Power Rangers Zeo - Venusian Encounters - Heather Ray (good books for 8th graders .TXT) 📗

Tommy opened his eyes, and realized he was no longer wearing his Red Zeo Ranger helmet. He looked around, and to his surprise, he saw an unfamiliar Aquitian man standing over him, running a small scanning device over his forehead. Tommy blinked, and scanned the rest of the room. He tried to move his head, but the Aquitian restrained him.

"Please," he said, "do not move until I have finished the scan. It shall only take another minute."

"Okay," Tommy said, and remained absolutely still. Just then, he heard the door open.

"How is he, Aquiva?" asked a familiar voice. Tommy instantly recognized it as belonging to Tideus, the Yellow Aquitian Ranger.

"He should be fine," the old Aquitian said, "His armor protected him against the explosion, but he did lose consciousness when he was thrown across the cockpit of his zord. I have healed his wounds."

"What happened?" Tommy whispered.

"You went into battle against Divatox's ship," Tideus explained, "and your zord was seriously damaged. The main power relay imploded as soon as the ship was teleported into the Battle Borg hangar. You suffered some minor wounds, and lost consciousness."

"How long was I out?" Tommy asked, sitting up on the bed.

"Eighteen minutes," said Aquiva.

Tommy looked around the medical room. There were a few other beds, which were all empty. Then, in the corner was a tube, lying horizontal and filled with crystal clear water. The tube was connected to a few rather large pieces of medical scanners and equipment. Tommy gasped as he realized he recognized the Aquitian, floating inside the water, her eyes closed and her golden brown hair wavering in the water. He has only seen this young woman a handful of times in his life, but he knew he wasn't mistaken.

"Oh my God," he said, standing up and walking to the machine, "Is that--?"

"Cestria," Tideus said solemnly.

"What happened to her?"

"Divatox destroyed the main laboratory, where Cestria and I were located. She sustained serious wounds."

Tommy stood beside the tube, and gazed at the young woman intently. He could tell from all the complex machinery that she was connected to that her condition was critical.

"Billy must be crushed--" Tommy began, but then he was struck by a revelation. "Tideus, just where is Billy anyway? I haven't seen or heard from him during this entire ordeal, and I know that he would be right here, trying his best to save Cestria. Is he okay?"

"I... I do not know for certain," Tideus explained, "Cestria sent him on a quest to find the Sword of Tympanus, to protect if from Divatox. He left not long after she first arrived, and we haven't heard from him yet."

Tommy nodded, and then turned back to Cestria. "So, he doesn't even know she's been hurt."

Tideus shook his head. "She was waiting for him to contact us when we were attacked."

"Uh, Doctor Aquiva?" said Tommy, turning to the elderly man, "How serious are her wounds?"

"Extremely," Aquiva said, "Her ribs were shattered, and her skull was fractured. There is a serious brain hemmorage as well. We are trying to stop the internal bleeding, but several major organs have been damaged. We don't have the technology to save her."

"You're sure?" said Tommy.

"Yes," said Aquiva, "There is nothing we can do to save her. At this point, it is only a matter of time."

"Tommy," said Tideus, "I must return to the Battle Borg hangar to assist in the repairs of your zord. Do you wish to come with me?"

"No," Tommy said, "I'll keep and eye on Cestria. For Billy."

Sweat beaded on Billy's forehead, and trickled down his skin. He leapt back from his opponent, taking a second to wipe the sweat from his eyes. He panted heavily and his eyes narrowed as the mighty silver warrior charged, pointing his sword menacingly. Billy blocked the sword with a quick swing of his pearly white lance, and kicked the warrior in the small of his back before he had a chance to regain his balance. Billy leapt back again, and watched with alarm as his opponent immediately rose to his feet, and turned to the young man again. Billy took a cautious step back, to insure that he wasn't too close to the edge of the floating silver platform. He was about a yard away, and Billy caught a glance of the boiling lava pool beneath the platform as he turned his head. He just barely managed to step to the side in time, avoiding another swing of the sword. This time, however, he wasn't as lucky, and the warrior swung at Billy's feet with the blunt side of the sword, knocking the former Power Ranger off his feet. Billy collapsed to the floor, and rolled out of the way as the warrior stomped on the tile he was lying on milliseconds earlier. Billy then leapt to his feet, and held his lance with both hands.

