Streaks of Purple Saga/Spectrum Force - Heather Ray (best beach reads txt) 📗

The Other North Pole

"Interesting," Finster noted, staring into the energy field with new interest. When he arrived at the North Pole at Lord Zedd's direction, he'd only found a formless focus of mysterious energy that didn't quite match anything he'd ever encountered. He'd studied it carefully, analyzing the frequency and proving without a doubt that whatever the energy was, it was not from Zordon or the Power Rangers. This field had a wholly different source, and it gnawed at the scientist's curiosity.

Then, just a moment ago, the invisible energy coalesced into a flat screen, almost like a portal. Finster had gawked in surprise at a man with a green mask, standing in stark contrast with the relative darkness of the background. He'd hurriedly recorded this finding in his notes, capturing a picture for further research.

Then, when he glanced back at the portal, its properties suddenly changed. The scenery within the portal rapidly changed, transforming into a swirling mass of blood, fire, and pure death.

Finster startled, and stumbled backwards. "Chaos!"

Regaining his courage, the genius crept closer to the portal, watching the readings on his handheld scanner with wide, fearful eyes. "This is not like when Lord Zedd summoned the Erebus. It is not just a creature being called forth. This is a hole

, opening the way to whatever chooses to pass into our dimension."

He then turned around, noting the Putty Patrolers that stood guard at the opening. "Three of you, come here!"

The Putties bowed to their leader, the three closest ones ambling into the darkness.

Finster reached into his bag of equipment, and drew out three handheld light sources. "Each of you, take one and scatter into a triangle. I want the entire cavern lit as bright as day."

The Putties followed the instructions to the letter, and the floodlights illuminated every nook and cranny in the cave.

Finster fell to his knees, running his scanner along the frozen ground. "There must be something; some kind of spell or enchanted object that opened this portal. Some way to close it, before-"

A razor-sharp pincher suddenly stretched out of the opening, snapping the air less than a foot away from Finster's head. The scientist shuddered, crawling away as crab-like creature stepped into a material realm, taking shape before his very eyes.

"A Chaotic." Finster's heart skipped a beat as the beast emerged fully, stretching its bloodthirsty claws toward him.

"Putties, attack!" he screeched.

Had the Putties been capable of basic thought or survival instinct, they would have ignored the command and raced to the exit. It was all but impossible for the drones to survive a clash with a Chaotic. However, they served their purpose. The Chaotic eagerly cleaved through the clay warriors as they crowded it, allowing Finster the precious few moments he needed to high-tail it out of the cave.

Panting with near panic, the scientist activated his own teleportation spell, whisking him to the haven of the Moon Palace. As he materialized in his laboratory, he heaved a great sigh of relief, suddenly absurdly grateful that Rita had moved the palace to the moon ten thousand years ago.

Shaking off his terror, Finster hurried toward the throne room. Surely, Lord Zedd should be informed that a portal to Chaos had opened, apparently without cause.

Angel Grove

Jocelyn sighed, running her fingers through her loose hair as she paced before the Viewing Globe. "That gold guy didn't really say what he wanted with me."

"It seems like he was targeting you specifically," Trini commented. She then smirked at her own mistake. "Rather, he was targeting Kim

specifically."

Jocelyn nodded. "You're right. He did call me 'Kimberly.' But what would he want with a random high school student?"

Billy rubbed his chin. "On occasion Lord Zedd does target us individually. A few weeks ago he had Goldar kidnap Kim to make her his queen. Is it possible he decided to try again?"

Tommy stewed quietly against a console. "He'd better not," he snarled.

Jocelyn's eyes widened as she stared at Tommy, and then Billy. "You don't mean Lord Zedd actually knows you guys are the Power Rangers, do you?"

"Yes," Trini responded. "Rita Repulsa, Zedd's predecessor, knew who we were the day Zordon gave us the Power Coins. I think these evil sorcerers can detect the Power in us."

The Orange Enforcer frowned. "So what's the point of keeping secret identities if your enemies already know? I mean, doesn't it make your life that much harder?"

"IT IS THE CODE OF THE POWER RANGERS TO MAINTAIN THE SECRET," Zordon explained. "EACH ONE OF THEM HAS SACRIFICED MUCH TO SERVE AS EARTH'S DEFENDERS. SHOULD THEY REVEAL THEIR TRUE IDENTITIES TO THE PUBLIC, THEY WILL NO LONGER HAVE THE REFUGE OF A NORMAL LIFE. LIFE IN THE PUBLIC EYE IS A GREAT STRAIN, AND WOULD DISTRACT THEM FROM THEIR DUTIES."

Jocelyn chewed her lower lip, considering. "That makes sense… but it would make more

sense if the invaders couldn't just pick you off one by one in your sleep."

Zack grimaced as if the thought had never occurred to him. "Lucky for us Zedd doesn't think like that."

