Streaks of Purple Saga Volume Three - Heather Ray (bts book recommendations .TXT) 📗

She raced along the pavement, caramel hair flying behind her like a raging comet's tail. She swerved around bicyclists, groups of people chatting, and even teens using the payphones that lined the entrance to the Youth Center.

Once inside, she slid to a stop, her grip tightening on a faintly pink envelope. Upon rapid surveillance, she noted Alexis and Jason on the mats, the latter inspecting his newest student's aikido stance. Billy and Trini were assembled at the Juice Bar, chatting with Richie.

"...didn't even pick out a costume yet," Richie continued, wiping the bar after collecting the group's cups, "I have to come... I'm actually working that night."

Trini frowned. "That's a shame," she said quietly.

"Well, if you need a costume, you should consider Masquerade in the Plaza," Billy reported, "I read in the Gazette a few days ago that Masquerade is a large costume store in Los Angeles, and is quite popular with the residents. The owner lives in Stone Canyon, and the past two years she opened a smaller seasonal shop in the Plaza. I've heard it's very unique... it's designed like a cavern, and the attendants are in costume."

Richie nodded thoughtfully, "I'll give it a try. Thanks, Billy."

Richie then shot a parting smile to Trini before returning to his duties.

Trini sighed quietly. "It stinks that he's actually working during the Halloween Ba-"

"Guys!" Kimberly breathed, her hands falling roughly on Trini and Billy's shoulders.

The Yellow and Blue Rangers nearly fell over at the force the petite Pink Ranger placed on them.

"I just got a letter from Tommy!" she squealed, twirling on her toes in delight, "He's coming home at the end of the week!"

"That's terrific!" Trini added, standing up and giving her exuberant friend a tight hug, "We've all missed him."

"We've got to throw him a surprise party," Kim gushed, pacing near the bar, "The works! A big cake, ice cream... Tommy loves ice cream... popcorn, decorations...!"

Billy and Trini exchanged amused grins as Kim continued to rattle off a "to-do" list.

"We've got to tell the other guys!" Kim decided "We've got to plan this right. Where's Zack?"

"I believe he is at the park with Curtis," Billy reported.

"Then let's go!"

The Blue and Yellow Rangers watched as Kimberly leapt onto the mats, distracting Alexis halfway through an attempted downward block.

She released a startled "Ooof!" as Jason's fist connected with her stomach.

"Alexis!" both Jason and Kim shouted, watching dumbly as she took a few steps back to regain her balance.

The new Purple Ranger giggled helplessly at her teammates' startled expressions. "Good thing for me you're just demonstrating," she wheezed.

"Where's the fire, Kim?" Jason asked, turning his attention to Kimberly.

"We've gotta find Zack," she declared, "Tommy's coming home!"

"Zordon? We're ready."

"AND THE RANGERS?"

"I've been keeping an eye on them. Zack is in Angel Grove Park, and the other five are in the Youth Center. Tommy is just emerging from the lake outside his uncle's cabin."

"ZEDD?"

"All's quiet on the moon so far."

Zordon grimaced. "I FEAR THAT LORD ZEDD WILL BE ABLE TO SENSE THE MORPHIN' GRID IS COMPROMISED."

"But there's no other way. Whether we do this now or later, it will still disable the Morphin' Grid."

The wise sage sighed deeply. "VERY WELL. I WILL JOIN YOU BOTH IN THE HIDDEN CHAMBER ONCE THE CONNECTION IS ESTABLISHED."

Alpha nodded, and watched as Zordon vanished from the Transdimension Cylinder, leaving only sparks of pure blue energy in his wake. The diminutive robot then turned his attention to the teleporter.

He pressed a few buttons, and almost instantaneously, a flash of white energy materialized in the center of the darkened Command Center.

Tommy raised his head from his towel, a shiver racing through his wet body at the sudden chill of his surroundings. He blinked several times, wide brown eyes skimming the Command Center in absolute confusion.

His perplexed gaze finally landed on Alpha. "What's going on?"

"Follow me, Tommy," Alpha advised, "It's time to make you a Power Ranger again."

Tommy frowned skeptically, but followed Alpha. He jumped slightly when a fissure appeared out of thin air, faint light pouring through it.

"Whoa," he muttered, and stepped into the hole in reality. He was shocked speechless when he got a full view of the Hidden Chamber.

The Hidden Chamber was very spacious, the walls lined with tools that ranged from the size of a school bus to that of a thumbtack. Also, another clear blue Transdimension Cylinder stood near the center of the room, surrounded by various computers that blinked in a myriad of colors.

But those objects didn't even reach Tommy's thought process. Instead, he stood utterly thunderstruck, his jaw hanging in visible astonishment at what stood in the furthest corner of the chamber... a circular table, almost resembling a computerized podium, that was nearly the size of his own bedroom. And stretching from that podium was a brilliant column of energy, pulsing with immeasurable power, and stretching to the ceiling and then beyond. It was almost a rainbow, the energy broken into individual beams of Red, Blue, Black, Yellow, and Pink energy.