After fifteen minutes of fighting, Billy could feel himself tiring. Its been nearly a year since he was an active Power Ranger, serving his planet as a warrior. Ever since the Power Coins were destroyed by Goldar, Billy had been on the sidelines, helping the Aquitian Rangers from behind the scenes in the Command Center, while his friends went on Zeo Quests, to regain a new power source. Although he expected to join the team, someone had to give up a place. There were six Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but there could only be five Zeo Rangers.

Billy, being the veteran on the team, easily had earned a position on the Zeo team. However, he felt he could be of more help from behind the scenes, aiding the Zeo Rangers as he had the Aquitian Rangers. A few weeks of this was fine, but slowly, it became a boring, demeaning existence. Especially considering his friends took him for granted. He relished the idea of becoming the Gold Ranger awhile later, but it just wasn't his destiny. After learning he couldn't take this power, he felt completely useless. The Command Center used to feel like a second home, but the Power Chamber quickly became a prison. A prison he had to escape. And he found his escape when he fell in love with Cestria.

Now, a year since the last time he wielded a lance in battle, he is fighting against a mighty armored warrior for his life. It reminded him of his battles against the golden-armored warrior Goldar. But this warrior was far different. He wasn't as strong as Goldar, which certainly doesn't make him weak in any sense of the word. This warrior is still incredibly strong, and fast. But what is most surprising to Billy is his strategy of attack. The enemy thinks his actions through, and Billy was sure that he could beat a strong warrior by fighting intelligently. Fortunately for Billy, he too could fight intelligently.

Once again, the warrior charged at Billy. This time, though, Billy could tell he wasn't planning on running his sword through him. He was holding his sword to the side, apparently intending to swing across. Billy realized the warrior's intent-- to force him too close to the edge. Billy smiled, and ran towards the oncoming knight. Once Billy picked up speed, he pushed one of the ends of the lance into the silver floor, and pole-vaulted over the knight. The knight was obviously startled by Billy's sudden move, and tried to slow down to a stop. Billy landed nimbly, and rushed towards his enemy. The tiles had gotten rather slippery from Billy's sweat, and the knight was having difficulty keeping his balance. This time, Billy had the knight too close to the edge.

"I shall not be defeated!" the knight cried, swinging his sword downwards. Billy caught the blade between the three blades on the end of the lance, and pulled the weapon from the knight. At the same time, the opposite end of the lance slammed the knight in the chest, throwing him off the edge. Billy was startled, since he didn't intend to knock the knight into the lava. He cautiously peeked over the edge, and saw the knight hanging off the edge by his fingers. Billy immediately dropped his weapons, and grabbed the knight's arm.

"Hold...on!" Billy commanded, pulling the warrior up. Despite his bulky armor, the knight was surprisingly light. Billy managed to pull the knight back onto the platform. The knight rose to his feet, and looked down at Billy, who was still on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Billy glanced up at the warrior, and was suprised when the latter offered his hand. Billy accepted, and the knight pulled the young man to his feet.

"Why did you save me?" the knight asked, "I would have killed you, you realize."

"Yes, I realize that," said Billy, "but you aren't my enemy. This battle was a test, to make sure I was worthy of the Sword of Tympanus. Defeating you in combat doesn't include killing. And I don't kill unless absolutely necessary."

The knight nodded. "You have passed your test then, William James Mitchell. I have made the right decision."

Billy looked to the ground, and noticed his lance revert back into the Eye of Tympanus. He picked up the pearly sphere, and looked back at the knight. To Billy's surprise, the knight was now shorter than he.

"You... you shrunk?" Billy said in astonishment. The knight nodded, and reached up to his helmet.

"Well, I had to look intimidating," he said, "and a short old man isn't a very intimidating opponent."

Billy's eyes widened as the knight pulled off the helmet, revealing the face of an ancient man, with snow white hair and beard. He only had one eye.

"Who are you?" Billy asked, still overcome with astonishment. He watched in amazement as the silver armor faded, transforming into a loose silver robe, much like the one Zordon wore the one time his time-warp column was shattered by Ivan Ooze.

"Who do you think?" the old man asked.

"Tympanus...? But... that's impossible!"

"Come on, Boy! Surely you have learned that _nothing_ is impossible! I am Eltarian. We live for thousands of your Earth years."

"But... why are you here?"

"I'll tell you," said the old man, "You see, Billy, it all started on Eltar, over ten thousand years ago. I was the prominent wizard on the planet, and some say even in the entire galaxy. I cast incredible spells, and created many