The image of the Denebian princess, grinning gleefully as she speared Keith with her magic-disrupting dart, made Jocelyn shiver. "Yeah, lucky you."

Even though she'd only seen Celea for a few brief moments, the bloodlust in those crimson eyes spoke volumes. She would definitely

think like that…

The sudden scream of the alarms nearly made Jocelyn jump out of her skin.

"Incredible," Billy murmured, staring at a computer screen, "It looks like the portal in the North Pole has… changed?"

"Something has emerged from it!" Alpha declared.

That caught everyone's attention.

"Can you bring up a visual?" Jason wondered.

"Can you tell if it's human?" Tommy questioned.

"What about that blizzard?" Trini pointed out.

"RANGERS," Zordon spoke, "OUR SENSORS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO IDENTIFY A FAMILIAR ENERGY SIGNATURE RADIATING FROM THE POLE."

The wise sage paused. Even though his face was blurred, Jason could see the stricken look in his luminous blue eyes.

"What is it, Zordon?" the former leader questioned.

"CHAOS."

The collective gasp of horror and surprise startled the Orange Enforcer. Her heart raced as she stared at each Ranger in turn. "What does that mean?"

Tommy was the first to recover. His open-mouthed shock slowly transformed into something entirely different: focused determination.

"It means we've got one hell of a fight on our hands," he realized. He approached the center of the computer consoles, grabbing his helmet along the way. "Zordon, is there any way to tell what we're up against?"

"UNFORTUNATELY NO. THE ATMOSPHERIC STORM HAS CALMED, BUT THE COMBINATION OF THE WEATHER AND THE OVERWHELMING ENERGY STREAMING FROM THAT LOCATION MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A CLEAR VISUAL SIGNAL, OR TO GET SAFE COORDINATES FOR TELEPORTATION."

"Then we go in blind," Tommy recognized, his face disappearing behind the stylized gold tiger's face of his helmet. "Shall we take the Zords?"

Billy frowned thoughtfully. "Without Kim we can't construct either Megazord. We'll have to take the individual ones, and it'll take us some time to cover North America."

"Then I'll provide the transportation," Jocelyn volunteered. "We need to get to the Pole pronto, and see exactly what happened to the portal that brought me here!"

"How do you plan to transport us?" Billy asked, intrigued. "Do you have the ability to teleport?"

She held up her ring. "Close enough. You get us out of this building, and point me North. I'll handle it from there."

The Rangers glanced at each other dubiously. It was Tommy who made the decision.

"Alpha, teleport us as close to the North Pole as you can. If possible, keep us clear from any cities or towns."

"You got it, Tommy."

The rest of the team collected their helmets as the robot began an area search for a safe destination. As the group huddled together, Alexis turned to Jocelyn.

"So, how fast can you fly?"

"Light speed." She could feel the disbelieving stares even through the visors, and hastily elaborated. "To do so I need to convert into a beam of light, which I guess is a lot like what you do with your teleporter. But I can't convert others into light, meaning I'll have to carry you." She then grinned. "We'll have to see how fast I can fly with passengers."

"THIS IS A SOUND PLAN, RANGERS," Zordon decided. "YOU WILL BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN A CERTAIN DEGREE OF STEALTH AS YOU APPROACH THE SITE OF THE CHAOTIC ENERGY."

Zordon continued. "BILLY, BRING THE SCANNER TOMMY USED DURING HIS FIRST JOURNEY TO THE NORTH POLE. IT WILL HELP GUIDE YOU IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION, AS WELL AS GIVE YOU A BASELINE OF HOW THE PORTAL USED TO REGISTER. THIS INFORMATION MAY HELP YOU DETERMINE WHAT HAS HAPPENED."

Billy nodded, separating from the others to recover the back-mounted unit.

"I think I found a good location," Alpha announced proudly, "It's about twelve miles from the source of the energy readings. Scanners are showing it's deserted, for now."

"Perfect," Billy stated, rejoining his teammates. "We're all set to go."

"MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU, RANGERS," Zordon spoke, watching his charges vanish in columns of energy. Even though he gave the same blessing every time the Rangers went into battle, this time the Rangers needed it more than usual.

Dread chilled the ancient mage as he imagined what horrors his young team might face. At least when the Rangers battled Erebus, he was able to offer guidance. This time, the Rangers would face an unknown threat, though the stamp of Chaos was more than enough evidence of great danger.

But that did not mean he couldn't be of some

use.

"ALPHA, LOCATE A SAFE, SPACIOUS AREA AS FAR NORTH AS POSSIBLE. THEN, TELEPORT THE THUNDER ZORDS THERE. SHOULD THE RANGERS NEED TO SUMMON THEM, THEY WILL RESPOND MORE QUICKLY."

The Edenoid robot jumped eagerly. "That's a great idea, Zordon!"

Zordon nodded, but was unable to mirror his assistant's enthusiasm.