And strangely enough, a gap slowly formed between the Red and Pink, and gradually grew larger.

"Wh...what is that?"

"It's the Morphin' Grid," Alpha answered.

Tommy's eyes widened to even greater proportions. "Really? This is the Power?"

"Well, not quite," the robot clarified, "The actual energies that fuel the Power Coins aren't generated by this device. The Morphin' Grid was designed to channel energies from a hidden source, enabling Zordon to further break it into five 'streams,' which are then distributed to five people through the Power Coins, dampened slightly for safety reasons through the Morphers."

Tommy blinked, his overwhelmed mind slowly processing what Alpha said... as well as what he didn't say. "What about the Green and Purple Rangers?"

"Different power source. Which is why making the Green Ranger evil was a brilliant move on Rita's part. Any of the core Rangers could have been stripped of his powers right here, by manipulating the Morphin' Grid. But the Green and Purple Rangers are actually independent of Zordon, and the Command Center."

Tommy jumped when, seemingly out of nowhere, a narrow beam of energy erupted from the very center of the vacant space between Red and Pink.

That energy beam slowly expanded, crawling outward. And that energy was a blazing, blinding White.

"What's... going on?" Tommy whispered.

"Zordon is currently adding a Power Ranger to the Morphin' Grid."

For the first time, Tommy's gaze dropped from the enormous energy column. He stared at Alpha incredulously. "Are you serious? He's making a new Ranger? Completely new?!"

Alpha laughed at Tommy's disbelief. "Making a new Ranger isn't really that hard. We already had the template so it only took us a few hours. The really hard part is adapting this new Ranger, in order to fully incorporate him with the current team. That's what we've been working on for weeks

- trying to analyze how to modify the design to allow this new Ranger to serve with the others, but without depriving him of too much of the power he would wield in his unaltered state. And another key step is determining how safe this modified power will be for a human."

Alpha then waved to Tommy, and the mind-blown former Green Ranger followed him to another computer station, where a small golden disk sat atop a glass bed, a faint white energy glowing from some source beneath the glass.

Tommy noted the smooth surface of the coin, and gasped when suddenly, the surface began to warp. Slowly, small bubbles of liquid gold began to sprout, creating a protruding design. Some parts sank in, creating fine, chiseled lines along the protrusion.

Finally, the perfected design emerged: a tiger.

"It worked!" Alpha gasped, clapping his hands in delight. Tommy marveled at the Power Coin whose birth he had just witnessed. A thought occurred to him, and he rapidly swiveled around.

As he suspected, the white beam of energy was fully complete, the edges touching and blending with the Red and Pink bands of light surrounding it.

"A White Tiger Ranger," Tommy breathed, frowning thoughtfully. His concerns were momentarily interrupted when a blaze of blue-tinted energy flashed in the chamber, and Zordon appeared within the Trandimension Cylinder.

"Everything went great!" Alpha reported, "The gold disc took on the properties of the White Tiger, just like you said it would! Now the White Ranger will Morph just like the core Rangers."

"EXCELLENT." Zordon's ancient gaze then fell towards Tommy. "I SUSPECT ALPHA INFORMED YOU OF THIS PROJECT DURING MY ABSENCE."

Tommy nodded. "He explained it."

"NOW THAT YOU KNOW MY INTENTION, YOU MUST KNOW THE RISK," Zordon grimly informed him, "THE WHITE RANGER POWERS THAT I HAVE JUST CREATED ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THEIR ORIGINAL DESIGN, SINCE I HAD TO MODIFY THEM FOR USE WITH THE CURRENT TEAM. THERE IS NO WAY TO DETERMINE HOW SAFE IT IS FOR A RANGER TO WIELD THIS POWER... UNTIL ONE ACTUALLY ACCEPTS THE POWER. THERE IS NO PRECEDENT TO RELY UPON."

He paused for a moment, letting the consequences sink in. "IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE POWER COIN CANNOT EFFECTIVELY CHANNEL THE ENERGY, OR THAT THE MORPHER CANNOT PROPERLY DAMPEN THIS INTENSIFIED POWER. THE WHITE RANGER POWERS MAY POISON YOUR BODY, OR WEAR YOU DOWN AS THE GREEN RANGER POWERS DID DURING THEIR DECLINE. AND YOU WILL ALSO BE THE FIRST RANGER TO ACTUALLY TAKE ON TWO POWERS. THERE IS NO WAY TO DETERMINE AHEAD OF TIME WHETHER THE FAINT RESIDUALS STILL IN YOUR BODY FROM THE GREEN COIN WILL INTERFERE WITH THIS NEW POWER. KNOWING THE RISKS... DO YOU ACCEPT THE WHITE TIGER POWERS?"

Tommy remained silent for several minutes, folding his arms in grim consideration. He exhaled sharply, his fingers grazing his forehead as his mind replayed Zordon's warning again and again.

Then, he finally spoke. "If you're willing to offer me this new power, then you must feel the chances are pretty good that nothing terrible will happen to me if I accept them, right?"

"THAT IS MY BELIEF."