. "Let's go. But be careful, gang. I have a funny feeling that Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa know what we're up to."

Meanwhile, a pair of eyes watched the group from behind a crimson visor. Suddenly, the room began to glow an even brighter shade of red, reflecting its master's red-hot anger.

"Blast!" he roared, slamming his fist into the balcony. "Those brats are in the tunnels!"

"Why didn't you stop them earlier?" asked Rita, who was busily filing her nails while sitting on Zedd's throne.

"Because I couldn't find them! Billy refused to tell us their locations, and without the Zeo shards, those annoying pests don't emit a power signature for me to track down. I've been keeping my eye on the Command Center ruins, where the CAC is buried underneath, and seven former rangers are there, ready for action. I guess a decade of inactivity didn't slow them down..."

"Nonsense," said Rita, standing up and standing beside her husband. "Those rangers have no power to protect them! There is no way they can defeat you! And even if they do find their way through that maze, there's still that squad of Viper Putties to deal with. Do you really think those pests could defeat an outnumbering group of Viper Putties, whose very saliva is a poisonous venom? I sincerely doubt it."

"But, just to be on the safe side, I think a monster is in store," said Lord Zedd, walking away from the balcony.

"Where are you going?" asked Rita.

"To the dungeon. I've finally got a use for our dear William James Mitchell."

Lord Zedd marched to the dungeon, closely followed by his not-quite-blushing bride. Soon, they were in the catacombs of the palace, where three human astronauts were imprisoned inside one stone and iron cell. Zedd walked up to the bars, expecting to be greeted by a few harsh insults from the brain of the Power Rangers. But, much to his shock, there was no one in the dungeon.

"WHAT?!?!"

he roared furiously. Rita gasped when she saw the empty prison cell. She then folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently on the stone floor.

"Great idea, locking the three of them up together," she mumbled, "I feel a headache coming on..."

"Oh, shut up!" yelled Zedd, melting the iron bars with his staff. "There must be a clue in here as to how they escaped! Start looking!"

Rita and Zedd peered at the stone wall, the stone floor, the remaining iron bars, and even under the four cots positioned in each of the four corners. Other than a shattered water bowl on the floor, there was nothing. Rita glanced at the bowl, completely disregarding it. But, she did a double take, and a sly grin crossed her face.

"Zeddie," she said, kneeling and picking up a rather large piece of jagged glass, "do you think Billy used one of these to chip at the mortar surrounding one of the stones?"

"Yes," said Zedd, examining the piece of glass. "But, which stone..."

"Let's just find the loose stone, and send a few Viper Putties to follow Billy and his friends," suggested Rita, "We don't have time to be searching ourselves, and we didn't bring any of our henchmen with us!"

"Fine," said Zedd. "But there still is the problem of the monster. I really want to send one down right now, just in case the rangers actually succeed. Besides, its about time we started pummeling Earth's civilizations, and conquering it!"

"Look," said Rita. "Why don't you look around for the loose stone, while I go to Finster's lab and find a suitable monster. I'm sure I can figure out how the Monster-Matic works."

"Very well," said Zedd, peering at the stones lining the bars. "We'll split up. Oh, and if you happen to accidentally find Billy or his friends, kill them. They're too bothersome."

Rita walked out of the dungeon, and made her way to Finster's lab on foot, which was in the tower by the throne room. She could've teleported to the lab, but this way, she can keep an eye out for Will and his two companions. However, she didn't feel a set of eyes watching her from a concealed location -- behind an iron grate sealing off the ventilation system.

"I wonder where she's going," whispered Will, watching as the empress of evil passed the grate.

"Where do we go now, Will?" asked Natasha.

"You two stay here," he instructed, "I don't think those aliens will think of the ventilation system. I'll follow that one, and find out what her plan is."

"Are you sure?" asked James, "What if something happens to you?"

"Then just stay one step ahead of these aliens, until help arrives. Just don't let them find you, I doubt they'll be so merciful as to just imprison you the second time."

Natasha and James nodded quietly, and Will pried off the grate, and crawled onto the hallway floor. He immediately put the grate back on, and listened carefully. Large hallways like that one usually create an echo, so he snuck through the path as quietly as humanly possible, following Rita. After a while, he found her in Finster's lab.

Of course!

he thought, quickly ducking under the lab table while Rita was busily examining a dozen or so clay statues of monsters, I should've thought of this before! Zedd and Rita use magic, but Finster is the only villain to use science! If anyone has a mechanical teleporter or communicator, it'd be Finster. As soon and Rita leaves, I search the equipment, and find a way to contact the CAC, so when the rangers retrieve their powers, they'll know I'm still alive! Maybe, if I'm really lucky, there'll be a teleportation device here too!

"Hmm," thought Rita out loud, going down a row of miniature monsters, "Lizzinator... done that, Eye Eye Guy... done that, Pudgy Pig... good lord, done too many times! Aha, here's a new one!"

Rita selected a small statue of a dinosaur, with ferocious fangs, dangerous claws, and a mighty tail.

"It kinda looks like the Dragonzord," she observed, bringing the clay monster to Finster's lab table. She placed him on the table and began to leaf through Finster's monster handbook. Billy held his breath, a chill leaping up his spine when Rita approached him.

"Now," she said, "let's see what this thing does. Hmm, there it is! Verdus, eh? 'I designed the Verdus monster out of the classic television creature Godzilla.' Well, now I know what Finster did all that time I was gone... watch television! 'Like the Earth legend, my Verdus can spit fire, ravaging all in his path. Also I integrated some of the Dragonzord's attacks, since there is an obvious likeness. Like the Dragonzord, Godzilla can create a beam of energy from the large spike atop his head, use his tail as a whip, and he also can fire his claws like missiles, and they'll slice straight through almost anything. He also has a powerful, Earth-shattering roar, which can disturb whomever he faces in combat. I thought it'd be an interesting study in human psychology to attack them with a creature familiar to them only in a purely fictional fashion. If this works, my next creature may be the Big-Foot, or Loch Ness Monster... Well, that's enough of that."

Rita cackled and activated the Monster-Matic by pressing the large red button. She then placed Verdus on the conveyor belt, and pulled a lever, causing the machine to pull the clay monster into the furnace. Rita waited a few minutes, rubbing her hands in anticipation, and finally a six foot slimy dinosaur fell from the large pipe atop the machine. Verdus roared furiously, and saliva dripped from his vicious fangs. Rita examined her monster from head to toe, and smiled in delight.

"Not bad, for my first monster," she congratulated herself, taking her monster by his claw. "Now, come on, Verdus. I'm going to introduce you to my husband, Lord Zedd!"

Suddenly, Verdus began sniffing the air, like a hunting dog would when it catches wind of its prey. He sniffed in the direction of the lab table, and fought against Rita's grip to approach it.

"Now, now," said Rita, yanking him away from the lab table. "Aren't you anxious to do some damage! Well, first things first, my pet."

With that, both Rita and the monster vanished from the lab. Will waited for a few minutes, allowing his heart to slow down a bit from its rapid pace. Finally, he peeked his head out from behind the table cloth, and glanced around. Once he noticed that no one was around, he approached the large iron door of the lab, and peeked out into the hallway. He pulled the door closed, and bolted it tight, and then began examining all the machines in the room.

"Wow," he whispered, looking around, "Finster has a lot of inventions here. Let's see, there's a dream monitor, a love potion, a hate potion, a power absorption table...this must be what Zedd used to drain Kim's pink power from her body! Um, what else?"

Will circled around the huge lab, desperately searching for either a communicator or a teleporter.